"C'mon Luffy, let's get the hell out of here!" Zoro shouted.
"How do you think they caught Buggy and that woman?" The Captain asked, clearly distracted.
"It's a special net!" Johnny replied as he ran along with the other three. "I heard the Navy has special gear to deal with Devil Fruit eaters! That must be one of them!"
"This storm is worsening too," Yosaku said as he looked up at the sky. "I wonder if Merry is okay."
"She's fine!"Luffy reassured. "She's a strong ship!"
"Why the hell is it storming?!" Mohji shouted as the rain bore down on Loguetown. "I can't set the ship on fire like this! What do we do Richie?!" The lion next to the man halfheartedly mewed in response, almost uninterested.
"Hey," A new voice said. "What do you think you're doing to our ship?"
Before the man could give an answer, Sanji kicked Mohji across the face, sending him flying into the Merry's hull and knocking him out immediately.
"There's a lion too!" Nami shouted from the town, too much of a scaredy cat to confront the two herself. Sanji turned and regarded the lion coldly, who returned his gaze worriedly.
"Hm," He said. "Lion meat would probably make a good stew. Maybe dice some vegetables for it too."
This was all it took for the lion to freak out and run away without Mohji, leaving Sanji and Nami to themselves.
"I've dealt with the threat Nami-swan!" Sanji shouted happily, bounding over to the redhead. Nami rolled her eyes at him.
"Good job, Sanji-kun." She replied. "Now pick up our stuff and get it onto the ship, we have to get out of here before the storm gets too bad."
"Or the Navy closes the island down," Another voice said. Sanji looked over Nami's shoulder to see Nojiko and Usopp walking up to them, Usopp sporting a new rifle.
"Huh?" Nami asked. "Why would they do that?"
"Luffy almost got executed in the square," Nojiko replied, making Nami choke and Sanji laugh. "So we should probably go before the Marines finish the job."
"I swear that guy can't keep his nose out of trouble!" Nami shouted angrily. "Alright you guys, get on board! Prepare to sail out once the rest of those dolts make it here!"
"Yes Nami-swan!" Sanji shouted as he rushed up the deck. He barely registered Usopp calling him out for something, too busy attempting to please the Navigator.
"Roronoa Zoro!" The group of four pirates came to a stop at the woman in front of them, her head down.
"Ah crap," Zoro muttered.
"It's Tashigi!" Johnny shouted in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"...I never thought you would be Roronoa. You must be so proud that you tricked me, huh?" She demanded, drawing her blade. "After what I told you in the sword shop, you should know why I'm here!" Johnny had no idea what Tashigi was talking about, but Zoro nodded.
"So you're a Marine then?" Zoro asked. Johnny drew his own sword and stepped forward, Yosaku doing the same.
"Should we deal with her, Big Bro?" He asked, ready to attack if ordered too. Zoro shook his head.
"Nah, don't." He said. "I'll take care of her. You guys go ahead, I'll catch up."
"You two!" Tashigi shouted. "Are you students of this horrible man?! He's a killer you know!"
"Don't talk about Big Bro Zoro like that!" Yosaku shouted. "He's done a lot of good in the world!"
"Yeah!" Johnny agreed, not sheathing his blade at all. "Keep talking, and I will deal with you myself-!"
Johnny choked on his sentence as Luffy grabbed him by his sweater, dragging himself and Yosaku past the woman and away from the fight.
"Zoro said he would handle it," Luffy said with a smile. "So he'll handle it. We should get to the ship!"
"We can run on our own, Big Bro Luffy!" Yosaku said. Laughing and releasing them, the three barely made it a few more blocks before a new figure blocked their path, this time a man. He had white spiky hair, and two cigars handing out of his mouth. His weapon was secured to his back, but from what Johnny could see it looked like some sort of sword.
"So you've come, Luffy." The man said.
"Who're you?!" Luffy demanded, the trio not stopping.
