(A/N: The trek on the mountain continues! Enjoy!)

Chapter 2: The First Line of Defense? The Giant Whale Laboon Appears!

"Hey! I see the mystery mountain!"

"What?!"

"I can't see the top, because of the clouds!"

"So this is the Red Line!"

"This can't be for real! The damn ocean really is flowing up the mountain!"

"Whoa!"

"The rudder!"

"Venus-chan, don't! It's no use!"

"You'll get splinters! Stop!"

"Gum-Gum Balloon!"

"We made it!"

"We're above the clouds now!"

"We're flying!

"We've made it to the top!"

"Yahoo!"

"All we gotta do now, is go down!"

"So, this is the greatest sea in the world! The Grand Line!"

"Whoa! This is great!" Sanji cheered from the rope ladder.

"Woohoo!"! Venus cheered with him through Usopp's whimpers of fear.

Zoro glanced around upon noticing a strange, moaning sound. "Did you guys just hear something?"

"Huh? What'd you say?" Nami asked, while beaming with excitement.

"Don't you hear a strange sound?"

"Isn't it the wind? There must be lots of unusual landforms!"

Venus pulled herself closer to Zoro with the railing. "I hear it too!"

While gripping the mast, Usopp adjusted his goggles for a closer look. A round, black figure was in front of them, far away. "What's that?"

"Nami-san! I see a mountain up ahead!" Sanji reported.

"A mountain?! That can't be!"

"But it's really there!" He insisted.

"Yeah, I see it too, Sanji!" Venus called. "It's like a giant ball!"

"Who cares?!" Luffy exclaimed ecstatically from the prow. "Go!"

"After passing the Twin Capes up ahead, there should be nothing but ocean!"

A frustrated Venus crawled to the navigator, used her as leverage to regain her footing, and gripped her chin to make her face the front. "Look!"

"Hm?" Luffy eyed the mountain curiously.

As the mist cleared up, noticing its smooth texture, it became apparent: it was definitely not a mountain! "Oh, crap!" As they took another deep dip, everyone screamed in terror, the girls tightly embracing one another. "It's not a mountain!"

"It's a black wall!" Luffy screamed.

"No, it's not!" Nami exclaimed.

"Then what is it?!" Zoro questioned.

"I-i-i-it's a whale!" Usopp screamed, and the giant, dark blue creature let out a huge bellow. "Wh-wh-wh-what're we gonna do?!"

"Should we fight?" Luffy asked obliviously.

"Idiot!" Nami scolded. "There's no way we can fight that!"

"It's too big!" Venus added.

"B-b-b-b-but our path is blocked!" Usopp pointed out. "What're we gonna do?!"

"Can we fly above it?" Venus asked.

"No!" Nami exclaimed.

"Hold on a sec!" Sanji eyed the whale. "If it looks like a wall from this close, then where are its eyes?!"

"On the sides of its head!" Venus replied.

"That's right!" Nami agreed. "It's possible that he may not have noticed us!"

"But unless we do something, we'll run into it!" Zoro pointed out. "Hey! We can get through on the left! Port! Hard to port!"

"But the rudder is broken!" Usopp reminded. "Do something!"

Zoro leaped down to the main deck. "I'll help too!"

"Oh, yeah! I've got an idea!" He jumped down from the prow.

"Luffy...?" Nami noticed him running to the back of the ship. "Hey, what're you doing?!"

In the cabin, the guys struggled to work the rudder. "It doesn't work!" Usopp strained. "The ship doesn't turn!"

"Dammit!"

"Don't give up!" Zoro urged.

Nami could only watch fearfully, hugging Venus again, as they rapidly approached their giant obstacle. "Is this it...?!"

Out of nowhere, a cannonball was fired from the front, shocking them both into falling back. "Cannon?!" Everyone, sans Luffy, gaped in shock.

He stood at the cannon pridefully. "All right! Did it stop?"

The ship did indeed slow down, though still crashed into the whale; the prow however, was the only part taking any damage, snapping off on impact, and spinning in the air. "Ah... we're screwed..." A shellshocked Nami laid on the deck, as Venus sat up deliriously. "This might be it..."

