Ultimate Pirate: Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Ben 10 is created by Man of Action studios and owned by Cartoon Network and Warner Brothers. One Piece is the property of Eiichiro Oda, Shueisha, and Toei Animation. I do not own any characters or settings from the series. This work is a nonprofit fan creation made for entertainment purposes only.

…

Ultimate Pirate

Chapter 8: The First Ordeal

…

Far above Upper Yard, Kami's Shrine rested upon its own island-cloud, pierced through by the colossal beanstalk known by the locals as Giant Jack. Once, this place had housed Skypiea's rulers. Under Eneru, it had become something colder. Attendants moved quietly through the shrine with trays of fruit and drink, while musicians played off to the side with lowered eyes. Their soft, airy notes drifted through the still air, offering peace to a man who had brought none.

Eneru reclined upon his seat as if everything beneath him existed only to entertain him. From here, Upper Yard's vast forest stretched below while Angel Island rested beyond the White-White Sea in all its fragile little peace. His fingers rested lightly against the arm of his seat as a faint smile touched his mouth.

He had just cast judgment. By now, the girl should have been reduced to ash.

Conis, daughter of Pagaya. The girl who had befriended the shapeshifting man who mysteriously arrived in Skypiea and claimed to be from another world. Eneru could have judged both Conis and her father for failing to report the intruder sooner.

However, Ben Tennyson had intrigued him.

So, just this once, Eneru had allowed mercy. Not that it mattered much, in the end. Not with what he intended for Skypiea. But after the girl broke beneath her guilt, after she revealed the truth aloud in her mistaken belief that she had led Ben to his death, Eneru could not extend mercy a second time. Such a small thing, really. One more citizen of Skypiea learning what every citizen should have understood already.

Kami heard all and Kami judged all.

And yet… Eneru's smile faded by a fraction. The sound rising from the wharf was not right.

He closed his eyes and let his Mantra spread outward, slipping through cloud and air, through streets and rooftops, through the frightened hearts of Angel Island. Voices reached him at once. Gasps. Cries. Stammered disbelief. Not mourning. Not the proper despair of citizens who had watched Heaven's Judgment erase a blasphemer.

Shock. Fear, yes. But not the fear of death confirmed.

It was the fear of impossibility.

"What… what is that?"

"It moved before the lightning."

"But… no one outruns judgment,"

Eneru's eyes opened. For the first time since casting the bolt, genuine interest crossed his face.

"Oh?"

Below, the wharf churned with confusion. Skypieans trembled. The White Beret captain's voice shook with anger. The Blue Sea pirate captain shouted something with that brainless confidence of his. The long-nosed one panicked. The cook cursed. And beneath it all, the girl still breathed.

Eneru sat a little straighter.

Impossible. No, not impossible. Merely unexpected.

His fingers tapped once against the armrest before he heard it.

"B-Ben…?"

The name slid through the air and reached him as if Conis had said it to him.

Eneru's expression stilled. For a moment, the music playing in the background did not reach his ears.

Another voice followed. One he immediately recognized.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm sorry. Really. I didn't mean to deceive you…"

Eneru's lips curved slowly in delight.

"So," he murmured. "The 'superhero' has returned." A low laugh rolled from his throat, bright with amusement. He leaned back again, one hand lifting to his chin.

With the assortment of abilities Ben had displayed during their confrontation, Eneru had wondered, briefly, if the young man had somehow survived. Now he had his answer. More than that, he had a joke worthy of appreciation. The shapeshifter had returned to Skypiea beneath his notice. Not by avoiding the island entirely. He had walked through Angel Island under a disguise, spoken to citizens, fooled White Berets, sat in the house of the very girl who mourned him, and waited until the last possible moment to reveal himself.

Arrogant. Reckless. Ingenious.

Entertaining.

Eneru's gaze drifted toward the far distance, where the Great Milky Road twisted through Upper Yard's forest. The Blue Sea pirates and Ben were moving now, boarding that small Dial Boat. They would not arrive at the Ordeals entrance immediately. Not for at least another hour based on their speed.

How convenient.

Eneru lifted two fingers and snapped them lightly. A nearby servant startled and hurried away.

"Summon the priests."

It did not take long.

One by one, his priests gathered before him.

Satori arrived with his usual bouncing cheer, round body swaying as he folded his arms within his sleeves. "Hohoho! Lord Eneru! Has the trial begun earlier than expected?"

Gedatsu stood rigidly beside him, arms folded, eyes stern and unblinking. His expression carried absolute seriousness, though one of his sandals sat slightly crooked on his foot.

Ohm remained quiet, his tall frame still and severe, with Holy beside him. The large dog sat obediently, staring ahead with a blank, dutiful face.

Shura arrived last, spear in hand and his large bird, Fuza, looming near the edge of the chamber. The priest's eyes were sharp beneath his helmet, his posture full of the impatient aggression of someone who preferred flame and spearpoint to discussion.

Eneru looked down at them all.

"My priests," he said lightly, "it seems our guests have become more interesting."

"Hoh?" Satori tilted his head. "The Blue Sea dwellers?"

"The pirates, yes," Eneru replied. "And another."

Shura cocked a brow. "One other? Who?"

Eneru's smile did not change. "The shapeshifter, Ben Tennyson. He is alive and has returned."

A small ripple passed through the room. Satori's mouth opened in delighted surprise. Gedatsu's face tightened with stern resolve. Ohm's eyes lowered slightly, as though the answer merely confirmed some grim inevitability.

Shura's grip on his spear tightened. "Then allow me to burn him before he reaches the forest."

Fuza gave a low, rough cry beside him, flame stirring faintly in its beak.

Eneru raised one hand and Shura stopped.

"No." The word was soft, but it killed the impulse immediately.

Shura lowered his spear by a fraction, though his jaw remained tense. "Kami?"

Eneru's eyes drifted toward the distant road again. "Tennyson returned wearing another face. He has deceived citizens, hidden among pirates, and escaped Heaven's Judgment a second time. Even managing to deceive me with his concealment." His smile grew brighter. "Such effort deserves a proper stage."

Satori giggled. "A stage? Hohoho! That sounds delightful."

Gedatsu nodded once, grave and intense. "A proper punishment must be properly prepared."

Ohm's voice came low and even. "Those who resist heaven walk willingly toward suffering."

"Just so," Eneru said. "But suffering without entertainment is a waste." He rose from his seat.

"Tennyson's games have given me inspiration." He chuckled softly. "If he and his pirate companions wish to challenge Kami, then very well. Kami will answer with a game of his own."

Satori's grin widened. "Then shall I return to my forest?"

"Yes." Eneru's gaze passed over him. "Gedatsu, Ohm, Satori. Return to your territories. Prepare your ordeals. Let the criminals enter Upper Yard believing the path before them is the one they chose."

Gedatsu nodded sharply. "Understood."

Ohm turned without flourish. "They will learn despair."

Satori bounced lightly on his heels. "Hohoho! I shall welcome them warmly if they choose through my Ordeal."

Shura stepped forward. "What of me, Kami?"

Eneru's gaze shifted. "I have another task for you, Shura."

The other priests paused.

Eneru stepped down from his seat and passed Satori, Gedatsu, and Ohm without looking at them again.

"You may go," he said to the others.

Satori's eyes flicked curiously toward Shura, but he obeyed. Gedatsu followed with stiff discipline. Ohm turned away, Holy padding beside him with a soft thud of paws against the floor.

Soon, only Shura remained. Fuza lowered its head, smoke curling faintly from its beak.

Eneru stopped in front of them.

Shura stood straighter. "What would you have me do?"

The blonde man's smile became thinner. "Tennyson's group will not reach Upper Yard for some time. That leaves you and Fuza enough time to complete a task for me. Once you're done, then you may return to your territory."

Shura's eyes sharpened. Fuza's wings shifted with a low, eager rustle.

Eneru leaned closer, his voice dropping into something almost pleasant. "Handle it swiftly."

…

Zoro had always expected his journey to become the world's greatest swordsman to involve facing a variety of opponents.

That was the point, after all.

Each battle tested his blade. Each duel sharpened the edge of his skill. Every scar, every defeat, every victory brought him one step closer to the day he would face him again.

He had fought a Fishman sword user with six arms. He had fought a Devil Fruit user who could turn any part of his body into sharp steel blades, making his flesh as hard as steel. To this day, Zoro was still proud that he had managed to cut steel.

What he had not considered was just how far the word 'variety' could reach.

Over the last few days, his crew had met a man who called himself Kevin, someone who possessed one of the most broken and ridiculously powerful Devil Fruit abilities Zoro had ever seen. It allowed him to change into several versatile monster forms, each with its own set of powers. He had only needed to use three of them to make light work of not only Zoro himself, but also his captain and the cook when he challenged them to a three on one match. Kevin had claimed they pushed his forms. He had claimed he had not held back on them. Yet Zoro knew he was not telling the full truth. He knew firsthand what it felt like when a master held back against a rookie.

Before arriving in Skypiea, before even entering the Grand Line, he had challenged the world's greatest swordsman, Dracule Mihawk to a duel. Mihawk had faced him with a small blade and the gap in their skill, experience and power had been made painfully clear that day. Zoro had felt like a paper tiger trying to scratch a dragon, unable to give him even the smallest cut. He had known the risks of facing such a foe. It could have cost him his life. But Mihawk had seen his conviction. His will to surpass him. So, he had granted Zoro a second chance, allowing him to live and become stronger, so that one day, when their blades clashed again, Zoro would be ready.

His loss against Kevin had been a reminder of that.

And once this whole "Eneru" ordeal was finished, Zoro planned on asking for a rematch. Imagine his annoyance at finding himself presently clamped between the jaws of a sky-shark.

The strange, vicious-looking creature had clearly learned to traverse the clouds in order to hunt the unique prey that lived within the island. Its long, striped body thrashed through the Milky Road, pale and slick beneath the broken light of the forest. Bulging eyes rolled wildly in its head, and its wide jaws were lined with jagged teeth that had locked firmly around Zoro.

The only reason those jaws had not closed fully was because Zoro had braced his legs and swords against them, forcing the creature's mouth open while it tried to drag him deeper into the cloud-lake.

"Zoro!" Chopper screamed, his hooves flying around his head in panic.

The others could only stare from the temporary safety of the Merry as Zoro was dragged beneath the surface by the predator.

Nami's eyes widened, the worst possible outcome flashing through her mind. "It's not coming back up. Did it eat him?!"

Robin stood beside her at the edge of the Merry, calm on the surface, though her eyes followed the thrashing shape beneath the clouds. "If he had been eaten, the clouds would have turned red."

Both Chopper and Nami froze at her words.

"That's a gruesome thing to say, Robin!" the reindeer doctor cried.

Nevertheless, she was right.

The clouds continued twisting and churning, the pale current frothing as the sky-shark fought to consume Zoro. Its jaws remained wide and locked around him, while its tail whipped and slapped against the cloud-lake.

For several long seconds, the only sounds were splashing, the scrape of scales, and Chopper's panicked shouting.

Then something struck hard beneath the surface.

The sky-shark's body jerked violently. A muffled impact cracked through the cloud-lake, and the creature's eyes bulged. Its jaws flew open as Zoro tore free, one fist buried deep against the side of its face.

"What a pain!" Zoro snapped.

With a brutal swing, he smashed the shark away from him. The creature went flying sideways, crashing through the surface of the cloud-lake in a burst of white spray before vanishing beneath the churning current.

Nami and Chopper stared with a mixture of shock and awe as Zoro gripped the edge of the altar's stone base and dragged himself up with a grunt. Water-cloud streamed off him in heavy sheets. His shirt clung to him, his goggles sat crooked over his forehead, and his expression had settled into its usual annoyed scowl.

He flopped onto the altar's stone steps and exhaled sharply.

"Damn…" He pushed himself upright and glanced back toward the cloud-lake, huffing from what felt more like an intense workout than a near-death experience. "There's no way I can swim to the bank from here. What is this place?"

The Going Merry sat stranded atop a huge stone structure rising out of the cloud-lake. The altar itself was massive and old, built from weathered stone with carved faces and worn patterns worked into its sides. It rose in steps beneath the ship like some forgotten ceremonial platform. Tall pillars and hanging ornaments stood around it, their surfaces chipped and faded by age. Vines dangled from above, swaying gently in the filtered light.

Beyond the altar, the forest stretched endlessly in every direction.

Trees towered over them. Their trunks were impossibly thick, their roots coiling through the clouds like sleeping serpents. The canopy above cut the sunlight into uneven shafts, turning the whole place dim, green, and suffocating.

"One thing is clear," Robin said. "We're in Upper Yard. And judging by our current location, this appears to be a sacrificial altar."

"And the lake is full of sky-sharks," Nami grimaced and as if to prove her right, a dark fin sliced through the clouds below, circling the altar before dipping back beneath the clouds.

Chopper recoiled on instinct, desperately hoping none of them could climb. "So if we fall, we get eaten?"

"Most likely," Zoro said.

"That was not comforting!"

Nami turned sharply toward the forest. The earlier fear on her face tightened into calculation.

They were stranded.

The Merry had been carried here by that giant lobster before any of them could stop it. Luffy, Sanji, Usopp, and Ben were somewhere else entirely, likely heading into Upper Yard by now. Eneru was still somewhere above them, listening and waiting. Lastly the ship was stuck on a sacrificial altar in the middle of enemy territory.

Perfect, Nami dryly thought. She pressed a hand to her forehead. "What a place that thing brought us to."

"Stupid lobster," Zoro muttered.

Chopper looked up from where he had been checking the rail. "I wonder if Heaven's Judgment means starving to death on this altar."

Nami's eye twitched. "Nobody is starving to death."

Robin glanced up at the hanging vines and the thick forest beyond them. "It would be an inconvenient place to wait for rescue."

Zoro flexed his hand once, then looked toward the Merry. The ship was tilted awkwardly across the altar, the middle section of the hull caved in where the lobster's claws had clamped onto the ship. "The hull's too damaged for us to sail out of here."

Chopper's little face grew serious at once. "Then we have to make repairs here somehow."

Nami looked at him. "Can you handle that, Chopper?"

"Huh?" The reindeer pointed to himself. "Me?"

"You're the doctor," Zoro said.

"That's for people!" Chopper reminded indignantly.

"You fix bones. Fix wood."

"That is completely different!" Chopper cried out in disbelief as Zoro may as well have been asking a simple fisherman to give first aid to a whale. He was a doctor, not a shipwright. Heck, he's never even been on a ship before the Going Merry.

Nami sighed, then looked toward the forest. "First, we need to figure out where we are. If Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp are coming through Upper Yard, they'll probably be looking for us."

"And Kevin too," Chopper added quietly.

Nami's expression shifted slightly at the name and exhaled through her nose. "Yeah, him too. Kevin is probably with Luffy and the others. And knowing those two, they're heading straight here."

Zoro's mouth curved faintly. "Sounds like them."

"Luffy will barely think at all," Nami continued, "and Kevin will think just enough to convince himself doing something stupid makes sense."

Chopper blinked. "That sounds… kind of accurate."

"It is accurate," she said flatly.

Zoro gave a small huff of amusement.

Nami looked toward the forest again, her expression sharpening back into focus. "Which means someone responsible has to gather information. We need to know what's around this altar, whether there's a way down, and whether any of those priests are nearby."

Robin rested a hand lightly against one of the altar's carved pillars. "There may also be ruins. This structure is old."

Nami gave her a sidelong look. "Robin."

Robin smiled. "Yes?"

"That's your treasure face."

"My historical face," Robin corrected pleasantly.

"They look the same."

Chopper blinked. "Robin has a treasure face?"

Nami pointed at the archaeologist without looking away. "Yes."

Robin's smile did not change. "If there are ancient ruins in this forest, they may tell us more about Upper Yard. Perhaps even why this land is so important."

"Or there might be gold," Nami said.

Zoro shot her a flat look. "Thought we were gathering information."

"We can gather more than one kind of information."

Chopper's eyes widened. "Nami…"

"What?" She said defensively. "I'm not saying we run off chasing treasure while everyone's in danger. I'm saying if we happen to find something valuable while scouting enemy territory, it would be irresponsible to ignore it."

Zoro snorted. "That's one way to put it."

Nami planted her hands on her hips. "Besides, if we're going to risk our lives helping Kevin deal with a self-proclaimed god, I think hazard pay is completely reasonable."

Robin's eyes softened with amusement. "So the gold is compensation."

"Exactly."

"And not greed."

"Robin."

The archaeologist smiled. "Of course."

Chopper looked between them, then toward the forest. His grip tightened around his medical bag. "So… you three are going into the forest?"

"We have to," Nami said. "If we sit here, we learn nothing. If the priests come here first, we'll be trapped."

Zoro adjusted his swords at his side. "If enemies show up, I cut them down. Simple."

"Your plans are always so inspiring," Nami muttered.

"They work."

"Sometimes."

"They work enough."

Robin looked toward the far side of the altar, where thick vines hung down from the trees like ropes. "We can use those to reach the forest floor."

Chopper immediately paled. "Down there?"

Nami followed Robin's gaze. The drop was long. Very long. The vines stretched from somewhere high above, swaying lightly over the cloud-lake and the forest floor beyond it. "That's… not exactly a safe path," Nami said.

"It is better than swimming," Robin replied.

Zoro gave a short grunt. "I'll go first."

"Of course you will," Nami muttered. "Try not to get lost within five seconds."

Zoro frowned at her. "I don't get lost that fast."

"That fast?" Nami smirked coyly at him having basically admitted he does tend to get lost.

He ignored her and stepped toward the vines.

Chopper looked up at them, then at the ship, then back at the forest. "What about me?"

Nami turned to him, her voice firming. "Chopper, guard the boat."

The little reindeer stiffened. "Me?"

"You can make repairs too, right?" she asked.

"I can try," he said, though his voice wobbled. "But… what if something comes?"

Zoro looked back. "Hide."

"That's not advice!" Chopper protested as that was more likely what Usopp would say.

Nami crouched slightly so she was closer to Chopper's eye level. "Listen. We need someone we trust to stay with the Merry. If anything happens to her, we're in real trouble. You're the only one who can start on fixing the damage while we scout."

Chopper's ears lowered, but his expression slowly changed. Fear remained, but so did understanding.

"The Merry needs a doctor too," Robin added gently.

Chopper looked up at the ship. The Going Merry's figurehead sat silent and battered, her patched bow still bearing the marks of every impossible thing they had survived together.

The little reindeer swallowed and nodded hard, trying to look braver than he felt. "Okay. I'll do it. I'll guard the boat and check the damage."

Nami smiled. "We're counting on you."

Chopper immediately swayed, pleased despite himself. "D-Don't say stuff like that, you jerk! It doesn't make me happy at all!"

Robin covered a small laugh with her hand.

Nami straightened and adjusted the strap of her spare bag. "All right. We scout, find a way down, look for signs of Luffy and the others, and avoid getting noticed if possible."

Zoro was already testing the nearest vine with one hand. "If we get noticed?"

"Then you do your thing."

He grinned faintly. "Good."

Robin stepped beside him, eyes already drifting over the altar's carvings. "And if we find anything useful, we bring it back."

"Useful meaning information," Nami said.

Robin's smile turned knowing.

"And treasure," Nami added, unable to help herself. "If it's right there."

Chopper's mouth opened. "Nami!"

"What? I said if it's right there."

Zoro grabbed the vine and gave it one firm tug. It held. "Looks strong enough," he said.

"That does not sound scientific," Nami muttered.

Zoro stepped off the altar and swung out.

"AAAAAAH-ah-ah-ah-ah!" The yell echoed through the forest in a deep, ridiculous rhythm as he swung across the gap.

Nami stared after him. "Has he lost his mind?"

Robin chuckled to herself.

Zoro landed against the side of a huge root far below. He caught himself easily before dropping the rest of the way to the ground. "Now that felt right."

Nami pressed both hands to her face. "Unbelievable."

Zoro looked back up. "See? It's fine."

"That is exactly what people say before something goes wrong!"

Robin stepped forward next. "I'll go after him."

Nami looked at her. "You're not worried?"

Robin's smile was calm. "Worrying would not make the vine stronger."

The ravenette took hold of the vine and swung down gracefully, her body moving with practiced ease. She landed near Zoro a moment later and lifted one hand in a small wave.

Nami stared down at the drop, and her stomach tightened.

Over fifty feet.

If she missed the landing, she would be dead. If the vine snapped, she was a goner. If a sky-shark jumped out of the cloud-lake at the wrong time, she was definitely dead. She heard movement behind her and looked back.

Chopper stood near the rail, trying to look brave and failing a little. "Be careful, Nami."

Nami's expression softened, then forced a smirk. "Of course. Who do you think you're talking to?"

She grabbed the vine, took one breath, and stepped off.

The world dropped under her feet.

"AAAAH!"

The vine swung fast, much faster than she expected. Wind rushed past her face, her skirt fluttered, and the altar whipped away behind her. The ground rose too quickly beneath her. "I'm going too fast!" she screamed. "I can't stop!"

Robin's arms bloomed from a nearby tree trunk.

"Treinta Fleurs." Hands caught the vine and slowed its arc enough for Nami to drop awkwardly but safely onto the root beside her. She stumbled, knees shaking, then grabbed Robin's arm.

"…Thank you, Robin."

Robin smiled. "You're pretty gutsy."

Nami straightened, cheeks flushed from fear and embarrassment. "Y-Yeah..." She looked around. "This forest is even bigger up close."

Zoro looked around at the towering trees, the twisting roots, and the strange shadows stretching in every direction. "Yeah," he said. "Easy to get lost."

Nami turned on him immediately. "Don't even say that."

Chopper watched from the ship as the three began moving away from the altar. "Okay!" he called. "Be careful! Come back safely!"

"We'll be right back!" Nami called over her shoulder.

Robin gave a small wave while Zoro lifted one hand without turning around. The trio then disappeared into the trees.

Chopper stood alone on the altar. The forest suddenly felt much larger and much quieter.

