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"One Piece." – Speaking

'One Piece.' – Thinking

One Piece. – Flashbacks

One Piece. – Devil Fruits and Techniques

Deadly Drinking Pirate

Predators in the Upper Yard!

Previously on Deadly Drunken Pirate,

"Nami is the girl for my bed!" "Watch that tongue of yours…!"

"Wow! That is exactly what we said!" Luffy was actually amazed by how the Tone Dial acted exactly like a recorder. And already, mischievous thoughts seemed into his head. "What else can Dials do?"

Conis pointed out various Dials used for household purposes; a Heat Dial used to cook, a Milky Dial to form clouds, a Lamp Dial for light during the night and a Thunder Dial for electricity. "Unfortunately, there are people who developed dials for warfare."

"Such as…?" Luffy beckoned Conis to continue. Their host looked haunted by something but she answered anyways,

"The Reject Dial is ten times more powerful than an Impact Dial. It is strong enough to kill the target and the user." A double-edged sword if there ever was an example of the term. Then Luffy froze and hastily made his way to the window, sweat down his neck and his eyes filled with fear. His breathing was swallow and sharp, like he was trying to calm himself down but not making any good progress. "Something wrong?"

"It's Nami. I just felt danger and terror appear on my girlfriend's signature." Luffy tried to stabilize himself but the fear was also present in his voice. Then he pointed into the direction of dark and ominous clouds. "What's far over there? That was where I felt Nami to be at!"

"That's where God and his subjects rule and dwell. A forbidden place to those who live in the sky." This was another resident of Conis's house, her father to be exact, Pagaya. "The home of God Almighty that slays trespassers, Upper Yard."

"What's going on Captain! I can't hone in on Nami-swan!" Ignoring Sanji's typical foolishness, Luffy took this seriously. And the answer was simple,

"I trained with my Haki along with a lot more for ten years, Sanji. Your level is nowhere near mine. But Nami-chan is still alive, that much I can tell." Luffy stopped to concentrate, with a frown that showed it. But then his face turned to horror in a blink. "The Going Merry, they found it and half of us had been placed on her, drifting towards Upper Yard."

"What!?" Echoing throughout the house, the Strawhats did a head count and yes, they came out on short. Only Luffy, Sanji, Usopp, Nojiko, Kuro and Frank were present and accounted for.

"Are you saying that both Kaya and our scout ship, that she gave us, has been stolen!?" The resident sniper soon found himself in an unimageable position; he was clutching Luffy by the collar and practically lifting him off the ground. "How could you let this happen!? HOW!?"

Luffy was silence for a moment before releasing the grasp on his collar by a tight grip on both Usopp's wrists. "I will admit it Usopp, you have surprised me today with that reckless outburst. I am sure that Kaya would have wished to see it for herself." And somehow, Luffy was able to keep a straight face from saying this. "But I will also admit that this happened because I lowered my guard when we arrived; and that someone has been damping my Haki."

"What kind of excuse is that?" Luffy sighed that he was interrupted by both the sniper and the chef at the same time, for their own reasons.

"Believe me or not, it is possible to block out someone else's Haki with your own. My teachers did this much often during my training." Luffy responded. "I didn't think much of it until now since I noticed that I couldn't feel anyone outside the house while using my Haki causally. The rest is history."

"So, what should we do about it Captain?" Kuro asked as calm as ever but also hiding his worry since the Captain's girl is in unknown dangers. If she is harmed in anyway, Luffy could just order the whole land on fire.

"What do you think?" Luffy turned to the hosts. "You are going to tell us everything. And if it helps, you both will get off the hook." Both Conis and Pagaya saw that Luffy's hand reached for his blade, adding into the tension inside that house. "Tell us now."

XXXXX

And so, they arrived at Upper Yard. It appeared to be half an island that was resting on the clouds. It was a big shook back at Angel Island, that the large sea creature that pulled their main ship to the beach and stole the Going Merry was summoned by Conis. She said that it was part of their 'God's Rule' to bring in traveler against his laws on purpose with the sole intention of punishing them for sailing on the White Sea, his domain.

