Disclaimer: One Piece is not owned by me. Uh huh, it would be wayyy to much for me to handle.
You know what's next- read on.
"Nami, this is bad!" Luffy shouted from his position on Merry's head. He was hanging upside down with his hands behind his back and staring forward, not at all worried about the roaring sea below him. "The light just went out! And that was our guiding light too!"
"Well, it is only a lighthouse." Nami replied, standing beside the railing in her large blue raincoat with Moshi on her shoulder and a map in her hands. "It can go out from time to time. Besides it's for times like these you have a navigator, you know? So don't worry. I know the basic direction at least."
"Wow." Luffy poked his head up and smiled at her, the hair poking out from under his hat dripping wet from the rain. "You're amazing!"
"More importantly, could you please get off from there?"
"No!" Luffy pouted. "This is my spot!"
"When did I ever say I wanted your spot?!" Nami yelled, her teeth becoming fang like in a comical way. But her face grew serious at her next words. "But this is rather troubling...at this rate, it will be exactly as the rumors say!"
Gucha.
"The entrance to the Grand Line is a mountain." Nami placed the map onto the table and glanced at each of her crewmates.
Everyone was seated in the kitchen, drinking orange juice from tall glasses. Moshi was seated on the table, close to Usopp, and was drinking something Sanji had given him out of a small bowl. He looked up at her words.
"A mountain?!" Usopp's jaw dropped. "No way!"
"I had a hard time believing it myself when I looked at the map." Nami calmly stated. "But look!" She pointed towards the map and everyone leaned in to take a look. "The light of guidance was directly pointing at Reverse Mountain located right here on the Red Line."
"Does that mean we have to crash through the mountain?" Zoro asked, glancing down at his swords. "That would be good practice..."
Usopp looked as if he were about to have a heart attack. "Zoro, I wonder if you've been drinking too much today.."
"No. There's a waterway." Nami replied, sighing softly.
"A waterway? That's crazy!" Usopp blinked. "Even if that waterway really is there, there's no way a shop could climb up a mountain!"
"Whatever Nami says is right." Sanji stated, lighting up yet another cigarette.
"Isn't that the map you stole from Buggy? How dependable could it be?" Zoro asked, scratching his head.
"Are we really gonna climb up a mountain on this ship?" Luffy asked, already getting excited. "That sounds cool! So it's a magic mountain, right?"
"In the first place, why do we even have to enter through the entrance? Couldn't we just head directly south and still enter?" Zoro crossed his arms and yawned.
"No we can't!" Luffy pointed a finger at Zoro and pouted.
"That's exactly right, Luffy." Nami stated. "And there's a perfectly good explanation for that."
"It's because it's so much cooler to go into the entrance!" Luffy proclaimed, looking more serious than ever.
"That's not the reason!" Nami punched him in the back of his head.
"Guys, the storm suddenly stopped!" Usopp stated, standing up to look outside the circle shaped window inside the kitchen.
"What?" Nami blinked in confusion. "That can't be. That storm should have led us directly to the entrance..."
Nami stood up and went outside, followed by Zoro, Sanji, Luffy with Moshi, and Usopp. Nami stared at her surroundings in shock and gasped. "Oh no...we've entered a calm belt!"
The navigator looked at her friends and frowned. "This isn't the time to be standing around! Grab some oars and start rowing as fast as you can!" She grabbed Moshi and climbed up the steps hurriedly. "We have to return back to the storm immediately!"
"As you wish, Nami-Swan!" Sanji grinned and gave her a thumbs up.
"What are you getting so worked up about?" Luffy scratched his head. "And you know this is a sailship not a rowboat right?"
"Why would we even want to go back into that storm?" Usopp shuddered.
"Just shut it and do as I say!" Nami yelled, her teeth once again becoming fanged out in a comical way.
Gucha.
"I told you guys to start rowing right away..." Nami muttered, tightly clutching the mast of the ship. "This place...it's a den for Sea Kings..and right now, we're on top of one of them..."
Indeed they were. The straw hat crew were surrounded by a dozen or so Sea Kings, and all the men had shocked expressions on their faces. Usopp looked as if he had passed out. And they were currently sitting on the nose of a giant, blue sea king.
"Alright!" Zoro stood up with a large, brown oar in his hands. Sanji and Luffy stood beside him, both with large parsing of their own in their hands. Moshi was seated on Luffy's straw hat. "As soon as this thing dives back down into the ocean, start rowing your arms off...got it?!"
"Aye aye!" Luffy and Sanji replied, their expressions becoming determined.
"Ah..." The blue sea king tilted his head. to the left, tilting the Merry and it's inhabitants. "Ah..." The big, blue monster tilted his head to the right, once more tilting the Merry and the pirates on the ship as well. "ACHOO!"
