Chapter 11

Ghostbusters!

"Alright! We'll leave everything here to you two!" Sanji called out as he, Franky, and Zoro ran out of Perona's bedchamber. Between Maxwell's magic and Usopp's surprising immunity, they were the only two people who could really take on Perona. They had their tasks, and they were going to trust Usopp and Maxwell to take care of this.

"Wait—! What about the zom—!" Usopp desperately tried to call them back. Even if he was immune to the ghosts, there was still a group of mammalian zombies in the room! However, the sniper caught himself when he saw one look of Maxwell's glowing eyes gazing at him.

He wouldn't be alone in this fight… But that didn't stop Usopp from whimpering a little.

"If you're concerned about the zombies, Usopp… Do you remember this spell?" Maxwell raised his staff like a hammer, the mace-like head burning with a black and purple flames.

"HORROR!"

As the head collided, and a pillar of black fire erupted from the ground, right from under the zombies feet. The mushroom cloud seemed to morph giant black skull, it's jaws open in a silent scream. A hollow violet light shined from within the skull, flowing out of every orifice like it was under water.

The spell was larger than usual. Every zombie touched by the miasma stood there paralyzed with fear. Jaws wide open!

"…Oh~!" Usopp understood what the mage was doing. "WILD SHOT: SALT STAR!" They were easy targets! He shot more of his special salt balls into the mouths of the stunned zombies, who immediately grimaced at tasting the concentrated sodium.

Shadows then rose out of those animal maws as they became purified.

"Nononono! NEGATIVE HOLLOW!" Perona sent out six of her giggling ghosts to attack them. "It must have been a mistake! It must have—OW! OWOWOWOW—!"

Usopp simply let four of the ghost go through him. Maxwell however, coated himself in a Barrier and swung at the offending ghosts. The spell immediately broke, but it had bashed the other two ghosts on the head, and Perona could feel it!

The ghosts were a part of her. Perona had said so herself. She could see and feel every sensation her hollows could feel, including their pain!

"HE CAN ACTUALLY HIT THEM!" "IMPOSSIBLE!" "And that other guy… The negative ghosts! They're acting negative themselves!" "Is he a saint or something!?"

All the zombies that hadn't been purified yet stepped back with fear. The four ghosts that had gone through Usopp were now kneeling on the floor themselves, like they were the ones to have been hollowed! No one should be able to resist those ghosts! Yet here was a man who could take it, and a mage who could touch them! Without Perona, they were for their vulnerable immortality! Nothing was stopping them from being purified!

"Kumashi… I'm so sorry for everything."

"IT EVEN AFFECTED LADY PERONA!" The zombies all balked at their mistress' depression. She was on her hands and knees before her constant companion. It was well known among the zombies that Perona constantly told Kumashi to keep quiet, due to his deep 'un-cute' voice. But here she was, apologizing to him!

"Here's the thing when it comes to thinking negatively…" Usopp then struck a pose, "NO ONE CAN DO IT BETTER THAN ME!"

"HE'S PROUD OF BEING NEGATIVE!?" The zombies couldn't help but balk again. This was absolutely insane! Perona's hollow's could make anyone wish for death, but it was like this guy was even worse than that! It was like he wasn't looking forward to anything! But he was still alive! How the hell did that make any sense!?

"Usopp, you really shouldn't say that about yourself…" Maxwell said with a frown.

Usopp looked back at the mage, "…We'll it's true, isn't it?" Maxwell didn't really have a response to that.

"Wait! Wasn't he also one of the pirates who tried to run away?" one the zombies pointed out.

"He's right!" "GET HIM!"

Before the animal zombies could even move, fire sprang to life beneath their feet. Not the cursed aura of the Mortalitasi, but true red hot fire erected into a wall and engulfing them.

"GAH!" The zombies all ran about, panicked at having suddenly been set on fire. It had been that mage again! Disrupting any organized attempt to take them down.

"This is my chance…!" Usopp aimed his slingshot staff at Perona. The girl gasped suddenly realizing that she was being targeted. Fire was spreading throughout the room, and she was starting to realizing how little control she had over this situation. "Certain Kill—"

"Don't." Thankfully for her Kumashi decided to step between them.

"Get out of the way!" Usopp demanded of the bear, "If you don't move, then you too will—" Perona then began to run away.

