-Zoro's group-

Zoro, Nami, Robin, Johnny, Yosaku, and Valerie were travelling by foot near the river, with Zoro in the lead.

"So, where's God?" he asked.

"Being God, he's probably already watching us." Robin said.

"Wish he'd just save us the trouble and show himself." Zoro said while resting his hand on his swords.

"I'm fine with him staying where ever he is." Nami snapped. "None of you saw what I did!" Memories of the beam of light came to her mind before she dropped to her knees and began praying. "Oh, Merciful God! Please have mercy on our souls! Oh, and please let me find lots of treasure!"

"The ship's practically bursting and you pray for more?" Zoro asked while Johnny and Yosaku fell over.

"We're not getting anywhere just walking along the river." said Zoro as he stood at the edge looking at the other side. "Let's cross the river and check things out on the other side."

"Good idea." Robin said as everyone began to gather near the edge.

"But how are we gonna cross it?" Nami asked.

"I can get over easily." Valerie said with a smile.

"That doesn't answer my question." Nami muttered while glancing at her before the ground gave way under her foot, causing her to lose balance and fall towards the river. She flailed as a skyshark came up to eat her before it was kicked away by Zoro while he threw Nami away, with Robin sprouting arms to catch her.

"Nice catch!" Johnny said as he and Yosaku applauded.

"You okay Nami?" Valerie asked in worry.

"I refuse to cross that river!" she yelled. "I'm not gonna risk getting eaten by those skysharks!"

"Come on, Big Sis. What's an adventure without risks?" Yosaku asked.

"No means No!" Nami yelled at him. "If you guys want to go and get eaten, be my guest!"

"You should've just stayed on the ship if you were scared!" Zoro snapped.

"Hey," Robin said, interrupting their arguement. "The ground."

"What about the ground?" Valerie asked as Robin held felt the ground with her hand.

"It's soil." she said. The others soon realized that they were standing on ground, and not on cloud.

"She's got a point. It's not fluffy like before." Zoro said as he tapped the ground with his heel.

"How's that possible?" Valerie asked. "Isn't Sky Island made of Island Cloud?"

"It appears that there are many mysteries on this island." Robin said as they all looked around. "Definitely worth investigating."

-Luffy's group-

Luffy, Usopp, Grace, Sanji, and Nojiko were sailing down the Milky Road, their trip having taken a deadly turn as wooden spikes and giant blades started to try and kill them.

"TURN LEFT!"

"NO! TURN RIGHT!"

"JUST PADDLE THE SHIP!" Usopp, Grace, and Nojiko were steering and paddling while Sanji and Luffy deflected any projectile that got too close before a flying blade came at them.

"LUFFY! DO SOMETHING!" Usopp shrieked.

"Right!" Luffy said as he imbued his arms with haki and destroyed the blade. 'Got you this time!' The others sighed in relief as they continued to sail their ship down the Milky Road before coming up to a giant statue of a head with a hand over it's mouth, it's four fingers each leading down a different path.

"What is that thing?" Nojiko asked as Usopp read the words that were etched above the paths aloud.

"Ordeal of Swamp. Ordeal of Iron. Ordeal of String. Ordeal of Balls." he read.

"I'm guessing that those lead to one of the four Priests that we have to fight then." Sanji summed up.

"So they're giving us the choice of who we face first?" Grace asked.

"Yep." Luffy said with a smile.

"But which one do we take?" Usopp asked as his mind began to think of what they might face in each door. From drowning in a swamp, to being crushed by giant iron blocks, maybe dangling by a string high above the ground, or giant balls rolling over them.

"Either way, we have to pick one." Sanji said.

"Balls!" Luffy yelled.

"You sure?" Usopp asked.

"He's the captain, so it's an order." Nojiko said.

"You heard the lady. Balls." Sanji said.

"Alright." Usopp said as he steered the ship down the path to the Ordeal of Balls.

"I can't see anything." Grace said as Usopp shook with his eyes shut.

"Hey, you're piloting this thing. Don't close your eyes." Sanji said with a smirk. Usopp carefully opened his eyes before he started yelling that it didn't make a difference since it was dark before Luffy starting laughing.

"What's so funny?" Nojiko asked.

"Last time, I made a joke about how this could be like a game and that we might've picked the wrong door." Luffy said.

"WHAT?! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?!" Usopp yelled.

"And? What happened?" Grace asked.

