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chandluretrainez · 1 year

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Usopp Breaks into Impel Down (And Tries to Not Have a Mental Breakdown at the Same Time)

4053 Words | Part 1/6 | Rated T

A sneak attack leads to Luffy and several others stuck in Impel Down awaiting execution. Usopp comes to bail them out, but finds out much more than he bargained for upon arrival.

Ao3: Chandlure

Usopp stood kneeled on the roof of Impel Down, peering over the edge towards the water below. He gulped audibly, he wouldn’t survive a fall from that height.

“Usopp…”

“Ehh…” Usopp stood frozen on the edge, eyes wide with fear.

“Usopp!”

Usopp jumped away from the edge, hugging himself. “Jinbe, you scared the hell out of me, you jerk!”

“You need to focus. I was able to find a way that should lead you onto the base undetected. I can do intel from the outside, as their surveillance doesn’t work underwater.”

“They don’t have fishmen doing surveillance?” Usopp looked back down towards the perilous black waters. “Everything I’ve read about Impel Down says that they did.”

“I did not see any, but I will keep an eye out.”

Usopp looked down, uncertain about what they were about to do, his fingers biting into his arm to keep himself from shaking.

“Usopp, you’ll be okay. I will be right outside if you need anything. I can get to you very quickly. You won’t be alone.”

“What if I fail? Then they will—”

“If you do fail, which you won’t, we have a plan B, remember? You’re the one that came up with it.” Jinbe held Usopp’s shoulders and gave him a little shake. “You came up with this plan too. It’s a brilliant one. You’ve got this.”

“But what if—”

“No,” Jinbe said firmly.

Usopp looked up at him with wide, shocked eyes. Jinbe had never spoken to him that way before. Closing his eyes tightly, he took a deep breath to centre himself. Then, after a moment, he nodded and looked up.

He quickly checked his pockets to make sure he had everything. “How do we get in?” Jinbe looked pointedly down, causing Usopp to scoff. “Of course.”

Jinbe grabbed him before he could protest and jumped off the roof. Usopp screamed, hugging Jinbe tightly as they catapulted through the air. “I hate you SO much,” Usopp screamed as tears fell down his face.

“Hold your breath,” Jinbe warned as they hit the water with a loud splash. Usopp pressed his face into Jinbe’s neck as the man quickly swam deeper into the water. He stopped suddenly before making a sharp left. It suddenly went dark, and Usopp gripped tighter to Jinbe’s shoulders.

When they broke through the water, they found themselves on heated steps leading into a deeper, darker part of the base. Usopp wiped the water from his eyes and blinked around owlishly. He could feel the heat bursting from the walls, almost suffocating them with its oppressiveness.

“Where are we?” Usopp whispered as he began to pile his hair high on his head to keep it off his neck and face. “It feels like Arabasta.”

“Arabasta?”

“It’s a desert we visited while helping Princess Vivi,” Usopp calmly explained. He narrowed his eyes as he tried to peer look, but it was no use. He could hear the terrified screams of the inmates and see the flickering flames a bit ahead of him, but the light didn’t go as far down as they were.

Usopp stared dubiously up the stairs, “This looks like a trap.” He said blandly. “The only thing that would make it look more like one was a huge sign saying ‘Come right in!’ etched in blood on the walls.” He caught the sight of something scrawled on the stone walls to this left. “Ah, look. There it is.”

Jinbe rolled his eyes, “That says ‘Infirmary’ that was where they used to house the marines that fell ill or injured on the job before the seas rose on this area.”

“The sea levels used to be lower?”

“Much lower. Only the fifth and sixth floors used to be underwater.” Jinbe shoved him forward, causing Usopp to stumble on the steps. “Now, go. Stay low and move fast. The kitchens are on this floor, so Marines frequent the area despite how hot it is.” With that, Jinbe was gone, jumping back into the water and disappearing out of sight.

Usopp carefully made his way up the stairs, fingers dragging across the warm stone walls. “God, it’s boiling down here.” He complained, peeling off his black sweater and tying it around his waist.

He crouched at the top of the stairs, grimacing as sweat started to bead on his forehead, the water from his impromptu swim with Jinbe drying up as if siphoned from his skin. He leaned forward and peered around the corner, eyes scanning the area. Flames licked the sides of the walkways and stairs, encasing the entire area in a smokey fog of orange and yellow. In the middle of the floor, which he was able to glimpse from his spot, was the large cauldron of boiling blood. ‘Blazing Hell’ then.

He could spot a den den mushi above his head, slow-moving enough that he should be able to stay out of sight if he moved quickly enough. A large four was painted in black on the wall opposite him. In his line of sight were prisoners parading down the corridor with large logs in their arms, making their way towards the fire. On the opposite end were the prisoners marching back to get more firewood. Both groups were flanked by large men in fireproof suits, several of whom had large bastardised morning star and pitchfork weapons dragging behind them against the cobblestone floors.

Usopp peered up, studying the rafters. That will be his primary way of getting around as it’ll keep him out of sight, but he will have to stay away from the middle of the room. As many as forty men were hung from ropes around their stomachs to dangle above the cauldron. Someone had to put them up there, meaning someone was observing on the rafters. He would also have to make sure he was out of sight as being high up meant that he would be in those prisoners, and marines, line of sight.

