Chapter 15
Where the Brave May Live Forever
…When next he awoke, Maxwell was lying on his back looking at the predawn sky. The sky was still dark, but that dark blue was slowly transitioning to that bright cerulean.
There was a major crashing sound like a collapsing building, but Maxwell didn't react. He was groggy from all the mana he expended. The sinking feeling was gone, but his muscles still burned like he had just ran a marathon.
Maxwell also noticed there were a lot more people around. They certainly weren't here when he was last awake.
"Look, Captain Lola!" one man called out, "Straw-Hat is…!"
Luffy…! Maxwell turned his head to look around. If Luffy was here, then this fight was nearly finished!
Up in the sky was… By the Maker! Maxwell fought his body's protests and sat up. Luffy didn't look like himself! His skin was blue like a cold wet corpse. His upper body had been augmented so he looked large and muscular. And he had a giant katana on his back. Why did Luffy have a sword!? He didn't know how to use a sword! He didn't look natural, Especially with all the shadows that seemed to be coming out of him!
"It's true! …The shadows!" "They're really coming out! Look at all of them! They're what made Luffy look like that!"
Maxwell napped his heads towards his fellow crewmates, "Usopp! Nami! What the hell did Luffy do!?"
Both crewmates jumped in surprise. "Ah! Max! You're awake!"
Then Luffy crashed into the ground, recapturing their attention. Luffy got up, but Maxwell could tell Luffy was at his limit. "UUUWAAHHH—!" He was starting to act like a purified zombie as the shadows escaped. Maxwell was horrified. Dozens of shadows were escaping from Luffy, from every line in his body. Luffy also shrunk as the shadows left him, returning him to his original size and build.
"Luffy!" Maxwell immediately ran to his captain as the last of the shadows left him. Luffy had fallen over, feeling exhausted from having hosted all those shadows. Maxwell immediately started using healing magic, his body be damned. Nami and Usopp also rushed over to see if Luffy was alright.
"He did it… He really won," a feminine voice spoke. Then that voice turned into a victorious cheer! "OARS AND MORIA HAVE BEEN DEFEATED! EVERYONE'S SHADOWS ARE COMING BACK!"
The crowd also began to cheer. "You did it, our ray of hope!" "THANK YOU!" "THRILLER BARK HAS FALLEN!"
"Luffy! Can you hear me!?" "Hey, Luffy! Hang in there!" "Luffy!" "Wait— Max, you shouldn't do be doing that right now!"
The crowd then realized that their saviour was down. "We made you do something pretty reckless! Are you okay?" One man in a hood mask asked.
"He must be totally exhausted after using the strength of a hundred shadows," the only woman among them said.
"Wait… This was your doing!?" Maxwell immediately stood up and glared at the two speakers.
"W-Well… We wanted to help Straw-Hat get an edge over Moria, since he was tricked in the woods," said the man. "What better way to win than to use Moria's abilities against him?"
"'What better way than to—!?'" Maxwell grabbed the man by his tattered collar. "Do you have, ANY idea on what you nearly did!?"
"W-W-Well, he didn't have a shadow! Anybody without a shadow could absorb those shadows…! At least temporarily." Maxwell didn't know any of their names till later, but this was Risuichi. One of the Risky Brothers.
"And speaking of shadows," a skinny man with a black eye and afro spoke up, "We've got to return all the victims' shadows, quickly!" This was Nirisu, the other brother.
"That's right!" "The eastern sky is getting bright! Morning is coming!"
"Max, I know you're upset, but this isn't the time!" Nami pleaded with her crewmate.
Maxwell took his eyes off the guy he was holding and looked to the east. The sky was steadily turning a light blue, and rays of sunshine were peeking over the horizon. Or at least over the mansion wall. Maxwell then noticed nobody in this crowd of people had shadows… These people were the ones that had been hiding in the forest earlier. The pirates too weak and trapped by Moria to consider letting go. Yet, it was their plan that gave Luffy a power boost.
