Chapter 59: The Escape

Chapter 65:

The Escape

"I hope you find our brig to be satisfactory!" two marines saluted, allowing the woman and her escorts, both open and hidden, to step further into the jail of Navarone. Inspecting the bars, Robin was easily able to recognize the Sea Prism Stone they were made of and nodded as if impressed. Not only that, but she could also hear the men that had shadowed her all the way from the Vice-Admiral's office, bringing to total marines in the room up to ten.

"Are any of your cells in use?" she questioned.

"One, ma'am," one of the marines replied. "Would you like us to take you there?"

"Please." The man began a brisk walk toward the back of the prison, suddenly stopping before the second-to-last cell. A table on the opposite wall taunted the prisoners by holding their weapons.

"Wakey, wakey!" the marine called, hitting the bars. "You filth are in the presence of an inspector!"

"You!" the real Sheppard yelled from where he was chained inside the cell next to Zoro and Coby. The chain holding him to the wall rattled as he reached its end. "You're the one that ambushed me!"

"I'm sorry?" Robin quirked an eyebrow over her stolen sunglasses. "Do I know you, pirate?"

"You're the pirate, lady!"

"Ah, calm down, Conny," Coby sighed, taking a page out of Usopp's book to help Robin's cover. "There's no point trying to hide when we're already caught."

"So that's your name," the marine next to Robin snapped.

"No it isn't!" Sheppard shouted.

"Yes it is," Coby shot back. "'The Condor' Condoriano. I'm wondering where you left your steel talons."

"I don't own any steel talons! And my name is Sheppard! Marine Inspector Sheppard!"

"Shut up, Conny," Zoro growled. "You're being annoying. Why Luffy let you on the ship, I have no idea."

"Oh, there's no need for that," Robin smiled. "Dos Fleur: Clutch!" Twenty arms, enough for every marine both hidden and open, painfully bent the government men backwards.

"I knew it!" Sheppard yelled before Zoro kicked him in the head. Being careful to not touch the bars directly, Robin quickly unlocked the door and the shackles on the swordsmen.

"Nice disguise, Robin," Coby complemented as he and his teacher grabbed their weapons from a nearby table.

"Thank you. Shall we go?" the woman questioned lightly. "Our ship is in Dock 88 on the western side."

"Lead the way."

"Open this door immediately!" the leader of a group of marines demanded, banging on the door of the emergency medical room. In response, a nurse opened the door and stuck her head out.

"Shut up!" the nurse hissed. "We're performing some delicate operations in here!"

"We were sent by Lieutenant Drake. He has reason to suspect that there are as many as three pirates within that room at this very moment."

"We don't have a moment to spare for your pirate hunt," the nurse bit back. "Leave." She slammed the door shut.

"...Ah, dammit. There goes my promotion."

"Damn it!" Usopp cursed as he fired another Exploding Star. He was playing the last line of defense since Gin was stuck under a Sea Prism Stone net. "I'll never let you take the Merry!"

Unbeknownst to the sniper, Merry was doing her own part, firing bits of rope out from the sides of the ship and shaking the ladders. Unfortunately, the number of marines on the dock was growing by the second. Even so, Usopp's dedication to Kaya's gift refused to let his courage waver.

Meanwhile, Luffy and Sanji were searching for the brig, but...

"Hey, Sanji? Do you know where the brig is?"

"How the Hell would I know?" Sanji demanded, turning a corner.

"I don't know. I was following you because I thought you knew." An explosion to the right caught their attention. "What was that?" Luffy asked.

"You're here, so it must be someone else on our crew," Sanji snarked. "Come on." The two followed the growing sounds of battle until they finally ran into the cave marked as Dock 88 where Usopp was valiantly defending his greatest treasure.

"Usopp!" Luffy called, attracting the attention of the sniper and all the marines.

"You moron," the chef groaned. They dove to opposite sides as projectiles hit the ground and exploded where they'd been standing.

"Things and finally getting exciting!" Luffy yelled happily, forgetting about his need to find the brig.

"The bridge is empty," Coby observed. "It's probably a trap."

"Indeed," Robin agreed, "but that is the only way to the western docks."

