Well, this chapter is more than a little bit late...Haha, sorry guys! ^^ I hope you still enjoy it anyway!
"TSULALALALA!" the snake cried out, charging for a large stalk the reached up into the sky.
'I want off this thing…' I whined, my head tucked against Amaya's shoulder as we continued on our way. We had been clinging to the snake for what seemed like over an hour now and Amaya looked like she had no plans to let go any time soon. The damn thing hadn't noticed us at all, and it seemed to be heading somewhere in particular.
"Wait… Don't tell me that it plans to…" Amaya began to whisper but trailed off as she gasped.
'What!' I snapped my head up, looking in front of us to see what was the matter. My jaw dropped a bit when the snake launched its head up into the sky, aiming for the shelf of clouds above us that surrounded the stalk. 'Shit, shit, shit! What if that shit is solid!'
I felt Amaya's arm tighten around me again as we were bumped around from the sudden movement. She really she has something with squeezing me when she was nervous, I felt like an oversized teddy bear. Over the sound of the wind rushing around us I heard Amaya order, "HOLD YOUR BREATH!"
"TSULALALALA!" the snake cried out again as its head breached the top layer of clouds, white surrounding us. I closed my eyes, held my breath, and hoped for the best.
The white cloud tugged at us, but Amaya refused to let go. The tighter she clung onto the snake, the tighter her arm around me became. I started to think she was about to break my ribs if she held on any tighter. Thank goodness I didn't need to breathe right now anyway.
The white spun around us for an undeterminable amount of time before we seemed to break the surface. The sudden light blinded me when I went to open my eyes, so I snapped them close again, hoping that we'd finally stopped. I still wanted off this snake.
"Oh my…" I heard Amaya gasp breathlessly and I finally urged my eyes to open.
'I think we might have walked… Well, slithered into an awkward moment…' I mumbled as I noticed the tense air around us. There was a sea of ruins around us on the white clouds, and it seemed to be about to be turned into a battleground.
In front of us were several different people and another dog. A big dog. A really big dog. Bigger than Clifford the Big Red Dog. The other dog was the first thing that drew my eyes and I felt my hackles rising at the sight of it.
On top to the dog was another man, one I had not seen before. I had no idea who he was. Wiper was also there, his cannon on his shoulder. Gan Fall was present as well, ready for battle. The last person I noticed was Zoro who looked to be all in one piece, much to my relief.
"That stupid snake followed me all the way here," Zoro grumbled.
'So that's what it was looking for…' I sweat-dropped. I should have known. If there was trouble in this place, our crew was likely the cause of it.
"Go, Holy!" the man riding the dog ordered. "No need to hold back this time!"
"Woof!" the dog responded.
"Pierre, the target is Ohm!" Gan Fall order as he jumped onto his companion.
"They haven't noticed us," Amaya mumbled quietly to herself. "And that tension in the air…They're all strong… Really strong…"
'They must be blind not to see us…' I agreed. 'And if you can't handle this, you might wanna hide, woman…'
"Hey, all of you…" Wiper started to say, "TIME TO DIE!"
With one loud bang Wiper's cannon shot an explosion out, motivating everyone to move all at once as they jumped into the battle.
"TSULALALALA!" the snake cried as it dived toward Wiper, mouth open.
"No! Wiper!" Amaya cried out, but it was drowned out by the sound of the snake's call.
"That's a nice weapon!" Zoro called as he appeared near Wiper, oblivious to the giant snake lunging at them.
"You know nothing, you Blue Sea punk! You've only been here a few days, don't think I'm going to let you take this land!" Wiper snapped as he swung the cannon towards Zoro.
"I don't give a damn about your problems, what happened here is none of my business!" Zoro replied in a very Zoro-like manner as he charged at Wiper, swords at the ready. "So, I'll just repay you for the time when we first got here, raider! Eat this!"
Zoro swung his swords but Wiper used his skate to block the hit from making contact with him. Before Wiper got the chance to counter attack, the snake was upon them, snapping its jaws closed on some ruins as they both jumped backwards.
