[OLD] The Scorpion Mission (#2)

Five

Tyler leaned against the empty doorframe, watching Felix and a few other Supers listen to the Fortuna's captain, who was apparently quite the storyteller. Sometimes, when he wasn't busy, he invited some of the kids to listen. Only a couple were really interested, Felix being one of them, of course.

"...and then he had to return home," the captain said.

Felix's hand shot in the air. "Did you ever see him again?" he asked.

"Sadly, I didn't. Now, there's some things I need to get done, so why don't you kids get back to training."

The kids streamed past Tyler as they left the captain's office. Felix was the last one out.

"Hey Tyler," he said. "Are they back yet?"

"No," Tyler said. "Ivy and the others are still out." They set off down the hallway. "What story was that?" she asked.

"Oh, the captain was just telling us about his dragon friend."

"Dragon?" Tyler asked.

"Or maybe it was an alien...?" Felix frowned.

Tyler smiled. "The captain's very creative."

Felix stopped and looked Tyler dead in the eyes. "His stories are real, Tyler. He said so."

Tyler fought the urge to roll her eyes. "I don't think dragon aliens are real, Felix."

"You don't know that," Felix said as they continued down the hall.

"Yeah, sure," Tyler said, a hint of sarcasm in her tone. "Aliens could be real. Maybe I'll marry one."

They reached the ship deck, where a few Supers were practicing their abilities in mock fights. Tyler had already trained for a while earlier that morning, so she walked over to the railing and gazed out at the ocean. Felix moved to stand next to her.

"Do you like it here, Felix?" Tyler asked.

Felix shrugged. "Yeah, it's pretty cool, I guess."

"You guess?"

"Well," Felix said with a glance behind him. "The people here are really... sad."

"Their friend almost died," Tyler told them. "And a lot of them got hurt. Of course they're sad."

"I know that," Felix said. "It's just kind of boring. I want to go on missions, like Ivy."

"Me too, Felix," Tyler said as she stared at the horizon. "Me too."

They watched the waves for a few minutes before Tyler frowned. There was something approaching them. A small boat. Tyler stepped away from the railing and looked around.

"Tyler?" Felix asked.

"Stay here," Tyler told him. He ignored her and stayed by her side as she made her way to the door.

"Dr. Newman?" she called as she approached the lab. She opened the door and peered inside. "Hello?"

Dr. Newman and a few other scientists were looking at something on a laptop. Dr. Newman looked up. "Tyler," he said. "Is something wrong?"

"I think there's a boat coming toward us," Tyler said.

"A boat? Everyone's here, except Ivy's team. And they took a chopper." Dr. Newman whispered something to one of the scientists before standing up and walking over to Tyler. "Come on."

They walked back out to the deck. When they arrived, Victoria was at the railing with binoculars.

"Dr. Newman," Victoria called when she spotted them. "Come here."