"Hello, Marie of Squid Sisters fame. Who'm I talking to? Aah, Agent 3! Haven't heard of you since Gramps called you down to that Metro. What's the news? Oh? Well, yes, Callie went to visit Agent 4 some time ago. Said goodbye and all. No, I made sure she was carrying the stuff I make her carry, make sure...THAT never happens again. Splattershot, pepper spray, anti-chloroform facemask. Why bring this up? ...Wh-what? Oh..oh no...where are you?! Outside Seaview Park? Okay, okay...I'll come right over! Just keep her stable!"

It did not take Marie long to bolt towards Seaview Park - a small playing field in the middle of Inkopolis' cul-de-sac. It was pretty late in the evening, pretty close to bleeding over into the night, the dark tones slowly melting the burnt amber ones away. The park was quite small, and quite quiet. It was one of the ancient settlements not yet under sea level, repurposed by the Inklings as an arena for their Turf Wars. It wasn't part of the rotation at the moment, so thankfully the area was empty, save two people. There was a powerful clomp of boots as Marie rushed across the pavement towards the scene - and what she saw made her hearts jump to her throat.

There, laid out across the pavement, splashed with magenta ink, was Callie. Squid Sister, Marie's cousin, seemingly the victim of a savage attack. She was wearing her casual disguise; white shirt, pink hoodie, pants and a pink beanie, the last of which was laying to the side of her as bandages were wrapped around her head. There were claw marks across her arms and body, a few bruises around her face, including one over her eye, and a massive bite wound across her right arm. The bite was deep, puncturing her skin and bleeding heavily, clearly made with fangs. She was awake, thankfully, but her eyelids fluttered and her breathing was erratic. To her side was Agent 3, one "Caldwell", Marie believed; orange hair tied into a ponytail as common for male Inklings, wearing the neon Hero Suit and headphones, tending calmly to Callie's wounds; he was in the process of applying bandages to the claw strikes, dabbing at the ink oozing from her mouth with a bit of tissue, and once in a while tipping some water from a bottle into her mouth.

Marie made...well it was certainly a sound, and rushed headlong towards the two, babbling incoherently. Caldwell looked up from treating Callie and turned, "Oh, Marie! Thank Co-"

"NOT NOW!" Marie screamed, pushing Caldwell out of the way and arching over her cousin. Tears were quickly shooting from her eyes as she grabbed Callie by her shoulders, "Callie! Oh my Cod, what happened?"

"I..." Callie was struggling to stay conscious, but she managed to get it out, "I...got attacked...tried to call you..."

"Call me?" Marie asked, before flipping out her phone. Sure enough, "3 Missed Calls", and she groaned angrily, "Darn it, I knew I shouldn't have set this to Silent!"

"She's managed to fill in some details with me," Caldwell stated, returning to Callie's side and resuming the bandage application.

"Well, what was it?" Marie asked, shaken, "No Octoling or Inkling could ever do this."

"No," Caldwell agreed, "Not one of us. I got a call from Callie about some time ago. Said she was in pain, that you weren't answering her calls. She was walking home from visiting Agent 4 and she got attacked by this...creature. I rushed down to help in your supposed absence and it was just about to tear into her again. Sent it running with a few shots."

"Oh thank Cod..." Marie warbled, "So, is she stable?"

"Just about," Caldwell said, "I ain't ever seen anything tear someone up like this. I've covered up and cleaned most of the wounds, but anything more is beyond me. And the hospital's too far away right now."

"That, and just putting her in a hospital will get every Snapperazi on our backsides in time," Marie sighed, "We'll get her down there tomorrow, get a bigger disguise and some proper care."

"In the absence of a better plan..." Caldwell sighed, "Okay, help me carry her home. Your apartment shouldn't be too far."

"Nah," Marie said, running over to pick up Callie's body in her shivering hands. She was a wreck, and her clothes were sticky with her ink. Normally this wasn't an issue, but the ink inside one's body was always just that little bit more important the stuff they sprayed at each other. It'd have to be. Otherwise they'd be shooting blood at each other...right? Marie shook her head to dispel the thought and helped Callie to her feet. She could stand, barely, but the act of walking on her own was clearly too painful with the wounds on her legs. Marie ducked and propped her up stop her falling over, and Caldwell rushed over to help support her. They both hooked their arm under her own, propping her up and beginning the walk back to their apartment. It was mercifully Splatfest time, so no Inkling would be out this far from the square. Shell, that was why Callie even came this way anyway. It was quiet, though wherever it was safe or not was now another matter. It would only be a short walk home. Marie whispered into her cousin's ear, "It's okay, Cal. We're gonna get you home."

But Marie failed to see something in one of the trees littering the park's gates. A small, black, furry critter, flying down from the leaves. It had been scouting the three Inklings, looking for something...blood. Or rather, whatever passed for blood in this crazy semi-aquatic world. The creature was studying them so intently - the pink one was bleeding heavily. Not a lot of blood, or whatever, left to her. Not the boy. He looked too stringy. Low quality blood. But the grey-haired one. The one in a green jacket and jeans. Oh, the creature could smell the purity of her blood...ink...something. It had found its target. With a flap of its leathery wings, it swooped down to the squid and perched on her shoulder, fangs aimed squarely at the squid's tiny neck. Marie winced a little as she felt something sharp dig into her shoulder, then a flash of black as she swung around to see the perp. It was...something? It was nevertheless enough to send Marie into a panic - warbling fervently, she lost her grip on Callie and swatted at the little leathery thing, trying to bat it away while she danced to and fro.

"AH!" Marie screamed as she tried to bat the thing away, "Agent, I require some help here!"

"Got it!" Caldwell called out, reaching for his Hero Shot, and yet only managing to thump Callie in the stomach. In her panic to remove the leathery monster, Marie had thrown Callie across his body and she was almost smothering his torso,desperately clinging to him to avoid falling to the floor. He shook his head, "Oh, no..." and carefully set Callie down, "Okay, got to set you down, Callie. Just give me a second!"

