LW: Alright, no more hiding, time to bring the battle to the bastards!
Rubber King and Mirror Master - Straw Hats Vs Mysterious 4, Setting the stage
"So, now we have our musician, let's go save him and Nami, then kick the onion man's ass to get back our shadows" Luffy declares in captain mode "Counter attack go! Oh and if anyone sees Kaos tell him the plan ok?" he adds, realizing he hadn't seen his brother since before entering the mansion
"Get on with it, we're kind of on a timer aren't we?" Zoro asks, already having jumped off the ship
"I need to rescue Nami before she gets married or loses her virginity!" Sanji declares as he jumps off in a miniature fireball
"How do we know she didn't already?" Valentina mutters lowly, getting a chuckle from those who could hear her
"This isn't going to be as plain sailing as we'd like, after all with all the zombies around what are the odds we run into the ones containing Sanji, Zoro or Brook's shadows?" Alvida asks
"Not to mention Luffy's is in a giant monster, he's like 6 times larger than any giant I've ever seen and even more deadly" Chopper whines
"Plus he has all Luffy's fighting abilities" Usopp adds
"Who cares" Oddly enough both Zoro and Luffy said this, though for different reasons, the swordsman because this was something they HAD to do, so there was no point complaining about it, and Luffy, well because he knew a lot of his actual moves required his devil fruit to actually be effective, so his zombie was actually less combat effective than if he'd been given say Sanji's shadow.
"Plus we don't need to fight and beat those zombies, we just have to take down Gecko Moria. Once we beat the shadowman all his zombie puppets will fall to the ground with their strings cut" Luffy states bluntly, the others finding the plan to have merit as he had a point, most devil fruits with effects that went beyond the user tended to cut off if their wielder was rendered unconscious, why wouldn't Moria's?
"That's actually a well thought out plan, besides the fact he's a Warlord, and therefore no pushover" Victor notes
"True, but he's just sitting up there on his fat ass, practically screaming for me to kick it. And without a shadow of my own, he can't do anything to me. Now finding the zombies and dealing with Moria and his underlings are a big deal, so… Sanji you're on Nami duty" he commands, the cook jumping for joy yelling something about the power of love
"Is now a bad time to tell him the Invisible man also peeked on and potentially molested her in the bath?" Usopp asks Vivi, but not far enough to avoid being overheard by Sanji, who promptly burst into flames
"Shit, blondie's going to go Super Saiyan if we add any more fuel to the fire" Valentina laughs nervously
"I'll tag along with Sanji, it's partly my fault he got the jump on us and took Nami, plus I'd rather fight him than Moria" Usopp admits, volunteering
"I believe that would be the best place for us to go as well" Robin offers, getting a nod from Artemis as she takes Chopper's place beside her
"Personally, I want to check up on our skelebro, see if I can help retrieve his shadow. Sure if Luffy beats Moria beforehand it won't matter, but just in case I want to provide backup for our newest member" Franky states
"Same here, plus I want to see just how good Moria's samurai is, is he even worth the title" Zoro says with a chuckle
"I'm game, any reason to break something from Wano" Valentina grins, Greed joining in
"I really don't like this, don't you remember Moria is one of the Shikabucki?" Chopper asks
Luffy shrugs "Yeah, so what? So was Crocodile and I kicked his ass"
"Yeah and nearly died multiple times in the process!" Chopper screams
"Well this time I won't die, he needs me alive so his giant zombie has a shadow, therefore I already enter the battle with a slight advantage" Luffy explains "So, everyone else sticking with me then?" he asks, getting nods from everyone, even the 2 medics
"Hey, before you go, take these" Usopp says, tossing them small sacks "They're zombie death salt balls, or at least that's the name I'm going to use for them"
"Hm, so this is what you were working on while we were talking" Robin muses
"And one last thing, we need to be careful, sure Thriller bark is heavily forested in parts, but we can't guarantee we'll be safe from the sunlight at all times, only reason some of us are still alive is because it's nighttime. So to put it simply, sunrise is our literal deadline for completing the mission, everyone understand?"
