The Strawhats went through an orange door and came out in an aqua-colored room. It had two vases on either side of the entrance. The ones who'd lost petals in the other room placed their roses inside.

The room was very large. On the door wall, two other doors on either side led to new rooms. Two openings led away on either side of the left and right of the room, two doors were on the left and right of the far wall (with a staircase to the right of the rightmost door), and a large blank canvas hung between the far doors.

Three large sculptures sat around the large room. The one on their left was titled Flexible Stone and it featured a large, tan rock-like thing. The one on the right was called Drinking in the Night and featured a giant wine glass pouring out deep twilight liquid with stars. Finally, the third one in the middle was called Tryst after Death and featured a large skeleton wearing a cape and crown and holding a sword. He was caressing a girl's hair. Both were coming out of a giant picture frame.

"Nice, Brook," Sanji said approvingly, looking at Tryst. "You finally got a girlfriend."

If Brook could scowl, he would have. "Really, Sanji-san! The young lady is quite pretty, but that skeleton is certainly not me! We look nothing alike!"

The others looked back and forth between Brook and the sculpture.

"Well, your hair is nicer," Franky admitted.

"It's not just the afro!" Brook exclaimed indignantly. "My cheekbones look much better than his!"

"They look the same to me," Luffy said, glancing back and forth.

Zoro nodded. "I see no difference here."

Brook fell to his knees in depression.

"What's this?" Chopper asked, pointing to something behind the vase table on their left. He ran over and picked it up—it was a square canvas, painted like a piece of a mural. Just as he showed it to the others, it vanished from his hooves.

"That's it, I want to leave," Zoro snapped, throwing his hands in the air.

"No, hold on, it reappeared over there," Nami pointed out, gesturing to the previously blank canvas across the room. The piece which had vanished was now nestled in the lower-right corner of the large canvas. The plate for the canvas was blank.

"Oh, this is like those balls of paint," Usopp said in understanding. "So we have to collect all the pieces, and then something'll happen?"

"Balls . . . of paint?" Sanji muttered, frowning.

"Don't worry about it," Chopper said quickly. "Should we split up again?"

"Sounds good," Brook agreed, getting up. "There are several rooms to explore . . . should we do groups of two and one of three?"

The others agreed. They drew straws; the teams became Luffy and Chopper, Zoro and Brook and Franky, Usopp and Sanji, and Nami and Robin. They split up and agreed to meet back in the center.

"Come on!" Luffy dragged Chopper through the closest left door.

"Okay, I'm coming!" Chopper wriggled out of Luffy's grip and looked around the room as the door shut behind them. "Whoa, what happened here!?"

The room was in chaos. Squeaking black things ran all around and charcoal scribbles covered the walls and floor. An open sketchbook lay in the corner. A few paintings hung crooked on the wall, their nameplates either scribbled over or torn off.

"The heck is happening?" Luffy said confusedly.

Chopper looked around and spotted a plaque by the door. "'A notice to all visitors: This room has been invaded by stickmen. A reward will be given to anyone who can catch the perpetrators and return them to where they came from.'"

"So we gotta catch the stickmen?" Luffy asked, his eyes darting around the room as the black things raced around. "Sounds like fun!"

He dove and pinned a stickman to the ground. It went limp and Luffy was easily able to carry it.

"Cool!" he exclaimed, holding up the limp figure. "Let's do this, Chopper!"

It took them nearly ten minutes to catch all of the stickmen. One of them had been riding a small, colorful bird, which rested on the ground, exhausted from the running it'd been forced to do.

"Phew," Luffy gasped, tired from all the running he'd done. "I think that's all of them . . ."

Chopper sat down heavily. "Ugh . . . my lungs are gonna burst . . . I hate being weak . . ."

Luffy nodded and crawled over to the sketchbook. "I bet this is where they came from."

He dumped the stickmen onto the book, where they melted back into the pages. Chopper did the same with the ones he'd caught. A moment later, two painting pieces appeared next to the book.

They cheered, picked them up, and let them vanish.

"Alright, let's go," Luffy said, suddenly full of energy again. He and Chopper left the room and were about to go to the center when they heard a chirping behind them.

The tiny bird had followed them. It looked up at them and chirped.

"Hey, it likes us!" Luffy exclaimed. "Let's name him . . . Yakitori!"

The bird chirped in alarm.

Chopper glared at Luffy. "Don't name him that! Anyway, he says he's looking for his home."

The bird chirped and waddled away. Luffy and Chopper followed close behind.

It led them to the hallway on the right, which turned out to be a long passageway. It glanced back at them, positioned itself at the center of the walls, and began walking in an odd pattern.

