When I opened my eyes... a very nostalgic view greeted me.
When was the last time I saw something like this? Oh, right. Just before I reunited with Shakky, when I screwed up and got caught by that human trafficker gang.
This kind of... being locked inside iron bars, a fairly desperate situation.
...Then again, maybe I'm the weird one for having ended up in this kind of situation multiple times in my life.
Still, things were considerably worse than that time.
It seemed like I'd been laid down in some weird position, so I tried to shift around and fix it, but... I could barely move my body. Every attempt sent searing pain through me.
No, correction. It hurt even without moving.
My entire body hurt like hell. It hurt and it burned. And I was exhausted.
But that wasn't the only reason I couldn't move.
Something hard pressed against both my wrists, and the slightest movement produced a clinking rattle. From that point, I could feel my strength draining away. Another nostalgic sensation... not since Mary Geoise.
Seastone... handcuffs. High-purity ones, too. The kind specifically meant to keep you from moving, probably.
Gritting my teeth and enduring the pain, I forced my body upright... and settled onto the hard floor in a sitting position.
Only then could I finally get a good look at my current situation.
This was probably inside a Marine warship, or maybe a transport vessel.
In the end, I couldn't beat Akainu... there was never any opening to escape... and after I lost consciousness, I must have been captured and thrown in here.
A Paper Human fighting a Magma Human and coming out alive at all might be an achievement in itself.
My whole body ached and the fatigue was brutal, but it seemed I'd been given medical treatment at least.
Bandages were wrapped around various spots, and what looked like medicated patches had been applied here and there. I could smell something like disinfectant.
Burns and other injuries all over, but... my bones were intact. That much was a blessing.
They must have undressed me for treatment, because I wasn't in my original clothes anymore. I'd been changed into a plain, cheaply made short-sleeved top and shorts... the kind a hospital patient would wear.
Hospital clothes or prisoner clothes? They weren't the black-and-white horizontal stripes, that quintessential The Prisoner look the inmates wore in the Impel Down arc... so hospital clothes, probably?
For the record... no underwear. Top or bottom. No wonder I'd been feeling a draft.
Just as I was thinking that was about all I could figure out for now... I heard a heavy metallic clank.
I looked over. Beyond the iron bars, a door was opening... someone was coming in.
The Marine standing guard in front of the cell rose to his feet and saluted, receiving the visitor.
The one who entered was a female Marine. Black hair swept back behind her... she looked fairly up there in age, but her aura was youthful and alluring. A sword at her hip.
Her bearing alone told me she was... very strong. Who was she? I didn't recognize the face.
"Oh my, you're awake already, Missy?"
"Ma'am! She appears to have just woken up moments ago."
"Is that so. I'm going to have a chat with her, so you can step out."
"Huh? But ma'am, I'm on watch duty..."
"She's in Seastone handcuffs, and I'm right here. There's no chance of escape, is there? ...This is going to be a rather involved conversation, so step out for a bit, would you?"
"! ...Understood. Then, Vice Admiral, I'll be outside... please call when you're finished."
"Sure. Thanks for your work."
And with that, the guard Marine left the room... leaving only that female Marine, the one who'd been called "Vice Admiral."
She moved a chair right in front of the cell and sat down. Through the iron bars, she faced me.
"Well then... this is our first time meeting, isn't it, Pirate Literary Master Missy? I'm Gion. A Headquarters Vice Admiral."
"...Ah, I've heard the name. If I recall... the alias 'Momousagi.'"
It was a name I'd heard from Papa before. As one of the Marines who "required particular caution."
Supposedly one of the top-tier fighters even among the Headquarters Vice Admirals, or something like that...
The Headquarters Vice Admirals apparently had a pretty wide range of ability levels... it would be wise to assume she was considerably above Vice Admiral Bastille, whom I'd fought before.
...Well, even so, it wasn't like I was going to fight her, so thinking about it didn't really matter.
