Third Person POV:

"Wyper, something's wrong with Aisa!" Laki raced towards the bazooka guerilla, her face tight with worry.

"What's up with that brat?" Wyper asked. He was contemplating once again whether or not to pull everyone into full gear to attack the Upper Yard in order to rightfully light the fire of Shandora.

"She started shivering and turning white," Laki explained. "Something about, a voice stronger than Eneru's!"

"WHAT?!" Wyper grimaced. "Where is she?"

The two warriors along with the rest of Wyper's closest friends approached the main tent that Aisa usually stayed at, and were surprised when said girl launched herself out.

"Wyper, a new voice is in my head!" The girl looked distraught. "It's suppressed, heavily, yet it's more powerful than every voice in the sky!"

Wyper looked up, frustrated. "Does the voice belong to one of the Blue Sea dwellers?"

The girl nodded, making Wyper almost bite his cig in half.

"There's more," Aisa tugged at Wyper's arm. "Gan Fall's voice has disappeared."

"That old bastard?" Wyper grinned victoriously. "Perhaps there's hope for us after all."

"Wyper, what are you thinking of doing?" Laki backed up.

"We're taking the fight to the Upper Yard of course." The warrior stood. "We're going to take back our home, and light the fire of Shandora!"

Every warrior in vicinity roared their agreement, raising their weapons into the sky.

"Anyone that gets in our way, we'll kill." Wyper cocked his burn bazooka. "We've been kept from our home for too long. With the Skypeian knight out of the way, the only problems that are left are Eneru and the priests." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a teal colored dial. "Today, we bring the fight to the Upper Yard. I'll kill Eneru myself."

::::::::::::::::::::

In God's shrine laid a peculiar man who had proclaimed himself the lord and eternal deity of Skypeia for the last 6 years. An 8 foot tall wiry pale man that wielded a power that made even the strongest warriors of Shandora wet their pants. His long ass earlobes hung as lazily as his attitude did as he relaxed, his hand fingering his staff absentmindedly as he took in all of the information his mantra could collect.

"A God," He mused. "A Blue Sea dweller that has the gall to call himself a God." He chuckled. "What a fucking stupid idiot. Then, he has the same guts to denounce me the same title."

His fingers began to flicker with high powered sparks in his momentary agitation, to which he flicked the discharge at a random servant, sending the servant screaming away. "Ah, much better." He stared out at the courtyard, waiting for his priests to gather for his announcement. Today, the Choosing would begin. In just a few hours, the Game would start.

"You," the man pointed to one of his concubines. "Tell me, how many people do you think will be alive after the Game? Including myself and the priests and Yama of course."

The girl shuddered, her master's piercing gaze so unnerving despite having seen it so many times already. "I–I don't know...?"

"Argghh..." the man grunted. "It's just a number, isn't it? It's not like I threatened to throw you off the sky. You, give me an apple and a number. Go on..."

The appointed servant handed the god a shiny red apple that the god promptly bit into. "Well, I'd say including if the survival Game include you, the priests, Yama and the enforcers, there would be 50 survivors."

The man gave a deep hearty chuckle. "AHAHAHAHA! You're so optimistic, my friend." His face narrowed into an ugly sneer. "But you're wrong. At the end of the Game, only 5 participants will be left, including me."

His eyes glinted with excitement, his body tensing with high anticipation. "At last, my plan to reach the Fairy Vearth will begin!"

::::::::::::::::::::

Percy Jackson POV:

A couple hours prior...

"Aw, they're so cute together!"

A high-pitched squeal slashed apart my sleepiness, throwing me awake. I yawned, my eyes fluttering open, only to find the girls' bedroom door open, filled with the crew's various expressions of surprise and laughter.

"Wha...?" I muttered, rubbing my eyes. "Dafuq are you guys looking at?"

Zoro facepalmed. "I thought you were spirit watching with Usopp. You could've just told me you wanted to spend time alone with your girlfriend."

"Sorry?" I finally realized the weight on my chest, and looked down, the midnight black hair atop Robin's head only two inches from my chin. My eyes widened when the reality of the position I was in hit me. Robin's body was intertwined with mine, her arms and head nestled on my chest, her legs tangled in between the sheets and my own legs.

"Aaaaah!" I sat up quickly, Robin sliding down my body slightly. I whipped my head towards the rest of the crew and lowered my voice to a whisper. "GET OUT! GET OUT!"

"You're in our room you know," Vivi explained, putting her hands out in front of her. Nami didn't say a word, and just looked on in what looked to be a mix of annoyance and jealousy.

"Why is he even in there in the first place?" Sanji piped up from the back.

"He's not single anymore dumbass," Zoro knocked the chef in the head, earning him a subsequent return kick.

"That doesn't give him the right to step into the Holy Land!" Sanji shot back.

"Alright, alright, let's leave them alone until they get up," Usopp winked at me, pushing the others away from the door. "If they're not up in 5 minutes, I'll shoot a stink bomb into that room."

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL!" Nami shrieked, aiming a fist at Usopp's head, to which he dodged.

The laughter and noise seemed to work at waking Robin up, who yawned as she began to wake. Her eyes blinked open, the dark blue pools staring confusedly at me.

"Is is morning already?" She asked.

I chuckled and rubbed my head embarrassingly. "Yah, apparently."

Robin pushed herself up and turned around, seeing the door wide open and freaked, diving beneath the covers. "Did they see?"

"If you mean if they us locked together in bed, then yes," I laughed, blushing up a storm. "It's not that big a deal, for me, but I guess for someone who doesn't normally show a ton of emotion, this might be a bit much."

I flipped the covers open and pulled the blankets away. "Come on and get changed or something. The others seemed to be getting ready to go exploring soon. Get up if you want to go ruins hunting."

Robin groaned. "Fine. But I'm only listening to you because I want to study the history here." Without warning, she used a phantom hand to shut the bedroom door before using her own two hands to grab the hem of her top and start pulling it over her head.

I turned my head sideways, covering my eyes with my hand. "Robin, are you changing?!"

"What else?" She replied nonchalantly. "I'm still wearing yesterday's clothes, if you haven't noticed."

I blushed. "Give me a warning at least. I'm still in here!"

"You can teleport out of here at any time," Robin continued speaking, the rustling of clothes being the only indicator I had that she was still changing. "But you're staying, you perverted child."

I pouted and promptly opened up a water portal, blatantly stared in Robin's direction as if I couldn't care less, before sidestepping into the portal and straight into the kitchen, tripping over Sanji's leg and slamming into the seat next to Zoro.

"And the loverboy is out!" Zoro clapped me on the back heartily. "You look whipped dude!" He handed me a mug of sake, which I graciously downed in one second.

"Ugh..." I groaned, trying to shake the image of a half nude Robin out of my head. Why did I even uncover my eyes in first place? "Sanji, could you give me some toast?"

"Tch, sure." Two slices of bread flew at my face, both of which I intercepted with my hand. "Thanks bro."

"Anything interesting happen?" Vivi chimed in. "Both of you were alone the whole night right?"

I shook my head. "We just slept in the same bed together. Nothing, absolutely nothing happened you dirty minded jerks!"

Breakfast resumed as normal, with Luffy once again stealing the remains and leftovers off everyone's plates, wiping the table clean of any food whatsoever. We began planning as to how we were going to explore the Upper Yard and eventually decided that we would split off into two groups, with one staying onboard to protect the ship, and the other to go into the Upper Yard to see what's up.

Nami slammed her hands on the table. "Well, obviously, I'm going, since I have to find that City of Gold! But I'll need protection so..." she trailed off and stared my direction.

I blinked. "Well in that case, I think Zoro should go with you. He's strong enough, and would be bored to death staying on the ship."

"You trying to get me killed?" growled the swordsman, casually draping an arm over my shoulders.

"Hehe, no." I smiled nervously. "Hey, how about this, to make sure you don't get killed by a girl, Luffy can go with you. He's practically bursting with excitement already, I'm sure he'll be fine with going."

"You bet!" Luffy agreed. "We can leave after Sanji finishes packing our pirate lunchboxes."

"Oh, and Robin will be going with you guys too." I continued. "She's really interested in the first rate rubble...ahem, ruins that could be here, so she's going with you guys too."

