Varvula: Last time on DELTA: Rise of Shul Shagana~! Four groups from different worlds were lured by an alluded organization known as Crimson Blood, and were rescued to mere death b-

Yang: Do we really have to do this?

Varvula: Well what else do we get to do?! The author decided to do this until he can get ideas for us in the long run~!

Yang: No not the intro and outro, I'm talking about doing the recap. I mean if they want to know what happens they just have to reread it.

Peace: I-If that's the case, then what are we supposed to do in these segments?

Gwen: I can chant a curse that could hypnotize people reading it.

Varvula: I don't trust you with spells.

Raven: Do you trust me with casting it?

Yang: Yeah, like I can trust someone who trapped me in that Wonder Pet's musical. I still have mental scars from their songs.

Sanya: Why don't we ask questions about ourselves or suggestions for our story?

Freddy: That's an interesting idea, Sanya. It's hard to do characters in a real-world gimmick.

Varvula: Anyway, just like before. We will be focused on this story while the rest will be doing Portal Combat~!

Peace: Also, we don't own all the characters in this story. And Cynthia Rose belongs to marcus00721.


Chapter 18: Sky Knight and Heaven Gate


In the bounty hunter's boat, Lenora stared into the sky with a frown on her face.

"What was that?" Lenora asked, looking at the edge.

"What are you babbling about?" Loni asked as she came out of her room.

"I don't know but...I just feel like there's a death sail happening," She said, spacing out a bit.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Loni stared at her oddly.


A fond smile adorned the face of Montblanc Cricket as he sat on the stump outside his house. He was staring at the Knock-Up Stream in the distance. 'It seems they've made it.'

After being hit by the Knock-Up Stream, the Blackbeard Pirates slowed down. As they stared up into the sky, they sat on a giant log still resting on the raft ship.

"ZEHAHAHAHA~!" Blackbeard laughed despite failing to capture Luffy.

"Hee hee~! Those guys are lucky," The old sick man that Luffy met at Jaya chuckled.

"SO WHAT?!" The man that Zoro, Natsu, and Luffy wanted to challenge. "We're just gonna sit here and let them escape?! WE JUST LOST TWO HUNDRED FORTY MILLION BERRIES BOUNTY! And you're laughing about it?"

"Zehahahaha~! Easy Burgess," Blackbeard replied. "They haven't left this world. We'll meet them again as long as we're on the Grand Line~!"


While riding on the Knock Up Stream, The group was having trouble staying conscious by how fast they were going up. The Going Merry was able to go through the Millenium Columbus, hoping that Skypiea was on the other side.

After a half-minute of enduring the pressure, the Going Merry finally broke free out in the open. The wings on the Going Merry ripped off due to the pressure and everyone who wasn't under the deck were sprawled out exhausted from the trip.

"I-Is everyone okay?" Shervan asked as he and a few of the others came out of the kitchen. They were also a bit exhausted during the trip.

"...Yeah," Asuka responded, coughing a bit. "Damn, it felt like I was holding my breath underwater."

"Look, we're here!" Luffy announced. As they regained their breath, some stared in wonder or shock at being surrounded by white fluffy clouds.

"S-So this is Skypiea?!" Sango asked while scanning the area.

"...This is...unbelievable…" Kuroko couldn't describe how she felt about this whole situation.

"This is so amazing~!" Kirika chimed in awed. "Are we actually sailing on clouds?"

"Of course," Hibiki nodded. "I mean since clouds float, boats can float on top of them right?"

"No, that's impossible," Zoro, Gray, and Sanji answered, waving their hands in denial.

"Ah~!" Wendy exclaimed as soon as she found Usopp unresponsive. "Usopp's not breathing!"

"WHAT!?" Luffy rushed towards Usopp, shaking him violently. "Hang on Usopp!"

"Quickly! Someone give him mouth to mouth!" Manatsu cried, flailing her arms in panic.

"Okay, I'll give it to Nami~!" Sanji spun around with hearts.

"Moron," Chris muttered while rolling her eyes.

"Did you say something mosshead?" Sanji asked, glaring at him.

"I didn't say anything you curly perv~!" Zoro barked back.

"Stand back," Erza knelt down beside Usopp, looking like she was going to kiss him. Hime, Megumi, Yuko, Sango, Shirabe and Kirika were waiting for a romantic moment in between the two.

"LIVE!" Erza pounded her fists into Usopp's stomach, causing Usopp to gasp from the impact.

"...!" The six girl's eyes widen as they stare at Erza in disbelief and shock.

"What? I saved his life, didn't I?" Erza questioned cluelessly.

"Y-yeah, but...That looks very painful," Shirabe winced a bit.

"Not only that, you've just messed up a perfectly good romance scene," Koneko added.

