Nothingness
Two Thousand Club
Captain of S.S. InfinityEdward IshikawaMood: Distressed"And that's how I got this scar..." Ending the tale with him pointing towards his left eye that had the mark of what appeared to had been a large slash-like scar that had healed far long ago. "Wooahh! Tell us another story grandpa! C'moon!" A young boy amongst a rather large group of children exclaimed excitedly as he bounced in place while seated on the floor with his legs crossed. "Oh! Oh! Oh! Tell us the story about when you beat a Dragconi with your bare hands!" One of the female children suddenly spoke up causing the other children who hadn't heard the story yet to gasp at the thought of their 'grandpa' defeating a beast that stood well over 30 to 50feet tall and could breathe all forms of elemental energy and had an appearance similar to that of a dragon.In the sky - Top deck of S.S. Infinity
Laughing at the excitement, Edward Ishikawa, Captain of the S.S. Infinity raised his hands to try and calm the consistent pleading of the children to tell the story. "Now, now, children, you know Grandpa Eddi has to go soon. And isn't it about time for lunch? Surely you don't want to waste all that work Sister Catherine did making your food now, do you?" As he questioned the young children, they whined before turning their heads over their shoulders towards the orphanage where a middle aged nun stood waving to the children to come back to the orphanage.
"Here...I'll walk you all back." Offering the walk, the children were quick to agree as they all stood from the floor after Edward helped himself up from the old wooden chair that was sitting on the side of the dock meant just for him for the 'story time'. As the group made their way to the orphanage gates, the nun filed the children into the building before bowing her head to Edward. "Thank you, Captain Edward. Truly, everytime you return...your stories are what these children look forward to. Thank you, honestly. Please, have safe travels and may the blessing of the World Tree protect you and your crew." As the nun spoke and gave her blessings, he'd nod in return before giving his own bow. "And thank you, Sister. To see those warm smiles on their faces is all I need to continue living on. Do take care of them, I promise, I shall return as soon as I am able to. With more stories, no less." With that said, he finished his words with a hearty laugh that he shared with the nun before they went their separate ways.
Heading back to the docks which had only been a couple of minutes of a stroll, Edward paid little mind to the populace as he walked by multiple strangers on his way back to his ship.
By the time he had made his arrival to his vessel, Jin had been carrying up the last of the large crates of vegetables onto the large plank and to bring it fully on board. Approaching his Quartermaster, he'd slap Jin on his shoulder while laughing still heartily. "Great work Jin, my boy! That looks like the last of it! Now, lets get ready to set sail! Everyone on board?" Nodding his head in response to his Captain's question, Jin carried the large crate of vegetables down several decks to reach the kitchen where he'd leave it before helping put away the food.
Meanwhile, back on the main deck Captain Edward was had been standing at the bow of his ship as the large vessel began to exit from the port. Feeling the salty sea air against his skin as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the cool breeze. By the time the ship had been several hundreds of feet away from the docks, he turned his attention towards his helmsmen on the opposite side of the ship who had been piloting the large vessel. "Bring us to the skies Azure, my boy!" Calling out to his helmsmen as the ship picked up speed before they rocketed into the sky, high above the clouds.
Mere moments after they had reached near maximum altitude, the sound of a horn-like call echoed through the air causing Edward to raise a brow, turning his attention from one side to the next to locate the sound, it was soon found that the sound was coming from behind them. Two massive ships that sailed red colors for flags were approaching the Infinity at rapid speeds before firing off several warning shots of canons that actually made contact with the ship. "Bring up the barrier!" Calling out an order, it took mere seconds before the Eternum barrier came up to begin taking the blunt force of the cannon fire only for it to come to a halt once the two unknown ships came to a halt on both sides of the Infinity.
With the attack coming to a halt for the time being, the ship on the starboard side of the Infinity soon had a woman who appeared to had been in her late thirties or early forties stepped out from her cabin just to approach the side of her own ship while staring at Edward who had been returning the rather smug look with a glare of his own. "Oh? You must be Edward Ishikawa...hm, much older than the stories make you out to be...hm, no matter. Mister-...no, Captain Edward Ishikawa. I am Captain Valorie Blackheart...I am but a simple woman...with simple needs. My men here have told me that they have seen a number of individuals on your ship that fit the exact description of a few high bounties." As the woman spoke, she meandered along the deck of her ship, at closer inspection, it appeared as though she not walking upon the surface of her own vessel but rather she was walking on the men and women of her ship who had bent themselves over onto their hands and knees, allowing her to use them like a covering for the floor so that her heels would not be dirtied.
