Chapter 15

So, uh, hi. It's been a bit, huh? I've been writing like a madman over the past year and change, but almost none of it has been dedicated to A Leader in Peril. Woops. I promise though, that I will finish this story. I will endeavor to put out more than one chapter a year though. Sorry again.

Also, important to note; the chronology of this chapter is a little whack. The second section in this chapter goes back in time to pre-Shanks meet-up. I wrote it after publishing the last chapter, but I really should have included it in Chapter 13 or 14. Because of this, I reiterate that section in the third section. I know it's not necessarily 'good' writing, but I'm just happy to have this chapter finished, tbh. I tried to keep the reiteration short and to the point, with the slight changes that meeting up with Shanks created. Please just bear with it.

Anyway, thanks everyone for waiting for this. Here's chapter 15! Things are moving along.

Publish date: January 12, 2021

Word count: 2999

Enjoy! Review!


* Present Day *

"Oh, for the love of – just stop. I'll do it." Nami strode forward and grabbed the rope Zoro had been using to tie down the barrels of food supplies.

"Oi, I've done this before, you know," the swordsman protested.

"Yes, but it needs to be extra secure. We can't afford to lose any of this, especially with Luffy coming back on board soon enough. They won't have fed him nearly enough in Impel Down and we're going to need all the food we can get."

"He'll be fine."

"You realize his body actually needs more food than ours, right? It's not just him being crazy."

"I know that. But he's not going to starve or anything."

Nami just huffed and pulled the ropes tightly secured. "There. Now I need to check on everyone else. Knowing them, they've managed to mess something or other up."

Before she could leave the room, Zoro grabbed her arm. She looked sharply at him, tense and challenging. "Nami," he said in a serious tone. "They can handle it. Everyone knows how important this is." Her glaring expression didn't change. Zoro tightened his hold on her arm a little. "We'll get him back, Nami. You're bossy, but this is a bit over the top. We're still a crew and we know how to get things done. You have to just have faith in everyone. We will get him back."

Nami's posture slumped a little and she looked away, letting out a sigh. Zoro let go of her arm. She brought one hand up to cover her face. "I know, Zoro. It's just…" she trailed off.

"Yeah," Zoro agreed.

Nami shook herself. "I'm going to go to tell Franky it's almost time. I need to go over a couple more things with Rayleigh about how the coating works again. We can't afford to accidentally pop it once we're underwater. Sanji-kun should have the food ready by now: you go load that into the Shark Submerge. After that, help the others with the sails and such. We'll be ready after that."

Zoro nodded and walked out of the room. Nami stood for a moment and stared down at her clenched fists. Her eyes watered just a little as she quietly said, "Luffy… we're coming." She shook herself once more and wiped her eyes. "Don't worry, captain. We'll see you soon," she said, and walked confidently out of the door, a challenge to the world in her eyes.


* A few days earlier, before meeting Shanks *

"The normal way of things is to ride on underwater currents to get to where you need to be," Rayleigh explained to all the surrounding people on board the Sunny. "But this part of the ocean was chosen for Impel Down specifically for its calm waters. On the surface, that's a boon, but it's the opposite underwater. And then there's the presence of the sea kings."

"There are sea kings?!" cried Usopp.

"Indeed," confirmed Rayleigh. "Those will actually be the least of your worries." Usopp and Chopper hugged each other and whimpered. "It's easy enough to get up to the prison. The tricky part is how we're going to get inside. Have you guys thought up a plan yet? The bulk of the prison itself is underwater. We can't exactly enter underwater, though; otherwise we'd flood the whole prison."

"Ah, about that," Robin interrupted. Everyone turned to her. "I've done a bit of research into how the prison was built. During construction, they had to include chambers with airlocks and bulkhead doors in case of water accidentally seeping inside. They are still present today as a precaution against flooding."

"Where did you find blueprints?" asked Brook.

"Not blueprints," Robin corrected. "Just a mention of the compartments' existence."

"If we can find one of those spots…," Franky said, hand on his chin.

"Yes," Robin nodded. "If we know where one is, we can enter through it and close the bulkhead behind us, blocking off the water."

"Won't that alert the guards immediately?" Chopper asked.

