The headline read "The Rogue Detective Leads Robbery of Douglas Estate" with the subtitle "Millionaire Son Milangelo Douglas Implicated As Accomplice". A man in his twenties sat reclined on a beach chair, drinking a mojito, and thinking about money as he read through an article talking about a new pirate loose on the Phobos Sea.
He laughed at the thought of 50 million onits, and said to the man next to him, "Hey, little brother, I think we've just found ourselves some good work."
"I just changed into my swimming trunks and now I can't go in the pool!"
"You weren't going to go in the pool anyway. Let's go."
"I was too planning to go in the pool."
"You'd be out right after you went in. You don't like water."
"I just want to do things that other people do."
"I know, but sometimes, you've just got to focus on what you can do. We're really good at hunting, which is why we do it."
"Hunt? Is there game afoot?"
"Yes, brother, it's headline news, in fact."
"Then why didn't you lead with that? We're more than bounty hunters, after all."
With that, the two brothers got up and walked to their hotel room. "Bullseye! Did you pack the guns? Or are we going to have to go home and get them?"
"I only packed my Protector and my Signature. If we need more, I think a detour is in order."
"Well, we're both at fault here. We were naive enough to think that a vacation would remain a vacation."
"Marcus, that's the normal assumption to make, not a fault."
"Right, well, regardless, let's go home."
Meanwhile, aboard the SS Psychic, James had summoned his crew to discuss the long-term plan.
"Okay, so when I set out for sea, I had no long-term plan. I simply wanted to escape from land. However, of all the seas, one has caught my attention: the Terminus."
"You mad genius! You're not serious, are you?" Milangelo said as his eyes widened and his spirit seemed to be in shock.
"The Terminus? You do know that means 'end', right? Are you sending us on a suicide voyage?" asked Cameron, worried.
"I'm not sending anyone on a suicide voyage. I'm certain that this will be the greatest adventure any of us will ever have!"
"Hey, captain, I was just messing with you when I gave that speech about the Terminus. I didn't think you would seriously send us there," said Crock, in a half-hearted way.
"So, am I to understand that we're not going on an amazing adventure?" asked Patricia, slightly confused.
"Well that's a bummer..." said Karnilla.
"Wait, that's not what I meant. The Terminus is hands down the wildest sea ever borne by waves. The islands there are like something out of your dreams... good and bad alike. But getting from island to island would be impossible in this ship. As good as it is, it has weaknesses that would be its downfall in that sea. If you want to go to the Terminus, you would need to either get a new ship or hire a team of engineers to rebuild the ship, fixing its flaws."
"This ship has flaws?" asked Milangelo.
"Aye. They're not the kinds of flaws that would sink a ship in a regular sea, like the Phobos or the Hermes, but the currents of the Terminus are..."
"You seem to know an awful lot about the Terminus, Crock," said Cameron, becoming curious.
"He's been there before. He refuses to talk on the majority of details, though," answered James.
"There are some things a crew needs to experience with their own eyes, in my opinion," said Crock.
Elsewhere, in a rather unlawful town, Bullseye and Marcus had arrived home. They were dining with their mother, who needed intensive care after an incident, and her handler.
"Who do you think you are, up and leaving all the time? You're lucky I get paid for this, I've given up so much time to do this, you don't even know," said the handler.
"You're not getting paid. This is a charity case. You've seen the guns, right? Disagree, and one of them will end you," said Marcus, slightly pissed off that yet another handler was being rude and demanding unreasonable things.
"Disagree? You'll be hearing from my lawyers!" began the handler. That was all she had a chance to say, before her brains had been splattered across the wall.
"Shit, now we need to get new wallpaper," said Marcus.
"Oh, I liked her, she was nice," said the mother.
"She was a greedy, uncharitable arse-wipe, that's what she was. Like the rest of 'em."
"Oh. Sad to see her go. So which one finished her off?"
"That was Disc Jockey here. A small guy that packs a punch."
