Wishfull-star: (⌒ω⌒)

sulongmirko: Thanks! I'm glad the humor is in character enough lol. Honestly proud of how well I did with a character as hard to write as Luffy.

IIRoxaII: I'm glad the romance isn't too much. At least, nobody has complained about the romance being too much!

Luffy woke up to the taste of blood in his mouth, jerking awake. He was disoriented on the floor of the galley. He jumped up, confused. He looked down and saw his shadow was gone. That Moria! He stole his shadow! Damn it! "What happened?!" Luffy demanded. "Usopp, Chopper! Where's Nami? Where's my shadow!? Where's Moria!"

Usopp told him to calm down and listen. Luffy did, taking the already open blood bag and drinking. He, Sanji and Zoro all got caught. Zoro got caught after Luffy. Their shadows were all taken away, and put into other bodies. But Luffy's was put into a giant zombie. "A giant zombie?!"

"Yeah. He was frozen in some chamber! It's huge, bigger than Dorry and Broggy!" Chopper said, tears in his eyes. "It was so scary! But you cleansed Kumacy and Cindry! Those zombies. You scared them out!" Luffy was angry that's all he could do. Now he couldn't go out into the sunlight at all!

Nami was kidnapped to be married to the invisible man, who had the lower face of some cat, a jaguar or something. "You let Nami get taken?"

"It wasn't our fault!" Chopper insisted. Luffy apologized for accusing them, seeing both were very upset about it all. He asked what his big zombie was doing. "You can try and listen. He was noisy, at least. We ran away after that, didn't see anything after that."

Luffy closed his eyes, but the fog was interfering. He heard a sound of things breaking. "...My body...!" he heard his own voice shout, though it was deeper and sounded furious. Luffy said it sounded like his giant zombie was throwing a fit. Then he heard something come crashing to them and slammed into the spiderweb. Luffy hurried outside, it still dark out due to the fog and being night time. Of course they couldn't see the stars though.

They looked and saw it was the very top of the mansion, broken apart and in the spider web, stuck above Brook's ghost ship. "It looks like this was thrown here," Sanji said. "That's pretty dangerous. If your giant zombie is throwing a fit, it could destroy the island. Us with it."

Chopper said it was better than obeying Moria and Hogback. They then explained to Luffy everything that had happened. A lot happened to the three of them! Wow. Luffy felt bad for them, how scared they had been. "Well, we're with you now and won't let anything happen!" Luffy said firmly. "I'm sorry I got caught, Zoro. Then you got caught."

"Oi! You're not my bodyguard. I don't want you to start thinking you gotta protect me!" Zoro said firmly. Luffy nodded, but said he couldn't help but be worried about it. Well, they were all alive, though. And they could get their shadows back by putting salt in the zombies' mouths.

Luffy wondered how they got that information, and was told that Franky and Robin were saved and met by Brook after Zoro got taken soon after Luffy. Everything was explained to them, which was how they knew to come back to the ship. "Those assholes! They won't get my shadow!"

"It won't be able to come out just by you insisting," Usopp said. "They can only come out from Moria."

"I didn't need salt to free the shadows! I'm not normal, I'll get my damn shadow back! I won't be used by someone who claims they'll be the Pirate King! I'm gonna be the Pirate King!"

"Oi! Oi, calm down!"

"I lost five of my nakama to that guy!" Luffy raged. Zoro took his hand and Sanji insisted it wasn't his fault they got lost. "It was for you! I had you and then I let go!" He was so angry at himself. Five of them, six including him, had been taken and in danger. And he'd wanted to go ghost hunting and wear armor.

He felt... bad.

"You're our captain, not our babysitter," Sanji said firmly. "We won't let Moria get away with it, either. And I won't let Nami-san get forced to marry some freak!" Usopp asked them to please calm down. Luffy swallowed and took a few deep breaths, calming his anger and guilt. He sighed, and apologized for freaking out.

"I guess we should be flattered with how much you worry now." Luffy's arm started to glow again. Oh, now it happens?! Chopper asked what that was, and Zoro said they should get off of the Sunny for now. "Why?"

Robin said something new happened with Luffy while they were gone. "Luffy's markings started to glow and blink, and then his hands hurt until he punched something with some sort of shock wave or intense strength." Chopper looked worried and Usopp wary. Luffy wished this strength thing showed up when he actually needed it.

