I take Oda's angst and MAKE IT WORSE
Title: The Sacrifice
Characters: Luffy, Ace, Jinbei, Bon-chan, Ivankov, Inazuma, Crocodile
Rating: uh, PG for blood?
Beta: naye and shayera (also, many thanks for their encouragement)
So, uh, somewhere on lj someone wrote a ficclet in which Luffy is not tossed into Level 5 after his fight with Magellan - poisoned!Luffy gets thrown into a cell in Level 6. This...is my take on that scenario.
(What's this? No warnings for character deaths? But - no one could survive that!)
EDIT: inspiration for this fic found here
The Sacrifice
They dragged him down to Level 6. The level that did not exist. The Eternal Hell.
They dumped him in a cell and left him there, to die.
"--can't believe he fought the Warden."
"Shit, that's insane."
There was no truer definition of hell, Ace now knew, than watching his little brother - his brother - slowly die while Ace, ten feet away, could do nothing.
And Luffy wasn't giving up. Hadn't since he'd been tossed into the cell across from Ace's. He'd snarled and screamed and refused to succumb, hauled himself over to the bars and gripped them as if he intended to rip them apart with his bare hands. His damaged, bleeding hands.
"I'm *cough* going to... nngggh… get you out. Won't...h-ha…let them… aagghhh… going... to stop them *cough* *cough*"
Ace had no answer to that. His words had abandoned him, along with his heart, his soul, and every part of his being that did not consist of pain, when he first saw Luffy. What had been done to Luffy.
“It’s futile, Strawhat, you’re going to die here,” Crocodile repeated, as he had since Luffy made it obvious that he wasn’t going down without a fight.
“Shutup! I’ll *cough* *cough* deal… unngghhh… with you… later. Nggaahhh!” Luffy slammed his head against the bars - again - and the sound went straight through the shards of Ace’s broken heart.
“Please, have you seen Strawhat Luffy? I need to save him!”
“You vill not find him here - he vas taken to Level 6.”
“Wait - what?! It really - no never mind, please, I need to get there.”
"Impossible."
"Please! I have to save him. And do you know where Ivankov is - none of the prisoners would tell me."
"Mmmmfufufu - that vould be me, Bon-boy."
"You are...the miracle worker - then please! After I have rescued Straw-chan, use your powers to save him! He has been poisoned past the point where he can be saved by an antidote and--"
"You are truly determined to save this boy? Even if it costs you your life?"
"He is my friend!"
The worst. The worst was when Luffy went quiet.
He still coughed, and Ace could hear his unsteady, laboured breathing. But Luffy had stopped screaming his defiance at death, stopped wrenching frantically at his cage. He lay there, hands still wrapped loosely around the bars, but no longer moving. No longer doing anything. If it weren't for the sick, wet, hacking noises he made when he breathed, Luffy might already have been dead.
Ace's entire world was reduced to that sound, each fragile, wheezing breath proof that Luffy was still alive. Felt his heart seize every time the breath came a second late, a second slower.
He had not taken his eyes off Luffy since his brother was brought down, as if he might keep him alive by the weight of his stare alone. It wasn't until Hannyabal stood directly in front of Luffy, breaking that vital line of sight, that Ace even registered he was here.
And when the Vice-Chief reached for Luffy, Ace discovered he still had a voice.
“Don’t touch him!”
“Straw-chan! Straw-chan!”
"STAY AWAY FROM HIM. LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
"Ace-san."
"If you hurt him-"
"ACE-SAN." Jinbei did not raise his voice often and the surprise of it distracted Ace enough to realize that there was...something off about the situation. Staring with the two guardswomen who were accompanying the Vice-Chief.
“…you are not Hannyabal.” Jinbei said. “Who are you?”
The person - who might have been the Vice-Chief’s twin - turned to them with tears in his eyes. “A friend!”
