~Third~
Moria just laughed it definitely seemed like he had the upper hand with all one thousand shadows he's collected over the years now inside him transforming him into a monster, Luffy went back to normal and Moria went for the attack splitting the very ground below him, the other people there were running away however the Strawhats weren't budging.
"This guy is the big boss right? Cause i don't think they get much bigger"Zoro said "He let his pride and anger get the best of him and now he's losing control of himself"Robin said "Alright you guys we're almost out of time i'm gonna have to go wild here it's up to you to take care of the rest"Luffy said.
"You got it captain"Franky said "Take him down Luffy!"Usopp said "Get as reckless as you want, we're here to catch you captain"Nicole said "Right Second Gear"Luffy said activating it "There are only two ways things can end from here either the sun wipes us out or Moria destroys himself"Zoro said.
Moria attacked again but Luffy dodged and countered knocking Moria back as shadows started escaping from him, Moria countered and crushed Luffy in his move the black box however Luffy was fine, an attack like that wouldn't work on rubber.
"What are you so worried about?"Nicole asked as the others called for Luffy, she grinned "He's rubber remember?"she asked as Luffy popped out of the box completely fine, exhausted but fine otherwise "Maybe i am a little snot, a nail that sticks out but i'll tell you this no one will ever hammer me down!"Luffy said.
"You really believe that don't you? It's almost impressive how damn arrogant you are kid what the hell makes you think you're so indestructible?"Moria asked "Cause rubber bounces back! Mark my words i'm gonna make you spit out all those shadows!"Luffy said, however the sun was rising higher in the sky.
Luffy used his Third Gear while Second Gear was still active and attacked Moria making him spit out shadows but Moria fought back, the female captain started calling her shadow back and the others followed her lead calling their shadows back "You know what i've got some words for my shadow too, if you really wanna be the shadow of the King of the Pirates then you better shape up and come back now!"Luffy called attacking Moria again.
This time he was successful in knocking him back and the mast of Thriller Bark fell on Moria and he spat out all of the shadows however the mast broke letting in the sunlight setting all the Strawhats without shadows on fire because they refused to duck down, as Zoro and Nicole stood there their bodies melting away into nothing they held hands intertwining their fingers.
The sun continued to rise, it seemed to be the end but thankfully everyone had their shadow returned just in time, Nicole couldn't help herself as she grinned jumping on Zoro and kissing him and Zoro was fine with kissing her back even though literally everyone was watching, the other Strawhats just smiled at them, it was super obvious they had been dating, Nicole pulled back and smiled at him as Zoro smiled back.
The Strawhats gathered around their captain as Chopper looked him over "The sunlight had definitely begun to erase our existence but our shadows returned changing our bodies back just in time"Robin explained "How it followed the same logic as when we saw Moria change the shape of Oars by manipulating his shadow"Sanji said.
"My theory is the shadow knows what shape its owner is suppose to be in or something"Sanji said "That is likely, it felt like two of the same person were in completely different places, it was weird, but now everyone is whole again"Nicole said "Hell if i know but relax now that we've beat Moria i don't think we have to worry about our shadows being stolen from us again"Zoro said.
"I'm glad that's over and that no one without a shadow didn't disappear for good"Usopp said "I don't know about you guys but all that fighting wore me out does anyone have any cola?"Franky asked "All that creepy crap and weird creatures in this place were an illusion a false reality made by Moria and his crew now that he's beaten there nothing left in this place, it's like we all woke up from the same horrible nightmare and i for one am sure as hell glad it's over"Sanji said.
Nicole nodded in agreement leaning back onto Zoro enjoying the suns rays "Luffy got small again a second ago huh?"Zoro asked "He told me that when he uses Third Gear his body shrinks for a while as a side effect"Chopper said.
"These new fighting techniques seem like too much for his body to handle, he could actually hurt himself it really starting to worry me, every enemy we run into is stronger then the last one we faced he's gonna keep doing this to himself every single time we need to pull ourselves together and soon"Usopp said.
There was a beat of silence, Nicole considered offering to teach Haki but it takes months to even grasp it and years to master and who knows when they're going to face the next enemy, then the old man they met in the cemetery appeared "It's unbelievable to be able to walk under the sun again, thank you so much i don't know how i can ever repay you"the old man said.
The other pirates ran over "Good you're all here, i'm sorry we didn't thank you sooner"their captain said "We're really grateful to every last one of you folks sorry we got you wrapped up in our mess here"one of the pirates said "Yeah we knew it when we first saw ya, you were our only hope against Moria and that damn curse he put on us"another one said.
"So thank you all, very much, from me and all the members of the Thriller Bark victims club"the female captain said and everyone bowed down going to their knees as they thanked the Strawhats "If you ever need anything please let us know, we may not have much but what we have is yours for the taking"the old man said.
"And lastly and most importantly i will allow one of you to marry me"the female captain said "Hell no!"all the boys said "There's really no need for all this thank you stuff it's like Luffy told the old man when we got here, we were fighting for our own crew and our own terms the fact that you guys were rescued too was just a bonus"Zoro said before Nami slapped him.
"Hey what's wrong with you?! Someone was finally showing us some gratitude!"Nami said as Nicole went over to Zoro poking at his cheek "Yeah she's right let us thank you all proper like okay?"one pirate asked "You guys may not have set out to save us but we're still glad you sent Moria out packing"another said.
"You are really?"Nami asked berry signs for eyes "I should have known"Usopp muttered standing next to her "Yeah and how about we start off by showing you where Moria's treasure is hidden?"one pirate asked "You guys can take every piece we find you sure did earn it"another said "Did we? Okay if you insist"Nami said before she remembered something.
"Something wrong?"Robin asked "Everyone this is serious"Nami said before they heard a voice "I see"it said and everyone looked over, Nicole felt her eyes pop out as she recognized that man, a tall man that looks like a bear, wears gloves and holds a bible, he's a tricky one to fight watch his paws, were the words her father said when he warned her about him.
Bartholomew Kuma was talking to the five elder stars over a transponder snail "Everyone stay calm and listen please"Nami said "That's Bartholomew Kuma one of the seven warlords and one of the more dangerous ones"Nicole cut in getting straight to the point "There's no way" Usopp said.
"What's going on they weren't working together so why would there be two of them here?" Chopper asked "I'm afraid he's here to wipe out the evidence"Nicole said "Huh?What do you mean?!"Usopp asked freaking out "Think about it, we just defeated another warlord, that's a huge blow to the world government they can't let this get out to the public, even if we swore to keep our mouth shuts, they wouldn't believe us, besides that it's easier to wipe evidence under the rug and pretend like nothing is there"Nicole said.
"No way, what are we gonna do?"Usopp asked nearly crying, the five elder stars gave the command and Kuma turned to the crew below, Nicole narrowed her eyes getting ready to fight as did Zoro drawing a sword "Everyone stand back i'll handle this"Zoro said, Nicole would let him go first but was ready to step in if needed.
"Be careful, under those gloves he has paws that can repel anything they touch, even air which he can use for projectiles, whatever you do don't let him touch you"Nicole warned him, Kuma 'teleported' down among the pirates, in reality his power lets him repel himself at great speeds from one place to another.
The other pirates were ready to fight back despite that they stood no chance as proven by the fact when Kuma sent some of them flying, Kuma switched places again standing behind Zoro but looking right at Nicole "Those eyes"he spoke as she narrowed said eyes at him "You truly are his daughter, i shall start the elimination with you"Kuma said Zoro turned to Kuma "You're going through me first"he said.