Chapter 4

Ghosts, Ghouls, and Goblins

Their ship drifted in the moat until they had finally come to a stop. Both the rudder and the anchor gears were jammed, no thanks to that invisible man they encountered. Franky would have to replace the damaged parts later. Whoever it was, they had escaped the ship and it would useless to track him down now. The waves had calmed down… And Maxwell almost wished they hadn't stopped.

The Thousand Sunny had been caught up in a massive spiderweb! And it was no exaggeration. They were stuck in actual spider thread and gossamer, their stern entangled in the thick sticky silk. The web was large enough to stretch from the fortress battlements, to the sea wall, and up along one of the massive chains climbing up into the fog.

Sanji sighed, "We've been patient, but there's no choice. There's no way we can get the ship away from this giant spiderweb." The gossamer was also tangled in the sails, so they couldn't afford to burn the web away.

Maxwell had seen giant spiders before… and he still shuddered at the thought. Giant arachnids that could grow up to your chest, with raised abdomens that could go shoot out silk and entangle you. Their legs as thick as your arm, raised to pounce or fire at you. They could spit their venom from beneath their massive mandibles, with fangs could pierce your heart just as easily. And six beady eyes, with unnerving intelligence. The largest on either side of its head.

Worse yet, they hunted in packs. Old ruins and dark caves were often where you'd find their nests. It was theorized that they grew from ordinary spiders with a thinning in the Veil. Tragic places covered in cobwebs and filth as they snacked on human and animal remains. Many an adventurer has died and been eaten because they delved into a ruin unprepared… And Maxwell had heard legends of spiders as bigs as a hut.

He did NOT want to meet the one that made a web this big!

"I don't like this…" muttered Zoro, "Everything is caught in the web. The ship, the skeleton guy's ghost ship, even the Mini Merry where Usopp, Chopper and Nami should have been… And conveniently, the entrance to the island is right beside us… Tch. I can almost feel the ghosts beckoning to me."

The mage took his eyes off the spiderweb for a moment. They had also drifted into the island's harbour. Their ship was so close they could just step off the Sunny and land on the dock. The gates were open, with a curtained archway to greet them. However, it seemed the inhabitants wanted to keep the haunted theme. The dock was rickety and full of holes. The curtains were tattered and the stone was worn…

Maxwell looked up back at the spider web, "…Yeah. This is definitely a trap." Though whether this was the bait or the snare, Maxwell couldn't tell.

"Max! Zoro! What are you two jabbering about!? You're coming too!"

"Huh?" Maxwell suddenly realized that Luffy and the others had made land on the docks.

"We don't have time to lose here! C'mon! I'll even share my food!" Luffy grinned.

Maxwell couldn't help but scoff, "Now that is a bold faced lie."

Still… Max and Zoro looked at each other before nodding. They jumped off the ship and decided to follow Luffy into Thriller Bark. It was better than standing around and doing nothing… And Maxwell honestly wanted to get away from that spiderweb.

So they entered the island.

"Why is there suddenly a staircase going down?" Zoro was suspicious. The entrance was nothing but the beginning of a stonewall trench that went below sea level.

Luffy was obliviously chipper. It was cold, dark, and damp and he was marching at the front without a care in the world. "No matter how you think about it, this is the entrance, so there's no other option!"

"I beg to differ…" Maxwell muttered as he walked down the steps. He lit up the head of his staff so it would catch fire, illuminating the darkness in their path.

And again, Maxwell almost wished he hadn't.

When they came to the end of the staircase, the trench was littered with skulls and bones. You couldn't go one step without stepping on some femur or tibia. It was disconcerting, hearing the rattling of bones beneath your feet.

Luffy then paused. "Hey! There's something up ahead."

Maxwell lifted his staff forward to try and get a better look.

"…What in the Maker's name is that?"

A three headed beast was stalking towards them, growling. It's tongues hanging out of its one fox and two hounds heads. It stood built like a mabari warhound, yet was as tall as a man. Ands its three short manes ran under collars, down its three wolf tails.

"…A Cerberus?" Sanji stood with his hands in his pockets, "Is that supposed to make hell any safer?"

"Oh~ it's cute," Robin cued.

"Is it trying to pick a fight?" "How impertinent…" "Oh. Is it tasty?"

…Maxwell and Cerberus may have had the same reaction. How in Andraste's name were they all so casual about this!? It was a three headed dog! Now wasn't the time to admire it like some Ferelden kennel master's wet dream!

…And why would you even want to eat it!? That three-headed dog looked flea bitten and diseased just by glancing at it!

The beast must have sensed Maxwell's repulsion, because it started to growl. Again.

"It looks like it wants to fight," Zoro observed. He then started to draw one of his katanas, "Then I'll—"

"No, wait," Luffy cut him off. Their captain was rubbing his chin and grinning. "I wanna try and tame it."

