Chapter 107: The Golden Lion

I finished the last chapter of this arc just minutes before uploading this chapter! I don't know when I'll finish Sabaody, but I've got seven whole chapters of this movie, so let's go!

On another note, I found out this story is on the "recommended stories" page on TVtropes! What an honor! I don't expect y'all to, but it'd be great to have some reviews there or wake up one day to see that I have a TVtropes page. That's, like, the goal of a lot of fanfic writers. It's not my true goal (I get more smiles knowing people enjoy my work), but that would feel like... I guess validation of my ability? I'm not sure, but it'd feel good.

I've kept you long enough. On to the chapter!

Chapter 111:

The Golden Lion

"This is the life!" Amy sighed from the shade of her parasol, Sanji on his knees next to her as she took a glass of freshly-squeezed hard lemonade from the tray in his hands. She was wearing a yellow sundress and the lemon earrings she had worn as a member of Baroque Works. Robin, under her own umbrella, muttered an agreement around the straw in her own drink. Grace sat in the sun by the opened pool, the dark picture of a crumbling Thriller Bark at odds with the cheery weather. She was dressed in a bright blue shirt with red spots, green pants, and hiking boots. Brook played his violin somewhere behind them, the music playing over the sounds of battle from the observatory.

Currently up there were Zoro, Gin, Coby, and Merry in a free-for-all duel. As some of the crew below watched, Merry was blasted out of the now-vertically-revolving windows (Franky was tired of replacing the broken ones). She was wearing a red tank top and khakis under a jean jacket. The ship-girl flailed in the air for a moment before launching a rope out of her sleeve, the rope tying itself around the flagpole and pulling Merry around. Directing her own momentum, the horned girl spun around the outside of the observatory before reentering via the opposite window as a blade on her wrist cut through the rope.

"Thank Goda that Usopp's not here right now," Nami muttered, walking over from where she had been checking the giant Log Pose set next to the steering wheel with Luffy. "Can you imagine what his reaction would be to seeing Merry pull a stunt like that?"

"Kyahahaha!" Amy laughed. "He'd have shit himself with worry before climbing the mast to try to protect her! I really don't know what they're doing inside on a day like this after dealing with Thriller Bark."

"I mean, it has been almost two weeks now," Nami defended, running her left hand up her right arm. She frowned, feeling goosebumps, as Gin was knocked from the crow's nest with Coby planting both feet in his stomach. Gin pulled his headband free, allowing him to explode into lightning before the two crashed to the grass. Coby managed to roll away his momentum as Gin materialized behind him. Coby had dug through his wardrobe to find the triceratops shirt he had worn on Water 7 and had paired it with red shorts. Gin was more covered, dressed in jeans and a long-sleeve shirt of tan color.

"We've got a problem!" Usopp yelled, running on deck with Chopper hot on his heels. The sniper waved a newspaper in the air until Luffy snatched it from him and handed it over to his wife.

"Thank you, Luffy," Nami nodded, pecking him on the cheek. "Now let's see here..." She froze, her eyes scanning the headline over and over without comprehending.

DANGER

THE DEADLY MYSTERY OF DISAPPEARING TOWNS

"Oh no," Nami whispered, Luffy's shocked face reading the article over her shoulder.

"What is it, Donna?" Gin questioned. The sounds of fighting from above stopped, Merry probably having picked up the dark emotions below. She and Zoro poked their heads out of the window.

"There's been an attack on the East Blue," the navigator announced, freezing all motion on the ship. "Several islands have been completely destroyed, and the most recent one had people on it. The Marines say each island was hit by a meteor, but it's too deliberate to be an accident. Luffy?"

Both Nami and the rest of the crew turned to look at their captain, his face uncommonly serious.

"Our turf is in the East Blue," he began, referencing the home islands of their East Blue members, "but I don't think the asshole behind this cares about that."

"There are fourteen of us on the crew," Amy thought aloud. "Of that, seven are from the East Blue. That's half of us."

"Yohoho!" Brook chuckled reflexively. His purple ascot around his neck now bore the stitched pattern of a skull with an afro and a purple cane. "What shall we do, Captain?"

"Our adventure can wait," he finally decided. "This attack on our home can't. Nami, set a course for the East Blue."

"Right away, Captain," Nami answered as the first members brightened at the thought of going home. As they did so, a great shadow covered the ship. Looking up, the crew could see nothing of the sun behind a literal floating island.

