Keeping to his word, Luffy continued to pursue Chopper, adamantly trying to convince the young reindeer to become a part of his crew. And seeing that he couldn't outrun the hyper male, Chopper raced into Nami's room where Dr. Kureha currently was, hiding behind the older woman for protection.
"What are you doing?" Nami asked incredulously.
"This guy is going to be our nakama!"
Nami's face brightened at this. "Oh, really?"
"I never agreed to that!" Chopper complained. He continued to argue with an insisting Luffy as they circled around Dr. Kureha, the two rushing out of the room just as quickly as they had entered. This made Nami and Sanji sigh at their captain's antics.
"Nakama, eh?" Doctorine murmured with a deep frown. "You have no idea how deep a meaning...that word holds for him." Peering at Sanji, Nami, and Toffee who were silently staring at her, Kureha quietly gazed back for a moment before facing the door Chopper and Luffy had ran through. "He lived alone. But, there was one man he once opened his heart to. His name was Dr. Hiriluk. He was a quack doctor who gave Chopper his name and called him son."
Kureha told the tale of how the rather eccentric doctor first met Chopper. Fearing the animals appearance, Chopper had been shot at and badly injured by the townsfolk he had merely wanted to befriend. Hiriluk happened to stumble upon Chopper during a blizzard and had tended to the creatures wounds, earning the frightened monsters trust by discarding all of his clothes in the freezing cold. Both were outcasts in their own ways, and this helped them develop a strong bond where they became similar to a father and son.
Unfortunately, Hiriluk was suffering from a terminal illness. And after a year together, once learning that he didn't have long for the world, with a heavy heart, the doctor kicked Chopper out of his life to keep him from witnessing his encroaching end. Overhearing the truth from Kureha that Hiriluk was dying, Chopper set out on a search for a mushroom known as an Amiudeke. This mushroom in fact was poisonous, and even knowing this, moved by Chopper's compassion, Hiriluk ingested the deadly shroom.
Kureha informed Chopper of his grave mistake, and knowing that his time had grown shorter, Hiriluk headed for the former king Wapol's castle to tend to the twenty personal doctors under him, even knowing that their sudden sickness was most likely a trap set by the cruel sovereign. With his time coming to an end, Hiriluk poured one of his failed medicines, drinking it and using the liquid to end his life to keep Chopper's poison from being the cause of his death.
Chopper, having arrived on the scene, was deeply scarred by the death of his father-figure. And hearing Wapol mockingly laughing at Hiriluk's death, Chopper attacked in a blind rage. Dalton stopped Chopper before he could be injured, informing him not to waste his life on revenge. Taking the guards words to heart, Chopper reclaimed Hiriluk's hat, placing it as a grave marker in memory of the first person who showed him real kindness. He then went on to study under Dr. Kureha where he worked diligently to become a great doctor.
Listening to the heartbreaking tale, Nami, Sanji, and Toffee were quiet, each lost in their own thoughts of just how much Chopper had gone through.
"And so for six years, Tony-kun has been with you," Nami spoke up in a soft voice.
"Yes. I've beat everything I know into him."
The sound of cloven footsteps could be heard running down the hall, and at the sound of Chopper's frantic voice yelling 'Doctorine', the four perked up. At his next words, it was understandable why Chopper was so worked up.
"Doctorine! Come quick! Wapol has returned!"
Kureha simply bowed her head with a calm smile despite the somber mood that had developed in the room. "I see." she mused, standing up to leave the room with Chopper to confront the man for herself.
"Wapol tried to stop Luffy the day before, but those Laphan helped us out by blocking him and his men from reaching us," Toffee spoke up, her hand moving to cover her mouth. "He must have defeated them..."
"I'm amazed those psychotic rabbits would even do such a thing," Sanji muttered out while lighting a fresh cigarette. When seeing the worry on Toffee's face, he gave a small pat to her shoulder. "Those tufts of fur are fine, I'm sure. You just stay here with Nami-san and relax."
Giving a small nod to the cook, Toffee wondered if it was really alright to let him go face off against Wapol? Luffy had probably seen the large metal faced man's arrival for himself, but she couldn't help but wonder if both men had fully recovered? Sanji had practically looked dead and Luffy hadn't been in much better shape.
