Chapter 61
As Kureha and Chopper walked back towards the castle, Chopper froze. Kureha kept walking before noticing he wasn't following, and turned back to him. "What is it, Chopper?"
"I smell someone inside the castle," he said with trepidation. Kureha's eyes narrowed.
"Is it…?"
"It's not Wapol," Chopper said with certainty, guessing her question. "There are two people. I've never smelled either of them before."
"Well, let's go see who they are, shall we?" Chopper hesitated for a second before nodding. They made their way through the door, Chopper tilting his head up to make sure the birds were OK, and went up the stairs. From there, Chopper led them to the nearest patient rest area, and let Kureha lead the way from there, nervously walking into the room after her. The intruder looked like he had been expecting them, and a mix of happiness and relief spread across his face at the sight of them.
"Hi, there," he said. Chopper didn't respond, and Kureha, who otherwise would have reacted to his presence with hostility, took one look at the presence on the nearest bed and calmed down.
"It's OK, Chopper. It seems he's brought a patient." The man nodded.
"I'm Luffy. This is my crewmate. She's extremely sick. Could you take a look at her?" There was a hint of well-hidden worry in his voice.
"That is my job," Kureha commented idly as she looked over Vivi with a trained eye. After a few seconds and a touch to Vivi's forehead she frowned. "Her symptoms are unusual," she began. "I've never seen a patient with an illness like this before, but I have an idea of what's afflicting her nonetheless," she said.
Luffy's eyes widened slightly. She already had a potential diagnosis? He'd known this woman was good after the first time around…despite her quirks. But he hadn't known she was that good. The only other one he could think of that could do something like that was…well, Chopper from the future. Law came close, but he was more of a surgeon than anything.
"So, can you treat her?" Luffy asked.
"I believe so," Kureha concluded. "I just need to check through some notes to make sure my diagnosis is correct first. Come, Chopper." As Chopper followed her out, he glanced over his shoulder one last time at Luffy. Luffy grinned and waved, and Chopper hurriedly kept walking.
Wapol panicked, kicking and screaming as he clutched the wound across his midsection. "Damn you, Dalton! What the hell do you think you're doing, raising your weapon against your king!?"
"You are not longer this country's king, Wapol, just as I am no longer its officer! We must leave the past behind us!" Dalton yelled with conviction. "This land has no need for relics of the dark age!" Wapol's soldiers took a chance and started shooting at Dalton, only for the bison man to leap, vault, and spin over their fire in a surprising display of speed. They were cut down in seconds.
"What kind of arrogant nonsense are you spouting?" Wapol asked scathingly, ignoring the defeat of his lower ranked men. His confidence seemed to have been restored now that Chess and Kuromarimo were standing off against Dalton. As the 20 MDs patched up his injury, the pain made way for outrage at his once-loyal subject. "Who do you think you're talking to, fool!? This is my kingdom you are living in!"
"No," Dalton said as he raised his weapon once again. "You have no place here. A kingdom that would abandon its people to their fates is better off destroyed."
"And who is going to destroy it, Dalton?" Kuromarimo asked in an annoyed, smug tone. "The three of us once acted as the Kingdom's Three Heads. You should know very well that you cannot beat both of us."
"And besides," Chess said as he pulled out three arrows, "We know your weakness all too well. Your compassion will be the death of you." Dalton broke into a sweat as he followed the aim of the arrows back towards the civilians who had rallied themselves to aid Dalton in the battle that he should, by all rights, be fighting alone. Without a moment's hesitation, he flung himself in the path of the arrows that he knew full well were meant for him even if aimed at the kingdom's people. The civilians watched in horror as blood stained Dalton's coat around the arrows embedded in his torso and he fell to his knees, reverting back from his hybrid form.
"You're a fool, Dalton," Wapol stated. "You were once my greatest officer, and look what kind of death you've chosen. It's truly a waste," he said as Chess readied two more arrows aimed at his vitals. The civilians ran to stop him, but weren't nearly fast enough. "Oh, well," Wapol said dismissively as Chess let the arrows fly.
Dalton's execution was interrupted by a sudden whirlwind of ice and snow that seemingly came out of nowhere. The arrows disappeared into the small blizzard, and two metallic clinks signifying the meeting of metal against metal could be heard over the spin of the snow, which forced Chess to shield his eyes. Just as quickly as it came into existence, it died down, and a lone man stood in front of Dalton with a single sword raised.
"Whew, just in time," the green-haired man said with a grin. "I almost got lost during my endurance training. Lucky I locked onto some auras."
You can easily claim that it's due to character development from the future, but I still feel I should point it out: Zoro would never admit that he got lost, would he?
"You! You're one of those pieces of trash we met on our way here!" Wapol screamed in fury.
"That's my line," Zoro said casually. "Aiming for those who can't fight to get a hit in on someone you can't beat? Pathetic."
Wapol ground his teeth in anger. "Chess, Kuromarimo," he seethed. "I want to see this commoner dead at my feet." As the civilians got over their shock at seeing a pirate defend their country and started to haul Dalton's unconscious form away, the two officers wordlessly got ready for a fight, and Zoro smirked.
"I guess we can't all get what we want."
Vivi slowly opened her eyes and blinked as they watered under the glare of the light. She felt…surprisingly well. She slowly sat up, noting that it was far easier than the last time she attempted it, and took a look around. She spotted a small, strange creature that looked like an odd mix between a deer and a raccoon...except it was bipedal. And it was sorting books on a shelf. Sorting books…? Could this thing be…? Deciding to forego all attempts to classify the creature, she quietly addressed it. "Um, excuse me?" At the sound of her voice, the creature quickly spun around and jumped backwards into the bookshelf, knocking everything over. Vivi winced as it came crashing to the floor. The creature then shot for the doorway, but instead of leaving, it hid behind it. Well, sort of.
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