Ch. 2: Unexpected Company

"Tell me again what we came here for?"

"I was going to ask Kyrin about some… Pirate stuff. You said you wanted to come with me, Josh."

"Oh, yeah," replied the one named Josh. He was a Bowmaster. "And I suppose we're here to blow stuff up, too?"

"Stop kidding around. I still have to find the Control Room."

"What are you talking about?"

"Look. The Nautilus is like a huge maze. Even after all those years of roaming around the place, I still get lost."

"So you're saying you need my help finding that place. Right, Steven?"

The Buccaneer named Steven rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. Now help me find the dang Control Room."

While they looked around, Josh asked Steven, "You're a Buccaneer. Why do you carry a pistol with you?" he asked, pointing at the Dellinger Special that Steven always carried around with him.

"So, if I find some stray bullets, I can shoot them with it. Besides, when I'm bored, I like attack low-level monsters with cheap attacks from a distance, and maybe I'll find some cheap equips that I can sell to noobs."

Steven looked at Josh. "Why do you carry a Battle Crossbow with you all the time? You're a Bowmaster."

"So if I find any arrows for crossbows," replied Josh, "I can shoot them with it. That sufficient for you?"

"Yeah."

After wandering around some more, they stumbled upon the Control Room door. But something was different. Muirhat, who usually stood next to the door, was nowhere to be found.

Steven walked over to the door. It was unlocked. "Hello? Kyrin? Anyone?" The duo wandered inside. No one was there. Looking around, Steven noticed that there was a card key lying on the monitor. He picked it up.

"Hey," said Steven. "This thing says 'warp card' on it."

Josh walked over to him, and looked up. "That thing says 'warp portal'. Do you think that the card is for that?"

The two wandered over to the portal. Without waiting for a reply, Josh snatched the card out of Steven's hand, and inserted it into the slot. It fit perfectly. Moments later there was a humming sound. The humming quickly grew louder.

"What are you doing?" screamed Steven. "We don't know what this…" He didn't get to finish his sentence. An instant later, the two disappeared through the portal. Someone heard the commotion from outside and entered, only to find the room completely empty, as it was before. He didn't notice the card key missing from the table when he left.

-X-

"Ooof."

Dr. Kim and Professor Porter stared at the two new arrivals. "Who are you?" asked Dr. Kim

The arrivals looked around, and without answering Dr. Kim's questions, he asked "What is this place?"

"It's the… Omega Sector," replied Dr. Kim rather slowly.

"Omega Sector? I've never heard of this place."

"You shouldn't have," replied Porter. He looked at the warp portal. "You were in the Nautilus, weren't you?"

"How did you know?"

"Just a hunch" replied Porter, even though it was a well known fact that, at least at the Omega Sector, only the Nautilus contained the other side to the Warp Portal.

Outside, the three Agents in training were still, well, training. Jr. Officer Medin led the two new arrivals to Agent Marco, who studied them for a few seconds.

"Hmmm…" said Marco. "Pirate and Bowman." He turned around to look at Evelyne, Celina, and Brent. "These two could take up the empty slots. That way, we would have one from each class. We'll have to check them out."

Jr. Officer Medin nodded, and led them to the side opposite where Brent, Celina, and Evelyne, were for briefing. As they walked, Josh turned his head and asked Steven "What empty slots?"

-X-

Agent Marco looked at them. "My name is Marco." That was all he told them for now. He looked at Josh. "What is your name?"

"Uh, my name is Josh."

"You're a Bowmaster, right?" Marco asked Josh, seeing Dragon Shiner Bow.

"Uh, yeah," replied Josh.

"Then why do you carry a Battle Crossbow with you?"

"So, uhm, I can shoot crossbow arrows I find."

"How well can you use it?" When Marco saw that he did not receive a reply, he asked, "Can you show me?" Agent Marco produced a number of arrows for crossbow seemingly from thin air. He handed them over to Josh.

"Uh, sure." Josh summoned a few Puppets and blew them up with Arrow Blow and Double Shot.

"Do you know anything else with it?"

