Becoming Usopp

FOOOOSH!

The Going Merry showed no signs of stopping as with the passing of each second, its speed increased further and further. Drops of seawater kept on impinging themselves all over the straw hats making them feel as if they were caught in the middle of a storm but instead of the grim appearance that was supposed to be on their faces what was plastered on there was the appearance of true bliss.

The clear blue sky complimented by the grand view of the Grand Line from the top of the mountain made their, already beating, hearts beat with even more exhilaration as the Going Merry descended downwards with ever-increasing vigour.

“HEY! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!”  Sanji exclaimed when he saw that their path seemed to be blocked by a huge black thing that looked like a mountain.

“A mountain! There wasn’t any mountain marked in the map!” Nami’s face paled when she noticed the huge thing that was blocking their path. “Quickly! Change the direction!” Nami got back her cool and passed the order.

“On it!” Usopp who was already on his way to the rudder control room responded.

Thanks to Usopp’s careful handling earlier the ship was still manoeuvrable and with delicate handling he was able to change the course of the ship. Seeing the ship’s course changing and sensing that they would avoid collision Nami finally took a sigh of relief along with Sanji and Zoro.

“That ain’t no mountain,” Zoro said as the top of the thing that they had considered a huge mountain became visible to them.

“THIS!” Sanji couldn’t help but open his eyes wide when the image of the gigantic whale appeared in his eyes.

“A Whale…What is this monstrous thing doing here…” Nami said to herself.

“A whale? So, what! You dared to block our path! Face my attack!” Luffy pointed a canon towards the whale’s body and was on his way to pull the string.

“LUFFY NO!” Nami and Sanji exclaimed simultaneously wanting him to stop.

BOOM

The cannonball blasted its way towards the huge whale with the intention of making a hole through it. Unlike Luffy’s expectation though, the cannonball made its way towards the whale and exploded causing only some minor scratches and making the Whale's body shake a bit.

“Hmm? You guys said something?” Luffy turned towards Nami and Sanji with a doubtful expression.

“Yes..we did you bastard…” Nami said as she gazed upward towards the eyelids of the whale that were slowly opening. The sight sent a shiver down her spine as the pupil of the whale moved towards Luffy.

“What ya staring at you bastard! Take my punch!” Luffy extended his right hand and launched a punch right towards the whale’s eyes making it shriek and open its mouth in pain which led to the currents of water being directed right towards the whale’s mouth along with the currents, the Going Merry also went in.

“NOO!” Sanji shouted

“ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US!” Nami went mad with anger and grabbed Luffy by his neck while shaking him.

Zoro and Usopp just sighed at their plight especially Usopp, who had not expected Luffy to fire at the whale even though they were clearly safe from collision.

The ship passed through a dark stuffy tunnel-like place before light seemed to appear in front of their path.

“Isn’t this the whale’s stomach? Why is that place emitting light?” Nami voiced out her confusion.

“Yes, it makes no sense,” Sanji responded as he saw the approaching light which made him anxious.

Not long after they got their answers as the Going Merry fell down flat on a large water body below making them all hold tight to the railings.

“Where are we?” Zoro looked around after recovering his bearings.

“What do you mean? We should be in this thing’s stom- “ Sanji stopped midway the moment he got up and got a full view of his surroundings.

“Why do we seem to be in the open sea again?” Nami’s voice was filled with immense doubts.

“Is this a hidden place inside the whale’s stomach?!” Luffy voiced out his imagination with excitement written in his eyes.

Just when Luffy’s words started making sense to them they were brought back to reality by Usopp who said while pointing towards the sky, “Look closely, it’s not the sky but a painting of the sky.”

Hearing Usopp's words everyone focused their gaze and noticed the movements of a paintbrush on what they earlier thought to be the sky. “Who would paint a whale’s stomach? And Why?” Nami asked.

“Maybe it was an Artist who had gotten eaten by the whale just like us,” Luffy said while making a thinking expression and suddenly exclaimed, “Oh! I got it! We need an artist as our next crew member!”

PING!

Nami struck Luffy’s head with her knuckles to contain her anger formed because of his words. The last thing a pirate crew needed was an artist and moreover, it was not the time to discuss something like this!

“I think the answers to our questions lie in that place,” Usopp said as he pointed his finger forward towards a small house on a small island a few miles away.

A few moments later they rowed the ship towards the location due to the absence of wind and finally made It there. What welcomed them were the penetrating eyes of an old man with large petals pasted on the back of his bald head.

Meanwhile, Inside Crocus’s house,

“Hey, Mr 9…What the hell was that?” Miss Wednesday (Vivi) said in a muddled manner as she regained consciousness.

“Shhh!” Mr 9 responded by indicating to her to keep her mouth shut as he whispered back to her, “That bastard is outside this house so keep your voice down if you don’t want us to be in an even more difficult position than now.”

Hearing his words Vivi tried to lift herself up only to realize that her body was all tied up.

“Worry not, I managed to hide a small knife under my shirt’s sleeves so I’m currently cutting down the ropes behind me. It will take some time because these ropes are thick,” Mr 9 Whispered.

As Vivi watched Mr 9 slowly cutting the ropes the image of what had happened earlier with them slowly entered her mind. ‘Wasn’t he supposed to be just an old retired doctor, how was he able to neutralize the two of us?’ Vivi still starkly remembered the ferocious gaze that was sent towards them by that geezer when they were just about to kill that whale with an RPG.

Just thinking of it made her shiver as the moment that gaze was directed towards her, she first lost all strength in her body before losing her consciousness entirely. It was common for humans to fear what they didn’t understand and experiencing such an inexplicable experience she too was filled with fear of the unknown.

_____

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