Psst! Guess what? Chapter is done and out!


"Okay, so I'll go straight to the point; the entrance to the Grand Line is by going up through a mountain."

"Huh?! A mountain?!" Usopp asked what most of the crew was thinking.

"I know! It shouldn't make sense but apparently, the water is going up the mountain!" She showed them the map, "See this mountain? It is called the Reverse Mountain, the water will go through these canals and force us all up the mountain!"

"Are you sure this is the way?" Usopp asked in fear.

"I have looked at this map in many ways, and as much as I don't understand it, this canal is the only way in!" Nami was absolutely sure of it.

"What-a about here?" Mario suddenly pointed at the side of the mountain above the cleaner line.

"No way!" Nami quickly denied, "Those are the Calm Belts!"

Mario tilted his head in confusion.

"How could you not…Doh! Right, out-worlder being." She wanted to facepalm so hard. "Okay, listen. That there, are the Calm Belts. As the name implies, no wind or weather goes by except sunny and calmness. Our boat is a sailboat, making it completely useless to sail through it."

"What about we just paddle through it?" Mario suggested, "With everyone's strength we could make it, and if push comes to shove I can pull Merry with my Frog Suit."

"Yeah. You say that now. Wait until you meet the Sea Kings." Nami scoffs.

"..."

Nami felt facepalming again. "They are giant sea creatures that could swallow us in a second. Surely you can see it's a death trap for everyone here, right?"

"How big are we talking about?" Mario asked.

The navigator felt her throat swollen. "...Bigger than an island?"

"Oh! Then it's nothing I can't handle!"

Everyone, except Luffy, felt like they just fell into disbelief. Even giants that big and their newest member just casually says he can handle it.

"Well, YOU might handle it, but we cannot! So, as the navigator, I decided on the best course and I said "Reverse Mountain!" Nami proclaimed.

"Okie dokie."

"And you are not going to…" Nami shut up as she looked at Mario, "You…accept my decision?"

"Why shouldn't I? You said it; you are the navigator. I should trust you in the route we take." Mario said with a smile. "Besides, Luffy is the captain so-

Before he knew it, Nami threw herself at and hugged him, comical tears falling from her eyes. "Finally! Someone who uses common sense!"

"Grrrr! Damn you Mario!" Sanji got jealous at the affection the short man was getting.

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughs at the antics of his crew. "Yosh! Let us go to the mountain and sail up!"

But before anyone could do anything, Starlow, who was out of Mario's hat(and the author totally didn't forget to mention her) felt her antenna shine. "Mario! We have communication!" Her shout made Mario widen and the rest looked confused.

"Fantastico! Put it on!" He said as Nami let him go.

Starlow began to concentrate her power on her antenna which began to pulse rapidly. Very soon, an image began to form, and shortly, Rosalina's projectile figure formed.

Said appearance made all the Straw Hat's gasp in awe at her beauty, even Luffy and Zoro felt overwhelmed by it…just a tiny bit. Sanji's eyes became hearts as his cigarette fell off.

"Testing. Testing. Mario?" Rosalina spoke.

"I'm here, Rosalina," Mario replied.

The Goddess sighs in relief. "Thank goodness. I said the portal was stable, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure you would land safely." She looked around him and noticed that he wasn't alone. "Oh my. I didn't know we had company." She looked at him again, "And I see you changed your wardrobe."

Mario nodded, "I did. I have a lot to tell you. But first, allow me to introduce you to the Straw Hat Pirates." He looks at them, "Everyone, meet Princess Rosalina, Head of the Observatory, and Ruler of the Cosmo."

She then bowed to them, "As Mario has said, my name is Rosalina. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"The pleasure is all ours!" Everyone said, even Zoro.

Luffy went up first, as usual. "Hi! I'm Monkey D Luffy! And I'm the man who's going to be the King of the Pirates!"

"Oh my!" Rosalina placed a hand over her mouth to hide her giggling at the tone of his voice. "Quite energetic, aren't you?"

