17 Laboon and A Doctor

The crew was still trying to figure out where they had ended up. It almost felt surreal.

Nami questioned as she peered around, "Are we still alive?"

"No, we are dead, Nami; it seems paradise isn't full of gold as you dreamed," Nojiko teased, earning a chuckle from Luffy and a pout from Nami.

"I feel too alive to be dead," Zoro said, his eyes looking around, trying to make sense of this strange situation.

"That whale devoured us! Right?" Nojiko questioned the whole situation; she even thought this was some kind of strange dream.

"Maybe we are dreaming, but this is an extraordinary one?" Sanji thought as he took in the peaceful surroundings.

"Perhaps?" Zoro wondered, scratching the back of his skull.

On the tiny island, there stood a home. There was even a fold-up chair put up on the grass in front of it.

"How do we wake up then?" Nami said, her gaze fixed on Usopp and Zoro.

"Is not a dream, Nami; if it were, you would see gold everywhere," Nojiko countered, earning another chuckle from Luffy.

"Maybe an exciting adventure is awaiting us," Luffy said, grinning, not taking the situation as seriously as the others.

"I'm not sure I would want to continue this adventure," Usopp commented; having a powerful captain had its benefits, but he thought that Luffy sometimes simply forgot that not everyone was as powerful and as brave as him.

"There's something wrong with the clouds," Sanji observed as he looked up at the sky.

Usopp agreed, "Hey, you're correct.

The water in front of them was propelled high into the air. The birds aren't moving either."

Suddenly tentacles started coming out from underneath the water, a squid!

"What the hell is that?" Usopp panicked,

The crew prepared to attack.

Three harpoons were thrown from the house before the Straw Hats could assault. The squid was quickly killed when all three weapons found their target.

"Now what?" Nojiko said, perplexed by the unexpected shift in the scenario. It hadn't been even an hour since they entered the Grand Line, and they were in danger all the time, from whales devouring them to squids attacking them out of nowhere.

"Someone's there!" Usopp said, pointing with a finger.

An elderly guy emerged from the shadows of the building.

He was bald on top, but he had long white hair that reached beyond his shoulders and grew from the back of his head.

On his chin was a similar white beard that seemed to point both left and right.

He was dressed in a red shirt with green and yellow motifs, blue shorts, spectacles on his quite huge nose, and many bracelets on his left arm.

What baffled the crew was what seemed to have flower petals sprouting out of his head, separating the bald top from the white hair underneath the petals.

"Hello there?" Needless to say, the crew was even more perplexed at this point.

The old man made eye contact with the crew; the pirate crew immediately felt the uneasy feeling he was leaving.

Luffy stood in the front of his crew, glaring daggers at the old man who walked towards a chair, their glares intensifying; Zoro moved his hand on his swords when the old man's next move shocked them.

He opened a newspaper before sitting down as if nothing had happened; this caused the crew to deadpan.

"What the heck, old man?" shouted Sanji, startled by the abrupt change in attitude.

The elderly guy nonchalantly cocked his head in their direction.

Usopp roared at him, pointing his slingshot at him, "What the hell is your problem?"

The ropes kept moving, pulling the giant squid towards the tiny island.

After a few seconds of intense looking, the elderly guy said, "Put them down, or someone will die."

As he talked to the group, his harsher voice was calm. Luffy wondered just who this guy was; he didn't look weak, despite being old?

"Oh, and who would that be?" Sanji asked, ready to attack if the elderly decided to attack them.

"Me," the elderly guy said flatly, practically slamming the crew onto the deck with his deadpan tone.

"Damn it, old guy!" Sanji screamed at the elderly gentleman who was calmly reading his newspaper.

"Hey, old man, who are you, and where are we exactly?" Luffy asked as he stood in front of the crew, eyeing the elderly warily.

Zoro could see from how Luffy was acting that this strange old man wasn't someone to take lightly.

"Don't you have manners, young pirate? You should introduce yourself first?" The elderly spoke as if trying to teach manners to Luffy of all people.

