A/N: I don't want to spoil anything, and I don't like disclaimers, but there are some house-keeping notices:
1) Canon is not gospel here. I love canon. I watch canon. I read canon. But I am not Oda or any of the talented writers and creators of One Piece.
2) Feedback is welcomed. Constructive criticism also. Criticism is translated. I will try to reply to everyone, but please bear with me. I'm a university student studying for a double degree full time with two jobs. Sometimes I forget. For guests, I will try to respond to any questions I get on another instalment in the same fandom. Every review is precious, and I'm super grateful when any of you take time out of your day to leave a review, even if it's just a "good" or "could be better" or "this is shit". We applaud and appreciate honesty in this household as much as we do time.
3) This has head-canons that will be a recurring theme in any story I publish in this fandom. Mostly. I apologise in advance.
I guess there's a warning for SlightlySmarterLuffy, but it's like battle strategy, and this is sort of a difficult situation here, so I may have just enhanced his people smartness. So yeah, maybe just beware for SlightlySmarterLuffy, who has one more brain cell than cannon (maybe two).
Oh, and like blood and gore and stuff, but it's One Piece.
And Impel Down.
Anyway, I do not own One Piece, nor is this for commercial purposes—just enjoyment and practice with writing different types of scenes.
Idiot.
Oblivious.
Monster.
Freak.
Useless.
Clueless.
Naïve.
Selfish.
Ignorant.
Weak.
Luffy was a lot of things. Not all of them are true. Most things people didn't know about. But there were two things people knew but scarcely remembered:
Brother.
Pirate.
He'd already lost one brother: his light extinguished as he'd lunged for freedom – straight into the path of those fake celestial bastards. They struck him down like he was nothing but an ant beneath their feet. Like Luffy's brother was nothing, and now, the world wanted to take his other one from him too: to extinguish Luffy's sun.
No.
That would not happen.
Luffy would paint the whole world red before he allowed that to happen again.
The kairoseki burns his hand, but Luffy doesn't care. It's nothing compared to the rage boiling in his veins and wreathing around his heart.
It's a mere match against the wildfires beneath his skin – untamed and malicious and violent and vicious with only one clear direction:
DESTROY.
It's been a while since he's held a pipe. It's been a while since he's picked up a weapon. But Luffy had lain down the make-shift staff once he realised just what he could do with it – and he picked it up again for the same reason. The kairoseki is a delightful bonus. Still, he needs to separate his hands before he can put it to good use: Luffy's only just at Level 2 of Impel Down. He's got to smash a bloody swath through this hellhole to rescue his brother. He doesn't need to remove the cuffs altogether…just split his hands so he can use them both. He bares his teeth into a savage smile. He bends his body, his natural flexibility allowing him to step backwards through his bound arms to hold his shackled wrists in front of him. 2-3 inches of kairoseki stares back at him, connecting his wrists like the bridge to freedom. There would be consequences for this: Luffy could feel it in his bones.
He could feel it deep within rubber limbs that he'd spent ten years training. A floppy durable body he had desperately worked to grow accustomed to – to make strong.
He's about to throw years of tears, hard work, and pain into Davy Jones' Locker. Luffy threw back his head and cackled, long and high and haunting as his smile curved wider into a grin.
He would live with no regrets.
He would save Ace.
Damn the consequences.
Teeth barred, Luffy brought his wrists to his lips. A terrifying black sheen spread over his teeth as his conviction burned only brighter.
Wasting no more time, Luffy chewed his way to freedom.
Luffy broke through the final section, the kairoseki giving way beneath him. He spat what he could out as he rose to his feet, feeling small chunks of the sea scrap his throat as the rest sank into his belly.
The pipe he'd torn from the cell now only bit dully at his palms, the burn around his wrists a muted ache. His body felt tight and taut, like coiled rubber, but nothing dimmed his bloody grin as he flexed his wrist, testing the weight of the pipe in his hands. It would do.
Luffy looks at the cell door, and his smirk widens. The pipe spins lazily in his hands. He was breaking out of here.
"I'm only going to ask you once."
His voice is soft as it carries down the hall, eyes on the Jailer at the far end. It's a far cry from what the world knows of him – what the world expects of him – but Luffy understood the importance of expectations and personas by the age of seven. It's the world's fault, really, for trying to execute the one person in this world Luffy would sacrifice everything for.
"Get out of my way."
They asked for this.
The Sphinx tries to stare him down, but Luffy's an apex predator. He is so far up the food chain that this nuisance is nothing but an afternoon snack. There is no universe in which Luffy would ever cower beneath prey.
Luffy spins the pipe once, twice, three times and lets it come to a halt. The prison guards – mere cannon fodder – lunge towards him
"I warned you."
Bones break beneath powerful strikes of metal, chests collapse beneath pinpointed kicks, and the madness from Luffy's childhood is burning brightly inside him.
Luffy was going to save Ace.
And nothing was going to get in his way.
Luffy had always known deep down he was a bit like cracked glass. The jagged edges pierce the lining of this stomach and throat, cutting along up under his lungs, the wounds immediately cauterised by the ferocious, fiery beast in his chest, his wild heart. A heart chipped and abraded by a wailing woman with a mouth full of venom and blooded heels of ice and a man who bound weakness to an iron ball and let it sink beneath the waves.
Since he was eight years old, he had prided himself in knowing that living well was the best revenge.
That to rise and to smile at a world intent to bring you to your knees was the most powerful and rewarding revenge he would ever taste. So, he had always held those cracked pieces of glass together. Never let the world think or know that it had hurt you, that it had made you stumble.
Luffy would be Pirate King.
And a King did not stumble.
A King did not fall.
But the world had just taken the seal that held the broken windowpane that was Luffy together.
It was almost like they were begging for it.
'How far will you go, Mugiwara?'
'What are you willing to do?'
'How much are you willing to sacrifice to save your brother?'
Well.
Everything.
Luffy wondered, briefly, if the world understood what that meant.
His pipe cracks through tissue and bone as a rib cage hollows out, and with a deft flick of his wrist, the opposite end breaks open the Sphinx's skull. Brain matter sprays the wall, and another crimson arc paints his face.
They didn't have to understand.
Luffy had never cared about other peoples' understandings anyway.
But Ace did.
And, Luffy admits, that's probably one of the reasons they're here now.
Not that it matters.
Ace matters.
And Luffy will drag him from the bowels of hell.
He watches as a snake-chicken man kicks over a barrel, a clear liquid spreading across the floor and dripping down between cracks. The smell hits him, and it takes him back to the Grey Terminal days before the fire. He may be stupid, but he could never forget the stench that hung so ominously in the air then like a lazy guillotine. He steps forward to avoid the liquid, but it matters so little as that stupid jailer lights a match. The prisoners scream, and the snake-chicken man smiles – brittle insanity there, not quite mastered and all-consuming.
Luffy knows madness.
He was born in it.
Raised in it.
Moulded by it.
He knows fire.
He was born in it.
Raised in it.
Moulded by it.
You cannot make fire feel afraid.
You cannot make madness tremble.
The prison ignites. Luffy lunges through the flames, dancing with the inferno as he's danced with devils and death all his life, a familiar tango no one has mastered as well as he.
Screams and howls fill his ears, and his nose drowns in the smell of burning flesh as fiery tongues bite at his skin. His pipe smashes into bone and metal and meat, a deadly arc of destruction the marines and jailers and prisoners fear far more than the blaze that has consumed the floor. The fire is likely working its way upwards, and Luffy does not spare a thought for how that will affect their exit.
It is a bridge he will cross once Ace is in his arms.
Pain explodes in his head, and he becomes partially blinded as something drips into his eyes.
Distantly he hopes it's not gasoline.