"Agent!" Marie screamed, "This thing's getting pretty rowdy!"

"Hang on, hang on!" Caldwell said, digging out his Hero Shot. He aimed at the creature, but it was flying and flapping too fast, "Aah, I can't get a bead on it! Move to the left!" Marie danced around some more as Caldwell attempted to steady his aim, "Right, left a bit! No, your left! No wait, MY left!"

"AGENT HURRY UP!" Marie yelped. It didn't take long for the creature to settle itself, and then rear up and strike. Marie could feel the sharp sting as two fangs pierced her neck, then a draining agony as her ink was slowly sucked out. She gasped in pain and began to stumble around as she could feel the creature take more and more of her life force. Finally, she was nearly still, and it gave Caldwell the opening he needed. A single splatting sound filled the air and slammed into the winged demon. It screamed as the ink struck it, flinging it from Marie's neck and sending a small spurt of grey-green ink with it, before it collapsed onto the pavement. It did not move. Marie panted and sighed, briefly buckling under her own weight and falling to her knees, clutching at where she had been bitten. She felt...weak. Like, completely sapped of energy. She panted a bit more and looked up to Caldwell, "N-Nice shot...what took you so long?! Gramps told me you were quite the crack shot those few years ago!"

"That was in a big valley against big targets and no chance for friendly fire. Did you want me to risk splatting you miles from the nearest Respawn Pad?" Caldwell asked, vaguely offended and irritated. Marie took a few seconds to process the info, and shrugged her response, "Well then. Are you okay?" he approached her and slowly moved her hand from her neck. Two deep punctures were in her neck and ink was slithering out of the holes, "Can you stand?"

"I can try..." Marie huffed and puffed. Caldwell gave her to the count of three, then helped her to her feet. She was standing, wobbling furiously, but still faring better than Callie. She whimpered, "I feel like something got...injected in me!"

"This is becoming one weird night," Caldwell hummed, his stoic face almost cracking a worried grimace, "Come on, we better get back to the apartment before some other beast comes to nibble on us."

"Yeah...y-yeah..." Marie gasped, stumbling over to Callie and picking her up, "Come on, Cal. Let's go home. I'll make you some peanut butter krisp cakes..."

"My...my favourite," Callie giggled deliriously, "Th-thanks..."

Wrapping her arms around Marie, Callie dozed off in Marie's own, turning to snuggle into her torso and breathing calmly. Caldwell took Marie under the arm to help support her own wobbling legs,and then the three finally began the long, struggling walk to the apartment. The moon, not yet full but close, shone on them like a guiding beacon, while winds whipped the pavement and blew leaves across the road. And then, as the trio vanished from the streetlight's coverage, the orange-caked creature began to stir. It got up, got to its feet, shook itself free of the ink that clung to it. And with a screech, it took off into the night night once more, its pride hurt yet its belly full.

===

The scent of freshly baked peanut butter treats brought Callie to her senses. Stretching her arms with a cute yawn, she slowly came to and blinked a few times to clear her vision. As the bluriness faded, she could see she was in a bedroom. Not her's specifically, but she was pretty sure she was back in her apartment. Or rather, her's and Marie's apartment, as they obviously shared one. Looking around in the darkened room, she took a few more seconds to absorb the visuals and eventually shake her head. No, this was not her room. Her room was filthy, pink and had trash all over the floor. Well that, and a heart-shaped bed. Couldn't sleep without it. Well, she could if she was almost mauled to death by a monster, as was the case here. But she was in no hurry to remember any of that. This, upon closer inspection, was the converted guest room. What used to be a sort of chillout area beforehand, the room had been converted to a bedroom in the off-chance one of the Agents, mostly Caldwell, needed a room for the night for whatever reason. Compared to the zaniness of her room or Marie's, this room was quite bland. Beige walls, tan carpets, little in the way of dressing. But it was clean. There was a bottle of water on the bedside table, but no peanut butter krisp cakes. Dang. Must be in the kitchen.

Shifting herself to try and stand, Callie regretted it almost instantly as a hideous wave of pain struck her body and she yelped. She collapsed back to the bed and rubbed her aching limbs in pain, groaning and shifting on the bed. She couldn't see too well in the dim room, light supplied only the streetlight shining outside the windowed door to the balcony, and yet she could feel the cold cling of ink-stained bandages. Fresh-ish ones compared to the ones she half-remembered Caldwell applying to her, thankfully, but still it was quite clear her wounds had not healed. Why would they? It had only been...oh dear, how long had it been?! Groggy, she pushed herself to get up again, and get up she did. With a grunt of pain and a stinging agony that flushed through her, Callie got to her feet. She looked down at the bed she had been sleeping in. The covers were bunched up in the corner of the room and she had been laying on a towel, doubtless from Marie not wanting the sheets soaked in ink. Fair enough. Callie turned on the lights, blanketing the room in yellowish vision, but she squinted and hissed as her eyes burned with the change in light. She rubbed the sleep and a little bit of the ink out of them, and she waltzed over to look at herself in the mirror. She was...hmm. She was only wearing a t-shirt and shorts, doubtless so it'd be easier to reapply the bandages. She had them around her arms and her left leg, a few around her torso and one wrapped around her head. Her right arm was wrapped the heaviest, with what was clearly a sterile pad slipped into the bandages. She knew why. That...that bite. She reached to touch it with her other hand and she winced with the intense pain. Stretching a final time, she wandered across the room towards the door, and opened it with trepidation.

