Lia's POV;

“Mrs Chicken Wing, we don't know what is happening in level six, the prisoners might be free and hostile,” I shouted after her. It did not help and she increased her speed even further. Possibly fearing for her husband now even more.

I looked at the rest and increased my own speed, fast enough to catch up with her. “I'll catch up with her. Don't rush it, follow us while giving each other cover.”

I'm sure that Mrs Chicken Wing allowed me to catch up. She was still calm enough to realize that I could help if something happens. We flew down a staircase and ended at a closed gate that was also sealed with stone slabs. This one was sturdier than the others, it was made out of sea stone. Mrs Chicken Wing simply activated her advanced Armament and destroyed the whole gate with a single kick.

The massive room behind reeked of death and blood. Prisoners were laying around, some moaning in pain from steep wounds, others already dead. A group of six prisoners was still fighting each other. No wait, two of them were just now killed and the canon four were left. Blackbeard and his crew were watching the deathmatch. However, all of them stopped what they had been doing and looked at the destroyed entrance.

“Zehahahaha, if that isn't one of the Blood Elven Twins, what brings you here, to the deepest parts of hell?” Laughed Blackbeard when he saw who we were.

“We're on our way to get a specific prisoner,” I answered curtly. His crew was standing rather relaxed, but their aura was telling me that each of them would be able to fight in the split of a second.

“Ah, recruitment, just like me. I'm sorry, but they are all already spoken for. You can have the leftovers,” apologised Blackbeard with a faked sorry tone.

“No need, we know whom we want to have and I can't see him in between all the dead failures,” I answered back, but silently applied pressure to every downed prisoner. They would suffocate while we wait for Mrs Chicken Wing to get her husband. There's no need to let these alive, they are here with a reason.

He nodded, in total agreement with my disregard for all those who are already dead. “You know, I should kill you for what you have done to me at Mock Town.”

Ah, he is mistaking me for Lara. “That wasn't me.”

“Oh, right, sorry then. In this case, I should kill you for what your sister has done to me,” he then changed.

I waved him off, the threat was not serious. He knew as well as I do that fighting each other here would be hindering to our plans. “Another time, I don't have the time for a fight against you. My friend here is not in the mood to waste time as well and you are also running out of time. I take it your next stop will be Marine HQ? The war with Whitebeard should be in full swing by now.”

“Zehahahaha yeah, a pity. But you are right, time is of the essence. Then, may I know whom you are here for? It can't be Ace, you would have come with the Straw Hat then.”

Instead of answering, I turned to look at Mrs Chicken Wing. “Do you know where he is?” I asked. She clucked in worry and began to release waves of Haki. The downed and weakened prisoners were quickly getting knocked out, while the rest of us began to sweat from the mental pressure.

Well, I did until I eased the pressure she was forcing on my mind. Blackbeard and his crew began to look worried and then shocked when an equally strong wave of Haki came out of the darkness of level six.

Mrs Chicken Wing vanished instantly. The prison cell that stood in her way was breached without any visible effort and she vanished into the darkness.

Blackbeard looked into the darkness Mrs Chicken Wing has vanished into and then at me. “Who was that? She looked like a member of the poultry clan,” he asked.

“Batilda, we are here for her husband,” I answered shortly. From behind, I could feel how the rest was catching up with us. Good, their presence will deter him from a fight even more. I'm not sure if the guys are able to beat them, but they will give them a hard fight and with some manipulation from my side it should be possible to win. Only that it would be a costly win.

Suddenly a massive blast of Haki filled the room. My crew would have been knocked out, hadn't I lessened the mental pressure. Blackbeard's crew was not fully unharmed. His original members were all down on a knee. The four new members were, like Blackbeard, sweating heavily and had trouble breathing.

Then suddenly a white sea stone block came flying out of the darkness and landed in front of us. The stone was wet as if it had come out of water. Tubes and the remains of chains were still connected to the stone. One of the tubes looked as if it had been filled with liquid, the other was empty.

Is that a sarcophagus?

Mrs Chicken Wing came flying back and her right claw got coated with Haki. It turned into the colour scheme of advanced Haki and then began to crackle with lightning from an added Conqueror Haki.

She kicked down at the sea stone and split parts of it off. The destroyed part got pulverised from the strength behind her attack.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The inside of the sarcophagus was dark, but something was moving. It came to the front and then out of the darkness. A massive cock, or rooster, climbed out of the sea stone coffin. Its feathers were white and his body was at least four times as large as Mrs Chicken Wing.

Mrs Chicken Wing was rubbing her beak on the chest of the rooster in a strange hug. She began to cluck while tears streamed from her eyes. The rooster too began to rub his beak against hers and clucked.

Kurei began to cry as well, touched by the display of love, shown by two animals.

“How touching, but we'll have to go now,” interrupted Blackbeard the reunion. Not the least bit remorse for breaking the happy atmosphere.

Mrs Chicken Wing and Basilisk, as the rooster couldn't be anyone else, glared at Blackbeard. Suddenly the body of Basilisk began to twist and change. The feathers changed into scales and he got more and more like a snake.

“Mrs Chicken Wing, please tell your husband that a fight here and now would be counterproductive. We need to get out and to the Marine HQ. Lara might be in danger, by now they will know about our attack and she will have to fight both Whitebeard and the Marines,” I requested. I'd like to kill Blackbeard as well, but Lara had precedence, now that we had Basilisk.

