Sea of Clouds

Yo! No more glass in my foot!! I had 28 pieces of that shit in my foot and had to get them taken out in 2 different sessions because I was losing too much fucking blood and was about to pass out. Do you know what it feels like to have a bone exposed to open air? 

After that fun experience, I know what it feels like. Fuck that, it's horrible.

On the bright side, this was posted 16 days after it happened, and I can walk completely fine again. Well, the doctor told me to stay off it for a month, but once again, Fuck that.

Also, sorry about not posting for damn near a month. I've been busy with that shit and getting my ass kicked by midterms and my internship, but I'm back in this bitch, and I'm cooking with nothing but straight gasoline. I will switch to 2 uploads a week so I don't have to go on another break like this again, and I have time to thoroughly plan 'Water 7' to make sure it's as good as it deserves.

The guy who has given me 3 power stones daily during this break and since I started writing this story without fail is an uncrowned king who needs to be brought to attention. I won't put your name here if you don't want it to be, but you know who you are, and I love you.

GIMME POWER STONES FOR NO MORE GLASS IN MY FOOT!! AND FOR WALKING AGAIN!!! AND FOR CONSISTENT UPLOADS AGAIN!!! LETS FUCKING GO!!!

Enjoy the chapter!

...

"That takes care of that."

Luffy smiled as he walked away from a bar in the middle of 'Jaya' with a bag filled with random gold items, such as cups, plates, and even a golden helmet he had put on over his straw hat.

Countless pirates who looked at him and his crew with disdain when they initially docked on the island were now staring at him in horror or at the ground because they didn't dare to make eye contact with him.

If someone went into that bar, they would see the 'Bellamy Pirates' all unconscious, with their Captain having a massive indent on the left side of his face in the shape of a fist while he was wedged in the wall. He wasn't moving except for the occasional twitch that showed he was still alive.

Correction. Barely alive.

Luffy looked to his right, sensing all his friends with a happy smile. He started walking that way, ignoring everyone terrified of him.

Just before the pirates breathed a sigh of relief, Luffy whipped his head around and glared at them, making them all flinch in fear. 

*TING*

Their fear was swept away when the golden helmet over Luffy's straw hat fell onto the ground from his fast movement.

Everyone sweat-dropped as Luffy's brow twitched before he picked up the helmet from the ground and placed it back over his hat.

Everyone's fear came back in full force when Luffy glared at them again, holding onto the helmet so it wouldn't fall off.

"Don't mess with the acorn-head guy or his gold!! When those dumbasses in that bar wake up, kick their ass again for me!!" Luffy shouted, and before all of the pirates could shout out their terrified agreement, he disappeared in a burst of speed.

.

.

The Straw Hat Pirates were following the ship of the 'Saruyama Alliance' toward where the two monkey guys said the 'Knock-Up Stream' was forming. As they were doing so, they heard someone yelling behind them.

"Oi, Wait!!"

Everyone turned around and raised an eyebrow when they saw five guys tied together on a bunch of chopped-up logs.

Luffy suddenly turned serious as he looked at the large man with a crooked smile and a few missing teeth. Everyone who noticed got solemn and looked closely at the five people.

"'Straw Hat' Luffy with a bounty of 300,000,000 berries with a crew worth more than 750,000,000!! I'm Marshall D. Teach, and I'm here to claim your bounties!!" The man shouted with a wicked smile, showing off his missing teeth.

Almost everyone smiled at the new bounties when they saw the man holding the bounty poster and realized he was serious.

Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Law were the only ones who didn't react to the bounties, which widened the man's malicious grin.

"Zehahaha!! So you didn't know yet? I'm glad I can be the one to tell you!!" He laughed before shouting out with a crazed grin on his face. Zoro raised an eyebrow and glanced at his Luffy when the teen's eyes suddenly widened.

"He is fat as shit with stubby ass arms and legs. He's got a big ass mouth with a bunch of broken or missing teeth. Oh, and he's also got a black beard." Ace insulted the man continuously, making most sweat-drop as he angrily blew steam out of his nose.

"What's up, Luffy?" Zoro asked as he saw his Captain's eyes widen before they narrowed in fury, which surprised him. Before he or anyone else could ask, Luffy spoke up.

"I think this is the guy Ace was after..." Luffy muttered, making everyone but Robin's eyes widen before they turned back to the group of five in anger. Robin just needed to learn about what Ace said.

"IT'S ALMOST TIME!! PREPARE YOURSELVES!!!" They all heard the monkey guy shout, making most of them tense.

They couldn't go up the 'Knock-Up Stream' with this guy trying to fight them, as they could all tell he wasn't someone to underestimate. The people with 'Observation Haki' could easily say that this guy was a monster who didn't belong in this part of the 'Grand Line,' just like their Captain.

