Here's a new chapter enjoy:)
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"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Zoro raised his eyebrow, running alongside Smoker.
"What do you mean? Of course I'm sure!" Smoker yelled back. He jerked his chin towards the mountain in the distance, "The mountain's right there! We just have to head straight towards it!"
Zoro frowned, pointing to his right, "I could have sworn the path was that way…"
"Could you be any more clueless?" Sanji sighed.
"Shut up ero-cook! I know what I'm doing!" Zoro yelled back.
Luffy stirred slightly on Smoker's back, groaning.
"Shut up, both of you! If Luffy's condition gets any worse, you'll have several hells to pay for!" Smoker shouted them down.
Zoro glanced at Luffy, "He'll be fine."
Smoker gritted his teeth, "It's not about whether he's going to be fine or not, it's about what might happen if certain people find out about this..."
"Why? What's going to happen?" Sanji raised an eyebrow.
Smoker shivered though not from the cold, "You don't want to know…"
Somewhere else on the Grand Line
Garp glared at the piece of Vivre card that had Luffy's name on it. It was less than half the original size now with the ends of the paper smoldering dangerously. In front of him, both Helmeppo and Coby were training themselves diligently, sparring against each other with wooden swords.
Garp paid no attention to them however, he just hoped a certain individual in the calm belt might have chosen not to notice her part of Luffy's Vivre card today. Unfortunately, knowing how she was like, she would never let it out of her sights.
Most likely, Sengoku was already getting an earful from her right now, probably with threats of war too.
"Luffy…" Garp gripped the piece of paper tightly, his attempts to contact him through the den den mushi ended up fruitless. Fortunately, a few hours ago, Smoker had already contacted them about Luffy's condition and the possibility of Crocodile's treachery, prompting them to send a warship to Alabasta to investigate.
Garp finally turned his attention back to the two new trainees he had taken under his wing, both already panting and gasping from the strain of their training. Garp frowned, Luffy had endured a training a hundred times more intensive than the one they were going through, he wondered if the others had been right about him being too tough on Luffy.
He huffed indignantly, of course not, Luffy didn't even mutter a complaint even once after all! That's why he's already so strong!
Perhaps even a little too strong? Garp scratched his chin, a little bit unsure now.
He shook those thoughts away immediately, of course there's no such thing as being too strong. In fact, if he had a say in anything, he would still say Luffy was still weak. He glanced down at the Vivre card again, if he was already strong, he wouldn't be struggling so much now, would he?
Flashback
"Luffy! Put your back into it! Your haki's still not strong enough!" Garp yelled, swinging another fist at him.
Luffy took the brunt of the blow with his upraised arm, but Garp still managed to fling him away, smashing him into the wall at the other end of the training field, throwing up a cloud of dust.
"Vice Admiral Garp…" A marine gulped.
"What?" Garp glared back at the marine, causing him to shrink back.
"Maybe… You should go a little easier on trainee Luffy… He only awoken his haki yesterday, after all…" The marine swallowed nervously.
"Nonsense! There's no 'easier' in the path to becoming stronger!" Garp glanced back at the wall, the dust clearing to reveal a battered Luffy pushing himself up.
"Luffy! You don't want anyone else to end up like Sabo, do you?!"
Luffy's eyes widened at the mention of that name. He gritted his teeth as he remembered watching the boat explode in front of him before being engulfed in a wall of flames. He never felt so powerless in his life before.
His brothers had always protected him, but no one protected his brothers in return. He had sworn to himself then that he will definitely grow stronger no matter the cost and protect everything he held dear.
He would definitely become a Marine.
"Grandpa!" Luffy clenched his fists, blood dripping down his hand as his nails cut into his skin.
Garp grinned at him, seeing the raging fire in his eyes.
Luffy charged towards his grandpa, his fists raised and infused with haki.
"MAKE ME STRONGER!"
"Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi!" Nami slammed open the door without warning, shocking everyone inside the ship's war room.
"What… What is it, Commander Nami?" Tashigi saluted.
"We need to organize a defense force against a group of pirates that's heading towards us right now!" Nami yelled, pointing out the door.
Tashigi gasped, "Pirates? They're coming here?"
Nami nodded, "It's the same group that we saw the other day."
"Un... Understood! We shall not allow them to escape a second time! Men! To arms!" Tashigi ordered.
"Aye, aye!" The marines immediately leapt to their feet.
Tashigi grabbed her swords, belting them on, "Where is Captain Smoker?"
"He's currently taking Luffy to the doctor, I doubt he'll make it back in time…" Usopp appeared at the doorway.
Tashigi bit her thumb, "It can't be help then, we're on our own… Will you two be taking over command?"
Both of them shook their heads frantically.
Nami waved her hands quickly, "Neither of us are trained in leadership at all, you can direct your men as you see fit,"
"Understood! Men! Raise the anchor! We'll meet those pirates out at sea! Don't let those pirates dock on the island!"
The marines immediately scurried out to obey.
As the three Marine officers stepped out on to the deck, Nami glanced towards the mountains that towered over the island.
"I hope those three managed to get Luffy to safety…" Nami frowned.
"Don't worry, those three can take on anything that threatens them. Luffy will be fine," Usopp placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
Meanwhile, said three men stood face to face with a bunch of bear sized rabbits.
"So are these the rabbits that Dalton guy was talking about?" Zoro grunted, unsheathing his swords.
"Leave them to us, Captain Smoker, you should go on ahead," Sanji tapped his foot on the snow.
Smoker frowned, looking around him, "I would like to… But it seems they have us surrounded…"
All three men stood with their backs to each other while the rabbits, known as Lapins, stared down at them with angry eyes.
"Should we fight them?" Zoro gripped his swords.
Sanji glanced at the panting Luffy, "No, Luffy's condition might worsen from the fight. He's already in critical condition right now…"
"Tch… Why do they have to appear right now of all times…" Smoker furrowed his brows.
"So... You got a plan?" Zoro held his swords defensively in front of him.
"We'll blow open a path towards the mountain, then make a run for it." Sanji grunted, eyeing the Lapins that barred the path towards the mountain.
Smoker nodded an affirmative, making sure Luffy was securely tied to his back, preparing to propel himself with his smoke.
"NOW!" Sanji yelled, leaping towards one of the Lapins and kicked it away.
Smoker changed the bottom half of his body into smoke while holding on to Luffy tightly, propelling himself through the opening Sanji created.
A Lapin on the other side roared and tried to strike Smoker before he could get through.
"Get your paws off him!" Zoro slashed his sword, deflecting the Lapin's strike away as Smoker landed in the snow outside of the Lapin encirclement.
The three men started sprinting away, running as fast as they could as the Lapins chased after them.
One of it caught up to them, lashing out towards Sanji.
"These things are fast!" Sanji furrowed his brows as he leapt over the slash.
"We can't outrun them! They're too fast!" Zoro yelled, ducking under a tree a Lapin threw at them.
Sanji and Zoro landed beside each other, facing the Lapins.
"Go! We'll hold them off!" Sanji yelled towards Smoker.
"Make sure you get him there safely!" Zoro added.
Smoker grunted an affirmative, sprinting towards the mountain with Luffy on his back.
Sanji lit a cigarette while Zoro tied his bandana on his head.
"Never thought I'd have to fight alongside you again, you brute," Sanji grinned.
"Heh, same to you, ero-cook." Zoro bit down on his sword.
"Let's make this fast, he might encounter more Lapins on the way."
Zoro smirked, "You take the right half, and I'll take the left side half!"
Both men faced the Lapins as they roared, charging towards them.
"Party Table Kick Course!"
"Tatsu Maki!"
