36 Crocus pt. 1

Thirteen sat against the railing and held his stomach as he watched the ship get taken higher and higher into the sky, riding up the mountain. They reached the top and Thirteen groaned, shifting his spot as Merry suddenly started flying down the mountain at extreme speeds.

Usopp went flying and slammed against the mast before falling back to the deck as the rest held on for dear life. Luffy was the only one laughing though.

The ship sailed down and Luffy pointed forward, saying "A mountain! Wow!" the rest looked over and Nami shouted "We're gonna crash!" Usopp started firing a cannon to slow them down and the 'mountain' made a 'BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!' sound.

Thirteen looked at the mountain and tilted his head, Nami's mouth twitched and she said "Mountains don't make sounds…"

The Merry slowed down and barely touched the mountain, unfortunately Merry's figurehead flew off and landed on the deck right in front of Thirteen, who just looked at it silently.

Usopp shouted "MERRY!" as an eye opened on the mountain and looked at the crew, Luffy shouted angrily "You broke my seat!" before punching the eye. The mountain moved and opened it's mouth as Nami shouted "IT'S A WHALE!" Luffy flew up from the Merry and disappeared as the ship was eaten whole by the whale.

The ship sailed through the whale before coming back outside.

They looked around and Usopp said "Look we're outside again!" Sanji looked at the water and said "The water outside isn't green." Nami commented "The clouds aren't moving either." Usopp turned white and swayed as a giant squid popped up out of nowhere.

Zoro grabbed his swords and was about to slash, when a harpoon pierced through the squid. The crew turned and noticed a house on the water. There was a man who walked out of the house and pulled on the rope silently, not even looking at the crew.

The man reeled in the squid and walked over to a chair before sitting down, Sanji shouted "SAY SOMETHING!" The man looked at Sanji with an intense look in his eyes as Usopp added "If it's a fight you want, fine! We have cannons!" as he stood at the back of the ship.

The man stared at the crew intensely for 30 seconds before saying "Don't. Or someone will die." Usopp screeched and fell to the ground, covering his head. Sanji twitched and said "Oh yeah? And who would that be?"

The man replied immediately "Me." before Sanji shouted "YOU?! YOU FUC-" Zoro grabbed his shoulder and said "It's alright. Don't be pissed." as he stepped forward and spoke to the man "Old man, where are we? And who are you?"

The old man waited for 30 seconds as his gazed drew even more intense before finally answering "If you want something from someone, it's proper manners to introduce yourself first." Zoro blinked and said "Yeah… My bad. I'm Roron-"

The man cut him off and said "I am Crocus. I am the keeper of the Twin Capes Lighthouses. I am 71 years old, Gemini, Blood Type AB…" Zoro grabbed his swords with veins throbbing on his forehead as he said "I'm gonna kill this old guy!" while Sanji held him back.

The man continued on without pause "You want to know where we are? This is my one-man resort… You come here and yell rude things at me…" before clicking his tongue and reading his newspaper, adding "Do you think you're inside a rat's stomach?"

Nami held her face and trembled, muttering "I don't want to be digested… I'm too pretty…" Thirteen looked at her before looking at the old man, who made his gaze even more intense!

Then he waited again, before Sanji snapped "CAN YOU STOP!?" Crocus sighed and said "Can't you appreciate a good running gag?" Sanji was about to jump at the man, while Zoro held him back.

Crocus pointed to the door behind them and said "You can leave through that door." Nami jumped up and said happily "We can leave!?" Before she could celebrate, the whale started shaking.

Crocus sighed and jumped in the water, swimming over to the door before climbing up a ladder. Sanji muttered "Did he just swim in stomach acid?" Zoro nodded and added "That's what it looked like." Usopp continued "Shouldn't he be dissolving?" Nami finished "Doesn't look like it."

They looked at Thirteen, who looked back at them silently. After a few seconds they turned back and he finally said "I don't know what a whale is." they turned back to him before shouting "DON'T PICK UP BAD HABITS!"

As they were shouting, Crocus opened a door and three people flew out of it, flying in the air before smashing headfirst into the deck of the Merry. Luffy jumped up and chuckled "Hey!" Thirteen looked at him before the two other people jumped up and pointed bazookas at the whale's insides, laughing.

As they laughed, Luffy punched them both in the head, knocking them out cold. The crew looked at the duo and Sanji said "That was easy." Luffy grinned and Thirteen looked at the blue haired woman, confused before taking his eyes back and looking up in the air, thinking about something.

Meanwhile, Crocus opened the door and caught a ride on the Merry as it sailed out of the whale to a lighthouse.