Welp guys I'm back with more of this story. Thanks for being patient with my short break and now that all the guests have left, I can finally get back into writing.

So without further ado, welcome back to the madness

The Grand Line

Getting acquainted with Nico Robin was not difficult. Nami for one loved having another girl on the ship so she wouldn't always be surrounded by the idiots she called Nakama. Sanji loved the idea of having another lady on board because now he had a chance at having both Robin and Nami fall in love with him… Which wouldn't happen any time soon. Usopp was fine with the decision, after all Luffy was the Captain and if he could trust Robin than so could Usopp. Zoro found Robin interesting at the most. He told her that being a Straw Hat won't be like an ordinary pirate crew and that this is going to be a weird journey but Robin would just smile and say she's prepared for it. And then Zoro told her to never interrupt him when he was training or taking a nap. And she respectfully listened to Zoro's request.

Robin had some belongings with her, the necessary clothes she needed and some books for her to read when she was doing nothing. She had a bit of money for herself and was feeling right at home with this bunch. Even though she was close to the Revolutionary people, having Luffy around made her feel relaxed. Remembering what Dragon and Luffy had said before she left with Luffy, she smiled and had finally found a home worth living in.

But she knew that wouldn't stop her enemies. But knowing just who Luffy is, she was content with people from the World Government coming after her only because Luffy would be there to fight for her and she knew that she would have to help him achieve his goal.

Seeing Luffy play with Usopp, Zoro sleeping, Sanji cooking and Nami tending her tangerines all Robin could do is smile at that scene. Everyone looks happy (including Nami even though she was trying to figure out how this Reverse Mountain would work)

"NAMI" yells Luffy

"What now Luffy?" she says, annoyed that Luffy broke her moments of peace

"We're getting close to Reverse Mountain"

"I hope you are right with this current going upwards because if you are not, I'll kill you!" she says silently praying that Luffy was right. She didn't want to come this far and die because of a stupid mountain

"Don't worry Navigator-san. Luffy is correct on this matter. As we get closer to the mountain you'll understand what he means with the current."

"I know what he means with the currents, but it is really possible?"

"The Grand Line is not like the normal sea. Normal rules don't apply to it."

"I know that. Luffy told me as much as he could remember about the Grand Line and apparently he calls it Paradise because this New World is even more dangerous."

"Well do you trust Luffy?" Robin asks

"Of course I trust him. It's just my instinctual doubt I have."

"I see" Robin says as she smiles "Even though Luffy was still only a child in my eyes he told me we could be monsters together back when I met him. Although my instincts told me not to believe it, I trusted him. And he proved it to me back when I left with him."

"What did he prove, if you don't mind me asking" says Nami to the newest crew member

"Dragon said I'll have enemies chasing after me because I can do things no one else can. He said they'll be tough to handle and all Luffy said was that he'll protect me from anything."

"That's when I stopped having my instinctual feeling of being alone. As long as he's there, we'll be fine."

Nami giggles with a random thought "Did you know Luffy is the son of Whitebeard. Well not really but he was raised with him."

"Yes. I saw him with that family of his. Nice bunch of people. Always looking after one another" she says as she remembers them helping her when Marines and Bounty Hunters cornered her

"Well Whitebeard is heavy on protecting his family, from some of the stories I've heard, and I think that's where Luffy got his protective traits from."

"I am sure he did. I wonder if we'll ever meet him." she said looking at the mountain that was in their sight

"I want to meet him." Nami says as she looks ahead towards the sea, she could see the mountain in the distant and was looking around to see the currents

"And why is that, if I may ask" Robin says with a smile

"I want to thank him for raising a selfless son."And after that, the two were silent as they were looking at the crew, the sea and the mountain as they were sailing towards it.

After about another hour of sailing, the mountain was clearer and Nami saw a gap which was large enough for a ship to enter and she noticed the wind and current both leading towards that same gap.

Now she understood what Reverse Mountain was. It was literally what the name said. The wind and current would push the ship up to a point and then lead to another side where eventually they would have to come down and get to the other side.

