"Excellent! Twist your hips with it and follow through with your swing!" Dao screamed demonstrating one handed how easily he could pop the dummies. Luca, breathing heavily, took a step back and charged, letting out a battle cry and attempting to swing as hard as Dao had. The dummy popped but not with as much volume as Dao's. "Heh, not bad kid, not bad." Luca simply gave him a smile through haggard breaths. He didn't know how long they had been at it, but his legs were beginning to shake. "Seems like you're at your limit," Dao said slapping Luca on his back, causing the hybrid to almost fall over and comically flail his arms.

"Yeah. I'm really tired," Luca said.

"And how do you feel?" Luca looked down at his hands. They didn't look different, but they felt different. If only a bit. They felt less tense and the movements of his fingers more fluid. The same feeling could be felt throughout his body and he could only describe it in one way.

"I feel lighter." Dao smiled a beak filled smile.

"So I'm guessing you know what you're going to do next." Luca was quiet and looked at his hand a moment longer before squeezing it into a fist and looking up a Dao.

"I have to talk to them. As soon as possible and get everything out in the open." His resolve faltered ever so slightly. "But…even though I know what I need to do, I'm not sure how to do it…" There was silence before he spoke up again. "I'll have to make a choice tonight…I'll sleep on it and then tell them my choice first thing tomorrow."

"Good luck figuring out what you're gonna say," Dao said extending his hand for a fist bump.

"Thanks. I'll definitely need it." Luca pressed his fists against Dao and winced slightly. It was like Dao had rocks or something in his fingers.

"Well it's been fun, but I think it's time to go."

"Oh? What time is it?" Luca asked pulling out his phone. It was almost seven and he flinched. "Shoot! I gotta get home!" Luca returned Dao's weapon and rushed to grab his things. "Thanks for the de-stresser! I'll see you next time!" Luca waved at his new friend as he ran out and Dao snickered as he left. He picked up his phone and glanced down. He had a lot of missed calls and his smile shrunk but didn't disappear. He pressed a button to call the number back and was immediately answered.

"You are in a lot of trouble."

"I figured."

The looks on all the doctors' faces did not give Inkay any encouragement. His eyes shot from person to person as they rushed Kelp's body down the hall, still shaking slightly.

"Why hasn't the blood sample come yet?" Yelled one doctor to the other, checking Kelp's heartbeat with a stethoscope.

"I don't know either. The syringe pierces the skin but it's like something is blocking the blood from leaving the veins. I can't get any suction on any spot."

"His pupils are enlarged and unresponsive. He may have gone into shock."

"I wouldn't be surprised looking at him, but his heart is beating a mile a minute. It sounds…muffled, like something's between it and my stethoscope, but he looks like nothing but skin and ink at this point, so I have no idea what it can be."

"Nurse, get an x-ray ready and an ink transplant! I want enough to be able to make another Inkling!"

"Yes ma'am!" Inkay ran behind the flurry of doctors and nurses trying to keep Kelp in sight while also listening in on the doctors' chat. He gathered as much information as he could and paused right outside of the emergency room. He stood there looking at the door. Just like that another close friend of his was in the hospital. He turned his back for less than a day to try and avenge one friend and wasn't there to help another.

"Agent 3!" Marie ran up to Inkay. "What happened?" Inkay turned and started moving towards the exit, much to Marie's shock and annoyance. "Hello? Don't ignore me!" Inkay's teeth grinded against each other as his furrowed brow weakened under the stress of his burning eyes. He couldn't help but put his self at the blame for Kelp's condition. His heart ached, and his eyes threatened to spill over. Everything was going wrong. Two of his closest friends were hospitalized, the villain threatening the city was always several steps ahead of him, and tension throughout the city was at an all time high. Nothing was going his way. But there was a glimmer of hope.

Inkay took out the jump drive that Kelp had on his person and gripped it in his hand. Maybe this had something on it that could assist in hunting down the mastermind. He came to a halt when he felt his arm get yanked back and his gaze dragged to meet the golden eyes of Agent 2.

"Don't ignore me! Where are you going? I know you aren't trying to go somewhere and do something stupid."

"What? No, I just need to get to my computer. Kelp had this on him, and if he put his life on the line to get it, I want to see what's on it." Marie looked over the flash drive and let out a tired sigh. She snatched the drive out of his hand, causing him to give a confused look.

"After the booby trap that was in the goggles you think you can just plug that into a company computer? We'll dig up one of my old computers and set it up on that." Now Marie started walking off and Inkay mustered a hopeful smile before it faded away into a grimace.

"I should contact Lyra and Wakame. They need to know what's going on in case…the worst happens…" Marie stopped and stood quietly as she now too had thoughts of the worst happening.

"You should. If I find anything I'll update you." With that the two agents turned to go separate ways.

"Visiting hours are almost up. Sorry, dear." Cereza smiled and thanked the nurse before turning back to Callie.

"I guess it's time to go. I'll be back tomorrow, okay?" Callie squeezed Cereza's hand and the hybrid gently returned the gesture. She wrapped both her hands around the older Inkling's and gave them a small kiss. "Get some rest now, alright?" The wounded Inkling nodded and Cereza exited the room. She somberly walked past the staff as she made her way out. Her mind buzzed with the dangers of the situation and anxiety towards her family's safety bubbled up from the deepest depths where she kept them.

How long before her mom or dad end up in the same situation? Maybe Apollo or Uncle Kelp would get attacked. Either on the job or by affiliation. The urge to protect welled up the same way it had when Luca was born. Her family was basically all she had and she wanted to do something to protect them. But looking at Callie all wrapped up brought to her attention how far from danger she was in comparison to her family. She wasn't on the front lines like her parents or Kelp, she wasn't handling dangerous equipment like Callie and Marie, and she wasn't even the center of attention for the protestors like Apollo was.

