Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Mario characters or One Piece Characters. Also, I plan to skip most filler arcs unless I really like the arc I will just stick to the main story from the manga.

Chapter 5: Grandline and New foes Part 1

In an infirmary at Logue Town Tashigi stands beside her bedridden commander, nursing the wounds he received during his fight with Mario. Although, from the reports it wasn't so much a "fight" as it was a one sided beatdown. Smoker was completely outmatched as Mario was not only able to hit him but was able to do so without devil fruit powers.

"Tashigi"

"Yes, Captain Smoker Sir!" Tashigi answered giving a salute.

"We're going after them, I won't let it end like this."

"But Captain Smoker you can't just abandon your post here." A marine, who was also in the room, said in a shocked tone.

"Tell HQ that I don't give a damn about orders. I'm going after the Straw Hats and I'm going to even the score with Red Cap." Smoker stated while clenching his fists, the events of his previous encounter with Mario replaying over and over in his head. "As soon as I recover from my injuries I'm setting off after them. Do you have any objections Tashigi?"

"No Sir!" Tashigi answered clutching her sword. "I am in full agreement. I cannot let Roronoa Zoro keep such a legendary sword."

"Good, now men!" Smoker barked, grabbing the attention of all the other marines in the room. "It'll take a few more days until I'm discharged, so until then I need you all to research what the hell a star child is."

"Star child?" Tashigi questioned tilting her head in confusion along with every other marine there.

"Yes Tashigi, I'm sure you've read the reports. Red cap doesn't have a devil fruit power, instead he claims that he is a star child and that is how he has all his abilities."

"Right, the reports indicate that he shot fire at you and then when he caught your weapon, he began to freeze your arm and finally from the reports from when he was seen near the town square, he has the ability to fly. If they were devil fruit powers that would mean he has three different devil fruits, but that would be impossible as anyone who tries to eat another devil fruit while already having devil fruit powers explodes." Tashigi explained while reading off the reports in her hands.

"Correct, so while I'm stuck in bed you lot need to go down to the local library, ask HQ, do whatever you can to dig up any information on what a star child is and Tashigi go down to the blacksmith and have them make me a new jitte made from sea prism stone." Smoker ordered.

"Yes sir!" Tashigi and the rest of the marines answered and saluted before leaving to complete their tasks.

"Just you wait Straw Hat and Red Cap, I'll take you both down. I swear it." Smoker stated, clenching his fist in determination.

Meanwhile, on the Going Merry

"Hey Luffy, can I talk to you about something?" Mario asked.

"Sure, what's up?"

"You really need to get another doctor for your crew."

"Why?" Luffy asked while tilting his head in confusion.

"Because Luffy, even though I am a good doctor I am from another world, there could be pathogens, diseases and bacteria I have never heard of because they don't exist in my world. It really is best you get a doctor that's from around this world." Mario explained, "Plus I'm only part of your crew until I find all the power stars, once I find them, I'm gone."

"Aw man, do you really have to go? Come on, being a pirate is fun and we can go on so many adventures." Luffy whined, trying to convince Mario to stay on his crew.

"I'm sorry Luffy, while it does sound fun, and I would like to help you achieve your dream of being the king of the pirates I can't just abandon my universe. Without me no one would be able to stop Bowser if he decides to kidnap Princess Peach again or try to conquer the universe." Mario explained catching the attention of everyone on board.

"Who's Bowser?" Usopp asked.

"Oh, I never mentioned him, did I. Well just like me he is a star child so he is also very strong and can use the exact same power ups that I can. But unlike me he's a conqueror, he takes what he wants and crushes anyone who tries to stop him." Mario explained.

"Sounds like one mean bastard." Sanji stated while putting down a tray of food he made for everyone. "And one of the things he wants is your princess?"

"Yep, at first it was just because her magic countered his, so he wanted to get rid of her. But as time went on, he eventually fell for her and now he wants her to be his bride no matter how many times she says no." Mario explained while taking a bite out of a sandwich Sanji made. "Excellent sandwich by the way Sanji."

