Fortnite: Island

Chapter 20: Skye Reprised

What?
No.
How could that be?
Skye awoke in a glass container, her memories fully intact. Which, well, was impossible, because as the Scientist and Skye's friends had already established, when you looped you lost your memories. Which Skye remembered... which was, again, impossible.
The glass container was cylindrical with a sliding door with no way to open it from the inside. Outside was a keypad that probably opened it. A blinding light was at the top of the cell, highlighting the area around her in a cold white. She couldn't see her surroundings, but she could see that there were too more cells either side of her.
One of the glass cylinders (the one to her right) was smashed completely. Skye wondered what had happened that led to the destruction occuring. In the other cell to her left was a man. He was dressed in dark clothing, and was slumped hopelessly against the cold, glass wall. He was also wearing a mask, but Skye couldn't see any of its details. Just being the man made Skye's heart drop.
She had to get his attention.
"Hey!" she hissed, "Psst, ya there?"
No reply. Either the man was completely out, or the cells were soundproof. No matter. She'd work out how to get something out of him... eventually. There might be other people around, too. Maybe the prisoner in the right cell was still around? Or, maybe not.
Or maybe it was Slone, who was stood in front of Skye's cell.
"You." Slone sighed.
"You." Skye scowled, "Where am I?"
"This place is hidden." Slone answered.
"That didn't answer my question."
"There's no point in telling you."
Skye thought for a moment, "...I guess you're right."
Slone and Skye looked at each other. What was Slone thinking about? Was she thinking about her? Was she thinking about Drift? Was she thinking of other casualties among both armies? Were there other casualties? Slone looked up at Skye.
"You know, not many of you are actually threats." Slone frowned pitifully.
"What do you mean?" Skye raised her eyebrows. Really, she already knew what was coming.
"You were in that Ghost war, the Scientist is generally annoying, Drift is terrifying to many agents here, and admittedly to me, Raz's mother is the Cube Queen and he shares her passion for murder, and that Lynx character was, well, with Drift. You've all been on our radars for a long time." Slone explained, "But... that Shanta isn't really all too special. And Mothy, well, seems a bit childish. We could crush him like the bug he is if we wanted to."
The man who was slumped in the cell on Skye's left suddenly leapt up. He pressed his mask against the glass and looked at Slone. Skye could see the man's plague doctor mask now.
"Oh, he's awake." Skye remarked.
"He's angry about Mothy." Slone raised her eyebrows.
"Why?"
"Something about him being his brother, I don't know." Slone sighed.
Skye faintly remembered Mothy saying something about having twin siblings who wore plague masks... who were killed by Caretakers! Skye suddenly realised what these cells were.
"Do these things keep our memories when we loop?" Skye asked, knowing she was into something.
"I don't give you enough credit, do I? I always thought that Midas was the smart one, but I should've been looking for you." Slone eyed her.
"Maybe you should've."
Slone looked at Skye, and then to her suprise, Slone unlocked the chamber and then Mothy's brother's chamber too. The man looked at Skye and she looked back, untrusting of Slone. Something about her seemed more genuine, though.
"I'll give you one more chance to leave and not do anything stupid." Slone said to Skye, and then added, "It's your lucky day, Plague. You're free from us. Not that we need you any more."
The man, presumably Plague, replied, "I wasn't expecting this today..."
Plague's voice was deeper but it could easily be traced back to Mothy. They had the same dramatic tone that could be mumbley if it wanted to. Plague stared at Slone with a piercing feeling of distrust pointed at her, by not just him, but Skye too.
Skye suddenly felt very tired, "Did you drug me..?"
"Well, yes. It won't last long, I promise." Slone answered simply.
Plague collapsed in a dark heap.
"Why?"
"I can't have you scouting my compound, can I, Skye? It's not that I don't trust you... oh wait - it is. Sorry."
Skye was ready to retaliate and show Slone why you don't mess with any allies of the Seven, but she joined Plague in the land of the unconscious before she could say anything about it.

***

We're going on a magical mystery tour in a week.
These were the words that were stuck to fridge the morning after the attack on Sanctuary, courtesy of the Scientist. It was funny. He said it almost like they had stuff to pack, but Drift knew that this was not the case. And had he lightened up a bit, too? A joke! The nerve of that man!
Drift and Mothy had found out about Skye the day before. If Drift had been gutted, then Mothy had been taken apart. Drift thought that he'd never met a man so sad as then, and he knew he'd never find anyone that sad again.
What hurt Drift even more, however, was how nobody was grieving over Aura. She'd helped Drift and Mothy survive, but nobody had thanked her. Drift knew that they hadn't known her as well as he did, but it stung. At least Mothy cared. But even he only cared a little.
Lynx appeared in the room which Drift was in. He'd just been staring into space, but now he was staring at her. Drift could've sworn that she'd put on some makeup. Her lips were cherry red and her lashes were highlighted in black.
"Hey." she smiled pitifully.
"Hello." Drift sighed.
"I would never have guessed that Brite was the villain all along." Lynx raised her eyebrows.
In all that had been going on, Drift had forgotten about Brite. He thought of her twisted smile and the vengeful look in her eye. And how she technically had killed Aura. It made Drift squirm uncomfortably.
"There was something Aura wanted me to do, by the way." Lynx added.
"She didn't specifically say, but I know that she would want me to do something too." Drift replied.
They locked eyes, and they knew that a silent agreement had been made. They were reunited; the agreement was followed by a kiss. The kiss felt better than any he'd had with Brite, and as he withdrew he blushed intensely, his whole face turning scarlet.
Lynx smiled.
Drift smiled more.

***

Plague sat at a table outside of the neon pink ice cream shop in Coney Crossroads which Plague had assumed was its namesake. Plague had met the owner of the place, Lil Whip a long time ago. They had said hello, and Plague had to admit that it felt good to talk to him.
Eventually, Skye made her way over. She had done some shopping, and now she looked like a fairly different person. Her hair was a hot pink, tied back in two bouncy buns. She wore a white crop top with long, black sleeves. Her beige shark slippers smiled up at Plague, and Skye smiled at Plague from above.
"Whatcha think?" she asked, swaying from side to side.
"Different." Plague answered, "You look different. I mean, good different."
"Perfect."
Plague had desperately tried to talk Skye out of it, but she had refused to listen. She looped. Skye didn't want that happening to anyone else, so she decided not to return to the Seven or tell them about her status, to keep them safe.
Plague was biased because of Mothy, but he thought that Skye should at least say something. Whenever he thought of how sad Mothy would be, the drone of his quickening heartbeat flooded his ears. Or how sad Mothy was now.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Plague mumbled through gritted teeth.
"It's to keep them safe."
Plague felt bad, but didn't say anything.
The duo started to walk towards Sanctuary. Skye had agreed to see him off, which was kind of her. Yet Plague's stomach still felt hollow as they trudged onwards. He looked at her happy face and he shook his head slowly.