A Dragon Swordswoman(MAN, dammit) Chapter 42: Laboon, an one piece fanfic

Chapter 42: Laboon

"BUUUOOOOHHHHHHHH!"

The loud cry from the massive Island Whale had my entire being rumbling and shaking from how loud it was.

And now hearing it in person, I could feel the anguish and pain from it all; especially considering how he must have felt for all those years.

"Shit! What do we do now!?" Zoro cried out, "That damn thing is in the way!"

"Should we fight it off?" Luffy asked.

"Are you kidding me!? How the heck are we supposed to fight that thing!?" Usopp cried out, "It's fucking huge!"

"It's so damn big, it looks like a giant wall up close!" Sanji noted, "I can't even tell where its eyes are…!"

"Ah, of course!" Nami realized, "If it's that big, maybe it hasn't even noticed us yet!"

"Well, if we don't do something soon, we're going to crash right into it!" Zoro glanced about before pointing out, "There's a small space on the left! Turn portside, quickly!"

"Turn–How!? The steering stick broke, remember!" Usopp cried out.

"We still have to do something! Shit, I'll help too!"

"Damn it! Better than doing nothing, I suppose!"

As the guys rushed to the broken steering pole, I looked over at the massive whale in the distance; I could barely make out the scars at its nose and I could tell those were deep and numerous.

How long had he been slamming his head against the Red Line over and over again in a feat of insanity? How much anguish was he in to let out such a sorrowful cry?

I knew the answer to all those questions, but was unable to tell them from lack of proper physical evidence. Too bad I didn't have those long distance Den Den Mushi, another thing I regretted not getting back in Loguetown.

"Rein!"

"Huh? What?"

I was then literally shaken out of my thoughts by Nami moments later, "Rein! Do something about this!"

"Me!? What do you want me to do!?"

"I don't know! Use your dragon powers or something to scare that thing away!"

"That's not how… huh, that's actually not a bad idea…"

"Eh? What is?"

I quickly shifted to my half-dragon form and took a deep breath, and then unleashed a Breath Cannon into the waters in front of us to the right, crashing the blast of air into the flowing rapids.

The resulting impact rippled out and caused the ship to buckle from it but also made it turn left, making it so that we were sailing right towards the gap instead of crashing into the giant crying whale.

"Oh, nicely done!" Nami cheered, I gave her a v-sign in response.

With this, one major crisis was solved for the moment—

*Snap*

""Ah.""

"My special seat!"

My victory, however, was short lived when I saw the helmet-wearing figurehead of the Merry snapped off the bow and dropped onto the deck.

It appeared I did not act quick enough and we ended up scraping against Laboon's tough skin as we turned; which was apparently enough to break the goat head off the bow.

And with Laboon still none the wiser; he probably didn't even notice the Merry touching him.

"…looks like he didn't even notice that…" Zoro sighed.

"With a body that big, it is probably like a mosquito bite to him." Sanji noted.

"BUUUOOOOHHHHHHHH!"

The loud cries from the large whale had everyone clambering to cover their ears to block it out; it was particularly bad for me as my hearing was enhanced in my half-dragon form.

It was like someone blasted a foghorn right next to my ears!

"It's so loud…!" Usopp groaned, "Why is there a whale even in a place like this…!?"

Nami turned to me with an expectant look and I shook my head as I told her, "Captain's orders, remember?"

"Oh, fine…" She sighed, "I'm just glad we got past him without much trouble…"

"Hey! Whale!"

And as if to counteract that sentiment, Luffy stomped up to the bow with nostrils flared and fist clenched, clearly angry at the whale for what was clearly not his doing.

It quickly became apparent what he was going to do, which had all of us in a panic as we scrambled to stop him from doing whatever he was planning to do.

Unfortunately… We weren't quick enough.

"How dare you destroy my special seat!"

His arm stretched out as he threw fist out towards Laboon, and slammed his knuckles onto the whale's eye as hard as he was able.