"The 'Knock-Up Stream', huh?! I won't let you go up to the sky!! I need to collect those bounties!! Zehahaha!!"

*STEP* *STEP* *STEP* *STEP*

All of the Straw Hat Pirates looked over to Luffy as he walked to the ship's edge with his head down and his eyes shadowed. 

"We don't have time for this dumbass..." He muttered to himself as he covered his arm in 'Armament Haki' and brought it to his mouth.

*INHALE*

Luffy took a massive inhale before he blew it into his arm, covering him in a cloud of steam. Most of the crew looked at this in curiosity as they hadn't seen Luffy do this before as they were busy with their fights the few times he'd used it.

"Gear 4th: Snakeman"

Luffy emerged from the cloud of steam, his hair like flames similar to the strong 'Advanced Armament Haki' pattern covering his arms and legs. He was still glaring at the small group of pirates. 

"Gomu-Gomu no..."

*CREAK* *CREAK*

Everyone watched as his arm seemed to fold in on itself while making a creaking noise. It was very easy for everyone to see the insane amount of pressure building up in the arm.

"Jet Culverin!!!"

*BOOOOOM*

*TING* *TING* *TING*

The compressed arm shot out like a cannon before constantly changing directions to gain more speed as it headed toward the five pirates.

They all saw the man who shouted, widening his eyes in alarm and sticking his right hand, covered in 'Advanced Armament Haki', up to the sky. When he did, a cloud of darkness spread from both the man's back and his right hand.

"Black Hole!!!"

The cloud of darkness suddenly grew larger than the tied-up logs the group of five were sailing on and spread toward Luffy's incoming fist.

The straw-hat-wearing pirate narrowed his eyes when he sensed and saw the darkness coming out of the man's hand and the 'Advanced Armament Haki' within it.

Luffy did his best to strengthen his attack by using the little bone inflation of his 'Gear 3rd' he could do without blowing air into his fist.

"Gomu-Gomu no..."

*TING* *TING* *TING*

Instead of directly targeting his opponent, Luffy had his arm fly around the area to build up speed before he sent it flying at his opponent.

The wide loop gave his attack additional acceleration, thus increasing its momentum. Combined with enlarging his fist, which added more mass, the force of his attack was multiplied.

"King Cobra!!!"

*BOOOOOOM*

"AHHHH!!! IT HURTS!!!!"

The man was stunned as Luffy's punch avoided his 'Black Hole' by quickly changing directions from going towards the 'Black Hole' to his gut, sending him flying back and making him scream in pain.

The massive man with a wrestler's mask who seemed to always be smiling became solemn when he saw his Captain get punched. He glanced at the sniper of their crew before he shot toward the 'Going Merry' like a rocket when said the sniper nodded at him and disappeared.

"Warp"

The sniper appeared right behind his airborne Captain, and right after, he managed to get his hand onto Teach's shoulder.

"Warp"

The two appeared back on their makeshift boat. Still, before they could make another move, before the man in the wrestler's mask could make it to the 'Going Merry', and before the Straw Hats could do anything but watch as Luffy's arms snapped back, almost everyone suddenly looked down at the water. 

This is because every user of 'Observation Haki' sensed what could only be the weather phenomenon known as the 'Knock-Up Stream'.

"Everyone, get ready!!" Luffy shouted as he let his 'Gear4th: Snakeman' fade away before grabbing onto the railing of the 'Going Merry', which all his crew mates copied.

*BOOOOOOM*

The massive eruption from the 'Knock-Up Stream' forced the man in the wrestler's mask to stop his advance by using 'Moon-Walk', something he hadn't used when he tried to attack the 'Going Merry' as he only needed physical strength to cross the massive distance between the two pirate crews.

As the masked man returned to his crew, the other four retreated from the 'Knock-Up Stream'. More specifically, three of them retreated while one rolled around in pain.

"Owowow!!! Fuck, this shit hurts!!" The large man rolled around in what looked like unbearable agony and shouted in pain as the man who warped him back to their raft looked at him with a confused expression.

After the four people on the log raft stabilized it, they looked back to their Captain, who was rolling around in pain.

"Captain Teach, why did you only use your 'Advanced Armament Haki' and not your 'Advanced Conqueror's Haki'? And why didn't you dodge that punch?" The man asked after his Captain stopped rolling around in pain. He looked up at his crew, who were looking at him in confusion.

"Zehahahaha!! You never know who's watching or who that brat will tell about me, Auger!! I've come too far to let this plan fail because of an idiot in a straw hat!! Now, it's onto the backup plan. My dear old division commander should still be coming after me if I'm not wrong."

.

.

While everyone did their best to follow Nami's directions so they could safely ride the 'Knock-Up Stream' to reach 'Sky Island', Luffy was staring down at the makeshift pirate ship in contemplation.