Back to stealing the Going Merry, the remaining Strawhats were horrified and outraged at the sight of the King's Gourd. Their main ship had a giant hole craved out of the hull where they kept the Going Merry. The deck was torn up to and the rooms were all vandalized, any and all valuables were stolen. Luffy practically had a field day with the entire population on Angel Island. They would have been killed if the others hadn't convinced him otherwise; the residents were spared and instead were given an order to repair the King's Gourd.

Back to the Upper Yard, the remaining Strawhats were sailing on a small but sturdy boat that was powered by a pair of enlarged Breath Dials, the Karasumaru. The name came from how its blow was in the shape of a black bird with its beak open and eyes staring out. Aside for the rather large forest, the trip into Upper Yard was actually eventless until they made a turn to spot a gate up ahead. Between it and them were a bunch of bladed pendulums!

"Busoshoku: Pisutoru (Armament: Pistol)!" Luffy stretched his arm and punched the blades with Haki for extra defense and prevent damaging his own arm.

"Kayaku Boshi (Exploding Star)!" Usopp used his rifle to also break the blades with a special explosion round.

"Bakudan Buresuretto (Bomb Breath Bullets)!" Frank took out his own special firearm and substituted standard bullets for his own, created from his Devil Fruit.

"Raundoabauto Tēburuburēku (Roundabout Table Break)!" Sanji made quick 'footwork' of the remaining blades, sending them to be harmless embedded in the large tree trunks.

"Save some for me next time." Kuro sounded like a kid denied of the fun that the others were enjoying while still as calm as ever. "Are you not harmed, Nojiko?" Kaya was just one accident, Kuro did have manners when it came to treating women; especially when Nojiko is the sister to the captain's girlfriend.

"Not hurt, just annoyed." Nojiko mumbled while the boys just focused on keeping an eye out for danger. "Seriously, my little sister defeated a Baroque Works agent while I just ran back there."

"Feel like your sister doesn't need you protecting her anymore?" Nojiko turned to Luffy and scuttled to get closer. This was between the two of them. "Doesn't matter Usopp, go through either one." Luffy sent a comment the other way for a little moment, "Now do you wish to help your sister, my girlfriend?"

"You are an interesting man, Captain." Nojiko responded. "And I know that you didn't waste time waiting to get 'closer' to my sister." She had to give Luffy credit for having such a neutral face that just had steam emerging out of his ears, with an expression saying 'I am not going to ask'.

Then everyone had lost all thought when they felt something wrong. Like they suddenly were sailing on nothing. Apparently…Usopp had to take the path that led to a sharp slide of clouds, going down! And in that moment, when it hit them, the ship started to fall!

"Feet up! Feet up!" Luffy shouted and his crew obeyed, seeing they captain somehow stretching himself to cover the deck of the boat! "Gum-Gum Yasashī Kabā (Gentle Cover)!" And gentle it was when the boat actually landed on the path still, while everyone landed on their captain without feeling too much pain. And Kuro even noticed that the bottom of the boat was blacker than before only for when the vessel hit the clouds.

"Just can't you do with that power, Captain?!" Nojiko shouted both as an excited kid and a woman witnessing true 'manliness'. Luffy just compressed himself back to his original figure, with his clothes somehow intact and his blades still on his waist.

"I don't know. I am still learning." Luffy replied and left it at that. Soon, everyone's attention was to the yet another thick, giant forest with one major addition. It was swarming with countless clouds in the shape of perfect spheres. It was a ball pit in a field of no gravity. "These remind me of spores so I suggest you don't touch one of them." Luffy spoke up and turned to see Usopp play with one anyways! "Put that away!"

Before Usopp could respond, a snake emerged from the sphere, scaring everyone. Luffy swiftly kicked it away into the woods but couldn't relax when another floated towards Sanji who looked ready to kick it away too. "Sanji, don't touch that!" Luffy shouted off and like before, he was ignored and the cloud sphere instead exploded; everyone aboard was covered in soot, including Luffy who was ready to burst with annoyance.

"How do like my Bikkuritama (Surprise Balls)? You will never know what's inside until its too late! Ho-ho-ho-ho!" Everyone heard a voice that can be described as mocking and someone scratching a blackboard. The figure they saw was something hard to make out.