"Yep, kick Moria's ass and leave by dawn. Now give me back our food!" Luffy shouts like a battle cry, leading the charge to the amusement of several of his crewmates, and eyerolls from the others
With the Moria/Nami teams
"I'm starting to think we aren't actually needed here" Kaya hums as Luffy and Sanji punch and kick their way through the hoard, the others walking behind them at a reasonable pace
"Yeah, seems they don't even need the salt, the anger is serving them just fine" Usopp agrees
"Might be a good idea to keep the salt on hand regardless, these seem to be basic cannon fodder zombies, not a heavy hitter like I presume our crewmates or Brook's shadows would be held within" Robin notes "Those won't simply go down this easily, we'll definitely need to purify them in order to deal with them, as well as the fact it's probably the only way we're going to get back those shadows"
"True, but it seems at the moment at least that Moria is going for quantity over qual...shit" Vivi hisses, the 'ghosts' from before returning and passing through Luffy and Sanji, dropping the 2 to their knees in the middle of zombie territory
"What just happened?" Chopper screams
"One of Moria's minions, they produce these ghosts which as far as we can tell, induce depression or something close to it, amplifying negative emotions to uncontainable levels" Robin explains
"Where's Kaos to bitchslap someone when you need him?" Alvida sighs, confusing Usopp and Chopper even more than they already were
"Complain later, rescue now" Victor grunts, firing nose fancy at the zombies holding Luffy and Sanji, then with help from Chopper hoist the 2 broken men and lead the charge before the ghosts could turn their attention to them all.
"Guys, those ghosts are getting closer" Vivi shouts as the negative hollows were flying faster than the zombies could run, closing in on the straw hats. Luckily the universe was on their side, sort of, as Oars crashed through the staircase they were running up, destroying it and getting rid of the zombies and hollows, but also splitting up the crew, Robin, Chopper, Artemis and Vivi with Luffy, while Usopp, Alvida, Kaya and Victor were with Sanji.
"Please be ok" Chopper wishes aloud, then gets bumped by a once more awake Luffy who's really confused as to what the hell happened while he was spiralling
"Something crashed through the staircase, sent all the zombies, ghosts and the rest of the team down to join Zoro's group on the ground floor" Artemis explains
On the ground floor
"They're still twitching, I'm sure they're fine" Zoro says with a shrug, referring to Usopp and Sanji, who the others had landed on and broke their fall "Besides we have bigger problems, this big pink wall for one thing"
"Yeah, it's really weird, we should probably demo our way through it pronto" Franky agrees
"Hm, not made of stone" the swordsman notes, stabbing it and the blade sliding through pretty easily
"And the explosions didn't even make a dent" Victor scowls "Got anything stronger in their Franky?"
"What are you guys doing!?" Usopp bellows, having finally come to
"Trying to get through this pink fleshy wall" Zoro explains casually
"You idiot that's not a wall, that's the giant zombie Luffy's shadow is controlling!" the pirates look up and yep that's a giant demon zombie
"Huh, think we'd have noticed the thing had a mug that ugly Kyahahaha" Valentina laughs, then sighs "So, any bright ideas?"
