This is a sequel to the previous story "Triangular Deal"
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Also, the supernatural elements in this story go borderline horror, just a heads-up


Robin looked around cautiously. She seemed to be in her and Nami's room, but it felt wrong. The entire place was in grayscale and felt awfully familiar . . .

It struck her. She was dreaming, of course, and judging by the lack of color, she was in—

"Welcome back, Flower!"

She looked around and spotted Bill Cipher sitting on her dresser.

"Bill," she said coldly. "What do you want?"

"What kind of greeting is that?" Bill asked, looking hurt. "Didn't you miss me?"

"After you tricked me into giving up my body and destroyed precious notes?"

Bill snapped his fingers and floated off of the dresser. "Right, that's what I'm here about. How about a deal, Flower?"

"I'd never make a deal with you," Robin said, trying to keep an eye on the demon as he floated all around and even through her. "My friends defeated you last time and they'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"Right, 'defeated,'" Bill said sarcastically.

Robin strode over to where Nami slept and tried to shake her awake, but her hands went right through her.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten already, Flower?" Bill said. "We're in the mindscape. Can't touch the physical world."

Robin turned to glare at him. "Why are you here?"

"Like I said, I'm here to make a deal," Bill said, spinning his top hat around. "You're too smart to fall for it again, so I'll just be blunt: I want your body."

"And what makes you think I'd give it up again?" Robin demanded incredulously.

"It's simple," Bill said slowly, growing larger so his eye was the size of Robin's head. "I'm the master of the mindscape, and I can show you whatever . . . I . . . want."

His body changed to an image of a burning island with a huge tree in the center, and a little black-haired girl in a rowboat between two rows of ice, her head hung down, sobbing—

"Stop that," Robin said, turning away, but the image was displayed wherever she looked. Even closing her eyes had no effect.

Eventually it vanished and Robin glared at Bill.

"There's more where that came from," he said. "Just give up."


"Robin?"

Robin sat up with a start, looking around. Nami was by her bedside, looking at her worriedly.

"You were tossing and turning," she said softly. "Is something wrong?"

Robin started to shake her head, but then nodded slowly. "Bill Cipher was in my dream."

Nami frowned. "Bill . . . that triangle demon?"

Robin nodded, pushing back hair from her face. "He said he wants my body again."

Nami folded her arms. "You refused, right?"

"Of course I did," Robin said, getting up. "He's decided to give me nightmares until I agree to give him what he wants."

"Oh, no," Nami said, hugging Robin. "Oh, that's awful . . . are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Robin said, smiling.

"Let's go have some breakfast," Nami said. "Don't worry about that triangle jerk."


Three days later

"Robin?" Usopp said timidly as Robin slumped into her seat at the table. "You sleep okay?"

Robin shook her head, staring up at the ceiling.

"Again?" Nami said. When Robin nodded, she groaned. "When will he give up?"

"He?" Sanji said. "Excuse me? Is some man making a move on Robin-chwan?"

"Not a man," Robin said quietly, still staring at the ceiling. "Bill Cipher."

"That demon?" Zoro said. "What's been going on?"

"He wants Robin's body again and he's been trying to torture her into giving it up," Nami explained.

"What?!" Luffy and Sanji yelled.

"Robin? Are you okay?" Chopper said, running up to her and climbing into her lap. She looked down at him and smiled weakly.

"I'll be fine," she said softly. "Don't worry about me."

"Of course we're gonna worry about you," Luffy said with a frown. "Don't be stupid. We're your friends. Is there any way we can beat up this stupid triangle guy?"

"Why is that your solution to everything?" Usopp demanded. "Then again . . . it worked last time . . ."

"Unless he possesses a body again, we can't beat him up," Robin said. "I've tried."

Luffy stared at her in shock. "Can't . . . beat him . . . up?"

"I think you broke him," Franky remarked.

