What is the Torture?

"Well, it looks like Lily's not on this floor either," said Mikoto as he wiped the sweat off of his brow. The heat of this floor was starting to get to him and to make it worse they were running around on it. His little troupe was starting to burn themselves out as well. Zesiro would've slumped to the ground by now if it weren't for his insane spirit, Sage was pretty close to being worn-out, too, and she barely had to do anything to defeat the waves of guards that were coming after them. "Guess we better head to the stairs now." Mikoto said it with optimism, however, he knew that going up to the next floor would only be throwing themselves deeper into the pit of their enemies'.

"I wonder where all the strong guards are at," muttered Zesiro as he sat down, taking a brief reprieve from the heat. Sage looked a little worried that these guards apparently weren't the strong ones. Then again recalling Enma's testimony why would strong guards need to be posted this far down, everyone here had already given up on any kind of idea of freedom. Mikoto took this opportunity to rest a little as well, crouching down and trying to think. He did smell an unholy amount of fear here, however, that didn't seem to make any sense when compared to these guards. They all didn't seem to live up to the profound sense of terror he felt. "I suppose they are higher up, if things keep going like this we may just be worn out by the time we get there."

The worst-case scenario had just been laid out before them. Zesiro was probably right, after all, this was a prison breaking down people's bodies along with their minds could very well be their master plan. Sage directed her gaze upwards to the ceiling of the floor as she thought about it. This floor was burning hot and would tire anyone out in a matter of seconds not to mention with the constant fights with the guards meant any small number of invaders would be exhausted before even putting their foot down on the higher floors. Which of course, meant more danger awaited them and it would only get tougher.

Mikoto quickly transformed into his coyote form and sniffed the air. They had to get going soon and his nose was going to find them their way out. While the stench of hot metal was definite one of the strongest ones in the air there were others mixed in as well. He could smell each and every one of his crewmembers own distinct smell, he just had to narrow it down to one. His eyes shot open as he located his crewmate. Enma and Hiro-Shu went to find the stairs to the next level and secure them, so if Mikoto could find them he would find the stairs. And he did. He kicked up into the air and shouted "follow me," to his two current allies. Zesiro groaned for a second and wiped sweat from his forehead. It would be a long trek ahead of them; luckily he couldn't imagine that any floor would be as hot as this one was.

The three quickly charged off into the distance relying on Mikoto's keen nose in order to get them through. However, Mikoto's speed was much greater than theirs and they had to shout at him multiple times to slow down. There was one small problem that only Sage seemed to pick up on, since Mikoto was busying himself by tracking the scent and Zesiro was distracted by the disastrous heat. Sage, however, was worried about the prison and was staying extra cautious of her surroundings and that is the only reason why she noticed the missing guards. The cells around them had all been cut down, which meant here was one of the places Zesiro had tried to rally troops at (and failed) there were many men huddled into the corners, panicking. Which meant this was where some guards had tried to stop them, but there were no guards on the ground knocked out. She supposed the logical explanation was that they woke up and left, but…that just didn't feel right. They were hit by both Mikoto and Zesiro could they really recover from such rough attacks that quickly? However, she supposed that was the only option. It is not like unconscious bodies got up and moved themselves.

They wound up the staircase before Maria's group did, which was understandable as Mikoto's nose was a better and quicker location method than what Maria's group was doing, which was basically trying to find and locate one of the Enma's signs that had laid out for them to better redirect them to him. It was a chancy choice as it revealed Enma's location to the jailers too if they understood the signs, which is why Enma tried to create a difficult to decipher code if the jailers did not know the right symbols, but still they didn't have much time left. The guards were without a doubt closing in on their current location.

"Where are all of the guards?" asked Sage as she took a brief reprieve on one of the steps. It seemed like the staircase had a built in ventilation system so the majority of the crew was resting there waiting for Maria's group to show up. There were no guards gathered around this staircase, it seemed like if they really did wake-up they would've tried to leave this floor to regroup with more of them, but it was deserted except for them and few of the guards scattered on the ground.

Enma shrugged. "The ones you see here are the ones who were here to begin with," he pointed out. "I didn't see any guards rushing towards this exit. I just assumed you guys took them all out." Sage let out a brief gasp of desperation, she didn't like that sound of that. If they did try to go to the next floor up then they would have to take the stairs as she didn't see a single elevator around here on her walk. Even if they were multiple stairs, some of them still should've came here by luck. It seemed fishy almost. Enma calmed her worries rather quickly. "When we first got here one of the first things we did was go up to the next floor." The term 'we' was Enma's choice of words, truth be told Hiro-Shu lead the way because he was sturdier if there was a trap up there, Hiro-Shu had about a 95% chance of surviving it. "No traps or guards were immediately visible. We didn't get a good look at whatever the torture was that was going up there, though." For some reason his words didn't immediately ease her worries, it still smelled of a trap to her.

