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Eventually the Merry pierced through the peak of the clouds, and into open sky, there was nothing but a sea of clouds, they were so dense that the Merry was floating on top of it. Thanks to the modifications and the reinforcements from the Saruyama Alliance the Merry had survived relatively intact.
"Well, that was so much fun!" Luffy declared "Let's do that again,"
"NO!" Nami, Usopp and Chopper screamed.
"Is everyone alright?" Zoro asked, taking a quick head count of the crew
The response was generally just affirmative grunts.
"It does not appear that anyone fell off during the ride up and plummeted to their deaths," Robin answered with a straight face.
"Stop saying those things," Usopp begged.
"Wow! Look at this place! It's amazing! It's so white!" Connor said in amazement and wonder as he ran over to the railing and looked at the horizon.
The crew had to agree, it was a beautiful and perfect sight, though they did not see anything that looked like an island.
"It… it's just a canvas of clouds? Why aren't we falling through?" a flabbergasted Nami asked.
"Clouds float and boats float, so we float, right?" Luffy reasoned with a grin.
Nami punched him for that answer.
"I don't think it's quite that simple," Sanji said.
Zoro looked around and frowned.
"So…where's the sky Island?" he asked.
Nami checked the Log Pose.
"Well, the Log Pose is still pointing up… so maybe we haven't gone high enough yet," She answered, though she was really unsure.
"If the Log pose is still pointing up than Skypiea must still be above us," Robin claimed.
"But how do we get higher? Is there another Knock up stream?" Connor asked.
"I hope so," Luffy said enthusiastically.
"I doubt there'd be one up this high," Nami answered.
"Awww," Luffy whined in disappointment.
"Hey Nami this is the sea of clouds mentioned in the journal right?" Usopp asked.
Nami looked over to him.
"I would assume so yes," Nami answered.
Usopp suddenly tore off his cloths and did a heroic pose.
"Then I the brave Captain Usopp shall be the first to take a swim in this unknown ocean," Usopp declared.
"ALRIGHT USOPP!" Luffy and Chopper cheered.
"Hang on…what was that?!" Nami yelled.
But it was too late Usopp dove into the cloud sea ad Luffy and Chopper cheered him on. A couple of minutes passed and Usopp did not resurface.
"He's taking a while," Sanji commented.
Suddenly Connor had a terrible thought.
"Hey we're in the sky right?" Connor asked.
Luffy looked down at him.
"Yeah so," Luffy responded
"Well if we're in the sky does that mean there's no bottom to this sea?" Connor asked.
The Straw Hats all turned and stared at him for a second and they processed what he was saying.
"USOPPPPPPPP!" Luffy screamed in panic.
"Luffy quick stretch your arm through the clouds," Sanji cried.
Luffy threw his arm into the clouds hoping to grab the missing sniper, Robin used her powers to create several eyes on the rubber captains arm.
Thanks to the combined efforts of Luffy and Robin as they managed to find Usopp who had swam straight through the cloud layer, which as Connor had feared did not have a solid bottom.
As Luffy's arm returned back through the cloud layer with Usopp, two massive creatures burst out of the clouds, one was a giant blue eel, and the other was a giant octopus-like thing. Both were several hundred times the size of the Merry.
The two creatures set upon the Merry immediately, but were quickly stopped by a flurry of kicks from Sanji against the Eel, and a fast moving blades from Zoros attack to dispatch the Octopus while
As soon as the pirates hit the creatures burst like balloons.
"What the hell?" Luffy asked as he lay an unconscious Usopp down on the deck.
"What? Why… do… I feel…so…tired?" Zoro asked immediately afterwards, his breathing had become very heavy and he was extremely exhausted.
"I think it might be the air up here, it's much thinner, and that makes it harder to breath" Sanji theorized, he too looked to be feeling the effects of exerting himself
"That's probably it, so take it easy, at least until you get used to it." Chopper advised,
He jumped up onto ships railing and scanned the horizon with binoculars, looking for any signs of life or something, to help them find their way. It was at this point that an odd fish jumped out of Usopps trousers and flayed around on the deck.
"What's that?" Luffy asked and picked up the fish.
Robin and Nami came over and looked at it curiously.
"I believe it may be a sky fish," Robin said.
"You men like the one Noland wrote about?" Nami asked, remembering the journal.
"That's right," Robin answered.
She handed the fish to Nami and the navigator got a good look at it.
"It certainly is weird," Nami agreed and handed the fish to Connor.
"Why is it so flat?" Connor asked.
"The creatures here must've evolved to adapt to be lighter so they could live in the clouds," Robin theorised.
Connor nodded and held onto the fish a bit longer.
"Give it here," Sanji said.
Connor obediently handed the fish over to the cook and the fish was instantly cooked, served on a plate and handed off to Luffy.
"MMM this is tasty," Luffy said happily.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Nami screamed.
"I sautéed it," Sanji answered
"Can I try a piece?" Connor asked.
