Here is the eleventh chapter in this story released in accordance with my upload schedule for this story. Sabaody may be in the rear window for everyone and there is a little time before Ace's execution but Luffy is now aware of that thanks to Kuma sending him to Amazon Lily and his actions there. As such Luffy, with the aid of the Warlord Boa Hancock, breaks into the great prison to free Ace. He fails but that doesn't stop him from rescuing Ace as he is now breaking out of Impel Down with an eclectic group of inmates including an old enemy or two and on the way out they're going to free more prisoners to aid in the escape. Not a bad idea but what happens when one of the freed prisoners has his own plans now that he's freed? Well let's see what the repercussions of Luffy's actions in Impel Down as we begin this story's Impel Down arc and the long term ramifications that it might have. That is all that I have for the administrative stuff I have for y'all and while there are no questions that need answers but there is a guest review that needs a response and a question to posed to y'all that was asked in another review so I will do that now. Do keep them coming as your support is the best motivation for me to keep producing chapters at this kind of rate.
To KGBeastboy (guest), thank you for your review, suggestions, and explanations, they are interesting and helpful and I will now address them. Firstly Gueldre's Devil Fruit, thank you for clearing that up and how it might work. It's certainly one of the harder ones to potentially adapt as his power turns him invisible and makes magic pass through him in Black Clover but with already a few invisible based adapted Devil Fruits it is hard. My one concern with this suggestion is what about Togata? If he appears what Devil Fruit would he have? I will of course keep this under consideration and there is more time than you'd think with Gueldre. For Jellal, I already have the name of his Devil Fruit though it is similar to your suggestion and will basically do the same thing and I will consider the appearance for when the time is right. In terms of marines heroes being marines, after the last chapter that is pretty much a likely bet that at least some will be pros though it might not be all. Still, your suggestions are good and I will address them in order. Firstly Mt. Lady, your suggestion is right on the money as that's the name I have in my notes for her Devil Fruit and it can be seen as an inferior version of Sanjuan Wolf's Huge-Huge Fruit as it has only one size change like her. Certainly, her being a marine works and in fact I've got a good idea how to use her in Marineford so thank you for this as this helps out a lot. Likewise her rank is fitting. With Snipe, unless it's already taken Homing-Homing might be better but the appearance, his rank, and status certainly work just fine. Slidin' Go is an interesting one to choose, I wouldn't have thought of him but honestly he works really well so thank you, and the Devil Fruit is fitting for him and can be a slightly inferior but in a way more active Devil Fruit compared to Alvida's and his rank is a good one. Death Arms is a bit difficult more because his Quirk isn't named yet as far as I'm aware but do feel free to correct me there so I may lay off on him having a Devil Fruit at the moment but a strong Lieutenant Commander in the Navy is still on the table. As for Ryukyu, while I am trying to avoid a glut of Mythical Zoans but, well, she does actually turn into a dragon in MHA so it can't be avoided in her case and the name isn't a bad one as it shows more to the Fish-Fish line. Lastly with the Devil Fruit suggestions, you are once again correct with Mirko's Devil Fruit's name though it is rather obvious what she'd have and like Ryukyu being a Vice-Admiral makes sense for her and other top 10 heroes if they are pros. When it comes to the promotion, we will see some politicking for that during the time skip but Mirko's not high enough in the MHA hero lists for consideration, not that she'd take it anyway as you point out, but that aspect of things will be seen. Finally on the Devil Fruit note, if you haven't seen it already I've begun to release a Devil Fruit companion piece which will be updated after every arc (or parts for the longer ones) with new Devil Fruits that are introduced in that arc and meet my criteria for inclusion and I've already used three of your suggestions that were made as they were for 3 of the 24 in the initial wave so they are being considered and published. Separately, while I like the idea of Rob having had a Devil Fruit that Erza saw and the Flame-Flame Fruit works, that is one of the Devil Fruits with the richest known history in One Piece and spent years in a chest ant then in a bird's stomach before it ended up with Ace. I will think on it and see if it works because it's not a bad idea and would add more to an interaction between Erza and Luffy which given the shared English VA will be really interesting (as will the whole mess that will be Charlotte's feelings for Yami and the shared VAs there in relation to which Straw Hats they voice) so if it works I'll see. Alas as you will now see, it will have to be Erza not Jellal who brings it up during a meeting which won't take place until well into the post time skip stuff. I hope this addresses everything and do keep reading and enjoying my work.
Anyway, that is enough for this long pre-chapter note so sit back and enjoy the eleventh chapter in The Ultimate Worst Generation.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these great franchises.
Chapter 11: Eternal Breakout
"If you want to break out of this joint now's the time to do so. You won't get a better chance than this."
The voice came from in front of the frigid cell's door and the people in the communal cell shivered as they looked towards it and at the speaker in confusion. Said speaker was a strange looking guy with a dated, feminine, hairstyle that was dyed white on the right and orange on the left, shades with the same color scheme lenses over his eyes and a jagged scar that ran from his hairline, over his forehead and left eye to end at the top of his cheekbone. He wore a long coat in the same color scheme over a white dress shirt and a yellow and red bowtie. Oddly, he was holding a glass of red wine in his left hand.
To say that he was a strange site in the Freezing Hell, the 5th level of Impel Down reserved for prisoners with bounties that had been over 100 million berries when they were captured, or at least almost 100 million or were notorious and deemed dangerous enough to merit the lowest official level of Impel Down, was an understatement. Then again the day had been a strange one for Impel Down, which made it interesting as it slightly distracted the inmates on Level 5 from their slow death by freezing, though the events of the upper levels hadn't really effected Level 5.
Two things had affected their level, however. The first was another strange man who was shirtless and wearing the Vice-Warden's pants and boots with short black hair and extreme makeup on his face dragging a sled with a tanned, black haired teen in a blue vest, red shorts, and sandals who was covered Magellan's poison on him. The second, and likely tied to the first, was that there were two free inmates, a light skinned blue haired man with a red nose and a darker skinned man in googles with a 3 shaped cowlick, running around in the open of Level 5 trying to avoid the wolves and get off the floor.
