Chapter 28 - 28 - Meeting Laboon

It's been hectic for the past couple of weeks. The crew met a girl named Apis and helped her with a millennial dragon to get to their home. Although there were a couple of corrupted Marines in the way, you were already frustrated with the one at Arlong Park and now you had to see that bullshit.

You and the Straw Hats are currently being guided downwards by the canal at Reverse Mountain. You missed the windy breeze like when you first traveled down for the first time 8 years ago. As you guys continued to plummet safely, an odd noise echoed off the rocky walls of the mountain.

"Did you guys hear something??" The crew's swordsman shouted over the roaring winds.

"What?! What's that?!" Nami shouted questionably.

"That groaning sound!! Didn't you hear it?!"

"It was probably just the wind!!"

Then up ahead a large black shape appeared against the white of the thick clouds. "(First Name)-koi!! Nami!! I see a mountain up ahead!!" Sanji called out.

"What?! That's impossible!!" Nami cried in disbelief.

"That's because it's not a mountain!!" You replied.

"If that's not a mountain, then what is that?!"

"W-what are we going to do?!" The sniper stuttered.

"Should we fight??" Luffy suggested.

"And how exactly would we plan on taking that thing on?!" Ghin questioned snappily.

"Calm down!!" Sanji responded coolly despite the state of the situation. "If this creature looks like a giant wall to us, we must be a speck!!"

Nami's head snapped in the cook's direction. "That's right!! It's possible this thing isn't aware of us yet!!"

"We'll run into it unless we change course!!" Zoro pointed out hastily. "Look!! We can get by on the left!!" He pointed out the gap between the cape and the whale wide enough for the ship to get through. "Port!! Hard to port!!"

"The rudder's broken!!" Usopp reminded.

"Well, we've got to do something!!" Ghin retorted. "Or else we'll be dead before we even reach the Grand Line waters!!"

"Hold on to the railings!!" you shouted as you ran to the side of the ship.

"What are you gonna do?!"

"Something crazy!!"

You jumped high out of the Going Merry. While falling, you grabbed onto the railings and used your weight with enough force to slow down the pace and steer the ship at the same time. Which it did turn but only a little.

Just when everything seemed lost, a loud explosion resounded and the Going Merry lurched to a stop, knocking everyone off their feet. Or in your case, sent flying into the water.

"Can't say I'm not surprised with Luffy's absurd ideas which worked in the end" you commented as you resurfaced out of the water.

The next thing that happened was the ear-splitting bellow rips from the whale, shaking the waters surrounding it and the Going Merry. You went underwater and covered your ears from the bellows. Once the whale's drones died down, you shifted your tail and swam deeper into the water. Then you swam up to the surface at full speed and leaped out of the water.

"YOU MORON!!" was the first thing you heard when you landed on the deck. There was a stagnant silence as the whale remained still. After a few heart-pounding seconds, the giant eyeball looked down upon the tiny vessel.

"I'm not through with you!! There's a lot more where that came from!!"

"OKAY, I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!!" you high jump kicked Luffy to the head, knocking him away.

"Hey, Laboon. It's been a while. I told you I would come back" You tried to calm Laboon down but it went from bad to worse. It lowered its head down into the ocean and opened its sharp, white-toothed maw.

As his mouth opened, water is sucked in along with the ship in it, passing through the gaps of the whale's teeth. The entire crew screamed while you fell to the side, hitting the railing on the head. Then everything went black . . .

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You slowly opened your eyes and got up, groaning from the pain you got hit. Nami noticed you and asked, "(First Name)!! You're awake!! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just got hit in the head and blacked out" you replied.

"I'LL KILL HIM, I SWEAR!!" Zoro shouted as Sanji held him back from lunging whoever it was.

You moved in closer to get a better look and beamed. "Old man Crocus!! Remember me??" you waved at the old man on the little island.

"Well, well, well" the elder chuckled. "(First Name), it's been a while. You've grown up since the last time I saw you"

"Wait, wait, wait!! Hold up!!" Usopp cuts in. "You guys know each other??"

"We first met each other when I first entered the Grand Line"

"You have weird taste in friends," Zoro remarked.

"What difference does it make with you guys??" you smirked.

Crocus burst into a fit of laughter himself at your comeback. "Anyways, the exit is over there"

"WE CAN GET OUT?!"

You shook your head. I'm just gonna sit this one out. If anything goes wrong, I could just intervene.

You walked over to the other end of the ship and leaned against the wall, watching the whole scene.

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Somehow, Luffy managed to get inside Laboon along with some odd-looking individuals coming down. You dived down into the acidic water to bring them back with your tail on.

"Looks like you didn't come alone" Usopp noted. "Who were those two weirdos with you??" He asked, helping their captain up.

"Don't know" Luffy answered honestly.

"Where'd that old geezer disappear to??" Nami shouted.

"Forget about him. Let's get (First Name) and get the heck out of here" Zoro commented

As you emerge from the gastric acid of Laboon's stomach along with the two individuals and begin to leap out onto the deck. Once landed safely, you find yourself at the center of attention. Everyone on the ship is blushing madly.

You raised a brow in confusion. "What's wrong with you guys??"

"(F-First Name) . . .Your clothes . . ." Nami is the first to speak up, motioning you to look down.

You look down to see that your clothes are deteriorating because of the whale's gastric acid. Luckily, the remainder covered the parts where it shouldn't be seen by men's eyes. Well, Nami is a plus. You made an 'o' expression when you realized why their reactions are like that.

"Imma go get a new pair of clothes," you said as you walked past them to the women's quarters to change into a new set of clothes.

Once you're fully dressed, you step out of the women's quarters and see that the odd individuals are knocked out and tied in a rope. Seems they caused trouble while you were gone for a while.

Crocus started explaining to the crew about Laboon's origins and the reasons for his strange behavior. You already knew those so you decided to watch over these two troublemakers.

"Mr 9 and Ms. Wednesday, huh?? Just what do you think you're doing out here with them . . .Princess??" you muttered to make sure no one heard you.