For the record, I severely underestimated how much getting struck by lightning would fucking hurt. And I don't mean ordinary pain, either. I've been stabbed, shot, poisoned, set on fire, beaten unconscious, drowned, electrocuted, and introduced to Garp's fists on several deeply unpleasant occasions. My body had become remarkably good at surviving things that would've killed an ordinary person, and I had developed what I considered a perfectly reasonable tolerance for suffering. Enel's lightning apparently considered all of that irrelevant.
The moment El Thor struck, every muscle in my body contracted at once. My back arched, my teeth slammed together, and an enormous current tore through me before I could so much as raise my arms. My nerves fired uncontrollably, my skin burned, and something inside my chest seized hard enough that, for one rather concerning moment, I couldn't feel my heartbeat.
My existing resistance to electricity helped somewhat. Unfortunately, there was a considerable difference between the electrical discharges I'd experienced before and having a man made of lightning drop what felt like an entire power station on my fucking head.
The ground beneath me exploded, throwing soil and broken stone in every direction. I was vaguely aware of being driven downward as the discharge continued pouring through my body, burning holes through my shirt and tearing through tissue faster than my regeneration could repair it. My vision disappeared beneath an overwhelming white glare, and the smell of burning flesh reached my nose shortly before the heat destroyed my ability to smell anything at all.
When the lightning finally stopped, I collapsed. Well, technically, I was already lying at the bottom of a rather substantial crater, so collapsing didn't accomplish very much. My muscles continued twitching involuntarily, every attempt to move sent another horrible spasm through my limbs, and my lungs weren't cooperating either. Fuck. This was considerably worse than anticipated.
For several seconds, all I could do was lie there while my body attempted to remember its basic biological responsibilities. Something shifted beneath the skin of my right hand, followed by a familiar metallic sound that seemed impossibly clear against the ringing in my ears.
Clink.
Oh, thank God…actually, preferably not the one currently trying to murder me.
The pain didn't disappear, but my heart eventually resumed something resembling a normal rhythm, and air finally scraped into my lungs. I coughed, immediately regretted it, and felt several damaged ribs move in ways ribs really shouldn't.
"Yahahahaha!"
The laughter carried through the smoke above me. Ah, yes, the culprit.
"Such foolishness," Enel remarked. "To challenge God so openly, only to perish from a single judgement."
He spoke with such casual confidence, as if he'd just swatted an irritating mosquito. Considering I'd been doing quite a lot of swatting throughout my life, I supposed this was karma finally collecting its debts.
I tried moving my fingers and managed a twitch. Progress!
"Perhaps the inhabitants of the Blue Sea have forgotten their proper place," Enel continued somewhere above me. "How unfortunate that you were required to learn yours through death."
Oh, brother. Even after being electrocuted within an inch of my life, I could recognise a man who enjoyed hearing himself talk. I managed to turn my head and found him standing near the crater's edge, his golden staff resting against one shoulder. His long earlobes hung beside his chest, and the drums arranged behind his back caught the afternoon sunlight. He looked exactly how I remembered him, except considerably more three-dimensional and, unfortunately, real.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Enel began turning away, and I tried again, forcing air through my damaged throat. "Oi...cunt"
He stopped. For a moment, neither of us moved, then his head slowly turned toward the crater as another cough escaped my lungs.
"Fucking..." I swallowed, grimacing as my throat protested. "...rude."
Enel stared while I managed to prop myself onto one elbow. Several fresh complaints travelled through my nervous system, which I ignored. "Didn't even give me a chance to warm up."
His eyes narrowed. "Impossible."
I spat something unpleasant onto the ground, then examined my right hand. The wheel mark had shifted slightly, its familiar pattern moving beneath skin that was already beginning to repair itself.
I began smiling. Enel watched that happen with considerably less enthusiasm than I felt. "You survived El Thor?"
"Yeah." My voice sounded terrible, honestly. "Wouldn't recommend it, though."
For several seconds, he just watched me, then his usual smile returned. "Yahahaha! An unusually durable insect! How entertaining." He raised one finger, electricity gathering around its tip. "Then perhaps another judgement is required."
Ah. Already? I attempted to stand, discovered my left leg hadn't quite finished remembering how knees worked, and settled for getting one foot beneath me. "Wait, hang on, give me a sec..."
The discharge struck before I finished speaking. My muscles contracted again, and what little progress I'd made immediately became irrelevant as another enormous current tore through my body. The crater expanded beneath the impact, soil turning black around my limbs while the air filled with the smell of burning clothing and flesh. Fortunately, I stayed conscious. Unfortunately, that meant I was awake for all of it.
"AAAAAGH! FUCK!"
When the lightning stopped, I dropped onto both knees, steam rising from my shoulders. My hands dug into the soil while another series of involuntary contractions travelled through my back.
Enel tilted his head. "Still alive?"
I coughed, then managed a shaky laugh. "Yep."
"How peculiar."
"You're telling me."
He regarded me for another moment before raising his staff. The golden weapon crackled with electricity, and I felt my remaining hair begin standing upright. Oh, wonderful, round three. At least I knew what to expect this time. More or less.
The next discharge caught me as I attempted to leave the crater. I was thrown sideways, struck the broken slope shoulder-first and rolled across the ground while electricity crawled over my body. That hurt, but my arms caught me this time, and I managed to push myself onto my feet. Barely.
Enel watched me straighten, his smile becoming considerably thinner. "It seems your body is recovering."
"Good observation," I replied, rotating my shoulder. "Keep it up, mate."
He narrowed his eyes while I glanced past him toward the surrounding forest. Our clearing had suffered enough that Robin would probably be furious about the landscaping, although fortunately we were still some distance from the more important ruins. Beyond the smoke, I could make out the ridge where she'd taken shelter. Several arms had appeared along the stone near her position, and I could just about distinguish her watching from behind a substantial outcrop. Wyper and his warriors were farther away among the trees.
Right. I'd promised to keep everyone out of this, which meant I probably shouldn't continue letting the walking thunderstorm remodel the same patch of forest. I rolled my shoulders and glanced toward a broad stretch of exposed rock beyond the clearing. It rose above the surrounding vegetation, forming an uneven plateau separated from the older ruins by a considerable distance. That looked much better.
"Oi, Thunder Boy!"
Enel's smile disappeared. "Thunder... Boy?"
"Yeah, you. Mind following me somewhere?" He stared at me, and I pointed toward the rocky heights. "There's a much better place for this. More room, fewer trees, considerably less expensive archaeology."
"You presume to give God instructions?"
"Well, somebody's gotta organise things around here."
His fingers tightened around the staff. I grinned and launched myself toward the plateau, cracking the ground beneath my feet as I cleared the broken slope, crossed the remaining clearing and landed halfway up the exposed rock. My legs complained about the sudden movement, but they worked, which was encouraging.
A flash of light appeared ahead of me, and Enel materialised on a projecting section of stone, his staff resting lazily against his shoulder. "Running away?"
I stopped and laughed. "KAH-RA-RA-RA! Brother, I literally just asked you to follow me!"
"Brother? Your arrogance is remarkable for someone who has already experienced divine punishment."
"Thanks. I've worked on it." I smirked.
Electricity gathered around his body. "Then I shall teach you humility."
I spread my arms. "Come at me, bitch!"
He obliged, and so began the single most painful training session of my entire fucking life.
Enel was, and I cannot emphasise this enough, an absolute monster. I already knew the Goro Goro no Mi was powerful. Anyone familiar with One Piece understood that much, and I'd spent years looking forward to testing myself against it. Lightning was absurdly fast, carried ridiculous destructive potential and gave its user enough versatility to make most other Logia abilities look positively modest. Knowing all that information hadn't prepared me for actually experiencing it.
