The atmosphere in the Upper Yard was heavy with the scent of ozone. Enel, the self-proclaimed God of Skypiea, hovered in the air, his body glowing with a blinding blue-white intensity. His ego had been bruised, his authority questioned, and his patience exhausted.
"You insolent Blue Sea monkeys," Enel's voice boomed, vibrating through the trees. "You question my divinity? You mock my power? Then witness true despair. I will turn you all to ash and scatter your atoms across the White Sea."
He raised his hands. The drums on his back began to spin. The sky above turned black as storm clouds gathered instantly, obeying his will.
"MAXIMUM OUTPUT: 200 MILLION VOLTS... VARI!"
He didn't hold back. He unleashed a current strong enough to power a city, condensed into a single, devastating beam aimed directly at Luffy.
"DIE!"
CRAAAACK-BOOOOOOM!
The world turned white. The sound was so loud it wasn't heard, it was felt—a pressure wave that rattled the teeth of everyone present. The crew covered their eyes, shielding themselves from the blinding luminance. The heat was intense, instantly vaporizing the moisture in the air.
The beam engulfed Luffy completely. The ground beneath him melted into glass. The trees behind him burst into flames.
Enel floated there, panting slightly, a cruel smirk on his face. "Dust. He is nothing but d—"
The light faded. The smoke cleared.
And there, standing in the middle of a crater of molten glass, was Luffy.
He wasn't dead. He wasn't ash. He wasn't even singed. He was blinking, looking down at his clothes.
"Huh," Luffy said, brushing some dust off his shoulder. "That was bright."
Luffy looked up, tilting his head. "Is that it? Are you joking? I thought you said you were gonna kill me."
Enel's composure shattered. His eyes bulged out of his skull, the stalks extending a full six inches. His jaw unhinged and dropped to his chest. His nose ran. His tongue lolled out.
It was a face of pure, unfiltered, biological confusion.
CLICK.
A flashbulb went off.
"Nice," Ben muttered. "Hold that pose."
SNAP.
Ben vanished. He reappeared instantly on Enel's right side.
"One more for the album. Say 'Fraud'!"
SNAP.
Ben vanished again, appearing below Enel, pointing the camera up.
"Chin down a bit. Perfect. That's the face of a man whose worldview just collapsed."
SNAP. SNAP. SNAP.
Ben teleported back to the deck of the Merry, shaking the instant photos to dry them. "I'm framing these."
"W-W-WHAT ARE YOU?!" Enel shrieked, finally finding his voice. He pointed a trembling finger at Luffy. "Why aren't you dead?! That was 200 Million Volts! You should be plasma!"
"I don't know," Luffy picked his nose. "I'm made of rubber."
"Rubber?" Enel blinked. "What is... rubber?"
"It's an insulator!" Vivi shouted from the deck, her voice filled with relief. "In the Blue Sea, rubber is a material that doesn't conduct electricity! You can throw a billion volts at him, and it won't matter! He is your natural enemy!"
"Natural... enemy?" Enel whispered. The words tasted like bile.
"Yeah!" Luffy grinned, cracking his knuckles. "So your zappy-zappy tricks won't work! Hit me with your best shot, or I'm gonna kick your butt!"
Enel's shock turned into fury. "Don't get cocky! Even if lightning fails, I am still a God! I can read your movements! I have Mantra! I have a weapon of gold!"
Enel reached behind him and grabbed his golden staff. He heated it with electricity until it was searing hot, then reshaped it into a trident.
"If I can't burn you, I'll stab you! I'll slice you! I'll melt you with heat!"
Enel lunged. He moved at the speed of lightning, thrusting the trident at Luffy's chest.
"Too slow," Luffy said.
Luffy didn't even move his feet. He just leaned his upper body to the left. The trident passed harmlessly by his ear.
"Mantra?" Luffy laughed. "I have that too! And yours is noisy!"
Enel stabbed again. And again. A flurry of golden strikes. Luffy weaved through them like a leaf in the wind, his expression bored.
"Is that all?" Luffy taunted.
Ben, watching from the ship, checked his pocket watch.
"Luffy," Ben called out, his voice cutting through the fight. "Stop playing. We have a schedule. We have an entire island to explore."
Luffy paused. He looked at Ben, then back at Enel.
"Okay!" Luffy nodded. "Ben says playtime is over."
Luffy widened his stance. He placed a hand on his knee. His legs began to pump like pistons.
