At the bottom of this part you'll find the link to the second piece of art :) You'll know which scene it is ;)
Part III
Luffy grinned like a madman as he ran, kicking the annoying monkey guards out of the way. Things had gone from almost bad to great, and now, though Buggy and Three had left, he had a new companion. Bon-chan, whom he had believed had died back in Alabasta, was alive and helping him.
Seeing him here had been great, and they had beaten the damn giant lion together in no time. Besides, Bon-chan said he wanted to meet someone down on level five, and was going to take Luffy there. As they moved, Luffy told him about Ace. Bon-chan was crying, sure, but that didn't stop him from spinning around and kicking enemies away. He was a much more useful partner than Buggy in that.
Luffy was advancing fast once more.
There was a small problem when some weird cow —Bon-chan said it was a 'Demon Guard', whatever that meant— attacked them, but Luffy punched it out of the way. He didn't have time to fight it properly, and so getting rid of it as fast as possible was the best option.
Now Luffy wasn't grinning anymore.
He was standing with Bon-chan on a burning hot wall, staring at the column of boiling smoke that rose from level four. They had to go through there if they wanted to reach level five. The heat rising from it made level three seem cold —and Luffy had been annoyed at the heat in level three a moment ago— and Bon-chan said that if they landed on the wrong place they would die. There was fire and a pool of boiling blood down there.
That didn't mean Luffy wouldn't go. Ace was beyond that place.
However long it had been since their discussion, Marco decided, it was more than enough time for Ace to brood. He was growing increasingly more depressed by the second, no doubt thinking about his little brother and everything that could be happening to him while they were here.
"Ace." Unsurprisingly, he was ignored. Marco didn't care. "I know you're listening, even if you don't answer. That's fine, I just need you to listen. This situation is horrible, there is no point denying that, but think about how you've learned about it. Boa Hancock, a pirate who is renowned for despising men, came all the way here, putting herself in a very vulnerable position, just to tell you Luffy is here."
Ace's shoulders twitched, and he turned his head sideways to glance at Marco out of the corner of his eye.
"So?" Well, that was a reaction at least.
"How did she know he is here, in the first place?"
Ace shrugged, and Marco decided to let it pass because it wasn't like he was in any condition to think logically or in depth about anything right now.
"Alright, let's look at it another way. How did your brother manage to get in here? I don't need to be able to look outside to know there must be a small army of marine battleships surrounding the prison about right now. It's supposedly impenetrable on a normal day. Today? There is no way he would have been able to fight his way in —and it's even less likely that's how he got in because Magellan obviously didn't know he is here, or he wouldn't have come down."
"You think she helped him in?" Ace asked dubiously. It was obvious he was reluctant to take part in the conversation, but at the same time he was too curious to stay silent.
"It's what makes the most sense," Marco, who had been replaying the strange meeting in his mind, answered.
Ace scoffed.
"Oh, come on. Even I have heard about the isle of women. They kill any man that gets in there, why would the empress, who as you've said hates men so much, help Luffy?"
"No idea. But she smiled when she said your brother is worried you will be angry with him, didn't she?"
This was all just a theory, of course, Marco couldn't really think of any reason why Boa Hancock would not only spare a man's life, but basically risk everything to help him do something that by all means was impossible. Yet, it was the only explanation for what was happening that he had been able to come up with, and it had managed to draw Ace out of his shell.
Ace, however, turned back to the wall again.
"Whatever. How Luffy got here doesn't change the fact that he is here, and that's the problem."
"True, but it's worth a thought. Your brother has to be a damn special man to have gotten Hancock's help, and that alone says a lot about him. He's lucky, and pretty strong for a rookie."
"Not enough to pull this off," Ace muttered. It might have been a growl if his voice hadn't sounded so defeated.
"No, but maybe it's enough for him to survive until tomorrow."
Ace hunched up into himself, burying his face in his hands.
"If they catch him, they'll torture him. And if Magellan catches him, he's dead."
"I know that, Ace. I'm not trying to convince you that everything will be fine, I'm just trying to say that it's not certain he will die, either."
"Yeah, okay, so assume he lands his ass in level five. What then?" This time Ace did growl, and Marco was oddly glad to hear that response.
"Then, when my crew shows up, we'll look for him."
That made Ace turn around to stare at him with wide eyes.
"What?"
Marco did his best attempt at a shrug in the awkward position his shoulders were in. He had a very serious cramp by now.
"He's your brother. Besides, I haven't met the guy and I already like him." What he wasn't going to say was that some of the things he had heard about Luffy reminded him of Roger. He was sure Ace wouldn't react well to that observation.
Ace stared at him, his hard eyes scrutinizing Marco's face. He finally sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"You're serious. Man, you're crazy."
Marco smiled.
"It's a requisite in my crew." Before the silence could stretch and Ace could sink back into his worried state, he decided to ask something. "Tell me more about Luffy."
"Huh?" This time Ace's eyes weren't as hard as before, and he looked mostly caught off guard.
"If you are going to think about him, at least think about something other than what may be happening now. What's he like? You never got into much detail about that."
A soft, yet sad, smile stretched Ace's lips.
"Well, he's crazy. I couldn't stand him at first," Ace paused before he went into any more detail, tilting his head to one side. "If I am going to tell you about it, I guess I should talk about Sabo first."
"Sabo?"
"My other brother."
Luffy couldn't move, not anymore.
He had tried to beat the poison guy, put everything he had in each of his attacks to take him down. His hands, his sight, his hearing… None of that mattered if that meant he could get past the man. If he could get to Ace, then it all was worth it.
But it hadn't been enough.
Luffy couldn't move, his body covered in poison, and he had barely scratched the man.
