"I don't know who did this to you, but you're damn lucky." The doctor said as he finished splinting the man's broken nose. A group of miscreants drug the man in unconscious with all but a shattered skull. He had a broken nose, two black eyes, a concussion, and a missing tooth. It was like he took a bat right to the nose. "Any lower and your jaw would need to be wired shut."

Bellamy didn't respond, it hurt to move his jaw since his entire head felt like an exposed nerve, which he may have had thanks to the new gap in his tooth. He didn't even remember what happened, something the doctor described as a very bad sign for his concussion. Thanks to his first mate informing him, he was able to fill in the gaps.

"What should we do, boss?" His first mate sounded uneasy, as to be expected. Watching their captain go down in a single hit was bad for morale. Something Bellamy was aware of and felt needed to be rectified if he was to keep up the Doflamingo name.

"Re. Taliation." His words were fragmented from the pain but the anger forced him through it. This was an insult that could not be forgiven.

"How…?" The question was well founded. How would they get revenge on someone who so easily defeated them?

"Crew…" The word was heavy with malice as he pushed out of the chair, grabbing the pills the doctor had in stock and barging out.

"Ahhhhh!" The frightful, pained scream was gone as quickly as it came. Blackbeard panted as he looked around for the source of his nightmare. "We? We're not dead? Ha!" His reaction was disproportional to the situation, framing him as a lunatic if anyone were around watching, which someone was.

Lafitte, the Navigator and Mime enthusiast, had sit out the fight in favor of trying to find them a vessel with which to sail away from this boring island. He had come to see what was taking them all so long and found them all unconscious on the ground. "What happened?" Was all he asked, stunned by his captain's reaction to merely surviving the encounter.

The sweat-coated captain responded with a big toothy smile and grim words. "We were spared from some sort of painful death. Lucky us! Now let's get them up and get moving."

The three men and one horse reluctantly rose from their forced slumber, grasping their pained heads. "What happened?" Was asked and answered.

"We just got taught a valuable lesson. Now we're getting the hell off this rock!" Blackbeard waddled off, grasping at his bruised neck.

"We're leaving Straw Hat alive?" Burgess asked, looking at his captain quizzically.

"I don't have a death wish. We underestimated him, and we're lucky he didn't kill us all. We steer clear of Straw Hat, so clear we never run into him again if we don't learn something about his power."

"Whatever he did it still hurts." Doc Q said, riding up next to Blackbeard. "Even Stronger felt it." The 'Death God' Q was trying to figure out what exactly was done to them all, as it selectively affected them and not the boy's crew and affected his horse as well.

"We'll learn what the hell that was. Damn Navy was actually right about something for once…" With that last comment the crew waddled off in search of greener pastures.

Meanwhile, far in the air. A God sat on their throne, enjoying the fruits of the holy land being fed to them by winged servants.

"God Enel. Your Ark is nearly complete. We've had to put down some dissenters, but it has only motivated the rest."

"Good. Let the mortals feel God in their hearts and drive them. Have you taken care of that troublesome old man?" Enel asked, twirling the holy staff idly and eating a grape.

"No… He is elusive and-" Before the priest could finish his explanation he felt the staff catch under his chin and bring his head up to stare into the eyes of his Lord.

"I did not ask you to try, Shura. You will kill the false god, or I shall make an example of you."

Shura began to sweat as he felt god's touch radiating from the staff under his jaw. It caused his mouth to clench violently, then burn. This only lasted a few seconds before it ceased, and he dropped face first into the dirt, foam dripping from his mouth. "I. Swear. My Lord. He will. Die." Shura said through intermittent aftershocks which made him clench back up.

The rest of the priests stood as statues, not daring to so much as look away for fear of incurring God's wrath.

"Of course, you will. I decreed it therefore it is. The word of God is absolute. But the will of man is… Ohm! Step forward and commune."

The bald, muscular man walked past the scrawny mustached one wordlessly, walking to the throne and dropping a knee, head down. "The Shandorians have begun conducting more raids than usual. Your prophecy of their attack seems to be coming into fruition as always." He reported, joy in his voice.

