🐶

The day Yellowjacket’s class graduated from agent training was the day Jules decided to throw an office pizza party. Jules had been so excited for the new agents to join the team she wanted them to feel welcomed. Who doesn’t like pizza anyway? Everyone was invited, including all the high ranking agents, henchmen, and additional staff. Midas refused to go until Jules called him a “boring bitch” and forced him to attend.

               So here he was, standing in the corner. A frown was carved into his face as everybody else was having a good time. Current agents were introducing themselves to the new agents, new agents were expressing their excitement to work with them. Midas rolled his eyes as he saw Fusion grab three pepperoni slices to put on his paper plate.

               “Sick party, Jules!” Fusion exclaims, taking a big bite out of one of the slices on his plate.

               Jules grins at him, “Thank you! I think it’s nice we have more members within the agency now, don’t you?”

               Midas watched as the two of them walked away. He took a sip of his fruit punch, glancing around the room. He stumbled forward when somebody ran into him, causing him to spill some of his fruit punch on the floor.

               He turned around to glare at whoever ran into him before his gold eye met with big brown eyes. It took seconds before realization hit him. This was the same girl who would look at him and then roll her eyes. For the last two weeks they’d make eye contact every single day, whether it was when she’d pass by his office in the morning to talk to Jules, or at the breakroom midday, or when she’d come into his office to drop off her paperwork. When she’d come into his office, she’d try to avoid his gaze but always end up looking at him. At first, he thought his eye was playing tricks on him when he saw a light shade of pink dust along her face. After all, he did have trouble with vision having one eye. That reaction was consistent with every other meeting.

               Midas was used to people fawning and fanning over him, pointing him out of a crowd and squealing. He wasn’t unattractive in the slightest, if anything he was almost every person’s ideal man. It humbled him that Yellowjacket would roll her eyes at him even when she’s blushing. They haven’t said a word to one another but Midas knew. He knew he affected her. He was always first to make moves, but this… this intrigued him. The way she would avoid his eyes for the first few seconds before looking back and rolling her eyes, a blush following soon after, or the way her lips turned into a pout when he’d initiate the starring contest, making her squirm as though she didn’t want him to look at her.

               “Oh—“ she apologizes, her face turning pink quickly, “I’m so sorry sir, I wasn’t paying attention. Here, I can get you a new drink and clean up the mess—“

               I could get used to being called sir, he smirked, keeping the thought to himself.

               His eye looked her over. She was shorter than him, standing at 5’8” with her boots. She must’ve been 5’5” without them. Yet here she was, looking up at him with her hands on her hips.

               She scowls at him, “Are you just going to stand there and stare at me? Ugh, you’re so weird!” she rolls her eyes, squirming under his gaze.

               Midas chuckles, “I’m not the one who rolls my eyes at strangers, Doll. Judgmental much?”

               “Whatever,” she huffs as she takes a paper napkin from the nearby table to clean up the mess.

               Yellowjacket tried to hide her blush as she wiped the floor. It was his voice and British accent that made her shiver. This was her boss’s brother and here she was making a fool of herself by walking into him and spilling his drink. At the same time, she wanted to wipe that smirk off his face.

               After wiping up the mess she stands up to dispose of the napkin, her back facing Midas.

               “Aren’t you going to get my drink?” he asks.

               Yellow turns to look at him, “I was, but then I noticed you have two working hands and the punch bowl is right next to you.” She gestures towards the punch bowl that’s on the table beside them.

               He looks into her eyes this time, a smirk plastered on his face.

               “You’re right, here…” he trails off, his gold hand immediately going to her hip.

               The sudden action stunned Yellow as she watched him use his free hand to grab a cup while leaning into and around her, keeping his hand on her hip. He kept eye contact with her and seeing her squirm in his hold made him squeeze her hip as if he was telling her to stay still. She stopped moving with a frown on her face.

               Once he got his drink, he released his grip on her hip. She had the same frown on her face while a smile grew on his.

               “You should stop frowning, darling. It’s not a good look on you.” He looks her over again, pleased with his work done on her.

               Yellows face felt like it was on fire and the frown soon dropped off her face and was replaced by a pout, “I’m—“ her voice higher than normal when she realized what he had said to her.

               This golden hoe just told her to smile. Her next reaction was priceless. She snatches the drink out of his hand before throwing it at him.

               “You fucking dick!” she shouts, causing the music to be cut short and everyone to look over at both of them.

               She throws the cup at him next, “Don’t you ever touch me again and then expect me to smile as if you did me a favor!”

