Authors Note: Hello all! I hope you enjoy this one shot of mine, it took a lot of work. And I am trying something new, let me know what you think! Also, merry christmas to you all!
It was a common day in the abandoned Octo Valley, a shell of a former place to the great turf wars from decades ago. Now it was just an abandoned area filled with various spots that went unused. However, one part of Octo Valley was feared. Rumour had it that there was a place where if anyone went, they would not return. Part of Octo Valley had collapsed due to age, and now anyone who went near it was afraid that it was nothing more than a bottomless pit.
The main inhabitants of this world were inklings, evolved squids. Barely any of these squid kids were near Octo Valley, though horror stories and myths had been spread about this scary area, aside from its bottomlessness. Some theorized that the pit was created on purpose to house a terrifying unknown monster that would consume anyone who dared enter its domain.
There was a shaking. Underneath octo Valley was an entirely hidden area, unknown to nearly everyone. It should be completely dark, but growing along the ceilings was glowing moss that illuminated the entire area easily. There were trees, a few animals, and some running rivers. The ground shook once more as a big foot landed on the ground, standing high over everything nearly. An inkling stood, nearly as tall as a three story building, with a domino mask around his red eyes and large yellow tentacles dangling off the sides of its head. The giant squid was wearing clothing that looked like they had been stitched together by blankets, but whoever done it was a professional seamstress, because it looked like a rainbow striped pattern shirt.
The giant squid looked down at the huddled field of trees, where he could see some wild animals gathered around, looking at the spiky fruit growing off the trees. He reached down and used one of his fingers to gently push over the tree, tearing the roots from the soil as the whole tree toppled down. The animals happily began to dig into the food. Icterine was a very rare breed of giant squid, a giant inkling as he was called at this time. He had been trapped underneath Octo Valley for so long that he had no idea what was above the ceiling of this underground world, but his memory only went back a few months. He was only fifteen years old, yet he had no idea how he ever wound up in this underground area. The only reason he knew his name was because the words Icterine were carved onto a mountain in underground valley, which he read for himself.
However, this area underneath Octo Valley had an odd property to it. Some things just grew huge, but the giant squid was the only one of his kind, as far as he knew, but this hidden area went so deep, that he awoke first within the bottom most area the world could provide, which felt like it reached the oceanic crust, and he had crawled out of it. It all felt like a nightmare that he couldn't think clearly of, it was very hazy to say the least.
Still, Icterine was not the only big thing around. There were some giant trees that rivaled his height that grew fruit big enough to serve an entire town for a big feast. The fruit was spiky, but had a variety of colors running through it in an oval shape. The yellow squid reached up and took one of the fruits off. He opened his mouth, revealing his three sharp teeth and taking a chomp out of the rainbow fruit. It tasted deliciously sour, sweet, bitter and juicy all at once, the taste that he so loved. He happily kept eating away as he took a small seat. He tried to remain at peace, mostly because he caused earthquakes that startled the wildlife and made the ceiling shake when he walked or ran. He never was curious about the huge holes in the ceiling, thinking they just came naturally.
Icterine finished the rainbow fruit shortly after, thankful for having such delicious food available. His taste buds were in pure bliss. However, the giant yellow inkling felt an odd rumble, one he never had felt before that came from above. Suddenly he noticed a huge dust cloud off in another part of the underground valley with a hole in the ceiling, allowing light to fill in on the small radius of an area. Tiny animals and birds flew off or ran from Icterine's sight. It was odd to him as none of the animals could escape from the underground, but they seemed to be running out of fear for a completely different reason. Icterine approached the dust cloud, seeing a huge shine of light pierce through the ceiling. Each step he made left a huge footprint in the grassy dirt.
When Icterine got close to it, he saw something odd that had fallen from so high that it was stuck in the ground. It was brownish silver in color, smooth like a ball. It pulled itself out of the ground quite fast, not seeming to notice the giant inkling behind it. It was a robotic over sized version of an isopod, almost as big as Icterine. He smiled, walking around to the front of it, seeing the two antenna sticking up as it stood on all of its legs. He then saw two huge flat red glass eyes.
Icterine was more confused by what he saw inside this mechanical isopod. There were two people with red tentacles, a lot of which were stuck more in an upward style. They were octolings, a lot like inklings except evolved from octopi. The giant squid did not know this, but there was somewhat a secret war going on between squids and octopi. And the octolings were testing out their latest in huge war machines.
Icterine tilted his head. The glass eyes were plexiglass, and he could not break them. The octopi inside had not taken any notice in him. In fact, they were a lot more invested in bickering, trying to decide whose fault it was for crashing through Octo Valley. The yellow giant squid extended one of his fingers and poked the face of the robotic isopod. The loud tapping caught the octolings' attention. They both stared at him in awe with their jaws open wide. The male and female octolings immediately held each other tight, screaming in fear. No one in existence had seen an inkling this big. They both shortly after, went and quickly mounted their separate control consoles.
