Nami was not having a good time.

She wanted to heave a giant sigh, but this was not the time and both Chopper and Usopp would likely shush her, which would be louder than her sigh would. The three of them were hiding from the invisible pervert, however the place they hid turned out to be the ghost princess's stuffed bear zombie.

Which means instead of getting farther from the people that want to hurt us, we're following them! And to make matters worse, a huge monster showed up and stole Luffy's shadow!

She hung her head in her hand, trying to figure out how they could escape, and get Zoro or Sanji to come and help Luffy. Normally she wouldn't have thought Luffy needed help fighting, but their captain looked dead.

Nami looked up as several tiny zombies took off with her captain, leaving her alone. "Luffy!" she whispered, not wanting to call attention to herself, yet fearing for what would become of her.

Usopp zipped up the opening and grabbed her shoulder turning her face to his. He gave her a series of nods and glares, yet she understood what he was saying. Luffy was like the skeleton now, not dead, just missing his shadow. They needed to stay where they were and find out what these people were doing with it so they could send the guys back later to retrieve it. For now, they needed to stay quiet.

The trio unzipped the bear slightly so they could hear better as it followed after the group.

"Moria!"

Usopp looked at Nami, who shrugged at hearing the new voice. He straightened slightly, trying to see out of the small opening, but was unsuccessful.

"What do you want?" they heard the lion-faced man ask snidely. "Master Moria is busy!"

"I want my shadow returned," the voice growled in return.

"Ki shi shi!" laughter rang out, and Usopp dared to open the zipper a little more in order to see what was happening. "That was never part of the arrangement! In fact, your shadow has made a very powerful zombie general!"

"A pain in the ass general…" Absalom muttered.

Usopp watched as the man wearing red glared at the lion guy. Then he spoke to the huge guy in charge, and Usopp tried not to tremble as he remembered what the guy did to Luffy.

"I've served you for long enough," the older man continued.

"He seems almost normal compared to the others," Usopp whispered to his friends.

"I will assist you with this crew as promised," the man said. "And then I want to leave."

"Feel free!" Moria laughed again, and Usopp flinched at the snarl the red man wore. He looks beastly… he thought.

"You took one of the crew already, didn't you?" Dr. Hogback added. "Before we could get her shadow I might add."

"He took someone?!" Usopp covered his mouth even as he whimpered. He couldn't even answer Nami and Chopper as they shook him for information.

"The girl will not survive, so it would be a waste of time and power to take her shadow," the man retorted. "As I have already explained."

"So you say," Hogback shot back.

"I can hardly have the life I want if I cannot go into the sun," the man was getting more and more agitated.

"I don't care," Moria answered with a shrug, and he started walking away again. "That's your problem. Your shadow is my loyal servant now and wouldn't return even if I wanted to give it to you."

Usopp could hardly believe what he was hearing. That can't be true, can it? he wondered. Luffy's shadow will want to return, won't it?!


Just the last hour had felt like a lifetime to Robin, yet she couldn't help but enjoy it. Exploring the island with the crew had been fun, though she still hadn't found Kia, they knew where everyone else was now. Even though their monster trio were missing their shadows, she had no doubt that they'd be able to get them back. Once Brook had shown up and told them the secret to getting rid of the zombies, she could practically feel the shift towards their crew in succeeding here.

She followed three of them as they raced onto the Sunny, and then stopped in shock.

"What a mess!" Franky said angrily.

"Those zombies left muddy footprints everywhere," Robin added, seeing the graveyard dirt all over their lawn. It will take time to clean, or we could just wait for a storm or even a large wave to wash it away… she thought.

"What?!" Chopper cried in fear. "Then maybe they're still here!"

"I don't think so," Robin consoled him. "They took what they wanted, so there's no reason to stay."

"Then where are the four we're looking for?" Usopp questioned as he slowly made his way up the stairs.

Chopper began yelling their names, as Franky, Robin and Usopp looked around.

"I found the guys!" Usopp called suddenly. "They're in the dining room!" He waited until the three with him got a glimpse of their toughest crew members. "Though I doubt they want to be seen like this…" he muttered.

"We don't have time for this!" Franky said, as he strode forward. Robin watched as he used all his strength to wake them, only to have nothing happen.

"The skeleton mentioned that it took several days for him to wake up when his shadow was stolen," she reminded Franky.

"Only one thing to do," he replied, putting up his arm. "I'll use my bazooka."

