Enter Cotton Candy Lover: Tony Tony Chopper 2...

Chapter 21.5 - Cotton Candy Lover:Tony Tony Chopper 2...

Once that was decided, the next memory appeared. They were in a room filled with a mixture of objects and books—judging from the stone walls, they guessed that they were inside the castle. There were two beds and both Luffy and Sanji were sleeping in them, both of them were covered in bandages. Most of Luffy's body, as well as Sanji's chest, were both heavily wrapped up as past Chopper lay a bowl of bloodstained wrappings on a small table next to Luffy's bed before he looked over at him. He cautiously approached the bed, as if getting ready to back away should something happen.

He was looking over Luffy with a critical eye—but not as if he was trying to detect the source of a medical problem… but as if he was trying to figure something else.

"What's wrong Chopper?" Zoro asked curiously, recognizing that look.

"I just never met anyone like him before," Chopper answered quietly. "What he said before. About how you two were his friends? I realized that he must've climbed up that way just for that reason. I never heard of someone doing something like that, even if they were friends."

He was also a little jealous here. He had always wanted friends himself, and seeing someone willing to go through all that just to get someone help… he wished that he was part of that. But he smiled to himself, well he had them now and that was all that mattered.

Just then, Luffy's eyes opened and the fuzzy room slowly started to clear and Luffy croaked out, "Hungry… So hungry…"

He turned his glassy eyes next to him to see Chopper there. "Need meat," Luffy said in a groan and drool was starting to form from his mouth.

"You mean…?" Usopp said slowly as past Chopper backed away from him, knocking a tray of tools to the floor before he backed into Sanji's bed. That was when past Sanji began to speak, almost as if he was in the middle of a dream… "Venison stew should be shimmered in a large pot for three hours until all the meat because tender." Past Chopper slowly looked over and memory Sanji was finally waking up, a vindictive smile curling on his lips as the little reindeer backed away, shaking with fear.

"Chopper…?" Robin said carefully as current Sanji blushed a little ashamed of himself as Luffy sat up in bed, his eyes never leaving Chopper as he croaked, "Meat…"

"I forgot about this," current Chopper said, glaring at the Sanji next to him as his past self grabbed past Chopper's arm.

"Venison…" he declared as Chopper screamed and backed even farther away as drool was cascading down Luffy's mouth and he finally screamed out loudly as the two jumped from their beds and threw themselves at him.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" he screamed at the top of his lungs as he bolted, Luffy and Sanji were on each side of him like a couple of kids fighting over a toy.

"You mean they tried to eat you?" Usopp said with most of them had sweat-dropped.

"Well," Sanji said, rubbing the back of his head. "We didn't know that he was going to become one of our friends and we were starving."

"Still, I don't think I've ever seen you two like this," Robin said in interest as Luffy shouted for Chopper to stop running as he tried to chew down on Chopper's arm with Sanji screaming to wait so that he could cook him up first.

"That's one heck of a way to make a first impression," Franky said.

"I'm surprised that you didn't come to think of them as cannibals after this, Chopper," Nami said as they ran around the room, before breaking through the door.

"Well," Chopper laughed a little, "It's hard to stay mad at someone after they help you fight off an evil King."

"What do you mean?" began Brook, but before they could get into any real details, they were in the next room with Dr. Kureha and Nami sitting up in a bed, finally awake. Though her eyes were still glazed over and her face was still red, she looked a lot better than she had been before.

"Oh! You look so much better Nami-san!" Brook said happily as Luffy noticed that she was sitting up, and all thoughts of trying to eat Chopper had been driven from his mind at the moment.

"By the time that we left the castle my fever was almost completely gone and I felt great," Nami smiled, giving them a thumbs up as past Sanji skipped over to Nami's bedside as well. "And by the next morning you'd never guess I was sick at all!"

"Truly wonderful news!" Brook cried out cheerfully as Luffy cried out happily that she looked like she was all better.

"Getting there, thanks," past Nami answered, her voice still sounding a little weak, but she gave them both a smile.

"Right!" Sanji decided, clapping one of his arms, "One tasty venison dish for Nami coming right up!"

They then looked behind them to see Chopper was trying to sneak out the door without them noticing. The moment that he felt their eyes on him he froze for a moment before the two screamed out, "COME BACK!"

Naturally, Chopper turned and ran on ahead with the Straw Hats behind them, not sure if laughing would be called for here. But some of them like Franky and Usopp couldn't help themselves; even Chopper was smiling a little at the scene. Onwards they went after the trio, Luffy and Sanji were able to catch up to him and were now attempting to stop him, Luffy actually chewing on one of Chopper's antlers.

"They're like wild animals hunting," Nami said, wondering just what she was going to do with them. "And I thought you said that you were the refined soul, Sanji."

"Like I said," Zoro laughed, "A damned soul."

"One more word outta you Moss Head and you're gonna regret ever meeting me!" Sanji threatened as his past self kept telling Luffy not to eat him until he cooked him up.

"I already do regret meeting you," Zoro said, "You think that we could've found ourselves a decent cook by now."

Now, some of them were concerned that Sanji's roar of rage could be heard even by their past selves as he aimed a kick at him. But then past Chopper finally had enough of fighting them off and grew big by going into his 'Heavy Point' of two years ago. The one that looked the most human, and their Chopper smiled a little, once again, proud of the monster he had become.

The two sure didn't see that coming as he screamed out, "I AM NOT FOOD FOR YOU OK?!"

And he gave them both a hard punch, sending them straight into the floor and things blacked out there as their heads cracked the stone beneath them.

The Straw Hats all stared ahead of them as they watched the night sky. The silence around them was broken when Robin stated, "Well… that went well don't you think?"

"Oh, yeah, friend's right off the bat," Usopp said, still laughing at that. Though he knew that was terrible, you couldn't admit that it wasn't funny.

"Could you have ever imagined joining up with us, Chopper?" Nami asked him.

"Nope," Chopper admitted. "I thought that you all were insane and you scared me. Even if I had joined you before everything that happened, I would've thought that you wanted me with you so that you could eat me."

"Well, what good is an emergency food supply if not for that?" Sanji asked reasonably.

"Are you still calling me that?!" Chopper yelled, waving his little hooves around angrily as the memory came back. They were back in the room with Nami sleeping in the bed, and the two were finishing up some food as Dr. Kureha watched them. Luffy stood up and slammed his hands on the table as he said loudly, "You should be one of my crew! Please, old lady. We really need to have a doctor on board."

Chopper winced, knowing that Doctorine wasn't going to tell well to being called old.

"If she had joined us, I don't see how we could have survived long," Sanji hissed. "That old hag would've killed us in just a few days." The idea of that crazy bat of a doctor on board with them scared him half to death.

"How is she really dangerous though?" Brook said as he looked to her, deciding that he didn't want to see her panties. "Sure, she's strange, but the way you all talk about her is like some kind of demon."

"Wait for it," Sanji whispered as Dr. Kureha raised a single finger up to silence Luffy as she asked, "Luffy? You did tell me that was your name right?"

"Yeah," he said slowly.

"And did you just call me old lady?" she asked, as if making sure she heard her hearing was working correctly.

"Yeah, right," he answered bluntly, "That's what I said, old lady."

With a loud cracking sound, Dr. Kureha kicked him so hard that he went flying across the room and slammed into the wall, leaving deep cracks in it as she yelled out, "IF I WERE YOU I'D BE A LITTLE MORE CAREFUL OF WHAT I SAY!"

At that, the ones who had been skeptical froze and turned pale at what they saw.

"Believe us now?" Zoro asked darkly.

"Ok…" Franky croaked out. "I see what you mean…"

Dr. Kureha smirked as she leaned back in her chair and said, "I'm still within my youthful one hundred and thirties thank you."

"Man," Franky gulped as Luffy crawled back to the table. "She's that old but she's still that strong?"

"She's got an old face but a young punch," Zoro muttered in hardly more than a whisper, not realizing that Robin heard him as she smiled a little. It sounded as if Zoro had a bad run-in with this woman and she had to fight the urge to giggle.

"Geeze, you're a tough old hag," Sanji said and she answered him by slamming him face-first into the wall and he slid painfully down it.

"You would think you earned your lesson after seeing what happened to Luffy," Nami sighed. She had such high hopes for Sanji too.

"You don't expect someone as old as her to be that touchy about it!" he retorted. "That old hag is nuts!"

"Are you boys really asking me to become a pirate?" Dr. Kureha said. "That would be an incredible waste of my precious time. Besides, I have no interest in life on the sea."

"Thank you for small miracles," Usopp whispered gratefully.

Luffy dragged himself back to the table and when he got back up on his feet, they could see blood dripping down from his nose and from between some teeth. "Those are all lame excuses it's about adventure old woman!"

"Well, this one's a slow learner," she said, "Didn't I just tell you to watch what you say?"

"Oh, he's a slow learner alright," Nami chuckled. It would be nice if he could keep up with everyone once in awhile—really, talking to him felt like talking to a five-year-old sometimes. But she bet that some five-year-olds could understand better than he could. But, she liked him like this so there's nothing that can be done.

"It's for the best," Robin said. "After all, if she left, then there would be no one but Chopper to treat the villagers."

Chopper nodded, knowing that the people wouldn't be too keen on that idea. That was when they noticed that his past self was standing in the doorway—and as soon as they saw him Sanji and Luffy's jaws dropped hungrily as Chopper's fell open in fear—literally hitting the floor. Soon they were chasing him around the castle again with Chopper screaming the whole way.

"You think that after you had some food in your bellies you'd stop trying to eat him," Franky said exasperatedly.

