Chapter 95

The Straw Hats continue partying with the Cocoyasi Village residents to celebrate their freedom. Nami decides to replace her Arlong Pirates tattoo with a new one, consisting of an orange and a pinwheel. Genzo, who had started wearing the pinwheel to make her smile as a baby, makes Luffy promise to never take away Nami's smile. The next day, the Straw Hats part ways with the villagers, Johnny, and Yosaku, and Nami decides to leave all her stolen money with the villagers before she leaves. However, she does pickpocket them as she runs onto the ship, and happily bids everyone farewell as she and the crew sail away.

Spin, Pinwheel

Night falls in the East Blue, but the partying in Cocoyasi Village does not cease as the people continue celebrating their hard-fought freedom from the Arlong Pirates. Luffy stuffs himself with meat, and asks Sanji about a raw ham melon that the cook ate. Sanji goes to flirt with the women, while Usopp proclaims his achievements to the jubilant crowd. Meanwhile, Genzo goes to Bell-mère's grave and pours sake on it, telling her that her daughters have become strong women that remind him of her. He then says that they will all do their best to live life to the fullest from now on, for the sake of those who died in their struggle for freedom. Luffy then bursts onto the scene looking for raw ham melon, and attempts to leave after not seeing any, but Genzo stops him. Luffy notes the grave and offers his condolences, and Genzo tells him that if he takes away the smile from Nami's face, he will kill the pirate himself, which Luffy understands.

Meanwhile, Nojiko notes that Chabo is not sulking about his dad's death, and Chabo replies that nothing good would have come from thoughts like that. Nojiko then pinches his cheek, as his response prevented her from picking on him. Inside a room, Dr. Nako tells Nami that her tattoo cannot be fully erased, as it would still leave a scar. Nami remembers telling Nojiko about her pain at being branded with the Arlong Pirates' tattoo, and how Nojiko proceeded to get her own tattoos to match her. Nami then asks Nako to tattoo something else in its place, showing him a piece of paper with what she has in mind.

The next day, the Straw Hat Pirates prepare to depart from the island. Johnny and Yosaku bid them farewell, as they intend to resume their lives as bounty hunters. Usopp wonders where Nami is, and Zoro suggests that she may not be coming. Genzo and Nako express their shock when they hear that Nami is leaving her 100,000,000 Beli in the village, but Nojiko says that her sister was content with just stealing more money later. Nami then approaches the villagers and shouts for the Straw Hats to set sail before running toward the Going Merry. Genzo and the villagers realize in shock that Nami is not giving them the opportunity to thank her, and she bursts through the crowd and leaps from the dock onto the Merry. Nami then drops the wallets and money she stole from the villagers, and they shout at her in anger, though are still grateful to her. Genzo tells Luffy to remember their promise, and Nami happily shouts her goodbye to the villagers. Nako hands Genzo the paper that Nami gave him when getting her new tattoo, revealing its design: a tangerine attached to a pinwheel. Nojiko notices that Genzo is not wearing his pinwheel anymore, and he replies that he does not need it anymore. When Nami was a baby, Bell-mère got mad at Genzo for making her cry with his scary face. In response, Genzo put the pinwheel on his hat, which made her laugh. Now the pinwheel, as well as an orange, sits in front of Bell-mère's grave.

Mission 76

At the Forger home, Anya proudly celebrates her new Stella Star, but Loid and Yor scold her for her recklessness during the bus hijacking. Worried that Anya is traumatized by the event, Loid decides he must treat her with patience and care and drives her to school. Loid apologizes for not being there, although Anya is fine since she knows he was. Anya looks outside and sees a family, then asks Loid if the families that came to pick up their kids love them more, thinking about how strange Melinda was with Damian. Loid assumes that Anya now resents him because he did not come to pick her up and wonders how to overcome this. Hearing his thoughts, Anya steers Loid into buying her some cake after school.

At Eden Academy, Henry Henderson talks with the Cecile Dorm Tutor about the aftermath of the bus hijacking, both men looking to support the mental health of everyone involved, especially the students.

Damian gets dropped off at school and meets with Emile and Ewen. Emile asks if Damian had a good time with his family, and Damian thinks back to his time at the Desmond Manor. Eating alone at the dinner table, Damian asks Jeeves if his mother will be joining him. Jeeves answers that Melinda returned to her own residence but mentions that she cooked every dish herself, surprising his young master.

