Big meeting. Skye at the centre.

She gulped anxiously, feeling everyone's eyes on her. She felt like she had done something wrong, but Jules had specifically told her that it's alright.

"In case you're wondering, Skye, this is not OK. It was OK for you to know about the Zero Point, but lying and telling everyone else..." Midas began explaining.

"But he said he'd kill Jules. I couldn't allow that," Skye moaned.

"I mean, Skye, I would've been alright! Ghost is good, any effort Chaos Agent could have made would be futile," Jules folded her arms, "Not to mention that he was probably bluffing."

"But what if he wasn't bluffing? He's not a joker!"

"Ollie, how could you let this happen?"

Ollie looked offended.

"It is my duty to protect Skye at all costs. If she wanted to keep it a secret, then so be it. We're best friends, and you don't work against your best friend," Ollie huffed.

Midas nodded; he figured that would be his reasoning.

"Well, never mind that now. Best be open about our findings. Firstly, we have found out that the Zero Point is under The Authority-" Midas began.

"Oi, don't change the subject! Why didn't you go to tell us?" Ollie grumbled.

"The less people that know, the better. Now that you all know, you are all liabilities. Be careful."

"Fair enough."

Midas went through all of his findings with the agents before dismissing them all.

"Just before we go..." Ollie said to Midas and Jules. Skye waited with him.

"Yes?" Midas wondered.

"Skye tells me that you three had a shared dream. How is that even possible?"

Midas and Jules exchanged looks.

"We... don't know," Jules shrugged.

"Oh well. Let's get going, then," Ollie nodded.

Skye, Ollie, Jules and Midas collected their belongings, then got going. They walked with the Sun beating down on their backs, making them feel like they were on fire.

On top of one of the guard towers, Skye spotted the glint of a sniper scope. It was facing towards them, and-

Skye and Ollie narrowly dodged a sniper bullet.

"Sniper!" Midas shouted, and the four of them hid in a doorway.

"I don't think he was bluffing," Skye shrugged once they were hidden.

"No kidding!" Jules grumbled.

She poked out of the doorway, but that only resulted in another sniper bullet headed their way. Jules yelped and hid again.

"What do we do?" Ollie gasped.

"Tell them that there are imposters among us. And before any of you say it, I know what I just said," Midas said grimly.

"Midas, that was kinda sussy," Skye giggled.

"Stay on topic!"

"K, chill!"

Just a few more seconds, then they heard more gunshots and the intruder's body falling into the water. Skye peeked out just as a shark surfaced and ate the intruder whole. All that was left was a red cloud of blood in the water.

"Damn. We could've worked out who he was. Dumb sharks," Jules huffed.

"Maybe we can still run a blood test...?" Ollie wondered, but they all knew that there was no chance of that.

"But, more importantly, there are assassins roaming The Fortilla, and I think they're after Jules," Midas nodded.

"We should go somewhere to hide for now, then we can come back later," Jules suggested.

"That's a good idea," Skye agreed.

"No. They will just keep coming back. We need to evacuate The Fortilla. Everyone needs to leave," Midas frowned.

Skye, Jules and Ollie looked at Midas as if he had lost his mind.

"We can't just up and leave," Ollie gasped.

"Technically, we could. We have Catty Corner, but... Midas, all our stuff is here. I don't want to move again, even though that is the right thing to do," Jules shook her head.

"Well, really, it depends in how bad it is. If it's bad, then we go. If it's alright, then we stay," Midas shrugged.

"Let's look around," Skye said, and they all agreed.

They stepped outside and edged along the metal path, and past a henchman. At first he seemed docile, but then he turned around and grabbed Jules by the arm. She screamed as he produced a knife and made to stab her, but Skye drew her sword and chopped the arm the knife was in clean off. The arm landed in a pool of red, staining the Ghost uniform arm and revealing the bone and the bone marrow inside.

The intruder tried to move his arm, but instead performed a grotesque action in moving his shoulder around. The intruder screamed, and Jules pushed him into the water so they didn't have to look at him anymore. He splashed into the water and shrieked as he disappeared into a shark's mighty jaws. Ollie pushed the bloody arm into the water too; all that was left was a curdling red patch on the floor.

"I'll never get that out of my head," Ollie shuddered.

"So... it's bad, then," Midas sighed.

"Wait, I know! We can hide in the vault!" Skye suggested proudly.

"That's an alright idea, actually," Ollie agreed.

"Ollie, you always think my ideas are good."

"I know, but this one's actually good."

"OK, then. Gather all the agents and get to the vault. If there's anything you want, get it now before I release a lockdown. You have five minutes," Midas nodded.

