Restructer Revolution

II: The 13th Grave

"Yohohoho! How do you do, everyone? I'm afraid that, while travelling, my ship ran into quite a bit of trouble! I am 'Just Dead Bones' Brook! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Merely slightly over twenty-four hours with the Straw Hat crew, Yusei had already learnt that there were things that the crew were divided on, and things which united the crew as quickly as blinking with alarming synchronisation. Apparently, the appearance of a talking skeleton was enough for even Zoro to put aside his suspicion.

"What the hell? What is this guy?" Franky, Zoro, Usopp and Chopper yelled, Usopp and Chopper holding up crosses in front of them.

"Oh my oh my! How harsh!" Brook exclaimed, laughing. Luffy just chuckled as Nami and Sanji sighed at their captain's foolish antics again.

"Don't worry, Chopper, it's a good... skeleton," Yusei slowly told the panicking reindeer.

"It's a skeleton!" Chopper squeaked.

While the others were glaring, Brook meandered over to a deadpan Robin. "Oh, what a beautiful lady! May I see your panties–"

Nami threw a shoe which bounced off his skull with a hollow ringing sound. "Stop it, you perverted skeleton!"

Meanwhile, Yusei could only watch as Usopp produced a string of rosary beads and an 'evil spirits be gone' banner from under his purple cloak which seemed to be a recent acquisition.

"You've got all your exorcism stuff!" Chopper yelped in some relief.

"S-skeleton, you, h-hurry and g-get out of here!" Usopp stuttered as he waved the giant cross at Brook. "Evil spirits be one, evil spirits be gone..."

Very slowly, Brook stepped back.

"Oh, it's working!" Chopper observed. "Usopp you're so cool!"

"Of course it's working! That's 'cause I'm a fully equipped exorcist!"

"I don't think you're supposed to exorcise ghosts that way, Usopp San..."

"Evil spirit?" Brook yelped, looking around. "Where? Where is it?"

"It's you!"

"Eh?"

All the while, Luffy was laughing his head off.

"Enough already," Yusei sighed, slapping his face with his hand. "Dr Chopper, although skeletons can't walk, talk or have afros, let's accept that Brook San is the exception, can we?"

"This is a dream! Definitely, it's a dream!" Usopp declared.

"Really?" Chopper sighed in relief. "Good, it's only a dream..." He keeled over, already out.

"Hello? Please wake up," Brook spoke, leaning over Chopper. "Good morning!"

"Eh– AHHHHH!"

"STOP THAT!" Zoro began yelling before turning to the captain. "Oi, Luffy, what's with this guy?"

"Isn't he funny?" Luffy candidly replied. "He's part of our crew now."

"I don't care, I won't let him be!" Zoro shot back.

"But you were fine with Yusei!"

"Yusei doesn't look like the regular crazy stuff you bring on the ship on a regular basis, you idiot!" Zoro rebutted before turning to the trio. "Why the hell did you guys go with him? Wasn't it to stop his from doing something like this?"

"Sorry..." the three muttered.

Brook began laughing again. "It's nothing to be laughing about. Let's go inside now! We can have dinner!"

"You can't decide that!" Zoro, Nami and Sanji yelled at him. ]

"Hahaha, he's so funny!" Luffy chuckled.

Yusei face-palmed again. Why do I feel like I'm in a gag manga...?

Usopp and Chopper kept directing their crosses at him even as Brook praised the galley and kitchen and the ship in general, all the while laughing that odd, haunting laugh of his with occasional interjections from Luffy. Needless to say, this got him into Franky's good books immediately as the cyborg with the cyan pompadour praised Brook's eye for quality work.

"Oi, Franky," Sanji warned as he did a fry-up of seafood. "Don't get attached to him."

"But, what I'm looking forward to the most is the food..." Brook sighed. "I haven't had had good food for so many years... I've lived so long with these hunger pangs that I feared I was just skin and bones... Although I'm a skeleton an don't have any skin at all! Yohohoho! Skull joke!"