“Vell…this is most interesting.” One of the women bent down and pressed a finger to the bars Luffy had fought against so desperately. A section of it crumbled under her touch. “Impressive Haki… Bon-boy your friend may yet live.”
“Of course he will! He’s not going to- to die from such a small thing. S-stop joking around! He still has to rescue his brother and-”
“Please,” Ace didn’t recognize the voice but realized, almost after the fact, that his lips were moving, “please get Luffy out of here. Please save him.”
“If you take Luffy-kun with you please take Ace-san as well, I beg you!”
“Ace-sa- you’re Straw-chan’s brother!” Hannyabal’s doppelganger exclaimed. “Iva-san we can-”
“Enough, we have no time for this - if you vish to take the Strawhat boy from here, Bon-boy, then ve must hurry, and hope the loss of a dying prisoner goes unnoticed. But if ve take the Ace-boy vith us as vell, the forces of Impel Down vill fall upon us like a storm and the peace of Newkama vill be shattered.”
The fake Hannyabal looked crushed.
“Bo…n…chan?” Luffy, Luffy’s voice! After that terrifying and unnatural silence Ace was so relieved to hear his brother speak he almost paid no attention to how weak Luffy sounded. He was alive, he was conscious - if the strange group got him out now they might be able to save him, he wasn’t so far gone yet, there was still time…
“Straw-chan! Hang on in there, we’re here to save you!”
“A…ce…..”
“Ve have no time to save both you and your brother. If you vish to live, ve must leave now, vithout the Ace-boy. I’m sorry.”
Luffy summoned strength to raise his head and pull at the bars again. “As if *cough* I would-” Luffy crumpled into a coughing fit “--would just…die…hha…when I got…so far. As if…aanggh…I’d leave…”
No no no! “Luffy please, just go with them.”
“Not…leaving *cough* behind…”
“I’m begging you!”
Luffy stopped yanking weakly at the bars and turned his face towards Ace, who knew his brother had gone blind: he’d discovered that fact when Luffy hadn’t recognized Crocodile, for all his sniping, until the former Shichibukai had mentioned his name. But Ace could have sworn his brother looked at him in that moment, looked through him to something only Luffy - ruined eyes notwithstanding - could see. Ace felt a shiver run up his spine. And something… like awe, or warmth, or hope flare in his chest like naked flame.
But then Luffy sagged, the moment lost, and Ace felt as cold and empty and despairing as he had for the past few hours.
“…Very vell.” The woman who had told Luffy they had to leave Ace behind now looked resigned…and something else. Appraising. Impressed. “Very vell. Inazuma, after you have opened the Strawhat-boy’s cell, release the Ace-boy. I vill stun the Den-Den Mushi so that the guards cannot see vhat ve are doing.”
“Hey, hey - let us out too!”
“Silence Level 6! Death Vink!”
Under his crushing fear for Luffy, Ace felt a tug of regret, of grief. Did he dare beg these uncertain rescuers for Jinbei’s freedom when Luffy’s life hung in the balance? Could he betray his friend, who had fought so fiercely for Ace’s sake, by leaving without him? But if he escaped he might…somehow stop the coming confrontation at Marinford-
“Go, Ace-san.”
“Jinbei…” What could he say? I’m sorry, I’m so sorry for what my recklessness, my stupidity has cost you?
“They are not so anxious to keep me here, I will be fine.”
‘Iva-san’ had not missed the exchange. “You are Shichibukai Jinbei, are you not?”
“That is so. I do not wish to cause problems for you, or delay this rescue, but if you release me I swear to defend you if it comes to a fight.”
The Inazuma woman sighed as she started picking the lock on Ace’s chains. “Ivankov, this is foolish.”
“Yes, ve are fools, rescuing even greater fools. But if ve take the Ace-boy vith us, ve might as vell bring the Shichibukai. And…I find myself curious to see how deep the Strawhat-boy’s vill to live runs. Did you see his eyes just now?”
