Chapter 21: Chopper vs Robo Chopper
As Chopper ran by the river, he couldn't help but take notice of a couple of jewels that were floating at the top. "Wow… Do all of these rivers have pointy, shiny things in them? I don't remember seeing many of those before…"
He stopped for a moment to stare down at the river. A reflection of himself appeared before him, leaving him surprised. He made a few faces, which the reflection did as well, leaving the four-year-old in confusion.
"I don't get it… I make faces, and something that looks just like myself does the same thing! What gives?" Chopper gawked, sticking his tongue out, in which the reflection did the same. However, there was something else that he noticed through the reflection.
Two glowing eyes were right behind one of the trees.
Turning around, Chopper saw a figure charging straight in his direction. Letting out a yelp, he managed to jump over the figure just in time and landed by the trees. When the figure stopped, it turned to Chopper and glared at him with its two, glowing green eyes.
"TARGET IS IDENTIFIED AS CHOPPER."
When Chopper got a full look at the figure the landed on the floor, he was left gaping before pointing at the robot. "You… You look just like me! What are you!?"
"MY GIVEN CODENAME IS Robo Chopper. I WAS PROGRAMMED TO ELIMINATE THE ONE WHO LOOKS LIKE ME. YOU ARE HIM."
"Wait… But I don't understand… Who would create something to look like me?"
Robo Chopper slowly approached Chopper while pointing at himself. "I CARRY ALL OF THE ABILITIES YOU HAVE YOURSELF, ALONG WITH MANY OTHERS. LORD MAQUANO WANTED TO CREATE SOMETHING THAT COULD MATCH AND EVEN SURPASS YOU. THAT IS THE REASON WHY I AM HERE."
"So Maquano made you?" Despite having fear in his expression, he tried to put on a brave face and got in a fighting stance. "Well, I don't like him, and I don't like you copying my look! Especially the way you speak…"
"THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE WAY I SPEAK. I ALSO BELIEVE IT IS YOU THAT MAY BE TRULY THE IMPOSTER. HOWEVER, I WILL NOT HAVE TO THINK OF SUCH THOUGHTS WHEN I EXTERMINATE YOU."
Before Chopper could say another word, Robo Chopper came charging his way again.
Mid-boss: Robo Chopper
Being designed around Chopper, Robo Chopper has all of Chopper's abilities, along with his own, unique moves to boot! He will not stop until he has fulfilled his one mission: eliminate Chopper.
Chopper jumped out of the way just in time and looked behind him to see a couple of trees get knocked down. The thought of what could've happened if he got caught in that left him horrified.
Not knowing what else to do, Chopper decided to run on ahead and hope he would lose his robot counterpart. However, that wasn't the case when he saw Robo Chopper flying beside him over the poisonous river. He grabbed one of the broken trees and began to swing at Chopper, who quickly dodged by jumping and sliding. Robo Chopper resorted to simply throwing the tree instead.
"Hey, if you're supposed to be like me, then how were you able to do that?" Chopper gaped, slowing down just to avoid the tree.
"I TOLD YOU THAT NOT ONLY WAS I CREATED TO BE SIMILAR TO YOU, BUT TO SURPASS YOU," Robo Chopper replied, diving into the poisonous river. He came back out with a sharp, purple jewel. His eyes flashed for a brief moment before a silver cap with retractable spines appeared on his head, just like the appearance of Chopper's Needle ability.
Flying above Chopper now, Robo Chopper turned into a spiked ball and began to charge down at his opponent with his Rolling Needle. Chopper, seeing this, increased his speed and was able to easily outrun Robo Chopper and pass a few trees along the way until he saw a large rock blocking his way.
"Oh, no… What do I do here?" Chopper gasped, feeling that he needed to stop. However, something sparked in his body that made him jump toward the rock. Once Robo Chopper came flying his way, he jumped off the rock and performed a back flip. Robo Chopper flew straight into the rock and created a large hole that crumbled it. For now, Chopper was safe once he landed. "That was close… But how did I easily do that? I wasn't planning on doing that…"
Robo Chopper came flying back to Chopper and stopped his Rolling Needle attack to look down at him. "IS THIS ALL YOU CAN DO? I THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE A CHALLENGE. YOU ARE WEAK."
"But I really don't want to fight you! I just want to do what I have to do!"
