*Disclaimer - I do not own the copyright to Azur Lane
*A/N - Greetings! Hope you are all doing well. I'd like to thank everyone for checking out the story. The situation on the island is about to hit the fan. The commander is still nowhere to be found on the girl's side of things. While he's enjoying himself at the Race Queen racetrack. Shall we see how the island is going to fall to chaos.
Rushing out of the commander's quarters, Enterprise had a worried expression on her face as she was fumbling to pull her phone out of her pocket and dial-up Akagi.
However, in the distance, the sound of what could be described as cannons and explosions could be heard. This startled the white-haired girl and forced her to hasten her speed and call the brunette kitsune.
"Hello! Akagi!"
"Ente- *boom* *boom* Enterprise."
"Akagi! What's going on? Hello? Can you hear me?"
"*boom* Enterprise! The situation has changed for the worse. Everyone has heard the news and is losing their minds!" Akagi reported.
"Dammit. Can you try and calm everyone down?"
"I'll try. Kaga stepped away to try and find Taihou. She and Roon are the ones we need to be careful of."
"Roon… oh crap" Enterprise muttered, remembering the Iron Blood girl.
"What about on your end? What did you find at Shikikan's place?"
Enterprise let out a stressed sigh. She knew the fox girl would not like the news.
"Akagi… I checked the place. He was here…"
Silence was heard on the other end of the phone call.
Akagi on her end was doing her best to not thrash out in anger and start spewing flames all over the place.
'Shikikan… Shikikan is missing. He's gone. He's gone. He's…gone! I'll scorch the entire island!'
These were the thoughts of the Red Spider Lily.
Raising her hand in front of her, the brown-haired girl summoned a large flame in the palm of her hand. She knew what she wanted to do. She was seeing the color red in her vision. Her emotions were getting the better of her. Her love for Shikikan…
Shikikan…
The sudden thought of him made Akagi stop her malicious and vengeful thinking and even got her tails to start dancing. He would not want her to become aggressive with the other girls on the island. That was the old her.
Taking a deep breath and letting out a loud sigh, the kitsune girl let the flame that was in her hand die out and brought the phone that was in her free hand back to her ear and started talking with Enterprise.
"Akagi? Akagi, is that you?"
"Yes, Enterprise, it's me. Sorry… I had a… moment."
"I don't blame you…"
"*sigh* Well then, what else did you find at Shikikan's place?" Akagi asked, having a frown on her face.
"The place definitely looked like he was there and not that long ago either. Trash was scattered around the place and his bed was not made indicating that something out of the ordinary took place there" Enterprise explained.
"So, he was there… Did you find anything else that could be used as a clue?"
"Aside from his desk having his video game consoles looking tampered with and his room not being in tip-top shape that it's always in. There was nothing that I saw that could give us a clue about his whereabouts."
"I see…"
Suddenly, Akagi heard what could be the sound of numerous planes now flying through the air and donning many different colors and designs.
"Enterprise…"
"Yeah?"
"Where are you now?"
"Outside Shikikan's quarters. Are you seeing- "
"Yes. Looks like things are not looking good in the sky."
"We need to try and calm down as many girls as we can," Enterprise affirmed.
"Who can we turn to now? I doubt many of the girls will be in the right mind to calm down and help us look for Shikikan" Akagi mentioned.
"The wives."
"Those closest to Shikikan… Do you really trust them?"
"At this point, we are going to need all the help we can get. And the port would be one of the busiest places on the island. I'm betting most of Shikikan's wives are there now."
"Then I'll head there right now," Akagi stated.
"I'll head to the central part of town. See if I can mind some of the oathed girls to help us out" Enterprise said while looking out in the distance.
"Understood."
Taking another look at the sky above her, Akagi continued to see more and more planes flying in the sky. If things became even worse, then she wouldn't be surprised if fighting started happening all around the island.
"Enterprise… Do you have any more ideas on where Shikikan could be?"
"I'm not sure. But for now, we need to calm everyone else down. Otherwise, the island is going to turn into a bloodbath."