Magellan might have said something, or he might not have. It didn't matter. Everything Luffy could focus on was Ace. The grinning Ace he could see clearly in his mind, laughing at Luffy because he had lost one of their matches yet again. Telling him he wasn't strong enough.
Ace was right. Luffy was still too weak.
Level six had started to grow quieter and quieter for what must have been the last couple of hours, signaling the arrival of the night. Ace, however, was in no state to even try to fall asleep. He had been talking for hours, and had drunk more water than he usually did in two days —not that it mattered, there was some left and they wouldn't be here tomorrow one way or another, so both Marco and Ace were drinking with less care than they had done the previous days.
At first it had been hard, trying to concentrate on happier memories, most of which he hadn't allowed himself to dwell into for years, and forget about what might be happening on the upper levels of the prison, but Marco had proven surprisingly good at directing the conversation in a way that would distract him. It was probably experience with such a big family.
When he approached the story of what had happened to Sabo, Ace's mood had soured again, and his mind threatened to go back to another train of thoughts, but Marco had noticed and asked something else: Ace had mentioned about the straw hat before, and he had asked about it, which had led them on a tangent about Red Haired Shanks, whom apparently Marco knew in person and was somewhat of an annoying idiot, but a good enough guy for a pirate, and who knew how to party.
Now Ace had run out of ideas to talk about, and the silence surrounding them felt both heavy and oppressive.
It was cold, too, which was strange all in itself. It had been years since Ace had felt cold, as the temperature in here rarely changed, and he had long since grown accustomed to it. At first, the thin prison clothes hadn't been enough, much less when he had been used to a mostly warm climate and to having clothes adapted to each season, but now he rarely paid any attention to the temperature.
A shiver ran up his spine.
"Are you cold?" Marco, who of course had been observing him —he had scarcely moved his eyes away from Ace all day— asked.
"Just a little."
"Come here, then."
Ace's eyebrows climbed up to his hairline.
"What?"
"Sharing body heat helps with the cold. And it's not like we can ask for a blanket."
"You want to cuddle? I don't cuddle," Ace said, which was technically true. The last time it could be said he had done something similar to that had been when he was thirteen, because Luffy was clingy and they had slept on the same bed. Luffy would probably need it now, because if they had caught him they would have sent him to level five, and that place was cold.
Oh, no, no, no, don't think about it. He's got to be fine, that kid's lucky as hell. Don't think about it.
"I can hardly cuddle chained to a wall," Marco responded, cutting off Ace's train of thoughts before it could go on any further. "Just get over here."
Ace should have been more reluctant to comply, he wasn't all that used to physical contact and all that. The guards' manhandling during the bathroom trips aside, the only person with whom sometimes he had had any contact had been Gramps, and that was usually limited to a clasp on the shoulder through the cell bars. And yet, some part of him really wanted to move closer. Marco was muscular, nothing like Ace's bony body, and no doubt he would be nice to lie against. Ace didn't remember what a pillow or a mattress felt like, and had long since grown accustomed to sleeping on the floor, but that didn't prevent him from knowing it wasn't a really comfortable place to lie on.
Standing up, he walked closer to Marco and dropped on the ground next to him. Marco's eyes followed his every movement, and that was another reason Ace didn't hesitate about his actions. He had never grown out of the mindset that didn't allow him to back off from a fight, and, though technically not a fight, refusing to do this felt very much like backing out from a challenge.
He let himself fall sideways, and his body came into contact with Marco's. Damn, but he was warm. And felt strange. The feeling of lying against another body was something like nothing he could really remember. He knew he had done it in the past when he slept in the same bed as his brothers, of course, but he didn't think this had anything in common with that. Marco's muscles were hard, and yet they were somehow soft and comfortable at the same time. Nothing like the times he had taken off his shirt and bundled it up to serve as a pillow.
Before he could think about it, he had turned sideways, settled down into a different position that felt still more comfortable and wrapped an arm around Marco's waist.
"Better?" Marco asked softly. This way, Ace realized, they could speak in lower voices, too, and avoid being overheard in the now quieter prison.
"You're warm."
"Good."
"I can't sleep," Ace told him. And, even if he could manage it, he wouldn't want to. He refused to even think of what sort of nightmares might assault him if he tried.
"Me neither," Marco admitted. Ace felt him move, the chains rattling, and then there was a warm cheek resting on the top of his head. It felt good.
"Tell me about your crew. Are they as annoying as you?" Ace asked, wanting something else to distract him. Hearing about a decent pirate crew was about the best thing he could think of right now.
"Worse," Marco answered with an almost silent chuckle.
He did tell Ace many things about the Whitebeard Pirates, and listening to him was a good way to avoid thinking of anything but the words Marco was speaking.
Being stationed at Impel Down was boring.
That was a thought many of the marines deployed here shared. It was a necessity of sorts, their presence at the prison, they understood it, of course, and no one would dare voice a thought opposing it. That didn't make it any less boring, though. Everybody knew Whitebeard would attack Marineford, and that their presence at Impel Down was more for show than anything else. That was good, really, as far as most of the people present —overly zealous marines aside— were concerned. Nobody really wanted to take part in that battle, where so many were bound to die. With some luck, if they were ordered to go to Headquarters after the attack started, they would arrive too late to help in the fight.
Those were the thoughts of Petty Officer Stan as he looked at the now closed prison of Impel Down.
There had been an incident yesterday, when that crazy ass rookie Strawhat Luffy had infiltrated Impel Down and started a riot on level two, but the marines had been prevented from participating by the also crazy guard dressed in pink leather —who had creeped the hell out of Stan, even though she had been hot— but now it was all solved: Strawhat had been caught, and the riot was under control.
Now, the only thing they were waiting for was dawn to arrive, and with it the convoy that would transfer the prisoners to Marineford.
Two more hours left and this assignment would be as good as over.