"Whoa!" Zoro gasped.
"Are you ready?" Amaya asked me over all the other sounds.
"Woof!" I barked on reply, dropping the ground as soon as she let go of me. I hoped Amaya had enough sense to stay out of the way because I was going to help Zoro.
As soon as my paws hit the ground as I took off running, zigzagging around the ruins as I headed towards Zoro.
"GRRRRRR!" Holy growled as he landed behind Zoro, lunging at him.
"More fangs!" he snapped, spinning around.
'No! Look at his paw! Watch out!' I snapped mentally as the other dog threw a punch at Zoro.
Zoro flipped back out of the way, panting, "What the… Did that dog just throw a punch at me!?"
"His name is Holy," the man riding the dog replied as Holy stood up on his two back legs. "I am the feeder of Holy! But I didn't just feed him, I trained him in martial arts and to walk on two-legs. I've trained him well, care to try his attacks?"
"You've got to be kidding me…" Zoro muttered.
'Zoro!' I barked as I skidded to a stop right next to Zoro, my narrowed eyes staring down with the other dog.
"What! Mamori! When did you get here?" he spluttered when we saw me.
'Why do you all insist on asking me questions when you are all well aware that I cannot answer them?' I sighed, my eyes flickering over to Zoro for a second before switching back to the other dog. 'And for that matter, why do I keep answering?'
At the same time we all noticed something approaching for the corner of our vision and the man atop of the dog raised his sword to block Gan Fall's lance just in time. Pierre reeled backwards and flew back up into the air again so that Gan Fall was out of reach of the other man.
"Gan Fall… Did you learn nothing from you defeat against Shura?" he questioned, his attention diverted from Zoro and I for a moment. "You can barely hold your lance right, old man."
"Even so, I won't leave until I discover your purpose in being here!" Gan Fall snapped back.
"Huh!" he replied. "Even if I tell you, you still won't understand my God's divine intentions!"
Zoro and I didn't get to stay around and listen to the conversation because the snake, that had been forgotten about, dived at us again.
"Mamori!" Zoro ordered as he jumped onto a pile of rocks.
'Coming!' I chirped, jumping after him as we put a bit of distance between us and the snake.
Zoro landed in a crouch position on the ground, hissing, "Phew! That snake is really irritating!"
'No kidding!' I agreed, landing next to him.
Zoro looked at something behind me and suddenly went silent, his eyes growing wide. I slowly turned my head as well, looking behind me cautiously.
"Chopper!" Zoro gasped.
'CHOPPER!' I screamed when I saw the little reindeer unconscious on the ground with injuries all over his body.
At the same time Zoro and I jumped forward, running towards our little friend. "Hey! Chopper!"
"So you are a citizen of the blue seas!" the Dog Rider called out in the background. "Hey, you should watch out around there."
Click
Zoro trod on something that clicked and suddenly a strand of barbed wire shot out of one of the walls and it scratched straight past Zoro's shoulder.
"Waaah!"
'Zoro!' I yelped, skidding as I stop as he fell to the ground.
"What the hell!" Zoro yelled as he shifted into a crouched position. "Barbed wire?"
"That is iron cloud," the Dog Man explained, "it's light as cloud, but hard and strong as iron. It's made from cloud dials. These iron clouds are attached to the ground, effectively working as traps. In this place, the traps are everywhere, but they aren't only for you… I set half of them for myself. And added lures like that creature for people like you!"
Ignoring him, Zoro and I had already made our way over to Chopper and Zoro had scooped him up in his arms. "Chopper! Hey! Chopper! Speak to me! Why are you here by yourself!"
'If only I looked for Chopper, he wouldn't be like this! I'm such an idiot! Chopper, I'm sorry!' I whined, flatting my ears back against my head as I stared sadly at him.
"Pitiful," a voice in the background said.
'The fuck did you just say!' I snarled as I snapped my head around.
"Do you plan to just sit there and not engage the enemy?"
"That's not it," Zoro responded. "It's just that I didn't like the reason we were fighting for."
