[The Iron Oven: After the Storm]
The dust from the shattered wall of the restaurant still hung in the air, mixing with the smell of expensive wine and spilled sauce. Ato finally opened his eyes, his vision blurring as the world slowly stopped spinning. The pain in his chest from Raiden's punch was a dull, throbbing reminder of his defeat. As the ringing in his ears faded, he saw Faramis and Lemon sitting beside him.
Faramis was checking his goggles for cracks, while Lemon sat with his head down, his shoulders tense. Lemon was not happy at all. The pride of the navigator had been wounded as deeply as their captain's body.
Ato: "Lemon and faramis are you guys okay?"
Lemon looked up, his expression a mix of relief and frustration. "Oh lemon you woke up."
Faramis nodded, his voice shaky but steadying. "We are okay don't worry."
Ato struggled to sit up, his eyes scanning the ruins of the dining room. He saw the kitchen doors hanging off their hinges and the empty tables. "Where's old man is he okay?"
Faramis: "He is ok. He is resting."
Ato looked at his hands, which were still covered in the dust of the street. He felt the weight of the loss pressing down on him. "Sorry i dragged all of you with me."
Lemon: "Ato they took her." He said with a serious and sad look. The calculation of the mission had failed, and the cost was their new friend. "They took manjo away."
Ato's jaw tightened. The "Beast" inside him, usually wild and loud, was now cold and focused. "We will get her back."
From inside the restaurant, the sound of movement caught their attention. Some chefs were talking near the back office, their voices hushed.
Chef: "Head chef jacob you need to rest. You've lost a lot of blood!"
Jacob came outside rushing. He ignored the pleas of his staff, his face pale and his breathing ragged. He saw the three of them laying down on the cobblestones outside the broken wall. Jacob suddenly broke in tears. It wasn't the quiet crying of a man in pain; it was the sobbing of a father who had just watched his world be stolen.
Ato and his friends were shocked. They had seen Jacob as a legend, a cook of the Pirate King, a man of iron. Seeing him break like this hit them harder than Raiden's fist.
Ato: "Oi old man—"
Jacob lunged forward. He grabbed ato with shaking hands and crying he said. "Oi brat you wanted my daughter right." His grip was desperate, his fingers digging into Ato's dusty coat. "Please no matter what please bring her back."
Ato stood up slowly, detaching himself from the old man's grip. He stood alone, his silhouette dark against the setting sun. Suddenly, the sky turned grey, and it started raining. The cold water washed the dust from his hair, but it couldn't cool the fire in his eyes.
Ato: "Oi old man no matter what I'll bring her back."
Jacob looked at ato. Through the rain and the shadows, the boy's stance, his eyes, and the sheer absolute certainty in his voice changed. For a second, Jacob wasn't looking at a rookie pirate. He was remembering someone from twenty years ago, standing on the deck of a legendary ship.
Jacob: "Reno.."
Ato turned to Faramis, his voice cutting through the sound of the downpour. "Oi faramis where's kojo?"
Faramis blinked, realizing he hadn't seen the swordsman since the chaos started. "He was in the ship."
[The EDEN Fleet: The Demon's Night]
Scene changes to Kojo.
The ocean was black, illuminated only by the lanterns of the seven departing ships. On the sixth ship in the line—the one belonging to Vice-Commander Kaine—the deck was already slick. But it wasn't raining here yet; it was blood.
Kojo was a shadow in the dark. He was slashing and cutting everyone one by one. He moved with a cold, mechanical efficiency. He didn't scream; he didn't boast. He simply appeared behind EDEN soldiers and silenced them before they could even draw their rifles.
In the lower decks, Kaine, one of the seven commanders, was running towards the dining room after hearing the screams of his men. He threw open the door, his hand already on his wire-launchers. He opened the door and saw kojo sitting over all the defeated eden soldiers. The room was a graveyard of white coats and broken weapons.
Kaine: "Who are you?"
Kojo didn't look up immediately. He wiped a drop of red from his cheek. "I'm demon."
Kojo rushed towards kaine. The speed was blinding.
Kaine: "Wires:Wrap!"
