Warm Memories and Brotherly Bonds

by RoseDragonWitch

In the middle of some strange ruins, Luffy disappeared. As the rest of the Straw Hats try to find him, they end up travelling through his memories and are trapped in the past, with no idea to how to get out or how to find their captain. But not all things are meant to be seen… how will they take to seeing what had Luffy been hiding from them?

37. Enter the Humming Swordsman: Brook

Chapter 36: Enter the Humming Swordsman: Brook

Everyone was only too happy to see the Sunny again after all that they had seen; and they didn't waste any time running to jump onto the deck, finally feeling safe—as if they had just come home after a long trip. Seeing these memories have taken a heavy toll on them physically and emotionally, and all they wanted to do was collapse onto their beds. But with everything happening, they knew that there would be time for that later.

As most of them flopped onto the grassy deck, Sanji went running off to the men's room to get himself several packs of cigarettes, almost crying with relief when he grabbed hold of them. Meanwhile, Franky went to the storage and fetched himself plenty of cola, feeling better once he refueled; and Chopper went dashing up to the infirmary to get more medicine and bandages to treat the wounds that everyone had gotten so far.

For some reason, as long as they were on Sunny, no other memories or the slime creature, showed up to bother them. This was fine by them since they all felt like they needed the break. Once he had made sure to fill his pockets with smokes, Sanji went to the kitchen and fixed them all lunchboxes, since preparing an entire meal right now would take too long—and they were only too happy to dig right into them.

But they knew that all they were doing was prolonging the enviable. So after they each made sure they had everything they needed, they ventured off the ship, and almost at once the memory appeared once again. They were more prepared for this however, and were ready as they dug into their food.

In this next memory they were standing on a floating chunk of snow and looking around them in shock. What was going on here? They were surrounded on all sides by giant glaciers, and there was a bitter wind that was clearly wiping through the area, and they were all suddenly grateful that they couldn't feel it. They appeared to have been standing on a giant slab of ice, and they could see the Sunny floating in the distance and Franky looking up at the mast. They weren't alone however since memory Robin, Zoro, Sanji, Nami… and for some strange reason, Sanji had a death grip on Chopper while he kept a hand firmly covered over the reindeer's mouth, were all standing there looking at it as well.

"Hey!" Usopp cried, looking at the scene and everyone's winter clothes, "This was when the flag was stolen wasn't it?!"

"Sure looks like it," Sanji said in surprise.

"Wait, what flag are you talking about?" Brook said startled as they heard Luffy shouting and they looked back to see Luffy in a coat that was scorched in the front, and his chest was burnt. He had a look of deep frustration on his face as he caught up to them.

"Your right…" Nami whispered as her past self hissed at the others to act natural. "I didn't think that we'd be seeing this again."

"What is going on?" Brook asked them, scratching his head in confusion.

"It's a long story," Sanji said quickly as Luffy ran right up to them all, looking angry.

"Hey! What are you guys doing!?" he yelled at them all. "You let our flag get stolen! We need to hurry and get it back!"

"Wait! You mean that someone stole our flag?!" Brook gasped.

"Not now!" Zoro snapped as their four past selves turned to look back at him, Sanji still half choking Chopper in the process to keep him quiet.

"Stolen? The flag?" memory Nami asked, a big smile that they all recognized right away that she was lying. "What in the world are you talking about?"

Luffy blinked in confusion and that was when they all could see the horrible forced smiles on their faces—all except for Robin, who was smiling just as calmly as she always did.

"Is that what we really looked like when we're lying now?" Sanji asked in confusion. Damn, he thought that they were more convincing than that.

"He bought it in the end didn't he?" Usopp hissed to him as Brook continued to look completely lost as to what was going on here.

With his hands still tight over Chopper's face, memory Sanji gave a rather rough smile and suggested, "You probably just had a bad dream or something," and to Brook's astonishment, he turned to Zoro as if they were old friends and asked, "Right?"

"Ah, sure… yeah! That must be it," memory Zoro laughed just as crazily and the current Zoro sapped himself in the face.

"Damn… were we that obvious?" he asked in embarrassment.

"Sort of," Robin confessed, who spent most of her life lying and keeping secrets, and was the only one in the memory who was acting normal. "None of you are very good liars."

"Hey! I'm a great liar!" Usopp said loudly.

"Sometimes your too good," she pointed out politely. "They're so amazing that you can't believe them."

"Good thing that Luffy's so dense though," Nami sighed in relief as memory Robin pointed to the Sunny and told Luffy to look for himself, and when they did, they saw that the flag was there, waving in the wind as if it had been there all along.

Luffy looked at it in surprise. "What the…? It's right there safe and sound!" And the confusion became a frown as he muttered angrily, "That stupid glowing guy… he must've been lying to me." He sighed before the scowl became a smile and said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have doubted you."

The crew laughed nervously at Luffy. "It's ok… no worries."

This memory shouldn't have meant much to them, but for most of the crew, they felt a shred of guilt going through them at Luffy's apology. The only ones who didn't seem bothered by it were Brook—who you could see the question marks hanging over his head—and Robin, who had a knowing smile on her face… as if she knew something that they all didn't.

The current Chopper was frowning at them all, still not getting why they forced him to keep his mouth shut about those bounty hunters stealing the flag in the first place. But that was when his eyes suddenly spotted the burn on Luffy's chest and didn't take his eyes off it until the memory faded.

Usopp, one of the ones who was suddenly feeling guilty about all this, noticed the look and asked for some kind of distraction, "Chopper? What is it?"

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head a little. "I suppose it's not important. I was just thinking how I treated that burn after we managed to get away from here. I don't like it."

"Don't like it?" Nami asked in confusion, "Why? It wasn't that serious, it was completely gone in a few days. You said so yourself that he was just fine."

"That's not what I mean. Sure, that scar wasn't anything to worry about," Chopper admitted, "I was just thinking about the one Luffy has now. That giant X shape on his chest… I was just thinking how that's no ordinary scar. That's a burn scar—only I can see that it was so much worse than the wound here."

"Burn? He got himself burned?" Sanji asked, remembering how he was still just learning how to cook himself and how burned himself a lot in the beginning.

"Uh huh," Chopper nodded. "And I know that he didn't have it before we were separated…"

"Luffy said once that he got that scar from Marineford," Zoro explained, who was also fighting back his own waves of guilt at hearing Luffy apologize to them about doubting them.

"He did?" Chopper asked, looking down at his feet. "Well, wherever he got it, I can tell that it must've been a really serious wound. And I mean, really bad… I don't even want to know just what caused it. Considering how fast Luffy heals, however he got it… I can only imagine…?"

"I'm not so sure I want to know either," Brook said, "But please… could one of you tell me what was going on? I hate being left in the dark on all this!"

They all looked up at him and Sanji sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. "This all happened just before we met you and arrived at Thriller Bark. See, there were these stupid bounty hunters… they go around stealing pirate flags… and… well… they stole ours."

"They did?" Brook said in astonishment. "Well, that makes sense why Luffy-san was upset. After all… there is no greater shame to a pirate crew than losing the flag."

"Yeah… that's why we got it back before he noticed it was gone," Zoro sighed and they told him the story. How they had been at sea for about a week after leaving Water 7 before they came across a damaged ship, with the pirates known as the Phoenix Pirates. Their captain had been gravely injured during a battle in the New World, and was close to death… and the rest of the crew was forced to work for a group of bounty hunters called the Accino Family after they had their flag stolen from them. So they decided to work under them temporarily and hid their captain until he recovered.

"Sounds like he was in bad shape," Brook said softly.

"He was," Chopper nodded grimly. "They didn't even stitch that wound up by the time I treated him. I still can't believe that they didn't do anything for him… I mean, they couldn't have really believed that injury would've healed by itself did they?"

And so they went on to explain how the Accino family tricked the two ships into a field of icebergs. With Chopper still on board the Phoenix Pirate's ship tending to their captain, and Luffy along to make sure that nothing happened to their doctor; they ended up getting separated from the Sunny and the rest of the crew. While they were gone, they ended up letting the flag get stolen from right under their noses.

For some members of the crew, their worst fear was that Luffy would find out and they couldn't stand the thought of him scolding them so they went through almost freezing to death to get it back. By the time that they finally found their flag, and the Phoenix Pirates got theirs, they ended up having to run back to the ship when Luffy spotted them. Nami also quickly told them that she saw the fight between Luffy and Don Accino—the leader of the family—and how he had the power of the Hot Hot Fruit, so that he was able to survive even intense heat like lava.

Once Luffy defeated him, Chopper called to him that they got the flag back and were forced to run all the way back to the Sunny before Luffy could see that their symbol was missing. That scene they just saw was where they got the flag back up there seconds before Luffy got there.

Usopp's eyes watered in pain at how they had used him to get it back… Sanji's kick… Zoro's slash… and Franky's fart…? He covered his eyes with his arm as he cried at the misery he had been in that day…

"I see," Brook said softly, but he didn't sound happy about this at all. "But… was it really better to lie to him about all that?"

"How could you let the flag get stolen you useless cook?" Zoro snapped at Sanji, who glared back.

"Shut up!" Sanji yelled at him, "Just because you were stupid enough to get yourself lost doesn't help matters!"

"Don't you guys feel guilty at all?" Chopper asked with a scowl, remembering how they threatened to him alive if he didn't keep his mouth shut. "I mean… there was no point in lying. Those guys already told Luffy that they stole the flag while we were on the others' ship, but we got it back didn't we? I don't see why it was such a big deal."

"Why are you asking about this now?" Usopp asked, but they could see a few beads of sweat falling down his face. "I mean… what does it matter? Everything worked out in the end! We got the flag back, we beat up those guys, everyone's happy, and Luffy never had to be bothered with it."

At those words, Robin just couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing, which startled them all since they rarely heard her laugh like that.

"You're so beautiful when you laugh, Robin dear…" Sanji swooned at the sight of her smile and was twirling around happily.

"I think that we missed the joke though," Zoro said, frowning at her. "What's so funny?"

"Yeah, cause we're all feeling a little lost here," Nami said as they looked at her and she calmed down.

"Nothing," she smiled, "It's just that you were all feeling a lot more guilty than you thought…"

"Huh?" they all asked, tilting their heads a little as she smiled wider. She opened her mouth to explain, but she didn't need to. For at that moment, the memory returned and they were back on the Sunny. Only this time it appeared to be the middle of the night, a very calm night and they were glad to see that they seemed to have made it out of the freezing weather. The only person out there was memory Robin, resting in a lawn chair on deck—who had a cup of coffee in one hand, and was reading a book in the other by a light that Franky made for her. It was clear that she was on watch.

"What's this?" Chopper asked as Robin's eyes lit up.

"Well," she said in amusement, "Looks like the cats out of the bag."

"What are you talking about?" Franky asked in annoyance but she didn't bother answering; instead she held a finger up to her lips as the door to the kitchen opened up below them. Luffy marched out, looking severely disappointed about something and appeared to be muttering bitterly to himself. They could hear words such as 'stupid lock' and 'jerk Sanji' before he spotted Robin up on the upper deck and went rocketing up to see her.

"What are you doing up?" she asked in slight surprise, "I thought that it was supposed to be Franky to take over for the rest of the night."

"Just wanted to talk," Luffy said happily. "I got hungry and went to the kitchen to get something before I remembered that I can't get into the fridge." He then frowned at that and added, "Damn it, Sanji, why does he have to be so stingy?"

"Because I'm trying to save food! Why else would I do it you, idiot?!" current Sanji yelled at him. "If we kept that thing unlocked, you'd eat everything in there! And then we'd all starve thanks to you!"

"I'm sure that he's just doing his job of being a cook," memory Robin told them as he finished scowling. "Don't take it personally." She then smiled and added, "It wouldn't be the first time we ran out of food out here and you know how cranky everyone gets when there's nothing to eat. Don't worry, I'm sure that he'll make us something delicious in the morning."

"Oh, Robin…" present-day Sanji swooned, dropping to his knees in front of her, "You fill my heart with such joy! I cannot tell you how happy I am that an angel like you had dropped into my life and graced me with the honor of fixing food for you! I'm in paradise!"

"Moron," Zoro yawned.

"Did you say something, Moss Head?" Sanji snarled.

"Enough," Robin said calmly, "If you two fight, you won't be in on the secret."

"What secret?" Usopp, Chopper, and Nami all asked before Luffy went over to sit on the railing.

"I've been meaning to ask you," Luffy said, folding his arms and had a questioning smile on his face, "Why'd everyone lie to me about getting the flag stolen?"

Most of them felt the bottom of their stomachs drop.

"YOU MEAN HE KNEW?!" Usopp yelled in shock.

"ALL THIS TIME THAT WE WERE LYING?!" Nami added in horror.

"Yep," Robin answered happily, glancing over to see her past self looking taken aback by the question, and slowly put her mug down on the table.

Zoro and Sanji glanced at each other nervously, for once forgetting that they hated each other. Luffy didn't look the least bit upset or angry… just confused, and they had no idea what to do about this.

"How could he have found out?" Usopp asked, looking around them, "I mean… who told him?"

"I sure didn't!" Nami said before glaring at Chopper who yelped and hid behind Robin's legs.

"It wasn't me!" he called, "I swear it!"

"Then which one of us did?" Sanji asked angrily.

"You all did," Robin answered and they stared at her, not having the slightest clue as to what she was talking about. Really, they made it to obvious… even someone like Luffy would find out that way…

"So…" memory Robin asked, "You figured it out."

"Yep," Luffy said bluntly, kicking his feet out on the railing he was sitting on. "Of course, I didn't really know until just a few minutes ago."

"Really?" she asked in surprise, "Who told you?"

"Everyone was talking in their sleep about it," Luffy laughed, "Especially Usopp… he was the loudest."

"WHAT?!" Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp screamed out, dumbstruck.

"Well, that explains it!" Nami said angrily at them, thinking back to on the Merry when she used to be able to hear them talking to each other even when they were clearly asleep. "You all even argue in your sleep! I guess that it's no surprise that you let the secret out!"

"You weren't innocent yourself, Nami," Robin pointed out gently and she glanced up at her.

"You mean…?" Nami gasped in horror before memory Robin stated, "I see… well, they weren't the only ones. Nami's been talking in her sleep about it as well. I think they all feel guilty about lying to you."

"So wait, everyone blabbed out the truth and none of you were aware of it?!" Brook asked in shock.

"That's pretty much it," Robin nodded.

"But then… why didn't you tell us?" Chopper asked her as she merely gave him a kind look.

Her past self folded the book up and laid it next to the table before she leaned forward to rest her arms on her knees and said, "I hope that you're not mad… we didn't want to lie to you, Luffy. But they were terrified that you would've scolded them if you found out."

"Why would they be afraid of that?" Luffy asked in confusion. "Sure, I'm not happy about how the flag was stolen and everything, but they got it back right?" He blinked before he added, "Oh, I get it! That's why you all ran when you saw me after I fought that glowing guy?!"

"Yep," she confessed.

"You didn't have to tell him everything," Usopp whimpered.

"He was surprisingly very understanding," she laughed back.

"You're right," memory Robin sighed, "And I'm sorry for tricking you like that. But I just had to help them. I just felt so bad… and they went through a lot to get it back. I guess they didn't want to disappoint you."

"Really?" he asked, tilting his head.

"Anyway, we got the flag back and that's all that matters," Robin smiled. "So please don't be too hard on us, alright?"

"Yeah, I guess," he sighed before he added grumpily, "But I'm still upset that you all lied to me about that."

"Oh," Usopp cried out, holding onto his heart. "Why do I feel like scum all of a sudden?"

"I'm sorry, Luffy!" Chopper cried out, as the rest of them felt guilt choking them.

"They all ended up going through a lot to make sure we got it back before you noticed," memory Robin explained to him. "I'm sorry for that. But that just proves how much the rest of the crew appreciates your approval?"

"Really?" Luffy asked again, thinking that over and a big smile on his face.

"Yes," she smiled, "And I understand how you might want to talk to them in the morning about it… but…" she held up a finger to her lips and added, "How about we keep this quiet too?"

"Huh? Why?" Luffy asked in surprise.

"Yeah, why?" Brook asked her, "Wouldn't it have been better to bring it out into the open?"

"Well, you all wanted to make sure that this stayed between you," current Robin smiled. "And you worked so hard to make sure that you didn't get scolded, and if Luffy scolded you then that would've defeated the purpose."

"So you mean that Luffy knew all that time and we thought we got away with it?" Zoro asked in disbelief.

"How about this?" memory Robin asked, in a business-like tone. "I promise that we won't let our flag get stolen again, but this will be kept between us ok? But honestly, something tells me that they won't let this happen ever again, and they might feel really bad about how they lied to you. Besides, this way, we can have a secret from them. Ok?"

Luffy frowned as he thought that over. "And you won't lie to me like that again," he asked with a pout, like a little kid on the playground would say when a friend took his toy away without telling him.

"I promise," she smiled.

"Oh, ok… I won't say a word," he smiled and she laughed.

"Then," she smiled, "This will be our little secret…" And to seal the deal, the made a pinky promise, and the memory faded.

"I don't think we give Luffy enough credit," the current Robin chuckled. "He's better at reading people than we think… of course… all of you talking in your sleep about what happened didn't make it any easier."

"I can't believe it," Nami and Usopp moaned out as they fell to their knees.

