Tani and Trip landed atop the ceiling support beam, that loomed over the main entrance of the prison. The pair waiting for Luffy to arrive.

"The kid better hurry up, I'm not waiting around for-"

"There he is," Tani pointed to the other side of the beam. Luffy's hands gripped around the wooden support, hoisting him upwards.

Everyone's accounted for. Time to break into hell.

"How are we getting past the guards?" Tani asked, pointing down at the crowd of uniformed men and women that surrounded the entrance. "We only get one shot at this." the girl reminded. Trip gave a quiet snort.

"That's what you think," she grinned.

What?

Without handing out any answers, a common trend in Tani's life right now, the group was off. Trip taking the lead, masterfully hopping across the support beams. Luffy bounced around with just as much spring as the vulgar woman. Tani wobbled, never sticking a landing.

Luffy was always waiting for her with open arms. Catching her every fall.

Tani would never grow tired of that leap her heart did, whenever Luffy just existed.

"Oi, love birds. Hurry up," Trip spoke up, pointing downwards. Tani and Luffy skipped her way, looking towards the subject of Trip's pointing.

The room below had a maze of prison cells, that seemed to go on forever. Tani couldn't see the other end of the room, the lighting being dim and sunless. A rotten smell wafted through the area.

The screaming wasn't helping. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of prisoners voices mixed together into this deafening howl of pained anguish. Shackles clicked, fists collided, prison bars rattled. It was all a bit much for Tani's ears.

Luffy glanced at the pained expression on his nakama's face. Hands covering her ears, face scrunching. They needed to leave now, why weren't they moving yet? Luffy stood up, moving to jump into the first layer of hell-

"Hold your horses dipstick," Trip grabbed Luffy by the back of his shirt. "We gotta wait for the signal," she snapped. Luffy glared at her, who was she to tell him how his adventure went. Ace is in trouble, Tani's in pain, the place sucks, why is she waiting?

*Bang*

"Bingo," Trip grinned. Letting go of Luffy's shirt, the boy toppled backwards. Landing with a rubbery slap, Trip looped an arm around Tani. The girl much more distracted with the sounds of screaming, she failed to notice when Trip jumped from their rather high spot in the ceiling.

Luffy looked at the girls, this Trip lady was really dumb! Didn't she know how fragile she was?

"Gum gum balloon," he called out, inflating in size to catch the pair. Trip let out a whoop of laughter, turning around to land on her back. The force of her landing caused Luffy to deflate around them.

"Thanks for the catch," Trip snickered, Luffy stuck his tongue out at her. The older woman dropped Tani, leaving her on Luffy's chest. She gave a shaky breath, trying to block out the sounds that plagued her mind.

"Let me out!"

"It hurts, it hurts!"

"I have a wife and son to get home to!"

"Not again, never again!"

Tani let out a whimper, fingers digging into her ears. Shut up, shut up, shut up!

"Oi! Shut up!" Luffy barked at a group of prisoners, the men in black and white stripes all stared at the small boy. Silenced at the sight of a free man. Tani lifted her head, the sounds seemed to slowly dwindle away. Ears taking a second to readjust to the environment. The sounds dulled, still haunting but tolerable.

"Kid? How did you escape?" one man questioned, then another, and another.

"Get me out!"

"How is that possible?"

"What are you doing? Run!"

"The Blues are gonna rip you to shreds,"

"Can you lot shut up? You're gonna alert the guards." Trip snarled, kicking a leg out and slamming it into the jail bars leaning down to face one of the rowdier inmates.

"Someone's coming," Tani declared, pointing at the other end of the hallway? Is that what you'd call it? Whatever, less thinking about architecture, more running away from capture.

"Hold on... Yeah that's the guy we're waiting for." Trip grinned. Taking her leg away from the cell, standing with her hands on her hips.

A man came barrelling towards them, shrieking loudly as an axe swiped at his torso. He dodged, and continued to speed towards the trio. He had a long, blue ponytail that flew behind him, other than that. Tani couldn't see anything special about him.