"Luffy, I guess you were right." She says with a smile on her face

"PARADISE!" the Straw Hat captain yells

"Shut up Luffy, we didn't cross this mountain yet." Says Usopp, praying that this climb would go properly "Don't jinx it."

As the ascension was about to happen, Luffy told them that the way down would be much more fun than going up and for some reason that made both Usopp and Nami sick to their stomachs, both saying "What do you mean by fun?" with eyes that had fear in them

"You'll see" was all Luffy said with a mischievous smile "At the most you'll get is a little wet because of the water." and Luffy walked away from the two of them.

"I don't like that smile Usopp."

"Fear not, brave Captain Usopp will protect… Nami…" she cuts himself off with shaking legs "What?" with a bit of fear in her eyes after seeing Usopp shake his legs "How tall is this mountain?"

"Why the fuck would I…" understanding what Usopp meant with the question "You don't think…"

"ROBIN!" both yell "Are we going to fall once we reach the top!?"

"Yes." She says and leaves it at that, putting on what seemed to be a raincoat

"Usopp, if we get out of this alive, will you be the safest Captain ever?"

"Yes." He replies and the two try to prepare themselves for a free fall from the top of the mountain.

As they were slowly climbing the mountain, Nami was both impressed and somewhat scared at how easily they were climbing the mountain. For some reason, this had seemed too easy. It wasn't as dangerous as she hoped and she didn't know if that was a bad thing or a good thing. Knowing her luck and knowing the Captain of the Straw Hats, she took this as a blessing and that this would be a smooth trip towards the Grand Line but nope. Once she got to the top of the mountain and knew that they were going to descend real soon, she hoped they wouldn't fall with speed but to her luck, the wind blowing hard and the currents was a little too fast down the mountain and that's when Nami knew. She fucked up. Usopp came running towards Nami and the two were huddled up together and saying a silent prayer hoping that they would fall slowly and that the ship would not get destroyed by going down the mountain.

Luffy loved roller coasters ever since he went to Sabaody, Luffy loved the thrill of the first drop and this was exactly like a roller coaster. Going up slow, looking at the view for a moment and then it goes down at a high speed. He remembered trying to get Pops on the ride but he was a little bit too tall otherwise he would have joined his youngest son in a roller coaster ride. So he was stuck with his caretakers and to this day they remember the priceless face of little Luffy being scared when going up but having a big smile once the drop came. Marco and Davy knew how to fly so thy were completely fine with heights, Mika was okay with heights, she didn't mind them but she didn't want to go on a coaster alone while Thatch never been on a roller coaster until Luffy. Even though Luffy was a little bit too short to ride on the coasters, he had two guys that could fly in case he did fall and two arms holding him during the rides. This was different however. Shanks told him that "this drop is a test for your ship and it's people on board. If you have the will to become a great Pirate, then going through this should be easy and there is no need to worry. But if the ship gets damaged or even the crew get scared to the point where they don't want to continue their journey, this drop would prove that point. So be careful on who you pick in your crew Luffy." Luffy was pretty sure that Shanks was bluffing and whatnot but this is the moment he would find out.

Sanji and Zoro looked at the drop and Zoro was the one to speak between the two "I wouldn't call this a roller coaster but this might be the closest thing we get."

"Might as well enjoy this then." Sanji says shrugging his shoulders and throwing the finished cigarette over board.

"YOSH HERE WE GO GUYS!" and the whole crew looks at the ship as it was going to drop any second now and with an excited Luffy, an impressed Zoro and Sanji, an expressionless Robin but she seemed to be enjoying this fall and a very scared Usopp and Nami the ship goes through the drop. The drop was quite long but it was going fast and when it reached the bottom, the whole crew was soaking. Luffy was on the floor half dead due to being weak from the devil fruit and seawater, Robin took off her raincoat and somehow she was completely dry, Nami and Usopp were celebrating to God that they lived through this experience while Zoro and Sanji were both standing without moving a muscle but both were soaked and were looking at something in front of them. Both yelled "What the hell is that?!" and they saw a huge wall blocking their path to go across but Luffy knew that wasn't a wall. It was Laboon.

