Nami stood at the edge of the cage, her fingers gripping her newly upgraded Perfect Clima-Tact as she manipulated the clouds above. The storm was forming steadily, thick, heavy masses of dark vapor rolling over the battlefield, slowly obscuring the view from above. But that didn't bother the two self-proclaimed gods—they had their Haki or mantra, which for Nami, felt like an annoying ability that let them sense the fight regardless of their obscured vision.
Still, Nami needed time. Time to work on her plan as the storm wouldn't form at a snap of her fingers and the plan wouldn't work unless everything lined up perfectly.
Turning to Gan Fall, Nami's voice was firm as she let the old man into her plan. "Please tell Usopp to turn back towards the Surprise balls and make their way through them without setting a single one off." She knew that it was near impossible for that to happen but they had to try. She believed in the white beret and Usopp, with Luffy watching over them even what seems to be impossible, is made possible.
"Are you sure about that?" Gan Fall questioned, his eyes flickering with hesitation.
"Yes, I trust him to do it." Nami stated with a steady and sharp nod.
The former kami of Skypiea glanced back at the battlefield below, where the long-nosed teen had so far displayed more cowardice than courage. He had been doing nothing but running away from the fight—to survive—yet the trust the navigator was showing upon him was entirely something else. Hence, it took only a few seconds for his hesitation to disappear as he ultimately chose to trust Nami's judgment.
Spreading Pierre's wings, Gan Fall took to the air, disappearing into the swirling mass of clouds while Nami exhaled slowly and adjusted her grip on her weapon. The storm was still forming and she needed more time.
Meanwhile, down below, chaos was reigning.
Jozair's jet ski zipped across the small paths of white clouds that he had made earlier with his milky arrows, cutting through the air with rapid speed, while Usopp barely fit on the back, clutched onto whatever he could as the machine swerved wildly to avoid incoming attacks from the triplets. The jet ski knight seemingly looked like he was in trouble, as he gritted his teeth and his focus was split between steering and avoiding the relentless trio of Satori, Hotori and Kotori.
Usopp, for his part, was doing everything he could to fend off the pursuing enemies. He fired lead stars from his slingshot, but the triplets were dodging them effortlessly, with their movements eerily coordinated as they twirled and spun like dancers, using their mantra to predict his shots.
"They keep dodging!" Usopp was on the verge of panicking, fumbling through his pouch to find ammo. His fingers brushed against his next batch of lead balls, but when he reached in to grab them—nothing. There was nothing. Usopp's heart plummeted as his panic reached the pinnacle. "Oh, come on! Where are they?!"
The triplets sensing the discord, took their chance. Their synchronised dance continued, each movement fluid as they alternated between offensive strikes.
"Flame Dial!" Hotori spun mid-air as he activated the dial, leading to a burst of fire shooting toward Usopp.
Usopp yelped, his survival instincts kicking in, and grabbed the first weapon—a dail—his fingers landed on and activated it in a blind panic.
It was a breath dial.
A rush of air blasted out immediately, diverting the flames away from the jet ski and at the same time, the force of the wind pushed the jet ski forward, giving them an unexpected speed boost.
"WAAHHH—!" Usopp screamed as the sudden acceleration nearly threw him out of the vehicle and disrupted Jozair's balance but the latter was quick to adjust and save Usopp from plummeting down to his death.
"That actually worked..?" Usopp blinked in surprise, feeling slightly more confident than before.
"It would be great if you give me a heads up next time, Usopp." Jozair commented, though he was really thankful for the distance between them and the three priests.
But the triplets weren't done yet.
"Kotori, go." Hotori ordered with a scowl but didn't let up.
Kotori grinned manically and activated his Flavor Dial, resulting in a thick, revolting cloud of stored farts blasting toward the duo.
Usopp gagged and frantically grabbed another dial from his pouch. This time, he activated a ball dial, which caused several large white cloud spheres—identical to the surprise balls—to appear in front of them.
The fart cloud collided with one of the newly created balls, causing it to absorb the gas.
Usopp's eyes widened in realization at the impromptu savior. "That's perfect!" With a smirk, he used the breath dial once again to send the fart-filled surprise ball hurling back to their owners.
