An Inkling of Sympathy Ch. 16

Steph looked up in horror as a giant ink strike raced in her direction. Moving as fast as her body could swim through her ink, there was a huge whirlwind just behind her. This was the first time she'd ever encountered an Octarian Bomber, and it was not a pushover like some of the other forces she'd run into along the way.

She lay low in her ink, not daring to budge even an inch for risk for the ripples giving off her location. Sure enough, that's when a cleaner began to suck up the ink that rested on the ground and it was heading right for her! Her body trembled with exhaustion. She'd never done so much in such a short span before. She began to wonder if she even could handle the next war machine.

She had to keep moving, if she waited any longer the bomber would see her as a sitting target and she wouldn't have an ink trail to swim through. With a splurge of Ink, she quickly flooded the path and once more, the familiar whistle of the inkstrike could be heard hot on her heels.

Diving once more into the ink, she slid along her back down the slope, gun blasting wildly as she took out Octarians one after another. This is just a more dangerous Turf War, she repeated to herself, over and over again. You're not killing them, they're just going back to their base.

She knew this was a lie, but it was the only thing that really brought her comfort from the nightmares of the things she'd seen after the strange old man introduced her to the underground war. Reaching the end of her ink, she continued her full sprint towards the source of the repeated missiles.

Up above her, on a giant platform, an incredibly overweight Octarian sat in a tub of its own ink. On its face was a pair of goggles that seemed to be able to lock on to her position. Blasting open an ink pipe, she quickly allowed it to propel her up and on to the platform.

The thing was absolutely hideous now that she could see it up close. It had no decency at all, simply laying there scratching itself without a single thread of clothing. Staring at her through the dark reticule, it licked its lips. Agent 3 shuddered at the action, but she knew she wasn't done yet. She had to finish him off.

Holding her gun pointed straight at him, it raised its hands. Was it surrendering? Before she could open her mouth to speak, its tentacle slammed down beside it and released a splash of the deadly ink.

Steph barely managed to leap out of the way as the place she had been standing now became covered with the ink. So that's how he wanted to play then? Steph had no problems with playing dirty. She fired rapidly at the disgusting blob of flesh, but because of the tub, it could easily just wash the ink off before it had a chance to do any harm, all while casting more waves of violet death in her direction.

After the fourth attempt, a particularly well aimed swipe from his massive arm caused her upper shoulder to sizzle. She quickly spat on her shoulder, cleaning the ink from her and simultaneously cooling her burns. This was getting old now.

The Bomber laughed heartily at her struggles and it was then that she knew exactly what she had to do. Running straight towards him, his eyes opened in shock as she plummeted straight down on to his belly.

She slammed the barrel down his throat and fired full blast into him. With a hiss, his eyes rolled back as the caustic-like Ink liquified his insides before with a pop, he exploded in Squid Ink, leaving Steph standing waist deep in a tub of her own now. "Lusca?" She panted into the radio, only to hear silence. "Hello?" She tried once more, but again there was no sound.

Looking around to determine she was truly safe, she set her gun down on the lip of the pool beside her before taking out her radio to examine it. Had it become damaged in his last attack? It seemed fine.

Suddenly it crackled loudly, causing her to nearly drop it into the pool in a panic. Soon, however, a voice she was not familiar with broke through the channel. "It's been a long time…"

Then the Captain's voice spoke back. "No! It's you...it can't be...stay away!"

"Captain!" Steph cried into the microphone as the sounds of an ensuing struggle could be heard. Then with a sickening thud, the radio went silent. "Captain…?" Her voice was a whimper as she desperately prayed he was alright.

"Listen carefully, whoever you may be." The new voice informed her. "Captain Cuttlefish is alive...for now. You will abandon your mission and return back to whatever hole you crawled out of...or else." With a loud crackle, her commlink went to static.