Steel wires popped out of his hands, weaving into a deadly net designed to slice and bind. Kojo dodged, his body twisting mid-air like a gymnast. Kaine roared in frustration, continuously attacking kojo but he was dodging everyone of the wires. The wires hissed as they cut through the wooden tables and stone pillars, but they never touched Kojo's skin.
Suddenly, Kojo stopped moving. He stood perfectly still as the wires came whistling towards him from all sides.
Kojo: "What do you take me for I even cut obsidian."
With a flick of his wrists, he drew his blades. The steel sang. He cut the wires into a thousand tiny fragments that fell like rain.
Kojo: "Two sword style: Oni strike."
A cross-slash of blue energy tore through the room. It hit Kaine dead center, shredding through his EDEN coat and sending him crashing through the bulkhead. The commander of the ship was down.
Kojo sheathed one sword and looked around the bridge. "Now then i have to contact ato." He saw a radio type cell phone on the commander's desk and used it.
[The Docks: The Call]
Back on the island, the rain was coming down harder. Ato, Lemon, and Faramis were walking back toward their ship.
Ato: "He was in the ship so where is h—"
RING RING RING.
Faramis: "Wait someone is contacting us." He reached into his belt, pulling out his modified receiver. "Hello." He put the cell phone on speaker and from the other side kojo spoke.
Kojo: "Hello ato im kojo and I'm in the eden vice commanders ship I took down one ship."
Ato and everyone from the other side were shocked. Lemon's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
Lemon: "How did you got the—"
Ato: "Oi kojo i don't care how got there but take—"
Kojo from the other side: "Our chef back."
Ato: "Yes!"
Kojo: "Ok im going to other ship."
Ato from the other side: "Kojo there are much stronger people and please don't ever be defeated."
Lemon smiled, and Faramis too. They knew that when Ato said those words, it wasn't an order—it was a statement of faith.
Kojo from the other side: "Don't worry captain I will never be defeated. Ok then bye."
Ato: "Ok."
He cut the call. The energy of the crew had completely changed. The defeat at the restaurant was gone, replaced by a burning desire for revenge.
Ato: "Old man we are going to the ship and we are gonna save her."
Jacob: "Thank you very much."
They reached the ship, boarded the ship and were going at full speed. The engines hummed, and the water parted as they chased the distant lights of the EDEN fleet.
Ato: "Faramis more speed."
Faramis: "Ok. Boost."
The ship accelerates and goes on more speed. A massive gout of blue flame erupted from the thrusters, and the Beast's Debt flew across the waves like a bullet.
[Ship Five: The Earth-Shaker's End]
Scene changes to Kojo.
He had leaped across the dark gap between vessels, landing on the fifth ship. This was the ship of Vice-Commander Goro. The alarm had finally been raised. He was jumping to another ship and the soldiers and vice commander goro was standing waiting for him on the main deck.
Kojo: "Huh wow celebrating my arrival."
Goro: "Of course. We don't let demons wander our decks."
Goro was a massive man, holding a steam-powered iron hammer that hissed with heat. Kojo looked at the hammer, then at the fleet ahead. Suddenly kojo closed his eyes and remembered what Ato said to him—to never be defeated.
The image of his captain's face filled his mind. He went berserk.
Kojo became a blur of red and steel. He was slashing every soldier. Blood was everywhere and his black coat was now red, soaked through. The EDEN troops were terrified, falling before they could even pull their triggers.
Vice-Commander Goro was shocked. He had never seen someone move with such mindless, focused violence. He attacked Kojo with his hammer that could crush big boulders with one swing. He swung with all his might, the air whistling around the massive iron head.
But today, the hammer didn't find its mark. He swined hammer but his hammer was stopped. Kojo had caught the massive iron head with the flat of his blades, his feet digging into the wooden deck.
Kojo: "Two sword style: Dragon's Tail."
Kojo twisted his body, spinning like a cyclone. His blades glowed with a terrifying light. In one clean motion, he cut through the reinforced iron of the hammer and continued through Goro's chest armor.
The Vice-Commander stared in disbelief as his weapon fell apart in his hands. He slumped to the deck, defeated.
Kojo flicked the blood off his blades and looked toward the next ship in line.
Kojo: "Weak."