3 Despair

"You don't have to wake me up!! "

Moria got up from his chamber inside of Oars. 

But he also looked quite banged up. Seeing him the zombies around him celebrated. 

"Woo!! Boss Moria is back baby!! 

You guys are all dead! No way you can beat him!!"

But on the other side the rolling pirates were having none of it!

"Shut it!!

Oi Moria!! If you don't want to get beat up by straw hat here you better give all of our shadows back!! If you know what's good for you!!"

Moria had his eyes bloodshot. His nose and mouth was bleeding. He also seemed to have quite some internal injuries. Dealing with nightmare Luffy had taken quite a large toll on him. But he was not down. 

"ki shi shi shi!!!

So that's how it is!! It was you forest losers who set up Strawhat. 

Who do you think you're talking with!! How dare you! 

A pirate that fears death is no pirate at all!!

*Huff *Huff

Now I know how strawhat got so strong.

YOU DARE USE MY OWN POWER AGAINST ME!!!"

Lola: "Shut the fuck up! Give us our shadows back!"

"Straw hat!!

*huff *huff

You'll pay for this!! 

YOU'LL PAY FOR RUINING MY PRECIOUS THRILLER BARK!!!"

Luffy shrunken and exhausted screamed back, "It's because you got in the way of our voyage!! Give us our shadows back!!"

"And then what? With your strength you're just going to get killed anyways!!

You are not fit or for the new world!!

it seems you have some nice underlings."

With eyes filled with malice and trauma Moria then said with a chilling voice,

"But you'll lose all of them!! Do you know why??

BECAUSE THEY ARE ALIVE."

Luffy didn't have the time to contemplate the meaning of those words coming from someone with a broken heart and mind. The rolling pirates kept urging on Luffy, "We don't have anymore time, The sun is almost up. We don't have the time to talk!!"

Yet, Moria continued speaking, "I was like you once. My crew was filled with talented members. I trusted them. But soon I realised that wasn't enough.

Because they are mortal!! Zombies are already dead! So they are immortal!!

They have nothing to lose!!

They are all expendable!!!"

And with that he expanded his arms. His shadow elongated into small snakes that latched on to anyone and everyone with a shadow which included the zombies as well. 

"You all should be thankful for being my underlings!!

I will take your shadows and get the one piece!!!!

How many was it again straw hat??

How many shadows was it??

100??

I'll take 500 then!!

ki shi shi shi!!"

And so everyone stared as Moria started to grow bigger and bigger as all the zombies fell down without their shadows inside them!

However, unlike in One Piece manga where Moria took in 1000, much above his stress limit, this time he took in just 500. The perfect number for him. Neither too many nor too little.

A truly disastrous situation. Yet neither Moria nor the straw hats pirates knew what was happening. How fate was changed drastically. How this one change would be enough to ruin the entire fate of the world. 

One person knew. 

A single overweight man that had been in hiding looking at all this from a distance. Someone that was equal parts scared and equal parts excited. 

he got to see the characters that he loved and has been following ever since he was 10 and watched a pirated anime series because that was the only way to watch it from his third world native country. 

He was Rick. And he was assured that nothing bad would happen. After all, this was the straw hats he was looking at. The children favored and loved by fate. The pirate crew that will change the world for the better and will find the one piece. 

What was there to be worried about!! All he had to do was watch greatness unfolding in front of his eyes. 

Yet, that was not what was happening!

This time, Moria was not overburdened by the shadows. He had the perfect amount. 

"SHADOWS ASGARD!!!

500 HUNDRED SHADOWS KI SHI SHI SHI!!!!

UOOOOUUU!!! "

Moria stomped down on the ground using his fist. Unlike canon where he broke the entire thriller bark into half. This time he simply pulverized the ground. Yet that was enough!!

He was strong enough to take on a crew with a small time and extreme exhaustion. All the voices in his head still made him go berserk. But he was not losing control at all. 

Everyone was in despair. But Monkey D Luffy was not going to back down. With a voice filled with conviction enduring the unbearable pain and exhaustion throughout his entire body, he simply exclaimed in an equally chilling voice,

"If it is a night mare you want, dream it on your own!

I'M NOT WATCHING IT WITH YOU!!"

With that he said, "Gear second!!"

Luffy catapulted to Moria using jet ROCKET!! and hit Moria firmly in the gut!

Moria didn't get thrown back this time. He simply endured the attack and threw him back. 

"Shadow bats!"

Moria turned his shadow into small bats and made them capture Luffy in a box. he then pounded on the box. 

But Luffy was unharmed. After all he was made of rubber and rubber always bounces back!!

Luffy then kept using more and more jet punches!!

But it was ineffective. So, fluffy decided to take one last stand.

He decided to use both Gear 2 and 3 at the same time. 

"Bone Balloon!!"

He puffed up his body and made his hands into that of a giant. 

"JET GIANT PUNCH!!!"

And with that, he gave a devastating punch to Moria that pushed him back to the castle that broke one of it's giant towers. 

A tower that was about to fall on Moria. Had he taken on 1000 shadows, this would've been unavoidable as he would've been too big. this time he was smaller, yet he had also suffered much more damage from Luffy's attacks.

He barely managed to get away from it, but his legs were caught under it!!!

"ARRGGGHHH!!!"

He yelled out in pain!! But that was all. he didn't let go of all the shadows inside him. 

But the sun was already out. And the entire island was about to be covered in the sunlight!

Zoro, Sanji, Lola, and Robin decided that they were not going to escape like a coward. Lola had lived long enough like a rat barely surviving! The rest would simply not bow down. They called on their shadows inside of Moria in a last-ditch effort to get them back. 

Luffy tried to move, but that last attack took everything out of him and damaged his body beyond repair. He was completely unable to move.

 "Ki shi shi shi!!

I may have lost the battle, but I win the war. As long as you all die, I can make more subordinates and I'll be back to the top!!!

ki shi shi shi shi!!!!"

**

Rick watched with wide eyes that refused to believe what he was watching. 

"NO NO NO NO....

NO WAY THIS CAN BE HAPPENING!!!!

THEY'LL WIN, SOMEHOW RIGHT????

THEY HAVE PLOT ARMOR!! THEY ARE THE PROTAGONISTS!!! 

THEY CAN'T DIE!!!"

Yet no matter how much he wanted to deny reality, it was what it was!

Rolling pirates screamed out in pain and fear as their bodies were turning to smoke. 

Zoro and the others were also slowly turning to smoke and disappearing. 

And Moria was laughing. 

**

The sun came up and destroyed Rick's entire worldview. 

he simply stood staring in front of him. 

he closed his eyes and then looked at something that God had gifted him before dropping him down here. The power of a character that he loved to death. 

A skill card.

[SSS class suicide hunter]