Chapter 21: Laboon the Giant Whale
It was clear to the entire crew that there was something wrong with Luffy. All throughout their time on Loguetown- and even after they'd left- Luffy had been nothing but smiles. When Sabo had shown up, he'd been in an even better mood if possible.
It was when Sabo said they needed to talk that things changed.
After Luffy had gone inside the galley, the small crew of four had gathered at the front of the Merry, quietly speculating what could be happening. They knew that whatever was being talked about had to do with something bad, that much was obvious. What that bad thing was, however, they had no idea. Speculation included a family member passing to something happening with the Whitebeards, but none of their theories had much evidence.
When a half-hour had passed and Luffy had come out to grab the den den, they had all seen the startling difference in their Captain for the first time. His skin was much paler than it had been when he'd left, and there was a deep frown on his face. His eyes were glazed, as if in deep thought, and when he'd noticed their staring, they were all met with a look of such raw emotion that it threw them all.
As quick as it had happened though, it was gone. Luffy had grabbed the snail and gone back into the kitchen, leaving them with more questions than answers.
Another ten minutes passed as they waited, glancing occasionally to the kitchen. They had thought of eavesdropping but had quickly dashed that idea as quickly as they'd had it. They may be curious, but they would never invade Luffys privacy like that, not after everything he's done so far for them.
When Luffy came out again, snail in hand, it seemed like whatever conversation had been happening was now over. Sabo came out only a minute later, confirming that idea, but like Luffy, the blonde didn't look unaffected by whatever had been talked about. His smile and carefree attitude was gone, replaced with the same frown as Luffy. Unlike Luffy, though, there was a concern and worry in his eyes that they could all see was clearly directed towards Luffy. It didn't pass any of their notice that the blonde was continuously sending the young Captain the same worried glances that they were.
Luffy seemed to expertly ignore all of those looks though as he joined his crew a the front of the ship, Sabo following close behind.
"Uh, Luffy, we're almost at the entrance." Nami finally said, breaking the tension. The rain had yet to even slow, but like before, no one was paying it any mind.
"Mm." Luffy hummed with a nod, eyes watching the incoming mountain carefully.
"That means I've got to head out now then," Sabo said with what sounded to be a regretful sigh. The crew looked to him, and then Luffy who didn't seem to be bothered by the words like they expected him to be. For how warm a welcome Sabo had gotten, they had expected a goodbye to be just as full of love and concern. They were proven wrong when Luffy remained stone-faced.
"Luffy, I'm not going to force you to do anything, Kami knows you wouldn't listen anyway, but you really should stop and take the time to at least think about what I've told you. If I hear anything else, you and Ace will be the first to hear about it, promise. Are you sure you don't want me to stay and help get you through Reverse Mountain? You could take the time to go rest." Sabo said. Luffy knew his brother wasn't lying about keeping them informed, and he knew he was only worried- hence his reiteration of his offer to stay and help- but Luffy had to do this himself.
Luffy knew he was being a little childish, but after hearing about Haru coming back, Luffy couldn't help but be irrationally angry at his blonde brother. He would never hate Sabo, but he was angry that he'd kept something so important from him for so long.
The rational part of his brain understood why Sabo had done it, and really, if he thought about it, he wasn't actually angry at Sabo. He was angry about everything else, angry that Haru was still alive, angry Haru was still working in facilities, angry at the world government for allowing facilities, angry Haru was going to Paradise again, but he was not angry at Sabo.
The crew could still feel the tension that seemed to double the more Sabo spoke, but they said nothing, expertly staying out of it. Not all of them had siblings, but they all knew better than to insert themselves in what looked to be a spat between the two brothers.
"I'll be fine. I'll miss you though." Luffy finally said after a sigh, turning to look at his blonde brother. And just like that, his anger towards Sabo was gone. Sabo looked relieved to hear Luffy speaking to him again and smiled a little.
"I'll miss you too, Lu. You stay safe and try not to get into too much trouble, please? For the sake of my health." The blonde asked, knowing it was a useless request. If Luffy wanted to do something, he would do it, no matter how much it made the people he knew worry.