"YOU WILL NOT BE LEAVING THIS PLACE IF YOU CAN'T FIGHT ME. I WANT MY FIRST FIGHT TO BE INCREDIBLE. A DISAPPOINTING BATTLE IS POINTLESS."
The spines on his helmet popped out and came firing in Chopper's direction. Quickly reacting, Chopper inhaled them to gain the Needle ability just like Robo Chopper. Since he had no choice but to fight, he fired spikes at Robo Chopper, but he managed to easily swat them away.
"Wh-What?! But that's not fair!" Chopper cried.
Robo Chopper used another Rolling Needle to charge at Chopper again. Chopper did the same thing as him, causing both to clash and get thrown back onto the ground. The two even lost their Needle abilities in the process.
Robo Chopper was the first to get up and took no time in going after Chopper again. He grabbed him as he stood up and threw him toward a tree nearby, causing it, along with many other trees he crashed into to get knocked over. This went on for fifteen seconds until Chopper stood up and shook some leaves off his head. He rubbed his head from the painful crashes until Robo Chopper flew toward him again.
Placing his hand in front of him, Robo Chopper's fingers grew longer and sharper, making Chopper's antennae point up in fear. He charged up him and began to swipe his metallic claws at the boy, who continued to move back and dodge each swing. It wasn't until he found a tree behind him that prevented him from backing any further, so when Robo Chopper tried clawing at him, he ducked and let him get the tree instead.
Looking up, Robo Chopper noticed the tree falling in his direction. He was about to move out of the way, but Chopper managed to land at least one kick at his face. Though it didn't do much, it was able to leave him distracted so Chopper could get out of the way. Unfortunately for Robo Chopper, he did not have enough time to get away, causing the tree to fall on him.
Chopper had taken notice of Robo Chopper's arm lying on the ground right beside the tree. He didn't appear to move, making Chopper smile.
"I… I did it!" Chopper cheered. "He's gone! And it didn't take much to beat him!"
For once, Chopper was left in relief, knowing that the rest of this forest could possibly be fun without an evil robot counterpart in his way. He decided it would be best to leave, so he ran back to the river, not aware that a certain robot's hand was moving.
When Chopper had finally reached the river, he continued his way through the short, dark green grass and stared at the jewel-covered river. It was very hard to keep his eyes off of it with all the beautiful jewels. Something seemed so…interesting about them.
He quickly shook his head and looked back at the trail he was running through. "I shouldn't be looking at that. There's something more important to get."
Chopper noticed another billboard featuring the same girl, only she was wearing 3-D glasses. Something about a movie theater with movies in 3-D was mentioned, confusing the innocent child.
"I wonder… What's a casino and a movie theater?" Chopper wondered. "I don't understand the 3-D thing. Do those things on her face make you see another world? Maybe it might have food! Mmmmmm…"
A thought bubble appeared over Chopper's head as he imagined him wearing the 3-D glasses and seeing a large amount of food surrounding him. Delicacies including pizza, bananas, apples and ice cream were the most plentiful of them all. A smile appearing on his thought's face, he imagined himself gobbling down all of the food in one go.
"That would be amazing…"
Two Jewelites ended up coming out of the water, surprising Chopper and interrupting his thought bubble, which one Jewelite shot through, causing it to pop. One charged up a laser and prepared to fire, but something ended up interrupting its attack and sent it flying back. Looking up at who caused it, Chopper gasped in fear.
"Wait… But… That tree fell on you!"
"A LARGE PILE OF WOOD IS HARDLY ENOUGH TO STOP ME," Robo Chopper stated, not appearing too harmed by the tree that fell on him. "YOU ARE A COWARD, AND COWARDS DESERVE OBLITERATION."
Flying over to the Jewelite he knocked back, Robo Chopper's eyes flashed and managed to gain a jester hat similar to the Beam ability hat Chopper would wear, only one was gray, while the other was dark gray.
"Hey! That's just like my Beam ability!" Chopper gaped.
The other Jewelite flying around fired a beam in his direction, so he inhaled it to gain the Beam ability as well. He then jumped in the air and landed on the Jewelite's head to get to Robo Chopper easily. Both began to fire Wave Beams at each other, with each of them missing and hitting the ground, river and trees along the way.
Beam Whips were fired from their wands as the two tried hitting each other. Their Beam Whips only clashed and pushed the two back. The other Jewelite ended up flying back to the fight, and seeing this as an opportunity, Robo Chopper decided to land on it and fly toward Chopper with another Beam Whip attack.
