-One minute earlier-
"Don don don don!"
"Heh, Cross seems to be making a habit of starting a new SBS within a couple of hours of the last one," Crocus mused as he dislodged his snail's mic, Laboon having breached as close to the lighthouse as close as he could, as he always did whenever he heard the siren call of his new friends' broadcast.
This broadcast, however, was made different. Instead of an introduction, they were met by the sounds of a piano coming across, no vocals.
Then, all at once, a violin joined in with the piano. Crocus smiled wistfully as he identified the tune and reached for a bottle of rum. Laboon, meanwhile, was swaying in the waves with just as melancholy an expression.
"So, that's how you've elected to conquer the ghosts of Florian, is it?" Crocus sighed wistfully as he toasted the bottle. "Good. Good for them. To your good health, my friends…" And with that, he knocked the bottle back.
"Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew."
"PFFFT!" CRASH!
The retired doctor then proceeded to sputter out his drink in shock, the bottle slipping from his suddenly lax grasp and smashing to the ground. But Crocus paid it no mind, too occupied with gaping at his snail with wide, shock-filled eyes. Even Laboon, rambunctious as he usually was, fell deathly silent, for fear of accidentally drowning out even so much as a single syllable.
"Wave goodbye, but don't you cry, our memories remain," the familiar voice crooned, a tone of longing and sadness, but sheer joy and euphoria ringing true like a clarion. "Our days are but a passing dream, Everlasting though they seem. Beneath the moon we'll meet again, The wind's our lullaby…"
"…The Revive-Revive Fruit," Crocus breathed in realization, raising a shaking hand to his mouth as tears welled up in his eyes. "The Triangle… This whole time, you've been in the Triangle…"
A few tears slipped down Crocus' face at first, but then…
"HAHAHAHA!" the wizened keeper threw his head back and howled with laughter, slapping his knee uproariously as he wept with glee. "THEY FOUND HIM, LABOON! THOSE KIDS, THOSE ABSOLUTELY INSANE, WONDERFUL KIDS FOUND HIM! HAHAHAHAAAAAA!"
Laboon remained frozen for another few seconds, still trying to properly process just what he was hearing. Then, rearing his head back—
"BWOOOOOOOOOOOOH!"
He threw his head back and all but blasted the glass out of the lighthouse's windows with his titanic bellow. But unlike so many times before, this wasn't a cry of sorrow, of heartrending misery, but one of joy. It was a cry of love and joy, filled with ecstasy and punctuated by the fountains of tears that cascaded down the relatively young whale's mass, matching his age-old caretaker exactly.
-o-
"So gather up… all of… the…"
The sound of the party on the other side faltered for a few seconds following the solo, an air of uncertainty and hesitation coming across the connection…
"SO GATHER UP ALL OF THE CREW, IT'S TIME TO SHIP OUT BINKS' BREW!" Until Monkey D. Luffy and Jeremiah Cross suddenly chorused as one, pumping as much pure and unmitigated energy into our voices as possible. "SEA-WIND BLOWS, TO WHERE? WHO KNOWS? THE WAVES WILL BE OUR GUIDE!"
And just like that, the rest of the Straw Hats joined in and took the song from the very top as though nothing had happened, the newest addition to the voices joining in with glee.
"O'er across the ocean's tide, Rays of sunshine far and wide, Birds they sing, Of cheerful things, In circles passing by!"
A few miles away from the infamous Triangle, on an island relatively safe for pirates to land upon, one of the most infamous buccaneers of his generation scowled down at his hand, which was trembling at the very thought of that infernal patch of the sea.
"Those damn Straw Hats… they're just more pirates…" X. Drake growled to himself. He then snapped his shivering hand into a tight fist and rammed it into a nearby wall, glaring at nothing as the wood splintered around the point of impact.
"So why do they have to make it so hard not to respect them?!"
-o-
"It's been far too long since we last heard this song," Shanks declared, his crew already moving to set up a party.
"Took him some time, but it looks like Luffy finally managed to snag that musician he was always going on about!" Lucky Roo laughed around the chunk of meat he was chewing.
"And as usual," Beckman sighed contentedly as he waved his fingers in tune with the, well, tune. "He couldn't have been satisfied with anything short of the best."
