"Set him down on the bed!" Nami ordered, even as I was part of the way through the motion. Body temperature was low, which meant blankets. Something to at least keep him warm. "Do you have any idea what we're dealing with, specifically?"

"Besides blood loss? Not a damn clue. It will depend on what diseases the tick had in its system!" Ticks were nightmares when it came to spreading disease. Not quite on par with fleas, who played a role in causing the Black Death, but ticks could still carry a lot of a really nasty things back home.

Lyme, deer fever, Colorado tick fever, and many others. Just a whole host of nasty, dangerous shit. By the standards of my world.

I wasn't going to lie. I'd long since managed to figure out that people around here were, well, built different. When human, I was the weakest of the Straw Hats, and it wasn't even a close contest between me and Usopp. So what passed off as bad by the standards of my world probably would give most of the crew mild indigestion. At best. But that wasn't a tick from my world.

Hell, it wasn't even a standard tick from theirs! It was a tick from some god blessed prehistorical jungle. I had no idea what it could be carrying. If luck was on our side, then we'd just be dealing with blood lose here. And if it wasn't? How do you try to cure a potentially fatal disease if you don't know what disease you're trying to cure in the first place? The answer is, you don't.

"So focus on the one we can fix," Nami's facial expression was a thin crease. "Do you know Thomas's blood type?"

Oh good, this world knew about blood types, I wasn't going to have to try and explain that sort of thing. Not that I'd ever do a good job, as the only thing I really grasped is that you didn't want to put inject someone with a blood type that they weren't.

"No, but Vivi worked with him for some time. If we need to ask anyone before he wakes up, she's the one," I said. There was no if. He had to wake up. I refused to accept any alternative. Maybe we caught it early enough that there wasn't too much gone. And it wasn't like being bitten by a tick guaranteed catching a disease.

Nami's frown grew. "Do you know how to do a blood transfusion?"

"Do we even have the supplies to do a blood transfusion?" I asked back. I highly doubted we had nearly everything on hand, the tech level simply wasn't at that point, but did we have the basics? Hell, did we even have needles? I really didn't know, but I understood the basics enough that I could, in theory, rig something up. The base idea wasn't hard, far from it. Take blood from one person and put it in another person. It was the matter of blood types and getting those lined up.

Of course, did anyone else besides maybe Nami, Vivi, maybe Usopp and Sanji alongside myself even know what a blood type was? Much less know what theirs was? Okay, yeah, that was most of us, actually.

And speaking of the rest of the crew, did that door use to have that, bulge to it? The wood was groaning, as if bearing some weight that I couldn't see. Then it cracked, sending the entirity of the crew spilling out onto the floor, almost like a wave.

"Is he going to be okay?" Luffy was the first one up, moving toward the bed quickly, followed by Vivi and Gina. Zoro and Sanji kept their distance a bit more, but the fact they were here in the first place spoke volumes.

"I," I took a deep breath. "I can't make any promises, Captain. The blood loss is making things enough in the air as is, until we know Thomas's blood type, or even if we have the equipment needed to do a transfusion."

The swearing coming from Nami's mouth wasn't filling me with confidence.

"And I have no idea what, if any, diseases the tick may have infected Thomas with," I continued. That was the crux of the matter. If there was anything, I certainly didn't, I wouldn't know about it. It was always better to be safe than sorry.

"What's so important about a blood type?" Zoro gave me a confused look.

"If you donate blood to someone that isn't compatible with their blood type, they can die," I say, a slight frown.

"That means having more than just red blood, right?" Luffy's brow seemed to be scrunched up in thought.

"Sadly, yes, Captain," I watched as Luffy's brow furrowed even more. Had he been considering donating blood? Would that even be safe? Baring getting through his skin for a moment, but were Devil Fruit abilities able to be transmitted through blood? That, would be important to know if little else.

