Sorry it's been so long since my last upload! I've been planning a new book called Séance, an original work which you can view on my profile. My uploads should become more regular. Also, I'll be making my paragraphing easier to read! Sorry to keep you waiting :)

***

Somewhere at sea, far from all coasts, a seagull screeched. Its shrill cry penetrated the calm day, drowning out the sounds of the ocean like the ocean had drowned many unfortunate souls in the past.

This section of the ocean was relatively desolate. Most open ocean is. But, here, where the Imagined Order's secret prison was located, it was almost stagnant. The prison itself was built us a huge grey triangle that extended high above the water but also far below it into the murky depths. Triangles were stronger... not to mention easier to defend. Three sides was easier to assign than four, and three concentrated efforts would give more beneficial results than four smaller efforts.

But, for an organisation that was so good at battle planning and for one with such good technology, the building itself was ugly: it was made of drab grey stone that set thoughts of utmost dread in even the brightest of individuals, with the brick being slowly worn away at the base structure, the salty sea water eroding the IO's mighty fortress. It was safe to say that the prison was more functional than fashionable.

Thankfully (if you could say thankfully), Doctor Slone ensured that the function of the prison was not diminished. Prisoners only entered the prison by boat, and guard-only forces warped away from the prison by teleportation: a clever contraption set up using the power of the Zero Point. Air travellers and submarine travellers would be executed on sight, just to condense the potential infiltrators.

No one other than the guards ever left. Once the boats containing the passengers had been emptied, they were destroyed.

That was what Ghost anticipated as they took their own disguised boats to the prison. The agents were all disguised in IO guard uniforms - tech and all. Hopefully, no one would be able to tell the difference.

There were only three people on the whole boat who weren't disguised as guards on the boat: Skye, Ollie and Ava. The three of them were best described as bait. Someone would have to pretend to be a prisoner so that they wouldn't seem suspicious upon arrival... plus, someone needed to get close to the prisoners. TnTina was in there somewhere, as was John. Someone had to go in.

As the boat pulled into the dock, Skye reminded herself that it wouldn't be just her, Ollie and Ava. Joe, disguised in an IO suit, would be accompanying them all the way. She just hoped that he would be enough.

Almost as soon as the boat had docked, IO officials in black suits approached, their soulless purple eyes viewing them like a convex camera, presenting the guards like robots rather than real people. Considering the nature of The Order, it was hard to believe any of the guards were actually people.

"State your names and purpose," a guard said emotionlessly.

Midas and Jules exchanged looks. Both of them had agreed not to talk once in this visit, wondering if their voices could be traced back to their identities. Honestly, Skye wasn't sure why someone as high as Midas had even come.

"Sylvester Grey," a guard replied: this was the decided name for whoever spoke up. "We're here to deliver these prisoners."

Skye waved at the IO guard casually.

The IO guard nodded. "Ok. Head over to Ivan. He'll give you a security card."

Of course, they weren't going to Ivan. Jules had already forged security cards to give to some Ghost henchmen, as well as herself and Midas.

Because of this, they were able to walk right in: Skye, Ollie and Ava were in the centre of the herd, like penguin chicks in a huddle. Skye didn't know when they had gotten into the main section of the prison until the group began to break off.

"We're in!" Joe whispered to Skye.

"Where are we headed?" Skye hissed.

"We need to split off from the others without any of the IO's cronies noticing. If anyone is caught, the plan with be compromised."

"Heh. Look at you using big words!"

"I know! I'm proud of myself."

Skye looked around: the halls seemed to stretch forever, with cells lining the bland walls. Each cell was contained with a purple forcefield, giving the bizarre creatures inside bleak chances of escaping. Was TnTina here somewhere?

She looked up at a bridge connecting the two walls. A smug guard overlooked the corridor below, a sniper rifle clutched in hand in case anyone decided to act up. The rifle was worn and the bark-coloured paint was scratched, revealing the shiny metal underneath... it obviously wasn't the guard's first rodeo.

"TnTina won't be here. Here are where the Imagined Order's truly dangerous enemies are kept, and although TnTina's dangerous, she's only human. We should search the upper levels," Midas decided.

"That'll be where we're headed!" Joe whispered.

Skye glanced towards Joe. Although his face was covered by the Imagined Order's trademark soulless black mask, Skye could imagine his cheeky grin underneath.

"We're just like TnTina - dangerous, but not multiversal vigilante dangerous. We'll fit right in!" Joe shrugged.