He got on the land while the others were on the dock. Robin suddenly ran back inside. He didn't want to accidentally hurt anybody with this. When his hands hurt, he slammed them both into the ground, blowing it apart into a huge crater and throwing himself away and rolling roughly. They were all quiet and Luffy got up. He felt fine now. "I'm good now."

Robin hurried out, holding the glass tube holding the blood stone. "This was blinking along with you. It has something to do with the blood stone from Sky Island," she said. Chopper looked shocked. "Well, let's not talk about this right now." They agreed, and Robin put the thing back in its place before coming out.

"So, how was Brook? Was he okay?" The crew went back onto the ship now that Luffy wasn't glowing anymore and he was safer to be around. Franky said he was good, had saved them and was going to his own shadow.

"But… that guy. I asked him a really insensitive question. When he came here, I didn't want him on the crew at all. Even though he's just a frail skeleton… the more I talked to him, he had bones. Not just a skeleton. He's a man!" Franky described his talk with him. His question was indeed rude and insensitive. Basically, why did Brook work so hard to get his shadow when he'd be shunned by the public, had no friends left, and would be all alone. He was doing it all for a friend he and his crew promised they would see again. All those decades ago, and he's planning to fulfil that promise, and see his own friend. No matter what kind of life he lived after being free, no matter how lonesome or hurtful, he just had to keep his promise to that friend and return to them. Even if he put himself through emotional pain. Even if that friend is dead or gone, he had to keep the promise and go back to that place.

"He wants to return to a whale that he and his crew left behind. His name was Laboon." The four who'd been there from the start all looked shocked. Laboon? Zoro said they met that whale. He was at the entrance of the Red Line. It all made sense now. The pirate that left him behind did die, all but Brook. Laboon still had somebody left from that crew.

"You knew him?!"

Sanji nodded and gave the story briefly. The sad story of Laboon in denial about his crew being gone forever. Well, he was holding out hope for something still there. Someone to fulfill that promise. Luffy smiled widely. Laboon. Someone was still coming for him! Franky and Robin were shocked by the coincidence.

"Not really. We couldn't avoid him. That was when Merry first got her scars. The sheep's head was decapitated. Luffy ended up ripping the mast off-"

"He did WHAT?!"

"It was for a good cause, but yeah. Luffy helped that whale, though. I'm sure Brook will be overjoyed to hear he's alive and okay. Doing better now after Luffy helped. Hopefully he has stopped bashing his head for good."

"That's why we gotta get his shadow back, too. Brook will be our nakama!"

"I agree. I want to help him as well!" Franky said firmly. The others couldn't argue. He was very selfless and determined to do such a thing, after all this time. Facing every negative aspect of his life due to his current shape to meet a long lost friend. It was beautiful. "If he joins us, someday we have to go see that friend of his!"

"That's his dream. I want all of our dreams to come true on our journey. Even if it's after I become Pirate Kingand we find the One Piece, we'll bring him back to that friend," Luffy said firmly. Franky grinned. Then he said Luffy had good eyes for crew members. "I hated you."

"Hah, very true." There was another loud crash. "Sounds like zombie Luffy is still throwing a fit."

Robin said, "You aren't human, you were right. Maybe you can get your shadow back by force. But we should at least try and get them back. We can't wait around here all night," she added. Luffy looked down at his feet. It felt wrong to not see a shadow there. Almost like he wasn't there at all. Like he wasn't touching the floor.

Luffy nodded. "We have to get Nami, and mine and Sanji and Zoro's shadows back. No matter what. We can find Brook after that and take out Moria." They left the ship, Zoro stealing a kiss before, and ran after Luffy, who was following the sounds of his voice shouting about returning to his original body. They found him, and he was huge! Red skinned and looking similar to all the other zombies. Patched up and clearly tampered with.

This one had terrible wounds all over and its face was nothing like regular giants, who looked just like huge humans. "My body!" Luffy's voice roared. He ripped off another chunk of the mansion and threw it. It slammed into fleeing zombies, squashing them completely and having shadows fly out.

Moria wasn't anywhere shouting, so maybe this didn't bother him? Was this normal? "Sanji's zombie acted like Sanji for a bit before it didn't anymore. It might only be for a little while that your zombie rebels," Chopper said.

"That's one ugly motherfucker," Franky said softly. "Loud, too. Should we try and convince him while he's still wanting Luffy's body?" Luffy said he wanted to go and try. Zoro took his arm.