"Right. Keep me posted."
With nothing else needing to be said, the two Kansens closed their phones and began bolting to their targeted locations. There wasn't much time left before every ship girl would begin tearing the island apart in the search for Shikikan. Time was now of the essence before utter chaos.
Rushing to the port, Akagi could see many familiar faces trying to do their best to calm down countless girls who looked to be losing their minds. Takao and Atago were doing their best to talk down a few of the girls that looked to be freaking out.
"Atago! Takao!"
"Akagi! There you are. What's happening? We heard the news of Shikikan and then everything just went to chaos" explained Takao.
"News of Shikikan's disappearance broke out. Now the entire island knows. Enterprise and I have yet to find him though."
"Shikikan is still not found?" Atago asked, concern being drawn on her face.
"No. Enterprise just got back from checking his quarters and… our worst fears were confirmed."
"You don't mean- "
"Yes. Someone kidnapped him."
The looks on Takao and Atago's faces shifted from concerned and worried to serious.
"…What's the plan now, Akagi?" Takao asked, looking at the area around her and seeing many ship girls losing their minds and turning to others for answers.
"Now, we try and calm down as many girls as we can. We can't let the chaos cause everyone to go wild or start fighting and turning the island into a warzone" Akagi instructed the two dog-eared girls.
"Agreed. Shikikan would not like that" Takao added.
"But what do we do about Shikikan? We're not just going to leave him, right?" Atago worriedly asked.
Letting out a frustrated groan, Akagi knew the answer to Atago's question. And it wasn't one that she liked. She wanted to deny it but really she couldn't
"For now… we have to bring everyone back to a calm level" Akagi responded while taking a look around and spotted a few familiar faces and they looked to be utterly lost on what to do.
"*sigh* Right… that's what he would want us to do" Atago muttered, knowing in her heart the commander would sacrifice himself to help everyone else.
"Well then, shall we start bringing everyone to their senses?" Takao stated, eyeing the chaos beginning to fold around the group.
"Yes. We have a job to do."
With one location beginning to take steps to calm the storm of Shikikan's disappearance, Akagi would take the lead here.
On another part of the island, Enterprise had now made it near the center of the town and could see the chaos starting to grow.
Girls were practically running around and asking others where they last saw Shikikan or what they were going to do now. Everyone did not have any idea what to do now.
Enterprise was about to change that.
Scanning the area, Enterprise spotted several familiar faces. Those being Bunker Hill, New Orleans, and Intrepid.
"Bunker Hill. New Orleans. Intrepid."
"Enterprise! Where have you been? What's going on?" Bunker Hill asked the white-haired girl.
"Things have been… difficult to say the least."
"Is it true? The commander… he's…" Intrepid asked, hoping it was all false.
"Sadly, it's true."
"What the… Have you heard anything?" New Orleans questioned.
"Nothing good. I've been- "
"Enterprise!"
Before she could finish what she was saying, Enterprise heard her name being called and turned to see a red-headed religious follower.
"Richelieu. What is the- "
"Tell me, is it true? Shikikan is missing?"
"…Yes. It's true."
"By the light… what is the situation looking like now?"
"Akagi, Kaga, and I have searched the most likely locations that he would be at. However, there was no sign of him there."
"But we saw him last night?" Intrepid mentioned.
"A number of girls have claimed the same thing, but nothing definitive on his last whereabouts."
"Anything else about this whole conflict? Anything at all?" Richelieu asked, praying that there was something hopeful to their dilemma.
"There… at Shikikan's personal quarters, there were signs that he was there. However, the place looked like someone left in a hurry. Or rather- "
"He was forced out."
Richelieu finished that statement while bringing a hand to her mouth before closing her eyes and letting out a silent prayer that would be directed to protect the commander.
"So, what's the plan now? I'm all for turning the island upside down and looking for the commander but- " New Orleans started saying.
"But no. Shikikan would not want any of us to start destroying the island or getting in any unnecessary fights. For everything that he's done for us… we should respect that and be better" Enterprise said to the group of girls.
