Laboon

The Straw-hats are sailing towards 'Reverse Mountain', the entrance to the 'Grand Line', and everyone is running around trying to sail through the massive storm that appeared out of nowhere.

"Zoro, deal with that wave!!" Luffy yelled out as he turned the sails.

"Got it!!" Zoro responded as he unsheathed his 'Wado Ichimonji'.

"ONE-SWORD STYLE: 36 POUND PHOENIX!!"

*SLICE*

*BOOOOM!!!*

A massive compressed air slash in the shape of a phoenix cut the massive wave in half, sending it crashing back down to the sea. Once that had crashed back down and the ship was protected, the water calmed down a bit. Well, as calm as a storm could be.

"Yosh!!" Luffy shouted, making everyone look at him. He smiled at them before going into the kitchen, coming back out with an empty barrel.

"I think this is a good time for this," Luffy said as he slammed the barrel into the center of the deck and slammed his foot on it.

*BOOM*

"I'M GOING TO BE THE PIRATE KING AND START A NEW ERA OF FREEDOM!!!" Luffy shouted out, making the others understand. The first to come over was Zoro with a massive grin on his face.

*BOOM*

"I'M GOING TO BE THE WORLD'S GREATEST SWORDSMAN!!!"

Next to come over was Sanji smirking at the two with a lit cigarette in his mouth.

*BOOM*

"I'M GOING TO FIND THE ALL BLUE!!!"

Next was Usopp, who walked over with his chest puffed out proudly, and slammed his foot down on the barrel.

"I'M GOING TO BE A BRAVE WARRIOR OF THE SEA AND BECOME THE BEST SNIPER IN THE WORLD!!!!"

The last one was Nami, who softly smiled at everyone before following suit.

*BOOM*

"I'M GOING TO DRAW A MAP OF THE WORLD!!!"

They all raised their legs high and smashed them down.

*BOOOOM!!!*

"HERE WE COME, 'GRAND LINE'!!!!!"

.

.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!!!" Luffy and Nami yelled out, staring incredulously ahead of them. The other three were just staring at what was ahead of them in silent horror.

They had made it over 'Reverse Mountain' without much trouble after getting over the fact that the water somehow flowed upwards.

Well, they might've shattered their rudder, but they could just steer the ship by using the wind from flying slashes, so it didn't matter.

They were surprised by the massive whale they saw as soon as they entered the 'Grand Line', but it was a magical sea, that's the thing you expect from this sea.

They were also pleasantly surprised to see Levi, who they hadn't seen when they had to leave 'Loguetown', waiting for them at the entrance of the 'Grand Line'.

What they weren't expecting at all, was how Levi was able to make it through the 'Calm Belt' infested with massive sea kings that would normally eat him for breakfast.

They were all incredulously staring at the five massive sea kings that could probably sink an island if they tried to do it together, all five of which were watching the 'Going Merry' without looking away.

'Hi, Luffy!!! I missed you!! I brought my friends!!!"

Luffy heard in his head and slowly looked over at his sea king friend who just swam up to the side of their ship. He looked back at the massive sea kings nervously.

"I know I said I wanted to meet your friends, Levi, but this isn't what I expected…" Luffy said making his crew understand that these massive things were Levi's friends.

'Can you hear us, Human?' Luffy heard a deep masculine voice in his head. He snapped his surprised eyes to the massive blue sea king that had purple spots on its face in the middle of the five.

"Was that you?!!!" He shouted out shocked, the feeling growing when the massive sea king nodded at his question. He didn't get the whole 'Voice in the Head' thing, but the sea king's voice sounded different compared to everything else. A lot deeper and older, if that made sense.

'Incredible, you really can hear us. It's been more than twenty years since a human could hear us.' Luffy looked to the black, serpent-like sea king with red-ringed eyes, who nodded at him when he looked over. Luffy gaped at them and his crew gaped at him. Before they could compose themselves, Luffy heard a third voice that sounded feminine and soft.

'It's not time yet, but now we know the time is soon upon us.' The light green sea king with dark green stripes on its back on the far right said, getting the other four sea kings to nod in agreement.

