~Echo's POV~

I woke wrapped in a warm blanketed embrace. The faint steady beep and whirr of medical machines buzzed around me. People were milling about on the floor above me, preparing for action. My body ached all over, I was sure some of my ribs were broken. Breathing was difficult and painful.

"You're awake?" Marco's voice was soft.

"Ace?! Where's Ace? How long have I been asleep?! Where are we? Is Shanks her-." My panicking was cut short as Marco covered my mouth with his hand.

"You've been out for about 16 hours. They should be moving Ace from his cell at any moment, nothing has changed. Red Hair isn't here. Stay still so your wounds can heal." He said with a sigh.

"I have to go back."

"Oy, don't make me get Oyaji to knock you out again." Marco threatened his blazing blue eyes daring me to defy him.

"Conquerors haki users really abuse their power." I grimaced.

"Red Hair used it on you?" Marco surmised with a chuckle.

"It was unpleasant then and it's still unpleasant now." I grumbled as a chill swept over me.

"That mark on your bac-."

"Not talking about it." I attempted to fold my arms across my chest but the slew of tubes and IV's kept me from doing so.

Marco pat me on the head and offered me a gentle smile, "Alright, suit yourself. Did you see anything?" He inquired.

I shook my head with great difficulty, "No, nothing ye-." A gasp escaped me as a vision of Whitebeard getting stabbed through the chest by a balding man with a spider tattoo on his forehead flashed before me. "Someone is going to stab Whitebeard. A pirate." My hands trembled and I struggled to sit up as I felt as if I were going to be sick.

"What?! Who was it? When?" Marco panicked and caught me as I spilled from the bed. "Oy, what's wrong, are you okay? You're cold as ice."

Shivers convulsed through my body as I struggled to pull away from him, "I don't know who it is, he was balding, had sharp teeth, had a black bandana half covering a spider tattoo on his forehead-."

"Squard?" Marco looked thoughtful, "But why would he-?"

"Remember they were planning to turn the allied pirates against you." I panted as I finally managed to shove out of his hold.

"Oy, what are you doing?!" Marco panicked as I began tearing the tubes and IV's out of me. "You need those-."

"No!" I cut him off with a glare, "I need to get to Ace and I need to get to my weapon. I have to go back."

"You're mental if you think I'm going to let you." Marco threw me a glare.

I turned my thoughts to Impel Down and focused my vision to Crocodile and our cell, I had to go back. Before they moved Ace, I had to.

"ECHO!" Marco screamed my name, but his voice sounded far away.

My body jerked as if I were falling and when I opened my eyes I found myself falling to a stone floor and let out a scream before colliding into the floor. I was back in Impel Down, but not in a cell, though I was on the right floor. Everything began to spin out of focus as I attempted to get to my feet and instead I decided to lay on the cold stone floor until everything righted itself.

"Ace?!" I called out wondering where I had landed.

"Little Demon?" Crocodile's raspy voice sounded from a few cells over.

I struggled to lift my hand and wave, "Where's Ace?"

"They just took him away."

"Damn. I need to hurry." I tried to muster up what little strength I had left and attempted to will myself to move. "Am I standing up?" I asked unsure.

"No. You don't look so good, little demon." Crocodile noted.

"WHERE ARE YOU, ACE?!" A voice shouted across the floor startling me, it was the voice of the boy with the straw hat, the boy that ate the devil fruit I cultivated. "I'm here to save you!" The boy yelled again. There were a few other voices that followed but I couldn't quite make out what they were saying.

The sound of sandal clad feet stomping across the stone floor heading straight for me echoed through the floor. It was Luffy, screaming Ace's name as he ran.

I struggled to turn my head to see him running in my direction but by the time I managed to move my head he had run straight past me stopping in front of the cell Ace had been in. His companions followed and passed me shortly after. They argued with a female jailer for a moment thinking they'd been led to the wrong cell.

"Luffy?!" I croaked from the floor as I tried once more, to no avail, to sit up.

"Huh?" Luffy turned to me, finally realizing I was there. "Who are you?"

I thought for a moment unsure of how to introduce myself to him, ghostly stalker of your older brother didn't seem to be the right phrase, complicated relationship status with the man you idolized as a child wasn't much better and I had a vision of you eating the devil fruit I cultivated would probably cause a lot of confusion.

"You're straw hat Luffy?" Jinbe asked from the cell causing Luffy to turn once more.

"Yeah." Luffy responded casually.