"Don't worry, Toffee. They'll be fine." Nami spoke up, having laid down on her back with a knowing smile.
Toffee blinked at the navigator, returning her smile before moving to sit down next to Nami's bed with one of Chopper's medical books. She figured it was the best way to pass time, and not that she expected Luffy or Sanji to allow Wapol to enter the castle, but she'd at least be here to make sure he didn't hurt Nami if the monster found a way.
"Cold...cold!"
Then again, she hadn't expected to hear Luffy come back into the castle so soon for that matter.
"Where's my jacket?" Luffy cried out, rubbing at his bare arms while hopping from one foot to the other.
Opening her eyes and sitting up, Nami questioned, "What's going on outside? It's pretty noisy,"
"It's cold outside. Where'd my jacket go?" Luffy muttered, heading to a nearby chest where he started to throw out its contents. This led Nami to chastise him for not answering her question. "Oh. Just a fight."
"I guess it's going alright, then?" Toffee asked, smiling sheepishly when the dark haired male just gave a firm nod.
"You can use my jacket," Nami told Luffy considering the male wasn't having any luck in his search and was clearly becoming frustrated.
"Oh well, as long as it's warm." Luffy said, seeming to pout as he didn't think her coat was cool like his had been.
"He didn't really tell us much about the fight, huh?" Toffee mused with a small laugh when Luffy ran out of the room, his arm shooting back to close the door to stop the chill from seeping in.
"And here I thought something actually happened." Nami sighed out, snuggling back under the comfy covers.
Toffee smiled faintly, returning to the green covered book she held. She might not have a clue what was going on outside, but from the sounds of explosions that actually shook the walls, the fight must have been pretty chaotic. Toffee even swore she heard Luffy screaming angrily every now and then. That Wapol guy seemed to have an attitude as big as his mouth, so she wouldn't put it past the guy to have said or done something that greatly angered the captain.
Peering over at Nami who had been quiet for a while, Toffee moved to gently place her hand on the red-haired girls forehead, a sigh of relief leaving her lips since it was no longer drenched with heat.
"It's finally come down a lot, huh?"
"Sorry. Did I wake you?" Toffee quickly apologized, pulling her hand back with a look of guilt.
Nami smiled and shook her head. "No. I was just resting my eyes. But this means I can return to the ship soon," Surprising Toffee when she flung off the covers and jumped out of bed, the navigator continued, "There's no more time to be laying in bed! Vivi is waiting, after all!"
"I don't think Doctorine will be too happy her patient isn't in bed, but I doubt I can stop you from leaving?"
"Not a chance! Come on, Toffee, let's get out of here!"
Scratching at her cheek knowing it would be a miracle if Dr. Kureha didn't beat them both black and blue, Toffee followed after Nami who had placed a purple and white fur rimmed blanket over her form to at least help against the cold.
"We're lucky, Toffee. Looks like the coast is clear!" Nami chirped, having not yet noticed the figure standing on the lower floor.
"Mahahahahaha! Now then, would you be one of the Straw Hat's nakama?"
"Why in the world is Wapol here?" Toffee murmured with a deep frown. Did this mean he actually defeated Luffy and Sanji?
"Shh! Play it cool, Toffee!" Nami quietly told the now confused girl. "Nope, you're completely mistaken. We have absolutely no idea what you're talking about!"
"Eh? I'm wrong? Really?" Wapol exclaimed startled.
I can't believe he really bought that Toffee wondered in awe. Maybe he had a terrible memory? That would explain why he didn't recognize either of them when they were coming up the mountain.
"Well, we'll be on our way!" Nami sung out, starting to walk off while Toffee hesitantly did the same.
"Sure!" Wapol replied back cheerfully. The large male ended up scuttling up a nearby frozen pillar, his large footsteps connecting with the upper floor hard enough where it caused both females to slightly stumble. "LIAR!"
"EIYEEEEE!"
I should have known Toffee pondered, her shadow quickly forming beside her. Leaping into the air with her companion, both of their feet connected with the encroaching enemy's face. Wapol let out a cry of both pain and surprise as he went sailing backwards from the combined attack, holding onto his aching face as he crashed into the far wall.
"Toffee what-"
"We should get away while we can!" Toffee voiced, taking Nami's slightly cold hand and pulling her along.
