Chapter 14: The Great Escape
Year 1516 - Impel Down, Sunset
The first sign that something was wrong came when the alarms didn't sound.
Hannyabal stood in his office on Level 4, reviewing paperwork, when every Den Den Mushi in the building simultaneously went dead. Not just silent—completely lifeless, as if something had severed all communications at once.
"What in the—" he started, then felt it.
A massive surge of Conqueror's Haki, crashing over Impel Down like a tidal wave. Not from inside the prison, but from outside—from the ocean itself.
Someone was attacking.
He ran to the monitoring room to find guards in chaos, screens flickering, and through the windows overlooking the Calm Belt, he saw something impossible:
A ship, sailing through the Calm Belt as if the lack of wind meant nothing, surrounded by mist so thick it was almost solid. And on that ship's deck, figures preparing for assault.
"The Wandering Marines," he breathed. "They're actually attacking Impel Down."
Thirty Minutes Earlier - The Hakusetsu
Isra stood at the helm, Aria's mist surrounding them in a protective cocoon that hid them from the Sea Kings that prowled the Calm Belt. Beside her, Koji scanned Impel Down through his scope while Yuki checked her weapons for the third time.
"This is insane," Marcus muttered, but he was already coating his arms in Armament Haki, ready for battle.
"Insane is our specialty," Kiara replied. She wore combat gear now, having trained relentlessly since Iron Haven. Still not at Marine level, but competent enough to be useful.
Aria materialized beside Isra. "Tomás has their communications jammed. All external and internal systems are down. We have maybe twenty minutes before they figure out a workaround."
"Then we move fast." Isra activated the Den Den Mushi that connected to every strike team member. "All units, this is Commander Vex. Operation Snow Rescue is go. Repeat, we are go."
She unleashed her Conqueror's Haki—not as strong as Aiko's, but enough to announce their presence unmistakably. The blast rolled over Impel Down like winter thunder.
Inside his cell on Level 5, Aiko felt it and smiled.
"That's our signal," he said to Sadi in the next cell.
"Then let's give them something to work with." Sadi raised her voice, shouting to be heard throughout Level 5. "NOW! EVERYONE, NOW!"
Across Level 5, prisoners who'd been waiting erupted into coordinated chaos. Those who had managed to hide makeshift weapons attacked guards. Others created diversions. The carefully maintained order of Impel Down's most secure level dissolved into pandemonium.
And in his cell, Aiko did something he'd been preparing for days.
Despite the seastone suppressing his Devil Fruit, his Haki remained accessible. He'd spent every moment since capture training it, refining it, pushing it beyond its previous limits. Now he channeled every ounce of Armament Haki he could muster into his hands.
And broke the chains.
Not easily—the metal was reinforced, designed to hold even the strongest prisoners. But Haki, especially Conqueror's Haki coating, could overcome almost any material. The chains shattered, and Aiko stood free for the first time in weeks.
The seastone cuffs remained, suppressing his Devil Fruit, but he could work with that.
"GUARDS!" he shouted. "Your prison is under attack! You have two choices—open the cells and let us help defend against the invaders, or we riot right here and now while your forces are divided!"
It was a bluff—most prisoners here were dangerous criminals who'd sooner kill guards than help them. But in the chaos, with communications down and alarms blaring, the guards panicked.
One of them—the same one who'd passed Aiko the note—made a decision.
He opened the cells.
"Get out!" he shouted to Aiko and Sadi. "Whatever you're planning, do it fast! When Chief Warden Magellan realizes what's happening—"
"We'll be gone," Aiko finished. He looked at Sadi—young, defiant, Revolution tattoo visible on her neck now that her collar had been removed. "Ready?"
"Let's free everyone we can and get out of this hell."
They ran through Level 5 as other cells opened, prisoners pouring out in a flood of desperate humanity. Some were pirates—dangerous ones who immediately attacked guards. Others were political prisoners, Revolutionary agents, people who'd simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"This way!" Sadi knew the prison layout from Revolutionary intelligence. "Level 4 has the lift system—if we can reach it before they lock it down—"
An explosion rocked the entire prison. Koji's sniping from outside, probably taking out guard towers.
