(A/N: I am so sorry this chapter isn't great, it's literally all one big fight scene and I'm terrible at writing fights heggeehhe, the next chapter will be wayyyyyyyyy better! I promise. On with the show!)

The fight with Oars was about to begin, the straw hats (sans Luffy and Nami) were surrounding the courtyard that Oars was standing in. He hadn't seen them yet, still shouting for them to hurry up and fight him.

Tani was standing with Usopp, Chopper and Robin. They'd just left Perona's wonder garden, standing atop the castle boarder that surrounded the courtyard.

Zoro, Franky and Brook were sitting on the roof of a tower. The tower was built into the boarder, but it was too far of a run for Tani's group to attempt without being spotted by Oars first.

To the surprise of everyone, Sanji was on the ground floor. Hiding from Oars, waiting for the right time to strike. He wasn't aware that the others were present.

There's still no sign of Nami, maybe Sanji has her hidden, or she's hidden herself? Worst case scenario, she's still been caught by Abso-perv.

Luffy was also MIA, but the others had informed her that he was off fighting Moria. The current plan was to stall Oars for as long as possible, enough time for Luffy to knock Moria out.

Tani didn't know how useful she would be in a fight with Oars. At full force, with the stubborn determination of Luffy, and the strength of a giant. She wouldn't even last a split second. Her body was too squishy for this.

She stared at Oars, that confidence she had moments ago was gone. She'd found another pipe on the run over here. Honestly this place was littered with them! Though a pipe wouldn't be much against this Goliath...

Sanji had enough of waiting. Already frustrated that he'd lost Nami again, he needed to blow off some steam.

The blonde came flying from below, his leg blazing with an attack aimed straight for the zombies head. He was glowing with raw power, like nothing Tani had ever witnessed from Sanji before.

Oars swatted at him without batting an eye. His fist colliding with Sanji, sending him flying back towards the ground. Sanji landed with a smash, Tani cringed as her bones shook with pain. Oars lifted a leg up, positioning his foot for the downed Sanji-

"FIRE BIRD STAR!" Usopp shouted from beside Tani. Donning his Sogeking mask, he fired the flaming projectile at the zombie. Luffy never really did have an attention span... Wait a second.

Oars wasn't focusing on Sanji, but on Usopp. Oars wants to fight the straw hats, Tani is a straw hat, Usopp is also a straw hat. Tani is currently next to Usopp, who now has Oars attention...

Tani barely had time to react when a fist came flying for the spot that her group was. Usopp hooked an arm around her waist and jumped off the ledge. Robin and Chopper following close behind.

Tani felt... Hurt? Not physical pain (for once), but a sore spot in her chest. She hadn't known Oars for long, he's barely been undead for a couple hours. Yet? Seeing him so mindless, controlled by someone who sees him as a puppet? It's no better than that nasty Hogback bastard.

He called her pretty, and said she was nice. Of course she had a soft spot for him... Would he still remember her?

Oars turned to the building that Zoro, Franky and Brook were observing from. His giant form jumping in the air with one leg out.

"Gum gum sickle!" he called out, his leg smashing into the entire building. Blurs of colour only barely managed to dodge the blow. Chopper gasped.

"That's one of Luffy's moves. He still remembers Luffy's techniques." the little deer said with panic in his voice. Robin pet his head comfortingly.

"He's got Luffy's shadow after all... Hey Tani, you should go flirt with him," Usopp teased, Tani could see him shaking with fear. Nervous jokes in the middle of battle? Sure why not.

"I mean, he listened to me before. Remember?" she reminded, though she didn't expect anything to come from it. She decided to give it a go. "Hey Usopp, you better be ready to protect me if this goes to shit," she winked. Usopp went bug eyed.

"Wait I was only jo-"

"OI! OARS!" Tani called out. The zombie turned to stare at her, his eyes void of that sparkle that gave him life. Already off to a wonderful start Tani.

"WANT TO GO SWIMMING?" she shouted, wearing her biggest grin. Usopp was nervously shaking beside her, "I KNOW HOW TO SWIM! WANT ME TO TEACH YOU?" She continued to beam.

