Chapter 12

Thanks for all the favorites, follows, and reviews. We've reached a milestone, you guys! I got my first flame. *wipes proud tear from eye* Thank you, LoganAlexander, for leaving that review. I couldn't message you directly to thank you, so here is my expression of gratitude. (Update: I believe the review in question has been deleted.)

For the record, I am always happy to receive comments of any kind, whether they are simply a "Thanks for the chapter," or a suggestion about grammar, pace, or constructive criticism. I will acknowledge even flamers because such is the way of life. If you feel the need to be that kind of person, you're going to have bigger problems in your life than backlash from a review on a fanfiction website. So, I'll let karma do what it do.

That being said, there are people out there much less able or willing to brush such words off like it's nothing. Because of this, I hope this very public message to you reaches you loud and clear. I do hope that, should you choose to continue reading this story (which I have never once claimed was perfect, by the way), you will find it more to your liking as the action picks up. If you choose to stop reading, that is also your choice. If you feel the need to continue reviewing, I would be more than happy to have a conversation with you about any thoughts you have; assuming, of course, that you are better able to calmly express your opinions.

Now, off to the new chapter!

"Thank you again for coming with us, Dalton-sama," Vivi said. She and Dalton were standing on the deck of one of the fastest ships of Alabasta. Kohza stood a little ways away. He had come along at the insistence of his father and Vivi had not turned him away. The crew manning the ship consisted of the Alabasta royal family's personal bodyguard and many sturdy workers. Finding people to volunteer for the journey to Marineford had been easy and Cobra had had to turn away several after all the positions had filled up. The people of Alabasta were still not entirely clear about what role the Straw Hat pirates had played in Crocodile's downfall, but they knew he was a friend of their princess. When the announcement came that Igaram would temporarily fill the role of steward while the king and princess made a trip to Marine Headquarters, people had rushed to volunteer for the journey.

Dalton, the leader of Drum Kingdom, had arrived the day before the crew left the island. He asked to accompany the envoy, sharing the story of the Straw Hats' actions on Drum. Vivi had openly welcomed him and her confirmation of Dalton's character was all Cobra had needed. The group left the next day and had been sailing ever since. The ship was a new design that decreased travel time by several days. They would reach Marineford in another week. When they arrived, they would be ushered to a public courtroom where they would present their case on Monkey D. Luffy's behalf. None of them had any beliefs that anything they said would allow Luffy to go free. It was also extremely unlikely that the Government would downgrade his sentence. Luffy had, after all, declared war on the World Government. But the envoy's main purpose was to stall. Vivi assured them that the rest of the crew would be staging some kind of rescue mission and the best way to help them was to give them more time. By law, the Marines had to hear them out and grant them a chance to speak on a Luffy's behalf. Any sentencing would have to be delayed until after the hearing.

"Of course, Vivi-hime" Dalton responded in his low voice. "You know what Luffy-san did for our country and for Chopper."

"What will you tell the Government officials about what he did?" Vivi asked.

"The truth," he answered. "At least, the main parts. I'll tell them that he helped overthrow a tyrant and gave my people hope again. What about your story? Will you tell them about your travels with him and his crew?"

Vivi sighed with frustration. "I want to but I can't. If they found out I traveled with pirates, our entire reign would be called into question. I'll just tell them what happened on Alabasta. The Straw Hats arrived, pursued by Baroque Works and sought out Crocodile after learning of his identity within the organization. Several of the crewmembers helped me garner my people's attention and defuse a bomb while Luffy himself took down Crocodile." She sighed again. "That's where it's going to get complicated because the Marines claimed that Smoker took him down. I don't know if they'll contest that part of the story. It all depends on who is overseeing the proceedings."

Dalton nodded thoughtfully. "Your father will be able to attest to Luffy-san's involvement. He told me that he was there when the confrontation occurred between the two."

"He was," Vivi confirmed. "And as king, his word will be more reliable than mine. But it doesn't really matter what happens because everyone will have rescued Luffy before we've even finished speaking."

"You have an awful lot of faith in them," Dalton said. "I know they're a capable bunch, but Impel Down is not an easy place to break into."

"I know they'll get him out," Vivi stated confidently. "That crew can do the impossible. They already stormed Enies Lobby."