"That'll just hurt the Sunny," Usopp pushed him aside. "We have to make them want to wake up." he put his hand up and rubbed his chin as he gave it some thought. "I've got it!" he smiled.

Robin shook her head at his dramatic pose, as he yelled loudly at the boys on the floor. "LOOK, THERE'S A BEAUTIFUL FEMALE SWORD MASTER CARRYING LOTS OF MEAT!"

Robin covered her mouth as all three of them started blinking and muttering the words that had stirred them awake. Within moments, Luffy was yelling about food as he stuffed his mouth full of cheese and bread, Zoro noted his shadow was gone, and Sanji started calling for Nami.

They never change… she thought as she smiled.

"All right, shut up!" Usopp yelled, glaring at the trio. "We'll tell you everything, so just listen!" He was surprised that they heeded his words, and he took a deep breath. "There are two things we need to find and get back."

"Meat!" Luffy started listing. "Nami! And Kia! That's three!" he turned to Usopp with a frown.

"And our shadows, don't forget those," Zoro added a glare of his own.

"Uh, so I was thinking our crew, and our shadows as the two," Usopp mumbled feeling chastised.

"Keep going," Robin said as she took a seat. "Usopp gathered some good information," she told the rest of them.

They stopped talking and turned back to their sniper expectantly.

"Well…" he started, wondering how they would take all this.

Robin tried not to giggle as Sanji looked like he was burning, and Luffy admired the invisible man's guts for wanting to marry Nami. He and Zoro seemed more concerned with the giant zombie and the shadows, but eventually Luffy turned to Usopp and asked about Kia.

"I'm not sure," Usopp admitted. "We didn't see her, but we did see a strange man with the others, and they said something about him taking a girl. Since Robin is here… I'm assuming that's Kia."

"What did the guy look like?" Zoro asked.

"He was wearing all red, and seemed pretty old," Usopp said.

"The vampire dude," Franky spoke up. He turned to Usopp and Chopper to explain. "He took Kia from the Sunny right in front of us, by turning into bats!"

"Are…are you serious?!" Usopp trembled.

"A..va..va…vampire took Kia?!" Chopper added, looking at Usopp. "But he said they couldn't have her shadow because she wouldn't survive! We have to save her!"

"We will," Luffy looked at each of them, determined. "Even if we have to blow this place to bits!"

"One more thing captain," Robin spoke up. "About the shadows. Franky? Will you explain?"

Robin couldn't help thinking that Kia would know exactly what was going on, even without the explanations and she could now understand a little why Kia would worry so much. She noted the confusion on Chopper and Franky's faces as they learned about the crew knowing the whale that was friends with the skeleton.

Would Luffy be so set on the skeleton as a member of the crew if he already knew he would be? Yes… she thought. The captain really doesn't change, that's what makes him easy to predict… he would want the skeleton to join even if he hadn't met the whale.

She could also see how their adventure would have changed had Nami, Usopp and Chopper had known about the zombies. More than likely, Luffy would have wanted to storm up to Moria from the beginning. The skeleton wouldn't have had a chance to save us, and Franky wouldn't have become so attached to him.

As she thought of it, she realized that Kia was taken by surprise by that vampire man, so he was obviously not a part of the story that she knew.

"All right everyone," she heard Luffy call, and she stopped her musing to tune in to her captain's orders. "Prepare for the counterattack!"

"We're going after the zombies that have your shadows then?" Chopper asked.

"It may be tough to find those specific zombies," Zoro replied with a frown.

"No, you don't need to look for them, though I do want to see mine," Luffy countered, and Zoro looked at him in question.

"If we don't find them, we can't step in the sun ever again," he reminded his captain. "What kind of adventure can we have then?"

"Remember what that zombie dude said?" Luffy asked. "If we beat Moria, everyone's shadow will come back! So, I'll go beat up Moria! That will take care of all the shadows!"

"Wait, Luffy!" Usopp said, remembering what he had heard. "I heard that Moria guy say to the vampire guy that the shadow made a pact and won't return even if he gave it back!" He looked around in despair. "What are we gonna do?!"

"Don't worry Usopp," Luffy placed a hand on his shoulder. "If my shadow was acting like me, like you said, then it definitely won't want to stay in this place." He gave a wide grin to his crew. "Especially once I kick the boss's ass!"

He put his hands on his hips and gave a nod. "All the shadows will come back after that." He looked over to his cook. "Sanji, you'll take care of Nami, right?"

Sanji didn't hesitate for a moment. "OF COURSE! I'LL KICK HIM SO HARD HE CAN'T MARRY ANYONE EVER AGAIN!"

