Category: Friendship Fluff

Characters: Tony Tony Chopper

Requested By: Anonymous User

Chopper's hard reindeer hooves thunked against the wooden deck of the Thousand Sunny as he tottered out of the bowels of the ship to stroll out onto the main deck; as he walked out of the door, the loud clanking of his hooves became muffled by the embrace of the cushiony, green, grass-like carpet that spread across it, courtesy of the industrious and borderline over-the-top shipwright Franky. The aforementioned cyborg was currently stretched out on a beach chair beside the balustrade of the ship, hands behind his head, sunglasses on his eyes, and a little bit of white sunscreen shining on his metal nose as he soaked up the sun's warming rays. Chopper really wasn't sure how a man that a majority metal could get an appreciable tan, but the doctor was at least glad that he was taking the appropriate steps to avoid major sunburn and eventual skin cancer, at least. Zoro was asleep, as usual, propped up against the mast, Robin and Nami were on the third level of the ship (Nami was watering her tangerines and Robin reading one of her many voluminous history tomes), Sanji was in the kitchen preparing lunch from the delicious aromas pouring out of the slightly ajar kitchen door, Brook was probably down in the bowels of the ship sitting in the sitting area gawking at the fish swimming by the glass sides, Usopp was in his workshop working on the latest of his modifications for his slingshot, and Luffy was perched on the figurehead of the ship screaming into the wind- just a usual day aboard the Thousand Sunny.

Since everyone was too busy to do something fun with him, Chopper was forced to find his own source of entertainment for the day; he walked to a bucket of fishing rods in the corner of the main deck and picked out his special fishing rod, a child's model that was the perfect size for his little reindeer frame, before tottering over to a barrel beside the side of the ship. With a grunt of exertion, he jumped up and grabbed onto the rim of the barrel with the rod clenched in his teeth, his feet kicking wildly as he pulled himself onto the top of the wooden container. He sat on it for a moment, wheezing to catch his breath, before making himself comfortable and casting his line into the water with a contented sigh. The water was calm today, barely lapping at the sides of the ship, and spread out like the shiny surface of a glass table across the horizon. The bobber made tiny ripples in the water as it shifted in the current, and Chopper hoped that below the opaque surface of the sea a tasty fish was circling the bait on his hook, ready to bite. His mouth began to water and he giggled a bit as he imagined the delectable bite that Sanji would cook up. He especially hoped that it was a large catch; because he was so small, he could never hook the big fish by himself, Zoro or Sanji would always have to help him reel it in.

This time, I'm gonna catch it by myself! They're gonna be so proud! He thought in anticipation and wiggled a bit on the top of the barrel. He froze, however, when he felt the fishing rod twitch; he leaned forward slightly as he watched the bobber jiggle for a second, and then gasped when it was sucked underneath the water in one swift motion. He jumped to his feet on the barrel as he whipped the rod back with all his strength, and a beam of satisfaction appeared on his furry face when he felt the fish jerk on the line, obviously hooked. His front hoof frantically whirled the spindle of the rod to draw in the quivering line, and from the force working against him, his wish of a large catch had been granted.

"Ahahaha! I got a big fish, I got a big fish!" he squealed as he did a little dance on top of the barrel. In his glee, he forgot for a moment just what he was going up against and let a little too much slack into the line. His elation quickly morphed into acute fear as he was lurched forward, right off the barrel over the side of the ship and into the open air. A shriek spilled from his mouth as the bright blue ocean water came up to meet him. I'm gonna droooooooown!

Then, instead of falling, he was just hanging suspended in open space. He blinked his teary eyes for a minute, puzzled, and gazed down at the still-calm ocean water below. He then wailed and flapped his arms and legs about frantically because he had no idea what was happening.

"Chopper, relax. I've got you." The frightened reindeer glanced over his shoulder as he was addressed to find Zoro leaning over the edge of the ship with a firm grip on the back of his striped shirt, holding him aloft. At the sight of the swordsman and obvious realization that he was safe, Chopper deflated like a balloon, immensely relieved; the man easily pulled him back over the edge of the ship and set him safely down on the barrel, then grabbed the rod- which he had miraculously managed to hold on to despite his panicky fit- from his hooves and with one powerful jerk brought a slippery, flopping fish onto the deck. His smile instantly fell off his face.

