Chapter 20: Team Effort

A lone male Octoling sat alone at his desk, in the middle of a large, yet old and abandoned warehouse in downtown Inkopolis. There were several Octolings around him, doing military-style training protocols in Underdogs armor, while he sat in silence as he looked over a map of the city. On it was a list of Underdog bases, as well as the gangs they were affiliated with. He sighed a bit, writing new notes over it, until a female voice spoke to her. "Deangelo."

He looked up at his assistant, a female Octoling, before turning back to his map, shaking his head a bit. "Look at this…" He said, pointing back down to the map. "All of Inkopolis is gonna be a pile of dust soon when Ward is done with it… he's gonna unleash that weapon of his right in the smack-dab middle of the city. Whole place will be gone within minutes. Were you able to contact Ward yet about when that's gonna happen, and where we're going after?"

"No. Ward and Ayesha have been busy looking for Agent 3." She replied.

He sighed, looking like he was nervous they were gonna unleash the weapon any day now. "Will you try again, please?"

"I will. But first, we have a visitor."

"...Who?"

"Octoling girl who says she wants to join the Underdogs. She knew the password."

"Where'd she get it?"

"Not sure. But she seems… familiar…" She gave him a knowing look.

"Familiar…" He immediately knew who she was talking about. He folded up his map and put it away. "…Bring her to me."

She nodded and walked away, before soon coming back. Following her were three more Octolings; two guards, walking alongside Bridgett. Bridgett was now wearing a leather jacket over her Deepsea Metro outfit in order to hide it partially (something she had bought in a hurry), but her Octo Shot had already be confiscated.

One of the guards brought the Octo Shot straight to Deangelo's desk and put it down. "She had this on her. We didn't find any other weapons."

He picked it up, examining it and even sniffing it a bit. Bridgett squinted slightly at the sight.

"...Basic Octo Shot. Casual weaponry." He said to her. "I'm sure you could do far better than this, sweetheart."

"It gets the job done." Bridgett replied.

He shrugged. "Fair enough, but my point still stands. Sit."

Before Bridgett could do it herself, the other Octolings suddenly grabbed her and shoved her down into the seat in front of the desk. She grunted in surprise.

Deangelo suddenly laughed. "Can't handle aggression? I doubt you're very fun in bed with that attitude."

Bridgett ignored him, looking around at the surrounding Octolings with some nervousness in her eyes. Things were indeed scarier when she was actually facing them compared to when she did the planning.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" Deangelo continued.

She thought about her answer. "…Sasha."

"Why the hesitance, Sasha? You scared?"

She stared at him. She had a bad feeling they could tell she was lying. "…I'm not scared."

"You certainly seem reluctant, though. Why are you anxious?"

"...Because I happen to know who I'm signing up for. I know enough about Hugh Ward to know that he's a threat."

The room fell silent as soon as she muttered "Hugh Ward". She looked around again, and nearby Octolings who were training before had now stopped to stare at her. She gulped, somewhat audibly.

"...How do you know about Hugh Ward?" Deangelo asked.

She didn't even know how to get out of this one. But, she did have one risky idea. She thought back to Jessica's story. "…Mia Harper. She's a friend of mine, and she told me."

Another Octoling suddenly came up, talking to Deangelo in Octarian; they must've assumed Bridgett couldn't understand, but she could understand every word: "Mia Harper is dead. She has to be the Octarian vigilante, and she's likely sided with Agent 3."

Well, that was a bad move. She didn't even remember Jessica telling her that Mia died. She looked around again, realizing that some Octolings were preparing to attack. Silently and as sneakily as possible, she slowly reached into her pocket, blindly turned on her phone, and then tapped the screen a single time.

Another Octoling spoke up, also in Octarian. "What is she doing?"

Yet another Octoling came up to her and forcefully reached into her pocket, pulling out the phone and examining it. He immediately grew angry. "…She sent out some kind of signal!"

Deangelo sighed. "…Grab her."

