We're back~

That's right, me and my lovely beta reader have created another co-op story for you all to enjoy! This is to celebrate the beginning of summer for us, and hopefully you all as well. We hope this is funny and that you thoroughly enjoy this little tale. :)

Disclamer: praeses and I do not own One Piece, but I own my OCs and she owns hers.

Slumber Party

It was done. What was done, you may ask; school was of course. The rowdy teens of Sabondy High were jumping through the roof when they heard that last bell time away, signaling their happy release. It was the time for relaxation, vacation, and for the unlucky ones, jobs. Manolia Ameria happened to be one of those unlucky ones. Her father had a small business that was the...face of his work; if people really dug in then they would find out what he truly did for a living. Her father always said she would be the one that took over his business, which her mother never approved of, but for the past two summers she had worked for her father in the 'face' of his business. She only answered calls and took orders of what type of leather things customers wanted, but when someone over the phone said the code word...well, her father took over. Though, before that time came for working this summer, Ameria pleaded her parents for a sleepover with some of her best girl friends from school.

Luckily they both agreed. Her mother because Ameria hadn't had a sleepover since they moved to the city two years ago and her father because the keyword was girls; hidden meaning, no boys. Obviously she wasn't going to invite boys, she just wanted to invite Robin, her first friend from when she moved and Nami was after that. Then Vivi from when the gang helped her with a division in the student council and, of course, Mina from camp. Ameria also invited Gabriella and Madeline, even though they were a year older than everyone else, but they came from her old school; plus they were friends.

So, Ameria spent the whole day cleaning after the last day of school, and it didn't help with her stupid older brother tracking mud from the entrance hall down the hall to the back of the house where the kitchen was. The thick brown boot prints ran around the small round table and the island before darting into the dining room, staining the white carpet. That was the last straw and she had to bribe Phineas with candy, yes candy, and he left the house so Ameria could clean the house, again, but in peace.

It took eight hours, but it was worth it because when she finished scrubbing the last dirty print on the dining room carpet, the doorbell rang and the first person to come was Mina.

The brunette hadn't changed much in the last few months of school. She still got into quite a bit of trouble either with mouthing off to teachers or punching out the poor saps that felt like trying to bully a 14 year-old girl. Although she had gotten better with attending her classes. But, school was a thing of the past currently and Mina was just happy to be free as a bird for the next few months.

When Ameria had proposed her idea of a sleepover, Mina was a bit surprised. Pleasantly so actually. But of course the whole invite had opened up a bunch of teasing from her adoptive family. Speaking of, Mina wasn't alone on the doorstep of the Manolia's house. There was a young man with her. He was an average looking fellow with shaggy blonde hair tied back into a lose ponytail and bright blue eyes that normally sparkled with mischief whenever he teased Mina. He was just there to make sure Mina had gotten to the Manolia's house safely.

"Hi," Mina greeted Ameria when she answered the door. "Hope I'm not too early. Arthur here was adamant about being punctual."

The man beside her laughed and patted the teen girl next to him on the head. That earned a dark glare from Mina.

"We talked about this on the way here. Manners, remember?" Arthur told her. "Now, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

The brunette sighed heavily and rolled her eyes.

"Ameria, meet Arthur. Arthur, this is Ameria. There, happy?" Mina sent an annoyed look to the man.

"I suppose it will do for now," He said. "Well, now, you have fun with your friends. And remember-"

"Your manners. I got it Arthur," She said as she adjusted the bag over her shoulder. "Now go to work. You don't want to be late now do you?"

Arthur patted the girl on the head once more despite Mina's attempts to swat his hands away. With a wave to the girls, the man went back to his car. It was a beat up old sedan and a very odd sea foam green color. And in another moment, Arthur was gone.

"Sorry about him," Mina sighed. "He's such a pain sometimes."

"No problem," Ameria waved it aside with a smile and ushered her friend inside. "He's way better, like seriously, way than Phineas by a long shot. I had to bribe him with candy to get him to leave the house because I couldn't clean! It took me two hours to clean the dining room because he tracked mud through it!"

Mina arched a thin brow and looked curiously at her friend making a turn through a large open doorway that led into a finely furnished family room. "So we are here alone or what?"

"No," Ameria shook her head. "My brother Cain is upstairs, but he's rather quiet so he won't bother us unless something serious is going down, like a serial killer jumping through the window. My sister Caitlin went out with her boyfriend Anders on a camping trip on the property my Dad owns about twenty or so minutes away. My Dad was going to be here too, but he was, uh, 'worried' about them being alone together for the weekend so he went after them and when my Mom found out he did that she went after him. My Dad will probably come back later tonight, stay a few hours and then go back in a few hours to hound my sister without my Mom finding out because my Mom had to leave work to stop him from kil—I mean—harassing my sister's boyfriend. So, she will probably go back to work, which means my Mom won't find out until my sister gets back, because Caitlin doesn't have her cellphone since they're camping. But my Mom said she will be here in the morning because she wants to make pancakes for us, with fresh blueberries from the garden. Oh, and I don't know when Phineas will be back so watch out for buckets above doorways, tripwires that make cream pies fly and closets filled with Twinkies."

Mina blinked. "Ah. Okay."

"So," Ameria continued, clapping her hands together. "We are going to sleep here in the living room and there's a bathroom in the entrance hall, but if you want to take a shower it's upstairs. I'll show you when everyone else gets here."

"Okay," Mina nodded and walked into the family room with Ameria, placing her backpack and sleeping bag on the leather couch. "Do you know when everyone else will come?"

"Uh..." Ameria tapped her chin in thought to bring forth the information. "Robin texted me that she would be a bit late because she needs to go to the library because she wants to work there this summer. Nami is on the way with Vivi and Madeline is trying to help Gabriella get everything she wants to bring in one suitcase."

"How many suitcases of stuff is she bringing?" Mina asked in shock, and slightly worried.

"About...five..." Ameria sheepishly said as she scratched the side of her cheek with a fingernail.

"What on Earth...?" Mina was a bit confused. "Well, this is certainly going to be an interesting night. Isn't Gabriella the girlfriend of Eustass Kidd though?"