The axe swiped again-

*slice*

The man's torso split in two, legs running in circles like a headless chicken, while his top half shrieked. Tani couldn't look away from the sight, no blood sprayed, his top half floated in the air for way too long, and he was... Still... Alive?

"Buggy! Stop being a drama queen and finish him off," Trip goaded. The prisoner turned his head a full 180° to stare at the scantily clad woman, who pumped her fist in the air.

Oh Tani didn't like that. That was a creepy devil fruit, no thank you.

"Luffy, beat that blue thingy up." Trip commanded. Luffy gave her a glare.

"No." he huffed. Crossing his arms and looking away from Trip. The older woman looked at him with a face that Tani couldn't describe.

"Do you want to save Ace?"

"Yes,"

"Then do what I say,"

"No."

Tani rolled her eyes, this was getting nowhere. The Buggy guy was struggling to take out that big blue thing, and they needed him for reasons. The youngest girl grabbed her bat, giving it an experimental bounce before running into the fray of battle.

Not what was planned, but Oscar never mentioned this as a bad thing. So why not? They didn't have time to waste.

Without the help of her skates, Tani had to duck and roll around the fists that Big blue sent her way. Everything in this world was so tall! Tani thanked her mother for making her so small.

Big blue was too smooth for Tani to climb, but Buggy floated, so the girl aimed for the legs. Mainly the knees and feet.

Luffy and Trip were still bickering like kindergartners. The temptation to throw her bat at them was... Oh so tempting.

The blue swiped an axe at Tani, slicing through the tips of her long hair. The axe smashed into the ground, imbedded tightly. Tani made eye contact with Buggy, now noticing his clown make up... Why did he look so familiar?

"Ready?" she motioned, Buggy gave a smug grin. Lifting his shoe to reveal a comically large sized cannon ball, a Jolly Roger painted on the front. Tani had a feeling this would be explosive.

"Batter up!" Tani grinned, Buggy tossed the ball her way. The girl tossed her bag back, holding firm, waiting.

There!

She smacked the ball, launching it at speeds only a cartoon character could physically accomplish. The ball slammed into the centre of the blue creature. The cannon ball exploded, leaving behind a purple dust that covered the group.

Tani waited with baited breath, it can't have been that easy.

*thump*

The smoke cleared, leaving behind a fallen blue body. Tani turned to Buggy, the pair looking pleased with their joined efforts.

The celebration was short lived, as two more blue guys showed up. The prison duo let out a sigh, jumping back into battle ready positions.

"Gum gum pistol!" an arm shot out to slam, smack bang in the stomach. Launching it into the distance.

The other was grabbed by a very pissed off Trip, the woman having a scarily nasty hold on the creatures face. Fingers digging into every orifice the blue's face had. Blue, in an attempt to rid itself of the threat, swung it's axe up. Trip held on, her face splitting into a down right haunting level of feral.

The axe came crashing down.

Trip vanished before it made impact, splitting into the skull of the blue. A dark black ooze, dribbled from the wound.

The woman landed beside Tani, dusting her hands off. The younger girl looked at her in awe.

Tani wants to be that strong! Trip was just like her... So it was possible! Man she has a lot of work ahead of her.

"Can we hurry up and leave? We've got a stupid orange cowboy to save." Trip whined, grabbing Buggy by the arm and dragging him with her as she headed towards who knows where.

Tani trailed behind, Luffy sticking beside her with a sour look on his face.

"Tip is really mean... Telling me how to do things." Luffy crossed his arms childishly. Tani gave a light laugh, her hand slipping into Luffy's, swinging it in time with their steps.

"She's... Intense, but I would be too if someone I loved was in danger." Tani grinned. Luffy gave a hum, his sour pout still in place.

"I don't like her bossing me around."

"You don't like anyone bossing you around." Tani said with an eye roll.

"I do what I want," Luffy huffed. "Live life with no regrets. That's what Ace said," Luffy declared.

