Chapter 2! And, uh... The story completely changed while I was writing last night. I deleted five chapters because of my changes. So now the story goes down a much darker route than it was originally going to go down, but at the same time, I get to include more supernova antics! So that's fun. And no matter how dark the story gets, I'm going to try and stay true to One Piece and balance it out with some humor.

Chapter 2

All hell

Zoro used his foot to push the snow that had piled in through the door back outside, grunting as he closed the door and propped it shut with a chair, so it wouldn't be opened by the wind again. The doors heaved and rattled, but they held strong despite the raging wind battering against them. Zoro exchanged a look with Sanji, who wordlessly grabbed another chair, propping it up next to Zoro's first chair.

"Why the hell is it snowing?!" Nami exclaimed, trying to find a window she could look out of, but while there had been tall, dirty windows set in the cold stone walls, there was now just wooden boards replacing glass. "What's happened to the windows?! What's happening?!"

"Nami-swan!" Sanji cooed, turning away from the door with a delighted expression. "I'll protect you!"

Vivi chewed her lower lip, looking at Zoro, who was trying to ignore the way Usopp flitted around, screaming about ghosts and curses. "It's the middle of summer." She murmured, carefully hanging the straw-hat on the stair banisters.

"I know." Zoro muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to think.

"It was so hot when we came in-"

"I know." Zoro ground out between his teeth. He didn't know what was going on any more than any of the others did, but they couldn't freak out like this. They would just make the situation even worse. He glanced at Vivi, who averted her gaze, focusing on her feet. He hadn't meant to snap at Vivi, and after a moment he sighed softly.

"Hey-" He started, but he was interrupted by Usopp, who was still bemoaning their situation, and how they were sure to die. Zoro grumbled, gritting his teeth, but Nami spoke up before he could.

"Okay, everyone calm down!" She snapped, taking a breath. "We've got to stay calm." She repeated, but she sounded more like she was reminding herself than anything. Zoro sighed, catching Usopp by the back of the shirt when the younger teen ran past him again, still panicking. Usopp choked when his collar tugged on his neck, cutting off his air supply for a brief moment.

"Oi," Zoro growled. "Stop shouting, you're making it hard to think." He let Usopp's shirt go, looking around at the others. Vivi shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.

"It's cold..." She murmured, and Zoro frowned; they were all dressed in summer clothes, thin shirts, shorts and skirts, and now their breath was starting to mist in front of them, as if they needed any other reminders as to how drastically the temperature had dropped. Their first priority was to keep warm, and Nami seemed to have the same idea.

"Zoro, Sanji," She started. "Find something for a fire, any wood you can find. Usopp, head to the ballroom, try to start a fire in the fireplace. Vivi, me and you are going to look for sheets and blankets to use."

Zoro grumbled at being told what to do, but didn't actively complain; now wasn't the time. Even they knew Shooting a glare at Sanji, who returned it with one of his own as he passed his lighter to Usopp, the two men started to search for burnable material.

Their search led them down to the basement, where they found a cluster of broken chairs and tables. "This will do." Sanji commented, and Zoro grunted, picking up a table top and balancing it on his shoulder, not looking phased by the weight. Considering the size, he adjusted the table top, propping it against the wall. With one solid kick, it splintered into pieces, and Sanji's eye twitched.

The shitty moss head was showing off, and he refused to be outdone by the neanderthal sword wielder. As he pulled a table up from the pile and swung his foot, shattering the wood into several small pieces, a gleam of competition entered Zoro's eyes.

By the time the last chair had been smashed to pieces, the two men were seething.

"There!" Zoro snapped. "I broke up more tables then you did!"

"I broke twice as many chairs as you!" Sanji retorted, tossing the remains of the chair leg to the side and grinding his teeth around the end of his cigarette.

"Like hell you did, pervert cook!" Zoro growled, reaching for his swords. Sanji's eyes narrowed, and he raised his leg to block the back of Zoro's sword, scowling.

"What did you call me?" He snarled. Zoro was stopped from retorting, however, by an unfamiliar voice.

