One Piece Vol 22
Longest. Twenty-nine minutes and thirty seconds. Ever.
(But, I LOVE this volume. The only thing better than volume 22 is volume 23.)
Volume 22
196
At the royal palace, the Tsumegeri (Claw-kick?) squad show up to defend the king, having broken through the gates. (Robin's hand is bleeding.)
Seeing the pattern of bruising on their arms, Chaka is horrified to realize that they've drunk the "power water" (?) that grants temporary strength in exchange for shortening one's life. They have only minutes to live.
(Viz: "fatal fuel." 豪水 is a compound of unknown meaning (something-water). The 豪 (gou) can have a variety of meanings -- strong, brave, famous, excellent, luxury, wealth, etc.)
The squad attacks Crocodile, but he simply withdraws to the rooftop and mocks them, refusing to fight until they collapse and die.
(There's something so horrifying about this utterly pointless sacrifice, so suddenly introduced and so quickly over. It's like a microcosm of the entire war: Crocodile's vile spite, the meaningless deaths of those who only wanted to save their country, the complete uselessness of sacrifice without any result to show for it. It's chilling to think that without the backing of the Strawhats, all Vivi's efforts to save her country probably would have been equally fruitless and vain. In that sense, Crocodile and Luffy were right when they agreed that Vivi is too naive -- but for completely different reasons. Crocodile believes all sacrifice of self for others is pointless; Luffy will fight to the death for a comrade, but knows that it doesn't make sense to stake your life [inochi wo kakeru] unless you have at least a chance of winning.)
In a rage, Chaka transforms into his animal form. He's a Zoan-type devil fruit user (inu-inu fruit, model jackal).
(おのれ貴様: Wow, that's some nasty language. Either one alone [onore or kisama] would be extremely insulting. Viz: "You fiend!")
Crocodile to Chaka: "You got a thing for dying for other people, too?"
Switch back to Zoro and Mr. 1.
Battle in the North block, in front of the parliament building: Victor - Zoro.
Zoro collapses from loss of blood, wondering how the others are.
Flashback to the moment when they all decided to split up.
Usopp: "Why do *I* have to go with Eyelashes?"
Sanji: "You drew the short straw. Suck it up."
Usopp: "Fine, but you better promise to come save us if we get in trouble."
Sanji: "Moron, I only save the ladies."
(This might actually explain why Sanji came when the ducks reported that Usopp was in trouble, aw.)
Switch to Sanji leading a badly wounded Usopp on camel-back (LOL Chopper riding on the camel's head, what is it with Chopper and heads?).
When Sanji asks why he's crying, Usopp gets defensive.
"Who's CRYING? He who smelt it, dealt it!"*
[*Am I understanding the joke correctly here? Usopp actually says "The guy who says "crying" is the one who's crying!" Sanji: "That's not quite right." [それは違うだろ: "That's different/wrong, isn't it."]. I figure it's supposed to be a playground-level exchange, like "I know you are, but what am I?"]
He finally admits he's upset because Miss Merry Christmas said that Luffy was dead. Both he and Chopper vehemently deny that they believe it, but... (Hee, even the camel demonstrates its indignation by bellowing. Sanji: "OK, jeez, I get it!")
Sanji says that in that case, the only thing to do is to get to the palace as fast as possible. "Wipe that snot off your face!"
(I kind of love when the nakama give each other pep talks.)
Flashback again: Vivi thanking everyone for creating a diversion.
Nami: "If you want to thank a pirate, you gotta show them the money!"
Usopp (horrified): "You're still trying to squeeze a profit out of this poor country!?"
Switch to Nami in the street behind the parliament building. She retrieves her weapon and heads for the palace.
Flashback again: Sanji telling Vivi that she'd better be prepared to feed Luffy well when the battle is done.
Vivi promising to wait for Luffy at Alubarna, and Luffy waving goodbye.
Their vow to meet up at the palace after the duck-squad diversionary maneuver is complete.
Montage:
Sanji noticing that Usopp fell off the camel when they weren't looking.
Nami running toward the palace.
Zoro passed out in the street.
(I love the montages.)
Switch back to the palace, where the royal army is looking on horrified as Crocodile stands over Chaka's bloody body.
Crocodile: "Weakness is a crime (罪)."
Someone calls out Vivi's name (we only see the feet).
(Note: there are not many people who call her "Vivi" with no honorific at all.)
Countdown until the bomb is set to go off: 25 minutes.
197
Cover arc: introduction of Macro's fishman thug pirate crew.
Kohza appears inside the royal palace (Cobra realizes Kohza must have used the secret passage he and Vivi created when they were children).
Kohza is staring in shock at Cobra nailed to the gate and Chaka's bloody body at the feet of Crocodile, "the hero of Alabasta."
Crocodile is vastly entertained to have all the leaders of the warring forces gathered before him, and their armies left fighting like so many headless chickens. (This idiom took me a while to figure out, because the Japanese equivalent of headless chickens appears to be "plucked lizards.")
Robin, mockingly: "Confused? Go ahead, imagine the worst scenario you can come up with."
Aw, Kohza turns immediately to Vivi to get the truth from her.
Crocodile tells Kohza he's been dancing to his (Crocodile's) tune these last two years, while the king and his army were desperately trying to uncover the identity of the real enemy.
Cobra tells Kohza to ignore Crocodile's taunts and just try to save as many people as possible. (COBRA <3)
Chaka warns Kohza about the bomb, but Vivi stops him before he can run to warn the others, saying they have to avoid a panic in the square.
Vivi begs Kohza to stop the revolt, saying he's the only one who can.