Satisfying vibrations ripple through the pipe and up to his arm as he retaliates, likely breaking his attacker.
"Mugi-chan!"
Luffy does not glance in the direction of the newcomer. His voice is familiar but not immediately registering as a foe. He's likely a mouse then, so far down the threat levels that Luffy is not concerned with danger from him.
"Let me clear the door for you."
Luffy glances over, seeing a familiar form free from his bonds and hurrying through the flames beside him.
"I'm saving Ace," Luffy growls. "Leave while you can."
"Ah ah ah, Mugi-chan.
I will help you."
Together they blast through the doorway, the powerful kicks of Bon Kurei and Luffy's pipe beating down everything in their path.
"Move!" Luffy snarled, staring straight at the zebra. The Jailer roared.
"I will have your head, boy!"
"I said MOVE!"
The Jailer lunges for him, and Luffy does not hesitate. The kairoseki bites through the Jailer's throat, caving in the upper spine and oesophagus.
His hands shake as flames burn around him. Death and destruction lay behind him, and before him lies more that he must cause.
Ace.
For Ace.
Everything for Ace.
Luffy raises his head to meet the eyes of Bon Kurei and pulls himself upright as the inferno closes in.
"Lend me your strength, Mugi-chan. Let us break through the floor."
Luffy can feel it.
Power running through them both as he breathes, the timing of their breaths becoming synchronised as they prepare for what they must do. He has always had incredible instincts and wonders if Bon Kurei knows what they're doing either.
It doesn't matter.
There is a certainty in the air as he falls into time with the former bounty hunter. This will work.
They jump as one, a pirouette for Bon Kurei as Luffy flips and twists, allowing his body to descend like he's going to elephant stomp a skull in.
UNISON RAID: GOLEM STOMP
And they descend to Level 4.
The pain is near-constant now, a permanent companion as his lungs struggle to remain strong against the furious beast in Luffy's chest, desperately trying to draw air in as reinforcements. He's bruised and battered – his earlier torture at the hands of the jailers on Level 2 is still evident on his body. He's no doctor, but Luffy suffered broken bones before he ate his devil fruit, and the kairoseki reminds him that his fingers, the same ones wielding his pipe, are broken. The whistling of his lungs is a clear sign of their shattered state. The bruises and burns, still burning and growing as the fire never entirely dies around him, continue to make a patchwork tapestry across his skin.
His left eye is useless now – and may well be forever when they make it out of here – and he's aware of the blood oozing out of deep gashes on his legs. But they will carry him to his destination and then to safety – his body is an instrument for his will, and it knows its duty. Bon Kurei is suspiciously quiet about his state and has not brought up the bodies that follow them. Luffy is grateful for the lack of distraction. Even he knows he is only as far as he is due to his sheer devotion, stubbornness, and pettiness. If nothing else, he knows that he will reach Ace on those three attributes alone.
"Those are the Blugori, Mugi-chan! They are under the command of Saldeath – the Chief of Impel Down."
Twelve blue gorillas continue their charge towards them, double-edged battle axes poised to cut them down. Luffy flashes bloody teeth in a vicious snarl. These monkeys were in his way.
He's not controlling his strength anymore. He's not scared of hurting people anymore. There's no reason to limit himself when his brother is to be killed – there's no reason to spare the world when they refuse to spare his brother.
People tend to forget who Luffy's grandfather is.
A fist drives the first gorilla into the wall as his foot drives straight through the stomach of another, Bon Kurei kicking away one that lunged towards him. Luffy repaid the generous favour by swinging his pipe in a deadly arc, cracking straight into a third gorilla and sending it flying directly into the pack. He launches himself into the fray, palms smacking into jaws and caving in skulls and feet, crushing throats and chests.
CRACK!
A face caves in.
CRUNCH!
Ribs pierce a still-beating heart.
CRACK!
A neck snaps in half.
CRUNCH!
Knees break beneath vicious strikes of steel.
CRACK!
A head slams straight into metal bars, and the cell caves in on top of them.
CRUNCH!
A foot slams straight through thick unprotected stomach fat and snaps the spine behind it.
Time has forgotten him, or perhaps he forgot it. Luffy has no idea how long he has left to get Ace or how long he's been fighting for.
All he can focus on is his three guiding principles that have become an irrevocable lifeline as he continues to traverse hell.
Save Ace.
Keep breathing.
Try not to die.
"Mugi-chan~!"
He's already moving, having sensed the attack long before Bon Kurei had, and he already instinctively knows what his accomplice wants. Attacking together conserves strength for both – shares it intimately and allows them to last longer than they would normally.
UNISON RAID: GOLEM CRUSH
Another skull caves in – the gorilla attached far larger than the ones they'd faced before, and Luffy knows the last one. It should be honoured to have gone out with such a bang. The creature's whole body breaking as its skull and spine are pulverised beneath the fury of Luffy and his partner.
Luffy rises to his feet, his eyes – his one open one – never leaving the dark, violet eyes of the beast's commander. He can feel the brink he's on: the air thinned by expectations as he stands on the edge of a cliff.
"Get out of my way."
Saldeath hears him – as he should – and there is no hesitation in his gaze when he levels his pitchfork at Luffy.
"You're not getting out of here alive, Mugiwara. I will send you to your brother in a body bag."
No hesitation.
Good.
Luffy won't either.
"Last warning."
Saldeath charges.
Luffy lunges.
A hand, tinged again with a curious black sheen, cracks into Saldeath's chest, broken fingers extended to pierce.
And they do.
Luffy lands behind Saldeath and rises from his crouch. Saldeath doesn't even wheeze. There's a beat of silence, and Saldeath crumples to the ground, a gaping hole in his chest.
Luffy glances down at the heart in his hand and closes his eyes.
Organ splatters his face and the ground around him.
Sometimes he surprises himself.
"Let's go, Mugi-chan!~"
"Hai."
The Pool of Blood is an apt name for the area they've entered. If Luffy was focused on anything except for his guiding principles and Bon Kurei, he'd probably try to dismantle the whole thing. But he's not, and he's got more important problems in the form of a rhinoceros, a koala and a very tall pink lady.
"They're the last of the Jailer Beasts, Mugi-chan! And that's their mistress, Sadi."
Enemies.
Luffy knows what to do with that.
"Bon Kurei."
He extends his hands and focuses on breathing. He deepens every inhale until he can feel the terrifying pressure of his broken ribs once more as he breaths straight from his stomach.
"Yes, Mugi-chan?"
"Which one do you want?"
The bounty hunter smiles cheerfully, and Luffy matches it, drawing a brilliant smile so wide and bright it makes their approaching enemies falter.
"I shall take the koala, precious Mugi-chan!"
His own smile has brought him strength, a faint rejuvenation sorely needed at this moment.
"I'm going to save Ace," Luffy swore. "And no one is getting in my way."
The jailers fell upon them, and the duo struck.
It's cold in Level 5.
The stark change in temperatures from the burning worlds above catches Luffy off guard. Bon Kurei shivers beside him, and Luffy instinctively presses closer. They're nearly at level 6, nearly at their goal, and Luffy refuses to allow either of them to fall here.
"Oi! New guys!
What's your bounty?!"
Luffy stalks onwards through the snow. The screams for his price tag turn to cries for him to help them, and Luffy nor Bon Kurei react.
They've got bigger concerns.
"Mugi-chan~. Let's try and find Iva-sama!"
Luffy frowns.
"He is the Okama Queen and will be able to help with our wounds. He will be able to help in the breakout."
Luffy inclines his head.
"Hai, let's find Iva."
They will need all the help they can get.
"HALT!"
They spin around only to come face to face with Hanyabal.
Luffy grits his teeth and exchanges a glance with Bon Kurei.
"Beat him together," Luffy muttered. "Then we find Iva. Then we get Ace."