"Excellent. The game is soon to begin than. I expect you all to do well…"

Down on the regular islands, the crew of the Straw Hat Pirates met an interesting couple of people, even compared to Masira the ape man. Shoujou, his singing ape-man brother, and Mont Blanc Cricket, descendent of infamous fairy tale lead Mont Blanc Noland 'The Liar.'

After a painfully long multiple episodic story telling exposition dump from the old man, Chopper and Kaya had to bring him inside and offer him some aid. Despite his severe case of the Bends, he informed them of how they could reach these fabled sky islands. At least one possible way that is. A 'knock up' stream that would be happening later that day. They would only need to have their ship modified and to find a fabled South Bird to help them navigate to the location of the current.

Most of the crew set out in search of this bird. Luffy, of course, for both his skill in capturing living things and his enthusiasm. Robin, for her long distance devil fruit powers. Nami and her mother Bellemere, who was confident in her shot with a custom 'Net Gun' that Usopp wanted her to field test. Sanji, with the hope of impressing the girls and finding a local island delicacy they may be able to have. Zoro, with Tashigi acting as a sort of living compass to ensure he didn't get lost. And Alvida who wanted to 'Smash things' while she was gone. Valerie and Grace stayed in the ship, still terrified to do anything, Chopper and Kaya stayed to help Cricket, and Usopp and Gin stayed to aid in the modifications. Mainly so they could pick up some carpentry tips for their worn ship.

It wasn't too long before the bulk of the crew was gone into the forest that the Bellamy Pirates tracked down and stalked the remaining members, who were seen as a two for one combo for the sadistic pirates. "Cricket. Monkeys. Good." Bellamy spoke, then laughed in mad glee. His happiness sounded more like that of his namesake animal than it ever did before, screechy and hard on the ears.

"Come on you lay-a-bouts! Get to it! These kids are following their dreams!" Masira ordered his men, spurring them on in an attempt to get higher productivity.

"Kids? I've commanded more men than he ever has, and he calls me a kid?" Gin complained, hoisting some lumber up to an Alliance member.

"Uh… Didn't really need to know that Gin but I guess to him we are kids. He's gotta be what, in his forties?" Usopp replied, though not quietly enough to avoid being heard.

"Forties?! I'm Twenty-Three you punk!" Masira yelled, getting ready to fight the sniper over such an insult.

As shocked as Usopp was over the sudden realization that multiple people on their crew were older than this seemingly middle-aged primate, he was left staring at the large group approaching them of intimidating, angry looking people. Led by a man wearing bloody bandages over parts of his face.

"Fool. Dreams of Gold." The bandaged man's voice was raspy and sharp, piercing to anyone not at a good distance. "No place!" Rather than form full sentences he was letting out short, choppy bits that appeared far worse.

Having been attacked once already today the few Straw Hats out prepared themselves, though they were understandably annoyed. "Do you want to fight or what, Raggedy Man?" Gin mocked, hopping down with the ape brothers, who seemed to know the fight was coming.

"Fight?" The laughter that followed made even Shoujou cover his ears. It was scratchy and oddly pitched, torture to the ears. "No! NO!" The man squatted down and steam arose from his legs as they coiled up. Before anyone could react, the Man Demon was in the water, blasted from a punch no one could see. "This is no fight."

"Dammit!" The curse came with a sword slash and a loud crash. What fell to the ground was an enormous mantis easily the size of a man. "Old man forgot to tell us about the bugs," Zoro said, sheathing his sword as he started walking, the sun starting to set.

"Yes. That would have been good to know. I didn't expect insects to give us such a hard time." Tashigi said, wiping the insect parts from her own sword.

"I can't focus with all these damn things!" Luffy griped, unable to focus on what could possibly be a bird with so many insects all around. It would be easy if they were all normal-sized, but there was no such luck.

"We should have brought Chopper," Nami stated, grasping onto her mother for support. "He can talk to animals. He could have just asked the thing!"

"Based on what we've seen, I'm sure it wouldn't be so easy." Bellemere pointed out, keeping her guard up with the type of guerilla tactics being used by animals of all things.

"Yes. This South Bird is far more clever than we thought it would be. I doubt it will be friendly when we find it as well." Robin said as she used her power to stomp dozens of insects, having lost a good deal of preservationist will towards insects after her mosquito bite.

