LW: Happy New Year everyone!
Rubber King and Mirror Master - 'The midnight hour is close at hand...'
"So, what are you guys doing out here?" Luffy asks the zombies who managed to not be burnt to ash by Franky, Kaos and Valentina (he should probably do something about those 3… eh maybe later)
"You know, zombie stuff, being buried, rotting"
"Sounds boring" Franky sighs
"It really is"
"You guys wouldn't be lying to me are you?" Luffy asks, his voice lowers slightly into 'serious captain mode'
"Nope, just rotting and hanging out, regular zombie stuff"
Luffy nods "Ok, then I guess my next question is: Did a guy with a long nose, girl with red hair and a racoon dog/ reindeer creature pass through here recently?" he asks
"Well you see…" one of the zombies begins
"We're not supposed to talk about that"
"Yeah, sorry to tell you but we're under specific instructions not to share that kind of information with anyone" the old man zombie finishes
"If we torch a few more, think they'll answer us then?" Kaos asks lazilly, still annoyed by the taste of blood.
The zombies panic "Yeah we saw 'em" they answer quickly
"Wow, these guys are pushovers, even Usopp would have lasted longer than these wimps" Sanji grunts, Kaya nodding in agreement as Usopp would have at least put on a brave face and tried to stand up to the enemy.
"Those 3, are part of my crew. You didn't do anything to them, did you?" Luffy asks
"What?"
"They were on your crew!"
"We didn't do anything"
"Nothing!"
"Other than chase them a bit but we never even caught up to them, honest"
"Where did you chase them to?" Artemis asks, wanting to join in Luffy's 'interrogation'
"The mansion, over there" one zombie points
"Thank you, and goodbye" Valentina says with a wide grin, which sends shivers down the exposed spines of the zombies
Katon: Gōenka
"Little warning next time" Vivi screams as the Straw hats run out of the graveyard to avoid the fireballs raining down upon them
"Sorry, 1st time using dials for that move, less finesse than I would like" the blond admits with a grimace, patting down her burnt sleeve
"Eh, don't worry about it, those weak zombies weren't even worth beating the crap out of, your firestorm should stop them from bothering us later" Alvida assures her, but also lightly headslaps her for her stupid manouvre.
"Mom, who's that weirdo following us?" Artemis asks, which causes everyone to turn around rather sharply
"Old man with serious injuries" Luffy gasps
"He's a zombie dumbass"
"No, pretty sure this one's still alive, no weird coldness clinging to him" Kaos hums
"Straw hat boy and the tall, lanky lad are right, I'm still alive" the man wheezes
"So, why are you following us?" Victor asks
"I saw you deal with those zombies, even before deciding to Scorched Earth the graveyard" he lightly chuckles, missing Valentina facepalm and mutter about 'Scorch release' in the process "So, I'm pretty sure you youngins are strong enough to deal with the great evil that makes this island his home"
"Given we can't leave, we might as well do that" Kaos hums, looking at Luffy who was always happy to fight someone
"Please help me get my shadow back, I'd be eternally grateful" the man gasps, now on his knees
"Wait, you also got your shadow stolen?" Robin asks, wondering how this man was connected to Brook
"Do you know who did this, are they still on the island?" Zoro asks, looking forward to cutting this fucker up
"Moria, his name is Moria" the old man wheezes, several eyes widen
"Moria, as in Gecko Moria of the Shikaibuchi?" Robin asks in shock
"Another one, shit" Alvida groans, Crocodile was bad enough
"There's also the fact his former bounty was 320 million, so he's not going to be a pushover by any means" Kaos adds with a grimace "Plus, I get the feeling he's the one who ate the Kage Kage no mi, would explain the shadow stealing if nothing else"
"But what's a big shot Warlord like Moria doing in a place like this?" Victor wonders aloud