"This is strange…" Nami said, staring at the Log Pose. "The Log Pose is still pointing up."

"Wait what?" Marie glanced at Nami's Log Pose. "You're absolutely right! Are you saying we should go even higher?"

"I guess," Robin stated, "We might be in the middle of the Columbus cloud."

"THE GREAT SWIMMING CHAMP USOPP WILL GO FOR A SWIM IN THE CLOUD OCEAN!" Usopp announced looking heroic. He was able to fool, Last Order, Index, Luffy, Chopper, Natsu, Megumi, and Manatsu who were cheering for him.

"This is going to end badly," Gajeel snickered.

"Are you sure you should do this Usopp?" Sango asked worriedly. "We don't know what's down there."

"Relax, the ocean up here may be the same as the ocean in the blue sea…" Usopp declared before he dived into the clouds. He then emerged from the clouds waving to the others.

"So you really can swim in the clouds," Awatsuki stated.

"Usopp is so brave," Chopper complimented.

"See nothing to worry about!" Usopp called out. "There isn't much resistance around here! I'm going to see how far I can dive!"

Before anyone can say anything, Usopp vanishes into the clouds.

"I'll make sure, he doesn't do anything stupid," Laura assured them. She jumped into the clouds ocean as well.

"I wish I could swim like that," Luffy sulked.

"Yeah, I bet it's the best thing ever," Chopper agreed, also sulking.

"Hey um...They're not coming back up," Gray stated, breaking the silence.

"Something has occurred to me," Minori wondered out loud. "Since we're up in the clouds, does this kind of sea have a bottom?"

"WHAT!?" Luffy, Natsu, Manatsu and Chopper yelled.

"Don't tell me those two morons fell off the clouds?!" Chris exclaimed in shock.

"USOPP~! LAURA~!" Luffy yelled out. He shot his arm down into the cloud ocean, attempting to grab them both.

"Scope~!" George glanced downward at the sea of clouds.

"Bastard," Sanji frowned. "Sango warned him not to go, and now Laura is in danger too."

"Luffy stretch your arms as far as you can!" Robin instructed.

"But I can't see them!" Luffy said.

"Leave that to me, Ojos Fleur," Robin closed her eyes. At the bottom, multiple eyes pop up on Luffy's arms. One of the eyes spots Usopp and Laura falling down out of the thick clouds while gawking comically. From Luffy's arm, Robin sprouted a chain of arms and grabbed them both.

"Okay, now pull them up," Robin sighed in relief that the two were alright.

Luffy nodded as he attempted to pull Usopp and Laura back. However, his face was straining as he was pulling them up. He was almost dragged into the ocean if Hibiki and Misaka didn't hold onto him to help.

"Okay I understand that you're pulling two people, but they shouldn't be this heavy!" Misaka said as her voice was straining.

It was thanks to the girl that Luffy was able to bring up Usopp and Laura. In addition to them though, a gigantic octopus and a flatfish burst out of the clouds as well.

"They aren't the only ones you reeled up!" Kirika yelled, her eyes widened.

"AHH~! MONSTERS~!" Nami, Lucy, Hime and Chopper screamed in horror.

"I got this," Zoro leaped in the air preparing to cut the tentacles, but the moment he sliced the tentacle it popped like a balloon. "What the-?"

"Did the tentacles just pop?" Shirabe asked.

"Eh?" Koneko pouted in disappointment. "I was hoping for a tentacle erotic scene."

"Iron Dragon: Club~!" Gajeel's arm morphed into a pillar and swung it underneath the flatfish's neck, while Sanji leaped up in the air and brought his heel down on top of its head.

After the monsters were dealt with, Gajeel, Zoro and Sanji were breathing heavily from the short battle.

"What's wrong you guys?" Megumi asked, noticing their condition.

"The...air is so damn thin up here..." Gajeel gasped tiredly.

"Yeah, it's much harder to...breathe here," Sanjil agreed in the same manner.

"So what the heck am I looking at?" Chris asked while glancing at the giant bluefish.

"Yummy flatfish~!" Happy announced with drooling emitting out of his mouth.

"Strange it didn't look like a flatfish right after Sanji and Gajeel attacked it," Marie stated.

"Ugh," Laura groaned while regaining consciousness.

"Laura, are you alright?!" Manatsu asked.

"I was fine until you yelled right in my ears," Laura responded a bit annoyed.

"So what the heck happened down there?" Asuka asked.

"W-Well, Usopp challenged me to a race to see who could get to the bottom first. I was the winner obviously, but we found ourselves falling from the clouds," Laura explained.

"GAH!" Usopp screamed pathetically, startling the girls.

"What's wrong with him now?" Gray asked, rolling his eyes.

