Hi guys Azza here!
Managed to get you guys a two for one! Really enjoyed writing this chapter too! Lots of stuff I've been waiting to get to, especially the middle section and the very end part! I won't say anything more so hope you enjoy!
I do not own Fairy Tail, One Piece or the Nasuverse.
The Blazing Hell
/Impel Down – Level Four Blazing Hell/
"Damn, its even hotter here than it was up on Level Three," Luffy panted as they arrived down on Level Four. "Is that actual lava!?"
"You bet it is, imported from some volcano island from what I heard," Bon Clay replied with a knowing nod. "That's why Level Three is so hot even though its so high up, the amount of lava stored here would kill a regular person through sheer proximity so they throw the really hardened criminals down here!"
"We should get moving quick, this place is gonna fry us if we stay here too long," Luffy said as the two started running toward a nearby bridge that seemed to be the only thing between them and the stairs to Level Five.
Just as they were about to reach the bridge a loud roaring noise halted them in their tracks. Turning around, the duo were shocked to see a massive creature charging toward them with an iron club raised high above its head.
"The hell is that!?"
"I don't know Straw Hat but we'd better take it out!"
"Right," Luffy agreed as he cocked back both his arms. "Gum Gum: Bazooka!"
Striking the beast right in the chest, it stopped for a moment and looked down at where it had been struck. The beast seemed to make a confused rumbling noise before looking back at Luffy, a scowl slowly forming on its face.
"I think you just pissed it off …"
"Yep," Luffy sighed as the beast let loose another roar and raised its club once again. "Look out!"
Luffy and Bon Clay split up as the beast struck the spot they'd just been standing, cracking the ground with one blow. Both looked at the massive crack in the ground before looking back at each other with surprised gazes.
"One hit from that would really hurt," Luffy said as they both met up behind the beast. "But at least this thing seems to be stupid."
"Yeah, we can use that to our advantage!"
"Alright, you distract it and I'll smack it," Luffy said quickly as the beast turned around and began charging toward them once again.
"Alright Straw Hat, leave it to me," Bon Clay cried as he started twirling on the spot before shooting off toward the beast at high speed. "Hey, over here!"
The beast swung its club and tried to smack Bon Clay however due to the speed he was spinning the beast couldn't time its swing correctly and missed completely, striking thin air instead.
"Is that all you've got, stupid gross bull!"
The beast seemed to take offense at the insult and started flailing its club around wildly in an attempt to hit Bon Clay who gracefully weaved his way through all of the barrage. Looking over to Luffy, he was shocked to see one of his arms had grown ten times larger.
What the hell!?"
"Get out of the way Bon," Luffy shouted as he started charging toward the massive bull looking beast. "I'm gonna knock it off the edge and into the lava!"
"Alright, he's all yours Straw Hat," Bon Clay shouted back as he twirled off to the side before scurrying back behind Luffy's attack.
"Let's see you shrug off this you dumb bastard! Gear Third: Gum Gum – Gigant Pistol!"
The attack came bearing down upon the shocked beast that knew it was completely screwed, roaring as it tried to attack with even a hundredth of the force to match. The beast was smacked hard, stuck on the fist as it smashed through a solid stone wall and knocked it off the edge.
The beast roared helplessly as it fell down into the massive pool of lava below, its club striking the deadly liquid before it did and melting almost instantly. Bon Clay moved toward the nearby railing and watched as the beast hit the surface, screaming in agony as its very flesh was melted away.
"Eugh …"
The beast continued to scream as it flailed about helplessly, slowly sinking until it finally died, its head quickly becoming enveloped by the blood red surface. Bon Clay couldn't help but be both shocked and slightly fearful at what he'd just seen. This definitely was a different side to Straw Hat than the one they'd been defeated by during the Alabasta Incident. This one wasn't afraid to kill his opponents.
"Wow … I didn't expect you to beat it so easily, or like that!"
"If I let it live it would've just gotten back up and come after us again," Luffy sighed as his arm slowly deflated back to normal. "Plus, it would've killed us anyway so I'd rather he be the one down there."