"Oh right, my name is Monkey D. Luffy, I'm the captain of Straw Hat Pirates, and this is my crew!" Luffy introduced himself before gesturing at the crew behind him.

The man's eye widened slightly at the name of the young pirate before returning back to normal almost immediately. "My name is Crocus, and I'm the Lighthouse Keeper of the Twin Capes. I'm 71 years old, A Gemini, and my blood type is AB, and I don't like strangers," this caused the crew to tense slightly except for Luffy.

"As for where you are, you've barged into my private resort; how dare you ask me questions. Where do you think you are in the stomach of a mouse?" Crocus said, raising an eyebrow.

"So we were actually eaten?" Usopp shivered as he gazed around. "But this doesn't seem like the interior of a whale's gut. Did someone paint everything here?!"

"I don't want to be eaten," Nami shouted in disgust while Luffy was wondering if this is how food feels inside a stomach, soon coming to the conclusion that it wasn't that bad.

"There's the exit," Crocus said with a bored tone, indicating to the side, "unless you'd prefer to walk out the rear end." Turning to investigate, the Straw Hats saw a massive metal door on the painted sky's side.

Zoro couldn't help but wonder, "Why is there a door on a whale?"

Nami sighed deeply, "What the heck is going on anymore?" She had had enough of the continual changes and shocks today. Even Nojiko was quite surprised by the sudden turn of events.

Usopp questioned Crocus, gesturing from the entrance to the painted stomach, "Did you do all of this?"

"I have a lot of free time here; it can get quite boring so why not make it less miserable and add a little paint," Crocus said while reading the newspaper.

"Let's get out of here; this place is giving me a headache," Sanji said, not exactly sure if it was the strange old man or the place they were in.

The water Going Merry was sailing started to tremble and roil, shooting waves into the air.

"What Now!?" Nami screamed as she strained to retain her balance.

Crocus closed his eyes in a bit of sadness, knowing what was going outside, before grumbling, "Back at it again, eh, Laboon!"

"Hey, look!" said Usopp pointing at the island the old man was standing. Due to the water moving around, the strange ship the old man was standing on started moving around due to the waves showing that it was covered in the metal underneath.

Zoro roared at Crocus, "Who is Laboon? What's going on, old man?"

"This whale's name is Laboon," Crocus said calmly, not bothering with the acid waves that were way too close.

Luffy wondered who this old man was; this was no ordinary old man; in a way, it reminded him of his grandpa!

"He's banging his head into the Red Line, just like he's been doing for the past fifty years!" the elderly man muttered as he gazed down. The Straw Hats were stunned and perplexed.

"Those wounds!" Nami said, stunned, remembering the giant scars of the whale. "Its skull was full of scars! Did they all come from crashing into the Red Line?!"

"Is he attempting to destroy the massive wall by crushing into it??" Usopp wondered, puzzled.

"The whale isn't our problem!" Zoro said emphatically. "We simply need to get out!"

As the crew tried to leave, Crocus dove into the swirling acid waves and started swimming as they conversed.

"What did he just do?" Nami said, startled. "He dived straight in! He's going to get digested!"

Crocus scaled a ladder that went up to a vast platform with ease, dispelling Nami's fears.

Miss Wednesday

Two odd-looking people stood in front of the metal doors, their backs to them.

"We are doing this!" said the man of the duo, his tone somewhat effeminate.

He wore a golden crown on his head and had red-orange hair and green clothing.

Two stylized '9's were drawn just below his eyes on his face.

"Miss Wednesday, behind this door is the whale's stomach. Once we get inside, it will be easy to kill it, but we need to watch out for the old man; once you see him, shoot him!"

"Yes, Mr. Nine!" exclaimed the female, a lovely, thin, and voluptuous lady with blue hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Her shirt had concentric rings on it and was spaghetti-strapped.

One enormous pair was placed on her tummy, and two more were placed on each of her plump breasts.

Their clothes were weird even by pirate standards. They would easily be noticed in a crowd full of people. Miss Wednesday wore a beige coat with a fuzzy collar that hung over her shoulders as well.

