Dedicated Fan: Sanji's role is…just a smidge less important than one thinks. : ) Just a smidge.

Saharame: Ah! Welcome! After the events in the recent OP chapter, I had made a promise that nothing *bad will happen to him in this fic. Haha! That's an easy situation for me to admit. But as for the others and his involvement in it all, well…

MinnyFox: Read on for more answers! They'll be extra clear, soon! (in response to your gif, calm down, Sheldon, before someone takes your spot XD)

: 8 :

Dr Akainu noticed that the group was calmer this time around, and he observed over them with a frown. It annoyed him that this sanatorium was located so far from town to have the accessibility of quick reach conveniences. The police department had gotten fed up with his stand-offish behavior and left him to his own devices. He was prepared to spend the night on the First Floor, and had asked that only one orderly remain. That orderly was standing nervously in the corner of the break room, apprehension clear on his face.

Luffy's medication had finally kicked in, leaving him very quiet, very still; he faced the only window nearest him, sitting at an angle that had his head tilted hard to the side. He blinked hazily, as if the sun were in his eyes, his hands resting primly atop of his knees. Zoro was sitting up against the wall, hands flat at his hips, staring with a confused expression ahead of him. He hadn't said a thing in the past hour, which caused his roommates to look at him anxiously.

Law was seated in one of the chairs, drawing on a piece of paper, occasionally commenting out to Penguin, who stood near the doorway. While his pleasant mood was suspicious, Dr Akainu wasn't going to give him the attention. He ventured towards Ace's room, and noted that the man was groggily examining the ceiling of his room. He was set to receive another sedative, soon, just to get him through this night without agitating the others. Dr Akainu would give him another fifteen minutes before introducing himself properly. He walked to Sanji's room and stepped into the doorway, seeing that the man was dressed in what fine clothes he had, a pile of things stacked neatly at the foot of his bed.

He scoffed.

"That eager to get home, right? I just sent out the message a few hours, ago. They're not expected to respond right away. More than likely, he'll either respond via messenger, or be here to pick you up in the dead of night tomorrow evening."

"There's no point keeping him waiting if he does arrive," Sanji muttered bitterly.

"I understand he causes great anxiety in you. Years of trying to please him must be the reasoning behind your rather sensitive nature. You tend to show emotion if criticized in any way."

"You're wasting oxygen making small conversation with me," Sanji warned him.

"I have nothing else to do." Dr Akainu looked around his room with cursory action, then turned to walk back down the hall.

"Bonehead," he heard a boy mutter. It was a distinctive voice, very clear, and very close. He turned around to look back at the other man, Sanji looking at him warily once he realized Dr Akainu had paused in mid-movement.

"What did you say to me?" Dr Akainu asked sharply.

With a frown, Sanji repeated, "You're wasting – "

"Not that. Just now. Care to repeat that comment?"

"I didn't say anything."

"I distinctively heard you call me a name while my back was to you."

"I said nothing!"

"If only you put this much effort into actually behaving as a boy, maybe your father would've been more accepting of this behavior," Dr Akainu muttered, turning away.

"And maybe if you brushed your teeth, you wouldn't smell so bad," the boy called after him, causing him to jerk around and look back at Sanji. Sanji rose from his bed, turning red in the face as he grew tense in response to the expression the man was giving him. Dr Akainu made to snap when the boy said clearly, "Bonehead."

Pausing in place, Dr Akainu stared at Sanji for a few moments, making the man extremely nervous in that moment. The man was positive the other had not spoken.

"Jerk off," the boy whispered before running off down the hall, Dr Akainu jerking around to look after the noise. Incredulous, he moved in that direction, sure it was one of the patients messing with him. But once he reached the break room, everyone was where he'd left them. Penguin was standing near the doorway, staring at nothing when Dr Akainu pushed him aside and looked for Law, for Luffy.

Law looked at him with a curious expression from his chair, where he sat with his legs crossed, and Luffy was still staring off at the window with visible disorientation.

