Unbreakable:

-x-

"You guys weren't real pirates, you were just fake ones weren't you?" Luffy called down from the top of the castle. The wind carried his voice so everyone could hear him perfectly. "You pretended to be pirates but you weren't willing to risk your lives! YOU DON'T KNOW THE MEANING OF THIS FLAG!"

"Luffy..." said Chopper as he stared up at the pirate on top of the castle, beside him, Y/N smiled.

"The meaning of it, you say?" Wapol repeated. "MWAA HAHAHAHA! THERE IS NO MEANING TO THAT STUPID PIRATE RAG!"

"If you think that, you're dumber than you look!" Luffy retorted.

"Not that it's hard," Y/N added, still showing no ill-effects of taking a cannon blast to the stomach for Chopper.

"LISTEN!" Luffy shouted. "This flag isn't something you fly on a whim!"

"FOOL!" Wapol snapped. "I'M THE KING! I'd never raise a pirate flag except as a joke! NOW STOP RAISING THAT EYESORE! I told you, this is my kingdom, I'LL KEEP SHOOTING DOWN THAT FLAG UNTIL IT STAYS DOWN!" BOOOOOM! Wapol aimed one of his arm-cannons and fired at the rubber pirate on the roof of his castle.

"Crap, not again..." Sanji grumbled from where he was standing in front of the door with Dr. Kureha.

"HEY YOU! LOOK OUT!" Chopper shouted up at Luffy.

"YOU CAN'T BREAK IT!" Luffy shouted, not moving from his spot. "THE SKULL AND CROSSBONES IS A SYMBOL OF FAITH!" KA-BOOOOOM! The cannon blast impacted with the top of the turret and covered it in smoke.

"LUFFY!" Sanji shouted.

"That was a direct hit!" Dr. Kureha exclaimed.

"I BLASTED HIM TO PIECES!" Wapol boasted.

"He couldn't..." Chopper stated.

"Look again," Y/N advised with a sly grin.

The smoke cleared and Luffy was left standing on top of the turret holding the flag pole out beside him. Both Luffy and Hiriluk's flag had been scuffed from the explosion, but they were both still there.

Chessmarimo and Wapol gasped in shock, it had been a direct hit, but Luffy was still there waving the flag. Chopper stared up in amazement while Y/N kept grinning.

"See," Luffy said. He tore the sleeve off of his coat and used it to tied the flag pole back on. He now stood on top of the turret in his scuffed coat with Hiriluk's slightly frayed pirate flag waving behind him. You could still clearly make out the skull and cherry blossoms that declared that nothing was impossible. "IT'S UNBREAKABLE!"

"What? Impossible!" Chessmarimo gasped. "He's alive!"

"I have no idea who this pirate flag originally belonged to," Luffy admitted. "But it doesn't matter! A pirate flag is someone's pledge to risk their life! It's not something to be shot at or made fun of! IT STANDS FOR SOMETHING THAT YOU STUPID JACKASSES WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND! NOT IN A MILLION YEARS!"

Luffy's words crashed over Wapol and Chessmarimo like a wave of thunder, they both flinched at the passion and emotion behind Luffy's shouts.

"Incredible!" Chopper thought to himself, he glanced beside him at the pirate who had taken a cannon-blast to the stomach for him, then looked up at the pirate who was bravely flying a flag that he admitted that he didn't know the first thing about. They originally seemed brave and carefree, like they were out on a cruise to see the world, but now they were hardened warriors standing up for what they believed in. "So these are pirates!"

"This skull symbolizes that nothing is impossible!" Hiriluk exclaimed. "I will save this country with my doctor skills! I vow to fight just like the pirates do!"

"What are pirates?" Chopper had asked.

"They're dashing swashbucklers!" Hiriluk had answered. "It's great to be a pirate! The most amazing people sail the seas. Chopper, someday you've got to go..."

"HEY REINDEER!" Luffy called out to Chopper, bringing him out of his thoughts, "I'm gonna kick these guys' butts for showing your friend's flag disrespect, you in?"

"Uh... me?" Chopper repeated.

"YOU IDIOT!" Wapol shouted up at Luffy. "YOU JUST DON'T GET IT DO YOU? Since you feel so strongly about that flag, I'LL DESTROY YOU ALONG WITH IT!" CHUNK! Wapol once again aimed one of his cannon-arms.