"It was nice meeting all of you. Until next time." Sabo said to the crew, giving them a smile and another bow before walking over to the Merrys railing and jumping over it, down to the tiny boat that awaited him. Luffy and the others went over and the straw-hatted teen waved exuberantly, his bad mood gone as he smiled and saw his brother off.
The crew wasn't quite sure how to handle the sudden change in moods that their Captain was experiencing, but they weren't going to question them lest they have to face the Luffy they'd seen earlier.
When Sabo was a ways away, Luffy turned to them next, smiling softer than before, but a smile none-the-less.
"Let's go to the Grand Line." He told them firmly. They all returned his smile with one of their own, nodding.
"Mm!"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Hey, we reached the Red Line!"
"What?!" The crew all ran to Luffy at the shout, everyone looking to see a giant wall of rock in front of them.
"This can't be for real! The damn ocean really is flowing up the mountain!" Zoro exclaimed, looking through binoculars as the water went up the mountain. Nami had mentioned earlier that she'd not only heard rumors but saw on the map that there were canals leading to the mountain and that must be their way up. Zoro had been skeptical of course, but Nami merely insisted that that was the only way and Sanji had agreed wholeheartedly with her. Luffy hadn't cared one way or the other, as long as they made it into Paradise.
Usopp, however, had been too focused on the rudder and the strong current to have much of an opinion on how they were getting up the mountain.
They had drawn the sails per Namis request after that, and that was when Luffy had spotted the Red Line.
"The entrance to the Grand Line..." Nami said softly in awe.
"I-I-I can't see the top because of the clouds!" Usopp said, noticing that the mountain went up so high that it reached the clouds. A sudden jerk of their ship nearly flung Luffy off, but he managed to save himself before that could happen. He had plenty of experiences with rough waters so he wasn't too concerned.
"We're being sucked in!" Usopp said, looking to see they were now being rushed towards the mountain due to the current.
"Hold the rudder steady!" Nami ordered.
"We're on it!" Usopp and Sanji said, running inside to do as told.
"Nami, wheres the entrance? We're gonna crash into the rocks if we keep going this way!" Zoro said, looking to see that that was where they were headed at the moment.
"Nami! What do we do?!" Usopp asked, he and Sanji doing their best to hold the rudder steady.
"Keep going straight ahead!" Nami yelled, a smile on her face. Luffy could feel her confidence, not a hint of hesitation, and smiled as well. He didn't know what they were doing, but he trusted his navigator.
"A-are you serious?!" Usopp asked incredulously.
"Just do it!" Nami said again as Luffy steadied himself beside her.
"Is that the canal entrance?" Luffy asked her, having seen the same crack in the mountain that she had.
"Most likely!" She shouted over the rain, holding herself steady on the Merrys railing as she stared ahead. It was then that Zoro looked through the binoculars, spotting the water flowing upwards.
"We gotta make our way through those water gates just right! Otherwise, the ship'll be busted into pieces!" Nami told them all.
"We're getting off course! More to the right! Right! Right!" Luffy shouted to Usopp and Sanji.
"The right?! Go starboard!" Usopp shouted to Sanji, the two struggling to do so. At that moment, the rudder completely snapped, Usopp and Sanji falling to the ground. Luffy, Nami, and Zoro all shrieked at the sight, but Luffy was quick to notice that they were now very quickly heading towards one of the water gates.
"Gum Gum Balloon!" Luffy shouted, jumping off the ship, inbetween the Merry and the gate as he inflated. The cushion he created was enough to bounce the ship back in the right direction.
"Luffy! Grab on!" Zoro called, holing a hand out for the rubber man. Luffy didn't hesitate to deflate, immediately stretching his hand out to Zoros and grabbing on, slingshotting himself towards the swordsman and safely back onto the Merry. Usopp and Sanji were cheering happily in the kitchen while Nami sighed in relief.
Now that they were back on course, they swiftly made their way up the mountain, the water carrying them along. Now that there was no rudder to take care of, Usopp and Sanji joined them at the front of the ship to watch as they neared the top.
