Here is the fifteenth chapter in this story released in accordance with my upload schedule for this story. Level 3 is now behind the second wave and they are heading to Level 2 where the mass breakout really kicked off earlier. However, the subordinates they have there weren't affected by this so it's time to get them and make their way through the poison drenched floor as they get one step closer to freedom and perhaps recruit a few new faces as well. Who might they be and which crew will they join? Well it's time to find that out and more as that is all that I have for the administrative stuff I have for y'all and while there are no questions that can be answered there is a guest review that needs a response 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), I figured that it was you but thanks for clearing it up and thank you for your reviews and suggestions, as always they are insightful and helpful and I will address them now. In terms of David Shield, it's interesting but it has to work with what I've already revealed about him back in chapter 9 when Melissa was reflecting on how she ended up on Izuku's crew and work around that. Certainly the later part works as he is currently working for the Navy who picked him up so the idea that he is on Egghead with Vegapunk works out well right now and for more reasons than you'd think. That is workable and the MADS angle works as well; it actually plays pretty well into what I have already worked on and I've added notes for it to my overall outline which will be addressed more come Egghead. As for Junior, that's a really good idea for him to be there and running his bar, after all the mercenaries and members of Buggy's crew need a good place to drink and spend their hard earned berry and the connections Junior has, especially with old Torchwick still out there, will be of service to Buggy. Plus it's a safe bet that some crazy blonde chick won't blow up his bar this time around. I can definitely see Junior falling for Buggy's lies and thinking that Buggy is strong because of his ties to Roger, Shanks, Luffy, and the whole leading the first breakout and not seeing through Buggy's skillful ability to bullshit and fail his way to the top, though his father would never have been so blind. Similarly the Malachite Sisters would see Buggy in a similar way to Alvida and there is a use for them being there. How much we actually see of this, and Junior's eventual relocation to Cross Guild when the time comes, remains to be seen but there may be a few sightings if it works. You will have to wait and see who Nagant gets from Fairy Tail as she still needs one form that series and one from Akame ga Kill. Ikaruga is certainly a possibility but a lot of what I end up doing with her will hinge on which version I go for as in the manga she dies in the Tower of Heavan but due to censorship she survives in the anime only to be revealed as dead during the final season. If she were to join Nagant's crew then that would just be her personal jolly roger similar to how Chopper had his own before joining Luffy's while still sailing under Nagant's jolly roger and that of the Rifle Pirates, which I've already designed. In terms of Shiki, that isn't a bad idea and certainly worth considering though there are some slight issues with it that I can't mention yet due to spoilers. Some of it does work, there's no question there, as Shiki's escape and All for One's capture occur several years apart so them meeting up and forming some kind of alliance, at least the kind that All for One could form, works and All for One is a man who'll work with anyone who can serve his own goals. As Strong World occurred before the events of this story and Shiki is actually canon, I don't have a problem with changing that so that it didn't happen at all (and with One Piece films they really are outside the canon as Gold, Stampede, and Red physically can't happen in the timeline) so there's no issue changing things up and having him run into the Might Pirates and trying to kidnap Ochaco and Koda, could even help Izuku realize his feeling for Ochaco, so a lot works there. However, there will be some editing if I go through with this due to my already established plans for Shigaraki so hold off with it until Shigaraki is finally mentioned, which will be before the start of the time skip, and then revisit to see what works. There is potential and it could play into what I have planned for the Might Pirates during their New World adventures, and add an arc there, but it needs to fit around what is going on with Shigaraki. Do keep reading and enjoying my works.
Anyway, that is enough for this long pre-chapter note so sit back and enjoy the fifteenth chapter in The Ultimate Worst Generation.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these great franchises.
Chapter 15: Wild Beast Breakout
"This is rather unexpected boss." Mimic said as he reached Level 2 and emerged from the floor after he opened up the floor around the poison puddles to get it out of the way and just as Kai reached the destruction that was left in the entrance to the floor and further destroyed it so that it was now just dust. "The area seemed to be, er, clear but for the poison."
"There were cleared areas on the other levels." Kai said as he stepped out and looked down the straight central path of Level 2 and noted all the open cells on the various levels along with copious amounts of poison and the occasional body of a prisoner who'd failed to avoid Magellan's power. "But they were freeing other inmates on their way out, right?"
"They were." Rhya confirmed as he, Patry, William and Gueldre made it to Level 2 ahead of the pack of trailing prisoners that were now using Kai's stairs to reach the penultimate level of Impel Down. "But this is more than expected especially if they had Magellan on their heels which the poison would imply they did."
"Either they had more time here before encountering Magellan, which could explain the lack of more bodies, or there was someone ahead of them who freed everyone in the central communal cells." Patry said. "But that actually works for us as our allies weren't held in them. This was for the more generic Level 2 inmates while our subordinates were kept in harder to reach cells likely due to their association with us."
"Don't forget that there's a designated woman's wing off to one of the sides and away from the rest of the inmates so that area is almost certainly untouched." Jose said as he reached the now milling group. "That's where they've got Sue according to the prisoner manifest."
"It's the same for Catherine." Patry admitted as he looked around the area thinking on how best to get his junior officers. "She's here as are Fluss and Geork. I'll go with Rades and Valtos to get the men. Rhya, you and Vetto lead the way through the main part of Level 2 and use Sally's gel to reach the next set of stairs and hold there. Sally, you head with Nagant to the female block and get Catherine."
"I only had men on my crew and two of the remaining 5 are being held on this level." Kai said as he began to walk off down a side corridor to where the more notorious Level 2 prisoners were held in smaller cells but who weren't bad enough for Level 3 so were kept away from the larger cells and received more torture than most on Level 2. "Mimic, you go on ahead and help clear the path for us, Chrono, follow in his wake with Kendo, Deidoro, and Shin."
"As you order Kai." Chrono said as Mimic merged into the floor and set to work before being shortly followed by Rhya and Vetto with the former turning his arms to gel and blasting it out to help clear away the poison. "We'll be waiting for you at the stairs up."
"I'll get Boze, Sol you go get Sue." Jose said as he too began to walk off after Kai. "Aria, Totomaru, use your Devil Fruits to help clear the path."
"Captain." They all said in unison and broke apart.
"Looks like you lot are already sorted." Nagant said as she reached the group a moment later just as Aria and Totomaru began assisting in clearing a path through the poison. "I'm going to head to the woman's wing, Dazu and Robyn have friends there that need to be freed and I may find another good recruit or two there. I'll see you at the exit to Level 1. Ladies, on me."
"Right." Patry said with a nod. "Then move out!"
At that the real effort began and they all started to run towards where they had to go with the general escapees just following behind the various Devil Fruit users clearing the path to Level 1. As the woman's wing was the farthest away that would take the most time and those heading there were running fast, or as fast as they could in Olive's case, for it, so the others reached their target cells faster.
That said it still took a good few minutes to get to them as Level 2, while smaller in terms of overall size when compared to the lower levels, utilized more of the space it had in the air to stack the cells all the way up to the ceiling. This was because there were no forced environmental factors here so rather than be a spread out nightmare with either a singular cluster of cells as was the case in Level 3 or spread out like Levels 4 and 5, the cells on Level 2 were everywhere.
The layout therefore allowed for various areas of specialty within the Wild Beast Hell such as solitary, smaller communal cells, the woman's wing, and torture spots. To add to it, with no uniform layout to Level 2 it was a maze of corridors, stairs, towers, and blocks used to house the multitude of average criminals sent to be tortured by Wild Beasts until they died. All this meant that it was a pain to search.
Thankfully, they had the manifest and thus knew where their comrades were on this level. The first to reach said comrades and break off from the group going after the male subordinates was Patry as Geork and Fluss were held in the same cell on a second tier of cells way off in a block that was away from the various riots that had occurred on the level. As such he quickly made his way there while Kai and Jose continued up to a higher tier that housed their respective crew members.