There were even some girls that were running around the place and had stopped in their tracks to listen to the white-haired Eagle Union girl's words.
"She's right. Shikikan has done so much for us. It's only right we do our best and keep things the way they are. Instead of destroying the place" Bunker Hill responded, earning many of the girls to nod at her words.
It was at that moment, many more girls from all the various factions of Azur Lane that heard the Eagle Union girl's words to stop and realize that losing control of the situation will not lead to finding the commander.
More girls were coming back to their senses now.
"Enterprise!"
Hearing her name called again, Enterprise looked around and spotted white hair along with a black headband resting within the hair coming toward her.
"Mainz? What's wrong- "
Out of nowhere, the Iron Blood girl pointed her index finger at her and did not look amused.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I mean that I heard from Prinz Eugen that you, Akagi, and Kaga knew about Shikikan's situation and didn't bother telling anyone."
Swearing in her head, Enterprise knew that word would travel around about the commander being missing from the girls that were being investigated. Prinz Eugen. But now she realized that might have been a conflicting decision.
"That… that is true."
"Please explain why?"
"Because if we had started telling everyone that Akagi and I crossed paths with without explaining what was going on, then that would not only cause hysteria to run rampant around the island…"
"…*sigh* It sounds like there's more to it than that" Mainz commented.
"There is."
Taking her cap off and looking at Mainz right into her eyes, Enterprise informed her and everyone around about the dire news.
"Akagi. Kaga. And I came to the conclusion that if we were to inform everyone about Shikikan's disappearance, then we would be letting the kidnapper get away."
"Kidnapper? What are you talking about?" Mainz asked the Eagle Union girl.
"We believe that someone took the commander's free day as an opportunity to steal him away.
"That… That does make sense."
"But there are over a hundred plus girls here on the island. And even more that aren't here. Where would you even start to draw conclusions as to who could have done it?" Richelieu added to the conversation.
"Wait. You broke down the long list of girls, didn't you?" Bunker Hill questioned.
"Yes. I brought up the idea that those closest to Shikikan and the most likely to kidnap him were the girls he has oathed" Enterprise explained.
"The oathed girls… and what about the rest?" Mainz asked, rubbing her ring finger which did not have a ring around it.
"That's… crap."
Enterprise at that moment slapped herself. How could she forget such a vital factor in the whole situation?
Looking over at Mainz, Enterprise realized that she was one of many girls who had poured her feelings to the commander to which he also shared the same feelings. Leading to them dating for quite some time now. But that also made her realize something else.
The commander was low on oath rings.
"I'm sorry, Mainz. I-I completely forgot to- "
"It's all right, Enterprise. I was just more… angered by the fact that you decided to hide the commander's situation. But hearing that there is more to it than what I originally thought does alleviate me. Only a little bit though. Finding Shikikan will allow me to relax" Mainz stated.
"That goes for all of us" Intrepid added.
"Right. Then let's get to work on calming everyone down. And then… we can work on finding Shikikan" Enterprise said, gaining everyone's attention and bringing them back on track.
The first steps to getting the situation under control were now starting to begin.
However, on another part of the island, a certain green-haired beauty was confiding with a few other girls about the situation.
"And this wouldn't have happened if she had informed us before things got this bad," Littorio said to the group of girls that consisted of King George V, Dunkerque, and Illustrious.
"But we heard how drastic the situation was becoming. If she and Enterprise had started alerting the island right off the go, then everything would be in a much worse state" Illustrious reasoned to Littorio.
"But… she does have a point" King George V replied.
"George?"
"Think about it. While it is a delicate matter to balance. And I can't fault them for keeping it to themselves but… this is the commander… our Shikikan. We could have stepped in to help."
"But what if Akagi and the others are right?" Dunkerque spoke up.
"About the kidnapper?" Illustrious asked.
"Then we will find them. And deal with them ourselves" Littorio said, drawing the others' attention.
"Then shouldn't we be working together with Enterprise and crew?" King George V suggested.
"Yes. But they're not looking for him now" Littorio responded.
