Hey guys! Welcome back to Desire Cruise!
So, a little note you might be interested in, Timeless and I are working on SEVERAL One Piece stories at the moment, one of which is his own story, Stars Over the Sea, a One Piece/Kyuranger crossover, and then of course there is Desire Cruise here, a One Piece/Kamen Rider OOO crossover, and Father, Pirate, Dragon? which is a One Piece/Pokemon crossover.
But there are two more.
One which was heavily inspired by the most well known One Piece SI on the site, This Bites, go give it a read, Cross is a pretty hilarious character, and so is Soundbite, and thus, Timeless and I started writing our own One Piece SI.
It'll be posted... eventually, we have some chapters done, but I think I want to finish a few more first.
Another is a more recent idea.
I won't reveal much on it, except that you probably won't expect it.
Anyway, time for Reverse Mountain!
"Alright, so this is where we are," Nami started, pointing to a spot on the map. "And this is where we're going," she continued, moving her finger to Reverse Mountain. "The Reverse Mountain is the gateway into the Grand Line other than the Calm Belt...which is horrible for SOOO many reasons. We'll need to climb the mountain to get into the Grand Line."
"Climb with the ship?" Usopp blinked "That makes no sense, how could Merry climb up a mountain?"
"If I remember right, it's some sort of rising current, correct?" Lumen checked.
Nami nodded "Exactly, the water rises up Reverse Mountain in each of the four Blues, with a fifth current depositing anything that reaches the top into the Grand Line."
"Do the Marines get in with the same method?" Zoro asked with a raised eyebrow.
Nami hummed in thought, before looking at Lumen with a raised eyebrow "Do they?"
Lumen had to think back on this, before shaking his head "No, they don't, if I remember right, they coat the underside of the ship with a special stone that makes them invisible to sea kings and use a paddle system to get their ships through the Calm Belt, I don't remember the specifics though, it's been a while."
"Hm… we should really look into getting something like that for our ship. Could be useful on days where the weather isn't good," Nami mused, but nodded all the same. "At any rate, beyond that alternative method, this is our only way into the Grand Line, and once we do that, it's a one way trip. The only way out is through the Calm Belt, so that's why we wanted to be as ready as we could be," Nami explained.
"Speaking of which…" Lumen added, to which Nami showed him the new accessory on her wrist.
"I went looking like you said, and I found this Log Pose, and knowing how things get...I had it made extra durable," she added at the end.
"...probably for the best," Lumen nodded in agreement.
"We'll be reaching the light house first, then from there we can get onto Reverse Mountain, but even getting in won't be easy. The currents run up several narrow rivers, so one wrong move and well…" Nami trailed off.
"Are you sure we can't go through another way…?" Usopp whimpered.
"Nope, this is the only way alright," Sanji said with a shrug.
"Why does god hate me?" Usopp whined as his head slammed into the table.
"Awww, don't be like that. It'll be fun!" Luffy grinned. "This is our first step into the Grand Line and to reach the One Piece!"
"Well, you heard our captain," Zoro smirked. "Let's keep going."
"Ok, but I feel the need to ask, WHY is the Calm Belt so bad? I've never seen a sea king before if that helps explain my confusion." Usopp asked.
"Imagine the biggest sea snake you can, then multiply its size by 10." Sanji said simply. "Oh, and the Calm Belt is literally their BREEDING GROUNDS."
"Plus there's no wind in the Calm Belt, so, you know, do the math." Nami said with a shrug.
Usopp paled slowly, before swallowing thickly "Noted."
"Now, let's get back out there." Nami said as she headed back outside, the others following her to see that the storm seemed to be lessening somewhat.
"Didn't you say the storm would last a while earlier?" Usopp asked.
"I did… looks like we went off course a bit and veered close to the Calm Belt. We caught it early enough though. Zoro, go steer the rudder towards the starboard side." Nami said, before pointing Zoro back into the cabin.
"Right." he said simply, knowing this wasn't the time to complain about being ordered around by her, as he headed into the cabin and shifted the rudder so they headed back on track.
"Guess we lucked out." Luffy chuckled as they headed back into the storm.
"As lucky as staying in a storm sounds in a sane world… but we're heading into the Grand Line, and from what I've heard, best to throw sanity out the window once you're there." Lumen said with a sigh.
"Okay, seriously, how bad IS it?" Usopp groaned. "A stormy sea? Sea monsters? Pirates who'd gut us alive?"
"Seas with weather from hell, and by that I mean it can be sunny one moment, then snowy another, then torrential rain, and then storms that'd knock a village over. Then there's the Sea Kings, and of course the Pirates so… yeah," Lumen nodded.
