Chapter 1
The Twin Cape Monstro
"So this is the Grand Line, the Greatest Sea in the World...! Full speed ahead!"
Maxwell laughs, listening to his captain's enthusiasm. The wind blows in their face as they sail down into the Grand Line. He turns around to re-enter the cabin but a mysterious noise stops him.
*Buoooh*
"Hm? Did you hear something just now?" Zoro noticed the sound too.
"Who cares! Woohoo!" Luffy just enjoys the ride.
Nami seemed to have an explanation, "I wouldn't be surprised if that's just the wind. The terrain here is quite odd after all." The Merry descends into the cloud cover.
*BUOOHH*
Usopp fixes his goggles on something, "What's that..."
"Nami! There's a mountain up ahead!" calls Sanji.
"A mountain?" Nami looks up at the cook, "That can't be! Once we pass the Twin Capes we should reach the open sea."
Luffy and Maxwell take a closer look as the get past the cloud cover. And they could not believe their eyes.
*BUOOOHHH*
"WHAT IN ANDRASTE'S NAME IS THAT!?" "That's no mountain! It's a whale!"
*BUOOOHHH!*
The massive black whale stood up in the water in front of the Twin Capes. It stood large enough to dwarf anything that could be considered man made and had scars littering the front of it's snout.
"What do we do!?" "Should we fight!?" "Are you kidding!? How the heck are we suppose to fight something that big!?" "But it's blocking our way!
Sanji grimaces, "We're too close to see anything! It just looks just like a giant wall! Where are it's eyes!?"
"Ah, that's right! Maybe the whale hasn't noticed us yet!" yells Nami.
Zorro approaches the bow, "Well if we don't do anything soon, we're gonna crash!" He sees a passage and points at it, "There's an open space to the left!"
Maxwell starts yelling orders, "Turn to port! Usopp! Sanji! Back to the rudder!" He unfurls the sails to hopefully slow them down.
"I've got an idea!" Luffy jumps down and into the ship.
"Max! The rudder won't budge!"
"WHAT!?" Maxwell immediate runs back to the control room, seeing Sanji and Usopp trying their best to budge the rudder, "Damn it! Keep trying!" He runs out, as Usopp redoubles his efforts with Sanji. "Zoro! Help the others at the rudder!" Zoro immediately runs into the cabin. Maxwell heads to the poop deck and looks over the rails at the fin.
Maxwell energizes the ship, focusing on the rudder, "Now, pull!" Wood creeks as Maxwell tries to get the ship to turn. Meanwhile, Usopp, Sanji, and Zoro pull on the lever with all their might. It seems to be doing something. They're turning!
But it isn't enough to prevent their collision!
*BOOM!*
The frontal cannon fires off at the bow. Everyone freezes realizing what Luffy has done.
The bow of the Merry hits into the whale like a mosquito. Admittedly, the cannon was a smart idea, it slowed them down. But the sheep head still breaks off and falls back onto the main deck.
A giant eye opens and the crew looks up in silence. It seems the whale hasn't noticed at all.
"N... No'w our chance! Run for it!" Zoro grabs an oar and immediately heads to the mounts. Maxwell curls the sails so they can row.
Usopp and Sanji grab the other one and start rowing with Zoro, "What's with this thing!? Did it not even feel that cannonball just now!? Maybe it's just really slow!" "Who the hell cares! Let's just get out of here!"
*BUOOOHHH!*
Everyone flinches at the low loud song, but that doesn't stop them from rowing.
Luffy stands up at the bow, looking at the whales eyeball, "How dare... you destroy... MY SPECIAL SEAT!" and rockets an elastic punch at the titans retina.
"YOU IDIOT!" The iris turns down to their ship, "IT SAW US!"
Luffy puts up his dukes and stares back, "Come at me, you bastard!"
"Just shut the hell up already!" Zoro and Usopp kick him in the back of the head. But the deed is done. The whale opens it's giant maw and water rushes into the titan's mouth. The Merry is swept into it's current with the crew screaming to get a grip.
"Luffy!" Their captain is thrown overboard, and the crew lose sight of him a they are funnelled down into it's jaws.
"Ugh... Sound off, everyone alright?" Maxwell pushes himself off the deck as they recover from their ride down the gullet.