"Are you coming?" Nami asked, a tint of hopefulness in her voice.

I shook my head. "We can't have too many fighters away from the ship. Both Luffy and Zoro are more than enough to handle whatever goes your way, and it's not like Robin is that much weaker anyways. I'll be staying with the rest of the crew to help protect the ship. In case you forgot, we're kind of on top of a sacrificial altar, which probably means someone is going to come try to kill us."

"Per-percy should stay then!" Usopp clapped a hand on my arm. "We have the least chance of death with him and my mighty battle skills!"

I gave the sniper a mock-salute and grinned. "Aye-aye Captain Usopp!"

"Hey, I'm the Captain!" Luffy cried indignantly.

"Yes yes," I chuckled, "Sorry Captain!"

"You guys are rowdy today," Robin's voice floated through as she closed the kitchen door behind her.

"You're finally–..." I stared at my girlfriend, speechless. "Um..."

"ROBIN-CHWAN! YOU LOOK LIKE A GODDESS!" Sanji crooned helpfully. "ALLOW ME TO SERVE YOU BREAKFAST, YOUR MAJESTY!"

Zoro chuckled and patted my back. "Hey bro, you alright?"

Robin slid down on the empty seat to my right and was instantly served a 5-star breakfast by our ecstatic chef, half of which she fed to a drooling Luffy. "What do you think, Perseus?"

That snapped me out of it. "What did I say about calling me by my full name?" I whispered dangerously.

"To not do it?" Robin grinned. "Sorry, am I being a bad girl?"

I groaned and smacked the table with my forehead. "Why me?!" I lifted my head, cheeks golden and poured water formed from my own hand onto my head. Of course, I didn't actually get wet, but just needed the cooling sensation to help control my blush. "So, we decided that the landing party would consist of you, Zoro, Luffy, and Nami. Unless someone else also wants to go, I'll be staying onboard the ship with everyone else."

"Sounds good." Robin nibbled on the edge of her toast.

We finished up and split off, the landing party members opting for me to teleport them across onto the island except for Zoro, who insisted on doing it his own way. When I asked what he was planning, he told me "Just shut up and watch."

I was curious to see what the swordsman was up to and sat on Luffy's special seat to watch Zoro climb up the mainmast until he had reached the crow's nest. He grasped onto one of the hanging vines nearby and cleared his throat.

"Ahem..." Zoro coughed, before leaping off the edge. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

He swung through the air like a green-haired Tarzan, yelling the most manly vine swing call I've ever heard. Luffy was clapping and jumping back onto the ship to try it as well, while Robin watched the whole scene amusedly, and Nami just stared in bemusement.

"WAHOOOOOOO!" Luffy jumped off the mast as well, using his stretchy arms instead of the vine to swing his way onto shore.

I chuckled and waved to the landing party as they slowly disappeared into the undergrowth.

'Tell me if something goes wrong, alright?' I thought to Robin. 'But also, you can talk to me anytime you find some awesome old stuff.' I finished cheekily.

'Will do, Perseus,' Robin replied dryly. 'Thanks for caring.'

'I do care!' I said. 'It's just that history wasn't one of my strong points in school.'

'Fufufu, alright then.' Robin giggled.

'Have fun then.' I finished, cutting the connection and jumping onto the deck to be greeted by an apprehensive Vivi.

"Hey what's up?" I asked, seeing the princess having changed into a more training style outfit. Her eyes flickered with sparkling bits of blue light.

"I want to start training my powers," Vivi explained. "But I'm not sure exactly how to begin."

I nodded in understanding. "Alright, what have you figured out so far?"

"I can create and control winds and lightning," Vivi began. "But that's all I can tell straight up."

"How about we spar?" I suggested. "I won't go all out, but at least we can get a grasp of what you can and can't do."

"Okay," Vivi grinned.

"Let's do it in the clearing we were in last night," I said, "We don't want to get killed by Usopp for hurting the ship on accident."

The two of us faced off in the clearing. I twirled Riptide in my hand, using my bronze blade because it would go straight through Vivi as this was a practice bout.

"I'm not going to say anything but what I notice," I stated. "Your powers and abilities are for you to find out, I'll just help you find them."

The princess nodded and summoned a ring of floating electric spheres around her left wrist. I charged her, slicing the air in front of me to release two sets of X-shaped wind blades. Vivi's face tensed as she whipped her right arm diagonally upwards, disbanding my blades with sharp gusts of her own wind. Before the wind fully dissipated, the princess launched the three lightning orbs at my face, the balls pulsing dangerously. I strafed between the spheres and sent an ice shuriken into each one, making them explode behind me. My sword barreled towards her, slicing down onto her torso when suddenly, Vivi's form shimmered and flashed into nothingness, her original position replaced by yellow starlight. I was stunned for a moment and whipped my head sideways to dodge Vivi's electric blast from behind me, the heat from the bolt singeing my cheek. My eyes widened as the girl formed two electric whips from her arms, her eyes alight with a strange blue blaze. She began delivering an impossibly quick set of whips and slashes with her summoned weapons, lashing my arms and legs in the moments where I missed a block. I grinned in excitement though. I dropped Riptide and activated my forearm seastone blades, before turning my legs into water to boost myself into Vivi's face. I slashed upwards, the princess dodging in a nick of time before forming a twister in her hand while charging up what looked to be an electric orb in the other.

"Am I giving you a hard time?" Vivi chuckled, the blue glint in her eyes making her look demonic, despite being dressed in a tank top and sweatpants.

"You're doing great," I commented. "Don't get cocky though."

She giggled, before flashing and disappearing in her spot, teleporting instantly in front of my face, her hand with the tornado pushed towards my chest.

"What the–!" I managed before Vivi launched the power of a Category 5 hurricane into my chest. I only got shot back a couple inches before turning my body into water, opening up a hole to let the wind pass through and cave into the ground beneath me. A blade shot from my wrist and into my hand, to which I barrel rolled and launched the blade behind my back at Vivi. It missed, the princess teleporting again, sending the blade flying harmlessly into a tree. She reappeared a couple of feet away, her right hand still charging up the lightning orb, which had begun to flash with occasional black rings of light. Her left forearm was surrounded with purple and gray winds, whirling like a circular saw around her wrist. Her body flashed with yellow and blue light, her eyes not unlike the eyes of a predator on the hunt.

"Something tells me I heavily underestimated what you meant when I asked you about how much you knew." I chuckled. "You've been practicing haven't you?"

"Like I told you," Vivi smiled cheekily. "I can create and control winds and lightning. That's what I've figured out so far."

"Guess I don't have to play nice anymore." I laughed. "Matter Shift. Ice."

Twin ice shurikens formed out of my left hand as the rest of my body became covered in a subzero chill, my water body freezing into chunks of pale blue and white icicles. My right hand became translucent as I powered my own power orb, swirling together wind and snow to form a nasty handheld blizzard.

Vivi's smile didn't waver as she watched me transform. "Glad someone finally decided to try."

"I thought you were a noob, so I was playing nice," I joked back. "Didn't think the princess would bring out her claws."

Vivi spun in her spot, powering winds into her legs as she boosted towards me, waves of light flashing behind her. I slashed the air with my orb hand, first releasing an icy blade edged with seastone at the princess before morphing my arm into an ice cannon, powering up before firing the orb at the speed of light in the same direction. The moment the orb blasted out, I darted towards the princess, my hands flung out behind me, each wielding a set of ice shurikens. Vivi's eyes flashed as she slammed her wind hand down in front of her, sending a towering wall of twisters at me that intercepted my ice blade. My orb exploded in front of her face, sending seastone edged ice shards towards her body. Vivi only winced as two scraped her, but almost instantly healed her scratches, mostly focused on firing three electric lasers from the orb that she held behind her. My leg exploded into smithereens and reformed just as fast, ice shooting down my thigh to replace the missing limb. We traded consistent blows, neither one doing any real damage to the other, with both our insane recovery abilities as well as my battle-honed reflexes and Vivi's lightspeed reactions. I could tell that the princess herself wasn't as aware of her surroundings as I was, and was mostly escaping due to the fact that she could travel faster than the speed of light, which I could barely to not even be able to track.

