Morgan groaned as he slowly got bearings back and found himself in a cage with Robin leaning against him in an unconscious state. "Where…Are we?"
The snickering was heard as a giant spider crawled down from the ceiling; It looked like a patchwork nightmare as it had arms and a head that looked like a monkey's instead of just a monster spider. "Finally awake? Good, because I think you're gonna want to see what the Master has in store for you."
"You mean Gekko Moria?" Morgan asked as he realised that they had effectively been caught and with no means to escape from their cage, he cursed himself for letting his guard down but realised at the same time that it was hardly something he could expect at the time.
"Of course, my Master has a desire for the strong and you are going to be one of his special cases."
A Few Minutes Earlier…
Robin and Morgan were rushing through the forest and taking on various monsters that were set on capturing or killing them; Morgan using his combination of martial arts and the occasional weapon that he picked up while Robin was strategically knocking them down with her separated limbs. "This is getting us nowhere! Even with striking pressure points, they keep getting back up…" Morgan growled as he watched a lumbering Zombie man stagger to it's feet after he struck several points in it's neck.
"We're outnumbered even with our powers…" Robin mentioned as she had a skinny looking Mummy man in a multi-armed clutch. "If we want to find Nami or at least make sure the others are okay, then we need to reach the main tower." She said and pointed towards the gargantuan castle that towered over the trees, acting as the ship's mast.
"Sanji's got the drive to look for her…I trust him enough to look for Nami and make sure she's safe." Morgan said as he then stopped to the sound of silence when the Monsters all started to run away. "Chopper and Usopp on the other hand could use the help, I know that they both get scared around this kind of stuff and with the way you reacted, this Moria guy doesn't sound good."
Robin nodded as she then realised something about what that man begged them about prior to their exploring. "A Warlord of the Sea…I don't exactly know the extent of what he can do but a title like that is not to be taken lightly."
"If he's anything like Crocodile then it's just a matter of finding out what he can do." Morgan admitted as a soft ghostly noise rushed past his ear, his peripheral vision caught a flash of white and it put him on alert as he got into a stance. "Focus up…We're not alone."
"Horo-Horo-Horo-Horo~!" A woman's voice trilled out from the treeline as a pink haired girl with a parasoul; She had a red crown sat on her head, as well as red lipstick and a thick layer of black eyeliner under her rather large eyes. Her outfit consisted of white long-sleeved shirt that exposed her midriff along with a red mini cape fastened with a pink ribbon over it. Wearing a mini-skirt with black and white tights to cover her legs and red buckled boots. "Looks like we have some new guests for our Master." She said with an unusually sweet tone to her voice as she floated in the air above them, eyeing up Robin first and then looking to Morgan with a curious stare.
"And who might you be?" Robin asked as she took note of the girl's appearance and despite Morgan's apprehension towards the situation, she was hardly concerned. "Because we're looking for our friends."
"You may call me Perona but right now, you have more important things to worry about than your friends." Perona said as she tilted her head and lifted her hands to make several small ghost-like creatures spiral around her fingers. "We found some little mice running around and they're already stirring up a fuss…And then you guys show up too."
"Tell me, were some of those people a talking reindeer, a man with a long nose and a girl with orange hair?" Morgan asked as he kept his eyes on the girl and cautiously watched the ghosts floating around. "Because right now we're not looking for trouble."
"Maybe they were but maybe they weren't…We get a lot of visitors and plenty of them are pirates." Perona said as she did a spin in the air and chuckled. "Though I know exactly who you are…Straw-Hat Morgan and Devil Child Robin~" She mentioned as she grew a smirk across her face. "You two are quite the catch for a bounty hunt, though I think I'll settle for bringing you to Master~"
"You're welcome to try." Robin said as she crossed her arms together. "Dos Fleur…" She started but then got confused when the arms that she had intended to form on Perona's body weren't appearing. "Odd…It's not appearing…"
Perona let out her soft laugh against as she realised what Robin had tried to do. "Performance anxiety?" She quipped before making the ghosts in her hands change shape into small balls. "Allow me~" She sang out before running a sweep across both of them and making the ghosts rain from above before attaching onto Robin and Morgan. "Ghost Rap!"
Morgan heard the snaps of Perona's fingers before the both of them were caught in a series of mini explosions that knocked them for a loop and made them wince in pain, though they had been the equivalent of getting hit by Usopp's slingshot. "Explosive ghosts…All I need to know…" He growled as he got to his feet and readied his stance again as he was ready to fight back.