"Hai hai, Mugi-chan!"
Hanyabal charges towards them. Bon Kurei uses Luffy's back as a springboard and leaps into the air. Luffy ducks beneath Hanyabal's guard and swings his right leg up in a bone-shattering kick as Bon Kurei pirouettes from above.
UNISON RAID: JAWBREAKER
True to its name, their attack shatters Hanyabal's jaw.
Luffy feels the ceiling crack and buckle above them. He dives into Bon Kurei, knocking them both to the side as a hulking figure drops into the corridor where they had just been. Poison leaks out of his skin across the floor, and the guards are screaming as they flee.
"Wait!"
"Let us get out of here first!"
"Please!"
Luffy turns to face his new opponent, wheezing slightly from his earlier battles. Bon Kurei hovers beside him, vibrating in nervousness.
That's…probably not a good sign.
But Luffy only has one goal and three guiding principles to get there, and this guy is in his way.
No matter how strong he is, Luffy will be stronger.
Save Ace.
Keep breathing.
Try not to die.
"We need to get out of here, Mugi-chan! That's Magellan, the Chief Warden of Impel Down!"
All the more important Luffy defeats him here and now.
"It's fruitless," the man rumbles. "Guards and staff are blocking all your exits, and the fires are still burning where they are not. Your little rebellion ends here, Mugiwara."
Luffy narrows his eyes and readies himself. He will not fall here – regardless of what this poison guy says.
"Magellan's poison attacks the nervous system, Mugi-chan~!"
Doesn't sound good, Luffy thought, eyeing the approaching poison warily. He shakes himself and bares his teeth in defiance. No fear. He will not let this guy scare him.
"I'm going to crush you," Magellan promises. "And your spirit. You will tell me how you got in here, Mugiwara, and then, I'll grant you the mercy of death."
Luffy dips his head.
Magellan is a logia user, so his only hope is the kairoseki pipe in his hands – a fortuitous gift that Luffy will be keeping when all of this is over. He doesn't know how effective it will be against Magellan's long-range powers, which means this will be a brawl.
A brawl with a man whose touch is corrosive.
Luffy has faced worse odds.
"You won't even be able to pry that secret from my corpse, Mag-guy," Luffy growls. Bon Kurei twitches but remains firm.
"We won't have access to an antidote, Mugi-chan~!"
"Okay," Luffy acknowledges. Reinforcements roar down the hallway, and the duo exchanged a glance. Bon Kurei's shoulders relax minutely, and he faces their new targets.
He's weaving in and out of violet globs, darting and ducking and flowing like a raging river.
He deepens his breathing, pulling air into his lungs and expelling it long and low and constant. It's like he's dancing, not fighting and absently, he recognises that Bon Kurei does both. His exhaustion fades as he moves like every breath sharpens his senses. Magellan strikes faster and heavier – hastier now as Luffy continues to avoid him. It is incredibly unfortunate for the warden that Luffy has discovered this movement and discovered his breathing.
He could do this all day.
Poison explodes right beside his feet, but Luffy is already airborne in an attempt to avoid it.
Magellan grins, wide and terrifying as he bellows a laugh.
"Game over, Mugiwara."
The poison hydra surges towards him, and Luffy feels it. It's like there's static in his soles and dew in his fingertips. It's like his palms are full of embers and his toes full of stones. His eyes feel like they're swirling, and there are flowers on his tongue. Luffy rolls in the air, and his pipe crackles with energy, black lightning arcing off of him, and the poison hydra crumbles to the floor. Magellan is forced to hastily defend as Luffy's pipe slams into his forearms.
Magellan eyes him with something like caution but more like hate. There is a familiar look in his eye, a burning desire to eradicate Luffy, that is almost comforting.
And their fight resumes, black flashes and deadly kairoseki meeting hardened skin and poison.
There's always been something about him, Luffy acknowledges. Something about him that makes people's skin crawl. Something that registers as other – as a monster, as a freak, as a threat – as something that needs to be destroyed.
Luffy knows that he's human – or at least he thinks he is – as far as species go, but Luffy has never cared if he is or isn't. It's not like whether he's human or not has ever mattered – King of the Pirates is King of the Pirates. They could be fishman, birdman, snakeman, cakeman, giant, dwarf, mink, whatever.
Luffy will be King of the Pirates – whether he does that with skin or scales is irrelevant.
He's met asshole fishfolk and nice fishfolk. He's met asshole Skypieans and nice Skypieans. He's met nice humans and asshole humans.
One group of bandits tried to kill him when he was seven, and another raised him as best they could.
His grandfather and Coby and Smokey are just marines, but their comrades let loose a buster call on Robin's home.
Sabo was a loving brother – another noble shot him down.
The world is not black and white, and it has never been – not for Luffy.
There is free will, and there is choice, and it is those that determine the mark one leaves on the world.
Luffy will be King of the Pirates.
Luffy will protect what is his.
Luffy will save Ace.
How he gets there, well.
That depends on who gets in his way.
So Luffy doesn't resist the strength flowing through him as he dances through a hail of poison bullets, does not resist the itch in his skin and the ache in his eyes. The siren's song that has lulled him and driven him all his life is softer and clearer now than it ever has been. It's full of ancient tongues he doesn't recognise and secrets he will take to his grave. Magellan's heartbeat joins the symphony, a drumbeat loud and sincere in its intentions, and Luffy knows this is not an opponent whose life he can spare.
Magellan's empire is himself and the walls of Impel Down.
Luffy cannot leave either standing if he is going to save Ace.
He dives out of the way of a barrage of poison globs, fast violet balls that eat away at the snow and stone surrounded them, reshaping the very landscape of the prison.
The prisoners howl around him. Some screams are loud and never-ending as the Chief Warden's careless attacks corrode away limbs. Other cries are sharp and short, the lucky ones cut off as vocal cords disintegrate. Luffy brings his pipe up to protect himself as Magellan's dripping fist comes down upon his head. Poison explodes around him, cascading down in a waterfall, and it's a miracle his feet move as fast as they do as he hops to safety.
"You are weak, Mugiwara!"
Magellan's claim is punctuated as a poison hydra lunges, biting into his side and burning away flesh.
Luffy screams. Blood pools in the snow beneath his feet, and he almost falls to his knees. Magellan has stopped approaching, his eyes regaining that confidence that had dimmed at Luffy's resilience. The warden looks reassured of his superiority. The air ripples around him, a fuchsia haze rising off his skin and drifting towards Luffy.
It reminds him of Smokey and his white whisps, but this one is more dangerous and deadly. It snakes around Luffy, and Luffy is far too dazed to run.
"Even now, my poison leaks into your veins and the very fabric of your soul."
Luffy snarls, fighting to regain his breathing, fighting to bring back feeling into his lungs.
"I'm going to save Ace," he vows, and conviction burns bright in him. He promised he would save Ace. Ace promised he would not leave Luffy alone. They both vowed to live without regrets.
And Luffy had made good on both his promises so far.
This poison bastard would not make him break them.
"You will never save Fire Fist!"
There's so much malicious glee in Magellan's voice, and it pisses Luffy off. He sounds so confident and self-assured when Luffy knows deep in his bones that he is wrong.
Luffy will save Ace.
He will.
A poison hydra lunges at Luffy, and he dodges. It rams straight into another cell, creating a gaping hole for the prisoners inside to escape through. Or they could if the poison hadn't consumed them too. Luffy has bigger problems.
It is just Luffy's luck that his dodge lands him in another cloud of poison. He tries to lunge at Magellan and out of the smog, but his hands are trembling, and his arms refuse to lift, twitching helplessly as Luffy tries to breathe and hold his breath at the same time.
"Not even your hands will respond to you now, Mugiwara. That smog will rob you of everything."
