"I won't let you down"
Type: Fanfiction
Fandom: One Piece
Characters: Left Wing, Donquixote Doflamingo, Rusla
TW: Minor animal death
Impel Down, the most secure prison standing in the world and serving as a symbol of oppression to everyone living in it. A showcase of the power the World Goverment held over everyone. In such an oppressive structure, escape seemed impossible. It wasn't until the wildcard that had been Monkey D. Luffy that a few brave souls had dared to attempt an escape.
It was on a seemingly ordinary night that the marines standing guard at the gates noticed a lone rowing boat approaching the prison, inside of which there was a hunched figure covered by a black cloak.
The marines immediately pointed their weapons at the boat and its occupant.
"Halt!", one said, "Identify yourself!"
The figure slowly rose with their arms also raised to show they were unarmed. The figure then pulled the hood back to reveal her curly hair and single brown eye. The look on the young woman's face was one of determination as she put a hand over her chest.
"My name is Rusla Antelope!", she said, "And I've come to bargain."
The marines easily recognised the one who was now believed to be the former second in command of Left Wing, which was a very bizzare fact considering she had just come sailing to the shark's jaws.
"...What do you mean by bargain?", the other marine asked.
"I want to turn myself in."
That took them by surprise. It's not like Rusla didn't have a bounty, she was bound to earn one as the second in command of one of the Donquioxote Family's most frequent collaborators.
The marines were obviously cautious about this, but Rusla let them take her out of the boat and inside where she was restrained. Rusla didn't have a devil fruit, so there was no need for any extreme measures to be taken to ensure she wouldn't hurt anyone.
"You were loyal to that pirate for the longest time, why turn on her now?", the one who looked to be the most qualified of the marines here had asked Rusla.
"Because even I know when this madness has gone too far.", Rusla replied, "Working with Donquixote Doflamingo had already been a baffling decision, but after what had happened with Vegapunk, I just couldn't stay any longer. Left Wing is planning something with the Straw Hats, and I decided I just couldn't let the world suffer any longer because of them."
The marines seemed convinced enough by the timeline, and of course the possible threat looming over their heads had them listening even more.
"What are your demands to share this information?"
"Only a reduction to my sentence."
"I'm sure that can be arranged. We'll be taking you to Level 1 until we can reach a solution."
Rusla nodded, and allowed herself to be taken away. As she was being walked down the stairs with the two marines, one took off her cloak, maybe believing she had something hidden underneath. But there was nothing, just her clothes.
They reached the first level, and Rusla stepped forward after whispering something in the ear of the marine on her right. Rusla waited until the marines were out of sight to let out a breath. Something under her clothes begun to move, and out from her collar came the ribboned form of Left Wing, who had been hiding under Rusla's clothes. Left Wing broke Rusla's cuffs as she materialised her head to speak.
"Did you handle our marine?"
"I have."
"Good. Stay up here as I go down. Call for the signal as soon as you see us."
With that, Left Wing transformed again and easily found the entrance to the second level of the prison while avoiding major damage thanks to the fluidity of the form her devil fruit allowed her to have. But before she did that, she had taken a package she had one of the prisoners of Level 1 hold onto for a while, as it was sent to him under the pretense a gift.
Left Wing had a system.
The second Level was easy enough to get through, her monstrous appearance likely confusing its occupants to believing she was yet another beast of Impel Down. It wasn't until she had reached the Sphinx that she tranformed to normal again. Just when the monster was about to speak up however, Left Wing gave him the sizable package. A nice, warm noodle meal. With this distraction from its duties, Left Wing descended to the next Level.
Getting to Level 4 was easier than getting out, as Left Wing was not used to high temperatures of this magnitude. She planned to scale the walls to avoid being spotted as much as possible, but the heat of this place was so intense her flesh would sear every time her ribboned body would make contact with anything. She had to close most of her eyes so they wouldn't dry as fast from the heat. It felt like she was in Hell, and Left Wing had found herself nearly fainting multiple times.
Unfortunately, she was spotted, as her movements were becoming more sluggish until her body simply collapsed. The guards there were about to take her in as well, only to be swallowed whole by a giant toad. Left Wing looked up, pushing past her sweat soaked hair to see the large amphibian turning into a man.
It was Newt, holder of the toad toad fruit and one of her undercover agents in the marines that she had recruited for this specific scenario. He helped her up and towards the entry point of the next level.
"Is all the surveillance taken care of?", she asked in an exasperated tone of voice. She was so damn thirsty.
Newt gave his captain a swig of water as they reached the threshold.
"Not a single den den mushi will pick you up. Me and the others made sure to dispose of them and did everything else you asked.", he said, "The next Level is the opposite of this one. After that, you can reach Donquixote Doflamingo."
Left Wing nodded, and clutching the feather coat, she forced her body to enter the next level of Impel Down.
The bitter cold of Level 4 served as a major whiplash for Left Wing, her body threatening to shut down from the sudden change of temperature or shatter like a cold glass that just had warm liquid poured into it. However, after her initial shock, Left Wing steeled her nerves again. Her thick clothes might have been a nightmare at the previous level, but she could hold herself just fine in this weather.
Left Wing moved forward, as fast as she was able to on the thick ice that was the floor. She pulled the feather coat up further so it could partially serve as a scarf. The pink feathers tickled her cold face as she heard growling in the distance. Ah, that must be the wolves.
She was indeed soon approached by the beasts, who much to the horror of the prisoners occupying this Level, were sliced and diced like a Sunday roast. It only took a few of the wolves perishing from her devil fruit for the rest to take the hint and leave her alone.