It was one of the strongest Logias in the series, right behind Akainu's Magu Magu no Mi.
Enel attacked from virtually every angle, sending discharges (ayo?) through the air, down from above or directly through the ground beneath my feet. His body became electricity whenever he moved at full speed, allowing him to cross distances that would've taken me several seconds in a single flash. Then there was Mantra. Whatever my fruit was doing to his perception, he still anticipated enough of my movements to make closing the distance a fucking nightmare.
My first attempt ended with him behind me, driving his staff against my spine. The blow barely mattered compared to the electricity that followed it, which sent me crashing through the rocky slope and left my entire back smoking. Coming at him from above worked no better; he was gone before I landed, and another discharge sent me tumbling across the plateau.
"Yahahaha! Is this truly the best you can offer?"
I pushed myself upright, wiped blood from my mouth and laughed. "Mate, I'm having a fantastic time!"
He stared at me, then another bolt struck my chest. Okay, a somewhat less fantastic time. But still! My body was adapting.
The difference wasn't immediately dramatic. My skin continued burning, my muscles still seized under sufficiently powerful currents, and I occasionally discovered that something inside me had been damaged badly enough to make moving unpleasant. Yet the contractions grew less violent, and my nerves recovered faster after each exposure. Discharges that would've left me struggling to breathe now drove me backwards without completely disabling my lungs. One struck my shoulder as I moved, spinning me sideways, but my legs stayed beneath me.
Enel noticed. Of course he fucking noticed.
"Twenty million volts," he announced, raising his staff.
A broad discharge struck me from above, driving my feet into the stone. Electricity rushed through my shoulders and down my legs, and my entire body spasmed, but I managed to remain upright, teeth clenched while the ground fractured beneath me. When the lightning faded, I exhaled smoke.
"Fucking hell." I shook out my arms, glanced down at the cracks spreading around my boots and smiled. "Again."
His smile vanished. "What?"
"Again. That was better."
"You dare..."
"Come on, Thunder boy, don't get shy now."
Enel's staff struck one of the drums behind his back, producing a discharge considerably larger than anything he'd directed at me since the opening El Thor. A monstrous shape emerged from the electricity, its body resembling a great beast formed entirely from lightning. It crossed the plateau in an instant, jaws opening as it descended toward me. Oh, now THAT was cool.
I raised both arms, and the impact nearly tore them from their sockets. Electricity exploded across the plateau, turning the surrounding stone white beneath the heat. My heels carved trenches through the ground as the discharge forced me backwards, and for several seconds I couldn't do much beyond endure the current pouring through my body. But my knees held.
When the lightning dispersed, I lowered my arms and breathed hard. My sleeves were completely gone, the skin across my forearms was burned black in several places, and my chest felt like somebody had attempted to cook my organs individually. Still, I was standing. Enel stared from the opposite end of the plateau while I flexed my fingers, feeling the wheel shift beneath my skin. Ahhh. There it was. I took a deep breath as the last of the involuntary contractions settled.
"Beautiful."
His eyes narrowed. "What are you?"
I grinned. "Currently? A very satisfied customer."
He disappeared in a flash of electricity. I barely managed to turn before his staff struck my jaw, sending me sliding several metres across the stone. The impact hurt, but the current surging through the weapon did far less than he seemed to expect. When he struck my shoulder again, I remained standing directly in front of him.
My grin widened. "Oh, we're getting somewhere."
Enel took a step backwards.
Unfortunately, even as his lightning grew less effective, one particularly irritating problem remained: I still couldn't fucking hit him. And believe me, I tried.
My strength had reached a point where an ordinary punch could reduce enormous sections of stone to rubble. I'd grown faster, considerably heavier and much more coordinated since the days when Captain Vale could throw me around a training yard. My fight with Garp had improved my reactions enormously, and Crocodile had provided plenty of experience dealing with Logia users who believed becoming an element made them untouchable. Against Enel, though, I was having a rather embarrassing time.
Whenever I launched an attack, he moved before it arrived. Sometimes he dissolved into electricity; other times he simply stepped aside, allowing my fist to pass through the space he'd occupied a moment earlier. I could interact with his elemental body. I'd already tested that when one attempt to grab his arm met resistance beneath the lightning, forcing him to disperse before I could close my fingers properly. The issue was getting hold of him.
"Too slow," Enel remarked as I drove my fist through another unfortunate rock formation.
I turned toward him, but he was already moving. His staff struck my temple, and I staggered sideways before catching myself. The electricity accompanying the blow washed across my skull, painful but nowhere near enough to disable me.
I rubbed the side of my head. "You're becoming annoying."
"Yahahaha! You cannot hope to strike someone whose Mantra reveals your intentions."
I spat into the dirt. "Yeah, yeah, very impressive."
"Your movements are apparent to me before you even begin them." He gloated.
"Then you already know I'm thinking you're a cunt."
His smile twitched. I laughed, and he struck me again. Fair enough, honestly.
We continued for several minutes. Enel's lightning remained dangerous whenever he concentrated enough power into a single attack, and the larger discharges could still stagger me. I certainly wasn't interested in testing whether I could survive several hundred million volts without serious damage. But I could move, breathe and, more importantly, think while being electrocuted.
That last development was especially useful because the strange sensation had returned. I'd almost forgotten it beneath the more immediate concern of having my internal organs fried, but now I could feel pressure beneath the skin of my right hand, accompanied by a peculiar shifting sensation that extended farther than the wheel itself. At first, I'd assumed it was another part of the electrical adaptation. Reasonable enough, except the timing was wrong.
Enel stepped sideways, avoiding another attempt to grab his staff, and the pressure increased. No lightning, no physical contact. He narrowed his eyes at me, and the wheel shifted again. Huh. I stopped attacking, and he appeared several metres away, as if he'd finally decided I'd recognised the futility of resistance.
"Have you exhausted yourself already?"
"Hang on." I raised my right hand and examined the mark. The pressure eased slightly, then his attention sharpened and the sensation returned. Oh. Ohhhhh. Wait a fucking minute.
I remembered the White Sea, that first unexplained movement while Robin and I were sailing toward Heaven's Gate, then the strange pulses as we explored Angel Island, including the rather inconvenient incident during lunch. Every time, there was no obvious danger or physical attack, but Enel had been able to observe us. Or, more specifically, observing me. I'd suspected his Mantra before, but now I could actually watch the bastard while it happened.
I slowly lowered my hand. "Hey, Enel. Your Mantra. You're using it right now, yeah?"
His smile returned. "Naturally. Nothing within my domain escapes God's awareness."
"Right, right. And you're watching me with it?"
"I have already explained that your intentions are apparent to me."
Holy shit. I began smiling. If I was right, the bastard had been helping me adapt to Observation Haki since we first entered his range. He didn't even need to attack me. Just concentrating on me had apparently been enough to trigger the process, and he'd been doing it repeatedly since yesterday.
The implications were fucking ridiculous. Could my fruit adapt to being perceived? Develop an answer to Observation Haki itself? Would it make me harder to detect, or simply harder to predict? More importantly, how much had already changed while I was busy wondering what the hell was happening to my hand?
I glanced up at Enel and rolled my shoulders. "Alright. Let's try something."
He sighed. "Your persistence has become tiresome."
"That's what everyone says. Anyway, watch closely."
I moved, and he immediately shifted to the left. Exactly as expected, except this time I didn't follow the movement I'd been preparing. My arm changed direction almost without conscious effort, the muscles along my shoulder contracting differently from how I'd intended only a fraction of a second earlier. My fist missed his face by less than an inch, and he'd actually been leaning toward it.
