I kind of corrected the two mentions of the new ship's name into Roaring Nova, and since it's such a minor detail, everyone is encouraged to make up their own preferred choice in their head, I'm not wasting any more time on it than I already have.

I also corrected one of the mentions of a cheetah instead of a leopard in regards to Merry's power, but I'm sure I missed most of those mentions. I'll likely go over that chapter with a fine-toothed comb only after I finish this story (I'm not denying that I might be willing to write a second one that will instead focus on the New World, who knows? As always, my problem is that I have too many stories ongoing, even if this one is ridiculously easy to write).

Impel is Down

Consciousness returned to me with a ragged breath, accompanied by a dull pain throbbing through the entirety of my being: "Gah!"

"Coby!" Bentham's voice was the first thing to greet my senses while I lurched up to a seated position, only for the evenly distributed pain across the entirety of my body to slowly fade back to a more distant thing. No, it wasn't that the pain had lessened, it was that as I breathed, my tolerance for it grew, until it was a distant thing.

"Bentham." I called to him while I opened my eyes, surprised to notice that despite the lack of glasses, I could see perfectly: every shape was perfectly defined, every color had neat borders, depth and width of my vision didn't mix together in a nausea-inducing painting. I blinked furiously while I brought a bandaged hand to my face, only to stop when my attention fell onto the skin of my arm: almost chalky white, there was a littering of minute scars everywhere I could see.

My shadow hopped up from where I was casting it and gave me a ridiculous thumb's up, immediately gesturing to its own height and shape, only to point back at me: "A permanent change uh?" I got the meaning of what it meant rather quickly, and I realized that my voice had grown deeper. I wasn't Shiryu's copy, more like a version of Coby that had pushed itself as hard as Zoro did for all of his life.

While my Okama friend fluttered about me, I rose to my feet, noticed that the floor was at a greater distance from my face than what I had been thinking, and took a deep breath. I felt... powerful. And I knew things: such as the likely position of Ivankov's little slice of home in relation to the rest of Impel Down, where the deposit with the prisoners' effects that were waiting to be delivered to Marineford were, how to reach the security room with the shortest route, or the most sneaky one. I knew where Magellan's office was, and how to walk there. I knew that not counting the Minotaur, there were other 4 awakened Zoans in the prison, all under the command of a single woman, who had been instrumental in pushing those Zoan users into awakening their fruit in such a manner that they'd remain loyal to her. I knew how many Bulgori were around, where the kitchens were, where the medical bay was, and how to use Raiu, Shityu's nodachi.

"I'm fine, friend." I grinned at Bentham, who was weeping unashamedly at seeing me on my feet, "Did you manage Soru and Tekkai while I was busy?"

I knew so much about every nook and cranny of the prison that plans to take it over or break it apart fell readily into my thoughts, and I felt my hands itch with the need to take up a proper sword, or a cigar. I grimaced as I immediately noticed the small impulses that clearly weren't only mine, but I pushed them aside: I'd take Raiu once it was found, but only because not using my newly obtained skills to the best would render my self-imposed torture meaningless.

"I did, Coby-kun!" Bentham proudly used Soru to flicker about the room, and my eyes kept up with his form rather easily, while I immediately realized that he would have been faster than I was before taking in Shiryu's shadow, "And a few of the other practitioners of the Okama Kempo managed it, even if I didn't manage to graft copies of this skill onto others."

"What about making copies of yourself to teach one on one? It's the best option to up the average level of those guys and gals." only clad in oversized prison garbs that had been put on me while I was unconscious, I walked out of the small room I had been resting in, and took in the curious expression of Ivankov, who was in her female form while drinking a tall cup of red wine.

"I didn't have the time to try that just yet..."

"Well, you'll have time now while I sneak to the security room and take over their system of transponder snails." I grinned unashamedly at the certainty in my voice: I could sneak with the unmatched stealth skills of Shiryu, I could improve on them thanks to my Devil Fruit's power, and I was strong enough to fight off even Magellan if everything went to hell.

As if knowing my thoughts, my shadow fished the spiked club that once belonged to the minotaur out of an invisible fold on its person, and I distractedly noticed the weight I had been carrying on myself lessening significantly. Still, it was like registering a change in pressure of a hand placed over a shoulder, rather than actually feeling a difference in the effort I needed to stay upright.

"So sure of yourself now, pinky-kun?!" the female voice of Ivankov clashed horribly against my memory of her male form, but oddly enough, I found that both suited her well enough.