               She excuses herself, quickly moving towards the exit without looking back at him. Midas stood there speechless, his clothes now soaked in fruit punch and everyone was staring at him. When he would look to the others, they would avoid his gaze or shake their head at him. Others would scoff and blame him, telling him how his humiliation is the best part of the party. This situation was almost as bad as the time he was nearly eaten by a shark, but the shark wasn’t as cute as Yellow.

               With everyone looking at him, Midas began to get annoyed. His ego was wounded, to be embarrassed this way in front of everyone by a woman was humiliating.

               “Why do you all insist on looking at me?! The situation ended! Stop fucking looking at me!” he snaps, the gold from his hands beginning to creep up his arms slowly.

               “Calm down, Midas. You don’t need to make a scene out of this,” one of the henchmen nearby warned him, his voice firm.

               That was the cherry on top of Midas’ angry sundae. Immediately he moved back to the table, placing his hand down on it. The table had begun to turn into solid gold, causing some of the party-goers to look at each other with panic. A few of the henchmen started to approach Midas, but Jules called them off with a click of her tongue. Confused, they backed off. All they could do is obey their boss and entrust she has the situation under control.

               Jules made a move to approach him, only to jump back when he lifts the now golden table and flips it over, causing the punch bowl, napkins, and various food dishes to fall with it. The other party-goers ran away in a panic, most of them were screaming and others were trying to bring more henchmen into the room. The only people left in the room were Midas, Jules, and the few henchmen that were already present.

               “Midas,” Jules starts, “You need to calm down right now. We need to talk in my office because this behavior is unacceptable and I expected better from you.”

               At this point, most of Midas’ body was in gold, mainly his arms and upper part of his neck. He had a bit of a way to go before his face would turn gold.

               “You expected better from me?!” he yells, followed by laughter, “Who are you to demand such things of me, child?!”

               “You are mad because a woman disrespected you. You need to get over that. You have no right to be mad here, you knew what you were getting into when you took my job offer.” Jules tries to reason with him, her voice calm.

               “You forced me to attend this shit fest you called a party, Jules.” He hisses, “Now I see why you did, this was your way of getting entertainment for the party. Fuck you.”

               They stood there, glaring at each other for what seemed like an eternity. The gold started to return to his hands slowly. Jules breaks the stare, clearing her throat.

               “My office, shall we?” she asks him, to which he reluctantly accepted.

There was a tense silence between the two of them as they sat in her office. Midas was still wearing the same fruit punch stained clothes.

               Jules broke the silence first, “Your behavior was uncalled for, Midas. I did not expect you to react the way you did. You do not know that agent you were speaking to, and yet you exploded because she threw a drink at you?”

               Midas rolls his eye, “That’s not why I’m mad. Why do you deflect from the problem? I was annoyed because everyone was looking at me like I had committed some crime, and it became worse when I was told to calm down.”

               “I’m not deflecting from anything. I saw the entire situation. You made a disrespectful comment to one of my agents and she reacted as such. Midas, I can’t believe I have to police everything you do. This isn’t your agency, do you understand?” she says as she rubs her face, mainly from stress, “This is my agency. I am your boss and you cannot disrespect my employees without some sort of discipline.”

               “Your employees are disrespecting me as well, Julia. Throwing their files at me when my desk is right in front of them, poking fun at me as I’m passing the halls to get to the break room, the list goes on.” He argues.

               “Reactions such as those are warranted. You’ve ruined people’s lives with your selfish behavior. I can only do so much for you, such as protecting you from harm. I cannot prevent the words that come from their mouths, nor will I stop it either.” She replies to him, spinning in her chair to face her cabinet.

               Jules opens the cabinet drawer, pulling out a sheet of paper and a pen.

               “I was going to make you sit in a cell for 3 days, but I think this will build some character in you. I want you to write a formal apology letter to Yellowjacket, for your inappropriate comment. I expect it to be a sincere, heartfelt apology. I will read it when you are done and if it’s to my satisfaction, I will sign off on it and bring it to her.” Jules explains as she sets the paper and pen down in front of him.

               Midas groans, opening his mouth to complain, only to close it immediately when he saw the glare Jules was giving him. If looks could kill, he’d be liquid gold right now. So he starts to write an apology.

               Forty-five minutes had passed and Jules was satisfied with Midas’ apology letter to Yellowjacket. She made sure he emphasized what an arrogant asshole he had been towards her and how it wouldn’t happen again. Jules signed off on the apology letter before she motioned for a henchman to come over.

