The Dustbin

Day 35: Sick Day Part 2

10th of Wyvern Moon, Afternoon

"... You know..." Byron hoarsely groaned out before letting out a cough, "... gotta wonder... what are the others doin' without- *cough*... us?"

Vidar just coughs in return.

"... Better than us, I suppose," Byron then lets out another cough into his masked face, "... this takes me back... when I had to... take care of you... skip out a few classes... you fell into a lake... while it was winter..."

Vidar lets out a dry groan.

"... I'm not going to say 'good times'," pointed out Byron, "but at the same time-*cough*... I don't blame you for it... either."

The two then belt out a dry chuckle before hearing another join in. Byron looks before where he was laid to find Flayn, whom, even after losing her Crest and getting sick soon after, still held a smile behind her masked face that made her shine even at the darkest nights.

"... Hello there," greeted the girl as she wobbled on her staff that she used as support, "... thought I stop by... can't stay cooped up forever."

"Hey," greeted Bryon, "and no... not in the shape... to tell stories right now..."

"I know..." she replied before the girl belted out her own cough, "... I'm also wondering how the others who went outside are doing right now."

"... Better than us... being sick and all," grumbled Byron as he turned over underneath his sheets.

Meanwhile, at the Coastal Town at Eastern Hyrm...

"... What the hell was that noise?!" remarked Mosquera as he and everyone else in the office heard a loud explosion sound coming from outside, "... is someone firing at us?!"

"Wait," Elk/Claude remarked, "who do you guys know that has access to cannons?"

"I mean, sure, we tried to expand our business after Miklan went six feet under, but then that means-!" Pallardó then sped out of his office as everyone else followed the Assassin. Upon stepping out of the door, the five find the whole warehouse completely obliterated, with stone brick walls and lumber alike broken into pieces scattered about in a malady of broken bodies and half-dead criminals.

"... Uh, is that a ship up ahead?" asked Al as he pointed towards the waters up ahead, "why is it flying a black flag?"

"You idiot!" scolded Scorpion/Karna, "they're pirates!"

An array of booms were heard coming from up ahead, followed shortly after by the whistling of the projectiles comes for their heads.

"HIT THE DECK!"

Everyone then jumps to the ground before the cannonballs hit the ground, scattering gravel, splinters and blood alike from the erupted blasts. Amidst the smoke and dust, Karna held onto his mask for dear life, not wanting to blow his cover/anonymity after coming this far into the mission.

"... But I thought..." slurred Al as his head was rattled by the blast, "... but I thought pirates... only existed... me ma's bedtime stories..."

"Well, stories have had to come somewhere from reality," pointed out Elk as he looked at the twins, "care to explain?"

"Okay, fine," sighed Pallardó, "we collaborated with some Almyran Corsairs led by some bloke named Kasim and he said he'd do business with us sellin' what's left of our whores in exchange for some gold to start over," the Assassin remarked, "... methinks that borrowing more than what we can pay back for... never thought those sand-munchers would catch on so quickly."

"Either way, you pissed them off and now they have a reason to kill us," Scorpion then looked ahead to see a pair of ships full of armed men no doubt, coming towards them, "... and in person, no less."

"Trial run for our alliance?" Mosquera suggested.

"Sure, why not," shrugged Elk as he went outside of the wrecked warehouse, spotting the others scattered about the docks, "you guys alright?"

"Aside from Rooster fainting on her feet as soon as the second volley came, we're unharmed," Rattlesnake/Topaz remarked as she dragged the unconscious Rooster/Bernadetta out of the way, "... I count 20 total coming for us."

"Eh, another uphill battle number-wise," shrugged Elk, "can someone get me a weapon?"

Bear/Dedue tosses his way a [Silver Bow] with full quiver. "Keep your wits about you," he instructed as he handed Scorpion his [Crescent Sickle], "we're fighting an open battle and I don't have my shield!"

"Here, take mine!" Scorpion then tosses his own [Silver Shield] towards Bear, "I want it back after this is all over!"

"Here they come!" Fox/Petra cried out as soon as the corsair ships reached the adjacent docks and men armed with [Steel Axes], [Steel Swords], [Killer Knuckles] and [Bowguns] came pouring out from the two sides of the pier.

"Guess the Capt'n missed a few," snarked one man as he bore his teeth, "more for us, then!"

"Let's show em!" the one man barked as he licked the blade of his [Killer Knuckle], "show what happens when one faces the Forty Thieves!"

"Really? Forty?" snarked Lynx/Sorcha as she slammed her [Claymore] down to the ground, "I only see twenty of ye."

"KILL THEM!" the 20 out of the Forty Thieves then all charged towards the group all at once.

