One Piece 58
Under the wire - One Piece volume 58!
Despite one quick proofreading, this is probably full of typos and god-only-knows-what, but I wanted to get it up before mangaroo had to return her copy to the library. mangaroo, I hope you can at least scribble down some notes in the way of a response before you have to take it back.
Also, T____T forever, but that kind of goes without saying
One Piece 58
LETS DO THIS THING
563
Panorama of reactions to Whitebeard being stabbed.
[I don't know how much control Oda has over where books end and begin, but having the reactions lead off the chapter before any reminder of what they're reacting to is kind of neat.]
The camera that Buggy's men were using to hijack the networks is broadcasting the whole thing.
For the record: Squardo's Japanese name is "Great Whirlpool Spider." Kinda more impressive than Viz' "Whirl Spider."
Squardo rails at Whitebeard for "betraying" him. He knew that Ace was Roger's son, and never told them. Squardo lost his entire crew fighting Roger.
"You should have told us! That Ace was Roger's son, and that you were planning to make him Pirate King!"
He believes that Whitebeard made a secret deal with Sengoku, offering up the heads of his 43 captains in return for Ace's life and the safety of his own crew.
Squardo considers himself lucky to have landed even one blow on Whitebeard. He fully expects Whitebeard to kill him.
In Squardo's flashback, he is talking with a navy officer whose face we can't see. The navy man is speaking with a thick Kansai accent.
"Don't believe me? Watch what happens when the fighting starts, and judge for yourself. Whitebeard's subordinates will be the only targets."
Whitebeard says that it's true that Ace is Roger's son. He realizes that the Navy manipulated the one man among his supporters who would have been most upset about that fact.
Sengoku gives Aokiji an order (to do what, it's not clear). Buggy looks confused.
The broadcast on Shabondy abruptly fizzles out.
Buggy, and his men who were holding the camera, have all been frozen.
Crocodile is outraged. He refuses to admit that he could have lost to someone so "weak."
Marco secretly thinks Crocodile is right. Why didn't Whitebeard dodge the blow? Has his illness weakened him that much?
"Foolish son, to raise your blade to your adopted father!"
Whitebeard puts his arms around Squardo.
"Foolish, beloved son."
He wonders who could have turned even Squardo's fierce loyalty to darkness.
In Squardo's memories, we can see Akainu's face.
[I give up. I can't understand a word he's saying. He's horrible and he has a horrible accent.]
Whitebeard guesses, correctly, who got to Squardo.
"I know, painfully well, how bitterly you hated Roger. But the sins of the fathers should never be visited upon the child."
He reassures Squardo that Ace isn't the only one who is special to him. "You are all my family."
He turns an angry glare on Sengoku. "This is your doing."
"I… sell my own sons?"
The bay is rocked by Whitebeard's earthquake powers. An escape route opens up.
[Sengoku: "I hate that guy." (食えん男だ) LOL]
"If you're pirates, make up your own damn minds what to believe!"
Whitebeard's men joyfully realize that it was a lie, a Navy plot to deceive them.
[Leaving out Whitebeard's thoughts regarding Crocodile because I seriously did not understand this part in Japanese. Whatever, I'm sure the English translation has the right idea.]
Squardo is weeping bitterly.
Whitebeard: "All who came here with me… abandon your lives and follow me!"
He leaps at the harbor, followed by his men.
Sengoku orders his men to hold the line.
"The world's strongest man is making his move!"
[Interesting SBS about why Whitebeard is considered a Paramythia type rather than a Logia]
564
As Whitebeard charges, his men follow.
They blame the navy for misleading Squardo, feeling only pity for their deceived comrade.
[I am not sure the Viz translation gets this? They seem to think that the "pain" was Whitebeard's, but I'm pretty sure they're thinking about how much it must have hurt Squardo to doubt his father. Verdict from the more Japanese-literate?]
Squardo is beside himself with remorse for doubting his beloved father.
Marco is standing beside him.
"Time enough for tears later, Squardo."
Meanwhile, Luffy is charging at the head of his motley crew.
Jinbei has a bad feeling about this, but now that Whitebeard has made his move, all they can do is follow.
Whitebeard goes up against a giant navy officer, and easily defeats him. The earth itself moves under his enemies' feet, unbalancing them.
In fact, the entire bay is tilting on its side.
Doflamingo thinks this is the FUNNIEST THING EVER OMG.
[It really, really pains me to agree with Doflamingo about anything. But it is kind of awesome.]
The three admirals single-handedly keep the execution platform stable while everything else is tipping over (bitching at each other the entire time).
Luffy tries to leap up to the execution platform, only to be blocked by a wall that has just appeared.
The wall is blocked at only one point, the point where Little Oars' giant body lies fallen across it.
Now that Whitebeard's ships are surrounded by the wall, Akainu begins pummeling them with his lava fists.
565
On Shabondy, the crowd is outraged by the loss of their feed.
They still think that Whitebeard betrayed his own comrades.
Eustace Kidd and his crew, watching from a distance, are disgruntled. "Damn navy."
The other supernovas are watching, too.
