Remove ads

An Aura of Freedom (One Piece/Pokemon)

Reader mode
Remove ads
Chapter 17: I Saw Three Ships (Come Sailing In)
  • Threadmarks
    • Despite all that was transpiring on the island, things aboard the Merry were rather calm. A silence hung over the ship, only broken periodically by the faint swishing of Zoro's weights as he slashed at the open air with the pair of them in his hands. The swordsman's training was watched from the side by both Spinner and Carue, while Usopp had gone off elsewhere on the ship.

    "Nine-hundred and ninety-eight… Nine-hundred and ninety-nine…" Zoro grunted along with each swing of his weights, "One thousand."

    It was a testament to the intensity of his workout regimen that despite having stripped down to only his pants in the freezing weather, Zoro's whole upper body was absolutely drenched in sweat. His breathing was heavy as he lowered both arms and the weights he was holding- with Carue letting out a startled squawk and jumping to the side as he almost found himself being smacked by one of them. Zoro didn't seem to notice, as he instead raised an arm to wipe away the sweat from his brow.

    For a moment, he seemed unsure of what to do next, until his gaze caught the sight of Spinner standing by the bow, staring at him with his stony gaze. He scowled, and walked over to the Pokémon to prod him, pushing against the side of his face to tilt him to the side slightly, before pulling his hand back and letting Spinner slam back down into place.

    "Dunno what the hell your problem is." Zoro muttered, turning away from the Pokémon and walking over to the side of the ship, where he turned his attention to the icy waters that surrounded them.

    "Quack…" Carue quacked.

    "Yeah, guarding the ship is getting pretty boring." Zoro nodded, "I think I'll take a swim."

    "Quack?!" Carue cried.

    "A refreshing mid-winter swim, to clear my head." Zoro said, and he turned back to look at the deck, "OI, USOPP!"

    The yell was quickly followed by the sound of something being dropped below the deck, which led to several curses, the sounds of more things being knocked over and dropped in rapid succession, before finally Usopp poked his head up through the hatch from down below.

    "What do you want?" Usopp asked, "Are we under attack?! Because you should know better than to ask for my help if we are!"

    "I wanna go for a swim." Zoro said, "Can you keep guarding the ship while I'm swimming?"

    "You wanna go for a swim? Here?" Usopp said incredulously, "You better not expect me to jump in after you if you start freezing to death! The water's way too cold for a normal person like me!"

    "That won't happen." Zoro scoffed, "If I start getting too cold, I'll just climb back onto the ship. It's not like I'll get lost just swimming around here."

    Usopp stared at Zoro.

    Zoro stared at Usopp.

    "Whatever." Usopp said, "Have fun with your swim."

    "Quack?!" Carue quacked, his head whipping between Zoro and Usopp in befuddlement, while the swordsman just turned back to face the water and wasted no time before climbing up and diving down into the frigid waters below. The duck shot to his feet and dashed over to the side of the ship from where Zoro had just jumped off, seeing him quickly sink beneath the surface. With a yelp, Carue began trying to climb up to dive in after him, but Usopp sighed and climbed up onto the deck in order to walk over and place a gentle hand on Carue's back, and guide him away from the taffrail.

    "Don't." Was the single instruction that he gave the duck.

    "Q-Quack!" Carue stammered, "Quack!"

    "Zoro's gonna be fine." Usopp assured him, waving the concerns off, "Besides, you're probably a way worse swimmer. Just let him do his thing, it's not our problem anyway."

    With that, Usopp lifted his hand off the duck and turned around, beginning to walk back towards the hatch with the seeming intention of getting back to whatever it was he had been doing before Zoro interrupted him. But as he turned, Carue caught sight of the object that was in the sniper's other hand. A red apricorn, with a vertical slash running halfway through the fruit to expose its insides.

    "Quack?" Carue said.

    "Huh?" Usopp said, turning back. He saw that Carue's gaze was fixated on something, and followed it to realise it was the apricorn in his hand, "Oh, this is one of those fruits we got from Spruce's home. Apparently, they turn them into those ball things the others keep their Pokémon in."

    "Nosepass." Spinner commented.

    "Quack?" Carue asked.

    "Well, I guess I should probably have asked before I started slicing this one up." Usopp admitted, "But I just got curious after they left. Those Pokeballs can somehow shrink things down and store them inside… if I could figure out how they work, something like that would give me a real edge in battle! Heh… even Zoro and Sanji would have to be impressed by the things I'd be able to do."

    "Quack…" Carue said, nodding along with what Usopp was saying.

    "I haven't been able to figure it out yet, though." Usopp said, "This thing seems to just be a regular fruit. The skin's pretty hard for a fruit, but the insides are normal."

    "Nosepass!" Spinner called out. The other two ignored him.

    "Maybe I could even figure out a way to make Person-balls?" Usopp mused, "Being able to carry the others around in a ball like that would be good for sneaking around when there are enemies like Baroque Works to worry about. It wouldn't be a Person-ball in your case, though, would it? More of a Duck-ball."

    "Quack!" Carue huffed, turning his bill up at the notion.

    "NOSEPASS!" Spinner shouted.

    "WHAT?!" Usopp yelled back, as he and Carue turned to look at the Pokémon. Spinner wasn't looking at them, though. He was instead looking out across the water, elsewhere by the island's coast, where a familiar ship had docked. Both sniper and duck quickly blanched as they followed Spinner's gaze and caught sight of the ship for themselves.

    The enormous Bliking stood, proudly and menacingly, over the Drum shoreline. From across the water, Usopp could make out that they had just begun furling their sails. He could also see that the ship wasn't alone. Though Bliking drew attention away from its companion with its sheer size, the other ship was distinct in its own way. Aggressively pink, with a figurehead in the likeness of a swan, and some kind of blue writing scrawled across the sails that Usopp couldn't quite make out from where he was. What he could make out was the sound that quickly followed the arrival of the two ships.

    BANG!

    BANG! BANG!

    Gunshots, as unmistakable as anything could be, which rang out from the distance. Usopp reflexively ducked, lowering his head and shielding it with his arms as best he could. Carue followed his lead, collapsing onto his rear end and covering his head with his wings, and the two of them remained ducked for several seconds, all while no more shots were fired. Finally, they each cracked an eye open and peeked over the edge of the ship towards where the shots had come from.

    With all the snow acting as a backdrop, it was easier to make out the various shades of green, orange, blue and purple contrasted against it. The archer and the afro from Wapol's crew had led the charge, disembarking from the ship and meeting the island's resistance head on, and to call it a slaughter would be an exaggeration. Though it was the guards who fired the initial shots, they fell with almost no resistance to offer, while a couple of their allies who were posted further away from the shore didn't bother to mount a futile resistance and instead fled inland. Wapol and his forces streamed out from the Bliking onto the snowy shores of the island, unopposed.

    As good as his eyes were, there was only so much Usopp could make out from where he was. A cold sweat broke out across his forehead, in spite of the cold weather, as he ducked back down and crawled over in the direction of the women's quarters. He reached up and threw the door open, only rising to his feet and dashing inside once he was confident he couldn't possibly be seen from where their enemies were docked. Carue followed behind him, looking similarly frazzled as the sniper quickly sought out a spyglass. With the spyglass in hand, Usopp poked his head back out and raised it to his eye in order to get a better view at Wapol and his men, as well as the second ship that had joined them.

    The first thing which he did was read the text scrawled across the swan ship's sails, something which quickly brought a frown to his face.

    "The Okama Way…?" Usopp mumbled, "They're seriously sailing around with that as their banner?"

    As the words left his mouth, Carue let out a frightened quack and recoiled away from him, as if even saying them posed some kind of a threat. Usopp raised an eyebrow at the commotion, and lowered the spyglass to glance over in the duck's direction. Carue gesticulated wildly with his wings as he paced about, and Usopp just shook his head and looked back through the spyglass. He made sure to describe what he could see for the benefit of his companion.

    "Whatever. It looks like they're forming some kind of a group… Hold on- there's someone else." He said. From across the water, he watched as Wapol threw his head back and cackled wildly, with his hand raised to his face to partially obscure it from view. The archer and the afro, whose unique manner of dress made it clear they had some kind of authority within his crew, shared some words, before they looked over in the direction of the swan ship, where the newcomer Usopp had spotted pranced through the snow towards them.

    "They're dressed like that?" Usopp said, "In this kind of weather?"

    "QUACK?!" Carue said, sounding even more distressed than before. Usopp began to turn his head to look at him again, only for Carue to ram into him and snatch the spyglass out of his grasp and raise it to his own eye instead.

    "Wha- HEY!" Usopp yelled, stumbling back across the deck before pointing an indignant finger at Carue. But the duck was too preoccupied staring through the spyglass to notice, and Usopp's anger quickly simmered down as he saw pure dread fill his expression.

    "Q-Quack…" Carue mumbled.

    "A whole ship of armed pirates and their crazy knife-eating captain, and the swan boat is the one that gets you like this?" Usopp said dryly.

    "Quack! Quack!" Carue replied, desperately, lowering the spyglass and turning to face Usopp. He whipped his head around, as if searching for something, before looking at Usopp again and raising one foot and tapping it against the deck five times. He brought his wings together and then thrust them out to the sides, like he was miming an explosion, and the action was followed by him drawing a heart in the air with his wings, and then finally jumping up and slamming both feet down as hard as he could.

    "What? Is this some kind of charades thing?" Usopp said, squinting at the whole spectacle, "Explosion, jumping, what…?"

    "Quack!" Carue continued. This time he tapped his foot against the deck three times, then stuck one wing up beside his head and shook the tip of it slightly as he slowly lowered it, before quickly launching into an imitation of someone painting a canvas on an easel.

    "Something painting?" Usopp guessed, and it was as the second word left his mouth that he seemed to snap to a realisation, "Candle painting! Candle, painting, three, and bomb and weight are five! Baroque Works!"

    "Quack!" Carue nodded. He tapped his foot twice against the deck and pointed a wing in the direction of the swan boat.

    "Two… Baroque Works…" Usopp said, "So what you're saying is that the other boat with them is carrying Mr. 2? Is that it?"

    "Quack!" Carue nodded again, his body sagging with relief as he wiped his brow.

    "Mr. 2 is here…" Usopp repeated, brow furrowing in concentration. He looked from Carue to where the two enemy ships were docked, and then back to Carue. Then he looked over to Spinner, and then around at the empty ship around them.

    "Quack…" Carue quacked. He and Usopp locked gazes.

    "ZORO! HELP US! HELP, ZORO! ZORO COME BACK! ZORO! ZORO PLEASE! HEEEEEEEEELP!" Usopp screamed, sprinting over to where Zoro had dove into the water from and frantically looking around for any sight of the swordsman. Unfortunately, there was no sign of him, anywhere. And the only attention Usopp's screams were attracting was the kind he didn't want.

    "HEY! THERE'S SOMEBODY ON THAT PIRATE SHIP!" Came a yell from the island, and Usopp whipped his head around to catch a glimpse of a figure in green toting around a rifle and approaching the ship.

    "CRAP!" Usopp yelled, throwing himself to the deck as fast as he could and lingering for a second as he waited for bullets to fly overhead.

    None did, though, so he raised himself up onto his hands and knees to peer over at the figure again, to see that they were still approaching, and now had the barrel of their rifle trained in the Merry's general direction.

    "Hide!" Usopp whispered to Carue, gesturing for the duck to follow him as he scrambled to the door to the women's quarters, keeping his head down all the way, and stepped inside. Carue stepped in after him, and he closed the door as swiftly and as firmly as he could without outright slamming it shut. And then the two of them stood there and listened.

    For about half a minute, the only thing the two could hear was the sound of their own breathing, along with the ambience of the ship- until finally there came the creaking and the thudding of boots upon the ship's deck. One pair, followed by a second, making two pirates coming aboard. Their voices were audible through the door, though muffled.

    "Nobody on deck, looks like, though they've still got that weird statue thing."

    "Man, that thing creeps me out. It's like its nose follows you around as you move."

    "You mean its eyes?"

    "No, man, its nose! Look at that big red schnoz it's packing! I swear, it's like some kind of magnet or something…"

    "Must be the water knocking the ship around, making the statue slide. And stuff. I think."

    "Well unless there's one of the pirates hiding inside it, I don't think it's really important right now."

    "I doubt it. Unless they were one of those conformist people. But these pirates are definitely hiding."

    "You mean contortionist. And of course they're hiding. You're the one who yelled and warned them that we were coming!"

    "I wanted to let you know that there was a pirate onboard!"

    "I WAS STANDING TEN FEET AWAY FROM YOU!"

    "Now look who's yelling! If the pirates weren't hiding before, they definitely are now!"

    "No, if they weren't hiding it's because they abandoned the ship altogether. Or because they're deaf and didn't hear you, in which case they can't hear me either!"

    "They might be deaf, actually. The one I heard was yelling."

    "You heard them yelling?"

    "Yeah, that's how I realised they were here in the first place. Heard one of them screaming for help. Sounded like a bit of a scaredy-cat, if you ask me."

    From where they were hiding and listening in on the conversation, Carue gave Usopp a flat look, while the sniper stewed in indignation.

    "Why would they be screaming for help? Did they see us coming?"

    "Probably. Green doesn't really work for camouflage here, does it?"

    "But who would they be calling for help from? Is there even anybody else around?"

    The sound of their boots trailing across the ship stopped suddenly.

    "That Sea King that appeared to attack us last time… is that like, a pet or something?"

    "You don't think they were calling for its help, do you?"

    There was an uneasy silence between the two pirates, which Usopp took as a cue to nudge the door open slightly and peer out through the crack at what was going on, while Carue ducked down to peer through the crack from below him. The two saw the pair of coat-wearing, rifle-toting pirates nervously edging their way towards the starboard side of the ship to peer into the icy waters below. And while their attention was focused in that direction, Usopp slid the door open a few more inches and reached through it, in order to peg the spyglass in his hands off the port side of the ship, where it made a faint splashing noise as it landed in the water.

    As expected, both pirates whirled around towards the port side of the ship, weapons at the ready. They shared a look with each other, before creeping their way across the deck to check out the source of the sound of themselves. In the meantime, Usopp glanced down at Carue, and the two shared a nod.

    With a furious battle cry shared between man and duck, they threw the door open and came bursting out. The two pirates barely had time to turn around towards the sound of the cry before Usopp and Carue were ramming into both of them. Carue jammed his head into one pirate's abdomen and, with his wings to hold him steady, swung it up in order to flip the man over the side of the ship and into the icy waters below. Usopp tried to do the same, grabbing his target by the calves- only for the butt of the pirate's rifle to be smashed against the side of his face.

    "HELP! I CAN'T SWIM!" The man in the water screamed from below, to no avail as his partner took a step back and rotated his weapon around. Both Usopp and Carue froze as they found themselves staring down the barrel of the rifle, and they raised their hands and wings respectively.

    "Don't move, pirates!" The pirate barked, facing them as he slowly stepped away from the ship's edge. His eyes were narrowed, teeth gnashing together with anger. Usopp and Carue gulped.

    CRACK!

    THUD!

    The pirate dropped like a sack of potatoes. His weapon fell from his limp grip, landing beside him on the deck, along with a medium-sized rock that appeared to have rebounded off his head from behind. Usopp and Carue blinked, and looked over to see Spinner standing in his usual spot, while his nose was pointed straight in the direction of where the pirate had fallen.



    -O-

    ​


    ​
    "Hmph. These guards were too slow." Wapol chastised as he lumbered out from his ship atop the back of his pet White Walker, a miserable-looking creature that went by the name Robson. He didn't seem the slightest bit perturbed by the bodies and weapons strewn across the red-stained snow. In fact, he seemed quite pleased by the sight, perhaps owing to the fact that Chess and Kuromarimo were joined by a certain flamboyant individual who adorned himself with a pair of swan's heads. With a wicked grin on his face, Mr. 2 lowered the heel of his foot from the face it had just caved in, allowing the lookout's body to crumple into the snow just like all his comrades. In a fit of glee, Mr. 2 did a pirouette.

    "What were they thinking, shooting at us?" Kuromarimo said, throwing an odd glance in Mr. 2's direction, before meeting Chess' gaze. The two shared a look that went unnoticed by their new associate. Wapol, for his part, was far more focused on the snowy landscape that laid before them. A smile graced his face.

    "Unchanging, ever-beautiful nature!" He sighed, basking in the frigid air as he gazed out across the island, "Chess! Is my castle intact?"

    At his king's question, Chess took out a pair of binoculars and peered at the castle that sat atop the distant mountaintop.

    "It hasn't changed, your majesty." He informed him.

    "Then on to the castle!" Wapol ordered, "My dear castle! Pirate no longer, I'm a king once again!"

    "Hip-Hip Hooray!" Mr. 2 cheered, darting over to stand alongside Wapol and Robson, "I'm so happy for you, my friend! What a beautiful country to rule over as well, as white as a fabulous swan! Ohh, all this excitement makes me want to spin~!"

    Indeed, Mr. 2 began to do another pirouette there in the snow, while Wapol's smile melted into something more boyish in response to his friend's exuberance.

    "My castle is enormous, I can't wait to show it off to you!" He gushed.

    "Oooooooooh~!" Mr. 2 hummed as he span, but then suddenly stopped, "But wait a moment! Over there!"

    Pointing across the coastline, he directed Wapol's attention to where a familiar ship was docked. The moment he spotted it for himself, all the boyish glee in his face was burned away in a blaze of murderous rage. While his king seethed, Chess raised his binoculars once again to survey the area where the ship was docked.

    "It's those Straw Hats!" Wapol snarled, "You were right, they did come here after all! Those damned pirates… here in my country! Ooh, I won't forget what they did to me! I'll make them suffer!"

    "We'll make them suffer!" Mr. 2 corrected, "As friends!"

    Just like that, the murderous rage was swapped out for boyish glee, and Wapol nodded along to the suggestion eagerly.

    "You're right!" He said, "We'll show them the power of our murderous friendship!"

    "You may have to wait on that front, your majesty." Chess interjected, lowering his binoculars, "The ship appears to be deserted at the moment. From the looks of the footprints going from the ship, they were headed in the direction of Bighorn."

    "Oh yeah?" Wapol growled, brimming with murderous rage once again, "Then how about we go to Bighorn, and fire a salute to mark the restoration of the Drum Kingdom?!"

    "That sounds like a wonderful idea!" Mr. 2 said. Back to gleeful Wapol it was.

    "You think so?" He said, "Onward, Robson! And onward, men!"

    The various soldiers under Wapol's command quickly snapped into a formation behind Chess and Kuromarimo, who took the lead in following behind the pair of Mr. 2 and Wapol as they began to march in the direction of Bighorn. Wapol, riding atop Robson, and Mr. 2 prancing through the snow alongside him. Behind the backs of their king and his friend, Chess and Kuromarimo shared another weirded-out look, but were otherwise silent as they marched along.

    Wapol and his forced marched along through the snow for about half a minute, with an air of doom hanging over them as they set off for Bighorn, until-

    "WAIT! STOP!"

    -another soldier, one with a conspicuously long nose, came running from the direction of the Straw Hats' ship. He yelled out desperately to the lot of them, and scrambled to get ahead of Wapol and Mr. 2 and halt their journey.

    "Eh?" Wapol said, "What do you think you're doing, marching in front of your king like that?! An insignificant grunt like you should know his place! Someone shoot him!"

    The long-nosed soldier recoiled at the callous disregard for his own life, and swallowed thickly as Wapol demanded his execution, but it was Mr. 2 who intervened to rein Wapol in.

    "Just wait a second, friend." Mr. 2 said, before looking to the soldier, "Wait? Stop? For what? Worried we'd leave you behind?"

    Between Mr. 2 and Wapol, the soldier seemed briefly frozen in place, unable to even utter something stupid and unintelligible. Both their gazes bore into him with each passing moment of silence on his part. Mr. 2 didn't seem particularly bothered, but Wapol's irritation grew rapidly.

    "WELL?!" He barked after just a couple of seconds, "Speak up before I have you shot for wasting my time!"

    That seemed to do the trick of snapping the soldier back to reality. He straightened up and squared his shoulders and opened his mouth to speak:

    "T-T-T-T-T-TRICK!" He practically screamed in their faces, eyes scrunching up and fists clenched so hard they were shaking.

    "Huh?" Wapol said.

    "I-I-I mean!" The soldier gulped, "The pirates! The trick! T-T-The pirates are tricking you! Y-Your majesty!"

    "WHAT?!" Wapol roared, "Those damned Straw Hats are tricking me?! What are you talking about?!"

    "On their ship!" The soldier rushed to explain, "I-I-I was on it! On their ship! And that's how I found out about the trick! Because they're tricking you!"

    "You were on their ship?" Mr. 2 said, his tone sounding slightly suspicious as he glanced over at where the Straw Hats' ship was docked.

    "I do recall seeing a couple of soldiers heading off in that direction before, actually." Chess piped up, "They must have gone to check it out."

    "Y-Yes! We did! We were investigating the ship!" The soldier nodded fervently. Kuromarimo's eyes narrowed.

    "If there were two of you investigating that ship, where's the other one?" He demanded.

    "He fell overboard. While we were investigating. And drowned." The soldier explained, "Because he couldn't swim."

    "And you didn't try to save him?" Kuromarimo replied.

    "Um. I can't swim either." The soldier said.

    "Oh well, can't be helped." Wapol shrugged, "At least one of you made it back, now tell me more about this trick you found."

    "Yes! The trick!" The soldier said, "While I was searching their ship, I found that they had left a note! The note said that they were going to leave tracks that made it look like they went to Bighorn, when they were actually going somewhere different. Somewhere in a total other direction from Bighorn!"

    "Somewhere different? Cocoa Weed?! Gyasta?!" Wapol said.

    "Gyasta!" The soldier confirmed, "They wrote they were going to go to Gyasta instead of Bighorn."

    "Those damned pirates, thinking they're so sneaky." Wapol grumbled, "I'll make them regret trying to make a fool of me!"

    "They wrote all of this down on a note, and left it for you to find?" Chess asked with a raised eyebrow.

    "They, uhh…" The soldier hesitated for just a moment before managing to find his voice again, "They hid it! The note was their secret planning note, and they hid it in a secret compartment. But as the other guy with me was falling overboard, he accidentally knocked the secret compartment open and revealed it to me! It's because of his sacrifice that you're being saved the embarrassment of being tricked by pirates!"

    "In that case, his death was a necessary sacrifice for the sake of the Drum Kingdom." Wapol said.

    "Concocting a plan like that to try and make a fool of my friend…" Mr. 2 murmured, "That's exactly the kind of twisted strategical thinking they must have gotten the better of Mr. 3 with!"

    "But they won't get the better of us with it, friend!" Wapol declared, "We're too smart for them!"

    "Mmmm~!" Mr. 2 said, doing another pirouette, "We are, indeed! Too smart for them, and too beautiful! When we catch them by surprise in Gyasta, they simply won't know what hit them!"

    "Very well, soldier." Wapol said, "For sparing me the embarrassment of being tricked by those pirates, I'll spare your life, for now. Now! Onward, Robson! And onward, men! To Gyasta!"

    The congregation of Wapol and his forces all rotated themselves in the snow in order to face in the direction towards where Gyasta was, before resuming their march once again. Snide smiles adorned the faces of Wapol and Mr. 2 as they led the group, practically bathing in self-satisfaction. As the soldiers marched on, the long-nosed soldier slowly took a step away from them- only to freeze up as he saw Chess staring back at him, and hurry to insert himself amongst the rest of his seeming kin.

    There, amongst those who wore the same uniform as him, the long-nosed soldier seemed to find his stride. He stood up straight, matched the steps of the men beside him, and became just another soldier. Beneath the uniform façade, however, the sniper known as Usopp was barely holding it together.

    'This is bad this is bad this is bad this is bad this is bad this is bad this is bad THIS IS BAD!' Was the mantra which faintly echoed in the background to his other thoughts, 'I had to steer them away from Bighorn, otherwise Spruce could have been in serious danger if a fight started up! But now I have to pretend I'm one of them, and there's no way I'd stand a chance against all these freakish guys if they figure out that I'm an imposter! The archer one would probably shoot me before I had a chance to run away, too.'

    With no chance for escape left for him, Usopp marched along with the other soldiers as the army all headed for Gyasta.



    -O-

    ​


    ​
    When Spruce awoke, he found himself almost immediately drifting back off to sleep again. As much as he felt better than he had in days, he was nevertheless lethargic, and his body ached all over. It was the sight of the room around him that prompted him to shift himself back against the pillow beneath his head to sit up slightly. Rather than the warm and homely vibe of Dalton's home which had surrounded him when he last dozed off, he was instead now greeted with some kind of gothic laboratory. Littered with skulls and blades and instruments which he couldn't distinguish between medical and torturous.

    Still, the bed he was in was rather comfortable, and the room was warm with the fireplace crackling nearby, so he settled himself back into bed to not fight against his own body's wishes for rest. As he did, he closed his eyes and concentrated- acting more out of habit than anything- and his eyes instantly snapped open with a flash of blue as he sat up in the bed with a start. The suddenness of his wide-eyed movement startled another individual who was in the room with him, who had escaped his notice until then.

    A small furry creature that walked on two hoofed legs and wore a lovely pink hat that his antlers poked through, suddenly jumped back at the sight of the upright Spruce. The creature's body slammed into a shelf laden with books, causing them to tumble noisily to the ground and draw Spruce's gaze in his direction. Both human and creature locked eyes, with the latter freezing up slightly under his gaze, before Spruce's face broke out into an absolutely radiant grin.

    "Hi!" Spruce exclaimed, waving a hand in the creature's direction with a great deal of enthusiasm, having seemingly forgotten his own lethargy for the moment, "I'm Spruce!"

    "Eek!" The creature let out a cry of surprise, and dashed out of the room over to the nearby archway. He leaned into the side of it and quickly hid part of his face behind the stone brick, leaving most of himself in plain view as he stared at Spruce. Spruce stared right back without his smile faltering in the slightest.

    "Sorry if I startled you." Spruce said, "I'm Spruce. I've never seen-"

    Talking seemed to set the creature off again. He froze, and then he looked down at himself, then at Spruce, then at the side of the archway that he was leaning into. Then back down, then back at Spruce, then back at the archway, and he repeated his little survey a couple more times before it seemed to hit him. His eyes lit up with realisation and he flipped himself around on the spot, so that he was now peeking into the room with most of his body hidden on the other side of the wall.

    Spruce stared at the peeking creature, still smiling.

    "Oh!" He said, and turned his head around to instead stare out the window, "I'm sorry, you must be shy. That was very rude of me."

    "Huh…?" The creature mumbled.

    "I'm Spruce." Spruce repeated, "I've never seen a Pokémon like you before, this is really cool! I hope we can become friends!"

    Though Spruce couldn't see it, his words had caused the creature's eyes to widen as he became somewhat flustered. Only for a second, though, as a heated anger quickly overtook them.

    "G-GET LOST HUMAN!" He snapped, and then added quietly, "By the way, is your fever better?"

    At the sound of the creature's voice, Spruce's eyes lit up even more than they already had.

    "Wow! You can talk? That's so cool!" He gushed, whirling around to face the creature again. Unfortunately, that only served to startle him once again. He stumbled back with a surprised yelp, and Spruce was treated to the sound of many things falling over and being knocked down in one great big clumsy mess, until someone came storming down the hallway towards them.

    "STOP THAT RUCKUS, CHOPPER!" Doctor Kureha barked as she walked past that whole mess and into the room, toting a bottle of liquor around with her as she set eyes on Spruce, "Kak Kak Kak! Your fever seems to have gone down a bit, boyo. Are you happy?"

    "Who are you?" Spruce asked, furrowing his brow at the sight of the rather eccentric-seeming woman. Rather than an answer, Kureha instead leaned her head back in order to take a long swig from her bottle, while her free hand reached out to press the tip of her index finger against his forehead.

    "A hundred point seven-six degrees. Hmm… tolerable." She announced, before lowering both hands and facing him properly, "I'm Kureha. But call me Doctor. Kak Kak Kak…"

    "A doctor?" Spruce said. With that tidbit of information, he looked around himself at the room he was in, partially reassessing the décor and the various instruments laid out.

    "The secret to my youthful appearance?!" Kureha said, as if reacting to a question someone asked.

    "Huh?" Spruce blinked, glancing back at her. Unsure of what she was talking about, he focused back on himself, and closed his eyes briefly.

    "You're in the castle on the mountaintop." Kureha clarified for him. His eyes snapped open with another blue flash and his head whipped around towards the wall.

    "Ria! And Pex!" He exclaimed. Kureha raised an eyebrow.

    'Hm…' She thought, before speaking up, "If you're talking about that dog and that bird, they're both resting in the next room over. They're a loyal couple of little critters, not to mention a couple of nuisances."

    "Yeah…" Spruce murmured fondly. Taking another swig of her drink, Kureha sat herself down on the side of the bed and grabbed a fistful of his shirt in order to lift it up and expose his abdomen. The action revealed a discoloured patch of skin on his stomach, a rather nasty-looking insect bite.

    "Look." Kureha said, "This is what made you sick."

    "That doesn't look good." Spruce said, "What is it?"

    "You were bitten by an insect called a kestia. They live in hot, humid jungles." Kureha explained, "It's an infectious tick, its bite infects the victim with virulent bacteria. Over the course of five days, it ravages the victim, giving them a fever that never drops below one-hundred and four degrees, not to mention superinfection, myocarditis, arteritis and encephalitis!"

    'What a lot of big words. It must be really bad.' Spruce thought.

    "Judging from the bite, I'd say you were infected three days ago." Kureha continued, "You've been suffering terribly, but it would have been over after the fifth day. Kak Kak Kak…"

    "Really?" Spruce said.

    "Because if untreated, after two more days, you'd have been dead." She declared.

    "What?!" He cried.

    "It's called the 'Five-Day Disease', but kestias are supposed to have been eradicated a hundred years ago." She said, rising from the bed and beginning to pace around the room, "Lucky for you, I kept a supply of the vaccine just in case. Where did you people come from, anyway? Were you traipsing around in the jungle on some prehistoric island with your shirt off? Kak Kak Kak… but that's too absurd…"

    "I was." Spruce nodded. Kureha stared at him.

    "You were? Silly boy." She admonished. She walked over and gave him a gentle shove to push him back down into the mattress.

    "Stay in bed." She ordered, "Your treatment's not complete."

    Not one to object, Spruce relaxed himself back into the bed. A deep breath escaped his lips, and he stared at up at the ceiling.

    "The Five-Day Disease, huh?" He said, "Normal bugs sure are dangerous…"

    "'Normal' bugs, eh?" Kureha commented, "Kak Kak Kak… It's nice to see a patient being so agreeable about getting their bedrest. That's certainly not what I would have expected, after seeing the kind of friends you keep."

    "If I don't get rest, I can't heal properly. Right, doctor?" Spruce said, "I've been really letting my friends down recently, and if I stay sick, I won't be able to make it up to them… Plus, it was really nice of you to take care of me like this! I wouldn't want to be a bother after everything."

    "Maybe with a nice attitude like that, I might be inclined to give you a discount on the bill." Kureha said, smirking.

    "There is one thing, though." Spruce said.

    "Hm?"

    "That Pokémon with the antlers." He said, pointing towards the archway where the creature had once again resumed his peeking. Upon becoming the centre of attention again, the creature froze up with a start, and then jumped back to get out of view.

    "Are you their trainer?" Spruce asked, "I've never seen a Pokémon like that before! And they can talk, too!"

    "Kak Kak Kak!" Kureha chuckled, "You've got a lot to learn about the world, boy. That creature's name is Chopper, he's a blue-nosed reindeer, not a Pokémon, and he ate the Human-Human Fruit."

    'That's one of those Devil Fruits!' Spruce thought, eyes widening at the information, 'That means he's like Luffy.'

    "I'm not his trainer, but I am his teacher, and he's my assistant." She continued, "I've taught him all of my medical skills."

    "Wow…" Spruce said, looking over in the direction of where Chopper was hiding behind the wall.

    "Hmm…" Kureha sized Spruce up again, narrowing her gaze slightly as she focused on his eyes in particular, "Well, if you're going to be such a good little patient and stay in bed, there's no need for me to hang around and keep watch of you."

    "I wouldn't want to keep you." Spruce replied.

    "But I'll give you a word of warning, just in case you get any ideas." She said, "Patients only leave my care in one of two conditions: cured, or dead. KAK KAK KAK!"



    -O-

    ​


    ​
    A rush of warm air greeted Dalton and Vivi as they stepped into the restaurant together. More than the heat of the shop, though, was the warmth of the people themselves, every single one of whom lit up at the sight of Dalton. The only individual who seemed to pay no mind to the two's entrance was the very person they were after: Luffy, who was instead focused on the cup of hot chocolate he had his hands wrapped around as he sat in the corner of the building.

    "Dalton!" One of the customers greeted.

    "Hey, Dalton!" Another echoed.

    "Is this guy with you, Dalton?" The restaurant owner asked, going over to the two of them and gesturing with his thumb back at Luffy, "We heard him crash into the snow nearby just as the witch was leaving!"

    "He's weird!" Added a young boy, laid out on a nearby couch with bandages wrapped around both his legs. If Luffy heard the boy's comment, he certainly didn't show it, simply chugging down his hot chocolate before standing up and going over to his two companions.

    "That old lady said she'd go take care of Spruce." Luffy said, "She took Ria with her, too."

    "I'm glad to hear it." Dalton smiled, "For all of her… eccentricities, Doctor Kureha is a brilliant doctor. Your friend will be well looked after."

    "Then should we head back to the village to meet back up with Nami and Sanji?" Vivi suggested, "I'm sure the others back on the ship will want to hear the news too."

    "Yeah." Luffy said.

    "And this time, we'll take Dalton's sledge the whole way, with all of us." She added pointedly.

    "Shishishishishi!" Luffy snickered in response, "Sorry, but I didn't wanna let her get away from us."

    "It was something of a shock to see such a Devil Fruit ability in action." Dalton remarked, "But it seems like it served you well in the end."

    He turned his attention to the owner of the restaurant and added, "We'll be going now, I'm sorry for imposing."

    "You don't impose!" The owner responded, "As far as I'm concerned, you're always welcome here!"

    "That's right!" A customer said, "And I'm voting for you in the elections, too!"

    The promise flustered Dalton as he turned away from the owner and faced the door of the restaurant. Watching the reaction closely, Vivi smiled to herself, and likewise turned around to face the door. The two turned just in time to watch as it flew open, and a terrified man with blonde hair and a rifle slung over his shoulder burst in.

    "DALTON?! IS DALTON HERE?!" The man cried, and Dalton made haste over towards him.

    "What's wrong?" He asked, "You're supposed to be on guard."

    "THE OTHER GUARDS ARE ALL DEAD!" The man answered. A silence fell over the restaurant in an instant, and a tenseness began to hang in the air as no one dared move after such an announcement.

    "A SUBMERSIBLE SHIP APPEARED OUT OF THE SEA AND ITS CREW KILLED EVERYBODY! DALTON, PLEASE SAVE US! WE NEED YOUR STRENGTH!"

    "Calm down." Dalton said sternly, his face hardening at the new information, "Who killed them?"

    "WAPOL!" The man screamed, "HE'S BACK!"

    At the mention of his name, the sound of silverwork clattering echoed all across the restaurant. Hushed, fearful whispers broke out both inside and outside from everyone who had just heard the news. A lone voice emerged amidst the whispers, one that spoke with a freezing calmness:

    "Where is he now?" Dalton said.

    "They're headed for Gyasta!"

    The words hadn't even fully left the guard's mouth before Dalton was in motion. Like the wind, he was outside and on horseback, and Vivi and Luffy could both hear the thundering of hooves that were rapidly gaining distance from where they were currently. The latter remained where he was, while the former rushed to the still-open door and poked her head out to call after him.

    "DALTON! DALTON!" For all the good it did, as she couldn't even see him with how far he'd already gotten. Vivi heaved a sigh and let the door close as she hung her head and stared at the floor.

    "He can't seriously be planning on facing all of Wapol's men by himself, can he?" She muttered.

    CRACK!

    The noise of knuckles cracking gave Vivi a start, and her head whipped around to see that the perpetrator was none other than Luffy, who made his way over to the guard who had given Dalton the warning. He cracked the knuckles on his other hand.

    "Hey, you." Luffy said.

    "Huh? Aren't you that pir- erm," The man cut himself off before he could finish uttering that particular label, throwing a glance around at everyone in the restaurant who were in various states of fear and unease, "Aren't you that sailor?"

    "That place Wapo-guy is going, which way is it?" Luffy asked, prompting a gasp from Vivi.

    "Luffy, you aren't thinking of-!"

    "I-It's in that direction, north from here." The man said, cutting Vivi off as he gestured vaguely with his hand towards where Gyasta was.

    "Vivi, you can make your way back to the village, right?" Luffy said. He glanced over in her direction, seeing her already beginning to stew in resignation.

    "Yes, I can." She told him, holding back another sigh, "I'll let Nami and Sanji know about what's happening, if they haven't already heard."

    "Great!" He grinned, with that grin quickly taking on a slightly more predatory gleam, "Now I'm gonna go beat the crap out of Wapo-guy!"

    Vivi stepped out of the way so that Luffy could stride past her and back out into the cold. Just before the door slammed shut behind him, she saw him turn in the direction the guard had indicated, and take off running as fast as he could. There were no shortage of gobsmacked faces and agape jaws left in his wake, along with one restaurant owner whose eyes were slowly narrowing.

    "Hold on a second…" He said, "That guy never paid for his drink!"

    "How about…" Vivi chimed in, turning to the man with a mildly embarrassed look on her face, "He helps save your country from a tyrant, and you call it even?"



    -O-

    ​


    ​
    'I wonder what Luffy and everyone else is up to…' Spruce thought to himself as he laid there in bed, in a state halfway between sleeping and being awake. After their initial meeting, Kureha had left him by his lonesome in the bed in order to get the rest he sorely needed, and she hadn't returned since. Occasionally, he'd be able to detect Chopper's aura nearby, as the reindeer periodically checked up on him, but they had yet to share words since their initial encounter.

    Just as Spruce relaxed his body fully beneath the covers, the door to his room burst open, and he shot up with wide and eager eyes just in time to catch two masses of blue fur and black feathers come barrelling towards him. Ria and Pex threw themselves into his chest and knocked him back down into the mattress as he let out a laugh.

    "RIOLU!"

    "RAVIA!"

    "I'm happy to see you guys too!" Spruce said, drawing the two into a tight embrace, "Being sick really sucked, and I know how hard it was on all of you as well."

    "Riolu." Ria muttered, her voice muffled slightly as she nuzzled into his crook of his neck.

    "You did a great job taking charge." He praised her, reaching up with a hand to rub the back of her head, while his other hand stroked Pex' plumage, "And I know how difficult it must have been to fly all the way up here with that message, Pex. You'll get a treat later."

    Were the bird Pokémon not already so fixated on the wellbeing of his trainer, the news of such a treat would have certainly made him jump for joy. As it was, he just continued to soak in his trainer's embrace, until Spruce moved his hand to plant it against the mattress and push himself up into a sitting position. Pex backed off and hopped over to the foot of the bed, where he perched himself on the bedframe, while Ria plopped herself down into a sitting position on Spruce's lap.

    "It sucks that this room is too small for Whiskers to fit." Spruce said, "I wanna let him know that I'm okay too."

    His hand drifted down to his waist, where it wrapped around the only Pokeball whose occupant was actually residing within it at the present moment. Ria hopped off of his lap as his other hand grabbed the covers and threw them back, and he shifted his legs off the bed. Just before he could get up properly, though-

    "STAY IN BED!"

    The three of them turned their gaze to the open doorway to see Chopper standing there with a stern expression on his face.

    "You still have a fever!" Chopper said, "You mustn't get up!"

    "Aw, really?" Spruce said, "I feel way better now, though."

    "The doctor's medicine is very effective and brings down fevers quickly." Chopper replied, "But the bacteria from the kestia is still in your body. You need antibiotic injections and plenty of rest."