The fight with the first wave begins, with the defenders fending enemies off from both sides. Scorpion leads off with Lynx, Wren/Selene and Mustang/Cyrus while at the other side, Elk, Rooster, Rattlesnake, Bear and Fox were fending off the other flank.

Meanwhile, Al, Pallardó and Mosquera were running about in a blind panic as the brigands from both sides tried to take them both out for easy pickings.

"OH COME ON!" Scorpion lambasted as he kicked away a pirate with a [Steel Sword] into the waters behind him before dodging another swing from behind before gutting the other swordsman with his [Crescent Sickle], "... of course, 20 versus 12 within a cramped battlefield and little to no coordination-!" he dodges a punch-stab thrust towards him last-second before firing a [Miasma ∆] point-blank at the Brawler with [Killer Knuckles], "... this is going to be a long day."

Lynx meanwhile, was swinging around her [Claymore] like a madwoman, wounding several pirates enough to make them retreat back to the rear, where the Archers loaded their [Bowguns] with bolas.

"Fire!" the enemy Archer order as spinning strands of rope tying a pair of weights together flew towards them. Lynx pushes Wren out of the way, leaving Mustang to get constricted by all three of the bolas at once. "You morons!" scolded the Archer, "spread out your shots! Don't converge-"

All three Archers were then sent running and screaming blindly, dropping their [Bowguns] in panic as [Swarm Z] fired by Karna fogged up their heads.

"They're in disarray!" Scorpion pointed out, "take the flank out before they recover!"

Under his orders, the four then begin to pick off the opposition (sans Mustang, who is currently tangled up for the moment) one by one. Scorpion takes out 2 Mercenaries and 1 Archer with his polearm and Dark Magic used in Tandem, Lynx impales 3 Brawlers with her massive sword, and Wren (while busying untying Cyrus from his bolas) shot the last remaining pirate with her [Iron Bow] before the frame itself snapped from overuse.

"Bloody ell'!" cursed Wren as she threw down her broken [Iron Bow].

"Here," Scorpion then hands her a pilfered [Bowgun], "got three shots to work with, right?"

Wren then struggles to pull back the really-tight bowstring strung up between the horizontal arc of the new kind of bow. "How do dey even..." she struggled to pull the [Bowgun]'s string back with her hands before she resorted to using her hands and feet, "... use these?!"

Cyrus lets out a sigh before winding back the [Bowgun] himself with only his arms before loading a bola back, weight-first tucked before the wound-back bowstring. "What?" he remarked as he handed Wren his spare [Iron Bow] that he never got to use, "my people stole these from Shangri-La's military on a daily basis! Of course we know how to use [Bowguns]! Especially atop of a horse!"

"Two of you, watch our backs," sighed Scorpion as he saw Al, Pallardó and Mosquera run from three pirate Brawlers armed with [Killer Knuckles], "we have people of interests to save-"

Cyrus fires one bola from his [Bowgun] towards the front Brawler, tripping him over upon his legs being tangled together and falling to the ground before the other two tripped over by the sudden stopping before they were taken out by Selene's fresh [Iron Bow]. The last pirate was then ganged up by the three bandits before he could get up and kill them.

"... So," asked Pallardó as he pulled his [Killing Edge] out of the pirate's corpse, "how's your first kill?"

"... I get the feeling that the next one won't that easy," sighed Al as his hands trembled from seeing his [Iron Sword] being stained with blood.

"Then you're in good hands," Mosquera replied as he nocked his [Killer Bow] with another arrow, "next's one is coming soon enough."

At the other wing, Bear was controlling the flow of the battle by making all of the enemies concentrate their attacks towards him. Even with the unfamiliarity of the [Bowguns] had presented, he stood his ground while Fox directly engaged the enemies in a hit-and-run fashion, and Rattlesnake finished the wounded enemies off with slit throats from her [Shamshir] and [Rapier]. Elk meanwhile, tried to slap Rooster awake from her cannonball-induced catatonia while keeping the stragglers back in the front with his [Silver Bow].

"That wasn't so bad," remarked Elk as he kept lightly tapping Rooster's masked face to get her to wake up, "I guess winging it was an option."

"It was rather fortunate of us that we were able to come out relatively unharmed despite lacking a healer," pointed out Bear, "Fox, Rattlesnake, are you two well?"

"Well enough," replied Fox.

"Not a scratch," Rattlesnake confirmed, "that said, I have you to think for distracting the enemies with your bulk."

"Took it like a champ, pal," complimented Elk as he slapped Bear's back, "I'm kinda jealous that Di-I mean, Lion has a guy like you to watch his back."

"It is nothing out of the ordinary," nodded Bear as he knew that "Lion" was the codename for his liege, Dimitri, "I am simply doing what I am to do as his shield."