"You better not get crushed," he said firmly. Luffy nodded. Luffy shot himself across the courtyard, and smelled Moria from the tower, he was watching but not dealing with the temperamental giant zombie. Luffy landed on the face, the side of an insect on him.

Luffy said, "Shadow, come back to my body!"

"Give me my body back!" his shadow said, and grabbed him. "My body!"

"Kishishishi! Straw Hat, did you think you could convince him?!" he heard Moria laugh from the tower. "He'll destroy you soon enough!" Luffy punched the zombie's eye, letting him down out of surprise and not pain.

He was on the roof of the building across the back of the mansion, looking at his zombie. He really was disturbing looking. "Come back to my body! That's what you want, right?!" Luffy shouted. Zombie Luffy didn't seem to understand that it would need to return to Luffy's body. It seemed to think it was the original body, and Luffy was the one needing to return, despite what it was shouting as it made a mess of the surroundings.

Luffy tried to let out that scary look, but it was his own shadow. It would never be frightened of its real body. It grabbed Luffy harshly, and started to pull on his arms, pinching him and trying to tear him apart to get back in his own body. It started to hurt, and he was shouting about letting him down.

"You stupid zombie, don't harm your owner's body!" zombie Luffy stopped stretching him, and punted him hard away from the area, slamming into walls, through buildings and then back where his crew was. He was covered in blood now. Having his skin cut by various rocks and sharp surfaces.

His crew hurried over, Sanji already gone to save Nami. Luffy's wounds really hurt, and some patches of his skin were raw. "Oh, jeez! Are you okay!?" Usopp shouted. Luffy sat up and then stood. But his leg was injured. "How hard did he throw you?!"

Luffy winced and said pretty hard. "He doesn't realize that I'm his body. It's like it was for Sanji. I think he acts like me but doesn't know he is," Luffy said. Zoro hurried over and gave him his arm wordlessly. They were near enough to the ship to get some blood from there, though. Zoro seemed bummed, maybe wanting to be the one to heal him. "Gotta make sure we're in good shape, to fight right?"

God these wounds hurt. They burned, friction burns despite him being rubber. He'd never been so outright injured like this. Damn, what a strong throw. It was almost impressive. With how damaged that zombie body was, to make a throw like that just fine?

He drank a blood bag, and that was enough to heal him up. "Man, I'm jealous of that," Usopp said at the perfectly fine body. "I guess it's a trade off for all the weird stuff." Luffy nodded. "Hey! Those zombies that are being killed by Luffy's zombie… their bodies are so damaged that their shadows return to the original owners, right?"

"Yeah…"

"That new attack of Luffy's! That's crazy destructive. Do you think it'd do enough damage to zombie Luffy to force the shadow out?!" Usopp asked. Luffy looked down at his arm with the marks. It wasn't glowing right now. But it was a good theory. "That would be the easiest option of how to defeat that monster."

Franky said, "If it punted Luffy like that, it'll have no problem doing the same to us. I hate to say it, but we need to be really careful. He's huge, but fast. The question is whether the damaged body can handle Luffy's shadow's agility." Luffy would need to wait for the glow to come back and get bad enough to be able to beat him in one punch.

Zombie Luffy was very strong, Luffy knew that by experience now. Though he'd be embarrassed if he was weak. "Does this mean Luffy can't fight for now? So he can recharge?" Robin asked.

"No way!" Luffy protested. "I can fight and charge up, too!"

Chopper said it was best for him not to fight. "You could work to scare the zombies out of the bodies, but you could get caught again," the reindeer said regretfully. "It might be best for you to wait the fight out."

Luffy was enraged that his shadow caused him all this trouble. Luffy swore and hated it, but they were right. "We'll try our best to kill him while you wait," Zoro said. Luffy hunched his shoulders, pouting deeply, eyes narrowed. "Your shadow sure is a dick."

"So are yours, probably," Robin said lightly. "We should go and do our best. Come back when you can," she told the poor captain. He nodded, and kissed Zoro, telling him not to do anything stupid. He said he would fight like usual, earning a nod.

"I'll be fine. Don't you do anything stupid," Zoro said, cupping his cheek softly. "Love you."