Magellan bellows cruelly as Luffy wheezes, stumbling out of the poison haze.
"Your brother's screams truly are the sweetest. You should have heard him beg for his hands, Mugiwara…before I corroded them off!"
Luffy freezes, eyes widening as horror swirls like a riptide in his stomach.
They.
Did.
What.
To.
His.
Brother?
"Not much of a Fire Fist now!"
That darkness in Luffy, that wrongness he was born with, that weakness he could never lose, burns like frostbite. It's inky and sharp and gluttonous and malicious. It wants out.
Luffy wants out.
Luffy allows himself to stumble towards the wall before rapidly kicking off it and firing himself towards Magellan. There's a crack of black lightning, and Magellan slams into the wall, his solar plexus shattered. He chokes in shock and pain. Luffy's pipe is still lying several metres away, and Luffy just introduced a logia user to blunt forced trauma and broken bones with his bare hands.
"How dare –"
Luffy's own snarl cuts him off.
"How dare you touch my brother!"
There is something like fear in Magellan's gaze when he looks at Luffy, and Luffy doesn't know what he sees – doesn't care what he sees. The fear is enough for Luffy.
Magellan should be afraid.
Luffy is going to make this hurt.
"You are nothing! Your brother is nothing! Cursed blood… he's no more worthy of life than an amoeba."
Luffy roars.
It's proud and furious and ravenous and powerful. It shakes Impel Down to its foundations, dust and bricks falling from the ceiling as the whole jail trembles in the face of Luffy's wrath.
Years Luffy has spent dragging Ace out of his own head, out of the cesspit of others' ignorance and blind hate. He's showered him in love and affection, desperate to show his brother that Luffy is so God damn grateful he's alive. He's the greatest treasure Luffy has beyond even his hat, and Luffy knows that Ace still doesn't believe it. It hurts. It hurts that Ace cannot see himself the way Luffy does, and once Luffy was too weak and too stupid to deal with such blasphemy, but now, he's going to teach the world manners.
Starting with Magellan.
Luffy ducks beneath a poison hydra and lunges forward, spinning to deliver a powerful heel to Magellan's family jewels, knocking him into the ceiling. He falls to the floor, and Luffy is upon him, delivering punch after punch after kick after kick and throwing Magellan into walls and rocks, redefining the landscape of Level 5 of Impel Down. Magellan manages to score at Luffy's side, and Luffy flies away, landing neatly beside his pipe, a guttural growl rattling through the floors.
The poison bastard rises, as battered and bruises as Luffy, and glares down at him. The fury in the warden would have frightened him, but the man's anger and hatred were a mere candle wick to Luffy's volcano. Poison rises around him, forming several hydras to loom over Luffy like Luffy was prey like they were a threat to Luffy.
Magellan is glowing brightly, oozing poison in a steady flow that trembled with each shudder of rage from the warden. Dark eyes meet Luffy's own, and those beady eyes are bleeding violet.
"Cockroaches like you two should have been drowned at birth!"
The hydras lunge in a wave towards Luffy, but he barely registers it over the one roaring in his ears.
Luffy knows what it's like to drown.
He knows that fear.
He knows that helplessness.
He knows that desperation.
Ace would not endure that, would not be threatened with that. Not on his watch.
There's nothing to stop his rage, not even his breathing – frighteningly steady and constant despite his torrent of tormented emotions. His pipe is in his hands, and he's slicing through the poison wave and ducking beneath Magellan's guard.
Blood gurgles in Magellan's throat, and Luffy wheezes. The jagged end of the sea-stone pipe protrudes out of Magellan's back. The metal pierces from under the giant man's rib cage and straight through his heart, tearing through bone, muscle, and organ to break through the other side.
Luffy's arms shake from the force and the aftershock, having narrowly missed Magellan's corrosive fist aimed straight at his head to get the right angle. He tugs experimentally and then heaves, ripping the pipe straight out of Magellan's chest.
A beat of silence.
Luffy's pipe connects with Magellan's face, and the warden flies backwards into the wall. Luffy lunges after him, and he brings the pipe down in the same place viciously, over and over and over again, determined to make sure Magellan never stands up again.
"Mugi-chan~!"
That voice is familiar.
"It's over, ne.
You did it. He's dead."
Luffy snarls – something feral and deadly and beyond saving. It's the madness he was born with and kept carefully stowed away under lock and key, a key held in his older brother's hands. The same hands bond somewhere deep within this prison, likely corroded away by the bastard beneath his feet, and Luffy is going to make sure he pays.
"He's dead, Mugi-chan."
Luffy has let too many opponents live to come back to haunt him at this point. He's made too many mistakes. He won't make it again.
A familiar face appears in front of him, and Luffy stops mid-swing to avoid striking him.
Bon Kurei.
"We need to get moving if we want to save Ace, ne?"
Save Ace.
Save Ace.
Save Ace.
Bon Kurei reaches forward slowly, one hand extended with fingers reaching towards Luffy's face.
Luffy's eyes narrow. His skin itches furiously, and his head aches. All he wants to do is lunge away, but Bon Kurei is not a threat – he is Nakama – and Luffy remains in place and watches. Soft fingers meet his forehead, and the pain in his head eases like a valve opening, and Luffy can't help but croon in relief. He presses his head forward tentatively, and Bon Kurei's hand remains steady and gentle. The itching fades a little, dulls down to the furious burning and aching from the middle of his fight with Magellan and Luffy forces himself to breathe again. Forces himself to breathe deeply through his whole body.
His heartbeat slows, his uncompromising fury eases, and he opens his eyes to stare down at Magellan's corpse. There's no head left – not really, and there's so much blood oozing from the hole in Magellan's chest that Luffy's feet are soaked in the grim garnet liquid.
He lifts his eyes to meet the gaze of Bon Kurei, and he smiles a bright and bloody smile. Bon Kurei blinks and smiles back.
"I'm so happy you're alive, Lu-chan~!" And guess who I found?!"
Lu-chan?
Well, Luffy has been called worse.
"I'm happy you're alive too, Bon-chan. Shishishishishi!"
Bon-chan wraps his arm around Luffy's torso, and Luffy wraps his arm around Bon-chan's shoulders.
He can feel his friend's exhaustion, and it vibrates through his bones. They need to rest, but they need to keep moving.
"Look who I found, Lu-chan~!"
He tilts his head and stares where Bon-chan is pointing and blinks.
"Lu-chan meet Iva-sama and Inazuma-sama!"
"Nice to meet you.
Shishishishishi!" Luffy grins widely even as he tucks Bon Kurei further behind him, positioning himself between his friend and the newcomers. Iva's eyes widen, and tears seem to gather there before the okama-queen blinks them away.
"Bon-boya here said you were breaking out your brother, Mugiwara-boya?"
"Hai," Luffy confirms, stretching his leg gingerly. "He's right below us."
Inazuma blinks.
"There are entrances and elevators, Mugiwara."
"They are for people with no imagination," Luffy rebukes, testing the ground beneath his feet.
It's weakened by the corrosive power of Magellan but safe for them to destroy. "I have to save Ace, but Bon-chan said you were able to heal people.
Please heal him."
There's silence.
"No, Lu-chan –"
"Such bonds!" Ivankov sobs and Luffy blinks at him as he sneezes into a giant purple handkerchief.
"Such spirit. Mugiwara-boya, I will help you both. But you need to sleep."
"No."
"Mugiwara-boya – "
"I have to save Ace."
"You are going to fall over," Ivankov reprimands, but there's no anger there or judgement.
"One hour, Mugiwara-boya. Sleep for one hour. I will watch over you and Bon-boya."
Luffy does not trust either of them, but he glances over at Bon Kurei and nods. He trusts Bon-chan, and he trusts Bon-chan's judgement.