    "Well, okay then." Spruce said. For a moment, he seemed let-down, but then he just as quickly perked up and slammed a fist into his palm in realisation, "Oh! That's right!"

    "Star?" Pex said.

    "Thanks a bunch, Chopper!" Spruce said, throwing a grateful grin the reindeer's way.

    "H-HUH?!" Chopper gasped, jumping back from the grin's trajectory.

    "You've been working really hard to take care of us too, haven't you?" Spruce said, "I said thanks to Doctor earlier, but I never thanked you properly."

    The words caused Chopper to freeze with widened eyes, but only for a second.

    "SH-SHUT UP!" He bellowed, starting to sway in place and wave his arms ecstatically, "DON'T BE RIDICULOUS! I DON'T ACCEPT THANKS FROM HUMANS!"

    'What a cute little Pokémon.' Spruce thought as he, Ria and Pex all observed his antics, "And you two, make sure to say thanks to Chopper as well. He's a really impressive Pokémon, isn't he?"

    "Riolu."

    "Ravia."

    Both Pokémon bowed their heads as they gave their thanks, while Spruce's statement snapped the reindeer out of his stupor. Chopper gave him a look of confusion, head tilted to the side quizzically.

    "A Pokémon? What are you talking about?" He asked.

    "Pokémon, like these two!" Spruce explained, gesturing to Ria and Pex, "I know it's probably confusing since you're the only one around here, but you're one as well! And you're a really impressive one, too! Most Pokémon can't talk."

    "You're wrong!" Chopper replied, speaking perhaps a bit more forcefully than was really necessary, "I'm not one of your Pokey-mons, I'm a reindeer!"

    "It's okay Chopper, being a Pokémon is actually something really cool!" Spruce assured him, "Right, guys?"

    "Staravia!" Pex nodded.

    "Lu." Ria affirmed.

    "See? What they said." Spruce said.

    "I… I don't understand what they said, though?" Chopper muttered.

    "Really?" Spruce said.

    "They just said 'Staravia' and 'Lu'." Chopper said, "It sounds like they're just repeating parts of the same word? Is this some kind of Pokey-mons language?"

    Spruce, Ria and Pex all looked at each other, and then to Chopper again.

    "Huh. That's weird, Pokémon are usually able to understand each other." Spruce said.

    "Well I'm not one of them, so that's probably why I can't understand it!" Chopper said.

    Leaning in slightly, Spruce beckoned Ria back up onto his lap so that the two could get in an impromptu huddle. Pex and Chopper both looked on as several hushed whispers were explained, before the pair's eyes suddenly flashed blue. Then they whispered to each other some more, their eyes flashed blue again, and they shared a few more whispers, before Spruce sat back up straight again.

    "I think you're right, Chopper." Spruce said, "You're not a Pokémon. Your Aura feels really similar to a Pokémon, but it's not quite there! You're like… an almost-Pokémon!"

    "That's what I've been telling you!" Chopper exclaimed, "I'm a reindeer! W-Well whatever, anyway…"

    As Chopper turned away from the other three, Spruce crossed his arms and furrowed his brow thoughtfully.

    "I guess the way I said stuff earlier must have been really rude, then." He mused, "I'm sorry, Chopper. Can we still be friends anyway?"

    "W-WHAT?!" Chopper screeched, his eyes practically bugging out at Spruce's request. As if the words themselves had actually struck him, he tumbled back into a bookshelf that sat against the wall, sending the books tumbling to the floor below while he landed unceremoniously on his rear.

    "Rio!" Ria said, dashing over to try and give him a hand up, only for Chopper to recoil away from her touch like he were burned.

    "That was kind of over the top…" Spruce said.

    "F-F-Friends?! Don't be stupid!" Chopper barked, "I'm a reindeer that walks on two legs! And I can talk! My nose is blue!"

    "Ravia?" Pex said as he peered more closely at Chopper's face.

    "Your nose is blue." Spruce noted, "That's awesome! Blue is my favourite colour."

    Ria turned her nose up proudly at that.

    "Wha?!" Chopper said. Once again, Ria extended a paw in his direction, though this time it wasn't to assist him back onto his feet. Instead, she waved it around to get his attention, then gestured to his legs once she had it, and then to her own two legs that she was currently standing on.

    "Lu." She deadpanned.

    "B-But I'm a reindeer!" Chopper retorted as he stood back up on his own, "I can't- I CAN'T BE FRIENDS WITH HUMANS!"

    "WHAT?!"

    The sheer volume and intensity of Spruce's yell froze the entire room in an instant. Chopper's mouth snapped shut, and Ria and Pex both went still as they saw their trainer, having shot to his feet in an instant, stood there and glowered at Chopper with a miasma of fury wafting off of him. It didn't even cross Chopper's mind to admonish him for getting out of bed, with how the human's sudden display of anger had stunned him in place.

    "WHO SAID THAT?!" Spruce demanded, "Who made you think that you couldn't be friends with humans?! I don't care if the doctor was the one who said that, I'll tell Ria to punch whoever told you that!"

    At the mention of her name, Ria snapped to attention and gave a fervent nod, "Rio!"

    "She's nodding." Spruce explained, his voice having chilled into a cool anger, "That's a gesture for 'yes'."

    "I know what… nodding means…" Chopper mumbled.

    "I don't care whether you're a Pokémon, an almost-Pokémon, or just a normal animal!" Spruce declared, "You have as much right to be friends with people as anyone does! Human or not! Got that?!"

    His intense stare bore into Chopper, who stood there and practically drowned in his gaze. No words could edge their way past the reindeer's lips, ramrod as he was, until he managed to tear his eyes away and look towards the doorway.

    "S-S-SHUT UP!" Chopper snapped, fleeing for the door with an added yell of "STUPID HUMAN!"

    With his eyes trained on the ground, Chopper sped out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him. Then, a moment later, he threw the door back open and poked his head in, though his eyes remained closed throughout.

    "AND GET BACK INTO BED!"

    SLAM!

    Then Spruce and his team were left alone, and Spruce practically collapsed back down into the bed. He slid himself back beneath the covers and tucked himself in, while Ria began putting the fallen books back onto the shelf. Pex looked to where his trainer laid and watched him heave a heavy sigh.

    "Man…" Spruce groaned, reaching up to rub the side of his head sheepishly, "That was really rude of me, to yell at him like that! Now I need to apologise again."

    "Staravia." Pex said.

    "I just felt so angry, you know?" Spruce said, "Thinking humans and reindeers can't be friends… What kind of person wouldn't want to be friends with a talking reindeer?!"

    "Riolu, Rio Riol Riolu." Ria interjected.

    "You don't know either." Spruce retorted.

    "Star… Ravia?" Pex suggested, only for Spruce to shake his head.

    "No, I could feel it in his Aura." He said, "There was something that hurt him, in his heart. Even though he wants friends, he won't be able to make any, not unless that wound that was left… is healed."


    Sorry this took so long, I'll try and get the next one done before December.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 18: The Friendly Beasts
  • Threadmarks
    • After Luffy's departure, Vivi had been left in the restaurant by herself to become an observer of how the citizens all around her reacted to the news of Wapol's return. After the initial wave of fear that had come with the lone guard's arrival, righteous anger had quickly risen up after it and seized the attitudes of Cocoa Weed's inhabitants. As she stepped outside into the winter air, she was greeted with raucous yells, and the sound of booths thundering through the snow. Doors were thrown open and slammed closed, and weapons were tossed about between citizens.

    "EVERYONE WHO CAN FIGHT, GRAB A WEAPON AND HEAD TO GYASTA!" Someone bellowed amidst the frenzy.

    "HURRY!"

    "EVERYONE WHO CAN FIGHT, GO TO GYASTA!"

    "FOLLOW DALTON!"

    "WAPOL IS BACK! PICK UP A WEAPON AND FIGHT!"

    There was no single leader who galvanised the people into taking up arms, and shepherded them into a proper formation to fight back. There were only panicked and enraged yells from whoever took it upon themselves to speak, and a chaotic mass of people all flooding out onto the snowy streets. There was certainly no shortage of vigour in the population, as they brandished their weapons and roared and cheered with the yells, but as she watched them begin to mount horses and pile into sleighs, Vivi's eyes narrowed and she dashed over from the outside of the restaurant to the front of the mob, placing herself between them and the town they were to set off for.

    "WAIT!" She cried, throwing her arms out to her sides. One of the citizens, a man who had been yelling at others to take up arms, stepped forth from the mob and frowned at her.

    "What are you doing? Get out of the way!" He barked.

    "Just wait for one moment!" She pleaded, taking a step towards him in return with a fierce gaze that never wavered, "What are you hoping to accomplish by running off as one big group like this?! So many of you will be running to your deaths!"

    "Better to die, resisting that tyrant, than stand idly by and let him try and take this country back!" He said.

    "MY WIFE DIED BECAUSE WE COULDN'T GET A DOCTOR!" A furious voice piped up from behind him.

    "MY BROTHER'S WOUND GOT INFECTED AND THEY HAD TO AMPUTATE HIS LEG!"

    "WAPOL NEEDS TO DIE!"

    "YEAH!"

    All the yelling made Vivi cringe slightly, but she stood firmly in place.

    "Think about it! Why would Dalton have gone off on his own like that if he didn't think he would be able to stop Wapol?! He's no fool!" She said.

    "WHY THE HELL ARE WE ALL STANDING AROUND?! DALTON NEEDS OUR HELP!" A voice from further back bellowed.

    "Sorry, lady, but we're not gonna stand by and let our country get destroyed for a second time." The man at the front said, before dropping his voice and leaning in to add, "And we won't be bossed around by pirates."

    With that, he planted a hand on Vivi's shoulder and shoved her to the side, out of the way of everyone else, which was taken as a cue to immediately set off. The disorderly thumping of footsteps quickly became a rumble as the crowd went from walking to marching to running in just a few seconds, and Vivi was left staring at them from the rear as they took off for Gyasta.

    Tears burned at the corners of her eyes. Clenching her jaw, she wiped them away with a closed fist. For a moment, she stared at the fist, then whirled around and slammed it into the closest solid surface within reach. The wall of an empty house, whose door had been left open and into which she could peer through the windows to see a state of disarray from the hurry the resident had exited with. Slowly, she lowered her fist to her side.

    'It didn't matter what I said, did it?' She thought bitterly, 'People without hope won't hesitate to throw their lives away fighting for a cause they believe in.'

    Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she turned around and walked over towards where Dalton had left his sledge when they arrived in the village. The ambience of nature around her felt overwhelmingly silent as she climbed into it and grabbed the reins for herself. Just before she got the goats to begin moving, however, she looked over at the empty space beside her.

    'With Wapol having returned, not to mention those lapahns that Dalton mentioned, it might not be a bad idea to be ready for danger.' She mused. Reaching down, she grabbed Bonbon's Pokeball and enlarged it. The ball burst open and deposited Bonbon onto the seat beside her in a stream of white light, with the Bonsai Pokémon letting out a gasp at the sight of the snowy landscape around them.

    "Bon-Bonsly!" She said.

    "We're heading back to Bighorn." Vivi informed her, "If Sanji and Nami are still there, we'll let them know what's been happening on the island. And after that… I'm not sure."

    "Bon!" Bonbon nodded. Vivi gave a gentle tug of the reins, and the goats began to move. Before she knew it, they were speeding back to Bighorn in the direction from which they had come, with the snowy treescape becoming a blur beside them. While she kept her attention on maintaining control of their movement and watching the oncoming terrain, she found her stray thoughts drifting to Wapol, and an incident that had occurred six years ago. She glanced down at where Bonbon was sitting.

    'Maybe encountering Wapol… wouldn't be such a bad thing after all…'



    ​
    -O-

    ​

    CRUNCH!

    SNAP!

    CRACKLE!

    Those were the sounds which came together to form the harmony of Wapol's indulgence. Wooden shards and small fragments of brick flew from the sides of his mouth as he carelessly shoved down whatever came within his mouth's reach. The citizens of Gyasta, faced with either the sight of such gluttonous carnage or the barrel of a rifle depending on where they looked, watched on in silent horror. Not one soul dared to make a peep as Wapol devoured their very homes. The distress of their reviled former king's return also served to outweigh any confusion or disturbance that came with the addition of Mr. 2, who pranced like a ballet dancer through the snow.

    Several of the homes had been set ablaze by soldiers, filling the village air with heat and light from the flames. Such intense heat seemed to only entice Wapol's appetite more than the homes which were so far spared such wrath. Standing atop Robson, he grabbed onto the fiery roof of one such house. His mouth opened wide- grotesquely so- in order to wrap around the entirety of the structure and allow his teeth to slam together and rip it away from the rest of the house. More bits of debris flew like spittle from the corners of his lips as his enormous mouth chewed the roof up, before he finally swallowed with a satisfied look upon his face.

    "DELICIOUS!" Wapol cheered.

    "YAY!" Mr. 2 said, while Wapol threw his arms out and looked towards the terrified citizens around him.

    "HEAR ME, MY PEOPLE!" He roared, "EVERYTHING IN THIS COUNTRY IS MY CANDY! TELL ME WHY I AM SO GREAT, KUROMARIMO!"

    "Because you are King Wapol, your majesty!" Kuromarimo said, bowing his head slightly before Wapol.

    "EXACTLY!" Wapol said, "AND I PREFER MY HOUSES TO BE COOKED WELL DONE!"

    For all the apathy and cruelty scattered amongst the ubiquitous soldiers that carried out Wapol's will, there was one within their number who wore such emotions as nothing more than a mask. One that stretched all the way over his particularly long nose. Beneath his coat, Usopp's entire body was so tense that it was almost as hard as stone. His fingers dug into his arms, which were crossed over his chest, while his rifle remained firmly slung over his shoulder as he watched everything transpire.

    'Where are you, Luffy?!' The sniper wondered, not allowing a hint of his turmoil to show on his face, 'You need to come and put this greedy, sorry excuse of a pirate in his place! Show him how a real glutton fights!'

    As Usopp silently prayed for his salvation, Kuromarimo's tone became more businesslike while he spoke to Wapol.

    "We've surveyed the villagers here in Gyasta, King Wapol." He informed him, "None of them know the whereabouts of the Straw Hat Pirates. Most of them weren't even aware that there were pirates here on Drum right now."

    "WHAT?!" Wapol said, "BUT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HEADED HERE!"

    "Indeed!" Mr. 2 added, "That long-nosed soldier of yours said as much!"

    'SHIT!' Usopp cursed as he saw the three of them, as well as Chess, immediately glance around at the collection of soldiers, trying to single out one with a specific nose. The sniper sneakily uncrossed his arms, careful not to draw any attention, and began to reach for an object concealed beneath his green coat.

    "But we did learn something valuable, your majesty." Chess interjected after a second-long look didn't yield any immediate results, "In your absence, the traitor, Dr. Kureha, has since begun to occupy your castle."

    Any thought towards Usopp was pushed to the side as Wapol's subsequent yell promptly seized the attention of everyone around.

    "WHAT?!" Wapol screamed, "THAT OLD HAG IS IN MY CASTLE?!"

    "The audacity!" Mr. 2 concurred.

    "HOW FAR WILL SHE GO TO EMBARRASS ME, THAT OLD REBELLIOUS CRONE?!" Wapol ranted, "I'll hunt them down- the Straw Hats and that witch- and devour them! MEN, MAKE READY! WE'RE RETURNING TO MY CASTLE!"

    The soldiers lit up with a flash of excitement all around, all quickly standing to attention. Glancing around, Usopp scrambled to find one of his seeming kin to position himself behind, so that they blocked him from the view of the important people.

    "This witch isn't one of my targets," Mr. 2 admitted with a slight frown, before quickly perking up and giving Wapol a thumbs-up, "But if she's my friends enemy, I'll kill her without hesitation!"

    "Yeah!" Wapol cheered. He squatted down so that he and Mr. 2 could share a high-five.

    What came next was a thundering of hooves through snow, which quickly became the sound of human footsteps instead, heralding the arrival of a green blur and a flash of steel that glimmered in the light of the day. And with that great mass of charging green there also came a yell, one which sparked a hopeful fire in Usopp's heart the moment the words washed over him:

    "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"

    Then that flash of steel was swinging downwards- an enormous blade of metal, raking across Wapol's tin-plated body with such force and such a sharp edge that it carved into him and sent blood spraying out from the wound. Red painted the air as Wapol was launched back by the sudden attack, hurtling into the nearby snow while Mr. 2's eyes widened at the violent display. His gaze followed Wapol's movement, drawing his head away from the actual attacker, who had arrived with such swiftness that none of Wapol's subordinates had even realised who he was yet.

    "WHO ARE YOU?!" Kuromarimo demanded, whipping his head around to try and get the attacker in his sights. Chess did the same, and their eyes both widened as they realised just who it was that was standing before them. The townspeople who had been made observers of their home's destruction reacted similarly, but there was a flash of relief that lit up throughout their population. The only one who remained ignorant of the attacker's identity was Wapol, who flailed about pathetically in the snow, clutching at his wound.

    "ARRRRRGH!" Wapol screamed, "HE SLASHED ME! I'M GOING TO DIE!"

    "NO YOU'RE NOT!" Mr. 2 yelled, tearing his gaze from the attacker in order to dash over to Wapol and snatch his hand up and give it a reassuring squeeze, "YOU'RE GOING TO HOLD ON AND SURVIVE!"

    "Or how about you go ahead and just die?" The mighty form of Dalton interjected, clutching an enormous metal spade in his hand as he glared down at Wapol, "I came here to kill you, after all."

    "DALTON!" The townspeople cried out in relief.

    "Dalton." Kuromarimo grumbled.

    "HUH?! DALTON?!" Wapol exclaimed. Chess and Kuromarimo quickly took up fighting stances of their own, with the former drawing an arrow back that was aimed squarely at Dalton's chest, while the latter balled up two fists enveloped in poofy black hair.

    "So you're still alive!" Chess observed.

    "How dare you attack King Wapol?!" Kuromarimo demanded. Their aggression didn't elicit even the slightest trace of unease from their enemy.

    "That shouldn't be a problem, here in the 'Great Medical Land of Drum.'" Dalton said, "Not with its elite doctors and their unparalleled medical skills."

    "You've got that right!" Kuromarimo said. With a wave of his hand, an assortment of individuals in pink surgical gear seemed to appear practically out of thin air.

    "ISSHI-20, EXTERNAL INJURY SQUAD! TO THE FORE!"

    "We will begin the operation." The various doctors all chorused as one monotone collective. Mr. 2 backed away from his friend as the doctors set upon Wapol like a pack of hyenas, though with quite the opposite intention as such.

    "Scalpel."

    "Needle."

    "Steel plate."

    "Hammer."

    Sounds and actions from seasoned medical professionals mixed together with sounds and actions that one might observe from a metalworker's shop. Careful incisions and masterful stitching were drowned out by hammers and nails being smashed into Wapol's own metallic body, and in less than a minute the pink-clad doctors stepped away from their patient to allow Wapol to stand back up on his own two feet. With no shortage of cheers from Mr. 2.

    "Phew!" Wapol said, "I really thought I was going to die."

    From where he stood, Dalton's eyes narrowed at the former king.

    "Wapol, let's go!" He said, "We don't belong here anymore."

    "Wapol?" Wapol repeated hotly, "You will address me King Wapol! KING! You are my vassal, Dalton!"

    "DALTON'S NOT YOUR VASSAL ANYMORE!" One of the townspeople bellowed.

    "HE'S THE ONLY ONE OF YOUR MINISTERS WHO STAYED TO DEFEND THIS COUNTRY!"

    "HE RISKED HIS LIFE! HE ALMOST DIED!"

    Their impassioned yells seemingly fell on deaf ears, for all that their tormentors reacted to them. But amidst the nameless soldiers that surrounded them, the disguised Usopp's fists clenched as each word washed over him. He gritted his teeth as he watched the confrontation between Dalton and Wapol. The latter of whom, it seemed, had at least registered what the people were yelling at him.

    "Hmph… he should have died then!" He scoffed, "He was the commander of the Drum Kingdom military. I'm surprised he managed to survive without any doctors around."

    "Outsiders used to think of this as a land of advanced medical science." Dalton said, "Little did they know that there were only twenty doctors here! And they all worked in the castle research laboratory! Every other doctor was expelled from the country!"

    "Couldn't be helped." Wapol shrugged, "That's politics."

    "THAT'S BAD GOVERNANCE!" Dalton barked, "Because every doctor in the country was in your castle, the sick had to beg you for treatment! Instead of caring for your own citizens, you held them hostage! THAT IS A CRIME!"

    'He's right! Withholding medical care from people who need it?' Usopp thought, starting to tremble with rage as he glared at Wapol, 'Only the worst kind of scum would do something like that!'

    "YOU DON'T HEED YOUR WORDS AT ALL, DO YOU, DALTON?" Wapol said, "KILL HIM, MEN! KILL YOUR FORMER COMMANDER!"

    With a raised hand and a finger pointed straight at Dalton, the soldiers all around Wapol wasted no time in raising their rifles and aiming them at him. So caught up in his own anger was he, that Usopp didn't register the instruction until a couple of seconds had passed, and he frantically grabbed at the rifle slung over his shoulder so as to not expose himself just yet- only to notice that none of the other soldiers were paying him any mind. They were instead focused entirely on Dalton, whose body had begun to undergo a transformation.

    Thick black fur sprouted out of his skin while his muscles and bones twisted and grew in order to adopt the shape of a bison. With a pair of horns that grew out of his head, as well as hooved feet replacing his boot-clad ones, Dalton took on the form of what could only be described as a mighty bison with the stance of a human being. His transformation had increased his mighty stature even more, and he seemed very much like a vision of destruction as he stood before Wapol's soldiers with his spade clutched tightly in his hand.

    "You are the son of the former king, to whom I am indebted." Dalton rumbled, "I'd hoped that one day you would come to your senses, but you never will!"

    "THERE IT IS!" One of the soldiers gasped, "DALTON'S OX-OX FRUIT POWER, BISON MODEL!"

    "A Zoan user, hm?" Mr. 2 commented with a mischievous smirk as he stood at Wapol's side and watched things play out.

    'A Devil Fruit?!' Usopp thought, 'It's such a different power than Luffy's, and the other Baroque Works members' too!'

    "SHOOT HIM! JUST SHOOT HIM!"

    A volley of gunfire rang out as the soldiers fired without hesitation, for all the good that it did. The ferocious form of Dalton that stood them became two, then four, as he moved with such tremendous speed as to leave afterimages which the bullets passed through uselessly. His movements kicked up a cloud of snow around him.

    "WE CAN'T HIT HIM! HE'S TOO FAST!"

    "I will spare no-one, not even my former soldiers!" Dalton warned, "FIDDLE BANFF!"

    Launching himself forwards across the ground with enough force to kick up a wave of snow in his wake, Dalton span himself around as he charged through the soldiers standing before him. To the onlookers, he was a mass of black fur and green wool, with his spade that glinted in the light, and the soldiers didn't even realise what they were looking at before they were knocked to the ground with bruises and broken bones and gashes aplenty. Dalton came to a stop with one hand pressed against the ground, while well over a dozen soldiers all fell behind him. And he hadn't even broken a sweat.

    "What power!" Someone gasped.

    "Like a hurricane!"

    "That's the power of a Zoan Devil Fruit." Someone else said.

    "He's a wild animal!"

    'YES!' Usopp cheered mentally, 'He's a powerhouse just like Luffy! With this guy on my side, there's no need to worry about all these enemies!'

    The sniper furrowed his brow and looked down at himself.

    'SHIT! I LOOK LIKE ONE OF HIS ENEMIES!'

    "I'm sick of you people!" Dalton spat, "A country whose king runs off at the first sign of danger is better off without him!"

    "Hmph. That despicable traitor!" Chess said. He and Kuromarimo stood beside each other, neither looking the slightest bit perturbed by how their own men had been knocked down like bowling pins just moments ago.

    "We used to be equals." Kuromarimo said, "They called us the 'Three Officers.' You have no chance against the both of us."

    'Yeah, right! There's no way those two weirdoes can stand up to a powerhouse like this guy!' Usopp thought, grinning everywhere save for on the outside.

    "We've known each other a long time." Chess added, as he nocked and drew back several arrows in his bow, "Unfortunately for you, since it means we know your weaknesses!"

    Chess didn't aim the three arrows in his bow at Dalton. A look of horror appeared on the man's face as he watched his enemy aim his bow to the side, following the direction of the arrows to see who his true targets were. Kuromarimo and Chess shared a sadistic smirk. Doing the same as Dalton, Usopp looked over to the other side of the village, the same direction where Dalton had originally come from, and saw a crowd of people charging through the snow towards them. Swords, rifles, a myriad of weapons they had been able to get their hands on, they brandished them furiously as they approached.

    "DALTON!" One of the people bellowed, "WE'LL FIGHT TOO!"

    There were roars and cheers of support and fury which made quite the ruckus to herald their arrival. Not a single one of them seemed to notice the sight of Chess and his three arrows aimed in their direction. It was instead the sight of Dalton's black and green form blurring across the snow that gave them pause.

    "Huh?"

    SPLAT!

    TWANG!

    "Guh!"

    "GYAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

    Several things happened in the same instant.

    Before Chess could fire the arrows at the villagers, Dalton had moved with all of his speed and his might and placed himself in front of their trajectory, positioning himself as a shield to protect each and every one of them. There was far more sacrifice intended in the act than what had actually ended up happening, though, as rather than piercing his body, only one of the arrows had made contact with him at all. The arrowhead nicked his shoulder, slicing through the fabric of his coat and opening up a wound from which blood began to trickle down his chest. But other than the cry of pain it had elicited from him, it was a minor injury that he was able to put aside the next moment after it was inflicted.

    The other two arrows, which missed Dalton altogether, whizzed through the air overhead of the villagers and quickly travelled out of sight. No-one observed it, but they soon landed in the distant snow harmlessly. It was an astonishingly poor show of marksmanship from a bowman.

    And the reason for such poor marksmanship…

    "YEAAAAARGH! GYAAAARGH! FUCK-FUCK-FUCK! MOTHERFUCKER! FUCKFUCKFUCK GYAAA-FUCK!"

    Chess was not the only one of his type there on the battlefield. As he screeched like a banshee and flailed about in the snow, desperately clutching at his right eye, the gazes of everyone- townspeople and Wapol's forces alike- slowly drifted from him, over in the direction of where Usopp was currently standing. The other soldiers under Wapol's command who had previously been near him had quickly distanced himself, leaving him there to stand alone with his slingshot in hand. The sniper was breathing heavily, oblivious to the attention he was getting from everyone else for the moment.

    "That soldier- that nose-!" Kuromarimo said, recognition sparking in his furious gaze, while his so-called equal continued to screech and flail beside him.

    "WHAAAAAAAT?!" Mr. 2 exclaimed, placing his hands on the sides of his heads and jumping up to give the most exaggerated depiction of surprise he could.

    "Hold on-!" Dalton said, "Is he-?!"

    Just before Chess had let fly his arrows, Usopp had unleashed a certain projectile of his own, which hit the intended target squarely in the eye in order to unleash the sizzling hot payload within.

    "DELUXE…" Usopp bellowed, "PEPPER SAUCE STAR!"

    "HE'S A TRAITOR!" Wapol said, pointing an accusatory finger in the sniper's direction, "SOMEONE KILL HIM RIGHT NOW!"

    "Eep!" Usopp squeaked, as the soldiers closest to him quickly aimed their weapons in his direction.

    "THE ONLY PERSON DYING HERE IS YOU, WAPOL!" Dalton shouted. Clutching his spade tightly, he dashed over in the direction of where Usopp was standing. The sniper ducked down and covered his head with his hands as Dalton passed by above him. Not a single bullet had been fired before the soldiers were being knocked to the ground the same way there allies had been previously. Hearing the commotion prompted Usopp to lower his hands and peek around him, and then up, seeing the fallen soldiers and then Dalton, who gave him a reassuring smile.

    The smile prompted Usopp to shoot up to his feet. He returned Dalton's smile with a grateful one of his own, and dashed over to where the armed villagers were all watching things play out. He passed by Kuromarimo and Chess as he did, with the former now sweating nervously while the latter shovelled snow into his burning eyeball to try and bring some measure of relief to it.

    "Now as for you two…" Dalton growled, turning around to fix his former-fellow officers with a steely glare. Kuromarimo grimaced and placed his hands up in front of him defensively, but there was an uncertainty in his stance. And when Dalton blurred across the snow and came hurtling towards him, he flinched.

    Over by Wapol, Mr. 2 clicked his tongue and reached up to remove the pair of swan's heads that adorned his shoulders.

    "I wouldn't normally show off my ultimate Okama Kenpo move at the start of a fight, but against a Zoan User like that, I don't have any other choice…"

    An enraged yell burst out from Dalton's lungs as he swung his spade downwards in Kuromarimo's direction. The afro-fighter's eyes widened marginally as his brain barely managed to process what was happening, but he was too slow to put up a defence against Dalton's overwhelming speed and power-

    "OKAMA KENPO: PRIMA BALLERINA!"

    CLANG!

    -which was why it was fortunate for him that he didn't have to. The sound of metal striking metal rang out, and Dalton stumbled past his target as a result of the sudden momentum from his weapon being knocked off-course. At the sound of the failed attack, Usopp whirled back around from where he was and watched as Kuromarimo staggered away from Dalton's range, while Chess's agony finally subsided and he half-crawled away as well, leaving just Mr. 2 standing before Dalton and staring him down. The twin swan heads which had adorned his shoulders now adorned the ends of his feet.

    "Who… are you?" Dalton asked as he straightened himself back up and raised his spade again, this time focusing his attention on Mr. 2.

    "Just an Okama, trying to help his friend kill all his enemies." Mr. 2 replied coolly.

    "Friend?" Dalton frowned, before glancing over at where Wapol was smirking at them, "Surely you can't be talking about Wapol! How could you be friends with such an inhumane tyrant?!"

    "SHUT UP!" Mr. 2 barked, "I won't let anyone badmouth my friend!"

    "You've got this, Mr. 2 Bon Clay!" Wapol cheered, pumping a fist for his friend.

    "As long as you're cheering me on, I won't lose!" Mr. 2 replied, giving Wapol a thumbs-up in return before he quickly focused his attention back on Dalton.

    'Crap… he must have some kind of Devil Fruit power just like the other Baroque Works agents did.' Usopp thought, 'And if he's Mr. 2, that means he's even more deadly than the Wax-Human Mr. 3 whose power was enough to restrain Master Brogy!'

    "As for you two." Mr. 2 continued, throwing a stern look back at Kuromarimo and Chess, "Seeing as you're so outclassed, why don't you handle that pesky little rat instead?"

    'CRAP! THAT'S ME!'

    "I'm going to kill that bastard…" Chess snarled, rising to his feet and singling Usopp out with a glare that made the sniper audibly gulp. He reached back into his quiver and extracted a pair of arrows. Dalton's eyes narrowed as his gaze flicked from Mr. 2 to Chess to Usopp, and his grip on his spade tightened.

    "EVERYONE, RUN AWAY!" Usopp yelled, whirling around again and waving his hands frantically at the gathered villagers while Chess nocked and drew back the arrows behind him, "LEAVE THAT GUY TO HANDLE THIS WITHOUT US GETTING IN THE WAY!"

    The hairs on the back of his neck tingled, and he leaped to the side, landing in a heap in the snow and scrambling to his feet without a second wasted. Without waiting for a response, he took off running as fast as he could in the direction of the nearest mass of trees. A scowling Chess tracked his movement with both his eyes and his bow, but reluctantly lowered them as Usopp took cover amidst the trees. The archer didn't hesitate before taking off running after him, leaving Kuromarimo there by himself, as well as Dalton and Mr. 2 who were still facing each other down.

    'I see… so he baited Chess away, knowing he was the only ranged fighter I would have to worry about.' Dalton thought, 'In that case, I won't let you down, pirate!'

    While Chess had gone in pursuit of Usopp, and Kuromarimo had stood around like he wasn't sure what he was meant to be doing, murmurs of agreement had quickly broken out amongst the armed villagers, which culminated in one of them at the front raising their rifle up over their head.

    "DALTON, WE'LL LEAVE THESE SCUM TO YOU!" They declared, "WE ALL BELIEVE IN YOU!"

    That was their cue. The one at the front lowered their weapon, and then they all turned around and ran away in the direction they had come from, leaving Dalton as Drum's lone defender. A quick glance around the burning village revealed that the unarmed citizens of Gyasta were following their neighbours' leads and turning tail and running.

    So, it was just Dalton and Mr. 2 who were left. Kuromarimo awkwardly shuffled over to stand next to where Wapol was spectating the conflict from, while the soldiers who hadn't yet been struck down by Dalton's wrath wisely backed away along with the doctors of the Isshi-20. Dalton narrowed his eyes and exhaled sharply through his nose as he pointed the tip of his weapon in Mr. 2's direction.

    "I don't know who you are or where you're from, but if you're going to fight as Wapol's ally, I won't hold myself back." He cautioned, "As long as I'm breathing, Wapol will never again rule this country as its king!"

    "Then I suppose… I have no choice but to kill you!" Mr. 2 replied, "For my friend!"



    -O-

    ​


    ​
    Ria shivered.

    As she walked the icy halls of Kureha's castle, she crossed her arms over her chest and rubbed her paws up and down her arms vigorously to try and warm herself up. It felt as if every time she grew accustomed to the frigid temperature which filled the castle, another rush of cold air would come slamming into her. Her eyes trailed over the architecture of her surroundings while she wandered about, taking in the unfamiliar sight for all that it was. Every couple of minutes that she wandered, her eyes would flash blue, and she would smile in relief for a moment.

    One particularly freezing gust of wind made that smile quickly drop into a scowl, and she scurried off in the direction which the wind had blown in from. Navigating past doors which had since iced-over from being shut so long, she eventually found her way to the castle's front entrance, where the massive wooden doors were wide open. As if to greet her, another rush of winter air from outside blew in, along with a fresh lump of snow to add to the layer coating the floor. The snow around the entrance had piled up high enough that it almost completely enveloped her legs as she walked over to the open doorway.

    "Why'd they leave the door open like that? It's freezing in here!" She whined. Once she was about halfway to the doors, she leaped up and over the snow to cross the rest of the distance, and planted both paws against them once she landed. Just before she could give them a firm shove and finally close them, however, she heard someone call out to her:

    "NO! DON'T TOUCH THAT DOOR!"

    Looking over in the direction the voice had come from, she saw Chopper standing on a mezzanine and looking back down at her. She crossed her arms and turned her nose up at him.

    "Give me a good reason not to! It's too damn cold in here!" She demanded. Of course, given the language barrier between them, all she got in response was a confused head tilt from the reindeer, and so she uncrossed her arms and planted her paws against the door again. The act served to incense Chopper somewhat.

    "HEY!" He shouted, even louder this time, "DIDN'T YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID?!"

    This time, the rise in his voice was accompanied by a rise in his actual stature, as he transformed from the diminutive, almost childlike creature he had been moments ago into a taller, more muscular version of himself whose features more closely matched those of a human being. Most notably, his antlers disappeared as he assumed his more human form. As he yelled and transformed, he threw his arms out angrily, smashing apart the railing in front of him and sending a chunk of it flying through the open doorway to land in the snow outside.

    At the sound of the destruction, Ria's eyes flashed blue. Her head whipped around from where it had landed over towards where the transformed Chopper was standing, but she stopped herself just as quickly and focused her attention on the door she had been about to try and shove closed. She lowered her paws and squinted at the top of it. The sound of wings flapping from above drew her attention again, this time to the sight of Pex flying over, where he began hovering in place around the top of the door.

    "Better listen to that guy!" He told her, "This door needs to stay open."

    Ria hopped up and grabbed onto both of Pex's feet from below, something which elicited a squawk of surprise and indignation from him, but he nevertheless ascended a couple of feet to give her a view of what was on top of the door and was so important that the castle had to freeze over for its sake: a bird's nest, with four chirping baby birds in it. With a sigh, Ria released Pex's legs and dropped back down into the snow below, which she began to wade through to back inside. When she looked over at the mezzanine with the destroyed railing, she saw that Chopper had since departed.

    While she returned inside, Pex lingered by the nest, where he stared at the sight of the baby birds with something resembling longing in his eyes. Though their down was a faint pink shade, he could almost envision black, white and grey plumage in its place. And a bird the same kind as him, perched beside the nest and leaning over with a beak laden with bounty…

    "PEX!" Ria called, and Pex gave a start. He hastily swerved around in mid-air and flew back through the door after her, all while she crossed her arms and gave him an unimpressed look.

    "Don't get sentimental over stuff that isn't worth it." She chastised. Turning around, she began heading back in the direction of Spruce's room, and he descended down to be closer to her level as he followed behind her.

    "Sorry, heh…" He apologised, "So, uh, do you think that Chopper is any good at cooking? Him or the doctor lady? Not having Sanji around sucks…"

    "Dunno. I'm not a glutton who only cares about my stomach."

    "Yeah, you're a battle-freak who only cares about winning…"

    "Got that right!" She snickered, turning her head to wink at him mischievously, "Chopper was interesting though. I think he transformed or something, I felt his Aura get way stronger when he was yelling at me."

    "Yeah, he grew really big, and his antlers disappeared. I saw it when I was flying over."

    "Ooh! Now that sounds exciting!"

    "Hey! No battling the doctor reindeer!" Pex admonished, "He's meant to be taking care of Spruce. It would be rude!"

    "I don't wanna get a lesson in manners from the parasite that steals every morsel of food he's physically able to!" Ria huffed, "Besides, he's not gonna be the Spruce's doctor when we battle, he's gonna be our crewmate!"

    "Say what now?"

    "Mhm! Got it all figured out. Spruce getting sick proves the crew needs a doctor, and since Chopper has all that old lady's medical training, he must be a super-duper good one. And as soon as Luffy finds out he's a talking reindeer, he'll want him to join anyway! Then once he's a crew member, battling him won't be rude, it'll be training! And training is good, because it helps everyone get stronger."

    "Did you forget what Spruce said about the wound in his heart? Or how it made him scream at us that reindeers and humans can't be friends? Your plan has some holes in it."

    "I didn't forget, but that wound in his heart isn't gonna matter because Luffy and Spruce are gonna team up and hit him with a double-friendship onslaught and fix everything. Duh."

    "Duh." Pex deadpanned, "Why are you desperate to punch him, anyway? Luffy, Zoro and Sanji are all way stronger."

    "But they're too strong!" Ria retorted, "And Bonbon and Julius are too weak! And you and Whiskers are too familiar! I need someone who's just right so I can get stronger by fighting them! Chopper felt about right when he transformed."

    "Whatever… Bonbon's probably gonna evolve soon, though, so you might be getting a decent challenger anyway."

    "Eh, beating her down just felt… bad, before. Though if she's evolved…"

    Ria let out a sinister chuckle that made Pex roll his eyes. The two finally came upon the door to Spruce's room, and Ria nudged it open so they could both enter. Pex quickly flew ahead to perch himself on his usual spot on the bedframe, while Ria shut the door behind the both of them. She took a moment to savour how much warmer the room was compared to the rest of the castle, before hurrying over to hop up onto his bed and join the other two.

    Neither Kureha or Chopper were around at the moment, making it just the three of them, with the addition of Whiskers in his Pokeball, and Spruce smiled as he patted the top of Ria's head affectionately. But that smile just as quickly morphed into a look of concern.

    "I heard some yelling and other commotion before, is everything okay?"

    "Riolu!"



    -O-

    ​


    ​
    "FIDDLE BANFF!"

    "OKAMA KENPO: BOMBARDIER!"

    Both combatants became a blur as they charged at each other. Gripping the shaft of his spade, Dalton began to spin himself around, but stopped as he saw Mr. 2 extend a leg in order to kick in his direction several times. He rotated his weapon around, trying to use the flat of the blade as a shield against the onslaught of kicks- only for none of them to actually connect. Instead, just as Dalton defended himself, Mr. 2's left leg shot up, almost doubling the angle of attack in order to strike above where the spade was.