They reached the stairs to Level 4 just as a wall of blue venom blocked their path.
Chief Warden Magellan emerged from the poison, his Venom-Venom Fruit making him a walking apocalypse. He was massive, his horns giving him a demonic appearance, and every surface he touched became lethal.
"So," Magellan's voice was calm despite the chaos, "the Snow Traitor orchestrates a breakout. And the Wandering Marines attack my prison. This is unprecedented."
"Stand aside," Aiko said, falling into a combat stance despite his seastone cuffs. "I don't want to fight you, but I will if necessary."
"You can't fight me. My venom kills on contact. You have no Devil Fruit powers. And you're exhausted from imprisonment." Magellan advanced, venom spreading around him like a tide. "Surrender. Your crew will be captured. This escape ends now."
"That's where you're wrong." Aiko's Observation Haki flared, predicting Magellan's attack patterns. "I might not have my Devil Fruit, but I have something you don't."
"What's that?"
"People willing to fight for me."
An explosion blasted through the ceiling above them—Aria's mist carrying explosive powder, creating an entry point. Through the hole dropped Isra, Marcus, and Yuki, landing between Aiko and Magellan.
"Miss us?" Isra asked with a fierce grin, her arms already coated in Armament Haki.
"Every day," Aiko replied. "Sadi, get the other prisoners moving! Everyone else—"
"We handle the Chief Warden," Yuki finished, her blade singing as she drew it. "Let's dance, poison man."
What followed was one of the most desperate battles any of them had fought.
Magellan was a powerhouse—his venom techniques could kill with a touch, and his awakened Logia powers let him flood entire areas with poison. Against normal opponents, he was unstoppable.
But the Wandering Marines weren't normal opponents.
Isra used her speed and Observation Haki to dodge venom attacks by micrometers, her Armament Haki-coated strikes landing precise blows on Magellan's non-poisonous body parts. Marcus became an immovable wall, his defensive techniques creating barriers that the venom had to flow around, protecting the others. Yuki moved like water, her blade finding gaps in Magellan's defense with surgical precision.
And Aiko, even without his Devil Fruit, fought with the skill of someone who'd held off an Admiral.
"You're well-trained," Magellan admitted, his venom hydra technique creating three serpent heads that struck from different angles. "But you can't win. Eventually, one drop of venom touches you, and you're dead."
"Then we won't get touched," Aiko replied. His Yukikaze moved in patterns that seemed to predict where the venom would be, always a half-second ahead, his advanced Observation Haki reading Magellan's intentions before they became actions.
The battle raged for five minutes that felt like hours. Slowly, impossibly, they were gaining ground—forcing Magellan back, creating openings.
Then Koji's voice crackled over Isra's Den Den Mushi: "Commander! We've got incoming! Marine ships approaching from the west—three battleships bearing Vice Admiral colors!"
"Which Vice Admiral?" Isra demanded, blocking a venom strike.
"Onigumo! He's fifteen minutes out!"
Aiko's blood went cold. Onigumo, here, now—they couldn't fight both the Chief Warden and a Vice Admiral. They had to move.
"Magellan!" he shouted. "You're about to have bigger problems than us! Onigumo is coming, and he's going to blame you for this breakout! You can fight us and let him arrive, or you can let us go and focus on actual containment!"
The Chief Warden hesitated—Aiko could see the calculation in his eyes. A prison break was bad, but a Vice Admiral arriving to find Impel Down in chaos would mean investigations, demotions, possibly his dismissal.
"Go," Magellan said finally, his venom receding. "But understand this, Snow Admiral—you've made an enemy today. When I hunt you down, and I will, there will be no mercy."
"I wouldn't expect any." Aiko nodded respectfully—even enemies could acknowledge each other's principles. "Come on, everyone! We've got maybe ten minutes!"
They ran through Level 4, gathering freed prisoners as they went. Not just Sadi and her Revolutionary contacts, but dozens of others—some pirates, some political prisoners, some just people who'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Aria's mist enveloped them as they reached the prison's outer walls. Koji's sniping had cleared a path through the guard towers. The Hakusetsu was visible through the mist, impossibly close to Impel Down's walls.