"What does that even mean?" Usopp mumbled to Franky who shrugged. "I'll go too, I feel responsible for that guy taking Nami away right in front of me," he said loudly.

"Not to mention grabbing her when she was naked in the bath," Chopper added.

"WHAAAT?!"

"I don't think you needed to make him madder," Zoro muttered. "He looks like he's going to mutate."

"I want to check on that skeleton's fight," Franky spoke up, looking away from Sanji's rampaging. "To make sure nothing happens before he gets his shadow back. And I want to look for Kia too."

"I'll go with you Franky," Zoro said. "I want to see that samurai you mentioned and get some payback for Kia."

"I want to save Kia too!" Chopper added.

"It sounds like we are splitting up then," Robin said with a smile. "One path toward Nami, one toward the skeleton and Kia, and one toward Gecko Moria."

"Since all of you are reckless, there's one thing that needs to be said," Usopp moved forward, glaring at each member of the monster trio. "This fog can't guarantee the sun won't shine through. We're safe now because it's night, but we have to assume that sunrise is our final deadline!"

"Yeah!" Luffy punched his fist into his other hand. "It'll suck if we don't get anything to eat until sunrise! Let's GO! RAAAAH!" he yelled as he jumped over the side of the ship and started running up the stairs of the entrance.

"Uh… I was talking about the shadows…" Usopp rolled his eyes at his friend. Then hearing Sanji yell Nami's name as he jumped onto the dock, he took off running in order to keep up with him.

"Wait for us!" Franky started following with Chopper behind him.

"Shall we?" Robin asked Zoro, who gave her a nod.

"Let's go."


Nami ran.

That didn't mean she didn't feel guilty, she did. She had only said those things in order to keep that huge zombie warthog from hurting her, not because she actually thought that they were friends. And now that zombie had come to save her in the name of that friendship.

Hearing a boom had Nami turning back to look, as the zombie fell back - smoke and dust rising from around her limp form. She saw the jerk that was trying to marry her against her will and she wanted to punch him in his ugly face for everything he had done. He's too strong though… she thought, closing her eyes.

"...petty zombie like you!" she heard him finish and her anger grew bigger than her fear. She turned and pulled out her climate baton, extending it out. She may not be able to beat him, but Lola had proven to be a friend. She couldn't do nothing.

She could see he was tired, and that gave her a little bit of hope. The thunder charge had only stopped him momentarily last time, but maybe in addition to Lola's attack it would be enough for her to help Lola. She is a zombie… so she shouldn't be dead, she thought.

"So, you've given up on running, have you? That's a good girl..." the pervert growled at her. "You finally see that you can't escape me. I'm an invisible man."

Nami glared, letting her anger flow through her. "Thunder charge!" she called as she prepared her attack. She started the weapon's end circling as she glanced towards the fallen zombie. "How dare you do that to Lola?!" she yelled as she started running towards the beast.

He said something, but she didn't listen, her focus on her attack. She had to get it right, she had to buy some time, even just a little. "I know it's not effective on you, but still-"

Her hit landed, and there was a pause as she stared at the beast man. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he fell onto his back. She stood there another moment, wondering if he was trying to fool her. Then she reached forward and gave him a few testing pokes with her baton.

Looking closer, she could see that he was out cold. "Why did it work this time?" she wondered. Then, true to character, she gave a shrug. "Whatever, I win!" she cheered for herself.

Then remembering why she had fought in the first place; she ran over to the large zombie. "Lola! Are you okay?!"

Hearing the zombie call her a friend again had her conscience twisting her insides, and she decided to come clean. "I'm sorry Lola, I was so scared of you when we first met that I lied to you," she admitted. "I'm really… I'm really a woman."

"You dummy," Lola answered with a smile. "I know."

Nami gave a relieved smile in return. Then gave a sly smirk, knowing what would help cement her newfound friendship. "Your Ab is completely helpless right now," she said.

Lola jumped up as if she hadn't been attacked, and ran over to the man on the ground, yelling about getting married, and Nami just shook her head with a grin.

Hearing another large crashing sound and seeing the ceiling crack and begin to fall had Nami wondering what was happening. "We have to get out of here, Lola," she called moving over to the zombie, flinching as she saw her kissing the unconscious man, her large lips covering his entire face. Well, if she smothers him, they can be together as zombies I guess, she decided.

"I'll be fine here, Namizo," Lola answered somehow without removing her lips from the guy. "That special zombie that has Straw Hat Luffy's shadow, is wreaking havoc all over this island. You need to worry about yourself now and run."