"YOU DAMN HIPPO! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!"
"I think you just made him madder!" Nami gulped out as they rushed down a set of stairs, the purple haired man already quickly catching up to them. At least that red mark on his face looked pretty painful.
"I didn't think he'd recover that fast...Lucky that hole was there." Toffee breathed out, placing a hand on her chest seeing Wapol squirming to break free from a square opening that had trapped his form when he had tried to jump through it.
"Have I been putting on a little weight? Then I'll just do this...I'll eat myself!" Wapol exclaimed, doing just what he had exclaimed as his jaw elongated to devour his body whole.
"Wh-why would someone ever do something like that to themselves?!" Toffee squeaked out, clinging to her shadow. Both of them were shaking, freaked out by the oddity that had just occurred.
"H-he looks like a bucket..." Nami couldn't help but comment as Toffee and her nervously backed away from the tin-plated jaw that was continuing to chew on the contents inside while bouncing after them.
"All done! The miracle of orthopedic frame reconstruction! SLIM UP WAPOL!" the now much leaner and taller male exclaimed, his hands resting on his hips in a rather cocky fashion once he formed back in front of an alarmed Nami and Toffee. He then sent a dark grin at both females. "You're not going anywhere."
Before Wapol could lunge for either Toffee or Nami, Neoshadow jumped with his three claws pulled back to slice at the males face. Wapol was prepared this time, and Neoshadow's yellow eyes bulged when the male's mouth extended and chomped down on him, consuming half of his body.
"AHHHH! NEOSHADOW-KUN?!" Toffee shrieked out in horror as she watched her shadow squirm like mad to try and escape from the madman. "Spit my shadow out, you messed up man!"
"Shadow? So that's why he's so chewy," Wapol said in a muffled voice as his teeth ground down on the creature. Wapol's eyes were the ones to bulge this time when a leg came out of nowhere, causing him to spit out Neoshadow and impact with the wall.
Moving to cradle the twitching and slightly drool covered shadow monster, Toffee spoke up sympathetically, "You poor thing...I think you deserve to rest after going through an ordeal like that." Nodding weakly in agreement at this, Neoshadow disappeared while Toffee's normal shadow reappeared in front of her crouched down form.
"Eh? I don't remember him being that thin," Luffy mused, walking further into the room and rubbing at his hat covered head in confusion.
Despite having just saved them both, Nami's face darkened as she punched Luffy upside his head. "Luffy...Why is my jacket all ripped up? Do you know how much that cost me?! 28,000 beli! And that was after bargaining for it!"
"Sorry! But that guy shot his cannons and stuff at me!" Luffy cried back, holding up his hands defensively. "There was no helping it!"
"Honestly! But don't worry about it. I'll forgive you," Nami said with a smile on the sneaky side. "When I lent you my jacket, I didn't really expect it to come back in good condition anyway. For compensation, I'll just tack on a little extra to the 'three times return'. 100,000 beli. That's what you owe me."
Nami really is devious Toffee thought, slumping slightly were she stood as she felt incredibly bad for the now blue faced Luffy. Maybe I should have given him my coat...but I guess it's technically Nami's, too. We might have both been charged, then...
"That's enough, you runts!" Wapol huffed out, barely looking fazed by his second collision with a wall today. He pointed to a large door that happened to be behind him. "Look! This is the armory! And I have the key right here! Naturally, there are copious amounts of every weapon you can possibly conceive in here! After I've consumed all of them...my Munch-Munch Fruit will make them part of my body! I will become a human weapon feared throughout the world before your eyes!"
After realizing he didn't have the key on his form when he reached for it, Wapol panicked and rushed up the winding staircase with Luffy quickly pursuing after him.
"Um, you don't think he meant this key, do you?" Toffee brought up innocently to Nami as she showed a iron key in her palm. "Neoshadow-kun must have grabbed it when he was struggling to break free."
"Good thing your shadow's so sneaky. It's just a shame this key isn't to a treasury instead." Nami voiced, gently taking the key from Toffee.
"NAMI-SWAN! TOFFEE-CHWAN!" Sanji yelled out joyously, crawling toward both girls like an insect. "Thank goodness you both are okay!"
Nami leaned down, looking at the blond haired male with concern. "What happened, Sanji-kun? You're crawling...Are you okay?"
