A/N: I'm sorry for not posting this chapter last week. I was busy that week and had little to no time to do this chapter, no thanks to my parents. Good news, however, is that I did two chapters, to make up for last week. So please forgive me and don't hate me. As usual, partial credit goes to EvanderAdvent.
Last time:
Nami and Sanji looked down, curious about Xion's last words to Chopper and Dr. Kureha.
"Things that you guys have with Xion..." Nami spoke.
"... Will disappear from your memories?" Sanji finished.
"That's what she said. But now, I will never know what she meant by that."
"Doctorine!" came Chopper's voice, as the reindeer barged into the room in his reindeer form. "Doctorine! Come quick! Wapol came back!"
*XION'S P.O.V*
I can NOT believe that HE is here! I thought the Lapahns were taking care of this guy and his freaks! Then again, if he got here, then that must've meant that he's strong. Either that, or he and the other two got help from someone.
"Let's go, Xion!" I heard Luffy call, dragging me out to the front.
"Oi! I can run by myself, you know!" I told him.
When we were at the front door, Kureha and Chopper were there to confront Wapol and his goons before us.
"Wait!" my captain shouted, as we continued to run to the persistent pirate. "I'm-"
"I'm going to kill you!" I interrupted, summoning Warrior's Pride and running ahead of Luffy. "Rising..."
"Wapol-sama! It's that girl!" the blue man, who I remember is called Chess, informed the obvious.
"STRIKE!" My attack hit Wapol, sending him flying. Unfortunately, his lackies saved him from falling off of this mountain. How did they even get up here, now that I mentioned it?
"That was payback for trying to kill my nakama while they were injured and sick," I continued. "Now then, how should I continue my assault? Should I burn you? Stun you? Cut you to pieces? So many choices to choose from to get back at you three." My mind went back to how they tried to attack me while I was carrying my allies. "I had to run all the way here, avoiding getting hit from you guys. But now, there's no reason for me to hold back, is there?"
"Oi, Xion," came Luffy's voice. I turned to face him. "Why did you have to do that?! That guy was mine, not yours'!"
"Since when was there a rule saying that I should let you take care of the ones that gave me all the trouble?!" I argued. "Besides, at least he's still on this mountain. And since I'm in a good mood right now, I'll let you get the first hit."
"Oh? Okay." Luffy faced Wapol and his minions. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" he shouted, stretching his arm back and hitting Wapol straight in the face. Luckily for him, however, Chess and the afro man managed to save him from falling again.
"You fiend! How dare you do such thing to the King of Drum Island and commit such a heinous, violent act!" the afro head man told us.
"Yes! He is the King of this land! You stand before the King who rules these people!" Chess informed.
"Like hell we care! That first attack was payback from me anyway!" I yelled.
"That's right! Besides, you guys piss me off!" my captain agreed, making a face.
"Oi, Xion. Do you and the brat know them?" Kureha questioned.
"Yeah! He's the Jamaguchi (Big Mouth Problem)!" Luffy answered for me.
"Jamaguchi?" the witch doctor and I repeated in confusion.
"All he does is cause us problems! Eating my ship, chasing my nakama! He's not gonna get away with it anymore!"
"Hold on, Luffy," came Sanji's voice. "Aren't you cold just wearing that?"
Now that he mentioned it, all Luffy's wearing is his vest and blue shorts. Doesn't he feel cold in just that?
"Wait a sec... Did he say that he was king?! I thought he was a pirate!"
"OI!" I airslapped, not believing how slow or how STUPID this captain of mine is!
"DON'T JUST LOOK OVER THERE!" our chef shouted, also not believing how slow Luffy is.
"Heh. Fools. At least one of you realized your rudeness," the afro man said. "Wapol-sama is the King of Drum Kingdom. When we first met, he was only indulging in piracy temporarily, for his own reasons."
"Now that he has relinquished piracy, he shall be reinstated as the King of this castle and this country," Chess added.
"Oi. It's cold out here," Luffy complained.
"THAT'S WHAT I'VE/HE'S BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU!" Sanji and I shouted at Tweedledum.
"IT'S NEGATIVE 50 DEGREES CELCIUS OUT HERE!" Chopper informed.
'If I asked this once, I'll ask again! HOW the HELL did I end up with HIM as my captain?!' I mentally demanded.
