LW: New arc just before the new year, and it's Thriller Bark! Kind of wish I'd been able to start this during Halloween but oh well I'm just following the schedule.
Rubber King and Mirror Master - Abandon hope, all who enter here
"I think I'm beginning to forget which one is the child here" Kaos hums, attention drifting between Artemis' painting of the crew upon Sunny's deck, and the combination of Luffy, Usopp and Chopper using the swing to catapult themselves into the wall "So, is forging like riding a bike?" he asks, seeing the slowly growing pile of arrows the Bomb man was making
"Yes, the first few were pathetic but once muscle memory kicked in things got better fast" Victor chuckles, then turns when he hears rapid thuds against the target set up just past them.
"Better, but I was more accurate as an academy graduate" the blond mumbles, Kaos having located some throwing knives for her to substitute until she could get her preferred short blades (or acquired the materials to make them), said kunai currently strapped to the small of her back, the kanji 蛇 (Hebi) carved into the handle.
"You alright over there? You're mumbling again" Artemis asks, brow furrowed in concentration, which both Carue and Funkfreed seemed to notice.
Valentina sighs "I'm fine kiddo, just annoyed to see how far I'm let my skills slip" any further explanation was cut off by Zoro yelling about seeing something off the side of the ship, quickly getting Luffy and the other's attention
"I see something about treasure on the flag" Usopp says, Luffy nodding as he sees it too "Well? Don't just stand there, go get it"
"Fine" the rubber boy sighs, before swinging his hand out and grabbing the barrel, lifting it onto the main deck.
"I won't celebrate too soon it's probably just some preserved food and old booze" Nami says, having come out at the sound of potential treasure
"What, that's lame! How do you know Nami, you can't see inside….can you?"
"Because it says treasure to the Sea God" Robin explains
"Exactly. This is just an old superstition, giving offerings to local spirits as payment for safe passage, that old junk"
"You had me at booze, can we still open it up?" Zoro asks
"Zoro no, that's bad karma!" Usopp scolds, mostly because he didn't want to anger any ocean gods.
"I don't believe in any gods on land sea or cloud, besides the last 'God' we face Luffy killed, so I think we're either fine of screwed already"
Nami nods "Plus, I hear ocean stirred alcohol has a stronger flavour. Might be a good time to test that theory" she chuckles
"Also, as long as you replace what you take with something else when you set it adrift again you should be fine" Robin assures the sniper, then blooms hands to remove Alvida's mace from her own, as smashing the thing would most likely destroy the entire contents
"Hey God… we're stealing your booze" Luffy 'prayed' (getting a weary sigh from Vivi) the opened the barrel, only for a blood red flare to shoot out into the sky
"Can somebody spell trap?" Kaos groans, pinching the bridge of his nose "Because nobody just randomly shoves a signal flare into a barrel, labels it godly offers and yeets it off their ship. Especially…"
"...this close to the Florian triangle, the timing is rather, suspect" Robin agrees "Hopefully it's just a prank, but if it isn't, I'm sure this crew could handle most threats that are coming our way"
"Yeah, we kicked the asses of the Government's best assassins, whoever tricked us with this barrel doesn't stand a chance!" Alvida cheers, raising spirits until Nami panics "What now?"
"We need to get a move on, due South. There's a huge storm heading this way" she shouts, running to the controls with Valentina on her heels, the news spurring everyone into action and not a moment too soon as the sky begins to rapidly darken.
"It's almost scary how good you are at this Nami" Kaya hums as she helps the others keep the Sunny steady
"Not good enough, we're still being blown into the storm, this isn't going to be pleasant" she grimaces
"Have you forgotten one of Sunny's special features so soon?" Franky asks, in a way that would be offended if it wasn't blatantly teasing
Nami blinks "Right. Raise the sails, we're going into paddle mode" she orders, getting quick responses from the others, then turns to Franky "Do it"
Soldier Dock System: Channel 0.
"Cola Engine. Paddle Boat: SUNNY!"
With that activated 2 paddleboat … paddles popped out of the sides of the Sunny, making it possible for the ship to move through the storm under its own power, rather than being tossed around in the wind and waves
A little later
"Ok, the Sunny is officially cooler than the Merry" Alvida sighs in relief, having managed to get through the storm unscaved
"Yeah, but now we're lost" Zoro notes, a familiar feeling for the swordsman I'm sure "Plus this fog seems strange and it shouldn't be night already"
Nami gasps "This is it. When we tried get out of the storm we must have entered the sea Kokoro was talking about"
"Welcome, to the Florian Triangle" Kaos announces, arms spread and grinning like a loon, or a showman.
