Chapter 17: The Knock-Up Stream


"Remember it's currently 7:00 A.M," Shoujou explained as the three ships were sailing. "We'll be arriving at our destination at 11:00! Just like the boss said. The Knock-Up Stream appears randomly we have to get there early to get their exact spot-"

"Hey, guys check the South Bird out! 'Misaka says as she tried to get it to another direction!'" Last Order called over.

"Hey, are you guys even listening to me!?" Shoujou yelled. Luffy, Index, Hime, Megumi, Kirika, Cynthia, Natsu, Happy, Last Order, Manatsu, and Hibiki watched as Last Order turned the South Bird's head. Once she let go, it snapped right back to where it was facing.

"Interesting," Minori thought, examining the bird. "It has the same characteristics as a compass."

"JAW JAW JAW" The South Bird called in anger.

"What did it say?" Cynthia asked Chopper.

"He said 'I'll turn the other way, just to make sure you idiots get a headache once you get lost!" Chopper translated.

"Go ahead and try," Hime challenged. The South Bird chuckled accepting the challenge. He turned his head around a whole 180 degrees.

"He actually turned a full one-eighty, desu~!" Kirika said in awed.

"The question is how long can he hold it?" Tsuchimikado asked. The South Bird tried to hold it for as long as he could, sweating nervously. After a few seconds the South Bird's head went right back to where he was, causing everyone to laugh.

"HEY!" One guy from Shoujou's boat yelled. "QUIT MAKING OUR CAPTAIN ANGRY!"

"Aw forget it," Shoujou waved calmly. "Honestly the way they ignored our surroundings get me edgy."

"Well we can't help it in this kind of situation," Luffy replied. "We just need to move on."

"Encouraging words, coming from someone who caused the delay in the first place," Shirabe declared.

"Hey it's not my fault, Lovely was the one who wanted to find more of them," Luffy defended.

"What?!" Megumi jumped in shock. "Y-You're the one who told me the stories about them!"

"Either way, Luffy is right," George agreed. "It's pointless to stress for an hour, we might as well enjoy it while we can."


"Burgess see anything out there?!" Blackbeard asked. He and his crew-mates are sailing on two rafts.

"I can't even see the outline of the shore yet," Burgess responded. "Do you really think they will go to Sky Island boss?"

"That's what the girl said," Blackbeard responded. "But we're going to capture them before they can even get a chance to."


After sailing for another three hours, one of Masira's crewmates witness something in the distance

"Boss it's not good," He called out. "Night approaching the south-west, it's the Millennium Cumulonimbus!"

"Really?" George replied, a bit surprised. "It's only 10:00 A.M. It came much earlier than we expected!"

"This is bad," Masira turned to Shoujou on the other ship. "Shoujou is everything ready?!"

"I was just about to send them," Shoujou replied. He turned to his crew "Dispatch the Utan Diver find me those currents!"

"Aye Captain!" The divers yelled, jumping into the water.

"So that's Millennium Cumulonimbus?" Hibiki asked, shocked by the dark clouded area South West from them. "It's so huge."

"Cricket's right," Iona replied. "Those clouds are so dense that it makes it look like it's nighttime."

"Shoujou and his crew are locating the current for the Knock-Up Stream," George explained.

"Search Sonar!" Shoujou sang into his microphone, sending a shock wave across the water.

"What is he doing?" Cynthia asked, staring at Shoujou.

"He used his voice as a pseudo-sonar to locate the Knock-Up Stream," Touma answered.

"Wow you actually said something logical for once," Kuroko commented.

Touma glared at her. "I may be an idiot, but I'm not as dumb as Luffy or Natsu!"

"A large strong current at 12:00!" One diver announced.

"Found a giant organism at 9:00! It could be a Sea King!" Another diver announced.

"10:00 current location is a giant whirlpool!" The last Diver yelled.

"That's our current target! Let's go for it!" Masira called out.

"Wait, are we going towards the whirlpool?" Asuka asked. Waves suddenly grew bigger, rocking the ship.

"WAH!" Chopper screamed, almost losing his balance. "The ship will sink from these waves!"

"Miss Navigator. What's the Log Post's position?" Robin called out.

Nami stared at the Log Post for a second, in shock. "It's pointing at that cloud!"

"You mean up there is Sky Island?!" Manatsu asked in shock.

"Apparently," Nami answered. "Not only that, but the Millennium Cumulonimbus came earlier than we expected."

"It seems like we guessed correctly this time brother," Shoujou cheered.

"Yeah and the size of the explosion is perfect too," Masira nodded.

"Do you think we'll make it?!" Cynthia asked, looking a bit nervous.