"Skull joke!" Luffy parroted, clapping his hands over his head as Yusei gave the talking skeleton a look.

"As a gentleman, I enjoy the time spent awaiting my meal..." Brook muttered as he neatened his formal clothing and afro before picking up his cutlery to clash together in a bizarre symphonic ritual with Luffy. "Dinner, dinner! Come on baby!"

"Food! Food!" Luffy echoed.

What happened to the gentleman skeleton? Yusei thought in disbelief.

"Chef, please bring me some milk to drink as well–"

"Just shut up and wait!" Sanji yelled.

"So anyway, Korobokle..." Luffy spectacularly mangled the pronunciation.

Brook held up both hands. "Oh, no, it's Brook. Oh, I'm sorry, but I don't have your name...?"

"Me? I'm Luffy," the captain replied. "So, anyway, what are you?"

"You two didn't even ask that kind of thing?" Zoro yelled in disbelief.

Further interrogation was avoided with the arrival of a completely octopus dinner, and the exercise in battlefield strategy, I mean, dinner with the Straw Hats, began as one more person tried to steal food.

"There's lots more left, just eat your own!" Sanji yelled as Brook tried to exchange portions with Robin, before the rest of them were caught up in eating before their captain stole their share. All the while, Luffy made mumbling sounds that could only charitably be called words that Brook, against all reason, seemed to understand.

"How does he even understand...?" Yusei murmured to himself, wearing the exact same expression as Nami.

"Finally, someone with logic," Nami wept with tears of relief. "Not that it'll hold out on this ship... but, a bastion of logic!"

"Aquarium! Yay, aquarium!' Brook chanted.

"Just shut up and eat!"

"This is delicious..." Yusei said as he cleared the plate. "I can't even believe it..."

"The best cook on the seas is me, of course!" Sanji told him. "You'll never taste anything better than this your whole life!"

"That strange boy, what is your name?" Brook asked, the empty eye-holes of the skull moving to face Yusei.

"Er, I'm Fudo Yusei," Yusei introduced himself. "What are you talking about?" Compared to the rest of the crew, I must be ridiculously normal...

"Er, nothing," Brook shook his head. "I don't know, if it is because I ate the Yomi Yomi no Mi or because of some other reason, that I see a strange aura about you... a crimson aura... especially around your left arm."

Unconsciously, Yusei's hand rested over the Mark of the Crimson Dragon.

"The Yomi Yomi no Mi?" Franky muttered. "So you ate a Devil's Fruit..."

"Yes," Brook gravely replied. "To tell the truth, I died once years ago."

"First, clean your face," Sanji told him. "How d'you get yourself so dirty?"

Brook put down the towel that he cleaned himself off with, before picking a toothpick. "The Yomi Yomi no Mi... grants the ability to resurrect, as a resurrected human..." the toothpick tickled his teeth as he told them. "So you have the promise of a second life, it's a very mysterious ability."

"A resurrected human?" Luffy had stars in his eyes.

"It's the first time I've seen this," Yusei observed.

"So you get resurrected after dying, eh?" Franky asked.

"Yes, excuse me."

There was a small pop sound.

"Somehow, I just want to beat some manners into you..." Sanji muttered.

"Ah yes, where was I..." Brook murmured. "Long ago, on the pirate ship I was on before, the crew I was a part of came to this sea of devils."

As he spoke, Yusei had to be enthralled by the story's power that echoed of the waves, and the sea, and a tall thin figure with an afro standing upon the deck of an old galleon.

"However... unluckily for us, incredibly powerful foes appeared. Our whole crew died in battle."

it was as if the bombard was happening before his eyes, the cannonballs exploding and the crew's screams ringing in his ears.