"JUMP!" Isra commanded, and dozens of freed prisoners leaped toward the ship, Aria's mist cushioning their falls.
Aiko was the last to jump, turning to see Impel Down in chaos behind him—guards running everywhere, prisoners still escaping, and in the distance, Onigumo's fleet approaching.
He landed on the Hakusetsu's deck and immediately collapsed, exhaustion and weeks of imprisonment finally catching up.
"I've got you," Doc Reiner said, already applying medical treatment. "Rest, Commodore. You've earned it."
As the ship pulled away, using a combination of Aria's mist cover and Akira's brilliant navigation through the Sea King-infested waters, Aiko looked at his crew—battered, exhausted, but victorious.
"Thank you," he said simply.
"Don't thank us yet," Isra replied, helping him to his feet. "We just broke out of Impel Down. The World Government is going to come at us with everything they have."
"Let them." Aiko looked at the freed prisoners filling the deck—seventy-three people who'd been in Impel Down, now free because of their actions. "We just proved that their ultimate prison isn't so ultimate. What else can they threaten us with?"
Mary Geoise - Im's Chamber
Im-sama listened to the report of Impel Down's breach with no visible emotion.
"Seventy-three prisoners freed," Saint Saturn reported. "Including twelve Revolutionary Army agents, twenty-seven political prisoners, and thirty-four pirates with bounties totaling over 800 million berries. Chief Warden Magellan has tendered his resignation."
"Rejected," Im said simply. "This isn't his failure—it's a calculated success."
The Five Elders looked confused.
"We now know the Wandering Marines' operational capability, their loyalty to each other, and most importantly..." Im pulled out a list of the freed prisoners, "we know who they consider worth saving. Track these seventy-three people. Eventually, they'll lead us to hidden bases, sympathizers, supply networks."
"But Im-sama," Saint Warcury ventured, "allowing such a humiliation to stand—"
"Is a small price for the intelligence gained." Im's ancient eyes gleamed. "And besides, the boy has made a critical error. He's gathered a large group in one location—his ship. Which means when we strike, we can eliminate them all at once."
"You're planning something," Saint Nusjuro observed.
"I'm planning everything." Im stood, walking to the window overlooking the world. "Alert Admiral Kizaru. Tell him I want the Wandering Marines tracked but not engaged. Let them gather strength, recruit allies, believe they're winning."
"And then?"
"And then, when their hope burns brightest, when they believe they've created something lasting..." Im's hand closed into a fist. "I will personally extinguish every light they've lit. The boy, his crew, his followers, his ideals—all of it will be erased so completely that historians will debate whether he ever existed."
"When, Im-sama?"
"Soon. But not yet. Let them play revolution a while longer. Let them inspire more people, create more hope. The greater the hope, the more devastating its destruction." Im turned from the window. "And I want the lesson to be absolutely clear: there is no escape from our authority. No resistance we cannot crush. No light we cannot extinguish."
The Hakusetsu - Three Days Later
The ship had become crowded—seventy-three freed prisoners, nine original crew, plus the recruits who'd escaped Iron Haven. They'd found a temporary island to resupply and tend to wounds, but everyone knew they couldn't stay.
Aiko, recovered somewhat but still weak from seastone exposure, stood on the deck looking at the motley collection of people they'd freed.
"We can't sustain this," Isra said quietly beside him. "We don't have resources for a hundred people. Food, water, medical supplies—we're stretched thin."
"I know." Aiko watched Sadi Blackwood organizing the Revolutionary agents into work details—the young woman had natural leadership. "We need to make connections. Real ones. Revolutionary Army, sympathetic nobles, merchant guilds who've been hurt by World Government corruption."
"You're talking about building a coalition."
"I'm talking about survival." Aiko turned to face her. "We're not just a rogue Marine crew anymore, Isra. We're leading a movement—one that just humiliated the World Government's 'unbreakable' prison. People will flock to us. Others will hunt us. We need infrastructure, allies, resources."