"I don't think so, fat-ass!" Sanji called out as he rushed at Wapol.

KREK! Sanji stopped short when his recently bruised spine, suddenly cracked.

"Looks like your backbone gave out," Dr. Kureha remarked. "Your condition will continue to worsen if you keep moving." Dr. Kureha rushed forward and drove her boot down into Sanji's cracked spine, "DOCTOR STOP!" TOMP! Sanji was driven down into the ground and Dr. Kureha was left standing on top of him. In order to keep Sanji from further injuring himself, she'd further injured him.

"MAAA HAHAHAHAHA!" Wapol laughed. "If you two want to fight amongst yourselves, please by all means, do so! But I hope you'll at least watch your friend and that flag get blown to bits! STRAW HAT! SAY YOUR PRAYERS!"

"STOP IT!" Chopper roared, he charged at Wapol.

CHUNK! Luffy stabbed the end of the flag pole into the top of the turret and smiled down at the battle, "THAT'S THE SPIRIT!" he exclaimed. "GET HIM REINDEER-GUY!"

"RAAAAAHHHH!" Chopper snarled, he pulled back his arm and got ready to let loose, this time he wasn't going to hold back.

"WAPOL SIR, LOOK OUT!" Chessmarimo shouted. KA-WHAM! The fusion fighter stepped in between Wapol and Chopper and blocked Chopper's punch with all four of his arms.

"Heeheehee," Dr. Kureha cackled as she stared down at Sanji, "the little furball's got more courage than a full-grown man."

Chopper stepped back and Chessmarimo laughed, "Wahahahaha! I'm sorry freak! But there's no way I'm gonna let you lay a single paw on our King!"

SHOOM! Chopper shrunk down out of his eight-foot human form into his child-sized human-reindeer hybrid form.

"Wow, there really are some strange creatures in this world," Chessmarimo remarked. "You must be that yeti the villagers hated and feared. They tried to kill you, and chased you away right? I bet you spent your whole life all alone with no friends! You're a monster! Nobody likes you! People wanna kill you! But here you are, trying to save this country. THAT'S THE STUPIDEST THING I EVER HEARD!"

"SHUT UP!" Chopper shouted. "EVEN IF I DON'T HAVE FRIENDS, I CAN STILL FIGHT FOR SOMETHING I BELIEVE IN! AND AS LONG AS DOCTOR'S FLAG FLIES... I WILL!"

"Now that hurts," Y/N said as he walked up beside Chopper. "After all we've been through, are you saying we're not friends? I don't take cannon-blasts to the gut for just anybody, you know, only my friends."

Chopper stared at Y/N in surprise, but then Luffy's voice rang out, "HEY! YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER FRIEND TOO!" Luffy held onto the flag pole and stretched himself backwards, WOOOING! "I'M YOUR FRIEND TOO, REINDEER!" SHWOOOOOM! Luffy rocketed down from the top of the castle and slammed into the snow in front of Wapol and Chessmarimo.

SHABAM! "WAAAHHH!" Wapol screamed as the wave of snow sent him and Chessmarimo flying backwards.

"Oh no! Straw Hat!" Chopper gasped, but the snow cloud cleared to reveal that Luffy kneeling on the ground, perfectly fine. "YOU SHOULD BE FLAT AS A PANCAKE!"

"Yeah, but I'm fine 'cause I'm a rubber man," Luffy replied.

"Rubber?" Chopper repeated.

"Do I really have to spell this out for you?" Y/N asked. "This is my younger brother. When he was seven he ate the Gum Gum Fruit. It turned his body into rubber. He's a freakish monster, like you."

"Hey reindeer, you think you can finish off that two-headed guy for me?" Luffy inquired.

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

"Good," said Luffy. "While you're doing that, I'll take care of big mouth."

"I guess that means I'll be sitting this one out," Y/N reasoned. "Have at it you two." He slipped his hands into his pockets and walked over to Dr. Kureha who still had her boot pressed into Sanji's spine, pinning him to the ground. Y/N casually sat down next to them and waited for the fight to resume.

"STRAW HAT!" Wapol shouted as he stood up and glared at Luffy. He was still one-story tall due to the house he'd eaten. "You dare to knock me, this country's monarch, over? You'll pay for that insult!"