               “Please take this to Yellowjacket.” She ordered him.

               The henchman nodded, taking his leave immediately to look for the agent.

               “Get out of my sight, Midas. Go change your clothes and get back to work. You ruined the party and everyone’s day as well.” Jules dismisses him with a wave of her hand.

               Midas frowns at her, but he got up, not wanting to anger her further.

                He took his leave, walking to his room at a brisk pace. He took the elevator to avoid running into people, as he knew that word had spread fast about the party. He changed out of his stained clothes and put on fresh clothes before he made his way back to his office. He could feel the judgmental looks he was receiving from other agents and henchmen as he passed by. Midas never had to deal with this when he was a boss, it was easier just to kill people for looking at you wrong, or at the very least, look intimidating. But if there was something he learned from working at A.L.T.E.R. for a couple of weeks now, it was that these people have nothing to lose. They have killed for a lot less. Midas knew there was a target on the back of his head. The question is, who will get to him first?

               Midas makes it into his office, shutting the door and moving over to his desk. Opening his desk drawer, he pulls out his bottle of scotch and a cigarette. A wave of sadness hits him but was drowned out with the first sip of his drink. Instead, loneliness crept up. It had been a while since he socialized with anybody that wasn’t in his agency. The people he could socialize with at ease were gone, replaced by others who do not want anything to do with him. He had a confident exterior that hid the deep self-loathing within him. He takes a drag from his cigarette while his mind races with thoughts of the party. Midas knew he had made a mistake, the girl was being nice to him and he had to go and make an unnecessary comment. He hoped the apology letter would be enough. He could settle with her avoiding him like the plague, though part of him hopes that wouldn’t be the case.

               Yellowjacket had gone down to the training room to let off some steam. She couldn’t believe the nerve of that man. Who did he think he was? Just because he’s the boss's brother doesn’t mean he’s immune from the consequences of his actions. She kicks the practice dummy so hard, its body flies off the metal pole holding it in place. The practice dummy lands against the wall mat, falling to the ground with a thud. Yellow moves onto the next practice dummy and her friend, Siona watches her in amusement.

               “What’s got you so worked up, girl?” she asks as she rushes over to pick up the dummy.

               Yellow punches the next dummy, her fist hitting it made a soft thud.

               “Bosses brother was being a creep so I threw his drink at him.” She replies as she hits the dummy harder this time.

               “The golden king? Huh, I thought he didn’t talk to anyone. He’s usually a loner when I see him.” Siona shrugs.

               “What do you mean—“ Yellow was cut off by the rough clearing of someone’s throat.

               Both girls turn to look at who made the sound, it was a henchman.

               “Excuse me, ladies, I have an apology letter from Midas addressed to Yellowjacket.” the man read out the name on the envelope.

               Yellow, who was still annoyed and becoming confused approaches the henchman, “Yeah, that’s me? He wrote me a letter…?” she asks.

               “Yes ma’am. Ms. J required that he write you a formal apology for his disrespectful outburst at today’s party.”

               Yellow took the letter but refused to read it. She looked more offended than she did at the party.

               “And he expects me to accept his apology because he wrote me a letter? Fuck no, tell him to go fuck himself and apologize to my face. Ridiculous, has he no shame?” she pushes the letter towards the henchman who grabs it and accepts her request.

               “Yes ma’am, I will deliver the message to him. I do apologize if I have inconvenienced you with this.” With that, the man takes his leave, heading back to Midas’ office.

               Midas was half a bottle in when there was a knock on his office door.

               “Come in,” Midas slurred.

               The henchman stepped in with the apology letter in hand.

“Sir, Yellowjacket has requested me to tell you that you can go fuck yourself and that you need to apologize to her in person, and that apology letters are stupid. She is down in the gym right now, do you need an escort?” they ask him, handing him the apology letter.

               Midas sighs, “I guess there's no other option, give me a second—“ he hiccups, “Give me a second and I’ll be right out.”

               “You are drunk, sir? Not a good impression to be making on a lady of her caliber, but I digress.” They state, shrugging.

               “Hey, I don’t critique what you do in your life, henchman, don’t do it to me.” He barks, setting the bottle of scotch back in his desk drawer, slamming it shut.