That got Laboon's attention as his massive eye immediately jerked down towards us, leaving us to stand there in silent terror over what our idiotic captain just did.

"There's more where that came from, you–Oof!"

""Stop taunting it, you idiot!""

Zoro and Usopp quickly put a stop to Luffy's childish taunting via dog-piling up on him; alas, the damage had already been done and there was no stopping what was coming.

Turning towards us, Laboon lowered himself into the water and opened his massive mouth, revealing rows of teeth the size of buildings. Within moments, water began rushing into the gaping maws and pulling the Merry along within its crazy currents.

"Damn it, Luffy!"

"Everybody hold on!"

We all held on for dear life as the caravel was getting pulled in at an alarming rate; Luffy nearly fell overboard from all the rocking which I barely managed to prevent via wrapping my tail around his torso.

It only took seconds for us to get sucked into Laboon's mouth and was quickly heading down its gullet as he closed his jaws, leaving us in nothing but darkness.

That was quickly followed by twisting and turning in inky darkness, lurching the Merry back and forth like a massive water roller coaster with only one end in mind.

"This isn't how I wanted to die!" Usopp cried.

"We're not dead yet!" I told him.

"We've gotten swallowed up by a goddamn whale!"

"Yet, we're still talking about it, right!?"

After what felt like an eternity, we soon emerged into the light and were greeted with the painted walls of the whale's stomach, the island-boat of Crocus floating on the green tinted waters, and the overpowering smell of stomach acid.

It was quite the surreal sight; especially with the fact that it was well illuminated inside the stomach. How did Crocus ever manage to achieve that, I had no idea.

"…we were swallowed by the whale, right?" Usopp asked.

"Yeah, we were." I nodded, pinching my nose in disgust as I quickly turned back to my human form, "Into the belly of the beast, as they say."

"So…why can I see the sky? Is this heaven?"

"Take a second look."

Usopp put on his special goggles and adjusted the lens for a moment, "…hey, the sky is painted on! The clouds, even the birds are just paintings!"

"Who in their right mind paints the insides of a whale?" Sanji noted, "They had to be insane…"

"Hahaha, what an interesting whale!" Luffy laughed.

That got Nami to whack him in the head with her fist, "This is all your fault! Why do you have to go and pick a fight with the whale!?"

"He wrecked my special seat!"

"Well, thanks to you, we're now stuck inside its belly!"

"I wouldn't say we're stuck."

She turned to me before following my finger as I pointed at the massive iron door embedded in the stomach walls that had a ladder and platform that leads to much smaller door next to it; it was hard to miss

It made me wonder how Crocus managed to get those large doors inside Laboon to began with, especially considering that it leads outside into the ocean; did he literally dug into Laboon from the outside, or did he dig out from his stomach?

And I don't think any of those answers were pleasant to think about.

"Is… Is that a gate?" Nami asked, "Why is there a gate inside a whale's stomach!?"

"Same reason why there's an island here." I explained.

"Who cares what's the reason!?" Zoro cried out as he handed me one of the giant oars from the storage room, "We need to get out of here before we dissolve!"

*SPLASH*

"GUUOOOOHHH!"

""Giant squid!?""

On cue, a gigantic squid bursts out of the green tinted waters right in front of us with its massive tentacles swinging about and ready to grab the Merry; we immediately got ready for battle, while Usopp and Nami book it for the safety of the dining room.

But before anyone could do anything, a trio of harpoons came flying out of the island-boat and stabbed into the head of the massive sea creature, it twitched for a moment before flopping down into the waters as blood and ink flowed out of its wounds.

"What… the… hell…" Usopp barely managed to squeak out.

"Everyone, stay alert!" Zoro called out as he had one hand on one of his sword's hilt, "We're not the only people in here…!"