"I was sure of myself before," I shook my head, "now I'm certain. For that matter, how long I've been out?"

"Almost two weeks, pinky." her teasing tone turned into the serious one of a medic talking with a patient: "Making sure your body would remain as solid as your power turned it into, without causing harm to your longevity took constant, skillful care: everything you put into that growth came from you, but you didn't have enough nutrients to support such growth, to be frank, none could. But I am the Miracle Worker, and you completed your metamorphosis from cute and murderous into hunky and dangerous! Congratulations!"

"Two weeks." I had no true idea of the timeline going on, there was just too much of it ignored in the manga, but this could be problematic: "You have a way to listen in to the happenings of Impel Down, don't you?" being there for years, nobody would have been content by secluding themselves away from the events outside, especially given Ivankov's role in the Revolutionary Army, which all but demanded that he'd wait for an opportunity to escape, "Has a Shichibukai come visiting perhaps?" Luffy hadn't begun making a ruckus yet, but I couldn't exclude that he was already infiltrating the prison, and that killed completely whatever time for preparations that I had set aside.

"Jinbe himself has been added to level 6 several days ago." Ivankov raised an eyebrow, clearly interested in what my oddly specific question revealed about what I knew of the happenings outside the prison, "And Magellan has just retrieved Firefist Ace, he's escorting him up as we talk."

"Boa Hancock didn't come visiting?" I felt my mouth dry up as the full weight of the implications slammed into me: I had hardly interfered enough to stop Kuma's intervention in Sabaondy, did I? My actions had been bringing some minor differences along the way, but they had all been constricted, limited to the crew and its immediate surroundings. Ace is being moved now, I'm ridiculously behind in my preparations, and Luffy is nowhere to be found.

It shouldn't be going like this, not unless... Actions could have unintended consequences, I knew that much. And underlining my situation there were the words I heard Kuma speak as he took me from Thriller Bark: "Charlotte Coby." He had known my full name even when Lola hadn't revealed it, worse, the bounty poster that he had read it off from had to be printed days before, maybe even sooner than my marriage. With the current absence of Luffy, I was left considering a dreadful scenario: either my existence and the interference it brought had caused someone among the marines to access a Devil Fruit capable of making them see the future, or worse, I wasn't the only one placed in a body that wasn't theirs. Maybe someone got placed into Helmeppo? The best path to power from there would be to await for Garp, and bust yourself training... but it still wouldn't justify Kuma knowing about Charlotte Coby.

But if the enemy had someone capable of getting hints of the future, it made little sense to reveal their hand by writing my full name on a bounty poster. "What are you thinking about, pinky-man?"

The question from Ivankov made me raise my eyes towards her while I ran plans to escape the prison in the background: "Is it possible that either the marines or someone in the World Government to have gained access to knowledge of events yet to happen?"

That question floored the King of Kamabakka, who raised both eyebrows, giving me an answer that I truly didn't want to hear: "Everything is possible on the Grand Line... this is the second very odd question you made me, Coby. Don't you think I deserve an explanation, especially after all I did for you?"

The pouty shape that her lips took while her voluptuous body twisted a little made me grimace: I owed her, and I owed her a great deal, so a version of the truth would have to go: "Since I've started sailing with Luffy, I've been able to get glimpses of some people we'd meet, of some situations, in a crystal ball I purchased in Loguetown as a joke." it was close enough to the full truth that even without taking in my Shiryu's enhanced ability to lie, spotting the bullshit I was spewing was extremely difficult, "I could only see glimpses of one version of the future, one without me in it."

The naked fascination on the Okama Queen was matched by the awed silence of Bentham, who had been following the conversation with wide eyes: "This is a secret, so keep it for yourselves." it mattered relatively little even if the information got out, at this point of the game, the deck was already stacked for the most part, and there wouldn't be time to stop me from doing as I wished in Impel Down before the mess that was Marineford, "I got married the same day on which I killed Moria, to an estranged daughter of Charlotte Lilin."

I rose a hand to forestall questions and blown-out of proportions reactions when Ivankov's face began to enlarge unnaturally because of a comedic wish to use her powers to underline how flabbergasted she was: "When Kuma captured me, two days later, he read my name off a bounty poster, calling me 'Charlotte Coby'. Something that I knew thanks to my visions, something that my wife had yet to reveal, something that had to be printed before the wedding took place."

