(???)

Somewhere in the world, Dracule Mihawk's raft landed on strange looking island. Everything about it seemed like he stepped into an entirely different world. Immediately after setting foot on the red soil, two men wearing black and white armor approached the swordsman.

(Soldier)"State your business in Lord Gohma's territory."

(Mihawk)"I wish to inform your Captain of a certain Pirate."

(???)"Go ahead, I'm right here."

Approaching was a man about the same height as the swordsman. He wore an all black robe with sleeves hiding his hands, and with small yellow triangular pieces of cloth lining the ends of each one. The most interesting part of his attire was the steel helmet. It had a circle with a dot and lines pointing in four directions, and a red gem in the shape of a heart on the chest piece.

This man is Gohma, the 8th Warlord, as well as the 5th Emperor of the New World. There are two halves of the Grand Line, divided by the Red Line. The first half is known by all as Paradise, the reason being is that it makes in comparison to the second half. Some parts of the ocean is on fire, storms came appear immediately, and without warning, and some creatures from this area are strong enough to take on an army of millions by themselves. But the most dangerous thing to come across are the Emperors, which you may know by now.

These individuals are the best of the best, a force that the government fears the most out of everyone, and who's bounties are in the billions. The Warlords are supposed to have only 7, but because of what Gohma's capable of, they practically begged him to join.

(Gohma)"You must have something important if you came all this way to see me."

(Mihawk)"Yes, there's a Pirate I think you may find interesting."

He held out a rolled up piece of paper.

(Gohma)"A bounty poster? I've been rather busy, so I haven't been able to catch up with the news lately."

The poster had a mysterious blue glow, and it floated towards the masked man.

(Gohma)"Hm...'Dark Soul' Mawgona, Captain of the Dark Soul Pirates, wanted for 40 million Beli."

(Mihawk)"He is from the East Blue, I ran into him while chasing after the Krieg Pirates after a little confrontation."

(Gohma)"The East Blue? I thought there was nothing but wannabe Pirates in that part of the world. This is quite interesting..."

(Mihawk)"I brought this to your attention, because I felt a similar energy in him, like what you possess."

(Gohma)"Well, I'll be looking into this little crew. If this is everything, then you can go if you wish, Hawk Eye."

He turned around whilst starting at the picture of Mawgona with confusion.

(Gohma)"This definitely isn't a coincidence, this man has got to be that child, all those years ago. I always wondered what happened to him, looks like he brought the boy to this world like everyone else...how much will the world change this time, I wonder?"

(The Iron Maiden)

Looking out to sea, the Explosive Human munched on his favorite afternoon snack, which most wouldn't enjoy...or even be stupid enough to eat.

(Zant)"What are you eating?"

(Nix)"...Bell pepper."

(Zant)"What's that black stuff coming out of it?"

(Nix)"Gun powder, gives it a little more kick."

(Zant)"Isn't that...lethal?"

(Nix)"Don't worry, my Devil Fruit allows me to ingest anything explosive, this is nothing."

He took another large bite out of the pepper, getting black black powder all over the deck.

(Zant)"...Alright then."

(Meanwhile)

(Mawgona)"Nami, since you're the most skilled at navigation, you should keep this on you at all times."

He gave her a strange item. It looked like a watch of some kind, but it had a little glass dome with a needle, similar to a compass hanging by a string.

(Nami)"What is it?"

(Mawgona)"It's called a Log Pose, I was given this by the old man. Apparently in the Grand Line, each island has a special magnetic charge, so your normal compass won't work."

(Bui Bui)"That's right. I actually had one of those when I left Drum, but I...lost it."

(He went through the Calm Belt. Which, if I haven't mentioned already, is the nesting grounds for Sea Kings. So yeah, one of them most likely ate his Log Pose.)

(Barry)"Guys, I think we're here!"

Everyone gathered to the front of the ship to see a huge red mountain, with a stream of water going up, instead of down. This is known by all, Pirate and Marine alike, as Reverse Mountain.

(Mawgona)"Reverse Mountain, the main entrance to the Grand Line. It was quite the journey just to get here, but our dreams truly begin now."

(Nix)"Uh, Mawgona? I agree with what you just said, but I think we have a problem."

(Mawgona)"What is it?"

