Boom, second chapter today. I had a lot of time, so enjoy your double helping of Fracture.

-Past-

Time lost most of its meaning while Marie sat in her cell, Doctor Tesh having reluctantly refused to remove her straitjacket. She only had three meals a day to break the monotony. It wasn't her confinement that caused her the most frustration, it was the fact that the most basic of tasks aside from drinking through a straw had to be done by a doctor. She had to endure being fed by someone else and even going to the toilet with someone else- it made her blood boil, making her feel like an infant.

When Tesh opened the door again, she scowled at him. He only looked away sadly, unable to meet her gaze. He unfolded his chair and sat down, opening his file on his knees. Marie continued to glare.

"You have visitors."

Marie's mood brightened immediately. She leaned forward.

"Who?"

Tesh stood up.

"Follow me."

For the first time in what seemed like days, Marie stood and crossed the padded room, staying a short distance behind Tesh. The stepped outside, shuddering when she head the muted screams and laughs of the genuinely disturbed in the adjacent cells. Several inmates were pressed against the windows of their cells, staring at her with glassy eyes. Some of the inhabitants just stared, while others repeated slammed against the door, screaming inaudibly. She shuddered when one coughed a mouthful of blood onto the window, and Marie turned away, focusing on the dull green top of Tesh's head instead. Her straitjacket felt tighter than ever as she walked past the cells.

Marie was pushed into a checkpoint while Tesh passed his ID through a grate, receiving back almost instantly. The gate behind her closed while the one in front opened, allowing her to continue. She stepped out, two guard falling in behind her while Tesh stepped in front again. The corridor was wide, yet the yellow lines on the floor made it clear to Marie where she was meant to stand.

"This is the only corridor in and out of the prison." Tesh explained. "Simplicity stops some of the inmates from getting too excited. It also makes containment breaches easier to manage."

Containment. They treat the inmates like animals.

Going through another checkpoint, the next building looked much more welcoming, with carpets and wallpaper instead of cold concrete and steel. She was waved into a room with a glass partition, a microphone hanging from the ceiling and speakers embedded in the walls. She sat down on the stool before the glass, the guards closing the door behind her and standing watch. With nothing else to do, she waited. Her head shot up when the door rattled, the noise sounding tinny through the speakers. She almost cried when both Callie and Mira entered the other side of the room, the former running forward and placing her hands on the glass, much to Tesh's annoyance. Marie just shrugged, trying to wiggle her arm in what would equate to a wave.

"Marie! Are you alright?"

"I feel alright. I mean, I can't do much, but I feel alright." She looked at the Octoling. "Hi, Mira."

She waved at her, and Marie smiled, tilting her head.

"Sooo, Splatfest is tonight. The doctor here says he can't let you out."

"Really? Come on, Doctor Tesh."

He shrugged.

"I'm sorry, it's not my decision."

"But-"

"Marie." Callie snapped. "He can't let you out, but we do have technology. We can just put you in front of a camera and live stream you."

"In a straitjacket?"

Callie ducked her head.

"I thought that's what you'd say. So instead of that..."

She gestured to Mira, who took a deep breath and began singing. Marie was bowled over at how good she was. Callie grinned as Mira finished.

"That was amazing! You have a lovely singing voice and excellent range."

"I know right? The other day I paid a visit to the refugee home and put on a bit of a show. It felt wrong, without you there, but lo and behold, Mira steps up and does background vocals for me."

"You should be proud of yourself." Marie said. "You're a natural."

Behind the pair, Tesh opened his file, pulling out a photo. He approached the screen.

"Now, after watching your interactions then, I'm hoping that this will go without any hitches. But, just in case, guards. I'm hoping your friends here will keep your head above water."

One of the guards stepped forward and placed a wire loop attached to a pole around Marie's neck while the other took aim with a stun gun.

"Really?"

"It's a precaution. Now then. The day you were brought in, you walked into what can only really be described as a nightmare. I'm about to show you photographs of what you saw. Do you want to go through with this?"

