Usopp jumped when he heard footsteps, but relaxed when he saw Mirror Robin descending the ladder.
"What happened?" he asked shakily.
"We couldn't figure anything new out," she said regretfully after showing him her right hand to show that the mark was still there. "I'll see if I can sneak you out there tomorrow and you and I can brainstorm instead. How does that sound?"
"Yeah, that's . . . that's good," Usopp said, relaxing. "Those guys, they're—they're okay, aren't they?"
Mirror Robin smiled. "They're fine. Franky, Brook, and Chopper are on the ship. It's okay, Usopp."
Usopp stood and suddenly hugged her.
"What—?"
"I'm so glad I'm not alone in this," he whispered.
Mirror Robin did not respond, and when Usopp pulled back, she hadn't yet wiped off the grin on her face.
"Robin?" he said in surprise.
"I thought of something funny is all," she said, turning away.
Usopp narrowed his eyes.
"I'm going . . . to the deck," he said, backing away and hurrying up the ladder. Mirror Robin watched him go, her smile fading.
As soon as Usopp was on deck, he looked around frantically in the dim light of the setting sun. Mirror Zoro and Luffy were talking quietly about something with Mirror Nami. And there—there they were: Chopper, Franky, and Brook.
"Guys," Usopp exclaimed, hurrying over to them. "Something's . . . wrong . . ."
He trailed off when he saw the crack on the left side of Brook's skull.
"Hello, Usopp-san," Mirror Brook said, tipping his hat.
Usopp looked down and saw the metal band on Chopper's right antler.
Mirror Chopper grinned. "What's wrong? You look scared."
Finally, he looked at Franky and bravely reached out a hand to tug aside his shirt. The BF was reflected onto the wrong side.
"Hey, you leave my clothes alone," Mirror Franky said sternly.
Mirror Brook looked at him as Usopp backed away. "Gentlemen, you do realize he's figured it out?"
"Ah, yeah," Mirror Franky said carelessly, standing. "Didn't realize it'd be this soon. She must've messed up somehow, huh?"
"In a way," said a voice, and Usopp whipped around to see Mirror Robin behind him. She held up her palms so he could see the identical marks.
"So . . . what now?" Mirror Chopper said, standing and turning big.
"He knows, huh?" Mirror Luffy said, coming over with Mirror Zoro and Nami.
"What's going on?" Mirror Sanji asked, coming out of the kitchen. He glanced at Usopp. "Oh, I see. That soon?"
"You—" Usopp said, backing up against the railing, "you all—you're—"
"Catching someone off-guard is surprisingly easy when you're using a friend's face," Mirror Robin remarked, crossing her arms in preparation. "Now, will you come quietly, or do we have to take you by force?"
Usopp gulped. "Okay," he whispered. "I surrender."
He dropped his hands, one falling inside his satchel as if by accident.
"That makes this easier, then," Mirror Luffy said cheerfully. "Cooperate and we won't have to hurt—"
"Just kidding. USOPP FLASH DIAL!" Usopp yelled, and pressed a button on the spiral shell while throwing it to the ground. Blinding light filled the area and the imposters covered their eyes in pain.
By the time their vision returned, Usopp had vanished from the ship.
"He must've gone to try to free them," Mirror Zoro muttered, rubbing his eyes.
"He's too smart to try to do it in the dark," Mirror Sanji mused as twilight set in. "And it'd be harder for us to find him at night, anyhow . . ."
"With any luck, he'll trap himself like Franky did," Mirror Robin remarked, smiling.
"Yeah, that was pretty stupid of him," Mirror Franky agreed. "Sunrise it is?"
"Sunrise," Mirror Luffy agreed, turning around.
It was a remarkable feat Usopp could run so fast with his legs shaking so much. He monkeyed up a tree and sat himself on a bough, catching his breath.
He began to cry.
"Stupid," he mumbled. "Should've tried harder to convince them . . . should've noticed Robin was . . . shouldn't've left Sanji . . ."
He rubbed at his face with his arm.
"I'm such a coward . . ."
When he was quite finished crying, he gathered his thoughts. The imposters likely wouldn't try to look for him in the dark, and he shouldn't look for the mirror in the dark—it was too risky. But falling asleep in a tree wasn't a favorable option . . .
"What should I do?" he whispered.
"I couldn't hear a thing they were saying, but it seems like smashing is the worst possible idea, so we'll have to scratch that off the list."
Usopp frowned. It was hard to concentrate when he was so exhausted.
"That was . . . the fake who said that," he said slowly. "Which means . . . I should smash it?"
He nodded to himself slowly. "Yeah . . . yeah . . . I got it."
Fearful of falling from the tree or resting for too long, Usopp slept not a wink that night, keeping his eyes wide open until the first hints of sunlight peeked through the trees. He yawned and jumped off of his branch, looking around cautiously.
"Now, where was it?" he murmured to himself.
"This should be easy," Mirror Luffy said. The imposters were gathered on deck. "We just have to find Usopp and make him touch the mirror unless he's done it himself already. Let's move out!"
The others saluted and everyone leapt off the ship, splitting up once they reached the jungle.
Usopp stood in front of the curtain-like vines he remembered so well. Reaching out, he pushed them aside with one hand and slowly entered.
There was the mirror; there were his friends. They were fast asleep behind the glass, resting against each other on the ground.
