Spytand Malice starred.
The Cat Cafe was a ruin; the furniture smashed, the walls scorched and cracked. In the middle of the floor a battle was raging; as Ulti and Page One, in their dinosaur forms, struggled against Who's Who in his tiger form, and a group of his crew.
Now things were getting weird.
The Flying Six got along about as well as cats in a sack, but there was only so much infighting Kaido would tolerate. For that very reason, they were very particular about their territory, and their possessions. They did not so much as step onto each other's ships, or enter each other's lounges, without express permission or being forced to let them on by the All Stars. To do otherwise was to invite a fight, and the consequences.
Malice looked around, and saw a pirate crouching nearby; one of several hiding in the wreckage around the lounge. He was bruised and bloodied, and breathing hard, his eyes fixed on his master. Propped on the wreckage nearby was a rifled musket, one of Queen's lesser creations.
"What's going on here?" he demanded, in his reasonable tone. The pirate jumped, and gulped hard.
"It's their fault!" he barked, pointing at the dinosaur siblings. "Ulti came barging in here, screaming about a Dekyun or something, and she started wrecking the place! When we tried to stop her, Page One attacked us!"
Malice looked again at the battle. Ulti swung her tail, smashing into a pile of broken furniture, sending pieces flying everywhere. Malice stood still as a shard the size of a marlinspike flashed past, grazing his cheek. He heard the pirate gasp.
This was nothing. He had stood on burning decks, bullets whipping past him, up to his knees in the blood of his own crew.
And he knew how to deal with this kind of nonsense.
He heard the pirate gasp again as he strode forward, stopping a little way from the combatants. He could feel their eyes on his back as he stood there, legs spread, filling his lungs to roar.
"Enough!"
The room fell silent. It took Malice a moment to realize that the word had not been his.
He turned, and it was all he could do not to gape, as King strode through the ruins of the lounge. Anyone that was hiding in the louge did their best to look smaller than they already were, but the All Star didn't have eyes for them.
"This stops now," King said. His voice was not raised, but it somehow managed to echo around the room. The pirates began to scuttle away, some of them carrying wounded comrades. The tiger and the two dinosaurs glowered at the burning angel, all three breathing hard, clearly weary, but none of them daring to move.
Malice's heart hammered. He feared all three of the All Stars, and hated Queen, but King was the only one of them he actually respected.
"Lord King!" he called out. "These three were…!"
"A moment, Malice."
Malice found himself talking to King's gloved hand. A part of him raged at the slight, but it was more respect that he ever got from anyone else on Onigashima; at least from those who equaled or outranked him. Not to mention he knew King made the gesture not out of disrespect but to address the immediate matter at hand.
King stepped forward, towering over the three and glaring at them behind his mask.
"What is going on?" he asked, in a voice like thunder.
"Yamato took away my Dekyun!" snapped Ulti, stomping her reptilian feet. "I was looking for him, and this alleycat attacked me!"
King's eyebrow slowly inched upwards.
"She broke into my lounge and wrecked it!" roared Who's Who. King looked slowly from one to the other, and then at Page One. Despite being a dinosaur, he managed to look sheepish.
"Look, there's this guy the young master took a liking to. But then Yamato came by, dancing around like Oden used to when we had those hostages. Then he smashed me in the head and the guy disappeared."
"That bastard took my Dekyuuuuuuuun!" whined Ulti, stomping her feet some more. "And he hurt my Pay-pay!"
King looked down at Malice.
"Is this what you were about to tell me?" he asked.
"Yes, Lord King."
"Does anyone else say otherwise?" King asked, looking around at the very scared-looking pirates. All shook their heads very enthusiastically for the negative.
"So," King returned his attention to Ulti. "You got into a fight with Yamato, wrecked the place trying to find him, and came barging in here." He tilted his head, but his tone remained the same like stone. "Am I supposed to think that justifies anything, Ulti?"
