War under the sunless skies.

“¿Is this some kind of joke? Too much weird shit at once isn´t normal, Aniki.” Rocky Howards was much more desperate than usual his feet constantly moving as he shared the sudden news that now casted waves through slaver´s bay to the Immense man who manage to dwarf him even while sat. Kojiro listened closely in silence, below the huge old dried tree he took for a throne. He had remained at the heart of his territory his men still waiting for his order as chaos and uncertainty had them all on edge, but the quiet giant didn´t seem to lose his smile.

“¿Hahaha, so someone killed off Hiroshi for us?” Kojiro grinned much to the blond young man´s annoyance. “Yeah and put the blame on us, Salvatore will be cracking down on us any time now.” Kojiro leaned back grabbed along chain that was wrapped on the tree. “¿What of it, we will break anything that gets in our way.” With a single hand he forced the chain below him to move even while carrying at its end an iron sphere that was bigger and heavier than what any men could carry.

With a terrible racked the iron ball crashed in front of Kojiro caving the asphalt on the street under its overwhelming weight, but that man still wielded it without any effort. “It was inevitable; this was meant to happen sooner or later. ¡Very well you all, if you don´t wish to face the wrath of Salvatore, you can leave, no need to share my grave if your reason for fighting is someplace else.” Kojiro addressed the crowd, the men and women that remained in the shadows of the broken school building and the only man who still stood in his very presence.

“Huh, Aoi aneki is gonna be so sad, she put so much effort to stop this from happening till we were finally ready. ¿Who is taking responsibility for making her sad, eh?”

Rocky was too angry to care for Kojiro´s usual carelessness so he stepped on top of the spiked iron ball to get the height to look straight at Kojiro´s shades, his hands inside his pockets and a rather ugly expression on his usual pretty face. “That won´t do, she is already about to blew off those white suit suckers, there is no running away for aneki anymore, she can´t pull back now you might as well be abandoning her to die.” In a flash Kojiro flicked Rocky on the forehead with his fingers, throwing him off and into the ground. “Calm down, I may not have a plan, but there is still plenty I can do.” Kojiro Adachi stood up showing the sun tattooed black on his bare chest.

“You are free to leave too Howard-kun we both know it’s not for me that your soul wanted to fight and struggle. ¿So what is you? ¿What is your plan now, brother?”

Rocky stood up with his fist shaking in anger. “Now that I think about it, we never traded blows before, right Aniki.” Kojiro smiled showing off his always creepy grin. “That’s true I never tested you meddle before. ¿One last for the road then?” Rocky jumped with his fist raised.

“¡Hell, yeah!” The shorter man jumped by using the spike ball as a platform to propel him above, his fist aiming straight into Adachi´s smiling face. Kojiro moved his huge body moved out of the way as if it had simply disappeared. “Hahaha:” With a resounding laugh the huge man moved behind throwing his own fist, his arm looking gigantic as it closed towards Rocky´s head. Rocky Howard ducked below not letting him reach a single one of his golden hairs.

Kojiro sent Roacky a kick to smash him with his sandals and with short hops he evaded him and began to back out of his range, Kojiro didn´t move to pursue him, he simply stood smiling. “It’s almost like you´re dancing, I rather like it.” Howard didn´t cease to move as he moved with short hops on the same place. “It´s just like your sister says you never listen unless someone hits you right in the face first.”

“¿Tell me then, what do you want to do brother?”

“She is not going to stop, even if she knows it’s hopeless…because she wants to protect you aniki.” Kojiro stopped smiling, showing a much more somber face. “¿So, you are going to take Aoi out of here by force? Haha, and then what? ¿You will run off and get married? Rocky raised his fists in front of his face, as he laughed weakly. “I wish, but she is just gonna hate me for this, but I still love her too much Kojiro-san.” Kojiro laughed again, his boisterous laugh turning a violent and rough. “¡You can´t even land a punch against me and you think I´ll trust you with my sister? ¡Don´t bark so loud you little brat!” Kojiro raised his arm high above, the long coat he wore fluttering like a curtain behind him. “¡No way I´m gonna scream louder than ever! ¡So listen up!”