Icterine had no clue what was happening. He watched as the mechanical isopod suddenly release a pool of dark purple ink around it. The yellow giant stepped back, confused, when it suddenly curled up into a ball. He wondered if he had scared it. Suddenly the machine began to roll, the ink covering all around its metal body. The metal ball launched at the giant inkling. Icterine felt a shock wave of pain shoot through him as the metal isopod crashed into him at full force, splattering him with purple ink while knocking him down. The metal ball bounced off him and landed onto the ground like a flying meteorite, creating a huge round crater under it.
Icterine was in awe. The purple ink on his body stung, as did his new bruises. He whimpered, looking ready to cry. The metal isopod was now out of its ball form and was beginning to create an even bigger torrent of purple ink around it. The ink was covering trees, and the few animals still around were being harmed. The giant squid looked at his enemy. He didn't want to fight. He never had to fight. His breathing was ragged and rapid. The octolings in the war machine had no care. They were in a state of panic, wanting to destroy him out of terror. Both of the huge beings were far apart from each other.
Icterine went on one knee, placing his other foot on the ground, bracing himself. He was not going to permit what he saw as a huge monster, the chance to destroy the hidden valley that he called home. The mechanical isopod curled up into a ball after releasing a giant puddle of ink. It began rolling rapidly in it once more before it took off at maximum speed, rolling straight toward the titan. The machine bounced up, aiming for the head. Icterine sniffled in fear before he took the hit, directly catching the metal ball and holding it in the air as it bowled rapidly, slinging purple ink everywhere. It stung his face and one of his eyes. He used his tentacles and slammed them against the sides of the robotic isopod, forcing it to stop spinning. The yellow inkling panted, while being somewhat leaned back with how heavy his enemy was. However, with tears in his eyes, he appeared ready to break down at any second.
Icterine let out a loud roar, brought on from his emotional state of mind, that had been forced into the heat of battle. The howl rung out and echoed throughout all of the hidden valley, scaring any of the beings in the surrounding area, as though it was his method to signify that this fight was over. He slammed the metal ball onto the ground like a tiny basketball. The robotic isopod cracked somewhat from the insanely hard blow. The octolings' piloting the war machine began to hit buttons to try and retaliate, but they had not a chance left. The purple ink poured out underneath the robot, which stung Icterine's feet, but he didn't care. He raised his hands up and put them together, throwing them downward and onto the back of the isopod robot, his knuckles breaking it with full force.
That one blow was enough to break it in two. The metal was torn apart, and the octopi inside screamed in terror. Purple ink splattered everywhere, and parts went flying with the shrapnel. Icterine grabbed the head of the robotic isopod and tore it off, large broken wires dangling from the neck. He turned the head of the robot upside down and held his other hand out under it. After a brief moment, the two octolings fell out and landed on his palm.
The male and female octarians were horrified to be in the giant's palm. They both had the same thoughts in the minds; were they going to be eaten? Were they going to be crushed? Or will they somehow escape but be forced to live in the underground valley, because they had no means of getting out since their machine was destroyed. They then noticed a few tears running down the titan inkling's cheeks, washing away some of the purple ink. Icterine began to close his hand around the two. He could hear them plead for mercy, at least from the female octoling. She was begging to stay alive, and the male was more or less crying for his parents.
Icterine did not crush them. Instead, he grabbed the head of the robot and put them back inside, and pinched the opening closed, trapping them within. The octolings inside were confused, but they were quickly strapping into their seat belts, having a bad feeling that they were about to meet their fate, even if the metal isopod was very durable. Icterine swung forward, tossing the head of the fallen robot like it was a baseball. One more scream came from the octolings as they, and the robot head, went flying right back through the very hole they came from, harmlessly leaving the underground valley.
The yellow squid panted. He looked at the mess, rubbing his eyes. He was injured, animals were harmed, the bits and pieces of the forest around were damaged, and now the robotic isopods' remains lay there, spewing tiny clouds of smoke. Icterine looked over to his right, seeing a huge waterfall that poured into a big lake. It was where the water in the various rivers came from, and where he got his thirst quenched whenever he needed it. Icterine reached over, putting his hands together and then dipping them into the water. With his palms, he pulled out a pool of water.
Icterine dumped the water over the remaining messy ink, washing it instantly. Ink was incredibly easy to clean with just a tiny bit of water. The fifteen-year-old giant had to do this three times to get rid of all the purple ink, and help clean up some of the animals that had been drenched in ink. Icterine stood up, going over toward a huge clearing where there was nothing but the ground below, not even trees. The yellow titan dug his hands into the dirt and removed one huge pile of it, dropping it aside. He began digging, and quite a lot, too.