The apartment the Sisters shared was...small. Humble. Not at all what one would expect from the old idols. But Marie loved it. It was comfortable, not too far from the city centre and yet at the same time so...inconspicuous. So normal and out of the way of all the snapperazi who would dare to stalk them like they did those poor Off the Hook girls. Barely got a moment to themselves, they did. But not them. Marie and Callie were happy in this little apartment. It was one of those ones with one whole room cut off into sections of sorts, with the bedrooms and bathrooms being actual rooms. Callie was now standing in the lounge, having just exited the guest room. To her right, the apartment wall leading to the exit door. To her left, the couch and TV above the fireplace. In front of her, the dining room and kitchen. And within the kitchen was Marie, dressed in casual clothes (hoodie, sweatpants, that sort of thing) and making something on the breakfast bar. She was spreading peanut butter on some small cakes made of crisped rice. Callie's favourite treat. The smell alone intoxicated her and almost made her forget about her aches and pains. She could also see Agent 3, in his hero suit and headphones, on the couch pawing at his phone. He looked...a bit bored, honestly, like he was waiting for something. Nevertheless, Callie approached Marie, trying to say something. But little came out. Her throat was dry, and her brain was still muddled. All that came out was a course, "...Hey."

This was enough, of course, for Marie to turn. The lights switched right on in her eyes, Callie could see, and Marie's expression shifted from boredom to genuine relief. She put the peanut butter down and reached out to hug her cousin affectionately. Callie winced again as Marie put pressure on all the painful bits, and the pressure of the wet bandages on her skin was less than pleasant, but she returned the hug with what strength she had anyway. Marie sighed, "Hey, Cal. Oh man, you gave me a...a little bit of a scare, back there..."

Callie winced again as she tried to remember. She could remember Caldwell arriving on the scene, his stoic face staring into hers, then Marie running into view and grabbing her by the shoulders. She...looked like she was about to burst into tears. Then nothing. She passed out sometime after. Still, though, Callie could see Marie's expression. Her face was all red and puffed up, from the sheer stress of it all. Her capture, her kidnapping, her brainwashing...time had not been kind to Callie, and no-one knew that better than her cousin. She was already antsy about Cal going on her walks again, and this was not at all helping. Already, Callie could feel her shivering from worry. She simply beamed her radiant smile and hugged back harder, "Yeah, don't worry. I'm still here."

"Good..." Marie sighed, breaking from the hug, "C-Come on. Sit down. Krisp cakes are almost done."

"Oooh," Callie giggled, smiling some more, "You're too kind."

"Not kind enough..." she could hear Marie mutter woefully under her breath. Callie sighed and walked back to the couch and sat upon it, next to Caldwell. He hadn't moved or looked up from his phone during any of that, and only now did he looked up to greet Callie with a stoic smile.

"Ah, Agent 1!" Caldwell said with the same smile, "You're awake! How do you feel?"

"Like garbo..." Callie sighed, pawing at the bandages and pads on her arm, "Everything aches and hurts and everything's all wet and sticky..."

"Yes, well, bandages are all we have right now," Caldwell shook his head, "Blame me for not keeping stock after patching everyone up after that debacle in the Metro. Tomorrow, we'll head off down the hospital and get you some actual care."

"Thanks...say, how long was I out?" Callie asked.

"Oh, more than a few hours," Caldwell stated, checking his phone, "It's about twenty to ten now."

Callie sighed, grunting a little as she shifted to lie down on the couch, her head resting near Caldwell but not exactly resting on his lap, "Oh man, I hurt all over...what happened?"

"Well..." Marie sighed as she approached, tray in hand, "We were hoping that you could tell us..." and she placed the tray down on the coffee table in front of the couch with a soft clonk. On the tray, six small krisp cakes lay. Callie's pained face lit up as Marie took one of the treats off of the tray and handed it gingerly to her cousin. Callie accepted the morsel gratefully, and took a massive bit of it while still lying on the couch. She was a little messy with the act, a few dollops of peanut butter spread across her face, but she was overjoyed at the taste of the food of the gods themselves. Well, to her, at least. Marie sighed somewhat contentedly, having grown used to and perhaps even fond of her cousin's messy habits, and went about cleaning the goo off of her face with a paper towel. After a bit of a silence, disturbed only by a small crunch as Caldwell took one of the discs and then a bite, Marie nudged Callie in one of the few spots that was not wounded, "Well?"

"OH! Yes! So, what happened? Hmm..." Callie pondered, "Well...okay, let's start from the beginning. I was...y-yeah, I was done visiting Mira for the night, said another thanks for helping kick that brainwashing, you know, and then I walked home. I picked out the safest, closest route back home that I could, and had my Splattershot and pepper spray at the ready, like you said. And as I got near Seaview Park, I see this...thing out in the distance. In the bushes, yeah. This big...uh, this big...this...THING. A big, fluffy thing with sharp teeth and this horrible look in its eyes. It looked like Judd's evil twin or something! It growled, I tried to escape it, but it pounced on me. Nearly tore me to it ran off to...I dunno, do its business."

"Why didn't you run?" Marie asked, somewhat fearfully.

"Couldn't!" Callie blurted out, gasping in pain as she shifted back up into a sitting position on the couch, "The dang thing mauled me so bad...I couldn't move. I was losing so much ink, I...I..." she began to tear up from the memories flooding back, "I thought I'd never make it. I thought I'd die there. I was...I was so scared..."

"Oh cod, Callie..." Marie sobbed, bringing her cousin into another hug. Callie was blubbering in fear now as Marie continued to silently cry, clutching to each other like long-lost siblings. Which...well, they were, a few months ago. Caldwell couldn't remember, he was out of town when it happened. Shell, he was on the other side of the country while that was going down, doing some light recon work at another outpost. He only came back for that stuff in the Metro, the Agent 8 guy...and now here he was another month on, watching these two cry for losses that didn't happen...but could have so easily did. Eventually, Marie broke from the hug a little, reaching down to grab the rest of Callie's half-eaten rice cake and bringing it back up to her mouth. Callie took the last of the cake in a single chomp, and Marie began to stroke her hair in a rhythmic fashion, "Well, y-you did the right thing, trying to call me. If only I hadn't been getting so many calls from Mira myself, it's why I set it to Silent. Only phone I ever trust to sound off at all times is Caldwell's."