Chopper sunk down onto the barrel in disappointment; the fish was barely bigger than himself, hardly the trophy he had thought it was, and frankly dull-looking, just your average, every-day silvery fish. Chopper felt tears sting the corners of his eyes as he felt Zoro's intense gaze on him; though the swordsman only had one eye, his glare still had the intensity of a lion's. Chopper just knew that he was going to be scolded for doing something so obviously reckless. His bottom lip wobbled pitifully. He knew he was small and not such a beastly fighter as Luffy or Zoro, but that didn't mean he had to be protected all the time. He wanted to be tough too, but no matter how hard he tried, things ended up like this a lot.

"I'm sorry," he sniffled before Zoro could get the chance to chastise him. "I just wanted to catch a big fish… I caused all that trouble and look at it, it's not even that big…" Wallowing in self-pity as he gazed miserably at his pathetic catch, his tiny shoulders were drooped and his head hung low; he could not even bring himself to look up at Zoro because he knew there would be an angry, disappointed expression on his face. He tried to keep the swordsman from knowing that he was crying, because he knew Zoro would call him a weakling for crying, too, but it was hard to hide the quiver in his squeaky voice or the tremble in his shoulders. Chopper just sat there pitifully, just waiting for his punishment. Then, unexpectedly, he felt Zoro's big, rough hand plop down onto his head, squishing his hat down as he affectionately patted him.

"What are you talking about? That's a great catch- right, Luffy?" Chopper looked up with his black eyes swimming with tears as he smirked down at him before nodding his chin at the captain, who had hopped down from the figurehead and strolled over to investigate the commotion, and, subsequently, Chopper's prize. Luffy was squatted down next to the hyperventilating fish with a stupid grin, poking the poor creature in the gills.

"Hell yeah! Sanji can make us all a great snack with this! Shishishishi!" he snickered devilishly as he picked up the near-dead fish by the tail and hopped to his feet while cupping his other hand to his mouth. "Yo, Sanji! Catch!" he hollered across the deck of the ship. When the kitchen door opened further and the blonde cook appeared, the captain wasted no time flinging the hapless fish and sending it hurtling towards him.

"What're you hollering about?" Sanji snapped back while standing there with his hands on his hip. He made a plfffft noise as the slimy fish smacked into his face, and he stood there stiffly as it slowly slid down his face while Luffy cackled hysterically, rolling around on the deck holding his belly while he kicked his legs. When the fish finally slipped off Sanji's chin and landed on the deck with a wet slap, the cook was scowling in irritation and had a vein popping out of his head. "Luffy! You idiot; watch where you're flinging shit!" he yelled at him before bending down to retrieve the fish with a weary sigh. He held it up by the tail, rubbing his chin as he considered it thoughtfully. "I could make some decent sushi with this… Thanks," he said before whirling on his heel and disappearing back into his sanctum to work his magic on Chopper's catch. The little reindeer was still huddled on the barrel.

"Did I really do a good job?" he murmured aloud, looking up at Zoro with hopeful eyes, and the green-haired man flashed him a grin.

"Sure did, but next time, just make sure someone is with you, Chopper. We can't let our little fish-wrangler become fish food, now can we?" he mused and patted him on the head again. Under the praise and affectionate caress, Chopper snickered in delight and beamed. He isn't mad, and more than that, he praised me! I did a good job!

Chopper felt like he was walking on clouds for the short time that Sanji spent preparing the fish. The rest of the crew, attracted by all the shouting, had meandered out onto the deck and given him the opportunity to dramatically re-enact his battle with the fish with just a wee bit of embellishment, and thankfully Zoro didn't contradict him, only sat leaned up against the side of the ship with his arms crossed and approvingly nodding along- or bobbing his head in his sleep, who really knew? The crew was enthralled with his story, gasping every time he dramatically whipped his arms in his re-enactment of the grapple and cheering at his victory. When he was finished, he rubbed his hoof under his nose with a great big smile as they all complimented him on his great contribution to their lunch, and with no time at all Sanji was strolling out brandishing a tray of beautifully crafted sushi. "As the brave wrangler of the fish, I think it only fair that Chopper be the first to try it, don't you agree?" he grinned and held out the tray in front of him. Chopper breathed in sharply with a watering mouth as his hungry eyes drank in Sanji's masterpiece.

"No way! I wanna try it!" Luffy whined and stretched his hand over Sanji's shoulder in an attempt to swipe a piece, but Sanji swiftly whirled about and crushed his rubbery hand underfoot, leaving the captain squirming and whining while the cook glared at him sharply.