"Sturdy…I'll need to try harder." Perona thought to herself as she decided for a double whammy; With one hand, she summoned up more ghosts and shot off eight different ghosts at the pair. "Negative Hollow!" She yelled out as the squad of ghosts ran through both of her opponents.
Robin was probably the more resistant as she felt her heart throb at the sudden feeling of negativity that shot through her body. "What…What's going on? I…Feel so heavy…"
Morgan on the other hand had collapsed to the ground in a depressed heap as he was not used to this kind of negativity in his body. "I'm sorry for being born…" He groaned out sadly as he struggled to keep his head up. "If I reincarnate…Make me something useful…"
"Fight it, Morgan!" Robin urged as she turned to look at Perona with a narrowed glare. "What did you do to him?" She asked him as she readied her arms again.
"Didn't you just try that?" Perona asked rhetorically as she floated around the prone Morgan. "I filled him up with my Negative Hollow; A good knock to the esteem would make anyone, even the most hardened of men beg for release." She sneered before gazing down at him. "I think that after what I heard about him, he could use a little time at the bottom of his moods~"
A rock then was thrown from behind Robin towards Perona, though it drew even more of a shock as Robin saw that rock fly straight through the girl's head like she wasn't even there. "What in the…What kind of Devil Fruit can do this?"
"I'd worry less about what I can do and more about your friends when you see them again….Tararan!" Perona called out and then a thick rope of web shot out from Perona's chest and caught Robin in it's trap before quickly dragging the raven haired woman away from Morgan and into the forest. "And now…How shall I take care of you~?"
"Let…Her go…" Morgan growled as he started to get to his feet with his anger growing in place of his earlier despair. "Now!" He snarled as he swiped at Perona who then floated away.
"Wow…Normally people wouldn't come up that fast after a Quadruple Negative Hollow." Perona said with an almost impressed tone as she floated out of reach. "Though you aren't that much of a normal person, are you?"
"I said…Give her back!" Morgan yelled as he started blasting air bullets at her with his fists; Though just like with the rock thrown at her, those air bullets did nothing but phase through her.
"I have to admire your persistence but you don't have to treat this like a bad thing~" Perona said before shooting another Negative Hollow directly at his head, causing Morgan to stagger and drop to one knee. "How about I make you a deal and I can make sure this works out for that ragtag group of misfits you came here with." She floated over and whispered into his ear before backing off when Morgan got back up and swung a kick at her.
"I'm not making squat with you! Tell me where you took them or I'll make this worse!" Morgan snapped as he felt his body burn hotter with fury at her constant jabs.
"You might not want to ignore this…But I'll be honest with you." Perona continued on as she floated around him. "You're not exactly my kind of cute but I think a strong bounty owner like you could make for a very powerful bodyguard for me~" She elaborated before summoning up a larger ghost to float in front of him while sending more Negative Hollows at him. "You won't say no to me, will you? I promise, I can be a very sweet boss for you~"
Morgan's simple response after he saw the ghosts flying towards him was to thrust his arms outward with a powerful yell; Causing shock in the ghost thrower when she saw those ghosts get repelled by what looked like a flaming red barrier that surrounded his body for the briefest of moments. "Last time…And last warning: Where are they?!" He demanded before a set of large jaws clamped around him
Perona laughed as she watched her plan work; The larger ghost had slipped under the ground while Morgan was preoccupied with the ghosts surrounding him and then swallowed him in his moment of weakness. "I think we're done for now…Kamikaze Rap!" She snapped her fingers and caused a much larger explosion to erupt from the large Ghost, causing the now charred looking Morgan to collapse to the ground in barely held consciousness, earning a scoff as she saw him struggling to get to his feet. "Stubborn…Negative Hollow: Downtread!" She called out as she started shooting ghost after ghost through Morgan's body to force him into blacking out before he could get back up. "Master will have a good Shadow to steal from you…But for now, enjoy your nap~"
Present Time…
Morgan looked around the dimly lit room for any sign of the others but found himself struggling against the Seastone chains wrapped around him. "I swear, once I get out of this…I'm going to start smacking heads until I find that Moria jerk!"
Robin groaned as she started to come back to consciousness and then blinked as she adjusted to the new light. "Morgan…Where are we?" She asked as she recognised her Captain even in the dark. "What happened with that strange girl?"
Morgan lightly knocked his head against the back of their cage. "We got caught…Turns out that the people working with Moria have a few tricks up their sleeves." He admitted as he squirmed in place; "As for that girl…She managed to get the drop on me, none of my usual powers seemed to work."
