Chapter 53
The last thing I remember is being thrown into that room. Why was I put there? I can't remember much else, just blanks. I must've hit my head and passed out. That octoling didn't exactly put me in there gently.
I can't open my eyes. Everything hurts. My head hurts, and so does my throat, and my mouth. Why does my mouth hurt? Did they do something to me?
I can't think straight. My head is spinning, and I can't open my eyes. Wait, but I do hear something. Someone is coming in the room. Are they going to torture me? Kill me? I hope not the latter. I could never forgive myself if I left Callie alone.
No, Callie has Ika. He'll be able to get out, no matter the situation. I believe in him.
"Smiling, Ms. Marie?" That voice, I know it. Octavius, that damn monster of a man. What does he want with me?
"You are looking... quite different. It is a good change, one that fits my liking well." Change? What change? Just what did you bastards do to me?!
"Hm? A little tense, are you? Well, no matter. You'll rest up in the barracks soon with the other soldiers." I can't handle this. I need to speak.
"Y-You… you w-won't… win." Cod, my voice is raspy. And why did it sound slightly higher? I still can't see, my eyes hurt too much.
"Speaking now? Good improvements. But you see Ms. Marie, I've already won." What? How does that make sense? He doesn't even know about the other agents!
"You see Ms. Marie, a body made of ink is malleable. It can adjusted, remade in a way I see fit. And what I see, is a soldier. Many soldiers in fact! And you, my sweet little slave, are the beginning."
Slave?! What in the world is this guy talking about?! Wait, why do I feel something on my face now? Are those… glasses? Why would they need-
Obey. Serve. Kill. Hate. Octavius, the lord. Commander.
What the hell?! What is this?!
You can't fight. Serve him, he will bring glory to you.
N-No! I won't serve… him!
You can't win. Forget, and join him.
N-No! N-No! I won't join! I-I-I… I-I…!
Join him!
I-I… I will serve him as seen fit.
Good. Now rest.
"Ah, Ms. Marie. How wonderful an addition you will be."
-Ika-
Ika had been in the boiling pit for ten minutes and his resolve was wavering. He couldn't feel anything but pain, but his time was ending and he knew he needed to find a way out, and FAST.
He manages to crack an eye open, and he looks up. The platform above was at least 20 feet up, and he knew he couldn't jump that far. It was too low for a super jump, so what could he do?!
Another spike of pain hits him as a blast of steam comes up from the boiling water below. Ika gasps raspily, then falls against the grate. It was taking all his willpower to keep himself together and not fall into the water below.
Ika's hand, nothing more than a mass of dripping ink that looked like a hand, presses against the wall. He flinches at the heat he feels, but it was nothing compared to the pain his whole body was feeling.
He forces himself up, trying to stand. His legs wobble, throwing ink everywhere. He feels another spike of pain and collapses onto his knees. He grips the bars tightly, his eyes narrowed and his breaths raspy.
"Agh… I can't stand, but kneeling is an improvement. Come on Ika… come on!" With a loud and drawn out cry of pain and exertion, Ika manages to pull himself onto his feet. He presses against the wall, ignoring the heated metal.
Ika looks up at the platform above, and his mind begins working rapidly to find a solution. "I can't super jump up there, the roof is too low. If only I had a way to just jump higher!"
Ika grits his beak, then screams in frustration. He slams his fist against the wall, splattering ink everywhere. What he doesn't expect though is the sudden recoil he feels, and he is thrown on his back.
Ika grits his beak harder at the sudden flare of heat on his back, and he struggles to pull himself up. He manages to get on his feet again, then looks at his hands in wonder.
"I… bounced. Why did I bounce?" He stares at his hands, then at his torso. He makes his way to his legs, and his eyes widen. "That bouncing technique Octari showed us! That's my ticket out of here!"
Ika bends his legs slightly, gasping at the sudden pain. He looks up, then releases the pressure. He manages to go a few feet, but not nearly the amount he needs to escape.
He grits his beak as he lands, then tries bending his legs farther. He has to bite his tongue to stop a scream from escaping, but he manages to get as far down as he could. He releases the pressure, and he rockets upwards.
Ika's eyes widen and he grabs for the ledge. He stops just before he is able to grab the ledge, his fingers brushing the ledge just slightly. Ika lands again, falling on his bottom. He shakes his head, then quickly gets back up. His new found determination was causing the pain to numb somewhat.
He tries the jump again, but falls short. He didn't make it any higher. He goes for a third jump, but the same results happen.
Ika grits his beak, looking for another way to get out. "If I can't jump up there in one go, then I'll need to do it multiple times."
He looks at the wall, then jumps up. He reaches a good five feet, and he angles his feet at the wall. When he touches it, he bends his legs again. He pushes off the wall, reaching another five feet. He goes to turn himself, then gasps as another flare of pain hits him. He slams into the wall, bouncing off of it and down to the ground below.
Ika shakes his head, then looks up. He sees a red ink splatter roughly about halfway up, around where he hit the wall.
