Battling the Demon (One piece)

An Afro Skelton!?

A large ghost ship that had a singing walking afro skeleton drinking tea had sailed right passed. It seemed to have caused a lot of speechlessness over the crew who looked at it in completely shocked. That was until someone snapped out of it. "Did you see that just now? A skeleton was singing!" Luffy had turned to the others as he seemed completely excited.
"S-Stupid! Skeletons don't sing! You're Just hearing things!" But Usopp refused to admit seeing that singing skeleton.
"Yep, Yep!" Chopper was in agreement with the long nose.
"But didn't you hear him?" Which was why Luffy gone up to Sanji to ask. "C'mon! Let's go! Like right now!"
"Could it have be a demon?" Robin had looked over to Luna to ask.
"I've never heard of a demon like that.I mean there are shapeshifters." It was a demon that had the ability to physically transform through an inherently superhuman ability, demonic manipulation, spells or having inherited the ability. "However, I don't really know why one would shift into a skeleton with an afro."Which seemed to have caused Luffy to become even more excited.
"There really is a living skeleton! Sweet!" He looked over his shoulder to Zoro then, just before he was about to run off.
"Hold Your horses" Sanji grabbed onto the back of his vest. "Not so fast, Luffy." At the same time, Zoro had held out his right hand that had 8 piece of wood sticks in hand.
"Go on. We're going to draw ti see who goes aboard that ship with Luffy." He and explained to the three cowards that looked at him confused.
"What?!" They all shouted at him.
"Why!? Send whoever actually wants to go!" Usopp had gotten over to his right side crying at the swordsman.
"Right! That's what we should do!" Nami was on the other side crying as well.
"Do that!" While Chopper climbed onto his back.
"Are you sure you're okay with that?" Zoro asked the three, since they didn't know what that meant.
"Okay, let's go!" The three looked ahead of them to see not just Luffy but Sanji, Robin, Luna and Franky all ready to go standing on the side rails.
"I hate this..." which had the cowards collapsed in surrender since they should have seen this coming.
"Please let me draw!" Chopper was being dragged as he grabbed into Zoro's sword as he was going over to join the others.
"Whoa, Zoro! Wait, wait! Does everyone expect the three of us plan on going?" Usopp was holding onto the the reindeer crying.
"I'll draw! I'll draw! I'll take my chance!" And Nami was gripping into the long nose shouting.
"I can go by myself, you know!" Luffy turned around saying to the others. "If we don't hurry, the ship's going to leave."
"That isn't an option." Sanji had the Strawhat turn him a little confused.
"Just draw your sticks already. Two people will go with him." Zoro explained that whoever went with him, it would be their job to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. It was then when the others had gathered around and drew their place. The ones that ended up being choose had been Sanji and Nami, although she wasn't all that happy about it. The three of them then had then left on a small row boat to the ghost ship. Nami crying the entire time. Those that were left on the ship really didn't do much beside the normal as they waited for the others to get back. But Usopp had changed into a purple cape and a wide brim purple hat with a necklace of garlic to ward off evil creatures.
"I'm properly to exercise and defend myself against evil!" He was all ready for such a thing, but
"Hey guys! Remember Luna!" Zoro snapped at him when he saw it.
"Ah! That's right, Luna..." Everyone turned to the red-eyed woman worried, however, she was standing there completely as far as she could form them.
"We're sorry Luna..." Chopper's head was hanging.
"Why?" She asked the little reindeer.
"Because this is hurting you." He answered cutely, but...
"The silver cross is a fake and even if it was real, it would need to touch my skin to be effective." She stated to him.
"Then why are you standing so far way?" The had to wonder.
"The garlic sticks." She bluntly stated now pinching her nose. "Also, i should point out that chopping off a head and burn the body, driving a wooden stake through the heart, or a brick, stone, or vine between the teeth...would kill anyone." She wasn't wrong about that fact.
"That can not be denied." Robin had agreed with that, since it was completely right. However, everything that Luna had just said had soon been forgotten...
"Hi, hello, everyone! Good day to you." As an extremely tall skeleton dressed in formal attire complete with top hat and cane stood on deck before them. He was standing at 266 cm (8'8½") in height, and despite having no skin, he still had an afro. The skeleton's style was that of a gentleman consisting of a coat, top hat, trousers and afro, which were black, while the inner linings of his coat were yellow-orange. The cravat that was tied in between his coat and around his neck was blue. The outer covering of the cane which he carried was purple. But his clothes were somewhat tattered. "I shall be imposing upon you here on your vessel!" The skeleton was stating with his hat lifted slightly. "I am the dead and skeletonise Brook. It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"Don't be stupid! And what the heck is he?!" The guys all had shouted looking at the skeleton known as Brook.
"My, my! They're harsh!" Despite saying that, he was laughing amused along with Luffy, as the two that had gone with him sighed long and hard.
"It's a skeleton!" Chopper was holding up a fake cross while shaking.
