Breakout
The next chapter is ready everyone. Review it please. I love reviews.
Despite all the mind games Doflamingo tried, it did not break the Straw Hats' resolve. He tried to use the might of the Revolutionary Army to intimidate the Straw Hats, he even tried using their beloved captain's membership as one of the revolutionaries to break the Straw Hats, tried to use their captain's seemingly invincible nature against them, but if all failed. Nothing worked. Any other crew would have probably given up by now, the prospect of facing the new rulers of the world too frightening to comprehend. Battling a force that could overwhelm even the world government's ultimate military powers, the admirals too scary to even attempt. Having to fight their own captain who saved each of them and gave them a place to belong to as well as an opportunity to achieve their dreams too painful to even think about. But this was not any other crew, this was the Straw Hat Pirates, a crew who could take on an entire underground organization, a crew that did not fear the might of the world government, a crew whose commitment to their nakama was so great that even one leaving did not make their spirits falter. This crew was unlike any other crew Doflamingo had dealt with before. They may not be the most powerful he's ever faced, but they were certainly the strongest.
However Doflamingo was not ready to give up, he was not going to let these little upstarts get the best of him, get the best of his leader. He was going to show them that no matter how strong their bonds were, it still would not be enough to overcome the might of the revolutionary army, nor would it be enough to overcome his own power. He was going to capture their three remaining nakama, Pirate Hunter Zoro, King of Snipers Sogeking and Dead Bones Brooke. He was going to remind them of their place in the world and the order of things.
Taking one last look at the imprisoned Straw Hats, he said.
"We'll just see how strong you people are when I capture your remaining crewmates," said Doflamingo.
Doflamingo then walked away and disappeared into the base searching for the three remaining members of the Straw Hat Pirates.
With Zoro, Ussop, Brook and Flint
The three members of the Straw Hats along with the freed slave were running around searching for their captured nakama. Zoro, Ussop and Brook didn't know where to look but luckily Flint was a slave and had some knowledge of this place that made navigating it easier. So pretty much he was the navigator of sorts.
"Man there's no end to them," said Zoro frustrated.
"That's true, this place certainly does have a lot of enemies," said Brooke.
"Hey Flint, how much longer till we find the others?" asked Ussop.
"To be honest I'm not sure. I only have some knowledge of this place since I'm a slave but I wouldn't know the layout of this place as well as a revolutionary," answered Flint.
Flint then turned to Ussop.
"Slaves naturally are not allowed at many areas of the base," said Flint.
"Then what good are you" said Ussop.
"I'm the best choice you have right now of freeing your friends since those revolutionaries aren't going to cooperate. And even if you interrogate them, they would only tell us where you're friends are. They wouldn't give you directions since chances are they themselves wouldn't know exactly what exact cell your friends are in," said Flint.
"Could you explain Flint-san?" asked Brook.
"There are plenty of prisons here on this base and your friends could be in any one of them. The only person who would know what cell your friends are in would be the one who caught them in the first place," said Flint.
"This Doflamingo person," said Zoro.
"That's right, since he caught them, then he would mostly likely be the one to imprison them. Which means only he knows where they are," said Flint.
Up ahead of the four men were several revolutionaries.
"Stop, all of you!" shouted one of the revolutionaries in front of the group.
"Does he really expect that to work?" questioned Ussop.
"Yohohoho it seems so," said Brooke.
Brook then held out his sword Soul Solid.
"I'm sorry to say this guys but I'm still exhausted from my time as a slave. I don't think I'll be of much help in these fights," said Flint.
"Don't worry about it. We'll take care of these guys. You just focus on leading us to our nakama," said Zoro.
"How about we show these revolutionaries why we are the Straw Hats," said Brook whose blade seemed to be shining.
Zoro and Ussop grinned in agreement at Brook.
"I hope these guys can give us a challenge," said Zoro with a confident grin.
"Oh I hope so too," said Ussop with an equally confident grin.