And for a second, I got a peek into the mind that had earned a place of leadership amongst the ranks of the Revolutionary Army. For a single moment, I witnessed Ivankov casting aside misconceptions and doubts, working through the implications that had to be addressed immediately: "It makes little sense to reveal such a frightening possibility for something as minor as having your full name before it's revealed on its own. This either means that you're the specific target of either this ability or its user, or that this hypothetical knowledge of the future is spotty and incomplete. As such a name like 'Charlotte' would grab a lot of attention, and with incomplete knowledge of the context, removing you from the board sounded like a necessary step."

"Uh." I blinked while I took a deep breath in my recently improved body, faintly marveling at how powerful it felt even for such a minor action. Ivankov's disassembly of the situation was formidable in its own right, but it achieved the result of calming me down. "We need to act as soon as Ace's ship to Marineford passes the Gates of Justice." It doesn't matter, does it? The only thing I can do, is to prepare to the best of my possibilities, with everything I have, for every situation that will come to mind.

It was towards the naked curiosity and trepidation of Bentham that I turned my focus next: "Escaping Impel Down is doable, surviving Marineford with only our forces it's not. Ace is one of Whitebeard's sons, it means that he's coming, and that he'll bring all his family to save Firefist: reaching the marines' headquarters under the shadow of the strongest man in the world is the best chance that we're going to get."

Ignoring how each word I spoke landed with the weight of a cannonball, I began to walk towards the exit: "While Magellan is busy, I'll take control of security, and communications. Complete your preparations, because we're escaping our prison to go to war."

"Why would you want to take part in that mess!?" Ivankov's startled question made me grin from over my shoulder.

"Haven't I told you?" my shadow gave out another silent laughter, melting again into two dimensions as it pooled at my feet, "Ace is Luffy's older brother, which means my captain will go alone against the world if it means having a chance to help Firefist. I'm the First Mate, it's my precise duty to raise him an army if that is what it takes to accomplish his goals."

I let out a burst of loud, booming laughter as I started to jog out of the Okama small slice of paradise in hell: I was just lucky to be in a place with thousands of willing recruits, and several hundreds of unwilling shadows that I could use to animate those that would oppose me. I was preparing for war, and even if Luffy was late, or if he wasn't coming at all, it simply meant that it fell on my shoulders to rescue his foolish older brother.


The Roaring Nova tore through the waves as it left behind the smoking rubble that had been an Enies Lobby still in the process of being repaired after Oimo and Kashi' rampage, the Jolly Roger of the Straw Hat Pirates flying proudly over the tallest mast while the trio of trees swayed eagerly in the wind, the rustle of leaves singing beautifully against the everpresent rumble of the sea.

Usopp finished chewing the slimy mess that Robin had made available to him, pushing his powers once more into a new, exhilarating direction, to finally spit out a transponder snail unlike any ever seen on the seas: golden and black, with streaks of white running through its entirety, the snail was the size of Lola's head and Brook's afro held next to each other, had a small copy of a straw-hat on its shell, and four eyestalks swaying gently over its mouth.

Robin had pointed out how useful it'd be to be able to get a look into Impel Down before actually reaching it, and she had delivered to Usopp a golden, small transponder snail that was clearly meant to be kept on a wrist, capable of calling with absolute authority an admiral-led strike force of warships, a black counterpart that was meant to intercept ongoing communications, and one of the transponder snails that had been acquired on Water 7 before the first raid on Enies Lobby. Of course, since she couldn't conceive do anything but her best to provide the best opportunities to rescue the First Mate, she had also squirreled away the extremely unique, fat-looking, white transponder-snail: listening to her, it was extremely rare, and apparently had been placed into the rebuilding base only for fear that the Revolutionary Army would try and take advantage of the situation now that the CP-9 had been torn apart.

The news had reached the Straw Hat Pirates just before the Roaring Nova came into view of the marines' stronghold. With the pirates' bounties, which elicited a multitude of reactions, along with Lola's confused confession about her mother at not seeing her own surname on her poster while her husband had it already printed under his picture, came the news about Firefist Ace.

That had hardly lit a fire under the pirates' asses, as they were already incensed and roaring to go against any on their path after almost two weeks spent sailing and training themselves to the best of their abilities. But it hadn't helped the marines on duty, who were hardly expecting another raid before the rebuilding could be completed, never mind from the same crew.