"Really… How noble," he replied.
"But," Zoro cut him off, "right now, I'm just a little pissed off!"
'No kidding,' I agreed.
"Mamori, watch Chopper," Zoro ordered as he placed Chopper back on the ground next to me.
'But… Wait! Hey, I was gonna… You know what, never mind. I'll watch Chopper, just make sure to kick his ass,' I conceded.
Zoro walked off towards the Dog Man, his swords out as he got ready to kick ass. I looked down at Chopper, trying to figure out how I could move him without aggravating his injuries anymore.
"Hey, dog," a soft voice called from behind me and I glanced behind me as Amaya walked towards me. "No… It's Mamori, right? That's what the green-head was calling you."
'Mhmm,' I nodded my head.
"Is that little guy your friend too?" she asked, looking over Chopper's prone form.
Another nod of my head.
"We'd better get out their way then, unless you and your little friend want to get caught up in it," she pointed out. "Would you like me carry your friend?"
I looked at her suspiciously for a few seconds. I'd trusted her with my life, but was I really in any position to trust her with my friend's life? She was a Shandian woman after all, they wanted us gone.
"Don't give me that look," she sighed. "I have intention of harming your friend, I promise."
After another few seconds of silent stares, I relented and stepped back from Chopper so that she could pick him up. She was very gentle when she scooped him up, making sure to not hurt him anymore than he already was.
"Come on, let's get out of their road before we caught in their fight. I have to drag Wiper back one way or another, but if I interrupt his fight now, he'll be pissed. "
'Men… They're way too annoying.'
Amaya and I didn't get too far before we noticed a disturbance as several of God's Enforcers shot up the stalk and bounced over onto some ruins. I did a quick count and they totaled up to 5 which wasn't all that bad.
I saw Amaya's grip on Chopper tighten ever so slightly and let a soft growl out to remind her not to hurt Chopper anymore.
"Oh! Sorry!" she gasped, loosening her grip and she glanced at the Enforcers in distracted manner.
'You want to fight them, huh? It sucks being practically useless in this situation, I know.'
"We are here to help Priest Ohm!" one of the Enforcers called out as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"MIEEEE!" The rest of them got into attack positions, angling themselves towards the other fighters.
Three Shandian warriors suddenly landed in their path, blocking their way to the other fighters. Each of them look rather bashed up with scrapes and bruises all over bodies. I heard Amaya gasp when she saw them, her body going stiff.
"It looks like…" one of them started to say.
"We are the only ones left!" the second finished.
"We will help you get Enel, Wiper!" the last one declared.
"Mamori… I'm sorry… I-" Amaya started to mumbled, looking torn.
I cut her off by nudging her leg with the top of my head. 'Go, help them. Even if they stupid males, their still your nakama, right?'
Amaya gently placed Chopper on the ground next to me before she reached over and ruffled the fur on the top of my head. "Watch yourself and your little friend here, okay? Those guys… They're dangerous."
'I can take care of myself fine, thank you very much,' I snorted in a snippy tone, nudging her towards her friends once more. 'Go, silly. This is your fight now.'
She kicked her skates into gear and jumped over the ruins until she landed neatly by her friends' side. "You weren't going to start without me, were you?"
"Amaya!" the men gasped.
"TSULALALALALA!" the large snake cried on the background, throwing up its head as if it was in pain.
"That snake!" one of God's Enforcers gasped.
"Hehehehehehehe!" it started to laugh suddenly and at the same time everyone sweat-dropped.
"KYYYYYAAAAA!" two feminine voices screamed as a waver shot out of the clouds and up the bean stalk.
"Nami?" Zoro muttered in confusion.
"Aisa!" Wiper gasped.
"The little miss!" Gan Fall mumbled.
"KILL THEM! MIEEEEE!" the Enforcer Captain order and three of them jumped forward towards Nami and the little girl who were shooting past on the waver.
'NAMI!' I yelled in panic and I was almost tempted to run out and try and help her and the little girl, but that would leave Chopper unguarded. Luckily, I didn't have to make that choice. Gan Fall, Zoro and Wiper all blocked the path of the Enforcers and sent them flying back into the ruins.