After two hours of digging with his bare hands, he finally got a big enough hole made, at least one that was seeming perfect in size. Icterine was carrying back the pieces of the robot in his arms. When he got in front of the hole, he lowered every last mechanical piece and metal sheet into the hole. Icterine then put his palm down beside the huge pile of dirt and brushed it over the hole, covering it up in seconds. Though it was like a dog burying a cherished bone, he acted like this was a burial for his defeated enemy.
Icterine was still visibly upset. This fight had emotionally torn him apart inside. He had no idea what a robot was, as not one of them had ever existed in this underground place. He thought he had actually killed something, even after having done his best to save the octolings piloting it and send them free to the surface. Whatever was up there, he did not want to know. Icterine laid his head down on the very dirt around him, wanting to take a nap. He hoped that this was just a rouge beast, that just attacked him like any common animal would do when scared. The giant squid closed his eyes while on his side. He began to quickly feel drowsy, only wanting to sleep while allowing the wildlife time to realize peace was restored, despite the fact this was the first real interruption in the calm underground valley ever in his existence. Icterine carelessly rolled onto his back and fell asleep.
Four days had passed since that fight between the octarian war machine and the giant squid. Icterine sat by the waterfall lake, pure and clear water was running through it. Inklings couldn't survive in saltwater as they would melt in it and be splattered quickly, freshwater however was alright. And thankfully this waterfall held freshwater. There were a few decent sized turtles and other aquatic creatures swimming around, continuing with their day. The giant squid had recovered a lot from that fight and the calm essence was back in the hidden valley. The giant inkling could see a few deer on another part of the lake, drinking the water. He smiled, seeing them enjoy it. Most of the animals around here knew him because they could nearly always see him, and they had gotten very used to the shaking his walking caused.
Icterine had spent the first two days since that fight cleaning up a little, uprooting dead trees and moving them aside, while giving a proper burial to the animals that had sadly been killed by either consuming too much of the purple ink, or being crushed by the robotic isopod. It was an emotional shock for the poor fifteen-year-old giant to take in. He was as emotionally steady as an eight-year-old. He had cried through the entire cleanup, but he was recovering at his own pace.
Icterine looked over to his left, seeing one of the bigger turtles moving at its own extremely slow pace, trying to return to the waterfall lake that was its home. The giant squid reached down and carefully grabbed the sides of its shell with his two fingers, he gently picked it up and slowly moved it over to the lake and placed it down in front of it. The turtle not reacting at all to its sudden quick travel, it just continued into the water. Icterine had a big smile glad the animals were use to him, mostly because he never posed a threat to any of them with how long he had been here. But he had no memories beyond a few months ago in time.
Icterine noticed a bright light pierce the area that was brighter than ever. His heart sank to his stomach, seeing where it came from. There was a second hole in the ceiling of the underground, and there were two lights aimed directly for them. Something was crawling from the hole. Icterine watched a giant machine fall from above and onto the ground. All eight of its legs created holes around it. The giant squid could tell this was a giant spider crab, but it was another one of the octarians war machines.
The octolings who had first attacked him informed their leader of their findings, and they were out to take the hidden valley for themselves, and they especially wanted to capture Icterine for research. Their only option on how to, was to knock him out. Icterine spotted five octolings through the glass eyes that were shining bright, piloting the robotic spider crab. The claws snapped to try and threaten their gigantic foe. The yellow titan stood up, seeing the metallic crab come charging toward him.
Icterine stood his ground in front of the waterfall lake. He didn't get a chance to react when his opponent dug its claws into the ground and ripped out a boulder, throwing it. It hit the giant squid in the chest and forced him to fall over onto his back, his head only a few feet away from the lake that he was trying his best to protect. Icterine shoved the boulder off himself, his chest and arms hurting. Suddenly those bright lights were shined in his eyes once again, blinding him momentarily. Before he knew it, he was pinned down by the giant spider crab robot that was now on top of him.
Icterine suddenly felt a sharp pain shoot out through his body. The octoling war machine had dug its left claw into his side. The giant inkling let out a cry of agony as his flesh was pierced. He had no choice, for once more he had to fight. Using his tentacles, he threw the robotic spider crab off of him, forcing it to tumble backwards and painfully retracting its claw from his side. Icterine quickly forced himself onto his feet, trying to catch his breath. He put a hand on his wound, seeing his blue blood dribble out from the gaping gash, which thankfully was not too deep.
Icterine watched as the war crab turned over and stood back up. The yellow giant squid raised his hand up, the blood falling off of it and onto the ground. He stayed still, mentally begging for this fight to stop… but it didn't. The mechanical spider crab's back opened up, and two ink strikes appeared from the opening. The giant squid had no idea what these things were, but they were heavy artillery weaponry that could cover a good surrounding area in the ink of choice, and they were both filled with that purple ink. The octolings fired the first ink strike in their disposal. Icterine stared in awe, watching it soar high into the air before it made a nose dive right toward him. Right on impact, it suddenly exploded into a huge storm of the purple ink that steadily widened.
