A/N: Okay, super long hiatus, the story's gonna be moving along. BIG writer's block just broke, and I'm writing original fiction until I get better at drawing manga. Hmmm, and I just found out that "Alucard" had been used in the sweet a$$ series "hellsing", so I'll be changing that later. :Sheepish grin: . Enjoy dudes.
I-I-I Chapter Eleven I-I-I
I-IWhat's the Navy Doing Here?I-I
"Chopper! Chopper!" Nami called out in the rain as the Straw Hats ran to the Going Merry. A rope ladder descended and Chopper peeked over the rail. He moved aside when Zoro and Sanji jumped over the edge with Usopp on the stretcher.
"Usopp!" Chopper motioned for them to bring him into the storage deck. They rushed in and placed Usopp on the ground carefully. The rain drummed on the deck above them. Chopper began to check over Usopp's body, peering closely at his gashes.
"It didn't look serious at first but the bleeding didn't stop, even with applied pressure," Robin told him. She shook the rainwater from her hat.
Chopper harrumphed to himself. "Here Zoro, Sanji, put pressure on his wounds." He handed the men thick towels. Sanji covered the cut on Usopp's arm and Zoro covered his ankle. Nami grabbed another towel and took the chest wound.
"Mm…Hmm…woad leaves…paste….five days…" Chopper murmured. He reached up and took some aqua-colored leaves from a high shelf. He proceeded to mash them in his mortar until a poultice was created. In less then fifteen seconds he took the mortar and clip-clopped to Usopp's side.
"Zoro." Zoro lifted the bloody towel and Chopper molded the paste over Usopp's ankle. The thick green paste stayed and only a few drops of blood seeped out. Chopper did the same to Usopp's arm but when he reached the chest his paste was almost gone. "Darn, I need more leaves. Nami, get the blood fruit from the shelf."
"Um, this?" Chopper began to take bits of the fruit and place it in Usopp's mouth. The Straw Hat's face was horribly pale, even with his normally brown complexion. His closed eyes fluttered but didn't open and he moaned softly. He couldn't swallow, even though he chewed.
"Where's Reia!" Chopper asked, frantic. He looked out the window worriedly. Robin exited into the rain. Nami gasped.
"Chopper, his breathing is getting slower!" Chopper rushed over to Usopp, checking his pulse and listening to this breathing. The reindeer looked over to Luffy, who was busy looking out the window with his nose pressed against the glass.
"Luffy, go get more towels!" The captain leapt up and raced outside without a word.
Zoro glanced at the closing door in disbelief. "He hasn't said a word since we got back," he mused. Chopper stood on a stool, grinding away furiously.
Crunch-crunch, crunch- BOOM. Everyone started. Sanji peered out the window.
Nami held her chest, her heart pumping. "What was that?"
There was another thud and they realized the sound was from outside on the deck. Chopper paid no heed.
Suddenly Luffy burst in, his hair and clothes heavy with rain water. He pointed outside, jumping.
"Reia's back! She's back with a cat!" he giggled madly and ran back outside, not even bothering to close the door. The rain poured in and Sanji was about to slam the door when he made a startled noise and moved out of the way for Robin.
She came in with Reia's arm over her shoulder, slumping. Robin's many hands carried a large panther and placed it far away near to the wall. Chopper stopped grinding and ran to Reia, helping her to a bench.
"What's wrong, Reia?" Chopper asked. He took the basket full of leaves and fruits out of Robin's hands, bringing them to his table.
"S-sea stone somewhere…" Reia drifted off and held her head, panting. She had obviously left her ethereal form. Her hair fell in her pale face, wet with the rain. Her blue eyes were dull, and she still couldn't stand. "What's wrong with me? It doesn't last this long…"
Chopper agreed and looked over her body for anything abnormal. Then he came across some scratches on her arm. They weren't serious so he took a solution and dabbed it with a cloth. After a few seconds Reia started to breath deeper and more relaxed. Chopper peered at the cloth and noticed the minute grey coloring. He touched it gingerly and almost swooned.