"It was a spur of the moment?" Sanji suggested with a shrug. However, as the two kept chasing Chopper, Dr. Kureha eventually put an end to it when she showed up with a pair of swords and charged at them. They completely forgotten about being hungry as they screamed and ran from her.

"SCARY HAG!" they screamed. Chopper was out in front as the duo ran right behind him as Kureha gave chase.

"I don't know what to say to that," Robin as the others were all laughing.

"Laugh it up," Sanji stated, "you weren't the one getting chased by that crazy hag."

"Oh man, this is just funny," Franky laughed. "I don't know what's worse! Almost dying in a blizzard or running scared from a witch trying to kill you!"

"Is she really the one who took care of you, Chopper-san?" Brook whispered to him and Chopper nodded. They went after the group of them, eventually losing Kureha in the chase, but then the two were standing in a large room, most likely like the entrance hall of the castle. It was covered with snow everywhere, icicles were handing from the roof, even the doorknobs on all the doors were frozen shut as the wind was blowing so hard that you would swear that you were outside.

"What is with this place?" Usopp asked, staring around at the snow-covered hovel. "There's no point in going in if it's like this!"

"We had our reason!" Chopper said firmly as past Sanji also asked why the castle was freezing. Luffy looked at him blankly for a few seconds, as if trying to process what he said before he hugged his shivering body, saying that he was freezing.

"Not the sharpest knife in the drawer are ya Luffy?" memory Sanji demanded as they came to the railing to get a good look at the whole place.

"Man, interior design by Old Man Winter himself," Franky said.

"With help from Jack Frost," Usopp added as they looked.

"It looks colder than even outside!" Brook exclaimed. "Someone leave a window or something open here?"

But before they could really get to observe everything, Dr. Kureha appeared once again. She swung from out of nowhere with many sorted weapons on her back—everything from swords and knifes to spears and maces. Luffy and Sanji didn't waste any time and ran for their lives as she threw them all at them.

"IS SHE INSANE?!" Usopp screamed in terror. "WHAT KIND OF DOCTOR TRIES TO KILL HER PATIENTS?!"

"Dude, how'd you survive living with her?" Franky asked Chopper who didn't miss it when she threw knifes around at him.

"She's almost a hundred and forty years old but she's still sharp as a switchblade," Robin proclaimed as they watched the two screaming as they ran, narrowly avoiding thing turned into human pincushions.

"COME BACK HERE JUST A MOMENT BOYS!" she screamed as they dodged the weapons. An ax almost beheading Luffy as she screamed for them to stop.

"I don't know about you guys," Usopp cried as a spear went through his chest as he ran and he almost jumped out of his skin before he remembered that it couldn't hurt him. "But I sure wouldn't stop for her!"

"Nope," they all agreed.

"You should rethink this idea of asking the old hag to join our crew!" past Sanji screamed at Luffy as more items went flying by, "A real doctor doesn't chase her patients around a freaky snow-filled castle trying to kill them!"

The memory faded at that, and they all waited impatiently to see what was next, most of them loved seeing part of the Monster Trio running scared from Dr. Kureha… The next memory appeared and it looked like they had been able to shake off the mad doctor as they headed to a large wooden doorway that was left wide open.

"Why would you leave the front door open?" Usopp demanded Chopper. "It doesn't seem like it would take too much effort to remember to close the door when you get in."

"It was for a good cause," Chopper said at once, not regretting it at all as past Sanji pointed out the door to Luffy and they went over to it, both of them hugging their bodies as they tried to keep warm and headed over to shut it.

"Hey!" called a familiar voice from overhead them and they looked up to see past Chopper standing on the balcony on the floor above them. "Stop it! Don't touch that door! Get away!"

Memory Sanji and Luffy both looked up at him in surprise as Usopp stated to their Chopper that just because he could stand the cold doesn't mean that everyone can.

"Never mind him, let's close it," past Sanji told Luffy and they moved back to the door. "Or we're gonna to freeze to death."

"That's a good point," Luffy agreed but that only made the memory Chopper furious.

"STOP!" he screamed out. "Didn't you hear what I said!?" And when he shifted into his Heavy Point, he ripped off part of the railing as he screamed out, "GET BACK!"

"Chopper what's wrong?" Nami asked in surprise, rarely seeing Chopper like this. Chopper didn't answer as he stared at his past self as he threw the railing at them. He knew the reason… he wasn't very social, and he wasn't sure of how else to talk to people without them either running scared or wanting to kill him. It was really all he knew before he joined the Straw Hats.

Luffy freaked out and had to jump back to avoid getting hit with shrapnel. "What is with this guy!?" he screamed out in shock. "What's the hell is he so angry about!?"

Memory Chopper panted angrily at them, practically acting like an angry bull as he glared down at them. Current Chopper stared at himself. Was that… really him? He seemed… so different here. He wasn't sure if he liked it. Suddenly, past Sanji told Luffy to come over as he stared up at the door. Luffy and the other Straw Hats looked up to see what Sanji was looking at and they saw a nest of baby birds chirping loudly on the top of the door.

"Those are Snowbirds," Robin whispered, her eyes lighting up slightly as she looked at them.

"Awwww…" Nami cooed, looking at the baby birds as past Sanji said to Luffy, "It's a bunch of baby Snowbirds. See? If we closed the door, they'd fall."

"So, that's the reason they're leaving it open," Luffy said in wonder. They stood there for a moment staring at the nest happily before they remembered that it was cold and went running back in to get out of the wind. While they had been distracted by the birds, they hadn't noticed that past Chopper had already left. But then Luffy paused for a moment. "Hold up a sec," he said quietly.

"Yeah?" past Sanji asked from behind him and making him jump.

"That weird reindeer guy, wasn't he speaking earlier?" Luffy asked him slowly as Sanji's eyes widen at that as he realized that he was right.

"You mean you just noticed?" Zoro asked, looking over at Sanji, who glared back.

"Now that you mentioned it, I remember seeing him walking on two legs too," his past self said. They stood there frozen for a moment before they screamed out, "HE'S A MONSTER!"

Nami hit Sanji over the head. "Like you're one to talk!"

"Give me a break! A lot happened here! I wanted to cook him when I first met him, I didn't really care about all that till I realized that he could talk and do all that," he moaned out, nursing the swollen lump on his head.

"Hey!" Chopper yelled out.

"What? We didn't eat you in the end did we?" Sanji asked him irritably.

"Ok, let's get this straight!" Luffy exclaimed, looking really freaked out, "He walks upright and talks…"

"…but not human…" past Sanji added.

"…has fur…" Luffy listed.

"…he's little…" memory Sanji piped up.

"…and becomes big…" Luffy finished before they looked to each other. "Clearly a monster!" But the freaked out expression on Luffy's face changed at once to alarm to excitement.

"What a cool guy! I bet he's really interesting!" Luffy suddenly screamed out eagerly and Chopper felt a blush coming to his face. "Hey wait! I know! He should join us!"

And at those words it was all over. They were now back among the thick trees and Robin said, "So… he didn't even know that Chopper was a doctor when he wanted him to join?"

"Nope," Nami agreed. "Luffy does not seem to mind if someone he wants to recruit has a profession or not. Remember when he invited Usopp to join? It wasn't until he saw him at the cannon did he name him the sniper. And he also considers Vivi and Carue members and I remember that he offered Gaimon, we told you about him didn't we? To join."

"And let's not forget the zombies from Thriller Bark," Zoro added.

"He wanted zombies to join?!" Brook cried out.

"He also asked you didn't he?" Sanji pointed out, "and you're hardly better off than them."

"My point is that when he wants people to join, it's not just because what they're best at," Nami added. "He really thought that Chopper was amazing and wanted him in the crew. That was all that he needed to know."

Chopper gripped the edges of his hat as he turned a bright red. "What a jerk," he said, his face still red. The next memory was Luffy looking around the castle, clearly looking for Chopper and when he went bursting through random rooms, calling out for the 'monster'. He kept grinning the whole time until he finally found him after about five minutes of searching. Chopper, who had been looking through a microscope, was started so much that he accidently sent some of the equipment flying off. Panicking, him jumped up and caught them all. In the end he was forced to stand on one leg, while his arms, leg, and even his antlers were balancing the test tubes and bottles—it was such a way that one wrong move would cause him to fall and everything would break.

"Fast reflexes Chopper," Robin commented and he told her to shut up, still fighting off his blush.

"Whoa! Amazing!" Luffy said impressed. "You are cool monster!" Suddenly a wicked grin came over his face as he came forward, "But what happens when I do this?"

And he did an evil thing by starting to tickle him.

"Oh, that is a mean thing to do," Franky said grinning. Past Chopper almost fell as yelled at Luffy to stop it, but Luffy kept tickling him as the reindeer fought hard to keep himself from laughing. Luffy had no such problems and was laughing loudly, tears in his eyes, "That's funny!"

That seemed to make Chopper angry as he yelled out, "Shut up! Get outta here!"

But Luffy grinned as he came almost face to face with him. "Come on! Let's you and me be friends! Please? I really, really, really do like you, you know?"

Current Chopper smiled. He knew right away that Luffy wasn't like any other human he ever met, but here was a first… he never once met someone who wanted to be his friend like that… to just come right out and ask… But past Chopper's limbs were shaking worse than ever as he stared at him. His expression holding nothing but shock as he croaked out, "You… like me?"

"You are SUPER cool bro!" Franky laughed loudly. "Don't know why you sound so surprised."

"Would you all stop it?!" Chopper said, not sure how else to respond to all the praise.

Luffy nodded to what past Chopper said and added, "You'd make a great pirate."

Zoro smiled. Well that was true… But he didn't say that outloud as Chopper looked like he was about to explode from all the compliments. However, the past version of Chopper didn't seem to agree as he put most of the equipment down and backed away from him, holding onto a vial full of purple liquid. "Did you slip and hit your head on the ice or something?" he demanded hotly, "I don't want to be a pirate or your friend, see?"

