The fight between Luffy and Laboon didn't last very long. After a single punch thrown by the Captain of the Straw Hats, and a subsequent headbutt from the whale, Luffy got to his feet and declared the battle was on hold. He told Laboon that they would continue their battle once the crew had gone all the way around the Grand Line, but only if Laboon stopped hitting his head on the Red Line. To make sure the whale held up his part of the bargain, Luffy painted a horrific rendition of their Jolly Roger on the whales head. He proclaimed it was a sign of the promise they had made, and that they would return one day. Everyone seemed pleased with his solution to the situation, even if he'd stabbed the whale to make his point. Johnny and Yosaku were crying as they wailed about his compassion, but he didn't understand what they were talking about. Sanji was preparing some food for all of them while Usopp fixed the mast, Nojiko opting to help him. Just as things had calmed down a bit, Nami let out a scream.
"Nami-swan?!" Sanji shouted as he appeared from the kitchen carrying the crews meal. "Whats the matter?! Are you in danger?!" The crew flocked over from their various positions to see what had happened. From what Luffy could see, the compass was broken.
"What are we supposed to do?!" Nami asked. "I can't navigate with this!"
"Don't you people know anything?" Crocus asked. "Regular compasses don't work here. You'll need a Log Pose."
"A Log Pose?" Nojiko asked. Crocus nodded, explaining the unique nature of the Grand Line's islands and why regular compasses didn't work. Luffy didn't really follow it, but from what he could tell they needed a Log Pose.
"Is this one?" Nojiko asked after Crocus finished explaining. She pulled out a small spherical device Luffy had never seen before, making Crocus' eyes widen.
"Where did you get that?" He asked as Nami took the Pose from her sister.
"Those two weirdos from before dropped it on the deck," she said. "I figured it might be important to keep."
"Good job Nojiko!" Nami praised as she took the device from her. "Now we don't have to worry about it!" Luffy was glad that their problem was resolved, but what he was happier about was how delicious the food Sanji had prepared was. He bit into the bones of the fish happily, barely paying attention to the world around him.
"Did you eat all of that, you rubber bastard?!" Sanji shouted. "That was for Nami and Nojiko-swan! How dare you touch their meal!" Luffy shouted in surprise as Sanji kicked him in the head, and a few seconds later he felt a fist connect with his head. Looking up weakly, he could see that Nojiko had hit him before he hit Nami.
"Ow," he moaned, rubbing his head.
"Love Cook is at it again," Zoro said, sounding uninterested. Sanji made a face and turned to the swordsman as Nami began to talk with Crocus about how to work a Log Pose
"What was that, Marimo?" He demanded.
"I said you were at it again Love Cook." Zoro repeated, emphasising his insult. The two began a heated argument that overcame the rest of the crew members, but one noticing how annoyed Nami was getting that she couldn't hear Crocus.
"Would you two shut the hell up?!" She demanded, whacking both of them on the side of the head and sending them into the ocean. It wasn't long before the two resurfaced, but they had been joined by two familiar faces. Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday had also surfaced by the edge of Reverse Mountain, and stared at Sanji and Zoro in surprise.
"Great,you guys again." Zoro said in a deadpan tone.
"Big Bro Zoro!" Johnny and Yosaku said in tandem as they rushed over with their weapons drawn. "Big Bro Sanji! Are you guys okay? What're these mysterious assassins doing back here?" The pair were hoisted out of the water by the crew, and Luffy watched as they bowed down to them.
"We need your help!" Ms. Wednesday said. "Without our Log Pose, we can't get back to our island!"
"You mean this?" Nami asked, gesturing to the Pose.
"Yes!" Mr. Nine said. "May we have that back please?"
"No, I was just clarifying for myself." Nami replied, impervious to the stares she got from the pair. This just made Luffy laugh. "After all, you two tried to kill such an innocent whale. I'm not in a giving mood."
"Who even are you guys?" Usopp asked.
"I'm the King," Mr. Nine replied, getting a slap on the head by Nojiko, who was standing behind the pair. "Ow! I'm sorry, but we can't tell you that information, or our Boss would have our heads! All we ask of you is that you return us to our town of Whiskey Peak!"