"A wise choice, as we proved tonight," Caldwell said in an almost boastful manner, "I came running from your call, got rid of the beast and did what I could to help. And then, of course, I called Marie. We were able to get you home safe, made sure you were stable. But that wasn't the only scuffle we had..."

Callie looked up to her cousin. Sure enough, there was a mark on her that Callie had plain not even noticed before. On Marie's soft, supple neck, there was a plaster stuck to her. One of those transparent swim plasters where you could see the actual medical pad underneath. And sure enough, within the pad were two pinprick stains in a pale green - Marie's ink colour. Callie began to panic, "M-Marie! What happened?!"

"Just a small creature coming down to bite use all in the neck and drain our fluids," Marie shuddered, "Don't worry about me, I'm fine. I distracted it, and Caldwell shot it down. I was determined to get you home safe, my own wellbeing be darned."

"First you and 4 save me from Octavio. Then you and 3 save me from that creature. I...don't know what I'd do, without you. Thanks, Cuz..." Callie sighed, her voice trembling.

"It's...n-no problem, really," Marie likewise felt like she was struggling to keep her composure. She turned to Caldwell, "Agent, you've done the research, right?"

"I have now," Caldwell stated, shaking his phone with his new knowledge, "Put my nose in a few virtual books to figure out just what manner of monster that even was. It was what the human records call a lupine creature. A wolf."

"Yes, yes. Do you know if their bite can be infectious?"

"Well, any could under the right circumstances," Caldwell corrected, "But no, nothing specific. I mean, except for the mythological. But that's unlikely."

"I dunno..." Callie crowed, slowly breaking from the embrace and getting to her feet, walking around the room until she got to the window overlooking the balcony, "There's something in me. This...nagging. This weird feeling. Like I feel like I'm not myself. I'm not sick, I just feel...wrong! Like something's gonna happen..." she turned, staring out of the window. The evening had now fully bled into the night, and the dark clouds above were slowly shifting. There, revealed upon their movement, was the moon. A white disc in the sky. Callie could feel the moon shine upon her. She whispered hoarsely, "The moon...it's so beautiful tonight. It's so...so...nnngGHAAAAAH!"

In a matter of seconds, Callie began to clutch at her head and double over in agony, falling to her knees and struggling to breath. It was like something was...wriggling around within her, trying to break free. And it was winning. Callie began to whimper in fear as her hands began to feel wrong, and she studied one of them - to her horror, they were reshaping in a painful manner, slowly shifting into...paws? Paws not unlike the ones on Judd, at least until four thick black claws sprouted from what used to be her fingers. From there, something else began to sprout out - fur. A thick layer of black fur, peppered with magenta highlights, that shot from the paw and slowly travelled up her body. It wasn't long before her other hand and even both of her feet were twisted into paws as well, and there was a definite crack as her legs buckled inwards and reshaped. Callie no longer felt like she could stand, that she had shifted to some beast that walked on all fours. Now she could feel her entire form start to bulk out, adding muscle to every aspect of her where there could be, expanding her form and hulking her out incredibly. She could hear the rip of her clothes and bandages as her massive form could no longer be contained within them, but she dared not feel the discomfort when the agony of her wounds and the transformation was tearing into her mind, blanketing any resemblance of consciousness with pain and fear.

She could only barely hear Marie cry out, "Callie! NO!" before her ears started to shift upon her own head. They moved upwards, resting at the top of her scalp, and then increased in size as they became fluffier and sharper. Her cries of fear and pain were briefly silenced as her teeth began to lengthen and sharpen, turning into full fangs far beyond any Inkling. Fur continued to spread across the rest of her grotesque body, eventually covering her head and yet barely doing anything to hide her terrified expressions. Her eyes dilated and turned a shade of magenta, her hair became even longer and too became dredged in fur, and there was a moment of pure misery as a tail formed and shot out of the her back, growing suckers as if it was like any other tentacle. Callie, in whatever respites she could find, could feel her own mind run away from her. A retreat, not daring to look back. She felt...feral.

"Ahh...AAAH!" Callie screamed as the final changes overtook her. Her face distorted, stretched out, pushing forward and forming a canine's muzzle and jawline. She arched upwards and screamed a final time as the crunchy sound filled the air, "AAAAAAAAHHHHWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Marie found herself at a loss for words, her own mind blank except for the sheer screaming terror that was racing through her very being. Callie, her sweet and somewhat ditzy cousin, had mutated into this large, feral form. A huge, hulking beast coated head to paw in fur and muscle, her face a cruel mockery as it howled and gnashed its teeth. The monster finally stopped its birthing howl, and collapsed to the ground, exhausted. But then, every so slowly, it got up again. Forced into a quadruped form, the beast turned to look at them. Caldwell could see the look in its eyes, and he knew it all too well. This was the same look that the lupine had when he came across it, when it was still cornering Callie - the look of anticipation. The sight of fresh meat. A guttural growl escaping its throat, the creature slowly approached the two, paws clattering on the wooden floor and droplets of drool flicking lazily onto the floor. Marie, so overcome with grief and shock and fear and Cod knows what else, was frozen in place. She found herself unable to move, not even away from her cousin's approach. Caldwell took the initiative and stepped out between her and what used to be Callie. He drew his Hero Shot and aimed it at the beast.

"Ca-I mean, Agent! Don't make me do this!" Caldwell boasted, his grip on the splattershot steadfast, "I WILL splat you, if you don't stand down!"

Callie, whatever was left of her, refused to acknowledge this. The lupine-like continued unabated, its growls growing and its back legs rearing, ready to strike. Marie finally found herself enough to at least move, and she approached while still kneeling behind Caldwell. She spoke, her voice full of desperation, "C-Callie! Snap out of it! We're not gonna hurt you! It's me, remember?! It's me, Marie!"