It was a round-shaped man with fair skin and long, dark red hair. He is clad in a white, full-body jumpsuit, which has a vertical line of golden rings that run from front to back, an orange hat, orange gloves, shoes, and large, yellow sunglasses that completely obscure his eyes. Finally, he has small white wings on his back. "I am Satori of the Forest, one of God's Four Priests and ruler of the Trial of Sphere. And you are the fools who chose my trial!"

"We are here for our ship and our crewmates that you stole from us." Luffy spoke up. "And don't mock us for playing by your rules? Pretty hypocritical for someone who follows your 'God' like a lost lamb." The round man maintained his smile but Luffy could tell that his words had gotten to the priest. "So, let's get this over with."

"Ho-ho-ho! Such arrogance will only get you killed her! All these balls are under my control! And even if you can reach me, I am untouchable!" Satori mocked the pirates and noticed that while most of them are visually annoyed, there was a couple that won't twitch. "Now then, a shot straight ahead." Satori then demonstrated some 'impressive' balance while moving out of the way of a bullet from a rifle, all the while moving his round body into a dance.

"Just what is that guy?" Usopp, the sniper of course, queried with the mouth of his rifle spewing smoke that tells he just fired it. He tried to aim again but changed angle at the last moment, and yet the round priest dodged it anyways. "How is he doing this!?"
"Calm down Usopp, it is clear as the nose on your face." Kuro said with a slight emphasis on the word 'nose' in reference to Usopp's. And somehow, the sniper took no offense and was instead interested to hear Kuro out. "I need to spell it out; Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki)."

"Just like what Luffy has been training us in?" Usopp directed his attention to the priest who was still dancing on his ball like no one's business. "This is the first time an enemy used Kenbunshoku Haki." Usopp was definitely pointing out the obvious today, he probably will say the sky is blue next. "Luffy…?"

"Sorry guys, but I will take a raincheck on this one." The captain said and raised his leg, much to the confusion of the crew. Right before they were swept and sent flying down to the forest ground. "You guys will thank me later."

"I wish that Luffy will warn us before trying to kill us." Usopp mumbled as the fall only got dirt on himself, thanks to his physical training and some full-body Busohoku Haki (Armament Haki) to help. And when he was about to turn his head, a floating white ball appeared right in front of him, and out of came crab claws! Usopp was able to send it flying with yet another rifle round, "I am really starting to hate these things."

"Then you will wish that dumping will croak." Nojiko answered Usopp and pointed to the priest that was still enjoying the view of the forest and all its spherical glory. The thought of aiming at him from an advantage point did cross Usopp's mind but that won't change anything since the priest still had Kenbunshoku Haki.

"A strike from the right with a left hook." That was the voice of the priest, the only one that sounded worse than fingernails on a blackboard. "And a kick from the outside using the same leg." Usopp and Nojiko then heard something, "Inpakuto (Impact)!" After that was proclaimed, two bodies landed near the two pirates. It was Sanji and Gin, looking like someone had fired a bazooka right in their faces.

"Dammit. Not only is that shitball of a priest able to predict our moves but he got something behind those gloves." Sanji grumbled terribly while Gin had nothing else to add to that. It was time to rethink their plan of attack when

"Nuki Ashi (Pussyfoot Maneuver)!" The Strawhats on the forest ground heard a familiar voice and Usopp recognized that move. Kuro moved in the same blurs from Usopp's old home island back in the East Blue against the priest but it was still not enough. The round man jumped off his white ball and it exploded worst than a ton of TNT. The worst that Kuro got was a trip back into the bark of one of the giant trees.

"Damn that smarts." Kuro mumbled and painfully wrenched himself free. That was a real shot in the dark and personally, the mastermind wasn't in the mood try another. Instead he regrouped with the others. They all were watching Usopp with his rifle armed and loaded but not firing off. "You got something, sniper?"

"Don't distract me now." Usopp retorted and focused back to whatever he was aiming at. Then he took out a spare rifle silencer, attached it to the barrel and finally shot off his round. Kuro followed the pathway and realized what Usopp had planned.

The priest had jumped off the floating ball that exploded in Kuro's face and landed on another where he started to be a sitting duck yet again. But Usopp was not aiming at the priest, it was a floating ball that was hovering near the priest's location. And that one exploded too, with the round priest in its path.

"It was impressive of his Haki to see our attacks coming but it seems that he either hadn't trained enough or didn't bother to sense attacks that are not aimed at him directly." Usopp explained his plan, proud of himself to see a weakness that he can manipulate against their common foe.