An explosion rocked the entire bay and Stan stared in astonished horror at the flaming remnants of the two marine ships that had blown up simultaneously. One of them was right at the left of the ship he was on.
Chaos broke out, everyone pulling their weapons out and looking around, many going for the cannons and some looking for the origin of the explosions.
Then, the four words Petty Officer Stan had never wanted to hear in his entire life were yelled from somewhere closer to the stern.
"IT'S THE MOBY DICK!"
His legs trembling like jelly, Stan made use of all his admittedly limited willpower to turn jerkily around. Sure enough, in the bay that had been clear moments ago now floated one of the most infamous ships in the entire world, flanked by three smaller vessels that had a very similar design to it.
The decks of the four ships were packed with people. On the figurehead of the Moby Dick stood the tall, easily recognizable figure of the Yonko Whitebeard.
Stan needed a change of pants.
Namur grinned, all his sharp teeth showing, at the mayhem he could hear from above the surface. In the middle of the chaos, four of their ships had surfaced and now only the paddle boat was left, still coated, at the bottom of the sea just in case they needed it.
The Eighth Division Commander moved on to the next ship now. He had taken care of the two that were closer to the closed off entrance of the prison already. That —the prison being closed— was an unexpected development, and it would alter their plan a bit. Either way, that was the rest of the crew's problem: his job was taking care of as many ships as he could. It wasn't as easy as destroying an average ship would be, because the vessels sent to Impel Down had the hull covered in kairoseki, and Namur had to find a weak point to aim at for his attacks to have any effect.
He wondered how long it would take the marines to realize the attacks on their ships were coming from below.
Edward Newgate looked out at the prison before him as his children moved about, everybody eager to start the attack.
It was dark still, and they had managed to reach the place a couple of hours ahead of the convoy that had to come from Marine Headquarters to move both Marco and the Ace kid to Marineford. A quick scan with his haki proved there was no marine of significant power present here —no doubt they were all assembled at Marineford waiting for them— which was perfect as far as he was concerned.
However, even in the dark of the hours previous to dawn, he could see easily that the drawbridge of the prison was pulled closed. That was not something they had counted on, there was no reason why the guards should have deemed it necessary to close the entrance, and now they would have to sort the problem.
"What do we do, Pops?" Jozu, who was standing next to him, asked.
"Mmmhh… We could always just destroy it, but that could prove to be a problem."
He looked around, trying to calculate the distance to the entrance from here. The marine ships closest to it had been destroyed, and the remaining wreckage would prevent any of the others from moving closer easily. Just then, another ship went up in a loud explosion. Looking around at the commanders assembled around him, he made a decision.
"Vista," he called, and his son looked up at him, "if I throw you there, could you cut whatever's holding it," he couldn't tell if it was ropes or chains, "and make it fall?"
"Do you really need to ask?" he sounded half indignant and half amused, and Whitebeard laughed.
"Sorry." Another look around, and he found his two strongest children when it came to long-range fights. "Curiel, Izo, you'll cover him."
Once the plan was made, it was a matter of making the appropriate calculations to make sure he didn't miss. At least, if he did miss, he wasn't sending any Devil Fruit user on this attack.
"You know," he heard coming from behind, "Marco could've solved this in a sec."
Yes, that was true, Marco's presence would have sped the attack up considerably, but it had been unanimously decided that he was the best man to do what had needed to be done, too. You could never have everything in this world.
And, speaking of his son, he better be alright, or not a single stone of this place would be left standing by the time Whitebeard was done with it.
Magellan had used too much poison in his fight with Strawhat Luffy the day before, and now he was paying the price for it. His trip to the bathroom was proving to be a much harder fight than usual, and he didn't appreciate it when he was interrupted.
"Chief Warden!" Domino's voice cut through the grunts of his struggle. That was odd, Magellan was sure he still had a couple of hours left before the convoy would arrive. At least, if the person disturbing him was Domino, it meant there must be a legitimate reason for it. She was a no nonsense woman, nothing like his annoying vice warden. "This is terrible! The Whitebeard Pirates are here!"
"WHAT?!" he yelled, standing up. He immediately fell back down. Ouch, he shouldn't have done that.
"They just blew up three of the marine battleships stationed outside!"
Magellan gritted his teeth. What the hell were those pirates doing here? They were supposed to attack Marineford, even Fleet Admiral Sengoku had been convinced that it was the most likely course of action Whitebeard would take. All their other security measures were for precaution more than anything else.
"Get Hannyabal, Sadi-chan and Saldeath on the den den mushi, and warn Marine Headquarters!" he ordered.
Now he only had to get himself out of here by the time he would have to give orders to the other guards.
By all means, today should have been the happiest day of Bon Clay's life. Or, well, not today, as in a day in Impel Down that went to even more hell than usual, but the day he met Emporio Ivankov should have been the happiest of his life. Iva-san was someone he had been willing to risk death for, whom he had always wanted to meet, and now he had. And yes, he was somewhat happy that it had finally come to pass, but he was too worried about Straw-chan —there was no way he would die, he couldn't, not after everything he had gone through to save his brother— to truly enjoy the experience.
He had, along with a huge group of inhabitants from level five point five and even Ivankov, been yelling encouragements at his screaming friend for hours now when someone came running up to them.
"IVA-SAMA!" the woman, at least she was a woman at the moment, yelled, making most of the others stop momentarily. "THE WHITEBEARD PIRATES HAVE ATTACKED IMPEL DOWN!" she announced.
Bon Clay didn't listen to much of what followed. Iva-san had said Straw-chan wouldn't recover —if he ever did— until long past the execution of his older brother. But now, with these news, it meant there might actually be a chance to save Portgas D. Ace even if Straw-chan couldn't do it himself.
