Sky looked down at his bandaged arm as he made his way to the base. The swordsman had been a tough opponent and he had been surprised that any human could have injured him in that situation. Didn't matter now; he had another job to do and he wouldn't let the guilt keep him from doing what was needed.

To Nami's relief, the others had at least awoken before daybreak. Sanji was so sluggish however, that no real conversation had been had since they arrived at the cell. Zoro wasn't too talkative in his condition either. His fever had broken as expected, but he looked horrible. The marines had neglected to give him morphine to ease the pain from his injuries and every once and a while he would let out a small gasp but then act like he was yawning. No one was fooled that he was simply tired. Robin had begun shaking about an hour after she had fallen asleep and her breathing was labored. Nami had made a lame attempt to set her ankle but had yelled out in the process forcing Sanji to grab his head in pain. The captives were definitely in bad condition.

"OUTTA THE WAY!!" came a roaring voice from somewhere on the other side of the cell window.

Nami, out of instinct, grabbed Zoro from his cot and along with the others ran to the opposite end of the cell just in time for a monstrous arm to come crashing through the wall then grab on to the floor.

They all looked down at it and knew what was coming next and ducked. The small boy came zipping in and ran into the other side of the bars where two guards stood in shock.

"Hey guys, miss me?"

"Heck yeah" replied Sanji who had just gotten a full migraine attack when the sun reached his eyes and when Luffy made contact with that wall, but he had to admit he was glad to see the captain.

"We've gotta get out of here… man Zoro, you don't look so good!"

"Yeah, well what did you expect?"

With that the short conversation was ended and Luffy began crawling out of the hole he had created.

"Follow me" he said looking back, then realized that having them do that would be quite impossible. Nami was trying her best to get Zoro, but the combination of her twisted ankle and the swordsman's weight showed that she couldn't have even made it out of the cell. Sanji was taking staggering steps to follow and Robin seemed to force every step she took.

"I'll get Zoro" said Luffy as he quickly took his first mate from Nami and sat him on his back. "Got anything to tie him to me with?"

Nami handed him the worn sheets on the cot that were covered in Zoro's blood and helped him tie Zoro to himself as quickly as possible. Then Luffy wrapped one of his arms all the way around her, Sanji, and Robin leaving him one free arm. He did this just in time, for the hall had flooded with marines. With huff Luffy jumped out of the prison carrying all four of his rescued nakama. He immediately put his thumb to his mouth and bit down, blowing a substantial amount of air into his rubber arm till is swelled to a giant size. The marines on the higher ground above the cell immediately began opening fire on the escapees. Luffy took all the hits with his swollen arm feeling several pricks from the darts.

"Dang it! They got Luffy!" shouted Zoro who, instantly regretting his decision to use his lungs, coughed up blood.

"No worries Zoro, if this works it shouldn't be a problem" came Luffy's reply as he bounded down the red slope, bouncing from boulder to boulder. After he had covered a bit of ground he set the others down and shifted the air from his right arm to his left. Upon doing this a sickly green liquid began to drain out of his right arm like it was a sponge.

"Cheers! It worked" shouted Luffy in celebration.

"Awesome Luffy" said Nami who was bursting with adrenaline.

Suddenly, something exploded feet from them. The marines had begun to throw had bombs at them from above, and one could tell that some of them had switched from darts to bullets. Marines were coming from all directions and several wielded daggers and swords.

"This wont work" said Luffy sternly. "I'm sorry guys, but I'm gonna have to have you guys run on your own. It would be a bit impossible to battle these guys off with my hands full. Does everyone feel up to it?"

They all nodded and began running as fast as they could towards one of the weaker sides of the marine forces.

"Luffy, I can go one" mumbled the weak voice of the first mate behind him.

"Like heck" came Luffys reply, as he blocked another shower of bullets and darts.

"I'm slowing you down, and you pretty much crush me when you maneuver you air from one arm to the other."

Luffy stopped and realized Zoro was right. Any fighting style he chose would harm his friend. So Luffy immediately ripped the sheets off and called out for Nami.