"You're doing it wrong" Franky yells, then gives a creepy grin "You do know the other name for this part of the sea right kiddos? The Devils' triangle. A haunted sea where ships are swallowed without a trace"
"I give it a 5" Artemis says flatly, getting a giggle from Robin
"Oh come on"
"Not important, we're in ghost country, let's see what we run into" Luffy declares
"Please don't let it be zombies" Usopp whimpers, Kaya trying to comfort him
"Hey dumbass, there a reason you've zoned out on us?" Valentina asks, seeing the researcher staring off into space with an unreadable expression on his face
"Yo ho ho" was heard eerily… from somewhere in the mist
"It's a ghost!" Chopper screams, jumping into Robin's arms, just as a derelict ship enters their field of view
"Ghost ship!" Vivi and Nami shriek, one hiding behind Luffy, the other frozen in terror
"Well, we're all about to die" Victor say flatly but his hands were shaking at his hips
"Yo ho ho"
"Papa, I'm scared" Artemis squeaks, snapping Kaos out of his… whatever to assure her things were going to be ok "How do you know?"
"Because there's something alive on that ship" he whispers, getting a confused look out of the child 'as well as something flickering within the shadows'
"Yo ho ho"
"Unrelated question to the 2 geniuses not frozen in terror: Can you cut ghosts?" Zoro asks, trying not to sound worried
"There is a chance you could, but that would require the entity to be corporial enough to be touched… and if that happens it is also physical enough to touch and do damage to you" Robin replies, getting a nod of agreement from Kaos "Though it's possible if they can steer a ship they can be touched and cut" she adds, more as a guess than anything else
"You don't think it's some spooky ghost powers?" Franky asks
"Not really no"
"I smell Devil fruit shenanigans, and this ship is part of it"
"There, on the ship" Sanji points, the others all pivoting to see a distinctly human shape, which as the mist thinned a little… was revealed to be a skeleton, with what might be an afro, or an elaborate collar.
"Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew" the skeleton 'sang', then sipped from the teacup on the edge of the railing beside him
"Well, fuck" Alvida hisses as the ship stops beside them
Luffy blinks, then grins "Did you guys see that? There's a singing skelton on that ship, and it knows Bink's Sake!" he shouts with a massive grin on his face
"Skeletons don't sing, they're dead idiot!" Usopp screams "You're hallucinating"
"Then we're all hallucinating, because a very talented skeleton just sang a song I've not heard in years" Robin retorts
"Well, time to go exploring" Luffy cheers, about to jump over but was stopped
"Hold it, we can't just let you go alone"
"Everyone draw straws to see who stays and who goes" Zoro declares getting arguments from Nami, Chopper and Usopp, until Kaos pointed out all the strongest fighters clearly wanted to go, meaning they would be left on their own if the people who 'wanted to go' left instead of using the lottery method
"Only 3 go over, and Luffy has taken one of those spots already" the researcher says with a half smile, both him and Robin hoping to get the short straws and go over.
"Is this really the best method?" Usopp asks
"It's at the very least the most fair" Vivi argues, getting a grumble from the sniper before he takes his straw
In the end Nami and Sanji were chosen, to the navigator's horror and despair, and the researcher's disappointment as the only devil fruit user he could detect was on the damn ship.
"Begone demon, let the poor boy rest in peace" Usopp whimpers as the skeleton appears again just before the 3 reach the deck of the ship
"Shut up, I'm trying to eavesdrop!" Valentina growls, punching the sniper face first into the floor, Chopper and Kaya rushing to check on him
"Well, I did not see this coming" Luffy hums as the skeleton tips his top hat to the trio and cheerfully greets them
"Why good afternoon yohohohoho, it's wonderful to see fresh faces. You must excuse my rudeness at not greeting your properly earlier, it's been so long I couldn't believe my eyes, if I still had any yohohoho, actual humans after all these years in this inky blackness, it gave me quite a shock. But please come inside and pull up a chair, I'm sure you have many tales to tell"
"Wow, he's so cool, and he talks all fancy and stuff" Luffy chuckles "I can't believe I found a singing, talking, afro skeleton. Best trip ever"
"Well damn, the idiot was right" Sanji says in shock
"Oh my" the skeleton squeaks, his sights trained on Nami "What a beautiful young woman, I haven't seen someone as lovely as you as my dear Toriel, so many years ago. I'm all eyes for sexy ladies like yourself my dear, or I would if skeletons had eyes, Yohoho, skull joke" he laughs, Luffy sniggering too just before the skeleton tried to fix himself up, then walks up to Nami and asks "Would you please, show me your panties?"