Oars stared at her with a dead expression. Yeah this wasn't working at all-

Zoro came flying out of nowhere, his three swords (oh he replaced his broken sword) in place. Rushing towards the giants head, he was so close.

Only for Oars to snap his gaze away from Tani and deck Zoro, hard. He launched towards the ground, Robin noticed the extreme speed and formed a hand net to slow the speed of his fall. The swordsman landed with a smash, Robin's face strained under the pain of the catch.

Franky came barrelling in with his weapons left firing off shot after shot. Oars didn't seem to even notice the barrage of attacks. Swatting at Franky, who barely escaped the hand movement. He landed just fine beside Chopper.

With everyone on the ground floor, all of them were the subjects of Oars' rage. He was a foe like none other, unable to feel pain, unable to think for himself. Tani was terrified.

The giant lifted his fist, readying a gum gum pistol. When Tani felt herself speaking without her consent.

"O-O-Oars!" Tani called out, the giant froze. "You don't have to listen to Moria!" she shouted. Her breathing was fast, as if she'd ran 10 miles without a break.

The straw hats watched in amazement as Tani had managed to stall Oars again. Maybe she could-

"You can think for yousel- Ack!" Tani was hit in the face with a shadowy blob. The thing completely covering her mouth shut. Her hands moved to grab it, but she couldn't grip at it. What the hell was this?!

Oars snapped out of his dazed state of mind. Resuming his punch, Tani tried to scream for him to stop but her voice was silent.

An arm wrapped around Tani's waist, hoisting her over someone's shoulders. The black suit and cigarette smell was enough information for her to know who it was.

The crew cleared out from the impact zone. Splintering into hiding spots, Oars wasn't able to see where they went.

"Where's? Where's she?" Oars spoke aloud. Holding his head in his hands. Tani peaked from her hiding spot, Sanji, Usopp and Brook were with her. Tani felt helpless, the one thing she was able to do and it was taken from her-

"O-Oars! You don't have to listen to Moria!" Tani blinked at the sound of her own voice. Turning to find Usopp holding a shell in the air with a pleased look on his face. Tani's eyes widened.

"Mmomp mu memmoum!" Tani cheered. Brook gave a jolly laugh, Sanji praised Usopp for his genius.

"Now we just need to give everyone, one of these." he held up another three dials, all of which had Tani's voice recorded.

"I can run them over to the others," Sanji suggested. Tani waved her hands in disagreement, now that she had their attention.

"Morr ams mo-"

"Tani, we have no idea what you're saying," Sanji said politely. Tani groaned, turning to Usopp's bag and shoving her hands inside to grab a piece of paper and a pencil.

"Oars has no object permanence?" Usopp read. Tani gave a nod, writing down how she found out.

"That's certainly some useful information, Miss Tani," Brook praised. Tani rubbed her neck bashfully. "So how are we going to get the shells to your other crew members?" Brook asked. Tani scribbled down some notes.

"Robin Hood it?" Sanji read aloud. Tani continued to scribble things down. "Usopp will shoot the dials over to the others?" the blonde read. Tani gave him a click of the finger.

Tani started writing down notes on Oars' known weaknesses. These would be added with the dials. Sanji would wrap them to the dial with thin strings, while Brook worked on spotting the missing nakama. He was the tallest of the group after all.

"Where is she? Where is she!" Oars shouted with a stomp. One of his fists balling and punching into a part of the castle. Thankfully nobody was around that spot... Hopefully.

"Fire, now." Sanji instructed. Usopp taking the shot while Oars was distracted. One of the dials landing beside the opening for Chopper and Zoro's hiding spot. The next one being shot towards Robin and Franky's spot. The last one was saved for Nami, if she managed to make her way towards the battle.

"It's show time," Sanji smirked.

...

Tani never wanted to hear the sound of her voice ever again.

The constant echoing of her voice as each crew member used the dials to distract the giant, was extremely annoying to her. Then again she never liked her voice in recordings.

She was still unable to use her mouth, the stupid shadow trap still clamped to her lips.

"You have the shadow of our captain," Zoro called from the ground. A dial in his hand, ready to play if Oars decided to interrupt him. "You should know, not to underestimate us," he smirked.