Oh? That was new. Enel vanished and reappeared farther along the plateau, watching me in silence while I straightened. "Huh. That was close."
"You merely changed your movement."
"Yep."
"Such crude deception will not work again."
"Sure, sure." I rolled my eyes.
I attacked again. He stepped aside and raised his staff to punish the opening, but my foot struck the stone beside him instead, shattering the surface beneath his sandals. Enel disappeared just before my hand reached his shoulder, and I heard the sharp intake of breath he'd failed to conceal. Interesting. Very interesting.
When he materialised behind me, I caught his staff against my forearm and drove my other fist toward his stomach. He twisted away, barely. My knuckles brushed his side, and he recoiled far more sharply than the force warranted.
"How..."
I grinned. "What's wrong?"
His gaze sharpened, the pressure gathered beneath my skin, and something settled into place. This felt different from the changes happening throughout my nerves and muscles, almost as though my body had finally found whatever had been bothering it since we arrived in Skypiea. I could feel something pressing toward me, searching beneath my movements. His awareness, perhaps? For reasons I couldn't quite explain, I seemed to be noticing that pressure in return.
Oh, this was fucking fascinating.
Enel raised his staff. "Enough."
I lowered my centre of gravity, and his eyes followed the movement. Mantra had let him anticipate where my attacks would go and move before I reached him. Even when his readings faltered, he'd been fast enough to escape. So what happened when the information he received stopped matching what my body actually did?
He smiled. "Your next attack will come from the right."
I glanced at my raised fist. Well, technically, that was the plan. He'd read it correctly, or at least he'd read what I'd intended before my body made its own decision.
I stepped forward. Enel moved to avoid my right, but my shoulders shifted, my weight settled onto my other foot, and every muscle through my back and left arm contracted together. His smile vanished a fraction before my left fist caught him square across the jaw.
BOOOOOOM!
Oh, that was FUCKING satisfying. His head snapped sideways, blood spraying from his mouth as the impact lifted him completely off the ground. The staff flew from his hand while Enel travelled across the plateau at a speed that would've made his lightning jealous. He struck the distant rock face and punched straight through it, continuing through the ridge behind it before disappearing inside the mountain with a tremendous crash.
For several seconds, the only sound was falling rubble. I remained where I'd thrown the punch, my left fist still extended, then slowly lowered it and began laughing.
"KAH-RA-RA-RA-RA-RA!" I cackled.
HOLY SHIT! THAT FELT AMAZING! I threw both arms into the air, completely forgetting my injuries. "OOOOOH, YEAH BABY! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITIN' FOR!"
A distant section of the mountainside collapsed, and I pointed. "GET YOUR ARSE BACK OUT HERE! WE'RE NOT DONE!"
Far away, along the ridge overlooking our battlefield, several tiny figures emerged from cover. Robin stood beside the rocks, one hand resting over her mouth, while Wyper had apparently forgotten he was holding a bazooka. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. I'd punched God through a mountain. What a wonderful fucking afternoon.
Enel did not emerge immediately, which was understandable. I'd put a rather substantial amount of strength into that punch, and considering how little physical punishment the bastard had actually endured until now, I imagined the experience had been profoundly educational.
Eventually, the broken mountainside erupted with electricity. Enel emerged in a flash of blue-white light, landing several metres from the crater he'd created. His staff was back in his hand, presumably recovered during his little journey, while his free hand rose toward his swollen jaw. Blood ran between his fingers. Oh, that was beautiful.
He stared at the blood for several seconds before slowly returning his gaze to me. "You..."
I smiled and waved. "Heso!"
His teeth ground together. "HOW DARE YOU!"
A tremendous discharge (Enel zesty af?) exploded from his body, engulfing the plateau. I braced myself as the heat scorched my remaining clothes and the current surged through my limbs. It hurt quite a lot, actually, but when the lightning faded, my feet were still planted in the same position.
Enel's breathing had changed. His eyes lingered on the burned skin already repairing itself, then he attacked again. Lightning struck my chest and spread down my arms, but this time I managed to walk through it, taking several steps forward while the stone beneath my feet cracked and blackened.
When he stopped, I shook the remaining sparks from my fingers. "See, here's the problem, mate. Your lightning is fantastic. Seriously, ten out of ten." He glared at me while I rolled my shoulders. "But you've been using it on me for a while now."
His lips tightened.
"And that," I continued, flexing my right hand, "is generally a very bad idea."
Clink.
Enel's eyes narrowed, and I recognised the strange pressure across the back of my hand almost immediately. It travelled up my forearm and into something I couldn't properly identify, although it wasn't painful. Now that I had some idea what might be happening, it was rather interesting. I seemed to be noticing when his attention settled on me, something beyond his ordinary gaze. It almost had a direction to it.
As I turned my head slightly, Enel disappeared, and the pressure shifted behind my left shoulder. I turned in time to find him materialising several metres away, staff already raised. My fist passed through the lightning gathering around his chest, caught something solid beneath it and forced him backwards before he could completely disperse. He stumbled only a step, but still. A step.
"What are you doing?" he demanded.
"Experimenting."
"Your movements..." He stopped.
I smiled. "Hard to read?"
The pressure increased as Enel concentrated again. The harder he tried, the stranger the sensation became, until it felt as though his attention was pressing against something that refused to give him the information he wanted.
He pressed me with staff strikes and lightning, but a glancing hit to his ribs sent him skidding across the rock. When he vanished and reappeared above me, the pressure followed, and I looked up before he attacked. His eyes widened as I caught the descending staff and pulled him toward me. He abandoned it and dissolved into lightning, narrowly escaping another punch and leaving me holding the weapon.
Huh. Free souvenir.
Enel materialised farther away, his eyes locked on the golden staff. "Return that."
I examined it. "Nice craftsmanship."
"RETURN IT!"
"Alright, fucking hell–YEET!" I threw it, and he dodged as the staff went through the rock behind him and disappeared. "Oops."
His scream of frustration was wonderful. He retrieved the weapon in a flash of lightning, then concentrated on me again, the pressure returning even more forcefully. Except now he was watching my shoulders, my feet and the position of my hands, relying on his actual eyes. Like a normal fucking person.
I laughed. "Oh, that's embarrassing."
Enel's face twisted. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY MANTRA!?"
I spread my hands. "Privacy settings, mate. Didn't appreciate you spying on me, Winnie."
He responded by releasing enough electricity to turn the surrounding air white. Fair. I'd probably have been upset too. As the discharge struck, however, I found myself thinking about something rather important.
I'd spent months trying to develop Observation Haki. Sometimes I'd caught faint impressions during training, little moments when I could almost sense movement beyond what my eyes revealed, but controlling that awareness remained frustratingly difficult. I was nowhere near the point where I could simply close my eyes and start detecting people across an island.
Whatever was happening now didn't seem quite the same. My best guess was that my fruit was responding to Enel's attempts to perceive me, interfering with the information he received and making me aware of where that attention came from. That didn't mean I could suddenly use Observation Haki myself, but I might be experiencing what it felt like to have somebody else's awareness directed toward me. For someone trying to learn Haki, that was an extremely interesting scenario.
I emerged from the lightning with my shirt hanging in burned strips and my skin already recovering. Enel watched me, and I smiled. "Hey, can you keep doing that?"
His expression went completely blank. "Doing what?"
"The Mantra thing. Focus on me again."
He stared for several seconds before his face darkened. "You dare mock me..."
"Boy, I am being completely serious!"
"YOU INSOLENT WORM!"
He raised both arms, electricity gathering around his shoulders, and I sighed. Some people just didn't appreciate science.