“I need to find one of the offices,” he muttered to himself. His first goal was to connect to the surveillance den den mushi and see if he could track down his crew mates. He refused to pull a Luffy and go buck wild in a high-security prison with no plan or idea where he was going. Just the fact that he didn’t know where he was going at that point was enough to make him want to tear his skin off.

“Hannyabal’s office is right by the kitchens,” Usopp muttered to himself. “Hannyabal is on vacation, I doubt anyone will be in there going by reports on his personality.”

Usopp did know that the kitchen was on the East side of the building, but being unable to know his position, that information didn’t help him very much. “Guess I just have to start moving,” Usopp muttered to himself.

He had given the crew small earpieces to wear when they were out on their latest adventure, the one where Luffy and half the crew got caught, but the chances of it working underwater or any of them having the earpieces were slim to none. When he was in a safer spot, he would try and see who he could get in contact with. If nothing else, he could keep Nami updated on what was happening. She had stayed behind on the Sunny.

“Right, just have to get to the office. I can do this,” Usopp said in an attempt to psych himself up. Slowly he leaned forward again and studied the den den mushi above him. He watched as it moved back and forth several times until he had an idea of the pattern of movement, and then, he made his move.

In an ideal situation, he would try to blend in with the prisoners or guards, which had been his original plan, especially since the guards had their faces covered which would have made his life so much easier. However, Jinbe had led him to the floor with no preamble, so now he had to work with what he had, which, unfortunately, was not very much.

He quickly made his way down the corridors, ignoring the pleadings from inmates begging to be let out. He wasn’t letting out anyone he didn’t need to. He was not about to be in a crowd of blood-hungry inmates.

Usopp’s mental count hit fifteen, and he pressed himself to the stonewall beside a darkened cell. He scrunched as far away as he could from the bars without exposing himself to the den den mushi above him.

“You’re Yasopp’s boy.”

He froze in shock, wide eyes locking on the long blond-haired man behind the bars beside him. “I’m sorry, who?” He said, playing dumb.

“Usopp, isn’t it? I’m Limejuice. Your father talks about you all the time. I can recognise you just from the stories alone.” The man elaborated.

Usopp wiped the sweat away from his eyes. Luffy had said the same thing when they met. “I’m sorry, Limejuice. While it’s nice to meet you, I have to go. I have to get my crew out of here.”

“He’s here, you know.”

That gave Usopp pause, “My dad is here?” That… might change things.

“Downstairs on the fifth floor, along with a couple more of our members.”

Usopp closed his eyes and cursed. Damn it. He shoved his hands into his bag and pulled out the lockpicking kit Nami had given him. He pointed it directly at the man. “If you get in my way, I’m leaving you. My goal is to get Luffy and the others out of here.”

The man cocked his head to the side as he watched Usopp make quick work of the lock, slowed down only by the den den mushi roving over the area every fifteen seconds. “Fuck, that hurts,” Usopp hissed, licking at his hand as the door popped open.

Limejuice slipped through the gate, picked up the pick, made quick work of his shackles, and then slid it back into Usopp’s bag. “Where were you headed?”

“Hannyabal’s office by the kitchens. It’s on the East side of the building.”

Limejuice sighed heavily, rubbing a hand over his long greasy blond hair. “It’s on the opposite side. You were going the wrong way.”

Usopp’s eyes widened, “Shoot, really? Would you be able to lead us there?”

He gave Usopp a pointed look, “You will have to blend in. We won’t get within ten feet past the cauldron with you dressed that way.”

Usopp looked down at his clothes, “But what could I wear instead?”

Limejuice pointed behind him into the cell. In the back corner, where rats were nibbling on the flesh and bones of a past inmate.

Usopp shook his head, “You can’t be serious. I can’t wear that. God only knows what diseases I will catch from that thing.”

“Hm, that’s fair. You can just get chucked into a vat of boiling blood instead,” Limejuice said nonchalantly.

Usopp sucked on his teeth and walked determinedly towards the body. He reached out before recoiling and reaching out again.

“You said you were on Luffy’s crew?”

Usopp turned to sneer at the man before reaching out a shaking hand and pulling on the ripped black and white striped shirt. The rats scurried away from the body, and the head fell off, rolling past Usopp’s feet. “I want to be boiled alive after this,” he muttered to himself, ignoring the tears welling up in his eyes as he pulled the shirt off the body.

He made quick work of the pants before running back over to Limejuice. “Luffy owes me all of his seconds and thirds for the rest of the year,” Usopp growled and pulled on the prisoner top over his wet tank top and bag. Luckily, the shirt was baggy enough that unless someone was looking at him too closely, he should be able to hide the bag as it was smaller than the one he usually carried. It was one of the things Nami had insisted upon.

Unluckily…

He gagged, retching at the smell of the outfit. Usopp shoved a hand over his nose, the other frantically pawing through his bag to find his nose plugs. “Ah ha!” Usopp wasted no time sliding them in his nose.

