"Marie, tell me the truth. Do you fully trust Tsunami?" Edric asks.
Marie looks to him confused as she continues to dress. "What brought this on?"
"She is the only one around here that doesn't know I am a human and how long before someone lets it slip?" Edric asks.
Marie looks worried at him before walking over and taking his hands. "It won't happen for a while. If you want, we can tell when this is over."
"I think I should tell her now. Without my glasses, I do not know how much longer the device will last," Edric informs.
Marie smiles and kisses his forehead. "Okay, then we will be right with you. Or keep others busy if you want. Either way works. I do have one question though," she says smirking up to him.
"Ask away," Edric says leaning his forehead onto her own.
Marie kept smirking. "The word sexy means something intimate, doesn't it? I have been thinking about it all night."
Edric slowly smiles against her. "If you were naked in any way, I would call you sexy. Clothed like you are now, good looking. But you girls will always be sexy to me. Our own little call out," he says, giving a sneaking kiss to her.
"Woomy," Marie says nearly inaudible.
Edric chuckles. "And that's my cue to kiss you again," he whispers, giving another peck to her.
"So which do you want us to do?" Callie asks walking up, zipping up her jacket.
"I guess keep everyone busy," Edric says thinking aloud.
"Easy," they both said before they both kiss his cheek. "Good luck," Callie says before they pull away from him and open the door. Then going towards the octolings and call for their attention as Edric climbs out in his inkling form and walks towards Tsunami.
"Hey Tsunami," Edric calls out as she was preparing.
Tsunami looks up as she pulls her gloves on. "Oh…hey," she greets shyly with a wave. "Um…what do you need?" she asks, grabbing the rest of her clothing. "So underdressed," she whispers to herself.
"I think it is also time you learn the secret that all of Squidbeak knows," Edric says waving over Caveira.
Caveira starts to walk over as Edric looks around. "What is it?" Tsunami asks, checking over her gun.
"Caveira, going to clue her in on that," Edric says and Caveira nods understanding before she and Edric lead Tsunami into one of the buildings.
"Okay…what's this secret?" Tsunami asks, looking between the both of them before looking behind her to see the sea right under her in the open building. "I'm not going to die, am I?"
"No, but what do you know about humans?" Edric asks having her take a seat.
Tsunami shrugs. "That…they are an ancient extinct species who mainly played games…and were kinda low intelligence," she tried to remember and Caveira gives a few pats to Edric's back as he hangs his head.
"Well…I am a human," Edric informs.
Tsunami slowly looks him over now. "Right…is this a new fresh prank I haven't heard about?" Edric deactivated his device and Tsunami watched in shock as he transformed and stood what felt like nearly twice her size over her. "Oh…my…ink…" she breathes out, looking over his many features.
"This is his true form. The reason he asked me here is that we can't understand him while he is a human," Caveira says.
"Yeah, that is the gist of it," Edric comments.
Tsunami slowly points at him. "How…did he…?"
"Humans were not dumb and you see the thing on his wrist? It is a device that allows him to be an inkling as long as it works," Caveira informs.
"Limited," Edric says in a whisper.
"But…" Tsunami says so confused looking up at him as she slowly realized that they trust her enough to let her in on this secret.
Edric sighs. "Caveira…I hope you can help fill in the rest of the questions she has."
"So now you know. Tell anyone and I will become your worst nightmare," Caveira says, trying her best to intimidate Tsunami.
"And she's doing the intimidation," Edric sighs amused.
"If you do keep the secret, that will work in your favor for considering you as a member as team frontier," Caveira informs.
"The carrot and the stick approach, huh?" Edric comments, taking a seat so he is eye level with them.
"He's so tall," Tsunami whispers to Caveira, pointing at him.
"According to him, human males average around that size," Caveira informs.
"Seriously…wait. Males?" Tsunami asks, catching her wording. "Are there…females?"
"He can still understand you," Caveira says as Edric gave her a 'Seriously?' look.