For the first time in her life, Steph found herself truly afraid. Even when her parents screamed at one another long enough that she was certain one of them would finally snap and kill the other, even when facing down hordes of Octolings, even when standing up to an Octarian war machine, nothing compared to the dread she felt in her hearts now.

Taking out her radio, she attempted to hail the other agents, but something was interfering with the signal. She let out a frightened whine as she sank back into the ink. She wanted to go home. She wanted to be back in her bed, safe and warm. But inside, she knew that that wasn't what she should do. She had to help rescue the Captain, because by making her Agent 3, he had rescued her.


Marie took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger. Time moved in slow motion and the instant the ink left the barrel she realized what she'd done. She opened her mouth to call to her cousin, but in a blur of purple and green, Sil leapt from my shoulders, interposing herself in between Callie and the Ink.

The younger popstar watched in horror as the young girl became coated in the highly corrosive ink, only for her body to remain unharmed. What the hell was going on?! "Sil!" I shouted, turning to look back at her, only to see her covered in ink. "Marie? What happened?!"

"I...was cleaning...and then…" Her words struggled to escape her lips. Whatever excuses she'd formulated before died on them with the dual realization that she'd come very close to murdering her cousin and that Sil was, with absolute certainty, not a mortal thing.

Callie and I failed to notice, however, the dishonesty in her words. "Marie, you should really be more careful," her cousin lectured gently. "I'm glad that Sil was there, otherwise I could have been seriously hurt, or worse!"

"I...I'm sorry…" Marie tried, choking back sobs as she fell to her knees. Tears were streaming down her cheeks now. She couldn't believe that this place had affected her so greatly. It was giving a burning in her chest that was akin to rage and hatred, but at the same time, she could hear her own thoughts struggling to make their way to the forefront of her consciousness. Frustrated, she threw down her gun, burying her head in her knees. "Sorry...I just need a moment. You three go on ahead," she whispered. "I'll be right behind you."

Her cousin reluctantly obliged when I gave her an assuring nod, taking the now dried off Sil by the hand and leading her towards the exit. I, however, didn't budge an inch. "She's gone now," I stated. "Care to tell me what really happened?"

Her eyes sank to the floor as she drew her knees closer to her chest again. "I guess I can't hide anything from you," she murmured. "I don't know what happened. I was just compelled by...something. It told me things. How Callie was the only thing between me and being happy. How much easier it would be if my life didn't have her in it."

Leaning against the wall behind her, I sank down next to her. "I suppose in a way, I could see that point of view."

Marie looked at me in shock. "Lusca! How can you even say something like that?" Her teeth were clenched. "I thought you loved her, and now you're just telling me that I should have killed her?"

"Drop the accusatory tone, Marie. I never said that. I said I could see your argument in that your life would be easier, possibly even better, without Callie in it." My hand went to hers, squeezing it to comfort her. "But that wouldn't bring you happiness. Without her, you're nothing Marie."

She quickly pulled her hand away. "What are you saying?!" Reaching beside me, I grasped her gun, holding her outstretched hand in mine and placing it in her palm. Her eyes widened as she stared down at the thing.

"You know what you have to do," I whispered. "It's the only way you'll ever truly be happy."

Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked back at me then returning her gaze to the gun. Her entire body was trembling. "Is it fast?"

"Possibly. Even if it's not, you'd deserve such for how you felt. You tried to kill her Marie. You can't get away from that, even if you wanted to."

The inklings hand trembled as she opened her mouth, slipping the barrel into press against her inner roof. Already there was a slight burning sensation as a drop of ink sizzled against the sensitive flesh. My hand once more rested on hers, slowly helping her to pull the trigger.


"Marie, no!" I shouted, turning away from Sil and pouncing on the younger Inkling. Her eyes shot open to see the illusory double of me and she began to wrestle with it, desperately trying to remove the gun from where it had been placed.

"L-lusca, help." She begged around the weapon, her entire body shaking as she tried to regain control from the mental tailspin she'd been cast into. Callie turned in shock to see what was going on and began to rush towards us as well.