Skye thought of her Sword of Grass back at Catty Corner, and how that could make her a multiversal vigilante. She knew that it had the ability to tear this prison apart, but she barely knew anything about it. Even so, without it, she felt like a part of herself was missing. She felt vulnerable, as if a single shot from that guard's sniper would obliterate her.

That being said, a single sniper shot probably would obliterate her.

"Skye, you gotta stop looking at that guard with the sniper. You're looking so suspicious right now. I know he's super hot, but you've gotta contain yourself," Ava giggled.

"Shut up," Skye sighed, punching Ava playfully in the arm.

In Skye's peripheral vision, she saw both Joe and the IO guard glance at her, then away, as if looking at her for any longer would cause them physical pain.

"Hey, look, stairs!" Ava pointed out, gesturing to double silver doors slotted into a wall.

"Shouldn't we find an elevator? That would be how the IO expects us to travel," Ollie suggested.

"Don't we want to be unexpected?"

"Skye, what do you think?"

Skye looked from Ollie to Ava hopelessly. It was these kinds of interactions that she feared... it was hard to choose between her sister who she'd just met and her carer who she'd known her whole life.

She had to go with her gut.

"The IO are terrible at identity checking, but have everything guarded. If they spot us on the stairs with one IO guard who isn't actually an IO guard, we're dead for sure," Skye sighed.

"Not to gang up on you, Ava, but I agree with Skye and Ollie here. The only problem is, there aren't any elevators around," Joe whispered.

"Then we gotta keep going. Surely there's one somewhere?" Ollie said.

Ava turned to two Ghost henchmen walking behind them.

"You two, follow us! We have a plan," she nodded.

Skye saw who she thought was Midas and Jules watching them like hawks as they hurried ahead; she wondered what they were thinking as they sped off into the distance as inconspicuously as possible.

"Guys, we should slow down," Skye hissed, turning away from Midas and Jules.

Joe nodded and began to slow down. The other two guards recognised this and slowed down with them, causing the group to drop to a slow gait rather than a rushed sprint.

"These hallways just go on forever. Are you sure there are any elevators at all?" Ava asked in a concerned voice.

"There's only one way to find out," Skye mumbled.

Skye turned her gaze to the cells, containing many of the IO's threats from throughout the Multiverse. In one, she saw a man in an orange jumpsuit huddled in one corner, facing away from the hallway as if he'd lost all hope. His skin was a light teal, the colour of the sky on a Winter morning, and yellow and purple squares danced on his hands and bald head as if there was nothing containing them.

"Actually... there might be another way," Skye said softly.

Skye edged closer to the cell containing the strange man. He didn't turn; he likely didn't even know they were there. Skye went to put her hands on the forcefield and realised that she didn't know what would happen if she touched it, so she held her hands in the air awkwardly before moving them back to her sides.

"Excuse me?" Skye waved, even though he couldn't see her.

He didn't turn.

"Sir?" Joe said louder.

When the man still didn't turn, Joe drew his rifle and used it to bang on the forcefield. To their surprise, it was solid, and hissed at them like a snake upon contact.

This caused the man to turn. Skye couldn't help but notice his soulless blue eyes, like sapphires stuck into his skull.

Skye waved at him, saying "Hi!" although she knew he couldn't hear him. At this point, he stood and headed towards them, each step seeming like it took huge effort.

The man stated into Skye's eyes, then pointed to the left. Here, there was a keypad with several numbers on it. It was so small that it had slipped Skye's mind, but now she noticed it, it was impossible to look away from.

"I don't know the code!" Skye whispered, hoping that he could read her lips.

Joe stared blankly at Skye. Through the mask, it was impossible to read what he was thinking - perhaps this was the mask's purpose? After a moment's thought, he just shrugged, being lost for better words.

The man in the cell glanced left and right, before holding up a number on his fingers.

"Six," Skye said aloud.

Joe tapped 6 into the keypad. Nothing happened, so they all assumed that they were in the clear.

"Wait, we're just gonna trust this guy? He could be trying to trick us!" Ava asked.

"We don't have a choice," Skye shrugged dismissively. "8."

"Skye, I don't know. We do have other options. Think about it, this guy knows the code of his cell from the inside. He could be dangerous!" Ollie whimpered as Joe tapped 8 onto the keypad.

"4," Skye stated, rather than replying.

"Skye, please-"

"2."