"LABOON!" and two giant eyes opened, scaring the whole crew (except Robin) "LABOON!" Luffy yelled once more, trying to get the attention of the huge thing.

"Oi Luffy is that you?" another voice yells back and Usopp thought the object spoke and was shaking his legs as if his legs were having a dance competition with one another

"Corcus-san!" yells Luffy, who was excited to see the old man but he could not find him at the moment.

"Well look at that Laboon, it's the brat again." Crocus says while he was still hidden from the group

"Excuse me sir, but where are you?" Nami says and Crocus finally shows himself to the Straw Hats

"So Luffy are these the Nakama you spoke of?"

"Yes, they're the best. They are gonna help me become Pirate King and I'll help them achieve their goals as well."

"Good man." he says plainly "Well it looks like your ship took very little damage so I suggest you repair them. It'll take a short time to do so, but for right now, you guys can relax for a bit." looking at Usopp who was throwing up "That poor kid looks like he needs a rest." Looking around at the capes, they noticed that this large creature was a whale. Sanji took a look at the whale and he noticed that there were many scars on the head of the whale and that there was a skull with two crossbones drawn terribly on the creatures forehead. He showed Nami, who was trying to somewhat relax herself by sitting down on a rock and dipping her feet in the water.

"Nami-swan, is it me or does that whale have a skull drawn in it?" She carefully paid more attention to the head of the whale and she could notice the many scars on top and the terribly drawn skull.

"Excuse me Mr. Crocus-san" she asks as he looks up from reading the newspaper

"Yes."

"Why does that whale have scars and something drawn by Luffy?" He laughs and Luffy does so with him as well.

"That my dear, is quite an interesting tale... Luffy would you like to tell them or shall I?" he says with an odd expression on his face

"I think you should. You know Laboon more than I do."

"Well then you brats, gather up " he says and all the Straw Hats sat down and dipped their feet in the water. Crocus got out his chair and sat by the group, all of whom were looking at the magnificent Island Whale of the seas.

"There was once a pirate group that came by here many years ago even before I became a pirate and they were a lively bunch. Always liked to party and had good morals. I liked them. And following them along their journey was the little whale Laboon." he says as he remembers those days when the Rumbar Pirates had come through the capes "Now Laboon was only a baby whale at the time that got separated from his parents a long time ago and was found and was taken care by these groups of pirates."

"So before they left, they promised to return and reunite with the whale once more. But they never came back"

"The reason why this poor whale has scars on its head is because of the fact that it wanted to break the mountain to see his Nakama once more."

"Haven't you told the poor animal?" says Nami as she along with the rest of crew seemed shocked

"I've told him. But he didn't want to believe me. So after many years of him bashing his head against the wall, a couple of years ago, Luffy came along and fought with Laboon. Then he made a promise. When he becomes Pirate King, he'll fight with Laboon and there will be a winner to their fight. Right ow however, Luffy lets Laboon him him a couple of times, but I do know one thing."

"What's that?" asks Robin

"Luffy will keep that promise. There is something to Luffy which he doesn't see but Luffy is and will be a man of his word."

"That we can all agree upon" says the rest of his crew in unison "He'll be the next Pirate King."

After a while when the story was done, Crocus had let the group rest, eat and sleep for their long journey ahead of them and Nami wanted to talk to him about how to navigate properly through the Grand Line. She got a got more information from Crocus even though he was a doctor for a group of pirates but even still he knew how about navigation in the hellish seas. Nami felt more confident with what she was being told and she knew she could navigate them to their destination. She then decided that this day would be spent in some rest so that tomorrow the journey can officially start.

Zoro was taking a nap while Sanji was cooking some food for the group. Usopp ad Luffy were painting a Straw Hat on Laboon so it would be complete and as this was going on, the two of them could easily tell that Laboon was happy to have Nakama once more. Now it was up to Luffy to keep his side of the promise. To return after he becomes Pirate King.