"Of course, I died as well... while I lived, the Yomi Yomi no Mi simply made me unable to swim... However, that day, the fruit became more than just that! My soul... has returned from the underworld to this world! If I was able to find my body quickly, I would be revived. However, as you can see, the fog of this sea makes it difficult to navigate, and I became lost. I searched for my body as a lost soul for an entire year in this mist, and finally, I found it! However, my body had been reduced to nothing but bones!"

Whether it was despair or surprise, Yusei could not tell from the skull's face.

"When I saw it, my eyes opened very much in surprise... Although I have no eyes!" Brook pointed. "Yohohoho! Skull joke!"

And the seriousness of the moment was lost once more...

"You're so stupid!" Luffy laughed. "You got lost just like Zoro!"

"Hey!"

"So that's when you became a talking skeleton?" Franky asked sceptically. "I didn't know a Devil Fruit could even bring the dead back to life..."

"But, even if you come back to life, you're still unable to swim," Sanji pointed out. "So now, you're just cursed."

"But normally hair can;t grow on bones..." Yusei observed.

"I've never seen a skeleton with an afro before," Zoro commented.

'Oh, I have very strong roots," Brook replied lightly, patting the afro.

"Okay..." Yusei muttered.

Usopp stood, still holding out the cross. "So... you aren't a ghost? You're human? Even though you're not really... but you really aren't a ghost?"

"Yes, I dislike ghosts myself, if I see one, I'll cry out in fear!" Brook yelped in panic. "You dislike ghosts?" Nami walked up, producing a small hand-held mirror. "Have you even looked in a mirror?"

"Ah, stop! Not the mirror!" Brook yelped, panicking visibly, as much as a walking skeleton can panic.

"What is it?" Yusei and Usopp peered into the silvered surface.

Usopp's jaw dropped. "Oi, w-wait a s-sec..."

"You..." Chopper squeaked in disbelief. "Why... why don't you have a reflection in te mirror?"

"EHHHHHH? Vampire?" most of the crew echoed.

Luffy's eyes bugged out of his head. "Really? Awesome!"

"Is this really..." Yusei looked at Zoro.

"Yes," Zoro nodded. The two stoically exchanged looks.

"How do you put up with him?" Yusei whispered back.

"Eh, come to think of it, you don't have a shadow either!" Usopp yelled as he pointed towards the floor, where blank space greeted them.

"What the– What are you really?" Chopper screeched.

Brook sank back into the galley chair, picking up his teacup with the pinkie bones sticking out. He sipped.

"Why are you so calm?" Sanji yelled.

"We're all really scared of you right now!" Usopp shouted.

Brook, his voice deathly calm, replied: "I'll tell you this... In my years, I have travelled a long way... however, me being a skeleton and me having no shadow are two very different things."

There was a tension in the air, a silent string being stretched as the crew waited for the next words.

"To... be continued."

"NO TELL US NOW!" Sanji yelled at him.

"My shadow was stolen from me years ago," Brook relayed.

"Stolen?"

"Your shadow?" Robin asked.

"Seeing you talking and living, I'm not really surprised by anything you say..." Zoro yawned. "But, can that really happen?"

"Yes," Brook nodded gravely. "And, having no shadow means that I can no longer exist in the world's light."

"But, you're still alive," Luffy observed.

"Yes, but I can no longer live in sunlight," Brook replied. "Right now, I live because the thick fog blocks out the sunlight..."

"If you were hit by the sun's rays, then..." Yusei gravely said.

"If I were hit by the sun's rays..." Brook gravely murmured. "My body... my body would disintegrate!"

From the rest of Brook's story, Yusei solemnly saw the skeleton celebrate. A person supposed to be long dead, drifting aimlessly on a ship that could not be steered, surrounded by the echoes of the past and the ghosts of dead comrades upon the high seas alone... the utter loneliness of it must have been enough to kill any other man, and yet he lived in a sort of quasi-life hidden within the shadows of darkness.

The darkness might be powerful, they might be seductive, they might be potential... but without the light, then there is nothing.