Usopp weakly pulled a small flatfish out of his pants. "T-This thing was in my pants...Sky Island is scary, Sky Island is scary, Sky Island is scary."

"This is not his day," Asuka commented. She along with Laura sweatdropped as they stared at a teary Usopp lying on the deck.

"Hey, guys look at this!" Manatsu picked up the small flatfish.

"Did you really have to pick up something from a guy's pants?" Laura cringed.

"I have never seen a fish like this before," Shervan quietly said while looking at the creature squirming in Manatsu's hands.

"This must've been the Sky Fish Noland described in his journal," Erza stated.

"Wait really?" Manatsu asked in amazement. "It's so cute~!"

"Yummy Sky Fish~!" Happy floated towards her in a hunger trance.

Manatsu quickly stood up, "I'm not letting you eat this fish~!"

"Hand over the fish~!" Happy ordered.

"NEVER~!" Manatsu yelled back. Soon she was being chased by the fish-craving cat.

"But how do the fishes survive on the clouds?" Wannai asked.

"They must've adapted to living in the clouds," Erza mentioned. "The buoyancy up here must be weaker than the ocean below, which explains why the fish in the clouds appear lighter."

"So what you're saying is that sea life evolved by becoming flat or balloon-like?" Chris summarized. She glanced at the large flatfish on the side. "No wonder they have feathers and weird carnivorous mouths."

"NO~!" Manatsu was on her hands and knees, sulking in defeat. The fish she was defending was already cooked by Sanji and eaten by Luffy and Happy.

"I trIed sauteing it," Sanji declared.

"DELICIOUS~!" Happy and Luffy gushed with stars for eyes.

"WE WEREN'T DONE EXAMINING IT~!" Nami yelled at them with shark teeth.

"Did those two eat a fish from Usopp's pants?" Asuka questioned with a sweatdrop.

"That's just gross," Laura bluntly said, a bit disgusted.

Chopper was using a telescope to scan over the horizon of clouds, with Index beside him. "So where is this Sky Island?"

"It's probably still above us according to what Nami said," Index replied.

"Hey~! I can see something over there!" Chopper observed suddenly. He noticed another ship in the distance. On either side of the ship was a man on the left and a dark cloud on the right.

"What do you see?" Index asked.

Before Chopper could reply, the ship in the distance suddenly exploded. Chopper just started with a horrifying face. "AH!"

"What wrong Chopper?!" Index asked worriedly.

"T-There was a ship that just exploded by a weird-looking guy and a black cloud!" Chopper answered in a panic.

"Calm down," Zoro said with a sweatdrop. "You're not making any sense."

"G-Guys look~!" Index called out while holding the telescope and pointing in the distance. A man wearing a bull mask and black cloud approached them. However, the man was busy fighting against the black cloud, completely ignoring them.

"Why is that guy fighting a dark cloud?" Hime asked.

"Scan!" George glanced in the distance, analyzing the cloud. "It's not a cloud, it's a swarm of Sky Killer Bees."

"S-Sky K-Killer bees?!" Levy asked, shocked.

Upon closer inspection, they discovered the black cloud was a swarm of killer bees. The man wearing the bull mask aimed his bazooka and began firing cannons at the swarm. The bees avoided every cannonball in perfect coordination to everyone's surprise. Eventually, the swarm formed a long arrow formation to lunge at the man. He leaped into the air and aimed his cannon at the approaching swarm. The bazooka bursts into flames instantly turning the bees into ashes.

"Holy crap!" Natsu's jaws dropped with sparkles in his eyes. "What an amazing fight!"

"That's your reaction to all this?!" Chris snapped.

Once he was finished dealing with the swarm, the bull masked guy wasted no time gliding towards them.

"Hey, what do you want with us!?" Misaka shouted.

"To destroy you all!" The man announced.

"D-Destroy?!" Sango flinched.

"We just arrived here, and already somebody wants us dead," Touma groaned.

Gajeel, who was close to the edge grinned. "Well, if he wants to get his ass beaten, then I won't disappoint him." He then puffed his cheeks. "Iron Dragon Roar!"

As soon as Gajeel released his attack, the bull-man jumped high enough in the air to evade the funnel. Gajeel had no time to react when the bull-man threw a foot at his face, knocking him back.

"Gajeel!" Levy yelled out in concern. In no time at all, Zoro and Erza took up their swords and aimed a vertical slash at the man. However, the man managed to jump off Gajeel's head evading the two swords and counter-attack with a kick on both of them.

"Happy!" Happy latched onto Natsu's back and flew him up towards the man with his fist enlightened with flames. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

He successfully blocked the fist with his bazooka, which took little damage. Natsu was then kicked in the chin before he had the chance to think of another attack, spiralling him downward.

"Natsu! Happy!" Lucy screamed.