When Crocodile moves to attack them, Chaka stops him with the last of his strength and tells Vivi and Kohza to go while they can.
"I am the guardian deity of Alabasta - the jackal!"
Kohza flashes back on Chaka training him to fight when he was a boy. T_T
Vivi orders the royal army to raise the white flag of surrender before the rebel army. Kohza backs her up, saying he'll tell the rebel army to give up this useless fight.
Just as he's telling his men to surrender, Kohza is shot in the back by two royal army soldiers with a BW tattoo on their arms.
198
Vivi knows at once that Baroque Works was responsible for shooting Kohza.
Barely conscious, Kohza is still begging the rebel army to stop.
Amid swirling clouds of sand, shots are fired on both sides.
There are Baroque Works agents among the rebels, too (Crocodile mentioned before that he had double agents planted in the rebel army).
The two armies resume fighting, despite Vivi and Kohza's pleas.
Vivi shifts her focus to finding and stopping the bomb planned to go off in 15 minutes' time.
Crocodile seizes her by the throat. "If I do this, the rebellion will stop! If I do that, the rebellion will stop! Your idealism makes me sick!"
(He literally says it's 見苦しくてかなわえ [unbearably ugly/disgraceful], an odd choice of words.)
Crocodile dangles her body over the parapet, and says she should have let Kohza tell the army about the bomb; maybe they could have saved a few thousand, at least. It was her desire to save everyone that led to not being able to save anyone. All she accomplished was the sacrifice of those who got caught up in her idiotic quest.
"I'll say it one last time. You can't save your country."
His arm dissolves into sand, allowing her to fall. (There's something especially chilling about this... why is it worse than him just opening his hand to let her go?)
A winged figure swoops in to catch her -- Pell, carrying Luffy on his back.
199
Vivi weeps in Luffy's arms, saying that everyone's been beaten, and her voice can't reach anyone.
Luffy: "Don't worry. WE can hear your voice!"
Such a lovely moment. I love that he says WE, and he doesn't just mean himself and Pell.
(Aw, man, Viz translates ore-tachi as "I." Bad Viz!)
Quick shot of someone in the distance, running and arguing over who's hurt worse (Zoro and Nami -- he's carrying her).
Pell warns Luffy to be careful (he calls him Luffy-kun, so cute), but Luffy says he'll be fine. (He's eaten plenty of meat!)
Usopp, Chopper and Sanji show up (and are shocked to see Luffy alive).
Nami and Zoro arrive (the first thing Nami does is punch Usopp in the head).
(OMG, all the nakama interactions here are making me laugh so hard. Too much adorableness to count.)
Luffy apologizes to everyone for losing to Crocodile once, but promises he won't lose again.
Montage of crew faces. <3
Vivi breaks down crying, because she had lost sight of the fact that she still had her nakama. *hugs Vivi*
Crocodile says Luffy will never be able to hit him, no matter how often they fight. "You want to end up on a spit again?"
Luffy lands a crushing blow.
Cobra (I think): Who IS that?
Robin: ......
Crocodile is down, but not out. Cobra is stunned. Robin is impressed. (へェ = "Wow.")
The clock is ticking (about 4:20, from the looks of it).
Luffy says he learned the truth from the water of Yuba: when Crocodile gets wet, he can't change into sand. The real reason he stole the rain is that he's afraid of water. (No wonder he wanted to take over a desert country.)
Luffy has a barrel of water on his back with a hose attached.
"With this, I can kick your ass!"
200
Cover arc: Bad Hachi! Don't trade Keimi for a takoyaki recipe!
The Strawhats agree to split up and search the area around the plaza for the bomber.(*) Vivi thinks they're probably nearby, even though that means the bomber will be blown up along with the city.
(*) I probably should have clarified earlier that all the references in Japanese are to a cannon trained on the plaza, and a person manning the cannon. I just got lazy -- it is a lot easier to write "bomb/bomber" than "person manning a cannon trained on the central plaza" when you have to type it 50 times.
Before Pell can even react, Zoro and Sanji simultaneously strike down an assassin who's aiming for Vivi.
The Billions are targeting Vivi (they're still hoping to get promoted).
Zoro and Sanji stay to deal with the Billions while the others scatter.
(Love Zoro and Sanji in united fighting mode. <3)
As soon as the Billions are taken care of ("Two seconds!"), Sanji and Zoro scatter with the rest.
They have ten minutes to find the bomb.
Back at the palace, Crocodile mocks Luffy, saying that the gap between him and a Shichibukai is still too great.
Luffy: "So you're a Shichibukai, so what? In that case, I'm a Hachibukai!"
(He just replaced the number seven with the number eight. I know I write LOL a lot, but seriously, that made me laugh for at least two minutes. Hachibukai!)
Cobra is just 0__0 (and no wonder). "Who on earth is that man?"
Robin has to explain that Luffy is a pirate. "Looks like he saved the princess, again." Cobra realizes Luffy is one of the comrades Vivi told them about in her letter.
Luffy drinks all the water and becomes "Water Luffy." ("Oh crap, I'm leaking!")
I just love how in every boss fight, there's at least one moment where the big bad (and all the onlookers) are just standing there going "You have GOT to be kidding me." <3
Robin bursts out laughing.
[Enies Lobby]Aw, she looks like normal Robin just for a moment there. Robin! *sniffle*
Crocodile is enraged, thinking that Luffy is just mocking him, but Luffy says he's always serious.
(The scary thing is, he's telling the truth.)
201
The fight between Luffy and Crocodile continues.
Cobra is watching in amazement, but Robin viciously yanks out the stakes that are holding him to the wall and tells him he doesn't have time to stand around being impressed. She wants him to lead her to the Poneglyphs. (She calls him "Mr. Cobra," shiver. I don't know why I find Robin's nasty-polite mode so chilling.)
