Magellan stared openmouthed at the school of whale sharks who had just rescued the prisoners.

"Carry them over here, friends," said Jinbe on the ship.

Hiccup watched as Jinbe began to communicate with the whale sharks.

"Now, that handy trick," he said.

The whale sharks began to line up and tossed Mala into the air, bringing her and the prisoners close to the ship. On the other hand, Hiccup transformed into his dragon form and flew over to them.

Once they were on the ship, they cheered for joy as they had managed to escape the prison.

"We're free!" Hiccup yelled.

Mala's head then began to revert back to normal.

"No more Impel Down torture," said Mr 3 as he cried joyfully. "And to think I almost gave up hope."

Astrid suddenly wrapped her arms around Hiccup, but a few seconds later, she quickly released him and blushed bright pink.

"I'm glad you're right," she said.

"It's not time to celebrate yet," said Jinbe as he turned the wheel. "We still have a struggle ahead."

As the ship turned, the whale shark began to part their company, and the prisoners waved at them gratefully.

"Thanks for the help, guys," Hiccup waved.

"I hope you find all the fish you could possibly want!" Astrid yelled.

Mala turned her attention to Throk, who was still out cold from all the poison.

"I had better start treatment on Throk," she said and looked at her people. "See what they got stashed in the sick bay."

"Right!"

The other prisoners were crying their eyes out as the prison got further and further away.

"I'm never going back to that hellhole as long as I live!"

"Yeah, man, no more crime. I'm going home to be a family man."

"Suck it, Diarrhoea Man!" the prisoners yelled in unison. "We're finally free!"

"That's right. You're free, and thanks to who?" Buggy asked. "Say it loud!"

"Captain Buggy!" the prisoners cheered.

Buggy laughed.

Magellan watched them as they sailed away on the pier.

"Resilient little insects," he said grudgingly and then pulled out a transponder snail. "Come in, this is Warden Magellan. Bring me a ship; I can still chase them down."

"Yes, sir."

Magellan then looked back at the ship. "Little do they know, for all their joy, they merely lead from one cage straight into another."

'You have been condemned, and your sentences final,' he said. 'There is not but despair on the path before you, no matter how much you may struggle.'

Everyone on the Navy ships was getting ready to attack the prisoners' ship.

"Rear Admiral, sir! We've repaired the battery that was damaged by Jinbe in the last battle," a Marine reported.

"Good work," he said. "All ships, let's open fire!"

The Navy ships then began to open fire upon them. Fortunately, they were able to avoid all the cannonballs thanks to Jinbe's mastery of the helm. However, one did strike Buggy, causing his body to split apart.

"Correct range and fire again!"

They kept on firing the cannonballs, trying to get the angle just right, which was difficult with Jinbe steering the ship flawlessly. However, the constant cannon fire was more than distressing for the prisoners.

"They're going to sink us!"

"This is no way to die!"

"Come on, you guys just let us go."

"They've got a whole fleet!"

One of the cannibals then struck the ship.

"We're hit!"

"We've done well enough so far since all the high-ranking officers have been summoned to Marineford but were still outnumbered," said Jinbe. "They won't let us go so easily."

"Nothing about this has ever been easy," Astrid pointed out.

The Navy ships relentlessly continue to pursue them.

"Can't you see you're wasting your time? For filthy criminals such as you would be, Gates of Justice will never open."

The prisoners were now standing right in front of the Gates of Justice, which were shut tight. In all the excitement about escaping, they had forgotten this one little fact: the only way to get out of Impel Dow was through those giant gates.

"Oh, crap," said Buggy. "I forgot about that thing."

"We're going to crash right into it!" Mr 3 yelled.

Buggy grabbed Jinbe's robe and glared at him. "What are we going to do now, shark?"

"Keep sailing," he said simply.

"Have you lost your damn mind? Are you trying to get us killed?" Buggy yelled at the top of his voice. "Why the hell are you still calm? We're all about to die."

Jinbe just remained silent.

"Will you just say something!" Buggy roared.

The Marines just kept on firing their cannons at them, and it did not look as if they were going to relent anytime soon.

"Protect the ship!" Hiccup commanded. "Return fire!"

"With what?" a prisoner yelled.

"This is a Navy ship," Viggo reminded them. "We're able to fire back."

"I was just about to suggest that," said Buggy, pulling himself together. "Man cannons, men! Give them hell!"

"Roger that, Captain Buggy!" the prisoners cheered.

The prisoners began to man the cannons, aiming directly at the fleet. Everyone else was busy protecting the ship from the Navy's onslaught.

Viggo just blew away several cannonballs with his sand.

"Wing Blast!" Hiccup yelled, flapping his wings so powerfully that he blew the cannons off course.

"Fire!" Buggy yelled.

They fired the cannons directly at the fleet, but they were still very much outnumbered, and several of the enemy cannons managed to land a hit.

"Damnit, there are way too many of them! We're screwed!"