"Lola…" Nami responded, feeling sad.

"Go on now," the large warthog answered, giving her a smile as she raised the body she held. "I got what I wanted, and you need to get back to your crew!"

Their goodbye was short, but Nami knew she wouldn't forget the kindness of a strange warthog zombie. You can find friends anywhere I guess…she thought as she ran through the hallways. Now that she had seen a familiar room, she knew exactly where she was in the mansion. Which meant before she went back to the ship, she'd pick up as much as she could carry from the treasure room.

"I'm not leaving empty handed this time," she sang out loud. Though she wished she had Lola's help to carry the treasure, she was secretly glad she wouldn't have to share. Coming up to the door, she gave a grin and a squeal to herself seeing that it was unlocked.

All of that stopped as soon as she opened the door and saw the large room that was completely empty.

Nami stood there, stunned.

"My treasure!" she moaned.

Hearing voices, she turned to see two small squirrel zombies that had been a part of her capture. Not to mention that she was angry about the missing treasure. She pulled out her weapon, not bothering trying to get answers by being sweet.

After the interrogation, Nami took off running. She left the squirrels in smoking puddles once they had given her a shortcut back to the Sunny. Now she had to get there as quick as she could in order to stop the ghost girl from escaping in their ship with her treasure.

As she ran outside, she noticed the bridge she crossed was nothing like the surrounding buildings, and she could see the destruction that Luffy's zombie had done around the island.

A huge crashing noise had her eyes bugging out as she saw Luffy's zombie in person, crashing through the mansion, and landing on its head. True, it was on the other side of the courtyard, so she didn't scream, but it was still shocking. Knowing she couldn't do anything against that monster, she continued on her way, telling herself that she didn't see anything.

She ran as quickly as she could, finally making it to the entrance of the island. She could see the Sunny with zombies carting boxes and crates onto the ship that was caught in a huge spider web. Looking closer, she could see the Mini Merry also, which made her subconsciously smile in relief to see it was okay.

Then she noticed the girl that was directing the zombies down on the dock, and it appeared they were almost done, since there weren't any more crates on the dock. Looking around, she realized she was in a good position, where she could do some damage and far enough away where the zombies couldn't get her.

Feeling confident, she planted her feet and yelled. "HEY YOU! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING WITH MY TREASURE?! AND SUNNY TOO!"


"Hey Zoro, don't overdo it!" Usopp yelled. "Even if you do beat him, only Luffy's shadow will come back! We still have no idea where yours or Sanji's shadows are!"

Honestly, he couldn't believe that they were still alive against this monster, let alone doing damage to it. "We just have to trust Luffy to get the shadows back and focus only on keeping this guy busy!" he finished.

Zoro looked back, then focused again on the giant in front of him. The crew was tired, he knew. They were hurt, and who only knew where Nami and Kia were, let alone Luffy. He didn't want to bring them down, but he needed them to understand.

"I do trust Luffy," he responded, keeping his swords trained on the monster - if another attack came while he was talking, it would come swiftly. "But I also know Luffy's one major weakness. He's always falling for tricks! They've got an invisible man, a girl who controls ghosts, a guy who turns into bats, and a shadow master. All of them have powers that trick people.

"It's safe to say that none of them are planning on giving Luffy a fair fight."

"I'm afraid that I must agree," Robin spoke up.

"You have a point," Franky nodded.

"If they stall Luffy long enough that the sun rises… then we're screwed. Him, me and the cook. We'll melt until we're nothing but ash."

"Yeah, but, Zoro…" Usopp started, then trailed off.

"Maybe we can't save ourselves," Zoro continued, bringing his swords up into attack position. "But we can at least make sure Luffy's shadow is safe, and trust that he'll take care of the rest!"

Franky glanced up at the sky. "We've got about thirty minutes until sunrise, but the fog is so thick we may have some time before the sun shines through it."

"Then it's settled," Sanji said, lighting a new cigarette. "We'll get Luffy back his shadow."


Nami looked down in surprise. She had had quite a few surprises in the past several minutes - from seeing the ghost girl disappear, the zombies run away and then finding out the huge man, whose head came up to where she stood on the wall, was not only a warlord but was called 'the tyrant' and was asking after Luffy.

And now it looked like Kia's body was being dragged towards the water by a little creature.

"Hey!" Nami yelled, surprising the animal. "What did you do to her?!" she went storming up, and dropped down beside Kia, turning her to see if it were possible she was still alive.