               Midas didn’t think that his life could get any worse after The Agency blew up. The failure of the Doomsday Device he and Jules worked on was the big monkey wrench that foiled everything. So here he was, drifting on a small boat near Sweaty Sands. Two months ago he narrowly avoided getting eaten by a Loot Shark, turning the sea creature into gold in a last-ditch effort to get away. Whatever was left of The Agency after the explosion, he had given to Jules, in hopes she would rebuild it. Jules did not reject this as he thought she would have. Instead, she took the offer and gave him one last hug before she took off into the chaos. That was almost 3 months ago and the hatred he felt towards everything in this insufferable island just kept growing, and it was reaching its tipping point.

               Today was day 87. Day 87 of drifting in the ocean, moving from his sleeping cot and back out onto the deck to see where he was. He could have made his way to the shore but that would be too obvious. Midas knew he was a wanted man and he wouldn’t be surprised if there was a bounty on his head. He was a successful man, a spy boss for one of the most powerful agencies on the island. He ruled with a golden fist and he was both respected and feared. He could make armies crumble with his golden touch. He had all the money in the world and had all sorts of riches: jewelry, clothes, and even some of the most expensive things in the world.  He took his power and used it to build an empire, and now he was nothing. Nothing but a shell of what he once was. A small man with a golden touch but no power, no riches.

               He was getting used to the serene environment around him. From the sounds of the waves crashing on the shore, to the sounds of seagulls squawking and looking for food. He reaches into his pocket for his smokes, he was a big fan of the Marlboro kind and pulled out his golden lighter. If there was one thing he was glad to have saved, it was his cigarettes. He would have lost his sanity if he didn’t have them. He could go without his scotch, certainly, but not his cigarettes. He had to ration his happy sticks, 1 stick a week. The black-haired man lit the cig before taking a long drag. He heaved a sigh, looking ahead.

               “I need to figure out my next move, it has been almost 3 months, and I’m still at square one.” He speaks to nobody in particular.

               He stomps out his cigarette later, moving back towards his sleeping chamber. That’s when it happened. In the distance, he hears what sounds like a motorboat revving its engine. Followed by another, and another. Growing a bit nervous, Midas reaches for the tactical shotgun he hid near his cot since he didn’t have his Drum Gun anymore. He cocks his shotgun, preparing for a potential attack. Soon enough, the sounds of the motorboats get louder and closer. Midas was ready.

               His boat had been surrounded by motorboats, boats in black and purple colors. Some carried two henchmen, some boats even had three. Each one with guns at the ready, so he knew he couldn’t make a run for it. Those motorboats carried rockets. Within the chaos, Midas did not hear someone get off the motorboat until he heard a slow clap followed by a deep laugh. Midas turned around, gun at the ready.

               Fusion puts his hands up, “Now now, goldilocks, you’re going to make a big mistake doing that. I just want to talk, whatever happens after that… well, the choice is yours.”

               Midas growled lowly, cocking the shotgun again, “Speak and make it fast, Fusion.”

               The blue flamed man motions with two fingers for the others to lower their guns. “Midas, I thought we made it clear that you needed to scram if you wanted SHADOW to forget about you. It seems you either misunderstood, or you have a death wish.”

               “Jules said nothing about me needing to “get lost”, flame boy.” Spat the tattooed man, “I’ve been off the radar since the incident—how did you know I was here?”

               “It’s not hard to find a lanky man that has a golden touch.” Fusion cackled, motioning with his fingers again for all guns to go up. “Take your pick, or would you like to ride with me?”

               When Midas didn’t answer, Fusion moves closer, his blue flames leaving a light trail behind him.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Goldilocks. Either way, you’re coming back with us. Except one of those ways, you’ll be dead and I’ll have to explain to Jules why I had to kill her big brother. Get the picture?” his voice was taunting, as though he wouldn’t hesitate to kill Midas himself, given the chance.

Midas throws the shotgun down, making sure to keep eye contact with Fusion as he did so.

“Fine. I’ll bite. But I wish to talk to my sister. Alone.”

Fusion grins, the flames on his face lighting up from contentment.

“Sure. We’ll let you two have your family reunion, but no funny business on the way there, or you’ll become swiss cheese, goldie.”

Jules was not the type of woman who cowered to men, and her older brother was no exception. While she and Midas had a decent sibling relationship, Midas still acted as though he was better than her. It’s that cocky attitude that got him to this point. His arrogance caused the engineers to rush the construction of the Doomsday Device and the machine's eventual failure, resulting in the flood that wiped out the island. At the time of this, she was just an engineer who worked for Shadow that went behind the agency’s back to work with her brother.

