When hinges creak in doorless chambers,

And strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls.

Whenever candlelights flicker where the air is deathly still —

That is the time when ghosts are present, practicing their terror with ghoulish delight!


The day had finally come.

The Whole Cake Academy Halloween Festival was in full swing. Many families and other students from different schools came to see the spectacle. Pudding, along with some of her siblings, were selling treats by the front gate from pumpkin pie to apple spice cupcakes. The Amazons, bar Hancock, had the game booths manned and handing out prizes to whomever could beat their challenging games. Even Nami, who was dressed as a pumpkin witch, was doing her part by helping with the funds and donations with Vivi, who was dressed as a desert princess.

"Whoa! Look at the haul we got so far!" Dollar signs appeared in her eyes as Nami sorted through the money. "With this much money, we can finally pay for the repairs on the second floor bathrooms!"

"Yeah, instead of letting Miss Kokoro fix them every time the sink wants to spit out." Vivi agreed, taking the money out of the greedy girl's hands. "I'm not letting you out of my sight tonight."

Nami was about to protest when Robin came up to the girls, a group of children following behind her. Tonight, Robin was wearing a long black dress with a cobweb pattern, a flowing cape, and had fangs in her mouth.

"Hey Robin, nice spider lady costume!" Nami complimented her senior. "Where are you and those kids going?"

"Heading inside to the library for some spooky tales of horror and gore." Robin said with a smile on her face, unnerving the duo. "Of course I had their parents joining if they wanted to."

"Yeah, Miss Robin is going to tell us scary stories!" A young boy chimed out, holding the tall girl's dress. This was Chopper, the school nurse's son and one of the cutest boys in town. His curly brown hair had antlers in them as the rest of his body was covered in fur. He was a reindeer this year.

"I hope I don't get too scared! My big brother said I could get nightmares!" A small girl puffed out her cheeks. "I'll show him that I can be a brave warrior!" This young lady was Otama, one of Ace's adopted sisters and his youngest one. Her purple hair had cat ears in them while she wore a cute kitty costume. In her arms was a cat plushie and her bag of candy.

Robin patted their heads gently. "I wouldn't tell you anything that would harm you. Just some old classic and we get to have some candy too!"

The group cheered at that while Nami and Vivi giggled at their antics.

"I guess we'll see you at the play later." Vivi said, waving at the children. "Have fun kids!"

"Bye!" The children waved as Robin lead them inside the school. Nami shook her head, smiling gently as a cold breeze nipped the air.

"Wonder how Luffy's doing, he must be getting ready for his debut."


"PUDDING-CHAN! YOU LOOK SO GORGEOUS IN THE MOONLIGHT!"

Linlin growled before slamming a whole empty pie tin in the face of the lovestruck blonde. If there's one guy that tipped the limit on how much she despised men, Sanji Vinsmoke crossed the line constantly. So much that they had to make new security rules to ensure that he wouldn't break in. He wouldn't have bothered her so much if he didn't have the biggest crush on her older sister!

Helping run her stand since she couldn't do the play, Linlin was joined by Smoothie, Galette, and Compote who had nothing to do that night but lay around the house, eat sweets, and watch movies with the rest of the family. The only one who actually wanted to come to the festival was Flampe, who nagged her siblings so she could get treats. Not wanting to deal with her annoying pranks and voice, they let her come and she went off with the rest of the kids.

"He never gives up, does he?" Compote asked, taking a bite from her fruity tart. "Quite admirable, don't you think?"

"I find it annoying. He does this on a daily basis." Linlin snarled, glaring at the fallen form of Sanji. "His sister attends here and she needs to drug him to get him out."

"Doesn't look like Pudding minds the attention though." Smoothie snickered, eyeing the way Pudding blushed at Sanji's words.

Galette rolled her eyes. "Oh please, as if he thinks he's good enough for our sister. He can try, but he will fail." She took one of the cherry cupcakes and took a bite. "Say sis, what about you? Are you gonna stay and see your boyfriend perform on stage?"

Smoothie and Compote gave the devilish girl a stern look before bracing themselves for another temper tantrum from their sister. Before Linlin could explode, Pudding stuffed a bunch of brownies in her mouth.

Pudding pinched the bridge of her nose. "Honestly, I think you guys enjoy teasing her. She said she would stay and watch him fail. Something like that..." Picking up Sanji, she cooed at his cute superhero outfit. "Aww man, when he wears things like this, it makes him look even more handsome!"


Ulti stared out at the gathering crowd from her place behind the curtain. It was a large crowd and she was starting to get a little nervous. They had been rehearsing this play for a week now and everyone got most of their parts down. Perona stressed the importance of remembering lines, letting them flub a line or two if they couldn't recall. Camie had done a spectacular job with costume designs and made them to perfection. Surprisingly, Kalifa had helped build the props with some help from the Water 7 Building Company.