Because of their deeds, Damian and Becky have risen in popularity among their classmates, most notably Anya (now going by "Double Starlight Anya"). No longer being looked down on by her classmates and is instead seen as a famous hero, Anya begins making plans to make many friends that could conquer the world. Damian scoffs at Anya getting surrounded by their classmates, but Becky strikes a nerve when she suggests he is actually worried that Anya will get taken away from him. Unwilling to admit his feelings, Damian tells his classmates how Anya is a commoner. However, this boosts her image as their classmates gain even more admiration for her. Intrigued by the lower class, the kids ask Anya what kinds of meals she eats, and she replies with the breakfast Yor made for her. Emile and Ewen look down on the notion of having parents cook for their children, but Damian does not feel the same, thinking about how good his mother's cooking was. Seeing this, Ewen notes that Damian has been "going sweet" on Anya lately, which the latter quickly denies.

Anya believes that instead of pushing to get into Damian's house, she should have done the opposite and invited him to hers. Now dubbing this reverse scheme the "B Plan," Anya tries to impress Damian with her family's strength. To get good responses from her classmates, Anya begins embellishing the stories of her life as a commoner, worrying Becky. Becky chimes in by mentioning how she and Anya have been trained by Yor, who is strong. Anya becomes jealous that her classmates now want to get trained by Yor, so she makes up an excuse and trains them herself. Damian butts in to stop them, and Anya directs her frustration toward Damian, calling him a jerk.

Damian angrily insults Anya and her family, making her tear up. With this defeat, their classmates now believe that Damian and his family are stronger, and Anya begins to bawl as she angrily shouts that she is supposed to be the stronger one. Damian apologizes to Anya and promises to buy her candy, which gets her to stop crying. Emile and Ewen are shocked by what he just did, but Damian quickly tries to brush it off as the school bell rings. Damian claims that properly apologizing makes him the stronger man, which Anya rebukes, and the two start bickering. Their classmates leave them behind, and the two end up arriving late to class.

Arachne

Once, a beautiful and talented weaver of cloth and fabric, a single prideful mistake made a monster of Arachne for all time.

With loom and thread, there were none more skilled than the mortal Arachne. Viewers traveled leagues just to see her art. So wondrous and majestic were her tapestries, it was said the spinner must have been instructed by the patron Goddess of Weavers herself, Athena. To this comparison, Arachne proudly scoffed, claiming not even the Gods rivaled her talent at weaving.

When Athena heard this, disguised as a crone, she visited Arachne and encouraged her to show proper respect to the Gods. Arachne dismissed the old woman and issued a challenge that no God, not even Athena, could weave better than she. Furious, Athena revealed herself and accepted the challenge.

They both set to the loom with fervor. Athena wove a glorious tapestry depicting her battle with Poseidon over the city of Athens. Her detail and imagery were exquisite. Yet Arachne's weavings depicted Zeus in his many infidelities with mortals. So flawless, so lifelike was her artistry, not even Athena could refute the skill, nor could she contain her anger at such a sleight. Violently, she tore Arachne's tapestry and pressed a finger to Arachne's forehead. Twisting in anguish, Arachne fell to the ground as additional legs grew from her body, screaming as she transformed into the first spider.

It was an act of anger and pity, a lesson and a curse, for spiders are the greatest of weavers, and Arachne, in particular, was to weave for all time, but none could doubt the consequence for Arachne's pride. Still, within her twisted heart, Arachne never forgave Athena, consumed by a dark hatred that can be sated only by the destruction of the Gods.

No Free Rides

The episode opens at Mrs. Puff's Boating School when SpongeBob's last boating exam of the year ends in failure after he runs over the French narrator. Despite the failing grade, SpongeBob remains optimistic that his next year in Mrs. Puff's class will be productive. Mrs. Puff, on the other hand, dreads the thought of another year administering boating exams for SpongeBob. In desperation, she offers him an extra credit exam: a short, ten-word thesis on one thing he learned in boating school. SpongeBob finds himself not able to decide what to pick, and he starts to have a nervous breakdown. But Mrs. Puff, completely tired of SpongeBob, lets him pass anyway.

As SpongeBob leaves with his new driver's license, Mrs. Puff ponders over whether she's done the wrong thing and starts feeling guilt, then has a terrible daydream of him destroying the town with his driving. She consoles herself with the fact that SpongeBob lacks a boat to drive, much less one to wreck. Upon arriving at her home, however, she finds SpongeBob and his parents inside with a huge cake to thank her for her teachings, as futile as they had once seemed. Both SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff get another surprise when they see that SpongeBob's parents bought him a brand-new boatmobile. In utter amazement, SpongeBob falls into the cake in a dead faint. As SpongeBob's parents take him home, Mrs. Puff realizes the danger he now poses and decides to settle the matter before anyone figures out she let him skip through boating school.

SpongeBob's parents tuck him into his bed and tell him that, due to his head injury, he should avoid driving anywhere that night. As soon as his parents leave, he sneaks out his bedroom window, gets into the boat, and falls asleep. Not long after, Mrs. Puff hijacks SpongeBob's boat and drives it away. SpongeBob wakes up to find the masked Mrs. Puff in the process of stealing his vehicle and fights her off.

