Hey sorry for the delay guys, but here it is, the next arc!

Leo glanced around the corridor making sure no one was around before quietly opening the massive door ahead of him. He poked his head inside the room and found that it was dark and deserted. It was hard not to miss the sheer size of, what he figured as the ballroom. Earlier Nessa had insisted that he come here, for what he didn't get a chance to ask. He sighed. This was supposed to be her party.

He was about to close the door and concluded that she was just messing with him before he saw a figure out of the corner of his eye. She was standing by the window, back facing him staring out into the night sky. The moonlight cascading through the windows casting foreboding shadows around the room. If it wasn't for her earring gleaming from the moonlight he'd have mistaken her as one of the shadows.

Leo silently entered the room and closed the door behind him. Now that he was inside the room he realized just how majestic it really was. It was bigger than the hall alone and it was embraced with rich textured white colored panel which was also adorned with beautifully carved molding and unlit wall-mounted candles, the clear marbled floor didn't escape Leo either. The domed room was circular, massive pillars supported the balcony that encircled the room, save for the side where it directly overlooked the panoramic view of the city, to make room for a classic but yet elegant chandelier that hung from the center of the lavishly decorated dome. The wall on the far side of the room was covered by tall windows that reached up to the second floor, now this was exactly what he'd imagined a castle would be like. He then stood beside her and savored the view for a few minutes.

"What are you doing here?"

Leo looked at Nessa, despite of everything that was going on right now she looked disturbingly sad.

"Remember 5 years ago when you showed me that colorful mountain back in that little village of yours?"

Leo sniffed and chuckled, it didn't take him long to recall that "you were crying like a baby that night"

"…I realized that night, that I do not deserve this"

"Oh"

"I thought I could just shake it off, forget about it but it all keep coming back to me"

"…How can I be living happily, enjoying all the spoils the world could offer and start a family at the expense of my brother?" she turned to Leo, tears glittering in her eyes.

"Because that's exactly what he wanted Nessa, you don't want to repay his sacrifice like this, please Nessa just think for a second, you're going to get married tomorrow for Gylfen's sake"

"If I don't do this now I'll regret it my whole life, please…" she took his hands in hers, begging desperately.

"…take me away Leo, please" Leo looked at her best-friend's eyes and saw nothing but sadness in them, showing him a clear insight to the pent-up sorrows of her heart.

"I…" before he could finish, he knew she could already see the hesitation in his eyes and he cursed himself for it "…I can't Nessa, I'm sorry"

She released her hands, first it was her tears then her face began to disintegrate into fine sands and the rest of her beautiful dress followed and then nothing was left of her.

Leo slumped onto the floor, his glazing eyes staring out into space "I'm sorry Nessa, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, please…please forgive me…"

Then everything went black

Leo woke up with a start, the darkness and the stench told Leo that he was back. He was relieved that everything was back to normal again.

It's been thirteen years, thirteen years in the darkness, thirteen years without seeing a sliver of light, a sliver of hope, thirteen years of guilt haunting him every night and was doomed to relive it as long as he live.

Despite his future, he was doing well, yes, he kept telling himself that. Without him around his homeland would be safe, with him locked up here everybody could feel safe at night when they go to bed. He just had to keep believing it or the mental solitude that he's been building inside for all these years would crumble unleashing the unwanted feeling that would undoubtedly drive him mad. Those early days when he was covered in cold sweats, surrounded by these goddamn monsters, waiting for one of them to strike, he told himself they were far, far beneath him, back then he'd always try any way and ideas to get out of here but soon he realized it was hopeless, he swallowed his isolation with resignation. This was his punishment. He wanted to believe that this was for the better for everybody, he wanted to believe that this was his destiny but it's a lie, he knew it, he just couldn't let these monsters get their rewards just yet.

Here, he lay low, mostly. He got into fights sometimes, mostly with fellow cellmate who was promised a few 'breaks' or even 'promotion' to take his head, but now most of them knew better to not mess with him.