"True …"
"Come on, we need to get moving," Luffy said as he moved over toward the stairs to Level Three and picked up Fou, placing the drenched creature onto his shoulder. "You doing alright?"
"Fou …"
"Yeah, its way too damn hot here for me too," the Straw Hat Captain replied as he looked over toward Bon Clay. "Come on, we should get the hell out of here."
"Yeah, definitely wanna get out of here before-!"
The sound of multiple roars had Bon Clay looking at Luffy in horror. All eyes moved across the bridge where two more of the large beast Luffy had just killed stood, pointing directly at them as a third moved away from the railing.
"I think they saw us kill that one …"
"You think," Luffy said through grit teeth. "The hell should we do now!?"
"I don't know, run!?"
"Yeah, running sounds good," Luffy agreed readily as they started legging it down one of the side paths, the two massive beasts at the other end of the bridge charging across whilst the third ran out of sight.
"I really hope you have some sort of plan for getting rid of these things Straw Hat!"
"I'll figure it out as we go, now keep running," Luffy snapped as the duo tried to find a way out of the new mess they'd found themselves in.
/Impel Down – Level One Crimson Hell/
"We've arrived at Level One," Domino said politely as the elevator door slowly slid open to reveal Vice Admiral Momonga who appeared to be waiting for her. "Vice Admiral."
"Thank you for escorting Miss Hancock back Domino."
"Just doing my job Sir," Domino replied with a slight nod. "Procedure says you all still must be escorted back to the dock so if we could get moving please …"
"Of course," Momonga nodded formally. "Whenever you're ready, Hancock."
Remaining silent, Hancock stepped past Domino and walked straight past Momonga and toward the hallway she'd travelled down when first arriving. The Vice Admiral and Domino quickly fell into step as they made their way back toward the entrance to Impel Down, the sound of the gate being pulled open echoing all around them.
"Vice Admiral?"
"Yes?"
"The execution, when is it set to take place?"
"The execution of Portgas D Ace is set to be held in a matter of hours. Why HQ doesn't have us bring him with us I'll never know. We literally have a cell he'd have zero chance of escaping from yet they dispatch another ship!"
"There would be a valid reason for it I'm sure," Hancock replied dryly as they exited the prison and walked down the dock toward the Marine ship they'd arrived on.
"Maybe. But it'd be a pretty pathetic one I'm sure …"
"Vice Admiral! Vice Admiral!"
Momonga looked up sharply at a Marine that was sprinting down the dock toward their position. The Marine looked deathly pale; his eyes seemingly bloodshot which put Momonga on high alert.
"What is it Marine!?"
"W-we just got a transmission from HQ; you've got to hear it!"
"A transmission from Marineford!? Surely Whitebeard hasn't launched a pre-emptive strike on HQ before we've ever brought Ace there!?"
"Y-you'll just have to hear it for it to make sense Sir," the Marine panted in reply as Momonga nodded toward Boa before looking back at Domino.
"Sorry about our abrupt departure but as you can see, duty calls."
"It is quite alright Sir, I understand. I shall ensure Warden Magellan is informed of your successful departure."
"Thank you," Momonga nodded quickly as both he and Boa quickly made their way onto the Marine ship and toward his office.
Rushing inside, the small group found the lone Comms Officer sweating like he'd just run a marathon, shivering as if he were out in a blizzard and looking like he'd just seen his dead relative rise from the grave.
"Report!"
"T-transmission f-from HQ … S-Sir!"
"Pass it here," Momonga snapped as he picked up the snail and pressed a small button on the top of its shell, the snail making a slight clicking sound before beginning to play some audio.
/Somewhere In The New World – Hours Earlier/
The sky was dark, pitch black clouds raining down bolts of purple lightning as two men stood opposite one another on a deserted island. One man was significantly larger than the other, his body possessing a sizeable scar and a notable tattoo that appeared like the scales of a Dragon. Two horns produced from the man's head, poking out from the veritable mane he had for hair. He wore no shirt, just a black feathered coat and a pair of greyish green baggy pants held up by an ornately woven sash.