"Cold," Usopp whispered as Luffy came forward, telling him that he had to become his friend and that his crew would love him.

"For dinner?" Robin asked and Chopper screamed at the thought. "That's what I would be thinking if someone tried to eat me," she added reasonably.

But past Chopper just turned and ran. "HEY! WAIT!" Luffy yelled as he gave chase.

"Why would I wanna be friends with you?! Are you making fun of me?!" Memory Chopper yelled back, almost childishly as he ran down some stairs, slipping and bouncing down the rest of the way. He was forced to catch the vial with his feet as Luffy laughed when he saw how he landed on his head.

"I think you're the funniest guy I know! Oh yeah, we're gonna be great friends!" Luffy decided firmly as Chopper put the vial down and the memory disappeared quickly.

"Well, he was right about one thing, you two sure are great friends!" Brook said. Chopper couldn't stop smiling. His heart was feeling lighter all the time as he watched. He loved watching all these memories… it was really a great feeling. In the next memory they were in some sort of storage with Luffy still calling out for the reindeer to come out. But he was distracted when he saw the plate of food there and he would naturally put his search on hold until he ate. "I love being a pirate!" he said happily to himself as he swallowed the apples.

"Yeah! Being a pirate's the best!" Usopp agreed wholeheartedly as past Chopper stuck his antlered head out from behind a large crate as he watched Luffy swallow the entire plate of food.

"Hey?" he said called cautiously, looking ready to run at first notice, "Y-you're really a pirate?"

Nami laughed a little as she said, "Well, we're certainly like your normal pirate crew… that's for sure."

Luffy looked back to him. "Well, yeah, of course I am," he said before he swallowed and went on about all the awesome things that pirates did and he definitely got Chopper's interest. As he started talking about adventures and everything they went through, Chopper was like a child being told an amazing bedtime story.

And when he was done, Luffy asked, "So will ya join us?"

Past Chopper was looking deeply tempted by the offer but seemed to snap out of it as he looked over his shoulder. "Ah… sure…" he said carefully. "But first… why don't you come this way first?"

"Really?!" Luffy asked eagerly. "What?"

"Chopper what do you have planned here?" Sanji asked, knowing that this had to be some kind of trap.

Chopper didn't answer as he looked away embarrassed. "Well… I knew that he was hurt and I knew that he wasn't going to rest anytime soon so I… tricked him here."

"Well, that's nothing special," Zoro stated. "He gets tricked all the time."

They saw what Chopper meant when he led Luffy to a random room with bars on a little window and locked the door behind him.

"HEY!" Luffy yelled, shaking the bars, "WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA!?"

"I can't believe he walked right into something like that," Usopp said, looking ready to fall over here.

"I can," Sanji said and the rest of the crew nodded in agreement.

"Now you can't pester me!" past Chopper declared as Luffy glared down at him with a heavy frown.

"I just want you to join us!" he pouted like a little kid who had been told to go to his room for being bad.

"That's exactly what I mean by pestering!" memory Chopper yelled and Luffy began to whine for him to keep joining. "Shut up! Now you stay right there!" he finally called, holding up the key for Luffy to see. "You were injured too you know! So just settle down!" As he turned, he didn't notice Luffy stretching his hand out to grab the key.

"So that's what happened," Chopper said in surprise.

"You know… he'd be a decent thief if he wasn't so honest," Nami said, thinking of all the possibilities she could put that ability to if Luffy'd let her.

"But really, he was badly injured, but he's up and running around like a maniac, how does he do it?" Usopp asked in envy.

"Devil Fruit Users do tend to heal more quickly than normal people," Robin confessed. "Even injuries that should kill a normal person won't necessarily kill us."

"Yohohoho, that's true," Brook agreed. "And some Devil Fruit abilities help to heal you even faster! It's all how you use them I suppose."

"Lucky," Usopp whispered under his breath. But as past Chopper walked away, he noticed that the key was gone and his face turned a little blue as Luffy opened the door, a grin there as he held up it up.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Chopper yelled out as he ran once again and Luffy was right after him, telling him to come back.

"He just doesn't give up does he?" Brook said fondly.

"Nope," Sanji agreed. "Probably never will."

Luffy continued running, calling for him to stop running, and to everyone's surprised, Chopper did stop so that Luffy slid and crashed into the wall. But Chopper didn't notice pay any attention to that as he stood there, shaking and his eyes wide. "That scent…" he said, anger in his face.

"What is it, Chopper-san?" Brook asked him worriedly. "Is there something wrong?"

He didn't answer him as he watched. He remembered this day very well… Luffy looked up from the hole he made in the wall and past Chopper only said one word. "Wapol."

"So Big Mouth's back?" Franky asked as the memory faded around them.

Chopper nodded angrily. "He had some nerve coming back to Drum and I wasn't going to let him take control again if I could help it!"

"I don't blame you," Zoro said, "I don't think I could stomach being forced to work under a human garbage disposal like Wapol."

Chopper nodded, but it was more than that. That castle was his father's grave and he wasn't going to let that coward get away with doing any more damage than he already had done. He stood there frozen as he stared ahead of him, almost trying to will for the next scene to come up. And then it did… they were standing outside the castle—him and Doctorine were facing down Wapol and his two flunkies on either side of him and even that strange hippo that Wapol rode on was right behind them.

"This castle is no longer yours Wapol! It saw enough corrupting and misery during your reign! Leave!" Doctorine yelled, not showing the slightest bit of fear as she stared him down, "Not just here! The country to! Drum Kingdom has already died out moron!"

"Drum Kingdom's been dead for a long time," Chopper agreed with a firm look as he watched this, sending a hateful glare at Wapol. "He lost all rights to the castle the moment that he chose to leave!"

"Wait!" yelled a voice behind them and looked back to see that Luffy had come running out of the front doors, his eyes burning fiercely. "This guy is mine!"

Luffy ran past them all, straight at Wapol, who looked stunned at his appearance before Luffy slammed his fist right into his face, sending him flying. Everyone was gapping at him, even Doctorine and Chopper, their jaws wide open. However Wapol's flunkies had grabbed hold of Wapol's feet and were holding onto him as he dangled from the edge.

"He sure didn't see that coming did he?" Zoro said. This guy was pathetic… and everyone in the kingdom was afraid of him? This is just sad…

"I almost feel bad for Wapol now," Usopp added, "Almost…"

"Yeah! Take him out!" Franky cheered loudly as Chopper watched the whole thing with a critical eye.

"I'm really sick of you guys you know that?" Luffy said angrily as the wind continued to blow around them all. "What's your problem? You were getting in our way before we even got to this island?"

"That's for sure," Sanji said as his past self walked out of the castle, his face one of deep annoyance as he groaned at the sight of them. If he ever met up with him again, he was going to break every single bone in their bodies for daring to try harm Nami.

"The last time I ran into you guys I couldn't fight cause I had to protect my friends," Luffy said, his eyes shadowed over again before he looked up, grinning wildly, "But now… you guys are soooooo gonna get it!"

"Then get to it!" Zoro called, tired of all the talk and wanted to see some real action. He was aching for this memory monster to show its face so that he could have another go at it. He may not have been able to cut through it before, but he was sure to find a way sooner or later… if it would only come back out.

"How dare you?!" Kuromarimo cried out in outrage, kneeling on Wapol's side. "Do you know who you attacked? This an't no lowly commoner! This is Wapol! The king and absolute ruler of Drum Kingdom!"

"That's right!" Chess yelled, also sounding outraged, "Show some respect! He's this country's monarch! How dare you do such a thing to his most excellent of excellenies? For shame!"

"Kiss-asses," Sanji said as Nami wrinkled her nose in disgust at this.

"Who cares? He ticked me off again!" Luffy yelled, pulling his checks out and sticking his tongue out at them.

"Good comeback," Robin said in amusement as Dr. Kureha asked if Luffy had run into Wapol before, though it sounded like she already knew the answer.

"I sure have!" Luffy yelled, looking at her, "He's that annoying big mouth pirate!"

"What'd he do?" she asked, and he went into a rant about how he attacked him and his friends as well as ate part of their ship. He was yelling, stamping his feet in the snow and declared that he was going to take him out. But before he did, past Sanji asked if he was cold without a coat. Luffy blinked as if he just realized something.

"Cold…" Usopp sighed slowly as if he was speaking to someone slow and dumb. "You know… when it's not warm out?"

"Hey!" Luffy yelled, looking back at Wapol and yelling out, "Did he say he was a king? But I thought he was a pirate!"

"Took you long enough!" past Sanji yelled at him, it was so funny hearing them talk when their enemy was here that they all completely ignored Wapol and laughed when Luffy finally said that it was cold out here.

"You really are an idiot," Sanji said in annoyance.

"Yeah, it's fifty below zero!" Chopper added just as Luffy ran in to get a coat.

"What is with us and having these stupid talks when there's a fight going on?" Nami asked, shaking her head as she remembered all the times that they had done that.

"Lightens the mood?" Sanji offered as the memory quickly changed back. But they all cried out in shock to see that Wapol was now chewing on Chopper like he was a stick of gum.

"He's… eating you?" Zoro choked out as Brook and Usopp yelled in shock.

"Such a bad day for you Chopper," Robin said softly.

"Don't talk like that!" Chopper cried out as he tried to get rid of that image from his mind. Oh, it was horrible being that close to actually being eaten alive! He rubbed his arms hurriedly, he felt sick just thinking of his saliva…

Just then they heard memory Sanji scream out, "Luffy, grab my leg from there!"

They all looked up hurriedly to see that Luffy was running out of the castle again. He was also wearing Nami's plaid coat since he no longer had his own after losing it when he was climbing.

