One Piece 37
I am PRAYING that mangaroo gets Volume 39 real soon. Come on, library gods!
Volume 37: Tom
347
Cover arc: "Gedatsu-sama, that's BATH guardian." (Poor Gedatsu apparently confused 番長 (banchou), guardian, with 番頭 (bantou), bathhouse attendant.)
The various contenders stare at each other across the wreckage of Iceberg's bedroom.
(Paulie's bewildered face, argh!)
Seeing the costumes and the masks on the floor, Paulie is starting to get the picture.
(Oh, this scene kind of breaks my heart.)
Luffy and Zoro are picking up on the fact that something weird is going on, too. (Luffy recognizes "pigeon guy", Zoro recognizes "square-nose".)
Heh, check out Chopper's OMGWTF face in the lower left panel, behind Nami.
Lucci's ice-cold, horridly polite, brutal explanation to Paulie literally makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I said this (under spoiler protection) in the comments to the last post, but that guy SCARES me.
Aw, there's something so poignant about the fact that the betrayal Paulie focuses in on, for some reason, is Lucci's stupid pigeon voice. ("So you COULD talk properly all this time!") It makes him seem very human in that moment of shock and hurt.
Lucci shoves a finger straight through Paulie's chest ("shigan").
Lucci introduces the concept of Rokushiki (六式), six powers, an advanced martial art mastered by the members of CP-9. There will be more about this in the next chapter, but we've already seen at least four of the six powers in action.
(Oh, the flashbacks. ;_; I don't remember feeling this bad for Paulie the first time I read/watched the series - I think I was more focused on the betrayal of Iceberg, and the shock of finding out that Kaku was a bad guy.)
Luffy is furious when Lucci goes to kill Paulie, and intervenes. (I think it's Lucci's insufferable attitude: 悲しいが友よ. "Sorry, friend.")
Lucci hardens his body against Luffy's attacks (tekkai = iron body), then dodges (soru = shave - we haven't seen this technique before). Then he uses shigan, finger pistol, to try to stab a hole through Luffy's neck (it would have killed him, if Luffy had been a normal person).
Luffy grabs Paulie to get him out of harm's way.
"We made a promise! We promised we'd wipe the floor with whoever was trying to kill Ice Guy." (Aw. Love Iceberg's face there.)
Luffy and Nami ask Robin to explain why she's leaving.
Robin: "Is your hearing deficient? I told Cook-san and Ship's Doctor-san this was goodbye."
Chopper wants to know why, too.
Robin: "To make my wish come true! A wish that will never come true if I stay with you. I would sacrifice anything, if it meant I could make that happen."
[Water 7/Enies Lobby]
ROBIN T_T;;
Even before I saw the resolution of the mystery in the anime, I KNEW this didn't mean what it seems to mean.
Iceberg tries to stop her ("Do you realize what it is you're trying to do?"), but she shuts him up.
"I won't let anyone interfere!"
Lucci interrupts the conversation to announce that they only have two minutes before the mansion is destroyed by fire. He dares them to escape… if they can.
Zoro is prepared to accept the evidence that Robin really wants to leave them, but Luffy won't have it. (Zoro: 納得できたのか？ Luffy: できるか!!!)
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[Cover arc: Come and see us sometime on Ukkari Hot Springs Island!]
The CP-9 agents plan to make their getaway and pin the fire (and everything else) on the pirates. Not like their reputation was squeaky clean to begin with. (Robin: …)
Robin says she'll go on ahead.
Lucci: ご苦労. ("Good work." OMG LUCCI YOU GIVE ME THE CREEPS. This is seriously patronizing and just generally ew.)
As Luffy tries to fight Blueno and the others, Robin walks away.
Explanation of the rokushiki:
1. Tekkai (iron body): hardening the muscles to resist any attack
2. Kami-e (sheet of paper): ability to move flexibly, like a sheet of paper, to dodge attacks
3. Soru (shave): ability to move faster than the eye can see
4. Geppou (moonwalk): using superior leg strength to fly through the air
5. Rankyaku (tempest-kick): ability to use a kick to creating a slicing cut
Interestingly, Zoro seems to realize what the Rankyaku is going to do before it happens, although he's never seen it in use before. He yells at Chopper and Nami to get down.
[Chapter 597 + Punk Hazard/Dressrosa]
Observation haki, of course. I wonder if he even realizes he's using it, outside of sword fighting.
Is there any connection between the scythe-wind generated by the rankyaku, and the attacks of Cavendish/Hakuba in Dressrosa? Hakuba also seems to have the ability to generate winds that slice like swords.
Clashing with Kaku, Zoro asks him if his evaluation of the ship was sincere, but Kaku says unfortunately, it was.
Kaku stabs Zoro with his "shigan" while Lucci blocks Luffy's attacks. Robin vanishes out the window.
[6.Shigan (finger pistol): ability to use a single finger to concentrate percussive/piercing force, like the bullet of a gun.]
[Chapter 597 + New World]I always assumed that these techniques were a variety of haki, but the wiki seems to suggest that this is a purely physical set of techniques produced by long martial arts training, not dependent on the mental exercise of will. (Some of the rokushiki are known outside CP-9, as we have now seen several higher-level marines using Shigan and Soru.) I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually turns out to be haki-related, though. Both Coby and Tashigi, who have been seen using these techniques, are known to be able to use haki.
Lucci explains that from the moment they decided to dedicate their lives to the government as agents of CP-9, they have been trained in these six techniques that make their fighting strength literally superhuman. Their power is far, far above that of a mere gang of pirates.
Before they leave, Lucci offers to demonstrate one last trick. In silhouette, his figure begins to change.
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Downstairs, the shipwrights (awakening from stupor - Zoro may have been responsible for a lot of this) realize that the building is on fire and they need to get out. But then they realize it's even more important to get to Iceberg to rescue him.
Lucci reveals that he is a devil fruit user - Zoan type, Neko-neko no mi (Cat Fruit), model Leopard. (He's ENORMOUS.)
Chopper is terrified, yikes. (I would be worried about any Zoan type that frightens Chopper.) He says that the carnivorous Zoan types are especially brutal and dangerous.
Lucci explains that among the devil fruit users, Zoan-types have a unique ability to strengthen their physical abilities (人体能力) through training.
[Makes me wonder if without realizing it, and without any kind of advice or guidance from other Zoan types, young Chopper was exercising this ability when he did his Rumble Ball research to develop multiple forms. Chopper is kind of amazing.]
With a rankyaku (tempest-kick), Lucci begins to bring the roof down on their heads.
Again, Zoro sees it coming - he is the first to shout a warning to Chopper and Nami.
Chopper shoves Nami out of the way with his horns, and is apparently crushed by falling debris.