"Oh…um…hello…" Tsunami chuckles nervously, giving a wave at him.
Edric shook his head, reactivating the device. "For your question, there were," Edric informs.
"Right…last human…" Tsunami tries to get through her head. "But how are you going to…" she slowly came to a stop as she looks to Caveira and sees her raise an eyebrow and her eyes widen. "Oh…my ink. Oh, my ink. Oh, my ink," she mutters, pacing around now.
Edric raises an eyebrow as well and leans over to Caveira. "This is going to be a problem?"
"I think it would be the size thing going through her head," Caveira guesses.
"Size? How could that oh…" Edric came to a sudden stop as he realizes what she meant now. "I didn't take you as being a bit perverted Tsunami," Edric says.
Tsunami squeaks and stiffens up and Caveira snarks behind her hand. "Good one," she whispers to him.
"So what were you asking about how I would do what?" Edric asks.
"Um…nothing," she squeaks out, trying to hide her blushing blue face.
"I think she is wondering if compatible," Caveira says smirking, seeing Edric had not caught on.
"Ah, then allow me to clarify. Yes, human and inklings are compatible to have offspring, but the chance is low of impregnation basically," Edric informs.
"…good to know," Tsunami says quickly.
Edric leans over and hugs Caveira. "I'm not going to have her, right? She is like my biggest fan."
"Talk about that later," Caveira informs.
"So now you know the secret that only the founding members of team frontier know," Edric says, emphasizing that last part.
"Got it," Tsunami says blushing.
"Right now, I best get back to helping those two," Caveira says exiting.
Edric smiles as she gives a kiss to his cheek before she left and turns back to Tsunami and smiles at her. "So…any other fleeting questions that linger in your mind?"
Tsunami clears her throat and tries to be calm and bring down her blush. "Well…is that how you do all those cool moves when you were fighting in the turf wars? Being human?"
Edric hums as he leans his head to the side and thought about it. "Partly. Besides, that first one was a stroke of luck I didn't break the rulebook. And I felt it was right. I mean heck, I took down an octarian by really using her grapple against her. And let me tell you, they are stronger than they look."
Tsunami looks over his inkling body again in a different light. "So…is that human…under that inkling form?" she asks walking over and waves a hand slowly above his head and feels nothing.
Edric shrugs. "Eh…somewhat. My inkling body is a bit different. Sort of a hybrid if you think about it. Never looked into it. If it works, it works," he replies smiling.
"I see?" Tsunami asks confused a bit.
"Oh, but a definite difference is that my blood is still red," Edric says.
"Red?" Tsunami asks, tilting her head, even more confused.
"Yes, human blood is red," Edric informs.
"But…why not blue? That's what blood is," Tsunami asks.
Edric hums. "Different line of species between us. With me being a human that is a mammal and a vertebrate. So we have red blood. And you being a squid that is based on a line of the cephalopods that don't have much on bones, so blue. I think it was for going to deeper waters…has your kind ever went to the seafloor?" he asks curiously.
"No, the sea is lethal to us," Tsunami says.
"…even the kids?" Edric asks somewhat worried.
"Especially the squishies," Tsunami informs.
Edric slowly nods. "Now wishing you guys can explore again. You would be able to explore the stars easier, but the sea…heh. Guess we traded places. We had an old saying even. We knew more about the stars than what's at the bottom of the sea. And there are billions and trillions of things we know. Compared to sea…hardly comparable," he chuckles at the memory. "Wish I could show you guys how beautiful it is on both sides."
"Edric?" Callie calls.
"Coming," Edric calls leaving.
Tsunami watches as he leaves and how he moves, noting it was more rough and stiff than any inkling around. Even the octarians can't match that stiffness. "Last human, huh? I wonder if the rest of them are really comfortable with you."
"All done on my end," Edric says walking up and hugs Callie.
Callie clicks her teeth happily as she hugs back. "Good. They are almost ready and…they made changes," she says, turning him to the octarians who were holding all their gear and weapons while working on them.