The cloud-lake gurgled at the base of the altar. Somewhere below, something splashed. A distant bird cried from the canopy, followed by the soft creak of wood as the ship settled against the stone.

Chopper turned slowly, looking from one side of the altar to the other. "Okay," he said, voice small but determined. "They must have a lot of faith in me to let me guard the ship all by myself in this dangerous forest."

He nodded once. "That's right. I'm all alone in this dangerous place…" His ears twitched as something shifted in the trees. "…Huh? Wait…" His eyes shrank to pinpricks when something occurred to him. "I'm in more danger than they are!"

…

The Little Crow moved along the Great Milky Road, its twin Breath Dials humming steadily as the small boat followed the pale cloud-river over an arching bridge toward Upper Yard.

"Is Conis really going to be okay?" Usopp asked from the back of the boat.

"Well," Luffy said, seated behind the steering wheel up front, "that strange old man seemed all right."

Sitting to Luffy's left, Ben kept his eyes on the looming curve of the bridge ahead. "With all the craziness going on, she and her dad are better off somewhere far from here."

"He's right," Sanji said from the back, seated across from Usopp. "Besides, that old man can protect them better than we can right now."

"This boat is slow," Luffy complained.

"It can't be helped," the cook said. "This thing's a lot heavier than a Waver, so don't expect too much."

Ben glanced toward the boat's stern, where the Dial housings were set in place. For a moment, he considered turning into Juryrigg, tearing the setup apart, and reconfiguring it to squeeze a little more power out of the system. But given how small the Dials were, and the fact that there was little on the boat to work with, he doubted any power gain would be noticeable.

As the boat crested the bridge's peak, a vast and massive forest loomed in the distance.

"Whoa…" Sanji muttered, staring ahead. "So that's Upper Yard?"

"It's huge!" Usopp exclaimed.

Luffy turned to Ben. "So that's where you fought that Eneru guy?"

"That's the place," Ben said. "Beautiful scenery, horrible management."

Usopp pulled the old map from his overall pocket and unfolded it with a frown. "The forest illustrated on here is nothing like that."

"Whoever had that map lived two hundred years ago, right?" Sanji asked. "It may have been an old map even then. A forest like that would take over a thousand years to grow."

"I wanna climb a tree!" Luffy declared excitedly.

Ben snapped his fingers in front of Luffy's face. "Focus. Friends first. Giant tree playground later."

Luffy blinked, then grinned. "Right! Friends first, then giant tree playground!"

Usopp's face went pale. "Why did you leave that as an option?"

"Motivation," Ben replied simply.

The forest ahead rose higher until it no longer looked like a forest at all. It looked like an entire world of trunks and roots, each tree large enough to dwarf the buildings on Angel Island.

As they approached the entrance, two tall poles stood on either side of the canal, each topped with a skull-shaped marker wearing a shallow dish-like cap. Crossed spears jutted from behind the round shields below them, and strange markings had been carved into the wood and bone.

Usopp gulped audibly as his whole body went rigid.

Sanji looked ahead, cigarette smoke curling from his mouth. "Guess this is the entrance."

"All right, if we're going to turn back, now's the time." Luffy glanced over his shoulder. "What do you say, Usopp?"

Usopp's mouth stretched into a nervous grin. "Well, I'd like to go home if we could."

"Too bad. We're going in!" Luffy leaned forward over the steering wheel, eyes bright.

"Then why'd you ask?!" Usopp shouted.

Ben chuckled at the exchange, reminded for a second of the kind of banter he used to have with Gwen and Kevin. He then turned his gaze forward at the entrance, eyes narrowing slightly. The skull markers were not subtle. Then again, nothing about Skypiea had been subtle since he arrived.

The boat slipped between the two skull markers, and the forest swallowed them.

The light changed first. The bright openness dimmed beneath the canopy, filtered through layers of massive leaves and curling branches far above. The trunks on either side of the Milky Road rose like pale walls, their surfaces ridged and twisted. Roots as thick as houses curved through the ground and disappeared beneath the cloud-river.

Usopp shrank lower in his seat. A faint rustle came from somewhere above. His head snapped up. "What was that?"

"Probably wind," Sanji said.

Another sound answered, sharper this time.

Kaw. Kaw.

Luffy blinked and looked toward the trees. "Birds?"

Something large moved in the shadows.

Usopp's jaw dropped. "Th-There's something out there!"

Ben followed his gaze.

A massive bird-like creature clung to one of the trunks, its long neck stretching from the branches while its eyes fixed on the passing boat. Its beak opened, revealing a mouth far wider than any normal bird had any right to possess.

Kaw! Kaw!

Usopp screamed.

Luffy stared at it. "Whoa! That bird's huge!"

"That is not the important part!" Usopp cried.

The bird snapped its beak in their direction.

The Straw Hat's sniper ducked so low his long nose nearly hit the deck boards. "Don't make eye contact! It might see us!"

"It already sees us!" Sanji snapped.

"Then stop reminding it!"

Ben scanned the trunks, the roots, and the narrow gaps between them. "Giant birds aside, last time I was here, I saw some giant eel things in these canals. Also a pack of cloud wolves. Just thought I should mention that."

Sanji's curly brow twitched as he slowly turned his head. "You waited until now to mention that?"

Luffy's eyes lit up. "There are sky eels too?!"

"Don't sound excited!" Usopp cried.

Luffy turned the wheel slightly, and the Little Crow swerved around a thick root that curved up through the Milky Road. The boat rocked, and Usopp flailed, grabbing the side with both hands.

"Careful, Luffy!"

"I am!"

"You are never careful!"

The boat rounded the root, and the forest opened a little wider. That was when they saw them.

Broken ships lay scattered along both sides of the Milky Road, half-buried in island-cloud and tangled among the roots. Old hulls leaned against trunks at impossible angles. Splintered masts jutted upward like bones. Some vessels looked ancient, their wood warped and pale from age. Others seemed newer, cracked open as if something had picked them up and dropped them there.

Usopp went pale all over again. "We're surrounded by shipwrecks!"

Luffy looked left, then right. "Huh."

Sanji's eyes narrowed. "Ships from the Blue Sea?"

"Probably," Ben said, his voice lower now.

He stared at the wreckage as the Little Crow drifted past. One ship had been torn nearly in half. Another had its bow crushed inward. A third hung high between two enormous roots, as if it had been carried there and abandoned.

Ben's brows furrowed. Those weren't decorations. They were warnings.

Usopp pointed frantically at the wrecks. "Do you see that?! Do you understand what that means?! People came in here and didn't come out!"

Luffy nodded once. "Yeah."

"Yeah?! That's all you have to say?!"

Sanji glanced at the wrecked ships with a thoughtful frown. "It could mean several things. Bad currents. Traps. Monsters. Priests."

"Thank you for naming all the things I didn't want named!"

Ben's eyes continued moving. "Or all of the above."

Usopp slowly turned toward him. "Why would you say that?"

"Because lying would feel rude."

"Try being rude!"

Luffy grinned, completely undeterred. "This place is awesome!"

Ben gave him a flat look. "There are shipwrecks everywhere."

"Well, this is a forest," Luffy said, as if that explained everything.

Sanji's brow twitched. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"There's trees."

"That doesn't answer the question," Usopp said.

"Well, ships are made of trees," Ben offered. "Maybe that's where he was going with it?"

"Yeah!" Luffy nodded. "That's it! Ben gets it!"

"Don't pretend that's where you were going!" Usopp shouted.

Before the conversation could continue, something suddenly hissed above them. A large round tribal face came swinging down in an arc, long blades jutting from both ends like a massive sickle.

Usopp's eyes bulged. "Huh?!"

Sanji looked up sharply. "Luffy!"

The sickle-like blade dropped closer, hanging from a chain as it swung behind them. It carved straight through the already sliced remains of an old shipwreck, splitting the rotted wood apart with a vicious sound.

Ben stared for half a second. "Well, at least we know how the ships got cut in half."

Luffy chuckled. "You find all sorts of things in the jungle."

"That is not helping!" Usopp screamed.

Another giant sickle slashed downward toward them.

"It's coming for us!" Usopp yelled, voice cracking. "Row! Hurry up! Make the boat go at full power!"

Sanji's jaw tightened. "There is no full power! This thing only goes so fast!"

The sickle came down in a wide arc, its blade cleaving through the air just behind them. The Little Crow shot forward enough that the strike missed by inches, slicing through the cloud-river and spraying soft white vapor across the back of the boat.

Usopp screamed anyway.

Ben's hand snapped toward the Omnitrix. "Okay, enough sightseeing."

He tapped the faceplate, and the green holo-ring with alien head icons appeared above the watch.

If the blades are metal, Lodestar can control them no sweat, he thought, searching quickly through the ring.

The Little Crow suddenly jolted over a rough swell in the Milky Road.

Ben stumbled, one foot sliding out from under him, causing his finger to jab the ring at the wrong angle. The selected icon shifted and he did not notice. Ben then slammed the core down out of reflex and brilliant green light flashed across the boat.

Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp all threw up their arms as the glare washed over them. When it faded, Ben was no longer sitting beside Luffy.

In his place stood a short, vaguely humanoid creature with an amoeba-like body and green skin. A darker green patch covered the top of his head, while lighter green skin ran over his face and rounded belly. Six sprout-like growths stuck out from the back of his head, and a small green tail curled behind him. Ventilation-like slits marked his face, and his wide mouth was set with a crooked overbite. The Omnitrix symbol sat squarely on his stomach.

He stopped to look himself over. "Or Upchuck," he said, sounding annoyed. "Upchuck is good."

Usopp blinked twice. "Uh…" He had no words.

Luffy's eyes sparkled instantly. "Whoa! A little frog guy!"

"I am not a frog," Upchuck snapped.

Sanji looked him over, visible eye narrowing. "Looks more like a booger with arms and legs."

"Booger?" Upchuck huffed, offended. "I'll have you know I'm a Gourmand. A Perk, to be more specific."

Sanji's brow twitched. "A what?"

Another sickle swung in from the left, heading directly toward the Little Crow.

"BLADE!" Usopp screamed.

"Don't worry!" Upchuck leapt onto the boat's rim. "I got this!"

Sanji turned toward him. "How is that little guy going to—"

Several long, pink prehensile tongues shot out from Upchuck's mouth and latched onto the incoming blade. With surprising strength, Upchuck's tongues tore the giant sickle blade free from its chain and reeled it back toward him.

"Aah!" Usopp's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. "It's still coming for us!"

"The hell are you doing?!" Sanji barked. "It's gonna hit—"

The tongues yanked the giant sickle blade straight into Upchuck's mouth.

What happened next left the three pirates shocked. The small creature's mouth and cheeks ballooned outward, not unlike Luffy's whenever he tried to cram down a portion of food bigger than his own head. Yet the blade seemed to shrink as it went in, the shape of Upchuck's mouth stretching in a way that still did not match the sheer size of what he had just taken.

Then, to their further amazement, Upchuck swallowed the entire blade whole without even chewing.

The boat went silent except for the hiss of the Breath Dials.

Usopp and Sanji both stared with their jaws hanging down and wide eyes. Luffy, meanwhile, stared with absolute wonder.

Upchuck swallowed, then patted his stomach. "Huh. Sky metal. Little on the airy side. Not bad though."

Usopp's mouth trembled. "You…ate it."

"Yep."

"You ate the giant death blade."

"Also yep."

Luffy threw both arms into the air. "THAT'S AWESOME!"

Sanji blinked. "That's…something."

The Milky Road ahead suddenly clicked. Dozens of small holes opened along the raised banks on both sides.

Usopp's face drained of color. "What was that sound?"

Arrows fired from both sides at once.

Sanji cursed under his breath and shifted to kick away the first volley.

Upchuck planted his feet instead. His cheeks bulged as a glowing, unstable sphere rose in his throat. He then launched it from his mouth with a wet, explosive sound.

The projectile struck the nearest bank.

BOOM!

The arrow contraptions burst apart in a flash of green energy, pieces scattering as the explosion ripped through the hidden mechanisms before the full volley could reach the boat. A second shot blasted the opposite side, sending broken launchers tumbling into the Milky Road behind them.

Usopp trembled. "I felt my life pass before my eyes."

Luffy looked down at him. "Was it fun?"

"No!"

Upchuck wiped his mouth with the back of one hand. "And that is why we don't judge a transformation by how weird it looks."

Sanji stared at the smoking banks where the arrow launchers once were, then back at Upchuck. His expression slowly twisted from disbelief into open disgust. "You vomit bombs from your mouth."

"Explosive loogies," Upchuck corrected.

The cook's face darkened. "You ate that blade and then turned it into that? You're telling me your power is eating something and puking it back up?"

"Pretty much."

"That is vile!" Sanji snapped, pointing at him with a sharp kick of his cigarette as if he now saw Upchuck as a living sacrilege. "Food is not supposed to be used as a weapon or puked up unless it's poison or something! You don't waste what enters the stomach like that!"

"Good thing it doesn't have to be food," Upchuck said. "This guy eats pretty much anything whether it’s food or not and spits it back as an explosive."

"Spits?" Sanji repeated, offended all over again. "You just said pukes."

"I was trying to make it sound nicer."

"You failed!"

Luffy bounced in place. "Do it again!"

"Do not encourage him!" Sanji shouted.

The Little Crow continued forward, slipping past the ruined trap mechanisms and deeper into Upper Yard. The forest thickened around them. The air grew damper, heavier. Strange shadows shifted beneath the surface of the Milky Road.

Upchuck noticed first. "Uh," he said, leaning over the side. "Something's moving under us."

Usopp froze. "What kind of something?"

The cloud-river bulged as something huge burst from the Milky Road in front of them.

It was long and pale, with a lamprey-like mouth lined by circular rows of teeth. Its body writhed through the clouds like a snake, slick and enormous, its head rising high above the Little Crow before plunging down toward them.

Luffy's face stretched in alarm. "A sky eel?!"

"Oh, come on!" Upchuck snapped. "You again?"

Sanji shot him a look. "You know this thing?"

"It tried to eat me once. Fun times."

The sky eel dove for the boat.

Luffy grinned and threw both arms back. "Gum-Gum Bazooka!" His palms slammed forward and struck the eel square in its open mouth. The impact stretched the creature's face backward before launching it away from the Milky Road in a flailing arc.

It crashed into the forest hard enough to shake leaves from the trees.

Luffy laughed. "That was easy!"

Another bulge rose behind them. Several more followed.

Usopp slowly turned his head as the Milky Road behind them began to writhe. "I would like to take back every optimistic thought I have ever had."

Sanji's cigarette ember flared as he stepped onto the side of the boat. "Luffy. Left side."

"Got it!"

The next eel lunged from the left, its mouth snapping for the boat.

Sanji vanished into motion. "Collier Shoot!" His kick cracked against the creature's head and drove it sideways into another eel rising beside it.

Luffy's leg stretched past him a heartbeat later. "Gum-Gum Whip!" His leg swept across the road, slamming two more eels back beneath the surface with a pair of heavy impacts.

The Little Crow rocked wildly from the force.

Usopp clung to the deck with both hands. "Stop fighting so hard on the tiny boat!"

Upchuck grabbed the side to keep from sliding. "For once, I agree with Pinocchio."

"My name is Usopp!"

"Survive first. Correct me later."

An eel rose directly in front of the boat.

Upchuck's cheeks puffed, a glowing blast already building in his mouth, but Sanji's leg shot past him first.

"Concassé!" The cook drove his heel down on top of the eel's head, smashing it into the Milky Road hard enough to make the cloud-river splash up around the boat.

Luffy stretched both arms to the trees on either side, grinning. "Let's go faster!"

Usopp's eyes widened. "No. No, no, no—"

Luffy yanked, resulting in the Little Crow to shoot forward like a slingshot.

Usopp's scream stretched behind them.

Upchuck's body flattened briefly from the sudden speed, his cheeks flapping before he snapped back into shape. "Okay! That was a choice!"

Sanji landed back in the boat, one hand catching the side to steady himself. "Luffy, warn us before you do that!"

Luffy laughed, both arms still stretched behind them. "But it worked!"

"That is not a warning!"

The boat swerved sharply as Luffy's hands remained latched onto the trees behind them, dragging them forward without anyone properly controlling the wheel.

Usopp scrambled upright, legs shaking as he lunged for it and took over the steering job.

For a short while, the forest seemed to calm. There was only the hiss of the Breath Dials, the creak of the boat, and Usopp's ragged breathing as manned the wheel.

"I'm alive," he whispered. "Somehow. Against all reason."

Upchuck patted him awkwardly on the back. "Good job, dude."

Usopp shuddered. "Don't touch me with the mouth-bomb hands."

"These are not mouth-bomb hands."

"You literally shoot explosions from your mouth!"

Upchuck lifted one hand. "Still not my hands."

Sanji's eyes narrowed as he looked ahead. "Something's coming up."

The Milky Road widened, and the path ahead ended at four arched entrances carved into an enormous stone face. The structure rose from the clouds like a giant statue, its massive, solemn expression staring blankly over the Milky Road. Each open mouth-like archway led into a different tunnel, and each tunnel was marked with writing.

Luffy stared up. "WAAAH! A giant!"

"That's just a statue, Luffy," Sanji said.

"But it's a dead end!" Usopp yelled.

Upchuck squinted at the entrances. "Not exactly. There are four ways in."

Luffy leaned forward with immediate interest. "Does each one lead to a different place?"

Above each of the four entrances from left to right read:

Ordeal of the Swamp. Ordeal of the Iron. Ordeal of the String. Ordeal of the Spheres.

Usopp's face drained of color. "Is this god playing games with us?!"

Sanji looked over the entrances, cigarette clenched between his teeth. "So these are the Ordeals."

Luffy's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Hey! Does that mean we can go through whichever one we want?"

Upchuck stared at the four paths.

Not a single one sounded remotely normal. Then again, this place had already thrown sickles, arrows, and giant sky eels at them like it was trying to win a prize for worst vacation spot in the universe.

"Great," he muttered. "Four doors, four bad ideas."

Luffy turned toward him suddenly. "Hey, Ben. Can you eat an Ordeal?"

Usopp's head snapped toward him. "Why would you ask that?!"

Upchuck shrugged. "I guess. If Sub-Energy didn't do anything to me, an Ordeal probably shouldn't be a huge problem."

Sanji turned his head. "Sub-energy?"

"Basically a type of energy twenty times more powerful than the sun," Upchuck answered casually.

The boat fell quiet at that.

Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp all blinked at the same time, processing what he had just said.

The Straw Hat captain's eyes then practically turned into stars. "You can eat the sun?!"

Upchuck blinked. "Uh… well, if it was the size of a ball, sure."

Usopp stared at him and, for once, he did not even shout right away.

His mouth opened, closed, then opened again as if his brain had briefly forgotten how to work. "That's… That's not how stories are supposed to work," he finally said, pointing a shaky finger at Upchuck. "You can't just casually say something crazier than anything I've ever made up!"

Sanji's expression flattened. "I'm not sure if I believe him or if I'm more worried that I almost do." Considering that he had seen Upchuck eat that giant sickle blade earlier with no difficulty, he was leaning towards potentially believing him. But he wasn't there yet.

Upchuck could have spent time trying to convince them otherwise but now was not really the time. "So," he said, turning back to the entrances, "which trap are we stepping into?"

Usopp paled again. "I hate that you called them traps."

"Well, they are literally called Ordeals."

Luffy pointed confidently toward the final gate. "Let's do Balls."

Usopp stared. "Why?"

"Balls are round."

"That's your reason?"

"They bounce too."

The Straw Hat's cook pinched the bridge of his nose. "Of all the ways to choose a path through a death trial…"

Upchuck raised one hand. "To be fair, it does sound the least immediately horrible."

Usopp turned on him in betrayal. "You too, Ben?!"

"I'm not saying it's safe. I'm saying if someone asked me whether I wanted to be killed by a swamp, iron, string, or balls, one of those sounds slightly less murdery."

Luffy planted both feet at the front of the boat and thrust one fist into the air. "All right! Ball Ordeal it is!"

Usopp's grip on the wheel tightened. "Nobody listens to me. Nobody ever listens to the brave warrior of the sea when he says obvious things like, 'Don't sail into the death ball gate.'"

Upchuck patted him on the arm. "Relax, dude. I'm sure the suspicious tunnel named after balls, located in a forest full of shipwrecks, death traps, and man-eating animals, is exactly where everything starts going our way."

Usopp stared at him. "…Your sarcasm knows no bounds, does it?"

The Perk Gourmand grinned. "As boundless as the universe itself."

The Milky Road then carried them through gate for the Ordeal of Balls.

…

Chopper stood alone on the sacrificial altar.

For a while, he simply stared at the place where Zoro, Nami, and Robin had disappeared into the forest. The massive trees swallowed them quickly, leaving only the creak of the Merry behind him and the soft rush of the cloud-lake at the base of the altar.

He swallowed. "Okay," he said, trying to sound brave. "I'm guarding the ship. I'm a pirate. A doctor. A member of the Straw Hat crew. I can handle this."

Something splashed in the distance.

Chopper stiffened instantly. "…Probably." He turned back toward the Going Merry.

The ship was in rough shape. The places where the giant lobster had clamped onto her middle section had caved in parts of the hull, leaving the wood bent inward and splintered. There was no way they could sail with damage like that. Not safely. It needed to be fixed. But despite everything, the Merry was still standing. That mattered. She had carried them this far, through storms, enemies, and impossible seas. If she was hurt, then Chopper would treat her as best he could.

His eyes drifted toward the mast and something small hung there.

A whistle.

Chopper blinked. "Oh. That's right…"

…

Yesterday…

The whistle rested in Nami's hand then.

"Any objections?"

Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper's hands immediately shot up.

"What's the big idea, guys?!" Nami snapped. "I'm a girl! I should be the one holding this whistle!"

"C'mon, Luffy!" Usopp yelled, shoving a hand against Luffy's face. "You just want to blow the whistle for fun! Get lost!"

