Chapter 16
The Maxim
Maxwell woke up—No wait, he didn't wake wake up. He was in the Fade again. Max was in his shared space with Salem, Mineive, and Mordred, but the background was different. Their little cobbled ruin was in the centre of a city. A great golden city overrun with vines and vegetation. This city, no, these ruins were a reflection of Noland's City of Gold.
However, Maxwell couldn't focus on that right now. He had more pressing matters to deal with.
"Mordred, Mineive, Salem!" The spirits answered their master's call, appearing in the ruins, "How long have I been out?"
Mineive was the first to respond, standing on a ivy clamoured pillar, "A few hours at most, Maxwelll. But the situation is dire."
"Indeed," Salem stood closest to Maxwell, in their mosaic plaza, "Enel intends to destroy the entire island."
"What!?" Maxwell turn the pride abomination, "To what end? To find more followers? He's already a self-proclaimed god!"
"And that is exactly the problem," Mordred sound more serious than usual, "Suffice it to say, Enel is a narcissistic sociopath with a god-complex. He believes himself so high above others, that he no longer needs people." Mordred then flew around Salem, "And Salem here has had a front row seat to Enel's shining personality."
"...How would Salem—?" Maxwell paused and thought back to before he first heard Enel. Their focuses were a direct looking glass into the physical world.
"HE STOLE YOUR BOOK!?"
Their little island suddenly rumbled and became maddeningly hot, like lava. The ruins alit with a yellow/red glow as the Fade responded to Maxwell's outrage. He's dealt with a lot of loses when it came to foci. But hear and now, he was drawing a line with thievery.
"He did," Salem nodded, as if he didn't notice the heat, "But now we know more about our enemy."
"Enel is a Devil Fruit user," Mineive explained atop her pillar, "A logia with the power of lightning, and frighteningly powerful. Worse, with the perception of Mantra, he can effectively strike anyone, anywhere, within his range. And we don't have anything that would effectively hurt him at the moment."
The mage tried to get his tempered under control, pacing back and forth, "So what CAN we do? We can't just stay in the Fade and let Luffy handle everything, again."
Maxwell never had a chance to meet Crocodile. He was encumbered by Ms. All-Sunday until the final battle at Alubarna. Luffy was the one who faced off against the Warlord. Now they were facing off against another big bad and Max was back in the same situation.
"The Ark Maxim," Maxwell stopped pacing at Salem's words, "It's the culmination of Enel's rule over Skypiea, and the means to accomplish his goal: The Fairy Vearth."
"...Explain."
Salem nodded and dis so, "He never pointed out where it was, but Enel desires to travel to this Fairy Vearth. The Maxim is the flying ship, and he apparently needed the gold to make it."
"So the gold's gone. Great. Nami's sure to be happy."
"Nami's onboard the Maxim actually."
"...Huh?" Maxwell blinks at the spirit, "...Please tell me she didn't get on just to pounce at the chance for gold."
Salem shook his horned head, "No. It's because everyone else had been taken out. In the pandemonium of today's battles, she was the only one left standing in Enel's little 'game.' She went with him out of fear for her life. At least until Luffy arrived."
"Yes, apparently rubber is immune to lightning," Mordred floated around on his side. That certainly explained why his lightning based spells never worked on Luffy.
"But the bastard's smarter than he looks, so he had to get creative. Luffy's alive, but even he's having trouble. We have to help him. Luffy's the only one who can touch him. Or at least, physically," Mordred adopted a wick grin on his fear demon face. Maxwell nodded as he understood the undertone.
"...Right. Alright, I need to wake up." Maxwell waited for the dream to turn to white.
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"Huh? Why aren't I—?"
O O O
"—OOF!" Sanji had apparently decided on a wake up call. That being a kick in the stomach. At least the cook didn't have his shoes on, "Ough..."
"WAKE UP! THIS AIN'T NO TIME TO SLEEP!" Sanji also stamped his foot on Usopp's face to get him up.
Usopp groaned as he sat up from the rude awakening, "Ugh! Hm...? What is it...? Wait, where am I?"
Sanji put on a new shirt over his bandaged form, "Just shut up and get ready to head out!" Actually all three of them were bandaged up, arms and torsos. Whoever tended them had striped so they could treat their electrical burns. At least they left the pants on their persons.
