Hunter. It was an appropriate name for the sleek black figures running on either side of her. They were silent and liquid, more like shadows than men. The three forms gliding through the night shared the same DNA structure, but they were far from the same creature. The Hunters were constructed from the ground up using Sanitized sludge, by ex-Kamabo. Co scientists, to be everything that her Inkling and octoling soldiers couldn't. At a glance, one could see that they were built like a humanoid, but after a moment, the differences became apparent. They didn't have any sort of internal support structure, so they were more agile and flexible than any natural life form. They shared the immense strength, speed, and perception of any regular Sanitized being. Their minds, spread throughout their body, were sharper and faster than any other, and the thick liquid they were built from was black as pitch. They responded to her every whim, in response to no more than just a thought. They were death in its purest form: Black, cold, and cutting, not belonging to neither earth nor hell.

"Tell me when we're close." Marina commanded, "I want to take Eight in myself. She's mine. Understood?"

The Hunters responded with a subtle, nearly imperceptible nod, and increased their pace. Marina nudged on the throttle of her cycle to match their speed, the barren landscape around her transforming into more and more of a grey blur. She couldn't lose control like this. Eight was hers.

——————

It was dark outside. The vibrant glow of Inkopolis spilled over into the valley, offering a meager amount of illumination, but it wasn't very practical. As the four drew away from Octavio's house, with no intentions of returning, the light it gave off slowly became smaller and smaller, until eventually it was no more than a pinpoint on the vague horizon. None of them spoke as they walked, even Ribbon was unusually quiet as they made their way back to the cabin.

Ataro stopped. He knelt down, and, with a screeching noise that was sure to wake up anyone within earshot, pulled aside a large metal disc from a kettle tucked away into the crevices of the valley wall.

"Last I checked, they still work." Ataro explained, keeping his voice low and eyeing the kettle.

"When was the last time you checked?" Ado looked up at him skeptically.

"It's been a bit." He admitted with a laugh, and jumped up, transforming into his octopus form with surprising grace, given his age. He plopped down into the grate, and disappeared underground without a sound. After a tense moment, a faint sloshing filtered in through Ado's ears, and he poked his octopus head up through the grate.

"It works." he announced proudly, as if the kettle was one of his own design, and ducked back down out of sight. Octavio shrugged, and transformed himself, hopping into the kettle. Ribbon followed him, and Ado didn't hesitate long in entering the kettle herself. It was strange, using a kettle in the dark. There was no sense of direction as she was hurled through the narrow underground inkline, but the sound of the ink rapidly flowing around her helped soothe the ringing in her ears, if only a little.

When she reached the end of the line, and came to a stop on top of the kettle grate, the ringing pulsed louder, a short spell of nausea overtaking her. She knelt down, taking a moment to collect herself, and once things had gone back to normal, she stood up. When she looked up, she saw her three companions standing around her, tall and patient. She shook her head, and began walking toward the cabin, not more than a kilometer out.

"Are there a lot of those that still work?" Ado asked, nodding back at the rusty kettle.

"All of them, as far as I know." Ataro replied, "We use them quite a bit to stay under The Order's radar."

Ado nodded, mentally jotting this down. She was beginning to get the feeling of being watched again. The sense hadn't failed her last time, and it couldn't hurt to check. She looked around, even taking a glance up at the sky and the towering rock faces above her, but the metallic armor of her new enemy was nowhere in sight. It could've been a very explainable paranoia. Or she could be walking among her predators now. The thought disturbed her immensely, but it wasn't an irrational fear. She shook her head in a weak attempt to rid herself of the notion, and kept walking.

Something like a shadow flew by Ado's leg, darting out in front of her. In the time spanning only a second, Ribbon was gone. Engulfed by the night surrounding them, without a sound. Three began to shout, but in the blink of an eye, she too was sucked into the darkness. It filled her mouth in an instant, choking her and silencing any attempt at verbal protest. The cold, wet form coiled around her arms and legs like a snake, cinching tight around her and carrying her away with a discreet leap backward. She fought against its grip, but as soon as she broke free, another layer of the black sludge sucked her back in. It was carrying her back the direction she'd come from, at an unimaginable speed. It was only a few seconds before Octavio and Ataro's shouts faded out from her ears. She jabbed at her unidentifiable captor with her elbow, but every blow felt like she was just driving into ink, with nothing solid to strike.

