Piracy is on the Rise

The crew had gathered in the control room. The ship had been completely abandoned and taken over by the Infinity Pirates. The crew found it funny, but despite their rising bounties this was probably the first truly pirate thing they had done. They attacked a Marine Base or two before, but this was surely the first time they charged into an avoidable battle. Of course, Rosa would probably argue that this wasn't an avoidable battle. That this fight was an absolute must, regardless of the crew's reasonable fears.

They looked over at the tube that was going to be 'safely' transporting them upwards. The ship had a smaller crew than it could handle because the entire bottom of the ship had been gutted to make room for this contraption. A series of machine burned coal which boiled the water beneath them and quickly increased the air pressure at the bottom from there, it released the pressure upwards sending the platform up about a fifth of the way. From there it fell about a tenth of the way and then this process was repeated until the platform reached the top. It was a ridiculously slow method to help the platform reach the top of the tube without any interruption or dangers, however, another problem was present…the fact that it wasn't made to carry eight people up at a time. It was made to carry up three people. Two guards, one prisoner. After all this was more of an emergency jettison to the top where a longer trip would just be reckless.

It would take them three trips to get up and seeing at how it probably took ten minutes just to raise the platform to the sky and then probably ten minutes to let it drop. So they may be waiting around for an hour just to invade the prison and sadly any loss of time was too much. They were invading enemy territory, much worse enemy territory that happened to have plenty of guards and surveillance around. A screw was possible and likely knowing this bunch. Both Ridley and Mikoto would probably cause a ruckus, but even worse…with the way Rosa is it's possible that they would have to look over another fool…and there is one more person Hiro-Shu was worried about. He looked at his crew as he thought about this situation.

He thought back to the time they attacked Reverse Mountain. That was the first time they willingly waged war on the Marines and it earned them a slight increase in terms of infamy. Zesiro broke one of his swords and had his strength reduced, but Maria had been covering his weight since then. And then the URA, which spoke for itself, with Trevor, Karasu, and the Buster Call all hovering around them. However, Hiro-Shu believed that this was the first time they have ever done something so reckless. Without even a clear goal in sight. If they got there and Lily wasn't even there it would be all for naught. This time it wasn't even a matter of win or lose…it was a matter of luck, they wouldn't walk away as the victors just because they were stronger. They would need the devil's luck to get through this horrible scene. Hiro-Shu shivered for a second as he thought about it. All the work they had already put into this mission and all the work they were going to have to put into it and all for what? A one-in-a-million chance they'd be able to save someone. He knew Mikoto would accept those odds and right now Rosa, with her mind clouded with a strange mixture of rage and hope, is leading their charge, with them following closely behind her in possibly a fool-hardy attempt. Hiro-Shu shook his head, he felt like a fool thinking about this now. It was too late, the crew's hearts were already into it. No matter how fool-hardy it seemed.

Hiro-Shu had already determined how they would be going up. First just Maria and Enma. Maria's metal appendages skewed the weight so the three prisoner suggestion seemed moot. Next Sage, Zesiro, and Rosa with Mikoto and Ridley soon following. Hiro-Shu iron golem still made him the heaviest so it would be best if he went alone…as well as the fact that he had to man the control panel. He quickly set himself to work. The platform was on the bottom, so he quickly had Maria and Enma gather on. They were a bit uncertain since they felt like guinea pigs, but their trust of Hiro-Shu made them step on. Besides Enma wanted to get their first and have a look around before the troublesome bunch arrived. The lift was triggered as they were lifted up into the air. They were both uneasy, but they were pirates so they held in their screams of terror as the ground beneath their own feet was rocketed upwards.

Enma was definitely uneasy. The rise and fall of the platform with each burst of pressure made him feel sick. When they finally got to the bottom of the base, he was thankful to be one solid ground once more. He stepped out alongside Maria, who didn't seem too bothered by the bursting platform, he supposed her legs allowed her better balance than his bones did. However, he soon found out that being on solid ground wasn't as fun as it was back down on the Blue Sea…he found himself immediately short of breath. The air was thin this high up. It would take him a few minutes to adjust to this sort of extreme, even Maria seemed a bit tired and her arms seemed to sag a bit as she walked and looked about. It would be about twenty minutes until their allies come up…then another and another until the entire crew set foot in this prison. That meant he had at least that long to adjust to this air. He looked around and examined the stone walls that surrounded them.