Usopp looked at him for a long moment, before staring out into the raging waters, taking a deep breath "I'm sorry if I'm insane once I come back everyone!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Best you can do really yeah." Sanji nodded, approving of Usopp's idea.
"Anyway, the details are still foggy for me, but one thing I know for sure, NEVER let anything happen to the Log Pose, or we'll be lost faster than you can say 'what could go wrong'," Lumen added.
"Never say that phrase on a ship, Shanks told me that and made sure I remembered it." Luffy nodded sagely.
"Fair point. Murphy might be listening," Lumen conceded. "At any rate, how long before we reach the mountain?"
"Should be about 10 minutes, we'll probably see the Red Line first before Reverse Mountain." Nami said as she held onto the railing while wearing a raincoat.
"Got it, in the meantime, I think I'll check what the Ride Vendor has for us, I didn't give it a proper look earlier after all." Lumen mused as he went back into the kitchen.
Looking at the Ride Vendor, he really did have to wonder what exactly was going on right now, but knew he wouldn't get his answers just like that.
Either way, time to take inventory, and he was thankful for having worked in stores that used vending machines before, so he knew how to open it up easily… and grinned at the result of a rather full change compartment in the machine.
He'd have to say it was probably somewhere around 500 000 Berries, which was decent enough.
Then he looked at the selection of Candroids available, and saw the obvious ones, like Taka, Tako and Batta, but it also held the Denki Unagi and Gorilla Candroids… and a new one as well.
"Huh… Shachi Candroid… I think I'll keep one handy to see what it does." he mused as he popped in a Cell Medal and pushed the button, getting the new Candroid and leaving it in his pocket for now.
"We're almost at the mountain! Everyone get ready!" he heard Nami shout, making him run back outside with an excited grin, idly passing the bag full of coins to her.
"Here, 500 000 Berries, it was in the Ride Vendor, anyway did I miss anything?" he asked.
Nami grinned as she looked at the bag of coins, before looking back at him "Well, it's hard to see, but we're right next to the Red Line." she said, gesturing to the Starboard side, Lumen looking over… and up… and up… and so far up his neck was hurting.
"Woah…" he trailed off in awe.
"Yeah, it's pretty impressive." Usopp said from his spot just below where he was tying down a few things just to be on the safe side.
After that it was just a few minutes before Reverse Mountain came in sight.
"Hearing about it is one thing, but seeing it is a whole other." Usopp said, swallowing nervously.
"And we're about to climb it!" Luffy said with a grin.
"Better get ready, cause this is going to be a bumpy ride!" Sanji frowned.
"Everyone get to position!" Nami ordered, and everyone did just that. This was their one chance. If they screwed it up...well...probably wouldn't be getting a second chance.
"I don't think we're lined up correctly though." Lumen said in worry as he looked at the gates leading up the mountain.
"He's right! Hard to Starboard!" Luffy shouted back from the front.
"This is a freaking current from hell." Zoro grunted as he pulled the rudder with all his strength, the wood groaning… before it broke.
"Oh no!" Nami shouted in fear.
"We're gonna die!" Usopp wailed.
Thankfully, Luffy acted quickly "Gum Gum Balloon!" and sucked in enough air to blow up like a balloon and squeezed himself between the Merry and the gate, groaning at the pressure it applied to him, before the Merry managed to realign itself… and Luffy was about to be left behind.
"Luffy! Grab on!" Lumen rushed towards the back and held his hand out, Luffy stretching himself as far as he could and managing to grab his hand just in time, with Lumen bringing him back onto the ship… where Luffy crashed into the cabin.
"That was a close one," Lumen sighed. "How close to the top are we?"
"We're close! I think the path is getting clear!" Nami said with a grin, to which everyone soon stepped out to the front of the ship to get a look. True enough, they could see that they were now on a straight line, with them soon reaching the clouds.
"We're in the clouds!" Luffy grinned as he hopped onto his special seat on Merry's figure head.
"And we just went over them!" Usopp gasped, as they just cleared the clouds and with it, they could see the top of Reverse Mountain.
"There it is! The summit!" Nami said as they saw the top where the water began to spray up from the force of the current, and they were so high that the spray from the streams froze into ice, making for an absolutely breathtaking view.
Once they reached the top, they had to hold on tight as Merry got flung up into the air, letting them briefly see the other ascending streams, before they fell down into the descending one.
All of them couldn't help but grin at the excitement of the situation, as they started to descend into the Grand Line.
'I'll figure out these mysteries surrounding OOO in there… I just know it.' Lumen thought to himself.