In the man's right hand was a massive Kanabo, a giant club-like weapon with dozens of deadly spikes all over it. His other hand was clenched into a fist however the seemingly sinister smirk on his face seemed to show he was rather pleased or amused with the current situation.
Across from this absolute behemoth of a man was a man with shaggy red hair, a scar across his right eye and a rather determined looking gaze. His black coat blew leftward in the wind to reveal he was missing an arm, a simply saber drawn in his right hand that was held to his side, flicking ever so slightly in anticipation.
"Worororororo! To think I would run into you of all people on my way to Marineford," the giant man laughed as a finger tapped the base of his Kanabo. "A rather big coincidence, wouldn't you agree?"
"You aren't one for games, so don't try and act like you don't know why I'm here."
"I heard some rather interesting news recently from one of my subordinates," the giant man responded in amusement. "And I know it definitely has to be true."
"And what news would that be?"
"That one of Whitebeard's brats are set to be executed at Marineford today and he's gonna take on the full military of the World Government with his entire Armada. It's true, isn't it?"
The much smaller man seemed to frown ever so slightly at the larger man's response as the grip on his own blade tightened. Looking back up to meet the larger man in the eyes, the air seemed to grow even thicker with tension before as slight crackles of black sparks with a reddish hue to them started flickering between the pair.
"You know it's true," the man replied with a slight scowl. "He basically forced Ochoko into letting him move his forces through his territory and is using the ruins of Enies Lobby as a staging ground. But you probably already knew that too, didn't you?"
"Wororororororo! Of course I did," the man roared with laughter as he slammed the end of his Kanabo into the ground, shaking the entire island with the casual action. "I'm not about to miss out on all the fun!"
"Fun? Over half a million people are about to clash in the biggest conflict ever recorded and you think that's fun!?"
"Of course it is," the giant man grinned in response. "A full-scale war, one this world has never experienced! I want to be there; I MUST be there! I want to be there as this world rips itself apart at the very seams, complete and total APOCALYPSE!"
The giant man's last word was full of power, sending the smaller man skidding backward in the dirt. The giant man's grin quickly faded to anger however, slowly moving to point his Kanabo at the much smaller man.
"I know why you've come … You want to stop me from reaching Marineford for the war."
"Yes."
"You think I'll just let that happen," the giant man growled as he smashed his Kanabo into the ground, sending cracks throughout the island. "YOU WON'T STOP ME, RED HAIR!"
One Of The Four Emperors Of The Sea
Pirate Lord Of The West Blue
Former Member Of The Roger Pirates
Devil Of The World Of Pirates
Chieftain Of The Red Hair Pirates
Red-Haired Shanks
Bounty – 4,048,900,000 Berries
"Captain Roger should've killed you when he had the chance," Shanks snarled as he flicked his blade, a blackish coating laced with red washing over its entire surface. "You're nothing but a mad beast, a monster capable of only wanton destruction!"
"WORORORORORORO! SO GOOD OF YOU TO UNDERSTAND THAT," the giant man laughed as he lifted his Kanabo into an offensive stance.
"I'm not going to let you past, Kaido!"
One Of The Four Emperors Of The Sea
Pirate Lord Of Wano Country
Former Member Of A Forgotten Crew
Devil Candidate Of The World Of Pirates
Governor General Of The Beast Pirates
The Strongest Creature Among All Living Things
Hundred Beasts Kaido
Bounty – 4,611,100,000 Berries
"The chaos of this world is reaching its breaking point, but I won't give up! I'll stop you here Kaido, even if it means my very life!"
"Go ahead and try Red Hair," Kaido roared as he too coated his Kanabo in the same substance, the purple lightning from above striking it right as he moved to attack.
The two charged at one another, both preparing monstrously powerful attacks as the sea all around them was pushed back just from the sheer amount of power being released by the pair.