"Damn," Sanji growled, "Now I feel really stupid."

"You can't say that it's not fair though," Franky said, playing around with his metal fingers. "I mean… we kept that all secret from him all that time."

"Seeing how calmly he took it surprises me though," Zoro said, "I thought for sure that he'd freak out."

"We got it back and defeated those bounty hunters right?" Brook asked, "I think that's all that matters here. I mean, I don't think he would've been really happy, and he probably would've shouted if he had been told before… but…"

"But the fact that we lied to him was what he was more upset about," Robin sighed, "I think that he just wanted to know why we did it. And when I told him how hard you worked for it, I think that it meant a lot to him."

"I wish I knew that before!" Chopper cried out, "I felt so bad for saying nothing happened!"

"Well, just think of this as a learning experience," Robin stated happily.

"Oh, be quiet," Usopp moaned from his spot on the ground.

"I want to ask you how you could keep a secret like this from us," Zoro sighed as he scratched his head angrily. "But…?"

"But that would be really hypocritical of us?" Nami asked, now feeling the full pressure of guilt inside her. Damn… she now wish that Luffy had just come out and told them about how he knew from the start so that they could get it over with. It's just the idea of an idiot like him scolding them for getting the flag stolen…? At the time it just seemed like the worst thing possible… but now… it just made her want to crawl into bed and hide her head under the covers for a while.

Everyone was grateful that they didn't remain in the forest for long. The next memory reappeared and they were still on the Sunny, only now it looked to be in the middle of the afternoon, with a light breeze tickling the side of the ship, showing that it was probably just after lunch. The first thing that they saw was Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper all on the deck, playing on the swing, taking turns swinging as high as they could before they jumped off.

Luffy and Usopp were watching Chopper eagerly as he continued to swing higher and higher. And once he was high enough, they would count, and Chopper jumped. But this time, he flew a little farther than he thought he would because he ended up smack dab on his butt and was sent rolling.

"I know that game!" current Chopper laughed, "Luffy still holds the record to beat!"

"I bet you could beat him Brook," Usopp said, looking up, and glad to have the distraction from his own guilty conscience, "I mean… you're so light! You could probably go a lot farther."

"I don't know," Brook said happily, "I must find out when we get back! Yohohoho!"

"You alright, Chopper?!" Luffy laughed as memory Chopper rubbed his backside as he got back up and moaned a little.

"Yeah! I'm fine!" he called as Luffy called that it was his turn and he jumped on the swing. It didn't take him long to get him up into the air though. And once he swung it up at its highest point, he ended up flying off and smashed right into the wall, which they all laughed at.

"WHOO-HOO!" memory Usopp and Chopper cheered. "New record!"

"Isn't this cute?" Robin asked calmly. "It's nice to see memories like this. I enjoy them the most."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Usopp nodded as he watched all three of them jump up onto the swing together this time. "And you know what? I think… we should talk to Luffy and apologize for the flag and everything…"

"You sure?" Brook asked, privately thinking that it was for the best that they tell him. Better late than never right?

"Yeah… I agree," Sanji sighed, who also felt really bad. I mean… it's the least we can do. Especially after seeing all this?"

"Then it's decided," Zoro muttered, feeling as though he should bash his head in for ever keeping it a secret in the first place. "We'll deal with that after we get through this mess then."

Just at that moment, the door to the kitchen opened and memory Sanji was there, calling to the three of them if they minded getting some of the octopi they got from the other day.

"I'm thinking of making the entire dinner out of octopus tonight!" he explained. "We're having octopus pasta, salad, fried octopus tentacles, and to top it all off, an octopus pomodoro with a spicy Sicilian sauce!"

"You're killing me here, bro," Franky sighed, as he reached for his own lunchbox and began to eat, unable to take listening in anymore "I just ate, and I'm starving all over again!"

"I promise!" Sanji stated, "I'll make my biggest feast yet once this nightmare is all over and done with! I'm gonna feed you all until your stomach burst! All we gotta do first is get the hell off his island and never look back."

The three boys had just jumped off the swing, and looked as if they were in seventh heaven at the mention of all of the food, and they were already starting to drool.

"Hey, Sanji!" Luffy called. "Make some octopus balls too while you're at it?"

"OCTOPUS BALLS!" memory Usopp and Chopper yelled out joyfully at the thought of it and memory Sanji smiled back down.

"Fine, fine," he called. "In that case, make sure to get as much octopi as you can! I'll make sure that you all eat your weight in it!"

They didn't need telling twice. They bolted up the stairs to where the hatch for the tank was and they all watched as they lifted the heavy lid, with memory Chopper getting down and stuck his hand in, trying to grab one. They chuckled a little as his short arms and tiny hooves weren't able to even reach one—and every time he made a wild snatch, they all went as far away from him as possible.

"Well, you can't blame them for not wanting to get caught and cooked," Nami offered, feeling a little bad for them.

"Sadly, Nami-swan… they are a tasty food ingredient… which we must eat," Sanji said in a serious voice.

"That's harsh," Chopper muttered. And he knew… he tired a few times to get an animal for the crew so he is no longer considered the 'pet'. To his dismay, every time he tried to bring one on board, Sanji tries to cook it. In the end, he just couldn't do it anymore and gave up before he ended up accidently making someone dinner.

"Aw…" memory Chopper complained. "They all keep getting away from me!"

Luffy jumped to his feet, and began to wind-up his arm, as he said, "Let me try this time!"

But then memory Usopp stepped in. "Wait a minute, Luffy!" The two of them looked up and he said, "You two are Devil Fruit users! One false move and you two will drown." He then grinned and added, "Just leave this to me!"

"You seem to be awfully willing to help around here," Franky couldn't help but point out as he watched memory Usopp run off for a moment to get his 'gear' he called it.

Usopp shrugged. He supposed that a part of him wanted to make up for his behavior towards Luffy before. He wished he could remember more clearly. Still, he watched as his past self came back a few minutes later in nothing but a pair of flippers, goggles, and a diving cap—while he carried two large spatulas and a large jug with the picture of an octopus on his back.

"Where'd you get spatulas that big?" Brook asked in great interest.

"They're Sanji's," Usopp shrugged, "I didn't think he'd mind."

"So that's why I couldn't find them," Sanji growled, "Next time ask me before you end up taking my things!"

Memory Usopp gave Luffy and Chopper a salute, and they cheered him on as he jumped right into the tank. Current Nami was just telling him that she and Robin were watching him get the octopus when one was sent flying out of the water and plopped on the deck.

"Ooh!" memory Chopper exclaimed happily.

"He got it!" Luffy cheered, and they stood back as Usopp seemed to be going to town with throwing them out. Soon, the area around them was full of octopi, and the two were staring around excitedly, you could almost see them dreaming of the big meal that night. At one point, an octopus was sent flying out and landed on memory Chopper's face, and they chuckled at the sight until the water turned black.

"What happened?" Brook asked in surprise as Usopp sighed in embarrassment. You think that he'd be able to handle this without getting himself in trouble?

"Hey, what's going on?" memory Chopper asked once he pulled the octopus off his face, and he was looking with Luffy down at the water worriedly. "How come the water's all black?"

"Hey, Usopp!" Luffy called down worriedly, "You okay down there?"

"Usopp's in trouble!" memory Nami called from inside. "The octopi have grabbed hold of him and doesn't look like they're letting go!"

"You mean you got beaten by some octopuses?" Zoro asked their Usopp with raised eyebrows.

"THEY ALL GANGED UP ON ME!" he snapped back at him. "THEY STARTED TO SQUIRT OUT ALL THE INK AS I WAS PULLIG THEM OFF! I COULDN'T EVEN SEE!"

"WHAT?" Luffy and Chopper screamed as the inky water was suddenly turned from smooth to a violent splash, as if Usopp was thrashing around inside.

"Who knew going fishing could be so dangerous? Yohohoho!" Brook stated to himself.

"Usopp!" Luffy called. "Hang on! I'll get ya out!" He then stretched his arm downwards to grab him, however thanks to all the ink clouding up the water, his guess was as good as theirs was at the moment. Memory Chopper was crying out to Usopp, asking if he could hear them and if he was alright.

"Even if I wasn't, how was I supposed to answer?" Usopp sighed, all of them suddenly reminded of when he had jumped into the Great White Sea when they first arrived up on Sky Island, and were trying to save him before he ended up falling right out of the clouds.

"Usopp!" Luffy called again, and they could see that he was feeling around desperately for him. "Damn it! The water's all full of ink! I can't see him!"

Just then, as if something had grabbed hold of him and had managed to pull him halfway down as well. Thankfully, memory Chopper had grabbed hold of him just in time and held him steady as he pulled his head out, where his face was covered with water and ink. After he shook it from his head like a dog, he suddenly got an idea.

"That jerk…" Usopp growled, suddenly remembering what happened. "How could he think that would work?!"

"That what would work?" Franky asked, laughing at this memory.

But Luffy had just answered that as he stood back up. "Maybe if I can feel where he is, I can get him out!" he said and he held up his fists, "Gum Gum GATLING!" he cried and he was suddenly punching down into the water and they all winced, knowing that there was no way that memory Usopp was not lucky enough to escape that.

And sure enough, once Luffy was finally able to find him pull him out of the water, he was covered head to foot in bruises and a several lumps covering his head.

"I'm gonna kill you for that, Luffy!" current Usopp yelled furiously as his past self fell onto the deck and laid there motionless as Luffy cheered.

"Hey!" he cried out. "He's okay!"

"Thank goodness!" memory Chopper sighed in relief.

"DO I LOOK OKAY TO YOU?!" current Usopp yelled out, wanting to hit them both.

"But they saved you from the terror of the octopuses…" Brook laughed happily and Usopp gave him a quick bonk on the head.

"Shut up!" he yelled, "Do you know how much his punches hurt? I could've died!"

His past self seemed to agree. By the time he finally got back to his feet, there was an angry glare in his eyes and he was snarling at Luffy before he yelled, "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?"

"Calm down," Luffy said, casually as if there wasn't anything to be upset about. "You're alive, right?"

"NO THANKS TO YOU!" present-day Usopp yelled out. "FROM MY POINT OF VIEW IT LOOKED LIKE HE WAS TRYING TO KILL ME!"

"They got you out didn't they?" Zoro laughed as memory Sanji came out and asked what was going on, and what the noise was all about. And since yelling at Luffy wasn't doing much good, memory Usopp jumped over to Sanji and began to yell at him.

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO MADE US GET THE STUPID THINGS!" he screamed at him.

"You were more than happy to get them!" the current Sanji pointed out, "It's not my fault that you almost died here."

"Pretty lame way to have gone if you ask me," Franky added with a shake of the head. Really? Death by octopi? He couldn't imagine a less manly way to go.

"Oh, why don't you leave me alone?" Usopp moaned out in despair just as they heard memory Zoro's voice calling over the intercom suddenly, "Hey! There's something in the water!"

"Oh," the current Zoro said in understanding. "It's this moment then…?"

"What moment?" Brook asked curiously as memory Usopp seemed to forget all about being angry at the moment and they all went to the side of the ship to see what he was talking about. They followed their gaze, and they saw right away that floating through the water appeared to be some kind of barrel with a message strapped to the top.

"Oh!" Brook gasped at the sight of it. "It's a Flash Barrel!"

"I take it you know all about it?" Sanji asked him knowingly as memory Usopp called out that the sign said treasure on top and Luffy stretched out his hand to grab hold of it and carefully pull it in.

"Yes," Brook sighed, "I picked up one myself just before I came to Thriller Bark for the first time! I couldn't believe my luck! It had been years since I've had any alcohol to drink!"

"Sounds miserable," Zoro said sympathetically at the thought of fifty years without his drink.

"Anyway," Brook sighed, "I learned the hard way that those barrels carry red flares inside them to signal Thriller Bark—they cast those barrels into the sea to wait for passing ships and for someone to open them."

"How do they see it though if they're so far away?" Chopper asked. "I mean… even with those red flares as signals, we couldn't see Thriller Bark anywhere! And that place is huge!"

"Probably with Perona," Zoro said, remembering how that girl used to rant on and on about how much she missed Thriller Bark, all those zombie pets of hers, and even sighed a few times about how she even missed spying on the ships that became trapped inside the fog.

"Yes, with her powers I guess that would make sense," Robin nodded, thinking it all over. About a minute later, Luffy pulled the barrel up onto the deck as he, Chopper, and Usopp began to do a dance and sang happily at how they found some treasure all by themselves.

Current Nami sighed, "Of course, things are never that easy for us…" how she wished that they could find treasure just floating in the sea… just a few million, she wasn't asking for much.

"Well, where's the fun if we were just handed stuff?" Zoro asked with a shrug as memory Robin and Nami walked out of the Aquarium Bar and looked over the barrel.

"Sorry, guys," past Nami called to them, getting their attention, "I hate to say it, but that's not treasure. It's just a barrel full of alcohol."

"My kind of treasure," current Zoro couldn't help but add.

"How do you know?" Luffy questioned her curiously. "You haven't even looked inside!"

She pointed to the sign and answered, "See how it says 'Offering of Treasure to the Sea God' on it? That means that someone has made an offering to the gods for a safe journey and good fortune."

"I don't see the point in that," present-day Zoro commented. "I mean… what makes them think that it's going to work? If there are sea gods, I would probably think they wouldn't be happy over the thought of humans trying to bribe them."

"I don't know," Franky said with a shrug, "Luffy will do pretty much anything for some meat. Feed him once, and he'll do whatever you want."

"So you mean to tell me that we picked it up for nothing?" memory Usopp asked grimly.

"Well, too late to regret it," past Zoro began, "I say that we have a taste of that stuff."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" past Usopp exclaimed quickly. "Are you crazy? That's supposed to be bad luck!"

"The alcohol from that was terrible anyway," the current Zoro grumbled at that.

"There was never any in there to begin with," Brook reminded him.

"I know, that's what makes it so terrible," Zoro answered, his throat aching for a drink, and he wished he grabbed one back from the Sunny.

"I see that Luffy's not the only one who thinks with his stomach," Nami sighed at the sight of them as her past self told them that as long as they pray before they drink it, it should be just fine—naturally memory Zoro looked skeptical about the whole thing, but you could see his ears perking up when she added that she heard that alcohol that had been in the sea for a long time was supposed to be especially tasty.

"That is true," current Franky said, suddenly dying for a drink himself. His past self didn't need to be told anything else, he was all too ready to go and open it as the others all began to talk about throwing a party.

"Hey, God!" Luffy yelled to the sky, as if hoping that he could hear them. "I hope you don't mind, but we're gonna be opening this barrel! That okay?"

"What God are you talking about, Luffy?" memory Zoro asked, the smile fading slightly. "If memory serves me, didn't you already deal with that dumbass 'god' back on Sky Island? Who do you think you're praying to?"

"To whoever is listening I guess?" current Usopp offered.

"They do say that people suddenly become religious when they're in trouble or when they want something," present-day Robin stated to herself as Luffy began to untie the ropes around the barrel.

"Okay," Luffy said, "Here goes nothing." When the ropes fell away and he opened the lid however, there was a loud BOOM and the next thing that anyone was aware of was that the barrel exploded right in front of him and there was a great, red flash as something shot up into the sky like they had just let off a firework and exploding right above their heads.

"And that's when we start the next adventure, huh?" Usopp asked sadly as Brook nodded.

"Once they see that flash, they keep the ship in their sights at all times and don't let you go until they trap you inside Thriller Bark's gate," he informed them all.

"Jackasses all of them if you ask me," Franky muttered as their past selves around them were trying to figure out what happened. Once the flash had vanished completely from the sky, memory Robin explained to them that it had been a flare and Zoro laughed, saying that it was probably someone's idea of a dumb joke.

"I wish that's all it was," present-day Nami sighed to herself, remembering how she had nightmares of being chased by zombies and that Invisible Man for weeks after that.

"If it were a joke," memory Robin said slowly, but she didn't look convinced at that thought, "Then there's nothing to worry about… but…"

"Oh, no," pleaded memory Usopp fretfully. "Don't say 'but'. That's not good, Robin. That's never a good thing!"

"No, it's not…" the current Robin sighed, "But we're used to it."

"It's possible that someone meant for us to find the barrel and set off the flare," memory Robin informed them, and at her words, it sent a wave of panic.

"WHAT?" past Usopp shrieked out as everyone turned to high alert, staring around wildly. "ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY THIS WAS SOME KIND OF TRAP? BY OPENING THE BARREL AND SETTING OFF THAT FLARE, WE GAVE OURSELVES AWAY? CHOPPER!"

Memory Chopper looked startled at Usopp barking orders at him, but jumped to attention when he yelled at him to look around for any enemy ships or bounty hunters. Chopper jumped up to Sunny's head and looked around with a pair of binoculars, but they knew that there wasn't any point to this.

"Of course they wouldn't come right out," Sanji said, glancing up at the clear sky and hot sun. "It's too bright here for them.

Brook sighed nervously, not looking forward to seeing that terrible fog again, but he brightened up at the thought of seeing his meeting at long last. That was something that he couldn't wait to see.

"No enemy ships sighted!" memory Chopper yelled out, looking around in all directions.

Past Usopp, who had been leaning over the railing to try and see something, but there weren't any ships around for miles. "I don't see anything over here, either!" he called to them all.

