Chapter 12: God's Game
Disclaimer: I'm still only one super-villain scheme away from owning One Piece.
Previously:
Luffy and his crew land in Skypiea. It seems like heaven. It's not.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
In the sky, the moon was so bright that it shone like a second sun, luminous and ethereal all at once. It was enormous, bulbous lantern that highlighted all of Skypiea. The silver light gave the forest of giants an ethereal, unworldly sheen.
All the while, Enel stared down idly from above.
The floating island of the Upper Yard stretched out below him. The trees were overgrown and wild, while the woods echoed with the sounds of the beasts below. The forest had thrived in the weak atmosphere and bright light of the sky, and has grown so large across the generations that giants might have called it home. The animals of Upper Yard had grown equally monstrous, creating an island of endless war between predator and prey that was dangerous even to the most wary of explorers. Every inch of soil had been fertilized with the bones of the slain and washed a hundred times over by their blood.
Still, Enel mused quietly, the Skypieans worship this land. Don't they realize what this Vearth is? Such hypocrisy from these pacifists.
He could feel all of the prayers from Angel Island through his Mantra, and he saw the respect that even his own men had as they walked over the soil. Vearth, they called it. As much as they all feared and respected God Enel, all the residents of the sky had a very tender spot in their heart for Vearth.
It might have been hilarious, if it wasn't so… boring.
"What a disgrace…" Enel muttered under his breath, already starting to walk away. The God was in a foul mood, and had been for weeks now. Around him, his couriers and servants were flitting about frantically. They were eager to tend to his needs, but at the same time they were scared to even approach him. Normally, sitting on his throne and watching their frenzied worship in his courtyard gave Enel a certain satisfaction, he knew that he was superiority made flesh, divinity itself in the shape of a man, so seeing the prayers of the people – and sometimes even answering them – had been an amusing distraction, for a time.
Now, though, it was all just another reminder as to why he was in a bad mood.
God's Shrine rested on an island cloud in the centre of Upper Yard, supported by the titanic beanstalk that burst through the island. The cloud was soft under his bare feet as Enel strolled through his shrine. The buildings were smooth stone with open architecture, covered in drapes and blowing curtains. Musicians sat cross-legged around him; playing soothing, calm beats on harps. There were perhaps two dozen people here, all of them devoted to showering Enel with music, feeding him, bathing him, and worshipping him like the God that he was.
Vaguely, Enel recalled all those years ago when he first conquered Skypiea as God and claimed the Upper Yard for himself. He'd been younger then, more naïve, and he hadn't yet accepted his divine grace. At the time, he had laughed and believed that he could live comfortably on the fat of the sky, the God Shrine, for the rest of his life.
After all, he was God. They fed him fresh fruits and beautiful wine. His followers provided him with beautiful sculptures and testaments to his greatness. There was always a steady supply of nubile young women, eager to prove their devotion, while Enel had been young, lustful and all too eager to accept. He had gouged himself on food and drink, and tasted all of the pleasures that Skypiea had to offer to their divine lord.
But that was so long ago, Enel thought slowly, I have ascended beyond such mortal pleasures now.
The food and wine bored him, and the women lost their appeal. They were nothing but mortals, after all. They were like insects compared to him. The thought of willing flesh no longer enticed him, and the concept of a mortal getting so close to him was vaguely disgusting. Slowly, Enel had become to consider the very act of sex with contempt. It was practically bestiality.
He was God, after all.
Now, the sight of all his servants and devotees, which once brought him pleasure, caused his body to heart to shiver with repulsion, though of course he was too controlled to let his body so much as twitch. He had nothing against the Skypieans personally - they were all good servants (Enel had long since filtered out the bad ones, with prejudice). Rather, Enel despised the very concept of them. He hated them for even breathing.
What right did mortals have to stand so closely to God?
With a grunt, Enel stretched out over his throne, in the centre of the room. Scantily clad beautiful women tried to tempt him with grapes and wine, but Enel waved them away dismissively. It was becoming harder and harder for him to tolerate the lesser beings in his presence.
The whole shrine was silent, bowing respectfully as Enel glanced over them all with disdain. The musicians didn't dare miss a beat, but even without his Mantra, Enel could feel the fear flowing off them. And they were right to be scared - Enel could kill them all at a whim.
I shouldn't still be here, Enel scowled, I should have ascended to Fairy Vearth by now.
Up above in the sky, the moon beckoned.
That had always been the plan. He had conquered Skypiea as a means to an end; a way of constructing the Arc Maxim so he could ascend to his proper place amongst the stars. He should end all the pathetic beings around him, send the island crashing to the ground so that the rules of nature could be restored, and then rule from Fairy Vearth as God Supreme. He could maybe tolerate the most competent and devoted of his followers, but everyone else deserved to die by his hand.
That was his right.
Yet Enel didn't move. He could have burnt the shrine into ash in a blink of eye, and transformed all the insects into charred bones at any second. Arc Maxim was complete, and had been for a couple of weeks now. He was ready to ascend at any moment, but he still didn't move. He had been hesitating for weeks, and that had put him in a bad mood.
He told himself that there were still loose ends to tie up, but that wasn't true. Any loose ends would vanish when he destroyed Skypiea. He should have left by now.
But in truth, Enel just wanted to feel something again. He wanted to take one last sip of earthly pleasures before he left for good. He wanted his heartbeat to race, and he wanted the adrenaline to flow for the first time in years. Only then would he be satisfied to destroy Skypiea and make the journey to Endless Earth.
Every second that he was unfulfilled left him in a bad mood. His priests were amusing themselves by hunting down, competing and sacrificing heathens for his glory. Enel had no such outlet. Even the act of punishing heretics had become more like a chore than anything else.
God should not chore, Enel thought with disgust. Everything belonged to him, so why was he still so miserable.
Around him, his servants stared at the grounds blankly, knees bent, not daring to raise their heads. All those who served Enel for any stretch of time learnt the art of keeping their minds blank, so that no stray thoughts would trigger his Mantra. All of his devotees had blank, absentminded looks across their faces as they did their duties. Somehow, that annoyed Enel even more.
After a few moments, there were footsteps as a man dared to approach. A tall, slender man with a large bushy beard hiding his face, wearing the white acolyte robes and carrying a book under his arm, walked towards Enel slowly and respectfully.
"Your holiness," Gode bowed his head deeply. "How may I be of service?"
Gode was practically Enel's chief of staff. The man had been with Enel since Birka, and had taken it upon himself to organise Enel's other followers in order to ensure he stayed in favour between Enel's fickle mood swings. Gode was a smart man.