[Enies Lobby]Brrrr, scary Robin is back. It's almost as if she realized that for a moment, Luffy got to her and made her drop her mask, so she slams the mask back in place twice as hard. T_T
Luffy is looking at Robin with an odd look on his face. (I think that's his figuring-things-out face.)
Crocodile calls her Nico Robin again, and Cobra recognizes the name.
Crocodile demonstrates his power to wither everything his right hand touches, causing even stone to crumble to dust.
(Kind of a poetic depiction of the ravages of time upon ancient ruins in the desert. Oda has said that Alabasta was inspired by ancient Egypt, which was pretty obvious - I mean, Nefertari?)
In the streets of Alubarna, Robin (escorting Cobra) runs into Tashigi and her marines.
Tashigi has heard all about Crocodile's plan from the defeated royal soldiers.
Robin, to Tashigi: "I loathe people from the government." (That much is true.)
Cobra tries to tell the marines to never mind him and find the bomb that's set to destroy the plaza at 4:30. (Tashigi looks at her watch and says they have seven minutes.)
He tries to warn Tashigi about Robin, but Robin acts before he can say anything, taking the marines down with her devil fruit power.
One of the other marines tells Tashigi that he looked up Robin's wanted poster after Smoker told him about her. He remembers the newspaper reports from 20 years earlier himself (he must be older than he looks).
Nico Robin was involved in an incident in which six Marine battleships were sunk when she was only eight years old. The government considered her an extremely dangerous criminal and placed a 79 million beli bounty on her head before she disappeared.
[Enies Lobby]Little Robin's wanted poster. ;__;
Robin doesn't like hearing her past discussed, it seems (it's rare for her to fly into a rage like that).
Realizing that numbers are no use against a power like Robin's, Tashigi sends her men to deal with the bomb, remaining behind to deal with Robin herself.
Robin uses her devil fruit power to turn Tashigi's sword against her.
Tashigi's glasses fall shattered to the ground.
Switch back to the rooftop of the palace, where Luffy is hanging from the edge by his fingertips.
Crocodile seizes Luffy and drains all the water from his body, leaving him a dry husk.
202
Crocodile tosses Luffy's body down onto the ground below, saying the bomb will go off in six minutes.
(Seriously, someone has to have eaten the Stop Time fruit, because WTF, Odacchi.)
Crocodile heads to the royal burial grounds to the west of the palace.
Some of the moisture Luffy fired into the air just before Crocodile drained him falls, reviving him.
(Luck, or did he plan that? Hard to believe Luffy is capable of thinking that far ahead. I'm thinking luck.)
Luffy follows Crocodile's trail.
In the royal tombs, Cobra leads Robin down a hidden staircase to the underground location of the Poneglyphs.
Cobra asks if Robin can read the Poneglyphs, and she says she can. That's why she teamed up with Crocodile, and why Crocodile can't kill her.
Robin tells Cobra that he's not to blame. He had no way of suspecting that there was anyone in the world who could decipher the ancient script. She wonders if the Poneglyphs will contain evidence of the location of Pluton.
Cobra says that he doesn't know. All he knows is that the royal family of Alabasta was entrusted with the duty of protecting the Poneglyphs.
Robin: "Protect? Don't make me laugh!"
[Enies Lobby]It's a long time before the reason for her reaction becomes apparent.
Switch to the Strawhats, above ground.
Usopp is doing a Crocodile imitation (with one crooked finger standing in for Crocodile's hook). Zoro smacks him, but he protests he was just trying to think where he would put the bomb if he were Crocodile.
(Oh Usopp, never change.)
They have five minutes remaining.
Chopper and Nami are searching together. Chopper says he can't smell anything because the smell of gunpowder is all over the city.
Nami: "Then, just look for the scent of "Bomber Who Is Targeting the Square in the Middle of the City"!"
Chopper: "What is THAT supposed to smell like?"
Nami: "How should I know? Just do your best!"
Chopper: "EH!?"
Sanji realizes that he needs to be searching closer to the plaza, but he doesn't have time to go around, so he creates a shortcut by kicking a hole through some buildings.
Vivi and Pell are searching together. Pell can't see anything on any of the roofs, which means the bomb must be inside a building somewhere.
Luffy stumbles over a badly wounded Tashigi, who tries to challenge him. He demands to know which way Crocodile went.
Flashback: when Tashigi wouldn't stop fighting, Robin broke her leg. Crocodile passed by and laughed at her. ("I see you had a run-in with that woman. What happened to that Smoke-bastard you work for? Did he run off with his tail between his legs? You people should run home to your base and chit-chat about justice there.")
She drops her sword, and points in the direction Crocodile went. Luffy runs off.
What good is "justice." What good is "Marine HQ"! (Poor Tashigi. T_T)
Nearing the royal tombs, Luffy collapses from lack of blood.
("What's wrong? I ate plenty of meat. A little wound like this!")
Montage:
Robin is reading the Poneglyphs.
Crocodile approaches the hidden stairway.
Tashigi staggers to her feet.
The Strawhats are searching for the bomb.
The bomb is set to explode in 4 minutes.
***SBS OMG 7 LITTLE CHOPPER FORMS DED OF CUTE***
203
Cover arc: Hachi dreams of proposing to Octopako, who once rejected his love takoyaki love.
Robin is frustrated because the Poneglyphs apparently don't contain the information she wanted. Cobra says he kept his end of the bargain.
Crocodile catches up with them and asks Robin to tell him what the inscription says.