Mr. Nine warned her, "Ready, Miss Wednesday? We'll open the door with a 'Three, two, one baby!' Don't let down your guard!"

She said forcefully, "Roger, Mr. Nine! I'm ready at any moment!"

With that, they both slammed the door open before announcing with a loud voice. "This Whale Belongs to Us now,"

The old man glared at them while the pirate crew was thinking from where they had come from; Sanji immediately noticed the beautiful lady with long blue hair.

"You again, how many times do I have to teach you this lesson, weird people," the old man said, ready to throw them into the acid water.

Mr 9 just brushed off his threat like a fly before both of them aimed their large guns at the old man.

Luffy prepared to protect the old man just in case, but it seemed that was totally unnecessary; as both Mr 9 and Miss Wednesday aimed their large guns at him, the old man suddenly disappeared from view, much to the shock of everyone.

Not even the pirates saw him move, except Luffy, whose eyes moved to look at him, standing right behind Mr 9 and Miss Wednesday, who were still trying to see where he went, not knowing he was standing behind them.

"I hope you know how to swim," a voice spoke behind them before both of them were thrown to the acid water below.

Mr. Nine shrieked in panic, "Oh my, Miss Wednesday, we're going to land in the acid sea!"

The two dived into the stomach acid's roiling waves.

"Who are those guys? How long were they inside the whale?" Luffy said enquiringly. Not understanding from where they came from.

Nami pondered on that but, in the end, decided that it wasn't worth thinking.

Soon both of them came out to the surface, moving their arms around like headless chickens while shouting for someone to help them.

"Please Help Us,"

"Should we attempt to save those two weirdos?" Zoro wondered, pointing to the two morons.

"Sure, Zoro, Usopp," Luffy ordered, and they both sighed.

After being saved, the woman with blue hair was kneeling on the deck, coughing water as she tried to catch her breath.

Sanji was looking at her with heart in his eyes while the other guy was paying more attention to their surroundings and the people who saved them.

The air-shaking sound of Laboon's shouting ferociously reverberated through the stomachs of all of them.

The majority of people shielded their ears from the noise. Just feeling the tremors in their bones was enough! Then everything seemed to come to a halt. The acid waves ceased swirling, and the stomach settled down. The whole corrosive sea was calm and peaceful again in a matter of minutes.

"Is calm now!!" Nami said. "Maybe we can leave now," she said, looking at the calm water.

"Hopefully, but first, what do we do with these two?" Zoro said as he glanced over at the two agents, Miss Wednesday standing as she was trying to remove the water from her hair and Mr. Nine lying on the deck soaking from his plunge in the stomach acid.

Miss Wednesday looked at the people around her before noticing the pirate flag; she turned to her companion, "Mr. Nine? these are Pirates!" she murmured before noticing the blonde with strange eyebrows drooling over her like a dog.

"Yes. I see it, Miss Wednesday! But maybe if we speak to them...they'll understand?"

"You thugs are still skulking about here?" Crocus screamed as he leaped from the gate and onto the Merry, "You will never hurt Laboon while I draw breath!"

"They Tried WHAT?" Luffy yelled out, leaving out a wave of Conquerer's Haki, causing both Strangers to feel uneasy, but it was a tiny bit.

The wave of Conqueror's Haki didn't go unnoticed by Crocus, whose only reaction was his eyes widening slightly before going back to normal.

Mr. Nine fired back at Crocus, "Taking down this whale is our objective! This time, we will not let you get in the way of our whaling mission!"

Luffy cocked his head. "What are we supposed to do? Maybe we should have just left them where they were," he said, looking over at Zoro.

"Maybe you're right, captain," Zoro shrugged, his right hand reaching for his blades.

"Usopp tie them up," Luffy shrugged.

Mr 9 was about to protest when he felt the blade of a sword on his shoulder; looking behind him; he saw the swordsman almost daring him to move.