"Huh? G... Get ready?" "WE'VE GOTTA GO SAVE NAMI!"
*SUU!* Maxwell blinked realizing something else was on the ship. It was a cloud fox, and he was pretty sure it was Conis' pet, named Su, "Hello, little one."
"...Save?" muttered Usopp, "Save wh—AHHH!" Usopp's eyes went wide, "I REMEMBER NOW! GOD! GOD APPEARED!"
"Yes. Appeared, disappeared, and apparently stole my grimoire!" Maxwell had already turned away from the fox and was busy putting on his boots. He was following Sanji's example, and fully intended to take back his property.
"Who cares about your stupid book!" Sanji yelled. Then he face contorted into tears, "Dammit! Nami got taken away because we were so incompetent! AND BECAUSE NAMI'S SO CUTE~!"
Usopp waved his hands in front of him, "Wait a second! Kidnapped? Stolen? To where!?"
"Just look outside," said Max. He put on a simple sleeved shirt and walked out the door. The mage knew he couldn't use his armor as it was right now.
"WHAT!? WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" Usopp looked up in shock as a golden ship crested over the canopy. It's golden face was visible along with the smokestack built into it's hold. Propellers spun around it as it rose into the air. It was also so damn big! Bigger than Upper Yard's overgrown trees!
"It was only for a second, but I definitely saw Nami on that ship!" growled Sanji, "It doesn't matter what that flying thing is!" His face then adopted a dopy grin, "But at least Nami took her shirt off!"
"THAT'S NOT THE IMPORTANT THING RIGHT NOW!" Both Usopp and Maxwell yelled at him.
*SUU~! SU SU SUU~!*
Everyone looked to see the cloud fox on the railing. It waved it's paws as if to say, "Do not go there!"
"Wait, Su!? What are you doing here!?" Usopp looked at the cloud fox surprised, "Where's Conis? Or that weird old knight!? I can hardly grasp our situation..."
Sanji ignored Usopp's confusion, "I don't know, just hurry! It look like that ship is gonna fly higher!"
"IT'LL FLY!?" the sniper yelled.
"Yes, but it's stopped for some reason, so how's our chance!" Sanji grabbed Usopp's arm.
"Wait! I'm going up there too!?"
"Of course! You've got that thing don'cha? The rope that come out of your belt!"
"If it's my 'Usopp's AaahhAAhhgAAAhh' you need, I can lend that to you, but I—" "Just shut up and get ready! If that thing flies any higher, then we won't be able to do anything!"
Maxwell grabbed his staff, that was thankfully still intact, and made sure he still had Mordred and Mineive on him. The mage then turned to Su, "We have to go. I understand if you were sent here to watch over us, but we cannot stay here." Maxwell turned to jump into the clouds after Sanji and Usopp, "Stay safe!"
O O O
Enel sat on his golden throne, staring down at the woman who dares defy him. He had already taken her hope away. The rubber-man who dared strike him had been thrown off, even if he couldn't kill him. There was no way for him to return. Yet she, a mortal, dare to say she would find no fulfillment by God's side!? His body sparked with a cold anger, "If you do not wish to remain on this ship, then there is only one fate for you..."
Nami stared down the God, knowing full well what he meant.
"Not a very wise decision. You've willingly abandoned your only means of survival. Unless perhaps..." Enel knowingly smirked at the red-head, "You're staking your hopes on those three rats who climbed aboard. Yahahaha..."
Nami blinked in confusion, "Huh?"
O O O
"SWEET ANDRASTE! WHY DID I AGREE TO THIS!?" "I WANNA GET DOWN ALREADY! IF WE GO ANY HIGHER, WE WON'T BE ABLE TO GET BACK DOWN, SANJI!" "I'M COMING NAMI~!"
Three men climb a rope, shot from a belt, to board a flying ark in the sky. To Maxwell, this has got to be one of the dumbest things he's ever done.
The trio had found a rock outcrop just as the ship was passing overhead. Their (a.k.a Sanji's) plan was to shoot Usopp's gadget at the summit, where Sanji waited to kick the hook at the ark. They would then use the rope to climb aboard, like the pirates they were. The plan worked, but now they where kilometres above the island, and turbulent winds blew them all around them like reeds in the wind.