Enel went quiet, which, considering how much the bastard enjoyed going "Yahahaha" at practically everything, was an achievement I felt deserved some recognition. Unfortunately, he appeared more interested in murdering me.
Electricity gathered along the drums behind his shoulders, each one producing a brilliant flash as he struck it. The air around the plateau grew unbearably hot, and I could feel the hairs along my arms beginning to rise. What remained of them, anyway.
My electrical resistance had improved enormously, but Enel could still produce enough power to injure me, especially when he concentrated it instead of spreading it across the terrain. He was an arrogant bastard, certainly, but stupid? Nah. He appeared to have noticed that my resistance improved with exposure, and now he was trying to find out how much force it would take to overwhelm me.
A blinding column of electricity struck the plateau, engulfing the surrounding stone and tearing an enormous trench through its surface. I caught the worst of it against my arms, bracing as the current surged through my body. My resistance held for a moment before the power increased, forcing a grunt through my teeth. Fresh burns spread across my shoulders and chest, my legs trembled, and the stone beneath my feet began cracking apart. Okay, still dangerous. Very fucking dangerous.
Enel laughed from somewhere beyond the lightning. "Yahahaha! There it is! Even you have your limits!"
I clenched my teeth. He wasn't wrong, which was unfortunate, because I disliked agreeing with people who were actively electrocuting me. The strange pressure beneath my skin intensified, accompanied by a shift in my muscles. Bone thickened through my legs, and my feet pressed deeper into the fractured ground.
Glancing down, I found pale flesh spreading across my calves. My ankles broadened, followed by my thighs, the familiar anatomy of Mahoraga gradually replacing my human proportions. My legs were becoming considerably larger.
As the next surge passed through me, my enlarged feet settled more firmly against the exposed stone. The current still hurt, but my stance widened, the pressure spread more evenly through my legs, and electricity arced into the fractured ground around my feet. It wasn't perfect; lightning remained lightning, and apparently Enel had enough of it to power an entire fucking continent. But the difference was wonderful.
I straightened beneath the discharge, and Enel's laughter stopped. My legs continued transforming, the muscles growing denser as their proportions shifted toward the Divine General's enormous lower body. I looked down at them, then back toward Enel.
The lightning stopped, and he stared at my legs. "What...?"
I flexed one foot, sending a small crack through the stone. "Like the new shoes?"
His eyes travelled upward as more changes spread through my body. My shoulders broadened, pale muscle replacing my ordinary anatomy, while my arms lengthened and thickened. When my chest expanded, my poor shirt finally surrendered, the remaining fabric tearing completely down the middle and falling away. Frankly, it was probably for the best. That thing had been absolutely ruined.
I rolled my shoulders, feeling the transformation settle. "Holy shit."
My torso retained most of its human proportions, although the musculature was becoming distinctly less human. Pale skin stretched across my enlarged shoulders, strange markings gathered near my collarbones, and my abdomen remained defined beneath the sweat running down my chest. Naturally, I took a moment to appreciate my own physique. Look, if you're going to get violently electrocuted by a lightning god, you might as well look fucking incredible while doing it.
My right forearm thickened next, familiar wrappings forming along the pale skin as a blade slowly extended beside my wrist. Ahhhh, hello, old friend. The Sword of Extermination emerged in its familiar position, but this time my shoulder adjusted with it, distributing the added weight across my arm instead of letting it drag awkwardly against my balance.
I'd managed individual transformations for quite some time, but coordinating several of them had always been rather annoying. Sometimes an enlarged arm made my movements awkward, or my legs changed proportions faster than the rest of my body could accommodate. Now everything seemed to fit. I lifted the blade, gave it an experimental swing and felt the muscles along my back move with it. Oh, that felt nice.
Enel had stopped attacking. He stood several metres away, staring at the changes spreading across my body. "Another Devil Fruit user..."
I glanced toward him. "Yep!"
My scalp tingled, and I reached toward my hair just as the familiar white strands began withdrawing. Something heavier emerged from the back of my skull: a segmented tail, dropping behind my shoulders in the distinctive shape I'd previously experienced during my full transformation. I caught its end, wiggled it and laughed.
"KAH-RA-RA-RA!"
Holy shit, this was getting ridiculous. The tail swayed behind me when I released it, responding naturally as I turned my head. My face stayed human, thankfully, though the muscles around my neck had thickened to support the extra weight.
I glanced down at my enlarged legs, massive shoulders, broad chest and Mahoraga's blade, then back toward the tail replacing my hair. All that, and still my handsome fucking face. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we had ourselves a hybrid form. An actual functioning one, too.
Enel watched as I shifted my stance, testing how the transformed muscles responded. "Such an abomination," he muttered.
I paused, then slowly turned toward him. "...Abomination?"
"A grotesque creature attempting to imitate divinity."
I stared at him, then glanced down at my body again. Right, well, that seemed rather unnecessary. "First of all," I said, raising one enlarged finger, "rude." His expression darkened. "Secondly, mate, you're walking around half naked with drums attached to your back and earlobes long enough to sweep the fucking floor." His teeth clenched. "And you're calling ME weird?"
Electricity exploded around him. "HOW DARE YOU INSULT GOD!"
"YOU STARTED IT!" I yelled back.
This time, when his body became lightning and crossed the plateau, I moved with him. My enlarged legs drove me forward faster than I'd managed earlier, the sudden acceleration surprising even me, but my transformed body adjusted without the usual awkward delay.
Enel materialised to my right, and I caught his staff against my blade with a tremendous crack. He tried to dissolve, but my left hand was already closing around his shoulder. Solid. He jerked in surprise, and I grinned.
"Gotcha!"
My knee struck his stomach, folding him around the impact and lifting him from the ground. I released his shoulder and sent him flying across the plateau, where he carved a trench several metres long before dissolving into electricity again. Still, I had fucking hit him. Again. And that was becoming considerably easier.
The next few minutes were an absolute delight, at least for me. Enel seemed to be having a considerably worse afternoon. His lightning still caused damage when he concentrated enough power, but even the stronger discharges were becoming less effective. My transformed body handled the current without my muscles immediately locking up, while my recovery kept pace with injuries that would've left me unconscious earlier.
More importantly, the speed and strength of my hybrid form were fucking excellent. My punches carried greater force, and my legs could launch me across the plateau without the awkward adjustment I'd needed when producing individual parts of Mahoraga's anatomy. For once, everything was working together.
Enel, meanwhile, relied more on movement than prediction. His Mantra still seemed to detect the others; when Robin or the distant Shandians shifted position, he glanced toward them, and the pressure against my presence briefly eased. But whenever he concentrated on me again, that strange resistance returned. Sometimes he moved too early, sometimes he anticipated an attack I never performed, and occasionally he simply stood there, apparently waiting for something useful. It was fucking hilarious.
"Why can't I hear you properly!?" he finally demanded.
I laughed, ducking beneath his staff. "I haven't stopped talking!"
"YOUR INTENTIONS!"
"Ohhhh. Yeah, no idea."
His face twisted. I genuinely didn't know exactly what my fruit was doing. It seemed to interfere with his attempts to read my intentions, but whether it was concealing them, altering what he perceived, or doing something else entirely remained a mystery. Whatever the mechanism, the result was wonderful. He could still detect my presence and hear me, but reading my next movement had become considerably less reliable than watching my body. For a man who'd apparently spent years believing he could see everything, that was a pretty fucking significant inconvenience.
He tried another approach shortly afterwards. Electricity travelled along his staff, heating the gold until it glowed. When he brought it against my blade, the metal softened and curled around my right forearm before hardening, trapping the weapon against my arm. Oh, clever bastard. The gold tightened, and I grunted as electricity poured through the heated restraint. My resistance to electrical damage didn't automatically make molten gold pleasant to have wrapped around my wrist.