In the end, and to the few who'd noticed, the latter of the two pairs had managed it a while back but the former, who'd been asking for a missing prisoner called Ivankov, hadn't been. That had been several hours ago, it was hard to tell how many for the denizens of Level 5, and now there was another queer man, both metaphorically and literally, who had walked up to their cell and held out his hand to the lock. Ther was a snipping sound and the lock was cut, likely by a Devil Fruit power, and the door pulled open. Once it was the man tossed a set of keys to the shackles out and onto the ground.
"We're breaking out of here and making our way to Marineford, you're welcome to join or try to find your own way out." The man said as the keys clattered to the ground in the middle of the cell. "Regardless, if you do choose to leave, do try to make it out of this hell and cause as much chaos as possible along the way."
With that the odd man turned and ran off as other cells around them were opened by similarly strange looking men, women, and people whose gender was impossible to tell at a glance, telling the inmates on the level to join them. Notably, though, only those whose cells were on the ground were opened showing a press for time and not reaching some of the more notable inmates on Level 5 who were held in higher levels of the various cell towers that dotted the landscape.
That didn't bother the people in the cell the two toned man had opened as they heard a noise in the distance and it was now clear to them that a mass breakout was taking place so the prisoners in the communal cell that had just been opened joined in on that by leaping on the keys and began freeing each other. After all, they were here till they died, may as well die trying to escaped from hell rather than freeze to death in it like they had been doing since getting here.
The only person who didn't didn't leap on the keys was a man sitting on the bench that ran along the back wall of the cell. He had slightly shaggy black hair that fell to just past the tops of his ears with an x of strands over the bridge of his nose and a patch of white over his right eye with another on the left side of his hair that didn't move as he yawned at the actions going on before him.
Like the others he was wearing the standard black and white striped outfit of an inmate locked up in Impel Down with the only distinguishing feature being the red tattoo that started right under his left eye and went down his cheek in a twisted pattern. Said tattoo stretched as he finished yawning and smiled where he was sitting.
"Hey man, you want in on this?" One of the inmates in the cell said as they freed their cuffs with those who were freed already rushing out to join the others who were trying to break out of Impel Down and would soon realize that the first pair from earlier were a core part of the breakout. "It's a once in a lifetime thing."
"Yeah, it's going to a pain to do so but what else do I have to lose so toss the keys here." The tattooed man said as he looked up and held the heavier, slightly differently colored, shackles on his wrists up. "Sea prism stone and all so these things are a bitch to deal with."
The other inmate nodded, the men in this cell had known that the man was a Devil Fruit user the moment he'd been dropped off in it by the guards some months back by the different color of his shackles but fortunately they had the same lock as the other normal shackles so he tossed the man the keys and left. It was still everyman for himself in Impel Down but they all at least deserved the chance to flee so they'd give the Devil Fruit user in their cell that chance completely unaware of what just what would happen because he was freed.
"Good luck Rhya." The man said before he ran. "You'll need it."
Rhya, known as Rhya the Disloyal back in his pirate days which had only come to a forced end a few months back, just smirked as he caught the keys and set about unlocking his shackles. In a few moments they fell to the cold ground with a clatter and he stood up with another yawn, his strength returning and feeling his power work again. That was be critical as he walked out of the cell and into the freezing wind of Level 5.
"May as well help the boss out." Rhya said through yet another yawn as he began to walk. "But I'll take a little time, best to let these morons make a scene and see if they can break out so that we can follow in their wake. If not, well at least they may injure the jailers and Warden so we can truly escape. This is a pain but whatever, gotta help your friends after all."
Instead of the others who were making their way to the stairs that led up to the Burning Heat Hell of Level 4, Rhya followed the wake that the escapees had left and walked to where they'd come from. He needed to go down and he figured that if these people had just shown up out of the blue then they had to have a way to get down to Level 6, the Eternal Hell.
It was the level that few knew about, Rhya being one of them thanks to the information he gleamed before coming here thanks to the boss's position, so he knew that it existed and if the boss was anywhere he'd be there. After all, Rhya had had a bounty of 101 million berries when it was frozen by the World Government and the boss's had been 313 million back then so he had to be there. That and Captain Patry had tried to genocide an entire nation so his crimes absolutely had to be covered up.
As Rhya walked, with another yawn as one couldn't get any good sleep in this freezer, he shivered and picked up his pace a bit betting that there was some kind of way down ahead and needing to get there as soon as possible. Not for the first time did Rhya bemoan one of the drawbacks of his Devil Fruit as despite its impressive strength, he couldn't copy a Zoan type's power or else he'd have activated Vetto's strange Beast-Beast Fruit powers to give his body the properties of an animal that could withstand the freezing cold.
Like the Egg-Egg Fruit, Vetto's Beast-Beast Fruit was an atypical Zoan as it gave him a permanent half-beast form and allowed him to take the attributes of various animals so as to fit his battle or environmental needs but only one animal at a time. It was a powerful Devil Fruit indeed but Rhya wasn't too bothered as his own Devil Fruit was just as powerful.
That was because Rhya had eaten the Copy-Copy Fruit which allowed him to permanently copy another person's Devil Fruit power so long as he'd touched their skin with his own. There were limitations of course, a power like this always had some, and in his case he could only use one power at a time, he couldn't copy a Zoan type, and he couldn't awaken the powers that he copied but it was still useful as hell.
Alas, despite his trove of copied powers, he'd never copied a fire or heat based Devil Fruit so he was still freezing his ass off as he moved through Level 5. To distract himself, while also noting that for some reason all the wolves had been defeated, he thought back on how he'd ended up here locked away in the bowls of Impel Down so that he had something to occupy his mind as he walked through the cold. It all started as a kid growing up in the Clover Kingdom, a large and prosperous island in the first half of the Grand Line that was affiliated with the World Government and had close ties to it.
To say that the place was a bad place to grow up despite its prosperity was an understatement. The Clover Kingdom was a classist and racist shithole that tried to be like the World Nobles but on a single nation level rather than a global on and which had been the way it was for at least 800 years ago. The details of what occurred there during and just before the end of the Void Century, like all places, were hazy but Rhya knew enough to know of the general truth as he was one of the last descendants of those who'd been the victims of the nobles and the story that had been passed down for centuries.