"—HEY! WAIT!" Usopp charged after the pink lolita, exiting the room.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Kumashi then began to chase after Usopp, adamant on protecting his mistress.

"HEY! What about—!? Whoa!" Maxwell cursed, realizing the enemy was getting away. The zombies were panicking, so now was probably a good time to get away. However, before he could take one step, the tower began to shake! "—Oh what the blighted hell is going on now!?" Maxwell had to balance and hop on one foot just to not fall over.

Whatever was happening outside, it made dust and the curtained ceiling start to fall. The fabric had been caught ablaze from all the sparks rising up. It was like a giant flaming blanket was falling down on them, and the zombies continued to muck about, unawares.

Maxwell growled made a gesture, energizing the room with his own mana. With a swipe of his hand the fabric was tossed aside, twisting and tangling up zombies within its folds. Of course their screaming became even more frantic at suddenly being trapped while on fire, but Maxwell ignored that. He just ran out of that room, intent on catching up to Usopp.

Maxwell could hear them through the halls, sounding like some slapstick comedy.

"Dammit, he's still following me! If it wasn't for him, I could beat the other pirates! Negative nose bastard!"

"Dammit, he's still following me! If it wasn't for him, I could beat that hollow woman! Bear zombie bastard!"

"WAIT~!"

"GYA—! Don't come any closer! —Wait you hollow woman!"

"GYA—! Don't come any closer! —Kumashi! Hurry and finish him off!"

"WAIT~!"

Perona was yelling for Usopp to stay away and have her stuffed bear finish him off. While Usopp was simultaneously chasing after her and running away from Kumashi. All the while that bear zombie of hers was yelling, "Wait!"

…Maxwell was frankly surprised at how loud they were being.

The mage heard the echoes of breaking stone and immediately assumed the worse. If Usopp hadn't purified that bear yet, then he was likely get mauled right now!

Maxwell kept running until he heard the sound of a burning fire. There, around the corner, was Kumashi trying find a way across a wall of flames. It wasn't one of his spells, no. Maxwell could smell the acrid scent of smoke in the air and knew that this was Usopp's doing. Usopp must have poured some oil across the corridor and set it ablaze to get the zombie off his trail! Whether that was a good or bad thing though was still up for debate.

Kumashi looked back, seeing Maxwell at the other end of the hallway, "You! …You hurt Lady Perona!" and with frightening speed, the bear lunged with a swiping claw at the Straw-Hat mage.

Maxwell immediately became intangible with the Fade Cloak, dodging the bear as its paw gouged out the wall beside them. Maxwell returned the blow slashing up with a conjured Spirit Blade. The spectral sword ripped a gash through the zombie's skin, revealing stuffed cotton instead of blood and muscle.

Kumashi was quite literally a teddybear come to life! An animated doll brought to life by the Shadow-Shadow Fruit. Didn't they need organic body parts to animate their creations? Maxwell had no idea how Moria and Hogback could create a plushie that could pulverize solid stone!

Maxwell sighed, "Ugh... Well, this is the Grand Line." He then felt the aura he was producing starting to flicker, "Crap…!" and with it, a strong sense of dizziness.

"My stuffing!" Kumashi tried to reach were Maxwell had made his wound but couldn't due to the limited mobility of his arms. "You—!"

The bear swiped again, and Maxwell didn't have time to dodge this time. Maxwell instead coated himself in a Barrier and tried defended himself with his staff, subsequently blocking and deflecting it's strikes. This proved to be a mistake.

Kumashi hit with the strength of a troll, packed down into one human sized doll! While Maxwell had sparred with Zoro and Sanji on occasion, both hitting equally as hard, Maxwell always tried to fight them at a distance. But between the bear's aggression and his own deteriorating state, Maxwell couldn't think straight!

Finally, Kumashi landed a blow right on Maxwell's sternum, clotheslining him, and flinging the mage straight into a wall. "Maxwell!" his familiars called out, as Maxwell slumped onto the floor.

The spirits immediately brought forth their own spells to keep Kumashi at bay. They couldn't aim, or project their magic in their anchors, but they didn't need too. Mordred's skull erupted erupted into a manifestation of Horror, while Salem's grimoire exploded into a Mind Blast.

Stunned and confused, the bear was sent flying into the other wall, rolling against it into the floor. Minieve's hilt then produced a Winter glyph, but not in a configuration Maxwell recognized. Dazed though he was, he was now in a ring of ice, isolating himself and his familiars. It would keep the bear out… for now.

