Though the mood had definitely been great since the Straw Hats had succesfully made it to Reverse Mountain, now it was taking a turn for the worse, as proevn by the following exchange.
''Miguel?''
''Hm?''
''To be fair, I know it's your money but I want to understand...'' Nami glanced at the Log Pose. ''...why exactly would you spend millions on this thing?'' Really, she thought he was more sensible than that!
Miguel sighed and spared Usopp a dry look (as he had been the one to tell her more about their excursions in Log Town). The sniper, being also aware of her feelings when it came to money, both remembered Nami verbally tearing down a man in Log Town who had tried to tip them off quite well. Usopp could shrug and give him an apologetic look in return.
''I was actually looking to talk to you about that. See...'' The wizard proceeded to explain about the item in question, leaving her thrown for a loop.
''Wait, so this is it?'' Nami had been inspired by the preparations he made for his traveling and so decided to try probing for as much information as possible that could help their travels ''I did hear talk about tools that were supposed to help but the only place I found had fakes. So, you know how to use this?''
''Mm, I've got the basics down. I'll show you.''
Zoro quirked a brow at Sanji and Usopp's sighs of relief ''...What's with the sudden whiplash here?''
''Nami-san's very passionate about things.'' The cook shrugged
Usopp thought that was putting it far too nicely ''Passionate nothing...let's just say she really, really hates the idea of wasting money. You didn't see her tear strips off that jerk, I mean sure he had it coming but boy that was intense...''
Luffy, who had been sitting on the Merry's figure head, spoke up after a few minutes ''Guys, there's another mountain ahead!''
Startled, Nami had been all set to argue until she caught sight of the huge dark structure looming ahead. But that didn't make any sense, she had tried to look for as much info as possible back in Logue Town. Having heard so much about the Grand Line, being armed with information would be vital. ''Something's off here, I never found any map that mentioned another mountain.''
''But it's right there!''
''Look, something's obviously up,'' Sanji stated, always willing to help a lady. ''If Nami-san says...'' The sound of what almost passed for a groan reached their ears ''...what the...''
''I guess it could be the wind blowing through it...'' But even as she said it, Nami seemed skeptic. .
She wasn't the only one, Usopp shivered ''Yeah? Well, for all that it sure sounds creepy.''
''...Guys, last I checked, mountains don't have fins.'' Zoro indicated the appendage just barely visible in the water.
''Eh?'' He was right, it really was a fin. Usopp blanched as a thought occurred to him ''Is it some kind of Sea King?''
''I don't know...'' This reminded Miguel of something he'd seen before. ''...I think that might actually be a whale.''
''Hah?'' He gaped.
''No way!'' Zoro exclaimed.
''Oh, yeah there was a rumor back in the town about a whale that ships stumbled across...'' Nami recalled ''...do whales even get that big though?!''
Miguel's eyes narrowed in thought. ''I've heard of one species that do but...''
''Who cares? Let's fight it!'' Luffy even reared up a fist in his enthusiasm.
''No way!'' Nami cried. ''We need to get away from that thing!''
''Ehhhh?'' He wasn't willing to concede so quickly. ''But Miguel could fight it easily, right?''
''That'd just complicate things, Luffy.'' was the response. ''There's no reason to fight and even if there was, it'd be hard to protect the ship and face something that big.''
The captain pouted as Nami nodded emphatically, Sanji glanced at the whale ''Sounds about right. I'd say it hasn't seen us yet so let's just keep going and we'll be far off soon enough.''
Miguel waved a hand and a blue spell circle flashed over his hand for a moment, revealing a sword with a crystal blue pommel and a dark blue and white sheath. While they wondered why he brought this one out, things soon made sense as their friend raised the sword and the current around them seemed to shift and boost the ship forward.
''Oh, so it a water sword. Nice!'' Usopp gave him a thumbs up. ''You really worked up the uses of magic in all sorts of ways, huh?''
''This was actually part of the basic stuff we learned even before using it to fight...'' His eyes landed on something odd...it looked like people flying to the whale?
