Thalia and Kevin were taken to a massive glass building quite like the skyscrapers of big cities. It stood out like a sore thumb in Sandy Island, as the rest of the buildings were little huts that rarely had more than two stories.
     As Kevin and Thalia walked through the front double door and looked around, they saw people - human people - walking around leisurely like they weren't on the base floor of a squid base planning to take over the work. Kevin and Thalia exchanged glances, but neither said a word. Thalia clearly saw people going into elevators that worked fine, but instead of going up in those, the squids led their prisoners on a rather unpleasant journey up what felt like a hundred flights of stairs.
     It was then that - for the first time- Thalia's daily seven mile run with Commander Sky back at the base really helped. Kevin, however, was trained to advance in speed, not in endurance like his Sky Army friends. He was quite clearly not having as easy of a time as Thalia, who managed to count the flights of stairs they actually climbed before reaching the top, give or take. She counted up to about eighty-five.
     The top floor was one massive room, with glass walls and a glass ceiling. Thalia wished she had a stone to throw but, unfortunately, she had none. There were at least two dozen Teuthidans stationed about the room, making it a bad idea to run for it. The room itself had very little furniture inside. Only a desk pushed up against the side of the room and a few lights. At the very back of the room was a golden throne with what looked like emeralds stuck in the gold around the perimeter. As Kevin caught his breath beside her, Thalia looked up at the throne and let a low growl escape her throat, her hands balling into fists at her sides.
    "You." She muttered.
    Xandra laughed. "Oh yes, it's me." She said, waving one hand carelessly. "Let's get on with the pleasantries, shall we? They're so boooring." As she groaned the last word, she leaned her head against the back of the throne so she was looking at the ceiling.
     "What do you want?" Thalia demanded.
     "Just you. I like you." Thalia glared at her, but Xandra just laughed again. "You're probably the most stubborn recruit I've ever met. And you're always surrounded by your merry men..." She looked at Kevin for a moment before continuing. "Tell me, why is it that you're of such little rank in the army?"
     "I'm not in the army." Thalia replied. "I'm an honorary member."
     "Yeah, and the Commander's apprentice." Thalia blinked in surprise, but before she could say anything, Xandra went on. "Oh yes, I've heard all about you." She stood up out of her throne and slowly approached the two. "The girl from Mistral."
     "How?"
     "I have my ways, young one... And as for the reason why you're here, I just wanted to let you know." Xandra stopped in front of Thalia and looked her straight in the eye. "The Sky Army will fall very soon."
     "How do you know?" Kevin demanded. "And how much?"
     Xandra's head snapped over to Kevin. "I know about you... Very much, actually." Her black lips drew into a thin smirk. "You're very special, you are.... I think I might show you just what you're capable of..." All of a sudden, Xandra's eyes began to glow green.
     Kevin suddenly yelped and took  a step back, clutching his head.
    "Kevin! What's wrong?" Thalia looked at Xandra in alarm. "What are you doing to him?!"
    Xandra only ignored her. "Embrace it, Murphey... Just try to use it." She said.
     Kevin blinked a few times before looking up. He shot a quick, fearful glance at Thalia, then scanned the room. His eyes locked almost immediately on a candle on the desk. He raised one hand, and slowly, the candle starting to rise a few inches into the air... Thalia's eyes widened in shock.. Kevin cried out and stumbled back as Xandra's eyes returned to normal and the candle fell out of the air, clattering to the stone floor.
     "That is only an ounce of your full potential, Kevin Murphey." Xandra said, looking at his terrified expression calmly. "If you join my army I can teach you more."
    Kevin took a deep breath, his hands shaking, and forced his breathing to return to normal. He drew himself up to his full height and glared at the queen. "Go to hell." He muttered.
     Xandra laughed. "Where do you think I come from?" She asked. She waved it aside mildly. "Fine, do what you wish. But you're on the loosing side. Both of you." She eyed Thalia. "The Sky Army will fall and very soon."
    Thalia stepped forward angrily. "What do you know about the Sky Army?"
     Xandra's expression darkened and she turned to face the massive window overlooking the town and the sea. "More than you think..." She hesitated for a moment before going on. "Once upon a time, before the Sky Army was as famous and powerful as it is today, I was very close to your Commander. One day some recruits were on a mission and something terrible happened..." She looked over at Thalia and hissed the next sentence. "They left one of their men behind." She turned to face Thalia and Kevin with a thin smile on her face. "She was just as useful as the rest of them - and even cleverer than them all. But still they left her. And they forgot all about her. They left her at the hands of the Teuthidans; left her to die. But the squids were merciful and took her in, treated her as one of their own. And she grew up to vow her revenge. Her name..." Xandra's eyes narrowed. "Was Alicia Juliana Xandra."
