August 25th, 8:14 PM, Ginza

"Alright, please, everyone calm down!" the president of South Sea Steamships, Hideo Ogata, cried out trying to ease the mob of women and children who had gathered around him. "We are still getting updates!"

"Where's my big brother!?" cried a young woman no older than her late teens.

"What aren't you telling us!?"

"My husband could be dead and you're hiding information! We deserve to know!"

In the crowd, babies and toddlers cried out for their lost brothers and fathers. To say it was total chaos would be a vast understatement.

"Please," Ogata exclaimed, holding out his arms in a calming gesture. "The situation is still unfolding. We don't have all the information at this time. We will update you as soon as we can! Until then, please go to your homes! I'm sure, come morning, we'll have more answers!"

Ogata sighed heavily and placed his hands to his temples as the crowd dispersed, mothers holding onto the hands of their young ones while casting Ogata fearful glares. He regarded every working in his business so for them to suddenly disappear from the face of the Earth was unsettling. And on what should've been calm waters too. Just then, he heard the door open. He turned to see Shinkichi walk in.

"Oh, Shinkichi," he exclaimed. "Thank God, you're here! It's just been total madness, I'm telling you, just total madness."

"What's going on?" Shinkichi asked. "You sounded urgent over the phone."

"Something's happened to the Eiko-Maru," Ogata explained. "First, it issued an SOS, then we lost contact thirty seconds later. We've sent the Bingo-Maru to investigate and see if they can find any survivors, but we haven't heard from them yet."

Shinkichi could only give Ogata a sympathetic nod.

August 25th, 8:18 PM, Pacific Ocean

"Do you see anything?" cried Ishiro, captain of the Bingo-Maru. He scanned the slightly choppy waters vigorously for any sign of survivors. Nothing could be seen, not even a sign of wreckage. It was as if the Eiko-Maru had just ceased to exist.

His first mate, Ibari shook his head. "Nothing, yet, Captain. Not even a sign of flotsam."

This sent a chill down Ishiro's spine. How could a ship just... disappear into nothing? What could have done this? This seemed... unnatural.

"Radio into SSS," Ishiro ordered Ibari. "Tell them we will stay around for a few more minutes before returning to port to search again. So far, we're coming up... with... what is that?"

Both men's eyes fell upon a glowing patch of blue light not too far from the stern of the Bingo-Maru. Before either men could react, however, there was a bright, azure flash that swallowed the ship. The last thing Ishiro felt was the brief sensation of his skin literally boiling off his bones. With that, much like the Eiko-Maru before it, the Bingo-Maru went up in flames and began to disappear beneath the waves like a Viking funeral pyre.

August 26th, 7:00 am, Ginza, Southern Sea Steamships main office, 1954

The following day, the SSS main office was filled up, not only with the families of the men onboard the Eiko-Maru, but also the Bingo-Maru. It was an escalation of the chaos from last evening as women, men, and children demanded in anger and sadness to know the whereabouts of their fathers, grandfathers, cousins, brothers, and husbands.

"You said you would have answers last evening! Where are they now!?"

"I need to know if my brother is okay!"

"Where's my dad!? Please, I need to know!"

"Please, tell us, what is going on!"

Once again, Ogata took the brunt of the questions with Shinkichi by his side. Just then, they saw a hand carrying a microphone as a man garbed in a reporter's uniform trudged his way through the crowd. The man appeared to be in his early thirties with wide eyes behind a pair of rectangular glasses and a wide, brown hat on his face.

"Sorry for barging in," the man spoke. "Hagiwara Inari, New Japan News. I'd like to ask you a few questions about the missing ships? Is it true they both disappeared in the same area? Are you still searching through alternative means for any possible survivors?"

Ogata sighed. The last thing he needed was the press getting involved in this and exasperating everything, even though he knew it was inevitable.

"Yes," Ogata said emotionessly. "At this moment we have switched over to using helicopters to investigate. That is all I am willing to say on this matter."

August 26th, 7:05 AM, Off the Coast of Oto Island, 1954

Morita Masaji sighed as he noted the lack of fish in his net. Not even the small fry like mackerel so much as flopped around. All he could find were traces of seaweed and clumps of dirt.

"That's the third time we've come up short," he complained before tossing the net into the water before rubbing his sea-spray kissed hair. "At this rate, we'll never reach our quota."

His companion, Shibihara Inosuke nodded grimly. "These are foreboding signs, Masaji," he told him. "It's more than likely... him."

Masaji rolled his eyes. "You don't mean to tell me you actually believe those stories, do you?"

"Well, how do you explain it?" Inosuke asked. "You know the stories themselves, the scarcity of fish is an omen of things to come, Masaji, mark my words."

Masaji shrugged. "Truth be told, I stopped believing in those stories when I was twelve and Shinkichi stopped when he turned eight. Though, I'll tell you what this is an omen of: it's a sign we may have to think about fishing further out to sea."

Before Inosuke could respond, he stood up and looked over the horizon.

"Masaji, look!" he pointed outward. The older Morita sibling turned his head and saw three men clinging to a piece of wood as a makeshift raft crying and pleading for help.

"Inosuke, throw them a line, quick!" Masaji ordered.

Inosuke nodded and went to work, throwing a line of rope to one of the men. He, Masaji, and the rest of the crew began to pull the men aboard. Once they were aboard, they gently lay the men out.

"What happened to you?" Masaji asked. "Where's your ship?"

"The-the ocean," one of the men rasped. "It just... exploded."

Masaji's eyes widened at the man's words as he looked out to the horizon... only to see a massive shadow beneath the waves coming closer and closer.