Lapins:

-x-

KLOMP! KLOMP! KLOMP! Dalton, Usopp, and Vivi raced from Big Horn to Cocoaweed in a sleigh that was being pulled by a pair of rams.

"I'm sorry, this is my mistake," Dalton apologized, as he sat up front in the sleigh holding the reins. Usopp and Vivi were both in the back seat. "I was aware that the doctor had come down from the mountain in the last few days, but I assumed that she had left and wouldn't be back for quite some time."

"Don't worry about it, this isn't your fault," Usopp reassured him. "The problem here is how strong Luffy, Y/N, and Sanji are, even if we go up the mountain after them, there's no way we'd be able to catch up to them. Especially with Y/N making them go twice as fast as they normally would. If we are able to find the witch in this Cocoaweed place, we just need to tell her to get back up the mountain as quickly as she possible can."

"You're right, that's true," Vivi agreed. "We have no other choice."

"Forgive us," Dalton apologized again. "Forgive this land for not having more doctors."

"Don't say that," Vivi told him. "This isn't something that you need to be apologizing for Dalton."

"LET'S HURRY!" Dalton resolved, he tugged on the reins and the two rams picked up speed as they continued to race towards Cocoaweed and Dr. Kureha.

Little did they know, the person they were looking for was traveling on a nearby path heading in the opposite direction.

Dr. Kureha sat in her sleigh which was loaded up her pay from her services in Cocoaweed. Chopper the reindeer was up front pulling the sleigh quickly through the deep snow. Dr. Kureha stared ahead, but ordered Chopper to stop when they spotted something... odd.

"AAAAAAHHH!" Zoro gasped as he trudged through the deep snow in only a pair of pants. He had his arms clasped tightly across his bare chest as he tried to withstand the harsh cold. "Damn it! I got carried away and swam for too long! Where am I now? Where's the ship? This is just great, I have no way of telling where I am with all this snow everywhere!"

Zoro was hopelessly lost on a strange, snow-covered island, but then he looked to his right and spotted an old woman in a sleigh with a blue-nosed reindeer harnessed on the front.

"Ah! I'm saved!" Zoro exclaimed as he walked passed the pink-hatted reindeer and approached the old woman in the sleigh. "Hey! Old lady! Sorry to bother you, but do you think you could drop me off at a village nearby or something?"

Now that he was standing beside the sleigh, he could better take in Dr. Kureha's appearance, he spotted her short shirt and her bare belly and stared in surprise. "Whoa! What're you doing dressed like that in this weather?" the shirtless and shoeless swordsman asked the old woman. "I've seen some weird old ladies in my day, but you, you're..."

Zoro was cut off when Dr. Kureha curled one of her fingers in a 'come closer' gesture. Not sure what she wanted, Zoro leaned in to listen to whatever the crazy old lady had to say.

"Careful how you talk to me, little boy," Dr. Kureha scolded Zoro. POW! She suddenly lashed out her arm and punched Zoro in the face, sending him flying backwards into a pile of snow. "At a hundred and thirty-nine years old, I'm still young and strong!"

"Let's go, Chopper," Dr. Kureha instructed her reindeer, "that boy is clearly some kind of freak." Chopper nodded and started pulling the sleigh once more, leaving Zoro once again alone out in the snowy wilderness.

"COME BACK HERE!" Zoro shouted after the old lady as the sleigh disappeared in a distance. "What the hell was her problem? Dumb old hag!" SWOOOOO! The wind blew and Zoro quickly clutched his arms around himself to keep warm.

"COLD!" Zoro groaned, "I'll freeze to death before long! I guess for now I'll do some strength training and get myself warmed up a bit."

-x-

WHUMP! One of the giant rabbits leapt up into the air and soared over head.

"LOOK OUT!" Sanji cried out in warning. Luffy, Y/N, and Sanji each leapt in a different direction and dodged the incoming bear-sized rabbit as it landed in the snow. SKOOOSH!

"Seriously, how can it move like that?" Sanji wondered. "Is it a gorilla?"

"No, they're polar bears," Luffy corrected.

"Damn it, they're rabbits!" Y/N snapped.

"How did you go from gorilla to rabbit?" Luffy asked.

