Chapter 7
Octoling Onslaught
Suction-Cup Lookout
Over the course of the day, Agent 4 rescued 5 zapfish around Suction-Cup lookout. For his first two missions, Sheldon had asked him to test out some new weapons, the hero roller and hero dualies. The roller felt alright to Four, no less natural than the hero shot had felt. The dualies, on the other hand, felt like they were made for him. The speed and maneuverability that they allowed made them a natural fit for Four's agility-based skill set. For the next 2 missions, Sheldon just had Four use his new and improved hero shot. Four was already used to the weapon, so both missions went off without a hitch (Despite both Four and Marie getting distracted by the cuteness of the giant, industrial-sized Sqee-g).
For the final mission of the day, Sheldon had Four test out another new weapon…
"C'mon Four, it wasn't that bad." Marie said as the young agent emerged from the kettle.
"Not that bad?! I got splatted 6 times! Six! Sigh… If your grandpa hadn't put multiple spawn pads around that place, I'd be finished!" Four grumbled, looking down at the hero charger in his hands. "I don't know why people like using these dumb things…"
"Ahem… are you forgetting that I'm a charger player?"
"How could I? You killed me with it about a thousand times while I was training…"
"Heh.. yeaaah. Good times. Either way, we can work on your charger proficiency when we have time to train again."
"Honestly, I'd rather just not use this thing again…" Mumbled Four, thinking no one could hear him. A nasally voice from his radio proved that that wasn't the case.
"AHEM. I'm afraid that isn't an option, Agent 4. I need weapon data on the hero charger just as much as I need data on the other weapons. You will have to use it when I ask you to." Sheldon stated, almost demandingly.
"What..? Oh, c'mon, Sheldon! I could be killed if you force me to use this thing! Why can't I just use the weapons I'm good with?" The agent fired back.
"Because, Agent 4-" Sheldon began
And that was all Marie had overheard before shutting off her radio. She did not feel like listening to Sheldon ramble at the moment. She had bigger things to worry about.
Like the fact that the boss kettle hadn't opened.
"Four… I think we might have a problem…"
Shutting off his radio as well, the agent turned his attention back to her.
"What is it, Marie? Something wrong?"
"Mhmm… Boss kettle didn't open."
"Wait, what? Is there a regular kettle that I missed, or something?"
Marie shook her head with a sigh.
"No, you got them all. I'm sure of that. Hmmmm… Well… Unfortunately, there's not much you can do here.. Let's head on back to Cuttlefish cabin. I can listen in on some Octarian radio transmissions there… maybe there's a Zapfish we're missing here."
Four nodded as they both made their way to the launchpad. One jump later, and they were back in Tentakeel outpost. Seeing the Inkopolis skyline once again reminded Four of something
"Hey, I found some meal tickets in those octodomes just now. I can grab us some grub!"
The thought of food made the pop-star smile slightly.
"Nah, save those for yourself. Besides, if you eat nothing but Crusty Sean's food while we're here, you'll die of a heart attack before we can save the Great Zapfish. If you can wait awhile, I'll make some Seaweed stew."
Four almost protested, but his better judgment prevailed for once. If he wanted to survive this ordeal, he would need some actual healthy food.
"Seaweed stew… sounds good to me. Thanks Marie." He said through a forced smile. He and his siblings used to dread whenever his mother would make seaweed stew for dinner. Hopefully his palette has changed since those days.
"Golf Squad, this is Cephilon command, do you copy?"
"This is Golf-1, reading you loud and clear. We are just arriving at The Reef now."
"Copy Golf-1, are there any Inkling civilians currently at the site?"
"Negative. The site is clear of civilians and blacked out. Preparing to set up the Mini Zapfish."
"Copy Golf-1, good luck on your mission, over."
"Over and out."
Pulling off the radio's headphones, Marie breathed a weary sigh and fell deep in thought.
Clam it… It's a trap. They wanted me to intercept that transmission and send Four to The Reef after them. I'll bet that the squad they're talking about are Octolings…. Is he ready for Octolings yet…?
Four was currently taking a post-dinner nap against a tree, the warm summer breeze and gentle evening light after the hard day of work made it hard to keep his eyes open.
Marie didn't want to wake him, nor did she want to knowingly send him straight into a trap, but this may be their only chance to take back that last Zapfish.