It had occurred shortly before the 25 royal families banded together to form the World Government when the nobles of the Clover Kingdom, though it wasn't called the Clover Kingdom at the time, united together to wipe out a peaceful tribe that lived in the nation and had been there since before humans had come to that land. The reason was ostensibly because of their gifts with the land and connection to nature was dangerous but Rhya knew the truth, it was simply because the Elf Tribe were a different race and thus viewed as a threat to the humans.
Elves were a race similar to humans in appearance and height but with a few differences mainly they were highly skilled in working with the land, second only to the dwarves of Dressrosa who the Elves knew about having encountered them during their own issues finding a place to call home prior to the Void Century, and had deep connections to the natural world. That and they had pointed ears which Rhya himself hid with his hair as there were only a handful of Elves left in the world.
In addition, Elves were also able to live significantly longer than humans and even longer than giants with a lifespan of close to 500 years. It was because of this lifespan that those few elves who still lived were only the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those slaughtered by the humans in their attempted genocide of the elf race.
By all accounts, it was a horrific event, one which Rhya had been told many times growing up by the few remaining survivors of it, and they passed on their hatred for humans to his generation. To make it all worse, apparently, it had been the exact opposite of what the plan had been at the time making it a great betrayal though even the few survivors didn't know what had caused it other than human greed and prejudice.
This was because all issues were on the brink of being resolved due to the heir to the Kingdom's throne and the Chieftain of the Elf Tribe close friendship as they were intellectual equals beloved by their respective races. Both were great men who possessed powerful Devil Fruits and used them for the good of the Kingdom and it was through this connection that they'd met and forged their close friendship.
In fact it had been because of this friendship that love blossomed between the Chieftain and the Prince's sister and their marriage would unite their peoples. However, on the day of the wedding, the human nobles betrayed the elves and attacked them at the wedding using some strange technology of unknown origin to try and exterminate the elves and take full control of the Kingdom.
They failed to kill all the elves however and the survivors, along with the Princess and one of the two unborn twins that she was carrying though how she survived is still a mystery, were enough to maintain their culture, race, and heritage. However, with the exception of the Princess who'd lost both her new husband and her brother on that day, had created a hidden commune in the wilds of the Clover Kingdom with the aid of their talents with nature to hide from the humans and rebuild. The entire time they did their rage and hatred for humans grew and so too did their plans for vengeance.
That vengeance would take time, centuries even, but time was something elves had and so they used that to their advantage as they worked on their plans. Finally, after almost 800 years, that time came and the plan was put into action 10 years ago.
The elf chosen for the plan was the most zealous of their generation, an elf call Patry, and upon his selection as leader he ate the Light-Light Fruit that the tribe had found in the wake of their genocide and hidden until the moment the vengeance began. The reason for it was that it was the very same Devil Fruit that the Prince of old had eaten so it was a fitting weapon of vengeance along with the two other Devil Fruits they'd found over the years.
There was another reason why Patry was chosen, however. That reason was because, by sheer accident, he'd befriended a human when the human was but a teen simply because he was, at the time, a peasant bastard with an extreme facial birthmark that had been banished to the forsaken part of the Clover Kingdom because of it.
This friendship with a human, a breach of elf law at the time, was seen as a good omen as it was similar to that of the old Chieftain and the Prince especially when it turned out that the human Patry had befriended was in fact the bastard son of a noble and his common mistress. This was revealed when the noble's only trueborn son had died otherwise a half-noble bastard wouldn't have been made a noble.
It was because of this situation that Patry and the human shared a lot of similarities and hatred for the nobles of the Clover Kingdom. As such the man became an ally of the Elf Tribe and their plans for vengeance and together they hatched a plan to enact their desired vengeance on the Clover Kingdom and build it anew.
Everything had really lined up for the elves because the year that Patry ate the Light-Light Fruit the elected King of the Clover Kingdom, a strange custom that had been in existence since the end of the Void Century and King was actually a gender neutral term as any woman who took the role was also called King, went rogue. He was a man called Leto Conrad, and he turned on his own kingdom due to the electorate that had made him their King, the nobles, had decided to kill his wife because he wasn't behaving like they wanted, so they used the chaos that that caused as cover for starting their plan.
Ironically, King Conrad was defeated, dethroned, and was currently locked up in Level 6 as well but he had a special seal on him due to his own Devil Fruit power and a new King, the man who defeated Conrad, was elected. It helped that their human ally was a close friend with the new King, Novachrono Julius, as Julius had been his patron shortly after he was made a noble and he was thus the perfect spy for them and set about putting the plan into place in the Clover Kingdom so that it would be ready for the moment the trap was sprung and vengeance was theirs.
Meanwhile, in order to gain stronger followers and experience, Patry formed the Elf Pirates and set to sea. To ensure success, he nominated his two closest supporters Rhya and another elf called Vetto, as his deputies who would be critical to aiding the mission and this was accepted by the tribe. Upon confirmation, Rhya was given the Copy-Copy Fruit to eat and Vetto the Beast-Beast Fruit so as to strength them and increase the power they'd wield on the high seas.
Ultimately, the plan was to use the followers they gained as pawns and cannon fodder for their return as King Julius was too strong to defeat without an army backing them up. It was all to have the strength to match Julius and get him out of the way so that they could enact the justified genocide of the humans that lived in the Clover Kingdom.
In the end they recruited several powerful and even more disaffected humans from all over the Grand Line and earned a reputation for wanton slaughter of their enemies, well the ones they deemed corrupt or at least racist, and that got the attention of the World Government. Soon the Elf Pirates were a notorious crew and within 2 years, and before they decided to enter New World to get even stronger there, Patry had a 159 million berry bounty making him a Super Rookie.
That bounty shot to 313 while in the New World before the best news possible, and news that they weren't expecting given how racist the World Government was, came 3 years before they were sent to Impel Down when a vacancy in the 11 Warlords opened up and Party was offered the spot. He accepted right away as they needed the amnesty and free reign and the moment to really ramp up their plans and speed things up before they returned to the Clover Kingdom in secret 2 years make the final plans for their revenge.
It would take a full year in the Clover Kingdom to manage that but they worked hard, with some distractions for Patry to do his duties as a Warlord so as to keep up appearances, and finally they were in place. Of course that was the moment that a pirate crew that had been formed in Clover by a Wano exile called Yami Sukehiro returned as they were finally trying to conquer the Grand Line after Yami spend a several years in the North Blue for some reason. That had been their undoing and Rhya still cursed the Black Bull Pirates for their intervention that prevented their plan.