Flint stood back as he watched the three Straw Hats get to work on the revolutionaries.
Zoro, Ussop and Brook quickly went into battle with the group of revolutionaries. Ussop was firing Kuro Kabuto with shots in rapid succession, Zoro was using two swords to quickly cut down the enemies while Brooke was using his Soul Solid to cut apart the revolutionaries in swift motion. The three made quick work of the revolutionary group.
"That was impressive," commented Flint.
"Whatever let's just find the others," said Zoro.
Brook and Ussop nodded showing they agreed.
"All right let's go," said Flint.
The four men continued running inside the building. Since Flint was the one leading he was in front naturally while Zoro, Ussop and Brook were following. While running they came across a hallway that just so happened to have a second path. The group chose to ignore it except for Zoro who actually left the group and took the path making him get lost from the group. Ussop while running felt something was off.
"Hey Brook don't you feel like something isn't right?" asked Ussop.
"What do you mean Ussop-san?" asked Brook back.
"I don't know like something isn't right, like we left something behind," replied Ussop.
"I don't know Ussop-san, though for some reason when I think about it I am feeling like we indeed left something behind," said Brook.
Ussop then turned to Zoro's direction.
"Hey Zoro…" said Ussop who was facing Zoro's direction.
Only to see that he was staring at empty space.
"What?" shouted Ussop who's eyes were bulging out.
"What is it Ussop-san?" asked Brook who turned to face Ussop.
Only to see that where Zoro was suppose to be was empty.
"What?" shouted Brook at the empty space where Zoro was originally.
One thought went through both the minds of the Straw Hats.
"Zoro got lost," said Ussop and Brook together.
"What the hell? How did your friend get lost? He should have been following me," said Flint in surprise.
"He must have taken that right turn from before," said Brook remembering a pathway they passed by.
"Wait here Flint, Brook, I'll be right back," said Ussop.
Ussop then took off in the opposite direction.
After a few moments Ussop returned with Zoro in tow.
"Danmmit why the hell did you three get lost," said Zoro angrily.
"What the hell you were the one who got lost," retorted Ussop.
"I did not get lost!" shouted Zoro back his teeth sharp and his eyes angry.
"Yohohoho good thing that Ussop-san found you or else you would have been lost into the depths of the base," said Brook.
"I wouldn't have gotten lost," said Zoro with angry eyes and shark teeth.
Zoro was getting pissed at his two crewmates mentioning the fact that he just got lost. Even though it was true that didn't mean that he didn't like it any less.
"Whatever you two found him. Let's just keep moving forward," said Flint up ahead.
The four men continued running forward looking for their captured friends.
With Nami, Sanji, Robin, Franky, Chopper, Pellinopee and Maxie.
The six of them were still chained together in sea stone bonds while inside of a sea stone cell. Sea stone chains and cells were only used when slaves possessed devil fruit powers or were extremely strong, seeing as sea stone was as hard as diamond. So considering that Robin and Chopper were both ability users and Sanji and Franky were both very strong such that regular steel won't work on them. Pellinopee and Maxie were also in sea stone chains since though they were not part of the Straw Hats, it was better to be on the safe side as if they got free somehow, they could free the others somehow.
"Do you think Doflamingo caught Zoro, Ussop and Brook?" asked Chopper in a worried voice.
He had grown very confident in his own abilities and that of his crewmates. This was mainly due to the events of Fishman Island. Usually during most battles, the crew would struggle bitterly against seemingly overwhelming odds to achieve victory. However during the battle of Fishman Island, the battle was incredibly one - sided. They completely dominated they're enemies, not like before were each of them would end up with incredibly serious injuries and even some on the brink of death. The clear victory made him believe that they could overcome any obstacle.
However almost immediately following that, they were pitted against a foe who defeated most of them with ease. Robin he'd knew to escape virtually any obstacle was utterly powerless infront of that man. Even Sanji, who already was a monster became much stronger after their two year training was captured easily. Despite all the training they went through, it seemed that things were still against them.