"Yeah. We're friends though so, no reason to worry," Ameria said with a smile.

"All right," Mina said as she looked around the living room they stood in.

It was quite different than the house she lived in; more breakable things in china cabinets that held little glass figurines from all over the world. Ameria's mother was, after all, in the military, so she must have had many trinkets; and Mina noted that all the cabinets were under lock and key. Jee, she wondered why. This room was definitely mommy's room; it could have been called a parlor if there wasn't a large flat screen TV mounted above the fireplace. But, just one glance across the hall showed Mina that Ameria's father had a man cave filled with furs and dead stuff animals ranging from rabbits to bears. Much more different then her home. Then again, she lived in a boarding house with a ton of other people around. It was kind of like having an extended family sometimes.

Then suddenly Mina felt the little clips of nails against the hard wood floor and the hiss of a cat behind her. She looked over her shoulder and then side stepped a tiny black tabby that rushed around her feet and then leaped onto a side table beside the fireplace and then went up onto the mantle to hide out of reach from the two barking dogs.

"Brook! Loki!" Ameria yelled, yelling at the two canines. "Stop!" and she wagged a finger at them disapprovingly.

Brook, the small black poodle with white fur mask that looked like a skull backed away instantly and trotted over to Mina, whereas Loki refused to stop barking and jumping at the hissing cat he could not reach. Ameria sighed and shook her head as she stepped over and picked up the puppy to try and calm him down.

"You're not wearing a skirt, right?" Ameria then suddenly asked the brunette.

"Err…" Mina looked down, clearly seeing her shorts and also the little poodle that tried to climb her legs. "No…"

Brook then whined and sulked over to a corner sadly.

Mina looked between Ameria and the poodle, confused.

"He's a pervert," Ameria was blunt as she out the calmed down Loki. "He has a bad habit over worming his way up dresses and skirts, sometimes shirts."

Mina was silent, but it was a time for a change of subject.

"Oh," Mina thought of something and turned to Ameria, the teen working on moving furniture around to make room for seven girls. "And if Phineas dumps a bucked of maple syrup on my head, I'm probably going to have to kill him," Mina deadpanned. "Just a heads up in case you find yourself a sibling short."

"That's fine," Ameria said. "Actually if he does anything like that you might have to wait to kill him. Nami would probably beat you to the punch."

Mina grinned a bit. "I suppose I'll manage," She said with obvious humor in her voice.

"I can only hope blood doesn't get everywhere," Ameria sighed. "I don't want to clean anymore today..."

Mina laughed out loud. "Ha! I'll try not to take it that far. I'll only break noses," she said with a smirk.

Ameria giggled at the thought, but Phineas deserved all the pain he got in the end. Though, the conversation between Mina and Ameria was cut short as the doorbell rang and the sound of Nami pounding on the door, wanting in. "Well," Ameria smiled and make her way over to the door. "Looks like the party is about to begin.

~...~

While the girls were having their own little party, so was Luffy, he didn't like being left out of the loop so he invited some of his best guy friends from school; Usopp, Zoro, Law, Kidd, and even Killer came. Luffy was über excited and the other boys could really tell.

The high strung teenager was acting like a puppy. A hyper active and annoying puppy that was in a new place with new things and wanted to sniff everything. To Luffy, it translated to him getting up into everyone's personal face space. That annoyed everyone to no end; Usopp and Zoro may have been used to it and Law was somewhat accepting that Luffy was, for a better word, clingy, but Kidd and Killer, hell, they were not used to it whatsoever. Though, Usopp knew the wonderful technique to calm the savage beast that was Luffy: meat. Then again, everyone who ever looked for a second in the cafeteria probably knew that. So, with Usopp bringing a large tray of pizza rolls, chicken wings, cheese fries and more; Luffy was with the love of his life and left everyone alone, for the time being.

So, when Luffy tamed, the other boys sat in peace playing video games and talking amongst themselves. Some of them wondered even why they were there to begin with. Mainly Law and Kidd were wondering what possessed them to accept Luffy's invitation for a party; Law may have been a 'friend' to Luffy, but they weren't exactly best buds yet, and Kidd, hell, Kidd only teamed up with Law and Luffy in one little fight against the snobs of the school and that was it. Killer, on the other hand, was just dragged along for the ride and to make sure Kidd didn't cause any property damage, plus he secretly knew this would be an entertaining night; he could feel it in his gut.

Luffy's house was already in a state of disarray; multiple empty plates and bowls of food and the large sofa had even been overturned when his guests arrived. And it only got worse when Kidd and Law got a bit on the competitive side when playing something as small as a video games. But boys will be boys, cars will be cars, boys will love cars, and cars will love being loved by boys.

"Damn it!" Kidd swore as had lost the racing game he and Law had been playing and he nearly threw the controller at the smug, smirking boy for just being a jackass about it.

"Looks like I win again, Mister Eustass," Law smirked widely at the seething redhead.

"Just you wait," Kidd warned, waving a fist in front of Law's face. "I'm gonna kick your ass next round, Trafalgar."

Law just continued to smirk and shook his head with a chuckle. Like that was ever gonna happen; after five rounds, Kidd had not only lost to Law, but also the computers; the redhead was just too easy to outsmart when he was angry.

Zoro must have sensed it and plucked the controller from Kidd's hand and said: "My turn."

The race was on once again between Law and Zoro, and Law was a shoo-in to win considering even in video games Zoro got lost. Meanwhile, Luffy had finished the food and was settling down for the next round with a card game. He and the others were playing poker a short distance away from the television, and Killer was the one winning because he had a excellent poker face. Luffy, though, had a horrible poker face; his face would scrunch up and he would lose eye contact completely. Then Usopp's lies were generally easier to see through than glass. The blonde haired teen was finding it almost too easy. Of course they weren't betting money, but rather the snacks Luffy didn't like; the pot currently consisted of assorted old candy and pretzel sticks.

"Call," Killer laid his cards on the table. He had a full house, and the other two boys groaned in defeat while Killer raked in the snacks.