"Eight!" She managed to blurt out, after wrenching a handful of sludge from her mouth, only to have it slide back in in a tight grip around her head. Ribbon soon shouted something indistinct back, but Ado couldn't tell what. If she could just get a grip... She continued to grasp at the black goop, but with no result. It held her close with an icy grip, climbing up Octo Valley's jagged stone walls like someone was chasing it.

Their journey was short, less than a minute long. The shadowlike form deposited Ado standing upright at the top of Octo Valley, the City of Color shining in the distance behind a slender, familiar silhouette standing by a futuristic motorcycle. The sludge rearranged itself around her arms, legs, and throat, holding her upright with her hands at her sides. It felt harder now, more like being encased in concrete than submerged in ink. Her ears pounded relentlessly, to the point of physical pain.

At a glance to the left, Ado saw that Eight was stood up beside her, being held by a black, nightmarish figure, in the same way Ado was. It looked strangely like an octoling, but too thin, and all around unnatural in its appearance. Its whole body dripped and ran like the skin of some of the failed Sanitized octolings Ado had seen. That was something she hoped she'd never have to see again.

"You're a rebel." Marina spoke out, as if this was a profound statement, "I remember when that used to be a good thing. But times have changed. It's a shame you couldn't be around to see those changes."

Ado glared as Marina slowly approached. She came nearly nose to nose with Ado, so she could feel her cool breath blowing over her face, and see every facet of Marina's blue-green eyes.

"It's nice to see you." Marina went on in a tone of uncomfortable sincerity, lightly tracing Ado's jawline with her fingers. She drew away, and over to Eight, her movements smooth and reptilian.

"And you." She addressed the octoling girl, "You have a lot of explaining to do."

Ado couldn't turn her head enough to get a clear view of the expression on Eight's face. All she saw was Marina spinning around in a roundhouse kick, and then Eight flinch as the commander's boot struck her stomach, letting out a sharp yell of pain.

"Stop!" Ado demanded, yanking at the thick bonds holding her back, "I was the one who freed her."

"Your concept of mercy is flawed." Marina paused for a moment to cock her head at Ado. She grabbed Ribbon's face, palm against her throat, and brought a swift knee up to her jaw. Ado pulled, snapping her arms free for a moment before the liquid drew her back in.

"Hasn't she been through enough?" Ado shouted, struggling.

"Apparently not." Marina responded promptly, releasing her grip and taking a step back, "Because it seems she clearly doesn't understand what's best for this city."

It was the last straw. Ado surged forward, pulling out in an explosion of rage. She tore away from the black mass, a few hard, asphalt-like chunks launching out around her. Marina's expression changed to one of complete confusion and shock, and she jumped back when Three stepped away from the mold trying to keep her back. The form behind Ribbon slithered away, releasing its hold, and launching itself at Ado while the other regained its composure. It jumped at her with its arms out in a blind attack, and Ado put out her fist to counter it. It latched onto her, beginning to climb up her arm, and her first instinct was to shake it violently. She dug into it with her fingers, effectively rending large holes in it as it tried to cover her again. It began to slip, and with a final jerk, she flung it off of her. Marina, standing a few meters away, grunted in frustration as the mass of sludge that had originally been holding Ado approached quickly from behind. Three spun around, and grasped it at where its neck would be, wrenching downwards. Her hand only cut through the goop, and the stripe of cold, lime-stained skin under her eye burned in a chemical way she hadn't felt in a long time. She could see the disfigured black entity ripping around her in some dark corner of her mind, and feel it moving, and living. And it slowly stopped.

There was only the gentle undulation of the sludge, awaiting its next command. The parts of her tainted by Sanitization cut at her like blades on her insides, but she was too blinded by the power it gave her to pay it any attention. She could now feel the black slime in her, as a part of her, feeling and seeing and hearing as she did. She turned at Marina, and commanded her new self forward. It obeyed. Marina brought the remaining being to block Ado's attack in a flash, and she could feel the impact when the two collided. Ado drew back, and Marina snatched Eight again, engulfing her in the black being.

"I'll kill her." Marina threatened without so much as a moment of hesitation, tightening her grip on Eight. Three stopped.

"You wouldn't." Ado argued hastily.

"You don't know me." Marina hissed, "People change, Adeleine. It's been a long time."

"I can kill you first." Ado growled.

"You don't know that."

"I know what I want, and I get what I want." She barked, stepping closer. Ribbon let out a small yelp as Marina's hold tightened around her. Marina looked Ado in the eye, amused and content with her position.

"That's the difference between you and me." Marina continued, "You're weak. You've got emotional ties and they keep you from killing."

