The crew assembled in Crocus's lighthouse. The mood was a strange cocktail of adrenaline, confusion, and pure, unadulterated relief.
Luffy, having shrunk to his tiny, squeaky-voiced chibi-form from the Gear Third drawback, was happily sipping juice from a tall glass, his tiny feet dangling off a normal-sized chair.
"Well," Crocus grunted, cleaning his harpoon gun. "That was the most ridiculous, and surprisingly effective, display of... whale therapy... I've seen in fifty years."
The two agents from Baroque Works, Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday, were tied to the ship's mast.
"So, what do we do with... them?" Nami asked, pointing a thumb over her shoulder.
Sanji, lighting a cigarette, said, "The lady should be forgiven, as for the other guy, I don't care."
"Now, now, Sanji," Ben said, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
Miss Wednesday (aka, Princess Vivi) was still a shade of furious crimson, her eyes darting between Ben and Sanji, clearly trying to decide which one she wanted to murder first.
"Just let us go, you freak-show pirates!" she snapped, trying to regain her 'tough agent' persona.
"Okay!" Luffy squeaked, his voice still comically high.
"LUFFY, WAIT!" Nami yelled. "We can't just let them go! They're assassins! Or... whale-butchers! Or... something!"
"Nami, please," Ben said, stepping forward. He walked directly up to Mr. 9, his expression one of polite concern. "You two have had a terrible day. Your clothes are ruined, and you're clearly not very good at your jobs. It's just... sad." He placed a sympathetic hand on Mr. 9's shoulder. "Oops, you've got a... bit of blubber... right... there."
As Ben "dusted" Mr. 9's shoulder, his fingers, hidden from view, performed a filch. A small, wrist-mounted compass vanished from the agent's pocket and appeared in Ben's.
"You're free to go," Ben said, stepping back with a magnanimous smile. "But please, don't come back. Laboon is... a friend of this crew. And we're a... very protective of our nakama."
He gave Miss Wednesday a long, theatrical, and utterly infuriating wink. "Don't be a stranger... darling."
"GYAAAAH!" Sanji burst into flames, his heart-eyes replaced with daggers of pure jealousy. "HE CALLED HER DARLING! HE'S MAKING MOVES ON THE ENEMY-MADEMOISELLE!"
Vivi, sputtering with rage at the wink, just grabbed Mr. 9 by his stupid metal bat. "Let's go! I can't breathe the same air as these... perverts!"
They stormed out, commandeering a small boat angrily.
"Hmph," Zoro grunted from his corner. "They were weak."
"Well," Luffy squeaked, his voice finally starting to deepen as he re-inflated to his normal size. "That was fun! Heh... heh... heh... HA! I'm big again!" He stretched his limbs. "ALRIGHT! That was an awesome adventure! We got a new nakama!" He pointed at the Laboon.
"Laboon! Welcome to the crew!"
A muffled, happy, ROOOOOOAAAR rumbled from laboon, shaking the teacups in Crocus's cabinet.
"See!" Luffy cheered. "He's happy! We need a party! A banquet! SANJI! MEAT! A WELCOME-TO-THE-CREW BANQUET!"
Sanji, his love-rage momentarily forgotten, snapped to attention. "Hai! hai!"
"I'LL HELP!" Luffy roared, and the two of them sprinted off toward the Merry to raid the galley.
"No." Ben stops him from going after Sanji."You stay right here, we don't want the food finished before it even gets to our plate."
Hearing that, Luffy slumped his shoulders.
"I'll get the... party-starting... gunpowder!" Usopp declared, running after them. When Luffy heard Usopp, he went with him to see what he would be doing.
"I'll... find a place to nap," Zoro muttered, and vanished.
Nami, however, went to the Merry's navigation room. The encounter with Reverse Mountain had rattled her. She needed to check her charts, her compasses, everything. She sat at her new, magically-enchanted drafting table, took a deep breath, and looked at her trusted compass.
And her world ended.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
The scream was so high-pitched, so full of pure, unadulterated terror, that it stopped everyone. Sanji dropped a 100-kilo side of beef. Luffy, who was trying to eat the said beef, fell over. Zoro, who had been asleep, woke up, hands on his sword hilt.
"WHAT IS IT, NAMI?!" Usopp yelled as the crew scrambled back to the Merry.
They burst into the navigation room. Nami was on her knees, white as a sheet, holding her precious compass as if it were a dead pet.