"Leg?" called Luffy before he smiled, understanding what he wanted him to do. "Sure." He quickly stretched his arms and grabbed onto Sanji outstretched leg. "Like this?"

"Yeah, just don't let go!" Sanji yelled as he prepared to swing his leg.

"You are all gonna love this one," current Sanji smiled deviously as he watched as his memory self swung his leg out and sent Luffy flying towards Wapol. Spinning like a torpedo, Luffy hit Metal Mouth right in the stomach, and not only did this cause Wapol to spit Chopper back out, but he was hit so hard that when he flew back and knocked into his hippo it was sent—not just off the mountain—but flying into the sky. It flew farther and farther away until it was a little star in the distance… and was gone.

"Wow," Franky said. "You know… if that hippo hadn't been there, that would've been Tin Mouth."

"Shame," Zoro said, shielding his eye as he tried to make out where the hippo-thing went. Memory Chopper was thanking both of them for saving him, praising how amazing they were, but Sanji didn't pay any attention as he yelled at Luffy, "Hey wait, just a minute, isn't that Nami's coat you're wearing, Luffy!?"

Luffy merely nodded as he looked back to Wapol. "Whoa Big Mouth is still alive, but his hippo is heading towards the moon."

But past Sanji was now shaking Luffy, telling him to take off Nami's coat.

"But he lost his coat getting up here," Robin pointed out.

"Well, we were going to leave once Nami-swan was better weren't we?" Sanji demanded. "I didn't want anything to happen with her coat! She was going to need it!"

"Dr. Kureha has more than a few coats lying around the castle," Nami reminded as Zoro rolled his eyes.

"Luffy should've just left you under all that snow," he muttered. He turned back to the fight as Wapol grew furious that they had dared to attack him.

"That's right! I'll show them the Munch Munch Factory!" he declared and Luffy seemed impressed that he got back up to his feet.

"Wow," he even said, "He stood up."

"Yeah, but how?" Sanji asked him, letting him go, and from the look of things decided to deal with Luffy later, "You hit him pretty hard."

"Guess… he's… tough?" Luffy suggested.

"Hardly, more like all that fat protected him," Nami said firmly as Wapol then turned to Chess and demanded that he remind him what he ate today and in the order. Chess pulled out a notebook and recited them all; which included two cannons, some cannonballs and gunpowder along with a cottage.

"Hate to see how this guy goes to the bathroom," Franky whispered with a deadpanned expression.

"And you thought I ate a lot," Luffy said to past Sanji.

"You do," Sanji reminded him, "But this guy's a bigger pig than you."

"I didn't think that was possible either," current Sanji added as Wapol slowly began to transform. Wapol transformed into a house complete with doors, chimney, and windows included. He also transforms his arms into cannons, and a large door in his stomach.

"What… is that?" Brook asked and they all looked at him with different degrees of disbelief.

"A house… he's a house…?" Usopp said carefully.

"Really?" Nami asked carefully. She knew that the paramecia Devil Fruit Users came up with the craziest moves, but this was just stupid. But then, once he was an overgrown house, he turned and swallowed his two henchmen.

"HE'S EATING THEM!" Brook screamed out horrified.

"Of course he is," current Sanji admitted as his past self also freaked out at seeing it. "Eating is all this guy knows how to do."

"THAT'S SO MEAN!" Luffy yelled. Wapol moved around awkwardly for a moment, as if doing some kind of dance, with steam coming out of the cannons and chimney on his head. But then the large door on Wapol's stomach opened up and stepped out a new creature. Now, they had been expect to see something like a horrible monster… but instead…

"Is that guy standing on the other guy's shoulders or something?" Franky asked, rubbing his eyes to make sure that he was seeing things correctly.

"I think that only their clothes really fused together," Nami said, now having several sweat-drops around her head.

They all stood there silently for a moment before Usopp summed it up for all of them in just three words. "That's so lame."

"I couldn't agree with you more," Nami said dryly. And to think that Luffy returned her coat in such beaten up condition…? As Luffy and past Sanji stared at it, Doctorine suddenly started speaking, warning them that they shouldn't let their guards down. She explained that it was because of these two the citizens couldn't stand up to them and how the doctors were all exiled.

"These guys?" Zoro repeated contemptuously. He looked to Sanji and said, "If you lost to these morons, you should leave the crew before you embarrass us."

"I don't see you here!" Sanji snapped, "And believe me, if that old hag had let me, I'd have taken them both apart faster than you can said beatdown!"

"All talk," Zoro said as steam was now pouring out of Sanji's ears. But Wapol was talking again.

"Article one of the Drum Kingdom's constitution, those who don't do as the king wishes will be put to death. That's the number one law of this country," Wapol declared, pointing one of his cannon arms at them. He then yelled out that they broke that law and he was going to punish them for their crime. But he added that he was going to get rid of the quack's flag on the top of his castle.

"Dr. Hiruluk wasn't a quack! You take that back!" Chopper yelled furiously.

"What flag?" Brook asked, looking up and said in surprised, "Oh! I see it!"

They all looked to the tallest point of the castle and spotted it as well. Though it was hard to tell at this distance, it was a pirate flag with the skull and crossbones. However, what made this one special was that it also had cherry blossoms.

"What's a pirate flag doing there?" Zoro asked in surprise. Nami and Sanji both glanced down at Chopper, who was looking sadly up at it.

But before he could find the courage to tell them about it, Wapol held up his cannoned arm and fired, "It's time to take that flag down!"

"NO!" Chopper screamed as his memory self gasped and stared up in horror as they watched, as if in slow motion, the cannonball struck the flag and exploded. As the smoke cleared, the waving flag leaned and started to fall, barely hanging on.

Rage was building up in both versions of Chopper as Luffy also stared up at it. "Hey reindeer… that flag…?" he began but he stopped as he looked at past Chopper's expression. A strange understanding seemed to cross Luffy's face as if he suddenly knew what the problem was.

Memory Chopper lost his temper completely as he turned with tears burning in his eyes and he ran at Wapol. "HOW DARE YOU?! YOU ATTACKED DOCTOR'S FLAG YOU CREEP!"

Some of the Straw Hats were taken aback at seeing this rage. They hadn't ever seen him look as angry as he did now. But past Chopper ducked under 'Chessmarimo's' legs and shifted to Heavy Point as he jumped up to grab hold of Wapol by his face.

But what got them all was the fact that he was crying…

"Doctor… tried to… he tried to save even you!" memory Chopper yelled in tears as he held up his fast, looking ready to attack him but he froze… as if he couldn't bring himself to do so.

"What's wrong with you here, Chopper?" Usopp said worriedly.

"That… that was my father's flag," Chopper whispered.

"Your father?" Franky asked baffled. "You mean another reindeer?"

"NO!" Chopper yelled out angrily. "My herd kicked me out and left me to die! And I would've if Doctor didn't find me!" He took a deep breath and went into a long rant about Dr. Hiluluk who took him in and they had a deep bond with each other. He found Chopper one day while traveling home in a blizzard and took care of him since then—even giving him his name. "So he's the greatest doctor in the whole world!" Chopper yelled, finally calming down and taking deep breaths, "Don't you ever say otherwise."

The Straw Hats all stared at him as he looked back up to the flag and fought the tears that burned. But then he felt Robin's arms around him and he relaxed almost at once. "You don't have to say anymore," she said gently. "If you think that highly of him, he must've truly been a great man."

Chopper's lip was quivering as he looked back to fight, his memory self choked out, "I… I won't hurt you if you just… leave this country forever!"

"But you couldn't really trust him could you?" Franky asked quickly. "What makes you think that he would've done it even if he did promise?"

"I don't know…" Chopper whispered back, leaning back into Robin's embrace as he confessed, "But Doctor always told me that I shouldn't try to hate humans and he did everything he could to try and save this country! So I just couldn't do it even if I hated him!"

Nami smiled gently down at him as Dr. Kureha started yelling at him, looking both angry and worried as she told him that he couldn't trust a word what he said, like how Usopp said before. But as they argued, Zoro was the only one who noticed that Luffy stretched his arms out and was now rocketing up to the castle to grab hold of the falling flag.

Memory Chopper didn't notice any of this as he turned back to his mentor and stuttered out, "But… Doctor said…"

"Maybe, but sometimes sympathy isn't the answer," Robin admitted as Wapol's worried face turned into a smug smile and pointed his cannoned arm right in his face before he fired.

"CHOPPER!" most of the Straw Hats, and Doctorine, all yelled out worriedly as Chopper slowly fell back—his eyes rolled into the back of his head, blood falling from his face and his fur burned.

"That was dirty!" Usopp yelled furiously, looking like he wanted to have a go at Wapol here, but just then…

"Hey, Big Mouth!"

That got everyone's attention as they stared up. Luffy was standing on the top of the tower, he had ripped off one of his sleeves and used it to tie the flag back up.

"Now what's he doing?" Franky asked.

"Something reckless and crazy," Sanji smirked as Chopper finally moved his head out of Robin's arms to get a good look. Nami fought the urge to say something when she saw what he had done to her coat, but decided that now wasn't the time for it as Wapol called up furiously at him.

But Luffy wasn't fazed. "You guys weren't real pirates! You were just fake ones, weren't you!?" he screamed back down at him angrily. "That's why you don't know what flying a pirate flag means! Cause you were just a bunch a fakes who didn't risk your lives!"

"Like that coward would do anything on his own," Zoro yawned, hoping that Luffy would just get to kicking this guy's ass already.

"What a pirate flag means, Straw Hat!?" Wapol began to laugh as if Luffy had asked the simplest question in the whole universe. "Don't make me laugh! Flags have no meaning!"

