Elsewhere, Dalton was taking the Straw Hats not currently climbing the mountain to Cocoa Village in a sleigh.
"So who exactly are you?" Usopp asked. "The way you're talomg makes me think of someone from the military."
Dalton sighed. "I used to be a subordinate to Wapol. I was captain of the security squad during the reign of the previous king. But when the king died, his son Wapol inherited the throne. That's when the country changed. Wapol got it into his head to exile all the country's doctors, only keeping twenty on retainer for his private use. His 'Twenty MDs' he called them."
"Wait, he banished all the doctors?" Eddy asked. "That sounds totally stupid!"
"His magistrate Kuromarimo and minister of defense Chess both called him wise for this action, but I called him out for being foolish. I asked him what would happen when the people got sick. He just laughed it off, saying their illness had nothing to do with him, and that those who needed a doctor would have to prostrate before him and pay excessive medical fees." Dalton grunted. "There was no one at the time who could go against him and those who agreed with him. I felt powerless."
"That's no better than holding the country's citizens hostage! That's not true governing! It's no different than a crime!" Vivi declared.
Dalton looked back at Vivi with a knowing look in his eyes. Suddenly, Gottfried got a message from Marianne, who had decided to stay on the Merry with Gem and Mikita since she didn't exactly feel like she was trusted amongst the crew yet.
"That Wapol guy from the other day just showed up. It looks like he's going to attack Big Horn."
"Thanks for the info, kid!" Gottfried replied. "Dalton, we'll have to turn around!"
Dalton nodded, then halted the sleigh before hooking himself up.
"Why are you doing that?" Ruby asked.
"Because I can move faster than the other animals here thanks to my Devil Fruit."
To everyone's shock, he transformed into a bison and raced off at incredible speed.
"Oh my lord! I had no idea you had a Devil Fruit yourself!" Double-D gasped.
"This is the power of theOx-Ox Fruit: Model Bison!" Dalton called out.
"Faster, pussycat, faster!" Ed cheered with his arms in the air like he was riding a rollercoaster.
As they started to approach Big Horn, they overheard Wapol posturing.
"Everything in this country is mine! And why is that?"
"Because you are the king, Your Highness!"
"Exactly! So if I want to eat a building, there's nothing like one cooked well done to a golden brown!"
"If I may report, I've just learned that the Straw Hats are apparently looking for a doctor on this island, and are rudely heading for Drum Castle," Kuromarimo said.
"Rudeness aside, why would they head there?"
"Apparently they took a sick woman to have her treated by a doctor."
Wapol scoffed. "What idiots! No one lives in that castle now, let alone a doctor."
"Actually, that's not entirely accurate. It seems that outrageous Doctor Kureha has taken up residence there." Kuromarimo clarified.
Wapol gritted his teeth. "That old hag is so rudely living in my castle?! Just how much does she intend to mock me?! I'll devour them all! Her! The Straw Hats! We'll kick them all out! Head for the castle at once!"
Suddenly, a massive airhorn echoed before the Bilking Pirates could make any attempt to move out. It was then they noticed Dalton and the Straw Hats sleigh stopping right in the middle of Big Horn.
"Halt right there, evildoers!" Axol declared.
Wapol was stunned. "I thought you were heading for the castle!"
"Things got complicated, but the other half of our crew is escorting Nami there as we speak," Kaya said.
Dalton suddenly leaped in and slashed Wapol across the chest with his spear. Several doctors quickly moved in and repaired the injury in seconds.
"Holy crap, no prisoners..." Hilda said in shock.
"That was close! I almost died!"
"You dying would suit me just fine." Dalton scoffed.
"Dalton! So you're still alive!" Chess realized.
"How dare you hurt Lord Wapol!" Kuromarimo admonished.
"He's no lord of mine and hasn't been for months. Just like what happened then, Wapol is the only one protected while the citizens have no choice but to suffer from sickness." Dalton scowled. "This used to be a country of great medical advancement. Now I see so many people failing to understand basic medical knowledge."