"Ethereal Chill..." I suddenly muttered. "ANCIENT FROST LEVIATHAN!" A massive snow-white lizard aura erupted from my body. My eyes narrowed into snake-like slits, my pupils dilated into thin diamonds. My vision flashed white, my mind momentarily invaded by an image of a massive ice drakon as I felt a strange sensation. Vivi began to look smaller, as my vision went higher. I whipped my tail and roared, before realizing what I had just done.

"Holy SHIT!" Vivi yelped, her electricity flickering nervously as my massive body blotted out the sun.

"Dafuq did I just do?" I tried to scratch my neck, only to realize that my limbs were now a set of scaly gray blue feet, complete with a set of ink black claws. My breath felt cold and deathly, my body now blanketed with silver blue scales that lined all the way from the tip of my snout to the end of my tail, which was split in two ends. I flicked my tongue, a dark indigo colored muscle the size and length of seven freight trains, wide enough to swallow the 5 Going Merry's at once. Two black horns sprouted near the end of my head. My back was decorated with shimmering white spikes that jutted out symmetrically from my spine. I hadn't even noticed until then, but a set of intricately folded blue wings laid on equal parts of my back, which surprised me a bit. Most of all, I felt so powerful, as if all my senses had been doused in youth elixir and several gallons of nectar.

"Um, this is weird." I deadpanned out of my lizard mouth. "Apparently my vocals are still very much human."

Vivi had stopped powering herself up after seeing my complete transformation. She squealed in fear and fell backwards into a tree as I lowered my neck to stare at her closely.

"P-percy?" Vivi murmured, her earlier bravado evaporated entirely. "Are you...this thing?"

"Yep." I growled out, my voice slightly jarred from the drakon's throat mechanics. "This is an absolute first."

"Holy fuck." Vivi clapped a hand over her mouth. "I can't even control myself. Holy actual fuck."

I chuckled, which through my new lizard jaws, sounded like the repeated shredding of car tires, a sort of malicious set of hisses. Of course, Vivi didn't know that and inched backwards into the tree in fright.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I tried for a grin, not knowing how Vivi would react. "I'm still me. I'm just... temporarily stuck as a freaking frost leviathan."

"How did you do this?" Vivi voiced nervously, eyeing my glinting 5 ft long teeth, my ridged claws, and my strangely unnerving sea-green gaze.

"Dunno," I said honestly. "Chaos told me that I would turn into animals I'm most in tune or related with, and that I would have more than one form, as most gods do. But a frost drakon is a bit of much. Not that it's not dope and all. But this is absolutely overkill. I'm not even supposed to exist!"

Vivi flew around me, gazing at my build from all directions. "Are...are those wings?!"

I flapped one side open, my underwing a shiny translucent icy sheen that glittered with snowflakes. "Yup." When I popped the P, I breathed out a cloud of ice that hit Vivi, decorating her hair and body with a thin layer of snow, to which she blew off with a gust of wind.

"You just look like a dragon to me." Vivi concluded. "I don't know about you, but I've heard of dragon based devil fruits before, so you aren't that much of a rarity."

I shook my head. "I'm not a dragon, I'm a drakon, spelled exactly the same but with a k instead of a g. Drakons are massive lizards in my culture that are 100 times more powerful, old, and rare than dragons. While my main abilities in this form revolve around ice, all drakons have three natural abilities that we all share."

"And those are...?"

"Extreme magical and damage resistance, the use of ancient venom, and the ability to kill anyone who stares at my eyes." I said nonchalantly.

"WHAT?! How come I'm not dead?"

"My eyelids have three layers, the front being the normal one for when I'm asleep, the second one opening when I'm not in battle or in normal situations, like right now, and the final eyelid which I haven't opened, otherwise, you would've been dead minutes ago, when you were staring so intently into my eyes. Oh, and since I'm a lizard now, I can speak the tongue of snakes and other lizards, as drakons are the oldest creatures of that branch of reptilian families." I explained.

"Why the fuck are you so stupidly overpowered?!" Vivi complained. "I was having so much fun beating the crap out of you and you pull this shit, something I can't even take down even if I tried."

I chuckled. "You could've if you continued to fight. Sure, I understand that you were afraid, but it was also my first time changing into a lizard. I was very confused for a solid ten seconds, time that you could've used as an advantage. Plus, with your ability to heal so quickly and teleport and fight faster than the speed of light, you would have still made a deadly opponent."

"Really? You think I'll be able to take down a beast such as yourself on my own?" Vivi blushed.

"Sure you can!" I grinned again. "You just need to train and practice, that's really all there is to it. If you would like, you can start joining Zoro and I's spar sessions. We could definitely use a third party member to help elevate the stakes of reality a bit more."

Vivi flew onto my head and landed on my neck. "I would love to. Thanks for the invite!"

"So now what?" I thought up of a crazy idea. "How about we go surprise the rest of the crew?"

"Yes let's!" Vivi agreed. "I wanna see Sanji wet himself!"

I cringed. "Why him specifically?"

"Cause I'm tired of his wiggly feet antics," Vivi complained. "I prefer guys who don't fawn over me like I'm some sort of princess."

"..."

"Okay, that was bad reasoning." Vivi pouted. "I'll shut up now."

I laughed again, before turning towards the direction of the ship and began moving towards the altar, eager to see the expressions of Sanji, Chopper, and Usopp upon seeing my boss lizard mode. In my mind, I tried to figure out what other creatures I could turn into. I figured that water based dragons and monsters weren't that far off, but I secretly also hoped that one of my various transformations was a pegasus.

We were about to burst through the trees when I suddenly smelled smoke. "Hey Vivi, you smell that?"

"Something's burning!" Vivi's eyes narrowed. "Did Sanji set something on fire?"

"He's a cook." I reasoned. "An experienced one at that. And Usopp would throw himself off the ship before setting the deck on fire. Chopper wouldn't do anything of a sort either. Then again, people do strange things sometimes."

I stuck my head out and growled at the scene before us. Some stranger was divebombing the ship, setting the main mast and hull on fire. Usopp and Chopper worked to put out the flames while Sanji defended against the attacker, although his movement seemed a bit restrained.

I did the natural thing and roared, blasting everyone's eardrums in vicinity with the sound of a very pissed off lizard monster. Vivi's body was shrouded in an aura of flashing blue and yellow light, her hands crackling with swirling orbs of lightning. Everyone in the fight freaked, including the stranger, whose face whitened and paled to an unnatural sheen of light gray. He was out of there faster than you could yell "Scram!", hightailing into the forest with his firebird running into a tree out of fear. Sanji stared uncomprehendingly at me, his poise tense but jaw dropped. Chopper and Usopp had both fainted, the aspect of possibly being eaten by a giant ass lizard far too terrifying for their minds.

I breathed a light layer of snow across the ship, putting out the flames that still licked the side of the ship. Sanji looked two seconds from launching himself at me, to which I decided to transform back to normal, flashing brightly in a green light back to my normal form. Vivi was surprised by the sudden flash and fell onto my back, her thighs on my shoulders as she sat above me.

"That was so fun!" She cheered. "Sanji-san, are you alright?"

Sanji pointed a trembling finger at me and mumbled inaudible speech, then cleared his throat, coughing into his fists.

"Wait for it..." I muttered.

"WHAT THE FUCKING SHIT WAS THAT?! A FREAKING ICE DRAGON?! SINCE WHEN COULD YOU TURN INTO A FUCKING ICE DRAGON?!" Sanji lost it, all the pent up confusion and fear getting the better of his self control. He slumped and took out another cigarette, puffing air in attempt to relax himself. "I need to calm down..."

I gave a strained smile. "I was out training Vivi when it suddenly happened. Didn't mean to scare you so badly. Sorry."

Sanji was already gone though, his steps irregular as he stumbled into the kitchen to probably brew some tea to drink to calm his nerves.

I went to the girls' room to drop Vivi off. "So, I'm guessing that you've gotten ahold of your power much better than I thought."

Vivi walked inside the room and pulled me inside, closing the door behind me. Normally, I would've gotten really flustered at being locked alone in the same room as a girl, but since I was dating Robin, I wasn't as worried. She patted the beanbag next to Nami's bed, flinging Nami's clothes off and into the laundry hamper.

"Thanks," I flopped down, my body tingly all over from the drakon transformation. "Whew, that was one heck of a spar."