"So we springing the trap?" Zoro asked. Both of his companions nodded. Wordlessly, all three made their way to the top half of the bridge and began to cross. About halfway over, the burly marines that had been hiding on either side revealed themselves.

"We're 55 and you better fear it!"

"Or we're gonna show you our firey spirit!"

"Don't move!" Coby ordered, holding a sword at Robin's neck. "We have the inspector!"

"That won't fool us!" the tan, muscular marine in the lead laughed. "We are Unit 55, the unit all other units fear! We won't be fooled by some snot-nosed brat!"

"It was a good bluff, Little Swordsman, but I guess I don't need this anymore." The woman shed the Marine coat and crossed her arms. "Let's begin. Cien Fleur: Slap!" A hundred arms sprouted, each one slapping a marine in the face. About 30 of them were standing too close to the edge on the packed bridge and were knocked over into the water. The rest of them shook off the blow and charged. Zoro decided to take the marines in the front bare-handed while Coby faced the way they'd come and transformed. Robin decided to try to help as well, sprouting limbs to trip up the approaching wave of foes.

"Five Point Style: Meteor Swords!" The marines in the lead managed catch the Zoan type, holding him back as several men tried to skirt around the edges. One man took a swipe at the hybrid, putting a deep cut in Coby's forehead above his left eye. Having none of that, Coby broke away and jumped back, putting space between him and his foes. Believing a different approach may be required, the rosette finished his transformation into a triceratops, lowered his head, and pawed the ground. "Cretaceous Charge!"

That scared the men. Many of them, doubting they could stand up to the power of a charging dinosaur, tried to flee, only for their paths to be blocked by other men of their unit. Luckily, Coby didn't want to kill them, so he turned at the last second, ramming into the mass of marines with his flank. The men were bowled over like bowling pins, clamoring to try to stand and hindering each other.

On the other side, Zoro had only unsheathed one blade and was facing off against a man with extendable boxing gloves. Zoro scowled as he cut another opponent, only for a glove to punch him in the side for a third time. Finally having enough, the older swordsman sliced through the metal attached to the glove as it came in for a fourth time. The marine holding the handles stared at the severed end in fear, having thought that cutting metal with nothing but a sword was impossible.

"Incoming!" Without much warning, Amy decided to make her appearance, dropping onto the largest group of marines on the bridge. The supports cracked under the stress and Amy lightened herself to float as she watched the steel and concrete give way underneath her. The men she'd fallen on plummeting into the water below.

"Kyahahaha!" the blonde laughed. "We're going to be the last ones to the dock if we don't hurry up!"

"Where the Hell have you been?" Zoro demanded.

"Thank you for the warning, Ms. Valentine," Robin nodded. "I suppose it's about time we stepped up our game. Cien Fleur: Swat!" Growing a giant arm out of the side of the bridge, the woman used it to knock off all the marines barring them from the western shore. To complete the path, she bloomed a bridge of flesh the fill the hole Amy's entrance had created.

"Shrimp, we're leaving!" Zoro shouted.

"Coming!" the triceratops called back, turning to smack a couple of enemies off the bridge with his tail and dart toward the cleared path.

"I'll cover you," Zoro told his student as he passed. "36 Caliber Phoenix!" The flying cut mowed over the front row of men, leaving a shallow cut across their chests. Once the pirates that couldn't fly were over the hole, Robin removed her arm bridge, cutting off the marines' access.

"See you later!" Amy taunted. "Kyahahaha!"

"You damn pirates!" the remaining forces of unit 55 yelled angrily.

It was chaos when the four pirates reached the dock. Each of the others that were there before were in their own little circles, fighting the enemies around them. Usopp was still attacking from the Merry, taking pot shots whenever he could. Gin was nearby, shocking anyone who came near and hastily avoiding any nets that came his way, stone or otherwise. Luffy and Sanji where on either side, beating their opponents back with large-scale attacks.

Zoro and Coby locked eyes before nodding and charging in while the marines' backs were turned. Robin grew a chain of arms to swing to the Merry without fighting while Amy joined her in the air only to fall on a group of snipers. Just as they cleared the entrance, Chopper, Nami, Grace, and another woman ran out of the doorway with a stretcher.

"Nami's in a nurse outfit!" Sanji yelled with hearts in his eyes.

