The fog pressed in around the Thousand Sunny like damp breath.
The ruined ship loomed ahead—silent, broken, and wrong.
Its broken masts creaked faintly as if the sea itself were breathing through them.
Usopp hugged himself.
"NOPE. I'M NOT GOING."
"I don't care if there's treasure, meat, or a map to the One Piece on that thing!"
Chopper shook his head so hard his hat nearly flew off.
"I-I DON'T WANT TO BE CURSED FOREVER!"
"What if ghosts possess me and make me do scary medical experiments?!"
Franky leaned over the railing, arms crossed.
"Man, that ship's got some SERIOUS bad vibes."
"SUPER creepy."
Robin smiled faintly. "Legends say ships that drift in fog like this often carry lingering regrets."
"…And sometimes the dead."
Usopp screamed. "SEE?! EVEN ROBIN SAYS IT'S HAUNTED!"
Luffy suddenly clapped his hands. "Then let's decide fairly!"
He produced a bundle of short sticks.
"DRAW LOTS!"
Nami pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Why do I feel like this will go badly…"
Zoro leaned against the mast, eyes half-lidded. "…Because it always does."
They drew.
Usopp peeked—long stick. "…YES!"
He burst into tears of relief and tackled Chopper.
"I'M ALIVE! I'M STILL ALIVE!"
Chopper checked his stick—short. "…NO—WAIT—"
He squinted, flipped it around, then checked again.
"…Long!"
He gasped. "I'M SAFE?!"
He squealed and leapt into Usopp's arms.
"That leaves—"
Everyone turned.
Luffy.
Nami.
Sanji.
Nami stared at her stick in absolute horror.
"…Why," she whispered, "Why is my luck like this?"
Franky whistled. "Ooooh. Rough draw."
Robin nodded thoughtfully.
"How unfortunate."
"I was hoping to go."
Robin then tilted her head. "Too bad. It didn't pick me."
Franky laughed loudly.
"Yeah! Kinda wanted to check it out!"
"Could've been SUPER educational!"
Nami spun on them. "WHY ARE YOU TWO DISAPPOINTED?!"
Nami snapped. "AND STOP SAYING THAT LIKE IT'S A GOOD THING!"
Sanji puffed his chest, sparks nearly flying from his eyes.
"Don't worry, Nami-swaaaan!"
"I'll protect you from all ghosts, skeletons, curses, fog monsters, and spiritual anomalies!"
Usopp grabbed Sanji's leg.
"DON'T DIE!"
"If you see anything scary, run back IMMEDIATELY!"
Chopper saluted nervously. "Be careful! And don't touch anything!"
Zoro pushed himself upright, looking directly at Sanji and Nami.
"Listen carefully."
They froze.
"Your job isn't fighting."
"It's stopping Luffy."
Luffy blinked. "Stopping me from what?"
Zoro glared harder.
"From talking."
"From touching."
"And from inviting whatever's on that ship to join us."
Sanji and Nami stiffened.
"…Ah," Sanji said slowly. "…Right."
Nami nodded grimly. "Got it."
Luffy smiled brightly. "Okay!"
Zoro sighed. "…You're already not listening."
The three stepped onto the gangplank as the fog swallowed them whole.
Behind them, Usopp whispered, "…This is how horror stories start."
And somewhere within the mist—
Something laughed softly.
———————-
They climbed aboard the ruined ship.
The moment Luffy's sandal hit the deck, the wood wailed, a long, hollow groan that crawled up their spines. The boards were damp, splintered, and darkened by age—like they had soaked up decades of sorrow and refused to let it go.
Nami swallowed. "…This ship feels angry."
Sanji lit a cigarette, forcing a grin. "Just an old wreck, Nami-swaaaan. I'll burn away any bad spirits."
The fog thickened.
Then—
Footsteps.
Click.
Clack.
Slow. Polite.
Nami froze. "…You heard that too, right?"
Sanji's hand drifted toward his leg, muscles tensing. "…Yeah."
From the fog, a tall silhouette emerged.
Closer.
Closer.
Then the mist peeled away—
A skeleton stood before them.
Tall and elegant.
A worn gentleman's coat draped over bare ribs.
A cane held lightly in one bony hand.
And atop his skull—
An afro.
He bowed deeply, cane sweeping outward.
"Ah~ good evening!"
"My name is Brook."
"I am but a humble musician."
Nami stared.
Sanji stared.
The fog rolled behind him like a curtain closing.
"…It's talking," Nami whispered.
Sanji nodded slowly. "…And it has manners."
Brook straightened, tilting his skull.
"Pardon my intrusion. It has been quite some time since I've had guests."
"Fifty years, in fact."
"…FIFTY?!" Nami squeaked.
Luffy leaned closer, squinting. "Whoa! You're all bones!"
Brook gasped, hand to his chest.
"How rude! I have feelings!"
"…Though I have no heart."
"YOHOHOHO~!"
