"WAIT! I GIVE UP!" cried an enforcer before having his face smashed in. Gin and Braham had walked into the middle of some enforcers fighting against the Shandians. The enforcers were on the offensive before two of the three were shot by Braham, leaving the last one to attacked by Gin.
"Tch. These guys are pests." Gin groaned in annoyance before looking back at the others. "How much further?"
"It's not far." said one of the warriors as they all looked in the distance at a giant plant. "Giant Jack is within sight."
"And at the top is God's shrine!"
"And God Enel, I presume?" Gin finished for them. "So we just climb that thing to get an audience with him?"
"Correct." Braham replied before they all sped off towards the beanstalk. They didn't get far though before they were stopped by another voice.
"HOLD IT!" Everyone was on edge as they looked for the source. "WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME?! PUT ME DOWN!"
"Wait a minute. I know that voice." Gin muttered.
"Up there!" one of the Shandians yelled as he pointed at the sky.
"The sky?" Gin said in confusion as he looked up. He noticed a giant Southbird flying by while carrying someone in it's talons. "...seriously?" Gin sighed as he recognized the voice as Zoro's.
"I SAID DROP ME, YOU STUPID BIRD!" Zoro yelled as he clung onto his backpack, which was being held onto by the Southbird. "I TOLD YOU BEFORE! THERE'S NO FOOD IN IT!"
"Isn't that the swordsman that ran off awhile ago?" Braham asked after recognizing him as well. Gin could do nothing but rub his face with his hand in irritation.
"That dumbass!" Gin growled before a white blur whizzed past his head, blew a man sized hole through a tree, and kept going. "What just happened?"
-On the Going Merry-
Everyone was safely traveling down the Milky Road towards the coast before Aisa suddenly gasped and fell to her knees.
"Aisa? What's wrong?" Nami asked her as the others looked at her.
"It's...God Enel!" she whispered.
"What about him?" Alvida asked with a raised eyebrow.
"For a moment, his voice disappeared." Aisa explained.
"Disappeared?" Valerie said in confusion. "Like all the others?"
"Yes. But his came back weaker, and on the other end of the island." she continued before looking down. "And...just before it disappeared, I heard three other voices near him. And one of them belongs to you Blue-Sea Dwellers. A very powerful voice."
"You mean the Straw Hats?" Conis asked before jumping when Johnny and Yosaku whooped in joy and began to dance arm in arm in a circle.
"I'm sorry, but is something wrong?" Pagaya asked them.
"It's gotta be the captain! There's no one else!" Johnny grinned.
"Yeah!" Yosaku added with an equally big grin.
"How does that make sense?" Valerie snapped.
"Lil' sis Aisa!" said Johnny while pointing a finger at the little girl. "You told us that you can hear everyone's voice on the island, right?"
"Uh, right." she nodded.
"And if a voice disappears, they've either been knocked out, or killed. Right?" Yosaku asked.
"Right." she nodded again.
"Well, if it came back, but weaker-"
"I think I understand." Alvida interrupted. "If it's weaker, then something weakened him."
"Or someone!" Johnny said while Yosaku nodded.
"And only Luffy could be strong enough to do something like that?" Nami asked.
"BINGO!" Johnny and Yosaku cheered while Conis and Pagaya were stunned.
"Or, it could take a bit out of Enel to warp around the island." Nami said after a moment of thinking, stopping the two swordsmen from celebrating.
"Ah...that could be true." they said as their mood deflated.
"That doesn't make sense." Aisa spoke up. "I've sense Enel go back and forth on Upper Yard before, and his voice never weakened or faded."
"Then, that really means..." Valerie began with a smile.
"SEE?! BIG BRO LUFFY CLOCKED THAT ENEL JERK! YAHOO!" the duo cheered.
"Good. After cooking two of our crewmates, he deserved a beating." Valerie smiled.
"And then some." Alvida added. As the crew cheered and smiled, Conis and Pagaya were left speechless.