Seconds later, the whale let out a bellow and turned its eye on them before attacking. Thinking fast, Miguel brought out his wind sword and conjured gales around the ship to ward it off. Unfortunately, this wasn't nearly so effective in the face of its ire as it continued pushing forward, its next attack breaking the ship's figure head.
''My special seat!'' Luffy's eyes flashed with anger ''Why you-eat this!''
The consequent punch slammed its eye, leaving it to cry out in pain, Nami and Usopp glaring at the teen ''You moron!''
If he heard them, he made no show of it as he continued to fight. In seconds, the whale caused a huge wave that almost threw him off and pushed the Merry back. Luffy barely managed to cling on a rock nearby, his friends' cries alerting him to another problem.
The whale had swallowed the Merry Go!
This immediately spurred him into action ''Give them back!'' He punched the whale again. ''My friends and I are undergoing a very important adventure. I can't lose them!''
It was just as he was about to strike again that he spotted something odd on the whale.
''Wha-that's a door?'' He blinked twice. ''What gives?''
After their initial panic, the rest of the Straw Hats began to think of a way to get out of this predicament. At first, they hadn't been sure if they were swallowed due to the fact that the area around them resembled the outside. As in, at first it appeared as if there was a sky and even seagulls about. Closer inspection revealed all of this to be painted on, however, leaving them more confused.
''Who would do something like that?'' Sanji wondered once the realization sank in.
''Who cares? We need to find a way out of here!'' Usopp reminded. ''Miguel, don't you have any spell that would help?''
''Unless we find our way back to its mouth, no.'' He wished he had been able to stop this. But they were caught up in the rocky waves and all the panic. There was no way around it.
''Ah, look!'' Nami pointed ahead to where a rock that incredibly enough had a small shack and a chair out. On said item was an old man with white hair that was styled in a way reminiscent of a flower. He had been reading the newspaper but stopped upon noticing them. ''How is he so relaxed?''
''Don't know but maybe he can help us.'' Zoro pointed out.
''Let's find out. Hey, what is this place?'' Sanji called.
The man kept giving them a rather intense look that left some unnerved before speaking ''We're inside a whale's stomach, I thought that was obvious.''
''...He's getting on my nerves.''
''Calm down, calm down. So old man, what about all this stuff?'' Zoro gestured at the walls. ''I mean why is that here?''
He stared again before responding ''Just an old man's past time. And shouldn't you kids be introducing yourselves?''
''Oh, right. Well, I'm...''
With another hard stare, the man cut in ''My name is Crocus, I'm 71 years old...''
''Okay, I've had it! Can I kill him?'' Zoro made to grab his sword, leaving Usopp to try and calm him.
''Is this supposed to be some kind of gag?'' Not that Miguel saw the funny thing here but that was the first reason he could think of for it.
''Why yes, it is.'' The unexpected confirmation made them pause ''I wondered if you kids would catch on.''
''...You do realize he wasn't serious, right?'' Nami had to ask. Miguel seemed bewildered, he really hadn't even thought about his words then...
Before anyone could decide what to make of this, something happened that caught them all by surprise. Luffy flew above them along with a young woman with light blue hair and a man in a green coat and a crown.
''Luffy?!''
''Hey guys!''
Miguel stopped their flight with a telekinesis spell and brought them onboard. Luffy thanked him with a grin ''I just found this hatch and went down when I saw those two jump in. What's going on?''
''That's what we'd like to know. Who are you anyway?'' Nami demanded.
''I-I'm Mr. 9.'' The man returned.
''And I'm called Miss Wednesday.'' The woman faltered as Sanji swooned, coming far too close for her comfort.
Luffy then noticed their surroundings ''...Whoa, what's with this place?''
''Like Nami says, we're trying to figure this out too.'' Zoro offered.
Meanwhile, Mr. 9 had pulled Miss Wednesday aside to talk ''They're clearly pirates but we may be able to appeal their better nature.''
But she looked unsure ''What makes you think they'd help us?''
''Well, we can at least try. Worse comes to worse, we can pay them to do it.''
Nami and Miguel shared unimpressed looks ''Subtle, aren't they?''
''No kidding. Hey, geniuses!'' Both stiffened at Nami's words ''For the record, we heard every word.''
