Doffy crossed the threshold into Nuvo's cell for the first time, and it would have been identical to his if not for her recent addition of four doors into the wall. Narrow and made of stone, they stood impressively in the dimness, making the escape plan more real in his mind. This was very likely to work, as long as they got out before anyone came to check on them.

"Alright, just so we're clear, let's go over it once more. I'm taking the first passage to the Crimson Hell, where I'll find Sugar, Giolla, and Machvise. Once I disable the security system, I'll look for Sugar, who I can recognize because she's probably the only prisoner who looks like a child. She'll help me find the others if they aren't together. I'll escort them back here. You?" Nuvo pointed at him.

"I'm taking the third door to the Starvation Hell to get Trebol, Pica, Diamante, and Senor Pink." he recited. They'd gone over it seven times already, but there was little margin for error.

"Right. Whoever gets back here first will then go through the second door to the Wild Beast Hell to retrieve Dellinger and Gladius. Once everyone is reunited down here, we go through the fourth door, which leads to a large submarine that we will use to escape. I've covered the sub with sea prism stone, so the sea kings shouldn't be a problem. However, you and your family may feel a little weak inside it with the stone in place and the fact we'll be traveling underwater for a while. I'm not sure, but be prepared."

He nodded, impressed yet again with the extent of Nuvo's gift. She had literally created entire stone passages underwater, changing the architecture of the prison from the outside, and had also managed to construct a hidden submarine large enough for eleven people. He knew with certainty then that there was no way he'd have ever had a chance of escaping without her help, and although she had said earlier that night that he didn't owe her a thing, he found himself wanting to give her everything she desired, and was thankful that one of those things was himself, at least for the moment.

"Let's get into position. After you go down the passage, remember to wait behind the door until the security is down. Then start searching. Understood?"

He nodded again as she straightened the new prison uniform that she'd summoned for herself. Her old one was in pieces back in Doffy's cell, and she still wanted to blend in incase she was spotted. The two approached their respective doors.

"How will we know for sure that the security is down?" Doffy asked. Nuvo flashed him a positively wicked smile, and he felt his cock stir.

"Oh, you'll know."

…

Once she reached the door leading directly into the Crimson Hell, she summoned a pair of steel shoes for herself. The weight would slow her down, but having her feet sliced open by the needle-sharp grass would make her slower. Her passage was longer than Doffy's, as the Crimson Hell was closer to the top of the prison than the starving one, so she could be sure he was waiting outside his own door by now. It was time.

"Ocean outside, hear me when I sing.

I beseech you, lend me your salt.

Let grains spill from every ceiling,

and rain down on this prison vault."

In seconds, salt was pouring all over the inside of Impel Down. What mixes poorly with salt?

Snails.

Every den den mushi in the prison was going berserk. The cameras went down completely and the alarms began to go on and off randomly, sending guards stomping all over the place. Nuvo opened the door, which looked like regular wall from the outside, and starting searching for a child. She felt sorry for the poor snails, but they were stronger than regular snails and the salt wouldn't kill them, it would just burn a lot until someone cleaned them up.

It would take quite some time for every snail in the building to be treated; Nuvo only hoped it would be enough. She walked as fast as she could with the metal shoes on, glancing everywhere for Sugar. There were no cells on this level, only the blood-soaked forest. Her hair blended with the sharp leaves. She tucked it into the back of her shirt to keep it from snagging. She looked for at least twenty minutes and hadn't seen a single living person, much less the girl in question. The forest was huge. Where was she?

"SUGAAAAAAR?!" she called, desperate for a lead. "SUUUUUUUGAAAAAAAAAR?!"

She had nearly shouted herself hoarse when a flash of green hair flitted through the trees. A child, covered in cuts and bleeding multiple places, bounded up to her, seemingly unaffected by the grass stabbing her feet. Perhaps she was just used to it by now.

"Who are you? Why are looking for me?" the child asked.

Nuvo knelt down to her. "I'm a friend of Doffy's. I'm here to help you. Do you know where Giolla and Machvise are?" she asked in a soft tone. The little girl sighed.

"I know I look ten, but I'm twenty-two. So don't talk to me like I'm a fucking toddler, ok?"

Nuvo snapped back to her full height, embarrassed. "Of course. I'm sorry."

Sugar rolled her eyes. "It happens. C'mon, I'll take you to Giolla. Machvise isn't here though. He jumped."

"Jumped? What do you mean?"

"He jumped into the Wild Beast Hell. Below us."

"You can do that?"

