Chapter 14 Valor Mori’s Resolve

*Step* *Step* *Step*

The sound of footsteps reached my ears just as a huge Panda made it through the dense foliage that separated the forest from the coast.

"Huff….huff… you… guys… are....assholes!" Mori yelled the last part between labored breaths, Drake and I turned over to him with matching smirks.

"Don't be like that Mori, it's all fair." Drake replied with a laugh.

"Alright guys, now that Mori is here we've got to get going. We don't want our prey getting away now do we?" I asked them as I hopped off my rock chair. Pulling out my trusty compass I notice the needle has changed slightly since the last time I looked, continuously moving closer to the seas further up north. 'So there on the move again, hopefully we get there before they search another cave. It'd be extremely annoying to fight in a cave.

"Yeah yeah, so where do you think they are?" Mori asked dejectedly.

"Further north, I didn't see any 'cave system' on our way here and I'm pretty sure the southern direction is only sea. It's a decent guess at least. Just follow me and keep your head down." I replied as we made our way further North following the coast.

10 MINUTES LATER WESTERN COAST OF RUBBECK ISLAND

''Hey look there" Drake whispered from my left, turning my head to where he was pointing. I noticed a few pirates guarding the entrance to one of the endless caves that are in this cavern. 'Well damn, there already inside the cave system, that is moderately annoying' I finished the thought with a frown as we hid behind a rock to hopefully listen in on a conversation the two guards were having.

"Man I really hope this isn't a wild goose chase" The shorter chubby one said. The taller and slimmer pirate turned to him, giving a nod in agreement before replying.

"Yeah I get that Gora, we've been on this island for almost a week already, there's no telling when the Marines will catch up to us, hell we barely escaped from Duel Kingdom three months ago." The taller one replied to 'Gora'.

"Don't jinx us like that Phil! Hell if I never see Captain Hinamori again it'll be a good life, woman is damn scary for a North blue marine" Gora finished with a shiver.

"Yeah, but it was a worthwhile heist we pulled on them, too bad Captain let that weirdo Jeff eat it. I heard that finding Devil fruits is almost impossible." Phil replied, increasing my curiosity by a big margin.

"You're right on that one, hell the bastard is basically unkillable now." Gora said with a shiver.

"I know right? Fucker cut his own arm off without a flinch and then just reattached it like nothing was wrong, I've had nightmares ever since" Phil said with a scarred look.

"Yeah me too, hell the weird bastard even started eating more people after he got that fruit. Who does that? Like I get the whole plundering and destroying thing, we're pirates after all. But hell eating them…. that's just fucked on so many levels" Gora replied. 'So his fruit gives him the ability to physically reattach his arms? Sounds like a bootleg version of the chop-chop fruit? Or is something different, like a heal-heal fruit? So interesting!' I thought in excitement about the endless possibilities this world can offer.

Turning to Mori to make sure he was paying rapt attention, we continued listening in for around 10 minutes. Nothing even close to as interesting was spoken besides the Pirates speculating about whose treasure could be left there. A few household names came up but with no real proof, everything they guessed was a shot in the dark.

Nodding to the boys and giving them the go-ahead, they took out and tied up the mook pirates in under a minute. Deciding that these guys were already loose-lipped I 'mildly' interrogated them about their Captain's whereabouts. Getting an answer after three broken fingers was easier than I expected. 'I could've just continued to use my Compass but I don't want it to be seen by anybody that'll still be alive, it looks like a normal compass but I'd rather not take any unnecessary risks.'

"Well alright then boys, we got confirmation on our target. Now how should we go about this ...."I said before looking towards my crewmates to see if they had any bright ideas. Getting two shrugs in response I can't help but sigh, there really was no easy way to go about this.

"I guess considering we don't know if these caves connect, waiting for an ambush isn't the best option. However, fighting in a possible confined space will be fine for me and Mori but it'll severely limit you, Drake. Without the aerial coverage you can usually provide you'll have to really focus on taking down your targets quickly." I deduced.

"It should be fine captain, even without my flight I can still transform. Taking out a few mooks and a Left-hand shouldn't be too hard" Drake said with confidence.

"Ok then, I guess we're going in." I said while heading towards the cave entrance with my crew following behind.

"Mori, what's your plan for the Vice?" I asked curiously after we traveled through the cave for a few minutes.

"Hmmm, I got a few Ideas. Maybe take away his arm and don't let him get it back?" Mori said the most basic answer.

"Wow, never woulda thought of that" Drake said with a chuckle.

"Shut the hell up flyboy!" Mori yelled with mirth. Seconds later I began to hear footsteps and whispers.

"Guys shut the hell up" I whispered, making them both stop their bickering. Stealthily pulling out my compass I notice that the needle is pointing directly forward, shifting left and right slightly indicating walking.

"Alright guys, they're directly ahead of us. I'll go first and engage the captain. Follow behind me, oh and a quick change of plans. Mori, I want the Vice Captain dead, his Devil fruit sounds too useful to allow him to keep. You guys got that?" I asked.