"Yeah," Masira replied. He and Shoujou's ship launched cables which latched onto the Going Merry. "All we have to do is get you to the inner edge of the whirlpool."

"And then what?" Gray asked, a bit suspicious of why Masira didn't continue.

"Simple we go to the center of the whirlpool," George explained.

"Say what?" Chris blurted out bewildered by the news.

"Y-You meant we have to go in the center of that?!" Sango asked, pointing to the humongous whirlpool.

"You never said that we have to get sucked into it!" Lucy yelled terrified.

"Don't worry I won't let anything happen to you," Sanji suddenly declared to Lucy. Chopper, Manatsu and Happy imagine the ship shooting them up in the sky, causing them to gleam with anticipation.

"Okay, I changed my mind!" Usopp yelled.

"Yeah, I want to go back!" Hime added.

"I'm sure you guys know it's impossible since someone is eager to do this," Misaka stated.

"LET'S GO TO THE SKY!" Luffy announced while Natsu, Manatsu, Hibiki, Cynthia, and Happy cheered.

Unexpectedly, a huge Sea King appears out of the water. The beast appeared to be trying to escape the whirlpool, but the force of the current overwhelmed it.

"...!" Everyone minus Luffy, Megumi, Robin, Natsu, Happy, George, Ray, Shervan, and Minori were shocked as the monster disappeared into the whirlpool.

"That's all we can do for you guys!" Masira called out. He and Shoujou's ship are at a safe distance. "The rest is up to you~!"

"Thanks for the help, guys!" Megumi waved.

"Yeah, thanks!" Luffy and Natsu waved.

"DON'T GO!" Hime wailed. "TAKE ME WITH YOU!"

"YOU NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THE WHIRLPOOL BEING THIS BIG!?" Lucy screamed at the two.

"Don't be unreasonable Luffy. Let's just go back! Sky Island might not exist, remember?" Usopp asked.

"Yeah," Luffy answered. "I might be fake."

"Yeah!" Hime added.

Luffy turned to them with a big grin on his face, "If it's just fantasy then we will miss the opportunity forever!"

Usopp, Nami, and Hime all cried anime tears, 'It's too late he's already made his mind.'

"I hate to break your teary moments, but we have another problem," Gajeel acknowledged. After he said that, everyone noticed the Going Merry wasn't touching the water as it was now sailing into the whirlpool.

"YOU COULD'VE TOLD US SOONER TINCAN!?" Kuroko snapped.

"SHERVAN I'LL PROTECT YOU!" Kinoko replied, giving him a deathly hug.

"COME TO MY ARMS LADIES~!" Sanji called out.

"Juvia wants to be with Gray for the final hours of our life~!" Juvia cried while hugging Gray. Everyone screamed as the ship was falling into the darkness of the whirlpool.

"Eh?" Kirika was the first one to notice the water was still. "What just happened?"

"D-Did the whirlpool just vanish out of thin air?!" Gray asked, stunned.

"How can a big whirlpool like that disappear suddenly?" Awatsuki asked.

"All worked up for nothing," Asuka sighed.

"No," Nami declared, glancing at the side of the ship, "The whirlpool had sunk under. It won't be long till it sta-."

"WAIT!" A voice suddenly rang in everyone's ears. Everyone glanced at a large raft-like ship in the distance. Their flag had three skulls and four crossbones. On board were four people, Zoro, Natsu, Lucy, Nami, Luffy, Megumi, and Happy recognized a few of them.

"Oh it's the big fat guy from before," Happy realized.

"You guys know them?" Cynthia asked.

"Yeah, we encountered him in the pub back in Mock Town," Lucy replied.

"I finally caught yah Straw Hat Luffy!" Blackbeard called out. "I'm here to take your 100,000,000 berries bounty! So don't be shy and surrender to us now!"

"Wait what?!" Hibiki and Manatsu blurted out.

"Didn't you showed us that his bounty was 30 million?" Marie asked as she turned to Chris.

"Y-Yeah," Chris replied a bit stunned.

"What do you mean!?" Luffy called out confused.

"Don't play dumb!" Blackbeard yelled, showing them two bounty papers. "Monkey D Luffy 100,000,000 berries and Roa Noa Zoro, 60.000,000 berries!"

"100,000,000!?" Manastu exclaimed with her jaws dropped comically.

"He's right though," Usopp said while using a telescope to get a clear look. "He's holding two different bounties for Zoro and Luffy!"

"Hey, is there a bounty for me?" Sanji asked.

"Nope," Usopp replied.

"Come on look closer,"

"Still nope,"

"I don't believe it," Nami said surprised. "I know you guys had a bounty raised from the Alabasta incident, but $100,000,000?!"