"I don't see any ships, either," past Nami added, but she was looking uneasy as she was glancing around, as if she could sense that there was something seriously wrong. Just then a light wind picked up and her eyes widened. "GUYS!" she suddenly screamed before she turned and ran up the back of the ship, "We have to turn the ship to 10 o'clock! NOW!"

"How are you able to do that?" present-day Chopper asked her curiously, "Know just when a storm or something's coming."

"I just follow what my senses tell me," she answered with a smile as the past Straw Hats asked what was going on, and her memory self shouting back that there was going to be a storm in just five minutes. "If the temperature, humility, or even when the wind suddenly changes, that can only mean that there's something wrong."

None of them could see anything but clear skies around them, but they knew Nami well enough to know that she was never wrong when it came to a sudden storm. Memory Nami gave them the order to head southeast and go straight ahead for two hours, which they responded at once as if they had always known the weather was going to change. Five minutes later, the storm had arrived; dark clouds covered the once clear sky and it suddenly began to rain a downpour so thick that it was hard to see anything through the deluge. Thunder echoed across the sky and there were flashes of lightning that reminded them all of Eneru's lightning attacks that lit up around them.

"As perfectly accurate as ever, Nami my love!" current Sanji sighed dreamily, "You never cease to amaze me!"

"Well, I try," she laughed as he fell over in joy at the smile.

"And you're as modest as ever!" he swooned happily as Zoro fought the urge to gag. Luffy and memory Chopper were struggling to stay on the deck as the waves rocked the ship around like a toy and it was memory Franky who came to the rescue and yelled, "Hey! This calls for 'Plan B'!"

Understanding at once what he was talking about, they furled the sails and readied themselves for a sudden rush.

"This is gonna be good," current Franky beamed and rubbed his hands together. He just loved seeing his baby show off all that she could do.

"Speaking of which," Robin asked him, "You removed the paddles didn't you from the Soldier Dock System didn't you?"

"I took them off the sides," he answered, "I had to make room for everything else I had. But that's ok! I set an engine that is just as powerful as the two paddles right under the ship!"

"Yeah! Your Franky General is so sweet!" Usopp cheered at the thought of it and Chopper and Brook both let out similar cries of joy as Nami and Robin just looked at them with expressionless eyes.

But the memory was still going strong, and they watched as Franky turned the crank at the wheel so that the two sides that held the number zero opened and two giant paddle-wheels came sliding out on either side before they began to turn and they were flying across the water, the wind so strong that it blew some of their past selves backwards, but the current Straw Hats were all laughing at the memory, all of them feeling a strong surge of joy at seeing all this over again.

They rode their way through the storm for only a short time before things seemed to have slowed to a stop—but they noticed that something was still wrong. Though the rain had stopped… the thunder and lightning also vanishing… and the waves suddenly eerily calm… it was still pitch dark around them for a heavy fog hanging thick in the air and Brook shivered.

"I had hoped never to see this place again," he whispered softly, staring around him at the fog that had been his 'home' for so long. "It makes me feel sick to my stomach to be back here," he went on sadly, "Though I don't have a stomach any longer…"

"It must be hard on you," Nami sighed, glancing at him, "But… it's not like we're really here, right? It's kinda like we're facing our own inner demons by seeing places like this." She thought of how she felt when she saw Arlong Park and fought a shiver herself. "I think… in some way, this is actually good for us."

"Nami-san…" Brook said softly as she closed her eyes for a moment before looking forward.

"It's nothing," she sighed, shaking her head hard for a moment and pushed those dark memories to the back of her mind as their memory selves were asking where they were.

"You guys don't think that we actually made it to this place already do you?" memory Nami asked, suddenly looking nervous as she looked at the fog, "I don't think I'm ready for this yet…!"

"You mean we're getting close to Fishman Island?" memory Usopp asked brightly as the current one shook his head at his naivety here. If he only knew…

"Oh, no…" Luffy whispered, and he leaned over so that Usopp could see his face. He spoke in a dark voice, and his eyes were clouded over by the rim of his hat, and a rather devilish smile spreading across his face. "Before we get there, we have to pass through the Sea of Ghosts."

"I noticed that everyone was suddenly acting like you, Robin," current Usopp hissed to her and she smiled back.

"I now get why you like to scare everyone," Sanji laughed as his past self pulled out a box of matches and remembered what was going to happen as the smile on memory Usopp's face was suddenly wiped off.

"Oh, yeah," memory Franky said with just a creepy face as Luffy's, his sunglasses were up so that they could see his dark eyes, and the smile he had was appropriate to one would have when they were about to do something truly twisted. "I should've warned you earlier, but we're actually in a part of the World Famous… FLORIAN TRIANGLE! Many sail into these waters… but once they do… they never come back out!"

"I notice that none of you said anything to me about this before we got here," current Usopp hissed to them all and they all laughed.

"Well, it's your fault for not being around to hear about it," Zoro offered.

"And it's not like that we didn't plan on it this way," Sanji added, "But after we left Water 7, and with everything else happening so fast that there wasn't any time to talk about it. Anyway, what would that have helped if you knew about beforehand?"

"I could've done something!" he yelled, "None of my exorcism charms worked at all! It's because I haven't had any time to really prepare them!"

"Well, something tells me that they wouldn't have helped anyway," Zoro shrugged as memory Usopp had turned bone white and Luffy chuckled darkly to himself at the sight of Usopp freaking out and stuttering.

"Yeah! There's supposed to be ghosts in this sea," he said happily as current Zoro and Sanji noticed something. Hiding out right behind them, just at Chopper's height, was a little ghost hanging there. At first glance, it looked cute, but Zoro's eyes narrowed at the sight of it—angry at the very sight of it. But neither one pointed this out as memory Usopp was yelling at them all, saying that they had to be lying because how come he was the only one who didn't know about it.

Luffy laughed again as he jumped down from the railing. "Old Lady Kokoro told us about it," he said. "She said that we might find living skeletons around here!"

"Yohohoho! That's true!" Brook said joyfully.

"And I still think that rumor started was because of you," Robin told him calmly. "I can't think of any other reason for that."

"Like I said before, I rarely saw people," Brook answered, "Anyone who did pass through always turned tail and fled at the sight of me."

"And now you can't get them off you, Soul King," Franky pointed out and Brook laughed happily.

Memory Usopp was shaking so badly that his entire body was trembling, as he whimpered out, "L-living… skeletons…?"

That was when memory Sanji struck a match. "That's all just in your imagination," he said ghostly, "Don't scare him that easily, you guys."

"OH, LIKE YOU WERE ANY BETTER!" the current Usopp yelled at Sanji, who laughed as he watched.

"I couldn't help it!" he chortled as they all were laughing along with him.

"Listen, Usopp…" past Sanji said in a spine-chilling tone, and holding up the match in front of his face so that he looked ghoulish, "…the truth here is that every year over a hundred ships and their sailors disappear from these waters. What's more… they say that the spirits of those people are cursed to sail here for all eternity…!"

"That's not what Kokoro said," present-day Chopper whispered in terror at hearing all that.

"It was all a joke, Chopper," current Sanji laughed, getting Chopper in a headlock. "I was just trying to scare you guys. I didn't think that we'd really see anything."

"DAAAAAAAAH!" memory Usopp screeched. "WHY ARE YOU GUYS ONLY TELLING ME THIS NOW?!"

"What difference would that have made?" memory Sanji asked, just as morbidly as Usopp wailed out in terror.

"I gotta protect myself!" he cried. "I gotta find something that I can protect myself from those evil spirits!" He and memory Chopper were both running around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to quickly make some kind of item that could protect them from any kind of spirit, but at that moment they heard something. It was a eerie tune echoing out across the sea… like a ghost from the past singing sadly to themself…

"Yohohoho…

Yohohoho."

At that familiar song, Brook was looking around excitedly, his heart beating so fast from excitement that it felt like it was going to burst out of his chest at any second; not that had a heart anymore. But he just couldn't believe that they finally came to the memories where he finally met them. He was so tired of being the only one left out…

Everyone from the past was looking around for the singer of that melody, but there wasn't anything that they could see through this thick fog. Even the past Straw Hats who had been teasing Usopp suddenly looked uneasy at the song, as they were asking no one in particular where that singing was coming from.

At first they heard the sound of ancient wood creaking and moaning, the rustling of torn sails flapping in the light wind… and through the fog, they saw where it was all coming from. A large, rickety ship was gliding right behind them. One so large that it was at least twice, if not three times, the size of Sunny… covered in mold and green slime, the wood rotting and broken, one of its smaller masts was broken in such a way that it looked as if it would fall over at any moment… and the ghostly song was coming from inside it.

"Looking at it like this, you can't say that it doesn't look haunted," Zoro said as he watched the ship sail closer to them.

"I see your point," Brook said softly, looking at it and feeling a surge of remorse go through him at the sight of his old ship and those lonely years he was forced to spend alone on it. Perhaps the others felt him shaking, for they gave him encouraging looks and he nodded, letting them know that he was just fine.

Memory Usopp was the first of the past Straw Hats to see the ship and he let out an ear-piercing scream at the sight of it, getting everyone's attention. And when they looked up, everyone but Robin screamed out, "A GHOST SHIP?!"

"Yohohoho…

Yohohoho!"

"I never realized how creepy that song sounded when sung in that tone," Sanji commented calmly as they watched themselves stare up in fright as the ship drifted by almost innocently. Every single person had a look of terror on their face aside from Robin—who alone looked calm. Everyone else's eyes seemed to roll into the backs of their heads and their jaws had fallen open as the singing still continuing to sing out in that sad tone…

"Yohohoho…

Yohohoho…!"

The shadow of the ship draped over the Sunny like a dark cloak, the sadness hanging around was so thick that you could feel it in the air and they suddenly felt dwarfed by the sheer size of the boat towering over their heads. The Weakling Trio all had frightened tears falling from their eyes at what they were seeing.

"W…" memory Nami stuttered out, her hair actually standing on end, "What's this song?"

Memory Usopp clamped his hands over his ears. "QUICK!" he cried. "EVERYONE! YA GOTTA COVER YOUR EARS! THE SPIRITS OF THE DEAD ARE SINGING! IF WE LISTEN TO THE SONG, THEN WE'LL BE TRAPPED HERE FOREVER!"

"You were all that scared of me?" Brook asked in worry, as Usopp blushed.

"How were we supposed to know that you weren't an evil spirit?" he asked defensively, "You didn't exactly make the best first impression you know."

Memory Chopper screamed and covered his ears desperately as Usopp went on to yell that if you hear an evil spirit talk, it'll drag you out to sea. Chopper screamed even wider and rammed his hat so far down over his head that the rim seemed touch his shoulders.

"Where'd you get your information?" current Robin asked curiously. Really, where did Usopp get his information?

"I read it in a book!" Usopp retorted.

"The same one that talked about zombies?" Nami asked tiredly, "And how if you get bitten by one you'll turn into one next?"

"Well, they did bite me!" he yelled back. Better to be safe than sorry anyway! Why didn't anyone else think about safety here? But the singing continued, with memory Zoro calming down enough to put his hand on his sword and slowly began to unsheathe it, ready for anything, as he muttered with a smirk that he would cut down any enemy up there.

No one said another word as they watched the ship slowly pass them buy, and finally… looking down at them from the side of the railing was a figure covered in shadows… watching them. They couldn't see his face at first, but as soon as their eyes fully adjusted to the darkness and they passed by closer to the ship they could see him…

Standing there with a face as white as a ghost was without a doubt a…

"S…Ske…" memory Usopp stammered, tears forming in his eyes, "SKELETON!"

And the current Brook screamed in terror at the sight of his own face as Sanji gave him a hard kick to the head, shouting out, "WHY ARE YOU YELLING TOO?!"

"I didn't see it coming," he answered, but then he was practically glowing in happiness as he cried out, "Oh! But the joy I feel! I have finally arrived! I'm finally, truly here! I'm so happy!"

His past self didn't seem the least bit surprised as he looked down at them with a cup of tea in his hands, singing to himself like nothing was going on:

"Gather up all of the crew…

Time to ship out Binks's Brew…"

And at those words, he took such a loud slurping noise from his tea that they could hear it from here. Their past selves seemed to be choking as they gawked at him, and the ship continued to pass until it stopped several yards away from them, the skeleton out of their sights. With the final round of singing, "Yohohoho…!"

"I see now why you were all so scared of me," Brook stated, sounding a little guilty. The sound of his singing truly did sound like it came from something from the otherworld…

"Don't be," Zoro said with a shrug. "It's not like we were in any danger, here."

Once the shock had worn off and the singing stopped, Luffy snapped out of his fear-stricken state and a big smile was on his face, his eyes glowing as he turned around and asked the others—as if making sure he wasn't dreaming, "Hey, did you guys see that? That skeleton was singing!"

Memory Usopp and Chopper recognized that eager look and they knew that it didn't mean anything good. It could only mean that Luffy wanted to go over there and see that skeleton for himself.

"YOU IDIOT! SKELETONS CAN'T SING!" memory Usopp screeched as Chopper nodded firmly by his side. "THIS CAN'T BE REAL! THIS HAS TO BE SOME KIND OF DREAM!"

But Luffy was no longer listening, telling the others around him, his eyes shining, that he wanted to go over to that ship and see it for himself.

"Your words mean so much to me, Luffy-san!" Brook said tearfully, feeling happiness inside him at the thought that Luffy wasn't afraid of him. Luffy looked ready to jump ship and go see for himself until Sanji grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and told him to wait for a second. As Luffy whined, memory Zoro held up a few straws to Usopp, Chopper, and Nami and the three stared back in shock at what he was suggesting.

"Alright," he said. "Here's how it will work. We'll all draw straws to see who goes."

"WHAT?" the three screamed at him, looking ready to run for their beds and hide underneath them.

"Well, someone had to go and chaperon Luffy," present-day Franky pointed out.

"Why us?" Usopp moaned out.

"What are you complaining about?" Zoro asked as he jerked his thumb at their musician, "You didn't go, and Brook wasn't going to bite you."

"We didn't know that at the time did we?" Usopp demanded. "No offense, Brook."

"Not at all," Brook answered calmly. "If it were me, I'd be scared out of my mind! Not that I have one anymore."

"Not that sending supervisors with Luffy worked that time," Zoro added, glaring at Sanji and Nami, who shrugged helplessly—unable to think of anything they could say about that.

"Why?!" memory Usopp screamed out, on Zoro's right side. "Why not just let him go with the ones who actually wanna go?"

"Yeah, just leave the rest of us out of it!" past Nami shrieked out on his left side, and Chopper climbing up onto Zoro's head, yelling out, "Just let them go!"

"Yeah, but then who would've been there to protect us?" current Chopper moaned out.

"You sure about that?" past Zoro asked before they all looked and they saw that Luffy, Robin, Sanji, Franky, were standing on the railing and each one clearly wanting to go and see for themselves.

"You guys ready?" Luffy asked, stretching out his legs—looking ready to jump.

"SUPER ready!" memory Franky cheered on.

"Why do you all like doing stuff like this?" present-day Usopp yelled at the others. "What if that had been a ghost ship and you all got cursed?! What would you have done then?!"

"Like what kind of curse?" Franky asked curiously.

"I don't know!" he yelled as Chopper paled at the thought, "What if you were cursed with nothing but bad luck? Or cursed to death?!"

"Well, that would've been interesting to see," Robin commented curiously.

"Robin... you're getting to be as bad as the boys," Nami whispered, sounding close to crying. Couldn't she have one of these powerhouses on her side for once? Why did they always want to choose to fight?

Seeing that they were outvoted, the three memory selves fell to their knees in defeat. They knew that they had to draw straws or risk being left behind all alone. But as Zoro walked to the others, they clung onto his legs, forming a kind of chain as they said that they would draw straws, but begged that the three of them at least be excluded from it.

"Oh, big babies," current Zoro said as he watched them continue to cry and cling there. "You're acting like you were going to die if you went."

"You didn't have to cry like that," Franky said, feeling a little embarrassed at seeing them grovel for mercy at their feet.

"We don't have freakish strength or powers to protect us like you!" Nami yelled, but then she thought it over and added, "Accept for you, Chopper!'

"Yeah, why are you so scared?" Sanji asked him as Chopper turned red, not sure how to answer.

"It's all through experience," Robin told him kindly, "If you want, I'm sure that Franky or Sanji could show you a few moves?"

"Really?" he asked excitedly, looking at them.

"I don't see why not," Sanji said, wondering if he could show Chopper a few basic kicking moves.

"If you want, I could make you a robot too, bro!" Franky offered.

"You mean I could learn how to shoot a beam?!" Chopper asked, his eyes bright.

"Don't you dare!" Nami yelled at him. As if they needed another person like Franky onboard!

"You guys don't have to come," Luffy whined, looking really annoyed at how everyone was acting about this. "I can go by myself! But if we don't hurry, then the ghost ship's gonna leave!"

"Yeah, nice try, captain," current Zoro said tiredly, remembering how they were forced to run from marines everywhere they went in Alabasta. Even if there didn't seem to be any chance that he could get into trouble, Luffy had proven time and time again that he could find it anywhere. Past Sanji told him that wasn't going to happen and they just decided to draw the straws already, with the three still on the ground, looking close to fainting.

After everything was said and done, the group of three were decided and they watched as they took a little boat over to the side of the 'ghost ship'.