"Aisa!" Wiper yelled at the little girl as the waver came to a stop. "What are you doing here!"
"Nami!" Zoro joined in the yelling. "What are you doing here!"
"Wiper!" the little girl, Aisa, cried out.
"Ah! Zoro! Where are the others?" Nami questioned.
"What are you planning to do to her!" Wiper yelled, pulling out his cannon as he aimed it at Nami. "Aisa! Get away from her!"
With waiting for Aisa to get out of the way, Wiper fired the cannon straight at them. Gan Fall and Pierre swooped in just in time and Gan Fall grabbed the handle of the waver, lifting them up and into the air as the cannon blast shot past them.
"I'm saved!" Nami panted in relief.
"Why are you here?" Gan Fall demanded.
"That's a very big snake…" Nami murmured as she looked to the side and saw the jaws of the giant snake about to swallow them.
"TSULALALA!"
CHOMP
The snake closed it jaws around Gan Fall, Pierre, Nami, Aisa, and the waver.
'…' I was left speechless.
"THAT IDIOT!" Zoro snapped.
"Aisa…"
Zoro and Wiper didn't get much time to stand around and gape before Ohm and Holy attacked them, drawing their attention away. Holy punched Wiper straight through a stone wall and Zoro's shoulder was sliced open by Ohm's blade.
'Zoro! Dammit! I wanna help but I can't leave Chopper alone while he is knocked out and hurt!'
"Wiper!" Amaya and another Shandian called out at the same time.
"You can't even save yourselves," Ohm lectured as they both dropped to the ground, "Fools. You should focus on the business in front of you, otherwise you won't even be able to save yourselves."
"You're going to pay for what you did to Wiper!" one of the Shandian warriors yelled, notching an arrow on his bow.
"In these ruins there are four Holy Guards… Plus those two who are probably not dead yet…" Ohm mumbled as he counted with the fingers on one of his hands. "Five Shandian warriors, one intruder from the Blue Seas… To those we add a giant snake, the dog from the Blue Seas, and Holy… That makes 11 fighters and 3 animals…"
'So he had noticed me… And here I thought I was being ignored.'
"DIE, OHM!" the Shandian Warrior jumped forward, getting ready to let his arrow fly. One of God's Enforcers jumped forward, palm first as he tried to strike down the Shandian.
"MIEEEE!"
"Ack!"
And explosion rocked the ground as a stream of smoke and dust flew up into the air, blocking my view of the fighters.
"YOTSUBANE!" Amaya yelled out as she ran to help her friend. "You bastards!"
"It's time for the Apotheosis, let's do that move, Holy!" Ohm ordered.
"Woof!" Holy barked as he jumped up into the air and lunged at Amaya and the Shandian Warrior, punching them mercilessly.
'AMAYA! God damn it! I want to help! First Chopper, then Zoro, and now Amaya!'
Amaya and the man impacted against some ruins and the triggered one of the traps, springing up several lines of the Iron Cloud.
"ACK!" both of them cried as the cloud cut into their skin.
"Now! Dash!" Ohm ordered.
"WOOF!" Holy responded, sprinting across a straight patch, setting off a barrage of Iron Cloud.
'What in the world are they planning!'
"What's going on?" one of the two Shandians that were left called out.
"Damn it! What is that dog doing!" The other one panicked as the Iron Cloud continued to spring up and around all of us.
"Haha! You're trapped now! This is the real trial of iron!" God's Enforcer laughed as the strands of Iron Cloud connected to form a cage around us. "The White Thorn Death-Match!"
"Completely unnecessary," Zoro hissed as he pushed himself back up to his feet. "It's not like I'm going to run away."
'Geez, did you have a long enough nap! It's about time you got up!' I snorted, relieved that he was okay.
"MIEEE! You fool! This is just to prevent escape! This cage is made of barbed wire!" an enforcer started to lecture.