"I just want to call the old man!" Luffy protested, his voice muffled against Usopp's palm. "Right now!"

Chopper hopped in place, waving both hooves. "Look at me! I'm tiny and weak! I should carry it!"

Usopp rounded on him immediately. "Stupid reindeer! I'm the weakest one here!"

"No way!" Chopper cried. "I'm the weakest! Gimme, gimme!"

"You're not the weakest, I am!" Usopp protested. "You have Devil Fruit powers that can make you fast or strong!" He then gestured to himself. "Look at me! I'm skinny and scrawny!"

Ben leaned against the rail with his arms folded. "The fight over who gets emergency damsel-in-distress privileges."

Robin nodded, watching from the side with her usual calm demeanor. "Such a strange argument."

From there, Nami hung the whistle from a hook on the main mast. "That settles it," she said. "It stays here. That way, if any of us gets in trouble, we know where to find it. That's fair."

"Got it," Usopp said.

"All right," Chopper agreed.

Nami then shifted her attention to the others, frowning sharply. "But that's for anyone except you five!" She pointed between Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Robin, and Ben. "If any of you blow it, I'll kick you to the ends of the world myself."

"Yes, we'll be careful," Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Robin said in unison.

Nami turned to Ben. "Are we clear, Kevin?"

Ben shrugged. "I guess. But if you punch me again, I'm counting that as an emergency. Might need to call the Sky Knight to intervene for my safety."

A faint pink touched Nami's cheeks, though whether it was embarrassment or irritation was hard to tell.

"Try it," she said sweetly. "If you even think about blowing this whistle for a joke, I'll beat you up twice as hard."

Ben smirked. "Duly noted."

…

Back in the present, Chopper reached up and carefully took the whistle from the mast. His hooves trembled a little as he looped the string around his neck.

"There. For emergencies only." He nodded once, then turned toward the ship's damaged sections with renewed determination. "Okay, Merry. Let's start treating you." Chopper grabbed one of Usopp's toolkits and hurried along the deck. He was about to climb down over the railings until a harsh cry cut through the forest. Chopper froze. "...Huh?"

A shadow swept over the altar.

The next instant, something enormous dropped from above in a rush of feathers and heat.

Fuza landed hard on the altar's platform close to the ship, talons scraping against stone. The giant bird's wings beat once, sending a hot gust across the Merry's deck and nearly knocking Chopper off his hooves. Smoke curled from its beak.

A tall figure sat atop the bird's back, javelin in hand.

Shura looked down at Chopper with cold amusement. "Well, well. I was just on my way to complete a task for Kami, and here I find you."

Chopper's entire body went rigid as his eyes shrank to pinpricks.

Shura's mouth curved. "Tell me, little one. Are you the only sacrificial lamb here for me to kill?"

For one horrifying second, all Chopper could do was stare at the priest, the javelin, the bird, and the flames licking faintly at Fuza's mouth.

His hooves flew to the whistle, and Chopper blew with everything he had.

TWEEEEEEEEEEE!

The sharp cry of the whistle tore through Upper Yard, echoing over the altar, the cloud-lake, and the endless forest beyond.

…

Gan Fall's island-cloud rested in quiet isolation above the White-White Sea.

It was a modest place compared to Angel Island. Soft white ground stretched beneath a humble cabin, with a simple garden tucked near the house and a large tree rising nearby. Green pumpkins grew in neat rows, their vines curling across the island-cloud beneath the gentle light.

Conis sat near the front of the house with her harp in both hands, playing a soft tune. Su rested close to her feet, tail curled neatly around herself. Pagaya knelt a short distance away, sleeves rolled up as he worked on the old Waver Gan Fall had kept stored nearby.

Gan Fall walked the lines of his pumpkin patch, watering them with practiced care.

"This year, the pumpkins are growing well," he said.

"Oh… That's good to hear." Pagaya looked up from the Waver. "How can we ever thank you? I'm sorry if we are a burden to you."

Gan Fall shook his head gently. "It is no burden, Pagaya. Rest while you can. Eneru's Mantra will not reach us here."

Pagaya's hands stilled over the Waver.

Gan Fall glanced toward him. "And what of Angel Island?"

"Yes?"

"The crops this year. Are they growing well?"

"Oh, that." Pagaya's expression softened a little. "Yes, they are so-so."

"I see." Gan Fall gestured toward the glass near Pagaya. "Try the juice there. Freshly pressed from the pumpkins in my garden. It is delicious, if I do say so myself."

Pagaya picked up the glass and took a sip. His eyes brightened. "Indeed it is. Thank you." He turned toward his daughter. "Conis, have some too."

Conis did not answer right away.

Her fingers continued to move across the strings of her harp, but her eyes were distant. The melody remained gentle, though something quieter weighed beneath it.

Gan Fall watched her for a moment. "Child, on the Blue Sea below, there is a class of people known as pirates. Have you heard of them?"

Conis looked up. "No…"

"They are criminals who sail the seas in search of plunder," he explained. "They fly a black flag with a skull atop their ship's mast."

Conis's hands stilled against the harp while Pagaya's eyes widened slightly. Both of them remembered the Straw Hats' ship. The symbol on the sail and the flag above the mast.

"What?" Pagaya nearly dropped his tool. "You're saying they were criminals from the start?"

Gan Fall chuckled. "Perhaps 'outsiders' is a better term. In every realm, there are those who refuse to play by the rules."

His gaze drifted in the direction where Upper Yard was. "And right now, are you any different from them?"

The question settled quietly between them.

Conis lowered her eyes. Pagaya said nothing.

"It is all a matter of perspective," he continued. "Those whose actions make them heroes in times of war may, under other circumstances, be branded as murderers." His expression softened with memory. "I too have made friends with pirates. Over twenty years ago, when I was still Kami, they came here."

Conis looked up again.

"They were a heroic and lively bunch. I was sad to part with them."

Heroic.

The word settled in Conis's chest. For a moment, she saw Ben's confident smile again. Heard his strange explanation from that first night in her home.

Superhero.

"Gan Fall," Conis said quietly, "Ben does not claim to be a pirate."

The old knight's expression shifted, becoming attentive.

Conis tightened her hands around the harp. "I know he came with the Straw Hats, but he is different from them. Sue found him alone on Angel Beach. He did not even know where he was."

"Sue," Su squeaked softly at her feet.

Gan Fall hummed. "A Blue Sea dweller who arrived alone…"

His mind drifted back to the White Sea, when he had first seen Ben aboard the Straw Hat's ship in that strange green, boneless form. The boy had said he had been to Angel Island before. That much, at least, matched Conis's story.

"I wonder how he managed that without Eneru noticing," the old knight murmured.

Pagaya glanced down at the Waver. "I can say he did not enter through normal means."

Conis nodded. "Truthfully, we cannot say how. It is not our story to tell."

Gan Fall considered that, then nodded. "I see. Then I will not push for personal information."

His thoughts drifted again, this time to the wharf. To the moment Heaven's Judgment had fallen. To the blue-and-black creature that had carried Conis away from lightning with impossible speed.

"Your friend said he had a score to settle with Eneru. Is that something you can shed light on?"

Conis's expression tightened. "Only a little. Ben entered Upper Yard several days ago. I do not know what happened there. Not exactly." Her voice softened. "But there was judgment."

Pagaya's face fell.

"I believed he had died," she said quietly. The blonde girl held her harp closer to herself, fingers curling against the polished frame. "But today proved that he survived."

The engineer lowered his gaze to the half-repaired Waver in front of him. His hands rested against the frame, but he no longer seemed to see it. "I had thought…" he began, then stopped with a small, unsteady breath. "I had thought we had failed him."

Conis looked toward her father.

His closed-eyed smile returned, though it was weaker than usual. "He was lost, alone, and in need of help. We welcomed him into our home, yet he was still struck down before we truly understood the danger he had walked into." His fingers tightened lightly against the Waver's edge. "To know he is alive… it is more than I knew how to thank God for. The true one."

Su gave a small, soft squeak at Conis's feet. "Sue…"

Conis lowered her eyes to the cloud fox, and the smallest smile touched her face. "Su knew first, I think."

Pagaya looked at the little fox. "Did she?"

Conis nodded faintly. "When he was in disguise, Su seemed to know something was wrong. That is why she kept smelling him, I think." Her fingers brushed the strings of her harp, though no music followed. "I am relieved that he is back…but now he is going back to fight Eneru."

Her smile faded. "That is what frightens me."

Pagaya's expression softened with understanding. "Yes."

Gan Fall watched them quietly.

Relief, grief, fear, and hope had all settled around the small island-cloud like a weather no one could escape. The boy's survival was a miracle, but miracles did not always mean safety. Sometimes, they only meant someone had been given another chance to face the same danger.

"It is a miracle he survived at all," the older man said at last. "Then I suppose he has returned to enact revenge upon Eneru."

Conis hesitated, then slowly shook her head. "I… do not think that is it."

Gan Fall looked at her.

The blonde girl lowered her gaze to her hands. "I think he came back because he is a superhero."

Gan Fall blinked.

The word stirred a recent memory. He recalled Ben saying something similar on the wharf, when he had tried to reassure Conis that he would be all right.

"A superhero?" he repeated.

Conis nodded, though embarrassment colored her face as she tried to explain it. "It is when someone shows up who can do crazy things, and protect others, they…" She searched her memory carefully, trying to repeat Ben's words as closely as she could. "They call them heroes. Superheroes, if it is… a lot."

"A lot?" Gan Fall echoed.

Conis's blush deepened slightly. "That is how Ben explained it."

"Superhero," Gan Fall murmured, tasting the unfamiliar word. Then a quiet chuckle escaped him. "Such a grandiose title. Then again, I was once called god."

For a moment, he said nothing more. He returned to watering his pumpkins, the gentle splash of water filling the silence between them.

"I cannot say I fully understand the term," he admitted. "But I did sense something within this Ben. And within the pirates who were with him."

His expression softened, touched by old memory. "It reminded me of the ones I met all those years ago."

Conis looked up.

Gan Fall's gaze settled on the distant forest. "Perhaps," he said quietly, "the song of the island may yet be heard again."

"The song of the island?" Conis repeated.

Pagaya stopped working completely now.

Gan Fall opened his eyes, his expression distant but gentle. "There is an ancient legend here in Skypiea. Many centuries ago, on the day this sacred Upper Yard was born, a beautiful sound rang from the island and enveloped the land. It was on that day that the fighting between the Shandorians and the sky people began."

He stopped watering when his can was emptied.

"I believe with all my heart that the next time we hear the song of the island, the fighting will stop. The sacred land will sing once more."

Conis held her cup close, her expression quiet and thoughtful.

Gan Fall turned his gaze back toward Upper Yard.

"Ben's arrival may be no accident," he murmured. "Nor the arrival of those Straw Hat pirates. If they truly intend to challenge Eneru…" His eyes narrowed with renewed resolve. "Then perhaps the time has come."

Before Conis or Pagaya could answer, Pierre suddenly stiffened.

The bird's head snapped toward Upper Yard.

TWEEEEEEEEEEE!

The sound of a whistle reached Pierre's sensitive ears. It was faint, distant, but unmistakable.

His wings flared, and he let out a sharp cry. "P-IE!"

Gan Fall's eyes hardened. "The whistle."

He was already moving. In one swift motion, he seized his spear and mounted Pierre.

"What is it?!" Pagaya stood up, alarmed. "What's wrong?!"

"Watch this place! Duty calls!" Gan Fall shouted back. "Let's go Pierre!"

"P-IE!"

Pierre launched from the island-cloud with a powerful flap of his wings, carrying Gan Fall toward Upper Yard.

Conis watched them disappear into the distance, one hand pressed lightly against her chest.

…

Usopp sat rigid at the wheel as the Little Crow passing through the Ball Ordeal's entrance.

"Let's go!" Luffy shouted, grinning widely.

"Gurah!" Usopp wailed, eyes squeezed tightly.

Sanji's eye twitched. "Hey! Open your eyes, Usopp! You're steering!"

"They are open!"

"Dude, they are definitely not open!" Upchuck snapped.

Usopp forced his eyes open by a fraction, then immediately shrieked. "I can't see anything!"

Luffy looked ahead, completely calm. "Oh yeah. Guess that's true."

Sanji looked toward the light at the end of the tunnel. "Wonder where this path is taking us. With four of them, one has to be right and the others have to be wrong."

Usopp's jaw dropped. "Don't tell me that now! What if we chose the wrong one?!"

"Maybe we'll fall off the sky island," Luffy said.

Usopp's entire face went slack with horror.

Sanji clenched his teeth. "If we're wrong, we drop straight to the Blue Sea. That's thirty-three thousand feet, give or take."

"DON'T SAY THAT EITHER!" Usopp screamed.

"Relax, guys," Upchuck waved them off. "If we start falling, I'll just switch to something with wings. Easy."

"Well, that's great for you, booger guy, but the rest of us can't fly!" Sanji snapped.

"First, I'm a Perk Gourmand," Upchuck said, pointing at him. "Second, I would catch you." He looked away. "Though if you keep calling me a booger, I reserve the right to catch you last right before you hit the ground."

Before Sanji could retort, Luffy pointed ahead. "Look! The exit!"

The Little Crow shot through the tunnel's exit… and the Milky Road vanished.

There was only white sky, distant forest, and a horrifyingly long drop toward the island below. The Little Crow hung in the air for one impossible second until gravity remembered they existed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Usopp screamed.

Luffy's arms shot upward. "WHOOO!"

"Don't cheer!" Sanji snapped, grabbing the side as the boat plunged nose-first.

Upchuck's mouth twisted into a grimace as wind blasted against his face. "Of course it had to be a waterfall! Or…skyfall? cloudfall? Either way… Screw you, universe!"

The boat hit the lower Milky Road with a tremendous splash.

White cloud-water exploded upward around them. The impact threw all four of them into the air for half a second before they crashed back into the boat. Usopp landed face-first against the deck boards. Luffy bounced off the side and laughed like he had just ridden the world's greatest amusement park ride. Sanji landed in a crouch; one hand braced against the rim. Upchuck rolled across the deck, bumped into Luffy's leg, and sat up with a dazed blink.

For several seconds, the only sounds were the hiss of the Breath Dials, the soft rush of the Milky Road, and Usopp's ragged breathing.

Usopp slowly lifted his face from the deck. "We're alive," he whispered.

Luffy threw both arms into the air. "That was scary!"

The long-nosed man whipped around and punched his captain repeatedly on the head. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, IDIOT!"

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Luffy laughed through each hit. "I thought I was gonna die!"

"That's why I'm hitting you!"

Upchuck rubbed the top of his head. "Okay, so maybe ranking the Ball Ordeal as the least murdery option was a bit premature."

"I'll say…" Sanji exhaled shakily, then looked around. "But where are we?"

"Balls," Luffy said suddenly.

Sanji and Usopp went still.

Upchuck blinked, then looked around too.

They had landed in a strange basin beneath the towering forest. The Milky Road wound forward between enormous pale trunks and curling roots, but the air around them was packed with floating spheres made of island-cloud. Hundreds of them drifted lazily at different heights. Some bobbed over the river. Some hung between branches. Others floated so close to the boat that they almost brushed the sides.

Luffy's face brightened. "Lots of 'em!"

Usopp's face paled. "I hate this place already."

Sanji stood straighter, scanning the floating spheres with a wary eye. "Balls made of clouds…"

"They're like gigantic snowballs!" Luffy laughed.

Upchuck eyed the nearest sphere as it drifted lazily past his face. "Yeah, because when a death trial gives you a place full of floating mystery balls, the first thing I think is definitely snow day."

Usopp swallowed hard. "What's the challenge supposed to be?"

Luffy tilted his head, still looking around at the floating cloud-spheres. "Maybe we chose the right opening."

Sanji's expression stayed guarded. "Who knows? Maybe we're completely safe now." He paused. "But I doubt it."

Usopp rounded on him. "Don't say that!"

Sanji ignored him, eyes moving from sphere to sphere. "Don't let your guard down. They brought us here to punish us. There's sure to be danger."

Luffy smiled. "Oh… oh! Yeah! You could be right."

"You could sound less happy about that!" Usopp shouted.

Sanji pointed toward the front of the boat. "Use your heads. It's bound to be some kind of trap. Stay alert and let's just keep moving forward."

Upchuck raised one hand. "Yeah. Nothing about this says, 'free boat tour.'"

The Little Crow drifted forward between the floating spheres. The Milky Road sloped upward, carrying them higher and higher through the forest. The balls seemed to multiply with every turn. They floated around the boat in clusters, some small enough to hold in one hand, others larger than Luffy's whole body.

Sanji's eyes narrowed. "This is strange."

Upchuck glanced over. "Strange compared to the rest of today?"

"Point taken. But this god guy has priests, right?" Sanji said. "So I assumed each of the entrances would lead to one of them." His frown deepened. "Am I wrong?"

"Nah," Upchuck said, glancing around the floating spheres. "If there's a priest here, he's probably waiting to make a dramatic entrance." His mouth twisted. "Bad guys love dramatic entrances. It's, like, half the job."

A soft bump interrupted him.

One of the smaller cloud-spheres bounced lightly against Usopp's shoulder and drifted away. The sniper flinched, then looked down at it with a shaky breath.

"Hey, Usopp!" Luffy called. "Catch!"

He swatted another small ball toward him, and the sphere bounced off Usopp's face.

Blump.

Usopp froze. He then turned toward Luffy, shaking. "You're supposed to be standing watch!"

Luffy blinked. "Okay…"

Another ball drifted down above Sanji.

Luffy pointed. "Hey, Sanji! There's a cloud in front of you!"

The blonde cook glanced up. "Hm?"

The ball touched the side of his head and split open. Without warning, a massive snake burst out with a hiss, jaws wide.

Usopp screamed so loudly his voice cracked.

Sanji's visible eye went wide. "Snake?!"

The snake lunged toward the cook's face but Upchuck moved first.

His tongues shot out, wrapped around the snake mid-lunge, and yanked it away from Sanji before dragging it straight into his enormous mouth.

GULP!

For one stunned second, nobody moved.

Sanji slowly turned toward him, expression caught somewhere between disgust and disbelief. "You ate the snake?"

"Technically, I ate the cloud ball and the snake," Upchuck said. "Pretty sure that counts as a combo meal."

Luffy's eyes sparkled. "What did it taste like?"

Upchuck paused, considering that with far more seriousness than anyone wanted. "Eh, like bland cotton candy." He grimaced. "Honestly, not the best."

"What about the snake?"

Upchuck made a face. "Also bland. Little chewy."

Sanji's disgust deepened into something more personally offended. "Of course it was chewy. You swallowed it whole." He pointed at the Gourmand with two fingers. "If you're going to eat snake, you skin it, clean it, season it properly, then grill it until the texture actually behaves."

Upchuck blinked. "Wow. I ate a snake out of a mystery cloud, and somehow I'm the one who committed a culinary crime."

"You did," Sanji said flatly.

"How was there a snake in there anyway?" Usopp pointed at the nearest floating sphere. "Are they all floating snake eggs?!"

Another ball bumped lightly against Sanji's shoulder.

Sanji's leg snapped up on instinct. "Stupid balls!"

The sphere sailed into a larger cluster and struck one of the bigger balls.

Usopp's eyes widened. "Wait—"

Upchuck reacted on instinct. His tongues shot forward again, latching onto the ball and sucking the entire thing back toward him. He swallowed it in one gulp. His cheeks bulged as a muffled boom went off inside him. A tiny puff of smoke escaped from the corner of his mouth.

Usopp stared in pure horror. "Did… did that ball just explode inside you?"

Upchuck swallowed. "Yep. You're welcome."

Sanji blinked twice. "That cannot be healthy."

"Eh, I've eaten far worse."

Luffy leaned closer, fascinated. "So what did that one taste like?"

Upchuck burped, releasing another tiny puff of green smoke. "Spicy bland cotton candy."

"That makes no sense!" Usopp cried.

"Neither does most of today." Upchuck flatly replied.

"Well, we know one thing," Sanji said, looking at the floating balls surrounding them. "These things are booby-trapped."

A voice suddenly echoed through the forest.

"Foh-hoh-hoh! Such poor manners."

All four of them snapped their heads up.

"Hey!" Luffy shouted. "Who was that?!"

"Surprise Clouds are meant to be opened, not eaten!" the voice continued, cheerful and theatrical. "Some are harmless. Some are deadly. That is the charm of my Ordeal! At least, that is supposed to be how it goes!"

Upchuck slowly looked at the nearest floating sphere, then back toward the voice. "Okay, in my defense, nobody put up a sign that said, 'do not snack on the murder clouds.'"

Sanji's visible eye sharpened. "Show yourself."

"Foh-hoh-hoh! Heso!"

A round figure descended from above, drifting between the spheres as if gravity had decided not to bother him. He was short and rotund, dressed in a white full-body outfit with a vertical line of connected golden rings running down the front. Orange gloves covered his hands, matching the strange orange cap perched on his head and the shoes on his feet. Large yellow sunglasses completely hid his eyes, making the wide, foolish smile beneath them look even more unsettling. Small white wings spread from his back, and a striped cane rested loosely in one hand.

He swayed in the air with his hands raised, prancing between the floating balls as though he were greeting an audience instead of blocking their path.

"Foh-hoh-hoh! I am so happy that you chose my Ordeal!"

Luffy stared at him for a moment until his face scrunched in confusion. "You're giving us this challenge? You're a ball yourself!"

Sanji grimaced. "He looks kind of stupid."

Usopp leaned toward Sanji, whispering loudly, "That's one of Eneru's priests?!"

Upchuck looked Satori up and down. "Wow. This place really is committed to the theme."

The round priest continued bobbing through the air, grinning all the while. "Hoh hoh hoh! How rude," he said lightly, though his smile did not fade. "I am not a ball."

"I dunno, dude. You're pretty close to one." Upchuck said.

