Chapter 126: Enter the Warlord, Enter Wedding Crashers!
"Master Moria!" Hildon cried, as he flew into his master's chambers landing on the mantlepiece above which housed a roaring fire. Hildon knew better than to wake up the warlord instead waiting, impatiently, for the shadow-shadow man to acknowledge him. The room was built and decorated like a mausoleum; complete 360 degree view surrounding a large four poster bed where Moria was currently resting. Solid mahogany coffins lined the stone and brick walls, each containing a completed zombie body just waiting for a shadow. Slowly, the sound of creaking bed springs and popping of joints, alerted Hildon to his masters awakened state.
"This better be good, Hildon," Moria yawned, his higher-pitched voice dripping with discontent. "I was napping."
"Master Moria! Terrible news!" Hildon repeated urgently yet with great deference and respect, as to not attract the warlords ire. From a sedentary position, Moria rolled his eyes as he grunted, "very well. What's happened now? It better not be a fight between Hogback and Absalom again". Hildon froze realising that his master had got the information partially correct. "W-w-w-well..." he spluttered. "Oh ok for pity's sake! Spit it out!" Moria shouted, "what's big news?"
"Doctor Hogback is dead!" Hildon stated. Moria sprang upwards with such a jolt he hit his head on the cross beams of his four poster bed. "What! How? Was it the recent pirate invaders?" The warlord growled, his hands turning white. "No master, it was the Humming Swordsman. I saw the instant in question", Hildon replied, "and he is not showing mercy like he did last time. He's going around purifying zombies and eliminating all of our forces, and by the sound of it, he intends to join the Straw Hats if he gets his shadow back." Finally getting out of bed and standing tall, Moria grabbed a jug of on the bedside tables and hurled it across the rooms smashing on the wall opposite. At almost fifteen feet tall with a neck that was most over six feet, his skin was a vampiric pale grey and with a head of purple hair from his oval head along with two devil horns; he really did look like a vampire of old. Sadly though, he was not, vampires were an extinct race. Orange trousers, dark shirt and black caped; Gecko Moria was intimidating but as Warlords went he wasn't what people expected from the government's 'dogs of the navy'.
"No. No. No!" Moria ranted. "This can't be happening! M-my plans... Hogback is instrumental to them, I need him to make me zombies. Only then will I be able to get my revenge of that idiot Kaido in the New World!" Moria growled under his breath at the reminder of his prior defeat at the hands of 'Beast King' Kaido, which proves to be a great motivator for the warlords ire and vengeance.
"Hildon!" Moria exclaimed, turning around to his messenger zombie. "Hogback told me that the Straw Hats have a doctor with them, an raccoon dog with the Human-Human Devil Fruit. Contact the spider-mice and tell them to prioritise the captures of Straw Hat Luffy, Pirate Hunter Zoro and this doctor Chopper".
As the boss spoke, Hildon jotted down the instruction on a notepad he had on his person before saluting and then flying out of the window. "And bring me Hogback's body! Also, go tell Absalom to assemble the Zombie General", Moria yelled out after the vampire bat messenger. Walking out of his room and down the corridor, the warlord couldn't help but smirk "finally a worthy soul for number 900" he whispered. Walking past, and completely missing, the ears on the skirting board and the wide horrified eyes on the window sill.
Robin and Vivi stood back to back utilising their respective devil fruits to keep a pack of rampaging zombie wolves from getting to close to their group. Sanji had discerned the exact location that Nami and "pervert lion man" were, the chef was currently beating the 'living' daylights our of one of the zombie generals; a tall skeletal man in ancient ripped grey trousers and a white shirt; so in pieces you could see his ribs through them. The long silver hair and tri-pointed captains hat, gave him away as the infamous Captain John, who died forty years ago returning from burying his treasure on an island somewhere in the Paradise sea. And despite his reputation as being a no holds barred bloodthirsty pirate, Sanji was making Captain John look a total lightweight. "I swear, if you don't tell where my precious Nami is I will drown you all over again!" The slumped and defeated zombie general didn't speak he simply raised an arm and pointed in the direction of a massive cathedral surrounded by another, much larger, cemetery. "Sand buster!" Vivi yelled, throwing two towering columns of sand against the buttresses of the belfry, creating shockwaves that made peels of ringing cry out across the entire island.