"What the...!" Law's surprised voice gained the attention of everyone at the table.

Apparently Zoro had won the race. Which was astounding considering he normally drove in circles when they played anything that involved racing. In this case, Zoro had glitched through a wall and crossed the finish line before Law did. And Kidd found this hysterical; the redhead was howling with laughter at the turn of events. Law wasn't even angry, he was more confused as to what just happened. He stared at the screen with a dumbfounded look on his face while Zoro beamed with pride.

"Nice one Zoro!" Luffy praised his friend with a laugh. "First time you won a race."

"I'm not sure what just happened," Law was still very confused.

"HEY!" Ace stormed into the room, pillow under his arm and his ebony locks standing up in all different places. "You guys are being so loud... And I was taking such a nice nap, too..."

"Ace!" Luffy grinned with glee and waved to his older brother, who was going to be graduating soon. "Wanna come hang out!"

Ace blinked looking at his younger brother and his friends, but his eyes lingered on Law and a smirk came to his lips. "You have all your shirts with you?"

Law turned his head away sharply, a blush on his cheeks when he remember the flagpole incident at camp.

Kidd laughed, hand on his stomach. "Ha! I remember that, you looked so stupid Trafalgar!"

"Oh, just shut up, Eustass, or I'll get Gabriella over here because we all know you are whipped to the bone," Law hissed in defense.

It was Kidd's turn to turn beet red and he barked: "Stuff it, Trafalgar! She won't come here because she's at your girlfriend's house!"

"She's not my girlfriend," Law snapped. "I don't even like her!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Ace calmed the argument down, looking at all the boys in the room. "The girls are all at one place having a sleepover?"

All the boys nodded.

Ace blinked at them, astonished. "Then why the hell are you still here?"

~...~

The girls' party was in full swing by now. They chatted amongst themselves about various things as they flipped through cable channels. Of course current events was a topic of discussion, like Finals from their last few days of school. As Ameria flipped past yet another news channel, the painful memories of her Science final surfaced when there was a news report of the latest from the Vegapunk Company.

"My Science final was a killer," Ameria sighed as she remembered one of the last few days of school.

"Don't worry, my English final was horrible," Mina said with a slight grimace. "I probably shouldn't have skipped that class every other day."

"You could have gotten my notes," Gabriella told the brunette with a small smile. "We were in the same class and all."

Mina blinked at the ginger. "Really?" she asked, baffled.

"Mm-hmm," Gabriella hummed with a bright smile and giggle. "I aced that final."

Mina sighed; so much for a chance to get a passing grade...

"Why do you skip so often?" Nami asked. For once, the orange haired girl wasn't that afraid of Mina. Nami had been a witness to plenty of the fights that broke out in the cafeteria and had seen the brunette in action more than once. She was a very scary person when she fought. "You're gonna be in school forever if you keep it up."

Mina shrugged. She really didn't know or care why she skipped. All she knew was that she had to stop doing it as often otherwise she'd end up like Ace and barely getting by in her senior year. "I don't know," She admitted. "I always feel like there's something better to do with my time than sit there and have someone talk at me for 45 minutes of my day."

"So sitting on the roof with Ace is more productive?" Ameria smiled teasingly, poking Mina in the cheek.

"He sleeps a lot," Mina deadpanned, unfazed at the blunt fingernail touched her skin. "And I practice my drawing skills on his face whenever I get the chance."

Laughter erupted in the room. Looks like there was the ever elusive answer as to why Ace sometimes went to lunch with marker on his face.

Suddenly, there was a noise outside one of the windows that made Glory, who still sat upon the mantle awake from his nap and the dogs to scramble to the window and bark. Needless to say, it startled several of the girls. Nami and Vivi clung to Robin in fright, but the stoic black haired girl just looked over her shoulder in mild interest.

"What was that?" Madeline perked up, getting up from her seat on the floor and went over to the window, Gabriella quick to follow.

"Dunno," Gabriella said, staring out into the dark woods that surrounded the Manolia household. "Wonder what it is..."

"Probably just the wind," Ameria said when the sound didn't happen again.

"Or..." Mina spoke up, a sly grin on her lips as she looked around the room at each of the teenage girls; it was the prefect mood for a little…story. The thought made her eyes gleam mischievously. "It could be something else..."

Nami gasped, clutching Robin's nightshirt tightly. "What kind of... Something else..."

"A murderer?" Vivi nervously whispered, glancing at the window with shaky violet eyes.

"A murderer wouldn't make it pass my dad," Ameria added her two cents in. "Trust me, nothing can."

"Oh, but there is something that can~" Mina sung out with a deviously sweet smile that made others in the room wary. "Why, a ghost of course."

"Ghost?" Ameria repeated. "I didn't know you believed in them."

Mina's smile settled into a more thoughtful look as she searched for the answer as to why she was a bit superstitious.

"My grandfather always used to tell me to respect the dead," She began. "And that if you disrespect them, they'd curse you. A wonderful thing to tell a child, huh?"

Mina's grandfather had attempted to instill the fear of the spirits into her. There were plenty of stories he told her about the horrible things that would happen if one disrespected the dead or tampered with the spirits. Of course they were just words until one night...

"You know, now that I think about it, the last sleepover I had wasn't this peaceful," Mina continued.

"Really?" Nami didn't know what to think about that. "How so?"

"I suppose I'll start from the beginning," She said with a devious smile. "It was a few years ago now, but I don't think I'll forget my first sleepover. My grandfather's health had been getting worse over time, so after he passed out in the middle of the grocery store one day, my neighbors at the time decided to have me over while he was in the hospital for observation. Now, our neighbors had a sixteen year-old daughter. She was interested in the sort of things that my grandfather said could get her cursed by the dead. One night her parents went out to a party."

"Genius idea on their part I imagine," Nami wasn't quite scared yet.

Mina gave the orange haired teen a dull look before shaking her head and continuing her story.

