Chapter Text
“Is that so, Ace-kun? Your little brother... will come to save you?” Jinbei asked hoarsely.
Ace looked down, his eyes are downcast, anxiety, fear, hopelessness, helplessness, and worries mixed as one, “There’s no way that foolish younger brother could do that... He’ll just deliver his head on a silver platter. That guy cannot shut up- he’ll get caught for sure before even reaching the lower floor!” Ace berated himself, why? Why was he the one who needed saving now? Useless, Luffy would-
Ace held himself back from whimpering... Oh, Luffy, his precious, reckless, little brother...
“Ace...”
Ace still remembered that last smile he saw when he left him in Alabasta to take care of Crocodile. The last smile his precious baby brother gave to him as they waved goodbye to each other.
“Ace...”
Damn it! Even now, he could still hear Luffy’s voice calling out to him. Why?! Why did he lose against that stupid nakama-killing traitor?!
“I’m so stupid...” Ace said self-depreciatingly. “Luffy...”
“Yes?”
Ace paused and snapped his head up, what he saw made his jaw dropped to the ground. Someone was standing right outside his cell, no, not just anyone. His little brother. Luffy was standing outside casually.
“Wha—“
“Yo, Ace,” Luffy waved lightly. “I’m here to save you.”
“What the fuck-?!” Ace exclaimed in shock, even Jinbei almost got a heart attack at the sudden interjection. Actually not only them, but the entire dwellers of the sixth floor also gawked incredulously with their eyes bulging out at the teenager standing casually outside their cells.
“Straw Hat?!” The usually calm and silent Crocodile stood up and roared in disbelief. How the hell did the boy come inside?!
Ace couldn’t even get over his shock when Luffy unlocked his cell and casually strolled inside before freeing Ace off of his cuffs. “Luffy... how... What... Why... How could you be here?! Where did you get those keys?!” Ace hissed when he felt his power returned to him with the absence of sea stone cuffs. He looked at his little brother who casually picked his nose.
“I sneaked in, there is this nice guy who told me where the elevator is instead of following Buggy around. And I found my friend, Bon-Chan, and he wanted to save this funny purple afro guy and the afro guy is actually worked for my dad so he helped me too. But they were being too confusing so I left them up there and come down myself,” Luffy simply explained.
“How are you not captured?!”
“I kept silent?”
“Impossible- why?! Oh My God!” Ace was on the verge of a break down when he touched his brother- yup it was his brother alright, not some sad yearn-induced delusion. “What about the den den mushi surveillance?!”
Impel Down! Ace cried inwardly.
Do your own security good!
And why was Ace scolding his prison for being penetrable now? Ace didn’t know, he just couldn’t believe this really happened.
Luffy shrugged, “Dunno, ah, yeah, I seemed to accidentally destroy those on the second floor when I tried to catch this big chicken who crashed through the wall,” Luffy then grinned cutely to his big brother, “Let’s go out Ace!”
“Hold on! Let us out too!”
“Yeah! Strawhatted boy over there! Let us out! We’ll help!”
“Straw Hat!” Crocodile gritted his teeth.
“Ace-kun... Maybe we should do something about them if we don’t want to get caught,” The now freed Jinbei said logically.
“Are they your friends?” Luffy asked easily as he twirled the set of keys that he stole from an unsuspected jailor.
Ace looked at those people and looked back at his little brother, “No.”
“...”
“Bring in the criminal!” Sengoku declared with dignified tone as he threw out his arm. Today is the day, the Navy absolutely wouldn’t let go of this chance. Sengoku was aware of the unavoidable upcoming war, but this was for the best interest of Navy.
Regardless of anything, Portgas D. Ace had to be executed today.
“Sir! Fleet Admiral, sir! We have an emergency issue!” One high-ranking vice-admiral came running to Sengoku, his tone was suggesting that the world would end and he would lose his job.
Sengoku raised his brows, “Is the criminal fighting back? Just knock him out and drag him here-“
“No! Not that sir! It’s... Fire Fist Ace is declared gone from his jail cell!” The Vice-Admiral shouted out.
Everyone snapped their heads toward the poor officer who shrank back, the look of disbelief and incredulity was written clearly on each of the marine’s faces.
“WHAT?!” Sengoku hollered. “EXPLAIN!!!”
“T-the ship which supposed to transport him held nothing in their cell, sir. It is reported that there was someone who snuck in and pretended to be the warden and caused a major confusion.”
“How the hell someone could even pretend to be the warden?! Are the people from Impel Down blind that they can’t even recognize their own warden?!”
“It- It is suspected a devil fruit user, sir!”
“How is that possible?!”
“There’s also a report from Impel Down that a large number of prisoners had somehow broken out and run away. Their whereabouts are currently unknown-“
“Fleet Admiral! The Whitebeard Pirates and its allies are here!”
“Oh, fuck this shit!” Sengoku growled.
“What? You guys went to Marineford intending to wage a war for me? Why would you do that?” Ace said in honest surprise as he sipped his hot lemonade, man, being held in that cell with little to no deserving food made him and several others suffered scurvy. Luckily the battleship that they silently stole had a lot of stock.
”Why, you little shit! Of course we were there to bust your captured ass out!” Marco growled from the other line. “Where are you now? We got a news that Impel Down experienced its biggest breakout yet, how could that happen?”
“Yeah, my baby brother came sneaking in, he originally wanted to bail me out but then things happen and many others come along. Silently,” Ace emphasized.
“... What? Ace, if this is one of your brother complex episode-“ Marco swore.
“I’m serious, Marco. I also didn’t believe it when he stood outside my cell, casually picking his nose, and proceeded to free me and Jinbei and many others that truly weren’t planned. Ain’t my little brother is the best?” Ace straightened and grinned, ready to boast some more before Marco cut in.
“What the fuck?”
“Hm, that’s my initial reaction too.”
“You want to say that your brother whom of which you always told us as the ‘cutest, most cheerful, golden ball of sunshine, apple of my eyes, loud and cutely annoying’ actually sneaked into the Impel Down by himself and managed to initiate the biggest breakout in its history?!”
“Pretty much.”
“... Where are you now? We... I... I can’t manage to have this conversation over den-den mushi.”
“At the closest tropical island around Sabaody,” Ace sipped his lemonade with an elegance of a smug prince.
“Stay there. We’re collecting our sisters first then we’re heading there. Don’t get your ass caught again.” There are some loud shouts of protest in the background, the others seemed to want to talk to Ace too but Marco sternly told them off and ended the call.
Ace shrugged and put down the den-den mushi. He has no time to be worried over what Marco and the rest would do to him when they get here. No, he should be more worried about what the Drag Queen, Ivankov just said about a certain blonde revolutionary that they got in a certain island in East Blue and how that blonde revolutionary had lost his memory.
The bastard, losing memories or not. Ace will punch him in the face so he can remember.
Okay, but first thing first... Ace dramatically looked at his fellow escapees. They’re all working hard to get their problems sorted before they moved on in life... Would you look at them? They looked so touched to even see the sky...
Thinking along that line, they probably close to never heard about Luffy right?
Ace grinned, he’d fix that.