Mrs Chicken Wing placed one of her wings on her husband's shoulder and began to cluck rapidly. The rooster looked at us and then at his wife, before nodding and turning back.

I turned to the now wary Blackbeard, darkness was flickering along his body and he was eyeing the rooster with caution. “Well then, Blackbeard, it was not nice to see you, I hope you will choke to death on a grape and hopefully the maggots will eat your corpse and turn your rotten body into dung.”

“Guys we have to reach the Marine HQ before the war is over,” I then said and turned around to leave. We'll go the same way back we came. It's easier than finding a different route. And Magellan, as well as the ex-warden are also not on it.

Basilisk, whom I am sure will be nicknamed Mr Chicken Wing soon, had to be helped by Mrs Chicken Wing to walk, the long imprisonment was detrimental to his muscles. He could only stand with effort. The show he gave Blackbeard was done to look strong, but the moment he set claw outside of sight of them he almost crumbled to the ground. Mrs Chicken Wing was instantly at his side and gave him support. A brief glimpse showed that the feathers were hiding an atrophied body.

The rest of the way out proceeded rather easily and uneventful. Basilisk got the spare mask of Mrs Chicken Wing and we got through the poisoned hell without any encounter.

Well, almost any, there was a troop of guards in full body suits. They were hurriedly carrying someone on a stretcher. Lo and behold, it was Magellan. He looked worse for wear and had numerous cuts and wounds. Parts of his face were destroyed and his black coat was more damaged than whole.

The guards stopped the moment they saw us and then all dropped dead. There was nothing that showed why, but I had felt a brief spike in Basilisks aura. Did he just change his eyes and killed them? Why hasn't he done that against Blackbeard? I wish I could speak bird.

His brief, but effective, attack wasn't without consequences. The use of his Devil Fruit in such a weakened state did more harm than good and he started to dip in and out of consciousness.

Well, I took an apple out of my inventory, had it in my pocket and then flicked a pebble at Magellan's neck. The man died quickly and I felt how the apple changed and transformed. The finished Devil Fruit was then placed inside my inventory. At least we got out of all this as well, his Devil Fruit was pretty good. Also, I think I am going to collect strong or legendary stuff. Lara is picking all kinds of junk up, but I want to have stuff that can be useful.

“We are so going to rise on the bounty list after this,” mumbled Yosaku with anticipation. Jonny nodded along, he too was eager to see how high our fame would rise when news gets out.

“Urgh, please don't remind me. It's bad enough that the people know we were partly responsible for Enies Lobby, now everyone will think we are dead set on destroying the World Government,” disagreed Nojiko. She liked it more when people do not know about your strength.

“Well, we are the only pirate group that has ever attacked all three main Marine bases. Luffy did as well, but he was alone for most of them. This does make us look as if we are against the Marines at least,” countered Noa. If you see it from that way then he is right, it does look as if we are specifically against the World Government.

“Enough chit-chat, we have reached the elevator,” I interrupted their conversation and began to strap the waver skates back on my feet. Basilisk got carried by his wife and Kurei happily climbed on Yosaku's back.

There was a quick makeshift elevator, built by the guards to extract Magellan, but we ignored it. Using the waver skates would be faster. The guards that waited on the surface all run away when they saw who came up. Only one guy tried to stand in our way. He had burns all over his body and had horns, as well as bat-like wings.

From the manga, I know that this might have been the Vice-Warden, but I forgot his name. It wasn't important anyway. He tried to stand in our way and was sprouting some shit about not allowing us to leave. Noa gave him a passing hit in the face with his flaming hammer.

The attack exploded in his face with a fireball and he rolled on the ground in a weak attempt to extinguish the fire, while we just moved along and left the prison. No guard was stupid enough to stand in our way, not when we had shown that we could kill them all easily. Which did not stop me from killing those that were not out of sight fast enough.

“You can detonate Inari's charge now Fiara,” I said while we drove across the water over to the waiting Raptor.

Fiara pulled a button out of her clothes and pushed it. Dozens of explosions rocked the prison behind us, almost instantly followed by more and stronger explosions. A quick look behind showed that some parts of the fortress were now gone, while others were burning. Rebuilding Impel Down will take time if it will be done at all. The damage to it is enormous.

We soon had reached the Raptor and jumped on board. The waiting Nami was hugging her sister and looking for any wounds within seconds. Josef and Mrs Chicken Wing were also on a fast track down to our medical bay. Her husband needs help.

I turned to Noa and the remaining guys on deck. “Start the engines, I want to reach Marine HQ as fast as possible. But keep us high. Lara does not want to get picked up before she had her fun. I just want to make sure that I can help if she needs it.” Noa ran inside as well, while Yosaku and Jonny began to prepare the deck for the flight.

With a deep sigh, I sat down now. I had my Observation active for the whole time and the encounter with Blackbeard was taxing. His aura feels black. I had to concentrate on him and his crew so much that I got a slight headache. But knowing what he will do before he does was worth it. None of us got wounded and we got Mrs Chicken Wings husband out of the prison.

Now we only have to fetch Lara and everything is well. Soon I can have her back and she won't leave me again. I'll make sure of that.