"Onward to the Grand Line and to the One Piece!" Luffy cheered as they went down the mountain, which now felt like the world's biggest waterslide.
"Hang on to your everything!" Lumen shouted as everyone grabbed hold of something as they went down at massive speeds, and before long they were cutting through the clouds.
"This is the greatest!" Sanji grinned as they went through the clouds.
"I know right?!" Lumen grinned as well as they felt the speed and the cool air hit them, everyone enjoying this. However…
"Did you hear that?" Zoro asked.
"Hear what?" Nami asked.
"I don't really know how to describe it." Zoro said.
"Maybe it was just the wind, there's a lot of strange rock formations that could have caused it after all." Nami waved him off.
Right after she said that however, they all heard it.
"BWOOOOOHHHH!"
"What in the…?" Usopp muttered as he pulled down one of the lenses of his goggles to get a better view, managing to see a vague shape "Hey guys? It almost looks like there's a mountain in the way!"
"That doesn't make any sense!" Nami shot back.
"Usopp's right though, I can see it too!" Sanji said as he had climbed up to the crow's nest.
"There should be nothing but ocean after the twin capes though!" Nami argued further.
At that moment, they cleared the clouds, and they could finally see it.
"That's not a mountain!" Zoro said in alarm.
"It's a huge black wall!" Luffy shouted.
"No you idiot!" Nami found the time to dope slap Luffy at least.
"It's a whale!" Lumen shouted as they all recognized the animal before them… though it was a HUGE whale.
"Do whales grow THAT big?!" Usopp gasped.
"Not normally!" Sanji swallowed thickly.
"What should we do?!" Zoro glanced around as he asked.
"Fight it?" Luffy suggested.
"Shut it you moron!" Nami punched him this time.
"The current's taking us straight towards it!" Usopp panicked as he started running around the deck.
"Well, hold on a bit, if that's a whale, then where's the eye?" Sanji asked.
"He's right, maybe it hasn't seen us yet!" Lumen said hopefully.
"At this rate we'll hit it dead on though." Nami said, biting her thumb in worry.
"Oi! I see an opening on the left over there!" Zoro pointed, drawing their attention to the tiny path they might be able to take.
"We gotta turn to Port!" Lumen shouted as he ran for the rudder.
"It's still broken though!" Sanji added as he went to help.
"Then we'll all pull! Come on Usopp!" Zoro said as he ran past Usopp, the sniper quickly following as the four of them started trying to pull the rudder.
"Ah! I just got an idea!" Luffy said before suddenly going in the room beneath the front deck.
"Luffy? What are you doing?!" Nami shouted after him, before looking back ahead with a more panicked expression.
The four pulling at the rudder were using all their strength, but it just wouldn't budge, as they slowly got closer and closer towards the whale.
"It's over." Nami muttered fearfully as at this point there was no way to stop the ship.
And then the front cannon fired, making the ship jerk suddenly as it lost a lot of its momentum… and it all took them a second to realise what happened "He fired the cannon?!" they shouted incredulously.
"Did the ship stop?" Luffy asked. He got his answer when the ship collided with the whale, Merry's head snapping off in the process and landing on the door right in front of him. "Ah! My special seat's broken!"
"THAT'S what you're worried about?!" the others roared.
"Dammit! Just… forget that idiot, let's get out of here!" Lumen said, and everyone agreed as they took out the oars and started paddling around the whale.
"Still, what kind of monster do you have to be to just shrug off a cannon ball hitting you?" Sanji said, sweating as he looked up at the whale.
"Something the size of an island. Seriously, whales can live in DEEP waters and thus have thick hides, so a whale this big...we might as well be using a bean bag on it!" Lumen shot back.
"Just keep going!" Zoro shouted, not particularly interested or caring about the details. However, right as they were going around the side of the whale, it let out a rumble, which while probably low for it...was absolutely ear splitting for them.
"Someone make it stop!" Lumen shouted.
"Keep rowing, ignore the sound!" Usopp shouted.
"Too loud!" Sanji groaned. The crew started to make their way around the whale and could see its eye...and then Luffy happened.
"Damn you...WHY DID YOU BREAK MY SPECIAL SEAT?!" Luffy shouted in anger as he extended his arm… and punched the whale's eye.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING YOU MORON?!" roared the entire crew, Lumen in particular was feeling VERY tempted to use the Gorilla medal for the sole purpose of shaking their idiot captain in a vain but oh so satisfying attempt to deal with the stupid.
"How ya like that!" Luffy shouted.
A few tense moments passed...and the whale's eye promptly focused on them.
"...on a scale of 1 to 10, how screwed do you think we are?" Lumen asked flatly.