"Oh no…" Maxwell grimaced.

Zoro scoffed, no longer drawing his sword, "You idiot. Even if it's a dog, it's like the boss of all dogs!"

"But a dog is still a dog," Luffy replied. He then walked up toward the cerberus with his hand out stretched. "There, there. Now Shake."

*BITE, BITE, CRUNCH.*

The cerberus had bitten down, and ended up with Luffy's head, arm, and leg in its jaws. "…And right after he was warned too."

Maxwell sighed and got ready to free Luffy. A good Horror spell should have done the trick. However, something weird happened…

The mage started to have a splitting headache as Luffy's free arm starts patting the beast's snout. "There, there, Good boy." His head felt like a piece of hot metal being pounded with a smith's hammer.

Something was affecting his mind again… And this time, it was coming from Luffy.

"There, there…" Amazingly, the cerberus was actually starting to let him go. "That's it, let me go slowly… You're a good boy—YOU MUTT!"

But, as soon as Luffy was out of its jaws, Luffy gave it a mean left hook. The punch had slammed all three heads into the wall, knocking it out.

Luffy then held out his hand and gave the unconscious dog another command.

"Sit."

Maxwell was pretty sure that wasn't how taming works…

…However, Maxwell could be proven wrong.

As soon as the cerberus had woken up, the beast was completely subservient. It's heads hung low, it's tails between it's legs. Luffy even got the chance to ride the three-headed dog.

Robin took a closer look at the beast, "Look at all the wounds. It's a wonder that it's even alive." The cerberus was covered in bandages and sutures. It looked like more like a rag-doll made flesh, and had been a chew toy for some other canine.

Sanji held the fox head by the ear, "Why is there even a fox mixed in? It's not even a valid creature anymore…"

Maxwell however was more interested in the brand on its hindquarters. "82…"

"If something this interesting popped out as soon as we entered, then I'm looking forward to this island!" Luffy chirped happily on Cerberus' back.

Franky also rode on the giant dog. He was looking up at the edges of the trench, "Once we leave the moat, the forest should be right in front of us…"

And sure enough, they eventually came to another set of stairs and emerged into a dead forest.

There were no leaves on these trees. In the darkness and fog, the trees looked more like black water. Where Maxwell's staff illuminated the bark, it was like walking a snowless winter. They were either dead, diseased, or rotting, and everything else looked dead with the fog clinging to the ground.

"Hey! Nami!" Sanji tried calling out into the forest. "Nami! Where are you!?" There was no response.

Robin noticed that Cerberus still hung it's heads down low, "Why so blue, Cerberus?"

"Don't show it any sympathy," Zoro groaned, "You'll just make it feel worse."

The group then stopped at another sight. A tree and unicorn were sharing a drink with a bottle of rum.

…Wait, what?

"A middle aged man tree and a unicorn are having a drink together…!" Luffy voiced their thoughts.

The unicorn was just as patchwork as Cerberus, with stitches and bandages all over. The tree had arms and legs growing out of it, and had a human face on it. It actually looked like a human face had been stapled on to it.

And both had froze at having been spotted…

Naturally, Luffy wanted to catch them.

"GYAAAAAH~!" Luffy and Franky jumped off Cerberus to go after them. Franky was after the unicorn while Luffy was after the tree. The tree and the unicorn ran for their lives. However they couldn't quite get away from the cyborg and rubber-man.

"I caught it~!" Luffy yelled, pinning down the tree.

Franky hand caught the unicorn by the neck, "Me too! These guys are rare!"

"WUOOO, PLEASE LET US GO!" the tree pleaded with them. He was shivering like a leaf, while the unicorn brayed.

…Wait. They could talk!? This gave Luffy an idea!

"Hey! Do you guys want to be pirates with—" "NO WAY!"

It was Zoro, Sanji, and Maxwell that had yelled at Luffy. Luffy had been having one to many ideas lately, and they didn't have time to entertain his whims. They still had to find Usopp, Chopper, and Nami!

…And Brook. If they had time… Jury was still out on that one.

"Aw~! Why—? WHOA!" The talking tree beneath Luffy took the pirate captain by surprise and threw him off. It ran back deep into the forest, wanting to get away from the pirate crew.

Not seeing he harm in it, Franky let the unicorn go. It ran, charging into the forest after its retreating friend.

O O O

They've been marching through the forest for a fare while now. Robin was able to spot a path for them to follow after their encounter with the walking tree and unicorn. Luffy and Franky sat back on Cerberus while the other walked beside them. Maxwell was lighting the way with his staff.

