Warm Memories and Brotherly Bonds

by RoseDragonWitch

In the middle of some strange ruins, Luffy disappeared. As the rest of the Straw Hats try to find him, they end up travelling through his memories and are trapped in the past, with no idea to how to get out or how to find their captain. But not all things are meant to be seen… how will they take to seeing what had Luffy been hiding from them?

38. The Nightmare on Thriller Bark

Chapter 37: The Nightmare on Thriller Bark

The memory went dark and all that they could do was wait. But they didn't have to wait for long, for soon the memory was back, and they were suddenly in a large room, so large that it probably could fit the entire Merry inside it.

And there he was… in all his ugly glory… Gecko Moria.

He was as large as they remembered him and they wished they could've forgotten his devil-like face. He was probably the largest of all the Warlords they've seen—taller than even Kuma—with two horns protruding from the sides of his head and stitches running down from the top of his face and down his neck which was so much longer compared to the rest of his body. His teeth and ears were both pointed, and his lower body was fat and round so that it looked like he could start rolling over if he sat down. He also had purple hair and his skin was of a strangely pale bluish color that made him stand out with his bright orange and pale window-shaped imprints pants, black coat and gloves, and a blue crucifix-like ornament with claw-liked appendages.

If he was going for a look that made him appear like some kind of demon… he succeed.

"I forgot how freaky this guy looked," Franky said darkly, "Of course… this is nothing as to when we were fighting him and he ate everyone's shadows."

"If he wanted to look grotesque, he succeed with flying colors," Nami spat bitterly, but still felt a tremor of fear go through her when she looked at him. He was sitting in an enormous chair, looking around completely calm and relaxed, as if waiting for someone as Luffy continued to throw out insults at him from the cage that he was thrown into, still tied up with the spider webs.

At long last, three little zombies came running inside the room, roughly around Chopper's size when he was in his Brain Point… there was one that looked like a one-eyed samurai with an ovular head, a pinkish-red zombie archer with a triangular head, and finally a yellow zombie that looked like some kind of childish superhero with a bucket shaped head.

"Master Moria! Master Moria! The Mysterious Three have arrived!" they all chanted together.

"That's fast," Moria said approvingly. "Come in!"

"The Mysterious Three?" Nami asked in confusion.

"Including Moria there are four," Brook explained, "But they were the ones who ruled over Thriller Bark. Moria… Hogback… Absalom… and Perona…"

Chopper's eyes narrowed at the mention of Hogback; how could someone like him even think of himself as a doctor?

"Then there are the General Zombies, who were once legendary figures in life but serve as commanders for the rest of the zombies," Brook went on, "The Surprise Zombies came next…"

"Surprise?" Franky asked in confusion.

"Zombies that disguise themselves as everyday objects to scare enemies. Like those portrait zombies? Those were some of them," Brook answered as the Weakling Trio looked at each other and remembered that stupid jack-in-the-box and all those things in the dining room. Oh, why couldn't they have taken one of the others with them on Mini Merry?

"After that were the soldier zombies… just common zombies for combat," Brook counted off, "They were all over the island as you had seen. And there were two others… Wild Zombies that Perona controlled… and the Spider Mice…"

Usopp shivered at the memory of dealing with all those stupid animal zombies and that ghost girl. How could she really think those things were cute?!

Meanwhile the three little zombies all chorus, "Please enter!" and three people walked inside. Chopper's gritted his teeth at the sight of one of them… a man with a rounded body and thin limbs, a beak-like nose and pointed ears. He also had a scar that started from one corner of a big smile on his face as well as a black tattoo of two slashes that curled into swirls on his shoulder with a fishnet vest, purple pants with matching gloves that covered his long claw-like fingers.

Right next to him was a man that made Nami cringe back in disgust. He was a richly dressed man with an ankle length coat and high collar, a white shirt with two stylized crosses on it, and a round white hat on his head. But what really got their attention was the disgusting muzzle of a lion stitched on his face.

"Who's that guy?" Zoro asked, looking at him.

"He's the Invisible Man," Nami said as Sanji's eyes burned with a fire that made him look like he was filling up with steam.

"Funny, he doesn't look it," Zoro replied.

"He ate the Clear Clear Fruit," Sanji said, anger still boiling inside him as he fought the urge to break that bastard's face. Oh, he owed this bastard several times over for some of the disgusting things he had done. How he had touched Robin on the Sunny… kidnapping Nami, seeing her naked, and tried to marry her! Oh, if he ever saw that freak again, he was going to break every single bone in his body until even a zombie was in better shape than he was! He tried to re-master his anger, and it did mostly disappear when he saw the girl that was with them. A young girl with big round eyes, light pink hair that was tied in two high pigtails with a red crown with a cross on top. She was dressed in striped tights and a shirt with a matching mini-skirt of red, white, and pink with matching boots and a red umbrella shaped like a cute mini devil was in her hand.

'Oh her…' Zoro thought when he saw her. He had gone into a kind of alliance with her, but he personally found her whiny and complained about every little thing. Still… he supposed that he did owe her a lot when she helped him train… though he never did forget how tried to force him to become her servant and dress him up as that stupid bear.

"Oh," Moria said in a pleased voice when he saw the three of them there, "You're all here. Hurry up and make me the Pirate King."

"Immediately," they all said at once.

"How can they make him the Pirate King?!" Chopper said angrily.

"I think that he would've been impossible for us to defeat if he had worked hard for it," Robin told him as she thought it over. "If he had put a lot of effort into his powers and getting stronger we probably never would've beaten him. He told us as much that he believed that if he had strong underlings then he could sit back and let them do all the work."

"In other words, he's lazy," Zoro said rolling his eye. "He didn't do anything for himself and let others pick up the slack for him. It's like what happened with Arlong… he went to the East Blue and let his flunkies do all the fighting for him, isn't that what you said, Nami?"

"Yeah," she nodded grimly. "He hardly did any real work unless you count terrorizing the villagers for fun. Jimbei-chan kept fighting in the Grand Line and that's why he's so strong. He kept pushing himself as Arlong sat back and couldn't care less."

"And we all know how that ends," Sanji said, breathing out a puff of smoke, glad that he could have all the cigarettes that he wanted now for his nerves.

"What are you all talking about?" Luffy demanded from inside his cage and they all turned to look at him. "The one who'll be the King of the Pirates… will be ME!"

This had reminded them all so much of when they were in Orange Town and how Luffy had been locked in a cage back then when he told Buggy off in the exact same way. But this time, even though Moria was a cocky bastard, he was much smarter and infinitely more powerful than Buggy could ever hope to be. Luffy still fought against his bindings as he roared out, "Untie me and fight! Lemme out!"

Moria just smirked back at him as Luffy continued on yelling, "Usopp, Nami, Chopper, Sanji, Zoro… GIVE THEM ALL BACK! WHERE'D THEY GO, PICKLE HEAD?!"

"Where'd he come up with pickle?" Franky whispered.

"I still think he looks like an onion or some kind of vegetable," Sanji said casually.

"He's got quite a spirit on him," Hogback admitted as he looked over at him, "So this is Straw Hat Luffy?"

At that moment another zombie showed up and looked much more human than the other zombies they had seen up to that point. Like all other zombies, she had various stitches across her body, including a web-like pattern on her left leg and the number 400 tattooed onto her skin. She had short blonde hair with a short black evening gown and a red-orange fur boa wrapped around her neck. But what really got your attention were her doll-like eyes… they were cold… empty… lifeless… they sent chills up your spine.

"It's her…" Nami whispered, her eyes wide when she saw her. "Victoria Cindry."

"Who?" Sanji asked, looking at her empty eyes and his heart constricted painfully… a woman—even if she's a zombie—isn't supposed to look that cold.

"She was once a famous stage actress," Nami explained, "But she died in a fatal accident and so Hogback stole her corpse and turned her into a zombie."

"How dare he?!" Sanji growled, his eyes burning in rage. "It's tragic enough that a beautiful, young woman would be forced to leave this world… BUT TO DESECRATE HER GRAVE AND STEAL THE BODY!? THAT'S DISGUSTING!"

Chopper nodded firmly by his side in full agreement. He once idolized Hogback because of his reputation of being a legendary doctor who had once saved countless people's lives. But when he saw how he treated Cindry and his disregard for human life just so that he could use his medical expertise for fame and wealth… he no longer saw him as a doctor and only wished that he could smash his head when he had the chance.

"No matter how you look at him," Perona said sweetly as she looked Luffy over, "For him to stand against the World Government seems impossible."

"Looks are deceiving," Zoro said at once, wishing that she could hear him, "You don't look particularly dangerous yourself. You think you'd know better than that by now."

"He even wore armor against the General Zombies," Absalom added, looking at him up and down.

"You don't know anything do you?!" Luffy demanded from inside the cage. "I look really cool in armor!"

"Yeah! That's right!" Chopper added loudly. "So watch it!"

"Please, his Armaments Haki is stronger than any armor," Sanji sighed, his arms raised in a helpless gesture. "Why he thinks that he looks good in it is something I'll never know."

"Because it's awesome!" Franky said as if it was obvious, patting his own metal body.

"What are you talking about?!" Absalom yelled, "How can you look cool if you're tied up and strapped inside a cage?!"

"I may hate that guy, but he does give a good point," Nami pointed out, unable to come up with any kind of good counter for that logic.

"I saw back on Fishman Island, Luffy was tied up when the people there thought that we were kidnapping Shirahoshi! And he was still able to pummel Decken into the ground!" Chopper chirped up.

"Really?" Usopp asked impressed.

"Okay, but he needs to get out of that cage first…" Nami pointed out.

"Hey, Straw Hat Luffy!" Moria suddenly spoke up, "You just threw out a lot of names, but we're only after you three!" He held up his hand and they could see three wanted posters sticking out like they were playing cards. "The Pirate Hunter Zoro… and the other one I sent for is Blondie."

At the name, Zoro burst out laughing and Sanji looked as if he had just been kicked in the face. He was shaking in rage as some of the others began to laugh at the new nickname, with Brook and Zoro, laughing louder than ever.

"Hm?" Luffy asked, looking confused. "Blondie can't fit anyone but Sanji, but…?"

"That's what I'm going to call you from now on Blondie," Zoro smirked at him.

"Oh, you shut up!" Sanji yelled at him, "Like being a Moss Head's any better! And you shut up too, Brook!" he added to the laughing skeleton. As they continued to poke fun at Sanji's expense, they didn't notice that one more zombie had come inside. It was a large zombie that looked like a huge patch worked teddy bear with white, blue, and orange patches covering his body and bandages over his lower body, arms and legs. He also wore a mask over his mouth, yet for some reason they heard slight voices coming from him.

Robin was the first to notice and when the bear turned, she spotted a large zipper in the back were a few familiar faces were just peeking through.

"Nami?" she asked, "Just asking, but why are you, Usopp, and Chopper in that zombie?"

Zoro, who had just been reminded how Perona once made him dress up like that, blinked and got closer so that he could indeed see them all in there.

"Well, there wasn't much choice!" Usopp countered embarrassed. "We were being chased and attacked by zombies since we set foot on this stupid island and we needed a place to hide!"

"We didn't even know it was a zombie until it started moving!" Chopper added.

"But we were able to see everything that was going on," Nami also spoke up. "We saw them take Luffy's shadow and put it inside Oz…"

"And you didn't think to help him?" Zoro asked with his eyebrow raised and they fell silent for a moment.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT FROM US?!" Usopp roared at him.

"IF WE COULDN'T EVEN STAND A CHANCE AGAINST THOSE WEAK ZOMBIES! WHAT MADE YOU THINK THAT WE COULD HANDLE THEM?!" Nami spat out.

"WE WANTED TO HELP, BUT WE WOULDN'T HAVE STOOD A CHANCE!" Chopper sobbed out, tears falling. "I mean…" he went on in a more quiet voice, "he was a Warlord after all…"

Nami had calmed down and added, "We wanted to help… and we were so scared when we saw his shadow stolen… but what else could we do? Even Luffy had to practically kill himself to beat that guy after all."

"No, I perfectly understand. That must've been a hard thing for you three to see and not be able to do anything to help," Brook said sympathetically, knowing that feeling all too well, "But more than anything… I'm surprised that bear didn't tell anyone that you were there."

"Well… one good thing about that ghost girl," Usopp said, "She doesn't like her zombies to talk."

Meanwhile, Hogback was asking Perona whatever happened to the 'three' that he sent to her. They all knew right away who they must've been talking about and Chopper quickly explained that after Brook's zombie attacked them, the two squirrel zombies that were supposed to bring them to Moria accidently dropped them and woke them up and they were able to escape before they were brought here. Though now that he thought about it, didn't the Rolling Pirates have two guys that were called the Risky Brothers? Did that mean that those squirrels were their zombies?

At that moment, the bear zombie stumbled over to Perona and held up his paws, as if about to tell her something, at least until they heard memory Usopp's voice whisper, "Don't speak. You, don't speak!"

"You see?" Usopp pointed out as the bear made what sounded like a choking sound, before she snapped at him again not to say a word. "This worked out for us… he was so devoted to her that he didn't dare go against her orders."

"Don't see why he would be following them anyway," Zoro shrugged at the thought.