He frowns, and nods. "At least it works." Ika forces himself onto his feet, ignoring the pain coursing through his body. He bends his legs, then jumps up again.
Ika manages to get up a few feet higher before he falls back down. He hits the grate and bounces up, gasping as it knocks the air out of his lungs.
He forces himself back onto his feet, grunting with the effort. He gasps loudly, trying to get his breath back. He inhales a ton of steam, causing him to flinch at the heat, but he was gaining his breath back.
He picks himself up, then tries one more time to reach the top. He ignores the steam hitting his back, then pushes off the ground.
Five feet. He turns and plants his feet on the wall. He jumps off, gaining a little more power.
Twelve feet. He manages to right himself midair and land on the wall properly. He pushes, and launches again.
Eighteen feet. He was almost there, he could see it. He twists his body, just barely managing to get his feet in position. With one last push, he soars over the edge of the pit and into the room above.
Ika rolls across the room, his body already turning back to normal. By the time he hits the wall, he was already back in his humanoid form, his skin scalded and his energy sapped.
The wounded agent just lays there, trying to get his breath back. After a few minutes, he manages to gain enough breath to stand up. He flinches at the burns on his skin, but it wasn't nearly as bad as when he was in the pit.
Ika limps over to the door, then looks out into the factory room through the window on the door. There were octolings all over, all of them still working on the strange liquid.
A loud blare is heard, and the octolings all look up. They begin chatting in loud, and obviously relieved voices. They all begin to leave the factory room, and Ika just watches with wide eyes. "Huh. What a lucky break."
Ika pushes the door open, looking around cautiously. He creeps his way into the room, looking around the suddenly empty room. He moves as quietly as he could with a limp in his posture.
He moves past a tank of the liquid, looking at it in curiosity. He looks behind it and finds a tube coming from it connecting to a set of test tubes. Ika goes over and views the liquid curiously. It was a simple purple color, but nothing else was happening.
Ika shrugs, then grabs a test tube. He grabs a stopper nearby, shutting the tube up. He pockets the tube, looking back around the room. No footsteps were heard, so he deemed it safe to continue searching.
He continues past the table with the test tubes, and looks around the room. He searches for something to use, and his eyes fall on a rack on the back of the room. It had multiple Octo Shots in it. That was something he could use.
Ika tries running over, then stops as his legs begin to flare up. He instead resorts to walking over, unable to do much more.
He reaches the rank and grabs one of the Octo Shots. He clips the gun to his ink tank, then tries firing a test shot. It clicks, but only a dribble of ink comes out. Ika turns behind himself, then curses as he sees his ink tank cracked at the bottom, his ink spilling out before any could reach the gun. It must've broken when he feel into that pit.
Ika looks around, looking for a way to fix his problem. He was in a lab, there had to be something!
His eyes narrow as he is unable to see anything. He curses, a little louder, and makes his way to the entrance of the room. He'd have to deal with not having his ink tank and using the gun like a melee weapon.
He peaks out of the door, looking around for any octolings. Luckily, none seemed to be present in this area. He steps out, then presses himself into the shadows to hide himself.
Once he is certain he is fully hidden, Ika begins thinking of his next move. "I am injured and have no ink to heal myself. I'll need to be careful when moving. I also need to get Marie. I think I remember where they put her."
Ika begins shuffling along the shadows slowly. He was glad the lights here were so much brighter, or else the shadows wouldn't have been dark enough to hide him.
He makes it to an intersection, then looks around. His eyes widen when he sees a metal door, similar to the one the big octoling shut at Marie's room.
The agent makes his way down the hallway carefully, not wanting to alert anyone. He passes by a few doors with windows, causing him to crouch to move by. The burns on his body flared up every time he crouched, making Ika flinch in pain.
He reaches the door without any problem. Seeing the large red button the octoling used to close the door, Ika presses it. The metal door slides open with a hiss, and Ika looks inside.
The room was white, and looked like a hospital room. There was a bed and a set of chairs, along with a machine next to the bed. There was also an IV drip, but it was mostly empty. Only a small remnant of the liquid used remained.
Ika's eyes narrow as he sees the color of the liquid. It was purple, a very similar purple to the liquid in the lab. Ika moves into the room cautiously, but still wanting to see the liquid closer.
He goes around the bed slowly, still looking for any danger. He reaches the IV drip and looks at the liquid. He pulls out the small flask he had, then back to the liquid. "They're the same. But what does this do? Why is it being put in people?"
"I suggest you hand that flask over, inkling." Ika's eyes widen and he spins around. An octoling was in the doorway holding an Octo Shot. She had the same armor as all the other octolings, albeit a little more revealing. Two of her tentacles were tied into a bow at the back of her head, swishing to the left. Her other two tentacles framed her face, ending at her chin. She also wore a set of army shades.
Ika growls slightly, but in his mind he was panicking. He was trapped, and the octoling in front of him was obviously a fighter and armed. All he had was a gun with no ammo.
The octoling smirks slightly, noticing his panic. "You know you can't get away. I suggest you listen."