By the time her thoughts calmed she looked around to see she had walked out of the hospital and was a few blocks away from Inkopolis square. It was dark, but easy to find where she was based off of the lights from the buildings in the square. She took a deep breath and continued forward, more focused than she was before and watching her surroundings.

She made it in front of the turf war building when she heard her name being called. She swiveled around to see Matzuo heading her way. A small smile managed to creep onto her face as he stopped in front of her.

"Hey."

"Hi." Matzuo instantly heard the sadness in her voice and his smile faltered.

"Are you just coming back from the hospital?" Cereza's smile vanished as she recoiled a bit.

"How'd you know I was at the hospital?" Matzuo recoiled with a bit of panic in his face from the assumption and just how creepy the situation made him look.

"Educated guess. You did tell me The Squid Sisters are practically family to you and their condition has been the topic on everyone's tongue today. You are clearly distraught from how red your eyes are and you're out late, neither of which is normal behavior for you so I just assumed that's where you've been all day." Cereza chuckled a bit at just how panicky he came up with his explanation and looked back up at him.

"Alright, well now you have to tell me what you're doing out so late. Depending on that answer I'll know whether or not I should label you a creeper to avoid."

"Oh, easy. Late night doctor's appointment," he answered pulling out a medical bag from his jacket pocket. "The appointment ended awhile ago, but they sent me all over the place to get my prescription."

"Oh. What's it for?"

"Allergies. My allergies flare up and I get a massive migraine frequently."

"I see. Well I guess I won't have to avoid you for now, but watch yourself." The two shared a small laugh that died down and Cereza's face faded with it. Matzuo saw the sadness and worry in her eyes and held out his hand. Cereza looked at it before looking at Matzuo confused.

"Come on. Let's go do something."

"Oh, I was just gonna go home. I'm really tired."

"I believe you need to postpone going home right now. If you go home you'll just lay down and keep feeling sad and upset. At least let me keep you company for a while." Cereza looked at Matzuo's hand again and let out a sigh. He was right but that didn't magically make her want to do anything more than lay down in bed. Still, she had plans to sit in on Callie again tomorrow, so if she stayed until visiting hours ended like she did today this would be a needed break.

"Alright," she said as she placed her hand in his. He smiled and gave it a soft squeeze.

"Come on. I think I know what you need." Cereza smiled and let Matzuo guide her away.

"Damnit…Nothing's working," the doctor muttered as yet another needle refused to either inject or remove anything from Kelp's body. "I don't understand. His ink pressure is through the roof, yet we can't draw anything." The doctor lightly gripped Kelp's forearm and moved it upward. There was a bit of popping from inside and the doctor winced. "His arm feels like sandpaper."

"Doctor, the orange ink is here." The doctor looked at the ink and began thinking of what to do next.

"Should I gather operating materials?" A nurse questioned.

"His body seems too dehydrated right now. We can't risk his body losing the little bit of hydration it has. Prep the ink into a bath. We'll have to submerge him and wait until the X-rays come back in." The nurse nodded and began preparations. The doctor looked over the notes of what he knew so far. Firstly, Kelp's eyes were motionless and unresponsive. They stared straight ahead whenever anyone opened his eyelids and didn't follow light or movement. The veins in them were also swollen in a painful looking way. They didn't look like veins but fingers wrapping around the eyes holding them in place.

The patient's skin looked shriveled yet it somehow kept its original color. There were a few patches near the hands and feet where the colors seemed to have faded, but everywhere else seemed relatively fine. His breathing was shallow. His chest barely moved with his breathing and his body shivered with occasional spasms.

Finally his heart. His heartbeat was so rapid it was dangerous. They juggled with the idea of slowing it down with some drugs but the heartbeat was really the only sign they were dealing with a living Inkling and not a corpse. But bigger than that, the heart didn't sound like a heart. Instead of the thumps of beating flesh, with every beat it sounded like someone took a ball of paper and did compressions on it. The doctor looked up at the body being attached to a respiratory machine and lowered into a tub of ink. This would by far be the most confusing patient he ever had to deal with.

The emerald tentacled Octoling excitedly guided the hybrid into the building, holding the door open and ushering her inside. She perked up ever so slightly as she looked around and took in the woodsy smell and the slightly off key singing. They were immediately approached by a wide smiling Inkling who bounced on her heels as she stopped in front of them.

"Hello! Welcome to O & P Karaoke! Can I get you a table for two?"

"Yes, please," Matzuo moved his hand from Cereza's grip to her shoulder. The waitress nodded and started moving the opposite way.

"Follow me, please." The two obeyed and Cereza took the time to look around. There were a few other occupied tables but not many, and everything from the tables to the pillars were made of wood with varieties of potted plants scattered around, giving the sense of being in a forest. On one side there was a large ocean blue stage surrounded by large underwater themed plants that Cereza just loved the aesthetic of. On it a lobster shook his tail and sang at the top of his lungs in a very unprofessional way that simply made Cereza chuckle a bit under her breath. On the adjacent wall, was a large half moon grill where a jellyfish expertly prepped a variety of food for an applauding crowd. His arms would stretch from one end to season or chop something while the other did the same on the other side.

"You both can sit here. Here are your menus and I'll be back to take your orders when you're ready," the waitress said. The two sat down across from each other and graciously took the menus.

"Thank you," Cereza paused to look at her name tag. "April."

"Don't mention it! Just call out when you're ready." With that, April left the two to look at their menus.

"I hope you like barbecue. This place is great at it."

"Is it better than that guy's singing?" Matzuo took a glance at the stage and cringed.

"Yeah, most definitely."