"Do you not see the big floppy ears and whiskers?" Y/N questioned in exasperation. "It's a giant freaking rabbit."

"There's too many of them for us to fight," Sanji reasoned, "Especially with you two worrying about Miss. Nami and Miss. Valentine."

"We're gonna have to find a way around them," Y/N decided. "It'd take too long for you to fight all of them so we can get passed."

"Let's get going," Sanji resolved as he, Luffy, and Y/N stared at the herd of giant bear-sized rabbits. "We have to make it to the castle where the doctor lives, and quickly."

"Stupid rabbits," Y/N muttered.

The lead rabbit twitched.

"They're coming," Luffy observed.

"I know," Sanji agreed, he stepped around Y/N and stood in front of him and Luffy protectively. "Listen, I don't want either of you to fight these guys, alright?"

"Why not?" Luffy asked.

"Because, Miss. Nami and Miss. Valentine will feel every move you make," Sanji explained. "They're too sick to be able to handle something like that, it'd be too much. They could die."

"Okay, I won't fight them," Luffy agreed.

"RRRAAAAAHHH!" one of the rabbits suddenly roared and charged forward.

"BUT WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?" Luffy shouted as the rabbit came flying at him.

"DODGE!" Y/N shouted as he ducked away from the charging rabbit.

"Just dodge, dodge and run," Sanji ordered.

"RRAAAHHH!" the rest of the rabbits charged and attacked the three pirates, all three of them could do nothing but dodge.

"But don't retreat!" Sanji added.

SWISH! "THAT'S A LITTLE DIFFICULT!" Luffy shouted as he dodged the swiping claw of a lapin.

"JUST DODGE!" Sanji shouted, he swung his leg around and kicked a lapin, "FLANCHET SHOOT!" THWAK! The monster rabbit went flying backwards and landed in a heap in the snow.

"Damn this snow," Sanji complained, "I can't get my footing to land a solid kick."

"Great," Y/N muttered as he used his speed to dodge attacks from the monster rabbits. "I finally learn how you fight and it's in a situation where you're less than effective."

"YOU COULD'VE ASKED!" Sanji shouted.

"DODGING!" Luffy yelped as he continued to dodge vicious attacks from the lapins.

The lapins saw the lapin that Sanji had kicked. Twitch! All of their ears twitched at the same time before the entire herd of monster rabbits leapt up into the air and flew at the three pirates, SHWOO!

"They're attacking all at once," Y/N called out. "Luffy, head for the forest to our right, we can't afford to retreat."

"I'll cover you," Sanji offered as he hung back while Luffy and Y/N ran for the trees to their side. BOOM! BOOOM! BOOM! The lapins slammed to the ground all around Sanji and behind Y/N and Luffy. "For bunnies these guys are tough."

"There's a cliff," Luffy pointed out, as he spotted a high ledge ahead of them. He called back to Sanji, "SANJI, THE CLIFF! WE'LL GO UP FROM HERE!"

"Go on," Sanji encouraged them as he chased behind them.

WHOOOM! A lapin leapt off of the cliff and lunged at Y/N and Luffy, "GRRAAAH!"

WHOMP! "Thanks for the lift!" Luffy thanked the rabbit as he jumped up and used the rabbit as a springboard and leapt off of it onto the ledge. WHOMP! Y/N followed right behind him and landed on the ledge seconds later. WHOMP! Sanji leapt off of the lapin just as it was reaching the ground and landed on the ledge behind them.

The three pirates spared a glance at the herd of rabbits that was now gathered at the bottom of the cliff. "NYA!" Luffy taunted the rabbits and stuck out his tongue.

"RRRAAAAAHHH!" The lapins came flying up over the edge of the cliff, sending Luffy, Y/N, and Sanji fleeing for their lives and Nami and Ms. Valentine's safely.

"Did you really have to taunt them?" Sanji complained.

"I'm sorry!" Luffy apologized.

"HEAD FOR THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN!" Sanji shouted as they kept running. At least now they were running towards the mountain.

-x-

"MAHAHAHA!" Wapol's laughter rang out along the shores of the waterway in Drum Kingdom. "WE'VE ARRIVED AT LAST! AFTER ALL THIS TIME I'VE RETURNED TO DRUM KINGDOM! I'M FINALLY HOME!"

