Chapter One-Hundred-Seventy-Four: Landing
The final moments were underway. The battlefield would be Raftel, the final island of the Grand Line. On the shore, Blackbeard had just been defeated by Quai. Ace and Whitebeard was with Robin and Shanks escaping into the island. The rest of the Mugiwaras were with Kusu in the small town. Era and his crew of Luxuria, Surua, and Edge were on a small ship heading towards the island. And right on the coast of the island was four people.
Coby and Nina were fighting against Doflamingo the Shichibukai and Akainu the Admiral. However, things were not looking so well.
Coby had learned his skills from the training of Garp, but this was not enough to go against someone like the Shichibukai. Not only this, but Nina, a small girl from Nevermore Island who Luffy once saved, had very little skill and not near enough power to handle the opposing force.
"I've realized something," chuckled Akainu, his fire like hair being blown out of his face by his breath.
Doflamingo, who was just a few feet away looked in his direction. "What's that? That these brats are small fry compared to us?"
"Not that," chuckled Akainu. "Although thats true and all… I don't think you're a Shichibukai anymore, and I'm no Admiral!"
Doflamingo raised an eyebrow, obviously confused. "W-what are you talking about? Of course we are! Or else we wouldn't be trying to get to that Luffy!"
Akainu shook his head. "Neh, I'm sure of it.. There are reasons all around you!"
Doflamingo paused, looking around, but saw nothing but the black and white world. He looked back at Akainu, frowning deeply.
Akainu sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Always gotta explain it to you idiots.. Alright, listen up!" First thing he did was point to himself. "Us Admirals don't exist no more. And neither do you Shichibukais! Reason? First of all, that other Shichibukai, Mihawk, didn't you hear what he said? He said there's no point anymore, and attacked us! Obviously he somehow gained word that the government has fallen. I mean, don't you remember!? It was on the verge of destruction.. Mihawk just basically came to tell us!"
Doflamingo scratched his head. "Do you really think that...?"
"Well of course!" shouted out Akainu. "And that's not all of it.."
Akainu suddenly pointed at Coby, he frowned a little. "That kid.. I remember him, someone working under Vice Admiral Garp! He's a marine, ya idiot! Why do you think he's attacking us...? Exactly, because there is obviously no Government! If there was, he wouldn't dare try to attack us.. He's working for himself now."
Doflamingo's jaw dropped, seeing it for the truth. Clenching his fist, he turned towards Coby and Nina, frowning. "Well if this is the truth, then I'm no longer Shichibukai! I'm a free pirate now, and I can do what the hell I feel like!"
"Exactly!" shouted out Akainu. "But first.."
He turned towards Coby and Nina. "First of all, I wanna take out these two for myself! Then I'm out of here!"
"I'm with ya," chuckled Doflamingo, raising a hand as if controlling a puppet. "I'll hold them still, and you do what you do."
Suddenly, Coby and Nina found themselves unable to move, no matter how hard they tried.
"Crap, neh!" shouted out Nina. "Coby, what are we supposed to do now!? I... I can't move..."
"I know.." muttered Coby. He tried with all his power to move a single finger, but found himself unable. After all this time coming here to help Luffy, after his leader Garp had died, he found himself stuck in a horrible position, death staring him in the face. "Damn it..."
Akainu grinned viciously, his teeth growing sharp and his eyes flaring red. He lifted up an arm, which slowly turned into a red, thick, liquid which dripped off his arm and onto the ground below. Steam bursted up, blurring Akainu's face.
"I'm Akainu, the magma man!"
On the opposite coast of the island, a small boat was coming closer and closer to shore. Upon this boat were only four people, but four very powerful and influential people.
The first was Era himself, standing tall near the front, his cloak covering his face in a certain position and his purple straw hat covering one eye so that a single blazing blue eye could be seen. His crossed his arms, a feeling of anticipation running down his spine.
Next to him, on his right, was Surua, one of the direct descendents of the original King who created the Akuma World and locked it off from the Human World, and the only one who is able to unlock it again. He frowned, his face reflecting a mix of sorrow, but in such a way it was difficult to read. What was going through his mind was a mystery.