"Thank you, and about Bowser, you haven't tried to just get rid of him. You know, like what you did to that Arlong bastard." Sanji asked.

"I've tried to already, first I dropped him in lava, and he was fine. Then I dropped him into lava so hot that it turned him to bones and his bones got up and tried to fight me, and afterwards he used his dark magic to return himself back to normal. And finally, I threw him into a black hole strong enough to destroy the universe and he was fine. He just doesn't stay down." Mario explained while finishing his sandwich.

"Really? Damn, I thought devil fruit users were terrifying, but you star children take the cake." Sanji said while taking a puff of his cigarette. Suddenly Starlow flies out from Mario's cap with her star shaped antenna glowing.

"Mario! We are receiving a message from Rosalina!" she exclaimed.

"Alright put in on Starlow." Mario replied. Starlow then began to show an image of a tall beautiful blonde woman with a long blue dress, a silver crown and a star wand in her hand. The Straw Hat crew all stood in awe at her presence, Sanji already admiring the lovely goddess before him.

"Hello Mario, I am glad to see you are fine." Rosalina stated inspecting Mario's new appearance. "It seems you have changed your wardrobe, is there a reason why?"

"Oh, well I have made some new friends in this world while looking for the power stars. They are pirates, so they asked I look more like one instead of a plumber." Mario explained.

"Oh, and these pirates, are they good people or…"

"Yes, Rosalina they are good people. In fact, why don't I introduce you." Mario quickly explained, beckoning the rest of the Straw Hats over. Luffy went up first to introduce himself.

"Hey, I'm Luffy and I'm going to become the king of the pirates!" Luffy proudly declared.

"Hello, I'm Nami, their cute and adorable navigator." Nami said while making a cute face.

"Don't forget money hungry." Usopp stated before receiving a smack on the head from Nami. "Why you, ahem and I am Usopp a brave warrior of the sea."

"Name's Zoro, I want to become the world's strongest swordsman." Zoro said stoically. And then Sanji leaped out in front of Rosalina.

"And I am Sanji, your knight in shining armor my goddess Rosalina." Sanji stated while having hearts for eyes. "My goodness, goddess doesn't even begin to describe your cosmic beauty; you are definitely the brightest and most beautiful star in all the cosmos." Sanji said while doing his noodle dance again.

"Oh my, thank you." Rosalina said and then began to look around the ship. "Mario where is Luigi?" she asked with concern.

"I don't know. When we were travelling through the portal to get here, we were pulled apart and sent to different locations." Mario explained.

"I was afraid of that, in fact that's what I want to speak to you about. The stability of the universes has become disrupted thanks to the force travel of the power stars, that instability is what caused that force you and Luigi felt. I tried to stabilize the portal while you were in it, but alas my power was not enough." Rosalina stated with a disheartening look on her face.

"It's-a okay Rosalina, I'm sure Luigi is fine. He's faced much worse than that and besides he has Polterpup and Starlee with him so don't feel sad, we'll get the power stars and be back before you know it." Mario said giving Rosalina a confident thumbs up.

"Thank you, Mario." Rosalina said, giving a smile and grateful nod. "Now, the instability of the universes has caused some side effects in the Mushroom Kingdom already Mario."

"What do you mean?"

"Strange warp pipes have been appearing all over the world and taking people to an unknown location, I believe they were sent to the world you are in now or one of the worlds that the other power stars travelled to. If you come across any of those victims, please help them back home."

"Of-a course Rosalina, you can count on me."

"Thank you, Mario and you all um… I never got the name of your group." Rosalina turned to the rest of the group.

"We're the Straw Hat Pirates!" Luffy proudly proclaimed.

"Oh well Straw Hats, can I ask that you assist Mario in his quest for the power stars." Rosalina asked the Straw Hats.