(Glimpses of Apoo, X-Drake, Bege, Urouge, Hawkins, Bonney and Law. Interestingly, Bonney is crying her eyes out. Not sure what that's about.)
Akainu continues to pummel Whitebeard's fleet. Even the Moby Dick is burning.
Even Whitebeard's earthquake powers can't shake the encircling wall.
Luffy charges straight for the only opening he can see, and of course gets blown up.
"It's a TRAP, obviously!"
"But I have to do something! They're going to execute Ace!"
Luffy tells Jinbei and Ivankov that he has a request.
Meanwhile, Oars is heaving himself to his feet. He's still alive.
Just then, a jet/pillar of water shoots over the iron wall.
[Love that the two main reaction shots are Boa and Coby.]
Luffy lands at the feet of the three admirals guarding the platform.
Aokiji: "Ain't it a bit soon to be standing on this stage?"
Akainu: "You got a lot of nerve coming here, Dragon's Son."
Kizaru: "Scary thing, youth."
[I love how this captures each of their personalities.]
Luffy swings the mast he's carrying at them.
"I'm taking Ace back!"
Whitebeard thinks Luffy is the spitting image of his brother. They're both idiots.
He orders Oars to stay where he is. They need his strength.
"Charge the plaza!"
566
Luffy, fighting the three admirals, summons Gear 2.
Sengoku gives the command to execute Ace, but something interferes.
Sengoku identifies Crocodile as the one who got in the way. "YOU!"
(Marco: "Oops, guess it's not my turn yet.")
Crocodile: "I'll deal with that pathetic old man later. What I really can't stand is seeing you lot happy."
Doflamingo slices Crocodile's head off (not that it matters). He claims he's jealous that Croc dumped him to team up with Whitebeard.
Crocodile denies that he's "teaming up" with anyone.
Aokiji is regretfully about to dispatch Luffy. "I owe your grandpa one, but…"
Boa, enraged, is about to interfere when Marco jumps in to save Luffy.
Just then, Sengoku's men alert him to the fact that Whitebeard's men are climbing over Oars' body to reach the square.
Another ship surges to the surface, and summons the survivors to climb aboard.
Whitebeard: "I don't recall saying that ALL of my forces had arrived."
Oars seizes the newly arrived ship and lifts it up onto land.
Garp deduces that their protective wall has become a liability, now that the bulk of their enemies are inside the wall.
Oars is now taking the full brunt of the enemy cannon-fire.
Whitebeard charges forward as Oars falls behind him.
"Stand back, men!"
He swings his lance.
Sengoku watches soberly from the platform, where Garp is still sitting cross-legged beside Ace.
"Garp… We're not going to escape scot-free from this."
567
Whitebeard and the Navy forces continue their fierce battle.
Whitebeard is able to counter Aokiji's freezing techniques by using his earthquake powers to crack the ice. He can strike blows despite Aokiji's logia powers, too (because of haki - has this been made explicit before?).
Meanwhile, Luffy's entire focus is on reaching the execution platform.
One of the navy officers attacks Luffy, using "shigan" (the technique that we saw CP-9 using).
[Did we know before that this was a generally known technique among higher level marines?]
Striking Luffy down with his light powers, Kizaru comments that sometimes sheer guts aren't enough. You need power (chikara), too.
When Kizaru blasts Luffy again, Whitebeard catches him.
(He addresses him as "Ace's little brother," haha. Poor Luffy appears to have no word left in his vocabulary except "Ace." *sniffle*)
Ivankov's extra-ginormous face pops over the wall. "Jinbei, there he is!"
Ivankov's greeting apparently rouses Luffy from near-catatonia.
"Lemme go, ossan."
Whitebeard tosses Luffy to his men, saying that Luffy has done enough. "Treat his wounds."
Luffy immediately begins screaming that he doesn't need that.
"There's no TIME! Ace is the only big brother I've got in the whole world!"
(T____T)
"Pathetic young fool!… I like idiots like him."
[Is this the same thing Zeff said about Luffy? look this up]
Jinbei: "Take care of Luffy. I've chosen this place to die."
fighting fighting fighting fighting
Marco attacks the execution platform, but is beaten back by Garp.
Garp: "You wanna get past me, you'll need to kill me first! BRATS!"
[Totally love the SBS that gives us both the warlords' ages and their heights. Because height MATTERS, yo.]
568
The crowds cheer the appearance of Garp, "the hero of the navy", but Whitebeard is scornful.
"Don't be impressed by a name, fools (ahondara). He's nothing but an old soldier."
Whitebeard is facing off with Garp and Akainu. Meanwhile, his men are fighting to open a path to the execution platform.
Up on the platform, Ace is doubled over in agony.
He remembers the taunts of the childen on his home island.
"Gold Roger? Do you have any idea how much the world has suffered because of pirates? Better if that *thing* had never been born! Piece of crap! Trouble while he was alive, more trouble when he was dead!"
Back then, he used to beat other kids up for saying that.
Dadan is berating him for half killing the kids of the village. "Whadja go down there for?"
Everyone he asked about "Roger" cursed Roger's name.