"A ROUND FOR OUR UP-AND-COMING RIVALS!" Shanks finally burst out, coercing a round of cheers from his crewmates.
"Bid farewell to weaver's town, Say so long to port renowned! Sing a song, it won't be long, before we're casting off! Cross the gold and silver seas, A salty spray puts us at ease, Day and night, To our delight, The voyage never ends!"
-o-
"Gather up all of the crew, It' s time to ship out Binks' brew—"
"Pirates, we eternally are challenging the sea," Whitebeard rumbled with a wide grin.
"With the waves to rest our heads," Marco intoned.
"Ship beneath us as our beds," Haruta continued.
"Hoisted high upon the mast, our Jolly Roger flies!" sang the whole Moby Dick, at the same time making a massive toast towards their own flag, which they all would later swear grinned all the wider that night.
-o-
"That does it, now it's official," Rayleigh chuckled, pouring a bottle of rum. "Everything for them is on the house when they finally make it here."
"Hell, I just might pay them to leave some physical proof that they did us the honour of staying here," Shakky sighed with a smile. "This melody is so nostalgic… Somewhere in the endless sky, Stormy winds are blowing by," she sang along with the SBS.
"Waves are dancing, Evening comes," Raleigh hummed, slinging his arm around her shoulders and swaying with her to the music. "It's time to sound the drums…"
"But steady, men, and never fear, Tomorrow's skies are always clear. So pound your feet, And clap your hands, 'Til sunny days return," the two sang together.
-o-
"Yo-hohoho, Yo-ho-ho-hoooo!"
"Yo-hohoho, Yo-ho-ho-hoooo!" Buggy sang right back, chorusing along with his most hated enemies on the six seas as he swung his pickaxe with more vigour than he'd had moments before.
The rest of the work that had been going on in the tunnel halted, the Buggy Pirates staring at their captain in shock.
"C-Captain Buggy, you're actually singing with them?!" Cabaji sputtered in shock.
"HAHAHAHA! But of course!" Buggy cackled exuberantly, working with an almost religious fervour and a more honest grin than most of his men had ever seen. "I may hate that damn Straw Hat with a flashy passion, but not even that can start to get in the way of my enjoying a hearty round of Binks' Brew! The finest of pirate songs, and filled with memories of the best, worst…" Buggy's grin twitched viciously. "And the absolute craziest years of my life, and the best parties of my life!
"So, yes, Cabaji!" The clown-themed pirate suddenly swung around and pointed his pickaxe at his crewmate. "I could give a flashy flip about the singers! So long as it's that song being sung, then I can't help but sing sing sing!"
And with that, the captain returned to work with renewed energy.
The rest of the crew exchanged looks for a moment before rejoining him, both in working…
"Yo-hohoho, Yo-ho-ho-hoooo!"
"Yo-hohoho, Yo-ho-ho-hoooo!"
And in singing their hearts out.
-o-
In a small camp not far from the beach where a battleship was anchored, three figures knelt beside a campfire, listening to the sound of the snail.
"Yo-hohoho, Yo-ho-ho-hoooo!"
"You know, this song isn't half-bad," Tashigi mused to herself, smiling and humming to herself as she held a sausage over the fire.
"Mrph…" Smoker grunted dismissively, wholly ignoring the way his cigar smoke appeared to be waving to and fro in time with the music.
The white-furred rabbit-wolf hybrid that was sitting on the other side of the fire, across from the pair, chuffed blandly, paying neither the Marines nor the song any heed in favour of the marshmallow roasting on the spike at the end of his hammer.
-o-
"Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew. Wave goodbye, but don't you cry, our memories remain," sang out the undersea kingdom's twin princes in synch with the Strawhats, much to the delight of their big little sister, who was spending the SBS in one of her visits to the throne room rather than her Hard Shell Tower.
"Our days are but a passing dream, Everlasting though they seem, Beneath the moon we'll meet again, The wind's our lullaby," Neptune sighed happily. "Ah, it's moments like this that make me grateful that the Straw Hats provided such an inestimable opportunity, jamon."