"Then it should be fine." Cereza glanced over to the stage as the lobster took his bow and there were a few hesitant claps as a shade wearing Inkling in a island themed shirt and shorts came on stage and took the microphone away from him.

"Thank you for that…eye opening experience," he said bringing a small chuckle from the crowd. "Next up on the list is a…Charlie, who's gonna sing "Angels" for us. Let's give them a hand as they come up!" The crowd clapped as another Inkling headed onto stage.

"Any idea what you want?" Matzuo asked. Cereza jumped and snapped her attention from the stage back to Matzuo.

"Huh? Oh, no, not yet." Matzuo looked over Cereza's face and sat his menu down.

"Oh, I apologize. I didn't even ask if you were hungry or not. I just brought you here expecting you to stuff your face. You don't have to order anything to be polite."

"No no! I actually am quite hungry. I was with Callie all day so I haven't really eaten…" her demeanor fell and Matzuo hurried to try and find a conversation to distract her. That was in fact the point of coming here.

"Um…You think you can take that jellyfish in a fight?" Cereza looked over her shoulder at the chief who had just chopped a steak twice his size into small bits in a flurry of swings from his knives.

"Oh yeah. Take him to beating his record at fastest beating." The two laughed and Matzuo picked up his menu again.

"I think I want the spicy barbecue rib plate. Maybe get a milkshake. I love milkshakes."

"I guess that means you spend a lot of time in yards, huh?" Cereza said with a smirk.

"Just yours, thanks." Matzuo looked up from his menu to give Cereza a smirk and his golden eyes glinted in the light. Color rushed to Cereza's face and she hid her blush behind her menu.

"Didn't I just accuse you of stalking me? That joke was horribly timed and I'm starting to get suspicious."

"That is entrapment, and I don't appreciate being handed the opportunity for the comeback and being punished for it." Cereza burst out laughing and after another glance at Matzuo turned her eyes back to the menu.

"I think I'll get the double chili cheeseburger with fries. Can't go wrong with that."

"Should've known you were a burger and fries type of girl."

"Well, every girl is a fan of fries. That's just a fact."

"Is that so?" Matzuo said setting his menu down.

"Very much so," Cereza responded doing the same and shifting her eyes to the stage. "So do you come here to sing your heart out?"

"I'm just a fan of varied music, and nothing's more varied than Karaoke. Sometimes someone can sing like a dying croc and sometimes angels grace the stage." Cereza watched the Inkling on stage sing and bob with the music. He was a much better performer than the last guy but seemed a bit unpolished.

"Yeah, I can see how that can be." April returned, still smiling at the two with a bounce in her step.

"Hi, are you ready to order?" Matzuo and Cereza glanced at each other for confirmation and gave their orders. "Alrighty then. I'll be back with your orders in a moment."

"Oh, can I also get one of these," Matzuo said holding up the menu for April to see. April glanced at the item then over to Cereza with a smile.

"Sure thing, sir!" April picked up the menus and moved back towards the kitchen. Cereza tilted her head at Matzuo who just smiled back at her. Ignoring the interaction, Matzuo and Cereza continued to chat as they waited for their food to come back.

Inkay pulled up in front of Wakame's house and stepped out of his car. He figured it would be better to pick up Lyra second because if she were to get behind the wheel, as distraught as she could get, she may get in an accident, and having her son there would help to calm her down. He approached the apartment building, went up the walkway and knocked on the door. The lights were on inside so he didn't think Wakame was asleep. He knocked again a bit harder and heard some light shuffling on the other side. He heard the door unlock for a moment then click back in place, reminding Inkay that it was common knowledge the city was no longer safe.

"Who is it?" Kelp called from the other side of the door.

"It's me," Inkay said. There was a pause before the lock came undone and the door opened.

"Mr. Squillam?" Wakame asked. "What are you doing here so late?" There was a blank look on Inkay's face and Wakame immediately understood the situation. "Did something happen to my dad?" Inkay let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand over his tentacles.

"Yeah. He's in bad shape."

"Where is he?" panic filled Wakame's eyes as he took a further step outside.

"Put a shirt on. I'm taking you to him."

"It's that bad?" Inkay simply nodded. Wakame rushed back inside and grab his shirt and keys, locking the door and closing before even properly dressing as he and Inkay headed back to his car. "Does my mom know?"

"Not yet. We're going to pick her up now. I need you to try and keep her calm but…it's not looking too good." Wakame shuddered as he entered the passenger's side of Inkay's car and they drove off.

Marie dug through her things and pulled out an old computer. It was completely wiped and was connected to nothing, making it the safest computer to work on. As she waited for the computer to boot up, she glanced over the flashdrive and the possibilities that lie within it. On a completely new unconnected computer it shouldn't be able to do any damage. From the ways things were going she wouldn't be surprised if it started downloading files from the agency's computer and sent them to who knows where. It should be harmless here.

Unless it turns my computer into a bomb.

Marie shook the thought out of her head, slapped her cheeks, and focused on the task at hand. She plugged the flashdrive into the computer and waited for it to load in. Once the load was complete, there were a few folders brought up on screen. None of which were labeled so Marie clicked the first folder. The first folder contained several large files that refused to open no matter which Marie clicked. Right as she prepared to give up on those for now, several windows opened at once and filled the screen with constantly moving and adjusting code.

"What? Some type of….firewall?" Marie muttered to herself. She scanned over the moving code and tried to get a grasp of something going on. When it proved to move too fast for her to keep up with, she went to start closing them out. When she closed one, all the rest followed. So they're all connected? Marie went to the second folder. Inside there was one file. Marie clicked on it and it opened a document file. At the top of the document was the title "Fuel Retrieval" in bold letters. The following pages were filled with symbols and signs that Marie didn't know. She scanned to see if there was anything familiar that she could grasp onto.