Inazuma finished removing the last chain from Ace’s ankle and he flew from his cell. Luffy Luffy Luffy-
“Do not touch him! You vill be poisoned yourself!” To hell with that but-
Luffy was… Luffy was covered in poison.
And it was destroying him.
Under the sickly-looking fluid his skin was swollen and broken and raw. Luffy was bleeding from… everywhere. Nose, mouth - eyes, oh god his eyes - and from the choked, wet wheezing sounds Luffy was making he’d inhaled poison too.
Ace wanted to gather his brother up in his arms and hold him; ensure that he was still warm - and lend him warmth if he was cold - verify Luffy’s heartbeat for himself, proof that his brother was still alive, that he would live… But could he even touch Luffy without causing him more pain?
His hands hovered over his brother’s body, not quite touching but aching to. Ace was desperate to burn the poison from Luffy’s body, to chase it away with healing, cleansing fire. But Luffy wasn’t Logia, couldn’t be saved by Ace’s Devil’s Fruit.
“Luffy. Luffy!”
“Hush, he has lost consciousness. Bon-boy, how vill we transport him?” Bon-whatever was hovering anxiously over Ace’s shoulder making encouraging noises in Luffy’s direction but at Iva’s question he jumped and looked around as if he expected a safe and medically sound way of moving a critically injured prisoner to materialize in the Eternal Hell.
“I’ll carry him.” Jinbei slung the coat off his back and wrapped Luffy in it, lifting him into his arms easily. Like a battered, broken doll.
“Ivankov, why fight your way through the stairs when I could take you straight through the ceiling?”
“Crocoboy. Mmmfufufuf. It has been a vhile, has it not? Yes, that vould be advantageous.”
Ace had no recollection of how they got out of Level 6 - or even where exactly it was that they ended up. He did not take his eyes off Luffy even once, willing his brother to stay alive until he could be treated.
Ace didn’t so much as blink when the two women turned into men before their eyes, but he objected when the now-giant Ivankov took Luffy from Jinbei and wouldn’t let Ace follow.
“What are you - let me go with him!”
“Ace-san.” If anyone else had tried to restrain him from following Ivankov, Ace would have turned to flame immediately, consequences be damned; but he couldn’t harm Jinbei. Dammit. Dammit!
“Iva-san is a miracle worker! Have faith Ace-chan! Iva-san is Straw-chan’s best chance.” Luffy’s friend flailed encouragingly in his face and if Jinbei hadn’t been holding Ace back he probably would have punched him.
As it was he snarled furiously at the idiots who thought it was a good idea to keep him away from Luffy. His brother was hurt, was dy- was hurt badly and Ace needed to be there for him.
“Ace-san, let these people tend your wounds. Your brother is in good hands.”
Ace allowed Jinbei to drag him away, and even sat still long enough for a man - who may have been a woman - to bandage some of the more heavily-bleeding cuts.
And then Luffy started screaming.
Jinbei’s reflexes alone saved Ace’s nurse from a broken nose, and possibly worse besides. But Ace had had it. “Jinbei, you are my friend, and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but if you don’t let go of me right now I will burn you.”
He arrived in the cave just as Ivankov finished securing a number of chains across a door… behind which Ace could hear the most inhuman screams of agony. Sounds made by his brother.
“What did you do to him!? What did you do!?!”
Ivankov’s blow knocked him into the opposite wall.
“Fool! Did you think I dealt in miracles?! My skill may give him a chance, an opportunity to fight the invading poison! But only if the Strawhat-boy’s vill to life proves stronger than the poison vill he live!”
“This isn’t healing!”
“SILENCE! I have given him the chance to fight for him life. There is nothing more that can be done - he vill save himself, or he vill die! If he can vithstand the pain for two and a half days he vill prevail.”
Two and a half days? Oh god. Luffy.
Ace pushed against the door separating him from his brother. “Let me in! Please!”
“You vill be of no help to him.”