"There is the RH to consider as well," Vivi's voice was, I really had a hard time pinning it. Sure, she had been undercover for years, but at the same time, Thomas had been her partner during those years. They had to be close. But as for what she said, though?

"I can't believe I forgot about that," I pinched my brow. How could I have? Sure, I wasn't exactly a doctor, but my Mom was a nurse, and I spent a month with Crocus! I should have a basic idea about this stuff.

"When Nathan says exact match, he means exact," Gina said, placing her hand on his forehead. "I've seen what happens when you do it wrong. Your body rejects the transfusion, treating it like a disease to root out. There are more painful ways to go, but it still isn't what I would consider pleasant."

"There should be doctors in Alabasta able to help him," Vivi said, sitting down in a chair next to the bed. And while I didn't exactly doubt that. The problem was, would he last long enough for us to get to Alabasta?

"And what happens if we can't get the equipment or if we don't have a matching blood type?" Sanji for once, wasn't smoking.

"There are foods that help promote the body to help it generate more blood," Gina seemed to muse, looking at Sanji thoughtfully.

"I do," the man spoke slowly. "Most of those are meats, things heavy in irons." Okay, meat, that wasn't a big deal, we had plenty of meat.

"Do it. This is more important," Luffy said, with all the calm and confidence of the world. "Keeping our crewmate alive is more important."

Sanji didn't say a word, simply nodding.

"Come on, don't go counting me out yet," there was a coughing that came from the bed.

"Thomas!" Vivi wrapped her arms around him for a brief moment, as Thomas chuckled, before letting out a slight groan of pain as everyone crowded around the bed. "I just needed a bit of shut-eye, is all."

Thomas then tried to push himself off the bed, struggling every metaphorical step of the way.

"What you need," I say firmly, putting my hand on his chest to gently push him back down. "Is to rest."

For a brief moment, I felt him push back against me, before Thomas let out a sigh, falling back against the bedsheets.

"It must be pretty bad if you're able to push me around," another cough wracked Thomas's body as I frowned. That couldn't have been a normal symptom of blood loss.

"To be fair, you're one of the two people on this crew who wouldn't be able to intimidate your way out of being sick when it comes to me," I gently teased back, trying to keep some levity to the situation at hand.

"Wait, if he's the first, then who's the second?" Usopp asked as I looked at him. The act of doing so was the answer to the question at hand. Usopp looked behind himself for a moment, as if he would find another member of the crew standing somewhere behind him. "Me?"

"To be fair, Usopp, you're the closest one that Nathan can beat in a fight," Gina chuckled, clearly amused. The only thing that made me chuckle was the squawk of protest that came from Usopp's lips. "Well, you and the duck."

"Good to know you're all joking around while I'm the one doing all the work," Nami entered the room, killing all conversation with the expression on her face and the needle in her hand. "Now, which one of you am I going to have to take blood from to get Thomas back on his feet?"

I, like the rest of my crewmates, balked. I'd done my best to stay on Nami's good side. She was scary when mad, and I was squishy. Built for this world of slapstick, I was most certainly not. And we still didn't have an answer to what Thomas's blood type was yet.

"That would be X-, my good lady," Thomas coughed, the slight smirk on his face telling that he was happy to be not on the receiving end of Nami's wrath.

Of course, that had almost been relegated to a secondary concern. The four main blood types not counting for their opposite negative pairs, were A, B AB, and O. So what the hell was an X doing in here?

Curse blood type classifications from another world!

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"I might have something that could help," I said, after giving it a few minutes of thought. Most if the crew was outside, dealing with the Grand Line being the Grand Line. But Nami wanted at least one person, usually two, with Thomas at all times.

"Oh?" Thomas pushed up slightly out of bed, his face falling into a more confident grin. "And what exactly would that be?"

I took a step back from the bed, taking in a deep breath as I closed my eyes. Chansey. I needed Chansey. I felt my body shift and contort, taking on a new appearance.