"It's okay Chopper-kun. I believe that Zoro-san, Ussop-san and Brook-san would be able to rescue us," said Pellinopee reassuringly.
"Yeah Chopper, have some more faith in your nakama," reassured Nami.
"Yeah thanks," smiled Chopper with a grateful smile.
"If we should be worried about something, we should be worried about that lost marimo," said Sanji sarcastically.
"Yeah that's true. In a place this big, Zoro-bro would definitely get lost," said Franky.
"I can understand that this place is big but the chances of Zoro-san getting lost are the same as Ussop-san and Brook-san. So what's so special about Zoro-san?" asked Maxie.
Sanji always looking for a way to make Zoro look bad couldn't help but answer.
"Oh you don't know about that stupid marimo's sense of direction. It's worse than that of a blind man," said Sanji snarkly.
"Surely it can't be that bad Sanji-san," replied Maxie.
"Oh I'm not kidding. That lost child has the worst sense of direction in history. He'd even got lost on a straight path," said Sanji.
"Now you're just making fun of Zoro-san. His sense of direction can't be that bad. And no one would get lost on a straight path. It's absolutely impossible," retorted Pellinopee.
"Well that marimo can pull off the impossible. So for him that's certainly possible," replied Sanji.
Franky not like being left out of the fun couldn't help but join.
"He's probably lost right now. Probably looking for Ussop and Brook," said Franky.
"Yeah I'm sure right now he's, Oh where's Ussop-kun and Brook-kun, surely they didn't leave me alone to get lost, wahhhhhhh," said Sanji imitating a child getting lost from his mommy.
After Sanji's imitation, Franky couldn't help laughing. The two continued laughing at Zoro's misfortune of having the worst sense of direction.
Chopper listening at Sanji and Franky couldn't help but start to feel scared. Not scared about Doflamingo finding them but knowing that if Zoro's lost, he couldn't find them.
"Oh no, how are we going to escape if Zoro's lost," said Chopper hysterically getting comically scared.
"Now look what you did Sanji-kun, after we just made him feel better," said an irritated Nami.
"Oh sorry Nami-san," replied Sanji turning to Nami.
"Cook-san please don't scare Chopper like that," said Robin in a reprimanding voice.
"Sorry Robin-chan," said Sanji.
Sanji felt bad since just having one of his ladies reprimand him would make him feel bad. But having both of them made him feel worse. Right now he was glad Zoro was not here or he would never let him hear the end of it.
"But still the issue hasn't changed, what if any of the others run into Doflamingo?" said Maxie.
Sanji then had a serious look on his face.
"That wouldn't happen," said Sanji his face serious.
"Excuse me," said Maxie curiously.
"Those bakas may be stupid, but they wouldn't loose, not when they're fighting for their nakama," said Sanji.
"But they're going up against a Shichbukai. Not just any Shichbukai but a Shichbukai who might add, quickly subdued all of us. Hell you're suppose to be just as strong as Roronoa Zoro yet you were captured without much effort," said Maxie.
Sanji was silent for a moment before turning to Maxie.
"That may be so but they definitely wouldn't loose," said Sanji without a shred of doubt.
"How can you be so …" said Maxie before being interrupted by Nami.
"Sanji-kun's right," said Nami suddenly interrupting Maxie.
Maxie then turned to Nami for an explanation. Nami in turn looked at Maxie.
"It's just as Sanji-kun said. They wouldn't loose," said Nami like Sanji without a shred of doubt.
"They'll come through. We'll be out of here and we would free this kingdom," said Nami.
Pellinopee and Maxie looked in awe at how much the Straw Hats believed in each other. Maybe, just maybe they'd be the ones to free their kingdom.
With Zoro, Ussop, Brook and Flint.
The three Straw Hats continued to search the slave camp for their friends with Flint guiding them while mowing down any revolutionaries that tried to obstruct them. Despite the superior numbers of the revolutionaries on the base they were no match for the three Straw Hats who had trained for two years to become stronger to ensure that they could protect each other.