"Lose something, doctor? I understand that one's mind might wander a bit in these halls," Law asked, lifting a crayon from the paper. He turned it around to show off his work, Dr Akainu taking a few moments to glare at him before focusing on the paper. He realized that the man had drawn a map of sorts, and was inserting figures in various locations throughout the rendering. "Do you need this to help you find it?"

"What is that?" Dr Akainu asked sharply, moving towards him. He snatched it up and realized that the map of the First Floor included killing grounds for him and the other patients after Law had slaughtered them. Akainu's name was marked right in the kitchen building, the structure separate away from the mansion. Flames created by crayon were drawn around the building. "What is this?"

"Oh, don't pay it any serious attention, Akainu-ya," Law said lightly, chewing the end of the crayon with indifference. "I'm in the crazy house for a reason. I'm spending my last coherent moments plotting for a future I probably won't see."

Dr Akainu crushed and wadded the paper up and threw it away from him. Zoro caught sight of the moment and followed it very slowly until spying the mess, sleepily reflecting on it before slowly turning to look at them. "Which one of you can throw your voice around?"

"Are you hearing things?" Law asked, eyebrows lifting. "Because that's how all of this craziness starts."

Dr Akainu moved to answer when he was aware of a heavy moving sound. The orderly began moving to the door, so he followed after him. Both of them watched as Sanji pulled his door shut, much to the alarm of the orderly that called out for him to stop, a puzzled expression on his face. Dr Akainu understood that the doors worked only by a key that allowed the door to open or close. The orderly investigated the lock at the bottom, then gave him a confused look, indicating his own set of keys at his belt. Dr Akainu looked in through the mesh wiring of the window, snapping, "Where did you get your keys?"

"Fuck off!" Sanji retorted, pushing away from the door, sweeping his hair from his face with nervous action. His voice trembled noticeably, but because Dr Akainu couldn't see him as he stepped out of sight, he couldn't tell what sort of emotion was playing over Sanji's expression. "All I'm doing is locking myself in, and going to bed. Leave me alone."

"Where did you get your keys?"

Both he and the orderly jerked in place as a loud scream rang out in the halls, a man being attacked causing alarm in both of them. Without another look back, Dr Akainu pushed towards the break room, where the screams grew in volume. It sounded as if a man were being torn to pieces, and he expected to see the worst. As he reached the doorway to the break room, he felt movement behind him. He looked over his shoulder in time to see the orderly run for the staircase, ignoring Akainu's startled shout. The orderly fumbled with his keys as Dr Akainu began moving after him, but that man's shrill scream grew in volume.

Dr Akainu winced under the power of it – it was as if it were occurring right next to him. He looked away from the escaping orderly and looked into the break room, bursting in to provide assistance. But all he received were two sets of curious eyes in his direction. Law was still sitting in the chair, drawing on another sheet of paper, and Zoro began to focus in Dr Akainu's direction with a hard squint. Luffy turned his head clumsily to look back at them, and Penguin was standing there near the bookshelf, facing the empty shelves. None of the men were in distress. None of them looked as if they'd heard anything out of the ordinary. For a moment, Dr Akainu had no idea what to say, or think. That man's shrill screams were echoing through his thoughts. He remained stationary until he was sure he could control his own movement.

Dr Akainu then took the steps necessary to Ace's room, and looked in through the window. The man was still groggy, but he was sitting up, clutching the edge of his bed frame with both hands. He looked at Dr Akainu with a nauseous expression, giving no indication that he'd heard the same sounds. He was supposed to receive his next sedative, Dr Akainu remembered, but it'd have to wait until he could figure out this mystery.

Extremely puzzled, Dr Akainu pushed away from the door. He turned to address Sanji again when he saw movement from the corner of his eye. He turned his head to see Law smirking at him as he pushed through the door of the stairway, disappearing in moments.

"Hey! Hey!" Dr Akainu shouted, striding towards the stairway. Without staff to provide assistance, leaving the three in the break room was all he could do. The other two were locked up – but one had a set of keys. Not that Sanji could use them to get out, now that he was locked in – but Dr Akainu paid him no more mind; as far as he was concerned, Sanji was just as useless as the others, were.