"...does 50 sound right?" Nami asked in despair.
"...that's fair…" the remaining males on the ship save the captain said in equal despair.
"You want some more you bastar-" Luffy was shouting to the whale, till he was cut off by Zoro and Usopp kicking him to the ground.
"Stop trying to get us killed!" they shouted in unison.
The whale continued to stare at them for a long while, as it slowly lowered it's body and shifted so that it was horizontal rather vertical… and then it opened its mouth and let out what could only be called a roar by human standards… while water rushed into its mouth… and Merry was stuck in the current.
"Well… it was nice knowing you guys…" Usopp muttered while he was pale as a sheet.
"Why didn't I look into being Ultraman instead of a Kamen Rider, I could have just turned giant and kept the mouth open, Kamen Rider is pretty useless in these kinds of situations dammit dammit dammit…" Lumen trailed off while banging his head on a wall.
"...not even going to question that," Zoro deadpanned, and they were soon sucked into the mouth of the whale.
The current was somehow even more turbulent inside of its maw "Hey! Don't you dare eat us you bastard!" Luffy shouted as he jumped onto the railing, before losing his balance and falling off the ship.
"Dammit Luffy!" Sanji shouted in annoyance as he tried to grab the rubber idiot, though felt some relief when he saw Luffy's arm stretch and grab a tooth of the whale… and then hoist himself out of the mouth, likely by reflex.
"Well… at least one of us made it out." Nami said fearfully… before the mouth closed… and the whale swallowed.
"So...just to recap, we just went down the gullet of a whale, right?" Lumen asked.
"Yep," Sanji nodded.
"We cleared the throat…"
"That we did," Nami sighed.
"And we should be in the stomach."
"That's usually what happens yeah," Zoro nodded.
"...right. So...anyone feel like finding out the reason why it looks like we ENDED UP OUTSIDE?!" Lumen finished with a raise of his voice.
"...we went insane?" Usopp guessed.
"...the sad part, that's actually viable here…" Lumen groaned.
"That or we're having a weird collective dream." Zoro said with a shrug.
"Then that would make the house on the little island an illusion then." Sanji figured as they all stared at the tiny little island.
"...want to see if its real or not?" Usopp ventured after a few moments. He needed something to test their sanity.
And then the water in front of them bubbled up and a large squid rose up out of it.
"We can test that after we dice him up." Lumen said as he held up the Medajalibur while Zoro clicked Wado out.
And then a trio of harpoons speared through the squid.
"...points towards it NOT being an illusion," Nami blinked, as they all looked to the source of the harpoons and…
"...okay, either that's a walking plant, or its an old man with a very...unique...taste in head gear…" Lumen blinked almost dumbly as they saw a old man with a short (but uniquely styled) beard, a balding head, and… literally a flower around the top of his head, that or it was some sort of crazy hat, and he was dressed like he lived in the sun all the time.
He pulled in the squid closer to his house, staying silent all the while, before slowly walking off to the side, staring at the crew all the while, making for a rather tense atmosphere, until… he just plopped down on a sun chair and opened the newspaper.
"Say something asshole!" Sanji shouted, annoyed at being dismissed after such a heavy moment.
The old man looked at them.
"If its a fight you want, we can do that! We've got cannons!" Usopp said. What followed was a tense moment as he stared at them, they stared back, he stared back, they stared back, then…
"Don't. Or someone will die," he said.
"And who might that be?" Lumen asked, looking a little weary while Zoro and Sanji looked ready to fight, and Nami and Usopp were more than a little freaked out. This guy seemed serious. Heck, maybe he was super strong despite his old looks. This WAS the Grand Line after all.
The old man stared back, then they stared back, and then he stared back, then…
"Me of course," the old man said. And with that, the tension died in a train crash.
"Freaking asshole!" Sanji shouted as he was about to jump over and kick the old man's ass were it not for Lumen holding him back.
"Let's just stay calm if he's being peaceful." Zoro said as he stepped up "Sorry old man, but could you tell us where we are? And who are you anyway?"
The old man stared, they stared back, he stared back, and then…
"If you want something from someone, its proper manners to introduce yourself first," the old man said.
Zoro blinked. "Ah...you're right. My mistake," he said, but just as he was about to start introducing himself…
"My name is Crocus. I am the keeper of the Twin Capes Lighthouses. I am 71 years old, Gemini, Blood type AB…" and on and on Crocus rattled off, much to Zoro's ire.
"CAN I KILL HIM NOW?!" he roared, looking ready to jump out and commit murder.
"You want to know where you are? Well, you're in my one-man resort, and yelled such rude things at me," Crocus said. "Do you think you're inside a rat's stomach?"