Garp comes to visit, saying he's heard Ace has been stirring up all kinds of trouble.
"Jijii, you got a grandson, right? Is he happy?"
"Luffy? Yeah, full of energy, from what I hear."
"Jijii… was it a good thing that I was born?"
[crying FOREVER]
Back in the present, Ace remembers Garp's answer: "You'll figure that out by living."
A half-conscious Luffy tells "Iwa-chan" that he has one last request.
Everyone is fighting desperately to get to Ace.
Ace, to himself: "I'm not worth it." (Literally, "I'm rotten." 俺は腐ってる！！）
"I'm twisted. Everyone is out there, fighting, shedding blood for me. Pops, my little brother, everyone. And I'm so *happy* I can't stop crying!"
Now that it's come to the point, he doesn't want to die.
(今になって、命が惜しい！)
[Oh, OH, echoes of Robin.]
Meanwhile, Buggy's followers are rejoicing to find that he's still alive. Buggy vows vengeance.
Whitebeard falls to his knees. Marco races to his side, thinking that this is just what he feared.
Marco manages to block Kizaru's attack on Whitebeard with his body.
Aokiji is battling Jozu.
Akainu attacks Whitebeard.
Meanwhile, Ivankov can't believe that Luffy is asking for another shot of "tension hormone."
Luffy insists that if he dies doing all that he could, he'll be satisfied.
"Let me fight… Iwa-chan!"
Ivankov is furious ("How am I supposed to FACE* Dragon if you die?"), but he gives in.
*A pun, because of Ivankov's giant face.
"Fine, do as you please!"
Luffy charges back into the fight.
[SBS explains Tsuru's "wash-wash fruit" - I am sorry to say that this, in katakana, is the actual name of the fruit. Why do the women ALWAYS get the stupid fruits.]
569
Ivankov charges into battle by Luffy's side, all the while warning him that if he collapses again, he won't live.
"I won't!"
Luffy runs into Coby. As Coby prepares to use "soru" against Luffy, telling himself that he can't hesitate to fight, Luffy knocks him out.
[Note that Coby has mastered at least one of the techniques known to CP9.)
Luffy runs into the Pacifistas, but dodges them with Boa's help - and Kuma's.
"Thanks, Hancock!!"
[Oh, interesting ambiguity. The English implies that Kuma ordered the Pacifistas to cease their attack because Boa, who was blocking the way, was an ally, and Luffy then realizes why they stopped firing ("Oh, you're on their side"). I took it that Kuma is in fact acting, like Boa, to help Luffy here. Discuss y/n?]
(Poor Boa practically melts into a puddle of goo because Luffy actually remembered her name - again. It might actually be love.)
Marco is back up and fighting, but one of the admirals captures him with kairouseki handcuffs.
Jozu has succumbed to Aokiji's ice techniques.
Whitebeard is being simultaneously stabbed, shot and zapped by multiple foes, but he refuses to accept help.
"You think I'd fall to the likes of THEM?"
He strikes back.
"I'm WHITEBEARD!!"
He says he has to live to show his sons the way to the future.
Behind him, Whitebeard's followers have lined up to protect him. Whitebeard doesn't seem particularly grateful.
Sengoku: "You want to see the future? I'll give you the future!"
The execuationer's swords are raised against Ace -
"STOP!"
For a hundred yards around, bodies collapse at the sound of Luffy's voice.
Everyone (who is still conscious) recognizes Conqueror's Haki when they see it.
570
Those of Whitebeard's followers who are still conscious realize that Luffy, like Whitebeard and Shanks, possesses "Haoushoku-haki."
Akainu notices that Luffy was exercising the power without even realizing it.
Garp: "So he was born with it, after all."
Ace: "You, too?"
[LEGIONS of forum discussion fodder right there, folks. Legions.]
Ivankov, fighting alongside Luffy: "Hey, when did you learn THAT?"
Luffy: "Learn what?"
[LOLOL Luffy never change]
Ivankov: "Never mind."
Whitebeard, surrounded by foes, calls out to his supporters.
"MEN! Support Straw Hat Luffy with all you've got!"
Silently, he wills Luffy to show him what he's got.
*If you were born with the will of D, show me the future of this generation in which I live!*
Obedient to Whitebeard's command, his men surround Luffy with their support.
(They're all still calling him "Ace's little bro" LOL)
Ivankov challenges Luffy. "The world's greatest pirate is testing you, Mugiwara-boy. You gonna show him you're up to the challenge?"
Luffy: "I don't know anything about that old guy Whitebeard. I only had one reason for coming here!"
Mihawk tries to attack Luffy, but is blocked by (of all people) Daz Bones, Number One.
"Boss' orders."
As Luffy charges forward, Crocodile dives in to support his Number One.
Boa is battling against Sentoumaru.
"How many of our Pacifistas have you taken out? Whose side are you ON?"
Boa: "LOVE IS A HURRICANE!"
[Boa ILU]
Ivankov calls on Inazuma for assistance.
"At your service, Iwa-san!"
Inazuma opens up a strip-road to the top of the platform. (Luffy: "Kani-chan!")