He sighed in relief, “That’s better.” He scrunched his nose up, “I’m never going to get that smell out of my hair.” He quickly pulled on the pants over the ones he was wearing. The less skin-to-skin contact the clothes made with him, the less therapy that Usopp would need when this was over.

Usopp shook his head, “The den den moves back and forth. Once it faces one way, we have exactly fifteen seconds before it turns back towards us. As long as we keep count, stay low and keep out of sight when they turn towards us, we should be able to get to the middle of the floor with no issues within a few minutes. My question is, what do we do after that? How do we get into the groups and then out again without being seen?”

“We have two choices the way I see it,” Limejuice said thoughtfully. “We can try and slip in the group that is going to pick up firewood and then try and slip out on the way back.”

Usopp looked up thoughtfully, arms crossed over his chest. “While that seems like the smartest way, they have marines on those groups' front, back and middle. They'll catch us trying to escape as we won't be lost in a large group. Not to mention, they will likely notice that we aren’t chained like the other men. That could bring unneeded attention to us as well.”

Limejuice nodded, “Exactly. The other option is the rafters.”

“That was my initial idea,” Usopp admitted, looking up at the large wooden beams. "I was worried about getting caught by whoever was putting the men in the rafters. Someone has to be observing from up there. I am slightly less worried about being caught by the people attached to the rafters, but if they are loud enough, they will cause a ruckus too.”

“Rafters don’t have den den mushi on them.”

“And wood is a natural insulator. That means it’ll likely be a little cooler up in the rafters, although we will have to contend with the smoke.”

“Smokers Lung, that’ll be fun.”

“It’s better than running through the middle of the floor and getting caught.” He looked down at Limejuice’s feet. “On top of that, your footwear is not ideal for this floor. The closer we get to the fire, the more likely those synthetic fibres will melt into your feet.”

Usopp peered around the corner to the den den mushi and then scaled the jail cell, climbing neatly onto the beams above their heads. Usopp cocked his head to the side, “Are you coming?”

Limejuice chuckled under his breath and swiftly climbed the jail cell, climbing neatly beside Usopp. He crouched, grabbing the beam above them and pulling himself up onto that. “Coming?”

Usopp huffed and followed him up. He paused on the second to last beam and squinted before pulling on his goggles.

“You came prepared,” Limejuice said, impressed.

“Hmm,” Usopp acknowledged. “Not prepared enough, but some. I’ll feel better once I can hack into the security feeds.” He stood and pointed. “We have to go that way, right?”

Limejuice nodded, “That would be the quickest way.”

Usopp nodded, took a deep breath and pulled himself up onto the last beam. He bit his lip as he concentrated before slowly making his way across the beam. He kept low and took slow calculating breaths as he crawled. He paused like a deer in headlights as a den den scanned past him. It paused for a moment before smoothly moving away again. Usopp sighed in relief. He finally made it to the next beam and sat down, cocking his head to the side. “Are you coming?”

He jumped and was over beside Usopp in a second, causing the sniper to press himself against the stone wall. “Did I startle you?” Limejuice smiled.

“Shut up,” Usopp snapped, wiping his sweaty hands on his pants before grimacing. “Ugh, there is another four years in therapy.” He stuck out his tongue and wiped his hands on the beams. He got up and started slowly making his way across the beams, allowing Limejuice to jump ahead of him. They stopped on the final beam before the large vat of blood and prisoners appeared.

Usopp pressed himself to the wall and studied the area around them. “We can’t use the beams over the vat.”

“We could,” Limejuice countered.

“You could,” Usopp said. He pointed to the left, “I am going that way.”

He took a step before Limejuice pulled on his shoulder, causing him to lose his balance. Usopp wrapped his arms tightly around the man’s waist and glared up at him. “What the fuck is your problem!?”

“That way has a broken beam. You have to go the other way,” Usopp shakily let go of Limejuice and followed his finger. There indeed, was a broken beam he wouldn’t have made it across without making a scene of himself.

Limejuice took a step away from him and started making his way the other way. Usopp followed, albeit more shakily. It took ten more minutes of Usopp and Limejuice slowly walking over the beams and one moment of Usopp getting lost in the scene of two men being thrown into the vat of blood to boil alive — “There is another ten years on the couch.” before they finally made it to the last beam above Hannyabal’s office.

Usopp leaned forward and studied the den den mushi that focused on Hannyabal’s door. “These are ten seconds, and it’s out in the open. I need a dis—”

“DINNER!”

Usopp covered his ears and pressed against Limejuice as the corridors filled with marines marching into the kitchens. Limejuice moved to cup Usopp’s hip and pressed him closer as a marine almost caught sight of them. “Stay very still.” He whispered hotly in Usopp’s ear, causing the sniper to flush red.

Usopp closed his eyes and relaxed against Limejuice, taking deep breaths until he no longer heard the bustling of hungry marines. Limejuice gave him a squeeze and then let him go. “We should be fine now.”

