Battle Royal

"Did you know there's an awesome treasure hidden at the end of the sea? And anyone who finds it will be King of the Pirates! Is that exciting or what? There are incredible adventures out there just waiting for us!"

Sanji jumped into the air before coming to a sudden stop, hanging as if by magic. "What? I can't move!"

"Sanji!" Luffy yelled. "Gum-Gum..." He froze as well. "Crap!" The rest of the Straw Hats were in similar states, unable to move.

"You have fallen into my trap," Shura gloated, laughing at the pirates as they struggled to free themselves from his String Cloud. "Welcome to the Ordeal of String!"

PIIYAY!

Pierre's call was all the only warning Shura had before Gan Fall swooped in, his spear aimed at the priest's chest. Shura tried to move, but he wasn't fast enough and the old man's spear stabbed into the younger's left arm. At its master's cry of pain, Shura's bird pulled away and blasted a pillar of fire at the Sky Knight and his steed who flew out of range.

"Did you lose control of your Mantra?" Gan Fall poked. "I thought you said you were the strongest of Eneru's priests."

"Shut up, Old Man!" Shura ordered. "Let's go, Fuza!" The bird called an affirmative and burst forward. Pierre responded in kind and the two warriors battled in the air. Down on the ground, the pirates were more occupied with getting free.

"What is this stuff?" Chopper asked, trying to move his arms.

"Splatter," Grace mumbled. Her right leg could still move, so she used it to kick a bottle of her regular paint into the air where it opened to release its contents. Some of the blue paint caught onto what appeared to be strings while the rest of it only hit the ground.

"Strings?" Sanji questioned, trying to squirm out of the String Cloud that held him aloft. "These are stronger than any strings I've seen."

"I can't get to my swords," Zoro growled, his left hand only inches from the handle of Wado Ichimonji.

"Can you do anything, Robin?" Nami asked, her arms uncomfortably pinned into her sides.

"I'm afraid not," the raven-haired woman responded. "I cannot reach my usual focus."

"Let's see if this works," Coby grunted. "Dino Mode." His form shifted, the strings wrapping around his body becoming visible from where they tried to restrict his growth. The task, however, was too great for the String Clouds which snapped one by one. Shrinking back into his Hybrid Mode now that he was free, the boy pulled out his swords and cut through the air between his crewmates randomly. The wild slashes cut through the invisible string, freeing his friends. "What now?"

"The Sky Knight isn't doing too well," Robin observed, rubbing her arms to return blood flow into her hands. "If he falls into the lake, he and his bird will certainly be eaten by the skysharks."

Up in the air, Gan Fall and Shura were both worse-for-wear. The older was littered with small burns and part of his beard had been burned away. Shura, on the other hand, was covered in bruises and cuts, his left arm still freely bleeding from where Gan Fall's surprise attack had caught him.

"Give it up, Old Man!"

"I'm afraid these people are my clients. I can't just abandon them when they call."

"Then die!" Shura bent down to become more aerodynamic as Fuza shot forward toward their opponents.

"36 Caliber Phoenix!" The flying slash caught the priest completely off guard and cut deeply into his torso. The man lost his grip on his Heat Javelin as the force of the attack pushed him off his mount to plummet toward the skyshark-infested Sea Clouds below.

"Fuza!" Shura yelled. His pet could save him!

"Cien Fleur: Clutch!" The arms sprouted from the bird, wrapping around and squeezing. Fuza only had time to squawk in alarm before the arms tightened, restricting its wings and painfully cracking its back. The bird tried to breath fire in a last-ditch effort to save itself, but the flames did nothing but heat the air. The arms held as master and pet fell into the lake, the former silently apologizing to their God. The skysharks were ready when they splashed down and soon were in a frenzy. Shura and his pet bird Fuza did not come up.

"Sky Knight!" Chopper yelled happily, running over to their savior to treat his injuries. "Sky Knight, you came!"

"If only I had come sooner," Gan Fall sighed. "I'm sorry I was too slow to help you. Pagaya told me what happened."

"Then you should know that we're here to kick Eneru's ass and get Conis back," Luffy nodded. "And we aren't leaving until we do."

"So it would seem. In that case, I may have some information that would be beneficial for you to have."

"Go on," Robin prompted.

"Eneru has held the title of God for six years now. Before then, I held that title."

"So you're God?!" Usopp cried.

"Not anymore, but I do know much of this land called Upper Yard. And I know much more. Please, stick around a while so I can explain."

It was chaos in the forest clearing where one rotund priest had readied his Ordeal of Spheres. The surrounding forest was filled with the deadly surprises, explosions and the like sounding through the air as the Shandorians and the Royal Guard battled for supremacy. Already, the priest could tell that many, both ally and foe, had fallen to his traps.