The swordsman and cook lunged towards the Lapins, striking down those that dared to attack them while making sure none of them goes after Smoker.
"These guys are strong!" Sanji frowned, kicking a Lapin across the head, only to watch it stand up to attack him again.
"Huh, it's just you who's not strong enough," Zoro grunted, although he was forced on the defensive with so many Lapins jumping towards him at once.
"Shut it shitty swordsman, I don't see you having a good time either!" Sanji ducked under a swipe from a Lapin before kicking it away.
"Heheh, don't you know? I'm trying to put myself in more danger to unlock that haki thing," Zoro grinned, slashing at a Lapin.
Sanji deflected a punch away with his kick before kicking upwards with his other leg at the Lapin's chin, "You actually think that's going to work?!"
Zoro grunted with effort as he crossed his swords to block a swipe from another Lapin before slashing with the sword in his mouth at said Lapin, "It worked for our Commodore, so why not me?"
"Because he's a monster!" Sanji yelled incredulously, spinning on the shoulder of a Lapin as a pivot while kicking at the Lapins surrounding it.
"Then I'll just have to turn into a monster too!" Zoro grinned, slashing out his swords at the two Lapins that stood before him.
"You crazy bastard," Sanji couldn't help but let a grin creep on to his face, leaping to kick at the neck of another Lapin.
"Let's finish this up and join Smoker," Zoro grunted, staring down the last few Lapins.
It seemed they were hesitating on attacking the two Marines after witnessing their strength, but they didn't want to let their fallen brethren go unavenged either.
Both Marines noticed the Lapins hesitation.
"We didn't kill them, if that's what you're worried about," Sanji jerked his chin at the fallen Lapins before turning to Zoro worriedly. "You didn't… Did you?"
"Nah… They'll live… Probably…" Zoro muttered the last part to himself.
"If you let us go, you can bring your friends back. I'm sure we all know how this is going to end, aren't we?" Sanji grinned.
The remaining Lapins looked at each other before finally dropping their bulking shoulders, working on pulling their brethren out from the snow.
"Let's go, that smoke guy's defenseless without us." Sanji turned and ran down the path just as Zoro sheathed his swords.
He ran silently for a while, following the footprints Smoker had left behind for them to follow.
"He shouldn't be that far ahead, we just need to follow his footprints."
As Sanji continued to run, he finally noticed it was oddly silent behind him. He turned his head and instead of seeing the green haired swordsman, there was just endless piles of snow.
"That stupid brute!"
Elsewhere
"That stupid cook got lost didn't he?" Zoro frowned, looking around and seeing nothing but trees and snow.
"Hmph, I guess I should probably head… Er… That way…" Zoro sprinted towards the opposite direction of the mountain.
Smoker didn't turn even as the sounds of battle halted abruptly behind him, fully concentrating on the path ahead of him.
"This stupid doctor… Why the hell does she have to stay in such a ridiculous place…" Smoker glared up at the mountain that still seemed so far away.
He glanced over his shoulder to check on the still unconscious Luffy, his breathing was strained and rugged, the fact that his face seemed to be an odd shade of blue didn't help either. Smoker turned back and hastened his speed.
He was just glad he wasn't the one being chewed out for Luffy's current condition, for once, he was grateful he wasn't ranked really high up in the Marines.
He patted his jacket lightly, breathing an odd sigh of relief that he didn't bring his den den mushi with him. He made a silent prayer towards the one who had to answer it in his stead on the ship. With luck, the higher ups wouldn't redirect any angry callers to him.
Meanwhile, on said Marine ship, all the Marines had their weapons loaded and ready to bombard the pirates while Dalton had organized a resistance force holding a defensive line near the river mouth.
The Marines had maneuvered the ship to block the river mouth, aiming its side towards the sea.
Tashigi herself stood at the prow of the battleship, scanning the horizon for any signs of the pirates while Usopp and Nami stood alongside the rest of the marines on the deck. They had decided to leave Vivi and Carue in the village in case Smoker's group came back and needed directions.
A den den mushi rang nearby, breaking the tension that hung in the air.
Tashigi glanced back just as a marine ran up to her with the den den mushi, saluting with it in his hands, "Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi! It's Captain Smoker's!"
Tashigi pursed her lips as she took the den den mushi from the marine and placed the receiver in her ear.
"He… Hello?"
"I don't suppose you're Captain Smoker?" A sharp voice questioned on the other end.
"This is Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi, Captain Smoker is not available at the moment. May I ask who you are?"
"Not available? What could he possibly be busy with then?" Displeasure was evident in his voice.
Tashigi frowned, "I will need you to state your identity before I can disclose that information…"
"Dracule Mihawk, now will you tell me where your Captain is, Miss Tashigi?"
Tashigi visibly stiffened at the name, stifling a gasp, "I'm… I'm sorry for my rudeness!"
"Enough, just let me talk to Captain Smoker," Mihawk grunted.
"Er… He's not currently here, sir…"
"Tch… Then do you at least know what's going on with Luffy?"
"Co… Commodore Luffy? He's er… He's currently down with some kind of sickness and Captain Smoker has taken him to a doctor…"
"I see, he'll be fine won't he?" Mihawk's words seemed to cut the air itself.
Tashigi could feel the tension tighten around her neck, "Ye… Yes, sir…"
"Hmph, I'll hold you to your words, Miss Tashigi."
Mihawk hung up without waiting for a reply.
"Who was that?" Nami asked, stepping beside Tashigi.
"The Shichibukai… Dracule Mihawk…" Tashigi stuttered, handing the den den mushi back to the marine.
"Mihawk?!" Usopp gasped.
Tashigi nodded slowly, "What's Commodore Luffy's relationship with him?"
Nami scratched her chin, "I'm not really sure myself… But they seemed to be on really good terms…"
"Good enough to be really casual with each other if I might add…" Usopp snorted.
"Why did he call you?" Nami raised an eyebrow.
Tashigi shuddered, "He asked about Luffy's condition... he didn't sound happy though..."
The other two shuddered as well, clearly remembering Mihawk's display of his powers.
"On another note, the pirates are really taking their time getting here…" Tashigi frowned.
Nami turned towards the horizon, empty of any ships, "Well, we did spot them near the island, if that Wapol had any intentions of returning, he would."
While the Marines stared out at the horizon, a large shadow passed underneath their ship.
Meanwhile on an island far away
Dracule Mihawk glared at the smoldering Vivre card with disdain, twirling it in between his fingers. He sat on his plush couch inside his empty castle, with nothing to accompany him but his own thoughts.
A wine glass lay shattered on the ground, spilling the dark red liquid all over the floor but Mihawk made no attempt to clean it.
"Down with a sickness…" Mihawk narrowed his eyes, refusing to believe that monster by the name of Luffy could actually fall sick in the first place.
He opened his hand facing upwards to let the Vivre card lie straight down on his palm, watching it slide across his hand on its own. He clenched his fist and frowned, glancing towards the direction where the Vivre card had slid towards.
"If you die now, Luffy... I'll be really disappointed in you..."
Flashback
Mihawk stood in the training field, watching the clouds float by across the sky. The door behind him slid open and Garp stepped out silently with a group of marines following closely behind.
"You better have a good reason for me to be here, Garp the Fist," Mihawk half turned his head to stare at Garp with an eye.
Garp grinned wickedly, "Of course, of course. I have request for you today."
Mihawk raised an eyebrow, "A request? That's rare coming from you…"
Garp stepped aside to reveal Luffy behind him, bandages wrapped around his head, arms and legs.
"I believe you two are already acquainted?" Garp patted his grandson on his shoulder.
"Hawky!" Luffy grinned.
"Luffy," Mihawk nodded towards the boy before glancing back to Garp. "What do you want?"