"Flint there's something I wanted to ask you," said Zoro.
"What is it?" asked Flint looking behind to Zoro.
"This Doflamingo guy, who is he?" asked Zoro.
Suddenly Flint stopped which caused Zoro, Ussop and Brook to stop as well.
"Flint-san why did you stop?" asked Brook.
Flint however was silent.
"Flint-san" called out Brook seeing that Flint wasn't responding.
"Oye Flint what is it?" asked Ussop.
"Doflamingo is …" said Flint before trailing off.
"Doflamingo is," repeated Ussop.
"He's well the revolutionary commander in charge of this base," answered Flint.
"Well I did remember one of the revolutionaries saying that," said Ussop remembering when they first found out that their friends were caught.
Flashback
"Oh by the way, how were they caught?" asked Ussop.
"The same way that the first group of Straw Hats were caught. Doflamingo-sama," replied the revolutionary.
"Doflamingo-sama?" said Ussop quizzically.
"Yeah Doflamingo-sama, the commander in charge of this base. Don't you know …" replied the revolutionary before stopping realizing something was wrong. Every revolutionary on the island should be aware of Doflamingo.
Ussop realizing his slip up began to sweat profusely.
End Flashback.
Zoro and Brook also remembered that revolutionary saying that.
"Yes, he is a commander, but that's not all," said Flint.
Zoro, Ussop and Brook continued to look at Flint curiously wanting an answer.
"He is also a member of the Shichbukai," said Flint finally revealing what bothered him so much.
"A – a – a Shich – Shich – Shichbukai," stuttered Ussop.
"That's right," confirmed Flint.
"Shich – Shich – Shichbukai," stuttered Brooke.
Zoro had a serious face not betraying any emotion.
However all three of them knew that the situation was much graver than they thought. They have met three Shichbukais in the past. Brook met two those being Gecko Moriah and Bartholomew Kuma, Ussop met three being Crocodile, Moriah and Kuma and finally Zoro met four Mihawk, Crocodile, Moriah and Kuma. Each encounter was a terrible one for the Straw Hats as they were pushed to their absolute limits, no even beyond that. They just barely came out alive. Even though they trained for two years and were much stronger, that did not mean that they should be any less cautious around a Shichbukai. They have had plenty of experience of them to know that even one small slip up with them could cost them their lives.
"Man this is bad, I never thought we'd be facing a Shichbukai so soon," said Ussop worriedly.
"And at a worst possible time, with Luffy-san gone and the crew split up," said Brook worriedly.
"It makes sense now. Why the others were so easily beaten. Against a Shichbukai even they'd have a hard time," said Zoro.
"But what about Sanji. I mean I could understand the others but Sanji getting beaten too," said Ussop.
"It doesn't matter," said Zoro neutrally.
"Of course it matters. We are fighting a Shichbukai with Luffy gone and without the crew to help us," said Ussop irritately.
"Baka it can't be helped, they were captured. The most we could do now is free them," replied Ussop.
"He's right Ussop-san. We'll have to face that Shichbukai at some point," said Brooke.
"Yeah but ..." said Ussop before being interrupted by Zoro.
"Listen Ussop that Doflamingo may be a Shichbukai but I'm sure we could beat up if we're together with the rest of the crew. That's how we survived everything up to this point," said Zoro wisely.
Ussop knew that Zoro was right. Everything they survived, they've been through, they've overcome was together. Individually they were strong, especially after their training but their strength was essentially limitless when they were together. When they were together there wasn't anything that they couldn't do. There was no obstacle that they couldn't overcome. The strengths of those bonds is what made the Straw Hats truly great. Zoro was right, Doflamingo may have beaten them when they were separated, but he wouldn't when they were together. They were going to rescue their crew and defeat the Shichbukai.