"What do you think of so far?" Vivi asked, her hands working at the hem of her top.

I was so distracted by my thoughts that I didn't even realize she was changing in front of me. "You seem to have gotten a grasp of your wind and electric powers very well. You're even able to create weapons and charge shots, so I'd say now it's just up to time and practice. I think that we're going to need tougher opponents in order for you to start developing higher scale attacks."

"Why can't you just fight more realistically?" Vivi asked.

I chuckled, my eyes momentarily strayed to her hips before I realized what I was doing. I flushed and answered her question, "Fighting with more power is a bit unrealistic. We'd need an island that we could fully experiment on without any massive repercussions. Since both yours and my powers are heavily elementally based, we could do quite a bit of destruction even at low power. In case you haven't noticed, you control the main ingredients to make a storm."

Vivi nodded in understanding. "What else?"

I thought for a moment. "Well, given the way you reacted to my attacks, I'd say your base reaction time and observant skills aren't honed too well, which just means you need practice. However, you were able to evade many of my attacks just from pure speed and teleportation skills, which are both quite handy. Do you feel stronger or faster at all?"

"I feel more awake all the time," Vivi started. "Like I just finished taking a shower. And my body reacts to my thoughts much more instinctively."

"Your devil fruit gave you certain aspect boosts in your speed, stamina, and physical strength." I guessed. "That's why you feel and have so much power."

We remained silent for a moment as I pondered another set of possible thoughts. "There's also the fact that your fruit is labelled as an ancient mythical Zoan. That means that at some point, you should be able to transform into a Raiju fluently from your human form."

"I'll be able to turn into an actual...what does it look like?"

"A raiju is a thunder wolf," I explained. "Your form is probably going to have fur color in the same shade of blue as your hair, which would look awesome as your hair is light blue. And judging by the size of mythological creatures, you aren't going to be wolf sized. In fact, you would be more the size of a rhino, or even a bear."

Vivi's eyes flared in excitement. "I can't wait! I'll train everyday with you and Mr. Bushido until I get it!"

"Mr. Bushido? Wait, you mean Zoro?" I laughed. "What kind of nickname is that?"

"How bad is your Japanese?" Vivi pouted. "How do you not know what that is?"

My brain short-circuited. "What do you mean Japa–...oh wait...oh yah..."

"Bushido means samurai you moron," Vivi sighed. "I'm just basically calling Zoro a mister."

"He's barely an adult," I scoffed. "More like boyo and less like a mister."

"He's 19, isn't he?" Vivi asked. "That's adult age."

"He's legal, that's what he is." I chuckled. "Old enough to smoke weed, not old enough to drink. Wait, why the fuck does he drink so much?! He's underage! That's it, I'm confiscating all the booze until he's old enough."

Vivi giggled. "Dunno where you got that from Percy, but we can drink when we turn 18."

"..."

"You're shitting me right now." I said. "No way."

"Yep."

"Why is the US so weird?" I moaned. "First we're stuck with the customary system, which is cool, but like, the rest of the world uses the metric system. And now this. I wasn't allowed alcohol until I turned 21 girl!"

Vivi giggled even more. "Sucks to suck!"

I leaned backwards and breathed out. "One more thing. We need to get you a weapon of some sort. So that if your devil fruit powers ever go out of commission, you have a backup."

"I'm so tired right now," Vivi got off her chair and approached me. "Can I sleep first, Percy sensei?"

"...ah sure..." I mumbled, glancing at places I wasn't supposed to be glancing at.

Vivi laid herself next to my side, her face only inches from mine.

"Um..." I couldn't speak, my face unable to stop turning metallic golden. "Uhhh..."

"Don't move," Vivi whispered into my ear, her eyes flitting shut. Her hand palmed my chest. "It's warmer here than on my bed. Just a quick nap." And she conked out.

I sighed. My love life was already complicated enough back home, why was it so bad even now? I expected my loyalty domain to start pinging some sort of annoying warning for being in close proximity to another alluring female, but my mind received no such alarms. I couldn't move without waking Vivi up, who looked exhausted. I suppose so, forgetting that she was a mortal using a godly devil fruit ability, not an immortal like me.

I thought back to one of my previous thoughts. Zoro and Sanji are the two main fighters aboard the ship that don't have devil fruit weaknesses, which is good. But Vivi and Luffy both have massive potential, as do Robin and Chopper, but that's not what I'm worried about. Seastone is an instant incapacitation of those four, and I wondered if it would be possible to build up any resistance against the weakness. Would it work like the immune system, where the body slowly develops defenses against a certain enemy? Like, would small exposures to seastone during training or during daily activities help boost their resistance? And how much seastone really is required to take down a devil fruit user? Thoughts tumbled in my mind until I also eventually drifted off to sleep.

It wasn't really sleeping though, more like opening up a chat line with Chaos. So I asked my million dollar question.

'Hey Chaos, why am I not feeling any pains from my loyalty domain?'

'Because you haven't done anything disloyal yet,' Chaos deadpanned. 'You haven't even chosen all your wives yet, how can you have already cheated on someone?'

'That doesn't even make any sense,' I chided the creator. 'I'm already dating Robin, I shouldn't still be attracted to someone else. But my mind thinks otherwise. Is it cause I'm just a perv, or is there some other goddamn stupid ass reason?'

'Both,' Chaos chuckled. 'You could be a perv for all I know, but I trust that you aren't. As for the reason, you're gonna say that it's a goddamn stupid reason.'

'I fucking knew it,' I cursed. 'Please tell me how the fuck my love life has been messed up this time.'

'Language,' Chaos quipped. 'Now I see why that orange-haired one interests you so much. You like the feisty ones don't you?'

'WHAT?! Where you pulling these assumptions from?' I shrieked. 'I've done nothing of a sort.'

'You've teased her, seen her fully nude, and drove her crazy,' Chaos said dryly. 'Do you need more proof of your interest?'

'What does Nami have anything to do with my love life?' I asked. 'I'm only interested in Robin. Period.'

'Ah ah ah, that's what your mind thinks.' Chaos laughed. 'But your soul has other plans in mind.'

'...'

'You're expected to do a lot more than just Robin,' Chaos deadpanned. 'At least 3 total, because 3 is the lucky number.'

'...'

'You going to say anything, Perseus?'

'WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. FUCK.' I thought. 'WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. FUCK.'

'Chill...okay, honestly why are you so mad? Isn't a harem every guy's dream?' Chaos joked.

'Dunno where you got that assumption from but that ain't true,' I shook my head. 'But since you basically told me that I have to have a harem, please go ahead and detail how I came to have this problem.'

'Well, first off, your godly DNA is coded with a unique type of protein that initiates your sex aura. Every god and goddess has this, the more powerful you are, the bigger and more attractive your aura. You only attract others who feel the same way back, and with your loyalty domain, you'll even be able to tell if someone is faking their feelings. Anyhow, your sex aura is magnified in this world because you're the only god in this universe, or rather, you are the only immortal. Without any competition, your soul yearns for more connections, because you have more available spots. And because one of your domains is loyalty, you'll feel equal and passionate love for you chosen ones for the rest of time, unlike King Thunderbritches and Barnacle Beard back home.' Chaos entailed.

'Huh, I knew that nickname came from somewhere,' I muttered. 'Back up to the part where you said I have to have three chosen ones?'

'Yep. Your heritage demands it.' Chaos said. 'Hey, be happy that you've already found two of your wives.'

I blushed. 'We're not even married yet, don't call them wives. Plus, who's the second one? I know Robin's one obviously, she's adorable as hell, but you can't be serious that I actually have feelings still for...'

'The orange haired cutie? Yep, deep in your lovesick heart, you yearn for her as much as you do Robin.' Chaos snickered. 'Boy, this more fun than watching an Olympus romantic comedy show!'

I facepalmed. 'Gah...just when I think I'm done with that witch. Why me?'

'You're a whole package of goodness.' Chaos complimented. 'Name one thing you think girls hate about you.'

'I'm annoying? I can be pretty damn sarcastic a ton of the time.' I suggested. 'I can't shop for clothes worth crud, I like blue food too much, I'm too attractive for my own good, I might be gay for Zoro, and I'm sort of a dickhead if someone wakes me up at 2:00 am in the morning.'

'Wow.'

