448 | Thriller Bark

Back with the Straw Hat crew,

It's been a few days since the straw hats left Skypiea. The Thousand Sunny, sailed the ocean with incredible speed, cutting through the massive waves that came in between. Their destination Thriller Bark, home of the mad warlord Gecko Moria.

"There's a storm coming! Get ready!" Nami called out from her position, wearing orange sunglasses and orange coat over her normal dress. Of course, the clothes were made out of maple, which would act like armor and weapon if needed. 

The sky darkened, as the storm clouds appeared seemingly out of nowhere, bringing pelting rain and freezing winds with them.

"Guys!" Nami commanded, "Get to the sails! Franky we need more power!"

"On it!" Franky said from behind the back, as he stood behind the control panel that had the ships advanced functions. "Guys! Prepare for another one!" 

"Oh, come on." Yosaku whined. 

"Not again," Bartolomeo said. 

This might have been the tenth storm that they passed today. While navigating a ship in the grandline, there were some routes where storms were less frequent. But those usually took a lot of time. 

And the crew was kind of in a hurry to get to Thriller Bark, and so this route was chosen. Even though for most ships this would be risky, but for the Thousand Sunny with Nami's navigation skills, it was merely challenging.

"The wind is too strong!" Usopp cried, "We need more speed!"

"Speed, huh?" Sanji asked, "It seems I will have to step up my game…" the cook said as he concentrated on his speed powers, increasing the speed of the ship.

Suddenly the ship jerked forward as the paddles and engine running the ship started to run faster than ever. The Thousand Sunny lurched forward and sped toward the closest sign of light.

The Thousand Sunny had managed to escape the storm, but unlike before there was still no sun anywhere to be found. Gray clouds and a seemingly impenetrable fog surrounded the ship, obscuring any objects more than 50 meters away which, for a ship, was really close.

"I don't like the looks of this place," Usopp cowered.

"Me either," Chopper agreed.

"Hmm… I think we are there?" Luffy said, rubbing his chin. There was a reason why he was hurrying to get towards Gecko Moria. Even though the Navy was obvious of the situation going on there, Big News Morgan was somewhat aware of what was going on. 

There seems to be some inner conflict between the Thriller Bark pirates from what he had told. Though the news wasn't confirmed as rarely few news birds flew there, so news was limited. But still, Luffy had to check it out. That's why he was hurrying the crew to get there fast. 

Almost all of the crew was sailing the Thousand Sunny, the ones that didn't come were mainly Penguin and Shachi, who preferred to stay back in base. Oh, and also Groot and Aisa also didn't come. 

Thriller Bark wasn't a place where Luffy was willing to take kids. At least not until Aisa got better at using her powers and the same for Groot. And this time Luffy made sure that they didn't slip into the ship like before. 

"Do you know where we are?" Franky asked with an evil smile. "Granny Kokoro loved to tell stories about this place. This area has been known for mysterious disappearances for a long, long time. We're in the Florian Triangle."

"Over 100 ships vanish here every year with no explanation," Robin added, amused by the looks of terror on the sniper and the doctor. "They say, extraterrestrial being, people out of this world rule here…"

"Eh… but isn't Groot also an alien?" Sparky pointed out, getting a few looks of confusion and realization.

"Bah… you are no fun," Franky said, "Yeah, technically Groot is kind of an alien, but… 'real' spooky kind live here." 

"Stop it!" Usopp, Bepo and Chopper wailed. "It's not funny!"

"We may be nothing but blood splatters on the walls within a day if even some of the stories are true," Law commented unhelpfully. 

"You're not helping!"

"You know what they say?" Bartolomeo added with a smirk. 

"What?"

Bartolomeo's smile grew, before it fell, "Oh, I forgot…"

That sparked some spite in Usopp, Bepo and Chopper as they chased after the shield user. While the rest of the crew laughed.

"Alright," Nami sighed, "…back to business. So we're stuck in the Florian Triangle where it's said that the weather is even stranger than the rest of the Grand Line. There are legends of a talking skeleton and face-eating creatures lurking around. Finding Thriller Bark will be hard… so any ideas?"

"Oh, I can go and scout!" Sanji suggested. 

"Eh… don't bother. You'll probably get lost," Zoro snorted. 

"…"

"…what? Why are you all looking at me like that!" the three-bladed swordsman pointed towards all of them, as they ignored what he had said. 

"I wanna go find a talking skeleton!" Luffy said, his arm thrust in the air. Nami and Vivi punched him over the head.

"No, you won't!" Both of them said at same time. 

The poor captain dramatically cried on the floor, drawing circles in one corner of the ship.

"Talking skeletons are cool though," Sparky said, cheering Luffy up a bit. 

"See… someone agrees!"

"Anyway…"

Yohohoho yohoho-ho~

"What was that?" Coby questioned. The rest of the crew also looked around.

Yohohoho yohoho-ho~

The fog seemed to part, a galleon-sized ship slowly fading into few through the dense mist. The ship was in terrible shape, gouges missing from nearly every part of the ship from bow to stern.

 The sails were old and ratty, torn to strips that swayed in the breeze, only enough left together for the jolly roger to be seen. On the railing above them was something, a skeleton with a black afro and a top hat with a teacup in its bony fingers. The teeth of the skeleton separated as it began to sing slowly.

Gather up all of the crew~

It's time to ship out Bink's brew~

Yohohoho Yohoho-ho~

Slowly, the ship and the singing skeleton passed the gaping pirates and began floating away.

"That's so cool!" Luffy said, puffing his chest, "I told you…" 

Even Sparky was jaw-dropped even to speak.

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