Skye didn't hesitate. She dashed along The Fortilla's paths towards her room. Once she was inside, she quickly grabbed her backpack and stuffed as much stuff in it as she could. Once she was absolutely sure there was nothing else she could possibly get in there, she decided to leave.

Outside her room, Ocean stared frightenedly at a woman who Skye had never seen before. She had half red and half black hair tied in a bun, and eyes of different colours; one brown, one luminous blue. Her earnings were like tiny diamonds on the side of her head. Her outfit was black and stealthy, and emblazoned unmistakably with the IO logo.

"You know this girl?" Ocean asked Skye.

"No, but I know she's dangerous. Ocean, get away from her. She's a part of the IO," Skye grumbled.

"I am not a part of the IO! I merely work for them to kill people," the woman shouted. Ocean slowly backed away from her.

"I'm not sure if that's better or worse," Skye shrugged.

"Who are you, anyway?" Ocean asked the woman.

"I'm not that stupid. I'm not going to just say my name," the woman frowned.

"Alright, Not-That-Stupid."

"My name is Kor!"

The woman froze as she realised her mistake. Skye and Ocean exchanged looks.

"So, I guess you are that stupid, then," Skye giggled.

"Tell us more!" Ocean laughed.

"Yeah, why are you here?"

"I'm here to kill Jules. And neither of you will stop me!" Kor screeched.

Kor produced two knives from her backpack, and threw one at Ocean, who ducked to the floor. Then, she ran at Skye, tackling her to the ground. Kor raised an arm to stab Skye, but Skye grabbed the arm and used all her strength to keep it away from her. Skye whimpered with the effort; all she wanted to do was reach for her sword, but she knew that if she took one hand away from Kor, she'd be dead in an instant.

"Ocean!" Skye begged.

"She can't help you now," Kor smiled.

But Ocean did help. Bursts of bullets shot over Skye's head, missing Kor, but making her move. Kor dived out of the window and into the water, gone for good, or at least for now.

"Thanks so much!" Skye thanked Ocean.

"It's really no problem. Sorry I didn't hit the shots, I'm still a bit nervous on killing people," Ocean sighed.

"That's alright. You just saw - you didn't need to kill her."

"Thanks."

"Anyway, we best go to the vault now."

"Why?"

"Oh, yeah! There's a lockdown that's going to happen because there are assassins, like that Kor woman, in The Fortilla, all trying to kill Jules. There are some disguised as Ghost henchmen, which makes them impossible to spot."

"OK. But can I go grab something first?"

"Sure."

Skye followed Ocean along red, yellow and blue hallways made of scrap metal to her room. Once inside, Ocean took one thing, looked at it for a second, then left.

"What is it?" Skye asked Ocean.

"The single most important thing to me in the world," Ocean replied.

And, upon showing it to Skye, she saw what was so important. Ocean's parents smiled back at her, with a slightly younger Ocean in the middle.

Her father was wearing a dark red polo shirt, worn casually over denim shorts and ugly brown shoes. His hair lay short and brown on top of his head. Her mother was wearing a dress with daffodils on it, and matching high heels. Her curly, shoulder-length hair was a slightly different colour to Ocean's father's; slightly darker. Ocean herself was wearing a pink and blue tie-dye jumper and black, tight fitting shorts. They were almost like short leggings. Her hair was worn how it currently was, and her face was smiling an unknowing smile of what was to come to her parents.

As for where they were, they were at some kind of Summer barbeque in front of someone's house; presumably Ocean's house. The house itself looked pretty, as did the house's surroundings. The style was unmistakably American. The whole photo was bordered by a light wooden frame, which had a kickstand at the back.

Ocean was crying just looking at the image, but since Skye knew she was trying to be secretive about it, she pretended not to notice.

"Let's get going, then," Skye nodded.

"Yeah. Let's do that," Ocean agreed.

"Are you two alright? We heard gunshots!" Jules gasped.

"Yeah. More assassins. This one was more skilled, too. And she works for the IO," Skye explained.

"Skye, you need to be more careful!" Ollie scolded Skye.

"What? Do you think I had a saucepan and was banging a ladle on it? Luckily Ocean saved me."

Ocean smiled at her proudly.

"Just get inside. Everyone else is," Midas huffed.

"Kk."

Skye and Ocean went into the vault and sat next to TnTina and Brutus, who had a decent bit of space next to them. Ocean still seemed, upset, so Skye out her arm around her.

"It's OK. It'll be OK," Skye comforted her.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Word Count: 1756 Words