    Following the momentum of the kick, the neck of the swan he was wearing straightened out, increasing its range while effectively becoming an extension of his toes. Its beak pierced through the air as it shot towards Dalton's shoulder. His eyes widened as he saw its metal surface glint as it passed over the top of his spade, and he was only fast enough to try and duck and weave out of the way. It was partially effective, but the tip of the beak managed to just catch the edge of his shoulder, where it parted the fur and flesh like they weren't even there.

    "GET HIM, BUDDY!" Wapol cheered.

    Just as quickly as he had extended his leg, Mr. 2 retracted it and lowered it to stand normally. The red tip of the swan's beak stained the snow at his feet, while Dalton winced and felt blood began to ooze out of the new wound that had just appeared. He didn't let it hinder him, though, as he shifted his spade around and leaped at Mr. 2 with a downwards slice intended to leave him in two. But with the grace of a ballet dancer, Mr. 2 bobbed out of the way and pranced out of Dalton's attack range.

    "You should be proud of yourself for getting to see the ultimate technique of my Okama Kenpo right away!" Mr. 2 said as Dalton turned around to keep him in his sights, "By the way, the swan on your right is a male and the one on your left is a female."

    "What does that matter at a time like this?" Dalton said.

    "HEY, BE CONSIDERATE TO THEIR IDENTITIES!" Wapol snapped. Dalton's head turned in his direction and his eyes narrowed, before darting between him and Mr. 2. After a moment of thought, he charged again- but this time, at Wapol instead of Mr. 2.

    "GAH!" Wapol screamed, seemingly frozen in spot by Dalton's blindingly swift approach.

    "I WON'T LET YOU HURT MY FRIEND!" Mr. 2 cried, "OKAMA KENPO: MEMOIRS OF A WINTER SKY!"

    Mr. 2 leaped up into the air and proceeded to perform several somersaults, building up his own momentum as he quickly began to descend towards the point between Dalton and Wapol, with Dalton's charge bringing him right into his trajectory. Just as Dalton was about to come within his range, he kicked his right leg out, letting the swan's beak fully extend to impale Dalton from above. Before it could connect, though, Dalton skidded to a stop in the snow and twisted his torso around, swinging his spade upwards from below straight towards the descending Mr. 2.

    Seeing the blade's edge racing towards him, and unable to evade while in the air, Mr. 2 kicked his other foot out. This time, though, he didn't point his foot, instead letting his heel strike the flat of Dalton's spade in order to push off it with its own momentum to counteract his. It was a shaky manoeuvre, and he struggled to make it look deliberate as he landed in a shaky handstand and pushed off to flip back onto his own two feet.

    "THAT WAS A SNEAKY TRICK, ATTACKING ME TO GET TO HIM LIKE THAT!" Wapol raged, shaking an angry fist in Dalton's direction.

    "Have you no self-awareness at all?!" Dalton gaped, briefly glaring in his direction. In that moment of distraction, Mr. 2 spun himself around and swung his leg out, kicking up a pile of snow directly into Dalton's face. Dalton turned his head just as the snow flew into his face, briefly obscuring his vision as he reached up to wipe it away, while Mr. 2 leaped through the air, performing several twirls before landing right in front of Dalton, and leaping over him again.

    Dalton jerked away from where Mr. 2 landed, anticipating another kick while his vision was still obscured, only to feel fingers lightly brush against the side of his face from above. Mr. 2 landed behind where he had been standing, now positioned to his left, and Dalton lowered his hand from his face just in time to see the Okama twirl around and direct a kick in his direction.

    CLANG!

    Gritting his teeth, Dalton raised the flat of his weapon into the path of the oncoming beak. With one hand on the shaft and one hand on the opposite face, he let the beak strike steel and gave it a shove to parry it away from himself. Before Mr. 2 could recover, he twisted his wrist, rotating his blade so its edge was aimed at his enemy, and then swung, aiming to slice his chest.

    Unfortunately, all Dalton's weapon cut through was the air. While his leg was still extended, Mr. 2 bent backwards like a limbo player, letting the blade pass above him as he expertly balanced on one foot. The momentum of the swing continued to move the spade in its trajectory, but Mr. 2 brought his extended leg back to the ground and stood back up straight. With a slight crouch, he sprung into the air and twirled around, before sending a kick hurtling towards Dalton's wrist.

    Reacting swiftly, Dalton's free hand snagged the ankle of the offending leg, stopping Mr. 2's attack short. Without wasting a moment, Mr. 2's free leg struck out towards Dalton's other hand, forcing him to hurl him away and out of his grip. Mr. 2 tried to control his momentum, but the force from Dalton's throw propelled him straight into the wall of a nearby house before he had a chance to. He smashed through the wall and landed in an unceremonious heap inside, while Dalton narrowed his eyes. The wound the swan had left on his shoulder throbbed.

    'I could feel that I'm stronger than him.' Dalton thought as he observed his foe, 'But that speed and nimbleness is a problem, especially with how much damage he can inflict with those swans on his feet. If I keep trying to land heavy blows, I won't have any success.'

    "ARE YOU OKAY, BUDDY?!" Wapol yelled, his eyes fraught with concern that made Dalton's stomach churn when he noticed it, "MR. 2! SAY SOMETHING!"

    'Where was this concern for your own subjects when you were their king?!'

    "I'M ALRIGHT!" Came Mr. 2's voice from beneath the rubble of the destroyed wall. He burst out of it and pranced outside, back into the snow, where he performed a vigorous pirouette that sent the dust and debris dirtying him flying in all directions, and left him as spotless as he had been before he crashed through a wall.

    "WOOHOO! NOW GO GET HIM!" Wapol cheered.

    "You got it, buddy!" Mr. 2 gave him a thumbs-up and a grin.

    'Heavy, sweeping attacks don't work.' Dalton thought, 'So perhaps…'

    He leaped into action. Mr. 2 whipped his head back around to watch his opponent become a black and green blur, zigzagging across the snow and leaving afterimages of himself behind that made it almost impossible to pinpoint his present location at any one moment. Focusing himself, Mr. 2 got in a fighting stance, anticipating a direct attack, but furrowed his brow slightly as he followed Dalton's movements as best he could and realised that he wasn't approaching. Rather, he was encircling. With the house behind him serving as a barrier, Dalton's movements formed an arch shape as he dashed and strafed without stopping.

    The spade had been returned to its sheath and was currently resting securely on his back, leaving Dalton with only his bare hands to fight with. Both the wounds he had acquired since his arrival, from Chess and Mr. 2, continued to ooze blood, which was staining the snow beneath his mobile feet and leaving behind a mark of his movement.

    "So that's how you want to play it, hm?" Mr. 2 said, "MASCARA BOOMERANG!"

    Reaching up, he peeled off the mascara below his eyes, revealing a pair of small, sharp projectiles which he sent flying with a flick of both wrists. They span in the air as they moved, quickly resembling a pair of razor-sharp disks, and they passed through Dalton's path without striking the man himself. Mr. 2 smirked as he watched both boomerangs continue on their own trajectory and curve around, coming back the way they came- but just as they did, Dalton suddenly veered off his own path. From Mr. 2's right, he raced forwards and thrust a palm out, slamming into his chest before he had a chance to counterattack, and the force of the blow knocked Mr. 2 off his feet altogether, sending him skidding back across the snow.

    "MR. 2!" Wapol screamed.

    With a pained wheeze, Mr. 2 rose back up onto his feet from where he had stopped. He brushed the snow from his body and pressed a hand lightly to his chest where Dalton's strike had connected. The contact made him cringe, but he nonetheless straightened up and stood strong in the face of Dalton, who had ceased his constant movement after landing the blow. Behind him, Mr. 2's mascara boomerangs had flown through the destroyed wall of the house and landed somewhere amongst the rubble.

    Mr. 2 and Dalton's eyes met and the two stared at each other for an instant. A thousand thoughts raced through both their minds, before something devious sparked in Mr. 2's and he tore his gaze away. He took a step towards Dalton, and then suddenly coughed, placing a hand against his chest and hunching over slightly. Not one to waste an opportunity, Dalton moved. Now that they were further from the surrounding buildings, he encircled Mr. 2 fully with his movements. A ring of afterimages appeared around the seemingly winded Mr. 2 as Dalton prepared to attack him once again.

    Over beside Wapol, Kuromarimo gulped.

    Deep, heavy breaths formed clouds of mist around Mr. 2's face as he remained partially hunched over. Slowly, he straightened up, and his breaths grew lighter. The hand that was pressed to his chest began to drift upwards, across his neck, towards his chin, and his head started to turn ever-so-slightly around to look behind him. It was at that moment that Dalton struck.

    From directly behind where Mr. 2 was standing, Dalton threw himself forward, aiming to give a repeat performance of his previous attack. The muscles in his legs were all fully tensed, pushing him as fast across as the ground as he could possibly go. He reared an open palm back. He focused in on the centre of his enemy's back beneath his coat.

    He never noticed Mr. 2 placing his hand to his cheek.

    In an instant, Mr. 2 as Dalton had known him was gone. The slender body and hairy legs and face caked in makeup were all replaced by something else. Something that he was intimately familiar with: himself.

    Not just himself, though. Specifically, his transformed self. His fur and horns and powerful stature that came as a result of his Devil Fruit were all now staring back at him, wrapped up in the blue and pink garments of his enemy as Mr. 2 whirled around and caught his attack with a mirror of his own hand. It hadn't been necessary, as the mirror of himself had been enough to stun Dalton and stifle his attack anyway. Then as he was still in his shocked stupor, Mr. 2 reached up with his furry hand and plunged it into the wound in his shoulder.

    Dalton roared in pain and threw his head back, and he failed to notice Mr. 2 pulling that hand away and pressing it to the side of his own face. In that moment of shock and vulnerability, Mr. 2 struck.

    "UN! DEUX!"

    "BWAHAHAHAHA! GOOD JOB, BUDDY!"

    A strangled gasp slipped out from Dalton's lips as he faintly registered both the sound of Wapol's maniacal laughter accompanied by enthusiastic applause, and the sight of Mr. 2 yanking his feet out of his chest and shaking off the swans that were now more red than they were white. For a moment just now, there had been a burning in his chest, but now it felt cold. He felt cold, and light. All around him, everything grew blurrier by the second, and the sounds that had been so clear became more and more muted.

    Dalton's legs gave out beneath him, and he feel forwards into the snow. A pool of red quickly began to amass beneath where he laid.

    Mr. 2 turned away from his fallen foe and faced his adoring audience. With an ear-to-ear grin upon his face, he took a bow.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Not entirely sure that Mr. 2 should be able to copy a Zoan transformation. I'd see no reason he couldnt copy a Fishman or Giant to gain their strength, but a transformed zoan seems a bit out there. We also never see the Clone Clone fruit used to copy the appearance of an animal.

    But then, I'm not sure he *shouldnt* be able to do that either. We have seen other Devil Fruits allow the user to copy powers after all.

    I'd lean towards the Clone Clone not being able to copy a Zoan without an Awakening personally, but that's just me.


    Only other issue is that Ria clearly has no idea how One Piece powerups work. Everyone knows that trying to fight someone way stronger than you and not dying is the fastest path to power. Just look at Luffy, he gets his ass beat and comes back for more all the time.
     
    Roaming_Guardian said:
    ...okay, point entirely retracted.

    Does this then mean that Bon Clay could copy Kaido in full dragon mode?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    If he could manage to touch Kaido's face while transformed, then I don't think there's anything that says he wouldn't be able to do that. The more I thought about it while writing, the more the Clone-Clone fruit seemed like one of the most overlooked fruits in terms of its full potential going off what Oda already showed us. Both in canon, and from the fandom.

    Roaming_Guardian said:
    Only other issue is that Ria clearly has no idea how One Piece powerups work. Everyone knows that trying to fight someone way stronger than you and not dying is the fastest path to power. Just look at Luffy, he gets his ass beat and comes back for more all the time.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Spruce's Plot Armour isn't strong enough yet for that to be a viable strategy. They still have a lot to learn from the other Straw Hats.
     
    Chapter 19: Down in Yon Forest
  • Threadmarks
    • Footsteps, thundering through the snow from behind him. Branches snapping as his pursuer pushed them out of his way. Usopp didn't dare look back for a moment, so focused on the terrain ahead of him to ensure that he wouldn't make a single misstep as he ran for his life. The fact he wasn't screaming with terror as he ran was a testament to his sheer willpower. Without looking back at Chess, he had only the sounds to go off to know if he was still behind him or not.

    An arrow being pulled out of a quiver, then the string of a bow being drawn back. He heard those sounds coming from behind him, still a distance away, and he threw his top half forwards just before an arrow whizzed overhead and embedded itself in a tree up ahead of him. Bending over like he was nearly made him lose balance and topple over, but with some frantic waving of his arms he was able to keep upright and maintain his speed.

    The slingshot he had used to bring this whole thing crashing down on him was in his right hand, while his left was empty. It was difficult for him to reach up and unzip the thick green coat he was wearing, with how much his hands and the zipper both shook from fear and movement alike, but he got it done nonetheless to reach into one of the pockets found within which so many handy items had been hastily stored in before he left the Merry.

    Chess nocked and drew back another arrow, and this time Usopp leaped to the side to take cover behind a thick tree. The shot never came, though, and so he took the chance to run in the direction he had jumped in. Coming out from behind the tree trunk, he could see he was now running in a perpendicular direction to Chess, whose eyes zeroed in on him the moment he stepped out from cover. The archer tried to aim his bow, but Usopp was faster.

    "EXPLODING STAR!" He shouted. With expert aim, he fired a gunpowder pellet from his slingshot which struck the snowy ground just in front of the running Chess. The explosion wasn't especially strong, at least not enough to harm the archer or even knock him off his feet, but it did kick up a large cloud of snow before his very eyes, and the projectile made him skid to a stop to avoid running directly into it. Then, without hesitation, Usopp grabbed another projectile from his pockets. Unlike the previous one, this one shone with a metallic exterior.

    Through the cloud of snow, he narrowed his eyes at where Chess' bowstring was. Pulling the ball bearing back in his slingshot, he let it loose just as the snow began to fall again. And just as Chess could see the sniper once again, the ball bearing punched right through the string of his bow and the hand with which he had pulled the string back with found itself without any resistance. He punched himself in the face with the arrow grasped between his fingers, luckily not held in a way that would have turned his self-harm decidedly more lethal.

    There was enough distance between the two that Usopp was unable to hear the curses that Chess spat as he hastily tried to repair his bow, and that distance only grew as Usopp took off running through the snow again. He didn't look back, but did note the absence of the sound of Chess' pursuit. It didn't make him run any slower, of course, but he did breathe a sigh of relief. So relieved was he that he lowered his gaze.

    When he raised it again, he was met with the sight of a furry white paw that would have been practically invisible against the snow and which was swinging right towards his face. Usopp let out a terrified scream and leaned back, playing an impromptu game of limbo as he continued running beneath the furred limb and then straightened himself up again once he came out on the other side. This time, he did look behind him, and saw that the limb belonged to what appeared to be an enormous white rabbit the size of a bear.

    The lapahn, though he was unaware that they were called that, glared at him with a pair of predatory red eyes. Their gazes locked for a second, before his head snapped back around to look forwards and he managed to find it within himself to run even faster. The lapahn lowered itself onto all fours, and took off after him.

    Its sudden arrival was hardly an isolated incident, however, as over where Chess was restringing his bow, a trio of lapahns arrived to approach him from all directions. A scowl found itself onto his face as he halted his actions, and instead reached back into his quiver to retrieve a pair of arrows for himself. He held them together in one hand, while he laid his bow down on the ground to free up his other hand and retrieve a match.

    "Damn lapahns." He grumbled as he lit the match and set the arrowheads of both arrows alight, which he quickly split between both hands in order to hold them out like a pair of torches. The lapahns slowed their approach, showing some hesitance as a result of the flames, but they did not retreat. And looking out beyond them, into the snowy forest, Chess was able to make out more of their number which seemed to be approaching. His scowl only grew.

    'It looks like you live another day, traitor.' He thought.



    -O-

    ​


    ​
    The heat from his lighter tickled Sanji's skin as he raised its meagre flame to the cigarette poking out between his lips. His other hand was cupped, shielding it from the elements, but once the cigarette was lit and he could take a long, satisfying drag, he lowered his hand and flicked the lighter closed to return it to his pocket. While Nami had elected to stay inside Dalton's home where it was warmer, he'd placed himself outside, with his gaze off in the direction of the village that the absent three had set out for.

    As he stood out in the snow and smoked his cigarette, he thought back to an encounter which had taken place some time earlier that day, shortly after Kureha had come to pick up Spruce. A panicked man had come charging through the snow, running like his life depended on it, and nearly ploughed right through the door to Dalton's home before Sanji stopped him. His words were jumbled but he was able to get across that he was after Dalton, so Sanji pointed him in the right direction and the man ran off. Now, with that brief excitement having since passed, Sanji wondered what had worried the man so much.

    Those thoughts were quickly interrupted, however, by the sound of thundering hooves approaching rapidly. Focusing in on the here and now, Sanji's eyes lit up at the sight of Vivi as she steered Dalton's sledge towards the house. She brought it to a gradual stop, just a few metres away from where Sanji was standing. The chef was quick to bounce across the snow to be at her side as she dismounted, with Bonbon hopping off behind her.

    "The doctor, did she come by?" Was the first thing Vivi asked, the seriousness in her voice quickly calming Sanji down from his antics prematurely.

    "She did." He nodded and glanced back at the empty sledge, "Did a man happen to run into you, looking for Dalton?"

    "He did!" She said, "Right, I guess it makes sense he would have come here first."

    "I was wondering what could have had him in such a state." He commented, "But seeing as Luffy's gone as well… it's that Wapol guy, isn't it? He came back."

    "And now he's attacking a village somewhere else on the island." She said, "Dalton went off to stop him, then Luffy went after him to fight Wapol."

    Sanji nodded as he took another long drag of his cigarette, turning his face away from Vivi before exhaling the smoke. He glanced back at the house, spotting Nami through the window sitting at a table and looking contemplative. And beautiful, of course, but that was a given.

    "Why don't we go inside, where it's warmer, Vivi-dear?" Sanji suggested, "You can tell both of us about what's going on."

    "Right." She said. He walked ahead of her and held the door open, feeling the rush of hot air from inside, and beckoned her and Bonbon both inside before entering himself and closing the door behind them. At their arrival, Vivi's in particular, Nami was quick to rise to her feet.

    "Vivi!" She exclaimed, eyes seeming to light up at her appearance, but they just as quickly focused on the closed door behind her. Glancing from it to the window and the empty sledge outside, she didn't waste time before asking, "Where's Luffy? And Dalton, too?"

    "They both went to go fight." Vivi said, "It's Wapol, he's back."

    "That ex-king freak who we ran into before?" Nami said, "He found his way back here already? Guess that means Luffy gets his wish after all."

    "But if he's back, that probably means that massive ship and all those soldiers are back as well." Sanji said.

    "It'd be a problem if they ransacked the ship while it was mostly unattended." Vivi said, "I was wondering if we should go to check the others are alright?"

    "As long as Mosshead's there, they'll be fine." Sanji said, "I'm more concerned about Spruce. If Wapol returns to his castle, he'll find him there with nobody else around but his Pokémon and the doctor."

    For a moment, Vivi almost wanted to mirror Sanji's earlier sentiments about Zoro, but stopped herself.

    'If he's recovering from his sickness, he'd probably be in an especially vulnerable position…'

    "Bonsly…" Bonbon murmured, voicing the same sentiment as what her trainer was thinking.

    "He should be safe if there are no ways up the mountain, right?" Was what she said instead.

    "Actually, I think it's likely that there is some kind of hidden passage or ropeway up the mountain." Nami interjected, "As much as looks can be deceiving, the doctor's reindeer didn't give the impression of something that could actually fly."

    "Not to mention that Wapol might have his own method of climbing it." Sanji added.

    "What do you think we should do then?" Vivi said.

    "Well…" Sanji said, "It wouldn't sit right with me to just sit back while I knew my captain was picking a fight, but I also can't leave you two lovely ladies unprotected while a dangerous group like that is on the island."

    "Then I guess we'll all just have to go pay a visit to…" Nami trailed off and looked at Vivi, "Do you know where it was Luffy ran off to?"

    "A village called Gyasta." She answered, "It would be… north of this village."

    "Gyasta." Nami said, "I'm starting to think this crew is some kind of a trouble magnet. We can't go to one island without Luffy running into someone worth picking a fight with…"

    The navigator let out a somewhat melodramatic sigh and headed for the door. Sanji was, of course, quick to get ahead of her and hold it open for her like a gentleman, as well as for Vivi who hurriedly followed Nami back out into the snow along with Bonbon. Shutting the two behind the three of them, Sanji joined them in climbing back into Dalton's sledge. Together, the group of three humans and two Pokémon set off for Gyasta.



    -O-

    ​


    "I see… so you want Chopper to come and join the crew as the doctor?"

    With the fireplace burning brightly to warm the room they were in, Spruce sat up in bed and addressed Ria, who was sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed, while Pex had perched himself on the frame as usual. His arms were crossed and his head was tilted as he mulled over her words, and she gave an affirmative nod to his question.

    "Lu!"

    "I dunno, that would be a pretty big step up from thinking he can't be friends with humans." Spruce said, "You don't send a Cherubi down to the beach for a swim. Besides, what about that doctor? It's not very polite of us to try and steal her assistant after she helped me out!"

    "Riolu!" She retorted, "Rio Riolu Lu Riolu!"

    "But I actually wanted to!" He said, "The stuff with Mercury was the only reason I couldn't leave."

    "Ravia." Pex chimed in.

    "I know we need one, that doesn't change things!" Spruce said, "Why are you even bringing this to me, anyway? I'm stuck in bed, and it's Luffy's decision anyway."

    "Riolu." Ria said. Spruce raised a finger to object.

    "That's…" He trailed off, "Okay, that's probably true. Either that or eating him, I guess…"

    "Riolu… Lu?" Ria replied with a smirk. The reply Spruce went to give her was cut off by the sound of cackling coming from the doorway, and both trainer and Pokémon looked over to see Kureha leaning against the open door with her arms crossed.

    "Kak Kak Kak…" She cackled, "Here I was, starting to doubt you were really a pirate, all the while you've been scheming to steal away my reindeer."

    "I'm sorry." Spruce apologised, "This one here just got it in her head. I wouldn't want to try and take away someone you care about, at least not without asking you first."

    "Don't apologise." She said, "Take him if you want him!"

    "Ravia?" Pex blinked. Kureha stood up and closed the door behind her, before going over and grabbing a chair to sit herself across from Spruce's bedside. She leaned back and kicked one leg over the other, then turned her head to face him.

    "But it won't be easy to convince him." She said, "There's a deep wound in his heart, one that not even a doctor can heal."

    "I know, I felt it." Spruce said, "He said that reindeers and humans couldn't be friends. If it's alright for me to ask, who was it that left that wound?"

    The question left Kureha silent for a couple of seconds. Turning away and letting out a deep breath, there was a heavy look in her eyes as she started to delve into an explanation.

    "When Chopper was born, his parents abandoned him because of his blue nose. Even when he was little, he had to walk all on his own, far behind the rest of the herd."

    "I see…" Spruce murmured. His gaze drifted across from the two Pokémon currently out of their Pokeballs, who both shared solemn looks at the new information, and then down to where Whiskers' Pokeball was fastened at his waist beneath the covers. He could almost picture the distraught look on his face.

    "Then one day," Kureha continued, "he ate that Devil Fruit. The other reindeer mocked him, and treated him like a freak, before finally casting him out. Even though he couldn't fit in with other reindeer anymore, he still longed for companionship, so he decided to go live with humans in their village."

    "And they didn't accept him either, did they?" Spruce guessed.

    "They took it a step further than even the reindeer did." She said, "He didn't understand what he'd done wrong, or who to blame. All he wanted was friendship, but they called him a monster. He wasn't a reindeer anymore, but he wasn't human either. Chopper's been alone his whole life."

    "I can't imagine…" Spruce said. His eyes seemed to drift away, staring off into the distance as recollections overtook him, but he was snapped back to reality by the feeling of Ria clamouring onto his lap and shoving herself against his chest. He blinked, then smiled and wrapped an arm around her.

    "Do you really think you can heal his heart?" Kureha challenged. Glancing over at him, a smile poked at the corners of her mouth as she saw the show of affection for herself.

    "To be honest, I don't know." Spruce admitted, "But I know someone who was treated similarly to him. Different from his family, abused and cast out because he couldn't fit in…"

    "Is that so?" Kureha said, glancing down at Ria, and then over at where Pex was perched.

    "Everyone heals differently, but I think that Chopper probably needs someone to reach out to him." Spruce said, "Someone to tell him that he's accepted and cared for the way that he is."

    "There was someone, actually." Kureha said, "A man who Chopper cared for, long ago."

    'Was.' Spruce thought. He squeezed Ria even tighter, who squeezed him back in turn.

    "There used to be a quack named Dr. Hiriluk." She continued, "He gave Chopper his name and treated him like a son."

    That seemed to be the end of what she had wanted to share, as after letting her words hang in the air for a moment, she rose from her seat. Spruce's eyes remained downcast, not noticing as she walked back over to the door, but just before she could place her hand on the knob, he called out to stop her.

    "One more thing, doctor." He said.

    "Hm?" She turned around to see that the melancholy in his eyes had faded, replaced now by a sharp gaze that seemed to pierce right through her.

    "Earlier, when I called Chopper a Pokémon, you never asked me to explain what I meant by that." He said, "You just told me that he wasn't one."

    "Oh, did I?" She said as a smirk gradually appeared on her face. Spruce's eyes narrowed, and both Ria and Pex were staring curiously at her.

    "Doctor, you know, don't you?" He said, "What Pokémon are."

    For a moment, the two stared at each other, with Spruce's accusation hanging in the air. Mischief glimmered in Kureha's eyes before she answered.

    "Did you forget what I said, boy?" She replied, "You've got a lot to learn about the world! Kak Kak Kak!"

    The cackling Kureha turned away from him and took her exit through the doorway, leaving Spruce and his Pokémon to sit and stew in everything that she had said.



    -O-

    ​


    ​
    There hadn't been any more resistance after Dalton fell. What few remaining soldiers he hadn't struck down, as well as the doctors of the Isshi-20, stood around the ruined village idly. None of them dared stand closer than three meters away from their former-commander's body, with looks of apprehension and shame mixed in amongst the population. The doctors of the Isshi-20, especially, seemed particularly weighed-down by such feelings.

    Of course, there was no such feelings in the slightest residing in the hearts of Wapol, Mr. 2 or Kuromarimo. The trio lounged about in the snow, with Wapol sat atop Robson and Kuromarimo on the destroyed wall from Mr. 2 and Dalton's fight previously, while Mr. 2 did some light stretches nearby. Though none were the least bit ashamed of the state Dalton had been unceremoniously left in the middle of the street in, the two who better knew him seemed bored now in the aftermath of the fight. Wapol picked at his nose with his pinky finger, while Kuromarimo bounced his leg impatiently and glanced out towards the nearby forest every few seconds.

    "Why is it taking Chess so long to finish off one measly little traitor?" He grumbled.

    "Probably lapahns." Wapol said, "Nuisances they are."

    "Shall I go lend my assistance, buddy?" Mr. 2 offered sweetly, only for Wapol to shake his head.

    "No! You need to stick around, to be ready for if that damn Straw Hat shows his-"

    From off in the distance, in the opposite direction as where Chess and Usopp had run off in, a yell burst out.

    "GUM-GUM…!"

    "-face." Wapol finished.

    "Well, speak of the devil." Kuromarimo said.

    Footsteps thundered through the snow, and branches rustled and snapped as someone approached rapidly from amongst the trees. The soldiers who had been standing idly all stood to attention in an instant, readying their weapons and aiming them in the direction of the oncoming foe, only for Kuromarimo to raise a hand beckoning them to lower them. It was an order that served to confuse a good deal of them, but with which they nonetheless obliged, instead allowing Mr. 2 to waltz on over into their enemy's path. His smile was eager, matched only by that of Wapol as he assumed the position of an eager spectator once again.

    Clad in a red coat and his trademark hat, Luffy came charging out from the forest. As he ran as fast as he could throw the snow, one arm trailed behind him, stretching to an incredible length at such a speed that it was actually getting further away from them even as he dragged it behind him. Just as he came into their sight, though, so too did they come into his, and Mr. 2 saw the way that his gaze immediately singled out Wapol sitting on top of Robson. That was when he yelled out the next bit.

    "PISTOL!"

    The rubbery limb snapped forwards like an elastic band, sending the powerful fist attached at the end rocketing forwards past its owner and straight in the direction of Wapol's face. It shot through the air with such speed, akin to the namesake of the attack, that Mr. 2's eyes widened, but he was just as quick into action regardless. Leaping off the snowy ground, he twirled around in the air before kicking a leg out just as Luffy's fist passed by him. The tip of his foot struck part of the arm just below the wrist, knocking the attack a few degrees off-course, so that rather than Wapol's face, it connected with the exterior of the ruined house. Like punching drywall, it tore straight through the wall and managed to embed itself in the floor.

    "HEY!" Kuromarimo yelled, as the redirected attack had been only a few feet off from connecting with his head. He shot up from where he was seated and scrambled over towards Wapol, while Luffy yanked his fist out of the hole in the floor and reached back to grab onto the hole in the wall which he hadn't made. Using it to anchor himself, he jumped up and let his arm shrink back to its original length, yanking him over to the house and closer to where Wapol was. He landed outside it and let go, so his arm could finish returning to normal, then he slammed his fist into an open palm.

    "Mouth guy!" He called out, "Hair guy! And…"

    He addressed each person of at least semi-importance by name, turning his gaze on them in turn, but then trailed off as he looked at Mr. 2. They could all see the cogs turning in his brain as he tried to recall any instance of having met someone with as unique an appearance as the ballet-dancing assassin.

    "We haven't met yet." Mr. 2 told him.

    "Swan guy!" Luffy decided, "I owe you guys a beating for last time!"

    "You owe us a beating?!" Wapol gaped, "You filthy pirates are the ones who dared assault my royal personage the last time we met, with that grotesque serpent pet of yours! I'm going to cook each and every one of you filthy pirates until you're well done, then have you for dinner!"

    "Shut up! Don't call Whiskers groceries!" Luffy said, "Now I'm gonna beat you up twice!"

    "Oh really?" Kuromarimo interjected, "Think again, pirate! Dalton was the mightiest warrior on all of Drum Island, and even he couldn't stop us!"

    As if to demonstrate his point, Kuromarimo gestured at where the former-commander's body laid in the crimson snow. Slowly, Luffy turned his head in the direction he was pointing in, and his eyes widened at the sight. His head whipped back around as he gave the three of them a once-over, which ended with a glare aimed at Mr. 2.

    "You're the guy who did that, aren't you?" He accused.

    "Why yes, that would be me." Mr. 2 said, taking a small bow, "And you should know that I'm not 'Swan guy', or even 'Swan gal'! I'm the one known as Mr. 2."

    "2!" Luffy gasped. He furrowed his brow and hastily began counting on his fingers, before pointing an accusatory one at him, "You're like those other bad guys, the ones trying to destroy Vivi's country!"

    "Destroy Vivi's country…?" Kuromarimo muttered, "Hold on, is he talking about…?"

    "Don't be so cocky just because you got the better of Mr. 3!" Mr. 2 warned, "I've trained relentlessly, day after day, year after year, all to perfect my Okama Kenpo! A simple pirate like you could never, ever surpass me!"

    "Yeah, that's right! You tell him, Mr. 2 Bon Clay!" Wapol cheered.

    "I'm gonna beat you all up because I'm a pirate!" Luffy retorted, "Not like you bunch of fakers!"

    "Please, don't remind me." Wapol groaned, "What an absolute torture, having to sail around under such a putrid flag! Do you know how unbecoming that was, for a king like myself?"

    "A stupid king like you never deserved to fly that pirate flag in the first place!" Luffy said, "It's a flag about pride, and putting your life on the line for the sake of being free! A dumb coward like you could never get that!"

    "That flag means nothing!" Wapol said, shooting to his feet and glaring at Luffy, "Listen closely, Straw Hat! People in this world are born differently! Some, like you pirates, are born as gutter trash whose only purpose in life is to serve at the behest of great kingly kings like myself! Because you are a pirate and I am a king, it means I am above you! That is why you're going to die here, for committing the unforgiveable crime of opposing me!"

    "You tell him, your majesty!" Mr. 2 yelled with a pumped fist.

    "You think you're better than me?" Luffy said.

    "In every conceivable way!" Wapol spat.

    "You're wrong." Luffy said. His gaze hardened as he fixed Wapol with a look more frigid than the snow they were standing in, and he brought his hands together to slowly crack his knuckles. Despite Wapol's demeanour, something deep inside of him trembled at the sound of each crack.

    "I'm way tougher than you are." Luffy said, "GUM-GUM PISTOL!"

    Then he was throwing a fist back and his arm was stretching. In an instant he was on his feet, darting through the snow straight towards where Wapol was now standing while his limb extended behind him. His trio of enemies were all startled by the suddenness of his movement, with Kuromarimo diving away from Luffy while Wapol was frozen in place, leaving Mr. 2 to be the one who dashed over to intercept.

    Leaping through the air, he struck Luffy's wrist just as the attack snaped forwards, deflecting it away from Wapol's face yet again as he landed atop Robson in front of the king. Before Luffy's limb was even able to return, Mr. 2 jumped forwards, landing in the snow in front of him. Luffy came to a skidding stop to avoid bowling the both of them over, just in time for Mr. 2's fist to come shooting towards him.

    "OH, DON'T MIND MY KNUCKLE!" He bellowed, which Luffy seemed to heed, as he allowed the fist to strike him directly in the face. It dug in, creating an imprint in his stretchy skin as it jerked his head back, only for his body to snap back into place and fling the attack right back into the attacker. Mr. 2 staggered back after accidentally punching himself in the face, wincing and rubbing his stinging cheek as he did so. As amusing as such a sight was, Luffy didn't let it delay him in following up. He pushed forwards and reared back as his fist, and Mr. 2 let out a yelp as he had to lunge out of the way of the oncoming punch which just radiated power, which was followed up by Luffy spinning himself around and thrusting a leg out to slam the sole of his foot into his opponent's chest.

    The attack came too swiftly for Mr. 2 to evade it again, but he was able to reposition his arms- though rather than trying to block it, he instead slapped a hand against his cheek in order to transform before Luffy's very eyes. Instead of striking the nimble man with a face caked in makeup, his kick instead impacted solidly against a thick, muscular abdomen, which may as well have been stone for how much resistance it provided against the attack.

    "Woah!" Luffy exclaimed, lowering his leg as he jumped back from the sudden display of transformative abilities.

    "Do you like it?!" Mr. 2 taunted, his voice now identical to the transformed Dalton's as he spoke, "This is the power of my Clone-Clone fruit, which allows me to take on the appearances of anybody I come into contact with! It's an ability that's perfect for stealth and trickery, but I appear to have found a use for it in combat, too!"

    "That's right, Straw Hat!" Wapol jeered, "Thanks to his ultra-amazing ability, my friend here is now just as strong as the Zoan-using Dalton!"

    "That guy?" Luffy said, glancing over at the fallen warrior in question, "Huh. I didn't realise he had a power like that."

    "You might be strong, but even you can't hope to measure up against a Zoan Devil-!" Mr. 2 began, only to be cut off.

    "GUM-GUM PISTOL!"

    Luffy hurled his arm back, letting it stretch out several feet before yanking it forwards to nail Mr. 2 right in the chin with a vicious punch that sent him staggering back on his feet. It almost knocked him onto his back completely, and it was only thanks to his impeccable sense of balance he was able to regain his footing. Now, though, there was a flash of fear in his eyes.

    "That… that hurt!" He gasped.

    "What?!" Kuromarimo said, "But- but you should be as strong as Dalton! Are you saying this pirate brat is that strong?!"

    "I told you I was tougher than you." Luffy deadpanned. He threw another elastic punch in Mr. 2's direction, aiming for his face once again, but he was able to jerk his head out of the way. Rather than letting his arm retract, however, Luffy instead let it keep stretching until it had found something to grab onto in the distance. Hopping up, he yanked himself forwards into Mr. 2, bringing his knee slamming into his jaw as he did. He continued past him, as the blow knocked his head to the side, and then let go.

    While his momentum pulled him along through the air, Luffy twisted his torso around in order to look back at Mr. 2, who stumbled as a result of the strike. With a sharp kick against the air with both legs, the limbs stretched out and snagged Mr. 2 around the waist. They coiled together tightly, serving to anchor their owner in place, and yank him back the way he had come once his momentum had carried him as far as it would.

    "GUM-GUM…"

    As well as his legs, Luffy's neck stretched, distancing his head from the rest of his body until the momentum of his body, which had been what was stretching him in the first place, ran its course. For a brief instant he remained, limbs stretched out into the proportions of a rubber chicken, and then his rubbery body snapped back into place.

    "BELL!"

    Yanked along by his rubbery body, Luffy's head came shooting straight towards Mr. 2 like a projectile launched from a catapult. The legs coiled around the assassin's waist ensured he couldn't move his body out of the path of the attack, and there was less than a second which he had to act.

    Having seen what Luffy was aiming to do before he had done it, Mr. 2's hand had already been in motion. The instant after his head began to move, he touched his fingers against his cheek and instantaneously transformed back into his own form. Limbs which had been coiled so tightly around him immediately fell to the ground limply, allowing him to jump up and out of the way of Luffy's enhanced headbutt. Instead of skin, Luffy's cranium struck the snow beneath their feet and was met with little resistance. He buried himself face-first all the way to the base of his neck, while Mr. 2 landed behind him and quickly hopped several feet away.

    It took Luffy both hands planted firmly against the ground to shove himself back out of the snow with a desperate gasp for air, all while Mr. 2 reached up to once again remove the pair of swan slippers from his shoulders and equip them to his feet. Luffy shook the snow off himself vigorously and turned around to see his opponent posing dramatically with his weapons now equipped.

    "OKAMA KENPO: PRIMA BALLERINA!"

    "That looks stupid." Luffy told him without hesitation, which made Mr. 2 fall to his knees in absolute despair.

    "SHUT UP!" Wapol bellowed, "HIS ULTIMATE TECHNIQUE LOOKS FORMIDABLE AND GRACEFUL AT THE SAME TIME!"

    The words of encouragement were enough to counteract the effect of Luffy's insult, and Mr. 2 flew to his feet and struck the dramatic fighting pose once again.

    "But first, let me tell you this." Mr. 2 said, "The one on your right is a male-"

    "GUM-GUM…"

    Such gendering of his slippers was unfortunately cut off as Luffy threw a fist back, letting it stretch several feet before hurling it straight towards Mr. 2's stomach.

    "PISTOL!"

    With a startled yelp, Mr. 2 hopped onto one foot and swung his body to the side so that Luffy's fist only met air. He stuck his other leg out as a counterweight, balancing precariously in the snow for a second before spinning himself around with his own wobbliness in order to leap up into the air with a graceful twirl and fire off a quick jab with the tip of his slipper aimed at Luffy's extended arm.

    As he saw what Mr. 2 was doing, Luffy grabbed his arm with his free hand and, as it already began to retract to its original length, swing it out of the way of Mr. 2's attack like it were a length of rope. The beak of the swan, which extended from the force of Mr. 2's kick, still managed to graze the surface of the arm, ripping through the fabric of his coat sleeve and opening a shallow gash in the arm itself. Luffy grimaced as his arm returned to its normal length and he could spare a moment to examine the new wound.

    "Surprised?" Mr. 2 taunted, "My swan slippers have limber necks and beaks of steel! With the power of my Okama Kenpo concentrated into a single point, its destructive capabilities are drastically increased. You can think of my kicks as the shots from a rifle."

    "I don't need dumb slippers to hit like that!" Luffy said, "GUM-GUM… BULLET!"