"RED HAAAAAIIIIIR!"
"KAIDOOOOOOOOO!"
Kaido started skidding to a stop, twirling his Kanabo as the lightning fully surrounded it. His eyes shifted from yellow to Crimson Red as he activated his Devil's Aura. Shanks meanwhile leapt into the air, spinning around as his blade became coated in an even darker blackish red hue, his own Aura activating in response to his opponents.
"DEVIL'S AURA: THUNDER BAGUA!"
"DEVIL'S AURA: DEMONIC DIVERGENCE!"
The two attacks came within metres of clashing but suddenly found themselves slamming into thin air as both combatants grit their teeth. The entire area in the middle of their clash was simply obliterated, disintegrated by the sheer power being generated between the two attacks.
Pitch Black and Crimson Red sparks shot out all across the area as devastating winds ripped up what little remained around them. Both combatants however paid no attention to what was going on around them however as they continued to push against one another, the force generated by their two attacks in the centre growing more and more volatile by the second.
Suddenly, the pressure reached what appeared to be its limit as a small blackish red ball of energy appeared and quickly began to expand until it took up the entire space between their two attacks. The sphere suddenly started to crack and exploded, a bright white light blinding the pair and quickly moving to engulf them as the rest of the island was blown away entirely.
Several minutes then passed with no sign of either combatants emerging from the black smoke. However, a powerful gust of wind blew through, pushing the smoke away to reveal the two locked in an actual clash, not the strange one they'd just had, but an actual genuine clash.
"WORORORORORORO! KEEP IT GOING RED HAIR, I WANT MORE!"
"Damn you Kaido," Shanks hissed as he found himself beginning to be pushed back. "Damn you-!"
Finding himself suddenly skidding backward as Kaido pushed him away from the clash, Shanks quickly found himself preparing another attack as Kaido charged his position. Vanishing from sight, Shanks appeared behind Kaido and moved to slice at his legs only for the Emperor to spin around, dragging his Kanabo in the water to create a massive tidal wave.
"Damn it," Shanks hissed as he sliced through the tidal wave faster than the eye could see.
At the centre of the wave, Kaido hovered with an amused grin before flying upward at high speed. Shanks quickly shot off in pursuit and coated his blade in the blackish red substance once more in preparation for his next attack.
"You can't defeat me Red Hair, I'll reach Marineford!"
"I won't let you Kaido, you'll be stopped here!"
"Oh yeah," Kaido laughed as he held out his right hand. "Let's see you stop me! Devil's Aura: Artic Bite!"
Shanks grit his teeth as Kaido created a massive block of ice right in front of him and broke it up into lethal shards, firing them back at him with a powerful gust of wind. Going on the defensive, Shanks started slicing through the shards as Kaido created an even bigger block of solid ice.
"Let's see you cut through this one, Red Hair! Devil's Aura: Tundra Tatsumaki!"
The massive razor-sharp block of ice was fired at Shanks at mach speed, the Red-Haired Devil's eyes tracking it as it bore down upon him. Taking a deep breath, he moved his blade out toward his right and started spinning around in a circle.
To the regular eye, he would no longer be visible due to how fast he was spinning. In his place was a mass of wind that seemed to fire off aerial slash attacks in all directions however it was clearly aimed right at the giant block of ice.
"Devil's Aura: Demonic Yajirushi!"
His body became like an arrow, piercing through the block of ice and slicing it apart into powdered snow due to all the aerial slash attacks being fired out from his main attack. Kaido simply laughed at the feat however and clashed with Shanks' blade once again as the clouds split apart right where the centre of the clash was focused.
"WORORORORORO!"
Shanks could only grit his teeth, knowing full well that this would be a fight he would need to give his all. He only hoped that would be enough to stop Kaido in his tracks.
/Impel Down – Docks/
"Th-there's no way," Momonga muttered as he slowly sunk into his chair. "A clash between two of the Four Emperors!?"
"Why are Red Hair and Kaido fighting," Boa mused as she took a seat opposite the man. "A dispute?"