"Good grief, you really got beaten to a pulp... it'd be terrible if scars were left on that cute face of yours. Honestly, Sakazuki has no sense of restraint."
"Oh? You're worried about me?"
"We're both women, after all. That said, I have no intention of taking sides with you as a pirate, so don't get your hopes up."
She said this while maintaining her sultry manner, and then... the smile still on her face, her voice shifted to a slightly more serious tone.
"I had them treat your injuries, but you still look like you're in rough shape, so let's get straight to business. I came because there are a few things I need to discuss with you... just relax and listen."
"Things to discuss?"
"Yeah. First, about what's going to happen from here on... this ship is currently heading for Impel Down. To hand you over there, of course."
"...!"
Ahh... I figured as much.
"Straight there with no trial, huh... well, I am a pirate. I should count myself lucky, or rather, merciful, that I wasn't executed on the spot."
"Exactly. On top of that... Enies Lobby is currently out of commission due to, well, various circumstances. There's no convenient judicial facility nearby."
Oh right, I'd seen that in the newspaper recently... that it had been destroyed.
Luffy's Bounty had gone up to 300 million Berry, and all the other Crew members had become Bounty Targets too. I remembered thinking, 'Ah, so the Enies Lobby Arc is over.'
So right now, that island was just a mountain of rubble.
Well, a Buster Call had been triggered on it... thanks to that Small-fry Director's blunder.
Anyway, that aside. Impel Down.
Among the World Government and Marine facilities in the One Piece World, one of the most terrifying places there was...
The Great Prison in the depths of the sea, situated within the Calm Belt. A hell where countless vicious prisoners were imprisoned, subjected to daily torture and execution.
An Iron Wall prison from which, once a pirate entered, they were said to never see the light of day again.
And I was going to be put in there.
...Torture... execution... and everything else... this was bad. Genuinely, absolutely terrifying.
I must not have been able to keep a straight face. Fear and anxiety probably leaked through my expression.
Watching me, Gion said,
"Scared? Even the infamous Great Prison has that effect, huh?"
"...Well, to be honest, yes."
"I'm sure you are... and there's nothing to be ashamed of in that. In fact, we'd be concerned if you weren't. That's the whole point. It's deliberately designed that way."
Make pirates and criminals fear it, while advertising its impenetrability to the citizens who needed protecting, impressing upon them that any pirate who enters never comes back out, putting their minds at ease.
On top of that, using the fear of "commit a crime and you'll be thrown into Impel Down" as a deterrent... well, that kind of image strategy.
"But I've got some good news for you."
"? Good news?"
"Yeah... a proposal. If you accept it... you might not have to enter Impel Down."
"!"
...If that were true, it would certainly be welcome news. If I could avoid going to the Great Prison, a place infamous for being absolutely terrifying by all accounts... it would truly be like finding a buddha in hell.
But at the same time... I had a very bad feeling.
The "proposal" Gion was about to present... was likely something unreasonable, something I absolutely could not accept. I could feel it.
And premonitions like that... cruelly enough, tended to be right.
"I'll be blunt, Pirate Literary Master. The proposal for you is..."
"...to become the World Government's 'poster child.'"
***
The scene shifted... to a different room on the same warship.
In what served as the office of Akainu, the one in command of this vessel... Akainu was using the installed Den Den Mushi to make a report.
The person on the other end... was Fleet Admiral Sengoku the Buddha.
"Out of the question."
What came back through the line was a word of refusal.
Akainu had half-expected that reaction, it seemed. His expression barely changed.
However... the slight furrow between his brows betrayed a hint of displeasure. Fleet Admiral Sengoku's answer was not to his satisfaction.
"So the Government insists on keepin' her alive, is that it?"
"That's right. Given the magnitude of what's to come... the Government desires significant 'influence' over the public. The capture of the Pirate Literary Master was ordered as part of that initiative."
"I understand the reasoning well enough... if it comes to war with Whitebeard, the world'll be thrown into chaos afterward. To spread and enforce the Government's power and intentions more strongly across that chaos... ye'd need a 'poster child' who commands reach not just among civilians, but among pirates and the Underworld as well."