"In other words," Wiper concluded, appearing in front of the Enforcer and landing a kick under his chin. The kick sent him flying back into the barbed wire that sliced up his back with its sharp edges. "It's better to avoid being projected into it."
"The question is, how do I get out after I defeat everyone?" Zoro sighed.
'Zoro, is your head full of anything but hot air?'
"Don't be in a hurry, my friend," Ohm chided as the sounds of the Enforcers and the Shadians fighting echoed in the background. "Think about it after you've eliminated me! Eight men and three animals remaining…"
"WIPER!" a female voice screamed from the other side of the wire cage. "Thank God I found you!"
"Laki…" Wiper muttered in an annoyed manner.
"WIPER! LISTEN TO ME!" she yelled as she ran closer.
"What are you doing here!" he snapped.
'Wait… Behind her… Is that…' I moved in front of Chopper, my hackles pricking up. 'Woman, you'd better get out of there!'
"Enel is in the forest! Kamakiri is seriously injured and he charged me to tell you-"
"LAKI!" Wiper yelled in panic when he noticed the same thing I had. "DON'T COME CLOSER! GET AWAY FROM HERE!"
"Huh? What did you say!" she protested.
"GET AWAY!"
"You called?" an odd looking man asked from behind the woman.
"Enel…" she gasped as she turned around.
'That's the rumoured God…'
"Wait! Enel!" Wiper yelled as he ran forward and latched onto the wire wall of the cage, ignoring the spikes as they cut into his hands. "Don't do that! She's giving up the fight! Eneeeel!"
"Fool! Don't expect to survive if you're worrying about others!" an Enforcer laughed as he dove at Wiper, palm out.
"Laki! Don't do anything!" Wiper continued to yell. "Just run!"
The woman ignored him and pulled out her rifle, aiming it at his chest and pulling the trigger.
BANG
BANG
My ears rang with the sound of the bullets over the quiet landscape and I stiffened when they went straight through Enel's body and the holes in his chest closed up straight away. That shouldn't happen. Stupid, stupid, stupid woman! She'd better run right about now! Even if I wanted to help her, it's not like I could have gotten out of the cage to help her.
"A good Shandian is a dead Shandian, Wiper! Mieee!" the Enforcer baaed as he slammed his palm into Wiper's back, cutting a large slice in it. I flinched when Wiper didn't even do anything about it, and just ignored him while glaring at Enel and Laki. "Fool!"
"Wiper!" the woman gasped. "Enel is…"
Her words were cut off as Enel reached a hand out towards her and a sudden, bright flash shot down from the sky and enveloped them both. I cringed at the suddenness of it, turning my head away before I was blinded.
I finally looked back in time to see the poor woman falling to the ground, seemingly burnt all over her body.
'Oh my… What the hell was that! It looked like lighting… Is he really a God, or was that a Devil's Fruit? And that woman… She should have run… Damn that bastard to hell, even if he is a God! It doesn't give you the right to hurt someone so mercilessly like that!' I was torn between anger, nervousness, and concern.
"Yahahahahaha," Enel laughed.
"Enel…" Wiper hissed in a low voice.
"So, that's God?" Zoro asked himself.
'No, Mr. Hot Air,' I snarled under my breath, 'you don't need to fight him. We need to get Chopper seen by someone first! ...And the Shandian's and Amaya too.'
"Ehh!" the Enforcer that hit Wiper gasped. "Why didn't he fall down! Alright then! Let's attack him once more! Miee!"
Without a word Wiper reached back, grabbing the Enforcer's head and smashing it into the barbed wire cage.
"AHHHH!"
"You are more naïve than I'd have thought, Wiper," Enel finally spoke, addressing Wiper as the Enforcer hit the ground, twitching. "I make no distinctions among the warrior lambs who attack me, be it a woman or a man. Well then, take care."
Without another word, a zapping sound filled the air, stinging my ears as he disappeared into thin air.
"How terrifying the almighty God sure is!" Ohm commented, breaking the silence.
No one replied to him, instead focusing on the snake as it suddenly moved to closer to where they were all located.
"The snake…" both Zoro and Wiper muttered.