'Right, can we please not mention this topic ever again? It's getting so awkward that I want to just sleep now.'

'Then sleep!'

'Could you leave then? Without any snarky comments this time?'

'Fine.'

'...'

When Chaos finally cut the connection, I sighed. Why couldn't I just be a regular dude for just once in my life? First, I get forcibly taught how to kill a bull, which leads me on to do a ton of crappy missions, which leads me to becoming a temporary war general, and then I get kidnapped and deported to California, and then I go on a world tour including a free bundle pass into Hell, and then finally, just when I get to go on a mission that seems fun and exciting, I'm gifted immortality and the possibility of a future harem. Goddammit.

I blinked and yawned, shaking myself awake. From my internal clock, I had been conversing with Chaos for 90 minutes, meaning that Vivi had slept that same amount of time. Looking down at the princess, I noted that Chaos had told me subtlely that Vivi wasn't one of my love interests, which made me sigh thankfully. I don't think I would have been able to handle three girls on the same ship at once. Still, Vivi was too cuddly to be just crewmate. She was like Chopper, except human instead, making her like a sister? The whole thought was so weird I just chopping the train of thought off, my mind way too fucked to deal with more possibilities.

::::::::::::::::::::

It was during late noon that I finally left the confines of the beanbag. I stepped out to find Usopp hammering metal sheets from who knows where onto the burnt mainmast, and Chopper in his giant form patching up the sides with wooden planks. I suddenly felt bad for sleeping my head off, instead of helping fix the ship. I winced at the amount of negative feedback I received from one single scan of the ship. The Going Merry wasn't designed to handle such rough obstacles in the Grandline, and judging by the damage report, the caravel would break apart soon.

Unfortunately, I couldn't just walk up to the crew and announce such a thing. First, very few people would believe me. I say that I have such an ability, yet since no one else could do it, how would they know if I was lying or not. But mostly, the raw connection the crew had with the Merry was what worried me the most. Especially Usopp, who literally lived his life for his dreams and this ship. It would tear him apart if someone were to destroy the Merry on a supposed report that the ship was going to collapse on itself. Not even just him, but the remainder of the crew as well, especially those who've sailed on the caravel even before entering the Grandline.

I sighed and decided to help fix the dying ship the best I could, mending the ship's most damaged areas with water and ice threads that held the ship together like glue. The one part I couldn't fix was the deteriorating keel, which if damaged any more so than it was now, this boat would be able to sail to one more destination afterwards, its grave.

It was then that I realized that the old knight Gan Fall was actually aboard the ship as well, with his messed up bird/horse hybrid wrapped in bandages nearby.

"Hey old guy," I walked over and knelt down in front of the knight. "What are you doing here?"

"Your deer friend called me here with the whistle," Gan Fall answered. "Did you not see me?"

I shook my head. "I was out with another crewmate sparring. We didn't make it back until most of the ship was on fire. I didn't see you then."

Gan Fall nodded in understanding. "Pierre and I were flung into the trees during our fight with Shura, so perhaps that's why you didn't see us."

"Shura," I repeated. "Is that the moron on top of the fire-breathing bird?"

"He's one of Enel's priests," Gan Fall replied gruffly. "He and 3 others are God's enforcers in the Upper Yard."

I pondered on whether or not I could ask Gan Fall about the history of Skypeia. He seemed to know the layout of the land pretty well, so I decided to go for it.

"Gan Fall, if you don't mind me asking," I began. "This Enel character, he's God?"

The knight nodded. "He took the position forcibly from me many years ago."

"Hold up," I interrupted. "You're a God too?"

"Not anymore," Gan Fall answered. "I just told you I lost the position didn't I?"

"So it's just the title of a position? You aren't actually immortal?" I asked hopefully.

The old man laughed. "Immortal? No, there's no such thing. Enel's power is just so powerful, he seems unkillable. At least, I hope he can die."

I sighed in relief. "And there was me thinking I wasn't the only one. Anyways, what's been going on here? What's the whole deal with the Upper Yard being sacred to Skypeians and stuff? And if Enel is the new leader, why is everyone so terrified of him?"

Gan Fall sighed tiredly, as if he had had to relive a story too many times. "You sure you want to hear it all?"

I shrugged. "I just want to know what's going on. The others may not care too much, but I'd prefer if we understood what the heck is happening so that we can better plan against our adversaries. Like, who are the priests and what to they do? How did you end up as a lone sky knight after getting booted out of power? And why do I get the sense that the Upper Yard is hiding a bunch of nasty secrets?"

The old man stared into the sky. "You know, we Skypeians treasure the things brought up to our shores through the Knock Up Stream. All the gadgets and loot from the Blue Sea that is thrown into the ocean and brought up to the White White Sea is treated as a rare jewel. It was a couple years ago when this very island made of vearth blasted from the Blue Sea and up here."

I raised a hand. "Vearth? That's what you call dirt here?"

Gan Fall nodded. "I'm sure you have noticed by now that our islands are made of cloud, as are most other things we have and use. Even our plants and crops grow on cloud. But when we discovered how well crops thrived in vearth, we were overjoyed to find out that a whole island was gifted to us. It seemed to be a gift from Heaven itself." The old man sighed again. "We Skypeians valued vearth like no other treasure, naming the island sacred for that very reason."

I remained silent and let the knight continue. "Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones who wanted the island to ourselves. There were a group of natives known as Shandorians on the island, and due to the Skypeians selfishness to take over the Upper Yard for ourselves and the Shandorians' will to protect their land, war broke out between the two of our tribes. When I became God, I made many attempts to compromise with the Shandorian leaders in attempt to satisfy both their and my people. However, my attempts were futile."

I grimaced. "I'm not going to lie old man, but my homeland went through a similar history. I wasn't there to experience it personally, but I know from other experiences that natives take the possession of their motherland very seriously."

Gan Fall adopted a somber expression. "I never considered that we Skypeians were being too invasive with the people of Shandora. But the war had been going on for many many years already, there was very little I could do but give up the Upper Yard, which would piss off my people."

I frowned. "So wounds are better left alone. Couldn't you have at least surrendered? A leader has to make tough decisions sometimes, even if that makes his people displeased. If they leave you afterwards, that just means that they aren't loyal."

Gan Fall stared at me. "You have a lot of guts to be saying such a thing. Seems like you've experienced a lot more than I thought."

"How d'you know that?" I asked. "You're not wrong, though."

"Your eyes," Gan Fall looked down at the deck. "There are shattered fragments in the depths."

I nodded in understanding. "Perks of going through literal Hell," I joked humorlessly, almost groaning at my terrible pun timing.

"Anyhow, when Enel took over," Gan Fall slumped backwards into his steed. "All attempts to compromise were lost. He took over all of Upper Yard and forced the Shandorians out as well, leaving only him and his priests to live on the island. He enslaved all my enforcers to work on a project of his, and cast me out as well. I became the Knight of the Sky to help my Skypeians without revealing my identity, and the Shadorians continued to fight for the freedom of their home. Then outsiders began finding their way up to the Sky, searching for the City of Gold, so some said. I myself have never seen it, but the Shandorians seem to know exactly what the city is."

I snapped my fingers. "Yep, our crew's navigator is pretty intent on finding that city too. And now that you've semi-confirmed it, it's probably on this Upper Yard place."

"If I may ask," Gan Fall began. "What exactly is gold?"

I looked up in confusion. "Gold?"

Gan Fall shook his head. "We Skypeians have never heard of such a substance before. But outsiders, Enel, and the Shandorians seem to be very eager of it. What is it?"

I chuckled dryly. "I guess in a sense, gold is like how you guys treat vearth. In the Blue Sea, gold is very valuable, and the more you have, the richer you are. To pirates like us, and most probably the egotistical bastard Enel, and then those Shandorian people, the City of Gold is a valuable irreplaceable treasure, just like how you guys feel about the vearth."

Gan Fall's eyes widened a bit. "So it's a very important substance in the Blue Sea?"

"Like I said, gold defines one's status and power in the Blue Sea for many people. Our crew values friendship and trust, but most crews in the Blue Sea just want money and/or power."

"What are you guys going on about?" Usopp walked over, wiping the sweat accumulated on his forehead. "You seem quite busy."

"I had some questions about the island." I replied. "Seems like we're buried in deeper shit than we think."