"HaHAA!" Satori laughed, an explosion incinerating a Shandorian. Next to him, his younger twin brothers spun away from the projectiles fired from several of the attacking warriors. The twins looked like their older sibling, but shared the goat-like characteristics of the rest of Eneru's guard. How that was explained, I, as the author of this story, have absolutely no idea. "Is this not fun, Hotori? Kotori?"

"It is, Brother Satori!" one of the twins answered. "Flavor Dial!"

"Flame Dial!" the other twin added. The flames mixed with the gas and grew larger, burning the wings of some warriors who barely escaped the worst of it.

"Take this!" yelled Brahm, the Shandorian with the toboggan covering his upper face. He leveled his bazooka at the three and fired a large, iron ball. The attack came too quickly for any of the brothers to react, the ball catching one of the twins in the stomach and propelling him backwards into a tree. He slumped, unmoving.

"Hotori!" the two remaining brothers cried.

"You'll pay for that!" Satori added angrily. "Sphere Dragon!"

Satori's strongest attack made its appearance, chasing down the larger Shandorian, but Brahm stayed nimble with the liberal use of his dial shoes. The dragon chased him around, a foolish warrior attempting to attack the large weapon and losing his life to a venomous snake that came out of one of the spheres. Finally getting the Sphere dragon where he wanted it, Brahm fired a ball at the second-to-first ball which blew up, separating or destroying the remaining spheres.

"Let's go, Kotori!" Satori called. He received no answer, but his Manta, finicky from the anger of Hotori's defeat, felt something was off. He turned. "Kotori?"

"Impact!" one of the remaining guerillas shouted, the impact dial in his hand sending the force it had stored into the face of the twin. Blood and a single tooth fell from the mouth of the guard as his eyes rolled back and he crumpled next to his fallen brother.

"Sphere Dragon!" Satori roared. The attack made a reappearance, snapping up all but Brahm and devouring them, random spheres exploding as the warriors were pushed through the balls. "You're next!" Satori shouted, his control of his Mantra slipping as the rage for his fallen brothers grew. He threw the dragon at the final enemy who ducked out of the way. The dragon exploded against a 1000-year-old tree, causing it to topple.

Brahm yelled as he fired three iron balls, but Satori was running on rage and instinct by this point. Bringing up his right hand, the priest halted each of the projectiles with the impact dial within his right glove. He dashed forward. Brahm pulled the trigger again, but he hadn't been keeping count of how many iron balls he had. He was empty. Satori drew in close and pinned the man against a tree.

"Impact," the priest hissed, releasing some of the force stored in the shell. "Impact. Impact! IMPACT! IMPACT!" Satori pulled back, leaving his opponent trapped within the human-shaped crater in the tree, blood dripping from his lips.

"You bastard!" Wiper yelled, zipping onto the scene after hearing the explosions in the distance. Believing his friend to be dead, Wiper threw aside his bazooka and shield for a boost in speed, hitting Satori with the palm of his bandaged right hand. Satori knew no more after one word.

"Reject!"

Wiper panted before the unmoving form of Satori, the sound of his great breaths filling the now-still clearing. The ground was littered with the fallen bodies of several Shandorians who had given their lives fighting the priest. Satori's spheres still floated in the air, drifting along almost peacefully. It was here, panting and angry, that Laki found him.

"Wiper," she whispered, stepping into the clearing. She glanced at both Brahm and Satori "Is he...? Are they...?"

"I don't know." The warrior shook his head, refusing to shed tears before the battle ended. "The battle isn't over. And the battlefield is no place for children. You made sure Aisa was safe in the village, right?"

Laki nodded. "I tied her up myself and gave the villages strict orders. She won't be going anywhere."

"Good." Wiper looked around, his eyes finally landing on Brahm. "I'm sorry, my friend, but we all agreed. We'll come back after we've lit the fire of Shandora. Let's go, Laki."

"Right!"

"So this little shell has the power to kill someone?" Usopp wondered aloud, watching the immobile impact dial sitting on a barrel. He, Nami, Chopper, Sanji, Gin, and Grace were sailing away on the Merry, hoping that the power left in the breath dials Pagaya had installed was enough to get them out of Upper Yard's forest. Gan Fall had joined them because they had called him, so it was his job to protect them.

"Indeed," the former God nodded. "The impact dial is quite common in sky warfare, though it is not the only tool. That priest we fought earlier, Shura, used a Heat Javelin, a spear with a Heat dial inside that heats the weapons to the point where it can burn anything it touches."

"Amazing," Gin awed. "Maybe I could outfit my tonfa with some dials while we're here."

