The song for this chapter is: All The Right Moves by OneRepublic.
Mat POV
I trekked along a bumpy dirt road. Sweat lined my forehead and I could barely make out the footprints of Ty and Ian's shoes. It seemed as if it was about to rain, but I didn't care. As long as we got as far away as we could from our old HQ, I knew that Ty, Ian, and I would be safe from the squids.
The moment I thought about squids, I saw one in the corner of my eye.
"Ty. Ian. Did you see that?" I questioned.
"Nope," Ian replied, sarcastically grinning. His sunglasses covered derpy black eyes.
"Nah. I'm not paying too much attention," Ty added. He just scanned the trees for a second look. Once not finding anything, he returned to glancing down at his feet.
"Okay. You guys. I know that Preston's gone, and Sky's gone, and Jordan's gone, and so is Megan and Carter, but it can get better. Remember what Jordan kept on telling us, when everything seems bad, it can always get better as long as you make it happen. Remember that?"
"Yeah, but it won't help us if he's not here," Ty groaned, rolling his eyes.
"We're fully-grown adults! We have kids, well most of us… but besides for that… we can do whatever we want! We can go into the freaking Squid base and kill all of their soldiers if we want."
"It would be impossible without a little help." An unfamiliar voice rang from behind me. Ty, Ian, and I spun around to face a group of four squids.
Ty unsheathed a budder sword, pointing it towards the leader of their gang. "Leave or I'll have to do this the hard way."
"No, don't. Please. We want to help."
"Help? When has a squid ever helped us?"
"When he saved Sky's heir from getting herself killed… Listen… I'm on your side. I hate Derpollous as much as you do and I want to see him dead."
"What's your name?" Ian asked.
"Derpioso."
"And who is this friend of yours who saved Sky's daughter?" I queried.
"His name is Chase. He's human, but worked with squids."
"Why would someone do that?"
"Long story. He wouldn't like it if I told you."
"Fine. So you said we needed help to defeat Derpollous. What kind of help do you mean?"
"Spies on the inside. My group has been helping humans for a while. We've led them to hiding places all over the Overworld to keep them safe from the squids. As for you three, you would prefer not to be rescued by us."
"Of course not! Why would we listen to squids?! They're our worst enemies! They have been for a long time!" I burst.
"Derpioso has a point," Ty interrupted.
"Huh? You're siding with the squid?"
"He's serious. I can tell he dislikes Derpollous. I trust him."
"Thank you," Derpioso smiled at Ty and then glared over at me, "And you?"
"Okay. If Ty says it's alright, then I respect him." I responded, staring down Ty.
"All hail the leader!" Ian yelled, being quickly hushed by Ty.
"Leader?" Derpioso questioned.
"If Sky dies then Ty is gonna be leader," he explained.
"Well, once you retrieve the three amulets and have the heirs of CaptainSparklez, iEcho, and Skydoesminecraft use them against Derpollous, it will kill him and the Nether King."
"Nether King?"
"Haven't you heard? There's a new boss down there. Ray, Herobrine's son."
Ty froze. I glanced back at widened my eyes once I saw my friend standing in one place like a rock, "Ray?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"He's my brother."
We were all silent for a few moments until Ian spoke up, "Have you seen Sierra or Echo? They went missing from HQ after the squids arrived."
"They're not at our base. The only generals there are Sky, Ant, Bashur, Preston, Mitch, Quentin, and Ryan. They also want Jordan…"
"Obviously," I groaned.
"So will you join us in our fight against Derpollous?" Derpioso asked, holding out one of his tentacles. I came to the realization that this squid may be our last hope, walk out towards him, and shook the tentacle.
Sky POV
I leaned against the wall of my dirty and dark prison cell. There were three squids surrounding mine instead of the cells of my generals, which were guarded by one squid each. I could see Mitch curled up in a corner of his cell, while Bashur tugged away at the iron bars. Ryan tried to get sleep on his bed, and Ant stared down squids as they passed by. Preston and Quentin attempted to have several conversations, but were constantly stopped by squids.
One squid begun chatting with the other in squidlantian almost directly in front of my face, "Did you hear?"
"What?"
"The Budder King's heir has been captured. The heir is here in base!"
"Really?"
"Yeah. Derpollous wants her to star on next week's episode of Budder Must Die."
"Awesome. That's good news for us. When we kill Sky, his heir won't be around to lead the army."
"Ha ha! You're right!"
"How dare you?!" I growled, "That's my daughter you're talking about."
"Shut up!" one of the squid shouted, smacking me on the cheek with a tentacle. I fell to the ground, barely conscious. Bashur noticed this and held out his fist, preparing to hit one of the slimy creatures.
A third squid came into the prison area. He held an obsidian sword instead of a dagger by his side, signaling that he was a general. But this squid was more human-like than the others. His face and torso were human, but the lower half, his legs, were replaced by floppy tentacles. But for some reason, I recognized this young man.
"Star?" I questioned, remaining on the ground, rubbing my cheek of its pain.
Star, retaining his purple hair, matching eye color, white trench coat, dark purple shirt, and upper body human features, spoke in English to make sure I understood, "Tristan should have been turned into a squid. But Adam just had to save him."
"You took over the HQ?"
"Of course! I hate you!"
"Thanks for the compliment," I joked, slightly grinning.
Star growled, "The squids turned me into this hybrid! But anyways, I love it here! It's so… welcoming. Just like the Aether."
"Aether?"
"That's where you're going after you're dead."
"How is it not a surprise that I thought you would say that?"
"Because you're the Budder King. Only Derpollous can read your mind. It's too hard for me to figure out a human's mind anymore."
"Get away from him you bastard!" Bashur cried. Star snapped his attention straight towards Bashur and gave him a threatening look. The melon-head continued, "I don't care if you hurt me! As long as Sky is okay, then I will die for him!"
"Thanks Bashur," I told him with a smile, "But I don't think that's gonna help."
"I just wanna go home," I heard Mitch silently whisper to himself. Mitch was the youngest of the group, a few years younger than I, so he was more prone to being emotional. I also had the stress of being leader, so that didn't help.
"Spare everyone but me and the melon," I demanded.
"What?!" Bashur leaped back to the bars and stared at me, his mouth gaping wide open.
Star nodded, "You, the melon, and him." Star pointed to Preston, who was oblivious to the conversation until that moment. "The others I will let go."
I sighed a breath of relief. Four less generals to worry about, "And do you promise not to go after them once they leave?"
"I promise." Star told me.
"He's crossing his fingers!" Bashur exclaimed, "He's lying! Sky, you can't believe the scumbag! He's a squid!"
"Bashur, I have to," I responded.
Star smirked and motioned for the squid soldiers to unlock the cells of Ant, Mitch, Quentin, and Ryan. All of them obeyed the squids, besides for Ant, who refused to leave the cell.
"Ant," I whispered, "Go."
"Sky! No way! I caused you your life last time! It's time that I pay you back!"
"You've said that way too many times. Since that day, you've done so much to repay me. Now make sure that you're okay first. Got it?"
"Fine." Ant finally stood up and followed Mitch, Quentin, and Ryan outside of the prison area. As soon as they left I heard high-pitched squeals.
"Ah!" a squid cried in squidlantian, "The heir is missing! She's gone!"
Figuring out what they said, I jumped up and hung unto the bars, trying to find a way out. Even though Marley was not in Squid HQ, she could be in trouble. And I cannot let that happen to my only child.
