Chapter 108

Zoro vs. Baroque Works bounty hunters.

100 Bounty Hunters

Zoro announces that he knows their secret company that they are "Baroque Works" while Luffy and the rest of the crew are sleeping. Baroque Works attempt to kill him to protect their secret identity. Zoro thinks it will be a good chance to test his new swords and have some fun. The fight between Zoro and the 100 bounty hunters begins.

A bounty hunter sees him and shoots him from the top of a building but Zoro ducks into a house. Then he sees that he is surrounded by more bounty hunters. They shoot at him but he uses a table as his shield. Then Zoro escapes, using the Yubashiri and gets out of the building. He goes upstairs and a bounty hunter with a bazooka shoots at him but Zoro ducks down. Miss Monday sees him at the stairs and she throws a barrel full of liquor at him. Zoro cuts it in four pieces that hit four more members in front of Zoro. Someone with a stone hammer tries to hit him from behind but Zoro dodges it in time and cuts the stone saying that "This one cuts through stone, the Sandai Kitetsu" blade is remarkably sharp'. A young boy tries to attack him with a knife, but Zoro flips it away. A nun comes and hugs the kid saying "God, please protect us" then she pulls away her cross where smoke comes out in the middle. Zoro avoids the smoke, and hits the nun and boy. He climbs up a ladder, with a lot of members following him up the ladder but Zoro pushes the ladder off the building, and the bounty hunters fall with the ladder. He jumps to another building and tricks the bounty hunters on the building, to fall through a hole he made on the roof.

Miss Monday surprises Zoro by trying to hit him from behind with one of the ladders. Zoro ducks in time, but then she catches him by his neck and punches him in the face with her super-human strength. Zoro then grabs her with his right hand and he challenges Miss Monday to a game of strength, which she loses. Mr. 8 thinks that the Marines got the bounty poster wrong, and that Zoro must be the real captain due to his strength.

Mission 89

In a daze over the recent events that have happened to him, Yuri gets hit by a truck on his way to work. At SSS headquarters, he talks with the Lieutenant about how he has not seen Yor much recently and what his motivation is without her. Yuri is still upset over losing Twilight, but the Lieutenant assures him that after their encounter, the entire Secret Police is now scouring for suspects with the same wound as Twilight.

Chloe arrives with a potential suspect, but the man she has is a short and plump one. While it is not the man they are looking for, the Lieutenant has Yuri and Chloe interrogate him anyway. After reviewing the background of their suspect, Bobby Bockle, Yuri talks down to him and demands information on his organization, the Chicken Circle group. When Bobby refuses to answer, Yuri threatens him with torture. After Bobby reveals the Circle's headquarters, Yuri and Chloe head out to investigate it.

On the drive there, Chloe inquires Yuri about his recent mood. While they talk about Yuri's behavior back in their college days (which currently continues), Yuri suddenly hides himself in the car, having smelled Yor and heard her footsteps nearby, which creeps out Chloe. As they drive past a crosswalk, Yor is there, ready for her lunch break. Chloe suggests that Yuri could have made something up if she had seen him, but he points out her presence, to which she says that they can pretend to be lovers. Yuri refuses the idea, saying that he could never do that to the woman who set aside her own happiness for him. Chloe is confused and says that she would want Yuri to find happiness if she was Yor.

The pair arrive at the Chicken Circle's base. Before Chloe can attempt a reconnaissance trip, Yuri charges in alone. Inside, Yuri fights all the group members, using fighting moves with "Yor" prefixed to them. Yuri gets injured during the scuffle, and while he stops to breathe, a member charges at him with a knife. Before Yuri is attacked, Chloe appears and defeats the man.

Yuri says he could have handled it but is suddenly slapped by Chloe, who reminds him that even people like him can die. She asks Yuri how would Yor feel if he died and points out how everything he says he does is all for her, calling him a self-serving hypocrite. Chloe then expresses her admiration for Yuri's fortitude but says that it leaves him blind to too many things. Coming to his senses, Yuri apologizes, and Chloe does the same, realizing she went a little overboard with him. Chloe tells Yuri that the way Yor supported Yuri might seem normal to him due to their time together but says there are other ways people can support each other. She instructs him to take better care of himself and be able to prove it to Yor. Remembering the time when he got sick as a kid, Yuri recalls Yor promising to get faster for his sake. This inspires Yuri to improve his defensive skills in evading and blocking, which baffles Chloe.

Yuri returns to his apartment to train when he gets a surprise visit from Yor. Yor reveals that she wanted to see Yuri again and to apologize for kicking him out last time when he was also hurt. For her apology, Yor brings Yuri some home cooking. While Yuri enjoys the food, Yor reveals that the fish he likes was made by Loid, causing Yuri to spit it out. Cursing Loid in his thoughts, Yuri wishes he was Twilight and wonders if he could find a reason to have him arrested and executed, believing Yor would not be sad about that. Yuri asks Yor about the time she said she was dissatisfied with Loid, to which Yor says that was a misunderstanding. When Yuri asks if she loves him, Yor stammers in response, and he concludes that she hates him.

Band Geeks

The episode begins one day, Squidward was playing his clarinet but was disturbed by a doorbell which is a doctor who arrived at his house after mistaking his clarinet playing for a "dying animal," he receives a call from his former high school classmate and rival Squilliam Fancyson. The rich, successful, and very smug Squilliam informs Squidward that he is the leader of a band that is supposed to play the prestigious Bubble Bowl the following week, but he will be unable to attend. He gives Squidward a backhanded offer to replace him, correctly suspecting that Squidward does not have his own band. However, Squidward defiantly insists that he does have a band and accepts the offer, before posting flyers around Bikini Bottom looking for people to join his band.

