An inkling struggles to get to his feet. He is panting, desperately trying to recover energy as he stares at the sight before him in horror.
"NYAAA HA HAAAAAA!" another inkling cackles. They are both on top of a tall building, helicopters surrounding the area, with blinding spotlights focusing on the two of them. The crazed inkling ominously begins approaching the other.
"Ugh… stop this…" the first inkling begs, hardly having any energy to fight back.
"HA HAAA! WHAT'S THE MATTER, SMARTY PANTS?! FEELING A LITTLE WOOZY?!" the insane one screams. He sprints towards him, his speed unnaturally heightened. The weak boy fails to dodge as the attacker shoves a golden blade into his abdomen.
"AGH!" he screams, doubling over onto his knees. The maniac cackles to himself, as he quickly rips the blade from his victim. The first one groans in agony, as his opponent lowers himself down to be eye-to-eye.
"THIS SHALL BE DELAYED NO LONGER!" the neurotic one screams in his face. He forcefully places the hilt of the golden blade into the injured inkling's hand. "IT'S TIME TO ANSWER THE QUESTION, WHO HAVE YOU BECOME?!" he demands.
The weak boy stares down at the blade, which is still coated in his own blood. He then glances up at the psychotic inkling, with childlike fear. He realizes he has no way of escaping from the situation. He has no choice but to obey the miscreant. He shakily stands to his feet. The vicious inkling locks eyes with him, smiling in expectation as he remains kneeling.
"Good," he growls, giving a toothy grin. He closes his eyes, anticipating his fate. The first inkling shakily squeezes the hilt of the dagger.
He exhales sharply, as he raises the blade into the air.
It all began on a warm summer evening. The sun had just kissed the horizon, casting Inkopolis in a magical orange glow. A teenaged male inkling sat atop a skyscraper, casually enjoying the view. He tugged on the left sleeve of his Negative Longcuff Sweater to check his watch.
8:28PM
Two more minutes, he thought to himself. He leaned over to tighten the laces of his Punk Blacks, dusting off any dirt that had smudged the surface of the boot. He smiled contently with his situation, only his expression was hidden under an Annaki Mask. The building he was resting on belonged to the Splaten Island borough, a triangular metropolitan island north of the rest of Inkopolis.
"I can't believe you sometimes, not even a slight paranoia that someone will spot you dangling your legs off the roof like that," a feminine voice chastised from behind the boy. He didn't turn to look back; he knew who had approached him.
"Oh, but you know me," he insisted, not bothering to move away from the edge. His voice was full of confidence. "What's the point of doing anything if it's not a bit dangerous? That's what makes life fun," he told her, checking his watch again.
8:29PM
"Fun… wonderful. I'm glad your priorities are in line, Tobias," she mocked, suppressing her smile underneath her Sneaky Beanie. "What do you want me to say, hm? Oh, Toby, you're soooooo brave. Ha, get real. It's not bravery, it's stupidity," she jokingly scolded him.
"Well that's the beautiful thing, Selena…" he started, standing from the edge of the building to face her. He stared at her with his eyes, shimmering with the color of tourmaline. He was sporting the trendy bowl cut tentacles, coated in his violet ink, and his skin was the color of beach sand.
"…bravery and stupidity? Those are two words for the same concept," he told her, glaring at her with sarcastic sass. She shook her head, smiling under her mask.
"You're such a tool," she chuckled. He bowed as if to thank her for the insult.
"I knew you were going to say that," he told her condescendingly.
"Yeah, no shit," she replied, adjusting her Front Zip Vest. She continued to stare at him, waiting patiently. Her eyes were turquoise, complimenting her teal straight-cut tentacles. Tobias checked his watch one more time.
8:30PM
"It's go time," he told her, eagerness in his voice. Without a word, Selena turned to lead the way to a locked entrance atop the building. She inspected the door, noting that it needed a combination to be unlocked.
"Code," she told him, her voice calm and patient, as if she had gone through this process many times before. Tobias closed his eyes for a few seconds, before leaning in and entering the four-digit PIN. The door unlocked, and he held the door open for his friend. "Such a gentleman," she laughed.
"Oh, gentleman? Nah, I'll just have time to run if you get shot first," he responded nonchalantly. Selena nodded in understanding, as she ducked into the stairwell of the building. Both inklings marched down the stairs.
"Give me the rundown," she asked him, placing her hand on the door that led into a hallway.
"Seven floors, guards on each floor except for the second and fourth floor. Three guards on this floor, all armed. Target is located on the third floor," he informed.