Rocky Howard didn´t took a single step back and rather raised his right fist nd rushed forward suddenly breaking on his steps and taking his elbow back behind him to strike against Kojiro with his full momentum, even with his enemy still far away from him, he threw his strongest fist into the air.

“¡I fucking love her!!!”

As he screamed, his voice made the very earth tremble and his fist carried forward a powerful sound wav from his throat and to the enemy. It crashed straight against Kojiro´s head and passed releasing a strong explosion of nothing but sound. The old dried tree behind him shacked as his surface cracked and the crows perched above it all flew into the skies in a black cloud.

“Heh…” With a groan Kojiro reached Rocky moving his huge fist straight into his line of sight, in his current position he no longer had the time to dodge and simply tried to raise his fist to cover his face.

Kojiro stopped his fist just in time to simply flicker him with his finger again, sending him to the ground in the gentlest way he could. Rocky looked back at him from the ground, his face twisting in bitter anger. “¡What the hell I thought you were fighting for real!” He only heard Kojiro laughing again. “I was, but you already won. Haha I heard you alright, loud and clear.” Kojiro´s broken sun shades fell from his face, letting Rocky see his brown small eyes, they were tender just like his sister´s. But Rocky could only see that blood was dripping from Kojiro Adachi´s ear even if he was smiling warmly.

“You can land a punch alright, I won´t stop you if you feel like stopping her, so go on ahead you have my blessing, but at the end it´s all up to her.” Rocky got back on his feet again, tried to dust off the dirt from his white pants and tuck up his pink shirt under his white jacked. “You sure are something Aniki, I won´t let you down.” Finally he took out a comb and tried to regain his usual appearance by fixing his hair smoothly, even with his nose bleeding from just that little strike.

“She is just as stubborn as I´m, she´ll try to die to save us all just like I would, but like that no one is gonna be saved at the end, you might be able to change that, but I cannot, she never listen to a thing I said either.” Rocky finally fixed his blond pompadeur hair and pointed straight at the sun tattoo on his chest. “You can count on me; I´ll never let them snuff out my sun.”

“Wow you sure did it man.” Another person stepped towards Rocky, a very excited man dressed in a red jumpsuit with a gruesome scar on his face.

“Seriously no one has ever landed a hit on boss Kojiro, you are seriously cool, man.” Another guy came to Rocky and hugged him under his arm.

“¡You can count on us; we will help you keep our commander safe!” A woman stood at his side wielding a long blade, as she smiled at the beaten man, soon enough the crowd that had witnessed the fierce fight from the shadow stepped out to surround them both.

“Thank you Kojiro- san for not breaking Rocky´s face that would have been another tragedy.” Another girl stood behind Kojiro meeting the giant with a careless smile.

“¿How is it that you are still so popular even after losing? Haha, I´m starting to feel bad.” Kojiro´s smiled now without any trace of danger in his expression. “Now I need another pair of shades.” Another man came closer to him with a grim expression on his pale face; he wore a trench coat and a pair of shades. “You can have mine Kojiro- san just give them back later, alright.” Kojiro put the shades on hiding his gentle eyes and already looking a little bit scarier.

“Oh dear I just keep making more and more promises, it’s getting heavy to carry them all.” As they laughed, Kojiro and Rocky stood in front of each other with a clear distance being made and the crowd took the side of one of them, splitting into two.

“Sorry Kojiro-san but we are going to bail, we will make sure our commander and all of us can get out safe to see a new sun someplace else.” One of the men standing behind Rocky spoke.