"Spar with him," Garp said simply, shocking everyone around who heard it.
Mihawk looked at Luffy with a critical eye, "No offense, Garp, but you might want to have your head checked. The boy shouldn't even be walking around with those injuries right now, let alone spar with me."
Luffy stepped towards Mihawk before Garp could respond, "Hawky, I personally request to spar with you."
Mihawk looked down at the boy, Luffy's eyes held no hesitation nor was there any hint of his suffering.
"So be it, but know that I will not hold back," Mihawk drew the sword on his back, descending the stairs onto the field.
"Shishishi! I won't have it any other way!" Luffy followed Mihawk gingerly.
Without so much as a signal, Mihawk lunged towards Luffy while he descended the stairs, swinging the back of his blade towards Luffy's side. He frowned when he realized Luffy had encased his whole body in armament haki, his arm already up to block his blade.
"I thought you said you won't hold back?" Luffy frowned, glancing down at Mihawk's sword.
"Bwahahahaha! You'd do well not to look down on him, Hawkeyes. If you must know, he only awakened his haki about a week ago." Garp laughed, watching from the side.
Mihawk glanced back at Luffy, "Such level of mastery in such a short time… I have no doubt your grandfather made you survive through hell for this."
"Shishishi, I guess so," Luffy laughed lightly, lowering his arms as Mihawk drew back his sword, stepping on to the field.
"Kukukuku, I apologize for my earlier disrespect, Luffy." Mihawk turned his blade around, pointing the edge of the blade outwards instead of inwards like before. "I shall take you on with all my might."
"Gladly," Luffy lowered himself into his stance.
The two clashed again, both sides not holding back this time.
Smoker glanced up at the intimidating mountain, having finally reached its base.
"So what now?" Sanji glanced up at the mountain as well, catching up to the Marine Captain a few moments ago.
"Are we just going to ignore Commander Zoro?" Smoker raised an eyebrow.
Sanji rolled his eyes, "He'll be fine, just let him be. More importantly, what do we do now?"
"I can change my lower body into smoke and propel myself up the mountain." Smoker grunted, tightening the ropes that bound Luffy.
"All the way?" Sanji glanced at Smoker incredulously.
Smoker stared up at the mountain again, narrowing his eyes, "I might need to make a few stops on the way up… But I should be able reach the top."
"What about me?" Sanji cried.
Smoker thought for a while, scratching his chin, "If I need to carry you as well… I might have some trouble..."
"So what should I do? Head back to the village?" Sanji frowned, looking back at the forest they just made it through.
"Here," Smoker handed the end of the rope.
Sanji narrowed his eyes at the rope, "What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Tie it around your waist, then hold on tight and don't let go," Smoker began stretching his legs.
Sanji raised an eyebrow but did as he was told, securing the rope tightly around his waist. That was also when he noticed the other end of the rope was secured to Smoker's waist as well.
"What are you planning?" Sanji frowned.
"Hold on tight!" Smoker grunted, crouching down before changing his lower body into smoke, spreading the smoke around himself.
"Wait... You're not going to, are you?" Sanji gripped the rope tightly.
Smoker didn't respond as the smoke suddenly converged back underneath his legs, exploding upwards and blasting Smoker and Sanji towards the sky.
"ARRGHHH! YOU BASTARD!" Sanji screamed, gripping on to the rope for dear life.
Smoker grunted from the effort of lifting two men into the sky, he glanced up at the mountain, frowning when he felt himself slowing down even before reaching a tenth of the way up.
He took out his jitte and stabbed it into the mountain, hanging on to it as Sanji dangled a few feet below him, still screaming.
He spread out his smoke again before pulling out his jitte and exploded himself upwards once more, ignoring the screams of Sanji below him.
"I SWEAR I'M GONNA KILL YOU FOR THIS!" Sanji yelled, his face an unhealthy shade of blue.
"Suck it up, you wuss," Smoker grunted, stabbing his jitte into the mountain again, panting from the effort.
"Is there no other way to do this?! Something that doesn't involve my life hanging by a rope?!" Sanji shouted angrily.
Smoker frowned at him, "You got a better idea, genius?"
Sanji glanced down and gulped, gripping the rope tighter, "Er… No?"
"Then shut up you damn wuss," Smoker exploded himself up again, pulling a crying Sanji up behind him.
The Marines on the ship turned around when they heard the water explode up behind them, gasping when Wapol's ship appeared from underwater.
"Ahh! I forgot their ship could submerge!" Usopp clutched his head.
"Ready broadside cannons!" Tashigi shouted as the marines scrambled to obey.
"They're trying to land and make a run for it!" Nami shouted.
Gunshots already rang out across the shoreline, the villagers trying their best to keep Wapol from landing with little success.
"Fire starboard cannons!" Tashigi yelled.
The cannons on the right side of the ship fired at once, raining down a hail of cannonballs on Wapol's ship, exploding wood splinters in every direction.
"Commander Nami! Commander Usopp! Please go ashore to aid the villagers!" Tashigi shouted while directing the other marines to ready a second bombardment.
"Leave it to us!" Usopp thumped his chest, running towards one of the landing boats that was already being prepared for them.
"All cannons reloaded!" A marine officer shouted.
"Fire!"
The second wave of cannonballs smashed through Wapol's ship, the main mast cracking and tilting to one side. The pirate crew was doing their best to keep it afloat while trying to land on the island, ducking under the villagers' gunshots at the same time.
As the pirate ship finally landed, a third hail of cannonballs smashed through it, a cannonball exploding on the mast and toppling it. The soldiers on board the ship scrambled on to land frantically amidst the storm of bullets while some decided to jump ship into the icy cold waters below instead.
Nami and Usopp sat on the boat that were rowed by a few Marines towards the shore, running towards the villagers the instant the boat touched ground.
The battleship fired again, this time a cannonball exploded in the ship's powder stores, setting it ablaze in a shower of sparks. Soldiers were thrown off the ship by the explosion, most of them landing in the water while the rest found themselves on land with the villagers pointing their guns at them.
"Surrender! Drop your weapons!" Usopp shouted, finally reaching the pirates.
The soldiers held their rifles uneasily, staring fearfully at the lines of rifles aimed towards them.
"Drop it!" Dalton shouted, standing in front of the villagers, changing into his bison form intimidatingly.
The soldiers immediately dropped their guns and raised their hands in surrender.
"Looks like you still have room for improvement," Nami nudged Usopp.
Dalton hefted his spade shaped blade, advancing towards the soldiers and frowning when he realized Wapol was not among them.
"Where is Wapol?!" He demanded, the soldiers cowering in fear when he turned towards them.
"We… We landed on the other side… when we saw the Marine ship… We're supposed to act as a diversion while he… went to the castle…" A soldier stuttered fearlfully.
"Damn it!" Dalton cursed, stabbing his blade into the snow.
He glared towards the mountain with the castle at the top as Nami and Usopp approached.
"What's wrong?" Nami raised an eyebrow at the fuming Dalton.
Dalton shrunk himself back to his human form, fuming, "Wapol… He's already gone ahead towards the castle and we don't have a way to get up that mountain…"
"How is he going to get up there?" Nami raised an eyebrow.
"He probably knows a way up that we don't. That was his castle after all..." Dalton furrowed his brows.
"What do we do then?" Usopp stared at the drum shaped mountains.
Dalton pulled his blade from the snow, sheathing it behind his back, "There's nothing we can do unless we find a way up…"
"Well, that doctor could come down from the mountain whenever she wants to, so there's bound to be a secret way up that only she knows about too," Nami crossed her arms.
Dalton sighed, "If that's true, she must have hidden it really well, we've never found a way up all this time."