Enel scraped the arms of his throne with annoyance. He rested his feet up over the throne and leant back, supporting his chin with his hand lazily. Enel was a man in exceptional physique, with a washboards abs and well-toned muscles. His white blond hair was hidden underneath a white bandanna, while his earlobes had been stretched until they reached his chest, suspending golden earrings.
He used to have wings, but Enel had cut them off years ago and replaced them with four large Tomoe drums to distinguish himself from the angels.
"Who are you to meddle in the affairs of God?" Enel asked quietly, fiddling with the gold bracelets across his wrists.
Gode bowed so deeply that his beard brushed against the ground. "I live to serve, your holiness," he replied calmly, his impassive face not revealing a hint of fear. Through Mantra, Enel could feel that his mind was calm too, but there was anxiety around the edges.
"You live by my tolerance, only," Enel threatened silently. Around him, sparks crackled across the air. It was a testament to Gode's self-control that he didn't flinch. "Leave my sight."
The servant bowed quickly, before nearly running away without another sight. His devotees were used to Enel's childish boredom and entitlement, but his new foulness put them all on edge.
Enel scoffed slightly as he watched his servant run from him. He really wanted to kill them all and be done with it. Fairy Vearth was singing to him, and Enel longed to answer.
Lazily, Enel closed his eyes and slouched further in his chair. Enel focused his mind, and then his Mantra extended the presence of his awareness. The power of his spirit coalesced with the waves of electricity in his heart, intermingling and reinforcing and resonating, and suddenly his mind was flickering through the air all across Skypiea. He was looking down upon everything, feeling the 'voices' of the minds of the people.
Enel could feel the petty lives of the angels on Angel Island. How they ate, how they worked, how they slept. How they lived and died. He stared down at them like a schoolchild watching bugs crawling across the ground, longing to burn them away.
He could feel his priests and servants in Upper Yard, fulfilling their duties. He was mildly satisfied to feel that his priests had nothing but undying worship to him, yet the lesser Enforcers were dubious loyalty at best. Still, Enel didn't care enough about them to bother.
He could feel the minds of the animals of the forest; slow, dumb and primal. As far as Enel was concerned, the humans weren't much better.
If he really stretched himself, he could feel the edges of the minds of Shandorian raiders, wandering about on the White Sea. Unfortunately, they were too far away for Enel to get a fix on their location.
Enel yawned as he stretched his mind out further, lazily washing over the White White Sea until he began to feel sleepy. He was God, and this was his domain…
Suddenly, Enel opened his eyes and shot awake. He could feel new presences entering the White White Sea through Heaven's Gate, and he recognised the determination from their aura. There were hundreds of new minds, and it was the biggest group of intruders to Skypiea in recent memory.
Slowly, a large grin spread across Enel's face.
It was time to have some fun.
Two dark shadows lay on the ground, carefully hiding their shadows on the wasteland of cloud. The morning sun was only just rising in the distance, casting nearly horizontal shadows across the white, bumpy surface. Slowly, the two men crept forward, lying flat on the fluffy island cloud, until in the distance the shapes of Shandorian village came into view.
Both men wore white, loose-fitting robes, with strange pendants organs dangling across their ears and short horns protruding from their foreheads. A golden ring hung from a purple sash across their necks, and they wore grey gloves with an Axe Dial embedded into the palm. They were God's Enforcers, two of the most elite military in Skypiea. Normally, the sight of them sent Skypiean angels running with fear, but, this time, they were the ones hesitating.
The cloud wasteland was a barren and dangerous place. The Island and Sea Cloud practically meshed together, resulting in a surface that was treacherous and unstable. Dial-powered Jet Skis or Jet Boards were needed to cross the wasteland, and even then there were dangerous predators hunting beneath the White White Sea. Yet, by far, it was the Shandorians that were the biggest threat out here. God's domain ended at Upper Yard - this was the raider's territory.
In the distance, across the mounds and dips of the clouds, the sight of several cloth tipis stuck up into the sky, all colourfully decorated with patterns and animal hides. There was a small, smokeless fire burning in the centre of the village, and small figures flitted around it. Half a dozen wooden totem poles were stuck into the ground, carrying torches. The largest structure was a stone stature standing in front of one of the tents; a carving of a historical warrior with wild hair and a fierce expression staring towards Upper Yard.
The Shandia were nothing if not stubborn and adaptable. Enel would have destroyed them if he knew where they were, so instead the tribe had taken to roaming around the White White Sea, carrying their belongings on Jet Wavers as they travelled constantly and randomly. They only stayed stationary for a week at the most, and always out of the range of Enel's Mantra. The tribe had been drifting aimlessly for six years, always on the run.
The Shandorians couldn't farm and there wasn't enough hunting on the cloud wasteland to sustain them. Instead, they had done the only thing they were capable of; they became raiders. They raided Angel Beach, Upper Yard, and even the ships on the White Sea. The Shandia had declared war on the world, and hunted everything that wasn't them. Enel had pushed the tribe to the very edge, yet their warriors had refused to fall over. Shandia fought tooth and nail against anyone who wasn't them.
The two Enforcers were nervous even as they as they watched from half a mile away. They'd practically drained their Jet Ski Waver in coming this far, but they'd found their target.
After a couple of minutes watching, one of them finally spoke up, "This is far enough," he whispered quietly, bleating out the words. "We need to get back."
"Agreed," his companion bleated quickly. "God will reward us if we bring back their location."
With delicate care, they slowly started to turn around on the ground and started scuttling away. "God with smite the heathens into nothing," the Enforcer whispered. "And we will be the ones to -"
His voice turned quiet as a dark shadow fell over them, blocking out the sun. The two men could only gulp as they a figure dropped from the sky with Jet Skates. He was tall, muscular and bare-chested, covered in tribal tattoos with a Mohawk that followed into a segmented braid.
The raider glanced downwards at the two intruders with open disdain. "I didn't hear that…" The Shandorian warrior muttered darkly, his eyes glowing with fury as he took a deep breath of a small cigarillo. "… what exactly will you be the ones to do?"
There was no hesitation. In an instant, the Enforcers activating their Jet Wavers and were flying upwards into the sky with a hiss of air bursting from the Breath Dials. They twirled expertly in mid-air, before spinning their feet towards the sky and shooting downwards at the raider. The Enforcers thrust their gloved palms forward, and the air swirled as the Axe Dials lashed out with a near invisible blast of air, faster and more furious than the eye could follow.
The Shandorian waited until the very last second before even reacting. He never had a weapon, or even a shield, but he stood completely calm as the Enforcers barrelled downwards towards him. Then, just as the raider felt the brush of the Axe Dials against his skin, he blurred with speed.
