( Hey look it's those fanfic references I was talking about. I'm sure if you have read a number of Splatoon fanfictions before you'll see some names you recognize. Keep in mind hopper had traveled to all of the fanfics mentioned before arriving here. Anyway, the aftermath of the concert bleeds onto everyone, and fizz is completely broken. If you are understanding the story so far I can almost guarantee it won't stay that way for long. Keep your train of thought in place and you'll do just fine. )
-chapterstart-
Hopper and octoling stand in the white void.
"I'm just saying, mending time is better then her fractured Spirit."
Octoling frowns.
"No it isn't! Fractured Spirit has better relationships!"
"Mending time has a better story."
A loud scream startles them both, and they turn around.
Marie is pointing at a spot on the 'ground'.
"What's wrong?"
Hopper walks over and frowns.
"An octoling tentacle piece...?"
He picks it up, and inspects it.
"Where did this come from?"
Octoling stares at it for a second.
"It's lifeless. Whoever it belonged to is dead."
Hopper takes a plastic bag and places the tentacle into it.
"Well then it ended up here for a reason, so I should probably keep it."
Octoling nods.
"Good idea. Maybe go check around to see what universe it came from?"
Hopper nods.
"I should probably check fizz's first. The chances are high it came from his."
He snaps his fingers, creating a portal.
"See you later octoling."
"You too."
He steps through the portal.
-segmentline-
Fizz stares at the ceiling.
"Why."
He rolls over and looks at a photo on the bedside. It's a photo that fizz and Sarah took together at Karl's request.
"Why..."
He grabs the photo, and pulls it closer.
"After everything... She died because she couldn't leave me alone."
Fizz puts the photo back down and rolls over.
"I can't do anything without her..."
He slams his head into his pillow.
"Is this how Anthony felt? No... It's worse. Arron was alive."
He rolls over again, looking at Sarah's coat.
"Killing myself doesn't seem horrible right now."
He looks back up at the ceiling.
"Unfortunately, I'm not Anthony. I can't die until the fucker who did this is dead."
He looks at the photo.
"But I can't get up. I can't move. No reason to, after all."
He stares at the photo. It almost seems like it's taunting him, reminding him of the better days.
"I miss you, Sarah. This shouldn't have happened. I'd say that I'd rather be dead, but I wouldn't want this pain forced on you either..."
He closes his eyes for a moment.
"All I can see is you. No matter what. Your smile, your laugh..."
He opens his eyes and looks at the photo.
"Your eyes..."
He tears up, but he wipes them away.
"And now I'm stuck. Split between killing myself and avenging you."
He tries to sit up, but he can't bring himself to.
"This... Feeling. It's the worst thing I've ever felt."
He puts a hand on his chest.
"It's like a hole, right through my chest. The piece taken away from me."
He hears the front door open.
"Fizz...? I need a place to stay for a bit..."
Fizz sighs.
"John... Why now..."
John knocks on the bedroom door.
"If you're in there, I'm gonna set up in the office."
Fizz groans and rolls off of his bed.
He stand up, and opens his door.
"John. Get out."
John sighs.
"Fizz, Zoey's been kidnapped."
Fizz does nothing, until he suddenly collapses onto the ground.
John rushes over to him, and pulls him up.
"I can't. I can't do this."
He walks off, and John sighs.
"I have to find her."
-segmentline-
"Are you sure we should do this?"
Anthony sighs.
"No. But I know what fizz is feeling, and we need to distract him. So let's buy this stuff and go."
Arron nods.
"But why a new game? I've never heard him mention this game..."
"You haven't been talking to fizz enough then. He's obsessed with this game since January."
Arron looks at the box.
"Platoon? What's fun about a game where you go around as humans and shoot each other?"
Anthony shrugs.
"Just grab the squii-u and let's go."
They grab their stuff and walk out.
"You think he'll ever recover from this?"
"I did, didn't I?"
"Because I'm still alive, and you guys rescued me. Sarah's dead, Anthony."
Anthony sighs.
