As the Strawhats made their way through the thick undergrowth of Upper Yard, Luffy couldn't help but feel amused. They were in the middle of a philosophical debate, something that didn't happen often. It had started when Chopper asked an innocent question: 'Is this place the real Heaven?' And from there, it had escalated quite satisfactorily.
"Like I said, there's no this place is actually Heaven!" Nami argued. "I could just as easily put a sign up over Cocoyasi Village that says the same thing, but that wouldn't make it true."
"I agree with Nami-san!" Sanji announced with ease of practice.
"To be fair, Navigator-san, your home island isn't floating on clouds 10,000 meters above the sea," Robin said with a smile.
Nami glared at Robin, knowing full well that she didn't think this place was the Heaven either.
"I agree with Robin-chan!" came Sanji's predictable response.
"Hey, you can't agree with both of them!" Usopp sputtered. "Not when they have differing opinions! And really, we shouldn't be talking about this! Enel could rain lightning down on us at any time!"
It was a valid point. The only reason they were willing to have this discussion was that they had Luffy and Zoro on lightning patrol. Once they had been assured that Enel wasn't even bothering at this point, the debate had dragged on for the next 5 minutes, in which Usopp would argue that Skypiea was Heaven, most likely so he could brag about having gone there later, and Nami, ever the voice of reason, would argue the opposite, while Robin would play devil's advocate in order to keep the debate going, most likely because she found it funny, and Sanji would agree with whatever Nami and Robin said.
"Look, all I'm saying is that we already know we're not the first Blue Sea dwellers to visit Skypiea," Usopp stated. "Who's to say that the name 'Heaven' didn't come from here originally? For all we know, this could have been the inspiration for it. That would mean that for all intents and purposes, this place is Heaven."
Chopper listened on curiously. What did I start?
"I guess it's possible," Nami conceded grudgingly. "But it still seems unlikely."
"Luffy, Zoro, what do you guys think?" Usopp asked. The two hadn't said a word yet.
"Don't care," they replied in unison.
"Really?" Usopp asked. "You guys aren't curious at all?"
"I don't believe in God, so I couldn't care less," Zoro stated.
The rumble of thunder overhead either went unnoticed or was ignored.
"What about you, Luffy? You always seemed like the type to believe things for no reason," Nami said with a smirk.
Luffy grinned. "I don't pretend to know either way," he replied. "If he exists, that's fine with me, but if he doesn't, I won't lose sleep over it. I'll just do my own thing like always."
"That's an interesting viewpoint, Captain-san," Robin said. "So you're an Agnostic?"
"A what-now?"
"Are you guys so captivated by your meaningless conversation that you wouldn't notice a giant snake sneaking up on you?" Zoro drawled.
The Strawhats stilled. Luffy's grin only widened as the others looked around cautiously. Sanji reached out with his Observation Haki, and the cigarette fell from his mouth. "Son of a..."
"Oh, dear," Robin commented as one of the oversized vines nearby started slithering. Soon, a colossal python was looming over them, jaw wide open.
"Scatter!" Luffy shouted, before grabbing Nami and leaping out of the way. Usopp was unceremoniously kicked out of the way by Zoro, while Sanji and Robin leapt aside and Chopper scurried away in Walk Point.
The crew looked back and shivered. The snake's fangs had left a huge indent in the tree behind them, which continued to erode from its venom.
"That could be a problem," Robin stated. "I hope none of us get eaten...or skewered...or liquified."
"Stop it!" Usopp shouted. "Come on, we need to retreat!"
Luffy had other ideas as he walked straight up to the python and looked it in the eye.
"Hey, snake!"
The snake's eyes narrowed as it hissed at Luffy.
"Isn't he going to use Conqueror's Haki?" Usopp whispered. "That thing could really eat him alive!"
But Luffy's next words stopped the snake short. "We're looking for a golden bell! Have you seen it?"
Before the Strawhats could fully comprehend the idiocy of the question, they were taken aback by the snake's reaction. It was still staring at Luffy, but its eyes were wide. It seemed to have a faraway look in its eyes.
Luffy smirked. "You're looking for it too, right? If you want to find it, go wait for us under the giant beanstalk. I assume you can find your way there."