"Wait, it's not what you think!" Bridgett yelled in response, as multiple Octolings came up to grab her and forcefully stand her up. One of them pointed his high-pressure charger at the back of her head.

"That's what they all say." Deangelo chuckled as he stood up as well, pulling out his own phone. "But your name isn't really Sasha, is it?"

Bridgett struggled against the Octolings in vain, without a word.

"No, of course not. I think, in actuality… your name is Bridgett. Former Agent 8 of the late New Squidbeak Splatoon." He showed her his phone, which had some of her information on it. "Did you really think that you could show your face here and lie to us when everything about you got leaked to the public? For a Splatoon member, you're pretty stupid. And cowardly."

She sighed. "…Well, I had the guts to show up here at all, didn't I?"

He suddenly laughed. "True, true. You're lucky I like you. You're cute. So, I'll go ahead and make you a deal."

"...Some kind of sexual favor?" She guessed.

"No, no. Simply, we'll give you a few more minutes to live before we mop your brains off the ground, as long as you tell us everything there is to know about Agent 3. I imagine she's a bit of a… special girl to you."

"...And if I don't?"

"...We'll find a more painful way to kill you."

"...You still won't get it from me…"

"Oh, yeah? You want the painful way out?"

Suddenly, at that moment, the lights in the warehouse suddenly powered down, plunging it into darkness with the minimal sunlight that was peering in. Everyone looked around, except for Bridgett, who closed her eyes as if she expected to get her brains blown out any second.

"...Check the breakers!" Deangelo yelled out in Octarian.

"Check the breakers!" Some Octolings relayed.

Bridgett opened her eyes again when she realized she wasn't dead yet, and continued to look around. A small grin etched on her face.

Deangelo noticed. "…Got a joke you wanted to tell us?"

"...You wanted to know about Agent 3…" She said, looking up at him as gunfire and yelling could be heard sounding off in the other room. "…Pretty sure she wants to know more about you, too…"

He looked around a last time, immediately panicking as he realized what was happening. He turned back to his men. "For fucks sake… Kill the Octoling!"

The Octoling behind her again raised his charger, this time with the intention of killing her, but was interrupted as he was suddenly splatted by a flurry of orange ink, his charger dropping to the ground. Bridgett gasped in surprise.

Another Octoling nearby swore as they turned around; Indeed, Jessica was right behind them, Splattershot in hand. "It's her!" Someone screamed. Every nearby Octoling turned to fire at her, but Jessica swiftly dodged, before shooting at and splatting the Octolings that were guarding Bridgett. Their weapons all fell to the ground, their owners unable to even do anything. Deangelo took one look at the situation, before suddenly booking it in the opposite direction.

Bridgett watched. "Deangelo's getting away!"

Jessica kicked one Octoling to the ground and then splatted her at her feet, turning to look at the fleeing mob boss. In response, she picked up the confistated Octo Shot from one of the splatted Octolings and tossed it to her. "Go stop him."

Bridgett caught the weapon and nodded, running after him. As she did, Jessica immediately turned to more approaching Octolings, soon getting into another shootout.

Deangelo, meanwhile, ran into the other room, where he immediately put in an earpiece and pressed a button. "…The vigilantes are here! Both of them! I need backup! NOW! And tell Wa-" He was interrupted as he suddenly felt someone hit his head, and he fell to his knees, before someone reached into his ear and pulled the earpiece out. He looked over to see Bridgett drop it to the floor and crush it with her foot.

Before he could do anything else, she pointed her Octo Shot at him. Holding him at gunpoint, she unzipped her jacket and took it off, revealing her Metro outfit. "…I bet you could guess why we're here."

He looked up at her. "...Yeah… couple little girls playing the vigilante game… I know why you're here… you wanna kill me and make yourself look like some kind of a hero…"

Bridgett shook her head. "I'm not killing anyone. We just need information."

"...And what if I don't give it?"

"...Then we'll get nasty."

He suddenly laughed. "You don't even look like you have it in you…"

"You don't know me."

"I don't have to…" He scoffed a little. "One look and I can tell…"

Bridgett didn't even respond, but continued to stare him down with a look of hesitancy in her eyes.