After the man dealt with Natsu, he swung his bazooka towards Yuko and Awatsuki. Asuka managed to push the two out of the way, taking the hit from the bazooka, launching her into the deck wall.

The man leaped up when Sanji tried to kick him and countered it with his own kick on the cook's chin. He saw Ray and Koneko charge at him, their fists drawn back. The man performed a low sweep and tripped them both. He then slammed both of them with his bazooka.

"You're going to regret that," Gray growled, preparing to cast an ice spell. But before Gray could cast he was smacked by the man's shield.

"W-Wait what's going on~!?" Luffy asked, a bit puzzled. The Masked Man axe kicked his head into the deck.

"Come on you guys~!" Nami scolded. "Don't let this guy walk over you~!"

The man launched himself high up in the air, aiming his bazooka downward at the Going Merry.

"AH!" Chopper held onto Lucy while Usopp still wasn't responding to any of it. George was ready to prepare a portal.

"~That's enough, villain~!"

The sudden voice caught everyone off guard. The masked man noticed the figure and quickly brought his shield up. He succeeded to defend the attack but was flung backwards into the sea of clouds.

"Whoa!" Megumi and Happy awed.

"W-What just happened?" Hime questioned.

Once the intruder was gone, an old skinny man landed on the ship. He had a long white mustache and beard and wore a knight-like armor.

"W-Who are you?" Wannai asked.

"Miss you may call me Sky Knight!" He introduced. Landing behind him was a large pink-red polka-dotted bird.

"That's an odd-looking bird,' Misaka comments surprisingly," Last Order said.

"Thank you for saving us," Lucy said.

"I'm just doing my duty," Sky Knight answered.

Natsu chuckled. "He said duty."

"Grow up," Iona muttered.

"Thanks, but can you explain to us what's going on here, and who is that guy?" Nami questioned. But she then glared at the fighters who were breathing heavily. "AND YOU ALL COULDN'T BE SO WORTHLESS! HOW CAN YOU LET ONE GUY BEAT YOU ALL UP!?"

"Shut it...orange head!" Kinoko managed to say before breathing heavily. She and Ray were leaning back on the deck. "It's so freakin hard... to breathe up here..."

"My body... felt much more...sluggish for some reason…" Gray declared while slowly getting up

"Yeah...I can barely move..." Luffy groaned. "What's going on?"

"Probably because the air gets thinner once we reach this altitude," Erza replied as she slowly got up with Marie's aid.

"To be saying those words, you must be Blue Sea people," Sky Knight noted.

"Blue Sea People?" Shirabe blinked. "That's an odd way to label us."

"'Blue Sea People' is what we describe those who live beneath the clouds," He clarified.

"Sky Knight," Chopper whispered in awe.

"I assumed you came from the sea below, correct?" Sky Knight asked.

"Yup," Hibiki nodded.

"Interesting, that explains how you reached the White Sea, seven thousand meters in the air," The Sky Knight said. "The White-White sea is still further up here. Ordinary Blue Sea Dwellers can't possibly endure the conditions here."

"Okay, I think I'm getting the hang of it," Natsu said, breathing less heavily.

"Me too," Erza added as she stood up.

"I'm feeling a lot better too," Ray nodded as he stood up along with Kinoko.

"Good thing we aren't ordinary people~!" Cynthia nodded, staring at the group who were getting used to the atmosphere of this area.

"No, no, no," Sky Knight sweatdropped while waving his hand. "It doesn't work like that."

"So Mister Knight, why was that guy attacking people?" Chopper asked.

"And the swarm of bees he was fighting before targeting us?" Misaka added. "It looks like someone was controlling them."

"Now now, not so fast," Sky Knight said. "No doubt you have a ton of questions for me to answer, but first let's talk business."

"Business huh?" Nami nodded slowly.

"You see, the White Sea can be very dangerous," He explained. "There are Guerilla's lurking about, like the one you just faced. They want nothing more than to turn you into Sky fish food."

"And the swarm of bugs?" Kuroko questioned.

"I believe the man known as the Master of Arthropods was responsible for the cloud of bees," Sky Knight responded.

"Arthpieces?" Megumi repeated oddly.

"Arthropods," Kuroko corrected. "Someone who studies invertebrates with an exoskeleton, segmented bodies and a pair of appendages."

"...In English Smartass?" Jackal said annoyed.

"Someone who studies insects," Kuroko summarized.

"Anyway," Sky Knight continued. "The toll is Five Million Extol per Whistle of protection."

"...What are you talking about?" Luffy, Manatsu, Megumi, Hibiki, and Natsu asked, tilting their heads.

The Sky Knight almost fell comically from their responses. "Now listen, that price is quite reasonable. I can't afford to single Extol more! I need to earn a living."

"We understand your reasoning, but we are unsure of what you mean by Extol," Erza rephrased.