Even then it was a bit of trek as Patry had to ascend a story to the second tier of cells, which meant finding the right set of stairs for that, and then run along a row of cells filled with inmates who'd not been freed during the riots. This had meant that they had been spared being poisoned by Magellan first when he'd quelled the riot on this level and later during his recent pursuit of the escapees following his brief tussle with Ivankov. However, they would all now be freed thanks to Patry and add to the numbers of the second breakout wave.
Patry wasn't a big fan of doing this but he, Rhya, and Vetto would need grunts to fill out the crew and the more manpower the better so Patry created blades of light as he ran and slammed them through the keyholes to unlock the doors as he made his way to the end of line of cells where Geork and Fluss were held. At least he was a good way through Level 2 at this point so it wouldn't take long to reach the stairs to Level 1 from here and he'd be able to reach them without hitting any poison due to the layout of Level 2.
"Hey, buddy, who are you?" One inmate called out as he walked out of the most recent cell that Patry had broken open, his wrists still manacled, and called out to the elf while the others who'd been freed exited and looked at Patry as well.
"I'm the guy who freed you so remember that when we all get out of here." Patry said as he turned to look down the path and saw many freed inmates now staring at him with a mix of shock, confusion, and wonder. "I'm Patry, Captain of the Elf Pirates and if you wish to join my reformed crew then I'll take your fealty pledges once we're out of here. For now head to the stairs to Level 1, my officers Rhya and Vetto are there. Get them to unlock your bonds and join the mass breakout. Also, if any of you have Devil Fruit Powers, seek out Rhya."
"You got it man." The same inmate said as others muttered. "I'd heard of you lot back when I was running a small crew. Y'all were vicious bastards just the way I like it so I'm with you. We got overlocked in the riots earlier so we didn't get to break out with them."
"Yeah we're your men now." Another said as the freed inmates began to run to a set of stairs down. "We won't forget this."
Patry just ignored that as he turned back and walked to the final cell as the newly freed inmates did as Patry had instructed. To him they were nothing but human trash and while he hated humans they did have some use and these hardened men would make great cannon fodder for the reborn Elf Pirates. Of course not all humans were created equal and it was time to see two such humans, both of whom had heard Patry and made one of them had made his way to the bars of their cell so that he was already waiting for Patry when he reached the cell.
"Patry, is that you?"
The man who asked the question had a calm voice as he stood at the bars right by the door and Patry smiled at him recognizing the man right away. It wasn't hard, his long blond hair had an asymmetric cut to it that flopped over the right side of his face and he had a long, ragged, scar running from his hairline to jaw on the left side of his face that covered most of his cheek and went over his eye as well. The man was one of the most loyal underlings to Patry, a junior officer called Geork who usually led the junior officers other than Valtos, Rades, and Sally as that trio had special rolls on the crew.
"Well this is a pleasant surprise, not that I doubted your ability to break out of this place Master."
The other man who spoke hadn't gotten up until Patry had reached the cell but now did and walked up to the bars to stand by Geork. He was a light skinned generic looking guy but Patry instantly recognized Fluss, another junior officer and the most slippery of his men. He'd been the deputy to Heath in the recon squad that had been sent out to learn more about the current state of the Clover Kingdom and get supplies while wiping out a village for good measure. That had failed as only one person, the village chief, had died and Fluss had been their only survivor when Heath's squad had been defeated.
Thankfully, Heath had killed himself and two other crewmembers with his Devil Fruit power before he could be forced to divulge Patry's plans while Fluss had used the distraction to escape and report back to Patry what had happened. That had gotten Fluss promoted to junior offer and assigned as an intel specialist for the crew. His generic, unassuming look helped a lot there.
"Geork, Fluss, good to see you." Patry said with the usual smile he gave his junior officers as he pulled out a set of normal keys and unlocked the door next to Geork and both men quickly filed out. "Let's get those manacles off you."
"How is this possible?" Geork said surprise still in his voice as he walked up to Patry and held out his arms so that Patry could unlock his shackles which were standard iron ones as neither Geork nor Fluss were Devil Fruit users. "I know you're strong and amazing Captain but even you have limits."
"Alas I can't take the credit for this." Patry said as he unlocked the shackles before moving to Fluss's. "For I too was locked in Impel Down and right at the bottom of this shithole where the worst of the worst are left to rot. It was the actions of Straw Hat Luffy that have allowed me to escape. Perhaps if I ever meet him I'll thank him, we do owe him and his crew a favor for this."
"It's not just him we'll owe." Fluss said as Patry unlocked his shackles and they clattered to the ground with a clang. "This whole riot that no doubt helped Straw Hat's escape, presuming he has managed that by now, was orchestrated by Captain Buggy, twice."
"Buggy?" Patry asked not familiar with the name. "Who the hell is that?"
"Not sure, he was an inmate locked up on Level 1 but he got out of his cell because no one realized he had a Devil Fruit power which is a massive oversight as clearly it's a power that makes him hard to contain using conventional means." Fluss said as Patry tossed the keys into the cell and turned to head way with Geork and Fluss flanking him as they left the cell behind with the other prisoners freeing themselves and pledging loyalty to Patry for this though Patry would wait until they were free and Rhya was with him to accept any of new grunts. "He ended up teaming up with Straw Hat Luffy, I think their friends from before Buggy came to Impel Down, and causing the breakout. He's, er, odd."
"Odd?" Patry asked. "We faced the Black Bull Pirates and they redefine that word."
"We heard the guards talking about Buggy as they ran past to try and stop the riot." Geork said. "He's known as Buggy the Clown and he comes off as a moron but he's strong, resourceful, and was able to convince the inmates on this level to join him in his breakout."
"Sounds like someone with a devious mind." Patry said completely unaware of the fact that Buggy was, in fact, an idiot but extremely gifted at bullshitting his way out of situations he ended up in and coming out on top for the most part no matter how hard he failed in the process of doing so. "And if he had a Devil Fruit power that wasn't known about then he knows how to keep a low profile."
"Clearly and I guess we kinda owe him as well." Fluss said. "He's going to have a massive crew if he breaks out so potentially a useful ally to have."
"If he aided Straw Hat then they're likely friends and allies." Patry said thinking on it. "So we'll send a message to him to ascertain what he's like once we're free and clear and decide our next moves. First though we're breaking out and forming an alliance with a few other crews who want vengeance for their own reasons. This will be one that will rock the world."
"We're with you to the end Captain." Geork said. "We'll never betray you."
"I know you are." Patry said with a smile at the blind loyalty Geork had for him. "Now let's go. Rhya, Vetto, Rades, and Valtos should be waiting at the stairs to Level 1 and Sally is getting Catherine. There are a few more junior officers in Impel Down, the rest are either dead, in prison elsewhere, or free in the case of Fana, so we need to get them as we rebuild."
Floss and Geork nodded at that as they began to hurry. The Elf Pirates had their male allies from this floor but they needed Catherine as well and the others had to get their own allies. Thankfully between Luffy's break in and breakout, Blackbeard's break in, and the additional chaos caused by Muscular and Moonfish, who were at this point on Level 1 fighting the Demon Guards, things were going smoothly for their little breakout.
"Well boys, it's time to break out and remind the world why you can't take down the Yakuza."
Kai was the next of the breakout leaders to reach his crew members as he'd broken off from Jose a little ways after Patry had gone off and climbed to the third story of cells with his Devil Fruit and was now looking at the middle of the three cells that were facing one of the wide paths through the level. This was a decent sized communal cell with 15 people in it but he only really cared about 2 of the men in it.
He was glad that both were in one cell as it would have been a tremendous pain in the ass to get them out from multiple cells in the labyrinth that was Level 2, especially if they were in different areas. Thankfully, the guards in Impel Down had gotten lazy with intake and so when members of the same crew came in together and they weren't going to a level below the second one they were just dumped in the same cell.
The only real differentiating factor for those sent to Level 2 was the location of the cell it seemed and that was based on their incoming bounty and their affiliation. As Hassaikai Pirates serving under a now disgraced Warlord these two were more notorious than most on Level 2 so they were placed on one of the out of the way cells which was why they'd not gotten caught up in the escape so far.