The octolings piloting the robotic spider crab seemed very excited, believing they had won. However, when the ink cleared, they all were shocked to see Icterine standing tall, not caring how much of the stinging burning pain was on his body, or how stained his clothes were. Icterine began to stomp toward the spider crab robot. Each time his foot landed, it shook the ground. The octarians inside were beginning to lose their cool as they watched the giant squid come right toward them, the entire underground valley feeling a mighty earthquake happen.
The second ink strike flew directly at Icterine. He dodged it, grabbing the ink filled missile with his left tentacle. He put the ink strike in his hand before jumping at the robotic spider crab. His mechanical enemy attempted to fight back, swinging their two claws and stabbing the giant inkling in the left leg and right tentacle. Icterine bit his lip as he slam-dunked the ink strike right into the head of the spider crab, and just like that, the two were engulfed in a huge eruption of purple ink that sprung to the sky and rained down below.
The ink strike faded away fast. Lying there were the two titans, the mechanical spider crab covered in its ink damaged and two of its legs ripped off from the explosion of the ink strike, and Icterine lying on his side, holding his hand in agony. Having a missile of ink exploding in his hand was quite a painful experience.
The yellow squid began to hear an odd whirring and sparking. No such noises like this ever hit his ears before. He sat up and looked at the enemy that he hoped he had beaten, when suddenly it started to spin around with a red light flashing. A warning alarm was blaring from inside the machine, and the spider crab was changing. It gained thicker claws and a harder plate of metal armor running around it for protection. The now bulkier spider crab robot had gained much more protection, and had changed into a robotic coconut crab. These octolings were prepared for a harder fight, the pilots blazing in fury from having one of their own weapons used against them.
Icterine felt exhausted. He could not believe what he was witnessing. To him, he just saw a creature dramatically evolve into a near completely new form. The claws looked even more menacing than he would wish to see. The coconut crab robot began to approach him. Icterine decided to approach as well to keep the battle away from the waterfall and the creatures within. The giant squid had an idea in mind. Nearby was one of the many giant trees that had the brightly colored big fruit dangling from it.
Icterine reached up and picked one of the fruits from it. Before the mechanical coconut crab could attempt to attack, the giant yellow inkling presented the fruit to them. He was still desperate for peace. Already the ink was a huge mess that would be easy to clean up, and the holes their fight made could be easily filled in. The giant watched the metallic coconut crab take the fruit in one of its claws. The octolings inside appeared confused, four of the five pilots talking about this and wondering what to do, though the primary pilot already had something in mind. With the thrust of a lever, there was a loud squish.
Icterine gave an unamused look, seeing the now crushed huge fruit in the giant robot's claw. He could not imagine anything alive hating these fruits, though the titan squid had not met really any living creatures besides animals. It was depressing to see the food wasted, and his peace offering crushed. The mechanical coconut crab hammered him in the face with one of its big claws, causing the giant squids nose to begin bleeding as he fell onto his back.
Icterine tried to put up his guard, when one of his hands got grabbed by the claws of the machine. He tried to punch it, but then his other hand got caught. The coconut crab robot began to crush his knuckles in its claws. The over sized inkling let out a loud howl of agony that echoed heavily. He was feeling immense pain shooting through his arms from his hands. He bashed the mechanical crab with his tentacles, but they weren't strong enough to get the heavily armored form of machine to stop. The claws crushed harder. The octolings piloting the machine were enjoying the pain they were delivering to him. Icterine grit his teeth before closing his eyes. After a few agonizing seconds, he suddenly began to feel a lot better.
Icterine opened his eyes, and he realized his enemy seemed stunned. The giant inkling had changed into his squid form. He was now a big kraken, his tentacles looking strong enough to rip a ship in half. All inklings had this ability to change back and forth from one form to the other, when they turned fourteen of age. The yellow giant had never become this before, as he hadn't a clue of his own ability to change forms like this. He was not going to complain, now that the change had freed him from the crushing grip of his enemy. Icterine had no choice but to fight, since his effort for peace had failed spectacularly.
The octolings weren't going to let just a big squid scare them. They began to attack once more, swinging both of their claws toward him, trying to get a grip on the giant yet again. However, Icterine spun around, launching into the air with a super jump. He never had felt his kind of energy, this fire blazing inside him. His desire to protect and save everything around blended into the inferno of his soul.
Icterine came flying down right on top of his enemy, his tentacles slamming onto the top of the coconut crab machine with almighty force. The sound of metal bending rung out loudly through the hidden valley. He had nearly broken the entire back part of the machine. His left tentacle got grabbed by the tough claw, but then he grabbed the lower part of the mechanical crab with his other tentacle, tolerating the pain. He began to quickly change back into his inkling form. The giant squid opened his mouth wide before sinking all three of his sharp teeth into the face of the coconut crab machine. He could hear the screaming of the octolings from inside the machine.
