Chapter Title: 女性の最大の敵は好奇心です
English Chapter Title: The Worst Enemy Of Women Is Curiosity
(A/N: First off, the title is more or less a spin on the classic phrase "curiosity killed the cat" and is in no way meant to insinuate that the worst enemy of women is curiosity. Secondly, if the way I set the storyline up in this chapter sounds like a documentary, then I apologize if it does feel like that. I was binge watching Air Disasters on Paramount Plus during part of the time I spent writing at least part of this. Thirdly here, all chapter titles in this fanfic are translated into Japanese via Google Translate.)
June 10th, 2017
17 days after the disappearance of Japan Transocean Air Flight 1954
Pacific Ocean off Dungeon Island
Mid-Morning
The waves of the sea gently spread from one side to the other as a big, massive yacht made its way through the calm seas towards the seemingly innocent Dungeon Island. It had been 17 days since the disappearance of Japan Transocean Air Flight 1954 had disappeared under eerily similar circumstances near the island like all the other flights had, and only 16 days after the remains of the aircraft and its crew had been spotted in the Pacific Ocean roughly 60 nautical miles southeast of the island.
In that short time, much had happened to set up what approached the island on this day. After the incident of Flight 1954, Japanese and other airlines in the region had simply - and unanimously, meaning that everyone from the lowest level pilot all the way up to senior management had agreed on this with no dissent - refused to fly any more planes near Dungeon Island. Enough was enough for them after 2 more pilots had been added to the grim tally of planes and bodies that had become victims of whoever or whatever was lurking on Dungeon Island. No one was exactly sure of what - if anything - could have even done this at all, since Dungeon Island was one of those islands who despite its location, had seemingly been fortunate enough to avoid the passing of history throughout the years.
From a visual perspective at least, Dungeon Island was the kind of island that seemed right out of a survival series or even a modern fantasy movie involving survival on a good sized island. At just 283 square kilometers or approximately 109.3 square miles, the general shape of the island is a jagged circle that like most islands out in the Pacific, generally in the Central to Northern parts of the ocean, consists of different layers the further inland you go. At the extremities of the island is a beach, the kind that only exists in the most perfect of fantasies. Varying from at least 80 yards long at its narrowest point to 150 yards long at its broadest point, with pure golden sand running its full length right up to the wet sand at the shoreline, its perfect to walk around barefoot up to the shoreline since unusually for beaches, the places where you can find seashells and other such items are at certain points along the shore rather than at the back of the beach.
Further inland, the terrain varies. Much of the island is jungle, with a good chunk concealing the ring of mountains near the center of the island, with the exception of plain that was broad and then narrowed to the interior edge as it goes further inland. Numerous ridges, ravines, hills, and other such features are mostly concealed inside the tropical jungle, with only a tiny percentage of these features visible on the plain. It was peaceful, pleasant, an unexplored utopia of sorts with no humans on it at all, an unhabituated unexplored island with literally nothing out of the ordinary that would suggest that anything was living there. And yet, multiple planes had gone missing and found destroyed after disappearing from radar with no Mayday calls out of the blue near this one island. Something was not adding up here at all.
The families of the victims wanted answers, but the authorities are puzzled simply because they could find no evidence that could even explain the damage suffered by the aircraft. All they could tell is that they had been grabbed in mid air and crushed by something.. huge. No other such evidence of such a massive creature existing can be found though, it was as if they were tracking a supernatural entity that could appear and disappear at will. As a result, it wasn't long before rumors had begun circulating in the years leading up to the disappearance of Japan Transocean Air Flight 1954, as these attacks had started to occur at the turn of the century in the year 2000, as air traffic internationally continued to rise.
Although the conspiracy theorists differed widely in their theories, they could at least agree on one simple thing. All of their theories simply called whatever had brought down these planes as "MK", or "Missing Knock-out" for short. But since no evidence to even prove that anything even existed that was capable of inflicting the kind of damage to these planes that investigators were finding, their theories remained just that. Fringe theories that bordered on insanity. Puzzled beyond belief, investigators investigating these mysterious incidents simply adopted the "MK" name for whatever caused all of this. It was like they were tracking a serial killer so meticulous that all they could currently do was just wait and see when it would strike again.
With the authorities stalled in trying to figure out what was even causing this, certain individuals decided to take matters into their own hands, which brings us to the yacht now approaching Dungeon Island on this day. The yacht itself was an Eclipse, the flagship model of the German motor boat company Blohm & Voss, and one of the longest and biggest yachts in the world at a length of 162.5 meters long. It is owned by one of the biggest and wealthiest women in the world at this time, one of the top executives at Southwest Airlines by the name of Jennifer Martinez. At 5 feet and 4 inches tall with brown hair and blue eyes, Jennifer had climbed her way up through the ranks of Southwest Airlines thanks to her skill and other noticeable traits that made rapid promotion all but inevitable as some viewed it. A fast rising star, she felt that she couldn't just sit back and just have to pray that whatever happened to all of these planes wouldn't just happen again. The world needed answers, and soon. The people would not stand for this at all.