"So we really are inside the whale's stomach then?" Usopp asked incredulously.
"But, how does that even make sense?" Nami asked, gobsmacked.
"Hold on, I just noticed… the clouds haven't moved at all the whole time we've been here, there's no sign of the sun in the sky… and the seagulls are just frozen like that." Lumen pointed out.
"Wait, it's all painted?! How much free time does that old man have?!" Usopp asked with his jaw hanging.
"Forget that! How do we get out of here then?! I don't want to be digested!" Nami asked in a panic.
"Coming out the back end… not how I want to go." Zoro admitted.
Crocus then stared at them. They stared back. Then he stared back. Then…
"STOP DOING THAT!" the crew shouted.
"Can't you appreciate a good running gag?" Crocus said.
"THAT WAS A RUNNING GAG?!"
"The exit is over there," Crocus said, pointing to the side….at the big door that was seemingly hanging in the air.
"THAT WAS THERE THE WHOLE TIME?!"
"Why is there a door in a whale's stomach though?" Nami wondered.
"Let's not worry about that and just go, hopefully Luffy is waiting for us outside." Lumen sighed.
"He's right, let's get out of here." Sanji agreed with his fellow blond.
"Fair enough, best I don't break my brain on this." Nami sighed.
Right as they were about to start paddling towards the exit however, the stomach acid around them started shaking around violently.
"Now what's going on?" Zoro asked in annoyance.
"He started again." Crocus said gravely.
"Started? Started what?!" Lumen asked.
"Laboon… he started bashing his head against the Red Line again." Crocus said.
"Why would it do that?" Usopp wondered as he hanged on tight to Merry.
"Wait, hold on, now that I think about it, the whale had a lot of scars on it, you don't think…?" Nami trailed off.
"That he's trying to kill the whale from the inside? Possibly." Zoro mused.
Lumen frowned at that "Somehow… I don't think that's the case."
"What makes you say that?" Sanji asked him.
"Crocus said the name of the whale… Laboon… why would he name something he's trying to kill?" Lumen explained.
"That's… a good point." Nami said with a frown "Guess there's more to the situation than we thought."
"Hey, the old man just jumped into the stomach acid!" Usopp pointed at the now empty island (which was actually a ship if the metal hull beneath it was any hint).
"Leave it be. Let's just get out of here for now, Luffy's waiting for us." Zoro said seriously.
"He's right, let's hurry up." Sanji said before they started rowing towards the door.
Meanwhile…
Luffy face planted on the ground after he fell through a passageway. Shaking the dizziness off, he looked around. "Where am I now?" he sighed, still marveling at the fact this was all inside a whale. However, before he could think much of it, the floor suddenly tipped over, and he began sliding back. At first he tried clawing his way up, but when that didn't work...he decided to go the other option and ran with the momentum. The only problem was…
"I can't stop!" he shouted as he was now running full tilt...and before long saw a door up ahead and two people standing before it. Unsurprisingly he rammed right into them, and through the door, sending them flying through...an open area?
"What… those two again?" Crocus muttered.
"Is that…?" Lumen trailed off.
"Luffy?" Zoro asked in confusion.
"Oh! Hey guys! Glad you're alright! So, um, not to rush or anything but… HELP!" he said as he suddenly fell into the stomach acid.
"Why didn't that idiot stretch over to the ship?" Sanji wondered.
"You just answered your own question." Nami pointed out dryly.
"Well, Luffy and those two just fell into the water. We'd better fish them out," Lumen said, before strapping on the OOO Driver, and inserting the Taka, Unagi, and Batta medals and scanning them. "Henshin!"
"TAKA! UNAGI! BATTA!"
Once he was decked in the armor, OOO quickly extended the Unagi Whips, and lashed out into the water. By a good stroke of luck, he managed to hook around Luffy...as well as the two people that came with him, and soon pulled them all out of the water, causing them to land on the deck. "Well...that was lucky. Now...what to do with these two?" OOO asked.
"Let's wake up the idiot first." Sanji said as he kicked Luffy's leg.
"Luffy! Wake up!" Usopp said with a grin as he slapped Luffy in the face.
"I'm up!" Luffy shot awake, not even registering the slap honestly.
"Welcome back aboard captain." OOO said with a smirk beneath his helmet.
"Good to be back." Luffy said with a laugh as he looked around "Woah, the inside of this place is really weird. Think the whale is like a robot?"
"I'm leaning more towards the old man just having a LOT of time on his hands." Zoro said with a shrug.
Suddenly they all heard the whale gave a more subdued sound as the two unknown people came around, OOO looking at them closely considering they couldn't see his eyes beneath the helmet.
