Author's note: forgot the timer, and I'm too lazy to delete and re-publish, so enjoy tomorrow's chapter in advance.
...
"Talk all you want. You'll end up as a shadowless husk or a fellow zombie by the end of the day, monkey-monkey," Tararan replied as he straightened his posture and glared at Elvis.
Elvis merely smiled, activating his devil fruit as the stone hammer in his hand liquidized, turning into a machine gun attached to his hand.
"Now then, If I remember correctly, your kind are basically immortal and only susceptible to fire and salt..." Elvis muttered, causing Tararan to turn blue in shock as the fish-man plunged his other fist into the ground.
"Let's test out how much punishment you can take, shall we," he added, smirking as he took his hand out of the ground, now carrying a colossal double-edged sword.
"I'll make you regret looking down on me! Monkey-monkey!" Tararan furiously shrieked, crawling towards Elvis on his six arachnid limbs while shooting webs from his two monkey hands.
"That won't work against me," Elvis said, shrugging his shoulder and smiling as the threads hit his body, promptly turning into a liquid that slid off his body into the ground.
"My threads don't work on you, so what? You're so small I can crush you to death with my fists, monkey-monkey!" Tararan exclaimed as he finally reached Elvis, joining two closed fists together and bringing them down on the fish-man.
A loud shock wave occurred, accompanied as the hit landed, causing the ground to crack under Elvis' feet, and Tararan smirked in satisfaction at the results of his might.
"Monkey-monkey...?"
However, Tararan's satisfied expression soon dissipated, replaced by a confused expression as he looked down, noticing the giant, colossal sword blocking his fists and Elvis' unphased expression.
"Size isn't everything, mate. Not when it comes to strength anyways," Elvis playfully remarked, raising the machine gun attached to his arm and pointing it at Tararan's face, its five barrels furiously spinning as he prepared to fire.
"Monkey-monkey!" Tararan shrieked in alarm removing his arms for Elvis' colossal sword and using them to cover his face. However, Tararan's action proved futile as Elvis opened fire, the sharp bullets tearing through the undead creature's hands and settling into his face.
Tararan shrieked in pain, moving backward as he tried to make some distance away from Elvis' machine gun. However, Elvis stopped firing, throwing away the machine gun, much to the creature's confusion and relief as it cautiously glared at the Fishman, his one eye having survived the onslaught miraculously.
"Hm? You can still work even though your brain should be in pieces?" Elvis muttered, rubbing his chin in thought. "Let's see if you can survive without breathing, then," Elvis added, smirking as he clapped his hands together, turning a portion of the ground into liquid.
"Do your best and try to survive this one, Mr. Tararan the spider-monkey-hybrid," Elvis said, his smile sending shivers down Tararan's spine as the liquid turned into a massive black wave, crashing towards him.
...
"So what do you think, Law?" Doc asked as he leaned on the wall near the bathroom Cindy had guided them into before leaving. "You looked like you had something to say back then..." he added, raising an eyebrow as he looked at the surgeon.
"I think Hogback is full of shit," Law flatly replied, crossing his arms in front of his shoulders, causing Doc to hum in thought, gesturing for him to elaborate.
"Truly bringing back the dead to life is impossible. I know that more than anyone..." Law added, shaking his head and looking down at his hands, the image of a tall blonde man, smiling and making a peace sign while drawing his last breath, passing through his mind.
"Would the dead even wish to come back?" Law said, seemingly asking the question to himself rather than Doc. "Some people even knowingly walk to their own deaths, hoping to accomplish a dream, a goal, or an ideal..." he added, turning to look at Doc.
"I think it's foolish and disrespectful to these people's convictions to consider bringing them back. We don't know what it's like for people who passed either, so it's better to let them rest in peace," Law concluded, having already shared more than his emo, brooding heart would have liked.
"I see... people die when it's their fate to die, so I'm not buying Hogback's crap either," Doc flatly said, nodding his head. "So what do you want to do?" he asked, slightly grinning as he looked at Law's scowling expression, expecting the answer.
"I want to burn this place down," Law flatly remarked, much to Bepo's shock, as he began panicking and pacing around the hallway.
"My thoughts exactly..." Doc said with a nod of his own, bringing two fingers to his mouth and whistling loudly. But nothing happened for several seconds, causing Law and Bepo to stare at Doc in confusion.
However, their confusion soon turned to shock. The wall next to the trio fell apart, the towering form of Stronger, Doc's horse, emerging through the demolished wall with a loud neigh and causing Bepo to shriek in surprise, the mink's soul almost departing his physical body.
"Let's get to it, then," Doc remarked, climbing into Stronger's back and retrieving his scythe as he began sending flying slashes that sliced through everything in their way in all directions.
...
"They sure are going at it..." Byron remarked as he, Kozue, and Brook stood on one of Thriller Bark's giant chains, looking down at the mansion below and the flying slashes flying in all directions.
"Elvis is keeping himself busy too," Kozue remarked as she looked at Elvis, trying different methods to break Tarararn's undead body without using salt or fire.
"Still, this guy sure has one outrageous devil fruit ability..." Byron said, his eyes widening as he watched Elvis create different tools and weapons from the very dirt.
"Indeed, it's so bizarre almost makes my eyes pop out of their socket, even though I'm a skeleton and have no eyes to speak of- yohohoho," Brook commented with a loud laugh as he looked down.
"That coming from the guy who can turn into a giant flaming bird of death and the guy who can't die?" Kozue said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest while looking at Brook and Byron in bemusement.
"And those skeletons jokes are not funny. You're embarrassing yourself," Kozue added, harshly looking at Brook while spitting at her side.
"How harsh! Your remarks are breaking my heart, even though I'm-"
And that was all Brook could say before Kozue smacked him with the sheath of her sword, a scowl on her face as he fell to the side.
"Enough chitchat," Kozue said as he watched smoothly get to his feet without even leaning on the ground as if rewinding before getting hit with her sheath.
"We've wasted enough time already. Let's go," Kozue concluded as she began jogging along the chain towards the mainmast, leaving Byron and Brook awkwardly staring at each other for a second and following suit after a shared shrug of their shoulders.
...
"This place is crawling with these so-called surprise zombies," Law remarked, frowning as he cut down a woman who suddenly crawled out of a painting when they finally made it back to the dining area.
"Talk about having a bad taste..." Doc said, his eyes twitching as the pig head mounted on the wall near the fireplace suddenly came to life, picking one of the swords hanging on the wall.
"The jig is up! Surprise zombies attack!" the pig head exclaimed, throwing the sword at Doc, and the other surprise zombies obliged as they began emerging from the paintings, and even the giant polar bear rug came to life, growling at Law and company.
"We outnumber you, buhihih!" the pig mounted exclaimed, weirdly laughing at the end of its sentence. "Surrender, and maybe we won't kill you!" it added, sporting a smug expression as it looked down on the trio and Stronger.
....
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