The Sky Knight blinked in confusion. "I don't understand. Didn't you come from the High West? Surely you come across a few islands on the way."

"Other islands?" Kirika blinked a bit dumbfounded.

"I'm so confused," Cynthia groaned.

"The way he says it..." Shervan quietly said. "It sounds like there was an alternate route to get up here."

Being the only one who heard him, Shirabe's eyes widened by what he meant. "You mean there was another way to get up here without risking our lives?"

"W-wait," The Sky Knight said in shock. "You mean that you travelled...?"

"We rode up the Knock-Up Stream," Shervan answered.

"My word! There are souls brave enough to ride that monstrous current?" The Sky Knight was astonished.

"Wait a minute!" Lucy interjects. "You're telling me we endanger ourselves for nothing?!"

Nami angrily began comically strangling Luffy. "ARE YOU HAPPY NOW!? WE COULD'VE GONE UP TO A SAFER ROUTE, BUT NO~! YOU WANNA TO TRY THE WAY THAT GETS US KILLED!"

"Did you lose any of your crew?" Sky Knight asked.

"No, we all made it," Erza answered.

"Well consider yourself fortunate," Sky Knight said. "Had you taken a different route, one or two would have survived the journey, but the rest would perish. That's the gamble for going up here. The Knock-Up Stream is either everyone makes it or everyone dies. Those are two possible outcomes. Normally not many sailors would take that high risk, especially these days. I see now that you guys are brave navigators."

"Yeah," Usopp gloated as he recovered quickly. "I hate to take all the credit, but when these guys got scared crying for mommy. I gave them my encouraging words of wis-."

Usopp was interrupted by Chris pinching his cheek, "Go on, Mister Courageous Man, tell us your inspiring story."

"N-Nothing, nothing at all," Usopp quickly reclaimed his statement.

"This is the One Whistle," The Sky Knight tossed Wendy a silver whistle as he stood up. "You may use it as it sees fit. Should you find yourself in danger, you have but to blow it and I'll arrive to your aid. As I said normally it would cost Five Million Extol but for today please accept this as my gift to you."

"Wait! We still don't know your name!" Manatsu called out.

"I am Gan Fall and this is my partner Pierre," Gan introduced. His bird known as Pierre cawed in acknowledgement. "Despite his appearance, he's no ordinary bird."

"Yeah, we got that figured out," Academy City members minus Index and Last Order said simultaneously.

"He has eaten the Horse Horse Devil Fruit!" Gan announced that the bird was gradually transforming into a horse. "Turning him into a winged horse !"

"Winged horse, does that mean he's going to turn into a beautiful pegasus?!" Sango asked, with stars for eyes.

"I want to see a Pegasus!" Misaka Misaka added, looking amazed!" Last Order chanted.

Unfortunately, their images were shattered as the hybrid form looked like a large pink-red spotted donkey with wings.

"...That seems a little bit off…" Everyone minus Ray mumbled with a sweatdropped.

"I wish you all good luck brave travellers!" Gan called out as he and Pierre flew off in the distance.

"Well that was...interesting," Yuko said, trying to find the right words.

"Don't sugar coat it," Gajeel scowled. "That was the ugliest thing I ever saw."

"Huh… so that's what a pegasus looks like," Ray stated.

"NO, IT'S NOT~!" Laura and Hime exclaimed.

"Was there even a point for Pierre to transform?" Cynthia asked.

"Good question," They all replied.

"So in the end, he didn't tell us anything useful did he?" Robin asked sweatdropped.

"Back to square one," Happy sighed.

"Where do we go from here?" Chris asked.

"I know!" Kirika yelled as she grabbed the whistle from Wendy's hands. "Let's go ask him!"

"No, I wanna ask him!" Luffy whined as he grabbed the other end. Nami grabbed the whistle before they could have a tug-a-war match.

"Don't even think about it you two!" Nami yelled. "That whistle isn't for asking for directions! It's in case we are in danger!"

"Yeah we don't want that Guerilla guy coming back again," Hime added.

"How about I take responsibility for the whistle, any objection?" Nami asked. Natsu, Chopper, Luffy, Kirika, and Index raised their hands. "WHAT'S WITH YOU PEOPLE! I'M CLEARLY THE WEAKEST PERSON HERE!"

"But I wanna blow it!" Luffy whined childishly.

"That's not a good enough reason~!" Cynthia exclaimed.

"Seriously, you guys are so childish," Index scolded. "Our captain wants to blow it just for the fun of it, while Natsu wants to blow it for the sake of fighting him."

"How did you know that!?" Natsu exclaimed.

"Because you're that obvious!" Kirika answered.

"You have no room to talk! You want to use it to ask if you can ride his weird donkey," Index smirked, turning to Kirika who pouted.