Paulie, to Lucci: "At the very least… I always thought we were nakama!" (おれは少なくとも今までお前らを本当に"仲間"だと思ってた！)
Lucci: "You were the only one who felt that way." (お前だけだ.)
;__;
This infuriates Luffy, and no wonder. Nothing makes him angrier than the mistreatment of nakama.
He attacks Lucci, but Lucci tosses him into the sky. He sends Zoro flying shortly afterward.
We see a small figure fall into the ocean. (With swords, I think - better hope that was Zoro, not Luffy.)
Outside, the surviving shipwrights are worried about Iceberg-san - did he make it out all right? Someone says surely he must have; after all, Lucci and Kaku and Paulie were all there.
Nami is discovered lying unconscious on the ground. They recognize her as one of the Strawhats.
Inside the building, Iceberg and Paulie are unconscious, and tied together. (Aw, the mouse is squeaking frantically at them!)
As they depart, Lucci says that no matter what a great man Iceberg was (as a shipwright, as a mayor), no ordinary citizen can stand up to the full might of the government.
[Enies Lobby]Wanna bet?
They're off to recover the blueprints from Franky… no, Cutty Flam.
350
From the rooftop of Blueno's bar, Kokoro, Chimney and Gonbe are watching the inferno as Galley-La goes up in flames.
"My, how awful." (ひどい事するれー. I guess that's the drunk version.)
Chimney immediately realizes that her grandmother is implying that someone set the fire. Kokoro says she doesn't know, but… she's had a bad feeling for a while, and now she's sure of it. She hopes Iceberg is all right, but… things like that shouldn't exist in this world.
The CP-9 agents are speeding in search of Franky. They're not sure where he might be, but then Kaku spots the Franky Flunkies.
LOL, the Franky gang trying to spread the message they were assigned to spread. Oh, loyal idiot flunkies.
"If you don't want Longnose packed in with sea urchin roe…!"
"That's SUNK IN THE SEA, you idiot!"
ウニをすし詰めにされたく… (uni wo sushizume ni saretaku…)
海に沈められたく…! (umi ni shizumeraretaku…!)
ウニみ… (uni-mi…)
海に!!! (umi-ni!!!)
(Poor Viz, puns are impossible. Also, this totally cracks me up because I frequently have this kind of problem when memorizing unfamiliar vocabulary. "hatabakaru… no, that's habatakaru…")
They gloat over the fact that Franky is probably beating the hell out of Usopp RIGHT NOW.
Lucci shows up, and demands information. Where is this warehouse, again?
In the back streets of Water 7, under the bridge, someone is screaming… maybe?
[LOL, I love the reveal that it's not Usopp being tortured, but Franky bawling his eyes out.]
Franky and the Square Sisters are all moved to hear that Usopp split with his nakama because of his devotion to a ship.
"I'm not crying!" "Nobody's crying wai na!"
Usopp is trying to convince them that no one is going to show up to save him. (Aw, Usopp.)
Franky decides to give vent to his feelings in song, accompanied by guitar. Usopp thinks he's making fun. (The sad/funny part is, he's not. That's so Franky.)
I think Franky is the only character who could be more of a total spaz than Usopp himself. Usopp: "Will you please CALM DOWN!"
Usopp seems more resigned than angry… not that Franky is apologetic enough. (Apologize better, Franky!)
LOL the Square sisters repeating each other - this is their other speech quirk. They either repeat exactly what Franky said, or repeat each other, with or without the addition of wai na.
Franky offers to let Usopp become his underling, but Usopp says no way - he may have quit the crew, but he's still a pirate! This inspires Franky to compose another song.
[I really, really, should hate Franky here, he's not being nearly apologetic enough, but… somehow I find his total idiocy and Usopp's exasperation more healing than any cathartic scene? It doesn't make any sense, I know.]
Because of the incoming Aqua Laguna, Franky helped Usopp to move the Merry to the secret hideout under the bridge.
Franky explains that the most worrying thing for Water 7 isn't the annual high tide, but the fact that it keeps rising higher every year. Once, the shipbuilding "island" (the upper city) was the very summit of the land, but now the lower city is built upon the submerged remains of the ancient city underneath the water. In a few decades, they might not even be able to live in the upper city.
Looking on the upside, though, Usopp points they can always take the sea train out of town. Franky agrees, but before the sea train was invented… The sea train is like a miracle to them. They owe it all to a shipwright named Tom.
Franky's flunkies are being taken down by Lucci. :-( (Why, Lucci? They told you what you wanted to know!)
Franky asks what Usopp plans to do next, and he proudly proclaims that he's going to go on adventures, and return to his hometown someday. Even if he doesn't get to circle the entire world, he'll still look pretty awesome to the folks back home.
Franky tries to make Usopp see reality. He saw the ship's hull, he knows that Galley-La's assessment was correct. The ship won't make it to the next island.
He offers to help break it up for scrap.
351
Usopp is defiant, but Franky says "that thing" is no longer a ship. A ship exists to take its passengers from one place to another. A ship that can't reach the next port is no ship at all.
[Interesting that Franky says he would have been ok with Usopp deciding to go down with the ship, but he won't tolerate Usopp deluding himself into thinking he can sail on.]
They battle over the ship, until Franky throws him into the water. "Go look for yourself!"
Dragging himself out of the water, Usopp recommences repairs.
Finally, he admits the truth: he knew all along the Merry was done for. Deep down, he'd known it ever since that day.
Usopp tells Franky how he tried to tell himself it was a bad dream, but on Skypiea, when no one was supposed to be on the ship, he saw and heard someone hammering. And the next morning, the ship had mysteriously been (badly) repaired.
[Vol. 27, Ch. 254.]
He's wondered for a long time if IT really spoke to him.
Shadowy figure: "It's all right. I want to carry you just a little further."
When Usopp says that Franky probably wouldn't believe him, Franky snorts. "It had a hammer, right? And it was dressed like a sailor?"
Franky explains the legend of the Klabautermann. It is a spirit, which only occupies ships that have been deeply loved and cared for. In a way, it's the incarnation of the ship. Sometimes it goes to great lengths to save those who sail on the ship. But then, Franky's never met anyone who actually saw or heard the Klabautermann before.
Franky: "A ship is grateful in proportion to how well it's treated… to go so far as to take human form to appear to you… that must have been one happy ship."
*sniffle*
Usopp finally realizes that the figure that spoke to him that night was the Merry itself.
BRB, CRYING FOREVER
Franky is astonished that Usopp would split from his crew, even knowing that the Merry was done for.
Usopp: … そう割り切れるもんじゃねえんだ. (I am not sure how to translate this. Viz: "It isn't easy to be rational about something like that.")
The Square Sisters are bawling. "Guys are so awkward wai na…! So stupid wai na…!"
(男ってやつは不器用だわいな.バカだわいな. Somehow it sounds kinder in Japanese?)