No longer was it raining. The wind was still blowing harshly around them, but that was more because of the speed they were traveling at rather than the storm they'd been in previously.
"Now it's just a straight shot to the summit!" Nami called out gleefully.
"Awesome!" Luffy called out as he watched. Beside him, Zoro was smiling happily as well, not saying anything, and behind him, Usopp and Sanji were dancing still.
"We're in the clouds!" Luffy exclaimed, climbing onto the Merrys figurehead despite the dangers. For the first time since they'd been to Loguetown, the sun shone brightly. Now that they were above the clouds, there was nothing to block it anymore. They were nearing the top of the mountain and they could clearly see the summit where all the canals converged, spraying water like a geyser.
"Look! The summit! It's the summit!" Nami cheered. The spray from the water covered them as they finally reached the summit, flying momentarily in the air.
"Yahoo!" Luffy whooped, holding onto the Merrys head. Everyone watched with smiles as they successfully landed on the canal leading downward, plummeting to the bottom of the mountain as fast as they'd climbed it.
"The One Piece is up ahead somewhere! Go!" Luffy cheered.
"All we gotta do now is go down!" Nami yelled. Spirits were high and Luffy basked in everyone's good emotions, his smile going from ear to ear. Even though he'd just found out Haru was also going to be back in Paradise, Luffy couldn't find it in himself to care right now. Not when he was finally back to the Grand Line.
"Paradise!" Luffy said wistfully, his voice drowned out by the rushing wind and water. Even Usopp wasn't scared. The usually fearful liar was wearing as big a smile as everyone else as he held on tightly to the mast to keep from falling off.
Luffy, still on Merry's figurehead, held onto his hat tightly as he watched the path in front of them. It seemed like it was a straight shot to the bottom, but when he sensed a faint presence he thought otherwise. Amongst all the good feelings coming from his crew, there was a faint despair trying to make its way into Luffy, and with how muted the emotion was, Luffy determined that whatever was feeling this emotion was more than likely an animal.
"Did you hear that?" Zoro asked, his voice hard to hear over the wind.
"Huh? What'd you say?" Nami asked, still smiling widely as she turned to look at Zoro.
"Didn't you hear that strange sound?" Zoro asked again. Luffy listened closer now, hearing it too.
"Isn't it the wind? There must be a lot of unusual landforms." Nami said, still unperturbed.
"I think there's something down there. An animal." Luffy called back to them.
"An animal?" Sanji asked. Usopp pulled down one of his magnifiers over his eye and looked through the clouds.
"What's that?" He asked as he tried making out the thing through the fog.
"Nami-san! I see a mountain up ahead!" Sanji called, having climbed up the rigging to get a better view.
"A mountain?! That can't be!" She said in confusion. Shed made sure to pour over her map of Reverse Mountain, and there was nothing about another mountain at the bottom of this one.
"But it's really there!" Sanji said, pointing ahead to what he was seeing.
"After passing the Twin Capes up ahead, there should be nothing but ocean!" Nami said a little worried now.
"It's not a mountain! It's an animal!" Luffy insisted again, this 'mountain' becoming visible to everyone now. They got close enough to the bottom that the clouds cleared, showing them a large black mass.
"An animal?! That looks like a black wall to me!" Usopp shrieked.
"It's a whale!" Zoro yelled, hanging onto the railing.
"A w-w-w-whale?!" Usopp shrieked again, his fear drowning out any happiness that had been there moments ago.
"Should we fight?" Sanji asked.
"Idiot! There's no way we can fight that!" Nami yelled, her own fear rising.
"B-b-b-but, our path is blocked!" Usopp said, not knowing any other solution.
"Wait a second... If it looks like a wall from this close... Where are its eyes?" Sanji asked, a feeling of dread forming now.
"That's right! It's possible that he may not have noticed us!" Nami said in relief.
"But unless we do something, we'll run into it!" Zoro reminded them.
"We can get through to the left! Port! Hard to port!" He called.
"But the rudder is broken!" Usopp yelled back fearfully, staring at the broken remains of said rudder.
"Do something! I'll help too!" Zoro said, running over to help.