The stairway was dark, but once Law pushed the door open at the bottom, it was lit briefly by the candlelight lit downstairs. He even waited for a few seconds to look back up at him with a slight smirk. Dr Akainu took the steps fast as Law shut the door behind him. Bursting out onto the First Floor, Dr Akainu looked around himself. There were candles lit in different sconces throughout the walls, tables, and a slight sound of water dripping from the medical ward nearby. After day staff abandoned the job for the day, it had remained untouched since then.

He looked at the front door, and saw that it was shut and locked tight. All doors on the First Floor required a key, and Akainu struggled with the key ring Dr Hina had given him. With a cruse of frustration as he searched for the First Floor set of keys, Dr Akainu turned towards the right to face the visiting room and offices. He caught sight of movement ahead of him, sure that it was Law escaping him. Clearly, the man was drawing him away from safety to kill him. Without backup, he supposed he could be an easy victim – but then again, Dr Akainu didn't get this far in life being a victim.

"Jerk," he heard the boy's voice call out from behind him. Dr Akainu turned to look for the child, and caught sight of the orderly running towards the front door, emerging from the nearby front office to do so.

"Hey!" he shouted, moving in that direction. As he merged back up into the main foyer, he paused in mid-step, eyes widening. The man was lying in pieces against the front door. Dr Akainu didn't understand. He had just seen him moving – just watched him run – mere moments before. He didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. He did not understand. Around his space of thought, a low buzzing began to build around him. Hot air started to bubble around his form, making his skin flush. He wasn't sure if it were just shock caused by the picture, or something else – building panic, a terrible realization, a feeling of horror. Whatever it was, he was rooted in place, hardly blinking. He felt sick at the strong scent of blood that built within the heaviness of the hot air around him, his stomach knotting up.

"Your personality isn't very pleasant," a man called out calmly. His voice was unfamiliar to Dr Akainu, and he turned away from the gore to face the main hall. That voice seemed to carry out from the shadows beyond the light of sconces around him, as if that, itself, were speaking to him. He was sure that only he and the orderly were the ones left in the sanatorium besides the patients. "Everyone here can't help what they are. We're not pigs for experimentation. We're damaged human beings, and most are in need of help and understanding. We want fucking compassion, here. Not your contempt and declaration as being 'worthless'. "

"Meat sacks!" someone else called out, chuckling low with amusement. "That's what we are to him. Meat sacks!"

All at once, several different voices drew together in incomprehensible whispers, and Dr Akainu tensed, unsure of the source of that noise – the man that had just spoken had a deeper cackle to it, an underlying accent that didn't belong to the island. For a moment, he wondered if people had broken into the sanatorium. He couldn't imagine who would – unless Law had accomplices that he communicated regularly. Unless staff was secretly working with him, influenced by his family's power and money.

"Law," Dr Akainu stated firmly, marching in the direction he'd seen the man take earlier. "This game of yours ends tonight. I will administer the drilling myself. It's apparent that I made a mistake, this morning."

"Whatever triggered this violence is something I don't quite understand, just yet. Something triggered him very recently, and whatever it was caused this maelstrom to happen. I'm aware that it's personal, but I don't know for myself why he suddenly chose to strike out, now. Sometimes, I can't hear them very well," the first man said, and Dr Akainu felt frustrated. He could not pinpoint the location of the voice, nor understand entirely what was being said. It seemed to come from the shadows of the main hall – which would take him to the back door, out to the separate buildings outside, but there were the visiting rooms and the offices to his right. He'd seen Law go that route. It would make sense to follow him there.

"Some of it was just pointless killing, but…it's not just him doing it. It's not all him. There's someone else behind it. Open your eyes and look for it before you fall, too. Sengoku was that close to understanding it."

Dr Akainu paused in mid step, considering those desperate words. They didn't make much sense to him, but something triggered a sense of pause in his own thoughts. "What's your name, son?"