"Unhand me you witch!" Buggy shrieked. Smacking at the unbothered Trip, the girl held his feet in her hands. The clown floated around her with an indignant squawk in his throat.

"Take us to floor 6, then I'll let you go." she proposed. Buggy let out a scream of annoyance. Trip ignored him, turning to Tani with realisation on her features. "Hey kiddo, you have those flying skates still? You might wanna wear those like... Right now," she grinned. Tani gave a nod, dropping to her feet, to do as asked.

"Alright ladies," Trip turned to face them. "We've got some walls to bust."

...

She wasn't kidding about the wall busting.

In the original time line, Luffy took Buffy's escape attempt as a sign of where to go. Breaking down a wall, bursting into a guard room, and level 1 of Impel down

The forest of bleeding blades.

This time round, Trip just asked Luffy to pick the wall that spoke to him. This gave Luffy enough freedom that he willingly did as asked. Sure enough!

He picked the correct wall, first try. Leaving behind a room full of flabbergasted prison guards, and a whole lot of property damage. Let's hope they have that covered.

Luffy busted through the next wall, fists ablaze with renewed vigour. They didn't have time to waddle around.

They had 20 less hours than the original time line. Why? Because the author forgot it was 33 hours, not 13, and she can't be bothered fixing it.

The next wall opened to a massive drop, the ground level covered in bloody red spikes. Tani grabbed Luffy, holding under his knees and back, the classic princess carry. His sandals wouldn't be suitable for such a nasty terrain. The captain looked his arms around her neck, grinning at her.

Trip was the first to jump, letting out a whoop of excitement as adrenaline filled her veins. Open jacket flying behind her like a cape, she was falling with style, and she knew she looked awesome.

"That woman is insa-" Buggy choked out before he too was dragged down with her, failing to remember that she still had a hold of his feet. The clown shrieked on his way down, Tani felt a tang of sympathy, but quickly let it go. He was important to the survival of Ace, they can apologies later.

"Stop right there!" a guard shouted from behind them. Tani didn't stick around to hear what they'd do if they caught them.

No time to waste, no time to feel fear. She jumped from the platform, letting gravity take hold of her. While her mind screamed at her to hurry up click her heels, her legs weren't cooperating. The fear of falling slowly creeping in-

"Do your flying thing," Luffy called to her, his voice loud and clear in her ears. Right! OK! You got this.

At around the half way mark, Tani swung one leg out and smacked it into the other. Heels colliding with an echoing smack, snuffed by the jetting start of the activated wavers.

Trip was about to land in the bladed forest, when her body blinked away. The faint jingle of a bell, drew Tani's attention to the gaping abyss that resided in the centre of the red forest. The older woman vanishing into the darkness. Tani let out a groan.

Great, even more falling... At least they cleared the first floor pretty fast.

Only five more to go.

Tani flew towards the hole, diving towards it with determination. Chanting calming words to herself. She wouldn't be surprised if she suffered from a heart attack by the age of 21.

The darkness of the hole filled her vision, Tani clung to Luffy tighter. The captain returned the gesture, his looped arms giving her a comforting squeeze. Tani took a deep breath.

*clink*

The wavers stopped, gravity snapped its claws around the girls ankles and dragged her into the depths. Tani closed her eyes, letting herself fall down, who knows how far.

...

Tani felt herself bobbing up and down within the rhythm of slapping sandals. The girl cracked her eyes open, greeted with a face full of messy black hair, and golden straw.

"Ugh! We're walking in circles!" Trip groaned, followed by a loud punch to the jail bars. Tani lifted her head, staring at the new environment.

The place smelled like a zoo, with extra rot and death added into the mix. The layout was identical to the first area they were in, only the bricks were a light grey, rather than that dark greenish-blue.

Level two, the isle of beasts. A Greek style labyrinth with more than just a Minotaur... Maybe there was a Minotaur here too... Hopefully not.

"I'm hungry, can we eat something?" Luffy whined. Not acknowledging that Tani was now awake, if anything, his hold on her legs was tighter.

