"We're back," Mirror Sanji announced, leaping onto the ship with the other two as Usopp took a step back. His eyebrow was curled towards the outside of his forehead. He glanced at Usopp. "Is something wrong?"
"Hey, guys," Nami said. "He was trying to scare us with some story about a magic mirror." She raised an eyebrow. "Your hair . . ."
Mirror Sanji scowled, leaning into Usopp's face. "So let me get this straight," he said coolly. "Luffy and moss-head show us an old mirror someone abandoned in the woods, you decide to leave early, and you think it's a good idea to try to scare these lovely ladies with some horror tale as soon as you get back?"
"He scared me, too," Chopper whispered. He brightened. "But I'm glad you guys are okay!"
"Ah, and Nami-san," Mirror Sanji added, suddenly all smiles, "I was looking at my reflection and thought I should change my hair a bit. Do you like it? Are you in love with me now?"
"It looks fine," Nami said, barely glancing up.
"You look good," Robin remarked, smiling.
"Oh, Robin-chan, it warms my heart to hear you say that . . ."
"Luffy, Usopp, do you wanna play cards or something?" Chopper asked, waving his little arms.
"I . . . no, thanks," Usopp said quietly.
Mirror Luffy laughed and slung an arm around his shoulder. Usopp jumped, stiffening.
"Come on, Usopp, it'll be fun!" he exclaimed, but the look in his eyes, despite the smile on his face, gave Usopp shivers.
"Yeah, okay," Usopp agreed quickly, forcing a smile.
"You guys have fun with that, I'll be in the observatory," Mirror Zoro said, stretching and yawning as he headed off.
"There are beds in the men's quarters if you're getting sleepy," Mirror Sanji said mockingly.
Mirror Zoro scowled. "I'm not going to nap, I'm going to meditate."
"Oh, sure, if that's what you want to call napping . . ."
They began to spar in the usual fashion.
"Boys, move that somewhere else," Nami said, putting her sunglasses back on and leaning back in her chair.
"Yes, Nami-san!"
Usopp hadn't been playing this game well at all. He continually glanced at Mirror Luffy, shifted where he sat, and had to be reminded when it was his turn.
"I'm . . . going to the bathroom," he said, standing quickly.
"Okay," Mirror Luffy said cheerfully. "But I'm gonna come getcha if you're not back in five minutes!"
The words carried the hint of a threat which Chopper failed to notice but resonated in Usopp's head.
"Yeah," he whispered, backing away and hurrying to the toilet.
Earlier
"Usopp, RUN! I'll get away, don't worry! Tell the others what happened!"
With a cry to be careful, Usopp turned tail and ran back through the trees. Mirror Zoro made as if to go after him, but Mirror Luffy called, "Hey, help me out here."
"What about Usopp?" Mirror Zoro asked, going over to seize Sanji's wildly kicking legs and earning a jab to the chin.
"Oh, don't worry about him," Mirror Luffy said. "Hey, Sanji, hold still."
"You think I'm going to listen to you, shitty reflection?" Sanji snarled, squirming for all he was worth. He cast a glance at the real Luffy and Zoro, who were pumping their fists in the air. "You idiots, I can't hear you, cheering isn't going to help!"
Though they couldn't hear him either, Zoro flipped him off. Luffy slapped his hand down.
"Alright, we got this," Mirror Luffy said cheerfully. He wrapped his rubber arms tightly around Sanji, squeezing. "Make him touch it."
"Got it," Mirror Zoro said with a nod, and he seized Sanji's wrist. Despite struggling, Sanji was lifted off the ground, and Mirror Luffy dragged him closer to the mirror.
Mirror Zoro made Sanji's hand touch the glass.
The second it did, Sanji felt a tug, and he was involuntarily pulled from his place as if yanked by a bungee cord—
He stumbled as he landed on his knees in front of Luffy and Zoro.
"Damn it!" Luffy exclaimed, kneeling to help Sanji up. "You okay?"
Sanji turned around to see a blond figure removing himself from Luffy's grasp. When the figure turned around, it was clear he had his hair combed over the right side of his face, and the eyebrow on his left side curled to the outside; a perfect reflection of the right.
Mirror Sanji said something which made Mirror Luffy and Zoro grin, and the three left the mirror behind, heading through the trees and vanishing from sight.
"Shit," Sanji hissed. He kicked the glass blocking their way, but he couldn't even put a crack in it.
"Don't bother," Zoro said. "Luffy and I punched and cut that thing for hours and nothing happened."
Their environment consisted solely of everything which was reflected from the outside. Attempting to go beyond resulted in hitting a barrier.
"So how did you idiots end up in here?" Sanji asked at last, sitting on the ground with them.