'Get strong, young one.' Luffy heard another feminine voice in his head and looked over to the light purple sea king.

'You will need to be stronger than anyone. But, don't worry, you'll have countless allies who have been waiting to help you. Allies that will not allow themselves to fail you again.' Luffy looked at the dark orange, alligator-like sea king on the far left. He was completely frozen, unable to process what he was experiencing.

The only thing he could think of was along the lines of 'What "time" are they talking about?' and 'What do they mean "fail you again"?'

Before he could say anything, all five massive sea kings dove into the sea at once, causing a massive wave that would've capsized the 'Going Merry' if it weren't for Zoro and Sanji reacting quickly, as their Captain was still frozen.

"Three-Sword Style…"

"Diable Jambe…"

Zoro unsheathed his katanas in a flash while Sanji's feet burst into flames. Both jumped up and swung their respective katanas and legs.

"1080 POUND FLAMING PHOENIX!!!"

"FLAMBÉ OISEAU!!!"

*BOOOOM!!!*

The compressed air slash was empowered by flames that were in the shape of a phoenix and the compressed air kick was made stronger with flames hit the massive wave, cutting it into pieces and evaporating it before it could hit the ship. Luffy smiled at them and flashed a thumbs-up.

"Good job, guys!" Luffy said, getting smirks and nods back from the two. He turned to the massive whale, who had been shocked still when the massive sea kings were there, but now was staring them down.

Luffy deadpanned at the whale when it opened its massive mouth, sucking the water and them into it.

"AHHHHH" "WE'RE GONNA DIE!!!"

Nami and Usopp were screaming their heads off, Zoro and Sanji were doing better, but they were angry that they had no way to stop what was happening. They could save themselves and their crewmates, but what about the 'Going Merry'?

"LUFFY, DO SOMETHING!!!!" Nami shouted as she shook Luffy by the shirt collar. He turned his deadpan to her.

"What the hell am I supposed to do? If I punch it, our ship will sink with it for sure." He said, getting Nami to look at him with even bigger horror before latching onto him like a koala.

"Just do that 'Moon-Walk' thing and get us out of here, we can worry about those idiots later," Nami said getting a stink eye from Usopp to which she maturely pulled her eyelid down and stuck out her tongue. Her hopes were dashed, however, when Luffy just laughed.

"Shishishishi!! No way! This seems like an adventure!! Plus, I sense someone inside the whale." He said getting a confused look from the crying Nami, but got nods from everyone else.

"He's right there's someone down there," Sanji said before scoffing.

"Not like we have much of a choice if we go down there or not…" He muttered to himself getting more tears from Nami which made Luffy look at her with confusion.

"Didn't I teach you how to use 'Moon-Walk'?" Luffy asked her to which she glared at him.

"I can only use it a couple of times before my legs give out!! You want me to go all the way to the next island?!!" Nami yelled out before crying again when she felt the ship start falling into the whale's stomach. Luffy had a massive smile on his face.

"Yosh!! Adventure!!!"

.

.

"What the hell is going on? We just got to the 'Grand Line' like 10 minutes ago."

They were all staring at the beach ahead of them, the acid-like water they were sailing on, and finally, the SKY above them.

"We were swallowed by the whale, right?" Luffy asked Nami who looked at him like an idiot.

"Of course we were." She responded getting a nod in return. She saw her captain point towards the sky.

"Then why is there a sky and clouds?" He asked. She just stared at him for a second before sighing.

"I have no idea, Luffy." She said in a deadpan making him pout before he suddenly perked up again.

"Then, let's ask the guy at the beach!" He said puffing out his chest, proud of his reasoning, which made Nami giggle.

"Yes yes, good job," She said as she patted his head getting a scowl in return. She was about to say something else, but she heard the door to the shack on the beach, which they were very close to by now, open, and an old man with what looked like a flower on his head stepped out. He immediately glared at them. They glared right back, to which he scoffed.

"Who are you? Why are you intruding on my private resort?" The old man asked, making Sanji scoff.

"Resort? What kind of resort is inside a whale?" He asked sarcastically getting another scoff in response.