"COME ON! SANJI! GOD HIMSELF IS ON THAT SHIP Y'KNOW!" Usopp held to the belt for dear life, like he was at the end of his rope. Ironic, because his terror came from being on the end of his rope.
"I don't care if he's a god or whatever! If he dared to lay even one finger on Nami... I'll become the Devil of the Blue Seas! I'M COMING NAMI~!" Sanji yelled in pure determination.
"Oh yes, very encouraging. But if you'd don't mind, I'd rather we ACTUALLY CLIMBED!" Maxwell clung to the rope for dear life as well. Thankfully, he figured out a way to us Mineive's sword hilt as a bar for a better handle on the rope. Max knew he wasn't going to be the fastest climber out there, but he felt safer having something else to hold on too. Nonetheless, the three men climbed the grappling hook up towards the Maxim.
"Sanji! Just what are we supposed to do!?" Once they had climbed a sufficient amount, Usopp called out to the chef, "Who knows just how many hundreds of people are on this humongous ship! There's no way we can infiltrate it! And if God and his priests are also onboard, then—"
"STOP WHINING ALREADY!" Sanji called down from higher up the rope, "The enemy can use mantra so there's no point in whispering here either!" Maxwell grabbed Sanji's hand as he finall got on a platform. Sanji was the first one up, so he helped out by pulling up the rope as the others scaled the haul, "Once we get inside, we'll split up and head for the deck! That's where Nami is!"
"WHAT! WE'RE SPLITTING UP!?" Usopp yelled as he climbed onto the cargo hold.
"Of course dumbass!" Sanji glared at where he saw the main deck above, " If we don't split up, it'll be the end of all of us!"
Usopp stared at the cook, "...What? You make it sound like one of us will die for sure. Wait, don't tell me...! To save Nami, you're willing to d—"
Sanji put both hands on Usopp's shoulders, "Listen Usopp! If it's to die to save Nami, I don't mind if you die."
"I WILL THROW YOU OFF YOU HEARTLESS BASTARD!" "NOW LET'S GO! I'M COMING NAMI!" "HEY, WE'RE NOT DONE TALKIN' YET! ...WAIT, MAX, WHERE ARE YOU GOING!? DON'T LEAVE ME TOO!"
O O O
Enel stood up and descended from his throne, bible thumping against his thigh, "Yahahaha... It seems they've come to seriously rescue you, though..." He held up the time he had liberated from the heathen sorcerer, "I suspect one of them wants this back..." It was a curious book. Nothing was written wIthin it's pages, yet the book was sentient. It defied him by not speaking, but felt no pain or damage from his divine punishment. Nonetheless, it will break eventually.
He struck, sending a bolt of lightning at the distracted navigator. Yet she dodged, rolling to the side as if she felt his incoming attack, "Yahahaha... Just because they've come to save you... Doesn't mean anyone will actually be saved... Nor do I need to wait for them to come."
Enel sent another thunder bolt at the woman, only this time she didn't dodge, "Hoh...?" She deflected it, using a baton that amazingly made a bubble of lighting.
"Yahahaha! Aren't you amusing, little girl... Such tools exist on the Blue Seas do they!?" He flung another bolt of light at the navigator, and again she deflected it, sending it off into the sky.
Enel spun his golden staff, "Creating a path for the lightning to travel! An excellent idea. I suppose you were inspired by you elder companion when he rebuffed my touch..." Enel could feel her emotions through his Mantra, "Yahahaha! But you should already be aware that if I were to increase the scale of my attacks, there's nothing you can do anymore! Am I wrong!?" His arm turned into a giant ball of lightning, ready to fling it, "I'm quite busy, so disappear already!"
"You're the one who should disappear! CERTAIN KILL! GUNPOWDER STAR!"
*BOOM!*
An explosion enveloped Enel's body, yet he had seen it coming. Such a puny blast could not harm his immortal body. All he did was cancel his attack, hold out a hand, and the explosion happened there. When the smoke cleared, he gazed upon the fool who dared provoke him.
Usopp stood in the doorway towards the bowls of the ship. He held up his hands and slingshot to cover his face, "...Sorry about that..."
"Usopp!" Nami looked at her friend, surprised to see him.
Enel looked disinterested, "So it was you... We met on your ship didn't we?"
Usopp looked from side to side, "Huh!? Where's Sanji!? Or Maxwell!?"