"I can't remember the exact details but all I knew is that they'd be gone until morning. It was just me and her from eight at night to morning. Now, she had been acting a bit weird all night. But when I saw her take out a stuffed clown doll, crimson thread, and salt water I knew something wasn't exactly right. That's about the time she sent me to bed too. But, I suppose my curiosity got the better of me when I heard her go into the bathroom and draw water. The room I was in had a clear view of the bathroom she was in, so I cracked my door to see what she was doing. There she was, sitting in the middle of the bathroom floor with the clown doll stuffing something inside of it. I heard the sound of nail clippers soon after too. I couldn't really see what she was doing to the doll, but I do know that she sewed it back together with the thread and then tied it up using the rest. That's when she put the doll in the bathtub and started turning off the lights."

The atmosphere in the room shifted quite a bit. Mina's voice had even changed from her matter-of-fact tone to something a bit more creepy. She often spoke in a calm tone, but she added a more sinister quality for what happened next. It was enough to start creeping out those around her. Nami and Vivi being the first to show signs of fright by inching ever closer to Robin; who wasn't showing any signs of being scared.

"Knowing something was off, I shut the door and went back to bed in an attempt to sleep. But, then the television was turned on, but it was only static. Very loud static too. She had turned up the volume on it I think. Quickly after the television was turned on, I heard rapid footsteps as someone ran about the house. Pulling the blankets over my head, I took a deep breath in an attempt to keep calm. I was couldn't help but shake the feeling that something wasn't exactly right at the time. But then, I heard footsteps again. This time they were... Stumbling almost. Like someone walking with a limp. The static in the other room became sort of distorted, like a broken record. The atmosphere shifted again... This time, it was almost oppressive. My grandfather taught me to listen to my gut feelings, and even though everything was telling me to get away from the house, my gut told me that if I got up from where I was, I would run into something terrible. The footsteps were ever louder, one after the other 'thump, thump, thump'..."

And that's when another knocking sound was heard against the window of the house. And that's when the screaming broke out because the disoriented face of a pale face and one eyed ghost appeared against the glass.

~...~

Kidd held Sanji in a headlock, choking the younger teen almost to death when he caught the blonde spying on the girls, the group of girls that included his girlfriend no less. Ace, the oldest one there, also the one that drove them to the house, tried to calm the violent beast known as Kidd, but it was no use. Sanji was about to really become a real ghost.

"Someone look outside!" The screech of Nami came from inside the house.

Now, the boys were out of direct view of the window so if the girls looked out, they couldn't be seen in the shadows, but if someone opened the window and looked out, that was another story. And no one wanted to see that story. Ace herded the younger boys away from the window that Sanji had been peeping through and around the corner where is was safe as the window flipped open. The ginger hair of Gabriella's was the first thing to pop out and then her entire upper body as she leaned against the sill, scanning the area.

"Coast is clear," she yelled over her shoulder to the other girls.

"Good, now get back inside Gabs!" Madeline shouted and grabbed a fist full of ginger hair and yanked.

"Ouch!" Gabriella hissed, disappearing from sight.

The boys could now rest easy, though Kidd has gone back to trying to choke out Sanji again, but Killer was holding him back, barely. The others then went to another window, led by Ace. This one had blinds covering the glass, but they were open so the girls view outside was obstructed, but the boys had a perfect view in. The only one who did not really participate was Usopp, but he was literally dragged here by Luffy.

"So," Ace spoke up quietly, keeping his voice a tiny hush. "This is Mina's house, huh..."

Luffy looked at his older brother and blinked. "No, it's Ameria's."

"Really?" Ace's eyes opened a fraction wider in shock. "But I thought we were going to Law's girlfriend's house; I was sure it was Mina."

Law snapped his attention to the older teen, his cheeks turning red and he yelped: "What!" but his shout was muffled by Zoro's hand slapping over his mouth.

Luffy cocked his head to the side. "Why'd you think that?"

"It was a gut feeling," Ace slyly said, nudging Law in the side with his elbow.

Law said nothing, mostly due to the fact that Zoro's hand was over his mouth, but even if it wasn't, he still wouldn't have said anything.

"But," Ace said with a happy smirk. "If you dare ever hurt her I swear to God I'll kill you."

Law's face went pale.

"Heh," Kidd grunted with a devious grin as he still continued to abuse Sanji's neck with his hands. "I just might tempt Trafalgar to do that so I can see that show."

Ace then smiled at Kidd. "If I found out that you provoked it I'll kill you, too."

Kidd's face then went paler than normal.

"Ooh~! All this talk of killing sounds interesting. May I join?"

A new voice added to the mix, making the teens jump in shock before whipping around to come face to face with the infamous Manolia Phineas.

~...~

Things had calmed down some in the house. A semblance of order had been restored after Gabriella's check into what was going on outside. The girls settled down back into their spots.

"Do you want me to continue my story?" Mina asked the other girls. "I'll warn you now, what happens next isn't really... Fun."

There was silence for a minute as the girls thought. A few of them really wanted to know what happened next, but it was fairly safe to say that Mina lived through her experience. But still, there was the fact that things were getting weird as she told them the story.

"It's just a story. Right?" Vivi laughed nervously.

Mina shrugged; it was a blasé answer on her part. She wasn't going to insist that her story was true, because even part of herself wondered if it ever happened. But then again, the final part of her story came into play and she couldn't deny that part happened.

"If it helps you sleep, you can think that," Mina said. "So, where was I..."

"We didn't even say yes yet!" Nami snapped.

"It was implied," The other girl deadpanned back. "Besides, you just said you wanted me to continue anyway."

Nami face palmed. It was hard to talk to Mina sometimes; she often did things at her own pace. She had an interesting way of thinking to say the least.

"The ritual you described her doing sounds like 'One-Man Hide and Seek'," Robin suddenly chimed in. "It's where you take a doll and use it to trap the soul of a person. You aren't supposed to play it very long though. Two hours at most."

Robin read a lot in her free time. There was very little doubt that she was wrong about the subject. She seemed to know a lot about many different things. Still though, the information gave the others something to think about. Mina had never known the name of the ritual the girl had done, but still, knowing it now was helpful.

"Hm, interesting," Mina mused. "Anyway, shall I continue?"

"Yeah," Ameria said. She wanted to find out what happened next.