Given that she had connections in high places to an extent, she decided to take matters into her own hands. Along with UN Ambassador Chelsea Roberts who happened to be a close friend of Jennifer, she decided to mount an expedition to Dungeon Island to possibly find out exactly what had happened to these planes. Two of the planes that had been destroyed around Dungeon Island had been Southwest Airlines planes, both of them 737s - a 737-300 and a 737-700 respectively, claiming the lives of 249 passengers and crew in the process with no survivors. Because of all of this, and the fact that one of the victims had been another one of Jennifer's friends, she has a bit of a personal mission to find out the truth.
For some reason that only Jennifer can explain as she was the one who made the decision, she allows mostly women to come along on this possibly dangerous expedition to Dungeon Island with a few exceptions. These exceptions include one of the most popular social media influencers on the planet at this time, a young actor by the name of Austin Michael Cowan, as well as a friend of one of the ladies that decides to come along, a monstrous guy who specializes in helping to choreograph fight scenes in movies by the name of Cato Hadley.
Aside from Jennifer's secretary Danica Shy, a few ladies join the expedition simply for the chance to maybe see something incredible that could help advance their careers. Mina Carolina, Ashley Grant, Jessica Reese Hopkins, Sasha Lima Jackson, Morgan Paxton, Twilight "Sci-Twi" Sparkle, Alessandra Rosario and Catherine Key are among this group that joins for this reason, although many of them do also have other reasons for joining this as well. Some, like Juno Olivia Croft for instance, seemingly join for the chance of possibly seeing something that you would only get a once in a lifetime chance to even see. But aside from Austin's girlfriend Lily who tags along with her boyfriend for this expedition, what ties pretty much all of the other ladies that join Jennifer's expedition is that they all, regardless of wealth, status, etc. have to deal with entitled suitors. Specifically, the jackasses known as the Entitlement Club, which given who they are, is an ironically fitting name.
Led by a rich arrogant smug son of a billionaire known as Christian Bell, these arrogant young men are typical of the children of many wealthy people in the world at this time - and of a broad swathe of men of all ages in the world in general - entitled, sociopathic, misogynistic monsters on the inside who desire these women for their beauty and whatever else kind of benefits they want to get their hands on, mainly money, and yet on the outside - celebrities with loyal fan bases as yet unaware of their true forms. The Entitlement Club are the kind of people that in an anime show, their entitlement to certain characters would make the fans of those characters' blood boil over with pure hatred and rage. Thankfully, a good chunk of the world despises the Entitlement Club alongside the women they are after, but they are a persistent nag on these women's lives, so much so that they join Jennifer's expedition to Dungeon Island for another reason - to simply get them out of their hair for a while.
Most of you reading this as of right now probably can't blame them. After all, who wouldn't? Likely, a lot of you all would have done the exact same thing as these women if you were in their situation. Regardless of all of that, it was these circumstances that drew all of these other women to Jennifer's expedition and thus brought them here after flights to Japan - mainly to that due to tight security and tight precautions, flew under the radar of both the media and the jerks of the Entitlement Club - and then to Miyako Island southwest of Dungeon Island, where Jennifer, Chelsea, and Jennifer's large yacht were waiting.
And so it was that all of these people now were on the yacht as it plied the waters toward Dungeon Island, the occupants onboard going through a whole range of emotions currently about what might happen, what exactly they might find on the island. Clove Kentwell, Cato's friend who was leaning forward up against the railing of the yacht with her arms resting on top of each other while also on top of the railing too, was one of those people on the yacht that was feeling the anticipation, curiosity, and suspense of it all right now. Like many women on this expedition, she felt a need to find answers as to what had happened to all of those destroyed planes and to the many.. many victims who had fallen prey to whatever or whoever was causing all of this destruction. They all deserved that much at least. It seemed like murder not to get those kinds of answers and help them on their way to getting some closure over the whole thing, in Clove's honest opinion.
Even so, as the yacht gradually got closer and closer to Dungeon Island in the distance, Clove couldn't help but get an odd feeling that whatever brought down those planes was going to have some sort of implications that would change.. lots of things. She couldn't exactly figure out why that was, she just had that sort of feeling. She glanced down to the left of her, at the ladies who were sunbathing in their bikinis on the front deck of the yacht. This included among others fashion models Kayla Knowles, Alexis Leopold, Adagio Dazzle, Monica Clayton, Sunset Shimmer, Elizabeth Mably, Arnett McMilian, Piper McLean, Florence "Rarity" Sykes; Lifeguard Juno Croft; pop star Emma "Lemon Zest" Gordon, and secretary Danica Shy. They all looked beautiful in their bikinis, but Clove didn't really watch for long since she felt someone nudge her shoulder. She turned to her right to find Jessica now right next to her.