With yet another strange birdcall the group rushed on with the hope of getting this done before darkness fully encompassed the forest, rather than the twilight stranglehold it had on it now. It didn't take too much of this seemingly mocking call before the bird was subdued, netted, and brought back for their own temporary purpose.

But when the Straw Hats got back what they found was the aftermath of a battle. Plenty of Masira and Shoujou's men were collapsed on the ground, bloody and bruised. The two captains themselves were still conscious at least, the same of which couldn't be said for Luffy's own crew.

Usopp and Gin were slumped against the wall of Cricket's false mansion. They had been bandaged by Chopper and Kaya, who were thankfully uninjured. Cricket himself was aiding Masira and Shoujou, while Valerie was sitting with Grace on the partially damaged ship.

"What happened?!" Nami cried out, rushing to their injured crew to ensure they were okay, though she was confident they were with Chopper tending to them.

"Pirates. What else?" Valerie said, turning from Grace for a moment.

"That so? Why aren't you scratched than?" Alvida asked, gripping her mace for good measure. She was the quickest to resort to violence and an act of cowardice was something she'd be more than happy to punish them for.

"What should I have done? We were on the ship, I can't use my power on it without boring a hole through the thing! You all would have been even angrier then! And Grace doesn't have her paints, so we couldn't do anything." Valerie explained.

"Don't get mad at them. They couldn't have done anything anyway." Cricket said, walking up with the injured ape-ish brothers. "Bellamy is a menace. I need to thank those two when they regain consciousness…" Cricket looked to Usopp and Gin. "If it weren't for them, I doubt I would have gotten away with just being robbed…" With that Cricket turned to look at the Going Merry, and the damage done to it by the pirates. "It's nothing too serious at least. Probably not worth their time after the fighting. Why don't you guys…" When Cricket turned back around he found that Luffy wasn't even bothering to listen.

"Luffy! It was awful. They were fighting and. Usopp he yelled at us and. Luffy!" Chopper rushed to his captain with tears in his eyes, hugging his leg to get some comfort.

A few people gathered around Usopp, both to check on him and to hear from Kaya what had happened. Usopp had to guard the house on his own initially, barring himself against the door with Chopper inside ready to fight if necessary. Somehow, he held them off while Gin recovered from the sucker punch and swam back to assist. From there they were purely defensive while the Alliance fought the majority of the rest of the crew. Between them both they were able to keep the pirates from breaking in, something that was making Kaya sob over after explaining it.

Luffy knelt by Gin along with Alvida, who had built some level of decorum with him over their shared experience pirating in the past.

"Captain?" He asked, eyes blurry from sweat, the silhouette of his hat however made it clear it could be no one else. "Are they okay?" Was the next thing out of his mouth.

"Chopper, Kaya, and the Old Man. You did a hell of a job, holding off a crew on your own." Alvida informed and complimented Gin. Before her power that would be a feat, even she wouldn't have been able to accomplish. Considering he had apparently been sucker-punched and outmatched it was a testament to his strength that he was alive. Usopp must've been pure luck, and a bit of grit.

Wiping the sweat from his eyes Gin looked at the two of them, then around. First to Usopp, who was surrounded by a good deal of people but was still out of it. Then to the Going Merry, floating just off the coast. "I'm sorry…" Gin said, head slumping back against the wall.

"Sorry for what?" Luffy asked, furrowing his brow in confusion. He couldn't understand why he would apologize after saving some his friends.

"The ship… It's damaged." Gin could only see the failure he suffered in the scars left on the Going Merry, their ship. He protected the crew first and foremost, but he felt he should have fought harder.

Luffy took Gin's hand, taking some of the blood from it with his power. Then he stood up silently, turning and stepping away. So, Alvida took over, saying, "So? The monkey guys and the old man said they could fix that for us. You can't so easily patch up good crew members. They're rare, right Luffy? Luffy?" Alvida turned to get him to pitch in on the matter when she saw him taking off in a sprint.

"Hey?! Where are you going?!" Almost everyone who was able to yell called out in one form or another to the boy running off into the night.

No response. But when he was out of sight a loud, angry yell rang out that told the crew everything they needed to know.

"Is he going to fight Bellamy?" Cricket asked, bewildered by the idea. "Does he not know the risk?" The man asked with sincerity, unaware of the infamy behind Luffy or indeed any of the Straw Hats, only keeping up with pirates who stuck around the island or caused him trouble.