Robin begins reeling off a list of historical dates and events, of no apparent significance.
Cobra: ......
When Crocodile says he only wants the location of the ancient weapon, Robin says the stone contains nothing but the history of Alabasta.
Crocodile says it's a shame. Robin was a good partner, but he'll have to kill her, since she failed to keep her promise to lead him to the ancient weapon.
(Trivia note: Robin and Crocodile have been working together for four years.)
Robin says she knew Crocodile would turn on her, and tries to kill him, but he dodges easily and shoves his hook through her chest.
"I bear you no ill-will. Do you know why? It's because I never trusted anyone from the beginning."
Crocodile says he'll have plenty of time to search for the weapon once he takes control of Alabasta.
The chamber begins to crumble around them, and Cobra admits that he triggered a self-destruct sequence. He, Robin and Crocodile will all die together.
"In the name of the 12th king of the house of Nefertari, I will not give this kingdom of sand to the likes of you!"
Crocodile laughs, saying it won't work on him, since he can turn all the rock to sand and escape. In 3 minutes, Alabasta will be his.
Up on the surface, Vivi is racking her brain to think where the bomb could be. Only two and a half minutes remain. (LOL Usopp running around in the background.)
Vivi grabs Usopp (by the nose, hee) and tells him there's only one place it could be. Usopp sets off the signal to summon the others.
Montage of the signal flare going up and attracting everyone's attention -- well, almost everyone.
I owe this observation to gnine, but: never mind how Zoro managed to leave the city without noticing (he's wandering around in a jungle -- why is there a jungle in the desert, anyway? -- with the city in the background). HOW DID HE GET DOWN OFF AN ENORMOUS PLATEAU WITHOUT NOTICING?
Luffy, still passed out near the royal tombs, wakes up refreshed from a brief nap, full of renewed Crocodile-ass-kicking energy.
Seeing the hidden staircase, Luffy remarks that it "smells of Croc" (wanippoi). (Yeah, I don't know what that means either.)
204
Luffy runs into the collapsing underground chamber.
Vivi heads for the location of the bomb, but runs into the Billions, again.
Usopp realizes that they inadvertently notified the enemies of their location as well.
All the Strawhats are headed for the location of Usopp's signal. (Zoro can't figure out why the palace is so far away, LOL.)
Usopp uses nails on a chalkboard to temporarily stop the Billions who are threatening Vivi.
Luffy confronts Crocodile inside the tomb.
Crocodile: “How many times do I have to kill you before you stay dead?”
Luffy says Crocodile still hasn't returned what he stole.
Crocodile (mocking): "Which one? I've stolen so many things."
Luffy: "The country!"
Crocodiles is puzzled, saything that that's the one thing he hasn't taken yet (he will, very soon), but Luffy says it was already gone by the time they arrived in Alabasta.
"If this was still her country, she'd be able to smile more!" Aw, Luffy.
Crocodile is shocked to realize that Luffy can hit him even without water, because he's covered in blood (blood hardens sand, too).
Crocodile finally agrees to fight Luffy using his ultimate weapon: a poisonous hook.
Zoro runs into a group of Marines, but he's shocked when the Marines only want to direct him to the plaza. ("Turn right! I said RIGHT! Are you an idiot?")
(The scene with Zoro in the jungle is my number one favorite lost Zoro scene, but this one has to be number two.)
Usopp and Vivi are shocked when Tashigi defeats the Billions that are chasing them. Tashigi says the marines want to help them find the bomb.
205
Usopp and Vivi are running toward the plaza. Usopp has to tell Vivi not to get distracted by the fighting around her -- they only have a minute and a half left.
("We lost a lot of time back there!" OK, at this point, I think the clock is actually running backwards, because the countdown is just ridiculous.)
Everyone meets in the plaza, and Vivi reveals what she believes to be the location of the bomb: the clock tower, which once served as a secret base for the Suna-suna clan.
(If you saw this coming a mile away because of the four hundred frames of the clock face with "tick, tick, tick" superimposed over it, congratulations, you're a better reader than I am.)
As Pell approaches the tower, he is shot by a rifle with a frog's head. ("Gero gero gero" = ribbit ribbit)
Two unknown and unseen people, one a woman ("atashi"), are having a conversation off screen. ("Hey, I just shot a big bird with my gero-gero gun!")
In the tomb, Luffy and Crocodile are still fighting.
Cobra is amazed that Luffy can hold his own against Crocodile, who squashed the kingdom's strongest warriors like insignificant bugs.
Crocodile says that Luffy may have survived being skewered, buried alive, and sucked dry, but he won't survive the poison circulating through his body.
Luffy: "You don't understand anything."
Back at the clock tower, the Strawhats are trying to figure out how to get to the top of the tower in the one minute they have left. There's no sign of Pell.
Sanji leans out of a window halfway up the tower (he just started climbing when he got there).
Zoro is even higher up in the tower. ("Those marines just kept saying "North! North!", so I went up." LOL FOREVER)
Vivi says the belfry can only be reached by a staircase that starts on the first floor, so Sanji and Zoro can't reach the top without going back down.
Nami says she has an idea.
The clock-face opens, revealing the Baroque Works agents in charge of setting off the bomb: Mr. 7 and Miss Father's Day. (Miss Father's Day has a frog motif, why?)
Sigh... every single time I re-read this, I block from my memory that we have to fight one last stupid and annoying pair of opponents to get to the victory.
30 seconds on the clock.
***
I'm thinking of experimenting with posting every other day, instead of every three days. Partly I just can't wait to get to the rest of Alabasta; partly I'd like to get through as much as possible before the summer ends and life gets hectic again.