"I'm taking you down!" Chopper called out to Chessmarimo.

"Is that so?" questioned Chessmarimo. "You and what army? Huh, you little freak?"

"Ugh... Freak?" Sanji groaned from the ground, "that's like the pot calling the kettle black."

KREK! Dr. Kureha drove her foot down harder into Sanji's spine. "If you keep moving around, you may lose the ability to walk," Dr. Kureha lectured him. "So just stay down there and shut up."

"You're one weird-ass doctor," Y/N stated. "Is Chopper gonna be alright?"

"Don't worry," said Dr. Kureha. "When push comes to shove, my little reindeer can hold his own."

'LISTEN UP!" Chopper shouted at Chessmarimo. "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!"

"The only one who'll show no forgiveness is me!" Chessmarimo taunted. "I'll stomp you!"

Chopper reached into his pocket and pulled out a small yellow ball that he held in his hoof and showed it off to Chessmarimo. "Rumble Ball."

-x-

"Dalton no!" Vivi cried out as she knelt next to Dalton. The man was frozen and had three arrows sticking out of his chest. "Dalton! Please wake up! Please Dalton, you have to!"

"Vivi," Usopp whispered as he watched the princess grow more and more distraught.

"DALTON, NO!" Vivi nearly shouted. "YOU CAN'T DIE! PLEASE!"

"Don't worry," came a voice. Everyone turned to see that it was one of the Twenty MD's that had spoekn. "He's not dead."

"THE TWENTY MD'S!" someone exclaimed.

"He will be if we don't act soon," a second doctor stated, "He has severe frostbite."

"We can begin treating him immediately," a third doctor added, "if you'll let us."

"Hey what do you know, there are doctors here," Zoro realized. "That's funny, I thought I heard there weren't any in this country."

"There are a few doctors," Usopp explained. "These guys are the Twenty MD's, but they work exclusively for Wapol, so that makes them bad doctors."

"That's right, we can't trust any of you!" a villager called out. "Traitors! You expect us to leave Dalton with you? You surrendered to Wapol without a fight and turned your backs on us!"

"Wapol probably sent you here to kill Dalton!" another villager suggested.

"Please, if you want to save him, just do as I say," the first doctor spoke again, he and the other doctors took off their face masks and sunglasses, "The twenty of us are still doctors, even if we were forced against our wills to serve only Wapol. We've always worked to advance our medical research for all the patients in this country. It was all because of a certain quack who taught us to never give up." The doctor looked down at Dalton, "We can't afford to lose any more men like him. So please, let us help."

-x-

Rumble:

-x-

"The effects of the Rumble Ball last three minutes," Chopper announced as he held the small yellow ball in his hoof. "All the time I need to take you down!"

"Three minutes?" Chessmarimo repeated. "Wahahahaha! You couldn't defeat me in the three years, let alone three minutes!"

"Just three?" questioned Luffy. "Amazing!"

"Just three?" said Wapol. "No way!"

FWIP! Chopper flipped the Rumble Ball up into the air.

"Well, this should be an interesting fight," Dr. Kureha remarked as she sat on Sanji's injured back.

"Come on you old bat!" Sanji complained. "Let me up so I can help!"

"Sanji, you and I both knew going into this thing that the downside of their fusion trick was that it left only two of them," Y/N reminded the cook as he casually sat next to him and Dr. Kureha. "Luffy's the Captain so that usually gives him first dibs. Chopper lives here, so he's got a personal vendetta against these guys. It was clear from the beginning that we were gonna be the ones to sit this fight out."

"RUMBLE!" Chopper growled as he caught the Rumble Ball in his mouth and bit down on it. CHOMP!

FWOOOOSH! Chessmarimo lit up two flaming arrows, "You're no match!" he called out as he aimed two bows at Chopper, both with flaming arrows loaded into them. "Not against this! MARIMO SNOW-MELTING ARROW!" SHOOOM! Chessmarimo fired the two arrows at Chopper.

"Walk Point... Leg Boost!" Chopper called out as he transformed into his reindeer form. SKISH! SKISH! Chopper bounced to the side and dodged the two arrows and charged towards Chessmarimo.