Luffy laughed nervously. "Well, see," he said, "I found the mirror, and I realized it was reflecting everything but me, and I got curious and touched it, and suddenly I was in here while mirror-me went out."
"Got caught off-guard," Zoro said with a heavy scowl. "It was my own fault. I should have realized that wasn't the real Luffy . . ."
Sanji sighed. "Credit to me for figuring it out before I got here."
"Why'd you go with them, then?" Luffy said curiously.
"Usopp wanted to go," Sanji explained, running a hand through his hair, "and he didn't know . . ."
"He went to tell the others, didn't he?" Zoro said, glancing outside.
"Come to think of it . . . I hope they'll believe him," Sanji said. "The left side of my face doesn't look like that, so . . ."
"But we haven't seen your whole face," Luffy pointed out.
Sanji groaned. "Still, hopefully he can convince someone. With three fakers running around, that ship won't be safe soon . . ."
Usopp spent the rest of the day in abject terror. He found he could not go off somewhere by himself unless one of the mirror figures went with him, presumably to make sure he couldn't run into the woods or try to convince anyone of his story. He jumped at small noises and looked around every corner before walking.
The food was just as good as the real Sanji's, but Usopp was unable to enjoy it.
"Hey, something wrong, Usopp?" Mirror Sanji asked, noticing he was picking at his food.
"No," Usopp murmured.
"Are you sick?" Chopper asked, trying to get a proper look at Usopp's face.
"Huh?" Mirror Luffy said. "Usopp doesn't get sick!"
"I'm fine, really," Usopp said quickly, forcing a smile to his face. "Chopper, I'm healthy as a horse."
"Oh, that's good," Chopper sighed in relief.
Despite this, Usopp was the last to finish his meal. He was accosted by Mirror Zoro as soon as he set foot outside.
"Feel like a drinking contest?" he offered, keeping an arm around Usopp's shoulders.
"No," Usopp whispered.
Mirror Zoro grinned and leaned to whisper into Usopp's ear. "You're not leaving the ship, understand?" he murmured. "Not unless one of us goes with you."
Usopp shivered, goosebumps suddenly erupting on his skin as he gripped his arms and stared at the ground.
"Good," Mirror Zoro said, satisfied. He clapped Usopp on the back. "I'll be in the observatory."
Usopp was accompanied around the ship by Mirror Luffy right up until bedtime. Nami retreated to her room, Robin stayed on deck to take watch, and the boys piled into the men's quarters, shouting and playfully punching each other.
Even as Usopp got into bed, he could feel Mirror Sanji's eyes on him. He quickly shut his eyes as someone turned off the light, bathing the room in darkness.
Usopp feigned sleep until he was certain no one else was awake. Slowly, he opened his eyes and stared at the bed above his.
With great care he removed himself from bed and crept to the door, avoiding all the creaky spots on the floor. He made it and opened the door ever-so-slowly, stepping out and shutting it with the faintest click.
He looked to the woods and was about to jump off the ship, but—
"You're not leaving the ship, understand?"
He whimpered and backed off. It was far too risky to try to find that mirror again at night, anyway.
"Hang in there, guys," he whispered, turning away from the railing.
He couldn't possibly sleep with those three in the same room, and so he headed to the kitchen, opening and closing the door softly and sitting at the table after turning on a dim light.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when the door opened again, but it was only Robin.
"Oh—hi," he said, relieved.
"Hello," Robin said, smiling. "Couldn't sleep?"
Usopp nodded.
"Bad dream?" She went to the counter and began making a fresh pot.
"Not . . . exactly," Usopp mumbled.
"Scared of those three?"
Usopp nodded, but then his head snapped around to stare at her with wide eyes. Robin's expression was nothing but serious as she leaned against the counter while the water began to boil.
"What?" he whispered.
"You were telling the truth, weren't you?" Robin said. "About the mirror . . ."
Usopp nodded.
"I had to pretend like I didn't know," she continued, turning to the coffeemaker to pour herself a cup. She came to the table and sat across from Usopp. "If they don't know I know, we have a better chance of figuring this out." She shook her head. "Regardless . . . I'm sorry I had to throw you under the wagon like that."
Usopp nodded again, eyes starting to water.
"Usopp, don't cry."
"Okay," Usopp whispered.
"Coffee?"
"I'm good."
Robin took a sip of her drink. "I suspected Luffy and Zoro last night," she admitted, "but I wasn't sure until Sanji came back earlier. I've seen the left side of his face before . . . and his eyebrow doesn't look like that."
"Then what does it—?"
"Can you tell me, from the top, what happened and what you saw?" Robin asked.
