Her mind made up, Kia spoke to Nami about staying with Chopper. She argued that the crew should keep one of the medical people with the Sky Knight, but Kia stated she was going wherever Chopper went, since she wasn't convinced that he was well enough. Nami peered into Kia's eyes for a minute, but eventually nodded her agreement.

Then they were off. Robin led the way with Luffy, Chopper and Kia were in the middle, and Zoro bringing up the rear. Luffy reminded Kia of the dog in that movie, "Up" and every time he shouted out about something he saw, she would think, "Squirrel!".

"You're in good spirits today Chopper," Luffy said, and Chopper nodded in agreement.

"I feel good," he replied. Plus I feel so safe with Luffy and Zoro here! he thought. "And the forest seems calm this morning."

"I know how you feel Chopper," Zoro said. "Nothing but trees and leaves, not a fight in sight. How boring!"

"Mm-hmm," Chopper said which had Kia smirking at him. He smiled back, knowing that he had a different idea of the forest than Zoro, but not wanting to point it out.

They continued walking, and Luffy tried teaching Kia a song about the people in the different seas, but it was hard to pick up, and she mixed up the words. He didn't seem to care, and enjoyed the new lyrics she created.

"Why do you keep looking back Chopper?" Zoro asked suddenly.

"Oh, it's nothing!" Chopper replied.

Luffy glanced back, and then turned around. "What's that crazy looking root?" he asked.

"Oh, you can see it?" Chopper countered.

"And why is it moving?!" Kia yelled in horror, as she looked back as well.

"I thought I was imagining it!" Chopper yelled back.

They stared in shock as a snake as large as a town raised its head and looked directly at them. Zoro made a move with his swords, ready to fight, as Luffy grabbed Kia and stretched an arm up into the tree above, carrying her out of the way. "All right catfish face, time to get filleted!" Zoro yelled.

The snake moved to Zoro, going so quickly that he was caught off guard, and not ready for an attack. He barely dodged, getting up into the trees himself. The snake looked around, and spotting Robin hopping up into the treetops via several legs that were blossoming from the trunk, it zeroed in to attack.

Robin made it out of the way, and the snake bit the tree trunk instead. The five of them looked in fascination as the trunk began smoking, and when the snake released it's jaws, the trunk had been melted down by the snake's venom.

"Don't touch the venom! It's like acid!" Zoro yelled to the others. "Change of plans! We're running away!"

Luffy took a moment to help Kia down behind the tree they were in. "We'll meet back up!" he shouted as he took off- swinging from branch to branch, distracting the giant snake, giving time for everyone else to run.

The snake didn't go for it, and went after Robin instead. She jumped from the branch she was on, catching a vine made from hands, swinging away.

"Awesome Robin!" Chopper called. The snake looked toward him, and he screamed, "AAHHH!" and ran another direction.

Kia turned towards the sound of Chopper's voice, alarmed. Only to see him take off running in the wrong direction.

"Chopper!" she yelled, chasing after him.

Zoro made his way down his tree behind the snake, and made it to the ground, only to turn and see the snake looking directly at him.

"Crap." He looked disgusted before he too yelled and ran off.

Kia stopped to get some air, panting heavily. Dang, that Chopper is so fast when we wants to be! She had no doubt in her mind that she was lost. Chopper wasn't concerned about anything else as he ran away, and made quite a clear, if messy path to follow after him. However, she was also certain that he had no clue where he was going, and several times she thought they went in a circle.

She didn't shout out for him any longer, as she could hear the sounds of battle around. Between the guerrillas, the divine warriors, the priests, and of course Eneru being there somewhere, she knew she would rather be lost than found by one of them.

However, she also moved as quickly as she could, knowing that Chopper would be facing one of Eneru's priests. Several times, she took cover, hearing the fighting much too close, explosions going off around her. Once or twice she even thought she heard screaming, and she moved on as soon as it was clear.

She also had no way of gauging the time, since the sun was blocked by the giant trees, but would guess she walked for over an hour. Eventually, the Chopper-made path she was following was gone, so after looking around she decided to go towards a huge mass of cloud cover.

Kia hoped to find the giant beanstalk, because she would have no trouble finding her way from there. She kept moving, thinking about what Robin, Luffy, and Zoro would be up to before they met up again.

Eventually she noticed that she stepped onto a piece of stone, then another, and looking down she could see pieces of what used to be a road. Looking forward, she could see what looked like buildings in between the trees. She started running, and came into a clearing just in time to see a guerrilla fighting with the swamp priest.