Usopp nodded and pulled away, looking down to hide his flushing face. “You stay here. I’ll get the door open.” He watched the den den mushi, counted under his breath and leaned down, hanging from the rafters from his knees and leaning down to work the lock. As the den den moved his way, he pulled up and dropped back down as it looked away. Finally, it popped open after seven minutes of fighting with the lock. Usopp sighed in relief and jumped down before sliding inside. Limejuice followed him, making sure to firmly shut the door and bolt it when he was safely inside.

“Do you know anything about surveillance den den mushi?” Usopp asked as he pulled out one of the den den mushi he had stolen from a marine ship several months back.

The room was covered in surveillance den monitors covering every room and floor. “These show much more than I thought,” Usopp muttered to himself.

There was knocking on the glass behind the desk. “Do you know him?” Limejuice asked as he pointed towards the fishman.

“That’s Jinbe,” Usopp waved, and Jinbe motioned towards his ear, indicating that Usopp should put his earpiece in.

Usopp nodded and slipped it in, turning it on. “Jinbe, do you hear me?”

“Usopp, I see you made it safely.” Jinbe stared down Limejuice, “And you’ve made a friend.”

He looked behind himself to Limejuice, “Ah, he’s on Shanks’ crew with my father. His crew apparently got caught up in a raid like ours.” Usopp scratched at his arms and huffed out a sigh. “Have you been able to locate anyone? We are safe here, and I think I can take my time, but I am all for anything to help us out of here and me out of these clothes quicker.”

“Luffy is on the sixth floor, he’s chained with seastone. I was able to talk to him. It seems he has his earpiece still in. Very good work on those. The marines hadn’t been able to find them.”

“Is he okay?” Usopp turned his back on Jinbe and started going through the feeds. “Limejuice, can you see if you can find a blueprint or something here? It’ll make it easier to mark where everyone is and make the best plan of action.”

Limejuice nodded and reached out to take the lockpick that Usopp handed him. He started with the filing cabinet and made quick work of it before moving on. “We have files here with the names of inmates. If we can’t find someone, we can take a look in these...”

Usopp nodded and crossed his legs as he focused on the security den den in front of him. “Jinbe, are you good? Any fishmen out there?”

“None that I have found. Is there anything I can do on my end?”

Usopp huffed out a sigh, “If I can’t find someone on the security circuits, Limejuice can find them in the files if you can just check and see if they are in the area? I really want to try and know where everyone is before we— what the hell, Chopper.” Usopp allowed his head to fall into his hands before he started giggling uncontrollably. “Jinbe, do you see this?” Jinbe floated up until he could clearly see the screen from behind Usopp’s shoulder.

“Is he eating candy?” Jinbe squinted to get a better look at the screen. “What is that behind him?”

“A large pot of boiling water and vegetables with venison seasoning on the counter.”

Jinbe shook his head, “He’s too trusting.”

Limejuice came up behind Usopp and pressed a hand to his shoulder, leaning over him to get a look at the screen. “He’s on your crew?”

Usopp shrugged his hand off, ignoring how the warmth of the other man’s hand brought a blush to his face. The two years of training where he had little to no touch were obviously taking its toll on him. “He’s our doctor. He’s usually brilliant.” Usopp shook his head, “Tends to be blinded by candy, though. Jinbe, stand by. I’m going to try and get in contact with Chopper.”

Usopp pressed his ear bug and closed his eyes, listening to the feed coming in through the earbud. Limejuice tapped his shoulder and shooed Usopp away to take over the security monitoring.

“Hello?” Usopp asked, cocking his head to the side. “Anyone who is not Nami, Brook or Jinbe there?”

“Usopp!”

“Luffy, how are you feeling?” Usopp asked, snapping his fingers at Limejuice and writing the number six in the air.

Limejuice nodded and showed him the sixth-floor feeds. “I’m starving,” Luffy complained, causing Usopp to roll his eyes. “Where are you?”

“Hannyabal’s office,” Usopp said nonchalantly.

“Eh, you’re here? Who else is with you?”

“Just Jinbe, but he’s running intel outside.” Usopp caught sight of Limejuice, “Oh right, and Limejuice.”

“Limejuice?” Usopp could hear the cogs moving in Luffy’s head, “From Shanks’ crew? What are you doing with him?”

“He was in one of the cells on the fourth floor. He’s helping me get around.”

“Huh, so who is here?”

“Sanji, Zoro, Robin, Franky and Chopper from our side.” Limejuice rattled off some names, which Usopp dutifully rattled back to Luffy. “Shanks, Yasopp, Monster and Hongo from the Red-Haired Pirates crew.”

“Shanks is here too?”

“I’m assuming somewhere by you. We are currently looking at the feeds now.”

“Are the others okay?”

“Well, they are preparing to cook Chopper but other than that—”

“Usopp, don’t look at the screen!” Jinbe yelled through the earpiece, causing Usopp to jump and almost drop it. He turned to glare at the fishman who was frantically knocking on the window. “Don’t look.”

“What… why?” He turned and froze as he caught sight of Franky on the screen. “Oh.”

“Usopp, what’s going on?” Luffy asked, his voice raising an octave. “Are you okay?”