Icterine ripped the head off the coconut crab robot with his teeth. He spat the head out, watching it soar and bounce onto the ground, covered in his saliva. All five of the pilots were all in terror. One of them was unconscious in his control chair, while another was hiding underneath their control console. Two of them were exchanging a 'goodbye to life' kiss to each other, and the leader of the group of four octarians was gripping his controls so hard, he had actually ripped off his levers. They all thought they were about to be eaten alive as they looked at the injured giant inkling.
Icterine grabbed the head of the defeated robot. His body was thriving in pain. He did the same thing he did before, pulling back and tossing the metal shrapnel like a baseball, sending it flying back through the hole. Icterine knew those five octolings had been defeated, but still, one thing was for sure. The octarians were coming for him and his home. He had no idea what to do. The giant squid sat down, wanting to let his injuries heal before he made any effort toward cleaning up this area again. He surveyed the huge mess of ink from those ink strikes, but thankfully it was mostly just an open area of dirt and grass. Not many animals were here, and he and the machine had fought far enough away from the waterfall lake that it got by unharmed. The yellow giant tried to keep calm, one breath after another, aware this was not the last attack he was going to receive, and the worst part; Icterine had no idea when the next one would be, or how big the monster of a robot they would bring would be.
For two weeks, Icterine had been trying to relax once he had cleaned up the mess from the battle. He was very uneasy. His wounds had healed quite well, and now there were mostly just bruises and small scratches left, which were small to him. His hand was torn up extensively from letting that ink strike detonate within it, but the biggest problem to the big squid was now his anxiety. He did not feel safe at all anymore. Icterine was just waiting for the next attack from the octarians. He felt horrible over this, being forced to fight when he only wanted peace. It was wishful thinking to hope that the octolings would stop assaulting him, because of their two defeats. He couldn't describe how determined they were to capture him and take this hidden valley for themselves.
Icterine stared up to the three holes in the ceiling of the hidden valley. Two were made by the octarians, but he had no clue where the first one had come from. He never paid it any mind until now, never being curious what was outside his home valley, but at this point, the yellow giant wished he had some way to help get all the animals out safely and find some way to leave himself.
The yellow inkling had an idea. He looked at his hands and the wall, thinking that just maybe, he could dig a way out, one safe enough to be used by the animals and himself.
Icterine wasted no time, digging his hands into the nearest wall of this hidden valley. He began to shovel out huge mounds of the dirt, one pile after another which he would then place safely aside to make sure he did not accidentally bury any of the wildlife. The yellow titan would occasionally hit a huge rock that he would have to rip out by force, but that was no importance to him. Each scoop of dirt caused a small shake surrounding the area, and each handful of dirt felt like another great step toward a better, more peaceful future. He just had to get this plan put into motion. If the octolings wanted him so desperately, then he could flee to an entirely new area, and at least save the hidden valley from falling victim to being one big war zone.
Icterine stopped digging after a while, wanting to take a break. His hands were covered in mud and dirt, and he had found a few odd things while digging, like some odd rock with square fossil within, on the square reading "NES". He just sat it with the rest of the tunneled out rocks. He also found a weird round ball with a bunch of flower petals on it that could only be described in the shape of a big onion. He had put that near the few big fruit trees so he could eat it later.
Icterine was feeling something odd. There was a lot of shaking and quaking, not from his digging, but nothing else underground either. He felt something in his mind trying to warn him. The yellow giant inkling looked up to see a new crack on the ceiling of the hidden valley. He felt his heart skip a beat, wondering what was happening when he saw a fourth hole suddenly emerge. Something big in shape indescribable to him fell fast onto the ground.
Icterine tried to get a better look, but when he approached where the object fell, it was gone. There was nothing but a big hole with tons of tiny holes around it. There was a lot of purple ink. With each tunnel that went so deep, he could not tell where they went and had no idea what was going on. The yellow squid was terrified, seeing the cracked ceiling. The holes appeared to be threatening to cause a gigantic piece of the hidden valley to fall. He was scared, but he tried to keep calm and hoped it would be safe.
Suddenly, ripping out from the ground and launching to his back from behind was a long mechanical gulper eel. Its lower jaw was like a giant pelican's beak. It sank all of its sharp teeth into the back of his right leg. Icterine let out a scream of surprise and pain, looking down at the robotic gulper eel. He grabbed it with one hand and ripped it off by force. He looked closer to see an octoling in the head of the robot. The giant inkling was happy with this fight, having a sinking feeling that an easy victory will be achieved. He simply ripped the head off the robot, before he pulled back and threw the head of the gulper eel machine through one of the holes in the ceiling of the hidden valley with the octoling within it.