"No, he's not going to fight that idiot…" Nami said, squeezing the bridge of her nose.

"Slaughter is the more appropriate word." Robin added, watching where Luffy would be at his speed.

After a quick explanation of who exactly Luffy was to Cricket and the Monkey Pirate brothers, they got a grasp on the severity of the situation, as well as a sudden gut crushing moment when they realized how easily the entire altercation could have been hostile.

"Move." Bellamy ordered his crew onboard the boat at a hurried pace, knowing the danger of what he just did only in hindsight. He shot the hornet's nest over a sting and now was trying to avoid the swarm. The gold they had been able to steal was a nice bonus but would mean nothing if they couldn't get off the island.

Meanwhile, the Blackbeard pirates were scouting for a ship. Observing the docks, they decided that stealing a ship would be far handier than building some shoddy raft that would likely sink right away. These shmucks that spit on the dreams of pirates everywhere would make a good mark for there… was that Straw Hat?

"Bellamy! Bellamy!" The crew started screaming for their captain to notice the dread inspiring sight before them.

People were fleeing into buildings as a teenage boy walked down the street. The reason was he had a look that could kill and a bounty that said he would.

The crew raised anchor and started to set off. A few of the crew were forced to jump into the water and swim after the ship in hope of escaping their fate.

"Bye Bye Strawhat!" The first-mate of the crew taunted the boy as the sailed away, confident that by fleeing to the sea they would escape him.

Luffy squatted down and sent excess blood to his legs. He shot off like a rocket, soaring up into the air before crashing into the deck, cracking it with an impact crater stained red for just a moment before Luffy reabsorbed it. When he pushed back up several pirates dropped to the ground, a mixture of fear and power. No one dared to make a move towards him. The crew knew better than to attack a fruit user, especially one who so quickly defeated their captain. "You attacked my friends…" Luffy's voice was flat, lacking even anger. It cut through the crew as effectively as any blood blade.

Bellamy's eyes widened. He had no idea what his power was, but he figured going out to sea would save him. He mentally beat himself down for underestimating him once again. He was going to fail Doflamingo…

Luffy's cold rage was turned and directed towards the captain and his first mate, standing side by side and failing to remain calm. "I gave you a chance." With that Luffy prepared the blood he had taken from Gin, intent on making the payback as poetic as it would be vicious.

Sarquiss, Bellamy's first mate, did something that surprised everyone. He stepped in front of his captain, throwing his arms out in a defensive matter. "I won't let you hurt my captain." He said, voice cracking as he spoke. He was clearly on the verge of breaking down but had mustered the courage to try and save Bellamy.

Luffy was going to cut him down when he realized just who he was. Bellamy's first mate. He understood the significance of someone willing to die for their captain. While he was impressed, he wasn't in a forgiving mood. "Than you'll die in his place."

Sarquiss was paralyzed out of fear now. He didn't want to die, but he didn't want Bellamy to die either. Not only that, but they'd all be dead without him anyway. Sarquiss shut his eyes tight and took a deep breath.

Just as Bellamy began to appreciate the sacrifice his first mate was making, he slammed shut his eyes from the spray of blood. He was lucky in that response, as the sight was horrific. Those who weren't in the splash zone witnessed the boy tackling Sarquiss to the ground and ripping into his arm. Screams drowned out the other more grotesque sounds as Luffy severed his arm just below the shoulder. The only good thing was that he passed out quickly and didn't have to see what Bellamy had to upon opening his eyes.

Luffy, in his rage and bloodlust, did not stop at simply taking the arm. He began to tear off chunks with his teeth and swallow them down. Before he even realized what he was doing he had devoured most of his arm in front of a mass of people. By the time he did it was over, with Sarquiss lying on the deck with his eyes rolled back, turning pale from blood loss.

The crew watched as the first mate miraculously stopped bleeding, and the cannibal approached their captain. He said something to him quietly, then leapt back to shore in another destructive launch, leaving them all in a state of panic and fear. No one had the courage to ask what was said, and Bellamy couldn't tell. It was all they could do to get the few people with medical training to wake up and help Sarquiss.