"I said that if we picked the wrong door, we'd fall off of Sky Island!" Luffy laughed.

"FORGET THAT! JOKE OR NO JOKE, THAT'S NOT SOMETHING I WANNA GO THROUGH! WE'RE 10,000 METERS IN THE AIR!" Usopp yelled.

"Did you mean for it to be a joke?" Nojiko asked.

"No. I was actually serious." Luffy laughed.

"Alright, enough of that," Sanji said as light shown at the end of the tunnel. "We're not gonna fa-" His words died on his tongue as they exited the tunnel and were now hanging comically in the air. The Milky Road had taken a nosedive and disappeared beneath the clouds right below them. Luffy grinned while the others had different looks of shock and horror on their faces before they finally started to fall, with Usopp screaming out, "THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" Luckily, the fell right back onto the Milky Road below the cloud with a loud crash before sailing onwards.

"Are we...alive?" Grace asked as she fearfully looked around.

"I weally thought...we were fawing back to da bwue sea..." Usopp squeeked out as tears and snot ran down his pale face.

"YOU HAD TO SAY SOMETHING THAT STUPID!" Sanji yelled as he and Nojiko kicked and punched Luffy.

"THAT WAS FUN! I WANNA DO IT AGAIN!" Luffy laughed.

"WE DON'T!" Nojiko yelled before taking a deep breath to calm herself. "Anymore surprises you wanna tell us about?"

"No. The Ordeal will have enough of those." Luffy said as they sailed on. After awhile, they came across a strange sight. Giant white orbs were floating everywhere around them.

"Is this the ordeal?" Usopp asked.

"Doesn't look like much." Sanji said.

"Looks can be decieving." Nojiko said as Grace carefully reached out and gently poked an orb, making it float away.

"So, are one of those Priests supposed to be here?" she asked, making Usopp look around in worry.

"If he is, where is he?" Sanji asked.

"He's here." Luffy said. "And he's not someone to take lightly."

"Ho! Ho-Hoooo!" Everyone jumped and began to look around the area. "I'm so glad you chose my Ordeal." They all looked up to see a big fat man with long red hair and glasses with a wide brim yellow hat on his head, white body suit, and yellow shoes and gloves sitting on top of white orb. "Heso."

"That's a Priest?" Grace asked with a tilt of her head.

"He looks more like a dumpling." Nojiko said.

"Hey! Where are Nami and the others?!" Sanji yelled.

"The sacrifices? Who knows? They won't live long anyway. If they stay where they are, they'll die. If they leave, they'll still die. Ho-Ho-Hoooo!" said the man as he began to dance.

"Why is he dancing?" Usopp asked as a white orb came near them.

"Watch out!" Luffy yelled as Usopp looked at it, his nose poking into it. No sooner did that happen did it explode, engulfing them in smoke before it cleared.

"Do you like it?" the man asked. "They're called Surprise Clouds! You never know what's gonna pop out of them! Ho-Hooo!"

"If anything's happened to my sister or friends, I'll kill you myself!" Nojiko yelled as she waved the smoke away.

"I think you should be more worried about yourself. If you wanna continue onward, you'll have to defeat me first." said the round man before jumping off his cloud towards them.

"Here he comes!" Usopp yelled while hiding behind the mast. "Thrash him, Luffy!"

"Careful, this guy has Observation Haki." Luffy said as he wound up his arm.

"Oh? You're going to stretch." said the man with a smile. Luffy threw the punch, only for the round man to easily dodge before throwing his hand at Luffy's face. He lifted his other arm up to his face just as the man sent Luffy flying off the boat and into a tree.

"Wha?!" Sanji yelled as they looked at Luffy, who was shaking his head before glaring up at him.

"How'd he do that with a weak punch?!" Usopp asked in disbelief.

"Well, this isn't exactly a punch." said the man.

"Bastard! Collier-" Sanji yelled.

"An upper kick using the right foot." said the man as he moved to dodge.

"SHOOT! What?" Sanji said as his kick was dodged.

"The ability granted to those who practice the art...Mantra!" said the man.

'Crap! He can predict my moves!' Sanji thought before he was blasted to the ground.

"SANJI!" Usopp yelled while Nojiko and Grace stared at the man.

"You...!" Nojiko growled before reaching for her weapons.

"A shot aimed for my head, and a slash to my chest." said the man before he dodged her pistol and knife, then blasted her away.

"No way!" Usopp whimpered. "How's he hitting them all?"