Upstairs
"Are you sure we should just leave them down there, it doesn't seem right?" Chopper asks as the group run, especially now Luffy was back in action and leading the charge
"They'll be fine, Kaya's with them and they basically landed in the same place as Zoro's group so they should be able to patch them up and at least make sure they're ok" the captain explains with a glance back at the reindeer "Plus, we're on a timer, and the sooner we find and beat up Moria the sooner we can all leave"
"Oh, that's a good point" the doctor hums "If we keep going this way we should run into the Dance Hall place where you lost your shadow, then past that is a massive refrigerator where they were storing the giant zombie, and was the last place any of us saw Moria"
"Then we have a starting point" Vivi says with a tight smile, fidgeting with her wire gloves as they turn a corner and, while not who they were looking for did find someone responsible for their current predicament, that benign Dr. Hogback and Shindry
"Wha, I thought Perona was taking care of you pirate brats" the man gasps, his maid looking unimpressed as always
"Dr. Hogback" Chopper growls, sounding angrier than most of the crew had heard him before
"A reindeer, but why is it talking?" he wonders aloud, before it hits him
"The infamous Dr. Hogback, 3rd best doctor in the world or so I've heard" Robin guesses, her lip curls into a smirk when she sees the comment get under his skin
"Hey wait a minute I know this guy, he was with Moria, the cat faced weirdo and the ghost girl. I vote we kick his ass then make him tell us where Moria is!" Luffy declares, panicking the man
"Let's not be hasty their my boy" Hogback squeaks
"No, don't fight him Luffy. I've got a bone to pick with this bastard, let me fight him while you guys head through that door over there…" he points with his head to the open vault style door "...and see if Moria is still down there"
"If you're sure, let's go guys. Chopper has some aggression to let out" Luffy cheers then begins walking over to the door
"You brats, you can't just ignore me and waltz into Moria. Shindry attack!" he bellows, the zombie pulling out a stack of plates from somewhere and starts throwing them at Luffy "Fosfosfosfos, how do you like that?" he cackles, until…
Seis Fleur: Clutch
Shindry's arms are forced behind her back, the plates falling to the ground
"What?"
Robin smirks "Artemis, stay there with Vivi, Mommy has to help Chopper deal with some asshole and a zombie" she orders, the artist giving her a mock salute and a grin
"Thanks Robin, you guys stay safe ok?" Luffy calls as he rushs towards the door
"Stop running away and ignoring me!" Hogback screams, about to run after him
"Hey Hogback!" Chopper shouts, once more in his Brain Point form "You have no right to call yourself a Doctor after everything you've done, I've lost all respect I had for you" he spits
"Oh, fosfosfos, my apologies I didn't recognise you for a moment there Doctor Chopper. Zoan type Devil fruit ay?. Well it's not that important, nor is the how when it comes to escaping Perona's garden as regardless of that you've still ended up right back here, where your shadow will soon be mine"
Chopper grits his teeth in anger "Actually, I have a better idea, I'll make you into a marionette, maybe put one of your crewmates shadows in you later, and I'll use our current strawhats to do it!" he grins and steps to the side as the dog penguin and zombie swordsman appear from another door
"Wait a minute, that guy looks nothing like Zoro!" Chopper complains, Robin chuckling lightly
"Now my zombies, destroy them!" Hogback orders
"So, which one do we fight first?" zombie Zoro asks
"The crappy reindeer" Zombie Sanji replies
With Luffy
"Damn it, why is this hallway so long?" Luffy complains aloud as he runs through the corridor leading to the main freezer, until finally he reaches another open door, leading to a wide open area. Stopping to take a breath he see's it to his right, Moria, sitting on his ass looking bored, just like he said he would.
"You again" he grunts, looking as interested as Shindrey right now.
Outside
"Fuck, what are we going to do with this monster?" Franky curses, pretty much repeating his crewmates question as he thinks outloud, then along with the others jump back when it begins to move "This is way out of our league guys!"
"We're all going to die!" Ussop screams, Kaya shaking like jello beside him, especially when the giant reaches past them to grab a massive piece of rubble, formerly the staircase above them. Despite the situation, they were reminded the shadow was Luffy's, when he slammed the stone onto his head, as some sort of substitute for the original's straw hat, which had Alvida chuckling.
"GREAT, NOW I LOOK LIKE THE REAL THING!" Oars bellows, turning to walk away "CAN'T BE KING OF THE PIRATES WITHOUT A COOL HAT. THAT WAS KIND OF SCARY HOW THAT BUILDING JUST FELL" he murmurs to himself as he leave, the straw hats, really confused
"Well, that was definitely Luffy's shadow" Zoro says with a shrug before sheathing his swords
"Ok, so that was a non issue, but we still have an actual problem, how do we cross the chasm Zombie Luffy caused when he landed?" Alvida asks, walking over to a stony faced Franky
"Give me a couple minutes. Hey Vic, help a brother out will yah?" he calls, the bomber man chuckles and comes over while the rest of them strategize/mope
"And done!" the cyborg announces a few minutes later, then frowns "That railing doesn't look quite right" he sighs
"Hey relax it's a rush job, can't all be perfect" Victor assures him, while the others pick their jaws off the ground seeing the 2 had made a perfectly serviceable bridge in literally a few minutes
"How?"