"I know. I don't know if he'll ever get over this. For all I know, he's killing himself right now!"
Arron frowns.
"He's better then that. ...right?"
They look at each other, and begin running.
-segmentline-
Fizz locks his bedroom door and looks around.
"I can't. Everything hurts. Everything."
Fizz walks over to his nightstand and opens the drawer.
"Heh, I guess it's kinda funny in a way."
He pulls out a gun.
"I guess this gun was always destined to kill me."
He checks the magazine, before turning it torwards him.
"I picked this gun up after the worst day of my life. Now it's going to end me on the new worst day."
He pulls the trigger, but it stops.
"The safety's on..."
He flips the switch.
"This is it. My life is over."
He...
Alright, you know what? No.
Fizz lowers the gun.
"Hey! Stop it!"
Fizz throws the gun across the room, breaking it.
"Why?! Why can't you just let me end it?!"
What the fuck is happening here?! You got something you wanna tell me?!
( I have nothing to say. And if I'm not mistaken, you just interrupted the story. )
This is... Insane! I'm not letting the story lose two characters this quickly!
( I'll do what I want, I'm writing the story! )
You're writing it terribly! You killed Sarah, and now you're gonna kill fizz?!
( Why not? It's part of the story, which I AM WRITING. )
"Please, just let me end it..."
Dude. Look at him. He's devastated. Where are you taking this story? Somewhere not fucking depressing I hope...
( I'll do what I want. It's not like you can stop me anyway.)
Fine, but I refuse to let you kill fizz. He's been through enough, damn it.
( Ugh, fine. Let's go back a bit... )
He flips the switch.
"This is it. My life is over."
Something slams into his bedroom door, startling him and making him drop the gun.
"FIZZ, DON'T!"
Fizz drops down and grabs the gun, aiming it at himself once more.
The door flies open, and Anthony tackles him.
"Why are you doing this... I don't want this pain anymore..."
Anthony grabs the gun and throws it to Arron.
"I'm returning the favor. If I wasn't allowed to kill myself back then, you sure as hell can't do it now."
"I just want to die..."
Anthony sighs.
"Yeah, I know. But you can get through this."
"No, I can't. Everything hurts. Nothing feels worth it."
Arron bends down and grabs the gun, pocketing it.
"You're coming to live with us for a bit. I am not letting yourself do this."
Anthony nods.
Fizz closes his eyes.
Arron looks at him.
"He passed out. Come on, let's carry him."
They pick him up and move out the door, with John looking on in disbelief.
"I guess I get this place to myself then...?"
-segmentline-
Pearl looks at the small shack.
"That's Zoey's place, right?"
Marina nods.
"Alright, well, where is that girl then?
"I dunno. We won't find her here though."
"Oh really?"
They swerve around, and aulbrey stands there, annoyed.
"You!"
"Yes, me. Now what do you want?"
"Did you cause the concert bombing?"
Aulbrey laughs.
"No, but my boyfriend almost died in it. The culprit is a man named Marshall."
Marina frowns.
"Marshall? Where can we find him?"
Aulbrey sighs.
"I don't know. He's in the city somewhere."
Pearl shrugs.
"Good enough for me. C'mon Marina."
They start walking away, and aulbrey rolls her eyes.
"Accusing me of bombing a concert? Who does she think she is?"
Zack limps over to her.
"So when can we get back to building our weapon?"
She waves her hand at him.
"In a minute, in a minute."
-segmentline-
Rece sits up in the bed.
"Ugh... What happened..."
Aurie sits up and kisses Rece.
"We fucked for hoooours! I haven't had somebody last that long in bed for years!"
Rece blinks.
"What...?"
Aurie streches, and the blanket falls down, showing off her bare chest.
Rece blushes and looks away.
Aurie smirks and lays down on Rece's lap.
"What's wrong? Embarrassed?"
"I'm shy..."
"Really? I wouldn't have guessed, based on how hard you pounded me last night!"
Rece shivers.
"Did... Really...?"
Aurie sits up and hugs Rece.
"You were amazing. You don't need to be so reserved..."