The Roaring Nova had almost openly mocked the warships stationed at Enies Lobby: faster, more maneuverable, with firepower as varied and dangerous as the crew itself, there had hardly been any confrontation. Under the expert indications of Nami, the precise sniping of Usopp, and the powerful weapons built with Franky, three marines warships had been taken apart, while the rest of the crew broke the multitudes of soldiers on the island proper, progressing at a constant pace through the enemies that vastly outnumbered them.

Mikita had taken to throwing baseball-sized, sharp-edged projectiles of Usopp-metal provided by the sniper, their weight negligible until they left the tip of her fingers, becoming several tons of destructive power that tore through buildings, people, and ships with the ease a bullet would tear through a sheet of paper. Robin manifested interlocked limbs that produced a giant version of her arms or legs, which swept the ground of the mooks while Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji could take down the stronger opponents that had been placed to protect Enies Lobby until new agents could take the place of the decimated CP-9.

Lola, with her sabers capable of changing size, had been batting away those cannonballs that threatened to hit the Roaring Nova, while Merry practiced her Tekkai while jumping around in Geppou to strike back the heavy balls of lead. Brook had been quick to make his music seep into their enemies, distracting them only to quickly cut down those fools that managed to attempt to jump onto the ship's deck, while Chopper played fiddle among everyone, his shapes changing based on what he needed to do.

The Straw Hats couldn't allow the enemies to pursue them into the triangle formed by Enies Lobby, Impel Down, and Marineford, so they stormed the place, destroying the enemy's ability to retaliate. While they were at it, Robin stole once again everything of value, which didn't limit itself to scores of food to replenish the Roaring Nova's hull, but that extended to Jabra's Wolf-Wolf fruit, which they had missed the first time they raided the marines' stronghold, coupled with a large amount of money present in the office of the new officer in command of the area, as he had to pay the workers alongside the marines on base.

If not for the urgency of the situation, Nami might have swooned at the resounding success. While Usopp couldn't help but notice that maybe it was Robin the one more deserving of the title of 'thief'.

Usopp pointed two of the eyes of his newly created transponder snail towards the lucid white cloth he had prepared beforehand, and clicked the button that enabled the 'black' part of his masterpiece to ride over the absolute authority of the 'golden' side. Soon, images began to flash on the predisposed screen, the sniper flicking through them as he sought an inkling of what they were dealing with.

So of course, when the image on the screen depicted a bigger, meaner version of Coby standing among unconscious, at least Usopp hoped they were unconscious, uniform-clad people, he squawked in surprise, calling onto the situation the attention of everyone: "Is that Coby?"

"I heard that prison changes people, but this is ridiculous." Mikita's snort of laughter rang in opposition of Lola's swooning: "Oh, my love, what have they done to you?"

"Call him, Usopp." uncharacteristically, Luffy's serious voice was quick to break through the chaos that their First Mate's look and apparent situation instilled in the crew.

"In hindsight, expecting him to remain in his cell didn't make much sense." Sanji was the last to comment while he lit a cigarette, only for the two-meters tall Coby to frown towards the transponder snail that was suddenly ringing in the room he was in.

With a movement too fast and smooth to be believable, a shadow was snapped up from the ground and forced into one of the people that were laying at his feet, and while the Straw Hat Pirates couldn't hear, as the snail on the other side hadn't picked up, the gist of what the pink-haired pirate wanted was clear. So the guard answered with a proper and on-point tone: "This is Impel Down's Communication Station, who is talking?"

"I am Monkey D. Luffy!" the captain immediately snatched the transponder from Usopp's hands, his brain likely not picking up on the nuances of the situation, "I'm going to be Pirate King! Pass me Coby, we're coming to rescue him and my brother!"

His shout rang so loud that everyone witnessed the pink-haired pirate on the other end of the line raised his eyebrows while his jaw hung low, as if about to fall, only for him to throw his head back and let out a booming burst of laughter, his hand covering his eyes as he walked towards the transponder snail and pick up, a wide smile opening on his face as he answered: "Coby here, captain, what's up?"

"We're coming to rescue you and Ace!" Luffy shouted back, "But you need to plan what to do after that!"

If possible, Coby's eyebrows climbed even higher on his forehead, while his shadow rose from behind him and hunched forward with silent interest: "I was working on that already... wait, who's we?"

"Don't be stupid!" the captain replied, "We is us, dumbass! Now, make the plans, and let us rescue you and Ace!"

His orders relayed, Luffy tossed the transponder back to Usopp and returned to his favourite spot on the Roaring Nova, staring ahead with determination, while Coby tried to parse through the veritable cannonball that had just been dropped at his feet: "We is us... Wait, everyone is coming here!?"