"Well, if it's along our route I don't mind." Luffy answered casually.

"Yeah, we don't mind helping out if we can." Nami said in agreement with Luffy and with everyone nodding their heads in agreement.

"Thank you, everyone it gives me great comfort to know Mario has friends to aid him in his quest." Rosalina said bowing her head in gratitude.

"Of course, I'll help however I can my goddess. And afterwards maybe we can get together for a lunch date, I'll treat you to a meal fitting for a goddess." Sanji stated with glee while still doing his noodle dance.

"Oh th.. w..ld .. lo…" Rosalina tried to say before her image was cut out.

"The signal cut out." Stated Starlow before resting on the ground. "The instability between the universes was too strong for me to hold onto the signal much longer."

"No, my goddess! Hey, star thing bring her back!" Sanji demanded of Starlow.

"What! Are you kidding me?! Do you know how hard it is to maintain a signal between universes?" Starlow replied in annoyance.

"I don't care! Bring her back!" Sanji demanded, trying to grab Starlow until Mario stopped him.

"Sanji, Starlow did her best to maintain the signal for as long as she did and now, she is tired. So please give her some space and Rosalina will contact us again when she wants." Mario told Sanji while bringing Starlow back into his cap and Starlow sticking her tongue out at Sanji.

"Why you!? Whatever then you can figure out what to feed it." Sanji said while walking back into the kitchen.

"Okay enough arguing everyone I need to show you all something." Nami said while beckoning everyone into the kitchen area. Once everyone was seated around the table Nami brought a map of the Grand Line. "Okay everyone look, the entrance to the Grand Line is a mountain." She said confusing everyone in the room.

"What do you mean the entrance is a mountain?" Zoro asked.

"Look here, this is Reverse Mountain, all the water is forced up through the canal here and into the Grand Line. And this is how we are going to enter." Nami stated. Mario then pointed to a spot on the map.

"Why-a don't we go through here?"

"Are you crazy! That's the Calm Belt!" Nami exclaimed in shock.

"Calm Belt?" Mario said in confusion.

"Oh right, you're not from around here. Ok let me explain, just as its name suggests the calm belt is an area of the sea that has no wind or storms or any other type of weather besides calm and sunny in it. And being that our boat is a sailboat we would be dead in the water if we try to travel through it." Nami explained.

"Well, we could just paddle through it and if push comes to shove, I can put on my frog suit and push us through the Calm Belt." Mario replied.

"I bet you wouldn't be so confident when you learn that the Calm Belt is where sea kings like to nest."

"Sea kings?"

"Yeah, giant sea monsters that travel through the deepest parts of the ocean. And they love to swallow up ships and their crew. So, if we tried to travel through the Calm Belt, we would be instantly attacked and killed." Nami explained, hoping to deter Mario.

"Oh, is that it? Nothing I haven't been through before." Mario replied casually.

"What!? You've faced sea monsters before?" Nami asked in shock to what Mario said along with everyone else.

"Yeah, plenty they're no big deal." Mario replied with confidence.

"Well, just because YOU might be able to survive the Calm Belt, doesn't mean WE can survive the Calm Belt. So, Reverse Mountain it is." Nami declared getting nods of approval from everyone besides Mario.

"Sorry Mario, but I'll have to agree with Nami on this one." Sanji stated

"Yeah, better safe than sorry." Usopp said in agreement.

"Okie dokie." Mario replied surprising everyone how easy it was to convince him.

"Wow, glad we have someone with some common sense on the crew." Nami said with relief. "Alright then boys keep a look out for the entrance to Reverse Mountain." With that everyone began to keep a lookout for the entrance to Reverse Mountain. After an hour the Straw Hat crew finally comes across the entrance, a long canal with what looks like a waterfall going up the mountain.

"Guys, I see it up ahead!" Zoro called out from the crow's nest. Everyone went to the front of the ship and stared in awe at the wonderous phenomenon before them.