"Hey guys," spoke Scorpion as Wren, Mustang and Lynx regrouped with Elk, Bear, Rattlesnake, Fox and Rooster (just woken up, at last), "that takes care of the first wave of pirates."

"Any reason why they would attack here now of all times?" asked Bear.

Scorpion then points his thumb towards the twins trying to sneak away. "Apparently, they did business," he pointed out as he then dragged the two back along with Al, "they say that they 'borrowed more than they can pay back'."

Rattlesnake facepalms. "Tell me, what made you think that they were good business partners?"

"Oh come on! They're Almyrans!" Pallardó remarked, "it's not like they can tell the difference between gold and glass-"

Rattlesnake then punches the Assassin twin brother in the balls, causing the latter to gasp in pain as he fell to his knees. "THE FORTY THIEVES ARE NOTHING BUT GREED WEARING HUMAN SKIN!" she exclaimed as Rattlesnake lifted Pallardó up by his collar of his cloak, "TO CONSIGN YOUR SOUL WITH THEM IS TO SELL AWAY EVERYTHING THAT YOU OWE! RIGHT DOWN TO THE FLESH THAT WRAPS AROUND YOUR VERY BONES!"

"... Sounds like you yourself have a history with em," Mosquera then aimed his [Killer Bow] towards Rattlesnake's head, suspicious at why she would know their affiliation so vividly compared to their own experiences, "care to explain-"

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" yelled Scorpion as another volley of cannons were shot towards them, this time, the main galleon closing in on them as its guns rang out while it sailed directly towards the docks itself.

Back at The Anzu, Kasim was laughing his guts out over the cannon fire being rung out around him, the slaves that he'd kept on his ship serving as his unwilling gunner crew while his remaining 20 out of Forty Thieves kept them in line through coercion. "ALRIGHT! PERHAPS THESE FODLANERS WILL ACTUALLY PUT UP A FIGHT AFTER ALL!"

"Yeah, gonna have to recruit 20 more members after we're done here, right Capt'n?" a member of the Forty Thieves remarked, for which the rest laughed while the slaves kept working under the threat of death by torture.

"Maybe send in the slaves to actually bloody up their noses first?" another cackled at their labor's expense.

"Not all of em!" another pointed out, "if not, who's gonna be left to sell?"

"YOU HEARD HIM!" barked Kasim, "ANY ABLE BODIED MEN WILL ACT AS LABOR BACK AT THE SHIP! THE BRATS AND THE WENCHES COME WITH ME AND THE TEN OF US!"

As the pirates kept firing and yelling from their galleon, at the blasted docks, the groups all scramble back up to their feet.

"... Alright," groaned Scorpion as he got off of his knees, "everyone alive?"

He then hears a plop on the ground, for which, upon looking down, Karna now finds his mask's straps snapped off from the blast and stress of being worn around for at least around approaching a week. He'd hoped that none had seen his face while his mask was off, but by then, it was already too late.

"... Hey," Pallardó remarked as pointed towards the revealed Professor, "... I know you! I thought Mosquera had you killed 10 years ago!"

"Wait, why does he look so pale under the mask?" asked Al as Karna's face was shown, "who's the guy's name?"

"It's Karna!" Mosquera then aimed his [Killer Bow] towards him, "wait a minute, I heard you were working for the Church as a Professor for the garbage part of the student body!" he then looked at the rest of the Dark Mages, realizing that they were tricked this whole time, "you sly son of a-"

Another cannon fire is heard being shot out, causing everyone to start running again, but this time, into the streets of the coastal town to find more cover.

"So, before you schmucks say anything, and I mean, anything!" Karna snapped as his identity was revealed to the bandits that knew his face (the amount of bandits that don't know him can be counted with one hand) while he and everyone else ran, "complain later!"

"Hey, is it just me?" Al remarked as he looked at the streets, "or does it feel that the whole town has gone too quiet?"

As everyone continued to run, they looked around the streets and buildings of the port town, and find that there wasn't anyone left to at least come outside from the cannon shots ringing outside. Even the Fortress Knights patrolling the streets weren't even around anymore.

Then, Elk spots a broken down door with a trail of blood leading into it. "Uh, guys?" he remarked as everyone stopped, "call me an alarmist... but I don't think we're exactly alone."

Rattlesnake peeks inside, and finds that the residents inside the building being cut into pieces while the wall next to where their bodies lay had a hole punched through it, which then led towards another hole that led to a another building, almost as if something bore a tunnel through the buildings.

"... Professor?" she remarked as the little Hassashin looked towards her left to find that the "tunnel" continued further back leading towards the center of the town, "... you surmised that there was a secret stronghold at the center of this town, correct?"

"Explain," ordered Karna to the two bandits.