Something like outrage flashed on the more rugged version of Coby's face, and before people could begin making a mess for who had to talk into the transponder snail, Robin picked it up: "We've just stormed through Enies Lobby, we don't know how far we are, but if you could figure out how to open the Gates, we'd..."

"Arrive amidst the five warships guarding the prison." Coby cut through, "It should take two hours for you to arrive." it was odd that he'd know that specific bit of information with such certainty, but Robin didn't question him, he'd surely proven that there was some truth to his claims of being able to use his crystal ball, "I have good news and bad news, preferences?"

"The good first!" Usopp tapped another button on the unique transponder snail that the Straw Hat Pirates could now enjoy, "I'll need the good ones to prepare for the bad ones."

"Okay, first, as you can see, I escaped my cell." he grinned at everyone, even if there was an unnamed tension in the corner of his eyes, "Second, do you remember Mr. Two? He's free as well. Third, I think that as I am now, or as I will be by the time you reach me, I'll be able to take on all of you put together, which effectively doubles our firepower. Fourth, by the time you arrive, I'll have an army ready to go." the unholy grin on his face mirrored the sluggish bloodlust that was always easy to awaken in the swordsman, who walked next to Usopp.

"An army?" Zoro's sleepy voice was the first to cut the tense silence that those words had summoned, "Why would you need to prepare an army, Coby? And what happened to you?"

"Wait, you can see me?" the pink-haired pirate was quick to catch on on the implications: "This is not a visual transponder snail... wait, Usopp merged stuff that makes the impossible a cakewalk, didn't he?" the pride in his voice was unmistakeable, and off to the side, the sniper smiled widely, unashamedly. There was a powerful feeling to be praised for deeds that had been accomplished with no embellishments on his parts, a heady feeling that was barely held back by the seriousness of the situation.

"We can." Zoro cut off the replies of everyone, "About you and that army?"

Coby rolled his eyes: "My Devil Fruit can be used to cheat massively, and it's what I did as soon as I could, it landed me in a coma, and I just awoke. About that army... yeah, those would be the bad news."


Magellan entered his office with a tired grunt leaving his lips: the stress of moving a prisoner from level Six catching up to him while causing an uncomfortable rumble to run through his lower intestine. He walked quickly towards his bathroom, only to still as he spotted the lacking weapon from the rack where it had been put when he had to cage Shiryu. "No..."

*Clack* the metal-like sound of a sea stone shackle closing on one of his fingers was the only warning he received, followed by a wave of debilitating weakness that announced the headsman's presence. Raiu, whose name meant 'Thunderstorm', rumbled with approval as its edge bit skin, flash, sinew, and bone, tearing through each of those with the same ease.

Magellan's head rolled off his shoulders while his eyes glazed over, and as he died, he didn't notice that it hadn't been Shiryu the one responsible for this sneak attack. Coby had closed the sea stone around the Warden's finger, and a split second later, once the hands of the pink-haired pirate were free, his shadow had cut with the speed that only intangible things could possess, the three meters long nodachi appropriate to its size.

Raiu was a very long nodachi with a quadrangular guard, while the handle was red with a diamond pattern. And as his shadow sheathed it once more, Coby couldn't help but grin. The first half of its sheath was white, while the second half was red: the pink-haired escapee took a moment to admire it before returning it to his shadow, which gleefully put it away in the endless folds that composed it. "Convenient, aren't you?"

His doppelganger gave out one of its silent laughs and skittered over the walls and the floor, objects being strewn about as anything of interest was placed on the main desk that dominated the room. Coby was left with the less grateful task of looking for the passe-partout that Magellan owned, knowing about its existence thanks to Shiryu's knowledge, but he soon found it.

Once he was done with his task, he retrieved the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia and flicked through it, stopping on the marked pages that matched the five awakened zoans present in Impel Down, only to grin unashamedly, plans over plans taking shape in his head: after all, he had to now organize a way that would all but guarantee the survival of his whole crew, instead of only Luffy.

I can't believe it. It was truly unbelievable: suddenly, the possible fear that there was someone capable of seeing the future among the enemy's forces was swallowed by sheer disbelief. His whole crew was coming for him. Luffy had ordered the Roaring Nova to turn back, exploiting Robin's general knowledge of the Grand Line, in order to use the Marines' triangle of strongholds against them. For Coby, the captain had put on hold his adventure. Maybe it's not so unbelievable.