"Hmph," Chessmarimo grunted, "just a transformation eh? I was expecting something more! All you have to show are Devil Fruit Powers? You're a Zoan-type, just like Dalton, so you're a reindeer-human, huh?"

"Heavy Point... Weight Boost!" Chopper transformed into his eight-foot tall human form and raced towards his opponent. "NO! I'M A HUMAN REINDEER!"

"Same thing!" Chessmarimo retorted. "And I know everything there is to know about the three-form transformations you Zoan-types use!" Chessmarimo pulled out four giant mallets, "MARIMO SURPRISE, QUATRO HAMMER!" Both of Chessmarimo's faces grinned, "Speaking of surprises, you've got none left to spring on me! I've seen all your forms now!" The reindeer form, the hybrid form, and the human form, the three Zoan Transformations. "You're nothing more than a power fighter like Dalton! So there's no way you can..."

"Jumping Point... Jump Boost!" While still in his 'heavy point' form, Chopper's snout elongated into that of a regular reindeer, his previously bulky form became slimmer with only his legs remaining heavily muscled. SHOOOOM! Chopper leapt HIGH up into the air way over Chessmarimo's head.

"... get the jump on me!" Chessmarimoe finished his sentence, but Chopper had gotten the jump on him, he'd jumped clear over him!

"Geez, that guy can really jump!" Sanji remarked as he stared up at Chopper, who was nearly as high as the top of Drum Castle just from one single jump.

"He's got me beat there," Y/N admitted as he stared up at Chopper

"WHAT THE..." Chessmarimo sputtered, "I don't get it! What is that form? Wasn't his human-animal form the little reindeer from earlier? What now?"

"Guard Point... Fur Boost!" While still up in the air, Chopper curled up into a ball and transformed into a furry brown ball.

WHOMP! Chessmarimo slammed his hammers down into Chopper the second he came down. BOING! BOING! The brown fur ball bounced and rolled until it came to a stop in front of the castle.

"ANOTHER FORM?" Chessmarimo exclaimed.

"WHOA AWESOME!" Luffy cheered.

PLOOP! Chopper's hybrid legs poked out from the bottom of the fur ball and pushed it up off the ground, his hybrid head poked out from the front, he was completely unharmed!

"NO WAY!" Chessmarimo gasped. "I hit you dead-on!"

"It won't work!" Chopper replied. The huge ball of fur had absorbed the impact from the hammer and protected Chopper.

"How is this possible?" Chessmarimo wondered as he stared at Chopper. "You Zoan-types have a three form limit! What the heck are you?"

Y/N had a smile on his face and his eye was wide in surprise, something foreign to the one-eyed pirate with all he'd seen. "He's a monster," Y/N realized.

"The Rumble Ball is a special pill that enhances power of the Devil Fruit's transformation," Chopper explained. "Over five long years of research I discovered four additional transformation points. DO THE REST OF THE MATH YOURSELF, YOU JERK!"

"A s-seven-form transformation?" Chessmarimo stuttered. "That's impossible! I don't believe it!"

Luffy gasped, he looked at Chopper with stars in his eyes, "A TALKING REINDEER WHO CAN CHANGE INTO SEVEN FORMS! WOOOOO! SHISHISHISHISHI!" Luffy did a giddy dance at the thought of the seven forms the super-cool talking reindeer could do.

"Your friend, what's the matter with him?" Dr. Kureha asked.

"There's only so much happiness of meeting a transforming reindeer a guy can take," Sanji pointed out. "It's left him delirious."

"We've got to take him now," Y/N reasoned. "He's likely to be the best doctor in the world and he's a Super Zoan! And Luffy would never allow us to leave without him."

"YOU BASTARD!" Wapol shouted down at Luffy who was still laughing happily at Chopper's forms. "ARE WE GONNA FIGHT OR NOT?"

"A SEVEN FORM TRANSFORMATION IS IMPOSSIBLE!" Chessmarimo insisted. "I won't be deceived by what has to be an obvious sham!"

"It's not one," Chopper stated, still a big brown ball of fur, he bounced back towards his two-headed opponent. BOING! BOING! "Arm Point... Arm Boost!" Chopper shed his protective ball of fur and reappeared in what appeared to be his large human form, but it was only half the size with extremely muscular arms that were twice the size of the regular 'heavy point' arms.