"...Yeah." "Still here." "Well, that was rough..." "Holy crap, we're alive!"
"No wait, or are we dead?" asked Usopp. It was dark for the most part, no light shone where ever they were.
"Usopp, if we were dead, I'd be before the Maker's and you all would be going wherever you believe in." Maxwell conjures a fireball to illuminate the darkness they were sailing through. The others joined him as he had their only source of light, "Any suggestions?"
"...The water seems to be flowing that way," says Nami. "At this point, I don't think we have a choice but to follow... Wait, what's that?" They all look to see a glimmer of light, like the end of a tunnel. The water seems to be bringing them towards it, so they don't change course.
When they reach the light, The Going Merry seems to be back out on the ocean again. Blue skies, cloud, seabirds, their was even a small island, with a hut, a boat, and a lawn chair under a palm tree.
"What do you make of this, Max...?" asks Zoro. Everyone looks at the island confused.
"Yeah, what's your explanation for this..." Sanji echoes. "I could've sworn we were swallowed up by a whale, but are we just dreaming or something?"
"...Yeah, this has got to be a dream...," says Zoro.
"No...," Maxwell takes in their surroundings, "This is not a dream... I would know if we had crossed into the Fade..."
Usopp pipes up, "Didn't you say the Fade was the Realm of Dreams? Anything can happen in a dream."
"Yeah but...," He looks around confused, "All I can say is that this is real."
"Then... what's with the house on that island?" asks Usopp.
"Must be an illusion," says Zoro.
A giant squid appears. "Then what about this?" asked Sanji.
"ITS A GIANT SQUID!" Both Nami and Usopp jump onto the floor and cover their heads, not wanting to be eaten. But before the creature could do anything, three harpoons pierce it's hood. The monster shakes in shock, then dies as it falls back onto the water.
The Zoro and Sanji stand at the ready, "Seems like there's someone here." "Let's hope it is a person."
Maxwell approaches the others, "You guys alright?" Both of them had tears in their eyes.
"B-By the way, where did Luffy go...?" "I've had enough... I wanna go home..."
Maxwell hears the sound of gears turning, as the squid is slowly dragged to the island. "M-Maybe we should just open fire!" suggests Usopp.
Sanji notices something though, "Hang on, someone's coming out...! It's a flower!"
"A flower!?"
Crocus comes outside holding the ropes spearing the squid, "Wait, no! Its's a person!"
"What's with him... That old man took out that giant squid with one blow! ...Was he just fishing or did he do that to save us?"
The old man stares at the pirate crew. Maxwell can feel something from the old man, like as if a stone was dropped into a pool and the ripples expanded. It was giving him a headache.
...
...
...
The old man reclines on his chair and opens a news paper.
"SAY SOMETHING!" demands Sanji.
Crocus just looks at them.
Usopp points at the old man, "I-I-If it's a fight you want, t-then you've got one! We have a cannon on our side!"
"...Don't, or someone might end up dead..."
"...Oh? And just who would that be...?" Sanji challenges.
"Me," says Crocus.
"YOU!?" Sanji starts getting steamed up, "That gramps thinks he can make a fool out of me—!?"
Zoro pushes the cook back, "Now, now, get so worked up. Hey old man. Would you mind telling us just who you are and just where exactly this place is?"
"...It's common courtesy to introduce yourself before asking others questions, you know."
"Oh right... Sorry about that—" "My name is Crocus, the lighthouse keeper of the Twin Capes. I'm 71 years old, a Gemini, and type AB blood."
"NOBODY MINDS IF I KILL HIM, RIGHT!?"
The rolls reverse and Sanji pats his back, "Calm down."
Crocus calls out to them, "You're wondering where this place is? You first trespass in my private resort and then start mouthing off with that kind of attitude? Does this place look like the stomach of a mouse!?"
"S... So then we really must've been swallowed by a whale," Usopp grimaces.
Nami starts to get worried, "What do we do...!? I don't want to be digested!"
"If it's an expect you want, it's right over there," the old man points out.
"You can get out of here!?"
Everyone looks to see a giant door far off in the stomach, with some sort of scaffolding. "Why is there an exit inside a whale's stomach?"
