Disclaimer one: One Piece isn't mine to enjoy; it's all of ours. Oh, and I don't own it xP
-continued from previous disclaimers-
The Mighty Captain Usopp's Great and Wonderful Journey into another Dimension 12- Finally! More afro jokes!
Well, here it is- against impossible hype and expectation, Brook finally arrives!
The Thousand Sunny sailed onward, cruising through the waves. The infamous mist and fog of the Devil's Triangle was largely past, hanging over the horizon behind them.
Usopp, Perona, Zoro and Nami had all arrived reasonably early in the morning, despite the fog. When Perona had napped for an hour or so, leaning against the sniper boy as she did so, she had managed to recover enough stamina to search with a few of her hollows, and found the Thousand Sunny with ease.
Despite remaining Zoro-less, the urge to put distance between them and the Kuja's pirate clipper was high. Even through the daylight-weakened fog they had wasted another few hours before finding Zoro, their navigating fighting against Zoro's sense of direction as they both searched for each other near-randomly in the ocean.
The crew of the Strawhat pirates were now celebrating, drinking and laughing onboard the deck together. After the events of the last night, they were all in need of some good times. Usopp was re-telling a different version of the night's events to Luffy, Sanji and Franky, where he had been turned to stone, and broken out by sheer force of will.
Robin and Zoro were in the middle of a drinking contest, the kind Nami normally dominated. Not that any of them were close to alcoholic- it's pronounced, 'drinking enthusiast', they declared together.
Perona was busy trying to silence, and 'cuteify' Chopper, who she had just cornered near the wheel with some random bows and laces. Nearby, Hatchi was sulking, being told he had to leave the boat that night by Nami- apparently when she told him he could go on their boat, it was a one-time deal. Her actual words were 'might let you join', with a heavy emphasis on the 'might'. Still, all in all, everything seemed at peace, and perfectly innocent.
As this happened, a lone figure climbed the back of their ship. A slight girl with dark hair and low glasses, it was undeniably one of the Tashigi sisters- this one wielding a crimson blade.
While it was unclear to anyone watching whether this was one of the two who had fought Zoro and Usopp on board the Kuja's ship, or a third sister altogether, her sword was certainly different. Climbing up the last of her rope, she swung over the railing, lying low.
The night sky seemed unnaturally bright, the almost full moon hanging large over her. Just her luck, she cursed, as her figure was silhouetted clearly against the ocean. Running fast and keeping behind cover, she closed the distance between them, climbing over some barrels.
Her target was Usopp, the cursed man who had dared to defeat their beautiful captain in combat. She was hungry for revenge, and didn't care what her crewmates thought.
"Oh Tashigi, it's too dangerous, wait until we are stronger," pah. Those were weak words- where was their loyalty and pride? Her justice would be swift and clinical in its execution.
Drawing her blade, she began to leap, hoping to reach Usopp in one swift jump.
"Kasai Kaen Kaijin Kaki-Kaji Kemuri Kashou Kaibun Shigure!" she cried, the sword bursting into flames even as she recited the alliteration-obsessed name of her blade.
Usopp's back whirled around as if in slow motion, not seeing her until it was far too late. Before he could yell, or any of the others could react, she closed in, slashing with the flaming steel-
-Which was blocked by a long cane sword. Usopp's eyes seemed to blur, as he looked directly into someone who had saved him, who quickly fought back. The figure lifted the girl up by the collar like she was a rag doll, sinking his fangs into Tashigi's neck with frightening speed.
Usopp's eyes widened as he saw the wavy afro, the thin frame and suit. There was no doubt it was Brook. Stumbling backwards, the musical skeleton turned to him, expression fiercely snarled, crimson blood dripping freely between his fangs. His very bones seemed different, mysterious symbols carved along his arms.
"Wha-wha-wha," gibbered Usopp, freaking out. What the heck?
"Gyah!" Hatchi decided to leap overboard at this point, screaming.
"Brook, buddy, is that you?" Usopp stammered, sure he was seeing things wrong. Had to be.
"Yo," offered the skeleton in a surprisingly serious voice. He turned his back on Usopp for a minute, finishing his noisy, gruesome feeding before dumping the body overboard (incidentally landing on top of Hatchi, who fainted immediately).
"Brook! Quit feeding in front of us- it's creepy!" Nami insisted, Sanji muttering his agreement.
"This guy has the worst table manners." Usopp looked back at them- why weren't they freaking out more? Was this normal? Please don't let it be normal.