And there it was, the final Level.
So far, Left Wing had made sure to cut off any means of security so the Warden wouldn't catch on, made sure to be as discreet as possible, and to have enough men on the inside that it would be sufficient to pull the same stunt as Luffy had.
Walking through the halls of the sixth Level, with the keys she had obtained from Newt back at the Blazing Hell, she had naturally received a lot of curious looks from the prisoners. No one she recognised, though. The prisoners had their questions to throw at her, like what it was that she was doing here, if she would assist them, and some even curious about the sudden lack of den den mushi monitoring them.
All that sudden talking caught the attention of a certain former Warlord. Doflamingo could only look at the walls and ceiling from his position, unable to use his devil fruit because of the seastone chains. But what he could see while laying down on his back were the shadows being cast on the stone walls. And in the shadow that had come up, he could recognise the silhouette of his own feather coat. Doflamingo heard the door to his cell creak open, and someone stepping inside.
Finally, he could see Left Wing's single eye looking down at him, almost in disbelief.
"....Took you long enough to pay me a visit.", he commented, making Left Wing breath out a laugh as she worked on unchaining him.
"Like I said, I won't let you down.", she said.
Getting to finally stand on his own two feet once again felt nice. Doflamingo stretched, relishing the feeling of his strength returning to him.
Left Wing then gave him his coat back, rubbing the back of her neck.
"I borrowed this.", she said, "Hope you don't mind."
Doflamingo took his coat back with a smile, which was soon dropped as he grabbed Left Wing by the shoulder and yanked her down so he could slice down a group of marines that was trying to ambush them.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. But how are you planning to get us out, exactly?"
Left Wing quickly gave him a rundown of the plan as they were running for the elevator, which was being called down by another one of her undercover men, all while freeing as many prisoners they could to start a riot as a distraction.
Thankfully, because of the elevator's advantage, Left Wing wouldnt have to suffer through Level 4 again. And even though she had full trust in Doflamingo, she still chose to hold his hand until they reached the elevator to not lose him in the slowly forming riot.
This riot was meant to serve as a distraction for the bulk of the prison guards, dragging them down to the bottom level to deal with the prisoners as she and Doflamingo made their escape. Left Wing instructed the marine assisting them to give the call to the rest of the rest of their crew in Impel Down. And it was only until they had reached Level 1 and could see Rusla that she gave the second signal. From that point on, it was every man for himself. Those that wanted to live, had to get out by themselves. Even if Left Wing knew most of her own men would not survive either.
"You thought this out well."
"You don't wanna know the things I had to do."
They had to rush outside, Angel's Plight was instructed to be in a distance where Doflamingo would be able to use his strings to get them there. This was it, Left Wing won.
But it was then that the sound of a chariot surfing the waves caught her ears.
"Oh for fuck's sake...", Left Wing muttered to Doflamingo's confusion.
The carriage soon approached them and in it stood Abayori, a Retainer of Momonosuke. He should be in Wano, but here he was.
"What the-what are you doing here?", he asked in confusion as his carriage screeched to a stop.
"Not now, dragon boy."
"You know the Vice Admiral?", Doflamingo asked.
"Ex Vice Admiral!", the shorter man argued.
"Look, I have no candles on me.", Left Wing said.
"Why would you need candles for?", Doflamingo asked.
"Because he eats them. One time I threw a round one at him and he chased it like a dog."
"Purple candles taste good, okay??"
"Not to put pressure on anyone,", Rusla interrupted, "but the fucking prison??"
Sure enough, the sound of the marines climbing up was heard. Left Wing turned to Abayori.
"Listen, if we don't get out of here, we're going die. And I'm not referring to just us, get yourself out of range, now."
Most in Abayori's position might have been hesitant, letting a former Warlord escape his rightful fate, but with a sigh and a shrug, the man ordered his horses to continue forward.
"Just don't sink me!", he called out as he sped off.
That was Doflamingo's cue for wrapping a hand around Left Wing, who had Rusla clinging on her leg, and use the string fruit to fly them to Angel's Plight. This brought back some more pleasant memories, and Doflamingo enjoyed feeling freedom once again.
As soon as they were on the ship, the crew worked to have it move further away from Impel Down as Hawk gave Left Wing a den den mushi.
"Men, your time has come to shine.", she practically shouted into the snail. From the other side, she could hear the sounds of shuffling feet, devices beeping faster and faster. "You've done well. I won't forget you. And if you live, you know where to find me."
Rusla barely caught a glimpse of the confused marines and pirates that had managed to escape to the docks as a sudden booming sound filled the air around them. The crew and the two tall captains had to shield themselves from the shockwave caused by the explosion that followed Left Wing's final message.
Left Wing had not only broken Doflamingo out, but constructed a plan to destroy this prison that served as a reminder of the power breathing down the neck of the rest of the world in a pillar of flame and destruction.
Even Doflamingo was surprised, the explosion reflecting on his glasses as Left Wing threw her arms up in triumpth, letting out a laughter so bellowing it felt like she had been holding it in all her life.
"Yes! Yes! Who is not worthy of the Heavens' attention now??"
The crew joined in her victory laps, Doflamingo joining her laughter as what few survivors remained started to resurface from the water or floating unconscious on pieces of rubble.
Left Wing nearly fainted again, but Doflamingo caught her before she hit the ground.
"Is the captain okay?", Hawk asked.
"Yeah. I'll take her inside. Make sure we get out of here.", the taller man instructed.
Abayori turned to the sound of the explosion, witnessing it from a distance.
.....Maybe he had made a mistake, after all.