…He would probably have thanked them, if he wasn't so incensed at the method.
Temporary or not, Luffy had experienced a form of possession. Back in Thedas, if a mage was found to be possessed, then they were no longer considered to be in control. The spirit's personality had taken over and they had to be put down. No external form of examination could tell what being had possessed the mage. Not until things started blowing up.
Even the benign forms of possession were dangerous. Spirit Healers were regularly in contact with spirits. They channeled their spirit's energy into their patients so they may both be healed or assisted. However, Spirit Healers had to be careful which spirit they contracted with, for they may be a demon in disguise. The Aavar shamans actually allowed possession for their apprentices, meant to teach and guide them. But the separation ritual didn't always work, especially if the apprentice was too weak.
Maxwell wasn't ignorant though. These were shadows, and not spirits or demons. They were naturally subservient to physical beings, but they still had personalities. Echoes of their former selves. It would take a lot of mental fortitude to utilize even one shadow, let alone one hundred! Luffy shoulde be have to be commended in that regard… But it was still hair-brained stupid!
The mage scoffed and let go of Risuichi's collar. He could scold everyone later. There were still other problems to deal with!
"Phew… Alright, but how do we get the shadows back?" asked Usopp. "We've got four people without shadows, too!"
"…That really is a problem," said Charlotte Lola. "We wanted Straw-Hat to do it, but it looks like he can't even move… Moria controls all of the shadows that were put in the zombies. Unless he gives the order and releases all of them, the shadows won't return!
Lola shook her head out of any fretting she may have had, "Standing around won't do us any good! We have to wake Moria up somehow and force him to do it! Unless we get our shadows back, there was no point in beating him!" Lola looked around at her comrades, "Moria should still be in the cockpit! Let's go!"
"RIGHT!" Some of the other victims shouted in agreement, and moved to get Moria. However, there was a rumbling from inside the tower. "…Eh…?"
"UWAAAAAAAAH!" Everyone screamed as hey saw Oars get up. Rather than sitting unconscious in a pile of rubble, Oars was standing! He was scorched, bruised, wounded, missing an arm, but HE STILL WOULDN'T STAY DOWN! "He shouldn't even be able to move!"
Maxwell then noticed some of his crewmates starting to get up. "…Alright guys… Looks like we're entering Round 3. Any ideas…?" The Victims Association was too caught up in their panic to notice this though.
"How could this be…?" Nirisu started pulling his hair, "It's over…! The entire Staw-Hat crew has already been beaten…!"
…Chopper had an idea…
"The shadows that we collected have all been used too…!" Risuichi whimpered, "We don't have enough power left to beat him!
…It would take a moment, but it might just work.
"Tha didan hur won bif!" Oars spoke with a slur. The giant zombie had it's entire chin cut off. Something Zoro must have done while Maxwell was in the Fade.
…Especially if Luffy got up again…
"DAMN IT ALL!" Lola wailed. They were so close!
"There was just no way we could win against zombies… He really is immortal!" "We're at our limit. Night is almost over! There's no way out of our life in the darkness…" "Let's give up! Staying here would just mean death!" "Let's hurry… BACK TO THE FOREST! …That dark forest… Where light doesn't reach… Let's go back…!"
Zoro had heard enough whining though and stood up with his katanas drawn, "I don't know what happened to Luffy, but he did plenty."
"Y-You—" The victims halted as they saw the swordsman, "H… Hey! Wait a sec! If you move around with those wounds, you'll die!"
Zoro noticed Maxwell standing, "…Glad to see your up."
Maxwell took note of Zoro's wounds, "Well I couldn't take a nap forever now, could I?" Multiple contusions. Blood running down his arms and forehead…
Lola balked at the sight of Zoro, "He took an attack from that giant head-on… And he's still standing…!? I can't tell which one is the zombie!"
