Pirate Chopper vs Enigma Hogback

In the great hall, Moria stands before the captured Straw Hats and asks, "How does it feel to be captured by the powers of your own nakama!?" Oars laughs, "Fos fos fos!!!" while the crew takes stock of enemies wearing the stolen strengths of their friends. Nami, facing Absalom, thinks, "I can't let my guard down against that woman. He's strong!!!" Brook mutters, "Fuu... making me eat salt with your weird abilities..." Chopper sees the penguin zombie move with Sanji's fighting style and realizes, "...Damn, there's no way that's Sanji... For him to even kick Robin... This guy isn't Sanji anymore." The zombie snarls, "Who is this 'Sanji'? I'll take him down, you fucking bastard...!!"

Moria explains the cruelty of the zombies' condition with a grin. "Fos fos fos... unfortunately, they... don't have a single memory of being your nakama!!" If the bodies were only moving corpses, he says, they might still have some emotions left, but their bodies and shadows have already become familiar with each other. "They don't have any human emotions left... They are zombies who completely submit to my command!!!" He declares that for zombies, a command is "absolute!!" Then he turns the example toward the silent maid beside Hogback: "Well, Cindry-chan, put an end to them!!" Cindry answers simply, "Yes."

Cindry moves at Hogback's word, but Chopper stands his ground and addresses him as the doctor he once admired. "You've felt quite good... being a villain, Hogback," he says. "I respected you as a doctor... who saved the lives of many people." He speaks of Hogback's zombie research and of the certainty that death will come for both the people who died and the people they left behind. Chopper remembers that there are many words the dead failed to say and could not say for years, and declares that if there were a way to awaken the deceased, only a few minutes would be enough, even if that meant being labeled "heretical science."

Chopper's respect turns into accusation. He says the gratitude felt by those saved is enormous, and that hearing Hogback speak of the "rebirth of the deceased" once made him think of Hogback as a great doctor. Hogback laughs, "Fos fos...!! How moronic... Why should I go so far for others...!!?" He boasts that in the past, too, he performed many operations for money, and that patients came from all over the world crying, "Save my father!" and "Save my kids!" because he was a prodigy. To him, saving people only caused trouble. Chopper answers that respecting such a man was his own choice, but with these views, Hogback cannot be recognized as a doctor anymore.

Hogback mocks Chopper for misunderstanding him: "Then you've really misunderstood, you stupid reindeer! Are you saying you want to preach to me about how to be a doctor!?" Chopper answers, "I wasn't planning to do that at all. I don't recognize you as a doctor anymore!!!" The zombies in the room are his proof. Hogback insists, "Same with the zombies in this room!! They're already dead; you just make them move!!" Chopper replies, "They are not alive at all!!! Don't make a fool out of life!!!" Hogback laughs that the zombies move right in front of him, but Chopper asks where the meaning is in denying those once-granted lives.

Cindry suddenly attacks, launching a plate-like strike as Hogback orders, "Look!!!" Robin notices the motion with "...!?" and Chopper is startled as Cindry cuts through the space between them. Hogback laughs, "Well!! Lick the floor, Cindry," and Cindry answers, "Yes, Hogback-sama." Chopper is shaken by the obedience, but Hogback explains, "Fos fos. The zombies are loyal only to their commands. Even the usually rebellious Cindry-chan is like that." Then he turns the cruelty into a taunt: "You have seen that room... Dr. Chopper." The implication is clear: Chopper has seen the place where Cindry's humanity was buried.

Hogback reveals the room filled with portraits of Victoria Cindry and says, "That is my room!! Those pictures are of Victoria Cindry, who was a stage actress while she was alive...!!" He was charmed by her for a long time, and her beauty fascinated not only him but all the men in the country. He remembers her fame, her kindness, and the patient who apologized, "I-I'm sorry to have a patient sew a button on for me...!" while Cindry replied, "Huhuhu, it's fine." But Hogback's memory curdles into obsession: she had everything, refused his marriage proposal because she already had a fiance, and then the news of her "fatal incident" came, crushing his belief in her untouchable life.

Hogback continues the story of Cindry's corpse. When the man who appeared before him was his master, Gecko Moria, Hogback begged, "Doctor Hogback, lend me... your abilities!!!" Moria's power gave him a bargain: if Hogback came aboard his ship, Moria would use that miraculous ability to bring Cindry back to life. Hogback seized the chance. "By stealing her corpse, I easily obtained an obedient actress Cindry," he says, admitting that he did not care about the character of the girl who had rejected him; he only wanted that beauty. To him, the zombie Cindry is proof that she can once again live as a human in this world, and he even claims, "I'm happy, and I am sure she must be, too..."

Chopper cannot accept Hogback's claim. "... How is she 'human'!?" he demands. "Make her stop doing that!!!" Hogback stands before Cindry while she kneels at his command, and Chopper names the cruelty plainly: "A human whose heart and body aren't connected isn't a human anymore!! Using corpses that can't say a thing... you are just creating monsters!!!" He says every zombie leaves a human in misery, and because he understands that, he cannot allow Hogback to continue. Hogback snaps back, "Don't talk of 'life' when you know so little about medicine, pirate reindeer!!!" and gives the order: "Kill them, Cindry-chan!!!"