When Luffy returned the damage done to the ship by the Bellamy pirates was already repaired. With the aid of a reindeer and his assistant people were back on their feet, save for Usopp and Gin, who were still in recovery. Despite the repairs and modifications, Luffy visited them within the ship.

"Luffy. You're back." Usopp was the one to greet him, as he was in better shape than Gin. Usopp moved to sit up as Luffy sat by him. "What happened? The guys said you stormed off…" Usopp didn't need to wait for the answer as he looked at his captain. "Oh… Should've guessed." With that Usopp looked over at Gin, who hadn't woken up after being given some painkillers. "I need to thank him."

Luffy looked between his two friends and finally worded his question, "Why? You two fought together right? He wouldn't want thanks for that."

Usopp laughed a little despite his pained ribs. "You say that like we fought as equals. Not even close. Gin kept them back while I pelted them with my stars… They weren't that effective…" Usopp looked over at his trusty slingshot and sighed, then slumped back down to a lying position. "He fought them off on his knees after they cut his legs, and I couldn't even handle one of them once they got close." The tears that started welling up in Usopp's eyes were so plentiful the wrappings couldn't soak them all up in time. "Kaya, Chopper, they'd be dead." With that thought his nose started to run immensely, causing him to wipe it futilely.

Luffy looked over at Gin once more to see if he was simply being still through this, but no. He was very much unconscious. "If you feel like you should thank him, okay, but he won't accept it. I bet he didn't even think about how much he was doing." Luffy stood up to better look at Usopp. "But you did help. You're a Sniping King, you're great with that slingshot. You probably just can't think of how many people you took out because of how overwhelming it was."

Usopp looked up at his captain with a wavering smile, unable to hold it from the sadness. "You think so?" He asked, desperate for some support.

"Absolutely. Just wait till Gin wakes up, you'll see." Luffy reassured him once more, taking his hand and holding it tight.

While Luffy was consoling Usopp about his usefulness, a few of his other crew were discussing how this event came to transpire in the first place. Namely the perpetrator.

"How bad do you think it was?" Tashigi asked, trying to gleam so more of everyone's personality. Having spent most of the time a prisoner, or tag along now that she looked back, she didn't try to get more than enough information to stay out of danger with them.

"Do you mean how Luffy handled those guys?" Bellemere asked, wanting to assure that's what she was meaning before delving into speculations like that.

Her nod was more than enough to start the talk amongst the crew. "He slaughtered them like pigs. Next question?" Alvida answered, still full of some animosity towards the marine woman for her recent entry into the crew and former status as an enemy.

"You know you shouldn't jump to conclusions like that." Robin countered, thanking Sanji for her drink as he began serving some to keep up their energy. "Luffy likely focused on the one responsible for the most egregious injuries."

"She makes a good point. I doubt he'd kill everyone unless they wanted to fight." Bellemere added to her observation with a blown kiss to the cook, causing a near heart attack and a stumble.

Nami stayed silent on the matter, focusing instead on the logistics of the upcoming plan. She could work easily through this civil discussion after so much time on the ship.

Tashigi watched everyone's responses, noting how all of them included a very bad end for the captain of that crew.

"I think you should just wait and ask him yourself." Zoro said, butting heads with Tashigi a bit over how she's going about it. Just trying to stir things up amongst them.

"Tashigi only asked what we thought, mosshead, not what it was. She was trying to get our opinions! Isn't that right Tashigi?! You want to know what's in the deepest corners of our hearts, and for me it's youuuuu!"

"Umm… Yeah." Tashigi responded, trying not to be rude to Sanji as he turned up his flirtation to eleven. "I just want to know how everyone thinks he handles situations like this."

"You mean unsolicited attacks on our crew?" Bellemere asked, trying to guide the young marine woman away from the hard and fast rules of the navy. "Luffy is serious when it comes to stuff like this. Honestly? It's probably somewhere between me and Alvida. If they blitzed him and left him all battered, I doubt he'd kill anyone. But his crew?"

"I didn't kill anyone." Luffy answered the question he wasn't asked with the blunt honesty of someone who'd been asked multiple times.

"Excuse me you. You what?" Alvida asked, her tone dripping with disgust over what she considered a display of weakness.