"You know Ussop-san we did promise Pellinopee-san that we'd free her island. So if Doflamingo was incharge of it then we'll have to defeat him at some point," said Brook.
That was also true. Pellinopee was their friend and she asked them for help and they would give it to her. And if they had to defeat a Shichbukai to help her then so be it.
"You're right, man I can't believe that the great Ussop-sama was scared like that. Especially after his two year training," said Ussop casually berating himself.
Zoro smirked while Brook despite his lack of a face could tell that he too was happy with Ussop. Flint however was not too sure.
"Hey you guys are you sure you should be acting so casual. I mean this is a Shichbukai you're talking about here. And Doflamingo is extremely strong. He's the reason that we never we're able to be free," said Flint.
While he was happy that they were willing to take on a Shichbukai, he didn't want them to die and he is still be a slave.
"It's like Zoro said. When we're together, we cannot lose," said Ussop confidently.
Flint had a shocked look on his face at the confidence from the three Straw Hats despite them not only having to face the revolutionary army on the island, but a very strong Shichbukai. Flint then closed his eyes and smiled.
"All right, I'll lead the way," said Flint.
Ussop grinned and then turned to the others.
"All right. You guys ready," said Ussop.
"Yeah," replied Zoro and Brook simultaneously.
"Let's go!" shouted Ussop.
With Nami, Sanji, Robin, Franky, Chopper, Pellinopee and Maxie.
The seven prisoners were waiting patiently for their inevitable rescue. Inevitable because they knew for a fact that they would be rescued. Their nakama would come through for them. There was no question or doubt that they would.
Suddenly Sanji sensed something.
"It's about time," said Sanji suddenly.
The group turned to Sanji when he said that.
"What are you talking about Sanji-san?" asked Pellinopee.
"That idiot marimo along with Ussop and Brook are finally here," replied Sanji.
The Straw Hats began praising when they heard that their nakama finally arrived.
"All right they found us," said Franky happily.
"We can finally escape," said Chopper equally happy.
Nami, Robin, Pellinopee and Maxie all smiled at their soon to be rescue.
"Though there with one other person," said Sanji.
"One other person, I wonder who it is," said Chopper.
"It feels like that slave that we questioned when we split up the first time," said Sanji.
"That guy, I wonder what he's doing with Zoro, Ussop and Brook," said Nami curiously.
"Yeah I remember him," said Pellinopee.
"Who are you talking about?" asked Robin
Sanji decided to answer.
"Well me, Nami-san, Pellinopee-chan and Maxie were searching for information, we eventually found a prison hold which housed some of the pirate slaves. We went inside to question some of them to get some information on this place," answered Sanji.
"I see so I assumed that he was one of them," said Robin.
"Yeah. In fact he was the one who provided the most information to us," said Sanji.
Eventually the group heard footsteps and saw that their three nakama and the freed slave arrive.
"Took you long enough baka marimo, did you get lost on your way here?" mocked Sanji.
"Che I don't want to hear that from you. Besides what are you doing getting all caught up like that. I'd say you look pretty pathetic," mocked Zoro back.
"Shut up!" shouted Sanji realizing that he was loosing since he was the one who got caught which meant that his arch nemesis was going to rub it in his face.
"Oye that's enough you too, just get us out," said Franky.
Zoro nodded at turned to Flint who understood what Zoro wanted and took out some keys.
"I knew it, it's you," said Sanji.
"Yeah we met before your nakama freed us," said Flint opening the cell.
"I'm Flint by the way. I never got to introduce myself," introduced Flint to the others.
"Nice to meet you Flint. I'm Chopper by the way" greeted Chopper back introducing himself.
"I know who you are. In fact I know who each of you are well except for you two," said Flint referring to Pellinopee and Maxie.
"I'm Pellinopee, princess of Kaien Kingdom," said Pellinopee as she introduced herself.
"And I'm Maxie, captain of the royal guards," said Maxie introducing himself.
"Excuse me Flint-san, but how did you find us?" asked Robin.
