Luffy, wrapped in his towel like a confused dumpling god, sniffed. "…Sorry I dusted two of your fingers, Brook."
Brook brightened instantly. "Oh, don't worry! They'll grow back! Probably! Maybe! YOHOHOHO–!"
Nine pairs of eyes were locked on the skeleton. Or rather, on what was left of Brook's right hand.
"G-Grow back..? That's not how skeletons work, that's not how any of this works!" Usopp fell into an incomprehensible murmur as his knees buckled.
Zoro's eye was twitching so hard it looked ready to secede from his face. Sanji's unlit cigarette snapped clean in half between his teeth. Nami's hands flew to her mouth.
And in the middle of it all stood Luffy, toddler-sized again, his strawhat too big for him covering more than half of his face, letting only his flushed cheeks be visible under the towel. He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, the very picture of a kid who had accidentally broken his friend's favourite toy.
"Uh… sorry, Brook," he mumbled around a sheepish grin. "I didn't mean to burn your fingers off. I just wanted to show you Merry.. but I'm super hungry now," Tiny little Luffy whined, his lower lip jutting out. "Sanji! Is the food ready yet?"
His towel slipped a little, the glow peeked out, and Brook discreetly took three polite steps backward, unknowingly getting saved from the full blown puppy dog eyes which Luffy threw at Sanji and the others.
The sheer casualness of Luffy broke something in the crew.
Sanji's eye twitched once, before it settled to a soft gaze. But before anyone could see it, he whirled toward the galley so fast his soaked shoes left puddles on the deck. "Of course the damn food is ready, you walking solar flare!" he fake-roared, his voice cracking slightly in relief.
It was ten minutes later that Sanji reappeared calling everyone inside the galley. The crew, still half-shivering, half-dazed, and one hundred percent emotionally compromised, stumbled after him like lost, hungry ducklings. Inside the small dining room it was cramped, warm, and smelled like heaven. Sanji had managed to salvage most of the meat and rice, but the vegetable drawer had not been so lucky. Everything green had turned into a sad, slimy soup unfortunately. Hence, leading the brunch to have massive trays piled with sizzling sea-king steaks, mountains of buttered rice, and loaves of bread still steaming from the oven. The smell alone was enough to make half the crew start crying again.
Brook, ever polite, bowed slightly. "Ah, Cook-san, might a humble skeleton trouble you for–"
Sanji set the tray down, wiped his hands on his apron, and finally looked at Brook properly. His voice came out a little hoarse. "…What do skeletons even eat?"
Brook's jaw somehow stretched into a wide, toothy grin. "Why yes! A skeleton's favourite food is spare ribs!" He struck a dramatic pose, cane twirling. "And if it wouldn't be too much trouble, a glass of milk would be simply divine for my bones! Calcium is very important, you know. Yohohoho!"
Usopp made a strangled noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob. Nami buried her face in her hands. Chopper just started crying again, happy tears this time. Franky barked out a laugh that turned into a manly sob halfway through.
Sanji exhaled shakily, reached into his soaked suit pocket, and pulled out his signature cigarette. He flicked open his lighter.
Click. Click. Click.
The match-head was so waterlogged it wouldn't even spark. Sanji stared at it as if it had personally betrayed him. The cigarette drooped at the sight.
"Tch." He bit the unlit cigarette, and stomped back to the stove in the kitchen. Without breaking eye contact with the cigarette, he thumbed the trigger, eliciting the blue flames that roared to life.
The entire crew watched, dead silent as they tried their best not to laugh out loud, as Sanji calmly bathed the tip of his cigarette in the fire while it was still in his mouth. His bangs singed slightly. The cigarette finally caught. He snapped the stove off with a flourish, took a long drag, and exhaled a perfect ring of smoke that drifted up through the kitchen like it was personally welcoming Sanji to his nicotine heaven.
Then he turned to the crew, eye soft for once, voice low. "Sit down. All of you. Food's hot. Eat before it gets cold or.. Luffy eats it all."
Luffy grinned up from the table where he was already on his eighth steak. He didn't need to be told.
Everyone hurried to the table, squeezing around the little table that was definitely not built for ten people. Zoro took the bench against the wall, swords propped beside him like extra crewmates. Robin sat gracefully despite the lack of space, extra hands passing bread rolls. Sanji sat beside Robin, helping himself to some food.
