Chapter 16
One Last Witness
"Morning is coming!" "Everyone, get into the forest!" Maxwell didn't dare take his eyes off Moria. "Damn it! We've come so close!" The now lumbering giant was grinning like a madman, seeing Straw-Hat Luffy stare him down. "He took the shadows of all the zombies on the island! But he split the island in one attack!" His madness seemed ethereal though. He was aware, but his eyes glazed in and out, like he wasn't all there.
"Right now, Moria is even stronger than Oars!"
The Thriller Bark Victims Association was starting to grate on his nerves though. They were panicking like a flock of headless chickens— "There's nothing more we can do! Run away!" —trying to find cover in the shade before they were disintegrated by sunlight.
"Captain Lola! Come into the shadows! Do you want to die!?" Of course, the only exception among them was their leader Lola.
"I don't care whether I live or die anymore!" She stood with her feet planted firmly in the rubble. Lola wanted to watch the climax of their last bid against Moria, "I… I won't return to the shadows!" Even if a part of her hair was still smoking.
"…Captain…" Nirisu grimaced feeling both worry and respect for his captain. However, Lola was only following the Straw-Hats' lead.
"Hey! Where do you guys see any chance for victory!? There's no way you can win! You're up against a monster with the strength of a thousand men! Your shadows and power are in their too! There's no more time left!"
"If you're going to watch, then just shut up and look," Zoro briefly looked back at Nirisu, "The fight with Moria… We've already won it." The crowd goes silent at those words. "All that's left is to see if we can win before the sun rises. Moria is betting that he can defeat us in that short amount of time with his power. The real question is, who will be destroyed first? Us? Or will Moria self-destruct first?"
Moria finally made a move. He thrust his hand at Luffy hoping to catch him. His clawed fingers dig into the ground like wet clay, but Luffy is incredibly fast while in Gear Second. Luffy dodges, once, twice, even three times as Moria tries a kick.
Luffy then stretched out and grabbed onto the hem of Moria's pants, "Gomu-Gomu no—JET ROCKET!" and with the hydraulic power running through his body, quickly retracts his arms and slams into Moria's stomach.
The Warlord bends from the blow. Black spittle coughs up from Moria's mouth. However it's not spit or blood, it's shadows that are trying to escape! Like an reals valve, shadows race out of Moria's mouth, forcing the shadow-man to jerk his head upwards! And Luffy takes advantage of this!
"JET BAZOOKA!" "JET BAZOOKA!" "JET BAZOOKA!"
Each subsequent hit force more and mor shadows out of Moria's body. The victims are in awe of how easily Luffy is hitting the Warlord! "They're gradually being freed." "But why!? Those shadows should be under his power…"
"Moria is losing consciousness, so he's losing control over the shadows he stole…!" Usopp exclaims. "Even Moria can control a thousand shadows at once!"
Luffy lands against the mast as he goes in for another attack, "Gomu-Gomu no—"
"BrIcK bAt!" Moria wrestles a brief moment of coherence to counteract Luffy, and summons a swarm of bats to surround the pirate. "BlAcK bOx!" They shift and fuse into a shadowy cube, encasing Luffy inside. It was a technique Moria had tried on Maxwell, when he tried to face Moria one-on-one.
"BrEaK!"
Moria was running on instinct, his cohesion muddled. Yet still the Warlord punched at the black box, with Straw-Hat inside. His fist impacted into the tower, creating a massive crater in Thriller Bark's main mast!
"A direct hit!" "That punch split the island!" "STRAW-HAT!"
Maxwell grimaced at the blow. Even with Luffy's immunity to blunt force trauma, there was still a lot of power behind that punch! The black box then fell from where Moria punched the tower. It was squished, and gonged like a empty oil drum as it landed.
"HA!" Moria then raised his foot and stomped on the flattened cube. The island shook from the impact, yet it did not split the island like his punch did at his peak.
"CoNsIdEr ThIs… YoUr BaPtIsM… yOu LiTtLe PuNk!" Moria was breathing heavily, like his obesity was catching up to him. "ThIs Is WhAt HaPpEnS wHeN yOu TrY tO aCt ToUgH oN tHiS oCeAn!" Moria then dug his heel into where the box was, "ThIs Is WhAt HaPpEnS wHeN yOu DeFy OnE oF tHe SeVeN wArLoRdS!"