"Quit your whining pipsqueak! Go eat a brick for crying out loud. Maybe that'll shut you up." Trip growled. Kicking another jail cell, much to the prisoners dismay. Luffy huffed, while Buggy rolled his eyes.

"How long have we been here?" Tani asked. Luffy looked up at her with a pout.

"Dunno," he shrugged. "But I'm hungry, so it's been too long." as if to prove his point, his stomach let out a growl.

Tani laughed, removing her arms from over Luffy's shoulders. Sliding her bag off her back, she pulled out a small packet of beef jerky. Using her teeth to tear open the packet (don't do that, it'll damage your teeth), the smell instantly hit Luffy like a wave. His mouth watered, fingers already wiggling to grab the dried out meat.

Let's have fun with this.

"Fetch!" she shouted, tossing a piece of jerky forward. Luffy bolted forward, snapping the strip of beef before it could hit the ground. Tani couldn't stop giggling, grabbing another piece and tossing it. Luffy repeated the catch, Tani could watch this all day. Maybe make it a game, when the crew was all back together again.

She tossed another one, this time it flew a bit further away. Landing on the ground, between this hall and the corner. Luffy raced towards it, hands out, ready to grab his prize.

His hand clapped around on end of the strip, while a beak snapped over the other end. Luffy and Tani looked at the creature that grabbed the beef jerky.

"Chicken?"

"It's a snake!" Tani shrieked. Toppling off Luffy's back, as she scampered away from the snake/chicken hybrid. Last time she encountered a snake, she was swallowed whole.

The captain, on the opposite side of the spectrum, decided to snarl at the chicken-snake. Tugging the jerky his way, the creature wouldn't budge, tugging back.

"What the hell?" Trip looked at the sight with confusion. Only to roll her eyes and laugh. "Like idiot brother, like idiot brother." she shrugged. "Let him at it, with his luck, he'll find the way to the next-"

"Gum gum pistol!" Luffy punched the chicken-snake so hard, it flew into a wall and smashed it to smithereens. Leaving a dust cloud, that cleared to reveal yet another guard room, this time full of security personnel and cameras.

"-Level..." Trip balled her hands, Tani armed herself with her bat, and Buggy whined.

"Let's get this over with."

Trip charged first, hopping over the debris, fists held up. She pulverised the first unfortunate soul that decided to show up to work today. Tani followed close behind, bat swinging with purpose. Luffy dived into the battle beside Tani, covering her back while she wrecked the joint. The boy, in awe of how awesome she looked.

"Trip! Phones," Tani reminded. The older woman saluted, turned back and ran towards the line of den den mushi snails that sat comfortably in their communication docs.

And smashed the shit out of the docs, leaving five small, terrified snails to flee. Trip grabbed one before it could escape her, shoving the little guy in her pocket. The other four vanished without a trace.

"Luffy, can you help me take out the scre-" Tani didn't get to finish her words, before Luffy grabbed her by the waist and tossed her at the screens. Bat at the ready, she smashed the fragile glass of one screen.

Tani dropped back to the ground, ready to tell her partner off. She didn't get the chance to utter a word. Luffy had shoved his thumb into his mouth, biting down and blowing his limb up. This was Tani's cue to leave.

Snatching Trip around the wrist, dragging her away from the poor guy she was beating to a pulp. The girls managed to escape, before Luffy obliterated the security room with a single punch.

"That should buy us some time," Trip coughed smugly, "I'm not ready to encounter Count Coco-puffs, bowel challenged brother." she gave a shiver, gross images flooding the older woman's mind. Tani ignored that.

As long as Luffy didn't get drenched in the poison, there wouldn't be an issue.

Speaking of Luffy. The chemical smoke clearing up to reveal a shrunken Luffy. Tani jogged over, the girl scooped him into her arms like a teddy bear. Trip couldn't help but laugh at the childish display.