"Seastone? What, here?" Nami wondered. She yelped when Chopper tipped over and almost fell. He caught himself and shook his head. Before anyone could say anything he went over to the unconscious panther and took it's paws, unsheathing its claws. He touched it and fell to the ground. Getting up shakily, he went back over the table.
"This is too strange for me to handle right now, literally, I'll have to get back to this," Chopper stated, weak. He returned to his poultice making, a bit more tired.
Luffy crouched near the panther, prodding it with a handful of towels. Zoro kicked the captain over to Usopp.
"Give us the towels, stupid," he growled. His eyes passed over the panther and he exhaled, still an unbeliever. He turned and had a bowl of watery paste shoved into his hands by Chopper. "Huh?"
"Put a few drops into Usopp's mouth every few minutes," Chopper ordered. Zoro blinked and started to drip the liquid into Usopp's mouth. Nami joined Chopper by the panther. The doctor drew some of the cat's blood into a beaker.
"What's that for, Chopper?" she asked. He added some solution to it.
"I have to see what's happening to it. Who knows, maybe it just hit its head on a rock!"
He divided the blood into different glass tubes and dropped different liquids into each. Some changed color, some didn't. Luffy bent over to look at them and grinned, very amused. Sanji scanned the room and started to light a cigarette casually. Chopper's head turned in his direction.
"Hey, no smoking! I've got patients here!" Sanji scowled and left, going upstairs into the lounge. Nami sat next to Reia, examining her face.
"Hey are you all right? You need any help getting to the room?"
"Nah it's okay. It's always temporary. I'm going to get some sleep now. Come with?"
Nami yawned. "Sure."
The two girls left. Things became dull for Luffy, who was being good while there was trouble. He yawned too.
"AAAA this is so b-b-b-oring…." He yawned again, and he slumped, fastasleep. Chopper rolled his eyes.
"You guys don't have to help me anymore, go get some rest." Zoro nodded and took Luffy's legs, pulling the captain out. Robin stood up as Zoro left.
"Chopper, if you need anything I'll be right outside keeping watch."
"Okay."
Robin went outside, leaving Chopper with the wounded animal and Usopp.
"What's this!"
The tubes with the panther's blood showed positive of poison and antidote. The reindeer blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes to make sure it wasn't a trick on his eyes or the lighting. He sighed.
The night wore on as a stressed-out Chopper pondered the results of the tests he did on the panther's blood.
I'll have to talk with it when it wakes up.
I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I
"It's a s-s-s-saaaddd…story," Chopper said, yawning. He sat next to Zoro and Nami, while Reia, Luffy, and Robin were on the other side of the table in the lounge. Sanji flipped a pancake but was still listening. Chopper rubbed the tears from his eyes before he continued.
"Wait, you left the panther alone with Usopp? Are you sure that's safe?" Reia asked. Nami blinked and looked at him.
"Yeah it's safe, the panther's no big deal," Chopper reassured her.
"Sanji, more pancakes!" Luffy called to the cook. Sanji froze and whipped around. A pancake flew into Luffy's grinning face. He leapt up and ran out. "OW-ow-ow-ow it's HOT!"
"Well after it woke I asked how it fell off a cliff. It was still woozy and it started to talk about its mother. I thought it was going crazy but it started to make sense after a while."
"When he was a kitten his mom was killed because some people tricked him that they had a cure for his mom's illness. She died from poisoning."
"What?" Nami asked incredulously. "How can animals have medicine like that? And when can they talk to people?"
Chopper shrugged. "That's why I thought it was going crazy. And then the cat had to kill and steal for the evil people or else more animals would die."
"Oh that's evil," Reia murmured.
"And yesterday was the day they promised he would go free. Sadly, they also meant free from the living." Chopper ended.
"Evil people…Doesn't he mean the vampires?" Sanji asked behind a cigarette. Luffy ran in and sat next to Reia at the table, his face slightly pink. Reia created an ectoplasmic bubble around her head to shield herself from the smoke. Luffy proceeded to poke it fascinatingly.