'That guy acted surprised when my punch hit him, but I could sense he wasn't.' Luffy thought to himself. His thoughts were cut off when he heard his navigator yelling at him.

"Luffy, why are you spacing out?!! Help us!!!" In annoyance, Nami shouted at her Captain when she saw him staring down towards where those pirates had been.

'Why did he fake being surprised when my punch dodged his big darkness cloud thing? Did he already know it was gonna happen?' Luffy thought to himself before he shook his head. It didn't matter anymore.

"Sorry, Nami!! I'll help now, don't hit me!!"

.

.

"Holy shit, that sucked!!"

Everyone was lying down on the deck in exhaustion as they finally made it through the insane experience of riding up the 'Knock-Up Stream'.

Luffy was the first to recover as he jumped up from his spot on the deck and ran over to the railing. His eyes immediately turned to stars when he saw the massive sea of clouds they were sailing on.

"Oi, everyone, get up!! This is crazy!!" Luffy shouted, forcing everyone to move up from their spots on the ground. Everyone was in awe when they saw the massive sea of clouds floating on the 'Going Merry'.

Luffy looked at Usopp beside him on the railing and smiled. The sniper looked at him and tilted his head in confusion, getting Luffy to say his idea.

"Usopp, you wanna see how far these clouds go down? I can wrap my arm around you, and you can swim as far down as possible." Luffy said, making Usopp smile excitedly.

"Sounds like fun; let's do it!" The sniper said, making everyone look over at the two. Luffy wrapped his arm around Usopp's waist a bunch of times before smiling at the sniper, who smiled back and jumped up onto the railing.

*CLAP*

Usopp clapped his hands together before jumping off the railing headfirst, diving into the sea of clouds, and disappearing from everyone's view.

Luffy almost immediately looked tired, making everyone look at him in concern.

"It's like when I go underwater. These clouds feel the same as seawater." Luffy said, making everyone understand falling in these clouds would make a devil fruit user unable to move, just like the sea.

Luffy felt a tug on his arm, making him retract his stretched-out arm rapidly.

*SPLASH*

Usopp was pulled through the clouds with a splash and back onto the 'Going Merry'. Everyone watched as he lay down and tried his best to hug the deck of their ship before Luffy's arm even finished retracting.

"There is no bottom to a sea of clouds... I almost fell out of the sky... I thought I was going to die..."

Everyone figured asking him what happened wasn't the best idea and silently moved on.

*SPLASH*

Luckily for Usopp, everyone saw a massive sky fish jump out of the clouds around ten meters away from the 'Going Merry' before it crashed back down into the clouds.

"Luffy, can we go back down?!" Nami asked with tears in her eyes. The question made Usopp and Chopper look at Luffy with hope.

That hope was dashed when they saw Luffy's excitement at seeing the sky fish jumping out of the 'White Sea'.

"I knew there was sky fish!! I wanna eat it!!" Luffy shouted as he thought about how good that massive fish would taste.

*SIGH* *SIGH* *SIGH*

The three let out sighs of resignation when they saw that and resigned themselves to what they believed would be signing their death warrants.

Before anyone could say anything else, all 'Observation Haki' users turned to the ship's right side when they sensed someone heading their way.

Everyone saw a strange man in a mask with white wings on his back riding on the clouds toward them while holding a bazooka about a hundred meters away.

As everyone prepared for a fight, Luffy noticed how breathing was hard. 

*PANT* *PANT* *PANT*

As he forced himself to his feet, Luffy looked around at his crew, noticing they had the same problem. He looked at Usopp, who he figured would only have to move a little to attack.

"Usopp!! Shoot that guy!!" Luffy told his friend, to which the sniper flinched and looked at Luffy like he was crazy before he puffed up his chest while nodding. Usopp grabbed some ammo, drew back his 'Kabuto', and fired at the man.

"Leave it to me!! Fire Bird Star!!!"

*FWOOOOM*

Everyone was surprised when they saw the man dodge the attack without much effort and continue toward them, making Sanji click his tongue in annoyance.

*Tsk*

"This guy is using 'Observation Haki', and we aren't used to the air up here. How irritating," Sanji said as he held himself upright with his hand on the railing. His eyebrow twitched when he heard a scoff behind him.

*SCOFF*

"Sounds like excuses to me. Can't handle the pressure, Shitty-Cook?" Zoro said with a smirk as he stood perfectly upright with his arms crossed. That smirk turned into a scowl when Sanji glared at him from his place on the wall.

"What did you just say, Cabbage-Head?"

Before Zoro could respond, the man in the strange mask jumped up and aimed his bazooka at them, making him put his hand on his katana.

"Wait, Zoro."

The swordsman and everyone else turned towards their Captain with a questioning look, only to see him looking up in the air behind the masked guy.

Zoro and everyone else looked where Luffy was looking to see an old man with a white beard wearing metal armor, holding a metal lance, and riding on what looked like a horse with wings with a pink and red polka dot design but with white feathers, flying toward the man with a bazooka.