Enel grinned. "Yahahaha! Let us see how your strange body handles this!"
I examined the metal, then looked up at him. "Really?"
The gold tightened further, and I sighed. "Mate, I can lift buildings."
Closing my left hand around the restraint, I pulled until the metal stretched and tore apart with a tremendous metallic shriek. Enel's grin disappeared as I threw the broken gold aside.
"Thanks for the bracelet, though."
Before he could retreat, my left fist struck him across the chest, sending him backwards through another section of rock. I followed, landing near the crater as he dragged himself free. Blood ran from his mouth, his breathing had become heavier, and one shoulder hung awkwardly until electricity gathered around it and he forced himself upright.
For several seconds, we regarded one another. Then Enel gave me a rather unpleasant smile. "Perhaps I have been too generous."
I raised an eyebrow. "Generous?"
"You possess a strange ability, Blue Sea worm. One that has allowed you to endure punishment far beyond what any mortal should survive."
I rolled my shoulders. "Thank you."
"But this is my domain." He spread both arms, electricity gathering around him. "Every inhabitant of this land exists by my permission. Every voice, every thought, every movement..."
Oh, here we go again.
"...falls beneath God's authority."
I folded my arms. "Do you rehearse these speeches?"
He ignored me. "The woman accompanying you. The Shandian rebels watching from the forest. The pathetic inhabitants of Angel Island..."
My smile faded slightly, and his grin widened. "I can hear them all."
Ah, now that was interesting.
"And should I wish it," he continued, raising one hand toward the distant settlements, "they can be silenced just as easily as you."
I slowly lowered my arms. "Enel."
He laughed. "Yahahaha! Do you finally understand the difference between us?"
I glanced toward the ridge, where Robin had retreated farther behind the stone after the larger discharges began spreading across the plateau. Beyond her lay Upper Yard's forests, the ruins of Shandora and, farther away, an entire island full of people who had absolutely no involvement in my increasingly violent science experiment. I'd promised to keep this away from them, and I intended to keep that promise.
"Look," I said, scratching my cheek, "I'm having a fantastic time here. Seriously. You've been extremely helpful." His smile thinned. "But if you start throwing lightning at people who aren't involved..." I pointed toward him. "...I'm gonna get annoyed."
Enel stared, then laughed. "Yahahahaha! You threaten God?"
"Yep."
"Then watch what becomes of those who stand against me!"
His arm transformed into lightning, and the discharge shot upward, gathering above the plateau before turning toward Robin's ridge. My stomach tightened. Oh, you fucking bastard.
I was already moving, the transformed muscles in my legs launching me across the plateau and into its path. Lightning struck my blade, forcing my arms backwards as an enormous current surged through the weapon and into my chest. I grunted, twisted in the air and drove both enlarged feet into the exposed ground. Stone shattered beneath me while the current poured through my body, branching across the plateau and scorching the surrounding rock.
For several seconds, I couldn't see anything beyond the light. When it faded, I was still standing at the edge of the plateau, my blade lowered and electricity crawling across my shoulders. Behind me, the ridge remained intact. Robin emerged from behind the rock, staring toward my position, and I gave her a thumbs-up. She didn't appear particularly reassured. Fair enough.
Enel was staring too. I turned toward him. "Okay." He said nothing. "Now you've pissed me off."
His face twisted. "INSOLENT MORTAL!"
Electricity erupted around him, spreading across the plateau in enormous branching currents. I planted my feet as his body began expanding. Ohhhhh, now THAT was something I'd been hoping to see.
The electricity gathered into an enormous humanoid shape, towering over the broken plateau. Great arms formed from concentrated lightning, followed by an enormous chest and a head crowned with streaming electrical discharges. The drums behind his back glowed brilliantly before disappearing beneath the expanding energy, and within moments his body lit the surrounding forest.
"BEHOLD THE TRUE FORM OF GOD!" Enel's voice boomed from within it.
Oh, baby, there it was. Amaru. I slowly tilted my head back to meet the enormous electrical figure's furious gaze, and my grin returned.
"KAH-RA-RA-RA!"
This was fucking AWESOME!
"Two hundred million volts!" Enel's voice thundered across Upper Yard. "AMARU!"
The enormous figure raised one arm, electricity gathering within its palm until the sphere of blinding light was larger than the crater left by his opening attack. Well, that was a considerable amount of lightning, even for him. The surrounding air crackled violently, and several trees along the lower slopes began smoking beneath the stray discharges. Far beyond the plateau, I could hear distant thunder rolling over Angel Island. Shit.
I glanced toward Robin. She'd already withdrawn farther along the ridge, several enormous hands appearing against the stone to help her move between the broken surfaces. Good. Smart woman.
Enel's enormous arm moved, and the lightning descended. This time, I didn't try to dodge. I raised both arms, planted my enlarged feet and allowed the current to strike.
The impact drove me downward, shattering the plateau beneath my feet as electricity engulfed my entire body. Pain tore through my shoulders and chest, and for several seconds my muscles contracted hard enough that I couldn't properly move. Fuck. Still dangerous. Very fucking dangerous. My blade caught the worst of the current, but the discharge continued forcing its way through my body, spreading across skin that had already endured more electrical punishment today than most people would experience in several lifetimes.
The adaptations held, barely. My vision flickered as the enormous pressure threatened to drive my knees into the stone, but I clenched my teeth and pushed upwards. My legs straightened, and with the current still pouring down, I took a step. Then another. Rock cracked apart beneath me, electricity escaping through the widening fractures while my body struggled to distribute the immense energy passing through it.
Enel roared. "WHY WILL YOU NOT DIE!?"
I couldn't answer, mostly because speaking while being electrocuted by two hundred million volts seemed like an excellent way to bite my own tongue off. But I could move, and that was enough. The strange pressure beneath my skin intensified, travelling through the transformed muscles of my arms and shoulders. With my blade still raised against the discharge, something inside my body settled into a more efficient arrangement.
I exhaled as the pain eased. Not completely; there was still a ridiculous amount of electricity passing through me, and I could feel my regeneration working harder than it had in months. But I wasn't being driven backwards anymore. I took another step, and Enel's enormous eyes widened.
With the lightning still pouring down upon me, I began laughing. "KAH-RA-RA-RA-RA!"
I was doing it! Mahoraga aura farming in Sukuna's domain!
The current intensified, but I kept walking. One step became three, then several, until I reached the centre of the plateau. The discharge remained extremely unpleasant, but I was moving through it, and my body was already recovering from the worst of the damage.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Enel thundered.
I lowered my blade, lightning crawling across its surface before dissipating along my arm. "Dude..." My voice came out rough, but perfectly understandable. "...you've gotta stop saying that."
The enormous electrical figure stared down at me while I rolled my shoulders. My transformed body responded beautifully, the enlarged muscles along my chest and arms contracting together as my legs settled into a stance that felt increasingly natural. The tail extending from the back of my head swayed behind me, and the familiar wheel mark on my right hand gave one final, satisfying movement.
Clink.
Oh. Beautiful. I glanced down at the mark, then raised my head toward Enel with a grin. "Alright. My turn."
Enel tried to retreat, the strange pressure around me shifting as his enormous electrical body moved upward. Whatever his Mantra was telling him about me, it wasn't helping anymore. I launched myself after him, my transformed legs shattering the plateau beneath my feet and propelling me through the remaining discharge.
