Chapter 18: Heart to Heart
Ayesha stormed down the somewhat dark hallways of the Underdogs base, where most of the Octolings were asleep. She seemed pretty pissed and determined in direct contrast to her usually more cheerful yet psychotic self, getting worried looks from the people that were awake. Two of those people happened to be the guards in front of Hugh Ward's office.
She stopped in front of them. "I need to see him."
They looked at each other. "…Do you know what time it is?"
She suddenly pulled out a knife, holding it to his throat. "I need to see him."
He gulped and stared at her nervously, before going to get Ward's permission and then letting her in. She pushed past them, entering Ward's office. Once she was inside, she suddenly threw her knife at one of the screens on the wall with an angry growl, for seemingly no reason.
"Those screens are expensive." Ward sighed, sitting at his desk. "…I take it the mission went poorly?"
"I just wanted to break something…"
He turned to her. "Break down what happened."
"We lost the target."
"I figured you would."
"It gets worse than that… we lost the Executioner… again. Completely MIA…" She growled, licking her lips a little. "And even worse than that… my van is totaled."
"...Any evidence of where the Executioner went? Or if he's alive?"
"No."
He sighed. "Figured… Well, that settles it. That's the last time we're allying with Inklings…"
"Oh, agreed…" She replied, still licking her lips.
"We'll need a new Executioner. And… if Daniel isn't already dead… we'll kill him." He said, before turning back to the screens.
"Permission to slit his throat and suck him dry when I find him?"
"...Granted."
She smiled, immediately cheered up.
"I don't know what we'd do without you, Ayesha. You're probably the single most loyal person here, aside from me…"
"I know~" She replied before heading back up. Ward just stared up at his screens, somberly.
Meanwhile
Outside the City
After a long, painful walk, followed by a ride in a stolen car she had already abandoned, and another long walk, Jessica finally arrived at her destination, with Daniel still on her shoulder, still unconscious. The destination didn't seem to have much to it at first glance; it was a simple and small little building made out of a mixture of cement and metal, sitting alone on top of an abandoned hill.
Jessica limped up to it, looking around a last time just to make absolute sure she was alone, before she went over to a small keypad that was by the door. She entered in the 9-digit code that she had memorized, and as soon as she hit enter, the metal door slid open, revealing an elevator. From there, it was a simple elevator ride that took her deep underground, until it came to a stop, letting her and Daniel into an underground bunker.
It wasn't a huge bunker, and was a depressing tint of gray as the walls and other things were made out of metal. It had a small living room/dining room that had lines of canned food inside, as well as a hall that led to multiple bedrooms. Vanessa, who was already there, sitting at the dining table nervously, immediately went up to her. "Jess!"
Jessica just laid Daniel down on the table, before sitting down and panting. "…He's heavy…"
Vanessa stared him down, wide-eyed. "O-Oh my god… you got him."
"I got him…" She nodded.
"I was looking at the news…" She said, pointing to her phone. "Surprisingly, there's reception dow-"
She was interrupted as Jessica suddenly took the phone from her and threw it against the wall, immediately breaking it. "...People can track phones…" She explained only after.
Vanessa stared at her in surprise and frustration, before blinking and sitting down. "…You don't like to give warnings, do you?"
Jessica ignored her, clearly wondering what they were gonna do next with Daniel. "We need to make sure he's tied up before he wakes back up… there should be something here."
"R-Right…" She got up and started looking for something to tie Daniel up with, as Jessica stood back up and got Daniel situated in a chair. Vanessa came back a moment later with some rope and duct tape, which they used to keep him secure.
Jessica sat back down, sighing, playing with the Executioner mask a bit in her hands. "…That should be fine…"
Vanessa sat down as well. "…What exactly is this place, anyway? This looks like a place that was meant for the apocalypse."
"It is. It's called Cuttlefish Bunker…" She explained. "It was constructed some time after the Great Turf War… Cuttlefish kept it a secret at first, but he told the rest of the Splatoon about it after the NILS statue incident… told us to be prepared for any sudden world-ending events like that…" She sighed. "But for us… it'll instead be a good place to lay low."
"...For how long?"
"Until either the Underdogs are done or until the police stop chasing us…"
She put her head in one hand, hiding her eyes in frustration.
"You wanted the vigilante life… this is the vigilante life. Welcome."