"Hey! Where did the people we moved over here go!?" "EH? I don't know! They weren't even conscious. There's no way they could've gone anywhere, right!?" The others started to notice that some of the Straw-Hats were no longer here.
"Huh…!? Where did those two unharmed people go!?" They also lost track of Nami and Usopp.
"I'm sure they were here until Oars stood up again!" "They couldn't have…! They just ran away…!?" "Did they all flee!?"
*BASH!*
Some of the Victims Association jumped back, "HUH!? STRAW-HAT!"
"Luffy's up," Maxwell chirped.
"…Haven't had enough yet, huh…!?" Luffy was awake, but he was struggling to get off the ground. "If I give him one more attack…!"
"Hey, hey, Straw-Hat, not you too…!" Nirisu also looked at the pirate captain with concern. He was still reeling from the side-effects using all those shadows!
"…Damn… Looks like I'm still tired from before… ROBIN!" Luffy called out to his archeologist.
"Yes, I'm here," Robin responded, standing up. Some of shadowless jumped back, not even realizing she was there!
"I want to get up higher!" her captain told her.
"I'll make some footholds."
Maxwell also noticed that Robin's shadow was missing… Yet he still had his. "Damn it…" That shouldn't have been the case…!
"If there's anything I can do…!" Brook also, shakily, stood up.
"AAAH! THAT SKELETON IS UP AND MOVING, TOO!" "WHAT!? WHY!?"
"Good…" Luffy panted, "Brook give me a hand!"
"I thought this would happen! Everybody's ready to help!" said Nami. She was standing on top of a pile of rubble that looked like it belonged to the breezeway.
"I better go join her…" said Maxwell. Zoro shared a nod and started looking for a good spot to rush Oars. Maxwell climbed to the top of the pile and looked at Nami. "Ready to see if this will work?"
Nami smiled, tapping her climatact staff on her shoulder, "Ha! Please! I've seen enough of your magic to know how it works."
"Then let us begin." Maxwell started spinning his staff, generating mana. He wasn't entering the Archon State, but he would need a bit of finesse for his next spell. Sanji and Chopper should be inside, heading towards the rigging, while Franky and Usopp prepared the coolant system.
"In the instant that Oars got back up…" Nirisu looked around in amazement, "These guys didn't even think of running…! THEY WERE PLANNING TO INTERCEPT HIM!"
"I can't believe my eyes," said Risuichi. "They haven't given up in the slightest!"
"HEY! YOU GUYS ARE IN THE WAY! MOVE IT!" Zoro barked, and all of the Thriller Bark Victims Association ran to comply.
"Pierna Fleur!" "Here we go! Yohohoho!" "Thanks!"
Robin had guide literally made "foot holds" in the mast. Crossed ankle "X"'s that Brook could step on. The skeleton was carrying Luffy, jumping up with incredible speed as he went for the crowsnest.
"Ah, wai! Where are you—!" Oars paused as he suddenly noticed something around him, "Wah ie hiss? Snoke? Clous? …Slow!?"
"Blizzard…!" "The forecast calls for 'rain.' Heat Ball!"
"MYSTIC TORRENT TEMPO!" Nami and Maxwell shouted together. Maxwell was using his Blizzard spell to to create a localized weather event and cover the giant. Nami, meanwhile, used her climatact to manipulate Maxwell's storm and make it into a hurricane! Oars was being hit be rain, sleet, and hail, swirling around Oars as it soaked, sliced, and blinded him! He couldn't even try swatting it all away. All he could do was cover his eyes with one arm!
"COUP DE VENT!" The mast suddenly had a hole blasted through it, as Franky emerged with the largest hose Maxwell had ever seen.
"Turn that crank as fast as you can!" Franky called back into the tower. Then he kept the hose pinned to the ground, aiming it at Oars, "SUPER-SIZED SUBZERO AIR CANNON! FIRE!" What blasted next was a fast-rolling blanket of freezing fog. The air was so fast and so cold, it automatically froze any water that was in it's path. Including Oars' legs!