"Uhm, I think I can use Power Knock-Back with it. And maybe Iron Arrow, though it's probably really weak. I don't use it much."

"Better than none at all," Josh heard Marco mutter. Marco turned to Steven. "And your name?"

"My name is Steven."

"You are a Buccaneer, no?"

Steven nodded.

"I see you have a have a Dellinger Special with you."

"Yeah."

"How well can you use that?" He didn't receive a reply either.

Agent Marco sighed and drew a number bullets from somewhere behind him. He handed them over to Steven.

Steven nodded and loaded them into his gun. He then aimed and fired at the newly summoned Puppets from Josh.

"Not bad," said Marco. "Though some practice will be needed. However, you two are certainly qualified for training."

Training? Josh and Steven though in unison.

-X-

"Yes, sir," said Dr. Kim. "These are exactly the type of people we need."

Steven and Josh exchanged looks. They still hadn't been told what all this was for. "Excuse me, but can you tell us what you are doing? And what this is all about?" asked Steven.

Dr. Kim nodded. "Since you are qualified for training, and will eventually become one, I guess I can tell you, even though it's classified."

Training? One of what? And why is the stuff classified? These were questions that were both in Josh's and Steven's head. Dr. Kim looked at them and could tell they were completely baffled, and didn't have a single clue to as what Dr. Kim was saying.

"Very well. I am going to tell you, so listen carefully." He looked around, and began.

"This place is called the Omega Sector, as I have already told you. I also told you that you came through a warp portal. Well, the thing is, Kyrin was looking for qualified Agents. Agents are a special class. They are the untold heroes of the Maple World. Only when everything began falling apart they arrived on the scene. And still they somehow managed to stay hidden. Barely anyone knows anything about them. They were there. Only a few thousand, perhaps, but they wield powers beyond imagination. A flick of a wrist could demolish and entire continent. The catch is that they require the person to be a sort of a hybrid. For example, someone with the dexterity of a Bowman and the strength of a Warrior could become an Agent. You two, well… Steven, you have the strength of a Buccaneer, but you also have exceptional dexterity and accuracy… almost the same of a Corsair. Josh, you have the dexterity and agility of a Bowmaster, but it has been discovered that you will also be able to handle crossbows with about the same ease. Now, we need an Agent for each of the classes. Right now, we have a Magician Agent, Warrior Agent, and Thief Agent. We are missing a Pirate Agent and a Bowman Agent."

Dr. Kim looked at the two. They were completely mystified; to them, it felt more like a dream. This was their chance to be a hero!

Dr. Kim continued. "Right now, there is only one official Agent, and he is training the other three. You will also be trained by him. This is no joke. We were in desperate need of a Pirate hybrid and a Bowman hybrid. You must understand this is not to be taken lightly. It is in, one way or another, intertwined with the fate of the world."

His last two sentences were spoken with a hint of urgency. The Bowman and Pirate looked at each other. It was clear they had made the same decision.

"We accept," the two said in unison.

-X-

"No one ever said it would be easy." These were the first words that Brent had spoken, without any emotion whatsoever, to Steven and Josh. They had taken the first test the Brent, Evelyne and Celina had taken: the false alarm. Then, the two had been assigned to collecting 3,000 Mateon tentacles total: a test of patience. The first two training assignments, they had done alone. However, they quickly joined into the training sessions that Agent Marco gave. They quickly got the concept of many of the skills, and were soon in the other three trainees' league. Day after day, they would hone their skills against puppets and doppelgangers that Agent Marco would summon. Steven had received a skill book titled Becoming an Expert Gunslinger, while Josh had gotten a book titled Crossbowman to Marksman Guide. In a four weeks, all five of them had acquired skills of their class's alternative path(s).

This was made possible with tons of hours spent on training that went far into the night, dozens of trips to the lower sections of the Clocktower, bags Ludibrium and Omega Sector Warp Capsules and Eos Tower Scrolls or just plain climbing the sheer 100 story tower, and equal amounts, discipline, strictness, fighting undead monsters, and complaining.