And then there were the four who were… handling things differently.
Usopp had draped a necklace of garlic bulbs around his neck (where he'd even found that fast, nobody knew). Chopper had wrapped himself in a blanket like a burrito and was clutching a tiny wooden cross he'd carved out of a chopstick. Nami kept one hand on a rolled-up newspaper titled "Top Ten Ways to Repel the Undead." Franky had fashioned two cola bottles into makeshift holy-cola grenades and kept them within reach.
Brook, completely oblivious, sat politely at the far end with his glass of milk and a rack of spare ribs balanced on his ribcage like a plate.
Luffy chewed noisily, sauce smeared across his cheeks. "Ne, Brook! You've been sailing all alone for a long time, right? What kinda life did you live? What are you exactly? And how'd you become a skeleton?"
Zoro groaned immediately. "You're asking now? You jumped onto a ghost ship with a living skeleton without a damn question, but you ask at dinner? After you melted the guy's fingers?"
Luffy shrugged innocently. "I forgot. And I already told sorry, 'rooo!"
"Of course you did…" Zoro sighed.
Brook raised what remained of his right hand in a placating gesture. "No no, it is quite all right! A little sunlight can't kill me.. probably." He cleared his throat somehow and struck a dramatic pose, cane tapping the floor. "Very well! Gather round, my friends, and I shall tell you the tragic yet oddly humorous tale of Brook, former captain of the Rumbar Pirates!"
His voice dropped to a theatrical whisper that still somehow carried to every corner of the tiny room.
"Fifty years ago, I was but a humble, dashing, extraordinarily handsome human with luxurious hair and a promising music career with my flourishing pirate career.. The captain of the Rumbar Pirates after our first leader passed. We came to this sea.. the Sea of Devils, the Florian Triangle.. laughing, singing." His voice echoed like wind through hollow halls, carrying the sad yet cheerful vibe.
"We met a stronger enemy crew. They poisoned our weapons. One by one my comrades fell… until only I remained." Brook recounted sadly, remembering the last fight he had with his crew. "But I had eaten the Yomi Yomi no Mi! When I died, my soul set out to find its body again. Unfortunately, the Florian Triangle is very foggy. It took me one entire year to locate my own skeleton. By then, it had rotted to the bone."
Silence fell as everyone processed the words. Even Luffy–bright, bouncy, unstoppable Luffy–went still, his small face softening with sadness.
Zoro broke it, blunt as ever. "Then what's with the hair?"
The entire table blinked at the question.
Brook perked up instantly. "Oh! I am very proud of my hair! Strong roots! YOHOHOHO! Even death could not claim such a glorious afro!"
Zoro stared. "Your hair survived fifty years of decay because of strong roots."
"Indeed!" Brook beamed. "Afro power!"
Luffy's eyes sparkled with innocence. "So cool! And Laboon?"
Brook froze. His jaw actually dropped an inch. "L-Laboon… you know Laboon?"
Luffy nodded enthusiastically, mouth full. "Crocus-san told us! He's waiting at Reverse Mountain! He's huge now!"
Brook's bony hands flew to where his cheeks would be. "Laboon… is still alive?" His voice cracked. "That dear child… he waited all this time…?"
A quiet ripple passed through the East Blue crew. They exchanged quick, subtle glances. Nobody mentioned the head-butting scars. Nobody mentioned the years Laboon had rammed the Red Line until his forehead bled. Some truths were too heavy to be told so soon enough.
Nami's voice was gentle. "He's waiting."
Brook bowed his head. Even without eyes, tears flowed down his empty sockets. "Then… that is enough. That is more than enough."
Luffy reached forward, still careful not to touch him bare-skinned, and grinned. "Brook! Join our crew!"
Zoro choked on his drink. Usopp screamed. Chopper's eyes widened. Franky coughed. Robin smiled mysteriously. Sanji dropped a spoon. Nami shrieked. Brook's jaw hung open.
Luffy beamed wider, tiny and glowing and stubbornly divine. "You're Laboon's friend. That means you're ours too."
The words left Luffy's mouth so simply, so casually, like he wasn't dropping something heavy and warm right into Brook's ribcage.
