A/N: Sorry for the absence. Been wrapped around my other fics trying to update them as well. Also, if any of you have read the ones that I haven't updated in a long time but wish for one, send me an idea. Maybe that might help get the ball rolling again. And finally, I'm going to try using Japanese names instead of the English versions of attacks. I also ask if anyone would be willing to translate for me. Now, to the story.
The floating ruins surrounding Giant Jack was in utter madness. Ohm and his dog, Holy, were fighting against the other eight who had invaded his choice of battleground. Zoro, Wiper, Gan Fall and Pierre, and Braham were facing off against Ohm, leaving Holy to fight off Gin and the two other Shandian warriors.
"Tsk. Zoro gets all the fun, and I get an oversized mutt?" Gin groaned, though he was still grinning as he spun his tonfa at high speeds. Holy was growling at the three of them as they got ready to thrash him. "Alright Fido! Let's see if you can play dead!" With a thud, the dog was on it's back, paws in the air, tongue hanging from his mouth, and it's eyes replaced with pair of Xs. Gin and the others could only blink before Gin put a finger to his chin. "Sit up." And it did. "Roll over." And it did. "...beg?" Gin finished hesitantly, only for Holy to obey.
"Why is it listening to you?" one of the warriors asked, a sweatdrop on his forehead.
"Does it listen to anybody that gives it an order?" the other one asked, equally flabbergasted.
"HOLY! KILL THOSE INTRUDERS!" Ohm yelled as he jumped out of the way of another one of Wiper's attacks with the Burn Bazooka. Holy's eyes grew violent before he lashed out at the three, making them jump away.
"SIT!" Gin yelled, which Holy obeyed. "THIS IS PATHETIC!"
"HOLY! PUNCH!" And to their shock, the dog stood up on it's hind legs and began to throw punches at them.
"What kind of dog is this?!" Gin yelled in confusion.
"I'm a Sky Breeder." Ohm explained from behind him before jumping away when Gin swung his tonfa at him. "I've trained him, so he's far stronger than a normal dog."
"Still doesn't explain the walking!" Gin yelled just as Holy punched one of the warriors through the ruins, knocking him out.
"7 humans and 2 animals left." Ohm stated while adjusting his glasses before slashing his weapon out towards Zoro, who was running towards him.
"DIE, OHM!" Wiper yelled as he shot his bazooka at him, leaving a scorching trail on the ground after Ohm jumped away.
"It's useless. With my Mantra, none of you stand a chance." he said. "You can't run, nor hide, nor hurt me." He then looked off towards the edge of the ruins. "Just like that animal, death is all that awaits you."
"Animal?" Gin asked before turning to look where Ohm was looking. He blinked, then blunk again, then stared in horror. Lying on the ground, bloody scratches on his body, was a familiar doctor. "CHOPPER!"
"Chopper?" Zoro asked before following his view, his eyes widening as well. "CHOPPER!" Abandoning their fights, both Straw Hats raced towards their fallen crewmate.
"Careful." Ohm calmly warned before Zoro's foot hit a switch, sending something out of the wall to slash across his chest. The swordsman was now clutching his new would while gazing up at what had hit him. It looked like barbed wire, only it was milky white.
"What the heck is this?" he asked while Gin checked to see if Chopper was alive.
"It's iron cloud. It's light as a cloud, but as strong as iron." Ohm explained. He then started to to tell them how it can be shaped into various forms, such as barbed wire, or a sword that he favored.
"Tch! Stupid cloud!" Zoro growled as he got back on his feet. "Is Chopper alright?"
"He's unconscious, but he's alive." Gin answered after examining the little guy.
"Good." Zoro smiled before glaring at Ohm.
"I'll get him away from here, then help you take this guy and his pet down." Gin said as he picked Chopper up in his arms.
"I'm afraid I can't allow that. HOLY! DASH!" Ohm yelled. Holy, with amazing speed, knocked the other Shandian warrior out before running in a circle around the entire area. More iron cloud began sprouting after each step Holy took before encasing the entire in a giant cage.
"It seems that we're trapped." Gan Fall stated as he flew around on Pierre's back.
"Not like I was planning on running away." Zoro smirked while tying his bandana onto his head.
"We'll worry about getting out of here after taking you down!" Braham declared before shooting at Ohm, who blocked the bullets with a giant wall of iron cloud from his sword.
"What was that?" Gin asked as it changed back into it's usual sword form..
"I told you before. Iron cloud can change form. It's not a sword. It's cloud!" he yelled as he sent a fork towards Gin, who barely had time to dodge. He then changed it into a fan to try and swat them away, only for Zoro to block it with his blades.
"Move! He's mine!" Zoro yelled as he stared down Ohm.
"It matters not who I fight. The survival rate of my Ordeal of Iron is 0%." Ohm boasted.
"We'll just see about that!" Zoro challenged. Ohm only grinned as he ordered Holy to keep everyone away from the two of them to fight Zoro one-on-one, which the dog obeyed as he blocked Gan Fall from reaching his master. The two clashed, leaving Gin the opportunity to rush away with Chopper, hoping to give his friend a place to rest. His eyes widened when his next step resulted in a clicking sound, sending a string of iron barbed cloud at him. He moved so that it would miss Chopper, only to have it pierce his shoulder and pinning him to a wall.
"GAAAAHHHH!" he roared in pain as he struggled to stop himself from dropping Chopper to the ground. He glared down at his friend, then at the cloud before gritting his teeth and moving Chopper under his good arm. He then raised his injured arm to grasp the barbed wire with his hand, sending more pain throughout his shoulder, before finally gripping the cloud and twisting it with all he had. With another roar, he managed to break the iron cloud, causing it to dissipate and release him. He fell to the ground on his knees before placing his friend down and resting against the wall behind him. He panted as he clutched his arm while looking down at Chopper. "If you weren't in such a bad shape already...*huff...huff*...I'd beat your ass awake and have you bandage this."