Past Nami was in the boat at the bottom, crying her eyes out as she asked to anyone who would listen, "Why me? Why did I have to go? I wanna go back! I shouldn't be here! I'm so screwed!"

"Why couldn't one of you guys trade with me?" current Nami demanded, "We need to start trading here! That way we could send someone else if we don't want to go!"

"I'm with that idea!" Usopp yelled, his hand held up.

"Me too!" Chopper chirped, raising his hoof.

"Too bad, but that also works the other way," Zoro pointed out and they froze at the thought. "Yeah, I thought so. Just suck it up and deal with it."

"Yohohoho! You're as harsh as ever, Zoro-san!" Brook said happily as he watched Luffy and memory Sanji already climbing up the rigging on the side of the ship. The rope looking moldy and was starting to unravel, yet it was strong enough to hold their weight—and the two were looking down at the boat to where Nami was sobbing.

"Hey, Nami!" Luffy called. "You're still not climbing? Hurry up!"

"SHUT UP, MORON!" she screamed up at him.

"You see?" Luffy questioned. "I told you that I'm fine going alone!"

"Forget it!" memory Sanji snapped at him. "If we let you do that then you'll do something stupid and get us all cursed!"

"Yeah, you guys did a great job here," Zoro said in annoyance.

"Sorry," the two of them said as memory Sanji called down to Nami with hearts in his eyes, proclaiming that he would protect her from anything that might be waiting for them. She didn't look very convinced of that as she continued to climb up right behind them.

"C'mon, Nami!" Luffy called. "I thought that you wanted to find a treasure ship!"

"Treasure? No," Brook stated, "I'm afraid that I had nothing of value on the ship… at least not to most."

And he thought of all the instruments, and the remains of his dead crewmates and gave a silent prayer that they were all still resting peacefully back at Thriller Bark. It hasn't been easy, but he was keeping the promise he made to them all. He hoped that they knew that and understood why it was taking him so long to fulfill their last wish.

"DOES THIS LOOK LIKE A TREASURE SHIP!" memory Nami screamed at him. "DIDN'T YOU SEE THAT MOVING SKELETON?"

"He's probably the guard!" Luffy answered as he continued to climb up, with Nami grudgingly making her way up the rigging as well. "Let's go up and find him!"

But at that moment, Luffy had stopped climbing and they looked up to see what had caught his attention. If they didn't know just what was going on, they would've thought that memory Brook looked rather intimidating from where he stood. He was standing right at the top, looking down at them, and they knew that it was impossible to know what his expression was. However, it appeared to be shock rather than anything else.

"Looking real scary there, bro," Franky informed Brook.

"Yes," he agreed, "I see what you mean. I was just so stunned to see you all there that I thought that I was dreaming at first. It wouldn't have been the first time that I hallucinated enough to think I was seeing people. But they were always of Laboon or my old crew… when I realized that I didn't recognize any of you, I knew that I either lost it completely or you were real! And how glad I am that you are! Yohohoho!"

Not everyone seemed to share that thought though. Luffy stared up at him with wide eyes as they could see memory Sanji gritting his teeth—as if he was already planning on how to take this guy out… and poor Nami seemed to have frozen in her place with tears flooding down her face before she screamed out as if she thought she was about to die, and from behind them they could hear memory Chopper crying and Usopp quickly saying a prayer.

"Evil spirits stay away! Evil spirits stay back!" Usopp chanted, frantically. "Luffy! Rest in peace!"

"Thanks a lot, Mr. No-Help!" current Nami yelled at their Usopp who shrugged helplessly.

"What else could I do?" he demanded, and he made a vow to never tell Nami that he had been so happy that she got picked to go instead of him.

"Hey!" Luffy called up to Brook, who continued to look down at them with amazement. "Can we come up?"

Memory Brook seemed too stunned to speak, and rather than answer, he moved backwards, as if afraid that he would scare them off if he didn't. Luffy blinked before he continued to climb up, even as Nami cried and Sanji seemed to be readying himself for a fight. But they all knew that there was nothing to worry about. They sat on the deck and watched as the three slowly climbed up to where Brook was…

And there he was just as they remembered him. An extremely tall skeleton dressed in somewhat tattered formal clothing, a large afro on his head, and while he carried his cup of tea in on hand he had his sword-can hooked into his arm.

"This is so surreal!" current Brook said softly, knowing that he would remember this day until he died. Though he was already dead…

"Tell me about it," Zoro informed him. Luffy stood there with memory Sanji next to him, and Nami cowering behind him. For perhaps a minute, Brook stood there and stared at them all as keenly as they were staring at him. And when he finally seemed to understand that they were, indeed, real; he broke into a loud laugh of joy, startling them all.

"How do you do? Yohohoho!" he practically yelled out in bliss, taking his hat off and tipping it to them. "Please accept my apologies about earlier. Our eyes may have met, but I wasn't able to greet you! You just surprised me so much! It's just been so many years since I've seen people! All I ever see is empty ship after empty ship!?" he asked to himself.

"It had truly been too long for my taste," current Brook said dully before he brightened up and added, "Though I don't have a tongue to taste anything with anymore!"

But his past self shook his head. "It's so terrifying! Oh," he added as if he feared that he was being rude, "Please! Come inside and make yourselves at home! We'll be able to have a nice long talk over tea!"

"Where'd you get tea while you were out here?" Robin couldn't help but ask as the three continued to stare at Brook.

"Oh, mostly destroyed, empty ships pass by all the time, though there's never anyone on board," he sighed. "But when I do work up the courage to look, I find food among the wreckages. It's never much, but it helped to keep me strong to fight off hunger pains! Though I am a skeleton! Yohohoho!"

"Well, we know that you're feeling better if you keep making all of these jokes," Zoro said and Brook laughed again.

"I am just so happy!" he said joyfully, "Just seeing how much has happened, and how we've finally met! It brings back so many memories! Oh, I am now so overjoyed that my heart will burst I know! Ah! But still, I don't have a heart! Yohohoho!"

Just then, Luffy smiled as he stared at Brook like a child would at getting a really cool birthday present and he cried out to the other two excitedly, "See? Look at him! He's a real skeleton! A skeleton with a big afro and he's talking!"

"And proud of it!" present-day Brook said as he patted his hair proudly.

"I see it and I still don't believe it…!" memory Sanji whispered, slack-jawed. That was when memory Brook spotted Nami and he gasped happily at the sight of her.

"My, my, my!" he chortled. "My lady, you're a sight to behold! Beautiful!"

A look of sheer terror came over memory Nami's face and she backed away a little, shaking her hands a little in front of her as she tried to tell him that she wasn't at all beautiful.

"That's the first time that I've ever heard you say anything like that," current Usopp said watching them and Nami gave him a bonk on the head.

"SHUT UP!" she yelled at him.

The current Straw Hats knew right away what was going to happen as memory Brook made his first skull joke to them all, and then he fastened his front, shined his shoes, and put his can and teacup down before he walked right up to her and asked in a polite voice, "Pardon me, miss, but would you be so kind as to show me your panties?"

And that ended just as well as all the other times he asked her. She gave him a hard kick to his head and screamed out, "LIKE HELL!" as she sent him crashing to the deck.

"Oh! What happy memories!" current Brook said and they knew that he'd be smiling if he could. "To think that I finally had human contact again! Though the pain to my head was bad, the joy inside me was swelling up! How good it felt to have a normal talk with someone again!"

"Brook, why do you always ask a girl to see her panties when you meet her?" Chopper asked curiously and they all felt sweatdrop hanging around their heads and were glad that Brook didn't answer as the memory Brook started to speak again.

"YOHOHOHOHO!" he laughed as he fell to the floor with a huge bump on his head. "Now that was harsh! You managed to bruise my skin! Ah! Though I don't have skin since I am nothing but bones!"

"JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!" memory Nami yelled, moving back to stand behind Sanji again, as if afraid that he would attack her for that kick, with Sanji staring at him in amazement and Luffy laughing at the sight of it all.

"How is this possible?" memory Sanji asked himself.

"Sorry, Brook, but nothing about you makes any sense to me," the current Sanji told him.

"Really?" he asked back curiously as Luffy asked his past self if he could poop.

"WHY WOULD YOU EVEN ASK SOMETHING SO DISGUSTING?" memory Sanji yelled at him.

"Well, they do say that the most disturbing questions are the ones you want to know the most," Robin offered.

"I rather not know thank you!" Nami sighed.

"And it's interesting how I do poop," Brook began before Sanji and Nami both yelled at him to shut up.

Memory Brook got right back up, calmly went over to the table to get his weapon and teacup before he walked back to stand in front of them again and answered, "Yes, I can poop."

"DON'T ANSWER HIM ABOUT THAT!" Sanji cried.

"I just met you, but you were already driving me crazy," present-day Sanji sighed.

"But that just means that we're having fun! Yohohoho!" Brook answered.

"How does that make any sense?" Franky asked him and Brook thought it over for a moment.

"I'm not sure," he confessed and Usopp fell over.

"THEN SAY WHAT YOU MEAN!" he yelled as memory Sanji started to ask him all sorts of questions.

"Oh, never mind that!" he asked quickly, pointing a finger at him. "First off, if you're really just a skeleton, then how the hell can you alive and talking? Who are you? Why are you here and on this ship? What kind of things happen in this sea? Hurry up and give me some real answers!"

"I would've answered if you had quit talking," present-day Brook pointed out. "That wasn't very polite of you, Sanji-san."

"OH, DON'T YOU LECTURE ME ABOUT BAD MANNERS!" he yelled back as Luffy told them to hold on for a second. He walked right up to memory Brook, took a long look at him before he broke into a big grin.

"More importantly, how about you join my pirate crew?" he asked as memory Sanji and Nami looked as if they had been stuck in the faces.

The current Brook was watching the whole thing, as if he was the only one to do so. The rest of the world seemed to have faded around him and time had frozen. All that mattered was this one moment. He remembered this moment so well as well. It had been so long since he had spoken with other people, and to hear another's voice in his non-existing ears seemed to hurt. But he didn't care.

Five years before he met everyone here, he had finally made it to land and thought that he could get that broken rudder fixed at last and return to Laboon. But instead, all he found were zombies, and had his shadow stolen. For the next five years, he had been forced to travel around without even the tiniest glimmer of hope. He felt more alone than ever… trapped all alone in the dark, and hiding from the sun's rays on that big ship… and he didn't even have his own shadow to keep him company anymore!

But finally, after five years, he remembered hearing voices through the fog and saw the tiny ship coming into his view. And he was so stunned at the sights of other, living people that he just couldn't think of anything to say to them at first. He wanted to do something to keep them from leaving, to think of something to say, but before he could, he saw them climbing up the side of the ship and he had thought it was too good to be true.

Though he knew that he couldn't truly go with them at the time, he just had to accept so that he could interact with them all and fill the empty void that he had been forced to live for all those years. Even if it was just for a short while.

"Well…" memory Brook said, "Why not?"

Luffy just laughed happily as the other two looked ready to scream at him for that.

"You would think that you two would have had more control over him," Usopp whispered to them, who shrugged back, really having no excuse to give them.

"But why did he want me to join in the first place? He didn't know anything about me," Brook pointed out in bafflement.

"For the same reason he wanted Chopper to join," Robing giggled. "He thought you were cool."

Brook thought that over for a moment before he laughed again. "How kind you are, Luffy-san!"

And they could only watch as Luffy took Brook back with them and were all on the Thousand Sunny as if nothing had happened and memory Brook was happily greeting everyone, and referred to himself as 'All Dead Bones' Brook.

"Luffy didn't really think that everyone would take to the fact that he brought a walking skeleton back with him?" Zoro asked mildly, suddenly reminded of how a little kid would when he found a stray animal on his way home and ask his parents if he could keep it.

Funnily enough, memory versions of Zoro, Usopp, and Franky all gave an answer that a parent might give. "ARE YOU KIDDING? WHO THE HELL IS THIS GUY?"

"See? You're already like a member of the family," Robin laughed as she watched the memory with great amusement as Luffy chuckled, and memory Sanji and Nami both seemed to be embarrassed.

Memory Chopper held up a silver cross, and was holding it in front of him like he thought it would protect him. "It's… a talking… skeleton?" he whimpered, his eyes rolling back and he seemed to look almost like a ghost himself. The others just stared at him, unsure of what to say or do as memory Robin looked at him like he was a particular interesting book that she was reading.

As soon as he saw her, memory Brook told her how beautiful she was and asked if she would show him her panties. Which resulted in memory Nami throwing her shoe at him, yelling him to shut up. Just when you would think that it couldn't get any weirder, memory Usopp came back out dressed in a purpled cape with a matching fedora on his head as well as a necklace of prayer beads in one hand, a golden cross in the other as well as a garlic necklace around his neck.

"He wasn't a vampire, Usopp," Robin pointed out, looking to the garlic.

"Well, he didn't have a reflection at the time and you can never be too careful," he answered in awkwardness.

"Where'd you get all that stuff anyway?" Franky couldn't help but ask.

"Don't question me if you aren't prepared to handle it!" Usopp yelled at him as memory Chopper stared wide-eye at Usopp's evil dispersion kit.

Now taking a few shaky steps forward, memory Usopp stammered, as if it took all his courage to do so, "O-okay, you s-skeleton thingy! We d-don't want a-any trouble! Just l-leave us be! E-Evil spirit be gone!"

"Evil?" current Brook asked. Sure, he looked scary, but evil? But his past self was looking around, clearly thinking that he was talking about something else, and was even backing off.

"Hey, look! It's actually working!" memory Chopper. "Usopp, you're incredible!"

"Of course it's working!" memory Usopp said beaming, honestly thinking that he was doing it. "This is my own Evil Dispersion kit, this will protect us from any evil spirit that's coming to harm us!"

"And they don't really work is what you're trying to say," current Zoro said as Usopp and Chopper glared at him.

"What Evil Spirit?" memory Brook cried out worriedly, still staring around, but not seeing anything. "Where? I don't see it?"

"YOU'RE IT!" the two screamed at him in frustration and he yelled in shock, like he had no idea.

"This is just funny to watch," Nami whispered and they all nodded at her side as memory Usopp cursed to himself, adding that there was no way that a skeleton could walk, talk, or even have an afro. This all had to be a dream.

Memory Chopper looked so relieved at that, that he sighed in liberation before he fell onto his back and shut his eyes.

"You didn't really think that did you?" Robin asked in amusement.

"I thought that if it was just a dream, then I'll wake up any minute," Chopper answered her simply. 'And the nightmare will go away…' he added in thought, but he couldn't bear saying that out loud. Memory Brook seemed to be concerned for him and leaned over him, asking him to please wake up, and when Chopper did and saw Brook's face right above him, he screamed just as loudly as Nami had done before.

"Sorry, Chopper-san," Brook said timidly. "I know my face scares people easily. Though I don't truly have a face if you think about it."

"It's alright," Chopper said smiling up at him. "We were all acting crazy here. Who would've guessed it'd end up like this?"

"Well, Luffy almost always gets what he wants one way or the other," Robin chuckled. "So… I think that Brook coming with us was just another one of his whims."

"Ah… is that a compliment or an insult?" Brook asked her.

"WILL YOU JUST KNOCK IT OFF, ALREADY?" memory Zoro yelled at him before he turned to Luffy and demanded furiously, "Luffy, who is this guy? And why did you bring him back here?"

"He's funny isn't he?" Luffy asked eagerly. "He's gonna join us!"

"LIKE HELL HE IS!" memory Zoro shouted back. "YOU CAN'T JUST BRING ANYTHING YOU WANT INTO JOINING US!" He then turned to Sanji and Nami and demanded, "And you two! We sent you with him to keep him from doing something like this! HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?"

"We don't know," the two muttered in shame.

"I don't get how you could take a scolding from Zoro-san, and not from Luffy-san…" Brook pointed out, which made them all fell guilty again about that whole mess with the flag. At least almost everyone, for Sanji was glaring at Zoro, and it was clear that he only just realized this who thing as well.

The two were glaring so hard at each other that you could see the sparks of hatred flying from their eyes.

"Now, now, let's not argue," memory Brook began as they all seemed to form a kind of circle, and he cheered, "How about we head into the galley for some dinner?"

And then memory Zoro, Sanji, and Nami all yelled at him, "YOU CAN'T JUST DECIDE THAT!"

"I'm afraid that it's already a little late for that," current Robin chuckled as they watched how everyone went into the dining room, and waited as Sanji began to prepare dinner for them all, frying up some octopus and spices in a skillet. Memory Usopp and Chopper were sitting as far away from Brook as they could, both holding up their crosses like protection, with most of the others watching him suspiciously like they thought that he was going to start eating someone at any moment.

The only ones who were brave enough to sit near him were Luffy and Robin, both looking at him with curiosity rather than fear. Memory Brook however was staring around him in amazement, as if he had never been inside a dining room before.

"Oh, what an amazing dining room and kitchen you have!" he told them all excitedly. "I've never seen such a place! It's wondrous! Yohohoho!"

"Well, of course," current Franky beamed proudly. It was funny how his attitude changed slightly when he heard him admiring Sunny. And that was proven again when his past self smiled and told him just what good taste he had.

Memory Sanji, who was still cooking, warned him, "Don't get too friendly with him, Franky."

