An Inkling of Sympathy Ch. 20

As Callie and Steph continued running for safety, something in the back of her mind caused the dark-tentacled popstar to come to a screeching halt. "Steph, you go on ahead," she told her. "Go to Gramps' shack. Marie and Shelldon should be there. Let them know that Lusca is in danger, but that I'm helping him."

"But...danger…" Steph tried to warn her.

Callie took her hands in hers, looking in her eyes. "Steph, listen to me closely, okay? You asked me to finish the story, right? Well, the truth is, the story isn't over yet. When you love someone, you have to be there for them, no matter what. Right now, Lusca needs me. Even though he told me to run, I have to stay, understand?"

Agent 3's head bobbed up and down. Callie smiled at her before giving her a reassuring pat on the head and turning back to where I'd run towards. With gun at the ready, she used her bloodhound like senses to track me to the square.

Judd continued to squirm in my arms, and for a moment, I worried he'd sink his claws into my flesh, but Miranda just seemed to come closer with every second. "Stay back!" I ordered her, my eyes flashing a dangerous gold.

"Why? I'm your friend, Lusca. I'm just trying to help you. Don't you want to save this world? Don't you want to ensure your pretty little friend is alive and well? The Yellow King can make it all happen. It'd be so easy for him. Like squishing a gnat."

Her words made a lot of sense. Was I really willing to put my free will before the lives of everyone I knew and cared about? "What do I have to do?" I murmured.

"MEOW!" (No!)

"Simple. Just drop the cat and come here to me. Just one little hug and Hastur will be released." Obscenely long tentacles spread from Miranda's back, twitching menacingly. My eyes fell on the wicked barbs that coated her suckers, and I hesitated. "I understand they may seem intimidating, but I promise, it'll only be a pinch."

Gently placing Judd on the ground, he looked up to me with sad eyes. "Mew...mew, meow." (No. Lusca, please…) I took a step towards her, but before I could go any further, a thick spray of ink splashed outward onto Miranda, causing her to hiss and slink away just as Callie jumped between us.

"Get your filthy tentacles off of him, monster!" she ordered, leveling her gun again.

"Callie, what are you doing?" I asked in shock.

"Protecting you! You may not be able to fight, but I still can. I won't let you just sacrifice yourself for me! We've come so far, Lusca. We've fought hard for this. You're the wind to my pinwheel, remember? I won't let you take my wind away."

"Meow, mew, mow!" (Callie, thank goodness! Tell Lusca he can fight!)

"What? Judd, he can't…" she began, but when Miranda threw her tentacles at her in a powerful assault, Callie was forced to interrupt her thought by firing rapid blasts to keep them at bay.

"Meow, mew, meeeow!" (He can and he must! No time to explain! Just tell him!)

"Lusca, Judd says to fight!" Callie called back to me, just as Miranda swiped her aside with a massive tentacle. As the gun clattered to the ground from Callie's grip, I frowned. If this was what I had to do then…

Dashing forward, I dove beneath one of Miranda's attacks, scooping up the gun and giving her a face full of ink. She screeched in pain, stumbling backwards as she tried to rub it out of her eyes with little success. "H-hey, it's working," I cheered. "I'm not being affected by the mark!"

"Meow nyan." (Only for a little while, don't stop.)

"Keep it up, Lusca," Callie instructed, reaching into her back pocket and pulling out a small device. What was she doing? "Distract her for a bit."

I nodded, weaving between her strikes to continue hitting her with spurts of ink. It didn't seem to be doing much good. No matter how often I sprayed her, she'd just regenerate the dissolved skin with almost no effort.

Even still, it angered her enough that her attention was on me instead of Callie. Rolling under another violent smash from one of her obsidian tentacles, I took aim and pulled the trigger. A repetitive clicking sound informed me that I was on empty. Damn it, I didn't have time to recharge either.

That's when I heard it. A shrill whistle in the air that was all too familiar. Turning, I ran as fast as I could, but Miranda was faster. Her tentacle lashed around my waist, pulling me back towards her as the inkstrike hurtled towards us. There was no time! This was going to be the end of me.

"Lusca, no!" Callie cried, just before the massive vortex of ink engulfed both Miranda and I. "Lusca…" she whimpered before falling to her knees.

However, when she wiped her eyes to look at the aftermath, she found the small figure of Agent 3 dragging my unconscious body away from the toxic ink. At the last second, she'd dissolved off the monster's limb and pulled me to safety. Unfortunately, the strike managed to eat through the lower half of one of my legs, but considering my regenerative abilities that was the least of my worries.