"Goodness, are you two lovely ladies?" Brook seemed to have walked over to Robin and Luna that were just staring at him. "May I please see your panties?" He had asked them.
"Stop that harassment, Skeleton!" Nami ended up throwing her show at him shouting. Then there was Usopp with his anti-evil get up on.
"S-Stupid skeleton! B-Beat it already! Evil be gone! Evil be gone!" He was slowly moving towards Brook shaking, but the skeleton began to step back every time Usopp took one forwards.
"Wow, it's working! Usopp, that's amazing!" Chopper was looking to him saying
"You know it! This is my full 'Anti-Evil Spirit Arsenal.'" While Usopp seemed proud of himself. They had completely forgotten about the fact that Luna had told them it was all fake.
"An evil spirit!? Where? Where is it!?" But it seemed that Brook was completely freaking out as he was looking around frightened.
"I think they're talking about you." Luna had spoken, pointing to the skeleton.
"What!?" Who was completely shocked by that. Then Luffy had completely bursted into laugher.
"Damn it! There's no way a skeleton can walk, talk, and grow an afro! This is a dream! It has to be a dream!" Usopp was still in completely denial.
"Really!? Phew! It's just a dream..." Chopper had then fallen onto his back as he was trying to 'wake up'.
"Hello? Please wake up. Good Morning." His eyes had opened up only to scream in pure terror as Brook was hovering over him
"Shuddup!" Zoro snapped at him before turning to the one that brought the skeleton. "Hey, Luffy! What's up with this guy?"
"Isn't he funny? I had him join our crew." Luffy had stated thinking that explains everything.
"No, you didn't! I won't allow it!" And of course Zoro was against it completely. "Do you know why you went with him!?" He turned to Nami and Sanji that were in charge of watching him so that he wouldn't do anything crazy.
"We're ashamed of ourselves..." they didn't have anything else to say about it.
"Yohohoho!" Brook had began walking to the empty spot of the circle that the crew had made somehow. "Now, don't get so worked up." He stood in between Luna and Luffy. "Come on inside! Let's have Dinner."
"That's not for you to decide!" But Zoro, Nami and Sanji had snapped at him, since he was acting like this was his ship.
"You're funny!" There was at least someone that was enjoying all of this. And in the end, the entire crew had moved to the kitchen where Sanji was cooking up the octopus that had been caught before everything went crazy.
"Honestly, you have a splendid dining room! And that kitchen!" Brook was looking around the room while sitting at the head of the table. Both Usopp and Chopper were still holding up their crosses despite it not working. "This is all so wonderful! Yohohoho!"
"Isn't it?" Luffy was beside him totally agreeing.
"You beg it is! It was made by someone as super as me!" Franky had stated sitting at the bar, but was facing the skeleton. "Man, you've got a pretty keen eye."
"Hey! Don't get all chummy with him, Franky." Sanji was standing behind him flipping the pan in hand.
"But I can't wait to eat! I haven't had a decent meal in decades. I've had to enjoy a terrible agony every day as the skin on my belly carved in until it touched my back!" Brook was saying as his head fell on the table, but... "But since I'm a skeleton, I don't have any skin on my belly or back!" He sat up while opening up his coat to show nothing but rips. He seemed to find it amusing while laughing along with Luffy. "It's a skull joke!"
"A skull joke!" Luffy really was having fun with all this.
"As a gentleman, I adore the laid-back time spent while waiting for my meal." Brook was saying as he was tightening his tie and puffing up his afro. "Dinner, yay! Dinner! C'mon, baby!"
"Food! Food! Food! Food!" But it seemed that he was no different then Luffy, and was completely impatient.
"Chef! For my drink, I'll take milk." He really was similar to the captain.
"Shut up! Wait quietly!" Sanji had finally snapped at him.
"Before I forget, Skeleton..." Luffy had moved on.
"No, I'm Brook." The skeleton had corrected him. "Um, actually, you'll have to forgive me, but I still don't know your name..." he had brought up.
"Me? I'm Luffy." Which had been the introduction. "So before I forget, what exactly are you?"
"Just how little do you know about each other!?" Zoro had snapped while asking.
"Just as much as he didn't know about any of us before joining." Luna, between him and Luffy, had stated since he didn't even know her name before asking her to join either.
"All Right, it's ready!" Sanji placed out all the food that he had finished eating out on the table like a feast, which it was. "Help yourself. We can kick the skeleton out later. Just for now, enjoy the meal! I used up all the octopi."
"Looks good!" Luffy was drooling before turning to Brook telling him to eat all that he wanted as Sanji was an amazing cook.
"But... my heart feels full instead of my stomach..." For some reason he began to cry.
"You're..." Sanji was feeling a little bad for the guy
"Miss, you seem to have gotten a bit more. Would you mind if we swapped plates?" Until he had asked Robin that.
"There's extra, so eat your own!" Which was why the cook had snapped at him. But then everyone began digging into the food.