"But what I am really looking forward to is the food," memory Brook asked before he drooped in his seat. "I can't remember the last time that I had anything decent to eat." And with a miserable sigh, he slumped over so that he rested his bony head on the table and told them all that it had been so long since he had anything good that he feared that his stomach may have shriveled up. But then he sat back up and pulled his jacket back so that they could see his ribcage and added cheerfully, "But I don't have a stomach anymore since I am nothing but bones! Yohohoho!"

"And ever since then you've been doing your skull jokes," present-day Nami commented as Luffy laughed along with Brook. But then again, whatever makes him happy; she knew Brook well enough to know that he appreciates the simplest of things… just a few kind words are enough to drive him to tears of joy. Even if his personality often gets on her nerves… like when he asks to see their panties and making those stupid skull jokes when things are serious… heck, even Robin—the most patient person out of all of them snapped at him more than once.

"Now, since I am a gentleman," memory Brook began as he straightened himself up a little, "I shall sit patiently and wait for dinner to be served." But no sooner had he said that did he and Luffy began to chant for their dinner as they waved their utensils in the air.

"If that's your idea of sitting patiently, I hate to see what impatient is for you," current Sanji snarled at him as his past self yelled at Brook to shut up and wait when he asked for milk with his food.

"It had been such a long time since I've had such a delicious meal that I just couldn't wait!" current Brook informed him happily.

"I'm glad that you think like that," Sanji smirked to himself at that, that that there was someone who appreciated all the work he put into his cooking.

"Why would you think of that as a compliment?" Zoro asked, "Come on… the guy's been stuck in this place for years with mold and rotten things—no offense, Brook—and you're just barely above that."

"I hope you die out here someday!" Sanji yelled back as Luffy and memory Brook were really starting to introduce themselves. And it ended with Luffy asking him what he was.

"YOU MEAN YOU TWO DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT EACH OTHER?" memory Zoro shouted out.

"He has really got to stop inviting the strangest people to join us," Usopp whispered and Nami and Chopper nodded firmly behind him. Because who knew what else they would have next…? Knowing Luffy, he'd probably find something stranger than a living skeleton join them and it scared them at the very idea of what he could possibly find.

Memory Sanji soon finished and he had prepared a large banquet made of octopus, and everyone had so much food that it was piled high onto their plates. "Alright," he called. "We can throw the skeleton out after we eat. For now, everyone please dig in and enjoy!"

"Oh! That was my first meal with you all!" current Brook sighed happily as Luffy's mouth watered and stars shone in his eyes. When he told memory Brook to dig in, the skeleton looked ready to cry as he slumped forward, staring at the food.

"Actually…" he began in a rather thick voice, "I'm afraid my heart may swell before my stomach can." He held his hands to his face and sounded close to sobbing outright, and even memory Sanji was looking surprised at his reaction. At least until Brook turned to Robin and added, "Madame, your helping seems a little too large for you. How about we trade plates?"

"THERE'S PLENTY SO JUST SHUT UP AND EAT YOURS ALREADY!" memory Sanji yelled.

"You're enough to drive anyone crazy pal," the current Sanji sighed as Brook laughed at his past self's antics.

"Yohohoho, I'm sorry for that," he confessed, "But I was truly touched by your kindness towards me. Words can never express my joy! I truly love every moment of every meal I spend with you all!"

"Awwww…" Chopper blushed, clapping his hooves together. "Don't think you can win me over by compliments, you dumbass!"

"Yohohoho! If it weren't for you all, I shudder to think of how I might still be trapped in such a terrible place!" Brook went on. "Such fun times I've been having with you all! I shall work myself to the bone to make sure that we succeed in our goals! Ah, though I am nothing but bones! Yohohoho!"

Luffy and Brook were both having a grand time, with Luffy's mouth so full of octopus that they couldn't make out anything he was saying. Brook however seemed to understand and they were starting to have a long talk about how the octopus they were eating had actually been in the fish tank, which Brook seemed to marvel at such an idea.

"I see that you speak fluent food-talk," Robin commented as she watched with fascination.

"I've had plenty of practice with my old crew," Brook answered her.

"That, and I'm sure that you've been talking like that for most of your life as well," Nami added as Sanji glared at Brook. Now, he knew the reason behind Luffy's manners even if he didn't like it. Brook really didn't seem to have an excuse. One of these days he's going to beat some decent manners into him.

"Luffy's already treating you like one of the crew," Chopper also added, wishing that he could enjoy some of that octopus too as he pulled out his own lunchbox and started to eat his fill.

"Yohohoho! Luffy-san's just one of those people you can't help but enjoy being around!" Brook laughed happily as he watched himself and Luffy chant about taking a tour around the ship, only to have memory Sanji yell at them to keep it down.

Dinner was over very quickly after that, and once memory Brook had finished eating, filthy from the way he shoveled food into his mouth, he finally said, "Well now… now that I've had such a delicious dinner, I believe that I should tell you more about myself. I'm sure that you all are wondering by now."

"Yeah, sort of," everyone but Robin and Luffy said as they turned their attention back to him. That was when memory Brook told them the whole story. How he had eaten the Revive Revive Fruit, and that was the power to gain a second life. After cleaning his face off and picked his teeth he told them how he had once been a pirate as well, and he sailed the Grand Line with his crew before they came here to the Florian Triangle. He explained to them that they ended up coming across some strong and fearsome foes while they were lost here and everyone, including himself, had been killed.

"Did you ever figure out who it had been who killed you all?" Robin couldn't help but ask him and he shook his head.

"No," was all he could say. He honestly didn't know who it had been who was responsible for his crew's, as well as his own, deaths. He didn't remember too much of that day. After captain Yorki was forced to leave the Grand Line, was made as the acting captain from the rest of the crew, and after travelling for some time, he ended starting to make a name for himself. They had almost reached the halfway point when they ended up getting lost in his fog for some time. He remembered how another ship came out of nowhere… how strong they all were… how their weapons had all been coated with poison… and then they just left once they had done their job.

He shivered a little at that as he forced himself to just shake his head at the question, and Robin was looking guilty at asking such a thing.

"Sorry," she muttered to him.

"Don't be," he said, "I've often wondered who it had been myself. I understand. We won't bring it up again."

She nodded as memory Brook went on to explain that in life, his Devil Fruit had merely made it so that he was unable to swim. It wasn't until the day that he died did his powers activate. His soul had returned from the afterlife, and he supposed that if he had found his body right away, he'd have fully recovered. But instead, he had gotten lost in the fog for an entire year. And by the time that he finally did find his body, he had already been reduced to a skeleton.

"So you got lost, eh?" Luffy couldn't help but laugh. "Zoro gets lost all the time too."

"That's your opinion!" memory Zoro snarled.

"You two… are you both really that unaware of how easily you get lost?!" current Nami asked their Zoro in annoyance. "Why is it that you say we always get lost when it's you who can't go down a straight line?!"

"What are you talking about?" he asked in annoyance and she just rolled her eyes, knowing that she was just wasting her breath.

"So that's how you became a walking, talking skeleton," memory Franky asked rather bluntly, "Devil Fruits are still creepy things, aren't they? But I've never heard of one that can bring you back from the dead."

"True, but without it, I wouldn't still be!" current Brook added happily.

"They may seem unnatural, but they are useful," Robin also agreed. "The odds of you becoming weaker after eating one is slim… and often times, the pros beat the cons of eating a Devil Fruit. And if the power you get is really useful, not being able to swim isn't all that bad. After twenty years, the fact I have Devil Fruit powers helped to keep me alive."

"Yeah! And if I never had mine, I'd never have become a doctor and met all of you!" Chopper added with a smile.

"Yeah, I suppose that you could see it like that," Franky nodded as he thought that over.

"So now you're just cursed," past Sanji summed up, "You were able to come back from the dead, but you still are unable to swim, right?"

"What I don't get is how a skeleton has an afro though," past Zoro added as he looked at Brook's hair, which led to Brook patting it fondly and informing them all that his hair had strong roots.

"That still doesn't make any sense," Usopp whispered as his past self and Chopper held up their crosses as they mustered up their courage to go closer to him.

"So, what you're saying is you're actually still human?" memory Usopp asked, just making sure he understood right, "Well, maybe not a real human…?" he added to himself before he said louder, "But you're really not some kind of ghost who's haunting us now, right?"

"Oh, heavens no!" memory Brook cried out, cringing at just the thought. "I'm deathly afraid of ghosts! I couldn't even look at one and not scream!"

Robin shook her head fondly. She personally always saw Brook's fear of things that aren't normal a little more down to earth compared to the other's fears. Such as Usopp's fear being out of insecurity, and Chopper's from cautiousness, even Nami's fear as a survival instinct. Though it's ironic since Brook's technically undead himself.

At his confession, memory Nami came forward. "You're afraid of ghosts?" she asked before she held up a small hand mirror, "Have you ever looked in a mirror?"

At the sight of it, memory Brook freaked out and pleaded at her to put it away, and that was when they found out the horrible truth. Current Brook sighed as they all began to scream, and everyone seemed to be readying themselves for a fight when they saw that he had no reflection, or even a shadow on the ground.

Comically however, memory Brook sat back down at his seat, and took a long sip of tea.

"How can you be so blasé about all this?" memory Sanji yelled at him, still half-expecting a fight from him.

"Yeah!" past Usopp added. "You scared the living crap out of us!"

"I might as well tell you everything," memory Brook said, calmly. "I'll tell you this. I've been traveling this sea for many years. However me being a skeleton and having no shadow are two unrelated matters."

"You know, if I hadn't have met you, I doubt that I would've believed anything here about shadows actually being stolen and all that," current Zoro stated. "I mean, who would've thought something like that was possible?"

"I too once doubted my own eyes when I saw it happened," Brook admitted, "Ah! Though I no longer have eyes!"

There had been a long pause, as everyone waited anxiously to hear what memory Brook had to say. Finally, he spoke… "To be continued."

"Why did you say something so stupid like that?" Franky couldn't help but ask him, and Brook shrugged, not really sure what made him say it. When he expresses his emotions, he just lets them out…

"NO! TELL US NOW!" memory Sanji yelled at him and Brook held up his skeletal hand in understanding. And so he told him another part of his story. How his shadow was stolen from him about five years ago, and how he could no longer live in the light. Luffy pointed out that he was alive however, and he grimly told them that he meant sunlight. And if he were to ever set foot into the light of the sun, his body would disintegrate on the spot.

That got everyone's attention and they stared at him. "D… disintegrate?" they all repeated in shock.

"Yes…" Brook said sadly and the current Brook looked away grimly. Oh, he remembered all too well. How he was running under the shadow of a building, but before he made his choice to run into the sunlight, a man came running out behind him, not even looking at him as stepped out, laughing insanely to be in the light again. But that laugh suddenly turned into a scream as he started to burn away… vaporizing to ashes until nothing remained but his sword.

That had been his nightmare for five long years… no matter how much he longed for it, he just couldn't step foot into the sun without fear of dying. Something that he had always taken for granted… something that he had known for all his life had just become deadly to him.

He felt Franky clap a hand on his shoulder and he glanced up at him in appreciation.

Memory Brook sighed as he finished explaining, "I once saw a man with this exact same curse disappear when he stepped into the sun. It was frightening enough to make my hair stand on end, even though I am a skeleton! A shadow is reflected on the ground by sunlight. Therefore, I myself cannot be reflected in something like a mirror or photograph. To put it simply, I can no longer live in a world of light with my shadow gone, while all my friends are now dead."

Present-day Zoro shook his head, remembering how strange it felt to see his own shadow taken from him. But he, Luffy, Robin, and the crap cook were lucky in that they were only missing their shadows for one night… that had to suck to say the least to have had it stolen from you for years.

"Your life's been pretty miserable," memory Sanji said bluntly.

"But I lived through it all! 'Dead Bones' Brook! That's me!" past Brook cried out joyfully, starting to dance around happily and was sent into a laughing fit that none of them could understand why he was suddenly so cheerful after everything that he told them.

"One wouldn't guess what you went through after seeing you here," Franky pointed out to their Brook who wished that he could smile.

"It's been far from easy! But good things come to those who wait!" he said merrily. "Patience always pays off in the end!"

"Uh, okay…" memory Usopp said jerkily. "What's with the laughing? Are you feeling okay, there?"

"Today is such a marvelous day!" memory Brook answered joyfully, now close to yelling. "I've finally met some living people after so many years!" his voice suddenly softened and became sadder as he went on, "For so many years I've been stuck sailing this ocean. The fog so thick I couldn't even tell when the days passed…" he paused for a moment, as if remembering memories of happier days before remembering all those lonely years. "All of my crewmates have died… and I was left alone on a huge pirate ship with a broken rudder. Just sailing aimlessly for many, many years… I was so lonely! And just so very scared! I just wanted to die!"

"Brook?" Chopper asked their musician, really sounding worried about him.

"I admit that it came to my mind more than once," he said sadly, "Not that I truly have a mind since I am a skeleton. But there is only so long that one can take to being alone for so long."

He could recall those days almost too clearly. He remembered how he felt like he was going mad… the state of his mind from isolation from people was no difference than the ship he was on slowly beginning to corrode and fall apart. He would pace the ship so long that the floorboards were almost worn through. He would do just about anything to try and keep himself occupied.

With the rudder broken from that last battle, he was trapped to the whims of the ocean's currents. When he slept he would dream of his crew and Laboon only to wake up and remember the cruel reality waiting for him. He would spin hours laying on the deck and stare at a particular spot until it was completely memorized, and then he would move onto the next spot until he knew every single inch and mark on that ship.

He would hold onto the memory of his dead crewmates, the guilt so thick that it was like they were chains holding him down. The only thing that kept him going throughout all that time was the memory of the baby whale that was still waiting for him. How he had promised to return, and how he knew that his friend would never forgive him if he broke his promise. That was all he had left and he clung to that promise as the only thing that kept him from losing it completely. He would think about happier times until he felt the pain of depression sinking in around him, and he would play the piano, his violin… any instrument that was closest to him, and then play his songs for hours until he felt like his throat was going to tear… not that he had a throat.

"But…" he added as he watched them all look at him. "That is years ago! I do not wish to die anytime soon! I am truly happy to be alive! Yohohoho!"

They all smiled at him as memory Brook sighed. "But I lived on," he said before he cried out, his arms spread wide, "People are my happiness! All of you are my joy! I'm so happy that I would cry if I were able to!"

"You didn't think that you could cry, Brook?" present-day Nami asked in worry.

"Maybe," was all that he could answer for a moment. "It had been so long that I couldn't remember. I don't remember crying for a long, long time. I wonder why?"

"You were tough though," Zoro told him, "Not just anyone could go through that. The idea of being trapped all alone forever… that is amazing."

"Yohohoho! Your words mean so much to me, Zoro-san!" Brook said, so happy that he could say something like that to him.

His past self turned to Luffy and said, "When you asked me to join your crew, that made me so happy!" He bowed his head to him and said, "Thank you so much for that!" Luffy smiled back happily before memory Brook added, "But I'm afraid I must turn you down."

From his expression, you would think that Luffy had just lost the lottery. His jaw fell open, his eyes bulged out, and he screamed out, "WHAT?! HOW COME?!"

"As much as I wanted to leave with you all, that was impossible at the time," current Brook stated, hoping that they understood. "I couldn't resisted going onboard and meeting you all!"

"Don't worry about it!" Franky commented with a wave of his hand, "We all get it. Hey, if it were me, I'd probably do the same thing." He remembered how he was pretty much living in Vegapunk's old laboratory. He missed his crew so much it was like someone was constantly squeezing his heart. But that was only for two years… and he still had Kitton, Taroimo, and that cyborg dog to visit him all the time, so he got off easy compared to Brook.

"As I told you before," past Brook answered Luffy. "My shadow was stolen and I am unable to set foot in the sunlight! Right now, I'm being protected by this thick fog! However, if I were to leave with you, it would only be a matter of time before my body disappeared! I must wait here for the joyous day when I am reunited with my shadow!"

"You were just going to sit around and wait for a miracle?" Zoro asked him quietly, glance at him out of the corner of his good eye.

"I was going to wait until I was fortunate enough to find Thriller Bark," Brook answered. "I fought for my shadow once before, but I wasn't… I wasn't strong enough to defeat my zombie. I was lucky to escape, and I trained all on my own on my ship. When I felt that I trained long enough, I searched for my way back. But because I couldn't steer, and Thriller Bark was always moving, it was impossible to find it for the longest time. At least until this moment."

But Luffy wasn't going to stand for it. He slammed his hands hard on the table before he stood up. "What are you talking about?!" he shouted. "If all you need is your shadow, then I'll get it back for you! You said someone stole it, right? Who was it? Where is he?"

It was never easy telling what Brook's expression was. But here, he seemed to be staring intently at Luffy, like he had never seen anything like him.

"You… are a very kind person…" he finally said. "You really surprise me. However, I won't tell you. I can't tell you, who I just met, to go throw his life away for me."

"Yohohoho… if only I knew what you were all capable of," Brook said softly. "But you had done so much for me already. I didn't want to be the one responsible for you to fight my battles for me."

"It's ok to ask for help once in a while too, you know," Nami told him, smiling when she remembered how she had finally broken down and cried for help. "Especially when Luffy's around."

The memory Straw Hats didn't know what to think of that, and asked for a name at the least, which Brook declined, telling them that they might meet up with them if he did. He confessed that he didn't know when his second life would end, but he made up his mind that if he ever did find him, he would face him.