Nami looked at him again surprised, "What!? Max and Sanji!? They're here too!?" All three of them had been struck down hours ago.
"YOU MEAN THEY STILL HAVEN'T COME UP HERE!?"
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Usopp glared at the God, "Is that so..."
He then promptly shut the door.
"GET BACK HERE!" Nami yelled at the cowardly sniper.
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Usopp then busted through the door, "SO WHAT IF YOU'RE GOD!?" Though he was scared shitless.
*KRR—ZAP!*
"GYAAAAA!" Usopp dived out of the way as a giant blast of lightning tried to hit him. He ended up summersaulting towards Nami.
"Usopp!"
"Nami!" Usopp glared at Enell when he recovered into a crouching position.
"What!? What should I do!?" Nami looked at him attentively ready to do anything he asked.
"Save me."
"AS IF I COULD!"
Nami grabbed him by the collar and shook his cowardly neck, "DIDN'T YOU COME UP HERE TO SAVE ME!?"
"Umm, well... I'm not sure if I actually came up here to do that." "THEN WHY'D YOU COME!?" "...Dunno." "DON'T YOU 'DUNNO' ME! SAVE ME DAMMIT!"
Usopp then giggled into his hand like a gossip girl, "I mean, come on. We're dealing with a god here. How could I possibly save you from God?"
Nami actually went along with the laugh, "Ahahahaha. How true..."
*KRR—ZAP!* "GYAAAAA!"
Enel had watched this farce play out for long enough.
Both crewmates jumped out of the way of the thunderbolt this time. And Usopp then noticed something strung to Nami's belt, "Ah! That hat!"
Nami made sure it was still with her, "Yeah, it's Luffy's! He was here a little while ago, but he was knocked off. But knowing Luffy, he's probably not dead!"
"Well, with the ship flying, we can't just wait for him to come save us!" "Right!" "We'll have to escape from here on our own somehow! I ain't dying here!" "ROGER THAT!"
*KRR—ZAP!* The two crewmates split as Enel prepared another lightning strike, and jumped out of the way.
Usopp stuck his back against the giant light bulb in the middle of the prow deck, "Stick close to this electric chamber! It must be important! I doubt he'll make any big attacks near it!"
Nami, who had rolled out of that last attack pointed elsewhere, "Usopp! Look!"
"The waver!?" It was the same waver the crew had salvaged from the fallen shipwreck before coming here. Pagaya had earlier delivered it to their ship as they sailed their way to the meetup point.
"I think that's our only escape option!"
"What!? At this height!?" Usopp yelled in protest.
"Yes, but there's a section of island clouds in the centre of the forest below if we can just land there, we should be—" "Oh, I see!"
Usopp jumped as a ball of lightning descended on his position. It was actually somewhat olympic, until his face hit the rails.
"I'll distract him somehow! Make the preparations!" He yelled, despite having the giant goose-egg.
"Got it!"
Usopp then climbed onto the top of the giant bulb and took a stance, "TAKE THIS GOD! USOPP... SPELL!"
Enel merely looked up at the idiot.
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"A needle wedged deep between your nails and the skin beneath! Ugh!" Usopp shivered at the thought.
Nami also shivered, "Ugh! Just thinking about it is painful!"
"You idiot! Cover your ears if you value you're life!" Usopp yelled at the navigator. He turned back to Enel.
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"A paper cut across the middle of you finger joints!"
Enel merely looked at him with a blank face.
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"5 mouth ulcers on your gums!"
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"I am Usopp the Great and Powerful—"
Enel had already walked up, floated up, and whacked him in the face with his rod.
"Usopp!" Nami cried out in concern of her friend. Still, she righted the waver while Enel beat the sniper to a pulp. He barely looked bored, it barely even worth using lightning on this idiot. Nami revved the vehicle and found the right direction to jump, "We're ready to go n—USOPP!"
Usopp had suddenly been flash-fried by Enel again, "Even if you speak of escaping, with me as your opponent, it won't be easy...!" Enel smirked as he stalked toward the woman. It was time to finish this farce.
Nami, though facing certain death, mustered her courage and sped past the God. Usopp was still barely conscious, "USOPP! GRAB ON! GRAB MY HAND!"
Usopp shakily raised his hand, but then Enel suddenly pinned it with his staff. They had missed their chance to escape together.