"Fuck off pervert!" Nami bellows as she kicks him in the head, anger overriding fear for a moment there
"Feisty, I've always loved women with passion. That kick sent pain all the way to my bones...because I'm a skeleton Yoho…"
"We get it" Nami shouts angrily, while Luffy just laughs harder
"Hey, do skeletons poop?" Luffy asks, ignoring the other 2's arguments about time and appropriate conversations
"Yes, I poop" the skeleton answers, after casually rising from his fall and walking over to retrieve his cane
"Oh, thanks for answering" Luffy says with a grin "You're a funny guy skeleton man, join my crew"
"Of course, it would be my pleasure" afro skeleton replies, to the shock (and horror for a few) of the crew that could hear him [Well, that was easy]
It didn't take much to convince the skeleton to follow them back to the Sunny "Yohohoho, it's such a pleasure to meet you all, hello and good day to my new crewmates. Once dead and all bones my name is Comic Brook but I hope we'll be able to be close enough friends you'll just call me Brook before long" he greets with more life than would be expected of, well a skeleton.
"Luffy are you out of your mind? What the hell is this thing?" was the general consensus from the crew
"What did you eat?" was the surprise question from Kaos, Sanji and Nami seeing it on par with Luffy's 'do you poop?' question
"Wow, tough crowd" afro skelly sigh, pulling at his collar, then see's Robin staring blanky at him "oh my, this crew is full of earthly delights, my dear would you be so kind as to show me your panties?" he asks before getting another kick from Nami
"That's sexual harassment you damn pervert!"
"Does it still count if he doesn't have a dick anymore?" Valentina asks jokingly, getting a shrug from Victor
"Oh my" Chopper gasps, seeing Usopp had reappeared after fle...tactically retreating into the main ship "That's a full set of anti-ghost armour" he squeals
"Mine works fine thank you very much" Kaos huffs, twirling the cord of a medallion around his finger
"This just has 性交オフ[Fuck off] [1] written on it" Vivi notes
"True, the guy with the weird accent said it would work though and while he can't tie a tie to save his life he was apparently a Master of the Dark Arts, which was good enough for me. Also I haven't been attacked by ghosts, so it's clearly worked so far" he grins widely
"Back foul spirit, return to the nether realms" Usop demands, waving his cross around like an idiot
"Oh my, where is this horrid creature?" the skeleton asks in panic
"It's you, stupid!"
"Well that's just rude" he mumbles, wilting slightly
Zoro groans "Ok, can someone tell me what the fuck is going on here?"
"That's our new crew member" Luffy explains with a grin
"WHAT! No, we're not having that thing join the crew. Damn it, you two were supposed to prevent this kind of crap happening, it's why I was glad neither of the Demon twins got picked as they'd have let this happen for shits and giggles" he grunts, pointing to a now smiling Robin and still grinning Kaos
"Sounds accurate"
"Yeah, I'd have asked him myself if Luffy hadn't"
"See!"
"Yohohoho, now now let's not fight, how about we all go inside, discus things over dinner perhaps" afro Skelly suggests
"You don't get to decide!" was shouted at him, but in the end his idea was still the one they went with
"This is a wondrous ship, so spacious and homey, it's a pleasure to even be here yohohoho"
"Of course it is, i designed it that way" Franky boasts, grinning widely
"Franky, don't make friends with the skeleton" Sanji scolds as he continues with dinner
"Speaking of, I can't wait to taste some of that delicious cooking good sir. It's been so long since I've had a proper meal I actually felt my stomach shrivel and shrink until you couldn't tell the front of my stomach from the inside of my back" he groans, laying face first on the table, then sits back up and opens his coat "Which is impressive when you remember I don't have a stomach or back Yohohohoho! It's a Skull Joke!" he cackles
"Skull joke!" Luffy parrots, giggles
"Why do I get the feeling this is going to be a common occurrence if he does somehow stay?" Nami whines
"Because he's had a long time to come up with his material?" Alvida guesses
"Doesn't mean they're good, in fact it almost assures they'll be bad as he had nobody to bounce the ideas and jokes off of" Victor argues
"I like you skelly, we're all going to be great friends"
"Actually young man my name is Comic Brook, but if we're going to be friends then Brook is fine. Also, it was rather rude of me but I never thought to ask your name either"
"That's fine. I'm Luffy. So, what can you do?"
