Chapter Text
"It hurts! It hurts! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" The screaming attracted the attention of the crew as they abandoned what they were doing to see what the problem was. Bepo was rolling on the floor clutching his chest.
"What's going on? What's wrong Bepo?" Law's voice cut through the crowd, silencing everyone.
"My chest, it hurts really bad…oh it's better now," he said as he stopped rolling around and looked toward the other pirates with a confused look on his face.
"Don't worry us like that!" Shachi and Penguin yelled together.
"I'm sorry," came the trademark reply as the bear-man bowed his head.
"How long has your chest been hurting?" Law asked curiously.
"About two weeks, on and off. I've been short of breath a lot too."
"Let's go the infirmary and I'll take a look."
---
Shachi and Penguin scoured the entire north side of the town, and after checking in with the others, the men started to think there wasn't one on the island. Three hours now, they searched for a vet clinic.
It still surprised them though to hear their captain, an amazing doctor, said he didn't know what was wrong with Bepo and that it was probably an animal related thing. That surprised them more since they just thought Bepo was a man in a really good costume. Guess you do learn new things every day.
The two turned and headed back to the sub when the call came through on the Den Den Mushi saying that someone found a clinic. Five minutes later, Law, Bepo, Shachi, Penguin, and Jean Bart were on the front deck that led to a clinic. Law knocked on the door before turning the handle, the bell on the top announcing his entry. A young boy stood right inside the entrance like he was getting ready to open the door when Law entered.
Taking one look at the Heart pirates, the poor boy took off running to the back of the office, yelling about dangerous pirates.
A moment passed and the pirates could hear a woman's voice in the back, "What's all this about scary men and man eating polar bears?" The pirates watched as a woman in her mid twenties walked out in a lab coat, the small boy cowering behind her legs. "Oh, I see what you mean, but this bear hardly looks like man eater." Turning toward Law she asked, "Can I help you Supernova?"
Slightly surprised the vet on a remote island recognized him so easily, Law answered, "My crewmate is sick and I don't think it's something that affects humans."
"Clearly, or else an amazing doctor such as you wouldn't need my help." The knowing smile on her face made the 'Surgeon of Death' instantly wary of her and the way she stressed 'amazing' had him feeling slightly annoyed.
"My name is Rayven by the way, and my assistant is Rygin. Please have a seat right here Bepo and tell me what's wrong."
The pirate did as he was told. "You all can make yourself comfortable in the waiting room over there," Rygin said with a gesture to a couple of old couches that had suspicious scorch marks on them, still from behind Rayven's leg.
Even sitting on the low stool, Rayven still had to look up to meet Bepo in the eyes. Stretching her foot out, she hit the bar under the stool to lower it. When he was slightly below her eye level she took her foot off and muttered 'much better' to no one in particular.
"Well you certainly are an interesting case," the vet said to Bepo as she grabbed her stethoscope, "but not the weirdest."
"I'm sorry."
Rayven chuckled at the polar bear. "There's nothing to be sorry about sweetie. Rygin, will you get out from behind my leg already."
"How come he gets called sweetie?" Shachi murmured to Penguin.
"What's weirder than a talking polar bear?" asked Jean Bart.
"I don't think you would believe me if I told you," came the melody like voice as the vet didn't even look up from where she was taking Bepo's blood. She finished and handed it to Rygin with a, "Go put this in the machine and tell me if it comes back positive or not."
"We've been through the Grand Line and we've seen some of the New World. I think we will believe you," Law stated, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"The Grand Line is not weird compared to the second half of the New World, trust me on that. But if you really want to know, the strangest case I've ever had was a case of the bird flu. The victim: Marco the Phoenix."
Silence. Rayven could tell the men were trying to process the information.
Chuckling. She turned to see Law's chest moving oddly and his face contorted as he tried not to laugh. He failed. The entire room was filled with noise as the pirates laughed at the thought of the infamous Marco stuck in a vet clinic with bird flu.
A smile spread across the vet's face as she recalled that day. The smile vanished though as she went on. "Ace brought him in. He then fell asleep on my couch after eating all the food I had including Rygin's stash of candy, so to get back at him Rygin played a prank on Ace that caused him to sneeze. That's why there are scorch marks on my couch."