"You're harsh on Bearsy like always," Absalom said, and he sounded a little sorry for the bear. "But among those three is my bride, and she seems to have made a mess in your garden."

"LIKE HELL!" Nami yelled out furiously, remembering how that jerk knocked her out and she woke up with him trying to kiss her.

"You took the words out of my mouth, Nami-swan…" Sanji said as fire began to burn his body again. "For how dare that bastard try to do something like that? To marry you?! Over my dead body I was going to let that happen!" He then shut his eyes and remembered Nami in that beautiful wedding gown… 'If she is to marry anybody… it will be me! But I will wait until she realizes her true feelings for me! To knock a woman out and force her to marry against her will…? No real man would do that.'

And he was suddenly wishing that he could kick that guy's ass again… he wasn't able to fight him properly while he was protecting Nami, but on a one on one… that bastard would never have stood a chance. It didn't matter anymore that he could turn invisible either. If he should ever come across that piece of shit again, he was a dead man.

As he had been lost in thought, Absalom turned to Hogback and had somehow come to the conclusion that he had taken Nami and demanded that he give her back. Cindry suddenly walked up and stood in front of Hogback—not as if she was protecting him, but merely because she wanted to block him out—and said in a cold and almost metallic voice, "Your bride won't come for you."

"Thank you, Cindry," Nami sighed and as Absalom cried out in anger at the sight of her, Hogback screamed in fear, trying to tell her not to make the conversation worse and asking why she was always walking in front of him.

Instead of answering, she turned to Hogback and answered, "Yours won't come for you either."

"You know, I think I like this zombie," Franky smirked as Hogback screamed out how much pain he was in and asked just where that came from. As they argued, they spotted the three sticking out from Bearsy. Bearsy tried again to something to Perona, but again she glared at him and yelled at him to shut up as Absalom declared that he had decided that Nami would be his bride.

"Not even in your dreams you disgusting pervert!" Sanji roared again, running over and kicking him, only to see remember how pointless it was to fight and he growled worse than ever, his fire just burning so high that they had to back away from him so that they wouldn't get burnt.

"Hey, Blondie!" Zoro called, "Turn the flames down!"

"YOU WANT TO DIE?!" Sanji roared back at him, "BECAUSE I'M NOT AFRAID TO KICK YOUR ASS!"

"Sanji?" Robin asked, "Please calm down."

"Yes! Robin my love!" Sanji gasped out, his anger fading so quickly it was as if someone had poured water on him.

"Wow… that was quick," Chopper whispered.

"Your bride doesn't love you," Cindry reminded Absalom again.

"She's pretty rebellious for a zombie," Franky said with another laugh. "She's got attitude."

"Maybe…" Chopper said, the funny mood disappearing at once as he watched Absalom yell at her, and Hogback warning her not to make him angry. But despite that, she was still forced to serve him… no matter what the order was. His eyes narrowed and his hoofs would've curled into fists if he could as he remembered how Hogback made her lick the floor like that. But he did feel a little grim satisfaction as Cindry added to Hogback, "Yours won't ever love you either… ever."

"Scary!" he yelled, "You mean ever? Why hit me with two of the same bullets?!"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Moria yelled, finally looked ticked off at the arguing. "All that blabbering is getting on my nerves! If those pirates ran away, you can do something about it later!" They all shut up at once and turned back to him as he told them that the reason he summoned them here was because he wanted them to see the moment when they increased their battle strength because they now had Luffy.

"Well…" Robin said, looking back at the cage. "They have to catch him first."

"What do you…?" Franky asked, but when he looked he had seen that the three little zombies that had been with them were sent flying and Luffy was now on the floor, crawling away like an inchworm.

"How'd he get out of there?!" Brook gasped out. He remembered when they caught him and how they had kept him tied up in much the same manner as they tried to figure out what he was before they stole his shadow.

"Look at the cage," Robin chuckled and when they did, they saw that it bars had been chewed right in half.

"Dang! Talk about having a strong bite!" Franky yelled out.

"I guess all the food he eats had given him a mouth that can bite through pretty much anything," Nami said with a deadpanned expression.

"I've heard of someone biting the bullet… but biting through a metal cage?" Sanji said impressed. The three little zombies pointed to the cage and told Moria the same thing. Moria seemed to be mildly fascinated with that as he looked back to Luffy with interest.

"How are you gonna catch me now?!" Luffy demanded as he continued to crawl away.

"Well, you're not breaking any land speed records, Luffy!" Usopp yelled, not sure if he should laugh or not. Hogback had no such problems and laughed as Absalom looked ready to take him out. But it was Perona who told them that she would take care of it and she threw her umbrella to the floor as she went charging after Luffy. Luffy taunted her, yelling that she could never catch him, but she merely smiled as she held up her hands and out of her palms came the ghosts from before.

"That sucks…" Franky said, remembering how he just wanted to curl up and die after being hit with one of those. They were just pure evil if you ask him. But the ghosts all laughed as three of them went right through Luffy's body and Zoro winced sympathetically when he saw that. Luffy's whole body sort of seized up before his eyes widen in shock and curled up on the floor in a fetal position, whispering that if he was reborn, he wanted to be a sea cucumber.

"That's harsh…" Sanji whispered, shaking his head, feeling really bad for Luffy. That was rough. The little ghosts were hovering above his head as they continued to dance happily, and even Absalom seemed to be feeling bad for Luffy when he saw the effect—even moving a little further away from Perona. But with Luffy in this state, he didn't even try to fight back as they dragged him out into the middle of the floor and took off his armor so that they could string him up from the ceiling by the spider webs.

By the time they finished, he had finally snapped out of it and began to yell at them to let him go already. But they knew that it was too late. They had all wanted to jump in and do something to help him, to get rid of those stupid threads and to keep Moria away from him. There was nothing they could do and they just hated that fact.

Moria had ignored Luffy's words as he ordered the others to turn the light on. Hogback, Absalom, Perona, and the zombies all stood back and behind a giant spotlight before they switched it on. The light it shone was so bright that it cast Luffy's shadow so that it was pitch black and elongated almost the length of the room. They watched in helpless horror as Luffy continued to yell out at them, demanding to know what was going on.

But Moria just smirked even wider, a rather insane smile on his face as he reached down one of his giant hands and slowly began to peel Luffy's shadow right off the floor like it was gum. Luffy stared down in shock as Moria pulled off his shadow's head and then pulled… like he was picking up a stray piece of tape, he pulled the shadow until it reached Luffy's feet and the web that was holding him suspended snapped. With his eyes wide in horror, Luffy yelled as his head hit the floor and he was then back to hanging in the air, his shadow in Moria's hands, connected only by his feet.

"We've seen some scary and bizarre Devil Fruit powers…" Nami whispered softy, "But this had to be one of the scariest… and most bizarre. I mean, who sits around thinks up this kind of stuff?!"

"Someone with a strange mind…" was all Sanji could say, unable to look away as he remembered having his own shadow stolen in much of the same way. He had just thought it was a bad dream until he woke up and saw that it was indeed gone.

Brook wasn't able to watch and looked away, the others unable to stop gapping at the sight of seeing Moria holding onto Luffy's shadow in such a way. With him still cackling, he pulled out a massive pair of scissors in his other hand.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Luffy screamed out, his eyes full of terror for the first time since coming to this island, as he stared up at his shadow. "WHAT'D YOU DO TO MY SHADOW?!"

Moria only smirked down at him one more time as he stretched the shadow out a little more and held the scissors right across from it so that they were right above Luffy's feet. Luffy yelled at him, but then Moria snipped at it and completely cut Luffy's shadow away from him. They watched as Luffy's eyes widen more from shock rather than pain before they slowly shut and the last thing they saw was him hitting the ground where the memory blacked out completely.

"He truly has a terrifying ability," Robin said, remembering how he had cut her own shadow from her and hoped that it would never happen again.

"Did… did it really… hurt?" Chopper asked hesitantly.

Brook, Robin, Zoro and Sanji all looked at each other before Robin answered, "I wouldn't say it hurt…"

"But it wasn't exactly painless either," Zoro said with a grumpy expression, "I felt as if someone had ripped a part of me away… but right after that…?"

"You black out," Sanji nodded as he lit up another cigarette. "Same thing for me… after my shadow was taken I don't remember anything that happened after that."

"It's more terrifying than painful…" Brook finished with a serious nod as he strummed the guitar strings in a melancholy way. He could never forget… the terror of a life without a shadow… living in constant fear of the sun… And it brought a great deal of sadness to his heart to know that some of his crew had experienced that same fear… not that he had a heart anymore.

He glanced down to the ground and though he couldn't see his shadow this late at night, he couldn't ever forget the joy of having it back home with him. But that was all in the past now. And he was going to make sure that he'd never get it taken from him again.

When the memory reappeared, they thought that something was wrong, for there was nothing but darkness around them. But then, in the distance, they heard memory Usopp's voice suddenly ringing out as if he were an echo…

"A BEAUTIFUL LADY SWORDSMAN JUST BROUGHT SOME MEAT!"

"Really!?" Brook gasped in shock, when did this happen?

"Not really…" Usopp sighed in understanding as the memory finally took form. They were standing in the dining room onboard the Sunny. But they could see that it was a complete mess—like the zombies who had been here had had a wild party before they ransacked the whole thing. Everyone but Nami and Brook was there in the room… and all three of the Monster Trio were lying on the floor… looking as if they had just had the crap beaten out of them for they all bore large lumps on the backs of their heads.

"Damn… do you know how hard it was for me to try and wake you guys up?" Franky asked. "I mean… you were out of it. Didn't you feel any of the poundings I gave you?"

"Nope," Zoro said coolly.

"Not a bit…" Sanji added.

"So… getting beaten by me doesn't wake you up, but what Usopp said did?" Franky yelled at them, feeling insulted. But as he watched he saw the strange shivers going up the men's spines and they slowly seemed to come too, pushing themselves up onto all fours.

"Beautiful Lady?" Sanji asked, a chopstick hanging from his nose.

"Meat?" Luffy asked, one eye still shut.

"Swordsman?" Zoro finished, where his one eye was shut where the scar would one day be.

"YOU GUYS ARE HOPELESS!" memory Chopper yelled at them.

"And I still firmly believe that!" the current Chopper yelled at them.

"But we woke them up," Robin smiled as she glanced at Usopp and added, "Nice job there, Usopp. I was afraid that we were going to have to really get violent to wake them up."

"It's not easy to wake up from having a shadow stolen," Brook said, as he remembered the seagull that had been pecking at his skull when he first woke up. So he felt their pain…

All three of the Monster Trio still seemed to be groggy—as if they had too much to drink the night before and were having nasty hangovers. But Luffy's memory of what happened seem to be the first to come back as he looked around wildly and yelled in rage. He jumped to his feet, looking ready to take on anyone who got in his way, but thankfully, Franky stopped him but holding up his hand an catching Luffy's face, yelling at him to calm down because Moria wasn't here.

The other two still seemed to be a little on the lost and confused side until Luffy finally noticed where they were. "This is…?" he asked, some of his anger fading away.

"We're back on the Sunny," Franky answered as Luffy's eyes widen and he turned to run to the storage where they kept the food, looking for a good meal as memory Zoro was asking them what happened before he noticed that his own shadow was gone.

"That is the strangest feeling," the current Zoro sighed. "It was like… you weren't really all there."

"Well, you're never all there, Moss Head, so you would know," Sanji spoke up.

"Oh, shut it Blondie!" he yelled and the two were glaring at the other as Luffy came running back in with a handful of cheese and telling them tearfully that their food was all gone.

"But…" memory Zoro said, looking at his hand before slapping his face. "This is dishonorable! I let my guard down!"

"We all did…" present-day Robin sighed. "I guess our victory at Enies Lobby and over CP9 made us all overconfident. We need to be more careful from now on."

They all nodded firmly at her words as Luffy lamented the fact that there wasn't even any crackers to go with the cheese and that they lost their Pirate Lunchboxes somewhere on the island. But memory Sanji finally seemed to notice that someone from their crew was missing and asked them were Nami was. Chopper and Usopp were standing far back against the wall, as if they were about to face the gallows; clearly looking like they had wanted to wait until later to tell him the truth. The two shared a scared glance with the other.

"Why don't you tell him, Chopper?" past Usopp offered.

"But I thought that you were going to say it!" Chopper whispered back.

"You think that I want to die?!" he moaned out as Sanji growled at them both, demanding that they tell him. The two gulped fearfully as Usopp stuttered out how Nami was kidnapped by an invisible man.

In his rage, Sanji charged forward and grabbed Usopp by the front of his shirt and was soon yelling out so loudly that everyone on the island must've heard him, "SHE WAS KIDNAPPED?! WHY DIDN'T YOU GET HER BACK?!"

"We really did try to get you back you know," the current Usopp said quickly to Nami, afraid that she was going to charge him for that too, "We really did fight hard for you!"

"I know…" she sighed, rubbing her tired eyes. "I'm just glad that I came too before I was forced to marry that guy."

'Though if she did marry him, I'd pity that poor bastard,' Zoro thought to himself. No one deserved the pain of being married to a vampire like her… though maybe that's why that stitched up Invisible Man fell for her?

Memory Usopp apologized over and over, trying to explain that it wasn't like they handed her over, but Sanji wasn't listening as he demanded to know who it was and where he took her so that he'd go and get her back himself.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Usopp begged, "At least hold on until you've heard everything!"