FWUMP! One of the civilian guards fell to the ground and laid dead at the feet of Kuromarimo and Chess."Hah, were they trying to pretend to be a real military?" Chess wondered as he held one of the civilian soldiers by the throat.

"Bunch of idiots and amateurs," Kuromarimo scoffed, "What were they thinking shooting at us like that?"

Wapol as on the back of a furry white hippo named Robson and stared up at the Drum Rockies off in a distance. "Oh my dear Drum Island!" Wapol called out, "Your towering majesty has grown even more beautiful in my absence!" Wapol turned to his archer, "Chess, is the castle alright?"

"Yes," answered Chess as he peered through some binoculars, "it looks just as good as when we left it. It's perfect!"

"MAAHAAHAA!" Wapol laughed, "What are we waiting for? Let's go home boys! I'm done being a pirate, I'm going to be King again! ONWARD ROBSON!" Wapol's uniformed men marched off but his furry white hippo stayed where it was. WHAP! Wapol slapped his steed and shouted at it, "ROBSON MOVE! WHY ARE YOU JUST STANDING HERE?"

"Moo..." said the hippo.

"WAPOL, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!" one of Wapol's men called out as he ran up to the King and his unmoving hippo.

"WHAT THE MATTER NOW?" Wapol demanded.

"THE PIRATES!" the soldier exclaimed as he turned and pointed to the Going Merry which was anchored nearby. "The ones from the other day, their ship's over there!"

"WHAT? NOT THEM!" Wapol shouted. "WHAT'RE THE STRAW HAT PIRATES DOING IN MY COUNTRY! HOW DARE THEY COME HERE AFTER PRETENDING TO NOT EVEN KNOW ABOUT IT!" "LEEEEAAAAVVVVEEE!" Luffy shouted and Wapol was sent flying off of the ship over the sea. "DOES HE NOT EVEN CARE? I HAD A VERY PAINFUL RECOVERY!"

"YOU!" Wapol shouted as he pointed to the soldier, "GO AND KILL THOSE PIRATES NOW! I DEMAND IT!"

"Um... actually... the ship is empty sir," the soldier explained. "We don't know where they went!"

"DO YOU WANT TO BE EXECUTED!" Wapol bellowed, the soldier shrieked in terror.

"Our apologies Wapol," Chess apologized. "Please forgive him."

"This man I just a useless subordinate," said Kuromarimo.

"Chess, Kuromarimo," Wapol called out the names of the former Chief-of-Staff and Magistrate.

"We took the liberty of inspecting the footprints that led away from the ship," Chess informed him. "We have some information."

"Indeed," Kuromarimo continued, "It looks as if the footprints were heading toward Big Horn."

"Very good," Wapol complimented his men with an evil smile, "That was absolutely brilliant. In that case, we're heading on to Big Horn! We'll stop there to fire a salute to the restoration of Drum Kingdom!"

Off in a distance, Mr. 5 and Ms. Goldenweek hid in some trees and watched Wapol and his men. "It's a good thing we got off while we did," Mr. 5 remarked. "While most of those men are weaklings, I doubt the two of us could take out all of them."

Ms. Goldenweek simple nodded, then noticed movement, "Mr. 5..."

Mr. 5 looked where Ms. Goldenweek was looking and saw that one of the civilian soldiers had managed to get back up after his beating and was now trekking away from the scene of the battle. "Hmph, they missed one," Mr. 5 grunted, "for a King's army, they're really sloppy."

-x-

Dalton, Usopp, and Vivi had finally arrived in Cocoaweed and were trying to get some information.

"What are you telling us?" questioned Usopp. "You mean the witch left this town just moments ago? You've gotta be kidding me!"

"She left after she made my sickness all better," Tamachibi told Vivi as he sat on a couch and motioned to his bandaged legs. "

"..." Vivi silently cast a glance at Dalton.

"If you're looking for the doctor, she's already left," Stool informed them.

"We have to find her," said Dalton. "Can you tell us where she was headed when she left here?"

"I think I know," one of the customers called out. "I heard from somebody else that she was headed for Gyasta."

"Gyasta?" Dalton repeated.

"So where's that?" Usopp asked.