Satori's smile widened as his hidden gaze shifted to Upchuck; more specifically, the green hourglass dial on his stomach.

"Hoh?" He tilted his head. "And there he is. Ben Tennyson. Lord Eneru's special guest has chosen such a curious shape."

The air in the boat changed.

Luffy's grin faded slightly. Sanji's visible eye narrowed. Usopp swallowed hard and slowly turned toward Upchuck.

Upchuck stared back at Satori for a beat, his mouth curling into a crooked frown. "So the lightning jerk knows I'm here. Figures."

Satori swayed in place, clearly enjoying the reaction. "Lord Eneru hears all. Eneru knows all."

"Then I'm surprised Mister High-and-Mighty sent such a lame lackey instead of coming here himself."

Satori's smile twitched.

Sanji's mouth curved faintly around his cigarette.

Usopp whispered, "Why would you insult him?"

"Because he insulted me first by calling me Eneru's special guest."

Satori's cheeks puffed slightly. "A lame lackey? Foh-hoh-hoh… How rude. I am one of the priests who serves the omnipotent God Eneru."

"Technically, you're floating around in a ball pit."

"Ben?!" Usopp shouted.

"What? Accuracy matters."

"Hey, dumpling," Sanji called out, his voice sharpening. "Nami-swan and Robin-chwan better be okay."

Satori drifted down the Milky Road, his grin stretching wider as he looked toward Sanji and Usopp. "I have no clue who you're talking about. But you would do better to worry about yourselves." His voice stayed cheerful. "If you're referring to the hostages at the sacrificial altar, well, they are as good as dead. Even if they somehow escape. Every road here leads to death."

Sanji's cigarette shifted between his teeth.

Luffy's shoulders lowered as his expression sharpened.

Satori swayed in place, still smiling. "Foh-hoh-hoh. If you wish to get out of here alive, then you must defeat me."

Usopp grabbed at his slingshot, panic and anger tangling together. "He's coming, Luffy! Get him! Let him have it!"

"All right." Luffy's right arm stretched back. "Gum-Gum…"

Satori's head tilted. "Hoh. So you can stretch?"

Luffy shot his fist forward. "Pistol!"

Satori moved before the punch reached him. His round body bent aside with unsettling ease, and the fist whipped past him into empty air.

"Huh?"

Satori suddenly appeared in front of Luffy and his palm struck the rubber boy squarely in the chest.

WHAM!

The impact detonated through Luffy's body. His eyes bulged, and he was blasted clean off the Little Crow, flying backward through the field of Surprise Clouds before crashing hard onto a thick branch below.

"Luffy!" Sanji shouted, alarmed.

Usopp's jaw dropped. "A simple blow?! No way a simple blow like that could hurt Luffy!"

Satori lifted his palm, his smile widening. A Dial rested against it. "You are wrong there."

Usopp's eyes widened as a memory flashed through his mind. He pointed at Satori's hand with a trembling finger. "T-That's an Impact Dial!"

Sanji's visible eye narrowed. "Impact Dial?"

"It stores force and releases it back out!" the sniper clarified, voice rising. "But wait—if he's using one that casually, then he must be used to the recoil!"

Upchuck's eyes narrowed, but not because of the Dial. Because Satori had moved before Luffy's punch truly reached him. Before the attack had completed. Eneru had done the same thing.

"That's not the only thing he's got," Upchuck muttered. "He's using Mantra."

Sanji glanced toward him. "What?"

"That's what Eneru called it," Upchuck said, keeping his gaze on Satori. "He's reacting before the attack actually happens."

Satori's smile widened. "Foh-hoh-hoh. So Eneru taught you something before casting you down."

"Yeah. That he cheats."

The round man's smile tightened. "Mantra is a power granted only to the faithful. I hear your movements. Your intentions. Your bodies announce what they will do before you do it."

Sanji's jaw set. "So he's reading us then."

Below them, Luffy pushed himself upright on the branch, grimacing as he rubbed his chest. "That hurt."

Satori drifted backward, still smiling. "Foh-hoh-hoh! Attacking head-on is such a foolish thing to do!"

Sanji stepped forward, anger tightening his posture. "I'll show you foolish!"

"Sanji, wait!" Upchuck called out, but it was too late.

The priest tilted his head, listening. "Hoh hoh…"

Sanji kicked off the deck. "Collier!" His right leg snapped toward Satori's head.

"Head kick. Right leg," Satori said calmly.

Sanji's visible eye widened. "What?!"

Satori bent out of the kick's path with almost lazy ease, his round body swaying aside just before Sanji's foot cut through the space where his head had been.

Satori's palm came up.

WHAM!

The Impact Dial struck Sanji at close range. The cook's body jolted as the force drove through him, blasting him backward off the side of the Little Crow.

"Sanji!" Usopp cried.

He lunged instinctively, grabbing Sanji's sleeve, only for the sudden pull to yank him off balance.

"W-Wait—!"

Upchuck's tongues shot out to catch Usopp by the back of his overalls, but the boat lurched at the same time, and one of the floating Surprise Clouds bumped into Upchuck's side.

"Whoa!"

The pull dragged Upchuck off balance too.

All three tumbled off the Little Crow.

Sanji hit a thick branch first, skidding hard across the mossy wood with smoke curling off his body. Usopp landed facedown a few feet away with a muffled cry. Upchuck bounced once, rolled across the branch, and slammed into a large root with a dazed grunt.

The Little Crow continued drifting forward.

From the lower branch, Luffy's eyes widened. "Hey! Sanji! Usopp! Ben!"

Satori floated above them with his palm still raised. "There is nothing simple about it," he said cheerfully. "The Impact Dial destroys the body from within… starting with the spinal cord."

Sanji coughed, one hand braced against the branch as he forced himself to move.

Usopp lifted his head, trembling. "S-Sanji… you alive?"

The pirate chef grimaced, pushing himself to one knee. "Yeah, I'm peachy."

Upchuck groaned and rolled to his feet. "I tried to warn you guys. He anticipates movements. Attacking him head-on isn't going to work."

"Okay then," Luffy said, standing up on his branch and stretching his arms again. "Then I just gotta hit him without thinking!"

Sanji and Usopp both stared at him.

Upchuck blinked. "That's either genius or the dumbest thing I've heard today."

"With Luffy," Sanji said, "those are usually the same thing."

Satori drifted farther down the Milky Road, putting distance between himself and them. His round body bobbed between the floating spheres as if the entire forest belonged to him.

"Hoh hoh hoh! My name is Satori!" he declared. "I am one of the priests who serves almighty Eneru!" His voice carried through the field of floating Surprise Clouds. "I rule over this challenge in the Forest of No Return!"

Luffy's head lifted. "No return?"

"Yes," the round priest said, grinning wider. "Your boat…" He pointed with his cane toward the Little Crow as it continued drifting along the Milky Road. "…will be lost in this great forest."

The small boat passed deeper through the floating balls, carried forward by the current.

"It will roam this forest on the Milky Road until it eventually finds the only exit on its own."

"Hey!" Usopp shouted, scrambling upright. "Leave our boat alone!"

Satori chuckled. "Perhaps you already know this, but you will never find your way to the sacrificial altar without that boat."

Luffy's expression hardened.

"You must find your vessel and board it before that happens," the priest continued. "Otherwise, it will vanish into the forest, and you will wander here until the Ordeal claims you."

Luffy crouched low on his branch. "Then I'll just jump back!"

Sanji's eye widened. "Luffy, wait—!"

"Gum-Gum—"

Satori smiled.

One of the Surprise Clouds beside Luffy opened with a sharp pop. A blast of force erupted from it at the exact moment Luffy sprang. "Whoa?!" The explosion knocked him off course. Instead of reaching the Little Crow, Luffy shot past the boat and slammed face-first into a massive tree trunk.

THUD!

His body bounced off the bark, spun through the air, and crashed down onto another lower branch.

"Luffy!" Usopp screamed.

The Straw Hat captain lay sprawled across the branch for a second, smoke curling faintly from his clothes. One hand then lifted weakly.

"I'm okay," he mumbled.

Sanji exhaled sharply. "Idiot."

He forced himself fully upright, one hand pressed against his side. His visible eye stayed locked on Satori. "So we have to beat you and get back to the boat."

Usopp looked between the drifting Little Crow, the countless floating spheres, and Satori's smiling face. "We have to fight him and catch the boat before it gets lost?! That's impossible!"

"Not impossible," Upchuck said, setting his stance. "Just really, really irritating."

Satori spread his arms as the Surprise Clouds floated around him. "But of course, the countless Surprise Clouds floating around here and I… will not allow you to do that."

Usopp's entire body shook. "I knew it! I knew these stupid balls were evil!"

"Welcome to the forbidden sacred land, the Upper Yard," Satori announced, grin gleaming beneath his sunglasses. "Only ten percent survive the Forest of No Return!" He raised his hands higher. "This is the Ordeal of the Balls!"

…

Chopper threw himself to the side just as Shura's spear came thrusting down. The weapon missed him by inches and stabbed into the Merry's mast instead.

For half a second, Chopper only heard the sharp crack of wood. Heat suddenly washed across his face.

He spun around and saw flames licking up the mast where Shura's spear had struck. Fire curled around the ropes and crawled toward the sail, smoke rising in dark, ugly streams.

Chopper's eyes went wide. "No!" he screamed. "Not the ship! Please, not the ship!" He scrambled across the deck, snatched up a towel, and started batting at the flames. The fire hissed and snapped beneath each frantic strike, but it did not go out. "Stop!" He cried, his hooves shaking. "Stop! Please stop!"

Fuza gave a harsh cry from the edge of the altar.

Chopper froze.

Shura watched him from atop the giant bird, his lance resting casually over one shoulder. There was no urgency in his narrow eyes. No anger. Not even impatience.

Only amusement.

Chopper's fear twisted sharply into panic. If the fire reached the sail, if it spread any farther, the Merry would—

"No," he whispered. His body shifted, growing larger and stronger as he assumed Heavy Point. Muscular arms wrapped around the burning mast, and Chopper gritted his teeth against the heat. "Gwaaah!" With one desperate pull, he ripped the damaged mast free from the deck. Wood cracked, ropes snapped, and the burning mast tore loose in a shower of sparks. Chopper staggered to the side, then hurled it with all his strength. The mast crashed into the cloud-lake below with a heavy splash, and the flames vanished beneath the pale current.

For a moment, only smoke remained.

Chopper stood hunched on the deck, breathing hard as he stared at the blackened stump where the mast had been. "No…" His voice shook. "No!" His hands clenched against the deck. "I'm responsible for this ship!" He shouted, turning back toward Shura. "I'm not going to fail in my duty!"

Shura tilted his head slightly. "What shall we do then, Fuza?"

Fuza opened its beak. "Ku-kaw! Kuka kaw kaw!"

Shura gave a small, thoughtful hum, as if considering the bird's answer. "You do not want me to attack your comrades. You do not want me to destroy your ship. And naturally, you do not want to die."

He placed one hand lightly against the side of his helmet.

"You leave me with very few options."

Chopper's eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What a spoiled little creature." The priest's expression cooled. "People like you make me sick."

The Straw Hat's doctor stiffened.

"If you care so much about living…" Shura lowered his lance. "Then why are you so weak?!"

He thrust.

Chopper barely moved in time. The lance clipped his shoulder, tearing through fur and flesh before stabbing past him into the railing. Pain flashed white across Chopper's senses. "Ah!"

The rail immediately began to smoke. Fire spread from the point of impact, orange tongues of flame catching along the splintered wood.

The humanoid reindeer grabbed his wounded shoulder, then froze in horror. "Stop!" he cried. "Your spear is burning hot!" He lunged toward the railing, batting the flames with both hands. "No! No! Stop!"

After several frantic strikes, the fire finally died down, leaving the wood charred and smoking.

Chopper turned back toward Shura, anger burning through the fear. "You…!" He charged forward, his heavy fist swinging straight for Shura's face.

The priest moved as if he had already known the attack was coming and Chopper's punch hit empty air. A heartbeat later, Shura stood on the aft deck railing behind him, balanced effortlessly with his lance in hand.

The reindeer stumbled, eyes widening. "Huh?"

Shura looked down at him. "You are not prepared to make a sacrifice, and yet you intend to live?"

Chopper's thoughts raced. What's with this guy? It's like he can predict my moves! His eyes then widened. Wait, is this what Kevin meant by Mantra? But I thought that Eneru was the only one who could use it.

Shura's gaze drifted over the altar, the ship, and the empty forest beyond. "For one to live, another must die. That is the way of the world. You are aware that you stand atop the sacrificial altar?"

Chopper swallowed hard. "Y-Yeah. That was mentioned."

"Quite so." Shura rested his lance against his shoulder again. "Your friends are trying to reach this place. On this island, there are four areas, each ruled by a different priest. When a target sets foot within one of those areas, the other priests may not interfere. That is the rule."

The reindeer-man stared at him, trying to follow through the fear.

"This sacrificial altar, however, is not part of any domain," Shura continued. "Targets in this free area are considered fair game. Of course, before your friends can come here, they must first survive the ordeals."

Chopper's eyes widened with sudden hope. "So… when Luffy and the others come to rescue me, we can run away?!"

"Yes. You are free to go, provided you survive being in this free area. Those are the rules of the punished."

Chopper's relief barely had time to form.

Shura's smile thinned. "Of course, in the case of exceptions, things change slightly."

"Exceptions?" Chopped asked in confusion.

"Yes. For example…" Shura lifted his lance and pointed toward the forest where Zoro, Nami, and Robin had disappeared. "If three sacrificial lambs use a hoist and escape into that forest over there."

Chopper's stomach dropped. So when the others left to scout… that let this guy come after me?!

"If one escapes, another must pay with death. There must be sacrifice. Sacrifice is law." He shifted his lance downward. "And if that one returns, even more so. The severity of the crime must be shown." Shura stepped off the railing, his lance aimed directly at Chopper. "Offer your life to the Almighty Eneru."

"No!" Chopper cried, throwing himself back. "I won't let you!"

Shura adjusted in midair, reading the movement before Chopper could complete it. The spear stabbed into Chopper's shoulder. Blood sprayed and Chopper cried out in pain, his Heavy Point body staggering backward as the weapon tore free. He clutched the wound, teeth clenched, eyes wide with fear and agony. Shura landed lightly in front of him and lifted the spear again.

This time, he aimed for Chopper's head.

Chopper swallowed hard and raised both arms.

Then a cry cut through the air from above.

"P-IE!"

A white shape dove from the sky.

Shura's head snapped upward.

The Sky Knight descended on his strange bird-horse, lance drawn, cloak whipping behind him. Gan Fall's expression was grim as Pierre dropped between Shura and the Merry.

Chopper's whole face lit up. "It's Sky Knight!"

Gan Fall did not look away from Shura. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Shura's eyes narrowed. "Gan Fall." He angled his lance. "I wondered why that whistle was blown. To think it would summon you." His mouth curved in a low chuckle. "What an unexpected surprise."

Fuza beat his wings, lifting from the altar in a rush of hot wind. Pierre rose as well, carrying Gan Fall into the open space beyond the Merry. The two riders circled each other above the Milky Road, the scorched deck below them still smoking faintly against the old stone altar.

Chopper scrambled to his feet. "Gan Fall! Be careful! He's one of Eneru's priests!"

"I know," Gan Fall said.

Shura's spear shifted in his grip. "There is only room for one God on this island."

Gan Fall's eyes hardened. "Eneru is no god."

Fuza shrieked and shot forward. Shura thrust his lance and Gan Fall met him head-on.

…

Usopp's soul nearly left his body. "TEN PERCENT?!"

Luffy sat up on the lower branch, rubbing his head. "That's low, right?"

"Yes!" Usopp screamed. "That's very low!"

"Ten, huh?" Upchuck smirked. "I can work with those odds."

Satori laughed as several cloud spheres bobbed toward them in loose waves.

The first one popped open near Usopp, and a burst of flowers showered over his head. Usopp froze under the petals…until another ball popped beside him and exploded.

BOOM!

The long-nosed sniper flew backward with a scream and landed upside down against the side of the branch, smoke curling off his bandanna.

Luffy stared. "There are funny ones too!"

"That was not funny!" Usopp cried.

Another sphere dropped toward Sanji and split open, releasing a snapping snake.

Sanji kicked it away without hesitation. "Watch where you're stepping!"

A fourth ball opened overhead, raining sharp objects toward them.

Upchuck's tongues shot out and wrapped around one of the incoming balls before it could open. He yanked it straight into his mouth and swallowed it whole. His cheeks bulged and he spat out a glowing green blast that slammed into a cluster of nearby spheres.

The explosion tore through them, setting off several contents at once. One burst into flames. Another exploded. Another released a swarm of tiny birds that scattered in panic. White vapor rippled outward, clearing a narrow path through the floating field.

Upchuck wiped his mouth. "See? Useful."

"So cool!" Luffy's eyes shone. "I wish I could do that!"

Sanji looked sick. "I don't."

Satori's smile dimmed slightly. "Hoh…" he murmured. "A creature that consumes the Ordeal itself."

"Yeah," the Perk Gourmand said, patting his stomach. "Gonna be honest, though. That one tasted like sour cotton candy."

Satori raised both hands, and more balls drifted forward in several loose waves. Dozens hung over the river. More floated between the trunks. Some rolled along the bank. Others bobbed above the Little Crow like they were waiting to drop.

Upchuck hacked up another blast.

Satori moved before the shot even left his mouth, drifting aside with infuriating ease. The blast sailed past him and detonated against a harmless sphere, which burst open into a shower of soft feathers.

Upchuck's eyes narrowed.

Eating the cloud balls wasn't an issue for him. Trying to eat enough of them before a trap hurt or killed one of his new allies was a problem, though. Especially when this goofy fat priest was using Mantra to predict everyone's attacks and Impact Dials to inflict serious damage.

"Okay," he muttered. "This is really getting annoying."

Luffy laughed despite the danger.

Satori's smile returned. "Foh-hoh-hoh. You are a strange little creature. You eat without understanding the meal."

Upchuck's eye twitched. "Buddy, I ate energy twenty times stronger than a star once. I understand meals just fine." He fired again.

Satori slipped beneath the blast, which exploded in the canopy somewhere behind him, and vanished behind a cluster of balls. The next instant, he appeared beside Upchuck. His palm struck the alien square in the side as the Impact Dial discharged.

WHAM!

Upchuck went flying across the area and bounced off several branches before slamming hard into a thick root.

"Ben!" Luffy shouted.

Sanji lunged, forcing Satori back with a kick. The priest leaned away before Sanji's foot reached him, laughing as he drifted out of range.

Upchuck groaned and pushed himself up, one hand pressed against his side.

"You all right?" Sanji asked without taking his eyes off Satori.

"Define all right."

"Still breathing?"

"Technically."

"Good enough."

Usopp used the opening to scramble toward the edge of the branch, eyes locked on the Little Crow as it drifted farther along the Milky Road. The boat bobbed between the floating Surprise Clouds, still moving with the current. Too far to reach by jumping.

The sniper swallowed hard, then grabbed at his belt.

Attached there was one of his own prepared tools: a coiled rope rigged like a grappling setup, with a triple hook tied to the end. He had stored the bulk of the line in his satchel and clipped the base to his belt in case he ever needed to climb, swing, or escape dramatically.

In his imagination, it had looked much cooler.

"Okay, brave warrior mission," Usopp muttered to himself, hands shaking as he fumbled with the hook. "Get back to the boat. Stop the boat. Do not die horribly in the cursed ball forest. Simple. Easy. Barely terrifying at all."

A Surprise Cloud drifted down toward him.

Usopp shrieked and stumbled back. "Not today!" He grabbed the small satchel at his side and yanked out one of the shells he had bought at the Dial shop. He thrust it forward and activated it.

A burst of bright light exploded from the shell and Usopp squeezed his eyes shut just in time. The Surprise Cloud popped open, releasing a small bird-like creature that immediately squawked in alarm and flew face-first into a tree trunk.

Usopp cracked one eye open and stared at the Flash Dial. "Yes!" He grinned. "Captain Usopp's tactical brilliance has entered the battlefield!"

Luffy rushed Satori again from a lower branch. "Gum-Gum Bullet!"

Satori dodged before Luffy's fist reached him, but the attack forced him back just enough for Sanji to cut in from the side.

"Reception!" Sanji's kick swept upward.

Satori bent around it, smiling. "Foh-hoh-hoh. Too simple."

A nearby ball opened over Usopp's head.

Sanji saw it first. He twisted, kicked off the branch, and struck the ball away before it could burst. It exploded in midair, raining sparks over the cloud-canal instead of Usopp.

"T-Thanks!" Usopp shouted.

"Move! Get to the boat!"

"I'm moving!"

Meanwhile, Upchuck returned to his feet while rubbing his side. He looked around at the mass of floating white balls, then at Satori weaving between them as if the whole forest belonged to him.

"Alright," he muttered. "No more playing snack defense."

He slapped the Omnitrix dial on his stomach, and green light flashed through the forest.

"Hoh?" Satori's attention sharpened. "Changing forms?"

When the flash faded, Upchuck was gone.

In his place stood a tall, muscular humanoid alien with light tan skin across his chest, face, and hands, while darker tan covered his back and feet. He wore black pants, green cuffs on his wrists, and a green-and-white belt with the Omnitrix dial set at the center. His face had no eyes at all. Instead, it had a mouth and a large pair of elastic, bat-like ears that stretched outward from the sides of his head. Green eyes of different sizes blinked across his upper body, covering his chest, shoulders, arms, and back.

"Eye Guy!" he declared, voice deep and dramatic. More eyes opened in the palms of his hands, shifting independently as they took in the entire battlefield at once. Several of them narrowed on Satori. "And now I've got all eyes on you."

Usopp stared for a moment and then made a noise that was somewhere between a scream and his soul trying to leave. "AAAHH! EYE MONSTER!"

Luffy's jaw dropped in awe. "That is so cool!"