We watched in tense silence as the large squid was slowly dragged towards the island-boat by the ropes tied to the harpoons, and the one who threw them stepped out of his house and reveal himself to us.

In an attire that screams casual wear was the former ship doctor of the Oro Jackson, and the lighthouse keeper Crocus; it was uncanny how much like flower petals his hair really appeared to look at first glance, and it was all natural.

"A flower!" Luffy cried out, "It's a walking flower man!"

"You idiot, look closer! It's just an old guy!" Usopp told him, "The petals are his hair!"

"Oh, you're right! Hahaha! What a funny hairdo!"

"But what's an old man doing in the stomach of a whale?"

"He's not just an old guy…" Zoro pointed out with his hand on Ichimonji, "You saw him taken out that giant squid like it was nothing…"

"Yeah, not to mention he is glaring at us all this time…" Sanji noted, "The real question is… is he an enemy…?"

Looks like Zoro and Sanji noticed it; Despite his somewhat outlandish appearance, the old lighthouse keeper was exuding a presence that had everyone on edge; especially with how intense he had been glaring right at us as he reeled in his catch of the day.

Crocus kept his eyes firmly on us even while he tied his catch onto his island-boat and kept doing so as he slowly walked away from it.

And he kept on glaring…

And glaring…

Till he plopped down on the lawn chair, opened up a newspaper, and began reading it.

"Say something, damn it!" Sanji shouted at him angrily.

"Hm?"

Crocus lifted his nose from the paper with a quirked eyebrow, looking completely unfazed by all of this; considering everything the Roger Pirates no doubt had gone through in order to reach Raftel, a small crew like us probably looked like children to him.

"Yo-You want a fi-fi-fight!?" Usopp stammered out, "We-We have a ca-cannon, you kn-know!"

That statement got him to glare right at us, causing the sniper to falter in his bravado and duck behind the kitchen door.

All the while, Crocus kept on glaring at us…

And glaring…

Then he opened his mouth, "You better not; or one of us is going to die."

That sent shivers down all of our spine, even me despite knowing that he meant no harm to us in anyway; though I was not fond of the idea of him throwing harpoons towards us like missiles.

"Oh?" Sanji bit down on his cigarette as he asked with a wry grin, "And who would that be?"

"Me, of course."

"YOU!?"

"Hahaha! This old guy is hilarious!" Luffy laughed.

Zoro walked up to the seething cook, who looked to be seconds away from just jumping off the Merry and launching himself at the retired pirate doctor, and patted him on the shoulder.

"Calm down, no need to get so worked up."

"I'm telling you; this is getting ridiculous…"

"Seriously, what is this guy's deal?" Nami wondered as she turned to me, "Rein, do you know who he is?"

"Sure, I do." I nodded, "I could tell you, but…"

"Ah! Rein! No spoilers!" Luffy told me.

"See?"

"Damn it, Rein!"

"We can just ask him, you know." Zoro then called out to the retired pirate doctor, "Hey, old man! We have some questions for you; who are you? And why are you here?"

And once more, Crocus snapped a glare at us that threatened to bore a hole through us.

And he kept on glaring at us…

And glaring…

Then he opened his mouth and told him, "Youngster, it is only polite that you introduce yourself before demanding answers."

"O-Oh, that's right." Zoro nodded with a nervous grin, "My apologies. My name is Roronoa—"

"My name is Crocus, the keeper of the Twin Capes's lighthouse. I'm currently 71 and a half years old, a Gemini, my blood type is AB, and my favorite food is—"

"I'm going to cut you to ribbons!"

"Hahaha!" Luffy fell onto the floor rolling while laughing his head off, "This geezer is a riot!"

Zoro, like Sanji moments prior, was also seconds away from launching himself at Crocus with Ichimonji already partially out of its scabbard. This time, I was the one to calm him down with a pat on the shoulder.

"Just leave it, Zoro." I told him.

"Seriously, who does that…" Zoro growled.