The snake evidently understood what Luffy was talking about better than the Strawhats did. It looked at Luffy suspiciously for a little while longer before raising its head to the sky and letting out an unusual hissing noise.
"Ssuuuulaalaalaalaaaa!" it hissed loudly, almost as if it was trying to say something, or perhaps imitate something that had been said. Immediately afterwards, it turned around and started slithering rather quickly towards the Strawhats' destination.
"What was that all about?" Nami asked.
"Tell you later," Luffy replied, still grinning.
Robin's suspicion that the captain knew something about this place that the rest of them didn't was now solidified, but she let it go for the moment.
As they made their way deeper into the forest, the crew began to hear the unmistakable sounds of conflict faroff in the distance.
"It sounds like there's a battle going on here," Sanji commented.
"But how? This is Upper Yard. Aren't we supposed to be the only intruders?" Usopp asked nervously.
Zoro closed his eyes for a moment. "The status quo has changed. There are around 80 people on the island at the moment. They're all fighting. Some of them are already down for the count." He opened his eyes. "It's war."
"War?" Robin repeated. "So it's a rebellion against Enel's reign?"
"It's unlikely that all of Skypiea would accept his rule," Zoro replied.
"You're right. Most likely, the conflict was already in the making. It could be that our presence here has galvanized the resistance," Robin speculated.
"I don't think it was just us," Luffy spoke up, drawing the crew's attention. His brow furrowed. "Do you guys remember what that weird knight guy said? There was another group of Blue Sea dwellers that caused trouble here recently. And now, we come along and take down a priest. It kind of mucks up Enel's image, don't you think?"
Sanji nodded. "It makes him look vulnerable. That's why they're acting now. Whoever showed up before us must have been a Grand Line pirate. Our own success aside, they were no pushovers if they did so much damage."
Luffy's frown deepened. And whoever it was, they weren't here last time. I have a bad feeling. I hope I'm wrong. It couldn't be...
He looked at Zoro, who met his eyes for a brief second. His countenance was nearly as grim. This did not bode well.
"Hey, we've got incoming," Sanji said.
Luffy snapped back to attention. There was another aura approaching them. Relatively weak, but stronger than the last two. He smirked.
"So, who gets this one?"
Chopper stood frozen in shock. Oh, no. Did he just win? That's not fair! I have hooves! I can only choose scissors! How did I win!?
"Looks like it's all you, Chopper," Luffy said, grinning. "Give him hell!"
Chopper nervously turned toward the priest Gedatsu, who had been watching them in bemusement.
"What is this? You're choosing a tanuki to fight me? Why do I feel that you're not taking me seriously?"
"Shows what you know! He's not a tanuki!" Luffy retorted. "He's half-reindeer half-tanuki half-human!"
"Shut up, Luffy!" Chopper cried hysterically.
"Well, not that it matters. If you so wish, I will take you all down one at a time!"
"Don't hold back, Chopper! You can do this," Luffy encouraged. "Just use the Rumble Ball and do what you usually do. You'll be fine."
Chopper gulped and nodded. He held up a pill, and with barely a moment's hesitation, popped it into his mouth. "Rumble."
"What's this? Eating during a fight? How careless," Gedatsu admonished.
Chopper didn't bother to respond, knowing his time limit had already started. He quickly approached the priest in Walk Point. Gedatsu's eyes widened at the unexpected burst of speed but managed to dodge thanks to his Mantra, floating above the ground using the Dials on his feet. Chopper went into Jumping Point and pursued him, but the priest managed to propel himself out of the way again. His increased mobility in tandem with his mantra was proving a problem, so Chopper landed on the ground and went into Brain Point as his opponent was retreating. Scanning Gedatsu for weaknesses, he quickly came up with a plan before the priest capitalized on the opportunity.
Gedatsu's hands started leaking a milky white substance which formed a cloud. He hurled it at Chopper, who went back into Jumping Point and leapt out of the way. Although it was just cloud, he didn't know what it was supposed to do, and decided to play it safe. Before he could get close though, Gedatsu followed up using the jet dial on his elbow.
"Jet Punch!"