Icterine smiled. If that was all he had to deal with today, he was more than happy to live with it. Suddenly, odd noises were heard, and his hopes were quickly shot down. He watched a big machine emerge from the ground, ripping out trees and soil. This octarian war machine looked like a megamouth shark, a lot bigger than either of the machines he had faced before. Icterine got ready, not wanting to get caught off guard like before. This shark robot had a huge arsenal in that giant maw of a mouth, and piloting the machine were a vast number of octolings, bringing out one of the best weapons they had available to beat this giant that so far had disabled two other robots.
Icterine closely watched the megamouth shark machine as it opened its jaw wide and fired three more gulper eel robots out that immediately tunneled into the ground, each one being piloted by octarians of their own. The giant squid hated to do this, but he knew one real way to defeat a tunneling enemy.
Icterine raised his left leg up very high, and then stomped his foot onto the ground, creating a great, massive earthquake which shook the land greatly, and under the machine itself. It was barely seconds after when he saw octolings desperately climbing out of their machines in terror. That one attack had destroyed all of the machines instantly, and now the pilots of the destroyed machines were forced to watch from afar.
Icterine began to charge at the mechanical megamouth shark. The machine was not able to move that fast. It was specifically designed with the thought in mind that it was more of a carrier to bring hundreds of troops in smaller mechs to the battlefield, with additional weapons to back it up. Before the giant inkling could react, two huge splatling guns began opening fire on him from the mouth of his enemy. Pools of purple ink hit him, and each hit burnt him. He put up his arms in defense, having no clue what to do at this very minute. The robotic megamouth shark fired an ink strike, the octarians piloting the machine holding not a shred of concern if their own allies on the ground were splattered.
Icterine could hear the three octolings on the ground screaming in fear, as if he was going to stomp them. The yellow squid quickly dodged the ink missile, despite the pain he was trying to endure. He watched it zoom right past him and head for the already cracked ceiling. Everything and everyone in that one moment seemed to freeze instantly, right as the ink strike collided with the already damaged ceiling. It exploded into a huge wave of purple ink, and the ink showered down from above to a wide area below.
Icterine was out of the way of the splatling gun's aim for now. He could see a landslide of rocks begin to fall from above. Dirt and pieces of the ceiling were coming down, threatening a cave in. The giant squid panted in fear before he began to stomp to the highest point he could find nearby, which was away from the octarians' war machine. After stomping up a small hill, Icterine quickly raised up his arms and tentacles, placing them on the slowly falling ceiling. He gritted his teeth as he used all his strength to stop it from falling. His feet got pushed into the ground a little. His body felt like it was under a thousand pounds of weight. His injuries were throbbing in pain. Just then, the wound on his side reopened, and a fountain of his blue blood sprayed again, he tolerated it. The yellow giant gritted his teeth, fully stopping the ceiling from collapsing, aside from the bits of dirt here and there.
The octolings did not see this threat at all. None of them cared about the ceiling threatening to collapse on them, and they especially didn't care that Icterine was the only thing holding it up. At this point, they saw this as a huge advantage to take him down, and the best way to knock out a giant was to injure them. The octarian leader gave them a special weapon for this very occasion. The megamouth shark opened a bit wider and showed a different type of ink strike missile. Instead, there was a drill on the end. They were planning to majorly harm one of the giant squid's limbs to render him unconscious.
Icterine stood there, the heavy weight remaining on his shoulders. His lip quivered, seeing the weapon aimed for him. He had two options. He could drop the ceiling and try to escape to another safe area and hope to get out with minimal injuries, but that would most likely kill the octolings that were outside of their robots, and all the forest around would be crushed, as well as the animals dwelling here. Icterine's other option was to stand here and hold out as long as he could, and hope that maybe everything around would flee from the sound of the chaos before he was defeated. If peace was not an option, then the giant squid would gladly let himself be sacrificed, if it meant saving countless lives.
Suddenly, before the mechanical megamouth shark could fire, a huge burst of ink exploded onto the side of it, leaving a huge mark of green ink. The octolings were all startled by this, before they could move a muscle, a wave of black ink rained from the sky, the three octolings on the ground all being hit before being splattered, leaving behind only black puddles of ink.
The pilots in the megamouth shark machine were under fire from multiple enemies that the octarians seemed to recognize easily. Someone else stood up with a huge grin on her face. She had two huge black tentacles, and she was wearing a pink cap with a golden star on it and a pair of sunglasses in a pink coat. She was holding an inkzooka on her shoulder, which she aimed and fired, hitting the drill missile in the megamouth shark. The enemy weapon began smoking with the pink ink coating it, appearing to be disabled. Set up on a nearby cliff was a squid with white tentacles, wearing a green cap that was slightly tilted sideways, and a medical mask covering her mouth and nose.