Oars was growing frustrated with this. His head hurt from all the calls, why couldn't he hit this voice? Where is she calling from? He needs to find her. Who is she?

Pretty?

The voice of Moria instantly overrode that thought, the image of a girl with a big smile only flashing briefly before she was gone.

This was really pissing him off!

Oars jumped in the air, ready to slam his butt into the ground to crush the little pests! They all scattered away before his could squish them.

"Oi, Usopp, Chopper!" Franky called out. The two looked over at Franky with question. "It's time to use technique fifteen," he announced. The two widened their eyes with excitement.

The trio performed a Power Rangers style transformation. Usopp curving his arms into a hoop, Franky grabbed him around the waist. Chopper was planted on top of Franky's head.

Then Zoro and Sanji joined the mix, both men grabbing at one of Franky's legs and lifting him up.

"Oi, Robin." he summoned. The woman looked at the formation with a blank expression before turning away.

"Robin, we need you," Chopper begged. Tani waved her arms for their attention, but they ignored her.

"I will not embarrass myself by joining such a formation," Robin said with a shiver. Tani continued to wave her arms, offering to take Robin's place.

"Come on, we don't have all day," Usopp begged. But the woman refused to make eye contact with them.

"Huh? Come on!" Oars joined in, crouching down to stare at the human mecha. "Finish it! Come on it looks so cool," he demanded. Tani rolled her eyes before jumping at Franky's free hand. The cyborg looked down at the mute girl.

"Super! Sorry Tani, but you're a part of technique seven." Franky shook his head. Tani motioned to Robin, then back to herself, then to Franky's hand. The cyborg refused to let her join the formation.

"I wanna see it! I wanna see the transformation!" Oars complained. Growing more irritated. Tani pointed at Oars, but Franky still refused!

"This is lame," Oars whined before swatting at the top half of the 'Big emperor', leaving Sanji and Zoro standing there. The pair took on a defensive position, already pretending that Docking thing never happened.

Tani slapped her forehead, those idiots...

Sanji took the aggro, kicking a large rock towards Oars. The projectile smashed right into the giants head. Zoro took this opportunity to shove his sword into a large concrete pillar that was attached to another pillar in some sort of nunchuck? Style. That weapon that the orange ninja turtle uses.

"Oi, Franky. Can I use this?" Zoro asked, as if he would actually need permission to do what he wants.

Franky lifted a thumbs up from under a pile of rocks. Zoro gave a demonic grin.

"Robin," he addressed. The man looked at him with a blank expression.

"I refuse to do anything embarrassing," she clarified. Zoro snickered before pointing at the arm closest to them, the one that Oars was using as support for his body. Robin followed, a soft grin blooming on her face. "Now that's something I can do," she winked.

"Oil spill star!" Usopp called out from under his cover. He managed to fire three perfect shots towards the palm, fingers and surrounding areas of Oars support hand. Oars wasn't moving the hand however... Tani need to distract him.

Tani grabbed a rock off the ground, it was round enough to be a baseball. The pipe in her hand bounced, let's see how good her aim was. She tossed the rock in the air, quickly grabbed the bottom of her pipe and-

*Smack*

The rock went sailing, her aim was for one of his eyes at least. If the giant couldn't feel pain, then taking out one of his eyes would be enough to grab his attention.

*Bonk*

The rock had hit! Holy smokes she managed to hit the target!

Oars turned to stare at her, however he didn't get a chance to catch a glance before he lost his balance on the oil that coated his hand. How did that get there?

"Now!" Zoro commanded. The swordsman ran towards Sanji, who held his leg up in preparation.

Zoro jumped onto Sanji's leg, the chef gave a smirk before launching the armed swordsman towards the giants arm. Robin summoned a plethora of arms to hold Oars down. Zoro swung the nunchucks with vigor. Slamming it down on the arm that wasn't being held down.

While this was all happening, Franky and Chopper had made their way towards Oars' head. Franky utilising his shipwright skills to build? A stair case? You know what... That works, don't question it.

Sanji landed next to Tani with the grace of an angel. His legs glowing a bright red with how heated it was getting. The flames burning so bright that Tani could feel them on her face.