Chopper was barely able to dodge, even in Jumping Point, and looked on in worry as the attack blew a hole into a nearby boulder. Gauging the strength of the attack, he decided to take his chances. As the priest turned around and used another Jet Punch, Chopper launched himself forward in Jumping Point before quickly switching to Arm Point and meeting the blow head on.
"Kokutei, Roseo!"
The clash resulted in both combatants being blown off their feet. Chopper went into Guard Point to cushion the impact, but Gedatsu took the full brunt of it as he collided with a tree. Chopper wasted no time and went back into Walk Point. Hoisting himself back onto his feet, Gedatsu tried to propel himself back into the air, but Chopper jumped after him, switching into Heavy Point and grabbing him by the feet. He pulled the Dials off of his shoes, effectively grounding him, and they both plummeted to earth.
As Chopper rolled away, Gedatsu slowly got back to his feet. He used another Jet Punch, but Chopper went into Horn Point and caught the blow in his antlers. Digging his hooves into the ground and gritting his teeth through the pain, Chopper slowed to a stop and bucked, sending Gedatsu flying through the air to collide painfully with the ground. Before he could get up again, Chopper capitalized on the opportunity and ended the fight with another Kokutei, Roseo. Confident the priest wouldn't get up again, Chopper let out a heavy breath and turned back towards his comrades, who all congratulated him.
Luffy smiled to himself. Everyone's training was really paying off. They would have to keep this up.
Ohm scowled. Gedatsu's voice had just fallen silent. The idiot had personally volunteered to subdue the seven Blue Sea dwellers whose voices now continued to approach Giant Jack, and now he had been taken down, easily in fact, if the lack of any other voices falling quiet was any indication. It was one thing to be the only competent priest left, but to be the only priest left period? At times he actually missed Shura, if only for his success rate, and that was just worrying. He'd always hated that string bastard, but at least he got the job done a good 97% of the time. It wasn't quite up to par with his own 100%, but it was a level of reliability he didn't make a habit of expecting from the other two. Well, no matter. He was the only one left, which meant none of their enemies would be escaping from this point on.
Enel may have been omnipotent, but he was far too lax at times in Ohm's opinion. He didn't really care for avenging his fellow priest. The miserable being was better off dead than continuing his wretched existence, as were all human mortals. But letting that crew of insolent misfits escape just because their foolhardy leader had survived a couple dozen half-assed El Thors? The stubborn ones who clung to life were the ones that needed to be freed from their misery the most. If he didn't know any better, he would say that God Enel had been afraid.
Good thing he knew better than to think that, much less say it.
Oh, well. It was not as if he could go after the Blue Sea dwellers...yet. They were most likely coming to him anyway, so there was no reason to abandon his post. He extended his mantra and noted that the Shandians were making their way to God's Shrine as well. Soon it would be time to save some wretched souls.
Enel looked up from the scorching form of the Shandian warrior, Kamakiri. Absentmindedly noting that his attack had unwittingly hit several others traveling on the milky road, both foes and allies, he extended his mantra towards Giant Jack. Ohm was still there, but Gedatsu was gone...oh wait, there he was. Unconscious, on the path to the altar. He must have run into the Blue Sea dwellers who were now nearing the ancient ruins. That was another priest down. That left himself, Ohm, Holy, Yama, Skypiea's former God, the Master of the Sky, the seven Blue Sea dwellers, the War Demon Wiper, and a handful of Shandian warriors and his own enforcers. Not to mention the Shandian child who had been born with mantra who was sneaking about. 24 participants in total. This game was getting interesting.
"Luffy?" Nami's deceptively sweet voice addressed the Strawhat captain, causing him to sweat a bit.
"Um...yeah, Nami?"
"Cities of gold...they usually have gold, don't they?" she questioned rhetorically, in that same dangerously mellow tone.
"Not in my experience," Luffy replied, boldly evading the question. The thing about Nami was that when she asked you a rhetorical question, she expected you to answer it, and answer it right. As it happened, his answer, while truthful (he had only ever seen one city of gold in his life, and being the exact same one, it had no gold either), was not the right one.