Dalton nodded again. His relationship with the Straw Hat crew had been short-lived. He had merely glimpsed their collective power and capabilities but the little he did see promised that there was much more. His conversation with Doctor Kureha came back to him. She had laughed at the newspaper reporting Luffy's arrest, claiming that he wouldn't be in prison for very long. It was a rare thing to receive praise or recognition from Kureha and Dalton was surprised by her certainty. He now felt that she had been right, however. The crew was small but he held every confidence in them.

He was jolted awake by the screeching sound of the Sea Prism bars scraping along the concrete floor. Looking up, he watched as a burly guard walked into his cell warily. The guard was the same one that he had been dealing with since he arrived, however long ago that was. The man was quiet but more out of caution than personality. He always eyed Ace as if expecting him to pull an escape attempt at any moment, as if the Sea Prism shackles keeping him firmly rooted in place wouldn't be strong enough if he really tried. And try Ace had. His bloody wrists and throbbing shoulders could attest to that.

Jimbei was also awake and staring as the guard passed him by, skirting carefully to avoid getting any closer than necessary to the chained Warlord. In one hand, the guard held a bowl of what could barely pass as food. But it did the job of keeping Ace alive and that was its only purpose. He also held a container of water as he walked to the imprisoned Whitebeard commander. Behind him, on the opposite side of the bars, were about a dozen more guards. All were clutching weapons and staring at either Ace or other prisoners who were shouting at them for various reasons.

As the familiar burly guard drew up to Ace, he reached out a hand to tilt Ace's head back. Knowing the drill, Ace let his head fall back against the wall even as his body ached in protest. He prepared himself as the guard brought the bowl of food up to his lips and poured in the lumpy mess. Ace was forced to swallow at the pace set by the guard and did so with minimal amounts of coughing. After the meal was depleted, the water was next and that was swallowed much more eagerly.

Leaning back and closing his eyes to savor the feeling of a soothed throat, Ace heard the guard shuffling in front of him. Opening a curious eye, Ace stared as the man brought a newspaper from inside his jacket. An arrogant smirk was on the guard's face as he held up the paper for Ace to read. In his peripheral, Ace saw Jimbei's eyes narrow in confusion as he watched.

STRAW HAT LUFFY CAPTURED

Vice Admiral Garp captured the infamous criminal last week. The pirate was caught while he and his crew were attempting to bring down yet another Warlord. Vice Admiral Garp stopped the attack and subdued the pirates. The Straw Hat captain was arrested and sent to Impel Down, and the world is awaiting a sentence from the World Government. Monkey D. Luffy, the pirate who …

The headline alone was enough to make Ace's heart stop for a moment. After reading the first sentence, Ace wasn't sure if he was relieved or felt worse. If Garp had actually been the one to capture Luffy, then it could mean a number of things. But Ace doubted it had been the old man who had captured his unruly brother. Which meant it had been someone else and the fact that the Marines hadn't credited that person did not bode well. It was likely someone the World Government did not want to acknowledge too much and that pretty much narrowed it down to a pirate. Maybe it was even the Warlord Luffy had been fighting in the first place – and Ace would bet that that had been similar to the situation in Alabasta.

Ace's face must have shown his distress because the smirk on the guard's face only grew and he drew back the paper before Ace could finish reading it. He stuffed the paper back into his jacket and gathered the food and water containers before heading back to the door of the cell. He bent down and grabbed a second bowl and another water container. Ace watched as the guard tilted Jimbei's head back as well, tugging on his black hair roughly. Jimbei swallowed his meagre meal with minimal coughing and was barely able to contain his eagerness to gulp down the water. The guard then drew away with the dishes and walked out of the cell. As he closed and locked the Sea Prism bars, he looked Ace in the eye and spoke.

"You know what your sentence will be, Fire Fist. And your little brother is no slouch, either. Declaring war on the Government and fighting Warlords left and right," the guard shook his head as if Luffy were the stupidest man alive. "He shouldn't have done that. His sentence will almost certainly be the same. Maybe the two of you will have a double execution!"

Ace was pretty sure the guard wasn't expecting a response – he had been basically silent since arriving at Impel Down. So when Ace answered, the guard seemed taken aback for a moment. "How do you know that he's my brother?"

The burly man laughed. "Oh, that. That piece of information is the main buzz of gossip here lately. Apparently, the Government is concerned about upsetting Whitebeard and all your brothers' allies at the same time so they decided to give us a heads up." He laughed again and brought his face up against the bars, staring cruelly down at Ace. "As if even Whitebeard could break in here successfully. No, you and your brother aren't going anywhere until your dying days." He banged on the bars loudly before moving on to the next prisoner to administer their meal.