WOOOSH! Chessmarimo swung one of his mallets around at Chopper but Chopper smashed one of his huge arms into the wooden mallet and broke it to pieces, KRASH!

WOOOSH! Chessmarimo swung his other mallet but an uppercut from Chopper smashed that mallet too, KRUNCH!

"Could a sham do that?" Chopper taunted. "If you thought that was something, you should see what my iron hooves can do against rocks!"

"WHOA!" Luffy cheered.

"Not my hammers!" Chessmarimo exclaimed. "What nerve!" SWISH! SWISH! "These'll teach you! MARIMO SUPER SURPRISE! QUATRO AXE!" Chessmarimo now had a large double-bladed battle axe in each of his four hands. "SNOW SPLITTING BLADE!" SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! Chessmarimoe slashed all four axes and made a huge gust of snow and air.

SLIK! The gust flew passed Chopper and made a big gash on one of his incredibly muscular arms, it kept going and slammed into the front of Drum Castle, BOOOOOOM! Two huge holes had been made in the front of the castle, they started up above the huge door and came down to the ground, they appeared to go straight through the wall.

"Wow, that reindeer can really take a hit," Sanji remarked. Chopper had been cut on the arm by an attack that had done that to a castle!

"Heeheehee!" Dr. Kureha cackled while Luffy had a look of amazement on his faces.

"Hmm," Y/N thought to himself as he surveyed the damage Chessmarimo's attack had done to the castle, "I'd better restart my late night training with Zoro when this is over."

"You dodged it," Chessmarimo realized, "Let's see you dodge this!" Chessmarimo charged at Chopper and swung all four of the axes at him at random. "MULTI-DIRECTIONAL SNOW-SPLITTER!" SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! Chopper transformed into his tiny hybrid form to dodge the first attack, then transformed into his Jump Point and jumped over the two follow up attacks, he landed on the ground in his Walk Point reindeer form and leapt to the side to dodge another attack, then transformed back into his Jump Point and vaulted up over Chessmarimo's head.

"YOU'RE GONNA TAKE ME DOWN, HUH?" Chessmarimo taunted, "YOU'RE NOT FIGHTING! YOU'RE JUST DODGING!" SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! Chopper continued to cycle through his transformations to dodge the attacks, until eventually he leapt backwards, away from his four-armed opponent.

"Brain Point... Brain Boost!" Chopper called out as he reverted to his tiny child-sized hybrid form. "I wasn't just dodging your swings. I was looking for your weak spot." "This'll finish you." "SCOPE!" Chopper brought his hooves together and held them out in front of him, he stared through the circle that his hooves made at Chessmarimo.

As if he was a high-tech computer, Chopper stared through his hooves and scanned the two-headed, four-armed fusion fighter's body for a weak spot.

"A... a beam..." Luffy stammered, "he's gonna shoot a beam!" With all the transforming reindeer had done already, that seemed like a possibility to Luffy.

"NO HE WON'T!" Sanji snapped, "YOU IDIOT!"

"Hey, you shut your trap!" Luffy scolded him. "I'm telling you, it's gotta be a beam!"

"His enhanced Devil Fruit Powers allow him to alter his form," Y/N pointed out, "He's not the one with Devil Fruit Powers that allow him to shoot stuff!" Y/N cast a quick glance at Wapol, then looked back at Chopper.

"I'M TELLING YOU, IT'S GONNA BE A BEAM!" Luffy insisted.

"Then what kind of beam?" Sanji asked in exasperation.

"A GINORMOUS ONE!" Luffy exclaimed.

"That castle's unguarded," Wapol thought to himself, he'd been ignored by Luffy who was caught up in Chopper's transformations and his belief that the reindeer was going to fire a beam.

"LOOKING FOR MY WEAKSPOT, HUH?" Chessmarimo shouted as he charged at Chopper, four axes at the ready. "WELL I'VE GOT SOME NEWS FOR YOU! I DON'T HAVE ONE!"

With nearly everyone's attention on Chopper, or at least Luffy and his 'beam theory', Wapol scurried passed them all through the front door of the castle. Y/N's sensitive ears twitched and he turned to see Wapol disappear through the door, he looked back at Chopper wanting to see the end of the fight, then at the door of the castle wanting to stop the real villain.

Chopper was still rooted in his spot staring through his hooves scanning his opponent for a weak spot he claimed he didn't have.