A second later, the raider was thrusting his Jet Skates upwards and slamming his feet roughly into Enforcers' chins. Before they could even react, he wrapped his hands around each of their palms and started to squeeze.
"Answer me!" The raider bellowed with berserk fury. "What exactly are you going to do?!"
There was a sickening crunch as every bone in the Enforcers' hands started to crack. There were furious slashes of air, drawing blood across the raider's body as the Axe Dials went haywire, but the man didn't seem to care. The Enforcers started to scream as their hands were crushed into pieces.
"You think Enel is a God?" The raider demanded. The Enforcers were too busy screaming in agony to answer. There was a crunch as the shells of the Axe Dials split and shattered. The slashes across the raider's body stopped. "Does that mean if I kill you, your souls will go to see him? Do you think you could pass on a message?"
In his iron-hard grip, their hands felt sickeningly fragile, with bones like birds. Still, he didn't stop tightening his grip until their arms were almost ripped out of their sockets. The raider's eyes were glowing with undiluted fury.
"Hmm?" He growled. "How about we go find out?"
With a snap, the raider yanked both men towards him, and then gripped their necks with both hands. Between the momentum and force, their necks snapped like a pair of rotten wood sticks. Both corpses fell limply to the cloud.
Everything fell quiet. The raider glared downwards at their dead corpses, but the rage never stopped. His heart was pounding with pure indignation and fury.
"Damn you Enel…" He snarled wrathfully, staring up to the outline of the giant beanstalk in the distance. "You dare to come so close to my village…?"
Finally, the man reached a decision. He drew a small carving knife from his belt, and then crouched over the Enforcer's corpses. "Let's send a message…" The raider muttered under his breath, raising his knife to their necks.
The flesh and bone was hard, but it was no more difficult than cutting a rough piece of meat. Within seconds, the raider's knife was carving through the beefy necks, all the while the blood oozed madly. The white cloud was stained red, and then the raider was lifting up two severed heads by the floppy ears and swinging them by his side as he stomped away.
I will dump the bodies in the middle of Lovely Street, the raider thought hatefully, with the words 'OUR LAND' carved into their chests.
As for the heads, I'll return them to Enel personally. And then I'll take his.
As the raider returned to his village, there was a flurry of activity rushing to greet him. At the front of the crowd, a small girl in a fur dress and cap rushed over to him.
"Wiper!" The girl shouted happily. "Did you find the spies alright?"
"Oh yes, Aisa," Wiper replied in a sullen voice, holding up the two severed heads. "They were exactly where you said they'd be."
Instantly, Aisa's eyes widened in shock as she saw the bloody heads, and he face turned sickly. The girl dropped to her knees and collapsed to vomit next to a tipi. Around her, murmurs of shock spread through the tribe. A black-haired woman with two bangs and a tight purple tunic charged furiously at Wiper.
"What do you think you're doing?" Laki exclaimed angrily, motioning at the heads with shock. Around her, many of the villagers looked sick at the sight. The Shandia warriors were made of stronger stuff, and mostly just stared quietly.
"Making a statement!" Wiper snapped angrily, shoving the woman out of the way. "It's time they learnt the consequences of crossing us!"
"In front of Aisa?"Laki demanded, pointing at the vomiting girl. Tears were running down Aisa's face. The severed heads had a sunken, haunted look to them as they dangled from Wiper's bloody hands. "She's a twelve year old girl!"
"She's a warrior!" Wiper replied without hesitation. "She better toughen up quickly because they'll be a hell of a lot more severed heads before we retake our homeland!"
Laki gulped. The sight of the pure bloodthirsty rage in Wiper's eyes was frightening. The crowd parted to let her pass.
Laki was tall, young and extremely well-endowed. She was the beauty of the village. Her cleavage was nearly bursting out of her tunic, and her legs were strong, lean and long, but she was a good enough warrior to make any man think twice before acting inappropriately. Laki stood among the tribe's top five warriors, and had enough admiring glances that most of the tribe treat her like royalty.
But Wiper was the only man that never cared. He never even seemed to notice Laki's beauty, her curves, her sensuality. He treated her in the exact same way he treated Braham or Genbo, and Laki couldn't help feel slightly irritated by that. Wiper's whole life was obsessed with the war against Enel, and there was no space for anything else.
'Berserker' Wiper. He well and truly deserved his name, Laki thought quietly.
Out of the centre tipi, an old man with a grey beard and moustache and a wrinkled face stared at Wiper with a deep scowl. The Shandia Chief wore a long, heavy robe and a wolf's head as cowl, decorated with red feathers, and carried a heavy staff. Despite his age, he still stood up straight and walked with confidence as he approached Wiper.
"What are you doing, Wiper?" The chief asked with concern, staring at the decapitated heads. Around them, a small crowd was gathering. "We do not behead our opponents. We are not savages."
Wiper's voice was venomous. "They forced us out of our home and into this wasteland! Still they hunt us! They would slay us without hesitation! I am fighting a war to reclaim what is ours and you defend them?"
The chief's eyes widened in shock. "This is barbaric!"
"Good!" Wiper snapped. "They are barbarians!"
Quiet dropped over the village. For all Wiper's fury, he had never spoken back to the chief in this way before. He had always been respectful to the old man's leadership. All respect was gone now, and everyone was staring at the conflict that raging in the village.
It's because of Kamakiri, Laki realised. Kamakiri was one of Wiper's most trusted lieutenants, and perhaps the closed thing that Wiper had to a friend. Then Kamakiri went raiding in the White Sea and never returned. Wiper had been getting more and more stressed ever since.
It couldn't have come at a worse time. Two weeks ago, it had been the four hundredth anniversary of the day that they'd been forced out of the homeland. Most of the tribe never even noticed the day, but Wiper had. The berserker had been practically pacing around the village, raiding right up to the edge of Upper Yard, eager for an excuse to finally launch a full-scale assault. Yet no excuse came, and Wiper just became more and more frustrated.
He felt like he had failed his ancestors, Laki thought with sudden dread, and now his best friend was probably dead. Wiper was at his breaking point, and she really hoped that the chief didn't push him over.
It was a long time before the chief spoke again. "Return the heads to the bodies," the chief ordered quietly. There was pure steel in his voice. "Bury the corpses, and then pray to the ancestors for forgiveness."
Wiper's eyes burned in outrage. "Burial?" He choked. "They don't deserve burial, and they sure as well don't deserve my prayers!"
"Your chief has spoken!" The old man ordered angrily.
