The captain is an elderly asian man, short in a navy blue blazer as well white captain's hat and trousers, he's using a stepping stool to reach the steering.
He looks out at the bright blue sea with a warm smile as the sun slowly rises in the distance.
The sunrise shines through the windows of the room, especially the suite Ricardo is in; he sits on the side of his bed, his eyes fixed on the window. Bang stands outside his room in a black shirt and jeans, listening to a song through his AirPods; it's so loud that anyone next to him could hear it clearly.
Lio stands outside the cabin in a white shirt and black joggers.
He hears a thud from outside the Cabin, he ensures the suite door is locked before slowly moving towards it to investigate.
The deck of the ship seems to be uneventful, just the man in the sun hat who's been fishing there since last night.
"Hey, sir. Are you alright? "
"Is anyone really alright in this world?" The man responds in a low, calm tone.
"Um...I don't know the answer to that."
"You see, my boy, worms live to bore holes in the soil, they get caught and used as bait, the trout eats the worm, but can be eaten by raccoons. The raccoons eat the trout, and they are eaten by wolves, who eventually die off and feed the soil."
"The circle of life..."
"Eh...well, I wouldn't call it that."
"No, it's from an old cartoon; what you just described."
"Ah... I see, as a boy, I never had time for that, I mostly helped my father catch our daily meal."
"I see you kept those skills."
"Indeed, I could show you if you're interested. "
"I would ...but I just want to get back to my...job."
"Oh, pity. Another time then."
"Yeah...um, hey,, what's your name?"
"Just call me 'Fisherman' for now."
Lio leaves, and after a few moments, an invisible man in black pulls off the clothes and hides his appearance.
"Thank you, old man, why didn't you expose me?"
"Who am I to interfere with people's actions?"
"Hmm..you're a strange one."
The man pulls the cloak back on and makes his way through the ship.
"As with every voyage to the Blackout Island, the voyage is just as interesting as the main event. "
The man soliloquises with the smell of burning wood covering his hands and the fishing pole.
The man in black unwraps the object, revealing a bronze staff with the end shaped like an eye, glowing a blue colour.
During the day, Lio stands guard, writing something in a notebook as Ricardo plays squash against another man.
"45-love!..." The man exclaims as he moves to hit the ball against the wall with his racket. "Are you sure you don't want to call it quits, Rico?"
"It's Ricardo, Jackass."
Ricardo just barely makes contact with the ball to keep it in play.
Layla goes to the kitchen, then stands in front of the other kitchen staff.
"Good morning, everyone. I'm Layla Speranza, the head chef...I look forward to working with you..."
She's cut off by a single person's loud applause.
"Bravo, Madamemoiselle." A taller European man with a short moustache walks next to her. "But...I am the head chef, Jean Vincent...at your service."
Layla's eyes widen in awe.
"Y..you're "THE" JEAN VINCENT!" She says, covering her mouth, realising she just screamed.
"I...I follow your YouTube series; I never miss an episode. Your Instagram, too. I...I didn't read you'd be working here."
"Ye,s well, it just so happens that I'm the personal chef to the Hernandez family, especially on their vacations. I look forward to "co-cheffing" with you."
She smiles and nods her head, excited, but thinks to herself:
"The only reason you were chosen is probably because Hernandez knows Lio, you're not special."
Her smile fades as they get to work coordinating the staff.
In the Brig of the ship, the man in black unwraps the object he was carrying around.
The ship's captain is gagged with his hands and feet tied as he lies on the ground.
He hears the man recite something in a foreign language as the object is revealed to be a bronze staff with an indentation at one end shaped like an eye and the other end pointed.
Their attention is caught by the screaming coming from above.
A man in tattered clothes stands on the edge of the ship, balancing on the railing with a gun aimed at his head.
"No! I'm not going to that accursed Island again, you can't make me!"
A rotund man in a suit and sunglasses walks to him with a smile and his hands up.
"Hey, relax...we're all friends here..."
"Are being fucking serious right now!?"
He aims the gun at the man.
"Just because I'm in debt to your fat ass doesn't mean you can use me for your sick entertainment!"
"First of all, that's exactly why, and second...aren't you wondering why you can't pull the trigger?"
"W..wha?"
Unknown to him, very strong, thin threads have wound around his joints and fingers, holding him in position.
"Pej, take him back to his 'reserved suite'."
The old man who was fishing extends his fingers and the fishing line completely unwinds from his rod and wraps it completely around his neck, and levitates over everyone. He walks alongside the floating body toward the cabins.