"Gear Second."
Steam erupted from Luffy's skin. His skin turned a shade of pink. The air pressure around him shifted.
Enel's eyes widened. His Mantra screamed a warning—DANGER.
"What is th—"
BOOM.
Luffy vanished.
He didn't move fast; he moved instantly. He appeared directly in front of Enel.
"So fast!" Enel gasped. He tried to turn into lightning to escape.
"Too late," Luffy growled. His arm turned pitch black—the hardening of Armament Haki. "You can't run."
"Gomu Gomu no... JET GATLING!"
It wasn't a punch. It was a wall of punches.
BAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAM!
Fists moving faster than sound slammed into Enel's chest, his face, his stomach. Because of the Haki, Enel couldn't turn into electricity to disperse the damage. He took every single hit physically.
"GAH! OOF! GYAH!" Enel spat blood, his ribs cracking. He was juggled in the air, helpless.
"And for the finish!" Luffy shouted.
He stopped the Gatling. He bit into his thumb. He blew air into his bones.
"Gear Third."
Luffy's arm expanded. It grew larger. And larger. Until it was the size of a giant's limb—no, bigger. It cast a shadow over the entire inlet.
Enel looked up. He saw a fist the size of a house descending upon him.
"Wait..." Enel whimpered, holding up a hand. "Let's talk about th—"
"GOMU GOMU NO... GIGANT ELEPHANT PISTOL!"
CRUUUUUUUUUNCH.
The giant black fist slammed into Enel. It drove him down from the sky, smashing him into the Vearth. But it didn't stop there. It drove him through the Vearth.
The entire island shook. The Milky Road rippled.
Luffy retracted his arm, shrinking back to normal size as he exhaled the excess air.
In the crater, Enel lay spread-eagled. His eyes were white. His golden staff was bent. His drums were shattered. The "God" was out cold.
Silence reigned over the Upper Yard.
"That..." Usopp whispered, lowering his slingshot. "...was brutal."
"He didn't even have a chance," Sanji lit a cigarette, shaking his head. "Some God he was."
"It's kind of pitiful," Nami said, looking at the unconscious form of Enel. "The people of Skypiea lived in fear of him? He was just a bully with a strong fruit."
"A frog in a well," Zoro grunted, sheathing his swords. "He never knew how big the world was."
Ben jumped down from the ship. He walked over to the crater. He grabbed Enel by his long earlobes and dragged him out.
"He's a valuable resource," Ben said, pulling a pair of handcuffs from his belt. These weren't ordinary cuffs; they were made of Seastone. He slapped them onto Enel's wrists.
"Seastone?" Robin asked.
"Always come prepared," Ben nodded. "With these, he's just a regular human. I'm going to lock him in the brig."
Ben threw Enel over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and walked back to the ship. He tossed the fallen God into the reinforced cell in the brig, locking the door with a complex code.
"I have plans for him," Ben muttered to himself.
He walked back out to the deck. The crew was waiting.
"Alright," Ben clapped his hands. "The boss is down. But the level isn't cleared yet. We have exploring to do."
"But Ben," Chopper raised a hoof. "We can't just leave the Merry here. What if the priests come? Or wild animals?"
"True," Ben smiled. "Leaving the ship unguarded in hostile territory is a rookie mistake."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sleek, metallic suitcase. He placed it on the ground.
Ben turned to the Going Merry. He raised his hand.
"Command Magic T: Minimize."
A magical circle appeared under the ship. The Going Merry glowed with a soft light. Then, in a blink, the entire caravel—masts, hull, figurehead and all—shrank rapidly.
It shrank until it was the size of a toy boat, small enough to fit in a palm.
Ben picked up the tiny Merry and placed it gently inside the suitcase, which had a special cushioned slot for it.
He closed the suitcase and secured it to his back.
"Now we are mobile. No anchors."
---
Ben gathered everyone in the clearing. He projected a holographic map from his Kimoyo Beads into the air. It showed a rough outline of Upper Yard, but most of it was shrouded in "fog of war."
"We are going to map this island," Ben announced. "To do this efficiently, we split up."
He pointed to the crew members, sorting them into groups.
Group 1:
Members: Luffy, Sanji, Usopp, Robin.
Group 2:
Members: Zoro, Dory, Vivi, Carue.
Group 3:
Members: Nami, Brogy, Masira, Shoujou.
