I'm back! Have a guess as to what the art is yet?
—
Weeks flew by like unassuming crows at night. The sun rose and fell, but within the camp's restriction of natural sunlight, time seemed to slow to a halt, trapped within an exhausting limbo of repetitive routines and dim lighting.
The train was repaired, fueled, and maintained.
Without a soul on the surface, dust was able to be gathered in sheets of reflective white, but the lightest bluster sent them away in a graceful yet unruly formation.
The forest, unstirred by anything save the innocent wildlife, swayed and danced with the wind. Leaves, touched by the hand of autumn, fell and crinkled on the dirt, usually crushed by a clumsy paw or talon.
But this time, someone who was not a wild animal sprinted through, crumpling the countless fallen hands of the mighty trees.
He leaped and bounded over stray roots and uneven ground, drawing a half-circle around a boulder buried in the ground with his path.
The light, once he escaped the woods, assaulted him, threatening to blind his darkness-fitting eyes.
Nevertheless, he still ran, shielding his face from the cloud of dust he found.
The deserted form of Inkopolis was becoming morbidly fitting for him, but only because he was used to it.
As he navigated his way through the maze of corridors that lined the ground, he became steadily closer to the green construction that stood tall and proud above the rectangular shapes of the other buildings.
Rounding one last corner brought him to a basin. He slowed down as he approached, for the hatch was not wide enough to accommodate a forward leap.
He landed and caused reverberations to enter the next room, from which a door burst open. Barry, who held his signature knockback Blaster in hand, lowered it once he confirmed the noise's source. "Sir!" He said, saluting. How did the espionage go?"
"Gather anyone who's important here. Now!"
Immediately, a stray piece of detached, heavy concrete fell and lodged itself in the hatch's opening, barring any entry or exit from the camp.
—
Simon shoved aside the door to Ammo Knights. He heard a rumble from underground, and it seemed like it came from the surface. He left Cap'n Cuttlefish and Morgan down there. Neither were fit for combat.
In his hand, he held an upgraded Hero Shot. It's range rivaled that of a Jet Squelcher and still kept the fire rate of a Splattershot.
What greeted him was a piece of a street, large enough to block the hatch.
Callie came behind him and placed her thumb on the motor's switch.
"You two again, huh?" Somebody jumped from the top of Inkopolis Tower. The Octoling wore a cape and brandished another Hero Shot duplicate. "Remember me? We met in the Piranha, right?" Eileen Octrope.
"We found you, okay? We know about your army down there. Really want smart to be that lazy with your security."
"What do you want?" Simon bellowed.
"Alright, alright, I'm getting to that. Get the other two and surrender, and we won't hurt you or anyone else down there." It was followed with a mutter of something.
Callie's thumb twitched, almost flipping the switch and sacrificing the small advantage of surprise they had. "We?" She said as she backed against the wall of Ammo Knights and adjusted her eyes, broadening her field of vision.
"Come on, finish it..." Simon whispered.
Eileen chuckled lightly and threw off the cape. The scene was hauntingly similar to when Akash did the same with his purple cloak. She snapped, cueing two more to follow her down the Tower. Faint yet true memory told them that these two were called Rocky and Jack. They held the same weapons as they did in the Piranha. One covered most of his body with a Brush and the other wielded a Blaster with a single hand.
"I'lll take that as a no. Unless..."
"Never!" Callie barked.
Eileen sighed, then her siblings both flashed toothy grins. Obviously, they were eager for battle.
Simon and Callie were already forming individual strategies. He planned to keep his distance, for he had the range advantage, and Callie planned to confuse them with a twisting, convoluted path with her Roller.
The clap used to signify the beginning of a battle was absent, but it still resounded in the mind, and they were off.
The three separated, probably trying to trap them. Simon backed away and shot any bit of ground he could find and keep the ground coverage. He swam through the shine of the ink and circled the edge of the basin. Once he emerged, he pressed the trigger again without hesitation. The quick action caught the Blaster user in the back. Before he could counter with a shot of his own, Simon ducked into the ink and was almost hit by the blasting orb that soared over his head. Emerging again, he dropped two bombs simultaneously to either side of him and fired forward with the little ink he had left. The enemy fired behind himself and fell backwards into the purplish coat, narrowly avoiding the entire onslaught of flying damage.
Callie wasn't as lucky. She was surrounded by the other two and trapped against a wall. Both of them found an Inkwhip hidden among their clothing and turned them on. Callie's mind raced as she racked her brain for a way out of the situation, then she noticed how they were holding the Inkwhips
She flipped the switch, and the whirr of the motor from within signified the automatic spin. She jabbed the entire thing toward the two, striking Eileen's leftist hand and the other's right, sending both Inkwhips shooting backwards. The other reason was to distract them with blobs of almost harmless ink.
She rotated the Roller so the wheel would help her forward momentum, and she herself shot away from the wall, tripping them in the rush.
"Grab it!" She yelled, hoping Simon would understand.
He didn't need the warning; Simon was already hurdling to the Inkwhips' landing place. He caught it midair—a risky action, for it was still active—and a quick glance told him that this specific model did accommodate a color change. Simon pressed the button again, turning it off, and threw it as hard as he could to the ground. He guided his heel so it could land on top of the lifeless cylinder as he fell back down to earth. The Inkwhip died with a puff of air and a soft crack.
The third, who put away his Blaster by attaching it to his belt, grabbed the other one before it rolled away. He was caught by a full force, motor enhanced Roller to his side. The impact didn't launch him—he was a large person—but the suit broke before he could react, then the driving force in his side splatted him. His equipment went everywhere. The Blaster went downwards, immediately sinking it, but the one remaining Inkwhip soared once again right into the hands of The Brush user.