"Oh, yeah! I've got an idea!" Luffy yelled, running off and leaving behind a confused Nami.
"Luffy? What are you doing?!" She didn't get a response as her Captain ran inside. Usopp, Sanji, and Zoro were all struggling to move the broken piece of would that was their rudder while Nami held on tight to the railing in fear.
As Luffy ran into the Merry, he quickly loaded and then lit a cannon, waiting for the inevitable boom. He could feel the fear of his crew rising, very nearly influencing him, but he did his best to block it out. It'd do him no good to be terrified right now when they needed him.
With a loud boom, Luffy let out a relieved sigh, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he felt the Merry begin slowing down. His relief was short-lived though as a loud thunk behind him clued him in to the fact that Merry's figurehead had snapped off and was now sitting outside the door behind him.
"Ack! My special seat!" He shrieked in a mixture of surprise and anger. There was a momentary silence as everyone came to terms that they weren't going to die just yet.
"Let's get out of here before he does notice us!" Zoro called, jumping up from the floor where he'd been trying to move the rudder.
"Is his body too big that he didn't notice the cannon attack?" Sanji asked, also joining the swordsman.
"Who knows, but let's not stay to find out!" Zoro answered, Usopp coming to help row the Merry out of the way of the whale. It was too late though, they didn't make it far at all before the whale was opening its mouth, letting out a loud roar.
"Ah! My ears!" Sanji yelled in pain as he and Usopp struggled to move the large oar together.
"Paddle! Just paddle!" Usopp repeated like a mantra.
"We have to get away from him!" Zoro yelled next, the three of them in a panic.
"Luffy!" Nami said, fear in her eyes as they began sailing past the large eye of the whale. Luffy had walked back to the front of the ship, seeing the spot where Merry's head used to be.
Maybe he was drawing all that pent-up anger from finding out about Haru, but at that moment as he glared into the whale's eye, Luffy felt nothing but rage as he thought about the loss of his favorite seat.
"You...! What the hell did you do to my special seat?!" Luffy roared, surprising Nami with the heat behind his words. There wasn't even a second for Nami to explain what had happened before Luffy had flung his fist into the whale's eye, much to everyone's fear and anger.
"Dumbass!" They roared in unison, tears streaming down their faces at the thought that they weren't getting away now.
When the whale didn't immediately move its eye to look at them, they sighed in relief, but just as they did that, the eye moved, looking directly at them.
"How was that?! Bring it on, you bastard!" Luffy roared, readying his fists again, only to be kicked down by Usopp and Zoro.
"Shut up already, you idiot!" They barked. Luffy reigned in his anger enough to not yell at his crewmates, but he was still ready to fight the whale.
After another pause, the whale opened its mouth, surprising the crew again.
"W-what?!" Nami asked, noticing that the whale was now sucking in the surrounding water, and by extension, the Merry.
With the sudden current, the Merry rocked harshly, knocking Luffy into the air. Before he was able to land safely back onto the deck, the Merry was carried away into the whale's mouth leaving nothing but ocean below him.
"Luffy!" He heard his crew call out to him in concern, but Luffy was able to save himself, stretching his arm out to one of the whale's teeth and clinging onto it. From there, he climbed up to the top of the whale where he sat down to rest.
"What do I do now... They've been eaten..." The rage was back twofold as Luffy stood on the whale's head, immediately beginning to punch it in the head.
"Hey, you! Spit them out! Give everyone back to me! Spit them out! I'm saying give them back!" Luffy yelled, fury on his face as he continued punching over and over. As he was doing this, the whale began going under the water, knocking Luffy down.
"You... You... You jerk!" The young Captain yelled, now stomping on the whale.
"You're diving into the water, aren't you?! Stop it! Hey! I'm telling you to stop! Hey! Please wait! Give me my friends back! Hey! I said stop it! We're gonna go on adventures! They're precious to me! Give them back!" In his yelling, the water was getting closer and closer to Luffy, but it was then he noticed a hatch on top of the whale's head.