Sanji twitched. "…I already hate him."
Brook stepped closer, turning toward Nami with impeccable posture.
"Say, young lady—"
"May I see your panties?"
Time stopped.
Nami's eye twitched.
CRASH.
Her heel connected squarely with Brook's skull, sending him flying backward in a rain of bones.
"THAT'S SEXUAL HARASSMENT!!!"
Brook smashed into a broken mast, ribs scattering.
"YOHOHOHO~!"
"How delightful!"
"What strong legs you have!"
Sanji snapped. "WHY ARE YOU HAVING FUN BEING KICKED?!"
Brook's bones reassembled with a series of clacks and pops. He stood, brushing dust from his coat.
"I do apologize! Old habits die hard."
"…Much like me."
"YOHOHOHO~!"
Nami trembled.
"This is it."
"This is where I die."
Luffy crouched in front of Brook, eyes sparkling like he'd found a new toy.
"Hey!"
"I've got a question!"
Brook leaned down eagerly.
"Yes?"
"Do you poop?"
Sanji lost it. "WHY ARE YOU ASKING A STUPID QUESTION?!"
Brook nodded solemnly.
"Of course!"
"Though I lack organs, my soul still remembers the sensation."
"YOHOHOHO~!"
Sanji screamed into the sky. "AND WHY ARE YOU ANSWERING HIS QUESTION?!"
Nami grabbed Luffy by the collar.
"NO MORE QUESTIONS."
"DO NOT SAY ANYTHING ELSE."
Luffy blinked.
"Oh."
"…Okay."
A beat passed.
Then—
"Hey."
Nami and Sanji said simultaneously. "NO."
Luffy grinned. "Do you wanna join our crew?"
Dead silence.
Even the fog seemed to pause.
Sanji and Nami snapped their heads toward him.
"WHAT?!"
"LUFFY NO!!!"
Brook froze.
His empty eye sockets widened.
"…Join your… crew?"
He straightened slowly.
"…How curious."
Then he smiled.
A gentle, sincere smile.
"…Certainly."
"Why not?"
Nami and Sanji went pale.
"…How do we explain this," Nami whispered, "…to the others?"
Sanji imagined Zoro's glare.
Usopp fainting.
Chopper screaming.
Robin and Franky calmly asking for details.
"…We're dead," Sanji muttered. "Even if he's already not."
Brook tapped his cane lightly, cheerful as ever.
"When do we leave?"
"I should warn you—I am rather prone to tragic backstories."
Luffy laughed.
"Cool!"
Nami screamed.
"THIS ISN'T COOL!!!"
The fog closed in tighter around the ship—
As destiny quietly rewrote itself.
——————————
Back aboard the Thousand Sunny—
Brook stood proudly at the center of the deck, chest out, cane planted like he was on a grand stage.
"Good evening!"
"I am Dead Bones Brook, a skeleton."
"Please treat me kindly!"
The words barely landed before chaos erupted.
Usopp shrieked at a pitch that should not have been human and slammed a switch on a bulky contraption strapped to his back.
"ANTI-GHOST GEAR ACTIVATE!!!"
Goggles dropped over his eyes. Charms, talismans, and fake garlic swung wildly.
"STAY BACK, EVIL SPIRIT!"
"THE POWER OF SCIENCE COMPELS YOU!"
Brook screamed just as loudly, leaping backward.
"EEEEEK?!"
"WHO IS THIS GHOST?!"
"I'M TERRIFIED!!!"
He hid behind his cane, knees knocking.
Chopper pointed at him, hooves shaking.
"IT'S YOUUUU!!!"
"YOU'RE THE GHOST!!!"
Usopp pointed back.
"NO, YOU'RE THE GHOST!"
They both screamed again.
Zoro finally stepped forward, veins popping at his temple. "Enough."
The word cut clean through the noise.
He cracked his neck slowly, eyes locked on Brook. "This thing is not joining our crew."
He glanced sharply at Nami and Sanji. "You two were supposed to stop Luffy from doing stupid things."
His gaze hardened. "So what the hell happened?"
Nami and Sanji bowed instantly.
"…We know," Nami muttered.
"…We messed up," Sanji admitted, sweating.
Luffy blinked. "Huh? I thought it was going great."
Zoro twitched.
Brook, oblivious to the tension, drifted across the deck with long, elegant steps until he stopped in front of Robin.
"Madam…"
He placed a hand over where his heart once was. "Your calm beauty is truly breathtaking."
Robin watched him.
Calm.
Unblinking.
Unfazed.
Brook leaned in slightly. "…May I see your panties?"
The temperature dropped.
Sanji snapped instantly.
"STOP THAT, YOU SKELETON!!!"
"DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT TO ROBIN-CHWAAAN!"
Brook jumped.
"M-my apologies!"
"I seem to have offended you!"
"YOHOHOHO—!"
Robin tilted her head slightly.
"…No," she said calmly. "You've offended everyone."
