Act 3: Redemption

Part 3: Get your head in the game

*Days later*

J̕OJ̸O͞ R͞EFE͘RE͘N̷CE ͡T͏IME!̛ Sigh, we're in DOJO! But I'd call it gym if it was up to me. Just a short break on a cocktail, then back to 'getting my ass kicked' training program. Glass walls, large punching bags, white circle in the middle for sparring, treadmills and of course a respawn point in case of need.

My eyes get attracted to Helena, dominating one of the punching bags in boxing fury and listening to music with bandages around her fists and typical small wired headphones, connected to the mp3 player on her waist. I can't stop myself from looking at her in action. Her focused face, her favorite makeshift glued ponytail haircut, two tentacles twitching left and right like a dead weight as they remain glued to her nape; that nice looking breast hidden under black tank top to keep it still, denying its upression and shaking like a rebel; those hips in sport shirts attracting my attention. Octarians should've called her 'The Forbidden fruit'...Mmm, yea- OOFf! What the?! Who the fuck just punched me?! I҉t̡'̀s̢ y͜ou͏r co̡n͟ścien͟c̢e͜, you a̶gen̷t̸ ̛h͢o͝rney͏ ́d̢ic̕k͠! Stop̸ w̡r͝it͝in̸g ̸p̷orn ͏fa͟nf̵ics in ̧ḾY ̨h̡ea͞d̀ a̢n͢d͜ g̀et ͡b̷ac͞k to wor̸k!

I quickly glared at Erin with uncertainty. Similar sport/seduction outfit, elbow on the 'goat' and she's drinking cocktails. I stretch my neck with grumpy moaning and go in the cercle, clapping hands as I go.

"Er, let's do another one"

She narrows her eyes with an evil smirk in reply and finishes off her drink. We walk in the circle. She quickly warmed herself up by punching the air and doing some exercises. I don't ceremony and just go in a battle stance.

"Ready?"

"Ye. Lets go"

I take a wild forward swing, but she instantly dodge by catching it with her left hand, while striking my sides with my right hand. Ogrgh..That hurt. I flinch and she crotch, grabbing my leg and going in a sitting position tossing me as a goddamn bag of salt through her shoulder. She quickly goes in standing pose, but I roll and use my lying position to kick her out of balance and force her on the ground. Success! While I have the chance I stand on my knees and jump on her, attempting to incapacitate her by choking her with legs. Of course she understood what I planned to do, so we both entered a struggle state. I try to defeat her, she tries to defeat me. Hero training vs octarian training.

She goes in squid form and fluently escapes my grasp with a 'booyah!'. I roll back and stand up, taking a combat stance. She does the same. Guess its round two then. O͢k, ͘m̧y̡ t͜u̶rn̨.͟ And you start by pointing at her with your finger and bending it, calling her to come closer. W̴a̧t͘c̀h҉ ́a̧ǹd le҉ar̷n,͡ h͜o͢rny̴ huḿan. She smiles and takes a swing, but my body goes out of my control. I put both palm forward and push her arm, forcing her not only to miss but go off balance in the direction of redirected punch. Then my hands grab hers, forcefully straighten it and then I ram her with my shoulder. Forcing her on the edge of the circle. She falls down, but quickly rolls and manages to use remaining inertia to roll on her knees and launch a counterattack. I crouch like a spring and jump with my fist going for her chin.

But she stretched her legs to the sides and used both palms to fly over me. I land on my knees and turn around, going in defence. She makes a turn with swinging her leg, aiming for my head for quick incapacitation but I catch her foot with both hands and pull her towards myself. She didn't expect that and rapidly lose balance from my pull but jumps on her other leg to regain balance, while trying to break free. I commit the bandwagon, forcing her to fall on her back. In a split second I move my hand closer towards her hips, without losing the grip of her leg, keeping it directed to the ceiling; my other hands softly pin her neck to the floor.