The triplets sensed the danger and dodged swiftly, except for Satori, who was still slightly disoriented from his previous beatdown and was getting tired and slow. The ball hit the priest square in the face, making him regret everything.
A horrible retching noise followed.
"Urgh—! KOFF KOFF!" Satori collapsed onto the ground, coughing and dry heaving violently. This led his two brothers to immediately abandon their chase to check on him. They are triplets after all.
Up above, Gan Fall finally took this opening to dive toward the jet ski. "Usopp! Joziar!" He called out.
Jozair turned his head briefly towards the old man. "You got something for us?"
Gan Fall nodded. "Nami has a plan. You need to head back through the surprise ball and cloud-paved area. Without setting them off."
Usopp swallowed hard and instinctively pressed himself flatter against the jew ski as Jozair, who didn't even question the absurd plan, jerked the jet ski's handle, sharply turning them back towards the chaotic battlefield littered with floating surprise balls and erratic cloud pathways.
.
The worn stone beneath Robin's fingertips were ancient and crumbling at the edges but still whispering stories of a time long forgotten.
She exhaled slowly, forcing herself to stay focused and lose herself in the history despite the persistent throb in her arms due to Yama's attack. She had endured worse but the deep gashes in her arms reminded her of the last desperate attempt of the man, who was hellbent on destroying the hidden messages carried in the place.
Her fingers brushed over another inscription but before she could study it, a distant voice called her name.
"ROBIN!" The high-pitched, childish, frantic voice was way too familiar for her but despite that, her body tensed instinctively.
She turned just as small hooves scrambled over the uneven stone pathways, the little reindeer's fur bristling with worry. His round eyes were wide, darting over her as if searching for all or any damage.
"Robin! Are you okay?!" Chopper frantically questioned, his eyes going wide at the sight of blood dripping from Robin's arms.
Robin blinked at the little reindeer, startled and confused.
She hadn't told anyone about her injuries. She had registered but barely glanced at them herself, steering away from the battlefield, too preoccupied with the ruins and the knowledge she might lose forever if she didn't commit it to her memory now.
Chopper skidded to a halt in front of her, then without hesitation, he reached up and pressed a hoof against her arm, gentle but firm. "You're hurt. You're bleeding, Robin!" He stated, leaving no room for argument.
Robin opened her mouth, a dismissal already ready but something about the way he looked at her made the words falter. There was no suspicion, no ulterior motives, no obligation in his gaze—just genuine concern. Concern for her well-being.
Robin's fingers curled slightly, pressed against the cold stone. "I'm fine." She lied, her voice even.
"No, you're not!" Chopper's voice cracked with frustration. His little hooves balled into fists. "Don't say that! I can see and smell it, Robin! I can feel it! You're in pain! So why are you pretending?"
Robin stiffened, her composure wavering as a single question remained in her suddenly blank mind.
'Why?'
Because that was how it had always been. Because pain—physical or otherwise—was nothing more than an inconvenience. Because there had never been a point in acknowledging it when no one would care, when no one should care, she was the devil child after all. Because she always had a far bigger problem to care about than any physical or mental inconvenience.
But here Chopper was, looking at her like she was something fragile. Something worth worrying about.
Robin let out a small breath and turned away, staring at the ruined city stretching before her. The anger still simmered in her chest—anger at the destruction, at Yama—even if the man was dead—at the world for daring to erase a past she had spent her entire life chasing. But beneath it, something else stirred, something unfamiliar and... unsettling.
She should tell Chopper to leave her alone. She should push him away before this hope becomes something dangerous for her.
Instead, she let herself waver.
"...It's nothing serious." Robin said, softer this time.
Chopper didn't look convinced at all. He hesitated before stepping even closer, his ears twitching. "Can I at least look at it?" He asked, more gently now.
Robin hesitated. A part of her wanted to refuse out of habit. A part of her was almost afraid to accept. But there was still a part of her that wanted to be cared for...
And when she glanced at Chopper—his worried expression–for her–the way he fidgeted, the way he had run here just to check on her—something in her chest cracked, just a little.