"Luffy! That's no way to treat her!" Nami punches her captain before presenting herself to Rosalina, "Greetings, Princess. My name is Nami, the greatest and most beautiful navigator of this crew!"

"I attest to that!" Sanji said.

"I-I-I'm Captain Usopp!" Usopp spoke next, his composure regained as he made a bravado attitude. "The upcoming brave warrior of all the sea!"

"...Name's Roronoa Zoro." Zoro simply said.

Sanji spun around before kneeling in front of Rosalina's projector, "Oh my dear, my name is Sanji and it's an honor to be in front of a beautiful woman such as yourself! Forgive me, but I cannot call you princess. Goddess would be a far better title."

"Oh, why thank you." Rosalina accepted the compliment with a smile, which sent Sanji a love-struck spin. She looked at Mario, "So, let's get to quick business. Mario, where is Luigi?"

The red plumber sighed, "I'm-a afraid we got separated as we traveled through the portal."

"I see." Rosalina said in sadness.

"It's-a gets worse." Mario said as he explained what he did in this world and what Merlin told him, concerning the Princess while the rest stared in shock.

"So Luigi is captured in a desert land, where the next Power Star is and is held by some sort of crocodile." Rosalina hummed. "Well, at least we know his location." Rosalina looked at the pirates, "Straw Hat Pirates, I know we haven't known for too long, but Mario trusts you. So I will as well." She then bowed to them once more, "Please, help my Star Children in their quest."

"Shishishishi! No problem!" Luffy replied without hesitation, "Mario is my nakama now! We'll help him no matter what!" A statement nodded by everyone else.

"Thank you." Rosalina smiled, thankful that Mario found good allies. "With that settled, Mario? How long have you been here?"

Mario thought for a moment, "Hmm…I believe it's been one week."

Rosalina nodded. "It's been one day back here."

"So time is going slow in your end." Mario said, "What has been done?"

"Professor E. Gadd has been working to make a stabilizer to the portals so our times are the same, I can't say how long it will take him to finish." Rosalina said, "Peach, Daisy and Yoshi have gone to collect materials and get more items before they join you."

"Fantastico!" Mario sighs in relief. "Please tell Peach that I'm fine."

"I will….inf…yo…" Rosalina's image began to cause static before vanishing.

"NOOO! MY GODDESS!" Sanji screamed in horror and sadness, falling to his knees and dramatically stretching his arm.

"Signal…cut…out." Starlow stated tiredly as she floated down to the table and comically deflated. "Tired…"

"Oy! Star shit!" Sanji quickly recovers and slams his hand on the table, glaring at the star sprite. "Bring her back!"

"Are you kidding?!" Stralow was aghast by the order. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to maintain the connection between worlds?! Besides, I can't call her back; she must be the one who calls me!"

"I don't care! Bring her back!" Sanji was going to grab her, but Mario quickly pulled him back.

"Clam down, Sanji!" He said while Starlow threw her tongue out and went inside Mario's hat(Mode: Bandana). "Talking between universes takes a lot. Starlow has a limited amount of strength to maintain a signal. Besides, she's the receiver, not the caller. Even if she does make contact, the chances of being Rosalina again are 10 in 100. I'm sorry, but she must make the call herself."

Sanji grumbled in annoyance. "Tch! I suppose she should focus on getting connected…" He complied as he looked at the window, and saw something. "Hey! I see something outside!"

Everyone quickly headed out, wearing ponchos to protect themselves in the rain, and saw a giant wall of red. "That's it…that's the Reverse Mountain! Keep an eye on the entrance!"

A few minutes later, they found the entrance. "Holy…the water is going up!" Zoro said as he saw the canal pulling water up to the mountain.

"Get ready!" Nami shouted as everyone went to their position and Merry began to get pulled by the current.

"Nami!" Mario shouted as he transformed into Frog Mario, "I'll help guide the Merry from behind!' He said as he hopped into the railing.

"Wait!" Nami quickly stopped him and threw a tie rip around him. "The currents are too fast, hook yourself with it so that we don't get separated!" She said as she tied the rope to the mast and ran away to direct orders.