She pulls her head up to see Rece staring at her with a reserved look.
She frowns.
"Do you regret it?"
Rece shakes his head.
"No... It just feels wrong..."
Aurie smiles and pulls rece in for a kiss.
He slowly returns it, and they keep going for a while.
Aurie breaks away, and looks at Rece, who's panting slightly.
"Did that feel wrong?"
Rece looks at Aurie, before smiling.
"No. It didn't."
-segmentline-
Fizz stares at the ceiling.
"What do you think he's thinking about?"
He doesn't like these two. They stopped him from ending his pain.
"No idea. Hopefully he's trying to look on the bright side."
"Dude. It's fizz."
Is pain all he's allowed to feel now? It's like when he was tied to that bed...
"We should leave him be. If we hear anything, we come back."
"Yep. Alright fizz, call us if you need anything."
"I need that gun."
"No you don't."
He hears them walk out.
"It hurts so much. So much."
He turns himself over, looking at the door.
"She was my everything... No one can ever fill that void..."
He hears voices.
"What do you mean? We can't take care of her."
"You have to! We can't find fizz anywhere!"
"Alright, fine. I guess we can take her for a few days."
"Thank you! We'll be back in a couple of days."
Fizz turns over.
"We should show fizz."
"Really...? I don't know about that."
"Just trust me."
He hears the door open.
"He's right there."
Fizz groans.
"Unless you're here to bring me that gun, I-"
"Bubda!"
Fizz sits up and turns immediately.
"Hayden?"
The tiny slightly humanoid squid jumps on to fizz.
"Hi budba! I haben't seen you for forever!"
"Hayden... Hi..."
"What's wong bubda?"
Fizz sighs, and lays down.
"Don't worry about it... It's not for you to know."
Hayden frowns, and jumps on fizz's head.
"You can tell me! I'll keep it a secret!"
Hayden does a shushing noise for effect.
Fizz smiles.
"No, I don't need it to be kept secret. I just don't want you to worry about me."
"Why wouldn't you wanna be worried about?"
Fizz sighs and pulls Hayden off his head.
"I'm going through something right now, alright? You'll understand someday."
"But I wanna understand noooooow!"
Fizz sighs and sets Hayden down, and he lays back down.
"Bubda?"
Arron comes over and picks up Hayden.
"Bubda needs a break right now Hayden, let's go to the living room, ok?"
"Ok..."
Arron walks out, and Anthony goes and sits on the bed.
"Fizz, c'mon. You can't be like this forever."
"Why not? I have no point in being anything else."
"Because you still have stuff to do. You're still off the hook's manager, for one."
"They can do just fine without me."
"Maybe, but they like having you around! You can't just give up."
"I already have."
Anthony sighs.
"Fizz, I know how this feels. But it gets better."
Fizz growls.
"Your boyfriend was still alive, thanks. You had the hope of him coming back. Sarah's dead."
"Didn't make it any better. I thought he was gone for good."
"Yeah, the difference is I KNOW she's gone for good."
Anthony shakes his head.
"You gotta stop thinking like that. She may be gone, but you are still here! You can still do something about it! Laying here doing nothing is helping no one."
He gets up, and looks at fizz.
"Look, I get it. You feel like your life is over, and doing anything is pointless, but you gotta remember there are other girls. Other octolings, even."
Fizz does nothing.
"Even if you don't want to date, you still have Pearl and Marina. So don't you lay there and tell me life is meaningless."
Anthony streches, and walks out.
Fizz sighs.
"He's right... But I can't bring myself to do anything..."
His phone buzzes, and he picks it up.
"Fizz, we found out the culprit is someone named Marshall. We're trying to figure out where he is currently. -pearl."
Fizz reads the message again. And again.
"I am going to fucking strangle him, then I'm going to rip his tentacles off, and then I'll fucking stomp his head in."
He stuffs his phone in his pocket and gets up.
He punches the door open, and storms down the hall.
"Fizz...?"
"I WILL DESTROY HIM!"
Fizz walks out and slams the door.
Arron and Anthony look at each other.