    He took off running across the snow, closing in on Mr. 2 in a second. As he ran, his arm stretched behind him, and he brought it rocketing forwards fist-first as he came within range of Mr. 2. The assassin was quick to tap a hand to his cheek and transform once again, taking on Dalton's transformed form and strafing to the side with such speed that Luffy's attack was left with an afterimage of him to strike. Similar afterimages appeared all around Luffy, as Mr. 2 pushed his copied body's speed to its limit and encircled the pirate.

    It was a menacing sight, that was for certain, but Luffy didn't seem bothered in the slightest by it. His gaze focused in on the swan slippers which had stretched to accommodate Mr. 2's larger feet, and after a couple of seconds of Mr. 2's show of speed, he visibly relaxed and gave the assassin a smirk.

    "I've figured it out." He announced. A moment later, Mr. 2- the real one, not an afterimage- came to a stop right behind Luffy. With a tap on the cheek, he returned to his normal form and struck.

    "UN! DEUX!"

    The first kick was aimed high, going straight for Luffy's vitals, and he quickly brought his leg back in order to deliver a follow-up attack, which was aimed towards his abdomen. Neither hit their target. Pivoting around on his feet, Luffy faced the first kick from the side as it pierced nothing but air, then he took a step back to let the second kick hit the same target. And before Mr. 2 could lower the offending limb again, he leaned in and drove his fist directly into the assassin's gut.

    Droplets of blood flew from Mr. 2's open mouth, frozen in a visage of pain, as the attack sent him skidding back across the snow clutching the area where Luffy had struck. From where they were watching the fight, Wapol's face was knotted up with concern, while Kuromarimo squeezed his arms tightly, trying to hide his own nervousness.

    "You might be able to make yourself tougher by transforming," Luffy said as he slowly walked towards Mr. 2, "but whenever you attack, you turn back into yourself. You're only used to fighting with your normal body, aren't you?"

    "So… you figured it out after all…" Mr. 2 wheezed.

    "Are you okay, buddy?!" Wapol called out, voice fraught with worry.

    "I'm fine, buddy!" Mr. 2 reassured him, holding a placating palm out. He pulled the other hand away from his stomach and stood up straighter, clenching his jaw and narrowing his eyes with concentration, "But I think it may be time we gave that a try!"



    EARLIER…

    ​

    It took Wapol a great deal of self-control to restrain himself and not cram into his mouth the fourth sketch of Straw Hat which he had been handed by his newfound friend. The duo of former-king and assassin stood across from each other on the deck of the Bliking, while Kuromarimo and Chess stood off to the side and listened in as Mr. 2 rattled off information about the pictured pirate. They had in their hands a stack of similar sketches, of all the other members of the Straw Hat crew that his unknown benefactor had been able to get information on.

    "He's a Devil Fruit user, like you and me." He said, "He's proven himself to be a cut above the average pirate as well."

    "A Devil Fruit?!" Chess exclaimed, "What's his ability?"

    "It's a Paramecia, one that seems to let him stretch his body." Mr. 2 said.

    "At least it's not a Zoan." Kuromarimo said.

    "What a useless sounding ability." Wapol scoffed, before inhaling the sketch and swallowing it whole. Behind Mr. 2, a flamboyantly dressed flunky who was holding a pencil and sketchpad let out a groan.

    "Any Devil Fruit ability can be deadly if used competently." Mr. 2 said, "And so far, Straw Hat's managed to overpower several other ability-users. It would be a bad idea to underestimate him and his crew."

    "Does that mean you have a plan for dealing with him?" Kuromarimo asked.

    "Well!" Mr. 2 said, "If, somehow, my incredible Okama Kenpo isn't enough to handle him, then there's always that one surefire way to handle anyone with a Devil Fruit ability."

    Both Kuromarimo and Chess' eyes lit up. Wapol tilted his head.

    "That's right." Chess nodded.

    "There is that one way…" Kuromarimo added.

    "I don't get it, what are we talking about?" Wapol said. His magistrate and minister both cringed in unison.

    "The sea, your majesty." Chess said, "He's saying that Straw Hat can be drowned."

    "Oh. Oh yeah, I knew that!"

    "And in fact," Mr. 2 said as his eyes began to shine with malice, "I can think of a few interesting ways that our new friendship can make that happen."



    THE PRESENT…

    ​


    ​
    "YOU BETCHA, BUDDY!" Wapol said. He pumped his fist and gave Mr. 2 a thumbs-up, before scrunching his eyes up in concentration, "MUNCH-MUNCH FACTORY!"

    Before the very eyes of everyone involved, Wapol's body transformed in a similar way to how Dalton's had- except that instead of fur and muscle appearing on his body, it was instead plates of metal and a large cannon. He grew several magnitudes in both height and width in order to accommodate for the weapon that was now poking out from his abdomen, surrounded by a torso of metal. Oddly enough, there seemed to be a thin metal chain poking out of the cannon's barrel, with a single manacle attached to the end. Both were made of an alloy which none present, save for their creator, could identify.

    "Woah!" Luffy gasped, "That's so cool!"

    "Don't insult him!" Mr. 2 barked, "Using his Munch-Munch power to transform looks awe- wait, that's what you said."

    "Huh?" Luffy blinked.

    "Erm- anyway." Mr. 2 coughed awkwardly, "GET READY, BUDDY! WE'RE GONNA FINISH OFF THIS PIRATE TOGETHER!"

    "It doesn't matter if all three of you fight together, you still can't beat me!" Luffy said.

    Mr. 2 went silent as he tapped his cheek and transformed back into Dalton. As soon as he had the limbs powerful enough to do it, he took off in a circle around Luffy again, creating a ring of afterimages that made it impossible to tell where he was at any one moment. For a brief second, the afterimages thinned out, and there was a jangling of metal which drew Luffy's attention to the fact that Mr. 2 had, in one quick dash, grabbed the end of the metal chain poking out from Wapol's cannon and carried it over as he continued to run around him.

    With how fast he moved, even the jangles from the chain did little to give away his position at any one moment, instead becoming a chaotic mess of metal scraping and bouncing against itself that assaulted Luffy's ears from all directions. His brow furrowed and he craned his neck slightly, turning his ear out towards the sound. As the moments passed on by, and Mr. 2 continued his repetitive motions without letting up, Luffy slowly started to raise his fist. Then, as if some quota had been met, he went from slow to fast in an instant and hurled his arm back.

    "Found you." He declared.

    "Found you." Mr. 2 replied smugly. For a moment, he came to a stop right in front of Luffy- just for a moment, but long enough for the pirate to see him standing there- and in that moment Luffy threw his punch. And then Mr. 2 dashed straight forwards, and straight past Luffy with the metal chain still in his hands. Luffy faintly registered the sensation of cold metal pressing into his skin as Mr. 2 clamped the manacle around his wrist as it went by him, and without wasting a moment turned his head to yell to Wapol:

    "NOW!"

    BOOM!

    A tremendous explosion bellowed out from the abdominal cannon, letting fly a cannonball to which the chain and manacle fastened around Luffy's which were attached to. It was not with the force of an ordinary cannon that the cannonball was fired, though. The power of Wapol's cannon dwarfed an ordinary one by several magnitudes, sending the ball rocketing through the air at a breakneck velocity. Luffy had less than a second after he was nearly deafened by the sound of the shot, before he was being yanked along by his shackled arm and torn away from the ground.

    A surprised yell came from the pirate, but for his enemies the yell became a distant echo within seconds as they all watched the cannonball carry him along with it on its trajectory straight into the frigid ocean which surrounded the island. From where they stood, there was no way to know if or when Luffy was brought plummeting down into its icy depths, so they settled for watching him fly away until he was out of sight completely. And once he was, Wapol and Mr. 2 turned to look at each other. The latter tapped his face and returned to normal, and they shared a devilish smirk.

    "Mission accomplished." Mr. 2 declared.



    -O-

    ​


    ​
    Both Ria and Pex had left. The former had been sent off by Spruce as he could tell she wanted to explore and stretch her legs some more, while the latter had gone in search of whatever the nearest source of food was. The trainer was left to lay in bed by himself, staring up at the roof above him with a contemplative look upon his face. At least until he heard the door creak open, and he sat up to watch as Chopper poked his head in and looked around, before stepping inside fully and shutting the door behind him.

    "Hi Chopper, do you need something?" Spruce greeted, flashing the reindeer a warm and welcoming smile. The greeting may have been too much, though, as Chopper's entire body stiffened up. Spruce could see him physically stop himself from throwing the door open and running out, and after managing to relax slightly, he walked over to the bookshelf on the other side of the room and began rearranging the books, all without uttering a single word in return. That earned a furrowed brow from Spruce, who went back to staring at the roof, at least until Chopper finally decided to break his silence.

    "Is it true?" He said, half-mumbling and still facing away from Spruce.

    "Huh?" Spruce said.

    "What Doctorine said." Chopper said, a little louder this time, "Are you really a pirate?"

    "Oh, that? Yeah." Spruce nodded, "I think."

    That was good enough for the reindeer, who whirled around with a sudden look of interest. He scooted a bit closer to Spruce's bedside.

    "Really?" He said.

    "Really." Spruce affirmed. Chopper scooted even closer.

    "Do you have a pirate flag?"

    "I think so?" Spruce answered, "That's the black one with the skull on it, right? There's a big one of those on the ship."

    Chopper's eyes narrowed, "You don't sound like you know what you're talking about."

    "You got me." Spruce chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "To tell you the truth, I'd never even heard of pirates until recently. When I saw our flag for the first time, I thought it was meant to be a giant smiley-face."

    "It's a symbol of faith!" Chopper exclaimed, "The pirate skull and crossbones!"

    "Faith? That makes sense." Spruce said, "Luffy said it was a symbol of pride, too."

    "Luffy?" Chopper said.

    "Oh, right, you haven't met him. Luffy's our captain. He's the one who told me what being a pirate is about." Spruce said, "You sound like you're interested in pirates."

    "A-AS IF!" Chopper shouted, going from zero to a hundred in an instant and practically throwing himself into the bookshelf with how hard he recoiled from the very notion. Books tumbled to the floor beside him and he busied himself with tidying them back up, while Spruce just blinked at his antics.

    "Oh. Okay then." He said, "It's alright if you are, though. I think pirates are pretty cool! The ones I'm with are really nice."

    The pace at which Chopper was putting the books back on the shelves was glacial. He remained facing away from Spruce throughout, letting the trainer talk to the back of his head, which he bowed slightly at that last sentence. His hand froze as it placed one of the books back, and when he opened his mouth to speak, it was with the same half-mumble as before.

    "Even to those pokey-mons of yours?"

    "To my Pokémon?" Spruce said, "Of course, I wouldn't have stuck with them if they weren't. They've even caught a few of their own."

    "Well…" Chopper hesitated, before lowering his hand and whirling around to face him again, "W-What are they, anyway?! Pokey-mons?!"

    "That's a pretty tricky question." Spruce said. He leaned forward to rest his chin in the palm of his hand while he stared out at the snowy landscape of the mountain through the window, taking a few seconds to ponder before continuing, "It'd be like if I asked you to explain what animals are. Seems weird, because they're just such a natural part of the world, and it's hard to consider them from an outsider perspective."

    "Do you… know what animals are?" Chopper said.

    "Yeah, I'm not that ignorant." Spruce replied, "Just giving an example. But, uh… Pokémon. I guess Pokémon are kind of like animals? It's a pretty broad term, covers a lot of different creatures. The thing that makes them not animals is that they have special abilities, they're more intelligent-"

    "Hey!"

    "-and you can catch them with Pokeballs." Spruce finished.

    "Pokeballs?"

    "These things." Spruce said. He plucked Whiskers' Pokeball off his waistband and held it out for Chopper to see. The reindeer creeped over slowly, leaning forward until he was standing just a couple of feet away, and gazing at his own reflection in the ball's shiny crimson surface. Then a realisation struck him, and his head jerked up.

    "Hold on! You're saying that those creatures actually go inside of those things?!"

    "Yep!" Spruce grinned, "And Whiskers, the Pokemon in this one? He's so big he wouldn't even fit in this room!"

    "WHAT?!" There was a faint sparkle in Chopper's eyes as he looked back down at the Pokeball, astonishment written all over his face.

    "It's true, that's the reason I haven't been able to let him out while I've been here." Spruce said, "Though he's a Water-Type, so he wouldn't be able to run wild as much as the other two if I did."

    "Mhm…" Chopper nodded along to what Spruce was saying, but he seemed more focused on staring at the Pokeball than actually listening to what was said.

    "Actually, I remember my dad telling me about something, a while ago." Spruce said, "Before Pokeballs were invented, they weren't actually called Pokémon. Instead, people called them 'Magical Creatures', since they thought their abilities were magic. But once Pokeballs were invented, people started calling them Pocket Monsters! Since, you know, they could fit in their pockets. Then over the years, that turned into calling them Pokémon."

    "Pocket Monsters…" Chopper muttered. With those two words, all the awe and joy in his eyes seemed to disappear in an instant, and he took a step back from the Pokeball. It was as if they had been a bitter pill he was forced to take, and he was soaking in the aftertaste.

    Seeing his reaction, Spruce placed Whiskers' Pokeball back on his belt and looked out the window again.

    "People can call lots of things monsters." He mused, "Sometimes it's things that scare them, sometimes it isn't. I think that most of the time, people will call something a monster not because they fear it, but because they don't understand it. People still didn't understand Pokémon, and their unique abilities, which is why they were called that."

    "But they were scared…" Chopper whispered, "Without me even doing anything-!"

    He cut himself off just as his voice began to rise in volume, turning his head sharply away and staring at the floor with a look of bitterness that was mixed with pain.

    "A lot of people fear what they don't understand." Spruce continued, "Uh, guess that means they call monsters that because they do fear them… I might be losing this comparison."

    Chopper remained silent.

    "I guess what I'm trying to say is that being a monster isn't a bad thing?" He said, "Or it doesn't have to be. I don't think people have to be understood to be accepted."

    "You don't know what you're talking about." Chopper spat. He turned himself away from Spruce and took a step towards the door.

    "Maybe I don't, you might be right about that. But do you think that the people who were kind to you, did so because they understood you?" Spruce said, "Or did they only come to understand you afterwards?"

    The question made Chopper freeze in place. He didn't say anything, so Spruce continued.

    "My father told me something else. He told me that Pokémon and humans were destined to be friends, no matter what happened. I think that's because even though some people, even a lot of people, will be scared and cruel to what they don't understand, other people will be kind."

    "Does that make it okay?" Chopper snapped, "For those people to treat me- treat something, like that?"

    "No, it doesn't." Spruce said, "But those aren't the kinds of people worth having for friends anyway. And that's not the kind of person that I want to be."

    Chopper turned around.

    "Humans and Pokémon are different, and that's why we become so much stronger when we work together." Spruce said, "It's the same for people, and for you. If everyone was the same, we'd never be able to help each other, or learn from each other, grow and become better. Being able to walk on two legs, or talk, or have a blue nose? Those aren't bad things, those are some of the things that make you who you are. And, even if I don't really understand you yet, I think that who you are, Chopper, is someone I want to know."

    Tears pricked at the corners of Chopper's eyes as he watched Spruce extend a hand towards him. The act seemed to freeze him in place again, while Spruce sat there in the bed with a warm smile and gentle eyes, not saying anything else, just waiting. Moments became seconds that drew on silently, and those tears began to trail down his furry cheeks. Then, in a flurry of movement, he turned around and bolted for the door as fast as he could. He threw it open and didn't bother closing it behind him as he fled the room.

    Lef there on his own, Spruce slowly lowered his hand. He laid back down in bed and pulled the covers back over himself before turning to his favourite bedridden pastime: staring at the roof above his head and thinking.

    'That was probably better than yelling at him, at least.' He thought to himself. Letting out a light hum, his eyes flashed blue- and then they widened, and in an instant he was throwing the covers off and leaping out of bed. Without even grabbing something extra to wear, he sprinted out through the open door as fast as he could and headed down the icy halls.



    -O-

    ​


    ​
    Chess looked none the worse for wear as he stood amongst a pile of fallen lapahns. The snow around them had long since been painted red, as had their white furry coats, several of which now sported a myriad of burns and scorch marks. In the hands of the Drum minister was his bow, which he had since repaired from the damage Usopp had done to it, and a pair of arrows were nocked and ready to be drawn and fired at a moment's notice. Though it seemed the moment had no intention of coming, as no more of the lapahns kin came before him to be shot down.

    Instead, there came a rumbling from far up high. A powerful rumbling, which only grew louder with every passing moment, and which made uncertainty flash across Chess' face. And though he could neither hear nor see it, there was a persistent thumping that joined the rumbling- preceding it, in fact- which came from a large number of lapahns all gathered together and jumping up and town with as much weight and power as they could.

    As the rumbling grew louder, and Chess could hear in the distance the sound of tree trunks snapping like twigs, he looked up high towards where the sound was coming from, and finally did he see what it was that was coming his way:

    An avalanche. An entire world of snow crashing down upon the forest from high up and crushing anything and everything which found itself in his past. The moment he realised what was happening, he turned around and ran back in the direction of Gyasta with the desperation of life and death to fuel him. As Chess ran, he found that he couldn't have cared any less about the man who had shot hot sauce in his eye earlier that day. All he could think about in that moment was running as fast as he possibly could, and praying that he might by some miracle manage to outrun the embodiment of Drum Island's wrath.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 20: Go Tell It on the Mountain
  • Threadmarks
    • "HERE IT COMES!"

    "THERE'S NO STOPPING IT!"

    "IT'LL BURY THE VILLAGE!"

    "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

    Panic was rife amongst the soldiers in Gyasta as they witnessed the avalanche that came tumbling down from high up, seemingly intent on burying them and the village around them completely in snow. Without waiting for orders from their king, the soldiers all turned and ran as fast as they possibly could to try and escape from its snowy wrath. For all the good that it could do them. The pale form of the fallen Dalton, so much of whose lifeblood had bled out into the snow around him, was forgotten in the panic, abandoned to be buried beneath the snow.

    There was one who ran even faster than any of them, though. Returning from the forest at a pace which was almost superhuman, Chess sprinted straight towards Wapol. The king in question was currently sat atop Robson as both Kuromarimo and Mr. 2 clamoured to get on behind him, with even the Officer Agent showing a great deal of fear in the face of the avalanche.

    "LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" Wapol cried, "ROBSON, SERIOUS MODE!"

    The white walker exhaled sharply through his nostrils as he rose up. His legs, which had actually been bent until now, straightened up to lift his hefty torso up off of the ground with Wapol and his two tagalongs all seated on his back. From where he was, still desperately running to try and catch up, Chess' eyes widened and he opened his mouth to let out a desperate scream.

    "YOUR MAJESTY, PLEASE WAIT FOR ME!" He screamed, his voice barely audible over the sound of the crashing snow which was quickly catching up to him- but still audible. Both Mr. 2 and Kuromarimo looked back to see their comrade running in their direction, but just as they did, Robson took off. With his mighty legs, he galloped ahead and away from the oncoming avalanche, quickly demonstrating his superior speed compared to the soldiers and doctors who had no choice but to try and flee on foot.

    "KING WAPOL, IT'S CHESS!" Kuromarimo yelled.

    "WELL WE CAN'T TURN AROUND NOW!" Wapol said, "FASTER, ROBSON! BEFORE WE'RE CRUSHED!"

    "KING WAPOL, CAN WE RIDE TOO?!" One of the doctors of the Isshi-20 begged as Robson galloped by them.

    "SILENCE, FEND FOR YOURSELVES!" He barked. Behind him, Kuromarimo turned his bitter gaze downwards, unable to watch the pitiful sight of Chess trying and failing to catch up. At least, until Mr. 2 began frantically tapping him on the shoulder.

    "LOOK!" He gasped. Kuromarimo did as instructed and looked back to see that Chess had grabbed an arrow from his quiver and tied a length of rope around it. Behind him, the avalanche was seconds away from crushing him beneath it, and with those few precious moments he fired the arrow just overhead of the three atop Robson.

    With his acutely-honed reflexes and precision, Mr. 2 was able to snatch the arrow out of the air and grab onto the rope that was attached. Kuromarimo grabbed onto the length of rope himself, and both gritted their teeth as they gave a great heave and yanked Chess off his feet. The rope quickly went taut as Robson continued on forwards, suspending Chess in the air as he was dragged along behind them, and Mr. 2 and Kuromarimo worked swiftly to draw him in closer and closer towards them.

    "NO FRIEND LEFT BEHIND!" Mr. 2 bellowed. A sheen of sweat shone on his forehead as he continued to help pull Chess towards them.

    "ROBSON, HURRY UP!" Wapol demanded, "IT'S GAINING ON US!"

    Indeed, while the doctors and soldiers had been left in Robson's dust to be buried beneath the snow, and Chess had been briefly pulled out of harm's way to just now join his comrades atop the white walker, even said animal's impressive speed was no match for the might of nature. All four let out terrified screams as the avalanche reached them, and between one moment and another they found themselves being buried beneath an ungodly amount of snow.

    It continued on past Wapol and the others, passing over the village in its entirety and into the surrounding forests, leaving nothing in its wake but an expanse of white as it finally subsided. The town of Gyasta hadn't, actually, been completely buried by it, as the roofs of the houses that hadn't been burned down and consumed poked out from within the snow. It was an oddly serene sight, the silent plain of snow with orange conical roofs dotted about.

    Soon, though, something far less serene would reveal itself. An upper and bottom lip made of metal, and the teeth that accompanied them, emerged from beneath the snow to meet the open air, revealing the presence of an utterly enormous mouth that promptly revealed itself by chomping down on the snow it had allowed into it. A large hole was left in the mouth's wake, which provided ample room for Wapol to stand in the centre of it and spit out Kuromarimo, Chess, Mr. 2 and even Robson as he swallowed the mass of snow.

    "You four?" He said, "I thought something tasted rotten."

    "Whoa!" Mr. 2 exclaimed, "I thought we were goners for a second there! Nice save, buddy!"

    "Chess, were you able to deal with that long-nosed traitor before the avalanche?" Kuromarimo asked, turning to look at the archer. His question seemed to remind Wapol and Mr. 2 of the events prior to the avalanche as well, and they both looked at Chess interestedly as well. At the sudden attention, Chess bowed his head shamefully.

    "No, I was not." He admitted, "I apologise, your majesty, for letting him get away."

    "That lying traitor…" Wapol snarled, "I bet he caused the avalanche, too! As a way to get away!"

    "Aye! That must be it!" Kuromarimo nodded, "I bet he's an ally of the Straw Hats too! That's why he told us they were in Gyasta!"

    "They're even more devious than I gave them credit for." Mr. 2 commented.

    After a few seconds of hesitation, Chess nodded, "Y-Yeah, that avalanche was probably all his fault."

    "Alright! Now that Straw Hat is dead, it's time for the rest of that wretched crew to follow!" Wapol announced, "Chess, which direction did the long-nose run off in?!"

    "I don't know, sire." Chess said, "I was busy running away from the avalanche and, um, I lost track of him."

    "I suppose that's to be expected…" Wapol muttered, "Then what about the other pirates?! Where are they?!"

    "We don't know that either, your majesty." Kuromarimo said, "Since they never came here at all, none of the villagers had any intel about them. The only information we gathered here was that the witch took up residence in your castle."

    "THE WITCH!" Wapol said, slamming a fist into his palm, "Right! That has to be our priority, then! Before the other pirates can be executed, we'll return to my castle!"

    "You should know, your majesty," Kuromarimo said, "that all the ropeways to the castle are down. That's what the villagers said, at least."

    "Hmph. It doesn't matter!" Wapol said, "We'll go up the mountain if that's what it takes!"



    -O-

    ​


    Fear should push men to do amazing things. Feats which were thought impossible for a human to achieve became possible when one was in a life-or-death situation. It was that power of fear which pushed Usopp to run as fast and for as long as he did. Even with his airflow restricted by his repeated screaming, his legs pushed themselves to a superhuman level and enabled him to keep ahead of the lapahn which had been trying to do him in. In fact, his fear had overtaken him on such a primal level that as he ran across the entire Drum Island, keeping going long after the lapahn had tired out and given up and let him escape, he never noticed the avalanche that occurred where he had previously been.

    It was as the shoreline and the glimmering ocean both came into view that Usopp began to slow down, eventually coming to a stop just a few feet from the edge of the shore. Waves of fatigue washed over him at once, his knees practically turning to jelly beneath his own weight, and he collapsed into the snow behind him which felt so wonderfully cool and refreshing against his face that was now completely flushed. There was no sound of a pursuer, no lapahn bounding through the snow or Chess drawing an arrow back in his bow, just Usopp and the snow and the sea and the two ships of his enemies.

    He blinked as he caught sight of said pair of ships in the edge of his periphery. Slowly turning his head around without moving the rest of his body, he brought them a bit more into view and saw that indeed, he'd managed to run right back the way that he had come when he initially disguised himself amongst Wapol's ranks. The Bliking remained anchored there in the water, seemingly oddly serene now that all the villains it had been carrying were inland. Behind it was the ship that belonged to Mr. 2, with its swan figurehead and sails that proclaimed the message of the 'OKAMA WAY'. A single gangplank served to connect both vessels, while another one from Bliking allowed passage between ship and shore.

    Seconds passed which stretched into minutes as Usopp laid there in the snow and stared at the two seemingly empty ships. From his vantage point, he couldn't see the Merry without having to get up and adjust his position, and he was busy catching his breath after such strenuous and panicked physical activity. Only once his face had returned to normal did he slowly push himself off the ground to stand back up and really consider his situation beyond the fact he wasn't in immediate life-threatening peril.

    'With that big tough guy fighting, it's probably a sure thing that Mr. 2 and those other guys will get taken down.' He reasoned, 'Plus with those weird monster things in the forest, I'd be in trouble wandering around without knowing where to go. The safest course of action is to return to the ship and wait for the others!'

    That logic made sense to him, and he gave himself a reassuring nod as he took a step in the direction of where the Merry was. But just as the sole of his boot touched down onto the snow, he froze. A stray thought struck him, a recollection of recent events as well as a vision of how they could have played out if his role had been different in them.

    "HAHAHAHAHA!" The evil moustache-twirling Mr. 3 laughed evilly, twirling his moustache, "WITH MY WAX-WAX POWERS, I'M GOING TO KILL THE STRAW HAT PIRATES AND THEN TURN YOU GIANTS IN FOR OUR BOUNTIES! I'M SO EVIL AND DISHONOURABLE!"

    "Dammit, I'm stuck! There's nothing I can do right now!" Zoro exclaimed from where he was standing on the bottom layer of a giant wax birthday cake. His entire body save for his head was enveloped in a thick chunk of wax, trapping him in place completely.

    "There's nothing I can do either!" Sanji added, standing next to Zoro while being in much the same predicament. Likewise, Nami and Vivi joined the two fighters, and the four of them all shared looks of fear and struggle while the candles on the top of the cake rained wax down upon them.

    "I'm about to die… at the hands of dishonourable scum!" Master Brogy bemoaned. Unlike the four humans, the giant had been pinned to the ground with his arms extended out to his sides, and large blades of wax piercing his hands and feet. Mr. 3 twirled his moustache some more in response to the giant's despair.

    "Yes! And there's absolutely nobody who can save you!" He taunted the giant. Just as quickly as the words had left his mouth, though, he would be startled by the sound of footsteps thundering towards him, joined by the sounds of branches snapping and tree trunks falling. He whipped his head around to the source of the sound, only for his jaw- as well as the jaws of the five trapped individuals- to drop as Usopp emerged from the jungle while standing on the head of a charging tyrannosaurus rex. Sniper and dinosaur roaring in unison, drowning out Mr. 3's scream of terror, and Usopp fired a pellet of hot sauce straight down the assassin's open mouth, which turned his scream of terror into a scream of pain.

    The t-rex ran headfirst right into the wax birthday cake, and Usopp jumped down from its head just seconds before the collision which shattered the cake into pieces. The four would-be wax figures on the bottom layer were miraculously unharmed by this, and even more miraculously freed from their captivity. Meanwhile, a fire sparked to life in Master Brogy's eyes even hotter than the burning sensation throughout Mr. 3's mouth.

    "Usopp, you… are… SO! HONOURABLE!" The warrior of Elbaf bellowed, and the last two words were both punctuated by his muscles flexing so hard that the wax blades impaling him were crushed into dust. The wounds left in their wake and the blood that poured from them didn't bother Master Brogy one bit as he stood up and scooped Mr. 3 up in his hands. Looking down, he and Usopp shared a knowing nod, and he wound his hand back in order to throw Mr. 3 as hard as he could through the air.

    Down below, Usopp prepared another pellet in his trusty slingshot- a gunpowder one, this time, and aimed high at the sky while Master Brogy wound up his throw. Just as Mr. 3 passed from his hand, Usopp let fly his own projectile, and his shot struck the assassin dead-on in the sky. Mr. 3's entire body exploded into bright fireworks that dazzled the other Straw Hats with their pretty colours, and Master Brogy shed a manly tear at the display, which culminated in a giant image of Usopp's face.

    Indeed, there was no doubt in Usopp's mind that if he had not run back to the Merry and then just stayed there the whole time waiting for the others to return, then things would have played out exactly like that.

    'But I have no idea where anyone else is!' Usopp thought, 'I don't think I could even find my way back to Gyasta on my own.'

    So there he was, resolved to take action but unsure of what action to take. He stood in place and contemplated for several seconds, his face scrunching up in concentration as he did, before realisation struck him and he swivelled around on the spot to face in the direction of the Bliking.

    'Even if I don't fight, there are other ways I can try and help the others out!' He thought, 'If these are our enemies' ships, there might be something helpful onboard, like a weapon, or secret plans!'

    Now with a clear plan of action in mind, Usopp strode over to the gangplank that connected the ship to the island, and walked across onto its deck. He froze momentarily upon actually setting foot on the ship, as if expecting someone to pop out from below and attack him, but when that didn't happen he continued on his way. His eyes raked over every inch of the vessel that presented itself from his vantage point of the deck, taking in all the nooks and crannies, but it wasn't the Bliking that he was interested in searching first.

    Making his way across the ship, he found the bridge that connected it to Mr. 2's ship and stepped onto it. Where the other one had been on an incline, this one was on a decline, and so Usopp's movements were a bit more careful as he crossed over onto the other ship, mindful of the icy waters below which he had already seen claim a victim earlier that day. The lack of any guards stationed on Wapol's ship emboldened him somewhat, and he didn't hesitate the same way as before when he touched down on the deck. He headed straight for the ship's cabin without paying mind to who else could be onboard- much to his own detriment.

    Usopp almost screamed as the deck's hatch was thrown open and a trio of men who were sorely underdressed for the climate burst out, all brandishing their own weapons. They all looked around wildly, quickly spotting Usopp on the deck, and three sets of eyes slowly trailed up his body. From his boots, to his coat, to finally his nose. The latter two seemed of particular interest to them, all while Usopp stood as still as a statue. It was only because he was disguised as one of their allies that he wasn't turning tail and running.

    "That nose…" One of the men rumbled, making Usopp gulp.

    'Crap! Do they somehow recognise me?!'

    "That nose is hilarious!" Another finished, promptly breaking out into chortles.

    "You really got us with that one, Mr. 2 Bon Clay!" The third cackled, lowering his weapon and doubling over with laughter.

    'HUH?!'

    "How long have you been hiding that one?" The first man asked, "Your Clone-Clone Montage would be unstoppable if you made that nose part of it!"

    'Clone-Clone… Montage?' Usopp thought. He concentrated, keeping his face as stony as possible while his mind raced with everything that had just been said, 'They think I'm Mr. 2 somehow! But I don't look anything like Mr. 2, I'm not even dressed like him! But Clone-Clone Montage… that sounds like the name of a Devil Fruit user's technique! I see, Mr. 2 must have some kind of appearance-changing Devil Fruit, and they're assuming that I'm simply using that ability to disguise myself!'

    Relief flooded his veins, only to be washed away a second later by indignation.

    'They think my nose is that silly-looking?!'

    "You're dressed weirdly, though, Mr. 2." The second man noted, "Like one of those Drum Kingdom soldiers."

    "Erm… yes! I am!" Usopp said, trying to heighten the pitch of his voice as he spoke, "You see, my friend Wapol had the idea for me to disguise myself as an ordinary soldier, so I could catch our enemies by surprise! And it was such a brilliant idea from my good friend, so I decided to go along with it! So now instead of being my usual beautiful self, I am being the long-nosed someone else. Yep, that's what I, Mr. 2, am doing right now!"

    He capped off his deception with a confident nod, to really sell the whole thing, and watched the cogs turn in the minds of Mr. 2's flunkies as they took in everything he had said. After a couple of seconds, they lit up and all lowered their weapons completely.

    "That is a good idea from your friend!" The third man said.

    "Strong pirates never spare a second thought for regular fighters like us." The second man added.

    "That's the kind of trickery we'd expect from you, Mr. 2 Bon Clay!" The third man said.

    "But if you're trying to deceive your enemies, why are you back here?" The first man inquired.

    "I got hungry." Usopp answered immediately, and his empty and supportive stomach let out a loud growl as the words were leaving his mouth. The trio's eyes all widened.

    "Then we'll make you something to eat!" The second man declared, "You can't kill people on an empty stomach, after all!"

    "That's right!" The first man affirmed, "But first…"

    Then, like some kind of switch had been flipped, the three men all hopped up and down on the spot and began violently shivering. Their hands became blurs rubbing up and down their exposed arms, while their teeth chattered so quickly that the individual sounds blurred together into a low hum. It was such a sudden shift that Usopp actually took a step back in surprise.

    "Are you okay?!" He said.

    "W-W-W-We're fine, Mr. 2!" The third man said, "J-Just c-c-cold is all!"

    "But you seemed fine just a few seconds ago?" Usopp muttered, "Well, never mind."

    "C-Come on, we'll g-g-get started on that snack!" The second man said. They began leading him in what he assumed was the direction of the galley, and his mind began to race with how he could take advantage of such an inexplicably successful deception.

    'After they feed me, I could just leave without any problem.' He mused, 'But even if it seems like I've got them fooled, I probably shouldn't actually eat anything they serve me. They could be trying to drug me, like what happened at Whiskey Peak! Do I want to leave, though? I haven't really accomplished anything worth telling the others about.'

    They headed into the galley, and Usopp felt the rush of warm air as they held the door open for him. His eyes trailed over every inch of the space, still contemplating his next course of action while the three began preparing him his food.

    'No, this is no time to run away at the first chance!' He thought, 'If I'm going to become a Brave Warrior of the Sea, I need to be the kind of man who can put himself in danger to try and help out his allies! If there's a way for my being here to give us an advantage against Baroque Works, I'm going to find it!'

    And so, resolved to do what he could, Usopp opened his mouth.

    "But before I eat, there's something else!" He announced, which made the other three all stop what they were doing to listen to what he was about to say, "I need to… erm- I need to see how everything is going! Here, with you all!"

    The men stopped. One of them turned to Usopp.

    "Really, Mr. 2?" He said, "It's so encouraging to know we're working under someone who cares about his subordinates wellbeing like you do! Alright, we'll take you to see how everyone is doing!"



    -O-

    ​


    What awaited the trio of Sanji, Nami and Vivi as they arrived at Gyasta was something none of them had been expecting. With Nami, who had of course been the one steering, bringing the sledge to a stop a short distance away from the village, they saw that the village in question had been buried beneath a significant volume of snow, with only the tops of the buildings poking out to indicate to them that they were at the town in the first place.

    More notable than the aftermath of the avalanche, though, was the presence of Wapol's soldiers who had gathered around the edge of the village, along with a handful of doctors in pink medical scrubs. They stood where there wasn't such a thick layer of snow on the ground, and faced down a group of seemingly ordinary villagers. Both parties were arguing with each other over something, and so the trio quickly dismounted the sledge and hurried over to see what was happening. Vivi scooped Bonbon up into her arms to help carry her through the snow.

    "Hey, what's going on?" Nami asked one of the closest villagers, standing to the back of the crowd, once they had approached. Now that they were closer, they could see that Wapol's soldiers were brandishing weapons, whereas the villagers seemed unarmed.

    "That avalanche buried Dalton!" The villager cried, gesticulating wildly at the mass of snow, "But these men won't let us try and dig him out!"

    "What?!" Vivi gasped, "Dalton's buried underneath all that snow?!"

    "GET BACK!" One of the soldiers roared, thrusting his rifle out as if to try and shoo the villagers away, "DALTON'S DEAD!"

    "DALTON WOULDN'T DIE THAT EASILY!" Another villager yelled.

    "YOU USED TO SERVE UNDER HIM, DON'T YOU EVEN CARE?!" Added someone else.

    "WE'RE KING WAPOL'S VASSALS!" The soldier said, "TO DEFY HIM IS DEATH!"

    "If that avalanche buried Dalton, and Luffy was coming this way to fight alongside him…" Sanji murmured, glancing to the other two, "Is it possible he was buried by it as well?"

    "Wouldn't surprise me." Nami sighed.

    "If that's the case, he'd be in serious peril right now!" Vivi said.

    "Then in that case…" Sanji trailed off, instead jerking his head in the direction of the soldiers. Nami sighed again.

    "Go ahead." She told him, and he certainly didn't need her to repeat it. Meanwhile, the soldier who had been speaking for his allies continued his tirade.

    "ANYBODY THAT DOESN'T LIKE IT CAN TRY AND TAKE US ON!" He taunted, "ASSUMING YOU HAVE THE GUTS WITHOUT DALTON TO LEAD- UMPH!"

    Cutting him off was Sanji's foot, though it was far more of a blunt instrument than a sharp one with the way that his heel knocked out most of the soldier's teeth with a single flying kick. The soldier collapsed in the snow, out like a light, as Sanji landed over him and turned his direction outwards to glower at all the others. They were all quite stunned by the sudden assault.

    "HUH?!"

    "WHO'S THAT?!"

    "THAT GUY JUST ATTACKED HIM!"

    And as shocked and outraged as the soldiers all were, the reaction from the villagers was a far cry from positive as well.

    "Stop, you fool!" One villager exclaimed, "If you fight them-!"

    "KILL HIM!" A soldier bellowed, looking to his allies as he pointed in Sanji's direction and they rushed to attack the man in question. Even with their abundance of weapons and the numbers advantage, though, the chef didn't seem concerned in the slightest. Squatting down, he grabbed the sheathed blade from the soldier he had just knocked out, and tossed it into the air. As he stood back up, he kicked it like he was playing a sport, and sent it flying straight into the forehead of one of the soldiers. It was a clean hit, which jerked his head back and made his body crumple. With him suddenly stopping, too, one of the soldiers ended up running into him from behind, proceeding to tumble over him and creating a person-pileup that another couple of them ran into.

    There were still a lot of them coming Sanji's way, however, and he saw the barrels of their guns which were quickly being pointed in his direction. He squatted down a little, then sprang up into the air- noting, as he did so, that he didn't achieve as much height with his jump as he had intended to- and towards his foes. Coming down, he slammed his foot into the skulls of one of the soldiers and then pushed off them. Flipping himself over, he landed on the ground on his hands, in the midst of several of the soldiers, and span himself around to deliver a barrage of kicks in all directions. Weapons were knocked out of hands and men were clobbered, but Sanji only kept his attack up for a bit over a second before jumping into a normal standing position and sticking his hands into his pockets.

    'This snow's a problem. I can't fight like I normally do, and it's slowing me down.' He thought, grimacing to himself slightly as several of the soldiers who he hadn't struck quickly turned their weapons on him from close range.

    "ROCK THROW!"

    "SHADOW SNEAK!"

    Before they could open fire, however, a barrage of attacks came the soldiers' way. Vivi came charging through to stand at the front of the crowd of citizens, with Bonbon raised high above her head so that the Pokémon could summon her rocks and send them hurtling into the soldiers. The rocks mainly struck their hands and their weapons, disarming a number of them and causing cries of shock to ring out from soldiers and citizens alike.

    "Is that a tree?!"

    "It just attacked those soldiers!"

    "What?! What was that?!"