Vanessa suddenly slammed down her fist on the table. "Dammit, when I wanted the vigilante life, I just wanted to help people! I didn't expect to get hunted like Inkopolis' Most Wanted and then have my house get turned into a fucking battleground!"
Jessica just sighed and looked down.
She took a breath to calm down, but then continued anyway. "Who have you helped, anyway? Huh? Ever since we helped you in that orphanage, you haven't been fucking helping anyone. You couldn't even protect Susan."
"Like I said, Susan's death was your fault. Stop pinning it on me."
"Because I was just trying to help! And you know what? Have you ever stopped to consider that this whole situation is your fault?"
"The hell are you implying?"
"You've told me before about how your childhood with Daniel went…" She muttered. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess that you broke him into becoming this way… and honestly, you also treat me like shit, by the way."
"He burned the fucking house down and started killing people because he's an insane schizophrenic. I didn't make him do that."
"But you never even stopped for a second to think that maybe he's insane because of you?"
Jessica looked down, not having an answer. At least not one that she wanted to say. She decided to change the subject. "…It's late and there's bedrooms here. I think we could both use sleep." She got up and started walking to the hallway.
To her surprise, however, Vanessa also stood up and pulled out her spare Splattershot, pointing it at her. "You're not walking away from me again, dammit!"
Jessica stopped at the hallway entrance, her back facing Vanessa. She sighed. "…Put the gun down, Vanessa."
"...Or what?"
Raising her arms slightly in a surrendering manner, she slowly turned to face her. Vanessa was staring at her with her hands trembling, her finger on the trigger.
"...Put. The gun. Down." Jessica ordered a last time. "You're letting your anger take over…"
Vanessa stared at her for several seconds, realizing that she was probably right. Still trembling, she lowered the gun. Jessica sighed and took it from her.
"…So, what, your plan was to splat me, and then…?"
Vanessa looked down, also not having an answer.
"You want me dead? Like everyone else does?"
She still didn't answer.
"Hm… for a bit, I thought we maybe had something good going on… guess I should've figured it wouldn't last." Taking the gun with her, she just left, heading to a random bedroom in the back and shutting the door.
Vanessa sat down, still trembling, alarmed by the intense hatred she was feeling.
Jessica herself was up late that night despite her exhaustion, thinking to herself. She felt like… despite Vanessa's obvious issues at the moment, she had a point. She had definitely come out of her coma a changed person, and… it was almost like all the righteous morals she had before had been snuffed out. She hadn't been helping anyone, she had been making the situation worse, and as far as her childhood… that was probably partially her fault as well.
She curled up, facing the wall. Did she even have her head in the right game? Was it right to just go after Daniel and not the Underdogs as a whole? What would Cuttlefish think of her if he was around? She no longer knew.
And she didn't know what she was gonna do next, either.
The Next Morning
Daniel was the first one awake, finally coming to for the first time since Jessica hit him the previous night. He immediately tried to move, only to quickly realize that he was tied up. He immediately began struggling against his bonds in vain, and as his frustration from being trapped built, he started jumping up and down and flailing around a bit, grunting. To him, he was in a completely unrecognizable location, and he had no idea where it even was. The only recognizable thing he could see was the Executioner mask, which Jessica had left on the dining table.
He turned to it. "…Get me out of this."
The mask just sat there, silent.
"...Please!"
Still nothing.
"God! Dammit!" He continued struggling, until he suddenly heard a noise. "Who's there?"
Vanessa, who was just coming out of her room, walked in and started looking for food to eat. She completely ignored him.
"...Vanessa Reyes?"
She just pulled a can down from the shelf, wondering what she wanted to eat.
"...Are you real? Because, I have no idea where I am, and when I'm… in… places like this, I start to lose my grip on reality, and... please just give me a sign that I'm really here… either that, or do something unrealistic so that I can tell you're fake."
Vanessa decided to oblige. She picked up a random spoon from where the utensils were kept, and then chucked it at his head. "That proof enough?"
"...Thank you."
"Hm…" She went back to what she was doing.
"Where am I?" He decided to ask.
She went back to ignoring him.
"Come on, please tell me! At the moment, I'm on your side, because I know for the fact the Underdogs are gonna-"
"My side?" Vanessa replied, turning to him. "You killed Susan… when I was right there… you think I'll ever be on the same side as you after that?"