People here don't usually like to talk, and those who do just get hammered within minutes, it was one of the most basic rule here. You don't make friends. Only loneliness is your friend like it or not. It's pretty easy to understand, in this lowest level of Impel Down the closest thing to a saint this place's got is a lunatic man who's ethnically cleansed dozens of kinds of people. Trust is a joke here. So here he was mostly a background character; nobody asked him about himself for they already knew who he was and what he did.

Leo took a deep breath of the usual stank prison air and exhaled. It's a shitty existence, to be honest, being locked up in the lowest place on earth, among the worst of the worst for eternity. When he first came in, he didn't think of the crushing vacancy that would haunt him as long as he was here nor would he ever think that he'd be sitting in this rathole fiercely wishing he had someone here with him, an old friend so to speak, the only one capable of extinguishing this flame within him which he knew he'd kept burning for far too long it threatened to burn his own mental fortress. It was months ago, he just so nonchalantly showed up here with that smug charismatic look of his, his face took on an indifferent facade that he still remembered from years ago. Just when he thought he'd give up and give in to the pressure…Of course, how could he forget the person who's earned him this predicament? For first in decades he smiled. Taking revenge would be too sweet now.

It was just another day in hell. He was lying on the floor as usual listening to peoples' screams as the 'CO' which consists of several grimly looking mutant animals with their mace making their daily round of 'torture sessions' around the floor, barely wincing as he heard one poor guy's bone cracking, it was the closest to a regular entertainment one could get in the depth of the jail. But even after years of rotting in this goddamned cell he still couldn't quite get used to it, it still damn hurts when they hit him he wondered why? He now could see better in the darkness, he could sense peoples' haki as they were about to jump him in his sleep but why does it still hurt when they hit him?

A mechanical sound at the direction of the elevator signaled that the vice warden was coming. He just ignored it as usual, assuming it was just another 'fish'. The thudding sound as the elevator hit the bottom was not what caught his attention however, it was quick, the sound hitting a sensitive spot in his eardrums. It was the sound of something that high heeled footwear would produce. This might turn out to be a not so ordinary visit after all.

He turned toward the elevator door and found his eyes weren't focusing very well as a result of being in the darkness for so long. He had to blink and squint against the bright elevator light. There was a woman by the elevator being escorted along the corridor by the Warden himself, toward his cell, a frail little thing with long dark hair and pretty dark eyes. She definitely looked out of place here and he could imagine how the bastards here would react seeing a rare thing like her unexpectedly walking down their cell flaunting her womanly curves.

Aside from the woman, Magellan and Hannibal there was a ragged looking Marine officer. His haki reminded him of the officer who caught him years ago though he didn't wear a Mohawk.

Soon enough, just as expected the whole floor roared with delight, the noise was even louder than the occasional brawl among cellmates. It showed just how long these people have really been cast out from the rest of the world and they probably couldn't help it, the woman was quite a looker and well-endowed too but she also gave off that snobbish aura typical for a person of her caliber. The whole convoy stopped in front of the new guy's cell and Leo foolishly thought that she was Fire Fist's girl. That was before Vice Warden Hannibal declared so extravagantly that she was the 'Pirate Empress Boa Hancock herself'. Of course to him that didn't ring any bell but to these veteran pirates and criminals, who have probably dwelled all their lives in and around Grand Line, they might have fought her once or twice. Shame really a woman that pretty has to be a Pirate of all things, and if she is a Pirate why don't the Marine catch her already? Isn't that supposed to be their job?

Leo could barely hear the conversation that the 'Empress pirate' and Fire Fist were having with the foul whistling, shouting and yelling around him but at least he could make out something about a 'battle'. He figured that it must be the Whitebeard-Marines 'major battle' that people kept going on about. How it's made their blood 'start racing'. It's getting tedious, he thought. Despite everything that'd happened to him Leo was still a simple village boy at heart, sea, piracy, and battles held no interest for him.

Minutes later he was woken up from his nap by a loud ruckus coming from the Fire Fist's cell and he saw curious looking fellows standing by Fire Fist's cell, apparently distraught that they didn't find what they were looking for there. On second look he could see that they were a bloody mess, they couldn't just barge their way into this hell could they? Nobody's that stupid. The fishman, Jimbe, was it? told the goons that Fire Fist had been carried away for his execution and that they were late by a mere minute. They ran for the elevator but of course it wouldn't budge then they ran for the stairs but the gaolers closed it down too. Of course, what did you expect? Leo just hoped that they didn't do anything stupid that would push the gaolers into doing something drastic.