Sanji looked Eye Guy over, visibly unsettled despite himself. "That's… practical, I guess."

"Glad you see the vision, swirly brow," Eye Guy said, several eyes blinking at once.

Usopp pointed at him from the branch. "No! No, this is worse! This is worse than all the other ones!"

"At least this one probably won't eat the boat," Sanji said.

Several of Eye Guy's eyes turned toward him at once.

Sanji paused. "Probably?"

The Opticoid's mouth curved. "I'll keep an eye on the urge."

Luffy grinned. "Can you see with all of those eyes?"

Eye Guy opened more eyes along his shoulders and back. "Luffy, I'm seeing more than enough to say this whole place is an eyesore."

"Can we stop with the eye jokes," Sanji muttered.

Usopp's face fell. "There are going to be more?"

Eye Guy looked around, every eye moving independently.

The floating balls changed. Not physically. They still bobbed around the same way, pale and harmless looking from the outside. But to the Opticoid, their contents became visible through the shells.

His head tilted. "Oh. Now that's eye-opening."

Sanji noticed the change in his tone. "What?"

The Opticoid pointed to a ball drifting near Luffy. "Bomb."

Luffy blinked. "Huh?"

On cue, the ball exploded.

The rubber pirate ducked, and the explosion narrowly passed over his straw hat.

Usopp froze with the grappling rope in his hands.

Eye Guy pointed again. "Snake."

Sanji kicked the next ball away before it opened. The snake inside snapped at empty air as the sphere flew into the trees.

Eye Guy's eyes shifted in several directions at once. "Harmless. Spike trap. Weird bird thing. Another bomb. Flowers. That one? Don't ask. Honestly, I wish I could unsee that one."

Sanji's expression sharpened. "You can see inside them?"

Eye Guy's mouth curved faintly. "I can see right through them."

Satori went very still. For the first time since they entered the Ordeal, his smile faltered.

Meanwhile, Sanji's cigarette nearly slipped from his mouth. "Let me get this straight, you can see through things?" he asked, his voice suddenly much too serious.

Eye Guy glanced at him. "Uh, yeah?"

Sanji's visible eye widened with something dangerously close to heartbreak. "You mean… through walls? Through clothes?"

"Why was that your second question?!" Eye Guy questioned incredulously.

The cook clutched at his chest as if the world had personally betrayed him. "All my life… a dream I have chased with every fiber of my being…"

Luffy tilted his head. "Sanji, are you crying?"

"A man's dream is being mocked right in front of me! To see what no man was meant to see! To glimpse the forbidden paradise of—"

"Okay!" Eye Guy cut him off. "Moving on before I regret having this many eyes." He lifted one hand toward the Milky Road. "Usopp, the boat's coming around the bend. Hook to the branch above it and swing down to it."

Usopp looked up from the drifting boat, to the floating balls, to the branch above the Milky Road.

"Right," he squeaked. "L-Leave it to, Captain Usopp!"

A Surprise Cloud drifted toward his right shoulder.

"Usopp, duck!"

The sniper dropped flat with a scream as the ball snapped open above him. A set of metal jaws clamped shut where his nose had been a second earlier.

"WHY DOES EVERYTHING WANT MY NOSE?!"

"Usopp, go!" Eye Guy shouted.

Usopp scrambled upright and hurled the triple hook with both hands. The hook sailed through the gap between two floating spheres, arced over the Milky Road, and caught around a branch just above the path the Little Crow was drifting through.

For one glorious second, Usopp stared. "I got it."

The rope snapped taut and his face went blank. "Oh."

Taking a deep breath, the long-nosed sniper pushed off the branch he was standing on. "AAAAAAAH!" He swung out over the Milky Road, body dangling beneath the line as the Little Crow passed below. His legs kicked wildly, sandals brushing the pale cloud-river before he rose higher on the arc.

Below him, the Little Crow slid into position.

Usopp looked down and immediately regretted it.

"I'm over the boat!" he screamed. "I'm over the boat! I'm over the—wait."

His eyes slowly traveled down to the line attached at his belt, to the hook, and then back to his belt.

His face drained of all color. "I FORGOT TO MAKE A RELEASE!"

The swing reached its peak and he began swinging backward. "NO! NO, NO, NO! WRONG WAY!"

Sanji's eye widened. "You idiot!"

Eye Guy's eyes narrowed all at once. "Hold still!"

"I AM LITERALLY SWINGING!"

A small eye opened along Eye Guy's shoulder and a green laser beam shot across the distance and struck the rope above Usopp, slicing through it cleanly.

Usopp froze for half a heartbeat before he promptly dropped. "AAAAAAAAAH!" He fell straight onto the Little Crow's deck with a heavy crash, limbs sprawled everywhere. For one stunned moment, he did not move. His head then lifted. "I'm alive," he whispered. A smile began to spread across his face. "I'm alive! Captain Usopp has reclaimed the Little Crow!"

"You're welcome," Eye Guy said dryly.

Satori drifted backward, his smile tight now. "Foh-hoh…" he laughed, but the sound had lost some of its ease. "Many eyes. How troublesome."

Eye Guy's eyes narrowed across his body. "Your whole Ordeal runs on people not knowing what's coming."

Several eyes fixed on Satori at once. "That's gonna be kind of a problem now. You might say I've got twenty-twenty hindsight before the trap even springs."

Sanji stared at him. "That one didn't even make sense."

"I'm work shopping it."

Satori's fingers flexed, and the balls around him began to drift faster.

He was not panicking, but he was irritated. Eye Guy could see it in the way Satori's smile held a little too long. In the way his shoulders tightened. In the way he had stopped laughing quite so freely.

Satori had expected fighters. He had expected fear and confusion. What he had not expected was someone who could peel the mystery out of his Ordeal and call the traps before they sprang.

"Foh-hoh-hoh," Satori laughed, spreading his arms as more spheres floated into position around him. "Many eyes may see many things. But seeing is not the same as striking."

Several of Eye Guy's eyes narrowed at once. "Funny," he said, raising one arm as the eyes along it began to glow. "Because I've got my sights set on that giant target you call a face."

…

Wyper cut through Upper Yard on the Milky Road without wasting motion. The narrow river of cloud wound between towering trees and massive roots, pale and twisting beneath the green shadow of the forest. He stood at the front on the Hoverboard Waver, knees bent and body steady as the strange board carried him over the current. It responded faster than the Wavers he was used to. He did not like relying on a stranger's machine, but he could not deny its usefulness.

Behind him, Kamakiri skimmed low on his Jet Board while his Burn Blade remained secured at his side. Braham followed in silence, riding a pair of Jet Skis. His hands stayed close to the flash guns at his waist, ready to draw the instant something moved wrong in the forest. Laki moved with them as well, her Skate-type Wavers carrying her lightly over the uneven terrain. A rifle was held ready in her hands, while her gaze flicked constantly from the path ahead to the branches above.

They had come to scout, not to start the war early. At least, that had been the plan.A distant impact rolled through the forest.

Boom!

Wyper's board slowed at once, the hover-dial hum dropping to a low whine beneath his feet. Kamakiri leaned back on his board and coasted to a stop beside him, while Braham and Laki pulled in behind them along the Milky Road.For one breath, none of them spoke.

Another crash followed, sharper this time. Then came a shout too far away to make out clearly. Birds exploded from the canopy in a sudden rush of wings, scattering above the treetops.

Braham's hand lowered near one of his guns. "Battle."

Kamakiri turned his head, listening. "East."

"No," Wyper said, eyes narrowing toward the deeper forest. "Farther north."

A third impact struck, heavier than the first two. Something cracked in the distance, and a strange bouncing sound echoed between the trees, followed by a sharp yell.

Laki's expression tightened. "That direction is close to the Ordeals."

Kamakiri's grip shifted toward his Burn Blade. "Satori's territory."

The name settled over them like a bad taste.

Another shout rang out, louder this time.

Braham tilted his head slightly. "More than one fighter."

"Several," Kamakiri agreed. "And loud."

Laki looked toward the sound, brows drawing together. "The Blue Sea dwellers?"

"Most likely," Wyper said.

The forest trembled again.

A strange cry carried through the trees, followed by another impact.

Braham's mouth flattened beneath the shadow of his hat. "They entered the ordeal."

"They're either brave or stupid," Kamakiri said.

Wyper shifted his weight, and the Hoverboard Waver angled toward the source of the noise. "Doesn't matter which."

Laki looked at him. "If Satori is fighting them, he'll be distracted."

"That's why we move."

Kamakiri glanced toward him. "You want to attack now?"

Wyper adjusted the strap of the bazooka across his back. His expression did not change, but there was a hard edge in his eyes. "A priest occupied in battle is a priest with his back exposed."

Braham gave a small nod. "And if the pirates kill him first?"

"Then they saved us the trouble."

Laki's brows drew together. "And if they're killed?"

Wyper pushed the Hoverboard Waver forward. "Then they were weak." The answer was cold, but none of the others argued.

…

In the Shandorian cloud village, Aisa sat beside one of the small huts with her knees pulled close to her chest.

She had been trying not to listen, but that never worked.

Mantra did not ask permission. It flowed in whether she wanted it or not. Voices, presences, fear, anger, pain, all of it brushed against her senses until the world felt too crowded inside her own head.

Upper Yard was worse. The forest was full of voices. Priests. Animals. Warriors. Strangers, sometimes. Even the land itself felt restless, like something old beneath the trees had never stopped remembering what had been taken from it.

Aisa pressed her hands over her ears, even though it never helped.

She then felt a battle and her head immediately snapped up.

Several presences were moving together somewhere beyond the village. Fast. Chaotic. One of them burned bright and reckless, loud even from far away. Another was sharper, hot with anger. A third shook with fear but kept moving anyway.

And then there was the fourth.

Aisa's breath caught. At first, she did not understand why it felt familiar. The shape of it was wrong. Not human. Not like the warriors. Not like the priests. It was strange and shifting, almost slippery against her Mantra.

Then it abruptly changed.

Aisa went completely still. The presence twisted, folded, and became something else in an instant. Her heart slammed against her ribs. She had felt that exact feeling before. Aisa pushed herself to her feet, her hands trembling at her sides. "Ben…" The name left her in a whisper.

Immediately, she remembered the lightning. She remembered Ben shoving her away, the hard crystal closing around her, and his voice telling her to run. She remembered the blast that had swallowed the forest, the terrible silence afterward, and the awful certainty that he had died because he had protected her.

She remembered Wyper too.

The way he had stood with Ben's strange Waver under his arm and told her they would tell no one. The way he had said Ben could ruin them. The way he had called him a risk after using his board, his crystal, and everything he had left behind because it helped Shandora.

"He's not a weapon," she had told him.

"No," Wyper had answered. "He's a risk."

Aisa's fingers curled into fists. That had hurt more than she wanted to admit. Ben was the reason she was even alive after all. He had stood in front of her when Eneru tried to kill her. Wyper knew that. He had not denied it. But the moment Ben might still be alive, Wyper had looked at him like another problem to manage. Another danger to hide until the war was ready. Then Wyper's final warning came back to her.

"You will not run blind into the sky because of a maybe."

Aisa looked toward Upper Yard, her breath tight in her chest.

But it was not a 'maybe' anymore. Somewhere in that forest, the same impossible presence was fighting one of the priests. It changed the way Ben changed. It felt wrong and strange and familiar all at once.

"It has to be him," she whispered. She looked toward the center of the village.

The warriors were gathered on the other side, preparing their weapons and Wavers for the battle to come. Some checked dials. Others tightened straps or tested spearheads. Their voices were low and serious, all of them focused on tomorrow.

Aisa swallowed.

If she told them, they would stop her. Wyper would call her reckless. The other warriors would say she was only hearing what she wanted to hear. Her mother would be scared, and she would forbid her from going anywhere near Upper Yard.

Aisa's jaw tightened.

She was tired of staying behind while everyone else decided what mattered. Tired of being told to be silent because hope was dangerous. Tired of hearing Ben talked about like he was a weapon, a risk, or a secret.

If Ben was alive, if he was really there, then she needed to see him herself.

Every instinct screamed that going alone was foolish. Aisa took one step anyway. Then another. She slipped behind one of the huts, ducked beneath a hanging cloth, and moved toward the path leading out of the village.

…

Eye Guy raised both arms, and green light gathered in the eyes across his palms, shoulders, and chest.

Satori tilted his head slightly. "Hoh?"

Several optic beams shot out at once, cutting through the air from different angles. One came from Eye Guy's left palm, another from his shoulder, two from the eyes across his chest, and one from an eye near his back that twisted unnaturally to fire over his shoulder.

Satori moved before any of them reached him. He bent sideways around one beam, rolled over another, and drifted between two more as if he had already known the exact path each shot would take. The beams tore through empty air and burst harmlessly against distant tree trunks.

Satori spread his arms, still smiling. "Foh-hoh-hoh! How disappointing."

Eye Guy fired again.

This time the beams changed. One flashed bright green and hot, bursting into a fire blast that scorched through a hanging vine. Another came out pale and cold, leaving a trail of frost in the humid air as it skimmed past Satori's sleeve. A third beam crackled with green cyro-electricity, snapping across a nearby branch and making the bark splinter.

Satori slipped between them anyway.

He twisted beneath the fire blast, kicked lightly off a floating Surprise Cloud, and let the freeze ray pass where his round body had been a heartbeat earlier. The bolt struck the cloud behind him instead, making the sphere twitch before it popped open and released a harmless burst of flowers.

Luffy blinked. "Flowers?"

Sanji's visible eye narrowed. "That priest is reading him too well."

"Of course I am," Satori said lightly. "I hear your bodies. Your breath. Your movements. Even your intent." His grin widened as he drifted lazily between the clouds. "You may see everything around you, but what good are eyes if your attacks have already been heard?"

"Hmm…" Several of Eye Guy's eyes blinked once. "I'm starting to see the problem."

Luffy crouched lower on his branch. "Then hit him harder!"

"That is always your plan," Sanji said.

"Yeah. It works a lot."

Satori floated backward, and Eye Guy lifted one arm. The eye in his palm narrowed, gathering a brighter glow before firing straight for Satori's chest. Satori laughed and drifted aside as the beam missed him completely, striking the Surprise Cloud behind him.

BOOM!

The sphere exploded at Satori's back, catching him in the edge of the blast and hurling him forward with a startled cry.

"Gah!" His round body spun through the air before he caught himself against another floating sphere. Smoke curled faintly from one sleeve.

Satori's grin disappeared.

Every eye on the Opticoid's body focused. There it is, he thought.

Sanji noticed the shift in Eye Guy's posture. "You found something."

Eye Guy's mouth curved. "Yeah," he said slowly. "Now I'm seeing things clearly."

Satori straightened, his smile returning too quickly. "Hoh… a lucky accident."

"Sure. Let's call it hindsight." He fired again.

Satori immediately swerved left, away from the beam. The blast passed where his head had been and struck a smaller cloud sphere beside him. The sphere opened into a spray of sharp needles. The round priest twisted, but two of them clipped his shoulder before he slipped away. One scraped across his cheek, leaving a thin red line that made his smile twitch.

Eye Guy lifted his other hand. This time, he did not aim at Satori at all. He aimed at the cluster of balls above him.

Satori's body shifted before the beam fired, already moving to dodge what he thought was an attack. The blast struck a harmless sphere overhead, and it popped open in a shower of soft feathers that filled the air between them.

The Ball Priest stopped short, briefly blinded by the sudden burst.

"Luffy!" Eye Guy shouted.

"Got it!"

The Straw Hat captain launched forward from his branch, fist cocked. "Gum-Gum—"

Satori's head snapped up. "Left arm. Straight punch."

He dropped beneath Luffy's attack, letting the rubber fist whip overhead.

"Aw, come on!" Luffy complained as his arm stretched past him.

Satori's palm came up toward Luffy's exposed side.

Sanji cut in from the branch, kicking a nearby Surprise Cloud straight toward Satori's hand. "Not again!"

Satori pulled back before touching it. The ball burst open into a tiny harmless bird that flapped between them in a panic.

For half a second, everyone stared before the bird squawked once.

Luffy burst out laughing.

Eye Guy pointed at Satori. "Careful. That one's a real eye-opener."

Satori's face darkened.

"That pun was intentional," Eye Guy grinned toothily.

The priest's cheeks puffed. "Foh-hoh-hoh… How childish."

"Coming from the guy whose whole trial is a ball pit? You might want to take a good look in the mirror."

Growling, Satori raised both hands and the Surprise Clouds around him began to swirl.

Eye Guy's eyes moved rapidly across the field. His palm eyes looked left and right. The eyes on his shoulders tracked the drifting clouds behind him. Several eyes on his back watched Satori's hands, the Little Crow, and the Milky Road all at once.

"Bomb. Spear. Harmless. Fire. Teeth. Don't touch that one." Several eyes snapped toward Luffy. "Luffy, keep an eye out and do not punch the one directly above you."

Luffy froze with his fist already drawn back. "But it's right there."

"It has teeth."

Luffy lowered his fist. "Oh."

Usopp stared from the Little Crow. "I can't believe that worked."

Satori's jaw tightened. He could still read direct attacks, hear intent, and dodge a beam meant for him before it fired; albeit narrowly.

But the Ordeal itself had become a problem for him now.

Eye Guy could see too many pieces at once. Satori could hear an attack coming, but that did not mean he understood what the attack was meant to do. A blast aimed at him was not always a miss, and a dodge was no longer a guarantee of safety.

Eye Guy spread both arms slightly. "Let's see how well you do when I stop aiming at the obvious."

A beam fired from one eye on his shoulder.

Satori dodged as the beam struck a bomb-ball near his landing point. He twisted away as the explosion went off, only for Eye Guy to fire from the eye in his left palm.

The sphere beside Satori split open into a burst of sticky cloud-rope. The priest avoided most of it, but part of the rope caught around one ankle.

His smile immediately vanished. He snapped his leg free before the cloud-rope could fully tighten, but Eye Guy was already moving. Two eyes on his lower back flared, and a short optic burst kicked him forward like a rocket-assisted jump.

The Opticoid sprang from the branch in a twisting flip, clearing three Surprise Clouds at once.

Satori's eyes widened. "Hoh?!"

Eye Guy spun in midair, fired a freeze ray from a shoulder eye, and coated the cloud-rope near Satori's feet in ice. The priest slipped as the half-frozen rope tightened around his ankle again.

Sanji struck from above. "Collier!"

Satori brought his arm up at the last second, but Sanji's kick still slammed into his guard and drove him downward. The priest bounced off a cloud sphere, lost his balance, and took a green fire blast across the shoulder before he could fully recover. "Gah!" Satori spun away, a sleeve burning at the edge.

Eye Guy landed on one hand, his palm eye firing a small burst against the branch to push him into a handspring. He flipped back onto his feet as if the whole forest had briefly turned into a gymnasium.

Luffy's eyes sparkled. "You can bounce around too!"

"I'm not bouncing," Eye Guy said, several eyes narrowing at once. "I am tactically repositioning."

"Doesn't that just mean bouncing?"

Satori swatted out the flames on his sleeve, his smile now visibly strained. "Foh-hoh-hoh. Acrobatics and light tricks. How very amusing."

"Good." The large eye in his chest opened wider, and several smaller eyes along his torso slid toward it, merging into a larger, brighter pupil. "Then laugh at this."

The glow intensified.

Satori's head jerked aside, Mantra warning him before the attack came. He drifted left, ready to slip around the blast.

Eye Guy fired the chest beam straight down.

The recoil launched him upward and backward, sending him spinning over Satori's head. While upside down, every eye along his torso and arms opened at once.

"Oh," Sanji muttered. "That's clever."

A fan of smaller beams rained down around Satori.

The priest dodged the direct blasts, but that was not the point. One beam clipped a Surprise Cloud below him and released a flash of fire. Another burst a spike-ball at his side. A third struck a cloud above his head and dropped a heavy stone sphere straight down.

Satori swerved away from the stone only to take the edge of the fire blast across his back.

"Gah!" He stumbled through the air, smoke trailing from his robe.

Eye Guy finished the flip and landed in a crouch on a lower branch. "You hear where I'm going to shoot," he said, rising slowly. "But you don't know what happens after I shoot."

Satori's cheeks puffed with irritation.

Luffy grinned. "So we can hit him now?"

"Not exactly. But we can make him dodge into things that do."

"Close enough!"

Meanwhile, the Little Crow sat tethered against the current, its Breath Dials quiet and its hull bobbing lightly in place. That should have been good. Unfortunately, being still in the Forest of No Return only seemed to make the boat easier to notice.

The cloud-water beside the boat churned.

Usopp's smile died. "…Why did I say 'completely under control' out loud?"

Something long and pale rose from the Milky Road. A sky eel broke through the cloud-river with a wet hiss, its lamprey-like mouth opening in rings of teeth. Another surfaced behind it. Then another. Their bodies writhed through the white current like living ropes, circling the tethered Little Crow as though the boat had become prey.

Usopp went completely still.

One eel lifted its head until its mouth hovered above the side of the boat.

The sniper's entire face stretched in terror. "AAAAAH! NOT THEM AGAIN!"

Satori's laughter echoed through the forest. "Foh-hoh-hoh! The Forest of No Return does not allow guests to leave so easily!"

Usopp whipped toward the others. "HEY! THE BOAT IS BEING ATTACKED BY SKY EELS! AND BY EXTENSION, ME!"

Luffy leaned forward from his branch. "Sky eels?!"

Sanji's eye widened. "Usopp, don't let them take the boat!"

"OH, THANK YOU! I WAS GOING TO LET THEM BORROW IT!"

A sky eel burst from the clouds and loomed over the Little Crow, jaws spreading wide enough to swallow half the boat.

Usopp screamed and scrambled backward. "IT BROUGHT ITS TEETH!"

His shaking hands fumbled at his satchel. "Come on, come on, come on! Captain Usopp definitely has a secret weapon for this exact situation!"