"Wow, you sure took care of her quick! It's been a while, Brook!" Luffy tugged Brook's sleeve like a little kid, laughing.
"Ever so sorry, I didn't mean to startle anyone," Brook apologized. His wording was the same as ever, but he was busy gazing up at the sky, and seemed very distant. The last of Tashigi's blood was still dribbling down his visible jawbone, ominously.
Brook made a guttural sound similar to a sigh, and his fangs disappeared. Well, retracted was a better word- as a skeleton, you could see the bone grinding and changing shape along his jaw. Perona, Chopper, and Usopp all tried not to say anything at this point, all shaking in badly-disguised fear.
Usopp felt his heart thump loudly, realising his newest nakama was also a vampire. Was that even possible for a skeleton? Was he dangerous?
"Oh? Where is your afro, the sign of our bond?" Brook asked, looking down absentmindedly. His voice was still grave, but he seemed somewhat more normal than when his fangs were out.
"Don't remind me," Usopp curled up into a ball sadly, "it ran away."
"Oh, I am so sorry!" Brook waved his hands back and forth, alarmed as Usopp began snivelling.
"There there, it'll be okay," Perona wrapped an arm around him, as Luffy messed up his hair teasingly.
"I'm sure it'll grow back, right?"
"Yeah, maybe Luffy," Usopp stuttered. Chopper ran over to comfort his friend also, causing Nami to sigh.
"He's lying again, dumbasses!"
"That's so cold, Nami . . . "
"Wait; is my afro in danger of fleeing as well?" Brook patted his hair, sounding alarmed.
"Not if you use my special shampoo- only 10 000 Beli a bottle!" Nami grinned, instantly changing her opinion on escaping hairstyles.
Usopp couldn't help but sigh in relief at the exchange- Brook really wasn't that different from regular Brook. Unless he valued his afro as a sign of a vampiric cult or something, he mused, but whatever. He continued to rock back and forth sadly for a little, entirely because of the 'my afro ran away' story, and not in the least because he was still terrified.
Nope, having a demonic, stronger and more vicious version of the dead guy living with them wasn't horrifying or creepy at all. He was fine~
"Hey, I could have used that," Zoro poked Brook in the back with the hilt of a sword. Brook turned around, acknowledging her without saying anything.
"I meant her sword- it was a freakin' fire sword, right?"
"You're welcome to retrieve it from the ocean," he replied gravely. Usopp noticed he was stiffer, too- was he touchy when reminded of his victims? Shuddering, he tried to imagine scenes where Tashigi number 3 was alive and well. There weren't many.
Eventually, their relaxing party atmosphere resumed, although Usopp wasn't as calm. He kept looking over to Brook- the skeleton seemed as detached and isolated from them as Robin when she had first joined, if not more so.
Eventually, in the conversation, he discovered the reason Brook had been mysteriously absent for his journey so far.
"You sure you okay, bro?" Frank had enquired. "That was a heck of a lot of silver they threw at you back there- I could feel it where I was standing!" Brook had noncommittally said he was fine, which ended the subject rather quickly. Chopper had tried to be brave, insisting in his low, bad accent that Brook come for a check up tomorrow.
"After all, ist only fur days since you is attacked, no? Coffin or no coffin, I insist."
"After all, it's only been four days since you were attacked, right? With the coffin or without, I insist you come for a check up," translated Usopp mentally. He was starting to get the hang of Chopper's unique speech pattern, finally.
This implied their last adventure had ended with them getting injured, which was normal, and that Brook was weak to silver. Taking hurried notes, Usopp tried to learn about them from these snippets.
His coffin? He assumed Brook had been sleeping off his injury down in the ship in his coffin, which made sense for a vampire. Franky was also weak to silver- of course, he'd almost forgotten he was a werewolf.
Gulp. They seemed on good terms, but weren't werewolves and vampires meant to go together like cheese and chocolate? Er, which is to say badly, and not often. Man, he didn't even get his own metaphors anymore- that was the last time he let Robin (or Blabin, as he had started to think of her ghetto version) talk him into drinking with them.
Giggling over his own metaphors, he decided Brook was on their side, and tried to sleep easier that night. He didn't feed that often, right? It was only as he turned over restlessly, his hammock swinging beneath him, that he realised what else had been bugging him.
Those symbols! Gasping, he sat up, nearly falling over. Brook's entire skeletal body was covered in strange carvings, running along his limbs. He remembered seeing glimpses along his arms, collar and ankles, and finally placed what they were.