"Geez, Sanji, you're getting fired up," Tani commented with a snicker... Wait a second.

"Your mouth," Sanji pointed out. Tani felt around her lips and sure enough the shadow was gone.

"Light! It was your leg that broke the curse," she stated. "Thanks my noble prince," she swooned. Sanji laughed beside her, turning to focus on just the right moment to strike.

Chopper instructed Franky to hit certain pressure points in Oars jaw. In most living creatures, this would cause a brain scramble. Oars would at least be stunned by this move. His head hurt and he couldn't grab it because his arms wouldn't move.

"Go Sanji, go!" Tani cheered loudly.

That voice! There she is.

Oars couldn't see, his eyes rattling in his skull from that thing the little raccoon and Blue haired guy did-

His leg slipped from under him, the giant fell backwards until his back crashed into the ground with an earth shaking crash. There was cheering, and her voice was there. She was happy, his pretty... Pretty? Who is pretty?

He focused on the sound of her voice.

"Is he dead? I mean double dead? Can someone double die?" her voice was nice.

"Don't be an idiot, the battle wouldn't be over that easy," came a gruff voice. Someone was insulting her! It made Oars' blood boil.

"I was just asking, it's not like I can do much anyway." the pretty voice said. Don't say that, you're not weak... What?

Moria's voice returned, but Oars didn't want that voice. He wanted her voice, the nice girl. Fluffy hair and a bright smile.

"You don't have to listen to Moria!"

That's right-

Oars' thoughts were shut down. Moria excreting more control over the giant.

...

"AUGH!"

The crew turned to find Oars attempting to get onto his feet... Only for his horns to be stuck in the ground.

A demonic grin appeared on everyone's faces.

"Aim for the connecting joints," Chopper smirked. "The less limbs, the less abilities he's able to utilise," the doctor said in an uncharacteristic fashion. Damn he could be monstrous... But it's Chopper, and we all love Chopper.

"I'd love to give Shusui a test run," Zoro said, holding up his newest blade. Tani marvelled at it.

"That's a really pretty sword," she complimented. Zoro gave her a smirk.

"It's a legendary black blade, there's only a few around the world." he informed with passion. What a sword nerd.

"Might as well take Oars down now, the faster we get this show on the road. The better." Sanji commented.

"Wait? Aren't we just stalling him?" Usopp asked. Sanji lit up a cigarette.

"We have him in our grasp now, let's just finish the job. Take some of Luffy's burden off his shoulders for a change." the chef shrugged. It was then that Tani noticed something...

"Where's Brook?" she asked, looking around for the 9ft tall skeleton.

"We don't have time for that. Let's take out Oars now!" Zoro commanded. The crew, took on battle stances.

Barrage after barrage. Hit after hit. The thick skin that covered the joints wasn't letting up. Tani found herself working on a shoulder joint, there was a stitch seam that she was crow-barring her pipe under. Once Zoro was done with the other side, maybe he could cut up-

Tani's pipe got stuck under a tightly stitched spot. The girl groaned as she tried to pull, push, wiggle, jerk, and shimmy the metal pole out of the zombies flesh. She let out a wince when she twisted her wrist in an odd way. She didn't wanna give up on this pipe though, going without a weapon right now would be a bad idea.

Too focused on the task at hand, it came as a jolt of shock when Oars freed himself from his horn induced prison. Throwing himself back up, Tani went flying up with him! Because holding onto a pole that's jammed deep into something will do that to someone.

Why didn't she just let go? Well she's approximately 60ft off the ground now. So that's the main reason.

Tani stayed as quiet as she could, not wanting to alert Oars that she was there. The girl focused on calming her breathing, this height wasn't helping either.

Tani turned her sights away from the ground, closing her eyes while she kept breathing in, breath out, breath in, breath out.

Tani chanced a peek, her eyes cracking open to find another, much larger eye staring back. Tani let out a panicked squeak, her arms letting go of the pipe out of shock.

Whoops.

The girl flailed her arms around wildly, trying in vain to regain her balance. Oars just watched with his dead eyes. Not lifting a hand to swat at the straw hat.

Oars wasn't paying attention to the two other straw hats that moved in on his legs, aiming harsh blows for the giants knee caps. He also didn't pay attention to the smoke bomb that was shot straight into his face.

