Yang: My valentines chocolates are going to blow away the competition~!
Peace: Please don't actually blow the rest of us up.
Raven: Yang, in front of an oven, making chocolates…It's the sign of doom coming.
Yang: Oh come on, I didn't plant any gross ingredients or explosives in it. Quit being so paranoid!
Freddy: Who are those chocolates for anyway?
Yang: Oh it's for Nonyah~!
Freddy: Nonyah?
Yang: None of ya business~!
Freddy: I…don't get it. Is that like a full name or something?
Shiho: I'll tell you later.
Yang: Trust me, nothings going to explode or go horribly wrong. Now…
(He shoves them all out of the kitchen aisle of the store.)
Yang: GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN SECTION!
Raven: I never seen Yang acting like this…Then again, I can't tell what he's thinking half the time.
Peace: We'll have to wait till the end of the chapter till he's done in there.
Shiho: Speaking of, where did Sanya, Varvula and Gwen go?
Theme Song: Fatally by Kotoko
Chapter 29: The Light of Shandora
The little girl had left the Upper Yard and was leaping through the nearby Island Clouds. Through the patch, the girl dropped into an open clearing surrounded by clouds.
The clearing was filled with numerous teepee-like tents and totem poles and looked to be some kind of settlement. In the middle of the settlement was a towering, green tee-pees that stretched up through the clouds above the settlement.
"Aisa!" The girl tripped when a lean muscular man called his name. He had brown skin, dark hair in the shape of a mohawk and small wings growing on his shoulder. He wore round glasses with red lenses. "Where have you been, child?"
"Oh, Kamakiri~!" Aisa greeted the man.
"You went to the Upper Yard again right?" Kamakiri answered. "And that's probably Vearth in your bag. Stay away from that place Aisa...or you will die."
Aisa sticks out her tongue at him. "You can't tell me what to do! You haven't even beaten Eneru! Or the Priests~! Those Luminous Tail members were able to take them out!"
Kamakiri growled while Aisa left. "Grr...what a brat!"
Aisa was just about to reach the main teepee but was stopped by another man. He had pale skin and a fark hat that covered his eyes.
"Asia!" He called out, causing the girl to fall backward in surprise.
"Upper Yard?! What Upper Yard? I didn't go to the Upper Yard! I promise you I didn't!" Asia panicked.
"You can't go to the tent yet," Braham replied calmly. He took a bite of a jerky-like snack. "Wyper is angry right now, so be careful."
Inside the teepee, a woman with pale skin and long black hair that had two long bangs parted to either side of her in the front and an elaborate ponytail on the back. Her name was Laki. "It's been six years since Eneru began his reign and for the first time since he took power, a rebel has appeared on Angel Island. A young woman I hear-."
"Get to the point," The man known as Wyper demanded; the same man who attacked the Straw Hats, at the start.
"Because the Sky Knight rescued the young woman from judgment, Eneru now has a reason to confront Gan Fall in order to judge him," Laki reported. "A battle like this between the former and current God has never happened. Strategically this could be most advantageous to us. We must remember that Gan Fall hasn't harmed any of us. Not as the Sky Knight and not during his reign as God."
"The fact that he never hurt any of us does not change the fact that he ruled with absolute authority as God," Wyper reminded. "And although he is our enemy's enemy, that doesn't make him our ally. If he and one of the Priests kill each other in a battle that will serve our purpose. Otherwise, he is of no use to us."
"Hmm…" Laki frowned a bit.
"If you have doubts at all about this fight then stay out of it!" Wyper said harshly. "You'll just be in the way."
The battle between Shura and Gan Fall hasn't slowed down as they continued their aerial battle above the Sacrificial altar. Levy and Chopper were on the deck, treating Lily's injuries while Last Order, Index, Laura, and Charla were still observing the fight.
"A-Are sure you're okay Levy?" Chopper asked when she noticed her body wobbling a bit.
"Y-yeah I'm already Chopper," Levy responded. "Just a bit winded, but enough to help."
"The fight is getting really intense," Charla said in disbelief, staring at the battle before them. In the distance, the two fighters got off of their respective birds and exchanged blows with their lances clashing between them, while the birds were circling around them.
"They're so fast, I can't even keep up with them," Happy said, looking a bit dizzy.
Gan Fall landed right back on Pierre's back. "I can see that diplomacy is no longer an option for me!"
"DIPLOMACY IS FOR THE WEAK~!" Shura snapped. Once he landed on Fuza, he then launched himself off of his steed at Gan Fall who copied him. He used his lance to block Shura's lance while midair, the two were clashing in the air, blocking each other's strikes.