Indeed, not long after Enies Lobby, the Ryugu King had chosen to broadcast an ultimatum to all corners of his kingdom to ensure it would reach its recipient. The message was thus: if Vander Decken tried throwing anything at his daughter during the SBS, even a pebble… then he would see to it that all of the seas surrounding Fishman Island burned, and the Flying Dutchman and every thrice-damned soul onboard along with them.
Since then, there had been grace periods punctuating the ever-present onslaught of 'gifts' and advances. None long enough to get to the Sea Forest and back, but it was a major improvement, and he'd take it.
"I wasn't sure the Straw Hats actually knew this song, Father. I mean, the only reason we know it is because of Whitebeard," Fukaboshi remarked as he floated alongside his father.
"Hoh hoh hoh hoh!" the Lord of Ryugu Kingdom chortled joyously. "That particular miracle, I believe, we can attribute to the new voice, whom I can only assume is their newly acquired musician! But! Even so, the Straw Hats remain the epitome of the unexpected, my son, Jamon. And their actions right now are all the more proof of that, Jamon."
Fukaboshi blinked in confusion, and Neptune lay back in his throne with a look upward that was equal parts wistful and haunted.
"If I remember the geography surrounding Water 7 correctly, the Straw Hat Pirates are currently sailing through an accursed stretch of ocean known as the Florian Triangle. It's a frightening place even for hardened sailors, Jamon. I myself dread the mere thought of swimming under it, much less sailing in the ever-present fog that has doubtless driven so many sailors insane in the past, jamon. And rather than succumbing, what do we have the Straw Hats doing?" He spread his arms out wide with a hearty chuckle. "Why, they're fending off all the dread, gloom and doom with a song and a party, jamon! Truly as admirable as Roger and Whitebeard themselves!"
The prince processed that before shaking his head in awe. "They are incredible."
The king nodded, and as he went back to enjoying the music, Fukaboshi subtly snatched up a bottle of sake and swam near the outside of the room. He held it out behind his back and smiled lightly as he felt it leave. "You're always welcome, you know," the prince whispered before swimming back.
The recipient of the drink only responded with a wistful sigh and a smile as he opened the bottle and poured himself a cup.
"Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew. Sing a song, and play along for all the oceans wide," the old former guard of the palace sang along beneath his breath, sipping down the brew as he sat so close to his old patrol.
-o-
And around the world, in the handful of cemeteries where the undertakers had taken to setting up Transponder Snails both to listen to the SBS themselves and to provide whatever comfort they could to those that rested—for there were many stranger things that they had learned of—it did happen that as some of them looked out among the tombstones…
Perhaps it was merely a trick of the light or dark. But those watchers would swear until the day they died that beside certain markers—markers in the North, West and East Blue, along with several in Paradise—there appeared translucent figures who danced jovially to the sound of the song.
"After all is said and done, you'll end up a skeleton, so spread your tale from dawn 'til dusk upon these foamy seas!"
-o-
And so the party went on and on for who knows how long, until we ran out of energy and quite simply couldn't carry on any longer. Sure, we were sore as hell and tired once it was over, and the hangovers would be apocalyptic, but damn it all, it was worth it.
"Yo-hohoho, Yo-ho-ho-hoooo!"
But you know, for all that the end of the party was a blank-ass blur, I do remember one thing: the mist. As the party dragged on, the mist came back aboard the Sunny, weaving around us. But… it wasn't a sickly purple, it wasn't not-alive. Rather… it was yellow. A healthy, vibrant yellow that couldn't be anything other than life. And as the party ran on and on, I swear to you that mist, it looked like people, dozens at once, all partying alongside us. And as we sang, I swear that their voices all joined us in chorus, celebrating our victory over the Florian Triangle.
"Yo-hohoho, Yo-ho-ho-hoooo! Yo-hohoho, Yo-ho-ho-hoooo! Yo-hohoho, Yo-ho-ho-hoooo! Yo-hohoho, Yo-ho-ho-hooooooo…"
-o-
"Yohohohohoho! My goodness! I do apologize for so rudely intruding upon your ship, but I couldn't quite help myself! I haven't had so much fun in decades!"