As if reading his thought, soon white smoke started to enter from beyond the closed down stairs. Leo tried to remain awake by closing his nose with his shirt but he knew it'd only buy him a few more minutes. Fortunately one of the maniacs had just the right devil fruit to overcome it so that Leo could still watch this much needed action and drama for a little bit longer because he knew how this was going to end as is all other previous jailbreak attempts.

"You're all doomed!" shouted one of the inmates and he couldn't have summed it up better.

Leo continued to watch with keen interest as the goons, now trapped like they all were, argued among themselves and the topic about 'the great Whitebeard' and 'greatest battle the world has about to see' came into play in the heated argument. Leo realized that these guys were crazier than he thought they were. They are talking about trashing the Marine HQ, oblivious to the fact that they are trapped like rats in here and it doesn't matter if this guy Whitebeard is going to start a war with the Marines because they won't see the sunlight ever again, Period.

Suddenly an all too familiar voice interrupted the goons, Leo's blood started to boil at the sound of it. It was that sandman bastard, he was manipulating the goons into setting him free. The strawhat guy seemed to know the guy and was quite adamant on not letting him out of his cage. Of course they shouldn't do it, of all people they shouldn't trust level 6's inmates for anything especially that guy. Knowing him, Leo had wanted to convince them to not trust that guy but then a realization came into his mind. He's been yearning to kill that guy since he was brought here, as long as they were both kept locked up in here under the supervision of Magellan he has no chance of ever touching him, he thought that as long as he suffer the same fate as him he'd avenged her death, but now he realized that it still wasn't enough, he needed to take care of everybody responsible for ruining his life. So, that means he must be rid of this prison first, but then that means so should he. But he didn't want to bear witness to the 'greatest battle the world has about to see'. That is if he survived the escape. Did he have a chance of ever seeing the sunlight at all?

Before he knew it, the sandman was already out of his cell then the fishman convinced them to let him out too. Leo cursed at himself. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't let his target escape but this was all too fast, he wasn't sure if he could take them all on in here on his own, besides what about Magellan? Where the hell is he? Surely he'd easily capture them! But it's now or never…

"HEY! Get me out of here too!" Leo shouted

"IF you're lettin' him out, then lemme out too!" other inmate shouted

"yea' me too, me too!" others followed suit

"Don't be selfish, we wanna take Whitebeard's head too!"

"Stupid okama!"

These guys are ruining it!

"I'd be in your debt as well!"

"DEATH WINK!"

"Ugh!"

Before he knew what had struck him his body was already sent flying into the back of the cell.

"Kuhahahaha, you're still alive I see…please don't bother, they won't let a worthless trash like you out", Leo looked up to see the sandman standing there with that smug ugly face looking down on him from the other side of the bar.

Leo quickly got up, scrambled towards the guy and slithered his hands through the cell holes and grabbed the guy by the collar "I'M GONNA GET YOU YOU HEAR ME!? YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MY COUNTRY!"

The Croc smiled his sly smile "…and what country would that be I forgot"

"…"

"YOUUU!"

"Kuhahaha…kuhahahaha" Crocodile continued laughing even when he started to dissolve into sand to let go of Leo's vise grip.

"GET BACK HERE GODAMMIT!" Leo punched the wall beside him as he watched his archenemy walked away to his freedom, still laughing his disgusting laugh. The temptation to break out of the godforsaken cell has never been greater for Leo.

What the hell!?

Leo woke up as he felt cold water splashed upon his face. Even before he opened his eyes, he knew something was terribly wrong. Never, in all the years that he sat rotting here did he ever see the place get flooded like this, even when the pipe ruptured because of Magellan's ceaseless diarrhea.

Then suddenly he remembered the chain of events that had knocked him out cold on the cold floor of his cell. It was the big fat guy and his no good comrades, the latest addition to today's jailbreak drama.

**flashback**

"Greetings to all you sorry prisoners!"