Memory Sanji looked as if he could care less what he had to say at the moment, but after a few more seconds, he let him go, though his expression said it clearly that he was talk fast. Usopp cleared his throat and said, "Alright, let's get this all straight. There are two things here that we can't afford not to take back!"

"Food… Nami… and our shadows!" Luffy counted off, "That's three things!"

"Did he just put food before me?!" Nami demanded furiously, now wanting to give Luffy a good punch in the head for that.

"One of those things doesn't matter!" memory Usopp snapped, voicing Nami. "Let's focus on Nami and our shadows for now."

"At least one of us had their goals straight," the current Usopp sighed as they followed their past selves onto the deck and they quickly began to explain everything that happened to each other since they got separated. His past self started things off by explaining that they crashed the Mini Merry into the wall and landed inside a waterless moat before they were chased by a three-headed stitched up dog.

Luffy blinked at that before he finally smiled, having finished his cheese. "Oh yeah! You mean that giant dog?! He was fun to ride around on!"

"YOU RODE ON HIM?!" memory Chopper gasped at him.

"Yeah," past Zoro shrugged, "He really wasn't that tough."

"Thanks a lot for that!" the current Usopp whimpered as he remembered shamefully how easily Luffy dealt with that stupid dog and it made him feel even worse.

His past self and Chopper shared heart-broken expressions before he bravely wiped his eyes and told them that they managed to escape it by running up a tree and found some kind of vampire-like zombie called Hildon up there who said that he'd take him back to Dr. Hogback's mansion.

"Hogback?" memory Sanji repeated in confusion.

And so they just watched as they caught each other up on what had happened to them all so far. They didn't bother to say anything, though Usopp and Chopper were continuing to look miserable when they found out how the others told them how weak the zombies were when they fought them. But memory Chopper grimly explained that Hogback was a famous doctor that went missing many years ago. Hildon brought along a carriage for them to ride in as they headed up to the mansion, but when they saw the zombies outside, Nami had begged Hildon to take them back to the shore. He had said that he was just going to tell the driver of the carriage to turn around, but he never came back. Finally, they decided to look out themselves and found out that the horses, who Usopp was convinced had to be zombies as well, were gone and they were stuck in the middle of a graveyard with zombies attacking them.

Memory Usopp proudly told them that he had been able to take care of them by scaring them with fire before they got to the mansion and met Hogback, who they later discovered was the one who was creating the zombies.

That was when Robin and Franky stepped in by telling them that the one who stole their shadows was Gecko Moria, one of the Seven Warlords. And when they found out, both Usopp and Chopper looked ready to cry.

"I guess we should've known from the start," current Chopper whispered out as he watched the two in front of them freak out at the news.

"All the Warlords we met up until Jimbei do seem to be rather nuts," Sanji sighed tiredly, but then he remembered seeing that beautiful woman at Sabaody and Robin had said that she was one of the Warlords. What was her name again…? Boa Hancock? Oh… truly a goddess in human form!

As he continued to drool over the image of Hancock in his mind, memory Robin was explaining how Moria had the powers of the Shadow Shadow Fruit that allows him to steal and control shadows. With the shadow, he places it into a lifeless corpse in order to create a zombie minion. As for the original owner of the shadow, they will enter a two day coma once their shadow is separated from them, which was what happened to them until they work them up.

"Then why didn't they kill us?" memory Zoro asked in confusion. "I mean… it's the perfect chance isn't it? We're completely defenseless. It would've been easy for them to do so."

"Maybe," memory Robin agreed, "However, we're no good to them dead." And she quickly explained if they die, then their shadows will go with them because a shadow is like half of their soul. So if they die, all Moria will have is an corpse… instead, they send the victims out to sea to hide in this dark fog so that they can't come back and get their shadow's back since their bodies would vaporize if they're touched by sunlight.

But she also informed them that his zombies are all created from the powers of a Devil Fruit and if they're given salt, because it holds the power of the sea, the zombie will become purified and the shadow will leave to return to its original owner.

Still crying over the news of them going up against another Warlord, memory Usopp spoke up sorrowfully how he had seen them do it. They were attacked by all sorts of zombies, but they had found Sanji's… a dog-face penguin zombie—who protected Nami when she was being attack and even claimed that he would never harm a lady even when he was given an order to do so.

"Wow…" Brook said respectfully when he glanced at Sanji. "Most zombies have some kind rebellion in them at first… but so far, I've never seen any defy orders completely."

"Yeah, but that didn't last long," Chopper informed them, "Because that zombie attacked Robin."

"WHAT?!" Sanji yelled out, a heart broken expression on his face. "YOU MEAN… I… HURT YOU ROBIN?!"

"Not at all," she answered kindly, "I know that it wasn't really you. And it wasn't at all bad. I think he held back on me."

But that last part was a lie. The kick that denguin gave her almost ended up breaking a few ribs, but she knew that it wasn't really Sanji who was in there and that was all ancient history. She didn't remotely bear a grudge against the cook.

Sanji stared at her before he fell to his knees and started to cry. "Such kind words… and that beautiful smile…" Sanji sobbed, hammering his fists on the ground, "I don't deserve them."

"This is so stupid…" Zoro growled, his anger for Moria growing. "How could someone actually have that much control over a person?"

"It's disturbing," Robin sighed, "I've heard that Moria was killed during the war… but at the same time I've also heard rumors that he was spotted alive. I'm not sure if he's still out there or not."

"Why is it that it seems like we're just going to keep running into old enemies?" Usopp whispered tearfully as his past self finally told Sanji how Nami was kidnapped by Absalom right after they had seen Moria take Luffy's shadow and went inside this freezer where they had found seen a zombie giant. A giant larger than any other that they had ever seen… even normal giants were puny compared to him.

But they had seen Moria place Luffy's shadow inside it and that was when the thing woke up and began to roar for food. That was when they tried to run for it… but Nami was grabbed by the Invisible Man just before they reached the exit and proclaimed that he was going to marry her.

'What a brave man,' Zoro, Usopp, Chopper, Franky, and Brook were all thinking privately. But they couldn't help but feel bad for that Absalom guy… he honestly had no idea what he was getting himself into.

"I'm just glad that I'm still single after that," Nami sighed, shivering at the thought of being married to a guy like him. She has standards you know!

"You could've married someone who had an army of zombies under his control," Franky teased her.

"HE HAD ANIMAL PARTS STITCHED ONTO HIM AND IS A DIGUSTING PERVERT!" Nami screamed at him.

"Well, someone's picky," he laughed, holding up his hands to show her that he was only kidding.

Memory Sanji however looked ready to start choking at that word. "M-M-MARRIAGE?!" he roared out, bursting into flames, "ARE YOU SHITTING ME?! DAMN THAT BASTARD TO HELL!"

"I agree with myself!" current Sanji yelled out, looking just as furious as his other half, and looked ready to fight the next thing that dared to tick him off.

Luffy then voiced what the men had all been thinking, once again striking them all by how fearless he was…

"He must be brave if he wants to marry Nami," Luffy said, glancing at them in an impressed way.

"You jerk!" Nami yelled at him, now really wishing that she could give him a good pounding.

"It was nice knowing you, captain," present Usopp whispered, springing into a mournful salute, and knowing that Nami was going to kill him as soon as she got her hands on him when they got him back.

Luffy then looked back at them all and asked, "And I'm a giant?! How'd they do something like that?!"

"So that means we know who has Luffy's and the cook's shadows, right, Usopp?" memory Zoro asked coolly as both Usopp and Chopper sulked on the ground with tears at the discovery of another Warlord, and muttered how scared they were all of a sudden.

"You guys didn't know?" memory Franky asked in surprise.

"How could we have possibly known?!" current Usopp demanded furiously. If he had known from the start then he never would've set foot on the island in the first place.

"OF COURSE WE DIDN'T KNOW!" the two yelled at him as memory Usopp seemed to remember something important and went running off to get something.

"I see," Luffy said thinking all over. "So if the zombies don't look like us…" he glanced at Zoro and informed him, "I saw your zombie, Zoro."

"I still don't see how he was able to tell it was your shadow in there, Zoro," Chopper whispered, remembering how he had seen that thing and couldn't tell it was him at all.

"I guess it's something about the unusual bond that you both have," Robin smiled, "You both think very much the same way so I think it's only natural that he would've been able to sense your shadow in there. You are both extremely loyal to each other, fight well together, and plus, since you were the first person he picked for the crew, you and Luffy share a deep bond."

"I don't recall asking you," Zoro said rather stiffly as his past self asked Luffy what he was like.

Luffy thought it all over for a moment before he admitted, "It kinda felt like you, and he even sounded a bit like you, but he didn't look like you, at all."

"At least he was able to tell that much," Zoro shrugged.

"I don't know, I thought he looked just like you, Moss Head," Sanji spoke up.

"Like how your poster looks like you, Blondie?" he retorted and the two looked ready to kill each other until Robin grew several arms out of their backs and restrained them both to prevent them from throwing themselves to fighting to the death.

"Please," she said tiredly, "This is growing to be quite enough alright?"

"Yes, Robin my dear!" Sanji sighed as she let her arms dissolve into flower petals, and Zoro looked away grumpily.

"Really, if you two keep this up, then I'll really give you a reason to start screaming," Nami threatened, and this they took seriously because she looked as though she had just reached her breaking point here.

"Well, whatever," memory Zoro said with a roll of his eyes as he looked back to the others. "Then, if we find that geezer, Luffy's giant, and the cook's denguin… and throw salt into their mouths, our shadows will return, right?"

"Denguin?" Brook repeated in confusion.

"Half penguin and half dog right?" Zoro answered, "Only makes sense."

"Oh! I see it now!" Brook said happily, hitting his fist into the palm of his hand.

"Yes, exactly," memory Franky confirmed as Usopp finally came back, dragging the mini Usopp Factory with him and laid it out as he sat down so that he could begin to work on making more of projectiles made out of salt for the zombies.

"But to find such a weakness, nice job," memory Zoro complemented.

"The one who told us about the salt trick, and to go get you guys, was actually that skeleton," past Franky admitted.

"How did you know about that anyway Brook?" Nami asked him curiously and Brook fidgeted a little at the question.

"When I had my shadow stolen five years before we met, I managed to wake up rather quickly after that so I could retrace my steps and return for it," he answered. "And I was here for some time… several nights I believe and I was able to overhear some zombies talking about salt."

He remembered those lonely years of being trapped on that ship with the rudder broken, and how he was completely at the mercy of the ocean's currents. He did everything that he could think off to keep himself from losing his mind—but he spent most of his days asleep, dreaming of better times before he would be forced to wake up and find a lonely and cruel reality waiting for him and he truly missed the company of people.

After nearly fifty years of merely drifting around, he thought it was some kind of miracle to finally come across Thriller Bark. He was just so happy to step onto land again after all this time that he didn't even notice just how scary it looked until he was chased by the zombies. After he was captured by Moria, he had seen how he was able to create zombies. Once he was finally able to return to Thriller Bark after having his shadow stolen, he remembered spying on some zombies and how they had eaten salted fish before the shadows had left. He felt the urge to laugh at himself when he thought that it had been the fish instead of the salt.

He looked up at the sky and remembered how he had finally found his zombie Ryuma and how he had proven to be stronger than him… how he was forced to beg for mercy and had ran away in shame. He was only glad that it all worked out in the end for him and his friends.

When Franky mentioned the word skeleton, Luffy's whole expression brightened up and asked happily, "What? You ran into Brook?!"

"Yeah," memory Franky confirmed, "We ran into him. And when we did, I guess I asked him a pretty rude question." They all looked at him as he went on, "You know, from the moment that you wanted to make him one of the crew, I can't say that I was thrilled with the idea."

"No offense, bro," the current Franky added to Brook who waved his apology away.

"I understand, Franky-san," he said cheerfully, "When I first saw my face—though I don't truly have one—I screamed in fear. I know that it couldn't have been easy to have someone like me onboard your crew. But I shall work myself to the bone to make sure that you never regret it!"

They all smiled back at him. Truth-be-told, his antics often got on their nerves, but they couldn't imagine ever continuing on their journey without him.

Memory Franky continued on, "But even though he's a skeleton… I talked to him and I have to admit that he's got bones. And I'm not talking about his skeleton." They all looked at him in confusion, not one of them made a single sound other than Usopp grinding the salt. "He's…" Franky said, his hand a fist. "He's… He's… he's a man!"

"Oh, Franky-san!" Brook gasped out, tears fell from his empty eye sockets. "Those words mean so much! Thank you for your kindness."

"I mean it, bro," Franky answered back tearfully. "Not too many people would be willing to go through what you did all just to keep a promise to a whale. And after seeing the memory of Laboon… I understand just why you went through that hell!"

The two were crying together, arm-in-arm as the rest of them watched the scene. Memory Usopp stopped the grinding noise as memory Franky confessed that he asked Brook a question.

"It just didn't add up to me," he told them, "I mean… I just had to know what he was fighting for. I knew that even if he got out of this cursed sea, he would still be living alone for years. There was something he wasn't telling us… and if it were me, I'd have given up on living a long time ago. He said that he had made some kind of promise with his crewmates and I just had to know what the promise was."