"He's my Dekyun!" complained Ulti. "Yamato can't have him! And neither can he!" She jabbed an accusing claw at Malice. "He wants Dekyun for himself!"
… what?
Malice felt all eyes on him, and could hear the whispering.
"Uh, sis, not a good time to be making enemies…" hissed Page One.
Malice felt his fangs lengthen, as the old fury rose.. Just because he had never been with anything or anyone, not even once. Just because this hive of carnal depravity did nothing for him. Just because he didn't like…
A gust of hot wind shocked him from his rage. Ulti was now sprawled in the wreckage of what once was a wall, unmoving. She twitched once on the floor, then went still. Page One audibly gasped.
King was standing there, his right leg extended in a kicking motion before bringing it back down with a deliberate slowness. The speed…
That would have hurt an Admiral.
"Page One, take her back to your quarters and stay with her," he said, lowering his leg. "And if she acts up again, I won't be so gentle. Do I make myself clear?"
"Y-Yes sir." Page One nodded quickly, and scurried over to his unconscious sister.
"Who's Who," King went on, turning to the tiger. "I'll send some people round to help you clean up, and repair the damages"
"Thanks," replied the tiger. "But my back room's gonna be tight. I'll make do."
As the tiger padded off, and a now human Page One began dragging a now human Ulti away, King stood where he was.
"Walk with me, Malice."
Malice fell in beside King as they strode out into the street.
"Tell me. Who is this Dekyun?" King asked.
"One of our new recruits, apparently," replied Malice respectfully. "I ran into him while Lord Kaido's food was being stowed. Green hair, lots of scars, but he didn't look right."
"In what way?" The massive angel of death turned, eyebrow quirked.
Malice thought hard, remembering that curiously soft face, those wide, expressive eyes.
"His face," he mused. "He had the body of a warrior, but the face of a boy. And he looked…I don't know…soft somehow. "
"I'm going to get ideas on this description?"
"Lord King!" Malice rounded on him, his fury flaring again.
"Calm down, Malice." King's voice silenced his fury, cutting through his rage and freezing his very soul. Wasn't that he was angry or dismissive, but rather speaking in a normal tone. "I know you're a cold fish, and that's fine. At least somebody's got their head on straight tonight. Even I can't be in two places at once, for that I'm grateful. But you should get yourself a vice, Malice, even if it's just liquor or drugs. It'll take the edge off."
Malice's lip curled. He didn't dare touch booze, not much anyway. And especially narcotics. He couldn't allow himself to relax, to lose control.
"I enjoy my work, Lord King."
"Yes, I think you do. And there are worse vices."
Yes, of that Malice was certain. He never really felt alive except in battle, never felt satisfaction except when his enemies were destroyed. The smell of blood in his nostrils, the heat of burning ships warming his face, the smoke billowing from a flattened town, the wailing and crying of those still alive, pleading to heedless gods, or screaming useless curses.
Yes, his vice was death and destruction. Domination and subjugation.
That was all he could be, the only life he knew. At least now he wasn't serving a lie. He was serving true strength, not fat, incestuous cowards.
"I'm going back to the castle," King said. "Go and find Yamato, and tell him on my order to cease this foolishness. If he acts up again, report it to me immediately. I'll deal with Kaido if he turns his attention towards you."
"Yes, Lord King."
He paused, as King strode off, leaving him alone.
So…that green-haired youth was called Dekyun, or as Page One told him, Deku. Knowing Ulti, and her fondness for silly nicknames, the latter was the real one.
Deku. He had never heard a name like that before. Certainly not in Wano, which he assumed to be the youth's homeland. He looked vaguely like them, and there were more than a few in the Beast Pirates these days.
And he was working with Yamato on…something. Clearly he mattered to the woman who called herself a dead man, or else she wouldn't have risked herself against both Ulti and Page One for his sake. Otherwise, Ulti's little rampage was a red herring.
So then…what was Dekyun's purpose in all this? Was he just Yamato's lover after all? Was it really that simple?