What didn't help was the revelation that the whole genocide in the first place had been a trick by a third party who was just playing with all of them for its own sick pleasure. It was one that Rhya confirmed was true as he had a unique form of Observation Haki that meant that he could always tell if someone was lying or telling the truth, and in the end they had to surrender as they no longer had a reason to go through with it.
Well that and they had lost to the Black Bulls. In fact Patry had lost to Yami twice while Rhya and Vetto were defeated by Yami's top crewmember and a real devil called Asta who's Devil Fruit nullified other Devil Fruits and was the first Paramecia type that Rhya couldn't copy with his own Devil Fruit. This was likely due to the whole negating other Devil Fruit powers thing making it superior to Rhya's own Devil Fruit power. As a result they been arrested because Patry's genocide attempt had been witnessed by the marines and he'd had his Warlord status revoked for it.
To add to it all, Patry had killed Julius, a recognized monarch of a World Government affiliated country, which was a massive crime. Thankfully, at least for Clover as he was a good King, Julius had apparently survived due to some strange time based Devil Fruit he had, at least according to the reports that said he was alive, while the Elf Pirate's plan was revealed and they'd been arrested thanks to the Navy.
This was of course a lie as it was entirely thanks to the Black Bulls, and in fact it was Patry's second defeat that led to Yami and Asta's massive bounties, but the Navy did have to save face for letting a Warlord go rogue, again. The Navy had still arrested many of the Elf Pirates and the officers had all ended up at Impel Down, including their spy as he'd been instrumental in allowing Patry to carry out his attack, and the Black Bulls' reputation increased as they became known as one of the major up and coming rookie crews.
Now, though, Rhya had the chance to break out and he was going to get Patry, Vetto, and those in their crew who'd also been sent to Impel Down along with anyone else who might be useful. While Rhya still saw humans as inferior to elves, he no longer had the same visceral hatred to them as he did before now that he knew the truth of the Elf Genocide so it was at least owed to the humans who'd followed them for that loyalty. It was always good to keep that loyalty after all even if the original plan had been to kill them along with the humans of the Clover Kingdom.
All that was in the past now, they were about to break out of Impel Down together and then they'd decide what to do but one thing was certain; Rhya wanted was vengeance on the Black Bulls for landing him in Impel Down, a vengeance that he knew Patry and Vetto shared. That time had now come as Rhya finally reached the end of the track made by the escaping inmates, his own trek erasing their tracks in the process, and found an entrance leading underground that was well hidden. Without a second's thought he took it and headed out of the cold and into the area between Levels 5 and 6.
How a place like this got here or why it was even here at all didn't interest Rhya, though he did note that this was likely where all the missing prisoners he'd heard about since getting here had ended up, he just needed to get down and he was sure that there was a useful way via this path. Still, he did need to check the place out as he needed to let the chaos continue for a bit longer as it would take out more guards at least. Plus he wanted to get out of these clothes so he took a moment in the maze of tunnels to do just that.
Thankfully Rhya was able to find some decent food and drink that had to have been stolen from the guards and which he greedily ate and drunk as it had been ages since he'd had a good meal, you couldn't even eat the bread on Level 5, and then moved around looking for clothes. Alas most of the shit here was, well, only fit for perverts and oddballs and Rhya got a feelings that most who ended up here were just that but he was able to find a simple pair of black pants, boots, and a white robe-like jacket that he pulled on in the final room he entered.
That room was a storage room of sorts but more importantly than even the clothes was the fact that it had a hole in the center of it that looked like someone had dried the stone to sand and a spiral of stone leading up to it from below that was also unnatural. Two Devil Fruits, ones that Rhya would have liked to copy if he found their users, had made this but he didn't know which ones. In the end it didn't matter as he casually walked down the improvised ramp and into the Eternal Hell.
Here things were dim as there wasn't much light and oddly quiet as the many cages and cells that held the worst of the worst stretched out below him as Rhya descended. These were the people who were too dangerous and powerful to execute, or were awaiting execution for various reasons, or who's crimes were so atrocious and individuals whose mere existence had become a major threat to the World Government that they had to be hidden from the world and forgotten about.
Rhya wasn't paying attention to that though he did notice that there were about 4 or 5 dead guards at the bottom of the ramp that had been sliced up with a sword with blood pooling around the corpses and an empty cell before them. That would have been interesting under normal circumstances but Rhya ignored it as he stepped onto the floor and began to draw attention from the inmates on Level 6 who whispered about his presence noting that it was the second such strange arrival of the day.
Rhya paid the whispers no heed as he used his Observation Haki to find who he was looking for and began to walk through the floor until he came to one of the many free standing cages that were dotted around and which housed only one occupant. Honestly the layout and cell structure here was a mess but that wasn't Rhya's concern as he came to a stop in front of the cell and looked into it.
The lone occupant wore the standard prison garb of Impel Down and had thick sea prism stone cuffs on his wrists but Rhya would know the long, near white, blond hair that hung loose and fell down to the man's elbows as he sat on the bench in his cell. Like Rhya, and all elves for that matter, he had red tattoos on his face with his being two curved tattoos around the outsides of his eyes and the red dots just above his eyebrows and grinned as the man looked up at Rhya.
"Hey Patry, been a bit." Rhya said as he continued to grin at how wide Patry's eyes went. "What do you say to busting out of this hellhole?"
"Rhya my old friend." Patry said with as he recovered from his shock and smiled, his slightly high voice the same as ever before he shifted and Rhya saw that he was chained to the wall by a thick chain around his waist, almost certainly sea prism stone, and thus unable to move. "I would get up and greet you but as you can see they're a bit thorough here despite the whole sea prism thing."
"No worries, I brought the keys." Rhya said as he held them up before he used them to unlock the door to the cell and stepped in. "Care to explain what's going on? I've been locked up in the Freezing Hell since getting here and there's no transponder snails or guards there to tell us anything. There was some strange dude asking for Ivankov dragging a boy earlier and two free prisoners on Level 5 but that's it. Well until more strange people appeared and one of them freed my cell to participate in a mass breakout that is but I figured it would be better to let them take the brunt of the guards and Warden while I come here and break you out before going to see if Vetto is still around."