Maria's group was rounding corner just now they looked just as tired as Mikoto's group did when they first arrived, even Maria one of the people usually bounding with energy seemed to be a little drained. This heat was really getting to everyone on the crew. "Let's not waste any time," said Rosa already starting to climb up the stairs, but her footsteps were a little sluggish…almost incredibly so, "we need to save Lily quickly." The rest of the crew turned around, they knew it was pointless to argue. Although the longer they argued the longer they got to rest here, but who wanted to rest in a prison anyways. They soon ascended the staircase and came upon a brand new floor.

Compared to the other floor this one assailed them with an instantaneously cool breeze. The crew immediately felt lulled to sleep, but they rubbed their eyes and continued onwards. At first they were a bit surprised at the zen-like garden state of the floor, until Sage's own expertise came into play. She wasn't just a chef aboard the Infinity Pirates, she was also their homegrown botanist. Her eyes locked onto the trees that stretched out before them. They were tall trees that stretched up to the ceiling and then the branches were forced downwards to make room. However, the lack of space for the trees weren't her main concern. It was the types of trees they were and the flowers that they were producing. Beautiful white flowers with a second layer of blue petals surrounding them. Sage recognized them almost immediately. "Sleeping Nightlock."

The flowers released pollen like all flowers do although very few flower pollen was as potent as this one was. The flower pollen spread a dangerous, almost-toxic, substance. The substance would get in people's lungs and slowly start to make them feel sleepy in high concentrated doses it was enough to make people fall asleep immediately and was actually used as anesthesia in certain medical practices. It was also weaponized. One of Sage's earlier opponents, a Groucho Marx, used it against her to make her nod off to sleep. Of course, Sage from her works with plants had a slightly higher immunity to it than most, but still it was enough to make her sleepy. That was all the way back with their first encounter with the Marines. It was amazing how far they had come…and yet it almost felt like they were still at the starting line because of how much farther they had to go. Sage quickly relayed all of this information to the rest of the crew. They immediately stepped back as they tried to figure out how to get out of here. If they tried anything it was possible that this would wind up being a step-back. They couldn't compete with Mother Nature AND the guards all while looking for Lily. Was it possible that they would have to turn back around and leave after coming this far?

"NO!" shouted Rosa, immediately bringing her own opinions into these matters. "I'm not leaving without my sister!" She turned around and without waiting for the rest of the Infinity Pirates to try and back her up, she left. Enma paused for a few seconds, he was seriously beginning to further question Rosa's loyalty. If she truly wanted to help them out she would put the group's need ahead of her own sometimes. At this point, turning back was an option to consider. Especially since all of this was just for an outsider, who never officially joined the crew. They were risking their lives more than ever on this floor due to the chances of falling asleep…they couldn't risk it, no, they shouldn't risk it.

"Let's go," orderer Mikoto jumping to his feet. "We can't let Rosa take all the risks here, can we?" Enma shook his head, his captain was a little too naïve. If Rosa was trying to take advantage of someone she couldn't have picked someone better than him. "Same formation as before, right?" Enma groaned as he stood up. He supposed it wasn't really his choice, he'd follow his captain, no matter how bad his choices may seem. Mikoto turned to Sage, "how long do we have before the Sleep-Locke takes effect?"

Sage tried to recall it from her textbooks. She had long forgotten the time it would take; besides it also depended on how many trees were dotting this land. If there were a lot of them there would be more pollen and more pollen means being knocked out quicker. "Maybe half an hour," Sage mentioned. Although even that was a very rough estimate, she still didn't the full layout of this dungeon…not to mention there was something more menacing nagging at the back of her mind, however, turning either Mikoto's spirit or Rosa's drive down a notch with bad news wouldn't work. She knew that.

"Okay, then," schemed Mikoto, "we got half an hour. If time stretches beyond that we need to return to this spot to snap out of the drowsiness! On this floor we really don't have any time to waste. Let's go!" The Infinity Pirates each surged off into their own direction, none of them wasting their breath now. They knew they didn't have a lot of time left, but still they couldn't help, but be amazed at the design of the prison. Each floor was completely separate and each of them was their own unique torture, but going in this order there was a hidden trick to it. One that the prison maker intended to be included, a unique trick to defeat all intruders.