The choice now was to wait for Chopper, or to start climbing the giant beanstalk. Kia didn't want to distract Chopper in his fight… but if something new happened, and he needed help? She had to stay.

She found what looked like a safe place to hide, but would be easy to run out of if needed. She had just barely gotten settled when she heard Chopper's voice.

"Where am I? I'm so lost, and because of all the trees, I can't see the position of the sun!"

He sounded so sad that she almost yelled out. But before she could, he spoke again, excitedly.

"I made it! These are the ruins, and it looks like I got here first! Hee hee!" Kia couldn't help but grin at his cute little giggle.

She peeked out, to see if he was alone… then maybe they could avoid the fight with the swamp guy all together.

So she looked, only to see Chopper right in front of the priest. "Where are you hiding?" the priest asked. "Come out right now!"

Kia gave a small gasp involuntarily as she was grabbed from behind, and a hand placed over her mouth.

"Gedatsu!" The man holding her hollered. "You can't see the enemy with your eyes rolled back in your head!"

"So careless!" the priest said. He fixed his gaze and stared at Chopper for a few minutes, until Chopper finally got annoyed.

"Say something, you jerk!" Chopper said.

"Gedatsu, we can't hear you unless you speak out loud!"

"That's not something someone normally forgets!" Chopper yelled, annoyed.

"Watch where you step…all around us are swamp clouds. The survival rate is 50%, so good luck," Gedatsu finally answered.

"Hey, you're sinking!" Chopper yelled, and Gedatsu just laughed.

"It doesn't affect me, you idiot!" he called out, using dials on his shoes to rise far above the reindeer. Chopper looked in awe at the awesome shoes, before Gedatsu threw a swamp cloud down…

The man suddenly let go of Kia, as the cloud descended on them. They both tried to get away, but ended up bumping into each other, and she heard Chopper call her name in shock, and then she couldn't breathe.

It's hard to describe the sensation. It wasn't murky, like she would think a swamp would be. More that it was dense like trying to breathe through a wet towel. Feeling the cloud with her hands, it was light as a feather, but her hands just went straight through it.

An idea popped into her head and Kia dropped to her knees. She was shocked when it worked. The swamp cloud stayed with the divine warrior next to her, and she dropped right out. Breathing heavily, and coughing up water, as she crawled away, she could feel the man drop next to her, the cloud covering him on the ground. Kia yanked his feet, pulling him out of the cloud.

Chopper reached her side, and turning into his heavy point he slammed his fists down on the man's stomach, dispelling the water from him, and allowing him to breathe again.

The man…uh, goat-man? was very grateful to still be alive, and joined Chopper in facing off against the priest. Gedatsu took him out with a single elbow, though to be fair he did have a dial to add to his hit. The goat-man was now out cold, if not dead.

"Kia, stay back!" Chopper called as he crunched down on a rumble ball. "Jumping point!" Kia watched as Chopper fought Gedatsu, wincing at the hits he was taking.

I have to intervene… if anything, just to give Chopper a quick break, she thought.

They both fell, and there was a large explosion of clouds and such. Seeing Chopper get up, Kia knew it was painful. He was weaving side to side as he tried to walk. She ran forward, hoping that she could do something to help.

"Kia, no!" Chopper shouted as she neared, stopping her in her tracks.

"I need to help!" she yelled, moving forward again. Chopper would be trying to get the dial shoes off the priest, so she could create a distraction maybe.

"No! I'm supposed to protect you!" Chopper yelled, pushing her back.

"You can't even protect yourself!" Gedatsu sneered. "Swamp cloud…." Chopper and Kia both moved away to avoid being hit by his swamp attacks.

"I've got to do this on my own," Chopper said stubbornly. "Stay back," he told her, and this time, she listened.

She watched as he defeated Gedatsu with a cloven cross hit, both of them falling back down, with Gedatsu landing in one of his own swamp clouds.

"Finally! I'm one of the pirates too!" Chopper cheered, his arms raised up in victory. "I really beat him!"

"Good job," Kia answered, finally able to release the breath she was holding. "Now sit down, so I can look at your injuries."

"I swear, you stupid bird!" Zoro yelled. "Stop following me, or else!" He grumbled as the bird continued to give its strange call, and look at him even though its head was turned facing backward.

"I ate all my food, so there's none for you!" Zoro yelled again, but the bird looked nonplussed. He grumbled and continued to walk, looking for his lost friends.

He turned a couple of times, just to be sure that the bird was following him, and not just walking the same way, and the stalker bird just made him more and more angry.

He turned and waved his arms, hoping to scare the bird off. "Go on! Get out of here!" he yelled, but the bird only looked at him.

