Chapter 14
Cause this is Thriller part 2
At my words those that were still gathered near me looked up questioningly. I shook my head while pushing the paper into my bag.
"It's nothing, a problem to deal with later."
A cry went up as Luffy, ring slipped onto his finger, jumped over Sunny's railing. One second, two seconds, three seconds, went by and still there was no splash. A yell of sheer joy echoing up from where Luffy had jumped. Rushing to the railing we peered over to see Luffy jumping up and down ontop of the waves. "Look everyone it works, it works!"
Luffy's shouts of joy brought a smile to my face and a quick glance to everyone else showed similar expressions on the rest of the crews faces. Luffy raised one hand to shield his eyes clearly spotting something.
"Gum-Gum Pistol." Rearing his arm back Luffy let it fly. He clearly caught something as the next second he was flying out of sight. Running up to the front of Sunny we could see Luffy had his arms wrapped around a barrel floating in the sea, a barrel with a black and red flag ontop of it.
"Someone throw me a line." Luffy shouted waving an extended hand practically in front of our faces. It kind of made throwing a line pointless with his arm extended that way. So instead we hauled Luffy in by his arm along with his new prize.
"So Tii'chia what is it?" Usopp asked as we gathered around the barrel. Luffy's arms wrapped around Usopp's head, covering his mouth with his hands.
"Shhh no spoilers. C'mon Zoro open it, open it!" I mimed zipping my lips as Zoro pried the lid off. Before the lid had hit the deck a bright red flare shot into the air with a screech. Multiple sets of eyes tracked the flare as it soared up and up before finally bursting.
"Ahh I was hoping for more treasure." Luffy exclaimed while Nami scrambled towards Sunny's wheel.
"Don't just stand there someone could have seen that! We need to adjust our heading before the storm that's building catches us!"
Leaping into action the crew set to work about the ship, doing our best to avoid the storm that had unexpectedly formed. It was a narrow miss, only our combined efforts and the modified turbine system Franky had developed allowed us to escape. It didn't take long after that for us to enter the dense clouds of fog that made up the edges of the Florian Triangle.
Visibility dropped to almost nothing, with lanterns being lit about the ship to provide some sight through the fog. The crew had similarly been scattered about the ship, each with orders to shout if they spotted anything. I was standing by the starboard railing with Lil, who had during the scramble to avoid the storm changed into her new armor. She had also pulled her blue hair into a single braid that hung down on he left side of her face.
The armor added a certain savagery to her otherwise fairly passive countenance. A small handbag rested at her side and from the away she occasionally reached down to run her fingers along the leather it seemed like the Devil Fruit was inside. Since she had stepped up to the railing besides me she had yet to say a word to me so I ended up a bit startled when she finally did speak.
"What do you think I should do with the Devil Fruit?" Frowning thoughtfully while never taking my eyes off the fog shrouded ocean it took a bit before I responded.
"That kind of depends on if your control over plants is because of a Devil Fruit ability or something else. If it's the something else I'd say eat it, if not give it to one of the crew."
We fell back into silence other then the sounds of the rest of the crew that drifted to us. Minutes passed before I heard Lil opening her bag and pulling the fruit free. There was a crunch as she took a bite for it and moments later she was retching over the side.
"Aah, that's disgusting! Like someone condensed the the flavor of sweaty socks from dozens of people into a single taste!"
Out of the corner of my eye I could see her scraping at her tongue, trying desperately to remove the lingering taste. Why did the fruits taste so bad anyways? Maybe Blackbeard or Vegapunk knew, they did seem to know the most about Devil Fruits out of everyone.
"D...does anyone else hear singing?" Usopp's voice from the other side of the ship pulled me from my thoughts. Straining my ears I tried to pick up whatever he had heard.
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho.
As the first lines of the song floated to us I could see Luffy bobbing his head in time to the music. My tail twitched and as I glanced down I could see it thumping against the deck. The crew drifted over to the railing where Usopp still stood peering out into the fog to catch sight of the mysterious singer.
It's time to ship out Binks' Brew!
The wind it blows, to where who knows?