"I can't speak to most of that as it is rather hard to see things from my current position but the boy was likely Straw Hat Luffy, a rookie pirate with a high bounty and the younger brother of Fire Fist Ace." Patry said as Rhya undid the shackles on Patry's wrists and then moved to the lock on the chain. "He was here a few moments ago with Ivankov and some two toned guy who can turn his hands to scissors and cut anything and then manipulate it like paper though it still maintains its density. An odd but useful Devil Fruit. They were just too late to free Fire Fist."
"Ah I see, well that two toned man also freed me was as part of this mass breakout." Rhya said as he unlocked the padlock on the chains and stepped back so that Patry could stand up and let the shackles and chain fall to the ground with a clatter. "Safety in numbers I bet. I decided to come here though, they can deal with Magellan and the jailers while we free out friends and pawns and get out of here."
"A wise plan." Patry said as he rubbed his wrists smiling at Rhya. "Well thank you, now that I can use my power things will be easier but we need allies if we are to successfully break out and rebuild. Straw Hat and Ivankov recruited two powerful ones, one a former and the other an active Warlord, so I say we do the same. Plus I won't leave here without William, not after all we've been through."
"I understand, is he here as well?" Rhya asked as they stepped out and a series of inmates in one of the more communal cells nearby began asking for release though none were memorable to Rhya or Patry even if they had done something to merit being dumped in the deepest level of Impel Down. "I wasn't aware that he was arrested with us. Do you know where he is? He will be of use."
"He was arrested a few days later once the full story got out and as they couldn't ignore his crimes they opted to erase them by putting him in a cell by himself." Patry said as several constructs made out of hard light appeared above him in the shapes of simple spears with two cross marks on it in a move that Patry called his Light Swords of Judgement that he proceed to send into the loud cell to spear and kill several of the scum there without even looking at them. "Fortunately he was placed near a few other former Warlords who may be of use to us. Straw Hat's example isn't a bad one to follow even if he is a human."
"Who'd he get to join him?" Rhya asked curiously as they walked while mimicking Patry's Light-Light Fruit power with his own to take out a second communal cell that was shouting and silence anymore attempts to ger them to aid, the light constructs that the Light-Light Fruit allowed Patry to make were strong and very handy. "Straw Hat that is."
"Current Warlord Jimbe, though that might not be for much longer, and former Warlord Crocodile." Patry said as they passed the open cells that had housed the two he'd just mentioned and carried on walking around the level. "So he's got a Whale Shark fish-man and a Logia type Devil Fruit user, two strong allies."
"Ah if Crocodile was one of the freed ones then that explains the hole I came through." Rhya said. "And the dead guards? Was it their doing?"
"No, for some reason Magellan has released that monster Shiryu of the Rain, the sadistic head jailer who was jailed down here and sentenced to death because he started to kill prisoners for fun." Patry said shaking his head. "It's said that he is as strong as Magellan."
"I'll admit, I've never heard of him." Rhya said.
"I'm not surprised, he was arrested before we got here." Patry said. "He' been down here since then waiting for his death sentence to be carried out but it's all hush hush because of his crimes. Magellan needed him for something it seemed though he slaughtered the guards as soon as he was out of his cell and had his sword in hand."
"He could be an issue then." Rhya said as they came to a stop at the end of a line of cells facing the one that occupied the end of the line with one cell on either side connected to it. "A strong swordfighter with bloodlust, that's not good and we know that swords can, if used by a skilled swordsman, cut your light and I don't really have anything good to handle them."
"Perhaps but he's also a prisoner even with this release as it's not a pardon so I get the feeling that he won't be an issue if he's going to escape as well." Patry said. "A potential ally in fact but first let's get the ones we know will join us. So, William, you ready to bust out."
"Patry, now this is unexpected." The voice from the darkness of the cell said in a soft and educated tone before there was a clinking sound and the man rose to walk forward into the dim light revealing that he wasn't chained to the wall like Patry had been but that he was in full restraints that were around his wrists and ankles and connected by a thick sea prism chain. "So it would seem that someone friendly to us got let out thanks to Ivankov and Straw Hat. Not complaining, this place is hell and I have much to atone for that I can't do whole I'm in here."
The man, like everyone else, was in typical prison garb and had spikey near white hair and handsome, noble features. Well, they would be but for the massive birthmark that covered his head in from just under his nose and went all the way to the top of his head. It was an ugly, off purple color with darker splotches on his forehead on places and left only his mouth, jaw, lower cheeks, and earlobes normal.
"William, my dear friend, I would never leave you in this hellhole." Patry said as he made a sword of light and cut the locking mechanism of the door with a slash that cut through it with ease and the door swung open. "Here let's get those off you, we might need your Tree-Tree Fruit powers on the way out though some of the floors may be an issue."
"Of course." Willima said as he stepped out of the cell still in his shackles. "Rhya, thank you, I get the feeling that you are the one responsible for this so I owe you for it."
Rhya just nodded at the man, Vangeance William, Patry's childhood friend and the only human that he truly liked. William had been their spy and conflicted because Julius was his friend, mentor, and benefactor and who had given him a mask to hide his scars which allowed William to rise high in the Clover Kingdom without judgment.
It had led to a crisis of conscience for William and he'd ended up setting up a meeting between Patry and Julius to decide it so he was responsible for Julius's supposed death. In the wake of the incident he'd used his Tree-Tree powers to aid before surrendering to the marines and being sent to Level 6 of Impel Down for his crimes in facilitating Patry's near genocide.
Apparently Julius had tied to stop it and have William serve his life sentence in the Clover Kingdom but it had been William who'd set Julius up and as the Black Bulls had fled by that point, they were wanted pirates who needed to get clear of the Navy after all, so the nobles blamed him for Julius's near death and used their influence with the World Government to cover things up. As part of that William was sent here to never be seen again but that would change as William fully intended to atone for his crimes by doing good even if he was now a wanted criminal.