"You…fools…" The pirates turned to see the priest getting up from the nasty blast from behind followed by the terrible fall to the ground. "Think…that you have…won? It's not…over until…the fat man…sings!" The round priest pulled out a baton out of nowhere that had a string attached to the tip, with a dragon made of clouds attached to the other end of the string! "Tama Doragon (Tama Dragon)!"

The priest pulled hard on the string to the dragon and sent it down on the ground, stirring up more impact force than before; it was like a missile was launched at the ground. And in the rebound force, the Strawhats were scattered but the round man was only interested in one of them.

"Hello cutie." Nojiko laid at a tree stump, too dazed to even get up. But she could see the dumpling of a priest stare down on her with the most disgusting eyes she ever seen since the crew of fishman pirates that attacked her home village. She shivered at such dark memories that came hard with all the pain she was feeling. "Oh-ho-ho-ho, shaking with excitement? I am." The priest mocked the young lady and making her feel even more fear.

"No, don't…" Nojiko couldn't even beg as her voice was struggling to escape her mouth. She could just watch as the priest's hand, the one with the power to send fighters like Sanji and Gin flying with ease, move closer to her face.

"Don't you worry, my dear. It will only be moment before you will no longer see the light of day ever again!" The fat priest laughed and was only inches from using whatever impact he had up his sleeve on Nojiko's face when,

"Koshi o Yaku (Burn Around the Waist)!" Nojiko saw something that she hadn't in over eight years, a person brutally and mercilessly slain in front of her eyes. The first that happened with her own mother, taking a bullet for both her and Nami. And now it was the mocking rice ball of a priest who knew it was coming but didn't have the stuff to dodge it.

"I am getting half a year on the couch for this." Nojiko heard Luffy's voice but was still body numb from the whole experience. "I can't apologize enough for putting you in such danger, Nojiko. I can only bring you to your sister. Come on."

XXXXX

When the priest was murdered, this set off a chain reaction throughout Upper Yard. High above, in a palace among clouds, a shaded figure lies comfortably on his throne and eating an apple from the fruit bowl nearby. Then he stops in mid-bite yet returns with a dark chuckle. "So, Satori had finally got himself killed eh? He was the weakest one of my solders with the arrogance that can only come from inexperience."

Elsewhere, three more blacken people noticed and with real body movement. Too bad that they all thought the same as the figure on his throne within the palace of clouds. "Good riddance to bad rubbish."

Finally, in a village that surrounded by clouds, a young girl suddenly emerged from her slumber. She then ran out of her house to show that the village resembled that of American Indians. The other villagers noticed the girl run as if the devil was after her. "One of God's men has died! He was killed!"

Later,

"Better keep your eyes closed. This has just turned awful." Luffy said to Nojiko, still shaking from the experience with the Trials of Balls. The rest of the passengers can concur with the surroundings. It was no trial, just a pathway of clouds hovering a good distance above a grass field that was paved with iron spikes, each had a human skull embedded on the blades.

"Just tell me when we find the Going Merry…" Nojiko mumbled with her face buried in Luffy's coat. 'I can't even imagine just does my little sister do this.' Just then, Luffy's right arm suddenly grabbed Nojiko and pressed her into his chest. Ignoring her cry of surprise, the captain raised his left hand with the palm open just in time for a cannonball to explode without actually harming the boat or the passengers.

"Show yourselves! We are with your enemies!" Luffy shouted off into the forest surrounding the clearing and, using the same hand as before, caught another cannonball while the arm retracted to absorb the impact force. Immediately, they had company of people that looked somewhat of American Indians wearing some kind of skates on their feet.

They moved in a hurry and passed past the boat but they noticed Luffy's arm and stopped. They then begun to mutter between each other, "That guy's arm!" "It looks weird!" "It just caught Wiper's round!" Luffy then crushed the cannonball and released his arm to original length and faced one of the Indians that carried a bazooka.

"So, we met again, with an uglier mug eh?" The rest of the crew realized almost immediately that the figure who attacked them when they awoke in the White Sea was back and without wearing the mask. "At least you have a decent name, Wiper."