"Yo ho ho! Someone could get hurt like that!"

Zoro and Sanji froze, turning their heads towards the source of the mystery voice. All the colour drained from their faces.

Usopp grumbled as he tried to light the crumpled papers he'd gathered up, huffing when the tiny flame he'd managed to produce flickered and died. His fingers were already covered in small burns from his efforts, and he fumbled with the lighter Sanji had passed him, frowning before trying again.

When a flame finally came to life on the paper, Usopp dropped the lighter, his eyes lighting up as he wiggled onto his stomach and started to feed the fire with scraps of paper, getting it ready to place wood on it later. He beamed when the fire started to catch and grow, delighted that he'd actually managed to produce something that would help, but his joy was short lived; the huge doors into the ball room swung open, and gust of air rushed through the room, extinguishing the small fire Usopp had been trying to maintain. Usopp blinked at the dying embers as Nami stepped into the room, and sighed, hanging his head.

"Huh? Usopp, you haven't sorted out the fire yet?" Nami asked, placing the pile of sheets down next to the fireplace, not noticing Usopp's look of despair. "Where's Zoro and Sanji?"

"They're still getting wood." Usopp muttered, poking the charred paper with a mournful expression, as if he was silently willing it to start burning once more. "They've probably gotten into a fight."

Nami shook her head in exasperation, placing her hands on her hips.

"Honestly, we can't leave them alone for more than a few seconds." She grumbled, shaking her head before heading out of the ballroom again to gather up more sheets. Usopp turned back to the fireplace before reluctantly picking up the lighter to return to his efforts, grumbling each time his efforts failed.

"Here, let me help with that." Usopp blinked when the papers suddenly burst into flames before hurrying to fuel the fire with more paper, eyes lighting up.

"Hey!" He chirped excitedly, turning around. "How did you-" He froze, staring at the man standing over him.

Vivi smiled softly as Nami headed back up the stairs, depositing another pile of blankets next to the stairs. "I hope dad remembers to feed Carue..." She murmured, and Nami hummed.

"Vivi, I've met your duck; there's no way he would let your dad forget." She commented with a smile, running her hand through her hair. "For now, we've got to focus on what we're doing here." Vivi nodded, looking down at the sheets, and Nami hesitated before sighing. "I'm sorry." She murmured. "I just-"

"I know." Vivi looked up at Nami and smiled. "We're all scared. But you don't have to tiptoe around me; I'm not the crybaby I used to be."

Nami let out a particularly unladylike snort, shaking her head.

"Vivi, you were never a crybaby, you were always the toughest girl I knew." She replied, and Vivi returned the smile Nami shot her.

After a moment, the girls got back to work, picking through blankets and pillows and deciding which ones were still fit to be used, and which were too worn with age.

Vivi was sorting out the tangled and torn blankets in the room her and Zoro had found the straw hat in, when she heard someone clearing their throat. Trying to crane her neck to see past the pile of blankets in her arms, she looked around curiously.

"Nami?" She asked.

"What's up?" Nami called back, appearing in the doorway. The orange haired girl froze, staring at Vivi's feet.

"Excuse me," A little voice perked up from somewhere near Vivi's knees. "Have you seen a straw hat? My captain will be upset if he finds out it's missing."

Vivi blinked and looked down. Her eyes widened, and the blankets tumbled from her arms, landing with a soft flumph on the ground.

In the attic, a head of erratic, flaming red hair was lifted when the screaming started. The owner of the hair snorted.

"Some idiots have wandered in again." He muttered, leaning back against the wall. Sat on a barrel, a pink haired girl huffed, propping one leg up on a crate and leaning against the wall as she listened to the screams and shouts.

"Humans never learn." She muttered. "Fucking morons." The group started to turn back to what they had been doing, but they paused when a pair of sandal clad feet hit the ground, looking up at the boy who had pushed himself up. The black haired teen grinned, pushing his straw hat back.

"It sounds interesting." He chortled. "Let's check it out!"

A cruel grin rested on the red-haired man's lips, and the group pushed themselves up, ready to join the chaos.