Ivankov sniffles again.
"One hour," he agrees, and a needle pricks his skin, and he knows no more.
"Bring whoever you want," Luffy says, facing Ivankov. The brief rest has done nothing for his energy levels, but it healed the horrific gash on Bon-chan's stomach, and Luffy no longer feels like his insides are about to fall out. He can feel his limbs again – they hurt more than anything he's ever felt in his life, but Luffy can feel them, and he can move them, and that's all that matters right now.
"Bon-chan and I are going down to get Ace – we'll meet you on Level 4."
"Good luck, Mugiwara-boya! You too, Bon-boya!"
Luffy grins savagely.
"See you there."
And together, he and Bon-chan smash through the floor of level 5.
The ceiling of level 6 caves in, and Bon Kurei falls beside him – still here despite everything – and they're met with terrified screams as they land on the pile of rubble.
Luffy lets his aura flare once more – determined to flatten the weaker ones and narrow down his opponents.
Level 6 is silent.
He can only imagine how he looks: skin heavily corroded and littered with burns and bruises. He doubts his face is recognisable at this point, and there's not a single inch of skin that does not hurt.
What this means for his future is a bridge to cross once they have escaped.
"ACE!"
He's met by silence, but as he sweeps his one working eye over the cells, he realises it's not because he was too late.
He meets familiar silver eyes, and relief surges through him even as he takes in the sheer horror on his brother's face.
He runs, bloody and burned feet smacking against the concrete as he rushes to his brother's cell, Bon Kurei keeping pace.
"You're alive," Luffy breathes. "I made it."
Ace is crying now, silent tears trickling down his face, and Luffy has questions, but now is not the time – even he knows this.
"The bars are kairoseki, Lu-chan!~"
Luffy reaches out and grasps the bars himself, testing them. More robust than any other metal in this place but not stronger than him.
Not when he's so close to his goal.
His grip tightens, and he draws on everything he has: his anger, his hatred, his hopelessness, his despair. He draws on Ace's anger and hopelessness and suffering and how fucking dare they do this to his brother –
And he pulls.
The kairoseki gives way beneath his sheer will – parting like the seas do as a sea king surfaces. He bends the bars until a hole large enough for him to carry Ace through opens before him.
"Luffy, what are you doing here!?" Ace hisses. His tears are pouring now, and he's shaking, and Luffy would punch him in revenge for all those years of Ace hitting him for being a crybaby if he wasn't so tired.
"I'm rescuing my brother," Luffy snapped, stepping through the cell and stalking towards his bound brother. "Dumbass."
"Get out of here, Luffy!
This is my adventure –"
"If this is your idea of an adventure, I am going to kick your ass into the new year."
Luffy feels himself soften slightly as he positions himself beside where Ace's hands are braced behind him. He stretches his jaw in preparation for what he must do. Ace still has his hands, so that poison bastard was lying, trying to get under Luffy's skin. A mistake the bastard would be regretting if he could. He can't pull here, and he's got no knife, so he's left with one option – again.
"Falling in battle chasing your dream is one thing Ace – being executed and accepting it because of something as stupid as blood is another."
Ace doesn't answer, so Luffy braces his teeth around the chain right beside Ace's hand.
"No one has the right to take your freedom, Ace – not even you."
And, with black teeth bleeding blue, he bites through kairoseki for the second time.
Ace's left arm drops, and he stares at it and Luffy in shock.
"What – ?!"
Luffy spits out what he can, chunks of kairoseki, chains landing on the floor of the cell as he moves to Ace's other hand.
"Busting you out of here."
And he does.
He pulls Ace to his feet, his brother staggering with weakness. How long has it been since his brother ate? How long since he slept? How long since they had allowed Ace his dignity?
Luffy didn't want to know the answer.
There were enough dead bodies already.
Ace tries to take a step forward and stumbles, nearly falling to his knees. Luffy catches him, the kairoseki on his wrists and Ace's own staying in effect.
"Just sleep, Ace," Luffy mutters, throwing him over his bad shoulder. He closes his eyes to stop himself from throwing up as a wave of nauseating pain rushes through him.
"Luffy put me down –"
"Get down yourself," Luffy snaps. He loves his brother, but they both know that if he could walk out of Impel Down himself, Ace would not have allowed Luffy to pick him up. He turns his gaze to the fish man that Bon Kurei has freed and narrows his eyes.
He's not a charitable person on the best of days.
And today is not a good day.
"Don't get in my way."
The fish man recoils, blinking at Luffy and his tone. Bon Kurei steps away from the fish man and to Luffy's side, hopping behind Luffy in understanding. Luffy relaxes. With him between his brother and friend and this fishman, he was more comfortable with their safety.
"I am Ace's Nakama."
Luffy scoffs.
"That means nothing."
Ace shifts on his shoulder.
"Lu –"
"The last Nakama you mentioned to me is the reason you're here."
That halts both Ace and the fishman. Bon Kurei hums.
"Lu-chan~! We need to go. I will keep an eye on him, ne?"
Bon Kurei's tone takes a chilled edge as he continues on.
"He won't be silly enough to try anything once he sees Level 5, will you fish-boy!?"
Luffy inclines his head and steps out of the cell, Bon Kurei and the fish man following him.
"My name is Jinbei, Luffy-san."
"Captain of the Sun Pirates."
"You've heard of me?"
Luffy smiles disarmingly at him over his shoulder and takes great pleasure when Jinbei's steps falter.
"You're a warlord."
He's a bit famous for running into them or kicking their asses.
"Ne, Lu-chan! How are we going to get up?"
It's a fair question, but Luffy still looks at Bon Kurei in mock disappointment. The okama laughs.
"Ooooh, Lu-chan!
That's wonderful!"
"Ne, fish-ossan?"
"It's Jinbei, Luffy-san."
Luffy smiles wickedly at the hole in the roof.
"Keep up."
And Luffy runs at the wall, running up it and kicking off it to catch hold of the side of the hole with one hand, his kairoseki pipe held gingerly in his teeth as he pulls himself up.
Bon Kurei lands beside him, Jinbei shortly after.
He races forward to the end of Level 5, where he knows their next hole is with Bon Kurei behind him, dodging pools of poison and corroding stones.
"What happened?" Jinbei managed out. Luffy jumps over the cooling corpse of Magellan, and he feels Ace stiffen on his shoulder.
"Nothing."
Because it really was.
"STOP THERE, MUGIWARA!"
A guttural snarl filled the hallway as Luffy felt his mouth curl into a frightening sneer. At the end of the hallway stands two vice-admirals – Luffy would never forget that number of markings as long as he lived – and they're blocking his path to freedom.
"I'm rescuing my brother!" he snapped. The desperation that had fuelled his battle with Magellan ignites anew in his stomach.
"Get out of my way!"
If he repeats it enough, someone might heed his warning.
"This is your grave, pirate scum."
Luffy bends his knees and dances his way through the hail of bullets, mimicking that long-forgotten dance of his childhood. He deepens his breathing, inhaling and exhaling every shred of determination and fury that has driven him this far.
He will not fall.
BRICK BREAK
Black coats his feet, streaking up his legs as he jumps, performing a terrifying screwdriver straight into the unprotected stomach of the nearest vice-admiral. The other is knocked back by a wave of water from Jinbei, and the skull of Luffy's target meets Bon Kurei's perfect ballet strike.
Luffy spins his pipe swinging, and the sea-stone cracks into the side of the other vice-admiral's head.
They land as one, and Ace is still on his shoulder.
"Let me down, Lu.
Let me run with you."
His tone is firm, and Ace tries to push himself off – still ridiculously weak, and Luffy's nerves are shot to hell. Every protective instinct is demanding he keep Ace held to him, but he lets his brother down regardless.
