Chapter 163

The Straw Hats finally arrive in a deserted city, Yuba. Only one inhabitant live here: Toto. When Vivi realizes who he is, she has a flashback of her childhood.

Yuba, the Town of Rebels

The Straw Hat Pirates enters Yuba after it was hit by a sandstorm. Nobody is here except, Toto, digging in the sand. When Vivi ask him about the rebels, the old man reveals to them that, due to the drought Yuba faced for three years, the rebels had moved to Katorea, an oasis close to Nanohana, the city they have left before going to Yuba.

When Luffy says Vivi's name, the old man starts to cry, asking the princess if she remembers him. Vivi, in shock, realizes who he is and starts to remember their first encounter.

Eleven years ago, a young kid named Koza asked King Cobra to stop the drought in his village because the villagers were suffering. When Cobra told him it is out of his power, Koza's father, Toto appeared, ashamed by his son's rudeness and begs the king to forgive them. Koza, being too proud to beg the king for forgiveness, rushed out of the room. Cobra was moved by the kid's care for his fellow villagers and decides to allow them to live in Alubarna temporarily until they can decide on what to do.

After confronting the king, Koza, in tears, ran out and encountered young Vivi, who called him a crybaby. This is the start of a fight between the two kids, which rapidly transformed into a friendship. Vivi became the sub-leader of the Sand-Sand Clan, just under Koza. But one day, when Vivi was searching for her leader, she bumped into two dangerous men.

Mission 105

One morning in Berlint, Franky is woken up and nearly killed by his alarm clock invention, "Abso-waker Type-J" in one of his many hideouts. After cleaning himself up and fixing his appearance for the day, Franky works on an invention while listening to his favorite, government-banned music. Franky puts together a new invention, "Senju," a multi-armed device to boost his daily productivity. However, the invention blows up in his face, but Franky is not deterred, seeing it as part of the trial and error process.

Looking at the time, Franky hurries to open his tobacco store, where he is visited by regulars who are civilians, one of them being a woman who rejects his date invitation. Franky is then visited by Fiona, who commissions a forgery for a mission. Fiona leaves as quickly as she came, giving Franky one week to get it done and threatening to put him in jail if he fails, much to Franky's annoyance.

Franky then gets a call from Loid, who asks Franky to do some quick housesitting for Anya and Bond while he is away. Franky protests but goes over to the Forger home anyway. While playing with Anya and Bond, Franky cries inside, holding out for the money he gets from the spies. After getting his pay, Franky heads to the racetrack for some betting, only to lose his earnings. The dejected Franky resumes his work and meets with the racetrack teller, who is also an informant, requesting intel on a certain route. The teller informs Franky that the route is unavailable since its informant, Latchkey Lachy, got caught by the SSS. As an apology, the teller gives Franky two tickets for a movie and teases him to take a girl out to watch it, which annoys Franky.

On the streets, Franky runs into an acquaintance, Priscilla. He asks her out to the movies, and to his surprise, she agrees. After dressing up and making a dinner reservation after the movies, Franky fantasizes about Priscilla confessing her love for him. Franky's fantasy is interrupted by a phone call informing him that the racetrack teller has been raided by the SSS due to the capture of the earlier informant. Franky seemingly ignores the news to prepare for his date, but he ends up going to an unknown building to rescue the teller from the SSS. Entering the room with a gas mask, Franky fires his rose bouquet, which also fires to become smoke-pepper bombs that make everyone in the room sneeze.

After freeing the teller, the two make their escape, and Franky uses a modified gauntlet to punch one of their pursuers. As they continue to make their escape, Franky deploys several gadgets to slow down the SSS agents. Franky explains to the teller that he canceled his movie date with Priscilla but still has a dinner date with her later tonight. Other reinforcements arrive with other captured informants, but Franky, with his wit, gadgets, and knowledge of the city, is able to lose them and also free some of his fellow informants. Seeing the time, Franky quickly hurries over to have dinner with Priscilla, with the teller cheering him on. However, during the dinner, Priscilla reveals that she used the movie tickets to watch with a guy she was interested in, after which they began dating shortly after. Priscilla thanks Franky, who mindlessly chews on his salad in astonishment.

On his way back home, Franky, while heartbroken, is able to find the good parts of his day. Suddenly, a bang rings out, shocking Franky, and he turns around to see the teller having fired something behind him. The teller, having fired a party popper, congratulates Franky on getting a girlfriend, only to realize his ill-timed celebration. The teller makes up for his mistake by revealing that he has two tickets for another movie, and the two agree to watch it together. However, the movie turns out to be a romantic drama, and the two men mutually agree to go home.

