The air in Searidge stank of oil, smoke, and broken promises.
Massive steel cranes loomed over rusted docks, their arms suspended like crooked fingers pointing to the heavens. Junk barges, stolen Navy ships, and pirate vessels floated side by side — uneasy allies in a port with no loyalty, only profit.
Here, even the rats carried knives.
The Compass Pirates had entered enemy territory.
And one of them was already missing.
---
Where's Bonney?
"Repeat that," Kairos said, eyes narrowing.
Jinx sighed, wiping sweat from her brow as they huddled in a rusted warehouse. "She was here. Two nights ago. Traded an entire chest of Navy rations for meat and pills. Then she vanished. Word is a Cipher Pol agent caught her scent."
Kairos looked to Zoroko. She stood silent by the cracked doorway, watching the passing guards. Her grip on her blade tightened slightly.
Toma paced. "We can't just tear through the docks looking for her. We'll be spotted."
Lokk cracked his knuckles. "Why not? A few explosions could smoke out the rats."
Kairos shook his head. "Not yet. We're going to use strategy."
He tapped the side of his palm — the Swap-Swap Fruit glowing faintly beneath his skin.
"I'll find her. And we'll all escape together."
---
Into the Maze
Dressed in stolen port uniforms, Kairos and Zoroko split from the others, slipping through the industrial sprawl of Searidge.
Flames flickered in open furnaces. Crates of black-market weapons rolled on iron trolleys. Marines pretending to be smugglers whispered codes to true pirates disguised as merchants.
It was a place of masks.
And Kairos was about to pull one off.
They found Bonney in the worst place possible — a labor pit, where "unregistered cargo" (people) was processed for human trafficking.
She was fighting three guards barehanded, one of whom had already been bitten on the ear.
"Back off!" she snarled, cheeks puffed with food from a stolen ration bar. "You want my mouth or my fist!?"
Kairos lunged in, hand glowing. Swap: Mass.
Bonney suddenly weighed less than a loaf of bread.
He tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of rice and bolted as Zoroko cut down the stunned guards in their path.
---
The Agent Arrives
They didn't make it far.
As they reached the canal bridge, a cloaked figure dropped from a steel beam above.
No sound. No aura.
Just presence.
A tall, pale man in a black coat, eyes covered by dark lenses. His voice was cold, clinical.
"Target Bonney. Agent Cyclam of Cipher Pol Zero. You are to be neutralized."
He flicked his fingers.
Three Marine sabers behind him melted into liquid steel, then shot forward like snakes.
Kairos threw Bonney behind cover.
Zoroko intercepted one blade — but the other two whipped toward Kairos. He touched the ground, eyes glowing.
Swap: Steel → Sand.
The blades crumbled in mid-air.
Cyclam tilted his head, intrigued. "Swap-based Paramecia. High-level. Dangerous."
Then he moved.
---
A Desperate Exchange
The fight was chaos.
Zoroko went blade-to-blade with Cyclam, but the agent's technique was inhuman — effortless reversals, no wasted motion.
Kairos tried to tag him — for strength, for weight, even for emotion.
But he couldn't land a hit.
"I can read your intention," Cyclam said softly. "Even before you move."
Kairos panted, blood on his lip.
"Then let's see if you can read hers."
Bonney, back on her feet, slammed into Cyclam from behind — her boot connecting with his ribs.
He staggered. Just a second.
Enough.
Swap: Vision → Blindness.
Cyclam's lenses cracked. His pupils went gray.
Kairos tackled Zoroko and Bonney into the canal — just as the platform exploded in steel shrapnel behind them.
---
Escape on the Moment
The crew hauled them out on the far shore. Smoke rose behind them. The docks were ablaze.
Bonney coughed up water and half a ration bar.
"You guys suck at stealth."
Lokk laughed, hoisting her to her feet. "Welcome aboard."
Kairos stared at the fire behind them.
They had escaped — barely.
But Cipher Pol knew their names now.
---
A Price Paid
That night, the crew nursed wounds on deck. Bonney raided the pantry with Toma's help and passed out mid-meal.
Jinx stitched Zoroko's side. Lokk snored loudly in a hammock.
Kairos sat alone, watching the horizon.
He'd saved Bonney.
But Cyclam would return. Next time, with backup.
And the Swap-Swap Fruit?
Each time he pushed its power further… it pushed back harder.
He could feel it.
Like fate itself… was keeping score.