Ch. 14- Enter: Emporio Ivankov
One Piece © Oda
Blizzard © Me
Flashback, some time ago
"Ohh~! It's SO hot in here! It's just unbearable."
"Whoa~! So young and gorgeous! You're just my type~! But, wait! What happened to the weirdo that knocked out all the guards? Who are you? Where'd you come from?"
"Does it matter? Why don't you come over with me, handsome~!"
Hannyabal, who was guarding the stairway to Level 3, had suddenly been distracted by…"Cat Burglar" Nami?
"I'm all sweaty," said "Nami" as she pulled at the collar of her prison uniform, revealing her bosom before Hannyabal. "Do you mind helping a sweet little thing like me take off these sticky clothes~?"
WHOO-WHOO! Hannyabal's eyes formed into hearts and he blew steam from his nose.
"Now, do me a favor and open this gate for little old me," said "Nami" as she walked up to the door behind Hannyabal.
"O-of course!" Hannyabal said. "Right away, my dear!"
After he unlocked the door, Hannyabal and "Nami" went inside the dark room. SLAM! The door shut behind them. Once inside, Hannyabal was blinded because of the darkness, thus giving "Nami", who is revealed to be Bon Clay in disguise, the chance to jump him from behind with a rope in his hand.
"Gotcha!" Bon Clay exclaimed.
Flashback end
If there was thing that Hannyabal is feeling, right now, humiliation had to be it. Not only had he been bound, gagged, stripped down to his strawberry underpants, and suspended in the torture instrument storeroom of Level 4, but he had let himself get outsmarted by Bon Clay so easily!
I'll make him pay for this, some day, Hannyabal thought to himself. I'm glad that this will reflect badly on the Warden…but I HATE being outfoxed! I just want to be the Warden, for a change…
And so, Hannyabal was left to lament his humiliation.
XXX
Meanwhile, in Magellan's office…
GURRRRRGGLE! PFFUUUUUURRRRT!
Some rather unpleasant sounds could be heard, as well as the sound of groaning.
"Ooh~!" Magellan groaned. "GAAH! I used way too much poison!"
XXX
On Level 2, the riot had finally been quieted down and the prisoners had been rounded up back into their cells by the Blugori and Saldeath.
"Well, the prisoners are back in their cells," reported Saldeath into the Transponder Snail before he held up a ring of keys. "But some of the keys appear to be missing, still. This is going to be quite a pain."
XXX
On Level 3...
"They cannot hope to elude us!" Sadie declared as she held up Bon Clay's wanted poster. "Now hurry! Capture those fools alive! They have to be somewhere on this, mmmm, floor~!"
"Yes, ma'am!" the guards yelled as they and the Jailer Beasts hurried off to find the prisoners and intruders in question.
XXX
Some time later, CHAK! A door opened, and a bandaged up Bon Clay awoke to a bright light.
What? Bon Clay thought, questioningly as he shielded his eyes. W-what's this? A light? Could it be? Am I…in heaven?
As Bon Clay walked further, he started to hear the sound of chatter, as well as music, and the light became brighter as he walked through the door. He let out a gasp of shock.
There, before his very eyes, lay a world that seemed unbelievable.
There are disco balls and bright, lively colors, everywhere, as well as…men and women, dressed in rather peculiar clothes. The men seemed to be wearing revealing clothing, complete with women's stockings and make up, and the women seemed comfortable with that.
"Huh?" Bon Clay muttered in disbelief.
"Hey!" said one of the men. "So, you finally decided to wake up, eh, brother?"
"You were out for quite a long time," said another. "Why don't you come over and drink with us?"
"Welcome, friend, to New Kama!"
"Hey, we saw you on the monitor! Watching you and your friends on the run was a real great show!"
Bon Clay is speechless. He was surrounded by all these people who seemed to be a bunch of…dare he say, weirdos. It was much different from when he was in prison.
"W…where am I?" Bon Clay asked himself as a woman approached him.
"Please, come have a seat," she told him with a smile. "Which floor did you come from?"
"What is this place?" Bon Clay kept asking. "Where are Straw Hat and Wolfy?"