All he could focus on was the sound of the girls screaming as she was tossed off his shoulder.

He didn't like it, that's not the sound she should be making. That's not the sound his pretty should be making.

That was her? That was pretty? Why couldn't he remember?

He wanted to remember... Yet his mind once again drew blanks.

Tani was falling through the air, it was a fall she's done before. Only that time she had shoes that could stop her from going splat on the ground.

"Tani!"

The girl felt someone collide with her, arms wrapping around her. She wrapped her arms around their shoulders, shoving her face into their chest. Of course it was Sanji again, always ready to aid his female companions.

Man Tani was down right useless right now. She hated it.

Sanji landed on the ground with a skid of the heels. Chopper immediately jumped to checking her for wounds. Tani let him, she was already frazzled out of her mind. Maybe she should just find somewhere to sit this fight out.

"The sun's shining through the clouds?!" came a shout from outside the courtyard.

What?!

Tani lifted her head to find that sure enough, there was a sputtering of sunshine in the distance. It wasn't on the island-ship yet, but it sure was getting closer.

Didn't that old guy say that those without shadows couldn't exist in the sun?

Zoro and Sanji didn't have shadows... Luffy didn't have a shadow.

Shit!

"Great! Now we have a time limit! What kind of bullshit is this?" Tani whined. Chopper scolded her for moving, she apologised.

They didn't have long until sunrise would hit them, that would instantly disable the crews main fighters. Sure they had everyone else, but Zoro and Sanji were the most hardheaded fighters present now.

Luffy was a whole different ball park.

What were they going to do?

...

Tani hated it here.

She was currently hiding from Oars and his new pilot, Moria.

You heard that right! Moria was currently in this battle, because Luffy is now in the 'Getting a new power-up' phase of his boss beat down list. Tani refused to acknowledge that Luffy could be dead. That guy was either immortal, or had the ultimate plot armour.

"You can have a shot at defeating me, if you manage to take out Oars, first." Moria promised with a manic laugh.

"That was already the plan," Zoro called out from his cover. "Tani, Usopp, go find salt. Let's end this," he instructed. Tani and Usopp nodded and made a run for it.

There was an opening into the castle must a couple metres from Tani's hiding spot, Usopp had a little ways to run before he would manage to catch up with Tani.

"Not so fast," Moria cackled. A large fist came flying towards Usopp, Tani let out a shout.

"Oars, stop!" she cried, but he didn't stop. He wasn't responding to her voice anymore. Moria was in direct control of Oars.

She turned to Usopp, and screamed his name. Her hand held out for him to grab, she just needed to pull him to safety. Just-

*slam*

Tani's breath hitched, a puff of dust filled her vision as she stared at the space that Usopp was, the space where Oars had smashed his fist into. Her eyes filled with tears, a hiccup under her breath.

No matter how tough your bones were, there was no way that someone could survive a hit like that.

"Usopp!" Chopper screamed from across the yard. His hooves clopping towards Usopp's last known spot.

Tani almost burst into tears, until she noticed the bell sound, ringing from behind her. She whipped her head around, the tears instantly drying up.

"He's alright!"

Standing there was Brook, the skeleton had Usopp under one arm, and a huge bag of salt in the other. There was enough there that even Oars wasn't safe from being purified.

"Where have you been?" Tani asked with shock at the skeleton. He dropped the bag of salt on the ground, then placed Usopp beside Tani. The girl instantly wrapped her arms around the sniper in a tight hug.

"Yohohoho~ I've been busy gathering salt for our zombie related conquest. As well as some milk for myself," he replied with a jolly tone. Tani scrunched her nose.

"Milk? Because you're made of bones?" she asked. He gave a bow.

"Such a smart young lady." he praised. Tani gave a grin. Yeah she can imagine that this world would follow the 'milk is good for your bones' logic.

"Might I assist in the battle with Oars and Moria? As a token of my gratitude for returning my shadow," Brook requested. Zoro gave him a grin.

"Sure, take it easy though." he accepted. Brook gave a yohoho, then turned to Usopp and Tani.

