Author's notes: Anybody think that was the end? Well its not...oh no I've got plenty more in store for you guys...
Before we begin I just got to say a thank you to all the authors involved in the Shared Universe Project for letting me join the team. It's been loads of fun and I can't wait to see where we'll take this.
Now some are you are probably wondering how my story is connected to the others, (or you might not be,) these questions will finally be answered...
Enjoy...
(Please note that the following chapter begins approximately four years after the events in the last chapter but will continue mostly at a normal rate of time for future chapters. I apologize for the time jump (again,) in advance.)
Chapter 28: Returning Visions and a Proposal
Opening her eyes Molly was somewhat surprised to find an almost forgotten scene. A dark place with long glowing cracks crisscrossing across the equally black colored ground. Some very far away from other cracks while others, particularly two, seemed very close to each other...almost touching...
"What...? No way, it can't be..." quickly looking down she gasped internally as she saw that she was wearing her Hero Suit, something of which she had to modify multiple times since she had grown a good foot or so in height, as well as adding new technological additions to it. One of which was a waterproof coating to allow her to swim in it without any worry of damaging any of the internal wiring for her radio transmitter or any of her other electronic equipment.
Farther investigation of her person bought her to discover her pilot goggles on her head and her Hero Brush strapped to her back in its sheath, "I'm back here? But why and why after so long..."
"Oh, hi again, Molly. May I say this place is just...strange...and it has been a while since we last met...almost a month to be exact..."
"Ack!" Molly yelped as she quickly turned around to find Ty standing behind her. Unlike the last two times though he was wearing a Hero Suit similar to her own as well what appeared to be a sword on his back. Other then that he surprisingly enough looked the same, "Ty? You're here too? And what do you mean its been a month?"
"It's been a month for me," he answered as he shrugged. If he was surprised to see her at least as old as he was he wasn't showing it, "Anyways, I might as well fill you in on some things..." suddenly he stopped and slightly tilted his head like he was listening to something. He refocused on her several seconds later, "...Or we can have Peace Walker do it..."
"Ty...how can you be so casual about the fact that I haven't seen you in four years and yet you..." she started to say when suddenly it dawned on her what he had just said "...wait, Peace Walker? It's here?" her eyes flash orange as she reaches over her head for her Hero Brush, which was currently in its staff form.
"Calm down...you will only scare it..." he quickly said as he held out his hand towards her, causing her to pause.
Seconds later the giant Peace Walker, which was gold, landed right in front of the two of them.
"Being identified...name: Mollinda Colorian...defense system offline!" it said loudly before releasing a string of static, "sorry about my sudden entrance."
"I uh..." Molly responded awkwardly as a faint blush crossed her face, "sorry about that...I thought you were going to kill us or something, but if Ty trusts you I suppose I can trust you too." She then lowered her arm back down to her side as a question suddenly came to her mind, "Wait...how do you know my name...particularly my last name?"
"Um...Molly...that's also my last name..." Ty said as a look of shock crossed over his face.
"What? Really? But how is that possible? There are no yellow Inklings in my family..." Molly cried out as the two of them continued to look at each other for several seconds.
"Have you two ever heard of the Dimensional Sibling theorem?" Peace Walker's voice rumbled, "because that is what you two are."
Molly's eyes widened as she looked over at Ty whose focus was back on the Peace Walker. Multiple thoughts running through her head about all the theories she had heard about over the years about the possibility of multiple dimensions and multiple versions of the same person; dimensional siblings or "Analogs" being the regularly used term for it. If Ty really was her in another dimension then how many similarities did they have with each other...
She became so deep in thought that she nearly didn't hear Ty speaking to the Peace Walker again, "So why did you call us here?"
"Because Molly has completed her major mission: Prevent either species' extinction. Ty Colorian, your mission is on a scale over 25 times as large as Molly's." Peace Walker stated, which caused a look of worry to cross over Ty's face.
"Um...pardon me for not understanding...but if the mission I had was complete, then what am I doing here? What can I do to help someone that doesn't even live in the same universe as I do?" Molly asked as she wondered what could be worst than what she went through four years ago. She had nearly lost control of her ability that day and it had made her weary of going too far ever since.
"The same method to get you two here. Ty may know about a nearby Peace Walker in his universe, am I correct?"
"Yes, but..." Ty started to say, realization of something dawning on him seconds later, "OH! I know what you are trying to do..."
"In any case, this is where you and others come in, Molly," the Peace Walker turned to her, "because of your outstanding performance, as well as the rest of the agents, I have chosen you and your agents to assist Ty as much as possible. The scale of his situation has risen to a level of urgency high enough to require additional help."
"The situation has risen to a level similar to a time the humans called World War II, specifically the time where Germany enslaved its own - or the percentile of the population that were considered traitors - into work camps, only to be killed later."
"This event was labeled as "The Holocaust". The situation is similar, only that the oppressed are the Octolings. Ty, with the help of others, has already evacuated many of the work camps. The upcoming war however will need more assistance to be successful."