"I know it's a lot to ask Nami, but I cant protect you guys with Zoro on my back, could you guys carry him?" asked the captain with a sincere feeling of guilt showing in his eyes.

"Of course" she replied, though she didn't know how she could possible support him with her ankle in the condition it was.

Then Sanji came stumbling up "don't worry Nami, I know your ankle can't take that kind of strain. I've got this" and with that he took Zoro from Luffy and made his way as quickly as he could towards the safety of the woods.

Once he saw his crew on his way Luffy was ready to beat the crap out of their attackers who he'd only been defending himself from till now. A nearly insane grin crossed across his face and his eyes widened with excitement.

"GOMU GOMU NOOOO!!! PISTOLLL!!!" he yelled as he shot his monster fist into his attacker's path, crushing several in his blow. He could only use one handed attacks when he was in Gear 3. There was a sting from three darts that had found their way to his left ankle. Luffy growled and after filling his chest with the access air he twisted himself into an odd spiral. After shooting a blast of air from his mouth he was shot into the air and as quickly as he could he bit his thumb again and returned to gear 3. He had feared he would turn into a chibi for that second, but apparently his body could hold out for a bit longer. The captain directed the air from his arm to his foot, causing the numbing liquid to shoot out of the three holes the darts had left in his ankle.

"Who knew that I would learn something from that leak in Alabasta?" he thought to himself as he smashed down on his victims below with his leg. The rocky cliff had been completely reconstructed by then. Luffy looked over to see how his crewmates were doing and realized that before long they would need an escape route cleared for them.

The raven haired boy snapped back down and ran in their direction, blocking more bullets and darts coming from everywhere. The cliff was in complete pandemonium, and Luffy wondered how the marines kept from shooting one another. He took off to follow his crew from the rear. Then the inevitable happened; Luffy felt himself shrink to a tiny size, and he tripped over his tiny legs. He skidded a few feet and hissed when he felt the small pebbles lodge into his newly formed gashes on his hands and knees.

The view was much different from below… in fact, he could hardly see anything. Dust had flown up in every direction and his tiny form had become hidden under the cloak of chaos all around him. The good news was that he wasn't spotted when he was so vulnerable; the bad news was that he didn't know where he was. Then he heard the sound of his navigator's voice "where's Luffy?!"

She sounded scared and worried, which put upon Luffy an almost madning desire to defend his crew. He leapt up and began running blindly through the dust and smoke, dodging running feet, tumbling rocks and, to his surprise, every once and a while a fallen marine who'd been shot from somewhere.

Usopp and Paul were firing shot after shot and in fact, hadn't stopped shooting since Luffy had made his move. Usopp's shoulder was sore and his eyes were watering, but he wouldn't stop till his nakama had returned.

"You surprise me marksman" shouted Paul over the noise of the battle "you're actually a pretty good shot!"

Usopp had to admit he had shocked even himself at his ability to shoot the rifle. He had hit almost every thing he had aimed at, though he felt a bit sick knowing he was doing much more than just burning, stinking, or cutting the people he shot. He saw one of the marines take aim at the small group of his friends. Redirecting his gun, he shot at the man and saw from the distance that he had taken out his arm. The marksman puked up, ridding himself of whatever he had left in his stomach from supper the day before. This means of fighting was much more efficient, but Usopp was having trouble getting used to it.

"Hanging in there marksman?" yelled Paul over the noise.

Usopp nodded, holding his mouth to keep more from leaving his stomach.

Paul looked over the scene to see where he was needed most. The newly released pirates were slow going, but considering the situation, he had to admit they were pretty tough. He had seen what condition the blonde had been in the night before, and now he was not only supporting himself, but his fellow crew mate.

"Your crew is quite admirable!" Paul shouted over to Usopp who was trying to reload his gun with his shaking hands. "I was wrong to think they were air heads."

Usopp nodded, obviously not paying much attention to the marine's personal convictions. He just kept shooting, and would continue till his friends were returned.