The first floor they entered in, crushed their spirits. They couldn't believe their eyes. The second floor further crushed their spirits, but that wasn't the trick. The trick was the heat would cause a rise in the intruder's body temperature. Heat them up and another trick of extreme heat was that most people tired out faster in it, they sweated more, the burned more energy. This floor was noticeably cooler then the floor before them and as a result would cool off people's body temperature. It is a little known trick that bodies in the process of cooling down are more prone to falling asleep. In other words, this floor was a 'Sleepy Hell'.

The crew was so distracted by the worrisome thought of falling asleep that they forgot to take everything into account. Not only did they didn't take into account that on the next floor, they would be worn out from the last floor, but they would be drowsy and falling asleep due to this floor. Their bodies were already starting to break down on them and the next floor would ensure that it would occur. However, that was only considering that they made it off of this floor as the question that was nagging at the back of Sage's head was the most important question and it hadn't been asked.

How is falling asleep torture? Sleep deprivation was torture, but not falling asleep. As a matter of fact it was considered pleasant by most people, a true way to relax. So while one had to marvel at the genius way to stop intruders, they had to remember. This is a prison. The goal is not to stop intruders, but to completely break the people already trapped inside.

(-At Marine HQ-)

Nicholas barred his fangs as he destroyed one of the desks in front of him, in a fit of unbelievable rage. This…this 'kid'! The 'Kid Coyote' Mikoto had officially made a laughing stock of the Marine Base without even the slightest thought. Nicholas stomped across the field, immediately ordering the dispatch of the soldiers and he would be going with them. Mikoto's actions was not something that they could overlook. Never in a million years, not even with one billion favors would Mikoto ever sate Nicholas' anger. They had offered him an olive branch, extended a helping hand and made a genuinely sincere offer to him to become a Shichibukai. They offered to make him one of the most feared pirates in the Blues! And his response? To attack their prison! It was as if he had done this just to make fools out of them, to make them appear like court jesters to the modern people. Nicholas would not have this. He had already decided. He would lead an army to that prison, he would demolish Mikoto and his crew and he would dine with their blood on his hands and their heads on silver platter. He would not allow this shame to continue for even one second more. He would crush them.

"Stop!" shouted a smaller man as he stepped in front of Nicholas. "You know we cannot afford to waste a good one fifth of our sheer military might on such frivolous actions." The man was about half the size of Nicholas. Nicholas appeared to be a bellowing beast in comparison to this man. The man was skinny, carried three to four books in his hand at this very moment and had peculiar round spectacles shielding his eyes from view. He was the master strategist of the Marines, a general of the battlefield and crowned hero even though he had never dirtied his hands once. "You know as well as I do that a war is brewing down here on these seas and it could break out any day. When it does we'll need as much military might as we can possibly muster…and that's where you come in." The tiny man jabbed his finger at Nicholas' chest. "We need you down here at the ready for when the day of reckoning comes and it could be any day now."

Nicholas frowned, barring all of his pure white teeth down at the man. He bent down and glared at the man. "I don't care," he said as he shoved the man aside. "I'm a hero of the Marines. You and your stupid war comes after our dignity." The man quickly scurried back in front of Nicholas and outstretched his arms in futile attempt to stop him.

"If you leave now, you could very well be in endangering the whole world," started the man. Nicholas drew his lips back, giving the man full view of his very bestial teeth. "You-you're concern is noted, but please keep in mind other options. We have Taisho guarding the prison, the prison has a perfect record, not even Impel Down had that. Not even one prisoner has ever escaped the iron bars."

"Of course, all prisons have a perfect record…until they don't," swore Nicholas. The man practically oozed devotion to the Marines. He wasn't going to allow some folly like this bring them down. "Besides, I have a 0 escape record as well. Not even one person has ever escaped my jaws."

"True, true, but Taisho isn't someone to look down on," brought up the man. "Taisho is definitely someone you can trust and believe in. He has had a perfect defense record. And don't forget he was once a Vice Admiral of the Marines. You should rely on him." Nicholas breathed heavily as he thought about it. He has seen Taisho's strength first-hand before and it was something reliable, but he couldn't just sit around and do nothing. "Besides," continued the small man, "even if he does fail that prison still has its secret weapon."

Sweet Dreams Infinity Pirates

...and Hope

Due to lack of sleep, motivation, and all around ideas...I have nothing to say right here...oh, yeah, Groucho Marx...anybody remember him? Like from all the way back in like the first 'true' arc (at least in my opinion). Also, yeah, for giant killer Marines staying out of the Infinity Pirates' businesses, they could use a break...but they still probably won't get one. Hey, looks like I had an idea of what to write about anyways! Good for you guys, you get to hear my 'voice' after all!