Nami sighed, rubbing her temples. "Luffy… you can't just decide things like that without thinking."
Usopp patted her shoulder, already defeated. "Nami… it's Luffy. We can't do anything anymore."
"...Fair." Nami sighed.
Chopper, small and shaking slightly, peered at Brook. "S-So… um… what are you? Exactly? Are you… a ghost? A skeleton? A cursed object?"
Usopp straightened, puffing his chest bravely despite the garlic necklace he's wearing like a talisman. "Yeah! Answer us! Ghost or human?! We need to know for… tactical reasons!"
Brook raised a bony hand politely. "Ah! Well! I am actually quite terrified of ghosts myself. YOHOHOHO!"
The entire crew paused. Taking in the absurd answer coming from a live skeleton.
Nami narrowed her eyes. "Wait. Wait, wait, wait. You're scared of ghosts?"
"Terrified," Brook nodded cheerfully.
Nami reached for the small hand mirror she kept in the kitchen drawer. "Okay, then look at this."
She lifted the mirror. Brook tilted his skull toward it.. and screamed. A high-pitched, bone-rattling, echoing banshee noise that reverberated through the whole ship. "THERE'S NOTHING THERE! NOTHING! I HAVE BEEN CURSED! CURSED I SAY! YOHOHOHO! BUT NOT LIKE THIS!" He leapt backward so hard his spine hit the ceiling beam. The entire table erupted.
"VAMPIRE!" Usopp, Chopper, Nami, and Franky shrieked in perfect unison, brandishing garlic, crosses, cola bottles, and the newspaper.
Chopper shrieked and dived behind Franky. "V-VAMPIRES SUCK BLOOD!"
Franky shielded Chopper with a metallic arm, pointing accusingly at Brook. "DUDE, IF YOU TRY TO DRINK BLOOD I SWEAR–"
All the while, Luffy was just laughing and eating meat while Zoro was downing sake like this was the most exhausting daycare he's ever been to.
Brook flailed. "No no no! I am not a vampire! Vampires are far too gloomy and are scared of sunlight! I merely… lack a shadow!"
Four sets of eyes slowly travelled downward. Brook, indeed, cast no shadow on the floorboards. The light streaming through the bulb in the galley lit up everyone else, but the space where Brook stood was just… empty.
Franky's cola grenades clattered to the table. "He's a no-shadow zone…"
"I knew it," Nami whispered, clutching her newspaper like a shield. "Undead."
Brook waved his remaining eight fingers frantically. "It is not like that at all! My shadow was stolen! By a very rude man with a very large sword! Without it, direct sunlight turns me to ash, just like my poor fingers earlier. I have seen it happen to others… it is most unpleasant."
Nami's face fell. Usopp stopped trembling. Chopper looked devastated. Franky lowered his guard.
Luffy looked up from his plate, his brows furrowing in that rare, surprisingly perceptive way. Someone stole Brook's shadow. Someone tried to erase him from the world twice. He blinked, chewed and swallowed. "So if we get your shadow back, you can walk in the sun again?"
Brook's jaw dropped again. "Theoretically… yes?"
Luffy slammed his fist into his palm, eyes blazing with that familiar reckless light. "Then it's decided! We're going to the thief and stealing your shadow back!"
Zoro pinched the bridge of his nose. "We don't even know where–"
"Adventure!" Luffy cheered, raising a drumstick like a sword. "Brook's joining the crew!"
Sanji lit another cigarette off the stove flame, took a long drag, and exhaled toward the ceiling. "Of course he is. Why the hell not. We already have a sun god, a cyborg, a talking reindeer, and a moss for brains. A singing skeleton fits right in."
Brook stood up so fast his chair fell over. He bowed so low his skull nearly touched the floor. "If… if you would truly have me… I would be honored beyond words."
Chopper peeked out from his blanket cocoon, eyes wide. "B-but… he doesn't have a reflection…"
Usopp whimpered. "And no shadow…"
Nami sighed, lowering her newspaper. "We'll buy stronger garlic in the next town."
Franky wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "SUPER skeleton bro gets a SUPER welcome party!"
Robin smiled softly, sprouting an extra hand to pat Brook's bony shoulder. "Welcome to the crew, musician-san."