“¿So why are you imbeciles not with Howard-kun? Kojiro asked to the man and woman who remained behind him. “Sorry but we have our debts to settle with this island, so we are staying here till the end.” A woman answered and at her side the grim man who lent his sun glasses spoke. “We were going to rampage all on our own even without you Kojiro-san. This is our day of revolution right, we waited enough.” Kojiro passed his hand through his trimmed beard. “I suppose the scorching sun did begin all this even if it’s only as a lie, it’s still only fair that we see it though till the end now that all those people believe in us. ¡Very well you imbeciles, till the end!” Kojiro Adachi grinned showing his white teeth in a bestial grin.

“Go find her then, I will see you both soon enough, I just need to do one last job first.” Kojiro told him with a more gentle expression and a warm smile that vanished as fast as it came.

“Aniki, you know, the two of you really are incredible you guys really keep us going for so long, you can’t blame me for wanting to be a part of that. Like real brothers.” Rocky told him with a shrug.

“Imbeciles the lot of you, you know you were already family.” Kojiro turned his back away from him. “See you later brother.” That’s all he said as he walked away carrying the huge spike ball through the ground behind him, with those that decided to fight with him till the very end following his stride.

“Goodbye, Kojiro-san.” Howard answered him back and walked away in the opposite direction, his tone of voice barely more than a whisper and for the first time in years the abandoned school yards was once more completely empty, all that remained on it was the red and black flag of the scorching sun that lay at the feet of the broken tree that finally had come to shatter.

“So Kojiro-sama what´s our last job before dying.” A black haired woman asked him, with her eyes to the ground. Event thought they all decided their fate, their group remained far more quiet than the excited lot that charged with Rocky, after all this were the people who came to this island by force and have long forgotten the look of a clear sky, they couldn´t imagine any place outside of Isla franca.

“Burn, crush and kill every person and everything that made of slaver´s bay what it is, don´t fear my brothers because I´ll lead the charge and not even Hiroshi´s wall could have stopped me.” The rest of them remained silent, but there was a clear resolution in their faces not different to Kojiro who no longer smiled.

“But most important of all, we need to make them a path, a way to free them from this island, a path for my sister and everyone else to travel.” Kojiros mouth turned into a terrible grin. “We are gonna steal ourselves a ship out of hell.” In front of Kojiro more people gathered all sporting the black sun upon their bodies; they were armed and had nothing else to lose, the whole of the school gated awaited with the yakuza that had nothing else to be afraid of, a huge crowd that moved making a path for Kojiro to travel.

“¡All we have left to lose is our home, our slaver´s bay, so let´s burn all down ourselves!” Kojiro jumped from within the crowd, his strong legs launching him to the gray skies above where he landed on a near factory roof and with a single move of the long iron ball in his hands, he utterly crushed its ceiling along with the tall chimney which never ceased to release smog into the skies.

The rest of them looked in awe, but they too had a fight in them began to spread with heavy weaponry in hands, running after the shadow of Kojiro Adachi who flew through the very air.

And so the city began to burn.

Fires spread with neither distinction nor direction, it was simply a cleanse they all simply wished to see the street turn down to ash. They claimed for violence and from the grey skies above that man descended crushing everything on his way. “Hahaha” He chuckled to himself as he flailed the long chain crashing the spike ball right in the middle of a group of armed riot control soldiers, their bullet proof shield breaking apart like mere paper, they’re bones followed thought. That man laughed in a roar as he blew through the broken opposition an jumped back into the skies above, not even feeling the many gunshots that reached his body on the way, they could never get on the way of his final job, all that remained now that his hopes had been dashed.

As he flew above the dirty streets his eyes saw it, a huge red trading cruise ship. Kojiro Adachi smiled a wide with grin, that immense cruise was the only in port and the only hope for the slaves to escape from the burning bay and there existed no man that could stop him from taking, with full confidence in that fact, he had no need of any plans.

Everything will break against his body that was the one thing Kojiro Adachi knew with complete certainty.

“Aggh” A man screamed as a huge figure crashed in front of him.

Like a meteorite Kojiro landed on the deck of the huge cargo ship, make the iron floor below him cave under the pressure of bearing his fall and then just behind him, his huge weapon crashed piercing the iron floor with one of its spikes. The man knew of him, he had never seen him, but all men in slaver bay knew of him, how could they ever not.

