CHAPTER 6 - Boss Man
"Roronoa Zoro! Long time no see! I hope you haven't forgotten the humiliation you had dealt us at Thriller Bark?" Moria walked ahead, "I read the papers. You and your crew have dealt the same blow to Doflamingo, and I'm glad that bastard has gone down."
"What the hell do you think you are doing out here?" Zoro demanded.
"Why, my? Kishishishi… You don't need to concern yourself with my goals. But you should be concerned about yourself."
"It won't be like last time."
"I know. Kishishi…" Moria dug under his jacket and pulled out a bundle of papers, "I have been up to date on your exploits. Roronoa Zoro. Worth 320 million berries. And my, you've brought a terrifying figure to the stands."
The rest of Zoro's group had gathered at the battlefield. Moria noticed the Surgeon of Death.
"Former Warlord, Trafalgar Law… worth 500 million berries."
"Yeah, you are no different, Gecko Moria. I heard you had been killed in Marineford two years back." Law retorted.
"I never die!" Moria shouted, "But who would've thought we would be crossing paths in this desolated island. You've gathered quite the group, Roronoa. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on that stupid Straw Hat captain of yours."
"You'll have to defeat me before you can get to Luffy. And I'm not letting you leave with that conscience." Zoro replied.
"Big words. But I know better than to underestimate your strength. And then there's Trafalgar Law." Moria had a mad demeanour, "Dr. Hogback?"
"Yes, Master?"
"Prepare the best corpses. We will be acquiring the cream of the crop in this battle."
"Indeed." Dr. Hogback retreated from the battlefield.
"What's he talking about?" Tomioka asked.
"Don't let him near you or your shadow." Zoro warned, "That guy has the power of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, the ability to take control of your shadows and use them inside the dead bodies."
"In other words, the dead are controlled by the shadows of someone else." Law figured, "I had heard of his ability, and it's unsettling."
"Zoro-ya, I'll deal with Moria. You guys can take down his minions and the demons."
"Are you sure? That guy is cunning." Zoro mentioned.
"It doesn't matter. He's going down." Law walked ahead.
"Wait!" Shinobu bellowed. Law turned around.
"What will happen if he's killed? What will happen to my sister?"
"The shadow possessing her body will depart and return back to its living owner." Zoro explained, "But there's another way to purify a zombie…"
"I want to fight my sister. I want to defeat her with my own hands." Shinobu said.
"Be my guest. She's not my concern." Law replied.
"Hey, what are you plotting out there? Don't tell me you've found a way to defeat me. Kishishi…" Moria mocked his enemies.
"Alright, let's move." Zoro said. He decided to handle the demon faction all by himself. Tomioka and Shinobu assisted Law against Moria and the undead.
"Room!" Law was impatient. He wanted to end Moria in one-fell-swoop.
"What's this?" Moria asked. The spherical space of the Room extended through Moria, covering most of his minions inside it. But Law was targeting the boss.
"Shambles!" He replaced himself with one of the zombies situated near Moria, leaping high above reaching Moria's torso.
"What the…?" Moria couldn't believe that Law was in front of him.
"Counter Shock!" The latter placed his thumbs onto Moria's body and let out a strong electric shock. The shadow-user screamed from the pain.
"Master!" Kanae leaped to attack Law.
"Shambles!" Law replaced himself with Shinobu who was inside his Room. The blades clashed.
"You…" Kanae recognised her opponent.
"I know that you are controlled by someone's shadow. I won't show you any mercy." Shinobu declared.
"Very well." Kanae replied.
On the other side, Tomioka had defeated the dead Marines and arrived upon Kuwajima, who posed a threat to Law's plans. The old man made no sound. Unlike his previous demeanour, Jigoro Kuwajima was possessed by a shadow of a diligent man who believed in action rather than words.
"Breath of Thunder, First Style…"
Tomioka prepared himself, "Breath of Water, First Style…"
"Thunderclap and Flash!" "Water Surface Slice!"
The clash of lightning and water broke force amongst each other, wrecking the ground with their strengths.
Zoro looked back and grinned. He was eager to fight those swordsmen. Meanwhile, he had hacked down half of the demons in the short time he had gone offensive. Unlike the situation back at the village, there were no hostages to worry about. Zoro could go all out. The demons made a desperate attempt and made a leap upon him.
"Three Sword Style - Dragon Twister!" A great gust of blades struck the enemies cutting them down with carnage. The rest of the demons backed away from enforcing a pointless charge. The Demon Moon stood forward, facing his enemy.
"Just one of you and the demons are losing their wits." the Demon Moon said, "But no Demon Slayer has ever defeated me in battle."
