"strawberry is red" - talking
'strawberry is red' - thinking
"STRAWBERRY IS RED" - shouting from anything /angry
*swish* - sounds
[strawberry] - magic word spell
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Recap:
The whale bumps its head to the red line, and howling at it, repeating the cycle until the old man jumps into the gastric waters, the crewmates didn't plan on saving the whale, they thought mistakenly that the old man is planning to kill the whale from inside out.
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On the other hand, Luffy is getting thrown around by the whale's action, banging his head at the red wall.
"What? What's happening? Huh? Why?!"
*BAM*
*BONK*
*BAM*
"DIZZY....DIZZY....I'M GETTING DIZZY!!"
"AHHHHH!!"
*BANG*
*DONK*
*BONK*
*THUD*
"Are-re-re-re....ah? What is it this time? A river? A channel? Sea?? Ah??" he looked up while still confused at his predicament. The whale tilted upwards and there goes our captain, sliding, or more like falling through the whale.
"AHHH I CAN'T STOP!!"
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At the shadows, a voice broke through..
"ahhHHH!!"
"What's that voice Mr. 9?"
"I don't know Miss Wednesday"
"AHHHHHH!!" Luffy yelled while running up to them
"AHHHHHHH!!" "UWAAAAA~!!!" Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday screamed at the same time.
Luffy pushed them through the door behind the duo and they all got thrown out while screaming. The old man saw them and so does the crew.
"Ms. Wednesday! This is bad! Down below us is gastric acid!"
"KYAAAAA!!"
"Ah?" Usopp looked up and saw three flying figures.
"Luffy??" Zoro identified one of them as his captain.
"Oh! You guys are alright! In any case, help me out" Luffy said like he's just asking if it's mealtime already and the trio goes down the acidic water.
"Hey....that's Luffy and who's the weird duo there??" the sniper asked his crewmate while leaning at the sea where his captain and the two dunked down.
"Hey! The old man disappeared!!" Nami shouted at her companions.
"Who cares? We have to fish out Luffy" Zoro with a deadpan expression and a bit irritated on his captain's antics said to the navigator.
After some time the whale calms down, Crocus sedate him, the weird duo is saved along with Luffy and tried to blow the whale from the inside, the old man jumps onto the bullets to save the whale, while the duo is having their speech about it's useless to resist, Luffy gives them both a knucklehead that made the duo faint from the force. Crocus then thanked the pirates for saving him, while on the island/ship of the old man, they ask the old man why the duo is hunting the whale. The said duo is currently tied up and propped up on the sidelines.
"Laboon is an Island Whale.." the old man started.
"Laboon??" Nami asked, visibly confused.
"It's the name of this whale, its habitat is on the west blue and its meat can feed people for 2-3 years, this two is hunting Laboon for its meat, like hell I'll let them.." the old man said with conviction and a sad tone of voice. Of course it this detail doesn't get passed by the pirates and they all listen to the old man.
"There's a reason why he's hitting his head on the red line.."
"A reason?" Nami asks, clearly asking for more details.
"yeah, Laboon is a whale with a human heart..."
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--At the Storage of Going Merry--
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Zoey finally woke up because she's hungry, sitting upright in an Indian seat fashion, Marc lifts up his left hand and utter the word [storage] and dish out their food that's easy to eat and some water, and he ate the same thing, a packed sandwich, and water from their respective lunchbox containers, he also pulled out some wet wipes for them to use before and after lunch, seeing they can't go outside. Marc finally curbs his urge to go out and shout high in the sky, that he's on One Piece.
Zoey finally realized that something is wrong because even though she was asleep she can feel the rocking of the ship, it was worse than before. With a gulp from her food and water, she wiped her hands and mouth with wet wipes, she looked at him and asked.
"Hey.... Tell me the truth, where the hell are we? I have some guesses, but I'm not certain.."
Light blue eyes clashed with green ones, he told her with a sure fact tone of his voice "We're in One Piece....rubber captain, tangerines, Grand Line and all that, at the moment we're inside Laboon, I can hear the crew from here, yelling about a gag.."
"ONE PIECE?!" she suddenly whispered shout to her companion, gripping her pastel pink hair, her vibrant green eyes clearly in distress without its usual sleepy dazed look and her brown tracksuit crinkled from all the sleeping she did, she doesn't want to alert the owner of the ship, the strawhat pirates.
"Oh ghad....wait....hehehe that entity told me I'll survive with this blessing he gave me hahaha!" she told herself when her brain suddenly turns up the gear and remembered the entity's gift to her, so now she's once again relaxed and daze like she wasn't panicking her brains out a minute ago.