"Do you remember when you first broke out?" asked one of the girls.
"And in case you're wondering, yes, you're still in Impel Down," said another.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Bon Clay shouted as he began to pirouette. "You people are wearing nice clothes, and eating delicious food, and drinking booze! Can it be? Is this Paradise? No…it can't be! Let's see, now…Wolfy and I were being attacked by a pack of wolves…and then…Straw Hat used some strange power to save us…and then we passed out, one-by-one! Am I dreaming? Or perhaps I died of hypothermia. Could it be that I've passed into the afterlife?"
"Oh. I see you've woken up, finally. You've been sleeping for quite a while. About ten hours or so."
"What?" Bon Clay questioned as he turned to the figure behind him. "T-ten hours? Just what are you talking about? And who are you?"
"How rude!" said the figure.
It turned out that it was woman…who looked somewhat like the man who came out and found Bon Clay, Luffy, and Blizzard out in the cold in first place. She even has the same scar on her and glass of wine in her left hand!
"I am Inazuma," said the woman. "If I hadn't found you and your friends out there in the cold when I did, all three of you would've frozen to death!"
"My friends?" Bon Clay questioned. "Then that means that Straw Hat and Wolfy are here, too? Where are they? Are they all right? Are you people guards? Where am I?"
"Calm down," said Inazuma. "I'll let him explain everything."
"Hey, everybody! Lights out!"
"It's time for the big show!"
Suddenly, PLINK! The lights shut off.
"Huh?" Bon Clay muttered. "W-what's going on?"
"Come," said Inazuma. "Let's get a front row seat."
Everyone gathered to sit in front of a stage. There, they saw a mysterious figure, standing in the spotlight with his back facing the audience, swishing his hips from side-to-side. He appeared to be holding a microphone in his hand.
"Did vyou sleep well, candy boy? Or should I call you…Mr. 2 Bon Boy?" the figure asked.
"What?" Bon Clay questioned. "You know my name…but how?"
"I'm glad that you could it make it here," the figure continued. "To get to this place, you'd have to go through the sewers of Impel Down. You travel paths that don't exist…and you arrive here, at the Prisoners'…Paradise!"
STRUMM! One of the candy girls strummed on a guitar.
"Mm-hmm-hmm…" the figure chuckled in his throat. "Enjoy yourselves. Here, we have food, we have weapons, we have games, but above all those, we have FREEDOM!"
The audience broke into cheers at that proclamation.
"Mmmm…" the figure hummed. "You see, all the guards are confused. Sometimes, prisoners will disappear. they think that they have all been dragged down to the pits of Hell, but in reality…everyone single one of them…is right here!"
He held up the microphone stand above his head.
"Mm-hmm," he chuckled. "Is this place Hell, you ask? Ha-ha…maybe, it's Queen Hell! It is an underground world that nobody but us knows about! Welcome."
FWASH! The lights came flashing back on, and the figure on stage turned to reveal himself.
He is a large man that seemed to stand at last 10 feet tall. Maybe even a little taller. He has an unusually large head, sports an afro of lavender hair, and rather long eyelashes. He also has an oddly-shaped chin that resembled an arrowhead. He also has a Jolly Roger tattooed just below his chest.
The Jolly Roger looks like a skull with two arrow-headed swords behind it that curve to resemble swords. However, if one were to look closely, they may also both the male and female sex symbols twice on it. The female symbols consisted of the eye sockets and the swords' hilts, while the male sex symbols consisted of the eyes sockets and the arrow-shaped sword blades.
He is dressed in reddish purple women's garments and he appears to be wearing heavy makeup. He also has on both a queen's crown with a king's crown on top of it. His hairstyle, make up, necklace, and fishnet stockings and cape are the very things that just are commonly associated with a stereotypical depiction of a drag queen.
As soon as this mysterious person turned to face the audience, other candy boys joined him on the stage as he bit the microphone stand in half.
"This is Impel Down's Level 5.5- The Prisoners' Secret Garden of Eden!" the cross-dresser declared. "This is New Kama Land! WOO-HOO!"