Marie took a few deep breaths before nodding. Tesh held up a picture to the glass, Marie leaning closer to inspect it. She paled when she saw that it was a neat pyramid of ten eyes stacked on a bench. Something clawed at the corner of her mind, like she could almost remember something. She looked up at Tesh. He held up another photo, this one showing the body of an Inkling skewered on a tree branch. Marie turned away, holding back the nausea that threatened to overcome her.

"Marie? Are you feeling alright?"

"No."

"Good. If you were, there would be something severely wrong. Alright, I'm going to show you the final picture, and I must warn you. We believe this one is the one that caused you to snap. Are you ready?"

Marie swallowed.

"Can I have a drink first?"

"By all means."

One of the guards produced a carton, pierced the film and held it up to Marie, who wrapped her lips around the straw, drawing on it for a second before moving her head away and nodding. The guard stepped back and took aim again as Tesh turned the final photo and held it up, showing the crime in its full nightmarish horror, the Inklings suspended in the trees with their eyes stacked on the bench below them. She couldn't help it, she turned away from the window and vomited as the memory of the day tore its way to the surface. She gasped, taking steadying breaths and the guard moved the straw to her lips again. She drank heavily, trying to get the foul taste out of her mouth.

"That... Is the most awful thing I have ever seen." She coughed, another glob of bile hitting the floor.

"Well, the good news is that you're not completely catatonic this time. That much is clear. However, we don't know what your mental state is now that you remember. Up until now, you've had no recollection of the day, but clearly you remember it now."

"I remember walking into the clearing and seeing... That... But it's all blurry after that."

"Hm, yes. Well, in any case, we're going to need to keep you here for a few days. With the straitjacket."

Marie looked crestfallen.

"I wouldn't mind staying here without this damn jacket."

"It's not my choice to make, unfortunately."

"Marie, are you going to at least appear in front of a camera?" Mira asked.

"As long as they don't show the jacket. Don't want people getting the wrong idea. Hey, and you'll be fine. Trust us, the last timid girl we came across his now a senior investigator. You'll be great!" Mira giggled and looked away.

"Who knows?" Callie said. "Some of the crowd might like the bad girl look."

"This isn't a bad girl look. This is the deranged look."

"Eh, same diff. Every thought about doing pin-ups?"

"What." Marie deadpanned.

"They could be really popular! Straitjackets can be sexy!"

"Callie!"

Her cousin cackled while her face burned, the ever-present straitjacket ensuring that she could not cover her flustered face. Behind her, the guards sniggered, and she silenced them with a glare. Tesh and Mira looked on bemusedly, the former writing on his clipboard again and the latter turning away, slightly red in the face.

"Alright. You're stable to a point where you socially interact normally, so we'll let you appear on camera. You need to get cleaned up. I'll send someone over later. In the meantime..." He nodded to the guard, who removed the wire loop. The other holstered his stun gun. Marie leant her head on the glass, Callie doing the same on the other side.

"I'll see you soon."

Marie was led out of the room and down the corridors back to her cell. She sighed as the door was shut again, and she was left alone with her thoughts.


True to his word, Tesh had sent someone to clean Marie outside of the scheduled time, and she sat as still as she could while they soaked her in ink and soap. She was still restrained, and she hated how helpless she felt as a total stranger rubbed the solution into her skin. She shuddered at each touch. When she was finally dressed again, she had to sit still while someone else applied make-up. She had to give them credit, they did a damn good job. She was then taken into one of the meeting rooms, having been given a different jacket to wear which was less obvious than the straitjacket, and allowed her to wear the choker she wore so often. It was a small luxury, but she felt more normal, even if it was just a little.

A screen had been set up inside the room, a camera on top of it. The screen currently showed the Inkopolis Plaza, a crowd of Inklings gathered in anticipation for the event about to begin. Two pedals sat on the floor, and as Marie pressed them, her view panned from side to side. She smiled. Small luxuries. Moving the camera around some more, she deduced that it was mounted on top of her truck. She panned around, searching for Callie. She spotted her on her truck, her shutters still up. She was checking her watch, before she looked up and waved at the camera. Marie waved back, unsure as to whether or not she saw the gesture. Callie held up two fingers to the camera. Two minutes.