"Huh?" Without hesitation, the boy walked over to it, opening it and peering inside. Seeing that there was nowhere else to go, Luffy shrugged before jumping inside. He only had a second to wonder why the inside of the whale had metal walls before everything was shaking and jolting. Not able to get good footing, Luffy was bounced around the walls like a bouncy ball, unable to do anything to stop it.
"What?! What's going on?! Huh?! Why?! Dizzy... Dizzy... I'm dizzy...!" Luffy yelled, eyes spinning as he was flung down the hall. Eventually, he was spat out of the tunnel and into a larger room with a river of water on the end.
"What is it this time? The sea? A river? A channel?" He only had until he finished talking to wonder before everything was shaking again, but this time, the room began tilting up, Luffy falling down despite his efforts to run up instead. As he slid down the floor, he noticed two presences near wherever he was falling, and seeing as they had no clue he was coming, he thought he should warn them.
"I can't stop!" He yelled to them, now running full force towards them seeing as there was nothing else he could do. He only saw the two for a split second before he ran into them, the door behind them burst open with the force of the three of them. As they began falling towards what looked like greenish water, the two began screaming loudly.
"This isn't good Miss Wednesday! It's a sea of gastric acid below us!" The man yelled, the woman only screaming in terror.
"Luffy?" The teen looked over at the sound of Zoros voice, grinning widely at the sight of the Merry.
"Hey! So everyone's okay? In any case, help me!" Luffy called as he and the other two with him plummeted into what was apparently gastric acids. Even though it wasn't entirely seawater, it was still enough to weaken Luffy as he struggled to swim to the top. It didn't matter though, because Zoro was there soon enough, grabbing him and pulling him back onto the Merry. They also got the girl and guy Luffy had knocked into the water out as well, depositing them by Luffy as the Captain sat on the railing.
"It's calmed down. The whales quiet now." Nami noticed, looking at the waves and seeing that they weren't as rough as before.
"Seems like it. Now... We did save you guys for the time being, but who are you?" Zoro asked the guy and girl on the deck. Sanji was fawning over the girl, but Nami and Usopp were giving them skeptical looks.
"Mr. 9, they're pirates." The girl said to 'Mr.9'.
"I-I know, Miss Wednesday. B-but if we talk to them, they should understand... perhaps..." Mr.9 replied. Luffy took the time to check their auras, seeing that the girls was as bright blue as could be, maybe even the brightest he'd ever seen it, while the guys was only a shade darker blue than what was normal.
"You thugs're still around?!" Everyone turned to look to the old man that had spoken.
"Don't make me say this yet again! I won't let you lay a finger on Laboon so long as I'm alive!" The old man shouted in determination.
"He's back," Usopp muttered.
"Whos that Pops?" Luffy asked in confusion.
"Even if you say so, we cant leave." Miss Wednesday said, and her emotions reminded Luffy of Nami when he'd first met her.
"Taking down this whale is our mission. We won't let you lay a finger on our whale hunting this time!" Mr.9 continued, the two standing up, holding their large weapons.
"We'll open an air vent in his stomach! Let's go, baby!" Mr.9 shouted, the two of them aiming the bazooka like weapons upwards.
"Roger!" Miss Wednesday yelled back. With that, the two-shot cannonballs out of their weapons. Before it could do any damage, the old man ran towards them, jumping into the air and grabbing the cannonballs out of the sky. They exploded on impact, surprising the crew.
"That pops jumped straight into the bullets...!" Usopp said in a mixture of awe and surprise.
"Could it be... that he protected the whale?!" Sanji asked, feeling much the same way as Usopp.
"Stop this pointless resistance! If you want to protect the whale that badly, go right ahead. We'll turn it into food for our town!" Mr.9 said, his emotions changing darkly for a second while Miss Wednesday laughed beside him, and when Mr.9 finished talking, he joined in on the laughter. Luffy turned to frown at the two. He didn't know what was going on here, but what he was seeing, he didn't like.
"What's going on?" Nami asked, as confused as everyone else was. She didn't get an answer though as Luffy anger returned and he stood up, raising both his fists into the air.