"I'm not sure, all I do know is that he's left behind many victims, who now wander this place aimlessly, and without purpose"
"Can you be a little more specific, how many is many?" Zoro asks, mildly annoyed
"Who knows, the fact you were invited to this hell island, is proof he wants to add you to his collection, and steal your shadow as he did us" the old man warns "All we can do is hide in this dark forest, afraid of zombies and the creatures hidden within. We can't leave or risk being exposed to the sunlight and crumbling to ash" he then begins to cry "After years of this suffering and pain, I just want to feel the warmth of the sun one last time before I die" he whimpers, then agrilly lashes out at the lanturn he'd been carrying, the spinning light revealing and warping everyone else's shadows as well as showing they all still had theirs, until Luffy stops it and crouches in front of him
"Well, it's your lucky day old man, we happen to be looking for a shadow stealing bastard, and if he's looking for us too it actually makes our jobs easier, because then we have to meet eventually so can kick his ass" he grins widely "We'll have your shadow back in no time, and Brook's, probably everyone else's if we can too"
Elsewhere - Dr. Hogback's secret evil laboratory
Swish
The door is sliced in 2 and the 3 straw hats tumble in, Nami bouncing against the table containing zombie 741, while the Usopp and Chopper stop rolling just before hitting it.
"You 3, what are you doing here?" Hogback shouts as his brain kicks back into gear
"That sounded an awful lot like Brook"
"But he wasn't a skeleton, he had skin, but it was all dry and leathery like a mummy"
"He also had wooden clogs, and he was dressed, well kind of like a samurai out of a storybook"
"HEY! Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Hogback shouts, finally getting their attention "Now, what did I tell you about not going into my lab?"
"We didn't see anything!"
"Nothing, honest"
"Couldn't tell you anything about this room if I wanted to"
"Really?" the Dr asks leaning over them
"Yep, we definitely didn't see the zombie you were working on" Usopp squeaks, both Nami and Chopper hitting him for being an idiot
Hogback sighs deeply "This was inevitable. Luckily you're far too late to do anything about it, because in a few short minutes, the Night Hunt will begin!" he announces gleefully
"The Night Hunt?" Nami repeats, the words filling her with dread
"Whoa unto those foolish enough to wander this island after dark, because none survive: The Night Hunt!"
Elsewhere
"What the fuck happened to my Zombie army?" Absolom screams seeing most though thankfully not all his minions were either partially or close to entirely incinerated
In the castle
"Welcome back Mistress Perona" a zombie that looked like a stuffed bear, named Kumashi greets the woman that now lay where all the ghosts had just converged, then his eyes widened in panic when he saw the bruise on her cheek
"I told you to shut up, your voice is too deep" she whines, standing up and snatching her umbrella from him "I've had a bad day and you're distinct lack of cuteness will just make it worse" she grumbles, the bear hearing mutters about 'creepy weirdos' 'boot up his ass' busty bitch' 'cheaters'.
Also in the castle
"Master Moria, time to get up!" 3 smaller zombie shout, as an oddly shaped creature rolls over to look at them
"What now? I was in the middle of something" he grumbles, that something being sleeping but not the point
"We got you some new meat Master, and I'm sure you'll like them, they're the guys who took out Enise Lobby a couple weeks ago: the Straw Hat Pirates. Just imagine what you could do with people that strong" one of the zombies chirp
"Kishishishishi, you've done a good job boys, I am most impressed" Moria says with a wide grin, the shadows in the room ripple under the force of his power.
Outside
"Welp, add sudden downpours to the reasons I hate this island" Alvida grumbles "Are we going to head for the mansion and seek out the others, or just stand around?"