He raised one massive arm, and I drove straight through it. Lightning exploded around my body, but my blade continued forward through the concentrated electrical form until it met something that resisted beneath the current. There. I felt it: the same strange resistance I'd experienced against Smoker and Crocodile, a body beneath the element.
Enel's eyes widened, and I grinned. "FOUND YOU!"
My left hand plunged into the enormous electrical chest and closed around something solid. This time, Enel couldn't simply dissolve and escape. I pulled, distorting the Amaru form around my arm as his body began emerging from within the lightning.
"RELEASE ME!" he screamed.
"NAH BITCH, YOU LOSIN'!" I tightened my grip and ripped him forward.
The enormous figure collapsed around us in a tremendous discharge that illuminated the entire plateau. Enel's ordinary body appeared within the lightning, his face twisted in disbelief as I dragged him out of the transformation by the shoulder. He tried to disperse again, but my fingers held. The pressure against my presence returned, more insistent than ever; whatever he was getting from it, he didn't even attempt to dodge.
I drew my right arm backwards, the blade extending along my forearm with its weight supported by the enormous muscles of my transformed shoulder. But I didn't use it. Didn't need to. Instead, I turned my wrist and drove my fist into Enel's stomach with the full force of my hybrid body. The impact folded him completely, his eyes bulging as blood exploded from his mouth.
And then we went down.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The plateau shattered. An enormous crater spread outward from the impact, stone rising in broken sheets as the surrounding ground collapsed beneath us. The shockwave tore across the exposed heights, throwing dust and rock fragments into the air as the remnants of Amaru's electricity scattered into the sky.
I landed at the bottom of the crater with one foot planted and my right fist driven against Enel, the stone beneath him shattered. For several seconds, I remained there, listening to the last of the electrical discharges fade. Then I slowly straightened, lowering my arm with the blade still extended beside my forearm.
Enel didn't move. I waited a few seconds, then crouched beside him. His face was swollen, blood ran from his mouth, and most of his usual arrogance appeared to have been replaced by unconsciousness. I pressed two fingers against his neck and found a pulse. Good. Still alive.
I stood, a grin slowly spreading across my face. "Kah-ra-ra-ra..."
My gaze travelled across the destroyed plateau, taking in the enormous crater, the scorched stone and the smoking remains of several unfortunate trees. Then I looked down at my transformed body, flexed my right hand and felt the familiar pressure of several adaptations still active beneath my skin. The laughter escaped before I could stop it.
"KAH-RA-RA-RA-RA-RA!"
HOLY FUCKING SHIT! THAT WAS AMAZING! I threw both arms into the air. "HAHAHAHA! FUCK YES!"
I slowly allowed the transformation to recede. My legs returned to their ordinary proportions, my shoulders narrowed, and the strange pale musculature gradually withdrew beneath my skin. The blade disappeared, and the tail extending from the back of my head shortened, separating into familiar white strands as my hair returned. Within moments, I was standing in the crater looking considerably more human. Also considerably more naked.
My trousers had survived, mostly. The shirt, however, was beyond saving. I glanced down at my bare chest. "Damn…I'm cut…."
Another casualty of scientific progress. I sighed and stepped away from Enel, stretching my arms while my body continued repairing the remaining burns. Considering how much electricity I'd endured, I felt remarkably good. A little tired and extremely hungry, but good.
I glanced toward the unconscious bastard. "Mate, you've got no idea how helpful you've been."
He didn't respond. Fair enough. I turned my attention toward the wheel mark across my knuckles, its dark pattern completely still. Flexing my fingers accomplished nothing, but when I concentrated, I could still remember the peculiar sensation of Enel's awareness pressing against my presence. It wasn't quite the same as sensing someone with Observation Haki, more like recognising when somebody was attempting to sense me. A fascinating distinction.
I wondered whether the effect would remain once the immediate adaptation began fading. Most of my adaptations lost some strength without continued reinforcement, although the threshold for familiar phenomena remained significantly lower afterwards. I'd probably need another Mantra user to test it properly. Or perhaps I could convince Enel to cooperate once he woke up.
I glanced down at him. Still unconscious. Hmmm. Maybe later.
...
I heard Robin approaching before I saw her, footsteps crossing the broken plateau with the sound of loose stone shifting beneath her boots.
"Well," she remarked from somewhere behind me, "that was certainly an experience."
I turned to find her near the edge of the crater, her coat dusty and her notebook tucked beneath one arm. Her hair had become somewhat dishevelled during the fight, although she otherwise appeared unharmed. Beautiful.
"ROBIN!" I grinned and spread my arms as she raised one eyebrow. "WE FUCKING DID IT!"
She regarded the enormous crater, the shattered plateau and Enel's unconscious body. "Yes. I can see that."
I laughed and climbed toward her, my legs carrying me up the broken slope with considerably less effort than they'd required earlier. Robin watched me approach, her attention moving across the burns still healing along my shoulders.
"You appear to have survived."
"Obviously."
"You weren't particularly convincing about that at the beginning."
I winced. "Yeah, alright. That first attack was a little rough."
She raised a brow. "A little?"
"Moderately rough."
"Kai, you stopped moving," she deadpanned.
I paused. Her voice remained perfectly composed, but she wasn't smiling. Ah. Right. I glanced toward the ridge where she'd been watching. "I noticed you trying to grab me."
She looked away briefly. "I thought perhaps I could pull you out of the attack."
"I don't think it would've helped." I chuckled.
"I realised that rather quickly." She smiled softly.
I rubbed the back of my neck. Her hands had been reaching toward me when the first El Thor struck. I'd barely registered them before the lightning swallowed everything, and I was rather glad she'd withdrawn them from the discharge.
"Well," I said eventually, "thanks for trying."
Robin studied me for another moment before exhaling. "You're welcome." Her attention shifted toward Enel, and she stepped carefully past me. "Is he dead?"
"Nah. Checked his pulse."
"How considerate of you" she said, inspecting the unconscious 'god'.
"I'm a merciful man." She gave me a look, and I smiled. "Occasionally."
Robin crouched beside the unconscious ruler of Skypiea, examining him with considerably more interest than she'd shown most of the people we'd encountered during our travels.
"Remarkable," she murmured. "To think someone could generate that much electricity..."
"Right?"
"And you survived it."
"More than survived, my dear Robin." I raised my right hand. "Adapted." ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
She smiled faintly. "Yes. I gathered that from the increasingly frustrated shouting."
I laughed while she examined Enel's injuries for another moment before returning her attention to me. "And the transformation?"
"Oh, you're gonna love this."
Her eyebrow rose. "I already witnessed most of it."
"Yeah, but you didn't get to see how fucking smooth it was!" I gestured enthusiastically toward my shoulders. "The coordination was incredible. I could move properly with the bigger limbs, and the blade didn't mess with my balance. The tail was a bit weird, admittedly, but even that felt natural!"
Robin opened her notebook, and I smiled. Ah. Beautiful. Science time.
"Can you reproduce it now?" she asked.
"Probably."
"Without injuring yourself?"
"Definitely." She paused, and I considered that. "...Mostly."
Robin sighed. "Of course."
I laughed and allowed a little of the transformation to return along my right arm, the familiar pale musculature gathering beneath my skin before the blade extended beside my wrist. Robin stepped closer and examined the change carefully.
"Your control seems to have improved greatly." She muttered, tapping her pencil against the notebook. "And Enel's Mantra?"
Ah. There we go. I grinned. "Now THAT is interesting."
She raised her eyebrows. "More interesting than surviving two hundred million volts?"
"Almost."
"Then I imagine you've discovered something rather important."
I nodded enthusiastically. "Remember that strange feeling I kept getting since we arrived? The movement of my wheel? Pretty sure it was Enel."