The masked man turned around and saw the man, making him turn his bazooka back at the old man and fire.

*BOOOOM*

*SHNK*

They all saw the old man thrust his lance towards the shell that was shot from the bazooka and cut it right down the middle.

*BOOOOM*

*Tsk*

Luffy turned to the masked man when he heard him click his teeth in annoyance after the two halves of the shell exploded when they hit the clouds. Before Luffy could say anything, the man shot away on what looked like skates that rode across the clouds.

*FLAP* *FLAP*

Luffy and everyone else looked up when they heard the flapping of wings and saw the old man and the weird horse he was riding right above them and descending. Before the old man or anyone else could say anything, Luffy asked the question on his mind since they got up to the sky.

"Hey, old man!! Where is the nearest sky restaurant?"

The old man sweat-dropped before shaking his head in amusement.

"Isn't that the first thing he asked me when he came here too?..." The old man muttered to himself as he got off of the pegasus that turned into a giant pink bird with a red polka dot pattern on his body and horns on its head.

"I assume that you all are from the 'Blue Sea' from how much trouble you were having breathing. You all seem to be adapting well, though." The old man said in a surprised tone. It had only been a few minutes, and they had gone from being unable to breathe to looking like natives of the sky.

The crew members, trying to solve their problems and prevent new ones, needed clarification on the old man's words. Nami voiced them before Luffy could say anything else.

"Excuse me. You said 'Blue Sea', right?" Nami asked, making the man nod in confirmation.

"That's right, young lady. The 'Blue Sea' refers to the sea of water below the clouds. What you are on now is what is called the 'White Sea'." The old man explained before he introduced himself.

"I'm the 'Knight of the Sky', Gan Fall, and this is Pierre, a 'Sky Dot Bird' who ate the 'Uma Uma no mi', making him a bird-horse hybrid." Gan Fall introduced himself and his weird-looking pet.

While everyone had questions for the man, he ignored them and took out a whistle.

"I'd like to offer my protection for a price in case another one of those guys comes back." The man said as he looked at Luffy, who frowned briefly before smiling at the old man.

"We can handle ourselves, old man. We made it up the 'Knock-Up Stream' after all. We won't lose to some bandit, especially now that we can breathe." Luffy said, making Gan Fall look at him in surprise.

"You rode up that monstrous current?! You didn't lose any of your crew?" He asked in disbelief, making Luffy shake his head negatively. Gan Fall looked at everyone in astonishment.

"I can't believe there are still people who use the 'Knock-Up Stream' to get up here. You all are lucky to have survived," the man said in disbelief. He flinched when Nami suddenly appeared before him, grabbing his shoulders.

"You're telling me there are safer ways to get up here from the 'Blue Sea'?" She asked in a calm and even tone that nobody believed. When she saw the man respond with a shaky nod, she dropped onto her knees in despair.

*SOB* *SOB*

"God damn it, Luffy!! Why didn't we spend more time gathering information?!" Nami sobbed, making everyone sweat-drop except for the Captain, who was the source of the navigator's despair, who just laughed.

"Shishishishi!! Don't worry, Nami, it was more fun that way!! Even if we found another way up, it wouldn't be as cool as that so that we wouldn't do it!!" Luffy smiled, crossed his arms, and nodded to himself like he was proud of his decision, making his navigator's eye twitch before she sighed in resignation.

*SIGH*

"I'm not even going to bother. No matter what I say, I know it won't make a difference." Nami said in a dry tone. The sky knight took that time to speak up again.

"Well, if you keep sailing that way, you'll end up at 'Heaven's Gate', the entrance to 'Skypiea'. Remember that the entry fee is 1 billion extol per person." Gan Fall said, and there was a shout of pure and utter denial right after he said it.

"HELL NO!!!"

Every single one of the Straw Hats deadpanned at Nami, who regained her energy and shouted in outrage immediately when she heard the number. She scowled at everyone when she saw their looks.

"Don't look at me like that! He said a billion extols per person!! Wait, what's an extol?" she shouted before turning to the old man. The man sighed at the question he would've answered if she hadn't screamed.

"Ten thousand extols are worth the same as one berry you use in the 'Blue Sea'. Also, while you'll be fine without it, you should still take this if you need my help. The first one is free." The old man answered as he handed Luffy the whistle before he got back onto the sizeable pink bird with a red polka dot pattern on its body and horns on its head.

The weird part was when the bird suddenly turned back into a horse with wings that maintained the pink body with a red polka dot design but with white feathers. They all sweat-dropped at the odd sight.

*FLAP* *FLAP* *FLAP*

They all watched him fly away with confused looks on their faces. After they could no longer see them, Luffy was the one to voice everyone's thoughts.

"The sky is weird."