Usopp nodded. "So . . . Luffy left yesterday," he said slowly, "and he must've . . . found that mirror then, 'cause the second he—well, the fake him came back, and got Zoro to come with him. Then Zoro came back, but . . . it was the fake Zoro . . ."
He frowned. "Those two asked me n' Sanji to come with them. Sanji told me what was going on on the way there . . . and I guess he—"
Usopp paused, his eyes widening. "Did he come along . . . because of me?" he whispered. "He only agreed after I did . . . oh, no . . ."
"Don't worry about that," Robin said, touching his shoulder. "That's over and done with."
Usopp gulped and nodded. "Right, so . . ."
He explained in a shaking voice what he'd seen after Sanji had confronted Mirror Luffy and Zoro, and how Sanji had told him to run.
"So you didn't see how Sanji was trapped in the mirror?" Robin asked to confirm.
Usopp shook his head.
"I see," Robin murmured. "Depending on how that mirror works . . . we may have to figure out a way to free our friends without getting trapped ourselves."
Usopp swallowed nervously. "What if . . . what if someone finds the mirror on their own?" he said. "And then . . . how're we gonna tell?"
Robin went to the counter and got a notepad and pen. "Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji have already been replaced," she said. "Usopp, yourself?"
"—Oh! I always wear this on my left arm," Usopp said, pointing to his blue-and-white armband. "And if it helps . . ." he removed it and pointed to a faint scar.
Robin nodded and wrote this down. "Nami's tattoo is on her left arm," she said, writing this down. "Chopper's left antler has a metal band around the base . . . Franky has tattoos under his shirt reading BF-36, so all you'd have to do is check if they're reflected . . . and Brook's skull has . . ." she hesitated. "A crack . . . on the right top side."
She quickly wrote all this down.
"You're so observant," Usopp murmured in awe. "I couldn't have told you where the crack or the metal band was . . ."
"I try."
"How about you?"
Robin pursed her lips. "I do like to think myself symmetrical," she said at last. "I'm ambidextrous, though I usually use my left hand . . ."
She hesitated, then displayed her right hand palm-up and made a circular mark in the center with the pen.
"That works, doesn't it?"
"Good thinking," Usopp said. He glanced up. "Don't wash it off!"
"I won't," she said with a reassuring smile. "As for how we can free those three . . ."
"Smash the mirror?" Usopp suggested.
Robin shrugged. "That could either free them or leave them trapped forever, but it's worth a shot."
Usopp gulped. "Maybe a last-ditch shot if nothing else works . . ."
Regardless, Robin wrote this down. "If you have any other ideas—"
She suddenly tore the page off, folded it up, and shoved it into her shirt, placing the pen on the fresh paper. The door to the kitchen swung open.
"Robin-chan? Usopp?" Mirror Sanji said. "Sorry, I saw a light . . ."
Robin smiled. "Evening, Sanji. Usopp had a nightmare, so I was just trying to cheer him up. Sorry for breaking my watch."
"Oh, Robin-chan, don't worry about it!" Mirror Sanji cried, smiling. "You should have asked me to come, I would have been happy to make you that coffee—!"
Robin smiled as she looked back down at the paper. "It really wasn't anything to disturb your sleep for," she replied. "Usopp, is this what the monster looked like?"
She showed him a crude drawing of some kind of dragon combined with a fish.
"Y—Yeah," Usopp said, catching on. He forced a laugh. "Looking at it like this, it's a really silly thing to have a nightmare over . . ."
"Oh, everything's scarier in the dark," Robin said soothingly, putting the paper aside. "But if you like, you can sleep in our room tonight?"
"What?!" Mirror Sanji yelled, whipping around.
Usopp flinched at the yell. "Sleep in your room?"
"I won't allow it!" Mirror Sanji declared, folding his arms and glaring at Usopp. "To have you sleep in the same room as such lovely ladies—! Oh, but Robin-chan, if you wanted to invited me to protect you, I wouldn't mind—"
"Sanji, I don't mind if Usopp wants to stay with me and Nami tonight," Robin said, "and I'm sure she wouldn't, either."
Usopp gulped. "I think I should . . . stay in the men's quarters, actually," he said quietly. "Thanks, though . . ."
"The offer's open if you change your mind later," Robin said, smiling, though she cast him a sympathetic look. She stood. "I'll be on my way. Sanji, would you mind taking the rest of tonight's watch?"
"Not at all," Mirror Sanji said, saluting.
"I'm going back to bed," Usopp said, standing. "Thanks . . . Robin."
Robin nodded and they left the kitchen with Mirror Sanji, who stayed out on deck. Due to this, they were forced to part without words, Robin going to the women's quarters and Usopp heading back to his own bed.