Luffy grinned so wide the sun itself seemed to brighten. "Shishishishi! Now pass the meat! Brook needs to eat too if he's gonna grow those fingers back!"
Brook straightened, ribs clacking with pride. "Ah! In that case, allow me to express my gratitude the only way a musician knows how!" He reached behind his spine (somehow) and produced his violin with a flourish. The wood gleamed like it had never spent a minute in the fog or was falling apart. "I was the musician of the Rumbar Pirates. Please accept this humble song as thanks for taking in this old skeleton!"
The moment the bow touched the strings, the air changed.
Luffy froze mid-bite. The meat slipped from his fingers and plopped onto his plate. Every hair on his body stood straight up. His pupils shrank to pinpricks.
Luffy's reaction put the others on guard. Zoro's hand was on Wado Ichimonji in an instant. Sanji's leg flared blue. Robin's arms bloomed across the walls like black flowers. Nami's Clima-Tact was already half-extended before she realised what she was doing. Usopp's slingshot was on the ready and Chopper had transformed to his monster point.
A low, mournful note hung in the galley… and then something passed through the wall.
It was only there for a heartbeat, translucent, hollow-eyed, trailing seaweed-like mist. It was a hollow-hollow ghost, the kind that haunted the Florian Triangle. It drifted straight through the table, and vanished into the floor with a sound like a sigh made of graves.
The temperature dropped ten degrees. Chopper squeaked and hid behind Zoro's leg. Usopp's garlic necklace clattered to the floor.
Brook lowered the violin slowly, his eyes widening in realization.
Luffy was already on his feet. "Outside."
They spilled onto the deck in a chaotic rush. The Going Merry groaned and creaked beneath them, old wood protesting the sudden stampede. Usopp flinched at every crack, convinced the ship was finally giving up the ghost (literally).
But that is when they saw it. A wall. Not an island. But a massive, jagged stone wall that stretched across the horizon like the gates of hell itself, teeth of broken towers jutting into a bruised purple sky. Fog clung to it in sickly ribbons. Lightning flickered inside the clouds, illuminating a gigantic mouth-shaped gate that grinned down at them.
Brook's jaw dropped so low it nearly unhinged. "Thriller Bark…! How..? Did you guys perhaps pick up a barrel along the way?"
Eight heads shook in perfect unison.
Brook tapped his chin with the bow. "How peculiar. Normally, ships only draw its attention when they open one of Gecko Moria's booby-trapped barrels. If you never took one aboard… then something else must have caught his eye."
Memory hit the Strawhatted crew like a cannonball.
Usopp paled. "When we broke the surface… almost everyone screamed."
Franky rubbed the back of his neck. "And the Merry landed with a SUPER splash."
Nami groaned. "We basically rang the dinner bell."
Luffy, however, was staring up at the monstrous ship-island with the biggest grin any of them had ever seen. His eyes sparkled gold for just a second before settling back to red. "I know this place!" he announced cheerfully. "It's one of the dumb Warlords' ships! Gecko Moron, right? Shishishishi, perfect!"
Zoro blinked. "…That's a ship?"
Sanji's cigarette fell out of his mouth. "That whole island sized thing is a ship?"
Robin tilted her head, extra eyes sprouting along the railing to get a better look. "It seems the island itself is the mast and hull. Fascinating architecture… in a nightmarish sort of way."
Chopper whimpered, still half-hidden behind Zoro. "We're gonna die again, aren't we…?"
Usopp was already drawing exorcism circles on the deck with salt he'd stolen from the galley. "Speak for yourself! I'm not getting turned into a zombie! I have plans! Long, healthy, living plans!"
Brook clutched his violin tighter, voice trembling for the first time since they'd met him. "Moria… he is the one who stole my shadow. And the shadows of countless others. If we are here, then…"
Luffy cracked his knuckles, his straw hat tilting back as he beamed up at the grinning gates that towered over them like a graveyard that had learned to sail. "Then we're just in time!" He laughed, and the sound carried over the fog, bright and fearless and impossibly warm. "We're getting your shadow back, Brook! And anyone else's while we're at it!"