Wiper was getting annoyed at Holy keeping him from defeating Ohm.
"Pesky animal! Out of my way!" he yelled as he kicked at Holy, who tried and failed to counter it with a punch. Holy stumbled as Wiper skated past him, his bazooka aimed at the final priest once more. Ohm didn't even turn his head as he slashed the iron cloud sword towards Wiper, sending another attack at him.
"Eisen WHIP!" Ohm cried out as Wiper dodged the attack, leaving him open to Zoro charging right at him.
"Three Sword Style!" he yelled as he lunged at him, his two blades behind the one in his mouth. "TIGER TRAP!"
"HOOK!" Ohm shouted as the end of the cloud turned into a hook before sinking into the ground. The cloud then began to retract, pulling him out of the way of Zoro's attack while sending him straight towards Wiper, who tried again to shoot him with his bazooka. Sadly, the attack was interrupted when Holy came out of nowhere and punched at him, forcing Wiper to jump away.
"It ends now for you, Ohm!" Gan Fall yelled as he charged towards Ohm while riding on Pierre.
"SPEAR!" Ohm yelled as the cloud shifted again before shooting up out from the ground right towards Gan Fall. Pierre flipped out before barely dodging the attack while Gan Fall remained calm despite Pierre nearly throwing him off.
"I told you before. It's useless. All you have coming to you is the sweet embrace of death." Ohm declared as he rested his weapon on his shouders. He glanced around at the angry faces of his opponents before he noticed Zoro simply standing there where he once was facing his direction. He seemed to be mumbling something about the human senses, good and evil, 36 something, and three different lifetimes or whatever. "What are you doing? Offering a prayer to God?"
"I don't believe in God." Zoro said loud enough through his clenched mouth.
The others silently watched as Zoro took a stance, his eyes focused solely on Ohm. "Regardless, it wouldn't save you anyway. This next attack shall pierce your heart!" he cried out before sending another attack speeding towards Zoro. Zoro didn't move at all as the attack got closer. Just as the attack was a few feet away, Zoro cried out and unleashed a new move of his.
"SANTOURYUU: HYAKUHACHI POUND HOU!" The attack streaked blue as it effortlessly cut through Ohm's iron cloud, soared across the battlefield, and struck the shocked Priest. Blood burst from his mouth as he fell to the ground, defeated. Holy slowly walked over to his master and nudged his body with his nose, whimpering for him to get up. When he didn't, he turned to growl at Zoro, but stopped when he felt something poking him in the head.
"Playing dead, or being dead." Braham said to the dog as he pressed the muzzle of his gun into the side of the dog's face. "Your choice." Holy only growled at the Shandian Warrior before falling over dramatically, his tongue hanging out.
"I've never seen a sword do something such as that before." Gan Fall said in awe as he gazed down at Zoro, who was busy tying his bandana back to his arm.
"It was my first attempt. Didn't truly know if it would work." Zoro answered with a smirk.
"Hmph. Anyway, now all four Priests have fallen." Wiper spoke up before staring up at the cage that trapped them all inside. "The only thing that matters now is escaping from this cage and taking Enel's life." As if speaking a magic word, the area around the cage light up with powerful electricity, causing the cloud holding the ruins to disappear and sending them all plummeting to the ground below.
The Going Merry was surrounded by anger, tension, and unending sadness after Pagaya's demise. Most of the conscious crewmates were staring at the hole in horror while Conis silently wept, with Valerie kneeling next to her trying to comfort her.
"Old man Pagaya." Johnny whispered in disbelief.
"He's...gone." Yosaku muttered, both men earning a slap from Alvida. They held their swollen cheeks with tears in their eyes while Alvida motioned towards Conis with her eyes, causing both men to look before slapping their mouths shut.
"Conis...I'm sorry." Valerie apologized, feeling useless as to not know how to comfort the woman. "I know how had it is to lose your father. I lost both my parents when I was younger-"
"I have to warn them." Conis mumbled as she slowly rose to her feet.
"Huh?" Valerie asked while they all looked at her. She wiped her eyes before glaring at the missing cliff that her father was murdered on.
"The man that my father and I were talking to earlier. That was an enforcer from before Enel's reign." Conis explained. "He said...he said Enel's planning to destroy everything!"
"WHAT?!" they all shouted at her.
"He's gonna destory everything?!" Johnny and Yosaku shouted in terrified unison.
"Shit! Forget the gold! We need the others to get back here and leave this island!" Alvida ordered.
"No!" Nami protested.
"Nami! Now's not the time to be thinking of treasure! Our lives matter more here!" Valerie snapped.
"For once, I don't care about treasure." Nami said, stunning a few of them as she pointed at the ship's cabin. "Our crew, my sister, were thrashed by Enel and his goons." She then stared at her fellow crewmates. "You remember what Luffy told us before, right? Where he was before?" They crew blinked before their eyes widened. The future! "If you understand, then we have nothing to worry about! All we need to do now is believe in Luffy!" The others nodded while Conis just looked at them in confusion. She looked over her shoulder when Yosaku put his hand on it, a determined smile on his face.
"Things might get messy for you if you go back to Angel Island by yourself." he explained.
"So we're gonna make sure they don't mess with you!" Johnny declared with a grin. Conis looked at them in shock before wiping her tears away and smiling.
"Thank you." she nodded. The three of them quickly got onto the bigger Waver before setting off towards Angel Island.
A/N: Not much, but the final battle's drawing closer.