Luffy smiled and returned the sentiment before going back into the ship. He was bored almost immediately. He went deeper inside the ship and to the flask with the blood stone. He left it in its case, though the lid was open. It was in a padded box for protection. He waited for thirty minutes, not hearing any big fighting against Luffy's zombie, but fights around everywhere else. Did they get distracted or separated?

He was bored, and bothered that he couldn't help, bothered not knowing what was going on, unable to hear them perfectly, pick out who was where and what they were doing. He knew he was to wait, and was like the trump card, but it didn't mean he liked it at all. Once the arm started to glow after another ten minutes, Luffy saw the blood stone glowing too, and he ran from the ship, shooting himself to the commotion. He saw his nakama hurt and tired as he rocketed towards zombie Luffy.

"Moria!" he roared, seeing the warlord in the zombie's stomach. The man called Luffy's name, too. Luffy used one hand and slammed them into the stomach above where Moria was, and blew the body apart, blowing a hole into the stomach. He had no blood, but the eyes went white and empty as the mouth foamed.

Brook was there, too, watching from a distance. The zombie fell with a huge thud, crashing into the mansion. Luffy's shadow flew out of the mouth and Luffy grabbed it, shoving it back into his own body. He felt so much better as he bounced on the ground full of debris. His crew and some people in the broken buildings were watching. Those that came from the forest no doubt to watch the decisive fight.

Luffy still had his other arm that he hadn't stopped the punch. He entered the cockpit Moria was in, shocked by the developments. The massive zombie was ended in one punch. Luffy held up his other fist. "Ahh! Don't you use that against me!"

"Then return everybodies shadows!" Moria refused, and Luffy's hand was really cramping and hurting. Then he cramped and blew up on its own, shooting a burst out and blowing another hole into the zombie's stomach, but not Moria. It threw Luffy out of the cockpit and he rolled hard again, like before. It was hard for him to take the blows. It really was like a shockwave, not just a powerful punch.

He didn't know how much he liked it if it was so uncontrollable. What if he was somewhere where he couldn't discharge it, and it burst then? What if he was sleeping? It was concerning.

He saw the area was very decimated and the special zombie had already been damaged, but not killed. Luffy had been the trump card. Luffy could tell everybody was there. He looked down, and saw one of his arms was useless. The blast had damaged his left arm. He grabbed it, but it was numb. He could make his fingers twitch. For now, that arm was out of the count.

With Moria furious with him, he couldn't go and take a quick sip from Zoro. Besides, he seemed tired and hurt, too. Luffy wasn't out of stamina or strength now, but his arm was just no longer usable. He couldn't use a bazooka or rocket right now. Moria had been damaged by the blast, but not enough.

"Give our shadows back!" Luffy shouted, standing up tall, but his arm hanging limp and very obviously damaged.

"Kishishishi! Your own attack damaged you?" Moria said. "Even if I gave you your shadows back, even if I let you continue on your journey, at your current power level, all you'd meet in the New World is death! You're nowhere near ready for the New World! Though you appear to have gathered quite the crew, you would only lose it all! Do you understand why that is?!" He sounded manic by now, and a bit crazed. Well, he was facing complete defeat, after all.

The sun was coming up soon, and three of his nakama were now shadowless. They would die if the sun came up. The people gathered to watch and cheer on the fight it seemed, were now not happy with leaving the forest to meet the daylight, by choice or otherwise.

"My words come from experience! My subordinates… they were famed, far and wide… why did I have to lose them all?!" He then gave the reason he was making the zombies. His friends had all died because they were alive. If they were zombies, then they would still be around. Even if the zombies were replaceable, they still were nearly invincible. "With my army of the dead, I'll become the Pirate King! You fools should be grateful for your shadows working under me!"

Luffy heard a suctioning sound, and looked around to see shadows go along the ground towards Moria. They passed under Luffy without any feeling. They were the shadows already collected by Moria from that night and before. Luffy got his shadow back, but Sanji, Zoro and Robin had not.

The zombies all died, losing their life source, the shadows that Moria now possessed, fattened and with his voice deeper. Less annoying, to be honest. Luffy's arm suddenly was full of pain. Like his bones had shattered. He grit his teeth, but made no show. Chopper asked if he was okay. Luffy turned and smiled, saying he felt fine.

He couldn't lie, but he could play down his pain for the sake of his nakama's worries.

Moria counted and gloated about the shadows he was consuming, all in all around a thousand. He was now much larger than he already had been. "Kishishishi!" he laughed. He didn't look like he could move much like this, though.