He sighed grimly, none of them saying a word, as if transfixed by what he was saying. "And he told me. He said that fifty years ago he and his crew had no choice but to leave a baby whale at the entrance to the Grand Line and the reason he's still alive is because he's trying to find a way back to him. He told me about how much guilt he had inside him at the thought of leaving him behind, but promised him that they would come back someday. Even if it's been fifty years, he said that there was even the tiniest chance that Laboon was still waiting for them, he had to at least try to make it back to him. He said that if he died out, that whale would never forgive them for it because death doesn't count as an apology."

"No," Brook said grimly, "A promise is something sacred and to never be made lightly. If you make a promise with someone, it becomes a pledge, something to always relay on… and you have to keep it no matter how hard it is."

"I gotta give you a lot of credit, Brook," Robin said, understanding just how painful it was to be forced to be alone. Though Brook had been much more isolated than she had been, she had still been made to live on her own for years on end. "How were you able to go through all that and not lose it?"

"It was thanks to Laboon," Brook answered as if they should've guessed from the start. "It was far from easy or pleasant, but I just kept picturing him and reminding myself how wonderful that feeling will be when I finally made it back to him! Oh! I do hope that he's doing alright right now! I can't wait to tell him everything that's happened! Yohohoho!"

But at Laboon's name, the four men in the memory were staring at Franky—as if sure they had heard wrong.

"And therefore he has…" memory Franky said before he noticed the looks on their faces and stopped talking.

"Laboon," Luffy whispered and Franky blinked in surprise to see his expression.

Zoro had his lips parted slightly in surprise as Usopp's eyes were so wide they looked like they were about to pop out of his head. "Are you for real?" he croaked out, dropping the salt that he had in his hand.

"I can't believe it," Sanji said, taking a drag of his cigarette and the other three were staring at them in confusion.

"I know the feeling," Brook whispered, after all, who could possibly have ever thought that he'd meet people who had met Laboon! He remembered when he saw those memories, and how Luffy had been the one to stop Laboon from killing himself by smashing his head against the Red Line. Tears began to roll down his face once more and he just wanted to find Luffy as soon as possible. If he had known this from the start, that Luffy had been the one to give Laboon hope, he'd have bowed his head so low to him that he'd be touching the floor.

Luffy deserved nothing less than that after this. He was going to thank him from the bottom of his heart for what he did… even if he didn't have one beating inside his ribcage anymore.

"Oh yeah…" Luffy said when he realized the three of them were looking at them funny.

"Right, you weren't with us yet, Chopper," Usopp added when he remembered that this was before they ended up going to Drum.

"We met him," Luffy said, and they could tell from the look on his face that he was thinking of the day that they arrived in the Grand Line. "That whale…"

Memory Chopper and Franky's eyes widen as wide as dinner plates and even Robin looked surprised to hear those words.

"You know him?" past Franky repeated in shock. "Why? What do you mean?"

After breathing out smoke, it was memory Sanji who answered him—and maybe their minds were imagining it, but they couldn't help but think that the puff of smoke looked like it was whale-shaped. "It was by the entrance to the Grand Line. At the Twin Capes… that huge damn whale was there. We thought it was a mountain at first and almost ended up crashing right into it. And because of Luffy's idiocy, he ate us."

"That sure hadn't been a fun day," Nami sighed as she remembered how they were actually inside Laboon's stomach. That Crocus sure had an active imagination for painting his stomach… who does something like that?!

Memory Chopper gulped, "B-By the whale?"

"Who else?" current Zoro whispered to their Chopper, who shrugged.

"How was I supposed to know?" he asked, "You've never mentioned him before!"

"And that's Laboon, yes?" past Robin asked curiously. Memory Sanji confirmed it before he told them all about Crocus, who lived inside his stomach and treated the whale.

"When you first told me, it sounded just so out of there," current Franky muttered, "I mean… inside his stomach?"

"I know what you mean," Nami said, "If I wasn't there I'd probably be asking just what kind of alcohol induced hangover you were having."

They went on to explain how Crocus treated Laboon for years, because he kept bashing his head against the Red Line as he waited fifty years for his crew to return, never once giving up that they would meet up again once they finished sailing around the world.

Memory Chopper stared at him as Sanji finished, "Somehow, Luffy convinced it to stop acting suicidal and trying to break through the Red Line." He looked up to the sky and added, "He's still alive… and still waiting for his crew to return at that cape."

"Oh, Laboon!" Brook cried out, a terrible ache inside him but at the same time it was warm and comforting. "Thank you so much for never giving up on us! I'm so sorry for making you wait all this time, but I promise you that one day I'll make it all up to you!"

"It's an unbelievable story," memory Usopp said, and when they looked at him he looked up with probably the first smile he had since landing at Thriller Bark. "They've been keeping their promise for more than fifty years!"

"Something that I have to admire about you, Brook," the current Usopp said tearfully, hiding his eyes behind his arm. "That story touched my heart the second I heard it, but when I found out that you were also doing everything in your power to try and honor it…?"

"I know… I know!" Brook cried out as he, Franky, and Chopper were all in a group and sobbing their eyes out. In fact they were crying so much so that they couldn't even hear memory Zoro mutter as he glance dup to the mansion, "To think that one of the crewmates that Laboon was waiting for… was that skeleton."

"Laboon…" Brook whispered as the group continued on and on even as the others were telling them to stop crying already. But Brook didn't care… the two of them were all that remained of the Rumbar Pirates. He had lost everything that day… his friends, his face… but he was determined to do whatever it took to get back to his oldest friend. That was why he protected his afro… that was all that he had left that Laboon would recognize him by. 'Just wait a little longer… Laboon…' he thought, 'I hope you're still waiting.'

It was too much for memory Franky—for at that moment he burst out crying to the heavens. "I love that bone-head and the whale!"

"WE GET IT!" memory Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp yelled, their ears covered from the noise.

"Yeah, please guys! We can't hear!" Nami called to their own crying group, who were trying to calm down enough to be able to listen to their words as well.

Luffy jumped to his feet and laughed. "I'm all pumped up!" he yelled as memory Franky sat back down, his face in his hands. "He's a musician! A talking skeleton! Has an afro! And he's Laboon's friend! Even if I end up dragging him onboard, he'll join us on this ship!" he decided, "And join our crew! Anyone have a problem with that?!"

"Luffy-san! I can never thank you enough for all this!" Brook sobbed, using his feathered boa to blow his nose—not that he had one.

"Luffy's a lot of things, but he's surprisingly very good at judging a person's character," Zoro said in an impressed way. "But at the same time, he still trusts too easily. That's gotten us all into a lot of trouble more times than once."

"But can you really be angry with him?" Robin asked him sweetly as her past self chuckled at Luffy's question and reminded him, "Even if we did that wouldn't change your mind."

"I want him to join us!" memory Usopp said completely in agreement. "With Laboon!"

"COMPLETE APPROVAL!" past Franky sobbed out.

"ME TOO YOU BASTARD!" past Chopper yelled, also crying, "I'M NOT AFRAID OF SKELETONS ANYMORE!"

"YOU'RE ALL TOO KIND!" Brook said, giving Chopper a quick hug. "TO KNOW THAT YOU'RE NOT AFRAID OF ME ANYMORE MEANS MORE TO ME THAN WORDS CAN EVER SAY!"

But the touching mood was over at that point.

"Before something that simple," memory Sanji began before he started to burn once again. "I HAVE A WEDDING TO STOP!"

"HELL YA! THERE WAS NO WAY I WAS LETTING YOU WALK DOWN THE AISLE WITH THAT FREAK, NAMI!" the present-day one shouted just as loudly.

'Then why didn't you get there?!' was what she wanted to say, but she couldn't risk another round of shouting and crying because it was making her head ring. But after seeing this moment, she honestly couldn't be angry at Luffy's crazy whim of having Brook join.

Just then, Luffy went running right through them to the side of the ship where he was calling down to Zoro, whom they hadn't noticed was leaving, and asking where he was going.

"Where did he think?" the current one snorted in laughter.

"I'm landing already," his past self answered, glancing back with a smirk, "The number of shadows we have to get back just went up by one, right?"

"And you truly did get it back for me, Zoro-san…" Brook said, having finally calmed down and was wiping the stray tears away, "I will always be grateful to you for that…"

"Don't mention it," Zoro answered, his hand back on his black sword. "In truth… I'm glad that I fought him. Though I do wish that I could've had a battle with him when he was still alive. That would've been a fight to remember."

Luffy laughed. "Alright!" he yelled to them all, "This is it! Prepare for the counterattack! We're gonna take down Thriller Bark!"

And everyone—present and past—cheered at those words… that was something they could all get behind without any problems. Everyone quickly finished their preparations in just a matter of minutes and soon they were on the deck and about to go charging in when memory Zoro pointed out that looking for the zombies who had their shadows in them was going to be a lot of work and they were short on time.

"And Luffy's zombie is really unbelievable!" memory Chopper added. "He's bigger than any normal giant! I don't know how you can win!"

"And to make things worse, he's got your shadow in him, Luffy!" Usopp reminded him.

"That was definitely one of our hardest battles," Franky nodded, "Took the whole crew to finally bring that guy down."

"What are you blabbering about, Usopp?" memory Zoro asked in annoyance as Usopp looked back at him. "It doesn't matter how big or strong they are. If we want our shadows back, we have to beat them."

"You make that all sound easy in theory pal," Nami pushed him harshly. "But the fact was that it's because they're big and strong that made them so difficult to fight!"

"What's it matter?" he retorted, "We won in the end didn't we?"

"Just barely! Do you know how scary it was to see you four start to disappear when the sun rose?!" she shot back and the other four who remembered seeing how Robin and the Monster Trio fading away like that, was a nightmare that scared them more than any zombie… even Oz.

"I'm touched by your concern," Robin smiled, "But we had complete fate that Luffy would pull through. He always does in the end…"

"Maybe we don't have to beat the zombies themselves," Luffy said seriously and they all looked at him. "Though I kinda wanna see mine."

"He's kinda hard to miss!" present-day Chopper yelled out as memory Zoro told him off in frustration that they had to beat them if they wanted their shadows freed.

"Remember what that old man from earlier said?" Luffy pressed on, "If we beat Moria then all the shadows will be freed, right?"

Out of all of them, only Robin seemed perfectly at ease. As if she expected nothing else from him.

"True… but that only happened because he was foolish enough to absorb all those shadows in the first place," current Robin answered. "However, as long as Moria was in play, so to speak, then there was no chance of victory. Given what could've happened to us, I say that it all worked out for the best at the end."

"We're all alive and that's better than any treasure in my book!" Usopp said, raising his hand as Chopper nodded firmly by his side.

"He did say that," memory Sanji sighed, "He's trust complete strangers again." But he smirked, as if he was fighting a laugh as Luffy pointed up the long stairs to the mansion and asked, as if he was just making sure, if Moria was up there. Without waiting for an answer, he walked forward, even with memory Usopp trying to tell him to wait he just kept going.

"Anyway," Luffy said as if he hadn't heard Usopp, "I'm gonna go and kick Moria's ass! Then we'll get all the shadows back right away! So…" he looked to Sanji and added, "Sanji? I'm leaving Nami to you!"

"Of course he could count on me!" the current Sanji said proudly as his past self screamed in complete approval at the order, "DAMN STRAIGHT!" the fire burning his body again. "INVISIBLE MAN OR NOT I DON'T CARE!" he screamed out, "I'M GONNA KICK HIS ASS RIGHT OUTTA THIS DAMN MIST! AS IF I'D ALLOW THIS MARRIAGE!"

"Don't worry… I rather have nailed my tongue to a table before I married that guy!" Nami proclaimed, shivering at the memory of seeing his puckered-up lips.

As if they thought that Sanji needed all the more inspiration to kick Absalom's ass, Usopp and Chopper both added that Invisible Man had spied on Nami when she was taking a bath.

"He did?" Robin asked Nami quickly as she hugged her self tightly. "Yeah… and you still owe me for seeing me naked Usopp!"

"Hey! We saved you from that creep didn't we?! I swear I didn't see anything!" he said, hoping that she might possibly buy that lie.

"YOU WHAT?!" Sanji roared at him.

"It's not my fault!" Usopp cried out in fear, waving his hands around wildly, "I heard her screaming in the bathroom and we went in there! There was so much steam that I honestly didn't see anything!"

Sanji just continued to glare at him as his past self seemed to lose what little self-control he had.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" he roared at the top of his lungs, the fires on his body was burning hotter and his face was so red that he looked like the devil. "HE DID?!" And then his anger was so great that he seemed to explode in a great fireball.

"Wow…" Franky said impressed, his sunglasses lowered over his eyes so that he could see Sanji continue to rage and storm.

"Don't add more fuel to the fire," memory Zoro hissed to Usopp. "He's kinda eccentric."

"Who are you calling eccentric you Moss Headed Monster?!" Sanji snapped at the current Zoro, who glared back.

"YOU INVISIABLE PERVERT! I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS!" memory Sanji yelled furiously. He was burning with such anger that his golden flames had turned white hot as past Chopper hid behind Robin's legs.

Meanwhile memory Usopp clenched his hand tightly as he said that he felt responsible for letting Nami get kidnapped while not being able to do anything, and said that he was going to go with Sanji.