On the first night of rehearsals, Squidward brings his rented instruments to a practice hall filled with townspeople. Upon discovering that none of his prospective bandmates have any previous musical experience, Squidward teaches them the basics. Unfortunately, the night doesn't end well as Squidward gets pinned to the wall by drumsticks the players mistook as mouth instruments while Sandy beats up Patrick and shoves his body through the bore of a trombone after he kicks her leg.

Things do not get any better during the second day of training; while practicing a march through the street, two flag twirlers are killed when they spin their flags too fast, causing them to fly into the air and crash into a passing blimp. On the third day, Squidward checks on Plankton's harmonica solo, though he becomes exhausted and collapses from running back and forth between the holes since the harmonica is much bigger than him.

On the fourth and final day of practice, Squidward says that while none of them have made any improvement since the beginning, he suggests that everyone play loud so they will be good. Unfortunately, they take this theory a bit too literally as they play so loud and badly that the windows of the practice hall break, and Squidward's face is deformed beyond recognition, prompting him to change the plan to playing extremely quietly so nobody will hear them. The band members then begin to insult each other, and despite Squidward attempting to quell the rising tensions, a mass brawl breaks out that damages most of the instruments. When the clock hits 10:00 PM, the fighting ends and everyone starts to head home.

Squidward stops them at the entrance and expresses his disappointment at their lack of progress and for not taking his dream seriously. After Squidward leaves in distress at his failure, a remorseful SpongeBob asks the townspeople to think about all of the times Squidward came through for them. Despite drawing a blank, they are convinced enough to give practice one more try for Squidward's sake, with SpongeBob taking command as the conductor.

The day of the performance arrives and Squidward prepares to finalize his band's cancellation, only to find Squilliam waiting for him at the entrance of the Bubble Bowl. Squidward tries to explain that his band can no longer play as they all died in a marching accident, but they suddenly appear behind him in full uniform and with their instruments at ready, forcing Squidward to go through with the performance.

As everyone enters a huge glass dome, Squidward bemoans the humiliation that he is certain is awaiting him. The dome rises into a football stadium filled with human fans. Squidward, still fearing that the performance will be a disaster, nervously begins conducting. But to his and Squilliam's astonishment, the band performs a rock ballad called "Sweet Victory" by David Glen Eisley and it turns out to be a tremendous success. As the crowd sways in awe, Squilliam faints in shock while going to the hospital. To end the episode, Squidward throws away his baton and leaps into the air in triumph.

Shadow and Flame

In the heart of Ragnarok's storm, the goddess draws her blade against the Lord of Darkness. He stands opposite her in the chaos, cold and malicious. Bat-like wings stretch from his back, their leathery flesh bleeding black fire.

As she leaps to strike, the goddess realizes that she does not know why they are fighting. Is his emergence, brought about by this apocalypse, a threat only she can confront? Is he a mountain to her, a towering peak crying out to be scaled? To be conquered? In truth it doesn't matter. She is in her element, falling into the familiar rhythm that has never failed to make her heart sing.

She is Bellona, and she is making war.

Her sword falls, a perfect cut, but the target ceases to be. Laughter hits her back like ice and Bellona spins to face him. His form shivers, becoming three. The trio flits around the goddess of war, laughing as they sway beyond her blade.

Rage warps Bellona's weapon into liquid brass, shifting until it becomes her hammer. She leaves craters in the earth with every strike, but she cannot touch him.

The Lord of Darkness manifests shards of black crystal, dark as the void between stars. They fly from his hands, singing as they strike her. Every blow they land against Bellona's shield plunges her flesh to a cold beyond ice.

He releases a long, shuddering breath. ‘Oh, how I have waited to do that. Such a good servant you are, so eager to oblige me.’

The words stop Bellona cold. Her own leave her lips as a snarl. ‘I serve no one.’

‘No?’ he offers a black-fanged grin. ‘Pity the puppet, so blind she cannot even see her strings.’

‘You lie.’

He lifts a hand, and the earth splinters. The dead spill up from the cracks, staring up from behind tarnished visors. Bellona recognizes every face, and the sigil stitched upon the tattered banners they carry.

It is hers.

‘Are you not evil's agent, goddess of war, for sowing such conflict? Spurning the mortal realm to ever-greater violence as you bathed the earth with their blood? You never cared why the iron reaped and the threads were cut. You never stopped to think who it is you truly serve.’

A new shard manifests from out of the Lord of Darkness. The smile widens as he lets it fly, faster than Bellona can track.

‘You serve Chernobog.’

In the last moment she raises her weapon. Hammer reforms into sword. Obsidian meets steel.

And obsidian shatters. Chips of darkness spin from the edge of Bellona's sword, clattering against her warplate before bleeding away into smoke.

Chernobog pauses. ‘Interesting.’

With a flick of his wrist the other shards recall, melting back into him. He turns away, his great wings stretched wide.

‘Is that all?’ Bellona surges to her feet. ‘I'm not done with you.’

‘Oh little one,’ Chernobog laughs, smiling with too many teeth. ‘I am not done with anything.’

Chernobog vanishes with those words, away to visit unknown horror upon the world whose ruin has set him free. Bellona reverses my blade, burying it into the ground to support herself as she sinks to one knee.

Alone, Bellona watches Ragnarok devour everything. The souls of the dead cry out as the underworld blurs into that of the living. All that remains with the goddess of war are questions, the howling dead, and the echo of dark laughter.

Diary of Koby-Meppo

Vol.21 : "Apology"

コビメッポ奮闘日記vol.21「謝罪」

Oda Eiichiro

A text I send keeps being rejected!! What's going on here!? It's a text I promised I'd send!!

出したメールが返ってくる!!どうなってるんだ!?出すと約束したメールなのに!!

Chapter 109