"Wait, you want to ride on Pierre?" Hibiki asked.

"I-It may have looked weird, but I imagine myself riding it while I'm in my symphogear form," Kirika thought.

"That sounds really scary," Usopp shivered. He could imagine Kirika swinging her scythe while riding on Pierre, like a maniac.

"Well, why do you wanna blow the whistle then?" Natsu shot back at Index.

"Simple...I could ask him to bring me food," Index stated.

"YOUR REASON IS STUPID TOO YOU GLUTTON~!" Natsu, Kirika, and Cynthia snapped with shark teeth.

"Huh...I never thought of that," Luffy realized.

"DON'T GIVE HIM IDEAS!" Nami comically yelled.

"Give it to me!" Chopper cried trying to grab it from Nami. "I'm the smallest and weakest one here!"

"LIKE HELL YOU ARE!" Usopp argued. "You can transform into a giant reindeer monster! I'm the weakest person here!"

"No, I'm the weaker one!" Kirika argued.

"Give me a break! You have that green grim reaper outfit!" Nami comically yelled. "I don't have powers or transformations like you freaks! So I'm the weakest one!"

"Misaka wants it~! 'Misaka Misaka announced forcing herself into the argument!" Last Order said attempting to join in on the conversation. However, Accelerator grabbed her collar.

"What kind of argument is this?" Touma asked with a sweatdropped.

"I have no clue," Asuka answered with a sweatdropped.

"Okay here's how we'll do this," Nami hung the whistle on the mass. "We'll leave this whistle on the main mass. So if anyone gets in trouble just grab it and blow. And it's only for those who don't have abilities, magic, armour or Devil Fruit, minus Chopper and Wendy."

"Hold on, why does Wendy get to blow it?" Luffy asked.

"Because she is more responsible than the rest of you!" Nami glared at everyone else minus Usopp, Wendy, Chopper, Index, and Last Order, "Don't you think of ever touching the whistle or else I'll feed you to the sharks!"

"Okay…" Everyone said, with Luffy pouting.

"Hey, guys! I found something!" Marie called out holding the telescope.

"What is that?" Gray asked, noticing what Marie was looking at.

"It looks like a cloud waterfall!" Marie guessed.

"Well, that settles it," Zoro shrugged. "We go that way and check it out."


An unknown man is spotted on the beach on one of the islands far away from the Going Merry. He was a muscular man with brown hair, glasses and no shoes on. He wore a brown coat and tie. He sat cross-legged, his eyes closed like he was meditating.

Two people stood nearby, one male and one female. The male had short purple hair positioned straight up and a goatee on his chin. Light pink jacket revealing white shirt peeked out from under the jacket. The female had black long twin-tailed hair wearing a red shirt.

"How long has he been like this?" The man asked.

"Since morning," She answered with little to no emotion. "He said that he lost one of his scouting swarms so he's trying to figure out what happened."

The man opened his eyes and stood up. "Gonta can't forgive."

"What happened?" The man asked, confused.

"Gonta's friends tried to escort the pirates to safety, but...a bull-man killed them all!" Gonta growled. An aura began glowing around him. "Gonta won't forgive him for killing innocent people!"

"I understand how you feel Gonta," The man said, patting his arm. "I want to get those bastards as well as that crappy Kami, but we have a mission to do. According to Miu, one of the seven Lost Slayers by the name of Dimanu Heim should be around this part of Skypiea."

"Oh, Gonta understand," The man known as Gonta apologizes. "Oh also before they got burned up, Gonta noticed another pirate ship with a Straw hat flag."

"The Straw Hat Pirates..." The woman repeated.

"You know them, Maki Roll?" The man asked.

"I told you to not call me that!" The woman known as Maki hissed. "Anyway...Didn't I tell you about my mission at Alabasta? I was ordered to assassinate Crocodile and witness Straw Hat Luffy defeating him. That caused his bounty to skyrocket to 100 000 000 berries."

"I don't get why you're worried about him and his crew Maki," The man scoffed. "I mean your bounties is 9,000,000,000 berries."

"You're a complete idiot," Maki said in a deadpan look.

"No, I'm not!" He comically snapped.

"The point is... I get the impression that the Straw Hats aren't mere petty pirates," Maki concluded, while walking off.


Going Merry sailed up the waterfall-like clouds which were a lot smoother since the sea of clouds showed fewer resistances. The journey went smoothly until they came across a cloud that rose higher than the others.

"Why are we stopping?" Index asked.

"Because of that," Minori said, pointing at the cloud. "A cloud is blocking our path. I hope nothing comes out of it."

"Please don't jinx it," Usopp pleaded.

"They look like icebergs but cloudier," Manatsu observed. "So they're cloud-bergs!"