When Joe tapped the final number into the combination lock, the buttons turned green, and the forcefield broke apart like it was made of glass. Within moments, it was like it was never there at all.

The strange man stepped out of his cell and took in a deep breath as they all watched him awkwardly. Skye had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing - she had always struggled with awkward silences. When the man locked his eyes on Skye, however, any urge to laugh dissipated in an instant.

"Hai, my name is Skye!" Skye smiled, extending a hand in the solid silence to try and greet the man.

"The Origin," the man said, accepting Skye's handshake.

"The Origin? That's an odd name," Ollie remarked. He obviously still didn't trust The Origin.

"I was a founding member of The Seven," The Origin said.

A prick of recognition sparked in Skye's back. She remembered at Shadow's Stronghold, back before even the flood, when Chaos Agent had shown the Zero Point to Skye for the first time. She remembered that three of The Seven's members were there - The Visitor, The Paradigm and The Scientist. It was bizarre to think about this event; lucid, but unreal, like it had just been an elaborate dream. Skye wondered if that was the effect that the Zero Point had on people.

"You're from The Seven? I've met some of your friends before. The Visitor, The Scientist and The Paradigm," Skye explained.

"Damn that Paradigm!" The Origin muttered.

"Uh, hold on. When?" Ollie interrogated Skye, holding his arms like a scolding parent.

"Remember when I was gone for five days? Before Midas launched his master plan that kinda failed?" Skye explained.

"You never told us about that!"

"Yeah... It was kinda a deal I had with Chaos Agent. I agreed that if I said nothing, then Jules and Tek would be safe. I guess that's all gone out the window, now."

Ava glanced between Skye, Ollie and Joe.

"I definitely missed a few chapters... and frankly, I don't wanna know," she laughed uncomfortably.

There was a moment more of unbearable silence.

"So... Origin, you said that you and The Paradigm had beef?" Skye said, her voice wavering.

"Yes," The Origin nodded. "We were both here in this prison, you see, until she agreed to help the Order destroy a monster that was coming to the Island from some kind of floating ice moon. We're fairly sure she died on the ice moon, but I've been left here. She told me the code to my cell as she was walking by, but I couldn't have opened my cell without some help. Luckily, you came."

Skye thought that it sounded like The Paradigm had no choice, and that she tried to help him before the IO got her to go on that mission. Skye was Ollie were there when the monster attacked the original Island; she remembered. To her and Ollie, The Paradigm was a hero. They would have died without her.

However, she didn't want to say this to The Origin. She couldn't risk losing his trust.

"Hey, you there, what are you doing?" a guard asked... the one with the sniper.

Joe held up a single finger to silence the guard. He looked taken aback, staring at Joe with disgust even though he didn't stare back.

"Ok, we've got to get out of here," Skye whispered to The Origin.

"Come into my cell. There's a vent under my bed but I've had no way to get in, until now," The Origin replied. "Do any of you have a screwdriver?"

"No, but we do have guns. My pistol has a suppressor, we can use it to destroy the screws," Joe suggested.

The Origin held out his hand to be given the gun, and Joe instinctively handed the gun over. Realistically, Joe had no clue if The Origin still wanted to help them or not, but he didn't really have a choice at this point. It was too late to back out now.

The Origin discreetly shot out all four screws, and after some jiggling, the vent cover came loose. He left the vent cover beside the vent itself, and disappeared down it.

"None of you have a torch, do you?" The Origin called back.

Skye crouched down to peer into the gaping maw of the steel tunnel. For all she knew, all that was waiting for them was a dead end, in which case the vent doubled as a coffin. A joint burial, if you will.

"I do," Skye said faintly.

Skye pushed her torch down the vent so that The Origin could grab it, which he did.

Skye glanced from Ava to Joe to Ollie before heading down the vent after The Origin. Inside, it was cold and dark. Not even a spider crawled around inside of the tube, but The Origin may have already pushed any arachnids to the side already. For all she knew about The Origin, he could have eaten the spiders.

"Keep going. We don't know how long it'll take for the Order to notice us," The Origin called back.

Skye nodded although only she could see what she was doing.

"We're all in," Joe shouted after a few seconds of crawling. "I sent the other henchmen back."

Skye nodded again, knowing again that she was nodding only for herself.

For a few moments, everything was fine, except for Skye's pressing claustrophobia. Then, from behind them all, Skye heard gunshots.

Sniper gunshots.

TO BE CONTINUED...