Yeeeaaah… fun as the party was, once it came to an end, and the SBS along with it, we still had to address the elephant on the deck, and we'd already handled Funkfreed.
Granted, while everyone was still a little disturbed, they weren't completely freaked out anymore, as evidenced by Usopp not yet wearing his exorcist garb. Kind of understandable, really. I mean, it's not like you can really be that scared of someone after you've celebrated with them like we just had. That was good. Well, for now, best to play things nice and subtle, just to be sure that things didn't—
"Question!" Luffy piped up from where he was sitting cross-legged on the railing, sticking his hand in the air. "Are you a real skeleton?"
I promptly slapped a hand to my face. Really, what had I expected? "Damn it, Luffy."
There was a ripple of shock throughout the crew, but Vivi was swift to plaster a shaky grin on her face and wave her hand dismissively. "N-N-Now Luffy, I-I-I'm certain that's not the case! I-In spite of the utter bullshit Cross spewed awhile back, t-t-the dead can't really walk the earth!"
"Y-Y-Yeah, yeah!" Donny nodded frantically, his eyes spinning with panic. "I-I-It's obviously just a costume! A really, really good costume! Right?" The poor dugong snapped his frantic grin on the subject of the conversation. "R-R-Right!?"
"No, I'm a real live skeleton," Brook responded casually, as though he were discussing the weather. "See?" Aaand with that, he opened his skull up…
TH-THWUMP!
Aaaand down went Donny and Vivi, foaming at the mouth.
"Although…" Brook mused as he clicked his skull shut again. "I suppose I'm not actually a live skeleton, seeing as I'm currently dead! YOHOHOHOHO!" He nearly busted a rib as he suddenly doubled over with laughter. "SKULL JOKE!"
"HEEHEEHEEhohohoHAHAHA!" Soundbite joined him in his laughing. "HILARIOUS!"
There was a brief moment of discussion as everyone huddled…
"Question!" Aaaand then of course Luffy stuck his hand up like a dumbass again. "Do you poop?"
"DON'T ASK HIM THAT!" Nami roared, her exasperation with the situation apparently hitting an all-time high.
"Yes, I do poop," Brook answered with the utmost sincerity.
"AND DON'T ANSWER IT EITHER!"
"I'm guessing they hurt like hell…" Mikey bowed his head solemnly before snapping his flippers up so that he was pointing at Brook with a shit-eating grin. "Because they're always bone-dry!"
"YOHOHOHOHO!" Brook laughed as he pointed right back. "SKULL JOKE!"
SLA-SLAM!
"THAT'S WORSE THAN THE LAST ONE!" Raphey roared as she towered over the pair's insensate, smoking forms, then turned towards our captain. "AND YOU—!"
"Oh, please, Raphey, allow me," I deadpanned. "Hey, Luffy, remember how I told you how being stupid was gonna start to hurt?"
"Eh?" Luffy tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Yeah. Why?"
By way of response, I raised my right hand and snapped my fingers.
SLAM! "MMMPH!"
I was then rewarded by the sight of Luffy stumbling around with his head stuck in his chest, thanks to a certain elephant slamming its trunk on his head. "Now, that feels good," I sighed contentedly.
"Wow. I like this even more than my usual punches," Nami remarked.
"I'll keep that in mind," I nodded right back.
"Yeah, yeah, it's all fun and games to see Luffy get his just desserts!" Franky bit out nervously as he kept a wary eye on Brook. "But c'mon, can we please focus on the undead guy on the deck?"
"Oh, certainly," Conis said calmly. She then… walked over to Brook, who'd recovered from Raphey's 'disciplining' with admirable swiftness, and gave him a politely shallow bow. "Welcome to the Thousand Sunny, Mister Skeleton, ship and home of the Straw Hat Pirates. My name is Conis, the crew's gunner, and this is my partner, Su. Say hello to the nice skeleton, Su."
"Ooooh, honey…" Su moaned, dragging her paw down her muzzle.
"Yohohoho! What a polite talking white fox!" Brook laughed as he doffed his hat in greeting. "I am Brook, gentleman skeleton! Truly, it is a pleasure to meet you all!"
