Wishfull-star: (o´∀`o)
IIRoxaII: Yeah, no matter the outcome of Ace and the WBs, I changed up Marineford quite a bit, added lots of stuff, so it'll be interesting I think. Only a few more chapters until then. I can't wait to post it honestly. But what happens in Impel Down impacts the rest of the story. Hehe.
First, to find a source of blood. Ace was supposed to be at the bottom. He didn't know how deep, but as long as he headed down, it was the right way. But he couldn't start looking for Ace until he was strong again. He followed the sounds of prisoners, the closest of them. There was a whole hall of them. Without any questions asked before he shot a hand into the cage gap and yanked an arm out, biting down.
They were already very loud, so more shouting was nothing. He drank enough to function in tip top shape, wiped and his mouth, took out the tiny vivre card and followed it. He took his shoes off, sticking them in his waistband before looking for any source of seastone. He smelled it in multiple places, but didn't find any up for grabs.
He had a time limit. If he couldn't find it quickly, he couldn't spend the time searching for it directly. Prisoners asked who he was, but he ignored them.
He came across a big door, but it was a dead end. He had to be more careful. He should be able to smell fresh areas of air, but the place was so permeated with blood, sweat and shit it was hard to make anything out that wasn't near.
Hearing voices talking about a prisoner outbreak, he got up against the ceiling. His rubber powers sure were helpful. Seastone was the very last resort, as he'd lose his power to stretch and bullets could get him that way. Well, Luffy planned on not needing it, but that didn't mean he wouldn't consider it as a last ditch effort.
At least the door opened for him and he swooped in by the ceiling, following his brother's vivre card. He heard a very nearby scream, but didn't pay attention to it much. He passed more prisoners, and they whisper-shouted. "Hey, kid! How'd you get out!?"
"I came in from the outside," Luffy said.
"No way, you're lying!" another said. They were really packed inside these cages, weren't they? How stuffy and smelly. "Are you a jailer? How'd you get out? Hey, unlock us, too!" Luffy ignored their words and asked if they knew where Ace was. "Ace? Fire Fist Ace?"
Luffy nodded, "I want to save him." They laughed at his effort.
"But, if you are looking for him, he gotta be on level five. That's where they keep the guys with bounties over 100 million," a helpful prisoner on the other side of the hall said. "But instead of that, can't you go to the jailer's room and let us out?"
"That's right, nii-chan, let us out! Yeah, we'll help you!" Luffy didn't believe it.
"Hmm, level five?" Luffy asked. Was that the deepest part? That was the bottom of the prison. Only five levels? Maybe that could be quick. They kept begging him for him to let them all out. Then they all heard a ruckus, Luffy hearing it first. He got on the ceiling, pressed flat to it as a familiar voice passed below, screaming as huge monsters followed him.
But even with them not seeing Luffy, they stopped and skidded to a halt. They were not human, they were afraid of Luffy. Luffy dropped down, taking this chance to get away from them before they caused a commotion. He found himself running next to the familiar face. And scent. The smell of lipstick mostly. Buggy was running next to him.
"Haha, the blugori are too scared of me! Ah, Straw Hat?! What are you doing here? Ah, did you come to save me?!"
"Shut up! Of course not, I came in here myself! I'm supposed to be sneaky and you ruined it! And it's me the monsters are afraid of," Luffy said. He followed the vivre card down another hall and then staircases. There were some more monsters coming for Buggy in front of them, Luffy could hear them.
When they came into sight or smell of Luffy, they ran the other way. "Hell yeah, I'm sticking with you!" Buggy said. Luffy wanted him to go away.
"Then you're coming with me to the bottom! I'm finding Ace!"
"Ehhh?! So touching! But no way am I going that deep!" Luffy hoped he'd go away, then. More blue guys came, and Luffy yelled at them to go make noise somewhere else. They fled, making whimpering noises. This sure was useful. For once, he was truly glad animals didn't like him! Buggy demanded to know what was so scary about him.
"My eyes," Luffy said simply.