Stepping in front of the megamouth shark machine was another black tentacle-haired inkling, their hair tied to the side of his head with a yellow tinge at the end. He was wearing a white bubble vest with leather gloves on his hands that looked quite durable, and he was holding a slosher deco in his hand. The group of random inklings were Agents 1, 2 and 3, the secret heroes and the only trio fighting the army of octarians behind the veils of Inkopolis, just to make sure there would be no harm between squids or octopi.
The three agents had come after they had caught wind of the octarian army sending multiple of their war machines to this very area that was supposed to be a bottomless pit, where a lot of earthquakes recently came from. They were surprised that it wasn't bottomless at all, not even close, but the agents did not anticipate finding a giant squid here.
Agent 3 looked up to Icterine. That smile of reassurance brightened the giant squid's heart. The giant was glad to know that he no longer was alone in this fight, but he was still stuck holding up the ceiling. Agent 3 bore notice as the megamouth shark bot fired five mechanical gulper eels, all of which fired their splatling guns at him. Agent 3 hit a button on his slosher deco before changing into his squid form, quickly growing in size. He had become a kraken, just like Icterine had once become, and he had become immune to most attacks and with a boost in strength. However, he was only half of Icterine's size.
Agent 3 dodged the first gulper eel bot that had tried to attack him, grabbing the tail of it with his tentacles. He spun around and swung it like a crazy mace, smacking the other four robots with it. All of the pilots flew out of their machines, screaming. The octarians in the motherly war machine were terrified. The trio of agents were the most skilled inklings they knew, having all undergone extensive training to improve their skills quite drastically.
Agent 3 continued toward the megamouth shark while in his kraken form, aware it would not last long. He withstood the splatling gun blasts that did nothing to him at this state. He reached in with his tentacles and grabbed the right splatling gun, pulling hard and ripping it out, causing it to break into pieces and spill out its ammunition of ink. Agent 2 fired her charger while Agent 1 fired her inkzooka while it lasted, both of them hitting the left splatling gun at once. The weapon had no such defense against this combination, as it was destroyed with ease, exploding into a mixture of pink and green ink.
Icterine watched in awe. These three were fearless warriors in battle. He was aware of the situation they were in, but at this point, they had won. The megamouth shark robot was completely out of weapons, every last gulper eel bot was used up and now in shrapnel, and all the pilots either splattered or unconscious, leaving only the main operator of the war machine, a male octoling who stood there with his mouth agape.
Agent 3 reverted back into his regular inkling form, putting his slosher deco on his side, seeing Agent 1 and Agent 2 near him. Victorious, the three were talking amongst each other, trying to figure out how to help the giant squid. Agent 1 sounded at least very enthusiastic, Agent 2 came off a bit more sarcastic and Agent 3 seemed calm and cheerful. Icterine just kept a smile up, glad to know he could rest easily, at least once they found a solution to stop the ceiling from caving in. Until then, the giant yellow squid had to keep holding it up.
The octoling piloting the war machine was enraged. This very machine was given to him by their leader. He would sooner let himself be destroyed before he would allow a mission to fail. He began hammering on buttons and levers, when suddenly he heard a loud beeping red alarm that gave the male octarian a big grin across his face.
The three agents were confused. All of their eyes focused on the mechanical megamouth shark, when suddenly the drill missile launched from it with a loud roar, with purple ink flying behind it. They all looked in horror as it flew right for Icterine. The giant inkling's eyes widened as he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down to see the drill. It had pierced right into his chest. The drill head was broken from the attack. It was like a fatal, over sized spear. His blood exploded around the drill. It fell out seconds after, as his blue blood began to spill like a newly created waterfall. The giant squid began to go on one knee, the ceiling falling a little. Icterine did not plan to stop his goal, as he kept putting all his strength into keeping the ceiling up, even as his life drained away.
Agent 3's eyes widened in horror, as the other two agents were running up to Icterine out of natural response. Agent 3 immediately changed into his squid form and dove into one of the open holes of the megamouth shark where the gulper eel robots had been fired from. The octarian piloting the war machine was, watching this gory display eagerly. However, Agent 3 had quickly gotten to the control room with an angry expression on his face. That octoling just fatally wounded an innocent giant squid, and he was not going to let him get away with it. He charged up and punched the octoling in the back of the head, slamming his head into the control console and knocking him out instantly. Agent 3 took the control seat from there, looking over everything. Thankfully, the driving controls seemed simple, and it was all he needed.
Agent 1 and Agent 2 saw the megamouth shark robot begin moving, cutting through the ground like a boat on the ocean as it drove up the small hill Icterine was on, going up right beside him and getting directly under the ceiling. This was just enough to stop it from falling entirely. Agent 3 had decided to use the war machine as a brand new pillar. He tore the wires out of the control console to make sure no octoling could move it out of the way. The unconscious octoling commander was not going to surprise them anymore.
