Chapter Text
Luffy burped as he finished the last bit of meat and Shakky smiled at him from the bar, “You’re very lucky, Monkey-chan. If the government weren’t so busy planning for Fire Fist’s execution right now, you’d be in way more— Monkey-chan?”
“What did you say? They’re gonna execute Ace?” Luffy didn’t know what kind of face he did, and he didn’t give a shit. All he cared about was about what Shakky said. His heart hammered in his chest as he heard execution in his head on and on. It had to be a joke. Ace couldn’t die! He was too strong!
“Yes, they haven’t announced it yet, but it will happen soon. If not, they risk Whitebeard going to war on Impel Down and not on Marineford like they want.” Rayleigh said with a frown on his face.
Luffy stilled, “War?”
Shakky nodded, “War.”
Luffy took a deep breath. Okay, maybe Ace would be alright, “Shakky, Rayleigh. Do you think this Whitebeard guy will win? That Ace will live?”
Shakky and Rayleigh looked at each other, that was all he needed to know. But Shakky answered anyway, “No. I very much doubt they’ll be able to save Fire Fist. I don’t think Whitebeard will survive either.”
Luffy’s stomach knotted, and his heart beat so fast he thought it’d come out of his mouth. He couldn’t let that happen. Ace couldn’t die! He was too strong! He promised! No. He wouldn’t let Ace die, not on his watch. If war wouldn’t work, he’d find another way and do it himself.
Storming Impel Down would have been his plan if it were just him at risk, but he couldn’t put his crew in so much danger after what he did today. There had to be another way, something he could do to save Ace. They wanted Ace because he was the son of the Pirate King, he was sure of it. Luffy snarled, why did they care that much about the son of a dead demon? His own dad was also a— Oh.
Well, he might as well do it.
Somehow even when his sanity was depending on the answer to this question, his voice didn’t shake as he asked, “Shakky, Rayleigh. Do you think the government would accept a trade? A pirate for another pirate?”
Shakky hummed, eyes gleaming with something Luffy didn’t care to identify, “Yeah, I’d say you’re more than good enough for a trade, Monkey-chan.” So she knew who his dad was. Cool, less explaining was always good. She frowned and kept speaking, “Are you sure, though? Impel Down won’t be pleasant.”
Standing straight, he nodded at her, “I know.” He knew he’d be beaten down or straight up tortured for most of the time he’d spend in a cell. He didn’t care. He could take it at seven, he could take it at seventeen. Ace was more important.
“Luffy no!” Nami screamed at him, her voice shook and Luffy’s heart clenched.
Chopper cried, “Luffy please don’t.”
“Luffy, let’s talk about this. There’s got to be another option!”
Luffy ignored them with a heavy heart and spoke to Shakky and Rayleigh, “Do you think the government would go through with the deal?”
“Yeah, they’d do it. I don’t think they’re very enthusiastic about going to war with Whitebeard if they can help it. And you are more valuable, pedigree speaking.”
Luffy nodded, “Yeah, Ace’s dad is called a demon, but he’s dead. Mine is alive.”
Rayleigh sighed, “Yeah, after what you did today with the Celestial Dragon, they’ll be happy to agree I’d say.”
A heavy weight got off Luffy’s shoulders after that, and he relaxed. Luffy sighed in relief, “Cool. Let’s call them, then!”
“Luffy please!”
“Luffy you can’t—”
Luffy turned around and looked at his crew. Their faces were a kick to his heart, but he had to do this, “If Ace stays there, they’ll kill him. They won’t do that to me, a dead body is no good against my dad. They’ll wait until dad does his move before thinking of killing me.”
Robin frowned, face screaming worry in a way that made Luffy’s heart ache, “That doesn’t mean they won’t hurt—”
“I know.” He smiled, trying to comfort them. Before they could say anything else, he took off his straw hat. He felt naked right away, but he’d have to get used to it. His straw hat wouldn’t survive Impel Down, he was sure of it. Passing the hat to Zoro, who was the closest, he smiled at seeing how Zoro accepted it with care, “Take care of it until I’m back, Zoro. And take care of the crew.”
“Aye Captain.” Zoro said, no hesitation, just acceptance and trust in him. Luffy smiled, feeling better.