"I was-" He gulped looked down as the voices started getting to him again. "I was on a mission…"
She sighed. "…I'm sure Jessica will want to talk to you… so you ask her all the fucking questions you want." She took her food and went back to her room.
"No! Wait! Please, come back!" He said before Vanessa closed the door, locking it. Feeling a panic attack, he looked down, starting to hyperventilate.
Several minutes passed, filled with the usual voices and hallucinations; he even thought he could see some kind of demon in the dark hallway, in a form of a shadow with two blank eyes, staring at him. He gulped.
Eventually, however, the hallucinations were interrupted as she heard another door open and shut. He looked down the hallway, to see Jessica step out of the shadows.
"Jessica…"
She sighed, walking up to him. She had already gotten dressed in some clothes Vanessa had packed for her, and she picked up a chair, going over to him and sitting down before him.
"...Are you real?" He asked her.
"Mhmm…"
"...Can you prove it?"
"How am I supposed to prove that?"
"...I… Physical contact helps…"
She sighed and suddenly kicked his leg, causing him to grunt in pain. "We have a lot to talk about."
Daniel looked down, not wanting to look her in the eye. "…Just kill me…"
"I'm not gonna kill you, Daniel. You're my brother." She sighed, leaning back in her chair. "Just like I'm your sister…"
"...If you don't want me dead, then why am I here?"
"We'll get to that. For now, I just finally want a chance to talk to you."
"About what…?"
"...Let's start with why you wanted to kill me."
He fell into silence, starting to tear up.
"Talk to me, Daniel…"
Still nothing.
"...Please…"
At that moment, something snapped inside Daniel. He felt like he finally had an opportunity to just… converse, with his sister, and take back his lost childhood. His best friend in childhood. A tear fell down his cheek.
Jessica was starting to tear up a bit as well, but was fighting them enough to prevent them from falling.
"...You hurt me, Jessica. I just… I wanted to be your friend… and I was sick… I was so… fucked up in the head… and despite that, all I wanted was to be friends with you… I wanted you to help me get better… I reached out to you so many times… and every time, you spat back at me… you pushed me away…" He finally said, crying. "…Do you remember…?"
She sighed and looked down, subtly nodding.
"...Tell me why you did it then…"
Jessica thought about her answer. "…I was a kid, Daniel. A real… bratty one, at that…" She leaned forward a bit.
"And you didn't want to be my friend?" He asked almost like a child.
"Daniel, the way I see it, we were friends… I mean, do you remember all the fun we used to have together? When we would… eat ice cream and then race down the sidewalk? Or when we just sat down on benches at night and talked about superheroes?" She sighed. "…You wanted to be the hero… do you remember that?"
Daniel looked down. He did remember.
"Then you… you…" Now it was her turn to burst into tears. "You killed our parents… you tore apart our family… you ruined both of our lives…"
"I was sick…"
"I know that you were… and you're still sick. But you… you could've been so much more… and instead, you opted to go out and kill people for a terrorist organization… innocent people…"
"I… I know…"
"...Now how about you tell me, why you did that…?" She said, wiping her tears.
"...I…" He again thought over his answer. "…I had no guide… no compass… after we got separated, I… felt like I lost everything that mattered…"
"So did I…"
"And… I was running out of ways to vent my anger… did I ever tell you that I joined gangs when I was let from the hospital…?"
She shook her head.
"That was one thing I did… and I just… spent the years… wanting revenge… my mind is so… twisted… that, the voices in my head kept telling me that I needed to get out there and kill you… for driving me to insanity…"
"And then you found the Underdogs…" She sighed.
He looked at her and nodded, tears still streaming down his face.
"...I should've been there for you…" Jessica said, crying more herself. "…I realize that now…"
Daniel just fell into silence, staring at her.
"And I should've been nicer… maybe if I did… we wouldn't even be here right now… We could've just been back home... we could've grown up properly at Lishawn and then lived full lives… maybe… hell, I don't think I would've ever become an Agent if that happened…"
"...It got ruined for both of us…"
She nodded, and started sobbing a little. "…I'm so sorry, Daniel…"
As Daniel stared at her, in silence, he realized that for that moment… it was actually silent. There were no voices. No hallucinations. No insane buzzing sound. It was just him and his sister, talking like they were kids again. He looked at her, more hope in his eyes.
She looked back, crying more than she had ever let someone see before.