Luffy screamed in horror when the prow landed outside the room. "My special seat...!"

While the guys recovered in the cabin, Venus climbed up on the rope ladder, and observed the whale's lack of movement. "It still didn't notice us!"

"Let's get out of here, before it's too late!" Zoro ordered.

"What the heck is going on?!" Usopp exclaimed, as they urgently paddled away.

"Did he not notice the cannon attack, because his body's too big?!" Sanji questioned. "Or is he just slow?!"

"Who knows?! Anyway, let's get out of here now!"

Another huge bellow made the ship vibrate. "Ahhhhh!" Sanji screamed. "My ears hurt!"

"Paddle! Just paddle!" Usopp ordered through the loudness.

"We have to get away from him!"

When the noise stopped, Nami looked up to see the captain... glaring at the whale. "Luffy...?"

"You...! What the hell did you do to my special seat?!" He demanded.

Everyone gaped in shock when he landed a punch directly on the whale's eye. "Dumbass!" They waited cautiously, as nothing happened, but after a few seconds, the giant pupil moved down to look directly at them, and they screamed in terror. "How was that?! Bring it on, you bastard!"

"Shut up already, you idiot!" Usopp and Zoro kicked him down.

After a few tense seconds, another bellow was released. "Wh-what?" Nami watched fearfully.

"So loud!" Venus complained, with her hands over her ears, as her legs held onto the rope ladder.

The whale then began sucking in water, taking the swaying ship with it. When the captain fell overboard, the crew reacted with terror. "Luffy!" Nami screamed.

"Luffy!" Sanji yelled.

He wasn't the only unlucky one; Venus' grip on the rope ladder was loosened, and she flew right off! "Venus!" Zoro's eyes widened.

"Venus-chan!" Usopp screamed.

Before he could hit the water, Luffy stretched his arm out, and grabbed one of the teeth. Hearing Venus' scream of terror, he spotted her falling, and pulled her to safety on his back. "Luffy!" She smiled in relief, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

With her holding on tight, he started climbing to the top of the snout. "We're not gonna die!" The ship was sucked right into the whale's gaping maw, before it finally closed, and the wind calmed.

Luffy and Venus sat on top, panting from the adrenaline. "Th-thanks, Luffy." She then turned to him in irritation. "Why'd you have to punch him?!"

"He broke my special seat!"

"He didn't even notice! Not until you attacked him!" She scolded. "And now the rest of our crew are whale chow!"

He paused for a moment. "You're right. What are we gonna do?" She shrugged helplessly. "They've all been eaten..." To her surprise, he started punching the whale's blubbery skin. "Hey, you! Spit them out! Give everyone back to us!"

"Luffy, punching won't do anything!" She turned to where she guessed the whale's face was. "Please, Mr. Whale! Let our friends out!" She pleaded.

"Spit them out! I'm saying give them back!" They both lost their footing when he started lowering down. "You...! You... You jerk!" He started stomping instead. "You're diving into the water, aren't you?! Stop it!" The lowering continued. "Hey! I'm telling you to stop! Hey!" He glared down furiously, getting desperate. "Please wait! Give our friends back!"

"Please!" She begged.

"Hey! I said stop it!" He demanded. "We're gonna go on adventures together! They're precious to me! Give them back!"

Venus teared up at his touching words, and looked around fearfully, before something caught her eye. "Hm? Luffy, look!" She grabbed his wrist to gain his attention, and pointed to a strange, wooden trapdoor.

"Huh?"

"Come on! Before we go under!" She pulled him over, yanked the door open, and jumped inside, with him following close behind. They were just in time, before the whale completely submerged.

Deeper inside, the rest of the crew looked in awe at the blue sky, and white clouds surrounding them, as the ship floated in green water. "What do you think...?" Nami questioned.

"What do I think...?" Zoro snarked. "How should I think?"

"H-h-h-h-how..." Usopp stammered.

"I was sure that we were swallowed by the whale," Sanji remarked. And yet before them was a tiny island with a small, yellow house, a palm tree, a beach chair, and an occupied clothesline. "Is this a dream?"

"Yeah, it's probably a dream," Zoro replied.