"I'm a pirate." Zoro replied.
On the other side, Law faced the wrath of all the remaining zombies, who had acted on their own after Moria was hit with the Counter Shock. Law moved himself midair with his Shambles, evading and cutting down the enemy, and making way to deliver a final blow upon Moria.
"How dare you!" Moria regained control of himself, "Get him, Brick Bats!"
A cluster of shadow bats rushed towards an airborne Law.
"Shambles!" He shifted positions again with one of the last Brick Bats, bringing him closer to Moria's range.
"Master!" Kanae was concerned more towards the shadow master. She leaped high towards Law to strike him down.
"Dance of the Dragonfly… Compound Eye Hexagon!" Shinobu hit her sister midair preventing Kanae from messing with Law. Kanae blocked the attack and had to face Shinobu once again.
Law observed, looking back upon Moria, "You have some loyal companions." he noted.
"And you die!" Moria drew out his scissors, disconnecting the blades into two swords. He rushed ahead to cut Law down.
"Radio Knife!" Law slashed the air whilst mid-air.
"Master!" Kanae looked on as Moria was cut in two.
"Trafalgar, you bastard!" Moria growled as his pieces fell on the ground.
Law threw a stone high above, and 'Shamble'd it replacing its position.
"Now, you die." Law aimed his blade aiming down upon a disintegrated Moria.
"Injection Shot!"
No one could've stopped the Surgeon of Death, as he rained death from the sky. The blade pierced through Moria's body. The sound of a huge gunshot was heard in the rain. Moria was ripped apart, but there was no blood coming out from the impact. Before Law could've realised it, there was a Moria right behind him. And it wasn't the only one. There were some three more of them behind Moria's primary enemies.
"My Doppelman should teach you a lesson. The demons were a pain in the ass but Roronoa Zoro and Trafalgar Law are assets that need to be crushed into submission." Moria said, "Shadow Cutter!"
He began to pull out Law's shadow from the ground.
"What's that?" Tomioka observed. Law couldn't use Shambles to escape since his shadow was being held by Moria.
"Takt!" Law was desperate to escape. Heavy rocks began elevating and came falling upon Moria. But the latter was one step ahead with his swords.
A gust of wind blew in from afar.
"One-Thousand Eighty Pound Phoenix!" The flying-slash hit Moria's left arm letting Law's shadow escape from the shadow master's grasp. The former had dropped one of his scissor blades.
"Roronoa!" Moria growled.
"Radio Knife!" Law took the opportunity to cut once again, but Moria had switched places with the Doppleman situated next to Zoro.
"Your trick won't work twice." Zoro looked behind, ready to attack.
"Shut up! And have some Brick Bats."
"Two Swords - Nigiri - Tower Climb!" Zoro's attack nullified Moria's Brick Bats slashing the former Warlord through his body. But then, Zoro realised that his enemy had escaped the cut. "Destroy his Doppelgangers!" Zoro shouted.
Shinobu and Tomioka were occupied in their fights. Moria claimed his chance. Kanae and Shinobu were locked in a battle of blades, and Moria took the opportunity to head in for her shadow.
"Takt!" Heavy rocks fell on Moria's head from above. Law acted quickly and moved himself next to Shinobu. And that's where Moria had drawn in all the cards. His Doppleman turned out to be a decoy once again, appearing for real near Tomioka and Kuwajima.
On the other side, the Demon Moon was getting furious for being ignored in the big fight. Zoro clashed blades against its fangs and took precautions. Moria made way for Tomioka's shadow like a mad-man. And the fatality of the situation, Law's Room was out-of-range from Tomioka's location.
"Damn! Shambles!" Law teleported himself to the edge of his Room so that he could reach Moria before it's too late.
"Kuwajima!" Moria shouted.
Jigoro Kuwajima pinpointed Law's landing location.
"Thunderclap and Flash!" Law was struck with surprise as Kuwajima blocked him from moving ahead. The Master of Thunder let Law no opportunity to create another Room or allowing to move ahead.
Tomioka had no time to evade from an incoming Moria. The latter was powered by his multiple shadows, partial implementation of his Shadow Revolution, making him fiercer and faster than before.
"Second Style - Water Wheel!" Tomioka's effort made no dent upon Moria's growing strength. He couldn't play defense if he had wanted to defeat the shadow master. Moria had got hold of his shadow and began pulling it out. Tomioka had one last hope.
"Breath of Water - Seventh Style… Piercing Rain Drop!" He stabbed through Moria's torso, ripping his shadow out by the shadow master. Tomioka dropped to the ground unconscious. Moria was dealt a mortal blow and for the first time, blood had poured out. The Shadow Revolution had saved Moria's life with the enhanced defense, but the blow from Tomioka's attack made him lose control. Many of the Marine soldiers lost their shadows as a consequence.