"And they could be very helpful for cooking," Sanji nodded, his mind going to back to watching Pagaya making them food the day prior.

"I wonder if there are paint dials," Grace muttered.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump

"What was that?" Usopp yelled frantically as Pierre squawked at being so rudely awoken from his nap.

"Prepaaaare yourselves, Blue Sea Dwellers!" a bleating voice ordered. "You will faaall to our ax dials!" On the lower deck of the Merry were five of Eneru's guards, each aiming one palm at the eight lifeforms on the bow of the ship. The guards were lean with gray/brown fur, dangly goat ears, straight horns, wings, and plain white clothing.

"What strange people," Grace observed. "Color Trap: Bullfight Red." She rushed in, painting two symbols, one on each fighter on the ends of the guards' formation.

"Do you think a little color is going to mess up our aaaaim?" one guard bleated. "Ax dial!" Unfortunately for him, the color did mess up his aim as the attack he began was redirected into his fellow royal guard. Red blood mixed with the pain as the ax dial cut into the other warrior and pushed him overboard. "Wh-what?"

"Nice one, Grace," Gin chuckled, pulling out his tonfa. "Want me to handle the rest?"

"Goat meat may not have as much protein as fish," Sanji muttered, lighting a cigarette, "but it is still nutritious if cooked right." The two dashed forward, blowing the remaining four royal guards off the Merry with only a few cuts to the deck and mast to show any sign of a fight. Gan Fall didn't even have time to get involved before it was over.

"That was quite a showing," Eneru commented, clapping from when he sat on the railing. "Most impressive."

"Who's this clown?" Gin questioned.

"Eneru," Nami squeaked as Usopp dove over the railing to hide on the lower deck.

"So you're the one that attacked Nami-Swan and Conis-Chan," Sanji bit out, his teeth almost splitting his cigarette in two. "I've got a bone to pick with you."

"Do you?" Eneru tilted his head. "I don't believe I know you."

"Mutton Shot!" Sanji yelled, lunging at the man who claimed to be God. Eneru reacted quickly, moving his head out of the kick's path and grabbing the chef's leg as he went by. The smell of ozone accompanied Sanji's scream of pain before the cook was carelessly thrown back to the deck as a charred and smoking form.

"Sanji!" the other pirates cried. Chopper dove to the deck, checking the blond's vitals.

"You bastard!" Gin insulted, rushing forward with his tonfa spinning. "Spinning Death!"

"Is this the best you can do?" Eneru yawned, his form blurring in and out of focus as the Man-Demon's weapons passed through his body. Each time, Gin grit his teeth harder as the electricity in the Logia's body was conducted through the pirate's iron weapons and into his own body. "I've been through something like this before only a few minutes' prior."

"Colors Trap: Sadness Blue!" Grace's paint splattered on the man, but there was no effect save for when the chemical mixture bubbled and evaporated. Eneru yawned as he grabbed Gin by the face and zapped him, blackening him like he had Sanji. He began reaching for Grace.

"Pepper Star!" Usopp cried, panicking. "Smoke Star! Lead Star! Firebird Star! Usopp Rubber Band of Doom!" Every attack went through the man, all but one.

"Ow!" Eneru exclaimed, more out of surprise than pain. The rubber band that had struck him on the forehead spiraled away into the Milky Road. "You'll pay for that, Long-Nose," Eneru growled, but before he could move toward the sniper, Gan Fall's spear stabbed through his body.

"I don't have the motivation to deal with you right now," God sighed, the excess electricity running through the former God's weapon. The Devil Fruit eater backhanded his predecessor away and grabbed Usopp by the nose, shocking him into unconsciousness for the second time in as many days.

From his hiding place behind Grace, Chopper cursed his own uselessness. He'd wanted to attack as well, but Eneru's powers were too much for even Sanji and Gin; what good could the little reindeer have done? Plus, as Grace had reminded him, their doctor was needed to treat the injured. It would do no good if he was one of said injured. Eneru only gave Nami, Grace, and Chopper half a glance before he zapped away, mumbling to himself about there only being one priest left.

Chopper set to work, getting Sanji, Gin, Usopp, and Gan Fall patched up. The three pirates would need more attention than the Sky Knight, but that didn't mean the doctor was going to let the older man chase down Eneru.

"What do we do now?" Nami questioned.

"Something affected him," Grace recalled. "He has a weakness."

"He's made of electricity, right?" Nami's query was directed at Gan Fall.

"If that is what you people call lightning, yes," the knight nodded.

"Rubber is an almost perfect insulator," the navigator thought aloud. "That means..."

"Luffy!" the three conscious pirates yelled at the same time.