"And it's a pleasure to meet you as well, Mister Brook!" Conis smiled beatifically, clasping his hand and shaking it enthusiastically. She was then broken out of her politeness by a tug on her leg, prompting her to glance down. "Yes, Merry?"
"Conis," the ship-girl started uncertainly. "You… are aware that the living dead aren't normal or common down here… right?"
Conis stared down at Merry a second longer before slooowly returning her gaze to Brook… who'd leant forwards so that his fleshless face was right in hers.
"Pardon me, young lady," he said with the utmost seriousness. "But may I please see your panties?"
Intriguingly enough, though Conis' expression remained petrified in a polite smile, her antenna-hairstyle actually twitched. Once, twice…
FWUMP!
Aaaand she'd just keeled forward and was out for the count, pushing up the bubbly alongside our princess and intellectual Dugong.
Lassoo cocked his eyebrow as he poked at the angel with his paw. "You'd think she'd be used to the weirdness after living with talking animals on a daily basis."
"Oh, of course!" Brook laughed lightheartedly as he slapped a hand to his forehead. "I knew I was forgetting something! If you'll excuse me… GOOD GOD, YOUR ANIMALS ARE TALKING!" the 'gentleman' skeleton shrieked as he leapt several feet in the air.
"LIKE YOU HAVE ANY ROOM TO FREAK OUT OVER SOMETHING THAT NORMAL!" pretty much… everyone, really, roared at him in response.
"Alright, that's it," I groaned, walking over and yanking the skeleton out of the tree he'd inadvertently leapt into and subsequently drawing everyone's attention. "Yes, everyone, skeletons aren't supposed to be alive. On the other hand, animals aren't supposed to talk, either. Also, reindeer shouldn't be part human, guns shouldn't turn into dachshunds, swords shouldn't turn into elephants, ships shouldn't turn into girls, people shouldn't be able to stretch or grow limbs anywhere and everywhere, and WHY DO I STILL HAVE TO SPELL THIS OUT WHEN WE'VE TRAVELED ALMOST HALF OF THE FREAKING GRAND LINE?!" I capped off by roaring my exasperation to the high heavens because holy hell, how were they still all this thick, especially the two living thanks to damn Devil—oh right, one was halfway senile… now I just made myself sad…
On the other hand, everyone else on the crew was looking very suitably chastised, especially the erstwhile fainted, whom I had apparently woken up, and the other Fruit Users.
…well, most of the other Fruit Users, at any rate, Luffy's head was still—
POP! "GAH! AIR!"
Oh, no, never mind, he'd just reached in and pulled his head out. Kinda freaky.
"Whoo, I almost died…" Luffy panted with relief before looking around in confusion. "What'd I miss?"
"Devil Fruit," Zoro deadpanned, pointing at Brook.
"Everyone else on this ship is as dimwitted as you," I deadpanned at the same time.
"Aww…" Luffy sagged for a second at the news about Brook, if I had to guess, before perking up with his usual smile. "Still pretty cool, though! Hey, I've been trying to find a musician since the start! Wanna join my crew?"
"WHAT?!" most of the crew yelled.
"Why, I'd love to!" Brook responded pleasantly.
"WHAAAAAT!?"
"Funkfreed," Nami snarled murderously.
"No, no," I waved the elephant down. "I'm actually gonna let this one slide."
"Are you—?"
"THE TDWS FORMALLY PROTESTS THE INCLUSION OF A LIVING SKELETON ON OUR CREW!" Leo barked suddenly, drawing everyone's attention to where the aforementioned quartet of dugongs were all looking with varying degrees of nervousness at Brook. Well, that wouldn't do.
"Did I mention he's a swordsman?" I posed innocently.
"LIKE I WAS SAYING, WELCOME TO THE CREW, BROOK!" Leo exclaimed, shaking the musician's bony hand while two of his fellow apprentices sagged in defeat, and Mikey seemed to perk up.
"Wait!"
The humour of the situation cut off when, of all people, Merry spoke up, her gaze focused on the galleon beside us and… filled with sadness? "The old man, he… he's really sad, but… he says that Brook can't join because…" She slowly turned her sorrowful gaze to Brook. "Because he's already a captain. Captain Brook… of the Rumbar Pirates."