Unfazed by his threats, Crocus continued on, "As for why I am here, I believe that is none of your damn business. In fact, I should be the one asking you that, since it is you who is trespassing on my private resort."

"Resort—we're in the stomach of a goddamn whale!" Usopp cried out, "Why would you even stay in here!?"

"If you don't like it, you can just leave, you know. The exit is right there."

"So that is the exit!?"

"BUUUOOOOOHHHH!"

The whale's stomach suddenly, for the lack of a better word, jumped and caused the stomach acid to stir about and rocked both the Merry and Crocus little island-boat with its rolling waves.

"Tch, he's at it again…" Crocus grumbled as he put away his newspaper, "Don't you kids go anywhere!"

After saying that, he dived into the stomach acid and started swimming towards the large gate; it was quite a sight to see him just swim in the stomach acid without much trouble.

Though it might be because he was coating himself in Armament Haki to protect himself from getting dissolved in it; or the acid had been heavily diluted with sea water.

"Rein, what's going on?" Nami asked, "Why is he leaving all of a sudden?"

"It's the whale; he's bashing his head against the Red Line." I explained, "And the good old doctor Crocus there is going to calm it down with some sedatives."

"That would explain all those scars on the whale's head." Zoro noted.

"Why is it doing that?" Usopp asked, "Does it have a death wish or something."

"Depression, actually."

"The whale sounds so sad…!" Luffy noted, "Why is it so sad?"

"I'm sure the good doctor will explain the rest if you ask nicely."

Come to think of it, wasn't Vivi supposed to show up here under the identity of Baroque Works's Miss Wednesday? If I remember correctly, she and her partner right now should be…

"Shit! Crocus, wait!"

I quickly got into my half-dragon form and flew straight for the metal gates as fast as I could, reaching the smaller door at the top just as Crocus was about to climbed onto the platform; the old doctor looking at me in a mix of confusion and suspicion as I flew in.

Without stopping, I rammed my feet right into them and sent the door flying off its hinges, and crashing into the ones that were hiding behind them.

"Grgk…! why did the doors…!?"

"Looks like we were caught, Miss Wednesday…"

Crawling out from behind the metal doors with strained grunts and bruises for days were the undercover desert princess and her wannabe prince partner, their bazookas not in their grasps but a fair distance away from them.

If I remember things right, those were the only weapons they had on-hand right now, considering that their main objective here was hunting Laboon for food and fuel.

If that's the case…

"You guys again!?" Crocus growled, "How many times do I have to send you rogues packing till you get it through that thick skull of yours!?"

"Any new ideas, Mr 9?"

"I see only one option, baby."

Mr. 9 swiftly turned and dashed for the bazookas, but he didn't get far when I leaped right up to him and punched his head into the metal floor hard, knocking him out right from the get-go.

"Mr. 9–Guh!?"

After kicking the two bazookas into the water canal beside us, I swiftly turned to Vivi and slammed her back-first onto the metal wall, pressing my forearm against her torso and keeping her pinned to it.

"You can leave these two to me." I told Crocus, "Go and calm Laboon down before he breaks his head open."

"…alright. I owe you one, kid!"

Crocus immediately sprinted past us and down the water canal, leaving me alone with a struggling Vivi as she tried futilely to push me away; her kicks were nothing but bug bites against my scales.

The way she glared at me with such malicious intent had me impressed with how into her role the princess was; if I didn't know from the start, I would have saw her as nothing but some random goon.

"Give it up; you guys aren't hunting this whale." I told her.

"You bitch…! What's your problem!?" She yelled at me, "It's just some stupid whale! Why are you protecting it!?"

"Perhaps to you, but not to me. So I suggest you surrender, otherwise…"

I punched the wall next to her and the metal bent around my knuckles, leaving a large dent with an imprint of my fist on the metal sheet.

"Grgk…"

Finally seeing how outmatched she was against me, the princess stopped struggling against me and allowed me to carry her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes; her partner got the same treatment only it was under my arm.