"Okay, so the footsteps," Mina reminded herself where she was. "The footsteps were louder and I could hear them coming towards my door. 'Thump, thump, thump...' What happened next made my skin crawl... It knocked. I remember being scared, but I couldn't scream, I couldn't even move; I was barely breathing. Curling tight into a ball with my eyes closed, I willed it to go away. I even put my hands over my ears to block out the knocking. Either it never knew how to open doors, or it was just screwing with me. Even through my hands, I still heard it knocking. My hands didn't do much really, I still heard the television static too. With the broken, distorted static and the knocking... I was scared to death of what was on the other side of that door. I was also too scared to move. 'Rat-tat-tat'... After a while it just started to echo in my head. It felt like hours on end that it knocked on my door. And then, it stopped."

Mina gave a pause for not only dramatic effect, but because even she didn't like remembering what happened next all that much. Now, she never liked clowns as a child and what happened next really just cemented her hatred for them.

"Everything was quiet," She began again. "I didn't even hear any static from the television. Still though, I was terrified to look. I spent a long time working up the courage to peek out from under the blankets, and when I did, there was nothing. And then I heard her parents come home. Relief. That was the only thing I felt and that's when I realized I had spent the entire night without any sleep and with something outside my door knocking on it. Jumping up from bed, I went to run to the kitchen, but as soon as I opened my door. I found the clown doll sitting outside my door. It was an ugly thing. Ragged and torn with crimson thread sewing up the backside. Rice fell from a tear in the fabric, too. Completely and utterly terrified, I choked back a scream and ran from it. Still, there's one thing I don't think I'll be able to forget... It's eyes. Those glass, dead-fish looking eyes as it stared up at me."

There was silence among the girls, half of them shaken due to the stories contents and also sudden surprise of the apparition in the window, even Gabriella and Madeline were wary of the atmosphere. Though, Ameria and Robin seemed to have enjoyed the story, a smile on their faces. Mina smirked nonetheless; four out of six was still a good count in her mind. But, there was movement upstairs, that caused the all the girls jump, even Mina was a little anxious. There were footsteps right above them, walking down the hall and to the staircase.

Yet, there was nothing to worry about since it was only Ameria's older brother, Cain.

He stood in the open doorway of the living room, his eyes dull from sleep and his pajamas wrinkled from sleep. He yawned and rubbed the heel of his palm against his eye and tiredly asked: "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Ameria answered her older brother. "Just telling ghost stories is all."

Cain just nodded his head and then ran his hand through his disheveled black hair before he turned on the heel of his bare foot and left to go back to bed.

Once he was gone, Gabriella spoke up, leaning in close to Ameria to whisper. "Your brother is really hot!"

"Eh," Madeline shrugged. "I beg to differ. I prefer my Baby-Killer!" she squealed with a cheeky smile.

"But he doesn't like you," Gabriella frankly said.

"Shut up!" Madeline snapped and slapped her best friend in the arm. "And you shouldn't be calling other guys hot since you have Kidd."

"Look, but don't touch," was all Gabriella said with a huff.

"How can you go out with a guy like Kidd, Gabs?" Nami asked curiously. "He isn't the...nicest guy."

"True," Gabriella admitted. "But he as his soft spots," she added with smile. "But what about you, Nami? Do you have anyone special?"

Nami smiled brightly. "The only love I have is for Buck!" and she pulled a dollar bill from her between her breasts waving it lovingly in the air.

"What about Sanji?" Vivi questioned with an arched brow. "He seems to like you the most out of, well, all the pretty girls he meets."

"Eh," Nami shrugged. "I have Buck right now, but you Vivi, need to spill the beans on a certain best friend," she slyly said.

Vivi blushed and turned her head to avoid eye contact. "He's just my childhood friend, nothing more, nothing less," and to take the spotlight off herself, she looked to Robin. "What about you?"

"I like Hawkins," she easily said with a smile. "I think we are like to peas in a pod. And you, Mina?" Robin glanced at the brunette with a fair smirk. "Are you and Law together yet?"

Mina stared, blinking her eyes rabidly to take in the small bit of information that seemed a lot bigger than it actually was. When she processed it, she asked: "What?" Then she jerked a thumb to Ameria. "I thought he liked Ameria because he teases her so much."

It was Ameria's turn to be confused. "It doesn't seem that way, but even if he did then I wouldn't go out with him. I have a boyfriend."

All the girls stared at Ameria and then shouted: "What!" collectively.

~...~

Law sat in the bushes with a scowl on his face. What was it with people thinking he had a girlfriend? He did not have a girlfriend nor did he want one. He wanted to be a doctor; there was no time for a deep relationship with a girl. He was currently engaged with his studies. But, that didn't mean he couldn't do little one night things... Still though, Ace's declaration was unsettling and shot that idea down. Even with Ace graduating soon, the threat was still there. Of course, what Law didn't know was the Mina would most likely beat Ace to the punch if he did anything that hurt her.

"Are you still sulking about me mistaking Mina for your girlfriend?" Ace asked the younger boy. "It was just a question, on my part at least. You're taking it as if offended your intelligence!"

Law just continued to sit there with a scowl.

Phineas then crouched down beside Law, getting way to close into his personal space. "Awe, da little ba-bay has a wee little crush!" and he poked the simmering Law in the cheek. "Ain't da just so cwute~!"

Law's scowl darkened to a deadly shadow and he shoved the college student away from his bubble and went back his own dreary little world.

"Oh come on," The soon-to-be graduate sighed. "I know she's a bit weird sometimes and threatens to kill you, but she's not all that bad."

"She sewed my shirts together and put them up the flag pole at camp," Law glared at Ace. "Also, she made me run into a scarecrow, pushed me into the lake, and publicly humiliated me in front of the entire school!"

"She sounds like my dream girl," Phineas commented airily with stars in his eyes. "But I'm not a Pedobear~!"

The college student was ultimately ignored.

"Because you dumped a bucket of syrup on her and Ameria's heads," Killer said bluntly.