Before any more questions could be asked or answered food was ready and the entire crew dug in
"You have a fishtank with octopus on your ship!" Brook gasps, more or less understanding Luffy's food muffled words "Truely this is a remarkable vessel
"It would be cooler if Usopp didn't nearly die to do it" Kaya says with a tired sigh
"He was the only non Devil fruit user on deck, did you expect me to get in the tank?" Nami asks, getting a mild glare from the medic before both went back to eating
"The Yomi Yomi no mi" Kaos repeats, smiling as he now had a name to put to a feeling
"You were right shimmer, Devil fruit shenanigans indeed" Valentina hums
"Yes, as I may have already mentioned, I have died before already, but that's getting ahead of myself. The Yomi Yomi no mi allows it's eater to live a second life, which even amongst Devil fruits is quite a strange ability. Not much use 1st time around but clearly it's served me well on the 2nd one Yohohoho"
"Revive man, sounds cool"
"So, not immortal then. More like the fruit gave you an extra life, and now you're using it" Franky summarises
"Correct, more or less, like I said it's complicated, but in my first life I was a pirate, same as you all"
"Explains the ship" Luffy says with a smile and a nod
"Quite, though as I was a member, not the captain it wasn't really MY ship until… much more recently" he says with a hint of melancholy, the fact it became his when the rest of the crew died didn't need to be said "A long time ago I was sailing through these cursed waters with the rest of my crew, and for the record I was a normal human back then, couldn't swim because well Devil fruit but that was the only caveat. Unfortunately we had the misfortune to run afoul of a powerful enemy, in the ensuing battle the entire crew lost their lives, myself included. When I was alive the Yomi Yomi did, basically nothing, but on that day it finally activated, drawing my spirit back from the netherworld and reuniting it with my physical body. Now if it had worked as intended I would have most likely been instantly restored to my body, but as you can see the fog around these parts are quite thick and difficult to navigate, so things got… complicated. By the time my body and soul managed to reunite, I was this, a walking talking skeleton"
"Damn Devil fruit powers are weird" Franky grunts, getting murmurs of agreement, oddly enough from the other Devil Fruit users of the crew
"Still seems like a crappy deal, even if you're a skeleton now you still can't swim and you don't seem to have any special abilities… besides the obvious one" Sanji critiques
"Yeah, wouldn't be my first pick for Devil fruits that's for sure" Kaos agrees with a click of this tongue "If you can do something with that wandering soul of yours, then it might be interesting" he smirks "Something for later I guess"
"Hey I have a question, how do you have hair if you're a skeleton? Are you wearing a wig?" Artemis asks
"No this is my natural hair, my roots just run deep" Brook explains, the others just going along with it
"So that means you're not a ghost, your just a normal … well even for this crew normal might be asking a lot. But you're a human like the rest of us?" Usopp asks, hopeful.
"Of course I'm a human, plus I'm terrified of ghosts" Brooke replies, getting sighs of relief from the sniper and doctor
"Don't beli… have you seen yourself in the mirror lately?" Nami asks pulling out a hand mirror and pointing it at him
"No, no mirrors" Brook yelps, then him, Usopp and Chopper gasp… Brook had no reflection
"WHAAAAA!"
"So, he's a vampire skelton? That's so cool!" Luffy cheers, one of the few not to panic at this new information.