"Yeah, and we can't get back out that way, then!" Usopp shouted.

"The plan was never to exit the same way we entered," Nami said, "Unless you want to enter through the front door."

"Wait a second!" Usopp stuck up his hands. "Are you saying we'll have to leave from the front door?!"

"That is a foregone conclusion, Usopp-san," Brook said. "We will be escaping a prison with two of its prisoners in our grasps. It is very unlikely we won't be noticed trying to get out."

"I think the best we can hope for is to not be noticed until we get Ace and Luffy," Sanji put in.

"That brings us back to the bulkhead idea, then," Nami said. "It will attract attention right away."

"So, why don't we just storm the prison, then? If we're going to have to fight anyway?" Zoro asked.

"Because," Nami said, punching Zoro, "If we have two points of entry, one can act as a decoy."

"Decoy?" Chopper asked.

Robin nodded. "I agree. It isn't enough to just find one bulkhead compartment. We need to find at least two."

"I guess that's where you come in, Robin. You'll be our eyes inside the prison before we even get in."

"Don't you have to be close enough to do that?" asked Franky.

"And that," Nami pointed at Franky, "is where you come in."

"Me?" he asked.

"Yes. The Shark Submerge. We take it down close to the prison and Robin uses her powers to peek inside to find the compartments we need. The first one we smash open serves two purposes; a decoy and a timing check. We need to see how quickly the bulkhead doors close in order to make it through the second one in time."

"Earlier, you said that the Shark Submerge is a no-go," Usopp reminded her. "The sea kings and all that."

"And the Shark Submerge can only fit a few people," Franky said. "And someone will have to stick behind to bring it back to the Sunny."

"Can you make it a bit bigger?" suggested Sanji. "Big enough for five people, maybe? That way, four of us can go inside from the hole we make."

"The sea kings, you guys!" whined Usopp. "What about the massive underwater sea monsters?"

"That sounds super! It'll take me a little bit since I'll have to basically rebuild it," Franky said, muttering calculations under his breath.

"Only four of us are actually going inside? I thought the plan was for everyone to go." Chopper asked.

"I suppose we could try another decoy. I don't think blasting open three bulkhead compartments will work; they'll be onto us by then." Sanji said, taking another drag of his cigarette.

"We have a couple more days to figure out another decoy, if we want to. For now, we should worry about the sea kings."

"Thank you!" shouted Usopp.

"Yeah, Rayleigh, why'd you say those will be the least of our worries? They're kind of a big deal for people trapped in a submarine and on an underwater ship." Franky said.

"We can deal with those attacking the ship. The coating can be passed through, if you're careful about not popping it," Rayleigh said. "Although, if you have a submarine maybe the ship doesn't have to get as close as I'd thought. The sea kings tend to stay around the prison, where the waters are the calmest. What you'll have to be aware of is those around the submarine. Hachi and I myself are both entirely capable of keeping them at bay. And I can be the one to drive the submarine back to the ship after you all vacate it. That way, five people can enter through there. It'll have to be a quick switch, though. I'll break open the compartment, you guys will pull in and plug the hole a little with the submarine, and I'll hop in after you all jump out. That'll also give you a little bit more time to work with to get past the bulkhead doors."

"Um, Rayleigh," Nami began. "Didn't you just say that it will all be underwater? Hachi, sure, I understand. But you're human."

"I'm pretty good at holding my breath," Rayleigh said with a smile. "And I have a back-up in case I run out of breath."

"Okay," said Zoro, accepting the vague answer. "Now who gets to go inside?"

"Robin has to be on the Shark Submerge, obviously," Nami answered, her brows scrunched up as she thought. "And I don't think we could stop Zoro if we wanted to." Zoro just smirked. "That leaves three people."

"The first thing Luffy will want is going to be meat," Sanji pointed out. "I can bring him a pirate lunchbox. He'll be quiet and go along with us if we bribe him with food."

"That's assuming we haven't already been noticed," Franky said.

"Franky," Nami pointed at him again. "You should probably stay on Sunny in case anything goes wrong with the coating. That means that Usopp should be in the Shark Submerge."

"What?!" the boy in question shouted. "Why me?!"