Someone's knocking at the door.
352
[Cover picture: usually I don't pay much attention to these things, because Oda tends to be whimsical, but… why does Luffy look older than usual? And what's with that tattoo??]
Hearing a knock at the door, Franky and his girls assume it must be the other flunkies, though they don't know why they're not just coming in through the regular entrance. Maybe they brought Mugiwara with them?
Franky: "OH YEAH, I WAS USING YOU AS BAIT! I FORGOT!" (LOL)
Usopp is still trying to convince him that the others aren't coming. *sniffle*
While the sisters go to answer the door, Franky tries to convince Usopp ("oniichan") to go back to his comrades. Usopp says he can't do that, he fought a DUEL with the captain. Besides, he still can't leave the Merry.
Franky points out (rightly) that is is cruel to the Merry to push it to the point of sinking at sea with all its crew on board, but Usopp retorts that he can't just walk away from a nakama who is dying.
(T___T)
Mozu and Kiwi are both knocked, unconscious, to the ground.
The four CP-9 agents enter the room.
(I kind of love how Usopp finds himself completely sidelined and gaping here. Events have overtaken him so quickly.)
Franky is shocked to see people that he thought he knew in a rather different guise. ("Secretary…? Blueno…?")
Lucci manages to stop Blueno from killing Franky. They need to talk to him.
Franky identifies his adversaries. "Pigeon-dude… Blueno… Secretary… Mountain-monkey…"
(山ザル (mountain-monkey) is Franky's version of 山風 (mountain-wind), Kaku's nickname. He called him that once before, during the fight at the dockyard.)
"What the SUPER-hell are you playing at?"
(Not sure I can translate this properly. 何の集まりだ、神妙なツラぶら下げやがって、ずいぶんスーパーなマネしてくれるじゃない. Very literally: "What kind of gathering is this, you put on a meek face, but you've been putting on a pretty SUPER fake show, haven't you!")
He's furious that they would not only beat up his two unwed little sisters (まだ嫁入り前のウチの妹文達を傷物にしてくれやがって), but wreck his secret base.
[I find it ridiculously endearing that Franky, like Vivi and Kohza, has a secret base. Also, his loyalty to his little sis(s)' virtue, too cute.]
Lucci reveals their identity as government agents. They know everything.
Franky asks about Iceberg.
Lucci: "I killed him."
[Franky's face T__T]
A shadowy figure in flashback is saying: "Come here. I have something I want to give you."
Lucci demands that Franky hand over the blueprints.
Memory of a young boy with a bandana around his head: "Flam? That's a stupid name. You should just call yourself Franky."
Franky attacks Lucci, and Lucci takes him out easily. Usopp is in shock.
Behind the wall he just punched through, Lucci discovers a hidden room, a workshop. There are signs above each desk: TOM, ICEBERG, and CUTTY FLAM.
Franky tells them to back off - they've got no business trampling on other people's memories. The warehouse may be falling apart, but this was the headquarters of Tom's Workers, once. The place where "we" grew up.
"The best shipwright in the world lived here, once."
Picture frame with "Tom's Workers" written on it:
An enormous fish man has his arms wrapped around two squabbling teenagers, one with spiky hair and goggles, the other with a bandana. A rather gaudy woman and a frog are grinning in the background.
[MOST ADORABLE FAMILY PORTRAIT EVER T_T]
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Franky tells Lucci that the blueprints aren't in his secret base. Kalifa traps him with her whip.
Lucci taunts Franky with being a criminal, "just like Tom." This seems to enrage Franky.
"Tom-san wasn't a criminal! You people know that better than anyone!"
*FLASHBACK*
[Been a while since we had one of these, huh?]
22 years ago: that date should ring a bell.
Cutty Flam (Franky), aged 12, is on board a ship (BATTLE 8 FRANKY), challenging some sort of sea monster.
He manages to escape, but smashes into a wrecking-yard, blowing his craft to smithereens.
Iceberg, aged 16: "んま〜！ What are you doing? You're going to get yourself killed one of these days. You don't help with the work, and you keep building this dangerous crap!"
Franky: "Shaddup, Baka-berg!"
[The nicknames will never not make me laugh, omg. Bakaberg! Bakanki! SO JUVENILE, oh, boys.]
[This whole arc made me think a lot about Nojiko and Nami. Siblings, aw! I guess girls get on better than boys.]
Franky insists that someday he'll build a "Battle Franky" that can beat a sea king, but Iceberg is incredulous.
Meanwhile, Tom is tossing (yes, tossing) a ship into the ocean. "A man… does it with a DON!"
[I pity Viz, because this is seriously untranslatable. Tom does everything with a DON (dramatic sfx]!]
Yokozuna, the giant frog, ribbits enthusiastically.
[Oda-boxes for Tom, longhorn cowfish-man, the President of Tom's Workers, and Yokozuna, Tom's Pet.]
Over the dinner table, Franky boasts that his Battle Franky was #8. This one ALMOST worked! (Iceberg: "Liar, Bakanki!" He thinks Tom-san spoils Franky.)
Kokoro [with Oda-box - it identifies her as the "beautiful secretary of Tom's Workers," hee] is serving dinner. She comments that pirate attacks sure have gone up since the pirate king was executed. Water 7 is in a bad way.
Tom is wistful - Water 7 defined the "first era" (一時代) in shipbuilding, long ago.
Franky asks Tom to show him the plans for a pirate ship, but Tom laughs uproariously. There's no such thing as plans for a pirate ship! If the crew hoist a skull and crossbones, it's a pirate ship. And if they hoist a marine flag ("gull"), it's a marine ship. You never know.
The most important thing is to stick your chest out with a DON. Do it with pride!
That night (?), Franky comes out in his sleep t-shirt (aw) and asks what Tom is doing. Tom says he's working on "the hope of Water 7."
[Baby Franky and Baby Iceberg are TOO CUTE.]
A "judicial ship" shows up in Water 7's harbor. It is a traveling court, and Tom is hauled before it. For the crime of building the Oro Jackson, Gold Roger's ship, the judge sentences him to be taken to Enies Lobby, and from there, to be put to death.
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The judge says that normally, a shipwright wouldn't be penalized for the acts of the person he sells a ship to, but the pirate king is a special exception.
Tom tells them that he's working on a special project that might benefit Water 7, a "steam train," and asks for time to complete it. He estimates that it will take 10 years.
The judge grants the time requested.
That night, the family celebrates.
Iceberg: "んま〜！さすがトムさんだな！" (Aw, Iceberg…)
Franky is mad because he thinks Tom-san shouldn't have to be ashamed of building something awesome like the pirate king's ship.
(LOL, Franky yelling at Tom. "What's so funny, you horned tanuki!" [ツノダヌキ].)