The plan was simple, Zoro, Sanji, Chopper and Robin would work on distracting Oars and Moria. So Franky and Usopp can create a three man slingshot. Tani, Usopp and Brook will be tasked with manning the slingshot, there would only be one shot at getting the salt into Oars mouth. The entrance to the kitchen was blocked off now.

Tani was putting on a wrist brace that Chopper had handed to her earlier, the attempted removal of the pipe from earlier had caused some kind of sprain? Or something to do with muscles getting all sore and not wanting to move. Tani wasn't a doctor for a reason...

Usopp looked at the slingshot with skeptical eyes.

"Are you sure this is safe?" he asked. Pulling at the long sling part, Franky gave him a wink.

"Of course it is, it's so safe that we could launch Tani over there," he pointed at Oars. "Without snapping her back," he assured.

"Am I a unit of measurement now?" Tani barked with laughter. Oars was looking their way, attracted by the sound of Tani's voice. The small group paused in their actions.

"Tani, I think we need you to stop talking," Usopp sighed. Whipping out a couple more oil stars and aiming them at Oars. "Franky, ignite these." the sniper instructed.

Man, Usopp was way more confident with the Sogeking mask on.

Franky did as asked. Lighting up the oil stars, creating a fire ball the size of a small car. The flames engulfed Oars face, he cried out in pain, smacking at the flames.

Zoro utilized the distraction, using Chopper to launch himself towards a building with his three swords at the ready. Sanji wasn't far behind him.

The building exploded into many pieces, Zoro fell back towards the earth. Sanji held up a hand on his way up, Zoro gave a grin before clapping a hand of his own against Sanji. Handing the reigns over to the chef.

Sanji used his legs to fire building piece after building piece at the stunned giant. All of which the giant just barely managed to either dodge, or smack back. Sanji avoided all rebound blocks, falling back towards the earth with stylish grace.

Meanwhile, Franky has positioned himself as the new giant slingshots, first projectile. His shades pulled down, Tani and Usopp were drawing the sling back as far as they could.

"And... Fire!" Usopp commanded. Tani let's go at the same time as the sniper. Franky goes flying! At least they can confirm that the weapon works.

Franky managed to make it to Moria, his weapons left at the ready to land a point blank attack.

Tani turned away at the sound of a bell from way up high, she turned away from Franky and his fight with Moria to pin point a blur of orange at the top of the castle bridge.

Nami! She's alright!

*smash*

Tani turned back to find Franky stuck in a huge pile of rocks. Stunned, and unable to act.

"Oars! Kill him!" Moria ordered, pointing at Franky with his Halloween claws. The giant zombie obliged, throwing a punch towards the downed cyborg.

"Thunderbolt tempo!"

Nami's voice sounded like music to the ears, a crackling of electricity striked at the giant. Locking him into a state of shock (pun totally intended), giving Tani and Usopp enough time to collect Franky from the rubble and drag him to safety.

"Nami! You're OK!" Sanji calls out with excitement. The red head puts a finger to her mouth. Hushing him.

It's too late for that.

Oars already has his fist balled and aimed for the last straw hat he needed to find. He threw his punch, though his arm seemed a little short on length-

"Gum gum pistol!" he drawled.

And his arm stretched.

His arm... Stretched.

"What the hell?!" Tani shrieked. The fist collided with Nami's platform, sending the girl careening towards the ground.

A dozen hands bloomed towards Nami, catching her. Robin had sweat on her forehead, happy to see the girl safe.

Now... What the hell were they gonna do?! Now that Oars could use the gum gum fruits powers! How could he use them?!

Moria let out a high pitched cackle... Tani would get $11 and her left foot that this was Moria's doing.

"We need to get Moria out of the cockpit," Usopp said. Everyone that wasn't Sanji or Zoro, moved in towards the slingshot.

"If we can distract Oars, Moria will be busy focusing on regaining control. Then we can get him tossed out." Chopper suggested. All eyes turned to Tani. She shook her head.

"I don't have enough control over him, Moria need to be out before I can do anything." she stated. Brook spoke up.

"I have an idea," he mentioned. The group turned to listen.

...

So turns out that plan was balls to the walls insane! Yet it somehow worked!