With renewed resolve, Bon Clay started cheering again, making sure to tell him that he might be able to see his brother again. Straw-chan was unbelievably strong, and any hope, he knew, would do a lot to make him fight even harder.
Sengoku was pacing around in his office. Everything was ready, now they only had to wait for the prisoners to arrive and this parade would start. Looking out of his window, he could see the mighty force that was all these strong marines assembled in a single location. They had brought in everyone with a reputation who they had been able to get, sans the few officials like Vice Admiral Vergo from G-5 who they had left stationed in place to try to keep a measure of peace everywhere else. They couldn't let chaos explode around the world because they had all their power concentrated in one place, either.
However, Sengoku hadn't reached his position without learning some things. They might be more, but they had by no means victory guaranteed. Whitebeard was a force to be reckoned with, his commanders were a force to be reckoned with and his allies were a force to be reckoned with. Every single one of them would be here, Sengoku knew, and there was no way to tell how this war would end.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku!" His door burst open and suddenly Brannew was there, and he looked shaken.
"What?" Sengoku asked. He didn't bother to point out the rudeness of the entrance, because that would never have happened if there wasn't an emergency.
An emergency at this point was a very bad development.
"The Whitebeard Pirates have assaulted Impel Down!"
"WHAT?!"
They had stopped talking a while ago now, and Ace was really trying not to think about Luffy.
"What time do you think it is?" Marco asked. Ace lifted his head from Marco's chest to look at him.
"Don't know exactly, a couple of hours until morning, perhaps. Why?"
Marco hummed, and then an almost pleasant grin spread through his face. Almost, because it had a decidedly creepy air to it.
"Then it's probably a matter of minutes, maybe an hour, until they attack. If they haven't already."
Ace sat up so suddenly he hit his head on the wall. He ignored the throbbing it caused.
"Really?!" he exclaimed. His mind went back to Luffy once more, and he prayed —Ace never prayed— that his brother was alive somewhere in this place.
Marco nodded.
"What's up with you two so early?!" someone yelled at them.
It seemed Ace had accidentally woken up the neighbors. Not that he cared, he would give them the finger if they were able to see him.
Hannyabal wasn't having a good day. He had been at the guards' room in level five, coordinating the search for Strawhat Luffy, the damn okama who had tricked him and the other two prisoners who had just vanished from their radar. If the incident was something that would only affect Magellan, then Hannyabal would have been enjoying himself immensely; but no, his own position would be at risk as well if they didn't find those prisoners, and that just wouldn't do.
Now, to make things even worse, the fucking Whitebeard Pirates were attacking Impel Down. Not only was that not supposed to happen, but it was something Hannyabal really didn't want to happen. He didn't want to go up against one of those monster commanders, thank you very much.
They were in such a hurry to coordinate the prison's defenses that they didn't even wait to converge in level four as usual to talk, instead using the den den mushi for it.
"Forget about the search," were Magellan's first words, which, really, was a very obvious order. "Our priority is to gain time until reinforcements from Marine Headquarters arrive. Saldeath, I want you to spread the Blugori across the entrance level and level one. Organize them in a way that will draw the fights out as long as possible."
"Understood," came Saldeath's answer.
"Hannyabal, send orders to level two to send the strongest beasts down to level three. It is unlikely they will enter level two as the stairs from level one go down to level three, but leave some beasts there just in case. Tell them to organize the rest on level three blocking the path to the stairs down to level four." There was a pause here, and Hannyabal reluctantly added: "And deploy some around the pit, too, just in case there is some other pirate as insane as Strawhat."
Hannyabal grunted his assent.
"And where do I go?" He was sure he wouldn't like the answer, whatever it was.
"I want you blocking the door to level four as well. Don't be tricked this time."
Hannyabal growled, and he was sure he heard a snicker from somewhere in the guards' room.
"As for you, Sadi-chan, assemble the Demon Guards and join me on level four. Here is where we have the most chances of holding an attack back the longest."
There was a moaned reply from the other end of the line. Sadi-chan, unsurprisingly, sounded excited at the prospect of having some fun. Hannyabal would never understand that woman.
"And what about the prisoner?" he asked, because someone had to. There was no need to specify what prisoner he was talking about.
Fucking Marco the Phoenix.
Magellan took a moment to answer.
"Leave him in his cell for now. That is the safest place to keep him. Leave a contingent of guards monitoring level six: if the worst happens and the enemy gets past level four, we will carry out the execution ourselves. But that is a last resort. It will be a shame on Impel Down if we can't manage to hold a prisoner until the time of his scheduled execution. Get moving and keep your den den mushi at hand."
And, with those words, all the orders were given.
Izo jumped down on the inner side of the bridge as soon as the door was open. No marines had managed to get near it, mostly due to the cannonballs aimed at their ships and both his and Curiel's shots at anyone who managed to get past those.
Also, no guards had come out of the prison to attack. He wasn't sure if he should be surprised by that fact or not: coming outside was a sure death for them, and probably wouldn't serve much of a purpose. Impel Down, as far as the rumors said, was a giant labyrinth full of traps; staying inside was probably the guards' best bet to resist.
Vista and Curiel landed next to him, and the three commanders waited, ready to fend off any attack that might come, for the rest of the group that would charge into the prison with them. It wasn't a large group, at least not in comparison to the numbers that composed the crew, but they had decided a small number of carefully selected people would work better for an assault on the prison than if the whole crew charged in.
In total, there would be eight commanders and fifty other crewmembers, everybody with their own objective.
An explosion at the other side of the wall surrounding the prison signaled another marine ship had been destroyed, and soon the ship carrying the people who would be joining them reached one of the now empty areas of the dock, people jumping down and heading for entrance of the prison.
That ship would stay there the whole time, ready to take them out of here at a moment's notice, and they had assigned enough people to protect it that no amount of enemy fire —maybe with the exception of an admiral or Garp— would be able to sink it.