"It's... it's... broken!" she wailed, tears streaming down her face. "Look!"
She held it up. The needle wasn't just pointing wrong. It was spinning. It was spinning wildly, erratically, like a drunkard in a tornado.
"Hmm," Crocus said, having calmly walked in behind them. "That's not broken, young lady. That's... useless."
Nami sniffled. "What?"
"A compass? In the Grand Line? They don't work. The islands in the Grand Line... they all have their own magnetic fields. A normal compass just spins in circles. It's a death sentence."
The crew was pale. "So... so how...?" Usopp stammered.
"What you need," Crocus said, "is a Log Pose."
"A Log Pose?" Nami repeated.
"It's a special compass that locks onto the magnetic signature of the next island in the chain," Crocus explained. "You sail there, you wait for the Log to 'set' to the next island, and then you sail on. It's the only way."
The crew was in despair. "Where... where do we get one of those?!" Nami cried, her hope crumbling.
Ben, who had been quietly observing from the doorway, cleared his throat.
"A Log Pose, you say?" he mused, as if hearing the term for the first time. "A special compass that locks onto magnetic... thingies? You mean... like... this?"
From his coat pocket, he pulled the small, glass-domed, wrist-mounted device he had... ahem... liberated from Mr. 9.
The entire crew went dead silent. They stared at the Log Pose. They stared at Ben.
"Where..." Nami began, her voice a dangerous whisper. "Where... did... you... get... that, Ben?"
Ben, for his part, looked utterly baffled by the question. "Get it? Oh, no. I found it. Just now, actually. It was... sitting on a barrel. Yes, a very sad, lonely barrel. It looked like it had been abandoned. I thought, 'What a pretty, lonely little thing,' so I picked it up. Seemed like the right thing to do. Is it important?"
Nami's face was a beautiful, terrifying storm of suspicion, relief, and pure, unadulterated, maniacal greed.
She didn't run. She Teleported. One second she was by the door, the next she had snatched the Log Pose from Ben's hand, and was now clutching it to her chest, hissing like a possessive cat.
"MINE!"
"Hmph," Crocus grunted, a tiny, almost-imperceptible smile playing on his lips. "How... convenient." He then, patiently, began to explain to Nami how the device worked. Nami was in her own personal heaven, cooing over the device.
---
They were just about to start the banquet preparations again when a frantic, desperate pounding echoed from the Merry's hull.
"OH, COME ON!" Sanji yelled, frustrated. "CAN'T A CREW JUST PREPARE A MEAL IN PEACE?!"
Luffy, ever helpful, ran to the railing and looked over. "Oh! It's the tacky-suit guys again! They're swimming! Shishishi!"
Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday were in the water, clinging to a piece of driftwood, soaking wet, and looking utterly defeated.
"PLEASE!" Mr. 9 sputtered. "You've... you've got to help us! Our ship... it drifted away! And... and..." (he was a terrible liar) "...we... we think we lost our Log Pose! It must have fallen out of my pocket!"
Vivi just looked miserable and was sending a look of pure, unadulterated murder in Ben's direction. Ben just gave her an innocent, "Who, me?" shrug.
" Okay!" Luffy said, already grabbing a rope.
Before he could throw it, Nami's fist connected with the top of his skull. WHAM!
"YOU ABSOLUTE, UNTHINKING, RUBBER-BRAINED IDIOT!" she roared, standing over his lump. "WE. ARE. A. PIRATE SHIP! NOT A FREE, NON-PROFIT, CHARITABLE SERVICE! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH IT COSTS TO RUN THIS OPERATION?! The food! The repairs! The magical enchantments?! Do you think Ben's magic fuel grows on trees?!"
(Ben, quietly: "Well, technically, they are...")
"NOT THE POINT, BEN!" Nami shrieked. She turned her glare—now at its full, Berry-loving intensity—down at the two drowning agents.
"You want a ride? Fine. You will work! You will swab the decks! You will clean the galley! You will polish Zoro's weights!"
"Welcome aboard... interns," Ben smiled, offering them a rope.
---
Night fell on the Grand Line. They had built a massive bonfire outside Crocus's lighthouse. The Merry was docked nearby, and Laboon's massive, newly-painted head bobbed gently in the water, his eye reflecting the firelight.
The party was in full swing.
Sanji had, as promised, produced a mountain of food. Luffy, naturally, was attempting to eat 90% of it, engaging in high-speed, rubber-fisted battles with Usopp and Zoro over the last piece of Sea King steak.