"Of course they do!" Chopper called out firmly. Doctor pledged his life to save his people and his country! And he learned that from Luffy that a flag is someone's vow to risk their life for their dreams… that they sail under it as they continue to fight on!

Luffy glared down at Wapol and shouted out, "If you think that, you're dumber than you look!"

"And that's saying something," Nami added, looking at this idiot with a sigh as the metal mouth king looked up at him in confusion and outrage.

"Listen, pirate flags stand for something, Big Mouth," Luffy said, holding onto the pole of the flag as it blew in the strong wind. "There're not raised as some kind of joke!"

"Moron!" Wapol yelled, clearly not caring about anything that he said. "The only joke is that I've let you live as long as I have. Since you dare put that flag back after I knocked it down, it's time I deliver the punch line!" He raised his cannon arm once again and past Chopper screamed for Luffy to look out. But even as Wapol fired and sent the cannonball flying at him, Luffy stood his ground and refused to move.

"What's he doing?!" Usopp cried out anxiously as Brook covered his mouth with boney hands.

"Do your worse! You can't break this flag!" Luffy proclaimed just before the ball hit and there was an explosion.

"What was he thinking?!" Franky yelled as Nami's jaw dropped. No wonder her coat was torn to shreds by the time she saw it.

Wapol just laughed smugly, grinning cockily as he said, "He was blown to pieces!"

"Please, it'll take more than a single attack to kill that guy off," Zoro said firmly, never once taking his eyes off, waiting for the smoke to clear. And when it did, Luffy was still there, holding the flag high, not caring about the fact that he was burned black.

Wapol stopped laughing and they didn't blame him for that. "That… is so cool," Brook whispered in awe.

"I told you, you can't break it!" Luffy yelled as he continued to hold the flag up.

"What? How'd he do that?! That's impossible!" Chessmarimo cried out.

"I have no idea who this pirate flag originally belong to, but it doesn't matter," Luffy declared, still holding the flag as he glared down at them all, ignoring what they said. "A pirate flag is someone's pledge to risk their life! It's not something to laugh at!" Even as they stared up at him, Luffy then screamed out at the top of his lungs, "IT STANDS FOR SOMETHING THAT YOU JACKASSES WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND IN A MILLION YEARS!"

It was as if he released a wave of powerful Haki because Wapol and Chessmarimo looked like they were being hit with a wave of power. Luffy's anger was so strong that they could all feel it.

Current Chopper felt waves of gratitude also wash over him. Luffy knew nothing about it, he even claimed that he didn't know whose flag it was, but he didn't care. He understood how important it was to him and that was more than enough reason to put his life on the line.

"It won't break, ever!" Luffy shouted out, glaring fiercely down at them, "Because the skull on it is a symbol of faith!"

Chopper nodded, unable to hide the tears this time. Those were the exact same words that Doctor once said to him. And he knew that those words were as true as his own blue nose.

"Hey, reindeer!" Luffy suddenly shouted down at Chopper. "I'm going to kick these guys' butts for showing your friend's flag disrespect! You in?"

Past Chopper blinked, startled before he asked, "Me?"

"How many other reindeers were here?" Nami laughed a little at him, "Of course he meant you!"

"You idiot!" Wapol yelled, getting his anger back. "You just don't get it, do you!? Alright then! Since you feel so strongly about that flag, I'll destroy you along with it!"

He looked like he was about to fire once again, but past Sanji was finally about to step in. "I don't think so, tubby!" he shouted out, but just then there was a loud cracking sound and he screamed in pain, almost falling

"What happened?!" Brook cried out in shock.

"My back…" Sanji hissed, that hurt alright, but it was nothing compared to what happened next here.

"Looks like your backbone gave out," Dr. Kureha informed Sanji from behind just as grabbed hold of his ribs in agony and she added, "You condition will continue to worsen if you keep moving. So, stop!" she screamed as she ran up and kicked him hard in the back, "Doctor's orders!"

"Doctor nothing, she's nuts!" Usopp yelled, "How is that helping him?!"

"Oh, I hurt all over just watching it," Franky groaned out miserably. "She's terrifying here!"

"Again, you're sure making yourself useful," Zoro informed the cook sarcastically.

"It's not my fault the old hag wouldn't let me up and fight!" he yelled at him, his face going red at seeing how pathetic he was here.

Wapol however was laughing at seeing Sanji now screaming in pain as Dr. Kureha dug her heel into his back. "If you two want to fight among yourselves, then please, by all means do so! But I hope you will at least watch your friend and that flag get blown to bits!" He turned his attention back up at Luffy and started dishing out threats by the time that past Chopper spoke up, "Stop it!"

"That's the spirit!" Luffy encouraged as slammed the flag back in its place, cheering Chopper on the whole way. Encouraged by that, past Chopper went back to trying to attack Wapol, but he was blocked with Chessmarimo jumped in the way and blocked Chopper's attack.

"Fight on your own for once!" Zoro yelled out at Wapol.

Dr. Kureha watched, still having a foot on Sanji's back, "Would you look at that? That little fur ball has more courage than a full grown man."

Present-day Chopper almost fell over from shock. He could count on one hand how many times that Doctorine had praised him, and he didn't even have fingers. He hid his eyes under his hat and fought back the smile of pride going through him as Chessmarimo laughed at his past self.

"I'm sorry, freak. But there is no way I'll going to let you lay a single paw on our king," they declared together.

"Why are they loyal to someone like him?" Brook demanded, "After everything?"

"Small fries who like to hang out with the big shot," Zoro answered with a shrug. "They don't have a conscience either and like being in charge. Why else would they listen to him?"

Past Chopper changed back into his usual form as Chessmarimo looked him over. "Wow, there're really are some strange creatures in this world. You must be that yeti the villagers hated and feared. They tried to kill you and chased you away, right?"

That stunned a lot of the Straw Hats and they all looked to him, still hiding his eyes from them all.

"Chopper?" Robin asked him gently and he sighed.

"Yeah," he admitted. "After I was kicked out of my herd. I thought that I could try living with people… but I don't look like any other human out there, and they thought I was some kind of snow monster and chased me away when I went to the village one day."

"Chopper-san," Brook whispered softly.

"I didn't understand what I did wrong," Chopper said quietly. "I wasn't human, but not a reindeer either… I'm not either but something in between. That was all I knew. Not long after that, Dr. Hiruluk found me and took me in. He died trying to save this country… and when he did, Doctorine took me in after that."

They all looked at him as he rubbed his eyes harshly on his arm.

"I get now why you didn't trust anyone at first," Robin said, remembering his reluctance to join the crew no matter what Luffy said. But she could understand perfectly… all the children from Ohara were terrified of her as well. The only difference is that they threw rotten food at her at the worse and she had the archeologists to help her through it—but all Chopper had was one person at the most. It must've been very hard for him. Chessmarimo went on to try and mock past Chopper. Reminding him that he lived alone and that he was a monster that everyone wanted to kill. But he couldn't understand why he was trying to save this country and that had to be the stupidest thing that they ever heard of.

"What an ass," Sanji stated and they all nodded in agreement.

"And don't believe a single thing they say, Chopper!" Usopp said firmly. "I mean, look at them! If there's anyone here who should be called a monster it's them!"

"I know," Chopper said softly as he looked back up to Luffy as he began to stretch out, getting ready to fly back down.

"Shut up!" memory Chopper yelled at Chessmarimo. "Even if I don't have friends, I can still fight for something I believe in! And as long as the flag flies, I will!"

"Well said, bro!" Franky yelled out. However…

"Hey, that's not true!" Luffy's voice called and once again, they all looked up to him just as he let go and went hurtling down at them, "You do have friends! I'm your friend, reindeer! ME!"

Memory Chopper seemed too stunned to speak, his eyes wide in amazement as Luffy fell towards them. Wapol screamed in fear as he hit the ground and knocked him and his freaky fused henchmen right on their asses.

"Well said," Nami said nodding as past Chopper screamed in worry for him. But when the snow cleared, he was kneeling in the snow, perfectly unharmed.

"You should be flat as a pancake!" past Chopper yelled in a stunned voice.

"Yeah, but I'm fine cause I'm made of rubber," Luffy explained, still grinning.

"RUBBER?!" Chopper repeated in shock.

"I guess I should've known by that point," current Chopper commented as he watched Luffy pointing to the fused freak and asking his past self if he minded dealing with them. "I knew there was something different about him, but I didn't think it was because he had a rubber body."

"That one over there?!" Chopper repeated, glaring at Chessmarimo, "Piece of cake!"

"Good, while you're doing that," Luffy said, looking to Wapol, who had just gotten back to his feet with a loud clunking sound. "I'll deal with this one."

"Thank you, I was getting sick of seeing them do nothing but talk," Zoro sighed, "Take them both out already!"

Chopper thought back and wondered if he could have taken Wapol out the way that he was now. He really learned a lot over the last two years and he smiled at the thought that if they ever met up again, he'd be able to deal with him on his own.

"You dare to knock me, this country's monarch, over?" Wapol demanded hotly as he glared down at Luffy. "You'll pay for that insult!"

"I'm taking you down!" past Chopper declared, facing down Chessmarimo, who snapped back, "Is that so? You and what army? Huh you little freak?!"

"Freak?" croaked out a feeble voice and saw that past Sanji was trying to get up, but Doctorine was forcing him to stay still. "That's like the pot calling the kettle black."

"Yeah," current Sanji hissed as Zoro laughed next to him. He was now silently wiling his past self to shut up here and not give the swordsman anymore to mock him about. This was just embarrassing. And it only got worse when Doctorine kept stepping on his back and making him scream in agony as she informed him that if he kept moving around, he could lose the ability to walk. "And don't worry," she added, "When push comes to shove, my little reindeer can hold his own."