Around halfway through, there was something she understood. There was a break in the writing and what looked like the title of the next section. The only thing she could understand before it returned to the unknown language read

Squidville Encore

Luca arrived home and gently closed the door behind him. He turned around and jumped as his mother was already in front of him. Her eyes were narrowed and her arms were folded across her chest.

"And where have you been?"

"I was with a friend," Luca responded as he shrunk under his mother's gaze.

"That doesn't answer my question. Where have you been?"

"Just over at the training area." Luca quaked in his boots as his mother's eyes narrowed and her foot tapped on the floor. Cerata raised her hand to her head and squeezed her temples. Anger steadily rising in her voice.

"You can't keep staying out this late. The city isn't safe right now."

"I know mom, I just was with a friend and lost track of time and…I'm sorry." Cerata let out an upset sigh.

"Listen, Luke. I know you're happy to have your little friends, and I'm glad you have a group of nice kids to hang out with, but even in normal situations I can't just have you running around with me having nowhere to even begin to look for you. Your father and I have enough on our plate without unleashing a search party for you."

"I'm sorry, mom…" Cerata stepped forward and gave her son a hug.

"Set an alarm. I need an hourly update on where you are after six. If you miss a single update, I'm grounding you until the city's safe again." Luca shuddered and nodded. "Good. Now, I hope you enjoyed your time with your friends. Dinner will be ready in a bit. Go wash up and meet me in the kitchen."

Inkay and Wakame arrived outside of Lyra's house. The older Inkling stepped out and went to the door. The process repeated where he knocked a few times and after awhile Lyra stumbled to the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Lyra." Lyra almost immediately opened the door, panic already forming in her eyes.

"Inkay? What's wrong? What happened?" Inkay took a deep breath before letting out the news.

"Kelp isn't doing too good." Lyra's hands shot up to her mouth and her eyes swirled with a mixture of fear and rage.

"AGAIN?!"

"Oh man, that was so good!" Cereza said finishing her burger and picking up a few fries.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. You sound like you're feeling better."

"Thanks. I do. I'm really happy you found me out there." Matzuo grew a wide smile and his eyes wandered just behind Cereza.

"Well I hope you saved room for dessert." Cereza tilted her head.

"Dessert? I didn't order any desser-" Cereza was cut off as something large was pressed on her head. It temporarily blocked her sight and when she pushed it up there was a mini cake in the middle of an ice cream circle with sparklers surrounding it. Still recovering from the shock and confusion, Cereza looked up to see April and two of her co-workers standing over Cereza waving noise makers and such items.

"Happy happy birthday! We're really glad you came! Happy happy birthday! We'd love to sing your name! Happy happy birthday! From our team to you! Happy happy birthday! We hope your dream comes true!" The faculty let out a cheer and everyone else in the restaurant did as well. The room was filled with cheers and applauds as the team at O & P left to let the hybrid enjoy her desert. Cereza couldn't help but laugh as she looked at Matzuo who had a snarky grin on his face.

"Did you tell them it was my birthday?"

"I don't know about you, but the surprise on your face cheered me up." Cereza laughed again and threw a french fry at Matzuo.

"Well now I'm conflicted. There's no way I can eat this by myself and I don't know if you deserve any."

"Ouch. That's rude." The two shared another laugh as Cereza constantly adjusted her new hat and continued their meal. After awhile of more chatting and when the dessert was half finished, Matzuo excused himself to the bathroom. Cereza asked for a take out for the rest of her dessert and played with one of the remaining sparklers as she waited for Matzuo to return.

"So everything going well with you and your friends, Luke?" Cerata asked at the dinner table. Luca poked at his food and thought about whether he should ask his mom on advice on the situation. Surely she'd be better suited to give him some guidance on what he should do. But at the same time, she had a lot on her plate, so to speak. He had heard about the weapons that so badly banged up his dad and how both his parents were expected to use them. He just had to really think on his decision and how to relay his feelings to both Sebastian and Senia.

"Everything's cool. I made a new friend today, too."

"Oh? What're they like?"

"He seems like a fit kid. He's really in shape and gave me some exercise tips." Cerata smiled and took a bite of her food.

"That sounds nice. If he really wants to put his skills to the test maybe he should spar with me." Cerata smirked as she sipped her drink and Luca chuckled. Cerata's cellphone rang and she turned away from the table to answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Cerata. It's Marie. Has Inkay filled you in already?"

"Filled me in?" Cerata's voice darkened a bit. "Filled me in on what?"

"Well, I doubt he's keeping secrets from you, but Kelp went out on his own. Managed to record and swipe some useful data, but he's pretty messed up. ER at the agency. Couldn't bring him to a standard hospital without riots picking up."

"No, Inkay hasn't mentioned any of this to me."

"He's probably busy taking Lyra and Kelp's son to the hospital. That's how banged up he is."

"I see…" Cerata bit a little on her thumb as she began to worry for her friend, yet again. Luca noticed the distress on her face and he began to worry as well.

"I didn't call to rat out Inkay though. What I want to say is that he received a flashdrive from Kelp. We're trying to keep those who know to a minimum and I need your help. There's this really complicated firewall that I'm pretty sure with enough time I can hack, but there's some instructions on a different file in a language I'm not familiar with. I'm sure Inkay won't mind you knowing so can you swing by my place and see if you can help me decode it?"

"I do know a few languages so I should be able to help a bit. Anything seem legibible?"

"Well, like I said, I don't know the language, but the one thing that was in our language said 'Squidville encore." Cerata stiffened.