"We had more of our guys stationed back at the center warehouse!" Pallardó remarked before he realized that they're not here either, "... come to think of it, where are they now?"

"We specifically ordered them to come out of hiding when there's weird stuff going on at one of our bases!" Mosquera pointed out.

"Don't tell me..." Al gulped as also looked inside the building, "... whoever did that... got to the others first-"

A choir of screams were heard coming from the docks.

"... I heard women and children," Bear spoke.

"Nothing else needs to be said, come on!" Karna then leads the others back to the docks where the screaming were heard before stopping to drag the bandit twins back, "and you three are coming with us!"

Back at the Docks...

"Good, good," Odesse observed EP-02's performance as the red-armored and masked Hero slaughtered the pirates and slaves alike with his dual wielding of the specialized sword, the [Moplah of Mephisto], a heavy cleaver-like double-edged blade forged to be light in construction and handling despite its conclave and lopsided look, a hilt made of ivory with small silver studs, and a silver disk for a pommel, and a stolen [Steel Axe] from a slain pirate Brigand. "No lags in-between movement transitions, strength and speed is passable in performance, and unlike the Plaguebringer, it's low maintenance!"

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Odesse," Dolofonos warned as he oversaw their new number's "trial run", said specimen moving towards the captain of the pirates after slaughtering the 10 pirates with 30 slaves acting as meat shields for the former, "EP-02 is still untested. I mean, only the captain seems to be skilled enough to fend him off by himself. He's already killed enough women and children throughout the town already. We need to put it through actual combat testing."

"You want to sic him onto that she-devil that you call your boss, right?" pointed out the Dark Bishop as he took notes on EP-02's performance against the pirate captain, noting the latter's performance to be akin to that of an Assassin's while the former's Hero-like build kept each other at neck and neck from instant death, "and don't worry about him not being properly combat tested. I mean, how many Fortress Knights are left standing around here anyway?"

"I still think he's untested," Dolofonos remarked with skeptism, much to his partner's chagrin, "there's a difference between that of a warrior and a killer."

"Speaking from experience?" jabbed Odesse.

"Let's just say I need better friends and a less toxic work environment," Dolofonos jabbed back at his compatriot. At the corner of his eye, he then spots a maskless Dark Mage leading other Dark Mages of varying sizes along with a twin Assassin and Sniper along with a young Myrmidon. "Hey," he asked, "did you call for backup?"

"Uh no, because this is strictly a two-man covert operation," deadpanned the Dark Bishop as he kept his eyes glued to EP-02's performance and his notes, "why do you ask?"

Dolofonos forcibly turns the beaked head of the Dark Bishop and directs him towards where Karna's group were heading.

"Huh," remarked Odesse, "thought the Empire's Dark Magic Battalion were discontinued."

"You idiot, that's Karna!" Dolofonos scolded, "our partners been bitching about him for the past months!" he pointed out, "he's the one gumming up our works!"

"Hm," an idea flashes in the Dark Bishop's mind, "this actually works in our favor."

"Explain," replied the Assassin.

"You said you want a combat test, right?" Odesse then taps an earpiece inside of his hood, "... then let's give him one."

"But first..." Dolofonos then picks up the Dark Bishop over his shoulder, "... might wanna get some distance in case if EP-02 runs out of things to kill. Don't worry, I brought binoculars, so we can still watch."

At the Docks...

"Sweet Sothis..." Elk gawked at the slaughter that was splayed out before them.

"I deal with this kind of mess on a regular basis..." Karna nervously chucked as they saw the red-armored Hero wielding a unusually-large bladed sword and a [Steel Axe] in tandem against the captain with the [Shamshir], fighting against each other amidst the mess of severed body parts and bloodstained pavements wrecked with cannonballs, including the ones that were cut in half, "... but this? We might be in trouble."

The red Hero with the armor that is emblazoned with a "EP-02" printed onto its pauldron in faded ink then turned its masked head towards the group before letting out a growl.

"Please don't tell me that thing is now going to come for us," Rooster begged.

"When you're me?" Karna lets out a nervous chuckle, "... fat chance."

EP-02 then lets out a roar as it then knocks away Kasim before running towards them like a madman out for blood.

"GET BEHIND ME!" roared Bear as he stood his ground with his [Silver Shield] facing out. EP-02 then swings both of its weapons down, and just at the moment the blades were about to hit the bulwark, Bear then swings the shield outwards in time with the madman Hero's attack, parrying the blow at the last minute. However, the sharpness of the enemy's blow caused the [Silver Shield] strapped around Bear's forearm to snap off into two halves.

"That is not great," Fox gulped in fear while EP-02 looked at its [Steel Axe], its edge now bent inwards from the force of Bear's parry, rendering it useless before tossing it aside in rage, "but you did good!"