However, Chopper easily got around him and fired a Wave Beam shot behind Robo Chopper. While it didn't make him fall off the Jewelite, it certainly did leave a mark on the back of its head/back.
"Hey… That actually did something!" Chopper gasped. Perhaps there was still hope to this battle after all…
Robo Chopper whirled around to Chopper, pointing his metallic wand at him. "YOUR SHOT WAS LUCKY, AND YOU'RE ASKING FOR A PAINFUL EXTERMINATION."
Seeing another charged shot heading his way, Chopper made the Jewelite fly above the trees so the sky could easily be seen. Robo Chopper followed him up as well, choosing to throw the Jewelite at Chopper. Instead, it ended up hitting the Jewelite he stood on, knocking it back. This ended up throwing the child off and left him in midair for a brief moment before finally plummeting.
Since this was an opportunity to attack, Robo Chopper followed him downward and charged up a Wave Beam. Firing the blast, it managed to hit Chopper and make him crash onto the grassy floor, creating a little crater in the process. This also knocked Chopper's Beam ability away as well.
"WHAT A PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A LOOK-A-LIKE," Robo Chopper scoffed, flying down to the hole and charging up another Wave Beam. "FOR AN ENEMY OF LORD MAQUANO'S, YOU SEEM TO BE BELOW MY LEVEL."
Chopper jumped out of the hole with a small, black mark on his cheek. He quickly wiped the dirt off and looked up at the large, beam orb Robo Chopper fired. Opening his mouth, he took action and inhaled the attack, spitting it back at his counterpart in the process and sending him flying across the river.
Seeing some flat jewels floating on top of the poisonous water, Chopper used those to jump across the river, since the gap was too far for him to jump. Once across, he found a vine lined up next to a couple of trees through the forest, so he used the vine to grind across toward Robo Chopper.
As soon as the vine had ended, Chopper came to a sudden halt when he saw a large, poisonous lake filled with many jewels. They were not just filled with purple kind, but yellow, green, blue, pink and even white. Looking at a sign nearby, it was discovered that this place was called the Lake of Riches. There was also another sign that read:
Dear signpost readers,
This lake belongs to ME, Princess Poisna! So if I catch any of you peasants taking my precious riches, I'll break you! UNDERSTAND?!
Your dear princess,
Poisna
Looking at the other sign, something began to stumble in Chopper's mind, as if he had remembered someone telling him about a lake full of riches. "…Oh, I see! That dirty bush thingy said that there was something like this here! …I wonder if these things are edible."
One of his antennae twitched, making Chopper turn and see Robo Chopper charging his way. He jumped out of the way and ended up jumping on top of the robot, knocking it to the floor.
While that occurred, an orange jewel with two yellow eyes, spikes on its shoulders and similar wings to the Jewelites jumped out of the lake carrying a hammer. Unlike the other jewel type enemies, this one actually had arms, and they were quite muscular. It looked down at Chopper and raised its hammer…
…But it was easily destroyed once Robo Chopper charged into it. Its hammer was sent flying in the air, giving Chopper the opportunity to inhale it and gain the hammer ability. Seeing him with said ability, Robo Chopper copied it as well and now gained a metallic hammer with the hammer's face having a symbol of himself rather than a star.
"You might know everything I can do… But that isn't going to stop me, because… Well…" Chopper paused for a moment, trying to think of something. "Well, I can basically do everything you can as well!"
"ARE YOU CAPABLE OF FLYING AND INCREASING YOUR FINGERS' LENGTH?" Robo Chopper asked, looking at his metallic, shiny fingers.
"Ummmmm… No?" he replied, as if he just got owned.
In response to this, Robo Chopper swung his metallic hammer toward his enemy, hoping to injure or especially destroy him with a single blow. Too bad for him, because Chopper swung back and managed to block the hammer strike. Now the two were trying to force each other back. Robo Chopper, however, decided to make things easier for him and stepped on Chopper's foot, making him flinch and get struck by Robo Chopper's hammer.
Chopper felt himself get thrown back near the lake's edge. The thought of falling in the toxic water began to worry him. His thoughts were interrupted when he turned and saw Robo Chopper jump in the air to bring his hammer down. This, however, left the robot open for an attack, so Chopper pushed himself up, allowing his feet to knock away Robo Chopper and make him land in a bush.