"There's something I still don't get. Why did Shura announce the Ordeal of the Strings?" Charla asked, confused.
"Maybe it was just a bluff?" Happy guessed.
"I doubt it," Laura said suspiciously.
KLANG~!
The loud sound their attention up in the sky. Shura grunted in pain from the blow while Gan Fall breathed heavily, noticing the battle had taken its toll on his body. But he still stood strong and tried not to show it in front of his enemy.
'Please come back to us...God…'
Gan Fall suddenly felt his body immobilized. "W-What?"
"W-What's wrong with Sky Knight?" Misaka Misaka asked confused why the bird stopped in midair.
"Wait…" Levy took out some magical glasses she kept in her pocket. Once she put it on, she was able to notice that Gan Fall and Pierre were surrounded by super-thin strings which were naked to the human eye. "Oh no~! Shura has somehow trapped the Sky Knight and Pierre with string!"
"String?" Chopper exclaimed in shock. "But I don't see any string~!"
"It's so thin that it's impossible for the human eye to notice," Levy answered. "He' must've manipulated the string around him while they were fighting."
"HAHAHA~! Is something wrong, Gan Fall?!" Shura taunted.
"What have you done?" Gan ordered. He tried to move his limbs, only to feel the string sink into his body. "Why can't I move?"
"TIME TO DIE~!" Shura roared. He swooped down in the direction of the Sky Knight and thrust his burning lance into the Sky Knight's chest. Everyone stared in horror as flames shot out from his back.
"S-SKY KNIGHT~!" Last Order, Chopper, Index screamed in horror.
"If you have the audacity to enter the Upper Yard," Shura declared. "You have to deal with four priests. You were foolish to think you could defeat me."
Gan Fall grunted in pain as he plummets down into the sea of clouds.
"OH NO, HE'S FALLING~!" Chopper screamed. He was just about to jump down but was stopped by Levy.
"Wait Chopper you can't swim remember?" Levy cried out.
"B-But I have to save him the thought!" Chopper yelled.
"I'll go down to rescue the Sky Knight!" Levy declared. Before Chopper could stop her, Levy leaps off the deck and dive into the clouds.
"Why don't you join your partner!" Shura said to Pierre as he stabbed the bird in the back causing him to pummel down with the Sky Knight.
"P-Pierre as well?" Happy said in horror.
"I'll get him!" Laura called out as she jumped off and dive into the Sea of Clouds.
"Come on, we need to bring Lily inside!" Charla ordered while carrying Lilly into the sick bay.
"...You guys go on ahead," Chopper instructed the two. "I'm going to make sure that he doesn't attack you guys or the ship!"
"You're crazy!" Charla shouted. "He's too powerful!"
"I know... but I'm the only one who can fight," Chopper argued back. "George, Lily, and Tsubasa are injured, Levy and Laura are saving the Sky Knight and Pierre. I need to hold down the ship until the others come back!"
Happy, Charla, Index and Last Order were silenced by Chopper's determination. "Just, try not to die…" Charla said a bit softly. The four went inside while carrying Lily with them.
Chopper nodded and then glared at Shura who landed on the deck. "So you're the only one here. Despite what I did to your friends, you still go against me?"
Chopper transforms into his Heavy form. "I defend this ship and the others with my life!"
"Well then I'll take your life quickly," Shura grinned.
Robin was kneeling over a well they'd found almost buried under one of the massive tree's equally massive roots. The archeologists used a chain of arms to gather a sample of wet soil from the bottom of the well and passed the vial up to herself to see.
"So what's so good about a well?" Natsu questioned looking around.
"Don't you think it's odd that a well would be stuck under a tree?" Touma asked, glancing at Natsu.
"That does seem a bit odd, " Lovely tilted her head observing the well. "I wonder how it is combined like that."
"The balance between civilization and nature here feels really off," Fortune commented.
"Well it doesn't matter. Unless we find a way to cross this cloud-river we'll be stuck in this place," Ray casually said.
"Yeah and we still haven't come across everyone else," Cure Flamingo added.
"It's like the people who built this well didn't know that the tree would grow so large," Robin reasoned. "I've never seen anything like it."
"Well this is still boring," Natsu groaned. Nami climbed high overhead and sat on a tree branch. She stared at something in the distance with a pair of binoculars.
"The Island where God lives...Upper Yard," Nami whispered to herself.
"NAMII~! DID YOU FIND ANYTHING?!" Lovely shouted.
