The ticking of an imaginary clock echoes in the back of her mind as she sprints towards the mansion. The sun will be up soon; she'll be lucky to have an hour. Maybe the Straw Hats will get to Gecko Moria before her, but if neither of them make it in time—
Images of the cheerful pirate crew crumbling into dust hit her swiftly and painfully. No, she won't allow it. Her legs burn as she pushes herself to move faster, to run harder.
The pounding of her heart in her ears deafens her to anything else; the earth beneath her feet moves oddly, but she puts it out of her mind for the moment. She only has one goal: get to the center of the island.
So focused on moving forward, she ends up running past a familiar face.
"Hey! Will ya stop for a sec?"
Her legs lock into place so suddenly that she has to lean back to keep from tripping. She whirls around, taking in messy red hair and ragged clothing.
"Chilla?"
"Good to see ya haven't forgotten me!"
Chilla sends her a bucktoothed grin, but it can't hide the singed scarf and disheveled hair, can't hide how a hand hovers over a stomach wound or the way the woman curls in on herself subconsciously. The comically large cannon sitting on Chilla's shoulder tells her everything she needs to know.
"Where's Moria?" She asks.
"Last I saw, fightin' your captain with that over-sized ogre of his. Hear all that racket? That's them," Chilla says, pointedly staying silent as the earth shakes with a roar.
It's a ghastly sound, one that reminds her oddly of Luffy, and it turns her attention to the mansion still out of reach. Though the noise and shaking comes from the mansion, if that ogre is the same one that Nami mentioned, then it's far too big to fit inside.
"I can't fight anymore. I'm heading back and gettin' the medical supplies ready," Chilla says before throwing a thumb over her shoulder. "But if ya want to try taking down a 500 year old super zombie, be my guest."
"I'm going," she says firmly.
Running away isn't an option. She brushes past Chilla who begins waving an arm frantically.
"Hold on to ya britches for a second! I got a message I want ya to deliver to Moria," Chilla says with a glint in her eyes. "Those wings work, right?"
"Yes, why?" She asks slowly.
...
On a list of things she never thought she'd be stupid enough to do, this has to be somewhere at the top of the list.
"Ya holdin' on nice and tight?" Chilla adjusts the cannon on her shoulder with a hum. "Don't let go 'til the arc of the shot, got it?"
"Got it," she says, gripping the chain in her hands tightly.
As a backup gunner for her crew, the Rolling Pirates, Chilla's preferred ammunition are chain shots. With little effort, Chilla attaches an extra-long chain to a cannonball.
"Hey, don't forget my message, kay?" Chilla reminds her before striking a match.
If she was anyone else, the sheer force of the cannonball would not only have ripped her arm clean off, but the chain probably would have sliced the rest of her into pieces. As it is, she's shot into the sky effortlessly.
Pressure against her chest keeps the scream in her throat, and the world becomes a blur. The chain bites into her fingers, but she grits her teeth and remains holding tight. Only when the weight of the cannonball begins tugging her down does she let go.
Her wings spread open, but she's sent into a fast flight rather than a glide. The pressure against her chest disappears, and the world comes back into focus.
It becomes near impossible to miss the giant, red abomination roaring down at the ground. Everything from the horns and the underbite to the long, flowing hair and oversized arms makes the enormous creature resemble an ogre.
The Straw Hats have the ogre surrounded in what looks like a courtyard, and behind them are malnourished people armed to the teeth. The rest of the Rolling Pirates, she guesses. The skeletal form that could only be Brook stands protectively someone on the ground.
She only has eyes for one person.
Searching for her target, she finds the ghastly vase-shaped body lying on the ground away from the battle. Gecko Moria doesn't move, and no one seems to be paying attention to him. Pure rage overtakes her. Such a monster deserves a worse fate than to be simply slain in the midst of battle.
For the one who has torn so many people's very souls in half, Gecko Moria deserves to burn for all that he's done.
She unsheathes her sword midflight and holds the blade to her lips.
"Burn it all, Tsubasa de Tobu. Alight and Purify!" She whispers to the blade before turning it towards the ground.
She dives towards the giant ogre, folding in her wings until they snap shut, and allows herself to fall.
Whatever the Straw Hats had planned is a moot point: her fiery blade stabs into the ogre's head. Tsubasa de Tobu sinks into the skull easily, and gravity keeps her falling. The flesh beneath her blade becomes consumed by flame, and she tears through skin, bone, and machinery on her way down.
The moment her boots hit the ground, she's moving towards Moria, katana glowing fiercely in her hands. She doesn't stop even as the corpse behind her, wailing and as tall as the mansion, falls and begins burning like a miniature sun. Zoro calls her name, but she doesn't acknowledge it.