"Yes. They're unheard of in these parts, but it's the Grand Line. Multiple dimensions, off world planes of existence, many things are possible," Robin stated. The crew blanked.
"You've lost me, Robin," Zoro mumbled. Nami punched her palm.
"If there was a way we could get rid of those evil monsters!" she cried. Robin coughed slightly and unrolled the island map. Taking a pencil, she circled an area of Devil's Eye.
"This warehouse is where the vampires bring their collected goods from the townsfolk. Doubtless the vampires are careless enough to leave it unguarded, but it's a start," she told them. Luffy bounced around the room.
"Yes, some action at last!"
"But you can't forget my tournament today," Zoro told them. He rolled his eyes. "It'll be so easy I don't even know why I'm doing this." A smoldering glare from Nami reminded him. "Oh yeah, the stupid Belli".
"Stupid! You're calling the wrong thing stupid, stupid!" Nami thundered at the swordsman. She switched moods and turned to the crew.
"All right, who's staying, who's leaving? We're all going to go stake out that place anyways, so you'll just stay with the ship and Chopper."
"I'm going! I'm going!" Luffy exclaimed. Sanji sat next to Nami and took her hand.
"Where you go I go, Nami-san!" he declared. Nami took her hand out of his before talking.
"I'm going of course to get the Belli, who else is going?" Nami asked.
"Sure, I will,"Reia said. She added, "Who knows if we might stumble on the vampires again?" Zoro grinned and stood up, hands on his katanas.
"My thoughts exactly."
Robin rolled up the map and went to the door. "I'm staying." Nami nodded.
"Okay, crew, head out!"
I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I
"Bulop-bulop-bulop, bulop-bulop. Bulop-bulop bu-
"Captain Gabriel here."
"Sir, the ship's done unloading, shall we proceed?"
"Wait, Sergeant. The Arkane GELs don't make good use of haste. Wait for my signal. Captain out."
A tall man with a brown beard crossed his arms as he looked at the map on the wall. His Navy coat was that of a Captain's with the tassels on the shoulders but his was different, with silver swirls dangling instead. Silver markings were on his white uniform, and he grumbled to himself. Another man, young and blonde, stepped in, saluting him. His uniform was also marked silver and white but was less fancy.
"Captain!"
"Lieutenant Michael, report."
"The men are ready, when shall we proceed?"
The captain sighed mightily. "Haste makes waste, lieutenant. I want you to pick five of the best men who can keep quiet in battle but still hold a rocket launcher. Those will be the men for the stakeout, and you're overseeing it there, too."
"Aye-aye, sir. When we get to the wa-
"Quiet lieutenant!" the captain barked. He stepped towards the younger man and leaned down in front of him, whispering confidentially, "You don't know what listening ears might be about, eh?" Lieutenant Michael looked around.
"It's the Navy, sir. What could hap-
"Ah ah ah! You don't get to be captain for nothing. Ask any of the Colonel's around. Did they trust that blindly? If they did, they had blind luck!" The captain guffawed. He suddenly grew serious and looked at the lieutenant with piercing eyes. "Dismissed. Bring Commander Raphael in for me, please."
"Yes sir!" The lieutenant pivoted and walked back only to run into a tall man wearing a white rain poncho. The lieutenant saluted the commander and marched out. The commander stood, waiting, the captainkeeping his back to the man.
After a few moments the captain spoke up. "Tell me, what does ANGEL stand for, Commander?"
Without hesitation he replied, "Arcane-Nullifier Government Elite Legions, sir!"
"And what do they do?"
"Eliminate the arcane that's leaked into this world."
"Such as?"
"Such as werewolves, demons, and-
"And vampires!" the captain thundered. He turned around to look at the commander. "Damn right, commander,we're the Arkane branch of the Navy."
"It's a stake in my heart, Captain," Raphael said, grinning. The captain's brown eyes met his green twinkling ones.
"I see it in your eyes, commander. Those son-of-a-bitches are gonna burn in hell."