“Agg… stop” The man could barely spoke and Kojiro´s smile grew as he stretch his long arm forward and grabbed the main in his forehead with his finger and forced him above the ground with nothing, but those fingers. “Hello, can you tell me which people are needed to drive this thing.” The man still couldn´t answer all his mind was capable of was to plead and beg desperately. They both heard the sound of boots began to surround them as the security of the freighter came to take aim at the impossible intruder, these men where all new here, Kojiro could tell at a glance they yet to really know his name.

“¡Sorry we will take care of the security ourselves from on, you can all leave the ship now!” Kojiro swung his weapon while still holding that grown man with his free hand on the air, the chain stretched onwards as the men opened fire, each and every single bullet hit him upon his chest, but none of them could pierce his skin, he had no need to block or dodged a single thing. The huge sphere crashed against the guards sending two of them flying against the far away wall. “¡Haha! His rampage waited for no as he changed the direction of his attack mid swing and made it crash against the ship´s fence and two men along with the fence simply vanished into the seas beyond and so the man laughed, the chain and sphere dancing through the air in a whirlwind of violence that leave not a single soul react.

“Aggg…” the man groaned overwhelmed by a terrible nausea since Kojiro never let go off him for even a second

“Well then. ¿Can you tell me now? ¿Or maybe we don´t need you either to drive this ship.” No one was left alive on the deck other than two of them, but the sound of gun fire didn´t stop it only seemed to grow larger.

“¿Can you hear them? Looks like my whole family are moving in to this nice ship.” Kojiro´s smile grew wide again as he finally let go of the man and crouched too look him in the eyes.

“I will tell you… who you need so please don´t.” “Don´t worry no one here has you any I´ll will, if you behave that is.” Kojiro ruffled the man´s hair and stood up again, his smile disappearing as he felt something amiss around him.

“Huh, you are quite something to come out after my little show.” Kojiro´s smile vanished.

A short figure was standing behind Kojiro. It was a person wearing a lot of sweaters and a long winter scarf, along with surgeons mask and thick black sun glasses. It was clear how much that person was trying to hide their identity. This person was simply standing there without saying a word, but their posture looked more than ready for any assault, they were far from defenseless.

“Haha only surprises today. ¿Who are you supposed to be, you don´t look like a soldier or one of those white suits?” Kojiro walked towards them carrying the steel ball behind him as it screeched loudly while breaking the floor. “Maybe you are the one who took down Hiroshi if so I guess I need to thank you for it, even if it gets me killed at the end.” The figure remained silent and Kojiro let his shoulders fall as he looked back at the frightened man that had become nothing, but a pale shaking ghost.

“When my friends come, please show them the place; tell them I had one more errand to run.” The man agreed weakly with his head, his legs still trembling too much to help him get up. Kojiro walked onwards and in response the other figure changes their stance into a combat one by moving their right leg behind them, both arms at the ready.

“¿Martial arts? I have never needed that stuff, punching people in the face is more than enough for me, but if not I just crush them like this.” He stepped back and using both of his arms he moved the giant sphere from behind him and into the air making it fall forward from above towards the enemy. They did a quick jump backward flipping falling to their feet again on top of the ship´s fence, a great feat, but one they barely manage to make.

The sphere had crushed the steel floor into breaking completely and Kojiro had to pull the sphere back with a strong pull. “Haha, so you won´t attack back, that’s no fun.” Kojiro was smiling all the same as he pulled back the huge chain and ball back to his side. The figure got into position to jump from the metal fence just as Kojiro released another devastating throw.

The huge sphere flew forward and his opponent jumped backwards in time using the fence for impulse, they arched their backs as the sphere flew below them, breaking the fence apart and recoiling back into the ship with the same crazy speed. The martial artis spun on the air as they fell to the ground below, ensuring their fall would be correct. But a laugh echoed above them as Kojiro jumped after them, the huge sphere behind him aiming to crush his opponent as soon as they fell. It was in a split second that they landed and rolled to their side, the asphalt cracking a mere hair away by the sphere. The unknown figure was blown away farther by the sheer force of the impact as Kojiro landed in front of his weapon.