Next to Surua was the only remaining member of his crew, Luxuria, the Deadly Akuma of Lust. Her expression was clear. She felt confused and full of despair. Her once loving and courageous captain Surua had suddenly changed his ways due to Era, and was willing to kill anyone to do what he had to do. But what was his motive? Although Luxuria could do nothing about it, she swore she would stay at Surua's side no matter what.
Finally, on Era's opposite side was the final surviving member of Ei's crew, Edge, and also the final person in the world he knew the blueprints to the ancient weapons. He had been picked up by Reiku and brought to Era to work for him, and being promised to learn more about his ancestors, he agreed to follow Era. He knew not what awaited him, but would do whatever it took to gain that knowledge he desired.
"See it?" muttered Era, grinning broadly. "Raftel!"
And indeed, just upon the horizon, the black and white of the island could be seen, a small island sticking out of the perfectly flat water around it.
"Finally!" shouted out Era, his emotions getting the better of him. "Finally, after 800 years of suffering, of searching, of planning, I can finally gain the revenge I seek against this damned world!"
Era ripped off his cloak, it flying off into the water. His clothes now consisted of only a pair of ripped pants and sandals covering his feet. Spread across his body were scars, but not ones gained in battle, no, these were scars he had caused himself. His left eye was gone, his mind was gone, both his arms were gone, replaced by ones he created himself, his legs were gone, and, finally, he had no heart.
"All of these scars... all of these sacrifices.. I've made them for Mattaki, the original evil of the world, and the being who will grant me power over all these people!" He spun around towards Surua, who seemed not even slightly moved by Era's excitement. "And you, Surua... You will open the gate between the Akuma world and the Human world, won't you? You will give Mattaki the life he needs."
Surua turned his head slowly towards Era, staring him dead in the eyes. His lips slowly parted and he spoke. "Of course," he muttered. A pain struck him in his heart at those words... His ancestor, the original king, had set up the barrier to keep the evil out and keep Mattaki from ever hurting the world again, but now he was willing to open it himself... But he had his reason.
"Excellent," smiled Era. He turned again, watching as his boat grew closer and closer to shore. His plan... It was all so perfect and was finally working out. Although there had been some problems, everything was now smooth.
It all started 800 years ago when his brother, Mugiwara D. Monkey, had been given the right to watch over Surua as one of his seven guards. Era, although he showed better qualities, was ignored. The people of the time recognized only his brother as the one worthy of watching King Surua, and Era was left to follow in his brother's tracks.
Outraged, and full of anger and greed, Era found himself wanting to kill his brother. That is when he met a strange being who formed out of the ground itself and talked to him. It was Mattaki, a being who had been locked up in the Akuma World centuries ago. He told Era that he had what it took to be the man who could rule the world, and all he required was one thing: To free him.
Era agreed. However, it would be no easy task to free the original evil of the world. Mattaki was created near the dawn of time. He was the formation of the sins in people's hearts, a manifestation of pure evil. This manifestation had the ability to change people's hearts and souls. Any person who had doubt in their heart or misery in their soul could be changed into a creature, an Akuma. This Akuma would gain a power from Mattaki, an earthly bound ability. Now an evil being, the Akuma would attack the good humans of the world until there was nothing left.
However, he was stopped. The original King of the world, Surua's distant ancestor, stopped Mattaki. By using the ability in his blood, Haki, the soul in every good human's heart, he locked Mattaki up in a completely separate world, the Akuma World. He created only one entrance, and placed it in the land of giants. This entrance was a single stream, but anything that entered could not exit.
To ensure that the barrier would be enough, he created two items in the world that he used as 'locks'. The first was the great Golden Bell, and the second was the Brilliant Cathedral. As long as these two structures continued to stand, the barrier could not be opened. He placed the Golden Bell in the sky, to symbolize their glory and their faith in the sky. He placed the Brilliant Cathedral on a small island off the coast, an island known as Pelican Island. It is here that the original king believed human life had formed, formed from the Tori, the ancient bird people even older than the humans. These Tori had wings, and the wings were a symbol of the sky, and the sky was the people's symbol of hope and peace.
