(Hewitt POV)
This had to be the weirdest fucking fight he's ever been in...in his entire life.

Even if you disregard how Gedatsu glared at them in silence before the fight began (and it boggled his mind that apparently the guy forgot he needed to talk for his opponents to hear him), the fact that he wanted to explain how his powers worked to his enemies was just plain idiocy.

Who the fuck did that?

And then he proceeded to demonstrate his abilities by flinging his 'swamp cloud burger' at his own soldiers. Of course, exclamations of "Lord Gedatsu, you're supposed to attack your enemies!" and "How careless of me!" followed in quick succession. Hewitt would have called the man an incompetent fool if it weren't for one thing.

The man was terrifying.

The goat he hit with his swamp cloud burger struggled at first, clawing at the mass around his head, kicking with his legs to somehow get a breath of oxygen. Then his movements got weaker, slower though no less frantic. Until they just...stopped.

Nobody, and he means nobody moved in all that time, transfixed by the horror before them. All the while, this Gedatsu kept staring at them, once more forgetting to speak. Who knows what he internally monologued about.

He wanted to throttle the goats chanting "Lord Gedatsu, you're supposed to attack your enemies." Because that's what the man did. Attack his enemies. Which included Hewitt.

"Fuck!" That one was way to close. Pity for the guy behind him, but he should have gotten out of the way too. The weirdo, that's what Hewitt decided to call the weirdo, was like a machine. Feet planted firmly on the ground, tossing his burgers left and right, twisting his waist whenever someone tried to get behind him. Almost like those artillery turrets guarding the marine bases back home.

Not that Hewitt can get behind him even if he wanted to, because the fucking Shandians didn't give him shoes with milky dials! He did not want to step in the wrong place and die of asphyxiation in a swamp, thank you very much.

Ross was pretty much doing what Hewitt himself was, testing out a safe perimeter in which he could move while trying not to die. There wasn't much else he could do as he didn't even have a gun. No self-respecting chef used a gun, not unless he wished for his food to smell of gunpowder.

He dearly regretted not bringing a gun. Screw self-respect, at this rate he was going to die.

Hewitt's mental rant is interrupted by a pair of boots thrown haphazardly in his direction.

"Milky dial shoes. Their original owners don't need them more." Ross calls out, already fastening the laces on his own, two pairs of bare feet sticking out of the clouds nearby.

As if deciding that they need to be within arm's reach to hit him, the remaining Shandians under Genbo are closing in on the priest. He'll have less time to dodge their attacks, but the same is true for them. Hewitt wishes them luck, because they are going to need it, even if their enemy is a fucking weirdo.

And in true weirdo fashion, he's got his back turned to them.

"Lord Gedatsu! You are facing the wrong way!"

"How careless of me!"

Right, those goats have got to go.

(Ross POV)
Seems that Hewitt had the same idea he had. Take out the goats and Gedatsu has no one to point out his eccentricities. He wouldn't pin his hopes on it but maybe he'll forget to breathe or something?

Ross moves carefully, making a lot of effort to stay as unobtrusive as possible. Genbo and his men can fight the monster head on. Ross has no business doing so unless he has no choice. It was far better to snipe at him and erode his support to weaken him. The high casualty count amongst the Shandians was proof enough that Ross had the right of it.

Gedatsu had buried near a quarter of the Shandians into his swamp by the time Ross managed to hide himself behind a tree, near the backrow of the talking goats. Not ten meters from his position is Hewitt, crouched behind a rock. It's a good thing that everyone is focused on the walking incarnation of oddity that is Gedatsu. Though, how he is continuing to beat the living daylights out of his attackers while having his eyes rolled so far up in his head, is a mystery to Ross. His captain had mentioned that they had heightened reflexes, but this was ridiculous.

Ross nods at Hewitt and holds up three fingers. Two. One. Bursting from his cover, Ross quickly bull rushes the first goat, slamming his fist into its spine. By the time it's compatriots have registered his presence, Ross has swept another to the ground and Hewitt's knife is buried up the hilt in a third.

"You dare raise arms against the army of god?" Six guys, six dials. Ross isn't sure which dial they're pointing at him but whatever it is, he's not going to just stand around. He throws himself sideways as gashes upon up in the spot he had just occupied. Axe dials.

Another blast. And another. And another as Ross continues his spiral approach, slowly closing in on his targets. Bunched up as they are, there comes a time where not all of them have a good line of sight. And that's when Ross strikes. A single axe dial is easy enough to predict, though Ross still has to accept a long if superficial wound. The goat gets it worse.