"Oh nice!" Phineas chimed in again due to his appreciation of pranks. "Though I would've done it a bit differently. Liking dumping something better than just plain old syrup on their heads. Like a bucket of creepy crawlers such as centipedes, cockroaches and beetles, or maybe made tomato sauce and pineapple juice. Oh, OH! Maybe pumpkin guts; that really gets a fit out of girls. I know from experience, hehehehe."

All the boys stared at the college student, but Phineas merely grinned innocently, though everyone knew that was farthest from the truth.

"Hey Ace," Luffy then got the attention of his older brother when something seemed wrong with the group. "Did you see where Zoro went?"

Dead silence soon followed that question. Then, cue the freakout.

"Where'd that shitty Marimo go?" Sanji growled.

"Oh fuck," Kidd muttered as he face palmed.

Killer sighed heavily and shook his head. Law just had no words by now and was just speechless. Things weren't exactly going according to plan. Ace however, was just looking around for the green haired teen, but to no avail. Zoro was gone. Phineas was finding some glee in the looks of horror on the other boys' faces.

"Wait, where's Usopp?" Ace asked, looking around for the long-nosed teen.

Oh great. He was gone too. More grumbling came from the boys.

"Ah, phooey," Phineas scoffed, waving a hand at the air to cast the disappearance of the two from the other boys minds. "Forget those two! I have an awesome prank to play on the girls. But..." he leaned in close ushering the others to move in to hear his whispers. "...it involves going into enemy territory."

With that said, they knew this was turning out to be a night to remember.

~...~

"Let's go men," Phineas led them down the dark hallway on hands and knees, crawling along the shadows.

Somehow, Phineas got them all to scale the grapevine fence attached to the back of the house and climb through a window, into the Manolia parents room no less. They all knew the rumors about Mister Manolia, and they weren't all too comfortable crawling on their bellies through his and his wife's room. This truly was enemy territory, and Phineas didn't give a flying damn about their safety, and lives.

Especially when they were caught.

"Oh, hey-o, Cain-poo." Phineas greeted his older brother with a mock salute.

Cain stared at his younger brother and then at the train of boys behind him before looking back at Phineas. "What are you doing?" He asked with an emotionless tone.

"Playing a game," Phineas replied childishly.

Cain didn't take that shit and with a swift kick, hit his younger brother in the jaw and knocked in backward into Ace. "Don't do anything you'll regret." He warned before going back to his room.

"Err..." Kidd glanced at the closed door and then their...fearless leader on the ground rubbing his chin. "Should we really be doing this?"

"Yes," Phineas bluntly said and then he rolled back on his hands and knees then pointed to the stairwell glowing with faint light. "Now let's move, soldiers," but then he was stopped.

There were tiny little clicks on the floor and from the darkness came a tiny black poodle with white fur over his face that looked like an abstract skull mask. The small stopped before the college student, blinking his beady black eyes and whined lightly.

"Shh, Brook," Phineas put a finger to his lips.

Brook the poodle did the exact opposite. The poodle started to bark like crazy. The boys saw the danger and tried to calm the dog down, but it was too late.

"Brook!" Ameria called from downstairs. "Brook! Come here and leave Cain alone!" and there were the footsteps coming closer and closer.

Mayday, mayday! Was the only thing going on in all the boys minds, expect for Phineas who was grinning like a madman; like he wanted this to happen.

Then Ameria's shadow blocked the light from downstairs that creeped up to the second floor. Then Brook went to her feet at the top step, barking at her legs as she stared at the unwelcome guests at her slumber party. The boys froze at being caught by Ameria and prepared themselves for the worst. Of course the situation only went further south when they heard another person coming up the stairs.

"You're awful quiet. What's wrong?" The voice of Mina called to Ameria as she appeared next to her friend, her head poking out behind the wall as her hand rested against the top step of the second floor. The brunette then saw what Ameria was staring at; seven little boys lined up against the wall with looks of guilt written all across their faces. Mina was as equally as surprised as Ameria, but she recovered soon after and started glaring at them with a look that could literally kill since all the boys inched away, minus Phineas because he was more focused on texting on his phone at that the moment.

But nonetheless... Oh boy, they were screwed.

"You want me to kick their asses?" Mina asked Ameria bluntly, cracking her knuckles with a look of disgusted disappointment on her face. "I'll be more than happy to kick them out the windows for you, second story or not."

"Now, now Mina," Ace tried to be the voice of reason with the younger girl, because he thought he had a chance. "Don't kill us until we explain ourselves," but the look on her face told him he was walking on very thin ice that was already cracked.

"Phineas!" Ameria then recovered her voice, her cheeks red with rage. "What the hell are you thinking! What if Dad was home? They'd be dead right about now!"

"What's going on?" Nami's voice was heard from downstairs.

"Is something wrong?" Vivi was next to call up.

"Sounds like trouble," Robin's voice was barely heard in the background.

"Gabriella!" Mina called down the stairs, making Kidd flinch when the name was yelled. "Your boyfriend is here! And Nami, Luffy and Sanji are here too!"

"Shit!" Kidd swore as he heard rapid footsteps coming up the stairs.

The ginger pushed down on Mina's shoulders, making the brunette lash out her hands to brace her balance so her chin wouldn't make contact with floor as Gabriella leaned over her to see what was going on. She was surprised to see her boyfriend standing in the middle of her friend's house and she opened her mouth to say something, but it was cut off by Madeline jumping onto her back.

"Killer~!" She swooned with pink cheeks and bright smile at the blonde. "I missed you~!"

Killer said nothing and simply slinked back behind Kidd's form to avoid the crazy stick teen.

Luckily, before Madeline could pounce, Nami pulled the girl away and took her place so she could look at the cornered boys. "What the hell guys!" She snapped that them, annoyed.

"Nami-swan!" Sanji twirled over to the orange haired girl, ignoring Mina's death glare entirely. "How I missed your beauty! Even at night your beauty is as bright as the sun!"

"Sanji... What're you doing here?" Nami said through clenched teeth. She was barely containing her rage.

"Why, to see you and all the other pretty ladies here," Sanji couldn't lie to a lady.

The boys in the room face-palmed, but Phineas who laughed his ass off because he just signed his death warrant.

