Ch. 2- Trick-or-Treat!
One Piece © Oda
Blizzard © Me
The Straw Hats were now out doing their trick-or-treating. So far, they had visited several houses and had gotten various treats, and once they had enough, they would head back to the ship.
As they arrived at another house, Luffy knocked at the door. It opened, revealing a woman in her mid-30s.
"Trick-or-treat!" the Straw Hats exclaimed as they held their bags and buckets.
The woman handed out candy to the crew of pirates and then closed the door.
"I got three candy bars!" Luffy said.
"I got some salt water taffy!" Usopp exclaimed.
"I got cotton candy!" Chopper chirped.
Woof! Blizzard barked.
"Blizzard says that he got some peanut butter balls!" Chopper translated.
Zoro reached into his bag and grumpily said, "I got a rock."
Next house. Chopper was next to knock on the door.
The door opened, revealing a young girl in an angel costume with her father, who was dressed up as a werewolf.
"Trick-or-treat!"
The Straw Hats were once again given candy.
"Here you go!" the girl's father said. "Happy HOWL-o-ween, you bunch of creepy monsters!"
The crew left the house's porch and looked over their prizes.
"I got some malt balls!" Luffy exclaimed.
"I got some butterscotch!" Nami said.
"I got some SUPER gummy worms!" Franky cheered.
"I do believe I have some candy corn!" Brook declared.
"I got a rock," Zoro grumbled.
The house afterwards. Nami knocked on the door next. The resident was an elderly man and his wife.
"Trick-or-treat!"
The elderly couple gave them their treats.
"Ooh! I got licorice sticks and a fudge brownie!" Luffy said.
"I got some bubble gum," Sanji said.
"I got some jawbreakers!" exclaimed Usopp.
"I got a rock," Zoro said.
This went on and on. The Straw Hats go to other houses on the island, ask for candy, and then move on. They even went into the town to get candy, and they would always see what they got, each time.
Right now, after they had just gotten candy from the 12th house they stopped at, everyone had a huge stash of candy…except Zoro, who had gotten nothing but rocks.
"I got some caramel coated apples!" Luffy declared.
"I'll trade you my gummy bears for one," said Nami.
Luffy nodded in agreement before he and his girlfriend made the trade.
"I got black licorice," Robin said.
"Yuck!" cried Usopp in disgust. "You LIKE that?"
"I got candy corn," Chopper said. "Anybody wanna trade?"
"Ooh!" Brook chirped. "I'll trade you my butterscotch for some!"
"Okay," Chopper said as he handed his candy corn to the skeleton.
"Hey, Bro Cook," Franky said. "I'll trade ya two of my malt balls for three pieces of your salt water taffy."
"Make it four malt balls and it's a deal," said Sanji.
Franky nodded before he and Sanji made the trade.
"Hey, Zoro!" Usopp called. "If you want, I'll trade you some of my candy for your rocks!"
"No, thanks," said Zoro. "I could use these rocks for weight training."
"Suit yourself," said Usopp.
Blizzard growled and barked at Usopp a bit.
"He said, 'I'll trade you my chocolate-covered nuts for peanut butter balls if you have any, Usopp'," Chopper translated.
"Okay," Usopp said.
"Listen up, you guys!" Nami called as she stood up. "One more house, and then we're heading back to the ship. I think we've got enough treats."
"Great!" Usopp said. "I can't wait to start sorting my candy!"
"Sorting?" Luffy repeated. "Get real! I'm eating all my candy, all at once!"
"Don't even think about it!" Nami said. "Even after two years, you still can't control your sweet tooth! Remember when you ate that whole cheesecake last week? You got a huge stomachache from that!"
"I was hungry!" Luffy complained. "What do you expect? And besides, it was raspberry cheesecake, and it was sitting there by itself! I couldn't say 'no' to it!"
"Fine, Luffy," Nami said. "But if you get another stomachache, don't you come crying to me!"
The Straw Hats stood up, grabbing their bags and buckets as they did. At that moment, Luffy spotted something in the distance.
"Hey!" Luffy called. "There's a house we missed!"
Everyone followed their captain's gaze and saw a rather dilapidated old two-story mansion. The boards around it seemed misplaced or broken. The fence was around was rusted and bent, and the gate was left open, swinging back-and-forth in the wind, as if it were beckoning the Straw Hats toward it.
"Uh, Luffy," Nami said, suddenly feeling uneasy. "I'm not so sure about that house."