"Do we have confirmation on the outcome of the battle," Momonga asked weakly only for the Marine to nod slowly.
"According to reports, the Emperors have been fighting for seven hours straight and continue to do so even now … Sir."
"Unbelievable," Momonga sighed as he leant back in his chair. "To think that two of the Four Emperors would get into such a titanic clash so close to when another prepares to start a war against the world itself! There's no way there isn't some kind of connection here …"
"Either way, there's nothing that can be done about it," Boa replied slowly as she too came to terms with the news she'd just heard. "We need to focus on the coming conflict with Whitebeard."
"True," Momonga agreed before looking over at the still stunned Marine. "Send word to the Captain, take us home."
"Aye Sir," the Marine replied with a half-hearted salute as he left the two in the room to contemplate both the news and impending conflict.
/Impel Down – Level Four Burning Hell/
Having managed to cross to the other side of the Burning Hell whilst avoiding the beasts, Luffy and Bon Clay were surprised to find the stairs to Level Five guarded by a sizeable force of guards as well as another of the large beasts.
"Great, just what we need," Luffy hissed as they took cover behind a nearby wall. "Any ideas?"
"As far as I'm aware, that's the only way down."
"So, we have to somehow bust through then?"
"Maybe there's a way to lure them away somehow," Bon Clay mused as he looked around, spotting two of the beasts slowly crossing the bridge. "Hmm?"
"You got an idea Bon?"
"That thing you did to the one beast earlier, the way you made your whole arm as big as a giant, can you do that again?"
"Yeah, I can do that easy."
"Ok, so I have an idea. I'll wait until you're in position back across the other side of the bridge then go out and draw the attention of as many of the guards as I can, then you'll get that attack ready. Once I start crossing the bridge, you hit it directly with that attack and destroy it, sending as many of them down into the lava as you can!"
"That … just might work," Luffy nodded slowly as he watched the two beasts on the bridge lumber over toward the sizeable force and take up defensive positions. "But are you sure you'll be alright?"
"I'll be ok as long as I don't try and actually fight them," Bon Clay replied with a grin. "Now get going, we don't have long because if Warden Magellan shows up, we're screwed!"
"Magellan? Ah whatever, I'm sure everything will work out," Luffy replied with his usual cheeky grin, taking off back the way they came as Luffy set off toward the other side of the bridge.
Quickly making his way back over, he was surprised to find the area completely unguarded, not seeing a single guard in sight. Brushing it off, assuming they all were over at the stairs to Level Four, Luffy slowly made his way to the area the first beast they'd fought cracked the ground.
"Yeah, my attack is way more powerful than whatever that thing could put out so this should work," Luffy mused. "You might wanna get out of the way again for this Fou."
"Fou," the little fox-like creature yipped as he leapt off of his shoulder and ran off to the side to avoid being caught up in the attack.
"Alright, time to give Bon the signal-!"
"There will be no need for that, Straw Hat Luffy!"
Luffy looked up sharply as a massive figure dropped down from the ceiling, shaking the entire area in the process and kicking up dust in the process. Gritting his teeth, he was surprised to see a Demonic looking man wearing an all-black version of the guard's uniform however he also had Devil-like wings on his back.
"What the-who the hell are you!?"
"It doesn't matter who I am Straw Hat," the man growled as his entire body slowly began to dissolve into a purple substance. "I'm not happy you managed to not only infiltrate my prison and get this far, but harm so many of my subordinates in the process! Your little rampage ends here, Pirate! Venom Venom: Hydra!"
Luffy was shocked as a massive creature erupted from the man's body, its form quickly taking up a considerable amount of space as it coiled around the bridge before coming to rest above the man himself.
"Get the hell out of my way, I'm gonna save Ace no matter what!"
"Ace? So, you came for him and not Dragneel," the man mused contemplatively. "Once I subjugate you, I shall be sure to tear the full story from your broken form!"
"I'm not gonna lose," Luffy snapped as he entered Gear Second. "I'm saving Ace no matter what!"