"There was a bunch of wood and scraps all around us, I couldn't call myself much of a builder if I couldn't make a halfway decent bridge out of it now could I?" he laughs
"You put a lot of detail on such a quick project" Valentina notes, running her hand along the stone railings
"Were you expecting us to half ass it Val?" Victor asks only half seriously "Builders and architects, we have a certain level of pride, if we make something we want it to be worth the effort of building, to do less spits on that pride"
"I sure ain't complaining, it's the same with me and food, especially for a lady, only the best comes out of my kitchen" Sanji agrees with a laugh "Anyway, let's get across and find Nami, and our shadows!" the cook declares, the others agreeing and charging forward.
"Ok, so Moria is basically on the top floor of this place right?" Valentina asks as they push open the doors and walk in
"Pretty much, it's why Luffy was 1st up those stairs, also it was close to where Nami was taken by the invisible guy, so seemed the best place to start looking" Usopp explains
"Hey guys, why did the haunted mansion suddenly turn into a princess' bedroom?" Franky asks
"Well, I say we ask Vivi later if this is how a princess actually designed their room" Alvida jokes, equally confused and curious
"Miss Valentine, there are more of those spectres above us" Greed notes, the blond turning to see the ghosts lazily floating around in the air
"Well, shit"
"Horohorohorohoro. I was going to have the zombies capture you on the bridge but that plan clearly didn't pan out, damn Oars has literally just woken up and he's already giving me a headache" Perona sighs deeply, watching the straw hats from the sofa she was sitting on "So as you can probably tell, my patience is about to run dry" she finishes with a glare
"So this, is the one who's controlling those ghost things?" Zoro asks aloud
"Given none of us have fought her yet and she still looks like she got punched in the face...I'm going to go with yes" Kaya deadpans, causing Perona to grit her teeth in anger
"I'm lost"
"Kaos' bullshit fruit let him slap one of the ghosts who screamed about him somehow hitting the real her as well as not be affected by the negativity it produced" Franky explains, trying to subtly ready his weapons
"Well, he did say his fruit causes a Devil fruit's power to rebound back on itself" Kaya pipes in "Guess that includes things that he shouldn't even be able to interact with physically
"So, guess we're finally going to find out what those things are now" Victor wonders aloud as Perona jumps to her feet
"Horohorohorohoro, I see you pirates are very brave, but also foolish, even those who've already experienced the power of my Negative Hollows" she cackles before producing smoky white bubbles from her hands, which pop and form ghosts "The Horo Horo no mi allows me to create these and other spectres, think of them as an extension of myself, that fact making them the perfect spies and sentinels, and that's not even including that they can empty your heart an crush your spirit with a simple touch" she grins, as the straw hats scowl
"Why does such a cutie have to be the source of those creepy ghost fuckers?" Sanji whines, getting a smack to the back of the head from Alvida
"Not important right now, bigger issue is that we can't fight those things and I highly doubt she's going to leave herself open to a counter attack while any of us can fight back" she argues with a grimace
"If we can't fight them, then the only option is to retreat and find another way through the mansion to locate Brook, Nami and Moria" Victor summarizes
"I'd like to retain what little I have after the last time we ran into these guys, let's book it!" Franky shouts, sounding the retreat, all but Zoro turning on their heels and running full speed, the swordsman standing tall in the hope he can buy them a little more time
"And now the fun begins" Perona says with a smirk
Negative Hollows
Every ghost in the room shoots forward, spearing each and everyone of the pirates before they even get further than the doorframe, the Hollow woman grinning as she watched the negativity erupt from the pirates
"Now I understand why no woman wants me while the captain and psycho have big breasted babes on their arms, I'm a worthless piece of crap"
"The stairs should have killed me, not Kuina"
"I'm just a pile of scrap, I should have stayed on that island and rusted away"
"One of these days, the explosion will finally kill me, it's what I deserve"
"I'm nothing but a failure, I didn't even have the courage to complete Nii-san's ritual, so it's no wonder I'm such a weakling"
"I'm a walking lie, the only reason they married me was because I ate a fruit that cut my weight down to a third"
"Who was I kidding leaving the village, I should have let Kuro kill me like he killed my parents"
The only people who didn't say anything were Usopp and Greed, though the latter did fall to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, so clearly something still happened.