There were a few moments of silence as that demand was considered. When the man spoke again, it was tentative. Maybe it belonged to a young adult, or a burgeoning teenager, just getting used to his new voice. "…Will I get in trouble if I reveal myself?"

"No. No, not at all," Dr Akainu said, frowning hard as he looked around.

"I don't believe you," Law said smoothly, stepping out from the visiting room to Dr Akainu's right. While it bothered him that there was another man in the house with them, Dr Akainu had to focus on this one. This one was the dangerous one. "You look like the type of guy that would settle his differences with fists, no matter who was in front of you."

"No one cares about my methods, as long as they work," Dr Akainu said, marching towards him. "And my methods have worked."

"I'm sure they have," Law said, stepping backward. With the set of keys taken from the orderly's grasp, he reached out and casually opened the side door. Dr Akainu broke into a run to rush him, and just narrowly missed him as Law emerged out into the night, giggling lightly as he hastened his step. He shut the door behind him, hearing the lock automatically catch as he closed it. It gave him the few seconds needed for Dr Akainu to find the right key to open the door, rushing down the steps after him. Law made his way towards the separate kitchen building, digging into his pockets for the set of keys Sanji had given him. He picked out the largest one, made it to the front door, and unlocked it. He shut and locked it behind him, hearing Dr Akainu yell out with a curse as he struggled to find the right key on his ring. He lit a single candle near the doorway, which gave him just enough light to see things around him.

Law saw that while the kitchen was separate from the mansion, it was created with a full stove and oven, with one wall dedicated to dishware, a long sink with meticulously cleaned counters, and a ceiling to floor cabinet that required a key to open. He found that key in between the front door key, and the closet key. The closet itself was a combination pantry and storage space, which had extra tables and chairs for the mansion. There was also a small cellar space to store frozen food. The windows were wide and cheery with bright curtains, overlooking the wide open spaces of the backyard and gardens. Law could see why Sanji loved to escape here. It wasn't built with industrial, impersonal equipment – it could make one forget that it provided services to the crazy occupants housed in the mansion next door.

He found himself looking for the roasted chicken Sanji had mentioned. Only something in his mind twinged, pulling back at him as he did so. There was nothing on the stove or in the oven to indicate that there was such a dish available, but there was something deep inside of him that wanted to remind him of something.

'That's the code, okay?' he heard a boy say, but he couldn't figure out who that kid was, looking at him from a stranger's memory. 'That's when you have to come back.'

"What the fuck," he said aloud, confused as to why he would even have that foreign memory.

Law heard Dr Akainu struggle to find the right key to the door, so he ventured away from it. He went right for the knives located atop of the counter, and took his time to select the ones that had served him best so far. He then walked around the island located within the center of the building, and headed towards the cabinet below the sink. He found the chemicals that looked the most interesting, and then set them down atop of the counter.

After a brief glance around, he said, "I apologize, Vinsmoke-ya."

"Why are you apologizing to him?" the boy asked impatiently, voice ringing out over the stillness of the kitchen.

"Well, I'm going to destroy the place he likes most."

"You said you're going to gut the man, not burn him down. That's boring."

"I'm going to do both."

"You can't do both," the boy scoffed.

"Watch. We'll make a bet. I win, you have to apologize to me. You win…well…that's for you to decide," Law said, spilling the contents of one container over the floor nearest the door. He looked at the handwriting written over the plastic, and curled his lip at the sight of cursive.

"That sounds fair!"

"I don't think you should do this," another voice said slowly, Law pausing in mid movement to glare across the room.

"You, again? If you have nothing nice to say, keep it to yourself!" he snapped.

"You're putting this sick chaos into an innocent person's hands, and allowing them to take the blame of your own madness. Look, I'm sure you're inwardly tired of taking the blame. I'm tired of feeling all the repercussions. This takes us furthest from God's hands. You killed Sengoku, Rosinante will never forgive you for that. To torture him with the things that he'd felt guilt with wasn't right."