Her words of concern caused large hearts to form in the males eyes, and those eyes of his were clearly on her chest. "Nami-san? Are you really worrying about me? If I could just be embraced by that gentle warmth...!"
"DOWN!" Nami shouted, slamming Sanji's face on the cold ground. He weakly called out her name, splaying out on all fours and not looking like he was moving any time soon.
Toffee winced from this. If the chef wasn't injured before, he probably was now from that move. Peering up at the tower where Luffy had chased Wapol, she wondered what the purple haired male was planning? He didn't seem like the type to just flee for no reason. Was there another weapon somewhere that he planned on devouring?
When hearing a sudden explosion, Toffee's eyes widened and she rushed outside where Dr. Kureha and Chopper were, both of them looking upwards. Following their gazes, she spotted black smoke rising from one of the towers, but that wasn't all. Wapol was poking out of the very tip of the tower, facing a pirate flag that had cheery petals painted upon it.
Luffy was scurrying up to where Wapol was, and even from such a distance, Toffee could see the fear upon the former kings face as he knew what was coming. Luffy's arms stretched far back, and he shouted at the top of his lungs, "BAZOOKA!", where he sent a pleading Wapol flying out far into the distance. It wouldn't be surprising if everyone in the kingdom had witnessed the tyrants welcome departure.
Pirates saving kingdoms. I bet no one would ever believe such a thing Toffee thought with a faint smile, glancing back at Chopper who was staring at a grinning Luffy with a solemn expression.
"Oh, Toffee."
Blinking at the sudden appearance of Zoro and Usopp-who hid behind him-and had seemed to come up the mountain in an elevator of all things, Toffee waved at the two men. A large sweat drop ended up trailing down her head when Luffy leaped off the high roof, flying straight for Zoro and Usopp where he landed on them with a loud crash.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!" Zoro screeched out, shooting up from the snow pile that had covered him.
"Oh, it's you guys!"
"You didn't realize it was them when you came shooting down?" Toffee asked sheepishly, giving a little wave to a bewildered Vivi who had just appeared.
"Well, I remembered seeing Zoro's clothes before...so I thought you were more of that guys nakama," Luffy answered simply with an easy-going grin. "So you guys climbed the mountain too, huh? Usopp, didn't you say that you couldn't climb?"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Usopp laughed out, proudly placing his hands on his hips. "I'm the kind of man who says, 'If there's a mountain, climb it'. However, this cliff was somewhat of an adventure."
"We came up via the rope-way, Luffy-san," Vivi explained with a smile, her words making Usopp tilt sideways slightly. "Are Nami-san and Sanji-san alright?"
"Yeah! They're doing better," Luffy reassured her with a closed-eyed grin that caused the princess to clasp her hands together and let out a huge sigh of relief.
Zoro crossed his arms, looking at Luffy with a scowl. "And? What were you doing on top of the castle?"
"I was beating up a king!"
An injured Dalton looked at Luffy in shock. "So that person who flew off into the distance a minute ago...really was Wapol? You beat him?"
"Yeah, why?"
"And his two ministers?"
"The reindeer beat them up."
"Beaten...by a reindeer?" Dalton slowly spoke, his further look of astonishment increasing. And he turned to the blue nosed reindeer who was hiding behind a tree. "You were there...back then. I see. You've been continuously fighting since then." Getting on his hands and knees to bow before Chopper, Dalton trailed off with tears in his eyes, "Thank you. Drum will surely...Surely be reborn!"
The villagers soon arrived on the mountain peak, and they ended up panicking when seeing the 'monster' they believed that they should fear for themselves. Their panic in turn caused another to freak out.
"A MONSTER!" Usopp ended up shrieking out.
Seeing Chopper screaming and running away in fear, Luffy's eyes narrowed angrily.
"DON'T CALL HIM A MONSTER!" Luffy loudly reprimanded, punching Usopp upside the head. "He's the new nakama I found! He was so shocked that he ran away!"
"Th-that things our new nakama?!" Usopp voiced meekly, clinging onto his throbbing head.
Toffee giggled and shook her head as Luffy went chasing after Chopper, causing the reindeer to scream even louder. It was hard to tell if he was making things worse or not.
"Yeah. He's going to be the Going Merry's new doctor."