"Are you kidding?" Luffy asked. "That's the most haunted looking house I've ever seen!"
"And that's exactly WHY it's giving us the creeps!" Usopp said.
"Reminds me of Thriller Bark," said Chopper in a slightly scared voice.
GRRRRRR~! Blizzard growled at the memory.
"You should all stay away from that house."
Everyone jumped when they heard that voice.
"Who said that?" Usopp questioned, getting into a fighting stance.
"An old man," Luffy said. "Look."
The Straw Hats looked to where Luffy pointed and saw, to their surprise, that another old man had appeared, as if out of nowhere.
The man was rather short, reaching up to Nami's waist in height, and had a thinning hairline. He had a cane in his bony hand to help him walk. He wore a pair of plad pants that were held up by suspenders, and a brown coat. One of his eyes were green, while the other was milky white.
"That creepy old man's been following us for a while," said Luffy.
"What?" Nami said. "Luffy, if you knew he was following us, why didn't you say anything?"
Luffy just shrugged, earning a bop on the head from his girlfriend.
"So what do you want, old man?" asked Zoro.
"What I want, child," said the old man, "is to warn you."
"Warn us?" Robin repeated.
"About what?" Franky asked.
"About that house," said the old timer, pointing to the house that Luffy had spotted. "People have been disappearing in that house, every Halloween night, which is why most don't go in there."
"D-d-disappear?" repeated a shaking Brook.
"B-b-bu-but why?" Usopp stammered.
"Because," the old man said, "the house…is haunted."
"Haunted?" Usopp, Chopper, and Brook repeated in horror.
"Haunted?" Luffy repeated with sparkling eyes.
KONK! Nami bopped Luffy on the head, again.
"Ow!" Luffy cried. "Will you stop hitting me, Nami?"
"The house is haunted, you say?" Robin questioned.
"How so?" Zoro added.
"I dare not say," the old man said. "Some don't believe me. They even called me a crazy old coot, but those who do not heed my warnings and go to that house are never heard from, again. Trust me…if you children value your lives…don't go into that house, whatever you do!"
With that, the old man disappeared, leaving the Straw Hats confused, and some terrified.
"Uh, okay," Sanji said. "That was creepy."
"I'll say," Usopp said, shaking.
"Scary…!" Chopper whimpered.
"Scary, indeed…!" Brook added.
Luffy, on the other hand, turned and faced the eerie-looking house.
"Okay, let's go," he said.
"Go where?" Zoro asked.
Luffy pointed to the house.
"Inside the haunted house!" he answered. "Where else?"
"Luffy, no!" Nami protested. "You heard the creepy old man! He said it was HAUNTED, and anyone who goes in there doesn't come back!"
"So what?" Luffy asked. "We're pretty strong. If there's a ghost in there, we can handle it! And besides, it's Halloween! Anything scary is supposed to be fun, right?"
"Sometimes, yes," Nami said. "But that house…it looks a bit too scary for me Let's just go back to the ship, okay? Please?"
"Oh, c'mon, Nami," Luffy said. "It'll be okay. If there is a ghost, I'll protect you. Okay?"
Nami looked into her captain's eyes, They had a bit of reassuring essence in them, and it calmed her down a little.
The navigator heaved a sigh and said, "Fine. We'll go…but the moment things start to look bad, we leave, okay?"
"Sure," said Luffy. "All right, you guys! Into the haunted house we go!"
"Is it all right if I stay out here?" Usopp asked. "I have 'Don't-Go-Into-the-Haunted-House' Disease!"
"Me, too!" Chopper added.
It appeared their pleas fell on deaf ears, for soon, everyone was heading to the supposedly haunted mansion. Usopp and Chopper, afraid of being left alone, soon followed.
XXX
Luffy stood on the porch of the mansion and knocked on the door.
"Hello~!" he called. "Any ghosts in there?"
"Luffy, don't say that!" Usopp begged. "What if there is a ghost?"
Suddenly, the door began to open, slowly, making a low creaking sound as it did.
Chopper bit at his hooves. Usopp's legs were shaking, tenfold. Brook's bones were practically rattling in fright.
Zoro prepared to draw his swords.
As the door opened fully, the Straw Hats appeared confused.
It appeared as if no one was there, but then…
"Hi!"
The crew looked down and saw a little boy, about 8 years of age, dressed in a white shirt and blue pants. He had short, scruffy brown hair and a pair green eyes.
"I'm Malcolm!" said the boy. "Welcome to my house!"
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