Night had fallen on the Island.

The Foundation, having received the information Midas and Jones found, decided to hold an important meeting first thing in the morning tomorrow.

The Scientist had been told by Jules about her tinkering with Ares while he was attacking her, Midas and Jones and how taking out a few wires had temporarily "shut him down". He was impressed, and both of them put the downed cyborg on camera 24/7 to keep watch for any sudden moves.

Currently, heavy rain and thunder had fallen on the Island. It was the dead of night with everyone else asleep.

All but Midas. Standing outside under a dry spot where the rain couldn't get him.

He hadn't been able to sleep. Not just because of childhood trauma coming to bite him in the ass once more, but because his thoughts were occupied by Ares and how he was still currently unconscious in the Scientist's lab.

Plus, there was something about standing outside under the rain he seemed to enjoy. Perhaps it was the aesthetic it gave off, or the stars glittering in the night sky with the sound of thunder rumbling above him.

It felt strange to see Ares again after three months of Midas thinking he drowned to death that fateful day.

Since it was the middle of the night though he didn't want to wake up Jones and disturb him from his sleep. So he chose to just stand outside their quarters and just...think to himself.

A familiar ghostly voice calls out to Midas.

He sighs, turning to the source of the voice and finding a transparent Orelia floating beside him. Although, she looked a lot different. Her golden bones weren't as shiny anymore, and she looked more tired and worn down. Midas decides to not ask about it, thinking it's just sleep deprivation getting to him.

"No. But when can I ever sleep." He scoffs, shrugging. "I've just been thinking a lot lately..."

"I feel as though I've lost my touch... Leadership wise." He says. "Since the kid and I met, and I started letting out my softer side, I feel as though my leadership skills have... degraded."

He turns to the goddess.

"I'm not as stern or fearsome as I once was. I'm more sensitive and soft. Emotionally I mean." Midas explains. "Is that bad?"

Orelia chuckles softly.

She says.

Midas looks up at her.

She tells him.

He can't help but blush a little after hearing that.

Midas looks through the window seeing Jones hugging his pillow, his legs sprawled out on the bed, snoring softly with drool coming out his mouth. A blush dusts his cheeks as he smiles at him.

The mastermind smiles, hugging his arms and wiping away a tear.

"Thanks Orelia. I think that's what I needed to hear."

Midas chuckles before heading inside as Orelia fades away. He strips off his clothes except his boxers and snuggles up to Jones before falling asleep.

--------------

The next day...

"Alright, Foundation. What's the plan?"

It was roughly 8:00 in the morning and The Foundation had already awoken everyone for the meeting. Some looked ready to go while others looked like they wanted to go back to bed. But those people simply had to suck it up and deal with it, cos the Island wasn't gonna save itself for them.

Aside from The Foundation, the rest of the Seven were all here. Origin, Imagined, Order, Scientist and Visitor. That made 6 out of 7 as Paradigm was still MIA.

"Okay. As it stands, we have approximately 48 hours until I.O launches their biggest attack yet and The Collider is activated. We'll need all hands on deck to make sure our plan doesn't fail."

"So what's our plan of attack then?" Midas asks.

"We'll be splitting into two groups. One will be our ground forces, attacking I.O on foot...or battle bus, and taking out their defences and making a clear pathway for the Mech to get to The Collider-"

"Wait! You mean the Mech that took out that big monster on Athena a few years ago?!" Jones butts it, excitement in his eyes. "No way! I thought that thing had just disappeared!"

"We did too. But as it turns out we discovered it landed on the ice moon in space outside of the Island's loop bubble." The Order explains.

"You may not have seen me and Jules around lately as the two of us have been periodically going up there and repairing it." The Scientist says, Jules nodding.

"No wonder I haven't seen Jules very much." Midas thinks to himself.

"It's weird though. When we went up there yesterday, the Scientist and I saw the Mech get a new makeover with a colour scheme that matches the Seven's." Jules hums. "Neither of us did it, so who else could it be?"

At that moment the doors behind the group open up. Everyone turns around to see a figure in the doorway, and a few of the Seven recognise them instantly by the helmet.

"I believe that would be me." They say.

The doors close and it's revealed to be The Paradigm! The Imagined gasps and squeezes her way past the Origin to hug her.

"Paradigm! You're back! I knew you'd be back!" She shouts while Paradigm awkwardly gives her a pat on the back.

The Origin marches over to her.

"What are YOU doing here, traitor?" He demands.

"Well-"

The Origin grabs her by the wrist and pins her on the wall, his free hand glowing a dark purple. While hidden behind his helmet, Paradigm can tell he's full of resentment and rage.

"I thought you were told to never return to us!"

"That's enough Origin, put her down." The Foundation calls out. "You best have a good reason for coming back, Paradigm."

He begrudgingly drops her and goes back to his seat. Paradigm meanwhile clears her throat and begins to speak.

"Well, aside from giving the Mech a well overdue makeover, I want to help. I wish to be the one to pilot it while 4 others can act as the Mech's weapons behind the controls."

"And how can we be sure you won't run back to I.O and sabotage us?" The Foundation questions.

"I was never with them."

"You used the Zero Point's power and left it exposed on the Island to destabilise!" Origin yells.