A softer smile spread on his features as he felt an unfamiliar warmth spread through him: never before had his effects on the world been more manifest. Not because Luffy was willing to storm Impel Down, but because he decided to go back. To stop his sprint towards the One Piece, in order to try and save Coby. Someone who shouldn't have been there at all, was now the reason while the entire story was being turned on its ear.

With Magellan gone, and the security system under control, Coby began to move at his newly found top speed, using his disbelievingly powerful body to push Soru past its limits: it wasn't that he was able to kick the ground more than ten times in the blink of an eye, merely, each of those kicks packed that much more of a punch.

Before long, Mr. 3 had been taken from his cell, and whisked away through the shadows, there were many prisoners to free, after all.


Buggy the clown had been many things in his life: from cabin boy on the greatest pirate ship to ever roam the seas, to unwilling eater of a Devil Fruit, to proud captain who sandbagged his way in the East Blue. And, more recently, prisoner. It wasn't that he couldn't escape, apparently, nobody had considered checking a bounty of 15 milion beli for a Devil Fruit Power, he simply didn't truly know what to do once he managed to get out.

He wasn't an idiot: leaving one level just to be recaptured with his ace in the sleeve revealed was tantamount to suicide. So he waited, biding his time.

And when the wave capable of carrying him back under the unbound skies and the endless seas came, he jumped on it despite the fucking terrifying people leading it. A pink-haired man of two meters of height ran ahead of the group, his shadow stretching forward unnaturally, as if crawling on the floor, to his right stood the imposing figure of Jinbe himself, while on the left he had a purple-haired man clad in a fuchsia, leather leotard that accentuated all the parts that Buggy would have preferred to not focus on.

They had busted out of the inferior level at the head of a more or less organized army of Okama, which was followed by a frenzied or panicked mess of prisoners from every level. Buggy could tell from the way that the wounds and the tiredness sat differently on each of them, that there was something truly odd about them. They were out of their cells, Magellan had yet to make an apparition, and the guards at the inferior levels had been clearly taken out as everyone climbed upwards... then why were those faces portraying equally elation and fear?

The answer came too soon, and it chilled Buggy to the bone.

"Magellan is dead. The Wardens are dead. The bestial guards are dead. The Bulgori and the soldiers are dead." Here's the good news. Buggy recognized someone conning a large number of people when he saw one, and that was exactly what was going on. While the voice of the man finished ringing in Impel Down, a shadow stretched in front of his cell, and with a burst of mocking, silent laughter opened the cage, only to follow up by opening the shackles of everyone inside. "There is a massive hole in level six! The prison is filling with water: if you don't want to drown, we must reach the surface! There, we'll take over the marines warships, and sail to freedom!" And here's the bad news.

The prisoners behind the pink-haired man let out a thunderous shout that was echoed by one of the recently freed prisoners while Buggy maneuvered himself to hover just off to the side of the charging madman, their eyes meeting for a fraction of a second while a shadowy tendril tauntingly slipped over the clown's throat. Freezing where he stood, Buggy tilted his head, only to witness his own shadow tilting his head mockingly before shaking a finger, mimicking a 'no-no' motion.

Buggy the Clown swallowed hollowly, and followed the indications of his shadow, which brought him next to the man leading the charge.

"I know that you're good at swindling idiots." the voice of the man came unhurried, "After taking the warships, the only possible destination is Marineford, where Whitebeard is going to war to save one of his. Do what you have to in order to throw the meat into that grinder, and those who survive will follow you: there are some competent folks here, you know?"

Buggy opened his mouth to protest the familiarity with which he was being addressed, the gall behind the nature of such a request, and to voice his general contrary nature at following orders, when the pink-haired pirate grinned: "Do that, and I'll avoid mentioning to the first marine we meet of a pair of cabin boys on the Oro Jackson."

And just like that, the outrage Buggy had felt mounting had its legs cut off by fear.


The Straw Hats had arrived at Impel Down to find the Gates wide open, and a small felt of warships sailing black flags waiting for them. The usual white noise of the sea was drowned out by the bloodthirsty shouts of the inmates that felt their occasion of reprisal was near, while zombies wearing the uniforms of the prison skittered about. Those that had been medics did their best to turn those incapable of it into people fight-worthy, the vast reserves of food had been made available for everyone, along with weapons of every kind.