"There's something different about them," George noted. A portal appeared in front of him as he put his hand in it touching the cloud on the other side. "Interesting, this cloud feels like a solid with fewer resistance."

"That's impossible," Kuroko scoffed. "Clouds are just clouds in the end. They can't turn into a solid."

"Let me try! Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy wound his fist up and fired it at the cloud. To their surprise, when his fist connected to the cloud, it bounced off of it with a soft BOING!

"His fist didn't destroy it?!" Hibiki gasped.

"So Cool!" Without warning Luffy jumped towards the set of Cloud-berg, landing on it without any trouble. "Hey look~! I'm not sinking!"

Excited, Happy flew Natsu on the cloudberge as Natsu landed on it also not sinking. "Wow~! this is really soft and bouncy!"

"Aye!" Happy snuggled in. "It's a nice place to take a nap."

"How does that even work?!" Kuroko asked, a bit startled.

"It's a mystery," Robin admitted.

"This place is full of mysteries," Ray nodded. Soon, Manatsu, Hibiki, Kirika, Index, Last Order, Megumi, Hime, Wendy, Cynthia, Shervan (Being dragged by Cynthia), Koneko, Usopp, and Chopper also hopped onto the cloud at once, causing Happy to be sent flying back on the ship.

"Ahh~! This feels so soft~!" Megumi sighed happily. Her splayed-out position made her appear to be holding a pillow in her arms.

"It's like I'm lying on a giant marshmallow bed desu~!" Kirika agreed, feeling relaxed.

"Marshmallows," Index and Luffy were drooling, imagining themselves being on a marshmallow bed.

Shervan was trying to get his footing on the clouds but fell when Koneko was bouncing beside him. He landed on his back and noticed her above him.

"This is a perfect place for making out," Koneko swooned as she jumped on top of him. She puckered her lips preparing to kiss him.

"I don't think so!" Cynthia called out. By intentionally bouncing around the pair, everyone became bouncy as well.

"You're gonna pay for that!" Koneko roared while flailing around in the air.

"We should probably stop them before one of them falls off," Minori suggested.

Nami was contemplating their predicament. "I guess it's obvious now that we can't sail through these clouds. We have to find another way to get around them somehow."

"Hey, you guys! See if you can find a route we can take!" Misaka called out to the others on the Cloud-Berg.

"Shut up you flat-chested zapper!" Koneko taunted back.

"Yeah short hair!" Index added.

"Hahaha! He called you flat!" Luffy laughed.

Sparks flew around Misaka as she growled. Everyone backed away from her, with Touma in front of them. "Calm down Misaka!"

"Hey, I found something over here guys!" Natsu announced getting everyone's attention.

"Hey, where do you think you're going!?" Nami shouted as they watched the others ignoring Nami's orders. "Get back here and quit playing around!"

"Do you see something Usopp?" Hibiki asked eagerly.

Usopp used his goggles to see what Natsu was seeing. "I'm seeing it, but I don't believe it."

"That's unbelievable," Last Order announced.

"We better tell the others about this!" Wendy concluded.


"A Gate?!" Marie gasped as some of them were already on the Going Merry, revealing their findings to the others. "Are you sure!?"

"Yup!" Koneko scolded. "It's up ahead beneath a waterfall-like...thing!

"And it didn't look like a cloud at all," Kirika added. "It was all colourful and solid-like."

"GAH!" Usopp yelped after Chopper, Index and Last Order landed on his head.

"So there's a manmade structure up here in the cloud?" Accelerator summarized. The Going Merry went towards the gate by maneuvering around the cloud-berg.

"At this point," Robin chuckled. "I'm not sure anything we find up here will surprise me."

"We see soon enough," Luffy grinned.

"Take a left next!" Asuka called out.

"No, it's right!" Koneko argued.

"LEFT!"

"RIGHT!"

"I know, let's call the old guy!" Manatsu suggested while holding the whistle. Asuka and Koneko comically stopped her from doing so. Kuroko was able to grab the key from Manatsu's hands.

"We're here!" Index informed. Everyone was awed at the oddly shaped structure that looks more like a dock station.

"That's the gate alright!" Hime informed and noticed something. "And look! Those strange clouds we saw really are some kind of waterfall. They're coming down on those cloud-bergs."

"So we're just going to call them Cloud-berges for now on?" Chris questioned.

"Hold on, am I reading this right?" Usopp asked nervously while reading the sign near the entrance. "Heaven's Gate? What's that all about? It sounds like a place you go when you die!"

"Maybe we're all already dead," Gray chuckled. "That could explain all the weird things in this place."

"D-Don't say something like that!" Hime snapped.

"Y-Yeah I don't wanna die!" Wendy wailed.

Natsu laughed. "Who cares...We're here right? Wherever this gate goes, I'm going as well!"

