Chapter 3 | "Go on ahead, I'll catch up to you."

Falling behind alongside Ivankov, Luffy stood by the stairs. She had no intention of climbing up the steps before Magellan was fully out of the way.

"What are vyou doing, Mugiwara-girl!" Ivankov shouted, "Vyou need to run now!!"

"He's right, Mugi-chan!" Bon yelled over her shoulders, "Miracles are called miracles because they don't come often, you know!"

Their protests fell into deaf ears as Luffy watched Magellan, her adversary from long ago, make his way over to them. Instead, she transferred her friend over to the okama, "Please take care of Bon-chan for me, Iva-chan." She then smiled, "I can take care of this. Trust me."

Though he seemed like he was about to protest, Ivankov secured Bon Clay in his hold and nodded, "Vi don't know how strong vyou've grown in the years, Mugiwara-girl, but Vi trust vyou to know vyour own limits. Vi will keep vyour friend safe." He promised and stepped into the sidelines.

Luffy appreciated the faith he showed in her prowess as her smiled widened, "Thank you, Iva-chan. This won't take long."

"A bit confident despite having lost during our last encounter." Magellan, who had caught up to them, glared at her heatedly. "How did you survive the poison I gave you? You should've been dead by now." The warden spat, both figuratively and literally, at her, as he rushed to end their fight so he could contain the other prisoners upstairs.

He either took no notice or decided to ignore the fact that she'd changed since he last saw him. Maybe it's because he saw her together with Ivankov or maybe he just couldn't careless, she didn't know - though it was not as if she was all that curious either.

Luffy easily side-stepped the incoming purple, blob of doom, and for the second time since she woke up, Luffy found herself readying her fists for battle.

"Buso Koka..." She coated her hands in Armament Haki, letting it harden as they took on the shade of black with a tint of red. "Gomu Gomu no..." She reared her arms back, letting it stretch far more than a few feets behind her, before striking forward, alternating between both appendages as to not let the poison man any time breathe nor think, "Gatling!"

While her haki kept her skin from touching the poison in his body, Luffy could still feel the heat of it trying to chink off the black armour that's keeping her hands intact. She kept at it, her punches getting more forceful and faster each time, until she saw the man eventually going limp. The ragged breaths indicated that he was still on the edge on consciousness, but it wouldn't be long before he passes out.

"Hey."

At her call, Magellan stockily turned towards her, "Shiryu changed sides and joined the Black Beard Pirates." Luffy informed the man. His eyes narrowed and breath deepened, "I'll kill him, if he gets in my way. But if I don't, then he's your problem, 'kay?"

Not waiting for a reply, Luffy turned her back at the head jailor and grinned at the two dumbfounded queers. They had been ready to jump into the fray if necessary - Ivankov had slipped an Emporio Tension Hormone for Bon during the one-sided fight - only to see that it was all for naught.

"Come on! We gotta hurry!" She cheerfully prompted as she ran towards the staircase.

Just before she took one step up the stairs, Luffy looked over her shoulder. "Oh, and don't reprove that vice warden of yours too much, will ya? He never gave up until the end. Stubborn fella, that guy." and then she was gone, missing the way Magellan huffed to himself.

"I know."

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It was just as the mostly-okama group entered Level 1 did they realize the absence of their ringleader.

"Luffy-kun!" Jinbe shouted, scanning the crowd for a straw hat, "Does anybody see Luffy-kun?!"

"I saw her staying behind with Iva-sama!" Someone from the crowd shouted, eliciting a curse from the warlord.

Pivoting in place, Jinbe prepared himself to go after the rubber girl as he does not find any appeal in facing Ace whilst knowing that he had left the man's brother?sister? to suffer. But he was saved from backtracking when four colourful individuals made their way up the stairs.

"Iva-sama, Inazuma-san! You're alright!" One of the okamas exclaimed in relief.

"You did it! You defeated Magellan!" Another cheerfully whooped.

"I knew it! I knew Iva-sama would do it!" A third declared faithfully.

"No, no, vmy candies." Ivankov shook his head, immediately disproving their assumptions, as he was not one to take credit when it was not due, "The Mugi-girl was the one who defeated vhim."

"What?!" One yelled in shock.

"She is so strong!" Another exclaimed with awe.

"Luffy-nee is so cool!!" A girl swooned.

Heedless of the wonderstruck and fearful looks sent her way, Luffy didn't stop running. She made her way through the mob towards the front and saw Jinbe and Crocodile just standing there. "What are you stopping for? Come on, Jinbe, Croc!" The woman ran pass them, giving them no choice but to chase after her.

Not long after, they were met with another riot group, led by Buggy and Mr. 3, who were heading the other way to escape the demon guards that their group - read: Luffy, Crocodile, Jinbe - immediately defeated. So as occupied as they were by the creatures on their tails, the two men paid no attention towards where they were heading and crashed into Crocodile, falling straight on their bottoms.