Icterine fell onto his knees, relieved and panting. Agent 3 climbed out of the war machine, stepping alongside his close friends. The giant squid looked down at the three who were staring up at him with no idea what to do. The hole in the giant squid's chest was pouring out a lot of blood. Inklings could heal fast and even regrow entire limbs if they lost them, but an injury of this catastrophic size would require huge medical attention, and no one in existence knew anything about giant's anatomy.
Icterine could tell that they were upset, feeling like complete failures. The giant yellow squid forced a smile on his face. His mind was racing, though his memory was fading in and out, but it was all focusing on one area entirely. The three agents saw the titan squid point a finger weakly to the direction straight ahead. Agent 3 looking at the direction, but to him there was nothing that way, beyond the way to go deeper into the cavern. The black inkling ran off ahead, aware that Icterine was dying, letting Agents 1 and 2 stay behind with him.
Agent 3 had run as fast as he could down into the cave. Animals were hiding deep down here from the huge noise that had occurred. He found it normal, but he saw nothing of interest, yet he kept going even deeper, until he reached the very bottom. He slowed down when he saw a dead end, but there was a very tiny hole that looked like only a squid could crawl through. Agent 3 changed into his squid form, easily slipping through the cracks. He found himself in a tiny cave with a bright light shining down on it. There was a clear huge fall from above.
Agent 3 took one glance and shook his head, seeing bones lying within clothing that could only be described as clothes that an older business woman would be wearing. The teenager suddenly saw something else that caught his eye. There were two eggs lying nearby, and in between them was a hatched third egg. This hidden valley had so many strange and weird hidden properties within it. Agent 3 could only assume these were the siblings to Icterine that had not yet hatched, and the deceased nearby was more certainly his mother, a poor squid who had just fell down the wrong hole with no hope of escape, her body had acted as a cushion for the eggs. Agent 3 had to break the wall down if he wanted to get the eggs out at all. He activated his slosher deco, changing into his kraken form with a determined glare on his face. He pulled back one tentacle and threw it at the wall.
Icterine and the other two agents could hear a rumbling noise. The giant squid was doing his best to stay conscious. His eyelids were getting heavy. The only thing keeping him awake were his memories and the other agents occasionally shouting at him, both confused over the big smile across his face, though he could not understand them at all, as he never had heard the common language. To him, it was just an alien language. It was not long before they all saw Agent 3 return, carrying the two eggs under his arms, panting from the long run.
Agent 3 presented the two eggs to the giant. Icterine's smile grew, now his mind was a lot better on that one vague memory. He recalled hatching in some dark place and had crawled out. Everything from there was blank, and he had no idea why he had no memory of anything else beyond months ago. The yellow titan never knew why he wanted peace so badly until now, and it was mainly influenced by those two very eggs. He was happy to die, knowing they were safe.
Agent 3 felt his heart sink as Icterine's eyelids closed, and his head slumped. His body sat upright while he was on his knees. The gaping wound in his chest had stopped bleeding, but that was because he nearly lost all the blood he had. Agent 1 sniffled before hugging Agent 2, beginning to cry into her shoulder. Their dear friend placed the two eggs in front of the deceased giant. The octolings had taken a life with this pointless effort, but all they could do was leave the hidden valley, as there was to be no population of migrating octolings or inklings, but just nature surviving down here on its own. Icterine had given his life up to keep peace and harmony, and he did just that. The agents went onward to splatter the last few octolings that were left around.
When they climbed out of the hidden valley and back into normal Octo Valley. Agent 3 looked at Agents 1 and 2, who were deciding to call it an early day. This mission had taken its toll on them all. Agent 3 told them to go on without him, and they did not question his request.
Agent 3 stood in front of the great pit, taking in all that had happened. It was a tragic time that would be forever bore into his memory. Icterine was happy in death, thankful that the life in the hidden valley would go unharmed and undisturbed. Hopefully the octolings would report to their leader the death of the giant inkling and cease their attempts at assaulting the underground area. Agent 3 reached into his pocket and pulled out an old small golden coin, a common currency to inklings, but it was his personal good luck charm. He had found it in a storm drain, that he had fell down during a turf war. He tossed the coin into the pit before walking away, thinking it would have been something the giant would have found fascinating.
The golden coin shimmered a little in the light as it fell, landing on the ground. After a few minutes, odd noises could be heard as two tiny tentacles grabbed the coin. One was purple with a yellow tinge at the end, and the other was orange with a yellow tinge at the end. The tentacles struggled over the coin for a moment before it broke in half. They were squishies, newborn squids that had been fighting over the coin.
Icterine stayed unchanged in his final resting place, that same smile on his face with now the two hatched eggs before him. One of the rarest species nearly had become extinct, but hopefully, his siblings will grow and prosper in a new peaceful environment and become harmonious with nature.