Ace closed his eyes and let the dread wash over him. Luffy, he thought. Even if Luffy himself didn't know, Ace was aware that Dragon was Luffy's father. He had no doubt that Sengoku knew that as well, what with Garp and the fleet admiral being so close. Ultimately, sentencing was not up to Sengoku but Ace knew that that little kernel of information would come out during deliberations. For that reason alone, Luffy's sentence would be the same as his. No wonder the Government had warned Magellan about Ace and Luffy's ties. They just upset Whitebeard, Dragon, and Shanks by imprisoning the two brothers and Ace got a small sense of satisfaction in confirmation that they were afraid.

That satisfaction was overwhelmed by Ace's own fear. Luffy had been captured and was in Impel Down. Dammit, Luffy, he thought. I fought Blackbeard so this exact thing wouldn't happen. The only silver lining that he could see was that they were in prison together. No way was he going to just sit back and let his little brother be executed. This gave Ace a reason to fight back, something he had had no intention of doing while it was just himself in prison. And from the small part of the paper he had read, Luffy's crew had not been mentioned. That gave him some hope that perhaps they hadn't been captured. Maybe they were planning their own rescue to get Luffy out of here. He had met them and knew they were a reliable bunch. They were as protective of each other as Whitebeard was of his whole crew. Ace took solace in that.

"Was he talking about Straw Hat Luffy?" Jimbei asked, startling Ace.

Looking at his Fishman companion, Ace replied, "Yeah. Luffy is my little brother. Apparently the cat is out of the bag as far the Marines are concerned and now that he's managed to get himself captured," Ace said, conveniently missing the fact that he had also been captured, "they're all up in arms about the situation. Luffy has some ties to strong people in the world and if the Marines know about them… well, it's no wonder they've told Magellan to stay on high alert."

Jimbei looked contemplative. He looked down at the ground in front of him, frowning. Ace saw this and asked, "Jimbei, do you know Luffy?"

The Fishman shook his head. "No," he said, "I've never met in myself. But I owe him a debt."

Confused now, Ace asked, "What do you mean?"

Jimbei sighed. "That kid got his first bounty after defeating Arlong in the East Blue, right?"

Ace scrunched his face up as he tried to remember what he knew about his brother's adventures prior to his entry on the Grand Line. "That sounds familiar. Wait, isn't Arlong the Fishman who was causing trouble?"

"Yes," Jimbei nodded. "He used to be one of my nakama." Ace looked at him in surprise. "I was part of the Sun Pirates, as you know. Arlong was on the crew as well. He… couldn't accept humans as readily as most of us could. He broke off with a number of other crew members and recruited a few more. They left the Grand Line. I knew he would cause trouble but I didn't stop him; he was my nakama. I didn't realize how much havoc they were wreaking until I read about Straw Hat's actions in taking him down. I owe your brother for doing something I was unable to accomplish myself."

To his surprise, Ace let out a chuckle. "Sorry," he began at Jimbei's confused look. "I'm just not at all surprised. Luffy has a knack for getting people on his side. Apparently, it even works when that person is on the other side of the world." He shook his head fondly before looking back up at Jimbei with a serious expression. "Jimbei, I have a favor to ask. Luffy… well, I'm fairly sure that his crew is on their way as we speak to rescue him from this place. I'll make sure he escapes if it's the last thing I do. But if that means staying behind, well… look after him for me. He won't take something happening to me well."

Jimbei's eyes narrowed. "Ace-san…"

"Jimbei, please. Just promise you'll look after him if it comes to that."

After a moment of staring, Jimbei nodded slowly. "I'll do what I can."

Looking relieved, Ace leaned his head back to rest on the wall, closing his eyes. "If I am going to help him escape, I've got to start thinking of how."

Okay, all. Please accept my most humble of apologies for the time it took me to post this chapter. I only have an excuse for two of the months that have passed – a sudden move with only three weeks' notice, followed by the frantic adjustment to a new life and job in a new town, followed then by my extremely stressful experience of getting a driver's license in this country as well as renewing my visa to stay here another year or more (I'm not sure if I've mentioned before that I took a job overseas). Rest assured, I am in good health and have no immediate concerns in my personal life that should prevent me from working more diligently on this story.

I cannot guarantee any regular schedule but I can promise you all that I will try harder. Please leave a review as they serve as the most effective means of motivation for me. I believe I managed to respond to every review in the last chapter (minus guest reviews, etc.) but please do not be offended if I missed you. Until next time!