…So, that's how a skeleton can look simultaneously poleaxed and sorrowful. "I… ah, I… y-yes, I suppose that's… I-I-I'm sorry, it's just that for a moment…"
"Rumbar… Rumbar… where have I heard that before?" Soundbite muttered on my shoulder.
I opened my mouth to tell Soundbite to calm it, but then I actually thought.
And then instead, I spoke thusly: "Yohoho and an afro, my friend."
Soundbite's ashen complexion went straight-up white, and he slowly rotated his eyestalks to stare at me with naked, gaping astonishment. "Not possible…"
"A saying from my old world, my friend," I whispered back reverentially. "Oda, the great creator of this world? He never. Ever. Forgets."
Soundbite stared at me a moment longer before slowly looking back at a still babbling Brook. "Cross… C-Can I…? Should I—?"
"Soundbite."
The snail snapped his teeth shut.
"What you see before you is still relatively canon. The words you are thinking of are canonballs."
I grinned viciously.
"Fire at will."
And just like that, Soundbite's grin was back and more savage than ever. "YES, SIR! HEY!" he then proceeded to bark at full volume, capturing everyone's attention. "HOLD EVERYTHING! I JUST FIGURED SOMETHING OUT ABOUT OUR GUEST!"
"Took this long to realize he's a skeleton? Who makes the obligatory 'snails are slow' joke this time?" Su snarked.
"CAN IT, COTTONTAIL!" my partner snapped, glaring at Su with enough force that she actually recoiled. "I realized WHAT he was IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PARTY, but the LAST TIME I SAW anyone THAT HAPPY WAS when my partner here saved Merry. I WASN'T GONNA RUIN THAT."
"Ah… ahem…" Su coughed into her paw abashedly.
He looked back at Brook a second later, his eyes wide in shock. "No… I just realized exactly WHO he is. FIFTY YEARS AGO, A CREW LEFT AN ISLAND WHALE AT THE TWIN CAPES, at the start of the Grand Line… before disappearing into oblivion. THE NAME OF THOSE PIRATES?" Soundbite snapped his gaze to the massive galleon beside us. "THE RUMBAR PIRATES!"
The words sent a ripple of shock through the original six East Blue dwellers of our crew.
"Wait… Island Whale?" Nami breathed, shock written over her face.
"You… You can't be serious!" Usopp managed to get out.
But compared to Brook, these reactions were tame.
"Whale…" he gasped in shock, staggering back as though he'd been physically struck. "You—? Y-You can't mean—!"
"I DAMN WELL DO!" Soundbite nodded firmly, his gaze never leaving the skeleton. "Fifty years but still going strong. A TRAGIC TALE, BUT ONE I'LL NEVER FORGET! AND ONE THAT CAN ONLY MEAN ONE THING! This man, this Brook… is the last surviving member of the Rumbar Pirates!"
Soundbite then threw his head back and shouted the most shocking truth that the Florian Triangle had ever hidden away for all to hear.
"HE'S THE LAST OF LABOON'S FRIEEEEENDS!"
Brook staggered back, as though physically struck. "You… you know Laboon…?" he stammered out weakly, apparently incapable of believing his own ears. Or lack thereof, anyway.
…hey, this was actually pretty fun! For now, though…
"Merry," I spoke up, drawing the ship-girl's attention. "Would you mind filling in the rest of the crew about our first adventure in the Grand Line, real quick? I'll just need a second."
Merry snapped up a salute with a grin, and while she was holding everyone's attention, I stepped up close to Brook and captured his. And Luffy's, though the rubber-man was only half-listening.
"In case you're still thinking about saying no," I muttered sotto voce, so as to avoid distracting anyone from our helmsgirl. "Let me give you a little background on our crew: we've managed to garner something of a reputation for ironclad loyalty. Anytime anyone hurts one of ours, they pay for it, but good. To date, our scorecard has a grand total of the top four names on the East Blue's Most Wanted list, one Warlord of the Seas and the Blue-spanning criminal organization he created, one lightning-Logia bastard with a god-complex, and most recently, the entire Judicial Island of Enies Lobby and the ten battleships that tried to stop us… along with Cipher Pol No. 9, if that means anything to you."