"I wouldn't trust em if I were you lot," Crocus said. "Pair of hooligans, these two."
"They can come," Luffy replied, uninterested in talking in through any longer. "If they cause trouble we toss them overboard again."
"I like the sounds of that," Zoro said with an evil smirk as the pair shivered. Once that had been decided, the crew packed their things back onto the Merry and prepared to go. Luffy wanted to ask what Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday were laughing about, but he didn't have time as Laboon cried out.
"Don't you worry, buddy!" He shouted over the stern of the ship. "We'll be back! I promise you that!"
It was snowing.
Granted, that didn't seem to stop Luffy. Nojiko watched from the upper deck as the Captain built himself a snowman, Usopp doing the same. Sanji, Johnny and Yosaku had been tasked with clearing the snow off of the deck, although Sanji just volunteered to please her. Nami was inside with their two 'guests', while Zoro was somehow fast asleep in his normal clothes like nothing was wrong. For a while, everything seemed relatively okay. After all, snow was weird but not impossible to deal with.
That was until a scream from inside the cabin startled everyone save Zoro.
"Turn us around!" Nami shouted as she burst from the cabin. "We need to do a one-eighty!"
"Why do we need to go back?" Nojiko asked, everyone else staring on in confusion. "Did you forget something?"
"No, we got turned around somehow!" Nami replied. "We need to do turn around!" Understanding enough of the situation, she turned her head towards the three men who had been shovelling.
"You heard her," she said. "Turn us around you louts!"
"Yes Big Sis Nojiko!/Nojiko-swan!" The trio shouted, Yosaku running to the rudder while Sanji and Johnny worked on the sails. Just as they began to turn, thunder boomed overhead.
"What the hell?" Nojiko asked. "Thunder?"
"The wind is changing again!" Nami shouted. "Johnny, don't furl the sail anymore!"
"Uh, got it!" Johnny said. Just a few seconds later, Nami wailed again.
"Unfurl! Unfurl!" Johnny began to panic as he did so, Usopp's eyes off the ship.
"Iceberg!" He shouted. "Seven o'clock!"
"Why it is foggy?!" Sanji asked.
"What do you mean?" Ms. Wednesday asked, having emerged from the cabin. "Spring weather is so nice."
"Zoro wake up!" Nami shouted as the crew scrambled around. "We need you!"
"We hit the iceberg!" Johnny shouted in fright.
"We're leaking in here!" Yosaku shouted from the cabin.
The ship descended into utter chaos as the full brunt of the Grand Line's randomness descended on the Going Merry, everyone panicking. Johnny must have unfurled and re-furled the sails at least two dozen times. Yosaku pulled and pushed the rudder every which way at least a few more times than that. Usopp, Sanji and Luffy ran like chickens with their heads cut off while the bossy sisters barked orders. Ms. Wednesday and Mr. Nine also ran around, but only after Nami kicked both of them in the back and ordered them to help.
After what felt like forever, the weather finally stabilised. The entire crew at this point had collapsed to the deck, panting in exhaustion. It was then Zoro decided it was time to wake up.
"Huh, what a lovely day." He said, taking in his crew members laying around in disarray. "Hey, you guys should be paying closer attention. Things could go wrong at any moment."
"I'll kill him..." Nojiko hissed, reaching for her gun.
"Not if I do it first..." Nami growled. After receiving a vicious beating at the hands of the sisters, Zoro had quite a few welts on his head to deal with. "Listen up you idiots! This place is even weirder than I thought at first, so it's not going to be a cake walk! I can't use my normal navigating techniques here!"
"We're toast then," Usopp reasoned, looking dead inside.
"Not at all," Nami replied as she gestured ahead. "After all, we've reached our first destination!" Looking ahead with everyone else, Nojiko could see that there was indeed an island out in the distance. Before anyone else could say a word, Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday jumped up onto the railing.
"It seems we have to go now," Mr. Nine said. "But we thank you for returning us home."
"We will meet again if we're destined too," Ms. Wednesday added. "Bye!" With this the two leapt right off the ship, swimming like a pair of maniacs towards the island.
"Freaks, the pair of them." Nojiko said.