It walked on down the hallway and waited for them at the end.

"Well, let's go!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Wait!" Chopper exclaimed. "The bird was walking funny . . . and he just said, 'Follow my steps!'"

Luffy frowned. "Oh . . . so we gotta walk like the bird?"

He and Chopper went to the spot where the bird had started. Following Chopper's lead, they went in the same odd pattern as the bird had.

"We probably would've been killed if we hadn't done that," Chopper whispered.

Luffy grinned. "Good thing we're alive! Hey, Yakitori, thanks!"

The bird chirped indignantly, turned, and hopped into a painting hanging on the wall titled Cozy Home. Another painting piece appeared next to it.

"Let's go back to the others," Luffy said cheerfully as Chopper picked up the piece.

"Okay . . . so what's with this room?" Franky asked. He, Brook, and Zoro were standing in a room full of small cacti. Two painting pieces lay at the other end of the room.

"So we just gotta get past the cacti?" Zoro muttered. "Seems easy enough."

He went across the room, doing odd twirls and tip-toes to avoid the small plants. Soon he reached the other side, picked up the pieces, and twirled back across.

"Have you considered a career as a ballerina, Zoro-san?" Brook asked seriously as the three left the room.

Zoro scowled.

"No one went in there, right?" Franky said, pointing to the hall on the left.

The three entered the hallway and came out in a room covered floor-to-ceiling with identical paintings of a Cyclops woman.

"Oh, my, I'm seeing double, triple . . ." Brook chuckled. "And more! Though of course, I have no eyes to see with!"

Zoro tapped the plaque by the door. "It wants us to find the living one," he said.

"How are we supposed to tell?" Franky demanded, looking around at the paintings.

Zoro shrugged. "Maybe one'll get up and walk away."

"Don't say that!" Brook shrieked.

The three examined the paintings closely, their eyes darting between them.

"Hey!" Franky exclaimed suddenly. He pointed to one near the top. "That one blinked!"

"What, seriously?" Zoro demanded.

As Franky pointed to the painting, its eye focused on him. The Cyclops smile grew wider and a painting piece fell from the ceiling. Franky picked it up and it vanished.

"These things give me the creeps," Zoro muttered. "Let's get outta here."

"Aah, we picked the safe room," Usopp said in relief. He and Sanji had entered a room full of nothing but bookshelves and a small easel in one corner.

Sanji yawned. "Usopp . . . do you mind if I take a rest?"

"Huh?"

Sanji grinned. "You all got some sleep back there, even if it was from a spell, but I wasn't kidding when I said resisting it wore me out. Besides, we've been walking for quite a while."

"Yeah, go ahead and rest," Usopp said. "I won't leave the room."

Sanji nodded, stalked over to the far wall, and slid down, one leg stretched out and one leg brought up against his chest. He yawned. "Just let me know . . . if you find something."

Usopp nodded and began examining the bookshelf. He found a painting piece stuck in one of the books and pulled it out.

A few minutes later, the bookshelves began to rattle and the lights flickered. A book fell off the shelf. Usopp shrieked and turned to Sanji, only to find that the blond man had fallen asleep.

"Oh, god, wake up!" Usopp cried. Sanji did not stir.

A moment later the room stopped rattling. Usopp breathed a sigh of relief and went to pick up the book that had fallen off of the bookshelf. He was about to put it back when the title caught his eye.

The Secret Room

Curiosity piqued, he flicked through the pages.

"To exit the secret room, flick the red switch . . . but how do I enter?" he muttered. He went back a few pages and examined the first ones.

"To enter . . . first read the writing on the back of the long bookshelf," he muttered, reading from the book.

He put the book back, stole another glance at Sanji (still napping), and went around to the longest bookshelf, peering into the crack between it and the wall.

"Read the writing on the canvas," he mumbled to himself. He turned around and found that the previously blank easel had writing on it.

"Pull . . . the cord?" he said. He turned around and saw a long cord hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room.

With one last glance at Sanji, he approached the cord and pulled it down.

The room suddenly changed. Usopp screamed. He was now in a tiny square room. Four switches were on one wall—red, yellow, green, and blue. On the opposite wall hung a mural of various animals and plants. The plaque below it read - Crows and Five -.

"Can I put something in here?" Usopp muttered to himself. "And how do I get back to Sanji?"

He looked up at the painting. "Hmm . . . so I guess I have to put in a number here and a noun here . . ."

He counted the number of crows and input it into the keypad. It appeared on the plaque. The second part took him a bit longer, but he eventually found five fish and entered the word in. There was a sound behind him and he turned to see a painting piece on the ground. He picked it up and it vanished.