"WAH! Ie froze!" Oars, from the waist down, was now completely covered in ice. "…I can' ove!" The ice was so thick, Oars' legs looked more like a windswept ice sculpture than any organic limbs.
All of a sudden, a titanic chain swung around Oars and caught him across the chest. It was pulling him back, pulling him between his neck and under his remaining armpit. "UGH! A HAIN!?" Oars tried to pry it off, but the steel was too strong! The was so taught and angled he couldn't even twist out of it. He was trapped!
That had been Sanji's work. Maxwell spotted him running down the bottom length as he landed. Chopper, of course, was up top directing them on what to do. "Zoro! Make Oars pull in his stomach!"
"Leave it to me. Santoryu…" Zoro started to spin his blades in a pinwheel. "Ougi—! SANZEN SEKAI!"
It happened so fast! Zoro suddenly jumped for Oars stomach, slashing at the giant with all three katanas. The wounds were deep, and made Oars double over, coughing up blood.
Then, the chain somehow became tighter. It pulled back Oars head like he a noose on his neck, and he had no choice but to look up!
Chopper called out, "Good, Sanji! Now Oars' spine is totally straight!" Their chef had found the lever that controlled the chain. "The spine is naturally curved so that if softens any impact. But if the spine is straightens out, the force isn't mitigated, and all the damage is taken!"
And Luffy was falling right towards Oars, with his arms enlarged.
"Go, Luffy!" Nami spurred on her captain.
"EAT THIS SUPER LARGE BAZOOKA!" Luffy shouted.
"Rrr! I can' atch ie!" growled Oars as he only had one arm. "Ut I can shill—!" Then Oars realized he couldn't lift his arm above his head. "Ie wo rif…!" Those pirates had thrown out his shoulder!
"GOMU GOMU NO…" Everyone watched on as Luffy aimed right for Oars head. All of the Victims Association cheered on as Luffy went for the final blow! Their crew watched on as Luffy finally finished this imposter. "GIANT'S BAZOOKA!"
Luffy threw his arms forward, hitting Oars' face with the base of his palms. With all the weight thrown at him, Oars' zombie face was caved in. His tusks were broken off and his jaw snapped open.
There was also the sickening crunch of broken bone sounding from somewhere in Oars' body. His spine was shattered! And with it, Oars fell backwards, his back bending at the break!
"He… HE DID IT!" Lola and the Risky Brothers cheered. Oars was finally down, and this time, for good!
"THEY WON! THEY REALLY DID IT THIS TIME!" "THANK YOU! YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!" "YOU REALLY ARE OUR RAY OF HOPE!"
However their cheers quickly turned to disbelief as they saw Luffy on the ground, "EEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH!?" Luffy had shrunken down to the size of a child, or perhaps a really small dwarf.
"HE SHRUNK!" "WAIT, THAT'S HIM!?" "WHY DID YOU SHRINK!?"
"Ie doen' hur… Ue I an' ove…!"
Maxwell looked over at the fallen giant. Oars was still conscious, but he could no longer move. Breaking a spine like that would kill a normal person. Especially with all the bone shrapnel in their internal organs. However Oars was still a zombie, so he was only left incapacitated. "Now, if only we had some salt…"
Usopp had tried to fire the bag into Oars gullet. However, it was caught by Moria's shadow and thrown back at them. The bag burst on impact, so there was no chance of collecting it all.
"Hey, Luffy!" Usopp came scrambling over the rubble with Franky, "Get your shadow back, quick! We don't have time to celebrate! You guys are going to disappear!"
Risuichi realized what Usopp was talking about, "The shadows! That's right! We need to hurry!"
"Someone wake Moria up!" Lola ordered. "The morning sun is almost up!"
"There's no need… I'm awake."