Sliding beside her, I quickly grabbed her wrist and flicked on the gun's safety before pulling it forcefully from her mouth. Her body struggled against mine with more strength than I'd ever seen Marie display, as if her entire being was dedicated to preventing her rescue. "Marie, what are you doing? What's wrong?" Her cousin asked, pinning the young popstar's wrist as she struggled to break free from our grip to continue her self-destruction.

"She can't control herself," I mumbled to her, racking my brain for a solution. "Marie, I'm really sorry about this."

She looked at me, hopelessly lost, just as my forearm pressed against her throat, choking her. "Lusca, what are you doing?!" Callie demanded, releasing her hand to try to pull mine away.

"Callie, stop! If she passes out, we can carry her out of the tunnels safely," I explained, causing her to hesitate.

"She's terrified Lusca, I don't like this."

"Trust me, this is for the best."

Marie gasped for breath, using her one free hand to desperately press against my face in an attempt to shove me away. There was horror on her features as her hand then moved above her, as if clawing at something. It was a gesture I'd seen before.

"What is she doing?" Callie asked.

Soon, her eyes closed and as she fell limp, I quickly grabbed her gun from her and tucked it into my holster before hoisting her in my arms. I didn't like this. We needed to get out of here as soon as we possibly could. I didn't know if it was the tunnels or if it was something else entirely, but it was going to end up killing one of us and my money was it doing so sooner rather than later.

"Callie, there's something I need to tell you. Marie made me swear not to, but this is important. This place is feeding on our darkest feelings and emotions, which means it's only just a matter of time before you succumb to it as well."

Sil peered over my arm into Marie's dozing face curiously. "Lusca, I'm scared." Callie whispered, holding onto my other arm. "Just please, tell me what's going on?"

"The night that you were shot, when I went out to look for Marie...she wasn't in a good state when I found her." I looked at her out of the side of my eyes, gently pressing against her. "She was going to hang herself, Callie. To be specific, she was hanging herself. I managed to catch her before she could die, which is why I had to cut off one of my tentacles."

"Why would she ever do that?" Her voice was barely above a whisper as she struggled to understand.

I took a deep breath. This was the part that I knew would hurt Callie the most. "It was because she felt guilty about what happened to you. She blamed herself, rather than me, that you became hurt. She wanted to kill herself because she thought it would make everyone's life easier if she were gone."

"That's not true!" Callie demanded, her grip tightening. "The world would definitely be worse without her, I know it!"

"I know, Callie," I assured her. "I'm only telling you this so you can understand what was happening. Something is controlling us like puppets. They're using our own fears and desires against us. I suspect that Marie tried to shoot you because of this as well."

"But...she said she was cleaning it…"

"Open your eyes, Callie!" The harshness of my tone made her flinch. "Now is not the time to be cute or naive, now is the time to be afraid. Be very, very, afraid because starting from the moment that we stepped foot in this place, we have surrendered control of our very beings to a kid sitting on an anthill and we're under the magnifying glass. So cut the act because it's not funny anymore!"

"Is that what you really think? That how I am is just some act?"

"Callie…"

"No! You can't just say things like that and expect me to let it go! I'm not smart like Marie or strong like you, but that doesn't mean that I'm some airhead just playing dumb for attention! How could you even insinuate that?"

Sil walked over to move between Callie and I, causing the dark-tentacled singer to surrender some space from me. "Sil, we were talking." I lectured.

"It's fine," Callie growled. "Once we're out of this cave, then we'll find out if that's what you truly think. If it is…" She left the thought dangling there, unwilling to finish it.

Sil looked between the both of us before tugging on my shit. "Y'gnaiih." Her voice echoed in my head. What did that mean? She looked at me, waiting patiently for a response.

"What's Y'gnaiih?" I asked, causing Callie to watch me suspiciously. Sil said nothing, simply raising her hand to point at me. "Oh, I'm Y'gnaiih?" She nodded her head. "Okay, what's wrong Sil? Do you know something that can help us?