Enemy after enemy tries to block Luffy's path, and is beaten back by Whitebeard and his allies.
Buggy is pissed that Luffy is hogging all the attention, again (LOL).
Garp is the final barrier in Luffy's path.
"Jii-chan! Outta my way!"
Garp: "Sorry, no can do! I'm a vice admiral of the navy!"
[Hahaha the SBS explanation of the "art imitates life imitates art" explanation behind Ivankov's name and voice actor is kinda amazing.]
571
"I've been fighting pirates since long before you were born! If you want to get through, you'll have to kill me - MUGIWARA NO LUFFY! That's the path the BOTH of you chose!"
Luffy remembers the days of his grandfather's rigorous training, always telling them they were going to grow up to be strong marines.
He tells Garp he can't kill him. "MOVE!"
Garp refuses - but when he lifts his fist to strike, the memories of Luffy and Ace as children won't let him land the blow.
[oh, OH. I don't think I ever love Garp more than in this moment.]
Luffy lands the blow that Garp couldn't, and pushes him aside.
Garp falls.
Sengoku grits his teeth. "So, you're still a parent, Garp."
Luffy reaches the platform, where only Sengoku is still standing guard.
He's holding the key that Boa handed off to him.
[Did we see her do this? It's revealed now, at any rate.]
Sengoku summons his devil fruit power (which I don't believe we have seen before).
As the "golden Buddha," he smashes the key in Luffy's hand.
One of the "marines" at Ace's feet stirs, revealing himself to be none other than Mr. 3.
Luffy: "Hey, San! Whatcha doing here?" (LOL)
As Sengoku prepares to carry out the execution by his sole power, Luffy shouts to Mr. 3 to raise a shield. He himself summons Gear 3.
The excecution platform itself collapses under the weight of Sengoku's blow.
Ace, Luffy and Three are all falling.
Three conjures up a wax key to unlock Ace's cuffs.
"Luffy, I swear to god, you NEVER CHANGE! You don't listen to a damn thing I say! Such a GODDAMN PAIN!"
From the explosion of the flames, Ace emerges unlocked with Luffy in hand.
"ACE!!"
572
Luffy and Ace's supporters are hysterical with joy, but Ace warns Luffy not to let his guard down.
"Never dreamed the day'd come when YOU saved ME. Thanks, Luffy."
"Hey, Old Man Whitebeard an' his friends helped!"
Luffy and Ace are still up against formidable enemies.
Ace: "That's my little brother. I'll thank you not to lay a hand on him!"
Ace and Luffy prepare to fight their way through.
"You got strong, Luffy!"
"Someday I'll surpass you, Ace! Just you wait!"
When Aokiji attacks, Ace still takes the brunt of the attack. ("It's still my turn to protect you, for now.")
Whitebeard's ship is moving to attack (apparently it can travel over land) - with Squardo at the helm.
"Pops, get them out of here! We'll cover the retreat!"
The boat stops only when Whitebeard himself blocks its passage.
"You think I'm gonna let my kid die before me? PLEASE."
Whitebeard prepares to deliver his final order.
"Time has come for you and I to part! Everyone - LIVE! Get yourselves back to the new world in one piece, you hear?"
He declares that he is the last man standing of the current age. There's no ship to board to take him into the new age that's coming.
"Now GO!!"
Whitebeard remembers a long-ago scene from his youth.
"Who ever heard of a pirate not interested in treasure? What DO you want, Newgate?"
Back in the present:
"I've lived a long life. Time to put an end to it."
573
Whitebeard's men are wailing - they don't want to leave without him.
"Captain's orders!! Now GIT, you fools! (ahondara)"
Everyone is beginning to realize that Whitebeard intends to sink Marineford, and himself along with it.
Buggy's men have finally succeeded in getting the den-den mushi back on line.
On Shabondy, the feed springs back to life. The crowd is in agonies of suspense.
"Greetings, all! It is I, Buggy!"
"YOU AGAIN?"
Ace is in shock, staring at the scene before him. Luffy calls to him to get a move on.
He bows to his adopted father, one last time.
"Just tell me one thing, Ace. Were you glad to have me as your father?"
"Of course!!"
Jinbei urges them on. "To the ships! Ace-san, Luffy-kun!"
Akainu taunts Whitebeard, calling him and his crew "Losers from the Last Age."
Ace pauses in fury.
"LOSERS?"
Luffy pulls at him, in vain.
"Take that back! Right now!"
"He didn't have what it took to succeed your REAL FATHER, Gold Roger. How is he not a loser? You and your FARCE of a fake family!"
Akainu continues to taunt and shout abuse about Whitebeard's "wasted life."
The others try to urge Ace not to listen to him, in vain.
"Whitebeard is the man who gave his name to this age!!"
Akainu laughs at Ace. Ace might be fire, but he himself is "magma."
Luffy struggles to get between them, but Jinbei warns him that he's at his limit.
Akainu shouts that he won't allow either of them to escape - not Gold Roger's son, and not Dragon's son.
He strikes out at Luffy - and Ace blocks the blow.
Ace's tiny scrap of vivre card begins to burn away to nothing.