Finally he just walked on, ignoring the bird behind him. He didn't come across any more snakes, or guerrillas, or any other fights, in fact it was pretty boring. Eventually he came to a wide open area, and stopping he glanced around at the scene.

"This looks somewhat familiar," he said aloud, taking in the huge altar in the middle of the lake of clouds. "But… I can't be sure!"

Hearing what seemed like a cough, he turned to find the huge bird giving him a smile, and his anger jumped out again. He threw the bag from his shoulder directly at the bird's face, demanding, "are you laughing at me?!"

He watched as the bird seemed to be cussing him out in bird language, and he was glad he didn't understand, because he'd probably end up killing the thing, and then Chopper would be mad at him again.

He thanked his training for his quick reflexes as the bird suddenly grabbed his bag and started flying away, because he was able to grab it before it was gone forever. But he also cursed the stupid bird, because Zoro was not meant to be in the sky! "Where are you taking us, dumb bird?!" he screamed.

They flew over the treetops, and Zoro couldn't help but continue to yell. "Where are we going? Are you even listening to me?" The bird just made it's call, and Zoro grumbled. "I'm gonna pluck you, and we'll cook you…"

He didn't finish his thought, as there was a rumbling in the trees below him. Looking down in concern, he got a huge surprise as the giant snake from before tried to eat him, as if he were food dangling in front of it!

"Fly higher! I don't want to be snake chow!"

The bird was flying fast, but looking down, Zoro could see the snake following them. "Can't you fly any faster, you dumb bird?!" he yelled. Instead, it felt as if the bird slowed down, and Zoro watched the snake's body in agitation, wondering where the head was.

Then, the idiotic bird flung him away, bag and all, and Zoro yelled as he fell, knowing that if the snake didn't get him, the ground certainly would. "AAAHHHH!" he yelled as he fell, hitting a few things on the way.

Seeing the ground coming quickly, he put his bag in front of him, using it to take the brunt of the impact. Standing shakily, shrugging off the pain to deal with later, he grumbled, "Oh, that bird's gonna pay…"

"One of Straw Hat's friends," he heard a voice say near him. "It's you!" another called. He looked up and around.

"More ruins, huh?" he thought out loud. "And these guys look pretty tough," he reached up to wipe the blood from his nose. "Can't be helped," he said before raising his voice. "Hand over the gold!" he called out.

"Another greedy infidel, seeking salvation!" the man on his right sitting atop an old building and next to a giant dog said.

"Enough!" called the guerrilla to his left. "Get out of my way, or I'll destroy you all!"

"The time has come!" the Sky Knight across from Zoro shouted. "Tell me where Eneru and the divine squad are!"

Zoro glanced to each of them at his sides, knowing he would be fighting soon. He unsheathed his sword with a smirk, his interest peaked at this four sided fight. He moved his arms, ensuring he had the range of motion he would need. He didn't flinch as the snake appeared behind the man and his dog, roaring in its own way.

"Something really pissed that snake off," Zoro muttered.

"There is only one way to pass, and that is to survive." Zoro looked up at the man, who now stood, his sword in his hand, and Zoro grinned in anticipation.

"That stupid snake keeps getting in my way!" Zoro muttered as he panted. He looked around noting the changes in the buildings around him.

Seeing a alleyway that looked full of wire had him pausing, until he noticed the bodies on the ground. Looking closer, he jumped up and started running.

Then he was on the ground, his arm stinging, and his swords dropped. Looking up, he saw the barbed wire that appeared, then dismissed it and turned to the first body he could reach. "Chopper! Talk to me!" He shook Chopper gently, seeing the large cut across his chest.

"Why?" he asked. "Why would you try to take this guy on, on your own?!" He stopped as he looked over to the other, knowing he had his answer. "Kia?!" he pushed her hair out of her face, relief flooding him as her eyelids fluttered. "What happened?"

"Z…Zoro?" Kia asked, her voice barely heard.

"Stay down," he said softly, hoping the priest didn't hear him. "I'll take care of this guy, then we'll get you two out of here."

"mkay," Kia responded, closing her eyes again.

Touch my crew… and you're dead. Zoro thought, his rage pointed at the priest.

"A shame," the priest said, and Zoro glared. "Those barbs, are iron cloud. Light as cloud and hard as iron. I admit, I'm to blame for the animal, but the girl? She did that to herself, taking him into my ordeal." He adjusted his glasses, noting the blank look on the swordsman's face. "I suppose you'll want revenge now."

"No," Zoro answered. "Believe it or not, I usually won't fight for that reason at all."