"Will you idiots get serious!" Nami shouted while bonking Gray, Natsu, Usopp, Chopper, Wendy and for some reason Touma in the head.

"Ow! What was that for!?" Gray grimaced from the impact.

"If you're trying to make a joke, it wasn't funny!" Nami growled.

"So why did you have to hit us too?" Touma and Wendy whimpered.

"Hey over there!" Kirika announced. "Someone is coming out!"

Everyone noticed an elderly short woman with a wrinkled face and purple hair tied in a bun. She was holding a camera and taking their pictures.

"Look she got wings!" Chopper cried out in surprise.

"So that's what Sky People look like?" Natsu said, looking bored. "Well, that's kind of disappointing."

"Don't be a moron," Gray scowled. "She's obviously just an old person."

"Um hello!" Lucy called out as the lady stopped taking pictures. "Who are you?"

"I am Amazon, the Heaven's gate inspector," She greeted. "State your business: Sightseeing, Warmongering or other?"

"I guess sightseeing," Lucy answered.

"We want to go to Sky Island," Luffy added. "They're right past this gate right?"

"Can we say all of the above?" Accelerator wondered.

"We didn't come up here to start a war!" Lucy comically exclaimed.

"Well I am," Natsu smirked. "I'm gonna find that Furella guy and kick his ass good."

"It's guerilla," Marie corrected with a sweatdropped.

"It makes little difference," Amazon stated. "If you want to proceed, you must first pay the entrance fee of One Billion Extol per person. That is the law!"

"O-One billion!" Hime exclaimed in disbelief. "THAT'S A LOT OF MONEY!"

"They're really big on these Extol things aren't they?" Asuka stated

"I can't even count that high," Hibiki frowned.

"I don't think anyone can," Lucy mumbled.

"I wonder how much that is in belis?" Usopp asked himself.

"Something doesn't add up," Misaka said, looking a bit suspicious. "Ten billion to pass through a gate? Doesn't that sound like a sc-MPH!"

Kuroko quickly covered Misaka's mouth. "Um about that money, what if we can't afford it?"

"You may still pass," Amazon replied simply.

"SERIOUSLY?!" Hime comically back slapped the air.

"The choice is yours!" Amazon said. "I certainly won't try to stop you."

"Eh?" Everyone blinked with a puzzled look.

"My job description doesn't require me to guard the gate," She replied. "I'm merely here to ask your intentions."

"This is the worst security I have ever seen," Chris mumbled.

"Well, we want to go to the Sky Islands!" Luffy announced.

"But we don't have any money," Megumi added. "So we can't pay you."

"Very well," Amazon nodded. "There are 46 of you correct?"

"Yeah," Luffy answered. "Except well, we still need you to tell us how to g-!"

Luffy didn't get a chance to finish, as a giant orange claw appeared over the side of the ship. It then clamped on the remains of the ship's wings.

"What is going on!?" Manatsu flailed in shock.

"Those are the White Sea's famous Express Lobster," Amazon explained.

"Lobster?" Index asked. The creature looks just like a lobster only bigger than the ship. It was facing backward and began swimming towards the waterfall.

"It's going to take us up the waterfall?" George wondered.

"Everyone hold on tight!" Nami and the others held onto the ship, trying not to fall off.

"AHH!" Usopp, Chopper, Hime, Chris, and Lucy screamed.

"WOOHOO!" Natsu, Ray, Happy, Hibiki and Luffy cheered.

Amazon watched as the Going Merry disappeared up the waterfall. Once she knew that they were gone. She grabbed a small shell that looks like a transmission device.

"This is Heaven's Gate Inspector Amazon," Amazon reported. "Hear me now, to the Almighty God above and his Holy Priest. I bear dire news of 46 illegal entries into God's Land, Skypiea! Let Heaven's judgement descend on them!"


Freddy: So after discussing it for about an hour, we've decided to do a question and answer segment.

Raven: And by discussing, he means pulling out those graphs, and pie charts showing us the reason.

Varvula: Yeah, that wasn't necessary.

Peace: Still it would be interesting to do. The author who wrote A Certain Infinite Possibilities did the same thing.

Gwen: With characters in the story. We're just a bunch of outcasts because our storyline is being revisioned.

Varvula: It's only until the Skypiea arc and Portal Combat is completed. What are you scared that the young Gwen haters will rant on about how bad you are?

Gwen: Coming from someone who uses poor word choices.

Sanya: Next Chapter: Rising to the Cloudy Beaches.

Freddy: Just as a reminder, we only answer questions based on this story. Not about us, we're just intro and outro folks.

Raven: So who's going to ask questions for the next chapter?

Gwen: Maybe the one who hasn't spoken in the ending quote.

Yang:...Dang, it~!