Mr. Nine broke into a flop sweat as he shakily placed his hands behind his back to be bound. The guy with the orange hair was swiftly tied up and sitting on the deck.

Soon the crew and Crocus settled down; Nami told Sanji to prepare something for everyone while they were waiting.

"Join us, Crocus," Luffy said with a grin, "I've got a lot of questions!"

The Straw Hat team, Miss Wednesday, and Crocus were all seated and enjoying Sanji's food and tea in a matter of seconds. Nami and Nojiko complimented Sanji for the hood tea and food, causing Sanji to whirle around with heart eyes!

"Laboon is an island Whale," Crocus explained as they all waited for the sedated Laboon to emerge from the water. "It's the world's largest whale species, and it normally only lives in West Blue. These guys here–" he gestured towards the tied-up Mr. Nine and then Miss Wednesday, "come from a nearby town. They've been trying to kill Laboon for his meat. Laboon would probably feed their village for at least two to three years,"

"So Laboon is one of the largest creatures in the world," Sanji said, while Usopp thought if anything was larger than Laboon.

"Yes, but there are larger creatures than Laboon, Sea kings; they are the size to move islands," He stopped as he let the information settle in; the crew and even the strangers were quite surprised.

Luffy leaned forward, wanting to know more.

"But the largest is probably an elephant that I have heard of, the largest Elephant, the size is something you can't comprehend, larger than the sky itself," he finished earning shocked looks from everyone.

They couldn't understand how an animal could be that large??

Deciding to turn the subject back on track, "But why is Laboon slamming his head on the Red Line? What is he trying to achieve?" Nami wondered, perplexed as to why the giant whale was injuring himself.

"Many years ago, a group of pirates like you came down from the reverse mountain; behind them was Laboon. They had sailed the West Blue together; the road was too dangerous; therefore, the captain asked me if I could take care of Laboon until they returned, but it has been so many years," He said sadly, remembering the pirates; they loved to sing that was for sure, especially the tall one.

He remembered how they used to ride on top of Laboon, smiling snd joking.

"Laboon is a whale that travels with their kind in pods, but for Laboon, these pirates were his kind," The old man finished his story; silence took over the crew; Luffy felt sad for the big whale, even if it was the said whale that ate them.

Eventually, the island ship and Going Merry were sailing beyond the metal gates, leading to a long canal; this caught by surprise everyone.

"How did you build this?" Usopp wondered out loud while inspecting the canal; he knew how to make things himself and was quite astonished by the work.

"I can't heal him from outside, so I build these canals to help him, I might not look like it, but I'm a doctor. I had my own office a long time ago and even served as doctor to a pirate ship," The old man explained.

"A Doctor?" Luffy enquired, his smile broadening. "Do you want to join my crew?" He asked immediately without thinking.

"I'm too old to watch over a group of young pirates," Crocus said, "And besides, Who would watch after Laboon? That's a young man's adventure."

Soon they came outside; the sun shining brightly in the sky was a welcome sight for the pirate crew.

"We are finally out," Luffy exclaimed as he was standing on top of Going Merry's figure smiling brightly.

"Now that they were finally outside and not in danger of becoming whale food," Zoro started before pointing at the two.

"What are we going to do with these idiots?"

"Eh, leave him tied up for now; they don't look to want to cause trouble, but I don't want them hurting the whale again," Luffy said, his eyes icy.

"If they try anything, cut them down," Luffy added with a voice that sent shivers to everyone's body; Zoro just shrugged his shoulders.

"Let's see if they have anything valuable," Nami said with a sadistic grin on her face that caused both Mr nine and Miss Wednesday to pale at the pirate.

"We have nothing valuable," Miss Wednesday tried to say, but Nami checked anyway, soon only finding a weird object.

It was a glass bauble with a leather ring around it.

She took it in her hands and looked at it closely. Inside the glass, it resembled a compass needle hung on a thread.

The crew turned to the old man. Soon asking how long it had been since they left Laboon here.

Soon the ship stopped in front of the lighthouse.