"I won't be as lucky next time," sighed Bear now that he has to fight without a shield.

"ERE' HE COMES!" Lynx shouted as EP-02 lets out a feral howl before running back towards the fray.

The group then engages the feral Hero while Kasim sneaks back to his galleon to recuperate from his battle with the surprise marauder. "Okay, wish is granted," he deadpanned as he drowned himself with a bottle of an [Elixir] (the real deal), "how are we looking against that maniac?"

"Capt'n, permission to speak freely?" replied the pirate.

"Go on," Kasim shrugged as he bit into a orange, skin and all., the juices and pulp dripping from his mustache

"We're all gonna die," said the pirate as he peeked over the galleon's fencing, "at best, all we can do is let the slaves out and buy us time to make a run for it," he stated as EP-02 swung its [Moplah of Mephisto] wildly as the group surrounded it with weapons and spells, taking it on one at a time, keeping it boxed in, "but, if we run now, Prince Shahid will take our heads as a default to our agreement."

"So we're dead either way," sighed Kasim, "knew the seas being calm were too good to be true. And we even stole this ship from a bunch of fakers playing us," he recalled a part of their voyage where they actually killed the "fake Almyrans" that was a part of a smearing campaign against their people, to which all they did was kill the enemy crew down to the last man and took everything that they had, right down to their two corsair ships, "well, it was a good tiding with ye boys."

Kasim then whips out his flintlock as he drew his [Shamshir].

"One last charge of glory, Capt'n?" asked the pirate Brawler with a nervous grin.

"Aye," Kasim smirked, "if we can't sell em, let em die."

The remaining pirate crew then bullied the slaves out of The Anzu to load the cannons as the rest of the crew aimed all of the smoothbores directly towards the red-armored Hero that butchered their crew and products.

"A salute to our fallen," Kasim declared as the fuses were lit, "FIRE!"

The cannons fire towards where the EP-02 was running about at, causing everyone to flee before they get blasted. EP-02 however, does the unthinkable. Mainly, he hops from one fired cannonball to another before the Hero himself was found perched onto the ship where the cannons were being fired from.

It only took two shots from The Anzu to have five crewmen killed by EP-02's [Moplah of Mephisto]'s heavy-spaded edge. Kasim immediately aims his pistol towards the Hero before a shot was rang out.

The fired lead ball strikes dead center into the Hero's jugular area, shooting EP-02 off of the ship and causing him to fall into the ocean. "That was for my crew, you bastard," he then spits into where it had fell into before he finds the main galleon itself being boarded by the others.

"Remind me, why are we heading towards the enemy and not running away?!" Pallardó pointed out as the others sped towards the "Anzu" with a stolen corsair ship that Karna was captaining.

"I AM NOT LEAVING THIS JOB HALF-FINISHED!" the Professor barked out as the rest of the disguised Dark Mages maneuvered the sails and the rudder (mostly Lynx, Wren and Fox, due to Brigidians being better seafarers than most), "also, I kinda need you all to die so we can put this little mess of a mission behind on good terms."

"HOW IS DYING GOOD FOR ANY OF US?!" Mosquera pointed out.

"GO AHEAD AND FEKIN' SWIM FOR ALL WE CARE!" Lynx barked out as she pulled the sails full-mast to pick up the corsair ship into ramming speed.

"SHIP AHEAD!" Fox alerted.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" the corsair ship then rammed against the galleon's broadside, the lumber of the ship snapping as the ships collided against each other.

"EVERYONE, BOARD NOW!" Karna then lifts up the ship's chained anchor before hooking it towards The Anzu's side, connecting a line between the wrecked corsair and the galleon.

"DON'T LET THEM ON BOARD!" ordered Kasim as his remaining men all sent their slaves around the anchor to intercept the boarding party while pushing one of the cannons towards their direction to take the slaves down along with the intruders.

However, in a flash, the slaves were all decapitated on the spot by Rattlesnake duel-wielding her [Shamshir] and [Rapier] in her hands, allowing the others to climb on board without hassle. Eventually, the remaining five out of the Forty Thieves and their captain now confronted the group of Dark Mages and their unwilling accomplices.

"So this is how the legend of Kasim and the Forty Thieves end," snarked Rattlesnake, "in foreign waters with no one to mourn them."

"Save that epitaph for yourselves, landlubbers," growled Kasim as he and his remaining men stood defiant, "pirates like us only go out in two ways: alive and victorious, or death by combat!"

The lit cannon then shot towards the group, scattering the boarding party to different parts of the now-wrecked galleon.

"GET TO THE ARMORY! TAKE WHAT YOU NEED!" ordered Kasim as he and his men went into the ship's inner hulls where they kept their ill-gotten gains.