"They are good at reverse engineering and improving," Edric compliments, laying his head into his shoulder.
Callie hums softly into his ear, rubbing his back now. "Yeah. And listen to me. Maybe you at some points. But now, I am wondering, are you ready if we had to go now?"
"It's for you and Marie. I am ready," Edric whispers into her ear.
Callie smiles and kisses his cheek. "Good. Then why not suit up? Get use to your new upgraded clothing and weapons? A dress rehearsal maybe?"
"You really want to know what I will do to DJ if he doesn't listen and talk civilly?" Edric asks surprised.
Callie hums wondering. "Is it splatting him?"
"No, it will hurt him far worse," Edric explains, petting her.
Callie clicks her teeth happily again at the petting. "Make sure to record it if it is squishie friendly. I want to see his face."
"Not sure if it would be," Edric informs.
Callie smirks at him. "Then record for us."
"Just give Tsunami a camera then," Edric says before feeling someone tap his shoulder.
"Callie, we have to get back to practicing," Marie says.
"Aw, come on. He's huggable," Callie tries to argue, giving a tight hug to Edric again.
Marie sighs amused. "He is. But we have to practice just like he does with his new gear."
"One last hug," Edric says while everyone watching this was not sure if it was to Callie or Marie. Both click their teeth in surprise when he wraps his arms around both of them. "So warm…" he whispers, sighing in relief.
After a bit, he let both go. "Alright, no more excuses Callie," Marie informs.
Callie pouts while Edric walks off to dress up for the small training and test area. "Fine. Let's go," she sighs, following him.
"Alright, we are all set. Now just need to get you both to the area while we sneak these two into where DJ Octavio is," Pyra says.
"We're counting on you to do this," Edric says, pulling his clothes tightly.
"So am I," Callie adds.
"Right, don't worry. We won't let you down," Pyra says.
Edric nods as he grabs his guns and looks over the modifications made. A slightly faster fire rate from just changing barrel size, allowing him to also use less ink. "Let's get going," he says going to the bag before changing into a squid before suddenly picked up and hugged by Callie. "Oh. Right. One last hug."
"I gave Tsunami a camera," Callie says as Marie joined in.
Edric shrugs and hugs them back as he hears a click. "So do I need to worry about you girls?" he asks, looking up to them.
"Worry about anyone stupid enough to mess with us," Marie says, petting him with a finger.
Edric hums happily, nuzzling her finger back with his head.
"Ladies, we are on a schedule. It is only a matter of time before they suspect something," Caveira reminds.
"One last tight hug," Callie says happily and giving a squeeze with Marie before letting go of him into the bag. Tsunami smiles and jumps into the bag as a squid as well before Prya zips it up. "Let's go, everyone," Callie says smiling before they all start to go into their separate groups.
Edric and Tsunami just sat in the bag as they felt themselves moving a lot. It has been mostly quiet between the two of them, but Tsunami didn't seem to mind as she was counting the threads and looking for things to do at the moment. However, for Eddic, he needed some breaking for this silence. "So…what are you going to do after this?" he asks quietly, hoping no one hears them from outside.
"Tryout for team frontier," Tsunami whispers back before they felt something hit the bag softly.
Both were silent, but faintly they started to hear the squid sisters singing. Edric smiled as they listened before they stopped and the bag starts to unzip. "We are clear," Pyra whispers.
Edric jumps out and smiles at them as he changes back, Tsunami doing the same right beside him. "Which way?" Edric asks simply as they look around the large stone hallway with wires and pipes obviously built around it. Edric wondering if his kind tried to build a castle in one of the domes just for a medieval setting.
"That way," Pyra informs, pointing towards a door at the end.
"Go enjoy the show," Edric instructs heading down that way.
Pyra nods and takes her bag with her as she heads the other way. "You ready?" Edric asks, starting to walk, his dualies already primed.