Smashing the larynx, he grabs one goat and pushes, knocking the others down like dominoes. Leaping over the first gasping goat, Ross lands knee first on a second's head. He feels it giving way, even as he begins tussling on the ground with the third. Hopefully Hewitt has the other three covered.

(Hewitt POV)
Hewitt is panting by the time he's stabbed his final opponent through the heart. Right, what about Ross?

Limping over to where Ross was locked in a wrestling match, Hewitt just kicks the goat in the head until it goes still. And while Ross finishes it off, Hewitt takes a moment to look around.

Of the dozens of Shandians, there's only Genbo left standing. Standing being a very generous description, as he is bent over the weirdo's fist, eyes blank. The others? They've either run off like intelligent people or sunk into the clouds. There's not enough corpses around for anything else.

Both Ross and Hewitt freeze, hoping against hope that the monster will not notice them. He isn't turning around to face them, so maybe there's hope?

A minute passes, then two, then five. Apart from beginning to slide his arms across each other for some reason, the weirdo still refuses to face them. Hewitt's heart is hammering out a drum concert in his chest, which Hewitt is sure can be heard for miles.

Eight minutes. He dares not swallow, though his throat and mouth are parched and screaming in pain, desperate for any liquid relief.

Ten. And just as Hewitt thinks he can stand still no longer, the monster turns around.

"Screw this!" Hewitt screams, "I'm getting out of here!".

Ross also starts running, but before they can take their second step, they hear a thump behind them. By the third step, Hewitt chances a glance behind him, only to see the weirdo collapsed, face half buried in one of his own swamps.

This has got to be their chance. As if on a signal, both Ross and Hewitt dash back the way they've come and push the weirdo deeper down the hole, head first.

Not a moment too soon as the weirdo wakes up and begins to kick, one of them sending Ross careening away. Then for some inexplicable reason, the weirdo activates his shoes and…vanishes into the clouds.

Hewitt has to sit down, feeling a dizzyspell coming on. He isn't sure why they survived but it doesn't matter. They survived where a dozen others did not.

And when Ross starts laughing, so does Hewitt, crying and laughing hysterically.

"Uh, do you need a doctor?" Oh, isn't that the Strawhat's reindeer? "You're bleeding."

Oh, and so he was. When did that happen?

That's a lot of blood.

Maybe he should do somet…

"Hewitt!"

(Bellamy POV)
Shura's victorious look quickly transitions into confusion, the resistance he expected fails to materialise. In fact, it's so unexpected, that he loses his balance and pushes his entire arm through the hole he just made in my shirt.

Useful fact about being a 'spring man'. You can turn your chest into giant spring at a moment's notice. And in an extended state to boot. And springs, extended ones in particular, have a tendency to contract with the same force required to pry them apart. And a spring of the dimensions my torso turned into? That's a lot of fucking force.

Shura screams as his arm is snapped in an instant, going cross eyed from the pain. I add to it by slamming both of my cupped hands into his ears simultaneously, rupturing his eardrums. A moment later, he's gone completely limp.

"Captain!" Rivers shouts, hugging me from behind in a breach of protocol. I'll forgive it this time. "I knew you'd do it! I knew it!"

Cheers arise all around as the surviving Shandians celebrate our victory, before realizing just how many of their friends are lying prone on the ground. Too many.

While Kamakiri organizes a transport home for the wounded and the dead, I cuff Shura's hands and feet together. Then pull a few more cuffs out of my bag just to be safe.

"Rivers, are you keeping the bird?" I receive a nod in reply. "Can you trust it?" Another nod.

"We are both lovers of greater things. Anyone who loves North Blue Fruit Pops can be trusted."

"Yes, they are…an exclusive taste. I'll take your word for it." I say before nudging Shura with my foot, carefully watching the bird's face. It's completely neutral. "Bring this guy to the ship and lock him in the brig. Don't loosen his chains, and don't talk to him if he wakes up. I already searched him for anything dangerous so it shouldn't be too difficult. Can I trust you with this?"

"Yes, captain. You can rely on me."

"Good man." I reply, patting Rivers on the shoulder.

Soon an unconscious Shura is grasped in his former mount's talons while his former spot is occupied by Rivers who gives me a lazy salute.

"Where will you be headed, captain?"

"I've got a god to find."

(Muret POV)
It feels hopeless. What is she doing this for? As soon as she has finished emergency treatment, her patient is rushing back into the fight. Three minutes later, he is another body on the ground, waiting for a doctor.

Still, she moves on to the next, cleaning the wound and staunching the blood flow, applying stitches where needed. She has no anesthetic but Eddy's sword handle is good enough in preventing her patients from crushing their own teeth.