Then suddenly, a loud voice yelled out from way above in the towers of the warlords castle. "Yohohoho! Yohohoho!" Brook's joyful laugh echoed down, followed moments later by the man-skeleton himself, landing in a a small crater, and looking shocked when he recognised the faces of the people before him. And then a smile as broad and joyful as ever spread across his face a she proudly exclaimed: "my shadow has returned!"
"Great, now get lost..." Sanji began, sarcastically, only to be elbowed in the ribs by Robin, "I mean join us and help rescuer Nami".
Brook, having not noticed, or even registered, Sanji's sarcasm simply nodded his head and bowed acknowledging the StrawHats right to proceed first and rescue their friend. "You know Brook", Vivi stated, "I wouldn't mind having you as a new shipmate. You do have honour, sometimes, and you know how to defend". "I thank you for your kind words Princess Vivi, I shall endeavour to maintain a sense of decorum in your and Robin's presence. And hopefully captain Luffy will invite me again". Sanji scowled as he glared jealousy at the attention being bestowed upon a non shipmate. "You don't have to worry, Mr Brook", Robin added. "Luffy likes you, besides I don't think he accepted your initial refusal anyway", she laughed followed by Vivi and a chuckling Franky. "Okay, let's go!" Sanji yelled as he leapt over the cemetery gates and charged towards the cathedral doors, splintering them with a well placed "concassé!" Only to moments later be barrelled out of the way by a rampaging zombie warthog in a wedding dress, crashing the wedding and charging straight for Absalom. And beaten the horrified looks on both the enemy and the chefs faces it was clear that the fight they had expected was now hijacked by someone else.
"Lola?!" Absalom cried out in shock, seeing the undead female woman imbued into the body of a warthog zombie. "What are you doing here? I thought Perona had ordered you to take out the pirates on their ship, and ransack it for valuables!" The now named Lola, frowned as she took in the sight before her. "I was", she retorted stalking forwards. "I was on their ship, but no one was around so Mistress Perona gave me time off to go a'hunting. And what do you think I hear?" Her voice now low and pronounced, "That you were going to marry a woman other than me! How could you, Master Absalom! We are fated to be together".
Nami slowly awoke from her drugged state and instantly screamed, when the face she saw was of the animal man that had abducted, and groped her. With a vicious snarl and a a flurry of knives flung, Absalom spun around and grabbed Nami by her waist and attempted to kiss her, "priest start the vows", he swooned. But then Lola and Sanji both launched themselves directly into the lion man sending him smashing into the alter. "Lola, you're dead," Absalom retorted angrily, not even trying to be sensitive, "I've told you before that I'm never going to marry a hideously unattractive dead whore like you. I need a living, breathing woman." It was then that something cracked in Nami; hearing this misogynistic egomaniac ranting on about the perfect woman, made her suddenly feel ten times strong. And so without even realising it, a darkness covered both her left and right arms and both fists, and then descended into a one sided slugfest by punching Absalom so many times that he was blasted out of the cathedral and onto the roof of the warlords castle, impaled upon the pirates own jolly rodger.
"Guys! Hey guys!" Usopp yelled, from atop a tall pine tree. Waving his hands in the air, did very little to get their attention so instead he loaded his rifle with a blank and fired it into the air. 'Bang'. The shot reverberated off of the castle walls and around the forest, alerting the other straw hats to their captain, sniper, doctor and artists locale. Unfortunately, a side effect of such a loud noise brought out hundreds of spectral ghosts flying through the walls, making Suki and Chopper dive into the arms of Robin and Vivi respectively. "Luffy..." Nami uttered as the captain, Suki, Chopper and Usopp ran over dodging ghosts left, right and centre.
Before the navigator could finish her sentence, the straw hat captain embraced her and pressed a kiss to her lips. However, the moment was abruptly ended when ghosts flew down and passed through all of the gathered straw hats, and Brook, and then with the pirates temporarily lacking any kind of fighting spirit little spider mice appeared and wrapped Luffy in silk cobwebs and rushed off with him. Other captured straw hats, included Zoro and Chopper who were also captured and taken away.