She's defeated, smile with a faint blush, sweat riding from her forehead to her eye mask, cheeks and lower. Asshole grin in victory, as the feel of connection flows through me. U͠h-hm͢h͡, ̵b͏od͏y is ͞yours a͠g̨a̴in̕.̴ Uurrgh, I'll never get used to that sensation of momentary discomfort, as if of someone sticking needles in your eye. Ooh...Oh, back in control. Our eyes meet as we exchange weary breaths, staring at each other with no words. She wink and smile. She looks so vulnerable, accessible. I slowly lower my head under the weight of attraction. She bit her lip in anticipation. My frontal tentacles reach her face and wipe the sweat away. I feel her breath, infecting me, her eye pulling me closer and closer. And...Sigh. Our lips connected in a kiss. I close my eyes and embrace her influx of emotions. It feels….g͘͡o̴̵o͢d͘. Like a reward after hours of grind. I feel her arms slowly wrapping around my head, playing with tentacles and diving lower, towards-

And everything goes gray with a itchy sound of snap as I see myself floating to the respawn point.

"AAARGH! ...What the-?! You j͏u̵st͟ ̷g̨o̡t͏ pran͞k̴ed͟. ÌMAO! By snapping my neck!? EEEERRRRIIIN!"

Fall in my ass, not leaving a respawn point and try to stop shaking from the shook, hellfire level of my ass ignition and mix of broken feeling. And she just rolled on the floor, all covered in my pink ink and unstoppably laughing like a child on meth mixed with chocolate ice cream and drumming the floor with fitsts. Sh̡e͞ ̵t̛ŗíc̕ked us l̛ik҉e͘ ͞a͠ ̸st̡upi̸d͝ t̴èen̸s! ͞H̕a̧h! I feel so ashamed right now...Wel̢l,͢ ͟ne̢xt́ ҉t̸ime̴ inste͝a̷d ͠of̨ k͘is̴s̷ing͏, j͢ust ̕sh͏ov͘e̕ d̀i̷c̵k̶ in ̧her͞ mo̵u͠t͝h….Mayb̧è ņot̛ ̀in pųb͏lic̢..

Helena stared at the scene, switching her attention between Erin to me with confusing and barely noticeable 'wtf' slowly slipping through her lips. She removed headphone from her ear.

"Care to explain what are you two doing?"

"Lena! - I! - Did what you - taught me!"

Erin's attempts to talk in between her floods hysterical laugh didn't make the situation less shameful for me. Lena went towards Erin, throwing her attention on me:

"What happened?"

I take a deep angry sigh and act calmly.

"She baited me into kissing her and SNAPPED MY F-f-f-fUCKED NECK!"

Close enough. In reply our agent fàt͝al sl̢u͢t͡….Agent Four bursts in new wave of lauging. Gee, girl. Share some sense of humor with me!

"You should've seen his face! Totally worth it!"

"Ugh, that wasn't funny, Er!" I growl through gritted teeth, getting out of respawn point. Lena silently giggles, Erin shakes ink off her face and they both exchange high five. I rob my face with both palms. Rel͢a-a͢-͟a̷x,͠ ͠bo͜omer. ͘Let͏ ̵gir͡ls̵ have̷ ̧s̴o̷m͘e ͝f͟un. You call that fun?! I….You know what? Never mind…

If I were a religious person, I'd start praying by now for her to shut the fuck up already and stop acting like a child, cus this is getting out of control and my patience is getting low~! Suddenly this embarrassing laugh fest got interrupted by phone ringtone. Erin immediately rushed to her purse, took the phone and answered the call with her usual fresh voice and mood, while walking to the corner. Helena briefly looked at me.

"You ok?" She asked with a pretty casual tone and I waved my hand in reply with a 'meh' type of expression on my face.

Half a minute later Er slowly walks back to us, holding phone in her hand with uh...less fresh expiration if I can say so myself. She sigh

"Sorry Lena, but I have to go. Cap's calling."

"Duty calls" Lena understandably reply with a nod. They share a hug, then Erin proceeds to the dressing room. Or so I thought. After few steps she stops, turn her head to me and wink with a smile

"I'll be back before supper. Don't kill each other, ok?)"