Luffy was wrong. After Moria burped in an uncomfortable fashion, he slammed a hand down and barely missed them all. Luffy dodged, and the movement caused a painful spark in his arm. He winced, but nobody noticed. Moria kept attacking, seeming to crawl and punch instead of running. But at this large size, crawling still got him around pretty quickly.

Everyone ran while Moria trashed his own ship-island, hurrying back to the forest. The fog was clearing as the sun rose. Luffy didn't have any more time. His nakama and everyone he promised he would help were going to burn away! But the Straw Hats didn't budge. The others started to burn, and Luffy stood up straight.

"I'm going to go a little wild. So you all take care of everything afterwards," Luffy said darkly. This was his first test run on gear third, he didn't know how it'd go. He had one arm and two legs. He would ignore the pain in his left arm. "I'll show you a nightmare, Moria! I'm not gonna play nice with you!" Luffy turned into gear second, and was bothered that he couldn't usea gomu gomu rocket properly. But he used a pistol into his neck. He had no gatling either. Crap. He had to, though. He had to if he were to win! A pistol and rifle wasn't enough. He forced his left arm to move, and added it into a gatling, ignoring the absolutely stabbing sensation, feeling like it was coming from inside of his arm, not the outside.

He pumped his face, neck and stomach, making him vomit shadows. "Jet half bazooka! Pistol, rifle, stamp!" Using gear second made all his attacks stronger. But not enough. The sun was still rising and burning more people up. The sunlight was creeping up on his nakama. But he was surrounded by shadow bats that he hadn't encountered yet. He felt he'd missed out on a lot of important stuff when he was waiting.

It confined him, and cut off any senses until he felt the black box crunch and crush him. He was probably being stepped on or something. But he was rubber! It wouldn't kill him, even if it was uncomfortable. It seemed his arm only hurt if he was actively trying to use it. Not if something else touched it.

He broke open the box of shadows, and stood up, completely fine. He blew air into his right arm, not using his left for this, still in gear second. His bone balloon was out, and he felt shocks of pain go through him, could almost hear his body screaming at him to please stop it. He'd be better later! He had to win or so many people would die! He wouldn't let his nakama burn away!

Luffy slammed a huge jet pistol into the warlord's gut. Shadows spilled out, but he pressed his hands to his mouth to stop them. Luffy felt his vision blurring. He could sleep in a little bit. He'd be okay. He had blood! But he could barely move, trying so hard to stay standing even as his legs shook. Both arms hurt badly by now.

Everyone started to shout and call for their shadows to return to them. Luffy got one more balloon arm and slammed it into Moria one last time. He had no more energy. He shoved him into the tower behind him, already weakened by Luffy's zombie. It cracked, and fell on Moria's body, purging him of the shadows as he couldn't help but open his mouth. Before that, he said one last time for Luffy to go die in the New World.

Luffy turned into a small body, and rolled over after collapsing on the ground. He saw his two friends and lover burning away. "Z-Zoro!" Luffy shouted in horror. But their shadows finally returned, along with everyone else's. Luffy smiled in relief, and then was out completely, unable to know what was happening to him or around him. Heard nothing, and was completely helpless. All he knew was pain.

What felt like seconds later, Luffy jerked awake, and grinned, feeling great! He must have been given blood. He jumped up and down, moving his arms around just fine. They were okay! Thank goodness! He didn't like that shockwave power too much. It was extremely hard on his body.

But he was confused and stopped jumping when he didn't taste any blood in his mouth. But it smelled like blood everywhere. "Neh, what happened to me? Did someone give me the stuff?!" They shook their heads. They were all baffled at his state, too.

Chopper got angry with him. "Don't do that to your body ever again! Do you understand me?!" Luffy said he was fine. "For some fluke reason! You were completely out of it! Even when you were roughed up, you were out cold! Helpless!"

"But I had you guys!"

"What if you didn't?! Luffy, that was too reckless." Luffy said he hadn't exactly wanted to do that, but a lot of people were going to die. He noticed Sanji running off, and that Zoro wasn't around. He asked where he went before he heard shouting from Sanji, the fog cleared completely and his senses back to normal.

"What the hell happened here?! There's so much blood!" Luffy got up and started sprinting, calling for Chopper to come, too. He found Sanji and Zoro in a clearing splattered with blood, with Zoro in the middle, dripping with blood himself. It was all over him, like he'd been torn into.