"...Not gonna say anything?"

She remained silent.

"Nothing? …Hm… Fine…" He suddenly swatted at her, successfully grabbing her weapon straight from her hand, before swatting her in the face with it. He was actually pretty strong, and Bridgett was knocked backward with a grunt. Yet, she wasn't out of the fight yet; she shook her head and felt some ink that was now leaking from her chin, before she stood back up with her fists raised, in fight or flight mode.

Deangelo stood up as well, not even using the Octo Shot. "Pretty girl wants to fight?"

"Don't even try it…" She lunged forward and swung her fist at him, but Deangelo barely dodged and responded by elbowing her right in the face. She yelped, again falling down. Just like the first time, she quickly shook it off and got back up, attempting another strike; it only took Deangelo two more counter hits and then a final swat to practically send her flying into a nearby bookstand, where she collapsed to the ground with a grunt, knocking things down with her.

Weaker now, she again tried to stand up, but Deangalo had already had enough. He pointed the Octo Shot at her head, holding her down. "No more games… I told you, you're dying here…"

Bridgett just stared up at him nervously, unable to do much else.

He was about to pull the trigger, when a knife suddenly flew at him, slashing his hand. He screamed out, dropping the weapon. Bridgett spun her head to see that it was indeed Jessica who threw the weapon, after already taking out most of the Octolings there.

Deangelo panicked as he saw the situation, and started backing up, holding his hand. "Son of a bitch…"

"What, are you scared?" Jessica walked up to him and suddenly did a roundhouse kick, knocking him down. He attempted to get back up, but she put her foot on his chest before crouching down and holding her splattershot to his face. "Here's the deal. You're going to tell us where to find Hugh Ward. The longer you take to talk, the harder this is gonna be for you."

Bridgett got up, standing over them just to watch.

Deangelo stared up at them. "…I'm not even telling you my own mother's name…"

She suddenly hit him with the weapon. "Try again."

Deangelo fell silent.

Jessica gritted her teeth, turning the weapon so that the back was facing Deangelo's face, where she proceeded to pummel him hard with it, several times, until his face was swelling up. Bridgett watched and grimaced, a bit disgusted.

Deangelo spit up some ink at her face. "…Is that all…?"

Jessica growled in anger, before starting to pummel him even harder and faster, at least until she was suddenly stopped by Bridgett.

"Jessica, stop! You're going to kill him!"

"I don't mind the idea." Jessica said, continuing.

Bridgett looked at her, surprised by the violence. "...You keep that up, and he will die before we can get anything from him!"

"I'm aware!"

At this point, Bridgett sighed and looked away, no longer able to watch.

Finally, Jessica did stop, pointing the gun at his now extremely swollen face. "Talk or else I'll keep going. And trust me, you won't survive that."

Deangelo spit up more ink, genuinely scared for his life at this point. "…There are computer servers in the building… everything you need to know about the Underdogs… Hugh Ward… their base… the weapon… all of it… just don't kill me…"

Jessica nodded, and finally took her foot off, standing up.

"...You have to protect me…" Deangelo continued. "…They'll kill me for talking… please, I didn't do anything to you…"

Jessica thought about it, but not for long. "…You're not worth it. You want protection? Stay the hell away from the Underdogs."

"Please!"

Bridgett jumped as Deangelo's ink suddenly splattered through the room. She turned around to see that Jessica did indeed pull the trigger, splatting him. "…Jessica…?"

Jessica wiped some of the ink off of her face, before slowly turning back to her. "…You heard him. Go get the hard drive you brought. I'll find the servers."

Bridgett stared at her, her face a mixture of concern and disgust from the violence she just witnessed. Jessica wasn't quite like this when she last saw her. Regardless, she had to push her feelings aside; they were on a mission after all. She gave Jessica a slight nod, before walking out and back to her car to get the hard drive.

Jessica stood still for another moment, silently, before walking to find the servers like she said. Unbeknownst to her, however, a small, insect like robot from Deangelo's jacket was crawling onto her shoe just before she walked off, before folding up and attaching itself to her, disguising itself.

