The Island

"That photographer..." Iroko said, "she knew where we were, somehow."

"Yeah," Kasugo confirmed, "she appeared out of nowhere."

"Invisibility?" Kuroki suggested. "Or teleportation?"

"Teleportation," Iroko replied. "She appeared next to Blazy right after ruining our plan."

"How? Did she do anything else that could help us identify her power?"

"She kicked my gun so I would miss my target..."

"Oh, before that!" Kasugo commented. "She was taking pictures of us."

"So she has no offensive ability, since all she managed to do to stop Iroko was kick his weapon away," Kuroki added. "And she had reasons to take pictures, probably as a condition for using her power?"

"Teleportation using photos?" Kasugo asked, not convinced. "Did she take photos of us beforehand so she could teleport to us?"

"I've never seen her, so she's probably one of Blazy's secret bodyguards."

"Wait a minute," Iroko said, "even if she had our photos, how would she know I was targeting Blazy? And if she did know, why didn't she just tell her to get out of the way and bombard us without even needing to teleport first?"

"I understand what you mean, Iroko," Kuroki replied. "She has many conditions for her power to work. She probably knew you were targeting Blazy, but didn't know exactly where. So, she had to teleport to check."

"That makes sense... She told Blazy where we were after teleporting back."

"She doesn't know where she's going to teleport to? Then we could simply lure her and kill her before she teleports," Kasugo suggested.

"Even if you managed to kill her that quickly," Kuroki retorted, "you should expect her to have a tracker. Otherwise, how would she know exactly where you were from so far away, after teleporting twice?"

"And Blazy would destroy us," Iroko added, "especially because her fireballs grow with distance."

"Not just that," Kasugo commented, "What if it was a clone?"

"Then things would get even worse," Kuroki answered. "She probably sensed the danger to Blazy's life, so it would be best if we avoided shooting her. Let's kill Episan first."

Blazy and the others arrived on the island. Episan jumped from the helicopter, landing on the ground in great pain. "Fuck, I shouldn't have done that..."

The others climbed down slowly, also feeling pain. Blazy began to sweat and looked unwell. "Master?" Booster said, concerned.

"It's the after-effect of your potion..." she replied. "Don't worry, I'm not going to die this easily."

"I'm sorry my concoctions have side effects... I'm working on a way to perfect them."

"Take your time, you're doing well..."

"Hey, what are you slowpokes waiting for?" Episan waved his hands at them. "I'm the most injured one here, and I walk faster than you!"

"Master, should we teach him a lesson?" whispered Booster, annoyed by the billionaire's arrogance.

"Not yet... we'll need him for a while. And he's bipolar, so don't irritate him."

One of Episan's subordinates approached him and whispered something in his ear. "Boss, an unauthorized flight is going to fly over your territory. Should we retaliate?"

"What kind of flight?" he asked, slightly offended. "A military one?"

"A commercial flight," the subordinate answered.

"A commercial one? With passengers and all? Are they going to deploy any kind of threat on my island?"

"N-No, sir. We just thought it best to inform you in case some outsider trespassed on your territory."

"You're right, I said something like that. Most airlines are avoiding my territory now because they know that no one but me has jurisdiction here. However, what made you think a commercial airplane deserved my attention? "How much do you think my time is worth?"

"I-I'm deeply sorry, boss." The subordinate lowered his gaze, scared. Episan stared at him for a while, with a grim expression. After an uncomfortably long time, he smiled again.

"Just kidding! It's better to keep me informed of everything than to tell me nothing. You've been promoted to employee of the month, congratulations!"

The subordinate suspected something was wrong with that sudden change in atmosphere, but then smiled awkwardly. "Thank you very much, boss!" And he walked away.

Episan playfully nudged Blazy with his shoulder. Maika frowned enviously. "Hey, what do you think about destroying that plane?" He pointed to the plane, far in the distance, that was about to fly over his island.

"What?" she asked, suspicious. "Why?"

"Because I said so. You've been blowing up a few planes lately, haven't you? Wouldn't it be fun to do it again?"

"That was just for target practicing..."

"And what makes this time different? Come on, show me your accuracy! After all, an outsider can't fly over my island and get away unscathed."

"I'm not feeling well... it would be best not to use my power for now."

"Do it. Now," he ordered, with a dry and dissatisfied expression.

She hesitated for a few seconds, but gave in. "Right... but I need to concentrate."

"Oh, that is not a problem! Have you ever seen me interrupting you at an important moment?"

Blazy pointed her finger at the plane and closed her eyes, breathing heavily and in pain. Then, she launched a fireball, controlling its trajectory remotely with her mind.

"Boo!" shouted Episan, breaking her concentration and causing her to miss her target. "What, did you think I was serious? It's just a commercial airplane. Why would I risk losing potential future customers?"

"Haha..." she forced a laugh. This guy is disgusting... I'll kill him as soon as I don't need him anymore.

You should practice being more submissive, Blazy, he thought. I'm going to make you mine.

After resting for the remainder of the afternoon, it was already midnight and Kuroki's group was at a port. They saw a man smoking near a boat. He was wearing a black suit, had black hair, and wore glasses. Kuroki approached him.

"We're here," he said.

"The payment," the man replied.

Kuroki showed him a transaction code. "Let's go," the man said after scanning the code and receiving the payment.

They got into the boat, with the man driving.

"Episan's power lies in ignoring many rules," Kuroki had told his group while they were at the hotel. "That's why he can't be arrested through legal means; his island has its own laws, which he can break as he pleases."

"So he can defy some of the rules of the game as well?" Iroko asked. "Because he crossed the event barrier."

"Exactly. He has his own army and bodyguards, and since it's an island, we can only get there by boat or helicopter. A helicopter would attract too much attention, so we need to rent a boat."

"He has radars and such, right?" Kasugo commented. "Wouldn't it be hard to sneak in?"

"That's why we're going at night. I have a contact who works for Episan as a spy. They wouldn't suspect anything if a licensed boat entered the island."

"Wait a minute," Iroko interrupted, "wouldn't it be better to not approach the island? Since he has bodyguards, it would be dangerous for both of us, Kuroki. And I can snipe from the boat."

"Only if you're quick enough. His team will get suspicious if we stay in the same spot for too long. So, if you think you can find and eliminate him quickly, go ahead."

They were traveling to the island. It wasn't very far, as it was still legally recognized as part of Japan. But the authorities and other countries couldn't interfere, since Episan's power allowed him to commit any kind of crime and get away with it.

Iroko was focused, peering through his scope. Kuroki had binoculars, but they didn't have infinite zoom. Even from kilometers away and at night, Iroko could examine the island, as the neon lights only highlighted the important buildings.

"Which building is he in?" he asked, without taking his eyes off the scope.

"The central and biggest one," Kuroki responded. "He lives there, but I don't know if he's be there right now."

Iroko examined all the rooms he could find; one of them was more spacious and luxurious than the others. But the light was off, and the moonlight that streamed in revealed no one inside.

"He's not in his bedroom... Wait, I see a room with lots of colored lights on the ground floor."

"It's probably the living room," Kuroki said. "Can you see anyone in there?"

"It's hard to see from this angle... Driver, can you make a turn?"

As the room was slowly revealed to Iroko, he could see several people inside. Episan, Blazy and her group, and some other people he didn't know.

"He's there," Iroko said coldly.

"What about Blazy?" Kuroki asked.

"She and her photographer are there too, but there are many people I don't know."

"Focus on your target. Don't aim at Blazy, the photographer might notice us."