Moria then lifted his heel and stepped back to look at the squashed box, "kNoW yOuR pLaCe! …ThIs WoRlD… tHiS wOrLd OnLy CrUsHeS tHoSe WhO sTaNd OuT!"
"LUFFY!" Brook and Chopper call out to the rubber-man. However, Luffy is able to break out of the shadowy box, popping it like latex.
"I don't know about being a punk or standing out…" Luffy was starting to pant as well, "But I… won't be crushed by anyone!" His skin was rubbed raw from all the sheer force applied by Moria. Yet Luffy still kept his his glare on the Warlord, the steam from Gear Second billowing like a cloak.
"…yOu WoN't Be CrUsHeD…!?" The corner of Moria's lips twitched, finding the statement hilarious. "jUsT bY sAyInG tHaT jUsT ReVeAlS hOw InExPeRiEnCeD yOu—"
"Because I'm made of rubber. And rubber… always bounces back!"
Veins throbbed in Moria's bloated head. This brat—! This rank amateur! How dare he! How dare he spout such nonsense right to his face! He thinks he can just steamroll into the New World and come out unscathed!? The arrogance—!
"I'm going to make you spit out those shadows!" Luffy then bit his thumb and blew into it. "Bone Balloon!"
Maxwell's worry dramatically spiked when he saw Luffy's arm expand. Though, his friends said it best. "EH!? Hey! Is it okay to do that technique!?" "Don't you remember to you the last time you used Gear Second!?" "You're being to reckless! You're damaging your own body!"
It wasn't just the fact Luffy was using Gear Second or Gear Third. It was the fact he was using them at the same time! Gear Second pumped Luffy's blood at an accelerated rate, augmenting his muscles for greater speed and strength. Gear Third literally pumped air into his bloodstream. The air enlarged Luffy's arms, and increased the density of his own limbs, and could be transferred throughout Luffy's body. But now, Luffy was straining his body using both techniques. Even if his body was made out of rubber, the pressure running through Luffy's system was dangerous!
"Gomu-Gomu no…!" Luffy transferred the air to his torso, expanding his body till it was round like a balloon, "Giant's JET SHELL!" then the pirate leapt for the Warlord! Luffy's Gear Second muscles shot him like cannonball, colliding with base of Moria's inflated neck!
Moria stumbled back, coughing up more shadows. Those blows really were acting like artillery shells! Then Moria realized he was losing control! He covered his mouth, trying to prevent any more shadows from escaping! "Shadows, I am your master…!"
"That bastard! He's not letting them go!" Risuichi cursed. Dawn was steadily becoming brighter and brighter, and more of their comrades were being caught by the sun's rays. Straw-Hat was definitely giving Moria a run for his money though. Was he immortal or something!?
"Come back to me, my shadow!" Lola called out, still standing in the open as she watched the battle.
"Captain Lola!" A quarter of her head was gone, shaved away by sunbeams!
"Can't you here me, shadow!?" Lola fought through the pain as her head burned, "Haven't we been together since we were born!? We were always meant to be together, right!? COME BACK TO ME! I've been looking for the zombie you were in for 3 long years! You're in there, right!? If you can hear me, PLEASE COME BACK! COME BA—!"
"CAPTAIN LOLA!" Unable to witness it any longer, the Risky Brothers jumped onto their captain and pinned her to the ground. "Please stay in the shadows! You're going to lose your body!" They didn't want to see their captain die.
Lola growled on the ground, "…How can you stand it!? They're right there!"
Nirisu glanced up at the struggling Warlord, "That's right…! Right now all of our shadows are inside Moria…! We're up against a Warlord, but this kind of chance may never come again!"
Risuichi then yelled at the top of his lungs, "COME BACK, OUR SHADOWS!"
There was a sense of hope they hadn't felt for a while. They were so close to becoming whole again! Everyone in the Thriller Bark's Victim Association started pleading for their shadows! Begging them to come back, and be reunited!
"I've got something to say to my shadow too…!" Luffy spoke up, still retaining his Jet Shell shape. "You! If you want to be King of the Pirates… Make sure… YOU COME WITH ME!"
"BUOOOOOHHH!" Luffy tackled one last Giant's Jet Shell into Moria's chest, and the monster wretched from the blow. Shadows flew out between Moria's fingers, even as he covered his mouth with both hands!
Luffy's body then couldn't take the pressure anymore. The air in his system released through his own mouth, and Luffy flew around like tailing balloon.
