Billy Bat 3

BILLY BAT #3

tl by molokidan

01)
Box: Showa 24 (1949)
Tokyo

02)
Box: Allied Powers Headquarters
GHQ
K: Hey, let me through!
K: Excuse me, please let me through...!!
G: What are you pushing for?!
K: What are all these people gathered here for anyway...?

03)
G: We're waiting.
G: He comes out at lunchtime.
K: Waiting...?
K: Lunch...?
G: Ahhh, there he is!!
K: Wah!!
G: General MacArthur!!
G: General MacArthur!!
K: Owww...

04)
?: Going to Tokyo!?
Chapter 3 - Bat Search

05)
?: And you're just going to leave this hit comic of yours behind?!
Box: Los Angeles
Marble Comics
K: Y...yes.
?: Think about this carefully, Kevin.
?: Having your comic become a hit is like winning the lottery.
?: You really wanna abandon that?
K: N...no,
K: I'm not abandoning it...

06)
?: The Billy Bat series is capable of overcoming even other series like Wonder Woman...
?: yet you want to put it on a break.
?: Comics fans are cold, you know!
?: They'll switch over to the next new hero before you can blink your eyes.
?: Even if you do come back from Tokyo, there might not be any room left for you here.
K: My assistant Chuck will draw it for me while I'm gone.
?: You think you can just pass the work off so easily like that?!
?: Come on now, Kevin...who cares if it's stolen work?

07)
K: I heard that there was a character exactly the same as Billy Bat in Japan.
K(2b): If that is true, then I have to go ask for permission. There is a chance I saw it while stationed in Japan.
?: And subconsciously stole it, you mean?
K: Of course. I would never consciously steal someone else's work!!
?: Subconscious stealing isn't stealing.
?: No one's going to come out and say you stole from JUMP or anything like that.
K: My father was a gardener.
?: What's this all of a sudden...
K: He suffered a great deal coming over here.
?: I know, I know...he was so poor he could barely survive, right?

08)
K: Do you know what High-Branch Pruning Shears are?
?: Huh?
K: Scissors that can cut branches you can't even reach by using a stepladder.
?: Yeah, what about 'em?
K: My father designed those scissors himself using inspiration from the Japanese naginata.
K: But then an acquaitance of his beat him to securing a patent.
?: So the other guy just happened to thing of the same thing. So what?
K: That invention was a huge hit...
K: And my father died a poor man...
K: On his deathbed, my father left these words to me...

09)
D: "Ya can't steal other peoples' stuff."
B: Are you alright, mister?
K: Eh?
B: General MacArthur already left.
K: Oh...alright....
B: Hey, mister, gimme something!

10)
K: Give you something...what...?
B: Chocolate or gum or something!
K: Ah...sorry.
K: I don't have anything like that right now...
B: Tch! Another bust!
K: Ah...
K: Hey, kid...have you ever seen this before?
B: Eh?
B: Wah, cool, manga!!

11)
K: You've never seen this anywhere before?
B: Nope...
K: You...like manga?
B: Yeah!!
B: Oh? Then I'll give this to you.
B: You probably can't understand it since it's in English, though.
B: Really?
B: Thanks!!

12)
sfx: pata peta
K: If you read it while you run you'll get hit by a train!!
?: Hey, Kevin, what are you doing? I've been waiting for you!!
?: Yo!
?: First things first, you need to change into a uniform.
K: Eh...

13)
K: Charlie, I've already retired from the service...
C: What are you talking about?
C: How do you think you were able to get back into Japan so smoothly?
K: Ahh...
C: Right now the American forces are in great need of Japanese. No matter what reason they're here for, they are to put into immediate service.
C(2b): Translation, inspection...we've got our hands full here!
C: Ah, that's right...you can read classical Japanese text, correct?
K: Eh?
K: Ah...that's just so I can research period drama manga...
C: Yeah, yeah, samurai manga!! What was the name of that one...?

14)
K: "The Memories of a Texan Detective - Pistol Hair into the Wild"...
C: Ahh, yeah, yeah! That was really good!!
C: The chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Little Tokyo was one of my sponsors, so I got a whole bunch of old books to look over...
C: See, you can read it, right?
C: The GHQ is also conducting research on ancient texts, and conducting book burnings based on the contents.
C: But no one here can read classical text, so you'll be perfect!
K: Er, no...I can't read it that well...

15)
C: I got a little help myself, and found some really interesting stuff...
C: Secret texts about ninja arts, legendary ancient fighting styles and stuff...
C: Ah...I also got orders to search for ancient texts dealing with some weird secret organization...
C: Something about a secret organization before Japan was born...?
C: They supposedly used a bat as their symbol. I guess GHQ's searching for something related to that...
K: Speaking of bats, you reminded me, Charlie.
K: Have you ever seen anything like this before?
C: Ah, good morning, sir!!
C: Thank you for all your hard work here at GHQ, President!!

16)
C: Right now I'm working as an interpreter for Lt. Colonel Chagnon in the Civil Transportation Section (CTS).
C(2b): This Lt. Colonel guy is really a piece of work, though -- looking down on Japanese and stuff. But I just translate everything he says to make him look like a great guy.
C: Besides, I could be way worse off -- like the tens of thousands of people who were forced to take part in all the restructuring going on with the streamlining of the nation's railroads.
C: Ah, yes sir, I'll be right there!!
C: The uniforms are in the room over there. As long as you wear one of those, you can go anywhere in Japan.
K: Ah...alright.
C: President Shimoyama, this my friend Kevin Yamagata!

18)
K: Huh...?
K: This hat is too small...
K: Hey, kid, what's wrong?
B: Over there.

19)
K: Huh?
K: Wh...what is it...!?
O: Are you the one searching for these pictures?
K: Y...yes.

20)
O: I've seen this bat before...
K: Eh?
K: Where did you see it?
K: It was a tattoo,
K: on the back of a certain man...