I then returned where I came and flew back to the rocking Merry where I threw the two bounty hunters onto the deck with a loud thud much to the surprise of my fellow crew mates.

"Oh, you're back." Usopp's eyebrow raised when he saw the two captured hunters, "Who are they?"

"Bounty hunters that was hunting this whale for his flesh and fat." I explained, "I put a stop to that."

"So, what do you want to do with them?"

"Let's tied them up for now. We can think of what to do with them once we leave this whale."

The sniper nodded in agreement before heading indoors, leaving Luffy to stare at my captees while Sanji swooned over the beauty of Vivi; the undercover princess glaring death at him.

"You should say something the next time you run off and do this." Nami pointed out, "You scared us when you just took off like that. Luffy already did that too many times, we don't need another one."

"Sorry about that." I told her, "I had to act quickly, so I didn't have time to explain."

"You must really don't want this whale to die." Zoro noted, "Is this whale really important in the future or something?"

"Extremely important. And his story is just too sad."

"…No spoilers?"

"No spoilers."

Just as Usopp returned with some rope and a roll of duct tape, the stomach stopped shaking as rolling waves of acid calmed down to gentle tides and the ship stopped rocking like crazy; looks like Crocus's sedative finally kicked in.

Taking the chance, we quickly got to work tying up and gagging the two of captees to the Merry's mast, Vivi glaring at me all throughout the process which I pointedly ignored.

Though I made sure the ropes binding her weren't too tight.

Crocus soon returned from sedating Laboon and decided to help escort us out of Laboon's stomach via the many water canals he had built into the whale's body; it was quite the technical marvel, if a bit gross to think about.

As we sail along, he decided to explain everything about his relationship with Laboon, and the reason why he bashed his head against the Red Line and cries out at Reverse Mountain.

"A long time ago, while I was minding my business as a lighthouse keeper, a group of friendly pirates came down from Reverse Mountain." He explained, "And following close behind was a little Island Whale; that was Laboon."

"A pirate crew with a pet whale…?" Usopp noted, "That… sounds really adorable for some reason."

"Indeed, it was." Crocus chuckled, "The little guy have been their close companion throughout their adventures in the West Blue; but fearing for his safety in the Grand Line, the pirates tried to leave him behind; but they haven't realized that Laboon had adopted them as members of his pod, and followed them here."

The old lighthouse keeper let out a soft sigh, his eyes unfocused as he immersed in his memory, "Their ship was damaged when they arrived here, so they spent a few days here for repairs. In that time, I have become quite good friends with them. So when the day of departure came, they asked me to take care of Laboon in their stead for a few years; 'Once we sailed around the world, we would come back for him', they had promised. And sensing their intent, Laboon obediently stayed and waited for them."

"And since then, he had been waiting for them here?" Nami noted, "Then, the reason he has been bashing his head against the Red Line…?"

"Not quite; for you see… that promise was made nearly fifty years ago."

"F-Fifty years!?"

Crocus nodded with a grim look, "And all these years, Laboon still held on for the hope that his friends would one day return for him."

The uncomfortable silence that came from that sentence was suffocating, no one had any idea what to say to that; heck, even Vivi was contemplating over what she and her partner had tried to do to it.

Everyone, except for a certain free spirit.

"This place is really cool!" Luffy stated with a cheery laugh, "Did you built all of it?"

"…Indeed I did." Crocus chuckled, "I may not look it, but I was once a doctor and even ran a clinic on the Twin Capes a long time ago. I had even worked as a ship doctor for a few years."

"Woah, you are a ship doctor!? Join my crew as our doctor!"

"Hahah, as much fun as that sounds, I'm afraid the life of piracy is no longer fit for me; I've gotten too old to hang out with you reckless youths. Hold up, we're coming onto the exit."

