-Chapter Nine-
"The fuck?" I breathed out, taken aback by the way the man's body suddenly started to change—his arms now becoming cannons while his torso morphed into the shape of a house.
"A...house...?" Sanji questioned.
"Awesome!" Luffy excitedly shouted, eyes turning to mere stars at the bizarre sight before him.
"Now if you'll please excuse me, I have to eat!" Wapol exclaimed as he unhinged his jaw like that of a boa constrictor and caused his men to cower in fear before him. I drew back in both horror and disgust the moment he chomped down on them and started to devour them whole as if they were nothing more than mere food for him to consume and not his own lackeys.
"N-no way! He's eating his own men!" Sanji sputtered in shock.
"I didn't expect him to resort to cannibalism because he was angry" I winced.
"That's so mean!" Luffy exclaimed as he pointed towards the king who we all now watched with a mixture of horror and awe as he began to stumble from side to side before eventually coming to a complete halt just as steam billowed out of the chimney at the top of his house-shaped body.
"Feast your eyes on our Miraculous Union!" he loudly boasted.
"What kind of union?" Sanji questioned as the door to Wapol's stomach opened and out stepped his two men—their bodies now combined in a weird and ridiculous way. "Miraculous Union? More like Ridiculous Union!" he insulted after just one glance at the two.
"That looks so uncomfortable" I whistled as I eyed the two, head hurting just the slightest bit in my attempts to really process what I was seeing.
"Sweet!" Luffy laughed.
"It's ridiculous and weird!" Sanji and I snapped as the captain only continued to joyfully laugh.
"Don't underestimate them" Kureha butted in before giving a short explanation of the two combined men's strength. Making it rather clear that they weren't meant to be taken lightly while in this strange form of theirs—despite how ridiculous they looked, they were a genuine force to be reckoned with.
"The first law of the constitution—those who define me are to be put to death, that's the law!" Wapol sneered. "You refuse my wishes and broke that law, and now you all will be punished for your crimes! But first I'm going to deal with that Doctor's flag for soiling my castle, it's time I took that thing down!" he snarled as he raised one of his cannon arms and shot a cannonball straight towards the flag a top the castle. His aim seemingly perfect as the cannonball did indeed hit its mark and caused the flag to fall from its place on top of the castle which caused Chopper to explode with unyielding frustration and hatred.
"How dare you attack Doctor's flag, you freak!" he angrily screamed as he recklessly rushed forward without a second thought. Transforming back into his normal self in order to dodge the two combined men that tried to stop him before quickly changing big once he was completely past them and was now on his way towards the king. "Doctor tried to...he tried to save everyone, even you!" he cried out as he roughly grabbed hold of the king's collar. His body violently shaking with immeasurable rage as tears pricked the corners of his eyes. Wapol only stared at the reindeer, not looking the least bit disheartened or scared, instead he looked rather disgusted by the fact that this strange animal was touching him.
Chopper angrily drew his fist back, looking as if he was ready to just punch the man before suddenly he stopped. His facial expression morphing into a look of realization as if he had suddenly remembered something which made it impossible for him to go through with punching them man before him.
"I won't hurt you if you leave this country forever..." he quietly whispered as he slowly lowered his fist.
"Chopper, what are you doing?" Kureha tensed up. "Even if he agrees to that—you can't trust what he says!" she angrily yelled, irritated by the reindeer's passive approach towards the king.
"But, Doctor said—" just as he looked back to answer her, he was abruptly interrupted by the sound of a cannon being shot before his body was suddenly thrown back by the force of the cannonball which harshly hit his stomach.
"Chopper!" Kureha screamed.
"Hey! What's the big idea?!" I snapped, temper flaring at the sight. "He was sparing you! He showed you mercy and this is how you repay him!" I sneered, looking towards the reindeer as he slowly pushed himself up and wiped at his mouth before his attention seemed to suddenly be drawn elsewhere. Following it, I now noticed that Luffy had made his way up to one of the rooftops of the castle—now standing there with a stern look while in his hands he tightly clutched the flag that had been knocked down earlier. It wasn't really in good condition as it appeared to have a few tears here and there.
"Hey! Look out!" Chopper worriedly shouted the moment a cannonball was suddenly shot towards the rubber man.
"Do your worse—you won't break this flag!" Luffy boldly proclaimed right as the cannonball hit its mark.
"Luffy!" Sanji shouted
"Oh god! Is he alright?!" I worriedly asked, my breath catching within my throat.
"Was he hit?" Kureha frowned.
"He was blown to pieces!" Wapol mockingly laughed, though his laughter was quickly cut short the minute the smoke cleared and we all saw that Luffy was still standing. Sure, parts of the roof around him were now missing chunks from the impact, but he was still there—still clutching that flag's pole as it proudly whipped around.
"I told you, you can't break it!" he proclaimed once again.
"What?! How did he survive that?!" the two combined men shouted in shock. "It's impossible!"
"I have no idea who this pirate flag belongs to, but it doesn't matter—a pirate flag is someone's pledge to risk their life and it's not something to laugh at!" Luffy shouted. "It stands for something you jackasses will never understand in a million years!" he snarled as his grip tightened around the flag pole while the three men's jaws dropped to the ground in shock. "It won't break, ever, because the skull on it is someone's faith!" he proclaimed before looking towards Chopper. "Hey reindeer, I'm going to kick these guys' asses for disrespecting your friend's flag—you in?" he asked with a wide smile.
