"Who are those people?!" Ocean shouted, expecting the others to know.

"I... don't know," Skye sighed.

Great. They were being attacked by these people and they didn't know any of their weaknesses.

"Grab their stuff!" a beefy man said.

"Why would they want our stuff? They're like pirates," Ollie grimaced.

Pirates... Ocean knew exactly who these people were!

"Marauders!" Ocean gasped.

"Marauders?" TnTina wondered.

"People who roam the seas around this island looking to steal people's stuff. I heard about them from my parents. I guess now that the island's flooded, they've come here."

"Great!" Skye groaned.

That was when someone threw a Stink Bomb into the scrap boat. Ocean didn't have enough time to think about why the Marauders had Stink Bombs before the vile smell entered her nostrils.

They had to get out or they'd be suffocated... but then the Marauders would gun them down.

"Think, Skye, think!" Ocean heard Skye say aloud.

Ollie coughed and doubled over. TnTina tried to pinch her nose shut, but to no avail.

And then it was gone.

"We're not safe yet. They'll have more," Ollie spluttered.

"Hey, look! There are stairs!" Skye pointed out.

And there were stairs to one side going to the top of the boat.

But there was just one problem. To get to the stairs, Ocean would have to go through the doorway, and those Marauders were poised ready to fire at anything that moved.

As they others made to move, Ocean told them of her plight.

"Well, that not good at all," Skye sighed.

"You don't say," TnTina rolled her eyes.

Leaving Ocean behind was not an option. It was Skye's secret mission from Jules to make friends with Ocean, and if she left her, then that would hurt the chances of a healthy friendship.

"Hey, Ocean? How about if we go to the top and distract them, then you make a run for it?" Skye suggested.

"OK... but make sure you come back, OK?" Ocean nodded.

"Of course we will!"

"Good. Very good."

"OK then..."

Skye dashed up to the roof with TnTina and Ollie in pursuit. When they reached the top, the Marauders were still looking at the bottom od the boat. They didn't even know they were up there!

Now, Skye could see their outfits more clearly. They were made of a patchwork of leather clothing and makeshift armour. And each member of the team was wearing an animal skull on their head as to hide their identity.

"'Sup, idiots!" TnTina called out.

The Marauders looked up at the agents, surprised, and two of them were exploded by one of TnTina's Boom Bow's arrows. They lay still on the floor. Skye gunned down another two and Ocean must've popped out and shot the last one, since Skye heard a Burst AR firing.

"We did it!" Ollie cheered.

They all did a victory dance and cheered, while Ocean appeared at the stairs.

"Nice one, you guys," she smiled.

"You were good too!" Skye grinned.

There was a moment where they all just laughed awkwardly.

"We should report this to Midas or Jules or something," Skye gasped for breath.

"Yeah... uhhh... where's the motorboat?" TnTina shrugged.

"Oh, I parked it over here. Better get inside quickly before any more of those Marauders come," Ollie said.

They went to go back to the motorboat, but Ocean paused.

"What's wrong?" Skye asked her.

"Should I take this?" Ocean wondered.

She held up one of the Stink Bombs and waited for confirmation.

"Definitely," Skye nodded.

Ocean slipped it into her pocket and kept walking, glad that she had helped. They all piled into the boat, and Ollie revved up the engine.

"Let's go!" Ollie called back, and boosted away.

Skye was looking at The Yacht. There was plenty of evidence to show that Deadpool had been there, but there was no actual Deadpool there now. It disappointed her.

Where is he? Skye thought as they pulled away.

Then, she saw someone wearing a red super-suit waving at them.

"WAIT!" Skye shouted, making Ollie slam down the brakes.

She had always known The Thing In The Woods was there.

Chaos Agent remembered sometimes when Hush would stop and look around as if someone was looking at her, then carried on as normal.

In school.

At home.

At each other's homes.

At the park.

She would stop and stare at what Chaos Agent thought to be The Thing In The Woods.

But what exactly was The Thing In The Woods?

Chaos Agent wasn't sure.

He figured that it could change form, and that she could sense it in a tree or a sofa. But there was one thing that Hush would always sense The Thing in.

Creepers.

The dark green vines had crept up the walls of her house after the day in the woods, and had somehow crept into her mind.

Some people would call Chaos Agent crazy for believing in something that didn't even have proof that it existed. But, being who he was, no one would dare call Chaos Agent crazy.

The last person who did that died.

And that person was Lone Shadow.

But, Chaos Agent was a scientist, not a flat-Earther. He had evidence, and that evidence pointed to-

Chaos Agent slammed his fists down on his desk, sending the file reading The Fortilla tumbling to the floor.

Chaos Agent shouted, and gathered the papers he had knocked over.

Seeing these papers reminded Chaos Agent that that girl Jules would begin working at The Authority tomorrow.

He remembered his agreement with the Komoran girl Skye. Sometimes, he was tempted to radio to one of his undercover Shadow agents to kill Jules and break the agreement, but an agreement was an agreement. Albeit one with a Ghost agent.

Chaos Agent liked a good agreement, but he liked that he was controlling a Ghost agent more.

