Terminus Part I: The Journey There (Draft)

Chapter 28: The Phobos Sea Reprise

 As the Detective Pirates sailed through the Phobos and toward the Hephaestus, there were several things occurring all around the Phobos, on the twenty-third of November.

The brothers French were walking through the airport towards customs, when Bullseye walked into a man and their suitcases fell open. The man was with a woman.

"Our stuff! Do you mind helping us out here?" she asked.

"Not at all," said Marcus. "As you can see, Bullseye and your male friend–"

"Husband," she said.

"Didn't want to presume anything."

"That's understandable."

"As I was saying, they are both making their best efforts to collect everything that sprung out of our suitcases."

Bullseye picked up a baton with ribbons attached to it, as the man picked up one of Bullseye's guns.

"Is this your gun?"

"Is this your baton?" they asked each other at the same time.

"Say, who exactly are you people?" asked the man.

"We're bounty hunters. License and all," said Marcus.

"I see," said the woman, a devious smile spreading across her face. "Well, we are circus performers. My name is Ollacosta Adams, and this is my husband and performance partner Garrett Eves."

"Marcus and Bullseye French. Happy to be acquainted."

"Small chat is for the lazy, Ollacosta. We have a performance in the Barronymous Kingdom to get to," said Garrett.

"I understand. See you, brothers French."

"You know, I kind of wish they'd asked us about where we were headed. It's not every day you get to catch a plane to Duddlewane Island," said Bullseye.

Marcus reassured his brother that their encounter probably meant nothing and that they should best be on their way as well. He looked over the wanted posters for the Detective Pirates and thought to himself, Five-hundred million. Ten times the original amount. What did these rookies do?

He then noticed the poster for Karnilla Adams. Wait a minute, he thought, as he looked around for the couple that had just left. Well, it certainly is interesting, but I should probably stay out of their business.

They found their way to customs, where they were asked if they had anything to declare. Marcus explained that they were licensed bounty hunters, and the staff instructed them to wait for the time being. A few minutes later, a security guard came to escort them to a different line.

To Marcus' surprise, their flight would not be with the general public, but in a private jet.

"An anonymous benefactor wishes to see results from you. The Detective Pirates are one of the most dangerous crews sailing the seas. At this point, it does not matter who defeats them, as long as someone does," explained the security guard.

"You have no idea what any of that means, do you?" asked Marcus.

"No, sir. Still though, sounds exciting."

"Do you want to know?" asked Marcus.

"No, sir. A reminder that Questioning is a serious offence."

Marcus dropped the subject, and the brothers boarded the jet, waiting for their flight to take off.

Ever since Tom Sorrow had arrived in Gareth Town, Masquer had a new obsession. He spent more time trying to figure out what Tom Sorrow was planning than he did monitoring any other crime in the town. The one thing that had bothered him yesterday was the face of Mrs. French's new caretaker. Where have I seen that face before? he would wonder to himself.