Molly briefly muttered under her breath, "Holocaust...Lily mentioned this event before to me in my history lessons...and if it was as bad as she said for Landdwell- err, I mean humans then..." she looks back up at the giant machine, "Peace Walker, I appreciate the praise you have given me and my fellow agents for what happened in my universe but what can an orange Inkling with a strange ability and her three comrades do to help in a world that could possibly be utterly foreign to us?"
"Through a little bit of time and enough material, you and your fellow agents can make the scale tip in your favor. Not only will skills and abilities change it up, but you have the tactical advantage of full control of your ability. Team work will also aid you and others in changing the tides." Peace Walker explained to her, "Not to mention that You, Ty, and Ty's wife are all technological geniuses..."
Ty made a quick coughing sound, "What? Oh wait..." he looked more throughly at her Hero Suit, particularly at the waterproof coating on it, "nice work on those upgrades."
"Thanks, Ty, but honestly, this I would say is my greatest invention yet!" reaching behind her back she pull out her Hero Brush. Flipping the switch on the handle she quickly showed it's brush form before flipping the switch again and putting it back into staff form, "this is what I call a Hero Brush. I honestly find brushes come more naturally to me to handle than guns or normal rollers, so basing it on the technology used in the Hero Shot I created this."
"Nice. I still prefer my standard N'ZAP '89, and my sword..." as he says this he reaches behind his own back and un-sheaths an intricately decorated sword, "From what I can figure out, some of these parts extend, but I don't know how to activate it...other than that, it is very good at cutting through many things, thanks to the reduced surface area of the blade via the engravings. It is also perfectly balanced, so it's easier to swing...but I know there is more to it than what I know right now..."
"Cool," Molly says as she puts her staff back into its sheath, "part of the reason I gave the Hero Brush two forms was so that if I can't use ink I can still fight with it."
"Yeah, good to have backup. Then again..." putting his own weapon away he flicked one of his wrists and a several inch long spine comes out of a wrist guard in his Hero Suit, looking like a dagger to Molly at first glance, "I have backups too...but you obviously went with your strengths better than I did. It took me a while to get used to an evasive fighting style..."
"Anyways..." Peace Walker broke in, causing them both to look at it again, "Molly Colorian, Aka: Agent 4, should you accept my mission for you, come and find my representative. Bring at least 3 others," it then turns to face Ty, "...and Ty Colorian, Aka: Archangel, no nukes."
"Wasn't planning on it," he answered it.
"Nukes?" Molly quickly turns to face him directly, worry forming in the tone of her voice, "What is it talking about?"
"Missiles I don't intend on using..." he said, "ever..."
The bright glow from the cracks suddenly get far brighter, causing the two of them to go blind from the light.
"I hope we meet again..." was the last thing Molly heard from the Peace Walker before waking up in her bed.
"Ugh...I feel like I got beaten up by a dozen Octarians and miraculously survived," she groaned as she rubbed several areas on her body that were especially sore. Slowly getting out of her bed she stretched, slightly relieving the soreness, but not by much.
Walking over to the bathroom she undid the band she used to tie up her tentacles when she was asleep so that she wouldn't accidentally roll over them in her sleep and let them fall down to their full length, which was just past her waist. The tips having taking on a bright yellow orange color over the years instead of turning dark like most Inkling's tentacles did. Her older brother's tentacles had done the same thing but his looked definitely more orange then hers did. Hers nearing almost yellow in color.
"Yellow tentacles..." she whispered to herself as she continued to look at her reflection in the mirror over the sink, "perhaps there really is more similarities between us than we previously thought..."
A loud buzzing coming from the top of her dresser in her bedroom brought her back to the present. Quickly walking back out of the bathroom she just had enough time to read the name on the pager before it stopped, "Oh no...Criss...what have you done this time?" Quickly changing clothes she grabbed her agent communicator, pager, and white lab jacket as she walked out of the door of her apartment.
"I'm really sorry about making you come in so early," Criss, the new intern, apologized for the forth time since Molly had arrived as she bowed her bright green head in shame.
"No Criss, it's okay...I was already awake anyway when you paged me," readjusting some of the valves the once loud hiss she had been hearing since she arrived turned into a quiet whisper before disappearing completely, "there we go, the pressure has been stabilized again."
"So it's fine now?"
"Appears to be," glancing over the other gauges she tried to see if any of the rest of the machinery was misbehaving, "it's a good thing you turned the system off when you did otherwise it might have compromised the pipeworks."
"What? Are you saying Criss tried blow up the whole lab?" Cean asked as he walked into the room. Despite having been a very good Turf War player like his older brother Whark Cean had decided to follow a career in the lab like Molly had rather then going into the major leagues. He held a cup of something that smell a lot like coffee in one of his hands and his lab coat was slung over his shoulder.
"No she did not Cean. She shut the system down and contacted me so I could take a look at it," she lightly tapped one of the pipes which caused a ringing sound to resonate in the air, "now that I've readjusted the pressure we can start the system back up."