She nodded. "Most don't risk it though. It could be worse than here." Sugar noticed the steel protecting Nuvo's feet. "Where'd you get those?"

"Hold on one second." Nuvo cleared her throat and pointed at her shoes.

"I need another pair of those

as to protect my new friend's toes!"

Sugar's eyes lit up as Nuvo handed over the new shoes. She put them on one at a time and marveled at her ability to walk comfortably. So the grass did affect her, she just hid it well. She's tough…

"Thanks lady! C'mon!"

She grabbed Nuvo's hand and dragged her to a cave. Several prisoners had bunkered in here, away from the harsh environment. Sugar stopped in front of an older woman, bespectacled. "Giolla," Sugar whispered, we have to go with this lady now. She's helping us. Look!" Sugar pointed to her feet, showing off the new kicks. "I'll give you some too!" Nuvo said. She muttered a tune, and suddenly Giolla and every other prisoner in the cave had covered feet. Giolla was shocked. Nuvo grabbed her wrinkled hands.

"There isn't time to explain, we have to go!"

This time she did the dragging, and all three of them were out of the cave before most of the prisoners realized where the shoes had come from. Nuvo was sure that they'd be taken away later, but at least those people could enjoy some time with them. Eventually they were back at the door. She opened it and turned back to the flabbergasted ladies.

"Follow this passage all the way down and wait there. Someone will come soon, if not me, then Doffy and some other members of your crew. I have to go find Machvise, Gladius, and Dellinger in the Wild Beast Hell. Which way is the jumping point?"

Giolla pointed left. Nuvo thanked her, then shoved her through the doorway. "Go quickly!"

Giolla and Sugar started down the dark hallway and Nuvo shut the door behind them. Then she took off left, walking only a few moments before seeing the huge hole in the floor leading to the Wild Beast Hell. It was a far leap, so she summoned a sheet to use as a parachute to glide down with. As she floated, she looked around for any enemies, but saw none. The alarms were still going off all over the place. Maybe they're all busy she thought hopefully as she landed, kicking off her steel shoes and tossing them aside with the sheet.

This level had cells, so she started running from cell to cell, asking for any of the Donquixote men she was looking for. As she searched, she noted that every surveillance snail she passed was still writhing, meaning the prison staff definitely hadn't made it far in the process of getting them back up. Good.

Finally, she got a response from someone after rattling off the names.

"Dellinger's in here. You want him, you gotta unlock all of us." The prisoner rasped.

"Of course." Another quick song and there was a set of keys in her hand. She unlocked the cell door and the prisoners flooded into the hall.

"Dellinger?!" she called, but none of the prisoners answered. The raspy prisoner tapped her shoulder and gestured inside the cell.

"He's in the corner. He's skittish."

Then he was running off with the rest of them, trying to find a way out of this shithole.

Nuvo stepped inside the cell. In the corner there was a very thin boy with two white horns coming out of his head; he couldn't have been more than a teenager. He was in the fetal position with his head down and his arms wrapped around his knees. She tried to quiet her steps as she got closer, not wanting to frighten him.

"Are you Dellinger?"

He didn't move. Nuvo took a risk and placed a hand on his right arm. He flinched, but didn't fight.

"Dellinger, my name is Nuvo. I'm a friend."

He glanced up at her, then slowly lifted his entire head to look at her. He had never seen a woman so beautiful. He wasn't sure if she was real. He lifted his left hand and touched her hair, pulling a strand of it free from the back of her shirt. He's in pretty rough shape, she thought. He was too young for this place, and it had done serious damage to his nerves.

"Are you an angel?" he croaked, his voice weak from disuse.

"No. I'm a friend. I need you to come with me."

He nodded slowly; his eyes were glazed. "I'll follow you anywhere, even heaven."

She smiled reassuringly at him and took his hand. He held hers as if it were made of glass. She pulled him to his feet.

"I need you to help me find Gladius and Machvise, okay?"

They searched together, Dellinger refusing to let go of her hand.

…

In the Starvation Hell, Doflamingo had found his men relatively quickly. Able to use his power again, he swung from place to place, covering a lot of ground in a small frame of time. Trebol and the others had been together, but the time they'd spent here had been cruel, and they were all surreally thin. Doffy had been forced to use his parasite thread to get them to stand. With the help, they were able to walk, but it was at a miserably slow pace, and he feared forcing them to walk faster would injure them further.

After nearly an hour they were back at the door Nuvo had created. He hurried them inside and slammed it behind them, allowing them a moment to rest since they were in safer territory now.