"Wow, I'm impressed," Nami said, feeling oddly touched by his concern for her, at least until she heard his memory self say that more importantly he wouldn't risk another encounter with Moria. "Wait… now that makes much more sense."

"Hey! Just going in there was brave enough don't you think?" he shot back, "I mean… I did my part against Oz just fine thank you!"

"Well, I'll give you that," she nodded. Memory Franky stepped forward and said that he was concerned about Brook's fight and said that he was going to try to find him. If Luffy was able to beat Moria before that fight, then it was fine but it was going to be a problem if his own shadow was stolen as well. Zoro stopped up, his sword in his hand and said with a rather evil grin that he'll help because he was interested in fighting this samurai himself.

"Thank you both for that," Brook said for what felt like the millionth time.

"What are you talking about?" Zoro asked him, "I told you, it's nothing to be thanked over. I just wanted to fight that samurai… getting your shadow back was just a bonus."

"Yohohoho, perhaps," Brook answered, "But nonetheless, I am grateful for you going out of your way to help."

"Nami seems more important," past Robin added as she walked forward, "For the time being, it looks like the showdown is there. After that, defeating Moria will be our key to victory."

"You say that like it's gonna be easy," Chopper said to her, "But that guy is a Warlord remember?!"

"It's alright," Luffy answered him, "Crocodile was one of them too."

"Yeah, and look at the state you were in?!" current Usopp yelled, thinking back to those three fights and how Luffy was in a coma for three days after that battle.

Memory Chopper was clearly thinking the same thing. "HOW IS THAT 'ALRIGHT'?!" he demanded in a scream, "HE ALMOST KILLED YOU, DIDN'T HE?! I'M BEGGING YOU! BE CAREFUL! AND REALLY, I TOLD YOU BEFORE THAT YOUR ZOMBIE'S FREAKIN' AMAZING!"

"I got it, I got it!" Luffy said as Sanji declared that he was going to get Nami back no matter what the cost. Just as they were heading out, memory Usopp pulled out several small pouches filled with balls of salt and passed it around, which he called his special Zombie Death Salt Balls.

"Good name," Franky said as Usopp smirked proudly, and memory Zoro nodded in understanding as he took his own pouch.

Memory Usopp nodded back before he turned to them all and said in a deadly serious voice, "Anyway, there is one thing about our situation that I need to say! In this place, there's plenty of places that we can try to hide in. But there isn't a place where no sunlight is guaranteed! We're safe for now because it's still night! In other words, we have got to get the shadows back with sunrise as our limit! Don't ever forget that!"

"I had thought that we were still in the Fog," present-day Chopper said innocently as he looked up at the sky.

"Because the particular part of the Florian Triangle that you all came into was particularly small. The full scope of the fog spreads a great distance… but it's like you only entered through the narrowest part of the triangle. And when Thriller Bark came here for you, the currents would've just continued to carry us all until we were finally out."

"So that explains how your soul was able to get lost in the fog for so long before you were able to get back to your body, Brook," Robin said, "As well as how you were trapped there for so long, even with a broken rudder."

"It's sad but true," he nodded, "It was in such a way that it was stuck going in circles, unable to find my way out or even tell North from South. In rare moments, I could sometimes see traces of sunlight coming through, but the cruel sea always pulled be back into the darkness…" he sighed at the thought as they all looked at him sadly.

Luffy punched his fists together. "I got it! Not getting anything to eat before sunrise is the worst!" They all looked up to the mansion. "We're gonna make you regret picking a fight with us, Gecko Moria! We'll make him give back twice the food before dawn!"

"I meant getting our shadows back before sunrise!" memory Usopp yelled at him as they all went running off. "Oh, whatever!"

"Don't try to talk to him with reason," present Zoro said as he rolled his eyes, "It's just gonna give you a headache."

But he then saw something moving out of the corner of his eye and glanced up at the mast and stopped to stare at a zombie that was hanging upside down watching him. A black cape and wings that spread from his hands down to the legs like a bat, and even from this distance he could see the tattoo of the number 21 right above his right eye. When he pointed him out to the others, Usopp, Nami, and Chopper all cried in recognition at Hildon… the zombie who had tricked them into going up to the mansion.

"That little rat was listening in on us," Sanji growled as he watched him fly away, heading up to the castle where he was obviously going to warn everyone.

"I thought he was a bat?" Chopper said innocently, but they didn't pay any attention to him as they all ended up running after their past selves. As it turned out, there were two paths here… the stairs that led straight up to part of the mast, and a lower bridge that would take them through the garden and to the other end of the mansion.

Luffy took Sanji, Robin, Usopp, and Chopper up the stairs while Zoro and Franky left them at the lower bridge. Things were fast-moving and exciting at this moment onwards as Luffy led the charge against the zombies. The dead freaks were running away from him and the others in a panic, all of them terrified of him this time. Luffy and Sanji, who was still burning and looking like the devil, were trashing the place, kicking every ass that came in their path.

"WHERE'S MORIA?!" Luffy screamed as he continued to run a rampage around the place and the zombies all seemed to be crying out in fear. "GET THE HELL OUTTA OUR WAY!"

As more zombies were going flying, Sanji came running up behind him, screaming for the Invisible man to come out so that he could kick his ass.

"You guys didn't even need the salt! You're beating them with anger alone!" current Usopp said in awe, wishing that he had been that strong before. Damn, why couldn't those things be that scared of him when he came charging in?

As they forced their way through, they could hear explosions below them—and knew that it could only mean that Zoro and Franky were having just as easy a time taking down the undead as they plowed through. But as their group headed up the stairs, several of Perona's ghosts appeared and went right through Luffy and Sanji so that they fell to their knees in despair.

"It's all over," Luffy moaned out, "If I'm reborn somehow, I deserve to be an insect…"

"I'm such an idiot for over curling my eyebrows…" Sanji added gloomily.

"Yeah, I agree," Zoro nodded sagely, "What the hell were you thinking doing something like that, Eyebrow Cook?"

"LIKE YOU DID ANY BETTER AGAINST THEM?!" Sanji roared at him.

"It's not so funny when it happens to you is it?" Zoro snapped back, remembering when he laughed at him when they first encountered the ghosts on the island. "I don't know how it works, but it's like the stronger the confidence you have, then the easier it is for them to break you!"

"And since Luffy is always thinking on the bright side of things, I guess that he would've be especially effected but the ghosts curse," Robin nodded as memory Usopp was asking what the hell happened to them all.

As the ghosts fluttered around, singing their dark song; "Ne-ga-ti-ve, Ne-ga-ti-ve…" memory Robin quickly explained to Usopp about how they seemed to be able to break your spirits. With the two of them practically useless at this point, the zombies were able to grab the two and held them up as memory Chopper cried out in fear at seeing his crewmates captured.

Thankfully, Usopp took charge by launching several Led Stars at them, forcing the zombies to drop the two members of the Monster Trio, and took this chance to run. Chopper grabbed Luffy and carried him away as Usopp did the same for Sanji, all of them bolting up the stairs and passed the stunned zombies.

"Quick thinking there, Usopp," Nami panted, wondering just why they always seemed to be running through these memories and looking forward to just being able to rest.

"You can always count on the Great Usopp to save the day!" he boasted proudly as he held up his hand in a thumbs up.

"Yeah, especially since you were able to fight off Perona's powers," current Sanji gasped behind him, "Who would've thought your negativity would come in handy here?!"

But the ghosts were behind their past selves and were quickly catching up to them, with Chopper and Usopp freaking out at the sight of them. Yet, at that moment, something big, something enormous fell down through the ceiling and crashed the stone around them. It was as if an earthquake caused the castle to cave in and the noise around them was deafening. In the chaos and confusion, they were able to see memory Chopper, Robin, and Luffy having just made it to the upper stairs in time and were safe, but Usopp and Sanji weren't as lucky because the floor beneath their feet gave out and they ended up falling down, along with the zombies, and with whatever it was that barreled through the roof.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Nami cried out in shock as she ran to the edge and looked down through the smoke and dust below them, with memory Chopper dropping Luffy and running over so that he could call out Usopp and Sanji's names. The entire structure seemed to fall apart around them, so Chopper's voice was drowned out.

"That… was Oz," Zoro muttered, only slightly startled by that.

"How the hell were we not dead from all that?" Usopp hissed, remembering the terror that went through his body after all that and he could've sworn that he saw the afterlife and his life flashed before his eyes during the fall.

They sat there on the destroyed stairs as they stared down at the massive dust cloud. Luffy finally snapping out of his depression, with Chopper still staring over the edge.

"None of you were hurt were you?" Brook asked in worry.

"No, we were all pretty much unscathed," Sanji sighed as he rubbed his tired eyes, "But that was a real heart-stopper there, let me tell you." It was only worse when he looked up and saw that it was a zombie, not a giant wall that was in front of them… god, he didn't there that there could've been such a beat that existed in this world.

The stairs were gone now, and they knew that there was no turning back now. Luffy asked what had just happened and all Chopper could answer was that the zombies, along with Usopp and Sanji had all fallen down there. But the three of them knew they couldn't stay there. The ledge they were on was starting to crumple away as well and he told the others that they had to go on ahead.

As they ran up the remainder of the stairs, and hit a long corridor, Chopper asked him if it was ok to just leave the two of them down there.

"You needed to focus more on yourselves instead of us," Sanji told their Chopper firmly. "Though that was unexpected, it turns out that Oz was more of an alley than we thought. Since he had Luffy's shadow, he was unpredictable and impossible to control. He did a lot of damage to the island, and even took out the General Zombies for us… he could've killed us down there when he was blocking the way…"

"But he just ignored us as if we weren't even there," Usopp sighed in relief at the thought, thinking for sure that they were dead before Oz turned and went off the way that he did. "Too bad that didn't last long though."

"Besides, there was no way that we were gonna die that easily," Sanji added firmly.

"Yeah," Luffy gasped out when they were still flying down the hallway, "I'm sure they're alright! Anyway, we need to make Moria give back those shadows! If you see that giant leek kick his ass!"

"Stopping Moria was our biggest concern," Nami nodded, "As long as everyone was alive and we were able to help Luffy get to him then that was all that mattered." She remembered Luffy's fight against Crocodile, and was concerned how this fight was going to go down. But she held her tongue as memory Chopper seemed to understand what Luffy said.

He nodded to Luffy and there was even a faint smile back on his face. "I get it! It's the only way to end this!"

"Right!" current Chopper cried out determined, "You guys will do what I can't do! And whatever you guys can't do, I'll do it!"

"Well said, Chopper," Zoro smirked, they had this in the back after all.

Memory Chopper, with a new fire burning inside him, looked ahead and told Luffy that the next opening ahead was the Dance Hall, and where they saw Moria take his shadow. Somewhere inside there was a giant freezer, and that was the last place they saw him.

"I got it!" Luffy yelled as they finally reached the same room that they had been in before. Moria's chair was there, but rather than the giant leek… it was Hogback and Cindry. Hogback looked freaked out at the mere sight of them and demanded to know why Perona didn't finish them off.

"She probably would have if Oz didn't come barreling in when he did," present-day Robin said in amusement.

But it was memory Chopper who looked the most furious at the sight of him. "Hogback!" he yelled. When Hogback looked at him, he seemed startled at Chopper in his Walk Point, and was asking how a reindeer could talk.

None of them even bothered to answer him as Luffy told him that he saw him with Moria, and was asking Chopper and Robin if he should kick his ass too.

"As much as I would've liked seeing that, Luffy needed to focus only on Moria," present-day Chopper said firmly as Hogback took a step backwards and was starting to plea.

But surprisingly, it was memory Chopper who spoke up. "Wait, Luffy!" he cried, and when Luffy looked back at him, he went on, "I want to be the one to fight him! You see the door in the back?"

They all looked to what he was talking about, and they had spotted the large, vault-like door in a corner of the room. It had already been opened and they could feel the cold drifting into the room. "That's the freezer," Chopper explained. "You go ahead."

"You really seem to be taking this all personal, Chopper-san," Brook said softly.

"Yeah," he nodded as he glared at Hogback. "I used to think this guy was a hero. He was a legend… he had saved countless people's lives but look at what he's doing here? It makes me sick just looking at him! He may think that he's able to bring the dead back to life, but they weren't anything but puppets! So what if they could move? They weren't anything but monsters!"

Robin looked down at him sadly and bent down to put her hands on his shoulders in a gentle way. "I know that it's hard… but you dealt with him," she reminded him. "And your words were able to get to someone remember?"

Chopper looked up at her and they shared the silent understanding, both of them thinking the exact same thing. Cindry had somehow regain a part of her original 'will' that she had when she was alive. She had be able to disobey Hogback's orders. He remembered seeing that smile on her face when she looked up at him… for one spilt second it was as if she was still alive… there was light shining through and for that brief moment he was looking at Cindry, not her zombie.

Robin nodded, ignoring how everyone else was looking at them in confusion as to what they were talking about. Even to this day she could never say how that was even possible, maybe the human heart—though dead—was able to remember the feelings when Cindry's soul had been in there. Or maybe even if a part of a person's will remains even after they die… but as far as she was concerned, it was a miracle. That smile was all the proof that she needed.

Luffy looked back and he could see the seriousness in Chopper's face before he smiled. "Alright," he said, "I get it."