But Malice knew, somehow, that it wasn't. He knew, because Deku's eyes weren't those of a pirate, let alone a Beast Pirate. He had never seen eyes like those on a pirate, or a marine.
Those eyes were…innocent. One who did not understand how and why the world was the way it was.
And they haunted him, in a way nothing had since he had left the marines.
He had to find that boy. He had to know what was going on. If he and Yamato were lovers, he would leave them to it. It was no concern of his.
But he had to know!
(X)
Yamato paused, breathing hard.
It had been a long, hard climb; made all the harder by the winding, narrow passages. But she had reached the top floor of the castle, at long last.
She peered out of the nearest knothole. The main corridor below was deserted, remarkably so. All she could see were one or two pirates - their elaborate costumes and flashy weapons marking them out as Headliners - strolling into the All-Stars' lounges.
She could not hear Queen's voice; a voice hard to miss. No doubt he was down in the Red Light district, chasing some unfortunate courtesan. Jack's lounge looked fairly busy. But King's lounge seemed quiet, subdued.
Yamato spotted a small group of Headliners, hanging around in the corridor. They were talking among themselves. She strained her ears to hear them.
"...not here?"
"No, some trouble down below. Last I heard, Lady Ulti got into a fight with Lord Who's Who."
"Seriously?! I'd pay to see that!"
Yamato's heart skipped a beat. Trust Ulti to get into a pointless fight, and with Who's Who of all people. But what about Izuku?
"Any idea what it was about?"
"All I heard was Lady Ulti went charging into the Cat Cafe, transformed, and a fight broke out."
"Lord King won't like that. Does Master Kaido know?"
"Don't know. He's still in his chambers with Lady Black Maria and the others."
"Guess Lord King wants to handle it himself. I wouldn't wanna…"
"Coming through!"
A rumbling filled the corridor. The Headliners stepped to the side of the corridor, as an enormous wagon thundered through. From her vantage point above the corridor, Yamato could see the enormous sake gourds packed carefully into the wagon, and the luckless pirates pushing it from the sides.
"Can't we have the slaves do this?" grumbled one of them.
"We tried that once, but Master Kaido really wants his sake delivered on time!" retorted the Headliner striding alongside the wagon. "Keep it moving!"
Yamato watched as the wagon rumbled on its way. A full wagon, full of gourds the size of a grown man, all of them full and stoppered.
Yes, it was as she had predicted. He would be drinking himself into oblivion, as he generally did on the Golden Festival. The plan was working, so far.
She lay down, and glanced at her watch. 12:00. Three hours to go. She glanced again through the knothole, her new vantage point allowing her to see the end of the hall.
There it was. A pair of enormous, elaborately-decorated double-doors, over which loomed a serpentine dragon statue of carved stone; identical to the dragon that decorated the front gate of Onigashima.
Kaido's private chambers. His place of comfort and privacy, and of ultimate safety. In three hours, she was dash down that corridor and announce herself at those doors; or else batter them down. There, once again, she would challenge Kaido for her freedom.
And if all had gone well, Izuku would be there; ready to snatch the keys from Kaido's pocket, and slip away unseen. Then, at last, they would escape together.
"Please be alright, Izuku," she silently prayed, closing her eyes to rest.
(X)
Izuku was starting to worry.
For hours, he had navigated the ventilation pipes; levitating up and down, carefully feeling his way around corners, always fearing to make a sound, or to fly right into a moving fan.
Yet still he had not been able to find Kaito's quarters. Most of the places he had found were lounges and bars, full of pirates partying the night away. He had even come across the kitchens, the sights and scents making his stomach growl.
And here was another gap to peer through; another place that might or might not be his destination. He could hear the sounds of men and women cheering. Could that be it?
He paused by the gap, and peered through.
It was a fighting ring of some sort, surrounded by a crowd of triumphant pirates. One combatant, a man from the looks of it, was being dragged away by his feet, leaving a trail of blood. The other was a woman, with short black and white hair, her bloodied fists held high. All around, the pirates cheered, chugged liquor, and settled their bets.