Moria is already sitting up, hands stretched out against the ground. He glares at her, and she returns it with as much venom as possible. He mouths something at her, but it's too low for her to hear.
"All the shadows to me!" Moria suddenly screams.
For a moment, it's as if night itself reverses. The sky grows darker, and a deeply unsettling feeling causes bile to rise up the back of her throat.
Unnatural, something inside of her screams.
The false night breaks as hundreds of shadows streak towards Moria. The Warlord cackles as shadows fade into him, growing steadily larger with each one. She spits out fire towards the black inky mess above her, but only a few of the shadows fall back towards the walls.
"My crew was killed because they could be! If they had been zombies from the start, I wouldn't have lost them!" Moria screeches. "Zombies are invincible and so long as I have the power of shadows nothing can stop me!"
She backs up as Moria continues to grow; he ends up taller than even the red ogre she just put down. Moria's body can't seem to keep up with the rapid growth, and he ends up grinning down at them with a bloated body that needs to be supported by both arms and legs.
"I am the one who will be the Pirate King! I am the only one strong enough!" Moria laughs.
The Rolling Pirates run away screaming as Moria takes out a chunk of the mansion with only one movement. The Straw Hats step back but ready their weapons. She glares up at the now giant Warlord with gritted teeth.
"Girl, you may have cost me a few shadows, but even now, I am still more powerful than you!" Moria turns his attention towards her, hand hovering over her dangerously.
The hand comes down, moving slow enough she could dodge, but the clock inside her head tells her she's out of time. Desperate times mean desperate measures. She raises her sword as fire cackles down its blade. If Moria thinks this wasp sting will only be a nuisance, then he has another thing coming.
Before the tip of her blade can pierce skin, a muscled arm grabs her around the middle, and she's thrown over a shoulder. She has to stretch her arm out to keep Tsubasa de Tobu from setting her "savior" on fire.
"This is bullshit," she hisses before slapping the shoulder digging into her stomach. "Put me down, Zoro. I'm going to send him to hell."
"Getting squashed is not a tactic," Zoro says through gritted teeth.
The ground shakes from Moria's rampage, and when she's finally set down, she finds herself surrounded by grim-faced Straw Hats. Sunlight begins pouring into the ruined courtyard, and she knows they have no intention of running like the other pirates cowering in the shade of the walls.
"We're out of time. Stay back. I'm going to kick his ass," Luffy declares as his crew lifts their weapons. "You guys take care of the rest."
Luffy doesn't look much better than his crew or the Rolling Pirates, but there's an anger burning in his eyes that resembles her own.
"I'm going to kick his ass. Don't get in my way," she says striding forward.
Luffy is not her captain; his selfish words mean little to her. She has made the vow to end Moria's life, and she will not be stopped. She's surprised when he steps up beside her instead of throwing a tantrum.
"We're going to beat the shadows out of him," Luffy states grimly while cracking his knuckles.
"Understood." With pleasure, she doesn't say.
She doesn't wait a moment longer, dashing towards Moria with Tsubasa de Tobu in her hands. The flame along the blade is now extinguished, but she doesn't need fire to do what she wants.
Standing before the very same hand that tried to squash her, she lets out of a furry of swipes—each strike shallow but quick—and ink oozes out with each cut. Shadows streak past her, and she's moving back as Luffy slams the hand with an oversized fist.
"Luffy, don't overuse your Gear ability!" Chopper cries somewhere behind her.
Fighting together with Luffy is chaotic and messy. If she had to be more descriptive, she'd say it's like running an obstacle course while trying to knock out the other guy running it with her.
When long, rubbery legs swing out to kick Moria, she has to dodge it too. Twice, Luffy gets in the way of her thrusts, and she has to correct herself before she beheads Zoro's captain.
Still, Moria, for all his strength, is an easy punching bag. Their strategy of hitting him as many times in the smallest amount of time works. Moria shrinks as each and every single hit causes a shadow to leave him.
The Rolling Pirates let out a cheer behind her once it becomes clear that all the shadows have returned to their owners. She loses feeling in her hand and throws Tsubasa de Tobu at Moria's head before it goes completely numb. She misses, and the sword sails past Moria and towards a broken wall.
"Where is it? Give it up!"
Luffy, whose shadow now resides safely at his feet, holds Moria up by the neck and is still beating his face in.
"I don't have her shadow!" Moria screams as Luffy continues hitting him. "Girl, you'll be gone soon. The sun will turn you to dust!"
Such gleeful words from a dead man. She glances down at her feet where nothing lies, not even her boots. Particles of dust break away from the remaining portions of her arms, swirling up to the sky.