“Luffy please—”
Luffy turned and looked them each in the eye as he spoke, “Guys, it’s the only way. We’re too weak right now.” He fisted his hands, he was so weak. Luffy was supposed to be stronger! He wasn’t the scared cry baby he was when Sabo died! No. He wouldn’t let Ace die, he didn’t care what he had to do to stop it. Breathing deeply, he kept going, “We can’t save Ace as we are, but you’ll have time to get stronger to save me.” Luffy grinned, “So, these are my last Captain’s orders until I go back, you guys better follow them! Train like crazy until you’re strong enough to survive. Stay together and take care of each other no matter what. I want you to live, I don’t care what you gotta do to stay alive, do it. And I don’t want you to come get me before two years, got it? There’s no way you’ll become strong enough before that, so stay away from Impel Down until then!”
Most of them were crying and he felt like shit for that, but he couldn’t go back now. Ace needed him. Luffy loved his crew, but he couldn’t let Ace die, no matter what. They’d be alright, they were awesome and Zoro would take care of them. As he thought, after a few seconds, they straightened, faces full of determination.
“Aye!”
Luffy smiled, he could do this.
The chat over den den mushi calmed him down a lot, and he couldn’t help but laugh and thank the Sengoku guy when he said the Goro-whatever accepted. The den den mushi’s face when he did it was pretty fun, but so were Shakky and Rayleigh's. Did he do something weird again? Bah, who cared? Not Luffy. He had to focus on Ace.
Getting his vivre card done taught him there was so much he needed to learn yet. The feeling got worse when he learned about haki. It made him realize just how weak they were. Too weak for the New World, too weak for getting Ace out of Impel Down, too weak . They had to train until they were strong enough to survive on their own, strong enough to be free.
It was a good thing he could train a bit while on the cell, at least Observation should be possible. Knowing that his crew would have more time to train than him made him feel a bit better about leaving them to the dogs. He knew the marines wouldn’t leave his crew alone, and he felt like the worst captain for doing this anyway. Luffy trusted his crew, though. They would pull through and get stronger because of it. They’d promised to do whatever they needed to do, and he knew they’d do it. Luffy’s chest hurt at that thought, they’d be different next time they saw each other, he would be a mess, they’d be stronger than him. Would he still be a good captain for them? Shaking his head, he stopped thinking stupid shit. Whatever happened would happen anyway, all he had to do was to save Ace and survive until they got him back.
When the time came, Luffy hugged everyone one last time, trying to comfort them and burn their faces and voices in his memory. He’d need them in Impel Down. With a last smile, Luffy left with Shakky to the meeting point. Leaving Rayleigh to go with his crew until the next island. They wouldn’t touch his crew, not on Rayleigh’s watch. Shakky went with him until Rayleigh contacted them with the den den mushi and told them Luffy’s crew and Rayleigh were sailing safely to another island. Only then Luffy relaxed completely, Shakky patted him on the back and smiled at him in a way that reminded Luffy of Makino. He didn’t say anything, he just smiled back at her and watched as she disappeared between the Grooves.
This was it. There was no going back now. He walked the rest of the way to the meeting point.
There were two marines waiting for him. Luffy couldn’t use Observation, but he knew these two were strong. So the big guns from the government came for this deal, Luffy hoped that meant they’d let Ace go.
Luffy stopped in front of the guy with the funny hat. There was a bird on it! That was so cool! “Hiya, I’m Luffy. Cool hat, bird-guy!” He grinned while showing them his hands so they could cuff him.
Bird-guy scowled but didn’t reply and the yellow dude just chuckled. The man was looking down on him. Luffy just grinned at the man, showing a bit of teeth. The yellow dude smirked and cuffed him with seastone. Luffy’s knees buckled for a second before he straightened himself.
Fuck seastone was never fun. Luffy wouldn’t complain, though. This was his idea, he’d have to get used to this feeling.
The yellow dude dragged him by the arm to their ship and Luffy’s heart skipped a bit. He didn’t regret it, he couldn’t regret it if this kept Ace safe. That didn’t mean he liked this, though. The seastone cuffs dug into his arms and it hurt like a bitch.
As the ship got closer to Impel Down, Luffy’s heart got faster and faster. There was a ship leaving and Luffy could swear he saw a cowboy hat between a bunch of marines. Relief melted him. He sure as hell hoped that was Ace.
The ‘baptizing’ hurt like hell. Whatever that word meant, the marines wouldn’t shut up about it on the ship so he knew it was coming and prepared himself for it. Didn’t mean his body melting didn’t hurt like a bitch.