"Okie dokie!" Mario quickly wrapped the rope around him before jumping into the water, the rope starting to be pulled.

Two minutes later, Luffy was running to the front of the ship when he tripped over the rope. "Aw!" He fell face first. How lucky his body is made of rubber cause that would have hurt badly. "Hey! Who put this rope here!?" Luffy shouted as she glared at the rope. "Is in the way!" Without thinking much, he quickly unroped it and threw it to the side.

Sanji and Usopp then began to steer the Going Merry toward the opening. "To the left!" Luffy called out, causing the duo and the underwater member to shift to the left. "Ah! Too much! We are going to crash!" The rubber captain yelled as they were getting close to the left wall…before the Merry was pushed back to the right. "Oh! Nevermind! We're saved!"

Soon, the Merry was going up the archways, heading to the top of the mountain. Everyone cheered for a moment before Nami noticed something and gasped in horror. "Oh no! The rope is gone!"

"Oh, that rope? I threw it away." Luffy said.

That earned him a fist to the head. "YOU IDIOT! THAT WAS MARIO'S LIFE SUPPORT! HE WAS HELPING THE MERRY FROM BEHIND!" Everyone gasped in horror.

"AHHHHHHH! MARIO IS MISSING!" Realization hit Luffy hard as he dashed to the back of the Merry, hoping to see his friend and quickly save him…just as the red plumber came from the other side.

"Mama Mia! That was close!" He sighs in relief as he looks at the rest, blinking when he sees everyone surprised at his direction and no rubber man around. "Did something happen? Did Luffy fall off?!" He quickly looked to the side, hoping that the straw hat boy at least tried to stretch his arm to the boat.

"GUYS! WE NEED TO GO BACK AND SAVE MARIO!" Luffy quickly came back with desperation in his eyes.

"Eh?" Mario looked at him.

"Huh?" Luffy turned to him.

"Mario!" Before Mario knew it, Luffy stretched his arms and hugged him. "You're okay! I thought I lost you!"

"No thanks to you!" Everyone shouted to him before having relief that their strongest member was okay.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know you were roped in and helping Merry from behind!" Luffy apologizes.

Mario, being his own character, patted his friend's back. "It's-a okay. You didn't mean it to. I should have informed everyone what I was doing."

"Don't apologize! You almost died!" Nami yelled.

"Not the first time a friend almost killed me." Mario casually replied as Luffy let him out. "Besides, we all are safe and heading up. Let bygones be bygones."

Nami sagged down. "You know. When Genzo told me, I thought it was an exaggeration but it's true; you're too humble for your own good."

"It's one of my best qualities."

"That makes things worse when someone takes advantage of it."

"Well, I'm happy to know that none of you will do that to me." Mario smiled brightly.

"Shishishi! Of course I wouldn't use my nakamas! You all are precious to me! And I trust you all!" Luffy smiled as well, brightly.

The crew had to cover their eyes from the intense light and words. "Agh! Stop it! How is this possible!?" Nami shouted, ignoring the joy in her heart at the dependency the two of them had on her.

"Dudes! You two need to stop being so awesome for three minutes!" Usopp yelled as tears came out from his eyes at how much he was valued.

"Can we please focus on getting to the Grand Line?" Sanji asked, looking away with Zoro to hide their blush.

Soon, the Merry found itself past the cloud line, and quite literally on top of the world. They all took the sight with glee, each one reminding themselves why they were on this ship and enforcing their goals. The ship dove down the waterway and towards the Grand Line.

"Hey, Nami!" Zoro suddenly spoke up from the crow's nest. "Is there a mountain at the entrance of the Grand Line?!"

"What?!" Nami looked at him in confusion. "No! There shouldn't be one!"

"...Well, there's something BIG in front of us!" Zoro said as he pointed forward.

They all looked forward and soon, the clouds began to clear and, as the swordsman had said, something huge was standing in front at the end of the road.

*BWOOOOOOOOOOO!*

And practically covered their ears at the sudden yelling. Mario widened his eyes in realization. "Oh no! I know that cry!" He quickly focused on it, "That sounds like a whale!"

