Untold Truths
"Alright, Seth... you know where to go from here."
Two men were standing in the silent, starry night, the street they were on as empty as a closed arena. A perfect place to have a 'private conversation'. Seth adjusted his grip on the large, bulky suitcase in his hand. "...are you sure it's time? It seems like the General might be rushing this plan a little."
"Of course it's time, brother. It was time the moment Octavio's blood hit the ground."
"Yeah, but... it's kind of lame that we have no idea what's next. You know, after I actually go through with this."
"I trust that the General will give the correct direction, but if not... at least we'll have died as lions rather than cowering in a shit-crested corner like the rest."
Seth sighed and rubbed his palm against his face. "Fine, Paad, whatever. Just tell me which floor."
The other man pointed up at the building. "Forth floor, room 403. It should give you the best view of both of them." Seth was handed a key. "Hey... avenge Octavio for me." Seth was given a pat on the back before Paad began walking away.
"Hang on!" Paad kept walking. "Which one do I cap?"
Paad slowed down and turned his head, shouting out, "...it doesn't matter, really. Leader just wants one of them dead." A few seconds of silence hung in the air. "Try to kill both. You know what it was like when those bastards didn't finish the job."
"Yo, dude..." The music was way too loud for the Inkling to be heard, so he gave his friend a nudge on the shoulder. The other Inkling responded, turning his head towards the direction of the nudge. "You get anything in the mail yet?"
The pyrotechnics of the show in front of them momentarily lit up the seating area, a flash that ended as quickly as it began. The turquoise-haired Inkling twisted his eyebrows in confusion. "WHAT!?"
"I SAID... DID YOU GET ANYTHING IN THE MAIL YET?!"
That confusion quickly turned into not too different bewilderment. "WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT MAIL?! IKA, THE SQI-" The music blared, muffling the second part of the other Inkling's sentence completely.
Ika leaned back in his seat. They were silent for a bit, the current song switching to the next. In the few seconds of silence, his friend nudged Ika's shoulder this time around.
"Hey... guess what I got." He shuffled through his bag, looking through the papers that were in it and inspecting them as closely as he could with the current lighting situation. "Draft card, no... work certificate, no..."
"So you did get something in the mail-" Ika was cut off when he was handed two pieces of paper. Inspecting them closely... then inspecting them again. Printed on them were the words 'BACKSTAGE PASS', typewritten like the rest. "Meshi... holy sh-" The second song blasted suddenly, making both of the squids as well as the rest of the massive crowd jolt in their chairs.
Ika really doesn't remember their performances being this loud. When he was allowed into the plaza and arenas for Splatfest back just a day ago, it was always kind of quiet. He guessed that turf war wasn't 'in' for him and that it's hip and overall fresher to go deaf from listening to pop music than it is shooting ink at people.
Seth opened the briefcase. Inside was a disassembled sniper rifle.
"...HOW MANY PEOPLE GOT THOSE PASSES?!" Ika handed the passes back to Meshi. The other Inkling quickly pocketed them.
"TEN OR SO! ONLY CALL-" The music once again rudely interrupted.
Seth aimed through the scope of the assembled rifle, shifting his aim onto Marie and trembling. No matter what he could do, he doesn't think he could shoot Marie. There's too much history. "Fuck... fuck fuck fuck..." It was clear to Seth that he had to choose who to kill, and it wasn't an easy choice. Since he was physically unable to even take a shot at the Squid Sister he was aiming at, he shifted the aim to Callie. "I'm so sorry."
"WHAT?!"
"I SAID ONLY CALLIE!"
"...YOU COULDN'T GET BOTH?!"
To the average Inkling, what looked and sounded like a pyrotechnic display coming out of one of the distant buildings started... and then immediately petered out into a puff of smoke. A loud crack echoed through the air as Callie stopped dancing and stumbled back a bit. She clutched her chest, the blood seeping into her dress, before she collapsed backwards.
Immediately, the crowd looked around confused, loud questioning prevailing like a cancer, getting up from their seats in case she wasn't the only one.
Seth looked upon what he did for longer than he should have, throwing the rifle down and hurriedly taking a picture with his Polaroid camera of his work. As he took the undeveloped picture out, a tear streamed down the Octarian's face. He really wished this weren't necessary.