"If we were going to Gyasta from Big Horn we'd go in the opposite direction that we went to come here," Dalton told him.

"OH GREAT!" Usopp shouted. "WE ALREADY PASSED HER?"

"Ice skating is very popular there," Dalton added unnecessarily.

"WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?" Usopp yelled. "WHO CARES ABOUT THAT?"

Usopp's loud shouts could be heard from out in the street, a blood-covered man was limping down the road towards the loud voices. It was the soldier who'd escaped Wapol's men.

"Calm down Usopp," Vivi scolded the marksman, "we need to get going to that town. At this point we really don't have any time to lose."

"Yeah, you're right," Usopp begrudgingly admitted.

"Huff... huff... DALTON!" the injured civilian soldier shouted as he staggered through the door. "I found you at last!"

"Yes guard," Dalton replied, "but I thought you were standing watch today."

"Ugghhh..." the man groaned and collapsed, but Dalton quickly ran across the room and caught him before he hit the ground.

"WHAT'S THE MATTER?" Dalton asked in alarm. "I can tell that you've been badly injured. Tell me what went wrong!"

"Every watchman except for me... they've all been killed Dalton..." the man gasped. "This thing... this submarine... it came out of nowhere... and attacked us... They killed every one of the watchmen... we couldn't stop them..."

"Who are they?" Dalton demanded, "I don't understand! Please explain this!"

"PLEASE DALTON!" the injured guard shouted, "YOU HAVE TO HELP US! WE AREN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO FIGHT THEM! YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!"

"What's wrong?" Usopp asked, speaking for everyone in the room.

"It was them..." Dalton realized.

"IT WAS WAPOL!" the guard exclaimed. "Wapol and his men! They came back!"

The civilians in Stool's restaurant all panicked and buzzed with questions, knowing what he had to do, Dalton stood up and ran out of the restaurant with his weapon in his hand. He ignored Usopp calling after him as he hopped on a horse and raced off toward Big Horn to confront Wapol.

"I'M GOING TO SETTLE THIS ONCE AND FOR ALL!" Dalton growled in his mind, black hair started growing out of his arms and spread to the back of his hands. "In the end... I don't really know if it can be called justice..." Dalton's black hair grew outward and covered his face, which grew longer and turned into a snout with a black nose. "I may be just as guilty as you are..." Horns grew out of Dalton's head, and hooves formed on his hands and feet. "... BUT YOU'RE THE ONE WHO WILL BE PUNISHED!" SKISH! Dalton leapt off of the horse's back and landed in the snow on all fours. Dalton was no longer the bull-like man who led the island's civilian militia, he had just transformed into a black-furred bison. Dalton's green clothing still seemed to fit and his weapon was still strapped to his back as the bison he had turned into raced through the snow at top-speed and left the horse behind. "JUST YOU WAIT... I'M COMING FOR YOU WAPOL!"

-x-

A Man Named Dalton

-x-

"They coming?" Luffy asked as he and Y/N trekked through the snow with Sanji covering them from behind.

Sanji stared behind them and didn't see any of the gorilla-sized white rabbits. "No, I doesn't look like it," Sanji answered.

"Alright, I guess we lost 'em," Luffy commented as he looked back at Sanji.

"Um... not quite," Y/N replied as he stared in front of them. Luffy and Sanji looked where Y/N was looking and saw the herd of lapins up ahead of them.

"THEY DON'T GIVE UP!" Luffy shouted.

PLOP! PLOP! PLOP! All at once the rabbits started hopping up and down.

"Why're they jumping up and down?" Luffy wondered as the rabbits continued to hop. "Maybe they're grouchy because they're hungry."

Y/N was the first to realize it, his left eye which was covered by the tinted black lens of his sunglasses widened in shock. "Shit," he cursed.

Sanji figured it out next and his visible right eye widened in shock and he dropped his cigarette out of shock. "Wait a minute... THEY CAN'T BE!" Sanji exclaimed.

-x-

"IT'S WAPOL!" someone shouted in Cocoaweed, "WAPOL AND HIS MEN HAVE COME BACK TO THE ISLAND!" A bunch of men stood wielding weapons in the middle of the town.

"Dalton headed off to Big Horn to meet them," a civilian soldier on a horse called out.