"You were my retainer, Dalton!" Wapol called out. "Doesn't that make you just as guilty as these so-called atrocities?"
"I won't deny that my inaction does make me just as guilty, but I intend to take responsibility for that now... By taking both of us out of this country!"
"Dalton, you didn't do anything wrong! You're the only one in the government who fought for the citizens!" One villager cried.
Wapol laughed. "Honestly, you were better off dying as my head of security. I'm surprised that you even survived in a country without doctors."
"Wasn't it you who decided to exile all of this country's doctors?" Dalton pointed out. "Keeping only the twenty best for yourself?"
"Of course! Those who become sick can beg for their lives! Then I might just lend the aid of the Twenty MDs." Wapol said without shame. "If they don't want to die, all they have to do is obey me, the king! With that my ruling is perfect!"
The Twenty MDs, however, did NOT seem to share this line of thought:
"I can't believe he's still forcing us to work like this..."
"We should be helping these people who are sick..."
"If not for his fat wallet I'd have left long ago..."
"Does he not realize he can't be king in a country with no people...?"
"How many times was he dropped as a baby?"
"…I miss Mushru. Can't believe I'm saying that, but its true. Yeah, the guy was a psychopath, but he at least actually listened to us and would've TRIED to fight pirates.."
Wapol was confused by the voices he was suddenly hearing and looked around for the source of them.
"Who's saying that?!"
"You're 'loyal' doctors," Hilda said as she held up Gottfried in her hand.
"I heard them whispering to each other. Seems they don't like what you're making them do." The Transponder Snail sneered. "How's your perfect rule now? If they wanted, they could sneak out at night or something and treat people regardless of your laws."
Wapol started to get angry as Dalton shifted into a half-bison form.
"I have served your father before you, and he was a wise king. I had hoped you would eventually come to your senses, wandering out at sea with no subjects to tend to your whims. To understand why people are so important to a kingdom. But it seems I was naive!"
He charged forward at once. Some of the soldiers tried to fire, only for Usopp and Noire to start sniping the rifles out of their hands with their slingshot and cards respectively. This left them wide open as Dalton charged in.
"I won't show any mercy even to me ex-subordinates!" He declared as he struck with his spear in a spinning attack that slashed at the soldiers, knocking them to the ground."FIDDLE BAM!"
"Whoa, he's got moves!" Calvin noted excitedly.
"I've heard Zoan Devil Fruits were powerful. Guess this proves it." Carmen noted.
"A Devil Fruit is only as strong as the person who ate it. In terms of raw ability, Logias are considered the most powerful, followed by Paramecias and then Zoans." Draco pointed out. "But in the hands of a skilled user, even a supposedly weak Zoan can become a powerhouse. It's not just the power of theOx-Ox Fruit, Model: Bison, it's Dalton's power behind the Devil Fruit."
"Man, now I really want my own!" Eddy said.
"A country where the king is the first to run off when the country is in crisis should just die out!" Dalton declared as he stood up after his attack.
"Do you really think you stand a chance fighting against the two of us?" Kuromarimo taunted.
"Um, hello!" Carue called out. "What are we? Chopped liver?"
"DID THAT DUCK JUST TALK?!" Chess called out.
"Seriously?! The talking duck is the weird thing about all this?" Noire asked incredulously.
Suddenly, before anybody could react, something began to fall right out of the sky causing everyone to look up.
"Wait... Is that... A Lapin?"
Sure enough, the giant carnivorous rabbit crashed right in front of Chess, making him shriek like a little girl as he jumped into Kuromarimo's arms.
"Lapins falling from the sky?! How did that..." Wapol began before his eyes widened in realization. "The path to the castle! We can't waste time down here, we need to reclaim my castle! Soldiers! Ward them off while we head up!"
He grabbed Chess and Kuromarimo and rode off on his furry hippo steed, Robson, leaving the soldiers gobsmacked as they got left behind with a bunch of angry villagers, Straw Hats, and Dalton.