"I didn't kill any of them," Luffy said simply, then took a deep breath when he saw that it wouldn't end there if he didn't elaborate further like he didn't want to. "I was going to. I would have. But his first mate offered himself in his place. So… I took his arm and left."

Everyone seemed to accept that answer, save for Alvida. "That's it?! They disrespect you, attack your crew and all you do is take an arm?!" Alvida crossed her arms as she carefully sat down.

"He put his life on the line for his captain, I couldn't ignore that. If he doesn't bleed to death he'll still be down and arm." Luffy reasoned, trying to make her see it his way.

"Till they reattach it and leave here with nothing but a nasty scar for ambushing us! Then what will people think of us?"

"Well they won't be able to do that, there's no arm left to reattach." Luffy said, seeing that it was clearly the savage side that would appease her.

"Well that's at least a step in the right direction. Did you toss it in the ocean or something?"

"Yeah something like that…" Luffy said, not feeling the need to into the gritty details of the business.

To Luffy's relief they were prevented from further questioning him. "We got the modifications done!" One of the brothers called, hopping down to inform them face to face. "Your ship is in rough shape though. It should hold up well enough getting up there, but you'll definitely want to see a proper shipwright when you come back down."

"Will do. Thanks old monkey guy." Luffy said, a big grin on his face.

"I'm not a monkey or old!"

"Ok Old Monkey." Luffy laughed off his frustration as he walked past him.

Before he could leap up to the ship however he was stopped by the true old man. Cricket was back on two feet with a bottle of booze in his hand. He'd be smoking too but the reindeer was meaner than he looked and wouldn't stop about the dangers of smoking, so he'd need to hold off at least till they left. "I heard Shoujou from inside. I wanted to thank your crew for what they did. I already thanked the young lady and the dog-reindeer boy. Could you give them this as a gift?" He asked, producing the gold statue he'd shown them as a reference for the bird.

"I thought that's what you've been diving your entire life to find old guy." Luffy said, hesitant to take something he had so clearly cared about. Even Nami had a look of concern over the idea of taking it from him given its significance.

"This thing? Heh. It proved to me that the sunken city exists. It won't be enough to prove it to anyone else, so I'll need more. Without your friends though, I'd never be able to keep looking." Cricket tried to wipe a little more shine onto the already shiny solid gold statue. "No. I want your friends to have it. You could probably sell it, but I want them to know how grateful I am they stuck their necks out to keep an old lunatic's dream alive."

Luffy looked at the statue once more and held out his hands. "I'll give it to them old guy. And don't worry, there's no way they'll sell it!" Luffy said, confidence in his voice as he took the memento to his friends' determination.

Masira and Shojou seemed to support that idea, as they both joined in with the celebration. The Straw Hats all boarded the ship, examining the modifications they made to it in such a short amount of time.

"Are these really going to make it fly? I mean it looks like a flightless bird." Zoro said, not a fan of the fact that it was a chicken themed ship when there were so many birds capable of flight.

"We put our hearts and souls in that thing! You'll be flying up that stream in no time!" One of the brothers responded with a hit to his chest. "But only if you stop gawking. We only have a few hours left to make it."

With the time crunch known everyone stopped their lollygagging and hoisted anchor. Sailing off with a heartfelt goodbye and best wishes to Cricket.

Usopp and Gin were being watched after by Chopper and Kaya, as they were assured that this would get rough and lying in bed was not a feasible option without some preparations. They would need to be secured to the beds and watched threw the storm and especially during the ascent.

That ascent came shortly after setting sail. The Saruyama Alliance guided them to the whirlpool, then effectively threw them into it. With Nami's navigation skill and the seafaring experience of Bellemere and Alvida they were in better shape than most to undertake this experience. Though it certainly didn't make it any easier on the crew.

"We're flying! This is so cool!" Luffy yelled, using his power to secure himself and better enjoy the feeling of flying. He also needed to catch anyone who might fall backward, which Alvida almost did thanks to her power.

After so long having their fun however they hit a surprise. A second sea that ravished their ship and the crew alike. When they finally surfaced the wings were torn from the hull and the sail had large rips.

"Is. Is everyone okay?" Nami asked, cough up some of the water that she took in during the ride.