[TBC]
Despite one quick proofreading, this is probably full of typos and god-only-knows-what, but I wanted to get it up before mangaroo had to return her copy to the library. mangaroo, I hope you can at least scribble down some notes in the way of a response before you have to take it back.
Also, T____T forever, but that kind of goes without saying
One Piece 58
LETS DO THIS THING
563
Panorama of reactions to Whitebeard being stabbed.
[I don't know how much control Oda has over where books end and begin, but having the reactions lead off the chapter before any reminder of what they're reacting to is kind of neat.]
The camera that Buggy's men were using to hijack the networks is broadcasting the whole thing.
For the record: Squardo's Japanese name is "Great Whirlpool Spider." Kinda more impressive than Viz' "Whirl Spider."
Squardo rails at Whitebeard for "betraying" him. He knew that Ace was Roger's son, and never told them. Squardo lost his entire crew fighting Roger.
"You should have told us! That Ace was Roger's son, and that you were planning to make him Pirate King!"
He believes that Whitebeard made a secret deal with Sengoku, offering up the heads of his 43 captains in return for Ace's life and the safety of his own crew.
Squardo considers himself lucky to have landed even one blow on Whitebeard. He fully expects Whitebeard to kill him.
In Squardo's flashback, he is talking with a navy officer whose face we can't see. The navy man is speaking with a thick Kansai accent.
"Don't believe me? Watch what happens when the fighting starts, and judge for yourself. Whitebeard's subordinates will be the only targets."
Whitebeard says that it's true that Ace is Roger's son. He realizes that the Navy manipulated the one man among his supporters who would have been most upset about that fact.
Sengoku gives Aokiji an order (to do what, it's not clear). Buggy looks confused.
The broadcast on Shabondy abruptly fizzles out.
Buggy, and his men who were holding the camera, have all been frozen.
Crocodile is outraged. He refuses to admit that he could have lost to someone so "weak."
Marco secretly thinks Crocodile is right. Why didn't Whitebeard dodge the blow? Has his illness weakened him that much?
"Foolish son, to raise your blade to your adopted father!"
Whitebeard puts his arms around Squardo.
"Foolish, beloved son."
He wonders who could have turned even Squardo's fierce loyalty to darkness.
In Squardo's memories, we can see Akainu's face.
[I give up. I can't understand a word he's saying. He's horrible and he has a horrible accent.]
Whitebeard guesses, correctly, who got to Squardo.
"I know, painfully well, how bitterly you hated Roger. But the sins of the fathers should never be visited upon the child."
He reassures Squardo that Ace isn't the only one who is special to him. "You are all my family."
He turns an angry glare on Sengoku. "This is your doing."
"I… sell my own sons?"
The bay is rocked by Whitebeard's earthquake powers. An escape route opens up.
[Sengoku: "I hate that guy." (食えん男だ) LOL]
"If you're pirates, make up your own damn minds what to believe!"
Whitebeard's men joyfully realize that it was a lie, a Navy plot to deceive them.
[Leaving out Whitebeard's thoughts regarding Crocodile because I seriously did not understand this part in Japanese. Whatever, I'm sure the English translation has the right idea.]
Squardo is weeping bitterly.
Whitebeard: "All who came here with me… abandon your lives and follow me!"
He leaps at the harbor, followed by his men.
Sengoku orders his men to hold the line.
"The world's strongest man is making his move!"
[Interesting SBS about why Whitebeard is considered a Paramythia type rather than a Logia]
564
As Whitebeard charges, his men follow.
They blame the navy for misleading Squardo, feeling only pity for their deceived comrade.
[I am not sure the Viz translation gets this? They seem to think that the "pain" was Whitebeard's, but I'm pretty sure they're thinking about how much it must have hurt Squardo to doubt his father. Verdict from the more Japanese-literate?]
Squardo is beside himself with remorse for doubting his beloved father.
Marco is standing beside him.
"Time enough for tears later, Squardo."
Meanwhile, Luffy is charging at the head of his motley crew.
Jinbei has a bad feeling about this, but now that Whitebeard has made his move, all they can do is follow.
Whitebeard goes up against a giant navy officer, and easily defeats him. The earth itself moves under his enemies' feet, unbalancing them.
In fact, the entire bay is tilting on its side.
Doflamingo thinks this is the FUNNIEST THING EVER OMG.
[It really, really pains me to agree with Doflamingo about anything. But it is kind of awesome.]
The three admirals single-handedly keep the execution platform stable while everything else is tipping over (bitching at each other the entire time).
Luffy tries to leap up to the execution platform, only to be blocked by a wall that has just appeared.
The wall is blocked at only one point, the point where Little Oars' giant body lies fallen across it.
Now that Whitebeard's ships are surrounded by the wall, Akainu begins pummeling them with his lava fists.
565
On Shabondy, the crowd is outraged by the loss of their feed.
They still think that Whitebeard betrayed his own comrades.
Eustace Kidd and his crew, watching from a distance, are disgruntled. "Damn navy."
The other supernovas are watching, too.
