Miss Brooke sat in her corner of paradise in Cat''s Cradle, a cup of tea in her hand, steam rising from it as she looked over the crowd. While a few significant people were in the room, none of their bounties were worth her time, and she had a more important mission to handle.


    She was on the lookout for a very specific person under the orders of Miss Malone.


    Sip.


    She held out one pinky as she sipped from her teacup, as was only proper for a lady of her standing.


    "Already, I can smell a great feast!" a large man with dark brown skin burst through the restaurant''s double doors, two sheathed swords on his back and wearing a leather jerkin over simple clothes.


    Miss Brooke paused to set her teacup back against its saucer. She recognized the man. Quickly brushing through her memory, she found that she was indeed correct. He had a bounty, though it wasn''t the largest she had ever seen. Only twenty-five thousand dolers. He was ''Sword Saint'' Sayed.


    "Calm down, Sayed," a shorter, dark-skinned man in plain clothes and a black and red jacket stepped beside Sayed, his hands in his pocket as he scanned the room.


    Miss Brooke''s breath caught in her chest. Though he wasn''t who she was looking for, ''Tin Man'' Ortega had a hefty price on his head. One million dolers to turn him in and that much money would be a boon to the operation. With her particular abilities, she could easily see herself taking him in.


    However, Miss Malone gave her specific instructions. Miss Brooke knew the costs of defying a Hand.


    "Can you both be quiet," a pale woman in a green cloak stepped in between the two, holding a child''s hand who wore a red cloak that shaded her features.


    Tap.


    Now, that was odd. Miss Brooke tapped her finger against the table as she assessed the situation—three outlaws with decent bounties in one place. ''Thorn Queen'' Leah wasn''t as famous as Ortega, but she was still worth twenty thousand dolers. Miss Brooke couldn''t believe that three major figures would be working together.


    Then she noticed the woman in the back.


    She wore simple clothes with a leather vest over her shirt, a rifle slung across her chest, and two revolvers on her belt. A wide-brimmed hat rested on her head, and long black hair fell to her shoulders. Miss Brooke immediately recognized ''Cold Shot'' as the woman joined the group of outlaws to select a table.


    A final woman with frizzy black hair and dark skin joined them, but as far as Miss Brooke knew, she didn''t have a bounty, nor was she famous. Miss Brooke picked up a sugar cube and dropped it into her teacup, stirring it as she watched the group.


    They weren''t who she was looking for, but she would need to report the information to Miss Malone. Since the message had aired, things in the world had changed. Perhaps this group of outlaws working together was just a sign of the times, or perhaps it was something more significant.


    She, for one, wanted to know more. Perhaps she could follow the group a little further and then report to Miss Malone. A wicked smile crossed her face as she opened her gate. A flowing, cooling sensation flooded her body as power crashed through her muscles from her heart to her fingertips.


    Her skin turned translucent as her sensations collapsed into a soggy mix and blur. In moments, she was a puddle of water on the floor, with her consciousness split among the various droplets. With a faint movement impulse, she began to cross the floor as a puddle of water.


    <hr>


    Sayed sat back in his seat after the waiter left with the group''s order. The fiery spice of cooking meat and vegetables in a blend of peppers had already reached his nose. He knew the restaurant would provide an experience he had been waiting for since they had left Cragg Hollow—a true meal worth his pallet.


    For a time, he could put away his anger over the slave. He could put away his need for justice. He would enjoy this meal and, then, when it was over, focus on repairing the ship. He did not like that he could not free the slave, but Alex and Wen were right. They were not strong enough to change this island, at least not yet.


    However, if he saw the opportunity during their stay on Dry Turtle, he could not guarantee he would not take it.


    "Say that again!"


    Crash. Clatter.


    Across the busy restaurant, two men stood up, their table crashing to the ground along with all the plates and finery that had been on it. One man held the other by his collar, his face burning bright red as he glared down at the other. Sayed tracked them, as did the rest of the people at the table, but no one moved.


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    "Don''t interfere," Wen said. "They won''t show up for a simple bar fight, but I''d rather not risk it."


    "You heard her," Alex said. "We can worry about it after we eat."


    "I said, you''re insane, Charles!" the man held by his collar spat back in the other''s face. "You''re dragging us to the Core for nothing! That message is a fool''s errand!"


    "You''re the fool, Harold," Charles said, bringing his mustache closer to Harold''s bulbous nose. "This is the opportunity of a lifetime, and you''re leaving it because you want to stay yoked to the past. There''s a New World out there! There''s wealth beyond imagination, but you won''t sell the ship to get one that can handle it. Why? Because you''re afraid."


    Charles was the smaller of the two men, but his muscles bulged across his arms as he kept the other man in place. Harold was tall and lanky, so he wasn''t being held up by his collar, but it was clear to Sayed that Harold couldn''t escape the grip, even as he dug against Charles''s hands with his nails.


    Blood flowed out from Charles''s skin as Harold''s nails scratched across him, but the man didn''t flinch.