Group 4:
Members: Ben, Chopper, Cricket, Mini-Merry.
"Listen up," Ben said to Robin, Vivi, and Nami.
"The mapping responsibility falls to you three," Ben said bluntly.
"Why us?" Nami asked.
Ben pointed at Luffy, who was trying to eat a rock.
He pointed at Zoro, who was already looking in the wrong direction.
He pointed at the Giants, who were arguing about the size of a bug.
"Because," Ben sighed. "If I let the guys map, Luffy will draw meat, Zoro will draw a straight line that goes off the map, and Usopp will draw lies. You three are the only adults here."
Vivi, Nami, and Robin exchanged glances. They looked at the men in their respective groups.
"Understood," Robin smiled.
"I'll charge a fee for this," Nami grumbled.
"I'll do my best!" Vivi nodded.
"One last warning," Ben's expression hardened. "Enel is down, but his Priests are still out there. They likely don't know Enel has fallen yet. They will attack on sight. Stay alert."
"Aye aye!" The crew shouted.
The groups prepared to head out in four cardinal directions.
Group 1 headed South
Group 3 headed East.
Group 4 headed North.
Group 2—Zoro's group—was heading West.
Sanji, before leaving with Luffy, walked over to Vivi. He took her hands in his.
"Vivi-chan," Sanji said with grave seriousness. "You have the most difficult task of all."
"The Priests?" Vivi asked, worried.
"No," Sanji pointed at the green-haired swordsman. "Him."
Sanji looked at his watch. "Look at Zoro every 30 seconds. Do not blink. Do not look away. If you take your eyes off him for 31 seconds, he will vanish. He will end up in a different dimension. He will somehow get lost in a straight hallway."
"Oi, curly-brows!" Zoro barked, his hand on his sword. "I heard that! I don't get lost! The world just moves around me!"
"Yeah, Vivi!" Usopp chimed in from Group 1, snickering. "You better put a leash on him! Or maybe tie a bell around his neck like a cat! Jingle jingle, here comes the lost Marimo!"
"I'll cut you, Long-Nose!" Zoro yelled.
"See?" Sanji sighed. "He's already confused. He thinks West is Up. Good luck, Vivi-chan."
"I... I'll try my best," Vivi said nervously, grabbing the back of Zoro's coat just in case.
"Let's go, Dory!" Zoro huffed, marching forward. "The ruins are this way!"
"Mr. Bushido," Vivi pulled him back. "That's the direction we just came."
"I knew that," Zoro grunted, turning 90 degrees. "I was testing you."
"Ben," Chopper tugged on Ben's pant leg as they watched the groups disperse. "Will they be okay?"
Ben watched Zoro walk confidently toward a cliff edge before Vivi steered him away.
"They can fight," Ben said, adjusting his glasses. "Survival isn't the issue. Navigation is the real enemy today."
Ben turned to Cricket. The old man was staring at the soil of Upper Yard, tears in his eyes.
"Ready, Cricket?" Ben asked softly. "Let's go find the City of Gold. Let's go clear Noland's name."
Mont Blanc Cricket took a deep breath of the damp, earthy air. He lit a cigarette to hide his trembling lips.
"Yeah," Cricket whispered. "Let's go, Boss."
With that, the four teams vanished into the dense, ancient jungle of the Upper Yard. The hunt for history was on.
Deep in the forest, far away from the landing site.
Ohm, the Priest of Iron, sat on a giant rock with his dog, Holy. His dark sunglasses reflected the canopy above.
His Eisen Dial chimed.
"Gedatsu here," the voice came through. "I felt a massive disturbance. The God's lightning... it fired. But then... it vanished. And now, I cannot hear the God's voice."
"The Mantra is silent from the Shrine," Ohm said, frowning. "Perhaps he is sleeping?"
"Or perhaps," Shura's voice joined the channel, "The intruders are more dangerous than we thought."
"It does not matter," Ohm stood up, drawing his Iron Cloud sword. "They have entered the ordeal. The Survival Game has begun. If they cross our paths, they die. God or no God, we are the law of this forest."
"Agreed," Satori giggled over the line. "I have my balls ready! Surprise, surprise!"
The Priests began to move. They didn't know their God was currently handcuffed in a suitcase. They didn't know they were walking into a meat grinder led by a rubber man, a demon swordsman, and a mage with a plan.
But they would find out soon enough. The true war for Skypiea had just begun.