After everyone affirmed as much they pushed to their feet and observed their surroundings. "Is this… are we…"

"A cloud sea!" Luffy yelled, amazed at the surroundings. "This is so cool! We're floating on clouds! Do you think I can swim it?" Luffy asked, eager to try it.

"Don't you dare!" Bellemere, Nami, and even Alvida yelled angrily at their captain. Trying to discourage him from doing anything stupid and reckless. Any more so than coming up here in the first place.

"Based on how we all felt coming through it, I would be willing to wager that these clouds have a similar effect to the sea. Add on to that the fact that there would be no bottom like our own ocean and you would likely plummet back down to Earth." Robin said, opting to inform him of why it would be a bad idea rather than simply yelling no.

"I guess… This is still so cool though!" Luffy cheered, regaining his excitement as he looked at the white clouds all around them.

Chopper and Kaya stumbled from the room they were keeping Usopp and Gin, both stumbling and look sick themselves. "Are we there?" Chopper asked before plopping on the floor.

"So dizzy… my head…" Kaya groaned, grabbing the railing for support. They had both been inside during that fly up moment and pressed into the wall pretty hard only to then be forced back down when they leveled.

"Come take a look!" Luffy yelled, dragging Chopper up to take a look at the clouds they were in while Sanji and Robin tended to Kaya with a far more gentle touch.

"Oh wow. So white. So spinny…" Chopper groaned, still a bit sick from the shaking.

"Put him down Luffy, can't you see he's sick? Now come on, everybody look for some sign of an actual island up here." Nami said, trying to get some order going on the ship again.

"I see clouds, some huge weird looking fish thing, a ship…" Alvida said, examining their surroundings through a spyglass.

"Wait fish? Up here? How's that… Wait did you say another ship?!" Nami was relieved to hear that there were more people up here in this endless white sea.

"Yupp. It looks like some pirates too. Pretty big ship though. We could be in for a…" Alvida fell silent and put down the spyglass. "We're about to be attacked."

"What?!" "So they spotted us huh?" "How long do we have?" "Did the fish look tasty?"

"The pirates are sunk. We're being attacked by a lone fighter. Thirty seconds at most. Get ready." Alvida relayed only vital information as she readied her weapon.

The lone man surfed across the sea at a pace far faster than manageable by any ship and closed the distance within twenty seconds, which made Alvida upset at her miscalculation. Once he was within eyeshot they tried starting a dialogue. "Hey! What do you want?!" Sanji yelled, defensive over the women both topside and inside the ship.

"Your death!" The man responded, changing to a circling pattern once he got close and saw their overwhelming numbers.

"It's always death." Zoro sighed as he drew his swords, now assured they'd be fighting.

The masked man leaped up from the side, catching them off guard with his sudden shift to close-range combat. The bazooka he was carrying made that seem like an unlikely option. But sure enough Sanji then Zoro took swift kicks to sides of the head, sending them careening into the bannister and wall respectively.

"Dammit, he's faster than us," Alvida said, swinging her mace in a circle preemptively.

"Only when he's skating," Luffy said, clenching his fists and preparing to strike him out of the air if he went for him.

Unfortunately for his fighting spirit, Robin was there. With a simple cross of her arms, the man had hands pawing for his throat, sending him careening into the sky water.

"Wow! That was so cool!" Luffy praised Robin for her quick work dispatching the enemy. Though someone wasn't as quick to praise.

"Yeah well, you should've done that from the start than. If you did we wouldn't ha-" Alvida's complaint was cut short by a hard kick to the back of her head that actually managed to connect and send her face-first into the floor.

"What the hell?!" Luffy shouted, shifting back into a fighting stance, this time with a far more serious tone about it.

The masked man landed and pointed his weapon at the center of the ship's deck, eyes narrowed behind his tribal mask and filled with killing intent. "Sink." He said before his bazooka began emitting a bright blue light.

"Cease at once!" Came a voice from the sky. A knight in armor charged with his lance ready to strike away the villain attacking these lost blue-sea folks. However, his graceful entrance was ruined by the sudden, violent motion of the berserker's weapon towards the sky. Sending a blinding beam up and away from the ship.

Luffy's fingers held their straight-up position as the bazooka finished firing its odd foreign shot even higher into the sky. When it finally finished he hopped up to where the man was locked in place, still under Luffy's power. "What the hell did you attack us for?!" Luffy screamed, confused and angry.