"Doffy…" Diamante forced the word from his mouth, straining with the effort. "How…"

"Not now. There's not time and you're very weak. Save your strength. We've more to do."

They descended the stairs and after what felt like an eternity, they were back at Nuvo's cell. He opened the door and immediately felt the wind knocked out of him as a small bundle launched itself into his chest. Small arms wrapped around his waist and his shirt grew moist from the tears falling down Sugar's face.

"D-D-Dooooooffy!" she wailed. "I've m-m-m-missed you so muuuuuuch!"

"I missed you too," he gasped "but I need to breathe."

She released him and ran back to Giolla's side. She looked older and she was as covered in wounds as Sugar was, but she was otherwise alright. Her face seemed grim as she looked over Trebol, Pica, Diamante, and Senor Pink.

"Where's Nuvovniya?"

"Who?" asked Sugar. "Ohhhhh you mean the redhead. She says she's your friend, but the massive bruise on her neck says otherwise."

Doffy glowered.

"She's in the Wild Beast Hell looking for the others." Giolla said. "She jumped down from our floor."

"I didn't know such a thing was possible." Doffy said, already bound for the second door. "I'm going to help her. All of you stay here. Protect each other."

"Yes, young master."

Doffy grinned. It felt damn good to hear that again.

…

He rushed through the second passageway and burst out onto the floor. The alarms were still going haywire. The Wild Beast Hell had many cells down many hallways, and without access to his devil fruit power he probably never would've found them. But thanks to his songbird, he did have access, and he found the group in only ten minutes. The good news was that Nuvo had found Dellinger, Gladius, and Machvise. The bad news was that four manticores had also found them.

The giant lions with human heads were circling the foursome, chanting about bread and panties. In her haste to get back to the door, Nuvo hadn't taken time to remove the sea prism stone cuffs from the men, so she was pretty much on her own. One of the manticores struck at her and she managed to dodge it. Doffy landed in front of the offending manticore and knocked it through the adjacent wall. Nuvo had half a second to smile her thanks when the other lion creatures moved to attack. Doffy managed to fend off another while Nuvo rushed to uncuff Gladius. With his explosive powers unleashed, he quickly did away with a third manticore.

Nuvo felt a sudden dread and whipped around to see the last manticore only a few feet away from Dellinger. His eyes were still glazed over. He didn't react to the creature's growls; he just stood there, numb and in shock. There wasn't enough time for anyone to get to him. The manticore seemed to know that too, and he pounced. Nuvo reached forward and screamed, but what came out wasn't a scream at all. It was like singing with no words, vocalizing, but it had an unnatural echo, like a piano note played underwater. It was an ethereal voice, and Nuvo had never heard anything like it, especially from her own mouth. From nowhere, an enormous gust of freezing wind rose from beneath her feet and flung itself along the path of her arm and hit with the manticore, flinging it through one wall, and then another. The speed of the wind was incredible. The manticore had been seconds away from chomping on Dellinger's head.

She'd never made something happen without words before; she had no clue how she'd done it. She stared down at her hands in wonder, turning them over as if there would be some never before seen thing. She drew them to her neck and carefully touched her throat. The voice hadn't sounded like her own had ever sounded before, but she couldn't shake the feeling that it was truly her voice.

Doffy's hand on her shoulder yanked her from her thoughts. He looked surprised too.

"We should go."

They found the door without further incident and went down the passageway to get back to Nuvo's cell. Once there, Nuvo filled everyone in on the plan and they entered the fourth door. Like the others, this passage was narrow, and they had to walk in pairs to fit. Dellinger had glued himself to Nuvo again, and they took the lead, followed by Sugar and Giolla, then Trebol and Pica, then Diamante and Senor Pink, then Gladius and Machvise, then Doflamingo, bringing up the rear on his own.

He looked at all their heads from the back, his crew, his family, and he had never felt more grateful for anything. In his own way he loved these people, and having them all together again felt like old times. Baby 5 and Buffalo had disappeared off somewhere before they were all arrested, but everyone else was here. He only wished Lao G were here to see it. Vergo, too. Monet.

He had not allowed himself to think of Monet in a very long time. He'd been her first lover and she had loved him wholly. He hadn't reciprocated. He couldn't. It wasn't his way. But she loved him never the less. That love had made her fiercely loyal, and she'd been more than happy to go to Punk Hazard when he asked, even if it meant separating herself from him. She went, he stayed, and then later he sat in his office, her snowflakes falling all around him, and listened to her die. It was another one of those deep shames he carried.