"Because Franky can teach you what to do with the Shark Submerge if something goes wrong."

"Something might go wrong?!" he shouted.

"The pressure could kill us all," Robin helpfully added.

"That just makes me not want to go more!" Usopp wailed.

"Get over it," Nami said. "That leaves room for Chopper. Luffy or Ace might be hurt when you guys find them."

"You're just saying that so you don't have to go!" accused Usopp. Nami ignored him.

"I… I guess that makes sense," Chopper muttered.

"Yohoho! What about me?" Brook asked.

"Yeah! And us!" Camie added, pointing to herself and Pappug.

"… I'm not sure, yet. We'll have to figure something out. But first: Rayleigh, what were you saying earlier about riding currents underwater? We can't do that here, so do you have an alternate idea?"

"Mmm," Rayleigh nodded. "Franky showed me some of the things he has equipped your ship with. I noticed some impressive, automated paddles."

"Ah!" the cyborg exclaimed. "That'll work. And I can get a Coup de Burst ready for when you guys get back to the ship."

"How are we going to get back to the ship?" Chopper asked timidly.

"No idea," Zoro told him. "And there isn't really a point to make a plan for it. We'll have Luffy with us by then and I doubt he'll go along with any plan we've made, even if we do try to bribe him with food. Besides, knowing him, he'll make an exit magically appear somehow."

"I hate to agree with the marimo –"

"Eh?!"

"– but he has a point. We don't know enough about the interior of the prison to make a foolproof escape plan. We could use one of the other bulkhead compartments we didn't smash as a back-up, but they're all likely to be blocked off by that point. Either way, we can make sure we all have a Baby Den Den Mushi to let those on the Sunny know what's going on inside."

"Okay," Nami started. "Now that that's all –"

"Wait a minute!" Pappug cut in. Nami glared at him as everyone else turned to look. "These are Marine-controlled waters, right?"

"Yes. So?" Nami said impatiently.

"We need to keep a low profile on our approach, but still have a ready-made escape route that isn't too conspicuous," the starfish said.

"That did come back to bite us at Enes Lobby," Usopp reminded them.

"Yes, that's why Sunny is going to be underwater," Nami said in a condescending tone.

"That's great and all, but it'll be much easier to have a decoy escape route. One that the Marines can follow while you guys secretly make your way back to the underwater Sunflower with the submarine."

"Please call her the Thousand Sunny," Franky muttered.

"Did you have something in mind?" she asked. "We're a bit short on extra ships at the moment."

"But the Marines aren't!" shouted Camie happily. "We can steal one of their ships! And I can help by calling a bunch of fish to come and swarm their boat. Then, you guys can take them out!"

"You can tell fish what to do?" Franky asked. Chopper was looking at her with shining eyes.

Camie happily nodded and Hatchi cut in, "I'm not going to let you anywhere near a ship full of Marines."

Camie stuck out her tongue at him. "I won't even have to see a single Marine soldier to ask the fish to help. It's not dangerous. I just want to help."

Before an argument could break out between the two, Nami spoke up. "Camie, are you sure? It's not a bad idea, just going to be a bit complicated. We'll need to take them all out before they can send an alert."

"That'll give Brook and the Witch something to do," Zoro said, leaning back and closing his eyes.

"Hey! Shitty algae, don't you dare –"

"It's fine, Sanji-kun," Nami cut him off. "We're the only two without a job at the moment. And, I am pretty good at moving around without people noticing me."

"Sneaking around, more like," Zoro muttered.

Nami punched him and continued without missing a beat. "I can cut off their communications while they're busy dealing with all the fish. We have the Waver still, so it'd be easy to get there. Brook will come with as a bodyguard."

"Oi!" Usopp said. "Why do you get a –"

"Ah, Nami-swan! You're so smart!"

"If it's for Luffy-san, I don't mind subduing some Marines," Brook gripped his cane solemnly.


* Present Day *

"Okay, everyone! Let's go over this one last time."

Nami stood in front of the bench wrapped around the main mast of the Sunny. The Straw Hats, Rayleigh, their Fishman friends, and Shanks' small entourage all stood before her. They were less than an hour away from submerging the Sunny, beginning the first stage in their rescue operation.