Not answering, Nami lowered her binoculars in disbelief on her face. "This island...can't be…"
The battle was still one-sided as Satori was dancing on a Surprise Cloud while the four challengers were injured and bruised on the forest floor. Usopp, Sanji, and Kirika laid motionless while Luffy slowly stood up.
"HOH-HOH-HOOO!" Satori hollered playfully. "There's no way you can win~! After all, I'm a priest! And you all look so tired~! Why don't we just end this and die!"
"M-My heart can't take any more of this.." Usopp gurgled half-conscious. "Too many surprises…!"
Meanwhile, Cure Papaya carrying a passed out Kuroko was able to slip past Satori's sight. She was jumping from branch to branch pursuing the Little Crow.
She stopped on one of the branches, trying to catch her breath."...If I get close enough, I might be able to jump on it...Or…" She gulped when she looked down. "Fall off from the sky."
"You're out of options quite soon!" Satori exclaimed. "It's sad really, even if those two make it, I can just kill them off before the boat reaches the forest exit. And when that happens it will be all over!"
"The only thing that will be over is you dumpling guy~!" Despite having a heavy beating, Kirika was still up and running with enthusiasm.
"HO-HOH~! It's impossible! You have nowhere to go unless you can fly!" Satori taunted. "You'll wander around in this terribly unfamiliar forest and die of exhaustion~!"
"THAT WON'T HAPPEN!" Luffy roared as he shot his fist at Satori.
Satori dodged his fist. "Nice try~! Now it's my turn~!"
Satori gestured, causing the Ball Dragon to dive at Luffy and Kirika. Luffy grabbed Kirika by the waist and managed to dodge the Ball Dragon. "You know you can't run forever and wherever you stop the firebomb will be waiting to incinerate you!"
"WAH~!" Kirika and Luffy ran through the forest screaming as the ball dragon chased them.
"Good, it looks like we can still make it," Usopp whispered to himself while peeking behind a tree and noticed that Satori didn't notice him. He ran off shouting to them. "I'll just leave things to you two~!"
Kirika and Luffy were still being chased. They both noticed a tree up ahead and ran towards it. However, Satori was one step ahead of them. "That tree will not give you any shelter!"
"Grr~!" Kirika growled. "QUIT READING OUR MINDS~!"
"YEAH, STAY OUT OF OUR HEADS~!" Luffy shouted.
The two ran up the tree and flipped off of it over the Ball Dragon's head. Once they came down...!?
"Huh?" Kirika and Luffy questioned oddly, grabbed onto something invisible.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Satori shouted panicking for the first time.
"Oh, so that's how he's controlling it, desu~! He's using an invisible rope!" Kirika realized.
"It's not a rope, it's a wire!" Luffy observed. He then began tightening the grip of the wire, causing it to stretch it. "Now we know his little trick, all I have to do is…"
"N-NO STOP!" Satori pleaded.
"Do this!" The captain shouted while successfully snapping the wire.
Satori screamed angrily. "YOU RUINED MY BALL DRAGON YOU IMPUDENT BRATS! NOW YOU DIE! GET OVER HERE THIS INSTANT~!"
The round priest angrily yanked on the wire that Luffy had a firm grip on and tried to Luffy towards him. Unfortunately for the priests, Luffy was still holding the other end which had Kirika and the Ball Dragon ending up pulling all three together.
"NOOOO~!" Satori comically screamed. "LET GO OF THE DRAGON YOU FOOL AHHH~!"
BOOOM~!
"There it is!" Usopp exclaimed as he managed to find the exit to the Lost Forest. "I knew I could find a way out of this place! Of course, it makes perfect sense. When we fell before it was from a very high altitude. So it's only natural that the exit be the same high. Now I know where the exit is, the boat doesn't really matter anymore!"
"Alright," Usopp begins to go back down from the tree he was on. "That huge explosion worries me. I better hurry back. Game Time!"
Cure Papaya continued onward but flinched when she heard an explosion behind her. "Did they trigger the Ball Dragon? I hope they're okay."
She glanced at the Little Crow sailing on the Milky Road. "There's the boat, I have a clear shot from here."
The orange haired Pretty Cure exhaled deeply and leaped into the air, flying downward to the Little Crow. She successfully landed on the small ship.
Papaya took some time to catch her breath. "I did it…"
Once she placed Kuroko on the seat beside her, Cure Papaya laid back on the opposite end looking exhausted.
Satori panted heavily as he stood on a Surprise Cloud in the middle of the huge damaged part of the forest from his Ball Dragon explosion. Numerous weapons and craters were left behind by the Cloud Dragon. The priest only had some scorch marks but he was still alive.