"Straw Hat, don't fight him!"
"Bon!"
Off to the side he saw Bon Clay sprinting toward his position, skidding to a stop a good distance away from the pair. He looked almost frightened as his eyes locked onto the man opposite.
"Don't even try to fight that guy, he's the Warden of this place, Magellan!"
"He's the Warden? So what!?"
"You don't understand, his Devil Fruit is way too strong for you to handle Straw Hat! He ate the Venom-Venom Fruit and even getting touched by him is poisonous!"
"So that purple stuff is-!"
Looking down at the floor, he saw that the purple slime stuff leaking off of Magellan was burning the floor like acid. Quickly realizing what Bon Clay was referring to he grit his teeth in frustration.
"Come on Straw Hat, we've gotta just make a break for Level Five!"
"Impossible," Magellan cut in quickly. "The entrance to Level Five has been completely sealed off, as has Level Three! There will be no escape, not this time! This is the end for both of you!"
Bon Clay could tell Luffy wasn't going to back down by the determined look in his eyes and knew he had to make a decision. Fighting someone like Magellan simply wasn't possible due to his broken Devil Fruit ability to kill with lethal doses of poison upon mere contact.
Gritting his teeth, Bon Clay took several steps back, clearly struggling with what he was about to do. Looking over toward Luffy, Bon Clay finally gathered up the strength to speak.
"I-I'm sorry Straw Hat, but I don't wanna die a painful death," Bon Clay cried as he spun around and legged it from the impending battle.
Luffy couldn't really blame him, knowing that compared to him Bon Clay was relatively average in terms of raw fighting power. However, he simply couldn't back down and needed to confront Magellan in order to proceed further into the prison holding his Brother.
"Fool. There is no escape from this place," Magellan sneered. "As for you, I'll make sure to end you quickly!"
"The only one going down … is YOU," Luffy shouted as he started charging toward Magellan. "Gum Gum: Jet Pistol!"
Magellan was stunned that Luffy would attack him directly despite knowing full well what would happen, but allowed him to do so anyway. Taking the punch to the face, the point of impact splashed poison onto his fist.
"Tch-!"
"That was foolish, very foolish. My poison is toxic to all, with only one known cure and you most certainly won't be having it. If you wish to die though, I'll be sure to make it a quick death!"
"I'm not gonna die," Luffy said through grit teeth as he shrugged off the burning sensation on his hand. "You're going down!"
"Venom Venom: Hydra!"
The massive poisonous creation protruding from Magellan's body charged toward Luffy's position, forcing him to quickly dodge out of the way as it smashed through the wall behind him.
"Shit-!"
"There's no escape!"
Looking behind him, he was shocked to see the attack was smashing through multiple walls in order to pull a one eighty and was now coming right at him again. Dodging it yet again, he charged toward Magellan, cocking both his arms back as the Warden raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Gum Gum: Twin Jet Pistol!"
Striking Magellan in the face," the Warden winced slightly as he skidded backward, holding his ground as his poison leaked all over Luffy's hands. Pulling back his attack," Luffy winced as the burning sensation increased tenfold.
"Damn … it hurts!"
"Of course it does," Magellan replied as his face reformed back to its previous state. "My poison is the most toxic substance in the world, there is nothing more corrosive than my Venom!"
Luffy shrugged off the pain again, cocking back for another attack which genuinely surprised Magellan who didn't expect Luffy to be so easily able to ignore the pain brought on by his Venom.
"I'm gonna … save Ace," Luffy roared as he sprinted toward Magellan, his arms now a good ten metres behind him. "Gum Gum: Jet Bazooka!"
The attack went from ten metres behind Luffy to striking Magellan's chest in a split second, the Warden wholly unprepared for the force behind it as he coughed up blood, and dropping to one knee in shock.
"I didn't expect you to do something so reckless, Straw Hat," Magellan growled as he quickly got back onto his feet. "But that's all you'll get now that I know your punches have actual power behind them!"