Her pencil stopped. I explained my theory, including how his Mantra had apparently triggered my adaptation long before we met, and how the process had developed throughout the fight. Robin listened without interrupting, though her expression grew increasingly thoughtful.
"So your ability may respond to being observed," she eventually said. "Even without any direct physical interaction."
"That's what I'm thinking."
She glanced toward Enel. "And the result made it difficult for him to anticipate your actions?"
"Yep. Plus, I could feel when he was concentrating on me. Even when he wasn't directly in front of me."
Robin remained quiet for a moment, then began writing: several lines, a small diagram, another question. Oh, beautiful. I loved this woman.
"The implications are rather significant," she murmured.
"RIGHT!?"
"If your ability can respond to a form of perception you cannot ordinarily detect, then the range of phenomena it recognises may be considerably broader than we've assumed."
I nodded. "That's what makes it so cool!"
"Although we shouldn't assume that the resulting adaptation grants you the same perception as Enel."
"Yeah, nah. I don't think it does." She glanced up, and I rubbed my chin. "I can feel something when somebody's paying attention to me with Mantra, or at least I could with him. But I wasn't suddenly hearing every bastard across the island. That's still something I've gotta learn myself."
Robin smiled. "An important distinction."
"See? I do science."
"You certainly provide a great deal of experimental material."
"You're welcome."
She laughed quietly, but footsteps behind us drew my attention toward the edge of the plateau. Wyper stood several metres away, his bazooka hanging loosely against his side. Laki and two other Shandian warriors followed behind him, although none seemed particularly interested in raising their weapons. Their attention was fixed on Enel. Understandable. The self-proclaimed God of Skypiea was lying unconscious in a crater with his face rearranged, a sight they weren't particularly accustomed to, I'd imagine.
Wyper approached cautiously. "He's alive?"
"Yep."
His jaw tightened, and he stood above the fallen Enel for several seconds before looking toward me. "You defeated him."
I smiled. "Apparently."
"Enel…"
"That's him!" I grinned stupidly.
Wyper stared. I considered asking whether he needed somebody to confirm the name again, but Robin stepped closer and saved him from my extraordinary conversational skills.
"He is unconscious," she explained. "And Kai intends to leave him alive."
Wyper's gaze returned to Enel. For a moment, his hand tightened around the bazooka, and I watched him until he slowly lowered it.
"Six years," he muttered. Nobody interrupted. "For six years, he's ruled this land. Killed anyone who opposed him. Taken what he wanted." His eyes remained fixed upon Enel's motionless body. "And now..."
He stopped. I glanced toward Robin, who watched him quietly, giving him the moment. I did the same, for once.
Eventually, Wyper raised his head. "What happens now?"
I considered the question. "Well, personally, I'm gonna have something to eat."
Laki blinked, Wyper stared, and Robin closed her eyes. Beautiful.
"I mean with Skypiea," Wyper said through clenched teeth.
"Oh! Right." I glanced toward the distant forest. "Well, I'd imagine you lot have quite a bit to sort out."
He frowned. "You're leaving?"
"Eventually, yeah. Got a ship being repaired, some more ruins to investigate and a bird who's probably stolen half the island's fruit by now."
Robin smiled while Wyper looked toward Enel again. "And him?"
I shrugged. "Your problem now, I suppose."
He appeared uncertain how to respond, so I continued before he could start another speech. "Look, mate, I'm not here to become the new ruler of Skypiea. You lot have been fighting over this place for centuries, and I don't know enough about the situation to start making decisions for everyone."
Wyper studied me. "Then why did you challenge him?"
I blinked. Wasn't that obvious? "Because I wanted to fight him."
Silence. I grinned. "And holy shit, was it worth it!"
Robin covered her mouth while Laki slowly turned toward Wyper. He stared at me for several seconds, then laughed. Not particularly loudly, and certainly not with the enthusiasm I would've preferred, but he laughed.
"You truly are insane."
I shrugged. "I have been told."
He shook his head, then looked toward the unconscious Enel. Whatever happened next, I imagined the Shandians would have plenty to discuss with the people of Angel Island. Four hundred years of conflict weren't going to disappear simply because I'd knocked out the latest idiot claiming ownership of their ancestral home. Still, at least now they could have that argument without worrying about getting smited from several kilometres away. Progress!
Wyper eventually directed his warriors to prepare Enel for transport, though not before giving me another long look.
"Whatever your reasons," he said, "you've done something our people have been unable to accomplish for years."
I smiled. "You're welcome."
He hesitated, then nodded, and I returned the gesture. A surprisingly civil exchange. We were growing as people.
…
By the time the Shandians had finished preparing to move Enel, the afternoon light was fading across Upper Yard. The sky had cleared completely, with no enormous electrical discharges, no thunder and no self-proclaimed God screaming about divine punishment. Just an enormous stretch of damaged rock, several thoroughly unfortunate trees and the distant sounds of wildlife returning to a forest that had apparently survived another incident involving me. Lovely.
Robin stood beside me near the edge of the plateau, watching Wyper's people carry Enel away. I flexed my right hand again. The wheel remained still, but beneath my skin I could feel the lingering effects of the fight: electrical resistance, improved recovery and greater coordination between my human body and Mahoraga's anatomy. Then there was whatever had happened with Mantra. I didn't entirely understand that last one yet, but I would. Eventually.
Robin closed her notebook. "Well, I suppose that concludes your little experiment."
I grinned. "Little?"
She glanced at the crater. "Perhaps not."
"KAH-RA-RA! Robin, my dear, that was an overwhelming success!"
She raised an eyebrow. "Was it?"
"Absolutely! I got electrocuted by one the strongest lightning user in the world, developed some incredible adaptations, figured out something new about Observation Haki, improved my hybrid form AND punched a self-proclaimed God through a mountain!" I gestured proudly toward the ruined plateau. "That's a productive afternoon!"
Robin regarded me with a small smile. "I suppose it depends on how one defines productivity."
"Mine is the correct definition."
"Naturally." She glanced toward the distant ruins. "Although I should remind you that our original purpose in coming here was to investigate ancient history."
I stopped, then slowly turned toward her. "Robin."
"Hm?"
"We found a Poneglyph, discovered an ancient city. and we found more evidence about Makora."
She nodded. "There could be more…"
I spread my arms. "AND I BEAT UP GOD!"
Robin laughed. "Your point?"
"My point, my dear Robin, is that this has been an exceptionally efficient expedition!"
She covered her mouth, laughing harder, and I grinned, thoroughly pleased with myself. Honestly, what more could anyone possibly want from a trip to the sky? Ancient history, golden cities, religious mysteries, amazing food, a man made of lightning and enough adaptations to keep me occupied for months.
I glanced toward my right hand one final time, the wheel mark sitting quietly beneath my skin. Somewhere within that strange power, the afternoon's experiences had become part of me. I couldn't say how much of the immediate resistance would remain once the adaptations began fading, but my body would remember Enel's lightning. And, apparently, his Mantra.
That was the part I kept returning to.
I'd deliberately come looking for a powerful opponent, expecting lightning to offer the best chance to improve. Instead, I'd discovered something about my fruit that I hadn't been able to investigate. It seemed capable of responding to things I couldn't properly perceive, perhaps even developing ways of recognising them. The possibilities were... well.
Endless.
I smiled, and Robin noticed. "Oh, dear."
"What?"
"You're thinking of another experiment."
I laughed. "Maybe."
She sighed, although the smile remained. "Could we perhaps return to the Vesper before you decide to challenge another deity?"
I considered that, then nodded. "Yeah, alright. I'm fucking starving anyway."
"How surprising."
"And I need a new shirt."