"You asked me to join your crew, right?' Brook murmured. "I am very thankful, thank you very much, but I have no choice but to refuse."

"Eh? Why?"

"Right now, if I were to join you, it would only be a matter of time before my body disappeared," Brook explained. "Right now, I am protected by the thick fog. I shall have to remain here, awaiting the joyous day when I get my shadow back!"

"What?" Luffy yelled. "What are you going on 'bout? If you need your shadow back I'll get it for you. You said someone stole it, right? Who? Where is he?"

Brook paused for a moment. "You are a very kind person, aren't you... unfortunately, I cannot say."

"Eh?" Luffy leapt up. "Why?"

"If I were to meet him again, I would fight him," Brook declared. "But, I cannot send you, whom I have just met, to die for me. If I told you his name, you might find him. Now, let us relax, and sing."

He reached for the little bag he had carried up the ship, pulling out an old but well-worn violin with bow from the inside. "I was the musician of my crew! Let me play you a song!"

Stars appeared in Luffy's eyes again. "Really? Then, you've GOT to join our crew!"

Brook chuckled, tucking the violin under his chin, before his teeth chattered and clacked together rapidly, as if in panic.

"Brook San..." Yusei murmured. "What's wrong?"

"G-g-ghost!" Brook screeched and the crew turned to regard the small spectral figure poking through the wood. This of course sent the crew into an uproar.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Usopp screeched. "What's that?"

"There's a ghost! I'm scared!" Chopper screamed.

"Cool!" that could only be Luffy.

The cutlery rattled on the table as the ship began to vibrate.

"Why're we shaking?" Zoro growled.

Brook was already running for the door. "No... it can't be...!"

The door flew open as he ran out to stop at the balcony, muttering to himself. "Those guys've been watching the ship this time...?"

He yelled to them. "Please look! Our way is being blocked!"

"Those guys?" Yusei muttered, puzzled as he followed the rest out. Before the Thousand Sunny, and the ghost ship, was a row of things that Yusei decided vaguely resembled cliffs. Or giant teeth.

"What is it...?"

"Oi, did we get eaten by a monster...?" Usopp muttered.

"What the hell...?" Zoro cursed.

"This is the back of the gate..." Brook muttered to himself. "So that means...!"

"Gate?" Luffy regarded Brook as the skeleton ran for the galley door again.

"Look in the back of the ship!"

The Straw Hats followed Brook to the back, every member standing to see in shock.

"What is...?" Nami murmured.

Brook turned to Luffy. "Did you perhaps, pick up a floating barrel...?"

There's something floating in the sea!

It might contain treasure! Yosh, let's open it!

"The flare!" Yusei realised. "We did!"

"Of course..." Brook muttered. "That was a trap! This ship has been targeted since then."

"Targeted? What d'you mean?" Luffy asked. "We've been right here the entire time..."

They were close enough to glimpse it now, the stark land and the dead trees and the desolate castle walls with the remnants of civilisations strewn about the whole landmass hidden in leafy plant life.

"This... is the wandering ghost island!" Brook declared. "Thriller Bark!"

"Thriller Bark..." Luffy echoed.

"Ah," Yusei affirmed, as his skin crawled and the Mark burned. "This island... there's something going on here..."

"What do you mean, we can't get him out?"

"You heard me, I can't! The shadows around there are too dense!"

"A shadow user, then?" the apparent leader of them sighed, interrupting their argument as a tendril of shadow danced over the board. The tendril was soon burnt into a crisp by eldritch red energy. "No."

"That overgrown lizard sold us out!"

"No," the leader observed. "This is an area we must directly influence to make any progress. It cannot be helped... I will go there."

"Oi, if you do, what do we tell the chibi, dammit?"

"The truth," the leader waved an absent hand as shadows swirled around him. "Yuugi will come and get me anyway. Meanwhile... try not to break anything."

The man disappeared from the shadow realm, leaving nothing but empty space where he once stood.

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