“It’s Franky, he…”

Part 2 Part 3

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chandluretrainez · 1 year

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Usopp Breaks into Impel Down (And Tries to Not Have a Mental Breakdown at the Same Time)

4055 Words | Part 2/6 | Rated T

A sneak attack leads to Luffy and several others stuck in Impel Down awaiting execution. Usopp comes to bail them out, but finds out much more than he bargained for upon arrival. Part 1

Ao3: Chandlure

“Usopp, don’t look at the screen!”

Usopp jumped in response to Jinbe’s shouting through the earpiece, and he came dangerously close to dropping it. The fishman was feverishly pounding on the window, motioning for him to not look at the screens behind him. “Don’t look!”

“What… why?” When he turned around and saw Franky on the feed, he stopped dead in his tracks. “Oh.”

“Usopp, what’s going on?” Luffy asked, his voice raising an octave. “Are you okay?”

“It’s Franky, he... ” The constriction Usopp felt in his throat caused him to cough. “I don’t think he’s okay.” Usopp leaned over Limejuice and typed in a key phrase, focusing the den den in front of him on Franky. “I… I can’t see everything, but he’s missing his arms and a significant portion of his front is gone.”

Usopp typed again, bringing the screens' focus back on Luffy. Luffy had pulled his knees up to his face and taken a deep breath to compose himself before answering. “Next steps?”

"Hm," Usopp said, running his hand through his hair. “He looks to be in the medical lab on the second floor.” Usopp typed in a few more phrases and waited as the feed to the front of the medical rooms loaded. “There doesn’t seem to be anyone on that floor, so we might be able to have Chopper check on him before we get the rest of you. At least to let him know we are here. He isn’t answering through the earpiece.”

“Can you get anyone else on the earpiece?”

Usopp shook his head, saying, “No one else is answering, but that could be because they fell out of the raid. They aren’t meant to fall out so easily, but the way the Marines were jostling Zoro and Sanji, I wouldn’t be surprised if they had fallen out of their ears.” Usopp closed his eyes and rubbed a hand through his hair, saying, “Which is a whole other problem, but I can deal with that back on the Sunny.

"While I have you, Luffy, we need somewhere to put everyone once they are released. We can’t just have everyone running together as a group.”

“Floor 5.5 is still up and running. The Marines don’t know about it. I think Bon-chan is leading it now.” Luffy said after a moment of thought. “I’m sure he will let us meet up there.”

Usopp groaned through the receiver. “Lovely, he never leaves me alone.”

Luffy snickered, “He thinks you’re pretty.”

“I am pretty,” was Usopp’s bratty reply. He clapped his hands together. “Okay, we will have everyone meet up on floor 5.5. Also, if anybody else has Zoro, please keep a close eye on him and don't let him out of your sight. He is so dimwitted that he’s been known to get lost walking on a straight path.”

“OI!”

Usopp blinked rapidly and said, "Zoro, what the hell!? I've been trying to contact you for nearly an hour!"

“I was sleeping,” Zoro muttered.

Usopp rubbed his forehead, where a throbbing pain began to make itself known. “Where are you?”

“I was on the fifth floor, but they brought me down to the sixth floor about two hours ago.”

“Did you get into a fight with Sanji, and they decided to separate you?”

“I bet they were fucking, and that was why they decided to bring Zoro down here.” Luffy said bluntly.

“They could have been fight fucking,” Usopp offered. “They've—ooh, Zoro is in the next cell over Luffy.”

“For the last time, the princess and I do not sleep together!”

“Eh, Zoro, you’re so loud,” Luffy complained.

“More important than Zoro and Sanji’s sex lives, Zoro, can you tell me who else was on the fifth floor with you?”

"There was the pervert cook and two other guys. One was a sniper, I think the other was a doctor."

“Those other two are likely from Shanks’ crew. Do you remember the cell block you were in? I’m trying to properly locate everyone before I start getting you guys out.”

“Why not just smash the walls down?”

“Why not just smash the walls down,” Usopp mocked. “Fat load of good that did you, no, Zoro? I’m the one that wasn’t caught, so we are doing it my way. Once you get your swords back, you can Hulk-smash as much as your little heart desires.”

Zoro scoffed. He never approved of the way Usopp and some of the others had to plan out every single detail, but Usopp supposed it was easy for men like Zoro and Luffy to not worry about those details. They were so powerful they could destroy everything in their path, Usopp had to outsmart whatever came his way.

“Placement?”

“Pervert Cook was with me in cell block eight. Those two guys were in the cell across from us.”

“So, we have found Yasopp and Hongo, but still need to find Shanks and Monster.” Limejuice exhaled deeply as he thought as he watched Usopp write down notes on the notepad he pulled from the desk drawer. “Shanks is probably on floor 6 with Luffy.”

“All the Straw Hats have been located.” Usopp pressed a button, pulling up images from all of the den den mushi on the sixth floor and nudged Limejuice, “Do you see your captain anywhere?”

Limejuice folded his arms across his chest, a frown playing on his lips. “I don’t think so…”

“Oi, Shanks, are you here!?” Luffy called loudly.