She had spent so long pretending that no one cared. But maybe.. maybe this crew was different and maybe she didn't have to pretend anymore. Or maybe it was just because Chopper wasn't fully human, he didn't have the natural cruelty and selfishness that basically every human she had met in her life possessed.
"..Alright." Robin murmured.
Chopper's shoulders relaxed, and he immediately got to work, gently removing her sleeves with expert care. His hooves were cool against her skin, his touch cautious but confident. Robin stayed still, her mind caught in a strange limbo between disbelief and something dangerously close to comfort.
Silence stretched between them, broken only by Chopper muttering under his breath about possible blood loss and medicines.
"How did you know?" She asked quietly.
Chopper paused for a second before responding. "Luffy."
Robin's eyes widened slightly.
"He didn't say anything out loud," Chopper continued, still focused on disinfecting her arms. "But he... mouthed your name. He looked worried, and then I just knew I had to find you. I don't know how, but it felt like he was leading me here."
Robin's breath hitched.
Luffy. The sun and sky god. Nika.
She wasn't sure why that revelation affected her so much. She wasn't even sure what she felt. Only that it was something unfamiliar, something that tugged at the edges of the walls she had spent years building around herself.
The boy who had an alter ego that was feared across all seas. The boy who laughed so freely. The boy who invited her onto his ship with no hesitation, who had wanted her in his crew ever since he first knew about her through the bounty posters. The boy who, even now, had worried about her without a second thought.
For a long time, Robin had believed she was destined to be alone. For a long time, she had thought that Saul's words weren't going to come true for her. That she had to be alone for the rest of her miserable life.
But now, with Chopper fussing over her injuries, wrapping it up clean with bandages, and Luffy's concern lingering in her mind, she wondered, 'Was I wrong?'
Chopper finished checking her ribs and sat back with a frown. "You'll be okay, but you need to be careful. You're not invincible, Robin!"
A small, wry smile ghosted across her lips. "I suppose not."
Chopper huffed. "That wasn't a joke! Rest! And that is doctor's orders."
She let out a quiet chuckle, but it wasn't mocking. It was... light. Something in her chest loosened as if a pressure she hadn't even realised was there had lifted.
Chopper looked surprised but quickly turned red and scowled. "D-Don't laugh at me! I'm serious!"
"I know." And she truly did. For the first time in a long while, Robin thought that maybe—just maybe—someone really did care.
.
Everything was going wrong.
Enel sat upon his throne of clouds, fingers curled so tightly around his golden staff that the metal groaned under the raw pressure. His jaw was clenched, his sharp teeth grinding as his icy blue eyes burned with uncontained fury. His team was failing. Spectacularly failing, one by one, his so-called warrior-priests were failing, humiliated by Nika's weak and pathetic mortal crew.
It was unacceptable.
His grip tightened as his gaze flickered across the obscured battlefield, as a storm of rage brewing behind his calm facade.
Yama—dead. Ohm—out. Holy—useless. Satori—pathetic.
Even his personally hand-picked servants, Hotori and Kotori, were being played with. The triplets, once amusing, were now nothing more than an embarrassment, a disgrace.
And all the while, Nika—that wretched trickster kid—had the audacity to just simply watch.
Enel seethed. He didn't even care where the so-called Sun God was at this moment. His presence alone had corrupted the natural order of his domain. It had tipped the scales, turning what should have been his perfect game into an infuriating joke.
The only ones left on his side were the weaklings barely holding on.
He clicked his tongue, his narrowed gaze locking onto the remaining two Divine Soldiers. They stiffened under his glare, visibly trembling as they awaited his command. 'Pathetic.' He didn't even need them—if he wanted to, he could end this battle with a single thought.
And yet...
His sneer curled into something wicked.
His power was being chained by his own rules. Rules he had set without much thought himself, to enjoy watching these insects squirm before their inevitable obliteration and escape before he and Nika could brawl.
But Nika's team—those mortals—were ruining everything.
His fingers drummed against the golden staff, an eerie smirk twisting his lips. He let his gaze drift upward, his enhanced Mantra picking up on something interesting—something that should have been insignificant but now... now could prove useful.
'Ah...That woman.'
Nami. The so-called navigator.