"Stop being rude! You'll get yours in a minute!" he snapped before turning back to Chopper with a serene smile. "Now, here you go, Chopper," he said and held out the tray again. Chopper beamed as he picked up a piece of the yummy-looking sushi and popped it into his mouth; immediately his face scrunched up in delight at the savory flavor of the fish and the delightful chewiness of the rice.

"It's delicious, Sanji! Thanks!" he beamed, immensely glad that his catch had produced such a tasteful creation. As Sanji straightened up to give the rest of the crew a piece of the sushi, Chopper's face immediately went blank as a tingling sensation began in his body, making his fur stand on end. "Um, Sanji… I-I don't feel so good," he whispered as his stomach began to flip around uncomfortably inside of him, and he grimaced as he tenderly held his furry belly. Sanji hurriedly slapped a piece of sushi that Luffy was about to inhale, sending it flying into the sea much to the hungry captain's disappointment, and looked at the reindeer incredulously.

"What?!" Chopper was too preoccupied with the strange bristling sensation to respond; he sunk down onto his bottom on the carpeted deck, quivering and whimpering as he held his stomach and felt like all the cells in his body were pulsing. Abruptly the strange feeling ceased, and he exhaled deeply as he melted against the deck.

"Man… That was so weird, guys. I dunno what just happened," he laughed lightly and looked up with a smile, then took on a confused expression when he realized the entire crew was staring at him open-mouthed. "What is it?" Still gawking shamelessly, Nami pointed to his left, and as he turned his head to look at what she was motioning to he found his own face staring back at him. He and the other face screamed at exactly the same time and jumped to his- their- feet. "What's going on?!" they wailed in unison.

"Hahahahaha! There are two Choppers! This is awesome!" Luffy howled in laughter, obviouslt excited at the bizarre development. Sanji scowled as he whacked him over the head with the empty tray, as he had tossed all of the apparently poisonous, clone-producing sushi over the side of the ship.

"You idiot! This isn't funny! What if he clones indefinitely?" As he brought up the prospect, the fuzzy feeling spread through Chopper's body again, and next thing he knew there were four of him standing on the deck. With all perfectly-times wails of duress, they began running around in circles with their hands on their hats, crying, and it made Chopper cry more that his clones were all behaving the same way he was, because now he wasn't even sure if he was the real Tony Tony Chopper! What if he was a clone and just believed that he had eaten the sushi, but they were just memories of the real Chopper that he had just supposedly sprung from? The crazy idea made his brain and heart hurt, and he plopped down on the deck in miserable tears. There were eight of him now, all racing around the deck in states of panic or depression.

"There has got to be an antidote to this," Robin frowned, and using her devil-fruit powers, used her hands to bring a set of books from within her library and began rifling through them all at once with her real hand on her chin.

"How do we know which one is the real Chopper to give the supposed antidote too?" Usopp cried, and when Chopper and his now-fifteen clones all chimed in unison that they were indeed the real thing, he shrieked at high volume and climbed halfway up the mast, quivering like a leaf as he hugged it for dear life. "This is so weird! What if it's contagious?" Chopper, meanwhile, was on the deck sobbing again at his identity crisis and the idea that the crew was unable to tell him from his clones.

"Calm down, Usopp, it's obviously from the fish," Nami snorted and crossed her arms with a thoughtful frown. "We have to do something quickly, or this ship is gonna sink under the weight of all these Choppers!" She then jumped as the population of reindeer doctors rapidly doubled, leaving them surrounded by the short, furry clones.

"Waaaaah! Get a doctor!"

"Wait! I am the doctor!"

"No, I am!"

"Waaaaah! What if I'm a clone?"

"Somebody, help!"

The deck was a chaotic, bustling mess of the reindeer running to and fro or just plopped on the floor radiating sadness and doom, while the much taller members of the crew were jostled around. Brook and Luffy were enjoying themselves, at least; Brooke was loudly singing a tune while Luffy was flitting about picking up each reindeer in turn to comment on how they were all identical, which furthered their identity crisis and made them bawl more, to which Luffy would apologize and try to calm them with little effect. Chopper- or, the one who thought himself as the true Chopper- had given up wailing and was just miserably sitting on the deck sniffling, because what he had thought had been his triumph had dissolved into yet another messy situation.

If I hadn't caught the fish, this wouldn't have happened… he thought pitifully as he rubbed his teary eyes. He knew he was good for his medical knowledge and some level of fighting ability, but when he did things like this all the time, when would the Straw Hats decide that his cons outweighed his pros? He looked up when Robin gasped.