Appearing out of the fog was a true ghost ship, one that was even bigger then the Thousand Sunny. Not that anyone else really seemed to be paying much attention as they were caught up in the music. A trio of voices joined into the chorus of the next few lines, those voices being from Luffy, Nami, and Lil. The blue-haired girl donning a wistful smile.
The waves will be our guide!
O'er across the ocean's tide, rays of sunshine far and wide!
The birds, they sing, of cheerful things in circles passing by!
At this point as the ghost ship drifted closer eventually drawing alongside Sunny the rest of us had joined in the singing as well. It turned out that I could still sing even if my voice was much deeper then it used to be.
When the singing drew to a close Luffy, Nami, and Sanji were the first over onto the ghost ship in search of the source of the singing. Meanwhile I drank in the sheer size of the Rumbar Pirates ship. In it's prime it must have been a sight to behold exceed only by the music that must have flowed from it day and night. My claws tapped against the railing as I listened to the ghostly melody that still seemed to flow from it.
I swear I could almost see the ghostly forms of the Rumbar Pirates on deck still playing their instruments. Wait, I blinked twice and the apparitions remained, one even tossing me a cheery wave at my flabbergasted expression. Before I could sort out what I was seeing Luffy, Nami, and Sanji returned with the soon to be next member of the crew. Brook was tall eyes practically level with my own, well eye sockets. Bone joke?
"Sanji, food! To welcome our new crewmate Brook!" Luffy shouted as he rushed towards the kitchen. I swear I saw Sanji and Nami rolling their eyes behind Luffy, far too used to Luffy's desire of asking strangers to join the crew. We all filed into the kitchen after Luffy and it didn't take long before the usual Straw Hat meal shenanigans were in full swing. Brook's explanation about his Devil Fruit powers and Usopp noticing that Brook's shadow was missing was mixed in amongst the chaos. Brook was just starting to explain that his shadow was stolen and that we should leave the Triangle as soon as possible when Shadow, who had until then been wrapped docilely around Chopper's neck, stretched out.
"Ah you have a roving shadow of your own I see, how did this come to pass? If you've only just entered the Triangle then you can't have encountered Moria." Brook said, one bony finger pointing at Shadow. Gasps echoed out from the crew as Brook's expression fell as he realized what he just let slip.
"Well then we just need to beat up this Moria fellow to get your shadow back!"
"Moria?! As in Gecko Moria, one of the 7 Warlords."
"Ooohh Luffy I think I'm suffering from my can't get on this island disease again."
Luffy, Nami, and Usopp all shouted out at once. Their voices basically drowning out everyone else's exclamations of surprise. Further conversation stalled however as one of Perona's ghosts drifted in through the door. Shadow bristled before lunging at the ghost, its mouth open in a silent howl. Black fingers latched onto the ghost before momentum sent them both flying through the door. Food and tale forgotten the crew rushed out onto the deck to see Shadow ripping into the ghost as the pair hovered in midair, over head the jaw like gates of Thriller Bark loomed.
"Please my friends you must escape from here our you'll end up just like me." Brook shouted just before he jumped over the side of the ship and dashed off, running atop the water.
"Brook wait!" Luffy shouted as to everyone's horror he also jumped over the side. Seconds later he had extended his legs and was taking huge steps to catch up to the vanishing Brook. It was an impressive bit of using his rubber powers one that I was certain he hadn't ever done before.
"All in favor of taking that ring away when we catch him?" Nami growled out, a vein on her temple pulsing.
"Aye." Came the unanimous cry from the rest of the crew. None of whom reacted as the jaws of the gate snapped shut to pull us into Thriller Bark proper. Really with the way things worked when traveling with the Straw Hats this wasn't anything new.
"Still someone is going to have to go after that idiot to get him back. Franky get the Mini-Merry ready for departure."
"Yow! You got it Nami!" Franky shouted, jogging towards the front of the ship to operate the Soldier Docking System. While that was happening me and Sanji pulled out the extra bags of salt that we had purchased and began to hand out pouches of the stuff.
"Everyone listen up, this island is crawling with zombies created by Moria's power that will just keep coming no matter how hard you hit them. However throw a bit of sea salt into their mouths and the shadows that are animating them can escape." I explained even as I handed everyone an extra bag just in case.