"It's not a normal hit. Impact!" said the man before blasting Usopp away. "The shockwave attacks your body from the inside.

"C-c-colors Trap!" Grace stuttered.

"Sadness Blue." finished the man as he dodged Grace's paint and blasted her away, leaving all five of them on the ground.

"You guys alright?" Luffy asked.

"Ow." Grace whimpered as they all started to get up.

"He predicted...everything." Nojiko groaned.

"Yeah. He, the other Priests, and Enel all have Observation Haki." Luffy said as he placed his hat on his head.

"My name is Satori, and I'm one of the Priests who serve under our almighty God, Enel." said Satori as he danced on their boat. "I control the Vearth of the Lost Forest."

"Lost Forest?" Usopp wheezed out.

"Yes. That is the name of this forest." said Satori before he pushed the pedal on their boat, making it speed down the Milky Road. "And what's lost is your ship."

"HEY!" Usopp yelled as they watched their ship sail on.

"The ship shall sail onward down the Milky Road all the way to the only exit." Satori explained. "And to lose your ship means to lose the only way to the Sacrificial Altar. You have to board your ship before then to get out of here. But I highly doubt you'll be able to do so with all these Surprise Clouds and I blocking your path. Welcome to the forbidden holy land, Upper Yard! Ho! Ho-Hooo! The probability of surviving the Lost Forest is 10%. The Ordeal of Balls!"

"Only 10%?!" Usopp asked with a gulp.

"Don't worry," Luffy said with a grin as he looked at his friends. "We'll all survive and get back to our friends."

"Only if you do the fighting." Grace said. "None of us have Haki, so we can't touch the guy."

"Observation Haki can be bypassed if the user loses concentration." Luffy said, remembering his teachings from Rayleigh.

"I think I understand." Sanji said as he lit a cigarette. "So you're saying that if we somehow surprise him, he won't be able to predict our attacks."

"Yep. And if you're fast enough, it won't matter if he can see it coming since he can't dodge it." Luffy explained.

"That's great and all, but what about the-"

"Stopped it!" Luffy called from the boat. Everyone, including Satori, looked up at Luffy as he grinned from the boat.

"Huh?" said Satori as he looked at where he was to where he is. "How did you?" Luffy only laughed while Satori's thoughts raced. 'I didn't even see him move! A teleportation power of some sort?'

"Well, we don't have to worry about the ship." Nojiko said as they all looked up at Satori.

"Now all we have to do is take out fat boy and we can leave." Sanji said after exhaling some smoke.

-Back at the Ship-

Gin, Chopper, Vivi, Alvida, and Carue were slowly making make-shift repairs to the ship while talking to each other.

"Hey, when do you think Luffy and the others will get back?" Chopper asked in his Heavy Point while hammering a nail.

"Don't know. Why do you ask?" Alvida said.

"Well, just in case we get attacked." Chopper answered.

"The five of us can take care of them." Gin said with a few nails between his teeth.

"Five?" Chopper asked.

"There's five of us here." Gin said.

"Wait! Does that mean I have to fight?!" Chopper yelled.

"Of course you have to fight!" Gin yelled.

"But those Priests are supposed to be monsters!" Chopper argued.

"So are we!" Gin snapped.

"Okay, that's enough." Vivi calmly said as she got between the two of them before handing Chopper the whistle. "If things get too far out of control, use this to call the Knight of the Sky here to help."

"Yeah. Yeah! That's a great idea!" Chopper said as he hung the whistle around his neck. "Yosh! Now, let's fix our ship!" he said as he began to hammer away again. "I feel a lot better now!"

"What? You think we can't fight off those Priests?" Gin asked in annoyance.

"Whatever gets him to calm down." Alvida said from on deck. 'As long as it keeps them from yelling.'

"YEOW!" Chopper yelled as he hit his fingers with the hammer, which had fallen to the last step of the altar. "AH! The hammer! I gotta get it...but..."

"What's wrong now? Just walk down, grab the hammer, and get back." Gin said.

"But...it's really close to the water...and the skysharks." Chopper said in fear.

"If they get close, then kick their ass." Gin said like it was a boring chore.

"HOW CAN I FIGHT AGAINST A SKYSHARK?!" Chopper frantically yelled, which started up another screaming match between them.

'And here I thought I got them to calm down.' Vivi thought with a sigh.

A/N: And we'll stop there. Sorry this is taking forever. Life and such.