"Wasn't easy. Even I didn't know exactly where you guys were held. But since I was a slave I knew more about this base than your friends did so I was the best guide for you guys since you obviously couldn't ask one of the revolutionaries," replied Flint.
"And the keys?" asked Robin who was finally freed from her sea stone bonds.
"From a revolutionary guard nearby. Your nakama quickly knocked him out and we found some keys on him. We originally weren't going to search him but Zoro-san sensed your presences so we figured that he would have the keys for your holding cells," replied Flint.
"So what are we going to do now that we're free?" asked Chopper.
"Isn't it obvious. We're going to free the rest of the slaves," replied Zoro.
"And who made you boss all of a sudden," replied Sanji challengingly.
"We did promise Pellinopee that we would free her kingdom. And to do that we would definitely have to free the pirates slaves," said Zoro.
"He's right. I wouldn't leave them here to be treated like animals," said Pellinopee determinedly.
Sanji decided to keep quiet not wanting to argue with Pellinopee since she was a beautiful princess.
"To do that you guys would have to defeat Doflamingo. You all know that right?" said Flint.
"Right," replied Zoro.
"What the hell Zoro! You're asking us to fight someone who was able to capture most of us with ease!" shouted Ussop who was right next to Zoro glaring up at him.
"He's right, baka marimo," shouted Chopper who was at Zoro's feet glaring up at him with Ussop.
"We knew we would have to fight some strong guys when we agreed to help Pellinopee in the first place," replied Zoro.
Chopper and Ussop chose to keep quite knowing that Zoro was right. They did agree to help her knowing full well that they would have to face some strong guys. First they thought that they would be facing the Blackbeard pirates but now they found out that they might be battling the revolutionaries.
"Besides he may have beaten us when we were separated but now we're together Chopper so we'll be able to beat him now," said Robin gently.
"Anyway guys, I appreciate that you went through all the trouble to free me and all but I for one don't want to face that guy. I've seen what he could do and I don't think I'll be of any help against a guy like that. Besides you're all much stronger than me so I'll most likely be in the way," said Flint.
"Fair enough, then perhaps you should instead focus on freeing the other slaves. You wouldn't have to worry too much about the revolutionaries since they'll be focusing on us. The same with Doflamingo," said Zoro.
"Alright," agreed Flint running off to free the other slaves.
"Okay so it looks like we all have a plan. We take on Doflamingo while Flint frees the slaves," said Nami.
"I for one am looking forward to seeing how strong this Shichbukai is. We haven't really faced any strong enemies since we came to the New World," said Zoro with a grin.
"This guy took over Pellinopee-chan's kingdom so as her Knight I have to help. Besides I owe him for humiliating me the first time," said Sanji taking a smoke.
"I said that I was going to beat his ass and I will," said Franky with a grin.
"The brave captain Ussop could now really show what he's made of against a Shichbukai," said Ussop.
"I'm really going to show you how strong I got. And don't worry about any injuries. My new skills I can take care of them," said Chopper confidently.
"You can definitely count on my assistance," said Brook.
Nami and Robin didn't say anything but their respective smirks showed that they were equally excited.
Pellinopee and Maxie smiled knowing that the freeing of their kingdom was at hand.
"All right you guys let's go!" shouted Ussop.
"Yeah," shouted everyone running forward.
Inside the Revolutionary Army Main Base
A figure wearing a long dark green cloak was walking towards the throne room. When the Knight of D arrived inside the throne room he saw, the leader or the revolutionary army, Monkey D Dragon on top his throne.
"Greetings my lord, I have arrived as you ordered," said the Knight of D.
"Greetings Knight of D," replied Dragon.
"I have an important mission, one that I believe you are best suited for," said Dragon.
After some time Dragon explained the mission towards the Knight.
"I accept milord," replied the Knight.
"Very well. Go and complete your mission," ordered Dragon.
"It shall be done," replied the Knight.
