Chapter 9

Ty's POV

I woke up to the sound of breakfast being made. Yawning, I got my sore butt off of the bed and walked to the bathroom. I was still in my pajamas, so I got dressed. Vybe must've already changed, because her pajamas were on the floor of the bathroom. When I got out, the sweet aroma of food hit me, and I almost ran to the kitchen. Vybe was cooking omelets, and they smelled delicious as all heck.

"How did you know I loved omelets?" I asked. rubbing my eyes to get as much sleep out as I could.

"I just guessed, but I guessed right." She said. She put an omelet on my plate. "Eat up Ty, we have a big day ahead of us!"

I bit into my food. Flavor bombarded my mouth as I chewed. I guess she noticed the heavenly look on my face, because she was smiling.

"Is it good?" she asked.

"Heck yeah, Vybe!" I said. "You already ate?"

"No, I made one for myself so that I could eat with you." She said, taking the seat next to me, digging into her omelet. Once we were both finished eating, we suited up and walked to the lab, holding hands the entire way. We walk in at about 0455, there are already four Octolings (Krae, Kane, Aizel, and Futo) playing ping-pong, and Callie and Marie setting up our old projector...

Or at least trying to set it up...

3rd Person POV

"Ah! Hello everyone!" Vybe said. Ty and Vybe were still holding hands.

"Hello, Vybe and Ty!" Aizel said. She then noticed the two of them holding hands. A small smile formed on her face. She missed the ball, though. "Shoot!"

"Yes! Finally scored!" Futo said.

"Not for long!" Aizel said. The two kept playing.

Callie looked at Ty in distress. Vybe let go of Ty so that he could help.

"Ty, Vybe, how do you use this thing?" Callie asked.

"Callie, why ask when you have a phone?" Marie said.

"It's ok, Marie. This thing was used by the Ancients to project images onto a flat surface." Ty said. "And this needs specific cables in order to function."

"So why do you have this?" Callie asks.

"Because it still works... I make the bulbs it uses." Ty respond. "And it is reliable."

"Then I will leave it up to you to set up. I can't figure this thing out." Callie said.

After a few minutes, the projector was ready for use with their devices. Marie set up the map on the wall, Ty and Vybe were just holding hands while discussing possible tactics, Callie just sat with Krae, and Kane was judging the ping-pong match Futo and Aizel were having.

"I'm here, hipsters!" Octavio said while entering the lab. "When does the meeting start?"

"In two minutes. Is the Captain here?" Ty asks.

"Yes bucko, I'm here." The Captain said.

"Ok, that means Rex and Coral are the only ones left." Ty said.

"Sorry we are early!" Rex said.

"Yup! Sorry!" Coral said.

"Guys, we like it when you're early..." Vybe said. "Anyways, we need to start the mission briefing."

"Alright! So, to begin with, we need to go to where the strike was last night, which was around here." Callie said, pointing to the street they were at yesterday."Marie, please put a mark on that."

Marie does so with her phone, showing up on the map through the projector.

"Now, we go towards the east via the road. Their camp is all the way up here on the North eastern side." Callie points out. "Now, since we are going for their sides, we will need to direct everyone we can get on this path." Callie does finger movements on the map, Marie following the path with blue lines.

"Ok, now we need to do this at the right time; about 0630, as most west-side inklings are awake by then." Marie says.

"So, as an overview. We need to flank them while they are distracted with the main force: The West-side Inklings. Once the enemy has been thoroughly distracted, we go in and find the cause of this." Ty said.

"And remember, we are here to find reasons, not to kill everything like we've been having to do." Vybe said.

"Killing afterward if the reason is bad!" Ty said. "Mission Briefing complete."

Everyone got up and shook hands for good luck.

"LET'S ROLL OUT!" Ty and Vybe shout.

Everyone leaves the lab, and parkours to the base point. Just then, Agents 9 and 10 arrived, but no one was there.

"Where is everyone?" Agent 9 said over the comm.

"I've sent the cords to you. Parkour over here. Over?" Ty responded.

"Over and out" Agent 10 said.

Ty's POV

We have started moving in on the enemy's location. We've set up a comm. Station where we are going to spy on the enemy camp.

"I've spotted the odd one out." Vybe said. She pointed at a dark Octostriker, and by dark, I mean black.

"Yup, seems like it is their leader." I said. I launched my spy-cam to keep an eye on it when we return back to base. "Octavio, did you ever have a black Octostriker?"

"Yes, it was one of my generals. Let me guess, he is leading this?" Octavio said over the comm.

"Yep." I say. "Alright, time to direct our forces to their front gates."

"On it!" Marie said.

"It's time to be two steps away from the gates of hell." I say coldly into the comm. This is it, we force them out of Inkopolis or we die trying.

"Wow, didn't know that you could do propaganda." Marie said over the comm.

"Let's no loose our heads though!" Callie said.

"Agents 9 and 10, you copy?" Vybe said.

"Loud and clear, Agent 4." Agent 9 said.

"Get our forces moving now; the enemy is waking up." Vybe commanded.

"Our time has come. OUR DESTINY IS OUR OWN!" I shout. Everyone cheers.

MORE XENOBLADE REFERENCES! And a few others...

One of the Octoling's names is a reference to a minor character in Xenoblade Chronicles.

Vybe says one of Reyn's end of battle quotes.

The last line is something from the end of Xenoblade Chronicles. I won't spoil it for those who have not completed it yet.

"It's time to be two steps away from the gates of hell." Is a reference to one of my favorite music producers ever; Two Steps from Hell.