Now, at the humble age of 18, she was a spy boss. She took The Agency’s remains to The Authority and rebuilt everything. Now she ruled with an iron fist, not letting people treat her like she was an arrogant child. She was the opposite of what her older brother had become. The last time she saw him was before the flood, and she neglected to tell him that he should never come back. To go far away and start a new life—that he will be forgotten by the agency if he did that. Deep down, she didn’t want him to go. He was the only family she had left.

To a stranger, one would think Midas and Jules were twins. The trademark black hair and the full-body tattoos, but Jules was younger than Midas, who was only 23 years old. Their personalities were opposites. Jules wasn’t very social while Midas was charismatic and confident. Midas resembled his father more in terms of behavior and actions while Jules was more like her mother with her grace and patience. Growing up together, Jules was more favored by her parents than Midas was, as she was the only daughter and she wasn’t a troublemaker like Midas was. Jules knew Midas held resentment for her, and whether or not he’d admit it, she knew he held it. She loved her brother very much, but she also resented him right back for blaming her over their parents favoring her, as if that was her fault.

Jules heard a knock on her office door which caused her to turn around in her chair with a sigh, taking her attention away from an engineering manual she was looking at.

“Come in.”

Four henchmen step in, two of which were holding a handcuffed Midas. Fusion followed behind them, a shit-eating grin on his face.

“I did as you asked, Boss. Here he is in the flesh.” Fusion declared proudly.

Jules leans back in her seat, her eyes glancing over her brother as if she didn’t recognize him.

“Midas.” She clicks her tongue at the henchmen, who force Midas to sit down in the chair in front of her desk.

Midas hissed in pain, glaring at the henchmen.

“A bunch of incompetent monkeys. They swarmed me, I wasn’t doing anything. I was by myself enjoying the sea.” He sneers, glaring at his younger sister with disdain.

“Hey, aren’t you guys going to get rid of these cuffs, or am I some high-risk threat and you’ll throw me into a cell after you’re done with me?” Midas barked at the henchmen as well as Fusion, who were walking away.

When he doesn’t get an answer, he looks back to his sister with a ‘uncuff me?’ face.

Jules shakes her head, “I’m not removing those cuffs just yet. You and I are going to have a chat and you’re going to listen to what I have to say.”

               Midas scoffs, “Oh please, you think because you’re the big spy boss now that you think you’re better than me? Because newsflash, doll, you’re not.”

               “Maybe you’re right. I neglected to tell you before the accident that you need to leave this island and never come back. To start a new life on your own. We were willing to forget about you. Instead, I showed weakness by hugging you, because I was afraid you’d die. That’ll never happen again, however, so don’t worry.” She answers him, straightening up in her chair, her expression void of any emotion.

               “I know there was a catch to that. There always is. You’d send a spy after me to make sure I stayed away. But guess what, Julia?” he leans forward in his seat as well, smiling perfectly so she can see his teeth both gold and white, “You’ll never get rid of me. You will always be that scared little girl who runs to mommy and daddy whenever something goes wrong. You have no good qualities about you except for your engineering. But I know you. I know you better than you’d like to accept. You’ll make a big mistake by not killing me.”

               Jules clenches her jaw, standing up to make her way over to him. Compared to Midas, she stood at 5’3”. He was a good 6’5”.

               “A mistake, maybe. But I think you can redeem yourself here. You are a poor excuse for a man, Midas. You always have been. You’re insufferable, cocky, and you hide behind your golden world to avoid any backlash. In reality, you’re just a lonely little man with a crumbled empire that’ll never get rebuilt. So here’s what we’re going to do,” she starts as she reaches into her utility belt for the cuff key.

               After she frees Midas from his cuffs, he rubs his wrists before looking at her again as though he was waiting for her to finish speaking.

               “You’ll be working for me. You’ll be seen but not heard. No missions. Think of it as an internship, but you’ll be paid and have free room and board here. You’ll do all the filing, transcribing… you’ll even have your own office. You’ll take orders from me and anyone who is above you in ranking and you’ll do exactly as you’re told. You will also be safe here, as you’ll be doing low profile jobs around this agency. Nobody outside of our agency will know you are alive and well. Along with that, you will also be an overseer for the engineering wing, you’ll supervise any work they do. You’ll keep track of their progress and I expect the report on my desk by 6 PM on the dot. Every. Single. Day.” She drawls out the last part of what she says, as though Midas was incompetent.

               “And if I don’t accept your lovely job offer? It is lovely by the way, I never knew my work skills would bring me to this point of my life,” he comments sarcastically, almost insulted that he’d be offered such a basic job in the first place.