"Woah!" Luffy and Chopper gasped, their eyes-turned-stars staring up at a monolithic ship literally flying above them. It was monstrous, the hull made of what looked like the top of a mountain that had been broken off and flipped upside down. A row of long oars stuck out of each side, propelling the flying ship through the air. On the top was a large, square building.

"That should be impossible!" Franky gasped.

"This is the Grand Line," Robin responded.

"I don't give a shit if it should be possible or not!" Nami cut in as her goosebumps returned. "There's a hurricane coming ahead of us! We need to move!"

"We can't just leave them!" her husband argued, jumping up onto the figurehead of the ship and waving at the flying vessel with both hands. "HEEEEEY! HEEEEEEEEYYY!"

"There's no way they can hear you, Don!" Gin offered from the deck. "The odds of that-!" Gin stopped himself at the sight of a small, gold and orange conch shell floating over to the ship to rest in Luffy's hands. "Is that...?"

"It's a Tone Dial," Usopp nodded. "I guess it would be easy to get to Skypia with a flying ship."

"Here, Nami!" Luffy called, passing the shell to her. She caught it nimbly, raising it to her mouth and pushing the button on the top. "Turn hard to port! There's a spontaneous hurricane coming dead ahead!" Finishing her message, she threw the shell back to her lover and turned to the rest of the crew. "You all got that, right? Move it!"

"Yes, ma'am!" they cried, everyone but Luffy moving immediately. The captain turned back to the flying ship, waving the shell at it. The conch tugged at his arm a little before he let go, watching in awe as the Dial floated back up to the ship. Shaking his head, Luffy jumped into the fray behind him as the Thousand Sunny started to turn. Within seconds, the ship had changed course, now sailing 90 degrees from its initial path. The ship above them slowed to a stop as if the people at its controls were confused.

Just as Nami had predicted, a hurricane brewed to life within a minute, the fierce winds ripping at Sunny's sails. The flying ship turned and chased after the sea-bound pirate ship in the hopes of escaping the storm.

The crew of the Thousand Sunny panted on the deck of their ship, each tired after a hard storm. In the confusion, most had forgotten about the flying ship, so only a few didn't jump when a large man with swords for legs below the knees touched down on the grass after floating from the ship in the sky.

"Well, well!" he rumbled in a deep, thick voice. "Aren't you an impressive lot!" He seemed on the older side with wrinkled olive skin and a liver spot under his left eye. Golden-blond hair bellowed down to his legs, part of a ship's steering wheel sticking out of his head like a wooden mohawk. His clothing looked to be made of worn, expensive materials, the brightest of which was a vertically-striped yellow and muted orange trench coat. His legs were missing from just below his knees, each having been replaced with one sword. A bushy goatee and lit cigar completed the man's look.

"Who are you?" Chopper asked, still panting from the storm as water dripped from his soaked fur. Next to him, Coby and Grace laid spread-eagle on the grass, pools forming around them. Grace was coming to, but a harsh wind had knocked Coby into the railing, sending him into unconsciousness.

"Jiihahaha!" the man laughed. "I'm nothing but an old pirate impressed by the skills of the rookies!"

"You must've been sailing for a long time," Amy thought aloud.

"Indeed I have," the pirate laughed, "but I've never seen a navigator predict a sudden hurricane like that! Which of you is the one that used the Tone Dial?"

"That would be me," Nami answered, more than a bit of pride laced into her words.

"That was some pretty good work, Babydoll."

"Don't call me that," Nami hissed, her happy countenance flipping instantly. Luffy stood next to her with his arms crossed, his eyes boring a hole into the older man. The blond held up his hands uneasily as a drop of sweat rolled down his brow. The wedding rings on the captain and navigator's fingers seemed to flash in the sunlight.

"Easy there," he chuckled. "I wasn't expecting such animosity. Still," He grinned, showing his pearly whites, "that was some fine work. I wouldn't mind having instincts like yours on my crew. Where are you headed?"

"We're headed to the East Blue," Grace supplied. "There's something going on that we want to check out."

"Is there?" the man chuckled. "Well, I suppose I can spare some time to help you. The Calm Belt is a bitch to sail through. That is, if you can't fly. Lucky for you, I always repay my debts, so I'll help you with the powers of my Float-Float Fruit." He paused, reaching down to touch one of Zoro's weights. With a single gesture, the dumbbell rose into the air and began orbiting the man. "It only works on objects," he said, cutting off the members that were going to ask to fly. "I can make myself float, but that's about it."