Nami, Chopper, Usopp, and Lil were the ones that were eventually decided on to go to shore and retrieve Luffy and Brook. They took off in the Mini-Merry off towards the nearby shoreline, the small ship quickly vanishing into the fog. While the rest of the crew settled down to wait I kept an eye out for a sneaky invisible zombie.
It didn't take very long before I spotted Absalom creeping up over the railing and dropping quietly down onto the deck. Keeping one eye on him I rose and stretched before heading towards the stairs. My path had been carefully chosen so that it would intersect with Absalom's if he wasn't careful.
I had just gotten within easy striking distance of him when I registered a strange sound in the distance. One that was growing louder as it drew closer. The sound of something massive flapping its wings to fly through the air. Slowly I raised my eyes upwards to peer into the fog.
Meanwhile with Nami, Chopper, Usopp, and Lil on the Mini-Merry
The small sleek watercraft powered by a cola engine chugged it's way forwards to the shore that was becoming visible through the fog. They were all keeping an eye out for danger while keeping any conversation low. Chopper ran one hand across Shadow that had curled once more around his neck after it had finished attacking the ghost. Touching Shadow was always a strange experience as the creature didn't really have any substance to it. In lots of ways it was like the clouds they had encountered on the white white sea.
The Mini-Merry ground it's way onto the shore and the four of them got out. The area that they found themselves in was bleak with scant trees that looked like they were reaching out of the darkness towards them. The ground was unusually loose as well like someone had recently dug up all of the earth and left it laying around.
"Whoever owns this place has been reading way too many cheesy horror novels." Nami, Chopper, and Usopp all turned to look at Lil who had walked over to one of the trees to examine it. The three of them then paled as they spotted a creature walking out of the fog straight towards an unaware Lil.
"L..L..L...Lil, m...m...monster!" Usopp chattered as a monstrous three-headed dog came forwards. Judging by the stitching that was holding two of the heads in place this hadn't always been a three headed dog, not that that mattered much at the moment to the frightened trio.
Lil looked up at last, finally seeming to notice the dog as it towered over her growling. She tilted her head to the right then to the left as if examine the dog. There wasn't even a trace of fear in her expression as she leaned closer to get a better look.
"I wasn't aware I'd be meeting Spot today." She said in a deadpan tone right before the three headed dog's head lunged forward, mouth open wide to reveal lot of sharp teeth. Lil hardly seemed worried and the next instant her hand was a blur as she smacked each of the heads on the nose.
"Bad dog." The Cerberus yelped and pulled its heads back, jaws snapping closed as it looked down with fear at the blue haired girl.
"Sit." The Cerberus sat.
"Shake." Picking up one paw the Cerberus extended it out towards Lil who took it and gave it a shake.
"Good boy." And with that the Cerberus flopped down onto its front legs, all three heads panting like a real dogs. Someone started to clap slowly.
"Well well it isn't often that one can tame one of my creations so easily." Dr. Hogback said as he stepped out of the fog revealing that he was the one that was clapping. He was trailed by his servant Cindry along with a host of zombies that slowly shuffled into view.
"Yes I the great Dr. Hogback! The one know far and wide as the world's greatest!"
"QUACK!" Spluttering Dr. Hogback looked down as a zombie duck waddled between the two groups. The eyes of everyone, zombie and Straw Hat crew alike watching as the duck waddled to the edge of the water before stepping into it. The reaction was instantaneous as the shadow that had been animating the duck was set free upon contact with the water. Slowly the four Straw Hats turned their eyes from the duck to Hogback who shifted nervously.
"Zombie ducks not one of my brighter ideas." He muttered defensively.
"I tried a goose once...never again." This time Hogback and all of the zombies shuddered. The zombie Cerberus covering its head with its paws as from somewhere far in the distance echoed a faint honk. Clearing his throat Hogback continued.
"As I was saying I am the greatest doctor in the world! The one who has brought life back from death. Gaze upon the creations that I have made!" At his words the zombies shuffled forward, Chopper's eyes narrowing as he looked between Hogback and his creations.
"What you've done isn't medicine... it's...its an abomination!" Chopper shouted.
"Eh it's more necromancy now." Hogback responded with a shrug.
Chopper shifted into his human form and shot forward, first reared back before he punched out hard. Hogback seemed surprised for a moment before adopting a wicked grin as zombie arms reached around from behind his back to block the punch.