"And how is it that a door is floating in the sky?" "No wait... If you look carefully, the skies, and the clouds are all just a painting...! The inside of the whale's stomach has been painted over!"
Crocus turns back to his newspaper, "That's just my way of having a good time."
"Just what the heck are you doing in here anyways!?" demands Usopp.
Zoro grabs his shoulder, "Just leave him be. We've found an exit so let's just get out of here."
A low moan echoes throughout the whale. Sea water chops as the miniature world shakes around them. This snaps Maxwell out of his trance and headache, "What's that!?"
"So he's started again, has he..." Corcus stands up as the ways rock his little island, revealing the iron underside of the floating rock.
Usopp calls out, fully realizing where they were, "Hey! What's going on!? Give us an explanation!"
Crocus looks over at them, "This whale, has started bashing his head against the Red Line again."
"What!?" the guys all grimace.
"Now that he mentions it," Nami thinks back to when they were outside, "I remember that whale's forehead was covered in scars...! And it was bellowing up at the sky!"
"What does it all mean?" asks Usopp.
"It means that it's in pain...," says Maxwell, watching as the sky shook under some impact.
"He must be trying to kill this Wallace from the inside!" "What a nasty way to kill something...!"
"No. If it's hitting it's head—"
"Well if the mystery's been solved, let's leave already. We'll be dissolved if we hang around any longer." "That's right. I don't have anything against whaling and it's not like we're obligated to save this whale either. So let's just get out of here."
The world shakes again as the whale smashes into the mountain. "Hey if this whale keeps on rampaging like this, it's going to be hard to even reach the exit!"
"Well if we don't hurry, our lives and Luffy's, will be in danger," Nami talks back to Usopp. "He's not inside with us. I saw him escape outside the whale's mouth!"
Usopp notices Crocus off his island, "Ah! That old man just jumped in!"
"What is he trying to do? He's going to get himself dissolved!" Sanji had seen the same thing. Maxwell is just able to make out Crocus swimming in the fluid.
Usopp grimaces, "He's swimming towards the exit. We should hurry up and make our way to the exit before the whale gets anymore violent."
The ship rocks as the whale collides once again, making everyone stumble. "We've got on choice but to row!" declares Zoro. The swordsman grabs an oar and Usopp and Sanji team up again. Maxwell heads to the control room while Nami stays as look out.
They sail coloser the the giant doors in the whale's stomach. The waves still choppy from the whales movement. But as they get close, the crew notice three people jump off the platform, "L-Luffy...!?"
"Guys! You're alright! Well in that case just help me out!" He crashes into the water and the other two people come up for air.
Usopp spots Crocus climbing one of the ladders, "Hey that old man is running away!"
"Forget about him. Saving Luffy come first. Max!" Zoro calls to the mage. He comes out of the control room. "I need one of those barriers you got!"
"Got it," Maxwell casts his spell on Zoro. He also casts one on Sanji so they could jump in and collect the people overboard. Luffy sits on the railing after he's been fished out. The two strangers just sit on the deck, exhausted.
Nami looks up at the ceiling, "The whale seems to have calmed down..." Everyone is reunited, gathered on the bow deck, and with some guests. Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday. They weren't talking though.
"Well? Who are you?" asks Maxwell. They weren't exactly normal, given their getups.
An angry voice calls from above, "I won't let you lay even a single finger on Laboon for as long as I live!" Crocus had come back, up on the platform.
"Who's the old man?" asks Luffy.
The woman laughs and the man speaks up, "Oh... But we're on the inside of the whale now..." They aim their bazookas at the stomach lining, "It'll be only to easy—"
*CRACK. HISS*
"—c-c-c-cold!" Both of the strangers were caught in Maxwell's Winter's Grasp. He's seen enough gaatlok weapons in this world to recognize them. He gestures to Zoro and Sanji to take their weapons, and the two do so, be it reluctantly.
"...So he was trying to protect the whale?" asks Nami.
"Seems like it," responds Maxwell, keeping his eyes on the strangers. "If the elder was giving this whale a stomach ache, I doubt bashing it's face in would be the proper response."
"I'm not sure what's going on, but let's hold on to these guys for now," Luffy knocks them out.