(Nix)"The ship. It's too wide to get through. And even if you use that weird power of yours to shrink it, I think the idea is to let the water take you up. The only problem there is that because of the material itself, it'll probably just sink."

(Mawgona)"Oh, don't worry about that, the Iron Maiden was created to travel anywhere, sky or sea."

(Nix)"The hell does that mean?"

(Mawgona)"Just watch, Terry, bring us up."

(Terry)"You got it, Boss!"

The imp ran over to where a normal ship's steering wheel would be. In its place were three levers, you know what they do now, so let's get to the point. Terry pushed the middle lever forward, and slowly but surely, the legs of the ship extended.

(Nix)"Wh-Whoa! Just how much can you do with this thing?!"

(Mawgona)"With the proper equipment, I could turn it into one of those 'submarines' I've heard about. That reminds me, it might be best to find someone good with machines, to give this ship weapons that even I can't make."

(Bui Bui)"I think there's an island full of shipwrights in the first half of the Grand Line, maybe you'll find someone there."

After a couple minutes, they reached the mountain's peak, and the long legs stepped over to the other side, then proceeded to go back down.

(Zant)"Wow, I never imagined that getting in would be this easy!"

(Nix)"Yeah, let's just hope the rest of this journey is-"

"BUOHOOOOOOO!!!"

(Nix)"The hell was that?!"

(Mawgona)"It sounded like an animal!"

(Pepin)"Not just any animal, that was a whale. An Island Whale to be specific!"

(Nix)"I thought they only swim in the West Blue, how the hell do you know what one sounds like?!"

(Pepin)"It was a rare occurrence, but as a little kid, I saw dozens of them swim near Fishman Island with my dad."

They looked over the edge, and there before them was a massive whale.

It was sitting right in the middle of the path, and didn't seem to acknowledge the crew at all.

(Mawgona)"What is it doing here? And why is there scars all over its face?"

(Pepin)"Hm, maybe...it was striking the mountain? It's probably lost."

(Mawgona)"Maybe, but I feel like there's something else to why an Island Whale would be out here of all places. Hey, there's a man by that light house over there."

The elderly man stared back at the crew as they descended. His most noticeable feature was the petal-like accessory on his head.

(???)"I've seen dozens of ships pass by here, but this is a fist for me."

(Mawgona)"Uh, hello there. I'm Mawgona, who are you?"

(Crocus)"My name is Crocus, the keeper of the Twin Capes lighthouse."

(Mawgona)"I see. Well we were just wondering if you know what this whale is doing here."

(Crocus)"Laboon? He's been in that spot for some time. A long time ago, 50 years to be exact, this group of Pirates came here before beginning their adventures on the Grand Line. They had a baby whale follow them here, so they asked me to look after him until they finished their journey. And as you can already tell..."

(Mawgona)"They didn't make it..."

(Crocus)"Correct. I tried to explain to Laboon, but he's too stubborn to listen, that's why he has those injuries of his face. Every now and then, he rams into the Red Line itself, but not even a creature of his size can break it. I've been doing everything I can to treat his wounds ever since, I even made several internal modifications to make it easier to help him."

(Mawgona)"It pains me to see a creature like this, unintentionally hurting himself just to see his friends again. I wish I could do something to help him...wait! I have an idea."

(Crocus)"What what is it?"

(Mawgona)"Just watch."

Using the power of the Zai-Zai Fruit, he created a giant plate of metal, along with a picture of his Jolly Roger. It placed itself against Laboon's face, and harmlessly latched onto his mouth like a retainer. The Island Whale could somehow see the picture, and was quite fond of it.

(Mawgona)"Remember not to ram into the mountain, or it'll be ruined, ok? And if you do for whatever reason, you won't hurt yourself anymore."

Laboon gave Mawgona a sign of understanding, as well as saying "Thank you."

(Crocus)"Hm, you must be one of those Devil Fruit Users. Be careful out there, you'll find a number of dangerous characters once you leave here, especially this one town not too far."

(Mawgona)"We'll be fine, goodbye now."

He got back in the ship and sailed away to the first island of the Grand Line, where their adventure truly begins.

(Crocus)"That man, he seems to have good intentions, but...I feel that something bad is going to happen soon, and he'll be involved somehow..."

(Wasn't much to do with this part, but the next one will be good, I think.)