               “If you don’t accept, then you’ll be in a nice 5 by 7 cell with no privacy, the henchmen will watch you piss, poop, eat and sleep. I’m sure that’s not a very comfortable outcome for you, Midas. I won’t lie, a lot of people here want you dead, but I’ve managed to convince them to spare you just this one time. I strongly suggest you take me up on this offer.”

               Midas goes back to glaring at her, “So you’re going to hold everyone's resentment of me over my head as a way to get me to join you? Are you mad, darling?” he snaps at her.

               Jules shrugs, “I think my proposition is really good, Midas. Think about it, you get to live. You’ll have your own office and own space to sleep. All you have to do… is do as you are told.”

               Midas looks away from her, trying not to pout. Even if he had nothing, he was being offered immunity and any sane person would accept that over being stuck in a room with a few agents who are ready to kill, and they’ve killed for a lot less.

               After a few moments of silence, Midas huffs, “I suppose I can accept the offer. So long as you give me a tour of this place. This building is a lot bigger than what The Agency once was.” He counteroffers, to which Jules gives him an accepting shrug.

               “I can give you a tour of our agency. Bigger is an understatement, though.” She says with a hint of pride.

               The Authority was made in Jules’ image of Midas. Its walls loomed over the surrounding mass of water, the building overlooked Salty Springs. Before the big flood, Jules had a foolproof plan to surround the building with high metal walls, to prevent severe flood damage. When the flood came, some water did get into the perimeter of the walls, a few feet away from the building. The building, while it looked small from an outside perspective, the inside was huge. With over one hundred rooms and underground bunkers, The Authority can function smoothly as possible. Recruits were trained in the training wing, where they receive intense training in a classroom as well as the sparring gym. Classes start the moment sunrise begins and ends at sunset, every single day. There was a cafeteria within the training wing for the recruits to replenish their hunger after long, hard training hours.

               As Jules leads Midas down to the training wing, Midas could feel all eyes on him. He knew he was deeply hated around here but at the same time, he felt a sense of superiority and safety. He was safe. These people can’t do anything, so long as he stays on Jules’ good side. Surely, he could get away with some things, right?

               “You’ll be proud to know that I have used your methods of training for these future agents, Midas. These agents have an equal opportunity to succeed with the trainers I have personally hired. Your dream of an ideal system hasn’t died.” Jules explains casually as the two siblings pass by a group of chatty recruits, who all greet Jules with respect.

               “Good afternoon Boss,” one of the groupies greets her with a smile and a nod of his head.

               Jules returns the gesture, “Afternoon, recruits. I’m assuming you are heading back to class now? Lunch just ended didn’t it?”

               As the groupie and Jules talk, Midas couldn’t help but feel eyes on him from the rest of the small group. They were off to the side, whispering and gesturing towards him.

               So even the recruits know who I am, huh? He thinks to himself.

               He was used to that kind of treatment. Anywhere he went, if he wasn’t met with respect, he was met with fear. Unsettled glances and people afraid to look him in the eye, for they too, were under the ignorant belief that looking him in the eye means they’ll turn to gold. That wasn’t to say he didn’t have a fanbase of his own, though. Women who admired him for his good looks, his charismatic personality, and overwhelming confidence. He used to remember getting love letters every week when he’d pick up the mail for The Agency. Some letters were sweet, nearly flattering to him while some were… concerning. Creepy letters such as how they wanted to have children with him or help him run his empire. Midas had no desire for having a love life, much less offspring. He was a monster, or at least he accepted himself as such, and bringing a child into the world would just be bringing in a smaller monster of himself.

               Midas crosses his arms, giving the whispering groupies a stone-cold look.

               “Do we have a problem here? A reason you feel the need to stare me down?” he sneers, causing them to stop whispering, some squeaking in surprise.                “N-No sir,” a girl speaks up, “We were just admiring your tattoos. They l-look nice.”

               Jules looks over at the sudden commotion, sighing as the group trembles at Midas. “Midas, stop it. People are allowed to look at you. You have tattoos for heaven's sake!” she hisses at him, gesturing him to come beside her.

               Midas huffs, mumbling a thank you to the girl who spoke up for the compliment, but he wasn’t biting easily.

               “Let's go. I’ll show you one of the classes that’s on right now. You recruits have a good day now. Train and study hard!”

               Jules leads Midas down a side hallway away from all the commotion. The hall was quiet as the recruits were already in class. Jules walked up to one of the classroom doors and knocked three times before letting herself in. It seemed that Jules had walked in on the middle of the instructor teaching the class more advanced attack movements. The instructor, whose name was Riptide lit up when he saw her.