"YOU ARE NOT MY CHIEF!" Wiper bellowed with fury. The statement rang in the air. No one else in the village dared to even to breath. "YOU ARE WEAK, OLD MAN!"
The old man was practically trembling with outrage. He brushed his robe away, revealing the sword resting at his hip. For as old as the chief was, he was still a warrior of Shandia. "How dare you?"
"No," Wiper snarled. "How dare you? How dare you hold us back from retaking our homeland! You refuse to allow us to attack Upper Yard! You would have even made peace with the ex-God!"
"Gan Fall is not our enemy!"
"THEY ARE ALL OUR ENEMIES!"
Laki could feel her heart racing in her chest, but she didn't dare speak. The mood in the village was so tense it could explode at any second. This was a direct challenge to the chief's authority, and Wiper was in no mood to back down. This was about to go very, very badly…
After a few seconds, Braham spoke up. The large man had his eyes almost completely hidden by a hat, and his voice was firm. His hands were on the pistols on his belt. "Wiper for chief."
The simple statement sent ripples through the tribe. A few seconds later, Gendo stepped forward, and the fat warrior echoed the call, clutching his heavy cannon tightly.
The villagers looked shocked and scared at the prospect, but Wiper had the undying support of the Shandian warriors, and they held the real influence in the tribe. Shortly, the chant in support of Wiper was echoing through the cloud village and into the wasteland beyond. The villagers were too scared to oppose them. Laki was the only warrior that didn't speak up. Her fingers felt numb.
Wiper locked eyes with the chief determinedly. A flicker of nervousness passed through the old man's face as he faced down with the young raider. His hand clutched his sword tightly, but he didn't pull it out. Wiper was completely unarmed, without even his trademark bazooka, but still the berserker didn't look even mildly concerned. A challenge had been made. The chief could either fight to defend his position, or submit.
After what seemed like an eternity, the chief let go of his sword. The chief's staff dropped to the ground. His eyes relented. "No," he muttered so quietly it was barely audible. "I submit."
The old chief was no fool. The old man knew that he never stood a chance against Wiper. Wiper was Calgara's heir, and most certainly deserved that title.
The old man seemed to age twenty years as he scuttled away, letting his cowl drop to the ground. Wiper watched him go quietly, before bending over and picking up the staff, raising it over his head.
"Chief Wiper!" The victorious chanted vibrated through the village, and the warriors slammed their weapons on to the ground. The villagers looked scared, but the warriors were too stroked up to care. Braham and Gendo shouted louder than the rest.
Wiper looked like he was ready to explode. He was panting heavily, and his body was trembling as he raised the staff above his head. "Today!" Wiper proclaimed loudly. "We attack Upper Yard! We force the invaders out! We take the head of Enel!"
There were cheers of celebration. "Prepare every weapon and every fighting man!" Wiper promised loudly. "Today it ends!"
"Today, we ignite the light of Shandora!"
A few hours later, the village was still in frenzy. The news travelled like wildfire; Wiper was declaring an all-out war against Enel. This was not a raiding party anymore; Wiper had started an inferno. The village was heaving with raiders readying themselves for war.
Laki sat by Aisa's side, trying to calm the little girl who was still trembling. "Their 'voices' are so loud," Aisa muttered weakly. "How many of them are going to return?"
"It's going to be alright," Laki reassured her weakly, but she didn't believe it. The old chief had allowed Wiper to lead attacks against Enel, but had always kept enough warriors in reserve to protect the village and keep the future of Shandia safe. Wiper was risking everything on a full-scale assault.
Aisa's eyes were wide. The little girl had always suffered due to her ability, and it hurt Laki to see her so vulnerable. After a few minutes, Laki stood up and charged towards Wiper's tent. The newly elected Shandorian chief had refused to take the traditional chief's tipi, but instead locked himself in his old one and hadn't been seen since.
Laki was one of the few people brave enough to charge into Wiper's tent when he wanted to be alone. As Laki pushed through the curtain, she was a bit surprised to find Wiper sitting cross-legged on a stool, staring at his bazooka intently.
"What do you want?" Wiper asked irritably, not even glancing upwards.
"I want to know what you're doing," Laki demanded, hands on her hip. "Chief."
Wiper glanced up at her with irritation. "I'm going to honour my ancestors, reclaim our homeland, finish a war," he bit down tightly on his cigarillo. "… and kill a God."
"You're going to get a lot of people killed."
"That's kind of the point," Wiper retorted, stroking the barrel of his bazooka.
"You're going to get a lot Shandorians killed," Laki clarified, her face twisting with annoyance. "We've attacked Upper Yard before, it's never gone well before."
"This time is different."
"How?" She demanded.
"Because of me," Wiper grunted, his voice unwavering. "Because we won't give up until we win, and because I won't give up until we win."
Laki stared. "Is this about Kamakiri?" She said finally.
Wiper's eyes narrowed. "Kamakiri's dead." He said simply. Laki opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. "You know he's dead. If he was still alive, he would have returned by now. I don't know who killed him or why, but he's dead."
"So, this is revenge then?" Laki demanded, her voice becoming quiet.
"No," Wiper snarled. "This is about justice. Kamakiri and all the others lived and died without ever even stepping foot in Shandora. This about ensuring that no other Shandorian ever dies outside of our homeland. I will kill the bastards that murdered Kamakiri, but first I'm going to ensure the future of my people."
His voice was so determined that Laki felt chills running down her spine. She remembered those stories of the past that they were told as children; of the great and glorious Shandora nation and their ancestors. Wiper never just listened to those stories, he lived by them. Wiper was a man that existed solely for the cause.
"I really hope you know what you're doing," Laki muttered quietly.
Wiper didn't respond straight away. Laki nodded quietly and turned to leave. Before she reached the door, Wiper spoke up. "Prepare Aisa, I want her to come with us," he ordered finally.
Laki stiffened. "She's a child!"
"We could use her ability," Wiper growled. "They have Mantra, we need to use it too. I want you to stick by her side at all times, keep her safe."
"It's too dangerous."
"She's a warrior of Shandora. It's time she fights." Wiper ordered in a voice that left no room for discussion. "And you'll be there to protect her."
She relented. "Fine," Laki snarled, turning to stomp away.
"Also…" Wiper seemed to hesitate, his voice becoming softer. "Go see the old chief. I don't want anything to happen to him."
Laki paused and faced him again. He refused to meet her eyes. He kept on staring at his bazooka intently. The chief's staff lay on the other side of the tent. "You're not using it?" She asked quietly, motioning to the staff.
