Chapter 109

Mr. 8, Mr. 9, and Miss Wednesday are the only ones left in Zoro's way. Despite their weapons and techniques, Zoro initially manages to overpower him. Mr. 9 manages to tie Zoro's arm up and Miss Wednesday takes Luffy hostage, but Zoro sends Mr. 9 flying into Miss Wednesday before cutting down Mr. 8 and winning the battle.

Responsibility Problem

Mr. 8, Mr. 9, and Miss Wednesday are shaken and angered by their forces' inability to take down Zoro. Intent on fulfilling their responsibility to watch over this town, Mr. 8 takes out his saxophone and blows into it, which shoots bullets at Zoro. Zoro dodges the shots, and Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday go on the move. While Mr. 9 leaps up toward the roof, Miss Wednesday mounts her duck Karoo to use its great speed to pursue Zoro. Karoo has trouble following Miss Wednesday's directions, and Mr. 9 performs acrobatic flips to attack Zoro from behind with two metal bats. He is cocky about the power of his bats, and warns Zoro to not let his swords get chipped, but Zoro manages to unnerve him by merely quickly drawing his sword and pointing it at the agent. Mr. 9 loses his composure as he swats recklessly at Zoro's sword, and Zoro wonders where his acrobatic finesse went. Mr. 9 decides to show it to him again and does a backflip, but ends up jumping off the roof and crashing to the ground.

Zoro wonders if anyone here is more competent when Miss Wednesday confronts him. She performed a dance, using the spiral design of her top to make Zoro dizzy. Zoro was overwhelmed by the dance, and Miss Wednesday charged at him to finish him off with her Peacock Slashers. However, Karoo moved so that her weapon-carrying hand was on the wrong side, and Miss Wednesday rode off the roof. Zoro was ashamed that he had to fight these people, but had to quickly dodge more of Mr. 8's shots. Zoro cut a hole in the roof and went down to the ground, where he hid in an alley and encountered Mr. 9 again. Mr. 9 extended the tip of one of his bats with an iron rope, tying up one of Zoro's arms with it. Miss Wednesday then brought out the sleeping Luffy, threatening to kill him if Zoro moved. Mr. 8 fires at Zoro with guns in his hair, but Zoro pulls on the rope, sending Mr. 9 flying into the path of the explosive shots. Zoro then throws Mr. 9 at Miss Wednesday and Karoo, sending them flying away from Luffy. Using Luffy's inflated body as a trampoline, Zoro bounces up to Mr. 8, cutting him down with a single slash as the battle comes to an end.

Mission 90

At the Forger home, Yor calls to Bond for their regular walk. Anya tags along and requests to go to the park with the "big obstacle course." At the park, Anya happily enjoys herself on the slide and even shows Yor the burn mark she got on her new clothes from playing on the slide, to Yor's shock. Anya sees two boys gossiping about an old man sitting on a bench nearby and claiming that he could be a spy. Hearing this, Anya is determined to take him down and reads his mind to learn his plot, only to learn that the old man wishes to go home after getting lost. The boys then scare the man away after accusing him of being a spy, while Anya watches dumbfoundedly.

Anya starts playing on a log bridge and encounters the old man once again. After the man almost slips on the bridge, he comes to his senses shortly after panicking. Yor arrives to assist, and the Forgers learn about the old man's plight and that he moved into the area recently. As Yor helps the man think of any clues, Anya tries to read his mind but finds nothing helpful. After reading a note in the old man's jacket, the Forgers help the man get to the market for shopping. The old man begins mumbling, but Yor cannot hear what he is saying, so Anya reads his mind and acts as his interpreter for Yor.

At the market, the old man reveals that he used to teach at the university nearby and mumbles to himself how badly it was affected during the war. As the group walks around the market, Anya continues reading the man's thoughts to help guide Yor, but they end up back at the park. The group tries again but finds themselves at a mafia branch office, a flower shop, and atop a tower.

The old man becomes gloomy for causing the family so much trouble, but Anya says she had fun in this "adventure." The old man thanks Anya for not mocking his failings and buys her a waffle, mentioning that he sees her like a granddaughter. Yor remembers that her and Loid's parents are long gone, so Anya has never experienced having a grandparent before. Yor thinks how she has never experienced it either and that one cannot miss something they have never experienced, but wonders if it is the same for Anya.

After Anya gets her waffle, Yor notices a piece of paper fall from the old man's pocket. After seeing that it is a coupon, Anya proudly reveals that it is a winning ticket from the raffle at the candy shop she goes to. The old man remembers that he went to the candy shop to get sweets, giving the group a clue to the location of his home. Bond suddenly goes off on his own, and Yor, guessing that he found the man's scent trail, follows after him with the others.