Luffy was horrified, and demanded to know what happened. Zoro didn't answer, just finally passed out. Sanji caught him, biting down on his cigarette. "Sanji, what happened?!"

"I don't know." Sanji was lying. Zoro was going to lie to him, too, no doubt. For once, he didn't push. Not with Zoro so hurt. He'd ask later. Sanji hurried him back to the ship, though his legs were shaky. Luffy was in the best condition despite having been in the worst. Thank goodness his nakama were healed once their shadows returned. It was awful seeing their top halves gone and burning away!

Chopper shouted when he saw Zoro, and they hurried to the tower Chopper told them to take him to. They weren't too close to the ship, and that was nearer. Franky went to the ship to get supplies, while Nami went and got treasure from Perona's ship, the ghost girl whose negative ghosts possessed him, not turning him negative.

Once Zoro was checked out and cleaned of all the blood, Chopper bandaged him. Zoro was almost killed by whatever happened. But he would live now, it would just take a long recovery time for him to heal completely. Luffy was sad, wishing he could pass on his healing power. And he would never try to feed anyone his blood, not knowing what would happen. Like when Luffy drank animal blood and bled from his eyes.

He shook his head, not wanting to think about that time at all. Chopper assured him Zoro's life wasn't in danger. "I'll get you when he wakes up, okay?" he said kindly. Luffy nodded, and heard his stomach rumble. There was no food but cheese on the ship. And he heard Nami gushing about treasure.

Going to the ship, Luffy was interested in something in the pile. He walked to it, and saw it was a glass arm band. It was a bright red. The glass was. Touching it assured him it was only colored glass, it wasn't blood stone. He asked if he could have it, not wanting to incur Nami's wrath. "Sure. It's only glass, not a gem."

"Neehee! I wish there was a matching one!" Luffy said, and put it around his upper arm of the arm that hadn't been infected. Nami asked him what had happened when his arm blew up. "It's some new problem. Like, strength builds up in my arm and I gotta discharge it." Sanji said it was like a bomb. "And when I didn't use it, it wrecked my arm! It hurt and I could barely even use it!"

Usopp came over and punched him in the head. "Then why the hell did you attack with it! If it was already damaged, why would you make it worse?!" They all seemed angry with him, even though he was fine now.

"Neh, Zoro got a new sword right? Where'd it come from?"

"Don't change the subject!" Luffy pouted. He'd had no choice! He needed both arms for his strongest attacks. "And what if you'd lost your left arm?" Luffy said he always had blood. He said this part quieter since there were more people on the ship. "Luffy, you shouldn't depend on it like that. It can't fix everything! Remember when you were really sick, and the blood didn't heal you at all?"

The captain looked down, knowing he had a point. "I'll be careful when I can." They weren't happy with the answer, but Sanji said it was the best they were going to get. He added it was lucky Franky stocked up so much blood since Zoro could have many.

"Well, besides the blood he'd needed for the transfusion." Luffy asked what had happened with Zoro. "I'm going to lie about it."

Luffy said, "I thought so," and crossed his arms.

"Sorry, captain, this time we will keep a secret from you," Sanji said lightly. Nami and Usopp didn't know the secret, either. "Don't listen in, either. No eavesdropping." Luffy sighed. He would try not to, respecting their choices, even if it bothered him. Nami smiled, and went back to looking at the treasure haul.

They brought back food and medicine to Chopper like he asked, and Luffy heard two of the pirates under Lola, the captain of the Rolling Pirates, say they saw everything that happened with Zoro. Sanji hurried out, and Luffy covered his ears with his hands, sticking his fingers inside.

Robin saw this, and Luffy had a feeling she knew, too, as she gave a small smile. Luffy was respecting Sanji's choice not to tell him. Whatever it was, it was important to them. Probably to Zoro the most. Maybe he did something super reckless that Luffy would not approve of, and would get mad about. That would make sense.

He plugged his ears until Sanji came back, a fresh cigarette in his mouth. He smiled at Luffy and gave him a thumbs up to unplug his ears. The two who had been with Sanji when he said there was a secret, looked like they wanted to eavesdrop. Luffy didn't. It was their wish to keep it a secret. He would respect that wish. They then had a feast with all the food collected from what was left of the mansion. It was a party, too, though it felt kind of wrong without Zoro drinking a ridiculous amount of alcohol.