With practiced ease Crocus leaped off his little island boat onto a ladder which he then climbed to reach a large rotary crank next to another giant metal gate.

"So… you're a doctor, huh." Nami noted, "Do all doctors in the Grand Line live inside whales?"

"Hahaha, not quite!" Crocus laughed, "Over the years, Laboon had grown way too big for me to administer his medicine in any conventional manner; so I had to get… creative, so to speak. Now, careful; I'm opening the floodgates now."

With a heavy and strained grunt, he turned the crank and sounds of moving gears began to echo within the corridor, as the large metal gate began to open up and we were carried out by the currents that rushed out.

We were then greeted by the smell of fresh ocean breeze, the wide blue sky, and the bright afternoon sun.

"Hah! We're finally out!" Luffy cheered as he took a deep breath, "The sea breeze feels so nice…!"

"Now that we're out, what should we do about them?" Zoro asked, pointing at Vivi and Mr. 9, the latter had just regained consciousness and was actively struggling against his bonds while screaming into his duct tape gag.

I turned to Crocus, the former pirate shrugged his shoulders, completely dismissing them in his eyes.

"Oh, them? Just toss them into the sea or something."

"You got it."

Freeing them of their bonds and gags, me and Zoro grabbed the two Baroque Works agents by the collar and pulled them over to the railings, the two of them struggling futilely against our tight grip.

"I-I'm a prince, you know!" Mr. 9 screamed, "I'm royalty!"

"I honestly do not care." Zoro noted.

"You'll regret this!" Vivi shouted at me, "Our organization will hunt you down for what you have done today!"

"And have them come." I noted, "Let them try."

With a great heave, we tossed them overboard and into the ocean below in a loud splash; the two flailed about before screaming a series of curses that would make any sailor blush before swimming away while swearing that they would return.

It was as comical as I remember, though I was not expecting such vulgar language to come from Vivi of all people; she must really be invested in her act…

"…Rein, that last line of yours…"

"Let me have my moment, Zoro. Please."

"Are you sure you want to just let them go like that?" Nami asked Crocus, "They are going to come back for Laboon."

"Even if I don't, there will be others who will come to take their place." He told her, "Besides, I can handle myself just fine, and Laboon is pretty tough himself."

"Huh? They dropped something." Luffy pointed out as he picked up a Log Pose from the floor.

"Well, it is ours now! Finders Keepers!" Nami quickly yoinked it out of his grasp and put in her pocket, "Now we have a spare in case ours breaks."

"Ah, little Miss Wednesday~" Sanji sighed with a grin, "The enigmatic ones are always the most beautiful~"

"That enigmatic beauty is also carrying around a bazooka." Usopp pointed out.

"I know; and what a way to go that would be~"

"He's a lost cause…"

As Laboon turned back to Reverse Mountain and began bellowing at it, we relocated ourselves to Crocus's lighthouse; docking Merry next to his island-house at the base of the outcrop.

There was a picnic area where we settled ourselves as we took a breather from all the stuff that had happened to us. Crocus even played host to us and served us some cups of tea.

"So the whale has been waiting for his friends for fifty years…" Luffy noted as he rested on some rocks, "They sure are taking their time if he had been waiting for so long."

"You idiot, that's obviously not the case." Sanji noted with a huff of his cigarette, "They promised to be back in a few years, and yet it ended being fifty? I'm sorry to say this, but they are long dead by now. They aren't coming back here."

"Don't say such a cold thing!" Usopp cried out, "Who knows, maybe they got delayed at some island for that long…!"

"I'm afraid… the truth is much crueler than that." Crocus sighed as he sipped his tea, "Last I've heard, those pirates have left the Grand Line in its entirety."

"They… they abandoned the whale…!?" Nami cried out, "But that would mean going through the Calm Belt! That place is…!"