Of course, in case she broke the agreement, Chaos Agent had sent one of his most trusted agents, Omega, to accompany Jules. Chaos Agent knew that at least he could keep an agreement.

He shook his head and fetched some pajamas out of his wardrobe.

Chaos Agent would have to wait and see.

"Sup," Deadpool waved as Ollie docked the boat again.

"Don't sup us! Where have you been?!" Skye huffed.

"Here. Midas said I could come here."

"And did he say you could stay over?"

"...No. But art takes time, y'know? I wasn't done."

Skye looked around at Deadpool's 'art' and frowned. More like vandalism.

"Midas will be annoyed."

"About The Yacht or me leaving?"

"Both, probably."

"Honestly, that goes without saying."

Skye felt very glum and upset suddenly.

"Hey, Skye? Are you OK? You won't get in trouble. Why are you getting so worked up over this?" Ollie asked.

"Because I'm always roped into these things! Into danger! And I end up roping my friends into danger. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you."

Although it sounded like she meant everyone, Ollie knew that she was addressing him more than anyone else.

"Hey, I wasn't in danger here," Deadpool shrugged.

"But what about the Marauders? Who knows what they were after? Me? My sword? Ollie? If those guys are working for Chaos Agent, then maybe they're looking for material they could use to find out more about me. That stuff is a prime example of Komoran artifacts!"

"I'm sorry... What's a 'Komoran'?" Ocean asked.

It hit Skye how much Ocean needed catching up on.

"Komora. My hometown that was destroyed by Shadow agents. They killed my parents, then I met Ollie, then I met Midas and Jules... Ah, it's a long story. I'll explain on the way back," Skye sighed.

And, after they all piled into the boat, they were gone.

"You know, from what you told me, our lives are pretty similar. Both of our parents were killed by Shadow, we became Ghost agents and we made many friends along the way. Well, my hometown wasn't destroyed, but you get what I mean. Sorry, that's probably a sensitive subject for you," Ocean explained.

"Oh, it's OK. It lingers around, but it was a long time ago," Skye did a dismissive wave.

Ocean was fascinated by Skye's story.

It was one of those stories that seems to out there to be real, although it was as real as Ocean herself.

One thing that intrigued Ocean most though was King Oro. His name rang a bell in her mind.

But from where? Ocean thought.

That was when she realised she said it out loud.

"...What?" Skye cocked her head curiously.

"Sorry. It's just that King Oro... I recognise that name."

"I understa-"

"Hang on, I know!"

Over the Summer, Ocean suddenly got really interested in mythology of all kinds, and how the stories could have an essence of reality about them.

"The legend of King Midas and the Golden Touch can be traced back to King Oro and his wife, Queen Orelia, who ruled an ancient civilization around 1200 years ago, and were both said to have the Golden Touch. I read that over the Summer," Ocean stated.

Skye looked away for a moment in deep thought and took a bite of her muffin.

Ocean looked around at the cafeteria in The Fortilla.

Now night had fallen, the fairy lights that were wrapped around the railings on the balcony gave off their glow nice and brightly. According to Skye, The Agency's cafeteria was nowhere near as nice, more like one in an office block.

But, Ocean supposed that an indoor cafeteria couldn't have been as an outdoor one.

Skye realised she hadn't spoken to Ocean for at least a minute, so she smiled and looked at her.

"Do you know who else has ties to King Midas? Midas! It's the ultimate foreshadowing," Skye cheered.

The way she said it suggested that that was what she had just spent a minute thinking of, but Ocean doubted it.

"You were thinking about Orelia, weren't you?" Ocean said before she could stop herself.

"...Maybe. I never knew Oro had a wife... I mean, Orelia? It's like they were brother and sister. Well, it isn't like that since she was queen and he was king so they were probably married. I wonder if she had Oro's powers? I wonder if she had a staff?"

"She had a gun, if I remember correctly, which was very advanced for her time. She made this crack called a rift and pulled it out of the future. But, that's not possible, right?"

Ocean saw Skye visibly shiver.

How did Ocean know about the rifts? That was something only she and Chaos Agent knew! And, yet, Ocean was reading it in a book! That was... impossible. Chaos Agent wouldn't allow information like that to be seen by the public.

Unless... he did it on purpose.

Maybe he wanted Ocean to find out something about the rifts or the Zero Point.

"Zero Point," Skye muttered.

"Zero Point? That rings a bell. It's where the rifts described in the Orelia and Oro legend come from. There's a whole bunch of sciencey stuff behind it but that's quantum physics and I don't get that stuff," Ocean shrugged.

Skye silently cursed herself for saying Zero Point, but it did tell her that Ocean was being spoon-fed information like a baby is spoon-fed mashed potatoes.

"I've got to go," Skye stood up.

"Go where?" Ocean wondered.

"To bed. I'm tired."

Skye left before even finishing her food and went back to her room. She was so confused over Ocean's abundant knowledge, that she barely spoke to Ollie before flopping onto her bed.

And, as she slept, dreams of Chaos Agent and Ocean tinted with Oro filled every inch of her mind.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Word Count: 1972 Words