"Let's hope they're not indicative of the inhabitants here," Nami added weakly as they pulled closer to the island. "It looks like there's a river to take us into port. Make sure we don't miss you guys!"
"What if this islands haunted or something?" Usopp asked weakly as he worked with Yosaku to keep the Merry on course.
"That'd be scary!" Yosaku agreed. "Or big monsters?!"
"Gah!" Usopp shouted. "Don't even make me consider that!"
"Easy you two," Nojiko said as she peeked in on them with a smile. "I'll be relying on you if something bad happens!" The two men stared at her quietly for a moment before their cheeks flushed and they puffed out their chests.
"Of course!" Usopp said, looking valiant now. "After all, I'm the great Captain Usopp!"
"I'll protect you if things go bad, Big Sis Nojiko!" Yosaku said happily. Grinning as her subversion worked, she returned to watching the island grow closer. After a while, she could hear what sounded like someone speaking off in the distance.
"Do you guys hear that?" She asked.
"Sounds like people," Luffy said. "I wonder whats going on?"
"There are people on this scary island?" Usopp asked.
"What's so scary about a bunch of cacti?" Zoro demanded. True to his word, the island did seem to be covered in massive cacti. Nojiko had never seen something so odd, and they'd only just gotten to the Grand Line. What other amazing things would she see? The closer Merry came to the town in the fog, the more the noise increased.
Until what was really happening finally came into view.
Nojiko's eyes widened as she saw the inhabitants of Whiskey Peak cheering and screaming for them as they entered, confetti and other celebratory traditions flying everywhere.
"Welcome to the Grand Line, brave warriors!" A voice shouted.
"The journey here must have been strange for newcomers!" Another said. "You're welcome to relax here all you like!"
"What the hell is this?" Nojiko asked, confused.
"There're so many cute girls!" Sanji shouted, not answering her question in the slightest.
"It seems these people love pirates," Johnny surmised as Usopp blew kisses to the crowd like some kind of war hero. "If they're this close to the entrance, I suppose they make a lot of money off of pirates seeking to conquer the Grand Line."
"So we're heroes!" Usopp said, missing the point completely. Once the ship had reached the docks, the crew got off onto land and were immediately greeted by a man. The man had very curly white hair, and a rather flat looking face. Despite this, the smile on his face was quite warm.
"Welcome pirates!" He said. "My name Is Igarappoi, and welcome to Whiskey Peak, the town of music and liquor! We are very honoured..." Nojiko recoiled as the man did some odd throat clearly technique. "...To welcome you! I am here to cordially invite you to a party, thrown for you!"
"That's all you had to say!" Luffy, Sanji and Usopp said together, dancing happily.
"That was seriously all it took?" Nami asked weakly. "Ah, by the the way Igarappoi, how long does it take for a Log to store here?"
"A Log?" Igarappoi asked. "Ah, now is not the time for work related matters! It's time for you all to relax!" Nami was quickly caught up in the party atmosphere, but something didn't sit right with Nojiko. What kind of place, especially in the Grand Line, welcome pirates so easily? Something stunk, and for once it wasn't one of the men on the crew.
"Be on your guard," Zoro said from her side, catching onto the look she was giving Igarappoi. "I don't trust em, either. You two!" He said, which made Johnny and Yosaku run to his side. "Don't fall for any of their crap. Somethings up."
"Are you sure, Big Bro?" Yosaku asked. "Johnny's explanation seemed pretty viable."
"So is the explanation that they're hiding something from us," Zoro replied. "Be on your guard tonight."
If something was up with the inhabitants of Whiskey Peak, Johnny had to admit they were excellent at hiding it. They had crammed the entire crew into a bar and supplied with with alcohol, food, and fun. Luffy was eating to his hearts content, the chef in disbelief at how much he could shovel in. Zoro and Nami were drinking people under the table, no one sure how Nami was able to handle so much. Zoro had promise getting drunk wouldn't be a problem, so Johnny let him go. Sanji was surrounded by women and seemed to be fading off into heaven, while Usopp told lie-laced stories and had more women swooning.
"This sure is a big party," Yosaku said from his side, picking at the food they'd managed to sneak away from their Captain.
"Sure is," Johnny agreed. "Makes you wonder why we're so important?" The pair remained silent for a moment, thinking back to their teachers words.