"They're closing, and we're about to hit the gate! What are we supposed to do?!"

The Marines were very confident that they could eliminate the prisoners.

"Stinking morons, where did they think they were going? Do they really expect the gate to open up like magic?"

"Yeah, good luck with that. Magellan would have to hit the switch for them himself. Guess the fools missed the memo on that one."

They kept on firing.

"Keep firing! Don't stop until there's sunk!"

However, they suddenly came to a stop as, unbelievable as it may seem, the Gates of Justice was opening.

"The Gates of Justice! They're opening!"

"But why? This doesn't make sense. Contact Impel Down!"

The prisoners themselves were shocked by what they saw, but their reaction was completely opposite to that of the Marines.

"It's opening!" they cheered.

"Why is this happening?" Mr 3 asked, stunned. His first thought immediately became pessimistic: "It's a trap!"

"I don't know what's going on, but at this point, I don't care," said Hiccup. "So long as we're alive, unable to save Ace, that's all that matters to me."

Without any hesitation, Jinbe began to sell the ship through the Gates of Justice.

"They're escaping!"

Magellan was just about to board the ship that arrived to collect him.

"Warden Magellan, hurry, please!"

"No, wait," said Magellan as he turned to the Gates of Justice.

The Marines were confused and followed his gaze, and then they saw the Gates of Justice opening.

"The gate!" said Magellan, shocked. "Who authorised this?"

At the gate controls of Impel Down, the guards there were "rather perplexed as they had been given a strange order by Magellan.

"You're sure you want to open the Gates of Justice at a time like this, Warden Magellan, sir?" said a guard, confused by the strange order.

"Of course I am," he said. "Do you have any reason to doubt me?"

"No, I suppose not."

"As soon as the prisoners' ship makes its way through, I want you to close the gate, understood?"

"If you say so, sir."

The Marines were now more desperate to sink the prisoners' ship as it got closer and closer to Gates of Justice.

"We haven't lost them yet! Sink the ship, fire!"

They then continue to fire.

"Do Magellan order this? What's he thinking?"

"Has anyone contacted the warden? Something isn't right here!"

"Actually, sir, I agree. We saw the warden at the pier a moment ago. The thing is, he seemed as confused about it as we are and just took off running."

Magellan was now running towards the gate controls as quickly as he could, and he was absolutely furious.

'When I find out who was responsible for this, I'm going to ring their neck,' he said.

He then opened the door and glared at the guards. "Damnit, control room! What are you doing? Who told you to open the Gates of Justice?"

The guards just looked at him, confused.

"Wait, Warden?"

Magellan looked up and saw standing there in the room was himself.

"Uh-oh," said the impostor.

The prisoners were now making their way through the Gates of Justice, but Hiccup looked at Jinbe suspiciously.

"All this time, you knew," said Hiccup. "And that's why you didn't stop."

Magellan was now glaring at his impostor.

"You bastard," he growled.

"That's me," said the impostor, touching his face and then transformed into Bon Clay. "I got you! You silly man, you did learn your lesson the last time, did ya."

The guards stared at him open-mouthed. He must have made a site at a laundry room to grab Magellan's uniforms so that he could fool them.

"He was a fake all along!"

"I just hope on the lookout warden. They couldn't sink the pirate, and they're headed through the gates as we speak."

"Even if they manage to pass through, their fate is sealed," said Magellan as Bon Clay danced around happily. "If they think they can escape at an entire fleet of Navy vessels, they're fool? We'll finish those bastards yet."

Bon Clay then transformed back into Magellan. "Still, we should take any chances. Press the button and close the gate."

"Uh, yes, sir," said the guard, reaching out towards the button.

"Don't you dare! You step away!" Magellan roared.

"Uh, of course," said the guard, pulling his hand away.

"No, push it!"

"No, don't!"

The guard continuously looked between them, getting very confused, as he couldn't tell them apart.

"Push the button!" Magellan yelled, getting confused himself.

"Yes, sir!" said the guard, pushing down on the button.

Everyone's eyes widened as he began to flash red, indicating that the Gates of Justice were now closing. Bon Clay instantly took advantage of this pause and transformed back to normal.

"Memoirs of a Desert Kingdom!" Bon Clay yelled.

He then kicked right through the control box, destroying it.

"Are you guys suck is what?" Bon Clay smiled.

"You will pay!" Magellan roared.

"I'm not going to let lay a single finger on Dragon Boy and dear Astrid," said Bon Clay determinedly.

Outside, the Gates of Justice were closing, but the prisoners' ship was almost through the threshold.

"Luck there tried to close the gate on us!"

"That's good. As long as we can make it through in time, it'll slam right in their faces, and we'll be free to go."

Hiccup had finally realised exactly what had happened.

"Bon isn't here, so I can only assume that he's the one who opened the Gates of Justice," said Hiccup, looking at Jinbe.

Jinbe's silence confirmed everything he had said.