"Give me a minute, there's something in the sky" Luffy hums, pointing above them
"Seems the rain is useful for something, clearing the fog" Kaos chuckles, then his eyes widen in shock
"Is that a pirate flag?" Sanji asks
"No, it's, a sail" Franky corrects
"The big guy is right" the crew turn to see the old man still following them "Thriller Bark isn't the island it appears to be, it's actually the world's largest pirate ship. The back of the mansion contains the main mast of the ship, as well as being the residence of Gecko Moria" he explains, just as the clock strikes midnight, and the bells toll
"This ship is a haven for ghosts, zombies, monsters…. And Vampires" Kaos whispers, once more tasting blood in his mouth "Things are about to get very, messy" he hums, as Luffy pushes open the gate
Hogback's lab
"As this night hunt is clearly not yours or our problem I think this is the best time to ask. What the hell was up with that bullshit you were telling us about coming here to 'study the zombies' when it's clear as day that you're the one making them?" Nami asks angrily, slamming her fist into the floor
"Fosfosfosfosfos Regardless of the accuracy of your accusations, they're meaningless here little girl. But as a scientist I'm curious as to what proof you have of my deeds"
She points to the blond behind him "Your assistant's obituary, Victoria Shindry died 10 years ago, and she was an actress, not some meager plate braker"
"You brats, how did you know that, I'm not even sure most of you were alive at the height of her fame" Hogback grumbles "Or at least not old enough to appreciate the fine art she made" he adds with a soft sigh as the 3 stare back at him "Not going to answer me? Fine, it's clear you've been poking around more of the castle than I thought to find THAT room, guess it's time to finish this. Shindrey, summon Ryuma and have them deal with these cretins"
"Done with your tour of the lab then?" Came the voice of Not-Brook, the samurai zombie from earlier "Do you need me to show you out? I'd be happy to Yohohohoho" he laughs as he enters the room. There was subtle tilt of the head before he next spoke "Oh, upon further inspection, you're quite the charmer my dear, absolutely beautiful" he purrs
"Um, thanks I think" Nami mumbles
"I only have eyes for girls like you, or I would if I still had eyes Yohohoho! Anyway may I see your panties?"
"Go fuck yourself!" Nami screams "Why is every man on this island a fucking pervert?"
"I'm not a…"
"Oh please I can see the boobjob from here" the navigator growls
"Actually, that was done back when she was still alive, and not by me" Hogback defends
"Yeah yeah… wait, I know that line. That's what Brook said to me when we first met on the ship, no eyes, that laugh, asking for panties, the whole deal. This is too weird to be just a coincidence" she mutters, the trio having gotten up and were just staring at Ryuma at this point
"Fosfosfosfosfos, it seems you have a clever clogs on your team there to figure things out so quickly. Not that it matters, this zombie is made of much stronger stuff than the fodder soldier zombies outside, this Zombie General is made from the legendary Samurai Ryuma from the Country of Wano, deep in the New World. This one supposedly slayed a flying dragon, which seems like good stock in my eyes when making someone into a high ranked zombie rather than an ordinary or wild zombie.
Ryuma leaps at them with his sword drawn, the 3 tense, and nothing happens. "Shindry, if you'd be so kind as to open that door for me, also a sandwich would be nice if you have the time" the zombie says casually, with a friendly tone
"I thought he was going to cut us to ribbons"
"That was so scary"
"Screw this, let's run for it while we have the chance" Nami screams, just as Ryuma sheaths Shusui.
Hanauta Sancho: Yahazu Giri
At that point the 3 fall to the ground as the damage inflicted upon them by his attack takes effect
"Incredible isn't it Shindrey. They say when a master cuts you down he can walk 10 paces before you even know you've been cut. Fosfosfosfosfos"
Downstairs/At the front door
"Hello. Ok nobody's there I'm going in" Luffy cheers, about ready to tear the door down
"Luffy calm down, the mansion is huge, and you didn't even knock" Kaya pleads with her captain who frowns
"Hm, it's locked, hey Vic
Bang
"Never mind the door's open" Luffy cheers
"Yeah, cause Bomberman opened it for you" Sanji hums
"Hey, where did Kaos go, he was here a few minutes ago?" Zoro wonders aloud
"Oh, Pops went to follow the blood, whatever that means" Artemis answers, pointing more or less to the left of the mansion
"Gecko Moria, are you in here, I'm here to kick your ass!" Luffy shouts, clearly lacking in self preservation, as usual
"No fear this one" Valentina muses with a chuckle "No brains either"
"Luffy I don't think this is the best idea" Vivi says as they enter the dining room
"Damn, looks like we missed a good fight" Alvida muses
"Those bastards better not have hurt Nami" Sanji scowls around his cigarette
"Oh, you're quite a ballsy one kid, most who know of Master Moria, also know to fear him" laughs the pig on the wall
"Guys, why is there a pig mounted on a wall?"