“I don’t care.”
“NNNNGGGGUAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!”
“Please. I just - please. Even if I can’t do anything. At least let me be there for him!”
“Iva-sama!”
Ivankov sighed. “Give me a moment please,” he told Ace, “vhat is it?”
“The guards! They are looking for us! They have the dire wolves out and are combing levels 5 and 6.”
No.
Impel Down was determined to take everything from him. It had taken his dignity, his freedom, his fire, his hope, and his dreams. It had swallowed his friend and taunted Ace with his helplessness. It nearly took Luffy.
NO!
And even now, even now, when his brother had the slimmest chance of surviving, Impel Down was reaching for him again.
Over his dead body.
Ace knew what he was about to throw away. Knew the impossibility of the chance he had been gifted with and that what he was going to do, right now, would seal his fate and that of - almost - everyone he loved. Knew that he was damning his captain and crew. Knew that he was betraying everything Jinbei had fought for.
But he could hear Luffy screaming. Could remember his brother fighting for his life in the hopelessness of Level 6. Luffy might yet live still; there was a chance, a hope, that Ace’s reckless stupidity would not cost the lives of everyone he cared about. But if Magellan found him now- no. No.
Jinbei knew too. Ace saw it on his face when he walked into the main cave, and towards the exit. Towards his death, and he was too cold to even care about that anymore.
“Jinbei, I-- I’m sorry. Look after my brother for me, please.”
“Ace-san I can’t just-”
“Please.”
Luffy needed two days. If Ace could distract the guards of Impel Down long enough, if he could cause enough chaos, destroy enough of the prison, then the guards would be too busy trying to secure the prison, quiet riots, rebuild, to look for a group of semi-mythical prisoners. Luffy would have time to recover. If the prison was plunged into enough turmoil, Luffy might even be able to escape, when he came to.
“Live, Luffy.”
When Ace saw his brother fall out of the sky into the harbour at Marinford, not 24 hours later, he was understandable furious. And not a little relieved.
Characters: Luffy, Ace, Jinbei, Bon-chan, Ivankov, Inazuma, Crocodile
Rating: uh, PG for blood?
Beta: naye and shayera (also, many thanks for their encouragement)
So, uh, somewhere on lj someone wrote a ficclet in which Luffy is not tossed into Level 5 after his fight with Magellan - poisoned!Luffy gets thrown into a cell in Level 6. This...is my take on that scenario.
(What's this? No warnings for character deaths? But - no one could survive that!)
EDIT: inspiration for this fic found here
The Sacrifice
They dragged him down to Level 6. The level that did not exist. The Eternal Hell.
They dumped him in a cell and left him there, to die.
"--can't believe he fought the Warden."
"Shit, that's insane."
There was no truer definition of hell, Ace now knew, than watching his little brother - his brother - slowly die while Ace, ten feet away, could do nothing.
And Luffy wasn't giving up. Hadn't since he'd been tossed into the cell across from Ace's. He'd snarled and screamed and refused to succumb, hauled himself over to the bars and gripped them as if he intended to rip them apart with his bare hands. His damaged, bleeding hands.
"I'm *cough* going to... nngggh… get you out. Won't...h-ha…let them… aagghhh… going... to stop them *cough* *cough*"
Ace had no answer to that. His words had abandoned him, along with his heart, his soul, and every part of his being that did not consist of pain, when he first saw Luffy. What had been done to Luffy.
“It’s futile, Strawhat, you’re going to die here,” Crocodile repeated, as he had since Luffy made it obvious that he wasn’t going down without a fight.
“Shutup! I’ll *cough* *cough* deal… unngghhh… with you… later. Nggaahhh!” Luffy slammed his head against the bars - again - and the sound went straight through the shards of Ace’s broken heart.
“Please, have you seen Strawhat Luffy? I need to save him!”
“You vill not find him here - he vas taken to Level 6.”