She thought she was clever, weaving her little storm inside the cage, thinking her plan would go unnoticed. A soft chuckle rumbled in his throat, growing into a low, malicious laugh. Did she really believe he wouldn't hear? That he wouldn't see through her? That he wouldn't know how she was going to make a thunderstorm that would activate all the surprise balls while said balls were surrounding the 3 holy yet useless priests, letting the old man—the should-long-be-dead previous kami, Gan Fall— land the finishing blow if the priests survive?
Enel's smirk widened, sinister and smug. Did the woman forget that he rules over thunder? Did she forget that thunder is his divine power, that he is this divinity? Even if they were not responding to him well a few minutes ago, they would respond to him in the future. For the powers were gifted to him by nature and it shall obey him when he commands them to.
But he would let them believe they were winning. He would let Nika believe that he was losing his control over his divine powers.
And when the time comes.. When they are just within his grasp—
He would personally ensure that Nika's petty team never leaves this island alive.
.
The storm was perfect.
Nami sat atop the giant south bird, as high up in the iron barbed cloud cage as she could comfortably be, her hands gripping the Perfect Clima-Tact as she shaped the storm clouds above. Thick, dark masses churned at her command, electricity crackling through them like veins of pure power. Normally, the clouds would have drifted apart, slipping through the gaps of the cage, but... something was keeping them in place.
A small, knowing smirk graced her lips.
Luffy.
Nami didn't look for him, knowing that somewhere beyond the storm, beyond the battlefield, their captain was helping in his own subtle way. The air itself was subtly bending to his will, keeping the clouds locked in place, waiting. Even the wind didn't fight against her efforts—it obeyed, pressing the storm downward, making it denser, stronger, deadlier.
It was perfect. The plan was coming together. But her heart pounded as she scanned the battlefield, her eyes searching for signs of Usopp and Jozair. 'Come on... where are you guys?'
Just as she was about to bite her lip in frustration, a blur of movement caught her attention. Gan Fall swooped in next to her while riding Perrie, returning from his task, his face set in a determined grimace. "They're coming," He reported. "Jozair and Usopp are approaching, and the triplets are right on their tail."
Nami's fingers tightened around the Clima-Tact. "Right on time."She exhaled sharply through her nose, her lips curling into a triumphant grin. She could see them enter the highly dangerous area filled with surprise balls in the air and all around, with the cloud trails twisting and turning to weave a what could be best described as a maze.
Nami turned her attention back to the jet ski slicing through the slim cloud trails that the milky arrows had left behind. The sleek white craft zipped across the battlefield, weaving between spirals of clouds, its form barely visible through the thickening storm, with Jozair gripping the controls with white-knuckled focus. Behind him, Usopp sat hunched forward, gripping the vehicle for dear life while frantically pulling out dials, using whatever he had at his disposal to slow the mostly-identical priests down. Nami could see it—his creativity at play, the way he used the dials without hesitation now. There was still fear etched on his face but so was the determination to win and survive this chaos.
Nami watched as Usopp fired a Ball Dial, sending out empty spheres identical to the ones Satori had used. The triplets, expecting a nasty surprise, dodged them instinctively.
In another quick move, Usopp activated his Breath Dial at just the right moment, sending a blast of air into one of the remaining Surprise Balls that the triplets themselves had laid out earlier. It rolled backward, directly into Hotori's path, forcing him to twist away mid-step.
Next, catching them off guard by using a flash dial, momentarily blinding them as Usopp continued to create empty surprise balls which they had no choice but to dodge if they didn't want to be majorly slowed down. There were already way too many balls around them so acting haphazardly would lead to an explosive death.
But the triplets were no longer just playing around.
Their once goofy and erratic movements were now sharp, tense, and filled with urgency. Even at this distance, Nami could see it—the tightness in their forms, the flickering unease in their steps. They felt it.
Enel was watching them.
A silent, looming threat hovered over them, more terrifying than any order spoken aloud. Unknown to Nami, the triplets' mantra was sharp enough to hear Enel's unspoken demand. Hurry up. Finish this. Or else. They had to succeed.