Robo Chopper's metallic fingers easily sliced off the top part of the bush as soon as he got up. Gripping his hammer tightly, he flew toward Chopper and began to spin his body around in hopes of hitting him. Chopper jumped over the attack and landed near him just as he stopped. He tried swinging, but his attack didn't even seem to make Robo Chopper budge.
"Oh, no... Why does this always happen?" Chopper complained. "It's just like what happened with Stoneard!"
Robo Chopper saw his opportunity to attack and swiped his metallic claws at him. Luckily, he avoided them, and unfortunately for Robo Chopper, his fingers got stuck in a tree. Seeing as this was a perfect chance for him to attack, Chopper jumped over to the side of his counterpart. Charging up a powerful attack, he thrust his hammer upward and knocked Robo Chopper into the lake.
Unfortunately, the break did not last long, as Robo Chopper had flown out of the lake, now surprisingly damaged from the attack. His hammer ability was no longer on him, but it didn't stop him from charging at him. Chopper was ready and jumped in the air to hit him, but Robo Chopper made a quick turn upward and brought his foot down on his head, throwing him to the ground and making him lose his Hammer ability.
"I HAD ENOUGH WITH THIS GAME," Robo Chopper declared, a small amount of static coming from his body. "I DO NOT NEED THESE STRANGE ABILITIES TO DEFEAT YOU."
Chopper clenched his fists and prepared for the worst, but the only thing Robo Chopper did was fly in place, as if he was getting ready to attack at the right moment. He began to run in place as well, preparing to charge into his robot counterpart too. Soon, both clashed and were trying to force each other back with their heads.
"JUST GIVE UP NOW," Robo Chopper suggested. "I AM MUCH BETTER THAN YOU IN EVERYTHING. YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME EVEN IF YOU TRIED."
"No way!" Chopper retorted. "Giving up wouldn't be right! I'm supposed to be doing something right now, and I can't let you get in my way!"
Seeing no way to convince him, Robo Chopper punched the side of his face and knocked him over. He grabbed his foot afterward and started to swing him around so he too was spinning quickly. When he let go, Chopper was sent flying across the lake and landed on a dirt path. Standing up, he noticed his face was covered in dirt. He also found a couple of bruises on his face and arms too.
"Oh, geez… This is not good…"
Turning around, Robo Chopper was flying straight at him. Gulping, he tried to see if there was anything that could help him. It wasn't until he saw a small campfire nearby that gave him a sudden idea. He inhaled the flames and gained the Fire ability just in time for Robo Chopper to show up.
"THAT'S THE BEST YOU CAN COME UP WITH?" scoffed Robo Chopper, whose eyes flashed to gain the same ability. However, his silver appearance changed to a shiny red instead to look similar to Chopper's red skin.
"I was once told before that sometimes you need to fight fire with fire," Chopper stated. "I guess that's what we'll be doing at this point."
He opened his mouth and breathed fire at Robo Chopper, who decided to fly there and take the hit. Though Chopper was happy to hit him, he was disappointed when it hardly did a thing against him.
…Or so he thought.
"WARNING! OVERHEATING DETECTED!" Robo Chopper cried, unable to make another move. "THIS IS NOT GOOD. I WAS DESIGNED TO HANDLE YOUR ABILITIES, BUT I DO NOT APPEAR TO HAVE ANY HEAT-RESISTING ARMOR ON ME. I… I CANNOT CONTINUE LIKE THIS."
Realizing that he had Robo Chopper just where he wanted him, Chopper jumped in the air and managed to throw him to the ground with a flaming kick, damaging the robot even further. Each time he tried breathing fire on him though, his counterpart would quickly avoid it.
"This should do the trick!" Chopper cried, turning into a fireball as he charged into Robo Chopper, sending him flying to the edge of the lake. When he reverted back to himself, he approached Robo Chopper and watched him slowly get up. He appeared to be holding his right arm as if he were limping.
"THIS… THIS IS NOT RIGHT. I CANNOT FIGHT YOU WITH AN ABILITY LIKE THIS, NOR CAN I EVEN USE IT MYSELF." Robo Chopper said, discarding his Fire ability. "IT IS OBVIOUS THAT MY DESIGN IS FLAWED. IT IS POINTLESS TO FIGHT AGAINST YOU WHEN YOU HOLD AN ABILITY LIKE THAT."
"It could be because you're trying to be like me… Honestly, I know myself more than you do."