"Huh? What are you- "
"Before everyone else starts losing their minds about the situation, those two including Kaga and any others that were made aware of the situation will be working to calm everyone else down."
"Which means that Shikikan will still be missing" New Orleans added.
"And that the kidnapper is still at large" Intrepid proposed.
"Exactly. Which is why we take matters into our own hands" Littorio stated.
"Won't that cause disorder?" Illustrious asked, worried about Littorio's comment.
"It's not like we are going to start aggressively start antagonizing everyone we think is the kidnapper, right Littorio?" King George V asked the green-haired beauty.
"Nothing of the sort. We can already assume that Akagi and the others have asked a great number of people about Shikikan's whereabouts. Which means that we will have to cover the areas that they haven't covered" Littorio explained to the blonde-haired girl.
"And if you do find the girl or girls who kidnapped him? What then?" New Orleans curiously asked.
"Then we interrogate them. Find out what we can about Shikikan and where he is being kept away."
Hearing Littorio's explanation, Intrepid and New Orleans couldn't help but entertain the idea. This led to them looking at each other and nodding. A silent confirmation.
"We're in."
"Intrepid. New Orleans. Think about- "
"We have Illustrious. And the longer we argue about this or continue watching the rest of the island fall to chaos. The longer Shikikan is going to be gone. Thrown into a room and probably tied to a chair while his kidnapper is having him all to themselves" Intrepid elaborated to the elegant girl.
Meanwhile, with the commander
The sound of a car gaining speed and shifting into 5th gear while rounding a racetrack could be heard coming from the Race Queen arena.
Sitting inside a blue sports car with decals and vinyl wrapped around with pictures and logos of Azur Lane was the commander. Racing to his heart's content. The commander also had on the typical racing outfit with a white design while having a headset connected to his helmet and blasting music through the car's radio.
"Whooooooooo hooooooooo!"
Back to Littorio and the girls
"*sigh* I can see your point… there are several girls who would not hesitate to do such a thing" Illustrious said, giving Intrepid's idea some thought.
"So then, are we in agreement?" Littorio asked the group of girls.
Instantly, Intrepid and New Orleans were the first to nod their heads in agreement while King George V took a second to think it over before she also agreed. It would be a minute for Illustrious to respond.
She re-evaluated the options laid out in front of her. Should she follow through with Littorio and her idea, she would be on the lookout for anyone affiliated with Shikikan's disappearance. However, if she were to not follow the plan, she would do her best to try and calm as many girls as she could while still worrying about the commander's whereabouts.
Deciding to take a risk for once, Illustrious gave a nod at Littorio which made her burst into a bright smirk on her face.
"Glad you're with us. And I wouldn't worry about Unicorn. It was very wise for Akagi to tell the young girl about her brother missing" Littorio said to the white-haired girl.
"Plus, Vanguard is with her. Drawing her attention away from all the…" Shifting her gaze so that she was looking at the sky and seeing all the planes flying around in the sky, King George V now drew her attention back to Illustrious. "Chaos going on right now."
"Agreed. Which is why we should hurry and get to finding him" New Orleans directed.
"Then let's get down to business. And we will start by checking the coast."
"The coast? Why there?" Intrepid asked.
"Because it's likely Akagi and Enterprise checked places that Shikikan would be that are highly populated."
The green-haired girl reasoned.
"Besides, if the kidnapper wanted to be away from everyone else, then they would be away and alone" King George V replied.
"Right. Now, let's stop wasting time and find our man!" Littorio shouted which inspired the rest of the girls.
'Don't worry my love. I will find you. And whoever decided to try and take you for themselves… they are in for a world of pain' Littorio thought while having a determined look on her face.
Back with the commander
Having just finished his last lap around the racetrack, the commander now slowed down his vehicle and was driving into the garage while still having the music blasting. He had a bright smile on his face while letting out a heartfelt laugh. Feeling the speed that he was hitting and having nobody but himself on the road was something that everyone had to do at least once in their life.