"One stumble, and you're back over my shoulder," Luffy grumbles but presses against Ace firmly and breaths in his scent briefly before continuing their run. Ace's laugh is raw and tearful. No one mentions it.
"Always so demanding, Lu.
I'm the older one, aren't I?"
Luffy grins brightly in response, and Ace's face relaxes, a smile of his own forming as he catches up to Luffy.
"You've got a lot to tell me."
"Once we're free."
"Yeah," Ace chokes.
"Once we're free."
Minotaur soldiers leap down their escape hatch, and Luffy snarls again. He's reached his limit. Even he can't fake that anymore. He ducks under the swipe of an axe and slams his pipe into exposed kneecaps before kicking the beast's jaw, bone-crunching beneath the force of his strike. Ace punches another away, far too feeble to be full strength but more than enough to pin the creature in a crater beside Luffy's.
A third crumples, his skull caving in beneath Luffy's broken and mangled left hand, and a fourth meets his end with a pipe straight through his throat. An eye blink, and Luffy ducks beneath an axe as he rips his staff out of the still-warm body beneath him and slams it into the stomach of a fifth, sending him flying down the hall the way they'd come. Fighting rages around him, and Luffy continues to run, his movement bringing Jinbei and Bon Kurei with him. A brief stutter of footsteps and Luffy grabs Ace out of the path of his opponent-to be and vaults into the ceiling, pulling them into the wreckage of level 4.
Yeah, Luffy was not letting Ace distract them from escaping.
"You know your brother well, Luffy-kun."
"OI!"
"Let's get out of here before we face the whole navy, eh?"
This shuts Ace up, and his older brother moves faster to keep pace with him.
Level 4 is burning, and as Ace steps onto the burning floor, they are reminded of the sea-stone on his wrists. Luffy scoops up his brother into a fireman's carry, his feet already a burnt and destroyed mess for him to be bothered. Jinbei sends a wave along the floor, extinguishing most of them, but Luffy refuses to let Ace go.
They're darting through and over corpses again, and Luffy is far too tired to count, but Ace's grip tightens and tightens, and he knows Ace is.
Three uniforms launch towards them, and the burning within Luffy roars forward to reach them.
"IMPEL DOWN IS SURROUNDED, MUGIWARA! YOU ARE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED! THIS IS WHERE YOUR ESCAPE ENDS!"
And Luffy is angry.
Luffy is wrathful.
Luffy wants the world to burn.
He meets the first vice-admiral head-on, and he's weaving in and out of punches with a speed and strength he should not be able to maintain now, not with Ace in his grasp, but he does nonetheless. His cargo is far too precious to be harmed, and there is no universe in which Luffy lets his brother be hurt again. Kairoseki cracks into the man's chest, and Luffy can feel it cave in slightly, the man flying back and into the wall. He chases him, and his pipe connects where it should, and he spins around to feel Bon Kurei at his side.
UNISON RAID: GOLEM STOMP
Flesh and bone crack and splatter beneath them, and if Bon Kurei's legs are stained with blood, Luffy cannot imagine what he looks like. They spin to face their other opponents, but Jinbei and Ivankov are there, taking down the vice admirals like they haven't been trapped in hell for seas knows how long. Crocodile – where did he even come from – hurries in their wake, sand flowing and coiling as he breaks down what the others miss. Luffy focuses on getting to the third floor, and he knows the inferno will only get worse. He bunches his muscles and leaps upwards, this time managing to clear the edge without needing to let go of his pipe.
Guards charge towards him, and Luffy places Ace gently on the floor where the fire doesn't rage and steps forward, pipe ready. The same itch from his fight against Magellan rises under his skin. He doesn't fight it – doesn't want to – and he lets himself become whole in a way he's never felt – always so disjointed and awkward like he never finished growing. The vice admiral falters in his run, eyes bulging in horror and a cancer stick falling into the flames.
"What are you – ?"
He never finishes his question because Luffy doesn't hesitate. His pipe connects with the vice admiral's head, and his kick slams into an exposed throat. Blood sprays into the air and against his face. He's soaked head to toe in blood and burns, so he follows the man's stumble, chasing every vulnerability and weak point until he knows the man won't rise again.
A fist cracks against Luffy's head, and it feels like Gramps' fist of love, but he cracks his opponent's knee caps in retaliation. The blonde kneels before him in the flames briefly before Luffy sends him into the ceiling with an uppercut that bends his jaw.
Debris rains down, drowning out the dying sounds of battle as the bodies of three other vice admirals join their comrades on the cracked floor.
Ace struggles to his feet. Luffy moves, just about ready to swing him over his shoulders and take off once more. The air tingles, static racing over his skin and the temperature skyrockets, and Luffy feels like he's falling into the chamber of a volcano. He grabs Ace and jumps, grasping onto a make-shift stalactite as magma floods the floor where they had just been. His comrades were only moments behind him, Bon-chan yelping as his prison jumpsuit was singed in his hasty escape.
Moments later, a wave solidifies the molten rock beneath their feet. Luffy concedes that bringing Jinbe was not a bad idea. They were going to need him for this fight.
Their opponent is powerful – his presence smothering and burning, like the same poisonous smog that surrounded Magellan, only this one is 1000 degrees hotter and infinitely stronger.
This man could stand on the same stage as Gramps, Luffy acknowledges, and he knows he's years away from being able to touch his grandfather in combat. Ace is tense in his arms, and Luffy knows it's more than their repeated near-death experiences.
Breaking out of prison is infinitely more complicated than breaking into it.
"That's Admiral Sakazuki!
The Red Dog!"
Luffy listens to his allies' conversation as he struggles to summon the necessary energy to fight.
"That's not good – he ate the Magu Magu no mi!"
So Luffy can't touch this one either without his pipe – and he will probably get melted getting in close.
"That bastard never stops until he catches his prey," Crocodile hisses. "I should have known this was going too well."
Well, with that attitude, it was bound to happen.
"This is the end of the line for you cursed brats," Akainu rumbles, a broad grin on his face. "I must thank you, Mugiwara. Originally I was going to have to watch as Gold Roger's devil spawn was executed. Now, I get the pleasure of eradicating his cursed blood from the Earth myself. Purging this world of evil… it's what I was born to do!"
There are few things in this world that Luffy hates: cherry pies, Nakama killers, his Nakama crying.
It's a relatively short list. But this, this is something Luffy loathes.
"Ace is my brother," Luffy snaps. It's short and relatively quiet, but it echoes through the prison like the command of a king, and it's a claim and a reassurance, a reminder and a promise. "I am getting him out of here, and you are in my way."
Akainu's smile turns nasty.
"It really is delicious to witness the fall of stubborn, fanciful fools like you. I am going to enjoy burning your hopes to the ground. This is your grave, Mugiwara. You and your brother's."
"Jinbe," Luffy calls, shifting his grip and readying himself. Ace clings tighter. The fishman blinks and turns to him. Luffy's eyes are shadowed, and whatever grotesque expression his lips have twitched into abates the terror in his comrades' eyes slightly. Ivankov smiles widely. Crocodile snorts, and Luffy can feel a twisted sense of fondness from him. "You're on extinguishing duty."
"Well," Crocodile sighs, sounding put out and despairing. The escape has stitched them all together with a thread of fire and blood, and it's no wonder that they're all part of that same cloth of insanity now. "If we're going to go out…."
"May as well with a bang, Crocy-boy! HEEHAW!"
Luffy glances at Bon-chan with his good eye and swings his right foot towards the ceiling.
Bon-chan follows the trajectory with his gaze and sees what Luffy does – sees their hope, and his friend smiles wide and bloody.
"Hai, Lu-chan!"
Luffy tenses his muscles, and the escapees lunge towards Akainu.
It's a losing battle, and they all know it.
