"Alright, the Grand Line is almost in sight!" Luffy grinned as she sat on the figurehead of the Merry as the destination of the Straw Hats was closer than ever.
"Hey, guys? You might wanna see this."
Hearing Sanji's voice, everyone stopped what they were doing on the ship to see Sanji carrying a bunch of bananas, but they looked like hooked sickle blades and were silver blue in color with the traditional spirals marking it and the stem resembling the handles of sickles.
"Is that what I think it is?" Hilda asked.
Sanji nodded. "It is. A Devil Fruit."
"It must be Eric's Sickle-Sickle Fruit," Draco realized, "When he died, his Devil Fruit was reborn from the nearest equivalent fruit, which just so happened to be on our ship."
"Whoa, what are the chances?!" Sonson gawked.
"This is great though!" Usopp said. "We can have one of us eat it and make use of those powers for ourselves! Just think how strong Luffy would be with two powers!"
"No dice on that front. Any Devil Fruit user who's tried eating a second Devil Fruit has died. We just can't handle more than one power." Ben said. "Something about the two devils feuding against each other and destroying the vessel in the process."
"…But…" Ussopp started.
"Ben and I are exceptions." Draco explained. "For me, I assume the souls of my dead siblings are protecting me. For Ben….we…we honestly don't know how."
"So that leaves out Luffy, Sonson, Draco, Ben, Bamia, Kuina, Penny, Kaya, Noire, Gin, Nojiko, Hilda, Gottfried, Melony, Heart, and myself." Carmen counted off.
"Wait, you have a Devil Fruit, Carmen?!" Kaya asked in surprise.
"Yeah, it was given to me by this shifty merchant. He said it belonged to this lady on a pirate crew that ended up getting annihilated by the Marines." Carmen clarified as she suddenly turned into a lilac-colored liquid and back again. "From what I heard, it's called the Liquid-Liquid Fruit."
"Damn, a Logia?! So lucky!" Noire commented.
"Moving back to the problem at hand, who else would be willing to take this Devil Fruit?" Gin asked.
"Me and Ruby are right out. Those who eat a Devil Fruit can no longer swim in the ocean, which would be a death sentence to Fishmen." Axol said.
"We could still breathe underwater, but we'd be sitting ducks for any undersea predators," Ruby added.
"I'm not eating it. I won't take shortcuts to my goal." Zoro declared. "Kuina doesn't like to rely on her Devil Fruit too much for that reason either."
Kuina nodded. "I only use it when absolutely necessary."
Usopp sighed. "Yeah, I'm better off not eating it too. My specialty is long-range, and this power feels more like a mid-range thing."
"I already decided not to risk eating any Devil Fruits," Sanji said.
"Oh?" Noire smirked. "Not even the…?"
"WE DON'T TALK ABOUT THAT!" Sanji snapped.
"What about Kirby?" Kaya suggested, holding up her surrogate son, who stared at the Sickle-Sickle fruit in awe.
"I don't know what would happen. Besides, doesn't he have that transformation thing?" Penny pointed out.
"So, the little fella is out as well." Heart decided.
"Yeah, I don't think it's right for me either. Once you eat a Devil Fruit you can't take it back. So you have to weigh the risk versus reward, and for me there's too much risk." Nami said. "But Devil Fruits can be very valuable. Maybe we can sell it somewhere."
"I wouldn't recommend it. Depending on who we sell it to, the next time we see it the user could be an enemy who's more capable of using it than Eric was." Nojiko pointed out.
"In that case, let's keep it on hand for now and see if we can offer it to someone trustworthy. My father always said Devil Fruits are meant to be eaten, and only need the right user to unleash their full potential." Draco said.
With that decided, the crew started sailing for Reverse Mountain and it wasn't long before things started happening.
"I'm seeing storm clouds on the horizon!" Usopp reported.
"We're nearing the entrance to the Grand Line. Before long we'll be seeing the Red Line to mark the start of our real journey." Draco said.
"It took a long time, but we're finally making it. And with one hell of a crew." Luffy smiled.
"I remember you saying you hoped for ten crew members before hitting the Grand Line. And here we are with twenty-three." Bamia noted.
"Yeah, we seriously are gonna need to get more ships to hold everyone!" Sonson giggled.
Nami looked at the chart. "There seems to be something odd about how the chart is drawn. It almost looks like the falls are traveling up."
"They are, it's called Reverse Mountain for a reason." Axol clarified. "This is where me and Ruby start guiding the ship. Once we hit the canals they're going to hit back. Only Fishmen are strong enough to swim those currents."