That was fine with Kai as he looked into the cell and quickly identified his subordinates. One was a blond man with his hair parted to the left so as to obscure his right eye though his left eye was visible showing that he had golden, small, irises. His brows eyebrows were thin and his mouth wide though it was turned down in a resigned frown as he sat off to the side of the cell, hands on his knees and sea prism stone manacles on his wrists.
This was Setsuno Toya, one of the 8 Bullets and part of a three man team within the 8 Bullets that were as close as brothers so they always had each other's back and were a force to deal with. However, as Toya was the only Devil Fruit user of the team, he'd eaten the Thief-Thief Fruit, he'd been sent to Level 2 because of the Devil Fruit whereas the three non-Devil Fruit users hadn't made it past Level 1. Well, 3 of the 4 as the other man that Kai knew in the cell also didn't have a Devil Fruit but he was, well, powerful without it.
That was because he was Katsukame Rikiya and he was an absolute mountain of a man who towered over the average human and was made of pure muscle. He was impossibly strong without a Devil Fruit, though he'd yet to master Haki which did limit him a bit, and was the enforcer of the crew though both Kai and Kendo could take him down with their Devil Fruit powers.
However, Rikiya's raw strength was so great that despite not having Devil Fruit powers that he'd been put in sea prism stone shackles that hung from his wrists as he sat in the center of the cell at the back head down. After all, they were the only thing tough enough to hold him as he'd have shattered a standard iron or steel chain.
Well, his and Toya's heads had been down until Kai spoke and both looked up at that to see him standing there. Surprise and hope filled their eyes and Kai was pleased to see it. Kai personally selected the 8 Bullets because he saw their potential and that had led to a strong loyalty in them, a loyalty that was only directed at him. It was necessary given what had to be done to reform the Yakuza and take the Hassaikai Pirates to a new level even if the old guard grumbled at it. Kai didn't care, he needed loyal men and he was pleased to see that that loyalty still existed.
"Boss? Is that you?" Toya asked as the rest of the cell looked on in amazement at the arrival of a man several knew as the former Warlord Chisaki Kai aka Overhaul. "What are you doing here?"
"We thought you'd been executed." Rikiya said in his low voice and Kai was glad that the big man seemed to forget that he'd recombined Rikiya's body with his own during his final fight with Midoriya Izuku only for it to be restored thanks to that girl's Rewind-Rewind powers when he'd tried to recapture her right before he passed out. "You know, for what you did."
"No, I'm too dangerous to execute apparently so they just stripped me of my Warlord status without giving details of what I did and then buried me in Level 6 but thanks to one of Patry's men and Straw Hat Luffy I'm free." Kai said as he tossed the keys into the cell and placed his hand on the bars to destroy them and reforge them into several weapons of various kinds. "So you two with me once again? We've got to make it up to the old man and reestablish the Yakuza's power."
"Yeah boss we're in." Toya said as one of the prisoners leapt on the keys and freed himself before he began to free the others in the cell causing a happy chatter amongst them that Kai and his subordinates ignored. "You can count on us."
"Yeah even if that clown had freed us we'd found a place to hide out in the chaos and then gone to find the other Bullets and see if you were here or not as we'd have ample time with all the guards taken care of." Rikiya said. "And maybe find a woman or two as it has been a while."
"You would have." Toya said. "I would have just gotten the keys and weapons we'd need though that clown and his wax friend took a lot of them when they freed the prisoners in the main area of this Level."
"Clown?" Kai asked confused as one of the prisoners freed Rikiya and then moved to Toya. "Literal or metaphorical?"
"Long story that can wait but he's both it seems." Toya said which didn't answer Kai's question at all. "First tell us about the others. Where are they? I know that some were held below us so are they free?"
"All but Yu, Soramitsu, and Hekiji are free, we got them on the other levels as we ascended." Kai sad as Toya's shackles were freed and he grinned showing straight, white, teeth at the restoration of his power while flexing his fingers clearly itching to use his Devil Fruit to steal things again. "Chrono was on Level 5, Mimic and Kendo Level 4, and Shin and Deidoro on Level 3. They're waiting for us at the stairs to Level 1 where we'll get the others as I'm sure they're in a similarly far off cell to you lot."
"Yeah most new inmates that don't merit Level 3 or higher just get dumped in the nearest available cell that fits their bounty." Toya said. "So they're definitely together. Man I can't wait to see Yu and Soramitsu again, I thought I never would given that I was sent to the level below them."
"Hey man what about us?" The prisoner who'd grabbed the keys and freed the others asked looking at Kai and interrupting the chatter. "You freed us so can we join up with you? We do owe you for this."
"Yeah the cell boss here is Rikiya so we know all about you, the Yakuza, and the Hassaikai Pirates." Another said. "We'd serve you well Captain Kai. You can have access to all our contacts on the outside that we can find, anything for this freedom."
"If you wish to serve me then call me Overhaul or boss." Kai said not really caring what they did and just wanting the grunts to leave him alone though he'd take any cannon fodder that wanted to join him as loyal manpower would come in handy as he and his officers rebuilt the Yakuza. "But if you want an order, free the other two cells that are near here and then go to the stairs. Once there you'll meet the others of this mass breakout and when we're all free and clear you can decide your own fates."
"You got it boss." The man said as he took two keys off and tossed them to one of the others with him. "You heard him boys, let's free the others and get out of here. We're Yakuza members now."
There was a cheer from the others who'd all seemingly decided to follow Kai but he ignored it as they rushed out and to the sides preaching about who'd freed them to the prisoners there and in turn freeing them as well. Thankfully, Toya and Rikiya were sensible and just walked forward to stand on either side of Kai as he knelt down and placed his palm on the ground.
The moment he part of the walkway around them broke off and fell down as he destroyed and reformed the stone into a crude elevator of sorts to get them to the ground as fast as possible before standing up leaving the prisoners to find their own way to the exit. As Kai headed off with his two freed Bullets he asked about the clown again.
"Well his name is Buggy and he's a pirate captain." Toya said as they walked. "And get this, he's…"
Jose had to go a bit further than the other two, all the way to a dead end in a top corner of Level 2, to find his male executive that was being held on this level. It was a little frustrating to do so but Jose needed all the loyal crew members he could get if he was to execute his justified vengeance on Fairy Tail and the traitors who joined them and the only ones he could trust were the ones who'd come to Impel Down with him. That was a short list and so he was making the effort to get to this corner as fast as possible.
It helped that one of the additional prisoners that they had to breakout, some odd guy called Mustard who might have important contacts they could use, was in the same cell as Boze which was one of two 15 man communal cells in this forgotten corner. Jose didn't know why they were here, the cells or the prisoners, and frankly he didn't care as he, with the aid of his phantoms as he could use them to carry him faster than he could run or climb, he was soon entering the dead end. He placed two phantoms as guards at the end and walked down it before turning to face the cell on the left.
"This was a pain to find Boze." Jose said as he looked into the cell and quickly saw the bald, dark skinned, man who had somehow managed to keep the pair of purple shades that he always wore over his eyes despite the rest of his cloths being the standard prison uniform sitting at the back of the cell a set of normal shackles on his wrists. "But I'm not leaving those who remained loyal to me behind. Let's get you out of here."
"Captain?" Boze said looking up in surprise at Jose's voice as the others in the cell glanced over to Jose as well. "That you? Man is this a surprise, I never thought that I'd see you again."
"I was just waiting for the right moment to come my way and it did thanks to some rookie called Straw Hat." Jose said as he glanced around the cell and caught the glint of sea prism stone cuffs on a skinny young man with short, wavey, light brown hair and tan skin who was staring blankly at the floor as he sat in the corner. "We're riding the coattails of that thanks to a guy called Rhya who is one of Patry's senior officers. Thankfully, we've already paid that debt so I don't owe Patry shit but he's a useful partner to have."