Watching Franky teach with Yokozuna the forward crawl, Iceberg is grumpy. "Why can't we get rid of that idiot? I REALLY hate him." Tom laughs, saying that they're nakama who are building ships together. Maybe Franky is always building dangerous stuff, but his skill is already on par with that of the professional shipwrights in Water 7.
He was impressed when the kid appeared (with a DON!), two years earlier, building a cannon out of scrap.
"Hey, old man (ossan)! Pick me up. I got thrown away."
[T_T]
[So Franky was 10 when Tom adopted him?]
Laughing, Tom says Franky claimed he was such a handful, his parents tossed him overboard. Bunch of no-good pirates from who-knows-where. (どこぞのろくでもねー海賊の様だが.)
[As far as I know, this is still all we know of Franky's background, except for a brief mention later that he originally came from the South Blue.]
Tom tells Iceberg that someday, they'll both be great shipwrights. They should get along.
[Ahaha, I don't always love Viz translations, but they got this one right: 細胞からイカレてんだあいつは. "He's a nutso on a cellular level." Iceberg!]
Together, Iceberg and Tom work on the Sea Train, while Franky works on the next model of the Battle Franky in the background. But in the end he helps with the train, too, in spite of all the failures and disasters.
12 years before the present (i.e. 10 years after Roger's execution), the Sea Train sets forth on its maiden voyage.
(Awww, Kiwi and Mozu were on the maiden voyage! Confirmed in the SBS to Ch. 364 in the next volume. See? Kiwi's hair is totally curlier than Mozu's. The SBS also points out a young Paulie and Zambai in the pictures.)
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It took another four years to lay all the tracks for the Puffing Tom.
(N.B. Franky should be 26 at this point, since 14 years have passed since he was 12.)
Trade is picking up, but conditions are still rough (locals have to put up with bad deals, more often than not).
Tom, laughing, says they can't expect perfect results right away. As long as they do what they can, men can puff their chests out with a DON!
Just when Spandam (Cipher Pol #5) shows up from the World Gov't, Franky accidentally blows him up with his "victory salute."
Franky is bursting with pride because his Battle Franky #35 managed to bag a sea king. It's like 100m long!
[Like Dorry and Broggy's catch?]
Iceberg and Franky are STILL fighting over Franky's favorite hobby.
(LOL, Iceberg has now graduated to "Aho-berg.")
Iceberg scolds Franky for letting his junked warships pile up - doesn't he understand that these weapons are DANGEROUS? Franky doesn't think it's a big deal. It's not like he's targeting anyone with them.
Iceberg insists that his "will" has nothing to do with it. It's the existence of the weapons which is dangerous.
(Franky is still "Bakanki", haha.)
Iceberg begs Tom to DO something about him, but Tom just thinks it's all hilarious.
Oddly, Spandam is with the government, but seems to know nothing about the question of Tom's upcoming trial.
Spandam wants the blueprints (which Tom denies any knowledge of). Spandam says he knows all about Tom's criminal past, but Tom scoffs, saying the government already knows about that. "You don't believe me, check it out for yourself!"
When Spandam investigates, he's shocked to learn that it is true: Tom's record is due to be cleared in three days. He's a great man!
In Spandam's memory, he is meeting with the Gorousei (they look like the same "Five Old Men" we've seen in the recent past). Spandam argues that they need to have to power to reactivate the ancient weapon, to end this "Great Age of Pirates." They can't risk having the plans fall into the wrong hands. In the end, the Gorousei agree to let him go after the plans (but don't make any commitment about what they will do after that).
Spandam is basically a clumsy idiot, but an MEAN, ARROGANT clumsy idiot, ugh.
Tom calls Iceberg and Franky to him. He wants to give them something.
Iceberg accepts the plans as a solemn responsibility. (Franky thinks the weapon sounds cool - they should try building it!)
While entrusting the plans to them, Tom also tells them about the other thing that worries him - the existence of Nico Robin.
When the day of the trial dawns, everyone is expecting Tom to be acquitted, as promised.
In the midst of the celebrations, a fleet of ships (all labeled the Battle Franky ##) attack the judicial ship out of nowhere.
Franky tries to stop them (as do Tom and Iceberg), but Spandam's plan has already been set in motion.
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The evacuation of the judicial ship is underway.
Two men in wetsuits confer - the ship is sinking, just as Spandam ordered. This is a sacrifice for justice!
Arriving on the scene, Franky is horrified to discover Tom and Iceberg among the wounded.
Iceberg punches Franky, yelling that the government's agents did this with Franky's weapons.
Franky is aghast, seeing Tom struck down, remembering how many times Iceberg warned him about the danger of keeping those ships.
Franky is in tears, but Iceberg just keeps screaming that this is all his fault. The government is using his weapons to set them up. He'll never forgive him!
Tom tells them to quit fighting. This isn't Franky's fault.
Tom, Iceberg and Franky are all arrested. Spandam (Franky keeps getting his name wrong; he calls him Spanda) is gloating over the prospect of having the blueprints for the weapon in his hands.
When Franky accuses CP5 of attacking the judicial ship, the crowd just laughs.
Franky tries to say that those ships aren't his any more, but Tom punches him. (Iceberg can't believe it - Tom has never once hit Franky before.)
Tom tells him that no matter what, he must never be ashamed of any ship that he builds. Men should take pride in the ships they build - with a DON!
Tom warns Franky and Iceberg not to interfere in what's about to happen.
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Tom silently grieves, knowing that there's no way out, and that Franky must be bitterly hurt by seeing his ships used this way.
He seizes his last opportunity to punch Spandam's lights out.
The soldiers standing round about fire their weapons (tranquilizer bullets, apparently).
Tom asks the judge for one favor: if the invention of the Sea Train can forgive one crime, he asks for the present crime to be erased. He claims the responsibility for building Roger's ship with pride. (With a DON!)
Tom's last words are to Franky, telling him to not to blame himself. The Sea-Train, his legacy to the island, is complete. His dream…
He collapses, knocked out by the drugs.
[So like Bellemere. ;_;]
Spandam wants to take all three "criminals," but the judge decrees that he will take only Tom, for the crime of building Roger's ship.
Kokoro puts her arms around Tom's apprentices, telling them not to fight. No one has ever come back from Enies Lobby alive.
Franky goes berserk, attacking Spandam with a wooden club (or is that the butt of a gun?). Spandam falls, badly injured.
When the Sea-Train departs, carrying Tom to Enies Lobby, Franky stands on the tracks. Yokozuna is beside him, crying piteously.
Franky remembers the day that Tom picked him up. "Come to my place, with a DON!" (ドンとウチに来い!)
The train knocks Franky's body off the tracks.
Silently, Franky begs Tom to teach him one last lesson. He wants to build a ship of dreams, a ship that can sail to the ends of the earth, with pride (胸をはって).
