Fortnite: Island

Chapter 13: Identity Crisis

"HE'S IN MY SHOWER!" Drift gasped.
"Relax, I'm not taking a shower, that'd be weird." Fennix smirked, "I fixed your pipes, by the way."
Fennix jumped out of the shower, fully clothed, laughing at Drift's fright, and he felt his face heat up in anger. Fennix then turned to Aura and clasped his hand over his mouth in mock shock. Then, he strutted on over to her and threw his face in hers.
"Oh, look, it's Aura. I bet she made you assume the worst about me, eh?" Fennix sneered.
"Give Karve his money back, Fennix." Aura snarled.
Fennix frowned and passed the money which he'd stolen to Drift, "You two suck. I'm going to find Grimey, he always falls for my tricks."
"Fennix, don't leave yet." Aura grabbed Fennix's shoulder.
There was a moment of silence where Fennix and Aura simply stared into each other's eyes. Drift wished that they would both leave, so he could think about what Aura had said about him looping. It still didn't make any sense to him, yet.
And then, completely out of the blue, Aura pushed Drift to the floor and held him down. Fennix looked frightened, and Drift thought he was going to have a heart attack, or that Aura wasn't telling him the full story of his looping. Maybe she knew that he was working for the Seven.
"What is this?!" Drift choked.
"Fennix, grab his mask!" Aura shouted.
"I didn't think that we were going to do this!" Fennix gulped.
But he did as he was told, and Drift's face was now exposed to the pair. Aura smiled, the sort of smile someone wore when they were right for once, and Fennix's eyes widened in fear. He yelped and shot up, belting out of the bathroom and falling backwards onto Drift's bed.
"WHAT THE HELL! Aura, what did you do?!" Fennix growled.
"I didn't do anything! Karve, I'm sorry if that hurt." Aura apologised, "But you can't be here. If Slone knew that Drift, even Drift's loop, was here, she'd kill him on the spot. And you are Drift's loop, so you need to get out of here!"
"I can't leave yet." Drift sobbed.
"Why not? This is serious!"
"This is- what do we do?!" Fennix shrieked.
"I promised someone I'd help them!" Drift cried.
"Who?" Aura breathed.
"I can't say."
"No, you have to say!"
Aura looked like she was going to faint, and Fennix had curled up into a ball on Drift's bed. Drift was beginning to realise that he was afraid of his previous self as well as IO. The Scientist would know what to do. And Drift decided that Aura would too.
"Karve is a false identity."
"What?" Aura frowned.
"If what you're saying is true, then I looped into myself. I'm still Drift." Drift sighed.
"Who are you working for?" Aura asked.
Drift took a deep breath and said, "The Seven."
Aura practically threw herself on Fennix so that he wouldn't get away and tell. She clamped his snout shut with incredible force. She looked angry. She looked sad. She looked like she wanted to say so much, but she couldn't put it into words.
Eventually, Aura smiled softly and said, "I hate IO."
"I'm not surprised, considering what they're doing to you." Drift laughed.
"You have no idea how good this feels." Aura sighed, "To say my real feelings."
"Will you help me, then? To destroy IO?"
"Of course."
Drift was infinitely relieved that Aura was on his side, and that he wouldn't have to pretend around her. Unfortunately, they now had a problem; the squirming fox that Aura was still holding down. Would they have to kill Fennix? Maybe he'd ask Aura? But Aura already had a plan.
"Can you get me some rope? I want to sort out this one." Aura asked.
"Sure, I won't be long." Drift waved.

***

The Scientist sat with Mothy. He'd sent Shanta, Raz, Lynx and Skye to the weirdly shaped snow dunes near the centre of the island. Apparently there was a city under there, and the Scientist wanted them to check it out. But he didn't want to be alone, so he asked Mothy to hang back with him.
Mothy was drinking some boba tea, which Raz had said Mothy loved. He thought the way the fruity bubbles popped in his mouth was funny. Apparently, he'd asked for some for Christmas. The Scientist thought that Mothy was cute in that way, in that he enjoyed the small things in life, unlike him. As well as the Beef Stripz being tasty, they were also rare, which was why he enjoyed them.
"Are you sure you don't want some? It's so good~" Mothy cooed.
"Uhh, no thanks." the Scientist answered.
"Are you sure?" Mothy asked. The Scientist could've sworn that both Mothy and the moth helmet he'd taken off were looking at him now.
"I'm sure." the Scientist nodded.
The Scientist had more pressing matters than boba. Drift still hadn't got into contact with him, even after he'd sent him an encrypted message to the IO network. Had something bad happened? What would he do if something bad happened?
"Hey, Mothy, has Raz told you about Drift's spy mission?" the Scientist asked.
"Well, duh! We don't keep secrets with each other." Mothy giggled, "He even told me that the Cube Queen was his mom, but- Oh no! He said I wasn't supposed to tell anyone!"
"Don't worry, I won't say." the Scientist promised. In truth, he already knew this because Raz had thought it necessary that he should know.
"Oh, thank you!" Mothy sighed, "So, what's up with Drift?"
"He's supposed to be contacting me but I've not heard anything back yet." the Scientist sighed, "Should I be worried?"
"Well, he might not have a way to contact you." Mothy thought, "Maybe agents can't use the computers?"
"I hadn't considered that." the Scientist mumbled.
"Maybe we could send him something?" Mothy asked.
The Scientist looked into the eyes of the man sat next to him. He was barely a man, a boy, even. He smiled with a childish giddiness. The Scientist was sure that he was still thinking about the popping bubbles. Nobody would suspect a thing against him.
"Hey, Mothy, would you mind doing a little something for me?"

