O.N.E. P.I.E.C.E.
"I-It's…" Percy stuttered.
"Just a torso?!" Brook shrieked.
"Why," demanded Percy, "Just…why?"
The torso lunged, making a sweeping arc with its beautiful sword.
"You want to stop and ask it?" said Brook, "Or do you want to fight?"
Percy actually looked like he was considering the former option.
"Percy!" Brook shouted, meeting the torso's next strike with his cane sword.
"I mean…" Percy said seriously, "It doesn't seem to notice me. What's the harm?"
"But then it would notice you if you asked it why it is," Brook reasoned, sidestepping the torso's next attack and countering with his own, "And what if it's a ghost?"
"True," Percy acquiesced, "Ghosts are pretty scary."
"If you're a ghost, Mr. Torso-san," Brook said seriously, "You have to obey the rules and only come out at night. Or you could make snowmen with me!"
Percy sweat-dropped, "What kind of rule is that?"
"Would you stop criticizing me and help me!?" Brook shouted.
Percy rolled his eyes, "Fine, fine," and with a wave of his hand, the torso was buried in snow.
"Well, that's that…?" Percy trailed off as the torso burst free of the snow and began a rapid show of expert fencing with Brook.
"Percy!" wailed Brook, "I don't understand how it can attack me with such precision without eyes! Oh, but I don't have eyes either, yohohohoho ah!"
Percy shrugged, "Don't say I didn't try."
The torso pulled out a second sword and came near to lobbing off Brook's head.
"Two sword-style?"Brook gasped, "That's it! He's too creepy! Somebody save me!"
And he took off into the blizzard.
Percy sprinted after him, cursing the whole way, "Wait, Brook! Come back! We're supposed to wait for Luffy and the others!"
O.N.E. P.I.E.C.E.
"Well…we found the centaurs," said Robin.
"WHY ARE THEY FIRING AT US?" hollered Usopp.
"They're gonna capsize the boat!" Leo shouted, "I won't do good as a Leosicle! I'd taste like charcoal!"
Zoro cut another cannonball in half, allowing the two halves to explode around the banana boat.
"That the best they can do?" he smirked.
"Nice one!" Luffy cheered, "My turn!"
Gum Gum Legs Balloon!
Luffy's stomach grew to the size of a small whale. The cannonballs hit Luffy's stomach with a soft 'thud!' and sprung back at the centaurs on the opposite shore.
"First they cut the shells then they bounce the shells off their bodies like they're playing hackey sack!" shouted a centaur in a purple coat, "How the hell do they do that?"
"A devil fruit," guessed the biggest centaur with an evil grin, "I have just the thing for you. Prepare to fire!"
"They just don't learn," Usopp said smugly, "Teach them a lesson, guys!"
"Hold on," said Robin, "They're aiming at the water."
"They're gonna capsize us for sure this time!" Leo shouted, "Not cool! Give me a minute and I'll get us out of this!"
Leo's hands dove into his toolbelt and he began frantically pulling out gears and pieces of metal.
"FIRE!"
"Let's get behind the iceberg!" said Robin as the banana boat rocked violently amidst the cannonballs.
"How's that solution coming, Leo?" shouted Zoro.
"Almost there," Leo muttered, summoning a fistful of fire to weld his device together, "Now! Done! Let's get out of here!"
The Strawhats didn't even have time to marvel at the motor that Leo had built in under five minutes, for at that moment, the iceberg shattered.
"GO!" shouted Luffy.
"Right!" Leo yelped, setting his hand on fire and holding it to the motor. The motor hummed happily, shot a jet of fire behind them and sent the banana boat speeding towards the icy shore.
"NO THAT'S TOO FAST!" howled the centaur, "YOU'LL CRASH INTO US!"
"L-let's g-get coats," Luffy chattered.
"G-Get m-me one t-too," Usopp asked pitifully.
Luffy, Zoro, Robin and Leo made short work of the centaurs on the other side, beating them to a pulp and ripping their coats off their bodies.
"Ah, much better," Luffy said happily, "Now if only we had a fire we could roast marshmallows."
Leo pulled a bag of marshmallows out of his tool belt while simultaneously setting his other hand on fire, "You were saying?"
"I LOVE YOU!" Luffy hollered. He tried to throw himself on Leo, but Zoro held him back.
"Easy there, captain," Zoro said with an adorably jealous look on his face, "We need to go find the others."
"Looks like they didn't need our help after all," said a very-welcome voice, "Though I don't have eyes to look. Yohohoho!"
"Brook! Percy!" Usopp and Luffy cheered.
"Good to see you're alright," Robin said warmly.
While Brook struck a majestic pose from the top of the hill, Percy broke into a sprint, charging straight down the hill at Leo.
Leo waved sheepishly, "Heheh, hiya, Percy-ow!"