Zoro, Usopp and Jinbe all yanked their earpieces from their ears, the ringing from Luffy’s voice causing them discomfort. “Luffy, warn us before you scream like that!” Usopp chastised, holding his ear. “You could have deafened us.”

“Eh, Where are you!?” Luffy asked. Usopp, Jinbe and Limejuice watched through the feed as Luffy tried to stretch his head forward, but fell face first in a puddle of dirty water instead. “Ugh, so weak.”

“Usopp, Shanks is in cell block 3,” Luffy said, pulling up his head weakly.

Usopp typed in a code and brought up cell block three. “Is that him, Limejuice?”

Limejuice nodded and said, “That’s the idiot all right.”

“That leaves us with finding Monster.” Usopp ran a hand through his hair as he frowned. “I don’t think I even remember that crew member, can you describe him a bit, Limejuice?”

“He’s a monkey.”

“Okay, so he shouldn’t be so hard to find.” Usopp turned and took a red, blue and green marker from the jar on Hannyabal’s desk. He spread out the impel down blueprints and opened the red marker. “I will grab Chopper from the kitchen next door.” Usopp marked ‘Chopper’ on the plans and drew a red line from Hannyabal’s office to the kitchens. “I’ll bring him here, and we will all go up to the second floor using the elevator.

“Once on the second floor, Limejuice, you can take the elevator down to the fifth floor. They do checks hourly and it takes about fifteen minutes. So once it is 18:20, you should be able to go through the floor unseen.”

Usopp drew a green line marking the elevator on the fifth floor, writing Limejuice going to the fifth floor. He flipped to the fifth floor blueprint. “Now, Zoro said that they were on cell block eight, so you will want to take a left at the elevators, that should lead you straight there.” Usopp drew a neat line from the elevator to cell block eight.

“Once you release them, you should bring them to floor 5.5, which is between floors five and six. From what Luffy has told me, you can get there through a secret passageway which is in the base of the large pine tree that is closest to cellblock twenty. There is a fake piece of bark you should be able to move and that will reveal stairs leading to floor 5.5.”

“Once I drop Chopper off at floor two, I’ll take the elevator down to floor six and get Luffy, Zoro and Shanks out of their cells. Then, I’ll lead them up to floor 5.5.”

“Jinbe, your job is to find everyone’s weapons and meet us on floor 5.5 when you have them.”

“I can do that.”

Usopp flipped through the blueprints, “According to these blueprints, there is a weapon room on the North side of the first floor.” He took the blue marker and circled the weapons room. “Zoro is missing his three swords, Wado, Sandai and Enma. Do not touch Sandai directly if you can help it. Limejuice, is anyone missing weapons from your group?”

“Yasopp had his musket. It's fairly long, with silver on both ends and brown in color. I am missing my staff, it’s very long and dark brown— make sure you don’t touch it directly, it’s electrically charged. Shanks’ saber will also be there. It’s longer than the average saber, with a long green hilt and a beige guard. It should be in a blue sheathe.”

Usopp nodded and wrote down the weapons and their descriptions on the blueprint. He took tape and pasted it to the window for Jinbe to study. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a small device and held it up for Jinbe to see. “Do you have this on you?”

Jinbe gave him a thumbs up and said, “It’s in the waterproof bag in my kimono.”

“Do you remember how to use it?”

“Attach it to the lock, press the green button, and step back while it blows up the lock?”

“That’s its last resort,” Usopp said with a roll of his eyes. “The first thing you should do, to avoid an explosion, is attach it to the lock and press the purple button. The purple button will run through all likely combinations and try to open it that way first. Then, if that doesn’t work, you use the green button.”

Jinbe nodded, focusing all of his attention on the blueprint in front of him and the descriptions of all of the weapons he needed to find.

“Usopp, they look like they are clearing out of the kitchen.” Usopp sat back down at the desk and studied the feeds, a frown growing on his face. “Why are they all going upstairs, do they have mandatory training or something?”:

“What?” Limejuice returned his gaze to the screens, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. “That’s odd, usually the night shift would be there to take the day shift’s places, but I don’t see anyone at the usual posts.”

Usopp huffed out a breath. “I’m not going to worry about it. The fewer of them there are, the better for us.”

“Why don’t you go get your crewmate, and I’ll finish up these maps?” Limejuice suggested.

Usopp stood and stretched, moaning slightly when his back cracked. “Okay, I got this. Go in, grab Chopper, and get out.” he muttered to himself while walking towards the door. He took a deep breath, his hand shaking as it met the warm doorknob.

He gulped and opened the door a crack, peering outside into the flickering red light of the flames surrounding the fourth floor. He cautiously slipped out, closing the door firmly behind him. Usopp tiptoed to the kitchen door, pressed himself up against the side, and peered into the gated window.

Chopper was still on the table, in front of the pot of boiling vegetables, dozing off amid a heap of candy wrappers. “Ugh, I really hope they didn’t drug him.”

A look to the left showed Usopp that in the farthest corner of the kitchen, there were still several Marines there, stacking and stowing away all of the pots, plates, and cutlery used for the evening meal.