Gritting his teeth, Law said, "We're taking our combined frustrations out on people that have contributed to our mood. If you're only going to contribute with your negative outlook on my actions, then kindly step out. As for Rosinante, I remember him signing away my rights as a human being. He could give a fuck about me – therefore, I could give a fuck about him. If he loved his daddy so much, then maybe he shouldn't have allowed me here, knowing what I'm capable of."

"His death should have never fallen into your hands!"

"He was over my bed! What was I supposed to think? Especially after that one night? You think I enjoyed waking up, being violated?"

"Sengoku wasn't a part of that! He was ashamed of what happened!"

"Admittedly, that might've been more my fault. I found advantage to escape my confinings, and I used it. You know how I feel being trapped behind bars. And, you don't have the wrong idea," a woman murmured from nearby. From the corner of his eye, Law could see her leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her ample chest. "This place is a disastrous black hole for hopelessness. This man wasn't the brightest by agitating the lot of you. Even if you didn't do it, I suspect that others would've done it eventually."

"Thank you, Robin."

"Don't encourage him."

"Let's kill all the meat sacks! Ha ha!"

"Play the game right!"

"But I don't like what's been done to us thus far," she continued. "My body still hurts. I don't like knowing what happened to us, and having them allowed to get away with it because of who we are. I don't think I can take another night of being woken so suddenly because of your actions."

"This isn't entirely me making the choice for us," Law said after a few moments. "You know that. But I find no objection to it."

"Can I do the match? Can I do the match? Can I? Can I?" the boy cried excitedly as Law tossed the empty container aside. He heard Akainu find the right key, shoving it into the lock with a frustrated curse.

"You may," Law answered lightly. "They're right over there, on the shelf above the stove."

"I can't reach it! I'm too short, dummy!"

"You're intending on causing suffering to a person that was intending on causing you all to suffer. Are you not the same as him? God will find fit to exact retribution on our behalf if we just let it go from our own hands!"

"We're in too deep! We're in too deep, there's too much blood on our hands!"

"Oh, I'm aware of our similarities," Law said, turning to watch Dr Akainu walk in, smelling the spilled chemicals with a disturbed expression. "But I'm the worse one here. Welcome. You made it."

"Who is in here with you?" Dr Akainu demanded, looking around the kitchen and seeing only him. He watched Law put the knives down on the counter, abandoning them to walk around the kitchen island to reach for a box on the shelf. Once Dr Akainu realized that it was matches, he hesitated to fully enter. But he watched with rising tension as the box then moved on its own, opening with eager action and spilling sticks in every direction.

Law looked down with an admonishing expression as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, leaning hip first against the stove. "Pick it up."

Akainu watched as the fallen match sticks were gathered up and hastily slapped into the box. The phenomena didn't make any sense. He didn't understand what was happening. A violent force pushed him forward to knock him further into the building, and he stumbled to catch himself, caught off guard. He realized that Law did have an accomplice, and turned to look at him as he heard a match catch, flame lighting up the darkness of the kitchen.

He didn't understand how the kitchen knife located on the far counter was suddenly in his mid-section, held tightly within a pair of hands that were already bloodstained – the orderly's – and he looked down to watch his own innards spill out in front of him; gutted so quickly that he hadn't even a change to move or defend himself. He had to look back at Law as the man smiled smugly at him from a safe distance away.

"I told you," he said on a chiding tone. "Now, start regretting everything up to this point. And do it nicely."

Akainu stared at him, shaking hands going to his front, to somehow keep the rest of him inside. His face reddened with effort, and he spit, "Never!"

"Then let's burn him!" the boy cried, dropping the match onto the floor, flames licking upward immediately.

His flesh sweating with effort to stay in control, Dr Akainu looked at Law with widened eyes, the man grinning brightly at him. It made sense, then. The man's file – Dr Smoker had missed it. Dr Hina hadn't seen it, either. Dr Akainu looked back at Law's accomplice, grinding his teeth from the shock and pain, struggling to remain conscious. He refused to give these men any satisfaction in his mortal suffering.

"Do you remember a man named Buggy?" Dr Akainu was asked, in a voice so soft that it seemed unused. But the name was familiar. Dr Akainu pictured the subject's face moments later, and, despite his pain and the feel of rising heat, puzzlement clouded his features.