"I hate Thanatos," muttered Celina as she and Evelyne wandered through the lower floor of the Clocktower.

"How come?" Asked Evelyne.

"He's scary, pretty much represents death, and was my freakin' impediment to my Resurrect skill."

"But you're a Bishop!" exclaimed Evelyne. "Holy magic is most effective on undead monsters!"

"It still scares the crap out of me. I also wanted to get Resurrect."

"But didn't Phil say that Resurrect is just an advanced form of heal? I mean, do you think that you really needed to counter Thanatos?"

"I don't know…"

"There's Thanatos!" screamed Evelyne.

Celina jumped. But there was nothing there.

"That's not nice!" Celina shouted at a giggling Evelyne.

"Sorry. Couldn't resist."

Celina sighed.

"So what will you say when there really IS a Thanantos?"

"Uhm...That there's a Thanatos?" replied Evelyne as a Thanatos came looming over them.

Suddenly, there was a shout of "Heaven's Hammer!", a piercing explosion from behind the Thanatos, and the Thanatos was destroyed.

Evelyne and Celina just stood there, as a satisfied Brent came walking over to them.

"Why is it that that I always end up saving you two?" asked Brent, still walking.

"Hey! I saved you and Phil the first time we met!" shouted Evelyne.

"Yes, but that's neither here nor there," replied Brent coolly.

Evelyne muttered something under her breath.

On that day Agent Marco all awarded them with an Agent equipment set: An Agent Receiver, a Titanium Receiver, an Ultimate Agent suit, Agent Gloves, a pair of Ultimate Agent Shoes, and a pair of sunglasses. He also gave each of them a badge.

"Now, this is where the real fun begins." Agent Marco smiled as he said these words. He handed each trainee a Laser Rifle. Brent, Celina, and Evelyne had seen it before when Phil used it. Brent, Josh, and Steven had no clue as to what it was. None of them knew how to properly use one.

"What I just gave you is the official weapon of an Agent; every Agent has one. They never go anywhere without it."

Steven immediately asked, "Can I still use my brawler skills and knucklers?"

Agent Marco nodded. "Yes. This is the primary weapon of an Agent, but they use their other jobs' skills together with it. However, its power is not to be underestimated. Many of an Agent's skills are only accessible through that weapon. But… there are also a few skills that are class specific, but only an Agent can learn them. That is after you learn the basic skills of an Agent."

-X-

In the days that followed, the five were taught the skills that Phil had learned: Freeze Ray, Heat Wave, Zap Cannon, Laser Charge, Laser Drill, Sonic Blast, and Laser Blast.

"You are having way too much fun with that Laser Rifle," Steven said to Josh. It was true. The two were in Off-Limits, and Josh was shooting at anything that moved, even plants blown by the wind.

"Hey I'm a Bowman. I already blast monsters to oblivion with Arrow Bomb. And now I have a weapon whose ammo fly at the speed of light. No waiting. What can you expect?"

Steven sighed. He never really got used to using a gun, much less a rifle. He just stood to one side and fired a single bullet at whatever annoyed him. Everything, that is, except one. Still, he was bored out of his mind.

"I'm going back. I'm starving."

"Okay," replied Josh without giving Steven so much as a glance, still firing bolts of light at aliens.

"Hey Steven, you're back," Brent greeted him. "By the way, where's Josh?"

"Still out there playing with his new toy." Steven sighed. "I'm starved. Where's the food?"

"Still on the table. Evelyne and Celina are still eating."

"Ok, thanks."

"No problem."

"By the way," Steven said as he went back to the building. "What are you doing?"

"I was actually going to go out and test some of the new skills I learned out in Off-Limits," he replied, pointing at the enormous spear he had in his hand.

"Good luck," said Steven as he swung his gun around. "Hope Josh won't bother you much."

"I hope so too."

Brent strolled out to Off-Limits, where Josh was still firing his Laser Rifle at anything that moved.

"Hi, Josh," said Brent.

"Oh, hey," replied Josh without even glancing at him.