Ika's eyes stay trained on the octoling and he steps back. He looks around, trying to find a way to get past her.
His eyes move over to the table next to the bed, and next to Ika. It had various medical equipment on it, along with a syringe. Ika eyes the syringe, then moves his gaze back to the octoling. He moves his hand, behind the bed and away from the octoling's view, to the syringe. He grips it tightly, moving his arm back.
The octoling takes another step into the room and says "Alright, come here." Ika doesn't move, simply glaring at the octoling.
She frowns, then steps closer. "I said, come here." She steps forwards again, and Ika's eyes narrow. He suddenly jumps forwards, ignoring the pain in his legs. The octoling's eyes widen and she raises her Octo Shot, but Ika was faster. He slams the empty syringe into the octoling's arm, then runs out of the room.
The octoling yelps in pain as the needle is driven deeply into her arm. She grips the syringe, then yanks it out, flinching as it stings her arm. She growls, then looks back out of the room. She runs out, then searches around for the inkling. She couldn't see him though, and her posture begins to relax. "He couldn't have gotten far." She begins to walk down the hallway at a brisk pace, searching every corner for the intruding inkling.
Ika breathes a sigh of relief as he sees the octoling go the direction opposite he did. He moves down the hallway, keeping to the shadows. He didn't want to alert anyone else.
He gets to a corner, then looks to the next hallway. His eyes widen when he sees the entrance to the factory. He looks back to the hallway, then to the entrance. He grits his beak, conflicted.
"I want to go find Marie, but she wasn't in that room. It could take a long time to find her, and she could be anywhere. Plus, this place is filled with enemy octolings, armed too." Ika looks at his burnt body, then at his broken ink tank. He knew the answer, but was reluctant to admit it.
"I-I… I have to go. I'm sorry Marie, I'll come back to get you as soon as I can." His mind made up, he makes his way towards the entrance of the factory.
Hissss
Ika freezes as he hears the now familiar sound of hissing. "Oh, what is it? Do you sense something wrong?"
Ika slowly turns around, then pales as he sees two familiar sea serpents appear at the intersection. They were looking at his direction, seeming to stare right at him. To make matters worse, Octavius was with them.
The traitorous octoling looks at the direction his serpents were looking, and Ika freezes. Octavius's eyes stay trained on the hallway, passing over the shadows Ika was hidden in. He scoffs, then says "Come now you two, nothing is there."
The two sea serpents look at their master, then back at Ika. Their heads slowly turn away, the snakes and octoling leaving.
Ika lets out a breath of relief, then looks back at the entrance of the factory. He decides to get rid of stealth and runs down the hallway, his footsteps echoing slightly in the metal corridor. He runs out of the factory, and into the loading yard.
He instantly dives behind a box as he catches a glimpse of red tentacles. The octoling loading the trucks looks over to the factory door, an eyebrow raised. He thought he heard someone coming out. He searches a little more, then shrugs. He then goes back to loading up the trucks.
Ika looks out from behind the boxes and watches as the octoling walks away. Taking this opportunity, Ika moves as fast as he could across the loading area. He turns into a squid and, aiming at the building he knew the agents were on, blasts into the air.
Callie's eyes widen as she sees a super jump reticle appear on the ground. She puts a hand up, shielding herself from the ink that splatters everywhere. She cracks an eye open, and sees Ika standing there.
Her eyebrows furrowed in worry and anticipation, she says "How did the mission go? Did you learn anything useful?!"
Ika nods, then grunts as a flare of pain hits his body. He falls to the ground, grunting again in pain. The burns were flaring up from the running he did.
The agents' eyes widen, some more than others. Callie instantly runs to her brother, noticing for the first time the discolored burn marks. "Who… who did this to you?!"
Ika pushes himself back up, looking at his sister. "Callie, we have a problem."
Callie looks at her brother with wide, worried eyes. "What? What is it?"
Ika looks around at the agents, then drops the bomb shell. "Octavius is back."
Callie's eyes widen even more, and Octema's eyes narrow dangerously. Callie shakes her head slowly, picking herself up. "N-No… he couldn't be back. You said Pearl splatted him with an ink strike!"
Ika nods. "She did. The problem was, Octavius had a long range respawn point set up for himself. It caused a ton of problems for him, but he was able to survive and get away."
Octema growls loudly, her fist slamming on to the rooftop. "Damn it! That slimy bastard keeps fucking with our lives!"
Ika nods grimly, Callie just staring in the air with wide eyes. Octari, Octavia, and Amber all look between each other with either looks of worry or anger. They didn't ever experience Octavius's plans, except Octari but she still can't remember, so they weren't as affected. Either way, they knew what Octavius did and were not happy to hear he is back.
Ika hoists himself back onto his feet, then looks at the agents again. "There's one more thing."
Callie snaps out of her daze and looks at Ika. Seeing that he had the agents' attention, he continues onwards. He looks at each of them, his eyes filled with anger. But not at someone else. "Marie was captured."