The atmosphere grew silent as the men watched the vet look to the ground, a sad smile on her face. "Poor Ace. He was so young. And Luffy. He went through hell, nearly died, and broke out of hell, only to enter into another one to save his brother, only to have him die in his arms." There was a pause when no one knew what to say. "Thank you for saving Luffy and Jimbie."
"You seem to know a lot for an ordinary vet," Law stated. He knew something was up with this woman. She was familiar with a lot of big shot pirates, not to mention her knowledge of instances covered up by the government.
Regaining her composure, Rayven turned to the captain, a mischievous grin on her face, "Who said I was an ordinary vet? When your father is a famous pirate, other famous pirates tend to find you. Whitebeard even asked if I wanted to join his crew. I said no, but I was still considered a member, and his one and only daughter." Again a sad smile filled her face as she reminisced, but it passes quickly.
Upon hearing of Whitebeard's offer the crew tensed up, clearly not an ordinary vet. "Who's your father?" Bepo asked which came out surprisingly clear despite having a Popsicle stick holding down his tongue as Rayven inspected his throat.
"Now that is a secret," she said tapping the polar bear's nose as she threw the Popsicle stick away. Rygin came back in at the moment, his face scrunched as he said, "the blood changed color, its positive."
"Positive for what?" Law asked, sitting forward, his tone serious now.
"Heart-worm. Luckily it's in its early stages, which is weird since the symptoms were so pronounced. I assume it's because you aren't a normal polar bear."
"I'm sorry," Bepo said.
"So can you treat it?"
"Of course. The medicine will take two days to make though. If you can't wait I can improvise. It won't be quite as effective but it will work."
"We can wait. Know any places to get food at?"
"Well, do you want good or cheap? You can't have both in this town."
"Never mind then. How much will this cost?"
"I'm not sure yet," Rayven said as she checked a machine, "I still need to figure out a dosage for him.
---
"Where's the captain?" Shachi asked after noticing his absence from the ship
"Either exploring the town or at the clinic", a random crew member stated, his mouth full of food.
"100 beli is at the clinic with the hot vet," Penguin replied, a grin on his face. No one took the bet.
"He's probably reading some of the vet's medical books. We never know when something might happen to Bepo again," Jean Bart replied, trying to be reasonable.
"Yeah sure, 'reading medical books'." A dull thud was heard as Penguin fell forward, unconscious.
Everyone turned to see their Supernova captain standing by the door. "They were really good medical books too," the doctor said with a grin on his face. He walked to the kitchen counter and grabbed two slices of pizza before heading to his room.
The crew just sat there not saying anything until no one could hear the laughing of their captain anymore. "Wait, I'm confused, was he reading or not?" came the question from the cook. There was no answer.
---
"Okay, the medicine is ready. And here's the book you wanted to finish reading. The instruction for the medicine is in there," Rayven said handing the bundle to Law. "How much?"
Normally he would just take the medicine and go, but when the vet has been offered a place in Whitebeards crew, it made him reconsider. He didn't want to find out first hand why.
"Consider us even, for you helping Luffy and Jimbie."
With that, the Heart Pirates turned to go. But one man stayed behind.
Raising an eyebrow at the man, "Can I help you?"
"Do you have any of those cone thingies you use to keep animals from licking at wounds?"
A sigh escaped the vet's lips, but the smile on her lips was as clear as day. "100 beli."
"Deal."
"Hey Bepo, the vet forgot to mention this, but you have to wear this cone for a week," Penguin said, unfolding it.
Law looked at him, debating whether or not to say anything, but held his tongue. This could be entertaining after all.
"Best hundred beli I've ever spent," Penguin muttered to Shachi as they watched Bepo try to eat his dinner.
---
"I can't believe you! You're evil! How could you do that to me? Do you know how hard it was to do everything in that thing?!" roared Bepo as he chased Penguin around the sub.
"I saw the note Rayven-san left. It had her number so I called her and she said I didn't have to wear a cone! She said you stole it and lied to me!"
"She said that?! She sold me out!" cried Penguin as he ran faster.
"She gave you her number?" Jean Bart asked to Law as they watched Bepo grab Penguin and wrestle him to the ground.
"In case...I have any questions about animal diseases" the 'Surgeon of Death' responded, his grin from ear to ear.