Chapter 11: Bartholomew Kuma
The black mist took over their surroundings, shrinking their field of vision drastically, limiting their awareness, but thankfully their captain was with them and his Sonar ability was being like cold water in the middle of the desert. Not long time has passed, and he already felt about a dozen or so of the floating barrels planted by Moria as a trap to mark the position of the ships that pass by in the hopes of capturing them.
"We are getting close to Moria's Thriller Bark!" Said Lucci, notifying the crew.
"Finally, I can't wait to see the base of the famous Warlord!" Said Jabra.
"Chapapa! I heard he controls all kinds of creatures like zombies and ghosts." Said Fukuro.
"So we should also see the group of pirates that attacked Enies Lobby very soon, right?" Asked Blueno.
"Yes, they are currently fighting with Moria's minions!" Replied Lucci as he used his Sonar ability to survey the battle progress.
"What about our target...Umm... I mean, our new crewmate where is she, captain?" Asked Kalifa in a very secretary like fashion, still not used to the whole pirate thing.
"She was defeated by one person from the Straw Hats side and now just got back up, noticing how dire things are for Moria's side she decided to jump the ship, and it's currently gathering all his treasures, seems that she's about to leave him behind and run." Said Lucci as he was monitoring her every move.
"Ehhh!? Someone as strong as her was defeated by a Straw Hat, how is it even possible? Was it the guy with green hair?" Asked Jabra.
"No, even him can't beat all of us alone, so maybe it's a new crewmate." Replied Blueno as he shifted his gaze at Lucci waiting for him to continue.
Vivi was listening to their conversation in silence, but excitement was evident on her face because she was close to seeing her friends again. She was also curious about who had the power to defeat the person Lucci was looking for, since from what he told them about her, she knew that the person they are looking for is powerful.
"Nothing like you said, it was their sniper, the one with a long nose similar to Kaku!" Explained Lucci.
"HAAA??? HIM!? Since when can that weakling do something like that!? Hey, Lucci, you said she can beat us all, correct?" Complained Jabra with indignation.
Jabra reaction was also shared to some extent by all the members of his crew. Their pride may not be able to take if he said that they are not even able to beat someone the sacred sniper from the Straw Hat crew did. Lucci was also silent for a moment, thinking how he should explain to them the weird circumstances in which Usopp was able to beat Perona.
"Calm down, it's not like he beat her using strength, instead he did by combining a plethora of tricks together with his... unique personality?" Said Lucci still in doubt about how he should explain.
His explanation did nothing but rise even more questions from the Blood Moons, after all, how can a personality be the cause of someone defeat. Jabra was even wondering if she really was as strong as Lucci described, even making the decision to challenge her and find out for himself.
"Here it is, Thriller Bark, the island converted to a boat by Gecko Moria." Introduced Lucci as the giant outline of an island become more and more visible in front of everyone.
As their ship got to the entrance of the Blueno used his power to open the way for their ship to pass the outer wall that surrounds the island like ship. This allowed them to enter the area docking of Thriller Bark. A little further, one could also see the Thousand Sunny belonging to Straw Hats, where they also chose to dock their ship.
"What are we going to do now, Lucci, go and search for her or wait here? Asked Blueno.
"Let's wait around here, after all, she has to come here if she wants to run." Said Lucci.
And sure enough, not long after they found a place to wait, a horde of zombies appeared in the area of the dock carrying a bunch of treasures. The horde was leaded by a pink haired girl dressed as a gothic princess. She ordered her minions to put all the treasure on Sunny, planning to use it in her escape.
But not long after she started to put them on board of Sunny, an orange colored woman dressed as a bride appeared on top of one of the buildings. It was Nami who had come to stop Perona from stealing their ship.
"Hmm, it seems that we have company an old friend of yours, princess?" Said Lucci as he pointed towards Nami making all the people beside him look in that direction. The ones who were the most shocked about her appearance were obviously Vivi, fallowed by Kalifa who was evidently still sour about her defeat.
But before either of them could do anything about her, a strange person showed up, interrupting the fight between Nami and Perona. The Blood Moons barely got the chance to react as he teleported right among the group of zombies, staying behind Perona silently.
"Eh, that is...!" Started to speak Kalifa but was interrupted by the scream coming from Perona as she revealed the identity of the sudden arrival.
'Warlord, Bartholomew Kuma, so you have finally showed up, unfortunately for you this time you will not get the chance to show off with me here!' Thought Lucci as he silently watches the coming scene while transforming in to his Hybrid form waiting to jump in to action.
After a short period of silence between the two, Kuma finally opened his mouth and started speaking.
"Are you Moria's subordinate?" Asked in a very detached voice.
"Ehh, Moria and I have cut ties, we have nothing to do with each other! You caught me as I was about to flee from this island!" Replied her in a sacred manner.
What fallowed was another short period of silence between the two, after which he started to ask again.
"If you were to go on a trip, Where would you like to go?" The weird question made the serious atmosphere go away, leaving everyone wondering what was going on inside Kuma's head, all but Lucci as he already knows why he was asking this. Not waiting any longer, he used his ability, Crimson Steps, to appear right in front of Perona as he was about to send her away, interrupting him and attracting everyone of attention to him, especially Perona's. She was left staring at his face with a small blush forming on her face. Lucci's vampire form made him look quite edgy after all, so that, together with the fact that he was protecting her from a Warlord, made her girly heart beat more fiercely as she got her first crush. But all this has gone unnoticed by the recipient of her feelings.
"I'm afraid I'll have to stop you right here, Warlord, you see the girl behind me is going to be a part of my team in the future, so I can't allow you to send her flying." Said a transformed Lucci intimidating Kuma with his crimson red eyes.
His sudden appearance made the tyrant retreat his hand and start to size up the new arrival.
"You are... The former leader of CP9, Rob Lucci, but your hybrid form looks very different from what it should as the owner of a normal zoan should look like!" Said Kuma as he analyzed Lucci.
"Are you here to extract your revenge against the pirate group who turned you in as a wanted man?" Asked him for confirmation.
"Revenge? No, I'm here as the captain of the Blood Moon pirates to recruit in to my crew the remnant of Moria's crew, the ghost princess Perona." Said Lucci.
"So it's true, you and the other CP9 former members betrayed the W. G. and started your own pirate crew? I didn't I'll see the day when even their most valued weapon would turn against them! " Said Kuma in the same lifeless voice.
"They were the ones who left us with no choice!" Replied Lucci indifferently.
"Understood, I'll report your words and complaints to the five elders." Said Kuma.
"Whatever you want, go ahead and get out of here, aren't you on an official mission?" Reminded Lucci not wanting to use more time on this piece of nearly lifeless machine.
While all their discussion is taking place, Nami who was present for all of it was already trembling out of fear. Not only, there is another Warlord on the island, but also the bad guys defeated by the in Enies Lobby have come back. Apparently, the one who almost killed Luffy somehow change his fruit with another that makes him look way more deadly. As she was slowly backing out to run and warn the others, she heard steps behind her, making her turn in fright.
Behind her were the rest of Blood Moon pirates who stared down on her in a vert intimidating manner, making her so scared that she did not notice the oversized duck carrying a blue haired woman who stood behind them.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone