Chapter 11: Resolution
Guyver's POV
"Tim, get behind me." I told him.
He did exactly that.
"Ah, I've seen you before…with the Inkling girl..." The figure said. "I'll help you as well before you make something you regret."
"What are you-" I couldn't finish as the squid rushed at us.
I quickly grabbed the arm that held the knife. He struggled to try to get his hand free before he settled for punching me in the face. I fell down and he was about to bring the knife down on me before Tim grabbed his hands. I tried getting up, but he noticed and kicked me in the face. My vision got blurry.
"Just let me help you!" The figure shouted. "An existence like ours is pure suffering! I can end the pain!"
"I'm not suffering!" Tim shouted. "I have friends who care about me!"
"But you hide something from them." The figure stated. "There's something you don't want them to see. You feel you'll be rejected if they saw. I told you I know that pain!"
I regained my senses, noticed they were a few feet away now. Tim was on the ground, injured while the figure was hovering over him. Tim was hitting him in the face, but to no effect. The squid's shades had fallen off though.
"Don't you see?!" The figure asked. "I'm just like you!"
He then tore off Tim's goggles.
"Don't you see that-" He seemed to pause a second. "What's this…?"
I quickly tackled him to the ground, knocking the knife out of his hand. He quickly threw me off of him and I landed a few yards from the water. He hurried over and put his hands on my neck. He stared directly at me. His eyes…he was an Inkling, but his eyes resembled an Octoling's. He seemed to have more than a few features resembling an Octoling now that I got a look at him. Who was this guy?
"Don't like what you see?" He asked. "Neither did my own mother. Don't worry, you won't be seeing it for long."
I started struggling. He just gripped me tighter.
"You won't stop me!" He said. "I'll make it so no freaks like me exist in this world."
This wasn't good. He was too heavy to push off of me. I couldn't breathe. My vision was fading again. Everything went dark…I was going to die here
…Sarah…Mei…
I…
I suddenly could breathe again.I coughed a bit. My vision slowly came back.
I sat up and looked around. The figure was gone and Tim had fallen to his knees next to the edge of the water. He was crying.
I saw his goggles on the ground and picked them up. I walked over to him and handed the goggles over, keeping my head turned away from him. He grabbed the goggles and put them on.
"What happened?" I asked. "Where'd he go?"
"He's gone…" Tim answered with a shaky voice.
"Where'd he go?" I asked.
Tim then looked at me. I could see the figure's knife freshly stained in his hands.
"He's…gone…" Tim was sobbing profusely.
I quickly grabbed the knife and threw it into the water. I pulled him close and patted him on the back, telling him it was okay.
I then helped him up.
"Is there somewhere we can go?" I asked.
"M-my friends' place is close…" He managed to say.
"Where do your band friends live?" I asked.
"D-down the street…" He whimpered.
I helped him to George's apartment. I knocked on the door. It opened a few seconds later.
"Guver? Tim?" George's eyes widened. "What happened to you two?"
"Tim needs a place to stay and your place was closer." I said. "He needs help."
"Come in." He could tell this was serious.
"What happened?" Carol asked.
I explained everything that happened after we parted ways. His argument, getting kicked out, and the murderous stranger who I'm guessing Tim had more than one run-in with.
"Geez, little man…" George couldn't believe it. "You can stay here."
"Come here, Timmy…" Sheryl led him into one of their rooms.
"You guys need me here?" I asked.
"It's fine, we got this." George assured me. "If there's anything my sisters are good at, it's comfort. We'll take care of Tim. You should head home. Your friend is probably worried sick about you."
I thought about it a second before nodding in agreement.
I ran back to Flounder Heights. I opened the door and walked in. As I did, I could hear Sarah get up from her bed. She ran outside her bedroom door and stopped. I looked right at her.
What do I say?
"G-Guyver…?" She stood there looking like she was worried sick.
I ran over and hugged her tightly.
"I'm sorry." I told her. "I didn't mean what I said. I don't know why I said it…"
"I-it's fine." She said. "I'm sure you didn't mean it. Where've ya been?!"
"I went to be alone for a bit, but Octim found me." I explained. "Long story short, we almost died and Tim's now staying with some friends of his."
"You almost died?!" She got more worried.
"I'll explain later…" I stated. "I just…need to rest for now."
"Alright." Sarah nodded and let go. "Get ready for bed, then come in and give me another hug."
I nodded in agreement and got ready for bed. I went over to Sarah's room and she held her arms out. I sat on her bed and gave her a hug and she refused to let go.
"S-Sarah?" I looked at her.
"I don't know exactly what happened," Sarah remarked. "But if you had a rough time, you can stay here for the night."
I chuckled a bit before getting under the sheets.
"Heh…so is this going to be a regular thing?" I asked. "Sharing the bed?"
"No." She assured me. "It just seemed like you could use the company right now."
"Yeah…" I agreed.
Well, I definitely could. Glad Tim has the same right now. He needs it way more than I do.
It wasn't long before I drifted to sleep.
The Next Day…
We showed up to Deca Tower again. I wasn't sure how to tell Sarah the news of what happened. I then saw Sylvia walking towards us.
"Um…hey Guyver…" She looked guilty. "I'm…sorry for the stuff I said…I didn't know and it was just stupid and wrong of me to say that…can you forgive me?"
I thought about it a second.
"Well, if you're truly sorry, then I have no choice but to forgive you." I told her. "Just...keep in mind that our species weren't always enemies."
"I will, sir." She saluted me. "…Where's Tim?"
"Oh yeah," I guess I had to tell them now. "He may not be coming…"
"What?!" She looked at me wide-eyed. "B-but the tournament."
"It's a long story that you may have to sit down for." I told them both. "It'll explain why he probably won't come."
"I'm here!" Tim called out as he came running towards us wearing his Power mask.
"Tim?!" I was surprised to see him. "Are you okay?!"
"Y-yeah…I think so…" He didn't sound fine. "Well, fine enough that I can show up. After all, I-I can't let my team down, can I?"
"Okay…" I still wasn't sure. "Just…if you need to quit, you can tell us."
He nodded in response.
It wasn't long before we were put in a match. Now that they whittled down the numbers yesterday, they had actual brackets this time. We were playing Rainmaker on Starfish Mainstage. The match was about to begin.
"Alright team!" Sarah shouted. "Now the real fights begin!"
"I'm always ready!" I said.
"Me too!" Sylvia said.
"Oh, uh…can you not tell my mom what happened?" Tim asked me. "She'd flip out if she found out I killed someone."
Sarah and Sylvia's eyes widened.
"Wait…" Sylvia said. "You did what?
Ready…Go!