She paused looking at my body before giving me a sultry smirk. "Several, I should think."
I slowly tried to cover myself. Down woman!
Behind us, Wyper's warriors continued carrying the unconscious Enel away from the ruined plateau. The man who had ruled Skypiea through fear, who could hear voices across an entire island and call down lightning upon anyone who defied him, had finally encountered someone his Mantra couldn't understand and his lightning couldn't put down. His reign was over. I hoped the people of Skypiea made something better of the opportunity.
As for me, I'd gotten exactly what I'd come looking for. Actually, considerably more. And as Robin began explaining which of the surviving inscriptions she wanted to examine tomorrow, I found myself smiling again. One fight, one defeated God and a whole new collection of things to adapt to.
Kah-ra-ra-ra!
Man, I fucking love this world.
…
End of Chapter!
Word Count - 10,237
a/n -
TEN THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SEVEN WORDS.
10,237.
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.
I think we can officially establish that I've completely abandoned any sense of self-control when it comes to chapter lengths.
BUT ANYWAY!
Hello again my beautiful people (○｀ 3′○)
KAI VS ENEL!!!
GOD, I'VE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO WRITING THIS FIGHT!
I genuinely think this might be one of my favourite confrontations in the entire story so far, mostly because of how perfectly Enel's abilities interact with Kai's Devil Fruit.
Think about it. You've got a man who genuinely believes himself to be God, who can hear practically everything happening across his kingdom and who possesses one of the most destructive Devil Fruits in existence.
And then some enormous white-haired bastard from the Blue Sea shows up, calls him Thunder Boy and starts asking to be electrocuted AGAIN.
Poor Enel.
Actually, fuck Enel. He had it coming.
NOW, LET'S TALK ABOUT THE FIGHT!
One thing I really wanted to establish was that Kai's adaptation doesn't automatically make him invincible. Yes, his fruit is ridiculously powerful, and yes, he can eventually overcome some truly absurd abilities, but he still has to survive the initial exposure.
And Enel's lightning is NO FUCKING JOKE.
That opening El Thor genuinely messed him up. His existing resistance helped, but there is an enormous difference between surviving ordinary electricity and having millions of volts pumped directly through your body.
I wanted the progression to feel earned. Kai goes from barely being able to stand, to surviving repeated attacks, to gradually becoming capable of moving through discharges that would've killed him earlier.
And I think the best part is how Enel reacts to it.
This man has spent years casually killing people with lightning, and suddenly there's some idiot standing in front of him asking for another helping.
I'd be losing my mind too.
BUT THE LIGHTNING WAS ONLY HALF THE FUN!
MANTRA!!!
Remember those strange movements of Kai's wheel throughout the previous chapters?
YEP.
THAT WAS ENEL!
I've been setting this up since Kai and Robin first arrived in the White Sea, and I was really excited to finally reveal what was happening.
The idea here is that Mahoraga's adaptation isn't necessarily limited to physical attacks or things Kai can consciously recognise. Enel had been observing him through Mantra long before they actually fought, and the wheel had already started responding to that external perception.
And the funniest part?
Enel was unknowingly helping Kai become harder to predict every time he tried to figure out what the fuck was wrong with him.
Beautiful.
Now, an important distinction I want to make here is that KAI HAS NOT UNLOCKED OBSERVATION HAKI.
His fruit has developed an adaptation that interferes a person (in this case Enel's) ability to read his intentions, while also allowing Kai to recognise something of the awareness being directed toward him.
Those are different things, and I want to explore that distinction properly as the story continues.
Remember, Kai is still learning how his own Devil Fruit works. He's grown pretty knowledgeable about adaptation, but even now, he's discovering possibilities he never had the chance to investigate.
Which is precisely why I love writing this power.
There are SO MANY possibilities.
AND THAT FIRST HAYMAKER!
OH MY GOD.
I wanted that punch to be SATISFYING.
Enel spends the entire opening portion of the fight avoiding everything Kai throws at him, casually explaining that his Mantra makes him untouchable.
Then suddenly, the information he's receiving stops being reliable.
He predicts a right. Kai throws a left.
AND GOD GETS SENT THROUGH A FUCKING MOUNTAIN.
I could practically hear Enel's disbelief while writing that scene.
And lets not forget about the hybrid form! I've been wanting Kai to develop a proper hybrid transformation for quite some time, but I didn't want him to suddenly gain perfect control without any progression.
We've seen him manifest individual parts of Mahoraga's anatomy before, including his enormous arms, legs and the Sword of Extermination. The problem has always been coordinating those changes properly.
This fight gave me a perfect opportunity to show how much he's improved.
And yes, I specifically wanted his hair to transform into that ridiculous segmented tail.
IT LOOKS SO FUCKING COOL.
He's gradually becoming capable of using more of the Divine General's actual body while retaining his own human features, personality and control.
Also, the shirt had to go.
I'm sorry.
Actually, no, I'm not.
A ten-thousand-word chapter involving a giant muscular man getting electrocuted by God practically demands some shirtless fanservice.
Robin certainly didn't seem to mind. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
SPEAKING OF ROBIN!
I really enjoyed writing her throughout this encounter, especially her reaction to Kai's opening injuries.
I didn't want her to spend the entire fight screaming his name or constantly explaining how dangerous everything was. Robin understands what Kai is capable of, and she's intelligent enough to recognise when interfering would make things worse.
But that doesn't mean she isn't worried about him.
That little moment when she tries to reach for him during El Thor was important to me. They've only recently started travelling together properly, and I want their relationship to continue developing through moments like that.
She's becoming more comfortable around him, and Kai genuinely enjoys having someone who shares his curiosity, even if their approaches to scientific research are VERY different.
Robin examines ancient records while Kai volunteers to be struck by two hundred million volts.
Both are making valuable contributions to academia.
Lastly, I deliberately wanted Kai to leave Enel alive.
At the end of the day, Kai didn't come to Skypiea specifically to liberate its people or overthrow its government. He came here to investigate the connection between his Devil Fruit and ancient history, and because fighting Enel sounded like an incredible opportunity.
Which, to be fair, it absolutely was.
It just so happens to be that defeating Enel also frees Skypiea from his rule, but Kai isn't particularly interested in replacing him or personally resolving four hundred years of conflict between the Shandians and Skypieans.
That's something the people living here will have to work out.
And I want those consequences to matter moving forward. Defeating a ruler doesn't magically solve every problem he leaves behind.
We're also NOT finished with the mysteries surrounding Makora!
The discoveries beneath Lulusia and inside Shandora have raised some very interesting questions about the origins of Kai's Devil Fruit, the ancient traditions surrounding the Divine General and what exactly the Higher Beings did when they sent him into this world.
I have plans for all of that.
But I'll keep my mouth shut for now.
As per usual, I'd genuinely love to hear what everyone thought about this chapter!
Was the fight worth the build-up? What did you think of Kai's hybrid form? And, most importantly, HOW SATISFYING WAS THAT FIRST PUNCH THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN!?
I'm also particularly interested in hearing your theories about Kai's adaptation to Mantra. The implications are pretty interesting when you consider what other abilities exist in One Piece.
Oh, and one more thing.
Kai's hybrid form REALLY needs some character art at some point. (￣y▽,￣)╭
Just saying.
As always, thank you all for reading, voting, commenting and supporting this ridiculous story. I genuinely appreciate every one of you, especially those who've stuck around to watch Kai go from a village kid experimenting with a Devil Fruit to a wanted criminal who now considers beating up God a productive afternoon.
What a journey.
AND WE'RE ONLY GETTING STARTED!
UNTIL NEXT TIME!
Bye bye!