Chapter XXXIV: Prison Break!

Neptune surged across the floor as a puddle. The plan had been simple and he had done well before now, but that wasn't his current situation. Hell had broken loose after the marines spotted a mass of moving water. One of their first instincts had been to open fire, surprising him. He couldn't fathom why they would aim their guns at the deck of their ship on the lowest level, but they did. Yet, it was surreal having bullets tear through him and do nothing.

Once they noticed this, their tactics changed. Soon, one brave marine charged him with a mop, and Neptune ran for his life. At this point, stealth was a lost cause, so he shifted back to a human form. The shouts of the marines behind him intensified, but didn't sound particularly shocked.

He kept running through the halls, taking turns without thought. There was no time for worrying over which way to go when he had an entire ship at his heel. If he didn't hurry, some of the stronger marines would show up.

At this point, he was searching for either the keys or where their weapons were stored — which would likely also require the keys. He was so lost in thought wondering what the hell he was going to do when he ran into someone. As he tangled into the person, he cursed. He had been so focused on who was behind him that he was hardly paying attention to what was ahead of him. Not the smartest move when he was on an enemy ship.

Neptune felt something help him up — several somethings. They weren't hands, though they acted like them. To Neptune's bewilderment, he was met with a crowd of sea animals. In almost an instant, he recognized the person he had run into. Leading the pack was a boy with black hair and a uniform that loosely followed the marine's protocol.

"Hey, you're one of those good pirates, right? Where's your captain? I'm looking for him." Neptune gawked like a fish at the barrage of questions. Then, the sound of stomping growing closer brought him back to reality.

"Oh, maybe they know," Luffy said, brushing past him. The little army of sea animals followed him, parting around Neptune as they went. Briefly, Neptune glanced back to see what would happen. However, the need to hurry set back in and he was off down the halls once more.


Ruby wasn't ashamed to say that she screamed. Her playful joke to Zwei had not gone as intended. Instead of doing nothing or just making an adorable face at her, his body began shifting and morphing in an almost grotesque fashion. Zwei's hind legs grew out into long, muscular, human legs with very human feet. His front legs grew out into arms, his paws turning into hands. His chest broadened as he rose to a height much taller than Ruby. In moments, her dog had turned into a body building with the small head of a dog.

Zwei posed confidently and yipped at her. That was something she would never be able to scrub from her mind. Zwei approached the bars, his tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth as he panted. He reached forward to grab them, then he was back to being a normal dog in an instant. Whining, he scuttled back to Ruby.

"How?" Ruby breathed out. Then it clicked in her mind that the bars were seastone. "When — did you eat a devil fruit, Zwei? How? When?"

She shook her head. Despite what she just saw, Zwei's adorable little face looking up at her wasn't going to answer any questions. He certainly didn't seem interested in responding now, having taken to curling up by her foot.

There was a snapping sound across the hall. It sounded like two joints being popped in rapid succession. Ruby looked up to see the second most astonishing thing she had seen that day. Whitley had done it. Not once had she ever seen him make progress, so she had always assumed it was a lost cause. Yet, now in his hand was a large section of one of the bars to his cell. He gave her a thumbs up, as if to thank her for believing in him the whole time. She hadn't.

Gently, he sat the bar onto his cot, and then he gestured his head to the side where the guards were stationed. She wasn't exactly sure what he wanted, but at least one of them had the keys, and Whitley couldn't just walk up to them. Palming the tennis ball she had, a swift throw sent it bouncing out into the halls. Poor Zwei tried to run after it only to be stopped by the bars.

Whitley waited, listening to the guards move around. Once he was certain the time was right, he squeezed through the small hole he had made. "I'll be back!" He whispered to her triumphantly.


Weiss studied the display in front of her with a careful eye. Her collection was coming along nicely, but it needed to be sufficient. At the moment there was still doubt in her mind that it would be enough, so there needed to be more. The issue was the constant threat of discovery.

"You seem lost in thought," Pyrrha noted, walking over to her. Weiss quickly scrambled to cover her collection. The blanket she had it stashed on was wrapped up in seconds. While it stopped Pyrrha from seeing its contents, it only heightened her suspicions.

"Yes, well, I was thinking of — of things."

Pyrrha just smiled kindly, if a bit awkwardly. "I'm sure. There's been much to think about, hasn't there?"

"Yes," Weiss responded, a bit too quickly. She was eager to take any topic change she could. "There has been quite a bit that has happened."