Everyone had their roles and Robin was going to narrate the entire play.

This had to be perfect, she knew that she couldn't mess up.

"You ready for final call?" Ulti turned to see Perona grinning behind her, excitement dancing in her eyes. "I saw the way you looked at the crowd, you're nervous aren't you?"

Ulti waved a hand at her. "Me? Nervous? No way! I've handled way tougher things than this!"

"Oh! Then I guess I shouldn't have worried then. I know that stage fright can be common when performing. I just wanted to assure you that you aren't alone and we are all here for you." Perona patted her shoulder, struggling to reach her due to the height difference. "You'll do great!"

Ulti was touched by the pink girl's actions. Besides Maria and her brother, no one tried to comfort her when she felt nervous like this. If she wasn't there to ruin that Luffy boy's life, she would've been good friends with her.

Perona nodded, turning to the rest of the group. "Places everyone, and would someone please give Robin her script? She's our narrator after all. Can't have her without her script?"

Unbeknownst to her, a figure was seen swapping out the current script with a new altered one. Carrot grabbed the new script and handed it to her upperclassman.

"Here ya go Robin! Good luck out there!" The bunny girl winked before skipping to her position.

Robin chuckled as she walked out onto the stage. The crowd was full of family, friends, and all the children that came for the show. Taking the microphone, she cleared her throat to signal the start of the show.

"Welcome to Whole Cake Academy's Halloween Play. As you know, every year we put on a show for all of you to enjoy. This year, we were fortunate enough to get a special writer from the Thriller Bark Theatre School and she wrote us a spectacular play that we all prepped for. So, without further ado, let us begin!"


Mihawk smiled to himself, getting a front row seat of his goddaughter's performance. He even got a nice vampire costume put together, which wasn't hard since he loved wearing capes. Zoro came along as well, sporting a nice green robe as well, making him look like a samurai.

"Glad I was invited to see pinkie's performance. She kept chatting about it over the phone the other day." Zoro said, leaning backwards in his chair. "I even heard Luffy was performing in it. Haven't seen him in a minute."

"Ah yes, you are his closest friend. Guess he'll be excited to see you again." Mihawk agreed, taking a sip of hot apple cider. "I even saw that Sanji boy earlier."

"Ero-cook? Great..." Zoro huffed under his breath before crossing his arms. "Geez...when women are involved, he will travel. Didn't you say Shanks was here too?"

Mihawk rubbed his forehead. "I saw him with his wife earlier along with Luffy's brothers. I do believe they all came to support him. Even Rouge and Roger tagged along with Garp. That boy has so many good figures in his life."


Robin got situated on stage before flipping through her book-esque script. "In a faraway kingdom, there lived a king with a cold heart. He was a fearsome demon with the powers to stretch his body to immeasurable lengths."

The curtain opened up to show Luffy sitting on a makeshift throne that the prop department made. His costume was a pair of devil horns in his raven hair, long black robes, fake claws on his hands, and red pants. He wore no shirt, showing off his abs and scars. Looking towards the audience, they could see fangs poking out of his mouth.

"Grr...I hate everything and I don't like anyone." He said, making a few children chuckle at his acting skills.

Robin chuckled herself before continuing. "The king had two trusted advisors that helped him with his daily tasks. One was a beautiful gorgon who had the power to turn people to stone with her mighty gaze. The other was a hauntingly looking werebeast that took the form of a rabbit."

Carrot came out on stage and the audience gasped at her outfit. Her eyes were red with contacts, a long white wing flowed behind her while her usual bunny ears poked out from the top, her nails were sharp, and fur was fluffed up around her neck. Her outfit was a purple dress that came down to her knees, matching flats, and a small bat clip on one of her ears.

Boa strutted onto the stage, making all the boys hoot and holler. The gorgon had her hair pinned up in a bun, small snakes coming down the sides. She wore a scarlet red kimono decorated with golden snake designs, a beautiful golden hair ornament, and red lipstick. Her eyes narrowed at the vulgar men in the audience before resting upon Luffy's costume. Along with the other girls, they had no idea what Camie designed for Luffy, so this was their first time seeing his king outfit. Hearts danced in her eyes before she had to be in character.

"Glory to the king and may he live forever." Boa said, her demeanor being one of serious nature. "Tonight is the night where you pick your bride to be. Shouldn't you be happier?"

Luffy made a pouting look on his face. "I will take no bride for I will not love her like she will love me. What is the point of having an unloved lover?"

Carrot bowed slightly, giggling internally at the serious voice Luffy was putting on. "We still need to put on the grand ball. You sent out those invitations, you must honor them."

Luffy sighed and placed a hand on his forehead. "Very well, send in the guest."

The children gasped as the rest of the girls walked on stage wearing their costumes and mask. Robin smiled to herself as the dance team lead by one of the captains of the sport's team Rebecca performed on-stage. Various people, including her Aunt Viola, clapped at their dance when it was through.