"Since when was killing a sign of strength?"

"Since the world was ruled by the survival of the fittest."

"Then maybe it's time to change the laws." Ado glanced back at Ribbon.

"You missed that opportunity about twenty years ago." Marina replied, "I make the rules now. That way I get what I want. And given our current situation, only one of us can have that."

"What do you want?" Ado backed down a bit, seeing as Marina was beginning to calm down.

"Ultimately? Order for my people. But right now? I want Eight back."

"So you can turn her into a mindless suit of armor?"

"So I can keep her safe." Marina growled, "You think I do what what do for a power trip? I started The Order because no one else would. People are reckless on their own. You make laws, and they break them. You try to keep them safe, and they bite the hand that feeds them. I've found a way to fix that flaw. To keep the people tame, to keep them submissive to the ones who know better."

"You're delusional." Ado shook her head, "You realize that's what Octavio did to you? That that's what you were so absolutely thrilled to be freed from?"

"It wasn't perfect." Marina answered, "But it was secure. Every morning I could wake up knowing exactly what I was going to do that day, and go to bed knowing what the day after would hold. I was safe there, and I found myself missing that safety far too often."

"So you have your dream world." Ado sighed, "Why can't everyone else?"

"I can't sleep at night unless I know everyone I'm responsible for is safe." Marina said, "I care."

"You obsess."

"At least I can obsess over more than myself."

"You think I don't care about Eight? About Marie? You call me weak, but then you call yourself strong on the same claim. Where's the logic in that?"

"I care." Marina responded, a bit taken aback, "But I'm a loner. I don't let myself get close like you do."

"So can you ever really feel at home?"

"It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."

"So would it be so much to give Ribbon her freedom back?"

"You don't know what you're asking." Marina stated with a bleak finality, and turned around. The black slime pulled Ribbon to her, and she mounted her bike in a single, swift motion, calling back, "If you follow me, she'll suffer worse than death."

Ado gritted her teeth. She hated to admit Marina was right. But she couldn't ignore what she'd seen.

The sludge hadn't left her, but stood behind her in its uncannily humanoid form, waiting restlessly for its next command.

The NSS. Octavio. Ado brought her new tool to her, wrapping it around her body in a tar-like exoskeleton. It felt like sanitized ink: Cold, evil, and artificial. But like the sanitization, it held so much power. She walked to the edge of the valley, and looked down to the floor she'd been brought from. It was at least a hundred meters down. She knelt down, found a firm grip on the edge, and swung down, feeling around for a foothold. Eventually, her boot caught, and she began to climb down. The sludge offered an unshakable grip on the coarse cliff wall, and her descent was fast. And when she was about fifteen meters away from the ground, she made a decision. She jumped. As she fell, she reached out beneath her with two tendrils that extended from her arms, planting themselves in the ground. She lowered herself down gently, using the flexibility of the slime, and, when she put her feet on solid ground, redistributed the sludge about her body. It was an easy feeling to get used to.

She couldn't see Octavio and Ataro anywhere. She started jogging back the direction she had come from, hoping they hadn't gone anywhere strange. As she ran, she gradually sped up her pace, to see just how fast she could go. It wasn't long before she realized she couldn't really run very fast at all before losing her breath, and turning into a cramped, stumbling mess. So she took a moment to slow down and walk, and catch her breath. And as she walked, Octavio and Ataro came into her horizon. They took the initiative of running to her, and as soon as they were in earshot, asked, "Where's Ribbon?"

Ado bit her lip as she told them, "They took her again."

Octavio cursed through his teeth, clenching his fists and kicking at the damp ground in frustration.

"And what happened to you?" Ataro commented, a bit distraught.

"It's a long story." Ado relayed wearily, "Ribbon's gone. We need to get back to the NSS before anything else goes wrong."

"And where has that got us so far?" Octavio protested, raising his voice, "Where was the NSS when Marina took over? Where was the NSS when Spyke was captured?"

He took an aggressive step forward with every phrase, as he shouted, "Where was the NSS when they lost Agent 3?"

Ado didn't respond. She didn't know what to say.

"I'm starting to remember why I hated you." Octavio muttered, sitting down on a rock and rubbing his forehead.

"You're not gonna make anything better by sitting down." Ado stated, grabbing him by the arm and tugging, "If we have numbers, we have a chance."

Ataro looked on, seemingly conflicted.

"Come on," he told Octavio, "she's right. We haven't got all day."

Octavio reluctantly got to his feet, and, brushing down his armor, began their trek back to the cabin.