"Yeah, I do not know if they made it out of there alive. But even if they did, they aren't coming back here." He let out a sigh that seemed to age him up a little, "In this place where the seasons, winds, currents, and winds couldn't be more chaotic… where any and all common sense fails to be upheld and the faint-hearted are devoured, that's the Grand Line."

Sanji let out a long trail of smoke from his mouth, a deep scowl on his face, "In other words, those cowards were more concerned about their own lives than keeping their promise."

"T-Then… they abandoned the whale!?" Usopp cried out, "Even when he believed in them for all these years, they just left him behind!? How can someone be so cruel!?"

"We don't know that!"

They turned to me when I quickly yelled at Usopp; they were definitely confused about my outburst, but I couldn't just let the Rumbar Pirates' names get dragged through the mud like this.

Not when Brook was still out there in that ghost ocean all alone, still finding his way to get back to Laboon and fulfil that promise.

"Rein, what are you…?"

I turned to the old lighthouse keeper, "Crocus, did those pirates seemed the faint-hearted types that would just run off when things became too much for them?"

"…No, they are not." He let out a snort with a grin, "Our time together may have been short, but they don't strike me as the types to break a promise just to save their own skins."

"Then it is clear there are reasons out of their control that forced their hands, right? Perhaps a last resort, or a desperate move to save their crew? Either way, it isn't right to speak ill of them like that; especially when we don't actually know them ourselves."

"Ah… th-that's true…" Usopp noted, "I'm sorry… that isn't right for me to do."

"If that's the case, why haven't you told him?" Nami asked, "From what you said, that whale can understand human words, right?"

"Oh, I did; I had told him the truth countless times…" Crocus sighed, "But no matter how many times I had told him, he refused to listen. He just… went mad with grief."

"Is that why he kept bashing his head against the Red Line?" Zoro asked, "Because he went crazy?"

"My guess is that he is asserting that his friends are just beyond that wall of rock, that it was the reason why his friends hadn't returned to him."

"What a whale…" Sanji let out a long huff, "Even after being betrayed like that, he still kept on waiting… even when there's no point behind in it all…"

"It is precisely because there's no point in it all." Crocus stated, "More than anything, he's afraid of losing the meaning behind the fifty years he had spent waiting for them. The West Blue is on the other side of the Red Line, too far to reach. The only home he has left now, were those pirates."

That had everyone fall in contemplation as they realised what Laboon was going through; he was all alone in a foreign place with the only people he could call a family had possible abandoned him.

Denial was probably the only way he was able to cope with the despair, with realizing that he had been waiting for no one all these years.

Even knowing that Brook was still out there, that Laboon hadn't been waiting for nothing, it was still heartbreaking.

"Hm? Luffy?"

I was quickly brought out of my thoughts when I noticed the lack of a certain pirate captain, his straw hat lying alone on the little rock outcrop he had been resting on.

That made me remember that one meaningful yet stupid thing he was going to do to Laboon, and it was not something that bode well.

"Hm? Rein, where are you going?"

"To stop our captain from doing something stupid."

I quickly unfurled my wings and descended down towards where the Merry was docked, and to see humming Luffy already wrapping his arms around the main mast.

As funny as what he was going to do was, it would rather not have the ship that was our home get wrecked for something that stupid.

"Luffy, stop that!" I cried out as I landed next to him and tried to pull his arms off the mast, "The Merry just got upgraded! Don't wreck it!"

"Relax, Rein. I'm just going pulled out the mast and jam it into the whale." He assured me, "Besides, Usopp can fix it up no problem! And the Merry is tough! She can handle a couple of bruises!"

"That's not how–Oh, who am I even kidding… Look, couldn't you use something else? Like, I don't know, the palm tree on Crocus's little island boat?"

"Nah, it's not big enough. It has to be the mast."

Looks like Luffy was already set on using the main mast to do his stupid stunt and there was no way of dissuading him otherwise.

Thinking back, trying to convince Luffy not to do anything he wanted to do had always been a futile attempt.