Nami was shocked at how little the resistance against them was. Luffy had done an amazing job at protecting them from behind, but now fear came back to her when she couldn't see him or hear him yelling out attacks. As for the marines before them, she had not overlooked the one marine standing between them, who had done nothing but clear paths for them since they started to run on their own. The man had brown hair and was wielding a huge dagger, lessening the marines by an evident number. In fact, the only man she knew could wield a weapon of that sort better would be Zoro, but he wasn't the only one clearing their way. Marines were falling all around them from gunshot wounds. She had begun to lead Robin by the arm, for the historian seemed unable to do anything on her own no matter how hard she tried.

Sanji swore at Zoro's weight every step he took. Why'd the stupid swordsman have to go get himself injured like this? Now his shirt and pants were covered in blood and he felt like he was about to pass out. The cook looked ahead to see Nami practically dragging Robin with her; and that marine who had surprised the lot of them continued to fight with that dagger of his. For this, Sanji was truly grateful.

Zoro for the first time in his life actually felt guilty for causing their cook so much trouble. Even to the point to where Sanji's irritated swearing made him feel a little bit better. He was worried when Luffy couldn't be heard anymore, and hated to be in such poor condition. He wanted to go join the others in the battle rather than get carted around by a half dead Sanji, but the wounds wouldn't even let him rest, none the less fight.

Up above the remains of cell 200, stood Sky with three other Generals, and beside them stood the president of the organization who wore his air mask and multi-layered outfit to where he barely looked human.

Sky glanced over at the president, but one just couldn't read the expression through the mask, so he returned his eyes to the battle field. It seemed the marines continued to fight even though their target was nowhere to be found.

"OOF!" grunted Luffy as a running marine tripped over him. He tumbled a few feet and looked up to see the marine looking back to see what he had tripped over. When he saw the miniature Luffy he began to shout out but was cut off by one of Luffy's "double barrels" in the face. Being tiny didn't relieve the captain of his rubber abilities; it just shrunk them down to size. Had he been his regular size he could have taken out about twenty marines with one of those. Whatever the case, the marine was out cold. All around him, Luffy could hear men screaming a variety of confused dialogues.

"Friendly fire! Friendly fire!"

"Someone's taking us out like flies!"

"Don't go near the crew! You'll get shot!"

"Where's the captain!? Where's Monkey D. Luffy!?"

Despite the chaos, the dust was beginning to settle and the little captain wasn't hidden quite so well anymore. Gunshots could be heard all around, and he caught a small cry from his nakama "Luffy?!" They were worried about him, even in their condition. Luffy continued to run, but despite his anti-numbing technique's success, he was beginning to tingle all over his body.

Suddenly, he was tackled by a middle sized marine and they rolled a few feet before he felt himself being pinned down to the ground by some random marine with good eyesight. He struggled a bit but his size proved to be quite a handicap. The marine took him by the neck and lifted him into the air. "I've got Monkey D. Luffy!" he shouted, trying to restore order in the confusion.

Despite his lack of oxygen because of the marines ever tightening grip on his throat, Luffy was glad to be able to look around and see how his nakama were fairing. To his relief they were much farther than he had expected, and also they seemed to have a new comrade giving backup. He was relieved that they were safe, and then returned focus to his own situation. He saw the brown haired marine, who was busy keeping off marines from his crew; look over to see him in the air squirming against the grip on his neck. The marine then stopped what he was doing and took a dash towards the captor and captive. Once he had gotten several yards from the two he leapt into the air, bringing his dagger down behind him with both hands, the thrust it down through the hard ground creating an amazing gorge and an enormous amount of dust to return to the air. Then before Luffy could blink he was right beneath him, thrusting his dagger into the man's stomach. The captain was immediately released, then caught by his rescuer who lifted him up by his collar to look at him straight in the eye.

Canan had not expected the captain to shrink 5 feet, but if nothing else, he was amused and incredibly happy to have found him.

He returned Luffy's look of confusion with a pleased grin.

"Lucky"

To Be Continued…

Yay, finally the battle had begun, but there's much more to come! Don't think the war is over my friends! Thanks for reading and I shall repost as quickly as possible. If ur confused at any part just lemme know.

Oh, and just a small fact, Canan is pronounced "kay-nan". At least that's what I intended it to sound like. Please R&R!!! Thanks for the support!