Nami inhaled deeply, steadying herself. She raised her Clima-Tact, reaching deep inside herself for something she was still learning to control. She needed to feel everything—the way the wind shifted, the way the moisture in the air thickened, the way the energy crackled just beneath the surface of the storm.
Her target appeared—a surprise ball just beside the triplets, the perfect spot for the first strike. She exhaled sharply, directing the lightning straight toward it.
"LIGHTNING TEMPO!" Nami roared, sending a jagged bolt of electricity straight toward the intended target.
But the moment the lightning left her weapon, something went wrong. Her eyes widened in horror as, at the last second, the bolt veered off course. Instead of striking the target near the triplets, the lightning curved unnaturally, twisting like a living thing, its path suddenly veering towards the jet ski.
Nami's breath hitched. "NO!" She screamed, eyes wide in horror.
The bolt streaked downward, crackling hungrily as it aimed for Usopp and Jozair.
"Usopp!!" Nami screamed, panic surging through her veins as realization hit her. This wasn't natural. This wasn't her mistake. It was him. She may not be able to see him right now but she's sure of who it was.
Enel.
He had redirected the lightning at the last second. Even though agreeing to not interfere in the fight—he had done it.
.
Usopp was panicking hard. His entire body was trembling, his hands gripping onto the sides of the small jet ski as if letting go would mean certain death. It probably would. The chaos of battle surrounded them but his world had narrowed to this tiny jet ski and the dangerous terrain. He had been in life-threatening situations and some crazy things since joining Luffy, but this? This was pure insanity.
He wasn't just dodging enemies or running for his life. No, they were weaving through a minefield, where they were one wrong move away from a catastrophic chain reaction that would send him flying in pieces.
But Jozair, to his credit, was handling the nightmare terrain like a professional. He was maneuvering the jet ski through the maze of deadly obstacles, dodging floating surprise balls and scattered cloud paths that could send them crashing into an explosion at any second. It would have seemed that the man didn't fear death but Usopp could clearly see the stoic expression on the man's face, he knows the feeling too personally to be able to miss the signs, such as the sweat and shaking eyes.
Usopp had been bracing himself against the rough movements, his ribs aching each time he was thrown against the side of the tiny vehicle. Every sharp turn was squashing him against the boat's edge, knocking the air from his lungs. His knuckles were whiter, gripping whatever he could to keep himself from falling into the abyss below. He wanted to shout at Jozair to slow down but there was no time. They were being chased.
The White Priests that had been hot on their tail earlier had split up, unable to move as one due to the dangerous cloud formations. That should have made things easier, but it only gave Usopp a false sense of relief. Their attackers might have been slightly delayed, but he could still feel their presence, the way their eyes bore into his back, their silent promise that they would catch up.
The suffocating tension in his chest only grew worse. It wasn't just the enemies chasing them or the death traps surrounding them. It was something else. Something bigger.
It took him a moment to realize what it was.
The sky.
He couldn't see it anymore. The comforting sight of the open blue had vanished, swallowed by something dark and oppressive. His stomach twisted in dread as he tilted his head up.
Usopp's breath hitched the second he saw the massive, black storm cloud looming overhead. Terror seized him as his eyes locked onto the growing pressure in the air, the scent of burning ozone, the faint, deadly hum of electricity gathering above. He barely heard Jozair's frantic breathing.
"Nami," Usopp whispered, his eyes wide as his heartbeat pounded against his ribs at the sight of the storm which wasn't just brewing but was already there. "She's setting up something big."
Usopp truly wanted to trust her. Nami was a genius after all. She had to have planned something. A strategy. A trick. Something that would help them win.
Then, he heard her voice. It was faint, barely audible over the howling winds, but he heard it. "LIGHTNING TEMPO!"
Time slowed as a flash of blinding light burst from the sky, crackling with uncontrollable force. Usopp followed the bolt's path, watching as it streaked toward its intended target—a cloud formation far from them. A part of him let out a shaky sigh of relief, knowing it wasn't aimed at him.
But then—
It twisted.
It should have stayed on its path. It should have hit one of the random cloud balls near the priests.
But instead it changed direction. It was subtle, but he saw it. The angle of descent shifted unnaturally like an invisible hand guiding its trajectory, making sure that it no longer headed where it was supposed to but aimed towards him and Jozair.
