A spilling of water soaked a section of a table and a cold, dull-gray tiled floor. It went unnoticed by the majority due to the overwhelming chatter in the cafeteria. In the overhang above sat some vacant chairs and a large metal double door.

"Have you ever tried keeping the cup in your hand, son of a bitch? This is an everyday occurrence with you, Alejandro."

"What's it to you? Not like you're the one cleaning it."

"True, but the same goes for you half the damn time. You leave it for the janitor."

"Only when we're interrupted for a drill or some shit, Michael. You can get off my ass now."

"So… You aren't gonna tell me why?"

"What?"

"You aren't gonna tell me why you keep doing it?"

Alejandro scowled. "You know, you can ask what's up instead of berating me into leaking an answer."

"True, but you're soft so I have to toughen you up a bit. You're welcome," Michael smirked.

"Whatever man. I'm worried about Onfroy. Do you think he can really do it? King's already taken down two and…"

"Oh, Onfroy?!" Michael exclaimed, dropping his fork, "Of course King's getting the beatdown! Admiral Onfroy is a badass! The man who single handedly saved everyone in the Battle of Vitality?! No way he's gonna get killed by that shade wearing, piss-covered asshole!"

Alejandro cringed, breaking into an awkward grin. "I wouldn't say single-handedly… matter of fact, that's not even close to true. That just belittles everyone else who fought and...or, died. I doubt Admiral Onfroy would appreciate that kind of praise. The Berserker Blood is who really did most of the work if you ask me."

"Yeah, I guess. I wonder what changed Onfroy's mind to go after Blassadahl. He was always pretty adamant on having two or three other admirals in a big raid to overwhelm Blassadahl. Maybe he's got something up his sleeve."

Alejandro looked to the ceiling for answers with his hand supporting his chin. "Oh, there were some new people brought in for Science and Research! Maybe they already developed some new warships!"

Michael snickered and his eyes rolled. "Yeah, the random people with a mild interest in shiny bright things who were arbitrarily pulled from arbitrary islands created some next-gen ships in mere weeks of recruitment. Definitely."

"You never know, there's some geni-"

"Attention! Commandant Ghalla Vahn speaking!" Boomed strong vocals from a bold, bald woman. "I am delivering some very grim news early in the day… As many of you know, scout Nanda had reported sight of former pirate, Yujo Breech on Valtrice Island. The pirate had once been part of the now defunct Jagged Life pirates, an infamous group for their raid on many kingdoms and villages. On ordinary means, this would have resulted in a small squad overwhelming him, or only a few more considering Breech's expertise in combat… Regardless, he would have been apprehended with relatively minor casualties. But unfortunately, the devils of our nightmarish world feed on chaos; on destruction; on demise. The Raid On Breech resulted in only three survivors out of twenty-four, Soldier Reimus, Soldier Handel, who is in critical condition, and High-Captain Lanzo Lance."

Despite the silence already set, it managed to feel colder and more ominous. Ghalla Vahn continued.

"What happened? What unluck of the sea spouted from the funnels and soaked our brave fighters with cataclysm? Surely not one man from a failed pirate crew, right? Well if you believe so, you'd be correct. But as I stated before, the devils of the sea do not sleep. What forced us to reevaluate our small raid into a brigade was Breech's discovery of something from the depths of the underworld. A dark art. A wrought of

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malevolence. Not only did he subjugate himself to whatever madness it was he discovered, he dragged another into his well of hell with him - a child. Allow me to introduce to you a new challenge brought to us by Earth's hate."

She lifted a glass container with a black stone in it. On the side was an upward curving tube with two very tight seals. Up close, one could see glistening night-smoke within it due to the very small amount being produced.

"What is this? Some coal? A smoky one? Something the scientists have made out of boredom? Allow a demonstration," the commandant said.

Vahn bare handedly lifted a dead mouse by its tail and dropped it into the tube. It fell through the first seal, which then locked tight. Afterwards, the second seal opened and shut after the deceased rodent fell through. As the corpse came within near vicinity of the tiny stone, all skin and flesh vaporized, almost instantly. The only traces remaining of the mouse's existence was its skeleton, which was quickly degrading.