"Got it" Drake confirmed.

"Yep, dead as dead can be" Mori answered with a smirk.

"Well good luck then guys" I said while giving a two-finger salute and disappearing in a burst of soru.

Four quick jumps later and I had the Captain in my sight, he barely noticed me before my sword was inches from his neck, with grace Bizaro leaned back causing my quick swipe to nick his chin.

"What the hell!" His crew yelled, noticing their Captain slide back with blood coming down his chin.

"Attack! Enemy att.."

*Bang*

One of the mooks began to yell alerting the crew, well at least until a Pterodactyl kicked him in the chest.

And like a bomb was set off, confusion and hysteria entered the ranks of the 'Bizaro' Pirates making it laughably easy for me to take my fight with the Captain to the opposite end of the clearing with a quick soru assisted kick.

POV CHANGE- VALOR MORI

Being the last to enter the party I see Kal already engaging the Captain on the other side of the cavern, while Drake was going to town on the rest of the crew. Sighting a Blonde haired man matching the description of 'Dumar Jeffery' I head straight towards him. Transforming into what I like to call 'Panda mode' mid-stride, in about ten seconds I made it time to stop a dagger he tossed towards Drake with the flat of my greatsword.

"What the hell are you supposed to be?" Jeffery asked, finally getting a closer look at him I almost gagged in disgust. Sunken glowing red eyes paired with missing patches of skin exposing molded innards.

"A panda swordsman? What the hell are you?" I tried my best to close my enhanced nostrils from breathing in the absolute stench coming from this 'man'.

"Oh cool, you're a Zoan two huh? I bet you taste delicious" The weird bastard said while licking his lips in a disgusting manner.

"I actually heard bear meat is too tough…." I replied with a joke causing the crazed bastard to laugh.

"Zozozo, that's a good one. Too bad we've got to fight, nobody else gets my dark humor" He said with a crazed smirk and equally weird laugh. 'Huh, I guess Captain was right. Most decently strong people have funky laughs.;

"How about being sporting? What fruit did you eat?" I asked, letting my curiosity get the best of me. He seemed surprised I was interested in it before answering with a crazed laugh.

"Zozozozo, well it's actually a match made in heaven for a guy like me. I ate the Hito-Hito no mi Model:Zombie!" He said before tossing three small knives at my chest, realizing that talking is over I sent my sword in a wide arc slapping away the small knives.

'I guess Captain was right again, most pirates like to flaunt their fruits, not very smart usually. Too bad I have no fucking clue what a zombie is or what it can do, it definitely wasn't registered in the Devil fruit encyclopedia!' I finished the thought before dashing forward slamming down on him with an overhead slash.

He smirked before turning his head slightly allowing my blade to almost cleave him in half. 'What the hell? Why'd he just stand there and let me kill him?' I thought in confusion before I was stabbed in my side by a Dagger.

"Argggg, what the hell…." I said in pain. Jumping back with the dagger still in my side luckily holding in the bleeding. Looking at the 'corpse' I can't help but widen my eyes in genuine shock.

"Zozozozozo, works every time, It's too bad you're so damn tall, I usually go for the neck" Jeffery laughed while his body began reconnecting, starting from his stomach red 'string' like things began connecting his body back together. Less than ten seconds later the only sign that he was cut in half was his torn shirt that fell to the ground, exposing an odd-looking body with grayish skin and multiple stitch marks.

"Oh, this is bullshit…" I said still in disbelief, unconsciously gripping my sword that much tighter in response to maybe the toughest battle in my life.

"Ehhhh, that's relative my furry friend, hell you're a 3-meter-tall bear" Jeffery responded looking at me with a raised eyebrow. Deciding he's bantered enough he decided to charge in with reckless abandon.

Realizing cutting him isn't going to work I switched my blade to its flat, swinging it with all my might as soon as he was in range he went flying into the cave wall. 'So how does this 'Zombie' respond to blunt damage?' I thought hopefully waiting to see if he'd come out of the hole he made in the rocky wall.

Watching him casually walk out of the hole in the wall like nothing hit him didn't do well to help my guess. 'Fuck it, I'm just gonna try to cut him into pieces' I thought in annoyance before rushing towards him. He smirked at my charge before drawing two daggers and charging to meet me.

Showing surprising strength for his size he managed to block my giant sword with his two daggers crossed over his head. Deciding to test his grip strength I flexed hard and turned my blade on its flat, the quick change caused his arms to fly apart. Smirking at the opening I made, I brought my blade down in a flash catching his left arm in mid-air before retreating. Not completely unscathed, however.

"Dammit…" I said in pain at the new dagger now stuck in my thigh, looking over at my opponent. I can't help but be worried about him being so nonchalant about losing an arm.

"Not a bad try, you're not the first to think of that though.Zozozo, Limb Explosion!" He laughs at my attempt before pointing his remaining hand toward me and shouting a move. Getting a bad feeling I attempt to get rid of my limb.