At that, the monster stopped. It felt like it was trying to work something out; Marie could almost feel the gears turning in its head as it tried to process this information. It...it spoke! It's voice was a growl, a guttural parody of Callie's own, but it spoke nevertheless, "Ma...rie..." it winced in pain, arching down and burying its head in its paws. More grunts of exertion came out as it continued to ponder, as if something was...returning to it. There was a deathly silence as things wound down, but it wasn't long before the beast spoke again, "Ma...rie?" it looked up, and on its face was an expression of...friendliness. Of exhaustion. Of relief. And of happiness, all at the same time. It looked like...Callie's expression. It soon beamed a bright, fanged smile, "Marie!" and bounded more playfully towards Marie. Caldwell tried to stand his ground, but Callie soon punted him out of the way as she pounced on Marie. Marie screamed in terror, expecting the worst...and yet all she got was a big, magenta tongue slathered across her face a few times. She looked up, just about ready to faint, to see the lupine hover over her. Panting like a big dog, eyes wide, tail wagging, "Marie!" it said again before it resumed licking her face.

"Th-thank Cod..." Caldwell sighed as he got to his feet and brushed himself off, "I think she's herself again. That was...scary."

"Callie..." Marie panted, desperately trying to calm herself, "Are you...are you okay?"

"I..." Callie growled, retreating to help get Marie to her feet, "I don't know...I felt my mind go blank. I lost control! I was so close to..." she sat on her backside and stared at her own two hand paws, "What happened to me?!" she turned to Caldwell and roared, "WHAT AM I?!"

"What the manuscripts mentioned," Caldwell sighed greatly, "Fascinating."

"What are you talking about?" Marie asked, getting up and sitting back down on the couch. Callie attempted to follow suit, but her body was now too big to even fit on it, let alone sit with her cousin, so she whimpered and placed herself just to the side of her.

Caldwell continued, but not before reaching for his phone and quickly tapping out something into his browser's search engine, "This appears to be something that was long a part of human culture. Left behind in their manuscripts..." he walked over to the window that Callie had transformed in front of, staring at the full moon with his hands behind his back, "Callie is suffering from a case of Lycanthropy."

Marie tilted her head in confusion, "Lycan what now?"

Caldwell turned dramatically to face the two, "Your cousin, Marie, is a Werewolf."

A powerful blast of thunder and lightning appeared quite literally out of nowhere - it was a calm night with absolutely no clouds, let alone rain - and the monstrous Callie gasped in amazement...and then tilted her head, ears drooping, "A what?"

"A creature from human legend. Several millennia old," Caldwell began to explain. He approached the two and handed his phone to Marie, while Callie arched over her shoulder. The screen was focused on a picture, that of ancient history. Two humans, true forms lost to time, doubled over and sprouting claws and fur, not unlike Callie. Then, the next image showed them rising as beasts. Caldwell continued, "Men and women alike saddled with a most unusual curse that, upon exposure to a full moon, mutates them into hybrids. Half man, 'were', and half wolf. A werewolf. They were nothing more than legend, but..." he looked over Callie's despairing muzzle and sighed, "Clearly, not anymore. It's odd, really. Wolves are supposed to be extinct, like everything else from human times..."

"Well, what're we going to do?!" Marie asked incredulously, "I don't want her to be like this forever! SHE doesn't want to be like this forever! Isn't there a cure?"

"Well..." Caldwell scratched the back of his head, his own voice shaking and nervous. Like he really didn't want to say what he was about to say, "Not one that can be found online, no."

There was a grave silence as the trio began to process this information. Caldwell continued with his borderline expressionless visage, while Marie was staring into space, her face blank. "...What am I going to do?" Callie whined, covering her head with her paws, "I can't go about my idol things or go outside like...THIS! I'm a monster! I'm ugly! I'm so ugly..."

"No, no, you're not ugly," Marie cooed, leaning over the handrest of the couch and slowly stroking Callie's massive strands of hair, "It's okay...we can...we can work this out, okay? We just need to stay calm. How to get you calm, hmm...I know!" Getting off of the couch and then sitting neatly by Callie's side, Marie took her hand and began to slowly glide it across the back of her ears. She began stroking them slowly and smoothly, dancing this way and that across her scalp. Callie slowed her whines and began to...growl? Well, growl in a way to resemble purring of some description, but it was clear that this was working. She shut her eyes and slowly rubbed her muzzle against Marie, growling rhythmically in time to the waves of Marie's hand across her scalp. Marie smiled contentedly, an eerie sense of calm building up in her. This night had been one hell of a mess, but yet...maybe things could still turn out okay. She could tell that Callie was so close to being relaxed, as well. She slowly whispered into her ear, "There we go...better?"

"Better..." Callie purred vividly, almost as if she was dreaming.

"Lovely," Marie sighed, before turning back up to Caldwell, "Well, what do we do now?"

"If the legends apply here thus far, Callie should return to normal come daybreak," Caldwell explained, putting his phone away, "So the best we can do now is get some rest, then take Callie to the hospital tomorrow to get her wounds patched up properly. The forms don't keep over injuries, so her wounds might return once she turns back."

"Great..." Marie grumbled, "So what're we gonna do for the rest of the night?"

"...Cuddle?" Caldwell shrugged, "Try to make Callie feel comfortable until dawn? Frankly, I sort of want to get to the bottom of what attacked YOU..."

"That what?" Marie asked, before a dull, thumping pain in her neck made her remember. She placed two fingers across the plaster, "Oh yeah, that little devil that bit into my neck and...did it suck some ink out of me?"

"Looks like it," Caldwell hummed, "According to my research, it was a bat. But that's impossible. Bats are extinct too."

"Well, if wolves survived," Marie sighed, "Dang, this is reminding me of something. Something that those two Off the Hook girls did...one of their Splatfests."

"Aah, yes, I know which one you mean," Caldwell noted, "The Werewolves vs Vampires Splatfest. They found those ancient manuscripts and, being Inklings, decided to make a contest out of it. I guess some legends truly never die," he gave an amused shrug, "Why ask?"