"Haha… oh, man… I wanna go again…"
However, the commander knew that his day was slowly coming to an end and there were still plenty of things to do, and sadly, there were things that he knew that he wouldn't get the chance to do. But rather than be sad about that, he wanted to get done as much as he could.
Hence, he parked the race car in the garage where the other vehicles were parked made him smile at the sight. Now feeling a bit of adrenaline still in him, the commander decided to head down to the locker room that he had requested be built strictly for him.
Due to the obvious fact that he was living on an island filled with nothing but very beautiful women and younger girls that took on the role of little sisters.
The commander was a few feet away from entering his locker room when he swore that he could hear the sound of a plane flying over the Race Queen stadium. He stopped in his tracks and pondered what the sound could have been.
"Huh… must be the girls racing around or something."
Now entering the locker room, the commander spotted what appeared to be a punching dummy and weight-lifting equipment. It had been a minute since he last got a good workout in due to him being busy to the point that he could barely get a morning jog in anymore.
Deciding to give working out a go, the commander reached into his bag and pulled out his headphones while also stretching and starting to blast music for him to work out with. Blocking out all the noise that was going on around him.
Back to Akagi
Having now gathered many more girls to her side and done her best to calm them down, Akagi was now leading a determined group of Kansens to not only help ease the confusion and fear that many others were facing, but this group would also be the ones to find the commander and bring him back.
The group was now getting ready to leave the port and make their way to another populated part of the island when suddenly in the sky there was a bright blue light.
The brown-haired kitsune girl narrowed her sight to see if she could get a better look at the light when she let out a loud gasp.
"*Gasp!* Kaga!"
"Kaga? What are you- Wait! Is that- "Takao started saying before the blue light started moving right toward the group causing the girls to summon their riggings and get ready to counter the incoming light.
However, the blue light seemed to change direction and started aiming itself toward the ground and away from the group of girls. But now it was made obvious that the blue light was actually a blue plane that appeared to be one of Kaga's.
And to make matters even more strange, Kaga was riding on top of the plane and doing her best to steer the plane.
"She's gonna crash!" Atago shouted, seeing the plane starting to shake violently.
"What is she doing!"
"What happened?"
"Is she- what's going on!?"
"Somebody help her!"
"Oh, no!"
Many of the girls in the group were expressing their concern and could do nothing but watch as the blue plane moved faster and faster until he came to a screeching halt as it slammed right into the ground right in front of Akagi's eyes.
"Kaga!"
Rushing over to where her sister crashed, the rest of the group followed right behind Akagi and hoped that the white-haired kitsune was okay.
Now spotting the injured girl laying on the ground next to the crashed plane that was slowly starting to fade away in light, Akagi dashed to her fallen sister and gently picked her up.
"Kaga! What happened? Are you okay? Please! Kaga!"
Slowly raising her hand over her sisters', Kaga groaned out in pain while also trying to say something but was wincing.
"Ak-Akagi…"
"Yes! Kaga! I'm here!"
"Sh-She…She knows…"
"What…Who? Kaga. Who knows? Who is she? Please. Tell me."
"R….R…Ro….."
Unable to say anything due to exhaustion, Kaga weakly pointed her hand to the side of her which drew Akagi and everyone's attention in that direction. And what they saw made them feel a cold chill run through their bodies. Many started sweating at the sight.
There walking in the distance toward them was something that the Sirens feared. Even the commander felt fear at one point.
Walking closer and closer to the group was the one and only Iron Blood Kansen, Roon.
Seeing the girl, Akagi instantly started putting the pieces together to the whole situation.
'Kaga must have continued searching for the other girls closest to Shikikan while also keeping a close eye on Roon. Which must have led to the two exchanging words and caused the Iron Blood girl to lash out in anger. Kaga must have done all she could to hold her back. But now…'
Deciding that she did not have that much time to think, Akagi knew what she needed to do. Not just for Kaga or the group but the commander.
'If she is truly pissed, then we have to stop her from hurting anyone else. Otherwise, she'll burn the entire island down searching for Shikikan' Akagi thought while eyeing the incoming girl.
