A heavy silence hung over the crowd of nearly 400 people, an uneasy tension thickening the air.
At the front stood a strange boy, flanked by a spectral woman whose eerie presence sent chills through the assembly. This ghostly figure was the cause of it all — the kidnappings, the chaos, the reason these people were trapped here in the first place.
Ezio stepped forward, his voice cutting through the silence. "Apologies for the… unconventional way of gathering you all here," he said, his tone steady but urgent. "But the truth is, we are the resistance."
A voice from the back broke the silence, skeptical and sharp. "Resistance against what?"
Ezio's gaze didn't waver. "Resistance against Doflamingo."
The crowd froze, the weight of the name sinking in like a stone dropped in still water.
Suddenly, three voices counted down in unison:
"Three," Gacho intoned.
"Two," Gatz followed.
"One," Soldier finished, his voice resolute.
"ATTACK!"
In an instant, the crowd surged forward, furious and desperate — 400 people unleashing their fury on the so-called kidnappers and their ghostly accomplice.
But before the chaos could erupt fully, a searing column of lightning crashed from the sky, splitting the mob in two. The electric strike was colossal, scorching the earth and throwing up a blinding flash that silenced everyone mid-charge. Hearts pounded, breaths caught in throats, and sweat beaded on brows.
From the center of the devastation, a young girl stepped forward. A serene smile graced her lips, but her eyes blazed with pure lightning, glowing like a goddess descended from the heavens.
"Please," she spoke softly, her voice carrying an undeniable power. "No more violence. Let us speak as civilized people."
The crowd, stunned and trembling, slowly sank back to their seats as if puppeteered by her presence. Not a single soul dared to speak, or move, fearing the wrath of that electrifying gaze.
The storm of fury had been quelled — for now.
"I welcome you to The Misfortune Society," Ezio announced with a sly smirk.
Perona rolled her eyes. "Wasn't it Plot Armour United yesterday?"
Hina chimed in, deadpan as ever. "I voted for Bad Luck Redistribution Program — BLRP for short."
Ezio waved off the bickering. "We'll argue about the name later. Right now, the first step of the plan is done—we've got people!"
Perona crossed her arms. "And what exactly are we supposed to do with all these people?"
Ezio didn't even look at her. "On to part two of the masterplan."
Conis leaned forward, curious. "Which is?"
Ezio grinned. "Phase two: Screw Things Up and Score Some Luck."
Perona snorted, sarcastic but intrigued. "How creative. So… is this finally when we curse the place to oblivion?"
"Oh, absolutely," Ezio said, flashing an evil grin. "And how do we pull it off?"
Perona's grin grew wider. "With my ghosts, of course. Plus a little of your evil magic sprinkled in."
"Exactly!"
Meanwhile, the 400 abductees exchanged nervous glances, quietly convinced they'd been kidnapped by a very strange cult — or maybe just a really bad improv group.
…
A few hours before The Misfortune Society officially came to life, Ezio and Perona were alone, hashing out the second step of their masterplan.
"To absorb luck from others, I need to be in contact with them," Ezio began. "At first, I thought I had to physically touch the person directly to affect their luck. Turns out, that's not exactly true."
Perona raised an eyebrow, intrigued. She faced a similar limitation with her ghosts—they had to touch people to sow despair. "So, what did you figure out?"
Ezio grinned. "If I touch you, and you touch someone else, I can steal not only your luck, but theirs too—even without physically touching that third person."
"Oh, that's brilliant! You've basically got a 'luck bridge'!"
Ezio's eyes sparkled with a mischievous idea. "Exactly. And after inviting you into the crew, I started wondering… Perona, how connected are you to your ghosts?"
Perona's smile turned wicked. "Simple — my ghosts are me. We're not just connected; we're one being, separated only by a bit of physical distance. But as ghosts… who cares about physical rules?"
They exchanged a glance, then burst out laughing.
"I think this is going to work," Ezio said confidently.
Perona practically bounced with excitement. "Together, we don't just spread despair. We curse people with misfortune."
And poor Dressrosa? It had no idea what was about to hit it.
…
"What are we even doing?" Gacho asked his old comrade, the former King, his voice heavy with disbelief.
"I haven't the slightest clue, my friend," Riku Doldo admitted with a weary sigh. "All I know is these lunatics are fighting against Doflamingo — honestly, that's the only thing I like about them."
"Then why," Gacho groaned, "are we following their plan?!"