Taking several puffs of a long stick that had a cigarette on the end of it, she blew out several strands of white smoke before turning his attention back upon Edward. "Now, I am giving you an offer, Captain. Let me and my men on board and to take these individuals without fuss, and I will let you and the rest of your...measly crew go with your lives...hm? How about it?" As the woman spoke, anger boiled within Edward. Gritting his teeth, he stayed silent for several minutes while he slowly proceeded to a specific side of his ship, causing the woman to believe he was thinking upon his decision at the time.
"You expect me...to simply let you take my family away...? To sell them off, away from their home...? Just so me and the rest of my family can go free..?" As he spoke in a low hushed whisper, he soon arrived at one of the cannonball racks before brushing his hand over several of them. "Go to hell!" With that said, he gripped onto the cannonballs before launching them with his bare hands, his unimaginable strength sending the cannonball flying over to explode and cause damage to her own ship even if only slightly. Immediately, battle raged between the Infinity and the two bounty hunter ships, the woman meanwhile proceeded to head back into her cabin, giving orders to her men to kill everyone but to make sure and leave those with the bounty alive.
"Someone check on the cooldown on the shield generator! Get it up already!" Shouting over the sounds of explosions, gunfire and the clashing of metal; Edward had been battling against several men and women wielding scimitars and flintlock pistols, armed without any protective gear whatsoever other than the clothes on his back. Luckily with his Eternum ability, he was able to harden his skin to make contact with the sharpened edges of the swords and as well as taking bullet shots directly to his body without causing any mortal wounds.
The enemy had been a large group of bounty hunters that were after a few specific members of his crew, however, the Captain was not simply going to relinquish members of his crew away to a bunch of violent looking strangers just because they had said so. When demanding the bounty hunters to leave them in peace, they answered with violence rather than complying to his demands. "You will not take my grandchildren!" Once again shouting at the top of his lungs, the large elderly and burly man swung his right arm with enough tremendous amounts of force to shatter through his opponents' blades before opening his arms wide to practically pull the trio into a bear hug-like grip before tossing them overboard. Being thousands of feet into the air, the sounds of the men and women screaming soon were silenced after they had left earshot distance. Moments later, several other members of the two adjacent bounty hunter ships charged on board to attempt and start combat with him once more.
With the battle seemingly showing no signs of ending and from the looks of it, they were on the losing end of the skirmish, the Captain exhaled a deep breath before quickly inhaling as much air as he possibly could in one breath. Seconds later, his entire flesh from head to toe began to turn into a glossy reflective blackened color. Swords shattered like glass, bullets bouncing off his chest like pebbles, cannons blowing up in his face, all of which showed no signs of actually damaging or even so much as making a dent on his metallic flesh. Knowing well enough that he could only keep this form up for a matter of minutes due to his old age and lack of stamina, he took advantage of every second he had by barreling forward and gathering as large of a group as possible of the bounty hunters before tackling them on board one of their own ships.
"Everyone! Get going! Save the Infinity! Azure, get everyone out of here! Now!" As the burly man shouted over his shoulder, pinning down the large group of men and women to the deck of the enemy ship while it continued to fire upon the Infinity relentlessly. "Get off you old fart!" One of the men shouted as he bashed the head of Edward who's metallic skin was beginning to fade little by little every second. Knowing well enough that if he continued to hold down his enemy in such a state for too long, he'd get himself killed before his crew could escape, eventually he tossed the bounty hunters aside before exhaling once more. Panting from exhaustion, his full metallic form rapidly faded only now covering portions of his chest and the entirety of his arms, sweat dripped from practically every part of his body as he was quick to raise his fists up to prepare for the next round.
Just then, the sound of an explosion followed by a female bursting out the hunters' Captain's quarters ship caused the group followed by Edward to turn his head over his shoulder. Seeing as Jin stepped out from the same cabin of which the hunter's Captain just flew out from, Edward would only stare for a moment before pointing towards his own ship. "Jin! Get back to the Infinity and get out of here! Before we lose her and everyone!" Shouting with both anger followed by panic, Jin stared with widened eyes, almost confused on what his own Captain was ordering him to do. Before he could so much as question his orders, Edward had grabbed Jin by the collar of his shirt before tossing him over onto the deck of the Infinity. Immediately after, he proceeded to punch a massive hole into the wooden deck of the hunters' ship, with one strike after another and the shock followed by confusion of the bounty hunters, Edward eventually reached down to the engine room of the large vessel. "Here it is! With this, at least the crew can get an escape route..." With that said, he slammed his fist into the large mechanism before tearing out wiring, Eternum shards, and metal. Even with the explosions blowing up in his face, he fought through the heat and pain. Before long, the ship began to burst into flames as it slowly began to tilt over towards one side, falling out of the sky while the other hunter ship quickly began to follow after their comrades.Code by Serobliss