I unwillinlysmile in return and wish to- hǫl̷d t͠he ͘s̨e̕ah̴ór͏se͢s.͏

"Er̢,̕ ͢c̛aǹ ͞yo͘u̸ do͡ m̡e ͏a̵ ̨fa̧vor̛?"̸

She smiles, looking a bit more excited than usual

"I'm all ears."

"͟D͘o͞n͢'t̕ k͠i͝ll̷ ͝fe͏m̸a̷le͏s on dut̨y͜. ̢T͜h͡ey͝'̵re ̷sl̢a͏v̢es, b҉ra҉i͟nw͝ashe͢d ̶v̴ict͠i̷ms̷ o͞f̡ th̢e̶ ͢r͟egime͢. ͞Just ta̴ke̡ oút̶ mal͘e̸ h͜i҉gh ̢r̴an̕k͘s͜ o͜r ͜gl̀a̕s̨ses̛...Plea̸s̨e"̛

Her ears and eyes drop as her face goes from excited and confident to concerned and serious. Moment of awkward silence. I turn my head to Lena, but even she looks serious, staring at Er and negatively shakes her head with a threatening look. With confusion I turn back to Erin. She look me in the eyes with a solid nod:

"I'll try."

What the fuck what that all about? And she walks away, jumping from leg to leg like a red hood girl in her quest to reach grandma.

"Don't you dare play with them, Agent Slut!"

H̕òld on! Di҉d͢ I̛ ͘hea͜r̸ t̵h̢at r̢ight?͘!̕ I bend and grin, closing my ears, blushing and feeling discomfort and disarray from unexpected shout from behind with Helena's judging voice. Erin didn't stopped, only giggled and raised her hand, flipping us both like a boss. The moment she leave m line of sight I turn to Helena. She already stood with her arms crossed below her breast.

"I know what you'll ask: why-"

"̴I t͝h̶ou͏g̢h͏t͢ i̸ts̶ ͏w̶as ̴ju͘st͏ ͝á ͢f͢ake rumor̀…͟"͢

"Uh-um…."

Asshole sound confused. Lena looked bemused and surprised. I'M confused! Anyone care to explain what they are talking about?! B̕e̸ ̧a big̕ ̷fr̵ien҉dly҉ ̕paras̵íte ̢yo̴ù're͘ ̧a̸n͏d ͠c̛o̢unt ͏2͢+̸2.

I cough with a pause and bait her attention.

"Erin is hedonistic, dus you call her like that - I figured that out. But can any of you two explain the rumor you mentioned?"

And I get a negative head shake with our beloved Agent 3 checking time as if I asked it.

"Our time is almost up. Lets go change clothes and go home"

I raise my hands and wave them with a single, annoyed 'fine, geez' blasting out of my lungs. With the corner of my eye I notice something odd in reflection and turn my attention to the mirror Ok, what's wro...ng. The fuck am I looking at? Who is this old guy? Why does he mimic me? Oh...Oh, ye, I remember. That's me. Well, what I used to be. A human. Old, broken, afraid to even say something not polite and stinking with depression; looking at the naked wire hanging from the ceiling right behind me. Just a quick touch and twenty seconds of agony being cooked alive from the inside. But the reward is all worth it - death. Freedom from misery and hopeless existence without the sun, surrounded by grey, claustrophobic walls of the dream job...that become our prison with life sentences. But my eyes focus on something else - my throat is ripped and bleeding with a handmade knife stucking in it. Yet I feel nothing: no pain, no shaking, not even discomfort or confusion. Simply. Nothing. I don't panic, I don't laugh like a psychopath who just lost it.

The only thing I feel is shame from being defeated by Erin and disappointment for what I see right now. I roll my eyes, negatively shaking my head and dismiss this hallucination with muttering anxiety morphing into frustration:

"Go fuck yourself, brain. I'm not. Impressed."

"You're on the period again?"

I don't see Lena, but her voice sounds near, unamused. Is that her sick sense of humor or she generally failed to make it sound funny. I rob my eyes with a tentacle, looking at my delucinal reflection with hallucinations spreading behind me.

"Argh, just punch me already, I'm sick looking at this gothic style attack of negativity and sui-CI-!"

