Chapter 3: The honorable

The long pleasant slumber that swept through Kiryu's CPU filled his mind with a simple, humble dream of love, family, compassion between one another. He drempt of a pier, a boardwalk pier, facing out into the Atlantic Ocean, at the fair ground where couples went to for the day of love. The warm summer afternoon, the pink sky filled with perfume sweet cologne smell of cosmetic products on display at nearby shops made for a perfect romantic set up. There Kiryu walks among the crowd, he holds his right hand by the waist of a woman standing 6 feet tall, her Marylin Monroe hair was brown running down her back. Her blue eyes with scarlet red lips enchanted Kiryu's seemingly stone cold heart. She was the beauty that killed his inner beast as the King Kong fans would put it.

But alas, the beautiful dreams wasn't meant to last, everything soon turns blurry, the boardwalk fairground degenarated into a fiery hell, the people around him turns into skeletons, stripped of their clothes, the shops bursted into flames and soon, all too soon, the woman that he loves, she was dying in his hands, her blood dripped onto the palm of his metallic hands, unable to stop the nightmare from continues he woke up from his slumber, gasping, breathing heavily as he look around his office, everything was still there, his closet, drawers, cabinets and files were still intact. He checked his hands and see no blood on them, he gave a sigh of relief and lay his head on the wooded desk. But before he could set his mind straight for anything, there was someone familiar to him came knocking on the door.

"Hey Kiryu, you in there. C'mon, we need to get to the pier now! The don is expecting you for his daughter's wedding!" The male voice of an Italian immigrant soon kicked Kiryu into action, he rushed to his drawer and grab the best bow tie he can find. "I'm done! I'm coming...hold your horses." Kiryu shouted back to the Italian wearring black tuxedo and matchy black fedorah hat. Soon enough Kiryu came out of his office, wearring nothing but a black bow tie on his neck. "Let's go Fabrizio. Mrs Feeny, take care of Anna for me while i'm gone." the silver cybernetic dinosaur said to mrs Feeny who was sweeping the floor in front of his office.

"Okay, Fabrizio, where's the wedding and why is it out at the pier?" Kiryu asked Fabrizio while driving his car out to pier, passing through the central quarter of the city. "It's on the don's cruise ship. The Scheherazade Cruise Liner. Some of the guess have already by now i guess." The scawry haired Italian immigrant stated his answer to Kiryu who was now amused to know that don has finally bought his own cruise liner thanks to the wealth he amassed from semi illegal businesses. "Easy to spot look for a ship dock at port with a lot of high class cars parked around it." Said Kiryu as he began to look for a tell tale sign of a cruise ship docked at the industrial port of Atlantic City. He soon saw a massive cruise ship pointing out to the sea as if it was ready to sail out to the sea, on the side of the ship, Kiryu saw the letter "Scheherazade" written on the ship's bowl. "Here we are. Don't worry about parking fee, the don placed you as the honored guest of his daughter's wedding so parking fee for you is free of charge." Fabrizio and Kiryu stopped their car at a parking spot, reserved only for the private eye dinos.

Kiryu walked up the ladders to the front deck of the ship where the party is held, there he saw all the familiar faces of the city. Sitting at a table just in front of him is consigliery Manda, the trust worthy advisor of the don. The far side table near the bride and the groom is occupied by the four dons, representing their respective families. From clockwise, Don Vincenzo Macias, Don Fredericco Bonasera, Don Alfredo Pacino, and finally the most disrespectful of them all, the one who has an eye patch on his left eye wearring white zoot suit and white fedorah hat, Don Louie Castagella the black hand. Famed for his reputation of using beat cops, bribed politicians and he who controls the courts of Atlantic City, he is without the shadow of a doubt, Kiryu's archenemy. "Where is don consigliery Manda?" Kiryu asked the blue eastern dragon eating a small dish of Flan. "Don Carlino is a busy man Kiryu. But he should be here soon." Manda said back as the dragon calmly eat a piece of the Flan cake. "No don should be late on the day of his daughter's wedding." Kiryu remarked to consigliery dragon as the dinosaur sat down next the eastern dragon. "And no Sicillian can denied anything on his daughter's wedding day." Manda return with a quip of his own as Don Carlino came up on the deck of the ship, welcomed by thunderous applause of the guests.

Don Carlino the honorable, renowned as the man of his words, his friends respected him, his enemies fear him and the law wants him behind bar. The 50 years old Sicillian came up to Kiryu, shaking hands with the mechanical dinosaur, he spoked a few words into Kiryu's audio receptor, thanking Kiryu that he came to wedding of Carlino's daughter. "Grazie mi amici. (Thank you my friend) For coming to my daughter's wedding day. I cannot thank you enough for helping an old friend." The don continously thanked Kiryu for being here at his daughter's wedding day, Kiryu then cut in to ease the don's excitement for a moment. "It's alright amico (good friend). When you asked for help, i answered them. If i don't, then who else will do it? One more thing Don Carlino, may i talked to you in private?" Kiryu whispered the final words into the don's ear who agreed to the mech's wish immediately. "Of course but first, my daughter needs me right now." Don Carlino then came to the other don waiting for the host's arrival to kick start the wedding.