***

"So, now we've tied him up, what do we do?" Drift sighed.
Fennix squirmed angrily.
"Stuff him in your closet?" Aura asked.
"I don't think we thought this through well enough." Drift sighed.
"We're going to get in so much trouble."
"We are."
Drift and Aura stared at Fennix for a silent moment. Fennix tried to scream and he continued to squirm frustratedly. He squirmed so much that he fell off the bed. Drift sighed and he and Aura went to pop him back on the bed. Aura didn't put him down though.
"Can we please just stuff him in your closet?" Aura pleaded, "We can decide what to do with him another time."
Drift thought for a moment and then said, "You know what? Ok."
So, the pair yeeted Fennix into Drift's closet. He let out a yelp beneath his gag. Aura then went into Drift's bathroom, re-emerging a few seconds later with the black mask which Drift wore to conceal his face. He quickly slipped it on.
"Thanks." Drift smiled.
"No problem. Remember, if anyone asks, you're still Karve, not Drift, ok, Drift?" Aura reminded him.
Drift laughed, "That was a bit confusing, but-"
"No! Don't answer to Drift!"
"I can't believe you just did that." Drift sighed.
"Well, I did! Try to remember, please?" Aura asked.
"I'll do my best."
"Ok."
Aura waved and then left Drift's room, finally. He took one last look at the room's other occupant in his closet before slamming the door. Drift knew at some point, he'd have to feed him. But he didn't plan to do it today. He couldn't be bothered, to be honest.
Then, there was a knock at the door.
"Special delivery~!"
When Drift opened the door, it looked like a guard, but the voice was unmistakably Mothy's. He pulled Mothy in quickly, before anyone saw. He was holding a parcel wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper. Drift assumed that the Scientist had some left over from any gifts he might have bought.
"So, Karve, I got you a present, because, umm, I'm cool!" Mothy shouted, looking around at the room.
"There aren't any cameras." Drift said.
"Oh. So, the Scientist has noticed that you may not have a way to contact him, so he got you this!" Mothy held out the present.
When Drift unwrapped the paper, there was a phone underneath. Drift had expected a gadget, but this was better. He'd be able to browse the internet and look on social media and more! But when Mothy turned the phone on, and Drift saw that the only app on there was WhatsApp.
"Where's Google?" Drift asked.
"There's only WhatsApp, sorry." Mothy apologised, "But as consolidation I bought a cookie."
Drift was mildly disappointed, but he didn't let it show when he said, "Oh, thanks. Where is it?"
"...I ate it."
"Great." Drift grumbled.
"...I'm just going to leave." Mothy mumbled.
"Yeah."
"Will you message me later?"
Drift looked over at Mothy. His chin was pressed into his chest and he looked guilty. His arms were behind his back as he sniffed. Drift realised that Raz probably loved Mothy because he was a good person, even if he did things wrong, but who didn't? You couldn't stay mad at Mothy for long.
"Sure." Drift smiled.
"Oki! Bye, Drift!" Mothy waved.
Then, suddenly thinking of Aura, Drift called, "Hey, can I have another one of these? I made a friend, and she's on our side."
"Oh, of course! See you then!"
And then Mothy was gone. Drift shut his front door and removed his clothes before getting in the shower. Thanks to Fennix, it had been a long day, but he'd become friends with Aura and his pipes were working now, so he had some things to thank him for. But Drift just wanted to get into bed now. He figured that he'd contact the Scientist the following day.
As he slipped into bed, he decided that life was much more stressful than it used to be. But why wouldn't it be? The Seven were people who were everywhere, all the time and joining them was going to lead to that. Drift quickly drifted off into wakeless sleep.

To be continued...