Who would have thought that launching an electric charged, beyblade spinning, sword welding skeleton at mach speed, towards the arm that Tani had pulled the stitching loose from, would result in Oars losing an arm.

Nami and Usopp high fived each other with excitement at the progress. Oars was fuming, moving to perform a gum gum pistol at the slingshot. Only for his arm to stop stretching.

Robin gave a grin as she apprehended the warlord, dragging him out of the cockpit. Zoro and Sanji took the opportunity to engage in this advantage.

Tani was resting in the sling of the slingshot, her anxiety had spiked at the idea of being launched at the giant.

The plan was simple, Tani has the most influence over the giant. So she had the best odds of surviving this.

Plus Franky said the slingshot was Tani safe... It better be, or Franky was paying for her funeral.

"You sure about this?" Nami asked with concern, Tani gave a nod.

"Ready?" Franky asked. Tani turned away from the group, looking at her goal.

"Ready," she whispered.

"Fire!" Franky announced.

And off she went, flying through the air towards the giant. Nami had already formed a collection of clouds to break her fall. Tani bounced off the clouds, landing in the oversized cockpit that Moria was in only moments ago.

Now what?

Tani climbed her way towards the control panel, staring at all the buttons and switches with a frazzled expression. What was she meant to do?

This button looks safe? Let's try that one.

"Robin!" Nami calls out, Tani pauses in her action to find Robins shadow being held up by Moria. The woman was on the ground, completely knocked out.

"Oars! Kill this woman," the Tim Burton design reject commanded. Oars prepared a punch.

Tani slammed her foot down on the button.

Oars arm lifts up and instead of slaking downwards, it swings to the side. Taking out Moria with a massive blow.

Tani burst into laughter at the sight, not noticing the shadow that appeared behind her.

"You're the brat that's been a mess in all of this!" came Moria's voice from behind her. All laughter died in her throat as she felt her feet slip from under her. Her eyes as wide as saucers as she stared at Moria, who now had her own shadow flailing in his hold.

Shit! Shit! Shit!

If that cuts, she's knocked out-

*snip*

The world went completely black, Tani's eyes rolling back into her head as her body fell towards the ground.

...

Tani groaned, her body ached.

Where was she? What was happening?

She opened her eyes to the sight of a large woman's face, her lips painted a bright red. Hair tied in small pigtails.

"You're awake," she smiled. Tani blinked the sleep away from her eyes.

"Who are? You?" she drawled. Rubbing her eyes. The girl introduced herself as Lola.

"Where's everyone else?" Tani asked. Noticing that her crew wasn't there. The girl helped Tani back to her feet, pulling her towards a sight to be hold.

The whole crew was working together to take down Oars. Everyone managed to get back up and throw their own attacks at the giant zombie.

And there he was. To deal the final blow.

Luffy.

Tani watched in awe as Luffy's arms grew in size, gear 3rd in action. His fists held behind him.

"Gum gum-"

Tani can't help but call out the move with him.

"Bazooka!"

The sound of Oars spine shattering, rang over the whole island. It crunched in a way that just... Ew.

Tani broke from her cover, much to the protest of Lola, Tani found herself sporting a limp. Not that she cared right now.

Luffy was here! And she wanted to see him. Her heart raced.

Luffy bounced on the ground, his body all tiny from the use of gear third. He laid on the ground with a wide grin on his face.

"Luffy!" Tani shouted with cheer. Hobbling her way towards the captain. Luffy shot up instantly, turning to face her.

Tani has never seen Luffy look so relieved in her life.

She scooped her arms down to grab Luffy. Holding him in her arms and spinning on her uninjured leg. Her laughter was down right hysterical.

"You're ok!" she cried. Squeezing him as close to her as physically possible. "I was so scared," she admitted.

"No! You're ok!" he called back to her, his tiny arms hugging her back just as tight. "Usopp, said you were captured by Oars, and I thought you were going to die! But you didn't!" he rambled. Tani grinned.

"I didn't die, and it's your shadow I have to thank for that." she beamed. Luffy looked at her with curiosity.

"My shadow?"

"Yeah! He remembered me, so Oars was nice to me. Until Moria made him lose his memories," Tani explained. Luffy laughed.