"They're just red, that's not scary at all! Ahaha! I have the greatest bodyguard ever!" Buggy boasted. Luffy asked if they were the strongest force. Buggy said there were much stronger creatures than them. Hopefully they'd be afraid of Luffy, too. Luffy asked what they were. The blue things.
Apparently they were strong martial artists. "Are they human?"
"No way, fool! But that's lucky for us! Dahahaha!" Buggy cheered. He was going to use Luffy as protection, but that only meant he was going deeper and lower into the prison. He wanted to find Ace and save him. "Ace?"
"You know him?"
"Yeah, we were drinking buddies once. He's way better than you! Manners are a lot better! I was bummed when he got caught. To think they're layin' a hand on one of Whitebeard's guys! Fools. Listen! You should just give up on saving him, the Whitebeards'll do it for you." Luffy said he was saving Ace no matter what happened to him. "Ah, so touching!"
"I'm going to level five. What are you doing?"
"I'm breaking out!"
"Even though there are a ton of warships outside?" Buggy didn't know this information before, and went pale. Then he focused his gaze on Luffy's arm, eyes widening. Luffy assumed it was the tattoo, as the cover had slipped slightly. The energy was stored more inside him. It was a bit tiring, having to focus on not bursting every second, but he was able to do it just because he must.
Luffy started to run away. "Wait, Straw Hat!"
Luffy told him to shut up, but they were found already. "There they are!"
"You asshole! Stop following me, you're ruining everything!" Luffy snapped angrily. Buggy ruined it already and they were only on level one! Why'd he have to run into him here? He was so irritated, truly.
"Give me that armband!" Buggy shouted, attracting more attention. He refused, as Nami had given it to him and it looked cool. "I know where level five is! I can lead you there if you give it to me!" Luffy didn't care if he was lying, he didn't care about the armband.
"Deal!" Buggy wanted his protection. Maybe he thought he could tag along with Luffy when he broke out, too. Well, as long as he led them to level five, then he could come along. Making a ruckus was better than not finding Ace, even if he went quietly. He had to make a compromise.
Buggy told him to grab onto his feet, which he separated from his body with his devil fruit. Luffy grabbed them and Buggy flew above him, leading him to the entrance of level two. "I want level five!" Buggy said you had to go through levels 1 through 4 to get to 5. It was layered all the way to the bottom. One level at a time, it seemed.
"Some say there's a level below level five, but I don't know that for sure! That's where Ace would be! He's a strong guy, though he somehow lost?"
Luffy snapped that Ace was stronger than anyone. "Then how'd he lose?"
"I… I don't know. But he won't be beaten again! The guy who did it was named Blackbeard!" Apparently Buggy knew the name, knew it was who Ace had been searching for after they met and were drinking buddies. How could someone as charismatic as Ace end up here? Only bad people should be here, like Crocodile!
But it was run by the government, so they threw fairness out the window. Though Ace was a criminal. He just didn't want to believe he was here. Even though he was counting on it. "Anyways, I can lead you to level four!" buggy bragged, but then covered his mouth. He wasn't lying, but Luffy should stop focusing on that. It didn't matter if he was lying, Luffy would make it there.
More pressure built, but he forced it down. "Hey, you turned into a nice guy, now!"
"No way! I just want that arm band you have that can lead me to a huge stash of treasure!" Buggy looked regretful that he said that, but Luffy was unbothered. Give and you get, right? Luffy asked if he was there because he was weak. "Shut up! Don't say that!"
Luffy wondered if it really led to a big treasure. He had no idea! "Damn it, you heard it! I have no choice but to take it by force!" Buggy shouted,and took out the axe he'd stolen from one of the scared monsters. He didn't hear anymore coming from behind them, but did hear shouts at what they were doing. Still cowering it seemed.
The teen just held out the armband. "Here you go! I want to save Ace over some treasure," Luffy said with a genuine smile. He had some hope. Buggy pointed out he could just take the arm band and run with it. "Yeah, but I want to trust what you said to me!" Luffy replied. "I'll do anything to get to Ace!"