"Happiny!"

Fuck!

My tiny arms flailed about, causing Vivi to look up.

"That looks adorable," Vivi's statement about my appearance was completely correct. Happiny was, by all accounts, incredibly adorable. The problem was, I didn't need adorableness. I needed Chansey.

"It's like you're a cute little doll!" I flailed even more as Thomas managed to pick me up easily, Happiny's tiny frame unable to offer any major resistance. "Don't know how this is supposed to help, though."

Thankfully, the bright light that came off my body as I began to transform back was enough for Thomas to put me back on the ground. I wasn't going to try to Pokémon speak this to them.

"That's because its evolution has something that might be able to help, not Happiny itself," I said with a frown. Which was a problem. As, out of all the Pokémon I knew about? Happiny was about the only one I didn't know how it evolved. The only time I ever remember encountering one in base play was Diamond and Pearl, where you were given one from an egg. I remembered trying to evolve it, before giving up and throwing it in the box for that play-through, and not even bothering with the egg for every subsequent run.

"How would it help, exactly?" Thomas looked at me, puzzled, before letting out a cough Vivi leaned in as well, seemingly equally curious.

"Chansey is said to lay eggs that, when eaten, have healing properties," I say, scratching my chin as I tried to pry secrets that weren't there out of my head.

"So, you were going to offer me an egg in these," Thomas coughed again into his elbow. "Trying times?"

Why did that sound like a reference to something?

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"I normally wouldn't want you to worry, but," Nami let the silence hang in the air, as Vivi looked at the newspaper, a look of horror and despair written all over it. I gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder, but beyond that, I didn't think I could do much.

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The situation in Alabasta got worse. About half of the Royalist side had defected. It wasn't just the massive swing in manpower, it was yet another step towards whatever plans Crocodile had for Alabasta coming to fruition. And it wasn't as if the Royal Army was doing well either, from the sound of things, even before this. With the weapons, men, and guns the rebels now had, the war had swung rather decisively in their favor.

I may not be a military strategist, but I did like strategy games. That type of disparity, even at the best of times, could be a tall order to defeat on the battlefield. It was not impossible, but often relied on an opponent making a mistake of some kind.

And given how not only did the rebels have the royalists outnumbered more than two to one, close to half the rebel army knew the royalist playbook. Because they were former royalists!

And the worst part was? This was close to half a week ago. Sure, they were likely moving on foot, maybe on horseback, duck back, whatever. Point being, that this was close to half a week ago, so there was no telling just how badly things had deteriorated since then. Sure, speed of travel definitely put a damper on just how quickly things could happen. But the situation was still awful and wasn't likely to get better.

It felt weird, rooting for a king, but Vivi was a good person. I didn't have any reason to suspect that the King was any different from his daughter. A good person.

However, that wasn't going to matter for much if the rebels started to push their numerical advantage. We had a week to get there, and a week was a long time, no matter how you tried to cut it. Nami was practically a miracle worker, but she could only do so much. The Merry, no matter how much she fought, could only go so fast. It was going to take a week. Just to get there, and we wouldn't be at full strength until Thomas was patched up. And we'd need all the help we could get in a fight like this.

Of course, that moment of calm was broken with a shout.

"Nathan, I'm going to need you to come take a look at this!" That was Sanji's voice. Oh, I did not like the sound of that.

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That.

Was a concerning amount of vomit. What the hell had happened here?

"I was just heading out after I gave Thomas his food, and then," Sanji's voice had a tweak to it, and it was clear to see why. Part of the room was just a mess. Despite the bucket I put in place just for emergency situations, it had been missed completely. Instead, spew covered a sizable chunk of the wall, which I was ignoring for the moment.

"Thomas, what happened?" It was clear he wasn't okay, not by any stretch of the word. That was not an okay thing to do.

"I don't know," Thomas rasped, painting heavily. "I tried to eat a little bit, but when it hit my stomach, the meat just… hurk."