"What?" Bon Clay questioned. "Who are all these weirdos?"
"Yeah~!"
"All hail the great Lord Iva~!"
"W-what?" Bon Clay gasped. "Iva? Did you say Iva?"
It is indeed the very person that the swan has been looking for: Emporio Ivankov, the missing "Queen" of the Peachy Kingdom.
Suddenly, Ivankov began to wobble and shake.
"Oh, dear," he said. "I'm afraid that I got a bit overexcited. Now…my anemia…it is…it is…"
"Oh, no! Lord Iva, are you all right?"
"My anemia…" he then turned to face the audience as if nothing was wrong with him at all, "is not bothering me, one bit!"
The crowd cheered.
"So you're all right, after all?"
"You sure had us fooled, Lord Iva!"
"Mm-hmm," Ivankov laughed in his throat. "Welcome, Bon Boy! Welcome to my New Kama Land! WOO-HOO! Ha-ha-ha!"
Bon Clay gaped. He was staring his idol right in the face! It was like a dream come true!
"Are…are you honest and truly THE Iva?" he asked.
"Oh?" Ivankov mused. "So you've heard of me, have you?"
"Hey, pal!" said one of the candy girls. "You'd better show Lord Iva some respect!"
"Yeah!" agreed one of the candy boys. "He runs this place!"
"Now all of vyou candy boys and girls, shut your traps!" Ivankov orders. "Forget about all these manners and protocol! People can say and talk to me however they please! Why, they could even call me 'crap' if they vanted!"
A pause came.
"BUT THEY HAD BETTER NOT IF THEY KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR THEM!" Ivankov shouted.
"So we can't call you crap, after all?"
"You fooled us, again, Lord Iva!"
"So this person…is Iva?" Bon Clay murmured. "He's the miracle worker? My idol?"
SLAM! The door suddenly opened.
"EMPORIO IVANKOV!"
Everyone looked up to see a bulky, muscular man with blond pants and a pair of camouflage-patterned pants. He has a scar on his left shoulder that went down to his chest. Under his shoulder, he carried a bazooka.
"You used to be the Queen of the Peachy Queendom!" he shouted. "15 years ago, my beloved father was a great king! But then, he visited the Peachy Queendom, and then came back a woman! His kingdom and our family fell apart! I used to be a great prince, but because of what you've done, I've been reduced to a damn, no-account pirate! I never expected to find my sworn enemy here in this living Hell, but now, you're PAY for ruining my life!"
The candy boys and girls looked like they were ready to roll up their sleeves and give the intruder a lynching, but Ivankov seemed less than ready. In fact, he looked downright terrified!
"Oh, no, no, no!" Ivankov cried. "Please, wait! Look at the size of that gun! It's dangerous, vyou know! So very, very dangerous! If vyou shoot me with that, I could die! I…I…" he then flashed a pose. "I WILL NOT DIE!"
"You won't?" asked the crowd.
"You got us, again, Lord Iva!"
BOOM! The man fired his bazooka at Ivankov, who turned to face the incoming bullet. His eyes went wide and slight bloodshot.
"Death…"
Just when the bullet was mere inches away from Ivankov's face…
"WINK!"
BLINK! WHOOM! Ivankov winked his eye at the bullet, and created a massive blast of air pressure that ended up repelling the shot back to the man.
"AAAAAAH!" the man screamed.
"There it is!" said one of the candy boys. "It's Lord Iva's famous wink! The Death Wink!"
"Mm-hmm-hmm~!" Ivankov chuckled in his throat.
"He pushed back a bazooka shot with a wink?" Bon Clay questioned.
As the smoke from the resulting explosion, the man, who survived the resulting blast, found himself face-to-face against Ivankov, who wore a rather evil-looking grin on his face. Then, his fingertips grew pointed, like needles.
"Emporio…ESTROGEN!"
SHUNK! Ivankov stabbed his fingers into the man's breast, making him scream in pain, and the moment Ivankov pulled out his fingers, his body started to undergo a dramatic change.
His beard shrank back into his chin, and his muscles began to shrink, as well as his height.
"W-what the hell…?" the man questioned. "No…don't tell me you…!"