Chopper blushed again, trying to come to grips with now two compliments from Doctorine.

"You really shouldn't push yourself so hard, Sanji," Robin stated, "After all, if you can't walk, you won't be able to fight again."

"Cook can't even fight right anyway," Zoro stated.

"You are dead!" Sanji yelled, aiming a kick for his head.

"Not by your hands!" Zoro yelled back, grinning evilly.

"Listen up!" past Chopper yelled, interrupting the fight. They looked back at him as he glared at Chessmarimo. He took a deep breath and proclaimed with pride in his voice, "My name's Tony Tony Chopper! Not freak! It's a name the world's greatest doctor gave me! He was a wonderful man, even if he forgave you for disrespecting his flag, I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!"

"YOU TELL 'EM!" Usopp screamed out joyfully. "TAKE THEM OUT CHOPPER!"

"I agree," Robin agreed softly as Luffy smirked at him and Chessmarimo stepped forward, ready to fight. But then Chopper pulled out a Rumble Ball… and they all knew how this fight was going to end. Chessmarimo vowed that he was going to protect Wapol, and then engage a fight with Chopper. The reindeer then bit down on a Rumble Ball, and much to Chessmarimo surprise, he achieved more than his regular 3 transformations, and past Chopper admited that he has seven different forms after taking the Rumble Ball. Luffy was so amazed that he started crying.

"Your friend," Doctorine said, noticing the tears and asked, "What's the matter with him?"

"There's just so much happiness of meeting a transforming reindeer that a guy can take," pas Sanji answered as Wapol appeared behind him, looking ticked off at how he was ignoring him.

"It really is amazing that you were able to come up with something like that," Robin said in an impressed voice. "But tell me, do they work with other Zoan types?"

Chopper blinked as he thought that over. "I don't know," he confessed. "I never gave one to anyone else before. I suppose… I guess it could, but I would have to test it out. Who knows, it could end up doing something completely different for someone else."

"But now you only need the Rumble Ball for your Monster Point," Sanji said. Chopper nodded in agreement, pride going through him. So not only was he the only Human-Reindeer in the world, he was also probably the only Zoan who had more than the three formed limit.

After witnessing him evading their attacks with Jump Point, and blocking them with Guard Point, and even destroying their hammers with Arm Point, Chopper used his Brain Point to locate Chessmarimo's weak spot. After identifying his chin as the weak point, Chessmarimo was easily defeated in three minutes.

"Piece of cake nothing," Zoro said with a smirk, "He wasn't even a challenge."

"OH YEAH!" Usopp cheered on, giving their Chopper a noogie. "YOU WERE AWESOME THERE, CHOPPER!"

"Why don't you fight like that more often?" Franky asked and Chopper shot him an annoyed look.

But Brook noticed something else. "Where did he go?" he suddenly asked, staring around.

"Where did who go?" Nami asked distracted as Chopper and Franky began arguing.

"That one who eats everything?" he stated, still not seeing him. "I just noticed that he's missing."

"Oh, I saw him sneaking away while everyone was distracted with Chopper's fight," Robin answered.

"What? You mean you all let him get away?!" Zoro demanded hotly.

Past Sanji noticed it as well as he barked at Luffy where he went. When Luffy realized what he was talking about, he began to look around them wildly as Dr. Kureha said, "Well, since his hippo got knocked away, I doubt that he snuck off very far."

"Yeah, not with all that blubber he's carrying around," Franky sneered.

"Yeah, but how? When'd he go?" Luffy demanded.

"Probably while you were drooling over those transformations!" past Sanji roared out. As they thought it over, they realized that there could only be one place that Wapol snuck off to. "There's not much up here, just the castle," memory Sanji before his eyes widen and he shouted out, "AND NAMI'S ALL ALONE IN THERE!"

"It took you that long to think of that?" Zoro asked as Luffy went charging off with a loud battle cry, memory Sanji forced to crawl behind him, threatening to cut Wapol up into pieces and feed him to the sharks if he touched her.

"At least I thought of it! You would've gone running off in the wrong direction and fell off the mountain!" Sanji snapped back and Zoro gave him a nasty look as they went running after Luffy and past Sanji. It didn't take them too long to find old metal mouth… but when they did, they were startled at what they saw.

Instead of the fat man they had seen before, he was now thin and slender—it was as if he lost all his weight in just a few minutes.

"That's Wapol… right?" Brook asked in confusion. "Wasn't he fat before?"

"He was," Nami stated. "At least until he ate himself."

"HE DID WHAT?!" the men all yelled at her as Robin looked surprise.

"It's true!" Nami stated. "I saw the whole thing. He swallowed himself until only his metal jaw was left, and then he popped out like that."

"Fascinating," Robin said thoughtfully as the men stared from her to Wapol, not believing what they were hearing. "He must've used some kind of bone reshaping…?"

But what got Sanji furious was that he had past Nami pinned to the floor and he was licking his lips as he opened his big mouth and declared, "Time to gobble you up Straw Hat!"

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Sanji screamed but Luffy's voice almost sang out from behind them as he cried out, "FOUND YOU!" and he kicked out, hitting Wapol in the face and sending him flying back and away from Nami.

Past Nami was breathing hard as he came up to her, now just as confused as the rest of them to how he got so thin so quickly. But as soon as she looked up and saw the state of her coat, she let out a gasp of anger before she gave him a hard bonk on the head.

"What's you do that for?" Usopp asked just as past Nami's face became dangerous as she asked in a forced calm that made his voice die in his throat, "So… do you mind telling me why the coat I kindly loaned you is all torn up before I murder you?"

Luffy turned blue in the face as she began yelling at him how much this coat cost her. He tried to explain that it was Wapol who did it, but she didn't seem interested as a greedy look came over her face and she said that she should've known that he'd never bring it back in good condition and that she'll charge him three hundred percent interest.

"Is that really fair?" Zoro asked, little beads of sweat on his face as he looked at the evil look on her face. "Since he lost his own coat getting your ass up the mountain and almost froze to death on the way up?"

"Well, I didn't know that!" she said loudly, her insides wriggling with guilt. She looked away, feeling truly bad that she did charge him for that coat. But then again, Luffy never did pay her all that money anyway so she thought about letting him slide here.

"Hello!" Wapol yelled out, getting their attention. "I'm still here!"

Luffy looked up at him in surprise and said, "Oh, that's right… I still need to kick your butt!"

"Nice change of subject pal," Usopp whispered, shooting Nami a nervous look out of the corner of his eyes. That woman will bleed you dry if you let her. Wapol was now standing in front of a door he declared was the room to the arsenal and that all he had to do was devour all of the weapons in there and he'd finish them all off. But as soon as he reached for the key, he noticed that it was gone and then he went running off with Luffy right on his heels.

"Well, that was… anti-climactic," Robin stated.

"What happened to the key?" Chopper asked, remembering that Doctorine had hold of it just before he left home.

"Oh, I stole it when he pinned me down," Nami said causally. "And I was able to negotiate a deal with Doctorine so we didn't have to pay her doctor bill."

"Oh, so that's why she let you go for free," Chopper said thinking it all over. "She normally charges fifty percent."

"Wait, fifty percent? Of what? Half of what a person owns?" Usopp asked quickly.

"Wow, she sure doesn't show mercy does she?" Franky whispered. But then again, he happened to notice that while watching her beat up Sanji.

"She's not the type of person to take pity on someone even when they're sick," Chopper said, rubbing the back of his head.

"And I'm glad that I took it," Nami sighed. "She wanted all the treasure and supplies on our ship as payment."

"It would've been very difficult to sail without supplies," Robin stated as they calmly followed after Wapol again with Luffy to the upper levels and through the snow-filled castle. The upper levers were even colder than the lower ones, with snow up to their knees as Luffy went hunting around looking for Big Mouth. He finally found him in one of the towers, found with a giant Gatling gun with a hippo head decorating the cannon head that he was about to fire at him.

Convinced that victory was finally his, Wapol pulled the lever, laughing as he did so. They all froze, waiting to see what happened, but just as the cannon began to fire up… it suddenly died out, a little of steam snaked out into the cold air just seemed to add insult to injury as Wapol stared at it with a stupefied expression. "He just seems to have rotten luck here," Zoro said.

"It's almost as if fate's laughing at him," Brook whispered.

"Serves him right," Chopper said grimly to himself.

Even as Wapol pulled the level again and again, nothing happened as Luffy looked on, as if wondering if this was a joke or something. And they noticed why the gun wasn't working right. There was chirping going on inside the cannon's barrels and they spotted another family of Snowbirds there, the mother and her chicks.

"Awww…" Nami cooed again when she saw them. Yes, these guys could make much better use of this weapon than someone like Wapol.

"So that's why," Franky laughed. "They moved right in and probably did something inside it so that it wouldn't fire. All this snow can't be doing it any good either."

"It's just not his day," Nami said smugly as Luffy smiled at the little birds before he began laughing at Wapol, the Straw Hats all joining in as well.

"He seemed so much more dangerous before," Chopper whispered, shaking his head. He supposed that to normal people he would be dangerous, but when he was fighting against someone who wasn't afraid of him, and on his own, he was nothing but a scared little man who didn't have the guts to fight without some kind of weapon. It was like Luffy was fighting Krieg again… only at least Krieg was able to give Luffy more of a fight than this.

"Stop it, how dare you laugh at me!" Wapol yelled, sounding like a little kid who was being laughed at. Now embarrassed, Wapol resorted to yelling at the birds as they chirped at him. "Shut up! You dare mock me too!? Stupid bird, I'm the King of Drum!"

"Is he yelling at a bird?" Usopp asked, sweat-dropping once again.