"Alright everyone, see those archways!" Nami yelled pointing at the arches lining the path up the mountain. "Those are guides for our ship. We must line it up or else we'll be smashed against the walls." She said spurring the rest of the crew to action.

"Nami!" Mario called out.

"Yeah Mario." She answered back, Mario then pulled on his glove and equipped his frog suit.

"I'll get into the water and help guide the ship."

"Good plan Mario, but wear this." Nami requested giving a line of rope to Mario. "The currents going up the mountain are so strong that you would be left behind without a lifeline so tie this rope around your waist so that doesn't happen."

"Okie dokie." Mario said as he dove into the water to guide the ship from the back. Meanwhile Luffy rushed to the front of the ship to watch if the ship would crash, he then tripped over the rope.

"What the, what is this? It's in the way." Luffy stated as he untied the rope from the mast of the ship. Sanji and Usopp then began to steer the Going Merry in the direction of the opening. "To the left!" Luffy called out, Sanji, Usopp and Mario then began to shift the Merry to the left, but it was too much. "Too much we're going to crash!" Luffy called out as the Merry began to head towards the left wall. Mario heard Luffy and pulled the Merry to the right making it align with the pathway. As soon as the Merry hit the current up it shot through the archways heading up the mountain. Everyone came out and began to celebrate that they didn't crash. Nami then began to look around.

"Hey, where's Mario? And what happened to the rope?" Nami asked pointing to the mast where Mario's lifeline was tied.

"Oh, that rope? It was in the way, so I untied it." Luffy replied, receiving a punch from Nami.

"You Moron! That was Mario's lifeline, so he wasn't left behind!" Nami yelled in frustration.

"I didn't know." Luffy said rubbing the top of his head where Nami had punched him.

"Well since it was done out of ignorance and not malice, I'll forgive you Luffy." Mario stated leaning on the railing of the Merry.

"You're lucky Mario is so forgiving Luffy!" Nami yelled before she and everyone else turned to Mario. "Mario! How did you get back on the Merry?"

"I can fly, remember?" Mario asked pointing to the wings on his cap.

"Wow, so cool!" Luffy said in excitement before everyone hit him at the same time.

"Shut up Luffy! We almost lost Mario because of your stupidity!" Nami yelled, still angry that they almost lost their strongest crew member.

"It's-a ok Nami, that was an intense situation. Luffy didn't mean to leave me behind and we are all ok so we should just let bygones be bygones." Mario said trying to calm Nami down.

"You're too nice Mario, someone will take advantage of that you know." Nami stated while rubbing the bridge of her nose. Suddenly Luffy called out causing everyone to look towards the front of the ship to see they passed the cloud line and were quite literally on top of the world. Everyone took in the sight, before the ship dove down the waterway towards the Grand Line. Everybody was excited until Zoro spoke up.

"Hey Nami, is there a mountain at the entrance to the Grand Line?" Zoro asked.

"What, no, the map doesn't show anything at the entrance." Nami replied.

"But I see it there's a large mountain in front of us!" Zoro shouted pointing to the large object in front of them. Suddenly a loud cry began to bellow all around them.

"ARGH! It's not a mountain it's a whale!" Usopp shouted while covering his ears. As everyone looked up at the massive beast the ship was about to crash into. Suddenly Usopp, Sanji, and Zoro rushed towards the rudder controls to steer the ship out of the path of the whale. Mario stood at the front of the ship beginning to charge a massive fireball when Luffy suddenly went towards the canon and fired it at the whale. The force of the canon was enough to slow the ship down to not crash into the whale, the sheep head at the front still hit the whale and broke off, landing in front of Luffy.

"No, that was my special seat!" Luffy cried out while Mario, Usopp, Zoro and Sanji started to paddle away from the whale.

"Okay, does someone want to explain what the heck is happening?!" Usopp screamed.

"The whale is so big that the cannonball didn't even faze it!" Sanji answered.