"That was easy" Perona chuckles, then gestures to her zombies "Capture them" the beasts compile, charging towards the prone straw hats "All that remain are the ones above us, and him" she scowls as she turns around, annoyed she hadn't had time to hide the bruise under her makeup, not that it would have helped as it hurt even letting the pad touch her cheek.
Gattling Salt Star
'What?' he brain stalls as the attack was yelled, turning her head as small salt pellets fly through the air and land in her zombies mouths, anger and panic mixing as she watches the shadow tadpoles escape her minions "Who did that?" she screams, then gasps when she sees one of the pirates was standing
"That's my crew you're trying to manhandle, and I won't let anyone hurt them, especially when they're in no condition to even try fight back" Usopp says with as strong a glare as he could muster
"But how? I saw you take a Hollow to the chest just like the others, you should be crying your eyes out on the ground, not standing defiant and taking out my zombies!" Perona grits her teeth "I must have missed, hitting 9 targets isn't exactly an easy feat, a part of me is surprised and impressed I managed to hit 8 of you. Don't worry though, with only you as my target I CAN'T miss"
Negative Hollow
This one she KNEW got Usopp right in the gut, passing right through him and sending him reeling as it's effects activated, only for him to stop and stand his ground "WHAT?"
"My name" he states clearly "Is Captain Usopp"
"ARH, why aren't my attacks doing anything? Nobody should have the mental fortitude to withstand my Negative Hollows, it's just not possible" Perona mutters, pulling at her pigtails
"Mental fortitude? It's nothing that complicated" the sniper chuckles "I just have A NATURALLY NEGATIVE PERSONALITY!" he bellows, shocking the hollow girl
"WHAT?" Perona screams, losing her balance and falling backwards onto her butt 'Nobody should be immune to the hollows, they empty your heart so all that's left is the negative thoughts you usually ignore, now applified to deafening levels with nothing inside to counter them' she thinks 'As long as humans are alive, they always look forward, striving to get better, but this one…' he eyes water and she sniffles "Don't give up" she whispers, surprising Usopp, even more so when the zombies join in chanting "Don't Give Up! Do Your Best!"
"I don't need your pity, also isn't this the exact opposite of what you're supposed to be doing?" Usopp asks
"Well yeah, but someone so negative even my hollows do nothing, it's kind of scary, I just want to make sure you haven't given up on life or something" Perona admits, looking a little awkward
"Wha, I'm not suicidal. I just know I'm the weak link of the crew, practically useless compared to everyone else. Jeez woman" Usopp huffs then turns to his downed crewmates "Come on, snap out of it, we still need to rescue Nami and the shadows, you can't just lie there like it's already over" he shouts, managing to end the spell of the hollows early "You all need to complete our tasks, so get moving. Against her you stand no chance, so I'll face her as only I have the counter to her spectres" he declares loudly
"I don't believe it" Alvida gasps
"I know, Usopp actually looks cool for once" Sanji nods, then gets a syrup fist to the back of the head
"Usopp has always been cool" Kaya huffs, slidin up to the sniper "Kick her ass for us ok Usopp" she coos, kissing his cheek and making his face turn bright red "Thanks" she grins, her cheeks a pale yellow before following the others who had already run off
"Hey wait a minute, you were supposed to beat the zombies first, get back here" Usopp whines, but gives a wave to Kaya regardless until a cough is heard right behind him, leading to him eye to eye with Perona 'Crap'
"If my hollows won't deal with you, I'll just have to beat you to death, little old fashioned but it still works" she chuckles behind her hard, grinning sadistically
Elsewhere
"Do you Absolom, take Nami as your lawfully wedded bride, to have and hold, in good times and bad, in sickness and in health?" the zombie priest asks, the ceremony fully underway
"Damn straight" Absolom replies, getting cheers from the zombie generals around him
"And do you Nami, take Absolom as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and hold, in good times and bad, in sickness and in health?" he asks
"I sure do, he's so dreamy" one of the zombies puppeting Nami's unconscious body replies "i mean he had his 2 incher replaced with a real horse…."
