Fortnite: Strike Team E.G.O

Chapter 11: Toxin and the Sludges

Rippley's POV

Rippley sat on a boat with Toxin and two Sludges. She kept stroking one of the Sludge's arms, making Rippley feel uncomfortable. He also found it odd that he was being treated less like a hostage, and more like an hournoured guest.
Toxin turned to Rippley and put her face in her hands. She looked at him with an odd look in her eyes. It was like she was his mother. Or anything along the lines of a guardian.
"Are you hungry? I know I am." Toxin smiled sweetly at him.
"Blorg... (Yes...)" Rippley looked like he didn't need her help.
"I'll message one of the Sludges to have something made for you upon arrival."
"Blorg? (Really?)"
"Of course! Do you want to be a hostage or not?"
"Blorg blorg blorg. (I'd rather be with my friends.)"
"I'm sure you do. And I'm sorry you can't."
Toxin smiled a sad smile and looked out to see if they had arrived at their destination. Rippley hadn't even thought; where were they going? Obviously, Shadow's base, but where was that?
It could have been that shady bunker, but they were going north in their boat. Rippley also thought about that one theatre Risky Reels, considering its very intense history, and that was still a possibility.
But within five minutes, his answer was revealed. Rippley still thought that they were headed to Risky Reels until the boat slowed down just a little too early. Their secret base was the central island?
They all hopped out of the boat and headed into the largest of the lodges. Toxin and the henchmen all went into the toilet but Rippley waited outside. They could do what they wanted to do, but Rippley was not going to the toilet at the same time as them.
Toxin suddenly opened the door before saying, "You coming?"
"Blorg blorg blorg? (Where are the others?)" Rippley started to panic. The henchmen were gone.
"Oh, did you really think that the lodges were our base? It's a cover-up! Come in and I'll show you."
Rippley really didn't want to go in, but at the same time he was genuinely intrigued. Maybe he could get some info for Ghost? He wasn't a hostage after all - he was a 'guest.'
"Blorg blorg blorg blorg! Hehe! (What else do you want me to do? Hehe!)" Rippley laughed unsuspiciously.
"Haha! True, actually. There isn't much else for you to do." Toxin smiled. It was a weird comment - it wasn't meant to be sinister but it was.
And so Rippley stepped into the toilet with Toxin. He blushed a little. This sort of room was normally his place of privacy in the day, and he didn't like sharing it with Toxin of all people. Toxin picked up on Rippley's embarrassment and she... laughed? Was she dropping the friendly act?
"You won't be in here for long!" Toxin let Rippley know, "We just need to wait for whoever is there to flush the toilet."
"Blorg? (Flush?)" Rippley whimpered.
Rippley hear the sound of a toilet flushing, had an odd sensation of being teleported to another place, and then he was out cold.

Journey's POV

Journey disliked Rippley's absence more than anyone. People were picking up on it as if it were a blatant fact that had been true for a very long time.
8-Ball went up to her and tried to cheer her up with a cake, which was nice of him but didn't make her feel better. Brutus and Ocean both went on walks with her to clear her mind. And Turk tried to have relaxed conversations with her. She did not feel relaxed.
One dull, painful day, Journey was sat in her room, which she normally shared with Remedy and Ocean but they both weren't there then. They were shopping in Retail Row. There was a knock at the door. Journey sighed - another 'calming' activity.
"Come in. The door's unlocked." Journey sighed loud enough for the person outside the door to hear.
"How you doing?" It was Turk.
"Fine."
"I need to tell you something that's important. Well, it's important to me. You can decide if you feel the same way in a minute."
I didn't reply. Turk went and sat on his sister Remedy's bed. He looked me in the eye and gave me an odd look, like he was thinking deeply and needed advice that he couldn't ask for.
"Journey, I've been feeling weird recently. I didn't know why until just yen minutes ago when it all made sense." Turk began.
Journey breathed out through her nose, "Turk, what are you-"
"I love you, Journey."
Journey didn't know what to say. On one hand, his gesture was sweet and kinda well-timed, but not really. But in the other, very sour hand...
"Turk... Rippley is missing. And you are trying to hit on me? Now? Really?!" Journey growled.
"Hey, what?" Turk looked bewildered.
"GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY ROOM!"
Turk looked down and left the room. Journey sank to her knees and cried her eyes out. She needed Rippley or she might fall apart at the seams.