"A Whale?!"

Sure enough, the view began to clear out and they indeed saw a humongous whale standing straight…and in their path.

"We are gonna crash!" Usopp yelled in horror as he, Zoro, and Sanji went to the rudder to try to steer out of the way, but the currents were too strong.

"We are going to die…" Nami squeaked in fear as they got close to the whale.

"I have an idea!" Luffy shouted as he ran down.

"So do I!" Mario said as he jumped to the railing. He positioned his hand in a circle and a fireball began to form in his hands.

Once it was big enough, Mario launched the fireball, just as a cannon was heard being fired, a cannonball heading forward to the whale, which exploded in contact. The force of the cannon and Mario's standing ground made Merry slow down, just enough for it to stop inches away from the animal, with only Merry's head figure breaking and sent flying at Nami, who had dropped to her knees at near-death experience and froze.

Thankfully, Mario was quick enough to catch the head before it crushed her.

"Ah! My special seat!" Unfortunately, Luffy saw it once he came back.

"We need to move!" Everyone shouted as they all, except Luffy, grabbed a giant oar and began to row.

"How has it not even flinched at the attack?!" Usopp asked.

"It's size is too big!" Mario explained, "It wouldn't feel a thing! If we had hurt his eyes then perhaps -"

"You bastard! Gum-Gum Pistol!"

They all just stop and watch in horror as Luffy throws his elastic fist into the whale's eye…which causes its giant pupil to look down at them.

"YOU MORON!" Everyone, except Mario, yelled at him, with Zoro and Usopp kicking him.

"BWOOOOOOOOOOO!" The whale replied by opening his mouth, instantly swallowing everyone inside.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" They all screamed as they got pulled.

And then Luffy and Mario got thrown off.

"Luffy! Mario!" The rest yelled as they were swallowed.

"Ah! Guys!" Luffy shouted as he stretched to the massive side of the whale. Once safe, he began to stomp on it, "You jerk! Spit my nakamas! Spit them out!"

"Luffy. You do know your stomps it's-a not doing anything to it, right?" Mario said as he flew down, thanks to his cape.

"I have to try something!" Luffy replied before feeling the animal going under. "Ah! He's going down!"

"Luffy! Over there!" Mario shouted as he pointed at a…metallic hatch on the whale's skin.

Going through the hatch quickly, they were quite surprised to see that they were standing in a metallic corridor. "Okay…I don't know much about whales, but they don't usually have walls like this, right?"

"Nope." Mario shook his head. "Either this whale is a ship or a robot. Whales usually don't travel alone."

"Hmph. Cool robot…but I'll kick his ass if everyone is hurt." Luffy stated.

"Then let's go find them." With a nod they both ran forward…only to moments later feel an uncontrollable shaking. "Woah! Woah!"

"What the Hell?!" Luffy yelled as he tripped, landing on Mario and causing both of them to roll together as they bounced around the halls and went deep.

Meanwhile, deep on the road they were heading were two colorful and sketchy individuals with massive guns with their backs against a massive door. "Alright, Miss Wednesday. Behind this door is that old fart, at the sound of 'Baby', we burst in and attack." The first one, a male that looked like a discount kind, said.

"Roger, Mr. 9." The second, a blue-haired woman, nodded. "Let us finish this."

"Alright. One, Two…Ba-"

*BOING!*

They both turned to the pathway in shock as they saw some sort of massive red ball heading their way. "What is that?!"

"Don't know! But it is heading our way-"

The massive doors open harshly as the red sphere clashes in it, sending it into the air with the two individuals. On the inside was…a view of the ocean with a small island and the Merry!

"What the Hell?!" Usopp yelled in shock at the sky last seeing people flying.

That's when the ball stopped rolling and revealed Luffy and Mario's dizzy forms.

"Luffy! Mario!" The call of their names woke them and they saw their friends.

"You guys!" Luffy yelled in joy at seeing everyone okay.