Robin was in the small shack taking a shower while Crocus was out watching Luffy and Usopp paint the Hat on Laboon so that he would officially become a member of the Straw Hat pirates as well.

By the time that was done, everyone was eating freshly caught fish cooked by none other than Sanji. It didn't take Sanji too long to make stuff with the amount of resources he had but he knew he had carefully use the supplies to last because no one would know when they would reach another island.

So after eating dinner and getting some rest, only three of the Straw Hats were awake. First being Luffy, who was sitting by Laboon and talking to the whale, telling it stories and singing Binks Sake along with the Idiots and Island song. Zoro was also up and he was keeping watch and doing some training. He felt that his reaction time was slow for some reason so he was meditating, using his Observation Haki as his sight during the time of meditation. The third person that was awake was Nico Robin. She was sitting down by the fire that was kept alive and was reading a book. She enjoyed her alone time and she knew she wouldn't get a lot of it now that she was apart of the crew but still she had enjoyed it. The warmth of the fire was comforting, the snoring from Usopp wasn't bothering her, the heat from Nami's head that was on her lap was nice as well and the constant twisting and turning from Sanji made Robin wonder what the cook was dreaming about. Robin knew she made the right choice. She would enjoy this journey as much as she could and she knew that there was a certain Captain that would look after his crew and make sure that if anyone were to hurt them, they would definitely be in trouble.

So as the night was passing silently, Robin slowly went to sleep because of her devil fruit powers, she was able to lay down beside Nami and the two of them slept together. Usopp wasn't too far off. Sanji was separated from them because he was acting creepy, in the words of both Nami and Zoro. And even Laboon went to sleep. So the only two that were awake was Captain and First Mate who was done with his meditation. Zoro got up and sat by Luffy, bringing a small blanket to make sure Luffy was warm but he didn't realize that Luffy too had a small fire going, enough to keep him warm.

"Get some sleep Luffy. You're the Captain... You need it."

"Nah it's fine. I like the night. Especially a calm and relaxing night like this." he says with a smile

"Missing your family?" Zoro asks, as he pulls himself closer to the fire. Luffy took notice that the fire wasn't too big to keep them both warm so he made the fire a little bit bigger.

"Yeah. They took care of me for 17 years. And now I'm off with you guys." he says with a somewhat sad smile

"I'm pretty sure you can call them at any time and they would answer because they are worried about you. Even though you are strong and they know you are strong, family still worries about one another."

"It's not that... It's just that what if I don't get to see them again. What if they aren't going to be there when I become absolutely free."

Zoro chuckled "I don't think anyone can kill Whitebeard and take out his crew. I hear there are a few monsters on the Moby Dick that can tear the seas just by themselves if they wanted to." And Luffy knew who Zoro was speaking of. There was Ace and Sabo who became unbelievably strong, even stronger than Luffy by a small margin. Then there was that Kratos kid who had the one Devil Fruit that could match Blackbeard's. Then there were the division commanders who were of course led by Marco, the first mate of Whitebeard and then there was Davy D. Jones who was apart of the Roger Pirates and who found another home with Whitebeard after spending many years looking after his nephew. And of course there was the Old Man himself. The Strongest Pirate in the World. The one man who everyone either feared or respected. There wasn't a living soul on the Earth that did not know the name Whitebeard.

"And plus, we are heading to the Grand Line, the parts of the seas where you grew up in and what you say is our training grounds to make us stronger before we go back to your home in this New World. I don't think it'll take us that long to go through this with the crew we have."

All Luffy could do was smile. His first mate was really something else. Normally, Zoro wouldn't how much emotion, but when it comes to the Captain, Luffy was the first friend Zoro had besides Kunia who had passed away many years ago. Having Luffy around was something that Zoro would need, even if he didn't realize it for the time being.