"Crap, how do I get out of here?"

Usopp looked at the switches on the wall. Hadn't the book said something about a red switch?

He cautiously pulled the red switch and without warning his surroundings changed again. He was back in the center of the room with the books, and Sanji was up and about, searching the room. He whipped around and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Usopp.

"Geez, Usopp, where the hell were you?" he demanded, going over to him. "I'm sorry I fell asleep, I know that was careless, but that's no reason to leave! Nami-swan said we weren't supposed to go off on our own!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Usopp exclaimed. "I went to a secret room—but never mind that, I'm sorry for leaving you alone! I didn't mean to!"

Sanji narrowed his eyes.

"What?"

"Usopp," he said seriously, "what's going on?"

"What d'you mean?"

"You're all acting weirdly," Sanji said, folding his arms. "For some reason I need to be protected more than anyone else all of a sudden. Just now, you didn't say, 'Sorry for going off on my own,' you said, 'Sorry for leaving you alone.' Why can't I be left alone?"

Usopp looked away.

"Don't look away."

Sanji sighed. "Usopp . . . I know a chunk of my memory's missing. Tell me what happened during that time. Tell me why you all suddenly think I'm fragile."

Usopp bit his lip. "Well . . ."

"Tell me."

Sanji sat silently on the floor. He would have taken out a cigarette if he still had a working lighter. His lips were pressed tightly together.

"You don't remember, do you?" Usopp asked quietly.

Sanji ran his fingers through his hair. "Bits and pieces. I remember I was acting . . . well, not like myself for a while . . . I think I was talking to Chopper, and then he hugged me . . . I was rude to Robin-chwan . . . and . . ." he frowned. "Did I tell Nami-swan . . . something rude?"

Usopp nodded slowly. Sanji exhaled and looked up.

"It's okay," Usopp said quickly. "You weren't yourself, and no one blames you. You don't have to remember everything right now—if you talk to Chopper about it, he'll probably have some advice—"

"I must apologize IMMEDIATELY!" Sanji yelled, standing up suddenly. He ran out of the room with a cry of, "Nami-swan! Robin-chwan! Forgive me, my loves!"

Usopp stared after him incredulously.

"Nothing fazes him," he muttered, grinning and running after Sanji.

"Oh, come on, this thing's locked," Nami muttered, tugging at the door handle fruitlessly.

Robin smiled and headed up the staircase. "Are you coming?"

Nami sighed and followed her up the steps. At the top, they came upon a huge hole in the ground. The plaque on its side read Wonders through the Telescope's Eye.

"This is a Guertena piece?" Nami said in surprise. "A huge hole in the ground?"

Robin turned around and spotted another copy of the Mistake painting behind them.

"Be careful," she said softly, pointing to it.

Just as Nami turned around curiously, the painting jumped out of its frame and pushed them down the hole.

They fell down, down, down, past many brightly-colored orbs and yellow wall, until they hit the ground hard. They each lost a few petals.

"Ow-ow-ow . . ." Nami muttered, sitting up slowly. "Robin, are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine," Robin murmured, shaking her head to clear it. "Goodness, that was startling."

"That's one way of putting it," Nami muttered.

There was a loud THUMP and Mistake came falling down. It got up and began wandering around the small room.

"Be careful," Robin said softly.

Nami nodded and looked around the room. In the center was an opaque crystal box, which opened and shut briefly, showing rows upon rows of shiny pearl teeth.

"Hey," it hissed. "Want me treasure?"

"Treasure!?" Nami exclaimed. Mistake turned its unseeing head to her and she quickly lowered her voice. "Sure, I want your treasure."

"Solve me puzzle, then," the box whispered. "Mess up and me bite."

It gnashed its teeth.

"What's the puzzle?" Robin whispered.

"Which one wasn't there?" the box asked. "The greenie, the yellowy, or the orangey?"

Robin frowned. "It's referring to the orbs we saw when falling down."

"I'll go up there and fall again," Nami offered. "But catch me, okay!?"

Robin smiled. "Of course."

Nami left the room, unlocking the door. It turned out they were in the room they'd been unable to get into earlier. A minute later she came falling down and Robin caught her. This time they each lost only one petal.

"T-Thanks," Nami said. She got out of Robin's arms and dusted herself off. "The green one's missing, Mr. Box."

The box was silent for a moment.

". . . You smart," it said at last. "Okay, have me treasure."

It opened up wide and revealed a painting piece.

"Well, better than nothing," Nami said disappointedly. She took the piece and she and Robin left the room, shutting the door behind them to trap Mistake inside.

We have one or two more chapters to go!