The group arrives at the Forger's apartment, and the old man is ecstatic to have finally found his home. A door opens, revealing Loid and an old woman standing behind it. The old woman calls out to the old man, who is happy to reunite with her. Loid reveals that this elderly couple are their new neighbors and that he was helping them move in. The couple introduces themselves as Sigmund and Barbara Authen, and the Forgers formally welcome them to the neighborhood. Sigmund gifts Barbara some flowers as an apology, and the two begin to flirt affectionately as the Forgers watch.

Graveyard Shift

One night, the Krusty Krab staff prepares for its 8:00 PM closing, which comes none too soon for Squidward. However, Incidental 6 walks up to the door and attempts to make an order. Squidward smugly informs him that they are closed, and the customer prepares to take his money elsewhere. Realizing the financial potential of a late-night shift, Mr. Krabs tears apart the "Closed" sign and, against Squidward's wishes, proclaims the Krusty Krab to now be open 24 hours a day. Mr. Krabs then promptly leaves his employees while SpongeBob is overjoyed at this prospect and, as the night goes on, takes pleasure in the tasks he had no time to do during the day. When the time comes to take out the trash, however, he shows some trepidation towards the darkness outside. After going outside screaming to throw away the trash, he comes back in and calls it an easy task.

Squidward, sensing SpongeBob's fear, weaves him a terrifying tale on the spot of a "hash-slinging slasher," a clumsy Krusty Krab fry cook from years past who accidentally chopped off his hand and had it replaced with a rusty spatula. Due to fatally being run over by a bus and posthumous termination, the horrific specter returns every Tuesday night (though Squidward only put this detail in the story when SpongeBob told him that it was Tuesday) to exact vengeance on all who reside in the restaurant. Squidward goes on to explain the three signs of the ghost's return: the lights flickering on and off, the phone ringing with no one at the other end, and the arrival of the bus that had run the fry cook over. Squidward then laughs at SpongeBob's shrieks of fright, but when SpongeBob continues screaming, an annoyed Squidward tells SpongeBob that he was joking and that the story is not true.

3:00 AM soon arrives and the restaurant is now completely devoid of customers or any other signs of life besides SpongeBob and Squidward. Whilst contending with SpongeBob's diligent ceiling washing, Squidward expresses bafflement at the idea of the Krusty Krab being open 24 hours a day, wondering who would want a Krabby Patty at that time. (Ironically, a cutaway gag shows Patrick excitedly waking up at this hour specifically to eat a Krabby Patty.)

Suddenly, the lights begin flickering, though Squidward initially thinks SpongeBob is doing it in a failed attempt to scare him. After realizing that nobody is touching the light switch, Squidward then blames the faulty electrical wiring, as the restaurant was not built to run 24 hours a day. The next moment, the phone rings but remains silent when Squidward answers. This time, SpongeBob thinks that Squidward is trying to scare him, but the latter denies this and becomes more nervous as these are two of the three signs that supposedly signal the arrival of the Hash-Slinging Slasher. While trying to remember the third sign, a bus pulls up to the Krusty Krab, even though the buses supposedly do not run so late. Its lone departing passenger is a shadow-covered figure with what appears to be glowing red eyes, wielding a spatula. Fearing it to be the Hash-Slinging Slasher, Squidward starts to freak out whit SpongeBob thinks Squidward is dressed up across the street to entertain him because he likes him. However, Squidward tells SpongeBob the flaws in his theory. The first is he hates him and the second is how it's impossible for him to be the ghost when he is standing right next to him. Hearing this, SpongeBob starts to shriek in horror.

Believing the events they witness to be supernatural, a frightened SpongeBob and Squidward say their final words as the figure approaches the counter. When the figure enters the light, however, he turns out to be just an ordinary person holding a spatula in a fully intact hand, which had been covered by his sleeve. He asks for a job application and reveals that he was the one who called earlier but hung up before speaking because he was nervous. Relieved, SpongeBob asks the applicant if he has any references, though Squidward notes that this turn of events does not explain the lights flickering.

As if to answer his question, the lights flicker again, revealing the culprit to be none other than the vampire Nosferatu (portrayed by the late Max Schreck). They casually tease him, as if this is a well-known habit to Krusty Krab staff and clients alike. Smiling at the trio mischievously, he flicks the lights off once more, cutting to black and ending the episode.

Diary of Koby-Meppo

Vol.22 : "We are Worthless"

コビメッポ奮闘日記vol.22「不甲斐なき我ら」

Oda Eiichiro

I saw Watsuki-sensei for the first time in a long while. Mr. 'I'm-not-being-hounded-by-work' Easy-Going Wakky.

久しぶりに和月先生に会った。仕事に追われてないノンビリワッキー氏でした。

Chapter 110