"Let's hear it again for our victor, Speed!" roared a microphone-wielding pirate. "And for the victor, the spoils!"
Izuku watched, heart clenching, as the SMILE fruit was brought out. The woman took it, and paused a moment. Izuku found himself hoping that she would refuse it, that she would back away from such evil.
But the crowd would not have it. They were chanting, thrusting fists and tankards in the air, willing her to take a bite; to claim her prize, or suffer her doom.
The woman bit, and the crowd fell silent as she wolfed the SMILE down. Izuku watched, unable to tear his eyes away. The woman retched, and clutched at her stomach.
And then she changed. She fell to her knees, and her body began to lengthen, stretching out behind her. Her legs began to change too, her feet warping into round hooves. Her lengthening abdomen split into two, and then three, as two growths became legs, and a long black and white tail sprouted above them.
Speed stood up, now on four legs instead of two. She reached up at her head, and found two long ears.
"Speed…of the horse!" roared the delighted announcer. "Give up for our latest Gifter!"
The pirates roared their approval, stamping their feet, chanting so loud that Izuku could not make out the words. Speed began to jump and prance about, like the graceful centaur she had become, eyes bright with joy.
Izuku stared, bewildered, not knowing what to think. But she seemed happy.
He shook his head, and glanced down at his watch. 2:45. He was running out of time.
He marked the opening with the chalk, and continued on his way. Along the tube, then up, then along again, marking all the way. All these hours spent wandering the tubes, and he had hardly ever come back upon himself.
He hadn't underestimated how big the castle was, but he had underestimated just how messy. For all that the Beast Pirates were orderly and well-organized, there seemed no logic to the layout of the pipes. It was as they had been added gradually over time, with new lengths stuck on when needed, with no real plan or system.
A lot like Yamato's crawlspaces. And the rooms and corridors in which she had lived when he arrived. The Beast Pirates were disciplined, but their discipline was born of fear and desire, not of devotion or love. They didn't love Onigashima, or else they would have taken better care of it.
Finally, he reached an upward pipe; this one very wide. He leapt upward, soaring up the pipe as fast as he dared, his heart hammering in his chest. He could not be late! He could not leave Yamato to fight alone!
He reached the top, and then paused. He felt…cold, in a way he couldn't properly describe. The air temperature in the pipe had not changed, but still he found himself wanting to shiver.
She shook his head, ignoring it. There was only one pipe leading away; this one dimly lit by a red glow. Willing himself not to make a sound, Izuku pulled himself carefully into the pipe, and eased his way along, until he reached the glow, which was coming from a vent. He laid himself down, and peered through.
It was a lounge; this one far more luxurious than the others he had seen. The light was low and red, giving the feel of some expensive and not entirely scrupulous club. Pirates lounged in chairs or on couches, talking quietly among themselves, and occasionally laughing. They appeared human, and wore leather costumes encrusted with spikes. Many of them were smoking, the clouds wafting up to Izuku's pipe.
He didn't know what it was, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"It's opium." Daigoro said in his head. "I can recognize the stench any day…"
All around the lounge, Izuku could see the pirates smoking their pipes, or making lines of white powder on the tables. No prizes for guessing what that was.
"So I was with Lord King's fleet," drawled one of them. Izuku slinked out of sight, peeking in barely though the slits as he saw some pirates below him on a couch. "We got the SMILEs without a hitch."
"No trouble?"
"Nah, the whole batch laid out ready for us. I'll say this for Doflamingo, he keeps his word."
"He likes a dozen shiploads of treasure, ya mean!"
"That too."
This was King's lounge! The All Stars had their lounges on the same floor as Kaido's own quarters! He was almost there!
And if they were still enjoying themselves, then Yamato had not launched her attack. He was on time!
He looked down again, his attention drawn by raised voices.
"So where did you go? Come on, tell us!"
"Yeah you're among friends! What's the harm?"