"The ball was grand, but the king just wanted to leave in peace." Robin read. "However, someone entered the room and caused the entire place to freeze at her appearance."

The lighting crew changed the colors to blue, signifying the change in atmosphere as Reiju made her entrance. The female had blue roses in a crown on her head, her face covered in fake stitches and blue lipstick. Her outfit was a white ball gown, white heels, and wrappings on her arms. One of her eyes was covered with an eyepatch, giving her an air of mystique.

Luffy leaned off his throne, conveying shock and awe on his face. "Who is this maiden who enters my castle? I've never seen such a woman before."

Nearly forgetting her lines, Boa bit her lip before replying. "She is the princess of the zombie clan, and she has been kept a secret from everyone. No one knows where she came from, but no one knows how she got here."

"The king's attention was enthralled at the beautiful zombie woman. Perhaps she would be the one to break his frozen heart?" Robin stared the children, who grinned at her.


The rest of the play went without a hitch so far. Reiju was as nervous as Ulti when they exchanged lines later in the play. The girls enjoyed the love story while the boys liked how Luffy was a powerful looking king. There were moments where some girls flubbed their lines, but improvisation was key. Perona was happily watching the pieces of her play, getting excited as they reached the end.

"How did you find out about my wicked plan?" Ulti asked, her character had just been caught trying to get rid of the zombie princess.

"You thought you could get rid of the princess underneath the king's nose?" Carrot said, poking her own nose. "You forgot I am part animal and can sniff you out."

"For going against the crown, you will be sentenced to prison for life!" Boa commanded, pointing down at her. Guards came around Ulti as she was dragged off-stage.

Reiju clung onto Luffy, her character feigning innocence. "I was so worried that no one would save me. Thank you and your attendants for your help."

Luffy smiled, caressing her face. "For you, I've learned how to love again. Please say you would be mine?"

Before Reiju could say her line, a loud cry came from backstage. Both of them looked up to see the smirking form of Alvida standing there with a costume on herself. She wore black robes with a golden trim, her signature cowboy hat was black with a gold rose, and she held a mace in her hands.

Perona and Robin looked surprised to see her on the stage, but couldn't bring themselves to panic or cause chaos. Perona could see Linlin glaring at the stage before bringing her attention to her.

Do something about this! Her eyes seemed to say.

"My king, why have some simple looking zombie when an oni princess would be more your type?" Alvida called out, grinning at the shocked looks on their faces. "I've come to fight for your heart as well."

Carrot and Boa stood beside Luffy, waiting for the signal to attack. Luffy held up a hand, calming the girls down. "What do you mean oni princess? Surely you attacking my castle will cause me not to pick you."

"Don't worry bout me, you should be worrying about the rest of your kingdom." Alvida snapped her fingers, causing a ton of men coming out of the background. One of them had a red nose that covered most of his face as he glared down at the strawhat boy.

Luffy now got into a fighting stance, seeing the familiar face of one of his childhood tormentors. "Well if it isn't...the clown."

Buggy growled and got his fist out. "Your reign is over now Demon King! Where you stand will be the last place you'll see before I snuff you out."

Before either of them could get a punch in, Ulti came out from the background and sent a flying kick to the side of Buggy's face. The clown guy was sent into the air before smashing into Alvida, knocking her off the stage. The enraged masked girl proceeded to then take out most of the intruders herself, looking more of a monster than the character she was supposed to play. The audience cheered on for the masked girl, said girl's brother cheering the loudest from his seat.

"Get em Ulti! Punch em right in the kisser!" Page One shouted, Maria shaking her head at his antics.

Luffy just laughed at the carnage that Ulti was putting down. Not wanting to be outdone by her, both Carrot and Boa joined in on the fight, eventually piling up bodies on the side. Reiju even defended herself by tossing some jerks over the side of the stage. Now the audience was in a frenzy, cheering on the various females for getting rid of the "killer clown gang". Eventually, there were no more fighters and the females were out of breath from the fighting.

Luffy clapped his hands, for once feeling happy that he didn't have to do the fighting. "Thanks guys, you did great. Perhaps I'll just marry all of you instead of just one of you."

Robin watched as all the girls laughed at this statement before all of them got up and gave a bow. "And so, the Demon King married all his closest monster girls and they ruled the land for many years. Happy Halloween!"

The audience cheered and clapped loudly as the children screamed with joy. Chopper and Otama waved at Luffy, who noticed and waved at them back. Perona came up on stage and bowed as the crowd cheered for the writer of the play. She saw Mihawk and Zoro giving her a thumbs up, making her beam with pride.

All in all, it was a great Halloween play.


Sorry for the late chapter! After the glitch happened where no one could post any chapters, I couldn't get this out on time.

I managed to finish it, but it felt rushed! Gah! No more in the next special chapter!

Anyways, the next arc will be coming out soon, then the Robin chapters!