    As for Nami, she plucked Julius' Pokeball from the Log Pose and held it out in front of her as it opened and released Julius in a burst of white light. Before he had even fully materialised, a black shadowy mass had already darted across the ground and come up behind one of the soldiers that Bonbon hadn't hit, and who was about to open fire on Sanji. The shadow rose up off the ground and rammed into the soldier from behind just as he pulled the trigger, knocking his gun way off-course from his target and causing the bullet to instead punch right through the shoulders of another soldier, who promptly dropped his own weapon and fell to the ground clutching his wound.

    And if people had been shocked seeing Bonbon…

    "EEK! IT'S A MONSTER!"

    "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?"

    "Some kind of goblin? Or demon?!"

    "AAAAH!"

    "Sable… eye?" Julius mumbled, glancing between the soldiers and the citizens alike as they reacted with fear and confusion to his appearance. Behind him, Nami crouched down to place a supportive hand on top of his head.

    "It's okay." She leaned in to whisper to him, "You're my monster."

    Seeing the two newbie trainers and their Pokémon come to his aid made Sanji smirk, before he focused his attention on the remainder of the soldiers, who were quickly falling into disarray at the involvement of such unfamiliar creatures.

    'Of course, with a couple of beautiful ladies backing me up, I'm invincible no matter where I fight.' He thought.



    -O-

    ​


    After a long and arduous ascent, Wapol finally stood atop the peak of the Drum Rockies, staring down a sight that for so long he had only been able to experience in his dreams. His pristine white castle, its pointed towers scraping the winter sky itself, stood before him. The sight of it all made him throw his hands up and cheer.

    "IT'S JUST AS I LEFT IT!" He said, "AND NOW, I SHALL RECLAIM THE THRONE OF DRUM KINGDOM!"

    Both Chess and Kuromarimo took up positions on each side of him, kneeling as one would for royalty. Mr. 2, on the other hand, broke out into an enthusiastic applause at Wapol's words, grinning from ear-to-ear with glee. But that grin quickly faltered as he marvelled at Wapol's castle for himself, and noticed something in particular that was flying in the wind above: a black pirate flag, fastened to the flagpole of the castle's tallest tower, with its jolly roger decorated by cherry blossom petals.

    "Wait, buddy." Mr. 2 said, putting a hand on Wapol's shoulder as he pointed up at the flag, "Look up there."

    "Huh?" Wapol lowered his hands and followed Mr. 2's finger, and his eyes widened as he caught sight of the flag for himself, "WHAT?! A PIRATE FLAG?! WHERE'S THE FLAG OF THE DRUM KINGDOM?!"

    "Kak Kak Kak!"

    At the sound of laughter, all eyes turned to the castle's doorway, which had opened to reveal Doctor Kureha and Chopper in his normal form. Chess and Kuromarimo quickly shot to their feet. The abundance of enemies didn't seem to faze Kureha in the slightest, who seemed more amused than anything, in contrast to Chopper whose eyes were smouldering with rage.

    "That old rag?" Kureha said, "I burned it."

    "So it's you, Doctor Kureha!" Wapol said, "The last survivor of the great doctor hunt! You just won't die, will you?!"

    "I've turned your castle into a mausoleum for Dr. Hiriluk." She replied, "You rotten brats aren't welcome here anymore! Now leave this island, Drum Kingdom is no more!"

    "You don't get to talk to my friend that way!" Mr. 2 snapped, stepping forwards to wave an indignant fist in her direction, but he paused as Wapol behind him suddenly burst out into laughter.

    "HA! A MAUSOLEUM? FOR THAT CHARLATAN?!" He cackled, "DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!"

    The anger that was burning in Chopper's gaze only intensified at Wapol's words. Kureha crossed her arms and glanced back behind her, her face quickly morphing into a stern gaze as she noticed someone else coming to join the party.

    "You're supposed to be in bed." She admonished Spruce, who had wrapped himself up in a thick coat and some added layers underneath to stay warm. Following at his side was Ria, with Pex hovering a couple of feet above his head as well. Spruce rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly at the doctor's scolding.

    "Ah… sorry!" He said, "But I figured if they're just going to come in and kill me, it's probably better I endanger myself by helping fight them off instead, right?"

    "I suppose as long as it's those critters of yours doing the fighting, I can let it slide this one time." Kureha said, "Chopper could probably use the help, all things considered. That one with the swans isn't someone I recognise, but they seem more dangerous than the other three."

    "Hey, there's someone else!" Wapol said, "Who the hell is that?!"

    He pointed to Spruce and looked expectantly to Chess and Kuromarimo, as if expecting one of them to have the answer, but they both seemed as perplexed by Spruce's presence as he was. It was Mr. 2 whose eyes darkened as he sized the boy up for himself, and took note of the Pokémon duo which he was joined by.

    "I recognise him." Mr. 2 said, "He's one of the Straw Hats."

    "A Straw Hat?!" Chess gasped.

    "Up here in his majesty's castle?!" Kuromarimo cried.

    "Those damn Straw Hats…" Wapol snarled, "So they're determined to even undermine me here?!"

    Their words went unnoticed by Spruce, whose eyes flashed blue in unison with Ria's before they both quickly took on matching serious looks. Noticing the shift in demeanour, Pex quickly matched it, and the three stared down Mr. 2 together.

    "You're right, Doctor." Spruce said, "Whoever that guy is, he's seriously tough."

    "Riolu." Ria nodded. She slammed a fist into her paw and stretched her neck. Her actions weren't lost on Mr. 2, who watched her and Pex closely.

    "You should be wary of those beasts of his." He warned the other three, "They're not what they appear."

    "Hmph!" Kuromarimo scoffed, "A couple of small animals like that couldn't possibly pose a threat! Besides, you already finished off their captain!"

    "Yeah, I did!" Wapol said, "LISTEN UP, PIRATE! I KILLED YOUR CAPTAIN EARLIER!"

    The brazen declaration made Chopper's eyes widened, but neither Spruce nor Ria seemed surprised in the slightest to hear it. Rather, they both seemed slightly confused, and they shared a look with each other before Spruce opened his mouth to respond.

    "NO YOU DIDN'T!" He called out.

    "Huh?!" Chess said.

    "YES I DID!" Wapol replied.

    "NO, YOU ACTUALLY DIDN'T!" Spruce said. Wapol almost replied immediately, but stopped himself and hesitated for a few seconds, before speaking up again.

    "THE ONE WITH THE STRAW HAT IS YOUR CAPTAIN, RIGHT?!"

    "YES!"

    "I KILLED HIM EARLIER!"

    "NO YOU DIDN'T!"

    "He must simply be in denial, your majesty." Kuromarimo suggested, "It doesn't matter if he admits that his captain is dead or not, especially when you're going to kill him anyway. Right?"

    "That's right!" Wapol said.

    "Then in that case, leave it to us, your majesty." Chess said. He and Kuromarimo both stepped forth, with the latter raising his hair-laden fists threateningly while the former grabbed his bow and a couple of arrows.

    "Once we've crushed these rebels, your rule will be restored at last!" Kuromarimo vowed, "It was foolish of you to have ever moved into the castle, Doctor Kureha!"

    The doctor in question simply shrugged, "I never cared that much about this rundown heap of rock. But this fellow here…"

    As Kureha spoke, Chopper transformed before their very eyes into his beast form, taking on the same muscular humanoid appearance that Ria and Pex had witnessed earlier. The sight of the transformation made Wapol and his two underlings recoil away in shock, while Mr. 2 tilted his head curiously.

    "…insisted on erecting a memorial to Hiriluk here." Kureha finished.

    "King Wapol!" Chess said, "It's-!"

    "Yes, it's that monster!" Kuromarimo said, "That one that followed Hiriluk!"

    "Dr. Hiriluk only ever wanted to save this country!" Chopper said, once his transformation was complete and he stood before them on two legs, "I won't let you set one foot in this castle! AND I WON'T LET YOU TAKE DOWN HIS BANNER OF FAITH!"

    Up above all of them, the cherry blossom flag continued to wave in the wind. Its skeletal grin seemed defiant in the face of such adversaries. And down below, Wapol didn't seem the slightest bit put off by Chopper's addition. In fact, after the initial shock of the transformation had worn off, he let out a sinister laugh.

    "MWAHAHA! Then that means everyone I want dead is here!" He said, "Show no mercy! Kill them all!"

    "Looks like we're fighting now." Spruce said, "That guy might be tough, Ria, but we're tougher!"

    "Lu!" Ria affirmed with a nod. From across the mountaintop, Kuromarimo plucked a handful of hair from his afro and rubbed it between his fingers, causing it to puff up into a spherical shape like the bunches of hair currently coating both his hands.

    "For turning this sacred castle into a memorial for that bumbling quack, YOU'LL DIE FIRST, DOCTOR KUREHA! MARIMO'S STATIC CLING!"

    He hurled the mass of charged black hair like a ball, aimed straight at Kureha's face. The doctor remained standing exactly where she was, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared down the attack that was rapidly coming her way. She didn't look concerned in the slightest.

    "DOCTORINE!" Chopper exclaimed, and he rushed to try and intercept the attack- only to stop and stumble in his tracks as Ria beat him too it. The diminutive canine Pokémon leaped up from the snow, jumping into the path of Kuromarimo's hairball and slapping it away from Kureha. Chopper let out a small sigh of relief.

    "It's not right for you to attack a lady like that!" Spruce called out to Kuromarimo disapprovingly, "At least, that's what Sanji would probably say in this situation…"

    "So he has manners after all?" Kureha said.

    "Heh… You fell for it!" Kuromarimo sneered.

    "What?" Spruce said. He looked down and saw that the hairball Ria had tried to slap away had actually ended up clinging to her paw, and continued to cling even as she frantically waved her arm around and tried to shake it off. And when she got her other limb involved and tried to brush it off, all that was accomplished was switching which paw it was stuck to.

    "Rio!" Ria said frustratedly.

    "It's… just a sticky hairball?" Spruce blinked, "That's the attack?"

    "AND I'VE GOT LOADS MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM!" Kuromarimo announced, repeating the act of plucking small handfuls of hair from his afro and rubbing them until they were charged with static electricity, "MARIMO'S STATIC CLING!"

    A whole volley of hairballs were thrown in Spruce's direction, as the trainer stood there and watched them make contact with the different parts of his body, where they promptly began to cling to his clothes. Once all the hairballs had been thrown, he looked down at himself, and then back up at Kuromarimo, and raised an eyebrow.

    "Um…" Chopper said, "Do you… want help?"

    "With what?" Spruce said, "It's just hair."

    As if to prove his point, he grabbed one of the hairballs from his coat and pried it away in order to give it a few squeezes, and dig his fingers into it. He cringed slightly at the texture of it around his digits, but that was the worst that the hair had to do, so he rubbed it against his shoulder and let it cling there instead.

    "Yep. Just hair." Spruce said.

    "Oh." Chopper said. They all just sort of stood there awkwardly for a second, until Chess lit one of his arrowheads on fire and drew it back in his bow.

    "RIO!" Ria yelled, directing her trainer's attention to the flaming arrow that was being aimed in his direction. Spruce snapped his fingers.

    "The hair is flammable!" He said, sounding more like he had just realised something important than he was concerned about someone about to light him on fire, "Okay, I get it now. Alright Ria, now's the time for Vacuum Wave!"

    "Lu." She nodded.

    "Checkmate!" Chess announced, his fingers releasing the bowstring to let the flaming arrow fly. But in that miniscule interval of time before the arrow was actually propelled by the string, Ria's muscles tensed and she moved at a speed none of them could even perceive. With the paw that had the hairball clinging to it, she reared a fist back, rotating her limb fully counter-clockwise as she did. A small ball of wind seemed to gather together just in front of her fist, and then she threw her fist forwards while rotating it in the opposite direction.

    The spinning punch that struck the air turned the ball of wind into a powerful blast. It ripped the hairball away from her paw and carried it on ahead of it as it collided with the arrow Chess was firing from bis bow. First the flaming arrowhead set the hairball alight and split it into two down the middle, then the wind extinguished the flame after it, and ripped through the bowstring completely as the two halves of flaming hairball struck Chess in the chest and stayed there, clinging to the fabric of his garments.

    All of that in a fraction of a second.

    With the flame extinguished, the arrow Chess had fired didn't do much other than pierce through one of the hairballs on Spruce's arm. It didn't even scratch his clothes, and embedded itself in the wall behind him. The proximity of the arrow didn't seem to bother him, as he was more focused on Ria in the aftermath of the attack, whose eyes had lit up. She whirled around in the snow and looked up at him with sparkling eyes, and found her energy matched by his own beaming grin.

    "That was great, Ria!" He cheered. Bending forwards, he scooped her up into his hands and lifted her up in order to spin her around in celebration.

    Meanwhile, both their enemies and Chopper seemed to be astonished by the display of speed and power that they had just witnessed. Even Chess, who was a couple of seconds away from realising that he was now on fire.

    "Did that dog thing… seriously do that? Just with its fist?" Kuromarimo gaped.

    "This is the second time today I have to fix this." Chess grumbled, before his nose twitched and he raised an eyebrow, "Wait, is something burning?"

    Kuromarimo looked over at him and his eyes widened as he noticed the two flaming hairballs which were spreading their flames to Chess' clothes.

    "CHESS!"

    "Huh?" Chess said, before looking down at himself and promptly matching his ally's panic, "AHHH! IT'S ME! I'M BURNING! HOT! HOT! HOT!"

    In the midst of his panicked screaming, Chess hopped up and down on one foot as if that would somehow alleviate the burning sensation which was quickly intensifying. He looked around desperately, eyes fraught with panic, until finally he had the idea to drop down and roll around in the snow in order to extinguish the fire.

    Whereas they had been frightened by the display of power, though, Chopper looked on in admiration.

    "What an impressive attack!" He gushed. His comment made Spruce and Ria give their celebratory antics a rest, and the trainer let his Pokémon back down before flashing Chopper a grin.

    "That's what happens when people and Pokémon work together." He told him.

    "See what I mean when I say not to underestimate them?" Mr. 2 said from where he stood, "Even that small animal possesses a great deal of power within itself."

    "In that case, I'll show them the power of the Munch-Munch Fruit!" Wapol declared. His words made Spruce and Ria's gazes harden in an instant.

    "We better be careful, Devil Fruit powers can be tricky." He warned Ria, who nodded.

    "I might have used up that special supply of munitions taking care of Straw Hat, but my stomach is far from empty!" Wapol said, "Chess, remind me what I've eaten today?"

    The archer was busy rolling around in the snow, long after the fire had actually been extinguished, and it took him a few seconds to realise that Wapol had actually called upon him. He blushed as he jumped to his feet and reached into the folds of his coat to retrieve a small, checkered notebook that he began to read from.

    "Yes, sire! This morning on the ship, you had one cannon sautéed in butter, one fresh cannon, a bomb, and an explosive salad. Then in the village you had one grilled house."

    "That doesn't sound like a balanced diet." Spruce said.

    "He's going to do something." Chopper added gravely.

    "NOW YOU WILL TREMBLE BEFORE MY FULL MUNCH-MUNCH POWERS!" Wapol cackled, "THE THINGS THAT I EAT EVENTUALLY BECOME MY FLESH AND BLOOD!"

    Indeed, Wapol began to rapidly transform before their very eyes, in a manner akin to Chopper's own Devil Fruit ability. Except instead of muscle and flesh growing out of him to change his body, it was a mixture of wood, stone and metal that morphed into a shape so far removed from any natural living organism. His chest ballooned out along with his arms, becoming like a miniature house with a door and windows that was supported by a pair of stubby, far-apart legs, while his hands were replaced with a pair of cannons. And to complete it all was the chimney which poked out the top of his head like a hat, billowing out plumes of smoke into the sky above.

    "WAPOL HOUSE!"

    "A house?!" Spruce said, "That's… not actually that scary?"

    "I'LL SHOW YOU SCARY!" Wapol roared, "BEHOLD THE ROYAL TECHNIQUE! MUNCH-MUNCH FACTORY!"

    Those words whipped both Chess and Kuromarimo into a terrified frenzy, and they both quickly tried to get away from Wapol. It didn't do them any good, as the walking house bent down and opened his mouth up wide to snare the pair between his jaw. Their terrified screams became muffled as he gulped them down deeper and deeper into his mouth, until he had consumed them in their entireties.

    "Huh?!" Spruce said.

    "LU?!" Ria cried.

    "R-Ravia…" Pex mumbled, cringing at the sight.

    "He's eating his own men!" Chopper gasped.

    Once both Chess and Kuromarimo had been swallowed, Wapol threw his arms out to let steam billow out from the barrels of his cannons while he gritted his teeth in concentration.

    "AND NOW, THE MIRACULOUS FUSION! BEHOLD!"

    "Fusion?!" Spruce said.

    The door on Wapol's body opened up, revealing a darkness inside of him from which a white gloved hand reached out to support itself against the open door. As the figure within the darkness stepped out into the light to reveal themselves, they spoke with a voice that came from two individuals speaking in perfect unison.

    "I AM… THE MIGHTIEST WARRIOR IN DRUM KINGDOM… CHESSMARIMO!"

    Standing before them all was the newly-christened Chessmarimo, a warrior who had merged the features of both Chess and Kuromarimo into one body. The archer's green palette had been combined with the fighter's orange, now adorning a body that was distinctly wider than either of them had been separately. What was an even more distinct difference from their previous states, however, was the fact that Chessmarimo possessed both of their arms and heads all on the one body, giving him four limbs and two faces in total.

    "Woah, they're like a fat Machamp!" Spruce exclaimed.

    "Hey, you shouldn't comment on someone's body like that!" Mr. 2 yelled.

    "Don't underestimate them." Kureha piped up, "If they were weak, the citizens would have risen up to stop them from taking all the doctors."

    "The first article of the Drum Kingdom's constitution states, 'Whosoever defies the king's wishes shall die'!" Wapol rumbled, "This is the foremost law of the land!"

    "You tell 'em, buddy!" Mr. 2 cheered. He pumped his fist, and his encouragement seemed to invigorate Wapol somewhat as he continued on.

    "This is my kingdom, and this is my castle!!" He raised one of his arms to aim the barrel of the cannon straight up at the flagpole from which Hiriluk's flag flew, "THAT QUACK DOCTOR'S FLAG MUST COME DOWN! IT RUINS THE WHOLE LOOK!"

    There was a roaring BOOM as the cannon fired, completely blasting apart the flagpole and sending the flag crashing down towards the ground. As the sound of the shot still rang in everyone's ears, they were silent. Spruce and Chopper both looked up to see the flag fall, with the reindeer's eyes seemingly glazing over at the sight, while Spruce quickly adopted a solemn look. Without a word, Pex shot up into the air towards the flag.

    Then there came a sound to join the ringing.

    "MWAHAHAHAHA!"

    Wapol's maniacal laughter, so utterly genuine. So full of glee and malice that were joined hand-in-hand within his heart as they fed into each other. And then-

    "Nice shot, buddy!"

    Mr. 2's words of encouragement, overflowing with pride in his friend. The two grinned at each other with twisted sadistic smiles, all while their enemies remained silent. It was Chopper who broke that silence.

    "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THE DOCTOR'S FLAG?!" He screamed, whirling around on the spot to glare Wapol down with every ounce of vitriol that his eyes could hold. In the face of such absolute hatred, Wapol sneered.

    "Heh… Fools." He said, "Kill them!"

    "YES SIRE!" Chessmarimo said. Before he even had to make a move, though, Chopper came running towards him. He transformed in the blink of an eye back into his hybrid form, shrinking out of their reach as they tried to reach forwards and grab him, and running through the gap between their legs in order to leap up and throw himself at Wapol as he transformed to his full beast form once again.

    "THE DOCTOR EVEN TRIED TO SAVE YOU!" Chopper said as he collided with Wapol. His feet planted themselves upon the awning above the front door, and he grabbed onto the fur pelt that hung over his shoulders to further stabilise himself. One hand clung tightly to it, while with his other hand he reached back and reared a fist- only to freeze, as hesitation struck him. Even Wapol, who had flinched in anticipation of being struck by Chopper's fist, seemed confused that the attack hadn't yet come.

    "I won't… hurt you." Chopper forced out after a second had passed, "But leave this country forever!"

    "Huh?" Mr. 2 said.

    "What are you saying, Chopper?!" Kureha called out, "YOU CAN'T REASON WITH HIM!"

    Her words did nothing to ease how conflicted Chopper was, "But… at least…!"

    "Hmph." Wapol sneered. The moment he did, Spruce's eyes narrowed and his hand darted down to grab the third Pokeball from his belt. While Chopper was frozen in indecision, Wapol turned his cannons on him, and Spruce turned the Pokeball on him in turn.

    "WHISKERS! BRINE!"

    Smoke and gunpowder exploded out from the ends of Wapol's limbs as Chopper was blasted right off him. The sound of the cannon fire drowned out Wapol's maniacal laughter and Chopper's pained yell, not to mention Kureha's own cry of distress at the sight of the reindeer's burned and battered form. What the cannon fire failed to drown out, however, was the ear-splitting roar which came from the crimson serpent who materialised from the Pokeball in Spruce's hand.

    Dwarfing even the transformed Wapol, Whiskers promptly crushed Chessmarimo underneath himself as he emerged upon the snowy mountaintop. His mouth was already open and the enraged yell already echoing as he appeared. The volume made Wapol look up from jeering down at Chopper, and contempt morphed to recognition morphed to anger in less than a second. Beside him, Mr. 2 took a tentative step back, but neither were fast enough to act before the sound coming from the serpent's mouth was replaced by a mighty jet of water.

    The stream of water impacted slammed into Wapol's tin torso. The plates of metal clanged as they were warped into a concave shape, dented inwards by the force, and the awning above the front door was blasted off his body completely. There was enough force behind the attack to lift him off his feet and launch him back, and the only thing that stopped him being blasted off the mountain altogether was the fact that he slammed into Robson and transferred the brunt of the force to the unfortunate white walker instead. Still, Wapol was knocked onto his back, precariously close to the mountain's edge, and Mr. 2 rushed to his side to offer him a hand back onto his feet and away from the edge.

    "Take a look up." Spruce spat as he stepped up beside Whiskers. He stroked the serpent's scales affectionately, even as he glared at the duo of Wapol and Mr. 2. As the latter helped the former back up, they did as instructed and looked up towards the destroyed flagpole, where they saw that Hiriluk's flag hadn't fallen to the ground after all. Chopper also joined them in witnessing the sight of Pex, with the top of the flagpole clutched in both talons, holding it up below him as he hovered above the castle. Hiriluk's flag continued to fly in the wind, as defiant as ever.

    "That bird!" Wapol said, momentarily forgetting Whiskers' presence. Without a shred of hesitation, he aimed one of his cannons up at Pex. And Pex reacted just as swiftly, without even needing Spruce to issue a command. He vibrated in the air, before he appeared to split into over a dozen duplicates of himself, all holding their own copy of the flag.

    "Clones?!" Mr. 2 gasped, but then he squinted and muttered, "No. Afterimages."

    His assessment was of no concern to Wapol, who simply fired at the image of Pex and the flag that had remained in the same place, only to watch the cannonball pass through thin air and continue on its trajectory. There was no sound of it landing, indicating that Wapol had shot it off the mountain altogether.

    "FOOL! THIS IS MY KINGDOM!" He yelled after watching his attack fail, "I'LL KEEP SHOOTING THAT EYESORE UNTIL IT STAYS DOWN!"

    "No you won't." Spruce retorted, "Not as long as we're here! You got that, you filthy glutton?!"

    "Spruce…" Chopper murmured from where he laid.

    "How dare you speak to me like that?!" Wapol said, "You're nothing but worthless pirate scum! I'm a king!"

    "Pirates are anything but worthless!" Spruce said, "I didn't even know what they were until recently… I don't think I even understood them until this moment. A world where someone like you can be king isn't a world that people should be forced to live in- and that's what pirates are! They're the people who come together as one, combining their strength to be free of that cruel and unjust world!"

    "Well, I suppose that's one way of looking at it." Kureha said, now looking far less distressed than she had been just a few moment ago.

    "You seem rather flowery for a pirate." Mr. 2 commented.

    "I think it's a load of nonsense." Wapol scoffed, "The peasants love to lie to themselves to feel more important than they are."

    "Whatever. There's no point in us standing around and telling each other we're wrong." Spruce said, before glancing over at Chopper, "Hey, Chopper. There's a saying from where I'm from, that anything's possible with humans and Pokémon working together. But I think there's some room in there for reindeers too. What do you think?"

    Ria dashed over to Chopper's side and reached out with both paws to help support him as he slowly sat back up. From there, he was able to stand back up on his own two feet unassisted, and he stared down at his own open hand as he slowly closed it into a fist, before looking back at Spruce with a hardened resolve in his eyes.

    "Yeah." He nodded, "These guys won't know what hit them!"

    "I'll blast you all to smithereens, then gobble you up off the ground!" Wapol raged. He turned a cannon each on Spruce and Chopper, which prompted Whiskers to begin amassing water within his mouth once again, only for Mr. 2 to reach over and gently place a hand on Wapol's arm and guide him to lower it.

    "Leave these ones to me." He said, "I need to fulfill my orders to wipe out the rest of the Straw Hats, after all."

    "Yeah, alright." Wapol said. He lowered his other cannon, allowing Whiskers to relax and let the attack dissipate within his mouth, and instead crossed his arms while Mr. 2 stepped forwards and dropped into a fighting stance.

    Spruce took a couple of steps back, distancing himself from the assassin as Ria scampered over to stand in front of him. She hopped up and down a bit, before responding with a stance of her own. She stood side-on to Mr. 2 with her legs apart and her body leaned forwards. One arm reached u behind her, while the other was extended towards the ground. Something burned in her eyes, a mixture of anger and excitement.

    She wasn't the only one on that side ready for a serious fight, either. Whiskers reared his head back and narrowed his eyes at Mr. 2, all while Chessmarimo remained pinned beneath his great mass, and Chopper revealed a small yellow ball in his hands which he held out as if to show off to his foes.

    "Rumble Ball." He announced.



    -O-

    ​


    ​
    It wasn't so fun to go flying through the air when he wasn't the one behind it.

    Freezing air scraped at every bit of Luffy's exposed skin as he rocketed behind the cannonball, pulled along by an extended arm and utterly helpless to do anything. The shot had launched him so far up into the air that he couldn't even make down anything on the ground below, let alone actually reach out to grab something to stop himself with. Only when his trajectory began to dip did he realise what the destination of the cannonball- and himself by proxy- had been: the ocean. The wind whooshed by in his ears as he began to rapidly plummet, with only a few seconds to look around and assess his surroundings before the acceleration of gravity became too much.

    There was a cliffside overlooking the frigid waters, and he threw his hand out to snag onto its edge as he fell past it. But even getting a firm handhold on it wasn't enough to stop him, not with all the momentum and the added weight of the cannonball, which only made that free arm stretch enough that he could continue all the way into colliding with the surface of the ocean and being submerged in an instant. Just like that, all the strength in Luffy's body was washed away, with the cannonball dragging him deeper and deeper by the second, until his grip slackened enough on the cliff's edge for it to slip altogether. His arm came crashing down to join the rest of him in sinking into the watery depths.

    Then, something else followed it? There was an audible splash, the sound of someone diving into the water after him, and Luffy could faintly make out a shirtless figure with a familiar mess of green hair atop his head. Zoro, clad in only his pants, dove down and snagged Luffy's limp wrist. Using it like a rope, he pulled his captain towards him, until he was close enough that he could grab onto him from under the arms and carry him up as he ascended towards the surface. The combined weight of the human-anchor and cannonball didn't hinder him in the slightest.

    As soon as they breached the surface, Luffy let out a desperate gasp to gulp down as much air to fill his lungs as he could. Meanwhile, Zoro glanced around at the landscape of the island, before settling on the cliffside he had just dove off from a moment ago. He carried Luffy with him as he swam over to its rocky exterior, and found a foothold to plant himself against as he heaved as much of Luffy's body out of the water as he could.

    The effect was instantaneous, and with a renewed strength, Luffy hurled his free hand up to grab onto the top of the cliff and pull himself up onto it. Then, he reached back down with an extended hand that Zoro grabbed onto, and pulled the swordsman to join him up above.

    "Whew! That was a close one!" Luffy remarked as he removed his coat and began to wring out the seawater that had absolutely soaked it, "Thanks, Zoro. What are you doing here, anyway?"

    "I went for a swim and couldn't find my way back to the ship." Zoro replied. Now that he was in the open air, he'd shrunk into himself slightly, and was shivering quite a bit with his arms wrapped around himself, "Then I saw you come falling down nearby. Figured you'd need someone to jump in and save you."

    "Shishishishi! You had that one right." Luffy snickered, "Can you believe that that mouth guy we met before showed up again? And get this- he was faking being a pirate, too! I tried to give him a wallop for it, but it turns out that one of those Broken Works guys came with them, and I guess they got the better of me."

    "Another Baroque Works agent?" Zoro said, "They just keep coming, huh? What number was this one?"

    "Two." Luffy said.

    "At this rate, Crocodile's gonna be the only one left by the time we get to Alabasta." Zoro said, "But I guess if all those guys are here now, I'd better head back to the ship to get my swords. And a coat, too…"

    "You can do that if you want, but you may as well just stay there and wait." Luffy said. He grinned and threw his damp coat over his shoulder before punching into his palm, "I'm not gonna let them get me with the same trick twice! Now that I figured out that swan-guy's weakness, I'm gonna head back and beat them all up before they know what hit 'em!"

    "QUACK!"

    At the sound of that familiar quack, both pirates turned their heads to see Carue running across the snow towards them. The duck looked determined, and he wasn't alone either. Riding on Carue's back was Spinner, who despite his seeming lack of dexterity was carrying Zoro's swords along with him.

    "Hey! Duck!" Luffy waved at the approaching duo, "And statue, too!"

    "That's two of the three." Zoro said. As Carue came to a stop a few feet away from the two of them, he wasted no time in snatching his bundle of swords from Spinner and equipping them at the hip. There was some hesitancy in his eyes, which were averted from Spinner as he grabbed the weapons, while the Pokémon stared at him in return.

    "Should have figured you'd come find me." Zoro muttered under his breath, before speaking up as he asked the both of them, "Didn't bring a coat or anything?"

    Carue shook his head, and so it was back to shivering and wrapping his arms around himself for Zoro. Luffy, on the other hand, had a question for the duck.

    "So if it was the three of you and Usopp who stayed behind on the ship when we left," Luffy said, pointing at each of them in turn, "where's Usopp?"

    "Probably hiding until this whole thing blows over." Zoro guessed, "They wouldn't have come to track us down if they didn't know there was trouble. Right?"

    "Quack!"

    "Nosepass."

    It was rather difficult to decipher the combination of affirmative and negative gestures and sounds that both Carue and Spinner made as they tried to convey the intricacies of the situation to the other two. Zoro simply stared on blankly, while Luffy actually nodded along to what they were doing as if it was all making sense.

    "Uh-huh. Uh-huh." Luffy said, "Okay, I think I get it."

    "You do?" Zoro said.

    "Usopp's doing his own thing but he's probably alright." Luffy said, "So we can focus on beating up mouth guy and swan guy!"

    "In that case, you'd better go on ahead." Zoro said. He picked Spinner up off of Carue and dropped him onto the snowy ground, and then he and Luffy shared a nod as the captain climbed onto the duck's back.

    "Quack." Carue quacked.

    "Okay duck, let's go." Luffy said. Carue nodded.

    And then, they were off.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 21: Brightest and Best
  • Threadmarks
    • As Sanji stood in the snow, surrounded on all sides by fallen Drum soldiers, he retrieved a cigarette and his lighter in order to have a smoke. In the background, he could hear the expressions of shock and confusion from the villagers in response to seeing Pokémon for the first time transitioning into relieved yells to hurry up and start digging. Then there were people clamouring through the snow with their shovels who began digging into it like their lives depended on it.

    "FIND DALTON!"

    "HURRY UP! DIG AS FAST AS YOU CAN!"

    "MELT THE SNOW!"

    Nami took the opportunity to step away from the crowd, scooping Julius up in her arms as she did so. The two stood to the side and watched the frenzy to try and find where Dalton was buried in the snow. As they did, Julius' head seemed to swivel about slightly, as if he were turning his gaze to their surroundings. He seemed particularly interested in the sky. His actions were mirrored by Sanji, who glanced around Nami to check for any immediate dangers to her, before turning his attention to Vivi.

    Unlike the other two of the group who were more content to let the villagers be as they searched, Vivi politely relieved one of them- an older gentleman, who seemed flattered by her offer- of their shovel, so that she could join them in their efforts to search. At the sight of Vivi throwing herself into the efforts so determinedly, Sanji took a long drag, before striding over to take a shovel for himself and lend a hand in the search.

    "I just hope Luffy's okay…" Vivi murmured as she dug, "And Mr. Dalton, too!"

    "Don't worry too much about Luffy." Sanji reassured her, "A little avalanche like this couldn't really keep him down."

    "You have that much faith in him?" Vivi said.

    Though she wasn't equipped like everyone else was, Bonbon did her part to try and help out. Her movements mostly just equated to flailing about near Vivi in the snow, flicking up clumps of it elsewhere as she slowly made her own little hole where she was standing. After a brief hesitation, Julius hopped out of Nami's grasp and scampered over to use his own hands to dig through the snow beside her, and the two Pokémon dug together.

    For all their vigour, it ultimately proved unnecessary, however, as one of the villagers standing several feet away suddenly called out, "WE FOUND HIM! WE FOUND DALTON!"

    Both Sanji and Vivi rushed over to the villager who had yelled, and stood at the edge of the large hole that they and several others had dug together to see the newly-uncovered Dalton laying at the bottom of it. Any relief at his discovery was quickly quashed as they were able to take in the state of him, though. Pale skin and a partially-frozen body, with gaping wounds and frozen bloodstains that had seeped into most of his clothing. His eyes were closed, and there was no indication that he was breathing. For the medically unqualified, the sight of him was enough to reach a conclusion.

    "We were too late." One villager announced bitterly, "Dalton's heart has stopped beating!"

    "How tragic!" Vivi gasped. She placed a hand over her mouth and looked away from where Dalton laid, while Sanji bowed his head. He was silent, before turning around and taking a step back towards where he and Vivi had been digging through the snow. But before he could take his second step, there was a yell-

    "WAIT!"

    At the sound of the unfamiliar voice, unfamiliar to even the villagers themselves, everyone looked over towards its source to see the doctors of the Isshi-20 approaching as a group. Their sudden appearance elicited a raised eyebrow from Sanji, as well as looks of mild confusion from Vivi and Nami, while the villagers seemed incensed at the doctors even with just that one word. The doctor who had raised his voice to get their attention continued.

    "Dalton's still alive." He said, "He was frozen, after all."

    "Leave him to us!" Another doctor added.

    "That's a lot of doctors." Sanji commented.

    "Could it be that they're the doctors Wapol fled the country with?" Vivi guessed.

    "We can't trust them!" One villager yelled, pointing an accusatory finger in their direction.

    "They work for Wapol!"

    "What are you planning?!"

    "Aren't you the ones who just said that Dalton was dead?!" Sanji interjected, raising his voice as he looked back at the villagers with a stern expression, "If you want Dalton to survive, you should stand back and let the doctors save him!"

    Both doctors and villagers alike were taken aback by the sudden outburst, but the latter seemed to silently accept his words. They backed away from Dalton, leaving room for the doctors to flood in and surround him, retrieving their various medical tools as they began to attend to the gravely injured- but not yet dead man. One among their number, the same one who had first proclaimed Dalton's survival, walked up to Sanji. He was an older man, his hair greyed and his face wrinkled, and he removed his glasses in order to look Sanji in the eye when he spoke.

    "Thank you for speaking up on our behalf." The doctor said, "Even though the king may have forced us to work for him, we're all still doctors, and our medical research could benefit this entire kingdom!"

    "You don't have to justify yourself to me." Sanji replied, "I could tell you were real doctors. And doctors don't have allegiances like soldiers do. You help everyone who needs it, because that's simply your nature."

    "Yes, helping everyone…" The doctor said, "One quack doctor showed us just what it meant to be a true doctor. We should listen to fools like that more often."

    "Then you should be ready to help one more." Sanji said, "I suspect my captain was caught beneath the avalanche just like Dalton was."

    "Your captain?" The doctor said, "Hold on, are you a member of the Straw Hat crew?"

    "Hm? Yes. Why?" Sanji said. His brow furrowed as he saw a grim look appear on the doctor's face.

    "I'm sorry to say that he's not buried under all this snow after all." He said, "After he attacked King Wapol, the king used his special power to create a cannon that shot Straw Hat far away."

    "Luffy was shot from a cannon?!" Vivi gasped, and the raised volume drew Nami's attention and had her hurrying over to listen in on the conversation.

    "A special power? So that tin-mouth is a Devil Fruit user after all." Sanji said.

    "Yes, just like your captain seemed to be." The doctor said, "Which is why it was King Wapol's intention to shoot him directly into the ocean to drown."

    That revelation provoked a reaction from the three humans. Vivi's hands flew to her mouth, Nami went stiff, and half of Sanji's cigarette was reduced to ash in an instant from his inhale. The doctor looked down with a regretful expression, letting them soak in the information. Bonbon and Julius both ceased their own digging efforts and shuffled over to their respective trainers, with Bonbon bumping against Vivi's leg while Julius just stood next to Nami and twiddled his thumbs awkwardly. It was Sanji who broke the silence after blowing out a large cloud of smoke that made the doctor cringe.

    "In that case, what happened to Wapol?" He asked, "Where's he gone now?"

    "Sanji!" Vivi protested, "Shouldn't Luffy be our first concern? If he's going to drown, we need to help him!"

    "No." Nami interjected, "Sanji's right to ask that."

    "But…" Vivi began, only for Nami to raise a hand to stop her.

    "Think about it." She said, "With how long it would take to cross the island to the nearest body of water, Luffy would have long-since drowned by the time we got there. We have to trust that either he got himself out of trouble, or that lightning struck the same place twice, and something intervened to save him."

    "That's… true." Vivi admitted, "All we can do is believe in him."

    "Well as for Wapol, you shouldn't have to worry about him for at least a while." The doctor said, "After he heard that Dr. Kureha had taken up residence in his castle, he set out to climb the mountain and take it back from her."

    He expected them to react with some measure of relief to that information, only for his face to fall as he saw that their reactions were even worse than when he had told them about what happened to Luffy. Both Vivi and Nami immediately whipped their heads around to look up at towards the Drum Rockies, and the peak upon which the castle stood but which could not be seen from the ground.

    "Our friend is in that castle." Sanji told the doctor, his voice deathly calm, "He was seriously ill, and needed urgent treatment."

    "Your friend?!" The doctor said, "But then- then he'd be in danger! If Wapol found him there, he'd quite possibly kill him without even knowing he was a pirate!"

    "And there are no ropeways up the mountain, are there?" Nami muttered, "Meaning our only way up would be to climb ourselves."

    At that, Julius suddenly began tugging on Nami's pant leg and pointing towards the sky with his other hand.

    "EYE! SABLEYE!" SABLEYE!"

    "Hm? What's got him so worked up?" Sanji said.

    "That thing can talk…?" The doctor said.

    Nami crouched down to ask Julius, "What?"

    "Eye!" Julius urged, his pointing getting even more frantic. Neither his trainer nor her companions had any idea what it was in the sky that he was trying to draw their attention to. One of the villagers, however, took the opportunity to approach and offer their own helpful insight.

    "Uh, not all the ropeways are down, actually." They said, "There's a white one tied to a tree nearby. Right where that thing's pointing, actually."

    "What?! There is?!" Vivi exclaimed, "Does that mean we can take it to the castle?!"

    "Not yet!" The villager shook their head, "But give us thirty minutes! Thirty minutes, and we'll have it up and running."

    "The last thing this country wants is for Wapol to return to power." Another villager spat, "Even if it's from pirates, we'll accept anyone who'll fight him!"

    "Leave it to us!" A third one assured them.

    The three who had spoken, as well as a number of other villagers, set off for the base of the ropeway. With the other doctors still tending to Dalton's wounds, the one who had spoken to the Straw Hats went to join their efforts. But then he stopped, struck by a recollection that made him turn back with a grave look on his face.