"How many guards by the target?" she asked him, as she peered through the window of the door, trying to locate any passing guards.
"Twelve," Tobias told her, readying himself by hopping on his feet a few times to warm himself up for combat.
"Let's move," she instructed, pushing open the door. Both inklings quickly ducked into the hallway, facing opposite ends, back to back. An adult inkling did a double take when he noticed the intruders. He was on the side Selena was facing.
"Hey! What the hell are you kids doing?!" he demanded, reaching for something attached to his belt.
"Weapon," Tobias whispered to Selena. In response, the girl quickly tossed a seeker in the direction of the guard. The ink was gray in coloration.
"H-HEY!" the guard shrieked, drawing an N-ZAP as he backpedaled away from the fast-approaching seeker. He tried shooting ink at his opponents, but the seeker had pushed him out of range. The sub exploded launching gray ink all over the walls and floor, as well as the guard. "AHHHHHH!" he screamed, crumpling to the floor.
"Let's move," Selena ordered, still keeping her cool. Tobias obeyed without delay. The two of them jogged down the hall, passing by their victim who was still on the ground. Selena reached for his belt, careful not to touch any of the gray ink. She ripped off his walkie-talkie, and threw it at the wall, smashing the device.
"What did it ever do to you?" Tobias joked.
"Exist," Selena replied, deadpanned.
"Jerry? What's going on over here?" another voice called from around the corner. The inklings quickly pressed themselves up against the wall, waiting for the guard to turn the corner.
"Radio!" Tobias whispered urgently. Immediately, Selena pulled out a disruptor. She jumped out from the corner and hurled it at the unsuspecting guard, who had a walkie-talkie in hand. The disruptor smashed on the ground, unleashing an energy field around him.
"AH! WHAT IN THE-" he protested, but before he could finish, Selena darted towards him. She moved around to his back, pulling off her removable sleeve as she did so. She held the sleeve in both hands, and flung it around his face, before yanking it back across his mouth, leaving him only able to spout gibberish.
Tobias then made his move. He ran from behind the corner, sprinting at the incapacitated guard. He jumped up in the air, and dropkicked the inkling right in the chest. Selena dodged as the guard was knocked back onto the ground. She snatched the radio from his hand, once again destroying the device.
"You'll never get away with this!" the weakened inkling yelled at the two. Selena raised her eyebrow at him.
"Um… did you not just see how we took you down in mere seconds?!" she demanded. The guard hesitated, not expecting to be outwitted by the young girl. Tobias didn't wait for him to respond. He advanced forward, delivering a harsh kick to the side of the inkling's head. He was instantly knocked unconscious.
"Center stairwell just ahead," he told the girl.
"Thanks for interrupting our conversation," she replied, in regard to the fallen guard.
"Anytime," he responded, checking to make sure no more guards were approaching. Selena lead the way towards a large staircase in the center of the floor level, that spiraled down in a cylindrical formation down to the lobby, with stops at each floor.
"How many on the stairs?" she asked him, peering down.
"Just one at the base of each set of stairs, all armed," he reported. Selena nodded and quickly began advancing down the stairs; Tobias followed quickly behind. As they neared the sixth floor, a guard noticed them.
"Museum's closed, you kids need to-" he was interrupted by a gray splat bomb hurled right into his face. Selena quickly pounced on her victim, clasping her hand over the guard's mouth, to muffle his scream. She winced, as some of the gray ink on his face coated her palm.
"Fff…" she seethed, the corrosive ink causing intense pain. It felt like her hand was on fire.
Tobias quickly ran over and kicked the guard in the head, once again causing unconsciousness. He noticed Selena was preoccupied with her injured hand. He quickly reached into his pocket and brought out a small vial full of clear liquid. He poured it all over his colleague's hand, causing the ink to wash away.
"Yeah, you might want to actually avoid getting the poisonous ink all over your hands, if it wasn't obvious enough," Tobias teased. Selena shook her head, eyeing her palm. It was red and splotchy, but the clear antidote had caused the pain to cease to a mild sting.
"Dick," she retorted. "Come on, three more floors to go," she commanded, already moving down the next set of stairs. Tobias did a quick sweeping glance across the sixth floor, an open area, with about two dozen historical attractions. He noticed a large banner stretching across the far wall.
Splaten Island Museum of Weapons.
"What the hell are you staring at? If you don't hurry up, I'm going to kick everyone's ass without you," she threatened. Tobias turned back towards her.
"Oh, you know I wouldn't let you do that," he replied, before jogging down the steps to join her. Both of them scaled down to the fifth floor.