The next one has a broken arm, courtesy of the giant dog currently doing its best to sit on two Shandians. A quick pull and a jerk and the bone is set, at least as well as she can manage in the time she has. Two relatively straight branches and the scraps of his pants will have to do for a splint.

The warrior nods his thanks and resumes shooting his bazooka, another of her former patients lending him a hand in reloading it.

Dashing across some open ground, Muret silently bemoans the fact that she can't just leave. Pirate or not, criminal or not, she is a doctor.

Not much she can do for these two. She doesn't have the equipment to treat a ruptured abdomen nor is there anything she can do for a punctured lung. She offers them painkillers but the two men wave her off. They too know they're lost causes. Best to save what little supplies she has left for the living and not waste them on the dead.

Wyper is doing his best, trying to keep Ohm occupied but he's hard-pressed. Ohm is too much to handle, especially on his home ground.

But if they're having so much trouble against one priest, what chance did they think they had against their god?

Arrogance, Muret reflects, is the precursor of disaster. What is happening to the Shandians, could have easily happened to her crew. In fact, it could still happen. Sarquiss and his posturing, Lily and her bravado, Hewitt's jealousy, Ross' paranoia, Mani's…Maniness. All of them could lead to tragedy. They had to open their eyes and learn, lest they fall prey to their sins.

A severed arm, theoretically something she could reattach but not here, not now. She uses the last of her bandages on the stump and sends the warrior on his way.

There's nary a Shandian who doesn't have some sort of wound. At this rate Ohm was going to kill them all. What is she even doing, other than prolonging the inevitable?

She didn't want to die. There were so many things she wanted to do. So many…

"Thirty six pound cannon!"

(Bellamy POV)
Originally, I had been planning on reaching the giant beanstalk. Most important events had taken place somewhere nearby in the show, so it was a pretty good landmark as far as things went.

I didn't quite reach it, but I found something even better. Or better said, someone.

"I'm afraid trying to douse Enel in saltwater wouldn't work." Robin explains as we leisurely stroll through the lost city. "The weakness of devil fruit users isn't salt water per say. It's standing water, which includes lakes, baths and of course the ocean. What I attempted against Sir Crocodile was aimed at his specific elemental weakness, no more no less."

I sure am grateful I got to meet Robin. She had been one of my favorite characters in the show and she was very smart in person too. Imagine what I would have done, had I not run into her.

"Take this, Enel! Kukukuku. Now you are helpless and in my power!" ZZZZAAPPPP!

Yeah, that would have been painful. And I tell her as much.

She laughs. It's a very nice laugh. Clear and bright. Just judging from this, you wouldn't think that she was the same person who had broken the backs of Yama and his fifty divine soldiers for daring to damage the ruins.

She's a very scary lady, if you think about it. She only requires line of sight to grow her body parts anywhere, and near instantly too.

But she's stunning, even with dirt smudging her perfect skin.

"Do you think rubber gloves might work? Rubber is an insulator, which should counter lighting."

"Conceptually, it is plausible." Robin admits, tapping her chin in thought. "But I'm not sure. Logias are perhaps the least understood of all devil fruits despite being generally acknowledged as being the most powerful."

"Well, that's another idea down the drain." It's supposed to be a joke, but I don't know how it came out. Robin just gives me a wry smile in response.

"Like I said, I'm not sure. It might work, it might not. It's certainly worth a shot."

"I suppose. Say, Robin. Want to…"

"You have an interesting soul. I think I might keep you in a jar." A voice drawls from behind us. We whirl around but I already know what I'm going to see.

Enel floating in the air, leaning on his knee and looking completely bored.

Before I really know what I'm doing, my arms whip out, rubber clad fists zoning in on Enel. Both just pass straight through him, his head vanishing in a burst of sparks. It's only temporary as Enel just reforms his head moments later, still looking bored as ever.

"And what was that supposed to be?" I can detect the barest hints of annoyance in his voice, but then again, how annoyed can you get at a bug?

"Uhm…an experiment?"

Enel vanishes in a flash of light and then a voice whispers into my ear. "Then how about an experiment of my own?"

Very, it turns out.

"One-million-volt Vari."

Ah, crap.

Author's note:

Just to clarify, the one who lost an arm is not Muret but a Shandian warrior who Muret patched up.

As for why the gloves didn't work while Luffy's rubber body did, I think it was less about the material composition but more about the concept.

The concept of Luffy's fruit (rubber, insulator, counter to lighting) is what allowed him to hit Enel while normal rubber didn't have this conceptual power.