"That was too close. Those maniacs must have had a death wish," Satori said to himself. "This isn't good. I've got to intensify my training. I can't let weaklings like them...get advantage of me, not even a second, or else it might block me from using my mantra."
"You're right that was close,"
Satori shrieked when he noticed the straw hat boy on his back, using the priest's small wings as handles. "IT'S YOU?! HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!?"
Luffy just laughs in response while Satori struggles to grab him, but fails to reach. "GET OFF OF ME YOU HORRIBLE RUNT! LET ME GO RIGHT NOW!"
"Don't let him go Luffy," Sitting cross-legged on top of a Ball Cloud was an injured Sanji. He was casually lighting up a cigar.
"YOU TOO?!" Satori exclaimed.
"Hey, Sanji~! Where have you been?" Luffy asked.
"I WAS OUT COLD ON FOREST FLOOR YOU IDIOT!" Sanji yelled out annoyed.
"Oh, where's Kirika?" Luffy looked around confused.
"She's down there," Sanji said, pointing to the blonde girl sprawled on the ground with swirls for eyes.
"S-SHE'S ALIVE TOO?!" Satori exclaimed.
"Barely, no thanks to this idiot," Sanji said, gesturing to Luffy. "Anyway, you keep saying 'Ordeal' this and 'Ordeal' that which normally wouldn't interest me. However, there are a couple of helpless ladies waiting for me to come to their rescue and I refuse to let them down."
"Huh?" Satori asked, confused.
"So I'm prospering, this is my ordeal," Sanji continued. "The Ordeal of Love."
'THIS GUY IS AN IDIOT TOO!' Satori exclaimed to himself. "UNHAND ME THIS INSTANT YOU MAGGOTS~!"
Luffy began stretching his limbs around Satori's round body, constricting his movement even further. "AHH~~! THIS IS NOT FAIR! THIS IS TWO AGAINST ONE!"
"You didn't have a problem when it was six against one," Luffy said grinning. "And it's pretty amazing that you can direct our movements. But what good is that if you can't do anything to avoid them huh?"
"YOU IDIOTS I'M A GOD'S PRIEST!" Satori desperately shouted. "IN THIS COUNTRY IF YOU ARE NOT JUDGE BY THE PRIEST THEN YOU'LL BECOME 1ST CLASS CRIMINALS! ATTACKING ME IS THE SAME AS DECLARING WAR AGAINST THE ENERU!"
"Shut your mouth or the flavor will escape," Sanji demanded as he stood up. "For example, if you want to cook using pepper, the most important thing is to brutally, swiftly, and completely dice the pepper…"
The blond cook leaped into the air and performed a somersault. "That way, the amazing flavor…"
"WAAH~~!" Satori struggled desperately in Luffy's full-body prison, "STOP IDIOT~~~!"
"...Will be released—"
"STOP~~~! STOP~~~!"
"—into the powders!" Sanji then flew down toward the trapped Satori.
"PAIN! IT'LL HURT A LOT! STOP—!"
"Concass~!" Sanji performed a powerful ax kick above the Priest's head. Satori was knocked out immediately. During the impact, his glasses shattered revealing his rolled back eyes, and some of his teeth fell out.
Back at Luminous Tail HQ, Simon, who was alone, senses the fall of Satori and Gan Fall. "So Satori is out of commission. In light of this, the Shandians may decide to mount an attack since three priests remain..."
"Eguchi is returning Cynthia and the others back to their ship on the sacrificial altar," Simon responded out loud. "However I fear that it might be too late…"
"AHH!" Asia suddenly screamed, getting everyone's attention.
"What's the matter, Asia?" Laki asked.
"Two voices...they're gone…" She shakenly said.
"Your mantra…" Wyper said.
She nodded. "Yes it happened so quickly...the first one was Gan Fall, he fought against Shura and lost...The second one was Satori, he was taken down by two people that I don't recognize."
"That must be those Blue Sea Dwellers," Wyper said. "I came across them earlier."
"Blue Sea Dwellers?" Asia repeated remembering some of them she came across.
"I guess heaven's finally answered our prayers!" Wyper announced. "On your feet everyone! We're launching a full-scale attack on the Upper Yard!"
YEAH~!" Almost all the warriors cried out.
"Well, it seems as though your friends survived Satori's Ball challenge..." Shura said with a bored look. In his Heavy Point, Chopper is seen laying on his stomach looking a bit bloody and bruised. The Going Merry's mast was missing and ripped out. "But this is the end for you and the others…"
"Y-You won't...get...away..with this…" Chopper growled struggling.