*BOOM!*

"AHHHH!" Falling to my knees while holding my smoking left arm in pain, I didn't manage to throw it away in time. 'What the hell kind of fruit did he eat? Zoans don't explode!" I screamed internally.

Watching in shock as the smoke began coalescing into a stream that started heading straight for his left shoulder. Seconds later it began clumping together into the vague shape of an arm, a few moments later his left arm was back like it never blew into a million pieces.

Standing with mild difficulty I can't help the sweat that fell from my brow at my current situation. 'I might be in over my head on this one' I thought with a sigh before reading my greatsword for our next exchange. 'I hope Drake finishes soon, I can see Kal still locked in a beautiful clash of swords. It doesn't look like it's going to end anytime soon either considering 'Cap' isn't going for the kill'

"Why don't we take this up a notch,zozozozo" He said laughing maniacally after literally ripping his left arm off and holding it like a sword. He ran towards me for a clash, deciding I really don't want to be exploded again. I jumped back at the last second just as his arm exploded. Jumping through the smoke I slammed the flat of my blade into his side sending him reeling into the wall again.

He shook it off like it was nothing before standing up without a problem. Then out of nowhere, the crazy bastard started tearing his own fingers off, he charged forward with his stupid laugh before appearing in front of me. Knowing what was probably coming next I slammed my blade into the ground with the flat facing toward him.

"Exploding Finger Shotgun!" He yelled, sending his finger bombs at me. Bracing myself against my sword while trying to flex all my muscles to hopefully weather the onslaught. Unluckily the illustrious technique still evaded me as I was sent flying toward the Captain's fight.

Landing directly into the wall a foot away from their clash was very embarrassing, getting up from the rubble with a groan. I turned to my left to see both of them looking at me curiously until Kal sighed.

"Come on Mori, what's the problem? He's only worth 25 million?" Kal asked in surprise at me being tossed 100 feet across the cavern.

"Fuck you Cap, bastards Devil fruit is broken," I said with a scowl before looking towards Jeffery slowly walking towards me from across the cavern.

"Don't blame your partner, crazy Jeff hasn't got his bounty changed since I gave him that fruit. Hell, the fucker might be worth more than me." Bizaro informed us before turning back towards Kal to continue their clash.

"Info now!" Kal yelled to me while parrying Bizaros' quick stab.

"He said it was the Hito-Hito no mi Model: Zombie, his body repairs from all damage, and his limbs can explode separate from his body!" I yelled while the Captain masterfully parried Bizaros' onslaught. A look of surprise appeared on his face before he smirked. 'Did he already figure it out?!' I couldn't help but scream internally.

"A possible Mythical here? What the hell is going on in the North Blue, hahaha" He laughed and said some gibberish I didn't understand, like usual. After slamming a powerful overhand strike onto Bizaros' sword, he twisted his body and slammed a powerful kick into the guy's stomach sending him flying while giving himself a little breathing room in the process.

"Alright, there's two ways you can probably win. One, destroy his head. Two, try to knock him out then tie him up. If you can do the second, I'll even give you a 50 million bonus for this hunt. Good luck buddy!" He said, giving his signature two-finger salute before disappearing toward the enemy Captain.

'Fucking asshole thinks he's so cool, but still, he's definitely onto something. Everytime we clashed he always moved his head away from damage, I didn't notice it before but why would he dodge at all if he's 'invincible' I finished the thought with a smirk before pulling the dagger in my thigh out, I'll need all the speed I have for this, a little blood loss will be fine.

"Are you ready for round 2 now? Got your pep talk out of the way?" Jeffery asked with the same crazed smirk, cut-off fingers already in his hands, standing mere meters away from me.

"Yeah let's go," I said with confidence, turning my sword to the side to increase the blunt damage.

"Fine by me, Exploding Finger Shotgun!" He yelled while tossing his explosive body parts toward me. 'Ok please work, please work, please work' I prayed while flexing the muscles in my back, slowly making it to the front of my body before something clicked.

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

Weathering his assault for the first time I can't help but smirk, jumping through the smoke I arrived directly in front of him.

"Get the fuck outta here!" I yelled as I could see surprise written on his face as I slammed the flat of my blade against his temple with everything I had left. He went flying head-first into the rock wall, implanting into it like some kind of vegetable, a few seconds later his rigid body went limp causing me to sigh in relief. Falling to my knees in exhaustion as my 'Panda mode' ended I could help but smirk at finally getting him.

"Well holy shit Mori, I didn't think you'd win that one. Looked like luck to me" Drake said walking up next to me without a scratch on him.

"Fuck you flyboy," I said with a smile that he matched before we bumped firsts.

"Hey, you feel like tying him up for me? Kinda can't move" I said with a sigh.

"Yeah yeah, then we can just laze away and watch the Captain do the hard work," Drake said with a smile before heading over and tieing up Jeffery.

"Sounds like a plan to me, hahaha"