"It's probably just the head, given that's all you'd usually mount of an animal"
The pig chuckles "Oh we have many surprises in store for you. Show em what we've got in here gentlemen" he orders, the surprise Zombies popping out of their frames, as well as the bear rug getting back up
"If these zombies are paintings, that means they should be even more easily destroyed than the ones outside" Robin muses, smirking to herself before nodding to Franky, Victor and Valentina
Fresh Fire
Nose Fancy
Katon: Endan
"What the fuck!"
"Using fire's a dirty trick, just like that long nose"
"They're playing for keeps damn it"
"Long nose, Luffy, the rug saw Usopp and the others" Kaya shouts
"Then we'll ask the pig in charge when we're done with the rest" Luffy responds, before slamming the zombie rug into the wall with a point blank Gum Gum Bazooka to the face.
"No, not Bear Rug" the pig gasps
"And then there was one" Luffy sighs, reaching up and taking down the mounted pig "Talk, or we make bacon"
"Oh those 3 were your friends, well we fed them, ran them a bath and put them to bed for the night, are we all good friends now?" the pig asks in a panic
"My bullshit detector is going off again" Victor hums
"Well don't sneeze on anything again, we might need to question these dumbasses and that's easier when they're still in one piece" Valentina argues
"Says the woman who incinerated like 3 of these paintings" Alvida chuckles
"Hey guys, where's Sanji?" Vivi asks, the gang look around to notice that much like Enies Lobby, the blond had ditched them, or so they thought, until the muffled/badly hidden chuckles from the zombies gave them the answer
"Sanji's been kidnapped, probably by whoever attacked us on the ship. Rest in peace you damn pervert" Zoro sighs
"He's not dead Zoro, plus he's Sanji, he'll be fine" Luffy says with a shrug
"As long as there aren't any boobs, then he's 7 kinds of screwed, none of which are the fun kind" Robin adds with a chuckle
"You're already losing, you didn't even make a dent in our numbers and yet we've managed to take one of your prized fighters" the pig boasts
"Damn, Val managed to incinerate like 30 of them and that's not even a dent, fuck" Zoro says, partly in jest as he had a feeling the dining hall zombies didn't know about the graveyard zombies, and was proven right when they paled and the pig stuttered out "Incccinerated"
Valentina grins "Yeah, wanna see?" she asks, aiming her flame dials skyward
Katon:...
CHOP
"OW" the blond whines at the head chop from Vivi "Why?"
"Don't use that move indoors, it nearly roasted us back in the graveyard" she scolds,
"Fine, but what do we do with the loudmouth piggie?" Val asks
"We could torture him for information, but I'm not actually sure how much these things can feel pain, and how much he'd lie when faking a break" Robin says, then shoots down
"Then we just carry him around and have him play tour guide" Zoro suggests
"You can't seriously be thinking of fighting Master Mori-AH, even we're afraid of him, you'll be killed or worse before the day is out" on of the surviving zombies taunt
"Yeah no, we're still doing this, but if you have a way to contact your master, pass on a message for me. If he's done anything to my crew I'll kick his ass so hard this whole island ship thing will be torn apart" Luffy declares, sending the surprise zombies into catatonic shock. After that Franky picks up the pig, and follows Luffy and the others up the stairs in search of Moria.