"Buggy should be done with his attempt to run away." Trip smirked, as if on cue. A large group of chanting prisoners followed behind a smug clown man with immaculate hair, beside him was a man with lesser hair, tied into the shape of a-

"Hey, that's that guy who tried to turn Zoro, Nami and Vivi into wax statues." Tani pointed out. Mr 3? Because of his hair.

"Oi! Does anyone know where level 3 is?" Trip shouted to the crowd of prisoners. "Faster you cooperate, the faster we can get the hell outta this bitch!" the group was silent, staring at them with disinterest.

"I can help you find level 3," Mr 3 stated, taking a step forward. "However, I need you lot to guarantee that Buggy, myself and all these wonderful folks, get out of this alive." the group of prisoners cheered behind the wax man. Trip rolled her eyes.

"Sure sure, whatever. Show us to level 3 already," the older woman sneered. The wax man jumped nervously, running in a certain direction. Trip and her group followed behind, as well as Buggy, he couldn't just abandon his new pal! The troop of prisoner followers, cheered from afar.

A turn here, a twist there. The labyrinth of halls was dizzying, Tani could barely tell what direction they were headed-

"Here we are," Mr 3 motioned towards the entrance of-

"Is that a sphinx?" Tani pointed towards the large man faced cat. It sat in the centre of the room, tail swaying hypnotically.

"The stairs to level 3 are behind the guardian sphinx-" Trip ran off without hearing the end of Mr 3's explanation. The woman B-lining towards the stone stairs that the creature protected.

"She's gonna get herself killed," Buggy looked at the woman, a small smile crawling on his face. "Good riddance," he spat.

"Come on big nose, and candle stick guy." Luffy grinned, grabbing both of the men, by the arm. "You haven't finished showing us to level 3 yet," Luffy snickered... Sneaky bastard. Tani gave a sickly sweet smile.

"That's right," she sang, "You wouldn't want to look bad, in front of all your loyal followers." she motioned her hand towards the crowd of chanting prisoners. Buggy looked at Mr 3, turning back to face his loyal underlings.

"That's right! We have a duty, to show these brats the way down." Buggy declared, the crowd went wild with praise. Buggy's ego was thriving.

The squad ran into the area. Trip was blinking around the room, while the sphinx tried to smack her down. Leaving behind large paw print shaped holes with every smash.

"What took you guys so long?" Trip teased, "Leaving all the fun for me? You shouldn't have." she zipped around the room with every sentence uttered. Luffy looked at her powers with awe. He didn't like the bossy boots very much, but she was pretty cool.

Tani stilled, a striking crack noise, pierced her ear. The ground... THE GROUND!

"Guys-"

*smash*

The sphinx smashed another hole into the ground, Tani held her breath. The stone that held their weight slowly crumbled. The sound deafening as she anticipated what was inevitable...

Tani sighed, walking towards Luffy, jumped on his back and hugged her limbs around him.

The floor gave out underneath them, leaving them with a comically short amount of time to all look at each other with realization, before plummeting towards the next level of this infernal place.

...

This was the worst floor so far...

Blazing desert heat, scorched against the exposed skin of all who walked through her burning rays. Tani could feel her sweat sweating from this torturous heat!

"Thirsty," Luffy whined. Tani had a water bottle in her bag, but she knew Luffy well. The second he saw it, he'd shove the whole thing in his mouth, and drain it.

After this level. After this level.

"Finally!" Trip groaned, pointing at the buildings that approached. "Hurry up you lot. Oscar said we need to hit level 4 before the day changes." she reminded. Tani nodded, grabbing Luffy by the hand with a soft smile. Luffy grinned back.

The trio ran (having lost Mr 3 and Buggy during the fall), Trip could see the stairs to the next level already. This was too-

*Bang*

-Easy...

A net scooped up Tani, the girl having pushed Luffy out of the nets grasp. The girl flopped to the ground, kicking the net that tightened with every movement she made. It didn't help that the net was heavy! What was it made of? Boulders?