TBC
Volume 37: Tom
347
Cover arc: "Gedatsu-sama, that's BATH guardian." (Poor Gedatsu apparently confused 番長 (banchou), guardian, with 番頭 (bantou), bathhouse attendant.)
The various contenders stare at each other across the wreckage of Iceberg's bedroom.
(Paulie's bewildered face, argh!)
Seeing the costumes and the masks on the floor, Paulie is starting to get the picture.
(Oh, this scene kind of breaks my heart.)
Luffy and Zoro are picking up on the fact that something weird is going on, too. (Luffy recognizes "pigeon guy", Zoro recognizes "square-nose".)
Heh, check out Chopper's OMGWTF face in the lower left panel, behind Nami.
Lucci's ice-cold, horridly polite, brutal explanation to Paulie literally makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I said this (under spoiler protection) in the comments to the last post, but that guy SCARES me.
Aw, there's something so poignant about the fact that the betrayal Paulie focuses in on, for some reason, is Lucci's stupid pigeon voice. ("So you COULD talk properly all this time!") It makes him seem very human in that moment of shock and hurt.
Lucci shoves a finger straight through Paulie's chest ("shigan").
Lucci introduces the concept of Rokushiki (六式), six powers, an advanced martial art mastered by the members of CP-9. There will be more about this in the next chapter, but we've already seen at least four of the six powers in action.
(Oh, the flashbacks. ;_; I don't remember feeling this bad for Paulie the first time I read/watched the series - I think I was more focused on the betrayal of Iceberg, and the shock of finding out that Kaku was a bad guy.)
Luffy is furious when Lucci goes to kill Paulie, and intervenes. (I think it's Lucci's insufferable attitude: 悲しいが友よ. "Sorry, friend.")
Lucci hardens his body against Luffy's attacks (tekkai = iron body), then dodges (soru = shave - we haven't seen this technique before). Then he uses shigan, finger pistol, to try to stab a hole through Luffy's neck (it would have killed him, if Luffy had been a normal person).
Luffy grabs Paulie to get him out of harm's way.
"We made a promise! We promised we'd wipe the floor with whoever was trying to kill Ice Guy." (Aw. Love Iceberg's face there.)
Luffy and Nami ask Robin to explain why she's leaving.
Robin: "Is your hearing deficient? I told Cook-san and Ship's Doctor-san this was goodbye."
Chopper wants to know why, too.
Robin: "To make my wish come true! A wish that will never come true if I stay with you. I would sacrifice anything, if it meant I could make that happen."
[Water 7/Enies Lobby]
ROBIN T_T;;
Even before I saw the resolution of the mystery in the anime, I KNEW this didn't mean what it seems to mean.
Iceberg tries to stop her ("Do you realize what it is you're trying to do?"), but she shuts him up.
"I won't let anyone interfere!"
Lucci interrupts the conversation to announce that they only have two minutes before the mansion is destroyed by fire. He dares them to escape… if they can.
Zoro is prepared to accept the evidence that Robin really wants to leave them, but Luffy won't have it. (Zoro: 納得できたのか？ Luffy: できるか!!!)
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[Cover arc: Come and see us sometime on Ukkari Hot Springs Island!]
The CP-9 agents plan to make their getaway and pin the fire (and everything else) on the pirates. Not like their reputation was squeaky clean to begin with. (Robin: …)
Robin says she'll go on ahead.
Lucci: ご苦労. ("Good work." OMG LUCCI YOU GIVE ME THE CREEPS. This is seriously patronizing and just generally ew.)
As Luffy tries to fight Blueno and the others, Robin walks away.
Explanation of the rokushiki:
1. Tekkai (iron body): hardening the muscles to resist any attack
2. Kami-e (sheet of paper): ability to move flexibly, like a sheet of paper, to dodge attacks
3. Soru (shave): ability to move faster than the eye can see
4. Geppou (moonwalk): using superior leg strength to fly through the air
5. Rankyaku (tempest-kick): ability to use a kick to creating a slicing cut
Interestingly, Zoro seems to realize what the Rankyaku is going to do before it happens, although he's never seen it in use before. He yells at Chopper and Nami to get down.
[Chapter 597 + Punk Hazard/Dressrosa]
Observation haki, of course. I wonder if he even realizes he's using it, outside of sword fighting.
Is there any connection between the scythe-wind generated by the rankyaku, and the attacks of Cavendish/Hakuba in Dressrosa? Hakuba also seems to have the ability to generate winds that slice like swords.
Clashing with Kaku, Zoro asks him if his evaluation of the ship was sincere, but Kaku says unfortunately, it was.
Kaku stabs Zoro with his "shigan" while Lucci blocks Luffy's attacks. Robin vanishes out the window.
[6.Shigan (finger pistol): ability to use a single finger to concentrate percussive/piercing force, like the bullet of a gun.]
[Chapter 597 + New World]I always assumed that these techniques were a variety of haki, but the wiki seems to suggest that this is a purely physical set of techniques produced by long martial arts training, not dependent on the mental exercise of will. (Some of the rokushiki are known outside CP-9, as we have now seen several higher-level marines using Shigan and Soru.) I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually turns out to be haki-related, though. Both Coby and Tashigi, who have been seen using these techniques, are known to be able to use haki.
Lucci explains that from the moment they decided to dedicate their lives to the government as agents of CP-9, they have been trained in these six techniques that make their fighting strength literally superhuman. Their power is far, far above that of a mere gang of pirates.
Before they leave, Lucci offers to demonstrate one last trick. In silhouette, his figure begins to change.
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Downstairs, the shipwrights (awakening from stupor - Zoro may have been responsible for a lot of this) realize that the building is on fire and they need to get out. But then they realize it's even more important to get to Iceberg to rescue him.
Lucci reveals that he is a devil fruit user - Zoan type, Neko-neko no mi (Cat Fruit), model Leopard. (He's ENORMOUS.)
Chopper is terrified, yikes. (I would be worried about any Zoan type that frightens Chopper.) He says that the carnivorous Zoan types are especially brutal and dangerous.
Lucci explains that among the devil fruit users, Zoan-types have a unique ability to strengthen their physical abilities (人体能力) through training.
[Makes me wonder if without realizing it, and without any kind of advice or guidance from other Zoan types, young Chopper was exercising this ability when he did his Rumble Ball research to develop multiple forms. Chopper is kind of amazing.]
With a rankyaku (tempest-kick), Lucci begins to bring the roof down on their heads.
Again, Zoro sees it coming - he is the first to shout a warning to Chopper and Nami.
Chopper shoves Nami out of the way with his horns, and is apparently crushed by falling debris.
Paulie, to Lucci: "At the very least… I always thought we were nakama!" (おれは少なくとも今までお前らを本当に"仲間"だと思ってた！)
Lucci: "You were the only one who felt that way." (お前だけだ.)