"And even then we'll need special tethers," Ruby admitted.
"Are we sure we can trust the map, though?" Zoro asked. "It was stolen from Buggy."
"Buggy's traveled the Grand Line too. He mentioned it during our first encounter." Bamia pointed out.
Draco nodded. "This is the time to leave all common sense about the world behind. Once we hit the Grand Line, any natural laws are going to be thrown out the window."
"Sounds like a challenge! I love it!" Heart smirked.
"We need to tie the rudder down and raise the sails. Once we reach Reverse Mountain, the current is all we'll need to move forward." Ben said.
The crew got to work as the Red Line started to come into view through the storm clouds.
"Red Line dead ahead!" Usopp called out. "Sweet Oda, it's larger than I realized!"
"It's the world's only real continent, but it's so tall that it's practically impassable, so there's no evidence of anyone living on it," Draco said.
"This is it, people! We're nearing the entrance to the Grand Line!" Sonson cheered.
"Everyone get to your stations!" Gin called out. "We've only got one shot at this, so let's make it count!"
Axol and Ruby dove in front of the Merry wearing the special tethers Draco had bought from Loguetown among the other essentials. The rudder was tied off and the sails as well.
"Get ready to haul them in once we reach the current!" Draco called out, "At that point, we can rely on the water to carry us through the mountain!"
The ship rocked as the current hit, starting to suck in the Merry as everyone quickly braced themselves.
"Aim for that crack in the mountain!" Nami called out. "That's the entrance we're looking for!"
"The damn ocean is really flowing up the mountain!" Kuina realized.
"The Grand Line doesn't work the same way as the rest of the world. Once we pass the gates we need to pull in Axol and Ruby." Draco said. "At that point, we've essentially made it."
Swimming with expert precision, the two young Fishmen successfully guided the Merry through the gates. Once past, they were hauled back onto the deck before the current could become too much for them.
"Yay!" Melony cheered.
"This is it!" Nojiko said. "We have a straight shot to the summit!"
Before long, the Merry wound up above the clouds at the highest point of the Red Line.
"Amazing!" Heart said. "I knew joining you was a good idea!"
"We're up so high!" Luffy called out excitedly.
Draco chuckled. "Everyone brace yourselves! After all, what goes up must come down!"
Sure enough, once they reached the summit the Merry was pushed along the current flowing back down. Images of their dreams filled the Straw Hats' heads. Of discovery, strength, peace, and glory. As for Draco, he smiled as he laid eyes on the Grand Line once more.
"Papa...I'm home."
The rush of racing down the current of Reverse Mountain into the Grand Line caused many of the Straw Hat Pirates to whoop in excitement, even Usopp and Melony. Zoro then heard what sounded like a fog horn.
"What is that?!"
"Sounds like an Island Whale!" Ben suggested.
"A whale?!" Noire beamed exitcedly. "Where?! Where?!"
Seeing the rest of the crew surprised by this, Sanji lightly chuckled and said.
"She really likes whales. They're her favorite animal….Hey! I see a mountain at the base of the falls!"
"There are no mountains at the base of the current!" Ruby pointed out. "The Twin Capes open up to pure ocean!"
Usopp quickly used his goggles to peer through the mists created by the current and gasped in shock.
"It's a giant whale!"
"An Island Whale, to be specific!" Draco explained. "Though I have no idea what one is doing in the Grand Line!"
"And we're about to hit it!" Kaya realized.
"It's blocking our path!" Noire realized. "Right in the middle of the cape!"
"I don't think it's noticed us!" Nami noted. "I can't see its eyes from here!"
"I think we can get through on the left!" Zoro said. "There's an opening!"
"We're going too fast!" Axol said. "And the rudder's still tied off!"
Draco quickly ran onto and across the figurehead and then jumped off before harnessing the power of the Kaiju-Kaiju Fruit.
"MODE RODAN!"
Transforming into a pterodactyl-like creature with magma-esque wings, Draco used himself as a cushion to keep the ship from slamming into the whale too hard and brought the ship to a slow stop.
"My life flashed before my eyes..." Nami breathed out in relief. "For a second I could see Bellemere in heaven."
"Same here..." Nojiko sighed.
"Oooooh!" Kirby and Melony let out in wonder as they stared at the whale's eye, which looked ten times as big as the Merry.
Judging from its position, the crew was right in front of its mouth. Luffy and Ben noticed the whale's forehead was covered in heavy scarring.