"That or it's reaction time is really slow, who cares at least were alive!" Zoro also answered as the whale let out another massive cry.

"AGHH! My ears!" Usopp cried in pain then Luffy stepped up.

"You jerk. You think you can break my special seat and get away with it!" Luffy shouted as he launched his fist at the whale's eye.

"YOU MORON!" everyone besides Mario yelled at Luffy, Mario just stood in awe at Luffy's bravery or stupidity or a mixture of both, to attack the massive beast. Then the whale looked at the ship, opened its massive maw and began to swallow the ship whole. While it was swallowing the ship Luffy fell off and Mario dove in after him.

"Luffy! Mario!" Nami cried out as her and the others were swallowed by the whale. Meanwhile Luffy had stretched his hand and began to climb the side of the whale. Then the whale had closed its mouth and began to dive under the water.

"Hey, spit my friends out you big jerk and stop diving!" Luffy shouted, desperately trying to get the whale to stop.

"Luffy over here!" Mario called out to Luffy pointing towards a metal door on the whale. Luffy rushed over to Mario and they both went into the whale, while they were doing that the other Straw Hats were looking at their surroundings confused by what they were seeing.

"So, um, correct me if I'm wrong but we were swallowed by the whale, right?" Usopp asked, getting affirmative nods from everyone. "Then why is there a sky!?" he screamed as around them was a blue sky with clouds and birds.

"Maybe we already died and we're in the afterlife." Sanji guessed.

"Then I'm definitely in hell since you're here you shitty cook." Zoro replied, causing Sanji to glare at him before Nami smacked them both on the head.

"Don't say that! There is no way were dead, this can't be the end!" Nami cried out in a panic. "By the way where is Mario and Luffy?" she asked.

"I saw Luffy fall off and Mario dove in after him, so they should be fine. More importantly what's that?" Zoro responded pointing towards a small island with a house up ahead. Everyone just stared while they got closer until a giant squid rose from the waters in front of them. As Zoro and Sanji prepared for a fight, three spears suddenly shot forth from the house killing the squid. As everyone stared at the dead squid an old man walked out of the house.

"Whoa… that guy just killed the squid!" Usopp shouted in shock.

"Yeah, but is he ally or foe?" Zoro questioned, not taking his eyes off the old man.

Meanwhile with Mario and Luffy, they were standing in a metal corridor inside of the whale. "Okay, I don't know much about whales, but since when do they have long metal hallways and lights inside of them?" Luffy asked, confused by what he saw.

"Maybe it's not a whale." Mario replied, "Whales normally swim in packs, and they don't normally swallow ships. Instead, it should have tried to crush us if it wanted to retaliate to your earlier attack." Mario reasoned.

"So, what do you think it is?"

"Probably an enemy ship, I mean it was blocking the entrance to the Grand Line impeding the path of any pirates who want to enter. It may have been there to capture or kill any pirate crews who come through Reverse Mountain." Mario explained, causing Luffy to panic.

"Then, does that mean our friends are already dead?" he asked in a concerned tone.

"I don't think so Luffy. They have Zoro and Sanji with them so they should be able to fend off whoever is in control of this whale ship." Mario replied calming Luffy down. "But we should find them as soon as possible and get the heck out of here."

"Alright then, so where do we go?"

"When in doubt just move forward." Mario said pointing deeper into the whale. Then suddenly the whale began to ram itself against the Red Line, causing Mario and Luffy to start bouncing off the walls of the hallway. They kept doing this until they fell down a long path and slammed into a couple of people standing beside a pair of large metal doors. As they slammed through the doors, they saw the Merry and their friends.

"Mario, Luffy!" Nami called out to them.

"Oh, hey guys." Luffy answered back, Mario then grabbed Luffy and threw him on the Merry, and then grabbed the other two strangers and threw them onto the Merry as well, before landing into the water and jumping from the waters and landing onto the Merry.