"Here it is. Chopper caught this fish, right?" she asked and waded across the sea of Choppers to show Sanji an illustration in the book she was holding. When he nodded in affirmation, she scanned the accompanying paragraph thoughtfully. "It's called a clone carp. Its cells can survive up to several hours without the brain, even when fileted. When eaten raw, the fish's live cells copy the genetic information of the person who ingested it, express it, and mingle with their own cells, reproducing by budding at an astonishing rate…"

"That's real nice, Robin, but how do we make him go back?" Usopp yelled down from the crow's nest. Several of Chopper's clones had stopped freaking out and were now having fun, climbing up the mast and all over the banisters with giggles. Franky was poking them off the latter with the round end of a broom and then rapidly turning it around to sweep them down the stairs, sending them tumbling down to land in the wiggling, suffocating mass of brown reindeer fur. Chopper, or true Chopper in his mind, was nearly suffocating in the crowd and had climbed onto his barrel to escape death. The historian casually used her Devil Fruit powers to brush off clones that were trying to scamper up her body while she read the tome.

"Ah, here it is. He just needs an apple."

"Are you serious?" Nami screeched from the top level; she had rushed to the aid of her tangerine trees, where the Chopper clones were braving the navigator's wrath to try and pluck the lovingly tended fruits from the trees for a tasty snack.

"Woohoooooooo!" Luffy howled as he swung from the sails, a few of the reindeer hung off him crying from the fear of the height.

"The small traces of cyanide in the apple seed will apparently counter-act the fish's toxin. It'll cause the real Chopper to stop dividing by killing the fish cells in his body. The clones themselves aren't dividing- we have to find the real Chopper and give him the apple. The clones cannot sustain the host DNA and express it without guidance from the parent cells, and will rapidly revert to regular clone carp cells."

"Get all the apples we have, shitty cook!" Zoro yelled, using the scabbards of his sword to pushed the writhing mass of reindeer aside as he sloughed across the deck towards the kitchen.

"Shut up, kelp-head!" Sanji shot back as he dove into the kitchen. There was the clamor of banging pots and a stream of curses, and he came out with his chest heaving and a clone of Chopper on his head. "We only have one! Where's the real Chopper?!" he said breathlessly as he pulled off the one on his head and inspected it with a deep frown. Chopper jumped up on the barrel to scream that he was there, but his voice was lost amongst the ocean of his clones that all agreed with him. His bottom lip quivered again as tears flooded his eyes. Was he really the real one? All the other clones were just as sure as he was. He plopped down on the barrel with a miserable sniff, until Zoro glanced in his direction, his one good eye trained on him.

"Give me that!" he grunted and snatched it from the cook, and held it high above his head as he began wading through the vast collection of what he believed to be clones towards Chopper. His little heart swelled when he realized that Zoro had managed to pick him out of the vast crowd, and he jumped up and down on his barrel waving his hooves.

"Zoro! Zoro, I'm here!"

"I'm coming, Chopper! Damn, there are so many of them!" he grunted as he narrowly avoided having the apple swiped from his hands. It made Chopper even happier to see that none of the crew had even questioned Zoro; they all moved into swift action to clear his path.

"Sorry, fake Choppers!" Sanji grunted as he jumped in front of Zoro to swing his strong leg around, carving a path through the rising wall of shrieking, crying reindeer. Chopper cried out and grabbed the barrel as the ship began to sway back and forth under the weight and collective movement of all his clones, causing the barrel he was perched on to begin sliding across the deck. He gasped happily when he realized he was sliding toward Zoro, but then the boat shifted with the vast surge of clones and he began sliding backwards towards the figurehead of the ship. The Choppers had exceeded the capacity of the deck and were dangerously close to spilling over the sides, and since they would have inherited the Devil Fruit and its inability to mix with ocean water, they were terrified to fall over the sides and were clamoring even more. Chopper wailed in duress as Zoro and the ability disappeared from his sight amongst the turmoil.

"Zoro! Toss it here!" he heard Luffy yell, hanging from part of the sails. He stretched his arm to pluck Chopper from the barrel by his shorts, pulling him up into his arm with a snicker; Zoro was just a smudge of green hair against the brown mass, but Chopper could see as he wound up his arm and chucked the apple into the air. Luffy perched Chopper on his shoulder to catch the red fruit, and was grinning widely as he held it up to the reindeer; however, before he could take it and eat it, an army of his clones came unsteadily tottering across the wood to grope for the apple, all claiming to be the real him. Chopper screeched as they clambered over Luffy, making him totter unsteadily on his shoulder while Luffy played like a contortionist to keep the life-saving fruit out of their reach.