"A strong find, indeed." Moria grabbed at Tomioka's shadow, not letting it go. He struggled to breathe. Everyone else was involved in their battles and could've done less to retrieve back the shadow, until the eastern cliff of the canyon shook with violence, crumbling to the ground.
The great battle was brought to a halt. Zoro felt a really strong presence in the area.
"Apapa… the day's getting really lively despite the dump weather. And I thought the Marines were wrecking all the havoc. But what do we have here?" It was Scratchmen Apoo that led the intrusion.
"Why is there such an outrageous group on this island?" a voice bellowed bestowing fear in the air.
"Who's that?" Shinobu asked.
"Damn." Law sensed the danger.
The dust began clearing off.
"First, Doflamingo and now Gecko Moria and Trafalgar Law. You are dead!" the voice roared, revealing the terror that shook.
"J… Jack the Drought!" Moria stammered, "It's the worst time to meet him. What the hell?"
"Master, we should get out of here. The ship's ready." Dr. Hogback had returned back.
"Yeah, there's no point fighting that guy." Moria agreed, "Kuwajima, Kocho!"
Jigoro Kuwajima and Kanae retreated back to their Master's position. He gave them the last-minute plan before making his escape.
"Got it, Master." Kanae approved.
On the other side, a horde of pirates followed after Jack and Apoo.
"Kill them all! Destroy this island!" Jack shouted.
"Who the hell is that?" Zoro was shocked.
Law reunited with Shinobu and mentioned that they should retreat without a moment's notice.
"Giyu-ya's alive. We need to get him and us out of here." Law concluded.
But they were late to fathom the truth. Kanae had gotten hold of an unconscious Tomioka and retreated from the area.
"Kanae! Tomioka!" Shinobu shouted, ready to follow them. Law stopped her.
"No time. We can't afford to fight two enemies at once. Jack will destroy everything around here. We'll get Giyu-ya later." Law mentioned.
On the other side, Zoro had a confrontation with Thunder Pillar Kuwajima. Moria showed up behind him within the remnants of the previous Doppelman.
"Your shadow's mine, Roronoa!" Moria was eager.
"Give it a try." Zoro was furious, "Three Swords - Black Rope Dragon Twister!" Kuwajima and Moria took damage from the blow.
"Kuwajima, keep him occupied!" Moria ordered. Kuwajima nodded.
"Fight back, you coward!" Zoro shouted upon Moria. But the latter had his plan in motion.
"Brick Bat!" A horde of Brick Bats surrounded the Demon Moon and bound him.
"A consolation from this mess." Moria drew his scissor swords and cut the Demon Moon's shadow, knocking the latter unconscious. Zoro couldn't believe that they had targeted the demon instead.
"Let's go!" Moria swapped places on the other side. Kuwajima retreated but Zoro managed to retort with an Oni Giri. The attack cut down the Thunder Pillar's right arm. But before he could've attacked once again, Zoro was swapped elsewhere with Law's powers.
"What are you doing?" Zoro shouted.
"Shut up. Do you want to fight Kaido's army right now?" Law replied. He was holding Shinobu by his left shoulder, the latter who struggled to go after Kanae and Tomioka.
"Am I the only one with common sense? That's Jack the Drought, on the field. One of Kaido's top men." Law mentioned, "I heard he and his fleet had attacked the Marine vessels that were transporting Doflamingo to Impel Down. They were said to have been defeated by Admiral Fujitora and Former Fleet Admiral Sengoku. And yet, he's here all mad and insane. Do you think a guy like that would be stopped by us? Not to mention that fool Apoo as well."
The three of them made way for the shore where they had discovered the boat.
"Room! Shambles!" Law made haste and dropped the Beast Pirate vessel back onto the water.
"We can't leave!" Shinobu argued.
"We are going after Moria, and that means Giyu-ya." Law mentioned, "They will retreat from this island if they have no death wish."
Zoro agreed with Law.
"This has turned into a big mess. We need to meet back with Luffy and the others. The Beast Pirates got notice of us." he said.
"And they won't stop following us, if we don't disappear. We have pissed off Kaido and should've expected this sooner than later." Law mentioned.
The sails were set and ready to depart. The wind was strong amidst the storm and led the boat into the stormy sea without a navigator. The small crew of three discovered a large ship leaving from another side. The sails resembled that of the Thriller Bark flag.
"It's them." Shinobu said.
"We have a bearing." Law mentioned, "Portside, full speed!"
TO BE CONTINUED...