"You don't think they-" Cerata paused and looked over to Luca, who was starting to have the worry show through his eyes. "I'll head over immediately," she said standing up. "Luke, can you wrap up the rest of my food and put it up for me?" Cerata asked as she left the room. Luca nodded and was just that more relieved he didn't bog down his mom with his problems.

Once Cerata grabbed her keys and walked out of the house, she continued. "You don't think they are trying to get another weapon like the one that leveled Squidville, do you?"

"Worse case scenario they already have one and they're prepping the next city to use it on. Hence why I would like an extra pair of hands to work on this while I try to break through the firewall."

"Alright. I'll be there soon."

Cereza watched Matzuo come back and gathered all the food together.

"Hey. You ready to go?" Matzuo paused and looked back at the stage.

"Maybe another song or two. See how they do." Cereza shrugged and agreed so Matzuo sat back down. The two chatted about random things and the performances on stage. April came by and Matzuo paid for the meal. Cereza looked up to the stage as the shaded Inkling returned to it and began announcing the next singer.

"Alright! Thank you for those beautiful lyrics! Next up, we have a Cereza, singing for us 'Everything Stays'." Cereza froze before her head shot to Matzuo.

"You didn't." Matzuo returned with a small smile.

"I thought you could use a little pick me up. You said before you dreamt to sing. I thought this would be the push you needed." Cereza shook her head and sat further away from Matzuo.

"No. No no no, I don't get on stage any more. I appreciate you trying but I just…can't…" Matzuo reached over to Cereza and held her hand, running a thumb over her knuckles.

"Hey, I'm sure you will do great. You can't possible be worse than the lobster guy." Cereza broke her gaze with Matzuo, who gently turned her to look back at him. "Listen, if you get nervous just find me in the crowd and focus on me. I'll be right here supporting you the entire time." Cereza looked into his eyes and felt a wave of calm wash over her.

"O-okay…Just don't go anywhere, alright?" Matzuo nodded and Cereza stood with a deep sigh.

"Well if there's no Cereza here we'll move to our next-"

"I'm right here!" Cereza called out. All eyes locked onto her position and she gulped. She stole a glance over her shoulder at Matzuo who gave her a supportive smile and a thumbs up. Cereza made her way to the stage. Her heart pounded in her chest as she tried her best to keep her mind focused on one subject. What song did they say she was singing? Everything Stays? She's heard that song before but she didn't think she could sing it from the top of her head.

She reached the stage and the shaded Inkling directed her to a bush of plants at the corner of the stage.

"Lyrics over there if you need em," he whispered to her. Cereza noticed the plants weren't just there for decorations but to hide the tv screen used to guide people who didn't know the songs. She nodded and the shaded Inkling addressed the crowd. The words he said were lost to Cereza as she looked at the lyrics waiting patiently on the screen. Would she mess this up? How bad could this go? Was Matzuo plotting against her? The Inkling stopped talking and the music started playing. Cereza kept her head down and eyes glued to the screen. Her throat felt dry as she waited for the words to start changing colors.

"Let's, go to the garden. You'll find something waiting. Right there where you left it, lying upside down. When you finally find it, you'll see how it's faded. The underside is lighter, when you turn it around." There was a whoop from the crowd and Cereza flinched. She closed her eyes and tried to remember the rest of the song on her own. "Everything stays, right where you left it. Everything stays, but it still changes. Ever so slightly. Daily and nightly. In little ways. Everything stays." The crowd used the instrumental part of the song to cheer and applause. They seemed to really like her voice. Cereza's heart fluttered a bit as she waited to repeat the lyrics.

"Let's, go to the garden. You'll find something waiting. Right there where you left it, lying up….side… down…"In a moment of hope and pride from the audience, Cereza stole a look from the crowd. She froze again. The crowd stared back at her with wide malicious smiles. Their cheers turned into laughs and they all pointed and mocked her failure at the song. With every word her shocked silence caused her to miss, the crowd laughed louder and louder. They teased and taunted her as the room became a flurry of hounding laughter. Cereza took a step back eyes darting along the sea of faces. When did so many people show up? As if a droplet of calm fell into the raging ocean of her mind, she suddenly remembered.

"Matzuo," came the hushed breath as Cereza looked over to where she had sat with her friend and ate their meal. Her breath caught in her throat as in the place of the supportive eyes she hoped to see, Matzuo stood against the booth with an amused grin, eyes savoring every moment of her embarrassment. The voices swelled again. The laughs crackled and echoed in her ears until she couldn't take it anymore. Dropping the mic Cereza fled off the stage, pass the cackling Inkling and out of the restaurant.

She sprinted down the street with the only objective being to get home. She couldn't take anything else. She just wanted to get home and hide under her covers. She ran with her head down. All the faces of the people she ran by were looking at her. Judging her. They knew the failure she just made and were laughing with the people at the bar.

"Cereza!" Matzuo's voice cried out. She ignored him. In fact, she ran faster. As fast as her legs could carry her. "Cereza, wait!" She was suddenly grabbed. In a mere instance she was pulled back and when she looked up she saw the face again. Matzuo still had on that sadistic grin and his eyes glinted at her as she struggled.

"No! Let go of me!" She called as she rocked her arms trying to get loose.

"Cereza, calm down!"

"You lied! You laughed at me! They laughed at me! You said it would be fine and it was horrible!"

"Cereza, no one was laughing at you!" Cereza froze. She looked up at Matzuo with wide eyes as the horrendous face he wore melted into one of shock, worry, and confusion.

"But….they were…" Matzuo moved his hands from Cereza's arms to her hands.

"Cereza, when you went silent on stage no one said anything. At most there was a comment how you might have gotten stage fright, but no one was laughing at you. Up until that point everyone was cheering." Cereza looked around, now fully coming to terms that the people around her weren't smiling at her. At most they seemed uninterested or concerned.