Other guests crowded around, some crowding onto the couches, others standing. The one who had spoken, a Headliner from the look of him, smirked and sniggered; clearly enjoying being the center of attention.
"What?" he drawled. "You wanna know that badly?"
"Yeah, come on!" The guests pestered him again and again. "Tell us!"
"Oh…oh well then," mused the Headliner. "Well…"
He paused for effect, grinning as they hung on his words.
"Well…we went to Dressrosa."
The guests gasped and muttered among themselves.
"They're being made in a factory there," the Headliner went on, lounging in his seat. "Doflamingo's little pet project, and he's sharing them with us."
He smirked, and sat where he was, giving his audience an expectant look. One of them took the hint, and handed him an opium pipe. The Headliner took a long draw, and let out a satisfied sigh.
"Ya didn't get any trouble?" asked one of the pirates. "That Doflamingo guy's not someone ya wanna mess with."
"He does right by us, we do right by him," slurred the Headliner. "Least till Lord Kaido says otherwise. And when that happens…we'll have an army like no other. The World Government…won't know what hit them."
Izuku wrinkled his nose, and backed away from the vent. The smell of dope was getting too much for him. But what he had heard was making his mind race.
Dressrosa. The place Ulti had wanted to take him on a…date. And the SMILEs were being made there, by someone called Doflamingo.
That all made sense. Dressrosa could not be far away; not if Ulti was wanting to drag him there on romantic interludes. Someone like her wouldn't want a long voyage on a sailing ship just to go shopping. And if the SMILEs were being shipped from there in bulk, then it made all the more sense.
And Kaido had implied that it was in the New World, on this side of the Grand Line.
He glanced again at his watch. 2:55. He was close, but he had to get moving.
He hurried along the pipe. It curved upwards; a good sign.
And there it was again. That…cold, that seemed to seep into his very bones, clenching around his insides. It wasn't the air conditioning, it was something else, something from within.
Was it his Danger Sense? Was it picking up on something, trying to warn him?
He gritted his teeth. He could only go on. He had to go on. He couldn't let Yamato down, not when they were this close!
So he continued, forcing his body onward. Onward and upward, and then onward again, through the darkness of the pipes. Colder and colder it became, until it reached his very soul. It was so dark in there, and he was utterly alone.
Then he paused. This pipe was different. There was a fan at the far end, and one behind him, keeping up a constant, cool breeze. There were many small vents along the pipe, each one covered by an elegantly-carved grate.
Was this Kaido's room. Had he found it?
"Why do I feel this…" Yoichi murmured. "Pressure…?"
"We're stepping into the dragon's lair. That… and whatever this feeling is…" Hikage said.
There was something there nearby. A presence he could sense, like seeing something only in the corner of his eye, or at a great distance; or a sound he could barely hear.
That was it. That was what he had sensed. That was where the cold was coming from.
He moved carefully along the pipe, crouching down by one of the vents. Willing his heart to slow, he leant in to look.
A vast chamber, elaborately decorated, with an enormous bed in the center. Flame lamps lined the walls, their light soft, violet, casting gently dancing shadows.
At the foot of the bed lay women, sprawled seemingly where they had toppled. They wore elaborate, expensive-looking kimonos, and had their hair done up to match. They looked, for all the world, like the geisha around Kyoto.
No, not geisha. More like courtesans, with their kimonos off-the-shoulder like that.
There were two more shapes further up the bed, too far for him to make out clearly. But they were both enormous, one of them snoring like a sawmill. Izuku glanced about, and saw something piled up beside the bed. They were clothes, and an enormous rope belt, not unlike the one Yamato wore.
Kaido's belt. For certain. And Izuku could see his trousers, the ones he had worn when he had made his speech; when he had patted the left pocket.
A sudden rumble echoed through the chamber. Izuku jumped back, his blood running cold, as Kaido slowly sat up, smacking his lips and grumbling as if he had awoken from a drunken induced nap.
"My lord?"
