Description: A jellyfish sting at the beach is where they met. Destiny set in stone and this fateful encounter had brought these two old childhood friends back together again. It became an encounter they couldn't forget no matter how far apart they were.

The Demon King, S-Class criminal and Captain of famous war ship Edens Zero, has always had a target on his back. He knew who she was from the moment she crashed into him at the beach but unfortunately, so did his enemies. Bountiful bounties were released, her name written on the pages and she had no clue until someone came in for the kill.

A forced kidnapping was required but she was not co-operative, not until she learned who he truly was, not until she saw the truth. The bounties were the last thing on her mind; she could run, she could fight but she begins to learn her past was the one thing she could no longer run from.

And to think this all started with one little Jellyfish...

Darkness.

It was all he knew. The opposite to light.

Darkness.

But it didn't mean he enjoyed it... who was he kidding? Of course he enjoyed it. The thrill of seeing fear, the power to have control over someone else's life that wasn't his to control. The power to kill and get away with it. It was something that was very, seriously looked down on in this Cosmos he lived in, but what could they do? No one could touch him.

No one, not even his closest friends. Not even himself.

Being a well-known crime lord was his happiness. No. Being the captain of a dangerous war ship was even better, a King in the eyes of many. Not some royal King either- a Demon King. He doesn't smile, not in a nice way anyway, how does one do that? He didn't know, nor did he care.

All he cared about was getting repaid for what he did to help others. All he cared about was getting back what is owed, and a certain B-Cube channel but mostly what he is owed. He hated it when someone missed a scheduled payment, he didn't care about the high interest. He just wants what's owed to him and if he can't get it, he'll take it by force if he needed too. He was no Drakken Joe- if they were of no use to him, he wouldn't care what happens to the bodies.

Well... they were the same in that retrospect, although Drakken was more known, more feared but not as young. That's what Shiki was most known as in the underworld, the youngest crime lord. The youngest person not to cross due to his ruthlessness, his darkness. Cross him and no mercy is spared. Miss a payment and no mercy is shown from this young Demon.

Even at the tender age of twenty-four, Shiki was still known as that despite new lords showing up that were younger than him although none of them were known as crime lords when he was. Being only sixteen and quickly becoming known in a dark world had its perks, in some retrospect's anyway. Being so known for so long, he thought people would know by now. He thought they'd meet his expectations.

But of course, he was disappointed.

And that's what he hated the most about his job, his name.

He didn't mind the punishments; in fact, he enjoyed them. He just hated giving them out to people he thought would have gotten the memo. Always repay what is owed to the Demon King. "He's finally up huh?" A devilish smirk displayed across his dark features. He'd been waiting for this.

He'd been waiting all day for this one person to finally wake up from his last beating.

A lead, a loose end that also needed to be tied up.

A punishment.

With a simple crack of his knuckles, the King grabbed a pair of leather strapped goggles and bound them to his head before he departed from the main control room of his war ship, known as the Edens Zero, and made his way down the wide, bare corridors.

His ship, space ship, had been past down to him by his late father. Ziggy had taught Shiki all that he knew, or most of what he knew. The older, almost ancient, Android had passed away when Shiki was only ten. Destroyed on a single planet that exploded in an attack that had no leads... Shiki lost a lot of people that day, including his best friend. He remembered a vow, a vow to avenge them all.

Until he found out who destroyed that planet, his vow would have to wait however and lucky for him, the culprit will see him coming. His name will be all that will be remembered. It'd been a long life for Shiki, but he was still here and he was still determined to live for that vengeance. His dark smirk turned into a concentrated scowl; his walk held a high purpose.

His boots echoed along the walls of the empty halls. Bright lights from the ceiling led his way. The endless, countless, infinite number of stars outside the ships window told the story of what we call space. He forgot how long it had been since he touched ground with an actual planet. Maybe he should visit one again, see how many enemies he can make this time.

Shiki rolled up his sleeves of his red jacket and adjusted his goggles. He walked past a glass window; his reflection shone at him but it didn't show any glint of light. Only darkness. His black hair was just that, dark. The thickness allowed his goggles to stay in the one place. His dark eyes held no humanity. His features weren't lifted in the least and the white rectangular patch stuck on his cheek held a secret underneath.

He ignored his appearance completely and turned down the corridor, making his way into one particular room walking down a specific pathway he's recorded to memory. He didn't make himself known as he crossed over his arms, complete seriousness in his visage as he watched his next victim react to the interrogation.

"-mon King." He heard her voice; she was both amused and serious. All he saw was her back, the long white and black dress which covered her from neck to toe, the thick silver hair held back by a single black cloth that made her entire appearance remind him of a nun. "You have a choice here, wimp. Answer the damned question or you go another round. I think I'll use a crowbar this time."

Sister Ivry, although had a human like appearance, was actually a robot, android. She reminds Shiki of a nun but she had too much of a mouth on her to be a real one. He trusted her most with interrogation, she was the best at intimidation and serving the right punishments when needed although he never got a chance to talk to the person she was currently interrogating the day before.

She got too carried away.

Not that he minded that, it worked out in the end.