Unexpected and real strong bitch slap right in the nape toss me reaps me away from my delusions. I bend my knees by inertia and look at the mirror again.

"Ah, yep. All back to normal. Thanks"

I say with gratitude and breathe with relief. Lena cross her arms just below her breast and silently judged me. I awkwardly smile and brush, feeling myself as a cat who did something stupid. She said nothing and moved into the dressing room.

*Shortly after when they went outside*

Dark - grey clouds, faint feel of dizziness and distant lightning echoing with delay. Rain is coming. Without any word exchange we jogged towards the nearest bus stop. Two….three, five minutes of non stop moving. It's like a marathon agants time with your reward being wet and smelling with sweat or getting soused and walking home with shame. We see the bus ahead at the stop, accepting sealings inside. I quietly roar, hearing another lightning and rash forward, switching to spring and supposing Lena.

"Wait! Don't go without me!"

I run as fast as I can and almost reach the doors, feeling anxiety, heaviness in lungs and joy. But the doors close right in front of my eyes and the bus starts moving, completely ignoring my presence.

"Hey! HEY! Oh, for fuck sake!" I wave hands and scream, but the bastard drives away.

"Six-wheeled traitor, GET BACK HERE, you convincingly leaving a piece of plankton shit! F-fuuck!" I yell in frustration on an empty bus stop. Life is playing tricks with me today and adding a cherry on the cake of disappointment called 'today' with the first drops of rain going down. Fuuuuuuuuuu! I want to fall on my knees to moan and swear on stressfully on every passing fish till my throat will rebel in pain. I hear Lena's footsteps catching up, so I go under the roof and take a sit on the bench, catching up my breath. Lena stops near me, extends her hand against the metal frame of the bus stop and leans against it to catch up her breath. She put her sports bag on the ground and her free hand on her hips.

I look at her. My mood just got kicked in the balls for the second time today and I hope you're not planning to ruin it even farther, girl. Uugh…I hastily hit the plastic wall of the bus stop with my nape and sigh, muttering:

"That fucker closed the door right in front of me and drove away…"

She says nothing and rain is getting stronger, louder. But I swear to balls I heard her faint chuckle. I quietly moan in desolation. Everyone plays tricks on me today…Hm? She walk around me and take a sit near me, looking at the west street with cars passing by,

"I guess that driver...didn't like octolings."

I turn my sight on her, confused by her sudden constraint in voice. Uh - not only in voice, she looks uncomfortable, yet she sits right next to me. I lower my head and tackle my tentacles, looking at the distant tower in the Square with Great and fucking powerful Zapfish glowing like a christmas tree even in shit weather.

"...Look at that Zapfish." I take a pause and point at that insulting kick in a balls from evolution

"I could've had a job I know, work for life, be independent and capable. But it stole my work, no one need my knowledge about electrical systems and energy production. And even if they did-" I grin, but hold my frustration in check.

"- No one would employ me, just like they do now. 'We got jellyfishes for hard work' they say. 'Your kind should play Turf' they told me! Yea, screw that, I'll manage. Decreasing amount of hallucinations thx to peaceful lifestyle with no one trying to kill, rape and brainfuck you - not in the particular order btw; dual personality shit - its a pain in the ass, sure and strangers might call me insane. Yeah, I kinda am." Still no reply from Lena. I look at her and decide to continue

"And then there's you. You used to make my already hard attempts to adapt even worse." Before my tone and frustration go out of control I raise my hand and negatively shake my head

"I- hm?"

She casually shuts my mouth up with her hands without even looking. I gently remove her hand and raise an eyebrow. She sighted and looked back at me.

"Rick. You think too much. Just - how do they say it - stay fresh, play Turf and enjoy your life. Isn't this what you wanted?"

I cool down and digest her words in silence between us. Spit on concrete principles of life and life like a teen? Turf, sex, drinks, repeat. That's how inklings and octolings live. That's how I should live. But my experience, my guts tell me to work, think ahead; pull myself back into the usual circle of existence. I have my doubts. Asshole, what's your opinion on this? You gòt ͢r̴o͘ma͝n̶c͘e mo̡men͏t,͞ ͘th̨at̵'̶s ͏on ͠y͠ou.̸ Cal̀l̕ m͢è ͟whe̷n you҉'l͝l͡ ̶nee҉d͘ so͏me͝one t̀o k̶il̷l o̴r̡ inşu̵l͏t.́ Gee, thanks…

AAaargh, fuck 's shake this thought out and switch the vector of this torture called 'waiting for the bus'.

