Fortnite: Quest Buddies (FINISHED)

Chapter 23: Final Preparations

It was the morning of Midas' master plan and Risky Reels was buzzing with excitement. Midas had calculated the previous day that the plan would take place at 7:00 that evening, because that was when a storm would close perfectly around The Agency and Risky Reels.
The same day, Jules fitted Ollie's Cyclo suit and hooked up Oro's staff with The Device. Midas reluctantly let her have this day off until the plan went into action.
Also, at this point, everything had been removed except for Hugo, but Maya had suggested that they keep him in there. He had already been questioned, and his juicy information on Shadow had been acquired, so he was no longer a valuable asset. After a vote, it was decided that Hugo would stay in The Agency during the master plan.
At this point, Skye, TnTina, Ollie and Brutus were taking a look around the island one last time for Oro, who hadn't appeared since his escape a few days ago.
"I think he's not on the island anymore," TnTina suggested.
"I don't wanna know how a powerless skeleton got off of an island surrounded by water," Ollie shook his head, then turned into a hat and flopped on Skye's head.
"Should ve head back?" Brutus wondered.
"Well, we've looked everywhere we can," TnTina agreed.
Skye sat down at the foot of a tree. She didn't believe that Oro was gone. There was no way he had left. Then she had an idea. They had looked everywhere they could, but what if they looked in places they couldn't? Like Steamy Stacks and Dirty Docks?
"No way," the others said when Skye put her idea forward.
Skye wanted to argue, but it was no use. It wouldn't be a good idea to get injured or killed with Midas' master plan just around the corner.
"Never mind," Skye shook her head.
"Whew, I thought we would have to go on some sort of wild goose chase to change your mind," TnTina laughed.
Almost as if on cue, Brutus' phone began to ring.
"It's Midas," he said, then after the call he said,"Ve must be getting back now."
The three agents (and Ollie) trudged back home. The June sun beat down on them from up in the sky. Skye decided to remove her denim jacket for once, and her yellow t-shirt blew in the warm breeze.
"Woah! You have arms?!" TnTina joked.
Skye gave her that look and she giggled.
Once they were in Risky Reels, Midas waved them over to the large building towards the top of the drive-in theatre.
He lead the agents up to the second floor, which was supposed to be a cafe, but had been fashioned into a meeting room.
"This is our meeting room," Midas stated.
"Thanks Mr Obvious," TnTina snickered.
Midas shook his head disapprovingly, but Skye noticed he was smiling.
Ollie turned into his humanoid form and at down in a chair, as did the others. Slowly, the others piled in - first Maya, then Deadpool, then Meowscles and Kit, and finally Jules. She was wearing green dungarees and a welding mask, which she removed. She looked exhausted.
"Sorry I'm late. I was just doing some touching up of the Device before tonight," Jules sighed.
"It's OK. Actually, you're right on time," Midas shrugged.
"Good."
"So, vhat's our battle plan?" Brutus asked.
Midas clicked his fingers and pointed at Brutus.
"I'm glad you said that. Because that's exactly what we're here to discuss," Midas said,"Allow me to explain. You see, I can practically guarantee that Shadow will be there. We will have henchmen upon henchmen around the perimeter of The Agency, so it'll be their job to remove them from the equation. Pretty simple stuff."
Everyone nodded in unison.
"But, you see, there are complications with Oro's staff that I did not foresee. It appears that only a Komoran can touch the staff. In other words, Skye and Ollie. Anyone else who touches it will get zapped. In order for us to escape The Loop, Skye will need to send a bolt of lightning from the staff into the Device at exactly when The Loop is at its weakest. We should then be able to traverse through a portal to the other side at that point. A tracker is built into the Cyclo suit's arm, so I'll know how strong The Loop is at any given time. I'll warn you if it gets weak. Is that clear?"
Everyone nodded again.
"Good. Are there any other questions?"
Skye raised her hand tentatively.
"Ah, yes. Skye?"
"Can you guarantee that we'll break The Loop?" she asked.