Suddenly, there was a noise that came from the Laser Rifle as the words INSUFFICIENT POWER: GUN OFFLINE appeared on Josh's sunglasses and the weapon shut off.

"Hey!" shouted Josh. He pressed the trigger a few more times, but nothing came out of it.

"You didn't channel any energy through the weapon, did you?" asked Brent with a grin.

"Well, I uh…"

"Got carried away," Brent finished for him.

Josh smiled sheepishly.

"Use your other skills," Brent said to Josh. "Dragon Buster!"

Josh stared at Brent, sighed, and then pulled out a pistol. He fired a couple bullets with it, but it wasn't the same. He turned and left. Brent didn't even notice him leaving as he ripped apart more aliens.

-X-

"More powerful than Cygnus Knights, too, huh?"

The five trainees were reading a newspaper, which the Omega Sector somehow was able to get, despite that it was so isolated. The front page contained the following:

There was no time like the present. When what seemed like a Black Magician's Subordinate infiltrated Henesys, he managed to knock out everyone in sight. However, who he didn't knock out was the person that wasn't in sight. A Wind Archer, whose level was in the 100's, managed to slip away unnoticed with Windwalk. He then surprised the Subordinate with Windshot, and finished him off with Hurricane. It is unknown what the subordinate would have done if he wasn't stopped, and we do not want to find out. As for the Wind Archer, he has chosen to remain anonymous, so his name is not listed here, nor is his picture here. However, it should be pretty easy to guess, since at the moment there are not many other Wind Archers at his same level of expertise and skill.

"Oh," said Agent Marco. "The attacks you learn will be much more powerful than that. In fact, right now, the skills you have with your Laser Rifle are a lot more devastating than the ones listed here."

"How so?"

"You've been reading your books, haven't you?"

"Of course we have," muttered Evelyne. "What else do you expect us to do?"

"Actually, I'm amazed at how you haven't beaten each other up yet," replied Marco.

The five of them glanced at each other and quickly exchanged looks.

"How much do you feel you have learned?"

"Enough to beat each other up," replied Celina sarcastically.

"Do you think you have learned enough to beat Zakum up? Or perhaps, Horntail, or Papulatus up in the Clock tower?"

They all fell silent and stared at him, unprepared for such a matter-of-fact and realistic response.

"What can be more devastating than a fully mastered Windshot used in conjunction with Windwalk?" Josh finally asked.

"Chaos Storm" replied Agent Marco, no emotion in his voice whatsoever.

"Chaos what?"

"Chaos Storm. Here, let me show you…" as Marco motioned at Josh to lend him his weapon.

Reluctantly, Josh handed his Dragon Shinebow to Marco.

"Let's step outside, shall we? It could get a bit messy if I do it in here."

Everyone followed Marco outside. The Sun was shining, and there was a soft breeze brushing against the grass. Everything was perfectly peaceful, so serene, and so tranquil.

"Now watch this," said Agent Marco, grinning. He lifted the Shinebow, muttered "Soul Arrow", aimed in a direction away from the building, and screamed "Chaos Storm!"

Now what happened next could not be fully explained. All that could be seen was Marco's hand moving extremely fast, almost to the point it they seemed to stay in one place. Dozens of arrows poured out of the weapon. And suddenly, it was over, as quickly as it began.

"This skill fires 100 arrows per second. That, I believe, is much more powerful than Windshot used in conjunction with Windwalk," Agent Marco replied to the shocked trainees, especially Josh. In 5 seconds, he had fired a total of 500 arrows. The grass was now pushed every which way, and the wind even seemed to have changed direction. The sky seemed to have darkened a bit, too.

"This is the skill faster than Hurricane. I just used one of the skills of a full fledged Agent. In time, you will become one. Then, you will be able to move onto more powerful skills like the one I showed you." He signaled for them to head back to the common room. The others still could not quite believe what had happened.

Marco gave the weapon back to Josh, whom returned to its quiver, while still staring at the place in and what the attack had left it as.

-X-

"This is kinda getting boring," muttered Brent, who was playing his tenth round of chess with Steven. It always took forever for either him or Steven to win, and most of the time, the two agreed to start the game over because the current game had gotten to a point where it wasn't "fun" anymore.