"Anything physical phased through her…Or just doesn't affect her at all like I tried with my arms." Robin added as she tried to piece it together. "I think she has a Devil Fruit to do with ghosts."
"And you would have guessed right, my new friends~" A large, rotund man clad in black leather and wearing a surgical mask laughed as he entered the room with a troupe of zombies behind him. "Perona is a Hollow Person, anything that you two could throw at her would do nothing." He tittered to himself before bowing dramatically. "I am your new doctor, Hogback…And I will be aiding Master Moria with your procedures today."
"Procedures?" Morgan asked as he eyed up the grotesque doctor that was quickly followed by the towering grey skinned man with a mouth full of sharp teeth who was cackling at the sight of the pair that were locked up, he knew then and there that this had to be Moria.
"Well, how about that? I heard that we had a bunch of new faces on Thriller Bark but I hadn't expected to see the Straw Hat Pirates to wash up here." Moria said with a cackle and leered down at Robin through the bars. "You're gonna make a wonderful addition to my soldiers while your captain will be centrepiece to my crowning achievement."
Robin narrowed her eyes, she may not have been able to use her powers but she'd be damned if she would give up.
Morgan on the other hand kicked the bars in defiance. "I'm giving you one warning, let us out now or I'll beat your ghoul looking ass across this island!" He warned before getting laughed at by the group.
"Kiii shi shi shi shi! You're a spirited little monkey, I'll give you that…But unfortunately, there's no choice in the matter." Moria taunted as he gestured for a skinny looking zombie in a tuxedo who was carrying a coffin into a distinctly larger room to go faster, his eyes then gaining more of a glimmer before turning to a mob and snapped his fingers. "Pull him up."
Robin could only watch as her captain, weakened by the seastone chains get dragged under a giant lamp that made his shadow grow to the length of the cage. "What is he planning?"
Moria snickered as he pulled out scissors that were the size of spears and then slid them under Morgan's feet, snipping the shadow off of his body like he was shearing through paper. "Kiii shi shi shi! Extraction complete…Go throw the meatbag back on that ship of his…I've got to give our pride and joy his snack." He ordered before stomping off to go towards a door that looked like it lead to a giant freezer.
The zombies groaned an approval to their master before dragging the now unconscious Morgan away, leaving Robin to stare down the next batch of Zombies that looked ready to manhandle her for the Shadow stealing.
Robin struggled as she couldn't get free of her restraints and even when she used her powers to kick a zombie away they still kept coming, up until…
"Gavotte Bond en Avant!"
Several Zombies were staggered and knocked to the floor with the sudden thrust and appearance of a new threat; A skeleton that stood taller than even her or Morgan, wearing a tattered suit and sporting a gigantic afro. "So sorry for the intrusion but I'm currently looking for something." He said politely to Robin before tipping his hat.
Robin looked as calm as she normally did but she was still a little apprehensive. "Are…Are you another Zombie?"
"Zombie? Why I never!" The figure huffed before turning it's head up towards the ceiling. "You see that? I'd turn up my nose at your remark…That is if I still had a nose. Yohohohohoho!" They then turned into laughter at their rather on the nose joke.
"You haven't answered my question…Are you one of Moria's soldiers?" Robin asked again, ignoring the rather groan inducing pun, though she seemed to get somewhat of an answer when her bindings were sliced open and she was offered a hand up.
"Hardly…" The Skeleton admitted as they looked around, or at least looked like they were. "I happen to be looking for my shadow, I don't suppose you've seen it or the zombie that has it?"
Robin gazed down at the Skeleton's feet and noticed the lack of shadow, realising that Morgan befell the same fate. "If you can help me get free and back to my friends, I'll talk to them and see if they can get it back…We have someone who needs his back too."
"Then consider me your helpful ally, my name is Brook." The Skeleton cheered before tipping his hat. "By the way, may I see your panties?" He asked before making the entire room echo with the sound of Robin's slap.
"You better back down from Nami while you still have a chance." Sanji warned Absalom as he had the unconscious Nami in his arms in an attempt for a backalley marriage. "Because I'm gonna say this to you now, you are only going to be making this worse."
"You think someone like you could even hope to hurt me while I have my bride in my arms?" Absalom gloated as he gazed down at her. "This beautiful angel…OH, THE ANGEL!" He squealed in uncharacteristic joy as his eyes met her closed ones.