    "It''s a fool''s errand," Harold repeated. "If you want to chase your childish dreams, then get off my crew. You''ll have to find your own way!"


    "If that''s how things are going to be," Charles whispered, releasing the collar with one hand.


    Bang!


    With one fast motion, faster than anyone else at the table could react to, a revolver was at the base of Harold''s chin, and the shot was fired. Harold slumped as gore exploded out of the back of his head. Grey and red instantly sprayed people at a nearby table, and Sayed tensed his arm as he reached for his sword.


    "Wait," Wen said.


    Click.


    Sayed looked across the table. Alex had a hand out, and Erin was covering Mari''s eyes. Kali had her camera up and had already snapped a photo. Wen had her hand out in front of Alex''s, already ready to block him from acting. Alex grimaced but lowered his hand.


    "What''re you all looking at?" Charles spun, his gun flashing across the room and a crooked smile on his face. "Don''t you all know? The world''s changing! The old powers are dying and those who want better will be the future masters of destiny! That message was the key! Break out of your stupor and seize what''s rightfully ours!"


    No one in the room seemed ready to take him up on the offer. If he had not shot the other man, Sayed would have been one to agree. Instead, he kept himself ready to move in case the man shot toward himself or his friends. The man swirled around again, his short black coat flipping this way and that as his gun roved the room.


    "Excuse me, sir," the waiter, dressed in a simple white shirt and pants, approached the man. "Can you please take this outside? You''re scaring the other customers."


    "They should all be afraid," Charles said, turning the revolver on the waiter.


    "Wen," Alex said. "I understand, but we''ll make it quick. Force Pull."


    Clatter. Clink.


    Alex stood, and every metal object in the room suddenly clattered and clanked toward his hand. Even Sayed''s swords tried to go along with that tug, but their vertical sheaths kept them locked to his back. Forks, spoons, knives, guns, and the revolver in Charles''s hand all shot through the air toward Alex, gathering together in a ball of metal in front of his hand.


    "I like the idea of a New World," Alex said as Charles turned to him with wide, blood-shot eyes. "But I''m not going to just let you do what you please."


    Crack.


    "And you are ruining our chance to finally eat," Sayed said as he cracked his knuckles. "It has been three full days since I have had a meal."


    "You''re lucky you''re right," Wen whispered, drawing her own revolver and pointing it at Charles. "Just keep the damage minimal, and I can talk us out of any trouble."


    "Oh, a group of heroes enters the picture." Charles laughed, stepping away from the waiter and holding his hands out beside him. "You''ve disarmed me."


    He laughed, his thin chest heaving as cold grey eyes looked over the table. His wiry white hair and long fraying mustache gave him the look of a madman, even if his actions before hadn''t shown it. A prickling tingling ran up Sayed''s spine as he stared at the man. There was more to Charles than just his revolver.


    "We''re not heroes," Alex said. "We''re just outlaws trying to enjoy a meal."


    "Outlaws?" Charles looked them over. "You have a kid and a bounty hunter with you! What kind of outlaws are you?"


    "We are the kind who wish to eat," Sayed said, his grin growing wider. "But we will fight you if we must. Do as Alex asks and leave this place!"


    "Hah," Charles shook his head.


    He raised one hand, and Sayed tensed for him to call on some blessing of his own to continue the fight. Might he summon a fiery explosion, or might he call the powers of the light itself to shoot at them? The possibilities were endless across the nightsea when it came to a blessing.


    "Reject."


    From the mass of metal, a single revolver flowed through the air and back into Charles''s outstretched hand. He caught it and, with a twirl, holstered it on his belt. Sayed''s eyes widened. Alex still held the rest of the metal in the room in his hand, yet Charles had called his gun back to him like the magnetic force wasn''t even there.


    "I''ll give it to you all," Charles said. "What kind of people are you? Will you go for the Core and try your luck in the Dark Meridian? Will you try for the New World?"


    "I don''t think less of those who won''t," Alex said. "But the New World has something for me. We''ll all be going for it."


    "Good," Charles said, pulling up his belt as he looked over the rest of the room. "The rest of you count yourselves lucky that these idiots were here today. They''re the right kind of idiots in this world. Dumb for standing up to me, but at least they''re willing to risk their all. If you''ve a single spine in your body, you''ll all leave this island behind and stake your claim in the New World."


    He walked toward the doors, stopping only for a moment as he placed his hands against them to swing out and step outside.


    "Roald said that humanity was in a cage. They''ve become far too tame. The world needs those who would push humanity out of its cage. Escaping isn''t enough. We''ve got to tear the entire thing down if we want to be ready for the next world."


    With that, he exited, leaving the room in quiet cries of anguish as the people near the dead man''s table cried out in fear. Alex released his hold on the metal in front of him, and Sayed relaxed his muscles as the doors swung back and forth from Charles''s exit.


    "Well," Alex said. "Maybe we can finally eat."