“You are not running away little bunny.” Kojiro´s smile grew wide as he began to make the steel sphere above his head making the thick heavy chains move above him like a simple lasso. His opponent quickly got back on their feet, now slowly walking away, but without taking their eyes from their opponent.

“This is ridiculous.” The mysterious figure said under her breath.

Yong Lee was finding out that even with her apprehensions, her mission was even worse than she had imagined. There was no getting close to that man it felt completely impossible. Forget about striking back I just need to be faster, as long I´m faster he won´t reach me.

The sphere crashed from above as she jumped backwards through the pier and began to run away as fast as she could. The floor broke under her barely jumping in time to evade losing her legs. “I just need to distract him yeah right.” Yong turned around to see her enemy’s movements as he swiped with the steel ball from the right.

Yong rolled forward passing just below the iron chains, the spiked ball making a wide crack on the ground. She finally saw her chance and ran off into an alley.

The steel ball flew thought the air straight at her, its shape looking more enormous as it drew closer to her sight, a wide white smile on Kojiro Adachi´s face, that of a child playing around. Yong´s feet began to tremble.

“¡I won´t die!”

As the steel ball rushed to crush her, she jumped once more.

***

“Very well.”

Irvin Maximillian remained alone in the darkness placing another cellphone among a trail full of them and as a finally touch Irvin took a remote control from his lab coat and pointed them at the cellphones, one by one they all released a dim line of smoke as their chips burned from within.

Everyone is in place now, Yong will try to stop Kojiro from reuniting with the rest of the scorching sun, Dino is awaiting her arrival… and the Beretta´s are under assault by Aoi Adachi and soon enough Rocky Howards, the only unknown piece being that of the strange Noh´s position, but that burden will fall on Tony´s hands and not ours. The board is finally set.

Irvin took his steel briefcase from the floor and place his controller in his ear.

The rest is all up to them, all I can do now is hope.

“Boss, I have Yong on my line of sight now.” Danny spoke from the controller itself, the last line of communication Irvin left standing, a single radio.

“Perfect, please make sure to give her instructions on how to proceed, we must not allow her to get cornered.” Irvin closed their communication, now that everything was set his next move was to abandon slaver´s bay. He never had any intentions of seeing the fight of the Beretta family till the end their fates, never concerned him.

As a final farewell to his command center Irvin set a match on fire and threw it to a barrel of gasoline at its center so all the proof of his involving would be burn away. As he strolled casually to the outside of the darkened warehouse, he came to hear a single, but loud step ahead of him and in a cold sweat he brought his walk to a halt.

“I hope I´m not interrupting anything.”

From the entrance a tall man walked calmly towards Irvin, of brown skin with luscious long black hair and clear blue eyes that felt dead inside, a beautiful man whose but whose expression could only made people evade him. He wore a wearing a fancy white military uniform with a green ribbon in front and the crest of a royal family upon his chest. This man was Naga Kochar, exiled prince and one of the few men Irvin encountered when he arrived upon the island.

¿How? ¿How is this man not death? Irvin´s displayed his fear, this was simply something that couldn´t have been possible, there was no surviving his mother´s poison.

“Don´t worry I´m not so petty to come here for revenge over you killing me or anything.” The man spoke with a dull boredom on his voice, barely showing anything upon his expression.

Killing you… Haha, what nonsense if her you stand.

Irvin took a step back, but stopped as he heard a loud crash behind him, he turned back to see that the flames that he ignited had spread through the whole room, growing larger as they consumed his documents and maps.

“We are here on official business as members of the student council.” Naga spoke cordially without paying any mind to the encroaching fire.

“¿We?” Irvin mumbled with a shaking voice.

“¡Yes, we do!” A loud high pitched voice answered behind him and Irvin turned back completely and fell to the ground.