"No…But I'm certain that I can do this." Sanji said as he put his faith in his love-driven feet; He darted forward and slid down low, letting all of his strength swing against the back of Absalom's legs to knock the stitched together zombie over and fall backwards.
The Zombie's grip slipped on Nami as she began to fall forward and almost gracefully floated in the air before landing in Sanji's arms. "No!"
"Yes! Run away with me, Nami! For your knight in shining armour will save you from monsters!" Sanji cheered as he sped out of the chapel and into the dark woods, barely catching the gigantic boar zombie in a wedding dress that sprinted past him and into the building. "I can only hope that the others are okay, for now I need to get Nami away from that invisi-perv...But gods above, he is right: She does look like one of Heaven's angels in that white dress!" Sanji thought to himself as he placed his faith that everyone else was okay.
Usopp was currently trying to wrestle with his desire to both fight back against Perona and the core compulsion to run away screaming. "MORGAN! ZORO! ANYONE! SAVE ME FROM THIS NIGHTMARE!" He screeched as he tried to dodge, dip, dive and roll away from every explosive ghost that Perona sent his way.
Chopper on the other hand was facing off against Hogback and his security detail of Zombies in the hopes of quashing his now shattered image of Dr. Hogback and his morally void experiments.
Zoro had managed to get lost in the building as he was chasing after whatever Zombies that had taken Nami, Robin and his own shadow, only to end up fighting alongside Brook against a Zombie wearing clothes from a land to the east and clutching onto a katana.
"This is amazing! I don't think I've ever felt so alive…although I'm not exactly alive anymore~ Yohohohohoho." Brook laughed at one of his Skull Jokes when he sheathed his sword back into his cane, he felt over the moon when he celebrated the return of his shadow after being apart for so long. "Oh, I ran into one of your crewmates earlier and she told me how to find you…Dark hair, calm temperament…Well, calm considering the circumstances."
"And you're certain Robin's okay?" Zoro asked as he could recognise her from Brook's description, drawing his second sword in preparation. "I know you said you saw her but if this Moria guy is stealing Shadows and making an army, we need to reach everyone else."
"Indeed…She said that she wanted to prioritise finding the others since she wasn't worried about Mr. Morgan." Brook mentioned as he unsheathed the blade in his cane.
"You are both fools…My master's plan goes far beyond your paltry pirate captain." The samurai barked out a laugh as he lay on the ground and faded from the lack of shadow in his body. "And by the time his shadow is fully enmeshed within the Giant, he will reclaim the Grand Line."
With this new revelation; Zoro and Brook realised what that meant if Moria had gotten ahold of Morgan's Shadow. "We need to hurry, if what he said is true then we need to get our shadows back before the sun comes up."
"Then I will assist however I c-"
Brook was stopped partway as a sudden rumble sent the two staggering and grabbing onto something so they didn't fall through a hole in the ground. "Oh…That does not bode well…"
Zoro who had been able to take the sword bequeathed to him by the samurai couldn't help but feel unnerved by this sudden feeling of foreboding. "He said that Moria was using Shadows to make an army...And Morgan's soul is being put in a Giant-" He started to theorise but a sharp tremor interrupted his train of thought.
Another rumble reverberated throughout the whole island before the entire side of of Thriller Bark's tower exploded outward and from the frigid cold of Moria's freezer vault jumped a stitched together monster of an Ancient Giant, landing in the forest before thumping it's chest with animalistic roar that reverberated through the whole ship.
"FIGHT ME!"
Nearly everyone was shocked at the roar that shook the island right to it's core, though that was the least concerning as another dangerous person appeared on the ship where Perona was ransacking the Sunny to grab what she could before jumping ship…A large, imposing man holding on to a bible as he stared unblinkingly at the Ghost Princess who looked like she wanted to either hit him with a Bomb Ghost or run for the heavens. "I-I'm not working with Moria anymore so you better leave me alone, Warlord!"
The larger man slipped one of the gloves off of his hand. "Tell me, Perona…If you could go on a trip, where would you go?" His gentle but deep voice questioned her before everyone watched Perona vanish on the spot without even so much as a cry of protest.
Nami had been witnessing the whole thing; After her and Sanji escaped the chapel and left an unconscious Absalom to be married to the Zombie called Lola, she beelined for the ship in order to ensure that it was in one piece…And to make sure no one stole any of their money, she still made digs at Franky for what happened on Water 7. "You are kidding me! We've got ANOTHER Warlord on this island?! Did that overgrown ghoul call for backup?" She thought to herself as she did everything she could to stay hidden, her recent win against Kalifa and her upgraded Clima-Tact made her trust in her skills more but a Warlord was not something she could handle on her own.