"I've got some business to do with your stomach!" Zoro declared and charged towards at.
At the same time, Wiper also moved towards the snake, both of them getting annoyed looks on their face when they noticed each other.
"Out of my way!" Wiper yelled, firing his cannon at Zoro, who dodged it and swiped his sword at Wiper.
"Holy! Attack!" Ohm ordered.
'Dammit! I. Want. To. Help. I feel so useless right now!' I hissed mentally, fidgeting nervously as my gaze flickered between Chopper and the fighters.
"WOOF!" Holy barked as he punched towards Wiper and Zoro, both of whom dodge it by flipping backwards away from the dog.
Ohm didn't give them a break, he swung his sword in Zoro's direction and it extended thanks to the help of the Iron Cloud Dial. Using his owns swords to deflect the attack, Zoro managed to come out unscathed.
"Axe Dial!" an Enforcer yelled, trying to hit Wiper in midair. Wiper was one step ahead on the Enforcers, kicking him either side of the head and sending him flying back into the ground.
"Only six men and three animals remaining!"
The sounds of fighting raged on all around me, everyone seeming to have a different opponent. Everyone seemed to want to off everyone else. It was now down to three men and three animals. Ohm, Wiper, Zoro, Holy, the giant snake, and myself. Zoro and Ohm were facing off right now from what I could tell. Wiper was dealing with Holy and the Giant Snake at the same time.
I wanted to help but I was given the job of guarding Chopper, and I wasn't about to fail at my job. I could trust Zoro to beat Ohm and get Nami and the others from the giant snake's stomach. I just had to keep myself alive and make sure that no more harm came to Chopper.
Everything was going fine, the sounds of fighting between Ohm and Zoro had stopped. As far as I could tell, Zoro had won. Thank goodness. Then Holy went quiet too, taking him out of the game. Now it was Wiper, Zoro, the snake and I left.
Suddenly, the ground under us started to shake like an earthquake was quivering under my feet.
'An earthquake… No! It couldn't be! We're on the clouds!' My head was jerking around the place, trying to see what was going on.
As if that wasn't bad enough, suddenly light seemed to explode from under my feet, blinding my vision of the situation. I quickly jumped forward, blindly snagging onto the back of Chopper's scruff as the ruins gave out from under us.
The light cleared quickly and I found my falling through the air, a bunch of ruins under me. Zoro, Wiper and the snake weren't too far away from us, and they were all in the same predicament.
"The ground is collapsing!" Zoro said.
'Your powers of deduction are amazing, Sherlock! But how do we fix this problem!' I gasped, trying to keep my hold on Chopper without hurting him.
"It's Enel, only he could so something like this!" Wiper informed us.
"Dammit!" Zoro spat out, using one of the ruins to jump off of and push himself towards Chopper and I. He quickly scooped me up under one of his arms and I suddenly became a bag again. Not that I was complaining, I wasn't so sure dogs could land on their feet like cats could. I hope Zoro knew how to stop us though.
"TSULALALALA!" the snake cried, falling with us.
'Zoro… The ground in coming closer…' I panicked as we fell headfirst towards the ground without stopping, pieces of ruins covering the air around us. If the fall didn't kill us, the ruins falling on us would. 'Oi… Zoro… ZORO! OHMYGODSABOVE!'
I closed my eyes, not being able to bear the sight of the ground coming closer and longer. I heard Zoro grit his teeth and swear under his breath. Everything seemed to happen in a rush and I couldn't tell up from down with my eyes closed. I felt myself get jerked to a rough stop thanks to Zoro's arm that was around my midsection. My grip on Chopper made it so that I didn't drop him, but he was jerked around more than he should have been.
I couldn't help but notice that we had survived the fall thanks to Zoro and just as I opened my eyes, something fell on top of us. Zoro managed to stop it with his one free arm, grunting as he did so. He then pushed it away from us with all the strength he could muster.
"Mr. Swordsman… Did you fall along with the rocks?" a familiar voice asked.