Meanwhile

Underdogs Base

Hugh Ward and Ayesha were sitting around in Ward's office, when they heard a beeping sound come from one of the monitors. They both looked up to see that on the monitor with a map of Inkopolis, it zoomed in on Deangelo's hideout, where a red dot appeared.

Ayesha stood up from her swivel chair, not caring that she was completely nude. "…What is that?"

"...It's Deangelo's tracker…" Ward replied, doing some typing on a keyboard that was on his desk. "Deangelo sent out a distress signal saying that the vigilantes were there… It tagged one of them."

"...Agent 3…" Ayesha quickly realized, grinning. "We have important information stored at that facility."

"I know. But they won't make it far with it." He turned to her. "I want you to cut them off. If it's indeed Agent 3 and the Octoling, we can kill two birds with one stone. We'll destroy the information after."

"Sounds like a party." Ayesha immediately went to get redressed, not even bothering to brush them off after grabbing them from the floor. "Want me to take care of Deangelo?"

He thought about it. "…Not yet. Worry about the vigilantes for now…"

She nodded and grinned wider. "They'll be dead within the hour."

"Thank you, Ayesha."

Ayesha was about to head out, but stopped by the door for one more question. "And what about Danny boy?"

"...Either he's already dead, or… he'll turn up sooner or later…"

"...Fine…" With that, she headed out. Ward sat back down at his desk, silently staring down the monitors with a relaxed pose. A long, almost somber sigh escaped his mouth.

Back with Jessica and Bridgett

Several minutes passed as Jessica and Bridgett waited in the computer server room, with a hard drive downloading as much information as they could. Jessica sighed, cleaning some ink off of her jacket.

"...What if there's another virus on this thing?" She asked after a bit.

Bridgett looked at her, then back at the hard drive, sighing. "For one, Marina made a couple modifications to this hard drive after that just to prevent something like that. Two… the Splatoon is already canned, what does it matter? We already agreed we'll be more careful this time."

"...Fair point…" Jessica sighed back.

Bridgett suddenly turned back to her. "...Can we talk about what happened here? Please?"

"What is there to talk about?"

"...I just… I couldn't help but notice, how… angry, you seemed… when you beat down Deangelo. And splatting him wasn't even necessary, we already had him defeated."

"He'll wake up feeling like shit, so what? I was interrogating him. Part of the job."

"Beating a man half to death is 'part of the job' to you?"

"I wasn't going to kill him."

"Am I supposed to just take your word on that after what I saw?"

"Why do you care, anyway? He's an Underdog."

"I, just… look, I know what you went through was horrible… I can't even imagine how much you suffered… but the thing is, we all suffered. So, if you have all this anger and hatred boiling up inside you, I want to be there for you. To help you. Like…. like how you were there for me before you left to take care of the Underdogs."

Jessica looked at her, silently.

"...I want you to be like the friend I knew in the Splatoon… not like the nightmare I dreamed about with the damn toothpick." Bridgett clarified.

Jessica was about to respond, but before she could, they could hear helicopter noises approaching.

Bridgett looked around; there wasn't exactly a window in the room to look out of. "…Is that…?"

"...We need to go." Jessica walked over and pulled the hard drive out, even if prematurely. "Hopefully that's enough… Come on."

"What if that isn't enough?" She asked, following her.

"Then we'll think of something else." As the helicopter got louder, they started to run out of the facility, and Jessica threw on her hoodie as they ran back to their car.

Bridgett practically threw herself into the driver's seat and started it up. "Where are we going?"

"I'll tell you the location once we know we're not getting followed by helicopters! Just drive!"

Panicked by the urgency in her voice, Bridgett slammed her foot down and the car sped off, quite speedily.

Jessica nearly hit her head as she was tossed in her seat, before the car then collided with a couple trash cans just because Bridgett was driving too fast to steer. "Discreetly, please!?" She snapped at her.