She thought about it for a moment before shaking her head no. Instead, she ran her arms around her midriff, letting out a pitiful whimper. Callie's features softened at the sound, gently running her hand along her tentacles. Surprisingly, this time she didn't snap away or hiss. "Poor thing," Callie murmured. "It looks like she has a tummy ache. Is that what you're trying to tell us, Sil?"

She nodded, clutching her stomach again. "Damn it. Things just keep getting worse for us," I commented just as we emerged from the tunnel back into the gracious light. I'd never been so grateful to get out of the dark in my life.

I could tell by the way she sighed in relief that Callie felt the same way. "Let's take a break, please? I know that we're kind of in a hurry, but…" Her eyes scanned each member of our party one after another. "I think we could all use a short rest, don't you agree?"

As much as I wanted to keep moving, I nodded. "Yeah. Maybe Sil will feel better after a little nap. I'll try to get ahold of Shelldon. Maybe he can meet us here instead."

"Thanks." Callie still couldn't look me in the eye from our argument. I suppose it wasn't very surprising. I shouldn't have treated her like I did, I knew. I could always use the excuse that it was the tunnels that caused my cruelty, but inside, I wasn't entirely sure it was.

Taking Marie from my hands, I watched the beautiful Inkling sit on the cool pavement with her cousin and Sil. She ran her hands through both of their tentacles absently before looking puzzled. Turning her hand over, she pressed the back against Sil's forehead.

Touching the radio to my ear, I tried to contact the Captain. "Hello, Captain? If you're there we need to talk. A lot of weird shit is going down here. We're all safe...for now. I need you to contact Shelldon and tell him to meet us. I have my point locator set to broadcast to his location, so I just need you to let him know."

When there was no response, a feeling of concern washed over me. I looked back towards Callie in shock as she looked up at me with an equal amount of worry. "Lusca, Sil's sick. She has a fever."

"Like I said, things keep getting worse. Captain isn't answering his radio."

"Try Agent 3."

I nodded in agreement, paging her. "Agent 3?"

"Yes?"

I was surprised by how cute her voice was. She sounded somber, but somehow it was different than what our group was feeling. "It's Lusca. Our party is taking a little breather. We haven't been able to get in contact with Cap'n Cuttlefish. Have you spoken to him?"

There was a moment of unnerving silence through the radio. "Someone took him," she finally answered.

My jaw dropped as I tried to formulate a response. We were completely on our own now. We didn't have an eye in the sky, or a mission leader, or anything. Our King had been captured and this was checkmate.

"Now what?" Callie questioned.

Oh no. What could I possibly tell her? How would Marie react when she finally woke up to hear the news? "Agent 3 has informed me that Captain Cuttlefish has been captured."

"Gramps?!"

I nodded. Callie sank to her knees in surrender as she just stared at the ground. "The good news is, I'm pretty sure he's alive," I tried, hoping it would cheer her up.

"Pretty sure? My Grandfather has been 'captured' by someone we don't even know, and you're 'pretty sure' he's alive?! How much is 'pretty sure'? Do you have some sort of empirical evidence that I don't know about, because last I checked 'pretty sure' was code for, I don't know shit!" Her voice boomed, echoing across the square before I quickly covered her mouth.

"Callie, hush. I know you're upset, but we are still in Octovalley. If we get caught, and we will if you don't get yourself in check, they will kill us. All of us. We'll get back your Gramps, I swear it. All right?"

"Lusca, what is going on?" She asked after I had removed my hand.

"I don't know," I admitted. "Maybe this is Cthulu's work."

No sooner had I finished the sentence that Sil let out a low moan, clutching her stomach tightly. "Lusca, we need to get her to a doctor." Callie stated. "Surely there is someone down here that won't judge us?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm sorry to say, there isn't. Let me see if I can find Sheldon by myself. You stay here with Sil and Marie. I'm sure he'll be able to help us. The faster we're done here the faster we can get out of this crazy place and back to our slightly more normal life."