Rippley's POV

Rippley awoke in a bed with a pounding migraine. Where that bed was though, he was unsure. The room was painted a dark blue, and the floor was a dull grey. The simpleness of the room made Rippley's eyes hurt a little. He moved over to the edge of the bed to get out, but quickly shot back under the duvet upon realising that his clothing had been removed.
"Yeah... I probably should have told you about that. Sorry." Toxin laughed uncomfortably from the other end of the room.
"This is the one you were talking about, Toxin?" Chaos Agent talked to Toxin.
Despite being completely naked, Rippley jumped out of bed and broke into a run to get out of the room. But the door, unfortunately, was locked. Damn it. Rippley was bought back to his senses after a pair of pants and a full tuxedo was thrown at him.
"That was a bit hard, Chaos Agent." Toxin rushed over to Rippley to check if he was ok.
"He's Ghost." Chaos Agent sneered arrogantly.
"He's also our guest!"
"Blorg blorg..? (What's going on..?)" Rippley asked groggily.
"Oh, yes. I ran some tests on you to compare to the Sludges."
"You're different and yet the same. It's odd, it really is. But I guess Toxin knows more than me." Chaos Agent shrugged.
"Yes. You're the same apart from your colour. Red and blue. Opposites. Change and I'll introduce you to some Sludges."
Chaos Agent unlocked the door and let himself out. He was as cold a being as Rippley had imagined in his painfully pulsing head. After getting changed, Toxin led him out of that exact same door. A group of five or so Sludges greeted him at the door. Unlike Rippley, whose suit was white, the Sludges had black suits. They had green Shadow logos on them, like Toxin did. So the suits were her design.
Rippley took in the Shadow base. It was HUGE, and bustling with Shadow henchmen, Sludges and the occasional agent. The walls were painted in monochromatic blacks and Grey's and also crimson here and there. There were lots of doors leading to offices and janitorial closets, break rooms and storage rooms. How many rooms did one place need?
"Blorg blorg blorg? (Why was I knocked out earlier?)" Rippley asked Toxin whilst they and the Sludges walked to an unknown location.
"People often lose consciousness after they travel through the rift for the first time." Toxin explained briefly.
"Blorg? (The what?)"
"Never mind. Are you hungry? Because we're going to get some food!"
Rippley had to admit that he was quite hungry, so he continued to follow the Sludges and Toxin to a small canteen-like area that was practically empty. Only then did he realise that he'd had this conversation already - on the boat they used to get to the base. How did he forget that? The teleport 'rift' thingy must have caused some memory loss too? Maybe? Or was she just trying to find a topic of conversation to cover up what she said? If that was what happened, she had failed.
Toxin treated Rippley and all of the Sludges to burgers with fries and smoothies and brownies for desert. It must have been the nicest meal he'd ever had. After the meal, Toxin took the gang to a set of rooms. The Sludges all went off to each of their own rooms. He noticed that some Sludges had roomates.
"Do you want to go find your room now?" Toxin asked politely.
"Blorg blorg. Blorg blorg blorg. (No thank you. I want to find my friends.)" Rippley shook his head.
"Please? Even if you just stay for one night."
"Blorg blorg. (I just as well.)"
"Good! I'll show you there; I'm sure that your stay will be wonderful!"

To be continued...

This chapter is the idea that got me writing this story again! Well, this one and the next one. Look forward to it! Have a good day or night, wherever or whoever you are!