“Wait - what?! It really - no never mind, please, I need to get there.”
"Impossible."
"Please! I have to save him. And do you know where Ivankov is - none of the prisoners would tell me."
"Mmmmfufufu - that vould be me, Bon-boy."
"You are...the miracle worker - then please! After I have rescued Straw-chan, use your powers to save him! He has been poisoned past the point where he can be saved by an antidote and--"
"You are truly determined to save this boy? Even if it costs you your life?"
"He is my friend!"
The worst. The worst was when Luffy went quiet.
He still coughed, and Ace could hear his unsteady, laboured breathing. But Luffy had stopped screaming his defiance at death, stopped wrenching frantically at his cage. He lay there, hands still wrapped loosely around the bars, but no longer moving. No longer doing anything. If it weren't for the sick, wet, hacking noises he made when he breathed, Luffy might already have been dead.
Ace's entire world was reduced to that sound, each fragile, wheezing breath proof that Luffy was still alive. Felt his heart seize every time the breath came a second late, a second slower.
He had not taken his eyes off Luffy since his brother was brought down, as if he might keep him alive by the weight of his stare alone. It wasn't until Hannyabal stood directly in front of Luffy, breaking that vital line of sight, that Ace even registered he was here.
And when the Vice-Chief reached for Luffy, Ace discovered he still had a voice.
“Don’t touch him!”
“Straw-chan! Straw-chan!”
"STAY AWAY FROM HIM. LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
"Ace-san."
"If you hurt him-"
"ACE-SAN." Jinbei did not raise his voice often and the surprise of it distracted Ace enough to realize that there was...something off about the situation. Staring with the two guardswomen who were accompanying the Vice-Chief.
“…you are not Hannyabal.” Jinbei said. “Who are you?”
The person - who might have been the Vice-Chief’s twin - turned to them with tears in his eyes. “A friend!”
“Vell…this is most interesting.” One of the women bent down and pressed a finger to the bars Luffy had fought against so desperately. A section of it crumbled under her touch. “Impressive Haki… Bon-boy your friend may yet live.”
“Of course he will! He’s not going to- to die from such a small thing. S-stop joking around! He still has to rescue his brother and-”
“Please,” Ace didn’t recognize the voice but realized, almost after the fact, that his lips were moving, “please get Luffy out of here. Please save him.”
“If you take Luffy-kun with you please take Ace-san as well, I beg you!”
“Ace-sa- you’re Straw-chan’s brother!” Hannyabal’s doppelganger exclaimed. “Iva-san we can-”
“Enough, we have no time for this - if you vish to take the Strawhat boy from here, Bon-boy, then ve must hurry, and hope the loss of a dying prisoner goes unnoticed. But if ve take the Ace-boy vith us as vell, the forces of Impel Down vill fall upon us like a storm and the peace of Newkama vill be shattered.”
The fake Hannyabal looked crushed.
“Bo…n…chan?” Luffy, Luffy’s voice! After that terrifying and unnatural silence Ace was so relieved to hear his brother speak he almost paid no attention to how weak Luffy sounded. He was alive, he was conscious - if the strange group got him out now they might be able to save him, he wasn’t so far gone yet, there was still time…
“Straw-chan! Hang on in there, we’re here to save you!”
“A…ce…..”
“Ve have no time to save both you and your brother. If you vish to live, ve must leave now, vithout the Ace-boy. I’m sorry.”
Luffy summoned strength to raise his head and pull at the bars again. “As if *cough* I would-” Luffy crumpled into a coughing fit “--would just…die…hha…when I got…so far. As if…aanggh…I’d leave…”
No no no! “Luffy please, just go with them.”
“Not…leaving *cough* behind…”
“I’m begging you!”