Buggy ran into a wall, and Luffy said, "That way? Right!" he couldn't hear anything especially dangerous through that wall, but he did luck out and smell seastone. It was actually a guard's room that he broke into. Buggy was freaking out, but Luffy snatched a seastone cuff and shoved it into his pocket. It made his pants heavier, but it was worth it. Since his skin wasn't touching it, he was fine.
Better to have this just in case it was needed later. But, he burst right through the other wall, no easy exit in that room. "Stop, Straw Hat!" Buggy begged as they were soon falling over a huge red forest! But they weren't trees, but spikes. The leaves on them were razor sharp, and the red color of them was all blood.
That was easy to tell as the room smelled of old blood. It was repulsive. "Don't touch the blades! They're not just sharp, they're crawling with poisonous spiders! They and the guards chase around the prisoners, slicing them from all directions!" Buggy explained. Luffy screamed that they were going to fall and get skewered.
The prisoners begged for help, for death. It was horrible, but he didn't let any sympathy or pity bloom in his chest. He needed to focus on one thing. Getting through here, down to level two, level three, level four and level five. He had five goals that were realistic. That would do. Buggy proudly said he couldn't be sliced, and Luffy landed on his back. "Just be quiet and throw my feet down!" Luffy did so, and buggy flew above the blades of red, crusty and wet with new and old blood. "Kyahahaha! If my feet are on the ground, I'm laughing!"
At least he wasn't freaking out about the danger anymore. At least not right now. This was level 1: crimson hell. He hoped Ace didn't go through this. If he did, Luffy didn't think it was recent as he didn't smell his blood, even as they were so close to the ground. Flying past everyone. Maybe running into Buggy was lucky! Even though he was a moron.
"We're going down a floor, but we don't need stairs! There's an escape route, it goes to level two! To escape the crimson hell, you gotta go to the next hell! Even though nobody uses it!" Buggy stopped at the precipice of a huge, pitch black hole. It was very deep, but the scent coming from it wasn't blood, so that was an improvement.
He said a lot of people wanted to escape this level, but nobody was supid enough to go in. So it was unused and useless. "Good! Then we can just fly down there! Hup!" Luffy called, jumping. "It's deep! I wonder what's at the bottom!?"
He heard Buggy scream, so he ended up going down, too. Luffy heard the echoes of roars, the sounds of beasts bigger than the blugori thingies. Luffy landed with a bounce, Buggy landing on top of him. They both hopped up at the sounds of beasts. Looking ahead, Luffy smelled and heard something coming towards them, something huge.
"Run, Straw Hat!" buggy screeched. Luffy stood his ground, and glared at the creature when it came close. It froze, and started to sweat. Luffy took one step towards it and it fled, making quite the ruckass. "You are terrifying! What's wrong with you?!"
Luffy just said, "We're lucky! Let's keep going!" There were shouts from the prisoners on each side, begging to be let out.
"Good job scaring them away! Hey, why don't you guys let us out?! They keys are over there! Right there! C'mon, please!" the prisoners shouted, again all shoved into small cages, so crowded they barely could stand up together. This place was horrible on so many levels. Literally and figuratively. Buggy then let out the prisoners, all of them flooding from the nearest cells. Lufy dragged him along. "Take me to level three already! You said you would take me to level four!"
"Idiot! I don't know the layout of the whole place! I just wanted the arm band! I'm gonna cause a huge prison riot and escape during that!"
"Then have fun with the monsters on your way out!" Luffy said angrily. More beasts surrounded them and the prisoners voluntarily went back into the cages. "You liar!"
When Buggy realized the prison riot wouldn't work, and that the beasts were coming in hoards, with the safest path being accompanying Luffy, he agreed to take the Supernova to the next floor. "You just said you didn't know how to get down!" Luffy shouted. "You stupid big nose!" He was getting annoyed.
He couldn't smell Ace anymore. He probably took the lift, then. So, Luffy would have to listen to anywhere that was an obvious exit, which would be hard. He wished he had a map. Buggy clearly didn't know the way.