"This one. You didn't answer my question. Who are you?" The man asked in return, making Luffy smile.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and this is my-"

"My name is Crocus, I'm a blood type AB, and I enjoy music." Luffy felt his eyebrow twitch. He brought his thumb to his mouth and bit it.

"This damn old man…"

Nami grabbed his arm and pulled it down, knowing very well what her Captain was about to do.

"Excuse me, mister? We are just looking for-"

"Get the hell out of here, you're not welcome."

Nami's eyes were shadowed as she pushed Luffy's hand back up to his mouth.

"Never mind. Make sure it's one of the ones with flames on it." Nami said darkly making Luffy smirk and bite his thumb again, making the old man sweat.

"Come on, haven't you ever heard of a running gag?" The old man asked as he finally let his glare up, secretly making all five of them breathe a sigh of relief.

"Nami, go dock where the flower guy is at. I wanna talk to him." Luffy told his navigator with a smile, who sighed and told the crew to do as ordered.

.

.

"So, this whale is named Laboon and he's waiting for his friends to come back?" Luffy asked to make sure he got the main idea, to which the old man they now knew was named Crocus nodded.

"That's right. They were pirates who loved to sing and sailed off into the 'Grand Line', promising to come back to Laboon after they sailed around the world. That was over fifty years ago now." Crocus said sadly before taking a sip of his drink. Luffy looked at him with a smile, a smile that his crew recognized immediately and put them on guard. Nami was the first to speak up.

"Luffy, you're not fighting the whale." She said getting a glare and a pout from Luffy. Crocus looked at them in amusement.

'It seems this crew has similar struggles we had with Roger.' Crocus thought to himself in remembrance as he remembered his time on the sea.

"Why not! I'm gonna fight Laboon and promise him to come back so he stops hitting his head!! And I'm the Captain!! You can't tell me what to do!!" He finished by crossing his arms and looking away from everyone. Usopp sighed at his attitude.

"Luffy, if you punch Laboon, you'll probably mess up some of the stuff Crocus built in here to make sure Laboon stayed healthy." The sniper tried to reason with his Captain, but when has Luffy ever listened to reason?

"No!! I'm fighting Laboon as soon as we get out of here and no one can stop me!! Plus, I gotta pay him back for eating the 'Going Merry'!!" Luffy shouted out, still having his arms crossed and looking away.

Usopp did nod at that, nobody can mess with the 'Going Merry', no matter what. Nami felt her eyebrow twitch when she saw that.

She was about to yell at both of them when everyone but her looked over to a certain part of the wall. She tugged Luffy's shirt in confusion. He glanced down at her with a smile before looking back to where he was.

"There are people about to come through the wall." He explained, clearing her confusion. Right after he said that, the wall was blown open by an explosive.

*BOOOM*

Two silhouettes, one man and one woman, could be seen through the dust cloud the explosion kicked up. Once it was cleared, they could see a woman around Nami's age with blue hair and wearing a white coat next to a man who wore a golden crown on top of his red hair and had the number nine drawn on each of his cheeks.

Luffy looked at them, then at the flower old man who was glaring at them, and then at Zoro who was already looking at him. Luffy nodded at him and he nodded back before disappearing using 'Shave'.

Zoro reappeared in between and behind the two who didn't have any idea he was there.

*BOOM* *BOOM*

Before the two even knew they were being attacked, they were both knocked out with a chop to the neck.

Zoro slung the two over his shoulder before using 'Shave' to get back to the ship. He looked at Luffy who shrugged.

"Just tie them up for now. We can talk to them when they wake up." Luffy said getting a nod from his Vice-Captain who unceremoniously dropped the two face-first onto the deck before going to grab some rope.

Crocus watched the whole interaction in surprise. Of course, he knew what 'Shave' was. He also knew about the 'Armament Haki' that the swordsman used when he hit those two. He just never expected such a proficient user to show up at the start of the 'Grand Line', much less one who wasn't the Captain of the crew. The old man was shaken out of his stupor when he heard Luffy talk to him.

