Chapter 8: "The Compass That Never Points North"
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[Panel 1]
BANG echoes. Smoke trails from the thug's gun.
Riven's eyes are squeezed shut. He trembles, frozen in fear.
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[Panel 2]
The thug looks confused. His gun is bent, sparking at the barrel — sliced cleanly mid-shot.
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[Panel 3]
SFX: CLINK!
A blade is withdrawn — a familiar curved katana with a shark-shaped guard.
Voice (off-panel): "Oi. That's no way to treat a kid."
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[Panel 4]
Reveal: Johnny and Yosaku, post-timeskip. Their outfits are sleeker; Johnny wears a worn overcoat with bounty tags stitched into it, while Yosaku sports a sharp haircut and two short swords across his back.
Narration Box: (Johnny & Yosaku — Former bounty hunters. Trained with Zoro. Still chasing justice, their way.)
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[Panel 5]
The thugs scramble, startled.
Thug 1: "Wh-Who the hell—?!"
Yosaku (cracking knuckles): "Bad idea, picking on adventurers."
Johnny: "Worse idea? Doing it in front of us."
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[Panel 6–8]
A fast-paced fight. Yosaku disarms two with brutal kicks. Johnny flips over another, slamming him headfirst into a crate.
Riven hides behind a barrel, holding his compass tight to his chest, whispering numbers and directions through sobs.
Riven: "135 degrees… drift… 12 units west… don't stop… don't stop…"
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[Panel 9]
Maelis and Kael arrive, just in time to see the last thug knocked unconscious.
Maelis (raising eyebrow): "Friends of yours?"
Kael (dryly): "Nope. But they've got style."
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[Panel 10]
Johnny notices them. Tension rises.
Johnny (guarded): "You two look like walking Wanted posters."
Kael (approaching slowly): "Not yet. But we're working on it."
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[Panel 11]
Yosaku steps between them. Riven peeks out from behind the barrel.
Yosaku: "You here for the kid?"
Maelis: "We didn't even know he existed."
Johnny: "Then why do I feel like fate just drew a straight line between you three?"
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[Panel 12]
Kael crouches near Riven, eyes softening slightly.
Kael: "Hey… You alright?"
Riven (sniffles): "I didn't cry…"
Kael: "Of course you didn't."
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[Panel 13]
Riven shows Kael the compass — it pulses faintly, almost alive.
Riven: "They wanted this. But it's all I have left of her…"
Kael (quiet): "That's reason enough to fight."
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[Panel 14]
Kuro speaks, venomous but curious.
Kuro (internal): "That's no ordinary compass… it points to things that shouldn't be found. I hate it."
Kael (thinking): "Which means I need to know what it does."
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[Panel 15]
Johnny and Yosaku huddle with Maelis and Kael.
Johnny: "We've gotta go. Marines'll come sniffing soon."
Yosaku: "But that kid's got a trail on him. Real bad one."
Maelis: "Who's hunting him?"
Johnny (serious): "World Nobles. And not the lazy kind."
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[Panel 16]
Kael looks toward Riven, who sits quietly now, wiping his eyes, compass still glowing faintly.
Kael (to Maelis): "He's just a kid."
Maelis: "So were you."
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[Final Panel — Cliffhanger]
Kael walks toward Riven, kneels down, and offers a hand.
Kael: "We've got space on our ship… if you're brave enough to sail with monsters."
Riven looks up, eyes wide, breath caught.
Narration: "And so the compass began to turn."
TO BE CONTINUED.
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