The forest
"Well, now you're just making this too easy" Kaos hums as he steps through a puddle, which looking down he notices to be blood. A little further on he comes across a handful of zombies attacking a tall blond man with blood red eyes and an odd scythe like weapon, the main body of the blade an almost amorphous red material while the edge was a metallic color and clearly razor sharp. Just as one of the zombies managed to sneak up behind him though, it was eviscerated by a storm of razor wire, the pieces the size of a closed fist at most
"Don't know if shadow zombies work like normal ones, but with the head now a meat puree, I think this zombie will at least be a pretty useless one" Kaos hums, Hebi held horizontally flat in it's Traptrix form
"Kufufu, just like Zelena said, quite the smart arse aren't you?" the man finally says turning to face him and letting his scythe bubble and recede into his arm "At least your skills with that blade seems commendable, and from what I've heard it suit your fruit rather well, a mimic sword with a reflection Devil fruit" he chuckles, running his fingers through his hair, 2 horn like bangs bouncing back into place once his hand leaves his head
"And why am I not surprised the 'Vampire' would have… I'm not actually sure, I've heard it called the Blood Blood fruit"
"Close enough, it's the Qi Qi no mi. Now, how did you happen to find me, I had hoped to seek you out myself but obviously you beat me to it"
"I sense Devil fruits, yours makes me feel like there's blood in my mouth, an annoying but easy to notice side effect, I followed that until I found actual blood, meaning someone who wasn't a zombie running around" Kaos explains
Henry looks impressed, long fangs visible through an excited grin "A sensor and everything, your Kenbunshoku will be quite impressive when you get to training it" he chuckles, then digging his long nails into his palm creates his scythe and swings it at the researcher, missing the first time and nicking his arm the 2nd, though his blood blade on reflect armour sounded like grinding metal 'Hm, impressive defence too, wonder if haki will compliment or integrate with it' he thinks as he releases the hold on the blood and then with a flourish retrieves a locked chest from his open coat
Kaos grimaces as he examines the long, though thankful shallow cut in his forearm "Was there a point to that?" he asks, then his eyes narrow when he senses something familiar.
"I wanted to see if you were strong enough. You managed to beat my girl Sui, damn near killed her. It actually impressed me, as well as the fact you can use Hebi rather well, never mind the fact she hasn't killed you yet. Plus, I thought you'd like to finally test a theory that someone like you should have considered by now" he grins widely, revealing, to Kaos amusement at the irony, a deep blue pomegranate, with purple marks that resembled eyes rather than the expected swirls "After Apophis was executed, we 'ahem' retrieved his personal effects from the marines. Zelena took his blade for safe keeping, and I took this. Care to take the plunge, if you're here to fight Gecko Moria, maybe you'll need an actual monster on your side"
Kaos sighs as he picks up the fruit, feeling drawn to it, something he hadn't felt in many years "Fuck it, what do I have to lose?" he mutters
"Kufufu, you know the answer more than I do" Henry chuckles, grinning as he hopes to see a return of something he actually missed, rather than a messy smear on the trees: Yig and through that, an echo of his captain.
CRUNCH
Back in the castle
"If that painting was right, then Gecko Moria has been watching us since we landed on the island" Franky hums as they walk down a corridor "I mean we're down 5 members and we've only been here a few hours"
"Technically Kaos leaving wasn't Moria related, but that still isn't exactly good odds for the rest of us" Robin agrees
"It was just Sanji, the idiot probably sensed a woman on the other side of the mansion and wanted to hit on her, the guy has a girl radar better than Shimmer's Devil fruit detector" Zoro dismisses gruffly
"So, what do we do if any of us get our shadows stolen by Mr. Gecko?" Kaya asks
"Kick his ass until he gives it back, so the current plan" Alvida answers with a grin
Luffy hums "I know I told that old guy I'd return his shadow, but my crew comes first. We save Nami, Usopp and Chopper, then Brook's shadow, and if we have time the other shadows too" he declares
"This place is really giving me the creeps, and I've seen the experiments for awakening the Manda fruit" Valentina shivers
"Do we want to know what those were?" Kaya asks, a little curious, but also sure she'd be fine not knowing
"Just remember that one of the signs of a mad scientist is self-experimentation" the blond replies, catching something out of the corner of her eye.
