CHAPTER 21

       We arrive at the location some time after. It looks like one of those postcards; one of the ones where Royal Carribean and the such do their lovely picturesque areal shots with happy, flat-stomached models grinning.

       I hadn't had a holiday in a long time, I noted to myself as I pulled out the areal probes made by Tony who got them off of some SHIELD blueprints who got it from this scientist in Coulson's unit. I pushed them into the air so they gained some altitude before twelve of them went in twelve different directions, scanning for signs of shipwreck.

       The quinjet was in this, weird, water hovering mode that Angel showed me some time back. It hovered a couple of meters above the water without sucking up all the juice. It was great.

       Since the situation called for it, I whipped up a few tropical juices all in different, tropical flavours. Becky and Nile, Aaron and I danced to some weird tropical dance songs that I streamed from the net.

       It took half an hour and four square kilometres around our origin point for the probes to find anything; a shipwreck, how fitting. Becky and Aaron suited up while Castor just used the breathing equipment, claiming that "firm, latex suits were not good for her hair". Becky just managed an exasperated sigh and a "oh my God" under her breath as Castor pretended of fawn over herself in the mirror's reflection.

       I met the hovering probes at the location, unfortunately, they weren't wholly water-resistant. Meaning, the team had to investigate closer. Aaron, Becky and Castor, after much complaining, dropped into the water and started swimming around. There was no detection of creepy sharks or anything, but since I grew up in Australia, I know that they're just chill, Carribean Sharks, I'm not so sure...

       I landed the quinjet on a nearby island, Nile was searching around the island, it wasn't much, a coconut tree or two and a about a hundred meters in length. Nile was watching the skies, his hands on his hips and his eyes slitted. The swimmers were about fifty meters away.

       "I love chasing Disney stories don't you?" I said to him, assessing one of the coconuts at the top. Bringing it down with my Mist-induced telekinesis would be cheating and I was getting a bit soft anyway. Time to do it the old way.

       I shifted my hands around the tree and locked my ankles in the same way. Slowly, I began shuffling up the tree in probably the most awkward way possible. If Becky and Castor saw me now, they'd be laughing their butts off for the next century.

       I was halfway up the trunk before Nile replied. "Nothing new then."

       "Sure it is." I grunted, I was below the fronds; within arm's reach of the fruit. "Hey, catch this." I knocked on the coconut with my knuckles real hard, so much so that it spun a meter or so away from me before gravity took effect. Nile caught it like a football player would and I awkwardly slid down.

       Nile was already cracking it on a nearby rock when I approached. He split it perfectly, holding out both halves to me. "Have the bigger side, I'm not that hungry." I grinned slightly. Nile nodded appreciatively.

       We stripped the flesh with our fingernails, it tasted a combination of powdery and rubbery. It had such a surprising bland taste.

       "Did you know..." I started, waving to a temporarily surfaced Castor. "That coconut, is a natural laxative?"

       Nile remained silent, pondering.

       "So if you're stuck in the wild for a couple of days, don't binge-eat coconut cause that shit, literally nasty." This made Nile laugh, which in turn, made me feel happy. It felt like some time since I'd cracked a joke.

       After a lapse into silence, Nile spoke. "You're very different from your father, Lana."

       "How so?" I inquired, chewing on my coconut and at the same time, giving a very interested look.

       "Well, you actually do stuff for yourself, I mean, you climbed up the tree to get this when you could've gotten one from the bar."

      "I like the taste of primitive coconut, cracked with the hands of an American Patriot." I shrugged. "Blame my fine palette,"

       Nile made an annoyed sigh that said; please, I'm trying here.

       "What I'm trying to say, is that I don't want to be our parents."

      "You mean the Civil War? Man, that shit was nasty. I accept your proposition. Let's not be our parents."

       "Agreed." Nile almost whispered.

       "Can I ask you a question?"

      "Is it about why Cleo and I broke up?"

       "Why did you ask if you already knew?"

       Nile sighed, in defeat this time.

       "Cleo and I... We were away from one another for long periods of time... We became distant. A week or so before you came back, Cleo and Gale had been on this really long mission together. I realised they were an item and cut it off with her. In a way, I'm glad that they had a bitter breakup because it feels a little satisfying but in the same way... I don't."

       "I was about to say, woah, gettin a little dark there buddy but it's okay now." I sighed and looked out to the sea, it's wide and immense expanse. How something could be so infinite, I didn't know, but I only grasped what I could see. "I guess I understand in a way, and yes, that bitter karma bite was pretty satisfying. Especially because they broke up since she killed him." We both collapsed into a fit of giggles.

       After a few seconds, I wiped a tear away. "But yes, I think if she thinks that she's too good for you then she's obviously not good enough."

       "Thank you La-"

       "Guys? Pick us up, I think we found it." Castor's voice came though the comms.

       "Okay." I spoke back. "Remember, ascend, slowly to the surface, we don't want any Nitro-"

       Three forms appeared before us in the shallow water. Once fully formed, Aaron fell into the water, obviously going from complete water to almost none was not good for him. Becky staggered a little while Castor triumphantly held the dripping compass high in her hand like a trophy.

       Aaron and Becky ripped out their masks quickly, dragging in large breaths of air whilst Castor spat hers out, singing. "Found it!" She chucked it to me. I caught it.

       "And now." Two long shadows hovered over us five, "you'll give it to me."

       I turned to see a gloating and hovering Chen with a man next to him that could only be Dr. Doom.