"Now, I'm angry," I heard Wapol speak. "Straw Hat... I'll eat you alive first!"
"Can you wait for a second?" Sanji asked. "Luffy went inside to get his jacket."
When he had the time to rush in? I'll never know.
"HE'S GONE?!" the so-called 'king' shouted. "Well, in that case, I'll just have to eat you first, throne-stealer!"
"Just what in the world did I do to have you call me that?" I asked.
"Don't play stupid with me! You, while I was out in the ocean, finding my way back here, you planned on taking my throne! I heard from everyone in the village, you throne-stealer! So don't try to talk your way out of this!"
'Yeah, you bastard!' came the sound of Wapol's pet.
"... I honestly have no idea what you're talking about," I simply replied.
"Stop playing stupid with me!"
"Hey, Xion," I heard Chopper call. "Just now, did that guy arms stretch?"
"Yeah. He stretches. He's a rubberman, after all," I replied.
"Rubberman? What's that?"
"A kind of devil fruit user. Like you, Chopper. In other words, he's a monster."
"So, that treacherous old crone and those Straw Hat Pirates are currently residing in my castle," came Wapol's voice. "Once we eliminate these dogs, and that throne-stealer, they won't dare bare their teeth at me!"
"You are indeed correct," Chess agreed. "This day shall see the glorious revival of the Drum Kingdom!"
'Like I'll let that happen,' I mentally said.
"And you're first, Dr. Kureha! You got some guts, moving into my castle while I'm away! And afterwards, I'm taking care of you, throne-stealer! You think you can just come here and take my throne, did you? Think again!"
"For a king, you sure are a spoiled one. It's no wonder why everyone here hates you," I insulted.
"Shut up! And what's worse is that you put up that disgusting flag on my castle!"
"This is Hiluluk's grave," Kureha calmly stated. "I don't give a damn about this rundown place. I guess you haven't realized it was this reindeer who hung Hiluluk's flag there."
'Chopper must really respect this 'Hiluluk' guy, huh?' I thought.
"Doctor fought to save this country..." I heard Chopper said. "Flying with that flag... Doctor dies at this castle... He died to save this country! And so now, this is Doctor's grave!"
I was touched by the young reindeer's words. Wapol, on the other hand, just laughed at this. How can a human like him exist? Unless if-!
"Grave? That stupid doctor's?!" Okay. That's it!
"Why don't you just shut up?!" I shouted, dashing towards the idiot king.
"Don't you think we'll fall for that twice!" Chess and the afro man said, shielding their king, just as I wanted.
"Fire Surge!" A ring of fire revolved around me, hitting and burning the two guards. 'And now for the leader,' I mentally noted, as I got close to him. Wapol suddenly opened his mouth. The next thing you know, HE GOBBLED ME UP!
"XION(-NEE/-SAN)!" screamed Kureha, Chopper and Sanji.
"This, your stupid-ness, is not how I want to die!" I yelled, pointing his tongue with Warrior's Pride. "Fire!" That did it. The moment the fireball made contact with his tongue, Wapol spat me out. And it just so happens that I was spat back to my allies.
"Why you..." Wapol spoke, eating a huge chunk of snow. "You actually dared to set my tongue on fire! And not to mention defiling my castle with that stupid flag. BURN IT DOWN AT ONCE!"
"You will not set foot in this castle," Chopper said, changing into his human-ish form. "Ever."
"Wapol-sama, he's..." Oh? So they met Chopper.
"That's right! That day... He's the monster that was chasing after that idiot doctor that day!"
"That flag is Doctor's conviction. I'll never let it be taken down! EVER!"
"AHAHAHA! Show no mercy! We're going into the castle! Leave no one alive!" Wapol ordered.
"Grandma, you gonna fight too?" Sanji asked. And I have a bad feeling for him right now.
"Grandma?" Kureha repeated. Next thing that happened was unexpected. She punched the guy in the head, hard. "If you three can't handle it, I'll come save you."
"Should've kept your mouth shut, Sanji," I whispered to the poor chef.
"Couldn't agree more."
"Wapol-sama! Leave this to me! I'll dispense with these infidels at once!" the afro man volunteered, throwing one of his afros at-
"Doctorine!"