"You won't be able to catch me in time," Luffy snapped back as he vanished and appeared right in front of Magellan's face. "Gum Gum: Jet Pistol!"
Going to punch Magellan's face once again, this time he suddenly hit an unbelievably hard surface. The moment his hand struck it, he felt all the bones in it shatter due to the speed and force he'd punched at.
"ARGH-!"
"Armament Hardening!"
"Shit, Armament Haki!"
"That's right Straw Hat," Magellan said as he suddenly charged toward Luffy. "You didn't really think I was so weak as to be beaten by a mere rookie like you, did you!? I'm the Warden of Impel Down, some of the prisoners within these walls are worth over a billion berries and are the worst of the worst! Compared to them, you are but an infant!"
Luffy saw Magellan cock back and throw a punch several metres away, another one of those manifestations erupting from his arm however this one was then coated by Armament Haki.
"Armament Hardening: Venom Venom – Black Hydra!"
The attack smashed into Luffy who was already starting to feel the affects of the poison he'd already been afflicted with. He was smashed through several walls before being engulfed by poison as the Haki vanished and the poison washed all over him.
Magellan skidded to a stop and saw Luffy's shaking yet standing form staggering forward out of the rubble, his body completely coated by poison. Stumbling, he exited Gear Second and collapsed onto the ground unconscious.
"Fool. You stood no chance," Magellan sighed as he advanced toward his downed form. "I don't know how you managed to get in here, but this is it for you …"
Reaching his downed form, Magellan was about to pick him up only for Fou to suddenly pop up out of nowhere and stand in front of him protectively. Not believing the small creature to be a threat in the slightest, he simply sneered at it and moved to grab Luffy anyway only for the creature to yip louder.
"Foolish creature, get out of my-!"
Magellan's Observational Haki screamed for him to jump back and he did so instantly as a malice unlike any he'd ever felt flooded the area. Looking around, he couldn't find anyone else in the room and so his eyes fell on the only other one that could possibly generate it.
"Fou … FOU … FOOOOUUUUU!"
"What-!"
Magellan was shocked as the tiny creature started sprinting toward him, its form rapidly evolving until it matched his own height. The creature, now more a large furry wolflike creature slammed into him, protected from his poison by a strange bluish Aura.
Magellan went from the bridge all the way back to the doors to Level Five in seconds, the power of the beast easily breaking through his Haki. As for Fou, his form vanished in a bright blue glow as the once again tiny creature stumbled forward slightly.
"Fou …"
Having done all he could, Fou collapsed next to Luffy but was confident that they wouldn't be captured by Magellan. The last thing the little creature saw before going unconscious was Bon Clay scooping Luffy up, feeling a grip on the scruff of his neck he knew everything would be alright.
And so, he let sleep take him.
/Elsewhere In Impel Down/
"Ngh …"
Feeling like he'd been through the wringer, Natsu slowly opened his eyes and started to gain awareness of his surroundings once again. Feeling the chains binding him to the hard surface he was on, he couldn't help but scowl.
"Bastards …"
"Natsu!"
"Father!"
"Aava, Ahnk!"
"What the hell happened; we couldn't find you anywhere within your own mind!?"
"It's a long story Ahnk, review my memories if you wanna know the full story," Natsu sighed as he shifted against his chains. "For now, I can sense things aren't going too good.
"Your reserves are dangerously low from all the regenerating you've had to do in such a short period of time thanks to those bastard Marines. We should still have enough to do what we need to do here though, but there's a problem."
"And what's that?"
"Its your body, its reverted to the Hybrid state you like to keep hidden."
"You mean-?"
"Yes. In essence, what you really are is currently visible, though I suppose it isn't really an issue-."
"Normally I would disagree, but right now it could be useful," Natsu sighed as he started to apply pressure to the chains. "I'm so hungry …"
Pushing against the chains, the runes all around the room activated, trying to restrain him, however they clearly hadn't anticipated his current form and were basically useless. Shattering what he was laying on, he fell down onto the ground with the chains now entirely useless. Pushing them off, he found he was also cuffed by Sea Stone Shackles but this wouldn't be enough to slow him down as he rolled onto his front and shakily rose to his feet.