Before anyone could answer, Gatz cut in, eyes wide with dread. "Did you see that lightning goddess? No way I'm volunteering to get fried by a giant bolt of death!"
The three men exchanged looks—really, that was the main reason all 400 kidnapped souls reluctantly obeyed the orders of this strange cult.
"The Misfortune Society, huh?" Gacho shook his head. "Weren't they calling themselves Plot Armour United yesterday? What even is this?"
"I," Gatz declared, puffing up, "am fully behind the Bad Luck Redistribution Program."
"The BLRP?" Riku scoffed. "Sounds ridiculous. That terrifying but oddly charming girl, Conis, suggested The Flaming-No Crew. Now that was genius."
"The Flaming-No Crew? Seriously? Because DoFLAMINGo? No to DoFLAMINGo? That's gotta be the dumbest name I've ever heard. Sorry, not sorry," Gatz sneered.
"There's power in simplicity!" Riku defended, arms crossed.
Like the rest of the kidnapped crowd, the three men were now trailing a ghostly guide leading them toward their next destination.
And what was that destination?
All the living toys scattered across Dressrosa.
Their mission? Kidnap them, naturally.
"They turned us into criminals," Gacho muttered, eyes misty. "From the kidnapped to the kidnappers."
"What exactly do they want with those poor toys?" Gatz shrugged, unimpressed. "Can't see the point—they're useless in the colosseum anyway."
"There's more to this," Riku said thoughtfully. "My daughter joined their crew. Either she's finally lost it… or there's something real behind this madness. As her father, I'm praying it's the latter."
"Your daughter and that ghost lady?" Gacho shivered. "Terrifying duo. One sees everything with those glowing eyes, the other spies everywhere through her ghosts. There's no hiding from these lunatics."
And so it began.
The Misfortune Society kicked off their kidnapping spree with a clear objective for their new recruits:
Kidnap all the living toys!
…
Hina was not happy.
Since arriving in Dressrosa, everything had gone sideways. Instead of wielding the miraculous power to trap criminals in unbreakable black steel and lock them away for life, she'd become some kind of saint—saving lives after disaster had already struck.
Don't get her wrong: she liked saving lives. But not like this.
Her idea of saving lives was to punch the big bad evil before they could do any real damage. Now? She was stuck rescuing people after the villains had already succeeded.
How humiliating.
Beside her, Conis bounced along cheerfully—the star of their two-person mission. Hina's job was simple: keep Conis safe and babysit the girl. Despite her immense power, Conis was still far too naive for all this madness.
A ghost materialized before them, nodding toward the palace—a silent signal that they could move forward with their part of the plan.
This was a rare stroke of luck. Donquixote Doflamingo was off on some "super important" mission, dragging much of his Family with him. Only Trebol and a handful of subordinates remained behind to guard Dressrosa.
Better yet, one of those elite officers was Viola—the very same Viola they'd managed to woo to their side, thanks to their unpredictable captain.
Outside Trebol's small circle, only three other high-ranking officers remained on the island.
It felt like luck was finally on their—
No. It was definitely Ezio's doing.
"Alright, Conis," Hina said, nodding toward the palace—the current home and fortress of the Donquixote Family. "The easiest thing to take from an evil warlord is his bedroom, kitchen, and living room. That's Ezio's words, not mine. So… do your thing. Hina's rooting for you."
Conis beamed. "Alright!"
And then it happened again.
The air around Conis crackled and shimmered.
Her eyes flashed with pure lightning, glowing like some celestial force.
Sparks danced over her skin as she began to rise slowly, floating above the ground like a goddess descending to the mortal world.
"Hina always gets a shiver seeing this…" she whispered, eyes wide.
And then the storm began.
Lightning after lightning after lightning—
A relentless barrage of raw power struck the Donquixote palace.
Until the entire fortress was reduced to nothing but smoldering rubble.
"Hm…" Conis smiled, her voice light. "It's actually kind of fun using my lightning like this."
"Oh, you'll get plenty of chances," Hina said, cracking her knuckles with a smirk. "Hina is sure of it."
Conis tilted her head. "Why's that?"
"Because," Hina's grin sharpened, her eyes scanning the shadows. "We're surrounded."
She stepped forward, her voice dropping with excitement. "And I'm betting it's Doflamingo's goons."
Even gentle Conis kept her sweet, innocent smile—but the crackling lightning swirling around her said otherwise.
She hovered slightly off the ground, eyes glowing.
"Then let's give them a warm welcome…"
A boom of thunder answered her before the fight even began.