If I can't keep up with writing up notes, though, I might fall back to every three days.
(But, I LOVE this volume. The only thing better than volume 22 is volume 23.)
Volume 22
196
At the royal palace, the Tsumegeri (Claw-kick?) squad show up to defend the king, having broken through the gates. (Robin's hand is bleeding.)
Seeing the pattern of bruising on their arms, Chaka is horrified to realize that they've drunk the "power water" (?) that grants temporary strength in exchange for shortening one's life. They have only minutes to live.
(Viz: "fatal fuel." 豪水 is a compound of unknown meaning (something-water). The 豪 (gou) can have a variety of meanings -- strong, brave, famous, excellent, luxury, wealth, etc.)
The squad attacks Crocodile, but he simply withdraws to the rooftop and mocks them, refusing to fight until they collapse and die.
(There's something so horrifying about this utterly pointless sacrifice, so suddenly introduced and so quickly over. It's like a microcosm of the entire war: Crocodile's vile spite, the meaningless deaths of those who only wanted to save their country, the complete uselessness of sacrifice without any result to show for it. It's chilling to think that without the backing of the Strawhats, all Vivi's efforts to save her country probably would have been equally fruitless and vain. In that sense, Crocodile and Luffy were right when they agreed that Vivi is too naive -- but for completely different reasons. Crocodile believes all sacrifice of self for others is pointless; Luffy will fight to the death for a comrade, but knows that it doesn't make sense to stake your life [inochi wo kakeru] unless you have at least a chance of winning.)
In a rage, Chaka transforms into his animal form. He's a Zoan-type devil fruit user (inu-inu fruit, model jackal).
(おのれ貴様: Wow, that's some nasty language. Either one alone [onore or kisama] would be extremely insulting. Viz: "You fiend!")
Crocodile to Chaka: "You got a thing for dying for other people, too?"
Switch back to Zoro and Mr. 1.
Battle in the North block, in front of the parliament building: Victor - Zoro.
Zoro collapses from loss of blood, wondering how the others are.
Flashback to the moment when they all decided to split up.
Usopp: "Why do *I* have to go with Eyelashes?"
Sanji: "You drew the short straw. Suck it up."
Usopp: "Fine, but you better promise to come save us if we get in trouble."
Sanji: "Moron, I only save the ladies."
(This might actually explain why Sanji came when the ducks reported that Usopp was in trouble, aw.)
Switch to Sanji leading a badly wounded Usopp on camel-back (LOL Chopper riding on the camel's head, what is it with Chopper and heads?).
When Sanji asks why he's crying, Usopp gets defensive.
"Who's CRYING? He who smelt it, dealt it!"*
[*Am I understanding the joke correctly here? Usopp actually says "The guy who says "crying" is the one who's crying!" Sanji: "That's not quite right." [それは違うだろ: "That's different/wrong, isn't it."]. I figure it's supposed to be a playground-level exchange, like "I know you are, but what am I?"]
He finally admits he's upset because Miss Merry Christmas said that Luffy was dead. Both he and Chopper vehemently deny that they believe it, but... (Hee, even the camel demonstrates its indignation by bellowing. Sanji: "OK, jeez, I get it!")
Sanji says that in that case, the only thing to do is to get to the palace as fast as possible. "Wipe that snot off your face!"
(I kind of love when the nakama give each other pep talks.)
Flashback again: Vivi thanking everyone for creating a diversion.
Nami: "If you want to thank a pirate, you gotta show them the money!"
Usopp (horrified): "You're still trying to squeeze a profit out of this poor country!?"
Switch to Nami in the street behind the parliament building. She retrieves her weapon and heads for the palace.
Flashback again: Sanji telling Vivi that she'd better be prepared to feed Luffy well when the battle is done.
Vivi promising to wait for Luffy at Alubarna, and Luffy waving goodbye.
Their vow to meet up at the palace after the duck-squad diversionary maneuver is complete.
Montage:
Sanji noticing that Usopp fell off the camel when they weren't looking.
Nami running toward the palace.
Zoro passed out in the street.
(I love the montages.)
Switch back to the palace, where the royal army is looking on horrified as Crocodile stands over Chaka's bloody body.
Crocodile: "Weakness is a crime (罪)."
Someone calls out Vivi's name (we only see the feet).
(Note: there are not many people who call her "Vivi" with no honorific at all.)
Countdown until the bomb is set to go off: 25 minutes.
197
Cover arc: introduction of Macro's fishman thug pirate crew.
Kohza appears inside the royal palace (Cobra realizes Kohza must have used the secret passage he and Vivi created when they were children).
Kohza is staring in shock at Cobra nailed to the gate and Chaka's bloody body at the feet of Crocodile, "the hero of Alabasta."
Crocodile is vastly entertained to have all the leaders of the warring forces gathered before him, and their armies left fighting like so many headless chickens. (This idiom took me a while to figure out, because the Japanese equivalent of headless chickens appears to be "plucked lizards.")
Robin, mockingly: "Confused? Go ahead, imagine the worst scenario you can come up with."
Aw, Kohza turns immediately to Vivi to get the truth from her.
Crocodile tells Kohza he's been dancing to his (Crocodile's) tune these last two years, while the king and his army were desperately trying to uncover the identity of the real enemy.
Cobra tells Kohza to ignore Crocodile's taunts and just try to save as many people as possible. (COBRA <3)
Chaka warns Kohza about the bomb, but Vivi stops him before he can run to warn the others, saying they have to avoid a panic in the square.
Vivi begs Kohza to stop the revolt, saying he's the only one who can.
When Crocodile moves to attack them, Chaka stops him with the last of his strength and tells Vivi and Kohza to go while they can.