    "There's one other thing you should know." He warned them, "After you last encountered him, Wapol was able to find a new, powerful ally who he brought with him here to Drum Island. They're another Devil Fruit user, and a dangerous assassin."

    "Do Devil Fruits get handed out like candy in the Grand Line or what?" Sanji muttered.

    "The assassin goes by the name of Mr. 2 Bon Clay." The doctor finished. He turned and hurried over to join his coworkers.

    In an instant, what remained of Sanji's cigarette crumbled to ash.



    ​
    -O-

    ​

    How the hell had things gotten to this point?

    The day had started normally enough, for as much as 'normal' was worth on the Grand Line. Of course there was the underlying danger of Baroque Works, present since they left Whiskey Peak, not to mention the urgency of finding a doctor for Spruce, but they hadn't even been at the island for half a day before Usopp had been nearly killed by a soldier who he then had to disguise himself as so that the tyrannical ex-king the soldier served wouldn't attack the village everyone else had gone off to. Then he attacked one of the strongest guys in that king's army, ran away, escaped him, escaped some kind of monster rabbits that also wanted to do him in, and then finally ended up here once again pretending to be someone he wasn't while surrounded by people who could easily kill him if they figured him out.

    And he didn't even need to be doing it, this time!

    Still, if there was one comfort that Usopp had as he was led below the deck of the ship to survey all of Mr. 2's other underlings, it was that he was far more equipped to handle the frigid climate than any of them were. The Baroque Works agents who should have been intimidating instead seemed rather pitiful with how they were bunched up into groups of four to six, huddled together and wrapped up with every blanket and sheet around them. Looking closer, he could make out a few sleeveless shirts they were wearing, which explained why even as bundled up as they were, every one of them was still shaking like a leaf.

    "W-W-We're hanging in there, Mr. 2 Bon Clay!" One of the three who had led him below deck managed to force out through his chattering teeth, "B-B-But we would be really happy if you c-c-could wrap things up here sooner rather than l-l-later!"

    "There's, um, no need to worry about that!" Usopp said, "Once I'm done here, I'll go back to join my friend and we'll finish killing all those pesky Straw Hats before the day is out!"

    "The Straw Hats are here?!" Another of Mr. 2's underlings gasped.

    'Crap! They didn't know?!' Usopp thought.

    "I-I-It's to be expected from Mr. 2, multitasking and h-h-helping his friend while also completing his orders!"

    "That's right, I'm completing our mission as soon as possible!" Usopp said, "Even if it means having to say goodbye to my dear friend Wapol afterwards! Yes, the mission to kill all the Straw Hats, plus Miss Wednesday… there sure are a lot of targets, aren't there? I don't think I could count them on one hand!"

    "Are there that m-many?" An underling said, taking the bait and starting to count on his fingers, "There's M-M-Miss Wednesday, and the Straw Hat boy, p-plus the orange-hair girl, green-hair swordsman, blonde guy, and the one with the pets… Wow! Y-Y-You're right, Mr. 2 Bon Clay! Six targets in total, n-n-not counting the a-a-animals."

    'I probably could have assumed that already, but it looks like Baroque Works don't know that I exist!' Usopp thought, concentrating on not letting the flood of relief show externally as it washed over him, 'But if they know about Sanji and Spruce, that must mean that one of the agents from Little Garden passed the information up the chain of command!'

    "And I'll assassinate all six of them, exactly as ordered." Usopp declared, "Then we'll move onto what comes after that."

    "T-T-That's right, Mr. 3 won't stand a chance!"

    'Mr. 3?! Wow, talk about cold-blooded.' Usopp thought, once again concentrating on repressing his reactions to what was being said, 'It's one thing to try and bump off an underling that betrays you, but having them killed just for failing?! Must be Mr. 3's lucky day though, because if Luffy beats Mr. 2, he won't be able to go through with those orders. GAH! Why does someone so cowardly get to have such a lucky break?!'

    It was a good thing Usopp was the only one who could hear his inner monologue, and thus was not subject to accusations of hypocrisy.

    "It'll b-b-be nice to get to visit somewhere warmer after this, though." Someone else chimed in, "C-C-Can't wait to head for Alabasta once everything's d-d-done."

    'Aha! So Mr. 2's orders are to head to Alabasta after he kills us and then Mr. 2! If that's the case, then that would have to mean…'

    "And we'll be able to get there extra fast, too." Usopp said, "Aren't we so lucky to have a boss who can give us an Eternal Pose to get where we need to go?"

    "A-A-And we're lucky that E-E-Eternal Poses can handle the weather better than w-we can…"

    The underling who made that comment stared off towards a corner of the room, and Usopp's eyes sneakily followed his gaze in order to locate the very object that was the subject of their conversation. An Eternal Pose, identical to how he recalled the destroyed one to Nanimonai looking like, except that the word 'ALABASTA' was written in big bold letters around the bottom instead. A bead of sweat trickled down Usopp's forehead.

    'Then… is this…?'

    Slowly, Usopp's eyes travelled from the Eternal Pose back to the assortment of Baroque Works agents all huddling together pitifully. He sized each of them up, noted the runny noses and the shivering and how they all clung to themselves and each other beneath the sheets. Then he looked back at the Eternal Pose, which almost seemed to shine from where it sat on an empty shelf. It was almost underwhelming that something so valuable was laid out so casually, like it were any other knickknack.

    'Think, Usopp! This could be your big chance! That Eternal Pose would take us straight to Alabasta, without risking any traps on upcoming islands. It might screw up Baroque Works' plans, maybe even give us the element of surprise! But can I really just take it? What if all these agents know I'm actually their enemy?! What if they didn't fall for my impeccable deception, and are waiting for me to reveal myself? What if they're NOT EVEN COLD?!'

    A million thoughts raced through the mind of the sniper. Another bead of sweat trickled down from his forehead to his nose. Usopp gulped.

    'No! I came this far! I'm here for a reason! If I'm not going to unleash my serious power, then the least I can do is this! I need to think, though. Need to make sure that this last lie is absolutely airtight. And that means proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am, in fact, Mr. 2!'

    Five whole seconds passed before Usopp opened his mouth to speak again. The silence had drawn on for just a little too long by now, and a couple of the underlings were throwing some serious side-eye his way. What he said next seemed to instantly ease such social awkwardness, however.

    "Well, I think it's about time that I got back to my good friend and finished killing the rest of the Straw Hats." Usopp decided.

    "D-D-Do you still need that snack, Mr. 2 B-B-Bon Clay?" One of the three who had greeted him asked.

    'Yes! Just as I predicted!' Usopp thought, "No, I don't need it anymore! Hearing your encouraging words has provided me more sustenance than actual food ever could. In fact, your words have encouraged me so much that I just have to…"

    This was it! With everything counting on his ability to execute this one action, Usopp put everything he had into it. All his strength to his left leg, as he raised his heel off the floor. His other leg came up and he bent his knee in order to press his foot to the side of his left thigh. Then he span, balancing only on the ball of his left foot, and brought his hands together above his head to complete his pirouette.

    "Spin!"

    One spin- two spins-

    On the completion of the third spin, Usopp came to a stop and lowered himself back down. His arms came out, as did his right leg, in an elegant kneeling gesture.

    A moment passed as Usopp remained in his pose. Panic briefly flashed through his mind as he wondered whether he could have somehow just jeopardised his deception somehow.

    But those worries were unfounded, because once that moment had passed, uproarious applause and raucous cheer broke out amongst the Baroque Works agents. They shot to their feet, blankets thrown off their bodies and the freezing air warmed by the heat of the moment.

    "YEAH! MR. 2 BON CLAY!"

    "YOU'RE SO COOL!"

    "WE'LL ALWAYS CHEER YOU ON!"

    "GO HELP YOUR FRIEND!"

    "KILL THOSE STRAW HATS!"

    'I did it!' Usopp thought, 'These guys really love their leader, huh? I almost felt encouraged until they started yelling for me to kill the others.'

    Usopp stood back up normally. A lone, manly tear trickled down his cheek as he gave everyone a firm thumbs-up. Then he walked over to the ladder to get back up onto the deck. As soon as his foot touched the first rung, the eyes of every one of the agents widened in unison, and they dove into the floor in a mad scramble to wrap themselves back up in blankets again. The suddenness of the whole thing made Usopp recoil in shock.

    'Did they just forget it was cold or what?!' He thought, 'Whatever. It's time to bring this thing home!'

    "Wait!" Usopp cried, "Oh no, I just had a realisation!"

    "W-W-What is it, Mr. 2 Bon Clay?!"

    "The Straw Hats are a bunch of conniving pirates." Usopp said, "If I leave the ship again, there's every possibility that they may come around and attack!"

    "We'd f-f-fight them off!"

    "Until our l-l-last b-breath!"

    "No! I could never condone such a thing!" Usopp said, raising a hand to his forehead to feign despair, "My fabulous subordinates… you'd never stand a chance against pirates who could defeat Mr. 3! No- the reasonable course of action would be to flee! Running away from stronger enemies is always okay!"

    "W-W-We can run away?"

    "Yes!" Usopp nodded, "But if that happened, then the Eternal Pose to Alabasta would be endangered. Those dastardly pirates could steal it, or break it! I wouldn't want any of you to feel obligated to risk your lives for its sake. And so, I'll take it with me, and be the one to guard it while I complete our mission!"

    He didn't even wait for a response before stepping down from the ladder and sauntering over to the shelf that the Eternal Pose was on. With all the confidence of a man who wasn't lying through his teeth, he snatched it off, and then went back over to climb the ladder up through the hatch. The agents seemed to silently accept his reasoning, investing their energy in shivering and huddling together for warmth instead of asking questions. One among their number did have a parting comment for the faux-assassin, however.

    "A-A-And Mr. 2…!" He said, halting Usopp just as he was about to ascend onto the deck and leave them behind entirely.

    "Hm?" Usopp said.

    "S-S-Sorry we couldn't say it earlier… we were distracted by the c-c-cold… That nose you p-p-picked up is absolutely hilarious."

    'SERIOUSLY?!'

    Verbalising such sheer outrage would have ruined everything, so Usopp just chuckled to himself and climbed out onto the deck without another word. The instant the hatch was closed behind him, he stomped away across the deck and over to the gangplank back across to Wapol's ship. Before departing, however, he whirled around and threw out an accusatory finger towards the agents below the deck who could no longer see them. He was seething, quivering with rage that was being projected through his finger. Then he let out a deep, long breath, and crossed over onto the Bliking, which was still abandoned, and dismounted the ship to once again set foot on the snowy landscape of Drum Island.

    "Hey Zoro." Usopp greeted the swordsman, who emerged from the forest at the same time as he exited the ship. He was wearing the same clothing as when he'd originally left the ship, with the addition of his swords, and certainly looked to be suffering for it given how his arms were wrapped around his bare torso and vigorously rubbing up and down. Trailing behind Zoro was Spinner, who was giving him a bit more distance than usual as he opted to spin around in place and send snow flying in all directions in between his inexplicable bouts of sudden relocation.

    "Hey Usopp." Zoro returned the greeting. The two came together and walked alongside each other in the direction of the Merry. No more words were shared for several steps. Then a sudden realisation flashed across Usopp's face, and he swivelled around in the snow to give Zoro a kick in the shins.

    "Ow! What was that for?" Zoro said.

    "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Usopp raged, "That knife-eating guy came back and his soldiers invaded the ship again!"

    "Oh. Are they still there?" Zoro said.

    "No! We got rid of them without your help!"

    "Nosepass."

    "The rock was more help than you were!" Usopp added.

    "If you got rid of them without me, why are you complaining?" Zoro said.

    "Because it's the principle of the thing!"

    Together, the three made their way back to the ship, with Usopp venting his frustrations to Zoro along the way. Once they were finally back aboard the Merry, Zoro descended into the men's quarters where he bundled himself up in blankets and promptly took a nap. Shortly after, Usopp began sulking as he realised he had missed out on his opportunity to brag about retrieving the Eternal Pose to Alabasta.



    -O-

    ​


    ​
    "The Rumble Ball lasts for three minutes. That's all the time you have left!"

    Before their very eyes, Chopper tossed the yellow ball into his own mouth and crushed it between his teeth. Whatever substances it might have consisted of, he swallowed all of them down. Mr. 2's eyes quickly trailed up and down his body, watching for any indication of a change brought about by the Rumble Ball, with Spruce and Ria both mirroring his interest. When nothing happened, though, Mr. 2 turned his attention away and towards Whiskers instead, who glared down at him in return.

    "Three minutes, is it? I'll try and get back to you before your time is up." Mr. 2 said. He raised a hand to his cheek, and suddenly transformed into Dalton's hybrid form.

    "Huh?! He can transform too?!" Chopper gasped, "But that's-!"

    "You feel that, Ria?" Spruce muttered, "His Aura…"

    "Rio." Ria said.

    Even Kureha seemed surprised by the transformation, commenting to herself, "Chopper might not be the only one pushing a Devil Fruit to its limits."

    "You can wait." Mr. 2 said to Chopper. In an instant he disappeared, dashing across the snow faster than the eye could see and leaving afterimages in his wake. Both Spruce and Ria's eyes shone blue and began darting about, trying to track his speedy movements. They finally settled on the ground right in front of Whiskers, where Mr. 2 came to a stop and reached up to tap his face again. He turned back into himself.

    "VACUUM WAVE!" Spruce bellowed as soon as Mr. 2 stopped, then added, "WHISKERS, BRINE BELOW YOU!"

    Like before, Ria twisted her fist around and then punched it into the air, launching a blast of wind towards Mr. 2. But even as Ria was twisting her fist, Mr. 2 was already leaning back out of the way, and she couldn't react fast enough to avoid her attack passing by in front of him and ultimately hitting nothing. Whiskers was next. He began to tilt his head down and gather water within his open mouth, only for Mr. 2 to once again assert his superior speed.

    "OKAMA CHOP!"

    The flattened hand of the assassin shot out like an attacking python. He struck Whiskers' cream-coloured underside with such tremendous force that it was enough to jerk his neck and head to the side. He remained rooted in place where he was, though, with Chessmarimo still pinned beneath his tremendous mass. As hard as he was hit, he also maintained his own attack, and swung his head forwards to fire a stream of water downwards at where Mr. 2 was standing. Mr. 2 leaped out of the way, twirling in the air as he did, and landed several feet away while a cloud of snow was launched into the air around where he'd just been standing.

    "Are you alright, Whiskers?!" Spruce called out.

    "DOS!" Whiskers nodded without hesitation.

    He wasn't the only one who didn't hesitate. Before the snow had even fallen to the ground again, Mr. 2 tapped his face and assumed Dalton's form. When it did fall, an afterimage was all that was left in the spot he had landed on, and Spruce and Ria were left as the only two able to almost track his flurry of movement across the mountaintop. This time, when he came to a stop, he appeared to Whiskers' right, standing a further distance away. His legs were bent, and he tapped his face the instant after he jumped into the air. All the power of his transformed legs sent his lighter and more nimble body flying upwards, and he winded up a kick as his trajectory sent him towards Whiskers' head.

    "JUMP POINT!"

    In a flash, Chopper changed his form to something that hadn't yet appeared on the battlefield. His large, muscular body slimmed down to become more akin to Mr. 2 in terms of his physique, and his feet became hooves once again. There wasn't an opportunity for anyone to observe such drastic changes, however, as the newly-transformed Chopper promptly jumped into the air with the same kind of power as Mr. 2's mid-transformation jump. He launched himself to intercept Mr. 2's attack, placing his body in the space between him and Whiskers.

    "GUARD POINT!"

    "UN!"

    When Mr. 2's leg came shooting out, it collided with the dense mass of fur that Chopper's body suddenly became. His antlers returned in this new form, with them and his head being the only parts of himself visible so as to make his identity apparent. The power of Mr. 2's kick drove him into the ground and sent him skidding across the snow, while Mr. 2 himself landed on the ground and hopped back from Whiskers. His attention now seemed focused on Chopper, who he regarded with a curious look.

    "Does that make four transformations, or five?" He asked coyly, "I was under the impression that you Zoan-Types only possessed three."

    "The Rumble Ball I developed gave me access to extra transformations." Chopper said, "After five years of research, I've gained access to seven in total!"

    "What?! A Zoan Devil Fruit with seven transformations?!" Wapol gasped.

    "Wow! He's like an Eevee!" Spruce said.

    "Now it's your turn!" Chopper continued, changing from his Guard Point into his Heavy Point in order to point an accusatory finger in Mr. 2's direction, "How can you turn into a bison? That's Dalton's Devil Fruit!"

    "You're not the only one who's pushed his ability beyond its boundaries." Mr. 2 boasted, "My ability is the Clone-Clone fruit, which allows me to copy the appearances of anybody I touch. As it turns out, I copy their bodies perfectly, so by touching that man I gained access to his own Devil Fruit transformation and all the power that he possessed!"

    "So he changes bodies..." Spruce said.

    "Riolu." Ria muttered.

    "Actually, I could probably copy these transformations of yours as well." Mr. 2 said, rubbing his chin in thought, "But… I won't do that, since I don't think they'd be useful."

    "VACUUM WAVE!" Spruce burst out, cutting off Chopper before he could draw out that exchange any longer, "AND ICE FANG!"

    "WALK POINT!" Chopper hastily followed-up with, before transforming into his regular reindeer form. Now on all fours again, he bounded across the snow towards Mr. 2, who was preoccupied with the much faster attack that came from Ria. This time, he wasn't able to anticipate and dodge the blast of wind which she fired in his direction. It struck him across the face, jerking his head to the side and making him stumble back a few steps, which left him open for Whiskers to bring his head shooting down with freezing fangs to snap him up with.

    Just before Whiskers could ensnare Mr. 2 in the icy clutches of his mouth, the assassin was able to raise a hand to his cheek and transform into Dalton. He threw both arms out, stopping the clamping jaws in their tracks and even prying them open a smidge. The two ended up locked against each other, which at least kept Mr. 2 in place as Chopper raced towards them both.

    "ARM POINT!"

    This new transformation was similar to the Jump Point from before, save that the muscles in Chopper's were massively inflated, looking to be about the same size as in his Heavy Point. He also retained the hooves on what were now his arms, and he thrust one out to strike Mr. 2 in the chest. The blow landed solidly, and Chopper quickly tried to wind up another such attack. Mr. 2 channelled his stolen body's full strength in order to shove Whiskers' jaw open, just for a second before he tried to snap it shut again, and leaped up and onto the side of his head.

    As soon as he was free, he was able to move at the same blistering speeds as before. He bounced off of Whiskers and then charged over to where his body continued to pin Chessmarimo beneath its weight. He rammed into him from the side, managing to actually tip the serpent over. Whiskers quickly rose back up, but Mr. 2 had accomplished his goal of freeing Chessmarimo. As soon as he wasn't being pinned, the fused-warrior jumped up and scrambled away from Whiskers before he could be pinned beneath him again.

    "ARGH! FINALLY!" He gasped, "I HEARD EVERYTHING THAT YOU ALL SAID WHILE I WAS STUCK UNDER THAT DUMB SEA-SERPENT! IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU HAVE SEVEN TRANSFORMATIONS INSTEAD OF THREE, I'LL FINISH YOU OFF ANYWAY!"

    He pointed two fingers at Chopper, who glared back at him in return. Spruce frowned at the warrior's return to the fight, and glanced from him to Mr. 2.

    "Chopper, can you handle that guy?!" He called out. Chopper nodded, before transforming into his Walk Point once again.

    "No he can't! MARIMO'S SUPER SURPRISE QUATTRO AXE!" Chessmarimo bellowed. From… somewhere, he retrieved a pair of four identical axes which he wielded in each hand, looking like quite a fearsome foe as he glared down at an unphased Chopper.

    "Alright! We'll handle this swan guy!" Spruce said. Beside him, Ria nodded.

    "I'm not a 'swan guy'!" Mr. 2 protested, "As I had to inform your captain, I am the one known as Mr. 2 Bon Clay!"

    "Mr. 2?" Spruce said, "So you're one of those Baroque Works people. Guess that explains why you're so much tougher than these other guys. All the ones I've come across so far have been pretty weak, you're a big step up from them."

    "I can't rely on having a powerful Devil Fruit to do battle with." Mr. 2 responded, "My strength comes from years of training spent honing my body and mastering my Okama Kenpo! Not even your sea-serpent could be enough to defeat me!"

    "YEAH, MR. 2 BON CLAY!" Wapol cheered, "YOU'VE GOT THIS!"

    "We'll just have to see, won't we?" Spruce said.

    While the two of them exchanged words, Chessmarimo seemed far more interested in exchanging blows with his opponent. Chopper charged towards him head-on on all fours, and Chessmarimo swung all his axes around him in a wild frenzy that made it almost impossible to get near him without being diced up. But 'almost' was a very important adjective there, as Chopper deftly swapped between his Walk Point, Jump Point and Brain Point transformations to combine both agility and a diminutive size to weave around the attacks. With his Jump Point, he leaped over Chessmarimo and landed behind him. He changed into his Arm Point, and thrust a hoof out to strike him in the centre of his back before he could turn around to face him again.

    Despite the blow, Chessmarimo immediately retaliated with his upper pair of arms. He reached back with both of them, swinging his axes downwards in an x-shaped motion. Chopper tried to lurch to the side out of the way of the attack, but one of the axe blades managed to slash across one of his arms, leaving a gash in the limb from which blood began to seep out of. His eyes flicked to the wound, then back to Chessmarimo, who whirled around to face him.

    "SNOW-SPLITTING BLADE!" He yelled, repeating his x-shaped attack from before with all four of the axes in his possession. The attack sent a shockwave slicing through the snow in Chopper's direction, and the reindeer dodged it by transforming back into his Brain Point and running away as it passed harmlessly overhead. Seeing him run away made Chessmarimo smirk.

    "RUNNING AWAY, LITTLE REINDEER?!" He taunted, "HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO WIN LIKE THAT?!"

    His words seemed to have an effect on Chopper. As Chessmarimo pursued him, he whipped around and turned into Jump Point. The warrior's axes came swinging down and up and from the side, aiming to dice him up like mincemeat, and Chopper deftly jumped and dodged around the attacks, before his hooves touched down on the snow once again and he immediately leaped backwards across the snow to put some distance between them, while also turning into Brain Point once again.

    "I'm not running away." Chopper said, "I'm looking for your weak point."

    "HUH?!" Chessmarimo said. Chopper raised both hands out in front of him and pressed them together in order to form a scope with the space between them.

    "It's over for you!" He declared, "Scope."

    "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, STARING ME TO DEATH?!" Chessmarimo said, "I DON'T HAVE ANY WEAK POINTS! YOU'RE JUST A STUPID ZOAN! NOW YOU'RE DONE FOR!"

    No mind was paid to Chopper's technique as Chessmarimo came charging through the snow towards him, brandishing all four axes threateningly and preparing to bring them down on him. His oncoming assault left Chopper just as unphased, remaining standing in place peering through his scope to analyse his foe's entire body. With mere moments left before Chessmarimo closed the distance between them to attack, Chopper's eyes narrowed.

    "Got it!" He said, "His chin!"

    Not a second was wasted with that information. Chessmarimo closed-in and swung his axes down in a double x-shaped attack, but only succeeded in slicing through air. In an instant Chopper had switched to Jump Point and leaped up high, out of Chessmarimo's sight. He tried to follow him, turning his gaze upwards, but Chopper remained a step ahead and somewhere within the warrior's blind spot. With both pairs of eyes, he swivelled about on the spot frantically, still trying to spot Chopper in the air. It was only the sound of Chopper's voice, when he finally spoke up from beneath them, that alerted them to where he was. For what good it could do.

    "CLOVEN…"

    "HUH?!"

    "ROSE!"

    Both pairs of eyes darted down just in time to watch as Chopper's hoof, in his Arm Point, came slamming into their lower chin from below. The blow connected with such tremendous force that it lifted Chessmarimo in his entirety off his feet and knocked him onto his back, with an imprint in his skin left behind in the shape of a petal from a cherry blossom. As Chessmarimo fell, Chopper changed into his Brain Point and reached up to adjust his hat. His foe did not get back up.

    "Three minutes." He said.

    For all the ease with which he might have handled his opponent, Spruce and his team found themselves struggling more with Mr. 2. The assassin seemed to take Spruce's words as the indicator to resume their fight, and didn't hesitate to transform into Dalton again. He became a blur who dashed across the snow, leaving afterimages in his wake, until coming to a stop in a spot on Whiskers' right that was just behind his head. Whiskers didn't make any attempt to track Mr. 2's movements, instead remaining with his gaze fixed ahead while listening out for Spruce's commands. It was the trainer and his partner who made the effort to keep track of their opponent's rapid movements.

    "RIGHT AND BEHIND YOU! BITE!" Spruce yelled. But Mr. 2 was already throwing himself into his attack as Spruce was issuing his command.

    Using the same technique as he had before, of switching bodies just as he used Dalton's legs to jump, he was able to hurl himself into the air with a tremendous amount of force. While in the air, he performed a series of somersaults, before descending and delivering a vicious kick aimed right at Whiskers' head from above.

    "OKAMA KENPO: MEMOIRS OF A WINTER SKY!"

    Whiskers opened his mouth as he looked upwards, preparing to snap his jaws closed around Mr. 2, but the kick came slamming down into his head before he could. It slammed his mouth shut and drove him down into the ground with such force that it knocked the snow around him into the air. There was a pained grimace on Whiskers' face as he quickly rose back up and shook off the snow that had landed on him. Mr. 2 landed in front of him, and he quickly singled him out with a glare before darting down to try and sink his teeth into him.

    All he bit down on was the air. Mr. 2 transformed into Dalton and dashed out of the way of the attack before it even came close to reaching him. Even at this point in the fight, the speed still seemed to catch Whiskers by surprise. Spruce and Ria shared grim looks as the trainer called out another command.

    "TO YOUR LEFT! BRINE!"

    The water had barely begun to collect in Whiskers' mouth before Mr. 2 came ramming into him as Dalton, practically rolling him over onto his side while his head was lowered to the ground, and without missing a beat turned back into himself.

    "OKAMA KENPO: DRUNKEN SWAN SOIREE!"

    Mr. 2's limbs became like a mass of snakes with the way that they struck. A flurry of punches and kicks struck the underside of Whiskers' jaw, colliding against scaly flesh and then coiling back only to attack again. For some reason, the swans which adorned Mr. 2's shoulders adopted a drunken appearance as he unleashed his barrage of attacks, with their tongues even hanging out of their beaks. It was a brutal flurry of attacks that Whiskers had to endure, but only for a couple of seconds as he was able to roll back over onto his front, forcing Mr. 2 to leap back lest he be crushed.

    Still, the attacks that had landed already had left their mark. Whiskers looked battered. The sight of his condition seemed to prompt a change in Spruce. With the serpent's Pokeball in hand, he held it out and returned him to it, before placing the Pokeball back on his belt. He grimaced, and shared a brief look with Ria, before focusing back on Mr. 2, who seemed intrigued by the way that Whiskers had been removed from the battlefield in a beam of red light. Kureha, from where she was surveying the fight, furrowed her brow and stood up a little straighter. A brief glimmer of uncertainty flashed through her eyes.

    "Are you perhaps reconsidering fighting me?" Mr. 2 asked Spruce coyly.

    "I'm reconsidering my strategy." Spruce said, "I haven't reconsidered beating you, though."

    "Lu!" Ria affirmed, throwing a punch at the air. For all the bravado the two shared, though, Spruce wasn't as confident on the inside.

    'That combination of power along with his agility and smaller size made him the worst possible matchup for Whiskers.' He thought, 'Vacuum Wave is a handy counter to his speed when transformed, but just using it over and over again is gonna make us predictable. On the bright side, it looks like he only attacks properly while in his own body…'

    Mr. 2 hardly intended on standing around and letting his enemy think a way around him. In a flash, he on the move again, using Dalton's speed to literally run circles around the duo. They both continued staring straight ahead, not bothering moving to try and follow him, and instead simply tracking his Aura. The seconds went by without Mr. 2 making a move to actually attack. Spruce frowned.

    'Is he waiting for Vacuum Wave again? Or just any move, so we give him an opening? Well, gotta attack eventually.'

    "Use Rock Smash!"

    "Rio!"

    An orange light flared up within Ria's fist. She reared it back as she spun around to face the opposite direction, and Spruce mirrored the movement. Her eyes were still glowing blue as she dashed forwards, and they glanced from left to right at the afterimages being left in Mr. 2's wake. Then they focused in on right in front of her. She jumped up and hurled her glowing fist forwards with everything she had, and was met with the sensation of it colliding with dense muscle, wrapped up in a coat of fur.

    Mr. 2 came to a stop, his arm raised in front of him to block Ria's attack. With a shove, he threw her back towards Spruce, and transformed back into himself before she had even touched the ground again. Then he was closing the distance between himself and Spruce and bringing a flattened hand up in order to jab him in the eyes.

    "OKAMA CHOP!"

    "Block it!" Spruce yelled. Ria's eyes narrowed and she threw herself off the ground the same instant she touched it, jumping into the path of Mr. 2's oncoming jab in order to raise both arms to block it before it could strike her trainer. She grimaced at the feeling of just how much force there was behind even a simple jab, though Mr. 2 quickly retracted his limb.

    "UN!"

    He followed the attack up with a kick that came shooting up from below, passing beneath her raised arms to strike her directly in the abdomen. Ria's eyes widened with pain, and spittle flew from her mouth. The kick launched her upwards, over Spruce's head, to come crashing down into the snow nearby. She landed with her face to the ground. Her face scrunched up with a visage of pain as she immediately tried to get back up, using one paw to push herself off the ground while the other clutched her stomach.

    "DEUX!"

    Spruce moved before Mr. 2 even spoke. Throwing himself to the ground, he scrambled up to his feet and half-ran half-stumbled around Mr. 2 as his foe's second kick struck the air with enough force to have broken him in half had it landed. Spruce positioned himself to be opposite Ria, so that when Mr. 2 turned around to try and attack him again, it left him with his back to the Pokémon. From where he was standing, Spruce couldn't see if she'd managed to get back up again. He called out another command anyway, before Mr. 2 had the opportunity to strike.

    "DO IT!"

    The vagueness of that particular instruction elicited seemed to confuse Mr. 2, but Ria understood perfectly. In an instant, it was like the pain in her body had vanished. She shot to her feet and reared her fist back again. Instead of orange light, though, it was instead enveloped in a mass of raging blue flame. With a passion of matching intensity burning in her eyes, she sprinted across the snow and jumped up to direct the attack towards the centre of Mr. 2's back.

    It connected, but it struck furry muscle. Mr. 2 transformed into Dalton just before the attack landed. The blue flame around Ria's fist exploded outwards to wash over his entire body before dissipating, leaving him standing there with her fist pressed against his back. A second passed with nothing happening. He cocked a brow.

    Then air blasted out from his abdomen, directly opposite the part of his back that Ria had hit. His eyes went wide with pain and his body bent backwards around a tremendous force exerted around that area. Ria landed in the snow while Spruce scrambled to get out of Mr. 2's way as he stumbled forwards. The trainer's face was furiously red and his breathing was heavy. As he circled around to place himself behind Ria, he broke out into a brief coughing fit. Uncertainty flashed across Kureha's eyes once again. She wasn't the one who voiced her concerns, however.

    "RAVIA!" Pex bellowed, still clutching the flagpole in his talons and keeping it upright beneath him. Though nobody could see it from the ground, his eyes were fraught with worry. Spruce's head whipped around to look up at him with a fierce gaze.

    "NO!" He yelled back, which was followed by a couple more coughs, "YOU STAY UP THERE! AS LONG AS ONE OF US IS FIGHTING, YOU DON'T LET THAT FLAG TOUCH THE GROUND, GOT IT?!"

    His impassioned yells quickly drew the attention of Chopper, who had just finished adjusting his hat after defeating Chessmarimo. He sized Spruce up in an instant and quickly adopted a matching worried look, though there was nevertheless a touch of admiration at his sentiment.

    "Spruce…" He murmured.

    In the aftermath of her attack, Ria's injuries seemed to have caught up with her. She doubled over with one hand pressed to her stomach, breathing deeply and looking to be in not much better a state than her trainer was. In contrast to this, Mr. 2 appeared to have fully recovered from the attack. He changed back to himself and turned around to look Ria up and down. His brow was furrowed with curiosity.

    "That was certainly a different kind of attack than your others." Mr. 2 said, "It felt like I was having the power of my own attack reflected back at me."

    "I wouldn't know, I've never been hit by it." Was Spruce's response.

    Mr. 2 stared at him.

    Spruce stared back.

    Wapol decided to speak up.

    "HEY!" He snapped, "THIS IS THE PART WHERE YOU EXPLAIN HOW YOUR POWER WORKS! Or, uh- your pet's power! It doesn't seem to talk that much so you have to explain for it!"

    "YEAH!" Mr. 2 said. Spruce and Ria tilted their heads in unison.

    "Why would I do that? You're trying to kill me." He deadpanned, "That would be stupid."

    Nobody paid attention to the way that Chopper looked away awkwardly and twiddled his fingers.

    "Riolu!" Ria affirmed.

    "Also, Ria's not my friend! She's my pet!" Spruce added, before hastily amending in response to the irritated look she threw his way, "I mean- she's my friend, not my pet!"

    "Olu." She huffed.

    "Sorry." He mumbled.

    "Ugh, one of those types…" Wapol groaned, "WELL, WHATEVER! EVEN IF YOU'RE A STINKY CHEATER WHO DOESN'T PLAY FAIR, MR. 2 BON CLAY WILL STILL KILL YOU SO HARD YOU'LL DIE!"

    "You're right about that, buddy!" Mr. 2 said. The two friends shared thumbs-ups.

    "Spruce, the time limit on my Rumble Ball ran out." Chopper leaned in to whisper, "I won't be able to fight this guy like I did the other guy."

    "Hey, don't you worry about a thing." Spruce said, "The Straw Hat Pirates are gonna pummel this guy until he's black and blue!"

    "Lu." Ria said.

    "You can try it! But don't expect me to fall victim to the same attack twice!" Mr. 2 said, "OKAMA KENPO: DRUNKEN SWAN SOIREE!"

    Without bothering to use Dalton's body, Mr. 2 dashed towards the trio and singled Spruce out as the target for a flurry of punches and kicks. His blows were as rapid and as unrelenting as they had been against Whiskers previously. Limbs that struck with the strength of steel, which Spruce had to hastily stumble back out of the range of, while Ria and Chopper both moved to intercept. Chopper threw himself at Mr. 2, changing to his full beast form and trying to land a punch across his face from the side.

    The rush of attacks didn't even cease, as Mr. 2 pivoted around on his heel to face Chopper head-on. He easily leaned his head out of the way of the punch, and retaliated with a kick that struck Chopper directly in the abdomen. Chopper's eyes bugged out and he crumpled over the limb in an instant. When Mr. 2 pulled his leg back, he was left to fall to the ground, clutching his stomach painfully, as the single attack took him out of commission for the moment.

    "UN!"

    Then it was Ria's turn, jumping into his path with a glowing orange fist. She tried to strike him, aiming for his kidney with the attack, but he snagged the arm she was attacking with and ripped her away from her own attack. He held her up and let go, only so he could deliver a wicked combo of attacks- a jab straight into her throat, and then a closed fist that struck her in her snout.

    "DEUX!"

    When her body touched the snow again, she collapsed. The attacks left her teary-eyed and gasping for breath, and they left Spruce defenceless. Fear seemed to overtake the trainer's face, which was already reddened, and his heavy breathing only worsened. There was an attempt- a scramble to get away from his merciless opponent. It was unfruitful. The first attack of Mr. 2's that landed was a punch. It collided with Spruce's sternum and he immediately felt something inside of him break. Then came a kick that smashed in his ribs, emptied the air from his lungs, and another punch which broke his nose and left blood pouring down his nose.

    Everything went white, and it wasn't just because of the snow. The pain from the first attack was still catching up to his brain as the second and third ones landed, and then there was a fourth and a fifth as Mr. 2 inflicted as much damage as was possible upon his body in the span of just a few seconds. Though his gaze was blurred, Spruce could faintly register the sound that Kureha made from where she stood surveying the battle. A cry of alarm, then footsteps charging through the snow.

    "BOY!"

    "STARAVIA!"

    And there was Pex, sounding absolutely torn apart in anguish. Ria was only able to groan weakly to voice her own concern, still too battered by Mr. 2, and Chopper was much the same. Someone was laughing too. Wapol, cackling at the sight of Spruce being beaten to death before his very eyes.

    The time came for the climax. Mr. 2's foot came up from below, catching Spruce in the abdomen once again and hurling up into the air. High enough for the attack that would finish it all. Mr. 2 twirled around in the snow before kicking one leg high-up, aiming directly for Spruce's chest as he was in the air with enough force in the blow to most certainly kill the trainer with the final attack.

    "WHITE SWAN ARABESQUE!"

    Kureha's eyes widened as she sprinted across the snow as fast as she could, showing no concern in the slightest for Mr. 2's presence.

    Chopper's muscles strained as he tried to push himself back up off the ground.

    A fiery blue intensity burned in Ria's teary eyes as she staggered to her feet.

    Spruce's limp body crashed down into the snow below him. His blood began to drip into it and stain it red.

    Mr. 2's leg remained extended in the air. His eyes narrowed.

    Spruce gasped for air. The gasp sounded terribly wet.

    Above him, through the haze of pain and his blurry vision, a mass of blackness floated in the air.

    "I'm going to have to insist you put that elsewhere." 'Black Leg' Sanji drawled through the lit cigarette in his mouth. His foot remained pressed against Mr. 2's ankle, both limbs held in the air at the angle which had caused the assassin's attack to miss its target completely. All that he got in response was a cold glare directed his way, so he plucked the cigarette from his mouth and reached over to press it against his exposed leg. After using the limb as an ashtray, he flicked the stub into his face. It bounced off and landed in the snow. A second later, Mr. 2 lowered his leg, and Sanji did the same. He glanced down at where Spruce laid in the snow.

    "San…ji…"

    "SPRUCE!"

    "ROCK THROW!"

    "BONSLY!"

    Those were the voices of Nami and Vivi, and Bonbon to boot. Mr. 2's hands darted out, his punches shattering the rocks which were hurled his way by the Pokémon being carried in Vivi's arms. They all came running over, coming to a stop behind Sanji, while Kureha scrambled to Spruce's side to begin assessing his condition. It didn't even take her a second to snap her fingers in Chopper's direction.

    "Bon… bon…" Spruce's words were a strangled whisper, "Mimic…"

    Sanji bowed his head. A flicker of confusion danced across Vivi's horrified expression.

    "HELP ME GET HIM INSIDE- NOW!" Kureha barked. His injuries didn't matter. Not to her, or to him anymore. Both doctors took Spruce into the castle with the urgency of life-or-death, and Ria limped after them.

    Tears trickled down onto the castle's tallest tower. The flag continued to fly.

    "More Straw Hats!" Wapol jeered, "This is a good day for me! Now I don't even need to go down the mountain to-!"

    "USE ROCK THROW!"

    The sheer vitriol with which the command was issued made Nami physically recoil away from Vivi, who glared straight at Wapol with an intense hatred in her eyes. Bonbon remained supported in her arms, held in front of her so that the Pokémon could conjure rocks up around them both and send them hurtling towards Wapol's face. Unlike his friend, Wapol allowed them to hit him. Specifically, he allowed them to hit the back of his throat after he opened his mouth up to swallow them. Vivi's glare only intensified as she watched the motion of his throat, followed by him making a show of licking his lips.

    "First our captain, now our scout?" Sanji said, "It's hard to be intimidated by a duo with such a poor success rate at killing us."

    "Isn't third time the charm?" Mr. 2 retorted. A wicked smirk adorned his face as he reached up towards his cheek- only for that smirk to be overtaken by his cry of pain as Sanji's leg shot out and his heel slammed into his fingers.

    "That ability of yours lets you transform into other people, but you activate it by touching your face." Sanji said, "So it stands to reason if you aren't allowed to touch your face, you won't be able to use Dalton's power against us."