She knew it wasn't going to be 100%. The Komoran guards couldn't 100% save Komora and the Ghost henchmen couldn't 100% stop Shadow taking over The Rig and The Grotto. How could Midas know for certain whether The Loop even existed? Let alone be broken.
"I can't guarantee anything. There's no point in lying. If I did that, you wouldn't believe me anyway. If we do fail, then we won't give up hope. As long as Ghost exists, and we are all together, The Loop can be broken. I believe it can be done," Midas explained.
"May I show them my new contraption?" Jules said.
"What new contraption?"
Jules shoved her hand in her dungarees' pocket and fished out several metal triangles with red dots and what looked like speakers.
"These," she smiled,"Are miniature walkie talkies, that go in your right ear to stay in touch with each other while the plan takes effect."
"That's cool!" Kit gasped.
He snagged up one of the triangles and put it in his ear. The red dot flashed slowly.
"Good, it works! The red dot flashes when it is in your ear and in sync with another walkie talkie," Jules turned to show a walkie talkie in her own ear.
"Nice. Right, that should be all. Take one of those communicators and you can go," Midas nodded, then took his triangle and left.
Skye did as Midas did and left with Ollie back on her head. She wanted to go and see Joe and check if he was OK. Between when she had come back to Ghost and now, her days were full of little meetings like that one, and she hadn't had any time to speak to Joe.
Skye went over to the gazebo over to the right and sat on a bench where some henchmen were having lunch.
"Where do you think Joe is, Ollie?" Skye asked.
"I don't know... Wait, I think that's him over there," Ollie replied.
And sure enough, Joe was near a bar carrying boxes to the big screen. In the boxes, Skye spotted some of her own bean bags and belongings.
She went over to Joe to say hi.
"Skye! There you are!" he cheered.
"Yup, it's me!" she giggled.
"I'm so glad I found you! I recognised some of the things in the boxes, and I was wondering if they were yours?"
"Yes, they're mine."
Skye took her boxes from Joe and balanced them in her arms.
"I'm gonna go and look through them to see if everything's there."
"Oh, one thing about that. We couldn't transport your stickers because they would lose their stickiness, but we ordered some more online. Thought you ought to know."
"Oh. OK. Thanks. Bye."
"See ya."
Skye left Joe to the boxes and went under the stairs at the big screen, where lots of files were kept. No one would see her there. Ollie peeled off too, having to do some errands of his own.
As she rummaged through the boxes, Skye spotted bean bags, cuddly toys, board games, card games; she even spotted her disassembled desk in one of the larger boxes. However, there was something not in there that troubled her.
Where was her backpack?
It must be in her room in The Agency. How could the henchmen not see it? Maybe it was tucked behind or under her bed, which they had left behind.
Skye had to go and get it! A lifetime of memories were in there - none of which she could see in the boxes.
But she couldn't go back. Midas had said that The Agency was off limits to any unauthorized personnel on the day of the plan, and the only authorized personnel were Midas and Jules.
Jules! That was it! A person could go into The Agency if they were accompanied by Midas or Jules. She would have to ask Jules to go with her to get her backpack.
No. That was impossible. She had said no to The Stronghold, why would she say yes now? Skye supposed that may have been because of Shadow, but Midas was equally dangerous, being her cousin.
"I guess it's worth a go," Skye told herself, then shut the boxes and put them in a neat pile where she was sat.
"What is?" Jules asked from behind her.
Convenient.
"Jules! I'm so glad I found you!"
"...Why?"
"I have a favour to ask you."
"If it has anything to do with Shadow, I'm out."
"It doesn't. It's a little risky though."
"Go on, then."
"I need to go into The Agency."
"What in The Agency is so important that it's worth risking your life for?"
"My backpack. All my photo albums and scrapbooks are in there. Wait, hold up, risking my life for?!"
Jules sighed.
"If you forget I said that, I will come with you."
"Fine. I'll probably find out soon enough anyway."
Jules smiled. She already knew she would.