Tsunami smiles and holds up her hero shot, ready with her own upgrade of having an emergency tank on it. "Yeah. What are you thinking?" she asks, both of them heading towards the door.
"You kick open that door and throw me in hard while I am a squid. That way, I will fly past them and land while they are still surprised," Edric informs.
Tsunami raises an eyebrow. "Is that all?"
"Yeah. After that, splat away," Edric says before turning into a squid and jumps onto her.
Tsunami blushes blue embarrassed as he sits on her shoulder. "Right. Let's go," she says walking up to the door and tests it by pressing on it lightly. "Okay. I think I can kick this open. Ready?"
"Lets rock," Edric says, moving into her waiting hand.
Tsunami smiles and holds him carefully before stepping up to the door and then kicks it open to four octoling elites before she throws Edric past them and starts to fire away. Edric smirks as he changes back and starts to fire his own dualies at them. The octolings now being pelted from both sides with one already going down before Edric had even landed. Tsunami takes cover from behind the doorway as the octolings bear her start to fire themselves, trying to paint and splatted their ink onto her. But Edric runs up to the third and keeps firing what he could as he dodges some strikes. He smirks as he dives into his ink before coming up near him and kicks him away into a table that breaks in half.
Tsunami taking the chance on the slightly distracted octolings and fires away. One being splatted before trying to run in and leaves ink puddles around the last. The octoling turning towards her with his blaster but then suddenly has Edric jump up in front of him and kicked the gun out of his hands, leading to Edric landing on top of him and pushes him to the ground, his gun held to his head.
"So…how about telling us where DJ is," Edric says, pressing the gun slightly harder.
The octoling refused to answer and when Tsunami got close to the door on the other side of the room, he tried to move to stop her only for Edric to splat him as well. "That reaction answers that," Edric says walking over there with Tsunami. "Not too bad being a bit out of practice."
"Well, being a dad can do that to an inkling," Tsunami comments.
Edric smirks to himself. 'Oh…I will love your reaction when I say it.' But he stays quiet and steps up to the door before helping her push open the large doors. "Okay. Now where…oh," he sighs and sees the octopus at a small scale DJ table while the clothing, tech, and bling he saw on him last time hanging nearby. "Wow…nice setup," he comments, looking around the place.
"Who are you?!" Octavio demands, getting up.
"Tsunami, the door please," Edric says, walking towards Octavio and grabbing a chair along the way.
Tsunami slowly pushes the door closed before dragging a table to block it. Once she did so, she steps over to Edric and leans on his chair as both of them stare down the octopus while keeping at least one gun pointed at him.
"Octavio, I thought it was time for us to meet. I am Edric. I can assume you have been informed of who I am," Edric says, sitting in the chair in a backward fashion. Octavio didn't respond as his eyes already gave away what he knew. "Then let us skip the introductions. I am here to calmly talk out this whole grudge you and your kind, to a lesser extent, have towards the inklings," Edric informs.
"We do not have merely a grudge…" Octavio starts.
"Yes. I know. It was based on the war and all. No need to give me the history lesson. I assure you, humans have far deeper grudges that would make this look like a petty schoolyard argument," Edric informs, cutting him off. Octavio narrows his eyes at him, almost daring him to interrupt again. "Now get on with it," Edric informs in a way that reminded Octavio of an octoling.
Octavio huffs as he sat there crossed tentacled. Edric sighed and massages the bridge of his forehead. "So you refuse to budge? Even though at this point, your people need you to swallow your pride and bury the hatchet, the human term for ending a feud," Edric informs seeing confusion before it switched back to stubbornness.
"I will not," Octavio informs, sounding mad.
"Alright then. Personally, I was kinda hoping it would come to this. I am still pissed off about what you did to Callie," Edric says getting up and taking off his device, handing it to Tsunami who had a camera out.
Octavio kept holding a frowning expression before he loses it as he looks upward to Edric's tall height. Edric slowly cracks his knuckles and frowns down at him. "We humans really care about our closest friends and family. Mess with us, you tend to get fucked up."