"I WAS DESIGNED TO SURPASS YOU. I AM OBVIOUSLY MUCH BETTER THAN YOU. HOWEVER, I BELIEVE MY FLAWS NEED TO BE FIXED. DON'T THINK THIS WILL BE THE END OF ME, BECAUSE I WILL RETURN STRONGER THAN BEFORE."
Lifting off the ground, Robo Chopper began to make his exit. He left behind a small trail of smoke before he could no longer be seen through some of the trees. For Chopper, however, he felt relieved, but at the same time, worried. The thought of him returning even stronger was not a good sign.
Looking at his red gloves, Chopper removed his Fire ability and decided to follow the dirt trail. Taking out the incomplete Planet Star, it seemed to flash at a faster pace, with a small ray of light shining up ahead.
"I guess this is the right way to go…" Chopper murmured.
He passed by a sign that said "Forked path ahead", making him wonder if the path up ahead was a fork. Soon the path was up ahead, with two ways to go, along with a large fork in between the two paths, making Chopper stop and become confused.
"A fork in the row? Wow! So I was right all along!" Chopper smiled. "Maybe a giant uses this fork to eat his food?"
Before thinking of that any further, he stared back at the fork again. There was an arrow pointing to the left on the fork, along with one pointing to the right. Shrugging, Chopper took the left path.
…Only to run into a large chasm with a large waterfall nearby. Looking down, there was a river leading straight into Oregano Ocean. He gulped and slowly stood back from the chasm before going back to the large fork. Instead, Chopper took the left passageway.
After a small walk through the right path, Chopper noticed a couple of Jewelites and a few Darklings on a small little field. He was left surprised, but they didn't appear to move. He slowly approached one of the Darklings and poked it. Strange enough, it didn't respond with any attack. It just remained there…
He heard the sound of a door opening, so he turned to his right and saw a small hut that appeared to be in many different colors. The colors seemed very out of place, like it resembled a rainbow. Getting closer, the door swung open, and out came a familiar face.
"Kuty!" Chopper gasped.
"I had a feeling you would come here," Kutora said, approaching the boy while the wind blew through his red cape. He stared down at the bruises and the dirt on his body. "You look like you just came out of a huge battle."
"Yeah, I did," the boy nodded. "Someone who looked just like me was really trying to hurt me, but I think fire seemed to stop him."
"Is that so? Interesting…"
Chopper looked up at Kutora and then looked over at the hut. "So… Is this where you live?"
"No, but it is one of the place I stay to train," Kutora answered. "I have a few training areas on Clara. Personally, I think you could use a bit of training yourself, hence why I was waiting for you here. After all, I don't feel that our training in Colossal Jungle was the best... Once that is done, I will help you get across that chasm."
"Wait… How do you know about that huge, uh…chasm?" Chopper gawked.
"There used to be a bridge there, but to prevent anyone from trying to invade my little hut, I destroyed it. However, I can recreate a little path for you to cross over the chasm if you receive my training."
"Training? Why do you want to train me though?"
Kutora crossed his arms and looked down at Chopper through his pink eyes. "I sense a lot of potential in you, Chopper. The way you fought Trinado, Stoneard, and even Captain Steelfoot, I feel there is still hope in this world."
"Well, I guess I was a bit lucky with them and… Hey, wait a second! Were you watching me this entire time?"
"Look, none of that is important. I feel that giving you a bit of training is much more important.
"Oh, OK…" Chopper trailed with uncertainty in his voice. "But why do you want to help me?"
"After seeing the kind of power you hold, I want to help you be able to control it," Kutora explained, taking out his unlit Spectrum Sword and spinning it. "It seems that you carry some very…strange abilities when you eat something, along with that strange speed and that jumping. What I also found was that you never truly wanted to fight all of those people except for someone like Maquano, thus there were times you found yourself struggling. I don't believe you will able to control those powers on your own if you continue on the way you are now. Perhaps that is why there were times where you did something you didn't intend on doing...or there were times your attacks were completely weak or missed your intended target, which left you completely open for an attack. I want to help you control them in order to help you fight against your enemies. It will definitely make you stronger as a fighter and help you take care of yourself."
Chopper continued to stare at Kutora and his unlit weapon before blinking. "I…don't understand what you mean. Can you repeat that?"
"Hmmmmmm… I think I have a better idea." Kutora picked up a rock near him. "Allow me to give you a demonstration."