"Where was she last seen before she disappeared back up the mountain again?" Nami glanced towards the villagers.
"If I remember correctly… She always seem to make her last stop at Gyasta village…" a bearded villager scratched his chin.
"Then we'll just start our search there!" Nami grinned.
"What about them?" Dalton jerked a thumb at the soldiers just as the Marine ship landed on the shore.
"Leave these pirates to us, you guys go on ahead!" Tashigi shouted from the ship, marines already pouring out to apprehend the soldiers.
Dalton nodded a thanks to her, turning back to the villagers, "Let's search around Gyasta, perhaps there's a way up from there."
The villagers yelled in triumph as they lead the way to Gyasta village, confident they could end the fear of Wapol's tyranny for good.
Smoker stabbed his jitte into the ground, collapsing in the snow, exhausted. A blue faced Sanji laid down in the snow beside him, gasping as he tried to forget his frightful journey up the mountain.
"You… Crazy bastard…" Sanji panted, throwing a fistful of snow at Smoker.
"Shut up, I got us up here, didn't I?" Smoker grunted, looking up at the castle that stood in front of him. "If you have any complaints, say it to the damn doctor who chose to stay up here."
Sanji pushed himself back on his feet, frowning at Smoker who still knelt on the ground, "So? You coming or not?"
Smoker got up on a knee unsteadily, "Shut it… It wasn't exactly a breeze for me to carry the two of you up here you know?"
"Eh? How did you two get here?" A green haired swordsman entered their vision casually.
The two of them stared at Zoro for a while, letting the silence stretch for a few seconds.
"WE SHOULD BE ASKING YOU THAT!" Both Smoker and Sanji yelled at him.
Zoro flinched back at their sudden outburst, "Woah, woah. I just walked here, that's all."
"You WALKED here?!" Sanji grasped Zoro's collar.
Zoro frowned and smacked his hand away, "Of course! After you left me behind, I had no choice but to keep walking around until I found you guys."
Smoker's jaw dropped at his declaration while Sanji face palmed.
"There's a limit to how lost you can get, you know?" Sanji wrung his hands in the air.
"I wasn't lost!" Zoro protested, huffing indignantly.
"Enough! I don't care how he got here, Luffy's our priority right now!" Smoker finally pushed himself on his feet.
The two Commanders ceased their argument immediately, accompanying Smoker as they approached the castle gates.
"Don't suppose we knock?" Sanji glanced at the huge wooden double doors leading inside the castle.
"Don't bother," Zoro pushed against the door, hefting it open for the other two to enter.
The three walked down the deserted corridors of the castle, their footsteps echoing on the stone floor.
"What are you three doing here?"
A woman stepped out behind them, prompting all three of them to spin around and lower into their battle stance.
Zoro had his swords out and pointed towards the woman while Sanji stood protectively in front of Smoker, leg raised.
The woman looked old enough to be any of the present men's grandmother with pure white hair and deep wrinkles on her face. She wore a purple blazer over a short flower-print shirt that bared her navel to display her navel ring. A pair of hipster sunglasses rested on the bridge of her nose while an equally hipster pair of pants stretched all the way down to her ankles.
"I don't suppose you gents are here to know about the secret to my youth?" The woman grinned, crossing her arms smugly.
"Who are you?" Zoro grunted, ignoring her question but not lowering his swords.
The woman huffed, "I should be the one to ask you that. This is my house you're barging into."
"So you're the doctor?" Sanji frowned, crossing his fingers and hoping the answer to be a no.
The woman seemed to brighten at the question, "Oh? So you're patients? Why didn't you say so sooner? I'm doctor Kureha, at your service." Kureha did an exaggerated bow towards the three Marines. "Now what do the Marines want with me?"
Smoker and Sanji relaxed but Zoro didn't seem convinced yet, "How do we know you're the real doctor?"
"Not a trusting one eh?" Kureha raised an eyebrow.
Zoro said nothing as he gripped his swords tighter, watching the woman carefully.
Kureha shrugged, "It doesn't matter whether you trust me or not, you're free to roam around here until you find another doctor, although…" She pointed towards the panting Luffy, "if you want your friend there to live, you'd better let a doctor see him right now."
"Commander Zoro, stand down," Smoker grunted, stepping up towards Kureha.
Zoro frowned as he lowered his swords, still refusing to sheathe them.
"Our friend is sick, our own doctor couldn't even get a diagnosis on what's wrong with him," Smoker glanced towards Luffy, who was still unconscious.
Kureha poked a finger at his forehead, "Heh… Forty-three degrees, this is pretty serious… Follow me to the infirmary."
Kureha walked past the men without a second glance back, humming a tune as she walked down the corridor.
The three Marines glanced at each other before finally running to catch up with the doctor.
Kureha lead them out into the castle's main hall that was entirely covered in snow, drawing shivers from the men.
"Why is the whole place covered in snow?" Sanji frowned, following the doctor up the stairs.
"You'd think the hag would actually do some proper cleaning or something…" Zoro shivered.
A flash of metal flew towards Zoro who jerked his head away at the last second, avoiding the flying knife that was tossed at him.
"What the hell was that for?!" Zoro yelled at Kureha.
The doctor snorted, seemingly disappointed Zoro had dodged the knife, "Don't call me a hag, I'm only a hundred and thirty-nine years old."
'Holy crap she's old…'
The three men thought at the same time.
Kureha held open a door at the second floor of the castle, gesturing the three men inside the infirmary.
Smoker untied Luffy and lowered him into the only bed in the room, turning back to regard the self-professed doctor.
Kureha ignored them while she turned peeked her head into one of the side rooms, "Chopper! We got a patient!"
She turned back to the three men, frowning at them as though she was insulted by their presence, "What are you still doing here? Get out! Leave this to the professionals!"
"How are we sure you won't hurt him?" Zoro crossed his arms.
"A true doctor never harms their patient, and I am a doctor," Kureha frowned.
Smoker raised an arm to stop Zoro before he could protest again, "We'd like to make sure of it with our own eyes, if you don't mind."
Kureha sighed before pointing to the far corner of the room, "Stay there and don't make a sound, if you disturb me, I'll throw you all out."
The three men trudged to the corner indicated just as a small reindeer walked out from the side room.
"Is that… a reindeer walking on two legs?" Sanji raised an eyebrow.
"Looks like a tanuki to me…" Zoro raised an eyebrow.
"It's a reindeer that ate a devil fruit, isn't it?" Smoker glanced at Kureha.
The reindeer frowned towards the three men, while Kureha just chuckled, "His name is Chopper, he ate the hito hito fruit and became half human and half reindeer."
"Doctor Kureha, are they all patients?" Chopper pointed towards the men.
"It talks?!" Sanji gasped.
"I told you all to shut up didn't I?!" Kureha yelled, throwing a few knives at them that stuck into the wall behind them.
"What a scary doctor…" Smoker frowned.
Kureha jerked her thumb towards Luffy, "That's the patient, Chopper, diagnose him."
The reindeer climbed onto the bed, proceeding to check on Luffy with the precision of a professional doctor. The three men watched silently as Kureha watched over the small doctor, judging his work.
"So what's wrong with him?" Kureha said after a while of tense silence.
"He's been bitten by a Kestia," Chopper pointed towards the bite mark on Luffy.
Kureha grinned proudly, "Correct, now what should be the proper procedure?"
"Cleaning of the wound, injection of the anti-venom, then antibiotics." Chopper rattled off.
"Very good, now hop to it," Kureha nodded as the reindeer scurried off to get the necessary equipment.
"You're letting the reindeer tend to him?" Zoro stared wide eyed at the doctor.