"I never get tired of seeing how acrobatic you are Mario." Nami said while clapping along with the rest of the Straw Hats and Mario taking a bow before turning to the two strangers on board their ship. A young man wearing a crown and green trench coat with nines tattooed on his cheeks and a young woman with blue hair tied up in a ponytail and wearing a short, light green coat.

"So, what's-a your story?" Mario asked the duo.

"Oh, well, we are just poor victims who were swallowed by this beast just like you all were." The young man replied.

"Then what are those for?" Mario asked pointing towards the weapons they dropped.

"Oh, these? Well, there for this!" the young woman shouted as she and her companion picked up the weapons and pointed them towards the sky around them and firing two cannonballs towards it. The old man then jumped in front of the cannonballs to block them, but Mario had already thrown his cap at the cannonballs causing them to slam into each other before they hit the old man.

"What the… how did you do that?" the young man asked Mario, only receiving a silent glare as Mario caught his cap. As they began to back up in fear Luffy punched both of them.

"Um… why'd you do that Luffy?" Usopp asked.

"I just felt like hitting them." Luffy stated looking around at the sky. "But why would they shoot at the sky?"

"It's not the sky Luffy." Mario replied, "We're still inside the whale."

"You're right Mario, specifically were inside the whale's stomach. That old man just painted it so it would look like the sky." Nami explained.

"Oh, so that means the water is actually gastric acid?" Mario asked Nami.

"Yep."

"So, we should probably get out of here before we dissolve right?"

"Correct, you know you seem awfully calm about this Mario."

"Well, it's not the first time I've been inside of a whale." Mario replied causing everyone to turn to him in shock.

"Wha- you know what, I'm just not going to be surprised anymore. You seem to have done anything and everything Mario." Nami stated causing Mario to laugh nervously while rubbing the back of his head.

"Thank you, but why did you do that?" the old man questioned.

"Just didn't want to see you die Mister …" Mario said waiting for the old man to answer.

"Crocus, my name is Crocus. Well seeing as you helped me out let me open the doors for you so we could leave." Crocus responded. He then pulled the handle and opened the giant metal doors leading to the outside. As they were exiting the whale the two strangers jumped off the ship and into the ocean. While Mario and Luffy watched them swim away Luffy picked up a strange looking glass sphere from the ground. They then dropped anchor at the lighthouse right next to the entrance of Reverse Mountain and got off to eat, rest and chart their path to the next island.

"Alright, here you go everyone eat up." Sanji said placing the food down and glancing over at Luffy. "It's for everyone, so don't eat it all Luffy." He warned as Luffy began to eat. Then Nami let out a terrified scream getting everyone's attention.

"What is it Nami?!" Luffy asked.

"Look at the compass!" Nami yelled holding the compass for everyone to see. "The needle isn't stopping! It just keeps on spinning!"

"Oh, that's not good, is it?"

"No Luffy! It's not good! Without a working compass there is no way we can navigate the Grand Line!" Nami yelled in terror.

"Are you sure you're ready to sail the Grand Line?" Crocus asked. "Of course the compass isn't working, every island in the Grand Line has its own magnetic field, making it impossible to navigate the Grand Line using standard navigation tools." Crocus began to explain, "And it's not just the magnetic fields that are different on the Grand Line. Weather, wind currents, the sea itself will change suddenly and unpredictably. Common sense is useless on the Grand Line, it's the reason many pirate crews give up as soon as they enter the Grand Line. You won't be able to navigate these waters without a log pose." Crocus finished explaining.

"A log pose?" everyone questioned.

"What's a log pose?" Nami asked.

"It's a special device that memorizes the electromagnetic field of each island and points you straight to it. It is the only way to navigate the Grand Line successfully." Crocus explained. Luffy then spoke up.

"And does this log pose thing have a weird shape?" he asked.

"Why, yes it does have a unique shape."

"Like this?" Luffy asked while holding up the strange device he picked up.