"Well then. Get them!" The zombies shuffled into action with a moan, stepping around Hogback to hem Chopper in on all sides.
"Lil get back to the ship and warn them of what's going on!" Nami shouted as a trio of zombies burst out of the ground cutting off her path towards the Mini-Merry. Lil pulled herself up onto the back of the Cerberus, fingers tangled in the fur of its neck to keep her in place. Heels dug into it's side and the dog took off running.
Usopp's slingshot twanged as he launched small pellets of salt into the open mouths of zombies. The creatures fell their shadowy souls released back to their owners. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and Usopp rolled to the side just as a large zombie charged through the space he had just occupied.
When he glanced back he saw a zombie with the head of a particularly large warthog wearing a tattered and dirty wedding dress and wielding a pair of katana's. Usopp's eyes widened as he took in the lip-shaped crater that the zombie had left behind. Turning to face Usopp she snorted before speaking.
"You, long-nose, marry me."
"Ehhh, uhhh, no thanks?" Usopp replied his voice trembling with nervousness.
"Then die!" And the zombie warthog charged at him once again.
Nami swept her climatact knocking a pair of zombies off of their feet before dashing towards the Mini-Merry once more. She trusted Lil but if she could get to the smaller ship they could all regroup. A zombie grabbed at her ankle as she ran by almost causing her to trip. Twirling the climatact over her head she brought it down onto the limb hard. The flaming blade of her Solar Lance Tempo easily severing the offending limb. The zombie let out a shriek as the shadow animating it fled. She was so glad that she had gotten Usopp to add a seastone cap to one end of the climatact.
She had just about reached the little ship when a pair of whirling white objects slammed into the ground directly in front of her. A quick glance revealed the white objects to have been plates. Another glance showed a zombie woman in a black dress and orange feather boa advancing towards her preparing to chuck more plates.
Riding on the back of the zombie Cerberus Lil was able to easily weave through the mass of zombies that sprung up in the way. She tightened her grip on the scruff of the dogs neck as it skidded to a stop, a wall of white ghostly images rising up before her.
"I'm sorry but I can't let anyone escape those were Moria's orders." A woman said as she stepped into view. She was dressed in a Gothic Lolita style clothing and carried a fancy umbrella, shuffling behind her was a very large stuffed bear with a surgical mask over its mouth.
"Ghost Princess Perona, bounty 79 million. It's a pleasure to meet you. " Lil said as she eyed the approaching woman. Perona seemed somewhat surprised that she had been identified before covering up the expression with a mocking grin.
Luffy with the increased speed provided by his lengthened legs didn't take very long to catch up to Brook. The pair to reaching the shore at just about the same time. Luffy wondered, as his legs shrank back to their normal size, if he could spin them to move as fast as Brook did. That would be so cool!
"Luffy-san you shouldn't have followed me, I do not wish for you to get your shadow stolen as well."
"Shihihihihi it's fine Brook. Your gonna be part of my crew and if I have to beat up another Warlord for that to happen then I will."
Brook could only gape open-jawed at Luffy before bursting into tears. "Luffy-san thank you, thank you."
The pair fell into silence as they began to walk away from the beach and into the fog shrouded forest. The limbs of tree's seemed to reach out towards the pair as if eager to snag them. The rest of the forest however was oddly quiet which as time wore on began to make Brook nervous, something was off he just didn't know what. He was just about to open his mouth when he heard a noise. The sound of someone straining to lift something.
Brook glanced over at Luffy to see that he had noticed the noise as well. They crept forward until the entered a wide open area free of trees that surrounded Gecko Moria's mansion. Standing in the space was Gecko Moria himself, who was hefting a large chain bound trunk out of a freshly dug hole in the ground. He also happened to be staring right at them. He raised a finger as if to say one moment before with a final heave he pulled the trunk fully out of the hole and dropped it next to himself.
"Well, well, if it isn't Strawhat Luffy and the Singing Swordsman. I must say I'm impressed that you made it so far already." He said, cocking his head to one side as he studied the pair.
"You must have avoided the welcoming party I set up for you Strawhat, pity your crew will just have to deal with it. While I deal with the two of you."
