"Let me at them! LET ME AT ALL OF THEM! I WON'T REST UNTIL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM ARE DEAD!"
Gary's been splatting so many Octarians without rest! While I do admire his impressive skills, I don't want him to overwork himself to exhaustion! More importantly, I've noticed that he's been a lot more... Well, I dunno what to describe him. Bloodthirsty? Grudge-holdy? Bloodholdy-Grudgethirsty? Honestly, I'm starting to get a little worried about how he's going. Lyra was way, way more worried than I ever could be, though.
"Gary, stop! We need to get out of here!" she cried.
"If we don't leave now, we'll be back at that horrible cage!" Agent 2 added.
"Which is precisely why every single one of them must perish!" Gary growled at the two of them, "Our family, our friends, every innocent Inkling in this world will suffer because of those heartless abominations! I won't stand for this any longer!"
As we chased him further down the catwalks, I've noticed the signs that have been popping up. I looked carefully at the signs as I ran after him.
DANGER! OCTOWEAPON PROTOTYPE OCTOMAW AHEAD!
OM NOM NOM AHEAD!
DO NOT ENTER THE OM NOM NOM!
THAT DOES NOT MEAN DINNER FOR YOU! IT MEANS YOU ARE THE DINNER!
TURN BACK OR NOMNOMS WILL KILL YOU!
OK, the signs didn't exactly say that. They were all signs of a crossed out machine. That machine looked real cute, so I thought I'd give him the nickname 'NomNoms'. It's a really cute name, fitting for a cute machine like NomNoms!
Gary was heading straight for a Launch Pad. If he stepped onto that thing, he's going to enter an area where it won't be easy to return. We tried to stop him, but he was way too far ahead! He instantly flung to an isolated island of scrap metal, decked with warning signs of NomNoms.
What? Can't a girl like me love such a cute thing?
Gary took out his charger and looked for any Octarians within sight. He looked alot more madder than usual, even more madder than Lyra when Agent 1 dropped Roy into that one kettle...
"I know you're hiding out there, show yourself!" he shouted. Just as he did, a figure dropped from above. It was Roy, and he had a different helmet. This one had speakers and a disc spinning in the center. If I had to guess, I'd say he was being brainwashed.
"Tch! I guess they got a hold of you, too. Don't worry, I'll make this quick and painless..." he growled.
...Wait a second... Did he say 'quick and PAINLESS'!?
"Gary, NO!" Lyra shouted as she sprang after him through the Launch Pad. As she landed, she got a grip of his Splat Charger.
"Lyra, what are you doing!?" he scolded at her, "Can't you see that it's too late to save him? He needs to be put to rest."
"Gary, that's Roy you're trying to shoot! Are you stupid!?"
"...If I can have a moment here...?" Agent 2 came in, dropping down from the Launch Pad. Wow, I didn't even see her fly in!
"Roy is already under their control. There's no way we'll ever bring him back! He's part of them, now!"
Omigosh, this is all so FREAKIN' TENSE! WHERE'S THE POPCORN WHEN I NEED IT!?
"Gary! Let go, NOW!" Lyra screamed as she kept tugging on his Charger.
"No, YOU let go!" Gary finally lost it. He shoved Lyra down to the ground, took his Charger and scoped Roy straight in the gut!
"No... Gary, why?"
That shot sent Roy flying a distance and down to his back! But for some weird reason, Roy got back up like that shot was nothing! Whether or not immune to ink, that shot came in at like 500 mph! Shouldn't he at least feel bruised!?
"Ouch, well I was hoping we could talk for a bit..." a voice whirred from his weird helmet.
"Roy...? Is that you?" Lyra finally spoke. She was tearing up with joy that Roy was alive, and she tried running up to him. Gary pulled her away from him, however.
"Don't be fooled by that voice!" he scolded at her, "That's not Roy that's talking, that's someone else."
"Wow, how much of a moron could you Inklings be?" A voice suddenly popped up.
Another figure dropped down below, and it was that Octoling girl! She grabbed out her Octoshot, ready to fire at any moment! Of course, Roy held his hands in front of her.
"Stay back a little bit," the voice said, "I want to talk first." Reluctantly, the girl stepped away.
Roy then started walking towards Gary. With tons of ink splattered all over his shirt, he was still moving, unfazed! Roy didn't show any signs of fear as he walked. In fact, he had that grin! It's that one grin I see heroes pull off in movies all the time! It's as if he's already planned this whole thing!
"This is going to sound crazy, everyone," the voice whirred, "But you should just give up on this mission and go home."
Lyra suddenly froze in shock. "...What are you saying?"
"Look, if you take away the Great Zapfish, Inkopolis will-"
He was interrupted by another one of Gary's Charger shots. Lyra and Agent 2 both shot glares at him, but he didn't bother to look them in the eye.
"Shut up! I don't need you to tell me what I can't do!"
Despite how painful it probably was, Roy only got back up and continued forward.
"As I was saying, Inkopolis will-" and BLAM! Interrupted by another shot!
"Gary, would you stop that!? He's trying to say something!"
"That's not him speaking! If that truly was him, do you think he'd tell you to give up!?"
Lyra was quickly looking for a way to back herself up, but she couldn't think of anything. She sank in despair, knowing that Gary had a point...