That was fine with William as Rhya unlocked his shackles, he'd form his own pirate crew and fill it with similarly minded men and women who wanted to do good but couldn't for various reasons and do just that. It would take time but as he rubbed his wrists and Patry turned to the cell to his right with Rhya, William had the idea in mind and soon he'd help bring in a new golden dawn, at least to parts of the world, for people to enjoy.
That would take time, though, as first he needed to get out of here and learn what Patry's plan was. That would likely mean allying with some less than savory characters but so be it, it was a price William would bear if it allowed him to do good later.
"Good now we need the other two here." Patry said turning to the cell to their left, William's right. "And we'll start with him."
"And he is?" Rhya asked as they looked in to the cell and saw a normal looking man with short, slightly messy, dark brown hair, near vacant eyes, and a small scar over his left eye with his arms fully encased in a special sea prism restraint that went from his wrists to his armpits and had bars across to lock them in place but that was it. "He doesn't look like much though I'll admit those are some extensive restraints."
"He may not look it but he's a former Warlord like me so I know him from our time exploiting the Navy's stupidity in giving us amnesty, which means that he's strong and I know that he has a power that we could use." Patry said as he stepped up. "One that would take you too long to master in the time we have so we need him and besides, he had an extensive criminal network before being captured so he's a good ally to have."
"That is useful, we never had a network the way Torchwick or Doflamingo had." Rhya admitted. "And if we are to get revenge on the Black Bull Pirates we'll need all the help we can to rebuild."
"Precisely." Patry said before he directly addressed the man in the cell who'd still not shown any hint of alertness to their presence. "Hey, Kai, fancy breaking out of this dump? If you do I promise I'll help you reunite with that old boss of yours."
That perked the man's interest and a flash of light appeared in his eyes as he rose and walked to the bars of his cell and looked closely at Patry. It seemed to take a moment for him to recognize Patry but when he did he nodded.
"Patry, I remember you." Kai said in a tired monotone that showed he'd resigned himself to Impel Down but there was a hint of something creeping back into it. "Fine, help me see the old boss again and you have my aid. I didn't think I'd get out of this place so I'll take it."
"Good but as a condition you have to let my associate copy your Matter-Matter Fruit powers." Patry said. "That's non-negotiable and as we can just take it without freeing you, you'd be best to accept the offer."
"Fine, hold up your end of the bargain and free my associates along the way and I won't object to this." Kai said. "Many have Devil Fruit powers as well; your man can copy them as well for all I care."
"Good, Rhya, if you will." Patry said and Rhya nodded before putting his hand through the bars and touching Kai's forehead and copying his power his eyes wide as his power copied Kai's and recorded what it was. "Now test it out on the bars."
Rhya nodded. Part of the Copy-Copy Fruit's power was that it told Rhya what the Devil Fruit power that he'd just copied was, so long as he could copy it which with one exception was any non-Zoan Devil Fruit. In this case it was the Matter-Matter Fruit, a Paramecia type Devil Fruit that allowed the user to destroy and recombine any matter he or she touched. Rhya knew that it would take him time to master the more complicated details of the fruit, mainly the recombination aspect, but it was damned useful as he placed his hand on the bars and destroyed them to dust opening up the entire cell.
"Thank you." Kai said as he stepped out and Rhya pulled out the keys and opened the locks on his restraints. "Hurry up, breaking out won't be easy."
"Who is he?" Rhya asked quietly as Kai started to walk off to the ramp that they'd take up to that strange warren that Rhya had found between the levels. "You said that he's a former Warlord so between that and being locked up down here he's gotta be strong."
"He his, his name is Chisaki Kai, he's a former Warlord and the Captain of the Hassaikai Pirates who was known by his epithet Overhaul." A new voice said and the three men turned to the other cell in the area to find a sinister looking man with shoulder length, lank, dark red hair, evil looking raised eyebrows and a handlebar mustache that only added to the look grinning at them from the cell his arms chained with sea prism cuffs. "And like your boss there he was beaten by an up jumped rookie who he overlooked. In Kai's case it was the Captain of the Might Pirates, Midoriya 'Deku' Izuku."
"So how'd he end up here?" Rhya asked the man who unlike Kai he instantly recognized as the former Warlord and Captain of the Phantom Lord Pirates Porla Jose and quickly presumed that he'd be the final ally. "It's hard to get a Warlord status revoked."
"Kai got here because he ran an organized crime family called the Yakuza, well he was the number 2 but the boss has been out of the picture for a while, and they terrorized a good portion of the Grand Line." Jose said. "But what landed him here was illegal human experimentation in relation to Devil Fruit Powers."
"Isn't that what the World Government does anyway?" Rhya asked. "I thought that doctor of theirs was into that."
"Oh Vegapunk is into it, he took blood from me, Patry, and Kai as part of it but his work is sanctioned, Kai's was not." Jose said. "Somehow the Might Pirates found out about it and attacked Kai's base of operations. It was a bold attack but it worked as all of his ranking members being defeated by Captain Izuku's underlings and he lost to Izuku. From what I gathered through my own network as his fall was before mine was that what really did it was experimenting on a 6 year old girl and her Devil Fruit power. It's what put the Might Pirates on the map and made two of their crewmembers Super Rookies alongside their Captain."
"He's serious scum but he's useful." Patry said as they approached Jose. "We need that power of his right now. Not only is it strong but it has healing aspects to it as there is no limit to the matter that can be broken down and reformed."
"That's fine with me, we need allies to successfully get out of here." Rhya said though William was uncomfortable but accepted it as a necessary evil. "So what about Jose here? How'd he land in Impel Down."
"A miscalculation on my part." Jose said darkly as Rhya touched his forehead to copy his Devil Fruit Power while Patry cut the bars away with a light sword as there was no need to go over the deal with someone as sleezy as Jose. "I was hired to find, capture, and return a rich brat called Heartfilia Lucy who'd run off and joined the Fairy Tail Pirates. I just saw them as some two bit rookie crew that I could easily beat and incorporate into my own crew but even after capturing Lucy I didn't expect their resilience as their Captain rescued her before retreating so I broke out a new weapon and almost blew up a coastal town."
"That sounds a bit excessive." William noted as Rhya backed away and Jose walked out of the cell. "Why would you do that?"