"Should we stop him...?"
Anthony shakes his head.
"No. If he has a purpose, we shouldn't interfere."
Hayden jumps down and swims over to the door.
"Where's bubda going? Will he be back soon?"
Arron walks over to her and picks her up.
"I don't know. But I'm sure he won't be long."
-segmentline-
John moves some papers around.
"She could be... No. That's not right..."
He takes the pen out of his mouth and writes something down.
"Alright, I've narrowed it down."
He pulls out two papers.
"Octo valley, or the plaza."
He sighs.
"Guess I'll search them."
He hears the door open, and he gets up and goes into the hallway.
"Fizz...?"
Fizz is grabbing random stuff before nodding at John.
"If that asshat thinks he can kill my girlfriend and get away with it..."
John frowns.
"Where are you going?"
"The plaza. I gotta find the faggot that killed Sarah."
John looks at his papers.
"Can I come with you?"
Fizz looks at him.
"If you're looking for Zoey, then I guess. We are in the same boat, kinda."
John smiles and grabs a bag.
"Can we leave immediately?"
"Hell yeah! Just let me get some stuff ready."
Fizz stuffs more stuff into a bag.
"Where are we checking first?"
"I'm going to the old tower. He always loved that place..."
John nods.
"Alright. I'm gonna check the stores. If I finish before you come out, I'll come to you."
"Sounds good... Alright. I'm good. Let's move."
Fizz swings the bag over his shoulder, and walks out.
"Alright then. I will find you Zoey... I will."
John follows fizz out.
-segmentline-
Rece sits on the couch.
"Ooh, new guy. Hey!"
Rece looks over to the doorway, where zodiac and Joey are.
"Hey..."
"Oh, it's Rece. What are you doing here Rece?"
"I'm living here..."
Joey laughs.
"Has aurie seduced you yet? She usually gets the newbies in less than an hour."
Rece shrinks down a bit and is about to say something, when a chuckle comes from behind him.
"I haven't done him yet. Karl didn't want me to scare him off."
Rece turns around and looks at Aurie, who winks at him.
Zodiac shakes his head.
"Forshame... It's been half a day, and you haven't fucked him yet? Disgraceful. I think your losing your touch!"
Aurie narrows her eyes and walks over to zodiac.
"Oh, have I now~?"
Zodiac shivers, and exhales.
"Ooh... I stand corrected."
Joey chuckles.
"Never underestimate the seduction power of a nyphonic octoling."
Aurie frowns.
"Nyphonic?"
Joey nods.
"It's a term relating to nyphomaniac. It means someone with an abnormally high sex drive."
Aurie smiles and nods.
"I like it. And it's true, sooooo..."
Zodiac takes a deep breath and throws his stuff down.
"Well, I'm gonna go make some dinner. Who wants spaghetti?"
Joey nods.
"Sounds good. Lay off the parmesan this time though."
Zodiac nods and enters the kitchen.
Joey streches and sighs.
"I'm gonna take a quick shower. If I'm not out by the time dinner's ready then just put it on the plate."
He walks off, leaving Aurie and Rece alone.
"Why did you lie to them?"
Aurie turns and walks over to Rece, and sits down next to him.
"You said you were shy. I figured they didn't need to know."
Rece smiles and kisses Aurie's cheek.
"Thanks."
Aurie smirks and pulls him in for a real kiss, surprising Rece.
A crash from the kitchen startles them.
"WHO STACKED THE PANS IN THE TOP CUBOARD?!"
Aurie laughs.
"I like them better up there!"
"AAAAAA! SOMEONE GET ME SOME ICE!"
Aurie gets up and walks into the kitchen.
Rece also gets up, and follows Aurie into the kitchen.
Zodiac is sitting on the floor, rubbing his head, with pans all around him.
"That looks like it hurt..."
"Yeah, it fucking did. Now get me some ice!"
"Alright, alright. Don't yell at him."
Aurie grabs an ice pack out of the freezer and tosses it to zodiac.
"Sss...ow..."