"You're describing a war."
"We're already in one. We just made it official." Aiko looked at the freed prisoners—people who represented every corner of the world, every injustice the system created. "But maybe that's not a bad thing. Maybe war is what's needed to create real change."
Sadi approached, several other freed prisoners behind her. "Commodore Aiko? We've been talking—those of us from the Revolutionary Army, some of the political prisoners—and we want to formally request permission to join your cause."
"You're Revolutionary Army. Don't you answer to Dragon?"
"We answer to the ideal of freedom. And right now, you're doing more for that ideal than anyone else." Sadi's expression was fierce. "You broke us out of Impel Down. You risked everything when you could have run. That's the kind of leadership worth following."
Aiko looked at Isra, who shrugged—this was his call.
"Alright," he said finally. "But understand what you're joining. We're hunted by the entire World Government. We have no permanent base. We're outnumbered, outgunned, and probably outmatched. The only things we have are our principles and each other."
"That's more than most people have," one of the pirates—a man named Kaldur who'd been imprisoned for stealing food for his starving village—said. "And it's enough."
Aiko extended his hand to Sadi. "Then welcome to the Wandering Marines. We're going to need your Revolutionary contacts. And your strategic mind. Because what comes next—"
Koji's voice called from the crow's nest: "Sir! Ship on the horizon! Single vessel, flying... no flag?"
Everyone tensed. A ship with no flag could mean anything—pirates, Marines, or something worse.
As it approached, Aiko's Observation Haki detected a single powerful presence aboard. Not hostile, but definitely dangerous. The ship pulled alongside, and a figure jumped across—a man in a dark cloak, his face tattooed with distinctive markings.
Aiko recognized him from Marine intelligence reports: Bartholomew Kuma, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
"Danzo Aiko," Kuma's deep voice carried across the deck. "Dragon sends his regards. And an offer."
"Dragon? As in—"
"Monkey D. Dragon, leader of the Revolutionary Army." Kuma pulled back his hood, revealing his full face. "He's been watching your progress with great interest. Your escape from Impel Down proved you're serious about challenging the World Government. He wants to meet. Discuss potential... cooperation."
Isra's hand moved to her weapon. "This could be a trap."
"It could," Kuma agreed calmly. "But it's not. Dragon values people who act on their convictions. And you, Snow Admiral, have shown more conviction than most. Will you meet with him?"
Aiko considered. The Revolutionary Army—the only organization openly fighting the World Government. An alliance could provide resources, intelligence, legitimacy. But it would also tie them to Dragon's agenda, which might not align with their own principles.
"Where and when?" he asked.
"Three days. Baltigo. The Revolutionary Army headquarters." Kuma handed over a log pose. "You'll be under flag of truce. No ambushes, no tricks. Just a conversation between people who want to change the world."
"We'll be there."
Kuma nodded, then paused. "One more thing. Dragon said to tell you: 'The storm is coming. Those who would weather it must stand together.'" He turned to leave, then added almost as an afterthought, "And be careful, Aiko. There are forces beyond the Marines hunting you. Forces that have existed for eight hundred years. Forces that do not tolerate threats to their order."
He was gone before Aiko could ask what he meant.
"Well," Isra said into the silence that followed. "We're meeting with the Revolutionary Army now. This operation just keeps getting bigger."
"No," Aiko corrected, looking at his expanded crew—Marines, Revolutionary agents, freed prisoners, all united by a desire for justice. "We just became big enough to matter. The World Government can't ignore us anymore. Can't dismiss us as rogue Marines."
"What are we, then?"
Aiko thought about that—about everything they'd done, everyone they'd saved, every principle they'd refused to compromise.
"We're the alternative," he said finally. "The proof that another way is possible. That's what terrifies them most."
The Hakusetsu set course for Baltigo, carrying a crew that had grown from nine rebels to over a hundred revolutionaries.
The Wandering Marines were evolving into something greater.
And the World Government was finally beginning to understand why that was dangerous.
END OF CHAPTER 14
Next Chapter: "Baltigo - Meeting the Revolutionary"