Maxwell groaned as he laid on the ground. He was back to normal. The armor on his arms had protected him from those claws, but it felt like someone had been hammering them with a battering ram. That blow to the stomach had also knocked the wind out of him. "Yeah… This feels like Sanji and Zoro…"

The sound of chipping ice could be heard outside of the ice sheet. "You know you'll have to purify that thing, right?" Mineive could see beyond her ice spell. Kumashi was trying to break in as he was now stuck in a space between their ice and Usopp's wall of fire. Clearly, he wanted to finish them off first.

"Yeah… I know…!" Maxwell slowly got his limbs under himself and started to stand up, leaning on his staff for support. He was going to have to trap that thing. There was no way he was going to be able to take on Kumashi in a head to head battle.

Maxwell thought about that magical aura earlier. Feeling the sensation, Maxwell realized it was his psyche being brought into a hyperactive state. Having Perona's hollow must have shaved off enough psychic energy to create a dust storm within the Fade. Yet, having some degree of control over his inner being, Maxwell had subconsciously brought those shards mana into a gravitational field around his psychic core. Thought and mana rotated in his mindscape like an astronomic sphere, the rings orbiting like asteroid belts. The faster the rings spun, the more mana Maxwell conducted! …And that was what was causing him a mana imbalance!

Magical augmentation always had it's risks. Mana imbalance usually induced dizziness, conscious dreaming, and hearing voices… That may actually explain how he heard Usopp and Perona so well. Only now had he felt the dizziness. Maxwell was going to have to use that state sparingly… But he needed it one more time!

Maxwell felt his mana settle back on itself like sand in the desert. A magnetized orb with iron filing all over it. Maxwell knew he could enter that state again. He would just have to disturb the surface.

The mage placed Salem's book near the edge of the ice, then took his place back in the centre. "Salem, you ready?" Mana poured out of Maxwell again, the eldritch green glowing along his skin!

"I am prepared."

"…Then take it down!" Maxwell immediately started spinning his staff, as a burst of mana erupted from Salem's grimoire. The ice disappeared with Transmute Magic. A higher form of Dispel.

Kumashi stumbled forward as his next strike hit nothing but air. "You—!"

Maxwell didn't give Kumashi moment to hesitate. He just stamped his staff into the ground and ice manifested again, trapping the bear in Winter's Chill.

Kumashi couldn't move. He was completely immersed in a block of ice. No room for movement, no chance to speak, just a teddybear stuck in time.

Maxwell studied his spell for a moment. Combined with his aura and the leftover magic of Minieve's Winter spell, Kumashi was trapped in a 15 foot block of ice. Almost like a translucent miniature iceberg. The chill it was emitting was creating mist and frost along its surface. Even Usopp's firewall was brought low just from the change in temperature. The power for this was absolutely overkill!

…Though that wouldn't mean much to a zombie.

Deciding his next course, Maxwell summoned his book, put away his staff, and drew Minieve's blade-less hilt. Still covered in his own eldritch aura, Maxwell preformed the Fade Cloak and walked straight through the glacier he had just created.

He only stopped for a moment, taking one of the salt balls out of their pouch. Maxwell's hand went straight through the zombies maw, still intangible, let go of the salty pellet.

The effect was immediate. Usopp's invention had immediately become material as Maxwell left. Kumashi's shadow started struggling to get out the macabre doll. Like sludge seeping through the cracks, the shadow crawled out of Kumashi's eyes, his ears, and the mouth behind his medical mask.

Maxwell exited out the other side and hopped over what was left of Usopp's oil fire. Now, he had a sniper to find.

*CRASH!*

…If he could keep his feet under him, that is.

O O O

"Didn't I tell you I can go through anything?" Perona teased Usopp.

He was currently freaking out at having a ghost girl occupying the same space as him. Their hips were conjoined at odd angles. Usopp's right arm went right through her shoulder. And Perona's arm stretched right through Usopp's mouth, out the backside of his head. "UWAA! STOP THAT! IT'S CREEPY!"

Perona gave him the tiniest of smiles, "In other words, you're attacks can't hit me."

"GAH!" Usopp started swinging his kabuto wildly, "Get away from me! Shoo! Shoo—Darn it!"