"So...anybody want to try and take us on?" Ben smirked as his eyes turned blood red with slit black pupils as he activated the power of hisBat-Bat Fruit: Model Higher Vampire.
-OP-
"Hold on Nami, we're almost there!" Nojiko said as the Castle Group was still scaling the mountain.
"Hold it right there, you cheeky brats!" Wapol called out as he approached the group.
"Oh, not this guy again," Sonson groaned.
"Didn't we send him into the ocean?" Luffy asked. "Out of our way. We have a doctor to see."
"And why would I do that?" Wapol asked.
"Because if you don't we force you out the hard way. And I seem to recall we kicked your ass last time." Zoro pointed out.
"Better make that choice now. It's a long way down." Sanji warned.
"But please, let's do this the hard way..." Mifune grinned darkly as he readied Samehada. "This one hasn't eaten in days!"
Under the bandages, Samehad licked it's lips.
Meanwhile, Sonson had just gone around, not wanting to waste time. Wapol noticed this and was flabbergasted.
"Hey! I'm supposed to be in your way, asshole! Those who ignore the king are to be executed!"
"You're no king of ours. Therefore, we have no reason to listen to you." Bamia said in an icy tone.
Wapol growled. "Chess! Marimo! Kill these idiots!"
"MARIMO SURPRISE!"Kuromarimo shouted as he lunged forward, his gloved fist extending spikes to punch Luffy.
"KAMI-E!"
Luffy easily dodged the strike as her body fully relaxed. Kuromarimo was stunned but kept trying to punch Luffy, only for his every strike to be dodged.
Chess tried to fire off several arrows, only for Zoro and Kuina to slice them out of the air with their swords.
Meanwhile, Nojiko, Gin, Heart, Fuu, and Rolf followed after Sonson, all of them looking up to see the base of the Drum Rockies and how tall it was.
"Going up!" Sonson shouted as she floated up with Nimbus, carrying Nami all the way to the top.
"Hold on, crew." Heart smirked as she opened up her torso and pulled out some kind of large whirly-bird apparatus. "Everyone grab on and don't let go!"
The other four held on as Heart manned the apparatus and used it to fly after Sonson, joining her at the top as everyone looked at the castle in full.
"Wow. No wonder Wapol wanted this place back." Gin noted.
There was just one problem: Where a door should have been, there seemed to be a great big, blue boulder.
"SCRAM!" A deep booming voice from within roared.
"We don't want any trouble!" Luffy cut in, "Our navigator…"
"…And sister!" Nojiko added.
"..is sick and we heard a doctor lives here!"
"Dr. Kureha only helps if she's in the mood to do so!" the voice roared back. "Besides, the last thing we want is pirates ruining our supplies!"
"We're not like the Blackbeard pirates or whoever you think!" Gin said.
"Peace Mains pirates are what our honorable crew consists of, great and strange blue boulder voice!" Rolf added.
Sonson, growing annoyed, made her staff grow and look into the castle, where, from the sky, she saw too lit rooms.
"We KNOW she's in!" the monkey queen roared when she returned to the ground. "Now let us in or I'll…!"
"WE HAVE TREASURE!" Luffy and Nojiko screamed, Heart even opening herself up dropping jewels, berries and gold.
A silence, then the boulder suddenly let out a 'POP!' and in its place was a normal door, which was pushed open by a blue skinned girl.
"I'm Luna Payne. The doctor's granddaughter. Get inside." She ordered, annoyance clear. Sonson gave her a glare as they wandered in.
"Thank you." Nojiko managed, tears in her face as Luffy gently nuzzled Nami's nose.
Luna's icey exterior softened as she felt something forced into her hand.
"That's just a down payment." Heart said. "More when she's better And don't worry, we've got more."
Luna, awestruck by the comradery and care, smirked. Maybe this wouildn't be so bad…
-OP-
As soon as they were inside, Kureha admitted Nami into her personal hospital inside the castle.
"The antibodies are responding, Doctorine," Chopper said. "The patient appears to be suffering from from a Kestia bite."