(Glimpses of Apoo, X-Drake, Bege, Urouge, Hawkins, Bonney and Law. Interestingly, Bonney is crying her eyes out. Not sure what that's about.)
Akainu continues to pummel Whitebeard's fleet. Even the Moby Dick is burning.
Even Whitebeard's earthquake powers can't shake the encircling wall.
Luffy charges straight for the only opening he can see, and of course gets blown up.
"It's a TRAP, obviously!"
"But I have to do something! They're going to execute Ace!"
Luffy tells Jinbei and Ivankov that he has a request.
Meanwhile, Oars is heaving himself to his feet. He's still alive.
Just then, a jet/pillar of water shoots over the iron wall.
[Love that the two main reaction shots are Boa and Coby.]
Luffy lands at the feet of the three admirals guarding the platform.
Aokiji: "Ain't it a bit soon to be standing on this stage?"
Akainu: "You got a lot of nerve coming here, Dragon's Son."
Kizaru: "Scary thing, youth."
[I love how this captures each of their personalities.]
Luffy swings the mast he's carrying at them.
"I'm taking Ace back!"
Whitebeard thinks Luffy is the spitting image of his brother. They're both idiots.
He orders Oars to stay where he is. They need his strength.
"Charge the plaza!"
566
Luffy, fighting the three admirals, summons Gear 2.
Sengoku gives the command to execute Ace, but something interferes.
Sengoku identifies Crocodile as the one who got in the way. "YOU!"
(Marco: "Oops, guess it's not my turn yet.")
Crocodile: "I'll deal with that pathetic old man later. What I really can't stand is seeing you lot happy."
Doflamingo slices Crocodile's head off (not that it matters). He claims he's jealous that Croc dumped him to team up with Whitebeard.
Crocodile denies that he's "teaming up" with anyone.
Aokiji is regretfully about to dispatch Luffy. "I owe your grandpa one, but…"
Boa, enraged, is about to interfere when Marco jumps in to save Luffy.
Just then, Sengoku's men alert him to the fact that Whitebeard's men are climbing over Oars' body to reach the square.
Another ship surges to the surface, and summons the survivors to climb aboard.
Whitebeard: "I don't recall saying that ALL of my forces had arrived."
Oars seizes the newly arrived ship and lifts it up onto land.
Garp deduces that their protective wall has become a liability, now that the bulk of their enemies are inside the wall.
Oars is now taking the full brunt of the enemy cannon-fire.
Whitebeard charges forward as Oars falls behind him.
"Stand back, men!"
He swings his lance.
Sengoku watches soberly from the platform, where Garp is still sitting cross-legged beside Ace.
"Garp… We're not going to escape scot-free from this."
567
Whitebeard and the Navy forces continue their fierce battle.
Whitebeard is able to counter Aokiji's freezing techniques by using his earthquake powers to crack the ice. He can strike blows despite Aokiji's logia powers, too (because of haki - has this been made explicit before?).
Meanwhile, Luffy's entire focus is on reaching the execution platform.
One of the navy officers attacks Luffy, using "shigan" (the technique that we saw CP-9 using).
[Did we know before that this was a generally known technique among higher level marines?]
Striking Luffy down with his light powers, Kizaru comments that sometimes sheer guts aren't enough. You need power (chikara), too.
When Kizaru blasts Luffy again, Whitebeard catches him.
(He addresses him as "Ace's little brother," haha. Poor Luffy appears to have no word left in his vocabulary except "Ace." *sniffle*)
Ivankov's extra-ginormous face pops over the wall. "Jinbei, there he is!"
Ivankov's greeting apparently rouses Luffy from near-catatonia.
"Lemme go, ossan."
Whitebeard tosses Luffy to his men, saying that Luffy has done enough. "Treat his wounds."
Luffy immediately begins screaming that he doesn't need that.
"There's no TIME! Ace is the only big brother I've got in the whole world!"
(T____T)
"Pathetic young fool!… I like idiots like him."
[Is this the same thing Zeff said about Luffy? look this up]
Jinbei: "Take care of Luffy. I've chosen this place to die."
fighting fighting fighting fighting
Marco attacks the execution platform, but is beaten back by Garp.
Garp: "You wanna get past me, you'll need to kill me first! BRATS!"
[Totally love the SBS that gives us both the warlords' ages and their heights. Because height MATTERS, yo.]
568
The crowds cheer the appearance of Garp, "the hero of the navy", but Whitebeard is scornful.
"Don't be impressed by a name, fools (ahondara). He's nothing but an old soldier."
Whitebeard is facing off with Garp and Akainu. Meanwhile, his men are fighting to open a path to the execution platform.
Up on the platform, Ace is doubled over in agony.
He remembers the taunts of the childen on his home island.
"Gold Roger? Do you have any idea how much the world has suffered because of pirates? Better if that *thing* had never been born! Piece of crap! Trouble while he was alive, more trouble when he was dead!"
Back then, he used to beat other kids up for saying that.
Dadan is berating him for half killing the kids of the village. "Whadja go down there for?"
Everyone he asked about "Roger" cursed Roger's name.
Garp comes to visit, saying he's heard Ace has been stirring up all kinds of trouble.