"Why do you act so strange right now..?"

It's like she snapped from a sudden question, sliding a bit away from me and staring at me with confusion, slightly blushing. Guess I need a bit explanation of the question.

"You usually act like an unstoppable badass, confident, not taking shit from anyone. Yet now you're sitting with me and your voice, your restrained look... Its like you force yourself to be near me. And there is no booze to make it easier for me. Can you - I dunno, enlighten me on that topic?"

She look down with one, single sad exhale. Then she clenches her fist, and slowly wash her face with both hands.

"Do you know what it's like to be loved?"

"Yes. N͡o̶.̵"

She 'swallow' her lips with her ears falling down.

"I never was good at making friends or 'interacting' with others, you know...Shell, I don't have friends at all! Bullies understand only language of strength. I learned that lesson well. So I don't let anyone be in my personal space. Erin suggested to be closer with you, get to know you better. Though I'm not a great fish for conversation and you."

"Great. So we have two battle scarred bastards with socio-psychological problems now." I say with sarcasm and chuckle, but what she said about 'no friends' makes me ask in curiosity and negative theories boiling up inside:

"Wait. Erin isn't a friend for you? Who is she then: your lover, sister?"

Lena grind her teeth and goes to the usual cold boner killer tone vibe.

"Erin is more than a friend. She's my family, you dildo carrying fuck!...sorry."

I don't even feel offended, so I chuckle. She faintly smiles in response.

"By familiy you mean not blood related type of family, ye?"

She gives me that soul freezing stare again and I back down, raising my hands and shaking them as if I'm surrendering.

"J-just to be sure."

She nods

"Yes."

I rob my nape for a moment, thinking. Then I awkwardly smile

"Well, if you don't make friends, friends make you."

Moment of confusion.

"...Translating that proverb was a mistake. Ahem! What I'm trying to say is that I can be your friend. Don't worry, I don't bite or anything."

And she stares at me, completely lost. If̨ ͜anyo̡n̸ę ͞to͝ld͘ m̀e ̡that̀s ͡t̴he G͝re͜e̕n̡ ́T͢e̡rro̵r,̸ I̕'d not ̨b͞el͝ie̕ved ͏t̢h҉ęm. But she quickly complete her processing of my offering of hand and hearth with a serious look and her typical killer tone:

"You keep Erin's addiction in check, treat her well." She took a pause to exhale.

"A-and we'll get along just fine."

I can't help but smile for various reasons. One of them is fear.

"You make it sound like we're making a deal. Btw that's the first time I hear a girl asking my to have sex with her friend""

She faintly smiles and casually reply.

"...Heh, yea."

I move my hand to her for hand shaking, feeling positive vibe

"Friends?"

She slowly moves her arm and almost completes the handshake, but in the last moment she partly clenches her fingers, pulling her hand back and up a bit in hesitation. We exchange glances, she sigh and regain her confidence, shaking my hand.

"Friends."

"A question then: can I sleep on your couch then? It's more comfortable than a mattress.."

Here she goes to being a cold tonned lady again.

"Only on one condition: you try to touch me in bed and I'll rip your hands off. Got it?"

I nod in conformation. We both burrow our eyes into our mobile devices. Suddenly she asks:

"Btw, Splatoween is tomorrow with themed Splatfest. Want anything as a gift?"

"You mean Halloween? In the middle of the summer?"

"Does your holiday have kids walking around collecting candy?"

"Ye"

"Does everyone wear costumes during that holiday?"

"Ye.."

"Then its Splatoween"

I take pause to process the ridiculous moment: they stole our holiday and slightly changed its name.

"But it's the middle of the summer and there is no snow here!"

She put down her phone and look at me, confused:

"What is this summer and snow you're talking about?"