The Knight then turned around and walked away to complete the mission he was assigned.
Suddenly Sabo came out of the shadows and stood next to Dragon. The two powerful revolutionaries in green cloaks began conversing.
"Is that a good idea milord?" asked Sabo.
"Is what?" asked Dragon back.
"Sending him of all people. He is more than powerful enough to complete the mission successfully but still, I don't think he of all people was the best choice due to the nature and importance of the mission," said Sabo.
"I understood your concerns but there is no need to worry," replied Dragon.
"He is a Knight of D. He is completely devoted to me and my vision. He will succeed," said Dragon who then turned his gaze to the direction the Knight walked away.
"Despite the great risks of sending him specifically, I think this mission will do him a lot of good. Besides …," said Dragon looking in the direction of the Knight.
"Despite his great loyalty, this is perhaps his greatest mission and ultimate test of loyalty," said Dragon.
So Dragon has finally made his move. He has deployed one of his feared Knights for a special mission. Just who is this Knight that Dragon has sent and what is this mission that he is talking about? All will be revealed in due time. But a hint was dropped. Dragon said that "despite his great loyalty, this is perhaps his greatest mission and ultimate test of loyalty." This means that the mission will really test the loyalty of one of his Knights. I'll leave the speculating about who is the Knight and what is the mission to you guys. But it should be obvious that one of the Knights would finally be appearing soon. And we would get to see his power first hand.
Someone asked whether Garp is going to make an appearance in this fic. The answer is yes. He'll appear. However he'll die at Dragon's hands.
Capturing and interrogating a revolutionary for information would be pretty much pointless. All that the revolutionaries know is that the Straw Hats were captured and imprisoned somewhere on the base. They don't know exactly where in the base the Straw Hats were imprisoned. All they simply know is that they are imprisoned somewhere which is not much to go on. The only one who would really know precisely where the Straw Hats were is Doflamingo himself since he was the one who caught and imprisoned them.
Flint is a slave so he has some knowledge of the layout of the base. However his knowledge of the base is much less than a revolutionary since a slave is not allowed at many parts of the base. He however is the best chance they have of finding their nakama in the base since interrogating a revolutionary wouldn't work at all.
Since Flint was a slave, he was naturally overworked and exhausted. As a result he cannot fight much. He only has enough energy to guide the Straw Hats but not to fight alongside them.
I don't think that Zoro, Ussop and Brook know much about the Shichbukai. So they didn't know that Doflamingo was one until Flint actually brought it to their attention.
The Straw Hats are at their strongest when together. Even though the others even Sanji were defeated easily by Doflamingo, the crew knows that the only reason he won was because they were not together. They overcame everything in the past not because they were strong but because of their teamwork and bonds. That's why Zoro is confident about defeating Doflamingo. He knows that even though Doflamingo might be even stronger than him, they could beat him once they are together.
The captured Straw Hats were all in sea stone chains and inside a sea stone cell. There are not much sea stone chains and cells on the camp since sea stone is fairly rare. So the revolutionaries aren't going to waste it on all the slaves. Instead they are only going to use it on devil fruit users and stronger pirates since sea stone is as hard as diamond. That is why the Straw Hats didn't escape on their own and waited for Zoro and the others to rescue them.
Zoro's group found a revolutionary who had some keys on him. He also sensed the presence of their nakama with haki so he thought that those keys were obviously for their cells. He knew that he couldn't cut them out because if the chains and cell was made of regular steel, then they would have all escaped by now. But the fact that they did not escape meant that the steel was not regular steel. So if they couldn't break out, then chances were that he couldn't cut through them. So he took the keys knowing it was the only way to free them.
Flint would be freeing the slaves while the Straw Hats handle the revolutionaries and Doflamingo. Flint wouldn't be of much help against someone like him so freeing the slaves is more appropriate for him. Also he wouldn't have to worry about getting caught again since all the revolutionaries would be too busy trying to capture the Straw Hats to worry about one escaped slave.
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