"I am the guardian deity of Alabasta - the jackal!"
Kohza flashes back on Chaka training him to fight when he was a boy. T_T
Vivi orders the royal army to raise the white flag of surrender before the rebel army. Kohza backs her up, saying he'll tell the rebel army to give up this useless fight.
Just as he's telling his men to surrender, Kohza is shot in the back by two royal army soldiers with a BW tattoo on their arms.
198
Vivi knows at once that Baroque Works was responsible for shooting Kohza.
Barely conscious, Kohza is still begging the rebel army to stop.
Amid swirling clouds of sand, shots are fired on both sides.
There are Baroque Works agents among the rebels, too (Crocodile mentioned before that he had double agents planted in the rebel army).
The two armies resume fighting, despite Vivi and Kohza's pleas.
Vivi shifts her focus to finding and stopping the bomb planned to go off in 15 minutes' time.
Crocodile seizes her by the throat. "If I do this, the rebellion will stop! If I do that, the rebellion will stop! Your idealism makes me sick!"
(He literally says it's 見苦しくてかなわえ [unbearably ugly/disgraceful], an odd choice of words.)
Crocodile dangles her body over the parapet, and says she should have let Kohza tell the army about the bomb; maybe they could have saved a few thousand, at least. It was her desire to save everyone that led to not being able to save anyone. All she accomplished was the sacrifice of those who got caught up in her idiotic quest.
"I'll say it one last time. You can't save your country."
His arm dissolves into sand, allowing her to fall. (There's something especially chilling about this... why is it worse than him just opening his hand to let her go?)
A winged figure swoops in to catch her -- Pell, carrying Luffy on his back.
199
Vivi weeps in Luffy's arms, saying that everyone's been beaten, and her voice can't reach anyone.
Luffy: "Don't worry. WE can hear your voice!"
Such a lovely moment. I love that he says WE, and he doesn't just mean himself and Pell.
(Aw, man, Viz translates ore-tachi as "I." Bad Viz!)
Quick shot of someone in the distance, running and arguing over who's hurt worse (Zoro and Nami -- he's carrying her).
Pell warns Luffy to be careful (he calls him Luffy-kun, so cute), but Luffy says he'll be fine. (He's eaten plenty of meat!)
Usopp, Chopper and Sanji show up (and are shocked to see Luffy alive).
Nami and Zoro arrive (the first thing Nami does is punch Usopp in the head).
(OMG, all the nakama interactions here are making me laugh so hard. Too much adorableness to count.)
Luffy apologizes to everyone for losing to Crocodile once, but promises he won't lose again.
Montage of crew faces. <3
Vivi breaks down crying, because she had lost sight of the fact that she still had her nakama. *hugs Vivi*
Crocodile says Luffy will never be able to hit him, no matter how often they fight. "You want to end up on a spit again?"
Luffy lands a crushing blow.
Cobra (I think): Who IS that?
Robin: ......
Crocodile is down, but not out. Cobra is stunned. Robin is impressed. (へェ = "Wow.")
The clock is ticking (about 4:20, from the looks of it).
Luffy says he learned the truth from the water of Yuba: when Crocodile gets wet, he can't change into sand. The real reason he stole the rain is that he's afraid of water. (No wonder he wanted to take over a desert country.)
Luffy has a barrel of water on his back with a hose attached.
"With this, I can kick your ass!"
200
Cover arc: Bad Hachi! Don't trade Keimi for a takoyaki recipe!
The Strawhats agree to split up and search the area around the plaza for the bomber.(*) Vivi thinks they're probably nearby, even though that means the bomber will be blown up along with the city.
(*) I probably should have clarified earlier that all the references in Japanese are to a cannon trained on the plaza, and a person manning the cannon. I just got lazy -- it is a lot easier to write "bomb/bomber" than "person manning a cannon trained on the central plaza" when you have to type it 50 times.
Before Pell can even react, Zoro and Sanji simultaneously strike down an assassin who's aiming for Vivi.
The Billions are targeting Vivi (they're still hoping to get promoted).
Zoro and Sanji stay to deal with the Billions while the others scatter.
(Love Zoro and Sanji in united fighting mode. <3)
As soon as the Billions are taken care of ("Two seconds!"), Sanji and Zoro scatter with the rest.
They have ten minutes to find the bomb.
Back at the palace, Crocodile mocks Luffy, saying that the gap between him and a Shichibukai is still too great.
Luffy: "So you're a Shichibukai, so what? In that case, I'm a Hachibukai!"
(He just replaced the number seven with the number eight. I know I write LOL a lot, but seriously, that made me laugh for at least two minutes. Hachibukai!)
Cobra is just 0__0 (and no wonder). "Who on earth is that man?"
Robin has to explain that Luffy is a pirate. "Looks like he saved the princess, again." Cobra realizes Luffy is one of the comrades Vivi told them about in her letter.
Luffy drinks all the water and becomes "Water Luffy." ("Oh crap, I'm leaking!")
I just love how in every boss fight, there's at least one moment where the big bad (and all the onlookers) are just standing there going "You have GOT to be kidding me." <3
Robin bursts out laughing.
[Enies Lobby]Aw, she looks like normal Robin just for a moment there. Robin! *sniffle*
Crocodile is enraged, thinking that Luffy is just mocking him, but Luffy says he's always serious.
(The scary thing is, he's telling the truth.)
201
The fight between Luffy and Crocodile continues.
Cobra is watching in amazement, but Robin viciously yanks out the stakes that are holding him to the wall and tells him he doesn't have time to stand around being impressed. She wants him to lead her to the Poneglyphs. (She calls him "Mr. Cobra," shiver. I don't know why I find Robin's nasty-polite mode so chilling.)