"That's good, we heard the situation here earlier but were too far away to be freed by it." Boze said as he got up and approached the bars. "But that's for the best now that you're here as Magellan was around and I'd rather not see what touching his poison is like. So what's the plan Captain?"
"We're breaking out of here and forming an alliance with the Elf, Hassaikai, and Rifle Pirates at least, probably more." Jose said as he inserted the key into the lock and turned it to open the door while Boze processed that and wondered who the hell the Rifle Pirates were. "Our goal is mutual vengeance on those who wronged us. We'll pay Fairy Tail back for this as well as executing those two traitors though I'd like to find a way to get their Devil Fruits before we kill them but I doubt that that's possible. A shame given their powers but oh well a man can hope."
"Traitors?" Boze asked his confusion, and question about, the Rifle Pirates gone at that. "I, er, was defeated early on so I didn't notice that anyone had left the crew."
"Right you don't know." Jose said as Boze walked out while the others but for the wavey haired man got up and began to try to get out but Jose created a phantom to block them for the moment. "Juvia and Gajeel betrayed us after they were defeated by Gray and Natsu, respectively. Rather than let themselves get locked up in Impel Down they defected to the Fairy Tail Pirates and fled with them."
"Gajeel did that?" Boze asked as Jose unlocked his shackles and he rubbed his wrists as they clattered to the floor. "I didn't expect that from him. I didn't know Juvia that well so I can't say about her, she was rather hard to get to know."
"Neither did I, and it's the same for Juvia but they will pay." Jose said darkness creeping into his voice. "But for now we need to get out of Impel Down and get our strength back."
"Hey buddy what about us?" One of the other prisoners asked which was good timing as said strength would partly be a massive amount of disposable grunts. "Can we come with you? We'll join your crew and be your friend."
"I don't need friends but I do need a crew to replenish what I lost as most were too weak to be sent here so you'll be an improvement on them." Jose said looking at the man. "I'll free you but only if if you swear fealty to the Phantom Lord Pirates. Bear in mind that I have access to two people who can detect lies and will check all new recruits when I'm free and able to do so. Any deception will be met with an instant and painful death."
"Hey man you free us and we're your men for life." Another said. "We ain't looking to die."
"Yeah you've got us on your crew now and we'll do whatever you ask." A third prisoner said. "Steal, maim, kill, whatever."
"We're with you to the end." A fourth add before jerking a thumb at the guy in the corner. "Well, except that guy. He's a strange one."
"That's fine, he's different anyway." Jose said as he passed the keys to the phantom who began to unlock the shackles on the other prisoners. "Same goes for the other cell here as the more crewmembers I have the better, providing they're loyal."
"You got it Captain." The first man said as he took a set of keys from Jose once he was free and went to free the other cell who'd also heard the deal and the men in it were more than willing to accept, and swear fealty to, Jose in exchange for freedom. "Come on boys, we're all Phantom Lord Pirates now."
Jose just ignored that as the others agreed and were freed. These were real run of the mill criminals with bounties of, at most 40 million, so nothing but grunts and cannon fodder to Jose but that was fine as all crews with any size and power needed them and he wasn't lying when he said they were stronger than his previous grunts so that was a boost. Besides, they were disposable so if they weren't loyal then Jose would deal with them accordingly.
The same could not be said for the final man who Jose looked at as he waited for the grunts to leave with Boze by his side. This man was actually of value to Jose and the other escapees and wouldn't swear fealty to any of them because of that so once it was just them he addressed the man.
"You go by Mustard, don't you?" Jose asked and the moment he said it a light seemed to form in the man's brown eyes and he turned to look at Jose surprise on his face that Jose knew his name. "I see that that's the case."
"Yeah I do." Mustard said. "And I recognize you as well, you're Porla Jose. Judging by your presence here and that of your crewmate who was in the same cell as me you're a former Warlord these days."
"Yes and you're from the New World but only merited Level 2." Jose said. "Which is a surprise given that your two comrades were on Level 5."
"I'm young and grew up there so I never established the reputation that others who came there, or spent years in it, did." Mustard said with a shrug. "But I was recruited by someone, a broker of sorts, to be part of a special squad that was sent to Paradise to execute special missions."
"That worked really well I can see." Jose said the sarcasm clear in his voice. "From what Kai told me, three of your number ended up here and he killed a fourth."
"We were tasked with going after the Might Pirates as they were deemed to be a strong crew with potential members to poach, and a few that were supposed to be killed before they could become a threat." Mustard said not caring that one of his comrades was apparently dead as it didn't bother him at all. "I was to incapacitate the weak ones with my Devil Fruit and then we'd take the strong ones and get out. As you can tell, we failed completely. Our heaviest hitter was taken out by their Captain which badly damaged our forces while another powerhouse was beaten by the combined work of his two mates. As for me, well I was unaware that the Create-Create Fruit was at play."
"The Create-Create Fruit?" Jose asked genially confused as he'd never heard of that Devil Fruit. "What's that?"
"It's a powerful Paramecia type that allows the user to create permanent, inorganic, items from their body." Mustard explained which did explain the name and intrigued Jose as if that was the case then it had to be in the top 1% of Paramecias. "My Devil Fruit allows me to create a special gas that can be used to knock people out, and if they breath too much kill them, but even I'm not immune to it. They were able to counter it with gasmasks. I still saw them coming as I can when I'm in my gas so I was able to shoot one of them off but he ate the Hard-Hard Fruit so he could resist bullets and he proceeded to knock me out while another one of them distracted me. The other 7 managed to escape."
"Well now it's your turn to bust out of here." Jose said. "We know about the other two, Muscular and Moonfish, and have freed them from Level 5 to clear the way but they're more one note kinda guys who only care for blood and violence it seems. You're not like that at all so we've got an offer for you. We'll free you and take you along and in exchange you put in a good word for us with whoever you know in the New World as we're no doubt going to head there soon enough so knowing some of the players there will help."
"I can do that though I actually don't know who my ultimate employer was, just the middle man and a few other contacts who do know." Mustard said as he got up and approached Jose. "I can't help right now without a gasmask, and I'll be dangerous to ally and foe alike, but I'll make the call once we're free and able to reach my contact with a strong enough snail."
"Works for us." Jose said as he nodded at his shadow who unlocked Mustard's shackles though he wasn't sure about the man's power limitation but this was a sign of good faith which they needed to show. "Let's go."
Mustard just nodded at that as he walked past Jose and Boze and out of the cell so that they ended up trailing behind him. That was fine with Boze as it allowed him to ask a question as they walked, not that he cared if Mustard heard it or not.
"What about the others who were caught?" Boze asked. "Where are they? I presume most are already free as I was a junior executive without a Devil Fruit power so they were bound to be deeper in this hellhole than me."
"Correct, Sol and Totomaru were on Level 4 and Aria on Level 5 so they are free now." Jose confirmed. "Only you and Sue were left and Sue is on this level as well. She'll be free in a moment."
"Good." Boze said. "Let's get out of here then."
Jose just smirked at that because that was becoming more and more likely as they made their way through Level 2 still facing no resistance to their breakout. All that was left for them was Sue and she'd be free soon and then it was Level 1, the exit and finally freedom.
The women's wing of Level 2 was located way off to one side of the level right at the edge of where the cells were with the special solitary, torture, and interrogation cells between it and the rest of the prison population while above it was quarters for the guards as part of the administrative aspect of Impel Down. Hell, just to get to the wing you had to pass through a barred door, which Sally destroyed with a massive, hardened fist of gel as she reached it, and got through a corridor that was used for the wild beast torture of the women there, and then burst through another door to the corridor that housed the women on Level 2.
The second door suffered the same fate as the first one as Sally broke through it and continued her gel fist to the far end where the door shattered against the wall while gel splattered all around it. It was certainly one hell of an entrance and the women locked up there, a total of 40, were quickly intrigued by what was happening right as Sally, Sol, Nagant, Dazu, Robyn and Olive burst into the cellblock.