"I dunno..." Marie pondered, lightly dabbing at the tips of Callie's ears and watching them flicker in response, "It just felt familiar to me. In...more ways than one. I had NO idea what a werewolf even was, so I was in the dark. A vampire, though, I understand that. Evil inksuckers who roam the night, taking life from their prey with the ability to turn...into..."

There was a silence never so deathly as the two squids stared at each other, the full ramifications of their theory dawning upon them. It was such that even Callie awakened from her slumber and stared at the two, whining in question and tilting her head in confusion. Caldwell stared at Marie for a few more seconds, a look of wondrous fear across his face, "You don't think..."

"N-No!" Marie blurted out in response, "It can't be! At least, I don't think so..." there was a slight tinge of panic to her voice, but she still felt calm, "I...I got bit, b-but there's no way it was infectious like Callie. Right? I would've transformed by now..."

"Well..." Caldwell sighed, "There was a delay between her getting bit and you getting bit...about...five minutes?"

Marie began to breathe a little heavily. She directed her gaze towards the clock. How long had Callie been transformed? Was it five minutes? She began to panic silently, "Oh dear. Ooooooh dear, no. But, i-it's not possible! It can't be...r-right?"

"Marie?" Caldwell asked, "Are you okay? You're starting to sweat a little."

"I mean...I..." Marie trailed off, "It can't be possible...it can't be..." her breathing became heavier as a sickly feeling welled up in her stomach,"Oh man...I don't feel so good!"

A horrible feeling rushed from her stomach to her throat, Marie broke from Callie's side and rushed towards the bathroom. She didn't even close the door on the way in, instead just crashing into the toilet and arcing over it. Against his better judgement, Caldwell rushed after her and knelt by her side, rubbing her back and reaching out his hand for her to grab. She squeezed it tight and then finally...uh, let loose. A horrific gurgling sound echoed through the room, as Marie threw up, splashing sick into the toilet bowl and eliciting a few gargled coughs as she spluttered the last of it out. She gripped Caldwell's hand ever tighter, to the point of nearly crushing it, while he continued to rub her back.

"There..." he sighed, "Better?"

"Blurgh...kinda..." Marie sighed, "I'm...sorry. Really don't know what came over me there...urp..." a slight gurgle as a little more came up, but then that was enough. Caldwell winced as it happened, having dared not look in the bowl. Neither had Marie, either, having squeezed her eyes shut from the ordeal. She finally arched them open, and gasped a little. The bowl's contents was not the colour she expected. It was..red? A very rustic red, a deep crimson. Smelled of iron. She winced, "This isn't right. I haven't eaten anything red today...and even if it was ink, which I hope it isn't, mine isn't red."

"And it smells wrong for ink or standard food," Caldwell noted, turning up his nose at it, "This looks like something else. Almost as if it's been tainted. Like it's what the humans called...blood."

Caldwell was interrupted as Marie screamed in pain and clutched her stomach, flopping to the bathroom floor. Panicked, he grabbed Marie's body and, after flushing the toilet, rushed back into the front room and placed her on the sofa. Now it was Marie's turn to double up and shiver in agony, something clearly happening within her. Caldwell set her down steady and tried to stop her from lashing out and hitting something, but was forced to step back before long. Callie rushed towards the two on all fours, clearly panicking, "What's happening!?"

"Marie was bitten by a bat," Caldwell concluded, "And it looks like werewolves aren't the only myths getting a revival tonight!"

The two looked on in wonder as the transformation began. Marie grunted and groaned as the curse changed her insides in ways she never imagined, looking up pitifully as she grimaced through the pain. The colour was draining out of her skin at a very alarming rate, leaving her deathly pale before long. In contrast to Callie bulking out, Marie almost looked like as if she was getting thinner, perhaps a bit lankier. There were small spurts of ink as claws sprouted from her fingers, though more like long fingernails than the black claws of Callie. Marie continued to clutch her stomach, accentuating the slight boost to her bust, and she opened her mouth to cry out in pain. During the scream, two large fangs erupted from her mouth and stuck in place, leaving them jut out and carve holes in the teeth underneath them as she closed her mouth. But perhaps the biggest change was the lovely green tint to her otherwise whitish tentacles turning a dark, stained crimson, not unlike the stuff Caldwell saw in the toilet bowl. Her breathing became wheezed and erratic as the final few changes took hold, and she reached out to grasp Callie's hand and clutch it tightly.

"H-Hurts to br-breathe..." she struggled, her voice pained and failing.

"That's just shock," Caldwell said, grasping her other hand, "Just hold on, I think you're almost through this!"

And before long, she had stopped struggling. Her cries withered and ceased as the agony finally subsided and she lay limp on the couch. Gingerly, Caldwell moved her body so that she was lying flat on the couch, arms outstretched. Callie overlooked her sister, ears drooping and a subtle whine escaping her throat. The two waited for some time, looking over the transformed Marie; her skin pale, her tentacles red, her hands shredded with claws and two sharp fangs poking from her upper lip. And yet she looked so...calm. Her face showed no more emotion and had relaxed, bar a single tear streaming down her cheek. Her breathing slowly resumed, its rhythm restored and happily consistent once more. Then, a stir. A sleepy groan as Marie came to again, an errant twitch in her off hand. She finally opened her eyes, showing their change from a fiery orange to a deep red. She hissed as her eyes opened fully, baring her fangs, almost in the fashion of Callie howling at the moon. Caldwell looked on, almost impressed.

"M-Marie..." Callie gasped, her expression one of surprise.

"Well look at that," Caldwell said, almost proudly, "Reborn, as a vampire. Uh..." he trailed off, his tone of voice stopping cold. He shrugged, "Congratulations?"