"ANYONE WHO CAN FIGHT, GRAB A WEAPON AND HEAD TO BIG HORN!" a civilian soldier called out.

"EVERYONE ARM YOURSELVES, WE'RE GOING TO PROTECT OUT COUNTRY!" another civilian roared. He raised his sword up over his head, as did all the other men that were standing in the street. "MARCH TO BIG HORN!" The men charged off to defend the kingdom from their king.

-x-

"Vivi, are you sure we're heading the right direction to get to this Gyasta town where the witch is?" Usopp asked as he and Vivi road in the ram-pulled sleigh towards Gyasta.

"Well now that you mention it, I"m not exactly sure where we're going," Vivi confessed as she stared at the map she was holding.

"Well we're in pretty bad shape if you're not sure," Usopp commented as he sat beside her and held the reins. "If Luffy, Y/N, and Sanji mange to make it to the castle and the doctor isn't there, they might just turn around a leave! We have to make it to the place, find the doctor, and tell her to go back up the mountain. Nami is running out of time pretty quickly."

"Yes, I realized that, Usopp," Vivi told him.

"Well if you realize that, then do something about it," Usopp insisted. "You're a princess, right?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" questioned Vivi. "I can't snap my fingers and make it happen. I'm a Princess, not a witch!"

"So what," Usopp retorted.

"Oh fine, why don't you go ahead and take a look at the map," Vivi suggested as she held the map in front of Usopp's face.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Usopp protested. "What am I supposed to do with that? There's snow covering everything!"

"So then you don't know either," Vivi pointed out.

"Yup, I don't know anything either," Usopp admitted with a big smile.

"And you're proud of that fact?" questioned Vivi. "At any rate, if we keep to this rout we should see a sign for this Gyasta place somewhere along it. Keep your eyes opened."

"Sure thing," Usopp agreed, "just leave it to me! I'll watch for signs of the sign! There's no way I'll miss it!"

Vivi and Usopp kept going and never noticed the snow falling off of a sign that they had just passed. Skoosh! The snow fell and landed on more snow, revealing the word Gyasta and an arrow pointing in the opposite direction that the sleigh was heading. They'd missed it.

-x-

KEUNCH! CHOMP! CHOMP! GULP! Wapol and his men had made it to Big Horn, where the Tin Tyrant decided to have a snack. Houses were left with huge gaping holes in them as the selfish King used his Munch Munch Fruit powers to devour the civilian's homes.

"Aaah, that was delicious!" Wapol sighed before he stood on Robson's back and addressed everyone. "Listen closely, citizens! Everything in this country can be made into my snack if I want it to be! BECAUSE I AM A GREAT MAN! Do you know why I am great? Kuromarimo, explain!"

"Of course," Kuromarimo agreed, "You are the greatest man in the country because you are the King your highness."

"That's right, exactly right," Wapol replied, "So if I wanna eat a house, I expect it to be served to my liking!"

"Yes sir!" Wapol's men chorused.

Kuromarimo came forward and bowed to Wapol. "Wapol sir, I have some information for you," the former magistrate announced. "I have received a report that some of the Straw Hat brats very inconsiderately set out for Drum Castle after they arrived on the island your higness."

"WHAT?" Wapol shouted as he remembered the rubber brat and his crew that had caused him so much trouble. "WHY?"

"It appears that they're taking a pair of sick women up the mountain to see a doctor," Kuromarimo explained.

"Really? That was a dumb idea!" Wapol remarked. "No one lives there now, especially not a doctor. MAA HAHAHAHAHA!"

"Um... well... I..." Kuromarimo stammered as he attempted to correct the King. "I actually heard that Doctor Kureha, also very inconsiderately, is currently living in Drum Castle. She's a crazy old hag."

Wapol's mind flashed to the image of the old witch living in his castle.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" The King demanded. 'THAT WOMAN IS LIVING IN MY CASTLE? HOW DARE SHE MOCK ME IN SUCH A WAY! KICK HER OUT! I'LL EAT HER UP ALONG WITH STRAW HAT! THAT'LL SHOW 'EM!" Wapol addressed his men, "MEN, WE'RE GOING BACK TO THE CASTLE!"