    Kevin's eyes widened. "No, you're not... You can't be..."
    Xandra smirked. "Say it."
    "The Recluse." Kevin said. "You can't be her. She's just a legend! A scary story recruits tell each other on missions!"
    "That's what your Commander wanted you to think, of course." Xandra turned her piercing glare on Thalia. "I was his first apprentice, you know." She smirked. "He always said I had such potential... Clearly he didn't truly believe so. But I'll prove it. I'll show them all what I can do and they'll regret leaving me to die!"
     "You don't have to do this!" Thalia said. "Just let it go."
    "I may be a queen, Thalia Kal, but I am not that one." She growled. "They will let you down too. They will leave you behind and you will be forgotten like you never even existed. Unless you join me. You will be remembered forever."
     "Don't listen to her, Thalia." Kevin said warningly. One of his hands was clenched at his side, the other - the one he used to lift the candlestick - clutched close to his chest.
     "Don't be an idiot." Thalia replied. She glared at Xandra. "Leave us alone, we don't wanna join your stupid army."
    Xandra shrugged. "Fine. In that case, you'll die just like all the other ignorant mortals on the wrong side."
    Thalia stared her right in the eye. "Then so be it."
    Xandra stared right back at her for a moment. But then she smiled. She looked away and nodded to her guards. She turned and started towards her throne as the squids started to head slowly towards Kevin and Thalia. "It's a shame... The two of you are quite skilled. I had my eye on that other girl with you, Venom I think it was. But unfortunately, she was already taken by another party of interest." Kevin's eyes narrowed and he looked away. She sat down on her throne and looked at her soldiers boredly. "Kill them."
     The squids all growled consent and advance faster. They formed a semi-circle around Thalia and Kevin, slowly backing them up against the wall.
   Thalia looked at them, a sad expression on her face. "Kevin... How will the team know...?"
    "I don't know... I..." Kevin looked down. "I don't know..."
    Thalia looked around her, desperate for options as the squids came ever closer, and got an idea. She smirked. "Oh, this'll be fun..." She grabbed Kevin's hand and looked up at him. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Kevin looked up and saw what she meant.
     He grinned. "I like the way you think, Skylord."
     He spun around and surged forward, yanking Thalia towards the window and sending the two crashing through. "TALLY-HO!" As he shouted his prolonged catchphrase, Thalia just let out a loud scream beside him.
     Kevin grabbed onto squid flag pole sticking out of side of building, still holding onto Thalia's hand before they got to far down. But they were still a good hundred feet from the ground. Kevin looked down at Thalia. "Okay, now what, genius?"
     "I dunno, this wasn't what I was thinking at all!" Thalia replied.
     "Well think of something! You're the Commander's apprentice, aren't you? Command!"
     "Alright, fine!" Thalia snapped. "Why don't you just use that psychic thing and get us out of this?" She asked. "Why wouldn't you tell us about that, anyway?!"
     "Because I didn't know!" Kevin replied. "Now would you hurry up?!"
     "Alright, fine!" Thalia looked around and considered her options like she'd been trained to do. First, fall to their deaths. Unpleasant at best. Second, surrender to the squids. Not likely. Third, travel down the wall using the cracks. That'd take too long. Fourth, use the window sills. Again, they couldn't afford the time. Fifth, use sections of the building that stuck out profoundly. That one clicked.
    Thalia looked up at Kevin with an almost mischievous glint in her eye. "Kevin, have you ever played The Dropper?"
    "Yeah, once, but what does that have to do with..." Realization dawned in Kevin's eyes. "Oh no."
     The Skylord grinned. "Oh yes."
     Thalia let go of his hand and landed on the protruding side of the massive building, rolling to break her fall, then she dod the same on the next one and the next, never looking back. "Get them!" Kevin looked up and sees squids pouring out of the now broken window, flying down to stop them. He groaned and followed Thalia somewhat more gracefully, his parkour abilities finally deciding to make themselves useful.

"Move! Move it!" Logan pushed through crowd. The people shouted in protest, and a few cried out in alarm. Logan reached the stand and leapt up, running through Ethan's rope with his sais.
     "Hey!" The executioner roared angrily and pulled out his switchblade. Beside them, the other, hybrid girl who was going to be hanged kicked the hangman in the face. He reeled back and landed flat on his back, out cold. By then the people in the Coliseum started screaming and fleeing to the exits in terror. The girl teleported out of the noose and held out her hands, bound tightly by ropes wrapped around her writs. "C'mon, cut me loose!" She said urgently.