“You’re sneaky, you’re stealthy, you got this!” Usopp whispered to himself and went down on all fours. He lightly pushed the door, and crept into the kitchen, stopping only when he was safely under the closest table. He sat below it, holding his breath as a set of feet neared him and stopped. He was worried he was caught until the sound of plates and cups being thrown into a bin sounded above his head.

“Hey, Ioki, do you think the rumors are true?”

“Hm? Which rumors are you referring to?”

The Marine moved to the table beside his, and Usopp took that moment to quickly slide out from the table he was hiding under, around the table in front of it and just made it under the table that was halfway between the door to the kitchen and Chopper’s table. He had just pulled his foot clear of the oncoming Marine as the man reached the table to clear that one off as well.

"That all of those Red Haired and Straw Hat Pirates are being executed tonight?"

“Bro, they’re executing everyone tonight. Nothing will be left come morning." The man paused to accept the bin of dirty dishes from his peer. “Not that we will be here to witness it.”

Usopp halted, his eyebrows furrowing in bewilderment. “What are they talking about?” he muttered to himself. He gritted his teeth and sprinted out from under the table, pausing only when he was under the table Chopper was sleeping on.

He nibbled on his lip as he pondered what the men were talking about. An execution made sense, especially for those on level six. That was the reason they were there after all, but what did that guy mean about ‘nothing being left come morning’. He ignored the dropping of his stomach and instead reached above his head, feeling for Chopper. He seized a hoof and pulled, holding out his arms, when Chopper rolled off the table. Usopp put his hand firmly on Chopper's muzzle to stop him from yelling and giving away their location.

Chopper wriggled about in Usopp’s arms, pushing against his hands and wrists as they held him firm against Usopp’s chest. Usopp was about to put Chopper down as he looked to be claiming, but then the reindeer bit him. “Ow! It’s me, Chopper.”

“U-Usopp!?”

“Shh, you’re going to give us away.” Usopp stuck his bleeding finger into his mouth and leaned forward to get a better look at the Marines. He pulled back and motioned for Chopper to stay quiet as the Marine cleaning off the tables wiped down the table and bench they were under.

"That's a shame," muttered the young Marine. “I was really looking forward to venison when we got off shift tonight.” He threw his rag into the bucket of grey water and wiped his hands on his apron. “Why exactly are we doing these dishes then? We should go get packed.”

Ioki paused for a moment before throwing the plate in his hands into the sink. “You’re right.”

The two men took off their aprons, throwing them haphazardly on the table before exiting the kitchen. They turned off the lights, plunging Usopp and Chopper into darkness.

After a minute of complete silence, Usopp nodded. “I think we are good now. Let’s go, Chopper.”

“Where are we going?”

Usopp crawled out from beneath the table and paused briefly to allow Chopper to jump on his shoulder before continuing to the exit. “Next door to Hannyabal’s office, and then up to the second floor to check up on Franky.”

“What’s wrong with Franky?”

Usopp didn’t answer him as they approached the door. He opened it slightly and peered outside, listening carefully. No one was in the corridors, so he carefully slipped out of the kitchen to Hannyabal’s office. He closed the door to the office firmly behind him, sighing in relief. “How did you fair?”

Limejuice waved the blueprints in his hand and said, “I mapped out everyone except Monster." I haven’t been able to find him yet.”

“Who’s Monster?

“He’s a monkey on our crew. One of our officers and musicians.”

“Oh! Does he have brown hair, a white stomach, and his hair tied up like a pineapple?"

Limejuice raised both of his eyebrows, “Yes actually. Do you know where he is?”

“He’s on the second floor in one of the medical bays. They had him in the cage next to mine before they brought me down to the kitchens to give me dinner.”

“You mean to fatten you, You do know they wanted to eat you, right Chopper?”

“Wah, Usopp, you’re so mean!”

Usopp sighed in frustration. He pressed a button causing all of the feeds to open up. “The Marines are all in their rooms, packing, so we should go up now to the second floor and see what we can find.”

“I’ll go up to the weapon’s room now.” Jinbe said before disappearing in a wave of bubbles.

Usopp pointed towards the now empty window. “Jinbe is going up to find the weapons, and we are taking this elevator here to the second floor. If these blueprints are accurate, we should be let off in the main medical lab.”

Limejuice pressed the button to call for the elevator while Usopp gathered their blueprints, he stared at the feeds, his frown deepening.

“Usopp, are you okay?” Chopper asked, pulling on his hair to get his attention.

“Something’s just not adding up. Where are all the Marines going?” Usopp growled in frustration. “There’s something we are missing.”

“Elevators here,” Limejuice called, holding his hand in front of the door to keep it from closing.

Usopp and Chopper piled in beside him. Usopp leaned back against the wall, breathing heavily through his nose. “Something isn’t adding up, I don’t like this.” He pulled at the strands of his hair, stopping only when Chopper tapped his hands.

“The plan is solid, I think you’re worrying too much.” Limejuice commented as he stepped out of the elevator and waited for the other two to follow him into the dark medical lab.

“This doesn’t look weird to you?” Usopp hissed, flinging his hand out to showcase the room. “What big time medical lab is closed at six in the evening?”