[Enies Lobby]Brrrr, scary Robin is back. It's almost as if she realized that for a moment, Luffy got to her and made her drop her mask, so she slams the mask back in place twice as hard. T_T
Luffy is looking at Robin with an odd look on his face. (I think that's his figuring-things-out face.)
Crocodile calls her Nico Robin again, and Cobra recognizes the name.
Crocodile demonstrates his power to wither everything his right hand touches, causing even stone to crumble to dust.
(Kind of a poetic depiction of the ravages of time upon ancient ruins in the desert. Oda has said that Alabasta was inspired by ancient Egypt, which was pretty obvious - I mean, Nefertari?)
In the streets of Alubarna, Robin (escorting Cobra) runs into Tashigi and her marines.
Tashigi has heard all about Crocodile's plan from the defeated royal soldiers.
Robin, to Tashigi: "I loathe people from the government." (That much is true.)
Cobra tries to tell the marines to never mind him and find the bomb that's set to destroy the plaza at 4:30. (Tashigi looks at her watch and says they have seven minutes.)
He tries to warn Tashigi about Robin, but Robin acts before he can say anything, taking the marines down with her devil fruit power.
One of the other marines tells Tashigi that he looked up Robin's wanted poster after Smoker told him about her. He remembers the newspaper reports from 20 years earlier himself (he must be older than he looks).
Nico Robin was involved in an incident in which six Marine battleships were sunk when she was only eight years old. The government considered her an extremely dangerous criminal and placed a 79 million beli bounty on her head before she disappeared.
[Enies Lobby]Little Robin's wanted poster. ;__;
Robin doesn't like hearing her past discussed, it seems (it's rare for her to fly into a rage like that).
Realizing that numbers are no use against a power like Robin's, Tashigi sends her men to deal with the bomb, remaining behind to deal with Robin herself.
Robin uses her devil fruit power to turn Tashigi's sword against her.
Tashigi's glasses fall shattered to the ground.
Switch back to the rooftop of the palace, where Luffy is hanging from the edge by his fingertips.
Crocodile seizes Luffy and drains all the water from his body, leaving him a dry husk.
202
Crocodile tosses Luffy's body down onto the ground below, saying the bomb will go off in six minutes.
(Seriously, someone has to have eaten the Stop Time fruit, because WTF, Odacchi.)
Crocodile heads to the royal burial grounds to the west of the palace.
Some of the moisture Luffy fired into the air just before Crocodile drained him falls, reviving him.
(Luck, or did he plan that? Hard to believe Luffy is capable of thinking that far ahead. I'm thinking luck.)
Luffy follows Crocodile's trail.
In the royal tombs, Cobra leads Robin down a hidden staircase to the underground location of the Poneglyphs.
Cobra asks if Robin can read the Poneglyphs, and she says she can. That's why she teamed up with Crocodile, and why Crocodile can't kill her.
Robin tells Cobra that he's not to blame. He had no way of suspecting that there was anyone in the world who could decipher the ancient script. She wonders if the Poneglyphs will contain evidence of the location of Pluton.
Cobra says that he doesn't know. All he knows is that the royal family of Alabasta was entrusted with the duty of protecting the Poneglyphs.
Robin: "Protect? Don't make me laugh!"
[Enies Lobby]It's a long time before the reason for her reaction becomes apparent.
Switch to the Strawhats, above ground.
Usopp is doing a Crocodile imitation (with one crooked finger standing in for Crocodile's hook). Zoro smacks him, but he protests he was just trying to think where he would put the bomb if he were Crocodile.
(Oh Usopp, never change.)
They have five minutes remaining.
Chopper and Nami are searching together. Chopper says he can't smell anything because the smell of gunpowder is all over the city.
Nami: "Then, just look for the scent of "Bomber Who Is Targeting the Square in the Middle of the City"!"
Chopper: "What is THAT supposed to smell like?"
Nami: "How should I know? Just do your best!"
Chopper: "EH!?"
Sanji realizes that he needs to be searching closer to the plaza, but he doesn't have time to go around, so he creates a shortcut by kicking a hole through some buildings.
Vivi and Pell are searching together. Pell can't see anything on any of the roofs, which means the bomb must be inside a building somewhere.
Luffy stumbles over a badly wounded Tashigi, who tries to challenge him. He demands to know which way Crocodile went.
Flashback: when Tashigi wouldn't stop fighting, Robin broke her leg. Crocodile passed by and laughed at her. ("I see you had a run-in with that woman. What happened to that Smoke-bastard you work for? Did he run off with his tail between his legs? You people should run home to your base and chit-chat about justice there.")
She drops her sword, and points in the direction Crocodile went. Luffy runs off.
What good is "justice." What good is "Marine HQ"! (Poor Tashigi. T_T)
Nearing the royal tombs, Luffy collapses from lack of blood.
("What's wrong? I ate plenty of meat. A little wound like this!")
Montage:
Robin is reading the Poneglyphs.
Crocodile approaches the hidden stairway.
Tashigi staggers to her feet.
The Strawhats are searching for the bomb.
The bomb is set to explode in 4 minutes.
***SBS OMG 7 LITTLE CHOPPER FORMS DED OF CUTE***
203
Cover arc: Hachi dreams of proposing to Octopako, who once rejected his love takoyaki love.
Robin is frustrated because the Poneglyphs apparently don't contain the information she wanted. Cobra says he kept his end of the bargain.
Crocodile catches up with them and asks Robin to tell him what the inscription says.
Robin begins reeling off a list of historical dates and events, of no apparent significance.