"Sad creatures that are doomed to live out the rest of your days in those nasty miserable cages, I'm giving you the chance of being a free man again!"

"All that awaits you here is death! So how about this, stay in those cages for a moment and fight one another to death!"

"Then once you're all done, I'll bring you out to the outside world with me as my comrades!"

"We'll take over the world from the corrupt, the bigots! The oppressors who for generations have kept you down here with myths of opportunity and we give it back to you, the people!"

"The world is yours, none shall interfere ... do as you please! Spoils will be enjoyed. Blood will be shed as they learn to serve the true justice!"

**flashback ends**

The fights had been quick, but his was exceptionally longer. With both of his hands bound by seastone cuffs he couldn't optimally land critical blows on his opponent let alone using his devil fruit power which would have come in handy then. He was already exhausted and injured by the time he took down the last guy, or so he thought. Turned out one of the guys who he thought he'd taken care of earlier was playing possum and had been waiting for him to finish the rest and exhaust himself before he decided to show himself. It was an elaborate technique of haki cloaking that Leo had yet to master so he had no way of detecting it. Leo went down on the third blow as his foe managed to strike his haki point in a swift combo. He'd have been fascinated by his technique if he wasn't too exhausted already.

He got back to his feet only to find his cell was quickly being flooded by the said water. He was even more surprised to see the door to his cell was left opened. Leo guessed his foe felt like he owed it to him. Still not quite sure as to what had caused the flooding, though he already had some ideas in his mind, Leo walked out of his cell at last, while staying alert for every possible attack. Even though he finally got what he'd been wishing for Leo was still far from being relieved for he knew this was going to be a long day for him. The whole place was awfully quiet save for the loud intermittent thumping sound from ahead. Where the hell did everybody go?

What he saw in front of his stopped him dead in his tracks. He just couldn't believe his own eyes. There it was the largest, biggest giant he'd ever seen smashing and kicking the wall, the only thing that kept the entire jail from being flooded by the seawater, trying to break it to pieces and seeing from the crack that he's created it was only a matter of time before he succeeds.

"Wh…what the HELL are you doing!?" the giant seemed to be surprised to see him but he continued his activity anyway.

"Oh…I'm just trying to break out of here, you see…I'm too big to fit inside the elevator teehee"

"You're going to flood the whole building you fool!"

"Uh oh…don't worry I'm going to make it as little as possible promise"

Leo saw the crack that he'd created bare handedly, from which the seawater was gushing into the building in large quantity. The 'little' crack was already twice his own height and the weight of the whole sea would be on him if he didn't get the hell out of here immediately.

"You're crazy, I'm getting out of here!" Leo, not bothering with the lunatic giant anymore and without thinking straight ran towards the stairs leading to the fifth level. All he knew was that the giant was serious when he said he was going to 'break out of here', and him being a human and not a fishman nor a colossal giant and add to the fact that he was also a fruit user left him no choice but to go someplace above the sea level.

On his way up he encountered several gaolers. Of course he could overcome them easily enough though he found the ones with shotguns troublesome. He knew that not even his haki could protect him from bullets so he had to be more careful about sharpshooters and the occasional ninjas, although that wouldn't matter once he could use his fruit ability and fortunately he knew just the person to get rid of these seastone cuffs.

He reached the archway leading to level 5 ahead but out of nowhere a whip entangled itself around his left leg and before he could respond he was already being spun and thrown inside the freezing hell. If Leo had felt a bit lethargic earlier, it was now gone as he felt the freezing snow directly shoved on his face. Leo looked back and found a woman with a rather vulgar vinyl crimson costume appearing from the shadows.

"mmmm~~! Not so fast level six!"

Leo didn't bother, he tried to get up first but found that the whip was still entangled around his leg. This was no ordinary…before he could finish the thought however, his bottom was already sent back onto the ground with a flick of her hand. "Who the hell are you?!"

"I'm Sadi-chan mmmm~~~! Torture is my passion" she said as her hand on the other end danced along the length of the handle of the makeshift whip preparing for the best way to service Leo into oblivion.

So any of you noticed some very recent movie quotes somewhere along this chapter?