"Bang..." Lio asks."Who is that?"
"You should steer clear of him, that's Pej the fisherman, one of the most lethal competitors, he won the last two Blackout tournaments.
The old man stops and turns with a smile to Lio.
The man in black takes the pointed wand of the staff and pricks his finger, he hovers the finger tip dripping with blood over the eye, but is interrupted by a giant hand slamming him into the floor. The hamd recedes but before it can hit him again, he leaps out of the way, that's when he sees it; an eight foot golden statue of a headless man in a kimono with a two swords, one longer than the other kept in the scabards on both sides, it lacks a head and stands behind the restrained captain whose face is covered by a golden Gouki mask and his body is emanating the msell of burninh wood.
The statue unsheaths the swords one in rach hand and rushes towards the man in black.
"Damnit." The man mutters.
He evades a heavy sword swing, but it swings its leg sculpted to the shape of an athlete's and manages to land a powerful kick on the man.
As he reels in pain, the statue returns to the captain and unties him. He shouts in his mind:
"Tuera Gasumi!"
The samurai statue returns the left sword to the sheath and holds the one on the tight hamd with both hands and up to his shoulder level, making the blade horizontal.
The Captain's head veins start to show, and beads of sweat roll down his face.
"I need to maintain focus."
The man in black spits blood from his mouth.
"I really wish I didn't have to do this."
He takes the bleeding finger and draws a circle with it, then slams his hand on it. The red lines bordering it become tar black, and from the middle, an inch-high black, round, one-eyed creature emerges.
Its mouth peels open, and a scythe with its handle made of bones tied together and the blade being blood red emerges.
The creature laughs and says with a deep, unsettling voice.
"You will regret this, mortal." Before it fades with a smell of rotting flesh.
He picks the weapon and initially feels light headedbut he maintains his stance as the samurai approaches once again.
He swings the scythe, the blade releases blood red flames which unfaze the statue, and it swings again at the maj who defends with the blade of the scythe.
He struggles to remain standing as the statue uses its weight to overpower him in the struggle.
"Come on...any moment now..."
"As he says this, the blade glows, causing him to feel weaker again, but a powerful surge of red electricity flows through the blade and strikes the Captain in the chest.
The gold statue starts to fade
"O...Gasumi..."
The old man says the statue changes its stance, holding the blade up to its shoulder again, but only with its right hand while the other hand rests on the elbow.
The old man falls to the ground, the statue. Rushes to him, but the Gouki mask disappears, and so does. The statue.
The man in black gasps as he picks up the staff.
"I really hate Bond users."
He uses the staff to stab the old man in the chest, and cinders fly out of his body and into the eye of the sand as it glows blue, and it sends a shockwave through the ship.
Lio gets a video call from his brother.
He receives the call and sees Ray in his pyjamas, holding up his phone.
"Hey, Ray, how's it going?"
He coughs before responding in a sickly tone.
"I'm great, thank Mr Hernandez again for letting me stay at his place."
He rotates the camera to show the room with a circular couch, a flat screen on the wall with an Xbox and PS5 seated underneath. The stay-in nurse waves as the camera reaches him.
"I hope you've eaten."
"Yesh, I just feel..I wish I could get better so you won't have to put yourself in danger anymore. "
"Hey, don't talk like that. What are big brothers for?"
Suddenly, the phone goes off as he feels the reverberation flowing through the entire ship.
Ricardo and the man stop playing as the lights go out in the sports room.
"Are you alright, sir?"
"Yeah, but I need to kick the ship's engineer's ass for this."
He takes out his phone, but it doesn't turn on.
"What the hell?"
10 minutes earlier
Bang is standing guard outside the sports room when a shuttlecock flies past him,, but he catches it.
"Wow..Nice reflexes." A man in Sunglasses, a polo shirt and white shorts commends.
"Sorry about that..." A blonde woman in pink sunglasses, a matching pink polon shirt and a white skirt."...my husband and I just got carried away."
"That wasn't our cover."
He whispers to her.
"Yeah, we're partners."
"Business partners."
"Oh..."
Bang looks awkward at them as the man walks forward.
"I'm Chester, and this is Priya. We were just headed to the Casino for a few rounds of Blackjack. Would you care to join us?"
"Hmm...I'm actually busy at the moment..."
He says, rubbing his neck and looking away.
"My apologies, I thought you looked like a man of your own volition, but it turns out you're just a dog on a leash."
"Just...ten...minutes...!"
He says through his clenched teeth