She heaved a sigh of relief, seeing that Kia was breathing. Nami gave her face a few gentle slaps and felt better when her eyes started fluttering open.

"Na…mi?" Kia asked, feeling groggy and weak.

"Kia, what happened to you?" Nami asked, glaring back at the little creature, and seeing that it was gone. Turning back to Kia, she helped her sit up. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Kia took stock of herself, surprised to find that she could barely move. "I think so…" she answered.

Nami's look turned concerned, hearing the way she was slurring her words. "Come on, let's get on the Sunny," she said, helping Kia to her feet. Her concern was edging towards panic as Kia couldn't hold herself up. "What happened?!" she cried.

Kia explained as best she could as the pair made their way slowly onto the ship. It was the strangest feeling, her mind was working fine, but her body couldn't seem to do what she wanted it to. As if she had no strength.

She could see that Nami was in a wedding dress and since she was talking about changing clothes and finding the others, she could guess where in the story they were. The problem was the large blank space of her own time. The last thing she remembered was talking to the count.

She explained to Nami about the man, and the little creature named Pato, and even what the man said about needing her blood.

"That explains a lot actually," Nami answered as she helped Kia onto a chair in their bedroom. She looked down at her dress, seeing the dirt from kneeling at the dock. "I wonder if I should try to clean this to sell at the next store?" she said half to herself.

She gave a shrug, then started to peel all the layers off, laying them gently in another chair. "We heard that guy talking to the Shadow guy, Moria," she explained to Kia. "He mentioned that you wouldn't survive once he was done with you," she said, looking at her friend in concern.

"I figured," Kia replied. "He looked younger the second time I saw him, and he said something about needing to feed from me three times with rest times in between. At first I thought that meant time for me to replenish my blood, but now it seems like he needed that time… as if he couldn't handle it all at once."

"From what we heard, he had his shadow stolen, but he was still working for Moria," Nami said as she put on a striped skirt and a dark t-shirt. She pulled some boots out of the closet and sat to pull them on. "I want to find the others, since another warlord has shown up here."

"I'm coming too," Kia said, struggling to stand up.

"I think you'd better stay here and rest," Nami answered, worry on her face.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Kia responded. "I know I can't fight, but from what you said, Pato wasn't actually trying to help me. It didn't seem like he remembered things well, and he probably forgot his master still needed me one more time. He'll tell Redfield where I am."

"Hmm..." Nami thought it over. "Okay, but we find a place for you to hide once we get closer to the others," she declared. "I don't want to get anywhere near that monster zombie."

"That bad, huh?" Kia asked, as Nami came over to pull her arm around her own shoulders and helped her stand.

"Worse," she answered. "He's like twice the size of a giant, and with Luffy's shadow?" she stopped talking as they made their way out of the room. "Even all together, I'm not sure we can stop him."


Kuma did what he was sent to do, warning Moria of what he was up against. He knew the man would balk and be insulted at the idea, but he hadn't voiced his knowledge. He followed his orders, and then found a place to sit and observe what was going on.

From his vantage point, he could see the straw-hat crew struggle against Moria and his large zombie. He could see that the captain was still not present, nor were the cat burglar he had spoken to earlier or the girl who the government thought was related to the captain.

He still thought it strange that after all this time he discovered that his leader had children. Not only this small pirate, but also the Fire Fist. It wasn't altogether shocking that his children were strong and seemingly appearing from nowhere. He had successfully hidden the fact of their existence for some time now. Kuma himself wouldn't have found out if not for the position that Vegapunk's experiments had put him in.

He was trusted, though not completely, more so than the other warlords. He supposed that wasn't saying much, but his intel had helped the revolutionaries more than once. He worried now of what he could possibly do for these children he had found out about.

The elder was already in the hands of the marines… there was little he could do there. His execution was planned, and Kuma's time was coming to an end. But the younger… he looked around at the crew that was pushing themselves to their limits.

Perhaps… he thought.

Seeing movement, he zeroed in on it. He watched as the cat burglar helped her friend sit down. He wondered what was wrong with her, and decided that once the other girl left, he would go and speak to her. He stopped, noticing the bats that were flying in the fog above them, and his eyes narrowed, as the downloaded memory banks informed him of who was up there.

He wouldn't have time to talk… but he needed to move her, quickly.


"USOPP!" Nami screamed as the Luffy zombie continued to stomp all around where her friend had fallen. "NO! STOP IT!" she shrieked.