"Huh?" Mr.9 and Miss Wednesday asked, noticing the menacing aura in front of them. They only briefly saw Luffys rage-filled features before they were both punched into each other, knocking them unconscious.
"Luffy...?" Usopp asked, surprised by the display of strength.
"I just... felt like hitting them." Luffy tried explaining, looking at Mr.9 and Miss Wednesday again.
"He had bad feelings." Luffy continued, pointing to Mr.9. The crew didn't ask any more than that, looking to the man Luffy was talking about with frowns. They still didn't know all that much about Luffys abilities, but they weren't going to ask about that now.
Once that was over with, the old man swam to the small island shaped boat nearby, everyone on the Merry joining them. They had Mr.9 and Miss Wednesday tied up to keep them from causing trouble, but with them being unconscious and with Luffy angry, they weren't really something that needed to be worried about.
"I thank you for saving me... but why?" The man asked.
"I wasn't trying to save you. I just don't like them." Luffy said.
"Huh?" The old man asked, not understanding. He didn't get an answer though, so he moved on. Luffy wasn't paying much attention anyway, more preoccupied with the tree he was attempting to climb. Attempt, because Usopp was trying to pull him down at the same time.
"Luffy? What are you trying to do? Stop it! Hey, Luffy! Stop it!" Luffy ignored him though, still trying to climb.
"Say, who're these guys? What're you doing inside this whale?" Luffy asked, ignoring Usopp.
"They're thugs from a nearby town. They're after the whale meat." The old man answered, expertly ignoring Usopp as he tried pulling Luffy from the tree.
"What're you trying to do?" Usopp asked desperately.
"If they capture Laboon, it can feed the townspeople for at least 2-3 years, so..." The man continued, trailing off.
"Laboon?" Nami asked now.
"It's the name of this whale. 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 at Reverse Mountain." He said, not looking at any of them.
"A reason?" Luffy asked, still clinging to the tree.
"Yeah. He's a whale with a human heart. And he's been devotedly waiting for a certain pirate group... for 50 long years..." They all listened intently as the old man told them the story of how he'd come to take care of Laboon. How the whale had traveled with pirates and how they'd left Laboon here for his safety, promising to return in a few short years.
"That was 50 years ago." He finished with a sigh, looking to the painted sky above them.
"50 years!" Luffy asked in surprise.
"Laboon has been waiting for those guys for 50 years?" Usopp asked with wide eyes.
"Is that why he continues to howl at the wall, hitting himself on it?" Nami asked.
"Yeah..."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"This is an amazing canal. I'm surprised that he's still alive, having a hole like this inside his body." Zoro admired. The Merry was following the old man, Crocus', ship as he led them through a canal to what he promised would be outside.
"Is this also your playful mind?" Sanji asked louder to Crocus. The man was lounging on his lounge chair reading, not paying them much attention as they drifted along.
"A doctor's playful mind." He replied, not even turning to address them.
"Doctor?" Luffy asked, rechecking the old man's color and emotions out of habit. He'd checked Crocus already, finding that he was a normal blue with normal emotions, but to hear that he was a doctor still worried Luffy enough that he checked again. Doctors may not be as scary to him as they once used to be, but that didn't mean they didn't spark an anxiety that left him constantly weary around whoever claimed to be one.
"I may not look it, but I'm a doctor. I also ran a clinic on the cape a long time ago. It was just for a few years, but I was a ship's doctor." Crocus explained to them, still reading his paper. Luffy, who was sitting on the remaining neck of Merry's figurehead, nodded to the man, not saying anything more on the subject.
He had the idea of asking the man to join their crew- they did need a doctor after all- but Luffy couldn't find it in himself to ask. Crocus wasn't a bad guy, and from the few minutes Luffy'd been near him, he seemed pretty cool, but there was something holding him back. That anxiety, the ingrained fear, kept him from asking the simple question he wanted to ask.
"A doctor, huh? That's why the inside of the whale's body is like this... Then this is from the treatment." Usopp said, hands on his hips as they watched Crocus stand from his chair and walk over to a ladder on the wall. Luffy didn't know what treatment Usopp was talking about, but he didn't bother asking as Crocus reached the top of the ladder, turning to address them.