"—I just told you! Stop trying to recruit every single thing on this island! They're freaking weird!" They were also arguing with Luffy about who he invites on the crew. As captain, it was his right. However, Luffy had been trying to recruit every weird creature they had encountered thus far. "We already have a tanuki and a robot, among other things!" Sanji was likely referring to Zoro with that last comment.

But either than that, the chef had a point. They had already seen more of those walking trees. Maxwell certain they weren't sylvans, or else roots, trees, and branches would have been coming after them by now. And they were certainly like acting like any Rage demon. They've also seen three mangy cats, a lion with a human's head, and a giant toad pretending to be a unicorn… That one was particularly disturbing.

"Hey!" Franky retorted at the robot remark, "I'm a cyborg! Not a robot, you moron!"

Sanji eyed the cyborg, "We'll you're certainly not human anymore, that's for sure."

"I'm human at my core!" Franky protested.

"At you're core is a pervert!" Sanji growled.

Franky then started to become a bit bashful, "Well, since you're praising me so well…"

"I WASN'T A COMPLEMENT!"

"Enough! You're both perverts—! Moving on!" Maxwell barked back at them. Franky was an exhibitionist, always wearing those tights. Sanji fancied himself a romantic, but all he was interested in was a pretty face. Both were loud, proud, and equally annoying. Weren't they arguing about Luffy before?

"Man~ I wonder what's going to come out next! This is fun!" Luffy then began to whistle a tune while riding on Cerberus' back.

"Like that 'tree man' and that 'unicorn' earlier?" Robin wondered.

Zoro noticed Robin looking at the beast, "What is it?"

She pat the left hound head of Cerberus, "A common denominator for the odd creatures of this forest are bandages, surgery scars, and the numbers marked on their bodies."

"Numbers huh…?" Zoro looked back at the number 82 on Cerberus's flank, "…You think they're being monitored by something."

Robin nodded, "I do."

It wasn't an unheard of practice. Plenty of ranchers and conservationists marked animals to keep track of their whereabouts. For ranchers, it was to keep track of their breed, owner, and medical history. Conservationists used markings to determine numbers, behavour, and ecology. Both have also tried nursing those animals back to health… Though, the animals on Thriller Bark seemed to have taken surgery to an extreme.

They were definitely under observation. The question was, by what?

"Ne-ga-ti-ve. Ne-ga-ti-ve. Ne-ga-ti-ve…"

"Hm? I can hear something," Luffy looked around. There was an odd laugh echoing through the forest. The others stopped to look around, since it sounded so close.

Then Luffy saw the source, floating through the trees, "THERE! IT'S A GHOST!"

*Horohorohorohoro!* It was the same kind of spirit that frightened Brook while they were on the Sunny. Now that it wasn't emerging out of something, Maxwell noticed that it's limbs and body were like an amorphous paper doll. It had no appendages, just a pair of long arms and short legs.

The ghost seemed to have taken notice of them too. It started bobbing through the air, waving its blobby arms up and down. However what had really made Maxwell taken aback was when two other spirits sprouted out of it.

Luffy stood up with his bug net in hand, "They're multiplying while dancing!? How awesome is that!?"

"Ne-ga-ti-ve. Ne-ga-ti-ve. Ne-ga-ti-ve…"

"What a disturbing chant…" Sanji took a drag of his cigarette, watching them, puzzled.

"I'm going to catch and raise them!" Luffy jumped up swinging his bug net.

"No—Wait! Luffy!" Maxwell stepped forward and try to catch his captain but he was already running around the forest. The ghosts flew around Luffy, weaving in and out of his net. Luffy kept trying to catch them, but kept failing as he flailed around. Their eerie laughter seemed to egg him on. Some even stuck their tongues out, mocking him. The net went right through them.

"They're totally spirits…." Franky's brows furrowed watching them tease Luffy.

"They're something alright…!" Maxwell watched them all in concern. They certainly weren't like any spirits Maxwell heard of before. No spirit had the power to duplicate like this.

Was it because of the Islander? …Maxwell didn't think so. If Thriller Bark had come from one of the Blue Seas then it would have been particularly young, if not primal. It would have had these things for breakfast, and their laughter indicated these spirits were devolved and complex. "I say we move on. They seem harmless, but as rule, you don't want to mess with spirits."

"Alright…" Franky nodded. He then took a breath— "Fresh Fire!" and blew fire at the ghosts.

"WHAT DID I JUST SAY!?" Maxwell had wacked Franky on the head with his staff, making the cyborg cut off his stream.

"YEOW!" Franky clutched his noggin, "What the heck man!"

"I just said 'don't mess with them' and you breath fire!?" Maxwell scolded the shipwright. He was incredulous at having his warning ignored.

"Well it's not like it did anything!" Franky defended him. The fire had also gone right through the ghosts.

"You could have burned down the forest!"