He threw the rock directly at Chopper, who let out a cry and jumped out of the way. It ended up hitting the ground, smashing into smithereens. The boy turned to Kutora, exclaiming, "What did you do that for?! You could've hurt me!"
"Perhaps that was not the kind of reaction I was expecting…" Kutora thought. "Anyone can dodge a rock, even a normal being."
Sighing that he had to resort to this, he aimed his weapon's hilt at Chopper and fired a small, blue laser from it. Chopper was horrified at first, but he found himself clenching his fists and inhaling the attack before spitting it back at Kutora. He easily jumped out of the way of the projectile before landing in front of him.
"Why did you try to attack me?!" Chopper cried.
"You didn't understand what I explained to you, so I decided to show you instead," Kutora stated. "Tell me, Chopper… When you're in the middle of a fight, does something suddenly spark in you and makes you do something unlike anything you've done or done something you didn't want to happen?"
"Well… I think so… Many times, actually." the four-year-old recalled. "There was one time when I was fighting some wizard and also some enemies... And there was that one time when I was running across the water, and I suddenly found myself jumping around like crazy. Also, when I copy these strange abilities, I'm not sure what happens, but I end up doing something strange anyway without realizing it. And there were times where I tried hitting something, but it didn't even do a thing, or I ended up missing. I mean, that happened against that robot version of me, and I did swing with all my might! It's like something's controlling these weird powers. It might be because of that heart."
"Is that so? Anything else?"
"Ummmmmm… Oh, yeah! I fought against this weird alien guy on the beach, and I suddenly got really, really mad. I don't know what happened after that, though. But I felt kind of weak after that…"
"I see…" Kutora trailed. "However, if you cannot fully control your powers, I believe they will not help you grow as a fighter."
"But I don't want to be forced to fight!"
"Well, one who is forced to fight is usually not as strong as one who chooses to fight most of the time… Anyway, the only way I can even help you train is if you practice some of your fighting skills. Since you don't seem to carry any weapons, we'll try hand-to-hand."
After spinning his hilt one last time, he placed the weapon back on his waist. "I'm not one of the best hand-to-hand fighters out there, so I doubt you will have any issues."
"Wait… But I'm not that good at fighting like this!" Chopper cried, jumping away from one of Kutora's kicks.
"I never said anything about you being skilled," Kutora mentioned. "Did you know that fighting is sometimes considered a sport?"
"A…sport?" the antennae boy gawked before getting knocked back by another kick.
"You fool! You should've been paying attention! Even during a conversation, you should always be on guard! You should've been well aware of that!"
Chopper slowly got up, rubbing his head in the process. Kutora, however, still did not hold back and kicked him again. This went on for about five minutes, with Chopper getting hit each time.
"This is hopeless," Kutora sighed. "See, if you can't control your powers, you're not going to succeed. That power has been doing random things to you that are both good and bad."
"But… I'm not sure how to control it!" Chopper cried. "And it's not fair that you're trying to do this to me when I was just in a big fight!"
Unsure of how to counter his argument, he went back into his hut and came back with some apples and oranges. Tossing them to Chopper, he turned away from him. "Eat those quickly, then we'll get back to training."
When he turned to Chopper again, he raised an eyebrow when he saw all the food gone already. "Strange…"
"About the whole controlling thing…" Chopper started, grabbing Kutora's attention. "I think the only one I understand how to use is the running, jumping and that inhaling thing. Maybe because I was using that the most?"
"I see… So you can at least control a few things. However, that alone will not help you. You need to learn how to be able to fight back easily while being able to control your powers, because only then will it help you at simply random moments in a fight. …Since fighting you doesn't seem to be working too well, I think I have a much better solution. This was used to help delve into our minds and try to contain what sort of skills we have in order to control our fighting skills in a fight much better and sense our enemies approaching. Most of the time this was used for those who have issues with combat."
Chopper was starting to feel very confused. "What do you want me to do?"
"We would always meditate and try to find the power from within ourselves. It helps improve your skills in fighting, and it gives you an idea of what kind of abilities you're capable of. By knowing of this, us warriors could face off against enemies we've feared for so long. Sadly, this can only be done once."
"Oh, well that sounds easy!"
"It's much harder than you think," Kutora stated, which nearly brought Chopper's hopes down. "However, depending on the power you carry, this can take seconds…or forever. I suggest you meditate now so you can get a better idea of what you are capable of."