For a moment, the mark of Hastur pulsed with yellow energy. The last rush of adrenaline may very well have sent me over the edge, but luckily, it faded once again to its normal hue. Callie gave a cry of relief and rushed over to Agent 3 and I, wrapping her arms around me. Her soft cheek nuzzled into mine as she held me tightly.

Steph collapsed onto her rump, taking deep breaths from the energy she exerted in my rescue. Judd came rushing to us. "Mew, meow meow?" (Is everyone okay?)

"I think so," Callie answered. "I don't understand though, Judd. How did you know that Lusca could fight? Also, how did you recognize me?"

Judd pondered it for a moment. "Meow, mew mew, mrow." (There's something we need to discuss.)

"You can understand him?" I asked incredulously.

"Mee-ow, mrow. Meow mew." (You'd be able to also, if you'd concentrate.)

Callie smiled at me. "Judd says you'd be able to if you concentrated."

I stared intently at the cat who folded his arms before tapping his foot. "Why are you staring at me like that? Never seen an Old One before?"

I blinked in shock, pulling back from him. "Oh Gods, I heard him! I understood what he said!"

Agent 3 frowned tugging on my sleeve. "Umm...she's getting back up. I think we should leave."

Sure enough, the mostly dissolved corpse of Miranda was starting to squirm and wiggle like gelatin as the scraps of her began to slowly inch towards the muck. "Quickly, back to the Captain's home."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked as we ran down the street. "I mean, won't she just follow us? I thought she could sense the mark."

The cat shook his head. "I have rendered the mark inert for the time. I can't maintain it for too long, but it should be enough."


When we all finally arrived at the cottage, Callie and Agent 3 were out of breath. I myself felt fine. Since getting the mark, I felt...different. Faster. Stronger. "Sheldon, we're back!" Callie sang cheerfully.

He peered up from the table. "I see you've brought more than just Lusca back," he noted. "Are you sure that's such a good idea, what with…" Sheldon motioned towards the bloated girl on the couch, still groaning.

"Oh no. Is that who I think that is?" Judd asked. The cat waddled up to her, examining her closely. "It is. Why didn't any of you tell me you'd encountered Cthylla?"

"Don't look at me," I replied. "I didn't even know you could speak until just a few hours ago."

"Sorry, Judd. This is all new to us. Well, most of us anyway. Sheldon seems to know quite a bit about it."

"Ah, yes. Your Grandfather was a great man. He sacrificed himself nobly to save us. May he rest in peace."

The horseshoe crab shook his head in confusion. "Wait, back up. What's going on here? How did Judd get involved?"

"He was about to tell us," Callie explained. "Where's Marie?"

"Right here," she announced, emerging from the backroom. "Hey, Judd. What are you doing here?"

The cat sighed, pacing back and forth as he tried to think of how best to explain his involvement. "To put it simply, as you already know there are many Great Old Ones. You have heard the names Cthulu, Cthyla, and Hastur, it would seem. But you've yet to hear my true name."

"You're a Great Old One?" Marie asked in disbelief.

Judd puffed up his chest with pride and nodded his head. "I am Ptar-Axlan, The Leopard That Stalks the Night. Though recently, I've grown rather attached to the moniker Judd."

Marie looked to Sheldon. "Ever heard of him?"

The young crab shook his head. "Afraid not, but that doesn't mean anything. There are numerous Great Old Ones. As many as there are stars in the sky. It's entirely possible."

"Did you not find it curious that no other of my species could be found in your world? Or that I seem to appear in documents dating far past your own history?" Judd seemed amused that we hadn't put it together sooner.

I frowned, rubbing my temples. Already the throbbing of the mark was coming back. The Elder Sign was all but gone now, and I feared I would be lost forever. However, Judd seemed to take notice, and so he leapt up onto my shoulder and slapped my forehead with one of his paws.

There was a searing pain where he touched me, but once it faded I could no longer feel the mark's influence as strongly. "Thanks," I muttered.

"Consider it my apologies for the trouble I caused in the prison. You must understand that if Cthulu were to rise again, it would be a travesty for all of life. Likewise, your people have been attempting to revive him for some time, even if you weren't aware. I could not look away, but still I should have confirmed my suspicions."

Callie turned towards Sheldon. "That reminds me. We ran into a monster. It looked like an Octoling but…not."