"That's good," he said.

A rumbling sound came from the rubble around Oars' downed corpse. A disheveled Moria came crawling out of the giant, his face a feral glare.

"Y-you brat!" he groaned. Tani put Luffy back on the ground, the captain popping back to his original size. He stood in front of Tani, he wasn't letting that creepy leek, lay a finger on his crew.

"I'm gonna kick your ass," Luffy threatened. Punching his fists together, he turned back to Tani. "Gather the others, take cover." he commanded. Tani nodded silently, turning away to gather the others.

"Two can play at your little game, straw hat," Moria cackled with a tinge of what Tani would describe as, down right insanity.

"Luffy!" Usopp rasped. Leaning against Sanji, who hobbled into the open. The captain turned to face them. "The sun's coming out, you don't have much time... Finish this," the sniper grinned.

Luffy smirked.

Moria continued to laugh.

"You think you can defeat me?" he asked. Was his body? Growing?

An army of shadows swarmed around the warlord, his breathing, his voice, everything was growing more and more out of control. His body absorbed the shadows like a sponge.

"What the hell?! You can have more than one shadow?" Tani gasped, pointing at Moria. "Hacks! This is cheating," she groaned.

"Luffy did it like, not even ten minutes ago," Nami stated, Tani lowered her finger.

"Never mind," she lifted her hands in defeat. "Let's go hide, Luffy will kick his ass, then we can all go have a party and eat meat." Tani grinned.

Luffy was too busy staring at Moria, not with a look of fear. Luffy doesn't feel fear, no. Luffy gave a sigh, turning to his gathered crew.

"I'm about to do something reckless," he admitted. Zoro rolled his eyes, holding Chopper under one arm, and Robin over his shoulder. The woman was coughing from her injuries.

"Just win, this fight is growing old," Zoro shrugged. Luffy laughed, turning away to activate his next move.

"Gear 2nd," he called, his body already glowing a bright pink.

"Should we find shelter?" Franky asked. Zoro shook his head.

"Have faith in the captain." the first-mate told them.

And so they stood there, watching as Moria grew, Luffy powered up, and the sun rose.

Have faith in the captain... Because he has faith in them.

...

That was a close call, the closest call Tani has ever had to live through.

It took Luffy about five minutes to take out Moria, the guy was like an over filled water balloon. Every hit he took, he spewed more and more shadows out of his body.

Lola stood by the straw hat crew's side, calling out for her shadow to return. The straw hats decided to call for their own shadows.

"Don't you want to map out the world?"

"Let's be a brave warrior of the sea!"

"I'm gonna be the greatest swordsman, so get your ass over here,"

"I want to travel the sea with Luffy, and I can't do that without you too,"

"Finding the All Blue will be harder without you there, shitty shadow,"

"We super! built Sunny together, it's your dream to sail her with me,"

"I've got a void century to discover, so please return to me,"

"I want to find my purpose in this world, so being able to walk in the sun is kinda important,"

Luffy activated both gear 2nd and 3rd at the same time, his body straining under the pressure. Chopper implored that he take more care, but Luffy ignored him. Landing one final blow.

"Gum Gum giant jet shell!"

Luffy slammed into Moria's centre, and a cloud of shadows came spewing from the man's mouth. Raining down upon those who could feel the sun's rays burning into them.

Tani closed her eyes, waiting for her shadow to come back.

At the last second, before she completely vanished. Her shadow managed to find her feet again. Tani's body returned to its original shape. The rest of the crew breathed a sigh of relief when they also returned to their preferred shapes.

Luffy was collapsed on the ground, his body exhausted from the battle.

It was over... It was finally over.

The sun had never felt so warm.

Tani hopped her way over to Luffy, his chest was rising and falling slowly. He was so tired, he deserved the rest he was getting-

"Nami? What's wrong?" Sanji asked the terror filled navigator. She slowly lifted her shaking hand to point at a wall. The straw hats turned their heads to find a new figure sitting there silently.

"Oh come on!" Tani whined. "Can you go away until at least the next island?" she groaned.

The figure jumped off the wall, landing with a heavy thunk.

Guess he couldn't...