The first eel lunged.

Usopp screamed and thrust a Dial forward, pressing the notch. White light burst across the Little Crow.

The eel shrieked, blinded, and veered off course. Its head slammed into a thick root beside the canal with a heavy crack, sending cloud-water spraying over the boat.

Usopp stared.

The eel slid back into the Milky Road.

He looked down at the Dial in his hand. "It worked," he whispered.

His face brightened with manic relief. "It worked! Captain Usopp's tactical brilliance—"

"Usopp!" Eye Guy shouted. "Eyes left!"

Usopp turned and another eel surged up from the Milky Road, jaws wide. Usopp grabbed the next Dial in blind panic and triggered it. A sharp cutting burst shot from the shell. The invisible slash ripped across the eel's side, cutting into its hide and forcing it to recoil with a shriek. The creature thrashed, splashing cloud-water across the Little Crow before sinking back beneath the surface.

Usopp stared at the Dial in horror, then at the retreating eel, and back at the Dial. "Okay," he breathed. "That one is terrifying."

The boat jolted hard. A third eel slammed into the side of the Little Crow.

Usopp stumbled backward, one hand landing on the Impact Dial. He froze, remembering what the seller had said about the recoil. "Nope," he whispered. "No, no, no. Absolutely not using that one."

The eel resurfaced beside the Little Crow, shaking off the impact. It pulled back to ram again.

Usopp looked at the Impact Dial in his hand and his face trembled. "I am going to regret this."

He braced the Dial against the side rail instead of holding it freely in his palm, pressing his shoulder and both hands behind it as best he could.

The eel slammed forward and the Impact Dial absorbed the force.

Usopp's teeth clenched. His arms shook. For one heartbeat, everything held. He then turned the shell outward and triggered the release.

WHAM!

The stored force blasted back into the eel, throwing it away from the Little Crow and sending it crashing into two other eels in the Milky Road.

At the same time, the recoil jolted through the rail and into Usopp's arms. Pain shot up his shoulder.

Usopp's scream tore through the forest. "AAAAAAAH! MY ARM!"

He dropped to one knee, clutching his shoulder as tears sprang into his eyes. The arm was still attached, but the joint burned like fire.

From the branch, Sanji's eye narrowed. "Usopp!"

"I'm alive!" Usopp shouted weakly. "Mostly!"

Eye Guy's eyes flicked over him. "Shoulder's not hanging wrong. Bruised or strained, probably."

"Probably?! I need a better diagnosis than probably!"

"Sorry, I'm all eyes, not all medical degree!"

"You have enough eyes to be a doctor!"

"That is not how medical school works!"

Another eel rose near the boat, slower this time, wary but still circling.

Usopp's good hand fumbled through his satchel again. His fingers closed around a Cold Dial.

He pressed it toward the water and activated it.

A blast of cold air rolled over the Milky Road, frosting the surface in a pale sheet. The eel recoiled as the cloud-water stiffened around its body, not frozen solid, but thick enough to slow its movement.

Usopp's eyes widened. "Ha! Take that! Captain Usopp conquers nature itself!"

The eel cracked through the stiffened cloud-water with a hiss.

Usopp's face dropped. "Nature is recovering!"

Eye Guy twisted without looking, a shoulder eye firing a thin freeze ray across the Milky Road. The beam struck the cloud-water around the eel and hardened it just enough to trap the creature's body for another heartbeat.

"Usopp, move the boat line!" Eye Guy shouted.

"I am wounded and underappreciated!"

"Move it!"

"I'm moving it!"

Usopp scrambled awkwardly with one arm, yanking at the tether as the eel thrashed through the stiffened cloud-water. The hesitation was enough. The remaining eels began to pull back, wary of the flashes, cuts, impacts, and cold bursts protecting the boat.

Satori drifted higher above them, his expression visibly irritated. The Little Crow was still there with Usopp still on it, Eye Guy could see through the pattern of his Surprise Clouds, and Luffy and Sanji kept getting back up.

The priest's fingers curled. "Enough," Satori said.

The laughter returned, but it had lost its earlier ease. "Foh-hoh-hoh… If simple Surprise Clouds are not enough, then perhaps something larger will amuse you."

The cloud spheres around him began to move, but not randomly this time.

They gathered one after another, lining up behind Satori like beads on an invisible string. More spheres joined from the forest, forming a serpentine body that curved through the air.

Luffy's eyes widened. "Oh! It's a ball snake!"

Usopp stared from the boat, face pale. "WHY WOULD YOU SOUND HAPPY ABOUT THAT?!"

"It's not a snake," Eye Guy said, every eye tracking the moving chain. "Look close. They're linked together."

Satori raised both hands.

The long body of Surprise Clouds twisted and surged, roaring through the forest as though it had become alive.

"Foh-hoh-hoh! Behold the Ball Dragon!"

The Ball Dragon snapped forward.

Luffy grinned and charged.

Sanji's eye widened. "Luffy, wait!"

"Gum-Gum Pistol!" Luffy's fist slammed into the first section of the Ball Dragon.

Three balls burst at once.

One exploded. One released a cloud of smoke. One opened into a spray of tiny biting insects.

Luffy shot backward with smoke curling off him, shaking insects from his hair. "Ow! Bugs!"

"I told you to wait!" Sanji shouted.

Eye Guy fired several beams at once, detonating the next few balls before the dragon reached them. Explosions rolled across the branches, white vapor and sparks bursting through the forest. He could see the seams, weights, and tiny movements in many of them, but the dragon was moving fast.

"Bomb, bomb, harmless, spikes, teeth. Luffy, left!"

Luffy went right.

"Your other left!"

The Ball Dragon whipped around and smashed through the branch where Luffy had been standing. He sprang away at the last second, laughing despite the danger.

"This thing's fun!"

"This thing is trying to kill us!" Usopp screamed from the Little Crow.

Sanji kicked off the branch and struck one of the dragon's side sections, sending several balls spinning away. One burst into feathers. Another released a flaming burst that forced him to twist aside midair.

Satori appeared through the smoke. "Hoh hoh."

Eye Guy saw him, but it was too late.

Satori's palm drove into Eye Guy's side and the Impact Dial discharged. Pain blasted through the Opticoid's body. Several of his eyes snapped shut at once as he flew backward and smashed into a thick trunk, cracking the bark around him.

"Ben!" Luffy shouted.

Eye Guy slid down the trunk, landing hard on one knee. "Okay," he groaned, eyes blinking unevenly. "Did not see that ending well."

Satori floated above him, smile sharpening. "Seeing everything did not save you from that."

Eye Guy lifted his head, several eyes opening again. "No, but it gave me a better look at your trick."

Satori paused.

Luffy had landed on another branch nearby. His eyes narrowed at the Ball Dragon as it curved through the air. Its movements were fast, but not random. Every turn, every sweep, every lunge seemed to pull from the same direction.

Luffy's gaze followed the motion and noticed a thin rope. "There!" He shouted.

Eye Guy's eyes snapped toward the same spot. The rope ran through the linked balls, guiding the dragon's body from Satori's side.

"That's it!" Eye Guy shouted. "Luffy, keep your eye on the rope!"

Luffy grinned and launched himself forward. "Got it!"

Satori's smile flickered. "Foh-hoh. Too late."

The Ball Dragon twisted toward Luffy, trying to wrap around him. Luffy stretched his arm through a gap between the spheres and grabbed the control rope with both hands. The dragon jerked and Satori pulled.

Luffy's feet dug into the branch. "Whoa!" The rope yanked him forward, dragging him toward a cluster of explosive balls.

"Luffy!" Sanji shouted.

Eye Guy saw the path. He saw the explosives. He saw Satori's escape options. He saw the safe spaces around the priest. And then he saw how to remove them.

The Opticoid planted his feet and raised both arms. "Okay, dumpling," he muttered. "Time for a little vision correction."

He fired. Not at Satori himself, but at the spots around him. One beam struck a bomb-ball behind Satori's right shoulder. Another clipped a spike-ball beneath his left side. A third burst a harmless sphere into feathers, filling the air in front of his face. Satori swerved where Mantra told him there was space.

Eye Guy fired again, and that space exploded.

Satori jerked backward, only to find another cluster detonating near his heel. He twisted aside, and the Ball Dragon's own rope pulled tighter between him and Luffy.

Luffy's grin widened. "I got it now!" He planted both feet, pulled back with all his strength, and swung the rope.

The Ball Dragon whipped around.

Satori's head snapped up. "Hoh?"

The entire chain of Surprise Clouds came crashing back toward him.

Eye Guy's chest eye opened wide. Several smaller eyes merged toward it, the glow becoming heavier and brighter than before. "Big boom section, dead center!" Eye Guy shouted. "I've got eyes on it!"

The concentrated optic blast shot out and pierced the center of the dragon. The chain reaction erupted.

BOOM!

The explosion tore through the Ball Dragon, blasting smoke, fire, feathers, teeth, needles, and cloud fragments in every direction. The shockwave shook the branches, rocked the Little Crow, and sent Usopp diving flat against the deck with both arms over his head.

Satori was swallowed by the blast.

For several moments, the forest was nothing but smoke. Luffy landed hard on a branch, still holding a piece of the rope. Sanji dropped beside him, coughing once as he waved smoke away from his face.

Eye Guy lowered his arms, several eyes blinking through the haze.

Usopp slowly lifted his head from the Little Crow. "Is… is he down?"

The smoke shifted and Satori emerged. His outfit was scorched, his hat sat crooked, and one of his gloves was torn. His grin was still there, but it looked very strained now. He drifted unevenly, favoring one side while smoke curled from his shoulders.

"Foh…" he breathed heavily. "Foh…hoh…hoh!"

Usopp's soul nearly left his body. "HE'S STILL THERE!"

Satori's hands rose again, but his body wobbled between the remaining Surprise Clouds.

Eye Guy's eyes narrowed. "He's seeing stars."

Sanji rolled his shoulder. "Good."

Satori's smile dropped into a frown. "You! You think you can defeat me?! A priest of Almighty Eneru?"

"Yes," Eye Guy said.

Luffy nodded in agreement. "Yep."

Sanji shrugged. "Pretty easily actually."

Satori's fingers flexed toward another cluster of Surprise Clouds.

Eye Guy moved first by launching himself with optic propulsion from the eyes on his palms, springing from the branch in a green flash. Satori's head snapped toward him, already reading the attack, but the Opticoid did not throw a punch.

He discharged a freeze ray into the branch beneath Satori.

The wood slicked over with frost where the priest's foot drifted down. Satori's balance slipped and Sanji was already there.

"Reception!" Sanji's kick crashed into Satori's side and sent him tumbling through two Surprise Clouds.

One burst into smoke. The other released a burst of thorny vines that wrapped around Satori's arm.

"Gah!" Satori tore himself free, but Luffy was already moving in from above.

"Gum-Gum Stamp!" His foot stretched down and slammed into Satori's back, driving him into a lower branch hard enough to make the wood crack beneath him.

Usopp shot upright on the Little Crow. "They hit him! They hit him!"

Eye Guy landed nearby and raised both palms. One eye sparked with electricity. The other glowed pale with cold.

Satori lifted his head, breathing harder now.

Eye Guy hit him with both beams.

A crackling cryo-electric blast wrapped around Satori's legs, locking one foot in a shell of ice while green lightning snapped across his round body. He jolted, teeth clenched, and for the first time since the fight began, his laughter broke into a pained grunt.

Eye Guy took one step forward. Luffy crouched beside him, fist drawn back. Sanji landed lightly on Satori's other side.

"NO!" Satori's hands flexed at his sides, body quaking. "I hear you," he said, his voice tightening. "All of you. Your movements. Your attacks. Your foolish little—"

His head snapped sharply to the side as something streaked past his cheek. A flash bullet tore through the air where his face had been a heartbeat earlier and exploded against a distant trunk in a burst of light.

"Hoh?"

Two more shots cracked through the forest.

Braham skimmed into view on his skis, the skate-like Wavers hissing beneath his feet as he carved through the air between the giant trees. Both flash guns were raised, though they looked different from before. Jagged turquoise fragments had been fitted along the barrels and around the firing chambers, catching the broken light like pieces of frozen glass.

Eye Guy's many eyes narrowed at once. Those crystals…

Behind Braham, Kamakiri came in low on his own Jet Board, his spear angled forward, the Burn Blade humming with heat. A sharpened shard of turquoise crystal had been fixed along part of the weapon's edge, turning the already dangerous blade into something stranger and harsher.

Laki followed close behind, cutting across the Milky Road on her Skate-type Wavers. Her eyes were sharp as she leaned hard into the turn, rifle ready, with a short crystal-tipped weapon secured at her side.

And in front of them all, riding a familiar board-shaped Waver, was Wyper.

Eye Guy's many eyes widened. My board!

Wyper shot forward without slowing, bazooka braced over one shoulder. Turquoise crystals were strapped to a belt around his waist. "Move!" he barked.

Luffy blinked. "Huh?"

Sanji's visible eye sharpened. "Guerrillas?"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Usopp shouted from the Little Crow. "Are they on our side or his side?!"

Braham answered by firing straight through the space between Sanji and Satori, forcing the priest to twist away.

"Eye don't think they're too picky!" Eye Guy snapped.

Satori dropped lower, swerving between Surprise Clouds as Kamakiri slashed at him from above. The Burn Blade cut through a harmless sphere, releasing a burst of flowers that scattered across the air.

Kamakiri's mouth tightened. "Tch."

"Hoh hoh…" Satori tried to laugh, but another flash shot cracked past his shoulder and cut him off.

Laki swept in from the side, firing her rifle as her Shooters carried her past. "Don't let him recover!"

"I had my sights set on him just fine!" Eye Guy called.

No one listened.

Luffy's head turned back and forth as the Shandorian warriors streaked around them. "Whoa! They're fast!"

Sanji landed beside him, eyes tracking the newcomers carefully. "They're not here to help us."

Wyper's Hoverboard Waver carved across the air in a sharp arc. He fired once, the blast tearing through a cluster of Surprise Clouds and forcing Satori to retreat even farther down the Milky Road.

Satori's body bobbed unevenly as he dodged. His expression had gone from strained amusement to open irritation. "Foh-hoh-hoh! Such rude intruders!"

"Keep running, priest!" Wyper shouted.

Eye Guy planted his feet, several eyes tracking the Shandorians while the rest stayed locked on Satori. "Great. More moving targets. Just what eye needed."

Satori's grin twitched. His rhythm had been broken. Eye Guy's chain reactions had already disrupted the field. The Ball Dragon had been blown apart. Now four Shandorian warriors were attacking with no concern for who else was in the way.

Clicking his tongue, Satori vanished deeper into the field of floating spheres.

"He's fleeing!" Kamakiri barked.

"After him!" Laki shouted.

Braham said nothing, simply leaning into his Shooters and pursued.

The three warriors shot after Satori through the forest, weaving between branches and Surprise Clouds.

Wyper lingered for a moment.

His Hoverboard Waver hovered above the Milky Road, its familiar frame humming beneath his feet. His eyes swept over Luffy, Sanji, Usopp, and finally Eye Guy.

Luffy raised a hand. "Hey! Thanks!"

Wyper's expression did not change. "So you're the ones. The Blue Sea people shaking up Skypiea."

Eye Guy tilted his head, several smaller eyes blinking at once. "Wow. News travels fast. Guess we're pretty eye-catching."

Wyper ignored the remark completely. "If you fools want to live, then leave this forest. This land is a battlefield. Stay here and you'll be crushed with the rest of them."

Sanji's jaw tightened. "That supposed to be advice or a threat?"

"Both."

Usopp grabbed the side of the Little Crow. "I vote we take the advice part!"

Sanji's visible eye narrowed. "Wait. So the guerrillas and Eneru aren't on the same side?"

Eye Guy glanced toward him. "Starting to look like it. Guess even with this many eyes, I didn't see that coming."

Luffy frowned. "We can't leave yet. Our friends are here."

Wyper's gaze shifted toward him, cold and unimpressed. "Then die for them if you want."

His eyes cut to Eye Guy one last time. For half a second, his stare lingered on the Omnitrix symbol on his belt. He then turned his board and shot after the others without saying another word.

Eye Guy did not move. Every eye on his body followed the departing hoverboard. Green light flashed across Eye Guy's body, and a moment later Ben stood on the branch again in human form, staring into the forest where Wyper had vanished.

"Okay," Ben said slowly. "So, is it good or bad that our fight just got stolen?"

Sanji lit another cigarette; his visible eye still fixed on the direction Wyper had gone. "Good. Now we can stop wasting time and find Nami-swan and Robin-chwan."

"Yeah, I guess." Luffy folded his arms with a pout. "I was kinda looking forward to beating that ball guy up though."

"Bad!" Usopp shouted from the Little Crow. "It's bad! Because now there are even more crazy people flying around trying to kill everything!"

"They didn't seem interested in fighting us," Sanji said, smoke curling from his mouth. "But that doesn't mean they're friendly either."

Ben did not answer right away. "He had my Waver."

Luffy tilted his head. "Your Waver?"

He pointed toward the forest. "That board he was riding? I built it when I was last here."

Usopp's eyes widened. "Wait, that was yours?"

"Yeah. I gave it to Aisa before my fight with Eneru."

Luffy's grin faded slightly, recalling that name from Ben's story.

Sanji's expression sharpened as the pieces clicked into place. "Then that guy is connected to whatever happened after you got blasted down to Jaya."

"Yeah." Ben kept staring into the trees, the earlier sarcasm fading from his face.

His hand drifted toward the Omnitrix. "Yeah. And if they found that," his voice lowered. "That means they might know what happened to her."

He activated the Omnitrix and the green holographic ring popped up. Spidermonkey's fast through the trees and perfect for a jungle chase, he thought.

Finding the icon, he selected it and slammed down the core.

Emerald light flashed across the forest once more. When it faded, he was not Spidermonkey.

The creature crouched on the branch was tall, lean, and insectoid, resembling a strange cross between a grasshopper and a praying mantis. His sharp green body appeared to be built for speed, with a narrow-segmented neck, a large horn jutting from the top of his head, and smaller horn-like ridges framing his green eyes. His powerful three-jointed hind legs folded beneath him like loaded springs, while spikes lined his forearms and the backs of his feet. His hands ended in two sharp fingers and a thumb, and pale clawed toes gripped the branch from both sides. Black stripes marked the green suit-like pattern across his body, and at the center of a large hexagonal patch on his torso was the Omnitrix dial.

For a moment, everyone stared.

Sanji's face twisted in immediate horror. "You've gotta be kidding! Another bug?! Why?!"

Ben did not answer at first. He was too busy looking himself over. "Whoa," he said, a faint cricket-like chirr threaded through his voice. "…A new guy? Cool! Wonder what I can do."

Luffy's eyes went wide.

Sanji froze.

Usopp stared from the boat.

"Wait! You can get new monster forms?!" Luffy shouted, practically sparkling with excitement.

Sanji's expression shifted from disgust to disbelief. That was not how Devil Fruits were supposed to work. A Devil Fruit gave one power. One cursed ability that obeyed its own strange rules. Ben had already broken that rule by having multiple forms with different abilities. But this? A new monster transformation? Randomly?

Usopp leaned over the side of the Little Crow, eyes shining despite himself. "Wow… that one actually looks really cool!"

Luffy pointed at Ben's new form. "What do you call this one?"

The bug alien shrugged. "Never seen this one before. I'll come up with something later." His gaze shifted toward the direction the guerrillas and Satori had gone. "Right now, I'm going after them."

"Huh?" Luffy tilted his head. "How come?"

The teen hero did not look away from the forest. "I need answers."

"Oh," the Straw Hat captain said, nodding like that made perfect sense. "Then I'll come too."

"No," Sanji cut in.

Luffy turned. "Huh?"

Sanji pointed toward the Milky Road. "Nami-swan and Robin-chwan are still at the altar. Chopper and mosshead too. We finally got the boat secured and we know where we need to go. We can't go chasing every fight through the forest."

Usopp raised both hands from the Little Crow. "I agree with the plan that does not involve chasing armed guerrillas, priests, or anything else with a survival rate below fifty percent!"

"That's most of our plans," Luffy said.

"Exactly!"

The grasshopper-looking alien turned back to Luffy. "You guys go to the altar. I'll catch up."

Luffy frowned. "You sure?"

"Not entirely," he admitted. "But I'm going anyway."

Sanji's visible eye narrowed. "Don't get yourself killed."

The alien's mouth curved faintly. "That's the plan."

"So what can this monster do anyway, outside of freaking out Sanji?" Usopp asked.

Sanji shot him a glare. "Don't say it like I'm being unreasonable. He's a giant mantis-grasshopper thing. That is a perfectly valid thing to freak out about!"

"Grasshopper? Hmm…" That gave the superhero an idea.

He crouched lower, instinct guiding him before thought fully caught up. He then launched like a cannonball, the branch cracking beneath his feet. For one glorious second, it looked incredible…until the grasshopper-alien slammed headfirst into the side of a massive branch with a thunderous crack.

The whole tree shook.

Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp stared.

The insect-like alien hung there for a moment, head buried in the wood up to the shoulders.

Usopp slowly raised a finger. "Uh, is… is he dead?"

A muffled voice came from inside the branch. "Nope."

Th insect alien pulled his head free with a loud pop. Bits of bark fell off his face as he shook himself. He blinked, then tapped his skull with one knuckle. "Huh. Hard head. Good to know." Climbing to the top of the branch, he looked back at the others with all the dignity he could salvage. "For the record, I meant to do that."

"Sure you did," Sanji drawled.

Usopp's expression shifted from horror into sudden inspiration. "Oh! I got it!"

"Got what?"

"Your name. How about… Crashhopper!"

His insect-like face brightened. "Crashhopper?"

"Yeah," the sniper said, pointing at the branch. "Because you're a grasshopper thing, and you just crashed headfirst into a tree."

The Omnitrix bearer stared at him for half a second, then he grinned. "Okay, that's actually pretty good. Crashhopper it is!"