"I always liked your names for things. You're such a clever and creative boy. Some days, I can't even remember my own name, so I don't know how you do it."
"So, mother, how is your life?" asked Bullseye.
"Oh, you know, the usual. Masquer attacking thugs down the street, I tell the handler to hide the weapons, we hide for fear of our lives, that sort of thing. How about you two, leaving for vacation and not inviting me?"
"We needed someone to watch the house. We can't afford to let Masquer find our weapons, not after all the good we've done with them," answered Bullseye.
"Oh, I know. You're both such good sons, I'm so proud of you. So what brings you back here? Bounty hunting? Masquer?"
"Masquer's head is in the right place, but his no-killing policy really sucks. But we're not here for that. We came to collect some weapons, to go after a pirate named James Baron," said Marcus, quite pleased with himself.
"Oh, I've heard about him. Asking questions, Robin Hooding, he seems like the kind of person you'd do business with."
"Yes, well, that business is forty million onits for him, and ten million onits for his millionaire friend," said Marcus.
"More than enough to fund a legitimate business. That would get Masquer off our tail, as he's dedicated to protecting this town and this town alone."
"Yes, we'll be able to get out of this dump and create a better life for ourselves," said Bullseye.
"You boys better not get ahead of yourselves. Forty million is not a number to sneeze at. They'll be tough opponents. After all, Masquer's strength and vigilantism have only given him a twenty million bounty. I don't want you to get hurt out there."
"Thanks for your concern, mother, but we are the Brothers French. We've never let our prey escape us."
Across the street, on the roof of another house, a masked man was crouched down, looking through spectral goggles, and listening through an earpiece. The man took a break and began to think about the situation. They're off bounty hunting again. Best to just leave them be. Still, it's an interesting turn of events.
Aboard the SS Psychic, James had properly informed his crew of the plan to navigate the Terminus. It was a heated conversation, but everyone was on board eventually. That day they learned that James had a leader-like quality to him, and the capability to persuade people.
"Can you believe it? We're actually going to the Terminus Sea. You know, eventually," said Cameron to Karnilla and Patricia.
"Yeah, guess we should just put it at the back of our heads though, because we still have to get through the Phobos, Hephaestus, and Atlas Seas first," said Karnilla.
"Jee, Kans, how the heck do you remember all of this stuff?" asked Patricia, playfully.
"Oh, I don't know Pat, maybe by paying attention?"
"What is attention and how do I pay it?"
"You look at a person speaking and listen to what they're saying."
"Wait, you can do two things at once? Really?"
It was at that moment, a confused Cameron interrupted their routine. "What am I hearing right now?"
"Relax, confused one. Pat and I are playing, because it's fun. If you wanna be our friend, you gotta learn to play along."
Cameron thought about this. Was he looking for friends? Perhaps he was. He knew Milangelo as a friend, but he didn't have anyone else. Who did he want as a friend? These girls were interesting, if nothing else. Maybe they would make good friends. That's it, he would make two new friends.
Meanwhile, at the docks of a crime-ridden town, Marcus and Bullseye French had hired a boat, after hiring a new handler for their mother, and paying an informant to give them intel on the current path of the SS Psychic.
"Are you ready, Bullseye?"
"I'm ready, Marcus."
"We're going to intercept that behemoth of a boat and fight its captain and first mate, two-on-two. Our weapons ought to be enough to take him down."
"Sounds like a killer plan."
"Killer being the operative word?"
"But of course."
They began to laugh maniacally, and then the boat clerk said, "Two guys with guns laughing maniacally. You just can't make this shit up." This caught the attention of the two brothers. In an attempt to save face, he corrected himself. "Um, I'm sure you could, you know, considering that it's a well-known trope in popular culture, and uh–"
Marcus cut him off. "Shut up, you're a nondescript background character, so don't act like you have any place to talk."
"Look, Marcus, I know it's fun to toy with the boat clerk, but we really should be on our way."
"Well, if you're in that much of a hurry, that's fine by me. It was nice conversing with you. I'm impressed! You get better with the comebacks all the time! Nondescript background character is going in the memory banks!"