"If you're having trouble getting through this floor, why don't I help you?" a familiar vice said. He was easy to recognize by scent much more than voice. A guy he nearly one shotted on Little Garden!
"What's with that guy?!" Buggy asked.
The guy laughed. "Fufufu! Long time no see, Straw Hat! But I'm free and it looks like I have you to thank! I am a man who repays his debts! I'll help you out!"
"Three!" Luffy said. "You're the guy back from the giant island!"
"It's mister three!" Three said in irritation. "I'll help you out!"
"Kyahahaha! We'll take it!" A few moments later, and they were being chased by lions with human faces, saying stupid things. "Straw Hat you liar! You said animals were afraid of you!" Luffy shouted back these gys were too stupid to realize the danger.
"Probably!"
"You're not scary at all!" Three shouted as they battled the beasts that just kept coming, saying random things that had no reason to be said in a prison. Buggy said he scared the blugori away. "What?! That was a coincidence!"
"No, it's not! Gahhh, just when I want animals to be afraid of me!" Luffy shouted in irritation. "Stupid lions, go away!" Luffy complained. They were just complicating things. When he heard Luffy wanted to go down and not up, Three ditched. "Wait! Tell me how to get to the stairs to level three!" Luffy called.
The candle man stopped, thinking something, and then suddenly reversed his decision to help him out. Only they ran into a dead end. He was useless, too! But they turned around and saw a huge lion with a big face, this one with feathers on. It was massive! It looked down at Luffy with that stupid face. This one was too stupid, too!
"Why isn't it scared a'ya?!"
"Just look at it, it's stupid!" Luffy replied. The sphinx, as Three called it, slammed its paw down, nearly getting them and breaking apart the floor beneath them.
"Gah! This thing is dangerous! Straw Hat, scare it away like you did before!" Luffy snarled at it, but it swatted at him. For once, Luffy was kind of embarrassed for not being intimidating. It was a weird feeling! It kept swatting, and Buggy and Three were planning something as Luffy tried to stop the sphinx that was screaming different types of ramen in Luffy's ears.
He punched its head from above. "Shut up, ya dumb beast!" Luffy said angrily. It had a huge bump on its head, but wasn't down. How was this guy stronger than oars, Luffy's zombie had been? But it wasn't a great enough threat to release the pressure he was continuing to keep inside. Not yet. It wasn't time at all, not nearly this early could he go out.
When it got angrier at the hit, Luffy had his hands tangled into its mane as Buggy flew out of the way. It seemed his devil fruit could be quite useful when it had seemed so lame before. Well, desperation fueled progression sometimes.
"Not fair! Why do you guys get to get outta the way!" Three complained. But then he made wax figures of himself. Luffy could tell which ones were fake completely, but the beast really was an idiot, and swatted at the wrong ones. "Haha! Dumb beast! You fell for my trick!" Luffy was hanging onto its mane still as it whacked at the wax statues.
"Ha, that looks fun! Like whack-a-mole! I told you it was stupid," Luffy called to Buggy, who was floating at the corner of the ceiling, his feet hidden around the corner. But the sphynx seemed to be having fun, too. What a strange situation. Three, also, seemed entertained by mocking the beast. But Luffy heard a deeper crumbling.
Perfect! An easy way to level three! He hung onto the mane tightly as the ground gave way and they fell to the next level. Buggy and Three got caught up in it, too, screaming as they fell deep, deep into level three.
"Ahhh!"
"Not good!"
"Noooo! Not level three!"
But there was no stopping falling. None could actually fly. Buggy would have to leave his feet below to fly, but now he couldn't fly out of the level as his feet were now plummeted towards the surface of the next level.
Instantly, Luffy was sweating heavily. "The hell?! It's so hot!" He smelled cooked meat and was happy to see a roasted bird. "Food! Haha!" He ate the free food, and looked around. He could see the mirage of heat coming from the ground. He put his sandals back on, finally. The other two weren't happy at all with being dragged down with him. On level three, there was no reason for him to be any more help without monsters.