"Oh…ink…"
Edric, hearing that, grabs the chair he had been sitting and swung it, breaking it on Octavio's head on impact.
Octavio groans as he gains a pair of swirly eyes and tries to focus on the many images of the long thought dead humans swirling before him. "One disc…hold the glasses…" he groans out as he holds a tentacle up.
Edric, seeing this, pulled him back up before starting to punch him over and over again while Tsunami filmed, shocked how he was manhandling Octavio.
"Wow…" Tsunami breathes out, now watching with her own eyes instead of through the camera, "this might go on Squidtube…but he is a human so can't…yet…" she says to herself as she kept filming.
Edric looks over as he hears that and holds up the limp Octavio by a tentacle. "Yeah. Best to wait at the moment until it is needed," he advises before slinging Octavio around against the ground and table a few times and then looks at him again. Edric hums before slamming him a few more times and then flung him into the DJ table and sends them all flying into the wall.
"Remember this. This was a warning not to mess with my girls," Edric says before realizing he couldn't understand him while a human. "Dammit…" he sighs, also realizing Tsunami couldn't either. "Note to self, make translators for everyone trustworthy," he says to himself as he wonders if Hai can make a reverse of the translator as he motions her to cut the filming there.
Edric walks over, seeing her end the recording to get his device to turn back into an inkling. "Tsunami?" Edric asks, holding out his hand expectantly.
"Oh," Tsunami realizes as she gives him the device and he slips it on and turns back to an inkling before her eyes. "So…how did that feel?"
"It felt pretty good. Been keeping that anger pent up since I realized what happened to Callie," Edric says smiling and then sighs in relief. "Now Callie can be more at ease. But first…" he trails off, looking to the groaning octopus in the pile of debris. "We are not done talking," Edric says reaching down and grabbing the leader.
"So how was the concert?" Edric asks looking at Octavio inside another snowglobe.
Callie giggles. "Oh, we drew the biggest crowd ever. I say it would never be surpassed," she says, hugging him tightly. "So…where's my payback video?" she asks cheekily.
"I think it will be one to watch," Marie says looking at Octavio who looked badly beaten up as he floated in the snow globe listlessly.
"Geez. Remind me not to get on your bad side," Caveira says, walking up and kissing his other cheek. "Glad to see your plan went well."
"That side is for someone hurting you guys," Edric says leaning on Callie.
"Meh. Looks like the results of a normal Octarion dispute," Pyra informs.
Edric snarks and nuzzles against Callie's shoulder. "At least this is over…I just want a bed now," he sighs.
"Oh no, you don't. We still need to reclaim the facility and no one had better touched my pet!" Caveira reminds.
Edric chuckles a little into Callie's side as she smiles and hugs him. "Yeah. Don't mess with her and or her pet," he yawns and nuzzles some more as he closes his eyes.
"Callie, you and Caveira go take care of that," Marie says, grabbing and leading Edric away.
Callie sighs at the loss of him. "So warm…" Edric mumbles, hugging and holding Marie close. Callie smiles as she looks to Caveira and sees her giving a slight smile and then a glance towards her.
"He's our cutie, isn't he?" Callie asks smiling.
"Yeah," Caveira admits.
"We are still going to have that talk," Callie reminds, making Caveira sweat.
"Look…I…I tried…" Caveira tries to explain before she felt a hand over her mouth and shuts her up.
"Later. But him not fully broken is a point in your favor. Now let's go deal with his home," Callie says, grabbing her shoulder and leading her along.
Edric hums happily, making Marie squeak as he hugs her tighter. "I can fall asleep with so much warmth," he murmurs out.
"You will be in bed soon. I will start making dinner soon as well," Marie informs, leading him inside.
Edric gives a small chuckle as the octarians wonder who is really in control as they watch the two interact and how Edric seems to act like the female in a way.
