"We should pull the switch," Nami said, pointing to the lever at the end of the corridor. "If this place has the same mechanics as the last time, we'll need to find keys to locked doors, maybe solve some puzzles, and go down any staircases we find . . . that should all take us closer to the exit, and hopefully Sanji-kun's painting."

"It's almost like a game," Robin remarked.

"Sure, a twisted game of life-or-death," Usopp muttered. Robin nodded.

"Beware the edges," Nami muttered, reading the plaque. "Oh, right, the hands . . . I'll go. You guys stay here."

"Hands?" Chopper whimpered.

"Didn't you say no one should go alone?" Zoro reminded her.

Nami glanced down the corridor. "It's not far . . . but you're right, just in case . . . come with me."

Zoro grudgingly obliged. Nami led the way and he stuck close behind her, keeping an eye on the walls.

They were barely in when a shadowy hand sprouted from the wall to their right, snatching. Usopp, Chopper, and Brook shrieked.

"It can't get us when we're in the middle," Nami said as Zoro eyed the hand. "Stick close."

As they continued, more shadowy hands jumped out of the walls on either side; a veritable army wiggled and snatched at nothing by the time they reached the switch.

It was currently in the upright position. A small sign above it read, "The switch is on ON."

Nami pulled it down with a loud CHUNK. She glanced at the sign, which had changed to read, "The switch is now on OFF."

"Whoa, mystery wall!" Luffy exclaimed down the hall.

"There's a place to go now over this way," Franky called, pointing to their left, where a wall had once been.

"And the walls are thinner here," Zoro said. THe corridor had narrowed to a single-file gap.

"We'll run through," Nami said, eyeing the hands which were sure to grab at them. We can revive our roses at the end with the vase.

Zoro waited.

". . . You first."

Zoro got into position and darted down the hall, Nami close behind. They were scratched at as they ran, and they were halfway down when Nami screamed.

Zoro whipped around and saw Nami being seized by the shadow hands. They grabbed at her arms and legs, holding her tightly, dragging her close to the wall—a petal fluttered down from her rose—

"Nami!"

Zoro reached out for her, not caring about the remaining hands which scratched every inch of his arms, and he tried to pry the hands off, and then Luffy was beside him, yelling for Nami to hang on, and he helped too, but there were too many hands, hands, hands—

Before their helpless eyes, the wall opened up, and Nami was dragged into the blackness, her rose falling out from behind her ear and landing on the floor. They couldn't do a thing: The wall had closed, the hands all along it had vanished, and Nami was gone.

"NAMI!"

Luffy punched the wall in anger, forgetting he'd lost his inhuman strength.

"Give her back!" he yelled. "Give her back!"

He slumped to his knees, his hands balled into fists. Zoro knelt, picked up Nami's rose, and made Luffy stand. They went back to the others, who were still staring in horror at the place Nami had vanished.

"What was that?" Usopp whispered. "N-Nami . . . she . . ."

"Where is she?" Chopper whimpered. "She's—she's okay, right?"

Zoro looked at Nami's rose, holding it between his fingers. They watched with bated breath, but it remained as it was.

"Wherever she went, she seems fine," Zoro said.

They sighed with relief.

"Here," Luffy said, holding out his hand. Zoro handed over the rose and Luffy strode to the vase, first placing Nami's rose in, and then gesturing to Zoro. Zoro placed his own rose inside, healing his scratches. This left no water for Luffy's rose, but he was not badly injured. He tucked Nami's rose in his pocket, nestled next to his.

"We've gotta find her," Franky said. "But where the hell did she go?"

"She's told us enough about this place," Robin said thoughtfully, glancing to where Nami had vanished. "She must have been taken to a different part of the gallery. I think there's a good chance we'll find her if we keep going."

"That makes sense," Brook agreed. "And if she does get hurt . . ."

"We can heal her rose," Luffy completed with a nod.

Usopp gulped. "So . . . should we keep going, then . . . ?"

"Yeah," Luffy said, adjusting his hat. "No time to waste. Let's stick together like Nami said."

The Strawhats went down the passageway opened up by the lever. It was wide enough for at least two to walk shoulder-to-shoulder.

Turning right, they found a dead-end. A key the same color as the walls lay on the floor.

"That probably goes to the door in the other room," Zoro remarked as Luffy picked it up.

They turned around and headed back, keeping an eye out for enemies.

"Hey, Luffy," Usopp said as they went through the door and back into the large red room. "Why did we have to come here in the first place?"

Luffy and the others glanced at him without slowing pace. "What?"

"I mean," Usopp said nervously, "not that I'm doubting you or Nami or anything, and I know she said all that stuff about that Sanji guy, but what if she's lost it after all? You saw what that guy was like! Nothing good's happened since we came here—we lost our strength, we lost our way out—" He glanced to the place they'd originally come from, which had mysteriously been replaced with a wall. "—And now we've lost Nami! So why—?"

"Because Nami was crying."

Luffy fumbled with the key as he spoke. "Back then," he continued, trying to figure out how to work it, "I promised old man pinwheel I wouldn't take her smile away. I know I didn't do anything, but I hate seeing her sad. If it'll make her smile again, we're gonna find that Sanji guy and drag him back to the ship, even if none of us know who he is."

Robin held out her hand and Luffy sheepishly gave her the key. She easily unlocked the door.

"But first," Luffy said as they walked through, "we've gotta find Nami. She's the only one who seems to know what's going on."

Usopp nodded in understanding. The group entered the door and went down a long, twisting passageway with slime-green walls. Finally, they ended up at yet another door with a sign above it.

"'Mirror Maze?'" Luffy read aloud. He grinned. "Sounds like fun!"

The others looked apprehensive.

"Stick together," Robin reminded them as they entered. "Who knows what could happen if we separate?"