Luffy's jaw dropped. "Hey! I wanted to name the new monster!"

Usopp turned toward him. "Do you have anything better, Luffy?"

The captain folded his arms, thinking very hard. Everyone waited. He then thrust one fist into the air. "JumpyBuggy!"

Silence momentarily fell over the area.

Sanji slowly closed his eyes. "Of course."

Usopp stared. "That's your better name?"

"It jumps," Luffy said simply. "And it's a bug guy."

Crashhopper pointed a finger toward Usopp. "I'm going with his."

"Yes!" Usopp fist-pumped.

Luffy pouted. "Aww…"

Crashhopper quickly added. "But you can suggest the name for the next new guy."

Luffy perked up instantly. "Really?!"

"Sure."

"I can't see that going well," Usopp murmured.

Crashhopper turned toward the direction the guerrillas had gone, crouched again, and this time adjusted the angle. "Okay," he muttered. "Less crashing. More… controlled crashing." He leapt again. This time, he landed on another branch far ahead, crouching with all four limbs for balance. Then he sprang to the next, and the next, moving in huge, bounding arcs that carried him through the forest canopy.

Luffy watched him go with shining eyes. "That's so cool! Ben can get new monster forms…"

Sanji's eyes narrowed slightly as the grasshopper-humanoid disappeared between the trees. "What kind of Devil Fruit gives the user a new form randomly?" he muttered.

Usopp tightened the rope holding the Little Crow in place. "Can we figure out the impossible monster Devil Fruit later? I would really, really like to leave before another priest shows up."

Luffy looked toward the path ahead, then grinned. "Right! To the altar!"

…

It couldn't have been more than ten minutes since the Sky Knight arrived. But to Chopper, it simultaneously felt both much shorter and much longer.

He stood at the halfway point on the stairway with one hoof pressed to his injured shoulder while his wide eyes followed the battle above the sacrificial altar. Gan Fall and Shura clashed in the air again and again, their lances striking with sharp metallic cracks that echoed through the enormous forest.

Pierre's wings beat hard as he carried Gan Fall upward, twisting away from Fuza's snapping beak and bursts of flame. The giant bird gave a harsh cry, banking sharply as Shura leaned low in the saddle, his spear slicing across Gan Fall's guard.

Gan Fall blocked, sparks flying from the impact.

Chopper's jaw hung open. "Whoa!" he cried. "I don't know what's going on, but it's amazing!"

Gan Fall pulled Pierre back into a tight turn, his cloak whipping behind him. "I take it you're not open to negotiations?"

Shura's answer was a sneer.

The old knight lowered his lance. "So be it!"

Pierre dove and Fuza rose to meet him. The two riders shot toward each other and crossed in a blur of wings, feathers, and flashing steel.

KLAANG!

Chopper flinched as the sound rang over the altar.

Shura spun Fuza around, his eyes narrow beneath his helmet. "Hmph! A tired old man with tired skills!"

Gan Fall's expression tightened.

"What's with this battle?" Chopper whispered, his mind racing. "They're moving so fast…"

Gan Fall and Shura charged again, both men crying out as their lances thrust forward.

For a heartbeat, it looked as if Gan Fall would break through until his eyes suddenly widened. "Huh?!" His body dipped suddenly in the saddle. His lance lowered by a fraction, his shoulders sagging as if an invisible weight had dropped across them.

What's this? Gan Fall thought, teeth clenching. My body suddenly feels heavy!

Chopper's ears shot up. "Oh no?!"

Shura's eyes gleamed. "Got you!"

He laughed, sharp and cruel, as Fuza swung around Gan Fall's weakened guard. "What's wrong, Gan Fall?"

Gan Fall gritted his teeth, forcing one arm to rise. "Scoundrel! What did you do?!"

Shura's smile curled wider. "A dying man needs no answer!" He thrust.

Chopper's eyes shrank to pinpricks. "HUH?!"

Shura's lance drove clean through Gan Fall's side. For a second, the whole world seemed to stop. Gan Fall's mouth opened in a soundless gasp. Blood spilled from his lips and scattered into the air as Pierre cried out beneath him.

"NO!" Chopper screamed. "Sky Knight!"

Shura wrenched the lance free and Gan Fall slumped forward, one hand clutching the wound as blood dripped down his armor and stained his cloak. "Even a withered old has-been like you may enter Upper Yard, but do not think for a moment that you can overcome the priests' ordeals!" Shura declared, his voice carrying with cold satisfaction.

Gan Fall coughed, blood splattering against his beard.

Chopper trembled, horror locking his body in place.

Shura's eyes burned with devotion. "Eneru is all powerful. You will never reach his heights."

Fuza opened his beak and unleashed a torrent of fire that struck a stunned Pierre across the side.

"P-IE!"

Pierre's wings locked and smoke curled from his feathers as he and Gan Fall dropped out of the air, spiraling down toward the altar. They crashed against the stone steps near the base of the altar, close to the edge of the Milky Road. Pierre hit first, rolling limply across the worn stone steps before coming to rest at the base in a heap. Gan Fall struck beside him, his lance clattering away as he slid dangerously close to the river's edge.

"Sky Knight!" Chopper cried.

He started toward the stairs, but pain stabbed through his shoulder and forced him to stumble.

Above, Fuza circled once, then descended toward the altar. Shura stood on the bird's back, lance in hand, his gaze fixed on the fallen former god.

Gan Fall tried to push himself up, but his arm gave out.

Shura landed lightly on the stone a few steps above him. "Still breathing?" he asked. "How stubborn."

Chopper's legs shook. No. He had to move. He had to help.

He tried to shift back into Heavy Point, but pain and exhaustion slammed into him at once. His body flickered, muscles straining for a heartbeat before collapsing back into his smaller form.

"N-No…" he gasped. "Come on… move…"

Shura lifted his spear. "Old gods should know when to disappear."

"NO!" Chopper shouted in horror.

Just before Shura could deliver the final blow, he paused. The priest's head turned slightly, as if hearing something Chopper could not. His expression tightened with irritation. "Satori… You fool."

Fuza gave a low cry, wings twitching.

Shura looked down at Gan Fall one more time, then spared a glance toward Chopper.

The reindeer froze.

He clicked his tongue. "You are very fortunate, little one," he said coldly. "For now, I have more important matters to attend to."

Fuza beat his wings, lifting from the stone in a rush of hot wind. The priest rose into the air, smoke trailing faintly from the bird's beak as they turned toward the deeper forest.

With that, they were gone.

For a moment, Chopper could only stand there, trembling. But then his doctor's instinct tore through the fear. "S-Sky Knight!"

He stumbled down the steps as fast as his injured body would allow, nearly tripping twice before reaching Gan Fall's side. The former Sky Knight lay pale and still, blood spreading beneath him. Pierre was unconscious a few feet away, his feathers singed, his breathing shallow.

Chopper dropped beside Gan Fall and pressed both hooves against the wound. "Don't die," he whispered, voice shaking. "Please don't die. I'll treat you. I'm a doctor. I can treat you."

He looked up toward the Merry. His medical bag was still on the ship. The steps seemed impossibly tall now. "I should've brought the bag with me!" he cried, furious at himself.

Chopper grabbed Gan Fall under one arm and pulled. He shifted barely an inch. "Come on…" He tried again, but his injured shoulder screamed in protest, and what little strength he had left gave out. Chopper fell back onto the stone, breathing hard. "I can't…" His eyes burned. "I can't get him up there."

Just when it all seemed hopeless, a shadow passed overhead.

"DUUUUUUHHH!"

Chopper's head snapped up and was met with a shocking sight.

A flock of enormous South Birds descended from the canopy, their long necks curved, their stern faces pointed toward the altar steps. They had the same distinctive look as the South Bird from before, with proud crests, sharp eyes, and long, elegant bodies, but their feathers were much more vibrant, their colors brighter and richer. Their wings stirred the air in heavy beats, sending loose leaves and cloud-mist swirling around the altar.

Chopper stared. "South Birds? G-Giant ones?"

Then, a familiar, normal-sized South Bird fluttered down and landed near the reindeer, puffing her chest proudly.

Chopper blinked. "You!"

The female South Bird lifted her head and clicked her beak. "Duh," she chirped.

Chopper stared at her for a second, then looked past her at the flock. "You flew away when the fighting started… and found them?"

She nodded once, very proudly.

The reindeer's eyes widened with emotion. "You were worried about me?"

The bird immediately turned her head away and gave a sharp, offended chirp, pointing one wing toward the trees on the Merry's aft deck.

Chopper followed the gesture and his expression flattened. "Oh. You were worried about the tangerines."

"Duh."

Chopper just stared at her for a second, and then his eyes softened anyway. "Thank you. Really."

The little South Bird looked away, pretending not to care.

Chopper turned toward the giant birds. "Please! I need help! Can you carry these two up to the ship?" He pointed to Gan Fall and Pierre. "Gently! They're badly hurt!"

The largest South Bird lowered its head toward Gan Fall. Its stern eyes softened by the smallest fraction.

"DUUUUH!"

Chopper smiled in relief. "T-thank you!"

With careful movements, two of the giant birds stepped forward. One lifted Gan Fall gently by the back of his cloak and armor, careful not to jostle the wound. Another nudged Pierre closer, then caught him just as gently before spreading its wings.

Chopper hurried behind them as fast as he could in his condition, heart pounding. "Careful! Please be careful!"

The birds obeyed.

Within moments, they had carried Gan Fall and Pierre up the stone steps and onto the deck of the Merry. Chopper scrambled after them, grabbed his medical bag, and dumped it open with shaking hooves.

Bandages. Antiseptic. Needles. Thread. Medicine.

He forced his breathing steady. "Okay," he whispered. "Stop the bleeding first. Then clean the wound. Then treat Pierre."

The giant South Birds gathered around the altar's platform, watching with solemn eyes.

One of them gave a low call. "DUUUUHH!"

Chopper looked up, surprised. "You're asking if you can bring me anything?"

The largest South Bird nodded.

The little doctor's mouth parted. "Why… why are you helping this much?"

The giant birds exchanged looks.

The eldest-looking one lowered its head toward Gan Fall and gave a quiet, mournful call.

Chopper's eyes widened. "You…still see him as god?"

The birds bowed their heads.

Chopper looked down at Gan Fall, stunned. This old man had once been the leader of Skypiea? The thought was huge. Too huge. He shook his head hard. "No. I can think about that later." His hooves tightened around the bandages. "Right now, he's my patient."

Chopper turned back to the birds, his doctor's voice strengthening despite the panic still trembling under it. "Listen! I need help. Bring me any fruit, bark, roots, or plants you know that help with swelling, fever, burns, or blood loss."

The birds blinked at him.

The reindeer pointed toward the forest. "You live here, right? You know this place better than I do. Bring whatever might work. I'll sort through it myself!"

The little South Bird straightened at once, wings spreading. "Duh!"

The others followed her lead, flapping their wings and crying out before scattering into the trees.

Chopper watched them go for half a second, then turned back to Gan Fall with renewed focus. He pressed fresh bandages against the worst of the wounds and swallowed hard.

"Just hold on, Sky Knight. I'm going to treat you."

…

Aisa could sense a battle occurring, four presences against one. It must be the Blue Sea dwellers fighting one of the priests. However, one of them changed his presence, entirely distinct from before. She has felt it before, and only one person could even do that.

It had to be Ben.

She moved as swiftly as her legs allowed her, through the dense forest floor and giant trees of Upper Yard. She soon realized it would take her too long to reach them if she remained on the floor, with all the giant roots twisting through the ground. There was also a higher chance of running into dangerous animals down there, such as the wolves from several days ago.

Aisa looked up at a nearby tree, its trunk massive enough to feel like a wall. Nothing new for her, she had climbed trees like it before and using her Mantra, she would be able know where to grab and set foot to climb it. Her fingers dug into the bark as she scrambled upward, using knots, grooves, and hanging vines to pull herself onto one of the lower branches. The forest now was opened to her much less dense than before. Branches overlapped like roads, stretching from trunk to trunk over the uneven ground below.

Traversing through the Upper Yard was now much simpler.

Once she had steady footing, Aisa took off running. Ben's presence suddenly flicked again, making her heart jump.

There! She mentally exclaimed.

She sprang to the next branch, then the next, not paying any attention what she was running past, for Aisa's main focus was reaching Ben. Until she started hearing voices from below.

"Hey Nami!" A man shouted. "What do you see from up there?!"

Aisa immediately stopped running and hid herself against a trunk of a tree. She picked her head over to see and saw a Blue Sea dweller woman with orange hair atop one of the lower branches, staring hard into the distance with a tense expression.

"HEY! Say something!" the same voice rang again.

Aisa looked down to see the source and saw a man with green hair with what she assumed to be three swords, and next to him a dark-haired woman, who seemed to be observing closely a well hidden beneath the roots.

"Darn woman. Is she ignoring me?" The green-haired man asked himself with slight irritation, he looked over at his companion. "What do you find so strange with that well?"

"You don't find it unusual that it's underneath this tree?" The woman asked back at the green haired man. "Whoever built this couldn't have known that tree of this magnitude would grow over it. And I noticed other structures hidden within the trees we passed by. Never seen anything like it." She said with fascination and curiosity.

Aisa had never really paid much thought to it whenever she came to the Upper Yard. She only cared about collecting her treasure.

The man huffed, as if unsatisfied with their current situation. "We should get back to following that cloud river, we'll never get anywhere wandering around this forest… So much for finding Eneru."

Aisa quietly gasped.

These Blues Dwellers were looking for Eneru?! For what purpose?! It took her a moment to think until it came to her, these must be some of the pirates that came to Skypiea, the same Ben came with.

Would they know where he is?

"Hey Nami! Speak up! What are you looking at?!" The green-haired man yelled again, attempting to get the orange hair woman's attention.

It seemed to have worked for she yelled back. "Just be quiet and follow me! We have to get to the seaside!"

"Once we do, will you tell us what you saw?" The dark-haired woman asked her.

"Yes! I have to verify this up close! Even I'm not sure what I saw." She responded, gripping the strap of her bag. Whatever got her attention must have shaken her. The woman named Nami then looked down at the edge of the trunk. "But first…. How do I get down from here?!"

"You're the 'leader'. You figure it out." The green-haired man replied, slightly miffed at her.

Aisa shifted backward to quietly escape…until a twig cracked beneath her sandal.

SNAP!

All three heads turned in her direction and spotted her.

For one horrible second, no one moved.

Aisa then bolted.

"Hey!" Nami shouted. "Wait!"

Aisa ignored her. She leapt to another branch, panic tearing through her chest.

She didn't make it far before arms suddenly bloomed from the branch in front of her. Aisa gasped as hands caught her wrists, ankles, and shoulders, stopping her mid-run without hurting her. She struggled anyway, clenching her teeth.

"Let me go!"

The dark-haired woman stood below with one hand lifted, her expression calm. "If we wanted to hurt you, we would not have stopped you so gently."

The swordsman looked up at her. "She's a kid."

"I can see that," Nami said sharply. Then, softer but still firm, "Robin, bring her down carefully."

Aisa's eyes widened as the hands guided her down from the branch and set her on one of the huge roots. The moment the arms vanished, she stumbled back and raised her small weapon, a crystal shard.

"S-Stay away!"

Nami lifted both hands. "Easy. We're not going to hurt you."

"You're pirates. Right?"

The swordsman shrugged. "Yeah."

"Zoro," the woman hissed.

"What? We are."

Aisa's grip tightened.

The dark-haired woman, Robin, studied her with quiet interest. "You're Shandorian, aren't you?"

Aisa stiffened. "So what if I am?"

Nami's eyes narrowed, but not cruelly. More like she was piecing something together. "You're alone in Upper Yard. That's dangerous."

"I know this forest better than you do."

"Maybe. But priests, sky-fish, and Eneru's judgment don't care how well you know the forest."

The name made Aisa flinch.

Robin noticed, and so did Nami.

Nami's voice softened by a fraction. "What's your name?"

Aisa hesitated.

Zoro crossed his arms. "If you don't answer, we'll just call you kid."

"Zoro."

"What?"

Aisa continued to glare at them.

"Fine, don't tell us. We're looking for our friends. Luffy, Sanji, Usopp…" She paused. "And Kevin. Seen any others like us out here?"

Aisa shook her head. "No."

Nami could tell she was being honest about that. Still, leaving a little girl all alone in this dangerous forest did not sit well with her.

"Okay, you're coming with us," Nami said.

Aisa's head snapped up. "What?! No!"

"You can argue," Nami said, already turning. "But we're not leaving a child alone in this forest while Eneru's priests are running around."

"I'm not a child!"

"You're shorter than Chopper."

"I don't know who that is!"

Zoro started walking. "Then complain while moving."

Aisa looked ready to run again, but Robin's calm gaze made it clear she would not get far. Nami stepped ahead, leading them toward what she had seen through the trees.

Aisa looked in the direction that she could feel Ben's presence. He'd have to wait until she could give these pirates the slip.

For several minutes, they moved in tense silence. Then the forest opened.

A half-ruined house stood among the roots, swallowed by trees and vines. Not a whole house. Only part of one. The rest looked as if it had been sheared away cleanly, leaving stone walls, beams, and rooms exposed to the sky.

Nami stopped dead, panting. "Hey, take a look at this!" she called.

Zoro and Robin stepped closer while Aisa hung back.

Nami pointed at the structure. "Doesn't it look familiar?"

Zoro frowned. "What's going on? How can something we saw on the ground be up here?"

"It's the same thing, right?" Nami said.

Robin's eyes traveled over the broken house, then the cliff-like edge where the land had been torn apart. "No, it's not. This is only a fragment of what we saw."

Nami's face tightened as the answer formed. "I thought there was something funny about that building… how it had a second story but no stairs." She looked at the ripped edge of the land. "And how it was built right on the edge of that cliff."

Robin nodded. "In other words, this island was once on the ground. That also explains why it is not made of clouds like the other floating islands."

Aisa stared at the ruined house. Once on the ground. The words were old and familiar but seeing proof of them made her chest feel strange.

Nami looked toward the endless forest, realization dawning across her face.

"This is the landmass that was torn away. This floating island is…" Her voice dropped. "…part of Jaya."

Aisa's fingers curled. Jaya.

She had heard that name in stories. In the way elders spoke of home, loss, and duty. But standing here, looking at a broken Blue Sea house caught inside their stolen homeland, made the story feel heavier than it ever had before.

Robin looked at her gently. "You knew?"

Aisa's voice came quiet. "We…we were told Upper Yard is our homeland." She swallowed. "But I never saw it like this."

Nami turned back toward the ruin. "So the City off Gold that Noland claimed was once on the island…" Her eyes widened. "All this time, the missing Jaya was floating in the sky."

…

Battle tore through the quiet of Upper Yard.

The Hoverboard Waver hummed as Wyper leaned hard into a turn, his bazooka braced against his shoulder while Shura's javelin carved through the air where his head had been a heartbeat earlier. Above him, Fuza beat his wings, scattering mist in hot gusts.

"Do your worst," Shura sneered.

Wyper fired.

Shura pulled Fuza upward, and the blast tore through empty air before exploding against a massive root. Pale bark shattered outward in smoking chunks.

Below, Kamakiri shot forward on his Jet Board, weapon in hand. A turquoise crystal edge had been fixed along part of the blade, catching the light with a strange glassy gleam. He swept in low toward Gedatsu and slashed.

The priest leaned aside just before the crystal-edged weapon could bite into him, Mantra guiding his movement. Even so, the blade came closer than expected, shaving through part of his sleeve and sparking against the guard at his arm.

Gedatsu's eyes widened slightly.

Kamakiri saw it.

So the crystal did make a difference.

Gedatsu blasted himself upward with a Milky Dial beneath his foot, forcing Kamakiri to veer away before the counter strike could crush him from above.

Across the battlefield, Braham swept along on his Jet Skis and fired both flash guns. Turquoise fragments snapped through the air. One cut close to Ohm's face. Another clipped his shoulder guard hard enough to make the priest's eyes narrow.

Ohm stood on a broad root, Holy at his side, his Eisen Dial sword stretching long and pale like solid smoke.

"Interesting," Ohm said quietly. "You have sharpened your despair."

Braham fired again.

Ohm's cloud-blade lashed outward, bending impossibly as it cut the shot apart in a spray of light. Even then, he had to shift his stance rather than simply let it pass.

Near the edge of the fight, Laki landed on her Skate-type Wavers, weapon raised. A turquoise shard had been strapped near the barrel as well. Her eyes darted between Shura, Ohm, Gedatsu, and the round-bodied priest bouncing through the chaos with unsettling cheer.

"Hoh hoh hoh!" Satori laughed, drifting among floating spheres. "So many angry little warriors! So many sharp little toys!" He slapped one sphere toward a pair of Shandorians trying to flank Ohm. "Careful now. You never know what will pop out!"

One warrior cut it open and flames erupted.

The Shandorians scattered, but one was thrown back with a cry, smoke curling from his shoulder.

Laki fired at Satori immediately. Her crystal shot streaked toward his head. He tilted aside before it reached him, Mantra guiding him, but the burst passed close enough to slice through one of the ornaments on his headpiece.

His eyes flicked toward it. "Hoh?"

Wyper snarled and launched himself at Shura again. "Move!"

Kamakiri dove beneath him. Braham fired to cover both. Laki shot at the same time, forcing Satori to bounce clear instead of interfering.

For one brief moment, the attack lined up perfectly.

Wyper came from above with his bazooka aimed at Fuza's wing. Kamakiri swept low with the crystal blade. Braham's shot flashed toward Shura's blind side.

Shura's eyes sharpened.

Fuza twisted, the bazooka blast grazing feathers instead of flesh. Ohm's sword snapped across the battlefield like a white serpent, forcing Kamakiri away. Gedatsu dropped from above toward Braham with awkward speed, while Satori slapped a sphere into Laki's shot, bursting it into smoke and ruining her line of sight.