"...Can I…" Daniel started. "…Can you let me go now…?"
Jessica stared at him; for just a moment, she was considering it. She even subconsiously started sightly moving her hand forward, toward the ropes. But… ultimately, she instead stopped herself, and lowered her hand, as well as her gaze.
"...What's wrong?" He asked her. "Jessica, please let me go."
"...We're not there yet… we're far from it…"
"No… you said…" He couldn't even finish his sentence, as voices and the buzzing noise came back, on full force.
"...If you want to be freed… if you even want to start earning my trust back… then you're going to help me first." She wiped her tears as best she could, as she put on her more serious face again. "You're gonna tell me everything you know about the Underdogs… and I'm going to stop them. For good. Because I'm done running from the responsibility."
"Jessica, you…" He then started remembering his own responsibility. The promises he made to Hugh Ward. "…I can't…"
"You're not their Executioner anymore, Daniel." She got up and grabbed the mask from the table, showing him. "The mask isn't yours anymore. It's time to stand against them… I know they have plans to take down the city, Mia told me. Now I just need to know how to stop them."
"...You can't… you're not going to stop them…"
"Why not?"
"...Because I can't… I can't turn on Ward…"
"So you're going to turn on me again?"
He looked down.
"I just need information, Daniel. You give me the information and I'll shut them down for you. You won't even leave this bunker."
He looked down, the voices in his head getting continuously louder. And louder. And louder. He shook his head. "…Shut up…"
She stared at him, confused.
"Shut up…"
"I'm not saying anything…"
"Shut up… shut up! SHUT UP!"
Jessica backed up slightly, and Vanessa, who heard the commotion, came out to look. Daniel was starting to hyperventilate in his seat, and Jessica sighed. She wasn't getting any answers out of him in this state. She probably wasn't going to anytime soon.
"...What now?" Vanessa asked.
Jessica ignored her as she gave up, wiping more fresh tears from her cheek. Then, with the Executioner mask in her hand, she walked to the back of the bunker, to her room.
A couple hours passed. The whole time, Jessica had been locked in her room, silently thinking and preparing herself. If getting through to Daniel wasn't gonna work, she had one other option. Even if she wasn't exactly thrilled about it. But first, she had to deal with giving herself a bit of another makeover.
It wasn't anything fancy, as she had nothing to work with in the bunker except for the mirror in her room and the things they packed, but simply, she no longer felt comfortable with her black hair approach. Everyone knew that she looked like that now, anyway. Instead, she did the opposite; she reverted her ink and hair color right back to orange. She watched as the transformation happened before her in the mirror, and then, focusing strongly onto her shape-shifting ability, was able to grow out her tentacles again, back to her original hipster hairstyle. Just like that, she looked like her old self again. Her self that, ironically, less people knew her for now.
But, she of course still wasn't done. She had to hide her face next. Again, she slipped out some sunglasses and a cap, putting them on again in front of the mirror. She stared at herself, wondering if people on the street would be able to recognize her like this. She didn't know. But with that, she slipped on fresh clothes, along with a jacket, slipped Vanessa's splattershot into her clothes, and then opened the bedroom door, heading out.
Vanessa, who was at the dining table with a sleeping Daniel, noticed that she looked different again and stood up. "…Where are you going?"
"Back to the city. I need to get information on the Underdogs. I have one potential idea left…" She said, heading toward the elevator.
"So you're going out in your old haircut? Are you insane?"
"Yep. Remember how some weirdos have apparently taken this style for themselves after I went missing? I figured no one would pay attention to me like this."
"...I don't imagine that it'd work that way."
"Whatever…" She called for the elevator.
"Let me go with you."
"No."
"Why not?"
"For one, the police and the Underdogs are looking for you too. Two, you pulled a gun on me. I can't trust you…"
She sighed and looked down. Jessica did have a point. "…Then at least tell me your game plan here."
The elevator arrived at the bottom in front of Jessica, and she stepped inside, pressing the ascend button. She turned to Vanessa before the elevator closed back up. "I'm going to see an old friend."
Ta-da. Two updates, two days in a row, as apology for abandoning the story for 2 months lol. Ok, truthfully, I didn't really plan on doing two updates in a row like this, but my need to write was strong enough that I wrote a bunch of this chapter overnight, so here you go. With that said, see you next time. *waves*