"I'm sorry!" Bridgett yelled back, starting to drive normally once they were on the road.

Jessica looked out the window; the helicopter that was passing overhead didn't seem to be Underdog or police owned, and flew by normally. She sighed in relief and then relaxed, putting her seatbelt on. "…We want to go to Cuttlefish Bunker… You should know the location…"

"The apocalyptic one? That's where you're hiding?"

She nodded. "Vanessa and Daniel are there… we can group up safely…"

Bridgett sighed a bit and subtly nodded as well, but didn't take her eyes off the road. She drove the car up onto the highway to make the drive faster.

A little while of silent driving passed. At one point, Bridgett decided to start talking again, breaking the silence. "...You know… despite our argument… and the near-death experience… it was actually pretty fun to fight alongside you again…"

Jessica stared at her, then back out the window. "…Yeah… it wasn't bad."

"...Makes me wish that Cuttlefish assigned me to the Underdogs mission with you… could've been a lot of fun. And maybe I could've helped… prevent all this…"

"...Yeah, maybe… but that's in the past now…"

"...I know…" Bridgett replied, sadly. "…But I still have hope that we can… you know, we can get back to where we were…"

Jessica sighed. "…I'm not sure that's gonna happen. After this Underdogs thing, after the city is safe and I finally get some closure with Daniel, I'm... I'm done… I don't need to stick around after that…"

Bridgett opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She just kept her eyes on the road, disappointed, for almost a solid minute before she spoke again. "…Jessica, I know that things are different now, but I don't want to-"

"LOOK OUT!" Jessica suddenly interrupted, seeing that a car on the opposite lane was turning to intentionally run right into them.

"SH-" Bridgett attempted to swerve out of the way, but the best reflexes in the world couldn't have saved them; the car collided with them head on, and both cars spun out of control, all of the windows shattering. Luckily, however, the car remained upright, and soon bounced to a stop. Both girls already had multiple cuts from the glass, but nothing serious.

A moment passed as they both recollected their senses, but afterward, the first thing Jessica did was check on Bridgett. "Are you hurt!?"

"...I-I don't think so…" She took a moment to examine her cuts, but something caught her attention from outside what used to be the windows. "DUCK!"

Jessica looked out as well, only having a split second to see that several Octolings, with high-pressure weaponry, were approaching the car, not even caring that the accident was causing traffic chaos on the highway. As they opened fire on the car, both girls transformed into their squid/octopus forms and squirmed out of their seatbelts, getting onto the floor and ducking as low as they could, the car being slowly torn apart around them.

Ayesha soon walked up herself, sniffing in some smoke from a burning car before holding up her fist to halt the gunfire. "That's enough! Check for corpses!"

Multiple Octolings began approaching the car, where the vigilantes were still ducked down. Bridgett was actually panicking a bit, whimpering in her Octopus form.

"...Listen to me…" Jessica whispered. "We have to get out of here… but we have to split up…"

"I-I can't…" Bridgett silently panicked. "…T-They're gonna kill us before we can, I-I can't focus…" She started hyperventilating.

"Listen to me." Jessica repeated, staying calm. "You wanted the vigilante life. But sometimes it requires improvisation- in life or death situations. Do you understand? Think about how you got through the Metro. Stay calm. Do what I say."

Hearing her words, Bridgett was able to relax, taking deep breaths.

It was only another seconds before multiple Octolings made it to their car, and opened the doors, pointing their guns into the car. Strangely enough, however, the car was now empty.

"Shit… they're not here!" One Octoling called out to Ayesha.

"Start searching, then! They can't have gone far!" Ayesha called back, pulling out a knife. "Mommy needs a win today…" She muttered to herself.

"Split up! Kill anyone who moves!" She yelled at the other Octolings, and just like that, everyone on the scene dispersed. They began separately searching among the many cars that were spread randomly throughout the highway thanks to the crash, where there were still lots of civilians around. A good amount of them were still hiding in their cars, but another good amount were also trying to flee, only to be gunned down by any Octolings who saw them.