Before they could fully come to terms with everything that they were observing, a shadow fell onto the deck of the Roaring Nova, and Coby casually walked out of it, an undead seagull flapping its wings in order to land on the bulwark to his right while he greeted everyone. The whole thing had taken place in a manner of seconds, and yet the surprise of everyone in witnessing the clever use of his Devil Fruit was pushed aside in favor of the elation felt in seeing him hale and healthy.

Coby was dressed with black trousers tucked into tall leather boots, and carried a large, white coat made for a man much bigger than him over his shoulders. Barechested, the shadows writhing between him and the cloth hanging on his shoulders seemed deeper than what they should have been, and if one listened or observed carefully, they'd be able to guess that there was a small army tucked in there.

"Where's Ace?" Luffy's question was peremptory, heavy, and it hovered on the air almost like a thundercloud: it had come only after the enthusiastic greetings but it had come nonetheless.

Coby grimaced openly, but dutifully answered: "He was being taken to Marineford for his execution while I chatted with you on the Transponder-Snail."

"Why didn't you save him?"

"Good reasons." Coby summed up the context of his decision, and even Luffy accepted it not only because of the trust in his First Mate, but because it made sense. "We set sail immediately, I'll explain on the way."

"We're going to save Ace?" the captain had only one question, and the answer was short and to the point.

"Yes."

As the Roaring Nova began to turn, Coby dropped a bag containing several devil fruits and yet another adjourned encyclopedia about them: "I have figured out how to cheat with my Devil Fruit, if we want to survive, we're going to need it."

And as he spoke, he lifted a hand from one of the folds of his overcoat and quickly braided together several shadows: "These are from weak-willed swordswomen and Sadi, the girl who was in charge of the awakened zoans in the prison. Lola, you'll need to eat these: hold onto what makes you yourself, and everything will be fine."

"Is that what you did?" the Roaring Nova crossed the opened gates of Justice at the head of the small fleet of warships, and Robin's question revealed the depth of her insight: "Is this the cause of your changed body?"

"My appearance is a little sacrifice for the strength needed to protect my crew." Coby shrugged while he handed over the braided shadows to his wife: "Your body is likely stronger than the combined might of theirs, you'll just gain in terms of skills, but from the swords you carry, an intimate understanding of how animals work can only help."

Lola accepted the shadows with a heavy breath: per of her wanted to rebel at the thought of doing something so similar to what Mama routinely performed in Totto Land, only for her memory to turn towards a brief conversation she had shared with Chopper a few days before the assault on Enies Lobby: 'If it is to protect the crew, I'll gladly become a monster'.

The ship of the Straw Hats soared ahead of the others while Coby made his rounds among the crew: "Usopp, these are handpicked engineers, poison experts, and a few others, but try to use your power on them to extract the knowledge, and then spit them out." the writhing mess of shadows landed in the hands of the sniper without a fuss, and a determined glint appeared in the eyes of the long-nosed pirate.

"Chopper, there were awakened Zoans in the prison." the pink-haired First Mate lifted a single towering shadow from the mass that laid compressed under his coat: "But they were mindless: my suggestion is to eat a Rumble Ball, pick a form that you don't mind giving up in the worst case scenario, and evolve with the shadow you'll eat, but you are the expert, so I'll leave that up to you. If you can figure it out and then help Merry with hers, it will significantly increase our chances."

"Coby, what is this about?" Zoro's annoyed voice cut the First Mate's stride as he handed out power-ups like they were candies: "Everyone trained every day since you were taken, we're all much..."

"This isn't going to be an adventure on a dangerous island." Coby spoke seriously to the now shorter swordsman, "We're sailing into open war: there will be no duel without cheapshots from the surroundings, no reprieve until Ace is away from Marineford. As we're now, only me and Luffy stand a chance."

"Coby..." the irritation in the green-haired man was warring with his hesitation: while it had never been voiced out loud, everyone on the ship knew that despite his role, the pink-haired pirate wasn't the strongest next to Luffy. While he had been rowing mightier and mightier, he was far from...

Coby vanished.

"If I had used a knife, I'd have killed everyone." the two meters tall, the pink-haired man reappeared next to Luffy with a red marker in his hand: "Check your necks."

To the disbelief of everyone, each had a red mark on their necks, right on the carotid artery. In the silence that followed, Coby's voice rang like thunder: "If you don't allow me to stack the deck in our favor, and if you refuse to avoid the first lines, we'll be walking to our deaths. Understood now?"