'Someone was able to not only defy God Enel, but hurt him?!' Conis thought in disbelief. Her thoughts and all the cheering were interrupted when what sounded like someone shouting in the distance was heard. Their eyes turned to the sky when a bright light appeared in the distance, followed by a continuous barrage of light beams striking the ground. The sounds of explosions echoed for miles around, cancelling out all other noises for a few moments. The light soon faded as a tower of smoke rose from the strike zone, leaving everyone in utter terror and confusion.
"H-h-h-oly...sh-sh..." Johnny stuttered, unable to continue as he and Yosaku turned white as ghosts.
"Wh...what was that?!" Yosaku eeked out.
"God Enel!" Pagaya answered in a terrified voice.
"He did that?!" Alvida muttered in shock. As they all stared off in the distance, Valerie noticed that Aisa was on her knees again and hugging herself.
"Aisa? What's wrong now?" she asked the scared Shandian girl.
"The voices...are gone." she whispered as tears filled her eyes.
"Voices? Whose?" Valerie asked. Aisa didn't answer at first as she tried to hold herself together.
"Those strikes landed where Enel was a moment ago." Aisa began. "There were three left there, but now...now there's only one left. And it's leaving the area."
"I'm sorry, but if God Enel unleashed an attack like that, then I'm afraid that whoever's voice is gone likely wouldn't have survived." Pagaya spoke up.
"The voice...that left..." Aisa sniffled as tears ran down her face. "It's neither a Shandian...or a Blue-Sea Dweller!" That got everyone's attention.
"Wait? What?!" Valerie cried out.
"That can't be!" Alvida yelled.
"...liar."
"Maybe your haki is off after that blast?" Johnny suggested weakly.
"Yeah! Big bro did say something about haki not working after being distracted." Yosaku added.
"No. I can tell." Aisa answered.
"Liar."
"Oh dear." Pagaya sighed in defeat while Conis covered her mouth with wide eyes.
"Liar!" Everyone finally turned to Nami. Her entire body was trembling as tears fell from angry eyes. "LIAR!" she roared as she lifted Aisa by the front of her dress and brought her dangerously close to her face. "THERE'S NO WAY ANY OF MY CREW ARE GONE! NONE OF THEM ARE DEAD! ESPECIALLY NOT LUFFY!" she screamed at the terrified girl.
"Oi! Big Sis!" Johnny yelled as he and Yosaku pried Nami off of Aisa.
"DO YOU HEAR ME?! MY FRIENDS AREN'T ONES TO GET KILLED BY THAT SO CALLED 'GOD' ENEL! EVEN THE ONES THAT HE STRUCK HERE BEFORE ARE ALIVE, SO WHOEVER WAS HIT WITH THAT ATTACK ISN'T DEAD EITHER!" she continued to scream as she thrashed to get out of her friends grip.
"We don't believe they're dead either, but you need to calm down!" Yosaku yelled as they refused to let her go. "Don't take it out on Aisa!" Nami stopped thrashing, but her gaze only hardened at Aisa, who shrunk back and hid behind Conis in fear. She finally pulled herself away from Johnny and Yosaku before stomping her way into the ship, her bangs covering her eyes as she shook in place. She looked ready to burst before she fell against the wall and slid to the floor in silence. She didn't move at all from where she sat as she looked up at the bandaged forms of Nojiko, Sanji, and Usopp.
'Three of us have already fallen.' she thought as she remembered how God Enel barely did anything to take out Usopp and Sanji. Her mind then replayed her sister being thrown about before being blasted by the explosion. She began to shake as memories of seeing that strange person from yesterday begging her to let him on the Waver before a beam of light came from the sky and destroyed him. She couldn't stop herself as she envisioned that same light wiping out one of her friends that were still on Upper Yard. She finally yelled and slammed her fist into the wall before curling up on herself, her body shaking as tears fell from her eyes. 'Everyone...please! Be safe!'
"AAAAHHHHHH!"
Nami's eyes shot open before she ran back out on deck to see Aisa screaming, tears streaming down her face.
"What happened?!" Nami yelled as Aisa hugged herself.