"OK, I'll try," Chopper nodded, sitting down and closing his eyes. "Ummmm… What do I do?"
"You must slowly relax and ease your mind. You must focus your mind on the power you are looking for."
"OK…" Chopper obeyed and tried to ease his mind and relax.
Concentrating, he saw a vision of a large, grassy landscape with a beautiful, blue sky. A bright light shined from the heart-shaped clouds, and a rainbow heart began to slowly descend down. Chopper felt as if he was in this landscape too, and by touching the heart, it only transformed into energy and went into him. He tightly closed his eyes, cringing from the energy surging into him.
Opening his eyes, he saw a replica of himself in front of him smiling and waving. "Hi there, Chopper!"
"Huh? Are you…me?" Chopper gaped.
"Uh huh!" the replica nodded. "I see you're trying to learn how to control your powers. That's where I come in to play! To understand how to control your powers to fight, you first must understand yourself. You know, to discover what your weaknesses are."
"Weaknesses?" Before Chopper could say more, the replica charged and managed to deliver a kick to his face, knocking him onto the grassy floor. "Hey! I wasn't ready for that!"
"Ahhh… See? Even in a conversation, you should always be on guard in case if the enemy tries to sneak in an attack! Many baddies will do something like that, because they're, well, bad!"
Chopper slowly got up and rubbed his head. "Oh, OK…"
His replica came charging at him again. Chopper felt something spark inside of him that gave him an angry look and allowed him to defend against the kick. He threw in a punch, but his replica managed to defend against it. Soon both were exchanging blow to blow in a very fast manner that it was very difficult to see. They were constantly moving around and even jumped in the air as well.
Unfortunately for Chopper, his replica managed to bring both of his fists down on his head and throw him onto the ground. Landing, the replica walked over to Chopper and helped him up.
"Hey, that wasn't so bad!" the replica smiled. "Now try to do that without your power helping you."
"Wait… Huh? How can I do something like that?" Chopper gawked. "I can't do that!"
"You may think that, but you're just as wrong as you think. Remember when you faced Trinado when you used that sword? Believe it or not, a lot of that was you."
"…Are you serious?"
"You betcha!" the replica nodded. "Here's a little something you might find interesting… When you end up getting an ability such as a sword or a hammer, you don't have many problems fighting with them because you understand their abilities. Some newer abilities, like the Needle or Wheel are much more difficult for you to use because you're not fully used to them. In time, you will be able to understand those abilities. Anyway…"
The replica came charging at Chopper again and landed a few punches on him. Chopper managed to at least defend himself after the last punch and managed to land a decent punch on the replica's face and send him flying back. He soon blasted off to reach the replica and stopped him by jumping in the air and throwing his foot on his head to knock him onto the floor. A small crater was created in the process.
Landing, Chopper looked at his foot in amazement. "Whoa… I never knew I could do that. I thought my attacks would be useless."
"Hmmmmmm… I think I might understand now." the replica said, quickly getting up and approaching Chopper. "I think I might know why you don't have perfect control over your powers."
"You do?"
"Yeah. While fighting with you, I looked through your mind and saw the power of the Sacred Heart. That heart has its own fate, and it chooses its host."
"Fate? What do you mean?"
"The heart is meant to be given to a hero who would save the world from evil beings like Maquano. The host, however, must understand what they'll be receiving from this heart and accept their fate as a hero. Only then will they gain complete control over the new powers they're given. If a host does not, then they will have a difficult time using some certain powers. The heart's power might randomly come to use during a battle or when you're in danger. Sure, it may have been a bit easy for you at first, but as you progressed, some points were rather…difficult for you. Or maybe it's just that you feel lonely."
"I don't like being lonely like this," Chopper sighed. "I thought this would be interesting at first, but I don't have many people to talk to. I still miss my mommy and daddy too. …Wait, how do you even know all of this?"
"Because…" a demented grin now formed over the replica's face as he was slowly covered in darkness. "I once got my hands on the Sacred Heart!"
The peaceful, blue sky slowly changed to black, and the replica started to disappear and appear as two, glowing purple eyes. The wind around Chopper grew heavier as he looked at the figure in horror.
"Who… Who ARE you?!" Chopper cried.
"You don't understand? What a shame… You know, you weren't the first to get their hands on that heart! In fact, I was one of the first ones to grab a hold of it over a thousand years ago! Too bad I ended up losing that thing, because it sure would have come in handy against those heroes!"