Recalibrating the camera, Marie waited, watching as Mira stood on her stage doing several stretches and breathing exercises. Marie wished she could talk to her. A burst of fireworks, followed by lights illuminating Callie signalled the start of the event. Midna's shutters remained up.

"Hello Inkopolis!" She got a roar from the crowd in response. "Are we ready for a SPLATFEST?"

The crowd roared again, and Callie held up a hand. There was instant silence.

"Now, I have some sad news. My other half, my dead sister Marie, is ill, and could not be with us today." There came a sympathetic "aww" from the crowd. "But... On my travels, I stumbled upon a fantastic singer who agreed to take her place, just this once!" Mumbles rippled through the crowd. "Now I know you're all wondering. Who could possibly have ascended to become the next Marie? Well, ladies and gentlemen, we found her- with an ironically similar name, too- I give you... Mira!"

Music began playing as the catches on Mira's shutters began popping off, one by one. As the music reached her cue, the shutters dropped away as she began to sing. The crowd was silent for a second before they began cheering, many at the front jumping up and down in time with the music. The rest of the crowd joined in before the end of the song. When Mira's opening finished, Callie spoke up again.

"So Mira, how are you feeling tonight?"

"Before? I was panicking. An Octoling in front of such a large crowd. Now? I feel like I could sing forever!"

The crowd cheered and Callie laughed.

"We'll see if you feel like that this time tomorrow. Now, we have another announcement before we begin. If you'd all be so kind as to direct your attention to that screen. Do try to tear your eyes away from us, we know we're fantastic, but this is important."

She pointed to the screen behind Mira, and the lights fell on it, a synthesised drum roll growing as most of the lights turned off. The light above Marie's camera blinked on, as did all of the spotlights in the plaza.

"Hello Inkopolis!"

The crowd exploded with cheers again as she appeared on-screen.

"So sorry I couldn't be there. I'm a little... Tied up at the moment. I will be taking questions that I will answer here. Send them with your name through the studio!"

Callie burst out laughing while Mira shook her head, smiling.

"Nice one, sis. Now then: stage announcements for Splatfest! The rules are Turf War as always, let's see what maps we have.

Marie's face moved into one corner of the screen while the rest was taken up by the possible stages flashing across the screen.

"Flounder Heights! I love this place at night!"

"I'm sure people don't like you lot battling at night." Mira responded. Marie arched a brow.

She is exactly like an Octoling version of me.

"Saltspray Rig! Be careful not to fall off!"

"That doesn't stop you from pushing others off, though."

"Hammerhead Bridge!"

"I know you love the view here at night, Callie." Marie cut in. "But shouldn't you focus on the battle?"

"Yeah, yeah! But the lights are so pretty!"

"You know what else is pretty?" Mira asked. "Ink flying everywhere. Like it should be."

The crowd roared again.

"Okay!" Marie said. "You know your colours- orange for sun holidays, white for snow holidays. Without further ado..."

"Get battling!" Mira shouted, pointing to the lobby.

"And remember..." Callie started.

"Stay fresh!" All three finished.

The battlers of the crowd surged forward as Callie and Mira began their first routine, Marie singing along with them in the background, watching as the questions began to pile up.


About halfway through the Splatfest, Callie and Mira stopped singing, each of them taking a break while many Inklings poured back into the plaza. Marie panned the camera around.

"Okay, time to answer some more questions! Serz asks- how do you chose what stages are used when? Well, in truth, we use a random number generator. Holly asks- Marie are you okay, so Marie are you okay, are you okay Marie?" The crowd let loose with a collective "aww", with some cheers as several Inklings figured out how she would respond. "Holly I am okay, yes Holly I am okay, I am okay Holly." The crowd cheered and Marie did a little bow, taking a quick drink from a straw before turning back to the screen.

"Next question: Rafe asks- tied up? Winky face." The crowd exploded with laughter, with many ooh-ing. Marie looked down at her straitjacket, deciding whether or not her next idea was a stupid one.

Screw it, some of them may like it.

Marie pushed back the stool, showing on-camera that she was in a straitjacket. Callie spat out her drink when she saw the screen, and the crowd applauded. Mira blushed and turned away as Marie extended one leg up in what could only really be described as a pose used for pin-ups.