"We don't really have a choice here…" She mused to herself as she got up and walked over to her sleeping agent. "Four… Hey, Four… C'mon, wake up bud… I need you." She said softly as she shook his shoulder to wake him.
With a yawn and a shake of his head, he was awake.
"Marie…? Hm.. Did you find out what's goin' on with the last Zapfish…?"
"Unfortunately, yeah. Get ready to move out, and I'll explain."
Inkopolis Square, In front of Deca Tower
For the first time since arriving in Inkopolis nearly two weeks ago, Four stood staring up at Inkopolis Square battle hub, Deca Tower. The final ink battles of the day had likely just begun, but despite this the square was still very much populated. Inklings ranging from his age to several years older surrounded the tower itself, The Galleria shops, Crusty Sean's truck, and The Shoal, a popular lounge. With the evening light covering the Square, it reminded him of the first time he walked into the Deca Tower… and left it nearly in tears.
Thinking back to that day made him pull at the edges of the hood hiding his head.
Hope no one recognizes me… Don't think I could live it down if someone did…
Shaking those thoughts away, his mind drifted back to the task at hand, with Marie's warnings still ringing in his ears.
Do NOT underestimate Octolings. Seriously, DON'T. Even the average footsoldier Octoling is worth about twenty Octotroopers and they're a shelluva lot smarter than them too. You may have the speed avantage here, but it's safe to assume that these guys will be a lot more experienced than you. Take it slow, try to split them up as best you can, do NOT let them gang up on you.
His eyes fell on the hero dualies attached to his hips. Sheldon had tried to get him to take the hero roller, for the sake of getting weapon data, but Marie vetoed that immediately. She had told him to take the weapon he was best with, which was the dualies, no contest.
"Alright Marie, I'm here. Now what? He spoke quietly, as not to attract attention.
"Just go on in and talk to the jellyfish at the desk. Tell him that Agent 2 sent you. They'll get you on a train to The Reef."
"Copy, on my way."
He made his way into the battle lobby, and up to the front desk, passing some Inklings along the way. The jellyfish at the front desk seemed pretty tense.
"U-um… can I help you?" The Jellyfish said, the nervousness in their voice clearly present.
"Uh.. Agent 2 sent me. I hear you have some kinda problem." He said, trying to deepen his voice slightly.
Despite not having much in the way of facial features, it was clear that the Jellyfish was relieved to hear that
"Agent 4… You're here to save us… T-The Reef… it's been overrun…"
"Shh…! I know… I know… Just… get me on the train. Ok? Keep it down… Don't wanna start some kinda panic or nothin'..."
"Yes.. yes.. Of course… Thank you so much… just go over to the train station on the right… It's ready to depart as soon as you get there…" The Jellyfish whispered to him, bowing their head in thanks.
"Gotcha… Don't worry so much, yeah? I got this." Four said with a smirk as he turned and walked to the train platform.
Four hoped a show of confidence would help calm the Jellyfish's nerves. Even if it didn't help his.
All things considered, it had been an alright day of battling. Being a veteran ink battler, Shelly had spent most of her day in the ranked lobbies, with the occasional turf war game to cool off and maybe scout out some new talent. Her battles had resulted in more wins than losses, but only being able to properly coordinate with one of her teammates made things run less smoothly than she would have liked. Having two more regular teammates to work with would be ideal, but until she could find some talent to work with, it would just have to be her and her long-time teammate, Jayden, against the world. Now, after ending the day on an overtime heart-breaker of a Clam Blitz match, she was relaxing outside the Deca tower, cold drink in hand.
Jay is second to none… but clamit, two people alone can't win consistently… and pairing up with randoms is a real drag…
"Whatcha thinkin' about, Shelly?"
The abrupt snap back to reality neatly made the Inkling girl spill her drink.
"Eh..? Oh, you're back, Jay. How much G did we make today?"
"Just under 50k each. Not a bad day." He stated, his eyes narrowing slightly. "But, you don't actually care about that, do you?"
Clam it… he knows me too well…
A deep sigh escaped her mouth as she tucked her legs into her chest.
"Look… We haven't broken into the big leagues since Zane left two years ago… With the cut-off coming in two months… Look man, I dunno if we'll find one more decent team member, let alone two…"
"Maybe we would have some new recruits if you'd stop bullying every decent prospect we face…"
"If they can't take an insult or two they won't make it far in this league. I'm doing them a favor."