Percy ran straight up to Leo and socked him in the face, sending the son of Hephaestus flying into Zoro.
"Watch it, Percy," Zoro warned.
"What the Hades, man?" Leo whined.
"What the Hades?" Percy said incredulously, "You're supposed to be dead! We watched you fucking explode, and all you have to say is 'what the Hades'?"
Leo rubbed his arm sheepishly, "I guess I deserved that."
"Damn right you did," Percy snorted, "Welcome back, Valdez."
"So now what?" asked Usopp.
Percy held out his hand and in an instant, everyone was bone dry.
"Handy trick," Leo grinned.
"Thanks," said Percy, "Anyway, the plan should still be the same, right, Captain? We have to go find Nami and the others."
"Yeah," said Luffy, "Let's go!"
O.N.E. P.I.E.C.E.
"I don't see that back door anywhere!" shouted Nami, "Anyone got any ideas?"
"Yes!" Annabeth and Kin'emon said at once.
"Go back and ask that fellow that cut me up," Kin'emon said as Annabeth said "Go ask Law."
"Yeah that's a big fat no," said Nami, "The Marines are still there. Anyone else?"
"Just leave it to me!" Franky said confidently, speeding ahead of the group.
"Do you have some sort of super cool sensor thing?" Chopper asked in awe.
"Nope!" Franky said cheerfully.
"THEN WHY THE HELL ARE WE FOLLOWING YOU?" snapped Chopper and Sanji.
Room! Shambles!
Annabeth skidded to a halt behind the Strawhats, all four of whom had stopped.
"What's wrong?" she said urgently, "If we're not going to face Law, we need to move."
"I'M MANLY!" Franky shrieked in a voice that sounded distinctly like Nami's.
Meanwhile, Nami ripped Sanji's jacket open, loudly admiring her boobs.
"I'm a human?" Sanji said in disbelief.
Annabeth shuddered, "What a horrible power."
Though she supposed if she could be mortal for a day and escape all her nightmares and responsibilities, she would be ok with that. Just for a day, mind you; Annabeth quite liked who she was. She wondered how Nami felt now that she was all of a sudden mortal.
"WHY DID WE SWITCH BODIES?"
O.N.E. P.I.E.C.E.
"Hey! Crocatar! You still don't wanna tell me where the rest of my crew is at?" asked Luffy.
Brownbeard looked resolutely forward, refusing to meet anyone's eyes, "You're not gonna get a word out of me."
"And yet, we can get you to give us a piggy back ride," said Leo, amused, "What's more humiliating?"
"This is pretty humiliating," Brownbeard agreed, "Being used like this, having my crew beat up and robbed. When will it end?"
"You're just crying cuz you got your ass beat," Zoro said from his position lower down on Brownbeard's back in between Robin and Percy, "Suck it up and take it like a man."
"If the others get frostbite because they could not warm themselves like we did," said Robin, staring pensively into the blizzard, "They could lose any number of limbs."
"You're a real ray of sunshine, you know that?" Leo waved a wrench at Robin.
"Spare us your gruesome fantasies, please," said Usopp, "You're gonna scare the new guy."
"I killed Mother Earth, Pinocchio," said Leo, sticking his wrench in Usopp's face, "Gruesome fantasies ain't got nothing on me."
The others looked expectantly at Percy, but the other demigod was also looking off into the distance with a terrified look on his face.
"Percy?" Usopp asked hesitantly.
"Leave him alone," said Leo, suddenly very serious, "Let him ride it out."
"But-," Usopp tried to protest, but Leo cut him off.
"Trust me," Leo insisted, "It's better for everyone if you leave him alone when he's like this."
So the others left Percy alone in his flashback, opting to sit in silence and listen to the cries and huffs of Brownbeard as he ran through the snow.
That is, until they ran into Trafalgar Law standing over Smoker's immobile form in the snow.
"DAMN YOU!" shrieked Tashigi.
"Gh!" Zoro yelped and hid behind Luffy.
Law created another room and did something with his fingers. The next second, Tashigi dropped by Smoker, unconscious.
"That wasn't very nice, Traffy," Luffy pouted, "I know you saved me at Marineford, but if you still wanna be our ally you can't go around killing people."
"This guy is your ally?" Leo muttered to Usopp.
"It's complicated," Usopp whispered in Leo's ear, "We'll explain later."
"They're still alive," Law assured the Strawhats, turning to go back inside, "Go to the lab around the corner. There, you will find what you're looking for."
"Wait a second," said Zoro, "You said two years ago that you had a proposition for us; why the sudden change of heart?"
"I'll explain everything later," said Law, not even turning back to look at them, "For now, go find your friends."
With that, the large, steel door closed, leaving the Strawhats and the Marines out in the cold.