Quickly as to not waste time, Skye and Jules exited Risky Reels and swam across the river surrounding The Agency. They scurried up the steps to where the torches would be lit, but weren't.
The whole building looked ominous and looming without others there going on with their daily hustle and bustle and the sound of chattering and footsteps. The main room looked huge and easy to get lost in. The doorways appeared larger than before. And the rooms felt cold without the presence of others to warm it up.
"This is creepy. Let's make it quick," Skye shuddered.
Jules nodded, but didn't seem phased. It came to Skye that she probably had to work here every day.
The two agents hurried to the elevator and tapped the buttons, sending them down.
"Thank goodness I decided to stall disabling the elevators until later. It's running on the backup power supply, since I already shut the main power supply off," Jules sighed.
"Thank goodness," Skye nodded.
The doors opened up, revealing Skye's room.
She couldn't help but gasp.
The place looked abandoned without the furniture; just the bed in the corner and the stickers on the walls. They had to turn on their phone flashlights to see, making the effect even more prominent.
Skye went to her bed and turned over her mattress and unzipped a secret compartment where her backpack was hidden.
"Wait, you keep your backpack in the mattress?!" Jules shouted.
"Honestly, I shouldn't be surprised that they didn't find it. I always keep it in here so it doesn't get stolen," Skye shrugged, hauling the backpack on her back.
"The rooms are ID locked. No one will get in."
"I'm very superstitious."
Jules giggled quietly to herself. Skye turned to leave, and Jules admired the room for the last time.
"It's a shame all of this will be gone in a few hours," she smiled sadly.
Skye stopped in her tracks.
"What did you say?" Skye snarled.
"N-Nothing."
"Tell me! Are we going to lose our home for this dumb plan?!"
"Ugh. I'm sorry, Skye. It has to be done. I mean, theoretically, once we traverse the Loop, we won't need The Agency anyway."
"How can you say that? You don't even know the Loop is real, let alone if it can be 'broken' or whatever!"
"Skye, you have to trust us. Ghost isn't a building, it's a family. As long as we're all together, Ghost still exists."
"Well, what happens if I'm right? What if there is no Loop and we are all stuck on the island with no base?"
"Don't worry about that. I've already got plans for a new Agency that'll go right here on the central island."
"How can you take this so lightly?"
"Stop! You have to stop this! You act like you're the only person who's lost something, when that's not true! I lost my parents when I was a toddler, and Midas lost his when he was just a few years older than I was. The world isn't all about you!"
Skye didn't speak after that. She tapped the elevator button and waited for the door to open. She felt so guilty, but didn't want to apologize.
So, the agents waited in silence.
...
...
...
...
...
"Shouldn't the door have opened by now?" Skye wondered.
"Oh no! The backup generator must have run out! Now we're stuck down here while this place gets blown to bits!" Jules huffed.
"What do we do?"
Jules didn't reply.
Skye peeled away from the elevator and looked around her room for some form of escape. She opened her walk-in closet and looked around in there, and her eyes laid on the vent.
"How about this?" Skye suggested.
Jules walked over and looked at the vent. It looked small, but large enough to fit a person inside.
"That's a good idea. This vent should take us to a storage closet on the second floor. We can leave from there. I'll try my best to remember the layout, but we may take a couple wrong turns."
"Sounds good to me."
They paused.
"Look, I'm sorry about all that dream stuff. It's torn Ghost apart over the last few months, and I couldn't be more guilty. I'm sorry," Skye frowned.
"I was hoping you would say that. I'm sorry for shouting," Jules grinned.
Skye kicked the vent cover and it broke apart, opening up the vent.
"Let's get out of here."
"Yeah."
Jules went into the vent first, giving Skye time to remove her backpack. She then went in, with the backpack at her side, and making the already claustrophobic environment even more claustrophobic.
It felt as though the vents were forbidden, for not even spiders crawled along the dark, metal corridors. It was infinitely cold, as if Skye and Jules were going through an ice block.