"So that is the pest that bit Navigator Nami back on Little Garden!" Rolf realized.
"So you survived that prehistoric island?" Kureha asked before chuckling. "You and your crew must be tough cookies. Chopper, attend to the girl while I make sure we have the proper medicines for treatment."
"Yes, Doctorine."
He started working on some herbs and roots as Nami started to come to. She was shocked by the strange creature before.
"Who are you?"
Chopper whirled around, knocking into the chair behind him, then moving to poorly hide behind a wall.
"We can still see you." Nojiko flatly said.
"Sh-Shut up, human!" Chopper called out. "And how's your fever doing?"
"It can talk?!" Nami gawked.
"We already have a talking duck and a talking snail!" Fuu pointed out. "You don't get to be shocked anymore!"
"It looks like your fever has started to come down. You feeling happy?" Kureha asked as she came over with Luna.
"And who are you?"
"This is Dr. Kureha," Luna said while blowing a bubble, which she popped back into her mouth. "And I'm her granddaughter, Luna."
"You folks made good time. Otherwise treating your condition would have been a lot more touch and go with the current weather." Kureha said as she checked Nami. "Down to 38.2 degrees... You seem to be doing alright."
"Say, where are the others?" Sonson asked as she noticed some of their friends hadn't come back yet.
"They're probably kicking Wapol's keister as we speak." Heart chuckled.
"So that old tin can is back, huh?" Kureha noted as she sat on Nami's bed and pulled up her shirt just enough to show the bug bite, which had started to bruise. "The cause of your illness was a Kestia bite. They live in humid jungles and carry a dangerous bacteria that causes extreme pain after lying dormant for five days. Symptoms include high fever, coinfection, myocarditis, arteritis, and cerebritis. Judging from the mark, I'd say you've been infected for three days."
"Sounds about right. I'm just glad we got here before two more days passed." Fuu sighed. "The Five-Day Illness is no joke. I've heard plenty of horror stories, believe me."
Nojiko just hugged Nami in relief, tears pricking the corners of her eyes knowing that her little sister would be okay.
"You said you came across a Kestia on Little Garden?" Kureha noted. "That makes sense. I had thought the Kestia went extinct a hundred years ago. But I kept the antibiotic for the disease around just in case. You never know when a certain illness is going to rear its ugly head. But really, who goes to a jungle climate and leaves their bare belly exposed?"
Nami just looked at her with a bemused stare. Kureha ignored that and pushed Nami back into a lying position.
"Now you need to stay in bed. Your treatment hasn't been completely finished yet."
"Hate to say it, Nami, but we're gonna be here a while. Five-Day Illness takes a full ten days to properly treat." Fuu said.
"THEN WHY CALL IT FIVE-DAY IN THE FIRST PLACE?!"
"We can't stay here for ten whole days!" Nami pointed out. "We still need to get Vivi to Alabasta!"
"I'm sure she'd be the first to point out that the fastest way to resolve things there would be for all of us to be healthy. We need our navigator at her best, after all." Heart retorted.
"So lay down and stop being a nincompoop!" Rolf said. "Or Rolf shall tie you down with the membrane of an octopus!"
"You should listen to your friends. I don't let any patient leave until they're back to full health." Kureha said. "And it's not like you need to stay ten days. With my treatments, you'll be here for three days at most. Just lay back and rest for now."
"MAN, AM I HUNGRY!"
"Looks like the rest of the gang is here." Gin noted.
Indeed, Luffy had managed to climb the entire mountain, stretching her arms to their limit while carrying Zoro and Sanji. Kuina had flown up in her Full Beast form while carrying Bamia, Melony, Mifune, and Rosa.
"I take it these are your friends?" Luna asked.
"Yup, Luffy is my fellow captain!" Sonson proudly said. "Our other two captains, Ben and Draco, are probably still down below with everyone else in our crew."
"Awwwww, who's this wittle guy~?" Rosa cooed as she scooped up Chopper upon noticing him.