Then came Maria, Carlino's precious daughter came up to the fore deck with her groom, an immigrant from Naples named Sebastian Leone. The two of them looked like they were meant for each other from the day they were born. The two of them both said "I do" to the reverend's words in holy matrymorni. To help with the mood, the band started to play a wonderous love song to the happy couple. A serenade song from Carlino's native Sicilly. "What are they playing?" Kiryu asked Manda as he listen to the band's song. "It's a serenade, from the don's home town. In Sicilly it's named La Brucia La Terra, but here in America, you can call it, Speak softly love." Manda explained to Kiryu, who was now showing signs of having a nostalgia day dream.

It was about the first and only woman he loved. A girl named Rosana Dreyfus. A French woman, the same one that Kiryu saw in his dream, she camed to America on business trip, they met each other ten years ago at a jewelry shop. Back then she was going to buy a necklace, a small diamond necklace. When she was going out of the shop, an armed robber ran by and snatch the bag of her new necklace, she desperately called for help when suddenly the robber was stop dead in his track by Kiryu who was passing by around the corner. Kiryu swipe his tail and the robber was unconscious with a single blow, the mecha gave Rosana back her necklace. It was his kind and heroic action that sowed the seed for their future relationship.

The weeks that passed ever since that jewel shop day, Kiryu and Rosana had been meeting each other at places like a fancy restaurant, then a walk in the park, then up to a hillside picnic, and finally it all came to climax. When they were going on Valentine Day at the boardwalk fair ground, Kiryu gave her a wedding ring, a diamond wedding ring that he crafted with his own two hands. But it wasn't meant to be a married couple when from among the crowd, an assassin reveal his weapon and fired at the two of them. But the assassin miss fired, three bullets hit Rosana instead of Kiryu, he saw his lover crash down on the ground, with blood splattered on his armor and more on the ground. The people at the fair ground were panicking, running for cover as Kiryu returns his vendetta firing the assassin with his M1911 pistol. Their love ended there in tragedy, he could have gone to Paris with her. But fate played a cruel game with him, what reason is there for him to go to Paris without the woman he loves, he stayed here in this bottomless pit of despair. Moaning over her death year after year. With only one man to comfort his losses, don Carlino.

Kiryu snapped out of his day dream with despair, he holds his face with his hands, trying to hide the miseries that he was trapped in. "Come, let's go in the cabin and have our conversation." Don Carlino came by the silver metallic dinosaur and whisper into its ears. Kiryu stand up and went into the cabin with the don and Manda, the Consigliery must be by the don's side at all times. "So my friend, you must have read the paper now haven't you?" The don asked with a bit a chuckle in his tone, he opens his cigar box and take one for a smoke. "Do you know anything about this woman called Elizabeth Townley?" Kiryu began, "She came to me last night and asked me to protect her daughter should any misfortune be fall upon her. She also said that one of the Five Families is aftering her. What did she do to tick you guys off so much?"

The don then turn to Kiryu's face, eye to eye with a serious look in his gaze. "You see, about 8 months ago. The Five Families were having a meeting about a new form of business involving the new substance called Plasmid. You heard the papers said about the mayor cracking down the sales of this product did you? We were going to use it sell it to everyone who wants it but i fear that this might give my rival, don Castagella's thugs too much edge in a gang war. So against my better judgement of arming my own men with that substance i decided to veto the business approval. But i was alone, the others agree to the business and it went along real fine. When Capitol Hill decided to appoint miss Townley as the city's new district attorney, she was very determined to crack down criminals activities. Don Castagella was extremely furious about her so he ordered his men to kill her without any of his trademark according to my informant in his family. But i wonder one thing, if Louie is really behind her death then will he come to kill her little daughter as well? In Sicilly, we don't fear the words of a woman, but its her children that we fear."

Kiryu took a moment of silent to process whether or not what he heard was true, he trusted Carlino with his life but not to the point of believing his every words. He knew Castagella but does that mean the "Black hand" is once again standing behind the death of Elizabeth. Looking closely at the facial expression of Carlino, he was cool calm, and he was looking Kiryu's amber tinted lense without fear. Which means his words are honest words. "Thanks for the help don Carlino, you are a man of honor without a shadow of a doubt." Kiryu thanked the don and shake his hand as gentlemen and friends. "Va bene (Good). I hope this discussion helps you with your investigation. And one more thing. Take this Plasmid as a gift on my daughter's wedding day."

Carlino handed to Kiryu a bottle of rose red substance and an injector ready to use. The bottle has some texts on it saying "Thunderball: Shock your foes with 12000 Volts!" written in full art deco styles. He injected himself with this substance and felt his arms has electricity surges through it, it builds up rapidly and the sensation reach fever pitch when Kiryu saw his hands were bursting with electricity ready to shock everyone he wanted. But then it dies down, his hands were back to normal, but he detected inside him there was a new power he can use, but only when the situation calls for it.