"At least it all seems to be changing for the better." Pyrrha's shoulders tensed despite her words. "Yang is with her father, and they're trying to get through to Ruby. Nora is talking to Ren almost all the time. You've already spoken with Blake. And I —" Pyrrha trailed off.

"You have spoken with D'Arc, right?"

Pyrrha's tense shoulders slumped. "I've tried, but every time something goes wrong. It almost feels like it's some cruel joke at my expense. I was just lectured by Miss Goodwitch over it, and it took way too long to convince her of the truth."

"At least it will all be over with soon enough," Weiss whispered, almost to herself.

"It will be," Pyrrha replied with a finality in her voice. "We'll go back to Vale and this will all be behind us. I think — I think we deserve some rest after this, don't you agree?"

Weiss hesitated to answer. "I think I could arrange for us to have a spa day."

Pyrrha smiled. "Thank you, Weiss. We might go back to being team RWBY and team JNPR, but I'm happy you're here on team PWNY."

Weiss stared down at her wrapped up blanket, unable to meet Pyrrha's gaze. "I — I'm glad to be here too."

Running forward. The words echoed in her mind once more.


"The plans changed?" Usopp lounged on his bed, checking a message on his scroll. "I guess people are really nervous about this White Fang stuff, huh?"

His new teammates still had difficulty understanding him, but they got better at it daily. Each time Usopp felt they understood him enough, he relaxed his cadence — which meant he let it speed up. He was currently speaking so fast that a normal person wouldn't be able to comprehend his words, but the rest of team SSUN just managed.

"Of course they are," said Scarlet. "They went from attacking big names and the Schnee family to jumping people on the street."

"They also seem to not care as much about being caught anymore," Sage added. "While it helps crack down on them, it means they might try some dangerous tactics they wouldn't have before."

The last member of their team stayed silent, wasting the time away on her scroll looking through media. When she looked up to see the others looking at her, she sighed and rolled her eyes. "What?"

"The White Fang," Scarlet supplied. "They've been getting worse. What do you think?"

"Amateurs," Nami answered. At their silence, she continued. "They're trying to steal dust, but look at how they're going about it. I say that they're amateurs."

"Well," Usopp hopped off his bed. "With how they've changed things, I don't think a lot of students will be happy. We were all looking forward to it, but — I guess we can't change much."


Ciel felt conflicted, more than she ever had been before. This wasn't a simple matter, not like it had been before. Her current position made adding some salt to Whitley's food feel like nothing. Holding her chin and looking down, she paced the inside of her room. The consequences of these thoughts would be far more than mere punishment. She knew that very well, and it was the very source of her conflicted feelings.

She halted her pacings to look out the window. Creeping across the room, she let her eyes wander over the distant waves. Before they had seemed so barren, like a watery desert stretching on forever. Now, they seemed to hold something — something intangible that she couldn't quite describe. Hearing about it second hand was one thing, but the dawning feeling within her was another. Was this still about what she heard? Of course it was. It was unjust for the marines to act in such a manner, and she refused to just allow it to happen. However, there was something more to it now that she hadn't been aware of yet.

With wavering determination, she left her room and headed off. What exactly she was about to do, she wasn't sure. At the same time, she knew that she had to do something. Her feet carried her past the halls and unsuspecting marines.

She rounded a corner and came face to face with a blue haired boy. He looked like a deer caught in headlights. Recognizing him as one of the Straw Hats, she wondered why he was out of his cell and all the way up where she was. Ciel stared at him, waiting for him to do something, but he only looked around nervously, backing away from her. When distant shouting could be heard, his eyes widened and he dashed by her, flying around the corner.

She continued her march down the hall for a short while until a crowd of marines appeared in front of her. "Where did he go?" The one in the front asked. "One of the prisoners escaped somehow. A boy with blue hair — which way did he go?"

Ciel wasn't sure why she hesitated to answer. She also wasn't sure why she pointed down a random branch off of the hall, sending the marines in the opposite direction of the Straw Hat.

Once she reached the steel stairs to the brig, she could hear it was as noisy as ever, but not in the same way. The usual sounds of the prisoners conversing was replaced by a more chaotic scene. With someone running rampant around the ship, she supposed that was only normal. The closer she got, the more she was able to make out the sight of Whitley's crew trying to look out into the hall, their faces pressed against their bars.

She ignored the scene for the small room stationed just before the cells. The room, in essence, was a small metal box with a steel door and a rectangular window to look out. At the moment, to her luck, the door was slightly ajar. Likely the panic of having a prisoner loose made someone forget protocol.