Three was melting, being a candle man and all. But all three were soaked in sweat. The former Baroque Works number agent explained that the heat came from the level below being so hot it went up through the ceiling and into the level above. The next level was hotter?! How?
"All these people dead in their cells, these guys were all once notorious criminals with a bounty over 50 million! Now they're just husks from the heat."
"Damn you, Straw Hat!" Buggy screeched. These people never got food and water. They died of dehydration and heat stroke, even in the shade of their own cells. How was it any form of torture when they just die? But despite them not moving or making any sort of show they were alive, he heard shallow breathing. They were alive. So sick and dehydrated that they were unable to pant. They were on the edge of death.
Level three was starvation hell. "If we don't get outta here, we'll end up like these guys," Three said. Luffy told them to get out of that area. There was a net beneath them! Of seastone! The moment they jumped out of the way the net raised. Luffy wouldn't expose his unique reaction to seastone yet. He didn't want to lose control yet. They had to move on. For Luffy, it was how to get to the level below, and for the other two escapees, they wanted back up. They had no hope of escaping with all the marine ships, though.
Luffy couldn't hear Ace or Hancock yet. Not close enough. Ace had also not been to this level, there was no scent of him. At least he wasn't starving and dehydrated. But the levels below had to have worse treatment. I'll be there soon, Ace! Wait for me!
They were surrounded by people, and blugori. The blugori were shaking. Really, what were they? Were they really gorillas? A little guy came out. "You're fast. How did you know it was there?" Luffy didn't answer. He didn't want them knowing about his senses because maybe they'd try to target them. He stayed silent.
"Very well, don't answer. You're lucky to be caught by me. There was never anywhere you could run. Come quietly. You're better off here than facing the demon guards below." The sphynx was thrashing around, and roared as it broke the net, making everyone scramble to get away from the angry and defensive dumb creature. Still yelling ramen.
"Time to run!" Luffy said.
"Blugori, stop them!" They cowered.
"Blugori, attack your people or I'll eat you!" It worked! These ones were smart. "Run, get to level four!" Luffy shouted. He looked up to see Buggy and Three had made it up the net. Crazy guys they were. They were ditching Luffy, laughing about it. "Well, okay! Thanks for helping me this far!" He ran off, followed by jailers.
The blugori were following his orders. Too scared of him in the now to think of what would happen to them once he was gone from there; once they were offed for their traitorous actions. They were animals, and were smart to know Luffy could rip them to shreds if he lost control. More pressure built in him, but he pressed it down. Not yet.
"After him!" Saedeth called as he attempted to round up the blugori that stopped their attacks and fled the scene. Luffy was still sweating as he used a gomu gomu gatling at them all, and sprinted away and out of sight, avoiding the den den cameras by smelling and hearing their little "gyuuu" noises.
He climbed onto a cage, and then hid below a ledge to catch his breath. The floor was crawling with guards, though many were injured from the blugori's desperate betrayal. He was unseen and he could hear everyone getting frantic about him and the danger he posed, being able to manipulate the blugori.
They knew his power was a rubber fruit, but they didn't know about anything else, or why the creatures would side with him. Or at least, be so afraid of him. It had been just a hope that they'd listen to him, as they could take orders. He was just lucky they did what he said, truly lucky.
He was starting to get really hot and thirsty for water. There were guards everywhere, and the sphinx was mad at him, probably for being the reason he was in this hot place. Well, maybe he was giving the dumb shit too much credit. He saw den den cameras everywhere, heard guards setting traps up.
They were all seastone. He still had the cuffs in his pockets. He already exposed his strange relationships with animals. He couldn't do the same for his enhanced senses and the seastone issue. He wanted to seem as normal as possible. Still hiding his arm mark. Who knows if it was glowing? He knew the inevitable blast from his body would be devastating to anything around.
He felt like a ticking time bomb. He would go off eventually, when the time was either when he wanted, or in the worst situation. It was always that way with him. Things either went his way or the complete opposite. This felt like the opposite. He had no more allies, Buggy and Three had left. Right now, the young captain was the main target, the more threatening one.