"They had shown that they were too much of a nuisance so I wanted to eliminate them but one of their crew had a Devil Fruit that produced something strong enough to block the attack and they used that to press the counter attack." Jose said. "And an attack like that wasn't something that could be hidden so the Navy had to act. I still had the advantage before them but alas they are stronger than I'd expected and I was beaten by their captain while my senior officers were also beaten. In fact two of my senior officers, who were also my only Logia and Mythical Zoan user respectively, defected to them in the chaos of the aftermath while me and the others were arrested."
"I see so you want revenge." Rhya said as he unlocked Jose's shackles while the man was talking. "Just like we do with the Black Bull Pirates."
"Very much." Jose said with a grin. "You scratch my back with my problem and I'll scratch yours."
"We'll discuss an alliance once we've got our subordinates and are well clear of Impel Down." Patry said as they began to head back to the ramp. "But it is a good idea as these rookies are annoyingly strong."
"If it's an alliance that you want to form then this woman may be of help to us." Kai said as they rounded a corner and came up to the spiral ramp as it was closer to the three recently freed men than it had been for Patry. "I think I recognize her; I'm just surprised that she's here."
That did get their attention and the four men approached the cell, the one right next to where Shiryu had been housed and looked inside. Inside, sitting on a stone bench with her arms fully encased in sea prism stone from hand to shoulder similar to Kau's was a single prisoner who was clearly female based on her frame and the swell of her breasts that the bands between the cuffs accentuated. However, they couldn't see her face as she was sitting with her back to the wall and the depth of the cell, combined with the available light, ensured that her head and shoulders where hidden in the shadows of the cell.
Whoever she was, she was someone who the World Government clearly didn't want going anywhere as in addition to the extensive arm restraints there were two chains ran from the wall and connected to one around her waist and two more were connected to cuffs around her ankles. She clearly wasn't bothered by them, however, as she opened her eyes and looked up at them newcomers, the action brining attention to them and the light enough to show that they were purple eyes and seemed hollow as if she'd seen more in a lifetime than many would in 10 and that wasn't far off.
"Well, who is this pretty lady." Rhya said judging her looks based on her eyes as he smiled at her, a smile that even from the shadows the others could tell wasn't returned. "I wasn't aware that any were down here. How about you lean forward so we can see who you are."
"Fine but only because I have a feeling that you might be my ticket out of this place and that's a ticket you have to take." The woman said in an educated voice that held no emotion. "How's this? I'm sure former Warlords, or lackies of them, like yourselves know who I am."
With that the woman leant forward into the light so that they could all see her face. What they saw was an attractive woman in her mid to late 30s with purple hair shot with pink streaks that was cut in a choppy bob but for a pair of longer, slightly wavy, strands that framing her face. The moment her face and more specifically her hair was visible and Jose recognized her right away while Kai had his suspicions confirmed. Patry and Rhya did not, however.
"It would seem that the two women who appear to be locked up down here are truly worthy of this place." Jose said a hint of surprise in his voice. "One we all knew about as she's considered the most dangerous female pirate ever locked up here, Crescent Moon Hunter Catarina Devon. The other it would appear is none other than the best sniper in history, Tsutsumi Kaina aka Lady Nagant. All the Warlords know about her, at least when I joined them they 8 years ago did, as it's made clear to us that if we need to be silenced then Lady Nagant will come and get us. Now what is she doing here, I thought she was killed in the line of duty. Can't tell you how much of a weight off that was when I heard it."
"Line of duty?" William asked looking at the woman who was expressionless as she stared at them. "So she's a marine?"
"A former Vice-Admiral in fact and the personal assassin of the Navy and the World Government." Jose said. "She's better than any known sniper and that was before she ate the Rifle-Rifle Fruit and gained its powers. Kaina was once the blackest of black ops operatives, even more so than CP9 as she wasn't publicly acknowledged as an assassin. Many criminals and pirates simply vanished because of her. Even personal assassin groups for the World Government like the Elite 7 and the Group of Terror weren't as dangerous as Lady Nagant though those were slave children forced into the role so what can you expect from them."
"So how did you end up here?" Patry asked directly addressing the woman that they were casually talking about who seemed to not be bothered by that as she watched them. "It sounds like you were a loyal marine but that clearly changed."
"I was a loyal marine once but after spilling so much blood in the name of Absolute Justice I started to see the World Government and the Navy for what they really are, an evil façade lulling the world into thinking it was safe and protected." Kaina said her voice still a near monotone with an underlying note of hatred towards what she was talking about. "That was what I was sold minus the evil part and I was good at my job but, well, kill enough people and it affects you."
"Not really." Patry said. "Well if they're humans that is."
"I don't see an issue with death." Jose added.
"Of course you wouldn't you're in Level 6 after all." Kaina said. "For a while I was like that as well especially because in a lot of cases I did the right thing but over time cracks started to show in their façade and the abuses of power became more and more brazen. Then, when a Celestial Dragon who was involved in the assassination squads of the World Government and effectively ran it, made me an offer of either becoming his slave, wife and personal assassin or kill off some people who'd upset him I snaped and shot him in the head. I blew it off and then just sat there waiting for an Admiral to come and arrest me, which Guresai did. That was about 4 or 5 years ago I think."
"Woah yeah no wonder you're here." William said. "No one kills a Celestial Dragon. Just to strike one is enough to get an Admiral called in but to kill one, that's something else."
"Well I did kill one and will again if you let me out." Kaina said simply. "And any Navy officers who abuse their power. What's a little more blood for my blood soaked hands, it's not like I'll ever be able to wash it off anyway. Their one kindness was not executing me or publishing my crime, they just sent me here to be forgotten about and lied about my death."
"And now we can help remind the world of you." Patry said as he extended a hand through the bars. "If you join our budding alliance I'll even make sure you get a ship and can form your own crew to do as you please, so long as you aid us when we need it and of course we'll aid you in return. All I ask is that you let my associate touch your forehead to copy your power."
"So long as you understand what my priority is when I get out and that I will recruit any prisoners on the upper levels who I feel like and agree with me then you have a deal." Kaina said. "Oh and one more thing, I no longer use my name. Vice Admiral Tsutsumi Kaina died the day she realized the truth of the world. From now on I am only Lady Nagant, understand. That was who the Navy and World Government turned me into so that is who I will be."