Marc shakes his head and sigh, torn between happy and nervousness, happy because he can practically hear the voices of his dream pirate crew and nervous about the reality they have to face, his feelings are understandable, this world is a cruel one too, after all, the world government not giving a rat's ass, the marine's being their dogs and the world's nobles being ridiculously unreasonable.
"Hey, Zoey...do you think being a pirate would be a good idea?"
Zoey suddenly looked up at him, while she's relaxing on her spot on the floor, "Why are you asking me.....?.....I don't even know how to defend myself, unlike you" she answered in a lazy tone but continued,
"....Look here I may be lazy as hell, but it doesn't mean I don't have any determination to live, isn't that why I asked that entity for it? Because I want to chill out while living, but you LOVE this world right? You love it to the point that even our parents are killed by one you don't hate them enough to attack them, sure you're scowling and have an icy attitude" she shrugged her shoulders and scoff "Heh you can't fool me tho, you're aware that some pirates are the adventurous kind and dream chasers..."
She sighed and look at him dead in the eyes, light blue and vivid green clashing at each other.
"So why the hell are you having doubts now?? Go shove that negativity to your future enemy, why don't ya? Don't let the deaths of our parents be the hindrance, live your life" the girl then smiled slightly at the goofball that's basically your only family,
"Lived your dream alright?" Zoey yawns, turn her back to him, and falls asleep after her speech, the longest one and she's hoping that's the last time she gave that long string of words, well the last one for this year at least, it's time for a bit of nap.
Marc just look at his hands, slowly clenching them, with a new resolution that burns through his soul, he's going to live every second of his new life, he will sail with the strawhats, he will be their friend and crewmate, he will be one of them side by side! This was the chance that God or whatever entity has given to him, he won't waste it!
As such he planned how to introduce himself to the crew and how he'll do it, hoping for the best that his plans will be enough to land him into the crew.
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--At the deck of Going Merry--
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The whole crew is now listening to the old man, a tale about 50 years ago a friendly pirate made a promise to Laboon to get back to him while he waits for the pirates at the Twin Capes, saying Laboon is part of their crew but it's too dangerous for him to go, for that time Laboon is still basically a baby so they ask Crocus to look after him, he then told them that Laboon is devotedly waiting for his friends and family, one-day Crocus got the wind a bit of news that the pirates that Laboon's been waiting for has been defeated and fled back to the weakest blues, and Laboon has been waiting until this day but they already left 50 years ago and didn't come back for him.
"Laboon has been waiting for 50 years?"
"No wonder he's howling sadly at the wall"
"yeah"
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--At the canal--
"This is some gigantic canal here doctor! I'm surprised the whale is still alive even after this giant hole inside his body" Zoro said particularly to no one.
"Is this also a part of a doctor's playful mind?" Sanji asked
"It's a doctor's playful mind," Crocus said
"Doctor?"
"I may not look like it but I am a doctor, I also run a clinic in the cape a long time ago, it was also a few years ago but I once was a ship's doctor," Crocus said while looking at his newspaper and turning some pages.
"Really? Wanna join my crew??" Luffy said with a huge smile.
The doctor stops his advance and so does the Going Merry, for there's a giant flood gate at their front.
"I don't have the energy to run around as you folks do, a bunch of teenagers and an old man like me" he scoffs and continued, "The idea itself is ridiculous already!!" he said while climbing the long ladder that connects to a walkway that lined the corridor.
"A doctor huh"
"That's why he's inside this whale, for treatment purposes"
"That's right when the patient is this big, it's impossible to treat it from the outside, so I gotta do something alternative to the orthodox way of healing," said Crocus once he steps to the walkway.
"Watch out I'm gonna open the gates!"
After the merry finally gone out off of Laboon, Luffy can't help but shout "THERE IT IS! FINALLY A REAL SKY!!"
The plus two finally wake up from the knucklehead Luffy had given them.
"But waiting for 50 years, that's cruel.."
"Idiot, this is the Grand Line, they're dead already..No matter how long he waits, they won't come back.." Sanji said with a puff of smoke out of his mouth.
"That's true, it's been 50 years...they're dead already after all these years. Plus Grand Line 50 years ago was an uncharted sea, more dangerous and chaotic than it is now.." Nami said to the rest of the crew.
"Hey! What's the big idea of getting all negative here? You don't know yet! Maybe they'll come back!... Right Pops??" Usopp said to the others.
"Yeah....but the reality is cruel...I confirmed it using a piece of reliable information, they ran away.....from the Grand Line" Crocus said while looking far away into the ocean.
"No way! Then it means...they left without taking Laboon with them?!" exclaimed Usopp while looking at Laboon.