Mario looked at his surroundings before seeing the flailing individuals who were screaming in terror. Acting quickly, he grabbed and threw Luffy to the Going Merry, then grabbed the other two and threw them as well before he landed on the 'ocean'. He quickly swam down a bit before going up and jumped out of it, doing a front flip before landing on the railing. "Ta-da!"

"Ooooooh." Everyone clapped at his display, even the weird duo. Mario bowed to the attention.

"You know, I'm still impressed by how athletic you are." Nami commented.

With that said, they turned to the duo, who flinched in realization when they noticed their stares. "So, who are you guys?"

"You two are still here!?"

A shout from above makes them all look…well, up. Where a flower-head old man was standing on a platform, glaring at them or more specifically at the duo, "I told you a million times! You won't get Laboon!"

"Hehehe…" Both duo chuckled. "Well too bad, Old man!" They both took out large pistol weapons and aimed at the…sky(?) "This whale is now ours!" And they fired their cannonballs…

Only for Mario to grab his bandana and throw it, morphing into his iconic hat and hitting both of them, disorienting them and losing altitude as they fall to the sea(?).

"What?!" The duo gasped in shock as the hat returned to Mario's head. "How did you do-"

*Bonk! Bonk!*

Their question was stopped when Luffy hit their heads hard enough to knock them down.

"... Don't know what happened, but I felt I had to punch them." Luffy said before looking up, "But why are they firing at the sky?"

"It's not the sky." Mario said, seeing it, that it was fake.

"That's right." Nami nodded, "The sky's the whale's belly. That old guy is a doctor that decided to paint it out of a hobby."

"Oh! So that means that we are standing in gastric acid?" Mario asked, earning nods. "Then we better leave before the Merry begins to dissolve."

"...You…have been very calm about the situation." Sanji sighed as he knew that he needed to ask. "You've been inside a whale before, haven't you?"

Mario's nodding was all the crew needed to sigh in defeat.

"Thanks a lot, young man." The old man thanked him as the ship got close to him. "But why did you do it?"

"Because I heard you, sir." Mario replied. "You cared for this whale's health. Is enough for me to stop them."

"Heh! What a strange pirate you are, but can't say it doesn't suit you. Name's Crocus." Crocus introduced himself.

"Hello! I'm-a Mario!"

The crew, except Luffy, jaw drops. ('He had us in a running gag for fun, but gets introduced to Mario so easily!') You could sense the jealousy coming out of their brains.

"You, kid." Crocus looked at Luffy, "That Straw Hat suits you well."

"Shishishi! Thanks, flower guy! You're cool too!" Luffy said.

('So unfair!')


(Soon)


They now float through the canal that Crocus had made to help Laboon, the Island Whale's name, from inside. Turns out he was a doctor, retired but still a good one.

Soon, they found themselves exiting the whale by a door. Crocus floating island came out first, the Going Merry just inches from his position.

"Finally! A real sun!" Nami bathes herself in the sunlight.

*Splash*Splash*

"Hey! The weirdos are escaping!" Usopp yelled when he saw the duo jump ship and swim away.

"Bah! Let them!" Crocus said. "More people like them will come."

Mario was looking at the ocean when he felt his boot hit something. Looking down, he saw a strange compass. Curious about it, he picks it up and stashes it away.

The Merry dock near the entrance of the Reverse Mountain, where a lighthouse was. That's when Luffy asked about the whale and Crocus began his sad story; Laboon was part of a crew of pirates entering the Grand Line. Because of the dangerous waters they would sail, they had to leave him behind. It was a tearful scene, but Crocus accepted the task.

"After that, they left on their voyage, promising to come back…but that was 50 years ago."

"FIFTY!" Usopp gasp. "That's way too long! No way they're alive!"

"It is worse…They ran away." Crocus confessed, making everyone gasp. "My sources inform me and I even went on a three-year journey to find them…That's all I got."

"...Does he know?" Nami asked, looking at Laboon in pity.

"Of course he does. But he refuses to accept it." Crocus sighed, looking at the top of the whale's head, which was full of scars. "He keeps banging his head on the mountain for years, with the pipe dream of destroying it and looking for them."