"Aw dese octopuses were awive in da aquaweeam undil naw to wong ago!" Luffy was talking with his mouth stuff to Brook and but the words weren't understandable.
"They were alive until just recently in the aquarium? Your ship has its own aquarium?" But somehow the skeleton understood what he was saying.
"You bether beweeb it! Fwanky made dis swip and it hash evewyding!" The captain was saying jumbled up words.
"It truly is an amazing ship! I've never seen one like it before." And once again Brook understand.
"Wanna deck if ow wader?" Luffy had asked something
"Yes, I'd love to take a tour!" They were really having a conversation somehow.
"How could be under that?" Nami didn't completely understand how the two were communicating with each other.
"It's probably because they're on the same wave length." Luna stated drinking some water.
"It rocks! Yay! Show it off! C'mon!"
"Eat quietly!" Sanji lost it at the pair. And it was around the end of dinner that it had asked how it was capable for a skeleton to be alive. Which was why Brook explained that it was a Devil Fruit called the Revive-Revive Fruit.
"The Revive-Revive Fruit?" Nami seemed a bit confused.
"I figured a Devil Fruit was behind this." But many of the crew had come to that conclusion when Luna had stated that he was human.
"Indeed, it is. To be honest, I have already died once, decades ago." Brook stated to them, completely covered in food.
Wipe your face first! How you'd manage to get food all over yourself?" Sanji didn't quite understand that fact, but Brook did use a towel given to him to wipe all the food off.
"The Revive-Revive Fruit lets you...come back to life." No one would have guessed with a name like that. "In other words, I'm a revived human." He was picking out the food in his teeth. "It guarantees the mysterious power of a second shot at life."
"A revived human!" Luffy's eyes were sparkling.
"So, pretty much it gave you the ability to come back to life after death, but it's only once?" Luna was asking to make sure that she understood it clearly.
"Yeah, that's right. Oh, excuse me." He burped after answering. "And a long time ago, I was a pirate just like you!"
"You're a fellow pirate?" Luffy was getting even more excited after hearing that.
"That's right. Oh, pardon me." Then he farted, however, Luna has been wondering for a while, without a stomach or any organs how was he able to do anything like eating in such.
"I wish I could beat some manners into you." However, it appeared that she was the only one wondering such a thing.
"Long, long ago, my crew mates and I sailed into the Devil's Sea on the ship you saw earlier. However, we had the misfortune of running into some terribly powerful pirates. Our entire crew was annihilated in the battle. Naturally, I died with them. When I was alive, the Revive-Revive's only power was that I couldn't swim. But on that day, the Fruit's power finally took effect! My soul returns from the underworld!" The air had become a little tense as the crew was listening to Brook's story. "My soul should have quickly return to my body, that's reviving me! But I died on the Devil's Sea and as you can see, it is dreadfully foggy. So I got lost! My soul wandered through the fog for an entire year. I finally manage to find my body! But by then, it had already turned into a pearl white skeleton! I was so surprised that my eyes nearly popped out of my head. Not that I have any eyeballs!" But when he bursted into laugher the air was back to normal.
"What a moron! You're just like Zoro." Luffy had stated, but it wasn't like he had any room to talk.
"And that's how you became a talking skeleton? It's scary how the Devil's Fruit still brought you back even though you're just a skeleton..." Franky wasn't completely wrong about that.
"But now that the Fruit has done its job, isn't it just stealing your ability to swim?" Sanji had a point in say along with the fact it was no different then a curse.
"And skeletons normally don't have hair, do they? Who ever heard of a skeleton with an Afro?" That had been a mysterious thing as well. The afro.
"I have strong roots." Brook made it sound like that was possible.
"So you aren't a ghost? You're actually a human?" Usopp was still a little frightened as he held up the cross and once again was on the couch. "No, you aren't quite human anymore..."
"His more human then I am." Luna stated that fact, being a demon and all.
"Yeah, but you were born that way, so it's completely normal." Although it really wasn't. "Anyway, you aren't a ghost, right?"
"No! I hate ghosts! I'll start screaming if I see one." Even though he was a skeleton?
"You hate ghosts? Have you ever taken a look in the mirror?" Nami was standing in front of him with a mirror held up.
"No! Please put that mirror away!" But for some reason Brook began to freak out screaming.
"What's wrong?" Usopp had moved behind him asking while trying to see why he was screaming. "Wh-Whoa! T-Time out!" But then he began to sweat looking at the mirror.
"W-Why..." Chopper was on the other side of Brook looking at the mirror.
"Why doesn't the mirror show your reflection!?" Both scary cats asked as they were holding the skeleton that wasn't showing up in the mirror.
"He's a vampire!" This had completely started everyone in the room.
"Really!? That's awesome!" They seemed all had completely forgotten about one thing. The only one that didn't react... the one member of the crew that looked only human... Seemed to be taking this a little personally.
"I wonder why I feel personal attacked today?"