It turns out that the sea monster had sneezed, and that sneeze caused the boat to shoot off of it's nose and into the ocean. Only one problem though: The Straw Hat Pirates were falling towards a huge, green frog, and their boat was turning upside down.
"Ah!" Nami screeched, clinging to the mast of the ship. "A giant frog is hopping this way!"
"Don't get thrown overboard!" Luffy yelled. He was also hanging on to the mast of the ship, but he was hanging above Nami and his legs were flailing. Moshi was trying his best to not fall, because he knew he would not be getting lucky this time.
"Usopp just fell!" Nami yelled.
And their long nosed sniper was falling, falling straight into the mouth of the frog.
"Usopp!" Luffy cried, stretching his rubber arm towards his friend in an attempt to save him. His arm wrapped around Usopp's waist and pulled him away from certain death. They were somehow able to steer themselves away from frog, and as soon as they landed back into the sea the monster trio began paddling with all their might away from the calm belt and back into the storm.
Gucha.
"Thank god we're back in the storm..." Luffy tiredly groaned, sprawled out on the deck of the ship with Moshi on his back. He wasn't the only one. Nami was laying on her stomach and looking more exasperated than ever. Sanji and Usopp were also laying on their stomachs, though Usopp seemed almost lifeless after his near death experience. Sanji hadn't even bothered to light up another cigarette. Zoro was leaning against the mast of the ship, breathing a bit heavily.
"Now do you understand why we have to use the entrance?" Nami asked tiredly.
"Yeah..." Zoro nodded. "Understood."
"Ah!" Nami suddenly sat up, tucking a strand of her short orange hair behind her ear. "I've got it!"
"What is it?" Zoro grimaced. "Are we really gonna climb up a mountain? You're still thinking about that?"
"It must be due to the sea currents.." Nami stated. "If strong currents from each of the four seas were to all head towards that mountain then they would drive the water up the waterway!" Nami nodded her head, slowly standing up. She still had on her long, blue raincoat. "And at the very top, the currents will merge and come out to the Grand Line! Since we're already riding the currents, all we have to worry about is properly steering! Reverse Mountain is a winter island, so the currents that hit its edge will travel down to the bottom of the sea. So if we fail to enter the waterway, we'll crash and get dragged down to the bottom of the sea. Got it?"
"So!" Luffy stood up with Moshi once again resting on his shoulder. "You're saying it's a magic mountain, right?"
"Nami, you're amazing!" Sanji gushed, clasping his hands together as a faint pink dusted his cheeks.
"Never heard of a ship going up a mountain before..." Zoro stated, standing up and crossing his arms over his chest.
"I've heard things about the Grand Line." Sanji smiled, but it was a strange, serene smile. "Supposedly, half of the people die trying to go into the Grand Line. Entering it is no easy task."
"I see the magic mountain!" Luffy yelled, pointing forward.
"What?!" Usopp gasped. "What's that huge shadow?! That's the red line? Its so huge, I can't even see the top of it because of the clouds!"
Looming over the Straw Hats and their boat, Merry, was a mountain that looked a lot like a wall that extended for miles. It was tall, red, and seemed very threatening. And then suddenly the Straw Hat Pirates were moving into action.
"Get a good group of the rudder so we don't get dragged down under!" Luffy yelled over the wind and rain.
"Just leave it to us!" Usopp and Sanji replied, both men grabbing hold of the rudder and held on tightly.
"Amazing.." Nami muttered, staring straight ahead. "Its the entrance to the waterway!" She pointed forward and yes, up ahead was their very slim entrance to the Grand Line.
"We're veering off course! Turn a little to the right!" Luffy called, clutching his straw hat.
"Right? Turn starboard!" Usopp called and he and Sanji pulled on the rubber with all their might...which was why seconds later a "crack" could be heard. The rudder had broken.
The Straw Hats stared in shock for a moment, before Nami came to her senses and facepalmed. "We're gonna crash..." She muttered dryly.
Luffy raced past Nami, handing her Moshi as he rushed past. "Gomu Gomu no..." He hopped off the railing, expanding his body. "Balloon!" He pressed himself against the wall of the entrance, his body becoming a gigantic balloon. The Merry bounced off his body, and they were saved from crashing into the mountain. They were going up Reverse Mountain!
Luffy made his way back to the ship, and everyone looked forward in joy.
"We did it!" Luffy exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air and smiling broadly. Nami threw off her raincoat, revealing her blue shirt with spaghetti straps, and her usual yellow skirt. Sanji wasn't even smoking his usual cigarette- he too was throwing his hands up in glee. Zoro stood beside Nami with a small smirk on his face, and Usopp was hanging on to the mast of the ship.