Luffy handed the fork to Connor and the boy took a bit of the fish.
"WE WEREN'T DONE LOOKING AT IT YET!" Nami yelled.
Robin could not help but giggle at the crew antics.
It was at that point which Chopper finally spotted something. It appeared to be another ship, he was about to inform the others of this discovery, when the ship suddenly burst into flames. Chopper immediately attempted to warn the crew of imminent danger.
"GuystherewasashipandthenitsplitBOOMandthena guywasflyingawayand" Chopper panicked but was interrupted from his incoherent rambling by a light knock on the head form Nami.
"Chopper, calm down, no-one can tell what you're saying," Nami said and bonked him on the back of the head to attempt to get some clarity out of him.
"I think I know what he's talking about anyway!" Zoro said sharply before putting one hand towards his swords, it was immediately clear why. "There's someone out there!"
"And he's coming right for us!" Connor cried.
Out on the cloud-ocean, what appeared to be a man wearing a large tribal mask carrying a Bazooka, he was gliding along the clouds towards the Merry very quickly. The masked figure lept off the clouds and aimed his Bazooka at the ship, he fired and Luffy blew up his stomach and reflected the shot.
The man landed on the deck and Zoro rushed in drawing his sword however the masked man skilfully jumped over the Horizontal strike and kicked Zoro in the face with such force he was sent flying back to the other side of the ship.
Sanji attempted to kick the invader but easily dodged the attack; he then sent Sanji flying into the wall of the cabin, with his own attack. Luffy stepped up next and threw a strong right hook, which the man weaved around and responded by slamming the rubber Captain's head into the deck.
He looked at the remaining members and stepped towards them, Connor drew his sword but and Robin got ready to use her powers but before anybody could move an older voice was herd.
"Leave them alone, you fiend!" came a yell from above.
The Straw Hats looked up to see what appeared to be an old man in very heavy armoured figure riding a large pink bird.
The armoured figure came out of nowhere and swooped down at the masked man, his lance drawn and ready to strike. The masked man looked up at the man and quickly fled the ship; the bird and the armoured man descended down towards the Merry and landed in front of the pirates.
Luffy Zoro and Sanji all sat up and looked at the man in surprise.
He was an old man of average height with long white hair, moustache, and beard. He wore a full set of metal Armor with a dark red shirt, and brown pants could be seen in parts that the Armor did not cover; wears a long dark blue cloak that is yellow on the inside and at the back.
"Are you all alright?" the man asked in a kind and concerned voice.
"Yeah…thanks," Zoro said.
"Not that we're not thankful or anything, but, who are you?" Nami was the one to ask the question which they were all pondering,
"My name is Gan Fall and I am the Sky Knight." The man replied proudly.
Luffy got up and Ran straight up to Gan Fall with sparkles in his eyes.
"Hey old man, that's a really cool suit of Armour," Luffy said excitedly.
Gan fall was unsure how to respond to this.
"Ummm…thank you," he said hesitantly.
"I used to have a suit of Armor like it…but Nami destroyed it," Luffy said and pointed at the Navigator without even looking at her.
"She…She destroyed it?" Gan Fall asked in surprise.
"Yeah in one punch," Luffy claimed, he then leaned closer to the knight.
"If I were you I'd keep your distance, it's painful to see your Armor broken," Luffy whispered.
Gan Fall looked at Nami in surprise and back to the rubber captain.
"I'll keep that in mind," Gan Fall said.
Nami however was quite furious that Luffy was spreading rumours about her and walked up to the captain; she hit him on the head.
"DON'T START SPREADING RUMOURS ABOUT ME!" Nami yelled angrily as she started to beat Luffy up.
Gan Fall was not sure if he should interfere or not, in the end he decided that to not get involved while Nami beat up Luffy. He then noticed Connor was looking at his bird curiously.
"Is there something wrong child?" Gan Fall asked.
"I…I was just curious about your bird, I've never seen one like it before," Connor said.
"Ah well Pierre is a one of a kind, he is very loyal and a faithful steed," Gan Fall said as he patted his bird.
"Pierre?" Robin asked.
"Yes that is his name," Gan Fall claimed.
The crew looked at the strange bird.
Pierre was a large pink bird with a red polka dot pattern on his body. He had solid red feather on the sides of his head, the back of his head, and on his horn-like ears. He had bandages wrapped around his torso and a yellow beak.
"So what does a Sky Knight want with us?" Robin asked.
"Ah yes back to business. I am here to offer you a service," Gan Fall said.
"What service?" Zoro asked.
"There are many dangers in the sky and for the small fee of 5,000,000 Extol I will give you this," Gan Fall said and held out a whistle.
"A whistle…that's it?" Zoro asked.
"What's and Extol?" Connor asked.
"I am telling you that this is a bargain you will not regret, one blow of the whistle and I Will come to your aid, no matter what. Of course should you want to keep the whistle you will need to pay me another 5,000,000 Extol," Gan Fall explained.
"You're more of a Mercenary than a Knight," Sanji said flatly.