The cellblock was the standard Level 2 affair with a single, wide, central path down the center and 4 communal cells on either side but with so few women being held here they'd staggered it so that only two on either side were filled and facing empty cells that were sometimes used by the more sadistic female guards, issues in the past banned male guards unless they were gay and female guards had to be straight, to torture the female prisoners while the others watched.
It was a useful setup both for the torture aspect and keeping the women away from the men. It was because of this, and it's location, that the cellblock been completely overlooked during the two riots and finally the escape from the floor that had been orchestrated by Buggy the Clown.
"Useful that they're all in one place." Nagant said as they came to a stop in front of the first pair of cells and glanced to the right hand one which was the one that was filled. "Any of these your crewmates?"
"Yeah mine's here." Sol said as he saw who he was looking for, his prompting the others to move along and he ignored them as walked up the bars. "Hello Sue, ready to get out of here?"
Inside the cell a woman with short, dark green, hair that just fell past her ears, light brown skin, and a green oval jewel set into her forehead blinked in surprise as she saw one of the four elemental executives, the senior executives of the crew, standing before her. Sue was one of the three junior executives alongside Gajeel and Boze and as such she'd ended up on this level after Phantom Lord's defeat and the stripping of Jose's Warlord status which caused them to be arrested. After that she'd never expected to see any of the crew again.
"Sol?" Sue asked amazed as he approached the lock and opened it. "How are you here?"
"Long story but ze short of it is zat zere was an attack on ze prison by a pirate called Straw Hat Luffy and we've gotten caught up in his wake." Sol said in his notable accent as Sue stepped out of the cell while the other women blinked but got ready to leave as well. "He penetrated all ze way to Level 6 to save Fire Fist Ace for some reason but failed and zen went after him leading a mass breakout it seems. One of ze monsieurs released from zat was a senior officer to Patry of ze Elf Pirates and from zat Jose was freed when Patry was. C'est un miracle."
"I see well I'm not one to complain about that." Sue said grinning as Totomaru unlocked her shackles and they clattered to the ground. "So the whole executive crew is back together then."
"Non, non, non." Sol said shaking his head the dismay clear in his voice. "Mademoiselle Juvia et Monsieur Gajeel 'ave betrayed us to join ze Fairy Tail Pirates. However, we're getting vengeance on Fairy Tail so we'll make zem pay as well."
"I see, that is unexpected and unfortunate." Sue said angry at the news but pushing it to the back of her mind. "Shall we go?"
"Oui, Jose will be waiting for us." Totomaru said as he tossed the keys he had into the cell with the girls in it. "'ere, you're welcome to join ze escape and decide what you want to do but don't forget zat ze Phantom Lord Pirates freed you."
Totomaru and Sue didn't wait for a response as they headed out while the other girls were freeing themselves. Sue was the only Phantom Lord Pirate there and the last of the lot to be freed, well joint last as Boze was being freed at the same time, so that was all that mattered while the others were broken out as well.
That was happening only a fraction behind Totomaru and Sue as the next occupied cell, the left hand one this time, housed who Sally was looking for. It wasn't hard as the woman in the cell sitting in a corner alone was clearly the oldest by a decade at least, which wasn't hard to achieve as she was 56, and had long gray hair in several tight curls and several wrinkles set into her skin.
"Hiya Catherine, ready for freedom." Sally said happily as she opened the cell by turning her right index finger into a gel key to unlock it before extending the transformation to her whole hand and shooting the gel out and grabbing Catherine as she looked up and blinked in shock at Sally's arrival. "It will take a while and several supplies to get that treatment for you but I'll have you looking decades younger in no time."
"Sally?" Catherine said her voice a little horse as Sally brought her to her and turned to leave the cell though she did drop some hard gel keys to free the other women. "What…"
"No time let's go." Sally said and as Sue's cell was freeing itself Sally bounded off behind Totomaru and Sue out of the wing still carrying Catherine in her gel with only Catherine's head visible. "I'll explain on the way. We need to get out first and you've not gotten your youth back yet."
"Right, yes I can't wait to be young again." Catherine said her extreme vanity returning in full force now that she actually had that chance again. "I never expected I'd get that."
Sally just chuckled as they left as well while the second cell of women was freed and followed in their wake. Another cell was sorted though it would take a few moments as there was a hold up at the third cell the moment that it was reached.
"Robyn?"
The question came from a slightly high pitched voice that was surprised at the sight of Robyn in the cellblock followed by a clank of chains as the speaker leapt up to the bars of the third cell, which like the first was on the right hand side as you entered the cellblock. The moment the voice was sounded Robyn came to a halt and smiled as she turned to the cell and looked in. As she did Nagant came to a stop forcing Dazu and Olive to do so as well as they looked into the cell.
The person who'd called out was a woman a few inches below average height and little younger than Robyn, early 20s if Nagant had to guess, with short, messy, white hair in a swept style with skin almost the same color. By contrast her eyes were a piercing olive green but what was most notable was that her ears, which flicked and caused a slight ding due to the cow bell dangling earring in her right ear to contrast with the hoop in her left, were, well, cow ears. That meant that she was a faunus and not a human.
"It is you. I'm glad to see that you're ok but how are you here? We thought you were down in Level 4 or 5."
This came from a second woman who towered over the faunus girl, as well as the other women in the cell, and was a major contrast to her. This woman was well over 6 feet tall so taller than Robyn and had deeply tanned skin, dark green hair cut short and in a spikey style, and notably a black line tattooed around her neck with smaller ones over the bridge of her nose, the middle of her forehead, and under the corners of her beige eyes.
The only similarities of the two were the prison uniforms they wore as even their shackles were different with normal iron ones for the tall woman while the faunus's were sea prism stone. However, clearly they were Robyn's subordinates and that meant that they were Nagant's but she still confirmed her suspicions as she addressed her new quartermaster.
"I take it that these two are part of your team, Robyn." Nagant said as Robyn approached and took the girls' hands in hers but made sure to avoid the sea prism stone on the faunus's wrists while Dazu looked closely but couldn't see Bow and so moved on to the next and final occupied cell which Nagant didn't stop her from doing as Bow was Dazu's friend so best to give them a moment while she dealt with Robyn's friends. "What were they called again, Happy Huntresses?"
"That's right." Robyn said as she let go of their hands and turned to her new Captain. "I present to you Thyme Fione and Greenleaf Joanna."
At that Robyn indicated that the faunus was Fiona and the human Joanna. Nagant nodded as she approached keys in her hand but she paused just before in part because the rest of the room was clearing so she wanted to give it a moment before continuing and in part to look the women over. They looked strong and a faunus was always deceptive when it came to strength as they were stronger than humans, strong enough to potential merit sea prism stone manacles without a Devil Fruit but Nagant needed to know either way.
"Your leader speaks highly of you." Nagant said calmly as she looked at the women but with the height differences she could only meet Fiona's eyes. "Though she failed to mention that one of you is a faunus."
"Is that an issue?" Robyn asked her voice lowering a tad. "I don't discriminate when it comes to my friends."
"No, on my crew you earn your keep the way you'd do in the Navy, or should do at least." Nagant said though she opted to not point out that all of Robyn's subordinates were women so she did seem to discriminate based on gender even if it wasn't conscious. "Just good to know as a faunus has a lot of advantages a human doesn't so it's useful to recruit them. Honestly, the hypocritical racism of the World Government is in part driven by fear of stronger species. Just look at how the other races have advantages over humans be they giants, elves, dwarfs, faunus, fish-men, mermaids, minks, or the other more esoteric ones that exist. I'll take any who can are willing to work and follow my orders."
"Er, Robyn, who is this chick?" Joanna asked not sure what to make of the older woman though there was a clear air of authority to her that prevent Joanna from being disrespectful, well that and she clearly knew Robyn. "We don't recognize her."
"She's, er, our new Captain." Robyn said causing both girls to blink in utter shock before they looked between Robyn and the impassive Nagant. "She is the reason why I'm free and why you two will be soon."