Thomas's face paled even more as he began to heave. And he wasn't aiming toward the bucket.

Protect!

Quickly transforming, the vomit hit the barrier, splattering harmlessly to the floor, rather than on my face.

"Thank you," Sanji said as I transformed back.

"You're welcome," I respond, moving to rub Thomas's back as he'd finally gone for the bucket. I looked down at the plate, trying to identify the meal. Thomas said he started having problems when the meat hit is stomach. And Sanji was a high enough caliber of a cook that food poisoning shouldn't be an issue. Especially not now. But with it being partially covered in vomit, I had no idea what i could have been.

"It's steak with a bit of pork and greens," Sanji said, following my gaze, though there as a twing of hostility in his voice. Steak and pork. Red meat. Tick bite. Tick bite. Red meat. Vomiting.

Fuck. That wasn't good at all.

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"A coworker of mine had the same thing happen to her before I arrived in the Grand Line after she got bitten by a tick," I said, addressing everyone on the deck of the Merry. Everyone but Thomas, as we moved him to a new room and he was now getting much needed shuteye.

"What!" Luffy shouted. "Is there anything we can do?" For Luffy, not being able to eat meat was a fate worse than death, and given how much meat I tended to eat, I couldn't say I disagreed with my Captain on that one.

"If we had a doctor yesterday, Captain, then maybe," I said, rubbing my forehead.

"I could try the dinosaur meat. We have plenty of chicken that we can use in the meantime," Sanji said, taking a puff of smoke from his cigarette.

"How would that even work? It's still red meat," Gina crossed her arms as she paced up and down the deck.

"Mammals and Dinosaur's split off evolution wise a while ago. Dinosaur meat should have more in common with chicken or other birds, rather than a cow or a pig. Of course, that's only on paper, and experimenting is probably not something we should be doing on that front right now," as interesting as that thought experiment would be now, it certainly wasn't the time for it.

Zoro nodded, his lips a thin line. Sadly, this was not an enemy he could simply cut to pieces with his sword, no matter how badly he wanted too.

"I did manage to come up with something," Usopp said, rolling out what I could only describe as a primitive Blood Bag feed. "Just encase we run into someone with Thomas's blood type."

It was impressive, but at the same time, blood loss was becoming something of a lesser concern in my book.

"Thank you, Usopp," Nami nodded, her face not really looking at anyone else, scanning the sky and clouds for changes in the Grand Line's weather. The young man beamed with a smile, as I have him a pat on the back. It was good work.

"We need to find a doctor as soon as possible," Vivi cut in, clutching the newspaper in her hands.

I blinked a bit in surprise. I wasn't wrong about us really needing a doctor yesterday. But I figured that Vivi would want us to cut full speed to Alabasta to deal with the problem there. It would allow her to do everything she wanted. It would get us and her to Alabasta, and would allow her friend in Thomas to be healed.

But everyone else? They just smiled, as if that is what they had expected from the beginning. And thus, we headed south.

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Gina liked to think she had some degree of experience. The sudden and consistent shift of weather was enough to tell her they had gotten close to an island, and Nami was currently trying to pinpoint it's exact location. She liked to think, among other things, that it would take a lot to get her surprised.

Even in her state, worried as she was, about a crewmate who was sick with who knows what, and the closest thing they had to a doctor only being able to say that things were bad, it should take a lot to surprise her.

A person standing out on the open water was not what she had expected this morning, or any other morning. But it certainly was on the checklist now.

Then the Merry lurched, the sea suddenly bucking, taking even Nami by surprise. Gina grabbed on to the arm rail, keeping herself steady as a massive ship emerged from beneath the waves. This was really how today was going to go, wasn't it? Just, run into a pirate crew on the high seas. They didn't have time for this. Unless?