"The scars of a broken heart hurts him more than the pain in his body." Mario said, "If he accepts they are gone, he will become lost and sad, with nothing worth living. A heart doesn't have proper ways to heal, takes willing time from the victim to let it happen." He finished saying, earning a lot of stares from everyone. "...What?"

"Profound words there, very accurate." Crocus chuckled. "You are a doctor as well, I see. The way you describe the pain tells me you have a worthy experience."

Mario was about to answer when- "YAAAAAAAAAH!" Luffy's battle cry made everyone look at him. The guy was running up the whale while holding the mast of the ship.

"...Why…the mast?" It was the only question anyone could ask.

"Gum-Gum Flower Arrangement!" Luffy shouted as he reached the top of Laboon, where an open wound was a geyser of blood, and slammed the mast on top of it.

"...Why did he yell Flower Arrangement?" Mario asked.

"THAT'S WHAT YOU ASK?!"

*BWOOOOOOOOOOOOO!*


(Ten minutes later)


We see Usopp blink in amazement. "I…I have no words."

Ten minutes after Luffy and Laboon fought each other, it ended in a tie, Luffy praised Laboon for his strength and understood he was hurt, so he promised him that he would come back to fight him.

That day, the whale's painful heart mellowed down, joyful tears coming out of his eyes as he cried to the heavens.

To make the promise of returning, Luffy had painted his 'special' skull signature on his scar snout and told Laboon to not start smashing in the mountain so that it wouldn't scrub off.

Now, everyone went to do their stuff until Nami got everything ready.

This brings us to Usopp and Mario, who went to repair the Merry. "You're so handy, Mario." The sniper said as he and Mario inspected the mast, "Plumber, fighter, doctor, hero, and carpenter. Hell, you're super strong!" He then looked at everything around, Merry was completely fixed, even the head figurine. "I…I can't even tell she had a broken mast. And this isn't even all your skills! You probably could do everything in this crew alone!"

"Oh, please. Don't sell yourself short, Usopp." Mario placed away his toolbox. "I made this fast because you helped out. Is nothing special; I'm positive you could fix all this."

"Okay, first; I would but not at the same level of skill. Second; Nami was right; you are too humble." Usopp sighs. "Someone is going to take advantage of this."

"Well! Like I said, I'm happy to know you guys will not be one of them." Insert bright smile.

"Agh! Stop being so cool!" Usopp yelled as he covered his eyes from the light and hid away his blush.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Suddenly, Nami screeched. The two of them flinched and quickly went to her.

"Nami!? What's wrong?!" Sanji was already next to her, holding a tray of food.

"The compass! It's broken!" Nami said as she showed the compass needle spinning around uncontrollably.

"Bah! You came here unprepared." Crocus said. "Each island in the Grand Line has its own magnetic field, making it impossible for standard navigation tools to work. Not only that, but the weather, the wind currents and even the sea itself will change suddenly and without notice. Forget common sense; the sea will eat you up without a Log Pose."

"Log Pose?"

"Is a special kind of compass that memorizes the electromagnetic fields of each island. It's the only way to navigate the Grand Line." Crocus explained.

"Out of curiosity, would the Log Pose be a bracelet-like compass with a needle inside a sphere ball?" Mario suddenly asks.

"Yes."

He then took out the one he found before. "I had a feeling this was important."

"Mario where did you-"

"I found it lying on the Merry after those two attackers jumped away. Must have fallen off when they jumped-"

*Zoom!*Squeak!*

"Mpmfg!" Mario yelped when he was suddenly picked up and hugged.

"Oh how lucky! Thank you Mario!" Nami hugged and twirled around with him.

"Curses! I hate this guy!" Sanji was on all fours and banging the ground, comical tears falling off him.

"So this is the Log Pose." Nami said as she inspected the device while a dizzy Mario was behind her, walking drunkenly. "There's no markings."

"Is because you start one of seven starting Islands at the beginning of the Grand Line." Crocus explained. "They all will guide through different paths, but they will merge into one route, and that is the path to the mysterious and final island of the Grand Line, Raffle."