Slowly stumbling toward the cell bars, Natsu head butted them only to find that they wouldn't budge. It took him less than a second to know what he had to do as he turned to the side wall and head butted that instead.
The entire wall was caved in, revealing a cell next to his with no occupant. Stumbling inside, he grinned and slowly moved over to the next wall and destroyed that too however this cell was occupied by someone.
"Oi, that wasn't very polite now, was it?"
"I couldn't give a shit about being polite right now," Natsu snarled as he stumbled over to the man who couldn't help but grin.
"Well … look at you. I'm not one for religion but you look like the Devil himself right now!"
"I'm looking to bust out of here," Natsu growled, ignoring the man's comment about his appearance for the moment. "I'm guessing you've done some evil shit to end up in here but right now I'm in a foul mood so I'm looking to slaughter the trash guarding this prison. So, wanna help in exchange for your freedom?"
"Heh! That's a rather interesting offer, I am feeling rather bored of this place myself," the man replied with a feral grin. "Of course, with these on I'm not gonna be at a hundred percent though a scrub like Magellan shouldn't be a problem if all four of us gang up on him."
"Four?"
"He is of course referring to you freeing the only other two locked down here," another voice replied as the man Natsu was conversing with simply moved over to the other side of the room and knocked down his own wall, motioning for him to follow.
The two stumbled through the empty cell as the man smashed down another wall to reveal an old man who was currently sitting casually on his bed, a sinister smirk on his face as his eyes flashed Crimson Red.
"Well well … To think I'd run into a bunch of Devil's Aura Users down here," Natsu barked with laughter. "So, who's the last one?"
"In that frozen shit over there," the larger man replied as he pointed to the cell with ice coming out of it. "You got any way of thawing him out?"
"Yeah, can do that easily enough," Natsu replied as he moved toward the wall opposite his position and smashed it down, quickly moving to the next cell and repeating the process to reveal a rather large man encased entirely in ice. "This one Aokiji's work?"
"Yeah," the large man behind him laughed. "He'll join us if you let him out."
Nodding, Natsu increased the temperature in the room to the point that it overwhelmed the cooling system keeping the man on ice. The trio watched as the ice thawed and the large man regained consciousness.
"Where … Ah, Impel Down. So, I lost after all?"
"You got put in here years ago," the old man said casually as the massive man slowly turned to look at the small group.
"You three prisoners here too?"
"That depends, you wanna bust out of here," the blonde-haired man grinned which was quickly shared by the larger man.
"Barorororororo! A breakout from Impel Down eh? Count me in! Course, with Sea Stone Cuffs we're all gonna have to use our own strength till we can get em off."
"That shouldn't be a problem," the old man said as his eyes flashed Crimson Red, prompting all the others to do the same.
"Barorororororo! This should work well in our favour then! But before we go any further, who the hell are you three?"
"I suppose introductions are in order," the old man grinned as he moved to take a seat on a piece of nearby collapsed wall. "I'll go first …"
So, as you can probably tell there's a lot of setup happening. I won't spoil too much but this last section of the chapter involves characters I've been dying to include for ages now!
And I do want to talk about the Shanks and Kaido bit. I was always pissed we never got to see it in canon and after seeing the stuff during the Wano Arc between Emperors I felt that adding that as a nice bonus was fitting.
As for adding their bounties I will be doing that for all Emperors now going forward. I feel that where things are now it is the right time to do it.
Oh and as for what I meant by Natsu's body returning to what I call the 'Hybrid State' its basically what he really looks like. Now what that means is he obviously isn't human yet he looks like one so this will be him returning to what one would call his 'True Form' which he hasn't shown yet because he'd rather just appear normal.
To elaborate, all Gods and Devils share this however Aura users who are not part of the actual Pantheons do not. But you'll all see it as we go along.
But anyway I won't drone on any longer, hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you in the next one!