Perona only laughed as she flew around Usopp like a fly. It was rather easy to rile this guy. She nearly made him pass out after telling him she was going to stop his heart, with her hands inside his chest. "Now what will you do? None of your attacks will work on me."

"Shut up!" Usopp panted as he thought of his next move. This ghost girl was able to walk through walls and fly. She could even change how tall she could be. All of his shots went right through her, and he couldn't even bludgeon her with his slingshot. But… "You just bluffed about being able to touch my heart, didn't you? That mean you can't touch me either, right? I can't attack you, but you can't hurt me even if you wanted too! Tell me I'm wrong!"

Perona stared at the pirate for a moment, "Mini Hollow," and two tiny ghosts with larger proportionate heads came out of her hands. Usopp watched as one of the mini hollows drifted over to a nearby wall and laid itself against it. "Ghost Wrap," and with a snap of her fingers the mini ghost exploded, creating an impact crater in the wall.

Usopp looked at where the ghost had been, "A… A shockwave…!?" He was wrong! He was so—SO wrong! Then he suddenly realized one of the ghosts was on his shoulder.

"UGYAAAAAA~! GET AWAY FROM ME! LETGOLETGOLETGO!" Usopp tried to swipe away the ghost. But now matter how much he tried, the ghost wouldn't leave him.

Perona just snapped her fingers, "Wrap!" and the explosion went off on Usopp. The explosions weren't big, they weren't even hot, but they still damaging like fireworks.

"…Dammit!" Usopp was able to get on his feet again, "CERTAIN KILL! PHOENIX STAR!"

Usopp's ammunition turned into a fiery bird, flying straight for Perona. "Horohorohorohoro!" but the girl just laughed as the attack went right through her.

"DAMN!" Usopp then ran away. "This isn't fair! I can't even attack, but she can!? Winning this match just isn't possible!"

"Horohorohorohoro!" Perona flew after him and overtook the cowardly sniper. She phased right through him and looked into his eyes.

"Hey!" Usopp barked as he kept running, "I can't see where I'm going if you're there! Move—! FUGEH!"

Perona had led him right into a stone pillar. He was running at full speed, and now he was on his back. Usopp's face hurt! He was likely going to have bruises later, and his nose—oh his nose!

Usopp then realized mini hollows were starting to settle on his body. Multiple little ghosts clinging to his every limb!

"Ghost Wrap!" Perona started snapping her fingers rapidly. Mini hollows exploded with every snap!

However, at the end of the explosion chain… Usopp was nearly unharmed! Though he had lost his exorcist hat. "WHAT!?"

His clothes were barely disturbed. You could only see the smallest of sketch marks. Both negative folk were surprised at seeing this. "HOW!?" He was supposed to be much more roughed up.

"Stonefist!"

"PUAH!" Perona gagged as a hurling green stone collided with her stomach. She went flying as she careened through the hall.

Usopp quickly looked behind him, "MAX!"

Maxwell Trevelyan, his friend and saviour, was walking towards him, staff in hand. "You doing alright Usopp?" He was out of that freaky aura state. Maxwell had spotted him before all those ghosts were about to explode and cast a Barrier to protect him.

"Ugh…" Usopp drooped his head, "This fight is SO not going the way I thought it would. I thought this woman was weaker than me! What a joke…!"

"Hm…" Maxwell looked at where he had sent Perona flying, "I certainly don't remember her being able to levitate before…"

"I know! —I mean, seriously!" Usopp grabbed his head trying to process it. "You and me were the only two people that could stand against her! And I—!" Usopp paused for a moment, "…I thought this could be my chance… to prove I could be a reliable fighter on the crew." When Maxwell hadn't immediately followed him out of that room after Perona, he had gotten too cocky. He was able too through off that bear, and Usopp thought that bear would be her only defense from him… But now he just felt stupid!

"Usopp…" Maxwell knelt down and placed a hand on his shoulder. "None of us question your resolve to fight. You proved that when you challenged Luffy for the Merry. And you proved you would fight for us when you helped us rescue Robin at Enies Lobby. Trust me, you're not the first person to underestimate your opponent…" Maxwell could still feel the bruise developing on his stomach.

Usopp looked up at his friend, "But… What do we do? We can't let her near the rest of the crew!"