Kureha huffed indignantly, "He's a qualified doctor, I trained him myself after all!"
"A reindeer doctor… And I thought I've already seen everything…" Smoker scratched his chin.
Chopper returned carrying a basket full of medical equipment to the bed, hopping back up on the bed.
Just before Chopper could get to work, an explosion sounded from outside the castle, stunning everyone in the room.
"What's going on?" Sanji looked towards Kureha.
She held her hands up, "Don't look at me, I wasn't cooking anything."
"Tch, we'll go check it out." Smoker gripped his jitte and made a beeline towards the door.
"What about Luffy?" Zoro frowned, not willing to leave his Commodore alone with the two strange people.
"He'll be fine, there's nothing we can do here anyway." Smoker pulled Zoro out the door after Sanji before he could protest again, slamming the door shut behind him.
Zoro narrowed his eyes at the wooden door before sprinting down the stairs after the other two Marines, making their way back to the entrance of the castle.
Exiting the castle, they're met with an angry Wapol and two strange looking men accompanying him. One was the man wearing the jester outfit while the other had a look that resembled a boxer that was obsessed with afros.
He had an afro hair and a beard that had three small afros along the corners of his chin. He wore a long orange shirt covered by an orange cloak that had afros hanging at each hand. Two boxing gloves that resembled afros also covered his hand, hiding all of his fingers except for his thumbs.
The smoldering remains of a flag could be seen on the ground, apparently blown from the top of the castle.
"You! You're the Marines from before! What are you doing in my castle?!" Wapol pointed an accusing finger at the three men.
"What do you mean your castle, pirate?" Smoker frowned, popping two cigars in his mouth.
"Be careful of your words, marine! You are speaking to Wapol, king of Drum kingdom!" The jester man shook his fist at Smoker.
"King? I could've sworn that you guys were pirates, you attacked us at sea too," Sanji narrowed his eyes, similarly popping a cigarette in his mouth.
The boxer crossed his arms, "That was when our kingdom was invaded. We had to resort to piracy when we escaped from this country."
Zoro smirked, "So you guys chose your lives over your country, such cowards."
"SILENCE! I have returned to this country and while I'm here, I am the king!" Wapol glared at Zoro.
Smoker pointed his jitte towards Wapol, "You are no king here. The moment you chose to wave the flag of a pirate, you have chosen the life of piracy and forsaken your title as king. No matter the reason for your actions, we Marines will no longer recognize you as a legitimate king any longer."
"How dare you! Chess! Kuromarimo! Get rid of these Marines!" Wapol pointed a finger at the three men.
The jester drew his bow and shot three arrows towards the Marines, each arrow heading for a different Marine.
Sanji leaned back and kicked the arrow aside while Zoro unsheathed his swords and sliced the arrow cleanly in half. Smoker on the other hand, just dissipated his body into smoke and let the arrow pass through him.
"He's a Devil Fruit user!" The jester named Chess gasped.
"A Logia class too!" The boxer, Kuromarimo, panicked.
Smoker hefted his jitte on his shoulder, "Just give up pirates, you guys don't stand a chance."
"Heh, you might be Logia class, but my Baku Baku fruit won't lose to yours either," Wapol smirked, rubbing his hands together.
Smoker raised an eyebrow, "Baku Baku fruit?"
"Maaahahaha! I can munch on anything, even you! As long as I can get you in my mouth, Logia or not, I can munch you to death!" Wapol laughed.
The three Marines stared at Wapol incredulously.
"You have no idea how stupid that sounds…" Zoro sighed.
"Is that even possible?" Sanji crossed his arms.
Smoker frowned, "As stupid as that might sound, no one can be too sure when it comes to Devil Fruits… Even I'm not sure what will happen if he does get his mouth on me."
The three pirates lowered into their fighting stances again, prompting the three Marines to do the same.
"Well, there's three of them," Zoro nodded towards them.
"And there's three of us," Sanji finished.
"One for one then, I'll take Wapol," Smoker bit down on his cigar, swinging his jitte in an arc.
"The bow guy," Zoro secured his bandana on his head.
"The afro dude then," Sanji puffed on his cigarette.
The three Marines charged at their targets.
The sounds of battle reverberated throughout the castle.
"What's going on outside?" Chopper frowned, wiping the sweat off Luffy's brow.
"Don't get distracted, Chopper. Remember he's your patient," Kureha admonished.
Despite saying that, she looked towards the door leading out to the main hall, pursing her lips as another explosion rocked the castle.
"Stay with him, Chopper, I'll go out and check," Kureha walked out the room without waiting for a reply, closing the door behind her.
Chopper watched her leave before turning his attention back to Luffy, checking his temperature again.
"He's recovering quite fast… This is unusual… Even with doctor Kureha's prescription, he should take another three days to fully recover…" Chopper frowned at the thermometer.
In just a few minutes, Luffy's fever had already gone down to normal, surprising both Chopper and Kureha. The bite wound had healed as well, not even leaving a scar, as though he had never been bitten from the start.
Unknown to them, after the hellish training Luffy had survived in the Marines, his body had adapted to heal ridiculously fast from external injuries to the point of being superhuman. Especially with Garp pushing the boy to his limits and further beyond, Luffy had little other choice. The only thing he lacked now was a strong resistance to poison. Now if this boy adapted to that, he could then truly be regarded as a real monster.
Chopper left the room to change the pail of water, ignoring the sounds of battle outside. As he returned to the bed, Luffy sat up without warning, scaring the reindeer into dropping the pail and spilling its contents all over the floor.
As Chopper scrambled away from Luffy, he slipped on the water and fell on his face, crying out in agony. He glanced over his shoulders to see Luffy staring at him with curiosity before frantically running into the side room, trying to hide behind the door frame.
"You know you're hiding at the wrong side, right?" Luffy pointed out at the reindeer who had his whole body exposed and only hiding a part of his head behind the door frame.
Chopper gasped in shock before moving to hide correctly.
"Where am I?" Luffy looked around the room for the first time.
"Hey… Hey! Are you feeling better?" Chopper asked while hiding behind the door frame.
Luffy snapped his head at the reindeer, "You can talk?!"
Chopper hesitated before nodding his head. He didn't mind the presence of the other three humans because doctor Kureha was there with him, now he felt apprehensive being alone with the Marine.
"THAT'S SO COOL!" Luffy had sparkles in his eyes.
Chopper was stunned for a while, not expecting that specific reaction.
"Hey, so what's your name?" Luffy sat at the edge of the bed, the sparkles not leaving his eyes.
"To… Tony Tony Chopper," the reindeer replied hesitatingly.
"Shishishi, nice to meet you! I'm Commodore Monkey D. Luffy of the Straw Hat Marines!" Luffy grinned.
"You're... You're a Marine?" Chopper ducked his head a little more behind the door frame.
"Yeah! I catch bad guys and bring them to Justice!" Luffy grinned.
Chopper frowned, "Like... Like pirates?"
Luffy raised an eyebrow, "Not all pirates are bad. I only catch bad guys, are you a pirate?"
Chopper shook his head quickly.
"Oh? But you had plans to be one?"
Chopper shook his head again, "I met a pirate before..."
"Was he nice?" Luffy propped his head up on his hands.
"He took care of me when no one else wanted to..." Chopper gripped the door frame tightly.
"So he's a good guy then!" Luffy laughed.
Chopper came out from his hiding spot, "You're… You're not scared of me?"
"Of course not, why should I?" Luffy tilted his head, genuinely confused.
"Be… Because I'm a reindeer that walks on two legs… And talks..." Chopper twiddled his fingers.
"So?" Luffy raised an eyebrow.
"Don't you get it? I'm a monster!" Chopper frowned.