Jinbe is their hope here, together with Croccy, and it's resulted in their battle being fought on two fronts. Ivankov leads the melee, with the okama queen and Ace using the black stuff to hit Akainu. Luffy distracts, working with Bon-chan to direct the fight, landing blows against Akainu's head and knees with his kairoseki pipe. Bon-chan tackles Ace out of the way of a magma wave, and Jinbei is there, a wave of water crashing into Akainu and sending the admiral back.
Luffy follows in a flash, using the fish-man as a springboard and driving his kairoseki pipe into Akainu's nose.
He almost doesn't make it.
Magma surges around him, and Luffy just manages to twist and roll out of the way in a hasty landing that jars fractured bones in his legs.
Pain explodes in him, and he stumbles, nearly falling into the trap of magma if it wasn't for Bon-chan.
"How far are we?"
"30 metres, Lu-chan."
Luffy grits his teeth.
That's too far.
Bon-chan places him down gently, and Luffy struggles to right himself as the cool mud sticks to his feet. He blinks down in surprise.
Oh.
"Crazy idea time."
Bon-chan laughs, and Luffy grins.
"Finally."
Luffy springs onto Crocodile's back, the ex-warlord stumbling as Luffy's momentum carries them out of the way of Akainu's violent rampage. Jinbe and Ivankov follow, the three exchanging punches and blows as Akainu continues to block their exit. Fortunately, it drove Akainu closer to their goal.
"What the hell, Mugiwara!?"
"Combine your sand with Jinbe," Luffy ordered, blunt and tired and leaving no room for arguments.
Crocodile's eyes narrow obstinately, and Luffy jabs him with his pipe. "Push him back with it."
"What more will it do together than separate!?"
Luffy spots an opening and leaps off Crocodile's back towards the wall. He plants his feet against the singed stone and launches himself forward to connect his pipe with Akainu's raised magma fist.
It's fascinating, the way instead of melting the pipe, the kairoseki solidifies the admiral's arm, hardens magma into human skin and cloth and smacks into it. The admiral's arm gleams black in response, but Luffy can hear the small crack of bone and revels in the knowledge that it hurt.
Ivankov knocks him into the ceiling and out of the way of Akainu's retaliation, and Luffy somehow manages to gain a grip on the cracked tile. He hadn't caused Akainu to stagger, but he had allowed his allies to recover and get out of range. Getting out of this alive was more important than Luffy kicking the admiral's ass.
Sheer pettiness and desperation weren't going to defeat Akainu. Not today anyway. And unlike Ace, Luffy was mountain bandit enough to know which battles were worth fighting and which fights were worth conceding.
Dadan was the only mother he would acknowledge in any capacity. If nothing else, he refused to let her lose another son.
One was enough.
He was also mountain bandit enough to know that you had to use whatever you could, do whatever you could to survive. If you can't find anything, make something.
A wave of mud slams into Akainu like a swamp tsunami. Luffy feels a vindictive smugness rise in his chest as the admiral is forced backwards, skidding back several metres before righting himself. Luffy's eyes narrow, and he lunges again, pipe swinging in a deadly arc. Bon-chan lunges from behind Akainu, and the admiral spins to meet them, magma surging around his fists as he strikes. Both he and Bon-chan are knocked away by a Death Wink, flying out of Akainu's range just as the smouldering admiral is engulfed by a torrent of mud. He is blasted back nearly ten metres, and he's glowing now, irrepressible rage bursting forward as his devil fruit reacts. Luffy felt like crowing in delight as he watched how some of that mud didn't quite come off. He darts towards Jinbe, landing neatly on the fishman's shoulders and murmurs quietly, "Aim of the legs."
And then he's flying towards Akainu once more, the Red Dog turning on Crocodile, who had been caught in a magma plume. Ace is there, too, offering a distraction with Ivankov as the ex-warlord regains his bearings.
Luffy ducks between his allies and cracks his pipe into Akainu's gut, unnoticed in the mayhem. The air ignites around him. Luffy twists and uses his pipe as a brace as Akainu lashes out. His fist is molten and glowing in the darkness, far brighter than the flames that still burn through Impel Down.
"LUFFY!"
He sails through the air and crashes to the ground, landing on the fractured ground that buckles slightly under the impact. He wants to gag on the volcanic air, the reek of sulphur and carbon gas mixes with the stench of burning flesh, and he doubts he could ever get it out of his nose. He glances up blearily, and all he can see is this flow of magma surging towards him like Magellan's hydra, and he can't make his legs move fast enough.
He blinks. Ace appears in front of him, a grisly smile on his face and a hole in his chest. He blinks again, and the vision is gone, but Akainu's fist is bearing down on him. He feels that sense of repeated mistakes in his gut, nauseating foolishness that prevents him from eating for days and weeks sometimes, and he roars.
It's a sound like rumbling thunder, and there's a crash of something far below – many somethings – and the prison shudders in terror. Pain lances up his legs, but he pushes himself out of the road of the magma train, carrying his stupid, overprotective, self-sacrificing, bumbling, dumbass brother out of the way.
He did not come all this way to fail here.
Akainu lands precisely where he had been kneeling before, and Luffy can't scold Ace into the next century right now.
Mud surges around Akainu's legs and instantly solidifies as Akainu tries to burn his way out.
Horror etches into Akainu's face as he realises that his legs have become trapped within the mafic prison of his own making.
UNISON RAID: GOLEM STOMP
Black lightning surges around Luffy as he pushes himself off the ground and launches towards the ceiling, Bon-chan mirroring him from the other side of their trap. Their feet, streaked with determination and spirit, connect with the buckling ceiling above them, a mess of man-made stalactites and kairoseki and volcanic rock. Ace, Jinbe and Ivankov bolt. The entire roof gives way, and Luffy grabs Bon-chan's leg and swings him out of the debris, kicking off a falling stalactite to propel himself to safety. They roll, and they get up sprinting, the ceiling breaking and crumbling before them as they race for the exit towards an elevator they know isn't functional. Jinbe and Ivankov make it to the platform first. Ivankov's underlings – Luffy would love to know where they were sixty seconds ago – are huddled together, watching the destruction in horrified awe. Luffy and Bon-chan are a little way behind the others. Luffy can still feel the floor giving way beneath his feet. Ace stumbles – a brick to the head, sometimes Luffy wishes he could throw a brick at Ace's head – and Luffy scoops him up before anyone can even react. He jumps, Bon-chan beside him, and they land heavily. Luffy nearly falls to his knees at the agony in his legs, but his brother is cradled to his chest, and he refuses to drop him.
Jinbe, Crocodile and Ivankov stare at the destruction behind them. Luffy won't look back – can't look back, and he's already bracing himself for a climb to the remainder of the ceiling above them.
"One more floor."
It seems to break them out of their trance, their eyes snapping to him. Luffy ignores the emotions there, refuses to waste energy deciphering them when he barely has the strength to stand. He breaths in deeply and checks Ace's pulse.
Unconscious.
That's okay.
That's all he needs.
One more floor.
Then whatever awaits them outside.
But first.
One more floor.
The inferno blazes on.
Luffy can barely feel his limbs. Exhaustion has a firm grip on him, furiously pulling and tugging to try and drag him down into the depths of those inky black waves curling in his vision.
He won't fall here, won't let this all be for nothing.
Ace is slung over his shoulder, and Luffy focuses on half carrying, half dragging his unconscious brother to safety. Bon Kurei is not far ahead, barely visible to Luffy's dazed, blurred sight, but he can feel him in the air with a certainty that echoes his dream.
"Come on, Luffy-kun!
We are almost there!"
He knows. It's the only thought keeping him pushing forward, preventing his mangled legs from giving out and giving in.
