Chapter 15: The Thunder God's Entrance
The chaos erupted at the Wedding Ceremony Plaza. As planned, the Straw Hats were framed, and the true villains, Hody Jones and his New Fish-Man Pirates, revealed themselves. The energy steroid pills gave them a grotesque, artificial strength, and the situation quickly spiraled into a full-scale battle.
Arata watched from the highest tier of the plaza, his cloak discarded, his true form visible to any who looked up. But in the frenzy, no one did. He saw Zoro struggle underwater against a horde of fish-men. He saw Sanji crippled by his own chivalry. He saw Nami and Brook fighting valiantly but being overwhelmed.
And he saw Robin. She was holding her own, using her clutch to disarm and disable opponents, but the numbers were endless. A fish-man, hopped up on energy steroids, broke through her defense, his trident aimed directly at her heart. A cruel grin was on his face. "Die, human!"
Time seemed to slow for Arata. This was the line. This was the moment.
He didn't leap. He didn't run.
He appeared.
There was no transition. One moment, there was empty space between Robin and the fish-man. The next, Arata was there, his back to Robin, his hand closed around the tip of the trident. He had moved at the speed of lightning.
The fish-man's grin vanished, replaced by stunned confusion. He tried to push the trident, but it was like trying to move a mountain.
Robin stared at the broad, grey-clad back that had suddenly materialized in front of her. She felt the air grow heavy, the hair on her arms standing on end. A low, ominous rumble, like distant thunder, filled the water-filled chamber.
Arata tightened his grip. The Haki-infused steel trident crumpled in his hand like tinfoil. The fish-man stared in horror.
"You," Arata said, his voice a low vibration that silenced the immediate area. "You dared to aim a weapon at her."
He didn't punch. He didn't kick. He simply looked at the fish-man, and a tiny, precise spark of golden lightning leaped from his eyes to the fish-man's forehead. There was no burn mark. The fish-man's eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed, unconscious, his nervous system momentarily overloaded.
Absolute silence fell in their corner of the plaza. The battling fish-men and Straw Hats alike stopped to stare at the newcomer.
Arata turned slowly, finally facing Nico Robin. Her eyes were wide, not with fear, but with intense, analytical shock. She took in his storm-grey hair, his glowing golden eyes, the effortless power that radiated from him like heat from a sun.
"Who... are you?" she asked, her voice a whisper, yet it carried in the sudden quiet.
Arata offered her a small, gentle smile, a stark contrast to the divine wrath he had just displayed. The sounds of the battle seemed to fade away for both of them.
"My name is Arata," he said, his voice soft, meant only for her. "And I have crossed seas of lightning and depths of shadow to find you, Nico Robin. Your storm is over. I am your shelter now."