Moria then found another shadow looming over him. "Eh?" The mast of Thriller Bark was falling over, and it was going to land right on top of him!
"GYAAAAAH!" All the damage it had built up over the course of the night, had finally given way to gravity! And Moria was caught beneath that massive spire.
"HE DID IT!" All the victims cheered as they saw Moria lay defeated. However, Maxwell kept his ears open.
"Straw-Hat…!" It was faint, but he definitely heard Moria cursing from the other side of the tower. "Why you—! You bastard! …You think you've had it rough…!? Then go forward and witness it yourself. The REAL nightmare is in the New World!"
Maxwell's eyes widened a fraction at Moria's parting words. Did he actually know about the demon? Did it make it into the Grand Line!? Unfortunately, before he could try and act on those questions, Maxwell was caught off guard as a geyser of shadows sprung up from the other side of the mast.
Moria had finally lost control of the shadows he had trapped inside his body! They were like a fountain, shadows spread across the sky in all directions returning to their rightful persons. It was a good thing! However, it was still unnerving to see so much darkness made manifest.
Then there was a sickening crack! The mast had cracked into pieces, the towering tiers of the mast splitting apart. And the morning sun shone through.
People screamed as the light burned them. The shadows were still in the process of finding their hosts! Maxwell looked back in horror as he saw Zoro, Sanji, and Robin be set aflame!
However, Maxwell was a Maker-damned mage! He always kept the spell in the back of his mind, ever since they were told the time limit. "BLIZZARD!"
Ice and snow began to pelt the ground, while fog and cloud raced towards the broken spire. The sun was blotted out, and they now had the shade of Maxwell's wizard-blizzard. It didn't stop the incineration, but it definitely slowed it down!
"MAX! THANK GOD~!" Usopp cried out, "QUICK! YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING! THEIR BODIES ARE STILL DISAPPEARING!" Zoro, Sanji, and Robin had lost everything above their shoulders. It was like the fire had been erasing them rather than consume them!
"LUFFY!" Usopp had spotted their captain laying on the ground in his shrunken form. The light had caught him too, and his entire head was gone, burning!
Maxwell quickly levitated his foci to look at them, "Mordred, Mineive, Salem—any ideas!?"
"…Nope." "Sorry." "Blood Magic—?" "HELL NO!"
They may have been familiar with spiritual theory, but they had no idea how to fathom the powers of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit. Shadows had always been used as a medium, not a subject!
Franky was freaking out. "Hey! Didn't we win!? Why!? We're we too late!?"
Shadows then fell from the sky, slithering towards their respective owners! Maxwell had to have blinked. One moment, everyone without a shadow was burning. The next, they were all back to their original selves, like it was done in a snap!
…
…
…
Zoro laughed.
"Hahahahaha! …Man… It feels good to be alive." He was flexing his arm, as if to check everything was working.
…What the hell!?
Robin had a hand on her cheek. "For a moment there, I thought I was ascending to Heaven." She was a little wide-eyed, but Robin was still her cool, calm, collected self.
"That would be amazing!" Sanji was swooning over her, doing a little dance, "I'd happily go to Heaven with you, my dear Robin!"
"THIS ISN'T SOMETHING TO LAUGH ABOUT, YOU MORONS!" Usopp barked at he three crewmates, "WE SERIOUSLY THOUGHT YOU GUYS WERE GOING TO DIE! HALF OF YOUR BODIES WERE COMPLETELY GONE! GONE!"
Maxwell put a hand on Usopp's shoulder, before looking around at the crew, "Everyone gather around! We're doing a head count, and a group healing circle." He wanted to gawk at the sudden reversal as well. However, Luffy had trusted them to take care of things after the battle was finished. In fact, he went over to find Luffy and pick him up.
Nami and Chopper both sagged against each other with relief, "That was so scary…"
Chopper then looked over at all people from the Victim's Association, "Looks like they're all okay over there too."
Indeed, "IT'S THE SUN!" Lola, the Risky Brothers, and everyone else was cheering. "The morning isn't dangerous anymore!" "WE GOT OUR SHADOWS!" The were whooping and hollering at the fact they were whole again, "Our dark day in the forest are over!" Much like Sanji, Robin, and Zoro, anyone who was vanishing in the sun was already whole and healthy.