"Tani!" Luffy dropped to his knees, hands moving to grab the net. Tear it open-

"Luffy, take out those guys!" Trip ordered. A look of concern on her face. Luffy looked at her with an unreadable face. "Trust me, you don't wanna touch that." she implored. Luffy looked back at the trapped girl, she nodded.

"Go, I'll be just fine." she promised. Luffy nodded, jumping to his feet and running towards the guards. Arms stretching behind him, readying a gum gum gatling. Trip dropped to Tani's side, pulling out the knife, strapped to her hip.

"How much longer until it's tomorrow?" Tani asked. Trip looked at her with a tense expression, quickly shifting it to that of confidence.

"About 30 minutes, give it take 5," she shrugged. Slicing open the front of the net. Tani crawled out of the opening, Trip offered her hand in assistance.

Something was wrong with her... She looked worried.

"Why-"

"Let's go help your boyfriend," Trip butt in, turning away before Tani could speak again.

She'd ask later.

A loud roar, startled the younger girl. A shadow glided from the artificial sun, a large cat like figure flew towards them.

"Shit, it's the sphinx again." Trip cursed. Running towards the bulk of the guard army. Tani kept an eye of for Luffy, any flashes of aqua blue-

There! He was back to back with a new figure, this one donned prison garments. They were tall, with black hair cut into a bowl shape. Legs slim and pointed, like that of a ballerina.

"Nyooo~" the man's voice sang, striking down an enemy that dared to approach the much smaller Luffy.

Tani's face cracked into a grin. She knew that voice, she remembered that flamboyant man that proclaimed his ever lasting friendship with the straw hat pirates. His sacrifice wouldn't ever be in vain.

"Bon Clay!" Tani cheered. Running towards the pair with excitement. This was the first ally Tani was certain, wouldn't throw them under the bus.

The drag queen turned his head to face her with a happy grin.

"Tani darling~" he cooed. Tani leapt towards the duo, ready to assist in any way she could.

"Let's get this over with!" Tani yelled. The men beside her roared with determination.

The sphinx landed before them, growling at them with anger in its voice.

The pirates didn't flinch, if anything, the growl made them more excited.

"Charge!" Tani barked.

The battle lasted less than 5 minutes.

The sphinx dropped to the ground, knocked into the land of dreams. The trio stood victorious, staring at the ocean of knocked out guards that Trip had left behind.

Where was Trip?

"Over here!" speak of the devil. Trip waved from the entrance of a pit. The trio raced towards the older woman, Trip was bouncing from one foot to the next. Impatience clear on her face.

Once they regrouped, Trip lead them towards the pit, staring down, Tani let out a groan. Luffy didn't need to be asked, he lowered himself for Tani to jump onto. Trip let out a sigh.

"Alright ladies, fair warning..." she turned to them with dead seriousness. "The Trip you see here right now, and the Trip you'll see on the other end of the tunnel. Are not gonna be the same one." she warned.

What the hell did that even mean?

"See ya on the flip side," she saluted, taking a jump into the pit below. Her body disappearing into the oppressive dark abyss.

"Well... No point waiting." Tani stated, a shake in her voice.

Level 4 was meant to be the game changer. One wrong move, and the whole shebang was over.

"Let's go then!" Luffy declared. Tani held on tight, the captain took a step forward. Dropping into the pit, none the wiser.

Tani had a feeling that something bad was waiting on the other side.

She just hoped her gut feeling was wrong.

(A/N: It's been a while! Sorry for taking so long. These next few chapters are all action packed! And as we all know... Action is not my forte... At all!

I've also been dealing with this nasty little monster called my mental health issues. A lot as happened and I haven't been handling it well at all. So forgive me for any longish breaks between updates.

ALSO! WE PASSED 50K READS!!! HOW AWESOME IS THAT! I can't thank you guys enough for that, next thing you know, we'll be hitting 100K! God, the me from last year would have passed out from such a large number. You guys are awesome!

That's a for today! I love you all so much, and really can't thank you enough for your wonderful support!

Smooches!!!!)