Robin sighed and rose after placing Chopper on the ground. "I'm going to take more notes," she said wearily. "I need to figure out a way to get rid of him."

And she left the room, her breakfast untouched.


"Robin . . . ?"

Nami quietly entered the library and found Robin asleep at the table, her hand dangling off the edge. Judging by the smear of ink on her face, she'd fallen asleep in the middle of taking notes.

Noticing the papers, Nami slowly took them out from under her friend's arm and examined them. They were a bit sloppier than usual, probably due to exhaustion and stress. A couple of drawings of the triangle demon were on the page.

Who is Bill Cipher? Why does he want the Poneglyph notes destroyed?

He was there at Ohara—said it was a "job." Was he working for the Government? Is he working for the Government?

Seems to be working for own self-interest (a common trait in high-ranking Marines)

Does he know the secret of the Rio Poneglyph?

Is there a significance to his form? What does the triangle mean? Why is he such a snappy dresser? Significance of the bow tie = ?

If Ohara was a job to him, who hired him? Likely Marines because they would do anything to reach their goal… which Marine hired him? Possible candidates: Former Admiral Aokiji, Fleet Admiral Akainu, Admiral Kizaru, former Fleet Admiral Sengoku

Unlikely that it was former Vice-Admiral Garp—remember to ask Luffy if his grandpa would be likely to deal with demons

Appears in my dreams

Shows me horrible things

I can't stand it

Acts friendly but is very sadistic

NEVER MAKE DEALS WITH BILL CIPHER. DO NOT TRUST HIM.

Suddenly Robin moaned and Nami looked up. Her friend was trembling and twitching in her sleep.

Shows me horrible things

"Robin?" Nami said softly, reaching out to shake her friend's shoulder, but then Robin sat up.

"Oh, good," Nami said in relief. "Robin, I—"

She froze when she saw Robin's face. Her eyes were rolled back into her head and her expression was pained and twitching.

"Robin?"

Robin lifted a hand slowly and began feeling blindly around the desk. She closed her hand around the pen, pulled paper towards her, and began to draw. Nami took a step back nervously.

When Robin was finished drawing, the pen fell out of her hand and clattered to the floor. Her eyelids fell shut and she slumped back in her chair, her expression still pained.

Suddenly she sat up with a gasp, looking around wildly. She saw Nami standing next to the desk and they stared at each other.

"Nami," Robin said at last, pushing back her hair. She frowned at her friend's expression. "Is . . . something wrong . . . ?"

Nami pointed to the paper on the desk. Robin's gaze went down to it and she gasped.

The drawing was very neat. Two concentric circles formed a wheel, and between the two circles were lines separating the area into twelve sections, all with different symbols, including a straw hat, a slingshot, and a flower. In the center of the second, smaller circle was a drawing of Bill Cipher, perfectly symmetrical.

"What is this?" Robin murmured, staring at the image in shock. "When did this . . . ?"

She looked at Nami for an explanation.

"You did it," Nami said nervously. "You were twitching and moaning, and then you . . . you sat up, but it looked like you were still sleeping, and you grabbed the pen and drew that."

Robin stared at the drawing. "What does . . . what does this mean . . . ?"

Nami was silent. After a moment she set down the notes she'd been looking at and sat across from Robin.

"We'll find a way to beat that evil triangle," she said gently. "Don't worry."


"Ready to give up, Flower?"

Robin was on the ground, panting hard after yet another round of mental torture.

"I'll . . . never . . . give you my body," she said, trying to catch her breath.

Bill sighed, spinning his cane. "I'm not going away anytime soon, y'know."

His eye drifted over to where Nami slept and he glanced back at Robin. She tried to keep her face impassive.

"Your friends . . ." he said slowly.

Her eye twitched. "Don't you dare. They have nothing to do with this."

"They have EVERYTHING to do with this," Bill corrected. "I think it's time I introduced them to our game!"