"That's right. When the whale is this big it's impossible to treat it from the outside." He told them, turning around on the ledge he was on and walking over to a crank.
"I'm going to open the doors." He announced next, turning the crank. They watched as the big metal doors in front of them slowly cracked open, showing the bright sunshine once again.
"There it is! The real sky!" Luffy cheered as the Merry drifted outside the whale and back into the fresh air. As cool as being inside a whale had been, he much preferred being outside.
"So it's really been 50 years then? Those pirates sure are keeping him waiting a long time..." Usopp said in astonishment, surprised Laboon was still waiting around after all this time.
"Idiot! This is the Grand Line. They're dead. No longer how long he waits, they won't come back." Sanji said, taking a puff from his cigarette.
"Yeah, it's true that 50 years ago the Grand Line was an uncharted sea more terrible and chaotic than it is now." Nami agreed, arms crossed over her chest as she spoke.
"Why are you talking so hopeless?! You don't know that for sure! They might come back!" Usopp insisted, running up between the two in the pirate's defense.
"It's a very touching story. A whale continues to believe in the promise his friends made... Right, Pops?" Usopp asked Crocus next, thinking the man would be on his side.
"Yeah... but reality is cruel. I confirmed it using reliable information. They ran away... from the Grand Line." Crocus admitted, looking off into the ocean as he told them this. Luffy felt Usopps hope diminish at the news, visibly wilting.
"Cant be... Don't tell me... they left without him?!" Usopp asked, now angry as he turned to look at Laboon.
"Ran from the Grand Line... Does that mean they went through the Calm Belt alive?" Nami asked curiously.
"Even if they are alive, they'll probably never come back here. Seasons. Weather. Current. Wind direction. They're all random. Common sense is useless in the Grand Line. The terror of the Grand Line takes over the weak minds in an instant." Crocus said sternly, meaning every word. Luffy knew the man's words to be true, having seen plenty of pirates realize just what the New World and the Grand Line were like.
"So having weak minds, they ran away from this sea without keeping their promise in order to save their asses..." Sanji asked, feeling angry himself now. If the pirates had died, he would have understood- after all, the dead can't fulfill their promises- but it turned out the pirates were alive? And had willingly broken their promise?
"They abandoned this whale?! When he's been waiting 50 years...?! That's cruel!" Usopp shouted, just as angry.
"If you know that, why haven't you told him? That whale can understand what people say, right?" Nami asked, feeling bad for Laboon.
"I did tell him... everything. It's since then that he started howling at Reverse Mountain and that he started slamming his body against the Red Line... It's as if he's insisting that they'll come back from the other side of the wall anytime now..." Crocus explained.
"What a whale... When there's no point in waiting..." Usopp said, voice soft in amazement.
"He refuses to accept my words because if he accepts them, it means that there is no point in waiting. He's more afraid of that than anything. He's from the West Blue. There's no way of going back there now. That's why those pirates he came here with are his only buddies and hope." Crocus said, looking to them now as he spoke.
"But you know, it's true that he's a poor whale, but in a way, you were also betrayed, right? Haven't you done enough for him already?" Sanji asked, taking another drag of his cigarette as he side-eyed Crocus.
"Look at the scars on his forehead! If he continues to hit his head like that, he'll die without doubt. It's a strange relationship, but I've been with him for 50 long years. I can't just stand by and watch him die now." Crocus said, determined.
A sudden yell from Luffy made everyone turn in surprise.
"What's that idiot doing?" Sanji asked, eyebrow raised as he watched Luffy run across the deck, the Merrys mast dragging behind him, sails and all.
"We look away for one second..." Zoro said, arms crossed and eyebrow raised as well. Luffy ran off the Merry and onto Laboon, running full speed up the side of the mountain with their mast.
"Is he pretending he's climbing or something?" Usopp asked.
"Gum Gum... Flower Arrangement!" With the yell, Luffy slammed the mast right into one of Laboon's still bleeding scars.
"Isn't that the mast?" Zoro asked, everyone, not having truly realized what Luffy had been carrying until then.