"Yes, exactly like that." Crocus confirmed as Nami grabbed the log pose from Luffy.

"Wow, lucky us huh Luffy. To the victor go the spoils." Mario said in a cheery tune.

"What do you mean by that?" Nami asked.

"Oh, well when those two weirdos fled the ship, they dropped this, so that means it's ours now."

"Definitely, now we can navigate the Grand Line." Nami agreed staring at her new piece of equipment. Mario then glanced over to the right and pulled Nami back before Luffy came flying by. "What the…"

"Mamamia that was close." Mario stated wiping the sweat off his forehead. "If I didn't pull you back the log pose could've been destroyed."

"Yeah, hey Luffy, Sanji." Nami called out getting their attention before she punched them. "What the heck was that!? You almost destroyed the log pose!" she angrily questioned.

"But Nami, I was just punishing Luffy for eating all the food." Sanji tried to explain receiving another punch from Nami.

"No buts! You nearly screwed us over! And you!" Nami said delivering another blow to Luffy. "You're the sorriest excuse for a captain I've ever met! What kind of captain purposely screws over his own crew with his stupid antics!" Nami yelled out before delivering a final kick sending both Sanji and Luffy into the sea. "Now get out of my sight!" Nami finally finished her rant. Usopp then jumped in after Sanji and Luffy to get them out before they drowned.

"So, what's the deal with the whale?" Mario questioned, trying to change the subject from the near destruction of the log pose.

"His name is Laboon and to put it simply he is a whale with the heart of a human. Many years ago, he traveled with a group of pirates who left him here after promising to return after completing their voyage." Crocus explained.

"And how long has he been waiting?" Usopp asked.

"Fifty years now." Crocus replied.

"Fifty years! Man, those pirates really know how to test someone's patience huh." Usopp replied in disbelief.

"You moron." Sanji said while lighting a cigarette, "This is the Grand Line, his friends are dead."

"Sad to say but that's true." Nami added, "Back in those days the Grand Line was an uncharted sea, ten times more dangerous than now."

"Stop saying that!" Usopp demanded, "You don't know for sure, I thought it was a touching story. I mean a friend still believing a promise after fifty years, now that's true friendship. Right Crocus?"

"Yes, but the harsh moral of this story is that reality is often cruel. They didn't die, they fled in fear after experiencing the terror of the Grand Line and left Laboon behind." Crocus sadly explained.

"Why those, how could they abandon such a loyal friend. It's cruel beyond measure."

"How did you find out?" Nami asked Crocus.

"I joined a pirate crew myself in search of them. That is how I discovered the ugly truth."

"So why haven't you told him the truth yet? He can obviously understand you so why?" Nami asked.

"I did, down to the last miserable detail." Crocus replied staring up at Reverse Mountain, "But he won't believe me, because that would mean that it's all over. And that scares him more than anything. Soon afterwards he began to slam himself against Reverse Mountain. It's as if he believes the Red Line is what keeps his friends away and that by destroying it, he can clear their path back. He's a lost soul dying to be with his friends, he can't go back to his home in the West Blue, so what we have is a paradox of tragic proportions "

"Still for all the grief those pirates gave Laboon they did the same to you by saddling you with their burden." Sanji stated exhaling smoke from his cigarette. "I mean, you've done enough for Laboon what about you?"

"The scars in his hide are deep, the ones in his heart are even deeper. He needs someone to tend to his wounds and I'm all he's got. For years he battered himself and I've patched him up, a strange friendship but it works." Crocus explained before Luffy began running up Laboon's side with the mast of their ship.

"Gum-Gum flower arrangement!" Luffy screamed as he jammed the mast into the top of Laboon's head. Laboon then began to cry in pain and fought with Luffy for a bit until Luffy said "It's a draw." Luffy then made a promise to Laboon to have a rematch when he and his crew sailed around the world. He then painted his jolly roger on Laboon to symbolize their friendship. Then an explosion was heard in the distance.