The Archer grabs a crank-operated [Crossbow] that was pilfered off a corpse from an experimental Almyran Arbalest Unit member just last month, the Mercenary grabs a wicked-looking [Wo Dao] that was stolen from a traveling merchant who'd traveled in a convoy all the way from Shangri-La, the Brigand grabs an double-ax-quarterstaff weapon with spade-shaped blades called [Ma'at] which was a priceless religious artifact from a temple at the heart of Morfis, the Brawlers then each grab a pair of katars that they stolen from Shangri-La embassies at the Almyran capital during their heist last year, with one holding the power of fire and light called [Ne Zha] while the other Brawler got ahold of the one imbued with the powers of ice and darkness called [Baigujing]. Two were exceptionally-crafted weapons meant to be used by masters of the arms, while the other three arms were practically religious objects of improbable value.

Kasim meanwhile, reached out for a V-bladed sword with an obtuse angle that he stole from the Hassashin people up near the Almyran borders adjacent to the now-defunct region of Sreng. Described by them as "Zoltan's masterpiece", this unorthodox blade was said to be the tongue of Azrā'íl itself. It's hiss when heard upon being cast into the air was the signal for the enemy's death. Even though Kasim dismisses the anecdote as a mere fairy tale, this sword's edge was sharp enough to cut through solid bronze without getting dull and that every sheath he tried to fashion for it ended up being cut into two. For that, he deemed it worthy of stealing from a tribesmen of killers despite its unorthodox form for a sword that is more or less two blades welded onto a single hilt.

"[Zulfiqar], the 'forked-tongue blade'..." Kasim gleaned at his own reflection off of the blade's flat, "dunno how you're supposed to be used, but let's cut some heads off-"

The wooden ceiling above collapses as the boarding party falls into the ship's armory/treasury. "Sorry about that," Karna faux-apologized as everyone else scrambled back up to their feet, "shouldn't have shot your own ship."

"You know that there was a door, right?" the Brigand pointed out.

"Yes, but you would've locked it," Rattlesnake pointed before seeing her eyes at Kasim's sword, "... is that the [Zulfiqar]?!"

"Only an Hassashin would've recognized that," sneered Kasim, much to Rattlesnake's surprise, "come on, Prince Shahid tells me all about his 'associates'. I'm one of em!"

Rattlesnake takes off her mask to reveal her face without the veil. "Your heresy will be paid with your life!" Topaz declared as she drew her [Shamshir], "divine punishment!"

"GET THEM!" barked Kasim as a cramped melee inside the ship began, with six pirates wielding rare or legendary weapons whereas the boarding party tried to take them on with numbers alone.

Topaz took on Kasim with his stolen [Zulfiqar], Karna and Bear took on the Brigand with his [Ma'at] double-poleax, Wren, Rooster and Elk exchanged fire against an Archer cranking back a bolt with his [Crossbow], Fox, Mustang and Lynx faced the twin Brawler pirates with their elemental [Ne Zha] and [Baigujing] gauntlets whereas the Davino twins and Al were chased around by a Mercenary swinging around his [Wo Dao].

The entirety of The Anzu was in complete chaos, as weapons clashed against each other in the dim bowels of the galleon filled with gold, treasures and death.

"Come on, brat," Kasim smirked as his [Zulfiqar] whistled through the air, the absurdly sharp blade cutting through the gold coins like hot knife through butter as she evaded the masterpiece's swings, "if I bring your head back for going off on us for ten years, then maybe the prince will give me a bonus!"

"Money, money, money!" scolded Topaz as she nicked the pirate's left leg with a sneaking blow, "you pirates are all the same!"

"Oh like your people are any better!" Kasim spat back as he chased down Topaz through the treasury which turned into a chaotic battlefield, "what person in their right mind worships death as a religion?! No god but death? That's dark, even for me!"

"You seek to deny yourself from the truth!" Topaz then jumped out from above the stack of jewels, swinging down her [Shamshir] as the blade was met with the [Zulfiqar]'s flat, "all things are born simply to die in the end. It is how we choose to accept our fate that matters the most! And our Prince took that choice away from us!"

"What's so bad about getting paid?" Kasim then pushed the little Hassashin back before throwing his obtuse V-blade towards the Hassashin, the thrown blade narrowly missing her as Topaz knee-slid under the trajectory, briefly seeing her own reflection cast before her on the blade's flat. Upon successfully evading the thrown sword, Topaz immediately breaks into a sprint towards Kasim. First, she crouches as she runs to get low to the ground, then climb up to his back starting from his legs, and finally, lacerate his throat with her blade upon reaching the peak.