"Of course…" current Brook nodded. "I couldn't leave this cursed sea without my shadow. And I had to at least try to reclaim my shadow."

"And you did," Usopp reminded him and Brook looked down at his feet to see his shadow and laughed.

"Yes, indeed I did!" he answered, "Sometimes I just want to hug it! I hope that I never lose it again!"

"I think we all do," Sanji nodded, "Not at all a fun experience."

At long last, Brook turned to the case that he had brought with him onto the ship, and pulled out a violin.

"How about we sing a song?" he stated as he put his skeletal fingers on the bow and the strings as he looked up at them. "Music is very important to me! I was the musician on my crew!"

"You did it here," current Sanji informed him. "Now there was no chance that Luffy was going to let you refuse to join."

"Yohohoho! Lucky me!" he cried out happily.

"FOR REAL?" Luffy cried with stars in his eyes. "YOU'RE A MUSICIAN?! NOW YOU HAVE TO BE A PART OF MY CREW! COME ON!"

"Let's sing a fun song!" he said merrily. But just as he was about to draw the bow and play he stopped… freezing as he began to shake so violently that his bones rattled. He then let out a loud, piercing scream of fear and fell backwards onto the floor, dropping the violin.

The memory Straw Hats stared at him in concern, wondering just what had gotten into him, asking what was wrong. For a few moments, Brook didn't seem to be able to say anything. And then finally…"G… G… GHOST!" Brook screamed, staring in horror at a point over their heads, and when they turned to look, they saw what he was staring at.

Sticking its head through the wall was a white specter with beady black eyes, large lips, and its tongue was rolling out of its head as it observed them. Several of them screamed in fear, Chopper and Usopp especially backing away from it as if terrified that it would curse them if it touched them.

At that moment, the ship around them began to shake around, making the plates and anything else that wasn't nailed down rattle. They were all forced to grab hold of something to keep them from falling over, with memory Zoro demanding to know what was going on.

Brook knew just what it was though. "It can't be…!" his past self gasped in shock as he went running out the door to look at the deck—with Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp following after him. They all went the other way though, knowing that this was where they needed to be since they knew that they had already been 'eaten' by Thriller Bark. They didn't have to wait long for the others to join them. Brook was the first out, and the others all came running in right behind him, with Luffy jumping up onto the rail to get a good view of the whole scene in front of them.

"What is going on?" memory Nami asked, staring in shock at what couldn't be real.

"Did you, perhaps…" Brook called to Luffy, who turned to him. "Happen to pick up a floating barrel not too long ago?"

Luffy blinked before his eyes widen in realization and told him that they did find one, and that they opened it.

"As I feared," memory Brook said. "It was a trap! By setting off the flare in the barrel, this ship has been targeted since then!"

"Targeted?" Luffy repeated, clearly not understanding what the problem was, or what was going on. "What do you mean? We haven't moved from here? What's going on here?"

"You know… I think that you could've saved us a lot of trouble if you had told us everything from the start," present-day Usopp told Brook in annoyance, remembering how they were running around like morons all night.

"I wanted you all to leave as soon as possible," he tried to reason. "I knew what would happen if you came across Moria. And I wouldn't wish the curse of having your shadow stolen for anyone! I had hoped that if you left as soon as you could, you could have spared yourselves from that risk."

"Still… it would've been a lot more helpful," Nami sighed, not going to like these future memories. They all looked back at the island that had suddenly appeared in front of them. With the thick fog, they couldn't see too clearly, but they could see enough. A huge outer wall that went around them, with four separate chains that connected the walls to the mansion in the middle of the island. There were old broken, inner stone walls that were encircled with pointed towers and even a moat. There was also a thick forest that looked like it came from right out of a nightmare.

There was some sort of giant pulley attached to the wall of the mansion—that looked more like a castle than anything else—and was draped with heavy chains as well. But with the fog, they couldn't see any more above them with the fog there.

"What the heck is this place?" Luffy asked almost in a hushed voice.

"Nowhere good," current Franky sighed, rubbing his head, and readying himself for trouble.

"This is the wandering ghost island," memory Brook answered. "Thriller Bark!" They stood there for a long time, and stared long and hard at the island before Luffy finally repeated, more to himself than to anyone else, "Thriller… Bark…!"

"This had to be the longest night of my life," current Usopp sighed as memory Nami stared at the Log Pose and informed them that the needle wasn't pointed there.

"I still wonder just how they were able to get something that big into the Grand Line in the first place if that land was from the West Blue in the first place," Franky couldn't help but ask as memory Brook was telling them that since it wasn't part of the Grand Line, it had no magnetic pull. He then started to head inside to grab his top hat and his weapon, softly talking to himself about what a joyous day it had been—how he not only met people, he had his deepest wish granted.

They followed him right back out to the front of the Sunny, where Brook took one leap and almost flew to the Sunny's figurehead.

"That's so cool," current Chopper said in wonder.

"One of the advantages to being made of bones!" Brook informed him, and he seemed to smile as he watched his past self land on top of the petal-like mane on Sunny's head. He laughed happily when he saw them stare at him, and memory Sanji gasping at how light he was.

He tipped his hat to them all. "Yohohohoho! That's right, my friend!" he chortled, "Because I am nothing but bones! Now! You must all escape from this place as soon as possible! Do not drop anchor here and find some way back out through that gate!"

"You really shouldn't have said that," current Nami sighed, looking over to where Luffy was still staring at Brook.

"I'm truly grateful that we could met and thank you for the meal!" memory Brook added, "I'll never forget your kindness! If we are able to, I hope that we can meet again on the sea someday!" And with a wave, he turned, and jumped right down the ship to the water below.

"You really scared us here," Franky hissed, "Next time, you should've warned us before doing something like that!"

"Yohohoho, sorry…" Brook told him. Their past selves were looking terrified, not understanding why he did that, but they heard his laughter and looked over to see that memory Brook was running right across the water, and was bolting straight for the island.

"Man… that's even cooler," Chopper sighed, "I wish I could do that."

"Probably best if we don't try," Nami told him as Luffy seemed star-struck to see Brook doing that.

"I agree," current Brook added, "It takes a lot of effort to keep myself running like that! If I do it for too long, I get a muscle cramp. Though I don't have muscles, Yohohoho!"

"Anyway, Luffy," memory Nami began, "Brook's probably right! Let's find a way outta here, huh?"

But Luffy was clearly not listening to them as he turned back to her with the biggest grin ever. "You say something?" he asked.

And that set off a round of the usual yelling from the Weakling Trio, when they didn't want to go somewhere that Luffy did. It was really funny watching them trying to figure out what to do, with them realizing that the ghost from earlier went flying off to the island, and memory Robin pointed out that they had just been 'eaten' by the gate, and it appeared to be attached to walls around the island. And they glanced up to see the front looked like a giant mouth with wide teeth in front of them.

"Moria has the most disgusting taste in things," Nami sighed as she glared at the teeth.

"I personally thought it was a nice touch," Robin informed her with a smile and Sanji sighed happily.

"I always did love your taste in things, Robin my love," he proclaimed.

"Not bad," current Zoro added, glancing around. To be honest, the feeling of this place reminded him a little of Kuraigana Island. They watched as Luffy went running inside to get something, and the rest of them were still talking about the island, and how Franky pointed out that they couldn't drop anchor here in the middle of the sea.

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT DROPPING ANCHOR HERE?" screamed memory Usopp in terror. "WE NEED TO HURRY AND FIND A WAY OUT OF THERE!"

And that was when both memory Nami and Chopper were both on the ground, hugging themselves tightly and had tears falling from their faces. They were trembling so badly, and covered in sweat so that it looked like they had run endless miles all day.

"Listen, you guys," memory Nami croaked out. "I… I don't think I can go with you. I think I might have, 'I-Can't-Set-Foot-On-This-Island Syndrome'!"

"So do I!" Chopper cried out next to her.

"Not a fun disease is it?" present-day Usopp asked them and they shook their heads fiercely at that.

"Funny… these days I've been having a 'You're-going-even-if-I-have-to-drag-you disease'," current Zoro added with a nod of his head. "It's so weird."

And the other three seemed to be shaking in fear before the door burst open and Luffy was standing there with a butterfly net, and a bug tackle and looking ready to go.

"What a moron…" current Nami sighed as he happily called that he was going.

"YOU HAVE 'ALL-READY-FOR-ADVENTURE DISEASE'?" memory Usopp cried out in fear. "Luffy, open your eyes! Look! That island is clearly haunted! HAUNTED! This ground is cursed! Evil spirits and monsters… You are underestimating…" and then a rather ghoulish look came over his face as he finished saying, "Evil Spirits…"

Luffy held up the bug tackle and smiled. "I'll be ok! I'm gonna hunt down that ghost from earlier and keep it for a pet!"

"He does realize that it's a ghost right?" current Franky asked. "It could just… I don't know… go right through that thing?"

"Even if he didn't care, I sure did of being cursed by some ghost!" Usopp cried out.

"Seriously underestimating!" past Usopp screamed in terror.

"Well, whatever," Luffy said, as he walked forward. "I still have to find our new crew member, anyway! Hey, Sanji! Make me a lunchbox!"

"THANK YOU, LUFFY-SAN!" Brook cried out happily, tears of joy falling from his eye sockets. And that was when memory Usopp screeched out at him that he highly objected to having Brook join them, saying that if they brought that skeleton with them, he'd be too scared to sleep at night.

"Sorry," Usopp added to Brook, who was still sniffling touched tears.

"It's alright! I told you that I understood didn't I?" he asked as memory Sanji and Robin came back out of the galley, with Robin carrying a Lunchbox in her hands.

"You know… we just had dinner, but we were already thinking about Lunchboxes?" present-day Franky asked them, thinking it all over.

"Who knows when we'll need it?" Robin asked as her past self told Luffy in a rather motherly way to come and get his lunch.

"Luffy! Franky!" memory Sanji called as he lit up a cigarette. "You take good care of Robin, or else!"

And memory Franky was looking only too willing as he started to stretch out. "Man, I'm getting SUPER pumped!" he cried out excitedly, "I guess going to a mysterious-looking island does that to you."

"Not to me it does, pal!" present-day Nami yelled, wondering just why these guys seemed to be so determined to do things like this? They see a creepy place like this and the first thing that they wanted was to go check it out.

"Wait a minute," memory Nami cried out in shock at seeing her friend looking just as eager as any of the boys. "Robin, you're going too?"

"I love thrills," Robin answered with a wink, and the memory faded around them with past Franky offering for them to use a smaller ship to dock, and told them that he had something special to show them in Channel 2 of the Soldier Dock System.

"That was a really special gift you had made for us," Zoro said to their Franky, thinking of the Mini Merry.

"I know," Usopp cried out. "It was like we were riding Merry again! Like it's her reincarnated form or something!"

"I had a feeling that you guys would like it," Franky smiled. "I thought it would be a great surprise, and you guys needed something like that."

"You're telling me!" Chopper cheered out, suddenly wanting to go out and ride on the Mini Merry again without fear of getting stranded on a zombie-infested island. It may not have been the real Merry, but it was really like a part of her was still with them.

The next memory finally reappeared, and they were all walking down a flight of stairs in a deep place that was like a tunnel. But the open sky was right above them and Nami, Usopp, and Chopper gasped as they realized where they were.

"This is the moat!" Nami gasped, and cringed when she saw the skeletons below their feet again.

"This was where we met Cerberus!" Usopp gasped in shock, terror filling his body as he stared around for that giant, three-headed animal.

"Oh, you mean that weird fox-dog thing?" Sanji asked curiously.

"You mean you ran into it without it killing you?!" Chopper gasped at him.

"That thing was dangerous?" Zoro asked with great surprise. "We rode him across the island."

"YOU DID WHAT?!" the three of them yelled at him, not wanting to believe it.

"Wanna tell me why there are stairs here?" memory Sanji asked, looking around.

"Well, it said 'entrance' so I guess it's ok," Luffy pointed out, jerking his thumb back up the stairs that they had clearly taken to get here. That was when stepped onto the ground he noticed what he was walking on, and stared down with interest at all the bones. "Lots of skeletons down here," he commented as if just saying what the weather was like today.

"They look just like me," Brook commented, looking down at them sadly.

"That Moria is sick in the head if you ask me," Usopp hissed and the four of them nodded as the others barely paid any attention to them as they heard a growling sound from in front of them. And when they all looked, they could see something coming out from the shadows—causing Nami, Usopp, Chopper, and Brook to scream in shock.

"I HATE ZOMBIES!" Brook cried out, hugging Chopper, who was nodding fiercely as he stared at it.

"What are you talking about?" Robin asked them curiously as the creature came closer. "It really wasn't that bad. Luffy tamed it in only a few seconds."

"THERE'S NO WAY!" Usopp yelled at her, pointing to the animal that fully showed himself. It was a giant, three-headed dog alright, but it had two blue dog heads and a yellow fox head stitched on the far right. It also was covered in stitches, bandages, with the large tattoo of an 82 printed on its side, and they could see three yellow tails flicking around excitedly at the sight of them… its mouth starting to water as if hunger…

"THAT THING TRIED TO EAT US!" Usopp continued yelling.

"Well, in that case, you probably won't like this next part," Zoro commented as they watched the beast growling menacingly at the group of people in front of them. But then Luffy licked his lips at the sight of it, and all the ferocity in it seemed to disappear at once. The group of them didn't even bat an eye when they saw it, and Cerberus seemed rather taken aback that they weren't scared or running for it.

"Cerberus?" memory Sanji asked curiously. "What's he doing outside of hell?"

"It looks kind of cute," Robin smiled at the sight of it.

"Is he looking for a fight?" Franky asked, looking ready to start throwing punches as memory Zoro stated, "Does he want a piece of me?"

But it wasn't until Luffy licked his lips hungrily at the sight of it and asked, "Do you think he tastes good?"

"YOU MEAN YOU REALLY WEREN'T SCARED?!" Chopper cried out, tears flooding down his face as Usopp and Nami couldn't remember ever feeling weaker.

"Why would we?" Zoro asked, not getting what the big deal was. "It wasn't that strong."

"I wouldn't eat him though," current Robin said, "That thing has been dead for who knows how long… probably not a good idea."

"I doubt that I could cook that thing if it's already rotten," Sanji added with a nod.

"Your food tastes rotten from the start, so what's the problem?" Zoro asked and the two were suddenly looking ready to rip each other apart.

Cerberus seemed to have frozen in fear at the sight of them, and then when Luffy let out a loud bark, they were so startled that he started to howl and back away. But then it seemed to remember that it was a lot bigger and the heads began to growl.

"What?" Zoro asked in annoyance, "isn't it done yet?" He then sighed as the others stated calmly how it was trapped now. He then started to go for his swords, ready to take him out until Luffy held up a hand to stop him.

"Wait a minute," Luffy said. "I wanna tame him!"

"What?" Zoro questioned. "You idiot, that's not a normal dog. It's a wild animal."

"He's really good at taming animals though," current Robin pointed out as she thought about the Lapahns from Drum Island after he helped one out from under that snow, as well as the Kung-Fu Dugongs, and she also recalled how easily he was able to tame Surume the Kraken.

"No, a dog is a dog," reprimanded Luffy as the dog continued to growl. And then he held out his hand and said, "Shake…"

At that, the first dog head bit down on his leg, the second on his head, and the fox head on his left arm.

"I'm surprised that the dog didn't tear him to shreds after that," present-day Robin commented.

"Robin! Please don't say scary things like that anymore!" Chopper cried out as memory Franky sighed, "And he just warned him, too."

Luffy seemed to have it all under control however, as he just reached up and began to calmly pet the dog's muzzle that had hold of his head. "Okay, okay," he said. "Good boy. Now let me go."

The dog didn't seem to know what else to do. And after a few seconds of gentle coaxing, he slowly released Luffy one head at a time.

"That's it," Luffy said. "Good boy." But then he yelled out, "BASTARD!" and punched the dog's heads so hard that it crashed into the wall and fell there, laying out cold on the ground. The others watched with deadpanned expressions as Robin giggled.

"His words and his actions don't add up at all…" Nami whispered, her face slightly blue. But also angry at how calmly Luffy was taking this… why couldn't they have dragged him on the Mini Merry with them?

"Shake," Luffy said to Cerberus, who was now moaning on the ground, as if this was natural, and the others all watched with a little sweatdrop.

"He… he took care of that thing without ever once losing his cool?" Usopp hissed to himself, now shaking in anger as he remembered how terrified they had been when they ran from that thing.

"THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Chopper cried as Robin patted his shoulders gently.

"I think that if you had been in your right minds, you would've been more than a match for it," Robin added kindly to them. "Maybe the shock of seeing it made you forget about fighting?"

"It didn't seem to bother any of you!" Nami cried out, feeling so pathetic here as Sanji looked love-struck once again.

"But Nami, you're so cute when you're scared," he told her lovingly and she gave him a punch to the head, and yelled out, "SHUT UP!"

After Cerberus woke up, Luffy made him walk with them, and he was riding on his back happily as Cerberus whimpered in humiliation.

"I'm surprised he's still alive," memory Robin said, looking over him, "It has some pretty nasty-looking wounds."

"I wonder if a species like this can really exist. And what's with the fox head?" memory Sanji stated unconcerned as Luffy chuckled.