"Then what're the island and house doing there?" Nami wondered aloud.

"They must be illusions," Zoro guessed.

Suddenly, a giant, purple squid pops out right in front of the ship! "Then this is... a Great King Squid!" Nami screamed in terror, alongside Usopp, as Sanji and Zoro prepared to fight.

But out of nowhere, a trio of spears shot right through it from behind, and the squid fell back into the water, dead. "Looks like there's at least someone there," Zoro remarked.

"I hope it's really a person," Sanji said.

Nami looked over from her place laying on deck, tearing up. "I've had enough. I wanna go home."

Usopp was in tears as well. "Luffy went somewhere too, and Venus-chan. What's gonna happen to us?"

"Come to think of it, where are Luffy and Venus?!" Nami cried.

Luffy and Venus stared in surprise at what was in front of them. "What the heck is this?" They were now inside a strange tunnel system, with wooden support beams, and a cement floor/walls.

"Wh-why is there a door and a passageway in a whale?" Venus questioned.

Elsewhere, the crew waited cautiously, as they heard footsteps from inside the house.

"A ship..."

"Sh-sh-sh-should we fire the cannon at that island?!" Usopp stammered fearfully.

"No, hold on a sec," Sanji replied, "Someone's coming out." After the harpoons rope was pulled, a tall, white-haired figure with large flower petals stepped out of the shadows. "Ah?! It's a flower!"

"A flower?" Zoro questioned.

Sanji looked again, and realized his flub. "Oh, never mind," He said in embarrassment, "It's a person."

"What is he?" Usopp wondered aloud.

"That old man killed a Great King Squid with a single hit," Nami remarked. "Was he just fishing, or did he do it to save us?"

The crew watched cautiously, Sanji in particular, as the man walked silently, sat in the beach chair... and started reading a newspaper. "Say something, you jerk!" Sanji yelled, and the man looked in their direction.

"I-if you wanna fight, we'll fight, you bastard!" Usopp threatened. "We've got cannons!"

The man stared daggers for what seemed like an eternity. "You'd better not, or someone will die."

"Oh?" Sanji smirked, as Nami and Usopp panicked together. "Just who're you saying will die?"

"Me."

"You?!" Sanji glared. "Why you..."

Zoro laid a hand on his shoulder. "Well, calm down."

"He's mocking us. That bastard..."

Zoro forced the cook behind him, and stepped up. "Hey, old man. Tell us where we are, and who you are."

The man stared into their souls again. "When asking someone a question, isn't it proper manners to give your name first?"

"Hm? Yeah, good point," Zoro admitted, "Sorry. My name is Roronoa-"

"My name is Crocus," The man cut him off. "I'm the lighthouse keeper of the Twin Capes. I'm 71 years old, and a Gemini."

An enraged Zoro had to be held back. "Can I cut him?!"

"My blood type is AB."

"Now, calm down."

"You're asking where we are? How dare you run your mouth when you barged into my private resort? Does it look like we're in a rat's belly?"

"S-so we were eaten by a whale after all," Usopp remarked, looking at the sky, "But is this really inside a whale's stomach?"

"Wait a sec!" Nami panicked. "What's gonna happen to us?! I don't wanna be digested!"

More daggers were stared. "Would you cut that out?!" The crew demanded.

"Haven't you guys heard of the 'running gag'?"

"That was a gag?!"

"The exit is over there." He pointed to a wooden door that stood out against the blue sky.

"We can get out?!"

"Hold on a sec! Why's there an exit in a whale's belly?!" Nami questioned. "Why's the door in the sky?!"

Just then, Usopp noticed something was... off, about their surroundings. "Wait, look at it carefully. This sky, those seagulls." Upon closer inspection, it was noticed that neither the clouds, nor the seagulls were moving at all. "They're all painted! It's all a painting inside of the whale's stomach!"

"Huh?!"

"Call it a doctor's playful mind."

"You bastard!" Usopp yelled. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"That's enough," Zoro ordered, "Leave him alone."

"Agreed," Sanji chimed in.

"Nami!" Zoro turned to the navigator. "There's an exit, so let's get out of here already."

"Yeah," She agreed.