     Logan nodded and sliced through the ropes. She teleported away almost instantaneously, the severed ropes falling to the sand in a heap.
     By his column, Jack struggled against the two guards restraining him but knew it was useless. He wasn't exactly the strongest Enderman around. Suddenly, the girl who'd been brought up to be hung teleported directly next to him and punched one of the guards restraining him solidly in the face.
     Jack, reacting thankfully quicker than the rather stupid squid guards, spin-kicked the second one and nodded once to the clearly Ender-hybrid girl. "Thanks." He said
     "No problem." The girl replied with a small smirk.
     "I'm Jack." Jack held out a hand, but the girl didn't shake it. She only stared at him with her visible red eye and cracked a smirk.
     "Drakonia. And sorry, but I don't do friends." Drakonia winked and teleported out of sight, leaving Jack alone. He blinked a few times before rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.
    "Is that... Is that really what it's like when I leave people hanging like that...?" He murmured to himself.
     "Jack, get us outta here!" Jack blinked as he returned to reality with Logan's shout and teleported he and Ethan back to the dock directly in front of the Raymond.
    Logan looked around, eyes narrowed. "Where the hell is Thalia?" He asked.
    "Here!" As if on cue, Thalia ran up the gangway with Kevin following close behind. She slowed to a fast walk as she ran up onto the ship and strode onto the deck. "Ziska, get this ship going!" She ordered.
    Ziska blinked in surprise "But what about the suppl-"
    "If you wanna survive then do it now!" Thalia interrupted.
     Ziska clearly wasn't convinced and obviously didn't want to take orders from a Skylord, but before she could protest, there was a flash of purple and the girl from the Coliseum - Drakonia as it were - teleported  to the helm and shoved Ziska out of the way, gaining control of the wheel. She bent her knees a bit and spun the wheel, a half-determined, half-excited-for-adventure look on her face.
    "What the-?!" Kevin stared at girl incredulously. "Who's that?"
    "Lady Drakonia."
    "Huh?"
    Jack glanced at Kevin side-long and repeated himself. "Lady Drakonia." He said. "I thought I recognized her when I saw her, and it turns out I did. Drakonia is one of the most infamous rogues among the Ilex, my people. If I'm not mistaken, she had a previous engagement with the prince of-"
     "MAN CANNONS! BATTLE STATIONS!"
     "Holy shit!" Kevin exclaimed as he and Jack both reeled back in surprise. "Since when could she shout that loud?!"
     Thalia ignored the pair of them. She glared at the crewmen staring at her uncertainly. "What are you lot looking at?! I thought you Shiplords valued your lives! GET MOVING." Not sure what else to do, the crew of the Raymond started and ran to their battle stations, a few scrambling below deck to prim the cannons. Meanwhile, Drak stoodby the wheel, guiding the Raymond off the dock and out towards the open sea.
     "What is the meaning of this?!" Ziska shouted as she stormed down the steps to the main deck. She stomped to a halt and bellowed, "You have no right to command my crew-"
     "Ziska, you and I have had trouble in the past, but for the sake of the lives on this ship, take my advice." Thalia interrupted. "Get. Out. Of. Here. Leave Sandy Island at top speed and don't look back."
     Eve searched Thalia's face and seemed to realize something. The anger melted off her face to be replaced by worry. "Kal, what did you do...?" She whispered.
    "As usual..." Thalia grinned and looked away. "Ziska, I didn't do shit."
    "Thalia, what is it?" Logan grabbed Thalia by her forearm and looked her straight in the eye. "What's going on?"
     Thalia smirked up at him and ruffled his hair, totally ignoring his question. "For a second, I thought I'd never see my ginger again." Logan blinked in surprise.
     Ziska groaned and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. "Oh, would you two-?" Thalia shot a smirk in her direction, but then Jack gasped.
    "What did you do?!" He shouted. Logan followed his gaze and his eyes widened. Pouring off the island, speeding after the Raymond, were hoards of squids.
     "Oh for gods sakes, Thalia." Logan said exhaustedly.
     Thalia ignored him and turned to the crew. "GET READY!" She ordered. The sails fell down from the mast and filled with wind, giving the Raymond quite a lot of extra speed; but still not enough. The first couple dozen squids reached the ship and the crew charged into battle with their swords wielded just like they were told, serving cuts, stabbing, throwing punches; they lashed out in any way possible.
     Ziska let a low growl escape her throat and pulled out her own sword. "Thalia, why do you always do this?"
     Thalia smirked and pulled out her own sword. "Zis, I'm sure I don't know what you mean."
    Ziska rolled her eyes. "You're so typical."