"Do you think you can still get out of here alive...?" Enel had a giant thunder ball built in his outstretched hand, and grew brighter by the moment.
"USOPP!"
Usopp was suddenly kicked towards Nami, landing in the waver's haul. It was Sanji.
"Go!" Sanji smiled popping a cigarette into his mouth.
"SANJI!" "NAMI MOVE! It's this way, right!?" "Wah!?"
"...EL!" "Wait, Usopp! Why're you turning the accelerator!? Sanji's still—" "HE'S FINE, WE HAVE TO KEEP GOING! DON'T YOU DARE LET A MAN'S SACRIFICE GO TO WASTE!" "THOR!"
A giant beam of pure lightning blew through Sanji as the other two escaped. They had driven off overboard and fell into the air bellow.
Enel laughed at incredulity of these mortals, "Yahahahaha! So they jumped off. Do they not realize the range of my attacks? They're hardly far away enough to have actually escaped... Hm?" His Mantra had detected something.
It was the blonde one. He should not have been moving, let alone standing.
"Hey... God... I had... one thing I wanted to say..." Sanji quivered as he tried to keep conscious, "Ah... But before that... Thanks..." He took a drag of his scorched cigarette and blew out the smoke, "I needed a light...!"
Enel simply stared at the struggling mortal, "And...? What else?"
Sanji smirked, "Yeah... Get ready to cry..." Then the cook fell to the deck unconscious.
Enel regarded the body for a moment before turning away. He still had to find—
The Maxim began to rumble and Enel could hear the mashing of gears inside, "What!? The ship...!" The chimneystack that had be producing black clouds until now had stopped. Finalized with a choking poof, "Could he have...!?" Enel looked back at the downed blonde, "HOW DARE YOU! WHAT DID YOU DO INSIDE MY SHIP!?"
Enel stared livid at the would be corpse, "That trash...! HOW DARE HE—!"
"HORROR."
Enel shot up as if something had just crawled up his spine. His eyes widened, His jaw locked open, his muscles went stiff! He felt like he had to run but couldn't move his body! Something was wrong! Something was very, very, WRONG!
Then he realized he had seen something. Black miasma had erupted from beneath him like some terrible black cloud. Yet in the darkness terrible violet light filtered around the geyser. If he had been looking from the outside, he would have seen the fog take the shape of an ephemeral skull.
Maxwell dashed passed Enel, "I'll be taking that!" The mage had swiped back his property from the petrified logia. He had his grimoire back, and the new spell had been a success! Thank the Maker Mordred could substitute as a Fear Demon. Enel's mind could barely process what he was seeing!
The mage then spun around throwing his staff like a javelin. "GAH!" Enel cried out in pain as he didn't even react in time. The shark-spine staff had a pointed end at the bottom, like a spear tip. Enel clutched the wound, where it punctured between his shoulder and pectoral.
Little known fact, a logia's transformations was not instinctual. They had to consciously become their element, and had to train it to become so. Enel, relying so much on Mantra, did not have this advantage.
Maxwell smiled, but hastily rolled back into a run to grab Sanji. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he heft the chef onto his shoulders. He couldn't even care that he had inadvertently lost another staff. He just had to get off the ark. The mage could celebrate his small victory later. Max eyed and followed the wheel tracks and ran towards the giant beanstalk. It was plain to see above the giant tree line. And they were even up higher than that.
So, the mage jumped. Hoping whatever strategy had worked for Nami would work for him.
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Enel stumbled as he regain control over his body, "GRAAAH!" He immediately pulled the sharped staff out of his shoulder and a trail of blood followed the oversized toothpick. Enel panted through the pain. He had not only been injured by one mortal, BUT TWO!
HOW DARE THESE BLUE SEA HEATHENS MAR HIS IMMORTAL BODY! HOW DARE THESE FOREIGN BARBARIANS INTERFERE WITH HIS DIVINE PLANS! HE SHOULD FIND THESE MISCREANTS, THESE VEARTH LOVING MAGGOTS, AND FRY THESE HERETIC INTO ASHES. MAKE THESE DEFILERS REGRET EVEN BEING BORN!
The rumble of Maxim snapped Enel out of his bloodthirsty rage. He still had to deal with the insides of his ship. It already had stopped producing clouds. Yet he wanted to punish those Blue Sea dwellers for what they have done. But the Fairy Vearth...!
"RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"