After a while, the two of them fell asleep. Separated by the fire in between them, neither did not know when the other went to sleep but they just did. Only to wake up by a screeching Laboon. When all of the Straw Hats were up, they saw Crocus trying to defend Laboon off as best as he could and they all had noticed that someone had a missile launcher and it was aimed for Laboon and Crocus. By the time it was fired, Zoro had already jumped into action. Giving an air slash attack, the missile was cut down with no difficulty and he tried reaching the shooter but Luffy was one step ahead. He flew towards the shooter had tackled him down. Kicking the launcher away, making it fall in the sea, he picks up the man and for some reason Luffy thought he was an elf with a crown. Stopping a laugh from coming, Luffy punched the man once and knocked him out cold.

Taking him to the lighthouse where they were met by the rest of the Straw Hat crew, there seemed to be another partner coming out of nowhere and tried to attack the group. Key word being tried. This time it was a woman who attack and was easily stopped by Robin who had used her devil fruit powers to stop the woman. As they two were tied up, the group was talking on what they should do ith the two of them and they were also speaking to Crocus. For about 5 minutes the group was talking and then Luffy made his decision.

He walked up to the man and woman and said "Do you have a pose to get you guys back to where you came?"

"Yes we do." says the man

"Ok great. Now go swim there."

"Wait please, drop us off to out island. I swear we won't be a bother to you or your crew." says the woman with blue hair

"And why should I believe you? You were trying to attack my friends." says Luffy

"Because we needed food and the whale can feed our whole island for years." Luffy could tell she was lying, but there was just something about her that gave an odd feeling. He couldn't put on what it was but he felt different around her for some reason. As if there is more to her than meets the eye.

"Fine. But you guys will be doing work around my ship. Which one of you knows how to navigate?" and the man in green says he can "Great now go on the ship and get us to wherever you need to go." And Robin with her useful devil fruit powers helped the duo get on the ship while the rest were saying their goodbyes. Luffy took quite some time with Laboon only becuase he wanted to make sure that the whale would keep his promise and wait for him. He also made a promise to himself hoping to find something about that Rumbar Pirate crew that he knew was long dead.

The rest of the crew had said goodbye to Crocus and were waiting on the ship for Luffy while Crocus and Luffy were in a conversation

"So boy, do you think you are ready?"

"I don't know. I mean I have my crew and all and Pops and the rest have trained me but it's a weird feeling."

"Well kid I'll tell you this now because you are grown up. The seas are much different when you venture out alone with a crew. You've lived all your life in the protection of the Old Man and people know not to mess with you. But then you also have a somewhat high bounty at 100 000 000 so people will come for your head. You may be prepared for the enemies you are about to encounter and mind you this is only the Grand Line, there are tough opponents here too. But when it comes down to it, enjoy your journey. Don't get too caught up with this whole Pirate King thing. Sail from today in freedom. To do what you want to do." Crocus says with a smile "Let me ask you this, what does Pirate King mean to you?"

"It means that he is the most free person in the whole world. He can do whatever he wants with freedom. To sail the seas without any care about rules or other pirates, that is what the Pirate King is. And that WILL be me." Luffy says in all seriousness making Crocus' smile even wider. The two said goodbye after a quick hug and as Luffy got on the ship and was sailing off, Crocus was stuck in his thoughts

This kid... He is the one you wait for Roger. I can bet on that. Just as Newgate has and your underling brat Shanks. Just wait on it. He'll become King of the Seas and he sees the Going Merry sailing off to the horizon. "Well Laboon, he left. I can guarantee the next time you see him, He'll be Pirate King.

Ok so this chapter was shorter than I had hoped for and that's because well I've legit been so busy with things. But like I've had little to no time in writing and it was killing me that I hadn't updated in so long so I'm saying fuck it and here you guys go. Now the Next chapter will be Whiskey Peak and that hopefully will be longer than this. And in all honesty I think this is one of my bad chapter, now I don't think that's the best thing to say but this chapter didn't have much exciting scenes in here so my bad on that. But keep an eye out for the next chapter in a week and a half or so.