"Yep," Zoro confirmed.

"Maybe the strain of fighting took a toll on his mind?" Robin offered as Wapol opened his mouth to try and eat the mother bird. Thankfully, Luff stopped him by stretching his hand out and grabbing his mouth.

"Yeah, so what?" he demanded, still grinning. "It doesn't matter if you're a king, or even if you're a god. It doesn't matter if you're someone who's great, or someone who's not so great." He grinned even wider, "I'm still going to kick your lousy butt."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Brook said, nodding firmly.

"I sure hope that he stayed gone for good," Chopper said firmly, not noticing the knowing smile on Robin's face as if she knew something that he didn't know.

"Please, I'd love a chance to fight a god," Zoro said, remembering Eneru with distaste.

Wapol just chucked darkly to himself, not caring if his mouth was being restrained as he said, "It does matter, Straw Hat! Drum Kingdom is a member of the World Government. Don't you know what that means? It means this is a capital offense because I'm the king!"

"How can you be the king if the kingdom is already dead?" Robin asked herself calmly as Luffy only grinned even further, as he stated, "Like I said, Big Mouth, it doesn't matter. King or no king, I'm taking you down."

Wapol seemed to realize that Luffy wasn't bluffing here as he started to panic, but then he grinned evilly as he asked, "Oh really? Not if I kill take you down first!" He then forced his mouth open, Luffy's fingers stretching out like a web to keep Wapol from trying to eat him like on the ship.

"That won't work!" Luffy laughed as Wapol tried to free himself.

"But this will! Munch Munch Tongue Cannon!" Wapol shouted out, and he wasn't kidding around here. His tongue really did turn into an actual cannon and was pointing directly at Luffy's face. Startled, Luffy jumped back just as the blast went off.

"Don't get too cocky here captain," Zoro muttered in warning. There was nothing more humiliating than being shown up by an idiot.

"That idiot, he let his guard down!" Wapol laughed loudly, not noticing Luffy had appeared behind him and grabbed hold of his shoulders.

"Well, looks who's talking," Luffy stated and Wapol screamed in terror when he realized that he wasn't dead. Jumping up, Luffy began to spin around rabidly, and they could tell that this fight was almost over.

"Gum Gum BLOWGUN!" Luffy shouted as he sent Wapol crashing right up to the ceiling and through the roof. The memory shifted slightly so that they were outside, Luffy crawling up the tall turret that Wapol was trapped in.

"Oh, I get it now," Zoro said, remembering seeing Wapol flying off by the time that they got to the castle. So this is how he was sent off.

"Oh, that's got to be painful," Franky said, pointing so that they couldn't miss seeing the pirate flag flapping in the wind. Luffy jumped up, right into Wapol's face and he screamed fearfully when he saw him, tears in his eyes as Luffy said, "I told you not to mess with that flag. Now I'm finally gonna kick your butt!"

Chopper smiled, glad that he got to see this up close this time. This is for the Doctor and all the other doctors that Wapol hurt over the years.

Luffy was stretching his arms miles out, even as Wapol pleaded for mercy—giving him offers of status and even offering him to be vice-king—Luffy had enough and sent him flying off with Gum Gum Bazooka to the face… Gone… far off into the distance and out of sight.

Back in the warm forest, Chopper fell back into the soft grass as he stared up at the stars he could see though the tree branches.

"So Drum Kingdom was ultimately defeated by the skull and crossbones," Robin said softly.

"A fitting end," Zoro said, smiling at Chopper who could hardly had the rush of emotions welling up inside him, feeling close to bursting. But suddenly, the images came back and they were back outside the castle. Luffy, Zoro and Usopp were all standing there, pulling themselves out of the snow. "Where did you all come from?" Franky said in surprise.

"Once Dalton was back on his feet, we took the ropeway here remember?" Zoro answered. "Luffy jumped down from the castle and tried to attack us."

"Why would he do that?" Brook said in surprise.

"Zoro stole a coat from one of Wapol's men and he thought that he was some of his guards," Usopp answered as Luffy began speaking about how impressed he was that they climbed up here, but Vivi, who just came up from some stairs, explained about the rope car before she asked how Nami and Sanji were. Once he reassured them that they were alright, a look of relief came over her face as Zoro asked him what he was doing on the top of the castle.

"Beating the crap outta that king," he answered coolly as Dalton was heaving himself up the stairs and into the cold air. He looked a real mess. He was deathly pale, and blood was dripping from his mouth and as he held onto his chest, they could see more blood seeping through.

"Is he alright?" Brook asked in concern.

"Trust me, he looks a lot better now than he did before," Usopp told him.

"Oh… ok," past Zoro said, looking as if he couldn't care less about the answer as Dalton looked up in amazement.

"You mean that person I saw flying through the air…? That was Wapol?" he asked, standing unsteadily on his feet as he came over to gab at him. "You… you beat him?"

"Yep, I sure did," Luffy said proudly as past Usopp went on about fighting an imaginary Condor on the way up here.

"And his two henchmen? What happened to them?" Dalton went on.

"They were even more pathetic," Zoro stated as Nami shook her head dully.

"Oh, well the reindeer beat them up," Luffy answered back happily and Dalton was looking completely lost here.

"What? Those two… a reindeer?" he stuttered as past Usopp's story got old quick.

"There aren't any Condors on Drum," Chopper said slowly, trying to think how there could have been one.

"Though Condors love high mountains, they prefer to live in hot, almost desert regions. They wouldn't last long in cold weather," Robin answered him.

Usopp froze, trying to think of a good comeback to that, but Luffy changed the subject by calling to his past self, "Oh, hey! Usopp! I made a new friend! You gotta meet him! Get this! He's a reindeer!"

"Reindeer?" Usopp repeated, clearly not understanding what he was talking about a look of marvel came over Dalton's face. Just then they heard some snow crunching a little bit away and they looked to see Chopper hiding behind some trees as he watched them.

"Why were you hiding?" Nami asked softly, looking at Chopper, who was sitting up again. "The whole island should've known what you did. So that they were wrong about you the whole time."

"Yeah but…" Chopper said hesitantly. He didn't know how they would react… he still believed that he couldn't have friends because of what he was here.

"Blue nose…" whispered a voice and he looked up at Dalton who was staring at his past self. "You never gave up… did you? You still kept fighting… believing in what this country could become." He then fell to his knees and gasped out, sounding like he was crying. "And now thanks to you… Drum Kingdom can… it can finally be reborn!"

"I couldn't understand why he was acting like that," Chopper whispered as he watched, his eyes still as wide as his past self's…

"He just told you didn't he?" Robin asked with a little laugh. "He was thanking you for helping to save them all."

"Would you all shut up?" Chopper asked, hiding his face and spinning around happily. Soon, the other villagers showed up and spotted him hiding, at once they started to freak out and backed away as they looked for their weapons. Dalton tried to stop them, telling them not to shoot as past Usopp freaked out and screamed out that he was a yeti… and that someone should shoot him.

"I can't believe you said that!" Nami yelled, hitting their Usopp over the head.

"HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!" Usopp yelled at her before he looked to Chopper and added, "Sorry… Chopper."

Chopper only smiled back. "It's ok! I get why you freaked out!"

But his past self didn't. He turned and began crying as he ran away. Luffy got angry and hit memory Usopp over his head. "JERKFACE! HE'S NOT A YETI YOU IDIOT! HE'S MY NEW FRIEND!"

"THAT THING'S YOUR FRIEND?!" he screamed back in shock.

"You guys scared him so bad he ran away!" Luffy yelled as he went running after him, "I'll bring him back so that you can meet him you jerks!" He then yelled out, "Come back reindeer! I wanna introduce you to my friends!"

"When does he start calling you by your name?" Franky asked as the memory faded.

"Right after we had a party on the Merry," Chopper laughed, feeling like dancing. He didn't know why but he was suddenly so happy. The crew all smiled at him laughing and he was jumping around, wanting to see more. By the time the next recollection appeared, they were still outside the castle but it was night and the snow was falling in thick, heavy flakes and the snow sparkled from the full moon—that was illuminating the Doctor's flag at the top of the castle.

Usopp was busy building a snowman as Zoro watched Luffy walking around, still calling out for Chopper.

"You mean he was still looking for you? It had to have been several hours since you went running off," Brook asked.

"He doesn't give up easy," Zoro commented. "I thought you'd have learned that by now."

"Let's be pirates together!" Luffy continued to shout. "COME BE A PIRATE WITH US OK REINDEER GUY!?"

"Come on, Luffy," memory Usopp said tiredly, holding the snowman's head in his hands. "Why don't you just give it up? We've been tracking him forever and he still hasn't shown up."

"He's not interested in becoming a pirate," Zoro stated patiently, "You're just gonna have to accept that."

Luffy turned to give them a hard look. "No!" he said stubbornly, "That's not true! I want the reindeer to be a pirate with us!"

"Of course that's his logic," Nami stated. "He wants it, and he usually gets it."

"Just because you want something doesn't mean it's gonna happen!" past Zoro yelled, losing his patience. Luffy ignored him as he went back to calling for Chopper, and he probably would've kept looking all night if that's what it took.

Chopper watched, his thoughts drifting around. He had really wanted to go with Luffy, but… but he supposed that he was just scared. He knew that he wasn't anything like them and he truly didn't believe that he could ever be one of them because he was a reindeer. But then…

There was another crunch of snow behind them and they all looked up to see that memory Chopper had finally come out and he had turned to face them just as Vivi and memory Nami were dragging Sanji out of the castle—literally dragging him by his legs—he seemed to be out cold.

"Reindeer guy!" Luffy exclaimed happily as memory versions of Zoro and Usopp both looked up—and this time Usopp didn't panic when he saw Chopper.