The entrance level of Impel Down really lived up to the expectations. The dark stone walls, chains hanging from everywhere with no other apparent purpose but giving the place a dark and foreboding air and the giant barred doors —all of them made of kairoseki, of course— probably worked wonders to intimidate most of the prisoners when they were brought here.
Vista didn't care about any of the décor. What he did care about was the giant iron kettle full of boiling water he had seen not long after entering the building. He knew Marco wouldn't have shown any reaction to it, of course, but the fact that his brother had been put through that bath in the first place had been enough of a reason for him to cut the damned thing into small pieces. The boiling water inside had fallen on a group of guards that had been shooting at them from behind the kettle and, though Vista was by no means a sadist, their screams had been satisfying to the darker part of his mind.
He cut down another of the gorilla guards and stood up straight. These guys were far stronger than a human, still no match for him, but annoying all the same. A look around proved they were mostly taken care of by now, at least in this area of the level. Honoring its reputation, Impel Down was a real labyrinth, and that was slowing their advance considerably.
Off to one side, Haruta was interrogating one of the downed human guards, trying to get the location of the control room out of him. The man, however, wasn't cooperating, just as every person they had tried to get answers out of had refused to speak so far. Vista couldn't say he was surprised they refused to cooperate: looking around, he could guess anyone suspected of having betrayed the prison wouldn't fare much better than the prisoners did, but that didn't mean the he wasn't annoyed by the lack of information.
Reaching the control room was their first objective, and one of the things they really needed to do to advance. It was very likely they would obtain some information about the layout of the prison there, and they also suspected the control of the Gates of Justice was in the room as well. Gaining control over it would be a great advantage in this battle.
Besides, there was a certain rumor they needed to confirm.
Officially, Impel Down was divided in five levels for holding prisoners, but there was a story around that spoke of a sixth level where the most dangerous criminals were kept. They needed to see if it was true, because if that was the case then Marco would be held in level six instead of level five.
Being a guard in Impel Down was supposed to be easy. Well, not easy, exactly, as it took a lot of time and a special kind of stomach —or sadism, there were plenty of guards that could have been sadistic criminals very easily— to be able to witness the horrors that happened in this place on a daily basis. However, as far as safety to one's own life was concerned, being a guard was supposed to be much safer than being either a marine or a government soldier.
That supposition had been destroyed some forty minutes ago when the Whitebeard Pirates had decided that attacking Impel Down would be a better course of action than doing as they were supposed to do and attack Marine Headquarters.
And yet, as far as safety went, guard Kenichi was still much safer than some of his friends and acquaintances, who had been sent to the upper levels to be slaughtered in an attempt to gain time for the really strong guys to arrive. Kenichi was on level four, and he had been assigned the job of keeping in contact with the other levels and inform of any relevant events.
Level four was a sweltering furnace, and on a normal day he was as reluctant of stepping foot in here as he was of doing so on the freezing level five. Today, however, he was immensely glad of being here. The Chief Warden was here, too, and as long as Kenichi stayed away from his fighting range, he knew this was the safest place to be in the prison for a guard —sans, probably, the few guys who remained on levels five and six. Those were lucky bastards as far as Kenichi was concerned. Besides the chief, Sadi-chan and her Demon Guards were here too, which also added to the feeling of safety this level gave him. She might be a crazy woman Kenichi really didn't want to attract the attention of, but she was a strong crazy woman with strong monsters under her command.
One of the den den mushi started to sound and he hurried to grab the receiver.
"Level four," he answered mechanically.
"This is the Gates' control room, we've—!" The words on the other end were cut short by a gurgling sound, followed by a thud before the line went silent. Then the characteristic clicking sound of the receiver on the other end of the line being returned to its place was heard.
Kenichi's blood ran cold. He had just heard how someone died. He had just heard how someone was killed. Not a prisoner, not a criminal who had more than earned it. No. He had heard how a fellow guard had been murdered.
And, even worse yet, there was only one conclusion he could draw from what few words the man had been able to speak before his demise.
"SIR!" he yelled, pushing out of his seat and exiting the room he was in as fast as he could. "THE PIRATES HAVE TAKEN OVER THE CONTROL ROOM OF THE GATES OF JUSTICE!"
Sengoku looked somberly over the troops assembled on board of his ship. As soon as the news of the attack had reached him, he had ordered that everybody boarded the ships and headed for Impel Down.
Magellan had just called and informed him grimly that the prison had lost control over the Gates of Justice. It was a hard blow, but it was also an expected development. The control room was on the uppermost floor of the prison, there hadn't been much hope the pirates wouldn't have taken over it. He had hoped, however, that the pirates wouldn't manage to do it before the convoy that had been sent to collect the prisoners —and which had already departed from Marineford before the attack started— had crossed the Gates. Five vice admirals wouldn't have done too much against Whitebeard himself, but they would have been able to gain some more time.
Either way, Sengoku had planned their movements keeping in mind this would happen.
He had sent some ships through the Tarai Current just in case, mostly a couple of vice admirals and the less reliable of the Shichibukai —Doflamingo, because the man was a wild card at the best of times and it was unlikely he would make much of a difference in the fight, and Moria, who wasn't much of an asset anymore.
Everyone else was heading to Impel Down from outside of the current. The path was longer, two or three hours more than through the current at maximum speed, but they had more chances of actually being able to participate in the fight this way than being trapped behind the giant doors they couldn't cross without it being opened from inside the prison.
The result of the fight was just as uncertain as it had been before, only that now, instead of being a matter of strength and power, it had become a matter of seeing who would be faster: the marines in reaching Impel Down, or Whitebeard in conquering it.