Hiccup then turned to Astrid. "You knew. You knew when you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't like it either," said Astrid. "If it wasn't for Bon, neither of us would be here, but he was the only one who could do it. We lost many people getting here, as it is too late to turn back now, even if you wanted to."

"Which we won't," said Jinbe, breaking his silence. "Even if you manage to fly back, you would still have to face against Magellan."

Jinbe remembered his conversation with Bon Clay before Hiccup returned from his fight with Magellan.

"If anyone can get back gate open for you guys, it's me," said Bon Clay. "Don't worry, your pretty little heads."

"I don't doubt you can succeed, but then what?" Jinbe asked.

"Yeah, Magellan won't be too happy," Astrid agreed. "He could kill you."

"Don't you worry about that," said Bon Clay without a hint of fear, "but do me a favour and don't tell Dragon Boy until communications are cut. Swans never die, and they never say goodbye."

Jinbe then handed Hiccup a baby transponder snail. "It's still connected. Baby transponder snails have limited coverage. Once the gate closes, you won't be able to speak to him."

Back in the control room, the guards were panicking as the controls were damaged, and they had no time to prepare them.

"No good!" said a guard as he examined the damage. "It's a total mess. We can't fix this, not in time to stop them, at least."

The veins in Magellan's neck were becoming visible as he was enraged by this debacle.

Bon Clay just stood there in a pose, laughing his head off as if the entire thing was amusing.

"You dare mock the warden! You'll pay for this!"

"I knew memorising your face was a good idea," said Bon Clay.

When Bon Clay was posing as Hannibal, Magellan lifted him up to his face. He then used this opportunity to touch Magellan's face, thinking that posing as the warden might come in handy sometime.

"Curse you!" Magellan growled, clenching his fists.

"Bon! Bon!" Hiccup's voice yelled.

'Dragon Boy?' Bon Clay gasped as he had not expected to hear him.

"Can you still hear me?" Hiccup asked over the transponder snail. "It's Hiccup. Why are you doing this? It's just like last time."

When the Dragon Riders attempted to escape Alabasta, the Navy cornered them. However, Bon Clay led them astray, giving them the opportunity to escape. He ended up sacrificing himself, and now he was doing the same thing all over again.

"We could have found another way if you said something," said Hiccup.

'Jinbe, you promised above you and dear Astrid weren't going to tell him until later,' said Bon Clay. 'This is the last thing that I wanted.'

"We were supposed to break out together, weren't we?" said Hiccup. "Just how many times do you have to say me? If you're there, say something!"

The other prisoners had gathered around.

"He saved us. We're only free now because he stayed behind in that hell."

"Come on!" Hiccup pleaded.

"Brother, please, we just want to talk to you!"

"Let us know that you're alive, okay. Say something!"

"Please, let us know that you're alive," Astrid pleaded.

"Mr 2!" Mr 3 cried.

"How dare you die before I tell you I'm sorry," Buggy cried.

"Bon Clay…" said Mala solemnly.

"Fire! Don't let them get through that gate! Blow them to smithereens!"

The Navy should continue to fire at them, but no one on the ship was concerned anymore, as everyone had gathered around the transponder snail, crying out to Bon Clay.

"This is it; the gates are about to close," said Hiccup as they sailed through the gate and reached the other side. "We have to… we have to go… so, thank you!"

Bon Clay was in tears, which began to smudge his make-up as the other prisoners' voices were heard over the transponder snail.

"We'll never forget you!"

"Thank you!"

"Dragon Boy!" Bon Clay yelled at the top of his voice.

"I'm here," said Hiccup.

"Dragon Boy… find Ace, save him and don't look back!" Bon Clay yelled. "I know you can do it, and you have lots of friends to help you."

"The gate is closing!"

"Keep firing!"

"Take them out!"

However, it was useless as the gates closed, and the moment that happened, Hiccup and everyone lost the transmission to Bon Clay. Everyone immediately cried out for their comrade in arms, who remained behind and saved their lives.

The Marines stared at the closed gates, unwilling to accept that they had failed to stop the pirates from escaping.

"I can't believe this."

"They got away!" they yelled.

The prisoners were still crying over the sacrifice that Bon Clay had made.

"We owe him our lives. We're finally free."

"If it wasn't for him, we'd be sitting at the bottom of the ocean right now."

Everyone looked over the side and began crying, knowing that this might be the last time they had ever seen or heard from Bon Clay.

In the control room, Bon Clay removed Magellan's jacket, turned to face the man himself, and took a fighting stance.

"Any last words before I eliminate you?" Magellan roared as he swiped at him.

"Have at thee!" Bon Clay yelled.

On this day, in one fell swoop, the number of prisoners that escaped from Impel Down jumped from 1 to 241. However, this was only the beginning of a turn of events that would shake the entire world. Ace's execution was now four hours away, but as it got closer, so did a new chapter of history.

Sal stood in front of Drago and his men on Level IV. However, Drago suddenly rose to his feet with a broad smile.