Behind her, she thinks she can hear multiple people call her name. Some of the voices are ones she hasn't heard in a lifetime, calling him by a different name.
How odd that the sun feels good on her face even as it's turning into dust. Memories of lying down on grass in the sun while a cool breeze hits his skin come to mind. The tantalizing smell of sweet grass is just out of reach.
It's a good dream, but she's not finished here, not yet. She glances over Moria's shoulder.
"I have a message for you," she says.
Moria's face is messed up so badly, it's almost a shame she can't make out the expression he makes when a pink blade suddenly pokes out of his stomach. Luffy drops Moria with a surprised screech—bending backwards dramatically despite the fact the blade is nowhere near his skin—causing Moria to sink deeper onto the sword going through his back.
"You're late," she says to the one standing behind Moria.
"A good swordsman makes a good entry," Kaito tells her with a chuckle.
Gone is the red dress with its pulled off sequins; instead a well-cared for black suit has been carefully buttoned over patch worked skin. In the breast pocket is a fresh cut flower from Nami's garden, and spiky hair has been combed back into a proper hairstyle.
"That said," Kaito continues over Moria's choking sounds, "sinking a boat this large took quite a bit of effort. We don't do anything by halves, do we?"
"No," she smiles even though her mouth has already disappeared.
"Call it. Your shadow," Kaito says. "Call it, and it will go to you."
Come back to me, she thinks as she reaches out her hand. It's not time for us to depart yet. We still have a world to see, so much to do.
She closes her eyes and tilts her head up towards the sun. No cool breeze hits her. The only thing she smells is smoke, sweat, and blood. She curls her fingers and feels the ache in them. She feels whole.
When she opens her eyes, Kaito is pulling Tsubasa de Tobu out of Moria and holding the hilt out to her. Luffy is giving him a blank eyed stare.
"Z-Zombie," Luffy squeaks.
"It's always been zombies!" Zoro shouts angrily somewhere behind them.
"I will drag Moria and Thriller Bark to hell with me. I will not let them rest, even for a moment," Kaito promises as she takes back her sword. "Worry not for his Devil Fruit, for I will take that to hell with me as well."
She doesn't know how Kaito plans to do that, but she has no desire to ask. Kaito bends down, grabs the now lifeless Moria by the back of the collar, and begins dragging the body towards the shadows. She knows, instinctively, that they will both disappear.
"Could you pass on a message to Moria for me?" She speaks up before Kaito can go too far.
"Was a blade through the lungs not it?" Kaito asks.
"No, but I didn't have any hands left to pass on Chilla's message," she says.
Kaito understands from the way he laughs, and she knows that Moria will receive the message somehow. When the two bodies disappear from sight, she turns around only to be met with Luffy, Chopper, Brook, and Usopp huddled together and crying.
"He," Usopp warbles, "he dragged him to hell!"
"AHHH!" Chopper, Brook, and Luffy scream.
A sharp feeling a vindication hits her, but it's not from the thought of Moria going to hell.
"Is it because they used the right pronouns?" She whispers to herself.
"Kuina," Zoro calls for her.
Kaito.
Ah, so it's like that then.
"Stop giving me heart attacks," Zoro grouches at her, arms crossed.
"Only when you do," she replies immediately before pausing. "Zoro, do you feel any different after getting your shadow back?"
"No, do you?"
She waves off Zoro's concerned look with a flick of her sleeve. Perhaps her soul is different, and that's why it came back to her a little fuller than when it left.
Zoro doesn't bother pressing her for more information, but the frown he wears tells her he's not going to overlook this. She shrugs at him. When she finds out the full effects of being an abomination for a night, she'll let him know.
"Do you know where Nami is?" Robin asks as Sanji begins wailing about losing his beloved Nami.
"She's back on the ship," she says, and the certainty of it makes her eyes narrow.
Perhaps it'd be best to have Chopper look at her later. She doesn't feel like she's any different; rather, it feels like she's learned some new things and just hasn't put them into practice yet.
Though she does feel like she's forgotten something important.
"The way you took out Oars was SUPER!" Franky suddenly shouts, giving her a thumbs up.
"Oars?" She blinks.
Zoro nods towards the abomination still burning. If she squints, she can still make out red skin. Even 500 year old zombies need names, she supposes.
"Burying these guys will take forever," Sanji grouches, pulling out a cigarette.
It'd be the right thing to do for these people and their desecrated bodies, but isn't—ah. That's what she forgot.
"Oh, right. We might want to get to the ship. Thriller Bark is sinking," she says in sudden realization.
The sheer amount of "WHAT?" she receives deafens her.