Cobra: ......
When Crocodile says he only wants the location of the ancient weapon, Robin says the stone contains nothing but the history of Alabasta.
Crocodile says it's a shame. Robin was a good partner, but he'll have to kill her, since she failed to keep her promise to lead him to the ancient weapon.
(Trivia note: Robin and Crocodile have been working together for four years.)
Robin says she knew Crocodile would turn on her, and tries to kill him, but he dodges easily and shoves his hook through her chest.
"I bear you no ill-will. Do you know why? It's because I never trusted anyone from the beginning."
Crocodile says he'll have plenty of time to search for the weapon once he takes control of Alabasta.
The chamber begins to crumble around them, and Cobra admits that he triggered a self-destruct sequence. He, Robin and Crocodile will all die together.
"In the name of the 12th king of the house of Nefertari, I will not give this kingdom of sand to the likes of you!"
Crocodile laughs, saying it won't work on him, since he can turn all the rock to sand and escape. In 3 minutes, Alabasta will be his.
Up on the surface, Vivi is racking her brain to think where the bomb could be. Only two and a half minutes remain. (LOL Usopp running around in the background.)
Vivi grabs Usopp (by the nose, hee) and tells him there's only one place it could be. Usopp sets off the signal to summon the others.
Montage of the signal flare going up and attracting everyone's attention -- well, almost everyone.
I owe this observation to gnine, but: never mind how Zoro managed to leave the city without noticing (he's wandering around in a jungle -- why is there a jungle in the desert, anyway? -- with the city in the background). HOW DID HE GET DOWN OFF AN ENORMOUS PLATEAU WITHOUT NOTICING?
Luffy, still passed out near the royal tombs, wakes up refreshed from a brief nap, full of renewed Crocodile-ass-kicking energy.
Seeing the hidden staircase, Luffy remarks that it "smells of Croc" (wanippoi). (Yeah, I don't know what that means either.)
204
Luffy runs into the collapsing underground chamber.
Vivi heads for the location of the bomb, but runs into the Billions, again.
Usopp realizes that they inadvertently notified the enemies of their location as well.
All the Strawhats are headed for the location of Usopp's signal. (Zoro can't figure out why the palace is so far away, LOL.)
Usopp uses nails on a chalkboard to temporarily stop the Billions who are threatening Vivi.
Luffy confronts Crocodile inside the tomb.
Crocodile: “How many times do I have to kill you before you stay dead?”
Luffy says Crocodile still hasn't returned what he stole.
Crocodile (mocking): "Which one? I've stolen so many things."
Luffy: "The country!"
Crocodiles is puzzled, saything that that's the one thing he hasn't taken yet (he will, very soon), but Luffy says it was already gone by the time they arrived in Alabasta.
"If this was still her country, she'd be able to smile more!" Aw, Luffy.
Crocodile is shocked to realize that Luffy can hit him even without water, because he's covered in blood (blood hardens sand, too).
Crocodile finally agrees to fight Luffy using his ultimate weapon: a poisonous hook.
Zoro runs into a group of Marines, but he's shocked when the Marines only want to direct him to the plaza. ("Turn right! I said RIGHT! Are you an idiot?")
(The scene with Zoro in the jungle is my number one favorite lost Zoro scene, but this one has to be number two.)
Usopp and Vivi are shocked when Tashigi defeats the Billions that are chasing them. Tashigi says the marines want to help them find the bomb.
205
Usopp and Vivi are running toward the plaza. Usopp has to tell Vivi not to get distracted by the fighting around her -- they only have a minute and a half left.
("We lost a lot of time back there!" OK, at this point, I think the clock is actually running backwards, because the countdown is just ridiculous.)
Everyone meets in the plaza, and Vivi reveals what she believes to be the location of the bomb: the clock tower, which once served as a secret base for the Suna-suna clan.
(If you saw this coming a mile away because of the four hundred frames of the clock face with "tick, tick, tick" superimposed over it, congratulations, you're a better reader than I am.)
As Pell approaches the tower, he is shot by a rifle with a frog's head. ("Gero gero gero" = ribbit ribbit)
Two unknown and unseen people, one a woman ("atashi"), are having a conversation off screen. ("Hey, I just shot a big bird with my gero-gero gun!")
In the tomb, Luffy and Crocodile are still fighting.
Cobra is amazed that Luffy can hold his own against Crocodile, who squashed the kingdom's strongest warriors like insignificant bugs.
Crocodile says that Luffy may have survived being skewered, buried alive, and sucked dry, but he won't survive the poison circulating through his body.
Luffy: "You don't understand anything."
Back at the clock tower, the Strawhats are trying to figure out how to get to the top of the tower in the one minute they have left. There's no sign of Pell.
Sanji leans out of a window halfway up the tower (he just started climbing when he got there).
Zoro is even higher up in the tower. ("Those marines just kept saying "North! North!", so I went up." LOL FOREVER)
Vivi says the belfry can only be reached by a staircase that starts on the first floor, so Sanji and Zoro can't reach the top without going back down.
Nami says she has an idea.
The clock-face opens, revealing the Baroque Works agents in charge of setting off the bomb: Mr. 7 and Miss Father's Day. (Miss Father's Day has a frog motif, why?)
Sigh... every single time I re-read this, I block from my memory that we have to fight one last stupid and annoying pair of opponents to get to the victory.
30 seconds on the clock.
***
I'm thinking of experimenting with posting every other day, instead of every three days. Partly I just can't wait to get to the rest of Alabasta; partly I'd like to get through as much as possible before the summer ends and life gets hectic again.
If I can't keep up with writing up notes, though, I might fall back to every three days.