"FREEZE!" a guard yelled, drawing an N-ZAP and pointing it at the intruders. He was quickly joined by another, who also drew an N-ZAP.
"Don't you dare move! I'm calling the police!" the second guard threatened. He began reaching for his walkie-talkie to alert the rest of the museum's security.
"Sorry, can't let you do that," Selena replied nonchalantly. In unison, Tobias and Selena lunged to guards nearest to them.
Tobias rolled to the left to parry an incoming blast of ink from the guard's weapon. Tobias glanced at the ink as it barely missed his face, it was bronze in coloration. He noticed an opportunity to disarm the guard, he swiftly uppercut his opponent's elbow, causing him to yelp and drop his weapon. Tobias caught the weapon in his other hand, not hesitating to unleash a stream of bronze ink, coating the guard.
"SON OF A BIIIiii…" the guard protested, but his body stiffened up and he fell to his knees, conscious, but not moving a muscle.
Meanwhile, Selena tackled the guard in front of her, using her hand to shove his arm with the N-ZAP to the side. She pinned him to the ground, delivering a few punches to his face. The guard re-aimed his weapon on her, but she quickly backslapped his arm away, causing the discharge of ink to shoot completely away from her.
"Hold still, little brat!" the guard ordered, freeing his dominant arm. He swung a blow at Selena's abdomen, but the girl was keen, and blocked the attack. She pulled out a suction bomb and forcefully stuck it on the guard's chest. Before he could protest, she leaped off of him, performing a stylish back handspring to distance herself from the explosion. The sub-weapon exploded in a splash of gray ink, disabling the guard from fighting back.
"AHHHHHH!" he screamed, before falling down from the pain. Tobias sighed in irritation, as he glared at Selena.
"Hmmm… making him scream is an interesting approach to being stealthy," he mocked quickly readying himself for action.
"Save being a douche for later. How much security left on this floor?" she demanded. Tobias paused for a moment, closing his eyes.
"Just three. All of them are alert and approaching. Radio isn't a risk, but will be in a matter of seconds," he reported, his eyes reopening. On cue, three guards emerged from separate hallways.
"Hey!" one yelled, drawing his N-ZAP.
"Radio imminent!" Tobias shouted.
"Not if I can help it," Selena calmly retorted. She revealed a hidden bomb-rush special can. She broke the can, causing her tentacles to slightly glow. Without delay, she began launching seekers in every direction. Tobias quickly fled down the stairs that led to the fourth floor. The guards all panicked and tried to take cover, but the seekers pursued them, blasting them all in the toxic gray ink. Selena smirked under her mask, proud of herself. She glanced over at the bronze ink on the ground, before joining Tobias on the staircase.
"The security here uses paralysis ink. What a bunch of pussies," she scoffed, moving down the stairs ahead of her colleague.
"Stop!" Tobias loudly whispered, grabbing her arm to prevent her from reaching the fourth floor. She glared at him with confusion and annoyance.
"You said no guards on the fourth floor," she replied calmly.
"No guards. Security cameras. Four of them," he revealed.
"Camera shy?" she teased.
"Please, I'm more photogenic than you'll ever be," he replied, making sure none of the cameras could see their position. "I'm avoiding the cameras because I've heard maximum security prison these days isn't as fun as it used to be," he replied, deadpanned.
"Oh, really? I see, I see," she played along. "In the meantime, this is a perfect opportunity for me to use this," she told him, reaching into her back pocket. Tobias raised his eyebrow when he saw her pull out her smartphone.
"Calling your mommy for help?" he asked her. She didn't reply, she was too busy navigating through her phone. He watched Selena open up an application on her phone.
"My mommy could kick your ass," she told him.
"Oh, I bet," he replied.
"Can you tell where they're located?" she asked him, her strange phone application ready. Tobias closed his eyes again, concentrating.
"…I think there's just one on each corner of the room," he told her, opening his tourmaline eyes again.
"Wow. Such lazy security setup for a weapons museum," she chuckled. The inkling girl raised her phone up, pointing it at one of the cameras. She tapped a button on the application, causing a few beeps to emanate from the device. Seconds later, the camera light went from blue to yellow. Tobias furrowed his brow.
"Seriously? A phone application? Hacking is too damn easy these days," he commented, shaking his head.
"Or this museum just has shitty security. My bets are on that," she told him, taking aim at the second security camera. Tobias waited patiently as she disabled all four cameras.
"Well that was easy," he chuckled. Selena slipped her phone back into her pocket, and descended down the remaining stairs to the fourth floor.