The man had orange hair, wearing a fake crown on his head (the jewels were obviously made of plastic) with the number 9 painted beneath each eye, and wearing a fancy looking green suit.
The woman had long blue hair tied in a ponytail, and was wearing a green coat over a dark blue tank top that had a spiral pattern on it… which looked a bit suggestive considering there were separated spirals for her stomach and on each of her breasts, and she wore a simple pair of white shorts with high heeled boots, she also seemed to be eyeing his armor with a look he couldn't quite identify.
"Looks like the whale calmed down." Nami said, sighing in relief.
"Looks like it." Zoro nodded, before looking back at the other two "Now… what to do with you?"
The two of them blinked, before they started talking among themselves...in a way that they could clearly hear. With the gist being that they seemed quite...focused...on this whale. However, before anything else could be said…
"You two again?!" Crocus said in annoyance and anger.
"You know these two?" OOO asked.
"Yeah, they're from a nearby town. These two keep trying to kill Laboon to feed their town since an island whale like him could potentially sustain them for a couple of years. Not on my watch though!" he glared. "As long as I live, you won't lay a finger on Laboon!"
"Well that's too bad old man, but we don't intend to let you interfere with our whaling anymore!" the two said, before they aimed a pair of bazookas. "We're gonna blow a hole right through its stomach!" they shouted and fired….though the cannon balls didn't go far, as OOO lashed out with his weapons, and promptly tossed the cannon balls aside, where they landed in the water.
"Yeaaah...no. Not gonna let that happen," OOO said simply. "I don't think anyone here is interested in seeing a whale die...especially not like this."
Before the two had time to properly process what happened, their heads were slammed together by Luffy, knocking them out cold.
"...well...that's one way to deal with them," OOO sweat dropped.
"You didn't have to help me, even though you did anyway." Crocus said as he sat on his chair, while the two would be whalers were tied up and still knocked out.
"Just didn't want to see a whale get blown up from the inside." Lumen explained simply with a shrug.
"Same here." Luffy said with a nod… while hanging onto the tree on Crocus's little ship for some reason, with Usopp trying to pull him down.
"So… the whale's called Laboon right? What's it doing here?" Nami asked.
"That...well, that's a story from a long time ago…" Crocus sighed. "First of all, Laboon is an island whale, which usually live in West Blue. They're the largest species of whales in the world," he started. "But Laboon was different. He came here years ago with a group of Pirates. They were a jolly bunch of pirates who Laboon followed, having adopted them as his family after he was separated from his pod," Crocus said. "They wanted to travel the world, but realized the Grand Line would be too dangerous to bring a baby whale with them, so they left him here, asking me to take care of him till they returned…" Crocus sighed sadly.
"I'm guessing that didn't turn out so well…" Lumen sighed.
"You'd be right. They promised they'd return in a few years. It's been 50," Crocus shook his head sadly.
"50 years?!" Usopp said in shock.
Crocus nodded "And the reason he has all those scars, is that he's constantly ramming against the Red Line, trying to break through it, to go and see his friends. I still remember the day it all started. Those pirates, the Rumbar Pirates if I remember correctly, they stayed at the Twin Capes for a few months, taking the time to repair their ship before they'd head out into the Grand Line, Honestly, by then, I could easily say they were my friends just as they were Laboon's own. Then, on that day, they had to begin their journey in the Grand Line, no place for a baby whale, no matter how big he would become one day, so they left him here, asking me to take care of him till they returned." Crocus said with a sigh, before he stood up "How about we finish this back outside, staying in the stomach acid too long won't be good for your ship."
The crew nodded at that, the mood subdued, as they hauled the two would be whalers onto the ship and used the canal that Crocus had built inside Laboon to exit the inside of the whale.
"Gotta admit, it's pretty impressive he's still alive with all this inside of him." Zoro said.
"Is this more of you having fun?" Sanji asked Crocus.
"More like this is me doing my job as his doctor." Crocus answered as his little ship travelled along ahead of the Merry "Long ago I ran a clinic on this little cape, and I was even a doctor on a pirate crew a while back."
"Hey, want to be the doctor for my crew then?" Luffy asked with a grin.
Crocus chuckled "Don't be silly, I'm too old for any grand adventures of the sort, I'd sooner throw out my back before I was of any help to you lot." he said as his ship stopped next to a ladder and he climbed up, heading for a wheel next to the large gate in front of them.
With that, he turned the wheel, and the gates opened, revealing the open sky, while the Merry soon sailed out...from what appeared to be Laboon's side.
"At least it wasn't the back end." Lumen said with a dry laugh.