Sengoku looked to the side. Garp was sitting on a crate of cannonballs, munching on a rice cookie. He wasn't laughing anymore —he had done so when he had been told the news of the attack, and Sakazuki had almost tried to fry him for it— but Sengoku knew him well, and had no problem to read the shine that had settled in his eyes. Garp was conflicted. As a marine, he wanted to prevent Whitebeard from destroying one of the government's strongholds and put at risk their power, but there was also the part of him that was a grandfather, and that one was foolishly hoping Whitebeard would actually succeed on his attack and free his grandson while he was at it.
Both marines could agree, at least, that Edward Newgate would have no qualms about taking his old rival's son into his crew if given the chance. They only disagreed on what they thought about the possibility.
It was a strange world, indeed, if even the smallest part of Monkey D. Garp wished that one of his grandsons became a pirate.
Haruta took the only swivel chair and rolled it over to a position closer to the entrance of the control room, leaving the normal chairs for the other seven crewmembers present. It could be called unprofessional, sitting while one was supposed to keep guard at the entrance, but one of the few things pirates couldn't be accused of —and here the Whitebeard Pirates were no exception— was of being professional. Besides, with the ships and Pops outside the prison and Vista and Jozu's group taking the lower levels, it wasn't very likely anybody would be able to get into this level. And, if they could, well, Haruta's specialty was speed, and could react just as easily standing up as sitting down.
Izo, meanwhile, was browsing through the papers they had found in this place, looking for anything of use. The level of organization in this place meant they had confirmed in no time the existence of level six, and that both Marco and the Ace boy were held there. In the same cell, according to the papers that had been ready at the top of the documents, presumably so that the guards and marines could sign them once the prisoners were handed over to the convoy.
There had been something off about the level, though. The names of all other five levels —Crimson Hell, Wild Beast Hell, Starvation Hell, Blazing Hell and Freezing Hell— gave a good idea of what type of torture the prisoners were subjected to in there, but level six's other name, Eternal Hell, didn't. Having in account the types of scenes the other names brought to mind, Haruta fervently hoped the name meant they simply kept the prisoners in their cells, considering them too dangerous to even take them out of there for torture.
Looking at the monitors proved useless in that regard, because the screens only showed images from the level they were on. They served, however, to speed up the other group's advance. Izo was currently talking on the den den mushi to Vista, giving him instructions to reach the stairs down to level one.
They had to be careful about what they talked about on the den den mushi, though; just as some of their men here were trying to catch snippets of their enemies' conversations through them, there was no doubt the guards would try to do the same.
Buggy and Mr. 3 had somehow managed to escape the wolves in level five after separating from Mr. 2, who still had been intent on saving Strawhat despite the boy's fight against Magellan and subsequent sure death. They had found, by pure chance, a hidden path behind the walls, and had followed it until they found themselves back up in level two.
They had remained unseen ever since, waiting for a chance to finally escape. Their original plan had been to wait until after the prisoners were handed over to the marines and the security outside loosened, because they knew then they would have more chances of escaping.
But now something was happening in the prison again, something no one had expected.
Buggy had grinned when a voice came from the speakers, filling the air with orders for all guards to prepare for battle. The Blugori, which had remained in level two ever since the riot had been taken care of, had left back for level one, and many of the monsters usually stationed in level two had now been moved down to level three.
As a result, very little security remained on this level, and it was the perfect chance just begging to be taken advantage of.
Using Mr. 3's very useful powers, they had made copies of the keys to almost every one of the cells, and now had behind their backs a very grateful, very promising group of pirates.
"Are you sure this will work?" Mr. 3, who had been somewhat skeptical of Buggy's plan from the beginning, asked him once again in a whisper, so he wouldn't be overheard.
"Of course I am," Buggy muttered. This was one of his genius plans, and he didn't like to have doubt cast upon his genius plans. He turned to his new minions —the guys practically adored him at this point, and they would once his brilliance had got them out of here— and exclaimed: "REMEMBER, YOU ALL! DON'T TOUCH THE WHITEBEARD PIRATES AND WE'LL BE OUT OF HERE IN NO TIME!"
Enthusiastic yelling followed.
It was a good thing, Buggy reflected, that Whitebeard was such a sucker for helping people that hadn't crossed him. The only thing he had had to do was ask the prisoners about their opinion on Whitebeard, and make sure he didn't free anyone who hated him too much to be able to hold back from doing anything stupid.
Buggy really didn't want to die just because some idiot decided to piss Whitebeard off in the worst possible way.
Whitebeard watched from his place on the figurehead of the Moby Dick as his children had some fun.
Once the infiltration team was inside the prison, they had decided to stop blowing up marine ships: there had been few of them in the first place, and it wasn't fair that so many people would be left without a fight if the marines didn't show up. Thus, with six ships still standing, Namur had come back on board and they had attacked.
It wasn't a fair fight on the marines, but no one cared about that.
The den den mushi in his pocket started to sound.
"Yeah?" he answered. Some marines were launched quite a distance away from a ship before they fell into the water.
"Pops?" It was Jozu. There was some background noise, as if many people were talking behind him. "I'm on level two. We may have a change of plans."
"What do you mean?" His son didn't sound worried, so Whitebeard assumed it wasn't anything bad.
"As we're attacking the prison, the prisoners of this level are asking if we could bust them out while we're at it," Jozu said, sounding obviously amused.
Whitebeard chuckled.
"Anyone we don't want out?"
"No, they sorted it out themselves, it seems."
"Well, then why not? Get the ones from level one out on your way out, there are some marine ships here that'll do nicely for them," Whitebeard paused for a moment, and then decided to add, "be more careful with the lower levels, though. And tell Vista."
"There's something else. Do you remember that rookie that attacked Enies Lobby, Strawhat Luffy?"