"We still don't know you're name," Robin told him, the man almost jumping in surprise.

"How careless of me! My name is Shiki, but the Marines call me Shiki the Golden Lion."

"That's such a badass name," Franky whispered to himself.

"Now why don't I help you across the Calm Belt by making your ship float?" Before anyone could answer, Shiki spun around and tapped the mast, the Sunny slowly rising into the air to sail alongside the flying island. Shiki didn't wait for a thank you before floating himself back to his ship.

"I'm not sure if this is cool or scary," Grace muttered as her head finally cleared. She nudged Coby beside her, but he stayed unconscious.

"I say it's freaking awesome!" Usopp put in, running to the railing with Luffy and Chopper hot on his heels. The trio watched over the railing as the sea got further away from their now-floating ship.

"I don't like this," Nami muttered to herself, the goosebumps coming back. This time, they weren't related to the weather.

The Thousand Sunny floated along, dwarfed by even the figurehead of the island-ship next to it. Some of the crew had chosen to change while they traveled. Gin now sported a t-shirt reading "Coal is Virgio", some of the letters hidden under a black jacket. Long pants came down to his hiking shoes and a dark bandana with his personal Jolly Rodger was tied around his head, covering his headband.

Amy and Grace had changed, too. The sisters had chosen the same style, sporting jean pants and Crimin brand t-shirts that showed off their figures. Amy's was, as usual, pale yellow while Grace had opted for tye-dye. Rather than her usual hat, Amy now covered her hair with a brown cowboy hat that complemented her blonde hair. Grace, on the other hand, had realized her hair was growing out and left her hat behind, her red hair flowing over her shoulder and down to her hip in a simple braid.

Merry had changed her clothes as well, a tank top with a sheep design just reaching her khaki pants. Sandals flopped on her feet as she walked, her hammer bouncing along in one of her belt loops. Coby was still dressed in his triceratops- shirt ensemble from before.

Having to not sail their own ship provided the crew with some downtime, said time most of them used to watch the clouds speed by below them. Coby began to shift into consciousness just as Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and Merry awed the grouping of floating islands the Sunny and Shiki's ship approached. The boy sat up, an ice pack falling from his forehead, as Shiki returned to the deck of their ship.

"What do you think?" he asked through the cigar in his mouth, the Sunny now flying over the islands. "Every one of these islands is being help aloft by my own powers. This here is the best damn base you'll ever find, a floating paradise! Welcome to Merivelle!"

"That's amazing!" Luffy gushed as Chopper and Grace knelt beside the pink-haired boy.

"What happened?" Coby questioned, one hand reaching up to rub his cold skin.

"That storm we had knocked you into the railing," Chopper answered, pulling some pain-relief pills from his bag. "You've missed most of the trip, but a cool guy is helping us get to the East Blue using his Devil Fruit."

"What? Who?"

"He called himself Shiki," Grace answered, Coby just managing to swallow rather than lose the pills from a spit take.

"You mean Shiki the Golden Lion, the merciless rival of the Pirate King Gold Roger?!" Coby's surprised shout echoed across the deck, his words bringing a halt to the smaller conversations around. The silence hung in the air for only a few seconds before it was shattered by laughter.

"JIIIHAHAHA!" Shiki laughed from where he had placed himself by Nami. "So one of you does know me!"

Luffy stiffened from his captain's seat on the Sunny's head. He turned, throwing his arm toward his wife, but he wasn't fast enough.

"Now that everyone is awake, let me introduce you to Merivelle, your graveyard!" Shiki wrapped an arm around Nami's waste and arms, his other shoving into the grass deck and releasing his power's hold on the Sunny. The ship plummeted from the sky, the wind whipping past the pirates' ears failing to cover Shiki's maniacal laughter as he floated with the woman under his arm. "Your navigator is mine!"

"Luffy!"

"Nami!" The captain punched his other arm forward as his crew flailed through the air around them, his rubber body nearly reaching the blond. Shiki smirked, circling his finger slowly. The Sunny mirrored his movements, her mast swinging around like a giant bat. Each Straw Hat was launched, the crew scattered to the winds and lands with nothing but Shiki's laugh and wind in their ears.

"JIIIIHAAHAAHAAHAAA!"

"NAAAAMIIIIIII!"

End of Chapter 111

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-SwordOfTheGods