Going by how Brook sucked in a breath he didn't need, I'd say it damn well did.
"Even besides that, most of us also have a damn decent moral compass that doesn't take much bullshit. Now, we scooped up an 'offering to the sea gods' right before we entered this hell ocean, and we still have it in our hold. Tell me, Mister Skeleton…" I shot a grin up at the old man's bony (HA!) visage. "What the hell do you think this crew is going to do when they find out just how naughty the overgrown shadow-lizard's been, hm?"
"NAAAAUGHTYYY…" Soundbite drawled with a distinctly sadistic overtone.
"…Before I say anything about that… Laboon. He's still—?"
"Waiting at the Twin Capes with Crocus. And you wanna know something else?" I grinned as I patted the bag beside me, drawing his attention to it. "The device in this bag can transmit Soundbite's broadcast to Transponder Snails all around the world simultaneously. And I had it running from the second you started to sing."
Brook started to tremble. "So… So, so long as Crocus has a snail—!"
"My friend," I breathed kindly as I clapped my hand on his shoulder. "Not only is Laboon still waiting for you… But now, for the first time in decades, he and Crocus both know that you're still alive. They know you're coming back."
That tore it. Brook sank to his knees, overcome with emotion, and impossibly, tears started streaming out of his eye sockets.
For a few seconds, he shuddered and gasped breathlessly (though he had no lungs to breathe with, so much damn fun!), garnering our whole crew's attention. After those seconds, however…
"Uh… Uhh… UWAAAAAAAAAAH!"
The skeleton let loose a howl of pure emotion, his voice echoing out across the placid waters of the Triangle and all but rending the air itself apart.
William Friedkin could go and suck it. This? This right here was a real exorcism. Right here, right now, we were witnessing fifty years' worth of ghosts and demons and nightmares and the wrong of the Florian Triangle vacating the mind and soul of this… well, poor soul, in a singular wail of pure, undaunted emotion.
It drew everyone's attention, and even once it drew to a close, Brook still sobbed for a few more minutes, though these sobs were distinctly joyful rather than agonized. I… honestly don't think that I could imagine how he was feeling, to learn that the entire reason he'd gone through fifty years of purgatorial torture was still there, still waiting for him, justifying the fact that he'd stayed alive.
Finally, he straightened, and despite the lack of clarity in his distinctly inflexible face, it was clear that he was smiling. He made to speak, but then glanced down at Merry, who was looking back at the galleon with a bittersweet grin.
"The old man had a change of heart. 'Popular vote', apparently," she said softly.
Brook looked back at the galleon, a sad fondness evident in his eye sockets. "…You've helped me stay alive for so long. But our struggle is over; you can rest now."
The galleon seemed to literally sag with relief in the water, a tremulous groan shivering its aged timbers.
His task complete, Brook straightened what little of his suit was intact before digging his hand into his jacket and withdrawing a yellowed piece of paper, which he held up before himself with his fingertips, his other hand proudly gripping his collar. "Allow me to introduce myself in a proper manner befitting a gentleman. I stand before you now, and as a result of the Revive-Revive Fruit. But in my previous life, I was known as the acting captain of the Rumbar Pirates, 'Humming' Brook, worth a bounty of ฿33 million. The greatest bond shared among the Rumbar Pirates, one and all, was a love, a passion, for music in all its beautiful and wondrous forms. And, not to toot my own horn here—!"
BRAP!
He chose that exact moment to let a blast of gas somehow escape his fleshless cheeks, eliciting eager smiles from half our crew and looks of dread and revulsion from the rest.
"—Excuse me, I snagged some beans during that party. But as I was saying, I do not believe it is an exaggeration to claim that I was amongst the most, if not the most talented musician, amidst my many beloved friends. Now then, that all being said…"
While Luffy practically vibrated with ill-concealed glee, Brook tilted his head to the side in a look of honest curiosity.
"I believe I heard some mention of an opening for a musician on your fine crew?"
"FINALLY!" Luffy whooped, throwing his arms up with a gleeful cackle.
"We got a skeleton~, We got a skeleton~!" Chopper, Usopp and Mikey sang as they spun 'round and round, hand in hand.
