Key and Lock: Oh, I think we'll see soon enough!

"This is the place?" questioned Masamune.

"It should be. That's what the guy in that bar said." Kim told him.

Having gotten out of the Sardius's castle the night before, we now see Kim and Masamune, at the side of a cliff where we see a small shack-like house. At the cliff, they could get a good view of the town. Said town was still in a panic at the news of Copper Blood Masamune kidnapping a girl from the castle.

"I still can't believe you did that." mumbled Kim, "You could have just let me run."

"It had to be convincing." Masamune shrugged, "If they saw us running, they would think we're working together."

"So you slung me over your shoulder while you fought your way through waves of Samurai?!"

"...Yup, moving on." Masamune said as they walked over to the house, the swordsman lifting his hand to knock when-

"WHERE IS HE?!" roared the sweet, angry voice that was Tako. Masamune actually hesitated before opening the door. Once open, they were able to see that Tako had her trident in hand and was pointing it right for a man with white hair, Tome, her eyes feral and very angry at the smaller man.

"Uh..." mumbled Masamune, sweat dropped slightly.

"I don't know." Tome said bluntly, a lack of care in his voice as Tako snarled.

"Don't play with me!" Tako shouted, "You did something to Jango, I know you did!"

"After I treated his poison. It appears your clouded by anger. As a doctor, I would suggest," Tome stop speaking as he noticed Tako's body tighten. Tako pulled back her trident, preparing to strike. Tome had rushed at the mermaid, jabbing at the girl's sides. Tako twitched when the punches hit. They hurt bad, but then the pain just as quickly left. In fact, she couldn't feel anything! The woman soon fell over, dropping her trident as she lied on the ground.

"Tako!" cried Kim as she ran into the hut and ran to the mermaid, "Are you alright?"

"I can't move or feel anything...DO YOU THINK I'M ALRIGHT?!" Tako snapped as Kim flinched back.

"So what did you do?" Masamune asked as he walked over to Tome calmly. Tome took the time to take off his shade and clean them.

"Pressure Points." Tome told him, "Precise strikes to certain parts of the body to manipulate the body's flow of energy." Tome turned to Tako as he placed his glasses back on, "The spots I hit has caused a temporary paralysis throughout your entire body. With enough force, I could cause death." Tome said with a very eerie tone that sent a rush a fear up Kim's spine.

"Interesting. How did you learn this?" Masamune asked.

"Interesting, huh?! I can't freaking move!" shouted Tako.

"I learned under the study of Hapkido." Kim turned pale and the realization.

"W-why would you need to learn martial arts?" Kim asked worriedly.

"I live in a town run by a crazed Samurai and I live by myself. Learning to fight was necessary." he answered blandly.

"HEY!" shouted Tako, "I don't know if you remember or not, but our captain was at the brink of death and this guy did something!"

"Oi, Sushi-Chan." Everyone turned to the door and saw the tophat wearing Kitsune himself with a snarky grin, having a few new scratches on his face and his arm bandaged up from where the poison infected him. All in all, he looked alright and he was laughing as he entered the house, "I can't go anywhere without telling you, huh? It's nice knowing you care so much."

"You idiot! When I feel my arm, I'll strangle you! I thought you were dead!" Tako yelled.

"Dead? No." Tome said bluntly, "But I thought I told you to stay in bed. And not exert your body."

Jango laughed, "I know what you said." he said, "But I just feel great! It's as if I never felt pain before in my life!"

"That's possibly the adrenaline boost that was in the antidote. It gives a good jump of energy." Tome analyzed, "But a normal human would never have been able to leave since five and now be back near noon without feeling hunger or fatigue..." mumbled Tome as he tried to make sense out of Jango's condition.

"We can vouch for him: he's not normal." Tako groaned.

Sardius slammed his fist on the arm rest of his throne. He felt furious. Humiliated! He practically had Masamune! But not only did he get away, he kidnapped some helpless damsel! This had gone too far.

"Sardius-Sama." Sardius leaped when he turned to see Kotaro suddenly on his right, "My apologies for frightening you, my lord."

"Whatever..." groaned Sardius, "Did you find him."

"Sadly, no such luck." Sardius looked ready to blow a fuse, "However, there is a lead as to where they're hiding. Since it's purely a rumor, I sent a small squad lead by Captain Saigo."

Sardius huffed as he said, "Good thinking, Kotaro. Glad I thought of it." he chuckled as the ninja nodded, "Now, have Miyamato guard the front of the castle, make sure nobody leaves or gets in." he ordered.

"Of course, sir." Kotaro bowed before leaving.

"So you guys are just about OK, huh?" asked Jango, everyone in the house sat down, even Tako, having her natural flow restored by Tome as the Doctor and Navigator seemed to still be at odds, "Good! Because I think it's obvious we should go after this Sardius-Baka."

Tako sighed as she held her head in her hands, "Jango, may I please ask why you want to beat him up so bad?"

"Well, if he's this 'emperor' then he must have some affiliation or tugs with the World Government. Hence, we beat him up and liberate the island." Jango's logic may have been a bit flawed, but it wasn't like he didn't have a point-even if he didn't quite know it himself. Since the price for a Doctor here was, at the least, 5x it would on any other island.

"But is he really doing anything wrong by that?" Kim asked, "I mean, the government isn't perfect, but surely Sardius didn't do anything wrong."

"He nearly got us killed and you say this." criticized Masamune.

"Well...we're Pirates. We could have tried to raid the place or something." Kim defended.

"The doctors here are also overpriced." Tako added, "That's a good reason to me."

"And people are dying here." Everyone turned to Tome, who had said this.

"What do you mean?" Jango asked, his comical tone turned down to a much more serious one.

"Because it's so expensive to afford medical treatment, people have been suffering with diseases. Barely anyone that is a physician knows how to cure an ailment. It's actually pretty common to see people die because they can't get to medical help." elaborated Tome, "It's actually a bit sad."

"And what about you?!" shouted Tako, "You're obviously a Doctor?! Can't you help them?!"

"I can't help everyone." Tome said bluntly, "How would I help myself?" Tako suddenly reached for the doctor, grabbing the collar of his shirt before slamming him to the wall as the entire shack shook. Kim looked freaked, Masamune looked ready to stop this, but Jango had extended his arm to block the swordsman.

"You are a selfish bastard!" she shouted, "How can you stay in your little shed knowing people die out there?! Have you no moral?! No conscious?! What kind of Doctor are you?! You're suppose to help people?!"

"No." Tome told her, "I learned medicine to save myself. I knew I would die without medical knowledge, so I taught myself how to cure diseases." as Tome spoke, his voice changed in tone from calm and collected to furious, "If I stop to save everybody, then I could never be able to save myself. I only save the few who truly need it. If I could save everyone, I would. But I'm one man and there's over 100 in that town. The hell do you expect from me?"

The two seemed stare into the other's eyes, neither wanting to back down to the other and both willing to defend their beliefs. As the two glared into the other, the room felt just as tense as the two were.

The tension was broke when the door was cut cleanly in half as everyone turned to who was responsible.

"By order of Emperor Sardius, you all are sentenced to die!"