"Each time you max something out, the cost nearly doubles. The first time took 1,800 points. Next is around 3,600. After that, about 7,200."
"So rigged?" Rakuya stood there for a long beat before he could squeeze out the words.
"..."
"Whatever. Rigged is rigged. The upgrades were worth it."
He was buzzing. Even with his points drained, the two new maxed powers had him grinning like a thief who found a treasury.
First up was Max Flesh.
If he had to pick a single feature to play with, it would be the one that ignored every attack.
"How do I test invincibility?" Rakuya looked up at the sky, stroking his chin.
"Pick a fight with the Five Elders?"
They were the true top of the World Government and terrifyingly strong to boot. But five crusty old men? He could already feel his appetite dying.
"Raise hell at Marineford?"
"Eh. Besides Kong and Garp, who is even interesting?"
"Head to the New World and challenge Whitebeard or Big Mom?"
"Forget it. One look at Big Mom's face and I am done for the day." He kept shaking his head, ideas coming and going.
"Challenge Whitebeard one on one? He might keel over from the workout."
He still had nothing when a thought suddenly lit up.
He zipped back to Momousagi.
"Hey, perv, where did you run off to?" she snapped, cheeks flushed with anger.
"How am I provoking you by existing? Do you have to open with perv every time?" Rakuya sighed. Could she not pick a new name for him?
"Spit. Perv. Change my mind if you want. Let me go."
"Then keep calling me that."
He had no interest in bickering. While she was mid-rant, he layered repulsion around her. Momousagi's body rocketed upward like a fired shell.
"Aaah!"
As expected, her pretty face went paper white. The scream was immediate.
"Enough with the banshee act. No one died," Rakuya said, appearing alongside her as the two of them punched through the cloud shelf, climbing higher and higher.
"What are you doing? There are thunderheads ahead. Lightning kills people."
"Kills people?" Rakuya laughed.
A thunderclap cracked. A bolt the width of a city street hammered straight into him.
Krak.
"Aaah!"
The sudden strike stunned Momousagi. She stared, horrified, eyes going glassy with despair.
"Still screaming?"
Rakuya shook off a few static tingles. Aside from his hair getting a little wild, he was pristine. Max Flesh was something else.
Truth was, he had called the lightning himself, flexing his maxed Sea Overlord authority. With precise control, the bolts only targeted him. If he had let the storm choose, Momousagi would have been charcoal several times over already.
"You took a direct hit and you are fine?" she whispered. Her brain had checked out.
"Do I look not fine?" he said, amused.
She gaped at him, small lips parted, eyes wide. The statue act was so elegant he almost laughed.
"Are you even human?"
"Want to test for yourself? I have all the proper male parts. Satisfaction guaranteed."
"Spit, scoundrel."
The sudden tease painted her face scarlet again.
"Alright. Hold on tight. Let your big brother take you for a sky tour."
He kicked the pace up. In a blink they were a hundred li away, damn near skimming the speed of light.
"Where are you taking me?"
They cut through one thunder layer after another. Lightning somehow never touched them again, which only added to her dazed confusion. With so much shock piled on top of thrill, Momousagi finally went numb.
Soon they stood on a sea of clouds, ten thousand meters above the blue. The Sky Islands lay underfoot.
Standing at the edge of the world, drinking in the swirl of sunlit vapor, the view could steal breath.
"Wow. It is beautiful."
Girls and scenery. Never a fair fight. The glow in her eyes said the clouds had won.
"Hey. Do not zone out."
Rakuya ruined the moment on purpose.
"What do you want?" She shot him a look that promised to cut him into neat pieces.
"Get ready. I am giving you a taste of something called bungee jumping."
"Bungee jumping? What is that?" First she had heard of it. Curiosity flared despite herself.
"A way to set your soul free by scaring it silly. You deserve it."
"Setting my soul free?" She stared, instantly suspicious. Nothing good ever followed his sweet talk.
Right on cue, her feet found only air. She plummeted.
"Gravity. Tier Ten."
He shamelessly cranked the pull. Their fall turned savage.
"Aaah!" Her scream tore through the wind. Hair whipped into a gold-black storm.
Gales roared.
The air shrieked.
She latched onto Rakuya with a death grip, burrowing into his chest.
"So a hug is this easy to earn?" He regretted not trying this earlier. If he had known it would coax a cuddle out of her, he would have booked this thrill ride at once.
"Please. Slow down. I cannot take it," she sobbed, white as paper, tears glittering. The spectacle had broken her.
"Please is a start. How about some action to match? I did save your life, you know. A thank-you kiss would be fair."
"Pervert. Never."
"Then splat."
"Wait."
"Kiss or not?"
"Anything else?"
"No. Only love can save you."
"I am begging you."
"No deal."
"Fine. I will kiss you."
With the ground racing up to swallow them, her soul fell apart. On instinct she leaned in and pecked his cheek.
Smooch.
"Hahaha. Now that is a rush. Gravity. Twentyfold."
Joy sizzled all the way to his toes. He hugged her tighter and dropped even faster.
The earth lunged up. Their speed tipped from insane into mythic.
"Max Flesh. Through-Mountain Transfer."
Rakuya called out. He set Momousagi atop himself, then flipped flat on his back, face to the sky, eyes on hers. That way, any residual shock on her would be bled into his body and added to the force of his own impact.
"Repulsion. Absolute Domain."
Three thousand meters out he wrapped her in a sheath of repulsive force. Her descent softened to a float. He, on the other hand, howled toward the island like a meteor.
"Look. A shooting star."
"Shooting star my ass. That is a person."
"What. A person? He will be dust."
Boom.
The island roared. The impact slammed the whole landmass into convulsions, a quake like a seven or eight on the scale. People staggered everywhere. Some simply blacked out from the blast alone.
The shockwave tore outward, kicking a mountain of dust into the sky.
At the center of the island, a crater yawned, three hundred meters long and five hundred deep.
Rakuya sat at the bottom looking mildly stunned.
Did it hurt?
Not at all.
Not even a twinge.
Though he could have sworn he heard a scream right as he hit.
"Huh? Where did that come from?" He frowned and glanced around.
The ground shifted beneath him. He looked down and realized he was sitting on someone's head.
A colossal body. The head alone dwarfed him three to one.
He got a good look at the face and rolled his eyes so hard they could have circled the crater.
"You have got to be kidding me. Why is it this guy?"
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