The Shandorians scattered.

Wyper's grip tightened around his weapon as his Hoverboard Waver dipped beneath him. The crystals were helping level the field. But the priests were still priests. Fighting one would have been difficult enough. All four at once was another matter entirely.

They were losing momentum.

Wyper was about to order his men to fall back until…

BOING! CRASH!

With the sound of a spring, something crashed into the center of the battlefield. The impact cracked the massive root beneath them, throwing dust outward in a thick cloud.

For an instant, even the priests went still.

Wyper pulled the Hoverboard Waver into a sharp hover, eyes narrowing through the haze. Kamakiri steadied his Jet Board beside him. Laki lowered her weapon just enough to see.

The smoke cleared to reveal Crashhopper.

"Okay," he rubbed his head. "Still need to work on the landings."

Laki stared. "What… is that?"

Shura's mouth curved with interest from atop Fuza. "What a strange beast."

Gedatsu crossed his arms, facing slightly away from everyone. "A big bug."

Ohm's eyes narrowed. "No. Something else."

Satori rocked lightly on his feet. "Hoh hoh hoh. Come for round two. Have you, Tennyson?"

Ohm's voice lowered. "The shapeshifter?"

Laki's eyes widened. He's the one who saved Aisa from Eneru.

Wyper's grip tightened around his bazooka. "You."

Ignoring the priests, Crashhopper's head snapped toward Wyper. "You and I need to talk, dude."

The warrior's answer was immediate. "I have nothing to say to you, insect."

"Yeah. Figured that'd be your warm and fuzzy answer."

Shura lifted his javelin, amusement sharpening into disdain. "Ben Tennyson. The one who defied Kami and lived. What a troublesome little surprise."

Crashhopper turned toward him. "Sorry, were you talking? I got distracted trying to figure out if that mustache is supposed to be intimidating or if your face is just trying to fly away."

Fuza shrieked, flames licking at the edge of its beak.

Crashhopper pointed at the bird. "See? Even he knows that was a burn."

Shura's expression tightened. "Insolent creature."

Crashhopper crouched lower. "I'd love to keep insulting the whole Eneru fan club, but I'm kind of on a schedule."

The branch cracked beneath his feet as he shot forward with explosive force, crossing the distance in a single bound. Shura's eyes widened a fraction before Mantra warned him. Fuza beat its wings hard, jerking upward as Ben's head smashed through the space where rider and bird had been a heartbeat earlier.

Instead, Crashhopper crashed into the side of an enormous root.

CRACK!

The root split under the impact. Crashhopper bounced off, twisted midair, and landed on another branch, crouched low. "Ha!" he said, shaking splinters off his head. "Being hardheaded is definitely part of the package."

Kamakiri stared despite himself. Braham's hidden eyes tracked the insect-like creature's movement from beneath his hat.

Laki's mouth parted slightly. "He's fast…"

"Don't stare," Wyper snapped. "Fight!"

Crashhopper sprang again, bounding between the massive roots in sharp, violent arcs, ricocheting through the battlefield like a living projectile. His first target was Gedatsu. Crashhopper dropped from above, skull aimed straight down.

Gedatsu moved aside at the last instant. The alien's head slammed into the branch where the priest had been standing, and the shockwave still knocked Gedatsu off-balance.

Kamakiri seized the opening, his Burn Blade flashing toward Gedatsu's side. The priest barely avoided the cut, and this time his expression actually tightened.

Wyper saw it, and so did Shura.

Satori's smile thinned by a fraction. "Hoh…"

Crashhopper launched from a branch behind Ohm, head shooting forward like a battering ram.

Ohm turned before the strike landed. His Eisen Whip swept up in a pale arc, forcing Crashhopper to twist midair. The cloud-blade clipped his shoulder and sent a sharp sting through his body before he crashed feet-first onto a nearby root.

"Okay," he chirped, rolling the shoulder. "So the future-vision thing is still annoying."

Ohm's voice remained grave. "Your movements are loud."

Crashhopper tilted his head. "Yeah, well, subtle isn't really my brand. I'm more of a 'hit the problem really hard and hope the scenery forgives me' kind of hero."

Shura drove Fuza downward.

The teen hero leapt sideways just before the javelin pierced the root where he had stood. The weapon sank deep, and heat hissed through the wood. Fuza's beak opened, flame curling in its throat. Crashhopper kicked off a tree trunk and shot toward Shura again.

Shura's eyes narrowed, already shifting before the attack came. He missed the headbutt by inches. Fuza twisted, and Shura's javelin caught Crashhopper across the side, knocking him into a spinning crash through several smaller branches. He hit hard, rolled, and dug his feet into the wood to stop himself.

Wyper's expression sharpened. For all the shapeshifter's speed, the priests were adapting. Mantra was turning Ben's own momentum against him.

"Blue Sea dweller!" Wyper barked. "If you came here to get in the way, leave!"

Crashhopper pushed himself up, eyes narrowing. "How about no."

Shura smirked. "He cannot touch us. No matter how wildly he leaps."

Crashhopper's gaze moved between the four priests.

"Then maybe I need something with a little less bounce…" His mouth curved. "…and a lot more shock value."

He tapped the Omnitrix dial and green light flashed across the battlefield, forcing everyone to shield their eyes.

Crashhopper vanished and was replaced by a broad-shouldered, sasquatch-like alien with a powerful frame covered in yellow and black fur. White markings broke up the pattern across his chest and upper body, while his fingers and toes were gray, four on each hand instead of five. Two metallic bolt-like nodes jutted from the sides of his wrists, already crackling with yellow electricity, and lightning bolt-shaped horns rose from his head. His eyes glowed green with black pupils, and the Omnitrix symbol rested on the green-and-white belt at his waist.

The air itself seemed to prickle around him.

"Shocksquatch!" he announced in a deep voice with a distinct Canadian accent. Yellow electricity suddenly crackled between his hands and danced across the bolts at his wrists.

The battlefield froze.

Braham's gun lowered by a fraction. Laki went pale. Kamakiri's eyes widened. Even Wyper stared.

Shura's expression shifted from arrogance to wary disbelief.

Gedatsu turned all the way around. "Lightning."

Ohm's solemn expression darkened. "Impossible."

Satori's smile immediately fell. "Hoh…?"

Shura's hand tightened around his javelin. "Only Almighty Eneru commands lightning."

Shocksquatch's mouth curled. "Yeah? Then he's gonna hate this."

He thrust both hands forward, and a blast of yellow lightning erupted from his palms and wrist-bolts.

Shura moved before the bolt fully left Shocksquatch's hands.

Fuza shrieked as the Sky Rider yanked hard on the reins, the giant bird twisting sideways just as the lightning tore past them. The blast missed Shura's shoulder by inches and struck the trunk behind him instead, splintering bark.

Wyper's jaw tightened, eyes wide. "He can use lightning?"

"Just like Eneru…" Laki whispered, stunned. Just who is this man?

"Not fair!" Satori wasn't laughing anymore as he bounced back atop a floating sphere, narrowly avoiding the afterburst that snapped through the air where he had been standing. "He keeps breaking the rules!"

Shocksquatch spun and fired another electric blast toward Ohm.

Ohm stepped aside a heartbeat before the attack reached him. The lightning missed his chest, struck the root beneath his feet, and branched across the surface. Sparks raced along the wood, forcing him to leap farther back than he had intended. Holy barked and jumped aside as the current snapped near his paws.

Braham took the opening and fired. His shot struck near Ohm's feet, blasting cloud and splinters up into the priest's path.

Ohm's eyes narrowed. "He is fast," the solemn priest said, landing near Holy. "But his intent is loud."

Shocksquatch's brow furrowed. They're fast enough to dodge lightning too, eh?

Kamakiri charged Gedatsu again, Burn Blade glowing.

Gedatsu tried to blast away with his Milky Dial, only for Shocksquatch to hurl another surge of electricity across his escape route. The priest jolted backward with a startled grunt, arms flailing as the current cracked against the ground in front of him.

It had barely missed him.

Gedatsu looked down at the scorched mark in front of his foot, then nodded gravely. "A narrow miss."

Satori's eyes narrowed as he lifted both hands. Several floating spheres drifted sharply into Shocksquatch's path, bobbing and spinning like a wall of cloud-white ornaments.

"You insolent beast!" Satori snapped, his voice rising. "These are sacred Ordeals! Holy trials designed by Almighty Eneru himself! You do not get to trample through them like some jungle animal!"

Shocksquatch glanced at the spheres, then at Satori. "Buddy, you're throwing cloud dodgeballs in the woods and calling it religion. Not sure I'm the weird one here, eh."

He then clapped his hands together, electricity snapping between his palms before lashing outward in jagged forks. The current struck one sphere, jumped to another, then another, turning Satori's floating barricade into a crackling chain of detonations.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Satori's eyes widened as the explosions ripped through his barricade. He bounced backward from sphere to sphere barely ahead of the blasts.

"Hoh hoh—woah!"

One explosion burst close enough to scorch his left sleeve off. For the first time, the priests were losing ground.

Shura's eyes burned with anger. "Do you mock Eneru's power?!"

"I'll mock anyone who uses the word 'mock'."

The Gimlinopithecus slammed both fists together, causing a loud crack of thunder to snap across the forest. Lightning burst outward from his body in a brief, localized field.

The priests scattered an instant before it expanded.

Shura pulled Fuza higher, the edge of the field crackling beneath the bird's talons. Ohm vaulted back with Holy at his side. Gedatsu launched himself upward with a burst from his Milky Dial, although he drifted slightly sideways and had to correct himself midair. Satori disappeared behind a cluster of spheres, the field tearing through two of them instead.

The Shandorians recoiled too, though Wyper recovered first.

"Use the opening!" he shouted.

Braham and Laki fired together.

The crystal shots forced Shura higher. Kamakiri drove Gedatsu back. Wyper launched himself toward Ohm, bazooka ready.

Shocksquatch's eyes tracked the priests as electricity crawled over his fur.

They were dodging too well. Every time he aimed, they were already moving. Every blast came close, close enough to make them retreat, close enough to burn their footing or scatter their formation, but not close enough to finish it.

Satori landed heavily on one of his spheres, wobbling as smoke curled from his outfit. "Hoh hoh hoh… troublesome. Very troublesome." He raised both hands again, more spheres drifting into place around him. "I'll crush this blasphemous beast."

Shocksquatch rolled his shoulders, sparks crawling over his fur. "You can try, balloon boy."

Satori's cheek twitched. "Ball priest."

"Whatever you say, eh." Shocksquatch fired again.

Satori bounced away before the bolt reached him. The lightning struck the sphere beneath his previous position and detonated it, forcing him to flip awkwardly through the smoke.

"See?" Shocksquatch growled, irritation slipping through now. "That should've hit."

Ohm's gaze shifted toward him. "You strike where we are."

Shura lowered his javelin, eyes sharp with contempt. "Kami teaches us to move where the strike will not be."

Shocksquatch paused at that. Through the crackle of electricity crawling over his fur, Ben's thoughts moved faster than his body wanted to. Mantra. That was the trick. Satori had used it to read his attacks before they happened, but not the meaning behind them. He had been able to see where the blow was coming from, not why Ben had thrown it in the first place.

That gave the Omnitrix bearer an idea. A dangerous, stupid, probably draining idea. A slow, mischievous grin spread across Shocksquatch's face.

All four priests noticed.

"What are you smiling at?" Ohm demanded.

His Mantra stirred a heartbeat later, warning him of danger, but the warning was strange. Blurred. Wide. Not a single strike coming from one direction, but a storm pressing in from everywhere at once.

"You four chumps use that Mantra of yours to anticipate and evade my attacks whenever I aim at you," Shocksquatch said, electricity beginning to spark across his entire body. "But now I'm wondering something."

The sparks grew brighter, crawling over his shoulders, down his arms, and through the thick fur along his back.

His grin sharpened. "Can you dodge something that doesn't have a specific target, eh?"

Shocksquatch's electrical output skyrocketed.

Lightning wrapped around his body in twisting bolts as a semi-transparent sphere of electrical power formed around him. The air hummed so violently that leaves trembled on the nearby branches. The ground beneath his feet blackened in thin, branching lines as the charge built higher and higher.

He unleashed it.

Dozens of lightning bolts erupted outward in a wild, branching storm. They did not fire in clean lines. They forked, scattered, and snapped in every direction across the space in front of him, striking trees, tearing through branches, and blasting smoking scars into the ground. More bolts followed instantly, falling over the area like a rain of lightning.

The four priests' eyes widened.

They split apart at once, bodies moving on instinct as bolts ripped through the space where they had stood. Shura sprang sideways, javelin raised. Ohm twisted away with a sharp scrape of his blade. Satori bounced backward with a panicked cry, and Gedatsu leapt higher into the branches.

Then their expressions changed. Alarm flashed across all four faces at once.

Their Mantra was not giving them an answer.

There was no clean path to follow, no single killing intent to avoid, no obvious strike to read. Shocksquatch was not aiming at them. He was attacking the entire area at random, and because he did not know where each bolt would land, neither did they.

The sense that had always let them stand above their enemies had gone silent.

"My Mantra…" Ohm started, but disbelief stole the rest of the sentence.

"I cannot read his attack!" Shura shouted.

"This is impossible!" Satori cried, his voice rising in denial.

Gedatsu was the first to take a direct hit.

A bolt slammed into him and exploded across his body, lightning snapping over his limbs and through his torso. He convulsed in midair, eyes going wide. Shocksquatch's voltage was not on Eneru's level, or the priest would have been finished then and there, but it was more than enough to knock him loose from his footing.

"So careless," Gedatsu managed before crashing hard onto a tree branch.

Satori was struck next. Already worn down from his earlier fight, he took the blast worse than Gedatsu did. His round body jolted as electricity coursed through him, and he fell with a pained shout, bouncing once against the branch below before slumping hard.

Shura and Ohm tried to defend themselves.

Shura swung his javelin through the incoming bolts, while Ohm raised his blade and braced behind it. Both weapons caught the lightning, redirecting the worst of the impact, but neither could stop the current from traveling through metal and into flesh. The voltage ripped through their arms, making both priests grit their teeth as their muscles locked and trembled.

Their animal companions fared no better.

Fuza let out a comical, strangled squawk as electricity snapped over his feathers, his eyes bulging as though he had suddenly understood the concept of fried chicken on a personal level. Holy's fur puffed out in every direction, turning the massive dog into a bristling ball of static before he toppled with a heavy thud.

Shura and Ohm jumped clear before their mounts fell completely, landing hard on the ground with shaking knees. Both priests clutched their trembling arms, struggling to force feeling back into their fingers.

At last, Shocksquatch cut off the attack.

The lightning around him died down to weak, uneven sparks. His hands dropped to his knees, and he bent forward, panting hard. That had taken more power than he had ever tried to dump at once, and his whole body felt like the Omnitrix had decided to replace his bones with wet sand.

"Huff… huff…" He looked up through tired eyes, still managing a grin. "Bet you weren't… huff… expecting that, were ya?"

The Shandorian warriors stared in open disbelief.

"He struck all four of Eneru's priests at once," Laki said, awe slipping into her voice despite herself.

Wyper said nothing, but even his eyes carried surprise.

The four priests slowly forced themselves back to their feet. Satori looked the worst off, his body still twitching from the shock. Gedatsu was scuffed and smoking in places, but steady enough to continue. Shura and Ohm both wore furious expressions, still gripping their numb arms as their fingers spasmed around their weapons.

Fuza and Holy staggered upright as well, both looking like the attack had knocked them for a serious loop.

"An impressive attack," Ohm admitted, nudging his sunglasses with his undamaged hand. His voice stayed controlled, though his jaw was tight. "However, the power of your lightning is clearly inferior to Almighty Eneru's."

"If that was your best," Shura said, forcing arrogance through the lingering pain, "then you are still far short of victory."

"You fought valiantly," Satori declared, his voice strained but theatrical. "But now it is time we ended this."

Shocksquatch's breathing slowed. The sparks along his fur returned, faint at first, then brighter. He straightened little by little, rolling one shoulder as electricity crawled back over his arms.

"Oh, I'm just getting my second wind, eh," he said, flashing them a tired grin. "And I promise, my next attack's gonna be a real shocking development for all of you."

Ohm's eyes narrowed and leaned forward as he prepared to attack when he suddenly went still. Shura did the same while Gedatsu stopped mid-step. Satori's raised hands froze, his spheres hovering in place around him. Something passed through the air that none of the Shandorians could hear.

The priests listened.

Ohm lowered his sword slightly. "Kami calls."

Shura's expression twisted with frustration.

Gedatsu nodded solemnly while standing on one foot for no clear reason. "We are summoned."

Satori's smile widened again, though his eyes remained fixed on Shocksquatch. "Hoh hoh hoh. Saved by divine timing, perhaps."

Wyper's eyes sharpened. "Running away?"

Shura glared down at him. "Do not mistake obedience for retreat."

Fuza beat its wings, carrying Shura upward. Ohm leapt back onto Holy, the cloud-sword retracting as he moved. Gedatsu launched himself away with a burst from his Dial, somehow maintaining absolute confidence despite drifting slightly off angle. Satori bounced backward from sphere to sphere, retreating with an exaggerated wave.

Shura glanced back. "Until next time, Tennyson. I pray Almighty Eneru gives me the pleasure of destroying you soon."

Shocksquatch watched as the priests vanished into the canopy.

The battlefield fell into sudden quiet, with only the fading crackle of Shocksquatch's electricity remaining.

His fists stayed clenched for a moment. This Mantra stuff is a real pain, he thought. But at least I learned a new weakness for it. Still, I clearly need to know more. Attacking blindly is not a good way to win long term.

Shocksquatch then turned toward Wyper's group.

Wyper's bazooka came up, Kamakiri raised his Burn Blade, and Braham's guns trained on him. Laki lifted her weapon as well, though the hesitation in her eyes was clear.

Shocksquatch stopped where he was. "Okay," he said slowly. "Guess we're not doing thank-yous, eh?"

"Why are you here?" Wyper demanded. "Do you have a death wish?"

Shocksquatch looked at the weapons aimed at him, then slowly raised both hands. The Shandorians tensed at once, expecting another burst of electricity.

"Relax," he said. "Hands are up. No zapping."

With a mental command to the Omnitrix, the Gimlinopithecus vanished in a brilliant green flash. When it faded, Ben returned to human, keeping both hands raised where the warriors could see them.

"See? Not here to fight you guys."

Wyper's glare sharpened. "You travel with pirates."

"It's a long story."

"I do not care."

"Figured." Ben kept his hands up. His eyes moved from Wyper to the others, then back again. "Listen, I just came for a couple of reasons."

Wyper did not lower the bazooka. "Speak."

Ben's voice lost its sarcasm. "First, where's Aisa?"

The name hit the group harder than he expected.

Laki's eyes widened.

Kamakiri's expression tightened.

Braham said nothing, but one of his guns lowered by the smallest fraction.

Wyper's face hardened into stone. "That is none of your concern."

Ben took that in, his shoulders stiffening. "She was alive when I last saw her. But that was before Eneru's attack." His hands slowly curled, but he kept them raised. "I need to know she's okay."

"You need nothing from us," Wyper snapped. "You are an outsider. Do not speak as if you have any claim over our people."

"I'm not claiming anything. I'm asking."

The honesty made Laki's grip shift.

Wyper noticed and growled, "Do not."

Braham finally spoke, voice low. "He may be useful."

Wyper's eyes cut toward him.

Braham kept his gaze on Ben. "The crystals."

Ben's expression flickered. "Crystals?"

Kamakiri understood at once. His fingers tightened around the Burn Blade's crystal-edged weapon.

Braham continued. "If he can become the crystal warrior again, he can make more."

Ben blinked. Crystal warrior? Then realization hit him. They must mean Diamondhead. So maybe Aisa did make it out alive!

Laki looked disgusted by the suggestion. "He is not a weapon for us to point, Braham."

"No… But the priests felt the difference."

Silence settled.

The crystal fragments had turned hopeless strikes into dangerous ones. Not enough to guarantee victory, but enough to change the shape of battle. Enough to make priests wary.

Enough to matter.

Ben looked between them. "So my board wasn't the only thing you guys found."

Wyper's gaze snapped back to him. "You will come with us."

Laki looked at him sharply. "Wyper—"

"As a prisoner."

Ben's mouth tightened, but he did not fight the decision.

Wyper stepped closer. "You will be restrained. And if you try to transform, run, or threaten the village, I will kill you."

Ben held his stare.

For a moment, the forest felt very still.

The Omnitrix bearer then lowered his hands just enough to turn his wrists outward. "Fine. But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

Braham stepped forward without a word, pulling a length of rope from the supplies at his side as he moved behind Ben. A moment later, he wound it tightly around Ben's wrists.

Ben winced slightly. "Could be a little gentler, ya know?"

Laki stared at him. "You're just… allowing this?"

"Like I said," he replied quietly, "I'm not here to fight you." His gaze shifted toward the direction of the village. "I wanted to know if Aisa is safe." He paused. "And I have something else to ask. But that can wait."

Wyper's expression did not soften. But something in his eyes shifted, only slightly.

…

A/N: And that's a wrap on this eye-catching chapter! ... I'll see myself out.

So initially I was going to have this be a 50k+ mega chapter, but I decided it would be better to have it split into two parts instead. That'll give me and my editors time to go through the second half, which will now become Chapter 9, and make any necessary adjustments.

This will also give me a chance to catch up on writing chapter 7 for Ultimate Fairy and get back on my routine 2-week update schedule.

Note: Chapter 9 and 10 is when this arc is really going to start picking up. I can understand if some are getting impatient, but I promise we'll get to the action-packed stuff soon. I just want to make sure that the setup is good so that the actual fighting will feel meaningful.

Huge shout-out to Masamune X23 and Sunrac for their help with editing, beta-reading, and consulting throughout the writing process.

Special shoutouts for my Goin' Ultimate members.

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