Hogback choked. "How impudent to go charging in on Master Moria!" he then turned to Cindry, who had a stack of plates in her hands, and ordered her to stop them. She threw them like freebies until Robin put a stop to it by growing arms and holding her there. Hogback was more freaked out than ever at the sight of those arms as he demanded to know what happened. Robin only smiled innocently before she said to Luffy, "Go on ahead, Luffy."

"Right!" he said brightly, "Thanks Robin!" and then he went running on ahead, with the rest of them right behind him. Though a doctor, and a mad scientist, Hogback was no fighter so there was nothing that he could do but let Luffy go.

Not that that stopped him. "Hold on! Wait a minute, Straw Hat!" he called after him as Luffy made it to the door and was already running down the cold passage. The last thing they heard before their voices were out of hearing range was memory Chopper's voice, "Hogback! I'm disappointed in you! And you call yourself a doctor?!"

"He's no doctor!" Chopper said firmly as they went running down the passage, Luffy's breaths now coming out in little puffs from the frigid air, "No real doctor would have done the things that he did! He's a madman! I refuse to see him as a doctor anymore!"

"I hope you crushed him then, bro," Franky stated as they were all reminded of the long passageway at Enies Lobby, and like back then, knowing that a powerful foe would be waiting for Luffy at the end of it.

"I only wish I had a chance to finish that final blow," Chopper said regretfully. "But that was with Oz came back and was destroying the mansion. But we were able to beat him in the end."

"Maybe Cindry would be able to find peace since then," Robin offered him in some comfort.

"I really hope so," Nami whispered softly, "It wasn't her fault that she was like that. Hogback made her into that… that thing. Now that I know all that, even if they are terrifying, I just can't blame them for what they were."

"I, too, find them more sad than anything else," Brook stated, "Though still terrifying!"

"Oh, like you're any better!" Sanji yelled at him, and gave him a quick smack on the head. They didn't need to run for much longer however, for at that moment, they finally came out into a massive room that seemed to take up most of the mansion. It was so large, that it looked like it could have fit an entire Marine Base inside it at most… but at the same time there was a massive hole in the side of it, as if something big had gone bursting out in a great hurry.

They looked around with Luffy, and some of them screamed in shock. Moria was there alright, sitting calmly against the doorway, looking like he was close to falling asleep. Now they all knew that he was there, but they didn't expect him to be causally leaning there like nothing was happening.

"You think that he'd be a little more worried about what's going on?!" Nami yelled out, glad that she wasn't there to fight him. "I mean… Oz is on a rampage, his mansion is crumbling around, and his servants were all getting their asses handed to them! Why doesn't he do something about it?"

"Don't complain," Chopper whispered to her.

"I don't think he ever took us seriously," Robin said calmly, as Moria glanced down at Luffy like he was an annoying fly, "That was the same thing with Crocodile. Believing that he was so strong that he didn't need to worry about some rookie being able to beat him."

"Well, good thing that Luffy finally knocked them both off their high horses," Zoro said.

"Yeah, you overgrown leek!" Usopp yelled out, shaking his fist at him, using this memory as an excuse to talk trash to him and not worry about getting killed.

"I found you!" Luffy yelled in fury at the sight of Moria.

"So," Moria said coolly, "You came back?"

And just at that moment, the room began shaking a little and they knew that whatever was going on, couldn't be good. Luffy looked up at the ceiling and asked Moria, "Hey, what gives? What's making this place shake?"

Moria glanced up at well for a moment. "The ship's probably got caught in an ocean current or something," he said casually. "And it's probably your fault." He then laughed to himself as if he had just made a funny joke before he looked back at him and asked, "So why did you bother coming back here?"

"Like we were going to leave this place with our tails between our legs," Sanji snarled, "Like hell we were gonna let him win! Sure, maybe everyone else's who shadows he took were scared and ran for it, but we weren't them."

"Like he was anyone to really fear," Zoro stated coldly.

"But he was!" Franky smirked, "I mean… look at his face!"

They all chuckled a little at that as Luffy barked, "What do you think? You're gonna pay for taking my shadow with that lamp earlier. I'm gonna take it back. Along with Zoro's, Sanji's, Brook's, and everyone else's too! All of them!"

"A bit greedy aren't you?" Moria asked. "Tell me, how do you plan on doing that?"

"Who the hell do you have the right to call greedy?!" Nami demanded furiously. "What's that make you then?! You've had at least a thousand shadows! But you dare to call us greedy?!"

Luffy pulled his hat, which was hanging on his back, on his head before he answered, "By kicking your ass."

"Yeah! You tell him!" Franky cheered as Brook and Usopp both pulled flags out of nowhere and began to cheer for Luffy like cheerleaders.

"You really think you can beat me?" Moria asked.

"You got that right!" Luffy said confidently.

"It doesn't matter even if you're able to win, or even kill me," Moria said, though it sounded like he highly doubted either outcome, "The zombies will only lose their master, not return to their original owners!"

"Really?" Luffy asked, sounding startled by the news.

Robin bit her lower lip. She still didn't know everything about the Shadow Shadow Fruit, though it was true that if you beat a Devil Fruit User, then the effects of their powers usually fade once they lose consciousness. But the shadows themselves seemed to have a mind of their own, and Moria was able to control each and every single one of them. Yet, like she reminded herself, since he took all those shadows into his body before, when Luffy beat him, he made each one of the spit out and return to their masters like with the zombies.

At this moment however, she knew that Moria was being completely honest about his abilities, but he still needed to be dealt with as soon as possible. She watched as Moria bragged to Luffy that if he really wanted the shadows back then all he had to do was force him to command the shadows in the zombies out there to return to their original owners.

"If I do that, all the shadows will return?" Luffy asked.

Moria laughed. "That's right," he answered, "Simple ain't it? But first you have to weaken me to that extent. But with your level of strength I doubt you'll even be able to touch me!" And to add insult to injury, he yawned as if bored and shut his eyes as if he was going to sleep.

"That arrogant bastard," Sanji hissed. Luffy had enough of Moria's attitude and jumped up into the air to throw a Gum Gum Pistol at him. But then Moria conquered up a shadowy hand from the floor right in front of Luffy and blocked Luffy's fist. "A shadow?!" Luffy gasped as he landed.

"What the heck…?" Usopp cried as Moria laughed again.

"Try to beat him!" he taunted, "My clone Doppelman!"

And at those words, a dark silhouette-like figure of Moria appeared from the floor, much in the same way that the slime monster that was still stalking this island had been doing.

"Oh no," Robin said nervously, remembering how it was because of that thing that she had her own shadow stolen. "It's like a clone of him. And fighting him isn't easy. I remember that thing… he can swap places with that thing any time he wants. It's like a form of teleportation of sorts so hitting him is almost impossible."

"Oh, great! Just what we didn't need!" Franky growled out, glaring at the shadow, "Two fat leeks!"

"There was a time when I was filled with confidence in myself and ambition," Moria explained when he saw how taken aback by the shadow creature Luffy was, "But I started to understand the importance of competent underlings."

"Who is this guy?" Luffy asked before he snapped, "Oi! Move out of the way!"

Naturally the shadow didn't move, it just seemed to smirk sarcastically at Luffy. "I don't even need to lift a finger," Moria went on, "Because I will become the Pirate King by using the strength of others!"

"God, what with Warlords and their egos?!" Sanji yelled furiously. "At least have the decency to fight you lazy ass!"

The shadow took a swipe at Luffy, who was forced to jump out of the way. "I told you!" Luffy yelled defiantly, "I'll be King of the Pirates!"

"That's what your zombie told me too," Moria admitted as his shadow struck at Luffy again. "When there's such a difference in 'body' and 'shadow' the will of the former master is left behind." The Doppelman continued to try to punch at Luffy as Moria finished, "But… it's all a matter of time. Soon your shadow will forget all your memories and be truly an obedient zombie servant! It doesn't matter how strong your will is, in the end, all zombies are forced to obey me!"

"Sadly, that is true," Brook whispered, remembering his encounters with Ryuma, and how he may have had his personality and many of his techniques, he honestly didn't remember anything about who he really was. It was terrifying having someone who you know so well think that they were someone else.

Luffy dodged a few more times before he finally jumped. "I'll get him back in no time!" he declared. "GUM GUM…"

"Brick Bat!" Moria said almost lazily.

"GATLING!" Luffy cried out and began to throw out a series of punches. Moria transforms his "shadow clone", Doppelman, into numerous of balls that blocked every punch.

"Damn, he's blocking me without doing anything!" Luffy cursed. Just then the little balls turned into shadow bats and began to bite and scratch him.

"LUFFY!" Chopper and Nami cried out worriedly.

"That's dirty," Franky yelled out at Moria. "Get off your fat butt and do something!"

With no choice, and unable to see, Luffy ran around the room, trying to throw them all off. He ended up running along the side of the wall and almost disappeared from their view as he fell through the giant hole that Oz must've made earlier. But at the last second he stretched out his arm and rocketed himself back up so that he was right in front of Moria again.

Nami sighed in relief as Usopp roared out, "DON'T SCARE US LIKE THAT AGAIN, LUFFY! HURRY UP AND TEACH HIM A LESSON!"

"Aren't you noisy?" Moria asked, sounding a little impressed at how Luffy dealt with that—but they could see that Luffy was already panting for breath and Moria had yet to move from his spot.

"Shut up!" he yelled before he heard the sounds of the shadow bats coming back. "DAMN IT ALL!" he cursed as he prepared himself for them. They all came flying at him like a dark cloud and all they could see from that moment were the bats biting and attacking every inch of Luffy's body that they could reach until Luffy was covered with bite marks and scratches.

"This isn't a good start to a fight!" Brook cried out anxiously, biting at his own fingers once again in fear.

"Get the hell off me!" Luffy yelled in frustration, but every time he threw one off, two more latched on to him instead.

Moria was laughing smugly at the sight of him. "Don't worry," he told him, "They don't suck blood! Still think you can beat me up? What a joke!"

In anger, Luffy was finally able to throw them all off at once. They watched as they flew against the wall and splattered like paint, but then the little pieces slowly began to grow and rejoin together until the Doppelman was able to reform itself and smiled down at Luffy, ready for the next round.

Luffy was dripping little trails of blood from all the bites as Moria continued to sit there calmly. "When an inexperienced rookie underestimates his opponent it always ends badly for him," he said.

"Yeah, and it works for an experienced fat ass like you too!" Sanji yelled at him.

Luffy tried again to attack, but once more Moria used his shadow bats to block his fists before they returned to swarming at Luffy. They could all see the growing annoyance on his face—and he threw them off so that he could punch each and every one of them with his Gatling Gun. Yet, like clockwork, the shadows splattered all over the place before they reformed to recreate the Doppelman. At this rate, this could keep going like this all night.

Now breathing hard, Luffy put his hat back on and snarled, "You bastard. Now you're really pissing me off."

"You're not the only one, Luffy," Franky growled, his fingers itching to slug this guy.

"Now Gum Gum…"

And to their shock, Luffy jumped over the ledge and out of their sights.

"What the hell?!" Usopp yelled, knowing that this wasn't like Luffy at all.

Moria seemed just as taken aback and looked over the ledge with his shadow, wondering if he was trying to escape. But they should've known better. Luffy was still there alright, but he kicked up at the floor beneath Moria and finally sent that smug bastard flying. He hit him so hard that he hit the ceiling and crashed back to the floor with a chunk of the rubble falling back onto him.

"About time he got that jerk!" Nami cheered, her attitude changing around completely. "Nice thinking there, Luffy!"

"That was actually quite clever," Robin said in amusement. "Not too many people would've thought of something like that. That was definitely the last thing that Moria would've been expecting."

"Yeah, let's hope that he still feels creative," Franky said.

That last attack finally got Moria's attention. After he pulled himself out of the rubble he stood over him, and they were glad to see that he no longer looked smug. "That hurt you little brat!" he yelled.

"Good!" Chopper yelled out firmly. "And that's just for starters!"

"Look at that!" Luffy yelled from where he hung. "'I can't touch you' my ass! You fat bastard!"

Moria growled as Luffy chuckled, before he finally got to his feet and waddled over to where he could look down at Luffy through the hole he had just made. Now they could tell that Luffy just made it personal—Moria's hands were shaking and there was a rather twisted smirk back on his face as he glared at him. "That hurt," he said repeated, "I'm gonna make you regret doing that, Straw Hat!"

"Come on! It can't be the first time you got your ass kicked!" Sanji yelled out.

Luffy had jumped safely over to a massive chain that was just below him and grinned up at him. "Shut up!" he called, "I'm gonna kick your ass!"

He swung from the chain, while trying to use that same attack from before, but this time Moria was ready for him. Using his shadow to deflect the attack from below, and then he sent the Doppelman after him on the chain.

"It's gonna take more than one attack to beat him," Zoro said as he watched the Doppelman wrap itself around Luffy like it was a snake.

"You again?!" Luffy yelled, struggling in the shadow's grip. "Get away from me!"

"As you wish!" Moria yelled tauntingly, and then he had the Doppelman to break apart into bats again.

"Doesn't this guy know any other tricks?!" Usopp yelled out fearfully.

"He's a Warlord for a reason!" Robin called out, "Fighting him was never going to be easy!"