"It still hasn't noticed us," Carmen said.
"Then we should get out of here before it does," Gin suggested.
The whale let out a giant cry, which Gottfried quickly dampened to keep the crew from going deaf.
"Easy with the death metal act, Willie!"
Suddenly, the cry turned into something else. Something that sounded very familiar, and very foreboding.
"Uh-Oh..." Sonson realized in horror. "Everyone brace yourself! He's gonna sneeze!"
The whale suddenly opened its mouth, and a massive sneeze blew the ship back before creating a counter current that wound up washing them right into the whale's mouth.
"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! SWALLOWED BY A WHALE?!" The entire crew all shouted at once.
The water from the current spiraled down the whale's gullet as it closed its mouth, trapping the Straw Hats inside along with their ship. The whale then dove under the water.
-OP-
Inside of the whale, there was a bright blue sky and a small island housing a small house with a laundry line drying off clothes.
And sitting outside where three boys; a large and muscular boy with a shaved head and green jacket, reading a Germa 66 comic. Beside him was a taller and gangky boy in a red shirt with a black toque reading a history book and finally, there was a short boy in a yellow striped shirt smirking as he read both a Playpirate magazine and a 'Scammer's Weekly' magazine.
"ED-BOYS!"
The gangly boy dropped his book and stood at attention.
"R=Rolf! We weren't slacking! Just taking a break!"
"Hold your tongue, Double-D Ed boy!" The speaker, a tall young man with blue hair and tanned skin shouted as he took off his shoes and then placed another in his mouth as eh turned to the biggest boy. "Tell me, big Ed boy…Have you bever experienced THE ALMIGHTY THREE SHOE BEATING!?"
He then slammed all three shoes onto the comic reader, who just chuckled and waved.
"Hi Rolf!"
SMACK!
"Hi Rolf!"
SMACK!
"Hi Rolf!"
SMACK!
"Hi Rolf!"
SMACK!
"Hi Rolf!"
"…WHY DO YOU NOT FALL?!"
The last boy grumbled.
"Geez Rolf, knock it off will ya?"
"If you do not wish Crocus to be feeding you, Eddy, then by all means!" Rolf snapped, then spying the Play-Pirate. "SHAKLAHA!"
He then proceeded to attack Eddy with a fish that he pulled out of nowhere.
"Where the heck did ya get that?"
"Rolf always carries treasured heirlooms of Papa!"
A beating continued, with Ed cheering the pummeled Eddy on while Double-D tried to intervene.
"Rolf! Rolf! Please reconsider! Eddy, apologize."
The battered and bruised Eddy stood at attention.
"Yeah, um…I'm really sorry Rolf. Just wanted a break."
"If this true then you will have the cupcakes of sorriness, yes?" Rolf motioned, expecting such.
Eddy smiled weakly, but then found some resolve.
"What do we have to worry about? Not like anything happen…"
Rolf suddenly clamped a hand over Eddy's mouth.
"Hark, Ed-Boys! Rolf sees something approaching!"
The Eds followed Rolf's gaze to see a caravel ship coming into view, wondering just what it was doing here.
"How odd, Laboon wouldn't just up and eat a ship without a good reason..." Double-D noted.
-OP-
The crew was surprised when they saw that the inside of the whale's stomach looked like an open sky. The Merry was currently floating on an ash cloud created by Draco's Disaster-Disaster Fruit to keep it above the stomach acid.
"Please tell me none of us are dead. Because I cannot for the life of me comprehend what I'm seeing." Hilda said. "I mean... We just got swallowed, right? So why are we still outside?"
"Is this a dream of some kind?" Heart wondered. "Then again we're all seeing it. And we're all clearly breathing so we're not dead."
Suddenly, a Great King Squid erupted from the acid to attack the Merry.
"Stand back, mates!" Ben said as he formed a spine sword with the Bone-Bone Fruit. "This beastie is all mine!"
Suddenly, several harpoons shot out from the house and impaled the creature, killing it instantly.
"Huh, guess someone must be living here," Sanji noted.
"But who would live inside a whale?" Noire pointed out.
"Ahoy there!" Came a young man's voice as the crew looked to see four boys waving to them.
Also with the four boys was an elderly man who started reeling in the squid with his bare hands. On his head was a decoration that looked like a flower.
"Other people! At long last!" One of the boys, a lad with yellow hair and a sock hat said in utmost relief. "We've been stuck here so long!"