"Come again?" Fiona asked. "Our Captain?"
"But we follow you." Joanna said. "Not anyone else. It's why we joined you when you turned to banditry after all that happened on Solitas."
"I know and now I'm asking you to follow me once more only this time with someone above me which, er, I guess makes you equal to me though there are striations in seniority based on position in our new crew." Robyn said looking to Nagant. "How much can I divulge? I know that you've, um, forsworn your birth name but they'd know it so it will help."
"All of it, I'm not going to hide my crimes or past affiliations from those who will serve under me as trust between a Captain and her crew is vital." Nagant said. "The only thing I will do is insist that no one use my old name. That woman died before I came to Impel Down, let her rest in peace. Still, you can use it to speed things up as you are right, I'm sure two former Navy recruits would know it."
"Of course they would, you were a legend." Robyn said as the girls looked really confused while behind them and at the next cell Dazu was chatting happily and holding hands with a slender woman with short brown hair who looked a little older than her through the bars so it was clear that Bow had been found. "Girls, this is Lady Nagant but when you went through officer training in the Navy before coming back to help out Mantle she was known as, er wait what was your rank a decade ago?"
"Vice Admiral." Nagant said. "I was 22 when I reached that rank, the youngest in history though that was broken about a year before I was sent here by Vice Admiral Esdeath. I was a top marine back in the day and fast tracked to Vice Admiral as that way I could have my own ship and begin my work killing the enemies of the Navy and World Government no matter who they were."
"Vice Admiral Kaina." Robyn said causing both women to go wide eyed as they instantly recognized the name. "I see you know the name and trust me; I've used my Devil Fruit on her and she's the real deal. This is actually the former Vice Admiral Tsutsumi Kaina who we all heard stories about when we went through our respective officer training periods."
"We do but, but we've never seen Vice Admiral Kaina." Joanna said her eyes wide. "So we didn't know what she looked like. They never showed pictures of you ma'am."
"Yeah all we got were the stories of what you did during training and then as an officer." Fiona added. "You're a legend. A decorated marine with unparalleled sniping skills considered by many to be the finest female marine since Vice Admiral Tsuru. What happened? How on earth did you of all people end up here."
"The truth of the world happened." Nagant said a sad weariness filling her voice as Robyn grabbed Nagant's wrist and activated her powers. "I always believed in what I called Precise Justice which to me is swift, immediate, and effective justice rendered on the target or targets from a safe distance away while protecting the innocent. Between that mindset and my skills, which the Rifle-Rifle Fruit amplifies but that I'd developed before I ate my Devil Fruit, I was turned into the assassin of the Navy. Well, I was recruited with that in mind but as I ascended the ranks that became more and more what I was to them."
Nagant paused as she let the two women, and by extension the other 8 in the cell take her words in. When it was clear that neither Fiona nor Joanna would ask her anything about what she'd said Nagant continued.
"It made sense, I was brutally efficient in what I did." Nagant said no pride in her voice as it kept its weary sad tone. "Not even the likes of CP9 or the illegal groups of slaves run by the Celestial Dragons could compete with me because I can take out a target from 3k away so you're dead long before you realize a threat is coming. At first I did what was asked because I believe it was justice as I was taking out truly evil criminals but after you take so many lives and realizing that many didn't need to be killed you change. I saw the façade for what it is and how I was used to aid the rot and corruption. I turned on it after reaching my breaking point and killed the Celestial Dragon giving me orders. For that I was sent to Level 6 of Impel Down."
"Holy shit." Joanna said seeing the glow remain green the entire time that Nagant was speaking and as both she and Fiona knew Robyn's power well they knew at once that this was the truth. "I…"
"You don't need to say anything." Nagant said. "I did what I did because I followed orders without questioning them until I snapped. Now I want to see the world crumble and a new one rise in its place. You've seen a microcosm of it on Solitas and Dazu, my first recruit and the first mate of the crew, has seen it on Clover but I've seen it globally. We may not be able to do shit about it beyond annoying the World Government but I'd rather do that than rot in here."
"About that." Joanna said. "How did you manage to get out? For that matter there's a Level 6? We thought that there were only 5 levels."
"Level 6 is classified and only used for the worst of the worst, the threats to the world who are waiting to be executed or are too dangerous to kill so they're dumped there and forgotten about, which was what they decided to do with me." Nagant said. "However, thanks to the location of my cell and my history I was freed by some former Warlords that had broken out because of one of their subordinates had been freed as part of an earlier escape wave and I decided to form my own crew out of people in Impel Down. So far I have 3 members but I promised Dazu and Robyn to accept their friends and subordinates as well."
"What of these former Warlords?" Fiona asked as she did her best to process what Nagant was saying while noting how it was all true. "What's happening with them?"
"We will ally with them but I'll make sure our goals come first for us and that we only aid them if they need it and only if they come to our aid when we need it." Nagant said simply. "It is the price of escaping and if those sea prism stone shackles are because you have a Devil Fruit power you then will be required to let the man who is responsible for all this, an Elf Pirate senior officer called Rhya, copy it with his Copy-Copy powers."
"Yeah I don't have a Devil Fruit." Joanna said showing off her normal shackles. "But you're right, Fiona did eat one so those aren't just because she's a faunus."
"Not that I'd have the strength regardless." Fiona said. "I may be stronger than a normal human but I can't break iron chains."
"What is it?" Nagant asked cutting to the chase and glad that she'd have another Devil Fruit user on her crew.
"Um…" Fiona began.
"You can tell our Captain." Robyn said as she finally let go of Nagant's wrist. "She needs to know."
"Oh ok then, I ate the Store-Store Fruit." Fiona said clearly assuaged by Robyn's words before she held her palms up though there was nothing there. "It allows me to basically store whatever I touch in a pocket dimension that is accessible via my palms. I'm not sure the size as I've never hit the limit of it and I can't store living things it but I can store up to a ship at least though it takes time."
"That's very useful." Nagant said as she thought on it and while it wasn't combat orientate per se there were many uses to a power like that. "And do you have anything right now?"
"No, I was forced to relinquish everything that I had stored before under torture." Fiona said tears in her eyes. "It wasn't anything sentimental, that's stored in Mantle as I figured that I may be caught one day, but it was painful as they didn't need to do it. I would have relinquished the stuff anyway."
"Bastards." Robyn said anger filling her voice and Joanna nodded. "We'll make them pay for that."
"If we find them they will but that is a power that will really come in handy for us." Nagant said calmly. "What of other skills. As you are Robyn's people you will be junior officers though I need a shipwright or engineer, preferably someone who can do both, to join the ranks of my senior officers."
"I'm going to be the quartermaster so I'll be one of Nagant's deputies so I'll still be senior if that helps." Robyn said as she pointed over to Dazu. "And that's Dazu, as Nagant mentioned she's the first mate and other deputy."
"The other senior officer is Olive, our spymaster so head of intel and recon for the crew." Nagant said gesturing to Olive who was looking bored as she leaned against some bars behind them but she had nowhere else to go and this at least gave her the time to study her new crewmates. "So what can you two do?"
"Fiona's got navigation skills that will need to be sharpened up after several years on Solitas but she can make a good navigator in time." Robyn said. "Joanna is strong, she'd be a good helmswoman if you need one."
"Given the ship that we have to steal to get out of here, and which I will claim as I'm best for it, that is needed." Nagant said accepting both roles for the women before her. "Very well. Are you two willing to join?"
"We will follow Robyn wherever she leads." Fiona said. "And if she is joining your crew than so are we."
"Plus you clearly know the world for what it is." Joanna said. "That said, I take that it you will help Mantle in time. Robyn wouldn't have joined if you didn't offer to do that."
"Mantle, Clover, and anywhere else like that, we'll do what we can for the places forgotten or exploited by the World Government." Nagant said as Robyn took her wrist again and her hand glowed green as Nagant spoke. "I'll help if I can but all I'll promise is to bring you to Mantle when the time comes and lend what aid I can while there."