"But…I heard-"

"Is there a problem here?" The two young adults looked over to see a police officer eyeing the two warily. Cereza pulled her hands from Matzuo and rubbed her face.

"No, no no. It's fine," she said rubbing tears from her face. "Just a…misunderstanding." The officer looked over Cereza and turned his attention to Matzuo.

"A misunderstanding, eh?"

"Yes, sir. We're clearing it up right now," Matzuo said. The officer kept eye contact with him a bit longer before turning his attention back to Cereza.

"Be sure to contact the authorities if there is a problem. Understand?" Cereza nodded, still wiping her cheeks as with a weary eye and one last glare towards Matzuo, the officer left. Once out of earshot, Matzuo turned back towards Cereza.

"Cereza, what happened back there? You were doing so well."

"I don't want to talk about it," she said looking up at Matzuo. The sight of her eyes puffy and swollen from how hard she cried in such little time caught Matzuo aback. He was devastated his plan to cheer her up brought her so far down. "Not here. Can we go someplace else?" Cereza asked. Matzuo nodded and tentatively took her hand in his.

They walked to the park hand in hand with the only sounds between them being the sound of the occasional sniffle from Cereza. They found a park bench away from the hustle and bustle of night life in the city and Matzuo waited for Cereza to explain. It took awhile for Cereza to calm down and get her thoughts together, and a moment longer before she could transfer the words from her mind to her mouth.

"A long time ago…Callie and Marie were hosting a youth talent search. It was supposed to be used to find up and coming idols to learn some things from Callie and Marie. That's if you won of course, but even if you didn't, it was to be broadcasted and uploaded everywhere, so your chance of some other sponsor finding you if you didn't win the competition was high." Matzuo watched as Cereza stared at the ground and twiddled her thumbs. "I was so excited. I practiced day in and day out. I focused on the singing of course but I had my aunts help with some easy dance moves. Singing is great but I really applaud those who can sing and dance at the same time." She let out a small chuckle before her face fell again.

"The first roadblock I ran into when preparing was the song. I figured that if I did a really out there song, one that screamed 'look at me! I'm here! Don't ignore me!' it would be great. But then I looked at my little brother Luca. He was four at the time. On his way to five. I thought, 'what kind of song would he need to hear? What song would inspire him to do his best'? So I switched songs, dance, outfit, and all that to sing something inspirational. Something hopeful and I felt like even if I didn't win, I'd make a mark and have something Luca could look back on in the future and push through whatever struggles he faced."

"I'm guessing things didn't go as planned?" Matzuo said to fill the silence that washed over Cereza. She shook her head.

"When do things ever? There were 4 rounds done to narrow down the contestants with a 5th round to decide the winner. I managed to make it all the way to the semi-finales. That's…when it happened."

The day was bright and shiny. There was a giant crowd clammering and chatting on who would make it to the finals and who would step pass that to take the victory. Cereza sat in her little corner, doing last minute adjustments to her outfit and making sure her tentacles were done up just right. The dress she wore wasn't very form fitting, but it was flowy. It was light purple to go with her tentacles with a layer of soft sheer fabric on top. It was tied around the middle with a simple black ribbon and the sleeves flowed down to her upper arm. There were light floral patterns hinted throughout the dress to go with the flower placed on top of her head.

She was sure she looked like a princess, but she had this growing sense of worry. There was a lump growing in her stomach that she couldn't ignore. She pulled out her phone and with shaky fingers dialed her mom. As the phone rang she looked at the competition. People were dancing and doing vocal exercises with smiles and determination on their faces Cereza couldn't muster.

"Hello? Sweetie are you okay?" Cerata asked through the phone, her voice a yell but muffled under the crowd she was no doubt surrounded by.

"I don't know. I just…don't feel so good anymore. I just…I don't think I can do this…"

"Darling, if you want to do this then you can do this. If you don't want to you can leave but you've been doing great so far. Are you nervous now? Has the audience gotten to you?"

"No, ma'am. I just…I don't know…"

"Honey, I'm sure Callie and Marie would understand if you step down. I can come back there and get you if you want." Cereza looked at herself in the mirror. She had worked so hard for this. Her family worked hard to help her get here. She couldn't just abandon all of their hard work just because she had a bad feeling.

"No…No ma'am. I'll be fine. Just needed to hear your voice." Cerata was quiet for a moment before she spoke up again.

"If you say so honey. Just know that your father, aunts, and I are all here sending you our love from the crowd." Cereza smiled and gripped the phone.

"Thanks, mom."

"You're welcome. Good luck out there!" Cerata waited for Cereza to hang up and the hybrid took a deep breath. She turned towards her competition and mentally prepared herself. This round would be a group dance and song with each participant getting a turn as lead. Because of this they all had to practice together and as a result friends were formed and more rivalries were made. Well, for the other contestants. Everyone still avoided Cereza the same as they did on day one.

"Crying to mommy already?"

Well, everyone except one. Cereza looked up to see a yellow tentacled Inkling. She had her tentacles wrap up in a high hive crown and wore and very beautiful yellow dress and gloves that hugged her tightly.

"No, not really," Cereza said. She looked away from the Inkling girl and placed her phone away.

"Weren't you taught to look someone in the eye when they're talking to you?" she said. Cereza didn't respond. She kept her head down and squeezed her hands on her knees. She knew the Inkling wouldn't touch her. Any altercations would automatically result in both participants getting disqualified.

"Tsk. It's too bad you don't keep your mouth shut when you're singing. You sound much better that way."