"I ALMOST DIED!" he yelled, smacking the rock with his free hand. "Damn rock!"
'We almost died!' I snapped, my heart beating erratically in my chest. 'I actually thought we were going to die for a second there…'
"A… A normal person would have died," the voice spoke up again.
"Oh, it's you!" Zoro acknowledged when we both looked up in time to see Robin. He finally let go of me, and my legs touch the ground shakily. I almost collapsed onto my butt thanks to the way my body was shaking, not quiet over the fact I had almost died. Again. How many times was that now? It sure as hell was not the first time. "Where are we?"
"This is the Golden City we were searching for," Robin explained. "However, there is no gold."
"Eh?"
Robin didn't get to answer because our attention was drawn by the snake as it suddenly started to dance around, throwing its' head back and forth. "TSULALALALA!"
'It sounds… Happy.' I marveled as I gently placed Chopper back on the ground by my paws.
Its happiness didn't last long as a jet of lightning came down from the sky to strike it without mercy.
"OH NO, NAMI!" Zoro gripped his head in worry.
'Shit!'
"Eh? Zoro? Robin! Mamori!" Nami suddenly called out, walking out from behind some rubble.
"WHY ARE YOU OVER THERE!" Zoro snapped. "When did you get out!"
"Why is Miss Navigator here?" Robin asked.
'Nami! You're okay!' I barked happily, throwing my head up in the air.
"…Never mind that," she dismissed. "I'm okay, but… Luffy is still in there."
'…That idiot. Always in the centre of the trouble,' I dropped my head, rolling my eyes.
"Huh! Why is he in there!" Zoro deadpanned. "How the heck did he even get in there!"
"I don't know! He was in there before me!" Nami snapped in reply.
"The King of the Sky was able to withstand my bazooka so many times, yet… One hit from Enel…" Wiper muttered, standing not too far from us. "What about Aisa?"
'The little girl didn't come out with Nami… She must be with Luffy,' I mumbled.
"ENEL!" Wiper yelled, spinning around firing his canon at the top of a ruin.
Enel merely jumped up in the air and pulled out a dial that created a ball of cloud for him to land on. While this was happening, Nami ran forward, grabbed Chopper and hide behind a piece of rubble. I love the little guy, but I was glad to give him over to someone else to look after him. I'm not all that good at sitting out of the action just to protect someone. I'd rather be in amongst it all.
I noticed movement out the side of eye and glanced to the side in time to see Gan Fall stand near us, Pierre missing for once.
"Yahahaha!" he laughed. "What did you do that for? That's no way to return the favour of bringing you back to your homeland! Yahaha! Anyway, the game isn't over yet."
"Game?"
"That's right. You and the others are all contestants of my little game," Enel lectured. "The goal of the game is simple…"
'I lost the game*,' I mumbled in a distracted manner, cursing Enel for ruining my winning streak. 'I was up to several months now and then you just made me remember it again! Dammit!'
"3 hours after the Shandians entered the island, how many people among the 81 contestants will survive?" he continued. "It's a survival game! Of course I am also a contestant. I even allowed some people to join the fun after the game already started. My prediction was that there would be six survivors. In three minutes, the three hour limit will be over. Thus, it's quite problematic that there are still seven survivors here. God's prediction can never be wrong! So… Who here will be eliminated? Will you do it yourselves or should I?"
*'The Game' is a mind game that is played by people all over the world. The object of the game is to forget about it for as long as you can. When you remember the game, you must say: "I lost the game" out loud. There are three simple rules to the game:
Rule 1: You are playing The Game.
You, along with everyone else in the world, always is, always has been, and always will be playing The Game. Neither awareness nor consent is required to play.
Rule 2: Every time you think about The Game, you lose.
Loss is temporary; as soon as you forget about The Game you stop losing. The objective of The Game is to forget that it exists. Good luck.
Rule 3: Loss of The Game must be announced.
Every time you think about The Game, and hence lose, you must say so. This is the only rule that can be broken, but do you really need to cheat?
Beta read by praeses (who lost the game multiple times while editing and reediting this chapter)