"The voices...are all just disappearing...one-by-one!" she said in a shaky voice. Her mantra was following the runaway voice going throughout the island for other voices, only to leave after they've disappeared. "So many gone...so many more keep following!" she continued as she began to cry. "Everyone's voices..."
-In some ruins close to Giant Jack-
Ohm was sitting atop a pile of rubble while his oversized dog, Holy, was quietly napping next to him.
"Hmmm. Quite a crowd gathering here." he said as he stood up and unsheathed his blade. "Five will approach...NOW!" He then slashed at the ground, causing the blade to turn all wavy and head for Giant Jack just as a group people burst through the clouds. Most of them noticed and jumped out of the way in time, save for one who noticed too late and was slashed.
"OHM!" shouted Braham as he, Gin, and two other warriors landed on some nearby ruins.
"Who's this guy?" Gin asked. "Another priest?"
"Braham, one of Shandia's best warriors." Ohm stated as he adjusted his horned sunglasses. "And you are one of the Blue-Sea Dwellers that defeated Shura."
"If you mean that bird riding guy, then yeah." Gin answered with a glare. "Got a bone to pick with me?"
"Not at all. He was an eyesore anyway, what with his useless 'Ordeal of String' that he prided himself on." Ohm said as he looked back at Giant Jack. "Ah, another fool has arrived." No sooner had he said that did Wiper burst through the clouds.
"Hmm?" Wiper looked down to see his fellow friends and warriors, Gin, and Ohm below before jumping off the beanstalk and landing on a higher ruin.
"Ohm!" he snarled as he glared at him.
"Ah, the Shandian warrior, Wiper." Ohm said as he looked at him. "So many fools gathering in one place. And? Why have you come here?"
"I'm here for Enel's head!" Wiper snarled as he cocked his bazooka.
"I'm afraid I can't allow that." Ohm stated while pointing his blade at Wiper. "God's Shrine is no place for someone like you."
"Go on ahead, Wiper!" Braham yelled as he pointed his guns at Ohm. "We'll take care of him!"
"There's no point." came a new voice. Everyone turned to see Gan Fall and Pierre on mores ruins.
"GAN FALL!" Wiper roared. "Have you come back to reclaim your title as God?!"
"I have been to God's Shrine." Gan Fall spoke, shocking a few of them. "It has been utterly destroyed."
"What did you say?" Braham questioned.
"It is Enel's declaration that he no longer intends to return there." Gan Fall continued. He would have gone on, but the sound of something falling out of the sky and hitting the ground got everyone's attention.
"That...fucking bird!" Zoro grumbled as he tossed some rubble off of himself. "I tried to be peaceful, but no! You just would not let go of my bag!"
"Zoro?! Where'd you come from?" Gin asked as he looked between him and the sky.
"A stupid bird tried to steal my bag for a meal! I finally got fed up with him and started pulling his feathers until he let go!" Zoro explained as he held up some giant feathers in his hand. He finally noticed the situation before unsheathing his sword again. "Huh. Looks like I interrupted you guys. Well, no matter. Hey!" he yelled to everyone. "Hand over the gold!"
"I don't think anything less than force will make them listen." Gin told him as he began spinning his tonfa, ready for the impending battle
"What has Enel done to my army?!" Gan Fall demanded.
"Friend or foe, anyone who gets between me and Enel pays!" Wiper declared, still slightly on guard around the Blue-Sea Dweller.
"We're right behind you, Wiper!" Braham stated while the other two Shandians roared in agreement.
"As much as I admire your skill in getting here, I'm afraid none of you will be leaving alive!" Ohm said in a dark voice while his overgrown dog, Holy, began to growl at the enemies around him. The tension was mounting as each group was ready to fight for what they wanted. Be it gold, land, answers, or to 'save' everyone, they were determined to leave this battlefield victorious.
A/N: I hope I did right by this chapter. I know some parts are the same, but some character growth required canon. Don't kill me! Also, in case some might be confused, the fight at the beginning of the chapter was a few moments before Luffy and Enel's encounter last chapter.