;__;
This infuriates Luffy, and no wonder. Nothing makes him angrier than the mistreatment of nakama.
He attacks Lucci, but Lucci tosses him into the sky. He sends Zoro flying shortly afterward.
We see a small figure fall into the ocean. (With swords, I think - better hope that was Zoro, not Luffy.)
Outside, the surviving shipwrights are worried about Iceberg-san - did he make it out all right? Someone says surely he must have; after all, Lucci and Kaku and Paulie were all there.
Nami is discovered lying unconscious on the ground. They recognize her as one of the Strawhats.
Inside the building, Iceberg and Paulie are unconscious, and tied together. (Aw, the mouse is squeaking frantically at them!)
As they depart, Lucci says that no matter what a great man Iceberg was (as a shipwright, as a mayor), no ordinary citizen can stand up to the full might of the government.
[Enies Lobby]Wanna bet?
They're off to recover the blueprints from Franky… no, Cutty Flam.
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From the rooftop of Blueno's bar, Kokoro, Chimney and Gonbe are watching the inferno as Galley-La goes up in flames.
"My, how awful." (ひどい事するれー. I guess that's the drunk version.)
Chimney immediately realizes that her grandmother is implying that someone set the fire. Kokoro says she doesn't know, but… she's had a bad feeling for a while, and now she's sure of it. She hopes Iceberg is all right, but… things like that shouldn't exist in this world.
The CP-9 agents are speeding in search of Franky. They're not sure where he might be, but then Kaku spots the Franky Flunkies.
LOL, the Franky gang trying to spread the message they were assigned to spread. Oh, loyal idiot flunkies.
"If you don't want Longnose packed in with sea urchin roe…!"
"That's SUNK IN THE SEA, you idiot!"
ウニをすし詰めにされたく… (uni wo sushizume ni saretaku…)
海に沈められたく…! (umi ni shizumeraretaku…!)
ウニみ… (uni-mi…)
海に!!! (umi-ni!!!)
(Poor Viz, puns are impossible. Also, this totally cracks me up because I frequently have this kind of problem when memorizing unfamiliar vocabulary. "hatabakaru… no, that's habatakaru…")
They gloat over the fact that Franky is probably beating the hell out of Usopp RIGHT NOW.
Lucci shows up, and demands information. Where is this warehouse, again?
In the back streets of Water 7, under the bridge, someone is screaming… maybe?
[LOL, I love the reveal that it's not Usopp being tortured, but Franky bawling his eyes out.]
Franky and the Square Sisters are all moved to hear that Usopp split with his nakama because of his devotion to a ship.
"I'm not crying!" "Nobody's crying wai na!"
Usopp is trying to convince them that no one is going to show up to save him. (Aw, Usopp.)
Franky decides to give vent to his feelings in song, accompanied by guitar. Usopp thinks he's making fun. (The sad/funny part is, he's not. That's so Franky.)
I think Franky is the only character who could be more of a total spaz than Usopp himself. Usopp: "Will you please CALM DOWN!"
Usopp seems more resigned than angry… not that Franky is apologetic enough. (Apologize better, Franky!)
LOL the Square sisters repeating each other - this is their other speech quirk. They either repeat exactly what Franky said, or repeat each other, with or without the addition of wai na.
Franky offers to let Usopp become his underling, but Usopp says no way - he may have quit the crew, but he's still a pirate! This inspires Franky to compose another song.
[I really, really, should hate Franky here, he's not being nearly apologetic enough, but… somehow I find his total idiocy and Usopp's exasperation more healing than any cathartic scene? It doesn't make any sense, I know.]
Because of the incoming Aqua Laguna, Franky helped Usopp to move the Merry to the secret hideout under the bridge.
Franky explains that the most worrying thing for Water 7 isn't the annual high tide, but the fact that it keeps rising higher every year. Once, the shipbuilding "island" (the upper city) was the very summit of the land, but now the lower city is built upon the submerged remains of the ancient city underneath the water. In a few decades, they might not even be able to live in the upper city.
Looking on the upside, though, Usopp points they can always take the sea train out of town. Franky agrees, but before the sea train was invented… The sea train is like a miracle to them. They owe it all to a shipwright named Tom.
Franky's flunkies are being taken down by Lucci. :-( (Why, Lucci? They told you what you wanted to know!)
Franky asks what Usopp plans to do next, and he proudly proclaims that he's going to go on adventures, and return to his hometown someday. Even if he doesn't get to circle the entire world, he'll still look pretty awesome to the folks back home.
Franky tries to make Usopp see reality. He saw the ship's hull, he knows that Galley-La's assessment was correct. The ship won't make it to the next island.
He offers to help break it up for scrap.
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Usopp is defiant, but Franky says "that thing" is no longer a ship. A ship exists to take its passengers from one place to another. A ship that can't reach the next port is no ship at all.
[Interesting that Franky says he would have been ok with Usopp deciding to go down with the ship, but he won't tolerate Usopp deluding himself into thinking he can sail on.]
They battle over the ship, until Franky throws him into the water. "Go look for yourself!"
Dragging himself out of the water, Usopp recommences repairs.
Finally, he admits the truth: he knew all along the Merry was done for. Deep down, he'd known it ever since that day.
Usopp tells Franky how he tried to tell himself it was a bad dream, but on Skypiea, when no one was supposed to be on the ship, he saw and heard someone hammering. And the next morning, the ship had mysteriously been (badly) repaired.
[Vol. 27, Ch. 254.]
He's wondered for a long time if IT really spoke to him.
Shadowy figure: "It's all right. I want to carry you just a little further."
When Usopp says that Franky probably wouldn't believe him, Franky snorts. "It had a hammer, right? And it was dressed like a sailor?"
Franky explains the legend of the Klabautermann. It is a spirit, which only occupies ships that have been deeply loved and cared for. In a way, it's the incarnation of the ship. Sometimes it goes to great lengths to save those who sail on the ship. But then, Franky's never met anyone who actually saw or heard the Klabautermann before.
Franky: "A ship is grateful in proportion to how well it's treated… to go so far as to take human form to appear to you… that must have been one happy ship."
*sniffle*
Usopp finally realizes that the figure that spoke to him that night was the Merry itself.
BRB, CRYING FOREVER
Franky is astonished that Usopp would split from his crew, even knowing that the Merry was done for.
Usopp: … そう割り切れるもんじゃねえんだ. (I am not sure how to translate this. Viz: "It isn't easy to be rational about something like that.")
The Square Sisters are bawling. "Guys are so awkward wai na…! So stupid wai na…!"
(男ってやつは不器用だわいな.バカだわいな. Somehow it sounds kinder in Japanese?)
Someone's knocking at the door.
