ONE PIECE : Lighthouse Empire Arc

Lighthouse Empire Arc, Episode 5

Act 2

As the friends lie in wait outside the Navy ship, inside their submarine the group argues under the waves, continuing to convince Chong to make the first move of their operation.

"Come on, Chongy! Be brave!" Tydal encourages. 

Tiff agrees. "Yeah, let's see what you can do!" 

Chong huffs. "That's easy for all of you to say. I'm the one who has to actually do it. And I don't even know what I'm doing!"

Dani leans toward him. "Look, this is the only option for us right now. We're not going to be able to climb up a rope here."

"I understand that, but what am I suppose to do?"

Dani thinks. "Well, from what I remember reading, you kind of just command your body to do things."

"So you just think about something and make it happen?" Tiff wonders.

"Pretty much."

Tydal looks to Chong confidently. "So try it out!"

Chong sighs, then he raises one of his smoky limbs into the air. The group watches as his arm thins into a long wisp of smoke, then travels up the air pipe and out the top. It wiggles through the air like an eel.

"See? You're doing it!" Dani proclaims. 

"Now try your whole body!" Tiff orders happily. 

Chong nods uneasily, then closes his eyes and concentrates. Almost instantly, his entire body matches the shape of his arm, then smoothly slides up the air pipe. When he reaches the top, one single eye protrudes from the pipe and looks around. "Did it!" He calls to them down the pipe. 

Dani comes underneath the pipe. "Okay--now do you see that small hatch right next to the rudder?"

Chong locates it. "I see it."

"When you come out of the pipe, make your way onto the ship through one of the mooring line holes, then go down to the hatch and open it. We'll be waiting."

Tydal stops him. "But wait, hold on. All of us shouldn't just go wandering around the ship. We're just asking to be caught."

"Hm. You're right. Alright then, I guess it's up to you, Chong. You'll just have to locate Aiku on your own and bring her to the hatch."

"Oh, yeah. I'm sure she'll be real pleased to see me." He quips.

"Better figure out how to change back!" 

"Easier said than done!" Chong hesitates for a moment, then takes a deep breath and begins to move out of the pipe. "...Well, here goes nothing."

Tydal stares up the air pipe. "You've got this, Chongy!"

"Do your best!" Tiff adds.

 Dani turns to Tydal and Tiff. "Alright, now for our plan."

"What do you have in mind?" Tydal asks. 

"Bring the sub right next to the rudder--directly under to the hatch. The aft section of the ship and rudder should hide us from sight."

"I'm not sure, the sub is fairly big."

"Right, so what we'll do is raise the top hatch up just above the waterline so we can get out."

Tydal and Tiff look at each other. "Well, I guess that's the best we can do." Tiff remarks.