"Look out!"
Sanji, being the one who's near her, saved her by blocking the afro with his leg. Though there's something weird about the afro.
"Hey, hey, hey, afro man. Shooting your 'fro at a lady, what kind of soul brother is that?" Sanji questioned.
"Is that really the time to be talking about soul brothers?" I asked.
"... It's stuck," the guy said, smirking.
Sanji got confused and shook the ball of hair off of his leg. Only one little problem: as the afroman said, it got stuck. "What?! What the hell is with this afro?!"
"Don't tell me... Static electricity?" I guessed.
"Precisely."
"You got to be kidding me."
"There's plenty more where that comes from," the afroman said, as he plucked out a small amount of hair, only to then enlarge it! "Elec-Marimo!" He threw more of those afros of his at Sanji. And no matter how hard he tried to get them off, they stayed on his body. Sanji then demanded Chopper to help him get the 'fros off him, not wanting me to experience it, which I would like to agree with. As soon as Chopper got close to the chef, however, they then started to play a little game that I like to call 'Stick the Afro to Someone'. Why? They kept passing the afro's to each other, saying and complaining about how gross it is.
"Just what the hell are you two doing?" Kureha and I asked. I only asked because I do not know if they forgot our current situation here.
"Let me warn you: those afros might be 'tasteless', but they can also burn well," I heard Chess say. I turned to see what he meant, when his arrow was set on fire!
"Guys, run! He's going to set you guys on fire!" I warned.
"What are you doing?" Sanji asked Chopper, as the now-human reindeer stuck the afros on him.
"The Decoy Plan," he told him.
I ignored everything else, as my complete focus was now on defeating Wapol and the other two guards of his. When I was about to go for an attack on Wapol, though, some of those ice cube Heartless from earlier suddenly appeared.
"Oh, come on!" I shouted, taking the cubes out first. As I did, I SAW CHOPPER GOT EATEN BY WAPOL! "CHOPPER!" Knocking out the Heartless in rage, I ran towards the so-called 'king' to save the reindeer.
"Armee de Lair Gomu Shoot!" came Sanji's voice. I turned and saw him throw Luffy with his leg, at Wapol. The moment Luffy hit him, he spat out Chopper and was blown back. The guy should be lucky that he has that hippo behind him, or he would've fallen, AGAIN!
"Nice shot!" I complimented, which was a big mistake for me.
"Thank you, Xion-swan~!" That is why.
"Thank you. You guys are really great," Chopper thanked and complimented. Sanji sort of ignored the reindeer's thanks and scolded Luffy, who was keeping his focus on Wapol, for having on Nami's jacket. Now that I think about it, didn't he have his jacket with him when I carried him up here?
"Does it matter whose jacket he's wearing right now?" I mumbled, regretting the fact that I joined this crew.
"See it now!" Really? "Baku Baku Factory!"
"Oh? He got up," Luffy stated the obvious.
"Doesn't he know when to quit?" I questioned.
"He shouldn't be able to stand after that attack he took," Sanji added.
"Probably because of that fat he has on him."
"Chess. Let's hear what was on my menu today."
'Why?' I asked myself. Chess did as he was told and listed his king's meals. And I must say... JUST WHAT KIND OF STOMACH DOES HE HAVE?! None of those are actual meals; they're just a bunch of cannons and a house!
"What the hell do you eat?!" Luffy asked.
"I guess he'll eat anything," Sanji said.
"I second that," I agreed.
"Watch closely... as my food becomes my flesh and blood," Wapol told us. We watched closely at what would happen. Turns out, he's transforming. And if there's one thing that I would describe about it, it is... LAME! He just transformed into a house with his arms as cannons.
"A house?" Sanji identified.
"Cool!" Where does this boy here see it as cool?
"The best is yet to come. My best technique! Baku Baku Factory!" How low can this guy go?! He just ate his two guards! Oh man, I can't watch this any longer.
"HE ATE HIS NAKAMA!?"
"A CANNIBAL!"
"Am I glad we don't have someone like him in our crew," I muttered, looking away and covering my eyes.
"Now watch this! The miraculous fusion!" Wapol said, signalling me that it's okay to look again. When I did, the door, which was where his stomach was suppose to be, opened up.