"H-H-Hey! Put me down, you jackass!" The reindeer protested despite the clear flattered blush on his face.
"How's Nami doing?" Sanji asked.
"She's starting to recover. Turns out she contracted Five-Day Illness from a Kestia bite." Fuu said.
"Luckily Grandma still has the antibodies for it despite the little parasite being nearly extinct for a hundred years," Luna said. "Also, please put Chopper down, he can't take it."
Rosa pouted as she relented and put Chopper down, who was then inspected by Luffy.
"So what's up with the little guy?"
"My guess is he must have eaten a Devil Fruit. A Zoan most likely." Mifune noted.
"It was theHuman-Human Fruit. I was born a reindeer." Chopper explained. "My name is Tony Tony Chopper and I'm Doctorine's apprentice. She taught me everything she knows about medicine, and I've studied a lot on my own."
"And I'm Luna Payne, I'm her granddaughter," Luna said. "If you wonder why I have blue skin, it's because I ate theBerry-Berry Fruit. It allows me to inflate into a big blue ball that can act as a cushion or a boulder. I can also spit out juice as a weapon."
Sonson licked her lips.
"I LOOOOOOVE juice!"
Luna was…not sure how to take that. Kureha laughed and Chopper got in between the Monkey and his sister, growling as fiercely as he could.
"Awwww!" Sonson, Nojiko and Heart beamed. "How cute!"
"S-SHADDAP!" Chopper snapped, before smiling sheepishly. That only gre3w when Luna hugged him back.
"You love it."
Chopper grumbled as Gin chuckled along with Kureha as she handed him a drink.
"Reminds me of Noire when she was that little.." He mused.
-OP-
Meanwhile, Wapol and his two subordinates had finally dug themselves out of the snow after the beating Luffy's group had given them.
"Damn those Straw Hats...This is not how you treat a king!"
"They're probably at the top of the Drum Rockies by now," Chess noted.
"Then we're heading up there ourselves!" Wapol declared.
-OP-
"So you've been attending Nami this whole time?" Luffy asked Chopper as everyone had settled down to eat.
"Uh, yeah," Chopper replied, a little unsure of this group. They did admit to being pirates, after all.
Luffy just smiled. "That's great! We need a good doctor, and you'll be perfect for our crew!"
"We have a member of our crew who could learn a lot from you. Her name is Kaya and she wants to be a doctor as well." Nojiko said.
"D-Don't go thanking me, stupid human!" Chopper said in a happy voice while dancing like he enjoyed the compliment.
Kureha laughed. "Chopper wears his heart on his sleeve, so he can't properly insult anyone."
"By the way, why is the entire interior of the castle covered in snow?" Zoro asked. "I could understand the outside being so frigid, but the inside is just weird."
"Well it's not like me, Luna, and Chopper are living in the whole castle," Kureha pointed out. "Most of it froze over from lack of use. Many of the doors are iced shut."
"So...you guys are real pirates, huh?" Luna asked.
"Ukikikiki! Interested in joining us?" Sonson grinned.
Chopper leaped back. "Of course not, you idiot!"
"Sure, I'm down." Luna shrugged, much to Chopper's shock. "I need to break away from the old hag anyway."
"Cheeky brat!" Kureha snapped, slapping her granddaughter upside the head.
Luffy grinned. "If so you are, you and Chopper can join our crew."
"A-Are you nuts?! Look at me! I'm a reindeer, but I walk on two legs, talk, and have a blue nose! I'm a monster!" Chopper cried.
The Straw Hats looked at each other and laughed.
"What's so funny?!"
"Oh, that tickles Rolf's radish!" Rolf laughed as he wiped a tear from his eye. "You are not like the abominations of the storybooks Mama and Papa read to lull Rolf into sleeping like a baby."
"In case you haven't noticed yet, our whole crew is made of monsters," Gin smirked. "We have two Fishmen, a talking Transponder Snail, a pink puffball from outer space, an android, and two of our captains, who are currently not with us right now, ate THREE Devil Fruits...EACH."