Marcus laughed. "What a nerd. I'll miss him when we're rich."
"Haha, I guess I will too," remarked Bullseye.
The two of them set out to intercept James and the Psychic, although it was unclear whether it would even be possible to do so. Luckily for them, it was, and after a few hours going at top speed, they caught up.
"We're lucky a small speedboat like this is capable of much higher speeds than a large cruiser," said Marcus.
"Are we going to shoot at a moving target, or attack directly?"
"Direct attack, there's no hope of sniping him from here, we cannot assess whether he would have witnesses."
Right, smart thinking, thought Bullseye. He was starting to have doubts about their success, but he pushed them to the back of his mind and followed his brother onto the SS Psychic.
"James Baron, we are the brothers French. We are here to collect forty million onits," said Marcus.
"What do you think, Milangelo, should we give them forty million onits?" asked James.
"I think they mean they're after your head," replied Milangelo.
"Oh, in that case, they can get fucked."
"Um, we can hear you," said Bullseye.
"Yes, I'm aware. You have the nerve to board my ship and demand money from me - specifically my bounty - and you expect what? Co-operation? Or a fight where you win?"
"Um, either of those would be good," said Bullseye.
"Well, you're dreaming if you think you can beat me in a fight."
"That is where you'd be wrong, pirate," said Marcus. "I am Marcus French, and this is my brother Bullseye. We are the bounty hunting duo famed for capturing Hotel "Zealot" Andson, bounty of 12 million onits."
"This guy loves to hear himself talk, doesn't he, Milangelo?" said James, amused.
"Three-strength: End-game," said Marcus, as he started to run at James. James dodged, but was surprised when Marcus pulled out a gun, and shot at James, who was busy dodging.
"Three-strength: Reflexive Foresight," said James, who moved his hand in front of the bullets as they flew, catching them and then dropping them. "Nice try, you almost had me. But here's something you won't see coming," James began. After a short pause for dramatic effect, he continued, "Four-strength: Dismembering Kick." He swung his leg around and kicked the gun out of Marcus' hand.
"My wrist! Charlie's M O!" said Marcus.
"What did you say?" asked James.
"Charlie's Modus Operandi. That's the name of the gun."
"You name your guns?"
"Bullseye! While he's distracted!"
Bullseye took out a gun and said, "Okay, Sombrero, show them what you're made of."
"Two-strength: Chasing Victory," said Milangelo, as he ran to get ahead of the bullet.
"Four-strength: Sole-less Ricochet," said James, as he kicked the bullet away from its predicted path. "You don't need to worry about me, Milangelo."
"Bullseye, we're at a loss, we should retreat."
"You're leaving already?" asked James.
"A good bounty hunter, much like a good fisherman, should know when the catch is too big for their ability. But know that this isn't over. We will catch you some day."
It was with that, Marcus and Bullseye dove overboard, and swam back to their hired speedboat. As they got on, they activated the microphone embedded into Charlie's M.O.
"Well, those guys gave us a work out, didn't they?" said James, high-spirited and somewhat proudly.
"Hey, Crock, is that popcorn?" asked Milangelo.
"Great show guys, you really showed them," said Crock.
"Is that stuff gonna happen often on the Terminus?" asked Cameron, who found the scene to be exhilarating.
"Bounty hunters? Can't remember. There are a lot of things there..." Crock began to tell tall tales to the crew, and much laughter and good times ensued. In the meantime, this was news to the brothers French, and it was all Marcus needed to hear to make his mind up.
"They're headed for the Terminus Sea, brother. It would seem that for us, Terminus est Initium is more than just a slogan found on certain memorabilia. It's something that matters."
Marcus then proceeded to pull out a headband with those words emblazoned on them, and signalled Bullseye to do the same. Bullseye's eyes widened with excitement.
"It's been years since we've been to the Terminus."
"Yes, this should be quite nostalgic indeed, Bullseye."