"Look here, Long-beard! I—!" One of the ghosts then flew straight through Franky's body, "I'm useless. I'm totally no good this week… Everything I do is no good." Franky then feel to his knees, looking at the ground, "I have no confidence to live… I should die."

"Franky!?" Maxwell balked at how depressed Franky suddenly was. One moment they were arguing, then Franky turns into a complete sop!

The mage then understood what happened, "Crap!" and switched into a battle position, watching the ghosts carefully. You had to be vigilant with spirits. Somehow their permeability allowed them to affected Franky's personality to make him a depressed schmuk! What were they!? Some sort variety of Despair demon!?

"You bastard!" Luffy had seen which ghost had done it, and tried to tackle the ghost. However, like everything else, he just went right through them. "If I'm going to be reborn, I want to be a clam... I'm the worst… I should die…"

"HOW DEPRESSED ARE YOU GUYS GETTING!?" Sanji was incredulous, but he didn't see their situation as dire. Luffy had fallen to his knees alongside Franky, and both were now whimpering at how they shouldn't belong in this world.

*Horohorohorohoro!* The ghosts kept dancing and giggling in the air. "Ne-ga-ti-ve. Ne-ga-ti-ve. Ne-ga-ti-ve…"

Robin observed the floating spirits, "Maybe when a ghost touches your spirit, you get depressed…"

Sanji shook his head, "Now that's just silly."

Zoro just huffed, "Hmph, they're pathetic… It's because they don't usually prepare their spirits, that they get their minds played with by some weird ghosts!"

"And how in the world would you prepare for that?" the mage questioned their swordsman, prodding at his bravado. Maxwell was technically their expert on the supernatural. Spirits in particular. And they weren't taking this seriously!

"That's easy," said Zoro. Then one of the ghosts flew through Zoro.

…

…

…

"I'm sorry I was born…"

"ENOUGH ALREADY!" Sanji yelled at the depressed trio. Seeing the three of them like this really was pathetic. "It looks like what Robin said was true… Any idea on what we should do, Max?"

"Ne-ga-ti-ve. Ne-ga-ti-ve. Ne-ga-ti-ve…"

Maxwell watched as the spirits multiplied into more ghosts, making five in total. They kept dancing through the air, waving their arms in rhythm with their chant.

So he decided to do something.

Maxwell stamped his staff on the ground, causing a green circle appear beneath him. It was only their for an instant, but the air rippled around his body. He then walked up to the ghosts.

"Good evening. Are these your woods?"

"THAT'S YOUR PLAN!?" Sanji screeched at the mage. He was going to talk to it!?

One of ghosts floated down to look at him curiously. Maxwell kept his face neutral at he stared at the spirit. This human was braver than most. They seemed to get off on the schadenfreudic humor that they caused. So it decided to make him a new source of entertainment. The ghost giggled as the ghost floated trough him, "Horohorohoro—OOF!"

Only, the ghost did not go through Maxwell. It instead hit its head against Maxwell's Griffin Robe(d) chest.

The spirit recoiled, as if amassed that it had hit something. Then it flew back closer to look at Maxwell. It tried touching him, running it's fingerless limbs across Maxwell's chest, face, and shoulders.

…

…

…

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't pull on my beard," the mage deadpanned.

The ghost couldn't get through.

"NEGATIVE!"

"NEGATIVE!" All the spirits had screeched in terror at the mage. Their eyes were bulging, and hugging each other. The five ghosts then flew off, as if trying to get away from him as quick as possible.

…Maxwell then fell down to one knees and started gasping for breath, "By the Maker, that felt awful…"

"Are you alright, Maxwell?" Robin looked at him with what looked like concern, "You were able to fend off the ghosts."

"Yeah, barely…" the mage groaned. "My barrier was able to keep their forms at bay, but f #$… It was like their essence was trying to burrow through me." It wasn't obvious to the physical eye, but the ghost's touch had felt like a void. One trying to suck him in under an intense gravity, as it corroded his psyche. He was thankful the magic of his Barrier had kept it at bay. That spell was part of the Spirit School for a reason.

Maxwell could still feel the marks in his mind… but they would be restored soon. Nothing in his brain was damaged, just… disrupted. He could already feel the parts of his psyche starting to reorganize and grow back.

"If they're enemies, then they're going to be a handful…" Sanji groaned. "If they touch you and your willpower will be cut down—on top of having no bodies…"

"I can give you a momentary defence." Maxwell stabbed his staff into the ground, moving to get up. He was fairly certain his magic would work on them, "But yeah… It'd be best if we can avoid those spirits from now on."

Invisible men creeping on their ship? Trying to find their friends in a spooky wood? Fending off ghosts, ghouls, and abominations. All on a dark and foggy night? This was starting to feel like they were in one of Robin's ghost stories.

"…What an odd island," said Robin.