Outside the mansion, neat Perona's domain
2 squirrel zombies were transporting the coffin containing the 3 wayward straw hats when, being squirrels they fucked up, falling over and sending the coffin flying, crashing into the ground and breaking, as well as waking the occupants. Deciding to deal with them quickly to cover their screw up they attacked, only to be knocked aside rather easily by Chopper's Heavy Point.
"Guys wake up, we're outside somewhere" Chopper yells and shakes the other 2, happy when they came to.
"Ow, how are we still alive? That zombie guy cut us right?" Nami groans
"He, must have used the back of his sword" Usopp guesses "He'd have probably split us in 2 otherwise"
"Oh crap they're awake!"
"Let's book it!"
"Those squirrels just talked didn't they?" Nami asks with a sigh "Zombies?"
The boys nod "Zombies"
"Figures. Anyway, we've been taken quite far since we were knocked out, given we're somewhere out in the back of the mansion, while Hogback's lab was on one of the upper floors" the navigator hums, mostly to herself
"Plus there's another building on the other side of this clearing" Chopper points out
"I wonder who it belongs to, Hildon did mention there were others on the island besides Hogback so maybe it belongs to one of them" Usopp guesses, though their thoughts were interrupted by 3 awkwardly waddling zombie penguins
"That 3rd one, has a dog's face. And here I thought Hogback's perversions stopped at human mutilation and zombie creation" Usopp grimaces
"You shouldn't have, someone had to have made the Cerberus and the other mutant creatures we saw on the way to the mansion" Nami reminds him
"Like the rest of the crew" one of the penguins chirp, causing them to turn and see a whole hoard of animal zombies "These are the Wild Zombies"
"We welcome you to Mistress Perona's Wonder garden" they greet as one. The response to this was understandable… blind panic and the 3 running in random directions, Chopper getting separated 1st by a hippo man, koala headed guy and gorilla-thing, then Usopp and Nami, the sniper getting repeatedly beaten by a zebra-kangaroo zombie, before sniper and navigator reunite and lead their zombies up and down the Escherlike staircase attached to the garden. Unfortunately that exact lack of sense in the architecture lead to them all meeting up and being surrounded by the zombie animals, Usopp and Chopper being knocked around painfully, but just before Nami was sliced by the hippo man… he was kicked through one of the structures by the dog-penguin.
"What the hell man, I get you're new but that girl's a pirate… so kick her ass!" one of the zombies shout
"I don't care who or what this lady is, or if it means disobeying Master's orders, even if I die because of it I'll never kick a woman!" the penguin-dog declares, shocking the pirates "You got a problem with that then bring it on, piece of crap zombies" he scoffs, stubby arms folded as best he could.
'It couldn't be' Nami thinks 'But the samurai zombie acted like Brook, does this mean something happened to Sanji too if this zombie is acting like him?'
Mansion
"This 'guide' isn't very good at his job" Artemis notes as Luffy and Franky beat up the zombie pig
"No, but that does look therapeutic" Alvida sighs then looks around "Guys, Zoro's lost again"
"Took him long enough was kind of expecting him to disappear before we even reached the mansion to be honest" Robin says with a chuckle "He'll be fine though, even with only 2 swords the man is lethal"
"True, but it's still a bad omen that we've once more lost a crewmate without anyone noticing," Vivi says with a look of tired resignation.
TBC
LW: LW: Well, the players are setting up, and the straw hats now know what they're supposed to be doing. Good luck lads ;)