If he remembered correctly from some of the books he used to read, Skypieans had a slight obsession with earth. They didn't have any up here in the sky so part of the deal with World Government was that the jail had to be made of the stuff. The Marines had to transport large quantities of stone all the way around and back up to the sky again and again in order to finish the building if it broke then they would have to go back down for more supplies. Enma was amazed it ever got done from the way things looked in the newspaper, he was even more amazed that such building was stable. They were how many miles in the air and they were just supposed to trust some architect's words? He tapped his foot on the ground testing the solid earth, it seemed pretty sturdy. He would just believe in it for now rather than think about the worst. Speaking of the worst…Enma's mind wandered back over to Rosa's motives for joining the crew…and whether or not she'd stay with it after this.

"Hey…hey is someone new there?" asked a voice it was dark and desperate. Enma's ears piqued up as he struggled back to his feet. The thin air was still choking him, but he wasn't much bothered by it. He walked forward towards one of the doors. They were in a small circular room, with four doors all facing inwards forming the tips of a rectangle. Enma suppose they did so the Marines who came here wouldn't have to see any of the pirates' faces, so one of them were probably a straight shot to the next floor, but then again…Enma didn't want a straight shot to the next floor. He needed to check this floor's pirates to make sure Lily wasn't amongst them. Besides the voice was interesting to him.

Enma swung the door open and was immediately greeted by the horrifying sight of pirates behind bars all around him. However, the pirates themselves didn't interest him. They were all pinned against the wall with sharp curved blades digging into their hands. They're eyes were all glazed over all hope was lost. Only a few of them even managed to lift their heads to look at him…Enma was a doctor and he could immediately tell that a quarter of these men were already dead, another quarter had severe infections because of the open wounds, and the remaining half were bleeding to death. They were probably given some anti-coagulating medicine to make the process quicker. Needless to say Enma wasn't in a very good mood after seeing this, he didn't know if it was this sight or the lack of air, but he felt sick.

"Give me a second," said Enma as he approached one of the cells. "I'll help you guys get out of this-" He was immediately met with wailing as the pirates all shouted 'no'. Enma stepped back and looked at them, they were sharing cells with dead bodies. They themselves were on the brink of death and he could help them…or at the very least ease their pain. He was a doctor it was his duty. "I'm a doctor," Enma said solemnly, I'll help you…" once more a sharp 'no' was his answer.

"Give it up, Enma," said Maria, softly as she put her hand on his shoulder. She seemed to be all better, which Enma guessed was to be expected. She was probably more physically fit than he was, she probably had already adjusted to the lack of air. "They've given up. I'm guessing they've been here for awhile…they've given up all hope. They've probably been tortured to the point that the thought of escaping from here is all too far away." She pointed towards a man in the corner. His arms were shagging by his side, he wasn't pinned up, but he wasn't moving either…other than the faint rise and fall of his chest. He was dead inside, he wasn't going to be moving. The prison guards made sure of that.

"The girl is right," said one of the men from inside of the cell. He was probably the closest to death, pus was squeezing out of his mouth and a rat was nibbling at his dying feet. "This prison…its…weird you know. At first you hate the walls and then you love them and then the thought is implanted in your head…you can't live without them. The walls are safe…" The man huddled closer to his wall as did the rest of the prisoners…all of them had gone crazy! How long had they been in here?

"This prison is arranged from top to bottom, right?" asked the man, although it was more of a statement. "You see, unlike Impel Down this prison operates on a more basic function…the newbies are dragged from the bottom to the top experiencing all the floors, all the hells, you see your fellow prisoners with their spirits crushed…and you think that's not going to happen to you, but after the days become weeks…the weeks become months, the months become years…you realize that you already have. The prison is the safest and best place in the world!" He let loose a wild laugh.

"How is this prison arranged?" asked Enma. He was hoping to meet more friendly pirates higher up and hopefully ones with all of their marbles still intact, besides he needed an accurate guess as to where Lily would be. If it was arranged like Impel Down then she would be at the top, right?

"The longer you are here, the further down you are dragged," laughed the man from behind the security of his prison bars. "The newbies start at the highest floor where their hopes and dreams are filled as they look out at the clouds and then their spirits are crushed as they move down one floor and then the next. Soon they can't focus anymore, they are starting to spit up uncontrollably. The horrors of the prison slowly start to affect you, you give in! GIVE IN TO THE PRISON! GIVE IN TO THE PRISON!" The man was obviously trying to start a rant, but the rest of the prisoners didn't even have the energy to join in.