"...Is..." Marie grimaced, an odd tinge to her voice, "Is this how we're going to play this, then? Me? A bloodsucker of the night?" She gasped and covered her mouth, "M-My voice!" And sure enough, the final few changed had affected her vocal chords. Her voice sounded so very different to what she was used to. It was deeper, calmer and much more sophisticated. So much more...sultry, like a baroness. She looked towards Caldwell, "Mirror...I need a mirror!"

Caldwell was all too happy to provide, handing her his phone with the inner camera turned on. It was...kind of a mirror. Enough for Marie, at least, who proceeded to stare into the screen longingly, taking in all of her new features. She arched her eyelids away to get a good look at her new crimson eyes. She ran a finger across one of her new fangs, feeling its eerie smoothness. She placed her hand on her cheek, to feel her skin, and was met with a deathly chill that no Inkling of the living would ever give off. She slumped the phone down onto the table, where Caldwell took it back, and buried her head in her hands in despair. Callie whined again, and placed a paw on Marie's lap for comfort, to which Marie placed on of her hands on that.

"Well, Squid," Marie sighed painfully, "I guess we're doing this now..."

"On the bright side," Callie growled, "At least your voice sounds cooler. And you look great! B-Better than me after transforming...guh, this BODY! It feels like I'm hauling around bags of flour!"

"You think so?" Marie asked, to which Callie nodded happily. Marie's expression turned to one of amusement and she ran both of her hands through her new tentacle hair, "Well...I suppose I can make it work..." she stopped, a low grumbling escaping from her stomach, "I'm feeling hungry, though. But, I just ate..." another growl, and Marie grimaced as she grabbed her stomach again, "GUH! It's a very...painful hunger!"

"I don't think it's hunger for food," Caldwell frowned, "I think it's your body's way of saying you need...blood."

"Blood?" Marie asked.

"Well, ink, for us," Caldwell shrugged, "A newborn vampire needs to feed sometime, after all."

"Wha-no!" Marie gasped through the pain, "I don't wanna bite people! I don't wanna drink blood...uh, ink, like that! It's savage!"

"You have to," Caldwell reminded, "Feeding on the innocent is part of your biology now. We can't just starve it out, it could drive you insane. That SAID..." he arched backwards a bit, "You are not taking any of mine. I want to study these myths. Not join them."

"...I have an idea," Callie barked, after a few seconds of thinking, "But I reaaaaaally don't think you're gonna like it. Gimme my phone. Woof."

===

Mira, the Fourth Agent, crept into the apartment and closed the door behind her. She had this massive smile on her face, a crazed grin like no other. Marie, the Squid Sister of her dreams, the one who hired her to save her cousin and defeat the Octarian menace a second time, had invited her to their apartment! Well, Callie did, but she sounded...weird. Really gruff. She said she had a throat infection, nothing major, but then MARIE got on the phone. And she sounded so different! So deep, so sultry, so...sexy! How could Marie's #1 Fan say no to "come over for a bite to eat"? Even if the wording was a little weird, and there was this weird sigh in her voice after saying it, BUT STILL.

Before stepping further into the room, she quickly stopped to check herself in a mirror just that one last time. She needed to make sure she was looking good for Marie. Fair skin, short yellow tentacles, headset. Hero Hoodie, shorts, Hero boots, even glasses. Perfection. Marie couldn't resist THIS. Puffing up her chest, she burst into the rest of the room, looking around. So this was the Squid Sisters' apartment? It was...kinda small, actually. Mira had never really known the Sisters until Marie caught her attention in Octo Canyon. Didn't watch a lot of TV from back in the day. But when she saw Marie, how she moved, how she acted, how she spoke and dressed and swayed her hips while walking...oh MAN, she was HOOKED! Nowadays she would do anything for Marie - and mostly that meant buying stuff for them as to not draw public attention, but, again, still.

"HELLO!" she yelled, grinning from ear to ear, "Agent 4 has arrived!"

"Thank Cod..." came Marie's new voice from across the room, "I was waiting so long for that bite...I'm famished..." she stepped out of the shadows at the back of the room, appearing in full view of her fan. Mira gasped in a mixture of shock and excitement. Marie looked...really different. Her skin looked so pale as to belong on a corpse, her hair still a white-ish shade but now accentuated by dark red highlights instead of light green. Her eyes likewise were a deep crimson, small claws on her fingers, and two fangs in her mouth. But her outfit was changed, too. She was wearing a white t-shirt, shorts, white socks and...running mascara? Alright.

"M-Miss Marie!" Mira crowed, saluting, "It's so great to see you! So, what kinda midnight snack were you planning on? And why with me? I MEAN I'm grateful, but..."

"Well..." Marie sighed, a hand on her growling stomach, "The food is kinda...well, it took a while to get here..." she winced as another gurgle escaped her abdomen, "But it's here now and..." she doubled over in pain as another, louder gurgle rang out, "NO! I don't want to do this!"

"You have to," another voice called out from the dark. Mira looked over Marie's hunched shoulder to see Agent 3 in the shadows, hand stroking some big fluffy that was impossible to make out in the dark. He continued, "You can't ignore the call, Marie. You just can't."

"Hey, Caldwell!" Mira yapped, waving.

"Hey," came Caldwell's dry response.

"Look, I can't sugarcoat this..." Marie growled, getting onto Mira's level, "Mira. I gotta...oh Cod, I...I have to bite into your neck and drain some of your ink."

"I..." Mira's expression softened, "What?"

"I need to drain your blood," Marie said again, "And no-one else will-"

There was a zipping sound as Mira unzipped and tore off her Hero Hoodie, showing her black tank top underneath. She arched her head to the side and bared her neck. She beamed, her face one of excited glee, "Please, Marie-Senpai! Help yourself!"

Marie stared at the scene with a bleary, delirious look in her eyes. She turned back towards Caldwell and Callie. Mira couldn't see Callie, but Marie could. Guess she could see better in the dark now, huh. And through her canine muzzle, Callie's face screamed a smug, "Told you so..."