"MORIA!" The shadow-man was climbing out of Oars stomach, where his cockpit had been. He was battered and bruised from Luffy's shadow empowered assault, and looked absolutely tired. Moria was clearly on his last legs.
Lola piped up some courage, despite being in the presence of the Warlord, "I-If you're awake, then that's perfect! Now… if you don't want to get beaten up by the Straw-Hats again, release all of our shadows!"
"That's right!" Nirisu backed up his captain, "Give them back, you bastard!"
"…Kishishishi. This isn't some kid's fight…!" Moria grinned despite himself. "A real pirate doesn't back down, even from death. If you loser pirates from the forest are involved… Then I know how Starw-Hat got that ridiculous power up…! How dare you try to sue my powers against me!"
"Shut up and return our shadows!" Lola demanded.
Moria then looked at Luffy, who in his diminutive form was standing up, "Straw-Hat… How dare you—" Moria had to breath for a moment, "—trash my Thriller Bark like there's no tomorrow!"
"That's because you got in the way of our voyage!" Luffy retorted. "Give our shadows back before the sun rises!"
"…If you continue on your voyage, the only thing awaiting you is death," Moria told Luffy. "With your strength, the New World is far out of your reach…!" Moria then looked around, "It looks like you've gathered some pretty good crew members, but you're going to lose them all! Do you know why!?"
Moria had an hysterical grin on his face… Like he was reliving a bad memory.
"Hey! Straw-Hat! You don't have time to stand around and talk!" "Look at the sky! It's already this bright! Please get our shadows back! There's no more time!"
Dawn had already broke on the horizon. The only reason the sun wasn't hitting them now was because of the remains of the mansion. The port and starboard walls and towers still remained, but the bow main hall was utterly demolished. And they all stood in the ruins of it.
"I'll tell you, from my own experience," Moria continued. "I gathered a crew, full of people both famous and capable. So why did I lose them all…!?"
…
"I LOST MY NAKAMA BECAUSE THEY WERE ALIVE!" Moria roared into the sky! Inky black strands of shadow raced out from beneath him.
"IF I HAD STARTED WITH ZOMBIES FROM THE START, THEN I WOULD HAVE HAD NOTHING TO LOSE! ZOMBIES ARE IMMORTAL! EVEN IF THEY ARE PURIFIED, I CAN JUST REPLACE THEM! IT'S AN INFINITE ARMY! I WILL BECOME THE PIRATE KING, WITH AN ARMY OF UNDEAD BEHIND MY BACK! BE HAPPY THAT YOUR SHADOWS WILL BECOME A PART OF IT!"
The black strands didn't touch them though. They seemed to pass by their feet and stretched into the forest. Into the mansion. Into the mast! "Come to me, shadows of Thriller Bark…!" Moria's eyes seemed to turn red, "Become my strength! SHADOW'S ASGARD!"
When the strands all paused, they suddenly became like hose lines. Bulging bubbles of ink black mass seemed to move through them, right towards Moria!
"Those shadows…! He couldn't be! He's gathering all the shadows from around the island and collecting them into his body!" Nami exclaimed. And she was right! Moria's body started to ripple as it absorbed all those shadows!
"Straw-Hat… By my guess, the number of shadows you had was a hundred, right?"
"Then I will take two hundred… three hundred…" Moria's body began to swell. Inflating his neck and expanding his girth! "Four hundred. Five hundred!" His voice was becoming more and more distorted as his body drunk in those shadows! "SIX HUNDRED! SEVEN HUNDRED! EIGHT HUNDRED! NINE HUNDRED!"
"KiShIsHiShI… kIsHiShIsHiShI!"
"OnE! tHoUsAnD!"
Moria had transformed into a true monster the size of Oars! His auburn flame styled hair had transformed into a horse's mane running down his neck. His clothes had stretched to contain his girth, but even he lost his shoes. And his arms were positively draconic, with talon like hands that would skewer holes into your stomach and leave nothing behind!