Brook froze.
"…Ah."
"Duly noted."
Franky burst out laughing.
"HAHAHA! Man's got guts—"
He squinted. "…Or, uh. Had."
Usopp screamed again. "DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM!"
Brook straightened and clapped his bony hands together.
"Then perhaps we should all calm down!"
"Why don't we go inside and have dinner?"
The entire crew inhaled—
Then shouted in perfect unison.
"YOU DON'T GET TO DECIDE THAT!!!"
Brook flinched. "…So aggressive."
Chopper whispered to Usopp. "…Is it bad if he eats us?"
"He doesn't even HAVE a stomach!" Usopp whispered back.
"That makes it WORSE!"
Luffy laughed loudly, hands behind his head, completely relaxed. "This is fun!"
Zoro glared at him. "This is NOT fun."
Nami rubbed her temples.
"I'm surrounded by idiots."
"And a skeleton."
The fog curled tighter around the Thousand Sunny, rolling over the rails like living smoke.
Somewhere deep within the Florian Triangle—
Red glowing eyes watched.
Not Brook's.
Something else was watching.
———————
The Thousand Sunny groaned as lights were lit.
Despite every instinct screaming don't, the Straw Hats found themselves gathered around a long, warped table inside the ship's cabin.
Plates were set. Sanji, muttering curses under his breath, cooked anyway—because that was who he was.
"This is insane," Nami whispered, clutching her fork. "We're having dinner with a skeleton."
Brook sat straight-backed, napkin politely tucked into the collar of his coat.
"What a joy!" he said cheerfully.
"I haven't shared a meal in decades!"
"Though, of course, I don't have a stomach."
"YOHOHOHO~!"
Usopp choked. "THEN WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"
"To enjoy the atmosphere," Brook replied calmly.
Chopper peeked over the table.
"…Mister Skeleton… why are you like this?"
The cabin fell quieter.
Brook's smile softened.
"…Ah."
"That is a long story."
He set his cane aside.
"I once had flesh," he said. "I was alive."
"I was a member of a pirate crew—one bound by music."
Luffy leaned forward. "Music pirates?"
"Yes," Brook said warmly. "The Rumbar Pirates."
Robin's eyes flickered with interest.
Brook continued.
"We sailed the seas playing songs wherever we went."
"We laughed. We drank."
"We believed the ocean itself was listening."
Sanji paused mid-cook. "…What happened?"
Brook's voice grew gentle.
"We were attacked."
"Ambushed by enemy pirates."
"One by one… my crewmates died."
Silence pressed in.
Usopp swallowed. "…All of them?"
Brook nodded.
"They asked me to play one last song."
"So they wouldn't die afraid."
His fingers twitched, as if remembering strings.
"And then…"
"I died too."
Chopper's eyes filled with tears. "T-Then how—?"
"I had eaten a Devil Fruit," Brook said. "The Revive-Revive Fruit."
Nami blinked. "…You came back to life?"
"Yes."
"But my soul lost its way."
"It wandered the seas for a year."
His smile turned faintly bitter. "When I found my body… it had already decayed."
No one spoke.
"…So I returned," Brook finished. "As bones."
The room felt heavier.
Robin spoke softly. "…And you were alone?"
Brook nodded.
"For decades."
"Drifting here."
"In the Florian Triangle."
Usopp suddenly stiffened. "…Wait."
He slowly raised a small mirror.
"…Why don't you have a reflection?"
Everyone turned.
Brook glanced at the glass. "…Ah."
He sighed. "While I was stranded here… my shadow was stolen."
"…Stolen?" Nami echoed.
"Yes," Brook said. "By a man named Gecko Moria."
The name hit like thunder.
"…A Warlord?!" Usopp shrieked.
Zoro's hand went to his swords. "A Shichibukai… here?"
Brook nodded gravely.
"He commands shadows."
"Without mine… I cannot stand in sunlight."
Chopper gasped. "You'd disappear?!"
"Yes."
"Erased."
"Like mist."
The ship suddenly shuddered.
BOOOOOM.
Everyone lurched.
"What was that?!" Nami shouted.
They rushed outside.
Fog peeled away—
Revealing something colossal.
A ship so massive it looked like an island.
Castles.
Forests.
Graveyards.
A floating nightmare.
Brook stared. "…Thriller Bark."
He turned back to them, smile sad but resolute.
"I suppose this was fate."
"That I met you now."
Luffy frowned. "…You're not coming?"
Brook shook his head.
"I cannot."
"If I leave this fog without my shadow… I will vanish."
He stepped back.
"But perhaps—"
"If fate allows—"
He smiled brightly.
"…We will meet again."
Then—
Brook ran.
Straight across the water.
Toward Thriller Bark.
The fog swallowed him whole.
The Straw Hats stood in silence.
Luffy clenched his fist. "…We're getting his shadow back."
The fog laughed.
And the nightmare awaited.