The Next Day.

Chef sat at a table, waiting for his help to arrive.

"Come on, John..." Chef muttered to himself.

Just then, a taxi pulled up. The man that Chef had been waiting for got out.

(Pretend he doesn't have his gun)

This man was known by many names: Jardani Jovonovich, Baba Yaga, The Boogeyman, The One You Send To Kill The Boogeyman, The Devil, The Wolf, The Ghost, Lo Spettro, Death's Very Emissary, The Prodigal Son, A Wicked Man from the Big Apple, The Killer. But everyone knew him by one name: John Wick.

John walked into the coffee shop, ordered a black coffee and an egg, sausage, and cheese croissant, before spotting Chef and walked over to him.

"John," Hatchet greeted.

"Hatchet," John greeted back. "So what kind of mess do you need me to help you clean up?"

"You know that show that I was supposed to be cooking for and co-hosting?" Chef asked.

"I do," John replied. "If I recall correctly, Kasuga's daughter, Charon's grandson, and my niece are competing."

That caused Chef to freeze, having not known that the situation was even more dire than he thought.

"So I want you to tell me what are you and McLean doing on the mainland and not on the island?" John asked calmly, a dangerous look on his face.

"It's a long story, man," Hatchet replied, sweating nervously. He was not an easy man to scare. But the legendary Baba Yaga scared him just by simply being in the same room as him, and it was only made worse knowing he had left John's niece on the island.

"Mr. Wick!" a barista called out.

"Well, lucky for you..." John said, walking over to get his breakfast.

Chef watched as John thanked the barista and walk back to the table, sat down, and started slowly digging in.

"...we have plenty of time," John said calmly.

*Line Break*

"So after Ezekiel's body was found, Chris had us all load up the boat and get the hell outta there," Chef finished. "He's been telling me that he's been having dreams about them haunting him, but he won't do anything about it. Now Kasuga's on my ass about it, and I was getting tired of waiting for Chris to make the right choice, so I called you."

John was silent, his face not giving away anything but his told Hatchet everything. He was furious.

"Let me get this straight," John said calmly. "There was an undesirable on that island, and instead of going after him, you fled with your boss and the rest of his crew. And now, Kasuga's daughter, Charon's grandson, and MY NIECE... are trapped on that island with the undesirable. Did I get that right?"

"Look, I won't deny I should've done something-" Hatchet tried to say.

"Stop," John commanded, his eyes burning with fury. "I'll clean up this mess of yours. I'll get the kids off the island. I'll kill that son of a bitch myself. And then I'm coming after you and McLean. Is that clear?"

"....yeah...." Hatchet muttered in response.

"Good," John said. "Now, if I'm gonna go clean up this mess, I'm gonna need the location."

Hatchet looked around, making sure no one was listening in. Once he was certain no one was listening, he gave the coordinates of the island in code.

Once John had the coordinates written down, he got up and left. Chef put his face in his hands, deeply ashamed of what he had allowed to happen.

"Lord, have mercy on the souls of everyone who pisses him off," Chef prayed.

*Line Break*

Next Chapter: Preparations.