"Back, you scoundrels!" Usopp called from the crow's nest, sending a rain of pebbles from his slingshot down onto the perpetrators. They went falling down into the fluffy, pilllowy collection of their brethren, crying and holding their heads.

"Hurry, Chopper! We can't hold them off much longer!" Franky shouted from the second deck, nearly buried under a mass of them. Chopper watched as Brook went sailing by, apparently crowd-surfing the Choppers while chortling contentedly. Chopper stretched out to take the apple from Luffy, but in the process unbalanced himself and slipped off his lanky arm. He screamed wildly clutching the apple to his chest as he plummeted into open air for the second time that day; he heard the clones below him surging upward with groping hooves, eager to claim the precious fruit from his hands. He squeezed his eyes shut as he prepared for his doom.

"Gotcha!" he heard Zoro grunt as he landed securely in his thick arms, and he looked up with a gasp to see the swordsman grinning down at him widely. Sanji had launched him up with a well-timed kick. "Quick!" he added as a tower of Choppers came rising up to meet them, and he flipped in mid-air to narrowly avoid them, knocking it aside with a blow from his scabbard. Chopper wasted no time in chomping down on the apple, core and all, and as soon as he had popped the last bit of seeds in his mouth, he felt the strange tingling sensation in his body again. Below him, the sea of his clones abruptly stopped moving, blinking, before rapidly turning into flopping, wriggling clone carps one by one with small pop!s. The crew made short work of flinging them off the deck back into the sea. Just as Zoro landed on the deck with Chopper securely in his arms, Sanji had sent the last fish hurtling into the horizon with a grumpy "And never come back, you shitty fish!"

"Chopper? Are you okay now?" Nami asked as he was set down softly on the deck, pausing to grab Luffy by his ear and yank him over to pry a clone carp from his hands and fling it off the deck. As the captain grumbled under his breath and slumped down in disappointment, she put her hands on her knees and leaned down over him. Her tangerine hair was disheveled and her face flushed with exertion; the rest of the crew was no different, obvious haggard from dealing with Chopper's mistake. That thought made him dismally sad again, and he rubbed his stinging eyes as he began to cry again.

"I'm sorry… This is all my fault… I shoulda never caught that dumb fish," he whimpered miserably.

"What're you talking about? That was so much fun!" Luffy laughed, whirling on his behind to beam at him. Chopper would normally take him at face-value, but it would take a bit more encouragement to drag him out of his melancholy this time.

"No, I really messed up… I always do things like this and you have to protect me." His shoulders sagged as he hung his head low. "I don't deserve to be a Straw Hat." He tensed up as a ripple of alarmed gasps went across the group.

"Chopper! Don't saw that!" Nami cried.

"Yeah! You're my doctor! I don't want another one!" Luffy protested hotly.

"Everyone makes mistakes, Chopper. There's no need to be so upset," Robin told him with a gentle smile. At everyone's continuous encouraging remarks, he looked up while rubbing the tears from his fur, and then turned to Zoro, who had yet to comment. He was intense as ever, arms crossed and expression serious. Is Zoro gonna yell at me? The man abruptly sighed deeply and poked Chopper in the top of the head with the hilt of one of his swords.

"Buck up, Chopper. You're a pirate, remember? You made a commitment and you gotta stick to it," he said sternly. He had told him that once before, when Chopper had made a scene when he had been stolen during the Davy Back fight. Zoro smirked at him with as soft as an expression as a chiseled, serious man like him could have. "You don't have to worry about messing up, because we're always here to help you clean it up. That's what friends are for." Chopper's eyes widened and he gasped slightly, then began bawling with joy and jumped back up into Zoro's arms.

"Waaaaaaaah! Zoro! Thank you! Thank you!" he cried as he nuzzled his face in his chest.

"All right, all right, cut it out, you're getting me all wet!" he cried as Chopper continued to sob happily.

"Group hug!" Brook squealed and wrapped his bony frame around Zoro. Nami laughed and joined in, followed by a bemused Robin; hearts beat in Sanji's eyes and he wriggled with joy while embracing the two women; Franky struck his pose before nearly crushing them all in his metal arms, and Luffy howled with delight before winding his rubbery arms around them several times before worming himself in.

"Hey, you asshats, cut it out!" Zoro griped, but Chopper could see him smiling.

Though he could barely breathe under the smothering hug, Chopper didn't mind, because he was in the arms of his very best friends whom he loved more than anything in the world… And no matter how many of him there were, he was the one they wanted and cherished.