Luffy stopped yanking weakly at the bars and turned his face towards Ace, who knew his brother had gone blind: he’d discovered that fact when Luffy hadn’t recognized Crocodile, for all his sniping, until the former Shichibukai had mentioned his name. But Ace could have sworn his brother looked at him in that moment, looked through him to something only Luffy - ruined eyes notwithstanding - could see. Ace felt a shiver run up his spine. And something… like awe, or warmth, or hope flare in his chest like naked flame.
But then Luffy sagged, the moment lost, and Ace felt as cold and empty and despairing as he had for the past few hours.
“…Very vell.” The woman who had told Luffy they had to leave Ace behind now looked resigned…and something else. Appraising. Impressed. “Very vell. Inazuma, after you have opened the Strawhat-boy’s cell, release the Ace-boy. I vill stun the Den-Den Mushi so that the guards cannot see vhat ve are doing.”
“Hey, hey - let us out too!”
“Silence Level 6! Death Vink!”
Under his crushing fear for Luffy, Ace felt a tug of regret, of grief. Did he dare beg these uncertain rescuers for Jinbei’s freedom when Luffy’s life hung in the balance? Could he betray his friend, who had fought so fiercely for Ace’s sake, by leaving without him? But if he escaped he might…somehow stop the coming confrontation at Marinford-
“Go, Ace-san.”
“Jinbei…” What could he say? I’m sorry, I’m so sorry for what my recklessness, my stupidity has cost you?
“They are not so anxious to keep me here, I will be fine.”
‘Iva-san’ had not missed the exchange. “You are Shichibukai Jinbei, are you not?”
“That is so. I do not wish to cause problems for you, or delay this rescue, but if you release me I swear to defend you if it comes to a fight.”
The Inazuma woman sighed as she started picking the lock on Ace’s chains. “Ivankov, this is foolish.”
“Yes, ve are fools, rescuing even greater fools. But if ve take the Ace-boy vith us, ve might as vell bring the Shichibukai. And…I find myself curious to see how deep the Strawhat-boy’s vill to live runs. Did you see his eyes just now?”
Inazuma finished removing the last chain from Ace’s ankle and he flew from his cell. Luffy Luffy Luffy-
“Do not touch him! You vill be poisoned yourself!” To hell with that but-
Luffy was… Luffy was covered in poison.
And it was destroying him.
Under the sickly-looking fluid his skin was swollen and broken and raw. Luffy was bleeding from… everywhere. Nose, mouth - eyes, oh god his eyes - and from the choked, wet wheezing sounds Luffy was making he’d inhaled poison too.
Ace wanted to gather his brother up in his arms and hold him; ensure that he was still warm - and lend him warmth if he was cold - verify Luffy’s heartbeat for himself, proof that his brother was still alive, that he would live… But could he even touch Luffy without causing him more pain?
His hands hovered over his brother’s body, not quite touching but aching to. Ace was desperate to burn the poison from Luffy’s body, to chase it away with healing, cleansing fire. But Luffy wasn’t Logia, couldn’t be saved by Ace’s Devil’s Fruit.
“Luffy. Luffy!”
“Hush, he has lost consciousness. Bon-boy, how vill we transport him?” Bon-whatever was hovering anxiously over Ace’s shoulder making encouraging noises in Luffy’s direction but at Iva’s question he jumped and looked around as if he expected a safe and medically sound way of moving a critically injured prisoner to materialize in the Eternal Hell.
“I’ll carry him.” Jinbei slung the coat off his back and wrapped Luffy in it, lifting him into his arms easily. Like a battered, broken doll.
“Ivankov, why fight your way through the stairs when I could take you straight through the ceiling?”
“Crocoboy. Mmmfufufuf. It has been a vhile, has it not? Yes, that vould be advantageous.”
Ace had no recollection of how they got out of Level 6 - or even where exactly it was that they ended up. He did not take his eyes off Luffy even once, willing his brother to stay alive until he could be treated.
Ace didn’t so much as blink when the two women turned into men before their eyes, but he objected when the now-giant Ivankov took Luffy from Jinbei and wouldn’t let Ace follow.