"Did you just…"

I paused curiously. "What is it?"

"You said, 'our life'."

I bit my lip nervously. "Do we really have to do this now?" I asked, a hint of urgency in my voice.

She solemnly shook her head. "No, you're right. It can wait until you're back, okay? But I do want to talk about this."

I sighed. "Yeah...I know you do." Turning away from her, I tugged up my coat and began to make my way through the square to locate the young crab.


Peering closer through his spectacles, Sheldon let out a frustrated grunt and began to hurl more of the scrap over his shoulder to clatter on the ground behind him. This was getting out of hand now. Where could his Grandfather have hidden it?

Drawing out the letter he'd received from his 'Grandpappy' before he died, Sheldon scanned its contents once more. It stated that the weapon they used to destroy Cthulhu was hidden somewhere down in the old Octovalley warehouse. There was a slight chirp from behind him as his self-designed sensors began to ping someone in their proximity.

In a blur, he'd spun, drawing his weapon and aiming it straight between the eyes of the stunned Octoling. "Whoa, whoa! Please, don't shoot!" She cried, holding up her hands and stumbling backwards.

"I won't shoot so long as you don't try to attack me," Sheldon swore, his hand trembling as he continued to look for the weapon. The truth was, save in Turf Wars, Sheldon had never shot a gun before. When you were just playing around in ink, it was different, but for him...this was a whole other level of thrilling.

"What are you looking for?" The woman asked behind him, not having moved from where she sat on the floor. The young crab glanced over his shoulder for a moment, flashing the young Octoling a polite smile.

"My Grandfather designed a very special weapon. He left me a letter when he died that told me its whereabouts, but I need to locate it first."

As strange as it was, Sheldon was relieved the woman was talking. The last thing he wanted was to feel like some sort of terrorist in addition to the fear that he may have to hurt someone.

"Oh," she replied. "That's...interesting. This weapon, what exactly does it do?"

"Modulates the air currents in order to produce a hyperactive frequency that will weaken the atomic stability of particles within a subspace, specifically the particles of those that resonate at a level of between 0.5 and 40 kHZ or kilohertz in layman's terms. To be even more specific, it does so at a pressure of more than 101,325 Pa." When he turned to look elsewhere, he noted the absolutely lost expression on the woman's face. "That's...erm...Pascals." He explained, straightening his goggles.

Suddenly there was another series of chirps from the proximity detectors, causing Sheldon to quickly draw his weapon once more.

"Who else was with you?" He demanded of the woman, the ink tank flooding his Splattershot.

"N-no one! Honest!"

Sheldon scowled, running to the window to see another Octoling wandering closer. Unlike the woman behind him, this man was armed to the teeth and…The crab's eyes widened. On the front of his hip, he was displaying the Squidbeak Splatoon badge, half stained with cobalt blood. He couldn't have!

The weapon-maker's legs began to wobble as he reached out to steady himself on the table. Callie and Marie...had they both been killed? Worse, it seemed like this man tortured his location out of them. Who knew how much they'd suffered trying to protect him? What would the man do to him then?

"Sheldon!" He called out, his eyes scanning the windows, just as the crab ducked out of view. "Listen to me, I need your help!"

Sheldon hissed. How stupid did this guy think he was? He wasn't about to just oust himself. The woman's eyes looked to him from where she sat, before gesturing to his gun. "Do you have another one of those?"

"Why?" He whispered.

"I know that man. He's a wanted criminal here. When it comes to Octolings, he's the worst of the worst, understand? I don't want him finding me any more than you want him finding you. If you give me a weapon, we can both take him."

Sheldon pondered it for a moment before nodding and reaching into his pack. Drawing a spare gun and ink tank, he tossed them over to the woman. Strapping it on to her back, she nodded towards the door way, the both of them crawling to either side to flank the entrance.

