Mountaintop

Wapol, a large man with a metallic jaw wearing a thick fur coat, is furious. He yells, "HOW DARE YOU COMMIT NUMEROUS DESPICABLE GRIEVANCES AGAINST MY REGAL SELF!" He is riding a large, fluffy, hippo-like creature named Robson through the snowy landscape. Wapol commands, "HALT RIGHT THERE!" Luffy, carrying Nami and Sanji on his back, stops and glares back. Wapol laughs mockingly, "MAHAHAHA! WHAT'RE YOU, DUMB AS A HIPPO? AS IF I'D MOVE JUST BECAUSE YOU TOLD ME SO!" Luffy simply replies, "MOVE IT!" Wapol notices Luffy's burden and remarks, "HMM, IT SEEMS THE TWO YOU'RE CARRYING ARE ON THE VERGE OF DEATH!" Wapol then turns to his subordinate, Chess, and says, "CHESS, I'VE JUST GOT A GOOD IDEA FOR ANOTHER LAW. WRITE IT DOWN FOR ME." Chess, holding a notepad, replies, "YES, YOUR MAJESTY." Wapol dictates, "'IGNORING THE KING IS A CAPITAL OFFENSE.'" Luffy, still carrying his friends, looks intensely angry and shouts, "HALT!" as he stands his ground in the snow.

Wapol, his metallic jaw wide open, shouts a brutal command to his men: "SO START BY KILLING THOSE TWO INJURED MAGGOTS WHO'RE IGNORING ME THE MOST RIGHT NOW!" His subordinates immediately spring into action. Chess, a tall man with a bow, draws back an arrow, while Kuromarimo, a man with large afro hair, prepares to throw projectiles. They shout, "AT ONCE!" Luffy, carrying Nami and Sanji on his back, looks back in shock, exclaiming, "WHAT!?" Kuromarimo hurls a spiked, black afro-ball towards them, yelling, "TAKE THIS! SURPRISE MARIMO!" The spiked ball flies through the air with a "SSHING!" sound. Luffy quickly dodges out of the way, leaping through the snow to avoid the attack, yelling, "WHOA!" as the spiked ball narrowly misses them.

Sanji, barely conscious on Luffy's back, warns him through gritted teeth, "THE IMPACT OF EVERY BLOW YOU DELIVER OR RECEIVE, WILL BE TRANSFERRED OVER TO NAMI AS WELL!" Luffy, realizing he can't fight back without hurting Nami, looks frustrated and angry. "WHY YOU...!" he growls. Making a split-second decision, Luffy turns and sprints away through the thick snow, panting heavily, "HUFF HUFF!" He yells back at his attackers, "JUST DON'T FOLLOW ME RIGHT NOW!" Wapol, furious that his prey is escaping, screams, "DAMN IT! I SWEAR I'LL GET YOU BACK FOR THIS!" Chess, aiming his bow, fires a volley of arrows after the fleeing pirate, declaring confidently, "HMPH! ESCAPE IS FUTILE, COWARD!" The arrows streak through the air towards Luffy.

Luffy desperately dodges the incoming arrows, leaping and twisting through the air while keeping a tight grip on Nami and Sanji. "WHOA!" he yells as an arrow narrowly misses him. He lands awkwardly in the snow with an "...UGH!" Chess and Kuromarimo pursue him relentlessly. Kuromarimo announces a special technique: "SNOW KINGDOM SPECIALTY, 'SNOW CLOAK'". Suddenly, the two men vanish into the swirling snow, blending in perfectly with their white cloaks. Luffy lands on his feet, panting heavily, "HUFF HUFF". He looks around in confusion, the snowy landscape seemingly empty. "HUH? WHERE'D THEY GO?" he wonders, completely losing sight of his attackers in the whiteout conditions.

Luffy stands in the snow, looking around cautiously. "DID THEY GIVE UP ALREADY OR SOMETHING?" he wonders aloud. Suddenly, the snow beneath him erupts. Wapol bursts out from under the snow, his massive metallic jaw opened impossibly wide, ready to swallow Luffy whole. "CHOMP!" Wapol's jaws snap shut just behind Luffy as he leaps away in terror. Luffy screams, "AGHHH!" as he narrowly avoids being eaten, scrambling away from the surprise attack from below.

Chess and Kuromarimo suddenly materialize from the snow right next to Luffy. "BEHOLD OUR BATTLE CAMOUFLAGE, THE SNOW CLOAK!" they declare. Chess aims his bow at point-blank range, and Kuromarimo prepares to strike with his spiked afro-balls. Wapol, standing nearby, gloats, "SEEING AS HOW YOU'VE ALREADY SUSTAINED GRAVE INJURIES, THIS SHOULD BE AN INSTANT KILL!" Luffy, caught off guard and unable to fight back without hurting Nami, yells in panic, "AHH-". Chess confidently says, "CHECKMATE!" as they prepare to deliver the final blow. Luffy screams, "STAA-AAAP!" bracing for the impact.

Just as Wapol's men are about to strike, massive shadows fall over them. Several giant, ferocious white rabbits—Lapins—plummet from the sky, landing directly on top of Wapol, Chess, and Kuromarimo. The heavy impacts crush the attackers into the snow with loud thuds. Luffy, completely bewildered by the sudden intervention, stares in shock. "!!!?" he exclaims. The Lapins land heavily around him, "OOF!" "PLOP!" Luffy recognizes the creatures from earlier, realizing, "IT'S THE WHITE BEARS..." The Lapins stand tall, effectively shielding Luffy from Wapol's group.