"They're in standby mode, which means they're 'frozen' for all intents and purposes, we don't have much time before someone notices," she told him. Tobias nodded, gesturing down at the next set of stairs.
"Target is on the next floor. All three of the guards are patrolling in hallways, now's our chance," he reported. Selena smirked, turning towards the stairs.
"Like taking candy from a hatchling," she mused. The two inklings quickly moved down the stairs. Tobias peered up the nearest sign, indicating what sector of the museum they were in.
Weapons of the Human Generation.
"This is the place," he confirmed, looking around. They both began quickly looking through all the items on display. Various weapons were shown, all of them historically utilized by the human species before they were extinct.
"Target acquired," Selena beamed, staring at one weapon in particular. Tobias looked over, walking towards her to get a better look.
"Holy shit…" he commented, taking in the sight of the intimidating device before him. They were staring at an RG-6 Grenade Launcher, locked in a giant glass display case.
"Code," she told him, gesturing at the lock that secured the weapon inside the case. Tobias quickly shut his eyes, right before keying in the PIN. The case opened, allowing him to steal the weapon from its stand, as well as a few grenades that were on display.
"Target obtained," Tobias reported, attaching the grenade launcher to a lanyard strap. He stylishly swung it onto his back. Before Selena could give him a witty response, they were interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.
"Not another move, delinquents," the voice threatened. The two of them turned towards the source of the voice, to see an older and tougher guard. His nametag labeled him as the Head of Security. He was holding them at gunpoint, with a Rapid Blaster. Selena narrowed her eyes.
"Oh no, you caught us. Whatever will we do," she said monotonously. The man seemed surprised by the girl's attitude. She glared over at Tobias. "A warning would have been nice," she muttered. He rolled his eyes.
"I was preoccupied with the target," he retorted.
"Shut up!" the man ordered, bothered by their apathy and lack of fear. "You kids are going to be in a lot of trouble. This is a major felony!" he yelled, his intimidation skills failing to provoke a reaction.
"We know," Tobias replied confidently. The inkling noticed the grenade launcher on his back.
"What the… what do you plan on doing with that weapon?!" he shouted.
"Whatever the hell we want with it," Selena retorted.
"YOU better shut your damn mouth, final warning," he thundered. He fixated his blaster right at Selena's face. The girl didn't even bat an eye.
"Tobias, hurry the hell up," she said.
Immediately, the boy shut his eyes, in deep concentration. Before he could yell at Selena for speaking again, the guard turned his attention to Tobias. He was shocked when a faint purple aura surrounded the boy. After a few seconds, the violet inkling outstretched his arms in the direction of the guard, the aura moving from his fingertips towards him.
"W-WHAT ARE YOU D-DOING?!" he screamed. Before he could shoot Tobias, the aura reached his forehead. Instantly, the guard's facial expression went emotionless, and his eyes glazed over. The guard raised his weapon to the side of his own head. Selena watched happily as the guard shot himself with bronze ink, coating his entire body. Tobias lowered his hands, exhaling sharply. He was slightly out of breath. The guard crumpled to the floor, unconscious.
"Wonderful. Let's go," Selena insisted. She turned towards the stairs to leave, but froze when she saw a terrified-looking guard, with a cell phone in his hands.
"Y-Yes th-there's been a b-break in at the M-Museum of W-Weapons," the guard stammered. Selena immediately sent a seeker in his direction, causing him to drop the phone and run away screaming.
"SHIT! Now the IPD are on our backs!" she complained, her calm demeanor slightly breaking. She turned to Tobias, who was clenching his teeth. "Let's get the hell out of here," she muttered.
"Awww… I wanted to stick around to enjoy a full Museum experience," he told her, but didn't waste any more time continuing the conversation. He quickly sprinted towards the fire escape exit, Selena running close behind. He busted through the door, causing an alarm to blare throughout the entire Museum.
"Mission Accomplished," Selena said boldly, happily glancing over at Tobias. The boy nodded once, before turning towards the railing of the fire escape ladder.
In unison, Tobias and Selena leaped off into the air.
Author's Notes
Welcome to my brand-new story! This has been in the works for a while now, so I hope you enjoy how it turned out. Drop a review to let me know what you think so far.
PS: This takes place in the same universe as "The Dawn of Igneous", my first story. Reading is not necessary, but recommended if you want the complete experience. But don't fret! "The Mind Above All" is its own story that can stand on its own! Stay tuned to see how things unfold! Thanks for Reading!