The other shape sat up, its movement languid and graceful. It was a blonde woman dressed in the same manner as the other women, though her kimono was black and even more elaborate.
She was also considerably larger. Smaller than Kaido, but large enough to hold a grown man in her hand like a doll.
"My lord? Are you hungry? Thirsty perhaps?"
Izuku stared in mute terror as Kaido reached out with one enormous hand. It closed around a sake gourd, which he lifted to his lips and glugged down.
Izuku's stomach churned. There was enough sake in that gourd to get twenty people drunk. Yet he downed it like it was water.
"Nnnngh… We're being watched, Maria." he growled, setting the gourd down.
Izuku's heart stopped. Black Maria…
"Watched, my lord?" Black Maria made a show of looking around. "There's only us here. No one would dare intrude."
"It's something…small, weak," Kaido mused. "I can't quite place it."
Izuku was frozen stiff as he moved out of sight in the vent, floating so as to not make a sound; as he remembered what Yamato had told him. The Observation Haki, that let him sense all around him.
But why could Kaido sense him! He meant Kaido no harm! He had no intent to fight! And Kaido had drunk enough sake to get the JMSDF plastered! How could he still sense him!?
"Rats perhaps, my lord?" suggested Black Maria. Fortunately, she did not sound particularly concerned. "We could have Who's Who provide some cats."
"There are others here… in their lounges," rumbled Kaido. "I know them. But this one…no, not one… but many.."
"Many presences, my lord?" For all her courtesan manner, Black Maria still managed to sound dubious. "Perhaps men tending to the pipes? Or filling in the crawlspaces?"
"A single rat, but not alone," Kaido went on, as if she had not spoken. "Nine of them…"
Izuku almost cried out. Nine of them? Did that mean he could sense the Vestiges? Could Haki sense even the dead? He can't hear the vestiges… but he can sense the fear.
They knew as well. They were as silent as he. Even they who went up against and spoke back to All for One… were paralyzed in fear.
He felt his sense beginning to boil. His heart rate being the only thing he can hear outside of Kaido's lair.
It was deafening.
"A possum, perhaps," commented Black Maria. "They carry their young on their backs, or so I hear."
"Maybe…" the large man slurred, acknowledging her suggestions for the first time.
Izuku was terrified. Only once, long ago, had he been quite so afraid as this. That time in Kamino Ward, with All for One.
But there was no All Might this time, no fellow heroes and friends like Todoroki and Yaoyozoru to stand with him, to help him fight. Even then, his objective was to save Kacchan, not fight the Symbol of Evil.
He was utterly alone. Only the wall, and the pipe, separated him from Kaido; the Demon King of this living hell.
Izuku's mind ran wild, as his old nightmares returned; his horrified imaginings, and the memories the Vestiges had shown him in their combined mutual state of mind numbing terror.
Their memories of the world before, the world of chaos and darkness, as humanity lashed out in blind terror at the strange new power growing in its midst. Countless lives had been lost or ruined, cruelty piled upon injustice a thousand times a thousand times. Cities had burned, nations torn themselves apart, never to recover. Human civilization had fallen to the very edge of utter ruin.
Yes, Kaido was like those times. As if that era of destruction, chaos, barbarism and madness had been fused into a living form.
Kaido would have fitted right in. He would have made that world his own. No petty dictator, no Villain, and no Hero could have stopped him. Even One for All could not have stopped him. He would have made Japan his Onigashima..
No. Not Japan. A shadow king like All for One might have settled for Japan, but not Kaido.
The world would have been his sandbox. To create, change, and destroy as the mood took him.
He felt so cold. His soul shrank, his body faltered. His hands going to his hair as he tried to breathe. Reality seemed to fade around him, sinking into a morass of cold, black despair.
There was no power that could oppose that thing. Even One for All would not be enough! He was no match!
"It's annoying."
The sense began to flare.
The quakes. The quakes of his footsteps. The shuffling of metal that was Hassaikai being taken up from the floor, the surprised gasps and groans from the other courtesans.