"My name is Smoker," The response came. "I'm a Captain in the Marine Base here." With this the man raised both of his arms, aiming them at the trio. "I won't let you get out of here!" His arms then exploded, plumes of smoke shooting out. The plumes shot right for Luffy, engulfing him and sending him flying.
"What is this?!" Luffy shouted as he flew backwards. "What are you doing Smokey?!" Johnny gritted his teeth, drawing Sutomukora.
"Don't just attack our Captain in front of us!" He shouted. He rushed at Smoker, sword raised high. He brought the blade down vertically on Smoker's shoulder, but the blade phased through the man harmlessly, the slash causing smoke to leak from the mans figure. Johnny's eyes widened as he saw this, confused. He was certain he'd slashed him. Why wasn't he hurt?
Yosaku rushed with his own sword and tried to do the same, but the same thing happened. The blade passed through Smoker and did not damage, the man just watching them without a care in the world.
"You two are crew mates of that man?" He asked. "I see. Then I'll need to capture you as well. White Blow!" More smoke flew from the mans body, engulfing both Johnny and Yosaku. Johnny couldn't see and couldn't breath, making it all the more surprising as he flew backwards into a nearby wall. His vision faded slightly from the hit, trying to stand regardless. He couldn't let Luffy get captured, not after swearing to be an asset.
"Johnny! Yosaku! Are you guys okay?!" Luffy shouted "Damn you! Gum-Gum Pistol!" The rubber attack soared straight at Smoker, but it too also passed through Smoker. The man completely dissipated into smoke, vanishing.
"You're head is worth thirty million?" He demanded from the smoke. His body came back together above Luffy, and Smoker had drawn his jutte. "You must just have bad luck!" He body slammed Luffy into the ground, and raised his weapon above his head to strike the man down.
"Big Bro!" Yosaku shouted from his own position on the ground.
"We've got to do something!" Johnny shouted, getting to his feet. As he grabbed his blade and looked back up, he found that someone else had beaten him to the punch. A robed man had stopped Smoker from bringing his weapon down on Luffy, holding onto the Major's wrist.
"I don't think so," The mans voice boomed over the area. Johnny saw Smoker's eyes widen, but he couldn't tell who was under the hood.
"You!" Smoker shouted. "The Government is looking for you!" So the man was wanted, then?
"The world is waiting for our answer," The man replied. "Storm!"
At this single word, the wind the area turned into a maelstrom. Things, people and debris all getting picked up in it, and of course this didn't exclude Johnny, Yosaku and Luffy. The three men flew through the air in a pile, before finally landing back on the pavement.
"Luffy!" Zoro's voice said. "Johnny, Yosaku! We gotta get going!" Johnny looked up to find the green haired man running towards them, grabbing Luffy as he did so.
"Ah, wait for us!" Yosaku shouted as both men clamoured to their feet and followed behind.
"How did your fight fair, Big Bro Zoro?" Johnny asked.
"Fine," Zoro replied. "I beat her, but I get the feeling I'll see her again."
"Let us fight her next time!" Yosaku declared. "If she can't handle you, then she should prove herself against us first!" Zoro just laughed at this as they rounded the next corner, finally reaching the docks.
"Finally!" Nami's voice shouted. "What the hell took you guys so long! We need to get out of here!"
"Hurry up!" Usopp shouted, "Before the Navy finds us!" The four men jumped aboard the ship, and Usopp finally released them from the dock. The Going Merry immediately distanced from the docks, and now it was time for Nojiko to take charge.
"Alright you lot!" She shouted. "Do what Nami tells you! We'll get out of this, and we'll make it to the Grand Line! Isn't that right, Captain?"
"You're damn right!" Luffy replied. "Let's go!"
With this, the crew set off, following Nami's orders to the letter to sail the ship through the storm. It was still rough going given the group of dunces actually following the orders, but soon enough the crew was distancing themselves from Loguetown, setting towards the Grand Line.