Usopp's body froze. The moment his eyes locked onto the approaching death, something deep within him awoke. A vision slammed into his mind—a horrifying glimpse of what was about to happen.
Usopp saw himself and Jozair struck. He saw the explosion erupting upon impact, setting off the floating surprise balls around them, triggering a chain reaction of destruction and chaos that would consume everything in its wake. He saw his own body burnt, broken and.. lifeless.
Panic seized him. His lungs refused to breathe, his fingers trembled and his brain screamed at him to move. Suddenly, a deep, instinctual force surged within him—one he had never felt before. His body moved before he could think.
With a desperate burst of motion, he threw his entire weight to the side, slamming into the edge of the jet ski, jerking it violently off-course. The abrupt shift nearly sent him tumbling off, but he held on, gasping as the boat swerved. At the same time, his hand found the ball dial at his hip.
Usopp didn't think. He just acted. The dial activated just as the lightning struck. For a terrifying second, Usopp thought he had miscalculated as the bolt collided head-on with the cloudy-orb that formed mid-air and a pure, blinding light engulfed his vision. His heart slammed against his ribs as he braced for impact but fortunately it never came.
There was no explosion. No death. No searing agony or pain. In fact, the light had vanished. The energy of the lightning bolt got contained inside the ball dial's barrier.
It had caught the lightning.
Usopp stared, his brain taking several seconds to catch up with what had happened. His chest heaved, his entire body trembling from the aftershock.
"Y-You saved us." Jozair's shaky voice reached Usopp, breaking the dam, letting the realization hit him all at once.
He was alive. ALIVE!
A half-hysterical laugh and relieved sobbing bubbled from his throat, a mix of relief, exhaustion and disbelief. He could barely move, his limbs weak and shaking but he was still here.
'I'M ALIVE!'
Usopp collapsed against the jet ski's floor, chest heaving, his whole body feeling like jelly. For a fleeting moment, he wanted to stay like that—to close his eyes and let his mind and body rest. He wanted to cry. He wanted to laugh. He wanted to kiss the ground. But his moment of reprieve was short-lived.
A familiar, ominous presence loomed behind them. And Usopp's relief turned into dread. The triplets had caught up. Their previous fear of failure was replaced with pure, unrestrained rage. They didn't care if they got scolded by Enel anymore. They didn't care about taking measured risks. They wanted blood.
Usopp gritted his teeth and forced himself upright, every nerve in his body screaming in protest, but he swallowed his exhaustion and bodily needs.
"We're almost out of this hell." Jozair called over the winds, his voice urgent. "JUST A FEW MORE SECONDS!"
Usopp swallowed hard. They were so close. 'Just a little more.. Just a little more..' But he knew better than anyone—
A few seconds could mean life or death. And right now, he had no idea which one it would be.
.
Satori had always prided himself on being unpredictable. He was one of the White Priests of Enel, one of the divine's chosen, a master of the Ordeal of Balls. His movements were supposed to be erratic, impossible to read, yet even he was struggling to keep up with the sheer chaos unfolding around him.
The battlefield was an unforgiving maze, littered with unstable surprise balls, precariously floating cloud platforms, and treacherous gusts of wind that refused to cooperate. The very air itself hummed with electricity, the remnants of his kami's wrath mixing with the orange-haired woman's brewing storm.
Satori wasn't feeling well at all. His vision was blurring every now and then, a sign of exhaustion that was creeping in. He hadn't even recovered from the last round but had taken too many hits from that blasted long-nosed coward. That long-nosed fool had proven to be far more troublesome than anticipated. His dials had left Satori's arms numb and sore, his body aching from repeated blows. The humiliation of being outmaneuvered by such a weakling burned at his pride.
But he couldn't afford to lose focus now. The trial was not yet over.
Satori forced himself to shake off his dizziness, blinking rapidly to clear his vision. His breath was uneven, but he pushed forward, weaving through the deadly landscape of floating spheres. His brothers, Hotori and Kotori, were just behind him, just as cautious. They all knew how volatile these spheres could be. One wrong step, one misplaced hit, and—
'No. Don't think about that.' Satori slapped himself lightly on his cheek.