It wasn't really a thought the first thing that crossed Luffy's mind when he became fully aware of his surroundings again. He was hungry, his stomach almost as loud as his voice had been, and so the first thing he did, before his brain could fully begin to work, was demand food.
It was all a blur afterwards. There were some comments —or yells, whatever— that he shouldn't have been awake so soon. Luffy didn't care. His attention was all on eating all the food they were bringing him as fast as possible. He needed energy, lots of it, to go save Ace.
When he was done eating —man, that had felt good, he had been hungry ever since before fighting Magellan— he left the room he had been in.
Bon-chan was alive and mostly fine —tired, it seemed— thanks to Iva-chan, the guy who had saved him too. And Bon-chan, Iva-chan said, had been cheering on him all the while Luffy had been in that box.
Ivankov hadn't had any plans to escape Impel Down. Not any time soon anyway. As he had told Mr. 2 last night, the time was not right: he was waiting for Dragon to make his move before doing anything from here. But then the Strawhat-boy —and at this rate he would give him a heart attack— had said Dragon was his father. Which, once said, made a lot of sense, of course, because he could really see it. Strawhat's will to live was so strong it did remind Ivankov of Dragon's own willpower.
And, as Dragon's son, the least Iva could do was ensure that he didn't die this time running around Impel Down.
Unfortunately, the Strawhat-boy was too rash, and he hadn't wanted to stop and plan when Ivankov had told him they would help. Had the situation been different, had the marines been about to transport the Ace-boy at any time now, then they would be in a hurry, but with the Whitebeard Pirates attacking the prison everything was different. There wasn't much risk of the Ace-boy being moved when they couldn't get him out of the building, and working with what was already happening would be the best course of action.
Unfortunately, it seemed Monkey D. Luffy and plans just didn't work together.
Ivankov did wonder, in the rush of trying to explain anything to the Strawhat-boy, how could Dragon's son be the little brother of Roger's son. Whatever the story behind it, it was a very interesting —and dangerous for the government— development.
Maybe it was time to escape, after all.
Ivankov gave the orders for everybody who wished to escape with them to get ready and wait to move when the order was given —Mr. 2 would have to wait here until then, too, the poor guy had fainted from exhaustion— and then had to give the Strawhat-boy an adrenaline boost so he could get past the fatigue of the almost death experience for now.
That done, Ivankov, Inazuma and the Strawhat-boy headed out for level five. Had the circumstances at the prison been normal, they would probably not have cared about going unnoticed by the guards either way, but now, as things were, it was very unlikely anyone would be paying attention to the lower levels, what with the strongest crew in the world —and probably a good deal of their also strong allies— trying to enter the prison from above.
Those damn vermin were defiling Impel Down.
Magellan had just been informed that his men had intercepted a conversation between Whitebeard and Diamond Jozu a few minutes ago and now those damn pirates were not only assaulting the prison, but they were freeing all the prisoners in it.
His men were trying to get some more of their conversations in an attempt to find a way to stop those plans, and word had been sent out to the marines about it —Admiral Akainu had answered the call, and whatever he had said had been enough to make the guard talking to him faint. The weakling.
Sometimes, Buggy hated his luck.
He understood that Mr. 3's power was really useful, not only to open the cells but also to advance faster through the prison, he really did. So, of course, he had seen nothing wrong when Diamond Jozu told Mr. 3 to follow him and the men with him down to level three. Buggy was fine with that. He wasn't fine with what had happened afterwards.
"Why the hell am I here?!" he hissed at Mr. 3, in the middle of the group of Whitebeard Pirates that was headed to the giant hole connecting levels two and three that the sphinx had made yesterday.
"If I have to go, you're coming," Mr. 3 hissed back. When it became clear that he wouldn't get out of going —nobody was crazy enough to argue with a commander, and this one was plain scary, Buggy remembered seeing him fight years ago— the traitor had said Buggy had to come too. Buggy had been the only one to have a problem with that idea.
There was some noise coming from a different direction than the elevator, which was strange in itself and had the prisoners curious. There was a closed door aside from the elevator that apparently communicated with level five, but Ace had told Marco that the guards rarely used it. The food stores and kitchen were on level four, which was connected to this one straight through the elevator, and no one crossed through the freezing level five if they could avoid it.
Then what sounded like it had to be said closed door burst open, and a loud voice rebounded through the cavernous level six.
"AAAAAAACEEEEEEE! WHERE ARE YOU?! I'M HERE TO SAVE YOUUUUUU!"
Marco's head snapped up, and Ace moved so fast there was no way he hadn't hurt himself.
"LUFFY!" Ace yelled, his voice a mix of incredulity, wonder and relief that Marco himself was feeling to some extent as well.
He had made it.
The crazy-ass kid had not only infiltrated Impel Down, but actually managed to reach level six.
In no time at all, a short, lanky boy covered in wounds and wearing a straw hat hanging from a cord around his neck had launched himself at the bars, immediately dropping in a half faint to the floor because said bars were made of kairoseki and he was a devil fruit user. And then, incredibly, Ace did something Marco wouldn't have expected.
He laughed.
Not the short and shallow chuckle Marco had heard from him the first day they had been brought food, but a full-throated sound that resonated through the entire cell. Strawhat Luffy —who was still on the floor and hadn't let go of the kairoseki cell bars— grinned.
"You're still an idiot," Ace said, and though Marco couldn't see his face he imagined the tremble in his voice meant there probably were tears there. Ace put his hand on top of his brother's and removed it from the metal, but didn't let go of it. "And crazy, and suicidal and, fuck, Luffy, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING COMING HERE?!" Ace suddenly yelled, letting go of Luffy's hand and crouching down to punch him through the wide spaces of the bars.