He held out his hands and they glowed white. The whole ship was engulfed with that light, and when it faded, Nami was sitting up and blinking sleepily.

"Huh?" she mumbled. "What's . . . wrong with the room?"

She spotted Robin and Bill and cried out.

"Nami!" Robin exclaimed. "We need to run!"

"Okay," Nami agreed quickly, staring at Bill nervously. Robin grabbed her hand and they ran out the door—Robin had tried running before, but each time Bill had grown a huge wall in front of the door to block her way, and while she found it odd that he did not stop them this time, she was relieved to get away from him.

The girls escaped into the men's quarters, where the guys were standing and looking around curiously.

"Oh, hi!" Luffy said when he spotted Nami and Robin. "What's going on?"

"What's with the room?" Usopp asked nervously.

"I'm so sorry," Robin said, looking around frantically. "Bill Cipher's dragged everyone into the mindscape."

"So this is the mindscape," Franky said. "We're all still sleeping?"

"Yes, this is all in our heads, but that's not important because it's real," Robin said frantically. "We need to find a way to get away before Bill can—"

"Before I can what?"

Everyone jumped as Bill Cipher floated down through the ceiling, looking rather pleased with himself. Robin moved in front of Nami and Zoro moved in front of Chopper, both as if by instinct.

"Hey!" Luffy exclaimed, pointing. "You're the evil triangle! Stop messing around with Robin!"

"Who are you to tell me what to do, Strawhat?" Bill said. "In MY realm, no less?"

He pointed a finger at Luffy and fired a beam. Everyone cried out in shock when it blew a hole clean through Luffy's head.

Luffy felt the spot. "My head feels lighter . . ."

"I knew there wasn't anything in there," Franky remarked, leaning in to get a look at the hole.

"Luffy?!" Usopp screamed. "Are you okay?! You have a hole in your head!"

"He can't hurt us physically," Robin said, glaring at Bill.

Bill chuckled. "Indeed I can't, Flower, very good. But I can let you see some very interesting things!"

He pointed at Chopper and suddenly hundreds of thousands of white maggots were crawling all over his skin, tugging at flesh, biting away—

Chopper shrieked and fell to the ground, struggling to get the maggots off of him. Usopp knelt to join him, but then Bill pointed at him, too. Usopp could only watch in horror as his flesh was stripped away from him, layer by layer, becoming bloodier by the second—

"Stop this!" Robin yelled. "Stop this! They have nothing to do with this! It's me you want, isn't it?!"

"Honestly, anyone will do as long as I get a body," Bill said, now pointing at Franky, who was beginning to charge. Franky froze in place as ice crept upon his body, immobilizing him as an ice statue in the middle of the floor.

"I said stop!" Robin screamed. "No—Sanji, don't—!"

But Sanji was already charging towards Bill, and as he did so, his feet grew larger and larger until it was impossible for him to run, and suddenly his legs fell off altogether and he was just a torso on the floor, struggling to crawl with his hands.

"I must say, Triangle-san," Brook said, drawing his sword, "I can't quite remember where I've seen you and this place before, but nonetheless, I will not stand for you attacking my friends!"

He sheathed his sword and Bill fell into two pieces. For a moment there were smiles, thinking he'd been defeated, but then—

"You have a lot of nerve, Skull," Bill said as he reformed himself. "Don't think I owe you anything. You're going down with the rest."

He pointed at Brook, who promptly exploded into a pile of bones. Nami screamed.

"I'm okay," Brook joked weakly from his skull in the corner of the room.

"Leave us be," Robin ordered, moving to block Nami more as Bill turned towards them.

"All I ask for is a body," Bill said sweetly. He pointed at Nami behind Robin's back and she cried out. Robin turned to see her friend being lifted into the air and hung upside down. The blood rushed to her head, and it swelled to gross proportions—

And so there they were, Usopp's flesh peeling away, Chopper's fur rife with maggots, Brook a pile of bones, Nami hung like a Christmas decoration, Franky frozen, and Sanji just a torso on the ground struggling to move.