He leapt onto the figurehead, arms spread wide like he was greeting an old friend instead of the creepiest place in the Grand Line. "Oi, Thriller Bark!" Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs. "We're here to return your stupid shadows and kick your Warlord butt! Get ready!"
Thunder rumbled overhead. Somewhere inside the walls, something seemed to laugh, low, hollow, and hungry.
Brook's ribs rattled with a shaky breath he didn't need. He took one step toward the railing, then another, violin tucked under his remaining arm. "I… I cannot ask you to walk into that place with me," he said, voice low, almost lost under the groaning of the massive gates ahead. "Thriller Bark is death itself. I have already lost one crew to the darkness. I will not drag another into it."
He leapt. Or tried to.
A rubbery hand shot out and caught the back of his tattered black coat, yanking him back so hard his skeletal feet left the deck. The arm stretched–Luffy's arm, of course–longer and longer until Brook dangled three metres off the ground like a marionette with half its strings cut.
"Oi." Luffy's voice was quiet, but it carried the weight of a sun that refused to set. "You already said yes," he said, eyes shaded under the brim of his hat. "You ate with us. You played for us. You're my musician now." The fingers tightened, knuckles white. "I promised we'd get your shadow back. I don't break promises to my crew."
A tiny strip of the coat's fabric that was touched by Luffy's glowing skin and turned to ash in the breeze, fluttering away like black snow.
Brook stared at the disintegrating cloth, then at the boy holding him. His empty sockets somehow managed to look wet themselves. "Luffy-san.."
"CAPTAIN, NO!" Nami shrieked, lunging forward and grabbing Luffy's other arm. "That place is cursed! Literal zombies! Ghosts! A Warlord! We just almost died in the Enies Lobby, can we not die again today?!"
Usopp was already on his knees, arms wrapped around Luffy's leg. "I'm begging you! I don't want to die today! I can't handle any more heart attacks today!"
Chopper was openly bawling, clinging to Luffy's waist. "I don't wanna be a zombie reindeer! I still have to cure every disease in the world!"
Even Sanji, cigarette trembling between his teeth, stepped forward. "Listen to them for once, you rubber idiot. We'll find another way. A smarter way."
Zoro just sighed, already checking his swords. "You're all wasting your breath."
Robin smiled, calm and terrible. "We're going in, aren't we?"
Luffy's grin split his face in two, bright enough to burn away the fog curling off Thriller Bark's walls.
"Course we are!" He hauled Brook back onto the deck with one tug. The skeleton landed in a clattering heap, coat now missing a perfect hand-shaped hole in the back. "Brook's shadow is in there. Laboon's waiting. And nobody steals from my friends."
Brook slowly rose to his feet, violin clutched to his chest. His cracked voice came out barely above a whisper. "…Thank you."
The next half an hour that passed was an absolute chaos, with the crew knowing exactly how bad this was about to get.
Sanji was in the galley, sleeves rolled high, cigarette clenched between his teeth, frying mountains of meat and wrapping them in waxed paper. "Three days' worth of onigiri, extra spicy for the moss-head, extra sweet for Nami-san, extra everything for the captain. Move, move, move!"
Nami and Chopper raided the medical stores, stuffing bandages, burn salves, and every anti-zombie remedy Chopper could think of into satchels. "Garlic extract! Salt circles! Holy water, well, cola, but Franky swears it's the same thing!"
Franky himself was in the engine room, along with Usopp, super-charging the paddle wheels and rigging extra harpoons.
Zoro sharpened his blades in the crow's nest, muttering about "stupid creepy islands" while secretly counting how many zombies he could cut before lunch.
Robin changed into darker colours, fingers blooming to help everyone at once.
And in the boys' cabin, Luffy stood in front of the cracked mirror, frowning at his reflection. His favourite red cloak, the one he wore as Cyra, had been reduced to ashes somewhere in the rain and the fight in Enies Lobby. All that was left of it was a few singed pieces still clinging to the cloth.
He poked the tattered fabric and sighed, "Aww man…"
From the wardrobe, he pulled a replacement: a long, hooded crimson cloak lined with white lamb's wool that Dragon had sent him for his last birthday. It was a little big on his chibi size, so he did the thing he almost never did unless absolutely necessary. He forced his body to grow up.