Ayesha was getting in on the action too as she did her own search, throwing her knives with great accuracy into the throats of any civilian she saw. "Come out, Agent 3~! I promise to not crush your head under my boot~!" She called out, before starting to hum to a tune to herself as she walked along.

Another few moments passed, and the Octolings were starting to get more separated from each other, which was the perfect opportunity for the girls to strike. One Octoling in particular was very alone, not even a civilian in sight as he passed, when Jessica silently snuck out from underneath a car in her squid form, barely making a noise. She slithered up until she was close, and then made her move, suddenly transforming back and giving him a solid whack in back of the head. He collapsed, but Jessica didn't let him hit the ground, instead grabbing him and easing him down. She then took his weapon and took it apart, before leaving the parts behind and moving on, sneaking along the cars.

Bridgett was doing the same, taking out any Octolings that she could as stealthily as possible, even if she didn't think to disable their weapons like Jessica was. Also unlike Jessica, she was leaving a bit more of a mess, and even left one guy bleeding before moving on. As a result, it wasn't long until the other Octolings noticed. "Hey!" She walked over to one unconscious Octoling, before calling out to the rest. "They're on the attack!"

Jessica sighed. There went the element of surprise. However, at least from her count, there weren't too many Octolings left at this point. Perhaps now they reached a point where they could fight their way out. Taking a deep breath, she made sure her Splattershot was ready, and then suddenly lunged out to make her attack.

The closest Octoling, who saw an attack coming, immediately turned to her and opened fire, but Jessica swiftly dodged, rolled over to her, knocked the weapon out of her hand, and then sweep kicked her down, where she casually used her Splattershot to splat her at her feet. Now, however, the rest of the Octolings were coming at her, opening fire in her direction. She swiftly dodged, as the blasts of ink hit the cars around her, barely missing. She leaped onto and then off a car, firing ink back at them midair, although she didn't splat anyone.

Bridgett, who saw that the Octolings were gained up on Jessica, also came out of hiding, firing at them with her Octo Shot. Some of the Octolings turned around to fire at her, and she ran behind the cars, firing back.

Jessica took the distraction to go in for another attack, kicking, disarming, and then splatting a couple more Octolings. Unfortunately for her, however, a stronger Octoling was able to hit her, knocking the Splattershot from her hand. He attempted to shoot her with his own weapon, but Jessica swiftly disarmed him as well, leaving them both with nothing but their fists.

As they brawled, Bridgett came in closer, successfully splatting a couple Octolings herself, when suddenly, a knife flew past her, just barely missing her hair and stabbing a car next to her. She turned to the source of the knife, and saw that Ayesha was coming right at her, and was preparing to throw more. She gasped, using her Octopus form to duck under the car and slither to the other side.

"Oh, come on, babe!" Ayesha called out to her. "Let's have a chat! Octo to Octo!"

Bridgett took another deep breath, repeating Jessica's words to herself in her head. She knew she had to fight her way through this one, too. Holding her Octo Shot up, she waited another moment until Ayesha came around, although she could barely react in time as Ayesha suddenly threw more knives. After the first one missed, she gasped and barely dodged the second one, rolling over the car hood and then firing at her. Ayesha dodged as well, throwing a third knife and missing.

Jessica, meanwhile, was busy cleaning up the last of the other Octolings. With as strong a kick as she could muster, she successfully knocked down the Octoling she was brawling with, where she then proceeded to land another punch on his face and knock him out. Then, she swiftly leaped forward and rolled over him, reclaiming her Splattershot, before quickly splatting the last two that were trying to take her down, who were simply too slow to match. She relaxed a bit, panting.

Bridgett, who was hiding from Ayesha and her lethal knife throws, noticed. "Jess! Help!"

Jessica turned to see Bridgett's situation, and quickly went over, walking straight up to Ayesha. Ayesha, who only had one knife left, pulled it out and immediately attempted to slash at Jessica multiple times once she got close, only to watch Jessica dodge each one and counter. Now feeling comfortable, Bridgett came out as well, attempting to splat her, but Ayesha was too swift for her, and was able to disarm her with a kick. She grunted, nearly falling down, but quickly got back up and rejoined the fight.