"Sheldon!" He called again, holding his hand to shield his eyes as he searched for him. "If you're here, I need you to come out, now! This is urgent!"

Looking across to his new ally, Sheldon nodded to the woman before holding up his hand to give a count. 1...2...3! At three he leapt out with a fierce roar, leveling his weapon at the man. Before he did though, the man's gun was already drawn and aimed square at his head. His gaze froze Sheldon's blood with the amount of rage and hatred that were stored in them.

"Sheldon, get on the ground...now." The man instructed and that was when the crab realized he wasn't glaring at him. He was glaring behind him. Turning around, the gun fell from the weapon-maker's hands as he found himself staring down the barrel of his own creation.


I'd managed to track my way down to Sheldon's location, only to find him waiting for me with weapon drawn. At first, I'd hoped to talk him down and explain the situation, but that was when trouble once more reared its ugly head for me.

Behind him, a face that was all too familiar peered out sinisterly, her weapon now pointed at the back of his head. "Sheldon, get on the ground...now." I warned, but the dumb kid just dropped his gun and stared straight into the she-devil's weapon.

"Lusca," she cooed. "It's been far too long. Have you been behaving yourself?"

"Miranda," I grunted. "Let the kid go, this is between us. He has nothing to do with it."

"See, now I disagree," the ex-commander shot back. "I lost my position because of you. Not only that, but you killed Amy as well? How did you manage to swing that?"

My hand ran to my chest where I could still feel some burning from my injuries. "Faith, trust, and pixie dust," I replied sarcastically. "I'm not here for you Miranda, so drop your weapon and go back to whatever life you have now before you lose it."

"I know what you're planning, Lusca."

"Oh, I highly doubt that."

"For certain. Your little friend here was more than eager to tell me all about your 'secret weapon'. So, what? You're an Inkling now? Is that it? Going to turn your back on your own people all for the sake of getting a bit of tentacle?"

"Firstly, do not talk about them that way. Secondly, you're a fool. This is so much bigger than all of us. You, me, him...there's billions of lives at stake, those of Octarians included. I won't ask you again. Drop the gun!"

"You're unbelievable," she growled, kicking the crab behind the leg and driving him to his knees before placing the gun at his temple.

I could feel something welling up inside of me as a burning sensation filled my eyes. "Let...him...go…" My words sounded odd, distorted as she let out a gasp of fear.

"That's…" The boy said, his eyes widening as well. "That's the Yellow Sign!"

"Bingo," I snapped in a voice that wasn't my own, thrusting my free hand upwards. Golden energy seemed to pour out all around me racing along the ground like streaks of lightning. Sheldon quickly dove out of the way as the light engulfed Miranda like thick strings.

Like a puppet, I tugged and plucked at her soul, forcing her hand to move upwards and put the barrel beneath her chin. "How are you doing this?" She demanded, her entire body shaking, yet unable to be controlled.

"Without guilt or remorse," I hissed.

"Stop!" Sheldon cried out, causing my head to turn slightly. He now stood beside me, his own gun pointed at my head. "Listen to me carefully. I don't know what's going on, but if you have the Yellow Sign then that means if you kill her, you can't go back."

"Weren't you listening, kid?" I asked, nodding towards Miranda. "She has no intention of letting either of us go."

Sheldon had to think quickly. Turning his own gun on himself, he stared Lusca down. "If you kill her, I won't be too far behind. You need my help, so you have to let her go."

As my hand slowly lowered, Miranda's eyes closed and she collapsed in an unconscious heap. Lowering his own weapon, the young horseshoe crab let out a sigh of relief. "That was close."

"Care to explain further?"

"Later. For now, let's tie her up and get out of here. The weapon isn't in that warehouse, but I think I can remake it."

After leaving the bound Miranda against the warehouse, I began to lead Sheldon back towards our group. Neither of us noticed, however, how Miranda's eyes shot open behind us, emitting their own bright golden hue.

To be continued...