This was what he liked to think of as the calm before the storm. And the retort had barely left his mouth before he realized that he was essentially poking the storm with a stick.
The thought alone made him drop the stick he was still carrying.
As Nami's eyes darkened, Luffy hastily pointed in the direction of the nearest aura.
"Hey, look, there's a guy over there! We should go beat him up! He can probably tell you where the gold is, unlike me."
Nami's eyes narrowed. The distraction was weak at best.
"Navigator-san," Robin cut in, struggling not to erupt into a fit of giggles. "It's been 400 years since the City of Gold was last accounted for. It makes sense that the gold would have been moved. But seeing as Skypiea is relatively small and this land is a restricted area, there are only so many places it could be. I suggest we take Captain-san's crudely phrased advice and question one of Enel's underlings as to its whereabouts.
Nami hummed. "So, in other words, Enel probably took the gold. And to get it back, we'll most likely have to kick his ass."
"Did I mention you'll need me in one piece for that?" Luffy saw fit to ask.
"Not really," Zoro disagreed emotionlessly. "I could beat him nearly as easily as—"
"Zoro, the next time you start wandering off in a random direction, I'm letting you get lost."
Zoro scoffed. "As if I'd get lost with this huge ass beanstalk as a landmark."
"You would get lost even if you had a walking compass following you around and trying to get your attention."
As the two bickered, Robin observed the ruins closely. They weren't nearly as large as she'd imagined. Was this really everything? As she surveyed her surroundings, inspiration struck her. They were still standing on cloud, and this was Upper Yard. That meant they weren't at ground level. There was more underneath. She was about to pass on this information to her crewmates when they heard a loud crash. She turned and noted with dread that a Shandian warrior had just crashed into one of the nearby ruins. That was ancient history lost to mankind. She might have attacked the man if not for the knowledge that it had been someone else to send him crashing into the artifact...and the fact that he was now unconscious, his cannon lying useless on the ground next to him.
She turned with a cold glare towards the heavyweight man who was approaching them.
Luffy saw the look on her face and winced.
"You know, Robin, I think we can just skip the rock-paper-scissors this time."
Only a nearly imperceptible nod of agreement indicated that the archaeologist had heard him.
"So, you are the seven illegal entrants who have caused so much havoc on Upper Yard. The priests must have been slacking. What a disgrace. Even Satori was defeated," he snarled. "As God Enel's Chief Enforcer, I, Yama, will end this little nuisance now!"
Yama charged recklessly at the Strawhats, but Robin used her Devil Fruit powers to grab his legs and trip him. He fell face first, but quickly bounced back onto his feet and turned towards Robin with a furious glare.
"You first, then? Very well."
"Show some respect. These ruins are priceless, and you're stumbling around destroying them like a neanderthal," Robin said coolly.
Yama snorted. "The ruins? You think I care about the past? Here's what I think of your damn ruins!"
He made to kick at a nearby slab of rock, but a couple dozen hands sprouted out of the ground and held him in a choke hold. Grunting in pain, he tried to break out of the hold. Robin, who was exerting herself keeping hold of the giant brute of a man, realized that his size made a simple clutch impossible as she couldn't get a good enough hold on him. Seeing as she had no qualms about the method used to incapacitate a hostile, several more arms sprouted out of Yama's back and continued choking him.
Yama, gasping for air, did the only thing he could do and fell backwards. His dead weight was too much for Robin to support, and most of the arms dissipated, lest they be crushed beneath him as he fell. She concluded that this was a wise decision as the ground split apart beneath him. Noting that he had axe dials on his back and abdomen, she summoned more hands to hold him down.
This time, however, Yama caught one of her sprouted limbs and attempted to crush it. The flash of pain disrupted her focus and the rest of the limbs disappeared along with it. Now free, Yama rose to his feet and looked at Robin cautiously.
Luffy grimaced. Robin wasn't fighting as she usually would. She was trying to protect the ruins from being damaged any further.
"Robin! Don't worry about the ruins. I've got it covered. Just focus on kicking this guy's ass!"
Robin turned to Luffy in surprise, but then nodded to convey that she trusted him. She quickly scurried away from Yama, leading him towards a rock formation without any markings on it. Yama chased after her, but as she suspected, the brute had a one track mind. Once he realized she was determined to protect the ruins, he was persistent in his attempts to exploit the disadvantage.