    Thalia grinned but said nothing because as that time, both girls launched into defense for the Raymond. The crew and the passengers tried to fights off the squids, but as more reached them, they knew they were outnumbered. That is, until the massive boom sounded through the air.
     The cannon exploded in midair beside the Raymond and cleared in a shock of smoke to reveal precisely the same pirate ship as the one that had attacked them before approaching them fast, almost on them. The battle on the deck of the Raymond seemed to stop as squid and sailor alike looked at the pirate ship in shock.
     Logan groaned heavily. "Great, now we're definitely screwed!"
     Kevin just stared at the ship, his eyes narrowed. "Hey, I wouldn't be so sure..." He murmured.
     All of a sudden Logan gasped and spun to face Kevin, his eyes wide. Kevin spun around only just in time to see a Teuthidan kick his axe out of his hands. The Teuthidan looked confident as he started to advance. Kevin took a step back but knew he wouldn't be quick enough and Logan was too far away to get there in time. But then a green-shafted arrow went through his head and a figure swung over from the pirate ship, kicking the squid to the ground as she landed on the deck solidly on both feet. She looked down at it, her face hidden by her short curls.
   "Sorry, buddy, nobody gets to kill him but me."
    Kevin looked up as Venom lowered her bow. She looked back at him with a deadpan expression on her face. Finally, Kevin cracked a smirk. "Bet you think you're clever, huh?"
    "Oh, I know I'm clever." Venom replied as she slung her bow over her shoulder.
     Kevin smiled and pulled her into a hug. "I missed you."
     Venom smiled and hugged him back. "You too, Murphey." She pulled away and nocked another poisoned arrow to the bowstring of her bow.
    The squids, seeing that there was a whole entire crew of pirates banging on their weapons and roaring at them, just daring at them to attack, retreated back to their base.
    Kevin looked at Venom incredulously. "What did you do?!"
    Venom crossed her arms, looking ahead. "Killed that bastard captain and took control of the crew." She waved to the ship. "Thanks boys!" She called to them.
    "Anytime, lassie!" The new captain of the pirate ship replied as they headed off to sea.
    "Huh." Kevin said, staring at Venom in fascination. "You will never cease to amaze me."
    Venom looked up at him. "What, did you really think I'd stay on that damned pirate ship for the rest of my life?" She shook her head. "I'm not a pirate, I'm a soldier. Savvy?" She looked around. Ignoring the fact the Kevin was smiling at her in spite of her rather pirate-esque speaking style. "Speaking of, did we get this Ethan dude?"
    "Yeah, he's over there." Kevin replied, nodding over to where Ethan sat on the railing on the opposite side of the  Raymond letting the medic check him out. "Doesn't talk much though."
    "I don't think he can." Venom looked up. "Back at the base, I dug through some really old archives and they say he's a mute."
    "In that case, he probably can't." Kevin replied. Venom opened her mouth to reply, but then a familiar ginger spoke first.
     "Is that...?"
     "Venom!" Jack, too lazy to run, teleported right next to her and beamed. "It is you!" He said. "I thought you were gone! I mean, that's what the others said and I just... assumed you were gone forever."
    Venom rolled her eyes. "Well surprise birch, bet you thought you'd seen the last of me." She hugged him. Jack's eyes widened and he looked at Kevin in alarm. "Uh..." He cracked a small, nervous smile. "Hehe..."
    Kevin smirked and raised one eyebrow. "What's the matter, Jackie, haven't you ever gotten a hug before?"
    "Um... Well... No, not in a long time..." Jack replied.
    "Aww that's just sad." Venom said, pulling away and looking up at him.
    Jack just smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks flushing a bit dark purple.
    Kelvin blinked in surprise. "Is that...?" His eyes widened. "Jackson Stillman, are you blushing?!"
    "N-No!" Jack face flushed even more and he teleported out of sight, leaving Kevin and Venom laughing alone.
    Thalia ran up beside Logan, who had been staring at Venom in shock. She smiled, catching her breath from the fight. "Guess we've got the team back together then." She said.
    Logan smiled and glanced down at her. Venom turned and beamed at the two as she heard Thalia speak. "You two dating yet?"
    "Wait, what?" Thalia asked. Without responding, Venom grinned and hugged the two,
    "Venom, where did that come from?" Logan asked.
    "I dunno." Venom replied. "My spidey sense was tingling."
    "More like her common sense." Kevin replied.
    "Don't you start!" Thalia snapped.
    Kevin smirked at the three of them for a moment, then looked down at his hand and his smile faded. He glanced down at a small coin on the floor and concentrated on it. Before his eyes, the coin vibrated, though he couldn't make it move. His eyes widened a bit and he looked away, letting it fall still again.
    What the hell is happening to me? He thought.