Wiper shrugged. "It's not my style," he muttered. He gave one last look at his Burn Bazooka, polished to perfection, before he dropped it dismissively onto the ground. "I want to show you something," he said, standing up slowly.
Wiper walked across the room and headed straight to a heavy chest. He unlocked with great care, before lifting out a large object with a grunt of effort. Laki gasped with shock.
"What is that?" She muttered breathlessly.
"Do you remember that Reject Dial I found a few weeks ago?" Wiper explaining, heaving the weapon over his shoulder. "I figured I could do a lot more with that Dial than just use it my hand."
Wiper had always had a talent with heavy weaponry and dials. Wiper had built Gendo's heavy cannon, and Wiper's Burn Bazooka was commonly considered a work of art. Still, this was something else entirely.
It was a bazooka only because no one had yet to invent a word for something greater. The weapon was almost six feet long, and so heavy that even Wiper's monstrous strength could barely lift it. It was a beast of polished black steel, covered in black spikes and an ammunition cartridge that hung behind Wiper's head. It was so brutishly large and powerful that it seemed to dwarf Wiper's body, and Laki could see hundreds of Dials covering every surface.
"It's made out fifty Impact Dials, seventy-five Breath Dials, and thirty Flame Dials," Wiper explained. "I've even worked in some Flash Dials, Axe Dials, a couple of Jet Dials, and one Reject Dial in the center. Every dial is designed to react with the others, they resonate in a line down the entire length of the barrel. They create an effect greater than the sum of the parts, using the Reject dial as the core catalyst. It weighs 450 kilograms, and it can destroy a small island."
Laki blinked, still staring dumbly at the enormous weapon. She had never seen so many Dials before in a single device - it wasn't a weapon, it was a devastation on a trigger held by a man who was more than half mad. Dials were a precious commodity in the sky, and with a jolt Laki realised that Wiper must have taken all of those Dials from men he had killed.
"And this…" Wiper continued with a smirk, lifting out another object. It was a large cannonball, coated in a blue sheen. "… this is a Seastone cannon ball. This is what makes this the weapon that's going to kill Enel."
Wiper was staring at his bazooka with a terrible smile, a teeth-baring grin that was nothing but jagged edges and malice. His eyes glinted red. "I call it the God-Slayer."
My father is a coward.
That was the only thing that Conis could think as she paced around the empty sitting room. In the guest bedrooms, the pirates were still asleep as the morning sun flitted through wafting blinds.
She had known it for a long time. Conis never liked to think about it, but deep down she knew that Pagaya was nothing but a coward. Her father would open their doors to any stranger, too scared to deny any request, even though he knew fine well what God required of them.
It was the duty of all Skypieans to serve God Enel. It was their duty to turn over all intruders over to God for judgement. That was what Conis had been taught her entire life; anyone who didn't worship Enel was deserved Judgement. Anyone who betrayed God's commandments or opposed his rule deserved death.
Conis didn't like it. She knew that a lot of people never liked it. Skypieans were naturally kind and compassionate to all people, including travelers, but they were scared of their God. No one dared to say it aloud, and people were hesitant to even think it to themselves, but it was the law.
Yet still, her father kept on inviting the intruders into their home, forcing Conis to smile and go along with it. And sooner or later, the White Berets would turn up and enforce justice. The intruders would refuse, and then Judgement would be required. After that, Conis would be forced to betray her guests and deliver them to Judgement, or else she risk Judgement on herself and everyone around her.
All the while, Pagaya would just quietly watch his daughter leading them to their deaths. He never talked about it, or took the responsibility himself, but he just watched her walk away. Later, Conis would be forced to live with the guilt that she had effectively killed those people herself. She would cry herself to sleep for weeks afterwards.
My father is coward, Conis thought bitterly, for what other reason could he have forced that duty onto me?
It had been happening more and more often now. Twice a month a new ship of criminals would wash up on their shore. Her 'duty' had devoured her. She would spent her time sitting on the beach, playing her harp, all the while wondering when she would be forced to kill the next group. There were must be dozen of corpses in Upper Yard that Conis had sent there.
Conis was a kind person. She wanted to warn them, she wanted to scream at them to run away. The thought that she would be responsible for their deaths haunted her.
The angel slowly looked at the sleeping bodies of her 'guests' through the open doorways, trying to blink back tears and stop her hand from trembling. At her feet, Su rubbed affectionately against her ankles. These pirates had been staying with them for two days now - much longer than anyone had ever done before. Normally, the White Berets arrived by now.
They were all nice people. That's what made it even worse. It might have been easy if they were bad people. Conis tried to hide behind a polite smile, but she couldn't help but enjoy their company. She had spent the whole night wide awake, thinking constantly about what had to be done.
Despite her better knowledge, Conis was actually beginning to like the pirates. She might begin to truly care for them. If this went on for much longer, then her resolution might break. She might do something stupid, and then she might bring God's wrath down on them all. Something had to be done.
My father is coward, Conis thought miserably, so I'm the one who has to do it.
As the sun started to rise higher, the pirates began to wake up. Robin was the first one awake, getting up early so that no one noticed which room she stepped out of. The dark-haired beauty smiled pleasantly at Conis as she passed, and Conis forced a brittle smile in return.
Shortly afterwards, the house became noisy as the others woke up. Zoro and Sanji started arguing as soon as they saw each other at the door, and instantly broke down in a petty quarrel about who had the worst night's sleep. Chopper was already squealing as Su chased him around the house, while Usopp and Carue ran after them to join in. No one but Conis noticed that Usopp was wearing the same clothes as he had last night.
Vivi and Nami woke up around the same time. Nami went to yell at Sanji and Zoro for being so loud, while Vivi dashed after Carue. The two girls were acting strangely wooden towards each other, Conis noted to herself.
Luffy was the last to wake. He yawned happily and grinned brightly as stepped out of his room. "That was a great nap!" He exclaimed cheerfully, turning to Conis. "This is a great house!"
Conis felt weirdly numb as she smiled back and muttered something in return. She was trying desperately to stop her hands from trembling. Luffy was already walking away, until Chopper crashed into him and begged the captain to save him from the 'vicious fox'. Sanji and Zoro were still arguing loudly over nothing in particular, but it was all good natured.
"Seriously, thank you so much for letting us stay," Nami said with appreciation, casting a disapproving look at the mess the men were making. "I promise that I'll make Usopp clean it all up before we leave."
"Hey!" Usopp shouted back before Conis. "Why me?"
"Isn't that your job?"
"No! I'm a sniper, not a cleaner!" Usopp shouted with outrage. Luffy was already giggling at him. "If you're so thankful, then why don't you pay her?"