Eileen growled and hopped sideways, unleashing a barrage of ink during her flight.
Simon and Callie were now side by side, ready for the rest of the battle.
—
Pearl rapped the stone blocking the entrance with her knuckles. "No good," she said. "It's too heavy." She jumped back down the ladder, and the rest of the division leaders, along with that one Octoling named Barry and the other old one, moved away so as to not get hit.
"Quiet," said one leader from the fourth floor. "Hear that?"
Sure enough, the faint sounds of guns being fired and hasty footsteps made their way down the tall chamber, though muffled by distance and the rock.
"They're up there!" Rose exclaimed. "Can't we-"
"Not from below," Marie said. "The ladder's a problem too." She kept a calm demeanor, but her voice wavered upon the last syllable.
"We can do nothing but wait," Barry said. "Also, there's some news. Are your divisions ready for battle?"
Half of the leaders resounded with a combined "Yes, sir!" Marie was one of them.
"Kinda," Pearl said. "They can Skydive and do some medium stuff, but other that that deal..."
Rose interrupted her. "About half are good to go. Ten to eleven of them are great. Twenty need more practice and the rest can fight, but not perfectly."
"That's fine," Barry said, still acting as the voice of Octavio. He took a breath and let his shoulders sag in preparation for the next statement. "A spy has discovered the next city to be attacked."
—
Simon and Callie barely dodged the tip of the glowing Inkwhip. They were nearly at the limits of their mobility. Something was unnatural and uncanny about these two. Their speed, their strength- it was too fast for any normal person to be. Were all Octolings like this?
What the two lacked in speed, they made up for in cunning. The Hero Roller Mk II opened up countless new possibilities and strategy plans.
Simon Shot another volley of ink at the Octoling—either Rocky or Jack, he didn't know— but all of them were blocked by the birth of his Brush. He lunged toward Simon, ready to drive the Brush into him. Simon jumped to the left and fired many times more.
Somehow, his dodge was anticipated. Before he knew it, he was pinned to the ground. Using all of his strength to turn his head, he saw Callie in a similar situation.
Grimly, he looked his opponent straight in the eye. The touch of cold metal surrounded his neck, and he realized what made them so hard to beat. It wasn't a robotic arm, like the one on Akash. It was a gauntlet. A cold, metal gauntlet. His struggles were useless as he tried to force it off of himself. Looking back at him, he saw that the grin he wore before the battle was gone. Instead was an expression of mixed surprise and... sorrow?
The Inkwhip, which he held in place of his Brush for the time being, he deactivated. He held the lethal shape above Simon's torso and prepared to reactivate it.
There was no need to compare his captor to Eileen, for the moment he considered doing so, a mocking laugh came from his right. "On three, okay?"
Only three? Not more to mock them further?
"Three!"
Simon hoped for a miracle.
"Two!"
Wait! Sheldon! Before he left, he was putting the final touches on-
"One!"
Every passing millisecond lowered his chance for survival. He craned his neck right and glanced into Callie's eyes before their gaze was disrupted by a whoosh and a bang.
When Simon opened his eyes again, Eileen and the other one were gone. He tore the gauntlet off of his neck and dove for the Inkwhip, leaving the Brush to sink. The other gauntlet was caught accidentally by the tip of his foot as he dove.
Marina lowered the Rainmaker, relieved it worked and showed no signs of a temperature rise. "It worked!" She exclaimed.
"Was that you?" Callie asked, gathering Eileen's gauntlets.
As Simon repositioned the gauntlets so he actually held them and crushed the other Inkwhip, he heard Marina say, "Sheldon finished it. We can use it for however long you want now."
Callie breathed a super audible sigh of relief. "Thanks."
"M-May I see those?" Marina continued, eyeing the steel fists intently. She clutched only one of them and said, "Drat. They're broken."
"Can't you fix them?"
"I could, but from the looks of it, the balancers are busted, and this specific type is only produced back underground." She dropped them on the ground. Come on, let's get the rock.
Simon eyed the rock. It looked carved perfectly to fit the hole. "Think three of us is enough?"
—
Sky snuck out of the large room that held the hundred Dualie classes, abandoning her platoon.
She ran up the stairs. Her division leaders were regularly called to meetings, but the urgency from the intercom told her this was different.
The top floor, the one with the ladder, was empty, save a foot that exited through the hatch.
She followed warily, trying to make as little noise as possible. A circle of that beautiful shade of blue tempted her, but she steeled herself to not climb the remaining rungs.
"Sharktown. That's the next city. Sharktown." The announcement was followed by a gasp. "Are we ready?" Barry continued.
The conversation seemed to carry further away, so she peeked over the hatch. Sure enough, nobody was looking.
She slowly pushed herself up, drawing the notice of nobody. She glanced behind her and saw all of the division leaders and two extra she had never seen before. One was holding a Roller that's obscured her face. The other- Wait, was that him?
No matter. She skirted the plaza and found a way around so she could hear the conversation.
She came to a stop and realized. The tower aboveboard her would make for a great vantage point. It was her excuse to look up, but whatever. Sky climbed the steps as soundlessly as possible and came to the top of Inkopolis tower.
Octo Valley could almost be seen from here.
A blur of motion to side caught her eye.
Crawling out of the ground was a giant metallic beast. The drill it had on it's bottom split, suddenly transforming it into an eight legged thing that could easily swipe its appendage and demolish a skyscraper.
In all manners except color and size, it resembled a spider.
And, if it could burrow underground, the camp wasn't safe from its potential.
As Sky looked in horror, the image unlocked one word in her vast memory, and that one word, she yelled to inform the group below her feet.
"Widow!"