His bones lengthened, shoulders broadened, legs stretched until he finally looked like his usual size instead of a five year old toddler. The cloak settled perfectly across his back, hood deep enough to hide the faint golden flicker in his eyes when he got serious. He tugged on a pair of black gloves (another gift, this one from Sabo) so he wouldn't accidentally incinerate anything (or anyone) he liked.
Brook, passing the open door, stopped dead. "..So the small sun god is actually a slightly older sun god, huh?"
Luffy grinned, flashing his white teeth. "Shishishi!" He bounded out onto the deck, his cloak flaring dramatically behind him.
They were getting closer. The fog was thickening until the only thing visible was Thriller Bark's jagged silhouette and the gaping mouth-gate yawning wider, as if the island itself was hungry.
Sanji, Nami, and Usopp stiffened at the exact same moment. Sanji's cigarette paused halfway to his lips. Nami's hand flew to her Clima-Tact. Usopp's knees knocked together.
"Someone's… already here," Nami whispered.
Before anyone could ask what she meant, there was an enormous CLANG. The anchor dropped on its own, chain rattling like laughter. From somewhere below the waterline came the cough and sputter of ancient, rusted engines groaning to life. The Merry jerked to a sudden halt, her timbers screaming.
A slimy, invisible hand slid around Nami's waist from behind, fingers groping for places they had no business being. Nami's shriek of rage could have shattered the fog.
Luffy moved faster than thought. One heartbeat he was by the mast, the next he was airborne. He tackled the empty air where the hand had come from and slammed whoever the person was onto the deck so hard the planks cracked.
The invisibility flickered, failed. Not willingly though. And a man appeared beneath Luffy, lion-faced, stitched-up, wearing a tattered top hat and a leer that died the instant Luffy's gloved palm pressed against his chest.
The moment skin touched skin, something inside the stranger snapped like a broken rubber band. His Devil Fruit fizzled out with a pathetic pop. He became fully visible, struggling and failing, under a very calm, very angry sun god.
"Hands off my navigator," Luffy said quietly. Sunlight flared around him in waves as if showcasing his anger; and the deck beneath them began to smoke.
Brook's jaw literally hit the floor. "Absalom of the Graveyard! Commander of the Soldier Zombies and General Zombies! One of the Mysterious Four! Also… an infamous pervert even among the undead!"
Nami's eyes twitched. She stepped forward, Clima-Tact extending with a metallic shink. Absalom's bravado lasted exactly half a second as he realized what was coming "No–! Wait–! Merciful beautiful lady–!"
CRACK. BANG. BANG. CRACK.
Nami beat him across the head, shoulders, and every place the staff could reach without killing him, screaming a litany of curses that would have made any sailor blush. When she finally stepped back, panting, Absalom whimpered, blood trickling from his nose, eyes swirling.
"S-strong… bride…" he croaked, managing a dazed, lovestruck grin.
Sanji's leg ignited as his bangs hid his eyes and anger in them. "One Concassé."
His kick sent Absalom's head into the mast with a gong-like clang. The lion-man went cross-eyed and slumped, unconscious.
Franky and Usopp were already there with ropes thick enough. In thirty seconds Absalom was trussed up like a turkey, still drooling about "beautiful brides."
Luffy stood, dusting soot off his gloves, cloak settling around his shoulders again.
"Let's dock," he said cheerfully, as if they hadn't just been boarded without permission by an invisible zombie pervert. "We've got a shadow to steal back."
The Going Merry bumped gently against Thriller Bark's outer wall, her wood groaning against stone.
Franky winced at the sound. "That sound… that's not good, brothers. That's the sound a ship makes right before it remembers it's supposed to be kindling."
One by one they stepped off the gangplank onto the cold, moss-slick gravel. The moment the last foot (Brook's left tibia) left the deck, the Merry gave a long, exhausted sigh. It almost seemed that her figurehead's eyes dimmed, her sails sagged like wet laundry and the entire hull seemed to deflate, planks creaking inward as if the old girl had finally decided it was time for a very long nap.
Usopp's lip trembled. "She… she really can't take any more, can she?" Even he–the king of denial–couldn't lie this time. The Merry looked ready to crumble into sawdust if someone breathed on her too hard.