"When the sun hit us, our existence was being erased." Robin sat down as the others gathered into a circle. "But our shadows returned in the nick of time, and our bodies were renewed."
Sanji looked down at his own shadow, "It's the same as how Moria morphed Oars by changing the shadow. The shadow and the body always share the same form…"
"Rest easy," Zoro sat down, reassuring Usopp with a relaxed with a grin, "Your shadow isn't going to be separated from you for the rest of your life."
Usopp's shoulders sagged as he leaned over and sat down, "Anyway, I'm glad we got through that without anyone disappearing."
"Ah…" Franky actually laid down in his spot, "All of a sudden, I'm feeling really tired, and sleepy… No cola left, huh." His pompadour had actually sagged, falling over, as if all the hair products had left it.
"All the strange things we've seen since coming here were part of Moria's deception. Now that he's been defeated, there's nothing left…! It's like waking up from a bad dream." Sanji shook his head as he took his spot, "I swear, this was one nasty haunted mansion."
Maxwell had finally finished the circle. He had Mordred, Mineive, and Salem's anchors placed in a triangle around the circumference. They should have regenerated enough energy to provide for the circle. "Brook, come join us here too. You helped fight Oars. It's the least we can do."
Brook jumped slightly at being addressed. He had been too busy staring at the sun. After 50 years of deep foggy darkness, he'd almost forgotten what the sun looked like. Besides, he thought special magic healing was reserved for the mage's actual crew. Maxwell gestured where a spot was left open for him. The invitation was open.
"…Thank you." Brook nodded, accepting the spot and sat down.
Now that they were all gathered around, Maxwell could begin his spell. He had everyone sat in a semi-irregular nine-pointed star. Chopper sat closest to Luffy, as he was still the his priority patient. Everyone else just sat or laid down as Maxwell raised his staff.
He held it aloft in one hand, waving around as he was drawing something above them. The anchors glowed, and a gentle green mist trickled out of the three foci. Maxwell was muttering Ancient Tevene under his breath, his eyes glowing as he focused on the spell.
It wasn't quite like the Resurgence spell Mineive preformed at Enies Lobby. This was actually an improvised ritual Maxwell had developed along with Chopper. They wanted something more akin too Maxwell's Life Ward, only it would restore the patient's full vitality. An emergency action, for when a crew member was critically ill or injured.
Ideally, the ritual would have been used for a single subject, but unfortunately they had ten different patients to treat. They would heal, all they just had to do was breath in the mist and letting it soak their into wounds. The magic would heal them, both inside and out, but they won't experience a full recovery. All of them were going to heal at different rates. Almost everyone had taken a punch from Oars, and everyone had pushed themselves in order to defeat that undead giant.
And then Luffy went ahead and faced Moria one-on-one. It was his fight, Maxwell didn't blame him for that. But he was certainly reckless in how he went about it. Possession, simultaneous techniques, repeated usage… Luffy was now dead too the world, not even snoring. The mists were working on Luffy, but they were showing no obvious results. He must have taken quite the toll in order to fight like he had.
"Didn't Luffy shrink earlier?" Zoro asked in the green domed sauna. From the outside the spell did kind of look like an outdoor steamroom.
Chopper looked up from his diagnostics, "Luffy told me when he uses Gear Third, he shrinks for the same amount of time he used it for—"
"Don't you think Luffy's new fighting style is too hard on his body?" Usopp interrupted him. He had his arms crossed, and had a pondering frown on his face. "If the enemies we face from now on are even stronger, he's just going to keep being this reckless… I'm worried."
The crew all stared at Usopp before looking down in various directions. Usopp had a point. The enemies they were facing were getting tougher, and tougher, and harder to counter. They've already been spared once from anhilation. When Admiral Aokiji chose to fight Luffy one-on-one, rather than chase after them… They were likely never going to have that chance ever again.
If they didn't get stronger, and soon, then Luffy was going to try and compensate for their apparent weakness… He was going to run himself ragged if he kept this up. Maybe even kill himself…
Nami then noticed Spoil approach them, and the old man greeted them with a "Hello!"
"GAH! IT'S A ZOMBIE!" Usopp suddenly stood with his kabuto in front of him, "You still have a shadow within you!?"
"No, I'm just an old man with serious injuries."
"THAT'S TOO CONFUSING! YOU PASS OFF AS A ZOMBIE WITH THAT APPEARANCE! Jeez!" Spoil looked too much like a zombie for his own good.