"Hey Flower old man, can you get us out of Laboon?" The kid asked to which he nodded and directed them to the metal door leading to the outside once he was sure Laboon had resurfaced.

They were now docked at the lighthouse by the 'Red Line', with everyone but Luffy eating lunch with Crocus. What was Luffy doing?

"ELEPHANT BAZOOKA!!!"

*BOOOOM!!!* *BOOOOOOOO!!!!*

He was fighting Laboon. Of course, he had already finished his lunch. Nami told him not to, but he didn't care. He was going to fight this big ass whale no matter what.

His attack sent the Island Whale flying backward about 100 meters. It let out a painful groan before charging again. Luffy smiled at the whale before he let the air in his left hand move into his right and opened his fist, showing his giant palm to Laboon.

"Gomu-Gomu no..."

Luffy's smile got bigger when the whale suddenly sped up in its charge. He threw his giant open palm into Laboon's face.

"GIANT'S THRUST!!!"

*BOOOOM!!!!*

Laboon was sent flying back again, crashing into the water. Before he could charge again, the whale noticed the small human he was fighting appeared in the air in front of his eye.

"I'm pretty strong, huh Laboon?" He heard the human say, to which he nodded. He didn't know humans could be strong enough to push him around like this.

"Then, let's make a promise. I'm going to sail around the 'Grand Line' with my crew and after we do, I'll come fight you again. I'll try and find some of your friends while I'm out there too." Laboon felt the tears welling up in his eyes.

He knew very well what had most likely happened to his friends, but that didn't mean he couldn't go look for them. Now, he had a new friend to wait for and his new friend will look for his old ones.

*BOOOOOOO!!!!!*

Luffy laughed as he saw Laboon rapidly nodding his head up and down and heard him let our a joyful cry.

"Shishishi!! Then, you gotta stop hitting your head!! Flower old man is worried about you!!" Luffy scolded the massive whale, who cowered back and nodded, that old guy has been taking care of him.

Plus, he didn't want to get punched again by this strong, stretchy human.

'Tell him I'm sorry for making him worry. I'll wait for you here as long as it takes. Thank you!!' Luffy heard Laboon speak in his head for the first time, which made him laugh again.

"Shishishishi!!! Oh!! I have a good idea!" Luffy smacked the bottom of his fist into his open palm before shooting himself in the direction of his crew.

His friends, the Flower old guy, and the now-awake captive they had tied up were all staring at him incredulously, still not believing they just saw him beat an Island Whale in what was essentially a contest of strength. Luffy looked at all of them and laughed again before his gaze landed on Usopp.

"Shishishi!! Usopp, I need you to paint a massive version of our Jolly Roger on Laboon's face. It'll remind him not to hit his face." Usopp raised an eyebrow but still did as he was told. Crocus was holding back his tears as he realized he no longer needed to worry about Laboon hitting himself on the 'Red Line'. He looked at the straw hat-wearing teen.

"Thank you for helping Laboon. If I can repay you in any way, please let me know." Crocus said seriously to which Luffy raised an eyebrow before shrugging his shoulders and answering.

"Then, can you teach Nami what she might need to know about sailing on the 'Grand Line'? I'm sure you know more than what she's read in books." Luffy said to which Crocus nodded. The old man walked over to Nami, explained what was going on, and gave her a crash course on navigating the 'Grand Line' with her taking attentive notes.

Once that was done, they said goodbye to Crocus and Laboon after thanking him for the 'Log Pose' and set off.

Crocus watched them sail away with a look of reminiscing on his face.

"Are those the people you're waiting for, Roger? That kid reminds me of you." The old man said to himself before shaking his head and heading back inside his lighthouse.

"Hey, Nami?" Luffy called out to his navigator from his favorite spot on the sheep's head. Nami walked over to him and hummed in response.

"What island are we going to?" He asked getting an eyebrow twitch from Nami.

"I already told you three times Luffy, we are going to a place called 'Cactus Island' with the only city on the island being called 'Whiskey Peak'. You never listen!!" She yelled at him getting a flinch from Luffy before he composed himself

"'Whiskey Peak', huh?"