Wiper is a tall, muscular man and sports a pair of little wings on his back. He's covered by various tribal tattoos across his left shoulder and the left side of his face. He has very long dark brown hair is arranged in a mohawk that follows into a segmented braid that goes slightly past his waist, resembling those worn by real life Native Americans, and he has little spherical earrings. He wears a grass skirt, with a rope belt decorated by three small ornaments that look like fangs or claws around his waist.

"What the hell? An Akuma no Mi (Devil Fruit)?" Wiper mumbled to himself yet Luffy heard him completely. With a confident smirk,

"Do you know other boys who can 'take a hit' and 'stretch his limits' like I can?" Wiper chewed the stick in his mouth until it snapped in two. He didn't like how this man with a hat made of straw was making light of all this.

"I will get you back from earlier but you better get lost. This land was stolen from us and we are getting it back." Wiper announced to the Strawhats.

"We also are getting back what was stolen from us so we will stay out of your way if you do the same. Ta!" Luffy waved as their ship eventually moved out of sight from the strange Indians. Thankfully, they were too re-occupied to follow the Strawhats. They had other plans and no time to waste on anyone else.

XXXXX

Eventually,

"There she is!"

Luffy pointed out into the distance. It was a large altar that was surrounded by the same clouds they had been sailing on, with the Going Merry perched like a sacrifice. They all wasted no time hurrying over to the ship, even ignoring the sharks that tried to eat them alive; they were all left to die the clouds red.

"Stop!" Luffy suddenly shouted. He even violently tugged at the boat to turn ninety degrees and come to a halt. Ignoring the complaints of his crew, Luffy took a branch from who knows where and tossed it slightly forward. The sight of the branch being sliced into pieces while in midair silenced his crewmates. "Keep the boat here, I will take care of this." Luffy commanded while not even facing his crew and jumped off without waiting for a response.

The Strawhats heard that voice before and they won't dare disobey. They just watched as Luffy apparently jumped through the air as if the atmosphere was solid. But a closer look revealed that it was all strings. Luffy must have used both common forms of Haki to know where the strings are and to harden his footwear to not get cut by them. Then they heard a laugh coming from in the distance,

"Fools! Thought you can match one of God's Priests!" Someone was close to the Altair and had the attitude of a man who trashed his competition. Usopp then saw something that made his blood boil; beaten bodies of a few of the crew and Chopper was being held by his throat with the hand of this priest. "I am Shura of the String Clouds that litter this ocean, ready to bind anything that moves! Ready for my kill!"

Shura resembles a stereotypical aviator from the early 1900s: he has a thin, pointed mustache that splits into two parts; on his head there is an aviator hat decorated with wings, and a pair of goggles on the front. His attire is composed of an orange fur-lined jacket, with brown swollen sleeves decorated by beige spots; loose matching orange pants held up by a belt, fur-lined gloves and boots, and a purple scarf around his neck. And on his back is a pair of typical wings, a standard feature of all the inhabitants of Skypiea.

Finally, he was riding a gigantic bird that he named Fuza. Fuza is a purple feathered bird with gigantic wings, on its enormous body. Fuza is large enough to carry a full-grown man. It has red feathers around its neck. Its head is white, has a sharpened beak and the eyes are yellow colored. Its tail is further purple colored with lighter extensions to it. The claws underneath its legs are white, with sharp black nails.

"And what are you fools going to do about…!" Shura couldn't say another word when pain surged throughout his body. Then he felt hot, a streak of searing heat had cut through his torso and fired his nerves, as well as scorching his heart. It was too much for him and he feel to the clouds below.

All the while, Luffy stayed on the giant bird in still-flight, with its wings as the only thing on it moving. Down below, eyes from the clearing and from the colossal trees watched such a swift, brutal kill. Luffy looked like the new predator in town as he looked down on the bird still flying. "What to do with you?"

End of Chapter 37.

*What do you think? About the fight with Satori, I think that I've proven that I never liked that character. I think that all he was good for was finally introducing the power of what was known as Manta at the time. I don't mind that he was never mentioned when the Skypiea arc was completed or afterwards. So, I hope you don't mind if I made the character a little sadist.

I also disposed of Shura rather quickly because I don't care much for that character either. I am thinking about what to do with his bird steed. Let me know what you think and flamers will be ignored! Thank you! *