"Don't suggest such silly things!" Nami snapped angrily, blushing slightly as she gripped her wallet. Sanji spun around between them, somehow managing to serenade Nami while yelling at Usopp at the same time. Meanwhile, Chopper had run to Robin as the cloud fox chased him playfully, and suddenly a dozen hands bloomed from the ground and started to tickle both Chopper and Su into submission.
Conis watched quietly, and felt the knot in her stomach tighten.
"Good morning, everyone," Conis heard the words come out of her mouth, but they felt strangely distant. "I've prepared breakfast for everyone. Please sit down."
"Ah!" Sanji sighed, bowing deeply as he approached Conis. "Your beauty and kindness burns a hole in my heart! Allow me to be the—"
With an exasperated sigh, Nami grabbed Sanji's ear and pulled the chef away. "Thank you so very much," Nami smiled, before turning around at the rest of the crew and screaming viciously. "Oi! Show some respect! We're in civilised company, jerks!"
If anything, the chaos grew louder. Conis stared with shock for a few minutes, before Vivi gently took her by the arm and pulled her away. "Don't worry," the princess offered quietly. "I'll help you with breakfast."
It was nearly fifteen minutes before the pirates calmed down, mostly due to of the delicious smell wafting from the kitchen. Luffy, Chopper, Usopp and even Carue were all slavering around the sitting room table like hungry puppies while Conis and Vivi carried in large plates of gently steaming Skypiean cuisine. Luffy was drooling with wide eyes as he watched the plates as if hypnotised, causing Robin to giggle quietly.
The meal looked delicious. It was a selection of fresh fish doused in creamy sauce, alongside fluffy bread and cut fruits. There was pumpkin soup, and a selection of pastries. Sanji looked amazed.
"You really are an angel…" Sanji muttered dreamily.
Usopp was the first to dart for a plate as Conis placed the meal on the table, but Sanji nearly stabbed his fork into his hand. The utensil slammed into the table and Usopp recoiled his limb in shock.
"Manners!" Sanji growled in a tone of voice that made everyone else pause. "Conis just cooked an incredible meal for us. You will give her the respect she deserves."
Conis had to drop the platter onto the table to stop her hands from trembling. Sanji stared over the pirates like an angry watchman, making sure that they behaved themselves. One by one, they all took a plate respectfully and waited until Conis sat down before touching it. The smell of delicious cloud fish was agonising.
Eventually, Conis dropped into her seat and gave a nervous smile. Sanji nodded, satisfied, and there was a battle of first-come-first-served as half the dishes seemed to instantly vanish into hungry mouths.
"So good!" Luffy sighed in pleasure through a mouthful of food. Sanji shot him a dark glance, and Luffy quickly swallowed the whole mouthful in a single guilty gulp.
The chef was quickly eating cutting through the fish as well, but he paused with every forkful, analysing the meal like an artist critiquing a masterpiece. "This is divine…" Sanji exhaled. "So many flavours! It tastes like cinnamon… garlic… and… hmm…"
His voice trailed off as highly sensitive taste buds analysed the fish. Next to Conis, Robin was politely cutting through the fish, but still taking large forkfuls. The archaeologist paused after the fourth forkful, suddenly looking worried. Luffy had already gulped this portion down, and everyone else was nearly halfway through.
Conis couldn't even meet their eyes. She had to hide her trembling hands under the table. She wasn't eating.
It was Sanji who realised first. As soon as he recognised the strange taste, his eyes widened in shock and he stared at Conis with utter disbelief. "Wait a second…" The chef murmured, his fork dropping from his hand. "Did you poison this…?"
The room went dead. Usopp's mouth plunged open and a lump of half eaten fish fell out. The tears were pouring from Conis' eyes and her hand shuddered more furiously than ever. Her heart constricted so tightly it felt like she was about to collapse.
"I'm so sorry…" Conis gasped, barely able to breathe. "I didn't have a choice…"
No one even had time to move before suddenly heavy objects burst through windows in a shower glass. Chairs crashed to the floor as the pirates stood upwards in shock, but within seconds there was a cloud of thick smoke filling the room.
The Flavour Dials scattered across the room, hissing as the sleeping gas streamed out of them. Only Conis recognised the Dials enough to hold her breath. For everyone else, between the tranquiliser in the fish and the sleeping gas, it was enough to knock everyone out. Sanji was still staring at Conis with disbelief as he collapsed onto the table, spilling the food onto the floor. The other bodies fell seconds later.
Strangely, it was Usopp that managed to stay awake the longest. The sniper stared at Conis with wide eyes while heavy footsteps charged in from outside the house. Conis was still crying heavily, her hands tightly over her mouth.
"Look after the Merry," Usopp begged Conis with a strained voice, just as the men burst through the door. "You've got to—"
Suddenly, the first of the Enforcers slammed his hand over Usopp's head. The marksman collapsed limply to the ground. Within seconds, the room was filled with men in white robes with short horns, all wearing gas masks over their mouths. Still, the sleeping gas was quickly drifting away through the open doors and windows.
Conis felt completely numb as she watched the Enforcers drag the pirates' unconscious bodies away. Slowly, an incredibly fat man appeared in the doorway, staring through the house critically. He was so obese he was almost round, too large to fit through the door, and his face was sunken into layers of fat. He wore a white toga with an orange sash, depicting his rank, and he stared at Vivi with beady, suspicious eyes.
Finally, the fat man spoke. "God thanks you for your loyalty," Commander Yama said simply, already turning away from the shell-shocked girl. His Enforcers had lifted the pirates over their backs and were carrying the unconscious bodies away. They even dragged the heavy body of Carue. "It has been noted."
In less than a minute, the Enforcers were already leaving, taking their new prisoners. Conis' living room was wrecked and messy. Still, she didn't even mouth. She barely even breathed.
"Confiscate their ship!" Yama ordered loudly from outside. "We shall make it a gift for God!"
As quickly as they arrived, the Enforcers vanished from Angel Island. Conis stood motionlessly in the wrecked room for a long time, before finally her knees buckled and she collapsed to the floor. The sound of her wailing tears could be heard throughout Angel Island, but all of her neighbours closed their windows and pretended not to hear.
Her father arrived a few hours later, back from whatever errand he had to run this time. Pagaya saw that the pirate ship was missing as he landed his Waver on the beach, and then walked solemnly up the stairs back to his house.
He stepped the broken door quietly, and looked at his ruined living room without a word. Conis was still sitting cross-legged on the floor; her eyes were red but she wasn't crying anymore.