Law sighed heavily and stood up; he wanted out of this mess. "I'm leaving," He said.

But as he went to leave, Phineas tripped the aspiring doctor so he landed flat on his face. Sending a glare to the college student, Phineas just smirked widely.

"Oh, hey Ameria," A voice suddenly said down the other end of the hall.

Heads whirled to see Zoro standing there with a bored look on his face as he scratched the back of his head and looked around.

"The fuck..." Kidd was highly confused.

"You too!" Nami screeched, pointing a finger at the no-sense-of-direction-teen.

"Wait... Where'd he come from?" Madeline asked from over Nami's shoulder.

"Dunno..." Zoro shrugged. "I think... The basement?"

"We're on the second floor..." Mina said, baffled; how did he get pass them?

Ameria just face-palmed even more.

Suddenly, more barking was heard and the little Jack Russell Terrier Loki was seen chasing the long nosed teenager down the hallway.

"Usopp!" Quite a few people cried.

The long nosed teenager ran pass the girls at the top of the stairs, pushing them out of the way, but he still ended up falling down them anyway.

Though, before anyone could even move, Cain's door burst open and the usually stoic young man had a glare that sent chills down everyone's back. He said nothing and just pointed to the stairs. Everyone got the hint and scrambled to the staircase and ran down it. But, Phineas took his sweet old time and kissed his older brother on the cheek while kicking up his leg. Before Cain could beat the living shit out of him, Phineas dashed away, giggling like a fool.

~...~

"Let's play spin the bottle!" Phineas declared, producing an empty glass bottle from the side.

"I APPROVE!" Sanji shouted with a pounding heart in his only visible eye.

Ameria said nothing and merely snatched the bottle from her older brother's hand and then whacked him with it upside the head. That was his idea of 'breaking the ice'. The two groups had relocated to the living room, all sitting in a circle with girls on one side and boys on the other. Gabriella was one of the only girls-along with Madeline-that wasn't exactly unhappy to see the boys. Kidd was her boyfriend and all...but this tension from the other girls angry and the guilt from the boys was killing the good mood that could have been there. So, she was about to change that.

"Why don't we play truth or dare?" Gabriella broke the ice properly with a smile. "That can be harmless, right? Maddie, why don't you go first; truth or dare?"

Madeline hummed in thought, and with a smile said: "Dare."

Gabriella could be so cruel, even to her best friend. "Call Smoker and talk to him for five minutes about how sexy tacos are."

"What!" Madeline yelped. "No way! I don't even have his number!"

Gabriella looked to Ace. "You're friends with him, right?"

Ace smirked. "More or less," and he pulled out his phone and gave Madeline the number of the prick known as Smoker.

"I can't believe I'm doing this..." Madeline mumbled as she put her phone on speaker so the ringer could be heard by all.

"Oh, oh! You should do an accent!" Phineas added with a grin. "A Mexican accent!"

"Ooh," Gabriella cooed with a wicked grin. "That's a good idea. Ah! And someone time it; five minutes."

Killer whipped out his phone and started timing, and everyone went silent when Smoker answered the call.

"Hello... Why are you calling me at three in the morning?"

"Hola, t'is is Chili and I'm calling to talk 'bout tacos," Madeline answered with her phony Mexican accent.

"...tacos?"

"You know tacos are attractive? Tacos so sexy! They are greasy and filled with gooey cheese that melts on inside, si?"

"...What the fuck? Who is this!"

"Tacos so yummy in my tummy that then turn me on. Tacos so fresh like man out of shower, si?"

"..."

"Tacos sexy!" And then Madeline hung up the phone when the time was up, her cheeks blaring red from the terrible experience. Everyone laughed at the misfortune and it was a sheer miracle that they didn't burst into laughter when she was on the phone.

Fed up with the laughing, Madeline pointed a finger right in Gabriella's face. "Truth or dare?"

Gabriella giggled, but she wouldn't fall for Madeline's little trap. "Truth," she replied with a sly grin.

Madeline was silent for a brief moment before she asked: "Is it true you did it with Kidd in the girl's locker room?"

All heads snapped towards the couple. Gabriella was not excepting that and her cheeks turned red as Kidd hung his head to avoid the looks.

"...Um...?" Gabriella stuttered. "... Pass," was all she said.

Usopp pointed an accusing finger at the couple. "That's a yes! You guys did it in the girl's locker room!"

Mina blinked in shock. "Seriously?"

"Oh my," Vivi gasped lightly and covered her mouth.

"That...was unexpected," Ameria admitted.

"And weird," Phineas giggled.

Kidd snapped up his head and scowled at the masses. "Shuddup!"

"Tsk, tsk, Mister Eustass," Law tched with a shake of his head.

"That's kinda...gross," Zoro pointed out. "Good thing it wasn't in the boy's locker room."

"Oh, leave them alone," Nami barked, throwing a pillow at Zoro and then at Law. "As long as it's for love it doesn't matter where. Unless it's in real, as in people are obviously there, public."

"That's right," Robin agreed with a nod.

"Hey, Ace," Luffy spoke up, looking to his older brother. "What's IT mean?"

"Err..." Ace mumbled, scratching the side of this cheek; not the time for the birds and the bees yet. "It's nothing, Luffy."

"But I want to know," Luffy demanded bluntly.

"Okay!" Gabriella clapped her hands together and laughed nervously. "Moving on. Truth or dare, Luffy?"

"Dare!" Luffy shouted, excited for whatever he'd have to do.

"Hm..." Gabriella thought, tapping her chin in thought. "I dare you to...give someone your hat for the night."

Luffy scowled; he didn't like the idea. He thought it would be something more exciting; plus he didn't like to give his hat to anyone unless it was of his own free will. But a dare was a dare and as much as he hated to part with his straw hat, he stood up and took his precious treasure from atop his head and place it upon Nami's orange hair.

"Alright... Nami!" Luffy chose the victim with a face splitting grin. "Truth or dare!"

The orange haired woman thought for a moment. "Truth," She then chose. Luffy probably would think of something stupid that she would mostly likely get hurt from, like jumping off a cliff.