"You let him go after drilling a hole in his skull," a woman said, Dr Akainu turning away from him to look back at Law, watching him walk along the counter space. Fire ate at the walls, built over the kitchen island. Smoke filled the ceiling, and illuminated the area brightly. It grew difficult to breathe. Dr Akainu was aware that his own guts were burning in the oil laid at his feet. "But it didn't work. Your theory that his obsession with dismemberment did not waive after being rendered a vegetable. You let him go because he was a 'waste of funds'. But he continued to pursue his sick hobby on innocent people."

Dr Akainu breathed heavily. His lungs were burning. He struggled to breathe properly, but the man behind him refused to budge. There was a strange vibration all around him, buzzing around his head, pushing against his skin. As if something with intense heat cooked the very air he breathed. A stranger sort of fire and force.

"We watched our friend die because you let Buggy go," several people said at once, and Dr Akainu froze, hearing all of them. But he focused entirely on the one person in front of him.

"So, this was it? This was your grand scheme? Getting me out here for your revenge? Killing good men just to draw me in? You couldn't have just sent a challenge letter? I would have responded!" he snarled, hugging himself tightly as he struggled for a proper breath. Knees weak, he let go of his mid-section and reached for something to hold onto, clutching the edge of the nearby counter.

"Part of it," he heard from behind him. "Part of it to make sure all the crazies die before they're ever released. So no one has to suffer what we did."

"Pathetic," Dr Akainu snapped, trying to draw away from the flames. "None of these men are Buggy!"

But he felt a foot against his back, pushing him further into the kitchen, Law escaping to the outside with a stretch of his arms. The door slammed shut behind his accomplice, the lock slamming into place.

Left behind to face the fire, to remember Buggy the Clown, Dr Akainu bit his lip and refused to give the pair satisfaction in his suffering. He found the set of keys he'd stuffed in his jacket.

: :

"Where's my brother?" Ace asked groggily from his room, leaning heavily against the door. He waited for someone to answer. He had been calling for Luffy for the past five minutes, and the more silence extended, the more panic started to fester within his veins, fearing the worst. He wasn't sure if he was just getting over the sedatives, or if it were just the late hour, but it truly felt as if he were the only one here. The feeling was terrifying. "Someone? Anyone?"

"He's fine," he heard Sanji reply from a distance. He wasn't sure where the sound was coming from, exactly. The man sounded out of breath, and Ace pressed himself against the cage to look for him. "Akainu had forced some of his own medication in him, and the last I saw of him, he was flying high. But everyone is quiet, now, considering the hours."

"Did I miss dinner?" Ace asked mulishly. "I'm fucking starvin'. Let me talk to him, to Luffy."

"It's best to stay where you are, right now. There's nothing you can do."

"What's that s'posed to mean?" Ace asked, frowning. "Where are you?"

"There's no point expending energy on something you can't stop. It's best to just…stay out of the way."

Ace furrowed his brow, unable to understand why Sanji was speaking so cryptically. He called out for Luffy once more, repeating his name over and over with rising impatience. He was a little surprised that no one responded to him. Usually, an orderly or two would venture over to tell him to 'cool it'. He was also interested in meeting this Dr Akainu. From the sounds of it earlier this morning, he was a tough one, and Ace wanted to test him a little, just to see what he could get away, with.

He pushed against the door, trying to see exactly where most of the light was coming from. He called for Zoro, for Penguin, pounding on the door. With a frustrated sound for a last resort, he called for Law.

No one replied, and he didn't hear movement. Absolutely bewildered, Ace looked out into the hall again, but he couldn't see if any of the other bedroom doors were opened or closed.

"Hey, Sanji. Sanji. Hey."

"What?"

Ace frowned, because he still couldn't tell where the other man was. "Come on over here."

It took a few moments before the younger man answered, and it was with a petulant tone. "I don't want to. I'm tired."

"C'mon, man, humor me."

"No. Shut up."