Gasps and even some chuckling, mixed of unsettlement, disbelief, or of astonishment sounded at the sight. She carried on. "So what even IS this? You are certainly asking. Unfortunately we do not know either. What we do know is that one: the science division is already researching it extensively. And two: this came from Yujo Breech's energy; his magic. Scout Nanda discovered a massive chunk of this on Valtrice in the woods known for being haunted by the... 'Dark Spirit' was it? Well, we conclude that 'spirit' was the demon Breech.

Needless to say, we were woefully unprepared for what… this is. But no, no. That is not even the conclusion of catastrophe. As I said, Yujo has a child alongside him, a young boy with peculiar ears on him. Something that makes him look born of fantasy; of legend; of myth. Perhaps that is what he is. Although Yujo was the target of the Navy, we believe that he anticipated this and brought along someone deceivingly capable. It appears that Yujo has subjected the child to whatever soul-selling for gain of power that he had endured for the boy, too, wields otherworldly abilities. In fact, he is proving to be far more lethal than Breech. While the Breech seems to wield some variant of Earth magic, the child, Hielo Ikari, wields variants of Fire.

Hielo Ikari slaughtered more than a dozen of our peace bringers in a one man, or in this case child, onslaught. The boy is said to have mimicked demons in his rampage... Unrelenting and merciless. Yujo Breech is no fool. He knows who he can use to keep himself free. And he rightfully chose this child with dangerous potential, and unfortunately that child has already been corrupted by him. He sides with him for he cannot see what the monster's true intentions are. And unfortunately, attempts to save the boy are too risky. Unless they take it upon themselves to surrender, a tragic death is their inevitable end."

"God this woman is crazy," Michael muttered, "She sure can stretch a simple 'these people are evil, kill them' into a whole speech. She should be a priest."

"Well she did mention them having a new magic," joined fellow Trista.

"You really believe that?" Alejandro laughed, "She's the last person I'd believe anything from. Lady's weird. Also, Michael, it seems you forgot that our job isn't simply just to kill. If that were the case, we'd just be pirates."

"We sail around taking things so 'the big bad people' can't have it. Sounds like pirates with a god complex to me," condemned Michael as he drank from a wooden cup.

"So you want one of the most powerful creations in the seas to fall into just anyone's hands?!" Interjected Trista, "That's including evil, if you don't know. Even if not in the hands of the vile, you trust random people with that power? Things would be chaotic!"

"You can lower your tone, Rose Hair. I see Vahn isn't the only one that can go on for days… If you haven't noticed, things are already chaotic, even without widespread use of sea curses."

"Which is why we should keep them out of their hands," Alejandro said, "You're right, Michael. Even without widespread sea curse use, things are hectic. Hell, the most infamous pirate uses GOLD. That's like, the slowest magic, right?"

"Yeah. Well, it should be… Blassadahl is an outlier… dude's crazy," Trista added.

"I'm not gonna give the asshole too much credit. He probably just has an amulet or something."

"I never saw King with an amulet, 'Andro."

"Have you ever seen him in person, Michael?" Retorted Alejandro.

"Yeah. Well, not up close. He came through my home kingdom once when I was a kid to laugh at how shitty our infrastructure was."

"That's… an odd thing to mock. Still terrible to say," Trista replied.

"Well he wasn't wrong. Hell, we overthrew the king and we became a republic afterwards. Guess we needed someone to say it."

Alejandeo chuckled. "Are you joking? What about the Storm? That thing freaks me out.,

"Eh, it must not be all that if its bounty is that much lower than the yellow dude's."

"I wouldn't say bounty is a direct representative of strength," Trista said, "and you do realize that the 'Storm' still is amongst the sea's most infamous, right? At least around here. Just because it's lower than King's doesn't mean the thing is weaker."

As metal clashed metal, Trista shielded her ears as a loud ring vibrating the tables came from the courtyard. The grand bell smashed each side of its interior and the cafeteria began losing its bodies. "And that's the end of lunch. I'm gonna nap," she said. "Take care, Michael. Alejandro, take care of Michael."

"She's always skipping out on the exercises. They're gonna catch her one of these days."

"You're just jealous, Michael," Alejandro antagonized.

"Of? You can't fight me."

"And you can't outrun me. Your point?"

"Are you flaunting your reliance on fleeing?"

Alejandro opened his mouth to send a rebuttal, but his tongue was at a loss for words. Instead, he placed his hands behind him and took bold strides in an attempt of salvage.