One Piece (Love Story) [Part Two]

Chapter Three Hundred and Forty Nine

-Chapter Three Hundred and Forty-Nine-

By the time we had separated from Brownbeard and reached the floor Chopper and the children were on, the reindeer had already reverted to his normal self and the children had run on ahead.

"Chopper!" I worriedly frowned as I scooped up the injured doctor.

"Whoa there! Are you okay?" Nami asked from beside me.

"Skylar...Nami...thank you..." Chopper whimpered.

"It looks like we got here in the nick of time!" Brook laughed.

"You're telling me..." I sighed as I held the injured reindeer close, fingers gently massaging his back as I cradled his head against my chest so that he was comfortable as I ran.

"What the hell's gotten into those children?" Zoro frowned, referring to how violent they had been towards the doctor.

"They've become even more violent" Robin remarked.

"Momonosuke! Where are you?!" Kin'emon shouted.

"I'm glad you're here...!" Chopper hiccupped, already on the verge of crying. "I can't handle this alone!" he sobbed, weakly clinging to me as his tears finally started to flow.

"You want to tell us what's going on, buddy?" Usopp asked as he leaned down.

"Yeah, why were you and the children fighting?" I softly frowned.

"Caesar Clown's trying to turn the poor children into giants because he wants them all to become vicious soldiers!" Chopper cried. "And he's doing it by giving them drugged candy!"

"Drugged candy...?" I tensed as my grip tightened around the reindeer.

"You've got to stop the kids before they can consume any more of it!" Chopper pleaded. "The Biscuit Room's down the hall to the left—that's where they get the candy!" he explained as we followed his direction. "There's a girl named Mocha who's been helping me—she's the only child whose in their right mind. We've been working together to keep the others from getting back in the room, but now she's in danger! She's been protecting the candy and she's all by herself!" he cried. "We got to help Mocha!"

"Mil Fleur: Gigantic Hand!" Robin summoned a flurry of arms, shaping them into an even larger pair of arms meant to block the children from getting any closer to Mocha as we came barreling into the Biscuit Room. "I'll hold them off while you go find the girl" she said.

"Okay! Thanks!" Usopp nodded as the rest of us ran on ahead.

"Get out of the way!" one of the kids shouted as a multitude of them began to gnaw at Robin's arms, some even running up and hitting the giant pair with their pipes.

"They sure are determined to get their hands on that stuff!" Usopp frowned as we watched how some of the kids were quick to start crawling underneath the gaps between the arms that blocked their way.

"They must be suffering from drug withdrawal...I can only imagine the sort of confusing pain they're in right now" I gritted, jaw clenching as my heart hurt for the children.

"There she is!" Nami pointed the second she spotted Mocha. She stood tall with a determined look on her chubby face as she faced the crowd of screaming children charging towards her. A giant piece of candy clenched between her tiny arms.

"You can't have any! Can't you see it's bad for you?!" she shouted at the group of children who only ignored her as they stretched out their arms and continued to cry out for the treat she was holding. "I'm telling you guys this is what's making us sick!" she cried. "Pull yourselves together! We asked Chopper and his friends to help us get out of this place, remember?!" she pleaded.