She slid into the room and began searching around. A voice in her head was asking why she was here and why she was doing this. Yet, no matter how loud that voice grew, her hands kept investigating each surface she could. There was a place to hang keys by the door, but it was currently vacant, meaning the guard stationed here had likely taken them when they left.

The drawers of a rusted desk made horrible screeches as she opened them. Then, as she was beginning to look into a cabinet to the side, the door creaked open.

"What are you doing in here?"


Jaune jumped again, raising his arms high above him. He tried pulling on his devil fruit powers, but nothing came of it. The most he got was increasing the weird feeling around him. It coated his body, like the sensation of a fine dust against his skin.

Like each time before, his feet met the ground once more. After training at Beacon and his time sailing, Jaune had a lot more endurance than he used to have, but he was still growing winded. One could only jump toward the ceiling for so long, and Jaune had been doing just that for over an hour. How had he trained for so long while feeling nothing, and this was getting to him?

Taking a break, Jaune moved over and sat on his cot. He stared at his hand, waving it back and forth through the air. It felt just like he was fanning something, but if he concentrated, the air felt thicker. Closing his eyes, he tried to focus on that feeling — to draw it out. It still wasn't enough, but he had to try.

Jaune stood back up, and tried to focus on the sensation of the air thickening around him. He didn't bother jumping, feeling that he was just wasting effort. If this was going to work, it would be no different if he was on the floor or mid-air.

This time, there was a strong resistance against his hands. He felt a current pass from his movement as the air traveled by him. He lifted up, first an inch and then a foot. He went all the way until his fingertips brushed the ceiling. His heart was racing and his excitement grew, but with that his focus slipped. The air around him thinned and he dropped against the floor once more.

Jaune glanced at the door, knowing that if there was anyone near Ozpin's office, they would have heard that. Ready to be out of his cell, Jaune turned to the ceiling and tried once more.


It had taken much convincing for Pyrrha to be allowed to take Jaune his food. Hopefully he was okay. The last time she saw him, he hadn't been well, but she had been assured that he was fine. Miss Goodwitch personally checked on him and said that while he was out of it, he seemed to be resting.

Before, she hadn't been sure what she should say to Jaune. Too much she wanted to say filled her head and left her with nothing. Now, she had some time to think it over. She would start by apologizing for kicking him in the head. Though, maybe she could word it better. That really needed some tact. Then, she would try talking about what he is doing and what he wants. She had a few examples now of what pirates are like, and Jaune didn't really fit that description.

Jaune was noble. He had a kind heart and was aspiring to become a hero. He wasn't like the criminals she had encountered. Pirates were thieves and murderers, and they often did things she would rather not speak of. They were the worst of the worst and needed to be brought to justice. She clenched her fist around the side of the food tray. Is this what Jaune wanted? Was he aware that this was the sort of reputation that he was giving himself?

No; she wouldn't let that happen. Jaune was her first real friend, along with Ren and Nora. He was her partner at Beacon, and he was important to her. It was clear that he had yet to realize just how big of a deal this was. What she needed to do was show him how severe his actions were. Maybe then he would come to see what was really going on. She knew it was easier said than done, and it would likely take a long time to get through to him, but she wanted him to at least realize that she was trying to help.

The halls seemed strangely empty as she passed through them. It was helpful for thinking, but it was a bit unsettling. Each time she noticed it, she was drawn away from her thoughts. Normally, it was impossible to get from one end of the ship to the other without passing at least one or two other marines along the way. At the moment, the corridors felt barren.

She brushed it off as nothing significant, but she felt like something had to be going on. It was still at the forefront of her mind when she finally reached Ozpin's office. She reached for the door knob, but stopped. Instead of just walking in, she first knocked.

"Jaune," she called, knowing Ozpin was still in a meeting. "It's me, Pyrrha. I'm going to come in now."

It was meant to be a friendly act, to show that she wasn't just going to barge in whenever. However, all she received in response was a frustrated grunt. Slowly, she opened the door. She was greeted not by Jaune but by an empty cage. For a long moment, she just stared. The cell door was locked and she knew Ozpin had the key on him. It should be impossible for him to have gotten out.

Her eyes searched around, frantically trying to find any hint as to what had happened. Then, at the last moment possible, she saw the roof of the cell ripple like water. She had seen that once before back at the CCT tower.


Whitley should have known he wasn't the stealthiest person. Had he managed to grab the keys from the guard who had his back turned? Yes, he did. Did he manage to do so without rattling them to create a loud metallic clanking that could be heard throughout the entire brig? At the moment he was being chased down the hall.