"You bastard, what do you think you're doi-?" Buggy immediately cut his sentence off when he looked up to see just who had stumbled into his path, "C-Crocodile!"

"B-B-B-Boss?!"

And if that didn't just give him the surprise of his life, Galdino, or better known as Mr. 3, looked as though his eyes were about to pop out when he saw the man standing behind his former employer, "Mr. 1 is here too?!"

"Buggy! Three! How are you two? It's good to see you!" Luffy grinned at the duo, even as Bon starting spouting insults at them for walking out on them. It had been a long time since she met the comedic duo, she usually dealt with their underground organisation, the Cross Guild, through Crocodile or Mihawk since they're the only ones in the establishment who understood the meaning of 'down low'.

For some reason, both men started griping about how kind she was.

"Wait, why are you a girl, Mugiwara?!"

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Luffy couldn't believe how easy it was to break out of Impel Down compared to how it went ten years ago. Her conqueror's haki easily knocked most of the Impel Down sentinels down, her armament haki took Magellan out in one whole swoop, and she even killed Black Beard before he could be a headache. Crocodile, Daz Bones, Buggy, and Jinbe easily took over one of the marine ships for them to use, and now everybody were jumping off the bridge to mount some of the whales their resident fishman had called.

Wait a second. Luffy looked over the crowd and narrowed her eyes with an inkling of suspicion.

"What are vyou looking for, Mugiwara-girl?" Ivankov asked just before stepping off the wooden platform when he realized that his partner's next of kin hadn't taken a step towards the sea, "Vwe need to hurry before they destroy our ship."

Luffy waved her hand distractedly, eyes flitting around the room, "Go on ahead, I'll catch up to you."

The nonchalant answer had Ivankov frown. "The only reason Vi am risking vmy face going into the public is to save Dragon's family." He crossed his arms and stood his ground, huffing, "Vi am not going to take my eyes off of vyou, Mugi-girl."

"Don't you trust me, Iva-chan?" Luffy asked, pulling out her secret weapon - the puppy dog eyes. She discovered this deadly munition from Nami, the sly girl that she was. After changing her gender, the strawberry blonde had taken Luffy under her wings and taught her some of the woman wiles that the kleptomaniacal girl always loved to exploit - one particular lesson that she remembered to this day was the time when her navigator challenged her to trick Sanji into giving her an early lunch.

Those were some good times. And good sandwiches, too.

She knew it was working from the way Ivankov's stern gaze briefly faltered and his lipstick-tinted lips thinned. "Vyou've been demanding quite a lot of vmy trust, Mugiwara girl." Luffy merely smiled pliantly as the drag queen squinted at her. After a moment of scrutinizing, the okama gave up with a blow of raspberries, "Ugh, fine, fine. Vyou are too much like vyour father, vyou know that?"

Luffy preened at the accusation, grinning happily, "Thank you, Iva-chan! I'll be sure to tell him that, I'll see you soon!" She said before turning on her heels and running through the hidden corridor that was just by the main door, hidden behind an unassuming pillar.

Stopping right outside the door at the end of the corridor, Luffy knew she had the right room when she heard the unmistakable voice of Magellan from within - the same person who should still be knocked out after her merciless barrage of haki-coated fists. Crouching by the nook of the doorway, Luffy made herself comfortable as she waited for the ship to approach the gate.

And so, she waits.

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As the last group of convicts landed on the deck, Jinbe began to steer the Marine Warship. The fishman felt all-too-conscious of the baby Den Den Mushi in his kimono and couldn't help but glance down. He wondered just how he should break the news to Luffy.

He winced when the loud cheering from all the prisoners started to affect his focus. In fact, the sound was loud enough to dampen the sound of the other marine ships, which made him unable to pinpoint the directions they were at.

"This is not the time to celebrate yet." Jinbe exclaimed, "We have to get going!" Though his words were like a mere buzz against the high that they got from freedom.

If he had been more attentive, he would've realized that Luffy had not, in fact, boarded the ship.

Crocodile, on the other hand, noticed immediately. He quickly picked up on the glaring absence of the recent, bizarre enigma he encountered and Ivankov's worried gaze towards Impel Down, easily putting two and two together. But he waited. He waited to see just why that damned okama deemed it acceptable to leave that man's son-turned-daughter in the world's most 'unbreakable' prison - well, not so unbreakable now, though even Crocodile would admit that it is... somewhat formidable enough.

With Jinbe focused on manning the wheel and the two highest male executives of the former Baroque Works not being a talker, silence befell onto the ship helm, only accompanied by the unending, raucous cheer that came from the deck below.

It was only when the Gate of Justice started to forebode upon them did Jinbe took his eyes off the wheel with the Den Den Mushi in hand. It took him one look around the ship to realize what had happened. It was easy to assume that if Bon Clay had pulled the exact, same stunt during her time, then there's a high possibility that Luffy was still in Impel Down.