"Not the time" Absolom growls, shutting up the zombie
"Then you may now kiss the bride" the priest announces, Absolom nearly exploding with glee and arousal as he turns and steps closer to Nami, hands on her shoulders and leaning in…
"Kishishishi, what did I tell you Absolom? You can do whatever you want with the women, but only AFTER I take theri shadows"
That snaps him out of it "Master Moria!" he squeals, looking around for the onion human, confused when he only sees a few toppled generals but no Shadow Man, only a man with shades like that flamingo guy… he didn't care who Master Moria's co-workers were besides Boa Hancock, on a scale of 1-10 that bitch is an 11. Still there was a non-zombie interrupting his wedding, he had to pay
Back with Ussop
"Nobody alive can stand up to the negative hollows, that last one must have been a dud" Perona mutters to herself, before producing several new hollows "You think you're so tough long nose, well time for a taste of my ultimate attack
Negative Hollow: Quadruple overlay
"Holy crap, this guy took all 4 ghosts at once, and he's still standing!" one of the zombies cheer, technically his Kabuto/slingshot was helping him to remain standing, but that was because even if they weren't causing a mental spiral they were still oddly solid blows to the core and draining on the stamina.
Of course Usopp wasn't the only one reeling from the Quadruple overlay… the hollows were curled up in their own depressive spirals, and Perona…
"I'm sorry I was so mean to you Kumase" she whimpers, now on her hands and knees like so many of her former victims, the bear too shocked to hear her not berate him for speaking or even breathing to respond
"Even Mistress Perona is feeling the effects, but this guy just shrugs it off, what, was he blessed by some kind of God of Negativity or Pessimism?"
"Now listen here and listen good, nobody on this great wide earth, can beat me in Negativity!" Usopp bellows, somehow making that feat sound like a pride worthy achievement, which in this exact circumstance it probably was as he was basically immune to Perona's best attack.
While he would have liked to use this lul in the battle to retreat, some of the zombies noticed, causing them to charge straight at him, and in doing so were purified with his 'Salt Star' attack. The 'dying' zombies did snap Perona out of her stupor though, yelling that Usopp shouldn't be killing her cute animal zombies, which the sniper responds by readying more salt stars "Crap it's salt, cover your mouths!" she orders, managing to save her remaining zombies from the attack, who were no mad and ready to cave his skull in
"Damn it, why did I have to announce my attacks?" Usopp cries as he runs full speed away from the zombie hoard. (It's cause you're in an anime boi. Sorry)
Elsewhere
"Who knew we'd one day see Usopp's negativity give him an advantage in a fight" Zoro says with a slight chuckle, following the group lead by Franky towards either their shadows, Gecko Moria, Brook, or Nami.
"Yeah, if he hadn't been their we'd have all been toast, that Perona's one scary chick" Franky agrees, then turns his head "Hey, how come the ghosts affected you?" he asks Greed
"Miss Perona's negative hollows empty the heart, and while not a living thing my heart still functions as a sort of power source for my body, so when the hollow pierced me it caused my to shut down. Mistress Valentina was able to give me a jolt back to life before we continued on once she snapped out of her depression" he explains, Franky more or less understanding, he was technically just another form of zombie so it made sense Val could just bring him back to life after the Hollows 'killed' him.