"Just be lucky I didn't kill those little runts and their pets," Shura scolded. "Although it won't matter. Your ship and the people on it will be nothing but ashes in a few minutes, and your friend might've been killed by those Sky Sharks."
Shura jumped onto Fuwa and flew away, leaving the reindeer alone on the burning ship. He was sobbing weakly as the flames grew bigger.
"I'm...sorry...everyone...," Chopper mumbled before passing out.
The minute he lost consciousness, a huge portal appeared above the Going Merry, and out of it was a huge amount of clouds. The clouds snuffed out all of the flames on the ship, emitting a large amount of steam. Once it was out, the big portal disappeared and three smaller ones reappeared beside Chopper and out came the unconscious Gan Fall, Pierre, Laura and Levy.
Levy coughed, spitting a bit of water out of her mouth while Laura was knocked out when Pierre fell on top of her. Happy, Charla, Index, and Last Order came out of the Sick Bay and were having a mixed emotion of relief and worry expression once they saw them.
"Quick, we need to take these three to the sickbay!" Charla ordered. She and Happy sprouted wings and carried Levy while Index and Last Order helped treat the other wounded.
George appeared out of the sickbay. He was looking a bit weary yet he still stood his guard. "...If I've woken up sooner, then none of them wouldn't have to suffer like this."
"It wasn't your fault, Misaka Misaka said, hoping to cheer him up," Last Order chimed. "You were able to save them and the Going Merry."
"Yeah, but stil-!" George interrupted himself in a coughing fit.
"You should rest before your wound opens up," Charla said.
Tsubasa was also limping towards Chopper, with a guilty look on her face. "I'm so sorry Chopper."
Kuroko regained consciousness and found herself lying on the seat of the Little Crow. She sat up and noticed Cure Papaya on the driver's seat. "P-Papaya? What's going on?"
"Oh, thank goodness you're alright," Papaya answered with relief. "I jumped off of the tree, and was able to land on the Little Crow."
"Okay, where are the others?" Kuroko asked.
"They're still fighting Satori, but while you were unconscious I heard an explosion in the distance…" Papaya said, looking behind her. "I'm worried that Luffy and the others must've triggered the Ball Dragon."
Kuroko slowly nodded, still looking a bit winded. She notices the Surprise Ball floating around her. Despite being dangerous it looks a bit calm for her. Her calmness was over when she heard a clicking sound close to her. Papaya and Kuroko turned and noticed a hook from behind. "Is Satori attacking us again?!"
"I don't think so...that hook and rope looks familiar," Papaya said.
"GAH!"
The two girls turned around to find Usopp, Sanji, Luffy, and Kirika rocketing towards them from above while latching onto Usopp who was using his belt. Before the girls could react, they were tackled by the four causing the Little Crow to bounce comically from the impact. All six of them were groaning in pain.
"W-What the hell was... that?" Kuroko groaned, annoyed.
"W-Wait you two were on the boat the entire time…?!" Usopp asked.
"Y-Yeah…" Papaya answered a bit dazed.
"S-So we could've just waiting for them to come back!" Sanji growled at Usopp. "I...will never forget this you dumb long nose…"
"...You know…I could've just grabbed the boat…" Luffy replied weakly. The Little Crow continued down the Milky Road with the six survivors of the Ordeal of Sphere.
Varvula: How long do we have to stay in this pastry shop?
Gwen: Until Yang gets his secret chocolates here…
Varvula: Well he better hurry before you-know-what shows up. She'll be suspicious to find the baker in a coma thanks to Sanya's flying.
Sanya: I hope he's okay…
[A nervous Yang entered the shop, panicking.]
Gwen: What took you so long?
Varvula: And where's the cake you promise?
Yang: What are you still doing here, we need to get out of here now~!
Varvula: Why? What's the rush?
Yang: I may have…accidentally gave my explosive cake to a certain blue haired girl…And she may have thought that I was a delivery guy bringing it to her birthday party that's happening right now…in that sort of guild…
Varvula:...We should leave Fiore before it explodes.
Gwen: Agreed.
Sanya: Next time on DELTA; Rise of Shul Shagana: God Shrin-
BOOM~!
Yang: Now's not the time, Sanya~! We need to get out of here before we get the Fairy Tail Special~!
Gwen: What's the Fairy Tail Special?
Yang: Duh~! A beat down after pranking their comrades with an explosive cake~!
Varvula: Less talking, more running~!