"Your father vanted to become a voman," Ivankov stated. "Deal vith it!"
The man tried to in vain to stop his transformation as his arms started to shrivel, using one arm to cover his growing chest and the other hand to keep his pants from his slipping off his waist.
"Two mothers and one daughter?" Ivankov mused. "That is just fine, too! Just deal with it!"
By this time, the transformation was complete. The bazooka-toting man…has changed into a woman!
"AAAAH!" she screamed as tears began to form in her eyes. "This…this is…" she turned and ran out the door, "SO EMBARRASSING!"
The candy boys and girls laughed at him as he ran and cheered for their ruler.
"WOO-HOO!" Ivankov cheered. "Don't be shy! Vyou still have a long way to go as a New Kama! A new HUMAN!"
Bon Clay was left shocked.
"He…he turned that man into a woman!" he said. "It's true! He really can work miracles! It's him! It's REALLY him!"
"Man or woman or both," Ivankov starts, "be whatever vyou want to be, here! I have already broken the borders of gender! Why, we all have! We have already gone far beyond it! We are the new humans- the New Kama!"
The crowd broke into a wave of cheers.
"And this place," Ivankov began, "is our Garden of Eden, New Kama Land!"
THUD! Bon Clay suddenly fell to his hands and knees, bowing before Ivankov.
"Emporio Ivankov!" he cried. "The miracle worker! I am humbled to be in your presence, O great King of Queens! I am overjoyed, but…perhaps it's not polite of me to ask something of you when we have just met, like this, but there is someone I want you to save! My dear friend is dying from Magellan's deadly poisons, and what's worse, there's no antidote! If you save him, then I will do anything you want for the rest of my life! Oh, please! Please, save him!"
"Are you talking about that boy with the straw hat?" asked Ivankov. "The one who owns that white wolf?"
Bon Clay gasped. How did he know?
"We are outlaws," Ivankov stated. "When we see someone who is injured…we don't automatically come to his aid. We are not that goodhearted! Do vyou know why we tended vyours and the dog's wounds? It is because the boy whose life you plead for so passionately begged us to!"
"What?" Bon Clay questioned. "Straw Hat…he…?"
Flashback, 10 hours ago
Inazuma had brought a dying Luffy, Blizzard, and Bon Clay to Ivankov, who stood before their motionless forms with arms crossed. However, only Luffy seemed to have enough strength to attempt sitting up. He wheezed and coughed, but not before he managed to speak.
"B…Bon Clay…and Blizzard…" he stammered. "They were trying to protect me from this pack of wolves. They saved my life…so you have to save them! Please…they're my friends!"
Ivankov's eyes went wide.
Flashback end
"It is quite rare to see a dying man worry about someone else's life instead of his own," Ivankov stated. "I had no idea the flower of friendship could bloom in such a place like this…but after hearing that, then I would have to be the lowest person in the world not to do something! I started Straw Hat Boy's treatment ten hours ago!"
"You…you did?" Bon Clay asked, smiled.
"The treatment is quite rough," said Ivankov, "so I had to lock him away in the cave back there. The boy has been screaming like mad for ten whole hours straight! Unfortunately, it's going to be a long while until he stops. About two more days."
Behind a locked up, chained door in a cave, one could hear the ear-piercing, blood-curdling screams of agony coming from Monkey D. Luffy.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHH~!"
Nearby the door…Blizzard sits there. His forehead, his paws, and his nose are bandaged, but he had tears streaming down his cheeks. He covered his sensitive with his paws in a failing attempt to block out the tormented screams, but even so, it wasn't enough to completely drown out the sound.
If anyone knew the one thing that tortured Blizzard, then this is it: to hear Luffy's screams of pain, once again.
Make him stop… Blizzard thought. Make him stop…! Make him stop! Please, dear god, MAKE HIM STOP!
ARROOOOOOOOOOOO~! Blizzard let a tormented howl while Luffy continued to scream.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Meant to upload this yesterday, but there were so many distractions.
Luckily for me that school will be out on the 19th, so that means updates, updates, and more updates!
Review, please!