There weren't enough beds on the Merry to put the seriously injured, so Robin and Sanji laid on the floor. Chopper was rushing around in a frenzy, patching up the one who needed the most attention, Zoro. He had been stabbed several times in the gut during his clash with the marines before they had been captured. His wounds had been re-opened when he was thrown by Sky and he had lost a lot of blood.
Chopper had taken the bad news as well as any of the others would have and had soon gotten over the grief and began working on his patient as quickly as he could. Nami's ankle was in terrible condition since she had over-worked it in their escape, so she sat in her navigation room holding it with a bag of ice.
As she sat there she thought back to how, only the day before last, Luffy had come sneaking up on her and caught here talking to herself. He had already sacrificed so much for them; for her. This would be the first time they would go to save one of their nakama without his determination and fearlessness to back them up. She let out a sigh. This could possibly turn out to be the hardest battle fought by the crew, but it had to be done, no question.
Paul stood from where he had been and turned to Usopp, who had been waiting patiently for him.
"Let's go" he said as he passed the marksman.
The two left the clearing and Paul followed Usopp as they made their way to the Merry.
"Paul, how did you come to be friends with those two? I can't find anything you have in common with them. You all have different ranks in the marines, your personalities are conflicting, but you all seem to have some connection that causes you to trust one another."
Paul smiled "it's a long story, but we have time, so I'll tell you.
This base used to be a regular marine base and only became what it is today a year or two ago. Back then its main purpose was to hold devil fruit users who had disobeyed the law, not to experiment on them. However, when the President was sent here from the Higher Ups, we began to conduct experimentation on the prisoners, and several died, but that is another story. Canan was the first one to serve at this base, back when it was just a prison. He was almost immediately moved up to an elite because of his sheer will to succeed. He practiced on his own time back where we just were and soon became a dangerous fighter. However, he was never moved into an official commanding position because he had a way of giving orders by his own standards rather than the governments. In other words, he wasn't trusted to do as he was told, so he was never given a higher rank. Nevertheless, he continued to improve, and that's when I came in. I was only 13 when I came here, and he had earned the respect of everyone in his division. I was only a private, and I wasn't much of a marine. I didn't talk to anyone in my division, I didn't push myself to higher levels, and I didn't really care about justice. I just did what I was told and didn't think for myself. That is, till he came into the picture. He reached out to me even though, at first, I hated his guts. Eventually, after several turn of events, he managed to change my perspectives on things. I found a reason to live and a reason to reach for higher levels, and so, with the help of Canan's leadership, I improved. However, I was different than he was. I preferred to be a bit more obedient to the authorities, and sacrifice my own will in order to gain their favor. Canan never argued with the way I acted, but we talked about it several times, and sometimes, when I ended up doing something I didn't agree with I would just go rant to him and he would listen. He's more like a father to me than a friend, though he acts a bit childish, he's far wiser than either of us."
"So when does Sky come into the picture?" Usopp asked, very much engrossed in the marine's story.
"Ah, Sky…" Paul began, but grew silent as they came upon the Merry Go. Though Usopp wanted nothing more than to plan for his captain's rescue, he was a little disappointed to not be able to hear Sky's side of the story. He hoped that he would be able to hear the rest of it once they were all safe and together.
Luffy awoke in the same place he had been before. The tube was gone to his relief and the pain had subsided. His wrists were cuffed in seastone cuffs, but beside that he was unrestrained. He sat up in a daze and grabbed his chest. It ached terribly, and he knew that whatever had been pumped into him couldn't have been good for his lungs.
"Ah, good to see you've come to" he heard the voice of Dr. Ackens from behind him and Luffy's head turned to reveal a horrible glare.
"Oh don't look at me like that" said the doctor calmly.
Luffy got up and walked over to the man who had caused his suffering just a short while earlier.
"Who do you think you are?" Luffy growled, and for a second, he sensed fear in the doctor's eyes, but it had vanished in a second.
"Don't bother kid, you're cuffed with seastone cuffs and you won't be able to use your devil fruit ability anymore. Just sit back down and wait for your escorts."
"You think these things can stop me?" Luffy growled, then he swung his bound hands back, and brought the thick handcuffs right into the doctor's cheek. For the first time since Luffy had arrived there the man's face was in complete shock. The man skidded across the floor and stopped when he came to the wall. Shaking he brought himself to his hands and wiped his bleeding mouth.
"How dare you!?" he panted, then grabbed a button from his pocked and smashed it down. Luffy walked over to him, and the man looked up in anger. His face was a mess, and his white coat had blood spatters on it.
"You may be able to paralyze me, or take away my strength, but I will never cooperate with you freaks here! You will never break me or keep me from being the king of the pirates. Remember that" Luffy said harshly, then he spit at the man's feet.
A second later the room was filled with marines and Luffy was pinned to the floor. The president walked in and told them to take Luffy to chamber 15. As he was lead out he heard Dr. Ackens yelling at the president.
"Why didn't you tell me his strength wasn't because of his abilities!? How was I supposed to know? I mean look at him! He's scrawny!"
Luffy smiled and continued down the hallway.
Paul and Usopp explained their side of the story to the rest of the crew once Zoro had regained consciousness, and once everyone was clear on all that had happened, they began to discuss their options of what to do next.