"Tony!" past Nami exclaimed in surprise when she saw him standing there.

"Hey, you gonna come on our ship and be a pirate with us, kay?!" Luffy asked excitedly and they all knew that even if he said no, he wasn't going to let it go. Past Chopper had his face down so that they couldn't see him and whispered that he couldn't.

"You really didn't want to come?" Robin asked him gently, but she didn't seem surprised when he didn't answer her. She understood that this wasn't an easy decision to make… not only would be going out into a world he knew nothing about, but he would be leaving home for good.

"Sure you can reindeer! It's a whole lotta fun!" Luffy insisted.

"That's not a very good argument!" past Usopp yelled at him.

"I can't…" memory Chopper whispered before he looked up and yelled out, "I'm not a human I'm a reindeer! I have antlers, and hooves, see? I even have a blue nose!" He paused here for breath… it seemed as if he had been wanting to say all this for years.

Present-day Nami looked at him sadly. She remembered when Doctorine told her Chopper's whole story. She could hear her words in her ears:

"Now that you heard his story… do you think you can heal the scars on his heart?"

There were some scars that ran too deep to ever be healed. Some that can't ever fully recover from… but in this case…

"Ok… maybe I do want to be a pirate," past Chopper cried out, "but… but I can't ever be one of you! I'm not human! I'm a monster! I can't be your friend and I can't become a pirate on your ship, you see?! I'm just here to say… thank you." He looked like he was about to cry as he finished up and looked directly at Luffy, "I appreciate you asking me to join your ship. That was really nice, thank you."

Luffy frowned at him, looking close to a pout as both past and present Straw Hats looked at him.

"Did you truly believe that, Chopper-san?" Brook asked softly.

"I did…" Chopper confessed. "At least… I used to."

"Who told you that?" Franky demanded, punching his fists together. "I'll take them all out for ya!"

Chopper laughed back. "It doesn't matter anymore! It's ok! It worked out in the end!"

"I'm going to stay here for now," memory Chopper said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself that as he looked up with a forced smile, "but… if you wanted to… you can stop by here again."

But Luffy heard enough. "Shut up!" he suddenly shouted, "Let's ggggggggooooooo!" he screamed out, punching the air and his hat being knocked off. It was here that past Chopper couldn't stop the tears as he burst out crying and that was when the memory faded.

"You know, most people don't make friends by telling them to shut up," Sanji stated, lighting up another cigarette.

"Maybe," Chopper laughed again, but he didn't care. It was here that Luffy told him that he wanted him to come, that he didn't care what he was, only that they would take him as he was and that was alright. He wiped the happy tears away from his sore eyes. He and Luffy were both thought of as monsters, but Luffy embraced that thought… uses it as a way to protect everything. Chopper always wanted to be human because he wanted friends, but now that he had them, he wanted to be a monster that could protect them. He wanted to hug Luffy again once they got him back for teaching him that.

The next memory was when they were all standing outside the castle again, it looked as if no time had passed since this one and the last one, only now Chopper was missing and they could hear screams of terror inside the castle.

"What's going on?" past Zoro asked, looking back to the castle. "There's a lot of noise going on inside the castle."

"Oh, I remember this," current Zoro said, wishing that he could warn their past selves to get ready to run.

"How inconsiderate," memory Nami stated, "Making all that noise while those two are trying to say goodbye. That's just downright rude."

"But they were the ones making all the noise," current Usopp pointed out to her in a whisper.

"What's going…?" Franky began but they saw what it was. Chopper was pulling a sleigh behind him and was being chased by Dr. Kureha who was swinging around a heavy spiked ball—and looking like she was trying to kill him with an insane look on her face.

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Brook screamed out.

"IS SHE TRYING TO KILL YOU?!" Franky yelled.

"I'll never understand that woman," Nami sighed as past Chopper screamed at them to get in the sleigh and that they were going down the mountain. They jumped in just as Doctorine threw the spike ball, narrowly missing them as they jumped down onto the rope that connected them to the ground and rode on through the night sky, their silhouettes against the bright full moon, making them look as if they were flying.

"That was one heck of a way to say goodbye," Robin stated casually.

"Yeah, but there's a difference between that and trying to kill them!" Usopp yelled at her. The memory faded in and out so suddenly it was as if hadn't changed at all. But the entire crew was now down the mountain, near the shoreline and they could see the Drum Rockies in the far distance, so small that you never guess what a nightmare it was to climb. They were all just starting to get out of the sleigh, memory Sanji having to lean a little on Usopp's shoulder, just as they could hear the sounds of miniature explosions in the distance.

"That was cannonfire!" Franky yelled out, thinking the worse—that Wapol came back and was now firing at everything.

"Yeah, but it's alright!" Sanji said, smiling, looking forward to seeing this part again. The booms were coming from the castle and suddenly lights appeared so that they could all gasp.

"Oh, cool…" Luffy said next to them in awe as they all stared at it. There, on the middle mountain, it looked like it had turned into the biggest cherry tree imaginable and pink blossoms fell like snow.

"Now that's one heck of a way to send someone off!" Franky yelled out, his shock turning to amazement.

"Remarkably beautiful," Robin whispered, smiling.

The mountain was enshrouded by cherry blossoms. The entire sky was lit up and millions of petals were falling around them, drifting everywhere and turning the white around them into a brilliant shade of pink.

Current Chopper cried one last time here. The Doctor had always believed that no disease in the world that couldn't be cured. His dream was to melt the frozen hearts of the people here. And he believed that it did work. Even if he wasn't around to see it, Doctor's dream came true… he finished his research and here was the proof. He burst out crying along with his past self… truly believing that nothing was impossible.

"So that is why they chose that name," Robin whispered suddenly.

"What name, Robin?" Nami asked, smiling as she stared at the falling petals like a child who had seen the first snowfall of the year.

"I found out about this place," Robin answered quietly. "I was going to tell you before. But I wanted to wait until we finished here before I did. I found out that the Drum Kingdom had changed its name to 'Sakura' Kingdom."

"Sakura?" Brook repeated.

"Is just another way of saying cherry blossom," she answered with a little laugh. "In fact, it has a Jolly Roger for its flag and there is a medical academy there and they're coming up with new cures and medicine all the time there."

"You mean it?!" Chopper cried out, staring at her.

"It's what I heard," Robin answered. She also heard that this kingdom was no longer part of the World Government because of the pirate flag from the Revolutionaries one day, but she was surprised to hear that Chopper had come from here. She merely smiled at Chopper as his eyes lit up and stared back up at the sparkling blossoms.

"I'll have to come back here someday," he said softly. "I can't wait to see that with my own eyes!"

Soon they were back on the Merry and sailing away from the island, the cherry blossoms still fluttering everywhere, making the whole thing seem more beautiful than ever. The Straw Hat men were all partying, as Usopp was yelling for Chopper to come join them and Luffy was trying to get him shove the chopsticks up his nose.

"So that's how you started putting those in your nose at every party?" Brook asked, "Yohohoho."

Chopper was laughing too as memory Sanji cheering out that, "It's a great moonlit night and cherry blossoms are in the air, how can we not party?"

"It would've been a terrible shame," Brook agreed as Franky posed at the very thought. "It's the best excuse for a party!"

"They're a handful," past Nami whispered to Chopper, who was trying to crawl away from them—already looking like he was second-guessing his choice to come with them, "I hate to tell ya, but your new friends are about as crazy as they come."

"My… friends?" memory Chopper repeated slowly as she nodded back at him, telling him that he would get used to it. Meanwhile, Vivi was trying to warm Carue up, apparently they found him in the river. And after Chopper spoke to him, it turned out that Zoro was swimming in the river and disappeared, so he jumped in because he thought he was in trouble and he got frozen in it instead. It was then that it was revealed that he could speak to animals. Nami praised him for his medical skills and talking to animals, he was pretty talented and he began dancing in happiness.

When Zoro asked what she meant, she explained that Dr. Kureha taught him everything she knew.

"HUH?" the three of them gasped.

"You mean, you didn't know anything about him but you let him come anyway?" Robin asked them.

Zoro shrugged. "When Luffy wants something, just let him do it. He wanted Chopper to join so there wasn't much we could do about it."

"Impossible," past Zoro said in a stunned voice all three of them staring at Chopper, "Chopper are you really a doctor?"

"How cool…" Luffy said in shock.

"No way," memory Usopp gasped.

"Really Luffy, if you didn't know that then what did you think Chopper was when you asked him to join us?" past Nami asked irritably.

"He thought you were cool and that's really all that counts to him," Usopp laughed.

"A talking transforming, reindeer monster," Luffy answered, folding his arms without a second thought.

"Back-up food," Sanji added and past Chopper froze at that before he gasped that he left his medical bag behind with all his tools. But Nami held it up for him, asking if this was it and he stared at it as she explained that it was in the back of sleigh and she asked if he was the one who packed it and got it ready but it was clear that he hadn't.

"There's only one person it could've been then," Robin answered smiling. "Dr. Kureha really does have a kind heart doesn't she, Chopper?"

Chopper merely smiled. Though she's rough around the edges, he knew that she was right. And she certainly knew him if she thought to put his bag there. He really wanted to write a letter to her as soon as they got back to the Sunny. They watched as the party went on, as loud and wild as it always was when they threw a celebration. Past Zoro and Sanji were fighting and Luffy was cheering them on as Usopp tried to get their attention as Vivi was trying to help Carue who was choking on food… Even memory Chopper was getting in on it as he put the chopsticks up his nose.

"The first night of your new home, Chopper," Robin laughed as Chopper beamed wider than ever as past Usopp cheered out, "I propose a toast to our new friend Chopper!"

And soon they all cheered, holding their glasses up high as they sailed into the night.