But it was fun enough! And Luffy had been hungry, not thirsty. He'd just had blood, and whatever made him feel better took away any need for blood. Lucky!

Everybody but the Straw Hats were enthralled with actual food after years of not having any. Luffy felt sorry for them! No good food that long. That would suck. Now that Luffy had all these different meals, he knew he could never go back to only meat like in his childhood. He couldn't wait to see Ace in the New World! He would meet that Whitebeard and let him know he wasn't going to be Pirate King, Luffy would.

Neehee, standing up to the strongest yonko, huh? It didn't sound too bad! He was beaming, and Usopp asked what he was so happy about. "Some day, I'm gonna tell Whitebeard I'm gonna be the Pirate King!"

Everyone at the table went quiet and called him insane. "He can't be that bad! My brother is on his crew!" Luffy explained. "Ace even invited me to be on his crew. Shishishi!" Usopp said he would gladly not participate in such an event. Sanji said it would be the most ballsy thing Luffy would have ever done.

"Though I'm not surprised if that will ever happen," Sanji said. Luffy pulled out the piece of paper Ace gave him from the brim of his hat, and saw it was smaller. Usopp asked what was wrong with it. Lola was there and her face fell.

"That paper represents the life force of whoever it's from. Your brother… he must be in trouble," she said slowly. Luffy saw the paper was still half full. He frowned, but he trusted Ace was dealing with the problem himself.

He said, "Well… Ace is super strong. I never beat him even once when we fought. But that was three years ago, and he's even stronger now. I think he defeated Blackbeard too. I heard this boom from Water 7, and I don't know why, but I felt like it was from Ace. I'm sure he'll be fine. Besides, he'd be super angry with me if I interfered," Luffy explained honestly.

"Even with your senses?"

"Well, back then I wasn't nearly as strong. But he got stronger too, he has a devil fruit now," Luffy said. Sanji asked if he was sure. "Yeah. He'll be fine," he said confidently, believing in his brother fully.

Usopp wished he hadn't been an only child. "Well, I was too. Ace and Sabo only became my brothers cause we wanted to. But we're still brothers anyways," Luffy said simply. He tucked the paper back in his hat and got back to eating the feast. Brook was in a great mood, too. He and Franky even started dancing on the table, much to Sanji's distaste. Well, everyone kept eating.

After Luffy was stuffed, he watched as Brook went to a piano in the room. He started to play music in the background, and Luffy recognized that song! Sanji asked if he was a violinist, and Brook said he could play many instruments! Luffy bounded over, and Brook started playing a song called "Wine In Pink".

He had heard this song with Shanks' crew! They sang many songs in Makino's bar. She had enjoyed their liveliness, and they paid a lot for all the booze, though they made a shortage of it whenever they came back to visit. Luffy climbed onto the piano and laid down, watching Brook's fingers move quickly along the keys. He wondered how someone could be so smart to do something so seemingly complicated.

"Neh, I've heard this song before! Shanks and his crew would sing it," Luffy said cheerily. Brook commented that many pirate crews knew the song. Many songs were classics for many crews of multiple generations! "Cool!"

"No matter if they're in times of joy or sorrow, pirate music will fit most moments just by how it's sung! Yohohoho~!"

Luffy smiled, and said, "Let's become nakama! Now that you have your shadow back, there's nothing holding you back from the rest of the world, right?" Luffy insisted.

Brook said he couldn't, as he had a promise to keep. "Ah, to Laboon, right? Franky told us!"

"Yes, I promised to see him again. He's waiting at the cape-" Luffy laughed, saying they knew all about that.

"We met Laboon there! He was at the cape. And he ate me! Shishishi! Then we got in a fight and made a deal. He's still waiting for you! I can't believe that the guys he was waiting for… was you! I promised him we'd see him again after our journey is complete. At least, once I become the Pirate King," Luffy explained. It was hard to tell Brook's expression, but his piano playing slowed.

"Slow down… this is surprising! You… actually met Laboon?!" Luffy nodded. They even met Crocus, the guy taking care of him. Luffy said nothing of Laboon's self harm. It would upset Brook, no doubt. "He ate you?" Brook asked in shock.