Rece grabs a pan off the floor and puts it on the stove.
"Can you still cook...?"
Zodiac stands up, and pulls a case of noodles down.
"Yeah, I'm good. Just stop stacking the pans up there Aurie."
"Hah, not gonna happen."
Zodiac groans, and shoos them out of the kitchen.
Aruie sits down on the couch again, and beckons Rece over.
He sits down, and she leans on him.
"It's been a while since I met someone like you."
"Oh really? Who else was as shy as me?"
Aurie smiles.
"Panda... I would've stayed with him if he..."
Rece pats her head.
"Shh. I know."
Aurie sighs.
"It's nice to find someone like you... The shy ones always understand."
Rece nods.
"I try my best to anyway..."
They sit there for quite a while, with Aurie eventually falling asleep.
"Dinner's ready!"
Rece looks down at Aurie.
"I shouldn't..."
He slowly lowers her down, and goes over to the table.
Zodiac and Joey are eating.
"Hey, where's Aurie?"
"Sleeping..."
"Ah, she must be worn out today."
Rece nods.
"It's fine, she'll wake up and be super fucking horny."
"Uh...really...?"
"Yeah. She'll take one of us back to fix it. You might be picked too, so be prepared."
Rece nods.
-segmentline-
Marshall throws the TV remote onto the ground.
"FUCK! FUCK!"
He kicks a wall, and yells out in pain.
"It was only supposed to take out the new band, not bring the whole damn stage down!"
He looks at the list of dead.
"Now I killed Sarah, which means fizz is gonna fucking rip me apart..."
He crumbles up the list and tosses it behind him.
"He won't find me for a bit... I hope. I just gotta get out, then everything will be fine."
He grabs his gun, and points it at a target on the wall.
"Everything started with you, and I don't plan to keep pretending to be ok with it."
He shoot the target, causing the piece of paper taped to it to fall down.
It's a picture of aulbrey.
-segmentline-
Karl takes a bite of his sandwich.
"Do you think fizz is ok?"
Karl shrugs.
"He probably wants to die. Anthony wanted to, and Arron was still alive, so..."
Callie frowns.
"Should we help him?"
"Nah, Anthony's got this. He knows more about this than I do."
Callie leans on Karl.
"Promise me, if I ever die like that, you won't give up."
Karl nods.
"I wouldn't give up like that. Besides, I refuse to let you die anyway."
Callie giggles.
"My hero!"
Karl smiles and leans back.
"I know, I'm just sooooo heroic, aren't I?"
Callie smirks.
"You're a hero in your own way. The way I happen to enjoy!"
Karl laughs.
"That's all you need, right?"
Callie nods and stands up.
"Excuse me for a minute."
She walks off, and Karl yawns.
His phone buzzes.
"Hmm?"
He pulls his phone out.
Anthony: just so everyone knows, fizz ran out of our apartment earlier screaming ' I will kill him'.
Karl: uhh, what?
Marie: did someone tell him who did it?
Arron: maybe Pearl and Marina did? They did say they were gonna investigate.
Karl: should we be worried?
Anthony: No. He needs something to take his mind off of everything.
Fizz: I'm fine. I'm going to the plaza with John.
Karl: with John? Why?
Fizz: Zoey was kidnapped, and John thinks she might be in the plaza.
Anthony: what?!
Arron: no way.
Marie: Why?
Fizz: how should I know? Look, we're almost to the plaza. I'm turning my phone off.
Arron: Karl? You ok?
Anthony: Karl?
Karl: I... I need some time.
Marie: of course. No one else message through here.
Karl sets his phone down and takes a few deep breaths.
Callie walks back into the room and sits down.
She frowns when she looks at Karl.
"Are you ok...?"
"Check... Your... Phone..."
Callie grabs her phone off the table and opens it.
Her expression slowly turns from confusion, to suprise, then sadness.
"Oh... Karl, I'm so sorry."
Karl shakes his head.
"Don't... Worry about it. I know she's fine. She has to be..."
Callie hugs Karl, who wraps his arms around her in response.
"They'll find her."