"Then… take the mizzenmast instead. It wouldn't hurt Merry as much."

"Mizzenmast?"

"…the short one."

"Oh, that one! It might work as well! Thanks, Rein!"

"Just… try not to wreck it too much…"

With a tired sigh, I flew back to the group and told them with a groan, "Just to point out, I'd tried my very best to stop him."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"UOOOHHH!"

Her confusion quickly turned to realization and then stunned shock as we saw Luffy running up Laboon with the mizzenmast in hand.

"What is that idiot doing now…?" Sanji groaned.

Zoro shook his head and let out a loud tired sigh, "I swear, you take your eyes off him for just a second…"

"Wait… Is… Is that the mizzenmast…?" Usopp squeaked, "Di-Did he just…?"

"Gum-Gum Flower Arrangement!"

Once he reached the top of Laboon's scarred head, he jammed the mast right into the gushing wound as hard as he was able, causing it to widen and spill more blood.

For a tense second, everyone could only stare in horror over what an extremely stupid stunt Luffy had just done.

"BUUOOOOOHHHHH!?"

""WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?""

Their collective screams were accompanied with Laboon's loud roar of pain that shook the ground, as the whale tried to shake off his assailant from his head.

When he realised it wasn't working as intended, the whale changed tactics and attempted to smash Luffy into the ground; which turned out to be right in front of us.

"Oh shit! Run!"

The ground shook when Laboon crashed into the rocky outcrop in front of the lighthouse, smashing Luffy into the ground and had us falling over ourselves from the mini earthquake.

It had also pushed the mast deeper into the whale's gushing wound, he crying out in pain once more as his wound was worsening by the second.

Getting back up with a wide grin, Luffy let out a mocking laugh at his expense.

"Heh, idiot."

"BUOH!?"

In response to the obvious provocation, Laboon slammed his head right into Luffy and sent him crashing into the lighthouse.

The rubber pirate then returned the favor by leaping back and throwing his fist into the whale's eye like he did before we got swallowed.

That got Laboon to send him crashing back to the lighthouse once more with another swing of his head, which was quickly retaliated with Luffy throwing his foot into the whale's eye.

Back and forth their confrontation went on, each not letting up on the attack on each other, till even the tables and chairs of the little picnic area were wrecked as well.

Then, as Luffy laid on the ground with Laboon looming over him, he proclaimed out loud to the whale.

"It's a draw!"

The whale immediately stopped moving as Laboon looked down at him as Luffy grinned widely, much to the confusion of everyone watching.

The one most confused by all of this was no doubt Crocus, "Kid…?"

"I'm tough, aren't I?" Luffy chuckled, "Our fight has yet to be settled, so we must fight each other once again. Your old buddies may no longer be around, but I'll be your new rival! Once me and my crew sailed around the Grand Line, I promise you that I'll come back here to see you again! And then, we can duke it out again!"

Tears welled up within Laboon's eyes as he let out a loud cry, this time it was not as sorrowful as the ones before, but was filled with a renewed sense of hope and purpose.

It even made me a little teary eyed at its conclusion.

Nami sighed with a wry grin, "I swear, that idiot… going so far just for that…?"

"But it wouldn't be Luffy if he didn't do such a thing…" Zoro chuckled.

"But couldn't he not break the ship to do that…?" Usopp groaned, "We just got it upgraded too…"

"At least it isn't the main mast." Sanji pointed out.

"Small mercies, I suppose…"

"Hey, Usopp!" Luffy called out to the sniper, "Grab the paints! I have an idea how to stop Laboon from hurting himself!"

We all looked at each other with increasing dread of that statement. "That statement… does not bode well…"

…
To be continued…

I'll be honest, I find it hard to change anything about this arc, as changing anything would lead to an extremely different outcome.

At any rate, we have officially entered the Grand Line and would start with the first arc of the Paradise saga. Look forward to it!

With that, I thank you all for reading this!