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[Cover picture: usually I don't pay much attention to these things, because Oda tends to be whimsical, but… why does Luffy look older than usual? And what's with that tattoo??]
Hearing a knock at the door, Franky and his girls assume it must be the other flunkies, though they don't know why they're not just coming in through the regular entrance. Maybe they brought Mugiwara with them?
Franky: "OH YEAH, I WAS USING YOU AS BAIT! I FORGOT!" (LOL)
Usopp is still trying to convince him that the others aren't coming. *sniffle*
While the sisters go to answer the door, Franky tries to convince Usopp ("oniichan") to go back to his comrades. Usopp says he can't do that, he fought a DUEL with the captain. Besides, he still can't leave the Merry.
Franky points out (rightly) that is is cruel to the Merry to push it to the point of sinking at sea with all its crew on board, but Usopp retorts that he can't just walk away from a nakama who is dying.
(T___T)
Mozu and Kiwi are both knocked, unconscious, to the ground.
The four CP-9 agents enter the room.
(I kind of love how Usopp finds himself completely sidelined and gaping here. Events have overtaken him so quickly.)
Franky is shocked to see people that he thought he knew in a rather different guise. ("Secretary…? Blueno…?")
Lucci manages to stop Blueno from killing Franky. They need to talk to him.
Franky identifies his adversaries. "Pigeon-dude… Blueno… Secretary… Mountain-monkey…"
(山ザル (mountain-monkey) is Franky's version of 山風 (mountain-wind), Kaku's nickname. He called him that once before, during the fight at the dockyard.)
"What the SUPER-hell are you playing at?"
(Not sure I can translate this properly. 何の集まりだ、神妙なツラぶら下げやがって、ずいぶんスーパーなマネしてくれるじゃない. Very literally: "What kind of gathering is this, you put on a meek face, but you've been putting on a pretty SUPER fake show, haven't you!")
He's furious that they would not only beat up his two unwed little sisters (まだ嫁入り前のウチの妹文達を傷物にしてくれやがって), but wreck his secret base.
[I find it ridiculously endearing that Franky, like Vivi and Kohza, has a secret base. Also, his loyalty to his little sis(s)' virtue, too cute.]
Lucci reveals their identity as government agents. They know everything.
Franky asks about Iceberg.
Lucci: "I killed him."
[Franky's face T__T]
A shadowy figure in flashback is saying: "Come here. I have something I want to give you."
Lucci demands that Franky hand over the blueprints.
Memory of a young boy with a bandana around his head: "Flam? That's a stupid name. You should just call yourself Franky."
Franky attacks Lucci, and Lucci takes him out easily. Usopp is in shock.
Behind the wall he just punched through, Lucci discovers a hidden room, a workshop. There are signs above each desk: TOM, ICEBERG, and CUTTY FLAM.
Franky tells them to back off - they've got no business trampling on other people's memories. The warehouse may be falling apart, but this was the headquarters of Tom's Workers, once. The place where "we" grew up.
"The best shipwright in the world lived here, once."
Picture frame with "Tom's Workers" written on it:
An enormous fish man has his arms wrapped around two squabbling teenagers, one with spiky hair and goggles, the other with a bandana. A rather gaudy woman and a frog are grinning in the background.
[MOST ADORABLE FAMILY PORTRAIT EVER T_T]
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Franky tells Lucci that the blueprints aren't in his secret base. Kalifa traps him with her whip.
Lucci taunts Franky with being a criminal, "just like Tom." This seems to enrage Franky.
"Tom-san wasn't a criminal! You people know that better than anyone!"
*FLASHBACK*
[Been a while since we had one of these, huh?]
22 years ago: that date should ring a bell.
Cutty Flam (Franky), aged 12, is on board a ship (BATTLE 8 FRANKY), challenging some sort of sea monster.
He manages to escape, but smashes into a wrecking-yard, blowing his craft to smithereens.
Iceberg, aged 16: "んま〜！ What are you doing? You're going to get yourself killed one of these days. You don't help with the work, and you keep building this dangerous crap!"
Franky: "Shaddup, Baka-berg!"
[The nicknames will never not make me laugh, omg. Bakaberg! Bakanki! SO JUVENILE, oh, boys.]
[This whole arc made me think a lot about Nojiko and Nami. Siblings, aw! I guess girls get on better than boys.]
Franky insists that someday he'll build a "Battle Franky" that can beat a sea king, but Iceberg is incredulous.
Meanwhile, Tom is tossing (yes, tossing) a ship into the ocean. "A man… does it with a DON!"
[I pity Viz, because this is seriously untranslatable. Tom does everything with a DON (dramatic sfx]!]
Yokozuna, the giant frog, ribbits enthusiastically.
[Oda-boxes for Tom, longhorn cowfish-man, the President of Tom's Workers, and Yokozuna, Tom's Pet.]
Over the dinner table, Franky boasts that his Battle Franky was #8. This one ALMOST worked! (Iceberg: "Liar, Bakanki!" He thinks Tom-san spoils Franky.)
Kokoro [with Oda-box - it identifies her as the "beautiful secretary of Tom's Workers," hee] is serving dinner. She comments that pirate attacks sure have gone up since the pirate king was executed. Water 7 is in a bad way.
Tom is wistful - Water 7 defined the "first era" (一時代) in shipbuilding, long ago.
Franky asks Tom to show him the plans for a pirate ship, but Tom laughs uproariously. There's no such thing as plans for a pirate ship! If the crew hoist a skull and crossbones, it's a pirate ship. And if they hoist a marine flag ("gull"), it's a marine ship. You never know.
The most important thing is to stick your chest out with a DON. Do it with pride!
That night (?), Franky comes out in his sleep t-shirt (aw) and asks what Tom is doing. Tom says he's working on "the hope of Water 7."
[Baby Franky and Baby Iceberg are TOO CUTE.]
A "judicial ship" shows up in Water 7's harbor. It is a traveling court, and Tom is hauled before it. For the crime of building the Oro Jackson, Gold Roger's ship, the judge sentences him to be taken to Enies Lobby, and from there, to be put to death.
354
The judge says that normally, a shipwright wouldn't be penalized for the acts of the person he sells a ship to, but the pirate king is a special exception.
Tom tells them that he's working on a special project that might benefit Water 7, a "steam train," and asks for time to complete it. He estimates that it will take 10 years.
The judge grants the time requested.
That night, the family celebrates.
Iceberg: "んま〜！さすがトムさんだな！" (Aw, Iceberg…)
Franky is mad because he thinks Tom-san shouldn't have to be ashamed of building something awesome like the pirate king's ship.
(LOL, Franky yelling at Tom. "What's so funny, you horned tanuki!" [ツノダヌキ].)