"Hey, if nobody has any complaints I'm going to run ahead and rescue Nami myself" Sanji states
"You sure about this?" Kaya asks, ever the medic
"Of course I do, I have the power of love on my side!" Sanji declares
"In that case, go knock yourself out" Alvida chuckles waving her hand in front of her
"I will. I'm coming to save you Nami-Swan!" He screams as he rushes forward in a burst of flame, throwing himself over the railing and into what looked like the fog below
"Um, how high are we right now?" Victor asks
"Enough that he's not going to just walk away from that" Valentina responds with a sigh and an eyeroll
"Don't worry about it, the fall won't kill him and with how pumped he is right now he won't feel any injuries the fall causes for a couple hours at least, by then Chopper or Kaya will already be patching him up" the cyborg explains to the rest of the group "Anyway, we have a mansion to climb to find some very important shadows"
Upstairs, with Brook
The fight was long and mostly even, but Ryuma was just stronger than Brook and was able to once more throw the skeleton to the ground with a strike, among which had done enough damage to crack his skull to the point his right eye socket, nasal cavity and mouth were all joined by cracked, broken bone
"So this is how it ends" Ryuma hums as he looks at his downed opponent, on his pant and panting rapidly "Try to die with at least a sliver of dignity okay kid Yohhhohoh" he chuckles, raising his sword. His face may be unable to make most expressions, but he was able to show an approximation of surprise when Brook heaved himself to at least a seated position for now "Hn, you rise like a phoenix, or, given where you're currently fighting, a zombie. But despite your mental determination, I doubt you'll be able to stand much longer. I'll make sure when you die you'll stay dead this time, an not cause any more pitiful repeats of tonight. So, since you're about to meet your end I'll let you be the judge: What part of your weak and broken body will I remove with an Arrow Notch Slash?"
"Shut up!" Brook pants and wheezes "You don't know the first thing about that technique, you're not worthy to speak it's name never mind use it, you can only use it because you have MY shadow" he growls, now on his knees "Back in my former homeland, the quickdraw attack I became best known for was called 'Requiem la Banderole', but it was renamed by my comrades when it became part of my arsenal and meshed well with my other techniques, at which point it became known as '3 Verse Humming: Arrow Notch Slash'. You don't get to use a name with so much emotion and history tied to it, as you are nothing more than a copy, an imitation of me, puppeting a dried up husk of a samurai"
"Yohohohho, well, if you feel so strongly about that, why don't you get up and do something about it?" Ryuma taunts "Come on, you get one last chance to strike me down and retrieve your shadow from this, I believe you called me a husk"
Shakily rising to his feet Brook, panting and in pain, walks slowly towards Ryuma, the zombie doing the same until they both pass the other…
Sword Technique: 3 Verse Humming
But only one managed to land the blow
Arrow Notch Slash
Brook gasps and chokes as Ryuma's attack cuts deep, his cane sword falling to the ground, before it's owner collapses onto his back
"I'm waiting" Ryuma hums as he walks back over to Brook "Where do you want me to start cutting? Yohohoho" he chuckles, raising his black blade while grabbing Brook's afro with his free hand "Well, while you're making your mind up, I'm going to start by removing this ridiculous afro" and he was about to if the island/vessel didn't essentially get hit with an earthquake, causing him to lose his grip on Brook who tumbled across the room and hit the wall "What is the meaning of this?" he thinks aloud, just as reinforcements arrived
"Hey look I found skelebro, and man is he in a bad way!" Franky shouts as he runs over to the downed Brook "You look like crap but, are you still alive bro, you think you can make it? Answer me!"