What were the odds of a crew of this size having a doctor themselves? Sure, they weren't going to just, let them make use of their skills. Willingly, anyway. Still, that didn't mean she enjoyed the numerous people swarming the deck, all carrying various different firearms. She would like to start fighting now, but doing so would mean the bullets would start flying, and, well. The Going Merry wasn't bulletproof. The protection she would provide Thomas was minimal, and there would a considerable number of stray bullets

.

The shaking was enough to draw Sanji and Nathan out of the medical bay, Sanji reacting as if there wasn't even a gun pointed at his face. While Nathan definitely gave them a second glance, but his expression was one of 'I'm getting far more used to this than I have any right to be'.

Then the man was clearly the captain of this group emerged. Gina's first thought was Devil Fruit. It was clear the man had one if his metal jaws were anything to go by. That, and the fact he was eating a knife. Not a cheap one, either. The hilt was covered in gemstones, and yet, he had no problems throwing the entire knife into his mouth.

Which only marked the man as rich. Extremely rich. To use a knife of high quality make with a hilt that would be worth it's weight in gold was nothing else than a sign of exorbitant wealth. Much less eating one as if it were a desert to water down a luxurious meal.

Something that made Nami halfway about to burst a blood vessel. Sanji had already managed to clear the distance, standing between her and several of the pirates. Actually, were they really pirates at all? Yes, they were flying the Jolly Roger, and all that initialed, but at the same time, they looked a bit too, professional. They weren't navy, but at the same time? They had uniforms, to start.

"We want to go to the Drum Kingdom. Do you have an Eternal Pose or a Log Pose?" The way the man spoke more or less confirmed it. This wasn't simply a pirate, this man was, at the very least, a noble of some description. That would explain why he was literally willing to eat something that expensive. It wasn't like he likely had more lying around.

"Nope," Sanji's voice was firm, but not happy about the situation. "And we've never heard of that place, either."

"So, if you're done, go away!" Luffy demanded, still sitting there. She knew the answer to that. No, he was going to start raiding the ship for other valuables, etc, etc.

Then two things happened in quick succession. No, more like one thing. The man took a bite out of Merry's frame, tearing it off with his teeth and chewing the wood like, well, something that wasn't wood.

That resulted in two immediate and similar reactions. The first was Luffy, immediately hitting one of the boarders on the head, something they should have done from the start.

"So, would you like paper or plastic?" Nathan's words made Gina pause for the briefest of moments, alongside just about everyone else in earshot.

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"The shame is made less knowing that we aren't the only people who fell for that."

"Are you okay right now?!"

"I'm okay, I promise!"

Your fever has been going up!"

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The gunmen were stunned much longer than she was, but that may have also been because Nathan was transforming. Even partway through, Nathan was swinging his tail, water forming around it before as it turned, knocking men onto their backs.

And what finally took shape?

Was big. Easily, the largest form she had seen out of the young man yet. Blue scales covered its body nearly from head to toe. A trio of red spines, each one coming to three sharp points, one on its head, another on its back, and a third on its tail, rose, giving its body an even more imposing presence. While its feet ended with three clawed toes, its arms had five fingers, each ending in a claw, and it looked as if the monster had opposable thumbs. Which seemed like gripping overkill, given the massive jaws of the beast.

"Feraligatr!" The roar that came from the monster's mouth was impressive, already sending many of the men who were trying to go for their firearms that leaving them and running was the smarter plan. At the moment though, her hands were mostly tied, dealing with her own problems, grabbing one of the men surrounding her before using him as a makeshift club, before tossing him aside to grab the furthest man and place him into a grapple, slamming him against the deck in the process.

Sanji and Zoro had already gotten a head start on her, knocking out men with casual ease. Nathan and Luffy seemed to share a single brain cell, trying to get close to the man who was in the process of eating their ship. Surprisingly, it was Nathan who got there first advancing on the man. The loud clang of teeth meeting metal rang out over the battlefield, causing everyone to pause.