"He's also missing a shadow… which shouldn't be physically possible" Kaos notices
"There are a lot of things that shouldn't be physically possible, including 80% of the crap you and Luffy pull" Sanji argues
"On that note, maybe you can let me continue my tale, the no shadow thing will be explained later" Brook offers, getting reluctant nods from the Straw Hats "Thank you. Everything I told you up to this point is true, but I've also been a victim of another tragedy, much more recently. A number of years ago my shadow was stolen from me"
"Stolen? Someone can do that?" Vivi asks
"Gonna call Devil Fruit shenanigans again Shimmer?" Zoro asks, getting a chuckle and a 'Too easy' from the researcher "Yeah, kind of saw that coming"
"Anyway, as well as the loss of my reflection, losing my shadow means I can no longer enter the world of Light, only in this foggy hellhole can I continue to live, otherwise my true death will come for me"
"What would happen, if you were to leave the fog and step into the sun?" Valentina asks
"If even a single ray touched my body, the affected area would crumble to dust, much like the vampires of legend you spoke of previously. A single step, and my entire existence would be snuffed out" as the straw hats sit shocked he continues "I previously saw someone with my same condition go out that way, it's not a pleasant thing to witness, never mind experience. There is also the fact that my body will neither cast a shadow, appear in a mirror or be captured in a photograph. I am a spectre to all but the human eye"
"Well, your life sucks in almost unfathomable ways" Victor sighs, grimacing
"True but I'm still so happy to still have it, my afro, cheery disposition and I finally met people after all this time. Yohohohoho. Yohohohohoho! Yohohoho!"
"I think he's snapped" Robin stage whispers
"Depending on how long ago he died, and how long he's been alone, it would be understandable" Kaos agrees
"You've given me such a wonderful moment of companionship and it warms my heart to be offered a position in your crew Young Luffy, but I'm afraid I must decline the offer" Brook finally says solemnly
"WHAT! But why?" Luffy grumbles
"Were you paying attention to anything he said these past few minutes?" Nami grumbles
"As I already said, my shadow has been stolen, and as such I can't leave the fog without dying" Brook sumerises
"Then we'll just have to get it back" Luffy declares "Kaos, got a bead on the shadow stealer?"
Kaos sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose "No, just ripples or echoes within the shadows themselves" he admits, not quite but almost angrily
"You seem like a wonderful, genuine person Young Luffy, so I can't ask you to do this for me" Brook says sadly
"Don't care, tell me who stole your shadow!" Luffy demands
"I won't. Besides even if I told you there is no way for you or I to find him, so I am content to wait until our paths cross again, and fight him to the death if need be in order to be reunited with my shadow" Brook then stood up "enough melancholy, why don't I play us a song?" he then pulls out a violin "I am skilled in a good many instruments, I was the musician back on my old crew" he states proudly, the others noticing Luffy's grin widen. Until Brook drops to the ground and skitters back to the wall
"What's wrong?" Kaya asks in concern
"G-g-g-g-ghost!" Brook screams, pointing behind them and to their shock there was a spectral creature, half phased through the wall
"What the?"
"I don't think this is the kind of spirit you can cut swordsman"
The ghost gave them a blank/dopey look, then fades away, just before what felt like an earthquake rattled the ship
"What's happening?" Franky shouts, getting shoved aside by a panicked Brook
"No, he must have been watching, it's the only explanation" he mumbles, having come out on deck to see what had arrived "Everyone come to the front of the ship, the noise from earlier was this gate slamming shut, trapping us inside" he explains
"Inside what?" Alvida questions, having picked up her mace in anticipation for the usual fight this crew got into at every location
"Come to the back of the ship!" Brook orders, sprinting ahead and the others followed, shocked by what they saw "Um, did any of you come across a barrel in the water recently?" he asks with an edge of worry
"Um yeah, it was supposed to be an offering to the sea gods, but instead…"
"It was a flare. So it was a trap after all" Valentina curses
"You are all in grave danger, your ship and crew have been targeted for a while now" Brook responds
"Well, shit" Artemis whispers, then whines as Robin lightly slaps her head "Sorry Mama"
"So… anyone going to ask before me? No, ok then… Where the fuck did the island come from?" Kaos shouts
"This is the ghost island that wanders the Florian Triangle, known as Thriller Bark" Brook answers
"Thriller Bark huh" Luffy repeats, then turns to Kaos
"3, maybe 4. The shadow thing is kind of overpowering everything else but the ghost… well isn't, it's Devil fruit related that I can tell you"
"Hey guys, the Log Pose isn't reacting to this Thriller Bark place" Nami says, looking perplexed
"And why should it, given the island's point of origin was the West Blue" Brook states, surprising them all
"The West… what? Hey, where are you going?"
"This has been a fortuitous day, not only have I met such lovely people, but my wish has been granted. Don't follow me, focus on getting through the gate to freedom, I hope to see you all again some day, on the high seas" Brook cheers before jumping off the ship
"Isn't he a Devil fruit user?" Zoro asks in panic
"He'll sink like a stone!" Kaya squeaks
"Yohohohohohohohohohohohohohoho!" was heard as to the Straw Hat's surprise Brook was able to run across the surface off the water, quite easily or at least he made it look easy.