But out of nowhere, the room started rumbling like there was an earthquake, and the green water started becoming very rocky, throwing the crew off their feet. "What's going on?!" Sanji exclaimed.

"It's started..." Crocus remarked, still reading like nothing was happening.

"Look!" Nami pointed to the island, and Zoro turned to see. "That's not an island! It's a ship; on top of that, it's made of iron!"

Through the crashing waves, they noticed the underside of the "island" was indeed made of iron. "Of course!" Usopp realized. "It's because this sea is gastric acid!"

"I guess that means that wooden ships would melt if they stayed here long," Sanji remarked.

Usopp became frantic. "Hey! What's started?! Tell us!"

Crocus looked up at the sky. "This whale has..." Everyone waited for his answer. "Laboon has started hitting his head against the Red Line."

"What?!" Sanji and Zoro exclaimed through another rumble.

"Come to think of it, this whale had some terrible scars on his forehead," Nami recalled, "He was also howling at the sky."

"What does that mean?" Usopp asked.

"He's suffering!"

They heard a bellow from the whale through the quake. "I see!" Usopp realized. "So that's what that geezer's trying to do!"

"Likely... he's probably trying to kill the whale from inside his body!" She concluded.

"Now..."

"What a vicious way to kill it!" Usopp glared, cutting Crocus off.

"Now that the mystery is solved, it's time to hurry up, and get out," Zoro urged, "If we take our time here, we'll be digested."

Sanji approached them, hands in pockets. "We have nothing to say about his whale hunting, nor are we under obligation to save the whale. Let's get out of here."

Another session of quaking occurred, followed by another. Then another. "Ahhh! Dammit!" Usopp exclaimed through the rocky water. "With the waves surging like this, I don't know if we can even reach the doors."

"We have no choice, but to paddle!" Zoro ordered. "Take the oars!"

"Let's leave quickly!" Nami urged. "I'm worried about Luffy, and Venus."

"They're outside!" Zoro yelled. "I saw him fly out of the mouth with her!"

To her shock, Crocus dove into the water! "That old man jumped in!"

"Huh?" Zoro looked in confusion. "What's he gonna do? He's gonna be digested." More rumbling shook the room.

Meanwhile, the passageway was effected as well, as Luffy and Venus bounced off the walls, floor, and ceiling. "What?! What's going on?! Huh? Why?!" Luffy's eyes spun. "Dizzy... dizzy... I'm dizzy!"

"What's happening?! I'm gonna be sick!" Venus groaned through flying.

The two flew to a light, but they ended up falling into a sewer. Luffy sat up, delirious from the fall, as Venus stayed on her back. "What is it this time?" He looked around after quickly recovering. "The sea?"

Venus sat up, holding her head. "A river? Or a channel?"

Just then, the room rumbled once more, prompting them to hold each other, before it started tilting. They tried to run, but gravity won, and they fell down to the other end of the tunnel, screaming in terror.

"Okay, we've succeeded in infiltrating so far," A male voice said. He had orange hair, a gold crown, a green suit, and a number 9 on each cheek. His partner, a teenage girl with a long, light blue ponytail, nodded her head. She was in a green fur-trimmed coat, a blue striped tank top, and white shorts with a jeweled belt. "Listen, Ms. Wednesday. Behind those doors is the stomach, and that geezer is likely to be there. We must eliminate him." He readied his bazooka. "Everything is for the whale."

"Yes, Mr. 9. This whale is a precious, sweet honey to our town."

Inside the stomach, Crocus was climbing a ladder by the exit door. "Hey! The geezer came out!" Usopp reported.

"Forget about him," Zoro said, "More importantly, how do we open these doors?"

"Okay, Ms. Wednesday? We'll open the doors with "Three, two, one, baby!" Don't let down your guard."

"Roger, Mr. 9. I'm ready any time."

On cue, they heard a pair of screams. "Luffy, stop!"

"I can't stop!"

"I can't keep up!"

"What are those voices, Mr. 9?"

"I don't know, Ms. Wednesday."

Luffy came dashing over, with Venus clumsily trying to keep up, and the four crashed through the doors.

Crocus watched in shock, as they flew overhead. "Those guys're..." The crew looked up from the Merry.