"Yes, tied up."

She moved the chair back towards the camera, noticing that many of the male inklings in the crowd- and several of the girls, Mira included- were glancing about nervously, an apparent blush creeping to the tips of their ears. Marie raised an eyebrow when several anonymous posts came in asking for more. She rolled her eyes.

"I can't put on a show like that here! There may be children watching!"

The crowd laughed again, Marie answering a few more questions before Callie and Mira began singing again.

The following evening, the music ended, and the lights fell.

"Okay everyone, that was the final battle! Now let's see those results!"

Marie's face was moved again, this time two columns and three rows appearing.

"First, let's see the popularity!"

Numbers flashed in the corresponding row, before stopping suddenly- 57% for sun, 43% for snow. Callie struck a pose.

"Alright! We're more popular, obviously! Now for wins!"

Numbers flashed through the next row and stopped. 48% for sun, 52% for snow. The crowd rumbled.

"Yeah." Mira said. "It is close."

"Now for the total!" Marie announced.

A small "x4" appeared next to wins, and the total score for the Splatfest teams appeared- 249 for sun, 251 for snow.

"Yes!" Mira raised a fist into the air, and Marie would have done the same if it wasn't for her restraints. "Snow holidays confirmed as best holidays!"

"Sorry team, looks like we were left out in the cold." Callie said. "Well, that concludes Splatfest, we'll see you all next time! Goodbye, Inkopolis!"

The shutters raised, blocking off Callie and Mira's view of the plaza, the trucks' powerful engines starting up. The light above Marie's camera went out, and she sagged, yawning. The door opened behind her, Doctor Tesh walking in.

"Hey, Doc." Marie yawned. "Any news."

"Some, yes. Stand up."

She dragged herself to her feet, noticing that Tesh was holding a signed piece of paper. She read the top of it- Declaration of Conditional Discharge. Marie's eyes widened.

"Is this your signature?"

"And one of the directors, yes. But note that it says Conditional." He pointed to several lines and paragraphs. "In short, you must agree to do what your custodian tells on to do, and accept that you may still be restrained. You can be brought back here if your custodian deems it necessary. Understand?"

"Yes."

Marie could barely keep the excited quiver out of her voice.

"Good. We have the clothes you were wearing when we picked you up packed up and ready for you. Again, whether you'll be allowed to wear them depends on your custodian."

"Who is my custodian?"

Tesh gave her a sideways glance and half-smile.

"You'll see."

He led her out of the room, and into a warehouse, where a small fleet of transport vehicles stood waiting. She was ushered into the back of a truck and sat facing the front, Tesh pulling a seatbelt around her. He placed a bag under her seat.

"Good luck, Marie."

He closed the doors and slapped the back of the vehicle twice. It immediately pulled away, carrying Marie out of the facility she had called home for the past few days.

When the truck stopped again, Marie didn't know what to expect. She wasn't entirely sure where the prison was, so she had no reference as to where she could be. They had also been driving for at least an hour- she wasn't entirely sure- so they could have been anywhere in Inkopolis. She winced when the back doors opened. The seat prevented her from looking outside, but she could still feel the cold. The driver stood in front of her.

"There is a crowd of Inklings forming outside, probably wondering who's in the asylum van that just pulled up." He held up a black hood. Marie rolled her eyes.

"Let's get this over with."

The driver placed the hood over her head, completely covering her face and hair from view. She was them released from the seat and walked outside, a swarm of whispers reaching her ears from the Inklings around her. She turned her head towards the sounds, trying to catch snippets of information.

"Who is that?"

"We're not in danger, are we?"

"Mum? I'm scared."

"It'll be fine, I'm sure."

She faced forwards as she heard a door open, and she was marched inside a building. The guard pulled her to a stop, and she soon heard a ding. She was moved forward another few metres before stopping again. She almost fell over when the floor moved, and she quickly realised she was in an elevator. When the carriage stopped again, she was pushed forwards, down a corridor and stopped in front of a door. The guard knocked on it, and Marie heard it open, a familiar smell hitting her.

Oh, thank you, Doctor Tesh.