As Usopp stared, Robin slowly opened her eyes. They flew open when she spotted him and she sat up, knocking Nami off of her as he saw her mouth his name: Usopp!
The others slowly woke up, looking around blearily, alerted by Robin's movement and sound. They, too, spotted Usopp, and all stood with delighted smiles and cheers, saying his name happily.
Usopp got his breathing under control and reached out for the mirror, but at panicked looks from his friends, he flinched back and started going through his bag, nodding at Franky's and Luffy's gestures telling him to smash, to break, to shatter the mirror.
He drew out his hammer and swung it back, stepping towards the mirror, not noticing the looks of shock in time—
A hand caught his arm and he froze in terror.
"That's dangerous," Mirror Luffy said behind him, plucking the hammer out of his hand and tossing it aside. "That's not a toy, you know."
Usopp whipped around and pulled back a fist, but hesitated, looking at his opponent's face. Mirror Luffy grabbed his wrist with a grin and yelled, "HE'S BY THE MIRROR!"
While the others appeared from the trees, Usopp slipped a hand inside his satchel again, grabbing hold of his slingshot and one other item. His trapped friends looked furious upon seeing their counterparts, muttering curses under their breath and even banging futilely on the glass.
"Oh, this makes it easier," Mirror Zoro said, folding his arms.
"He came right here, huh?" Mirror Chopper said curiously.
"Walked right into it," Mirror Sanji agreed.
Before they noticed what he was doing, Usopp yanked his hand out of Mirror Luffy's grasp, pulled back his slingshot, and fired something at the mirror. Mirror Luffy grabbed him again, his expression angry, but it was only a rotten egg which slid down the glass.
Mirror Brook chuckled. "Did you think that would work?"
Usopp sighed and hung his head. "It was worth a shot," he mumbled, defeated.
"You tried your best," Mirror Nami said with a grin. "Any last requests?"
Usopp looked at Mirror Sanji. "Yeah," he said quietly, his voice devoid of hope, not turning around to see his friends stare at him in horror. "You have cigarettes, don't you?"
"Yeah?" Mirror Sanji said, pulling out the pack. "Don't tell me you want a smoke."
Usopp nodded. "I've never smoked before," he admitted, "and if I'm going to go here . . . I might as well try one. No use caring about my lungs now."
Mirror Sanji glanced around and shrugged. "Fair point. You need a light?"
"Please."
Mirror Sanji tossed him a cigarette and the lighter. Usopp stuck it between his teeth, but Mirror Robin said, "Wrong way."
Usopp grinned as if embarrassed and flipped it around. "Thanks," he mumbled around the stick. He held up the lighter and flicked it on, catching the end alight.
He puffed slowly on the cigarette, wincing at the taste, before pulling it out of his lips, blowing out some smoke, and tossing it at the mirror with the still-burning lighter.
The rotten egg, full of disgusting sulfur, caught fire instantly, coating the surface in flames. The imposters cried out, but among the licking tongues of the fire, the mirror cracked and shattered into pieces.
"Take THAT!" Usopp yelled, coughing and spitting to get rid of the tobacco taste.
"You bastard—!" Mirror Luffy yelled, but before he could snap Usopp's wrist, his eyes widened and he disappeared.
Mirror Zoro lunged, but he, too, vanished—and then Mirror Sanji was gone, and Mirror Nami, and Mirror Robin—Mirror Franky, Brook, and Chopper followed soon after, disappearing into thin air—
And Usopp was left standing among charred mirror fragments and his friends, his real friends, standing in some kind of shock all around.
"We're back?" Luffy said, looking around.
"We're back!" Nami exclaimed.
Usopp was swarmed by his friends with happy hugs and laughter.
"Usopp, sorry about getting caught," Sanji said, clapping him on the back as Usopp started to cry in relief.
"Same here," Robin agreed. "It must have been horrible . . ."
"Usopp!" Chopper cried, hugging his leg.
"I can't believe those bastards hurt you like that," Franky said angrily.
"Luffy, next time, don't go poking weird things," Zoro said sternly.
"But it all ended up okay," Luffy said patiently.
Nami hit him. "Barely! We all almost ended up trapped there forever!"
"That was very clever, Usopp-san," Brook said, who surely would have been smiling had he owned lips. "I did wonder what you were up to . . ."
"It's a good thing they fell for that," Luffy agreed. He grinned and hugged Usopp again. "You were really brave!"
"You really were," Robin agreed. "You went through all that practically alone . . ."
Usopp choked back tears and nodded. "No . . . big deal," he said with a shaky smile, just before he passed out in Luffy's arms.
"Usopp?!"
Chopper turned big and checked on him. "He's fine," he announced. "Just sleeping."
"Oh, poor thing," Robin murmured. "He hasn't slept at all for two days . . ."
"Let's get back to the ship," Sanji said as Luffy slung Usopp, unconscious, over his shoulder. "He can rest in the infirmary, and I'll be damned if we're not having his favorite meal for dinner tonight."
"As far as I can tell, he just needs sleep now," Chopper said, looking over Usopp one more time. "He might have a few bruises and aches from earlier, but . . ."
"Usopp's tough," Luffy said cheerfully. "He's gonna be okay or I'll punch him."
"That's not how you treat the ill," Zoro muttered.
They began arguing on how best to treat a sick person as they walked back, leaving the mirror fragments behind.
Usopp slept the day away, his mind at ease at last.
~Fin~
Story's done! Thanks for all your support, everyone!