"Camie and Pappug will go with Shanks and have the fish in the area swarm a passing Marine ship. They patrol this area all the time, so it won't take long to come across a ship. Then Shanks and his crew will commandeer the vessel and keep it as a fail-safe for our escape route." Their initial plans had changed when the Red-Hairs had shown up, adding to their force. Shanks had not offered to infiltrate Impel Down himself, and the Straw Hats had not asked him to. They all understood that Luffy was their captain and they would be the ones to retrieve him.

"When their new ship gets close enough to the Impel Down entrance, they will send Brook out on a piece of driftwood for the guards to find and they'll bring him inside and leave his 'dead' body alone for a bit so he can sneak around and find some files to locate where they've put Luffy and Ace." The plan was for him to use a Baby Den Den hidden inside of his skull – and that had been fun to watch as he'd simply opened the top of his skull one night – to call the small Shark Submerge crew with the information he gleaned.

"While that's happening, the rest of us will submerge the Sunny. Once we're close enough to Impel Down – which will happen in a couple of hours – Franky and I will stay behind while everyone else goes with the Shark Submerge towards the prison. Rayleigh and Hatchi will fend off the sea kings and Robin will search for two bulkhead compartments. They'll smash the first one to draw the guards' forces and attention to it, but you'll enter via the second one, which is when Rayleigh will switch with you to bring the Shark Submerge back to the Sunny."

"From there… well, find Luffy and Ace. Get them out and escape. You'll have the submerged Sunny, the Shark Submerge, the commandeered Marines' ship, and Shanks' ship to fall back on to get out of the area. We can't help you inside the prison, but just make it outside and we'll take care of the rest. We don't know what's inside and where they are, but hopefully Brook manages to learn something useful to help you."

There was a round of agreement from all those on board. Shanks stepped forward and spoke clearly over the conversations that started up. "I knew Anchor would find a good crew, but I have to admit he's surpassed my expectations. It's not often a pirate crew would do this for their captain. You lot will go far; I have no doubt."

The Straw Hats blushed and rubbed their necks, bashful, but pleased. "Don't say such sappy things, you bastard. It doesn't make us happy."

Zoro, for his part, just rolled his eyes at his crews' antics and, after a moment, took charge. "Alright, alright. We got shit to do. There'll be time for all that crap later."

A mass of movement followed his words as the assembled pirates and pirate allies hurried to finish last-minute preparations and assume their stations. They were closing in on Impel Down, but it felt like the unbreachable prison was closing in on them.


* Unknown *

"Is there a reason you haven't had him escape before now?"

"Mmm."

"… Are you going to share that reason?"

"Not unless it becomes necessary."

A sigh. "Why now, then?"

"There's a new prisoner. I thought it'd be a good time to take care of both problems at once."

"Is this 'new prisoner' Monkey D. Luffy?"

"… So you did hear."

"Are you… disappointed?"

"Am I?"

Another sigh. "Fine, I'll drop it for now. But how do you plan to even get inside? Especially with just the two of us?"

"I have my ways."

"I hope that means you have your ways of escaping, too."

No response, just a smirk underneath a hooded cloak.

Thank you so very much for your patience. Reading back through this story, I realize I want nothing more than to clean it up and re-order some of the things. Overall, the chronology would stay the same. But I wish I had written everything at once so I could leave a cliffhanger here, drop a fun little hint or two there. Alas, that is not how this story came to be and I must own what I have created.

Suffice it to say, I've been working on this story for over five and a half years now (holy crap, that can't be right!) and my skills as a writer have only gotten better. I promise it won't take another 5.5 years to finish it up.

If you're wondering what I've been writing like a madman over the past year, it's mostly fanfic for other things that will likely never be read by anyone but me or things I refuse to publish until I've finished this story.

Guest Reviews:

Guest (ch 14): Thanks so much for your review! Here is another chapter!

Pans (ch 14): Thanks for the review! I appreciate your patience! Hopefully updates will be a bit more regular now. As for Iva, well… you'll see :)

Daphne (ch 1): I'm so happy you enjoyed it! I'm sorry I made you wait, but I'm back!

Guest (ch 1): You're so nice! I'm honored, really. Thanks so very much!