"Cat Burglar Nami." That same monotone voice rumbled from behind her, causing the now drastically smaller girl to yelp in surprise as she swore he was still on the boat. "If you are here…Then that means that the rest of your crew is on Moria's ship, correct?"
Nami felt her body betray her: This was nothing like dealing with Crocodile, this man was a figurative giant and he had just swatting away Perona's forces like nothing, his gaze seemed to pierce through her and his words gave no clue as to what he wanted. "Y-Yes…"
Kuma's eyes seemed unblinking as she answered though he just seemed to go into his next question. "Then answer me this one question about your captain, do you know if he has a brother?"
Nami was scared stiff but she wasn't going to allow herself to reveal anything that'd put any of them in trouble with a Warlord. "Yeah, he has a brother." She said before clenching her eyes shut, she was set to duck and run if experience taught her anything.
What was even odder was that when Nami opened her eyes, the giant man was gone and she was now alone. "I need to find the others…If a second Warlord is here, we need to get out of here quick!" She thought to herself frantically as she sprinted into the forest, the sounds of a monster's bellowing did act as somewhat help to gather back with the others.
However, while she was able to reconnect with her friends, there was another problem that none of the Straw Hats couldn't have expected…Could they handle the colossal monster that bear down upon them with a desire to fight, though there was something else that lingered in each of their minds…
What became of their captain?
Morgan had finally come to after his shadow had separated from his body; Though instead of being back on the Thousand Sunny, he had found himself placed in front of a small campfire with a bunch of injured men sat around it…All of them watching for the moment that he came to. "Where am I?"
"You're in our secret base of operations on Thriller Bark…We noticed you don't have your shadow but we also know EXACTLY who you are, Straw Hat Morgan." One particular man who was propped up by a rifle explained to him, a lot of the men mumbled in agreement once the fire illuminated him better.
"So what do you want with me? Because right now, there's more dire things then fighting you." Morgan said curtly as he remained on guard, not because he worried about Zombies but more due to the fact that he was alone in a forest and he could feel something that put him on edge. "Something big's around here…I can hear it stomping around but it's presence is revolting…"
"Oh no! No no no, we didn't bring you here to fight." The man who had initiated the conversation waved his free hand to dissuade the notion. "Look, let's just get our captain over and she can explain it to you."
"She?"
The men filed themselves apart and wandering into the middle to sit directly across from Morgan was a rather imposing looking woman introduced as Lola; A rather tall, bulky woman with short and thin legs. Her small eyes fixed squarely on him with some odd expression and her tongue ran along her large, shiny red lips, giving way to show a missing tooth in her mouth. Under a small black bowler hat, her pink hair is braided into two pigtails. "Straw Hat Morgan, my name is Lola and I wanted to ask a favour of you."
"A pleasure." Morgan said with a careful sense of courtesy, he didn't keep entirely suspicious since he saw their lack of Shadows but he also couldn't afford to open up fully. "So what exactly do you want?"
Lola didn't seem to be offended with his apprehension, they were pirates after all and finding someone they trust that they wouldn't stab them in the back was hard enough. "We brought you here because we saw you being carried off by Moria's minions, we can tell you've lost your shadow too so maybe we can form a teamup to get your's and our's back."
Morgan kept on his guard, his anger at the moment was directed solely at Moria for not only stealing his shadow but threatening everyone around him, however he also couldn't ignore that people needed him just like they did with Crocodile. "I need to find Moria regardless…If I can bring him down then I can get my Shadow back, if his Devil Fruit works the way that I think it does: Then you can be able to get your's after that too."
The others nodded along, it wasn't the same as him outright saying he'll do it for them but it was a start when it came to dealing with a Warlord. "That monster stomping around is one of his Special Zombies…I don't know how we can handle it, it's almost as big, if not bigger than any Giant that I've ever seen." Lola mentioned as she hoisted her two swords over her shoulders. "If you're as strong as the Wanted posters say you are, then we have an idea on how to make sure you can topple it."
Morgan heard that and felt his curiosity pique, granted he could punch holes in a tsunami and rip steel doors out of World Government buildings but if he could ensure that he got his Shadow back then he'll take anything. "And how exactly can we do that?"
"Simple…We just plug your body full of Shadows…Most normal person can take about 2-3 at most but someone with your reputation could probably take a lot more."
"…Huh?"