"Did you hear that!? $100,000,000! My bounty went up big time!" Luffy called out, looking proud.

"60,000.000 ain't that bad," Zoro agreed.

"Don't get cocky you two," Gajeel declared with a grin. "Once I cause some chaos, my bounty will be much higher than both of yours."

"No way Nail for brains!" Natsu scoffed with a challenging smirk. "My bounty will be higher than yours!"

"Keep dreaming," Accelerator joined in. "All I need is to show these Navy Officers my powers and I can shoot my bounty higher than any other bounty in this sea."

"You boys will eat my dust," Chris declared smirking. "Once they see what I can do, my Bounty will sky rocket above yours!"

"WOULD YOU GUYS SHUT UP!" Nami screeched with shark teeth. "THERE'S NOTHING GOOD ABOUT GETTING A BOUNTY!"

"You guys might want to hold onto something," Ray instructed. They all felt the pressure from below and held onto something sturdy. Last Order, Index, Wendy, Cynthia, Shervan, Shirabe, Kirika, Happy, Charla, and Lily were ordered to stay in the kitchen till it's safe.

BOOOM!

Erupted above by a large pillar of water, the Going Merry soared into the sky. The blast radius was enough to fling Blackbeard's crew into the air.

"GO TO SKY ISLAND!" Masira and Shoujou yelled.


Keeping their footing on the deck was challenging for the Going Merry's crew as the ship sailed upward on a pillar of water.

"How is the ship sailing vertically like this!" Lucy asked.

"Beat me, but I'm not complaining!" Chris yelled over the waves.

"This is so amazing!" Natsu cheered while pumping his fist up. "Onward to Sky Fire Island!"

"We're not calling it that!" Touma yelled.

"Let's go, Merry!" Luffy declared enjoying the ride. "Up to the sky!"

"I don't think it will be that simple!" Tsubasa said.

"Why did we forget our luggage?" Hibiki asked.

"Why would that matter now!?" Touma exclaimed.

"No, it's the ship!" Tsubasa called out. "I can feel the ship leaving the stream slightly."

"She's right," George said. "The Going Merry is slowly inching off of the hull. We might crash into the ocean!"

"But how are we gonna hold it down when we can't even stand on the ship!?" Usopp yelled.

"WAH! Look!" Chopper yelled. They noticed the Sea King falling off the pillar luckily not in their way.

"It's only a matter of minutes until the ship will end up like that Sea King!" Misaka screeched.

"We know, but this mother nature we are dealing with here," Zoro said.

"Yeah the only thing to do is hang on and hope for the best," Sanji said.

"AHH!" Wanni screamed and noticed ship debris falling downward.

"I can't believe this," Chris groaned. "We are going to die because a certain dumbass wants to go to an island in the sky!"

"Spread the sails now!" Nami suddenly ordered.

"Huh?" Everyone noted puzzled.

"While it may be a pillar of water, there is still part of the sea!" Nami explained. "The wind is coming upward. If we put the sails then we'll fly along the current!"

"She's right!" George agreed, backing her up. "The wind below is a rising air current produced by geothermal heat causing a steam explosion!"

"You're the greatest navigator Nami-swan!" Sanji announced.

"Warp Locate!" George made a small portal on the deck and another near the ropes. He places his hand down the portal reappearing on the other end and untying the rope.

"Alright guys, starboard the ship and align it with the current!" Nami ordered.

"Got it!" Everyone called out as they got into their stations.

"Um, guys," Awatsuki notices the ship slowly rising away from the water. "Is that supposed to happen?"

"Nami! Do something or we'll fall!" Luffy yelled.

As he said that, the ship's sails were caught in the upward-flowing air current.

"We're flying!" Hibiki said excitedly.

"It does remind me of Blue Pegasus's ship Christina!" Erza said, feeling a chill down her spine.

"This the best thing eve-URP!" Natsu suddenly bulged up. Followed by Gajeel.

"Oops, I forgot to give them their pills," Chopper sweatdropped.

"So if sky island exists, there should be beyond those clouds right?" Accelerator asked.

"Yep," Nami said confidently.

"If not, then you all die a terrible death," Jackal cackled.

"I wonder what we might see on the other side?" Yuko questioned.

"Well, there's one way to find out!" Luffy cheered. "Let's bust through the clouds and find out!"

"YEAH!" They all yelled as they were closed in towards the sky.


Next Chapter: Sky Knight and Heavenly Gate

Now that the Jaya arc is done, I'll be on a hiatus on this story for now, to finish the Skypiea arc completely in rough copy. I also want to work on my other two story; Guardian Angels and Portal Combat.