"I am Drum Kingdom's greatest warrior..." came a familiar voice. Two of them to be exact. "CHESSMARIMO!"
"That is extremely lame. No, wait. It's stupid, actually," I said.
"One's just riding on another's shoulders," Sanji added.
"AWESOME~!"
"WHERE DO YOU SEE THIS AS AWESOME?!" the two of us asked Tweedledum.
"Don't get caught off guard," Kureha warned us. "If they were really as weak as they appear, their Doctor Hunt would've been a joke. The people could've united to stop it."
"Doctor Hunt?" I repeated.
"Oh, yeah. You didn't hear, did you, Xion-san?" Sanji asked me. "You see, this island used to have a lot of doctors. But because of those guys, only the top twenty stayed here, working for them." Hearing that was enough to have me pop a blood vessel.
"Rule No. 1: 'Those who disobey the king dies'." And he still has the nerve to talk. "Because this country is MY country, and this castle is my castle, the last thing I'll ever allow is that lousy coot of a doctor's flag flying over it! It defiles the castle!" As he said that, he shot down Hiluluk's flag.
"Now that's going too far..." I muttered.
"You! That was Doctor's flag!" Chopper shouted in rage, charging towards Wapol. "Doctor was... trying to save you as well!" The reindeer looked like he was about to hit him, then. But, something was holding Chopper back.
"I'm... I'm not gonna hit you... if you leave this country now!" When I heard those words from his mouth, it somehow reminded me of something.
"What the hell are you saying, Chopper?!" Kureha asked. "Do you actually think you can reason with someone like that?!" When Kureha asked those questions, more things came into my head. It started to hurt a little, but I managed to keep a calm and straight face.
Just when Chopper was about to reason with Kureha, he was shot by Wapol.
"CHOPPER!" Kureha and I shouted.
"Why you..." Now I snapped. "HOW DARE YOU DO SUCH THING TO CHOPPER!" My body went wild as I swing my Keyblade around, not caring how strong or how weak my attacks are. In fact, I wasn't really thinking straight. It's kind of like doing that Link Style with Fang, only weaker.
"Oi, Jamaguchi!" Luffy called, getting both Wapol's and my attention. I saw that he was up on the castle, tied the flag back where it was before.
"Straw Hat," Wapol called.
'Now what is he thinking?' I wondered.
"You being a pirate was all a big fat lie, wasn't it?" Luffy asked. "A pirate who wouldn't risk his life. You don't know the meaning of this pirate mark!" I just looked on in confusion. Who knows what's going on in that head of his?
"The meaning of that flag, you say, Straw Hat?" Wapol laughed at my captain's words. "There's no meaning behind that stupid pirate decoration!"
"That's why you're so weak!"
"What?"
'Don't tell me...' I thought, having an idea of what Luffy's planning to do.
"This is not a flag you can fly as a joke!"
"You hippo! As if I, the King, would be caught dead, waving a pirate flag! Don't you dare put that hippo flag back up there!"
"He just did though, stupid king," I told him.
"Then I'll just shoot it back down!" Wapol then fired another cannon at the flag and Luffy. Chopper tried to have him move out of there, but, knowing Luffy and his stubbornness, he just stayed up there and let the cannon hit.
"You think you can destroy this flag?!" Luffy challenged. The cannon hit, and Chopper, Sanji and Kureha watched in worry and horror. Me? I already had an idea about what happened to the rubberman. Besides, knowing Luffy, it's going to take more than a cannon to beat him, isn't it?
"I bet that sent you flying, you hippo!" Wapol laughed.
"Don't be so sure," I said.
"What are you saying? You saw, didn't you?"
"Yeah. All I see is smoke. But what about what's behind it?" It wasn't long until the smoke subsided that they all know what I'm talking about.
"I-impossible! He's insane!" Chessmarimo stated.
"I don't know whose pirate flag this is, or where it came from... but this is a flag you pledge your life to. You DON't fly it as a joke! THIS ISN'T A FLAG YOU CAN BREAK DOWN AND LAUGH AT!" I couldn't help but notice how amazed Chopper was, seeing Luffy like this. Seeing him like this, I somehow calmed down. "It will never be destroyed! The skull and crossbones is a symbol of conviction!"
'I wonder why it's at times like this when Luffy uses his brains,' I thought.