He shook off the lingering ache, unwilling to let it spoil the events unfolding before him. He was getting out of prison, his family was coming with him, and it was all thanks to the enigmatic young woman leading their procession. She's a part of the Donquixote family now he thought, then remembered that she hadn't actually agreed to his proposition yet, but it didn't discourage him. At the time he'd asked, she had been rather distracted.

Nuvo found herself thinking of his words from earlier as well. He'd invited her into his family, but had he only said such a thing in the heat of the moment? And if he was serious, what role was she to play? She wanted to talk to him, but she knew it would be a while yet. His family probably had a million questions and stories to tell. How funny, to want to be alone with him when that's how they'd been for so long and all they'd set out to achieve tonight was basically the opposite. How funny indeed that despite the happy occasion, that thought almost made her sad.

At the top of a long staircase, they reached the end of the passage; another door. This one was horizontal, like an attic door. It opened in the middle of the sea, but within in the calm belt, so the water was still. The submarine was waiting for them; it was tied down from inside the passageway, so all they had to do was step out of the doorway and into the hatch; no water contact necessary. They were on the east side of Impel Down, and the prison loomed to their left, threatening to swallow them all back up.

Nuvo urged Dellinger into the hatch. He looked up at her from halfway in.

"You'll come too?" he asked, and as much as she wanted to be annoyed, it wasn't his fault he was traumatized.

"Of course, but you have to go so I can help the others inside."

He nodded and went down all the way. Giolla and Sugar popped out next, and Nuvo stood watch as they stepped out of one hole and into another. She was the only one of the bunch who could swim if anyone tripped and fell, since Dellinger was out of commission. Fortunately, the whole lot made it over without issue. Nuvo was watching Gladius's spiky head disappear into the sub when Doffy stepped out of the passageway. He stared at her, standing on the ocean in her striped clothes, ringlets framing her face and glowing red in the moonlight. She really did have a massive bruise on her neck. She was avoiding his gaze, looking instead at Impel Down.

"It's odd seeing it from the outside again." she explained.

"Yes, it is." he agreed. "You almost look like you're going to miss it."

"There are certain things I'll miss."

"Such as?"

"I'll miss having no other plans for my day except speaking with you."

He stepped toward her, the night sky reflecting in his sunglasses, which somehow suited him even at night. An awareness presented itself between the two, and they understood that things would never be quite the same. There were other people and other places in their lives again, which was good, but there was no way of telling how having more options would affect their future. They immersed themselves into attempting to memorize each other, unwilling to forget the slightest detail of the person who'd been their salvation for over a year.

"Excuse me, did you two forget that we're literally in the middle of a prison break or?..."

Sugar interrupted, breaking the spell and sending them both scampering inside.

"We need to get away from the Tarai current or we'll just head straight for Marine headquarters, so north is our best bet, at least to start. Can any of you navigate?" Nuvo questioned the crew.

"I was our ship's navigator when we were still on the sea." piped Machvise.

"We'll count on you to do that later then. You're still too weak to steer, but I can just set the sub to go north on its own for a while. Just until you're feeling up to driving and we have a specific destination in mind. We can discuss it later; for now, I'm sure we all agree on anywhere but here."

With some tinkering, the autopilot took the controls over and, in an unclimactic fashion compared to the rest of the night's events, the group of fugitives made their way out of the calm belt and into the open ocean.

…

Just before dawn, the staff of Impel Down had finally managed to finish repairing the damage. Escapees from the Wild Beast Hell who'd somehow gotten out of their cells were returned, and the steel shoes that had appeared from nowhere in the Crimson Hell had been confiscated. A count was currently underway, which Hannyabal was in charge of. Everything seemed in order; a few numbers were off, but he was sure it was simply a miscount. The prison held several criminals after all, so mistakes in the initial count were almost to be expected.

Yes, he was quite calm until he reached the Infinite Hell, which he'd saved for last because who the hell wants to go down there, right? But alas, duty called, so down he went. Everything was perfectly normal until he reached the empty solitary cells. He checked the mysterious doors, followed every passageway, eventually reaching the middle of the sea through the fourth door. And as he stood there in the middle of the calm belt, staring at the ropes connected to nothing, he was not calm at all. He was terrified.

Not because it was obvious that a successful escape had occured. Not because the escape had consisted of two of the most high-profile inmates in the history of the prison. Not even because he realized that the count from before was probably correct after all, and multiple inmates from several different floors had escaped as well. No. Hannyabal was terrified because he was the unlucky sonofabitch who was going to have to tell Magellan, who's shift started in less than an hour.