Marie shook the thought out of her head, and turned to Mira, "Okay...here goes..." as she approached Mira's neck, fangs bared, she could feel something stir within her. Like some other person, in control of her mind, knowing exactly what to do in this situation. Closing her eyes and bracing herself, Marie finally launched forward and bit Mira, fangs sinking deep into her neck. Mira grunted a little, but recovered incredibly quickly, grabbing hold of Marie's arms as she wrapped her own around Mira's torso for support. There was a weird sucking noise as Marie began sucking ink from the Agent's neck, a look of pure horror on her face and a few whimpers escaping her closed mouth. Mira, on the other hand, was loving it. Perhaps a little TOO much, though. Her eyes were rolling back just as much as her legs were buckling from weakness. She sighed, smiling vividly, blushing.

"Aaaaaaawwwww Yeeeeeeeaaahhhh..." loosely escaped her lips as Marie finished her work. Marie could hear that voice in her head again, the one telling her how to do any of this to begin with. How to bite into her neck properly, how to drain ink, and - in this case - how to not infect Mira too. Steadying herself, Marie tore free of Mira's neck, yellow ink flying in small spurts as she did so, and she stepped back and groaned as her mouth hung open and she clutched at her stomach. A final set of cramps came rushing in as slithers of dark green slime oozed out of her fangs, dripping onto the floor. Finally, the flow ceased and Marie wiped at the residue on her fangs with a bit of paper towel. Mira was still standing, almost in a stupor, staring blankly at the most unusual scene before her. She looked ever so relaxed. She sighed deeply, and mumbled, "Wow...Marie, of the Squid Sisters, drained MY ink! That was an honor, senpai!"

But Marie didn't hear that. She was too busy sinking to the floor, hands clasped to her head, her horrific expression still very much on her face. And then, it scrunched up. After a bit of a whine, Marie broke out into sobs, arched over and weeping miserably to herself. It came...pretty much out of nowhere, but it didn't take a genius to see the problem here. Being forced to bite and drain a friend, however willing. To go against nature as they knew it. It must have felt...traumatic. Callie's canine face twisted into one of worry and she slowly slinked out of the shadows to assist her. Mira caught the beast, slumped over, walking on all fours towards the crying vampiress, and how it had magenta highlights and large strands of hair. It almost looked like Callie! But, it couldn't have been Callie, right?! Callie was never that...buff. Or hairy. Or scary. Nevertheless, the beast slowly approached Marie and sat behind her, wrappng its hind legs around her buckled legs and then its front legs around her torso. Marie twisted her upper body to cry into the beast's chest, her sobs muffled by all of the floof but still very much auditory. The beast spoke in a growled imitation of Callie's own voice, "So much for keeping calm, huh?"

"What've I become?!" Marie wailed, "Turned into a vampire, forced to bite and drain the ink of innocents just to keep myself going! And you, this...wolf BEAST!"

Callie whined a little, ears drooping, tears forming, "M-Marie? What's happened to us?

"We..." Marie sobbed, "We've become monsters..."

The two were engaged in a soft embrace now, hugging each other and softly crying into each other. Their tears splashed away the vile venom that had dripped from Marie's fangs mere moments ago, washing away the poison, but it wasn't enough. Callie hugged Marie tighter, fully enveloping her in her own fluffy embrace, and eventually aimed her head towards the sky and let out another howl, a deep one of pure sorrow. Marie almost tried to join in, letting off what could onto be described as a sorrowful hiss into the night sky, before turning back to hug her cousin and let loose more tears. Mira, through it all, started at the whole debacle. There was a definite look of confusion across her face, one hand clasped to the bite wound to stem the ink flow and another swinging limply at her side. She turned to face Caldwell, who was still in the shadows, looking away from the scene with a look that bore regret of some sort. She gingerly approached him, arm hooked and carrying her discarded Hero Suit. She looked up at him, and he looked down to speak.

"I'm sorry, Mira," he said, "Marie needed a first...uh, victim. And you were the only one we could expect to accept that offer. Here, let me patch up that wound. I have a few plasters left..."

"Thank you, thank you..." Mira said. She turned to look back at the two crying cousins, taking her hand off of her wound and feeling the ink roll down her back. There was a small sting as Caldwell dabbed at the puncture with some antiseptic-laden cloth, then a soothing sensation as he applied the plaster. She spoke again, her voice still carrying confusion, "So...that's Callie? That...thing?" Caldwell grunted to signify a yes. Mira gasped a little, "What happened?"

"A few hours ago," Caldwell stated as he continued to dab at the ink rolling down her back, "Callie was attacked by a wolf. Marie, bitten by a bat. Through circumstances unknown, they have transformed into creatures from human lore. A werewolf. And, a vampire. Certainly, an interesting night all around."

"Oh my..." Mira gasped again, "That's terrible! How're they gonna cope with this?"

"Not well, it seems," Caldwell snarked.

"But, I don't want Marie-Senpai to be sad!" Mira pouted, "I wanna help her! I wanna do something!"

"We're gonna need cures for these, uh...conditions," Caldwell stated, "Perhaps Cuttlefish or even Octavio might have something to share. Perhaps we can bring it up with them on Recon tomorrow."

"Wait, we have Recon?" Mira asked, turning to look at Caldwell, who replied with a shrug, "Aww maaaaaaan...can I stay over? It's too late to go back home now..."

"Oh, we all need sleep, Mira..." Caldwell yawned, "We need to approach this with clear heads and the sun in the sky. Should restore Callie to normal...for now. Mark my words, this is but the start of something bigger. Perhaps bigger than us. From here, the mythos may spread and new forms will awaken. We may see skeletons, ghosts, zombies, perhaps the return of the human race itself. This, Mira, is the beginning of something...are you listening to me?"

Mira was staring at Callie, a dumbstruck look on her giggling face, "It's like a big, fluffy puppy..."

"Oh boy..." Caldwell sighed, "Let's just get these two to bed."