"Yep. It's from our ship." Sanji answered without a hint of hesitation, not even turning to look at where there was now a splintered stump of wood in the middle of their deck.
"It's the main mast... Hey! Don't break the ship!" Usopp screeched, all of them finally realizing the full extent of what Luffy had done. Meanwhile, Laboon was starting to tear up from the pain of having a mast stuck into his fresh wound, a loud cry escaping him as he thrashed around in the ocean. With his size, the waves around them picked up again due to this, tossing the Merry back and forth.
"What the hell are you doing?!" All four of the Strawhats cried. Even Crocus was dismayed by what he was seeing.
Even though Laboon was thrashing, trying to remove the mast- and Luffy by extension- Luffy didn't let it happen, instead holding on tight as Laboon launched himself out of the water and into the air. Instead of landing back in the water, Laboon went crashing straight into the rocky cliff of Reverse Mountain, throwing Luffy and the mast off.
"Wha...?! Hey kid!" Crocus screamed, realizing that Laboon must have crushed, and subsequently killed, Luffy with that move.
"Don't worry. He doesn't die even when crushed!" Nami called over to Crocus, not worried herself. She was lounging against the Merrys railing, watching how this would play out now that the waters were calming down. It was useless to stop Luffy now, after all, he'd already gone and attacked Laboon.
Another cry from Laboon drew their attention as they saw the whale rear back in the water, blood gushing from where he'd pushed the mast in further into his wound, causing more pain.
"Ha! Dummy!" Luffy taunted from where he sat on Reverse Mountains cliff, dirty from being crushed into the rock. With another roar, Laboon tried charging his head at Luffy again only for the rubber man to jump over him. Laboon, undeterred, slapped Luffy out of the sky with his tail, knocking the teen right back into the Mountain.
Stopping himself from falling, Luffy righted himself and immediately spun a punch back at Laboon, aiming for the whale's eye, but again, Laboon dodged, slapping Luffy into the side of the lighthouse before the hit could land.
"What does he think he's doing?!" Usopp asked, a little worried as he watched Luffy get thrown around by the whale. Once again, Laboon effortlessly dodged a kick and sent Luffy back into the Lighthouse with his tail.
"Luffy! What the hell are you trying to do?!" Zoro asked, crouched as he kept himself steady on the rocky waves. Luffy didn't answer from where he sat, sitting against the lighthouse. Laboon wasn't done though and he began to charge at the rubber man once again, intent on still fighting.
"It's a draw!" The words stopped Laboon in his tracks, his anger disappearing as he froze. Luffy stood, smiling now as he picked up his fallen hat and put it on his head.
"I'm strong, aren't I? You wanna defeat me, don't you? Our fight isn't over yet! So we have to fight again. Your buddies're dead, but I'm your rival forever. We definitely have to fight again in order to decide whos the strongest. After going around Paradise, we'll come back to see you again. When I come back, let's fight again!" Luffy told Laboon. Everyone watching, Crocus included, smiled as they heard Luffys words, realizing now what he'd been up to.
Tears in his eyes again, Laboon reared his head back and roared loudly one more time.
I feel like I said this last time, but boy was I swamped with finals these past two weeks! I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to reread and look over this chapter, so if you notice more mistakes then usual, that would be why. I really wanted to get this up for you all though, hence why it's a little later in the day and might not be as refined as I would normally try and make it.
So, Sabo's gone now, which is sad, but I'm sure we'll see him again in the future! I know a lot of this bit was the same, but there's not much you can change about Laboon; even if Luffy himself is very much changed. Brook is still in the Florian Triangle, and there wouldn't be any reason for much of anything here to change. There are a few small details that I gave Crocus though that will be making their appearance next chapter!
Thank you all for your patience and support. You push me to want to do my best and without you all I would have never gotten this far with my writing. Looking back on my older stuff I can see just how much I've improved and it's thanks to all of you guys spurring me on and giving me valuable feedback.
In two weeks time, we'll be seeing the wrap-up of Reverse Mountain and will be moving on to Whiskey Peak! I hope you're all as excited about that as I am!