"Nami-swan . . ." he panted. "Robin . . . chwan . . ."

"That's it!" Zoro yelled. "Listen, you triangle asshole! You want a body?! Just stop hurting our friends, and you can take m—"

"ZORO!"

Zoro stopped talking and Bill snapped his fingers in frustration, so close at getting a deal done. Luffy was looking at Zoro sternly, the hole in his head filled in.

"Don't be stupid," Luffy scolded.

"Luffy?" Robin said. "Your head . . ."

"Yeah, I fixed it just now," Luffy announced. "Turns out all I have to do is wish for something and it comes true."

He pointed at Chopper and the maggots vanished. "See?"

Robin's eyes widened. "All this time . . . I could have . . ."

"Let's get to it!" Zoro yelled.

"No!" Bill cried, but it was too late; with many pointed fingers, they restored their friends to normal. After some disorientation, they righted themselves and glared at Bill. The triangle pointed at Usopp and a beam flew towards him, but Usopp created a shield from nothing and the beam bounced off it and hit Bill, creating a new hole in the triangle. He fixed it, but not in time to stop the next attack: A lightning bolt barrage, courtesy of Nami.

"I have an idea," Luffy said, grinning. A huge rocket launcher materialized and the crew held it together, putting their hands on the trigger and aiming it at Bill.

"Three!" they yelled together. "Two! One—"

"ENOUGH!"

Bill spread his hands and suddenly everything vanished. The Strawhats and the demon were left floating in empty white space. Usopp and Chopper grabbed each other nervously.

"Very clever," he said coldly. "You've won this round. But I'll be back, I promise you that. Toodles."

He vanished.


Robin sat up suddenly with a gasp. She looked around and spotted Nami doing the same. They looked at each other.

"He's gone," Nami said, smiling.

"For now," Robin said. They stood and hurried outside, where the others were getting up and stumbling out of their room.

"Hi!" Luffy exclaimed, grinning. "Robin! We did it!"

"I love color," Usopp proclaimed, looking around the ship happily.

Robin smiled in relief.


"I'm so sorry about all that."

The crew was gathered around the table for a hearty "We-beat-a-demon" breakfast.

"What?" Luffy said. "It's not your fault. That stupid triangle guy is the one at fault, not you."

Robin sighed. "But if he wasn't after me—"

"Drop it," Zoro said firmly. "Besides that . . . didn't you say he's been appearing to you every night for three days?"

Robin nodded.

"So you were seeing all that horrible stuff and more all that time?!" Sanji cried. "Oh, Robin-chwan!"

"I'm fine," Robin said. "If he comes back, I know what to do now." She smiled at the crew.

"Come to think of it . . ." Nami said. "Brook, Bill Cipher seemed to know you."

Brook nodded thoughtfully. "It's odd," he remarked. "I swear by my second life I've seen him before, and perhaps even been in the mindscape . . . but I cannot, for the life of me—or perhaps death—place when or where!"

"Strange," Franky muttered. "This whole thing is strange."

"You're telling me," Chopper said with a shiver. "Those maggots . . ."

"Are gone now," Usopp said reassuringly.

"It's over, so we can relax," Luffy said happily. "Sanji, more food!"

"Coming right up," Sanji said.

"It's not over yet."

Everyone turned to look at Robin, who was frowning.

"He promised he'd be back," she reminded them. "And not only that . . ."

She explained about the drawing of the wheel. The others looked confused.

"I'll need to do much more research on this," she said. "Perhaps, when the Poneglyphs spoke of an 'enemy,' they meant not only the Government, but . . ."

She lapsed into thoughtful silence.

"By the way, Luffy, do you think Garp is the type to deal with demons?" she said, looking up.

"Grandpa? No way," Luffy said.

"I thought so," Robin murmured.