"Oh?" the priest said. "I'm impress-"

"Normally," Zoro interrupted. "But…" he glanced up and into the priest's face. "you've convinced me."

"AHHH! Leave us alone!" Nami screamed for the umpteenth time. These stupid goats keep following us!

Hearing a collision behind her, Nami slid her waver to a stop, panting heavily. She heard several people yelling, and thought she heard her name. Looking up, she saw Zoro, which relieved her.

"Zoro!" she called, trying not to show how happy she was to see him. Before she could truly comprehend what the guerrilla beside Zoro was saying, she saw a flash of blue flame heading straight for her, and was suddenly whisked out of the way.

I'm tired of seeing my life flash before my eyes! she thought. The sky knight interrupted her inner monologue asking why she was here, making her upset. Like I would choose to come here!

"We couldn't help it! We were chased by this giant… AAAAHHH!" she screamed as darkness surrounded her, and they were all falling. What is happening?! her mind screamed along with her.

Landing from a fall was always painful, but she still was sore, which meant she had no patience for Aisa's nonsense, nor the old man's.

Neither of them seemed to understand that they had been eaten by that giant snake, and even when Luffy showed up from deeper in the stomach, she thought for a moment that they were saved. That moment passed of course, and she was ready to kill Luffy. That moron, she thought. Like I'd agree to go out the back way.

Punching Luffy definitely made her feel better, but that set the snake off again, and they started falling once more. Worth it though.

Luffy made up for it by using his balloon form, and keeping them all alive. Nami was confused, as Aisa tried to threaten the sky knight, and eventually, no talking could convince her and she struck out at him. Luffy stepped in, keeping her from attacking, and Nami couldn't tell if Aisa was angry or relieved that he did.

In the end, they followed Luffy's example, and worked together to try to escape from the snake.

Kia opened her eyes again, wondering if it had just been a dream, but no, she could see that Chopper had been laid next to her, where she couldn't reach him before. Standing slowly, and picking up Chopper, she looked around cautiously for Ohm and Holy.

She walked carefully, very slowly, not wanting to set off any more of the barbed traps. The fighting she could hear was far from them, and she made her way toward it, and giant jack- the beanstalk in the middle of it all.

Lightning suddenly surged all around, and Kia fell on the ground, covering Chopper with her body. She screamed as the clouds were breaking up around her, and they began to fall. Zoro appeared beside her and she couldn't help but scream again when his hand touched her arm.

"HOLD ON!" he shouted, and though it was crazy, she suddenly felt safer.

This idiot is going to die if he protects us from this fall, she thought, and started squirming to get free from his arms. His grip was like steel though, and she couldn't break free of it.

As crazy as he could be about pain or blood, Zoro knew how to survive. He crouched on a rock, jumping from it at the last moment, just as it crashed, making their landing a bit softer. From his own yell of pain however, she knew he was injured.

He was strong though, and somehow, serious injuries were not so serious like they were back home. Stitches seemed to mend flesh overnight, burns and bruises gone in hours. No wonder everyone needed to protect her, Kia didn't heal like they did. It had taken several days to get over the worst pain from a beating, and she still could see the fading bruises.

She wanted to just lay there, but Zoro was already trying to push a huge chunk of rock away so that he could stand, and she wanted to lessen their troubles, not add to them. She moved as much as she could away, and took Chopper, so that Zoro could use both arms. He flung the rock away, and stood there panting.

"Swordsman, Artist!" they heard, and turned to the sound. "Don't tell me you fell down with all of this," Robin said.

"Yeah, we did." Zoro sounded kinda fed up with it all. "And it almost killed me!"

"I'm amazed it didn't," Robin replied. "Are you sure you're all right? Both of you?"

"Yeah," Zoro said, and turned to look at me. "You, Kia?" he asked.

Kia gave Robin a look. "Artist? Really?" she asked sarcastically, and Robin flushed slightly, knowing that Kia could understand how she was trying to distance herself.

"Uh, good to see you Robin, but where are we?" Zoro asked.

"This is the city of gold."

"Really… looks the same as the ruins above us. Did you find the treasure?" he asked, as they walked towards her.

"No, I didn't. In fact it looks as though the gold wasn't ever here."

"If the Shandorians wanted this for their home, I don't see why the Skypieans wouldn't give it to them," Kia said. "It's obvious that they aren't using it."

Hearing the voice yell, "El Thor!" and as the lightning crashed down on the giant snake, Zoro started yelling about Nami being dead.

"I'm sure she's fine," Kia said, trying to calm him, but he rounded on her.

