Skypiea

"Although I've been here before, I still can't help but admire how beautiful it is." Nico said as they passed through Heaven's Gate.

"Yep, the last time I came here. I don't think there was a sign that said that. Oh well, that was a long time ago anyway." Imai muttered.

"Oi! You people on the ship! You have to pay a billion extol per person to enter Skypiea!" an old lady standing on the side said.

"Amazon! Remember me? It's Nico!" Nico said as she waved towards the old woman.

"Ah! It's you from the Straw Hat Crew! You may pass for free, however…" Amazon eyed Imai.

"She's with me, if you can please let her pass for free too. You have my thanks."

Amazon sighed.

"Alright, alright. Just go."

Nico smiled at the old woman as their ship passed through Heaven's Gate. She knew deep inside Amazon was grateful for them after everything they've done for the people of Skypiea.

But somehow, Amazon seemed a bit different. It seemed like she wasn't herself.

"You can sense it right?" Imai asked. "Something is awfully amiss. The atmosphere around here feels tight as if something had taken over."

They had made it to Angel Island and decided to walk around before going for their main goal.

"That's right. Everything seems the same, but it just doesn't feel right." Nico said as she glanced around. "If Enel truly is back, that would mean once we enter the upper yard, he would be able to sense us."

"That's what I want. To bait Enel out, take out his heart, and then eat it." Imai said with a grin. "But first, let's find out what's wrong first. Is there anyone you know that resides here?"

"I remember Conis opening a cafe in Skypiea. I don't know if she still comes down to Angel Island to visit though."

"We won't have a choice but to take that chance after all. Let's use this opportunity to look around. I'll go straight ahead and you go right. We'll meet back here after thirty minutes."

"Okay."

Imai walked around and analyzed everyone she had walked past. Not a single person spared a glance at her which was abnormal since her unique appearance would make anyone look at her.

Moreover, there was a more worrying factor about the people here. Everyone was working, they never gave themself the chance to take a break. Or was it that they couldn't get a break?

"Brainwashing? Making people do work that they don't want to do…did Enel become that bored to start doing forced labor?"

Imai shook her head with a look of disappointment on her face. Such boring activities didn't deserve her attention, she just wanted to fight already.

"Intruder!"

A loud voice boomed from the sky. Imai looked up and saw an old man with a white beard covered in a knight's armor coming down at her with a lance in his hand.

"Aren't you a little too old to fight for your age?" Imai muttered to herself with an unamused look on her face.

Imai grabbed the hilt of her blade and defended against the lance with the scabbard still on.

"I'm not an intruder! I'm here as a visitor so stop attacking me before it gets worse for you!" Imai yelled as she pointed her sheathed blade at the knight.

"Shut up! I have no words to exchange with an intruder dirtying our heavenly land with their filthy feet!" the knight exclaimed as he charged at Imai who sighed.

"You really don't listen, but that's a given considering you're all brainwashed by the lightning god. I'll go easy on you, I'll keep the scabbard on."

Imai tilted her head to dodge the lance that went after her head.

"You're fast, but not fast enough."

Imai attacked the lance from the underside causing the knight to be off balance. Using this chance, she quickly kicked the knight's chest. However, he quickly recovered from it by using the ground to stop the momentum.

"Quite durable. Though I can't tell if that's the armor or your body. It doesn't matter anyway. For now, you'll be my new toy!" Imai said with a grin that showed her straight and shiny teeth.

The knight kept attacking Imai, but she easily defended against him without moving a single step from where she stood. She could see that the knight had gained all the skills by working hard and gaining experience by fighting in real battles.

However, the knight she was fighting against had no talent at all. He wasn't even able to use Haki which translated to Mantra in their terms. So what do you do when you don't have talent? You use tricks.

"Impact Dial!"

"Old man, a sneak attack does not mean scream what you're going to do."

Imai quickly jumped backwards before the dial's explosion could hit her. Although her time here in the past was short, she had a faint idea on what everything was in Skypiea.

After all, entering a place without knowledge of the place is basically suicide.

"Such a shame, I truly wanted to fight you with you in your right mind. Perhaps that would make a difference in the useless attacks. So simple and readable." Imai said as she casually deflects the lance. "Good night."

Imai crouched under the horizontal strike of the lance and quickly jumped up. With a swift strike, she had knocked out the knight in one move.

*POOF*

The heavy body of the knight dropped onto the soft clouds. His eyes had rolled up and showed the white area of the sclera.

*NEIGHHH*

There was a sound of a horse coming from the sky. Once again, she looked up, and saw a horse with wings. Truly, she wasn't surprised by anything anymore. The winged horse came down to ground level and propped the knight on its back and flew away.

Imai didn't bother stopping it since there wasn't a need to.

"That horse, it seems like it isn't brainwashed."

As she finished cleaning the dust off her shirt, a familiar voice came from behind her.

"So? Did you find anything interesting?"

"Well, I fought a brainwashed old man, and saw a winged horse take him away. That's about it, what about you?"

"I found out where Conis is, follow me. We're going to the Upper Yard."