"Mugi-boya, look out –"
Ivankov's warning is late, but they're all exhausted. Luffy feels no disappointment or anger at the slip. But slip they did, and that spotty vice-admiral – the one Luffy thought he'd taken care of and doesn't that just burn (another failure) – lunges out of the flames.
The man is burnt almost beyond recognition, but he lunged at Ace – attempted to kill Ace – and any sympathy Luffy may have mustered combusts at the notion. Whirling around, Luffy releases his regal fury, eyes glowing a royal blue and purple.
"GO. TO. SLEEP!"
The vice-admiral crumples beneath the weight of Luffy's will, eyes closing and knees collapsing as he falls to the floor, mere centimetres from his target. Luffy's command carries across the floor, and Iva, Jinbei and Crocodile stagger. Some of their allies' collapse like they've been shot, and it's only their absolute desire to be free that pulls them together.
There's silence in Impel Down now, screams and charging soldiers no longer audible over the raging wildfire.
Ace whimpers – whimpers – on his shoulder. Luffy pulls him closer and continues to run, dragging them along Level 1 through fire and smoke and onwards towards freedom.
It's night when Luffy drags Ace out of prison. The stars are brilliant and numerous and bright above them, and there's a pod of whale sharks ducking and diving and breaking the surface far below them.
Impel Down burns behind them, flames chewing through steel and flesh, and the aroma of burning skin and bone is stuck in his nose.
They're surrounded.
Luffy counts six warships but with several vice and rear admirals down in the bowels of hell behind them, along with one admiral; it's hard to tell what else is out there.
The whale sharks begin to attack the ships at Jinbei's command. Luffy can see Jinbei, Ivankov and Crocodile searching and commandeering a ship to escape alongside their various underlings. Luffy's staff meets cannon fire as volley after volley shatters the ground around them.
They can get a ship – that's not the problem. The gates are shut, and Luffy is in no condition to run – for all the strength he is showing as he lives up to his grandfather's title.
He's desperate – they all are – and he's been desperate since he first learned of his brother's execution back on Amazon Lily. Still, the sheer icy fear in his bones cannot compare to the glacial terror and desperation in him now.
The command comes from deep within the oceans of his soul. It carries the voices that sing to him from dusk till dawn. The word is filled with starlight and moondust and sunrises, collected from the inhales and exhales of every living thing.
RISE
The world twitches in his grasp.
He's never wanted to rule anything. He's only ever wanted to be free.
But he's a pirate.
He's a captain.
He's a king.
"Lu-chan! Over here!"
Luffy hoists Ace higher and runs towards Bon-chan – he's almost completely blind now, but he knows where Bon-chan is (he always knows where his Nakama are), and he leaps.
The flight through the air is terrifying without the reassurance of his devil fruit. He spares a thought of apology towards all his Nakama for the trauma he's undoubtedly put them through.
They will be relieved to know he won't be doing it to them again.
The air shifts around him, and he swings his pipe, the metal creaking as it connects with a cannonball destined to send him and his brother into the seas below.
Luffy had never put any stock in destiny.
He lands on the deck and stumbles, bracing himself to protect Ace. They hit the floor, his older brother against his chest. Ace lifts his head slightly, and Luffy can picture him looking at him. The older D is likely blinking blearily, pulling himself back into the waking world, and Luffy is so so glad he's alright.
"Lu…"
Luffy smiles and pulls his hat over his back – it's singed, he can feel, but everything is in place, from the structure to the straw to the red ribbon, and he knows they're going to be okay. He places it on his brother's head and pushes him off.
"Nearly there, Ace.
Told you I'd rescue you."
"So you did," Ace breathes. There's something in his tone – awe, fondness, shock and far too many other emotions for Luffy to unpack right now. "Wait, what are you – ?"
"Just gotta clear the way, Ace-nii. Look after boshi, ne?"
He rises to his feet slowly, burns and bruises and shredded skin and flesh protesting every movement.
RISE.
The world buckles.
Still not enough.
"Ivankov," he utters.
The okama appears in front of him, and Luffy can't help but smile. He likes this man – he understands Luffy. He understands the difference between things worth living for and things worth dying for. If he wasn't so loyal to Dragon, he thinks they could have been friends, maybe even Nakama.
Instead, Luffy turns towards the gate.
"Send me up."
Ivankov seems to tremble.
"Are you crazy, Mugi-boya!? That will kill you – !"
"Have we got a better idea?" Luffy manages out, aware of his dwindling time frame, the pursuing marines and the towering Gates of Justice before them. No one volunteers anything as cannon fire continues to rain down upon them. They're infinitely lucky no one has managed to board yet.
"Besides," he continues, trying to deepen his breathing right down to his toes and out through his nose. "I'm going to be King of the Pirates."
Ivankov sounds suspiciously like he's sniffling, but Bon-chan grabs him, arms trembling.
"Ready, Lu-chan~!"
Bon Kurei throws him.
Ivankov winks.
Luffy flies towards the gates. Wind rushes past him like blades, biting into his ruined skin and threatening to drive him off course. But the power of Ivankov's Death Wink combined with Jinbei's Fishman Karate will not be halted by the mere wind. He focuses on his desperation and his conviction – his strongest emotions now – and the three guiding principles that carried him through Impel Down:
Save Ace.
Keep breathing.
Try not to die.
No flimsy Gate of Justice would stand in his way.
Blue and purple streaked behind his eyes, and Luffy screams black lightning as he throws his body forward. His left fist leads the charge as his right begins a follow through – the most important punch he will ever throw in his life.
JUPITER CANNON
There is a moment on impact where the gates resist him – fight back in the name of Absolute Justice. Luffy is tired of that shit – he's tired of Absolute Justice and how absolutely unjust it is. He's going to tear it down. He will break these gates down in the name of his own justice. There is not a single thing he would not do, not a single thing he would not sacrifice, not a single person he would not destroy to protect his Nakama.
Absolute Justice is weak.
Luffy is strong.
Absolute Justice would not harm another of his Nakama nor take another Nakama from him.
Dadan.
Sabo.
Zoro.
Nami.
Robin.
Franky.
ACE.
And Luffy roars.
It comes from deep in his belly like a tsunami forming from seaquakes kilometres beneath the waves.
It's tectonic and raw and threatening and promising and dark and faithful, and it shakes the Earth to its roots.
"GET. OUT. OF.
MY. WAY!"
And Absolute Justice crumples beneath him, iron creaking and shrieking as the gate caves in, hinges popping and snapping as it falls into the sea.
Luffy plummets towards the water, and he smiles, a wide D. smile that makes kings and gods cower and pirates shiver.
He can feel Bon-chan and Ace approaching. The ship powers towards him through the waves as the escapees fend off frenzied cannon-fire as the marines realise what Luffy had told them from the start:
He would save Ace.
Damn the consequences.
Luffy knows they're too far away to help him.
But that's okay.
Luffy's has a track record for saving himself.
The world is just being stubborn.
RISE
His command rings once more, and the world finally obeys.
Instead of water, his body connects with cool, smooth scales, a monstrous head rising from the sea to catch him. It's not alone, Luffy feels, and in the distance, dozens and dozens of powerful presences wreak havoc on their pursuers.
"Thank you, Beasty."
There's a croon in the air that Luffy is too tired to translate as he turns his gaze back to the Impel Down to watch the flames climb higher and higher into the sky.
There's blood on his hands and kairoseki in his veins, but the grin on his face has never been wider and laughter bubbles in his throat.
This is one prison – an unbreakable stronghold of the Navy and a symbol of its superiority over the land, sea and sky. It's a warning, a gauntlet thrown and right now, Luffy does not care whether they heed it or not.
Take my brother again, and I will burn you to the ground.
A/N: Thank you for reading. Feedback is much appreciated. Have a great day.
Tryaurus