"King Wapol!" Several of the men shouted. Oh, great, that was a king Nathan held in his grip. Not. Still, they had the man hostage. They didn't even need to find an island now. Get a doctor to heal Thomas, take some gold on the side as compensation, in exchange for their king's safety.

"Oh, this is going to be fun!" Luffy said, with everyone looking at him confused. Why was he saying that? What did?

Gina looked back at Nathan, his iris having narrowed and elongated. This was some type of alligator, wasn't it? That meant.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, Nathan began to roll around, Wapol's head firmly in his jaws. She had no idea how Luffy of all people recognized the behavior, but the result was clear. Nathan had a Wapol in a death roll, or, at the very least, as close as one could get to a death roll without being in the water. The only reason the man wasn't as hurt as he could be was the man's metal chin, the teeth not finding any purchase there.

As impressive as the display was, it didn't seem to be having a major impact.

"You dare strike me! Munch Munch Shock!"

BOOM!

It sounded as if a cannon had gone off, barely managing to drown out Nathan's roar of pain. Wapol slipped from his jaws, as he skidded backwards, claws digging into the deck to halt his movement. Blood dripped down onto the deck as Nathan snarled, a flickering blue aura surrounding his body.

Wapol's eyes widened in surprise, before leveling the cannon that his arm had become at Nathan.

"Gum Gum Takeoff!" Then came Luffy, arms extended backward, slamming into Wapol's chest, sending the man flying. And when she meant flying, she meant, flying. The man nothing but a dot, not even starting to descend by the time he vanished from sight.

That was enough for panic to set in among the enemy pirates who quickly abandoned their assault in favor of retreating on their massive ship after their Captain/king, rather than continuing the battle. Not like that would have done them any good. Nathan looked pissed off enough to take the remaining crew on his own. Maybe. She couldn't exactly read crocodile facial expressions.

Once everyone was gone, Nathan shifted back, letting out a sigh as he gingerly touched his chest.

"I figured this would hurt more," he muttered, mostly to himself. His shirt seemed fine, but the wince he made showed that despite his cloth's undamaged state, there was probably damage under there.

"Are you alright?" Luffy was already next to Nathan, looking concerned. And he wasn't the only one. Usopp seemed in a panic, Sanji was impressed, and Zoro, it was hard to tell with that man, but he seemed impressed. Nami on the other hand?

"I'll need to get it bandaged, and maybe see if it broke any ribs, but I should be fine. Hurts like a rat bastard, though," Gina frowned, as Nathan's eyes seemed somewhat misty. Was he trying to play off his injury as being not as bad as it was?

"You better not make do something like that ever again!" Nami threw her arms around Nathan's neck suddenly, causing Sanji to squawk. Gina smiled at the moment. How sweat. "Because if you do, I'm going to make sure you regret it!"

Or not. Nami gripped Nathan's ear, dragging him along behind her, despite his shouts of protest and pain.

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I wasn't going to protest Nami's bedside manner. It wouldn't be effective, and she would probably give me something to take my mind off the pain. In the form of a fist to the face.

The cannonball to the chest hurt. Not as much as it should, but it did. The bruise was large, and there were several cuts, but it should have been worse if it caught me at any other point. It was going to be a pain in the ass going forward, but nothing was broken, so that was a plus.

Lesson learned, I suppose. Don't get that close to a Devil Fruit user until you know how their powers work. Because if other people could just pull a cannon out of their ass, I wasn't going to have a good time.

"Now, I want you off your feet for the rest of the day, do I make myself clear?" Nami looked at me, anger mixing with concern on her face.

"Yes Ma'am."

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"Land-ho!"

I'd spent the early part of the next day out of commission too. I mostly helped Thomas, who was suffering from a fever on top of everything else now.

Still, to step outside was a thing of beauty, a winter wonderland, covered in snow and cylindrical flat tops. Here was hoping that we could find a doctor in short order.