"Everyone."
This drew the girl's attention toward Akagi.
"Take Kaga and get her out of here."
"What? Akagi, what are you planning on doing?"
"Buying you some time. Get out of here. Find the others. Calm down as many girls as you can. Rendezvous with Enterprise and the others. Continue to search for Shikikan."
"That's crazy! You can't take on Roon." Takao stated.
"I know. And I'm not planning on winning. Just buying you all time to regroup and look for Shikikan."
"But- "
"Quit wasting time and go!"
"A…Ak-Akagi…" Kaga muttered, feeling a wave of sleep start to consume her.
"I'll be all right, Kaga. Now, find Shikikan."
Seeing that the brown-haired girl was determined to stay and had such conviction behind her words, the group of girls helped Kaga to her feet and started running away. But not before Atago and Takao took one last look at Akagi who now summoned her riggings and threw several red planes into the air all aiming toward Roon who had a deadpan expression on her face.
The last thing Takao and Atago saw of Akagi before getting too far was a large explosion that covered the area in a cloud of smoke.
With Enterprise and crew
Having amassed a large group of girls who were now back to their senses and focused on calming everyone else down. The Eagle Union girl now had a good feeling about the entire situation.
Looking to the side, she spotted Zuikaku, Shoukaku, Hood, Wales, Essex, and many others chatting with each other and comparing notes about what girls were still running around.
Enterprise also shifted her eyes up to the sky and saw that there were still planes flying around in the sky but compared to earlier things were slowing down.
However, out of the corner of her eye, Enterprise spotted what appeared to be another large group of girls holding another girl up. This caused her to squint her eyes and try to see who it was that was being carried. And when she finally saw who it was, she sprinted toward the group of girls and began calling them out.
"What happened!? Kaga?"
"Enterprise… Akagi…"
"Akagi? What happened to her?"
"She's in trouble" Takao spoke up to the white cap-wearing girl.
"What do you mean?"
"Roon" Atago replied bluntly.
The group of girls that Enterprise had built up were now behind her and let out gasps at what Atago just said. Hood was the first to respond.
"Where is she now?"
"Akagi and Roon are back that way," Takao said.
Having hit a wall, Enterprise knew what she needed to do. It was also something that she didn't want to do but had to do.
Turning to look over at her group and then at Takao and the group behind her, Enterprise said aloud her plan.
"Zuikaku, Hood, Wales, Takao, Atago, and those married to Shikikan… continue to push forward and calm down as many girls as you can."
"Enterprise?"
"I'll go back up Akagi" Enterprise affirmed for everyone to hear.
"Whoa! Hold on! That's crazy!"
"It doesn't matter. Right now, holding Roon back from destroying the entire island is my concern now. Yours is to find Shikikan."
"But- "
"It's all right. Consider this mine and Akagi's consequences for not telling more people to help us."
Many of the girls wanted to say something but at the same time, they didn't really want to confront Roon.
"Enterprise…"
Hearing her name, she looked to both groups of girls and waited for what they had to say.
"Good luck. You're going to need it."
Essex said while giving her senpai a big thumbs up while having a serious face.
Definitely not the reassuring response she wanted.
Unsure if she should be okay with how easy they were letting her go to try and calm down Roon, Enterprise let out a sigh while scowling at the girls before beginning to break into a sprint to Akagi's location.
Summoning her bow, the girl prepared herself for an intense fight that would be coming her way. All while thinking about the commander and hoping that he was okay.
Meanwhile…
Stepping out of the shower and letting out a refreshed sigh, the commander felt content beyond belief. The workout he had gotten through and hitting the punching bag made him feel like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. And the shower relaxed him greatly.
Now, he felt that his time was coming to an end, and he figured that he should go and check up on the girls.
"They must be wondering where I am. Surprised no one stopped by my quarters."
Getting dressed and putting on a casual outfit, the commander now made his way out of the locker room and out of the Race Queen stadium while heading to the port where he suspected everyone to be.
Wonder what everyone is doing?