He could sense it. It was only a shape in the low light, a shadow darkening the vent several meters ahead of Izuku, but he could feel that great and terrible presence, moving slowly towards him. It was… choking him. His head was beginning to burn.
Those horrible slitted yellow eyes bearing at his spot.
"The vermin…" the monster continued, "They're still here."
"Maybe it's paralyzed in fear, my lord."
"Maybe so…but it's irritating."
This was it. He was doomed. If he tried to flee, then Kaido would sense him, and rouse the entire island against him. If he didn't, then he would have to face Kaido himself.
He flees, he is almost certainly dead and the plan ruined.
He fights, he is certainly dead.
The vestiges were silent. No doubt paralyzed with the same fear as he.
With the same realization too.
"Come back to bed my lord. It's only a possum."
"Bwuh… *hic*, it'll give the newcomers something to do. And I… fancy having a window here."
Izuku heard the gust as Kaido drew back his club. He wanted to howl, to flee, to run and cower somewhere small and dark. His Danger Sense was blazing so hard he thought his head would split into two; his brain pounding with his heart inside his small, fragile body.
He was so scared. He couldn't move, or scream, or breathe.
He couldn't breathe!
Izuku clutched at himself, tears streaming down his face. He couldn't do it. He wasn't strong enough. He was nowhere near strong enough. He was going to die! He was going to die alone in this place, alone and unremembered! He was going to…
Someone…
ANYONE!
And then a bang cut through his blind terror, the sound ringing in his ears. With it came the shriek of bending steel, and the crash of breaking stone. Light poured in through the vent, momentarily blinding him.
And then a crack of thunder.
"RAIME HAKKE!"
The crash resounded around the chamber. Izuku flew up for a peek and stared, struggling to control his gasping lungs. The terrible shape was staggering backwards, hitting the wall with a grunt of surprise. The wall disintegrated as Kaido fell, throwing up a cloud of dust.
And then Izuku saw it, the much smaller shape dropping to the floor, from where it had soared through the air to strike. The glint from her kanabo pouring in from the darkness.
"Prepare yourself, Father! For I am Kozuki Oden!"
"Oh for fuck's sake Yamato!" groaned Black Maria, her courtesan act gone as she covered her eyes against the light. "Tonight of all nights! Really!?"
The other women scattered, scampering out of the way with cries of terror. But Izuku was not afraid, as he saw Yamato standing amid the billowing dust, kanabo at the ready, amber eyes fixed on her stricken father.
"I have come to take your head!" she bellowed. "And to claim my freedom!"
A massive hand reached through the smoke, and Kaido moved out of it with an annoyed sigh.
Dust matted his face, but his skin had no damage, barely a hair out of place. He took one quaking step forwards, and even Yamato shifted back slightly, clutching her kanabo hard.
"I'm almost proud."
He took one step forwards, a quake reverberating through the entire chamber and black lightning arced up Hassaikai. The floor cracked, and the walls shook, making the dust fall in shimmering clouds. He reached the bed, and took the sheet from it, wrapping it around his waist.
"Attacking an enemy while they rest, while they… *hic* drink and fornicate, after you have spent time to heal to one hundred percent. Not a bad idea. You've become more tactical…my foolish child. Well done."
Kaido stood over his progeny, his club in his hand. Yamato brought her own to bear, glaring up at him.
Izuku stared, unable to tear his eyes away. Yamato, the only friend he had on this vile island, was about to fight that monster. Those slitted, demonic yellow eyes, boring into her defiant amber orbs.
"So now…*hic*… let's move on… to a more important lesson. And we begin…now."
Big thanks to Juubi-k for this one, and for IKnowNothing for this edits as always. But yeah, we're nearing the end of the second act of the arc. Big time info is dropped, and Izuku now know what it's like to feel the ire of an Emperor directly, even if Kaido got it wrong on who he was aiming for.
Hope you all enjoyed! And I'll see you all in the next one.