However, at that last step, Kasim immediately grabs her by her hair before throwing her over his shoulder and causing her to land hard onto her back before Topaz rolled out of the way from Kasim catching the returning [Zulfiqar] and planting the blade where she was at prior.

"I killed more than enough Hassashin to know how to deal with you pygmies," sneered the pirate captain Assassin, "you're nothing special, brat. You're gonna die like the rest of them."

"... Fine then," Topaz then strips off her right glove before stripping it of bandages to reveal her Demonic Beast arm with a "XIII" carved into the scale at the back of her hand as the [Crest of Gautier] glowed behind herself, "... a Hassashin can't kill you? Perhaps a monster will!"

Kasim smirks at the unexpected development as his blade was gripped in a reverse-handing, the obtuse blade angle being parallel from the back of his forearm. "Bring it, brat."

At another part of The Anzu and now above deck, the Brigand swinging around the [Ma'at] pushes back Bear and Karna to the defensive, the former's twirls and swings being more graceful and less brutish than one would expect of an axe-wielder.

"Okay, this is bull," Karna swung his [Crescent Sickle] at the Brigand twirling his [Ma'at] double-poleax, "I've only visited Morfis only once, and nobody told me that their [Moon Axes] had a double variant!"

"If anything, he wields it if it were a lance," Bear pointed out as he blocked the next blow with his [Steel Axe], "this is... quite unfamiliar to me. Nevertheless, I will not falter."

The Brigand lets out a yell as he then uses the open space to wildly dance with his [Ma'at], performing flip-slams, low sweeps and double-strikes with his esoteric weapon spinning in his hands. Karna's own [Crescent Sickle] matching the Brigand's wild dance managed to keep the offense itself at bey where Bear then used his bulk to tackle the Brigand from the side before swinging down his [Steel Axe] at the downed pirate before the latter blocks the blow with the shaft of his poleax before kicking him in the knee to get him off of him and swing his weapon to create distance.

Bear then tosses aside his ripped mask, revealing himself as Dedue to the pirate. "For a thug, you have some skill," he grimaced.

"Have to be, if I wanted to live for this long out in the sea," replied the pirate Brigand as he then started performing multi-thrusts with [Ma'at] that which Dedue blocked with the broadside of his [Steel Axe] before performing a surprise uppercut with the rear end of the double weapon, knocking out the Duscurian's [Steel Axe] from his grip, "end of the line, landlubber!"

As the Brigand performs an overhead downward swing with his double-poleax, Dedue then grabs the polearm by its shaft as the the two wrestle the weapon over each other. "Faerghus is a nation of knights!" he declared as his grip and the Brigand's tugged between [Ma'at], "disarmament is part of my training as my liege's shield!"

"These hands pulled ropes through countless storms and raging seas, boy!" cackled the Brigand as he kept wrestling the double-poleax from Dedue, "let's see whose strength is greater-"

Karna then simply decapitates the Brigand with his [Crescent Sickle] from behind where the latter stood. "Too bad you're facing two against one, and I was getting bored," he smirked as the headless pirate fell to his knees.

Deude sighs as he goes to retrieve his [Steel Axe] that had landed behind himself. "... You have my thanks," he dryly remarked as he pried [Ma'at] from the dead pirate's fingers.

"Oh come on, don't go complaining to be about chivalry," Karna remarked as he was handed the [Ma'at] from Dedue, "sooner we get this done, the better."

"I can now start to see why that's your case," Dedue pointed out, "the whole world is out to kill you."

"Preach it to the choir," the Professor then jumps back down with [Ma'at] behind his back and into the galleon's treasury where more fighting took place. Upon jumping down, a bolt from a [Crossbow] nicks past his cheek, opening up a cut as the bolt staked itself into a post behind the Professor.

"Sorry about not taking care of him fast enough," Elk apologized before he tried to sneak out a shot only for him duck back under from another shot from the Pirate's [Crossbow], "but I can't aim when my head is taken off!"

"That and well," Selene grumbled as she blind-fired an arrow from her [Iron Bow], "archery ain't meant for indoors."

"ARGHH! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!" sobbed Rooster as she cowered amidst the fighting happening aboard the "Anzu", "I THOUGHT THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SIMPLE INFILTRATION MISSION!"

"Welcome to the genuine Dustbin experience," smirked Karna, "expect things to go horribly wrong and further chaos to ensue. And before you say that we could've simply chose to ignore the pirates, answer me this: do you expect them to turn a blind eye against us?"

Rooster whimpers before letting out a sigh. "No..." she sighed out.

"Good," Karna smirked, "now let's go kill some fools before something else happens-"

From below, a giant blade cuts through the wooden hulls of the ship. Breaking through the timber, a spout of water sprays out from the breach, followed up by EP-02 coming out of the water flooding the now-sinking galleon.