"That bad?" Usopp asked. "Sheesh, even on an island that looks like paradise, there's always something around the corner that's ready to projectile vomit everywhere."

I laughed. "We're pirates you know? We kind of have a knack for attracting trouble."

"The ship is more or less fixed," Usopp grinned. "We should be able to get off this altar and get out of here."

"We still have crewmates out there, Usopp." I reminded the sniper. "We won't be going out anytime soon until we get news that they're okay."

"Right," the sniper nodded. "Since we got time, why don't you relay what you and the old guy talked about?"

I nodded. "Probably good for all of us to know. Hang on." I gathered Sanji, Vivi, and Chopper onto the deck and explained everything Gan Fall had told me about Skypeia, ending up with the probability that we were definitely involuntarily included in a war that had been running for several centuries now.

"Damn, and here I thought we could relax for once," Sanji breathed out. "Hopefully we don't attract too much attention then. But knowing Luffy and mosshead's antics, we're definitely gonna catch this 'God's' attention."

"I wouldn't worry too much," I said. "Zoro and Luffy are more than capable enough fighters to defend the ladies they're with, and we have Miss Electric Wolf over here to face off against a supposedly unkillable lightning bastard. I think we should be fine if we do run into some issues."

We ended up sailing out the river that we came from, but turns out the river was much longer than we thought, the shrimp that pulled us here obviously knowing where it was going more than we did.

"Oh, what do you know about Sky Warfare?" Gan Fall suddenly asked. "If at any point you get involved with our war, you have the right to know what to expect."

"Sky Warfare?" I began. "Does it have anything to do with that firebreathing bird I saw that guy with the goggles flying on?"

"You mean Shura?" Gan Fall said. "Yes. I'm sure that Conis and Pagaya have debriefed you all about the use of dials in our daily lives. The thing is, we have weaponized versions as well, and–"

"I KNEW IT!" Usopp interrupted. He looked around embarrassed. "Ah, my bad. Please continue."

Gan Fall chuckled. "Like the normal dials you saw, each battle dial serves a specific purpose." He took out a red dial and placed it on a barrel. "Any of you have a hammer or something?"

I formed an Overwatch sledgehammer water construct and held it up. "Will this do?"

Gan Fall stared at me. "You have a devil fruit power?"

I shrugged. "Something like that. Anyways, what do you want to do with this hammer?"

Gan Fall pointed at the red dial on top of the barrel. "I want you to hit that shell with the same amount of power as if you were attempting to break through the ship."

"WHAT?!" Usopp yanked the water construct out of my hands and shoved it into Sanji's. "Okay, if we are testing something, don't let Percy do it. He'll actually destroy the Merry."

"And you're saying I can't?" Sanji growled, gripping the hammer. "You saying I'm weak Usopp?!"

Usopp shivered. "Hehe, I'm kidding."

"I know," the cook replied. He walked up to the barrel and pulled the hammer above his head, before slamming it down onto the shell. Instead of breaking the barrel, Sanji's stroke seemed to disappear into nothing.

"Okay, I was joking before, but geezus Sanji, just how weak are you?" Usopp questioned skeptically.

"I put enough force into that to cave this ship in half!" Sanji stared dumbfoundedly.

Gan Fall's expression remained flat as he pointed at the dial again. "Now put it against the side and click the top."

Sanji tossed the dial to me. "If it's dangerous, let Percy do it. He can't die after all."

I pouted. "Wow thanks bro. Really feeling the love."

"You know it's true." Sanji chuckled.

I placed the dial against the side of the barrel just like Gan Fall said and clicked the top, only to be surprised by the barrel suddenly blasting apart into smithereens.

"SHIT!" I cussed instinctively. "I mean, wow." I fixed sarcastically. "Zeus' underpants, what was that?"

Gan Fall gestured to the red dial. "That dial is known as an Impact Dial. It is able to take the blunt force of anything and redirect the full capacity of the attack back at someone with a click of the top. It is the most used dial in Sky Warfare."

"So you're telling me if I punched this with my godly strength strong enough to smash through a human ribcage, I can stick it on Usopp and with a press of a button, he'll die?" I asked.

"Hey, why am I the test subject?" Usopp yelled indignantly. "I thought we were friends!"

"Sorry, you're the most normal person here." I said. "Vivi's a lightning death wolf, Sanji is the kicking blonde version of Zoro, Gan Fall is like a thousand years old and still alive, I'm... well you know, and Pierre is a bird/pegasus hybrid. So..."

Usopp waved his hand, his face blue. "Right, right... keep talking about dismembering me..."

"To answer you question, yes." Gan Fall continued. "Though I don't have other dials, other dials used include the Flame Dial, which Shura's bird used. The dial was in the bird's mouth, allowing the bird to 'breathe fire.' The Axe Dial blasts out an X-shaped slice that can cut through iron. And I know that one of the priests uses ball dials, but I'm not sure what for."

"Wow, that's pretty diverse," Usopp commented. "Sort of like my library of ammunition."

"In other words, random and could catch us off guard," I said. "Thankfully, Gan Fall has debriefed us on a few, so we'll be able to know how to defend ourselves should things go south."

sizzle...

"Yo what was that?" I asked.

"What was what?"

"That sound. It sounded like static electricity." I said, sending out my senses for human presence. "Oh."

Gan Fall sighed. "Of all times, he has to come here. I would brace yourselves." The old knight tried to come off strong, but his words wavered at the end.

"Who's here?" Usopp stammered.

"The illegitimate god," I replied curtly. "I dunno why he's hiding his sorry ass if he proclaims himself as God. Let me guess, he has a stupid powerful devil fruit that makes him think he's immortal."

"But I am immortal," the man zapped into existence, leaning against the prow of the ship, one hand gripping a long golden pole. His smile was lazy but threatening, but also slightly goading us to just hit him. 4 drums wrapped in a circle surrounded his head, giving him the look of those circular portal things. His earlobes were his most defining feature though, stretching all the way down to his waist and ending with two golden loops.

"Eneru," Gan Fall growled.

"Gan Fall," the newcomer sneered. "What a pleasant surprise! I was thinking that you were off on an island somewhere weeping away your sorrows but you're still fighting pathetically for your land."

"This is the bad guy then?" Sanji took a defensive stance.

"Yep." I rolled my eyes. "This is the jackass whose doing the whole gig."

"Insolent mortals." Eneru chuckled. "You won't be joking around when you die in my survival Game."

"Hohoho, are you kidding me?" I marched straight up to his face. "Your survival game? Who do you think we are, helpless people from nowhere? I bet I could take a full hit from you no problem." I knew that Enel was lightning based, but no way in hell could he get enough power to actually hurt me. I had been hit by Zeus' thunderbolt once on accident too, when I was a demigod, so honestly, I wasn't afraid about whatever this lightning bastard would throw at me.

"You're sure?" Eneru grinned. "Then I won't feel bad for doing this."

Before I could even move, a flash of lightning whisked past me and slammed into Usopp, launching the sniper into the air and smack onto the deck.

"What the–!" I snarled.

"Ooops, I missed." Eneru chuckled darkly. "I usually aim much better."

"USOPP!" Vivi dashed to the burnt sniper's side. She knelt and rested her head against his chest. "I–I can't... can't hear his heartbeat..."

Sanji bit his cigarette in half. "You bastard! I'm gonna kick you to the moon for that one."

"Are you?" Eneru grinned evilly. "You can't even touch– UHHHHH!"

I backhanded the self-proclaimed god across the face, bruising his cheek with a nasty red mark. "Our cook may not, but I can hit you just fine." Sanji had made the smart decision to maintain his distance, though his feet twitched as if he were about to leap into battle at any notice.

"You hit me?!" Eneru gasped. "I am God, invincible to injury!"

I formed two ice shurikens embedded with seastone. "I cant test that theory, if you would like. Maybe if you get off our ship in the next three seconds, I'll let you get off scot-free for now."

The guy had the audacity to smirk, despite the handmark on his face. "You?! How are you going to make me–UGGGGHHHH!"

A single shuriken blazed past his face, the sharp seastone tips slicing a perfect diagonal line across his right cheek and ending right under his ear. The wince in his face showed much more than pain, but also slight weakness and fear.