Wapol, buried under the snow and a Lapin, is utterly shocked. "THE LAPIN!?" he yells. "WHY WOULD THEY HELP HIM!?" Chess, also recovering from the impact, dismisses the idea. "DON'T BE RIDICULOUS! IT'S JUST A COINCIDENCE. A LAPIN NEVER SHOWS MERCY TOWARDS HUMANS." One of the giant Lapins stands protectively, growling menacingly, "GRRR." Taking advantage of the distraction, Luffy resumes his desperate run up the mountain, panting heavily, "HUFF HUFF". He looks back and shouts, "THANKS A BUNCH! YOU REALLY SAVED US!" Wapol, furious, commands his men, "DON'T LET HIM ESCAPE!" Chess replies, "YES, YOUR MAJESTY!" as they try to get past the giant rabbits.

A line of giant Lapins stands firmly in the snow, blocking Wapol, Chess, and Kuromarimo from pursuing Luffy. Wapol yells in frustration, "JUST WHAT THE HELL DO THESE DAMN RABBITS THINK THEY'RE DOING!?" Meanwhile, Luffy continues his grueling trek through the blizzard. The wind howls around him as he trudges forward, carrying Nami and Sanji. "DOC..." he mutters, panting heavily. "PANT PANT... DOCTOR..." He is shivering violently from the extreme cold, his teeth chattering. "SHIVER SHIVER... HUFF... DOCTOR... PANT PANT... DOC... TOR..." He pushes himself to the absolute limit, determined to reach the top of the mountain.

The blizzard rages on, the wind howling fiercely. Luffy finally reaches the base of the Drum Rockies, a sheer, vertical cliff face that stretches up into the sky. He looks up, squinting against the snow. "CAN'T EVEN SEE THE TOP..." he observes, panting heavily. Knowing he has to climb, he kicks off his sandals, leaving them in the snow. "JUST HANG IN THERE A LITTLE LONGER..." he tells Nami and Sanji. He grips the freezing rock face with his bare hands and feet, his face contorted in effort and determination. "NGHHH!" he grunts, beginning the impossible climb.

Luffy scales the sheer, vertical rock face of the mountain. The wind whips around him, threatening to tear him off the cliff. He is a small speck against the massive, icy wall. He clings to the rock with his bare hands and feet, his fingers bleeding from the sharp, freezing stone. He pants heavily, "HUFF", his face buried in the snow covering the rock. He strains with every muscle, pulling himself and the weight of his two friends upward. "NGHHHHH!" he screams in exertion. "NGHHH!" The climb is agonizing, but he refuses to give up.

Luffy continues his agonizing climb up the vertical cliff face. He is panting heavily, his breath visible in the freezing air. Suddenly, his grip slips, and he slides down slightly. "OWW!" he cries out. Sanji, tied to his back, slips as well. "AGHHH! SANJIII!" Luffy yells, quickly grabbing Sanji's leg with his teeth to stop him from falling, while holding onto the rock with his bleeding hands. A narration box reads "3 HOURS LATER". Luffy is still climbing, higher up the mountain now. He is exhausted, mechanically repeating, "DOCTOR... DOCTOR... DOCTOR..." as he forces himself to keep moving upward.

Luffy is nearing the top of the mountain. He is completely exhausted, his face covered in snow, snot running from his nose. He is barely coherent, slurring his words, "DAT... WAZ... CLOSTH...!" He reaches up with a bloody, scraped hand, his fingers digging into the snowy edge of the cliff. "SCRITCH!" He pulls himself up, his face contorted in pain and exhaustion, using every last ounce of his strength to crest the summit.

Luffy's bloody hand grips the snowy edge of the mountaintop. Drops of blood fall onto the pristine white snow. He pulls his head over the edge, panting heavily. "HANG IN THERE! IT'LL BE JUST A LITTLE BIT LONGER..." he gasps. "SO DON'T DIE ON ME...!" He pulls himself up further, his eyes wide with exhaustion and determination. "HUFF HUFF". He lets out a final, strained grunt, "NGHHH!", as he finally drags himself and his friends over the edge and onto the flat surface of the mountaintop.

A massive, magnificent castle stands before Luffy, perched at the very top of the snowy mountain. The castle is highly detailed, with numerous towers, spires, and arched windows, looking like something out of a fairy tale. Luffy, still on his hands and knees in the snow with Nami and Sanji on his back, stares up at the structure in awe. "WHAT A GRAND CASTLE..." he breathes. "WE'RE HERE..." The snow continues to fall gently around them as they finally reach their destination.

Having finally reached the castle, Luffy's strength gives out. He collapses face-first into the snow, whispering, "DOCTOR..." The scene cuts back to the base of the mountain. Wapol is laughing uproariously, "MAHAHAHAHA! THOSE FOOLS!" He, Chess, and Kuromarimo are standing victorious over the defeated Lapins, who lie unconscious and battered in the snow. Wapol mocks them, "THESE RABBITS SERIOUSLY THOUGHT THEY COULD GO AGAINST A KING!?" He adds, "HMPH... THOUGH TO BE HONEST, I DIDN'T EXPECT FIGHTING A BUNCH OF RABBITS WOULD FORCE ME TO USE MY REAL POWER." Chess agrees, "PERHAPS... BUT THEY ARE DRUM ISLAND'S MOST VIOLENT ANIMALS FOR A REASON, YOUR MAJESTY."

Wapol looks up towards the mountain peak, a sinister grin on his face. "JUST YOU WAIT, STRAW-HAT!" he threatens. Suddenly, Wapol opens his metallic mouth impossibly wide. He grabs Chess and Kuromarimo by their heads. "HMPH!" he grunts as he swings them both directly into his gaping maw. He closes his mouth and begins to chew them up, a bizarre and horrifying display of his Devil Fruit powers.

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