"Keep your eyes off of her!" Luffy shouted defensively, a fist extending across the room to punch no less that ten marines and the cook.

"We've got a hostage!" Nami roared, holding her Clima-Tact at Kabato's throat. The woman screamed in response, winking so only Nami could see. "Stand down or we'll have the monster of our crew snap her neck!"

. . .

"I said," Nami emphasized, nudging Chopper with her foot, "we'll have the monster of our crew snap her neck!"

"Oh, right," Chopper blinked, changing into his Heavy Point. "Get out of our way or I'll break this woman in half!" He lifted Doctor Kabato up over his head, the woman continuing to scream.

"I would lower your weapons," Zoro told the marines. "I've seen the neck-snapping thing. It's pretty messy."

"Lower your weapons, men," Drake begrudgingly ordered. Trying to act as scary as possible, Chopper stomped his way over to the Merry with Nami and Grace following.

"That's the guy in charge," Nami whispered to Grace as they approached the Lieutenant Commander. "Color him or something." Stopping in front of the man, Grace slowly pulled out his pallet and brush.

Drake stared down at the diminutive redhead before him. What was a little girl like her doing with these pirates? Was she a captive? What was with the paint?

"Colors Trap: Laughing Yellow." The men were shocked when their commander broke out into uncontrollable laughter. They'd never heard him laugh before; it was a mixture of clown-like honks and snorting sounds.

Finally reaching the Merry, everyone but Grace and Kabato climbed on. The little girl stayed next to the doctor as the ship pulled out of the dock, Grace only boarding when Robin's arms reached out to pull her aboard and leave the hostage. The old man Usopp had talked to before the fight rushed out to hug the woman.

Keeping close to the outer edge of the crater G-8 was built inside of, the Going Merry made her way toward the gate that was the only entrance and exit for the nearly-impenetrable Marine base with only a small stop to grab Nami's waver. Three battleships appeared in the distance, gaining slowly. Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, and Coby deflected all the cannonballs that came their way, none of them touching the Merry. If one were paying attention, they would have seen that some of the cannonballs were missing the ship by bending through the air, redirected by some unknown force.

Vice-Admiral Jonathan watched this from the balcony of his office, a fishing pole in his hand cast in the water. While the pirates scurried about on the deck, he saw Merry condense into being in the crow's nest, smiling and waving at him mockingly. A cannonball raced toward her, some marine apparently having thought (truthfully) that she was the ghost on the ship. Merry's smile never wavered and she flicked her hand, the cannonball moving off course so it whistled by harmlessly. Merry's voice carried over the distance.

"Baahahaha! Bye, Jonny! Thanks for the game!"

Jonathan sighed, reeling his line in, only a sardine on the hook. How that got there, he hadn't a clue. Sardines weren't native to the Grand Line. Shaking off, he watched Merry fade back into the ship as his ears picked up some of the orders from their true leader.

"Usopp, man the cannon!"

"Aye, Nami!"

"Chopper, follow my commands to the letter!"

"Got it," the reindeer answered from the rudder. A barrage of cannonballs too thick to dodge were fired by the grunts surrounding the gate. Luffy, ever the battle genius, used a Gum-Gum Balloon to redirect them into the metal gate itself. The gate collapsed with a bang, leaving nothing to dam the water within the circular base. The Merry was caught in a rip current.

"Wait!" Nami screamed, realizing that there was no way to get back in the base. "Did they take our gold?"

"Nope," Amy answered, peeking inside the storeroom. "It looks like all the gold is still here. With a tarp that's not ours, too. Maybe they thought it was cursed or something."

"I heard some of them complaining about that earlier," Usopp agreed.

"I did, too," Gin commented, dragging the attention to himself.

"Gin! You're awake!" Luffy yelled happily.

"We can talk later!" Nami shouted. "Escape now!" All chatter ceased as all the pirates' energies were put to use getting the Merry through the broken gate in one piece. Compared to all the excitement on land, sailing out was almost anticlimactic. The battleships, or those that weren't beached by the receding water within the base, continued chasing them even after reaching the open sea, but they were forced to turn back after Navarone became nothing but a speck on the horizon.

The Straw Hats had escaped the "Impenetrable Fortress", G-8.

End of Chapter 65

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-SwordOfTheGods