“It is a bit odd,” Chopper admitted with a frown. “None of the equipment is working either.” He jumped off Usopp’s shoulder and scurried towards a large fridge that held vials of blood. “This isn’t even on, that means that the blood samples are useless for any testing they would be doing. Why would they just waste blood like that?”

“Chopper, do you know where you were caged?” Limejuice asked, walking around the room himself.

Chopper paused in his rant to close his eyes and sniff the air. “Behind that door over there.” He said this while pointing his hoof to the metal door on the right. Limejuice nodded and left the room to check the area.

“We should follow him,” Usopp said with a sigh. He slipped through the door, holding it open for Chopper with his foot, before allowing it to shut behind him.

He shook his head and sighed heavily as he studied the room around him. That room, too, looked as if everyone had pulled the plug on all of their experiments and just left them to rot. “It’s like Impel Down is being abandoned.”

“That’s insane; why would one of the strongest Marine bases in the entire world be abandoned?” Chopper asked, “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Usopp held up his hands, “All I know is that this is how my mother left the Revolutionary laboratory that we abandoned back when I was five.” He turned to smile at Limejuice, “I see you found Monster.”

Limejuice put Monster on the floor and Chopper ran up to him, talking to him and looking him over. Chopper looked over his shoulder to the two men. “Let me look over Monster, you go find Franky.”

There was a muffled sound coming from the wall of closed doors. “Is this… do they keep dead bodies in here?” Usopp shook his head and closed his eyes tightly. “Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. I am not reliving Thriller Bark. Do NOT open that door.”

“U…sopp.”

“It’s calling my name!” Tears rolled down his face, “I can’t handle this.”

Limejuice opened the door where Usopp’s name was coming from and pulled on the rolling bed, revealing Franky.

“Franky!” Usopp and Chopper cried.

Usopp ran over to him, eyes roving over the cyborg’s body. “What did they do to you!?”

“Usopp-bro! You made it.” Franky grinned at him, but it was unnerving and caused Usopp to pause uncertainly by the bed.

“Erm, Franky… what happened your face?” Usopp asked shakily.

“Oh, they removed it.”

Usopp turned, pulling Chopper into his arms. “I can’t look at him, he’s freaking me out.” He took a deep shaky breath, “And and and… where would your face be?”

“They cut it apart for sampling.”

“So… you’re going to be like this until we can find you new faux skin?” Usopp squeaked.

“If we can find new faux skin, it’s hard to come by.”

“Oh, great.” Usopp turned to hide his tears. “This is another fifteen years on the couch.”

“Where are the rest of your parts?” Limejuice asked, “Maybe we can help put you back together?”

“A lot of it was taken apart so they could study it. They don’t get access to high tech cyborgs very often. He looked towards his feet, indicating with his chin. “Some of my pieces, a leg and arm, should still be over there, but not much is left.”

“There’s not much I can do,” Chopper said, eyes watering. “I’m sorry, Franky!”

“It’s okay, little-bro, no need to cry. I have a lot of spare parts back at the ship. I’ll be good as new soon enough, you’ll see.” Franky said brightly.

“Okay,” Usopp slapped his thighs. “Chopper, you are going to finish looking over Monster and then you and Monster are going to put Franky back together again, as best as you can. Perhaps, just enough where he won’t lose any extra parts, and if you can get him where he can walk we will be okay.

“Limejuice and I are going downstairs to release the others. I will have Jinbe come collect you when he is done retrieving the weapons and then we will all meet on floor 5.5. Does anyone have any questions?”

“Got it!” Chopper gave him a salute and turned to chat with Monster, gesturing wildly with his hands.

Monster gave him a grin and a thumbs up before answering Chopper’s question, his own hands moving wildly as they spoke.

“Aww, looks like they’ll be best friends. That’s so sweet!” Franky cried.

“Franky, don’t cry! We don’t want you to short circuit!” Usopp warned, holding up his hands and refusing to look at Franky’s face. He turned to Limejuice and motioned with his head. “Let’s get going, it’s already 18:35, if we don’t leave now we will run into the next patrol.”

Usopp was gone from the room in a flash. Limejuice followed after him, stopping at the door to look at Monster. He pointed, “Behave yourself, Monster. Chopper and Franky are in charge.”

Monster released an angry noise in protest.

“None of that,” Limejuice chastised. “Or no more bananas for you.”

Monster stuck out his tongue, causing Limejuice to roll his eyes and slam the door shut behind him. He jogged over to the elevator as Usopp was holding it open for him.

“Nervous?” Limejuice asked, watching as the male next to him twitched. “It’s okay to be scared.”

“I’m not scared. Something is going on and I don’t like that I don’t understand what it is. Something isn’t—”

Red lights flashed, momentarily blinding them.

“W-what’s going on, did they find us out!?”

“Attention all staff, attention all staff. You are requested to leave the grounds IMMEDIATELY. The ships are leaving Impel Down in fifteen minutes, the Buster Call in is one hour. I repeat. Attention all staff, attention all staff. You are requested to leave the grounds IMMEDIATELY. The ships are leaving Impel Down in fifteen minutes, the Buster Call is one hour.”

Part 3

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