"You okay?" Jessica asked her. Clove just shrugged. "Honestly, I have this feeling that we may find something that changes a lot of things.. I don't know why.." Clove said back to her, gazing out at the open sea.
"I mean.. it potentially could.." Jessica said back to Clove. "You never really know." She sighed as well, running a hand through her red hair. Jessica knew that part full well. She didn't really know what they could expect to find on the island, so either Clove had a sense of intuition about her currently or she could just be getting all worked up for nothing. Either one or the other could happen, all that it would depend on is if they would actually find anything on the island. Plus, even if they didn't find much - a little fun in the sun and enjoying yourself while away from the persistent unwanted suitor that keeps nagging and draining energy from your life would help, at least in Jessica' mind.
Nearby on the front deck, the lovely Kayla Knowles was thinking similar thoughts to both Jessica and Clove as Dungeon Island slowly got closer and closer. Christian had been insufferable in his pursuit of her, and finally being free of his annoying presence for a while, Kayla could finally relax and enjoy bathing in the sunlight for now as she wondered about what exactly they might find on the island. It was.. for a lack of a better way to say it, thrilling in all of its terrifying unknowns. For all Kayla knew, they would find something that would solve the mystery, something that could potentially lead to that, or nothing at all. Either way, it was nice - for both Kayla and many of the ladies on board the yacht - to once again be out and about in broad daylight having some fun than spending days cooped up inside their residences so none of the Entitlement Club could show up and cause scenes to ruin any part of their days.
"Gosh.. this sun feels so good.." Adagio Dazzle muttered on the chair next to Kayla. She definitely wasn't kidding about this at all, if she were to be honest here. This was the first time she had been sunbathing in a very long while. So, it was no surprise that the woman with luminous vivid orange with brilliant yellow streaks wrapped in a ponytail with a violet spiky ponytail holder was absolutely enjoying herself right now as she sat on her stomach on her chair, shades on and getting sun on her back.
"Yeah.. this feels good.." Alexis Leopold say nearby, the blonde also enjoying how this felt. Doubtless, the other ladies there were also feeling the exact same way, and to be fair, very few who weren't on the side of the entitled pricks who had all but caused them to basically hide from society due to the harassment could hardly blame them at all. Especially since ligation to get a restraining order against them in the courts was going far too slowly thanks to their lawyers using Donald Trump's playbook of delay, delay, and delay to such an extent that even though the case was about to proceed to a hearing soon — it had taken at least three long, agonizing years to get to this point.
Which, in other words, was nothing short of torture in a nutshell.
So, yeah. They all were suffering, except the few that weren't subject to all of this among them — Jennifer, Sasha, and Chelsea among them. All three of them saw the suffering of them with their own eyes and that was why - as a measure of sympathy and kindness, they let them come onto this in the first place. They all could see the effects of this from both the media coverage and on social media, so all three of them at least wanted to do something while they prepared a legal case calling for a restraining order against the Entitlement Club, and also criminal charges of harassment among other things.
"It feels delicious to be back out underneath the sun once more.." Adagio continued. "Without having to deal with any of those annoying suitors hollering at us since they watch us like hawks."
Yeah, it was.. that bad for them. Given what had been described above, that probably must have been pretty obvious - but it is important to highlight how bad it was, for it would make the case against them all the more stronger. They all certainly hoped so, but either way, for all of them, it was nice to get to do some of the things that they loved to do, but couldn't do as much as they wanted to because of the Entitlement Club.
One of their own onboard the ship, however, was a bit worried about what exactly they all might find on Dungeon Island, but for different reasons. Cato Hadley, Clove's best friend, was a man with a secret. A major secret at that. Secretly, he knew full well exactly what was on that island that was causing all of these plane crashes - because he was secretly working for it. He sighed as he watched the island where his mysterious boss - he didn't exactly know what his boss even looked at, all he had ever seen of his boss was a shadowy figure and mysterious voice whenever his boss called or facetimed him, somehow since Dungeon Island didn't have internet - resided loomed ahead of him, wondering what exactly he or they - Cato wasn't exactly sure if his boss was even human - would even look like if they encountered it.
Even so, Cato was happy for Clove since it gave her a chance to put her skills to use outside of her house for once in a good long while. He really felt happy that she wasn't all cooped up in her home, never staying out along except to go to work or anything else - for once right now. He was honestly sick of it. He was sick of the Entitlement Club, and he honestly wondered whether there was any way that problem could be solved and his friend's happiness, like those of the other girls that the members of the Entitlement Club harassed, could be solved.
He had absolutely no way of even knowing that the key to this was on the island right now. He had no way of knowing that his boss would eventually turn out to be the one to make this a reality. He had no way of even knowing what would transpire in the next few weeks, and boy, was he in for a rollercoaster of a ride.