"Well even I have to make a living too," Gan Fall tired.
"I thought Knight were heroic and chivalrous," Luffy said disappointed.
"You fools this is a bargain and I will not take one Extol less," Gan Fall claimed.
"But….What's and Extol?" Robin asked.
Garn Fall looked very surprised by this.
"Wait….you mean you really don't know? Didn't you come here by the way of the High West?" Gan Fall asked.
"The High West…wait you mean there was another way up here?" Nami asked in shock.
"Yes, normally people use that route, how did you get up here?" Gan Fall answered.
"We came with the Knock-Up-Stream," Luffy answered.
"People still use that route? I thought no one would be stupid enough to try that," Gan Fall said.
Nami started beating Luffy up again.
"THERE WAS A WAY FOR US TO GET HERE SAFELY AND BECAUSE YOU DID NOT WANT TO WAIT WE COULD HAVE DIED!" Nami screamed.
"I didn't know," Luffy cried back.
"OF COURSE NOT IT'S CALLED GATHERING INFORMATION YOU IDIOT!"
The rest of the crew and Gan Fall ignored Nami and Luffy while the Knight explained the other route and how it was just as dangerous as the one they chose. He then gave them the whistle for free out of respect before flying off.
The Straw Hats decided that it was dangerous to stay put and the Merry started to sail over the white sea of clouds, it wasn't long before Chopper noticed a waterfall of Clouds and the Merry headed towards it.
As they approached the waterfall the way was blocked by large thick clouds, Luffy being Luffy decided to jump on them and discovered not only were they solid abut also very bouncy. He was joined by Usopp and chopper and He then pulled Connor on to the clouds for some fun.
While they were playing on the bouncy clouds Usopp noticed a cannel traversing through it and was able to guide the Merry through to a gate at the base of the water fall.
"Heaven's Gate…What do you suppose that means?" Zoro asked.
"Isn't that the gate you go through when you die?" Robin asked.
Usopp suddenly became very pale.
"You mean we're dead?" Usopp asked.
"I guess…we could have died in the knock up stream and that's why we ascended to heaven," Robin said with a straight face.
"NOOOOO!" Usopp cried.
"Relax we're not dead," Zoro claimed.
"How do you know?" Sani asked.
"Because if we were you would not be here, perverts don't get into heaven," Zoro claimed.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Sanji said.
"You're more likely a tag along, if we are dead you'll be barred from heaven and fall straight down to where you belong," Zoro said casually.
"Well I'll just kick your ass and take your place," Sanji shot back.
"It doesn't work like that,"
"I doubt they'd let you in if you lost!"
"That's it bring it on!"
Zoro and Sanji started another one of their fight s and the crew ignored them. As the Merry sailed under the gate and old woman wearing a pink dress came out and started taking photos of the crew; however what really surprised the crew was that she had wings on her back.
"W…W...Wings…She has wings," Luffy cried out in shock.
Zoro and Sanji stopped fighting to look at the woman.
"Is she an angel come to guide us to our final resting place?" Usopp asked fearfully.
"I thought angels were supposed to be cute," Sanji said.
"And it's that kind of attitude that will lead you to hell," Zoro commented.
This started the fight again.
"Hello travelers I am the gate keeper, Amazon," the woman introduced herself "Ere you here for Sightseeing or fighting?"
"Well we're not here to fight so Sightseeing," Nami answered.
"I want to go to Sky Island," Luffy said.
"What do you mean are we here to fight?" Connor asked.
"Well either way it doesn't matter, if you want to go to Skypiea you need to pay the entry fee of 1,000,000,000 Extol per person," Amazon claimed.
"1…1,000,000,000…?" Usopp asked flabbergasted.
"There's that Extol thing again," Connor said. People that's
"It must be the currency here," Robin commented "So for 8 people it's a total of 8,000,000,000,"
"So how much is that in beli?" Usopp wondered.
"Um...by some chance we didn't have that much money…" Nami started.
"You can pass," Amazon said.
"R…Really?" Sanji asked.
"Yes, I am not a guardian or a warrior; I am only here to listen to your will. If you want to go in you can or you can turn around and go home," Amazon claimed.
"Okay then we want to go in," Luffy said.
"Very well, there are 8 of you right?"
"Yes but…" Luffy started.
Suddenly two large pincers burst out underneath the ship and latched onto the wings. A Large prawn creature emerged from under the ship.
"What the hell?" Zoro asked.
Connor instinctively activated his sight and the creature was glowing white.
"I'd hold on if I were you," Amazon warned.
Connor looked over at the woman and his eyes widened at what he saw. But before he could tell the others the prawn sped of towards the waterfall and everyone on the merry grabbed on the railings to prevent themselves from falling off.
The prawn sped up the waterfall which curved around in a swirly path and the prawn carried the ship all the way up to Skypeia. The entire way up Connor held on, he should be enjoying the ride like Luffy but he could only think of one thing.
Why did Amazon glow red?