A few seconds passed slowly. Finally, Pagaya spoke. For once, he didn't apologise. "What happened?" He asked in an impassive voice. "What did you do?"
"I did what I had to do," Conis muttered, refusing to even look at him.
A look of disapproval flashed across Pagaya's normally unreadable face. Still, he never said a word as he slowly walked past her and picked up a broom.
My father is a coward, Conis thought darkly.
Everything was dark and gloomy, but it was the roar of rushing water than that finally woke Sanji up. The chef blinked dizzily, trying to shake of the effects of the sleeping gas, just in time to see Usopp sitting across from him and waking up as well. Sanji could feel the air rushing by them.
There was a frantic quacking next to him. Sanji turned to sea Carue desperately flapping at them to wake up.
"Usopp?" Sanji murmured sleepily. "Carue? Where's Nami, Vivi and—"
There was a sudden crash that nearly caused them to capsize. Instantly, Carue was in Sanji's arms, the large duck desperately wrapped its wings around Sanji for support. They were on a small boat, being dragged by a fast current. Sanji was instantly awake, glancing to side to side. They were in a tunnel, but drifting through quickly. The boat was barely larger than a coffin, with no sail, and it was crashing roughly against the stone walls.
Sanji shoved Carue away into a pile of feathers and frightened squawking. Usopp was sitting up too.
"What's happening?" Usopp screamed loudly, the panic driving away any remaining tiredness. "Where are we? Where's everyone else? Where's the Merry?"
Sanji never had time to respond. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, and it was quickly approaching. The chef's eyes widened in shock. "Hold on to something!" He ordered.
Usopp was already clinging tightly on to the boat. A second later, the sunlight was blinding them. "You don't think that we're going to fa—"
The screams erupted from their throats as suddenly the ship was tumbling straight downwards over the waterfall. They were so high up that the scenery blurred, and they couldn't even make out any details as they crashed downwards. It was hard to see anything when your eyes were popping out of your skull.
By the time the ship crashed into a pool of Sea Cloud, Carue and Usopp were both holding each other for comfort. Sanji felt the small boat threaten to crack, but there was already another current carrying their small boat along a milky trail of cloud.
A huge forest swallowed them. The trees were ancient and overgrown, and large bubbles of Island Cloud floated across the air.
"That's actual soil!" Sanji realised dumbly, trying to get to grip with his surroundings. "What's with this forest? And where are the girls…?"
Usopp was so scared that his teeth were clattering. Carue and Usopp were both trying to hide behind eachother, but ended up just running in circles.
Slowly, a childish laugh echoed through the trees. "Welcome to my Ordeal of Balls. Ho, ho, hoooo! I am Satori of the Forest! You are facing God's Judgement!"
"Oi!" Sanji shouted angrily. A fat man with a bowling hat and large glasses appeared in the trees, dancing idly on the balls of floating cloud. "Where are the others? And more importantly, where are the women?"
"Oh they're facing the other Ordeals," Satori replied in a sing-song voice, still dancing by himself. "You should worry about yourselves! After all, if you can't beat me, you can't move forward!"
The fat man was laughing as he twirled to himself. His arms and legs were so short he looked like a ball. "Let me explain the rules!" He laughed. "The eight of you are being judged in pairs! We will only allow the final two to leave here alive!"
The priest's voice was practically gleeful. "If you want to survive, you've just got to last longer than the other six!"
"You bastard… !" Sanji growled. Usopp was still trembling with fear, but at least he was loading his slingshot. Carue was still running around in circles. Without warning, Sanji leapt out of the boat and span through the air, raising his leg in a vicious twirl that caused the air to hum.
"Ho ho!" Satori giggled lazily. "Rising right kick…"
Sanji's leg swished through nothing but air as Satori drifted out the way. Before Sanji could even react, the priest was thrusting his hand towards his hand towards Sanji's face. The air exploded, and suddenly the chef was sent flying backwards with a large explosion.
"I am one of the Almighty God Enel's priests!" Satori grinned widely. "Welcome to the forbidden holy land, Upper Yard. In the Lost Forest, the chance of survival is ten percent!"
He laughed twirling around and kicking a floating cloud towards the boat. Usopp and Carue dived out the way, just as the cloud exploded in a burst of flames. The ship kept on drifting away on the Milky Road. "This is the forest of illusion and surprise! It's the Ordeal of Balls!"
Sanji brushed off the dirt from his body, and slowly lit a cigarette. "I get it," the chef muttered, taking a deep breath before proclaiming loudly. "Nami, Vivi and Robin are waiting for me. This makes this an Ordeal of Love!"
There were a few seconds silence, followed by a dull thud as Usopp face-palmed.
The forest was dark and covered in smog. The ground was muddy and threatened to swallow them, while a dense fog hid everything from view. Thick vines hung from creepy tries, while the twisting roots covered the ground. In the darkness, there was the movement of creatures prowling the night, but the only sound was Chopper's teeth rattling heavily.
Next to him, Zoro lay over the ground. The swordsman was completely unresponsive as the reindeer shook him desperately. "ZORO!" Chopper squealed in a high pitched voice. "Wake up! Wake up! It's dark and swampy and there are weird things out there and I don't know what happened or where we are or where everyone's gone and I'm really -"
"Enough," Zoro groaned, pulling himself back to consciousness sleepily. Chopper sighed in relief. Zoro blinked twice before asking slowly. "Where are we?"
Chopper exploded. "Weren't you listening?! We're lost! Lost! And everyone's gone and I'm really, really—!"
"Ok, I get it," Zoro grumbled irritably, pulling himself up. "If you're a pirate, then act like it! Never show fear or doubt!"
He said it with such confidence that Chopper's eyes glowed with admiration. Zoro's so cool, Chopper thought with relief; thank god I'm with him. If I just follow Zoro then nothing bad could ever happen to me…
There were footsteps from in the gloom. A tall figure appeared on a nearby branch, staring down on the pair imposingly. Chopper squealed and hugged Zoro's leg, but the swordsman just glared. "So you're awake," the figure murmured in a dark and threatening voice. In the gloom, a bulging pair of eyes looked down on them. "It's time for the Ordeal of Swamp to begin."
Zoro's hand was on his blades. "Who are you?" He demanded coldly.
"I am Sky Boss Gedatsu," the voice drawled, revealing a tall man with dark skin, a purple suit, and a rasta-styled dreadlocks. "You are guilty of being unfaithful to God's ruling, and this is your trial. You are in the Bogs of Despair, with a survival rate of fifty percent."
"Fifty percent?" Zoro grinned evilly, unsheathing his swords slightly. "I like those odds. Why don't you come down and try them?"