"Do you think what Big Bro Zoro said is right?" Yosaku asked. "Do you think these people are hiding something?"
"I'm not sure," Johnny said with a frown. On one hand, he wanted to believe these people were just genuinely nice and helpful. That being said though, this was the Grand Line. So odds were something was going on. "I trust Big Bro Zoro though, so if things go poorly we need to be able to protect the crew! Big Bro Luffy is too trusting to think these people would trick him."
"That's true," Nojiko said from the other said of the table. "Look at that guy, eating as much as he can shove into his stomach. He's so lucky he's rubber." Johnny had to admit the Captain's habits were insane, but being such a hero must have been a big difficult job. And a difficult job requires big meals. "So keep your eyes open you two. If they're going to try anything, it'll be tonight."
"Yes Ma'am!" They cried in unison.
"Oi," Zoro said, smacking his sleeping students on the back of the head to wake them up. "That mayor dude is making a move, we're following him."
"Do we have too?" Yosaku asked as he yawned. "That food made me so sleepy..."
"Get up already," Nojiko said from behind Zoro. She'd already been ready to slip out and watch with him, so there would be four of them if something went wrong. "He's got to be up to something."
"Ugh, yes Ma'am." Both of them grumbled as they stood, grabbing their swords from Zoro. Together the troupe of four made their way out the back of the bar they were resting in, sneaking around the edges to see what was going on. Zoro decided he'd had enough of looking around the edge of the building, so he climbed up the side of the building to get to the top, the other three grumbling as they slowly followed him. Once they got to the top, they were given a full frontal view of Igarappoi speaking with Ms. Wednesday and Mr. Nine, as well as some nun Nami had drunk under the table earlier. He couldn't really hear what they were saying, but soon enough it became obvious something was up.
"T-Thirty million Berries?!" Ms Wednesday and Mr. Nine yelled at once. Judging from the paper Igarappoi was holding, he was talking about Luffy's bounty.
"It'd be shameful to underestimate those pirates," Igarappoi said. "Don't panic, they're all knocked out right now. Take all of them loot on their ship and tie them up. Once we have that, we can turn them into the Navy and earn ourselves thirty million."
"Looks like their dirty liars after all," Zoro observed as he watched other Whiskey Peak residents move out and about. It seemed like his prior guess had been correct.
"What should we do?" Nojiko asked. "The others are out cold, it's just us right now."
"I'll tell you what we do," Zoro replied. Before Nojiko, Johnny or Yosaku could question him, Zoro cleared his throat. This caught Igarappoi's attention, who jumped and turned to look up at him.
"You!" He said in surprise.
"Sorry man," Zoro said as he drew one of his blades. "But I'm afraid we can't let you do that." Just as he stood and made his presence known. a man ran out of the bar.
"There's four of them missing!" He shouted. "They disappeared!"
"Not to worry, we're up here." Nojiko said, also making her presence known. Johnny and Yosaku, albeit a little scared, also stood. "Just as he said, we can't let you stop us here."
"A den of pirate hunters right at the entrance to the Grand Line," Zoro said with a smirk. "It's a good idea. Catch them off guard with the friendly village routine. Too bad though, Baroque Works. We'll be leaving here unscathed."
"H-How do you know our companies name?!" Mr. Nine asked in surprise.
"Yeah, how do you know?" Nojiko asked, watching Zoro warily. He cast her a look, trying to look reaffirming.
"They sent me a work offer in the past," he said. "I refused. They're a secretive bunch. Code names, no real identities, the works. From what I heard, no one knows the bosses identity at all."
"Baroque Works?!" Yosaku hissed. "Big Bro, they're one of the most renowned bounty hunting groups in the world!"
"I know," Zoro said as he turned back to face the group of pirate hunters, about a hundred in all, who were readying their weapons. "Which is why we're shutting them down now."
"Huh?" Johnny asked. Zoro smirked as he drew his own blades.
"We'll be your opponents tonight, Baroque Works! A good old fashioned brawl!"
And that's it for today! We're moving fairly quickly I feel, which is good because I want to get to more changes/more additions to the crew! But we'll get there soon enough. I hope you all enjoyed, leave a review!