"Her name was Miranda," I explained. "Or it used to be her name. She was the one who set up that stunt at the concert. I think she's been transformed by the mark's influence. Hastur is using her to find me."

"So, what do we do?" Agent 3's question draped a silence over everyone as we stood there, staring at one another in stupefied ignorance. What were we supposed to do?

I clenched my fists. We needed a leader. With the Captain gone, the role would normally go to Callie. Still, she seemed as in the dark as the rest of us. However, she wasn't focused on answering Agent 3's question. Instead, she was more concerned with the small pregnant Elder God on the couch. Her groans were growing more frequent. Whatever that meant, it couldn't be good.

"We proceed as planned," she finally said. Turning to Sheldon, she snatched the bag of goods from Agent 3 and presented them to him. "Get started on that weapon. We'll move on Octo Valley first thing in the morning."

I smiled at her. It was good to see her taking charge. I took her hand in mine and gave it an affectionate squeeze. She returned the gesture, causing Marie to roll her eyes. Turning from us, she went to head back to her room.

"Where are you going?" Callie asked. "We're still making our plans."

Marie shrugged. "Seems like you've got everything all figured out. You can save Gramps by yourself."

"That's not…" Callie murmured before stopping herself. An emergency broadcast began to blare through the radio, drawing us all away from the argument. It was a bizarre sound, almost like dubstep, but the rhythmic pulsing caused me to double over in pain.

Cthylla, too, began to cry out as the sound echoed through the house. "What is that?!" I yowled, trying to cover my ears. With a swift flick of his tail, the radio was sliced clean in half.

"The Call of Cthulu," he explained. "We are out of time. We have to stop it, now!"

"But the weapon isn't finished yet!" Sheldon protested. "We can't fight DJ Octavio without it!"

"If he's broadcasting it, all we have to do is hijack the frequency." Marie stormed over to Sheldon. "If we can get you to the radio tower, do you think you could rewire it to shut it out?"

The horseshoe crab thought about it for a moment before nodding. "I could, but we'd need someone to also directly interface on his side. Otherwise, he could shut me out just as easily. We'll need a diversion."

"I'll go," I volunteered.

"Not possible," Judd stated. "My powers weaken if I'm not able to access the moon. Going underground will make the mark flare up again."

"Well, someone has to go!"

"Me…" The words were so softly spoken, yet their impact was like a bomb going off in the room. We all turned to look at Agent 3 who stood there, eyes filled with determination. "I'll go."

"Not a chance," I argued. "You're good Agent 3, but you're still just a child. We can't possibly send you in to handle…"

"I'm going!" This time her words were shouted with such ferocity that even I stumbled back from her. "For the old man. For all of my friends. For you and Callie and Marie…I'll go."

I wanted to argue and protest, but she walked up to me, staring up into my eyes. It wasn't a pleading look like I'd seen before. This time, she wasn't asking. But surely, there was another way. We couldn't send her off by herself against that monster.

Noticing everyone's hesitation, Agent 3 frowned. "My parents always tell me…that I'm wasting my time with Turf War. That my practice and games are useless. They call me…useless. I'm not. I'm good at Turf War. I'm good at being Agent 3. Please…let me help…"

"Okay," Callie agreed.

"Callie!" I argued.

"She's right, Lusca. She may be young, but even we had trouble facing off against her. She's better than either Marie or me. She's the best person to go." Turning to her cousin, she smiled. "Don't you agree, Marie?"

"Absolutely. Lusca, you can come with us to help at the tower. We'll keep in contact with you Agent 3. Good luck out there."

Agent 3 rushed forward hugging her tightly around the waist. Marie shared the affectionate gesture. "I'll make you proud," Agent 3 promised before taking her equipment and making for Octo Valley. She'd track down DJ Octavio, even if it killed her, I knew. I just hoped it didn't come to that.

"I'll look after Cthyla," Judd said. "She needs to be managed to slow down the sound's effects. You may not be able to hear it now, but it's still affecting her. I'll do whatever I can to buy you time. I suggest, however, that you move quickly."

"No time to argue," Callie agreed.

"No time to plan," Marie pointed out.

Sheldon sighed. "Then no point wasting it," he agreed. "Gear up, Squidbeak. I doubt they're going to let us get to the tower easily."

Callie grabbed her signature roller, and Marie her splattershot. Turning to look at me to see if I was coming with them, I surrendered to my fate. Now wasn't the time for apprehension. Grabbing a .52 Gal, the four of us rushed from the shack, ready to take on whatever may come our way.

To be completed…