"I know that!" he said nervously, "But he's not even trying! It's like he's just playing around!"

"He's only acting like that because he thinks Luffy's just some kind of reckless daredevil…" Sanji said before he added, "Which he is, but Moria doesn't believe he needs to worry about him."

"He does have a lot of experience, and power…" Robin admitted, "But he has his weaknesses."

"Laziness and arrogance," Brook nodded as Luffy growled when he saw the bats and rocketed himself up to the platform again. He then used his fingers as a net like he did to catch Arlong back when he fought him. He locked his fingers around the bats before he slammed them into the floor… but it was just like fighting jelly or something—no matter what Luffy did, the Doppelman kept coming back.

"There's no end to this!" Luffy growled, and they could see that he was already starting to get tired.

"He took the words out of my mouth," Sanji hissed as Moria had the gall to sit back down and act like nothing had happened and was letting his shadow do all the work. It swayed its head tauntingly at Luffy as he tried to attack it again, this time with a Bazooka. However, it blocked that and a Gum Gum whip… which the shadow grabbed hold of his leg and bounced around like a yo-yo. Jumping up to the shadow's hand, Luffy tried to bite it, but he just pulled out a small piece of it like it was jelly before it fell back and rejoined in the hand like nothing had happened.

"How's he supposed to fight it if it keeps turning to gunk?!" Usopp yelled as the shadow then just slammed Luffy into the ground.

"I don't know, but I'd like to take a page from his book if he ever figures that out," Franky said, "I mean… it's just like fighting that slime thing on this island!"

Moria just continued to laugh as he watched. "What's wrong?" he asked teasingly. "I thought that you said that you were gonna kick my ass?"

In anger, Luffy jumped up to his feet again as he yelled, "I'm going to! Just shut up and wait!"

"I see," Moria said, though he sounded like he highly doubted it. "Don't mind me but… if you don't hurry up, he'll come back."

"Him?" Luffy asked, sounding lost, "Who are you talking about? Who's him?"

Again Moria laughed. "You of course," he answered as if he should've guessed from the start.

Luffy looked even more confused as to what he said but they all understood. He was talking about his zombie… Oz… and he was going to be here very soon. Luffy tried several more times to fight the shadow, but it all ended the exact same way. First attack, then reform into the Doppelman, before the fight went on.

"What happened to that fighting spirit of yours, Straw Hat?" Moria asked smugly.

"Dammit! You're not even fighting me!" Luffy yelled at him. "Stop acting all high and might you fat leek!"

"At least Crocodile had the decency to fight," Robin sighed, "This is just low."

"Never thought I'd hear you compliment, Crocodile," Nami said, watching as Moria rolled over so that his feet stuck over the railing and he was able to look Luffy full in the face and repeated that he was going to become the Pirate King by using the strength of others, and now thanks to him, that day was closer than ever.

"Until I get everyone's shadow's back, I'll beat you no matter how many times it takes!" Luffy declared. But before he could do anything else, they watched as the shadow did a belly flop right on top of Luffy, and Moria almost crying in laughter. But when the Doppelman got up, Luffy was suddenly missing and was looking around for him, as if wondering just where he went. It turned out that Luffy was hanging below, rocketing up and past the shadow to fight Moria, but the Doppelman reached up and grabbed him by the leg, causing him to fall flat on his face.

"I don't really care what happens to you," Moria admitted casually, "But your future doesn't look to… bright."

"That jerk… telling bad jokes is Brook's job!" Sanji yelled.

"Sanji-san! That is hurtful!" Brook cried out as Moria reminded him that an even more fearsome foe will be here soon. But even as he said those words they heard the sounds of giant footsteps approach them and they all felt as though something in their stomachs sank at the thought of what—or rather—who it was. At the sound of those booming footsteps, Moria finally stood up again and stared excitedly out the hole as the noise got louder and louder.

"He's here…" Moria said excitedly as he laughed. After several more seconds, a massive pair of bandaged hands suddenly appeared on either side of the massive hole in the side of the building and the face slowly pulled itself up so that they could get a good look at it. The largest zombie—possibly the largest creature any of them had ever seen—had appeared. A large, red, skull-like face who had to be at least four times larger than a normal giant and long yellow hair that flowed from his head all the way down his back and two sharpened horns on either side of his head. They could see large tusks for his mouth, and he was missing his left eye with his left arm tattooed 'SZ-900' for it. Like all the other zombies on the island, he was completely stitched up, and as he pulled himself into the room, they could see a blue cloth-like substance stitched across his belly along with him wearing almost nothing but a black loincloth with three giant skulls strapped across it.

"The time has come!" Moria declared as Luffy's eyes widened in horror at the sight of it. "Straw Hat!"

"W-what the…?" was all Luffy could gasp as he stared at it, the giant towered over everything else.

"I forgot how big that bastard is," Franky muttered, shaking his head. "How the hell did they get their hands on a corpse this big?"

"I rather not know," Nami said with a shudder as Luffy seemed struck dumb.

Moria laughed as he addressed Oz this time, yelling up at him, "I've been waiting for you to come back Oz! It looks like your shadow and your body have finally become one! Have you become an obedient zombie? Answer me by telling me your master's name!"

The giant zombie looked down at him. "My master's name… is Master Moria."

"What?!" Luffy demanded in outrage as Moria laughed. "Hey! What are you talking about?! There's no way you're my shadow! Don't listen to what this stupid leek tells you!"

"That's scary… I didn't think that anyone could control Luffy like that, even if it was his shadow," Chopper whispered.

"He's too stubborn for that—though he is easily manipulated," Sanji sighed, his heart feeling as though it had been stabbed at the thought of his own shadow attack Robin. That, itself, was proof of what an evil bastard that Moria was. He felt so ashamed of his shadow for doing something like that he almost wanted to cut it away from him again.

Oz looked down at him in confusion. "Who are you with the Straw Hat?"

Moria laughed again as he ordered Oz to look at the patching underneath his arm, where they had stitched wanted posters right onto his skin. Moria ordered him to beat them all until they give up and leave on their ship, and that if he killed some of them were fine by him. But he had a feeling that if they were really worthy of their bounties, then a mere beating wouldn't be enough to kill them and that he wanted to see his power more than anything else.

"Yes… Master Moria," Oz said as he looked down from his arm to Luffy. It seemed to take him a moment to recognize his face. "Oh… I found Straw Hat!"

"You would know him better than anyone!" Usopp yelled up, despite the fact it did no good. But now Luffy was looking truly freaked out as to what he should do up against this thing while Moria bid Luffy a farewell and ran.

"You mean he just ran away?!" Brook cried out in shock.

"At least he's finally moving," Zoro pointed out as Luffy let out a yell of rage and was about to go after him—but Oz had already started to attack him. Despite Luffy crying out at him to stop, the memory faded slightly when Oz tried to head butt him. Like Luffy did black out for a moment, but he snapped out of it rather quickly and he was able to avoid most of the damage and they were able to run right after him as he chased Moria down the hallway that they used to get here, with Luffy yelling at him to stop running.

"Damn! This is so frustrating!" Sanji yelled out, now wishing that they could just get to the fighting already and for Luffy to give him the beating of a lifetime.

"What I want to know is how Moria was able to escape from Luffy in the first place!" Chopper wheezed as they continued to run after them. "How… if Luffy… was running… after him then… how did he show up… to fight us?"

"I don't think it would've been too hard for him to escape," Robin said, also getting tired of all this running and thinking longingly of her bed.

"Yeah, it's not exactly hard for someone to trick Luffy now is it?" Usopp gasped.

This chase went on for some time as they went dashing through the mansion, however it continued to shake and crumble around them. After everything that happened here, it wasn't at all a shock to see that the island was left in ruins by the end of the evening.

"I still can't believe that all of this happened in just one night!" Nami gasped out, stumbling slightly in her effort to keep up.

"Longest night of my life!" Chopper gasped, his tongue rolling out of his head as he panted for air.

Moria smirked back at Luffy and, "You think that you can chase me forever?!"

"That big guy caught my interest!" Luffy called back, "But if I want to get everyone their shadows back, then you're the one I have to beat!" He then began to run faster, "So turn around and fight me already!"

"Damn! How does such a fat guy with puny legs move so freakin' fast?!" Zoro yelled furiously as Luffy seemed to have lost whatever patience he had left of running after him and tried to throw out several punches. But instead, the Doppelman appeared and they all groaned out when they saw him block Luffy once again.

At long last, they thought that they finally had a shred of luck when Moria hit a dead end, though Nami pointed out how she didn't see that was possible since he lived here and it was his mansion.

"Oh, it's hard to tell where anything is here with it falling to pieces," Robin reminded her, "But I also think that he might be toying around with Luffy here."

"Wouldn't surprise me," Sanji said in irritation as Moria taunted Luffy about how his crew was probably being crushed by Oz right now.

"Oh, shut up!" Luffy answered without a shred of fear in his face. "My crew isn't so weak to die that easily!"

"You got that right," Zoro said proudly.

"I still don't get how you're still alive," Nami told him harshly. "I mean… all those attacks by Oz, and you still got up to fight? Not to mention the mess you were in afterwards? Kuma really did a number on you with that bomb didn't he?"

Zoro froze at her words as Sanji, Brook, and Robin looked away—determined not to look anywhere but at Zoro.

"I'm tougher than I look," was all Zoro could say rather stiffly. He was glad when they were distracted when Moria created the shadow bats again and had them attack Luffy before he casually walked by as if he was just going to the store. Roaring in anger, Luffy knocked the bats back until they hit the wall and they splattered once again. But before they could reform into the Doppelman, Luffy went running after Moria.

None of them bothered to waste their breath as they kept running after the pair even as the mansion crumbled around them. Luffy kept running after Moria even once they made it outside and into the forest. As he ran, their Warlord friend got cocky and sent the Doppelman to taunt Luffy along the way—as if he was just sending him the middle finger—but it was as if he was honestly enjoying himself. How he could while he just ran from his opponent was something that none of them could get.

At one point, the zombie Hildon came fluttering down from the sky and flew alongside his master as he told him that Oz was on a rampage and destroying everything in sight. Moria looked like he couldn't have cared less and even told him to do something about it because he was enjoying himself.

"Once again, we do a lot of damage to the island, but it's really these idiot's faults for having everything destroyed," Sanji said, thinking of how the government burned Enies Lobby. "Sure, we went on a rampage and didn't care about what we were hitting but it's really thanks to Oz that this place was raised to the ground.

He then went running off with Hildon looking lost as to what to do—but Luffy wasn't in the mood to play around as he went running forward and sent the little bat zombie off flying as he roared at Moria to stop running and to fight for once.

"LUFFY! BEHIND YOU!" Usopp warned when he spotted something flying through the air behind him and yelled in shock at seeing the giant slab of stone.

"I'm guessing that this happened while we ran into Oz," Robin stated, remembering seeing Oz through all that stuff around. Luffy didn't turn around, but as if he heard Usopp, he sensed the rock falling and skidded to a halt, barely missing it as it flew over his head and hit the trees in front of him. "Damn," Luffy hissed, "Now I lost him."

"This is getting to be just embarrassing to watch," Franky sighed, smacking his face with his giant metal hand. "Show some class, dude. Do something other than run away."

Luffy lost his temper. He started to go around and destroy everything around him, trying to force him to come out. But then he seemed to come to an idea as he stretched his arms out and rocketed up through the sky so that he could get a bird's eye view. It was clever they had to admit and they did see something that could only be Moria's shape through the trees. But as they followed after Luffy as he crashed into the ground, they realized that it wasn't the real Moria… just the shadow.

"You mean he sent Luffy running around that forest all this time and it wasn't even him?!" Chopper demanded angrily.

"I told you before didn't I?" Robin asked grimly, "He can switch places with his shadow whenever he wants. That was definitely Moria we were chasing before, but I'm guessing after Luffy lost sight of him, he switched and kept Luffy busy while he came to deal with us with Oz."

"This explains a lot," Sanji growled as Luffy stared at the Doppelman in shock.

"You mean… I'VE BEEN CHASING HIS SHADOW THIS WHOLE TIME?! DAMNIT! HE TRICKED ME!" he panted hard until he muttered furiously, "Damn. When did he switch with his shadow?"

"Don't just sit there talking to it! Get back to the mansion already!" Nami yelled before she remembered the way that Luffy looked by the time that he did and felt a surge of uneasiness go through her at the thought. She knew that the Rolling Pirates did something… they somehow forced Luffy to take in a hundred shadows, so that means that when that happened had to go on right after this moment.

She bit her lower lip, not at all happy about this as the shadow smiled as it seemed to melt before their eyes. Like black smoke, it took off into the air and Luffy tried to go after it; but when he tried to grab hold of the tail, his hands ended up going through it like gelatin. Luffy continued to yell and scream after it, but the thing was already out of their sights and Luffy muttered wildly to himself that this was only getting worse and that he had to hurry and get everyone's shadows back.

"Yes, if he had been just a minute later, then it probably would've been too late for us," Robin shrugged and they all shivered at the thought.

"Did that really hurt?" Chopper asked timidly.

"Yes… very much so," Zoro said as Chopper yelled in terror at the thought of disappearing like that. "But it didn't last long. And as soon as our shadows came back, it went away just like that."