Holy shit. Those were the same symbols described and drawn by Robin- Poneglyphs! Somewhere, somehow, maybe when he was unable to find his body, Brook's bones had been taken and carved into with that ancient language. He was a living, breathing, or at least moving, Poneglyph cube.
"Oh man . . . ," he fell backwards, head hitting the pillow. There was no way this was a good thing. More likely, Brook was being actively hunted by the Marines, and had some kind of doomsday prophecy inscribed on his left ass cheek.
He recalled how wistful Robin got when Poneglyphs were mentioned, and how much trouble Franky dragged them into back at Water Seven over one blueprint from a Poneglyph.
This really isn't fair. Why can't anyone be nicer, or richer or something here? Instead, they're all just freakier. Well, I guess Perona's nicer to me here, but that itself *is* freaky.
With those grand thoughts, Usopp finally drifted off to sleep.
The next day, he discovered one more aspect of Brook's vampiric persona. Belatedly, he had remembered vampires aren't meant to go out in the sunlight, and was unprepared for what happened. Drinking some water as he went out, the beautiful afternoon sun welcomed him, along with a few clouds.
Brook was already out leaning against the railings, and caught the full blast of the light as a cloud moved past, opening up the sky. The piercing light seemed to have physical force, shining down upon him, and Brook's reaction was immediate.
His entire body sparkled.
Hand up reflexively up against his eyes, Usopp squinted as he tried to figure out what was going on. Brook didn't seem aware of it, still standing stoic towards the sea, but every Poneglyph symbol along his body was glowing vibrantly, visible through his suit and top hat.
It wasn't just a regular glow, though- his entire body seemed to glitter, in a way far too shimmery for someone so serious and vicious just last night. Like sparkly make up, all over his bones. Hand over his mouth now, Usopp quickly went back inside, trying not to laugh.
Collapsing against the door, he burst out into chuckles, safely out of sight of the skeleton. He laughed for a good few minutes, unable to stop- it was such a silly looking thing, and once he started he couldn't stop. He began laughing at everything else that had happened, like the idea of telling Zoro he'd seen a girl version of him, or telling Nami to try dating Luffy.
It was just too much, and he hadn't laughed properly since entering this strange dimension. You know what they say, you either laugh or cry in these situations, and that choice was clear. Luffy joined him, wondering what he was laughing about, and peeked through the porthole in the door.
The moment he saw, he joined in too, gales of hearty laughter joining Usopp's gasps. The sight of Brook's sparkly body always amused him, after all. Checking again, Usopp confirmed that there were symbols all over his torso, including a strange round symbol near the left of his bottom that he might need to get translated.
It was a good moment, and helped Usopp realize that his crew mates were still his crew mates. He'd been alternating between thinking of them as dream characters, to be treated however he wished until he got back to his own world and forgot about them, or as real people.
Now, the choice was simple- after all that had happened, how could he not acknowledge these people as his friends, and nakama? From that day forth he resolved to always think of them like that, even when he made it back to the world he knew, with the more normal versions of them.
A/N: Aw yeah, taking the classy route with a twilight joke. Not that I really dislike it- I haven't read any of the books, and know nothing about the series xD
So, any thoughts on Brook? I'll be sure to explore his vampire side properly soon, as well as the consequences of the whole Poneglyph thing. More later~
Extra stuff~
The Tashigi's swords are all named after real Japanese words, according to my translator.
All of the swords have –Shigure at the end, as Shigure's the name of Tashigi's actual blade in One Piece.
Jishinkaminarikajioyaji Shigure = Thunder Shigure. I discarded that name at first glance, but a convo (thanks Midirin!) helped me realise it was perfect for a train-wreck style comedy, which this is fast becoming.
Hi Shigure = Hi can mean Ice, which is pretty straight forward. The only joke here is when compared to the stupidly long Thunder sword introduced just before, which makes it stand out pretty badly.
Kasai Kaen Kaijin Kaki-Kaji Kemuri Kashou Kaibun Shigure =
Fire Flame Ash Fire-Fire Smoke Burn Ash Shigure, if you translate each word literally. I loved making this tongue twister, as pretty much every word related to fire in Japanese starts with either a 'K'' or a 'H'. The alternate name wasn't as long, however.
Oh, and there may be more coming later on in the story, too~
(I say that, but I've only planned one, and I don't think it'll fit in soon =.=)