“What are you - let me go with him!”
“Ace-san.” If anyone else had tried to restrain him from following Ivankov, Ace would have turned to flame immediately, consequences be damned; but he couldn’t harm Jinbei. Dammit. Dammit!
“Iva-san is a miracle worker! Have faith Ace-chan! Iva-san is Straw-chan’s best chance.” Luffy’s friend flailed encouragingly in his face and if Jinbei hadn’t been holding Ace back he probably would have punched him.
As it was he snarled furiously at the idiots who thought it was a good idea to keep him away from Luffy. His brother was hurt, was dy- was hurt badly and Ace needed to be there for him.
“Ace-san, let these people tend your wounds. Your brother is in good hands.”
Ace allowed Jinbei to drag him away, and even sat still long enough for a man - who may have been a woman - to bandage some of the more heavily-bleeding cuts.
And then Luffy started screaming.
Jinbei’s reflexes alone saved Ace’s nurse from a broken nose, and possibly worse besides. But Ace had had it. “Jinbei, you are my friend, and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but if you don’t let go of me right now I will burn you.”
He arrived in the cave just as Ivankov finished securing a number of chains across a door… behind which Ace could hear the most inhuman screams of agony. Sounds made by his brother.
“What did you do to him!? What did you do!?!”
Ivankov’s blow knocked him into the opposite wall.
“Fool! Did you think I dealt in miracles?! My skill may give him a chance, an opportunity to fight the invading poison! But only if the Strawhat-boy’s vill to life proves stronger than the poison vill he live!”
“This isn’t healing!”
“SILENCE! I have given him the chance to fight for him life. There is nothing more that can be done - he vill save himself, or he vill die! If he can vithstand the pain for two and a half days he vill prevail.”
Two and a half days? Oh god. Luffy.
Ace pushed against the door separating him from his brother. “Let me in! Please!”
“You vill be of no help to him.”
“I don’t care.”
“NNNNGGGGUAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!”
“Please. I just - please. Even if I can’t do anything. At least let me be there for him!”
“Iva-sama!”
Ivankov sighed. “Give me a moment please,” he told Ace, “vhat is it?”
“The guards! They are looking for us! They have the dire wolves out and are combing levels 5 and 6.”
No.
Impel Down was determined to take everything from him. It had taken his dignity, his freedom, his fire, his hope, and his dreams. It had swallowed his friend and taunted Ace with his helplessness. It nearly took Luffy.
NO!
And even now, even now, when his brother had the slimmest chance of surviving, Impel Down was reaching for him again.
Over his dead body.
Ace knew what he was about to throw away. Knew the impossibility of the chance he had been gifted with and that what he was going to do, right now, would seal his fate and that of - almost - everyone he loved. Knew that he was damning his captain and crew. Knew that he was betraying everything Jinbei had fought for.
But he could hear Luffy screaming. Could remember his brother fighting for his life in the hopelessness of Level 6. Luffy might yet live still; there was a chance, a hope, that Ace’s reckless stupidity would not cost the lives of everyone he cared about. But if Magellan found him now- no. No.
Jinbei knew too. Ace saw it on his face when he walked into the main cave, and towards the exit. Towards his death, and he was too cold to even care about that anymore.
“Jinbei, I-- I’m sorry. Look after my brother for me, please.”
“Ace-san I can’t just-”
“Please.”
Luffy needed two days. If Ace could distract the guards of Impel Down long enough, if he could cause enough chaos, destroy enough of the prison, then the guards would be too busy trying to secure the prison, quiet riots, rebuild, to look for a group of semi-mythical prisoners. Luffy would have time to recover. If the prison was plunged into enough turmoil, Luffy might even be able to escape, when he came to.
“Live, Luffy.”
When Ace saw his brother fall out of the sky into the harbour at Marinford, not 24 hours later, he was understandable furious. And not a little relieved.