"Shishishi, you don't look like a monster to me!" Luffy grinned.
Chopper felt a smile creep across his face, before finally noticing that Luffy was sitting up on the bed.
"Ah! Wait! You shouldn't be sitting up! You're still not fully recovered yet!" Chopper rushed towards Luffy, trying to get him to lie down again.
"I feel fine now!" Luffy protested, but Chopper managed to push him back down on the bed.
"No! You still need to rest! The bacteria is still in your body!"
"How do you know?" Luffy frowned.
"I'm a doctor! Of course I would know!"
Luffy widened his eyes, "So you're a doctor too? That's even more awesome!"
Chopper couldn't help but smile brightly at that, "Shu… Shut up, you bastard! I won't be happy even if you compliment me like that!"
"Shishishishi! You're so funny! Hey, do you want to become a Marine?" Luffy chuckled.
"A… A Marine? Me?" Chopper gasped.
"Yeah! It'll be fun!" Luffy grinned at him, sitting up on the bed again, this time Chopper made no move to stop him.
Chopper frowned, drooping his head, "But… But I'm not… human…"
Luffy waved his hand, "Oh, we're not that picky. As long as you uphold Justice, you're welcome to join my crew!"
"Justice?" Chopper widened his eyes.
"Yeah! There are things you want to protect, right?" Luffy propped up his head with his hands.
Chopper thought about his first mentor, doctor Hiluluk and how he had protected him from the other humans who thought of him as a monster. Then of Dalton who had defended him from Wapol when Hiluluk gave his life trying to protect the country.
He glanced down at his hands, he couldn't even protect Hiluluk, what gave him the right to protect anything else?
Chopper felt a hand on his shoulder just as the first tears began to fall. He looked up to see Luffy's serious eyes, the cheerfulness from before gone.
"So you've lost things…" Luffy said simply.
Chopper understood that it wasn't a question, but still nodded his head regardless.
"I've lost things too, things that I had wanted to protect but couldn't because I wasn't strong enough." Luffy looked down at his other hand.
Chopper watched silently as Luffy clenched his other hand tightly.
"Because I wasn't strong enough… I lost things that I treasured." Luffy glanced up at Chopper again, seeing the reindeer stare back at him with concern.
Luffy let a grin creep into his face, "That's why I chose to join the Marines! I got stronger to protect what I treasured while helping others who weren't strong enough to protect theirs too!"
"Wow…" Chopper stared at the Marine with admiration. "Do you… Do you think I can become a Marine too?"
"Of course you can! I invited you didn't I?" Luffy grinned, he propped his head up with his hands. "You have a dream, don't you?"
Chopper brightened, "Yeah! I want to be the best doctor in the world and find a cure for all kinds of diseases!"
"That's so cool!" Luffy exclaimed with sparkles in his eyes.
Chopper started dancing happily, a bright smile plastered on his face, "Praising me won't make me happy you know? You bastard!"
That was precisely the time another explosion rocked the castle.
"What the… What's going on?" Luffy frowned.
"Ah! I almost forgot! There's people fighting outside! You stay here! I'm going out to check!" Chopper ran outside the room, leaving Luffy alone.
The three Marines charged at the pirates, spreading themselves out towards their individual targets.
Chess pulled back his bow and shot a hail of arrows towards Zoro.
Zoro tightened his grip on his swords and slashed out at the arrows, cutting them down before they could reach him, not slowing down his charge towards Chess.
Kuromarimo had thrown a couple of afro shaped projectiles at Sanji who had tried to kick them away, only to find out those projectiles stuck to him like glue.
Cursing at his own bad luck, he didn't have time to pry the balls off as he did his best to dodge another hail of afros coming towards him.
Smoker on the other hand propelled himself in a cloud of smoke towards Wapol, pulling ahead of the other two Marines with his jitte held at his side.
Wapol himself had transformed his hands into cannons, pointing them at Smoker while laughing that his power allows him to assimilate anything he eats.
Smoker only rolled his eyes at the revelation as he let the cannonballs that Wapol fired pass through him, exploding harmlessly behind him.
Just as Smoker was about to reach him, Wapol opened his mouth wide, attempting to swallow Smoker.
"You think I'd actually fall for that?" Smoker frowned.
He swung his jitte in an arc and smashed it against the side of Wapol's head, sending him sprawling on to the snow.
"Your Majesty!" Both Chess and Kuromarimo cried out.
"You sure you should be looking somewhere else?" Zoro smirked, leaping towards Chess.
Chess lifted his bow and barely deflected the blow away, grunting from the effort.
"You dirty Marine!" Chess frowned, pulling back his bow and releasing another hail of arrows.
Zoro leapt back from him to avoid the arrows before lunging towards Chess again, the latter leaping aside to avoid the stab.
Zoro had anticipated the move however, stabbing his sword in the ground as a pivot before spinning himself to kick at Chess, sending him crashing beside Wapol.
"Chess!" Kuromarimo cried, attempting to go to his aid.
"Didn't you hear him? You should be focusing on me!" Sanji kicked towards Kuromarimo's head.
Kuromarimo cursed as he lifted his arm to block the kick, stumbling back from Sanji.
Sanji spun on a foot and kicked towards him again, hitting him straight in the chest and sending him flying towards Wapol.
"You guys aren't much after all," Zoro smirked.
"Don't you dare underestimate us!" Wapol yelled, pushing himself up from the snow.
"Your Majesty! Let's show them our real power!" Kuromarimo gritted his teeth.
"Indeed! Let us crush these infidels!" Chess furrowed his brows at the Marines.
"Real power?" Sanji raised an eyebrow.
Zoro swung his sword at them, "Bring it, we'll still crush you all the same."
Wapol smirked wickedly, "Now bear witness, the power of my Baku Baku fruit!"
He then proceeded to swallow both Chess and Kuromarimo in a single gulp.
"He's eating his own men?" Zoro raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe he's just hungry," Sanji suggested, puffing on his cigarette.
"Be alert, anything can happen when you're fighting Devil Fruit users," Smoker frowned at Wapol.
"Behold! The strongest fighter in all of Drum Kingdom! Chessmarimo! Baku Baku Factory!" Wapol yelled, spitting out a large figure from his mouth.
The figure got up to his feet, revealing a man with four arms and a wide body with two heads with one on top of the other, the top head being Kuromarimo while the bottom head being Chess.
"Aren't you just standing on his shoulder?!" Sanji yelled incredulously.
"What idiots…" Zoro sighed.
Chessmarimo stood in front of their king, "Let us take care of them for you, your Majesty."
"So now that they combined, who's supposed to take care of him?" Sanji glanced at Zoro.
"You're not suggesting on working together again, are you?" Zoro raised an eyebrow.
Sanji tossed his cigarette aside, "What? Not up to it? You shitty swordsman?"
"Shut it ero-cook, I can take him down faster than you," Zoro grinned.
Sanji smirked, "I'll take that as a challenge, let's do this!"
The two of them charged towards Chessmarimo.
"It seems we're being underestimated," Chessmarimo huffed, pulling out two bows from under his cloak.
Drawing back the two bows with each pair of hands, he aimed the bow at each Marine.
"Yukidoke no Ya Marimo!"
He released the bow and fired two afro tipped arrows towards them, the afros suddenly bursting into flames mid-flight.
"Heh, you think some fire arrows can stop us?" Sanji smirked, sliding across the ground to avoid it while Zoro just smacked it away with his sword.
Chessmarimo tossed his bows away and drew out four axes in each hand, slashing all for axes in an X shape.
"Yukiwariso!"
The slash sent out an X shaped shockwave towards the two, cutting along the snow.