"My shadow ate one of the shadows of an awakened Zoan, Crocodile's, and a few others that piqued its interest." everyone was hanging from his lips as he explained his line of reasoning: "Frankly, I don't think there is a limit to what my shadow can do, but eating all the guards wouldn't stack up to that much: quality over quantity is a better bet. I ate a single shadow, and I was left in a coma for two weeks, because my old body couldn't keep up with the power ingested. Those with use with bodies capable of handling the strain, namely Chopper, Merry, and Luffy, will eat these awakened Zoans' shadows. Resilience, strength... they will skyrocket as long as you can hold onto what makes you, yourselves. I've already explained the selected ones for Usopp and Lola."

Quickly, Coby walked to Brook, handing over another tight knot of shadows: "Swordsmen that I've found unable to contribute to our rescue mission... try to use your music to chant them into following you? Possess them with your fruit just like you possess your bones? I don't know, but I suggest you try."

Luffy accepted without question the towering shadow of the awakened Rhino that had once been a guard of Impel Down. As he ate it, his body ballooned outwards, muscles folding onto flesh while he gritted his teeth: "Sanji, can you prepare a meal with a lot of nutrients that will be digested before we arrive at Marineford? I think it will help."

"What about those without freakish bodies capable of changing that much?" Mikita asked as she pointed at the captain, who now stood not unlike a sumo wrestler, looming at five meters of height over a First Mate that frowned thoughtfully.

"Big size means big target." he spoke clearly: "Try to compress the rubber you're made of. I dunno... swallow it down some more?"

Luffy grimaced, but seemed to get what Coby was hinting at, and while he contracted all of his muscles, he seemed to squeeze himself to a smaller stature, even if his skin looked as tense as drumskin. He repeated the process until he was back to his former size, even if his skin still looked uncomfortably tense. Closing and opening his fists, the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates gave a slow nod, and squeezed himself furhter: "I'm hungry."

Sanji simply shook his head in disbelief and walked into the Galley: "On it."

"As for the others," Coby grabbed everyone's attention while Chopper in brain point made endless calculations in a small book and Lola still studied the braided shadow she had been given, "your bodies can't handle the strain in a meaningful timeline, but nothing stops me from sticking guards into your shadows."

"Guards?" the relieved voice of Nami was followed by a knowing smile from Coby.

"I have several hundred of those." he grinned widely, "While they won't be able to improve your fighting abilities, they'll take every mundane wound they can before dying. Of course, the less you're hit, the better."

And with those words, Coby stuck a long column of shadows into Nami's one, which writhed and ballooned out before settling down into a regular shape appropriate for the orange-haired, slim woman. Even so, the shadow looked far darker than what the environment around would suggest, and the navigator had the faintest feel of having countless creatures watching from over her shoulder. But if that was the price necessary for a bit of security, she'd take it.

"I do have the shadows of some interesting critters besides the awakened zoans." Coby spoke idly, "But from my experiments, not just everyone can remain sane with a bloodthirsty beast watching from beyond the corner of their eyes."

"Your experiments?" Robin's voice was incredibly sweet as she immediately caught on on the likely horrible things Coby had done to guarantee the safety of his crew, of his family.

"I would have hardly proposed stuff to you in this order without being sure of the possible results." the First Mate smiled only to turn towards the captain, who was sitting on the figurehead of the Roaring Nova with determination rolling off him in waves: "I only hope it will be enough."


AN

With the next chapter, we get started with Marineford: given that I have no idea of the time stretches relative to travel among islands, I've been careful to avoid mentioning the specific timeline. Frankly, the option of having the rescue from the prison succeed did come to me, but avoiding Marineford would have been such a letdown, I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

So maybe I was a bit hamfisted in having Coby's recovery time coincide with Ace leaving the prison, but letting him more time to prepare would have slowed down the pacing, and it would have raised the question of 'why the fuck didn't the MC put together enough shadows to build an engine to have Ace bring everyone away?'

The answer to that would have been 'plot railroading', and while it's more or less the same as me having Coby wake up too late to rescue Firefist, it's much less obvious. Maybe I'll write an extra chapter in which the saving actually takes place, cutting away Marinford entirely, but it will be after I'm done setting up everything pre-New World.

So, a lot to take in here, and like the rest of the fic, it's pretty rushed, we'll see the effects of Coby's bullshit powers in the next chapter, but I hope I managed to make the brief recounting of his plans interesting. Of course, he had his shadow eat Crocodile's before killing everyone he could in Level 6, and then flooding Impel Down to push everyone to follow him, while cutting off Blackbeard's shopping spree.

As always, opinions, hopes?