"This isn't good, Ms. Wednesday!" Mr. 9 fussed. "It's a sea of gastric acid below us!"

Zoro recognized two of the figures in the air. "Luffy, Venus?"

"Hey!" Luffy spotted the crew. "So everyone's okay?"

"In any case, help us!" Venus pleaded, but they ended up falling in the water.

"Aside from Luffy and Venus-chan, there're two weirdos," Usopp observed.

"Hey! That old man disappeared!" Nami reported.

"Don't bother!" Zoro ordered. "For now, let's save Luffy and Venus!"

The two power holders sunk like stones, as Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday swam up to the surface.

As Crocus ran through the tunnel, another bellow rang throughout the inside. "Stop it, Laboon." He prepared a huge syringe by an area where the whale's insides was exposed. "Don't hurt yourself anymore. There's only a little sedative left. I have to make some more." He injected the sedative into Laboon's system. "That wall divides the world's oceans. Even if you hit it until you die, it won't break, Laboon.

Nami perked up at the softer moan. "It's calmed down. The whale is quiet now."

"Seems like it," Zoro agreed, "Now..." He turned to the two strangers, as Luffy and Venus recovered. Sanji, being Sanji, gawked at Ms. Wednesday with heart eyes. "We did save you guys for the time being, but who are you?"

Ms. Wednesday grimaced at the lovestruck cook. "Mr. 9, they're pirates."

"I- I know, Ms. Wednesday. B-but if we talk to them, we should understand... perhaps-"

"You thugs're still around?!" Crocus reemerged from the tunnel.

"Huh?" Everyone turned in his direction.

"Don't make me say this yet again! I won't let you lay a finger on Laboon, as long as I'm alive!"

"He's back," Usopp remarked.

"Who's that pops?" Luffy asked.

They turned to the two after hearing Ms. Wednesday laugh evilly, and she stood on her feet. "Even if you say so, we can't leave," She refused.

"Taking down this whale is our mission," Mr. 9 added, following her lead, "We won't let you interfere with our whale hunting this time! We'll open an air vent in his stomach!" They prepared their bazookas. "Let's go, baby!"

"Roger!" They each shot a cannonball directly for the painted walls.

"Ah! Bastards!" An angry Crocus sprinted, and jumped in their paths, leading to an explosion that left the walls unharmed.

"That pops jumped straight into the bullets!" Usopp exclaimed.

"Could it be... that he protected the whale?!" Sanji gaped.

Ms. Wednesday laughed evilly. "Stop this pointless resistance!"

"If you want to protect the whale that badly, go right ahead," Mr. 9 added, "We'll turn it into food for our town!" Luffy glared through their laughter, as did Crocus from the water.

"What's going on?" Nami questioned.

"Huh?" Without a word, Luffy clonked their heads together.

"Luffy...?" Usopp muttered in surprise.

"I just... felt like hitting them."

A little later, everyone was gathered on the tiny island. The two adversaries were tied up. "I thank you for saving me... but why?"

"I wasn't trying to save you," Luffy replied, as Usopp struggled to pull him off of the palm tree, "I just didn't like them for some reason."

"Huh?"

"Hey, Luffy! What're you doing?!" Usopp exclaimed.

"Say, who're these guys?" Nami wondered aloud. "What're you doing inside this whale?"

"Stop it! Hey, Luffy! Stop it!"

"They're thugs from a nearby town," Crocus replied, "They're after whale meat."

"What're you trying to do?"

"It belongs to someone else. If they capture Laboon, it can feed the townspeople for at least 2-3 years, so..."

"Laboon?" Nami looked down at him.

"Is Laboon the whale?" Venus asked.

"Yes. It's the world's largest whale, called the Island Whale, which live only in the West Blue. I won't let them have him as food. There's a reason he keeps hitting himself on the Red Line, and howling towards Reverse Mountain."

"A reason?" Nami asked.

"Yeah. He's a whale with a human heart." Crocus looked up at the ceiling. "And he's been devotedly waiting for a certain pirate group... for 50 long years."

(A/N: Well, everyone's inside of Laboon! You know the disclaimer.)