"Get behind me, ero-cook!" Zoro leapt out in front of Sanji, raising his swords to deflect the shockwave away to smash against the castle.
That was when they noticed Kureha standing near the castle gates, watching them.
"Oh don't mind me, I'm just watching the show," Kureha waved her hand nonchalantly.
"You witch! What are you doing in my castle?!" Wapol demanded, shaking an angry fist at her.
"Your castle?" Kureha raised an eyebrow. "Haven't you already abandoned this place to pirates? This is Hiluluk's tomb now, you have no place here."
"You damn witch!" Wapol shot a cannonball towards her just as Chopper emerged from the castle gates, pulling her away from the cannonball's path.
"Chopper? What are you doing here?! What about the patient?" Kureha demanded, not even caring she narrowly escaped from death.
"He… He's well enough now… His fever's already gone too…" Chopper lowered his head.
Kureha smacked him on the head, "Even so, he's still sick! A patient is a doctor's priority! Everything else comes after! What if he's dying when you weren't there?!"
"What if who's dying?" A voice called out behind her.
Both doctors turned their head to see Luffy standing behind them casually.
"You! You should be in bed!" Both doctors yelled out in unison.
"Shishishi, I'm fine now, really!" Luffy laughed.
Kureha kicked towards Luffy, "You're only fine when the doctor says so!"
Luffy raised an arm to block the oncoming blow, the grin not leaving his face, "Oh? So you're a doctor too, lady?"
"Tch," Kureha lowered her leg. "What's your name, boy?"
"Commodore Monkey D. Luffy, nice to meet you!" Luffy grinned.
"D? Another carrier of the will I see," Kureha turned back towards the fight, losing interest in him.
"Luffy! You should still be in bed!" Chopper tried to shoo him back but Kureha held out a hand to stop him.
"It's no use Chopper, people like him are the most stubborn in the world. You might as well just watch over him from here."
"Eh? But…" Chopper hesitated.
"No buts, besides, the Marines in front of you are fighting to protect our country for us now. You'd do well to watch," Kureha grinned, watching Sanji kick away an axe that was headed towards Zoro.
"This guy is so annoying…" Sanji frowned, kicking towards Chessmarimo's abdomen only to have an axe block the kick.
Zoro slashed out his swords to deflect an axe strike while leaping back to avoid another one from his other hand.
"We'll have to strike together," Sanji grunted, leaping back beside Zoro.
"Never thought I'd hear it from you," Zoro smirked, swinging his swords behind him.
Both men leaped towards Chessmarimo at the same time.
"Futile!" The pirate yelled, bringing all four axes down on the two men.
Both men spun in the air, letting the axes swing past them, their eyes glaring at Chessmarimo.
"Collier Oni Giri Shoot!"
Zoro slashed out his swords towards Chessmarimo's chest while Sanji kicked towards his neck, flinging him away to smash into the snow, unmoving.
"You damn Marines!" Wapol yelled, fury in his voice.
He pointed his cannons towards the two men but Smoker appeared at his side in a cloud of smoke before he could fire.
"Don't look down on us Marines!" Smoker swung his jitte at the side of Wapol's face, smacking him into the snow.
"Yeah! Go Smokey!" Luffy cheered from the side.
Wapol pushed himself up from the snow, cursing under his breath.
"Surrender, you damn pirate," Smoker lowered his jitte to point at Wapol.
"You wish!" Wapol lunged at Smoker, his mouth wide open to bite him.
Smoker dissipated himself into smoke, pulling away from Wapol.
"Too slow!" Wapol munched down on a cloud of smoke, pulling his head back.
Smoker furrowed his brows as he realized he couldn't disperse the smoke that was in Wapol's mouth, feeling himself dragged towards Wapol. He shuddered at the thought of what would happen if Wapol chose to swallow that smoke.
He stabbed his jitte into Wapol's abdomen, forcing the air out of his lungs and spitting out the smoke in his mouth.
He reformed himself a few feet in front of Wapol, hefting his jitte on his shoulders.
Wapol gasped in pain as he clutched at his stomach, "You! That thing's tipped with Seastone!"
"Seastone?" Both Zoro and Sanji tilted their heads.
"It's a material that gives off the same wavelength as the sea. Any Devil Fruit user that comes into contact with it would be drained of their strength while disabling their control over their abilities. That's why Devil Fruit users cannot swim." Smoker explained.
"You look fine though?" Zoro pointed out.
Smoker grinned, "Only the tip is Seastone, so I'm fine with touching the rest of my jitte."
"Don't get so full of yourself!" Wapol lunged towards Smoker, munching at him.
Smoker stuck his jitte out and stabbed towards his chin, pushing him back and slamming him down on the floor.
Before Smoker could ask him to surrender again, Wapol mustered all of his strength and pushed the jitte aside, opening his mouth wide and biting down on Smoker's upper body.
"SMOKEY!" Luffy yelled, leaping towards Wapol with blinding speed.
Wapol widened his eyes as he saw the youth literally flying towards him, fists clenched in front of him.
"Tekkai Sai!"
Luffy smashed his hardened body into Wapol's abdomen, forcing Smoker out of his mouth while flinging him off the mountain.
"YOU SHOULDN'T BE MOVING AROUND!" Chopper yelled at Luffy while Kureha just laughed beside him.
Smoker dusted his clothes as he pushed himself off the ground, "Damn his mouth stinks… Thanks Luffy."
"Shishishi, don't mention it!" Luffy grinned, hands on his hips.
"Did you have to fling him off the mountain?" Smoker narrowed his eyes towards the direction Wapol flew off to.
Luffy just shrugged, "He probably deserved it."
"Luffy!" A voice called out from the side.
Everyone turned to see Nami running towards him with Usopp, Dalton and a group of villagers in tow.
"Hey, Nami!" Luffy waved enthusiastically.
"Nami-swaaan!" Sanji pirouetted towards Nami, attempting to hug her.
Nami just leapt over him, letting him smash his face into the snow as she rushed forward to grasp Luffy by the shoulders.
"Are you cured now?! Your fever's gone! Are you sure you should be walking around? Where's the doctor?" Nami fretted over him, ignoring Sanji who was now crying in the snow.
"I'm fine now Nami, I even got us a doctor!" Luffy gestured towards Chopper who was currently running towards them.
"Luffy! I already told you! You shouldn't even be moving around yet!" Chopper smacked a hoof against Luffy's leg.
"Shishishi! Sorry, sorry!" Luffy scratched his head in embarrassment.
Nami crouched down to look at Chopper, "A talking reindeer? Is he our doctor, Luffy?"
Chopper hid on the wrong side behind Luffy's legs, frowning at Nami.
"Chopper, this is Nami, our navigator!" Luffy gestured with a hand.
"Hi, Chopper," Nami smiled sweetly in an attempt to get the reindeer to come out of hiding.
"You… You're not scared of me?" Chopper tightened his grip of Luffy's leg.
"Of course not! You look cute!" Nami chuckled.
"I'm not cute! I'm a man!" Chopper protested, standing in front of her.
"Yes, yes, you're a really cute reindeer man. So are you joining our crew?"
Chopper frowned at the question, glancing up towards Luffy who had a big grin on his face.
"I… I don't know yet…" Chopper hesitated, turning his head to look at the other doctor who stood still at the castle gates.
"How did you guys get up here anyway?" Smoker scratched his chin, stepping beside Luffy.
Nami clapped her hands, "Oh! We took the lift!"
"THERE'S A LIFT?!" The three men that had scaled up the mountain widened their eyes.
Nami pointed towards where Usopp was standing with the villagers, helping them to get off a machine that was attached to a rope they had not noticed before.
"Yep, the villagers found it in a nearby village, so we used it to get up here!"