The sphinx found where he was, and Luffy spirited away, no longer even bothering to look at the vivre card. He was just trying to stay alive. The sphinx caught him under his paw, slapping him into the wall with a crash. Guards gathered around the exhausted teen.
Then he heard Zoro's voice. But he was horrified he was there! Until he smelled him. Definitely not Zoro's smell. "Who is it?!"
The Zoro imposter kicked the sphinx away in the face, throwing it off. He then went after all the guards, freeing Luffy from the paw and danger. "Long time no see, Straw-chan!" Bon Clay! Luffy hugged him, old friends reuniting.
"Bon-chan! Man, I thought you died for us back there!" Luffy cheered. He had saved them and let them escape in Alabasta! He saved their ship before and then let them escape. Such a good guy! Both had tears, and Luffy finally had a good ally who cared about him. And who he cared about, too.
"Ngahaha! Stop joking around, Okama's never die!" Bon Clay said. "Is that true?!" he shouted to himself. Luffy was so happy to have a cheerful guy here. Even if he wasn't going to help him, finding out he was alive lifted his mood a lot. He seemed unharmed and still energetic despite where he was.
More guards came, the blugori nowhere to be found. "Bon-chan, I have to get to level five! Will you help me?!"
"I already knew! Mr. Three told me! So, of course! I have someone I want to see there, too!" Luffy was ecstatic. "Let's take down these guys together in the name of friendship!" Bon Clay shouted and laughed. They both beat up the guards, and Luffy started pulling down the camera den dens when he smelled them as they ran. Luffy was following Bon Clay's direction.
"Bon-chan, I'm so happy to see you!" Luffy said. "It was getting really hard, but now I feel so much more energetic!" His friend laughed, and was ecstatic his mere presence could help his friend. "I finally have an ally with me!" Luffy laughed, cheering.
Bon Clay was grinning, and wondered where the blugori were. Luffy said he scared them off. "Neehee, I can be pretty scary if I want to be," he said proudly, rubbing his finger under his nose. His friend laughed, saying he was full of surprises. Now there were four prisoners out of their cells, running around.
Impel Down now had more people broken out, and their main force, the blugori, were too scared to go after the ringleader. Luffy had hope he'd make it down. And that the remaining beasts would be smart, too. Not like the stupid manticores and sphynx. They were a pain in the ass, but at least the stupid sphynx got them down a level easily.
"Straw-chan, you seem stronger! You must have been on a lot of adventures since I last saw you." Luffy grinned and nodded. He asked if he went to jail for them. "Ngahaha! No way! I wasn't caught then, I was caught helping my fellow number agents away after the marines came after us! But seeing Mr. Three here made me sad! I worked so hard to keep them out of trouble." Luffy said Crocodile was here. "Zero-chan, I knew he'd be here!"
They ran into a problem on their way to the staircase down. A large and intimidating beast. It approached them, and Luffy stepped in front of Bon Clay. It would be better to get this guy to run away than to waste energy fighting anymore. They would only be going deeper and hotter, he wanted to conserve energy as they were both dehydrated, Bon Clay much more than Luffy. Though he was used to this.
Luffy wore that crazy look, adding a sadistic smile. The okama behind him couldn't see. Luffy showed his longer teeth, and even made to lick his lips. "Do you want to be ripped to pieces, now? Or do you want to help me out?" Luffy slowly walked towards it, and it started shaking. "Show us to level four," he hissed.
"Straw-chan…?" The minotaur turned around and hurried away. Luffy grinned. He called for his companion to come with him. "How'd you do that?!"
"Neehee, I've been practicing my scary look!" The minotaur swatted away any guard with his spiked club. Now Luffy had become an even bigger thorn in their sides. He just hoped this wouldn't come to bite him in the ass again. They were led to a wall, though Bon Clay knew this way already. The minotaur bowed its head, still shaking.
"This is the easiest way down! We just go over this wall. That minotaur led us to the quickest way, not the stairs!" That was great! Time was of the essence after all.
Yup! Luffy forced the beasts of Impel Down to do his bidding! Will be super fun later!