"So… who's going to ignore the skeleton and go kick some ass on the island in front of us?" Luffy asks, grinning like a loon, which gets him punched by Nami and Ussop
"Well, it's not like the mechanism to get the gate open will be all the way out here, it would be inconvenient at best and stupid at worst" Robin says, clearly siding with Luffy
"Not too sure we could blast our way through that thing, even with the improved firepower of the Sunny" Victor agrees, though isn't exactly thrilled about the idea himself
"Kyahaha, it'll take more than a creepy old castle to scare me away" Valentina laughs
"Papa, what's out there?" Artemis asks, curious
"Shadows, ghosts, a… thing" he clicks his tongue, unable to find the right word "and blood, far as I can sense"
"All very good reasons for us to stay here. Also I contracted 'I can't go onto that island sickness' from Usopp" Nami whines, dropping down beside Chopper
"You know that's a STD right?" Robin chuckles, mostly because it gets Kaya mad and for once Nami is the one being chased by an angry woman. After calming the syrup girl down discussions resumed
"So, besides Kaos, Robin and me, who else wants to go?" Luffy asks, having got his ghost catching gear (a butterfly net and a sack) while Nami was being chased by Kaya
"Wait, you're going too Robin?" Vivi turns in surprise, seeing the older woman smiling softly
"But of course, it sounds like a wonderful adventure" she purrs
"I'm up for a Super adventure on the scary island, and I have just the surprise to get us there. Ready to see another feature of the Soilder Dock system?" Franky asks with a laugh
"What did you do?" Alvida sighs
Soldier Dock System: Channel 2.
"Our supply/shopping vessel. I call her the Mini Merry" Franky reveals, some of the crew cooing at the cute little tugboat sized ship clearly done in the style or as homage to the original Going Merry. And given Nami, Chopper and Usopp practically jumped into the little ship, clearly some things were able to override fear through sheer awesomeness.
"Nami really can pilot anything can't she?" Valentina says with a chuckle, which actually turns into full laughter when Luffy starts yelling at her to come back so he can ride in it. Then came the scream
"We can't take you people anywhere can we?" Kaos sighs "Well, looks like we have a reason to go to Thriller Bark now" he chuckles, then turns in confusion when the anchor drops
"That shouldn't have happened, she's brand new so everything should be in proper working order" Franky states, confused more than anything else.
Then a hatch opens up "Ok, maybe that ghost is still here" Kaya squeaks
"It's possible, nobody actually knows what the physical capabilities of a spectral entity are" Robin agrees, not really helping matters, especially when one of Zoro's swords flies out of its sheath (it had to be Kitetsu, didn't it?) and nearly impales Luffy
"The hell man, why'd you nearly kill the captain?" Franky shouts at Zoro who denies it
"We're not alone on this ship anymore" Sanji grunts, lighting a cigarette
"Any ideas?" Alvida throws to the crew "Because I don't think any of us have a chance of hitting something we can't see"
"And AOE attacks like my bombs or Franky's weapons's Left would just do unnecessary damage to the ship" Victor adds in agreement, jaw clenching in annoyance
"So, is it a ghost, or more Devil fruit shenanigans?" Franky asks, turning to the crew's DF expert
"There's something, it's faint or muted, but it's definitely a Devil Fruit" Kaos answers, Robin looking concerned at the rather pained look on the purplette's face as he tried to focus on the intruder
"Whoever it is, we know they're close and if they're solid enough to touch me or Zoro's swords they're solid enough one of us can kick their ass" Luffy declares
"Anyone else hear something like an animal growling?" Vivi asks, fidgeting with her gloves as Carue hides behind her for protection
"No, but it's probably connected to our unseen intruder" Robin theories
"It'd say he could be part of the fog, but that's the marine guy's fruit" Sanji guesses then dismisses himself
"Smoke and fog are different things, so whoever they are could have eaten a Fog Fog fruit,… if they weren't essentially giving off the exact opposite feeling to a logia" Kaos sighs, eyes closed… but the muscle above his left eye still twitches "By that I mean logia's feel like they're everywhere, while this feels, almost like it's nowhere. Which is a shit description, sorry"
"Regardless, I'm going to save Nami, you keep the ship safe" Sanji declares, and given he was one of the few people on the ship who still COULD swim, nobody argued with him… except the ghost who grabbed him mid jump and threw him back onto the ship