Paul put his hands together and slouched over. His face was stern as he thought through what would be the best decision for the small group.
"You're all in a difficult position, and right now, your choices are few. We have no knowledge of where your captain is being held or how much they know about us. Luckily, I know a bit of information already, so we aren't at a complete loss. However, I must admit that the wisest decision would be to escape now. To have you abandon your captain would be better than him seeing you killed before his eyes, and considering the situation, your chances of rescuing your captain are terribly slim-"
"We will never leave our captain! It will be either victory or death!" Zoro interrupted. His voice was rasped and furious but his face was stern. "To even consider abandoning our captain is absurd and out of the question!"
"Zoro!" Nami shouted "you may be the first mate, but we all get a fair say in what we plan on doing!"
Luffy was taken to his chamber expecting a cold damp cell but, to his surprise, they opened up the steel door reveal a normal bed, a sink, and a table. There was a hole in the corner he supposed he was to use as a toilet.
The men took off his cuffs and shoved him in the room, locking the door behind them. Luffy was relieved to be able to move around normally again. He felt his strength returning and walked over to the sink. It was dirty, but when he turned the knobs clean water came out. He splashed his face and washed his mouth out since it tasted of puke.
"What's with this place?" he asked himself aloud.
There was a lamp on the table which was on when he had come in. He walked over to the bed and tested it out. It wasn't very soft, but it was better than nothing. He wished he had his hat with him and he growled. The marines must have taken it.
"The jerks, they don't need it" he mumbled to himself again.
Suddenly, the vents he had seen on the ceiling opened up and green gas seeped out slowly. Luffy frowned and backed away from the odd gas till he came to the opposite wall. The gas filled the room and when he could hold his breath no longer he had no choice but to breathe in the fumes. His lungs burned and he grabbed his chest in pain. He used the wall to support himself then slid to the floor. He was glad that he could still move, but he didn't have the strength to get back up or use his arms.
The door opened and the president walked in, looked around, then spotted Luffy against the wall. He closed the door and took a step towards the captain, who glared at him.
"What do you want with me?" Luffy asked in an authoritative tone.
The president took another step toward the boy "we have a goal in this facility, and we need you to reach that objective. We know some things about you that make you special for our research."
Luffy grinned "you will never break me and I will never cooperate with you people, understand?"
"Ah, as expected from the great Straw Hat. You see Luffy, I knew that you would never bend, and that trying to break your will would be futile" he replied.
Luffy cocked his eyebrow.
"Maybe this will lighten things up a bit" said the president grabbing his mask.
The captain's eyes widened as the president removed the mask from his face revealing that the "he" was actually a "she". Behind the mask was a beautiful woman with dark hair and red lips. She smiled haughtily "surprised to see me Luffy?"
"Well, I'm surprised you're a woman" he responded with a shocked look on his face.
"Don't you recognize me boy?" she asked, a little agitated.
"Eh?" Luffy cocked his head.
"It's me! I was the first pirate you met once you started out on your journey. Back when you were considered a small fry. How could you forget a face like this?" she leaned toward him and pointed toward her face.
"Oh yeah! You were that fat chick, but when I saw you again, you were hot… and slippery! Is that why those bullets didn't affect you?" Luffy asked, obviously curious to how it all fit together.
"Now you're catching on. It's me, the beautiful Alvida!"
"Why do you keep that mask on then? I would have guessed that you were some hideous man the way you kept it on all the time."
She stood to her full height and smiled. "Luffy, do you really think that is important to you at the moment? You should be asking about why you're here."
"I did. Hey, aren't you a pirate!? Why are you in here working for marines?"
Alvida scowled at Luffy ignoring her statement. "I've lost interest in piracy. Turns out marines are their own species of pirates as well. Their just as fowl and dirty, but their crimes a hidden, and as a marine, I have the freedom to do as I please without judgment."
Luffy glared at her. "So you've betrayed what it is to be a pirate for your own gain. Where is your honor you piece of crap?" he spit at her feet.
Alvida looked down at him in disgust. "Naïve boy, honor is useless in this world. It will only cause you to make unnecessary sacrifices. You should know; your honor is what got you into this mess. If you had just done what was best for yourself, you would be a free man right now" she bent down and put her hand on Luffy's cheek "but I knew you would come. I knew that your ignorance would lead to your downfall. This "honor" of yours, in the end, was worthless to you."
Luffy's face became stern and calm. His eyes seemed to gaze right through her. As if she wasn't even there. "Honor might be the reason I'm in this mess, but I can bet that when the day comes that you meet your grave, you will realize that living without love, or kindness was the real loss; your true downfall. I would rather die, knowing I did what was needed to get done, than live the life of a king without honor. If you look at it that way, I've already won against you and your marine dogs." Luffy grinned and returned his focus to the enraged woman crouched down beside him. She slapped him across the face and stood up.
"You may want to take back those words once we're through with you Mugiwara!" and with that she returned the mask to her face and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
Luffy's hair covered his eyes, but a small grin could be seen on his face. His crew would be back for him soon.
To be continued…
Wooo! New chapter. Didn't take me too long! Now u know who the president is! But theres more to come so please leave reviews. That's what keeps me going! And no, I haven't forgotten about Buggy (lil spoiler).