"Wohoo! We've reached the top!" Nami cried. Indeed they had- they were now out of the storm, and were at the very top of the mountain. Moshi couldn't believe his eyes.
"Now all we have to do is go down!" Luffy grinned. "Woah..." As soon as he said that, the ship began to go down the tall mountain easily riding the current. "I can see the Grand Line up ahead!"
Gucha.
"Buoooooh!"
"Eh?" Zoro blinked, looking around himself. "Did you guys hear something just now?"
"Who cares?!" Luffy asked, hanging on to the head of the Merry.
"I wouldn't be surprised if that was just noise from the wind." Nami replied, smiling brightly. She placed a hand onto Moshi's head and giggled. "The terrain here is quite odd after all."
"Buoooooh!"
"What is that?" Usopp muttered, putting one of his goggles on and staring at the approaching sea.
"Nami!" Sanji suddenly called. "There's a mountain up ahead!"
"A mountain?!" Nami blinked. "That can't be! Once we pass the Twin Capes up ahead, we should reach the open sea!"
"Buooooooh!"
"T-T-T-That's no mountain!" Usopp cried. "It's...it's..."
"It's a whale!" Luffy yelled in surprise, and yes appearing in front of the Straw Hats was a giant, dark blue, whale with bruises running over it's head. Moshi thought Momoo was gigantic, but this whale was something else!
"What do we do?" Zoro yelled. "Should we fight him?!"
"Are you kidding?!" Usopp replied. "How the heck are we supposed to fight something that big?"
"We're too close to see anything!" Sanji called. "It looks just like a giant wall! Where are it's eyes?"
"Ah that's right!" Nami nodded. "Maybe the whale just hasn't noticed us yet?"
"Well if we don't do anything soon, we are gonna crash!" Zoro yelled, before pointing forward. "Look, there's an open space up left! Turn portside!"
"But the rudder is broken!" Usopp deadpanned.
"Well we've gotta do something!" Zoro ran towards Usopp. "Come on! I'll help too!"
"That's it! I've got a plan!" Luffy suddenly shouted. Luffy raced past Nami and into one of the rooms on the Merry. Meanwhile, Usopp, Sanji, and Zoro worked to somehow get the rudder to work.
"It's no use!" Usopp cried. "The rudder won't budge!"
And suddenly a loud "foosh" could be heard, and Usopp, Nami, Zoro, Sanji, and Moshi stared in shock- a canon had just been fired, most likely Luffy's doing.
"The canon?!" The four screeched, each of them sharing glances of comical exasperation.
The ship crashed into the whale, knocking the head of the Merry off. Nami had to duck in order to avoid being hit. "Oh god.." She whispered, clutching her heart. "I almost died!"
"My special seat!" Luffy cried after having made his way on to the deck of the ship.
And then suddenly the whale's eye was on the Straw Hat group and their ship.
"BUOOOOOOOH!" The whale opened it's mouth and screamed, and it's scream shook the sea around it.
"Arugh! My ears!" Sanji cried, nearly letting go of the large oar he was holding on to.
"Just row!" Usopp replied. "As fast as you can! We have got to get away from this thing, now!"
Luffy stood behind Nami with his fists clenched, and the navigator gave him a weary glance. "Luffy..?"
"How dare you..." He began, putting his hand onto his shoulder. "Destroy..." He pulled his arm back and shot it forward with anger. "My special seat?!" Luffy's fist connected with the whale's large eye.
"That idiot!" The rest of his crew cried, all of them nearly falling over in shock.
Gucha.
"It sees us!" Nami yelled, pointing towards the eye that looked down on the ship. The eye that wasn't bruised because of Luffy.
"Come at me, you bastard!" Luffy yelled, getting into a fighting stance.
"Just shut the hell up already!" Zoro and Usopp cried in unison, both men delivering a kick to Luffy's head.
The whale suddenly opened it's large mouth, and the current dragged the Straw Hats into the mouth of the whale.
"Agh!" Nami screamed. "Luffy!"
The straw hat boy had fallen off the ship, and his crewmates were trying their best to get him back.
"Luffy!" Zoro yelled, reaching his hand out. "Grab on!"
But it was too late. The whale had already shut his mouth, leaving a pirate crew without it's captain.
Gucha.
Technically, they are in the Grand Line! Can't say that they aren't because they went up Reverse Mountain, and so here they are! Yeah!
It's good to know that I've picked up some new readers, and I hope everyone will stay interested in this story. This was a short chapter, but that's how I've purposely planned it to be. And I actually wanted to add another funny scene, but there was no time in this panel! Well anyway.
Reviewww.