"Ketchup!" A dim-witted-looking boy with orange hair and a unibrow waved over.
The old man seemed to observe the ship with a critical eye before sitting down in a lounge chair and taking out a newspaper.
"Excuse me! Can you tell us where we are and who you are?" Penny called out.
The old man looked over. "It's polite to offer your own name first when asking that question."
"Oh, I'm very sorry!" The Android apologized. "My name is Penny and these are friends and fellow pirates!"
The Straw Hats all took turns introducing themselves as well as their ship. After they were done, the old man nodded in acknowledgment.
"My name's Crocus. I'm the lighthouse keeper of the Twin Capes. Have been for the last fifty years. Which is a good chunk of my life since I'm 71 now. As for where we are, this is my private resort. Which, as you may have surmised, is inside a whale's stomach."
He then gestured to the four boys under his care.
"And these brats are Ed, Edd, Eddy, and Rolf. Call the second one Double-D to make things easier."
"Huh, guess that explains the sky. It's actually painted!" Hilda noted.
"But that whale must be larger than we thought if all this is inside its stomach." Heart added.
"We're not going to get digested, are we?" Ruby nervously asked.
"No fear of that, the exit's right over there," Crocus said, gesturing to a large door in the side of the stomach, which shocked the group.
"How did you get all of this inside an Island Whale?" Ben asked.
Suddenly the area was hit by a large quake, freaking everyone out except for Crocus, who sighed, and The Eds and Rolf, who became worried.
"Aww come on, Laboon! Not now!" Eddy complained.
As the Merry and the island started rocking, it was revealed that the island was artificial, with an iron underside.
"Hey, old man!" Luffy called out. "What's going on with the whale?"
"Laboon has started hitting his head against the Red Line," Crocus explained. "You likely saw the scarring on his forehead, yes? Well, that's the reason."
"The whale's cry earlier. Gottfried mentioned that he's crying about something." Melony realized.
"The beast's pain runs very deep. Rolf cannot give words." Rolf sighed sadly with a shake of his head.
"Well, we're not getting anywhere while the whale's bucking like this. We'll just have to wait it out." Luffy said.
-OP-
Meanwhile, two people, a man and a woman, had entered Laboon through the metal implants in his body, both of them carrying large handheld cannons.
"Well, we infiltrated this far in," The man said before turning to his partner. "Listen, Miss Wednesday, behind this door is the stomach. That old geezer is likely to be there. We must eliminate him. This whale is vital for us."
"Of course, Mr. 9," the woman, Miss Wednesday, said. "This whale is precious honey to our town."
-OP-
Back in the stomach, Crocus had dove into the acid but came up near the doors completely unharmed.
"Wow, that guy is tough! There's gotta be tons of ships and skeletons at the bottom of this acid pool!" Noire commented, impressed.
"Hold on, I'm hearing something, fellas!" Gottfried exclaimed, then listened in. "Two people are behind the door Old Crocus is reaching!"
"They might be trying to attack him!" Hilda gasped.
Luffy didn't like that, so she stretched over to the doors, much to Crocus's shock, and threw the doors open. This surprised the duo, who had been planning on opening the doors on a three-count.
"Wait, is that...?" Draco whispered, recognizing the female of the two.
Luffy grabbed the duo and bounced right back over to the Merry. Crocus just shrugged and kept climbing to the doors, soon reaching a large room with a massive injection needle inside.
"Okay, Laboon, that's enough hurting yourself. Double-D and I will have to make some more sedative soon, there's only a little left in this needle."
He pushed the needle into Laboon's flesh, causing the whale to stop.
"This wall separates the world's oceans, it won't break no matter how long you try hitting it. You could slam on it until you die, but it still wouldn't break. It's time to give it up, Laboon." Crocus said sadly.
Laboon only replied with a sorrowful bellow, making Crocus shake his head as he climbed back down.
Knightmare Lord A/N:
We've arrived at the Grand Line! We also have the iconic trio of Ed, Edd n' Eddy from the cartoon of the same name plus Rolf, the Son of a Shepard! Will they be joining the Straw Hats? Well, you probably know our style by now.
Also, we have our good boi whale, Laboon. Will the Straw Hats be able to help the pain in his heart? Find out in the next chapter!
Take it away, Mrotrax!
Mrotrax A/N:
Hope you liked the Ed-boys and Rolf's introduction! Mixed and matched a few of my fave Ed, Edd and Eddy scenes for that.
Next, we meet a One Piece fave!