"Well if we've both made it this far, then that means your singing is on par with mine, huh Charlotte?" Cereza snapped back, finally locking eyes with the Inkling girl. She stepped back aghast as Cereza locked eyes with her. Charlotte clicked her tongue and turned to leave. As she walked away Cereza let out a large breath she didn't know she was holding. She placed her hand to her chest and wondered where that bravado came from. She was proud of defending herself, but she was scared what would happen next.

"Did you set up the citric mix yet?" Charlotte asked another Inkling girl at her station. This girl wasn't dressed up and was simply there to help Charlotte get ready.

"Yeah, it's ready." Charlotte looked back over at Cereza with a glare in her eyes.

"Be ready to drop it on my signal."

Cereza stood in line with the rest of the girls. It was almost time to go out so she had to get the rest of her worries out now. She took a deep breath and kept her eyes forward. This was going to go great. She was going to do great. She watched the contestants in front of her chat and mumble and her eyes locked onto Charlotte. If she had to have any consolation prize, it would be Charlotte didn't advance.

The music started and the group slowly danced out into their position. Once in place, Cereza hoped to be able to catch a glance of her parents in the crowd. That hope was dashed as it seemed the entirety of Inkopolis showed up to the event, and trying to see her parents was about as effective as trying to fly. So, with no way to find her parents, Cereza focused on the task at hand. Right now she was serving as backup dancer to the first contestant. They would move to the designated spot at the front of the stage and sing their part before switching with the next person. Then the next. Then Charlotte. Then the next. Then her. She thought about all the ways she could mess up. All the errors she could make. All the things that could go wrong.

She used a dip and twirl in the routine to shake her head out of that mindset. Callie had told her if she was too focused on her next step then she'd stumble on the one she was on. She had to focus on the present, so she danced and twirled and with every step her worries were left behind. It wasn't long before she began enjoying the activity. The crowd, the other dancers, even the stage faded away as she lost herself in the moment until before she knew it, she was front and center.

There was a split second where everything stopped and came back into view and seemed to move in slow motion. She saw the crowd, and she heard their cheers. Her heart pounded in her chest, and it was this moment where she figured out that performing on stage was a beautiful feeling.

"And when the music fades away, I know I'll be okay. Contagious rhythm in my brain, Let it play." It may have been the high Cereza was feeling at this moment, but the crowd seemed to light up at her voice as she continued to dance and sing. This filled her with more hope and inspiration than she thought possible. "No more poison! Killing my emotion! I will not be frozen! Dancing is my remedy, remedy, oh! Stop stop preying, 'cause I'm not not playing, I'm not frozen! Dancing is my remedy, remedy, oh! Move while you're watching me, dance with the enemy, I've got a remedy, Oh, oh-oh, oh-oh!"

Cereza did a quick twirl ending with a low bow, causing her dress to spiral and spin around her in a flourish of beauty to signal the end of her turn. There was a moment of pause to let the girls savor their time in the spotlight, and with her head down and her main performance over, Cereza couldn't help but smile. There was a sudden weight on her. So much that she couldn't stay balanced in the bowed position and fell to her knees. There was a metal clang that hit the back of her head and made her head throb. She grabbed the assaulted location and looked over to see a bucket rolling away from her position. She looked up to see a support beam, hidden behind stage decorations and most likely the previous position of the item.

Beginning to shake, Cereza looked down at her hands. What was this stuff? It was clear like water, but it didn't burn. Was it some type of ink? There was no immediate smell to it. Looking down, she was now crouched in a large puddle of it and it clung to and ruined her dress. Her tentacles came undone and she looked over her shoulders, shocked and disbelieving. Near the middle of the stage, Charlotte stood with a hand over her mouth, holding in laughs as she watched the hybrid sit there in a puddle of whatever it was. Was this revenge for talking back? No, she didn't have time to set this up after Cereza spoke back. She had already had this planned. Cereza had did nothing wrong and she had already planned to humiliate her like this! For maybe the first time in her life, Cereza was violently angry.

Eyes still locked on Charlotte, the hybrid moved to get up. Her hand slipped ever so slightly on the puddle, but her attention never wavered. She stood and took a step towards the yellow-headed Inkling and Charlotte's smile dropped. It would have amused Cereza how quick her face changed if she wasn't thinking of all the ways she could rearrange it herself. Sensing hostility, other dancers took steps back as Charlotte stood there in shock. The crowd was in astonished anticipation on what would happen next or if a fight would break out. Varying voices of concern and instigation circulated the area. Cereza felt the substance sloshing off of her and onto the floor but paid it no mind. That is until another dancer called out

"Oh my gosh! Her dress is melting!" Cereza stopped in her tracks and looked down again. It wasn't just the substance sliding off her frame, but parts of her dress were tearing apart and sliding off as well. Cereza looked back up at Charlotte, the condescending smile back on her face as the hybrid was horrified at the lengths the Inkling would go. She turned around, remembering the crowd, the camera, the world watching her. All the anger she had in her system turned into panic. She held up what remained of her dress to prevent exposing herself and tried to run off stage. The fastest way to the dressing room was pass Charlotte, who figured she wasn't quite done yet.

"Ew don't touch me!" she cried, pushing Cereza back towards center stage. Normally, such a push would be irrelevant, but the substance dumped over her as well as the trail of it left behind caused her to fall and slide. Her eyes widened as she tried to stop herself but to no avail. She careened right off the side of the stage and towards the crowd. The people watching stepped away as she crashed into some equipment headfirst.

The ringing was immediate and the pain throughout her body was great. She opened her eyes and was greeted to the sight of the audience looking down on her. Some laughing, some predatorily, all mocking. She tried to stand to move but the ribbon around her waist seemed to be unaffected by the substance. It slid down around her legs and tripped her causing her to crash back into the nest of musical equipment. The laughing and ringing increased as Cereza tried to cover herself, only to find the cloth she had left barely fit in her palm and crumbled away like wet paper. Her sight blurred from the pain and the blood starting to drip from somewhere on her head. She covered herself with her arms and held her head down. The ever-echoing laughter shattering her dreams as they seemed to look down on her. What did she do wrong? What could she have changed to not end up here? Why did she deserve this?