Brook tilted his skull sadly. "A ship is a soul, and hers has been burning bright far longer than any caravel has a right to. I am certain this island holds many vessels. We will find her a worthy successor."
No one answered. Neither did Luffy. He just stared at Merry like someone had punched him in the chest and stolen his voice. Then his eyes hardened.
"No," he uttered with determination.
One word. Quiet. Final. Sure, he might have known this was coming, but there has to be another way. Merry was part of his crew after all.
White steam hissed off his skin. His hair flashed snow-white. The red cloak billowed though there was no wind. He grew–ten metres, twenty, thirty–until the shadow of a laughing giant fell across the ship like sunrise.
The crew stumbled back. Brook ran to the shadows, hiding there, though still peeking at the Sun God with wide, awe filled eyes.
"LUFFY, NO–!" Nami started.
But it was too late. Luffy's arms, now longer than the Merry herself, wrapped gently, impossibly gently, around the little caravel. The figurehead's wooden eyes widened in surprise as the giant sun god pressed his forehead to her bow.
"I'm not leaving you behind," he whispered, voice rumbling like distant drums. "Not you too."
Golden light poured from his palms, warm and soft as a lullaby. The Merry glowed, shrinking, shrinking, shrinking until she was no bigger than a toy boat cradled in Luffy's colossal hands.
Everyone's jaws hit the gravel.
Nami's scream came out as a strangled squeak. "WHAT ARE YOUR POWERS EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE?!"
Luffy, still in full liberated Nika form, eyes gold, rimmed with red and a grin wide enough to eclipse the moon, just giggled. He reached into the pocket of his cloak and pulled out a comically oversized glass bottle the size of his torso. With all the solemn ceremony of a child putting a beetle in a jar, he scrunched the tiny Merry between two fingers–gently, lovingly–and popped her through the neck of the bottle.
Inside the glass, the ship un-crumpled like a flower opening. Masts straightened. Sails fluffed. The figurehead blinked, gave a happy little bleat, and settled comfortably on a tiny glass sea as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
Luffy held the bottle up to the foggy sky, hair dancing like living fire, and cheered at the top of his lungs, "SHISHISHISHI! WE'VE GOT A SHIP IN A BOTTLE!"
For three full seconds the entire crew could only stare, mouths open, brains rebooting. Then it was chaos.
"DETRANSFORM RIGHT NOW!" Nami shrieked, swinging her Clima-Tact like a club.
"CAPTAIN, YOU CAN'T JUST PUT THE SHIP IN A BOTTLE!" Usopp wailed.
"THAT'S NOT HOW PHYSICS WORKS!" Chopper howled.
"SUPER… whatever this is!" Franky sobbed, tears streaming.
"Captain, please detransform! We can't lose you again!" Robin shouted, her eyes wide and panicky.
Sanji lit three cigarettes at once. "Moss-head, back me up here–"
Zoro just sighed, shoulders slumping. "Let him have this one for a while..."
Brook's jaw was on the ground again. "I have sailed with many strange captains, but this…"
Luffy blinked down at them, still thirty metres tall and glowing like a starlight. "Eh? But she's safe now! Look, she likes it!"
Inside the bottle, the Merry did indeed look perfectly content, rocking gently as if on calm waves.
Nami's eye twitched so hard it nearly jumped ship. "LUFFY. NORMAL SIZE. NOW."
Luffy pouted, an expression that on a giant god-face looked like the sun sulking, but obeyed. His white flaming hair receded. His hair darkened at some places, a mix of black and white. His height shrank.. And with it the bottle in his hands. In seconds he was just their captain again, cloak settling around his shoulders, holding the bottle carefully in both gloved hands like it was the most precious treasure in the world.
He beamed at them, eyes sparkling. "Now Merry can come with us everywhere! Problem solved!"
Ten faces stared at him. Ten mouths opened. Ten voices spoke as one, "YOU ARE EXPLAINING THIS LATER."
Luffy just laughed, tucked the bottle gently inside his cloak, and turned toward the gaping mouth-gate of Thriller Bark.
And with the Going Merry sailing happily inside a bottle against his heart, the little caravel's figurehead smiled wider than she ever had in her whole life. Her captain had kept his promise. She was never being left behind again..