But I still believe in Roy. He's a crazy time-traveling human, and he can overcome whatever madness is going on through his head! I just know it!
Reluctantly, Lyra drew out her Splattershot. She slowly took aim at Roy. Holy crabs, this was going down way fast!
"I'm sorry, Roy," I heard her mutter, "Please understand that this is for your own good."
"Lyra, please li-"
"Forget it, Roy. These brats won't listen to us," the Octarian interrupted as she pulled him back, "Now it's time to release the Octomaw!"
The two of them stood back as the Octarian pulled out a remote and pressed a button. All of a sudden, the ink surrounding the metallic island was rumbling! Ripples were forming from the pools, and out emerged that cute NomNoms that the warnings depicted. Aw, he's so adorable~!
"If you won't let me talk, then at least heed this: don't take back the Great Zapfish."
"That's enough, they won't get their thick heads through. We'll have to see through this issue ourselves. Octomaw, eliminate the intruders!"
And with that, NomNoms opened its mouth wide, revealing a set of sharp teeth! OMIGOSH! That... That... THING...!
...
...
...
BECAME EVEN MORE ADORABLE! I LOVE LITTLE NOMNOMS SOOOO MUCH~!
Roy and the Octoling were nowhere to be found once NomNoms sprouted from the surface. NomNoms took a good look at Lyra, Gary, and Agent 2, both giving each other uneasy looks. As soon as a single muscle twitched, NomNoms instantly sprang for them! Despite being a fishy robot, he was able to pierce through the metallic island and wrap his jaws around the trio! They were about to become lunch!
"Quick! Shoot the teeth!" Agent 2 commanded. The two did just as commanded and broke enough teeth to create an opening to pass through. NomNoms rose up, clamping its teeth and looking back down at the three.
"Everyone, get back!" Gary yelled at the two, "I've got this!"
"Gary, stop being reckless!" Agent 2 yelled back, "We're a team! You can't do this alon-"
"Shut up, will you!? You've been doing nothing but holding me back!"
...
...
...
Everyone fell dead silent, including me... In fact, I felt heartbroken! I flung through the Launch Pad and landed right behind him.
"So what does that make me!?" I yelled at him, "If I truly WAS holding you back, then maybe I shouldn't even be on this team!"
Gary was shocked, "Look, you wer-"
"Holding you back the entire time, yeah I know! I'm too clumsy, I always overwork others, I'm scared of the dark, and I'm 'SELFISH'! Maybe things would've worked out better for everyone if we never met at Camp Triggerfish!"
I walked over to a remote corner of the island. Surely if I drown here, I'll respawn back to an area where I can return back up to the valley. However, Gary ran up and stopped me.
"What do you think you're doing!?" he screamed at me in complete panic.
"I'm going home, why do you care?" I scoffed.
"Because you're my friend!"
"Oh? And I thought I was holding you back!"
"Yeah! Holding me back from protecting you!"
"WE'VE GOT A GIANT ROBOTIC SQUID EATER SPROUTING GIANT GOLDEN TEETH, BUT YOU TWO TAKE YOUR TIME!"
Gary sighed. "Look, back in that cage, I've felt pain. It was a feeling that I've never felt before and I wouldn't want anybody else to feel it. If my sick family underwent that pain for the rest of their lives, I don't think I could even forgive myself for letting that happen."
"And what about you?" I asked him, "Don't you think you need protection as well? Stop acting like this is all a big burden you need to carry yourself! Let us help you!"
Gary looked back at Lyra and Agent 2, neither of them hurt from NomNoms. It's a shame that we have to take down such a cute creature...
"Look, we appreciate your concern and support, but let us help you once in a while!" I told him, "We're a team, aren't we?"
He looked at me for a bit. "Yeah, sorry for being a bit of a jerk back there," he said, ashamed of what he did.
"Yeah, you WERE a jerk!"
"Great thing you two managed to patch up your issues, NOW IF YOU MIND HELPING US WITH THIS MONSTER, WE'D REALLY APPRECIATE IT!"
NomNoms grew a pack of chainsaws and sharp blades all over his jaw! OK, that's totally NOT cute and I won't be sad if I have to put THAT down!
"Gary, you get me an opening and I'll handle the rest!" He nodded back. I rushed down to NomNoms, grabbing out a suction bomb. As I leapt into the air, the blades that would've cut me were knocked away by Gary's shots. An opening was soon revealed and I chucked my bomb down its throat! At that exact moment, the robot exploded into several different parts! The only thing that remained were the Zapfish and those papers that Roy's been collecting before he became brainwashed.
"Well, now that that's been settled, how about we all head back to Inkopolis? They've got Tako Tuesdays going on right now!" Lyra suggested.
"As much as I'd love to join the fun, I can't. I still got work to do," Agent 2 declined.
"Well then, you guys in?" she asked the two of us.
I smiled. We were a team again! ...Again!
"Race you to the top!" I yelled as I ran for the ink pool.
"Linny? The exit's that way! Lin- LINNY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? YOU'RE GOING TO DROWN YOURSELF!"
"Sorry, but I'm not walking all the way back up to the surface! I'm taking the respawn taxi!"
"LINNY, DON'T YOU DARE...!"
And with that, I dove into the pool.
"See ya in Inkopolis, guys!"