Just as Malverick had predicted, the current ruler of Skypiea was indeed Enel.
About two and a half years earlier, Enel had arrived on the Sky Island.
(Let's not get picky about the exact timeline — this isn't a history lecture!)
With the overwhelming power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Enel was practically a god up here.
After all, there was no knowledge of Haki among the sky people — no one could even scratch him.
He'd driven away Gan Fall, the previous ruler, and declared himself the new "God" of Skypiea.
Under his vast "Mantra" — his version of Observation Haki — Enel could sense every voice, every thought, and even the emotions of anyone on the island.
It was an ability Malverick admitted he couldn't yet match.
But when it came to true strength, Enel's "divinity" only worked up here.
If he ever descended to the Blue Sea below and called himself a god there, plenty of people would be happy to remind him who was really in charge.
Still, there was no denying it — the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was absurdly powerful.
The moment Malverick and Hancock refused to pay the Sky Gate fee, Enel sensed it from his temple far away.
"Foolish Blue Sea dwellers… you'll pay for your insolence."
Biting into an apple, he flashed out of the shrine in a burst of lightning and shot toward them.
He had no priests yet — no four divine servants — so he had to handle matters himself.
Though he hadn't seen Malverick, his Mantra could already tell the intruder was no ordinary man.
Meanwhile, Malverick and Hancock were browsing through the floating market.
"My dear… does this dress suit me?"
When the curtain lifted, Hancock stepped out in a white dress with small feathered wings attached to the back — pure elegance, like an angel descended.
"Of course it does," Malverick smiled. "My treasure looks beautiful in everything — none can compare."
Rumble… boom!
Just as he was about to admire her more closely, thunder echoed above, drawing his attention.
Sensing the storm in the skies, Malverick's expression darkened.
"I was going to let you keep playing god for a while longer," he muttered, "but since you've come looking for death yourself, don't blame me."
He gently kissed Hancock's forehead.
"Be good, keep picking out clothes. I'll be right back."
"Then hurry, my love," Hancock said with a faint smile. "I still have more to show you."
"Hahaha, alright — I'll be quick!"
With that, Malverick vanished from the shop and appeared high above the clouds.
He looked up at the storm forming overhead and gave a short, disdainful laugh.
"What's wrong? You came all this way and don't dare show yourself?"
"Get down here!"
His words were quiet but carried a crushing force.
In the next instant, the dense thunderclouds shattered apart under an invisible shockwave.
The sky people below panicked and ran for shelter.
They all knew who was coming — their so-called god.
What shocked them even more was that this Blue Sea visitor could disperse God's thunderclouds with a single shout!
"Impudent Blue Sea vermin!" Enel's furious voice rolled across the heavens. "You've committed a crime against your god — and for that, you will die!"
Bolts of lightning intertwined and condensed into a humanoid form — long earlobes, a golden staff, and four large golden drums on his back.
The self-proclaimed god himself — Enel, the Rumble-Rumble Man.
"Ha," Malverick snorted.
"So, you eat one powerful Devil Fruit and suddenly think you're divine? Enel, you must still be half asleep."
He rolled his shoulders, flexing his fingers, eyes gleaming like a predator spotting its prey.
The look made Enel's skin crawl — an instinctive chill running down his spine.
For the first time in years, the "god" felt fear.
"Thirty million volts — Thunderbird!"
Enel attacked first, unwilling to underestimate his foe.
A bird of pure lightning burst from his staff, screeching toward Malverick.
But Malverick didn't dodge — didn't even blink.
When the lightning bird struck, a swirling black vortex appeared before him and swallowed the attack whole — vanishing without a sound.
"…That's it?"
Malverick smirked.
"With strength like that, you couldn't even scratch me if I stood still."
"Better use everything you've got — because once I move, you won't get another chance."
He wanted to see just how far the Rumble-Rumble Fruit could go in such unworthy hands.
"Y-You dare mock me?!" Enel's face twisted with rage.
He slammed his golden staff against one of the drums on his back.
Boom!
A surge of lightning erupted, coalescing into a gigantic dragon.
"Sixty million volts — Thunder Dragon!"
The creature roared and lunged, far stronger than before.
But to Malverick, it was no different.
The black vortex appeared once more — and the Thunder Dragon disappeared just as easily.
"H-how… how is this possible?"
Enel's eyes went wide. His attacks — his very lightning — were gone.
"I don't believe it!"
"One hundred million volts — Discharge!"
He vanished in a flash, reappearing behind Malverick with the speed of lightning. His arm turned into a searing current and struck Malverick's back.
The impact made Enel laugh triumphantly.
"Ahahahaha! Foolish Blue Sea man! Before God, your only fate is death! I am invincible—!"
BOOM!
Before he could finish, Malverick's fist smashed into his jaw.
The blow sent Enel spinning through the air and crashing down into the streets below, carving a crater through the island's cloud floor.
Malverick glanced down at his fist.
"Oops," he said lightly. "Might've hit too hard."
"Sorry, what was that you were saying? I didn't catch it. Want to repeat it?"
The sky islanders below gawked in disbelief.
What just happened? Someone tell us what we just saw!
Before they could process it, a violent bolt of lightning exploded upward, tearing through the ruined streets.
Enel rose again, his face bearing the deep mark of Malverick's punch.
Even so, wrapped in thunder, he still looked terrifying.
"I'll kill you!" he roared — his entire body crackling with power as he summoned a storm's worth of lightning behind him and hurled himself at Malverick once more.
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