"Ivankov." Jinbe called out towards the okama, noticing the way he kept on staring towards the prison with worry. "Where is Luffy?" A quick look from the queer was enough to confirm Jinbe's suspicion.

The ship had gradually gone into despair as they realized the impending, massive gate that was standing in their way, effectively trapping them between it and the marines. So when Jinbe dialed the baby Den Den Mushi, the sound was able to reach all of the occupants of the ship.

Purupurupurupuru Purupur- Katcha.

Jinbe wasted no time, already opening his mouth as soon as Bon answered the call, "Bon-kun! Is Luffy-kun with you?"

The snail's face contorted into one of confusion, "Mugi-chan? No, she's not here... Is she not with you?" Though before Jinbe could explain, the expression shifted into surprise, "-Eh, Mugi-chan? What are you doing here?!" Bon Clay exclaimed as his voice began to drift further away from the receiver.

It was small, but the Den Den Mushi managed to pick up Luffy's urgent voice, "Come on, hit the button, Bon-chan! The ship's getting away." There was small scuffle, which Jinbe presumed was between Luffy, Bon Clay, and the marines, before the Gate of Justice slowly but surely, started opening before them.

"Jinbe." Luffy's voice was now much more clearer, indicating that she was now holding the Den Den Mushi. "Lemme know when the gate is wide open, 'kay?"

Already suspecting where she was heading with it, Jinbe protested, "You will not-"

"I am not going to sacrifice either of us." The woman said firmly, "Believe me when I say that we are going to escape this hellhole together. Do you really think I would let Ace die the second time?"

Feeling both surprised and unsurprised, the fishman huffed out a breath... or was it a laugh? He couldn't quite decipher that feeling. All he knew was the fact that Ace's now-stronger-and-smarter sister had stayed back in the unruly building and that she wouldn't miss the chance to keep her own brother alive, both of which pointing to one certainty - that is no matter how she does it, Luffy is going to going to bring Bon Clay and catch up to them. And all he needed to do is have a little faith in her.

"Fine, Luffy-kun." Jinbe yielded, "Just make sure to be safe."

"Will do" The baby Den Den Mushi beamed brightly at him.

It didn't take all that long for the gate to fully open, and as soon as it did, Jinbe alerted Luffy as promised. "Now, Luffy-kun."

There was no reply.

The only indication that Luffy had heard him was when the gate started closing in, followed the fizzled pattering of sandals against the stone floor and the whooshing sound of wind running through the transmitter. By then, Jinbe had returned to his post as the self-appointed helmsman and could only hope that the duo made it in time before the gate closes behind the ship. With bated breath, almost everyone who heard their conversation had their gazes focused on the mist behind them, dutifully searching for any signs of movement from the fog.

The more the gate come together, the more the Den Den Mushi fizzles.

Stepstepstepstep- "-kzz-" -stepstep.

The ship just reached the gate.

"-kzzssh-"....step...step..."-kzz-" ...stepstep.

They got up to halfway through the gateway.

"kzsssh-ear-kzsssh-iv-kzzsssssh-"

The ship just successfully escaped Impel Down.

BAM!

And the Gate of Justice was finally shut.

Dread washed over the crowd.

"LUFFY-NEE!! BON-NII!!"

"NOOOO!!!"

"Brother Bon!! Sister Luffy!!!"

"You promised to come back, didn't you?! "

"Mr. 2! Mugiwara!!"

"Ah, you're quite the loud bunch, aren't you?"

The sudden voice had everyone turn towards the helm.

There they were.

With a passed out Bon Clay in her arms, Luffy stood behind Jinbe, ultimately shocking the helmsman as well. "What're you all crying about? Shishishi." The woman laughed, looking as though she hadn't just been racing against time to escape what many deem as hell on earth.

"Mugi-girl!" Ivankov fell onto his knees, relieved the sight of his partner's daughter.

"Luffy-kun..." Jinbe slowly released his unyielding grip on the helm.

"Mugiwara!! You did it!!" Galdino happily shouted, momentarily forgetting his ire in face of his once-colleague's safety.

"Oh my God, you did it-! Uh I mean, of course you did. I knew it all along!!" Buggy bragged boisterously.

"Hn."

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Author: "You see this? You. See. This?"
Author: *Pointing at a text* 'Ivankov shook his head, immediately disproving their assumptions, as he was not one to take credit when it was not due,'
Author: "We want this, we love this, we need this. You know what this is?"
Author: "This is called integrity. Come on, say it with me, I-N-T-E-G-R-I-T-Y."
Buggy: *Squinting* "What are you looking at me for?!"

Ivankov: "No, Vi am not going to leave vyou!!"
Luffy: "Trust me."
Ivankov: "...Fine."
Jinbe: "But-!!"
Luffy: "Trust me."
Jinbe: "...Alright."

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Hot take: I don't know if you know this, but Buggy annoys the hell outta me. I know that there are people who like him but he's just... meh, in my opinion. I don't really mind him but he just irks me :p

Next Chapter: "I think I like you better this way."

J Out!