"W-Wait… So was all of that you said just a big fat lie?"
"No no. None of that was a lie." the figure replied. "All of that was the truth. In fact, I'd like to see you be able to accept your fate as a hero, because maybe then, we can finally face each other when I finally make my return. I'll finally redeem myself after what he and his friends did to me… In the meantime…"
The figure began to lash at Chopper, who continued to watch in horror as a large, shadow hand appeared and was about to grab him. He quickly covered his face, expecting the worse.
Chopper quickly opened his eyes and was shaking in fear. However, looking at his surroundings, he discovered he was back in Toxic Forest, near the hut. Rubbing his eyes for a moment, he looked up at Kutora, whose arms were crossed.
"So, did you experience the training?" Kutora asked.
"Yeah, I think I did…" Chopper nodded, slowly getting up. "I think I also know why I have a bit of a difficult time using these powers too. I think it has to do something about me accepting my fate as a hero."
"I see… I was thinking it had to do something about that. If that's the case, then it's your only option."
"But… I don't know if I'm ready for something like this."
"Look, Chopper, some things have to change, for the better or for the worse. Life cannot always stay the same, or else the world would become very dull." Kutora got in a fighting stance. "Now let's see if you've improved."
Seeing Kutora charge at him, Chopper defended himself against the attack and landed a kick on Kutora's body armor. Although it didn't seem to do much, it was able to push him back a little. He tried to land a punch, but Chopper simply jumped and landed on his arm instead.
"Is this your doing?" Kutora wondered.
"I don't know," Chopper shrugged, jumping off the Spectrum Knight's arm and landing on the dark green grass. He remained in a fighting stance, preparing for what would be coming next.
"I think this is all the training I'm going to give you for now," the knight stated. "I can see you have improved somewhat, but I still believe there is more to you than you believe. Just understand that you must accept your fate, and you can possibly bring out your full potential and fully control these powers."
Chopper gave him a look of uncertainty in response.
"Anyway, I made a promise to you, so I should get to that right away. Follow me."
Chopper followed Kutora to the chasm on the left side of the forked road, and upon showing up, the Spectrum Knight looked down at the poisonous river, along with the waterfall.
He closed his eyes for a brief moment and opened them to thrust his arms forward and open his hands. A wave of energy struck the chasm and created a rainbow road leading to the other side.
Of course, Chopper couldn't help but be amazed his this.
"Cross this road, and you will be led to Poisna's Casino Club. Though, just a warning: they don't allow children in there."
"Why not?" Chopper gawked.
"Most likely because they don't want children taking their jewels. But regardless, I believe you can get in there somehow. However, you might have to force yourself in through some violence."
"Violence? But… I don't want to have to resort to that!" When Chopper turned around, he noticed Kutora was gone. "Kutora? Where'd you go?"
He turned back and noticed the rainbow road was starting to fade away. With little time left, he sped across the road and reached the other side of the chasm. Sighing, he followed the road ahead and noticed fewer trees around. The sky was also dark, with the full moon shining down from the sky.
After a minute had passed, Chopper discovered the trail had finally come to an end and led him to a large, grassy landscape with a large building up ahead in the size of a skyscraper. It was a dark gray filled with many purple, pink and green lights.
"Strange… There aren't any trees around here… What happened to them?" Chopper wondered, walking off the trail and sliding down one of the hills. Taking a closer look, he saw a large amount of strange people walking into the building, and the line was certainly big. A large, red rug happened to be in front of the entrance, strangely.
He glared at the large billboard in front of the building with Poisna's face on it as he began to speed his way toward the skyscraper. With the skills he had learned from that little training, Chopper had a feeling this may not be as difficult as he originally thought. However, the thoughts of that dark being in his mind began to plague his mind.
"I don't know what that thing was, but at least I don't have to worry about that for now," Chopper thought. "There are more important things that I have to worry about!"
At that point, Chopper began to move at full speed toward Casino Club.
Originally, I had intended to have only the fight in this chapter, but I felt that it would make this chapter a bit too short, so I added in a couple of new stuff. Personally, I like this chapter a whole lot more than the previous two (not saying they're bad, I just think this one had a lot more). In fact, this could be one of my favorite chapters so far!
If some people weren't aware, there's a bit of a connection between this story and A Thousand Years Ago (if you haven't read that, go right ahead if you want). There might not be a whole lot, but there are just a few you might see.