"YES SIR!" Wapol's men agreed.

"I don't think so!" came a new voice. Dalton charged passed a partially eaten building and Wapol's men and slashed the King across the chest with his large bladed weapon. SHWUK!

Everyone stared in awe as Wapol fell to the ground and rolled around screaming in pain. "AAAAH HE CUT ME! AAARRGGHH I'M GONNA DIE!"

"I came to see you dead, so that really suits me just fine," Dalton retorted as he stood over Wapol as the King howled in pain. He was back in his human form and no longer looked like a bison.

"DALTON, YOU BASTARD!" Chess growled, he glared at the 'traitor' as drew his bow and fitted some arrows into it. "It's a shame that you're still alive!"

"You just ended your own King!" Kuromarimo snapped as he got in a fighting stance, his hands were covered in a black ball of hair much like the black afro on his head.

"He shouldn't be difficult to fix," Dalton replied, "after all, we live in a medically advanced nation with almost two dozen well qualified doctors to service his every need."

"That's right," Kuromarimo agreed before he called out, "TWENTY MD'S EMERGENCY MEDICAL UNIT, HEAL HIM!"

"Start operation..." "Start operation..." "Start operation..." a group of twenty men wearing pink scrubs, dark sunglasses, gloves, and face masks, chorused as they approached the injured King.

"Scalpel!" "Needle!" "Thread!" "Metal plate!" "Hammer!" TONK! TONK! TONK! The Twenty MD's worked quickly and sewed Wapol's wound closed and then hammered on a metal plate to act as a bandage for the Munch Munch Man.

"WOW!" Wapol exclaimed a few seconds later as he sat up, completely unharmed, "I was sure I was gonna die for a minute there!"

"This is a perfect example of our situation," Dalton commented. "You receive all the medical attention that you could possibly need while your citizens have to suffer without a doctor! IT'S WRONG!"

"It's wrong?" Wapol repeated. "Show some respect! I am still your King, Dalton!"

"He's right," Kuromarimo commented, "You'll shut your mouth if you know what's good for ya."

"The three of us, including you, were in the highest position among Wapol's men," Chess reminded Dalton. "We were his loyal servants, or have you forgotten?"

"I haven't forgotten," Dalton growled as he clenched his fist. "It's true that while you were making our people suffer all I could do was stand there as one of Wapol's men and watch as your ruined our country. I have to accept responsibility for that. So Wapol, let's leave this country together. We can't stay in the land we betrayed any longer."

"NO DALTON WAIT!" a civilian called out. "YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!"

"He's right!" another agreed, "You're the only one in the government who tried to protect us! You're the only one who fought for us while he was destroying the kingdom! You stood up for us!"

And even now, Dalton was still standing up for them. Wapol was standing in front of Chess, Kuromarimo, and his entire army of soldiers. Dalton stood across from them fighting alone.

"BAH!" Wapol shouted. "You should have died Dalton. You were the Captain of Security on the island. I don't know how you survived in this country without any doctors."

"Our country is internationally acknowledged for its development in medicine," Dalton stated. "That is nothing more than a cheap charade. No one could guess that there are actually only twenty doctors who were shut up doing research in the King's own lab. And that all the other doctors have been exiled from the country, leaving the citizens to suffer."

"Yes, anyone who gets sick or injured must come and beg for their lives if they want help," Wapol smugly replied, "and if I feel like it, maybe I'll lend them the services of the Twenty MD's. If they want to stay alive and healthy, all they have to do is obey me, THEIR KING! This way, no one will dare challenge me rule! And that is the perfect way to govern a country!"

"THIS ISN'T REAL GOVERNING WAPOL!" Dalton shouted. "AND YOU AREN'T A REAL KING!"

"Hmph," Wapol grunted, "Well you certainly speak your mind Dalton."

"NOW KILL HIM!" Wapol ordered his men, "I WANT YOU TO SHOOT YOUR FORMER CAPTAIN!"

"As usual, you don't understand a thing I'm saying," Dalton remarked. "RAAAAAHHHH!" Dalton let out a loud yell as black fur grew all over his body and then a pair of horns sprouted out of his head. Dalton remained on two legs as his features became bison-like and beastly. "I served your father, and he was a good man and a fair ruler! I hoped you might come to resemble him one day, but I see now that that was a lot of wishful thinking!"