    "You've certainly come well-prepared." Mr. 2 said.

    "ROCK THROW!"

    "BONSLY!"

    Rocks came flying past Sanji's head. With one hand still stinging, Mr. 2 opted to duck and weave around them, only punching a couple of them, before he looked past the chef to glare at Vivi. She glared right back with just as much vitriol as had been directed Wapol's way.

    "My-my, Miss Wednesday! Such a feisty little thing, aren't we? You and that little sapling of yours." He said.

    "Bon-Bonsly!" Bonbon snapped.

    "And that scrumptious little ginger, too!" Mr. 2 said, turning his attention to Nami, "Are you going to join the fight as well, dear, or are you just here to watch?"

    Rather than anger, Mr. 2's attentions instead earned Nami's disgust in response. She shuddered under his gaze, but nonetheless plucked Julius' Pokeball off the Log Pose to let him out to join them once again.

    "Sableye!" Julius cried, trying to stand as imposingly as he could in front of Nami.

    So distracted by the two lady trainers was he, that Mr. 2 almost didn't notice the foot which was rapidly swinging towards him from the side in order to smash into his collarbone. Luckily for him, he had Sanji's yell to alert him.

    "TENDRON!"

    "OH, DON'T MIND MY KNUCKLE!"

    Mr. 2 was just able to duck beneath the kick. He sprang back up fist-first, punching Sanji in the chin and jerking his head back.

    "OKAMA CHOP!"

    "SHADOW SNEAK!"

    Even as his flattened hand shot out to chop at Sanji's eyes, Mr. 2's attention swapped over to Nami and Julius after hearing the name of that attack. Looking their way was about all he could do, as Julius' shadow darted forwards across the ground. It passed beneath him and rose up from behind, where it gave a light shove that made him stumble forwards and caused his attack to graze Sanji's cheek rather than hit his eyes. The mistake earned him a heel slamming into the side of his knee, then into his stomach right after.

    Getting kicked in the stomach knocked Mr. 2 away from Sanji, which was something he quickly turned into an advantage by reaching up and transforming into Dalton. Any sign of his injuries vanished along with his natural body, and he was on his feet running circles around his foes in a way that he had gotten quite accustomed to since he first acquired the new body.

    "Uh- Shadow Sneak!" Nami said, her voice lacking the passion from before. Julius obliged nevertheless and sent his shadow whizzing across the ground. For a moment, it was nothing but a black streak that put on such a sudden burst of speed that nobody else could follow it. Then it slowed down at the same time that Mr. 2 came to a stop and watched it approach him. He stood in place as the shadow rose off the ground behind him, before stepping to the side and letting its attack hit nothing but air.

    "You're not the only one figuring out your enemy's powers!" He called out in an almost singsong voice. Then he got moving again. This time he charged straight towards Sanji. He crossed the distance between them in the blink of an eye, leaving Sanji unable to do more than try and defend himself as Mr. 2 pushed off the ground and into a rapid spin. In the air, he transformed back and pointed his leg out, letting the momentum from Dalton's body empower it as he swung it straight into Sanji's ribs from the side.

    "ROCK THROW!"

    Even as the blow was connecting and Sanji was gritting his teeth in pain, rocks came hurtling over his shoulder with the intention of slamming into Mr. 2's face. They were handled with the same ease that he had handled all earlier instances of the same attack, and they elicited an unimpressed look thrown Vivi's way.

    "Is that unimpressive attack all- UNF!"

    Sanji's kick shut him up. His face was scrunched up in pain from the earlier attack, but that pain didn't stop him from driving his heel up into Mr. 2's chin. It raised the assassin into the air and knocked him back, and he landed only for another volley of rocks to come his way.

    "SHADOW SNEAK!"

    This time, the shadow that rose from behind Mr. 2 focused on his leg. With both hands, it shoved the back of his knee as hard as it could. Mr. 2 stumbled and fell forwards. His fists missed their targets and the rocks passed by them to strike him in the face. One in the jaw, one in the nose, and one that bounced off his temple. Blood and dust came together to ruin his makeup, and that was before Sanji delivered a spinning kick straight into his stomach.

    "FLANCHET SHOOT!"

    "Guh-!" Mr. 2 gasped. He stumbled back away from Sanji.

    "Buddy?! Are you alright?!" Wapol cried, "Do you need me to help out?!"

    "No… no need…" Mr. 2 grunted, extending a palm in his direction, "They're tricky fighters, that's for sure… But they're still no match for my Okama Kenpo! OKAMA KENPO: PRIMA BALLERINA!"

    As he had done twice that day already, Mr. 2 plucked the swans from his shoulders and equipped them to his feet before striking a dramatic pose which was impressively intimidating for a man with his fashion sense. A second passed, with him holding the pose, and the Straw Hats watching silently as if they were all waiting for something to happen, and then Mr. 2 looked back over at Wapol to see that he had a conflicted look upon his face.

    "It's… it's not so impressive the third time around." He admitted sheepishly, "Sorry buddy."

    "Yes, it has been a bit overdone today." Mr. 2 sighed, "But after I've killed all these Straw Hats, I won't have to break it out again for a while!"

    "Wearing slippers? That's his ultimate technique?" Nami muttered.

    "They're more than that, aren't they?" Vivi said, raising her voice to address Mr. 2 directly, "Those are what you used to fight Mr. Dalton with."

    "Judging by those wounds you left, those beaks are more dangerous than they look." Sanji added.

    "Clever!" Mr. 2 said, "The beaks on my beautiful swans are as hard as steel! With the power of my kicks directed into a single point, my kicks become like shots from a rifle!"

    "I know at least one person who beats him out in that department." Nami said.

    "But first," Mr. 2 said, "you should know that the one on your right is a male and-"

    "MOUTON SHOT!"

    "SHADOW SNEAK!"

    "ROCK THROW!"

    Though it was Sanji who announced his attack first, his was the last to land. First came Julius' shadow, whizzing across the ground in order to shove Mr. 2 from behind and knock him off balance again- but the assassin deftly evaded the attempt by hopping from one leg to the other and twirling out of the way of the movement. The rocks came next, courtesy of Bonbon, and he bobbed and weaved around them, before finally meeting Sanji's charge and the flurry of ultra-fast kicks directed his way.

    Mr. 2 span around and thrust his leg out, catching Sanji's heel with his own, and the two opposing blows knocked both fighters back. As soon as he was out of the range of Sanji's kicks, Mr. 2 transformed into Dalton. He circled around to behind Vivi and Nami, and before either of them realised what was happening he had turned back into himself and his leg was racing towards Vivi with the beak extended straight towards her heart.

    The speed his transformation afforded him was too much even for Sanji to fully follow. But with such a predictable approach, he swivelled around to face the two of them. He could see Mr. 2 coming to a stop and beginning his attack, but he wasn't fast enough to cross that distance between them and intercept it. Julius actually managed to follow the trajectory of his movement, even with Mr. 2's transformed speed, and he whipped his head around to watch the attack that he was just as helpless to prevent as Sanji was. It was all that the chef and the Pokémon could do to open their mouths and yell, to try to warn Vivi so she could somehow save herself.

    "VIVI!"

    "SABLEYE!"

    The sight of the two both turning around and the sound of them both yelling clued Nami into what was about to happen, and horror filled her eyes as she turned her neck around towards where Mr. 2 was attacking from. Vivi didn't move, though. She stood completely still, and it felt to her as if everything around her was happening in slow motion. The yells certainly gave her an idea of what was about to happen. Perhaps there was an element of instinct involved as well, because she could envision almost perfectly the sight of Mr. 2's sharpened swan beak approaching her heart from behind. It would skewer her with a single kick, and then she would be dead. Bonbon trembled in her arms.

    Yes, Bonbon… One's life is supposed to flash before their eyes when it comes time for them to meet their maker. She had lived an eventful life, one filled with kings and pirates and schemes and violence, but that slight movement reminded her of the living creature that she was holding to her chest. It reminded her of the name that she had given her. And it reminded her of blossoming friendships and the last time she had heard someone else say that name aloud.

    Mr. 2 was a fighter. He was a monster too. A monster like Sanji who Vivi on her own stood no chance against in a fight. In the position she was in, with a body that had only ever seen a fraction of the training and the combat that had honed his fighting abilities, there was no way that she could dodge his attack. The beak approached like an inevitable demise. She wasn't fast enough to even make it a non-lethal attack.

    But she was fast enough to say one word before he killed her.

    "MIMIC!"

    The trembling of Bonbon in her arms had been slight, only just enough for her to think of her and to recall that one word. Once that word was spoken though, Bonbon no longer trembled. She lunged. With such a tremendous force that it actually spun Vivi around on the spot and threw her off her feet, Bonbon slipped from her grasp and lingered in the air so that Mr. 2's beak collided with the uppermost ball on her head.

    That ball was not green anymore, however.

    Mere fractions of a second passed in which Bonbon was able to throw Vivi out of the way of the attack and block it with her own body. In the last fraction before the attack landed, her entire body became enveloped in a bright blue glow. So bright that as those fractions came together to form whole seconds, with her suspended in the air against Mr. 2's attack, everyone around her raised a hand to shield their eyes from it. They peeked through their fingers though, because they had to. They had to watch what happened next.

    "Bonbon…?" Vivi whispered.

    Enveloped in the bright blue glow, Bonbon's body transformed. Her head began to stretch away from the three balls on the tip. That stretched body part became one of two, with another growing out on the other side of her body, which itself began to expand in height. They were limbs, a pair of arms attached to a taller torso whose legs grew in equal measure to accommodate for the increased size. Completing the new humanoid shape that she had taken on, there was a forked shape that grew out of her head, resembling a tree branch in a way.

    The resemblance to foliage became much more apparent once the transformation was completed and the light faded to reveal her new form in all its glory. Mostly the same colour as before, the front of her body was decorated by various yellow splotches, while her balls retained their green pigment. With the branch-like arms they were attached to, it was quite easy to mistake them for the leaves on a tree from a distance.

    Her eyes, a pair of tiny black orbs, would have made her quite the adorable creature were it not for the rage that burned within them in that moment. Though the change in her height had been extraordinary- she was now over twice as tall as she had been before- she was still incredibly short by the standards of a person. The top of her head only reached around Vivi's navel. Her arm was extended fully over her head so that the ball could hold Mr. 2's attack in place, which she leaned slightly into with her feet braced against the snowy ground.

    'What- What's happening?! Bonbon transformed?!' Vivi thought. Her mouth opened, and then closed again, and she gaped at the sight before her like a fish, 'Is this normal?! Spruce! Did Spruce know this would happen?!'

    "Sableye…" Julius murmured, his tone absolutely awestruck.

    "She changed?" Sanji said.

    "Huh?!" Nami gasped.

    "What's this?!" Mr. 2 exclaimed.

    Such confusion and astonishment only intensified as, the second after she had completed her evolution, Bonbon ceased grappling with Mr. 2's attack. She threw her arm forwards and shoved his leg back to send him falling back on his ass. When that happened, Sanji's jaw dropped.

    'She actually managed to overpower him?! Just how strong is she?!'

    Vivi was still trying to figure all that out herself.

    'Mimic must have been an attack, and after she used it, she transformed and was suddenly faster and more powerful. Almost as if she mimicked Mr. 2's own transformation! But is that possible?! Is the explanation really that simple?!'

    "What the hell did that tree thing just do?!" Wapol said, "Are you alright, buddy?!"

    "Yes! I'm alright!" Mr. 2 replied. He leapt to his feet and glared down at Bonbon. That was a mistake on his part, though, because the very next moment Sanji came barrelling across the snow. There was a crack like a whip that echoed around them as his leg shot out and his heel slammed into the assassin's stomach.

    "FLANCHET!"

    Vomit spewed out from Mr. 2's mouth and stained both the ground and the front of his clothes. Sanji quickly pulled his leg back away from him to avoid letting it get on his pants. With the absence of the leg in his gut, his knees buckled beneath him and he almost tumbled into his own mess, only being saved from such a gross fate by Sanji's follow-up attack. The chef dropped into a handstand and spun around before ramming his foot into his foe's falling chin. It sent him falling back in the opposite direction with his eyes rolled-up into his skull. He remained there.

    "Sudowoodo!" Bonbon cheered, "Su-Sudo!"

    "Use- um- Rock Throw!" Vivi called out.

    "Sudowoodo!" Bonbon nodded. She held both arms out by her sides, conjuring a floating stone near the tip of each ball before swinging both arms forwards and sending the half-dozen rocks hurtling forwards to pelt Mr. 2 while he laid down on the ground. For a split-second, as she saw the attack approach the fallen Mr. 2, Vivi felt a spike of regret.

    'There's no need to keep attacking him while he's down.' She realised, 'That's just unnecessarily cruel.'

    As if he was obliging with her thoughts, Wapol aimed one of his hands at the rocks and fired a shot from his cannon that blew them to smithereens before they could connect with their target. Dust and smoke filled the air and obscured him and Mr. 2 from view, and when they finally cleared, Mr. 2 was struggling back onto his feet. His body was bruised and battered, his breathing heavy, and a mix of blood and vomit stained his clothes. But he still stood back up and transformed into Dalton.

    "DON'T GIVE UP, MR. 2 BON CLAY!" Wapol roared, "YOU'RE THE STRONGEST GUY I KNOW! PIRATE SCUM IS NO MATCH FOR YOU!"

    "I WON'T GO DOWN THAT EASY!" Mr. 2 yelled.

    "ROCK THROW!"

    "SHADOW SNEAK!"

    The shadowy attack that struck from behind was utterly ineffective, even as fast as it was, and did nothing to stop Mr. 2 from dashing out of the way of the rocks which were hurled his way right after. He was a blur once again, moving about too fast for Vivi's eyes to follow. She scrambled across the snow, getting herself closer to Bonbon while rising back to her feet. Before she was even halfway up, she watched Sanji blur right past her. His leg was the part of his body that went first, once again finding its place embedded in Mr. 2's stomach as soon as the assassin came to a stop behind where Vivi had been previously.

    While the suddenness of the attack had Mr. 2 frozen in pain, spittle flying from his mouth, Sanji pressed his advantage without a shred of mercy. He lowered his leg and stepped past him, then swung right around to slam his leg into his back. Even Julius' was hard-pressed to follow the speed and intensity of Sanji's movements as he danced a dance of pain all over the transformed body. The back, ribs, kidney, thigh and tailbone were all beaten by his unrelenting blows, before he finished the combo of attacks up by leaping into the air and bringing his foot back down to drive it into Mr. 2's skull from above. With that attack, Mr. 2 was driven into the ground. He was left with a body wracked with pain that struggled even just to push his head up off the ground.

    Sanji landed behind him. The moment his feet touched the ground again, an almost inaudible hiss of pain forced its way past his lips, and there was a slight buckling of his knees which was quickly corrected. He remained standing, and those tiny reactions seemingly went unnoticed by those around him.

    "Sanji…" Nami whispered, jaw left agape after the display.

    "How…" Mr. 2 grunted, "HOW CAN YOU BE THAT STRONG?! THIS BODY HAS THE DURABILITY OF A ZOAN DEVIL-FRUIT!"

    "Just now…" Sanji intoned, reaching into his pocket to retrieve a cigarette, "I failed. When you were about to land a fatal blow on Vivi-darling, I was absolutely powerless to save her. Even if she's alive now, it wasn't because of me."

    "What are you talking about?!" Mr. 2 said.

    "I WAS TOO WEAK!" Sanji barked, "AND THAT'S NOT ACCEPTABLE! The kind of man I am- The kind I want to be- Is one who has the strength to protect the people who matter to him! It doesn't matter what kind of special powers you might have. If those ladies' lives are on the line, I'll fight you with the full power of the love pumping from my beating heart!"

    'That massive increase in strength came because I almost killed Miss Wednesday?!' Mr. 2 thought, 'HOW?! He's meant to be a regular human! That stretchy captain at least had a Devil Fruit ability to aid him in battle.

    'Hold on… getting stronger when seeing another person in danger… I've heard stories like this before. Mothers who could lift wagons off their children with their bare hands. Is this that same principle? Some kind of special hysterical strength? SERIOUSLY?!    '

    "You've…"

    At the sound of her speaking up again, everyone looked over to where Vivi was now standing up. Posture confident and eyes brimming with newfound strength as she stood at Bonbon's side.

    "You've lost, Mr. 2!" Vivi declared, louder now, "And Wapol, too! You've clearly built a connection with each other, so this is your chance to surrender and leave this island without getting hurt! Let these people live in peace without being subject to your tyranny! Build a life together somewhere else out on the sea! If you do that, then… Then there doesn't need to be any more fighting today!"

    There was silence.

    Mr. 2 staggered back up onto his feet.

    Sanji lit his cigarette and took a drag.

    Nami lowered her gaze to the ground. Julius twiddled his thumbs.

    Bonbon placed a supportive hand on Vivi's back. She looked over at the Pokémon, and they shared a faint smile.

    Then Wapol laughed.

    "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

    The faint smile on Vivi's face dropped in an instant. Wapol reached up to wipe a tear away from how hard he was laughing. Even Mr. 2 seemed a little confused by his demeanour.

    "Um, buddy?" He said, "What's so funny?"

    "It's just so stupid!" Wapol cackled, "Surrender? Leave? Let those peasants live without my rule? They live for my rule! It's why they were born! I don't need to build a new life, because the life I was born into is waiting here for me! Since you're just some unimportant peasant, I assume you don't understand what it means to have royal blood."

    A flat, deadpan look was shared between Nami and Sanji at that remark. Even Mr. 2 coughed awkwardly into his fist and looked away.

    "There will be no surrender! There will be no peace!" Wapol continued, "The natural order of things is for you to all die for defying me! And that's just what's going to happen!"

    His final threat gave the Straw Hats a brief warning before Wapol suddenly took off running across the snow. Bonbon jumped in front of Vivi, waving her balls around threateningly as if anticipating an attack their way, and Sanji grimaced as he prepared another kick- but neither of them were the ones Wapol was running towards. He wasn't even running towards Nami and Julius, who were standing a greater distance away from him than the others.

    No, the one who Wapol ran towards was Mr. 2. Before their very eyes, they watched his mouth open up wide, before he swallowed him in one bite.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 22: Joy to the World New
  • Threadmarks
    • Noise. Lots of noise.

    That was what Ria heard from all around her as she stood in the doorway of the operating room that Kureha had set up in the castle. Some of that noise was in the form of words that Chopper and Kureha were yelling to each other, a mixture of chemicals and shorthand which she didn't understand in equal measure. She had a better understanding of when they said things like "internal bleeding" or "broken ribs", but then when Kureha started describing a resurgence of bacteria in his injured condition, was when Ria began to lose track again.

    Both doctors were on their feet. Never standing in one place for more than a few seconds. Left, right, forwards, back, it was like if they stood still for too long it would mean Spruce's death. It was because they were moving around so much, trying to take care of a body rapidly collapsing in on itself, that Ria remained where she was in the doorway. Standing there and staring ahead at where he laid on the gurney. There was also the noise of the battle outside that came from behind her, and between that and the doctors, the sound of Spruce's laboured breathing was drowned out.

    She closed her eyes. Flesh wasn't sufficient for showing her what she wanted to see. Beneath her eyelids, a blue light began to glow. Everything else around her fell away to leave only three presences before her. One that was aged and unlike anything else she had encountered before, one that toed the line between animal and Pokémon, and one that was barely there at all. If one were to liken Aura to fire, then the most accurate description of Spruce's was that it was a dying series of embers left behind after someone had tried to stomp the fire out.

    "Spruce…" Ria's voice was a whisper, and the word was lost in the commotion of the operating room. The sense of wisdom and mischief that was typical of the aged Aura was being overpowered by the medley of panic and determination in the face of impending failure. The scar left in the uncanny Aura was pulsating, and a wave of fresh sorrow was spilling out.

    There was a fourth Aura in that room, but it was one that she couldn't perceive in the same way. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't sense it. It was, after all, the means by which she sensed the others It wasn't fire. It was power and life and emotion and it was her, and so all she could do was feel it. Feel that feeling of herself that was inside of herself, like a fierce wind that blew past. The wind couldn't be seen, and certainly couldn't be touched, but a person could stick their hand out and feel it pass through their fingers. Fire burned whatever it touched, wind didn't.

    The wind was blowing inside of her. She felt it. She raised a paw.

    Blood travelled through the circulatory system. Air travelled through the respiratory system. Ria didn't know the words, but she understood the meanings, and she understood the idea at least. Life did not sit still inside of its vessel. It flowed. Blew like the wind.

    'Feel the Aura… Feel the wind…' She repeated in her head a mantra that had guided her recent meditations aboard the ship.

    From her head down through her throat, then into her chest and down to her feet. The Aura flowed through all of her. It was not a physical thing like the blood in her veins that could be pushed. The only way to move it was with something else metaphysical: sheer force of will. She concentrated, face scrunching up from the intensity of it, and focused on her right paw. That was where she willed that power to go. It was what she concentrated on.

    Tingles travelled down her shoulder to the back of her paw. Her fur began to stand on end. A light breeze danced across her hide, and she opened her eyes to see a faint blue aura flickering around the pad. When she raised that arm and held it out in front of her, the glow intensified and grew steadier. It dipped up and down in intensity every second, matching the rhythm of her heartbeat. Then with each heartbeat, it seemed to shrink in on itself, barely illuminating less of her fur each time. In the centre of that aura, something solid began to materialise. Something that was just a flicker, but was there, nonetheless.

    What Ria was doing went unnoticed by the doctors, who were far more preoccupied with their patient who was barely clinging to life. His grip grew weaker every second. Conversely, the sphere of Aura around Ria's paw grew more cohesive every second- until after a couple of seconds it suddenly flickered out. Her eyes widened with horror.

    'NO! NOT NOW! COME ON!'

    She scrunched her eyes shut again, so hard it was almost like she thought the harder she closed them the better her results would be. Her paw was the only thing on her mind, images of that flickering sphere mingling with unbidden images of the battered Spruce on the gurney.

    The wind came back. The sphere sparked back to life in her paw. Her eyes snapped open, and she saw it flickering and pulsating with an erratic beat that made it look like it would disappear at a moment's notice. She gritted her teeth, eyes drifting from the sphere over to where Spruce laid. The embers still burning inside of him didn't have long.

    "Riolu..." She murmured, before sprinting across the room over to his side, "RIO… LU!"

    Her murmur became a yell, a rallying cry for her own spirit and an alert for Kureha and Chopper to look in her direction and see how she charged towards Spruce with the sphere of Aura glowing at her fingertips. There was such a sense of certainty that blazed in her eyes with even more intensity than the external Aura did, that neither of them made a move to stop her from jumping up and thrusting her paw out so that the sphere was blasted directly into Spruce's body.



    -O-

    ​


    ​
    The transformation that Wapol underwent was similar to the creation of Chessmarimo, though since none of the fighters present had witnessed that, it was quite a shock to see him swallow his own ally up so brazenly like that, to say nothing of the actual physical change that transpired. His size remained mostly the same, save for his body slimming down slightly to take on the shape of Dalton's Hybrid Form. The exterior of metal and stone became more like a layer of armour worn over them, and unlike Chessmarimo they only had two arms. They were from Dalton as well, with gauntlets from roof tiles on both of them, and a cannon atop each arm as well. Wapol's head had shifted downwards, now absorbed into the chest and neck of the body while Mr. 2's head was above it, which now had Wapol's fur pelt wrapped around it. The swans had returned to his shoulders.

    "I AM THE NEW MIGHTIEST WARRIOR OF DRUM ISLAND… KING 2 BON WAPOL!"

    When the thusly named Bon Wapol spoke, it was with both voices in unison.

    "No way, he ate his own ally?!" Nami gasped.

    "I knew he could transform into what he ate, but I didn't realise that applied to people as well." Sanji muttered. He shifted his weight between legs, grimacing to himself as he did while keeping his attention on Bon Wapol.

    "Does that mean that Mr. 2 is, um… dead?" Vivi asked.

    "Sudowoodo!" Bonbon cried.

    "DEAD?! DON'T BE ABSURD! THE ONLY DEAD ONES ARE YOU FILTHY PIRATES!" Bon Wapol bellowed, "NOW, I CAN FINALLY USE THE SUPER-DUPER ULTIMATE MUNCH-MUNCH TECHNIQUE! MUNCH-MUNCH: DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE!"

    "But I thought it was impossible for a person to have two Devil Fruits!" Vivi said, "That's what I read, anyway…"

    "IT'S IMPOSSIBLE FOR ONE PERSON TO HAVE TWO DEVIL FRUITS, BUT NOT TWO PEOPLE!" Bon Wapol said, "I'M BOTH MR. 2 BON CLAY AND KING WAPOL! NOW, WITH THE POWER OF THE DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE, I'LL DESTROY YOU ALL!"

    "What a monstrous ability." Sanji said, "But combining your powers won't do you any good if neither of you are that powerful on your own!"

    On that note, he took off running towards the fused fighter. His jump into action seemingly mobilised both Nami and Vivi, who looked to their Pokémon and then to Bon Wapol, and they both began to open their mouths to issue commands- only to stop as Sanji let out a grunt of pain and his legs buckled beneath him. He tumbled face-first into the snow in a rather pitiful display, which made Bon Wapol cackle.

    "BWAHAHAHA! Did you think you stood a chance because of some kind of 'power of love'?!" He taunted, "You were never meant to be strong enough to handle Mr. 2 Bon Clay's transformation, now see what happens when you push your body past its limits!"

    "SHADOW SNEAK!"

    Bon Wapol aimed the cannon on his right arm towards where Sanji had fallen in the snow. Before he could fire, Julius' shadow streaked across the ground and rose up from behind to ram into him as hard as it could- which was a far cry from being hard enough to actually do anything, it turned out. The shadow practically bounced off his armour. Bon Wapol didn't even budge, and he certainly didn't pay Julius any mind. The Pokémon, in turn, looked up at Nami with an apologetic look.

    "S-Sable… eye…" He mumbled. Nami grimaced. Her eyes remained locked on Sanji and Bon Wapol.

    "USE MIMIC!"

    "SUDO!"

    With a sudden burst of speed, Bonbon dashed across the ground and over to where Bon Wapol was. Leaping up, she swung her balls up into the cannon from below, knocking it upwards just as he fired. The cannonball blasted apart one of the castle's towers, sending a hail of dust and debris to the ground below. Seeing his attack miss, Bon Wapol snarled at Bonbon with both mouths. As she landed on the ground, he thrusted his other hand out, slamming the palm straight into her and sending her skidding back through the snow.

    "Stupid tree!"

    "Sudo Woodo!" Bonbon retorted. She dug her feet in and came to a stop several feet back from Bon Wapol. Vivi watched as she raised her arms in front of her face defensively, now standing between Sanji and Bon Wapol. Behind her, the chef began to push himself back up onto his feet, but Vivi could see him grit his teeth with pain as soon as he tried to put weight on his legs again.

    "SANJI! DON'T PUSH YOURSELF!" She called out, "YOU'RE HURT!"

    "HE'S ABOUT TO BE EVEN HURT-ER!" Bon Wapol said. He raised his arm so as to am the cannon at Sanji from over Bonbon's head, which prompted the Pokémon to dash towards him once again and try to slap it away. This time, though, he snagged her arm with his other hand. He threw her down into the ground and aimed his cannon at her instead.

    BOOM!

    The sound of the cannon and the enormous cloud of snow that was kicked up obscured the brutal punch that finished the attack. Vivi's eyes widened with horror, her hands flew to her mouth.

    "BONBON!"

    "SUDOWOODO!"

    At the sound of that yell, even Bon Wapol was caught by surprise. He was still bent forwards, fist pressed against her rocky body when she grabbed it with both sets of balls and used the limb to shove him off of her. As the snow fell and let Vivi see what was happening, Bonbon hopped back up onto her feet, while Bon Wapol staggered back. She took up her defensive stance again, arms raised in front of her.

    "If Sanji's too hurt to fight, that makes you our only option, Vivi." Nami said, hurrying over with Julius to stand beside her, "That guy's an absolute monster, especially now that they've fused together like this."

    "I'm not too hurt to fight!" Sanji objected, only to try and fail again to get back onto his feet. He reached down to massage his thighs.

    "U-Us…?" Vivi said. In an instant, the fire in her eyes was extinguished, replaced by flickering uncertainty. She looked from Bonbon to Bon Wapol, then back to Nami. Then she looked at the ground.

    'Can we really do it? Beat that monster? I've- I've never even trained Bonbon like Spruce would, and I'm no fighter like Sanji or Luffy! And now we're the only ones left who can fight?!'

    Seconds of silence drew on, filled by Vivi's uncertainty. Bonbon's stance relaxed slightly as she turned her body to look over in her trainer's direction. Concern filled her eyes, as well as a matching uncertainty. Seeing his foes falter elicited a bout of uproarious laughter from Bon Wapol.

    "BWAHAHAHAHA! Finally giving up, Miss Wednesday?! Are you ready to accept your death as a traitor to Baroque Works, as well as a woman who dared defy a king?!"

    "You'll have to go through me first!" Sanji snapped. Both his hands clutched his right thigh tightly as he managed to rise back onto his feet. He put most of his weight on his right leg and hobbled towards Bon Wapol.

    "Woodo?" Bonbon asked.

    Vivi seemed frozen by indecision.

    "How the heck is Bonbon supposed to win with that attitude?"

    The voice- Spruce's voice- rang through her head with such a vivid clarity that it was almost like he was actually talking from behind her. He wasn't, of course. But Vivi could hear him nonetheless, half-judging and half-supportive, like a teacher who knew she could do better than she was. Her head snapped back up and she looked at the battlefield with fresh eyes.

    'Before Little Garden, the idea of fighting off Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine would have seemed impossible.' She thought, 'But with Bonbon, I could actually hold my own, I could actually protect myself from them. It's the same now! Spruce helped discover this new power of hers, and he must have had a reason for it! If I believe in Bonbon, and we work together, then… Then we'll find a way to win here, too!'

    "BONBON!" Vivi's voice resounded across the battlefield, full of vigour.

    "SUDO!" Bonbon replied. She raised one hand up into a salute.

    "USE ROCK THROW!"

    At the sound of Vivi's initial cry, Bon Wapol had turned his cannon in her direction, apparently having figured out who the more vulnerable one was of the duo. The princess glared down the barrel of the cannon, standing firmly in place where she was, and her courage was rewarded when Bonbon came barrelling through the snow towards her would-be attacker. Bonbon leapt up and struck with a spinning blow to the cannon, jerking it to the side so that the shot hit nothing but a distant tree. She wasn't done. She reared back the same hand that she had struck him with and conjured a set of three floating stones. Hurling the limb forwards as if to punch him, the stones took the role of a fist as they pelted Bon Wapol directly in his lower face.

    "OW! Dumb tree!"

    "MIMIC!"

    "WOODO!"

    Bon Wapol tried to retaliate. He swatted at the space in front of him, but Bonbon was too small and too speedy for him. She hopped out of his reach and circled back around to behind him, leading him to clumsily swivel around on his feet to try and follow her. All the while, Vivi watched the battle with a sharp gaze. Her mind raced with information.

    'Using Mimic lets her copy the speed and strength that Mr. 2 had when he transformed, but she can never attack with it.' She realised, 'It must be because she's copying how Mr. 2 used it, and he always turned back before attacking! But when she does use that speed, she's got superior manoeuvrability compared to them. That's how we'll win!'

    "USE ROCK THROW ON HIS ANKLE!"

    Having to yell her instructions out like that came with the caveat of letting Bon Wapol know exactly where he was about to be attacked, but there wasn't much that he could do. He pivoted around hastily, tried to jump to the side as Bonbon conjured a set of stones. She pressed forwards after him, lunging through the snow and heaving the rocks directly down into his right ankle. The armour was weaker there, and Bon Wapol let out a yelp of pain with two mouths- but just as quickly did he aim a cannon in Bonbon's direction and open fire.

    BOOM!

    Another explosion of smoke and snow. Bonbon was thrown back through it to skid across the ground. Her face was knotted up with pain. She landed on her back and quickly rolled over onto her front to push herself back onto her feet. Her limbs only buckled once from the effort.

    "BONBON! ARE YOU OKAY?!" Vivi called out.

    "SUDO." Was the affirmative response she got, as tinted with pain as it was. Bon Wapol delighted in the sound.

    "BWAHAHA! Your stupid tree isn't so impressive after all!" He said, "I figured it out! 'Mimic'… a way to copy how Mr. 2 Bon Clay used his Devil Fruit abilities to covet Dalton's powers for himself! It's starting to get a little contrived, actually… Anyway- Because he always turned back before attacking-"

    "GUM-GUM…"

    "-that means whenever the tree attacks, it weakens itself!" Bon Wapol finished, "Wait, hold on, what was that?"

    The sound of a familiar voice, repeating a very familiar syllable, made all heads turn towards where it had come from. Luffy's voice had been distant, and now that everyone went silent to listen out, they could hear the faint sound of footsteps speeding their towards them from below. All eyes drifted towards the ropeway.

    "It can't be! Straw Hat?!"

    "Luffy!" Vivi gasped.

    "It's about time!" Sanji said.

    His footsteps grew louder and louder, rapidly ascending the ropeway, until finally the pirate in question finally came to view when he appeared, running up the rope itself, and hopped off to land on the snow. Keeping his pace, he sprinted right towards where Bon Wapol was, not sparing a moment for his friends or to acknowledge his enemy's radical transformation. All the while, his right arm dragged behind him. It was extended to such a length that the fist was out of sight entirely.

    "PISTOL!"

    "GAAAAAH!"

    Only with that rallying cry did Luffy's arm snap forwards. He had crossed only a quarter of the distance between the ropeway and where Bon Wapol was. The limb crossed the rest of it far faster than he could. It moved with the speed of its namesake, the fist rocketing through the winter air to strike Bon Wapol directly in his chin and knock him off his feet and onto his back. Luffy's arm was quick to retract to its original length while he slowed to a walking pace. Now, he finally turned his attention to everything else around him. From Bon Wapol's form to the newly-evolved Bonbon to the other three humans and one Pokémon who were present.

    "Hey guys!" He greeted with a friendly wave, "Wow, that was a really long run up here! I feel way warmer now!"

    Nami nudged Vivi with her elbow.

    "Told you we just needed to have faith." She said.

    "Yeah… you were right." Vivi nodded.

    "Woah! The mouth guy looks way different now!" Luffy said, head snapping over to where Bon Wapol was slowly rising back to his feet, "He has two faces!"

    It took a few seconds of him squinting and sizing him up, but then…

    "NO WAY! HE ATE SWAN GUY!"

    "AND I'LL EAT YOU NEXT!"

    "Eh. He looks kinda dumb." Luffy was already ignoring him. His attention seemed to be drawn towards the fallen Chessmarimo, who was still lying in the snow, unconscious.

    "That guy looks cooler." Luffy decided, pointing him out helpfully for Bon Wapol.

    "SHUT UP! YOU'RE MEANT TO BE DEAD!"

    "Oh. Oh yeah!" Luffy said, "YOU GUYS TRIED TO DROWN ME! THAT'S ANOTHER THING I'M GONNA BEAT YOU UP FOR!"

    "YOU TRIED TO DROWN KING WAPOL FIRST!"

    "BECAUSE HE WAS EATING OUR SHIP!"

    "STOP ARGUING AND JUST BEAT HIM ALREADY!" Nami interjected. They both looked in her direction and bowed their heads apologetically.

    "Sorry…"

    "Sorry…"

    A second passed.

    "Wait, I'm not sorry! I'm trying to kill you!"

    "Well you suck at it!" Luffy said, "Hey Vivi, what happened to Bonbon?"

    "YOU'RE IGNORING ME AGAIN?!"

    "Um…" Vivi blinked, and then pointed to where Bonbon was now standing, arms held proudly aloft at her sides, "There."

    "Huh?" He squinted in Bonbon's direction for several seconds before looking back at Vivi, "All I see is that weird tree."

    "The tree is Bonbon." Vivi said.

    "Sudowoodo!" Bonbon nodded. Luffy's jaw dropped.

    "THE TREE CAN TALK?! HEY, JOIN MY CREW!"

    "QUIT IGNORING ME!" Bon Wapol snapped. He aimed both cannons in Luffy's direction. In the blink of an eye, Luffy was serious. He threw both arms outwards, grabbing onto Wapol's wrists from the side and lifting them up, before hopping into the air and letting them retract in order to yank him towards him. He angled himself, twisting his body around and extending both legs so that he slammed a foot each straight into Bon Wapol's two noses. Then he let go and jumped off of him. He turned around and focused back on Vivi while Bon Wapol staggered back with twin streams of blood pouring down his faces.

    "Wait, that tree is Bonbon?!"

    "YOU JUST REALISED?!" Vivi said.

    "Wow, that's pretty cool!" Luffy said.

    "DIE!" Bon Wapol bellowed. He aimed both cannons at Luffy from behind. Luffy's eyes flicked back in his direction, before they narrowed and he looked forwards again. He swung both arms out behind him, and they shot out, stretching across to Bon Wapol in order to grab his wrists from below. A firm shove was enough to raise both cannons towards the sky, which they fired uselessly up into, before Luffy hopped up. He let his arms retract again and pull him towards Bon Wapol while the trajectory from his jump carried him above them.

    With a panicked look on both faces, Bon Wapol tried to swivel around as Luffy hurled himself above him and came barrelling into his back from behind. Turning around wasn't enough to stop him, as he swung himself around to match his motion and find his target. Just as he made contact with Bon Wapol's back, with enough momentum to knock him forwards, he yanked one of his arms down to bring Bon Wapol's own palm slamming into Mr. 2's face.

    The instant contact was made, Bon Wapol's body almost halved in size. His fur and muscle disappeared, replaced by skinny arms which were comically dwarfed by the cannons and armour still affixed to them. While he was caught off-guard by the sudden change in form, Luffy shifted his grip on his arms. He wrapped his own limbs around his shoulders and clamped his hands together, pinning Bon Wapol's arms to his side and preventing him from being able to reach up and touch his face again.

    "He transformed?!" Sanji said, "So touching his face…"

    "Shishishi!" Luffy snickered from behind his foe, "You kept touching your face whenever you wanted to change what you looked like."

    "Nnrngh." Bon Wapol grunted, straining against Luffy's ironclad hold on him, "It doesn't matter if you figured out the weakness of my Clone-Clone powers! You're still dead!"

    "Gum-Gum…"

    Initiating his attack was all the reply Luffy gave him. He twisted his torso vertically around his hips before replacing his hold on Bon Wapol with his own feet. Then he rapidly untwisted himself, and the snapback launched Bon Wapol up into the air.

    "BOWGUN!"

    It didn't end there, though. Without wasting a moment, Luffy threw a hand up towards the castle's flagpole. He gave himself a running start before jumping up and letting his arm snap back and bring him hurtling up towards the flag that continued to fly. His eyes widened, however, as he felt where the flagpole was anchored, and caught sight of who it was that was keeping it upright throughout everything. A grin broke out on his face as he and Pex locked eyes.

    "Give me a hand?" Luffy said as he came swinging around the flagpole.

    "Staravia!" Pex nodded. Bon Wapol was still in the air, just now reaching his apex before gravity would bring him crashing back down. The flagpole remained clutched tightly in Pex's talons, and Dr. Hiriluk's flag waved in the wind with a grin that matched Luffy's as Pex flew them over to their opponent. The sight of them in his periphery got Bon Wapol's attention, which in turn prompted a look of outrage as he saw the flag. He aimed a cannon towards it just as he began to fall, but Pex heaved his body and flipped himself around in the air.

    Luffy was launched up off the flagpole, which itself flew out from Pex's grip and into the air. Now there were three targets vying for Bon Wapol's attention, none of whom he could manage to aim his cannon at in the midst of his descent. He was an easy target for Luffy, though. As gravity brought him down behind him, he stretched one arm behind him towards the sky.

    "YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER TOUCHED THE SKULL AND CROSSBONES IF YOU WEREN'T READY TO PUT YOUR LIFE ON THE LINE! GUM-GUM… PISTOL!"