"Exactly. For that purpose, the Pirate Literary Master's name value is as convenient as it gets. And therefore..."
A beat of silence, then,
"I cannot authorize the 'disposal' of Venerdi Toto Sue. Proceed as planned. Keep her alive and transport her."
"...Understood. But... I remain opposed, Sengoku-san."
"Ye go that far? Sakazuki... did ye truly judge the Pirate Literary Master to be that dangerous a pirate upon seeing her in person?"
"Aye... while waiting in the infirmary for them to finish treating me, all I could think about was that I needed to get yer authorization for 'disposal' as quickly as possible."
"! ...Ye were wounded?"
"Just a few small cuts, nothing worth worrying about. They'll close up by tomorrow or the day after."
He said that, but both Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Akainu himself understood that wasn't really the point.
A Logia Ability User with combat prowess honed to the absolute limit. One corner of the Three Admirals. That title was no exaggeration.
Against ordinary pirates, no, even against those the world called "Great Pirates," he possessed the power to overwhelm them one-sidedly without them being able to lift a finger.
The mere sight of him drove most pirates to despair, sent them fleeing with their tails between their legs, ready to abandon everything.
The symbol of the power wielded by Absolute Justice. That was what a Marine Admiral was.
Even against a Haki user, wounds were not easily inflicted. Any ordinary level of Haki, he could deflect and nullify.
And yet Akainu... small though they were, had been wounded.
That was nothing less than proof that Sue's combat ability, and her Haki, had reached that level.
Moreover, as both Akainu and Fleet Admiral Sengoku well understood... this had occurred in a battle where the matchup of Paper Human versus Magma Human was not merely unfavorable but catastrophically so.
"Against me, her Powers were nothing but a liability... of course, even without that, I never thought I'd lose. But... in the worst case, she might've escaped."
"Ye truly think so?"
"Aye... it seems she has more tricks up her sleeve with her Powers than I'd been told. I'll include the details in a written report later. And more than that, given the girl's bloodline... even if she's being sent to prison, I must voice my opposition to keeping her alive at all."
"...I see. Your concerns are perfectly reasonable... but as long as Government authorization isn't granted, I cannot approve it. ...My apologies, I have a meeting shortly. ...Signing off."
With that, the call with Fleet Admiral Sengoku ended.
Akainu said nothing more... and after a moment spent in apparent thought, he put the Den Den Mushi away in his desk drawer.
***
And around the same time, in the solitary cell.
"...That's your final answer, then?"
"Yes. That proposal... I firmly decline."
With a clear voice and strong gaze that betrayed none of the weakness in her body... Sue had flatly rejected Gion's "proposal."
In her eyes burned not merely defiance, but unmistakable anger.
Noticing this, Gion understood that at least here and now, words alone would not change that answer.
Perhaps it was just imagination, but those eyes of Gion's... seemed to hold a strange look. Part pity, part understanding.
With a sigh, she rose from the chair.
"Understood. I won't force you. But... the Government won't accept that answer. And you realize, don't you, that with what you just did... you've chosen a path that's not just a road of thorns, but one of pain and suffering beyond imagining?"
"..."
"We'll proceed as planned and take you to Impel Down. We're estimated to arrive in four days... so sit tight and behave until then. There's nothing for you to do, so you might as well rest up and take care of your body."
Then, just when it seemed she would leave... right before her hand touched the doorknob, she turned back one more time.
"...They'll ask you the same thing over and over at Impel Down, too. Until you say 'yes.' Reconsider before you end up with wounds that won't heal."
With those parting words, she left for good.
Replacing her, the original watchman Marine came back in.
In the quiet room... Sue let out a sigh small enough that the Marine couldn't hear.
'Well, well. So my next research destination is Impel Down, huh... I never thought I'd actually end up going in as a prisoner, experiencing all sorts of things firsthand...'
To be continued...