"AAAAAHHH!" One of Wapol's soldier screamed in alarm as he stared at his former Captain, "He's using the powers of the Ox Ox Fruit! He's in his bison form!"

Dalton was now half man, half bison. With the exception of the lower half of his face, his entire body was covered in short black fur. He had the snout, ears, and horns of a bison but had the stature and muscular physique of an extremely muscular human.

"Don't look down, just fire!" one of Wapol's men advised as they fired at Dalton, BAM! BAM! BAM!

SKISH! SKISH! SKISH! With amazing agility Dalton dodged the rounds that were fired at him and charged at the men.

"We can't hit 'im! He just dodges!" one of the men exclaimed.

"No mercy..." Dalton said in an animal-like growl, "even to my ex-soldiers!" SKISH! Dalton drew his large weapon and leapt up into the air over the heads of the men shooting at him, "FIDDLE BAM!" Dalton let out a bull-like snort and charged at the men and swung his large blade, SWISH! SWISH! Dalton ended up in a crouch behind the group of unmoving soldiers, TMP! He drove the end of his weapon down into the ground and all of the soldiers collapsed to the ground, THUD!

"Amazing, he's so powerful!" a civilian cheered. "So this is the kind of power the Zoan-type Devil Fruit will give?"

"ENOUGH!" Dalton snarled. "I've had it with you pathetic so-called rulers! There can be no hope for a country when it's King and his men are the first to abandon the people during a time of crisis!"

"Let's see how well you do fighting against the two of us," Kuromarimo challenged Dalton as he and Chess stood ready to fight.

"Just give up," Chess taunted with a smug grin.

"DALTON!" came a loud shout as a mob of men wielding weapons came charging onto the scene, they'd finally arrived from Cocoaweed. "Dalton wait, we've come to help you! Please let us fight with you! We're going to protect our country!"

"Remember, I've known you a long time," Chess reminded Dalton as he drew three arrows and fitted them into his bow, "And I know you well. I know what your weaknesses are!" Chess aimed his bow, but it wasn't at Dalton, it was at the mob of men running up behind him.

"NO, DON'T!" Dalton shouted.

WHING! Chess let go of the bow string and sent all three arrows flying passed Dalton towards the civilians. The men kept running, not seeing the attack coming for them.

SKISH! Dalton moved fast and was suddenly standing in front of the civilians, they all stopped and stared in shock as the three arrows embedded into the Bison-man's chest and came out through his back. SHA-SHA-SHUNK!

"DALTON, NO!" one of the men cried out as the bison-man dropped down to his knees. "Why did you shield us?"

"They are your weakness, kind Dalton," Chess taunted.

Dalton's only weakness was loving his country and its people too much. He'd sacrificed himself to shield the citizens because, unlike the King, he believed that the people made up a country, not the ruler.

"Quite the fitting death, huh boys?" Wapol boasted as Dalton fell to the ground and laid motionless. THUD! The three arrows had gone in through his chest and were coming out his back, that was a fatal wound. "MAA HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

RRRMMMMBBB! RRRRMMMMBBB! Wapol's laughter was cut off when a loud rumbled broke out from a distance. "What's that? An earthquake?" Wapol wondered. It felt like the entire island was shaking.

-x-

"Those damn rabbits!" Sanji cursed, "Great they've done it now! This isn't good!"

"Run!" Y/N snapped as he grabbed Luffy's arm and took off running, pulling Luffy along with him.

"What's going on?" Luffy asked. "Where are we going?"

"Anywhere! Anywhere but here!" Sanji exclaimed as he ran after Luffy and Y/N. "THERE'S ABOUT TO BE AN AVALANCHE!"

Luffy, Y/N, and Sanji were so high up and so close to the Drum Rockies now that the distant rumbling that could be heard around the island was almost deafening to them. THOOOOOM! Due the giant rabbits all jumping up and down together a huge wave of snow came loose and began rolling down the mountain. It kept gaining momentum and kept getting bigger and bigger as move snow joined it. The Straw Hats ran frantically away from the killer wave of white that the Lapins had unleashed upon them as well as the rest of the island.

-x-

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!!