"YOUR LITTLE TRANSFORMING PARLOR TRICKS CAN'T SAVE YOU NOW!" Chessmarimoe yelled as he got closer to Chopper. "AND AS YOU'RE ABOUT TO FIND OUT, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO IS GOING TO BE FINISHED!"

"Found it!" Chopper announced when Chessmarimo was right in front of him, his scan narrowed onto Chess's chin, "His jaw!"

SWISH! Chopper leapt up into the air and dodged a swinging axe from Chessmarimo, the axe cut the snow and caused the white powder to fly up and obscured everything. When it cleared, Chopper was nowhere in sight. Both heads of Chessmarimo searched all around the peak of Drum Rock but there was no sign of the reindeer.

"Huh? Where'd he go?" Chessmarimo wondered.

"CLOVEN..." BOOM! Chopper erupted out of the ground in front of Chessmarimo in his Arm Point form. "ROSE!" Chopper swung with an uppercut and connected with Chess's chin, SHA-BOOOOM!

Krek! Chess's jaw cracked from the impact of Chopper's iron hoof smashing into it, Chessmarimo was sent flying backwards, he dropped his axes, and went crashing to the ground unconscious.

Chopper shrunk and transformed back into his Brain Point form. "Hah, three minutes," he commented.

"Way to go little guy," Y/N remarked, he stood up and quickly slipped into the castle after Wapol.

"YEEAAAHHHH!" Luffy cheered. "WOW! ALRIGHT! YOU WERE INCREDIBLE REINDEER! NO, YOU WERE MORE THAN THAT! YOU WERE AMAZING!"

"SHUT UP!" Chopper exclaimed, he had a huge blush on his face and did a silly dance as he received the pirate's praise.

"SHISHISHISHISHI!" Luffy's laughter rang out across the mountain top, Chessmarimo was down for the count. Now there was only one more villain left to fight.

-x-

Down in Big Horn, Dalton awoke to find himself lying in bed in his house with the Twenty MD's all crowded around him. HE WAS ALIVE!

-x-

Outside the house, Vivi was anxiously pacing back and forth. "I can't take this any more!" she said. "Let's go up the mountain, okay Usopp? Mr. Bushido? This sitting around and waiting is killing me!"

Zoro, Usopp, Mr. 5, and Ms. Goldenweek all stared at the princess in surprise. "Luffy and the others could have gotten hurt in that avalanche," Vivi continued, "they might be trapped! And don't forget, Nami and Ms. Valentine both had high fevers! If anything's happened to them..."

"You're worried about Nami," Usopp cut in as he calmly leaned back against a fence, "And Luffy, and Y/N, and Sanji, maybe Ms. Valentine, and Dalton, and what's going on in Alabasta... Vivi, can't you see it? You're carrying too many burdens on your shoulders. Calm down." Vivi stared at the sniper in surprise. "We don't need to go up there at all. And do you know why? Because they're all fine. I believe in them."

"Hmph," Mr. 5 grunted, he gave the sniper an odd look while Ms. Goldenweek looked interested.

"That's right," Vivi realized. "He's right. You have to have faith in your friends. Usopp does and that's why he can be so calm. I get it now."

"Thanks a lot, you're full of wisdom Usopp," Vivi commented.

"No, he's full of crap," said Zoro as he poked Usopp in the forehead, "he's just afraid to go up that mountain." Mr. 5 and Ms. Goldenweek both sweat-dropped.

"But I heard that there are things like yetis and huge man-eating bunnies up there!" Usopp protested. "I don't want to get eaten!"

"Then say so from the start, coward," Zoro retorted while still poking Usopp in the forehead.

"Okay," Usopp conceded, "I don't wanna be some monster's snack! And I'm sure they're fine. Luffy can work out anything! And with Y/N there to keep him from going too crazy, they'll be fine!"

"DALTON NO! WAIT!" Someone suddenly called out from in one of the houses.

KREK! The door opened and Dalton came out covered in bandages, he was using his weapon as a walking stick.

"HEY! IT'S DALTON!" Usopp exclaimed.

"Thank goodness!" Vivi commented.

"Will somebody please tell me who this guy is?" Zoro requested yet again. Mr. 5 and Ms. Goldenweek both shrugged. They had their guesses but were still as out of the loop as Zoro was.