"Then let's do a little training. It may replace the boredom."

"More training?"

"Yes," replied Agent Marco. And it will start with you," he said, referring to Brent.

"Me?"

"Yes," he said. Marco produced two long wooden rods and tossed one over to Brent, who easily caught it. He then produced two blindfolds. He also gave one to Brent.

"Put the blindfold on."

"What? Is this some kind of trick?"

"No," was the reply, as Marco began putting on his blindfold.

Brent sighed, but did what he was told to.

"Now take the wooden stick I gave you. You are to counter my attacks and, if possible, attack me."

"How am I supposed to do that?" asked a blinded Brent.

"Use your other senses; you have four other senses—you might as well put them to good use."

"How do I use those?"

"Don't worry. This is just a diagnostic test. I'll go easy on you."

"Uhm, okay."

"Ready? Here goes."

Agent Marco swung the pole towards Brent, who was hit by it, being completely unused to this.

"Ouch," was Brent's reaction.

"Don't worry. You'll get better at it. Now try to block this one. Listen for the attack. Use your experience to predict how I will attack."

Marco swung his pole a second time. This time, Brent blocked it, though just barely.

"Good. You're learning."

"Did Phil go through this kind of training?"

"Yes," replied Marco. "Do you want to be on the offensive now?"

"Okay," said Brent, eager to land a hit or two on Marco.

Brent swung his weapon. However, to his surprise, it was successfully blocked by Marco. Brent quickly reversed his weapon in an attempt to catch Marco off guard, but Marco blocked this attack as well. Brent blindly stepped forward for another attack, only to strike thin air.

"You make too much noise when you move," said Marco

Does he even have his blindfold on? Brent wondered. His left hand flew to his blindfold to take it off. Lowering it, he say that Agent Marco had his on. Maybe I can hit him now without my blindfold…

"Put your blindfold back on," said Marco. This surprised not only Brent, but Evelyne and Celina as well.

How does he know I took it off? thought Brent.

"I can hear your hand," replied Agent Marco, as if Brent had asked the question out loud.

Brent froze, not knowing what to do.

Marco sighed, and then said "Alright. So do you want to fight me without your blindfold?"

"Uhm, okay,"

"Then you may take it off."

Brent did so; he could see that Marco still had his on. Brent stepped forward and launched a series of attacks, only to either miss or have it blocked by Marco's pole.

"How did you block all my attacks? Is that see-through or something?"

"No. I just put my other senses to use. I can hear you. I have experience in knowing how a Warrior will attack, and what tactics they use."

Brent muttered something under his breath.

"Do you want to continue? Or do you want to rest and have someone else try?"

"I think I'll let someone else try."

"Alright," said Agent Marco, who had still had his blindfold on.

Evelyne came in, and put on a blindfold, too. Agent Marco, who still hadn't taken off his blindfold, produced two rods that were much, much shorter; its length similar to that of a dagger.

A second duel commenced. As before, Evelyne could not break through Marco's guard, and Marco fought, attacked, and countered as if he hadn't had the blindfold on at all, even after Evelyne took hers off. The same happened with Steven, though no weapons other than their "natural" ones, as Marco called the hands, arms, legs, etc, were used.

"How can you fight so well?" Brent finally asked.

"Remember," replied Marco, who STILL had not taken off his blindfold. "I have trained for this for years. I have had years of experience of this. There are many things that I can predict from you. You must learn to be unpredictable."

-X-

"I miss Phil," muttered Evelyne. She was drawing pictures. That is, if you could call Lewis Structures pictures. They were in the common room, with a huge round table in the middle.

"Yeah," replied Brent, who was calculating the pressure of a gas using the ideal gas law. "Everything seems so dull without him."

"Uhm, I've wanted to ask this," said Josh, "but who exactly is Phil?"

"Yeah," said Steven. "Who is he?"

"Oh, right," said Agent Marco. "We never told you about him."