"Why are you here?" Brook asks, genuinely confused as to why and how he ended up meeting any straw hats again
"Now this won't do" Ryuma almost purrs, interrupting Franky's answer "I can't let you interfer in our battle!" he shouts, lunging forward to cut down the cyborg, only for his attack to be blocked by another sword
"Hey, you the legendary swordsman of Wano, Dragonslayer Ryuma?" Zoro asks, grinning as his blade locked with the zombie's "I had hoped when they said Moria had a samurai in his collection, that it would be you
Daitoppa
Ryuma is blown back, giving the 2 swordsmen space to ready themselves but also get the zombie away from Brook and Franky. Zoro tilts his head to see a coughing and wheezing Valentina at the door, but she winks and gives him a thumbs up, giving a smirk in return before drawing his second sword
"He, he blocked Ryuma's attack, I didn't know he was so strong" Brook gasped
"He's our swordsman, 2 sword Zoro, of course he's strong" Alvida scoffs
"I believe he intends to retrieve your shadow, if you don't mind Sir Comic" Greed purrs
"Brook is fine, and if he thinks he can beat Ryuma, he's welcome to try"
"That's quite an interesting katana you got there" Zoro hums, adjusting his stance
"Yohohoho, you have quite the eye for blades, this is quite a sword. Shusui, one of the 21 O Wazamono grade swords in the world. Feel honoured to see it and even more so, when it cuts you down"
"O Wazamono, pretty good, as expected of a samurai of your calibre. That settles it, I'm going to beat you, and then I'm going to take your sword and Brook's shadow" Zoro declares with a double swing of his own blades
With Luffy
"What the hell, the whole place is shaking?" Luffy grunts as he steadies himself, then looks at Moria, most likely expecting an explanation
"Eh, the ship probably got caught in some strange ocean current, pretty common in the Grand Line, even the Paradice side, or not, either way I'm going to blame you people for it, as it happened after you arrived Kishishishi. Speaking of which, I doubt you've come all this way for a friendly chat ay boy?" he asks, not having moved anything other than his head to look over at Luffy
"Yeah, I'm hear because you made me mad after that crap you pulled with my shadow and that lamp. So I'm here to take back my shadow, as well as Sanji's Zoro's and Brooks, got it?"
"My my, you're a greedy and probably a cocky one too, and how do you intend on getting them, I don't plan on just handing over such powerful shadows after all"
Luffy adjusts his straw hat "By kicking your fat ass of course" he replies bluntly
"Oh? Kishishishi, Kishishishi!" Moria cackles, clearly not taking the kid's threat seriously
With Nami, the perv and the mirror demon
Before Absolom could properly show this intruder his annoyance, the doors to the chapel were flung open "Master Absolom!" the zombie shouts
"What? Can't you see I'm busy!" he growls "And what's with all that shaking outside?"
"That's what I'm here to inform you about, Thriller Bark has been caught in some strange currents, we're being thrown around with no control" the zombie explains quickly and in a panic "It's shaking the entire island they're so strong"
"How the hell did that happen?" Aboslom asks, his focus solely on the zombie messenger
"Well, I'm going to hazard a guess and say it has something to do with the Special Zombie moving the rudder without permission" the messenger relays, causing the invisible man to panic
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!" Absolom bellows, the slightly composes himself "Zombie generals, find Oars and stop him right this minute!" he commands, not that it did much more than distract Oars who pummeled them like the Zombie Generals were new recruits in an East Blue marine base.
"Sesese, oh that is an impressive creation, shame we're going to have to break it to get Luffy's shadow back" Kaos chuckles, joints popping as he prepares for the inevitable, then grins seeing a familiar blond zip past him, and beginning pursuit.
"What do you mean they were annihilated?"
"Precisely that, all of them practically squashed flat by Oar's fists" the new zombie messenger relayed
"But how, they were the Zombie Generals, the strongest group on the island?" Absolom asks desperately
"Yes they were, and Oars wasn't even mildly inconvenienced by them"
"Fuck! How, why, Oars is supposed to be on our side! Zombies are meant to serve, it's in their nature, how could this one rebel so strongly?" he wonders aloud
[It's almost like putting the shadow of a holder of the Will of D., a shaDow pardon the pun, into a zombie, was a bad idea if you wanted compliance]
"We need to do something quickly, if he isn't stopped soon he'll sink the whole damn island" Abosolm growls, then notices something in the doorway "Hm, another gatecrasher?"
Sanji was serious, for about 3 seconds before devolving into lovestruck idiot "NAMI I'm here to rescue you!" he declares loudly "My love!"
'Is this lunatic, one of the straw hat Pirates?" Absolom wonders, Kaos sighing deeply but happy Sanji took all the attention off him for a change.
TBC
LW: Well, shit's about to go down, and Oars is tearing apart the island about as much as a Giant sized Luffy would, so we probably should have seen that coming.