"If this dog is the first of what's on this island, then I can't wait to see the rest!" he said excitedly as Cerberus continued to whine, his heads and tails held low.

"I know that he's a zombie, but I can't help but feel bad for him," Brook said, his heart going out to him. Though he didn't actually have a heart. But it wasn't that thing's fault that he was a monster.

"You're not looking so, Cerberus," said past Robin, looking over him sympathetically

"Don't pity the loser," memory Zoro retorted. "You're hurting his pride."

Memory Sanji continued to yell out Nami's name, trying to find any of the others as they continued to explore the place at an easy pace. It was as if they were looking for a spot to have a picnic. The three of them watched, dark shadows over their faces at how casual they all were as they continued looking all over for them.

The others let them sulk as they watched, and soon enough, they came to the strangest sight yet. A tree with an old man's face was sharing a drink with rotting unicorn that was covered in stitches.

"Now that was something you don't see every day," current Robin commented as they stared at them, and the two stared back in shock of seeing them. The drink that they were sharing was spilling all over the place… and then suddenly Luffy and Franky gave chase—the two zombies screaming and crying in terror.

"Oh great!" Usopp cried out as they watched Luffy and Franky catch them and drag them back. "Why couldn't the zombies have ever run away from us?!"

"Because we mean business," Zoro informed him, "If you run away screaming then of course they were going to think that you were easy prey. If you show no fear, then of course they will see that you're something they shouldn't mess with."

"Really?" Chopper asked with wide eyes as Luffy was asking if they wanted to join his crew and the others were shouting at him to knock it off.

Usopp nodded at that when he thought it over. He won through tricks and illusions now didn't he? He remembered how he beat Perona at her own game just by scaring her. He could see what Zoro was talking about. If you act confident then that gives you an edge right? He has to try to remember that from here on out.

None of them said anything else as they continued walking through the forest with Luffy and Franky back on Cerberus's back, and memory Sanji now reprimanding Luffy for asking all these strange creatures to join them when they didn't know the slightest thing about them.

"As I said, don't make random things our crew," he said, "With a reindeer and a robot, we're random enough already."

"Hey!" memory Franky snapped down at him before he jerked a thumb at his chest. "I'm not a robot, idiot! I'm a cyborg! You idiot!"

"Is there a difference?" Nami asked him. "You're both made out of metal aren't you?"

"A robot was built over from scratch!" Franky told her, "A cyborg is only half robot! We have a free will! Robots have to have orders… but I can choose what I want to do!"

His past self and Sanji argued about that, with Sanji yelling that he was a pervert despite the fact that he was basically a human, which Franky naturally took as a compliment. Current Sanji was about to ask their Franky how he could think that was a good thing when memory Robin began to point out how the creatures they had been seeing all had several things in common. She petted one of Cerberus's heads and informed them that they all had stitches, bandages, scars, and numbers tattooed some place on their bodies.

"Yes, it was to keep track of how many zombies they had," Brook told them. "After all… they had at least a thousand stolen shadows on this island after all."

"And all those zombies would've been difficult to manage without some kind of system," Robin nodded in agreement. But as they really began to think that over through the dark trees they heard something singing.

"Ne-ga-ti-ve, ne-ga-ti-ve, ne-ga-ti-ve…!"

"Oh no," current Zoro groaned out as Luffy got Cerberus to stop and was asking them what that sound was. They didn't have to wait long… a tiny ghost, identical to the one that had been on the ship earlier was there and Luffy's eyes widened.

"THERE IT IS! THE GHOST!" he cried out.

"What a pain those were," Franky growled, glaring up at them.

"Ne-ga-ti-ve, ne-ga-ti-ve, ne-ga-ti-ve!" the little ghost chanted continued to chant.

"It must be the ghost we saw on the ship," past Robin commented as Zoro added, "So it finally decided to show itself, eh? I gotta say, it's got guts."

"Ne-ga-ti-ve, ne-ga-ti-ve, ne-ga-ti-ve!" the ghost continued to chant, dancing around a little as it flapped it's long arms, and as it did, it started to multiply so soon one became three in a flash.

"When it dances, it clones itself!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly, "That's so awesome!"

"He's gonna regret that," current Franky sighed as Luffy jumped, trying to catch it in his net, but of course it was like trying to catch air.

"I suddenly know how that feels," Nami commented as she walked forward and tried to touch Luffy, only for her fingers to go right through his arm—no differently than how the ghosts were doing with the net.

"Yeah… I still can't get over it," Chopper added as Luffy continued to try and catch them in vain as memory Franky breathed out fire to try and burn the ghosts. Naturally, nothing worked on them at all.

"Damn it," memory Franky cursed. "Didn't work!"

The current Franky covered his eyes, unable to watch as one of the ghosts went passing right through his chest, and he suddenly became weak at the knees. "I'm just useless," he croaked out, "This week, I'm SUPER useless." And then with a dark cloud hanging over his head that reminded them all of Foxy, memory Franky fell to his knees, his arms pounding the ground in front of him as he cried, "Whatever I do I'm useless! I got no confidence to live anymore! I can hear the whole world booing at me!"

"This is so stupid…" the present-day Franky hissed out as everyone watched in amazement.

"That is harsh…" Brook whispered sympathetically as they watched him cry on the ground.

"HOW DEPRESSED ARE YOU GONNA GET?!" yelled memory Sanji.

"Really, that wasn't like you at all…" current Sanji pointed out, "It was as if you had gone all emo on us all of a sudden."

"It's not like I wanted that to happen!" Franky yelled at him as Luffy threw the net away and tried to grab the ghost with his bare hands. That proved to be a mistake when it phased right through him like it did with Franky, and then he was on his knees as well.

"If I ever get reborn, I want to be a clam," Luffy cursed, sounding close to breaking down completely. "This really sucks… I just wanna die, already…!"

"I ASKED WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THAT DEPRESSION?" past Sanji yelled.

"Now there's a side of him I haven't seen before. Just what are they doing to him?" Nami asked, having seen their powers only once but never understood what happened.

"Negative Ghosts," current Zoro growled, "Just one touch and you're filled with nothing but negative thoughts about yourself."

"But you guys are so strong though…" Chopper pointed out as their past selves watched it in fascination.

"That's the problem," Zoro answered darkly, "The stronger your spirit, the easier it is to break." He clapped a hand on Usopp's shoulder and added, "Only someone with such a low self-esteem about their own abilities could possibly be immune to them."

"THAT'S SURE A NASTY WAY OF COMPLIMENTING ME!" Usopp yelled at him.

"Ne-ga-ti-ve, ne-ga-ti-ve!" the little ghosts chanted before they began to laugh at what they were seeing, which ticked them all off.

Memory Robin listened to the chant and stated, "It appears that when the ghosts touch you, your spirits get depressed?"

Now both memory Sanji and Zoro both seemed highly skeptical of that. In fact, memory Zoro folded his arms, looking disappointed as he said, "You guys are pitiful. Because you guys can't ever pull yourselves together, you let some stupid ghost break you."

Perhaps the ghosts all heard him… for one went through his chest too. For a few seconds it seemed as though nothing happened, but then he was down on all fours as well and cried in a meek voice that none of them recognized, "I'm sorry I was even born."

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" memory Sanji shouted.

"This is pathetic," Zoro growled, his face turning red from embarrassment. At least back when he ran into Perona when they had been separated, he didn't have to worry about anyone—especially the cook—seeing how he was forced to act like a servant.

"But look at the bright side," current Robin said to Usopp with a smile, "You were the only one who could really fight her. See? We all have things that help each other out in our own ways."

"Yeah… yeah, I guess you're right," Usopp said, his confidence going up at her words.

"They're difficult enemies," memory Robin acknowledged. "Not only do they have no real body, but when they touch you, your spirits get crushed."

"Indeed," Sanji said.

A small smile appeared on Robin's face as she said, "What a strange island." The little ghosts laughed as they went flying up into the sky, still singing their eerie song until they were out of sight.

It only took a few more minutes for them to snap the three on the ground out of it. And when they did, they were all in a towering temper. All of them were angry and mortified at what just happened, and went marching off, looking ready to bite someone's head off and eat it whole.

"YOU DAMN GHOSTS!" Luffy yelled as he huffed off, "NEXT TIME I SEE YOU, I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"

"They must have a weak point! I'll take them all out!" memory Franky said furiously as he cracked his knuckled together, looking like he was about to breath fire again.

"Great… and how exactly did you plan on doing that?" current Robin asked them as her past self and Sanji were on Cerberus's back now, with Sanji roaring with laughter at Zoro.

"I don't know, but I would've figured something out!" Franky yelled as the current Sanji sniggered at the sight of seeing Zoro on the ground like that.

"You shut it!" Zoro yelled at him. "Don't act like you've never been touched by those things!"

"I know!" Sanji snorted, "But I just can't help it! You look so stupid on the ground like that!"

"Oh, that does it! You're gonna on the ground begging for mercy in a minute!" Zoro growled at him and Sanji's smirk disappeared.

"What? Did you really just say that?!" he demanded as his past self and Zoro got into a very similar fight, with memory Sanji falling on his back and laughing with Cerberus.

"Shut up, both of you, please!" Nami yelled in frustration, her head growing a splitting headache. At this point, she almost welcomed seeing zombies again just to get the two of them to stop going at each other every few minutes. They continued on foot for a short while until they came to a large graveyard and the trio cringed at the sight of it, remembering how they had been attacked. Nami shivered, suddenly having an urge to take a long, hot bath to wash herself—and Usopp felt sick at the memory of those dead freaks coming after them.

They walked along with the gravestones all around them looking cracked and crumbling, with mold and moss covering the engravings so that it was impossible to read the names that were marked there. There had been a spiked, black fence all around the graveyard that made it feel like a prison. They could smell of something rotten in the air, with the ground overgrown and unkempt, as though no one had been here for years and let it all start to corrode.

Brook and Chopper were shivering in fear as they looked around at this creepy place, wishing that they could hurry up and get this all over with. But Luffy had no problems as he looked around and said what an atmosphere this was and they should have lunch here.

"Does he not realize where we are standing?!" current Sanji demanded as his past self was barking about the same thing.

"He's surrounded by corpses here! He honestly thinks that anyone in their right mind could eat here?" Nami asked quietly, now almost looking forward to seeing the zombies attack him just to see what would happen. No sooner had she thought that dark thought did they hear a strange moaning sound coming from under the ground. They all looked to one of the graves and through the dirt, a rotten, bandaged hand stuck up. And slowly came the head and shoulders so that the zombie was in full sights of them all.

The Weakling Trio plus Brook all looked to the rest of them to see just what their reaction was. And to their amazement, and somewhat irritation, none of them looked remotely scared. Just staring at the zombie in amazement, like they had seen something standing out of the unusual but nothing more than that. There was a long pause, and then Luffy dropped his net as he slowly walked forward, and pushed him back under the dirt.

"Leave it to Luffy to be calm here," Usopp sighed, once again feeling shame and weak. They were running in terror that whole night, but these guys didn't even bat an eye at all this! How could they be so causal about this?! They were zombies for crying out loud, but you would think that they saw them every day with how uninterested they were! Speaking of the zombie, it burst right out of the ground again and roared at Luffy, "LIKE I'D GO BACK! ARE YOU STUPID?!"

"If he didn't want to go back, then why was he there in the first place?" current Robin couldn't help but ask.

"Can't any of you act just a little less calm here?" Nami asked her tearfully.

"What good would that do?" Zoro asked with a bored yawn. There had been another pause and Luffy asked, "An old man with a huge wound?"

"CAN'T YOU SEE IT'S A ZOMBIE?" the three men in the memory yelled at him. And just then more zombies began to burst out of the ground around them. They were jumping, spinning, yelling wildly as if they were ready for a great fight… it was hard to believe that any of them had all been dead for a while now.

"Are zombies supposed to be this lively?" memory Sanji asked as they were soon surrounded on all sides.

"They were interesting," Robin commented calmly, having just finished a sketch of Cerberus, and was starting on some of the other zombies.

"That's it?" Chopper cried. They were scared out of their minds, but these guys thought they were interesting? Why couldn't he be as brave as they were? Next time that he was going to an island that he thought looked scary, he was sticking with them.

Luffy smirked as he cracked his knuckles, and the others were all looking ready to kick some ass. And the battle was no contest. Luffy and Franky both punched out several zombies at once while Zoro slashed at any dumb enough to look at him, Robin took out handfuls of them by snapping their spines, and Sanji took whatever was left by literally kicking their asses… a new move that they called their "600,000,000 Berry JACKPOT!"

"I think that it was more like 621 million or something like that," current Robin said thinking it over.

"Well, that would've taken too long to say," Zoro reminded her as Weakling Trio were all on the ground, stunned at how easily they took those things out.

"Amazing as always!" Brook cried out as he stared at them. "You didn't even need salt to take them out!"

"They were all weaklings," Sanji stated as if it wasn't anything to be impressed about as the three on the ground seemed to sink several inches into the dirt.

"How'd you manage to stand fighting these guys alone, Brook?" Chopper sniffled a little.

"Oh, I was terrified the whole time!" Brook said truthfully. "But you see… I realized that that if I sing while I'm fighting, it doesn't leave room for fear!"

"Really?" Chopper asked, looking up at once before he thought that over. "Hmm… maybe I should try that!"

"Yohohoho! A marvelous idea!" Brook said happily, "We could start a duet!"

"I'm guessing that was how you earned the name 'Humming Swordsman'?" Robin asked, remembering how he had saved her and Franky from those spider zombies. Now that she thought about it, singing while fighting gave him the impression of being a more sinister creature than even the zombies. So that was why the zombies were afraid of him…

"Yes, indeed!" Brook confessed. "Though, I mostly go by Soul King anymore, I am still proud of that!"

Once the fight all over and done with, with large bumps on each one of their heads, the zombies was on their knees in front of the memory Straw Hats, with Luffy sitting on one of the gravestones like a king. He folded his arms and asked coldly, "Now then what are you guys doing here?"

Now the zombies were the ones who were looking fearful, and didn't seem like they would dare want to make Luffy any angrier and so they tried to tell them.

"Well… just zombie stuff… being buried…"

"Rotting."

"Yup. Rotting."

"Indeed! Me too!"

"YOU LIARS!" Nami yelled, wishing that she could have another go at them. She would deep fry them all with a little lightning. "YOU TRIED TO BITE ME!"

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Sanji roared in fury as fire licked his body.

"And one of them really bit me," Usopp added.

"HOW DARE THOSE BASTARDS TRY TO BITE MY NAMI!" Sanji continued to yell as if he hadn't heard a word that Usopp said.

Luffy didn't seem to buy a word that they were saying either. He lowered his head so that his eyes were hidden by his hat. "Are you screwing with me," he threatened, and for the first time since arriving, he sounded deadly serious. The zombies held up their hands defensively as they tried to apologize, but Luffy had already gone on talking, "Now listen. Did you guys see a guy with a long nose, a woman with orange hair, and a blue-nosed raccoon looking like a reindeer come through here?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY A RACCOON LOOKING LIKE A REINDEER?!" Chopper yelled out, wanting to hit Luffy here for that.

"Well, you can't say that it would be the first time that someone thought that," Zoro pointed out.

"I WOULD'VE THOUGHT THAT YOU GUYS KNEW ME LONG ENOUGH TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE!" Chopper yelled at him. As for the zombies, they all knew exactly what Luffy was talking about. They admitted that they did see them, but they couldn't tell them because they had orders not to give out such information. They then began to chant creepily the word 'orders' over and over again.

"Zombies are so simple minded aren't they?" present-day Franky asked as he watched them.

"Well, they're minds are rotten, so I suppose that it would make sense," Robin commented with a nod.

"Oh, is that so?" Luffy questioned as he cracked his knuckles. Fearing another pummeling from them all, the zombies quickly blurted out that they did see them.

"Well that wasn't difficult," Brook said impressed as Luffy jumped down the stone and said, "Those guys are my friends, you know. You didn't hurt them, did you?"

"Yes, they did!" the three yelled, though truth be told they more scared them out of their minds than did any lasting physical damage. The zombies tried to lie their way out of this, but even Luffy could tell right away that they were lying and there had been a rather awkward pause before the zombies tried to change tactics by blaming each other… and finally one of them admitted that they all attacked them.

"Well, that just cost them their afterlife," Sanji stated as he watched their past selves get ready for another beating. They all thoroughly enjoyed watching them beat the crud outta the zombies, so that now their top-halves were back underground, while the rest of their bodies were sticking straight up in the air.

Once they had vented all their anger out, they said goodbye to Cerberus, who turned and most likely cantered back to dry moat to keep watch again. They watched calmly for most of the next memory as an old man came following behind them—the man they recognized as Spoil—and fell to his knees as he begged them to help defeat a powerful enemy. That was when they had discovered that Gecko Moria—a Warlord—was in charge of this island and the one responsible for stealing all the shadows.

At hearing how desperate Spoil was to get his shadow back, how he begged them to defeat Moria and save them all, he would be able to die in peace. Memory Franky couldn't take it and vowed that he would help while Zoro and Sanji argued about doing such a thing. But Luffy solved it by saying that they were looking for the guy who steals shadows anyway and that he'll kick his ass sooner or later. So if they were able to, they'll save his shadow as well, which Spoil bowed his head in gratitude, telling them that he was starting to hope again.