"Well would you have preferred that monster devouring the Zero Point and destroying all of reality instead?!" She counters.

The room falls silent for a while. Paradigm sighs, calming down.

"Look. I understand you all don't want to trust me. But all I ask is to be able to help you out one last time to stop I.O and save the Island and all of reality." She says. "After that... you can do whatever you want with me."

The Seven mutter to themselves for a moment. Midas' gaze switches between them and Paradigm before landing on Jones who looked half asleep.

"Hey, you alright Jonesy?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm okay. Just tired is all." He sighs.

"Didn't sleep well I assume?"

He shrugs, resting his head on Midas' shoulder.

"Perhaps I'm just feeling how you feel towards this war..." Jones mutters. "About being tired, y'know?"

Midas hums softly, sympathising with Jones.

"Alright, Paradigm. Since we don't know any other skilled pilot like you, I guess you're our only option." Foundation says, making up his mind.

She nods in appreciation.

"Now, you said 4 people are needed to function the Mech's weapons. Is there anyone in particular you can see doing it?"

The Paradigm looks over at Midas. He looks back, seemingly understanding.

"I guess Midas would be an obvious choice. Do you know anyone else who can be behind the weapon's wheel?"

Midas thinks to himself before getting an idea.

"I do. But I'll have to bring them over to our reality for her to help."

"Oh! I could help using the Mech's weapons system!" Jones pipes in, raising his hand.

Foundation puts a hand on his shoulder though.

"No Jones. I'm afraid you won't be doing that..."

At first Jones looks pretty put down by this, until The Foundation says...

"...after all, we're going to need a good fighter alongside the ground team. I'm sure Midas up in the Mech won't have a problem chewing through I.O's drills and tanks."

Jones' eyes light up once again immediately, grinning excitedly.

"Okay, that's two. Does anyone else wish to volunteer?" Paradigm asks expectantly.

For a moment no hands go up... except one. It belongs to The Visitor.

"Visitor? You wanna do it?" Paradigm asks, surprised.

He nods, no words spoken.

"Very well. We need one more person."

"Actually, Paradigm, there's probably someone we could ask as long as he's turned to our side after waking up." Scientist interrupts, looking over to Midas.

Midas knows that he's talking about Ares.

"Then it's settled. Midas can go fetch this person he's on about as can Scientist. Then we can go through whatever other things need sorting out."

With that, the meeting is dismissed. Midas summons his sceptre and is ready to head out.

"Mind if I come with?" Jones asks, smiling with his arms behind him.

"Of course not." Midas hums, taking his hand and teleporting away with Jones.

-----------

The boys landed outside their old house and headed inside, seeing as no guards had been seen around for a few weeks now.

"Jeez this is gonna take forever to fix after the war." Jones groans in annoyance as they begin looking around.

"I've actually been thinking, Jones."

"Yeah?"

"How about, after the war, we build our own place?" Midas suggests. "For a while I've been thinking of making a company that is created with the intention of protecting the Island."

"Oh?"

"Think of it like my old Agency from Apollo, just a bit different." He goes on. "I'd provide rooms for me and you, Jules and any others who work for this operation."

Jones smiles with a chuckle.

"Y'know, that sounds kinda fun. I like that idea. What do you think we should call it?" He asks, excited.

"I'm glad you like it. But we can save thinking of a name for it after I.O has been taken down."

Jones nods, agreeing with him before opening a draw and discovering a dusty rift device.

"I found it! Little dusty though, haha."

"Well as long as it works that doesn't matter."

Jones passes Midas the device as they head back outside. He activates it and a portal opens up in front of them. On the other side it shows another version of the Island. However it seems to be the old Island, Apollo.

"Strange. Her reality's Island is still the same, and the Agency's still there. Nothing seems to have changed since I last came here." Midas thinks to himself.

He begins mucking around with the device, trying to see if he can get it to spawn in the building. With a little bit of patience, he manages to do so and the portal spawns inside an office and they find the person they're looking for.

"Marigold."

The woman yelps at the voice, dropping her pen and spilling her coffee.

"Good lord Midas! Don't scare me like that!" She yells, getting up from her desk covered in paperwork.

"Sorry. But you gotta admit that was funny." Jones smiles, snorting as he tries to hold back from laughing.

Midas nudges his shoulder, telling him to stop giggling.

"Forgive me Marigold. It wasn't my intention to scare you. But we could really use the help right now." Midas apologizes.

"What trouble is the Island in now then?" She asks.

"I.O has waged war against us for the past 2, nearly 3, months. We have a plan to end it once and for all in a couple of days. We need 4 people to handle the weapon systems of a mech that one of the Seven will be piloting." He explains. "Me and the Visitor are 2 of them, how would you like to be another?"

Marigold stares at him for a moment, processing everything in her mind before answering.

"That's...a lot to take in. You guys must've been through a lot after I returned home."

"Yeah, but we've been hanging in there. If this plan works we'll FINALLY be able to relax and enjoy our lives." Jones sighs, dreaming of that distant peaceful future.

"Well, alright then. But as soon as it's over, I'll need to return here. These forms aren't going to sign themselves."

"I understand." Midas agrees. "Shall we go?"

Marigold nods and follows them through the portal, it closing with sparkles coming off it.

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