Luffy laughed. "Yeah! I landed in his stomach, and Crocus lived in there in a floating house. I learned some awesome stuff there, so I'm happy Laboon ate me, shishishi!" Luffy explained in a cheerful and amused voice.

Brook seemed to be in shock of it all. "I want to make all my nakama's dreams come true on our journey for the One Piece. If you join, you'll join that effort, and we'll take you with us to see Laboon some day! Promise!" Luffy swore, holding out his pinky.

Usopp and Sanji were there by now, and confirmed that they had indeed met Laboon, the whale as big as a mountain. Usopp suggested to Luffy that they let Brook think about it for a bit. Luffy nodded, and Brook stopped playing, looking down. Maybe lost in his thoughts. Hopefully happy ones.

"As big as a mountain… At the time we parted, he was the size of a small ship. And Crocus-san lived in his stomach?" Luffy nodded. He even painted the walls as a blue sky. They even met someone dear to them there. Though it wasn't a good meeting at first.

"I miss Vivi-chan," Sanji said droopily.

"Well, we have Robin!" Luffy said.

"That's true! Robin-chan~" Luffy laughed and Usopp looked slightly annoyed.

"Laboon loved music, and would listen to tus all the time, playing. He was a cheerful baby whale." Luffy shared a look with the others. That wasn't the whale they met, but they still said nothing of his behaviour when they came across him. They would bring Brook back to him, and make him never hit his head again. Hopefully, he had continued to not do it after Luffy and his crew left.

Finally, Brook fell apart, and his hands left the piano keys to cry loudly about his relief of Laboon still being there. "There's really no day better than today!" He promised to see him again, no matter what.

"Shishishi! Definitely."

Those in the room started to ask why Brook stopped playing. He said to wait one moment, and opened his skull like a storage compartment! Wow! He pulled out a tone dial that he got from a merchant ship from Sky Island. It was one that recorded sound, and he told them it had a song he wanted to have Laboon listen to. It was the song of his crew, all of their voices. It was so sad that his crew all died. It must have been traumatizing.

Luffy looked at his arm and huffed. "Don't play it until I get back, okay?" Brook nodded, and somehow seemed curious even with no face to show it. Luffy sort of stomped outside and punched a crater into the ground, two of them. They didn't hurt as long as he got rid of the power quickly.

He ran back inside, and Brook asked if that was how he defeated Oars. "Oars?" Apparently that was Luffy's zombie's name. "Yeah, that's how I got him." He looked at the arm with the marks. "But it's not a good attack when it can make my arm barely able to move if I don't use it in time." He didn't like it, but didn't know how to get rid of it. Usopp said he would heal from it.

"Are you a fast healer?"

"In a sense," Sanji said, blowing out some smoke. Brook didn't push. "Though you can't rely on that so much."

"It's not like it felt good. It hurt really bad! And I don't really react to pain like that, too." Usopp frowned, but they moved on back to the tone dial.

"Shall I play it now?" They nodded, and the song started. They all started dancing, until Luffy heard what they all couldn't. So faint in the background of that song, was the distinct sound of bodies falling. That's right, this song was the last time his crew ever made music. It was so sad, but he ignored that sound to enjoy the song like Brook wanted them to.

Once the song was over, Brook took his tone dial, and looked at it. "How many times did I listen to this on my own for the past 50 years? Well… now that I have a new conviction, I will seal it away." Again, he opened his skull to Luffy's amazement and Sanji and Usopp's disbelief. It was awesome, Brook's body was awesome. Such a mystery!

He went back to the piano, back to the background music, and expressed how relieved he was to hear about Laboon. "Now I have the chance to return! I won't be alone with only a song!" It wasn't the only thing to keep him sane anymore. Now, it was to be brought to Laboon. He finally said, "You know, Luffy-san… I'm so happy to be alive!" Luffy smiled and nodded. "Would you mind if I join your crew and become you nakama?"

"Yeah!"

His crew were split. Robin, Luffy and Franky happy while the others seemed bothered. Though they shouldn't be for too long once they got used to Brook. They'd already fought with him together, and he was much more likable in the beginning than Franky, and that former thug leader was now their shipwright and nakama.

But they seemed to have only been shocked, not bothered, and they all welcomed Brook happily, throwing the very light skeleton into the air in happiness.

I cannot wait to post Impel Down it was a fucking wild ride to write. I had been looking forward to writing it since Water 7, and had to wait hundreds of pages to get there lol. See you next week!