Enma shook his head. He couldn't believe pirates could become like this. He even recognized a person or two from the newspaper. There in the corner was 'Blood Fist' Carl, a pirate with a bounty exceeding eighty-eight million. Another pirate in the room was an ex-revolutionary, Markel Thorgrin, a man whose bounty had shot past 120 million. It was heart-breaking seeing these previous tyrants of the sea locked up and detained.

However, Enma supposed it wasn't a complete waste. Based on what they said he now had a fairly good idea about what to do and where Lily was. Based on what they said he could determine that Lily was probably higher up, probably on the first or second floor. They said the newer prisoners stay up there to get their hopes up until they were transferred down further till the point their spirits are crushed. Then again, Lily wasn't a pirate it was entirely possible her spirit got crushed quickly and she had already given up. He sighed. This prison was going to be harder then he thought. "Can one of you at least tell me where the-" Enma's words got cut short. He turned around and produced a thin spear of his own bone. He heard a noise. Maria had also reacted to the unknown noise; she brought her fists up to a fighting stance. She kept her eyes forward towards the hallway. They still had a while to wait until the next group would arrive. The prisoners also lifted their heads-up as high as their crushed spirits would let them. They waited for something to come down.

A long serpent crept into the halls. It had white feathers with a slight blue tint adorning its massive head. It turned solemnly to the left and then to right. Its tongue flickered out between its fearsome jaws as it examined each corridor. Enma felt a little safer knowing that this prison could support that beast. "What is it?" asked Maria turning to one of the prisoners. Their eyes fell to the floor as soon as they had realized what it was. Nonetheless it didn't make Maria feel any safer seeing their dejected looks.

"It is just this prison's curse," stated one of the men. "The prison guards here will sometimes feed the roving monsters outside to make them believe that if a prisoner escapes, he too is its food. Every so often one of the beasts will find its way in here through a hole or a window carelessly left open. Be grateful," nodded the man towards the serpent who was currently winding down the halls in search of its next meal, "for it is one of the smaller ones. It'll be gone in a few minutes when the guards catch its scent."

"Guards?" asked Enma already fearing what he meant by that. If the guards were to slink their way down here they would be in big trouble especially now. They still had to spend another hour waiting for the rest of their crew to get here. They didn't have the time to waste. "The prison is about five stories high, correct?" Enma started to calculate how much time they had left if the guards got down here too quickly in order to catch that monster then they'd be in trouble. They needed to bide their time until at least Zesiro got here, that way they'd have some back-up against them and it wasn't completely hopeless…the five stories the guards would have to cover should probably take them about fifteen minutes. They would have to stay out of sight for probably twenty minutes and even then once Zesiro arrived their cover would be blown.

"Can't we just take the lizard out?" asked Maria already surging forward towards the beast, ready for a brawl. She was anxious to put it bluntly. She lived for fights and now that a monstrous snake laid before her eyes, maybe she was a little excited. But that didn't stop Enma from grabbing her and pulling her back. He explained his reason for doing such. After all if they attacked the giant snake now and the guards came down to find it dead wouldn't that just mean that someone other than the guards had taken the snake down? It would be like signaling that they were here to everyone around. Nonetheless Maria didn't seem all too swayed at Enma's laying down the consequences and she stepped forward again…just barely in time to see the snake's massive body fall to the ground covered in blood.

A Longarm was standing in front of the snake, he didn't even break a sweat. He just stood there astride the massive snake with his weapon, a three-pronged trident in one hand. "Such a tedious job," was all he bothered to mutter. Enma took a glance at him and immediately knew that he wasn't a man to take easy. His choice of weapon was the most interesting to him. Longarms have just that long arms, given a normal human being's arms are longer than two feet, his extra section probably gave him a normal reach of three feet to possibly four based on his height…however, even that didn't matter as he had his trident, which was about the same height as him. In other words his reach extended by another six feet...give or take a few inches. Something told him that prison guards like him were awaiting them in the higher reaches as well.

The Inescapable Prison

The Longarm is an OC, but since I haven't mentioned his name I won't mention who made him until I do like I usually do. Before I can get into building up suspense I got to apologize. I'm starting school again soon, so my free time is going to bite the bullet. Sadly that means I won't be able to update as much as I currently am. I may be able to keep this up for the rest of the month...but if I don't you'll know why. Anyways, this arc is already finished being written...it goes up to like 186 or something...yeah, another semi-long one, but not as bad as the URA...so, um...prepare? Well, like I said my free time will slow down, but I may also kick it up and do a whole bunch of bonus updates soon...provided I get the time.