"You made the Hollow Man mad" Artemis hums, the jumps when Robin actually screamed
"Something… just squeezed my breasts, and licked me" she shudders in disgust
"You invisible bastard!" Sanji yells only to get tripped as he runs over to defend Robin
"Speedy fucker ain't he" Zoro thinks aloud, given it went from harassing Robin to tripping Sanji in moments
"Any chance we can use that weird growling to track it?" Kaya asks, syrup tendrils wrapped tightly around her revolvers as the animalistic sounds get louder
"At the speed it's moving, probably not, but it's better than nothing" Franky replies, but they had bigger things to worry about as the boat lurches, the enclosed waterway somehow becoming as choppy as a mid tier storm
"We're being pushed away from the island" Alvida notices
"And from Nami!" Sanji shouts in panic, 'Usopp and Chopper too' was added by a facepalming Vivi
"Valentina, steer the ship, Franky, activate the paddles" Luffy orders
"All right, let's take back control" Franky cheers
"I'll raise the anchor" Zoro volunteers "Don't want any more complications in this mess" he grunts
Meanwhile at the island itself
"Well, we're all lucky to be alive" Nami thinks aloud, Usopp recovering on top of Chopper
"What happened, where are we?" the reindeer groans as he sits up
"The ghost island, I think Brook called it Thriller bark" Nami responds
"GHOST!"
"Idiots. Anyway, we were making our way to the island when we landed in this moat thing, which I admit was 100% my fault, but my cuteness will protect me from criticism, right?"
"I'm taken and angry!" Usopp yells
"I'm a reindeer, humans are icky" Chopper grimaces
Nami sighs "Yeah, kind of saw that coming. Anywho, I have to say, as traps go we were pretty lucky, this moat could have been filled with spears or pointy rocks, you know stuff that could have crippled or killed us"
"True, good thing all these skeletons broke our fall then" Chopper smiles, until his words were processed and the 2 guys panicked!
"We don't have time for this!" Nami screams "We need to find a way out of this moat in order to get the other's attention, hiding in this hole will literally get us nowhere"
"Good point, but which way should we go, both look equally blan…" he stops when he sees 5 glowing eyes in the darkness, which get closer until the entire animal is revealed
"It can't be" Nami gasped
"A C-c-c-c-cerberus?" Chopper squeaks, before the Coward trio make a strategic… they ran for their lives! Well they were until something about the 3 headed dog caught Chopper's attention
"One of the 'dog's is actually a fox head" he says, the creature stopping to mope under a little depression cloud
"I think it's sensative about it's fox head" Nami whispers, then screams as it leaps at them in anger "Yep, definitely shouldn't have mentioned the fox head!"
"I'm sorry, it was just bugging me and I had to say something" Chopper whimpers
"Not the time, we gotta get up those stairs, hopefully it's contained within the moat and won't follow us" Usopp guesses, pointing directly in front of them. The plan failed, as the beast continued to hound them even as they entered Thriller Bark proper "Well that didn't work, Plan B!"
Smoke Star
That on the other hand did work, the cerberus getting lost and most of all confused in the thick smokescreen, giving the 3 straw hats time to get to cover, or more specifically higher ground within the treeline
"Ok, we're safe for now, good thing that dog has such a poor sense of smell" Usopp sighs
"There goes the wait for the others plan, that dog thing will find us before the others will" Nami groans
"Quite the predicament you 3 find yourselves in" came an unfamiliar voice, turning around the straw hats panic seeing what looked to be a vampire hanging upsidedown behind them "Relax and I apologize for my rudeness the name is Hildon. Speaking of which, I've been spying on your for the last oh 20 minutes, that dog gave you all quite the scare" he says in amusement "The night has just begun, but already the shadows lurking in the forest are deep, soon this place shall become a world of terror, straight out of your deepest, darkest nightmares. Might I suggest you accompany me in my carriage, I can take you to the mansion in you desire"
"Mansion?" Nami parrots, surprised to hear this place had one
"But of course, only the best would suit Dr. Hogback's resident, same with master Moria" Hildon answers
"Dr. Hogback!" Chopper gasps, confusing the others
'I have a bad feeling about this' the 2 thought simultaneously
TBC
LW: Well, hope this goes well, and that you enjoy this chapter. See you in 2 weeks.