"That's more than fine with us." Joanna said and Fiona nodded next to her. "We're with you, Captain."
Nagant nodded in return and with that she closed the distance and unlocked Fiona's shackles before stepping back as they clattered to the floor all the while making sure that she didn't tough them. That surprised everyone but before there could be a question Nagant spoke.
"Consider this a proof of power test." Nagant said gesturing to the bars before her. "Show me that Devil Fruit of yours."
"Right, I get it." Fiona said understanding what Nagant wanted as she grabbed a bar before her in her left hand. "And this could be useful anyway."
There wasn't a sound or a flash. All that happened was that the bars, as they were one full structure, were sucked down and into Fiona's palm completely opening up the cell without doing any damage to the walls that the bar frame had been set into. Fiona followed it up by storing the shackles of all 9 other women the same way showing that she alone had a Devil Fruit power in the room. The other women all looked surprised and then at Nagant.
"What about us?" A woman asked.
"Any of you a shipwright or engineer?" Nagant said bluntly.
"Nah but there is one in the last cell I think though I hear she's a bit crazy." A second woman said. "So ask at your own risk."
"Very well then here's the offer for you lot." Nagant said not really caring about the other women beyond granting them freedom which would embarrass the World Government. "You're free to join our escape, the more that do the more embarrassing it is anyway so I recommend that, and then you can make your own choices once we are free of this place. You can either join me as non-officer crewwomen, join one of the other crews that are escaping and which are already established, or choose to go your own way in which we will facilitate as best we can."
"Freedom is guaranteed." A different woman said. "It's that or death at this point cos I know that I speak for all of us in saying that I don't want to spend another day in this shithole."
"We'll decide our futures later." Another said as they began to run out. "But thanks, we owe you for this even if you are a former marine."
"Right, wasn't there a third one of you?" Nagant asked looking at Fiona and Joanna as the women left before she went over to Dazu to greet this Bow woman and see who the potential shipwright and engineer was. "Marigold if I recall. She should be in the male part from what Robyn said about her due to her biology conflicting with her heart."
"She's a woman." Joanna said angrily. "It's wrong to put her there."
"Yeah she should have been with us." Fiona said with a fierce nod. "Then she wouldn't have vanished and we'd know that she was safe."
"Come again." Nagant said looking at the girls. "Not the first part, while your friend may be a woman at heart, she still has a penis and the World Government will treat her as a man. Honestly, that fact alone it is right for her not to be with other women as there could be issues."
"Not if they accept her." Fiona said. "Then it wouldn't be a problem."
"And do you think people will especially if its forced upon them?" Nagant asked calmly. "You're a faunus, you know what the bigots can be like especially when you try to force them to change their ways."
"Yes but you said…" Fiona began.
"That there could be issues and there could be." Nagant said. "I have placed trust in Robyn and so I will extend that to who she trusts which is why I don't think that there is anything wrong with this May girl being a woman at heart but we are in prison and she has a specific tool. Either the hard bitches here will beat her up out of small minded bigotry or fear due to their own experiences at the hands of men or they may use it for their own purposes whether or not May wants to be used like that. Is she strong enough to defend herself in a communal cell even with you two backing her up? I know that you lot are trained but with shackles and one of you a Devil Fruit user dealing with sea prism stone can you manage?"
"No, no she's not." Fiona said looking down. "I, I get where you're coming from but…"
"It shouldn't be on May's shoulders." Joanna said her fist clenching. "She's a woman and should be treated as such."
"True but we don't live in a perfect world as you well know." Nagant said. "Shit ain't black or white, it's gray. I'm not saying that sending her to the men's side is better, hell it could be worse if she presents female."
"She does." Robyn said understanding where Nagant was coming from regarding how May should be treated in prison as it was a complex issue. "You wouldn't know that she was born male if you looked at her. She was born to wealthy industrialists on Atlas but they didn't accept her for who she was so after she went through Navy training and learned of the history with Mantle from Fiona and Joanna she joined them in Mantle where she can truly be the woman that she is without judgement. We accept her."
"And she'll continue to be treated that way when she joins the crew." Nagant said. "But there is a major issue on this front. Her name is crossed out on the list so she's not in the men's part as well from what I can tell. Ideally they'd hold someone like her in solitary or a special cell with others like her and leave it at that, which is honestly better than the torture here, but that's not listed either."
"If she's crossed out then that means she really did demon away." Fiona said her eyes wide and worry in her voice. "So we don't know what happened to her?"
"Demon away?" Nagant asked and Robyn looked just as confused.
"Demoning away is what the guards use for prisoners who randomly vanish while out of their cells during torture sessions but aren't released." Joanna said. "We used to have a sympathetic guard who'd take messages between us and May, she was at least in a small cell reserved for people like her so Impel Down does at least do that right rather than house her in a communal cell with other men, but then one day, while that cell was being tortured, they all just vanished. 4 prisoners in total and no one has seen them since."
"The guard explained to us that it's a term that they use for the inmates who have vanished over the years." Fiona said. "They go through the gates of hell so to speak hence the term. It's become an accepted fact in Impel Down."
"It has, has it." Nagant said thinking on it and how she'd gotten from Level 6 to Level 5. "Impel Down has gotten lazy and sloppy, not that I mind that as I think this helped us. Robyn, the manifest please."
"Huh, sure." Robyn said. "Why do you need it?"
"I saw a crossed out name earlier and, well, I walked through a warren between Level 6 and Level 5 with a lot of strange things that would fit with what I know about that person." Nagant said as she flipped through the list noting the crossed out names but most didn't speak to her until she reached one of the crossed out ones listed on the Level 5 manifest. "Hmm this could be it. I wonder…"
"What?" Robyn asked as Nagant trailed off.
"Question." Nagant said looking at the three women. "Would you call this May girl queer?"
"I mean you could use that term sure." Fiona said unsure about it as May wasn't here to confirm herself. "Transgender is more accurate though. Queer tends to have a rather broad meaning so it's hard to say but I guess May would fall into that category so long as she considered herself part of it."
"Why?" Robyn repeated. "Why does this matter?"
"Because one of the names on this list that is crossed off is Emporio Ivankov." Nagant said. "He was, before his capture several years ago, a senior revolutionary known as the Queen of the Queers. He was high on my target list but was captured before I could take him out. However, I did get a good sense for him and, well, gender was a very fluid concept for him. He's lucky he was captured before I put a bullet in his big head. Seriously, his head is huge, it's such a massive target that I could have hit it from 4 kilometers out."
"I've never heard of him." Robyn admitted and Fiona and Joanna nodded in agreement at this. "But May might have."
"Well whatever the case, given what I saw in that warren of tunnels that I traveled through to get to Level 5 I'd say that many of the people who had been there were queer." Nagant said. "Plus Rhya noted something similar when he broke us out, I think. If I had to guess that is where the people who were demoned away ended up."
"So that means?" Robyn asked.
"That she's either dead or already free as I get the feeling that the people who used to live down there, how that happened is beyond me, charged out ahead of us and helped Straw Hat." Nagant said. "So we'll have to find her later."
"I'd rather try and find her now but the evidence does support that theory and we are pressed for time." Robyn said not liking this but there wasn't much that they could do. "I hope that this is the case though as that means that she's at least already free."
"Even so, why didn't she get us on the way out?" Fiona asked. "Couldn't she had come here?"
"Given the amount of poison I saw when I reached this level and how she likely came all the way from Level 5 I don't think there was time." Nagant said. "It seems that at some point on Level 3 Magellan caught up with Straw Hat and gave chase. They were able to free the cells directly between the stairs from Level 3 and the ones to Level 1 but that's it. If we can we'll grab a guard for interrogation and see what we can learn. However, we've wasted too much time, we need to grab Dazu and her friend, see who this shipwright girl is, and then get moving."
With that Nagant turned and led Robyn and the other two to the final cell where Dazu was still chatting with the woman as they held hands through the bars though why Dazu, who had a set of keys on her, hadn't unlocked the cell was beyond Nagant. Whatever the case, it was clear that they were close, perhaps even more than friends, which Nagant didn't care about so long as it didn't interfere with the running of the crew or the women's duties, and given everything she was sure she knew who this was.