"Sorry." I apologized insincerely. "I got a little bored of your monologuing. I'll say it again. Get off our ship, or the next shots are gonna be at your chest."

Silence reigned as Eneru and I stared each other down, until the bastard dropped his gaze first, my refined Tartarus wolf stare winning easily. His grimace became much more profound as his very human red blood dripped from the scratch, the seastone effect preventing him from healing instantly.

"You will regret this." The false god said coldly. "I had no intention of harming you but you forced my hand. I hope you die in this game." And he vanished in a bolt of lightning, whisking himself away at the speed of light.

"What an ass." I growled. "Hey Sanji, let's see how Usopp is doing."

Gan Fall grabbed my arm. "I'm sorry, but how were you able to scare him so easily? That's god Enel, a man of impossible strength and power!"

I chuckled humorlessly. "I'm not gonna lie to you old man, but that lightning bastard has nothing on me. I've faced bad guys with three times bigger egos and a hundred times more power and still defeated them. Enel, or Eneru, whatever you call him, is just a child throwing a tantrum because he found someone more powerful than him."

"You call him a child, yet he threatens us all." Gan Fall muttered.

"Sorry." I apologized. "I didn't mean it in that sense. He's still a monster that needs to be eliminated, but compared to my past, Enel's child play for me. That's the truth."

We left the knight to his thoughts and entered the med-bay, finding Usopp still unmoving on his back. He was covered in a fine layer of soot, his forehead covered by a soaked towel. Chopper was scurrying around, looking thoroughly confused.

"Chopper, how is he?" Sanji asked.

"He's fine," Chopper said. "All his physicals and whatnot are normal, and he's not dead either. But I can't figure out why he's not waking up."

I walked up to him, then looked at Vivi. "Hey Vivi, how well can you control those electric blasts of yours?"

"Huh? Why?" The princess looked startled, as if she had been lost in her thoughts.

"You can used your powers to jumpstart his heart," Chopper theorized. "Percy, you are a genius!"

I rubbed the back of my head. "Naw, just trying to work with all available resources you know?"

"What if I accidentally kill him?" Vivi said worriedly.

"Do you want to kill him?" I asked. "Only release a high enough joltage to wake him, not fry his insides. The power you generate comes purely from within you. Focus with your mind on your task, then take action."

Vivi exhaled and placed her hands on Usopp's chest, breathing in deeply before she sent a sharp bolt of suppressed lightning into the sniper's body. Usopp shook and coughed, bringing his previously slack arms up to cover his retching mouth.

"Usopp!" Vivi grabbed the sniper into a hug. "You're alright!"

Usopp looked confused, his right hand smacking the side of his head. "Huh?"

Sanji pouted. "I want a hug from Vivi-swan too!"

Chopper handed Usopp a cup of water, to which the sniper graciously downed in a two seconds. "God, my body feels like it's been dumped into an oven." Usopp complained.

"I mean, you got struck by a bolt of lightning," I said dryly. "I'm not surprised why you feel burnt."

Usopp looked around, suddenly panicked. "What happened? Are we all dead?"

"Nah," Sanji chuckled. "We're fine. Percy scared that bastard away. And you're alive. That's what counts."

"Congrats Usopp," I said snarkily. "You're the first man onboard to survive a lightning strike!"

Usopp retched again. "Honestly, I don't feel too good about that. I feel like I'm gonna–..."

He dropped backwards onto the mattress and fell asleep, his chest now thankfully rising up and down again. Chopper began pushing us out of the medbay, insisting that we should let the sniper get his rest. Sanji headed towards the kitchen to prepare a snack for Usopp when he woke, and Vivi and I headed back up towards the prow to where Gan Fall lay in deep thought.

The knight immediately stared at me once again, his eyes observing me like I was a complicated language he couldn't decipher.

"What's up?" I asked. "You look like you want to dissect me."

"You, a stranger, is able to make Enel so terrified." Gan Fall said. "I've never witnessed someone wielding such control in a situation against that man. And you even managed to hurt him! You touched him, something that we could never do!"

"Really." I replied. "I'm fast and strong, and like I said, I've fought plenty of stronger beasts before. Another egotistical devil fruit user is really not that much of a challenge."

"You bypassed his Mantra!" Gan Fall continued, his voice no longer hiding his surprise. "Enel's Mantra is so powerful, how did you get the upper hand?"

"Mantra? I've never heard of that term." I said.

"Me neither. It must be a Skypeian term," Vivi agreed. "Gan Fall, would you please explain what this Mantra is?"

"It's a skill God Enel and his priests possess." Gan Fall began. "It allows them to see forward in time and predict your next move."

My eyes widened. "You call it Mantra?"

"Yes." Gan Fall sighed. "Just another thing besides their extraordinary fighting abilities that make them monsters to fight against."

I unsheathed my water katana, and spun it expertly. "There's a technique that our first mate and I have been practicing." I began carefully. "It involves hearing the voice of the blade and predicting the pathway of our opponent's strikes. I'm willing to bet Mantra is just that, but it works for anyone instead of just us swordsmen. Knowing Enel who wields the power of lightning, the use of such a predicting ability would make him extremely powerful, as he has access to one of the strongest weapons of nature in existence, and can move and attack at the speed of light. This means that normal fighters wouldn't stand a chance, as Enel outranks them in all aspects of raw power, speed, and strength. Even someone with a devil fruit would get slaughtered against him."

"You analyzed that much from just learning about Mantra?" Vivi stared at me. "I'm glad we have you on our side."

"When your ex is one of the greatest strategical planners in the world, you tend to pick some things up," I said nonchalantly, even though my teeth cracked when I spoke. "Plus, I learned the hard way that charging into a battle with nothing but strength will only get you killed someday."

"So what now?" Vivi asked.

"We continued our route out of this jungle," I said. "We need to get this ship out of any possible crossfire, especially since Usopp is out of commission. After we park, I'm going to look for the crew. I don't like this survival game Enel is talking about, and given the sudden rise of human activity recently, war is probably coming. I know the crew can handle themselves, but that won't stop me from going after them to make they're safe."

"I'll stay then," Vivi suggested. "Chopper will need the company, and I'm willing to bet that Gan Fall isn't going to continue sitting here for long."

"You're right," Gan Fall stood, thumbing his lance. "I'll be joining this game, on the side against Enel."

"Be careful," I warned him. "Though you may have decades of experience, I wouldn't put it past you to accidentally hurt yourself. Heaven knows how much I've done that to myself."

Gan Fall gave a single respectful nod and leapt onto Pierre, and the two took off, disappearing in just a few seconds.

"He's a tough old man," I grinned dryly. "I really hope he doesn't die trying something stupid."

Our momentary silence was broken afterwards by a strange horn sound approaching us quickly. Vivi looked to the right and tugged me over. "Look! It's Conis and Pagaya!"

"What are they doing here? I thought they were at Gan Fall's place." I said.

"Vivi! Percy! You're alright!" Conis called out as Pagaya tethered their craft to our ship.

"Hey, we're about to be in a warzone," I deadpanned. "It's sort of not safe to be here right now."

"We know." Pagaya explained. "Gan Fall told us that much. We wanted to find your ship and lead it out of the island, and luckily, intercepted you here. If you follow us along the new Milky path with made, you'll be out of the island faster."

I nodded my thanks. "Alright then. Let's hurry, cause according to God Enel, the survival games have started."

We hurried to turn the Merry's path onto the Milky pathway that Pagaya and Conis had created, and minutes later, we sailed smoothly out of the Upper Yard. I quickly debriefed the situation with the two newcomers and Sanji, who asked if he could come with me. I agreed, who knows when I would need a brother to guard my back.

Pagaya pulled a mean looking cannon off his raft. "Vivi, you go with them. Conis and I can protect your ship."

"What? You sure?" I asked. I stared at the cannon that he slung over his back. "You know what? I believe you. Whoever comes here is gonna regret it for sure."

I nodded one last time to Pagaya and Conis, before opening up a water portal straight onto the altar we came from. Vivi and Sanji stepped out next to me.

"What's the game plan?" Sanji asked, dragging out a new cigarette.