"Jijii, you got a grandson, right? Is he happy?"
"Luffy? Yeah, full of energy, from what I hear."
"Jijii… was it a good thing that I was born?"
[crying FOREVER]
Back in the present, Ace remembers Garp's answer: "You'll figure that out by living."
A half-conscious Luffy tells "Iwa-chan" that he has one last request.
Everyone is fighting desperately to get to Ace.
Ace, to himself: "I'm not worth it." (Literally, "I'm rotten." 俺は腐ってる！！）
"I'm twisted. Everyone is out there, fighting, shedding blood for me. Pops, my little brother, everyone. And I'm so *happy* I can't stop crying!"
Now that it's come to the point, he doesn't want to die.
(今になって、命が惜しい！)
[Oh, OH, echoes of Robin.]
Meanwhile, Buggy's followers are rejoicing to find that he's still alive. Buggy vows vengeance.
Whitebeard falls to his knees. Marco races to his side, thinking that this is just what he feared.
Marco manages to block Kizaru's attack on Whitebeard with his body.
Aokiji is battling Jozu.
Akainu attacks Whitebeard.
Meanwhile, Ivankov can't believe that Luffy is asking for another shot of "tension hormone."
Luffy insists that if he dies doing all that he could, he'll be satisfied.
"Let me fight… Iwa-chan!"
Ivankov is furious ("How am I supposed to FACE* Dragon if you die?"), but he gives in.
*A pun, because of Ivankov's giant face.
"Fine, do as you please!"
Luffy charges back into the fight.
[SBS explains Tsuru's "wash-wash fruit" - I am sorry to say that this, in katakana, is the actual name of the fruit. Why do the women ALWAYS get the stupid fruits.]
569
Ivankov charges into battle by Luffy's side, all the while warning him that if he collapses again, he won't live.
"I won't!"
Luffy runs into Coby. As Coby prepares to use "soru" against Luffy, telling himself that he can't hesitate to fight, Luffy knocks him out.
[Note that Coby has mastered at least one of the techniques known to CP9.)
Luffy runs into the Pacifistas, but dodges them with Boa's help - and Kuma's.
"Thanks, Hancock!!"
[Oh, interesting ambiguity. The English implies that Kuma ordered the Pacifistas to cease their attack because Boa, who was blocking the way, was an ally, and Luffy then realizes why they stopped firing ("Oh, you're on their side"). I took it that Kuma is in fact acting, like Boa, to help Luffy here. Discuss y/n?]
(Poor Boa practically melts into a puddle of goo because Luffy actually remembered her name - again. It might actually be love.)
Marco is back up and fighting, but one of the admirals captures him with kairouseki handcuffs.
Jozu has succumbed to Aokiji's ice techniques.
Whitebeard is being simultaneously stabbed, shot and zapped by multiple foes, but he refuses to accept help.
"You think I'd fall to the likes of THEM?"
He strikes back.
"I'm WHITEBEARD!!"
He says he has to live to show his sons the way to the future.
Behind him, Whitebeard's followers have lined up to protect him. Whitebeard doesn't seem particularly grateful.
Sengoku: "You want to see the future? I'll give you the future!"
The execuationer's swords are raised against Ace -
"STOP!"
For a hundred yards around, bodies collapse at the sound of Luffy's voice.
Everyone (who is still conscious) recognizes Conqueror's Haki when they see it.
570
Those of Whitebeard's followers who are still conscious realize that Luffy, like Whitebeard and Shanks, possesses "Haoushoku-haki."
Akainu notices that Luffy was exercising the power without even realizing it.
Garp: "So he was born with it, after all."
Ace: "You, too?"
[LEGIONS of forum discussion fodder right there, folks. Legions.]
Ivankov, fighting alongside Luffy: "Hey, when did you learn THAT?"
Luffy: "Learn what?"
[LOLOL Luffy never change]
Ivankov: "Never mind."
Whitebeard, surrounded by foes, calls out to his supporters.
"MEN! Support Straw Hat Luffy with all you've got!"
Silently, he wills Luffy to show him what he's got.
*If you were born with the will of D, show me the future of this generation in which I live!*
Obedient to Whitebeard's command, his men surround Luffy with their support.
(They're all still calling him "Ace's little bro" LOL)
Ivankov challenges Luffy. "The world's greatest pirate is testing you, Mugiwara-boy. You gonna show him you're up to the challenge?"
Luffy: "I don't know anything about that old guy Whitebeard. I only had one reason for coming here!"
Mihawk tries to attack Luffy, but is blocked by (of all people) Daz Bones, Number One.
"Boss' orders."
As Luffy charges forward, Crocodile dives in to support his Number One.
Boa is battling against Sentoumaru.
"How many of our Pacifistas have you taken out? Whose side are you ON?"
Boa: "LOVE IS A HURRICANE!"
[Boa ILU]
Ivankov calls on Inazuma for assistance.
"At your service, Iwa-san!"
Inazuma opens up a strip-road to the top of the platform. (Luffy: "Kani-chan!")