"Bow I take it." Nagant said surprising the woman and causing them to break apart.
"Y, yes." The brunette said nervousness in her voice. "That's my name ma'am."
"S, sorry Captain." Dazu said a flush on her cheeks. "I, I saw Bow wasn't in the other cells so I hurried to this one as she had to be in it. I've explained everything to her about you and the offer you made me regarding joining your crew and allowing Bow and the others to do so as well."
"Yes, thank you for freeing Dazu and if you will I have me then I'll happily serve as your crew's doctor, I was a licensed doctor before my arrest and I have a special talent for plant based remedies." Bow said with a bow of her head. "The other four who were arrested with us should be on the upper level. They were dangerous enough to merit this place but not at my level and certainly not at Dazu's."
"I don't mind this, it saves time and you at least got the important stuff out of the way Dazu." Nagant said. "Very well, I did promise Dazu that I'd accept you as our doctor if you agreed so that speeds up that though I will still expect you to pass an interview under Robyn's power just to be sure. I am putting faith in Dazu but I want to be sure."
"Dazu said as much and that is perfectly acceptable with me." Bow said. "I will take and pass this test."
"Good, we can sort that out later though." Nagant said as she looked passed Bow and at the other 9 women in the cell. "Now, I'm told that there is a shipwright or engineer or maybe both in here, who is she? Speak up, I don't have all day and this is a onetime offer."
"That would be me though I prefer the term inventor, yes, yes." A chuckle said from the back corner a noticeable accent to her voice that indicated that she wasn't from the Grand Line and the other women, who'd risen and stood up expecting freedom like the rest in the cellblock parted and showed Nagant who was laughing. "I can do both though and if you don't mind me being able to work on my own stuff without restrictions as well as whatever you need then I'll join. Yes, yes, yes, I am a certified genius you know."
Nagant didn't respond immediately as she studied the woman still chuckling there. She had shoulder length black hair and brown eyes behind large, circular glasses. Noticeably though was that she had large breasts that stretched on the fabric of her prison shirt. If Nagant had to judge they were the largest around though part of that was due to Olive's two decades spent in Level 3 as she recalled the woman flaunted her massive assets back in her heyday, it was a focal point of her wanted posters after all. That didn't bother Nagant, it was just an observation.
"And who are you?" Nagant asked not recognizing the woman at all, not that she'd expected to.
"Name's Daphne, yes, yes." Daphne said beaming at Nagant and the former marine noted that Daphne's manacles were sea prism stone indicating that she was a Devil Fruit user. "I'm an independent inventor, genius, scientist, shipwright, the works but, well, I may relinquish the independent part to get out of here."
"Ok that's good and how did you get here?" Nagant asked Daphne. "You need to at least merit a 10 million berry bounty to get sent to Impel Down, or would have had you not been captured or lost immunity, and to be on this level it has to be over 20 million at least."
"Well I don't believe in moral or ethics, they get in my way." Daphne said and given the look in her eyes Nagant didn't doubt that at all. "And I wanted to experiment on a Mythical Zoan type that could turn into a dragon like Vegapunk did with Kaido back in the day only I'd be successful where he failed. I chose Dragneel Natsu for that, he's the Captain of the Fairy Tail Pirates, and the goal was to create an artificial dragon. Alas it failed and because I'd committed several crimes, including attacking a city with a prototype that I'd made out of technology, I was sent here and assigned to Level 2. Yes, yes I was."
"That would explain it." Nagant said deciding that now was not the time to ask how this woman learned of Vegapunk's work as it should be classified and instead addressed the more pressing thing that she needed to know. "Very well and finally what's your Devil Fruit? I recognize those cuffs so you have to be a user unless you've got some abnormal strength boost."
"Huh, oh I ate the Conceal-Conceal Fruit so no strength boost though that's a good idea to look into, yes, yes." Daphne said getting a bit distracted but a cough from Nagant got the woman back on track. "Yes, well, anyway, my Devil Fruit allows me to trap things in a pocket dimension kinda like the faunus girl's Store-Store power but it's not within me."
"Captain?" Robyn said. "She's a bit…"
"I know but we'll get a true reading on her later thanks to your Devil Fruit." Nagant said though her gut told her that so long as she appeased Daphne's desire to work on her own projects the girl would follow her. "Alight Daphne, you're so far the best I could hope for as I need someone to serve as my shipwright and engineer so if you pass the scrutiny that I'll require later how about it? Join my crew and use your talents to aid us and so long as you don't hurt your fellow crewmates you can work on your own projects as much as you see fit in your spare time."
"It's not idea but I'll take it." Daphne said though Nagant was definitely going to have Robyn use her True-True Fruit on this woman so that she had a full understanding of what Daphne was up to. "Let me out, Captain. Yes, yes."
"Fiona, if you will." Nagant said to the faunus girl. "Never know when bars and cuffs can come in handy even if it's just for their value as raw materials. Ladies, other than Bow and Daphne, the same offer of freedom and your own choice after getting out of here applies to you as the others."
"Works for us." One woman said as Fiona went to work. "Thanks miss."
"Don't thank me yet." Nagant said seriously. "There's still one more level and so far things have been too easy for my liking."
The others nodded at that as Fiona freed the women, which resulted in a hug between Bow and Dazu, and the women left save Daphne who held up her manacled arms with a grin. Nagant was going to be cautious and turned her left forearm into a gun ready to fire as she pulled out a set of keys with her right hand and unlocked the shackles but Daphne remained true and didn't act as her powers returned to her.
"Right let's move." Nagant said turning and leading her growing but motley crew out of the women's wing. "One more level to go and the we're free."
With that they hurried to the stairs up and the last of the cells on Level 2 was cleared for the second wave. There was only one level left and they'd be free but there were still challenges to that as the now 300 strong second wave continued its journey towards freedom.
Well there it is, another level cleared, another bunch of breakouts, reunions, and of course the latest recruitment for Nagant with her gaining more subordinates through Robin and Dazu and a new engineer/shipwright in Daphne. To those wondering, Daphne is an anime-only, non-canon, Fairy Tail character who was the antagonist of one of the filler arcs and is rather similar to Sally in her mentality and profession only more lone wolf than Sally. When thinking of who Nagant would recruit, Daphne was actually the first one that came to mind for me because she fit the engineer/shipwright roll and was, at least in the anime, imprisoned in the Fairy Tail universe so her being in Impel Down made a lot of sense. It was because of my decision to select Daphne for the position, coupled with my research for suitable criminals from the others series, that led me to decide to make Nagant's senior crew (which will be explained more in depth in terms of her hierarchy in chapter 17) all female and all criminals. From there it was just a matter of selecting the right characters, and let me tell you the Akame ga Kill choice, which as you can guess is the one remaining, was a hard one but I think it's a decent one. The only real change was that Daphne was originally supposed to be on Level 3 to keep her similarities with Sally but Olive's bounty was such that she'd have been sent there so I bumped Daphne up to Level 2. Robyn's skills and ability to piss Ironwood off and Dazu's crimes and leadership ensured that they'd be on lower levels so the only good place for Daphne was here. Also, the roles that Bow, Fione, and Joanna have will make them junior officers while Daphne is a senior officer but more on how Nagant's structure will work in a few chapters' time. The suggestion of Ikaruga is a good one, one I'd not thought about as I only remember her as the Fairy Tail character who's fate was changed due to censorship, and while I can't work her into the Impel Down arc I'll try to work her and the two with her into the story somehow. Plus, in the anime they escaped the Tower of Heavan and so they wouldn't be in Impel Down I feel and can be recruited or do something else in this story. Other than that there really isn't much more to say about this chapter, the men were pretty well sorted and I'm sure y'all can guess at this point what has happened to May, why, and where she currently is so that really sums up the chapter. As such, I will leave this off here. 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