Mrs. Puff tries knocking SpongeBob out of the boat, but he grabs hold of the rear bumper. She next drives through various obstacles to lose him, but he catches up to her while two police officers watch the commotion from their vehicle. In their struggle, SpongeBob ultimately reveals the thief to be Mrs. Puff, rendering him senseless just as the boat crashes into the police car.

SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff talk in the Bikini Bottom Jail, where Mrs. Puff is being held. Mrs. Puff apologizes to SpongeBob and says that she shouldn't have passed him when she knew he really wasn't ready. SpongeBob understands he'll have to relinquish his license, but Mrs. Puff tells him he can still continue his lessons with Mrs. Flounder, another driving teacher starting a new class on Monday. Before the episode closes, SpongeBob assures her she is the only one who he wants teaching him, giving her a tip that the warden will let her go early in exchange for free driving lessons.

Chapter 5

Susano's breath froze in the chilling air. Certain Hades did not command the swarm, Susano continued northward to Asgard. While Anubis searched for the Bat-God across the sea, Susano would investigate their last lead, the Goddess Hel.

Heavy gray clouds smeared the sky like thick paint and carelessly tossed weightless snow upon the earth. Trees caught the flakes first, then the highest stones, then the flat grasses. Before long, all was awash in pale featurelessness.

It reminded Susano of the other realm. The place he'd been taken by the swarm. To face himself. A foe that knew his every weakness, his every thought. How could he defeat such an opponent?

Snow was falling thick, now, obscuring vision across the rocky countryside. Distantly, blue lightning arched across the heavens, scratching the sky, and flaring through the white cavalcade. Seconds later, thunder roared like an angry lion.

And then the earth quaked. Trees whipped off their snowy cloaks, rocks tumbled down slick slopes, the very ground groaned as it shook. Beneath his feet, the stone split with a crack like breaking bone, and into that yawning crevasse Susano plummeted, chased by rock and snow.

Susano hurtled through the darkness, flailing as he fell. Somewhere below, a soft green light grew. A wide cavern opened beneath, full of lush greenery, soft moss, lazy trees, and a bubbling pond at the center. Susano splashed into those warm waters, then clawed for the surface, gasping for breath.

A rough, bark coated hand hoisted him from the pond and set him upon the sponge loam shore. Whirling, he found a tree-being, trunk split to form legs, knobby branches for arms, and upon its knotted shoulders sat a wizened old man with eyes that glistened like stars in the night.

Sylvanus.

"You have fallen far, Susano," the old man chortled.

"You have no idea," Susano grumbled, tentatively retreating a step. Sylvanus was known to shift quickly between benevolence and violence. "I seek the source of the dark swarm."

"Ho ho!" Sylvanus exclaimed. "Then you have come to the right place! It has claimed Asgard's favored son, Thor. With lightning he scars our hills and valleys and draws the ire of the lady Terra. Her mighty fists shake and crack the earth. To reach Asgard safely, you'll need to appease her, I think."

Susano straightened. "Can you take me to her?"

Sylvanus' eyes twinkled.

Susano followed the lumbering tree that carried Sylvanus through dim winding caverns until, at last, they reached the surface. Gray-white storm clouds hung heavy in the sky. Snow fell as though it sought to drown the world. Before them spread a valley, scorched and blasted, razed from the constant raking of lightning from above. Within this smoking ruin was Terra, fuming, massive fists drumming the earth, rumbling the mountains with as much crescendo as the deafening thunder. Susano could barely make out the shape of Thor, rigid atop a nearby ridge, the swarm of beasts swooping about him.

"At one time, the wind obeyed my command," Susano spread his arms wide. "Let us see if it still does."

Resoundingly, he clapped his hands together. A shockwave erupted. It roared through the mountains, echoed across the valley, drowned the storm and quakes. Above, the gust blasted the gray clouds northward like a breath on candle flame. The sky shone clear blue, as if waking from melancholy.

Terra unclenched her fists and straightened. To Susano she nodded appreciation. Thor whirled his hammer and propelled after his storm clouds, pursued by the swarm.

"Well," chittered Sylvanus. "Aren't you just full of surprises!"

Diary of Koby-Meppo

Vol.11 : "The Unbelievable Hostageppo"

コビメッポ奮闘日記vol.11「まさかの人質ッポ」

Oda Eiichiro

So they're called 'Pipozaru', eh. Those monkeys. Gotta say they're pretty funny. That dance is great. GET YOU

ピポザルっつーんすか。あのサル。おもろいっすねー。あのおどり。ゲッチュー

Chapter 96