Marineford
Sengoku fought back the urge to sigh as he stared at the latest problem that had been dropped onto his already full plate. That problem being several large chests that had mysteriously fallen from the sky into the bay at Marineford that very morning. Chests that were bursting with riches, priceless art items, and coins that no one had ever seen the likes of, along with a strange assortment of things that no one could figure out.
Of course that couldn't be all of it oh no. A slightly smaller amount of chests had somehow smashed through the ceiling of Marineford and fell into Garp's office. Chests with a note pinned onto them proclaiming them as a gift for the Hero of the Marines. This line of thought brought Sengoku back to the crumpled note in his own hand. One that said the chests were a gift for the valiant efforts of the Marines against the invaders.
As far as Sengoku knew whoever had dropped the chests off hadn't been found. But the base was still under lockdown as they searched for a possible culprit or more mysterious chests. Meanwhile the intelligence side of his office were scratching their head at many of the strange items that had been found. Items that he had a sneaking suspicion Garp might actually know something about. Something that Garp wasn't ready to tell him about.
Marineford Garp's office
"Coby come here and pick up one of these items." Garp told a nervous Coby as the kid walked up to the table that groaned under the weight of the strange items stacked ontop of it. Coby glanced at Garp and when the older man nodded he reached out picking up a slender dark oak stick, runes of a language no-one could speak inscribed into the hilt. Coby tilted his head to the side as if listening to something
"Legantz!" He said suddenly and Garp could only look on in amazement as a steel shield that had been laying on the table suddenly began to grow hotter and hotter until the wood it was resting on began to smolder. As rapidly as the shield had gained heat it lost the heat just as quickly, leaving a burnt imprint of the shield on the table.
"Coby."
"Yes sir?"
"Put the stick down and tell no one and I mean no one about this until I have time to think."
"Yes sir!"
Somewhere between Water 7 and Enies Lobby
A marine ship was patrolling the area where Garp's fleet had been attacked. In theory they were searching for any survivors or any sign of the mysterious attackers. The crew knew however how unlikely it was that they would find anything but orders were orders.
An ensign stepped onto the ship's bridge, saluting the captain as he did so. As soon as the captain acknowledged him he began to make his report.
"Captain Shu sir, lookouts report a Pirate vessel off the starboard bow. They appear to be flying the flag of the Bloody Skull Pirates along with a flag of distress. Further the lookouts said that the vessels masts have been broken."
Captain Shu considered for less than a moment before ordering his ship to change course and intercept the other pirate ship. Once he had, he walked out onto the main deck to watch as his ship approached the other ship. It didn't take long before he could make out that the damage his lookouts had reported had been off slightly.
While the masts had been broken off the rear of the other ship was also sitting low in the water as if the other ship was slowly sinking. Boarding planks were slapped down and Captain Shu was the first one to set foot onto the pirate vessel.
The door to the hold of the ship was opened from the inside and out stepped Captain Jack and his first mate Gargoyle. Both raised their hands as the Marines aimed their rifles in the pairs direction.
"What did I tell you, the flag of distress works everytime." Captain Jack said though he didn't appear to be speaking to Gargoyle.
Shu opened his mouth to order his men to capture the pair of pirates when a shadow fell over him. He glanced up to his a massive eel fish-like thing floating in a bubble of water above him.
"Your knowledge has served me well Captain Jack. See that it continues to do so."
The voice rang out inside Shu's head and judging by the jerks of nearby Marines all of them as well. Several marines in their panic fired off their rifles at the monster. Only to watch in horror as the sphere of water that surrounded it robbed the bullets of energy before they could impact. Shu spun back towards Jack before an alien will pressed down against his mind. It shattered the feeble resistance he brought against it and in only a few seconds his body and that of his men's were no longer under their control.
While this was going on a slim figure in a dark cloak slipped from the Bloody Skull's Pirate ship and onto the Marine vessel. Leaping through an open door way they just avoided getting spotted by a Marine. After that it was a simple task to get down into the hold and conceal themselves in a section that wasn't frequently traveled.
AN: Next chapter will be slightly delayed as I work on chapter 2 of Transdimensional Circuit. Keep up the reviews I swear sometimes its the only thing that keeps me going from week to week. I should also see about getting an image of Tii'chia for this story as well.