"You're. A blue sea dweller! An enemy to my people!" The masked man struggled despite the position he was in, unsure of what was happening.

"We don't even know who you are!" Nami and Bellemere countered, angry to already be lumped in as enemies mere minutes after arriving.

"That doesn't matter. All non-shandorians are enemies! We will fight you and God!" He jerked his arms with all his might, causing some bleeding as he willed himself to take the pain of fighting his own blood.

Luffy was amazed at the resolve the man showed, but he was no less angry. "Well if you're our enemy than that means we're done talking."

"Wyper!" The night swooped down on his steed, giving a name to the masked man. "Cease your wanton violence!"

"Goddammit now, what…" Zoro asked, regaining composure after what felt like a concussion.

The man landed his winged horse on the deck and dismounted, keeping his hand off his lance as a show of peace. "I am Gan Fall the Sky Knight. Blue sea people. I ask you, stay your hands on this man. He is hot-blooded but not deserving of death."

"Wow. Cool armor old man, but this guy attacked my friends." Luffy said, turning his attention back to the attacker.

"Yes, I'm very much aware of his deeds. But his death would have a severe impact on his people. Many innocent lives rely on him." Gan Fall said, trying to appeal to the boy's empathy.

Luffy looked back to the knight for a moment, seeing the sincerity on his face before letting the man go.

To Gan Fall's surprise, he seemed to take mercy and fled. "Thank you, Blue Sea Dwellers. I have been working to establish peace with his people for quite some time. I would hate for that all to go to waste over his overzealous protection of them."

"Who are his people exactly, and why are you at war?" Robin asked, interested in learning about the history of this strange land.

"The Shandorians. They are at perpetual war with Skypiea for the holy land that they originate from. I'm afraid I do not have time to go into the details, as I have a job to do, but do take this." With that, the man tossed a whistle to the crew which Luffy caught and examined. "Blow that, and I shall come. The whistle and the first call are free, as a sign of my gratitude in sparing his life. Good luck with your adventure, blue sea dwellers! Pierre! To the sky!"

"Bye old knight guy!" Luffy yelled, waving him off with the whistle still in his hand. "He was a weirdo, huh?" He asked his friends before the whistle was snatched from his hands by Nami.

"He sure was. I'm not sure we'll need him, but I think we should put this whistle someplace safe." Nami said, stuffing it in her pocket. "I'm going to check on Gin and Usopp then we'll try and figure out where we need to be going because the log pose is still pointing up…"

AwronZizao- While I doubt anyone who's reading up to this point has this opinion, it's worth saying this is some toxic stuff. I don't want to solely rant on this since they made it very clear that they wouldn't read on but it's worth addressing. Nami can hit Luffy because of comedy logic. He drops his guard, she hits him, and it hurts. Should it? No. Is it funny? Sometimes. Should Luffy "put her in her place." Safe to say that's insanity. Don't be this guy.

This seems to be worth elaborating further. Nami doesn't get a pass because she's a woman. Luffy has and will fight a woman. Hit, stab, kill, it doesn't matter because why should it? What he isn't going to do is unnecessarily hit his friend/girlfriend. Why? She's not really hurting him. Nami is not physically strong like Alvida, so the hits aren't doing anything. This isn't infantalizing women because there are many who Can hurt Luffy, but Nami can't by just hitting him. Could she hurt Usopp, Chopper, Kaya, etc? Yes. Luffy, Zoro, Alvida, and Gin however are shown to be monstrously powerful to the point of shrugging off attacks meant to kill. If she hurts them it's because of comedy. I did not think this was necessary to elaborate on. Neoacoya1 has some pretty good points. The female violence thing is a trope, but I'm merely carrying it over because Nami being able to scare down Luffy is a part of her character. However the hierarchy claim is ludicrous. Luffy is the captain and makes the decisions, but his crew are his friends and friends get more leeway than just people you're in charge of. Would they still be his friends if every time they said he was doing something stupid he berated them or struck them? No. He's a friend and a captain, and that makes their relationship unique.

That's really all there is this time, which is disheartening considering it was only responding to such hostile stuff. Life has been getting in the way of my writing but I'm certainly going to keep trying.