Their pursuit of the jet ski-riding pests had been painstakingly slow because of these hazards, and that only made his frustration grow. He needed to finish this now. They needed to capture—or better yet—eliminate Usopp and Jozair before his kami's merciless patience ran out.
His ears rang with the silent pressure of their god's looming presence. Even though Enel had not spoken a word, Satori could feel his silent command.
'Hurry up.'
Satori gritted his teeth and pushed forward, his body twisting mid-air as he narrowly avoided another floating surprise ball. He hated the fact that he had to be so careful in his own domain, but there was no choice. His own creations had been turned against him, scattered and manipulated by both enemy and ally alike.
Then—
He saw it.
A floating sphere, just slightly off-course, lingering near his path. He barely registered it, his mind already dismissing it as one of his usual surprise balls. And in his exhausted, frustrated state, he didn't stop to think. His body collided with the sphere. For a split second, confusion flashed through his mind.
Then—
Agony.
A blinding shock of electricity ripped through his body, white-hot and searing, far stronger than anything he had ever encountered in this trial. His muscles seized violently, his limbs locking up as his entire frame jerked involuntarily. His vision erupted in flashes of light, his senses overloaded by the sheer force of the current running through him. His ears rang with a deafening whistling sound. His senses now overwhelmed to the point he could barely see, hear, feel.
It wasn't just any surprise ball. It was the one created by Usopp. And within it—the trapped lightning bolt of his kami's wrath.
For the first time in his life, Satori truly understood the meaning of terror. This was no ordinary mistake. He wasn't even able to scream. This was the beginning of the end. His end.
As the searing electricity burned through his body, he was only faintly aware of the horrifying sound that followed.
A deep, ominous crack followed by a chain of low rumbles, spreading outward. The world trembled beneath him. He could see it now. The very thing they had all been dreading. It had begun.
The chain reaction.
And there was no stopping it.
Meanwhile, just a bit far away, for a single glorious second, Usopp thought they had made it.
The edge of the cloud-ball zone was just behind them, and the chaos of Satori and his triplets was left in the distance. Jozair had successfully navigated the treacherous maze of surprise balls, storm clouds, and aerial threats, and Usopp had managed to avoid getting both of them electrocuted into oblivion.
But Usopp should have known it wouldn't be that easy. Hell, a part of him knew that what had just happened was the beginning of a terrible storm. And just as the thought of safety crossed his mind, the air behind him erupted.
First it was a harrowing CRACKLE of lightning, only to be followed quickly by an explosion.
The explosion was not just one, but an endless chain of concussive blasts, each feeding into the next, amplifying into something that was no longer just destruction but an unstoppable force of nature.
It was as if the sky itself had cracked apart, unleashing all its fury in a single instant.
And Usopp—poor, poor Usopp—was right at the edge of it.
The shockwave slammed into the back of the jet ski with the force of a giant's punch, launching both him and Jozair into the air like they were nothing more than ragdolls caught in a storm.
The world spun violently around him.
Clouds. Sky. Flames. Blinding light. And then—falling.
Usopp's arms flailed uselessly, trying to grasp at the air, at something—anything—that could stop the inevitable. He could hear his own screams tearing from his throat, but they were lost in the roaring chaos behind him.
The wind whistled past his ears as his body twisted mid-air, the sensation of weightlessness so utterly terrifying that he couldn't even think. Then, with a brutal impact, he collided with the ground.
The air was ripped from his lungs as he skidded across the cloud surface, rolling, tumbling, slamming into the terrain like a puppet with its strings cut. His vision blurred, his body barely registering the pain because everything was too much all at once.
Somewhere in the distance, he heard footsteps, with a voice—familiar, frantic.
"Usopp!"
Was that—Nami?
Usopp tried to focus, to see her, but his body refused to move. His limbs felt like they were made of lead, his eyelids impossibly heavy.
Gan Fall's metallic wings reflected the sunlight, hovering above him. Nami's face came into view, her expression panicked, but he could no longer understand her words.
The edges of his vision darkened. His mind surrendered and everything faded to black.