"And squish that woman next!" Moria hollered from his cockpit inside the zombie's stomach.

"Eep!" Nami's yell was cut off as something grabbed her, her breath cut short. She felt the hold on her even as the ground trembled around them, the small debris shaking and skipping. The booming sound of the monster stomping was all around her, yet she was unhurt.

"Hey big guy!" came a yell from above her, and she tried to look up, but couldn't see what was making the noise. "What do you think you're stepping on? There's no one under you!"

The monster stopped, and Nami could see it looking over towards where she and the voice were. "Who're you?!" it asked in a roar.

"Monkey D. Luffy," came the reply.

Nami looked around in shock, seeing that Usopp was in the other large fist just as she was, and he was gaping back at her. "No way!" he said in shock. "I mean, you do kinda look like him, but is it really you?"

"Yeah, it's me," Luffy answered. "Is everyone knocked out?" he asked.

"Everyone but us was beaten by your zombie!" Usopp cried, so happy that Luffy was here now.

"Except Kia, but she's hiding because she's hurt," Nami added.

Luffy looked down at her. "You found her?" he asked, giving a nod. "Good."

They looked back towards the monster as he yelled, "GUM GUM…"

"Watch out Luffy!" Usopp screeched. "He can stretch like rubber and use all your moves!" he grunted as he hit the ground, then looked up and gaped, seeing that Luffy had stopped that monstrous fist with a single hand.

"There's only one Luffy," he told the monster. "And it's me!"

Usopp and Nami glanced at each other, mouths open in shock, then turned back to watch as the huge dark-skinned version of their captain fought one on one with the monster zombie that held his shadow.

"This is amazing!" Usopp said, tears in his eyes.

"He's beating that monster, it's incredible!" Nami replied.

"Whoa, what's happening down there?" Usopp pointed as Nami looked at him. The pair watched as a group of people surrounded the rest of their friends. "We'd better get down there!"

"We've got to get to Kia too," Nami added, the pair moving as quickly as they were able to, trying to ignore the bruises and scrapes they had.

Luffy fought with determination, the power and knowledge from the shadows that were inside him helping him along, though not trying to take over. It was as if he was controlling a robot… sort of. He didn't think about it very hard, he just fought.

He knew he didn't have long, so he had to bring the monster down quickly. He threw everything he had at him, the anger at seeing his friends sprawled on the ground fueling him. He didn't care so much about his shadow right now. He just couldn't stand the idea that this creep Moria stopped others from having their adventures.

"STORM!" he called, throwing rapid fire punches one after another. He didn't count; he didn't stop, until his body forced him to. He could feel the shadows trying to free themselves, so he put his all into one final blow and watched as the monster fell.

Hearing a noise, he looked down and saw his sister crumpled up at his feet. His shock was genuine as he worried that he had hurt her somehow. He reached out to her face, hoping she was okay.

Suddenly his hand punched upwards and came slowly back holding an old man that looked like a bat and had large fangs.

"You're that vampire guy," Luffy rumbled. He glanced back down at his sister, seeing her eyes open and staring at him. "He hurt you?" he asked her.

His eyes didn't leave her as he saw her glance at the man he held, then back to him. He was struggling internally to hold onto these shadows just for another few moments. Then he saw her nod.

The anger was intense, so that he didn't notice how the man paled - not that he would have cared. The man leaned forward, trying to sink his teeth into Luffy's hand, but he moved too quickly for him. He grabbed his feet, flipping the man easily.

He grabbed him around his torso and squeezed, wanting to break the wings that he knew would bring the man back, but breaking more than that in the process. Then he used his grip on the man's feet to swing him around his head several times and flung him away.

Kia flinched a few times, hearing the snapping of Redfield's body had been intense, along with the cry of pain, but she wasn't sad to know that the man wouldn't come back for her again, if he even survived. Luffy had flung him over the mansion, so she had no idea if he landed on the island, or in the ocean.

Looking back at Luffy, she watching in wonder as dark shadows escaped from his body in droves, and he shrunk back to himself, falling onto the ground. It had seemed to happen in slow motion, but she knew it had been just a few seconds.

She could hear Nami and Usopp shouting his name as she scooted over to him, holding his head in her lap. "Thank you Luffy," she murmured to him. She was still weak; in fact, she was ready to pass out. She moved her eyes from Luffy's face to the ground in front of them, seeing the shape of a paw print in the stone.

She could hardly believe that he had saved her and wondered what was going to change in the upcoming minutes.

She hoped she was ready.