The man before her, not much older than Shiki, looked at her terrified which unsurprisingly had Shiki smirking at the sight. He'll be much easier to crack than last time. Good. It made his job easier. Much easier. The man in question, doesn't have a name. Shiki took it away, along with his entire belongings, everything. All he was now, a simple man who was once covered in scars and bruises but it all healed up.

Ready for round two.

Let's call him... Trump, for trumpet. Shiki thought to himself proudly. Ivry was still to notice him, same with 'Trump' who had his entire dull gaze on her. He wore nothing but a pair of pale boxers, his hair had been shaved off completely and his eyes barely held any colour. He wasn't the most fit person, more skinny, weak and fragile- like a twig.

Ivry sighs and sits on a chair across him, crossing over her legs. "Listen here boy, you're now under property of the Demon King. Play nice or you'll never get anything back, do you understand?" Trump, who had also had his hands bound behind him, could only nod. "Tch," she didn't seem pleased with that response. "Child."

"Thank-you Sister." Shiki finally made himself known to the pair. "I can take it from here."

He found both pairs of eyes on him, one filled with fear, the other- amusement. Shiki's smirk widened as he gestured for Sister to move, giving him the chair which he simply turned it around and sat on it, leaning his chest on the backing with his arms resting on the top.

His face was devoid of any and all emotion. There was no emotion in his expression or voice at all, it was deathly calm. He felt deathly calm as he looked at the pathetic man before him. "Now, I finally meet you. Now you begin to understand what your 'friend' has gotten himself into. You're a reasonable man I'm sure, at least I'd hope so if you wish to live." He took a little pause to see a familiar stiffen. "Now you know what's on the line here."

Trump nodded.

"You've met my friend," He gestured to Ivry. "You've seen what she can do. Let me tell you what my other friend did. With a few mere taps she did this by the way..." He tapped his finger along the wood of the chair he sat one. "Erased your existence. You have no name, no money, no family or friends... you have absolutely nothing now. No one to care if you died or disappeared. No one to see you off and no one to care for that little cat of yours, Tabby was it?"

"Tch," Ivry scoffed from the side.

Shiki ignored it. "It all belongs to me now. Do you understand me?" It took a lot of will power not to feel that familiar thrill at the terror he was seeing from Trump, it was almost as if the man was about to pass out from shock. "If you want any of this back, you need to answer one simple question and tell me the absolute truth or you'll never see the sunlight again."

It only took mere seconds, Trump caved. "N-no please..." he quickly covered himself in his own fear, tears leaked from his eyes, and sobs wracked his body. "I-I'll do an-d answer a-nything you w-want." Shiki grew semi-disgusted at the snot that joined the heap, but he kept his composure. He was used to this. "Just please don't kill me. Please. I-I'm begging you."

"That's what I like to hear." Shiki smirks at the completely innocent man, this was entirely his friends doing. Trump literally had nothing to do with this... his friend was simply hard to find. "I knew you were a man of reason; I like that."

"R-really?"

Ivry, once again, scoffed. "Tch- you caved too easily kid."

"Ivry." Shiki cuts in, annoyance in his tone, an emotion. He didn't look at her, simply spoke out and it was enough. "Now, tell me. Where is Henry Mondo? If you know where he is, you'd make me extremely happy and I'll give you everything back."

"Really-?" Although Trump's skin was slick and covered with sweat, tears and snot, he looked at Shiki with complete awe. There was actual happiness there, it made Shiki sick. He hated his victims being happy, especially with him being the reason for it. Trump later looked away, thoughtful and saddened. "I-I don't know his complete location. We haven't spoken in weeks but the last I heard he was on Bluegarden in hiding but I never knew what from. Not until now..."

That sly little... Shiki frowned at hearing that. Of course he's on Bluegarden. Of all places to hide. He let out a small sigh of defeat and took a quick glance around the room, barely gazing at the many sorts of weapons that hung around the room. He caught glances with Ivry and nodded his head, a certain glint in his eyes that she instantly understood.

"Thank you." Shiki showed his gratitude with a short nod and stood up, watching as Ivry untied Trump's wrists and ankles. "I'm sorry about what we had to do here."

"Oh, no." Trump shook his head as he stood up, rubbing one of his wrists which Shiki assumed was sore from the ropes. "It's water under the bridge. Really."

Shiki only stared at the man all void of emotion. "I see-" he paused, his gaze turning more guarded than emotionless which Trump noticed, there was a small spike of fear. "Then you won't mind if I did this." He turned, controlling his out righteous anger, not allowing Trump to see the anger he was truly feeling, anger at himself. "Kill him."

He waited; he heard the protest. "B-but you said-" a single gunshot was heard in an instant. He heard it, as well as the body colliding with the ground, going completely limp and lifeless on the floor. He didn't need to see it to know Trump was no longer alive. He didn't need to see it to know his blood was already turning the ground a blood red.

It was a good thing this floor was easy to clean.

"I lied..." Shiki said darkly. "The Demon King shows no mercy- not even for the innocent."

He left the room with one thing on his mind...

Bluegarden.