Crocus sat on a log, sharing a massive barrel of sake with Zoro, the two of them engaged in a silent, stoic drinking contest.
Mr. 9 and Vivi, true to Nami's word, were being run ragged. "More meat!" Luffy would yell, and they'd have to sprint to the grill. "More wine, Nami-swan~!" Sanji would coo, and they'd have to deliver it. They were miserable. The crew was delighted.
"This is the best!" Luffy yelled, his mouth full. "But... It's not a real party! We need music! Ben! You're magic! Do some magic music! A party song!"
Ben, who had been quietly enjoying a plate of Sanji's fruits de mer, stood up, brushing himself off. "Music? An excellent idea, Captain."
He walked to the center of the beach. He didn't pull out an instrument. He just raised his wand.
"Sonorus," he whispered, tapping his throat. Then, he gestured to the air around him. "Orchestra Fantasma."
A low, wheezing note, like an old accordion, filled the air. A jaunty fiddle joined it, followed by a deep, rumbling boom-ch-boom-ch of a bass drum. The sound was rich, ancient, and full of salt.
Ben smiled, his voice now booming and cheerful, cutting through the crackle of the fire. And he began to sing.
"Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho...Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho...
"Hey, I know this song. Shank's crew used to sing this song a lot." Luffy said excitedly. Then he started singing along to the tune.
Gather up all of the crew!It's time to ship out Binks's Brew!Sea-wind blows, to where? Who knows?The waves will be our guide!
O'er across the ocean's blue,Rays of sunshine light the view,Birds sing high, draw arcs in sky,A farewell to us all!
Farewell to the harbor town,We'll never see it more,Sing a song, it won't be long,Before we're on the shore!"
Luffy and Usopp grabbed each other's shoulders and began a high-kick dance, singing along at the top of their lungs.
"Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho...Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho...
Gather up all of the crew!It's time to ship out Binks's Brew!We take our voyage, to the sky!The waves will be our guide!
Somewhere in the endless sky,Stormy winds are blowing by,Waves are dancing, evening comes,It's time to sound the drums!"
Outside, Laboon, hearing the music vibrating through the water, let out a long, joyful, low-frequency ROOOOAAAAAR. The entire island shook in time with the beat. The whale was dancing, sending up massive, happy splashes.
"Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho...Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho...
Gather up all of the crew!It's time to ship out Binks's Brew!After all is said and done,The sun will rise again!
Golden, silver, shining bright,The sun and moon and stars!Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho...Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho...
Gather up all of the crew!It's time to ship out Binks's Brew!Sing a song, it won't be long,Before we're on the shore!
Yeah, we're sailing on and on,our voyage never ends!Singing loud as we sail on,Our voyage never ends!"
Sanji was in a smooth, spinning dance, delivering a drink to Nami.
Zoro had woken up from the music and was now in a heated, joyous drinking-song-bellowing contest with Crocus.
Ben, with a theatrical flick of his wand, sent a Lumos Solem charm flying high. It wasn't just a light; it was a miniature, golden sun that hung over the party, casting a warm, celebratory glow. The party raged for hours, a chaotic, beautiful, magical celebration of a new friend, a new sea, and a new, impossible promise.
---
The next morning, the sky was bright. The Merry was docked by the main exit, ready to go. The crew (plus their two very hungover, very grumpy "interns") stood on the deck.
Luffy, his hat on his head, stood at the railing, looking at the giant, painted eye of the whale he had just partied with.
"ALRIGHT, LABOON!" he roared, his voice echoing. "WE'RE GOING! DON'T BUMP YOUR HEAD! REMEMBER OUR PROMISE! I'LL BE BACK FOR OUR REMATCH!"
A final, magnificent, heart-shaking ROOOOOOOOAAAAAR was his reply.
Crocus stood on his beach, arms crossed, his serious expression firmly back in place. "Your Log Pose is set for the first island," he called out. "Be careful, pirate brats. The Grand Line... is not a kind sea. It will test you. It will try to kill you. And you."
"Shishishi! Thanks, Flower-Old-Man! See ya!"
"NAMI!" Luffy yelled. "LET'S GO!"
"AYE-AYE, CAPTAIN!" Nami yelled back, her eyes fixed on the new, precious Log Pose on her wrist.
"Merry," Ben whispered, patting the railing. "Take us out."
With a happy creak, the Going Merry started sailing to their next destination.