Cindry attacks under orders, shouting "Kakuzaratou! One, two, three!!!" with the note that Kakuzaratou means square-plate sword. Chopper charges with "Wooooo!!!" and the two collide. He takes her hit, but his body keeps moving forward, and the impact sends Cindry crashing through plates and stone. Chopper yells, "Stop!! You..." as if still trying to reach the person inside the corpse. The blow is not simply a fight against an enemy; Chopper is forcing himself to strike someone he pities, because the real target is the man using her body as a weapon.

Robin calls, "Chopper!!" but Hogback laughs, "Fos fos fos, don't make light of her because she's a woman!! I've increased her physical strength for combat purposes!!!" Cindry grabs Chopper and slams him, shouting, "I'll kill you!!!" Chopper groans, "Gah!!" yet keeps speaking to her. "I pity you...!! You are already dead!! How would your family feel if they knew about this?" Cindry screams, "Let go of my hand...!!!" and Chopper answers that her wounds were horribly patched up and she was turned into a soldier. He says her relatives would not be able to bear it, making the fight an accusation against the mutilation of both body and memory.

Chopper holds on as Cindry orders, "You!! Let go!!!" and tells her the heart she was born and raised with is already dead. Her body, he says, is being controlled by the words of a single man. Hogback roars, "You doubt your eyes!? Acknowledge it!! This is mankind's eternal dream!! 'Rebirth of the deceased'!! Humans can be revived!!" Chopper rejects the premise from the center of the page: "Humans have more freedom!!! You are the one who isn't treating them as humans!!!" His words hit Cindry and Hogback alike, because he is not denying the body's movement; he is denying the lie that obedience equals life.

Hogback calls for help: "Penguin!! Jigoro!! Help Cindry!!! Get rid of anyone who interferes!!!" Inuppe charges at Robin, yelling, "Robin!! Give her salt!!" but the blow sends him crashing instead, and Robin admits, "...!! We failed...!! Chopper...!!" From the side, Jigoro draws his swords and calls "Santouryuu 'Yakkouchi'" as he prepares to cut down whoever stands in the way. Cindry's face remains still between the attacks, while the room turns into a brawl of bodies whose personalities and shadows are pulling in different directions. The plan to purify the zombies with salt has failed, and the situation gets worse.

Jigoro's sword strike comes down as Chopper cries, "Whaa!! Stop it, Zoro!!!" Hogback orders "Pondo Ho!!!" and the zombie slash tears toward the room. Robin answers with "Dieciseis Fleur!!!" using sixteen flowers to sprout arms and intercept the attack. She notices, "He said to... get rid of anyone who interferes!!" but the zombies are too tangled in the stolen personalities to obey cleanly. Inuppe attacks Jigoro, yelling, "Don't get in my way!!!" while Jigoro shouts back, "...!! Why are you attacking me, too!?" The command turns into chaos as each zombie's borrowed character fights the commander's control.

Jigoro yells, "The 'one who interferes' must disappear!!!" and Inuppe snaps, "You, too!!! This is the command I was given!!!" Robin realizes something important: "No, I was..." The two zombies clash violently in the middle of the hall while Hogback shouts, "You bastardo...!! Hey!! What are you doing!? Stop it!! Both of you coopera..." Before he can finish, the fight knocks him down with a heavy "Ugh!" Robin calls out, "Robin!!!" and "Huuu!!" echoes through the room as Hogback is struck by the very soldiers he thought would obey him perfectly.

Robin, calm again, asks Hogback, "We are now in a good situation, right? What will happen if there are no more commands...?" The zombies keep fighting in front of her, and she observes that even without their memories, their personalities are still in conflict with one another. Hogback is shocked. Robin points out the tower's height and tells the zombies, "This tower is high. Try telling us to jump off." Hogback sputters, "Puhaa... ha? Is your brain out of place!?" and says she may speak as much as she likes. But when he commands, "Ah, jump, jump!! You two, jump off the tower!!" the setup is already turning against him.

The zombies answer with a blunt "Okay." Hogback freezes: "Ha?" Then Jigoro and Inuppe leap straight out of the tower, obeying the literal command. Hogback screams, "No...!!! That's wrong!! Wait!!!" as they vanish over the edge. Below, the hall falls quiet and Robin states, "... We... disagree." Hogback howls, "Hooooo... Hoooo!! I won't allow you to do this!! You fooled me!! You are despicable!!! You human trash!!!" His perfect system has been broken not by force, but by Robin exploiting the fact that his orders are absolute even when they are foolish.

Chopper raises his fists and makes the battle personal. "... The zombies will all be purified after Luffy beats Moria...!! The one I want to defeat is... you, Hogback!!!" Hogback panics and tries to flee: "Cindry!! Buy me some time!! I'll run away!!!" When she does not answer, he turns back: "...? Why aren't you replying!? Rest assured, I'll just give you another shadow if they beat you!!" Robin watches in surprise, and Chopper notices the same thing. Cindry's eyes fill with tears, and she whispers, "My body... won't move..." Hogback stammers, "Ci... Cindry!!?" The zombie maid's refusal arrives like a miracle inside the corpse.

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