"Alright," opening a box on the wall Criss pressed the green button in it and the mechanical whir of the machinery filled the room.
"Sweet! It's working again!" Criss nearly jumped into the air in glee as she wrapped her arms around Molly, "thank you so much for helping me not get in trouble."
"Um...you're welcome...?" she slowly pulled herself free from the sixteen year old and smoothed her lab coat back down, "Criss you're not going to be sent away for a mechanical failure, you know that right?"
"As far as you know Molly," Cean commented as he took a sip from his drink.
She glared at him, "don't you have something better to do then make the interns even more rattled than they already are?"
"I, um...yeah I do..." blushing faintly he turned around and walked out of the room.
"How come he listens to you and no one else?" Criss asked.
"I saved him from getting seriously hurt when we were younger and helped him reunite with his brother," Molly answered, "now I'm pretty sure you have things to go do as well."
"Yes Ms. Colorian," bobbing her head in respect Criss shuffled passed her and out as well.
Sighing Molly took one last glance around herself before walking out of the room herself.
The main floor of the lab was filled with countless machines that each did varying tasks to help with the different research the lab did, from genetics and biochemistry all the way to engineering and energy alternatives. Molly specifically worked in the genetic research department but many of the other employees knew her background with fixing technology so when something went wrong with the machines she was usually the first one anybody contacted. Hence the reason she kept her pager near her or on her person.
Stepping into her personal office she lowered the blinds on the windows before flopping into her chair behind her desk with a groan. The soreness from that morning still effecting her, "could visiting that place have caused this?" she mumbled as she rubbed her temples with her fingertips.
"Having a bad morning Molly?"
"Wah!" Molly nearly fell backwards in her chair before she caught herself, "Squil!? How on Terra did you get in here?! The door is locked!"
"The janitor let me in," he answered as he stepped out of the corner he had been hiding in. A frown formed on his face, "aren't you glad to see me?"
"Wha...no of course I'm glad to see you Squil, it's just that..." she sighed before continuing, "...a lot of stuff has been lately."
"Like what?"
"I'm not sure you'll understand."
"Try me," he said as he folded his arms in front of his chest.
Looking up into his sapphire blue eyes Molly suddenly realized they were the same color as Ty Colorian's eyes. But unlike his Squil's eyes could just as quickly turn cold as his anger boiled up as they could be gentle.
She shook her head to get thoughts of the Peace Walker and Ty out of her head, "it's nothing important to worry yourself about Squil. Mildly curious though why are you here anyway? If my boss saw you in the lab he'd freak and I could get fired."
"Funny you should ask Molly. There's something I've been meaning to do for awhile now..." he pulled a small box out of a pocket in the leather jacket he was wearing.
"Squil...my birthday was two months ago."
"Molly..." he blushed, "...it's not a birthday present..."
"Then what are you...?" before she could finish her question he flipped the top of the box open to reveal a silver ring with a braided band and a pearl in the center that looked like it was nestled amongst strands of silver seaweed.
Her eyes widened, "Squil...are you...?"
"Yes I am," he stated as he went down on one knee in front of her and grabbed hold of her hand, "Mollinda Sia Colorian...will you marry me?"
"I...uh..." she hesitated as a her face turned bright red, "...yes..."
"What?" he looked up, "seriously? You're not mad at me for making you wait or anythi-" he never finished due to Molly kissing him. The two of them wrapping each other into one another's embrace.
After several minutes she pulled away and looked him straight in the eye, "of course I'm mad you took this long to gather the courage to ask me but I'm glad you finally did," holding out her hand she allowed him to place the ring on her finger, twisting it slightly so that the pearl was facing directly up at her, "where on Terra did you find a ring with my birthstone?"
"It wasn't easy, nor was it cheap," he admitted, "it took saving up for half a year to get enough to buy it and then the store's owner was a haughty old hermit crab who tried to-" she stopped him again with another kiss, "...what did I do that time?"
"You were rambling Squil...you don't do rambling very well."
"Oh..."
Two series of loud beeps chirped in chorus with each other from Molly's lab coat and Squil's leather jacket as the pair frowned.
"Oh great squid above us! What on Terra could Callie want!" Molly grumbled as she pulled her wrist communicator out and turned the alert off.
"Your guess is as good as mine," he responded as he did the same with his communicator.
She sighed, "we better go see what she wants, but Squil...should we tell them?"
"Tell who and tell them what?"
"Ploosh, Inka, Callie and Marie and tell them we're engaged."
"Do you want them to know?"
"I'm not sure..."
"Then it's probably best if we don't...at least not yet," he held out his hand.
Pulling the ring off her finger she handed it back to him and he slipped it back into the box which went back into his pocket, "When you're ready Molly, you know where it is."
She nodded. Taking his hand in hers they walked out of the office, ignoring all the stares the pair were getting as they walked through the lab to head out the door.