However, Jules seemed to remember the directions, and they were doing fine. According to her, they were currently on the first floor, just one away from where they needed to be. It was all going smoothly, until...
"Skye, we have a problem," Jules whimpered.
She moved over so that Skye could see the fan that rested in their path.
"Oh no! What are going to do?" Skye groaned.
Jules kicked the fan, but it wouldn't budge. They were defeated. They were doomed to live out their last few hours in a cramped vent while they waited for the bomb to release them from their torture.
"Wait! Skye, do you have anything useful in that backpack?" Jules gasped.
"Maybe!" Skye cheered.
She opened the backpack and looked at its contents. Photo albums. Scrapbooks. Cuddly toys. A torch. Chewing gum. Ah-ha! A screwdriver!
"There's a screwdriver!" Skye squealed.
"Quick, pass it here," Jules reached out her hand.
Jules made quick work of the fan, and they were able to pass through into the storage closet. Or, at least, they thought it was a storage closet, because it was now empty.
"We did it!" Skye cheered, and hugged Jules.
"Thanks for your help," Jules nodded.
"No problem."
"Hey, what time is it?"
Skye checked her phone.
"6:45 pm."
"Oh God! We gotta go!"
Skye and Jules got out of the storage closet and ran down the steps to the first floor, where they quickly exited. They swam back across the river and entered Risky Reels.
"Where have you been?!" Ollie instantly shouted.
"The henchmen forgot my backpack. I had to go and get it," Skye moaned.
Ollie looked as though he were about to argue, but decided against it.
"OK. I understand how important that backpack is to you. You scared me half to death, though."
"I know. I won't do it again."
"Glad to hear it."
Jules stepped forward.
"You better hurry to the changing room. You and Midas need to change into your Cyclo suits," Jules said, then ran to the temporary changing room.
"Don't sneak off again," Ollie pointed at Skye, then left.
"I said I won't!" Skye shouted after him.
She left too, to her perch under the stairs where the boxes were there in the same positions. Skye put her backpack on top of one of the boxes and smiled. There. That was definitely worth her life, right?
"Wow, you have some nerve going into The Agency after Midas specifically told you not to," TnTina said from behind Skye.
"Gah! It was important!" Skye huffed.
"Woah! Chill!"
They both stood there awkwardly for a moment.
"I can't believe it's just 10 minutes until the plan goes into action. This is so exciting!" TnTina cheered.
"Yeah."
Skye couldn't bring herself to tell TnTina that The Agency would have to be sacrificed.
"Is that your stuff? It's OK, you can leave it here. Me and Brutus are gonna go over to the river bank. Are you gonna come with us?"
"OK. You guys go without me, I'll catch you up."
"OK, don't be long!"
TnTina then ran to join Brutus, who left with a group of henchmen accompanying him. He had his mini gun ready, and was prepared for battle.
Skye sat down in front of boxes as it occurred to her that she couldn't take all her stuff with her. She opened the backpack and filled it with some stuff that could fit from the other boxes. That was all she could take.
Skye sighed and hauled her backpack on her back, before going into the main area. Ollie was there speaking to Joe.
She couldn't believe how Ollie had transformed. He looked almost robotic with the suit on - almost as if a robot had been designed based on himself.
Ollie and Joe spotted Skye and ran over to her.
"Me and Joe are gonna join Tina and Brutus by the river banks. Are you gonna come with us?" Ollie grinned.
"Wow... You look awesome! Oh, and yes," Skye gasped.
The three agents scrambled out of Risky Reels and planted themselves next to Brutus and TnTina on the river bank.
"Took you long enough. You look great, Ollie," Brutus smiled, which he didn't do often.
"Thanks," Ollie giggled.
Skye checked her phone. 6:59.
"Guys, this is it!" Skye cheered.
All of the Ghost henchmen and agents chanted the last ten seconds as I'd they were at a fireworks display. But not Skye. She squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for the destruction of the only home she had ever known.
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
SPLASH!!!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Word Count: 3200 Words