"Me?" Chopper shyly asked.
"You idiot! You just don't get it, do you?!" Wapol suddenly sneered. "Alright since you feel so strongly about that flag, I'll destroy you along with it!" he angrily screamed like a child throwing a tantrum as he aimed his arm cannon at the raven-haired man once again.
"I don't think so, tubby" Sanji glared as he started to run towards the king before suddenly coming to a halt as a painful loud popping sound now emitted from his back.
"Sanji!" I worriedly gasped as I watched how he stumbled over his own two feet and began to fall down, body looking rather stiff and like it was unable to properly move.
"Looks like your backbone gave out" Kureha casually remarked. "Your condition will become worse if you keep moving, so stop—doctor's order!" I drew back with a wince the moment the older woman rushed forward and harshly smashed her foot down onto the center of the blonde's back without any mercy. I hissed at the the loud pops that followed after and emitted from his poor spine.
"Don't you think you were a bit rough there with him?" I softly asked as I glanced between her and the blond sprawled out in the snow.
"Nope" she grinned with the shake of her head.
"Well, alright then, if you say so."
"What? Not going to argue?"
"After witnessing what you just did? I don't think I want to argue you with you on how you treat your patients" I sweat dropped.
"Smart girl" she chuckled.
"If you wish to fight amongst yourselves, then to my pleasure, please do so!" Wapol laughed. "But I at least hope you'll watch as your friend and that flag are blown to bits—Straw Hat, say your prayers!" he shouted up to the captain.
"Stop it!" Chopper angrily cried out as he rushed towards the man.
"That's the spirit! Go get him, reindeer guy!" Luffy cheered as he mounted the flag back onto the top of the roof just as Chopper pulled his fist back and rushed at the king.
"Wapol, sir! Watch out!" the combined men were quick to move in front of their king to protect him as the one whose face was in the area where the stomach should be was the one to take the full force of the attack in place of Wapol.
"Would you look at that! The little fur ball has more courage than a full-grown man!" Kureha laughed as she looked down at Sanji with a teasing smile. I couldn't help but snort at this.
"Come on now, no need to kick a man while he's already down" I chuckled.
"I'm sorry, but I won't let you lay a single hand on our king!" the combined men laughed as Chopper nervously took a step back and turned back into his normal self. Quietly did he stand there with wide glossy eyes and listened to the way they started to insult him which caused my mood to quickly dampen as the sight was akin to that of some one much bigger and older unfairly picking on someone far smaller and undeserving of the mistreatment.
"Hey!" I snapped, already starting to walk towards them before Kureha held out her arm and stopped me.
"Hold on" she sternly ordered.
"Hold on for—" I was interrupted by the sound of Luffy shout as he started to stretch himself back before shooting himself towards the men. He smashed right into the ground as he did so, the impact big enough to cause snow to fly everywhere along with the combined men and Wapol—the latter falling headfirst back into a pile of snow were he proceeded to get stuck.
"Oh no! Luffy!" Chopper worriedly cried out, though he quickly calmed down the minute he heard Luffy's cheerful laugh. Silently did he watch in awe as the man now sat there on one knee, unharmed and perfectly fine despite that reckless stunt of his. I couldn't help but give a breathless laugh as I shook my head.
"Well, I should have figured if anyone was going to act, it would have been him..." I muttered.
"Y-you should be flat as a pancake!" Chopper sputtered out in surprise.
"Yeah, but I'm a rubber man" Luffy grinned.
"Rubber?" Chopper echoed as he peered up at the young in pure awe.
"Hey reindeer, can you finish off that two-headed guy for me?" Luffy suddenly requested as he motioned towards the abomination that were the combined men.
"That one right over there?" Chopper asked. "Ha! That's a piece of cake!" he boasted.
"Good, while you're doing that, I'll take care of this one" the rubber man grinned as Wapol pulled himself free out of the snow and rolled himself in front of the captain.
"Go get him, Luffy!" I cheered before wincing as my shoulders and back suddenly started to ache. "Ow...what the..." I quietly muttered as I reached up and underneath my clothes, harshly pressing my fingers against the back of my shoulder as I started to knead at the flesh and muscles underneath in hopes of soothing this sudden onslaught of pain.
"Seems that the cold air is making your bones act up, that's normal" Kureha explained as she crossed her arms. "Though as your doctor, I request that you go back inside and rest were it's warm to help soothe your muscles" she calmly ordered.
"What? No, I'm perfectly fine!" I childishly pouted. "It's just a bit pain, nothing more, I can handle it" I huffed.
"It's doctor's order or do I need to use force?" she eerily asked as I took one quick look at Sanji who was still sprawled out on the ground, quietly groaning in pain. Slowly did I now raise my hands in defense as I backed up and shook my head.
"I think I'll go and keep Nami some company" I nervously laughed as I turned on my heel and briskly walked back towards the castle. "Hopefully they'll be fine..." I mumbled as I reentered the castle and made my way back towards Nami's room.