There was a set of thuds nearby drowned out by the laughter and then voices. Familiar voices but Cereza dared not peak out to greet them. She felt something cover her then a hand caress her face.

"Baby girl? Come on, let's get you out of here," came the comforting voice of her father.

"Dad?" She muttered looking up to see his bright purple eyes shaded with worry and concern. Cereza burst into tears and loud sobs as she clung to her father. "Daddy!" she cried burying her face in his shirt and letting out the rawest of cries. Inkay stroked his daughter's head. He secured his coat around her, glad he chose to wear a large one today and picked her out of the rubble and off of the ground.

"I'm going to get you out of here, alright? You're going to be fine," Inkay whispered to her as she buried herself further in his embrace. Inkay's eyes were hurt and apologetic towards his daughter but hardened into an angry glare as he looked at the competition still on stage. One of them had something to do with this, and after a quick scan of all their faces, he had an idea. Turning away from the stage, Inkay began running away from the crowd. His glare was enough to scare most people off, but for those it didn't,

"Out of the way! Move it! Nothing to see here! Avert your FUCKING eyes!" Cerata scared off the crowd with an authority only matched by Octarian Generals. The two guarded Cereza out of the area with Cerata breaking any phones she could snatch on the way.

"Wow. That's…"

"Horrible…I know…" Cereza answered. "They apparently dumped a citric acid ink protein mix on me. It eats away any material that has color changing properties related to ink. It's why the belt I was wearing wasn't affected and my…underwear," she said in a blush. "Luca saved me again. I had chosen to just put on a modest outfit instead of the risqué one I had planned. It would've melted off too…"

"I'm sorry that happened to you," Matzuo said, gently placing a hand on her knee. "If I had known I would've never set you up to perform like that. I'm sorry…"

"It could have been worst," Cereza said. "My aunts were already working on turning off the cameras when they dumped the stuff on me, but when the other dancer said my dress was melting they basically ran around unplugging everything to cut off the feed." Cereza looked at Matzuo with a broken smile. "It's nice to have people who care about you, huh?" Matzuo was quiet, juggling the words she said in his head and letting them stew.

"What ever happened to the girl who did this to you?" Cereza shrugged and pulled her knees to her chest.

"Her parents moved at some point and I don't know why. Word through the grapevine said she relocated to Shell City for whatever reason." Cereza stood up, stretching her limbs and holding her hands behind her back.

"It's getting late. I should probably head home now," she said turning away from Matzuo. Matzuo stood and took a step towards her.

"Wait. I can't just…leave you after bringing up such bitter memories." Cereza stood in place for a moment. Without turning to him she said,

"You didn't bring them up. I never stop thinking about them." She moved to walk away again and Matzuo once more took her by the hand. Where she would usually look up into his eyes she kept her head down, causing him to squeeze her hand in his.

"Then please, let me help distract you from them."

"I don't understand. What happened to him?" Lyra saided between shrugged his shoulders as the three looked into the operating room, where Kelp was still submerged in ink with very little noticeable change taking place.

"He looks like a corpse…" Wakame muttered, placing his hand on the glass. "and…you said that he shot out of the ocean like that?" Inkay nodded.

"It just doesn't make sense. None of this makes sense." Lyra cried into Inkay's chest and he patted her head. The doctor inside took a piece of paper and headed towards the door. Inkay and Wakame watched him closely as he exited the room and came towards them.

"Good news doc, please," Inkay muttered, catching Lyra's attention. She turned to the doctor with hope that he'd say something reassuring. Instead he took a deep sigh.

"Unfortunately, all we have are more questions…"he said handing the sheet of paper to Inkay. The group of Inklings looked over it and Inkay's eyes narrowed before looking back up at the doctor.

"What the hell is this?" he asked slightly shaking the paper.

"That," the doctor pointed at the item, "is an X-ray of the agent in there." Inkay looked at it again and shook his head.

"It's like…one big blot," Wakame said.

"Exactly." The group looked at the doctor again.

"Where are his organs?" Lyra stuttered. "Hi-his heart, his lungs, h-hi-hi-his stomach, his-"

"They're in there. There's just…something in the way. That X-ray is from when he first arrived. Now that his heart has stabilized a bit and is no longer beating like he ran a marathon, we'll take some shutter shots to see if we can see any changes taking place. Maybe get some zoom ins to try and figure out what's going on." The doctor reached for the X-ray back and Inkay returned it to him. The doctor turned to leave and the group turned back to look at Kelp. The only sounds came from the whirring of Machinery and the buzzing of the three's thoughts.

Heeeeeeeeey, party people! How's everyone doing? It's been awhile, huh? ^^" Sorry about that. I'm going to try and start doing shorter chapters, maybe between 4-5k words so that updates aren't so long and far apart.

But what do you guys think? Any ideas on what's going on with Kelp? We finally know the terrible thing that happened to Cereza on why she doesn't perform and had that very angry diary entry some chapters ago. (Does anyone even still remember that? Was that too long ago?) It seems that there's going to be another bomb dropped soon. Callie and Cerata are gonna try and crack the code to find out where and when. Think they can in time?

Next chapter, Luca makes his decision and we get to see how the other sibling reacts to it. We'll find out why Kelp's X-ray looks the way it does, and of course, check back in on Matzuo and Cereza. ;)

I hope you're all staying safe and comfy out there and I hope to hear from you really soon! Until next time.

Astalabyebye,

Bang