With an impatient sigh, Ace rested against the door. He listened to the sounds of the mansion around him, straining to hear anything of Luffy. Usually, his brother was bouncing in place or talking miles per minute, but after last night…

Last night!

"HEY!" he shouted again, hitting the door with renewed fervor. "What's the deal with you an' Trafalgar? I saw you with him, last night! You were with him! You were walkin' with him!"

He heard a scrape of metal, and pictured the man kicking his own bed with frustration. So Sanji was in his room – most likely out of breath from exercising. "I was not! I was asleep the entire time! Why do you keep saying that?"

"Because I saw you – "

"I was in bed the entire time, minding my own fucking business. I don't know what you're talking about!"

Ace began to doubt himself. He pushed his forehead against the mesh wiring, straining to remember what he could. But he was positive it was Sanji walking in the hallway – he was absolutely positive that it was him following after Law. Then again, he had to admit, it had been very dark. He had seen the slender shape of a man very similar to Sanji – but maybe that man wasn't as slender. Had he seen a ghost? Or was it someone else? Ace didn't think any other man here had a similar figure. But then again, it was very unlikely that it could be anyone else with that impatient stride that Sanji had.

He pushed and punched at the door impatiently. "Luffy! Zoro! Hey, you, Penguin!"

He stomped on the floor as hard as he could to cause vibration, hoping to prompt the catatonic man their way. Then gave up because the idea seemed absurd. He leaned against the door, growling, unsure of how to reach anyone.

"Where is everyone?" he then asked in exasperation. "Where's the goddamn guards? Where's the doc?"

When he didn't receive an answer from anyone, he leaned against the door, growing anxious.

Something overhead rattled with immense strength, startling him. He looked up with worry, unsure of what caused it. The entire mansion seemed to rattle with restless action, the walls sighing. Wood popped and creaked, and something snapped noisily from within the center of the structure. He pushed away from the door, unsure of what to think. The air grew hot and heavy, the sensation of bubbling pushing against his skin. But when he lifted his arms to look at them, it was only sweat.

He heard the sound of a boy complaining, the faraway sound too distant for him to identify both direction and content. He wanted to think it was Luffy, but the voice was much too young. Squinting, he crouched against the door, feeling the metal vibrate slightly at his touch. Something whispered over the hallway floor, as if a heavy piece of cloth were being dragged over it. After that were the heavy footfalls of large feet, and he wouldn't forget that sound. The smell hit him moments later, and he slapped his hands over his nose and mouth to somehow block it from entering his system. He pictured Apoo walking down the hall, guts wrapped around his neck and shoulders, dragging along behind him.

'Guts can extend to nearly twenty-two feet long!' he remembered Law saying, mimicking his accent. 'That's this big in hick speak!'

Heart racing wildly, Ace strained his ears to listen for anything else accompanying that sound.

"Settle down in here, it's not what you think," a man snapped with a tinny sort of tone – as if speaking from a radio from another room. Ace's eyes widened, knowing that voice. He stood up with a startled expression, absolutely positive that it was Dr Smoker's voice he'd heard. His skin pimpled with terror at that moment – he held his breath, peeking out the window with much trepidation. As much as he wanted to confirm that it was Smoker, he didn't actually want to see the man's ghost at all.

Not even moments after that, he heard a fervent prayer being whispered over and over, asking for the Holy Trinity to watch over the rest of them. He couldn't tell which direction it was coming from.

But all he saw was an empty hallway, lights flickering in the distance.

"Sanji!" he hissed, barely above a whisper. "Sanji!"

"I don't hear nothin'," he heard the man say stubbornly, but his voice was muffled, so Ace pictured him with a pillow over his head.

He gave a frustrated curse, lowering himself into a crouch once more. He strained his ears to listen for anything else, something that would tell him what had happened to the others. He heard the boy again, giving a yell of disgust. There was also a distant rumbling, as if thunder were gathering from miles away, causing the earth to vibrate. It was drawing closer, captured within a narrow space – he pictured the stairway.

Whoever it was, they were coming up to the Second Floor.