"UWAAAAAH!" "It can't be…!" "It's over…! What the hell is that!?" "It's pretty much Dawn already!" "With a hundred shadows, Straw-Hat took care of Oars like he was nothing… Now Moria has ten times that amount!?" "Is the actual Devil Fruit User capacity that different!? We're done for!" "What's with this!? This can't be!" "RUN AWAY! IT'S ALL OVER!"
Moria then roared with a senseless inhuman rage, punching down into the island! It was like a Rictor 10 earthquake! The ground shook and cracked, and Moria had punched A LITERAL FISSURE INTO THE ISLAND! Walls and towers cracked like dams. The earth rose and fell like toppled tops that had stopped spinning. And the mast, Thriller Bark's massive skyscraper of a mast, had started to lean to one side!
"RUN!" The victims of Thriller Bark were scrambling to retreat, "GET BACK TO THE FOREST! WE'RE REALLY DONE FOR THIS TIME!"
Then one of the victims caught fire.
"GYAAAH!" A ray of light had poked through a window in the ruins of the mansion. The man's shoulder was disappearing like white ash on charcoal! "I'M DISAPEARING! MY BODY IS DISAPPEARING! HELP ME!"
"GET IN THE SHADOWS!" one of the men grabbed the sun-struck man.
"The morning sun is leaking through!" "Use the shadows to get back to the forest!" "Stay in the shadows of the buildings!"
The Risky Brothers noticed that Lola hadn't moved. "Captain Lola!" Risuichi yelled, "What are you doing—!? Quickly!"
"…You guys get away."
"What!? What are you saying!?" Nirisu and Risuichi were both in disbelief, "Captain, you should run too!"
"I am responsible for this gamble… I'm going to see this through!" Lola then turned her head and pointed at the Straw-Hats. "Take a good look. They're not even budging an inch!"
The Straw-Hat Pirates had indeed gathered together, staring down Moria as he loomed over them as a titan. Luffy was back in his normal form, staring down Moria for all the trouble he caused. Franky and Zoro stood with their arms crossed as they observed the Warlord. Maxwell stood with his staff firmly in the ground, ready for anything Moria might do. And girls just looked unimpressed. Moria looked like the dressed up backside of a whale. All the crew stood in defiance of the Warlord, unwilling to be intimidated by such a display!
…Well, except for maybe Usopp. He was screaming silently as Chopper and Sanji joined them all. Even Brook was standing with them.
"They've had their shadows taken too," Lola reminded her own crewmates.
"T-They can't still think they can win, can they…!?" Risuichi sputtered.
"If they haven't given up on victory, then I won't move from this spot!" Lola stamped her foot. "Our long-awaited ray of hope is in a pinch. We got them into this… Are we worms who would abandon them?"
"But this situation is—!"
"You guys run! It is my duty as Captain to remain here. Take good care of yourselves now—UGH!" Lola flinched as a shaving of sunlight touched her hair. But she did not move!
"CAPTAIN LOLA!" Nirisu screamed as one of her pigtails caught fire, "The sunlight is getting through here! Quickly, into the shadows!"
"IT'S FINE!" Lola grit her teeth, "This is what people mean by placing your hope on someone's shoulders!"
"No…!" "Captain Lola!"
"There's no more time," Luffy told his crew. "Everyone! I'm going to get a little wild." Luffy then crouched down and entered his Gear Second. "You'll need to care of the rest!"
Maxwell nodded his head, "Understood."
"Kick his ass!" yelled Franky.
"This is getting out of hand," Usopp fretted, "He's totally out of control…"
"So this is the big bad, right? 'Cause I don't think they get any bigger," said Zoro.
"He's letting his pride and anger get the better of him, and now he's losing control over himself." Robin noticed that Moria's eyes were glossing in and out.
"If you want a nightmare, then I'll show you a good one, Moria!" Luffy let the steam roll off him as his blood started pumping. "I have NO intention of playing with you!"