Sanji collapsed on to the snow in tears while Zoro scratched his head, commenting on how he remembered walking on a piece of rope some time ago.
Smoker just sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.
"Oh! Before I forget, Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi told me to pass this to you, Captain Smoker," Nami dug through her jacket and handed him a den den mushi. "She said to contact her as soon as you can."
"Thanks," Smoker grunted, picking up the receiver to dial a number.
In the meantime, Kureha had approached the Marines, a grin plastered on her face, "So Wapol is gone for good now eh? Good riddance."
"Doctor Kureha… I have decided…" Chopper began but Kureha cut him off with a wave of her hand.
"Save it for later Chopper," Kureha nodded towards Smoker.
"Tashigi, what's your status?"
"Captain Smoker! We have successfully captured all the pirates that had escaped us the last time. We managed to put out the fire on their ship, but it won't be setting sail anytime soon."
"Good work, anything else?"
"There's a group of people dressed in overalls that are claiming to be doctors held against their will on Wapol's ship, what should we do with them?"
"That should be the Isshi-20, the doctors Wapol forced to work under him," Kureha cut in. "They're clean."
Smoker nodded, "Let them go, Tashigi."
"Understood."
"Ah! Secure all the treasures on the ship too!" Nami shouted out.
Smoker sighed, "You heard her, Tashigi."
"Aye, Captain."
Smoker hung up the call, shoving the den den mushi back into his jacket, staring at the villagers.
"I'll go help them out, they seem like they need it," Smoker grunted.
"We'll go help too!" Sanji and Zoro sprinted towards the villagers, wanting to see the lift for themselves.
"With that out of the way, I'd like my payment for treating the Marine over there. That would be all the money you currently possess on your ship, thank you very much." Kureha crossed her arms.
Nami stared at her with wide eyes, "NO WAY!"
"Heh, considering I just saved him from the brink of death, I'd say I'm already being generous." Kureha smirked.
"That's just extortion!" Nami yelled at her.
Kureha frowned, "Say what you want little girl, fact remains I did save his life and I'm not getting paid for it."
Kureha looked towards the horizon where Wapol was sent flying to, "On another note, I needed the armory key Wapol had on him… I don't suppose I'll get my hands on it again…"
"Oh, you mean this key?" Nami flashed a key at her.
Kureha widened her eyes, "That's it! How did you get it?"
"Well, I swiped it off him when he first came to our ship, I thought it was a key to a treasure room or something," Nami smirked, twirling the key on her finger.
"Give it here girl, I have more need of it than you do," Kureha stuck a hand out towards her.
Nami stuck her tongue out at her, keeping the key from her grasps, "If you want it, then you'll have to agree it's a good enough payment for my Commodore's treatment."
Kureha let a grin cross her face, "Heh, a naughty one eh? Fine then, I'll take it as the payment, happy, pappy?"
Nami smacked the key in Kureha's palm, shaking on it before releasing her hand, "I'm the treasurer of the group after all, I need to take care of the funds."
Kureha laughed, "And the people call me a witch! You're way more craftier than I am, little girl!"
Luffy sat in the snow, his exhaustion finally catching up to him.
Chopper frowned, "You see? I told you, you shouldn't be walking around!"
"Shishishi, I'll be fine, so are you gonna be a Marine, Chopper?" Luffy grinned.
Chopper looked up at Kureha, who raised an eyebrow at him, "Didn't you want to be a pirate, Chopper?"
The reindeer shook his head, "I just wanted to be able to help cure people of their diseases. If being a Marine helps me to do that, I would become one."
"Heh, would they accept a monster like you?" Kureha crossed her arms.
Chopper glanced up at Luffy before turning back to Kureha, "I have already chosen to uphold Justice and to protect what I can. I won't let anyone else die because of my lack of medical skills any longer!"
"Heeheehee, you've grown, Chopper." Kureha turned back towards the castle, waving back at him. "I won't say much, just come back and visit sometimes."
Chopper let his tears flow as he watched his mentor leave, shouting at a group of villagers to help her move some things out from the castle.
"Watch the skies when you leave, Chopper!" Kureha shouted over her shoulders.
"You're princess Vivi aren't you?" Dalton nodded at Vivi.
The Marines were preparing to push off from the river mouth after leaving the captured soldiers in the villagers' hands. The treasures from Wapol's ship had also been moved to the Straw Hat's ship under Nami's watchful eye, daring any of them to steal from 'her' treasure.
"How do you know?" Vivi gasped.
Dalton smiled, "I met you when you went to the Reverie as a child, when Wapol was especially rude to you."
"Ah, that's right! You were one of his head of staff!" Vivi widened her eyes, remembering the man who had apologized to her on Wapol's behalf when the king had slapped her in anger. "So you remained behind to protect the country after Wapol escaped?"
Dalton nodded, "I'm glad to see you're safe, but what are you doing among Marines?"
Vivi frowned at that, "My country's been thrown into civil war because of the actions from a pirate Warlord. I had to infiltrate his organization to uncover his identity to the Marines."
Dalton widened his eyes, "I knew you were strong, but not this strong…"
For the princess of a kingdom to willingly endanger herself for the sake of her people, it was more than what even he could do.
"I apologize that I cannot help you with your country, but you have my gratitude for helping save mine." Dalton bowed towards her.
"Be a better king than Wapol, Dalton." Vivi smiled.
"A king? Me? I doubt the people of this country would accept a former member of Wapol's staff as their king..." Dalton sighed.
Vivi placed a hand on his shoulder, "You don't know that, I've seen how the people of this country act around you, you're not as hated as you think you are."
"You think I'll be better than Wapol?"
Vivi nodded sagely, "I believe you will. I look forward to see you at the next Reverie!"
"I will, and thank you," Dalton bowed again.
As the ships pulled away under the cheering of the villagers that came to see them off, the shots of cannon fire could be heard from the mountains.
"What's going on? Another attack?" Sanji frowned, looking towards the castle.
"Hey Chopper! The lady told you to watch the skies, didn't she?" Luffy grinned at the reindeer who hid behind the mast.
He walked to Luffy's side just as the snow that fell from the sky turned pink.
"It's beautiful!" Nami gasped, looking up at the snow in wonder.
Chopper began to cry, letting his tears flow unashamed as he watched the pink snow fall on to the deck.
It held no meaning for everyone else on board, but to Chopper, it meant a world of difference.
"I WON'T DISAPPOINT YOU! DOCTOR!" Chopper yelled at the sky. The others could only wonder which doctor he was referring to.
"I'LL BE THE BEST DOCTOR EVER!"
On a Marine battleship headed towards Alabasta, a Marine Captain sighed as she watched two marines competing to see who had taken out more enemies on the pirate ship they had boarded.
She looked down at the eternal pose, making sure they were still on the right track before sighing again.
The 2 marines strutted towards her, flowers hidden behind their backs while arguing whose flowers the Captain was going to accept. One of them wore heart shaped sunglasses while the other had iron bracers on both his fists.
They knelt on the floor in front of them, thrusting their arms out at her, "Captain Hina! Please accept these flowers as a token of our love!"
"I don't want it! Now hurry up and set a course to Alabasta! If anything happens to Commodore Luffy before we get there, I'll have your heads!" Hina shouted at them.
"Yes, Captain Hina!" the two Marines saluted in unison, scrambling to obey.
Hina stared down at the Vivre card, breathing a sigh of relief. Before, the card had been burnt to the size of a nail but it had now returned back to its normal size of about half her palm.
"You better take good care of him, Smoker…" Hina tucked the Vivre card inside her blouse
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And cut. so that is it for this chapter hope you guys enjoyed and see you in the next chapter
chapter 17:On The Other Side