               “Everybody, what a wonderful surprise! Boss Jules has stopped by to say hello!” there was a cheery tone to the bearded instructor's voice, one could assume he held her to the highest regard.

               The class, which consisted of 12 men and 12 women, grouped by twos, all greeted their future boss. They were in the middle of a battle exercise, where Riptide was showing his recruits how to properly body slam somebody. However, when Midas stepped in behind her, the teacher visibly tenses up to which Jules gives him a curt smile as if to reassure him that all was well.

               “This is my older brother, Midas. He will be working under The Authority now. He will collect any mission files you give him, as well as answer any questions you may have during your time in this agency.” Jules explains to the class.

               “Hello everyone, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Midas greets, bowing respectfully.

               Of course, the girls in the class were trying to contain their excitement, all except for one. Midas made immediate eye contact with the quiet girl, eyebrows raised with mild surprise. He was usually used to every girl fawning over him. She seemed disinterested, just nodding her head at him in acknowledgment.

               Curious… he figures, clearing his throat towards his sister, “Shall we continue with the tour, doll?” he asks Jules, who nods and says her goodbyes along with good luck to the class.

               The girl’s eyes never left Midas though. Her gaze followed, almost like she was curious but also not interested in the hype about him. He gave her a curt smile and a nod before following his sister out, to which the girl sighs and rolls her eyes after his departure.

               Jules continued the tour by showing Midas where he would be working which was a decent sized office space with a big desk and dual monitor set up. There was enough space on the desk to put nice decorations.

               Shame, Midas thinks to himself, I don’t have any of my belongings.

               “Oh and,” Jules pulls Midas out of his thoughts, “We can provide decorations if needed. I know you’re picky but you could always gold coat them if it’ll make it more bearable for you.”

               Midas shrugs, “it's fine, I’ll make do with what I have.”

               “Well, the last stop is your room. It’ll be far away from the other agents, mainly for your safety. You’ll get a keycard similar to the ones you gave your agents, which only you will have access to your room, plus the authorized areas you’ll need access to as well.” She motions in front of herself so he can walk ahead.

               Two flights of stairs later and Midas lost his breath at the top of the stairs, at the sight before him. This area was the dormitory, with its halls beautifully decorated with gunmetal wallpaper, along with a furry black carpet. Near the stairs, he sees a sign that says, “No food or water in the hallway, please preserve the carpet.”

               “Do people follow this sign?” he asks, actually chuckling to himself that a sign of this caliber had to be placed.

               “No, but I believe it’s not a problem so long as I don’t see it. We kept that sign up for Chaos Agent when he was still alive, as he did monthly inspections. So no, no one follows the rules here, Midas. Just don’t get caught, simple as that.” She replies as she leads him down another long hallway.

               Towards the end of the long hallway, there was a door. Jules swipes her keycard and when the door beeps, she opens the door, revealing a presidential suite type room. Midas stopped in his tracks when he saw exactly how big it was.

               Though empty, the room had a lot of space. This included a walk-in closet and a walk-in bathroom, the bathroom is a bonus for Midas because he sure didn’t feel like risking his life every night here to go across the hall just to pee.

               Jules pats his arm, “Just because things are bad right now, doesn’t mean I’ll treat you any less than family.”

               Midas gives her a small smile, his heart swelling up slightly at that.

               A knock on the door gets both sibling's attention. Two henchmen stood in the doorway, holding boxes.

               Jules politely excuses herself, leaving Midas to take in the room some more. He could hear them murmuring and whispering to one another before Jules takes one of the boxes with a kind smile and guides the henchmen away.

               I don’t understand why she’s being so nice to me, Midas thinks with a slight frown, I don’t even deserve this act of kindness, especially from her.

               He stops trying to think about it, he’s not here to make amends with her. But his mind insisted on thinking about it. He’s here to get back what he rightfully deserves. His empire that crumbled too early. It has always been this way. Don’t take anyone’s kindness, you never know what their true intentions are until you’re too far in, was a quote he learned while growing up. His father was a good example of this, his constant reminder towards Midas that he owed him everything, simply because he brought him into the world.

What about Jules? A question formed in his head, she was never told she owed father anything at all. It was always me.

He ends up reacting angrily by putting his hand against the wall, the area around his hand turning into solid gold. Every wall of the room followed suit until the room was all shiny gold. This included the floor, the door, the closet, and the bathroom.