"Does that mean we would have counted as poop?" Luffy asked with a laugh.
"Moron!" Nami said as she slapped him in the back of the head.
"Still though, 50 years is a pretty long time to wait, those pirates are kinda jerks for dragging this on so much for Laboon." Usopp said with a sigh.
"Idiot, this is the Grand Line for a reason you know? It's more likely that they died." Sanji said as he took a drag from his cigarette.
"That's for sure, goes to show how harsh the conditions on the Grand Line actually are." Nami admitted with a sigh.
"How can you guys say something so heartless like that?!" Usopp turned to them with an angered look.
"It's the most likely explanation though, I doubt they could have just left the Grand Line after all, if they tried the Sea Kings would have gobbled them up." Lumen shot back, making Usopp falter.
"They're right. Many years ago, I joined a crew to try to find them. We sailed much of the Grand Line, and I didn't find any sign of them," Crocus sighed. "The Grand Line is a dangerous place, and back in the day, it was even MORE dangerous than it is today without the growing knowledge of how to navigate it, or the newer technology that allows ships to better weather the various dangers. They were good people, and strong enough pirates...but strong enough just doesn't cut it in a sea like the Grand Line…" Crocus said sadly.
"So, he's been waiting for so long, for friends that aren't alive to come back." Zoro mused.
"I guess life is just cruel like that sometimes." Nami sighed sadly.
"Haven't you told Laboon his friends are dead after so many years?" Lumen asked.
"I did. But he refused to listen." Crocus said with a sigh "The day I told him was the day he started bellowing and bashing his head against the Red Line."
"So, 50 long years of him being in denial, and you making sure he doesn't kill himself while doing so, must be a tough life." Sanji said.
"It is, but it's the life I've chosen for myself." Crocus said resolutely.
Luffy frowned at the story, before he walked away. That was when the sound of wood breaking was heard.
"Huh? What was-WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING YOU MORON?!" Lumen shouted when he saw Luffy running up Laboon's side...carrying a giant stake made out a mast. The MAIN mast of the Going Merry at that. "WE NEED THAT YOU IDIOT!"
Of course, his shouts fell on deaf ears, as Luffy ran up Labon...and jammed the mast into him with a shout of "Gum Gum Flower Arrangement!".
Laboon stopped, before soon roaring in pain.
"DAMMIT LUFFY!" the crew all shouted together as Laboon started thrashing around.
And then the whale jumped out of the water and rammed into Reverse Mountain.
"Laboon! Stop! You're gonna kill him!" Crocus shouted at the whale.
"Don't worry, Luffy's a lot stronger than that, despite how moronic he is." Nami said in aggravation.
At that point Laboon roared in pain, probably from ramming into the mountain so hard as Luffy got back up with a grin, jumping away from the rushing whale, before being slammed back down by Laboon's tail, quickly retaliating by punching his eye again, getting thrown into the lighthouse, and then retaliating with a kick that actually staggered Laboon back.
"Why the hell is he fighting the whale?!" Sanji asked incredulously.
"I don't know but this is the dumbest thing this moron has done!" Zoro said.
"So far, you forgot the so far, I just know he's going to do worse." Usopp added in exasperation.
When their moronic captain got thrown into the lighthouse again and Laboon was about to ram into him, he said something that made everyone, the whale included, pause "It's a draw!"
Luffy grinned as he got up, putting his hat back on his head "I'm pretty strong huh? Bet you want to beat me? Well, our fight isn't over. We'll have to fight again someday. Your old friends may be dead now, but from now on, you have a rival in me! We'll fight again someday, and see which one of us is the strongest! So count on me to come back here once I'm the Pirate King!"
"So THAT's what he was doing." Lumen sighed, smiling a bit as they all caught on to Luffy's idea.
"His brain really works in strange ways sometimes." Nami said with a sigh despite the slight smile on her face.
"When I'm back, let's fight again!" Luffy shouted at Laboon, the whale actually starting to cry before it bellowed happily at the sky.
"...no comment," Lumen sighed at the very poorly drawn jolly roger on Laboon's head. Obviously it was supposed to be their own jolly roger, and while he admitted Luffy using it as incentive for Laboon to not bash his head again was a good idea, the look of it was still...pretty bad. On top of that, thanks to Luffy's hair brained idea, they were now stuck here until they finished repairing the Mast, which was being hastily reattached with nails and some spare wood and metal sheets.
"It wouldn't kill you to give us some help ya know!" Usopp glared at Zoro who was sleeping away.
"Hey, come to think of it, whatever happened to those two…?" Nami mused.
"They must have gotten away in all the commotion," Sanji noted.