"There's no way she survived that!" he yelled.

"Zoro? Kia? And Robin? Where did you guys come from?" Nami asked, as she peeked out from behind a crumbling wall.

"Glad to see you're all right Navigator," Robin said.

"Us?! How did you get out of the snake?!" Zoro demanded.

"Up there," Kia said, pointing up. "The ruins above came crashing down, and so did we."

"Me too," Nami said. "Falling was how we got free of the snake, but I'm worried about Luffy and Aisa, they were still inside."

"Luffy?!" Zoro face palmed. "How the heck did he get in there?"

"I don't know, but I tried to get him out, and he fell off the waver!" Nami replied.

"That brat is such a pain! Does he know how much trouble he causes?!" Zoro yelled at Nami.

"How should I know?!" she yelled back.

"This isn't exactly helping!" Kia cut in.

Hearing voices, Zoro pushed Nami and Kia toward a wall as he and then Robin followed the sky knight toward the voices.

Knowing that Eneru could sense where they were, Kia handed Chopper to Nami, and stood up to watch. Kia realized that she couldn't go up to the ship with Nami, that could cause so many problems, so she needed to stay where the was. That meant she would most likely be electrocuted, and could only hope that she would survive as everyone else had thus far.

Kia knew she was trembling, but thought that watching the four of them stand up to Eneru would give her the courage to do the same. I hope…

"You're the only one dying today," they all said together.

Eneru smiled. "Insolent fools," he said through his sly grin. "Listen to yourselves," he uttered with a laugh. Kia watched as Eneru explained how he could not be defeated. As Ganfal questioned his intentions, and how Eneru explained how he would travel to the endless vearth. She wondered if anyone there figured out he meant the moon.

If he would just go, she was sure there wouldn't have been a problem, but he was determined to destroy everything before he left. Everyone gasped, when he told of the future of Skypiea being ripped to pieces and plummeting down to the sea.

She took in the scene as he taunted Ganfal into attacking, letting him hit straight through him, and reappearing at his side to take him out. It happened so quickly, and yet, as if it was all in slow motion she watched each moment.

"He's eaten a devil fruit!" Zoro said.

"The rumble-rumble fruit," Wyper added.

"The fruit that is said to grant invincibility, the power of lightning!" Robin gaped.

"Lightning!" Kia heard Nami behind her say. "A human can't fight against that!"

"One down, and one more to go," Eneru said, as he peered around at the group in thought. Kia felt it was her moment, before he got really angry.

"Me!" she called, and they all turned to look at her.

"Kia! No!" Nami hissed.

"I won't go, in fact I doubt anyone will," Kia said, her voice loud with the fake confidence she was projecting. "You'll be all alone with no one to fear or obey you, and only your loneliness to keep you company."

Eneru laughed, as she suspected he would, but seeing Zoro run towards her had her stepping back in shock. Especially when his sword came out, and he swung it at her, before everything went black.

"Was that necessary?" Robin asked as he returned next to her.

"Would you rather the lightning man take care of her?" he growled.

"You blue-sea dwellers are more ruthless than I anticipated," Eneru said with a chuckle. "But here we are, just in time. Now come along. You will join me, as I gain passage to the endless vearth!"

"Why would we?" Robin asked, sounding bored.

"There will be a utopia of eternal power, led by god and only the chosen may enter and bask in the glory of my company!"

"And if we refuse?" Robin asked.

"And why would you?" Eneru asked. "You would rather be destroyed? Humans are not the smartest creatures, but they do tend to choose survival over death."

"Why would you destroy this land when it still has something that you seek?" Robin asked.

Eneru looked at her for a moment. "Now I see… let me put your mind at ease, woman. Based on your previous travels through Shandora, as well as my own, I am quite certain as to the location of the golden bell, and will picking it up on the way." His grin disappeared as he raised a finger towards Robin. "You, however, will not be joining me, as the thing I hate most in all the world, is a cunning woman."

The lightning shot from his finger, straight at Robin. Nami screamed her name as the lightning travelled through her and she passed out. Zoro barely made it, but caught her before her head could hit the ground.

"How dare you!" he glared at Eneru, who laughed.

"Were you not one to take out your own female crew mate before? It seems I have merely helped you," he said and continued to laugh.

Zoro wasted no time, attacking the would-be god. The guerrilla took his chance as well, and before Nami could think straight, they were both down as well.

Nami looked up at the man who was made of lightning, knowing that she didn't want to die and knowing that she couldn't help her friends if she was unconscious. "Uh, I'd like to go, sir.." she said to him. "I've always wanted to go to your dream world!"