Watching Franky teach with Yokozuna the forward crawl, Iceberg is grumpy. "Why can't we get rid of that idiot? I REALLY hate him." Tom laughs, saying that they're nakama who are building ships together. Maybe Franky is always building dangerous stuff, but his skill is already on par with that of the professional shipwrights in Water 7.
He was impressed when the kid appeared (with a DON!), two years earlier, building a cannon out of scrap.
"Hey, old man (ossan)! Pick me up. I got thrown away."
[T_T]
[So Franky was 10 when Tom adopted him?]
Laughing, Tom says Franky claimed he was such a handful, his parents tossed him overboard. Bunch of no-good pirates from who-knows-where. (どこぞのろくでもねー海賊の様だが.)
[As far as I know, this is still all we know of Franky's background, except for a brief mention later that he originally came from the South Blue.]
Tom tells Iceberg that someday, they'll both be great shipwrights. They should get along.
[Ahaha, I don't always love Viz translations, but they got this one right: 細胞からイカレてんだあいつは. "He's a nutso on a cellular level." Iceberg!]
Together, Iceberg and Tom work on the Sea Train, while Franky works on the next model of the Battle Franky in the background. But in the end he helps with the train, too, in spite of all the failures and disasters.
12 years before the present (i.e. 10 years after Roger's execution), the Sea Train sets forth on its maiden voyage.
(Awww, Kiwi and Mozu were on the maiden voyage! Confirmed in the SBS to Ch. 364 in the next volume. See? Kiwi's hair is totally curlier than Mozu's. The SBS also points out a young Paulie and Zambai in the pictures.)
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It took another four years to lay all the tracks for the Puffing Tom.
(N.B. Franky should be 26 at this point, since 14 years have passed since he was 12.)
Trade is picking up, but conditions are still rough (locals have to put up with bad deals, more often than not).
Tom, laughing, says they can't expect perfect results right away. As long as they do what they can, men can puff their chests out with a DON!
Just when Spandam (Cipher Pol #5) shows up from the World Gov't, Franky accidentally blows him up with his "victory salute."
Franky is bursting with pride because his Battle Franky #35 managed to bag a sea king. It's like 100m long!
[Like Dorry and Broggy's catch?]
Iceberg and Franky are STILL fighting over Franky's favorite hobby.
(LOL, Iceberg has now graduated to "Aho-berg.")
Iceberg scolds Franky for letting his junked warships pile up - doesn't he understand that these weapons are DANGEROUS? Franky doesn't think it's a big deal. It's not like he's targeting anyone with them.
Iceberg insists that his "will" has nothing to do with it. It's the existence of the weapons which is dangerous.
(Franky is still "Bakanki", haha.)
Iceberg begs Tom to DO something about him, but Tom just thinks it's all hilarious.
Oddly, Spandam is with the government, but seems to know nothing about the question of Tom's upcoming trial.
Spandam wants the blueprints (which Tom denies any knowledge of). Spandam says he knows all about Tom's criminal past, but Tom scoffs, saying the government already knows about that. "You don't believe me, check it out for yourself!"
When Spandam investigates, he's shocked to learn that it is true: Tom's record is due to be cleared in three days. He's a great man!
In Spandam's memory, he is meeting with the Gorousei (they look like the same "Five Old Men" we've seen in the recent past). Spandam argues that they need to have to power to reactivate the ancient weapon, to end this "Great Age of Pirates." They can't risk having the plans fall into the wrong hands. In the end, the Gorousei agree to let him go after the plans (but don't make any commitment about what they will do after that).
Spandam is basically a clumsy idiot, but an MEAN, ARROGANT clumsy idiot, ugh.
Tom calls Iceberg and Franky to him. He wants to give them something.
Iceberg accepts the plans as a solemn responsibility. (Franky thinks the weapon sounds cool - they should try building it!)
While entrusting the plans to them, Tom also tells them about the other thing that worries him - the existence of Nico Robin.
When the day of the trial dawns, everyone is expecting Tom to be acquitted, as promised.
In the midst of the celebrations, a fleet of ships (all labeled the Battle Franky ##) attack the judicial ship out of nowhere.
Franky tries to stop them (as do Tom and Iceberg), but Spandam's plan has already been set in motion.
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The evacuation of the judicial ship is underway.
Two men in wetsuits confer - the ship is sinking, just as Spandam ordered. This is a sacrifice for justice!
Arriving on the scene, Franky is horrified to discover Tom and Iceberg among the wounded.
Iceberg punches Franky, yelling that the government's agents did this with Franky's weapons.
Franky is aghast, seeing Tom struck down, remembering how many times Iceberg warned him about the danger of keeping those ships.
Franky is in tears, but Iceberg just keeps screaming that this is all his fault. The government is using his weapons to set them up. He'll never forgive him!
Tom tells them to quit fighting. This isn't Franky's fault.
Tom, Iceberg and Franky are all arrested. Spandam (Franky keeps getting his name wrong; he calls him Spanda) is gloating over the prospect of having the blueprints for the weapon in his hands.
When Franky accuses CP5 of attacking the judicial ship, the crowd just laughs.
Franky tries to say that those ships aren't his any more, but Tom punches him. (Iceberg can't believe it - Tom has never once hit Franky before.)
Tom tells him that no matter what, he must never be ashamed of any ship that he builds. Men should take pride in the ships they build - with a DON!
Tom warns Franky and Iceberg not to interfere in what's about to happen.
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Tom silently grieves, knowing that there's no way out, and that Franky must be bitterly hurt by seeing his ships used this way.
He seizes his last opportunity to punch Spandam's lights out.
The soldiers standing round about fire their weapons (tranquilizer bullets, apparently).
Tom asks the judge for one favor: if the invention of the Sea Train can forgive one crime, he asks for the present crime to be erased. He claims the responsibility for building Roger's ship with pride. (With a DON!)
Tom's last words are to Franky, telling him to not to blame himself. The Sea-Train, his legacy to the island, is complete. His dream…
He collapses, knocked out by the drugs.
[So like Bellemere. ;_;]
Spandam wants to take all three "criminals," but the judge decrees that he will take only Tom, for the crime of building Roger's ship.
Kokoro puts her arms around Tom's apprentices, telling them not to fight. No one has ever come back from Enies Lobby alive.
Franky goes berserk, attacking Spandam with a wooden club (or is that the butt of a gun?). Spandam falls, badly injured.
When the Sea-Train departs, carrying Tom to Enies Lobby, Franky stands on the tracks. Yokozuna is beside him, crying piteously.
Franky remembers the day that Tom picked him up. "Come to my place, with a DON!" (ドンとウチに来い!)
The train knocks Franky's body off the tracks.
Silently, Franky begs Tom to teach him one last lesson. He wants to build a ship of dreams, a ship that can sail to the ends of the earth, with pride (胸をはって).
TBC