Dalton dropped down to his knees and panted in the snow, a handful of civilians, as well as a doctor, followed him out of the house and crowded around him. "Dalton, listen to reason!" one of the civilians pleaded.

"Get out of my way! We can't let Wapol retake the castle!" Dalton insisted, the man had just come back from the brink of death and already he was looking to defend his country from its former king. "We just can't!"

"Wait... you mean that's where you're heading?" Vivi asked. "The castle?"

"In your condition?" questioned Usopp. "Are you nuts?"

"My country is far more important than my health!" Dalton stated. "HE CAN NOT SUCCEED! I WILL NOT LET THAT HAPPEN, NOT NOW, NOT EVER! WAPOL MUST PERISH!"

Zoro, Mr. 5, and Ms. Goldenweek all stared at the determined man in surprise. "I guess we know who he is now," Mr .5 reasoned.

"A hero," Ms. Goldenweek supplied.

"But you're not strong enough to fight them in your condition sir!" a civilian pointed out. "And the rest of us are no match for them!"

Dalton used his weapon to push himself back up to his feet, "I'm going to settle this thing once and for all," Dalton vowed. "I'll stop Wapol even if it kills me!" Dalton used his weapon as a crutch and took a few feeble steps, but then found his path blocked by... Usopp.

Usopp stared at Dalton, then turned around and got on one knee, "I'll take you to the castle," Usopp decided. Dalton stared at him in surprise and the sniper looked over his shoulder, "Come on, don't be modest! I just want you to save your strength for the fight, that's all."

"Wow," Ms. Goldenweek said as she stood beside Vivi and Mr. 5.

"How considerate," Vivi commented.

"UGGGHHHH... JUST HOLD TIGHT!" Usopp groaned, "WE'LL BE THERE IN NO TIME!" Unfortunately for the sniper, Dalton was a lot heavier than him, and he only succeeded in digging a trench with the few steps he managed to take.

"Usopp meant well," Vivi reasoned while Mr. 5 and Ms. Goldenweek sweat-dropped.

"Um... Usopp," Dalton called out, "Thanks but uh... this isn't working..."

"Just give me... a second!" Usopp panted from underneath the much larger man. "I haven't quite hit my... stride yet... Besides... I told you that I was gonna get you to the castle... and I will. Now that I've caught my breath here, we can get back on our merry way. Ugghhh..."

Zoro slapped his forehead, "Damn it, what the hell's he doing?" he wondered as he watched Usopp struggle. While it was the thought that counted, this was just embarrassing.

A couple seconds later, Zoro was standing with Dalton draped across his shoulders in a fireman's carry. "You just gonna sit there and whine or are you coming with us?" Zoro asked as Usopp stared up at him from the ground in shock.

"ZORO! YOU STUPID JERK!" Usopp snapped as he got up and started kicking Zoro in the shin. "You thunder stealer! I'm gonna punch your lights out!"

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Zoro complained, he reached an arm out and shoved the sniper backwards.

"Awww... why did you do that?" Usopp whined as he walked alongside Zoro out of town.

"Never a dull moment with these pirates," Mr. 5 remarked.

"I'll say," Vivi found herself agreeing with him. She smiled then followed behind the two Straw Hats.

"Do we stay here or go with them?" Ms. Goldenweek asked Mr. 5. They stared at each other for a moment, then shrugged and followed Vivi.

"HEY WAIT!" a citizen called out, "There's an easier way up to the castle!" The five stopped and turned around. "Instead of walking, take the rope way."

"Rope way?" another villager repeated. "Impossible. There hasn't been one connecting to Wapol's Castle for months."

"Someone's obviously reconnected one," the first citizen replied, "because I just saw it. There was a rope leading from the castle to a big white tree on the outskirts of Gyasta."

"Gyasta huh?" Usopp repeated.

"That's the name of the town that Dr. Kureha was heading to," Vivi realized.

-x-

"Hey Luffy, where is he?" Sanji asked. He was still pinned underneath Dr. Kureha. Chessmarimo was still lying unconscious. Luffy and Chopper were casually standing nearby.

"Huh?" said Luffy. Sanji had finally noticed the disappearance of their one-story tall opponent. Wapol was nowhere in sight.

-x-

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!!