    All Bon Wapol could do was watch and try to shield himself as the fist came rocketing down like a blow from the heavens themselves. It drove him the rest of the way into the ground, kicking up a massive cloud of snow around him, and partially embedding his body in the mountaintop. A small object was knocked from his person right after he was struck, one that glinted in the air, but which only Nami took notice of as it fell elsewhere into the snow.

    The attack left him too dazed to even think to use his freed limbs to transform. And as Luffy came falling down after him to land safely a few feet away from him, Pex was able to snag the flagpole out of the air and return to his duty of keeping it upright. The sight of the jolly roger with cherry-blossoms dancing across it was the first thing that Bon Wapol was able to focus on as he regained his bearings. What came second was the sound of a voice he was quickly coming to dread.

    "GUM-GUM…"

    Once again, not a moment was wasted. This time, Luffy positioned himself with the castle to his side, and nothing but the empty air in front and behind him. The latter afforded him all the room he needed to stretch his arms back. Way back, all the way past the edge of the mountain itself. Two pairs of eyes below him widened with shared fear.

    "WAIT! WAIT!" Bon Wapol pleaded, "I'LL GIVE YOU TITLES! MEDALS! I CAN MAKE YOU A PART OF BAROQUE WORKS! YOU'LL BE THE NEW MR. 2! THE NEW MR. 1!"

    Such pleas fell on deaf ears. There was something awfully sinister that shone through the grin that remained plastered on Luffy's face as he continued to stretch his arms behind him.

    "I'LL MAKE YOU VICE KING! ALL THE RICHES OF DRUM KINGDOM WILL BE YOURS! WE CAN TAKE DOWN MR. 0 TOGETHER!"

    "BAZOOKA!"

    One moment, Bon Wapol was pleading for mercy. The next moment, he was gone. Two rubbery hands launched him off the mountaintop and into the horizon, far beyond where anyone could have seen him as even a speck. Luffy stood with his arms having returned to their normal length, staring off into the distance where his foe had gone. Seconds went by, and then he looked away, his attention redirected to Dr. Hiriluk's flag and the bird who was keeping it upright.

    With the battle over decisively, Nami and Vivi both rushed to where Sanji was to give him a hand each and help him up. The chef's eyes lit up at their attentions, before his face fell when Bonbon swept him into a bridal carry. Her eyes shone and her smile was wide as she carried him effortlessly into the castle, with Vivi following beside her. Nami returned Julius to his Pokeball and went to follow them, but stopped and went over to where she had seen the object from Bon Wapol's person fall. She scooped it up out of the snow and pocketed it before joining everyone else in the castle, leaving Luffy and Pex as the only two still outside. And the unconscious Chessmarimo, of course.

    Nothing else was said as Luffy walked over to the walls of the castle. He stretched his arms out and began his climb to the top, where he intended to leave the flag flying on its own.



    -O-

    ​


    ​
    There was something far more comforting about Spruce's room in the castle when it was crowded. He sat upright in his bed, looking far better off than he had been just a short while ago, though with a wrapping of bandages around his chest showing that he wasn't all better quite yet. Resting on his lap was Ria, who was dozing peacefully while he gently stroked the fur on her head. They had another patient joining them in the room as well. A second bed had been moved in, which Sanji was currently lying in with Doctor Kureha bent over and finishing tending to his own wear and tear.

    The only two missing from the equation were Luffy and Chopper, who each had their own reasons for their absence. Luffy had, of course, gone off to search the castle for whatever he could fill his stomach with, while the reindeer had seemingly been scared off by the number of new people who filled the room. As well as Sanji, there were also Nami and Vivi sitting at a table between the two beds, with Bonbon standing beside her trainer. The ladies were exchanging light conversation, but stopped at the sound of Kureha's voice.

    "Alright, blondie." She said, straightening up above him and taking a moment to survey her own work, "That should do it."

    Both legs were bandaged around the calves and the thighs. Sanji looked over the work for himself with an irritated look upon his face.

    "I don't even understand what happened." He grumbled, "I was fine one moment, then suddenly my legs just couldn't take it anymore."

    "Someone said something about hysterical strength, right?" Kureha said, and she continued after seeing Vivi nod, "The human body's too strong for its own good. Your bones and muscles were hitting with enough speed and force to literally tear themselves apart."

    "Huh… kind of like a recoil move." Spruce commented.

    "Whatever that means." Kureha said, "Lucky for you there were just some hairline fractures and strained muscles. Nothing that some rest, ice, compression and elevation can't fix with enough time."

    "Will I still be able to cook?" Sanji asked. Kureha raised an eyebrow.

    "Duh. Why wouldn't you?" She said, "You hurt your legs, not your hands. I guess you'll just have to do as much as you can sitting down."

    "At least it's a simple treatment…" Nami said, before adding under her breath, "meaning a simple bill…"

    "Hmph. Simple." Kureha said, "You know what isn't simple?"

    To answer her own question, she threw an arm out to point a finger in Spruce's direction, who she affixed with a stern look even while taking a swig of the liquor that she picked up with her other hand. The other three humans all looked where she was pointing, sizing Spruce up for themselves, while Spruce himself tilted his head curiously at the sudden attention.

    "Me?" He said.

    "You were inches from death when Chopper and I brought you inside." She said, "Now, after that lightshow from that critter of yours, you look like I could be discharging you any day now. Weeks of healing, all in one moment."

    "You did look a lot worse than now when we first arrived." Vivi said, "Coming in here and seeing you like this was something of a shock."

    "Yeah… getting that beating from Mr. 2 felt like square-dancing with a Scyther." Spruce said, "I thought I was a goner for sure. But it looks like Ria must have transferred her Aura in order to keep me alive and kicking."

    As he said it, he looked down at the Pokémon in his lap with an affectionate smile. She stirred slightly, like she could hear them talking about her.

    "Transfer her Aura?" Nami said, "That's a thing?"

    "I wouldn't mind an explanation myself." Kureha said, "Sounds like something worth knowing."

    "I don't really fully understand how it works." Spruce said, "Pops was the one who told me about it a few years ago, but I've never even seen it done before now. Since Aura is life energy, transferring Aura means taking that energy out of your own body and pushing it into someone else's."

    "Just like that?" Kureha said.

    "If it's as effective as that, could you use it to heal me faster?" Sanji said.

    "And Zoro." Nami interjected, "I can think of a couple of times it would have been handy if he could be healed up faster than he was."

    The pair of expectant looks directed his way, joined by a look of interest from Vivi, made Spruce purse his lips as his eyes remained focused on Ria in his lap. He hesitated for a moment, before letting out a sigh and giving his reply.

    "It isn't as easy as it sounds." He said, "Passing Aura from one being to another isn't the same as passing a weapon or a piece of food. Even as Aura is leaving the body, it remains connected to the source. If you then push that bit of Aura into someone else, you create a connection between your Aura and theirs."

    "And that connection becomes a vulnerability, doesn't it?" Kureha surmised.

    "Someone dying of thirst doesn't usually sip the water they're given." Spruce said, "From what Pops told me, using it on a stranger is pretty much a surefire way to kill yourself. The only reason Ria could use it on me and be… alright, afterwards, is because we're so familiar with each other."

    "Right. And if that's the result you get after years of partnership," Sanji said, "then if either of you used it one of us…"

    "You'd need a new scout." Spruce said.

    "Good news for doctors, at least." Kureha said.

    "Well, I probably couldn't do it anyway." Spruce admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly as he grinned at the others, "It takes some serious mastery over Aura to even get it outside your body in the first place like that! I'm nowhere near good enough for that, yet! Pokekekekeke!"

    "Then I guess that means even our monsters are monstrous." Nami said.

    "Yep!" Spruce said smugly, "You're probably looking at one of the only Riolu to- AHA!"

    His sudden yell made Nami and Vivi recoil in their seats, and the finger that he thrust in Bonbon's direction made the Pokémon whirl around to look frantically behind her before turning around again. Kureha merely raised an eyebrow at the outburst while she took another swig of her drink, and Sanji frowned disapprovingly.

    "What is it?" Vivi said.

    "Don't shout at the ladies like that." Sanji admonished, but Spruce was too distracted to listen.

    "Bonbon! Congrats!" He cheered, "Wow! Just like I figured!"

    "Sudowoodo!" Bonbon chirped, dancing a celebratory little jig of her own to his praise. Vivi looked between the two for a couple of seconds.

    "Um, right." She said, "I actually wanted to ask, Spruce. What exactly… happened? To Bonbon, I mean."

    "Huh?" Spruce said, "Oh, she evolved. Pokekekeke! I didn't even notice until now! Wow, I was really distracted."

    "Evolved?" Vivi repeated, "So this is normal?"

    "Mhm." Spruce said, "It's-"

    CRASH!

    "HEY, SPRUCE!"

    "RIOLU?!"

    The relative tranquillity of the room, as damaged as it was already by Spruce's previous outburst, was utterly destroyed by Luffy coming bursting through the door with both arms laden with food. Some of it seemed fit for human consumption, and some of it was still thawing out. Whatever the case was, it was rapidly vanishing down Luffy's gullet, much to Sanji's chagrin.

    "Hey, don't eat that! Let me cook it first-!" He protested as he tried to shuffle out of bed and over to Luffy, only for a swift thump on the noggin from Kureha to knock him back down into the mattress.

    "Rest." She ordered. He silently and fearfully obeyed.

    All the commotion had awoken Ria, who shot to her feet in Spruce's lap and looked around wildly for a couple of seconds, before taking stock of her surroundings and plopping herself back down. She reached up to grab the arm Spruce had been stroking her with and yanked it back down towards her head.

    "Lu." She demanded. Spruce happily obliged.

    "You look way better!" Luffy said, "I guess she's a pretty good doctor for a witch, huh?"

    SLAM!

    After he pulled his head out of the wall it had just been embedded in, Luffy walked over to the table that Nami and Vivi were both sitting at. He stepped past Bonbon to swing a leg over its surface and sit himself right down in the centre of it, which prompted an exasperated sigh from Nami. He just went on eating like normal, while Vivi focused back on Spruce again.

    "Erm, can you continue, Spruce?" She asked, "What's this about evolution?"

    "Evolving is a type of transformation that Pokémon undergo sometimes." Spruce said, "Their bodies change, and a bunch of other stuff about them can change too. New moves, a new ability, and even a new type."

    "They change that much? Just like that?" Vivi said.

    "Versatile things." Sanji commented.

    "Well, it doesn't just happen randomly." Spruce said, "Something has to cause it. Most Pokémon just evolve naturally by battling and getting stronger. Bonbon was a pretty rare case, though. Bonsly evolves into Sudowoodo when it knows the move Mimic."

    "Oh!" Vivi said, "So what you said before, about Mimic-"

    "I figured Bonbon was probably ready to evolve." Spruce said, "Mimic is learned pretty early."

    "Sudowoodo!" Bonbon chimed in.

    "And this transformation is permanent?" Vivi said, "Or does it wear off?"

    "Permanent." Spruce said, "That's why evolving tends to be a pretty big deal for a Pokémon."

    "Riolu…" Ria mumbled from underneath his hand.

    The others took a moment to let this information sink in. Most of them, at least. Luffy polished off the rest of his impromptu meal while looking like it was the only thing that was on his mind, and Kureha focused on packing away her medical supplies. She seemed to be paying only half-attention, leaving them to discuss it amongst themselves on their own. It was Nami who spoke up first.

    "Well, can Julius evolve?" She asked.

    "Or Spinner." Sanji said.

    "Spinner can, but Julius can't." Spruce said, "I should have clarified. Not every Pokémon can evolve. Some are the evolved forms of other Pokémon, and others are born as the form they'll be forever."

    "So even Pokémon experience inequality based on their birth." Sanji said. It was an innocent, mostly light-hearted comment on his part, but it seemed to inspire some hesitation within Nami and Vivi, whose gazes both drifted towards where Ria was sitting in Spruce's lap. There was a shared curiosity that neither quite wanted to act on. Luffy, though, didn't fear any faux pas. After another great heap of meat vanished down into his stomach, he opened his mouth to ask the question that they were all wondering:

    "What about Ria?"

    The instant it left his mouth, Ria flew to her feet in a swell of rage. Furious eyes bore right into an unperturbed Luffy who was already continuing to devour his meal, and she almost opened her mouth to snap at him, but stopped herself short and looked away. Fury simmered down into irritation as she turned to face away from everyone else with her arms crossed. Spruce just sighed at the whole thing. He reached out to pet the top of her head again while Vivi was the next to speak up.

    "Is… is that a no?"

    "It's a yes." Spruce answered her calmly, his attention still focused on Ria even as he was speaking, "Ria's a Riolu, and her species has the potential to evolve into a Pokémon known as Lucario. It requires a high bond of friendship and it can only happen in the daytime."

    "Then her reaction…?" Vivi said. Spruce sighed again.

    "I know how spectacular it seemed when Bonbon evolved, especially with how it saved your skin," He said, "but… not every Pokémon wants to evolve. For some of them, it's incredibly daunting. An irreversible physical change that will completely upend their life, change their very beings."

    "Lu." Ria spat.

    "And for others," He continued, "it's an… insult."

    "How so?" Nami said.

    "It's- Well-" The words didn't come so easily, and Spruce had to stop himself and take a few seconds to gather his thoughts before trying again, "There are some things that the evolved form of a Pokémon can do that their pre-evolved forms can't. Abilities that change, types they acquire, physical changes, it can really vary depending on the Pokémon. Even if you train a Pokémon hard enough that they can become as strong as their evolution, no amount of training can change an ability, or teach a move it doesn't have the potential to learn."

    "Rio…" Ria mumbled.

    "In Ria's case, Lucario have a much greater affinity for manipulating Aura than Riolu do." Spruce explained, "There's a specific move they're known for, called Aura Sphere. It takes even more control than just transferring Aura to pull it off. No Riolu has ever learned it."

    The information was given as matter-of-factly as he could manage. The final sentence still made Ria bow her head in some mixture of shame and bitterness, though, and the reaction made Vivi and Nami both look away. Sanji looked off to the side, reminiscence seemingly flashing through his eyes, though no one could possibly know to what exactly.

    "Sudowoodo…" Bonbon said, her whole body sagging as she looked sullenly down at the ground. There was one among their number who seemed impervious to the drop in mood, however. Just like before, Luffy opened his mouth to ask another question.

    "So then why doesn't she evolve?"

    This time, the flare-up of Ria's anger didn't simmer down on its own. She whirled around with fury blazing in her eyes once again and swung a paw out as if to precede her point- but when she felt that paw collide with Spruce's hand, which grabbed it in a soft grasp, she stopped herself from opening her mouth, and looked over to see his imploring gaze. She wrenched her paw out of his grip and turned away from the others to brood while he explained on her behalf.

    "You haven't always had that Devil Fruit. Right, Luffy?"

    "Nope." Luffy said.

    "Well… imagine if you'd never had it at all." Spruce said, "Imagine if you were just a regular guy right now, still trying to be the King of the Pirates and everything."

    "Mhm." Luffy nodded along to the hypothetical.

    "If someone came along and told you that you could never be that the way you were, that the only possible way to accomplish your goal was to eat that Devil Fruit and use the powers you got to succeed, how would that make you feel?"

    "Huh." Luffy said. By now, he'd eaten enough to have freed up a hand to reach up and grab his chin thoughtfully with, "I get it now."

    "Ria's going to be Number One." Spruce said, "The very best, like no one ever was. She won't accept anything less than accomplishing it on her own strength as she is."

    It was with a more low-key manner, but for Luffy, Nami and Sanji, the absolute certainty with which he had spoken allowed them to picture the same words being said while his foot was resting atop a barrel with five others around it. His confidence also seemed to have perked Ria's mood up and gotten her to stop brooding, as she faced the rest of the group again.

    "That's pretty cool!" Luffy said, "That means I get to have the Strongest Swordsman and the Strongest Pokémon on my crew!"

    "Zoro's that strong?!" Spruce gasped, "Wow… and he really lives up to it, too…"

    "He's not the strongest yet!" Sanji interjected hotly, "But I guess he is… getting there…"

    "Riol. Riolu Rio Riolu." Ria said.

    "Well, I must say that this has all been interesting enough." Kureha suddenly piped up, reminding everyone that she was still there, "Never even thought about that perspective on evolution when it was explained to me."

    She threw a wink Spruce's way with that comment. There was no attempt to hide it, and Vivi and Nami were both left looking utterly baffled after noticing it for themselves. Spruce just rolled his eyes in return.

    "But since we're on the topic of strong people." Kureha continued, "There's a door in this castle that I'd like opened."

    "A door to what?" Nami asked, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms.

    "Wapol's armoury." Kureha said, "Now that he's gone, I feel it's about time it was opened. But obviously we can't ask him where it is anymore, since someone sent him flying over the horizon."

    "Shishishi!" Luffy snickered, "I got him good!"

    "Don't laugh! It's an inconvenience!" Kureha grumbled.

    "Why do you wanna get into an armoury?" Spruce said, "Weapons do the opposite of healing people."

    "That's my business." She said.

    As more and more words were shared in this exchange, a predatory gleam slowly began to shine in Nami's eyes. She uncrossed her arms and leaned forwards over the table in order to rest her chin atop her hands. The shift in demeanour did not go unnoticed by Kureha, who raised an eyebrow at her.

    "What's with the look, girlie?" She said.

    "The key that you're referring to wouldn't happen to be…" Nami reached into her pocket and revealed an ornate key hanging from a keyring, "this, would it?"

    "How should I know? It's not like I've seen it before." Kureha said, "Where'd you get that, anyway?"

    "I stole it."

    'Of course she did.' Vivi thought, 'Wait… When?!'

    Kureha made a move for the key, but Nami held it out of her reach with a coy look on her face. It was met with an unimpressed look from the doctor, before she sighed and stood back up straight.

    "If it is the key, what do you want for it?" She asked.

    "Well, there is the matter of our medical bills…" Nami said, at which point she allowed Kureha to snatch the key from her grasp and walk off with it.

    "Fine. If this is the key I'm after, you can consider your account paid in full." She said. She strode past everyone else and headed out into the castle halls, presumably in the direction of the armoury.

    As the sound of her footsteps drew further and further away, Nami listened out keenly, until finally looking satisfied to turn to everyone else with a serious look in her eyes.

    "We need to run." She said.

    "Huh? Why?" Luffy said.

    "In case that key doesn't work!" She replied, "I'm not paying whatever trumped-up bill she tries to slap us with if that happens! Come on!"

    Both Luffy and Sanji seemed perfectly happy to go along with such a plan, while Vivi looked at least a bit begrudging as the two at the table and one on the bed all made to stand up. Luffy was already standing, and had since finished off the rest of all his food, so it was just Spruce who appeared to have some objection to that course of action. He shook his head.

    "We can't go yet, Luffy still needs to meet the talking reindeer."

    Those words were like an icy dagger driven into Nami's heart. Her face fell in an instant, contrasting the eager, D-shaped grin that slowly began to appear on Luffy's face. She inched her head in his direction, mind and mouth grasping desperately for words, but none came that she knew would accomplish anything. By the time her head was turned fully, it was already too late.

    "Talking reindeer?! Cool! Where?"

    Hook, line and sinker.

    Spruce hopped up from the bed. He took a moment to familiarise himself with how it felt to stand on his own two feet after his ordeal, as Ria hopped down to stand alongside him.

    "Come on, I think you'll really like him." Spruce said, "He loves pirates and he can transform into a bunch of different forms."

    "I'm gonna ask him to join my crew!" Luffy decided, which brought a smirk to Ria's face. As the trainer/Pokémon duo headed out the door and into the hallway, he followed excitedly after them, with the other three joining as well. Vivi returned Bonbon to her Pokeball as they left the room.

    "Oh, and he's also a doctor." Spruce added, like it was an afterthought to the whole thing. That piece of information made the other three all perk up in unison, while Luffy reacted with far less gusto than he had to any of the other factoids about Chopper.

    "You mean that monster's actually a doctor?" Sanji said.

    "If we had an actual doctor on the crew, it could reduce our medical expenses…" Nami muttered.

    The group made their way through the frigid halls of the castle, having to stop and let Vivi hurry back to the room grab some extra layers for them, until they eventually arrived at the entrance, where the front door was wide open to allow the freezing winter winds to blow in and heave snow through the doorway onto the floor. Chopper could be seen outside, standing some distance away from the castle with his eyes fixed upwards at the flag that was flying atop the castle's tallest tower.

    As soon as he had the reindeer in his sights, Luffy took off in a mad dash towards him. Grinning ear-to-ear the way he was, he looked like quite the lunatic, and it took until he had crossed half the distance between them before Chopper finally noticed the movement in his periphery and looked down. He promptly let out a scream.

    "GYAAAAAH!"

    "REINDEER! JOIN MY CREW!"

    Everyone else continued walking. They walked outside and watched Chopper try and run to get away from Luffy, only to be too late as their captain simply charged right into him and the two fell over each other. It took some tumbling around in the snow until Luffy could wind up in a sitting position with the more diminutive Chopper held aloft under the arms in front of him. It was a position that made the reindeer go flush with embarrassment, before he flailed his way out of Luffy's clutches and scurried several feet away.

    "L-L-Leave me alone, human!" Chopper stammered, "Um, are you Luffy?"

    "THE REINDEER CAN READ MINDS AS WELL?!" Luffy gasped.

    "No, I just told him about you earlier." Spruce said, going over and giving Luffy a hand back up onto his feet, "His name is Chopper, by the way."

    "Hi, Spruce." Chopper said, giving a timid wave in their direction, "And hi, Ria."

    "Rio." Ria said, waving back.

    "Hey, Chopper!" Luffy said, "Join my crew!"

    Now that he wasn't practically screaming his lungs out, his words seemed to have a much greater effect on Chopper. His eyes went wide, darting between Spruce and Luffy, until he was able to muster the courage to speak up with his reply.

    "Would- would that really be… okay?" He said, "I'm a reindeer! I have antlers and hooves, and a blue nose too! I'm not a human like you are, I'm a monster! I-Is someone like that… ARE THEY WELCOME AS PART OF YOUR GROUP?!"

    The question hung in the air for several seconds. Nobody else said anything. They stood silently and watched, looking between Luffy and Chopper as the two stared each other down. One was practically quivering with anticipation, while the other had a blank look upon his face. There may have been a hint of contemplation hidden within it. Once those seconds of silence had elapsed, Luffy opened his mouth to give his answer:

    "Duh."

    Just like that, the dam burst. Chopper was no longer 'practically' quivering. Tears streamed down his face as he opened his mouth. No words came out, so he just stood there with his jaw agape. The whole reaction made Luffy raise an eyebrow.

    "You're kind of a crybaby." He deadpanned.

    "I'LL-!" Chopper finally found his words, only to lose them again, "I'LL BE THE BEST- THE BEST DOCTOR YOU'VE EVER SEEN!"

    It was a declaration forced out through teary sobs and heartfelt chokes, and it brought a grin to Luffy's face.

    "Shishishi! You better!" He said, "We're gonna be getting in super dangerous adventures!"

    "I guess that shores up our emergency food supply." Sanji said, nodding thoughtfully as he sized Chopper up.

    "You're not cooking our doctor." Nami hissed. Their exchange remained at a low enough volume that the doctor in question luckily didn't overhear it, instead being too busy focused on Ria running over to clap him enthusiastically on the back, while Spruce and Luffy watched on and Vivi gushed over the cuteness of the whole thing.

    If there was going to be any further discussion of the topic, it was unfortunately cut off by the sound of a new but familiar arrival on the mountain.

    "QUACK!"

    "CARUE?!" Vivi cried, her attention immediately drawn to where Carue was charging across the snow towards her. The two met in a tight embrace, her arms wrapped around his neck and her face fraught with relief. The reunion of the two drew the others' attention over to the ropeway, which they saw had been used to carry more than just the duck up the mountain.

    A gravely injured but living Dalton staggered off of the ropeway, with bundles of explosives visible on his person along with the bandages which had been used to wrap his wounds. His skin was several shades paler than it had been the last time he was standing on his own two feet, but his relief at the sight of a Wapol-less mountain dwarfed Carue and Vivi's. It may have been generous to say he was standing. As well as leaning on his sheathed spade for support, there were three villagers on each arm helping to hold him up.

    "Did… Did you beat… Wapol?" He rasped, sounding like every word was an effort. The Straw Hats looked amongst themselves, newest member included.

    "I sent mouth guy flying." Luffy said, "You shouldn't have to see him again."

    The collective sigh of relief from Dalton and the villagers was enormous. As soon as he heard the news, Dalton sagged even more into his spade and the villagers helping hold him upright. A couple others had to join in to help support his weight, while another carefully took the explosives from him and carried them away from everyone else.

    "Then… it's over…" Dalton said. He closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath, before exhaling and opening his eyes to smile at Luffy. If there was something else he wanted to say, it was promptly cut off by the attention-grabbing yell that came from the castle's open entryway.

    "IT IS OVER! AND YOU BELONG IN A HOSPITAL BED!"

    Dr. Kureha stood with one hand on her hip and the other one raised in front of her. Nami's key dangled off her fingertip, and she gave the navigator an affirmative nod, then pocketed the key once she saw it returned. She looked back over to where Dalton was being supported, and the mass of villagers who had joined him up the ropeway.

    "DON'T JUST STAND THERE LIKE IDIOTS, HELP HIM INSIDE!"

    "It's the witch!" One of the villagers exclaimed, and then quickly ducked as a kitchen knife was hurled in their direction. Seeing the knife whiz through the air was enough to get the others in a frenzy to help Dalton inside. Kureha stepped to the side and watched as Dalton limped into the castle, eyes narrowing as they darted up and down his injured form, before she turned back to the rest of the villagers who were left standing around in the snow. There were a couple who started making for the ropeway to head back down, but stopped as she snapped her fingers in their direction.

    "THE REST OF YOU! I'LL NEED YOUR HELP INSIDE WITH SOMETHING ELSE! GET OVER HERE!"

    "Wow, she's bossy." Luffy said. He had to duck as well to avoid his own kitchen knife, while Chopper stood beside him and stared with wide eyes at Kureha. A dozen emotions flashed through his eyes as he remained standing in place, while she didn't even seem to acknowledge he was there.

    "Hey! That's not how you're meant to use those!" Sanji chastised Kureha as he went over to pick up the thrown knives. He examined their condition carefully with a furrowed brow. His objections didn't get a response from the doctor.

    "And you, Chopper!" Kureha said, finally acknowledging the reindeer's presence with the others, "I need your help inside as well! Come on!"

    Without waiting for him to say anything, she simply turned around and joined the flood of people heading into the castle, leaving Chopper to stand there in the snow with his gaze fixed on her retreating form. Once she was inside and out of view, Chopper looked to his fellow crewmates with a resolute look on his face.

    "Wait here." Was all that he said before hurrying inside after her. Everyone else was left to stand around in the snow and wait for him to do what it was that he had to do.

    "We should let him go in alone." Nami said, "This could be a tearful farewell."

    "Does that mean we're going?" Spruce asked.

    "Of course." Nami said, "As soon as Chopper gets back, we'll go right down the mountain and set sail for the next island towards Alabasta."

    "We'll want to be prepared for wherever we end up next." Sanji said, "It'll most likely be Nanimonai Island, where Baroque Works were trying to lead us before."

    "Don't worry about traps." Spruce said, "Now that I'm better, me and Ria won't let anyone catch you by surprise!"

    "Lu!" Ria said.

    "And after dealing with Mr. 2, there's not much worse left that they can throw at us anyway." Vivi said, "It's just Mr. 1 and his partner, and then Crocodile himself."

    "I can't believe Usopp stayed behind on the ship again while we had to deal with another crazy assassin." Nami sighed.

    "Well, we were the ones who decided not to go back to the ship to let him and mosshead know what was happening." Sanji pointed out, "In this case, it's justified."

    "Yeah, yeah, I know." Nami said. They fell into a silence after that, with Luffy preoccupying himself by rolling the surrounding snow up into a large ball, which he balanced atop of while rolling it around with his feet. The others either watched him or just stood around and waited for Chopper to finish his business inside. Nami started fiddling with Julius' Pokeball, and Spruce and Ria started silently playing Rock Paper Scissors with each other.

    Finally, Sanji pointed to the castle's front entryway, where Chopper in his normal reindeer form could be seen charging out with a sleigh behind him.

    "Is that him?" Sanji said.

    "Huh?! What's going on?" Vivi said.

    "Someone's chasing him!" Nami said. It was an astute observation on her part, as Kureha chased after the fleeing reindeer while throwing all manner of objects at him, which luckily all missed their mark completely.

    "EVERYBODY, GET IN THE SLEIGH!" Chopper called out, "WE'RE GOING DOWN THE MOUNTAIN!"

    "HOLD IT!" Kureha screeched from behind him.

    "WHAT?!" The Straw Hats all screamed in unison.



    -O-

    ​


    ​
    It was a beautiful moonlit night from the deck of the Going Merry. Three was a crowd, one made up of Zoro, Usopp and Spinner together. While the swordsman wasn't one to laze about in half-measure, preoccupying himself with a pair of dumbbells after he had wrapped himself up in clothing that suited the climate, his companions seemed far more content to simply relax and bask in the tranquillity of the winter night. Spinner made good on his namesake and spun in place near the figurehead, and Usopp sat, leaned back on his hands with his eyes fixed upwards. He marvelled at the beauty of the full moon.

    "I wonder if the others will be back soon." He said.

    "Nosepass." Spinner said. Zoro didn't say anything.

    Usopp's thoughts began to drift, only to suddenly be yanked right back into the present as he caught sight of a shape passing through the air in front of the moon. A sleigh, being pulled by a creature he couldn't possibly identify from such a distance. It sent him scrambling around the deck to try and find a spyglass to better see the object, with his antics earning him a raised eyebrow from Zoro. By the time he had retrieved the spyglass, however, there was something else that drew his attention.

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    BOOM!

    A symphony of cannons, incredibly distant but nevertheless unmistakable for their sound. With how distant they were, even Usopp wasn't panicked by their sound, though he did seem mildly concerned.

    "Do you think they're still fighting?" Usopp asked the other two.

    "There's no way that band of weaklings is still putting up a fight against the others." Zoro said, "Even shit-cook would have dealt with them by now."

    "Nosepass." Spinner said.

    "Well, what do you think those cannons are, then?" Usopp said.

    "Hmm. Probably that." Zoro said, and then he pointed upwards. Usopp turned back around to look at where he was pointing, and his jaw promptly dropped at the sight of it.

    An enormous cloud of pink snow had appeared in the air above the Drum Rockies. With its colouration turning the falling snowflakes into petals, and the mountain acting as the trunk, it was if one colossal cherry-blossom had sprouted in the heart of Drum Island. Such transcendent, natural beauty left Usopp speechless. Both Zoro and Spinner halted their respective movements, being just as enraptured by the snow as Usopp was, and they marvelled at it for what felt like hours.

    Eventually, though, they had to be snapped back to reality. In this case, it was by a familiar voice.

    "HEY, USOPP! ZORO! ROCK!"

    Luffy's yell came just seconds before he and the entire crew came flooding back onto the ship. Spruce and Ria were among the number, with the trainer looking to be back in good shape, though not quite as well as he had been before coming down with his illness. Both he and Sanji would need time to rest and recuperate it seemed, as the chef came aboard riding on Carue's back. When he dismounted and set foot on the deck for himself, he did so with the duck's support, and each step he took was tentative.

    Most surprisingly, there was an entirely new individual who had come aboard with everyone else. Some kind of reindeer wearing a pink hat who- before Usopp's very eyes- transformed from a normal-looking reindeer to a small, humanoid reindeer creature that now stood on two legs instead of four. The sight of the new addition and their transformative abilities had Usopp hurrying over to where Spruce was.

    "Uh, what's the deal with that thing?" He leaned in to whisper, jerking a thumb in Chopper's direction to indicate who he was talking about.

    "Hi Usopp!" Spruce replied, "That's Chopper, I think he's our new doctor. Say hi, Chopper!"

    The last part was said louder, and suddenly being called by name caught Chopper off-guard. The reindeer gave a start, before looking over at Usopp and Spruce and clearing his throat.

    "H-Hello." Chopper said with a wave. Usopp stared at him.

    "HE CAN TALK?!"

    "HE CAN TALK AND TRANSFORM!" Luffy chimed in, running over to scoop Chopper up and shove him in Usopp's face. At the new information, Usopp perked up.

    "HE CAN TRANSFORM?! AWESOME!"

    "Dial it down, you two!" Nami said, inserting herself between Luffy and Usopp with a stern look on her face, "We're setting sail for the next island as soon as possible, so you'd better get a move on!"

    There was a vague irritation that seemed mostly directed towards Usopp in her voice, one that became unmistakable as he caught a look of annoyance that was briefly thrown his way, before she walked away from the two to go elsewhere on the deck. As Usopp watched her walk away, he cleared his throat and puffed his chest out.

    "Actually, Nami." He said, projecting his voice over the minor ruckus from everyone else, "I think our destination has changed since you left."

    "What are you talking about?" Nami said, turning back to raise an eyebrow and cross her arms at him.

    "Ooh, we're going somewhere different?" Luffy said.

    "Heh…" Usopp smirked and crossed his arms at Nami in return, "Well, it just so happens that instead of having to follow Spinner's nose to the next island on our route, we now have an alternative means of navigation. One that will get us to our destination much sooner."

    "An alternative means…?" Vivi said.

    "You can't mean-!" Nami said. Both women were quickly rendered speechless as Usopp reached into his pocket and whipped out the Eternal Pose to Alabasta that he had retrieved from Mr. 2's ship. He grasped it carefully with two hands, one grasping it from above, and the other flattened out for it to rest on so that the name of the island engraved on it was clearly visible for them to see.

    "An Eternal Pose to Alabasta!" Usopp announced, "It wasn't easy to get, mind you! I had to fight my way through the fifty soldiers left behind on-"

    "USOPP!" Vivi gushed. She threw herself across the ship to wrap her arms around him. Her enthusiasm proved to be a bit excessive, though, as her attempted-hug turned into her tackling him to the ground.

    "VIVI!" Nami yelled. Seeing the Eternal Pose slip from Usopp's grasp as he was tackled, she made a dive for it before it could fall and break.

    "NAMI!" Sanji cried. With the assistance of Carue, he managed to hit the deck faster and harder than Nami did, positioning himself as a cushion for her to land on as she caught the Eternal Pose and lifted it up and away from the deck.

    "ZORO!" Luffy cheered.

    "What?" Zoro said.

    "Since everyone was shouting each other's names, I wanted to be included." Luffy said.

    The other four who were now in a heap looked amongst themselves, before embarrassedly extricating themselves from each other and getting back on their feet. Vivi and Usopp were both flustered and avoiding each other's gazes, while Nami seemed more concerned over the condition of the Eternal Pose than anything, and breathed a sigh of relief as she stood up and determined it was undamaged. Sanji seemed satisfied with himself, but needed a hand from Luffy to get back to his feet.

    "Um. Thanks, Usopp." Vivi said after a couple seconds of awkward silence had elapsed, "With this, we can head to Alabasta even faster than we expected!"

    "Where'd you manage to find that Eternal Pose, anyway?" Sanji asked.

    "I'm glad you asked!" Usopp said, puffing his chest out again, "As I was saying, I had to fight my way through-!"

    "Did you get it from that ship?" Spruce interjected, pointing in the direction of where Mr. 2's ship was still anchored, and the members of Baroque Works were still freezing their butts off waiting for their superior to return.

    "Hey! Don't ruin my story!" Usopp complained. It was too late for him to continue, however, because now everyone's attention was on the ship in question. Save for Spinner and Zoro, who had gone back to what they were doing before the advent of the cherry-blossom snow.

    "With an aesthetic like that, that can only be Mr. 2's ship." Sanji said.

    "Well, it makes sense he'd have sailed here with a ship of his own." Nami said.

    "Who cares about that?" Luffy said, "Come on, let's get going! We still need to celebrate our new crewmate as well!"

    "Alright everyone, you heard our captain!" Nami said. She raised the Eternal Pose towards her face to examine it, before calling out to everyone else, "SET SAIL FOR ALABASTA!"



    -O-

    ​


    ​
    "A TOAST! TO OUR SHIP'S NEW DOCTOR, TONY TONY CHOPPER!"

    With Drum Kingdom behind them, spirits were high upon the deck of the Merry. Usopp stood, overlooking everyone else with a mug of liquor raised up high. His toast was drowned out by the celebration currently in full swing. Vivi and Nami sat together on the deck, sharing drinks of their own as they watched Luffy and Chopper dance together with chopsticks in their nose. The joviality of the duo of duos was in stark contrast to the rapid descent into violence between Zoro and Sanji.

    For a moment, the beauty of the cherry snow they had both witnessed had brought them together. It hadn't lasted long, though, and the two tangled against each other while everyone else ignored them. Chopper seemed briefly concerned at the fight breaking out, but brushed that concern aside just as quickly as he realised that nobody else was doing anything.

    "Hey, Sanji!" Luffy called out to the chef over the top of his brawl, "Don't we have any more dinosaur meat? Didn't we load up on that?"

    Now that Luffy was preoccupied, Chopper ended up drifting over to where Nami and Vivi were, as well as Carue. His eyes were sparkling as he sat down and picked up a drink for himself, and his gaze trailed over the rest of the deck. He raised the mug towards his lips as he did, but stopped just as quickly when he caught sight of the one other guy on the ship not making any kind of ruckus. Their scout had ended up away from everyone else, sprawled out towards the bow with Ria sitting diligently at his side. There was a half-empty glass next to him that she had one paw outstretched to prevent from spilling.

    "Oh! Spruce!" Chopper exclaimed, hopping up and dashing over to his side with eyes that were fraught with worry. His outburst brought the energy of everyone else down, with even Sanji and Zoro halting their scrap to look over and see what was happening.

    "He's passed out?" Vivi said, "How much did he have to drink?"

    Unlike the concerned Chopper, Ria didn't look as if she cared in the slightest. She just tapped the rim of the glass and stared off into space. The gesture made Chopper glance over at it, then back at Spruce. He frowned.

    "He's asleep." Chopper said, "After half a glass."

    "Seriously?" Nami said.

    "Tch. What a lightweight." Zoro scoffed. A critical error on his part, because his disparaging comment left his defences wide open for Sanji's foot to smash into his face and resume their brawl once more. And Luffy joined in again, this time throwing himself at the two in a bid to pester Sanji for food. The whole spectacle was overseen by Usopp, looking down from above.

    Nami ended up scooting over across the deck to where Spruce, Ria and Chopper were. She snatched the half-full mug out from under Ria's paw while Vivi and Carue followed her, and with a drink in each hand, she sculled the one that was half-empty.

    "He wasn't gonna finish it." Was her only response to the stares she got from the others. Save Ria, who remained unbothered while Spruce was sleeping.

    "I guess you're right." Vivi said. A couple of seconds passed before she furrowed her brow and added, "Do you hear something?"

    Both ladies, as well as Chopper and Carue, looked down at the sleeping form of Spruce. While he remained asleep, he had begun to lightly hum something. It was difficult to make out over the nearby ruckus the guys were all making together, but it was a rather serene tune. Even a few notes from the lips of a sleeping man were enough for a sense of ease to wash over the ones listening in. A small smile poked at the corners of Ria's mouth as she listened for herself as well.

    "He's singing in his sleep." Chopper observed.

    "It's nice to see him so relaxed after that whole ordeal." Nami said.

    "Yeah…" Vivi nodded. She looked away from him, and instead turned her attention to the nearby brawl. Hands and feet were all tangled up with each other as Sanji and Zoro wrestled with each other, and Luffy clung around Sanji's neck with eager chants of "FOOD! FOOD! FOOD!"

    She wasn't alone in admiring the spectacle. As well as Usopp, Chopper also watched the whole thing play out. After a few seconds, he looked down at the deck, seemingly lost in thought, before raising his head with a smile growing on his face.

    "You know…" He piped up, "I think this is the most fun I've ever had!"

    Both Nami and Vivi smiled at him and raised their glasses.

    It was a good night for the Straw Hat Pirates.
     
  • New
  • Threadmarks
    • Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top