Luffy wanted to scream, to cry for help. He was seven again and was being beaten by that bastard, except this time it wasn’t just spike globes. This was way worse, his skin was burning, his bones were melting and fuck if it didn’t suck being rubber right now. Luffy wanted Ace and Sabo to save him, but that wouldn’t happen, because Sabo was dead and Ace was safe now that Luffy was here.
No one would save him from this, he was alone for now. So Luffy didn't cry, he knew he couldn’t break yet, not without even getting to his cell! He’d survive until his crew got him, for now all he could do was to not break. Closing his eyes, he forced his body to relax. He could do this, he'd do this. They dunked his head on the boiling water and Luffy had to focus on not drowning, on not flinching even as boiling water got in his lungs, he was melting from the inside out. Luffy was going to die.
Just when Luffy thought he'd die drowning, the fuckers grunted and took him out. He couldn't hear well what they said, something about Luffy not being as weak as he looked? Smirking at them, he refused to make a sound even when they threw him to the wall of his cell with enough force to crack it a bit. Bastards did it on purpose, fuckers. He didn't make a face as they shackled him to the wall with even more seastone, his body got weaker and he forced himself to not hunch under their weight.
A laugh next to him made him turn to his cellmate.
Crocodile.
Seeing him, Luffy laughed too, “There’s no way they didn’t do this on purpose!”
Crocodile smirked at him, “Of course not. So? Who kicked your ass?”
Luffy smiled, showing too many teeth for it to be friendly, “No one. I gave myself in.”
Crocodile raised an eyebrow, before his eyes shone, “Does this have anything to do with the fact Fire Fist was released because of a deal with Whitebeard?”
At hearing this, Luffy couldn’t help but sigh in relief, “So they really released him. It really was him! Great!”
Crocodile gaped at him, “So you traded yourself for Fire Fist? What for? I know you two are close since he came to see you in Alabasta, but still!”
“He’s my brother, he can’t die yet!” Luffy glared at the floor. Trying to find a position where his wrists didn't hurt too much.
“So you will die in his stead?” Crocodile asked, voice letting him know how much of an idiot he thought Luffy was.
Luffy chuckled, “Nah, they won’t kill me yet, they want me alive to have something to deal with my dad.”
Humming, Crocodile asked, “Your dad, uh? Who is that?”
“Gramps told me his name was Dragon.”
After a few seconds of silence, Crocodile’s shocked voice said, “The Revolutionary?”
“Yeah, that’s the one.” Luffy nodded, looking up at Crocodile.
He looked Luffy up and down, focusing on his face. After a few seconds of making weird faces, Crocodile threw his head back and cackled. He looked like he’d heard the funniest thing ever. What a weird guy.
“Figures he’s your dad.” he said in a weird and shaky voice. Then he shook his head and looked at him, “I’d say that was a smart move, but getting yourself thrown in here is damn stupid, Straw Hat! You condemned yourself to a life of hell!”
“Nah, I condemned myself to two years or so of hell.” Luffy shook his head.
“Ah? That’s weirdly specific.”
With a feral grin, Luffy whispered, “My crew will get strong enough by then.”
Crocodile laughed even harder at that, “Oh really? Well, they’re certainly crazy enough to try, yeah.”
“They won’t try, they’ll do it.” Then Luffy changed the topic, “Hey, Crocodile, do you know of haki?”
Lifting an eyebrow, Crocodile nodded, “Sure I do. Have you learned it yet?”
Luffy shook his head. So Crocodile had gone easy on him back then. The thought made him scowl but that didn't matter now, all he cared about was to get stronger.
“Nah, but I know how to train it. Not that I can do much for Armament here, but I can train Observation, right?”
Crocodile hummed, “Yeah, you should. Tell you what, I’ll help you out on your training in exchange for you getting me out of here whenever your crazy crew comes to get you.”
“Really? Thank you!” Luffy grinned at him, which made Crocodile do a weird face again. Ha, he was a funny guy.
Luffy expected them to come yesterday, but the guards only came to bother him a day later. There were three of them, and Luffy could tell these were weak ones.
He was right, their greeting punch was nothing. Luffy laughed in their faces, “Good morning to you too!”
“Shut up! Yesterday we—”
“Left me to settle in? How nice of you!”