For Era, this caused a problem. He learned all of this from Mattaki, but he did not exactly know how to open the barrier. He would need to do two things. One, he would need to destroy the Golden Bell and the Brilliant Cathedral. Next, he would need to convince Surua, the only descendant of the original king, to break the barrier.
Destroying the Golden Lock and Brilliant Cathedral would be done in time, but for now, he had to concentrate on getting Surua to join him. But why would the descendant of the man who locked up Mattaki want to suddenly change his ways and help him? There could only be one way: A motive, an incentive.
And so Era closely watched Surua, and quickly created a plan on what to do. Surua had fallen in love. Era had gained the ability from Mattaki to make other people have Akuma characteristics, regardless of it they were Akuma or not. This also enabled him to separate his soul into many pieces, thus making him immortal. This would assist him in getting Surua to join him.
Era first met a small girl, a girl named Kiss. Era had met her in the Akuma World after journeying there one day. Although Era was originally there to find his first Wonder, who he would use in his plans, instead he had accidentally made Kiss a wonder instead of Quia, who was his first choice.
And thus, with Kiss, he went back into the normal world, bringing her with him. He raised her as his own, telling her of the power she would one day have if she stayed by his side. However, Era knew very well that although Kiss was strong, she did not have the ability to do his plans. He would need someone stronger.
And that is when he decided he would need to get his hands on a stronger Akuma. Someone stronger than Kiss. He went back to the Akuma World with Kiss and went straight to the Akuma who had claimed himself leader of that world, Ira, the Deadly Akuma of Wrath. He noticed that this powerful Akuma had a son, Ko, who had the interesting ability to rip reality apart. That would be perfect for Era.
And so, Era used his many abilities granted by Mattaki and controlled Ira. He made Ira kill his wife and children right in front of Ko. This filled Ko with evil and hate and disgust for humans, and made him run away from home, breaking through the barrier and nearly dying in the process, but he had made it into the world of humans. Now, only one thing was on his mind: Kill all humans.
Back in the Human World, Era appeared to Ko, who would soon become his next wonder. He promised Ko he would lead him to the humans if Ko would do one simple thing: Become his Wonder and kill two people: One, his brother, Mugiwara, and two, Surua's true love. Ko easily took the deal and did as he was told. After doing so, he left, going off to do his own thing.
Surua, heartbroken, stood sad where his love lay dead. Era appeared to him and promised him a simple thing. He would bring her back to life if he would become his Wonder. However, Surua said no. Outraged, and full of emotion, Surua commanded that the weapons he had created, Pluton, Posiedon, and Hades, be launched right then to destroy the Akuma World.
However, Kiss and Era, along with Gula, a close companion of Era and a Deadly Akuma, managed to askew Surua's plans. The result was the near destruction of the world. It created the Red Line, Grand Line, and all the changes. After this time, Surua took his leave from leader of the world and became a pirate. A group of five, the Gorosei, saw this as their opportunity to take the lead and quickly become the strongest powers in the world. Following the same order Surua once had, they had seven guards, or Shichibukai.
Era escaped the destruction with Kiss, but his plan had not been fulfilled. Surua did not become a wonder. He had accomplished nothing. However, he decided to give Surua some time, and he knew one day Surua would come back to Era wanting his wish granted.
After many years following, Era had gained quite a force of Wonders and had spread them across the world to do as he said. And now, finally, Surua had returned to him. Era quickly destroyed the Golden Bell, leaving only a single lock: The Brilliant Cathedral. As soon his his other Wonder, Erukai, a Wonder who had a slightly higher essence of Mattaki inside of him, would destroy the Brillaint Cathedral, all that was left was for Surua to say the words for the barrier to be unlocked.
In that instant, Mattaki would return. Era would be granted his wish of control.
His plans were going all according to plan.
Finally, the small boat slipped onshore, and everyone stepped off, following a grinning Era. '"To the center of the island!" he shouted out. "Come, everyone, we're here!"