He had discreetly thrown the keys to Ruby. By discreetly, he meant chucking them at her cell and hoping that they might make it through the cell bars. With the keys being a large metal ring with maybe eight or nine on there, he had to hope pretty hard.

Running from marines was something he had gotten used to as of late, the only unfortunate thing was that this particular crew seemed to be on a slightly higher skill level. Thus his first priority was to arm himself. That boy from the other crew, Neptune, was likely to be carrying out his own breakout. If Whitley ran into him, they would be able to help each other. However, that would all be up to luck.

Searching for his weapons might take too long. The size of the boat made it a labyrinth to navigate, and that would be impossible in his current situation. So, he instead searched for a much more obvious place to find. After all, there were occasional signs pointing to where the mess hall was. And, next to the mess hall would be the kitchen.

Whitley ducked around a corner and headed straight for the kitchen doors. He paused just long enough to check who might be on the other side. However, before he could, he spotted a note taped on the doors. One that read 'out on a witch hunt.' Shrugging, he burst through the doors. He searched for something to bar the door with to buy him some time, but all he could find was an apron rack.

Once that was done, he pulled on the roll down windows, blocking off the mess hall to leave him isolated. Soon, he could hear banging on the door as he began scavenging. That measly apron rack would not hold long, so he moved as swiftly as he could. First, he grabbed a large kitchen knife. If he couldn't find anything else, that would help.

He kept pulling open cupboards and drawers until he found it. Laughter filled the kitchen, a mixture of excited and triumphant. Whitley ripped open a sack of flour, dumping its contents in front of the door. Next, he grabbed the containers of salt and filled the bag as much as he could. Finally, he waited by the roll down windows.

The apron rack splintered, and cracked in two. The first marines rushed in, slipping on the flour. Whitley tore open the roll down windows and reached into his salt bag.

"Pocket salt!" He yelled, tossing it at his adversaries. He then slid over the counter and made his way out of the mess hall, cackling as he went. Whitley had his salt once more.


A fight had broken out in the brig. Blake ducked back under a swinging fist. She slammed her foot into the marine's chest, sending him back into another marine. Cardin, who had been all but wrestling that marine yelled at her to knock it off. Well, that was his fault for being so frustrating. Evidently, the only times he had been conscious during their entire capture was when he was brought food. In order to wake him up, Blake had to use him as a human shield. She would forever cherish his shocked and indignant cry. The red mark of a fist could still be seen on his face — aura can't protect someone who isn't using it.

Neo, for all of the seriousness of their situation, seemed to be having the time of her life. She had somehow goaded Sun into a competition to see who could take down more marines. Sun was calling out numbers, and each time Neo would just shake her head no. Blake could actually sense that Neo wasn't even counting.

According to Neptune, this was not the plan. In fact, this was the situation they were trying to avoid. At least they had help with them this time. The aid of Whitley's sea dogs was very welcome. They seemed to be more than keen to help Ruby. After they had gone on and on about wanting to protect their captain, Blake was sure they were just worried about Ruby's safety. Yet, she could faintly make out a hulking person by her. The person seemed to be helping Ruby, which was good, but something about them made Blake's hair stand on end. She had yet to be able to get a good look at them the entire time. Fighting through a crowd of marines would do that.

There was a break in the crowd and she saw it. A creature of nightmares. How dastardly and evil! Atop the muscular figure was the head of a dog.


Neptune felt like collapsing. His hands rested on his knees as he hunched over, trying not to pant. After finally eluding the guards, he made his way into a random supply closet. Once he heard them run by, he let himself breathe, taking in deep, ragged breaths.

He held his ear against the door, listening for footsteps. He needed a game plan now. Now with his devil fruit revealed, that surprise had been taken away. It was still far more subtle than his human form. From there, he needed to find their supplies first. He highly doubted it would be kept with the ship. With his weapon, he would have a much easier time getting around, but he couldn't exactly bring everyone's weapons to them. He could lead the path for them and get their ship ready, but he would have to trust in his crew to get themselves out. Well, he would have to grab the keys, get back to them, and then he would have to trust them. Man, there was a lot ahead of him.

"So, I just need to find where our weapons are?" He whispered to himself. "No problem."

"I can help you with that," a voice responded. Neptune turned to see two glowing eyes looking at him. Neptune screamed.


AN:

So the action begins! Hopefully, I've laid the pieces well so that they can fall into place now. While things aren't going as planned for the Straw Hats or Whitley's sea dogs, things are looking up! But why is Weiss acting so strange…Maybe there's a reason she wanted all of that bread…

Anyways, next chapter: The Barrel Sets Sail!