"The Last Island?" Mario shook off his dizziness as he asked. "Is that where Gold Roger's treasure is? The One Piece?"

"Who knows."

"Well, we are going there!" Luffy said as he chomped a bone, "I'm completely full now!"

"What?!" Everyone widened their eyes at the remains of the food. "He ate everything?!"

"Wow. And I thought DK had an appetite." Mario was honestly surprised.

"You bastard, I was saving some for Nami-swan!" Sanji, in a blind rage, kicks Luffy.

Mario gasps in the direction his friend is heading and pulls Nami back, who yelps in surprise at the pull. She suddenly saw Luffy flung right in front of her…and immediately glared at Sanji. "You moron! Watch where you throw! You almost broke the Log Pose!"

"But Nami-swan!~ He ate all the food again!"

"Then kick him somewhere else! You're lucky Mario saved us the trouble of losing our only way to navigate!" Nami yelled at him before proceeding to kick him and Luffy away into the water.

Mario whistles at the kick before going right after them.

He was reaching the chore when he saw Sanji pulling a weakened Luffy, along with the two weirdos from before.

"Oh, please. Allow me," Sanji said as he helped Ms. Wednesday got up, ignoring his straw hat captain and Mr. 9.

"Hey!"

Mario quickly went to Luffy and picked him up without effort and quickly ran back.

"HEY!"


(Another ten minutes later)


"We beg of you! Take us back to Whiskey Peak!" The duo were on their knees, begging the 'all-mighty' pirates that beat them.

"...You both got some real nerves." Nami said with a narrow look as she dropped to their level. "First you tried to attack us and now you want us to take you with us? How about you tell us about yourself first."

"W-Well, I'm Mr. 9 and she's Ms. Wednesday, I am a King-"

Nami pinched his cheek. "Come up with a better story."

"Please forgive us! We can't say anything about us! Is under our contact!" Ms. Wednesday said.

"So you-a both worked for an organization?" Mario asked, making them both flinch. "A secret organization…bouty-a hunting perhaps?" They began to sweat.

"That makes it even more suspicious."

"They can come." Luffy suddenly said. "If it's just taking them, it's fine. If they tried to hurt us, we'd throw them overboard."

"...Fine." Nami sighed as she looked at the crew. "Since I finished everything, let's get going everyone!"

"Here!"

Mario looked up and saw Crocus throwing at him a Log Pose, which he caught. He looked at him in confusion, "Just in case, I'm not going to need that any time soon."

"Thank you very much!" Mario said as he put it away.

Crocus looks at Nami, "The Log Pose should be heading to Whiskey Peak, be careful."

"We will!" Nami said as the Going Merry began to sail.

"Goodbye, Flower Man! Take care, Laboon! Don't forget our promise!" Luffy waved his hand at the two of them.

*BWOOOOOOOOOOOOO!*

Laboon cried as the Merry began to become tiny.

"What a peculiar group of newbies…" Crocus smiled fondly, "I bet you would have loved to meet them, Roger. That Straw Hat boy and the Red Mustachio would have been your best friends."

*Poof!* "Hello there!"

Crocus raised an eyebrow at someone greeting him. He looked back but didn't see anyone. "Down here!" He then looks down, and blinks in surprise at seeing an oval-orange flower with eyes looking at him. "Hello!"

"Hi?" Despite the surprise, Crocus replied with calmness. "And what are you supposed to be?"

"I'm a Talking Flower!" TF replied. "I love to talk! I have a lot of stories to tell! Want to hear them?"

Crocus shrugged. "Sure. Guess it will be a new thing besides checking on this idiot." He pointed at Laboon.

"Bwooo!"

"Oh my!" TF gasped. "That is the biggest whale I have ever seen in my life! You must have a lot of stories to tell me!"

"Heh! I sure do. Would you like a pot?"

"I would appreciate that, good sir."


Years later, many travelers will pass this particular road, where an old man with a talking flower and giant whale stood. Stories to tell and lessons to learn.