"... You just had to go and say it, did you?" Dedue deadpanned.

Karna lets out a sigh as he absentmindedly catches a bolt shot from the pirate's [Crossbow] with his hands. "... You know what?" he spoke with a lopsided smile as he snapped the bolt (made of iron) into two in his grip, "as soon as this mission is done, I am going to ask for a vacation, BECAUSE I CAN ONLY TAKE SO MUCH CRAP BEFORE I LOSE IT!"

Both EP-02 and Karna let out a mutual roars of fury as the former charged with his [Moplah of Mephisto] in hand while the latter began shooting his [Dark Spikes T] to wreck the galleon's insides even further as the ship itself slowly began to sink.

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes: Writing with a writer's block/burnout in my mind is a lot harder than I thought. Then again, I was topping myself off with +10k chapters nonstop for the past week and a half, so maybe I am pushing myself too far trying to do something just a tad more humble.

I need to stop thinking that I have to top myself with each consecutive chapter. But at the same time, I want to get as many interesting content as out as much possible before my brain melts.

So anyway, this chapter is more or less a transition chapter to something a tad bigger. And with the innate nature of the Dustbin not being involved in the Battle of the Eagle and Lion mock battle, this arc is more or less a cooldown arc before Remire Village gets attacked, again.

The Forty Thieves and Kasim, in terms of power, they're in between Kosta's brutishness and Miklan's influence. Moderately-successful pirates who are being funded by Prince Shahid as part of a convoluted plot for him to... what? Take the throne as the Shah? I dunno, Shahid was criminally underutilized in Three Hopes and me trying to expand more of his influence as combination of "Greater-Scope Villain" and "Big Bad Wannabe" wasn't helping out my headspace. That said, they stole a lot of religious artifacts as weapons that nearly match the destructiveness of the Heroes' Relics without the "drawbacks", so as a burglary ring, they have teeth.

And for EP-02, it is a version of the Plaguebringer without the gimmicks, yet somehow even more annoying. Being a medieval cyborg is bad enough, but being able to swim on top of that while being powered by a freshly-extracted Crest Stone and slaughtering all of the inhabitants of the coastal town at Hyrm? Yeah, this guy is a version improvement of the previous Plaguebringer. Kasim just got lucky that the guys who made EP-02 didn't take into account for black powder firearms.

And speaking of Karna... after this arc, he's gonna be a tad burned out. Even after spending most of his life on the run from authorities, bandits and people out to kill him for reasons unspecified, even he has a breaking point. This is reflective of my own self-examination of me working on massive arcs for two fics simultaneously, and that I have to see that I can't just shoehorn "interesting situation duels" whenever I want. Simply put, I had to acknowledge that even withdrawals have withdrawals and Karna and I are officially burned out. That won't stop me from trying though.

Also, no. Stories of Three Hopes will not be adapted. The reason why will be revealed in the Remire Village Assault arc. Which, coincidently, is my next major arc. Kill me now, for my ego is already dead.

References:

- EP-02's design is loosely inspired by an unspecified combinations of Tenno Warframes from Warframe. I had Excalibur in mind with some vague elements of Ash and Rhino, and from there, the design just too an industrial-steampunk dive to it with the metal plating and faceless iron visor-mask with a Hero's overall well-roundedness.

- EP-02's [Moplah of Mephisto] is based off a southwestern Indian sword used in the 17th century. And it is named after the Devil with the same from from Faust of Germanic Folklore. And keeping with the Bloodstained connection, it is named after the boss that comes after Abaddon.

- The [Crossbow] used by the pirate Archer is based off the Heavy Crossbow special weapon from Payday 2.

- The double-poleax [Ma'at] is designed after an Egyptian moon-axe and is named after the Egyptian goddess of truth, justice, balance and order. I also had Fire Emblem Fate's [Double Club] in mind when I assumed the "double" aspect of the weapon.

- The twin katars used by the Brawler twin pirates are named after Chinese folklore figures, the fire-based katar [Ne Zha] being named after the mythological demigod warrior prince of the same name while [Baigujing] being the Chinese name for Lady Bone Demon from "Journey to the West". Also, I kinda had Agni and Rudra from Devil May Cry 3 in mind for the katars, so hence the fire and ice aspects.

- Kasim's sword [Zulfiqar] is named after the same sword used by Ali ibn Abi Talib. The sword's name in Arabic is a combination of dhu and faqār, both meaning "possessor, master" and "splitter, differentiator" respectively. It's appearance, is an exaggeration of its original depiction of a V-bladed sword, now turning it into a flat-out boomerang sword that can be thrown and returned back to the thrower regardless of it whether hitting or missing.