"Aren't you that old man we met in the graveyard…?" Sanji remembered him from when they were travelling up to the mansion.
Spoil smiled, "I still can't believe it… I can walk under the sun again! Thank you…! I don't know how to thank you enough…!"
"OLD MAN SPOIL!" "Gramps!" "Hey! It's the honorary chairman of the Victim's Association!" The formerly shadowless mass pirates were done celebrating and ran over towards their group.
"You guys," Lola spoke for them, "I haven't even thanked you yet! We are thankful from the bottom of our hearts! Sorry for having such strange things happen! We saw you fighting, so we selfishly put all our hopes on you!" Lola then got on her knees and bowed to the Straw-Hat Pirates. "Thank you all!" All of the rest bowed with their captain, showing their sincerity, "Everyone in the Thriller Bark Victim's Association will NEVER forget this debt!"
"THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"
"As thanks, I'll even allow one of you to marry me!" Lola smiled.
All the guys blinked and said, "No thanks." Even Maxwell broke his chant to deliver it.
"Ack—dammit…!" In breaking that concentration though, the ritual stopped working and the mists began to dissipate. At least he only had to deal with a minor migraine this time.
Zoro rubbed the back of his head "…There's really no need to thank us. Luffy already told you old man, that we're just fighting here by coincidence."
"Don't say that!" Lola whined and then looked at Zoro, who was still talking, "Especially you! Won't you marry me!?"
"—We just happened to help you guys, too."
Nami then slapped Zoro like he was an idiot, "What are you saying!? These people just want to thank us!"
"Yeah, that's right bro! Just let us do something!" said Risuichi. "We don't care how it happened. The fact is we want to thank you for beating Moria."
"I know, right?" Nami held her hand behind her back.
Usopp just sweat-dropped. "You're so…" He could practically see the beli signs in her eyes, expecting that reward.
"I know! We can show you where Moria keeps all his treasure!" Nirisu exclaimed. "You guys would like that, right!?"
"Thank you, but all the treasure is…" Nami's voice trailed off as if another thought came to mind. Then her spine straightened up. "…That's right…! I forgot something really important!"
"What is it?" Usopp asked. He could see the fear in her eyes as she covered her own mouth.
"What's wrong?" Robin asked.
Nami turned around to face the crew, "Guys, this is bad—!"
"[I see.]"
Everyone looked up at top of the Thriller Bark's toppled mast. "[Then the worst case scenario came true.]"
"So it appears." There was a man sitting atop it, dressed in black and white. He wore a white bucket hat, black sweater, dalmation print pants, and a couple of short black boots. He held a den den mushi in one gloved hand, and a book in his lap. He appeared to be on a call.
"[We've just decided on Crocodile's successor. It's unfortunate to think another hole may have opened in the Seven Warlords of the Sea.]"
"Who the hell is that!?" yelled Usopp. He was huge, even from a distance.
"…He's here…!" Nami started to shiver seeing the man up there. "Everyone, are you listening…!? While we were fighting Moria… I didn't say anything, but… on this island, another person was here! Another Warlord!"
"WHAT!?" "CRAP!" "WHY'D HE SHOW UP NOW THEN!?" "THAT'S ANOTHER WARLORD!?"
"[Could he just barely be alive?]"
"Who knows…" the Warlord responded. He was softly spoken for a man of his size.
"[As long as he's still alive, we can can wait for him to recover. We want to keep some continuity in the Warlords after all.]" So the call was connected to the Navy. Or perhaps to the World Government? Maxwell wasn't really sure how the hierarchy worked there. "[As for the situation over there, if the Warlords continue to fall like this, then the name will lose its prestige. We shouldn't allow news of this to reach the public. What a troublesome bunch...]"
"…It's him." Lola seemed to recognize the pirate, "That gigantic body, even larger than Moria's. The pirate they call 'Tyrant!' —Bartholomew Kuma!
"HE'S THE TYRANT, KUMA!?" Nirisu exclaimed in surprise.
"[Do you understand what I'm saying? We can't have any witnesses to Moria's defeat. This is a special order from the World Government. Contain the Straw-Hat Pirates! As for everyone else left on that island, dispose of them.]"
"…Easy enough."
"[Well then, we await your report.]"
The transponder snail then cut out, and the call was finished.
Now, Kuma had his eyes set upon them!