Now fighting both vigilantes, Ayesha held her ground and tried to slash at both of them, but was unable to get either of them as they both dodged with great skill, especially Jessica. Finally, Jessica was able to disarm her of the knife with a kick, and Bridgett gave another even stronger kick to Ayesha's face, successfully knocking her back. Ayesha tried to get back up once again with an angry yell, but Jessica thought ahead too quickly, and suddenly grabbed her, straight up throwing her over the fence and off the highway. She plummeted straight down, but somewhat eerily, didn't fall with a scream of any kind.

Finally alone and able to breathe, they both looked over, seeing that… Ayesha had vanished. Bridgett blinked, leaning over to look beneath the highway. "…Where did she go?"

Jessica sighed. "…I don't know… but I figure we'll be seeing her again anyway… damn girl's like a cockroach…"

"...Are you hurt?"

She turned to her. "No. You?"

"No… I just… how did they find us…?"

"Maybe they found out about our car?"

"I don't know… they were waiting for us…"

"Either way, we can't use that car anymore… we have to… wait…" Her sentence drifted off as she looked down, noticing something.

Bridgett looked at her. "What?"

"...Check your clothes. Feel everywhere you can. For a small disk." She leaned down to look at her shoe, seeing the tracker.

Bridgett looked confused, but awkwardly did so. It didn't take Jessica long to pull the disk off her own shoe, but as she did, its mechanical legs popped out, struggling as if it was alive. "…Gotcha."

"Is that a tracker?"

"Yeah… Should've known those fuckers would still have these…" She stood up and dropped it to the ground. It immediately started trying to crawl back to her foot to reattach itself, but she stomped on it before it could.

Bridgett checked her own shoes as well. "…I think I'm clean."

"Then let's get the hell out of here. Is the hard drive safe?"

"Um…" She ran back to where their car was, and then reached inside, pulling it out. "Yes, it's here."

Jessica started walking. "Then let's lay low until we find another car to steal…" Bridgett nodded and followed, holding the hard drive close.

Meanwhile

Underdogs Base

As the chaos unfolded on the highway, Hugh Ward was staring at his monitors in his office, where it was showing a satellite image of the very location, with a red dot representing Jessica's tracker. With his one good eye, he kept a steady watch on it, all the way until the red dot blinked and then vanished. He stared at the screen, unphased.

Silently, he looked down at his own desk and pressed a button on his phone. "Ayesha, report."

…Silence. He began to grow nervous.

"...Ayesha. Report immediately." He commanded again.

Silence for another moment before the phone line buzzed to life, and Ayesha's voice spoke back to him, although it sounded like she was talking from a damaged earpiece. "...They g_t _way… They… They got m_… I'm hu_t, b_be…"

Ward sighed in relief a bit upon just hearing her voice, but frowned when he heard about the situation. "…What happened?"

"I'll tel_ you when _ see you _gain… And, oh, _rust me… I'm s_ill fine… Pain is th_ o_y real f_ling we have, after all…" She gave a creepy giggle. "…They'll feel my p_n so_n… I pr_mise _…"

Ward smiled just a bit, but only for a second. "…I'm glad that you still feel that way. I'll see you soon, Ayesha. Come home safe."

Ayesha didn't respond, and the line went dead as she hung up. Ward looked back up at the monitors, clenching his fist.

Hey, guys, quickie announcement. I've been thinking about about how to change things up a bit with my Fanfiction "schedule" lately, and since I do have NSS:OD on hold until this story is finished and because I have an outline raring to go, I'm actually planning on starting another new story soon. It'll be short, only 6 chapters, will be set in this universe, and will be focused on the Squid Sisters; you can find more details on my profile if you're interested. If this goes to plan, I'm going to be working on both stories at the same time and it will probably be finished before this one, but given that I've been planning and holding it off for about a year now, I think it's time to finally write it. So keep an eye on that if you want, and I'll see you next time. *waves*