"Ran away from the Grand Line....does that mean they left through the Calm Belt alive?" thought Nami loud enough for the whole crew and Crocus to hear.
"Even if they're alive, they may never want to come back here, it's a cruel ocean after all, winter, summer, spring and fall...all islands are unpredictable geography and weather-wise, so does it's common sense that's way off than nature itself," Crocus said sadly... "The terror of Grand Line can take over a weak-minded person"
"So them having a weak mind they ran away from the Grand Line? Without keeping their promise in order to save their asses..." asked Sanji
"They abandoned this whale that's been waiting for them for 50 years?? That's cruel!" Usopp asked baffled at Laboon's situation.
"If you knew that why didn't you tell him? He should be able to understand human language by now?" Nami asked with an agitated expression on her face.
"I did tell him...everything.....but that's where it started, him howling at the reverse mountain and ramming into the red wall that by doing so his friends and family would come back.."
"What a whale.." even Sanji stop inhaling his smoke, clearly feeling sympathy for the big guy.
"When there's no point in waiting.." Usopp said amazed by the loyalty Laboon showed.
"He refuses to accept my words, by doing so it also means there's no point in waiting anymore.. He's afraid of that more than anything, he's from the west blue but with him at this size he can't go back now" Crocus said to the pirates, all of them are saddened by the story and can't help but feel bad for him, but Luffy is not looking at Crocus, he's listening but his gaze is solely pinned to Laboon.
"That's why those pirates are the only friends and hope that he got" Crocus continued his story to the strawhat pirates.
"But you know, it's true that he's a pitiful whale, but in a way, you're also betrayed right?" he exhaled with smoke coming out of his mouth "Doesn't it mean you're already free from your duty?"
"Look at those scars on his forehead! If he continues hitting the wall like that he'll die no doubt! It might be a bit strange but we've been together for 50 long years, you could say I grow attached to this big chunk of meat, I can't just seat at the sidelines and watch him to his death now"
"HUMP!! RAAAAAAAAAA!!"
"Huh?" Nami is confused when he saw Luffy running up Laboon's body.
"What the hell is that idiot doing now?" Sanji said with a flat expression on his face.
"When we just looked away for a second.." Zoro complained clearly annoyed at his captain's idiocy.
"Is he pretending to hike up a mountain??" Sanji said while in a thoughtful and clearly confused look.
"OHHH!! GUM-GUM...shishi..." Luffy said grinning while seeing the new wound that the whale made by slamming his forehead to the red wall. "FLOWER ARRANGEMENT!!!" Luffy yelled and putting the mainmast to the wound in an upright position, like a flower arrangement...
"Isn't that the mast??" the swordsman said in a thoughtful manner not yet realizing the gravity of a broken mast.
"Yep it's our mast," Sanji said afterward.
"Yeah it's the main mast alright" after a few seconds Usopp yelled "HEY! DON'T GO BREAKING THE MAIN MAST IDIOT!!"
Laboon suddenly tears up and splash madly to the ocean wailing *WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAANGGGG*
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Crocus and the crew yelled to the rubber man.
Laboon then jumps out of the water and slam his forehead to the ground along with Luffy and the mast.
"Wha--HEY KID!!" Crocus yelled to the boy worriedly.
"DON'T WORRY! HE DOESN'T DIES EVEN AFTER HE'S CRUSHED!!" Nami yelled to the panicking doctor.
"Ha! Dummy!" Luffy taunted while whipping his face from the dirt he got, Laboon then tries to crush Luffy again, the rubber man dodge but got hit by the tail, the spar continue between the two.
"What the hell he thinks he's doing??" Usopp said baffled at Luffy's train of thought.
Luffy hit the whale and the whale hit back, Luffy hit his back to the lighthouse and slid to the ground.
"LUFFY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" yelled the swordsman.
With an angry howl from Laboon, he tried to crash against Luffy, but before he could, the rubber man declared.
"It's a draw!!"
Laboon suddenly stop his angry howl, whale's shouldn't be able to perform facial emotions, but in this case, you can clearly see that Laboon is baffled by the rubber man's claim.
Luffy stands up from his sitting position and puts his hat onto his head and grins towards the whale.
"I'm strong, aren't I?? You wanna defeat me, don't you?... Our fight isn't over yet! So we have to fight again!! But your friends are dead, but I'm going to be your rival forever! We have to fight again in order to decide who's the strongest!"
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To Be Continued.
Status: Edited
Author's Note: I did my best, I did not know if that my best is enough, and honestly? I'm not confident in this fanfic, I didn't even know if I capture every character's personality, attitude, and thinking, so to those who knew well....people you've been warned 🍓🍀