The old man swam over, an angry look in his gaze ''I knew it was you. I won't let you lay a finger on Laboon!''
Jumping to their feet, the duo held their weapons at the ready as Miss Wednesday laughed ''You can't stop us from fulfilling our mission!''
''That's right!'' Mr. 9 agreed. ''We're going to take this whale out and he'll make one great food supply for our town. But first, you're going down!''
The two attacked in tandem, but the man stepped aside to dodge Miss Wednesday's weapon, which looked like a chakram tied a string before he threw her back into his partner.
''Hey, show the lady some respect, you oaf!'' Sanji barked.
''I don't need help from a pirate!'' Miss Wednesday retorted as they pulled themselves up, clearly intent on keeping up the fight. Both took up their guns and Mr. 9 called out.
''Time to rip this whale a new hole.''
They didn't get very far though as both their weapons were lifted into the air by an unseen force, leaving them flummoxed. Luffy took advantage of what he knew was Miguel's gravity magic to punch Mr. 9, Miss Wednesday froze as Miguel blocked her path.
''So that was you two earlier, you're probably the whole reason the whale started acting in the first place. I don't know what's going but this doesn't sit right with us.'' Luffy's expression proved that he agreed completely. ''I'd suggest you leave if you don't want to be humiliated.''
Crocus grimaced for a moment as they flew away, deciding to settle for this ''...Thank you. I wouldn't count on anything they say though, they'll probably be coming before long.''
''I don't think it'd be far off to assume that something's off with those two. We'd like some answers, if you don't mind.''
''Of course, that's the least I can do.''
Learning the truth left the Straw Hats quite glad that their friends intervened when they had.
The whale's name was Laboon. He was in Island Whale that had arrived with from West Blue with a group of pirates 50 years ago. But since he had been so young, they couldn't take him along with them and so asked Crocus to watch out for him, promising to return when their travels were over. That was the start of Laboon's waiting.
But as the years passed, they didn't receive even a little bit of news about the crew. This made Crocus decide to look into the matter further, leading him to join another crew to search for information. The doctor had assumed that they died but he was eventually able to find some news about them and it almost made him wish that he didn't.
Laboon's friends hadn't died, they fled the Grand Line and abandoned him. The time he tried explaining this to the whale marked the day Laboon began attacking the mountain. It was all in the hopes that he would get through and find them. The whale just couldn't believe that they'd do something like that. Seeing all the wounds on Laboon, Crocus decided to take care of him and this lead to the strange conditions the crew had witnessed.
''...So you see what we have here is a tragedy of epic proportions. Laboon is a lost soul dying to reunite with his friends but it just won't happen. I tried to get him to stop but he just won't listen, this is the only thing I can do to help him.''
''Damn...'' Sanji shook his head in disgust, the rest feeling pity and dismay for the whale.
Usopp wanted to think there might be a bright side in this ''Hold on, you don't know for sure...I mean, Laboon trusted them so much...''
''Yeah, but doesn't that make it worse?'' Zoro cut in. ''Let's just say for a minute that some of his friends were here, why haven't they come back? The old man's right, they either abandoned him or died.''
''Sad to say, that's probably right.'' Nami concurred. ''The Grand Line was even more dangerous around those times. Even if some of them did want to come, they just couldn't make it.''
''Oh come on, show some sympathy! I thought this was really touching, I mean that whale's still holding to this faith after so long!'' The sniper exclaimed.
''I didn't want to believe it either.'' Crocus' statement silenced any more of Usopp's protests ''But that bit of news was the only thing I could find and they haven't exactly proven it wrong.''
''Still, they went and saddled you with their burden.'' Sanji remarked. ''What do you want to do?''
''I think someone needs to tend to Laboon's wounds and I'm all he has. It's an unusual relationship but it's working out.''
Miguel frowned ''Isn't there some way to have him stop though...?''
The rest of the Straw Hats also began to wonder. Crocus arched an eye as he noticed someone missing ''Actually, where's that loud rubber kid?''
''Eh...?'' Luffy was nowhere to be found.