Before long, just as Loguetown started to fade into the distance, another light came into view in front of them. This one was a lighthouse, shining brightly through the rain.
"What is that thing doing out there?" Zoro asked as they all stared at it.
"It'a signal," Nami replied. "Right beyond that is the entrance to the Grand Line."
"Oh?" Sanji asked. "Shall we being the entrance ceremony then?"
"Aren't any of you worried about the storm?!" Usopp demanded, sounding terrified. Everyone ignored him as a barrel was pulled out, and Sanji put his leg up on top of it.
"To find the All Blue!" He said. Figuring out what was happening, Luffy slammed his own leg down on the barrel.
"To become King of the Pirates!" He shouted. Zoro smirked as he put his leg up as well.
"To become the world's strongest swordsman." He said. Next came Nami.
"To draw a map of the entire world!" She said, a look of wonder in her eyes. There was a moment of silence after this, and Johnny gritted his teeth as he put his own leg up.
"To become strong!" He said. "So that I can help the people I cross paths with!"
"Couldn't have said it better!" Yosaku agreed, also bringing his leg up. Nojiko watched the crew with mirth in her eyes, before also raising her leg.
"To see everything the world has to offer," she said. "No matter how scary of life threatening it is." And of course, this left Usopp. The resident coward watched all of them worriedly for a moment, before shakily joining them.
"T-To become a brave warrior of the sea!" He shouted, sounding as though he was trying to convince himself more than the rest of them. With this, the crew brought their legs up slammed them down on the barrel, breaking it.
"To the Grand Line!"
Things started to go to hell as soon as the crew had finished their ceremony.
"The light disappeared," Luffy stated from Merry's head. Nojiko looked forward and found that yes, the lighthouse's light was gone. Had they passed it already?
"That's supposed to happen," Nami replied, now wearing a raincoat just as Nojiko was. "That's why you need a good Navigator to get in. By the way, could you please get get back over here?" Luffy was currently hanging off of the figurehead of the Merry, pouting.
"I'm not giving you my seat," he said bluntly.
"I don't want it!" Nami shouted. "We're going to be in trouble soon, so we need a plan."
"Trouble?" Nojiko asked. "What kind of trouble?"
"The kind that stops most people from even getting into the Grand Line." Nami replied. Turning, she raised her voice to everyone else. "Crew meeting, get over here!" The crew quickly filed into the kitchen at the redheads words, waiting for her to speak up. Nami slammed the map in her hands down on the table, looking up at everyone.
"The entrance to the Grand Line is a mountain," she said. The crew just stared back at her quietly.
"Mountain?" Usopp demanded. Nami nodded and pointed down at the map.
"At first I thought it was impossible," she said. "But from what I can figure out, the guiding light back there is pointing right to Reverse Mountain."
"Big Sis is right," Yosaku spoke up, making everyone look at him. "There are small channels that allow ships to pass into the Grand Line carved into Reverse Mountain. It's the only way for ships to enter safely."
"Relatively safely," Nojiko added. "Still kinda dangerous, no?"
"Can't we just go South?" Zoro asked. "That sounds a hell of a lot easier."
"Can't," Nami replied. "In between all of the Blues and surrounding the Grand Line is the Calm Belt. It's called the Sea with no Wind. No only is there no natural wind for us to sail on, but it's home to monstrously large Sea Kings. Thousands, in fact. So, there's no way in hell we're going to make it in that way."
"You said Calm Belt, right?" Usopp asked, looking out the window.
"I did, why?" Nami asked. Usopp looked back at everyone else, sweating.
"The storm disappeared," he said. "It's deadly quiet out there." Silence fell upon the crew for a moment, everyone watching the sniper quietly.
"What?!" Nami demanded. "Crap! We must have sailed into it by accident! Get us out of here, you guys!"
"Get the oars!" Nojiko shouted, spurring the men to act. "Turn us around and get us the hell out of here!" The men of the crew scrambled outside with the oars, doing their best to turn the ship around. After a moment or two, the ship began to rumble. After a few more seconds, a massive shadow crept up from the bottom of the ocean towards the ship.