Enemy after enemy tries to block Luffy's path, and is beaten back by Whitebeard and his allies.
Buggy is pissed that Luffy is hogging all the attention, again (LOL).
Garp is the final barrier in Luffy's path.
"Jii-chan! Outta my way!"
Garp: "Sorry, no can do! I'm a vice admiral of the navy!"
[Hahaha the SBS explanation of the "art imitates life imitates art" explanation behind Ivankov's name and voice actor is kinda amazing.]
571
"I've been fighting pirates since long before you were born! If you want to get through, you'll have to kill me - MUGIWARA NO LUFFY! That's the path the BOTH of you chose!"
Luffy remembers the days of his grandfather's rigorous training, always telling them they were going to grow up to be strong marines.
He tells Garp he can't kill him. "MOVE!"
Garp refuses - but when he lifts his fist to strike, the memories of Luffy and Ace as children won't let him land the blow.
[oh, OH. I don't think I ever love Garp more than in this moment.]
Luffy lands the blow that Garp couldn't, and pushes him aside.
Garp falls.
Sengoku grits his teeth. "So, you're still a parent, Garp."
Luffy reaches the platform, where only Sengoku is still standing guard.
He's holding the key that Boa handed off to him.
[Did we see her do this? It's revealed now, at any rate.]
Sengoku summons his devil fruit power (which I don't believe we have seen before).
As the "golden Buddha," he smashes the key in Luffy's hand.
One of the "marines" at Ace's feet stirs, revealing himself to be none other than Mr. 3.
Luffy: "Hey, San! Whatcha doing here?" (LOL)
As Sengoku prepares to carry out the execution by his sole power, Luffy shouts to Mr. 3 to raise a shield. He himself summons Gear 3.
The excecution platform itself collapses under the weight of Sengoku's blow.
Ace, Luffy and Three are all falling.
Three conjures up a wax key to unlock Ace's cuffs.
"Luffy, I swear to god, you NEVER CHANGE! You don't listen to a damn thing I say! Such a GODDAMN PAIN!"
From the explosion of the flames, Ace emerges unlocked with Luffy in hand.
"ACE!!"
572
Luffy and Ace's supporters are hysterical with joy, but Ace warns Luffy not to let his guard down.
"Never dreamed the day'd come when YOU saved ME. Thanks, Luffy."
"Hey, Old Man Whitebeard an' his friends helped!"
Luffy and Ace are still up against formidable enemies.
Ace: "That's my little brother. I'll thank you not to lay a hand on him!"
Ace and Luffy prepare to fight their way through.
"You got strong, Luffy!"
"Someday I'll surpass you, Ace! Just you wait!"
When Aokiji attacks, Ace still takes the brunt of the attack. ("It's still my turn to protect you, for now.")
Whitebeard's ship is moving to attack (apparently it can travel over land) - with Squardo at the helm.
"Pops, get them out of here! We'll cover the retreat!"
The boat stops only when Whitebeard himself blocks its passage.
"You think I'm gonna let my kid die before me? PLEASE."
Whitebeard prepares to deliver his final order.
"Time has come for you and I to part! Everyone - LIVE! Get yourselves back to the new world in one piece, you hear?"
He declares that he is the last man standing of the current age. There's no ship to board to take him into the new age that's coming.
"Now GO!!"
Whitebeard remembers a long-ago scene from his youth.
"Who ever heard of a pirate not interested in treasure? What DO you want, Newgate?"
Back in the present:
"I've lived a long life. Time to put an end to it."
573
Whitebeard's men are wailing - they don't want to leave without him.
"Captain's orders!! Now GIT, you fools! (ahondara)"
Everyone is beginning to realize that Whitebeard intends to sink Marineford, and himself along with it.
Buggy's men have finally succeeded in getting the den-den mushi back on line.
On Shabondy, the feed springs back to life. The crowd is in agonies of suspense.
"Greetings, all! It is I, Buggy!"
"YOU AGAIN?"
Ace is in shock, staring at the scene before him. Luffy calls to him to get a move on.
He bows to his adopted father, one last time.
"Just tell me one thing, Ace. Were you glad to have me as your father?"
"Of course!!"
Jinbei urges them on. "To the ships! Ace-san, Luffy-kun!"
Akainu taunts Whitebeard, calling him and his crew "Losers from the Last Age."
Ace pauses in fury.
"LOSERS?"
Luffy pulls at him, in vain.
"Take that back! Right now!"
"He didn't have what it took to succeed your REAL FATHER, Gold Roger. How is he not a loser? You and your FARCE of a fake family!"
Akainu continues to taunt and shout abuse about Whitebeard's "wasted life."
The others try to urge Ace not to listen to him, in vain.
"Whitebeard is the man who gave his name to this age!!"
Akainu laughs at Ace. Ace might be fire, but he himself is "magma."
Luffy struggles to get between them, but Jinbei warns him that he's at his limit.
Akainu shouts that he won't allow either of them to escape - not Gold Roger's son, and not Dragon's son.
He strikes out at Luffy - and Ace blocks the blow.
Ace's tiny scrap of vivre card begins to burn away to nothing.
[TBC]