“Shut the fuck up!” One of them kicked him in the ribs. Luffy barely felt it.
The beating started.
Most punches were more of a bother than anything. Seriously, who hired these weak bastards? Not even with a shit ton of seastone on him they hurt much. Hell, Nami's punches hurt more!
When they saw blows weren't making effect, the fuckers switched to knives, those hurt. His body was weak, he could tell he'd get bruises from the weak kicks and punches and Luffy hadn't missed those. His skin still felt funny after the baptizing, it made the cuts even worse, even if they weren't deep. One in his ribs was bleeding a lot, the sharp pain of it making it a bit difficult to breathe.
Luffy stayed silent, not caring about the blood on his face that made him keep his right eye closed. Or the knives on his skin that were on forever. In and out, in and out. Blood everywhere, red was all Luffy could see and he had to focus to not flinch.
They were saying something, but Luffy didn’t listen to them. They were just idiots saying stupid shit.
Luffy was already a bleeding mess when the knives started to slow down, and a while later they stopped. He looked up to them and snorted at seeing how tired they looked.
Pathetic.
One of them glared at him, “Did you have so much fun you want more?”
With his best shit eating grin, Luffy replied, “Nope, you guys were boring!”
One of them snarled, the three of them looked ready for round two. When a voice made them all tense, even if for different reasons.
“That’s enough! Leave!”
The guards turned around, Luffy could see how tense they were as they saluted, “Yes, Vice-Admiral Garp, sir!” As soon as they said that, they ran to the exit. Looking like they were about to shit themselves in fear. Pathetic weaklings.
Gramps’ stare made Luffy look at him, he was scowling, not paying attention to all the insults that came from the other cells. Right, he guessed Gramps wasn’t liked here.
Seeing as Gramps was just looking at him without saying anything, he grinned at him, “Hiya, Gramps!”
That made everyone in the sector shut up, Luffy saw more than one prisoner looking through their cells.
Gramps' face did a funny thing before laughing, “They sure did a number on you, Luffy!”
“Nah, this doesn’t even hurt.” Luffy dismissed his wounds even as he spat a bit of blood.
Sure, it hurt, and oh woah he hadn’t had bruises in forever! These would stay for days! But he could take it, no need for a marine to know it hurt. Because that was what Gramps was, a marine. He’d proved he cared more about his job over and over.
He left Ace here for execution, Luffy couldn’t trust Gramps.
Gramps’ face did a weird thing again, before sighing, “Luffy, why did you do this?”
Luffy’s grin disappeared, was that really a question? His face turned deadly serious as he replied, “No one else would do anything that would have worked.” Luffy didn’t feel bad at Gramps’ full body flinch, too little too late. Luffy looked Gramps straight in the eyes as he said, “I don’t regret it. I’d do it again.”
After a few seconds of staring at each other in silence, Gramps left, his whole body tense as he fisted his hands.
Only after he couldn’t see or hear him anymore, Luffy sighed, body slumping on the floor as his feelings caught up to him. He wouldn’t cry. He wouldn’t.
Everyone around them started to talk but Luffy only focused on keeping his eyes dry.
“Damn, what a crazy family you have.” Crocodile said next to him.
Luffy laughed, not caring how wet it sounded.
“Damn, what did you do to anger the guards so much, brat? It’s not normal for them to gang up on only one of us for so long!” Someone from another cell yelled from across their section.
Lots of people agreed on that, “Hear hear, it’s been like two months already!”
Luffy coughed some blood and chuckled weakly, voice strained because of his bruised neck but it carried in the silence of the sector, “I punched a scumbag.”
“Who exactly did you punch? A King of some important country? Some high up government agent?” Crocodile asked.
“A Celestial Dragon.”
Absolute silence filled the sector until everyone started yelling or laughing like crazy.
“You did what?”
“You’re a crazy fucker”
“That’s the spirit!”
“I’m so jealous, I wish I had the guts to do that!”
"I like you, squirt! I don't care if you're Garp's grandson! You’re one of us!" That last one got cheers from everyone.
Crocodile just sighed next to him, “Was it worth it?”
Luffy grinned, showing his bloodied teeth, “Should have killed that scumbag instead. A punch was not enough.”
Crocodile threw his head back and laughed, drowning the cheers from everyone else. Crocodile looked at him with a weird face, “I bet it wasn’t.”