"A delicious-looking skeleton…" Lassoo panted eagerly, slobber all but fountaining from his slack maw. The suddenly terrified skeleton shuddered and inched away from the mutt before freezing in confusion when he suddenly found a dugong latched around his leg.
"So, Cross said you're a swordsman, huh?" Leo asked, staring up at the skeleton with eyes full of desperation.
"Hmm? Oh, yes, of course," Brook said, adjusting the grip on his cane and pulling the blade within by a few inches. "I believe the blade could benefit from a good sharpening, but my skills with it have not faded at all."
"THANK GOODNESS! I was going crazy being that—" He jabbed his flipper at a bored but somehow still-attentive Zoro. "DEMON'S sole living whetstone! Welcome to the grind, bub!"
Brook blinked in surprise before raising his cane in a salute. "I look forward to the chance to refine my skills, good sir!"
"Good for you, really… but still, while I have you, Brook?"
Brook turned his attention towards Nami, and promptly locked up on account of the sheer contrast between her beatific smile and the roiling thunderclouds that framed her.
"I just want you to know," she simpered very politely. "That I remember that little 'see your panties' comment earlier, and that every night I will be counting my underwear. If I find that so much as a frill of my tighty-laceys has been disturbed—!"
"'Zap'?" Brook guessed weakly.
The Eisen Tempo promptly reverted to an angelic, complimentary white that only served to accent the falseness of her smile. "Now you get it!" Her eyes flicked slightly upward, and she frowned. "Also, the afro is bringing up some unpleasant memories for me, of a…" She shot a glare at an unapologetically whistling Boss. "Manly nature. Any chance you could cut it down a—"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Brook exclaimed, startling Nami and everyone else. The skeleton gingerly ran a hand across his hair. "You see what I've become after dying; it took a year to find my way back to my body, and by that time, everything that I once was had withered away. All except for my hair, thanks to the strong roots I have. It's the last evidence of my former life, my former appearance, and if I were to lose it as well…"
The skeleton clenched his fists. "If I lost my hair, Laboon would never recognize me. Until we meet again, I will not allow any harm to come to this afro!"
Nami lowered her staff with a soft sigh. "Alright, I'm sorry. No touching the hair."
Brook nodded gratefully, then rubbed the back of his skull. "Ah, but I believe I should mention… Cross, I believe? He seems to be aware, but I'm currently missing one other part of me that I need before we leave this cursed sea."
"And on that note!" I stated. "If you'll excuse me for a minute, I need to go and grab something real quick." With that, I rapped my fist on the mast and rode up to my radio room. I then moved to the desk, withdrew a piece of tightly rolled paper I had compiled before we met the Accinos, and returned to the deck before showing it to them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this scroll contains the strategy I came up with for dealing with the antagonists of our next adventure. And now, in light of recent events…"
I tossed the scroll over my shoulder to where I knew Lassoo and Funkfreed were standing. And going by the FWOOSH and SHINK sounds that erupted a moment later, the plans had been disposed of as the trash they now were.
"Those plans," I chuckled. "Are now completely and utterly obsolete."
Luffy was grinning eagerly, Brook was looking on in confusion, and everyone else was watching with varying degrees of eagerness and apprehension.
"So, now that that strategy is toast, here's the new one. Our first order of business is to go through introductions for our newest crew member, and of course, for me to tell him my secret. Once we've done that, so as to avoid me going against the captain's orders, Brook is going to tell us everything he knows about our next destination. After all, it's not really spoilers if he's just elaborating on incomplete intel, hmm?"
Luffy tilted his head to the side, then shrugged in acceptance.
"Right. After he's done, I'm going to fill in the few crucial blanks remaining. And then, using all of that knowledge, we're going to make a plan for doing something that, up until now, not even I was bold enough to try."
I raised my head and showed off a grin that made several members of the crew swallow.
"We're gonna flip the script. Completely. Utterly. And when all is said and done…"
I widened my grin to sadistic levels.
"Vivi, I give you my solemn word: I will proudly take responsibility for the Wandering Undead Island of Thriller Bark, or at least a goodly chunk of it, being on fire."