"I'm glad that everything worked out for them in the end," Usopp said as the other victims in the forest also started to beg and Sanji yelled at them all to shut up.

"These people rely too much on others," current Zoro said. "If they wanted their shadows back so badly, they should've fought instead of asking us to do it."

"Even if they knew that they didn't stand a chance?" Nami asked him harshly.

"Doesn't matter," Zoro said coldly. "If they wanted their shadows back, they should've done something other than hide in the forest for all those years. You think that they would've figured out where their shadows were hidden in after all that time."

"Yeah, but…" Chopper began but Zoro shook his head.

"Look," he told them bitterly. "I get it. But the fact is, they could've trained and gotten stronger. Hiding in dark all that time? It's like they just gave up and waited for a chance to take their shadows back if one ever came along. Listen… when you have your back up against the wall and the entire world is against you, you gotta stand up and face it. Running scared and hiding wasn't going to change it."

Brook sighed, knowing that feeling all that well. He had been forced to wait for years for his chance to take on Ryuma once again. Though he had been training hard for those five years. He could see what Zoro meant even if it was harsh.

"It doesn't matter anymore though does it?" Nami asked firmly, determined to get him to stop talking bad about Lola and the others. "It's all over and done with! And I like to think that we did a lot of good that day don't you? I mean, at least they let us keep all that treasure!"

"Whatever," Zoro said in a bored way as they all continued walking on foot the rest of the way up to the mansion. Though once they had reached the Iron Gate, it had started to pour suddenly out of nowhere. To most, this would seem strange, though this was the Grand Line so it doesn't seem all that surprising if you think about it.

"Man," memory Zoro grumbled as he looked up to the dark sky, with Robin pulling her back over her head, and Franky holding a massive hand up like an umbrella over his hair. "Now it's raining on top of everything else?!"

"Alright, should we just make a run to the mansion?" memory Franky suggested.

"No! That place is fully of zombies and… oh, what do I care?" Usopp sighed, "You guys probably took care of them too right?"

"You mean stupid zombies in the paintings?" Sanji asked and Usopp sobbed out in depression at his words.

At that moment, Luffy told them to wait, and they looked up to see what had caught his attention. "No…it can't be…!" he said. "Behind the mansion… it looks like there's… an insignia? Man, it's huge! Ooh, wait! The fog's clearing up, a bit!" He squinted his eyes a bit. "What the… is that a flag?"

And he was right, up there was an enormous black sail with a rather sinister skull and bat-like wings protruding behind it.

"A PIRATE FLAG?" the group exclaimed.

"Where'd he get something that big?" Usopp couldn't help but ask.

"Probably where he got chains that big," Franky pointed out to the four chains that were connecting the island to the wall.

"That's right," said a gloomy voice, and they looked back in time to see that Spoil had followed them all the way here.

"He's a bit on the creepy side isn't he?" Chopper asked as Spoil's seemingly empty eyes looked at them all.

"I still think that he was a zombie," Sanji hissed and the men all nodded with him and most of their past selves yelled out in anger at seeing that he followed them.

But instead, Spoil held up his lantern and looked up at the sail where the fog had cleared. "It is just as he said," he went on, "That's a sail. But it's so large that seeing the whole thing at once is difficult. This Thriller bark is not an island, but rather the world's largest pirate ship!"

"An island that is actually a pirate ship?" Sanji repeated in amazement.

"The largest… in the world," Zoro repeated as Luffy's eyes shone brightly at the thought.

Franky pushed him aside as he said, "I understand. The world 'Bark' relates to smaller, more agile Pirate Ships. But for a ship to contain an entire village…?"

"At the back of the mansion there's the main mast," Spoil pointed, "That's where Gecko Moria is."

But before they could do anything they heard it echoing in the distance…

BONG!

"What's that?" Chopper cried out in fear, staring around.

"That my friends would be the clock…" Brook said softly, looking to the very front of the mansion where they could see that the giant clock had just struck twelve.

BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG!

BONG! BONG! BONG!

BONG! BONG!

BONG!

BONG!

The clock struck twelve times, signaling that it was exactly midnight. Only a few hours until the sun would rise, and they were probably the longest hours of their lives. They all stood there for several long moments before they finally pushed the gate open and walked in.

"Okay, let's go!" Luffy exclaimed. "Into the haunted mansion!"

"Only Luffy could make the fact that we were walking to a haunted mansion and make it sound like we were going to get milk from the store or something," Sanji sighed, but he followed after them all with that same calm expression.

They watched as they headed inside the mansion, and into the dining room, still searching for the three of them. There were horrible portraits of zombies on the wall, a long table that was mostly smashed to pieces, and scorched marks all over the place.

"Hey!" Luffy called. "Anybody home? We're looking for Moria?"

"Where is everybody?" memory Zoro asked, sounding annoyed that they hadn't come across anyone tougher than they had been forced to be stuck with.

"It looks like there was a fight in here not long ago," memory Sanji stated, glancing around at the destroyed room, and he was looking angry at the thoguht. "Those creeps better not have hurt Nami, or I'm gonna kick their asses!"

"They didn't hurt you did they, Nami-swan?!" current Sanji asked Nami quickly.

"They almost gave me a heart attack," she sighed at the terrifying memory.

"To have a heart attack, you need a heart don't you?" Zoro whispered under his breath as Sanji continued to burn furiously.

But to their surprise they heard the sound of an evil laugh. "You know the name of our lord and master, Moria! I must say, I don't know if you've got common sense, but you've got guts just coming in here like this."

They looked up to see that the voice was coming from a large pig with one eye mounted on the wall. Like all the other zombies, he had stitches all over him and a tattoo of the number 289 on his head.

"You know… I usually cook pig," current Sanji stated, "I believe that food shouldn't be able to talk back to us. Don't you agree Emergency Food Supply?"

"Yeah," Chopper said when Sanji patted his head. He just realized what he said however and yelled, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY EMERGENCY FOOD SUPPLY?!"

The zombie pig just smirked down at them and called loudly, "Don't be rude guys! Let's welcome our new guests, shall we?"

Suddenly, zombies jumped out from all over. The portraits on the walls had pulled themselves out so that they looked like some kind of snakes, sticking out and hovering right over their heads with their back ends still attached to the frames. Meanwhile the taxidermy bear-rug under their feet had also sprung to life and raised itself up and roared at them.

At the sight of them all, Luffy's eyes were sparkling in amazement like a little kid who had been planned a great surprise party. The others didn't seem to be anywhere near as impressed as they took care of everything. Memory Sanji was the first to strike, kicking the face of one of the portrait zombies, screaming that they tell him where Nami was. Robin took care of one portrait zombie of a young woman, politely telling her that it wasn't ladylike and thus distracting her as she broken her spine.

Memory Franky took on two at once, one of them trying to impale him with a spear only to have it break when he stuck. They screamed at the sight of seeing the spear break, and one of them cried in terror, "Stop! Stop, stop! Who the hell are you guys? You can't be friends of those weaklings are you?"

"Hell ya!" memory Franky yelled as he grabbed the two of them and knocked their heads together so that they could hear the sickening cracking sound.

"Thanks for that, Franky," Usopp said, though he couldn't say he was happy about the 'weakling' statement.

"Anytime bro!" he said proudly as memory Zoro sliced at the remaining zombies, and Luffy was actually laughing as he fought the bear rug.

"This place really is awesome!" he continued to laugh as the rug tried to attack him with his claws.

"NO, IT'S NOT!" Chopper yelled with Nami and Usopp—wondering just what he saw about zombies as so cool for crying out loud.

Luffy looked up at him as he stretched his arms back. "Sorry for walking like this," he said, "You could've part of my crew if you hadn't decided to fight us! Gum-Gum… BAZOOKA!"

"LUFFY! YOU NEED TO STOP THAT BAD HABIT OF YOURS!" Usopp yelled out. "I DON'T CARE HOW COOL YOU THINK THEY ARE, THIS HAD GOT TO STOP!"

"I'm going to have a long talk with him about this when we get out of here," Nami hissed as Luffy sent the bear rug right into the wall. The pig was still on the wall and was staring down at them all in a state of shock as Luffy turned to him, and said, "All right. Now that's settled…"

They brought the pig down to face them, and it tried to tell them that their friends were just fine in the guest rooms, and they should go upstairs and see for themselves.

"How stupid did it think we were?" current Franky asked exasperatedly as his past self was looking around for Sanji and pointed out that he was missing.

"That's weird," said Luffy glancing around. "He was just with a second ago. Where'd he go off to?"

"I didn't leave on purpose," Sanji said angrily, thinking back to how those webs just kidnapped him. Oh, he was just so glad the same thing happened to Moss Head so that he couldn't mock him about that.

As their memory selves were looking around them, the zombies on the ground were giggling darkly to themselves and they glared down at them.

"This is such a surreal moment," current Robin commented. "You don't expect the furniture to attack you."

"Nothing about this little adventure made sense!" Usopp yelled out at her.

The pig, whose name was Buhichuck, laughed down at them as he continued talking. "Don't get too cocky just because you were able to beat us. It won't be long before you're screaming in terror too. You'll get what's coming to ya, wait and see!"

"That was a close one though," Nami stated softly, feeling a little uneasy about what was going to come. "We barely made it."

"But we did," Zoro pointed out. "I'm not complaining about it."

Their past selves talked to each other about what to do, and in the end they decided to take the pig with them as their guide, causing Buhichuck to freeze at that.

"Then go!" one of portrait zombies howled dramatically, "And see first-hand how our master is your true nightmare!"

"He was far from easy to fight," Sanji from the present stated, "But he was lazy. He also never cared about getting stronger. He was just stealing the powers that everyone else had. That's it."

"Yeah!" another laughed cruelly, as several others let out similar cries of agreement. "Our master is none other than the Warlord Gecko Moria!" and they shivered as they added just how the name sent chills down their spines.

"So does mine, but a different reason," Nami whispered.

"It won't be long now," one more added, "This won't end well for you! You'll be picked off one by one until you regret that you ever came here! You're no match for the Warlord… no… our master Moria's powers!"

"Sad thing is… it was us that it happened to," current Robin stated as Zoro and Sanji lowered their heads in shame at how easily their shadows were taken.

"That won't happen again, ok?" Zoro growled to himself, irritation filling his insides at how he let his guard down.

"Shut up," Luffy said with such a cold rage that the zombies gasped and fell silent as they stared at him fearfully.

"You can tell that Moria bastard," Luffy began venomously, "that if he so much as lays a finger on my friends… I'll sink this whole island and every single zombie here, too!"

"You tell 'em, Luffy!" Usopp cheered on, just glad that every zombie was wiped out in the end. As far as he was concerned, the world was better off without zombies like that.

Luffy turned to the others and said seriously that Sanji could take care of himself, and they were to go. And after picking up Buhichuck, they all started to troop up the stairs, with the pig squealing in desperation to escape.

"So how did you just disappear, bro?" Franky asked Sanji as they followed their past selves through the castle.

"I saw it," current Zoro told them lightly. "While we were looking at that pig, those stupid webs grabbed him."

"You don't need to remind me!" Sanji yelled at him. "And don't act like you're so innocent! That's just what happened to isn't it?"

Zoro knew it was true, but he didn't dare admit it out loud. Dammit, why did Luffy have to remember that?

"These memories are just driving me crazy," Usopp moaned out, a splitting headache making it feel as though he had been punched in the head. He just wanted to fall asleep where he stood and forget all that was going on. As Zoro and Sanji argued, he was dangerously close to passing out until he heard someone ask, "Uh, guys. Where did Zoro go off to?"

And sure enough, when he opened his eyes, he could see that Luffy was there with memory Franky and Robin, but now Zoro was the one missing.

"We're just dropping like flies," Robin commented as she watched them.

"Would you stop that depressing mind of yours, please, Robin!" Franky asked her. "Even if it's true you're seriously depressing me here."

"And the atmosphere sure isn't helping," Nami sighed gloomily.

They couldn't bring themselves to talk as they watched the three of them continuing to searching for their crew. With the pig as their guild, they ended up walking around this mansion for what felt like hours. At one point, Luffy found a gold-plated suit of armor and couldn't resist trying it on. At first, Franky smacked him, demanding to know why he was playing around at a time like this, but Luffy angrily retorted that he looked damn good in it, so what was he supposed to do? And then he asked if his heart was also made of iron… he could forget what a man's romance was like.

"YEAH! THAT'S RIGHT!" Usopp sobbed out with Chopper by his side. "That is so true!"

"What was I thinking?!" current Franky cried with them as Brook applauded and the others rolled their eyes at their antics.

Memory Franky was touched by that, and sat down, strumming his guitar. He then said, tears in his eyes, "To lose something as important as the human heart… please listen to this song: 'The Cyborg's Iron Heart!'"

"I love it!" Brook cried out, pulling out his own guitar. "We should sing it together, Franky-san!"

"Agreed!" he cried, and arm-in-arm, the two started go sing out the first couple lines:

"My heart is made of metal!

Though I still have feelings…"

The others seemed close to knocking them out to get them to snap out of it, but at that moment memory Robin got their attention by showing them they were in some kind of corridor, which lead to a large area that looked like part of a carnival tent.

"I don't like this," Sanji muttered, looking around and feeling fear for Robin all of a sudden. And he had every right to worry. For it turned out that those feelings were correct, for it turned out that stupid pig led them right to where a whole army of zombies were waiting for them—and unlike all the others they've faced, these weren't anywhere near as weak as the others had been.

According to Buhichuck, these zombies were on a different level than the others. They were built from the corpses of renowned and strong warriors such as legendary samurais and knights. As they watched, among their ranks, they include a drunk zombie, a four-armed zombie, a large centaur like zombie with elephant feet, and several other zombies wearing suits of armor. And with them occupied, the stupid pig laughed as he ran away, yelling that they couldn't hope to wind and that they were all doomed.

Luffy tried to go after him, but they were surrounded on all sides with no other way out but to fight; and Luffy was already amazed to see some of the armor that they were wearing.

"Now isn't the time to be impressed you dork!" Sanji yelled, wishing for once that they could hear him. He hated that no one could hear anything he had to say here.

"Deal with it," Franky told him as their past selves made up their minds to just keep going forward, and they could get to the courtyard.

"All right," said Luffy, pounding a fist into his palm—his armor making a clunking noise. "Let's meet there, then. Be careful. I don't wanna end up losing you guys, too."

"Awww…" Chopper blushed deeply at those words. "Not that I'm happy you idiot!"

"We'll do our best," promised memory Robin.

"GET THEM!" cried a centaur-like zombie with an elephant's body for feet.

"Let's do this!" Luffy yelled out his order and they went charging right into the battle, looking ready for a real fight. The battle was a bit one-sided… though they were a match for the General Zombies, but the problem was that they just didn't seem to want to stay down for long. They all knew that it didn't matter how much they fought, zombies just kept getting back up and fight as if nothing happened.

But as Luffy fought one zombie, they heard an aged voice yell out, "Single Sword Style! 36 CALIBER PHOENIX!"

"Don't tell me!" Zoro yelled, looking around in time to see it the flying blade attack come flying out of nowhere.

"LUFFY! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Chopper screamed out, but he needn't have worried. Luffy sensed the attack coming as well, and ducked just in time to avoid getting sliced in half. But he didn't seem to even pay attention to the slash that was in the wall as he stared where the attack came from.

"What the hell…? Luffy muttered before he pushed himself back up and through the dust a shadowy form of another zombie appeared. "Zoro? Is that you?"

"I can't look," Zoro muttered as he covered his eyes, not wanting to see this. And it must've been worse than he thought because he heard Sanji laughing. Unable to help himself he peeked to see just how bad it was. Holy shit… it was a nightmare alright…

A middle-aged man was standing there with a toothbrush mustache. He had shadowy eyes like all the other zombies and long black hair with his head wrapped with bandages and even had nails going through it. He appeared to have some kind of metal casket attached to his legs as well as a stripped haramaki much like the one that he wore, and was wearing a yellow shirt with the text 'Your Song' writing on it… that made no sense to him whatsoever.

"Well, at least he's cooler than a penguin with a dog face," he said, which shut Sanji up right away.

"To take a scar to the back, is a shame for a true warrior, but I am full of scars!" his zombie said and Zoro groaned at the sound of it. What was with those who had died making these stupid jokes?

"Hey!" Luffy shouted in shock. "You're not Zoro!"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU IDIOT!?" Zoro yelled at him, just so embarrassed that his shadow was ever a part of that thing.

"No," the zombie said. "The name's Jigorou."

But before Luffy could do anything else, something suddenly grabbed him from behind. And the last thing that any of them saw before the memory faded was of what looked like silk webbing wrapping around them and the large coffin that appeared behind them. It all went dark when the coffin closed in with Luffy yelling out in fury.

(Hey there. Sorry for such a long wait, but I've had school and finals to take care of as well as a busy mother's day. So I haven't had much time for writing. But now that I'm finished with school for now, I should have an easier time updating chapters and the next chapter will be up some time next week. And I'm only going to say this one more time. I've been getting a lot of people asking me about this and I'm telling you that most of the story is the English dub of One Piece. But I'm going to be using a Japanese sub from here on out. But I'm also going to tweak the words a little to make them a little more mine. I hope you understand and enjoy this chapter. I hope that it was worth the wait.)