She is so, so lucky she never has to be me, and that’s what angers me the most, his mind seethes.

Midas, still angry, heads back to his new office. He wanted to get a feel for it, maybe even add a golden touch to it. As he used a temporary keycard to get in, his eye lands on 2 boxes on the desk with his name on it. He approaches the desk, curiosity getting the best of him. Inside the boxes were a lot of his belongings, some damaged by the water, but the rest were in decent condition because of the gold touch.

Reaching into the box, his anger was replaced by a sudden pang of sadness in his stomach. He pulled out a picture frame of his old agent team. Skye, Meowscles, and Maya, the ones he was the closest to. They were all posed for some goofy picture they took at Retail Row a few months before the disaster. The water had damaged the photo, making Midas’ face look warped and distorted, while the rest of the photo was in pristine condition. He frowns at this, but the pang in his stomach only grew more when he pulled out a folded note with some water damage. He figured he wouldn’t be able to make out the words on it because of the water, but opened it anyway, curiosity piquing his interest.

Midas,

By the time you have received this or find it or whatever, I’ll already be gone. I want to say thank you first and foremost for raising me all these years. You found me when I was only 11 years old. You weren’t much older than me and I still looked up to you as a brother. You gave me hope when nobody else did, and that is why I need to write this. Your selfish actions involving the Doomsday Device has left a trauma that will never heal. How could you be so selfish, Midas? Why did you think using that device would be a good idea? I know you had good intentions—you wanted to end the chaotic storm once and for all and you figured that device would be the solution. It wasn’t, because many people died. People lost their homes, jobs, anything and everything you could think of. I risked my life to protect you, just so you could activate that fucking thing and now I see that it wasn’t worth it. Don’t try to look for me, because you won’t find me. I’ve gone far away. There will be no point in sending someone to make sure I’m okay because there is nobody left. They all died with the flood. The flood you caused. You did all you could to help me, and I, you. To think, we could have celebrated my 17th birthday had you not set off that device. I’m sorry if this has come off harsh or it is too long and you don’t have the patience to read it. I love you very much, but you have caused such deep pain for me that I fear you. I truly fear you. I thought I knew everything about you but it seems like I don’t. Do you feel any remorse for what you’ve done? I beat myself up for thinking like that, thinking that the man I looked up to as my father could be a cold-hearted murderer, but that’s all I can think of. That’s why I’m writing this to you. I don’t know where Maya, Meowscles, or Tina are. They may feel differently about you as well.

I don’t wish any ill-like things to happen to you, but you will be alone if you continue to act the way you do. Whether or not you leave the island and make a new life for yourself, that’s your choice. I know I promised I’d stay by your side forever because that’s what friends do, but I can’t live with myself doing that for you. I hope one day you open your eyes and realize what a monster you’ve become, and that you can fix yourself before you end up alone forever. Nothing is worse than being in a room full of people and still feeling so alone.

Goodbye, Midas. You did so much for me, and I’ll always appreciate that.

-Skye

Midas didn’t even realize his hands were shaking violently as he read the note. Every word brought pain to him as if he was shot. He didn’t notice he had turned everything in that box to gold until he had thrown it at the adjacent wall, causing a loud crash.

“How could you be so appreciative of me and then turn around and call me a monster?!” He yells to nobody in particular.

Tears clouded his gold eye but he tried his hardest to not cry.

“Crying is for the weak, and I’m not weak.” He tells himself, clenching his golden fists tightly.

Stop showing emotions, you fucking coward, a voice in his mind scolded him.

Midas bitterly snorts, “I will.”

Take back what is yours and rebuild your empire. Kill anyone who gets in the way. You have nothing to lose, after all. Jules doesn’t care about you, if she did, she would have left you alone instead of exposing you to this shit, the voice sounds almost taunting to him.

He tries to take deep breaths in an attempt to calm down and ignore the whispers drilling in his head, but the voices became the only thing he could hear. He couldn’t hear his breathing.

You will rebuild a new agency. You just need to overthrow Jules. There are a lot of agents here with potential. Those who do not join—well, you could always make new statues.

He wasn’t going to let another person cross him again. While he loved Skye like a sister, the feeling of betrayal was strong right now. She assisted him with this device and she wants to turn around and make him out to be the monster? If she felt that way about him… how about Meowscles, Maya, and Tina? Perhaps that’s why there’s no letter from them. They couldn’t face him, while Skye could stand up to him. Perhaps Skye spoke up for them.