"Fifty years? They've kept him waiting a long time," Luffy said as he sat on the grass beside Crocus' Lighthouse. At the same time, Nami was examining the bizarre object she had 'borrowed' from Mr. Nine.

"This is the Grand Line," Sanji sniffed as he smoked a cigarette, "Those people said they'd be back in a few years. It's been fifty. Is very obvious of what their fate was." The Cook said before lightning up a cigarette, "They're dead. He'll be waiting here for the rest of his life."

"That's terribly sad," Usopp said, shaking his head and staring at the massive whale.

"I'm afraid reality is much crueler than that. I received word from a credible source a long time ago that the Pirates had failed and fled the Grand Line," Crocus said regretfully, feeling his eyes welling.

"What?! They abandoned Laboon here. Do they not have a heart?" Nami cried furiously. She herself remembered how Arlong had taken away her family.

"Nami, there are many things that could have happened; you shouldn't judge without knowing the details," Nojiko countered, despite herself not liking the thought of them simply abandoning Laboon.

Before Nami could say anything to her sister, Nojiko continued. "Wait a minute! They would have had to cross the Calm Belt to escape the Grand Line!" Turning to the elder man.

The old man simply nodded his head. "But even if they're alive, they'll never come back here. The seasons, the climates, the ocean currents, even the air currents! Everything about this place is an unpredictable nightmare!" Crocus confirmed with a nod.

"As a result, they ran, more concerned about their lives than the promises given," Sanji said, shaking his head.

"Then they abandoned Laboon!" Usopp cried, clearly angry about this. "And he still believes in those heartless Bastards even after so many years!"

Even Miss Wednesday felt her eyes welling up, suddenly feeling like shit for trying to harm the whale, but her reaction wasn't noticed by anyone except Nojiko, who grew a small smile on her face.

Luffy kept quiet, his eyes looking at the poor whale.

Nami looked at the elderly man, "Why don't you tell him? He understands human language, right? Why keep him in the dark!" Her tone sounding desperate.

"I did tell him. I told him everything. But he won't listen.," he explained, remembering the day very well, more than he wanted.

"Laboon, I need you to listen to me; I have something to tell you," Crocus said to the whale, now the size of a ship.

"The people that left you aren't going back. I'm sorry, but they're gone; they have fled the Grand Line," Crocus stopped letting Laboon understand what he was saying.

"I know they're your friends, but they're not coming back," Crocus finished; Laboon's eyes started welling up before he left out a loud cry.

"Laboon, Stop," he shouted, hoping his friend would stop, but Laboon kept moving his body around, causing large waves to crash over where Crocus stood, soon rushing towards the Red Line, smashing against the rock.

"Laboon, Stop," Crocus pleaded, but Laboon didn't stop; he looked up at the big wall before crying again, almost telling the Red Line to give him his friends back.

Crocus looked down, "But after all these decades...if he accepts it, he'll lose his reason for waiting for so long. He has no way home, and even if he did, he'd never be able to return. Look at those wounds on his skull. If he continues bashing his head on the Red Line, he'll undoubtedly die. We've been together for fifty years. I can't forsake him, even if they violated their promise to me as well."

Luffy looked at the Red Line, that wall is separating him from his friends... soon a grin appeared on his face.

"Laboon!" yelled Luffy at the top of his lungs, making sure the giant whale heard him.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy! I make you this promise right now! We'll return to this place once we sail around the Grand Line! If we happen to come across any of your old friends along the way, I WILL BRING THEM BACK HERE TO YOU! So, until we come back here to see you again, never hurt yourself!"

"Bwooo," Laboon's colossal eye began to tear up.

"This man..." Crocus' eyes widened as he saw Luffy's actions. The old doctor saw someone else at that moment. Captain Roger??

Luffy, Nami thought, looking at her captain with love in her eyes. He was such a good man. Nojiko felt her heart beating faster from what Luffy just said; even Miss Wednesday was quite surprised to hear something like that from a pirate of all people.

Laboon, on the other hand, flung his head back and let forth the most joyful howl Crocus had ever heard from him in years.