''I thought it was quiet...what's he up to?'' Usopp's eyes found Luffy out near Laboon as Zoro went to catch up with him.
Moments later, everyone heard Zoro yelp ''What the-? Have you lost it?!''
They shared confused looks and left the lighthouse to find the swordman gawking at Luffy on the Merry's deck. What really threw everyone for a loop was that he broke the ship's mast and used it to hit Laboon.
''What're you doing?!'' Usopp cried.
Luffy's attention was solely on Laboon, however as he made sure the mast was hanging on the whale and stuck to it before he used that to punch him. Laboon tried to throw him off but Luffy just hung on stubbornly. When Luffy got a kick in, the whale managed to slam him against the lighthouse only for the teen to punch him again.
It looked like the fight was about to go when Luffy suddenly cried ''It's a draw!'' Bewildered, Laboon stopped and stared. ''I'm stronger than I look, see? You're pretty tough too! Your friends used to spar with you, right? Well, I can give you a good fight just like they did so just wait! I'll travel the Grand Line and get stronger, so I'll be able to give you a great fight when we come back.''
Nami began to smile ''Luffy...''
Zoro smirked, Usopp looked like on the verge of tears while Miguel and Sanji grinned. Crocus chuckled ''That kid...he's something else...''
Luffy wasn't quite done though...
''You want to paint our mark on Laboon?'' Sanji arched an eye.
''Yup! ''
Usopp moaned when he saw the damage to their ship ''Did you have to do it like that?''
''What? Everything's okay now.'' Luffy cocked his head.
How on earth could he even say that?! ''No, it isn't!''
Ignoring the angry sniper, the teen began to look around ''Hey, where's the paint now?''
''Over here.'' Miguel placed the containers nearby ''I'm painting the mark though.''
''? Why?''
Nami looked curious ''Yeah, you didn't seem anymore enthused to this than we were.''
''Oh, I completely agree with you guys, was it certifiably reckless? Absolutely. But to answer your question, remember the flag?''
This made things fall into place for her, Zoro and Usopp.
''Yeah, go ahead.''
''You're the better choice, definitely.''
Sanji hadn't expected the quick agreement ''Can someone clue me in here?''
''In other words, letting Luffy do it might actually be animal cruelty.'' Zoro offered.
The cook began to understand ''He's that bad?''
''Yes.'' Nami and Usopp returned in tandem.
''Hey!''
Crocus merely watched with clear amusement as the pouting captain turned away, Laboon waiting nearby.
Miguel just laughed ''I'll take care of it. It'll be a chance to heal Laboon up anyway.''
''Oh.'' Luffy's expression made it clear that he hadn't thought of that. ''Good point, okay, go ahead!''
They watched him fly up to the lever Crocus prepped up ''A little change of plans, Laboon, I'll take over.''
Nami was observing the Log Pose while they waited for Miguel to finish up ''It's finally settled on a direction.''
''Oh, you came prepared. That's good to see. I've seen quite a few youngsters who rushed into this place without the slightest clue.'' Crocus remarked.
''Luckily, one of us did.'' She was more thankful than ever than Miguel had joined their crew now. ''Miguel made it pretty clear, two of the basic rules in the Grand Line is that common sense hardly ever applies and that one should never count the Log Pose.''
''Good, keep that in mind.'' He nodded ''There are actually 7 different routes from Reverse Mountain which travel along the Grand Line. The word is, they converge at the island at the very end of the Grand Line, Raftel.''
''At the very end...?'' Sanji blinked. ''So then that would be...''
''Yeah, that's where the One Piece is rumored to be.''
''We'll know soon enough anyway.'' Luffy made to take another piece of the tuna only for yelped when Zoro to grab the plate and raise it. ''Hey!''
''Hey nothing. You ate more than half the thing already, enough.''
''Yeah, don't be selfish! What about the rest of us?'' Nami scowled.
Luffy would've tried to reach out and snag some but then Sanji proceeded to make his opinion clear (in other words: beat him up) for this attempt.
''Don't be greedy! Everyone should taste it!''
Meanwhile, Usopp was watching Miguel put the finishing touches on their makeshift mark. ''Huh, not bad. Nothing on this Captain Usopp's skill but it'll pass.''