Luffy was a little heartbroken that he didn't get to give her the dare, which he thought was the best in the world. Though, truth it was, which meant Luffy had to think long and hard for something he'd ask Nami about. "Were you the won who stole all of the teacher's wallets?" Luffy asked, remembering the lockdown the day before school was over.

Nami laughed heartily. "Yep," She laughed even more. "They were so easy to steal, too! Best part was I didn't even get caught!"

"Witch," Zoro deadpanned.

"Moss head! Don't insult Nami-swan!" Sanji glared at Zoro.

"Zoro, truth or dare," Nami challenged the green haired boy.

"Dare," Zoro replied bluntly.

"I dare you to compliment Sanji," The orange haired girl grinned. "And be nice about it too. Oh! And give him a hu—"

"I'm going to stop you right there!" Zoro sputtered, his eyes wide and his brows furrowed with rage. That witch! Then he looked to the blonde, scowling at him as Sanji scowled back. "I... Like... Your cooking... Sanji..." Zoro ground out. He then felt the need to wash his mouth out with something more dangerous than soap; bleach was needed.

"More convincingly," Nami ordered sternly.

"I like your cooking, Sanji," Zoro tried to put more enthusiasm into it while he tried to ignore the snickering from people around him.

"About time you appreciated it, moss head," Sanji said as he ignored Zoro's heated glare.

"Now hug it out," Nami added with a devious smirk as she crossed her arms.

"I refuse," both Zoro and Sanji said together.

Nami sighed, disappointed. "You really let me down... Sanji," and she frowned in that way that everyone in the room knew it was fake, but Sanji.

A flame of determination then came to Sanji's visible eye and he stood up with opened his arms wide and hugged the grouchy, green-haired teen, screaming: "FOR NAMI-SWAN!"

Zoro froze, completely uncomfortable. "I hope you fall into Hell," He then told Nami with a scowl.

"Yes, yes," Nami waved him off. "I'll be sure to save you a seat."

"Alright, Dartboard Brow," Zoro addressed Sanji and violently pushed him away. "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare," The aspiring cook said without hesitation.

Now, Zoro could have done anything to get on Sanji's nerves, but right now he was madder at Nami for making such a scene that everyone snickered at. Oh, he was going to get back at her. "I dare you to take Nami's bra off and give her a massage."

Sanji turned to stone, a heart in his eye and nosebleed gushing from his nostrils.

Nami gasped and covered her chest protectively.

"Damn Zoro," Kidd whistled with a smirk and glance at Nami, which made Gabriella glare at her boyfriend and punch him in the arm.

"Err..." Mina fidgeted awkwardly in her seat. "Is this allowed?"

"Yes," Phineas was frank. "Once a dare is stated it must be done!"

All the boys huddled around Sanji as the blonde creeped closer to the vulnerable Nami. There were red blushes on all their cheeks, which made a certain ginger upset and storm out of the room when a certain redhead swooned over the orange-haired beauty. Kidd picked up on the danger and left the room to fix the problem.

Nami blushed as well, but she huffed. "Fine, I'll do it," and all the boys gasped. "BUT! You all have to give me 1000 dollars each," she told them with a sly smirk all the boys gasped in shock and pulled Sanji away and restrained him.

"He can't preform the dare," Law bluntly told the room as Killer and Zoro held the crazed beast known as Sanji back.

"Then it's time to move on!" Phineas cleared. "Alrighty, who wants to go next? Oh! I will!" He hummed as he scanned the room and his eyes landed on Killer. A mischievous smirk came to his lips and he pointed to Killer with a confident finger. "Seven minutes in heaven with Madeline!"

"YEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" Madeline jumped onto her feet and shouted with glee.

Killer was silent with a deep frown on his lips as he shot up and went over to the open window and leaped out.

"Well, looks like he can't perform his dare," Usopp stated the obvious.

"I CAN BEFORE MINE AND HIS!" Sanji shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Can it, Curly-cue!" Zoro barked as he held them back.

"I can still preform!" Madeline declared and dashed out the window to try and find her Baby Killer.

Phineas clapped at the mayhem he caused, which earned him a smack in the back of the head from his baby sister.

"Okay, I think that truth or dare is over," Ameria sighed and crawled over to the coffee table that held cabinets. "Let's just pick out a movie. Mina help me pick one out."

The brunette nodded and scooted over to help her, but then the something happened to poor Law. Sanji lost his mind over the thought of touching Nami's bare skin and he broke away from Zoro's restrains and rushed her, which made Law fall over. Merely on the floor, but that was the only the first time he fell on the floor. Sanji was close to getting to Nami, but Robin and Vivi protected her by smacking the blonde away with pillows. Sanji stumbled backward, bumping into Law again. Now, Law had stood up to leave and avoid the out of control area, but it was too late. He fell onto both Mina and Ameria when both girls had turned around. His hands had pushed them against the coffee table, but that's not all.

Each of his hands clutched one of the girls' breasts, but he snatched his hands away just as quick.

Everyone stared, the ones being stared at turned red and it was silent, until Phineas spoke.

"I'm telling Justin!" He shouted and pointed to his baby sister.

"Who's Justin?" Luffy asked blankly, his innocent mind not entirely understanding the awkward moment, but he still knew it was there.

"My boyfriend," Ameria answered Luffy and then she looked to her older brother. "And it was an accident, Phineas!"

"That's all it better have been too," Mina muttered as she crossed her arms over her chest protectively. Surprisingly, she didn't punch him out.

The boys all looked at her in shock. "You have a boyfriend!"

But before anyone could say anything else, the entrance door flew off its hinges and clattered to the floor. There was heavy breathing and thundering stomps as a man clad in camouflage stormed into the house, his expression of pure death on his face as he held a hunting rifle in his hand and a large knife glistened in the light dangerously.

And the man hissed: "Boys. Boys in my house!"

"Woo-hoo!" Phineas then suddenly shouted and jumped with glee. "Operation get everyone in trouble: success!" and then he dashed away, laughing like a maniac.

Beta read (and co-authored) by praeses