Gedatsu shook his head. His whole posture was wrong; it looked like his arms were tangled in a weird knot, while his legs were crossed. "You misunderstand," Gedatsu drawled. His voice sounded like he was having trouble speaking, as if he were constantly biting his tongue. "This is the Ordeal of Swamp - It is not a combat trial. Instead, the bogs are filled with Swamp Clouds hidden by smog. Make a wrong move and you will fall and suffocate to death. To pass the Ordeal, you need only succeed in exiting the bogs, but the safe paths are few and treacherous."
With that, Gedatsu simply turned and walked away, instantly disappearing into the darkness. Zoro stared for a long time, motionless. Chopper was silent too.
"Wait a minute…" The doctor muttered finally, staring at Zoro incredulously with panicked eyes. "Oh no! That means this is a maze!"
A vein bulged on the swordsman's forehead. "Why are you looking at me like that?!" Zoro demanded angrily.
Nami stirred uncomfortably, her body aching against the hard stone ground. Someone was shaking her shoulder and shouting her name in a panicked whisper. Nami dropped out of her slumber like a stone, and landed roughly back in reality.
"Nami!" Vivi hissed. "Wake up!"
"… Huh?" Nami groaned, but then the memories of sleeping gas filling the room returned to her. The navigator jumped upwards, her body wincing with pain. "What happened—?"
"Shhh!" Vivi warned urgently. "Stay quiet."
The princess' eyes were bulging with fear. Nami was instantly alert and panicked, glancing at her environment. They were in a stone enclave, littered with old moss-covered ruins. The ground was barren and dirty, but it was real earth not Island Cloud. Nami stared in shock, before her head rose up to look at the horizon. The ancient ruins were slumped into a small hill, and in the distance an enormous beanstalk rose out of the ground and pierced into the clouds.
"Where are we?" Nami asked in hushed voice. "And what's happening?"
"I don't know," Vivi replied worriedly.
"Then why are we whispering?"
Vivi looked frightened. "Because I think there's someone else out there."
Nami gulped. They were surrounded by stone blocks, half-buried into the ground, and carved with intricate patterns and characters that had faded over time. There was an eerily spooky silence over the ruins. Slowly and unwillingly, Nami started to inch forward.
She stopped, and turned back to Vivi. "You know…" Nami muttered. "You should go first."
"What?" Vivi gasped. "Why me?"
"Because you have a Devil fruit power," Nami reasoned. "So you should go first."
Vivi bit her lip with frustration, staring at the navigator angrily. "Stop being a coward!" The princess growled, already storming away. "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about—"
She barely made it three steps outside in the open before suddenly something twanged underfoot. The next second, a metal spear of cloud launched out of the ground and pierced straight through Vivi. Nami squealed in shock. Vivi just stared downwards at the gaping hole in her chest, which was bleeding sand.
"So, you're finally up," A bored voice muttered from above. "Now the Ordeal of Iron can begin."
The navigator jumped around to see a muscular, bald man wearing large sunglasses, sitting cross-legged on top of a large stone tablet. He was carrying a massive sword with an extra-large hilt. "I am Skybreeder Ohm," the man intoned calmly. "And you should be grateful. Only by my judgement can you find peace in death, and die with an intact corpse."
Behind him, there was a bloodthirsty snarl as a huge animal took position behind him. Nami glimpsed sharp fangs and bloodshot eyes, before the navigator grabbed Vivi and started to run. A few steps later, she felt herself hit another pressure pad and heard a spring as another trap was triggered. Nami dived to the ground, but still the sharp iron wire bit into her shoulder deeply.
"Think on your sins," Ohm preached devotedly, drawing his blade as he jumped down from the stone tablet. "For you are in the Ruins of Penance, and there is no chance of survival."
Robin staggered as she pulled herself up. The tranquiliser was still messing her dizzy, but she was focusing quickly. Slowly, she managed to make out a wide clearing surrounded by tall, branchless trees. The archaeologist was instantly alert, looking around for enemies and falling into a defensive position.
There was a figure lying in the dirt next to her. Robin felt her heart skip.
"Luffy!" She shouted urgently, running to the captain's side. Her fingers went to his chest, and she felt pure relief as she realised he was still breathing. "Wake up, Luffy, you've got to get up…"
He was still deeply unconscious. Luffy had ate too much of the breakfast; he was too heavily sedated. Robin tried to shake him awake as she dragged his limp body for cover. Luffy stirred slightly, but didn't wake up.
"Ah! You're awake." An arrogant voice shouted from the treetops. Robin turned to see a man with a pointed moustache and an aviator hat appearing instantly in a sudden blur of wings. He was riding an enormous purple feathered bird with large wings, a sharpened beak and eager yellow eyes. They appeared faster than Robin's eyes could follow. The man scowled down at the pair, heaving up a heavy lance. "One of you is, anyways."
Robin's arms were crossed as she stood defensively over Luffy. The man frowned, while the huge bird flapped slowly to stay stationary in the air with each stroke of its huge wings.
"Really, I'm supposed to wait until you're both awake before I start the Ordeal," the man admitted slowly, musing to himself. "But if no one finds out… well…."
In a blur, the huge animal rocketed downwards. The man held tightly onto the bird's back, his lance in hand as he dived towards Robin. The archaeologist never had time to stop him. She had to leap out the way just as the lance burned a path through the air.
Fluidly, the huge bird was swooped in a wide arc and reversed direction. The rider was charging again, laughing furiously, while Robin was left defenceless. "I am Sky Rider Shura, and you facing the Ordeal of—"
Instantly, Luffy's eyes shot opened. There was no dizziness or uncertainty; just the primal knowledge that his friend was in danger and he had to move. In a blur, Luffy was in front of Robin protectively, his leg shooting upwards in a vicious kick. Shura avoided it, but barely, while the bird darted upwards with a mighty beat of wings.
"You're awake too. A pity," Shura laughed smugly, looking down on them while his bird stopped in mid-air. "It'd be better if you died in your sleep. Well then, allow me to explain the rules of God's judgem—"
He never even managed to finish as suddenly Luffy leapt up off the ground. Shura barely managed to block a fierce uppercut with his lance.
"You know, you could have let me finish," Shura muttered with irritation, activating the Heat Dial on his lance.
The weapon glowed red-hot, burning into Luffy's flesh while the pirate tried to hang on. Luffy didn't even register the pain.
"I don't care," Luffy snarled furiously, tightening his grip. "Tell me where my friends are or I'll rip you in half."
Next time: Everything gets violent - God starts moving, and the Ordeals heat up…