"THAT HURT! YOU BASTARD!" Perona came flying in with a vengeance, intent on running Maxwell through. A whole host of her ghosts followed after her. Regular and mini hollows alike, and even a giant bulbous ghost they hadn't seen yet.

She was tired of dealing with these pirates! One was impervious, and the other was a pain, but Perona knew she could at least affect the mage!

"Usopp! Run!" Maxwell pushed Usopp out of the way. Her attention was solely on him, and Perona wanted payback for being hit!

Maxwell defended himself! He was surrounded by ghost on all sides, swirling around him in the air. Maxwell used Elegant Defense to keep the Negative Hollows from going through him. The mage used Fortifying Blast to expel any mini hollows that got to close. And, wielding Mineive, he slashed at any ghost he could reach with his Spirit Blade. Maxwell also spun his staff like a propeller, held aloft by his own magic. Ghosts became shredded as they entered the energized rotation. However he was still being overwhelmed.

"Die! Diediediediedie—!" Perona kept producing ghost after ghost, going after his limbs and back as he spun around. Even with all the pain he was inflicting, Perona still kept going. There seemed to be no end in sight!

…Until Usopp had called out, "MAX! I FIGURED IT OUT!"

Both mage and ghost princess paused and looked over to see Usopp standing by a particular looking structure. It was a stone box in the middle of the floor, fitting snugly between a quartet of pillars. It had a door leading inside and curtains overhanging the walls. It seemed Usopp hadn't run away, and was taking aim at the door.

"Wait! WHERE ARE YOU AIMING AT!?" Perona suddenly grew panicked. Had he—?

"CERTAIN KILL: ATLAS COMET!"

Usopp fired his kabuto at the door and four pellets split off from each other. They hit the wall surrounding the door and the door frame fell forward, revealing a sleeping Perona on a queen sized bed.

"I found it…! That's your true body!" Usopp declared, looking back at the floating ghost.

Maxwell grinned, "Excellent work, Usopp!"

"The fact that we can see you, that you can fly, that you can pass through people, walls, and can freely change your size is just like that of a bodiless ghost! But if you think back to how I followed you around before, and look at it that way, I can assume you had a body to start with!" Usopp pointed his kabuto at the real Perona, "In the end, you took advantage of the opening I gave you and made this ghost of yourself! The one hiding over here is your real body! I won't be fooled anymore!"

Perona grit her teeth, looking between Maxwell and Usopp. Inwardly, she was panicking! One of them could attack her ghostly form and disperse her hollows. While the other was in close proximity to her natural body, and had an unnatural knack for hitting his targets!

So, she tried to bluff, "Ha!" putting on a false bravado. "I thought you were just a negative dumbass. Did you suddenly get some courage when your comrade showed up? I'm surprised you can use your head once you've calmed down! But you're only 90% correct. I'm not a ghost being controlled by my body! I willingly came out of it! I'm a fully conscious hollow!"

"Oh~?" You could hear the oozing smile in Mordred's voice as the skull lit up. "Then I suppose you can see us now?"

Perona froze as she saw the shapes of the three demons hovering over Maxwell. They were usually invisible to the human eye, but the gold, purple, and verdant auras of the three demons were as clear as day to Perona.

"GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Perona flew away from Maxwell in terror. She flew back to her body, not even noticing how the sniper was taking aim at her. Honestly, she didn't care. Perona wanted to be as far away from those three monsters as fast as possible!

Mordred cackled with glee as the woman sank back into her body. Maxwell couldn't help but smile, roll his eyes, and walk up beside his long-nosed friend.

Perona woke with a start, gasping as if she had just had a nightmare. She tried to scramble out of bed, but found that her arm was stuck to the headboard. "Oof! Why can't I move!?" Some pale, sticky substance held her arm in place.

"HA HA HA!" Usopp gave a showman's laugh and crossed his arms, "I fired a Birdlime Star while you were retreating to your body! Now we can take you down, both in body AND spirit!"

"Damn…!" Perona struggled against the birdlime encasing her arm. She had to get out of here, now! Or else she was going to die!

…But then she noticed something else.

"So you are the ones who purified Commander Kumashi!" A zombie had shown up. A standing hippopotamus wearing a suit and moustache. He held a shield in one hand, and a sword raised to strike.

"Nice timing…!" Perona smiled as it was one of her underlings! "Kill them, Vice-Commander Gentleman Hippo!"