"Perfectly." Patry said as he brought back his hand and Kai touched the bars and they burst apart and he and Rhya walked in with the keys already out. "Welcome to the Vengeance Alliance."
"Is that what we're calling ourselves?" Jose asked looking at Patry. "I don't mind but I'm reforming the Phantom Lord Pirates right now starting with my officers who are in Impel Down and adding any grunts who want to join me."
"As I am with the Elf Pirates but we need a name for our little group and while we can debate it later I figured that as we all want vengeance of some kind that the Vengeance Alliance makes sense." Patry said as Rhya touched Nagant's forehead and copied her Devil Fruit powers, they'd be damned useful but he'd have to practice his marksmanship now, before he backed up and began unlocking her restraints careful to avoid touching the sea prism stone himself. "It is a pirate alliance after all."
"I don't care about the name." Kai said. "I'll repay you for freeing me Patry as it's your man who made it possible and I'll join your alliance once the details are worked out but beyond that I have my own agenda."
"As do I." Nagant said as the restraints fell off and she got up as Rhya backed out of the cell. "But I understand how it is and will aid where need be. Looks like it's time to truly switch sides and become a pirate but what to call my crew? Nagant Pirates doesn't work, it doesn't sound right."
"It is a bit obscure." Rhya noted as Nagant exited the cell while William already had his own crew's name in mind. "And the World Government will know right away."
"I don't particularly care about the World Government but I suppose a low profile for a bit is a good idea." Nagant said as she pondered for a moment before the perfect name hit her. "Rifle Pirates, that's what I'll call my crew."
"A fitting name given your power and talents." Patry said as he looked around. "And now with a group like this and the support we have in Impel Down waiting for us how can we not break out. Let's go."
For a moment they were all standing there at the base of the artificial ramp with Patry in the middle flanked by William and Jose to one side and Kai and Rhya to the other with Nagant just next to Rhya. 6 powerful individuals, 5 men and a woman, 5 pirates and a lethal former Navy sniper, and 5 so notorious they were kept on Level 6 of Impel Down. It was a formidable group for sure just like the one that Straw Hat had formed down here less than an hour prior.
Now they were all out of their cells and quickly they headed up the ramp to the top and to the warren that existed between the levels to get some supplies and then make their way out to true freedom. As the last of them, Lady Nagant, stepped off it, Kai crouched down and placed his right hand on the spiral and destroyed the ramp before reforming what he'd touched into a barrier over the hole in ceiling sealing off any other escape and protecting this area. No one else would get out this way and with that they continued with their breakout and all that it would entail for Impel Down.
These weren't the only ones to leave Level 6 before the Warlord Blackbeard reached it. There was one more, a tall, strong man with wavy black hair but for a 5 strand teal quaff who'd been held in a dark corner of Level 6 in a special time seal and hidden by a cloth that blended into the darkness to prevent the light of the blue seal being seen by the other inmates.
Because of this no one, not even the guards, had realized that the seal had been weakened when its creator had been briefly killed a few months back and that the man inside had spent that time quietly working to break it and access his own power. Finally he'd managed it today thanks to the chaos giving him the cover to really work on it until he was finally free of his seal.
As he was freed, a grin formed on the lips of the former King of the Clover Kingdom, Leto Conrad, and he landed on the ground of his cell just as Rhya and those he'd freed left and a door appeared before him. Thanks to the time seal he'd not been in sea prism cuffs cutting him off from his Devil Fruit so he just opened the door, a stary space beyond, and stepped through it vanishing from Impel Down and freeing himself in seconds.
Naturally he'd need time, a few years at least, to get what he needed and recruit a few specific individuals but he was back and soon his own vengeance would come. With Conrad's sudden escape the number of successful escapees that day rose to 241 and that number was only going to climb as the budding Vengeance Alliance began to make its way up through the levels of Impel Down.
I think that's a nice little ending what with the new alliance planting its seeds and preparing for the long trek out of Impel Down and all that it will entail because this is just the tip of the iceberg for this arc. There's a lot to unpack here but suffice it to say that the first alliance from new characters and series in this story has laid its foundations and it is a bad one comprised of villains from all series. As y'all can tell, this shows who the other 3 new Warlords were along with Torchwick that were defeated by their respective series characters in similar canon ways, albeit slightly out of sync to fit the needs of this story with the Hassaikai being a fair bit earlier than expected and Chisaki not getting mutilated. In addition, the second (and probably final) of the new races added has shown up with the elves so Patry, Rhya, and Vetto will be elves throughout and their stories altered accordingly with some liberties taken based off common folklore around elves such as long lives. For new species, so long as 1 – they are a canon species in one of the other series, and 2 – either do not have a canon equivalent in One Piece (Black Clover dwarves and Fairy Tail giants) or are not of another world (Black Clover devils) then they are fair game. Also I couldn't resist this little tease at the end for y'all to enjoy. While I still don't have a good name for Conrad's Devil Fruit I do intend for him to play some role eventually but it will take time as he just busted out and needs to sort things out so it will be a while before we see him again. Other than that the only thing to add about this chapter is William being in Impel Down. The reason for this is because while I understand the reason for it, him getting off with almost no consequences for betraying the Clover Kingdom (other than it's implied that he can never become the Wizard King) was always one of the things about Black Clover that annoyed me. As such for this and any other deeper crossover that I do with Black Clover characters I will change this so that William faces consequences for his actions as is the case now but he will have a role to play in this story in time. Lastly, for those confused regarding the name of Vetto's Devil Fruit, think of it kind of like Chopper's in a way. Chopper has the Human-Human Fruit, which is a standard Zoan while Luffy, Sengoku, and Onimaru have Mythical Zoan Human-Human Fruits so in the same kinda vein Vetto has the Beast-Beast Fruit which is a standard Zoan albeit an odd one while Tatsumi has the Beast-Beast, model: Tyrant which is a Mythical Zoan. Coincidentally and unrelated, Vetto shares an English VA with Baron Tamago who ate the Egg-Egg Fruit which was unplanned. That is all that I have for you for this long post chapter note as there has been a lot to unpack so I will leave it off here and continue the escape in the next chapter. If you liked this please favorite, follow, leave a review, or let me know in a PM and if there are any questions will posed in reviews and PMs I will try to answer them as best I can. Until next time.
Stringdog