''Wow, thanks, o mighty captain.'' Miguel gave him a bland look, though the two shared a laugh then ''Well that's that, don't mess it up, okay? It's a sign of your promise.''
Usopp beamed as Laboon grinned back ''Just wait big guy, we'll definitely come back to see you.''
When they rejoined the others, the first thing they saw was Sanji scolding a weary looking Luffy. Usopp blinked ''What happened?''
''He brought it on himself.'' Nami held out the plate. ''Want some? This is really good.''
''Sure!''
It was as they prepared to leave that Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday made their return. Zoro frowned, placing a hand on one of his swords ''Back for more?''
''Please wait!'' Miss Wednesday cried. ''We really do need your help.''
Crocus' eyes narrowed ''You've got some nerve.''
''Yeah, no kidding, why should we help you after what you tried to do to Laboon?'' Nami added.
Mr. 9 looked aghast ''You have to understand, we had to!''
''Yes, we needed to help our town!'' His companion added. ''Please, we lost our Log Pose because of all this chaos. Can't you take us with you to our home?''
''We won't come near the whale again!'' Mr. 9 added.
''Don't trust those two.'' Crocus scowled ''I bet they don't mean it.''
Zoro didn't even consider the thought ''Yeah, we weren't about to.''
''Can't we at least take Miss Wednesday?'' Mr. 9 gawked at Sanji, the cook giving the crew his attention ''I can't leave a beautiful woman like this.''
''You do know she's not a friend, right?'' Usopp asked pointedly. ''This attitude's just going to get you in trouble. What if she hurts you?''
''I'll take it like a man!'' The response had them staring at the blond in surprise and confusion. ''I won't ever raise a hand against a lady, no matter what!''
''Whoa...'' The sniper couldn't think of anything to say besides. ''...what a gentleman.''
Nami merely spared Sanji an annoyed look ''Don't give him too much credit, Usopp. You had the right idea.''
''It's okay,'' Luffy stated suddenly. ''Let's take them along.''
''Wait, what?''
''Oi, we can't!''
Miguel thought this over ''...I don't like it but this might be for the best. We'll technically be ensuring that they stay away from Laboon.''
''That's true...'' Usopp conceded. ''...still...''
''Don't worry too much, we'll work things out.'' Luffy offered.
''If you're sure...'' Crocus received a nod ''...very well. Be careful about your course though, once you choose one, you'll have to stay on it.''
The captain still wasn't fazed ''That's fine, we'll just try a different one next time.''
The old man couldn't help at this, Miss Wednesday left curious ''So who are you anyway?''
''I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the one who'll become King of the Pirates!''
''King of the Pirates?'' She began to smirk at this and Mr. 9 snickered.
Nami spared them a dark look. Just who did they think were, laughing at their friend? ''Remember that we can still throw you off.'' That shut them up at once.
''Don't mind them so much.'' Miguel thought that if they were to be fazed by people laughing at their dreams, they might not have been here now. ''You heard our captain, we're good to go.''
She exhaled ''Fair enough, let's set sail then.''
As they made to leave, Luffy glanced at Laboon ''Bye, Laboon. Be sure to wait for our rematch, I definitely won't lose!''
The whale gave a joyful cry, this one much happier. Crocus was no less pleased ''Seems like a deal to me. Good luck to all of you. The Grand Line may be dangerous but it's also an amazing place, I think you kids will be in for the adventure of the time of a lifetime.''
Luffy grinned ''That sounds awesome!''
Crocus and Laboon watched the crew board their ship, followed by their new guests. Crocus' smile widened as he watched them go about and prepare to sail, waving them goodbye.
''Now this brings me back...'' He mused. ''...they're quite the crew for sure. It's almost like they're the ones we've been waiting for. I have a feeling Roger would agree.''
Well, let's stop here.
I hope this was good. Since I've had a little free time, I got to put this together. Plot wise, I'm actually starting up with the Little Garden Arc so it'll be back to the drawing board for now.
Anywho, thanks for reading so far and I hope you keep it up. Till next time!