Krabs vs. Plankton

In the opening, a depressed Plankton wakes up and goes to the Krusty Krab one morning without a plan to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula, telling Karen that he will "wing it," not knowing what he might get himself into. When he goes inside, he slips on the floor where SpongeBob just mopped and is ridiculed by Mr. Krabs. Two customers observing the incident comment that there should have be a wet floor sign and that they would sue Krabs for everything he possesses if that happened to them, including the Krabby Patty secret formula. This gives Plankton an idea and he pretends to be badly injured and, after paramedics come and pick him up, Plankton threatens to sue Mr. Krabs unless he gives him the formula, but Mr. Krabs angrily refuses.

Fearing that he will lose the case, Mr. Krabs hires a lawyer named Richard A. Bottomfeeder, who tells him that he will not charge him anything unless they win and that they will counter-sue Plankton for everything he owns. Later, in Mr. Krabs' office, SpongeBob wants to read his testimony speech to Mr. Krabs. However, Mr. Krabs declines SpongeBob's testimony and tells him that he could be more of a liability than an asset. Unfortunately, as they prepare to leave for the court hearing, Richard slips and falls, breaking his back, leaving him unable to go to the trial. He gives SpongeBob his briefcase, saying that they only need what is inside the briefcase to win the case. SpongeBob takes Richard's suit and arrives late to the trial, dubbing himself "SpongeBob LawyerPants" to Judge Stickleback.

When the plaintiff Plankton first takes the stand, however, SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs realize that Richard did not give them the combination of the suitcase. Plankton comes to court in a wheelchair and a few casts and bandages, and gives a convincingly painful testimony, dishonestly earning the sympathy of the jury. Meanwhile, SpongeBob desperately tries crazier and crazier attempts to open the briefcase, but to no avail. Plankton uses the fact that Krabs does not own a "wet floor" sign as evidence against him, while SpongeBob only inadvertently demonstrates Krabs' unhealthy greed in his attempts to defend him. Mr. Krabs also accuses Plankton of being a fake, but the courtroom goes against Krabs, not seeing Plankton's more apparent dishonesty. SpongeBob then calls Squidward to the stand, but Squidward testifies against Mr. Krabs, saying that this is his first day off in three years.

Disheartened, Mr. Krabs tells SpongeBob to give up, but SpongeBob refuses and gives a short sermon telling him that they cannot quit now. When he finishes, he hits the case lightly, and it opens unexpectedly. They peer inside, only to find a Krabby Patty. Suddenly realizing that they can win the lawsuit once and for all with this, SpongeBob calls Plankton back to the stand and entices him into confessing his attempted theft with the Krabby Patty, eventually getting Plankton to expose his true actions. Plankton runs for the exit with the Krabby Patty, but is quickly stopped by Mr. Krabs, who eats it, much to Plankton's dismay. The judge asks the jury to go into deliberation and they find Mr. Krabs not guilty, though they still proclaim that he is admittedly cheap. Plankton is then arrested off-screen.

Mr. Krabs thanks SpongeBob and apologizes for not accepting his help in the first place. SpongeBob then gives Mr. Krabs a homemade "wet floor" sign, riddled with nails and a shoddy paint job. Mr. Krabs, while initially surprised, accepts the gift because it is free as the episode closes.

Exile of the High Elves

As the centuries passed, the Night Elves’ new society grew strong and expanded throughout the budding forest that they came to call Ashenvale. Many of the creatures and species that were abundant before the Great Sundering, such as furbolgs and quillboars, reappeared and flourished in the land. Under the druids’ benevolent leadership, the Night Elves enjoyed an era of unprecedented peace and tranquility under the stars.

However, many of the original high-borne survivors grew restless. Like Illidan before them, they fell victim to the withdrawal that came from the loss of their coveted magics. They were tempted, once again, to tap the energies of the Well of Eternity and exult in their magical practices. Dath’Remar, the brash, outspoken leader of the high-borne, began to mock the druids publicly – calling them cowards for refusing to wield the magic that was theirs by right. Furion and the druids chafed of Dath’Remar’s arguments and warned the high-borne that any use of magic would be punishable by death. In their insolence, Dath’Remar and his followers unleashed a terrible magical storm upon Ashenvale in an ill-fated attempt to convince the druids to rescind their law.

The druids, unable to bring themselves to slaughter so many of their kin, decided to exile the reckless high-borne from their lands. Dath’Remar and his followers, glad to be rid of their conservative cousins at last, boarded a number of specially crafted ships and set sail upon the seas. Though none of them knew what awaited them beyond the waters of the raging Maelstrom, they were eager to establish their own homeland where they could practice their coveted magics with impunity. The high-borne, or ‘Quel’dorei’ as Azshara had named them in ages past, would eventually set shore upon the eastern land men would call Lordaeron. They planned to build their own magical kingdom - Quel’Thalas - and reject the Night Elves’ precepts of moon worship and nocturnal activity. Forever after, they would be known only as the "High Elves."

Jango's Dance Paradise

Vol. 29 : "Friendship, Crime, and Duty"

ジャンゴのダンス天国vol.29「友情と罪と義務と」

Oda Eiichiro