Maxwell brought his fist down and Veilstrike pounded on the hippo's head. The sudden gravity was able to stun zombie, even opening its jaw! Usopp immediately took advantage of the opening and threw in a salt ball, purifying the hippo zombie.

"Wha—NO!" Perona looked at the two in shock. Were they really that strong!? Gentleman Hippopotamus had said Kumashi had been purified! What was she going to do now!?

"CERTAIN KILL: KUROBIKARI STAR!" Usopp fired a large ball at Perona, making her flinch and shield her face. But when it hit, it didn't hurt. Almost like a ball had been thrown to her. But that ball then spit apart and bugs spilled out of the case.

"GGGYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

"COCKROOOAAACHEEESSS!"

Perona screamed bloody murder as the bugs crawled all over her. "THIS IS DISGUSTING! SOME ONE TAKE THEM OFF! SAVE ME! I CAN'T RUN AWAY! KYYYYAAAA! THEY WENT INSIDE MY CLOTHES TOO! NOOOOOO! I HAT COCKROACHES! I'M SACRED OF THEM—! KUMASHI~! KUMASHI~!"

"Also known as the 'Cockroach' Star!" Usopp grinned looking over at his companion.

"By the Maker, Usopp…!" Maxwell tried not to chortle looking at the hysterical lolita. Normally he wouldn't condone such a prank, but in this instance, Maxwell would allow it. He wanted to teach this girl a lesson!

"Hey…!" Before he could move, Usopp leaned in and whispered to the mage, "Play along for a moment…"

Usopp cleared his throat, "There other things to be scared of besides cockroaches princess… MAXWELL! BRING ME MY HAMMER!"

Maxwell raised an eyebrow but smiled, "As you wish…!" and conjured a glyph for Usopp. The sniper reached in, and with a flick of the wrist, inflated a balloon out the back side. It took the form of a comically large sledgehammer, wth a "10t" sign written on it's head.

Dramatically, Usopp started to drag the balloon through the glyph, as if it really were something heavy. Usopp pretended to struggle for a moment like it was stuck in the "portal," so Maxwell enlarged it. The hammer came through with a surprising thud, and Perona didn't even realize it was a ruse!

Usopp then looked over at Perona, "You know, I was known as the Strongest Superhuman in the East Blue."

"Te—" Perona got a good look at that hammer, "Ten tons…! Wait— Where did you get that sort of strength!? Stop—! Please! I don't have anywhere to run!"

"GGGRRRRR!" Again Usopp lifted the hammer as if it really were ten tons, and slowly raised it to strike.

"I'M GONNA DIE!" Perona screamed. "TAKE OFF THE COCKROACHES! THE HAMMER—NO! THE HAMMER AND THE COCKROACHES! PLEASE!"

"UUUUUUSSOOOOPPPPPP…!"

"I WON'T TOUCH YOUR NAKAMA! I PROMISE!" Perona begged with Usopp, not wanting to be crushed like a watermelon. "SPARE ME! PLEASE! STOP~!"

"GOOOOOOOLLLLLLLDDDEEEEEEEN…!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Pound!" *POP!*

…

…

…

The balloon had burst into scrap as it bonked on Perona's head. It didn't do any real damage, but Perona had been frightened so much by all of this that she had shocked herself into unconscious.

"…Whew! What kind of ghost princess of a hunted mansion loses consciousness from a balloon and a few toy cockroaches?" Usopp deflated the handle of his 'hammer.'

Maxwell took a look at one of the bug, and realized they really were toys! Small mechanical cockroaches, with pinned joints moving from a motor within. He actually thought they were real, from a distance. "When did you make these?"

"Nah!" Usopp waved him off, "I found those on sale back when we were on Water 7. Best 40 beli of my life!"

Usopp then look back at their unconscious opponent, her mouth wide open as she slept on the bed, "You made a mistake challenging me to a contest of lies and negativity! Sleep until dawn, ghost princess!"

Usopp took a few steps away from her before he started doing a little dance, "…We wo~n! We wo~n! We wo~n! We wo~n!"

Maxwell couldn't help but chuckle at his friends attitude.

Well, they had taken down one of Thriller Bark's most versatile defenses. Now they needed to find the others, and see their progress.

*CRASH!*

"OY! MAX!?"

Again, if he could keep his feet under him…

"…Ow."