"Find our friends and beat the shit out of anyone who thinks otherwise." I said. "If it's a warrior from Shandora, don't kill them. Let them go, but if they keep relentlessly coming after you, put them down. Enel wants entertainment in this survival game. Unfortunately, that means survival of the fittest. We have to make sacrifices to make sure our friends aren't dead."

"Can you track their directions?" Vivi asked, her body already shimmering with soft blue electricity, unlike the harsh sparks Enel's body gave off.

I closed my eyes and sent out my senses for our four crewmates. "They all got separated somehow. Robin's still on track, of course she is. Both Nami and Zoro are close to the west side of this altar, and Luffy is on the left. I'd say, you two go for Nami and Zoro. I'll go after Robin, cause I know Luffy will be alright."

"He's our captain," Sanji grinned. "Enel won't stand a chance against that monster's stamina."

I chuckled. "That's one thing. Another is actually Luffy's devil fruit. It makes him completely invincible to Enel's lightning blasts."

"What?" Vivi asked. "Really?"

I laughed. "You didn't notice? He's actually your polar opposite too Vivi!"

Sanji's eyes widened as he realized what I was thinking of. "He's a rubber bastard! Rubber is an insulator for electricity, meaning that Enel can't use his powers against Luffy. HAHAHAHAHAHA that's hilarious!"

Vivi smirked. "Looks like this Enel guy underestimated the power of us 'insolent mortals.' We'll get the last laugh in this game."

"Alright, we can chitchat afterwards," I said. "Good luck!" I sprinted into the forest, dispersing into water molecules as I sped through the air, unhindered by the foliage and obstacles around me.

'Robin, where are you?' I opened a mental link.

'Percy?!' Robin's voice came out rushed, as if she were getting chased.

'You alright?' I asked worriedly.

'I'm fine,' Robin huffed out. 'Some fatass is destroying the ruins here and I'm working on snapping his spine.'

'Alright,' I grinned. 'I'm en route to your position. See you soon!'

While I flew, I noticed small skirmishes exploding around me between the Shandorians and these weird goat looking dudes, and suspected that they were also considered a part of Enel's game. I darted through the trees until I ran into a cloud clearing filled with bits of cracked ruins and rubble. A singular sharply dressed and funny looking purple suited guy stood in the middle, his eyes staring straight at me though I was invisible.

"Welcome stranger, to the Ordeal of Swamp." the man began. "I am Gedatsu, one of Enel's priests."

I solidified into my human form, my katana in hand with two ice seastone shurikens in the other. "Oh yah? Well, I'm Percy Jackson from the Straw Hat Crew. Okay, your turn."

'You have only a 50% chance of survival in this ordeal,' Gedatsu thought. 'Let's see how you fare against my Mantra!'

One of the goat dudes poked his head out and slapped his forehead. "Lord Gedatsu, if you don't talk, your enemy can't hear you!"

"How careless!" The man cried. "As I was saying, you only have a 50% chance of surviving this ordeal!"

My eyes narrowed. "Sure buddy. I'll give you two minutes max. That's how long you're gonna stand in my way. And I'm gonna survive easily, if you're the challenger."

Gedatsu formed a purple cloud from his hands and launched it at my head. I didn't move as I mentally dispersed it. "What was that, cotton candy?"

I sliced my katana horizontally in front of me, then delivered four consecutive vertical slashes afterwards, forming a massive grill air blade flying towards the priest. Even with his eyes closed, he was able to weave himself in between the blades and blast high into the air with dials attached to his shoes. He shot down at me all of a sudden and thrust his fist back, before launching a superspeed blow at my shoulder. I dodged and straight up punched him in the face, throwing him backwards onto the ground. He seemed undetered and stood back up, delivering another strong and superspeed punch towards my abdomen. I simply turned into water and took control of his blood, using my hydrokinesis to grab onto his body from the inside and slam him against a tree. He didn't go out, still struggling for control, so I slammed him against various other objects, including other trees, stones, and even the ruins themselves.

"50% is a pretty low death rate." I briefly commented. "For all the talk I've heard about Mantra, yours sucks ass."

Gedatsu formed two more purplish clouds and threw them at my head, both of which I easily dispersed. "That doesn't work, you moron." I chuckled humorlessly. "A minute's almost over. And you're losing."

The goat guy charged me from behind, but because I was in my intangible form, he went right through me, coming out my front completely soaked. "What are you?!"

I grinned manically. "I'm a real God, you fucking dicks! Pleased to make your acquaintance." With that, I yanked the priest downwards with my mind and threw him straight through the crowds, launching him with enough force to get him to the Blue Sea if he didn't do anything about it. He stuck into the cloud quickly, a single foot wiggling out of the surface. He struggled a bit and activated his jet dial boosters, effectively launching himself further down into the clouds.

"Gods, what a loser." I muttered. "That was a priest? Goodness, if they're all like that, I can beat the shit out of them no problem." I whirled on the goat guy, who was cowering at my careless show of power.

"I'll give you two seconds to run," I said, holding up two fingers. "After that, your fair game in this survival game of your boss'."

The goat guy didn't hesitate before flying the heck out of there, his face wearing a terrified look usually reserved for reacting to Enel's power. I continued on, flying towards Robin.

'I'll survive, you fucking bastard.' I thought. 'Your days as god are over.'

A/N:

I've reached 100+ followers! Woohoo! Thanks for all the support you guys!

To be honest, I got stuck at 9000 words in this chapter alone for four days straight, cause I couldn't figure out a couple of transitions. But I managed to find a way, so that I could deliver high quality content to my excited readers on time.

I have a couple people who were disappointed that I wasn't going to be doing a harem, and I decided, you know what, since I hinted the harem idea so many times, I'm gonna do it. Since this fanfic is mainly focused on the adventure aspect of things, romance will only be a part of the story as sort of a sidebar. Don't worry, I'll be sure to include cute moments and/or steamy moments, maybe some more suggestive adult themes, but nothing as extreme as a lemon or anything. I feel like that adding sexual scenes would ruin the vibe of the story I'm going for, and plus, some readers just don't want to read that type of work.

As the author, I've learned that writing to please the audience is probably one of the hardest things about working on a project like this, but I'm willing to make compromises to please anyone who comments on my work. So really, I think the paragraph above is fair enough for everyone.

Another comment I've received is that some readers want me to include more character interactions between Percy and each specific individual in the crew. I'm working really hard to include those, because I feel that that is a crucial part to how relationships will develop throughout the story. I'm also working to make sure chapters are long and detailed, to provide as much entertainment as possible for y'all in these dreary times. Believe me when I say this, I enjoy writing these works as much as I hope do when reading them. I would be hella bored out of my mind without this.

One final thing is that Percy will have a higher bounty than Luffy pre-timeskip era. My simple reason as to why is simply because Luffy has yet to develop any showy moves yet, as well as actual pissing off the government and the world type shenanigans. Some of you might disagree with what I'm about to say, but I feel that Luffy doesn't really make his biggest waves until his training during the timeskip and then the times after the timeskip. Like, compare his audacity to storm Impel Down and Marineford just to save Ace, plus him dealing with the whole Dressrosa and Punk Hazard Arc issues, to his pre-timeskip accomplishments. The most he did was declare war against the World Government, and kick two Warlords' butts, which is nothing. And since Percy is alongside Luffy in this story, the Strawhat Captain makes even less of an impact.

That doesn't mean I'm dissing Luffy. I love his character dynamic, and the whole of Luffy himself, but because of how... underdeveloped he is currently, it's hard for him to match up with Percy's gifted powers. Like, Luffy hasn't even gotten a single Gear unlocked yet. Look, just be patient. I promise I'm not trying to kick Luffy to the side. He's going to be very important in the Water 7 arc that comes after, so don't worry about him getting left behind.

Anyhow, I'm sure most of you can see the main two character interactions I'm focusing on. Zoro and Robin are my top two, and below them are Usopp and Vivi. I plan on developing more of Sanji and Nami's characters during and after the Water 7 arc, when they become more accustomed to their "new" fighting styles. It's mostly based on who connects the most with Percy, and so far, that would be the resident green-haired swordsman and the descendant daughter of Chaos.

I have a lot more surprises and plot twists for you guys in the next couple chapters. I'm looking forward to sharing those with you all.

I hope everyone is safe from the coronavirus, and that all of y'all are living the best life you can live.

Peace out, you legends.

- Zayden Shade