Which is why he veered off to the right and flew headlong into a ruin. Robin's eyes widened. She tried to use her Devil Fruit powers, but was too late as he collided with the stone structure...
And was repelled violently. He fell back onto the ground, cursing in pain and clutching the newly formed bruise on his head from the collision with the stone, which, upon closer inspection, was now blackened like volcanic rock. Robin followed the trail of black across the ground and met Luffy's eyes curiously. He had one obsidian hand on the ground, which acted as a medium for the physical manifestation of his will.
He grinned at her. "Continue."
Robin turned back to Yama, and several arms appeared on the ground next to his arm. A couple seconds later, the arm was broken at the elbow, eliciting a new round of curses from the heavyweight, who charged at Robin in a blind rage, all thoughts of the ruins forgotten.
"Axe Mountain!" the brute shouted as he attempted to bodyslam the archaeologist.
Robin activated her power while dodging out of the way so that the only thing in Yama's path was the large boulder she had chosen. Yama seemed unconcerned with the impending collision, but this was proven to be a rather poor decision as blood spurted from his stomach where the axe dials had been turned around to face the wrong way. Yama coughed up blood as he lay in the pile of rubble. A dozen arms now sprouted around the defenseless man, who was unable to resist the hold this time.
"Clutch," Robin's emotionless voice broke the silence, followed by the cracking of bones. Satisfied that the man was not getting up under his own strength any time soon, Robin walked calmly back toward her crewmates.
After thoroughly exploring the ruins, Robin was able to decipher some of the writing, and the Strawhats were led below the veil of clouds to the city of Shandia underneath. They couldn't find the golden bell, which meant that either it didn't make it to the sky, it was lost during the ascension of Jaya, or Enel had it. Luffy was still determined to ring it, and Nami was still determined to find the gold, but neither had objected to Robin teaching Yama a painful lesson before they could question him, oddly.
As it turned out, this wasn't much of a problem, since another of Enel's minions met them at the base of the beanstalk, along with a giant dog.
"Welcome, Blue Sea dwellers. I am Ohm, the last of God's priests. The Ordeal of Iron has begun. You will not leave here alive."
"The last 5 guys all had the same idea," Sanji said. "Can we just get on with this?"
Ohm adjusted his glasses. "As you wish."
Several things happened in the next minute. A bearded man who the Strawhats recognized as Gan Fall flew in on his winged horse. The Shandian warrior who had assaulted them when they first arrived in the White Sea also made an appearance, along with a couple other Shandian warriors.
Most shockingly to those who weren't the Strawhat pirates, a giant snake slithered around the base of Giant Jack, attracted by all the commotion. The snake looked at Luffy expectantly, and the Strawhat captain gestured towards the other arrivals, who were staring each other down. The tension was palpable as Ohm readied his sword, Wiper his bazooka, Braham his flash guns, Gan Fall his lance, and the snake her fangs. Strangely, the snake, whom the Skypieans knew as the Master of the Sky, was hovering over the Blue Sea dwellers almost protectively.
"So, you're all alright," Gan Fall stated, greeting the Strawhats. "That's good to know. I was beginning to fear the worst."
"I'm surrounded by people I'd love to kill," Wiper growled. "But first things first." He turned to Ohm. "Where is Enel? I'm here for his head."
"Foolish mortals. You will all be freed from the illusion of life's grandeur soon enough," was all Ohm said.
"Suuulaalaalaalaaaa!" the Master of the Sky hissed her input.
"So, then," Luffy's spoke up. "I guess it's a battle royale."
"How exciting," a new voice, accompanied by a crackle of lightning, drawled. "I do hope I'm invited."
Everyone turned to face none other than God Enel, who was smirking at them all. "Of the original 80 participants, 16 fighters remain. How frustrating. Let's trim that number down, shall we?"
A/N: Ugh. I wanted to post this chapter on Tuesday, but work caught up with me. I feel as though it was a bit rushed to be honest. What did you guys think of the pacing? Or do you just want shit to happen already?