"Ow," Luffy said, laughing. He hadn't stopped grinning all the time, and now he sat up, turned to look at Ace and, heedless of the effect the bars would have on him, launched his arms through two openings to pull Ace into a bone-crushing hug. He probably wouldn't have been able to do it if his arms didn't stretch. Rubber fruit, Marco remembered.
Deflating from all his anger, Ace pressed himself against the bars to draw his brother in closer.
Marco turned his head away, but not before he noticed that Luffy was crying, and looked instead at the two people that had come with him.
He was surprised to realize he recognized them.
Emporio Ivankov and Inazuma from the Revolutionary Army.
Well, this is interesting. Ace had told him, during the long hours of the previous day, about the identity of Luffy's father.
Ivankov was looking back at him, while Inazuma fiddled with a handful of keys. They had come prepared, it seemed.
"Have they attacked already?" Marco asked, and almost chuckled at the reaction that earned him from the two revolutionaries.
"Hov vould you knov?"
Marco just grinned, and realization dawned on Ivankov's face.
"Oh, vell, it's come in handy," Ivankov said, then turned to Luffy, "Stravhat-boy, move back, ve're going to open the cell."
For a moment, it seemed like neither of the brothers were going to move, but then they pulled apart reluctantly.
Once Inazuma had the correct keys, opening the door took no time and Luffy darted inside —yelling Ace's name— to wrap himself around Ace, who didn't seem to mind at all the extra weight. Inazuma then bent down and tried a couple more of the keys before he found the good one for Ace's shackle.
"Can you get him free, too?" Ace, arms wrapped around Luffy, asked Inazuma, who nodded. That was when Luffy noticed Marco's presence for the first time.
Luffy, not moving from his position wrapped around his older brother, turned his head to look at Marco.
"Who're you?"
Inazuma dropped the keys, Ace staggered back and Ivankov's eyes, with the size of his head, reached a scary proportion. Marco blinked.
"WHAT?!" The exclamation didn't only come from the people inside and at the door of the cell.
"You can't be serious…" Ace muttered, taking a hand off Luffy's back to run through his hair. "Luffy, even I, in here, recognized him the moment they brought him in."
"Really? So he's famous?" The question was so carefree Marco had to chuckle. And he was real, one of the most promising rookies in years. Things would be interesting with him around, that was for sure.
"Stravhat-boy," Ivankov started, at around the same time that Inazuma composed himself enough to go back to try the keys on the numerous chains restraining Marco. "This man is Marco the Phoenix, First Division Commander of the Vhitebeard Pirates."
Luffy tilted his head to the side.
"Marco…? Buggy did mention that name."
Ace let go of Luffy and took a step back to look him in the face.
"Luffy, please, tell me you know who Whitebeard is, at least."
Luffy laughed.
"Nope."
Ace groaned, slamming his hand against his forehead, and Marco burst out laughing. That gained him the attention of the other four.
"I like your brother," he told Ace as a way of explaining, still chuckling.
Said brother bounced over to him. There were only Marco's hands left to free now, and he was flexing his sore legs.
"So you're strong, then?"
"Very," Marco answered, almost chuckling again at the incredulous look Ivankov was giving Luffy. Marco's left hand was freed.
Luffy's grin grew.
"Cool. We'll need that to get out of here. There's a lot of marines."
"Don't worry about that, my crew is already taking care of them."
"Really?" Luffy asked, and his grin —it should have been impossible at this point— grew even more. "They came for you?" He seemed very pleased at that notion, and it only increased Marco's growing liking of him. He had his priorities straight.
The moment his right hand was free, Marco jumped to his feet and away from the kairoseki chains. He groaned when his powers came into action and healed all the damage his body had been subjected to.
"Let's get out of here, then."
They had barely stepped out of the cell when a loud crash made them turn around. The elevator was now smashed into its opening, effectively blocking that way out. Another loud bang and a heavy set of —undoubtedly kairoseki— iron bars had blocked the stairs.
"Damn, the guards noticed!" cursed Ivankov.
Just then, gas started to flood in through the spaces between the bars.
The other prisoners, who had been mostly silent up to this point —no doubt trying to understand what the hell was going on— started to complain.
"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHAT IT IS!" Luffy yelled, going right for the gas before Ace could catch him and promptly falling asleep. Sleeping gas, then. It must be part of the security protocol. That wouldn't work on Marco, but it might prove to be a problem.
Or maybe not.
In a matter of seconds, Inazuma, whose hands had turned into giant scissors, had cut the ground and moved it to cover the entrance to the stairs before the gas could spread.
"Cool," Ace said from where he was kneeling next to Luffy, who stood up as if he hadn't been asleep a moment ago. There was something seriously off about his energy levels.
"Hey, but now we can't get out, crab-chan!" Luffy protested.
"There was no other method of stopping the gas. We can hardly escape if we are rendered unconscious," was Inazuma's answer, which Luffy didn't seem happy at all with.
"And now what?" Ace asked, standing up as well.
Marco looked up. The stone ceiling was hard, sure, but there was no trace of kairoseki up there.
"We go through the ceiling."
This time he was the one on the receiving end of the weird looks.
"How?" Luffy, not really surprisingly, didn't seem to find anything off with his statement.
Marco smirked.
"What, you think they call me The Phoenix for show?" And, in a moment, he was transformed and up in the air.
It felt amazing, being able to use his powers again. It was the best sensation in the world. This time it had been not like in previous occasions when he had been restrained by kairoseki; it had been so long that the void created by it, where he should be able to feel that there was something else, some power inside of him, had begun to weigh him down.
He didn't need to turn into full phoenix form for this, in fact he would have to revert back to his hybrid form because that was the way he could deliver the strongest kicks, but he had missed his powers so much that he hadn't been able to resist. The astonished gasps from below were an added bonus.
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Remember, just remove the spaces :D