Someone had sneaked right behind him without making a single sound. Wearing a white sleeveless dress that came down to their knees, knees that sported golden armored leggings with an elegant design, just like their arms that were clearly prosthetic golden limbs. Their face was gallant and rather boyish with black clear eyes and they sported a lot messy fluffy hair under an old fashioned white ladies hat.

“I´m the student council Vice president Jeanne Weiss, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance Mr. shining eye.” Their golden limb moved closer to Irvin’s sunglasses and he instinctively backed away. Jeanne retracted their arm and put both of their arms behind theirs and showed him a devilish smile, framed by the flames that burned behind them.

“Relax we don´t have anything against you, at least not yet. It’s only that the president wishes to speak with you, maybe with some tea and cookies by the side.” Irvin had no words, he was barely getting a grasp of how hopeless his situation had become.

The student council, It can´t be, if this is the case that woman knows. She knows of my trump card and I have made an incredible mistake. Irvin looked back at Naga who merely stared into the fire. Haha… how could he not have died and how did she even knew of him. ¿How did they even found me here? None of it makes sense.

All I can understand is that if I let them take me, it will all be for naught.

Irvin raised his briefcase, but his hand was frozen. There was no way he could win, if it had been only Naga, he may have managed a miracle again, but against two enemies and one he knew absolutely nothing about, a miracle could never come to pass. A perfect checkmate against him, by an enemy he didn´t even knew to be playing.

I can´t give up, even if it’s mad. I have to escape, I must, I need to see I happent, that all-encompassing light.

“¡Ja..Haha…HahaHahaahaaahahhaaaa…HAHAHAHAAHA!” Irvin laughed, unknown to himself as he could no longer stop, laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of his situation at the hopeless of it all, his voice that a man breaking down into madness.

“Heh, why don´t we just move and talk somewhere less dangerous for now, please get up.” Irvin didn’t hear a single of Jeanne´s words only his own cracking broken laugh as he stared into the ceiling above, a dim purple light shining at the right corner of his sunglasses. Show me a path, oh purple light. Let me see that victory at least once more you cursed bright light.

“¿eh…what is?” In the must sudden of manners Irvin stopped laughing and the light upon his eye was gone once again. He felt cold, terrible so and wet from something that dripped all around his body. “¿What is this?” Irvin muttered to himself in disbelieve as he saw his body drown in a black liquid ooze a substance that seemed to absorb all light, a gross living swam that had simply risen from below him and now spread towards his enemies.

“What in the name of…”

Jeanne blocked with both arms a long lance that erupted from within the ooze just the tip of their hair, it was an elegant lance dripping in the black substance and it had simply came out from the floor against all laws of physics, along with a pair of long bony hands that wielded. Irvin saw them come, human faces floating in the ooze that surrounded him, hands gripping his body to keep down, forcing him deeper still as more lances where raised from below like a legion of knights returning to life.

¿Is it hell? It looks like hell.

That’s all that Irvin could think as the coldness drowned him further in among hundreds of whispers, voice calling fort from below. Naga Kochar didn’t hesitate to run forward raising his hand to reach Irvin before he was absorbed within that black hell, but from a huge eruption the ooze called forth a knight in black shining armor, his head nothing, but a skull who welded an axe against him, Naga stopped the axe by dodging under it and stopped his descend by grabbing the handle with one arm and then striking that black figure with other shattering it down, letting it rain back into its black ooze, but it was too late and only Irvin´s face remained above the black mud swamp.

It’s nonsense, nothing makes sense anymore. HahaHaha, of course they don’t.

There is no such thing as senseless in Isla Franca, no such things abnormal either and yet I wasn´t able to see it. That’s right I wasn´t mad enough for this island, that´s all there is to it.

Haha…HahaHahaHahaHahaHah

Two long hands with bright black nails came forth from the sides of his head and slowly they closed into his face eclipsing his vision and finally dragged Irvin down into a perfect pitch black sight.