"We're gonna die!" Usopp shouted instead of rowing.
"Row, Long-Nose!" Nojiko shouted. "C'mon, put your back into it you morons!"
"As you say, Big Sis Nojiko!" Johnny and Yosaku shouted together, rowing as fast as they could. The ship was going as fast as it could, but it was pretty clear that they wouldn't be able to outrun the Sea King. The creature breached, the created wave forcing the Merry forward as the creature looked around in confusion, perhaps for the meal it had hoped for. Once the ship began to slow down the storm came back in full force, and all the men collapsed from the ship jerking around.
"Oh thank God," Nami sighed as she collapsed over the railing. "I thought we were toast!"
"Let's not do that!" Usopp shouted. "Regular entrance it is!"
"Up the mountain!" Luffy shouted happily. Once the Going Merry was able to get back on course, the crew began to look for their entrance. Nojiko narrowed her eyes to look, but try as she might she couldn't see anything through the fog that had come over the sea.
"I can't see anything," Sanji commented. "Where is this entrance supposed to be?"
"You'd think a carved out path in a mountain would be easy to see," Nojiko agreed. As the ship sailed closer, Usopp gasped.
"I see it!" He shouted as he pointed forward. "It's to our right!" Once the ship got a little bit closer, they learned Usopp was correct. The entrance to the Grand Line carved a path right up Reverse Mountain.
Only problem was how small it was, and it's distance from them.
"We're gonna miss it!" Nami said. "Turn us to the right!"
"As you say, Nami-swan!" Sanji replied, running into where the rudder was. Both men pulled and pushed as hard as they could, but something soon became apparent.
"That thing is barely moving!" Yosaku shouted in fright as he watched two of the strongest crew members try their hardest to make the rudder turn.
"It's this damn storm," Nami hissed. "C'mon you guys, you can do it!"
"Nami-swan believes in me!" Sanji shouted with hearts in his eyes. "I can do anything now!"
"She said she believes in both of us..." Luffy said, confused. Eventually the Captain and Cook managed to correct Merry's trajectory, setting her own course to go enter the mountain.
Or up it, as Nojiko soon found out.
The Going Merry was quickly swept up in a burst of water, flying through ancient looking arches as they flew up into the sky.
"We go up the mountain?!" Usopp shouted, collapsing to the deck from the force.
"You're going to have a heart attack before we reach the first island at this rate." Zoro said pointedly, ignoring his two students also flailing around on the deck in surprise. The trio look quite similar to beached fish. Merry roared up the mountain without pause, and soon they could see the edge of the mountain up ahead. Before long they reached it, and the ship began to descend. Nojiko tightly gripped the railing to prevent herself from falling, trying not to laugh as Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku still flailed about.
"Woo!" Luffy shouted, having positioned himself on the figurehead again. "Let's go to the Grand Line! Our dreams start at the bottom of this mountain!"
"I'm gonna die!" Usopp shouted.
"I don't want to die!" Johnny and Yosaku said in sync. The ship still increased in speed, and now Nojiko was worried if they'd survive the fall. After all, they were going incredibly fast.
Soon though, the clouds from the top of the mountain faded away, allowing them a view of what laid ahead of them.
"There it is!"Luffy shouted. "I see it! The Grand Line!" Nojiko looked ahead as she heard this, hoping to see something wondrous.
Instead, all she saw was a giant wall of black, fleshy skin blocking them at the exit from Reverse Mountain.
"What the hell is that thing?!" Sanji shouted.
"It's huge!" Zoro agreed, preparing to draw his blades.
"Is it a wall?!" Luffy asked.
"WE'RE DEAD!" The flailing trio screamed.
No one could blame them, that did seem to be the likely outcome.
And today we reach the legendary wall! I hope you guys enjoyed, leave a review!