"And then there's me and Luffy!" Sonson grinned. "I'm a magical Monkey Queen and Luffy is made of rubber!"
"So yeah, you'll fit right in with all of us. And we could certainly use a Doctor on the crew." Luffy said.
Kureha chuckled. "You're gonna find this world has way scarier monsters than you, Chopper. You might be better off traveling with these kids."
Chopper simply walked out of the room. Luna sighed and stood up before walking after him as Kureha turned to the Straw Hats apologetically.
"You're gonna have a tough time convincing him to join. The boy carries a scar on his heart that I can't cure. You see, he was born with a blue nose. Which got him ridiculed by the other reindeer. He was always walking at the back of the herd all by himself, despite being a newborn. Things only got worse for him when he stumbled upon theHuman-Human Fruitand ate it. Now the other reindeer saw him as even more of a monster."
"That's terrible!" Rosa gasped, tears already forming in her eyes.
"Talk about a case of wrong perspective. When a human eats a Devil Fruit, sure they might get called a monster, but they never get flat-out ostracized from society." Fuu said. "Quite the contrary, many are offered high-ranking jobs or go on to become legendary heroes."
"Well that's because humans better understand Devil Fruits," Kureha pointed out, "As far as the reindeer were concerned, Chopper was always a freak of nature and now he was just showing it better. So they forced him to leave the herd."
"That's just too sad. That little guy needs more friends!" Luffy then smiled. "We should be his friends!"
"Funny you should say that. Because Chopper always wanted friends. In fact, he first went to a human village to find friends. But his appearance wasn't quite human or reindeer, just a mix of both. Between that and his blue nose, the settlers mistook him for a yeti." Kureha said. "Now yetis are legitimately dangerous to humans, so the settlers jumped to conclusions and attacked Chopper thinking he would attack them. They shot at him and called him a monster."
Rosa covered her mouth in horror while Mifune just shook his head sadly. Melony also looked greatly saddened, more awake than she had ever been before as she listened to the story.
"To be shunned from all sides...Rolf is heartbroken." Rolf said in sympathy for Chopper.
"Now you have to understand that Chopper was just getting used to having human intelligence, so the situation was confusing to him. And he was forced to run. He was caught between being human and being a reindeer, called a monster by both sides. And so he wound up living alone." Kureha said. "Luna was arguably the first person he ever became true friends with. Because of that, the two of them are inseparable."
Heart smiled. "Well, don't worry, Doctorine. Unlike you, our crew happens to specialize in healing scarred hearts like that."
Rosa noticed Chopper was checking the open gate, upon which a nest of baby snowbirds was perched. Luffy also noticed this and smiled.
"So that's why the entire inside is frozen over. So he's compassionate, a doctor, and an awesome monster? Now I really want him on my crew!"
Chopper suddenly began dancing into the room, having apparently been listening the entire time.
"Y-You can't butter me up with high praise, you jerk!"
Kureha cackled. "I see what you mean! You might just be the sort of people who can heal the scar on Chopper's heart."
Luna smirked. "Yeah, these guys, I definitely wanna go out and sail with."
Knightmare Lord A/N:
Luna Payne has eaten a different version of the Berry-Berry Fruit. Let's just pretend Very Good doesn't exist in this story, his Devil Fruit was just a weaker version of Buggy's to be honest.
This has to be the second/third arc that's more than two chapters long. Wonder how the third chapter will go!
Anything you'd like to say Mrotrax?
Mrotrax A/N:
Added a little mention of Mushru, Wapol's non-canon older brother here for a giggle. At this point, I'm not sure if he'll show up in person, but I thought it'd be funny to have one doctor who'd rather support a blood knight than a spoiled idiot.
Also, Luna and Chopper are adorable and I meant for Nojoko's thanks to be what made Luna give the Straw Hats a shot, as an older sibling herself. Not sure if/how long she and Sonson will be rivals…In Luna's defense, Sonson DID thereatn to break into her home…Thoughts?
Stay safe!