"He was my first student here as an Agent. They he was also Brent, Celina, and Evelyne's friend," he said, pointing at the three.

"The training started about three years ago. He went through the most intensive training anyone could imagine…and even some that people couldn't imagine. You will have to go through much of the training that he had."

"He had all the powers and skills of all five of the classes." Agent Marco continued. "The Omega Sector is still unsure how he managed to do this, how he acquired the basics of all the classes in the first place, though we do have a few theories."

"At first, Brent, Celina, and Evelyne here had not known that he was an Agent, though I am very certain that he acted weird at times." He turned to the three. "Am I correct?"

All three nodded simultaneously.

"Not too long ago, he died in an incident."

"Died?" said Steven and Josh in unison, almost shouting.

"Yes," nodded Agent Marco. "You three were there," Marco said, turning back to them. "Perhaps one of you would care to explain?"

"Okay," said Evelyne. "He sent this like, letter to us, talking about some sort of reunion at Leafre. And we went, of course. But when we first arrived, we saw all these weird monsters, which were aliens, like the ones you see here at the Omega Sector."

"Anyway, we had arrived slightly earlier than Phil. When Phil did arrive, he was completely dressed in black; he was wearing the uniform of an Agent. Then, after fighting a zillion aliens, there was this one ridiculously huge robot, like the MT-09, but, like I said, it was a lot bigger. That one thing ended up killing Philly."

"Philly?" asked Steven and Josh.

"Phil," Brent quickly put in.

"So there you have it," finished Marco.

"Wow," said Steven. "I never thought this could be so complicated."

"Well, it's about to get a lot more complicated," replied Agent Marco.

"How?"

"Just knowing how to balance chemical equations, draw Lewis Structures, and PV=nRT isn't sufficient."

Everybody looked up at Marco.

"What will we need to know?"

"Have you ever heard of spies?" Agent Marco asked the five trainees.

"Uh, maybe," said Brent.

"Well…I will teach you to be spies. I will teach you the art of espionage, the art of deception. I will teach you the tactics, the trade, the secrecy, of the spies."

"What?" exclaimed Evelyne. "Aren't spies like, stalkers? Ewwww."

"Spies are not stalkers," said Marco. "They may observe people and the situations, but it is for a purpose. Spying is important. You yourselves may have become temporary spies without even knowing it. During war, the work of spies is even more important."

"You do not believe that the Agents could have stayed unknown, secret, and successful for so many centuries without knowing the art of spies?"

"I may have said this before, but there was only one time in the entire history of the Maple World that they revealed themselves to the rest of the world. And that was during the biggest war."

"Then how come nobody knows about them?"

"Because, after the entire war was over, they went back to secrecy again. All documents were either destroyed or confiscated. They rewrote their own stories. Most of it is true, but anywhere where an Agent, or anything remotely related to an Agent's work, was destroyed or confiscated and/ or rewritten."

"So we're going to have to be like them?" asked Celina.

"Overall, yes." replied Marco.

"But they would've become, like, famous!" said Evelyne. "Why didn't they take the glory and everything?"

"Because then, everyone would know about them. They couldn't let anyone outside their organization know about them."

"So… we have to maintain the same secrecy?" asked Josh.

Agent Marco nodded. "Many of the bravest men and women who had helped defeat the Black Magician during The War will never be known or revealed…and many of them were Agents. Each person, when they became an Agent, knew this. Each was sworn to secrecy."

"So we can't tell others what we do, or how powerful we are?" asked Evelyne, slightly annoyed.

Agent Marco nodded. "I have told Phil this before, and I may as well tell it to you: Agents were known for their obedience, strictness, and secrecy."

All five looked at each other. They realized that they were getting a lot more than they had bargained for.


Author's Note: Yeah, this chapter is kinda boring. I'm sort of getting writer's block. I'm not really sure what else to write/say. I don't want to sound greedy or like a beggar, but please review. Reviews do help and inspire me to write.

Author's Note (mostly) to Fifteen Tails: This chapter may be kinda dull, but you'll like the next chapter (at least, I think so). Not because of fighting, though... it's about something else.