"Well...they're not gonna get far," Lumen mused.
"Why do you say that?" Nami asked.
"They dropped this," Lumen said, holding up a Log Pose.
Nami snorted at that "Pretty clumsy of them."
Lumen grinned a bit as an idea came "Want to mess with them and get information from them?" he asked.
Nami slowly grinned "Go on."
"Chances are, they just realised they lost this, so, first, let's grab their attention." he said as he went closer to the edge of the ship, and made sure the Log Pose was in plain view of the ocean.
After some moments, they heard a small explosion a little ways away from them, making them look out at the water, blinking in confusion "That's… not what I expected." Sanji said.
"They have a weird way of showing their surprise." Lumen said dryly.
"Either way… I guess we just wait for them to get over here so we can mess with them." Nami said with a grin.
"So, what do we do now?" Usopp asked as he kept on repairing the main mast.
"I'll go ask Crocus about the Log Pose, he can probably explain it better than the guy at the shop did." Nami said as she waved her Log Pose a bit.
"In that case I'll get started on lunch." Sanji said.
"And I'll be making sure Luffy stays away from the kitchen." Lumen said with a laugh, earning a grateful nod from Sanji.
Several minutes later, and the group was sitting on the coast, the main mast as repaired as it could be, Zoro finally awake, and Lumen restraining Luffy so he didn't eat everything on the table, especially not the whole Blue-fin Elephant Tuna that Sanji had cooked.
"Alright, so according to Crocus, the way the Log Pose works is that it registers the magnetic field of the island we're on before then pointing to the next location, the time it takes for a Log to register changes from one island to the next, sometimes it can take days, or even weeks, before it sets. As for this area specifically, there are several different paths we can take for the start of our journey, meaning we'll have to pick one and hope everything beyond goes well." Nami explained as they ate.
"Well, at least in that case we have a backup one in case the first breaks, but think it's possible for two Log Poses on the same island to end up pointing in different directions?" Lumen wondered as he held up the one the two weirdos had dropped.
"I doubt it, but I don't think Crocus could give us a proper answer, he said it's rare for people to have multiple ones on them in the first place." Nami said with a shrug.
"Speaking of which...what do you two want now?" Lumen chuckled, as the two weirdos had climbed ashore.
The two looked at each other before… "I have a request," the one wearing a crown said.
"We'd like to start with knowing who we're talking to," Nami said simply.
"I am Mr. 9 and this is Ms. Wednesday," the one with a crown said.
"...those have to be the most blatant codenames I've ever heard," Lumen deadpanned. "You sure we can trust someone who doesn't even give us their REAL names?"
"Maybe we should break their Log Pose just for that?" Nami mused with a grin, while Lumen held up their Log Pose, ready to throw it if she gave the word.
"Please don't!" the two agents of… whatever, bowed, begging them to keep the Log Pose safe.
"Well…" Lumen trailed off with a smirk "I'm sure we could be convinced to help… for the right price."
"Name your price!" Mr. 9 said, not realising his grave mistake.
Nami's grin grew wicked as she stepped up "So happy you could see things our way."
"Ooooh, you're in trouble," Lumen chuckled. "But since we're in agreement, what do you need?"
"We'd like you to help us go to Whiskey Peak. Its the town where we live," Mr. 9 said.
"And seeing as you need the Log Pose, that means it's in the Grand Line," Lumen nodded.
"That's correct, and since our boat was destroyed…" Ms. Wednesday nodded and trailed off…
"So you need our help," Usopp said. "But who the heck are you two to be going so far to kill a whale?"
"I am a king," Mr. 9 said.
"Liar," EVERYONE deadpanned.
"...I am afraid we cannot say. It is the rule!" Ms. Wednesday said.
"We did not really want to do this dirty work, but we had no choice!" Mr. 9 said.
"We're begging you! Please help us!" Ms. Wednesday pleaded.
"Sure." Luffy said immediately.
"BUT, you'll have to pay." Nami tacked on quickly, throwing Luffy a dirty look at giving such a fast answer.
"And trust me, you're going to regret asking for help from us." Lumen added with a grin, and Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday both swallowed thickly, realising they may have fucked up a bit.
It was too late to turn back though, as soon the day ended, with Crocus seeing the crew off with Laboon as they set out for Whiskey Peak.
"Maybe these kids were the ones we were waiting for… Roger…" Crocus said with a smile.
And there's the chapter!
Not much in the way of battles this time, but we covered the Reverse Mountain arc, and had some fun with our favorite hidden princess.
Next time, we're heading into Whiskey Peak, and gonna have some more surprises for you all.
See you then!