"It'll be bad if I don't get my shadow back," Luffy muttered, before he cocked his head, thinking deeply. "What will happen again if I don't…?"

And he seemed to be having some kind of horrible vision of what would happen because he started screaming at the very thought. (Or maybe he was having a bad headache from all the thinking.) But he seemed to fully understand that he and everyone else's who had their shadows stolen would disappear in the sunlight if he didn't hurry before dawn.

"Finally, he gets it," Nami sighed as they began running after him, with Luffy having enough sense to know to run off in the same direction that Moria's Doppelman went flying off in. But just as they were thinking they were getting somewhere, they spotted a leg sticking out from behind a tree to trip him up. Thanks to the darkness around them, Luffy didn't notice until the two victims appeared from the shadows and watched as he lay there on the ground.

"The Risky Brothers?" Sanji asked in great surprise when he saw them. "What are they doing here?"

"Nothing good," Usopp said as he and Nami shared a glance, wondering how the others were going to take when they saw what they did to Luffy.

The two walked out and looked at Luffy on the ground. One of them was a rather roundish man with a black mask over his head, with curly black hair and even a bandage over the mask. His clothes were all torn and dirty, and the sword that he carried seemed to be a bit on the rusty side. The other was hardly any better. Tall and skinny with curly light brown hair and dark circles under his eyes and his clothes just as battered.

"I did it!" the one with the mask over his head called, "I tripped him like you said!"

When Luffy raised his head and glared at them, seeing that they were ordinary people instead of zombies, he screamed at them, "WHAT'S WITH YOU GUYS?! I'M IN A HURRY SO WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

"Seriously, what was that for?" Franky asked angrily as the second brother rubbed the back of his head awkwardly and said as others came out from the trees, "Ah! We already know! It's obvious you're in a hurry!"

"Please!" the guy who tripped him said, "Hear us out! We believe you're the one who'll save us! We've been looking all over for you!"

"Huh? Why were they looking for Luffy-san?" Brook asked in confusion.

"They thought that the only way to win against Moria was to use his own powers against him," Nami sighed, "And they wanted to ensure that we'd win so they decided to 'help' Luffy out I guess."

"Help? You saw how he was after that!" Usopp said, unable to stop feeling angry at them.

"Why? What did they do?" Chopper asked curiously as the others looked at the two of them.

"Nothing good," Nami sighed as the two men introduced themselves as the Risky Brothers, part of the Rolling Pirates under captain Proposal Lola. They told him that they know all the secrets to defeating Moria, everything about his powers and how they work. And they wanted to make him a deal. They said that they could give him an 'incredible power' in exchange for beating Moria. Luffy just demanded to know who they were, and that was when their captain showed up.

A tall and large woman with short and thin legs. She had small, beady eyes, a pronounced nose above her large, shiny red lips, one missing tooth and a face that is much too small in proportion to her large head that had pink hair braided into two pigtails on either side of her face. She took one look at Luffy and said, "Oh my, you're cute. Will you marry me?"

"Nope," Luffy said bluntly.

"Rejection!" the Risky Brothers called out, "That's the 4444th rejection!"

"Not very picky is she if that's the number of times she's been rejected," Franky whispered as the others all had more sweat-drop hanging over their heads.

"Well, she's persistent, you have to give her that," Nami said a little fondly.

Anyway, they all told him that they were victims who had their shadows stolen from them by Moria and want nothing more than to see him defeated. They knew that the three who served Moria have already been defeated and the mansion was hardly standing anymore. But they knew about the 'special zombie' that has been awoken and want to help in any way they can to get their shadows back. They told him that Moria was now in the 'stomach' of that giant zombie.

"WHAT?!" Luffy yelled out furiously, "YOU MEAN HE WAS EATEN?!"

"Crappy way to go if you ask me," Sanji said, "Eaten by your own zombie. But I guess it would've been strangely ironic too if that was what really happened."

"Would've saved us a lot of trouble," Usopp sighed as Chopper nodded.

"Ah… but we really pulled through here," Brook said happily, thinking of Oz's defeat with a great deal of pride in him.

The Rolling Pirates told him how Moria was in some kind of room in Oz's stomach, and that if they wanted to beat him, they first had to beat Oz. They also informed him that out in the courtyard, the rest of his crew was already fighting them. At that, Luffy turned and started to run again, but Lola was the one who tripped him this time and told him to wait. But what got them all was that as the Risky Brothers came running up with a shadow, several more members grabbed Luffy from behind and held him there as they forced the shadow into his body.

"What in the…?" Usopp said before they started to force the shadow into Luffy's body by his stomach, with Luffy hollering and screaming the whole time.

"Hey?! What are they doing to him?!" Brook demanded furiously.

"This is what we meant before," Nami said, frowning heavily. Even for Luffy, that looked like it hurt a lot, and they didn't even explain what was going to happen.

"Just hold still!" Lola said, trying to calm Luffy down. When the shadow went fully inside him, Luffy fell backwards and he lay there lifeless for a few moments as they looked at him.

"How is it?" Lola asked, "You feeling alright?"

When Luffy opened his eyes, they could see the dark shadows appear beneath them, like some kind of raccoon, as he slowly sat up—looking dazed. "Yeah…" he whispered, his voice hoarse and strangely different though they couldn't figure out what it was that made it different.

"Good," Lola said, "Now, can you use a sword?"

"Please… he can hardly handle a dinner knife let alone a sword," Zoro shrugged as Luffy answered that he couldn't use one at all… his voice sounding almost as if he had become a zombie himself.

Lola looked thrilled at the thought and yelled for them to bring the sword in. Out of nowhere, someone tossed a katana into the air and when Luffy saw it, they were all slightly startled to see that unfamiliar glint in his eyes. And to their absolute amazement, he stretched his arm out to grab it, and faster than blinking, he unsheathed it and hacked down a nearby tree into firewood like how Zoro could do. Speaking of which, Zoro's eye widen as everyone's jaws aside from Robin's dropped open in shock.

"AMAZING!" Chopper cheered out as the Rolling Pirates all applauded in just as much wonder.

"But… how…?" Nami began in stunned disbelief as Brook actually fell over and Franky wasn't able to think of anything to say. They were all stunned, but none more so than Luffy. After he expertly re-sheathed the sword, he stared at it like he thought it was going to bite and cried out, "How'd the hell did I do that?!"

"YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW?!" Sanji yelled out as Lola chuckled, coming forward.

"The shadow we just put inside you was that of a great marine swordsman," she explained. And that was when they told him how the shadows worked. They informed him that the shadow put into him will have special abilities that he will gain just by having them. And as long as he can take it, they can give him as many shadows as it takes. Thanks to Moria's abilities they can give him all the shadows that they collected and power him up but if his willpower isn't strong enough, then he'll just pass out and be useless.

"Oh… the shadows were what did it…" Franky said, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "All makes sense with the universe again."

"Shame…" Zoro said, he personally would've liked to fight Luffy like that.

"If that's the case why didn't they use that to fight Moria themselves rather than have Luffy do it for them?" Chopper asked in confusion.

"You heard them," Robin answered, "They could only take in a few shadows at a time and it only lasts for a few minutes of extra strength. Even then, I doubt that they'd be able to defeat Moria."

Luffy asked how they got so many shadows and they admitted that they've done everything they could to try and get their own shadows back for years. And they've been collected the shadows in the process. But they warned him that unlike with a zombie, when you put a shadow in a normal human who already had a soul, it wouldn't stay put for long. They said that the most they could promise him was that he'd be able to hold onto the shadows for about ten minutes before they come flying out again.

When they brought in dozens more shadows Lola added as she looked up to the sky that was growing lighter with every minute that went by, that they only had about twenty minutes left before the sun rose so he would have to handle Moria in that time. But rather than wait for Luffy to agree to it, or even explain just what they were going to do… they grabbed hold of him again and began forcing all one hundred shadows into his body as he screamed in pain.

"Hey! Stop it!" Chopper cried out, half angry and half terrified.

It was a horrible sight to watch, they all held Luffy's arms back as dozens of shadows were pushed into his body at once. It was as if they wanted to see just how many that Luffy could take before he nearly passed out, and so they just kept pushing more in.

But Luffy was screaming in pain the whole time, thrashing around as each shadow was forced into his body. And with everyone that they did add to this body, his eyes got wider and his screams grew more frantic until he let out the loudest blood-curdling scream of agony yet and Nami had to cover her eyes and ears, unable to take this anymore.

"H-H-HE COULD DIE!" Chopper cried out, running forward to try and make them stop, but his hooves just went through the next shadow he tried to stop going into him and blood actually came bubbling up from Luffy's throat at that.

"Damn those people! They didn't even give him a choice!" Sanji yelled in anger, wanting to jump in and stop them. Usopp and Brook started to yell with Chopper to let him go but there was nothing more they could do but watch as every shadow they added to him seemed to make Luffy's body grow larger, his skin turning to a sickly bluish color as if he was freezing, and his eyes seemed to become more wild and insane.

Zoro growled, flicking his blade out slightly, wanting to rush in and put a stop to it as Robin's eyes narrowed, showing that she wasn't the least bit happy about any of this and was close to doing something about it. Nami just couldn't believe that Lola could be this cold as to allow someone to suffer like this… though she understood her desire to merely get her shadow back she could've at least asked Luffy if this was what he was willing to go through. But at long last, the final shadow was inside Luffy and they saw the outcome…

Truth be told though, only she and Usopp had seen the full effect, but it was still a terrifying thing to see. It was Luffy alright, but it no longer looked like him. All they could do now was stare in horror. Luffy had grown several times bigger than before—around Moria's size perhaps—and his skin had turned to completely blue… and his body roughly reminded them of Chopper's new Heavy Point… but what really got them was how Luffy's cheerful and carefree face had turned to one with darkened eyes and a grim expression that made him look like a monster.

Chopper backed away in fear as Brook looked ready to faint… in fact, he might have already since it was hard to tell with his face like that. Sanji's mouth just fell open as the cigarette fell and hit the ground but he didn't even pay attention to that.

"That's cool… but hell…" was all Franky could say, so amazed that he wasn't able to say full sentences.

Zoro was just frowning. He didn't like this at all… he had borne the full pain that Luffy had been in after their battle and he now understood where a lot of it had come from.

"This guy…" Lola whispered in just as much shock as the rest of them, "Just how strong is his will that he's…? It's incredible! I've never seen anything like it!"

"YEAH! BUT LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID TO HIM!" Nami yelled at her, wishing that she could give Lola a piece of her mind. "YOU'RE LUCKY THAT IT WAS ONLY TEMPORARY!"

"I honestly don't know what to say," Robin said, and even she sounded unnerved at the sight of Luffy getting to his feet and towering over them all.

"He managed to take in all one hundred shadows at once?!" one of the risky brothers croaked out.

"That's unbelievable!" the other brother cried out, "He really is our shining hope!"

Luffy panted and huffed like an angry bull as they cowered away in fear. "Oi!" the brother cried out, "Are you ok? Do you still feel like yourself, Straw Hat Luffy?"

"Makes me wonder what they would've done if he wasn't," Usopp gulped, "Makes me wonder what would've happened to us?"

"They should just be happy that it all worked out in the end," Zoro said bitterly.

"You got to admit though," Usopp added, "That was some serious power."

"So is Luffy's Second Gear and we know how bad for him that is!" Franky reminded him.

"Yeah," Luffy said darkly, "I'm still me. I'm overflowing with power! I wanna fight Moria so much! I can't wait any longer!"

That was when they brought over a massive sword, one so big that it took at least ten of them to carry it in. But Luffy was able to pick it up with one hand and looked it long and hard.

"Where'd they get a sword that big on such short notice I wonder?" Robin couldn't help but ask. It just seemed so random to have something like that laying round in case of something like this?

The two brothers hid behind Lola as the skinny brother said, "You… seem kinda different, you know? Weren't you smaller before?"

"What do you think you idiot?!" Nami snapped at him. Man, those two were idiots!

"I can only imagine how powerful he is now," Lola whispered as Luffy took the sword and strapped it to his back.

But they could tell already that this was hard on him. Luffy was still breathing hard, as if taking a single breath was painful for him. Luffy whispered, "This feeling to fight… I can't hold it!"

And at that moment he reared his head back and let out a battle cry that was so great that it shook the ground around them.

"That should do it!" Lola yelled out, "Go and give Moria a real nightmare! One that he won't ever forget! You're our only hope now! 'Nightmare Luffy'!"

(Wow… they sure created a monster there. Anyway, how was it? As for last week, I've got some complaints about how cold Zoro was when he said that the Rolling Pirates should've trained instead of waiting for a hero. I only meant that they had three years there and just seemed to have been hiding out in the forest all that time. Sure, they helped out a lot, but they were behind the Straw Hats when things were going alright for them. Remember that they wanted to run away when they thought that they lost. But then again, this is just my opinion of it. Also, why do you all keep telling me about Sabo? I don't know how many times I have to say it, I'm well aware of the fact that he's not dead! But I didn't know that when I started writing this story. So please… stop telling me that he's alive! I know… (sigh) sorry for sounding short with you all, but it's hard enough to write these chapters without people constantly telling me off for the littlest things. I'm out of school now so I'm going to be updating every Friday from now on… at least I'll try. So hope this ties you over until next week. Again, hope you enjoyed it.)