"They took Ace-san just now. Go! They've taken Ace-san to the elevator. You can still catch them." Jinbe said in a rush as he worked out who Luffy was.

"Got it!" Luffy nodded "Thank you!" He called back as he turned and ran past me a second time determination burning in his dark gaze.

"Wait!" I yelled after them, "The elevator will be disabled. Watch out for sleeping gas!" My ribs pulsated with pain before I could call out that Crocodile could help them and they disappeared from my line of sight. Blood dribbled from the corner of my mouth as I struggled to breathe.

"Little Demon, hang in there." Crocodile's raspy voice called to me softly.

"Why are you so nice to me?" I asked him in my dazed state.

Crocodile chuckled, "You were probably too young. When I was still a rookie, I sought out your father to cultivate a devil fruit for me. We became friends and I dropped in from time to time. The last I saw you, you were a toddler."

"Eh?!" I gaped, "You were friends with my dad?!"

Luffy and his companions retreated from the stairs and the elevator and wound up close to where I was laying and were contemplating how to get off of the floor. Before I could offer any advice, Crocodile let out a long cold laugh that sent a shiver down my spine.

"If you want to get out of here. Set me free. I can create a hole through the ceiling." Crocodile drawled.

Luffy glared at Crocodile before snapping at him.

"I'll make sure he behaves." I offered from my position on the floor.

Luffy looked down at me, confused. "Who are you?" He asked again.

"A friend." I smiled.

"Let's release him Mugiwara-boy." Ivankov agreed. "His power will aid us greatly."

After a lot of convincing on Ivankov's part, Luffy begrudgingly agreed to release Crocodile and willingly agreed to release Jinbe too.

Once free, Crocodile surprised the others by making his way toward me and the next thing I knew I was off the ground.

"Did I finally stand up?" I asked hopefully.

"Not quite, little demon." Crocodile chuckled as he slung me over his shoulder. "One moment." He called back to the group as he carried me off toward one of the storage rooms where prisoner's belongings were kept. Crocodile retrieved his belongings before finding my wires and set me down while he disappeared to change.

I struggled to get my wires into place and felt a sense of empowerment once I had them on again. Now I'd be of some use.

Crocodile returned in his typical attire complete with fur coat and cigar sticking out of his mouth before collecting me up and setting me upright atop his shoulder. "Ready, little demon?"

"Ready!" I beamed as I readied my wires.

"Hold on tight." Crocodile ordered me as we joined the others before launching himself at the ceiling and using his powers to cut a hole through the ceiling. The others followed us using the crab man's power and created a stone spiraling bridge to the hole in the ceiling.

After quickly assembling Ivankov's followers Crocodile, Jinbe, Luffy and I went ahead to try to catch up to Ace. We were met with a squad of armed jailers on the 4th floor with guns at the ready.

"Will those wires protect you?" Crocodile asked as the jailers took aim.

"No need." I smirked as I loosed my wires and sliced through the gun barrels with one swift move before stringing up a few of the jailers as marionettes and turning them on their comrades. It took more strength than I had and I nearly toppled off of Crocodile's shoulder after taking care of the jailers.

"Ivankov could probably give you something to help block the pain and make you mobile, but I'll bet it'll have some brutal after effects." Crocodile said softly as he separated us from the group to search the cells.

I slumped against him as my body angrily protested my every move, "I'll take my chances." Determination burned within me. I had to save Ace and try to stop the war. So many innocents would die if I did nothing.

When Crocodile and I rejoined the others with a new comrade in toe, Ivankov and his followers had arrived to lend their aid. "Ivankov." Crocodile growled getting the flashy man's attention, "Can you give the little demon a boost?" And without warning, he tossed me in Ivankov's direction.

"EEP! Don't throw me, you jerk!" I raged as I went soaring over the heads of jailers straight for the flashy man with the purple hair and way too much mascara.

Ivankov somehow managed to catch me before shooting Crocodile a glare. "It's not a cure, it'll give you energy, but it'll have some hellish side effects." He noted as he took in my current state.

"I'll deal with the consequences later; I need to be mobile." I shot back.

Ivankov nodded and I loosed some of my wires over my arm so he could inject me with an energy serum. The pain in my body began to ebb away as the serum entered my blood stream. My strength returned and I smiled to myself as I was finally able to stand on my own.

A vision of Ace and Luffy leaping from a scaffold flashed through my mind. Luffy was able to free Ace, but I couldn't see anything further. At least there was some hope. It wasn't all for not.