"By breaking their spirit?"
"By giving them a target to shoot at… if one of these squid kids could grow a metaphorical spine and shut me up, maybe we'd have a decent teammate on our hands…"
"We'll never have a team if you keep bein' so dang picky… We aren't gonna find another unshakable monster like Zane any time soon…" Jayden finished, taking a long sip from his drink.
Jayden may have been right, but she didn't have time to consider that further before a blotch of fluorescent yellow caught her eye. Looking past Jayden, she just saw a short squid kid walking into the battle lobby with their hood up.
Where are they going…? Battles have ended for the day, they can't sign up… Dang that hoodie is loud… guess stealth isn't your strong suit, is it buddy?
"What are you looking at?" her teammate questioned, following her gaze to the lobby doors.
"Head on home, Jay… I'm gonna go check something real quick." She said before chugging the rest of her drink and walking in after the mystery inkling.
"Whaaaatever… Later Shelly."
Watching from a distance, she saw the mystery kid say something to the attendant and make their way towards one of the train platforms.
Wait… that platform leads to The Reef… that stage has been blacked out for almost a week now… why would they be going there…? Are they some kind of electrician..? Wouldn't doubt it with that hi-vis hoodie… No way, they're way too short.. They're probably even younger than me…
By the time she was able to shake herself out of her mind and follow the kid, he was already on the train and gone.
That train had to already be ready for them… what's going on here?
Inkopolis, The Reef
The train ride did little to calm Four's nerves. This was the first mission since he faced the Octo oven that he felt like he really could die. Marie had told him that facing octolings would be a lot like facing other inklings in battle. Even more so since the battlefield chosen was an actual ink battle stage. But instead of this just being for sport, they would actually be trying to kill him.
The train screeched to a halt and he got up from his seat.
Go time.
Now alone, he took off his hood. He wouldn't need to conceal his identity from here, and the extra visibility would be an asset in this case.
A quick climb over the fence revealed a sight that made Four's stomach turn…
All the lights around The Reef were on. The stage was completely powered.
The whole stage…. Except for his spawn pad.
"U-uh… M-..Marie…?"
There was a long pause before she answered. She seemed to be just as shocked as he was.
"... I was afraid of this happening…"
"Did… this happen before…?"
"No.. A situation similar to this happened… where Octolings held a zapfish on a battle stage… but Agent 3 always had the spawn pad to fall back on… Clam it… They even split up the zapfish…"
"What…? Split up the Zapfish..?" Those words made Four's stomach drop even further.
"Split it up into 8 Mini Zapfish… they have the equal power output to one regular Zapfish."
"Ok… why would they do that..?"
"To split up your objective.. If it was just the one Zapfish, you might have been able to sneak by without them even seeing you… But with eight points to hit, they'll be able to predict your movements a lot better.." She said, shaking her head. "That's it. I'm pulling the plug on this. Get out of there, we'll figure something else out."
"W-wait…! If we leave, they'll just keep setting the same trap again… Right? We'll just be at a stalemate… We can't move on to the Octoboss without the next Zapfish… and if we stay at Suction Cup Lookout for too long, they'll find out where we're coming from.."
Marie hated to admit it, but Four was right. They needed to get this Zapfish now… but the odds were very much stacked against him.
"I-... No. you can't do this, It's WAY too dangerous…"
Four was afraid. He knew that this mission would be his greatest trial yet. But… What was the alternative? NOT saving the Zapfish? No, this had to be done now, or it would be even harder later.
"Don't you trust me, Marie…?"
"Of course I do Four… I just-"
"Don't want to look for an Agent 5…?" He interrupted, half-jokingly.
"I don't want you to get yourself killed, Four. I recruited you… you're my responsibility."
Four felt a small smile cross his face with that simple sentence.
She really does care about me…
That only made him feel more determined to get this done. He stepped forward onto the blacked-out spawn pad.
"Marie. I'm goin' in."
"What?! N-no! Four, wait!"
"I'll see ya when I get back. With the Mini Zapfish. Just watch my back, ok?"
"Ohhh you stubborn little squid kid…" She groaned. "If things look bad… Please, please just super jump away… I'll watch your back best I can"
"I will as well, you can count on me, Agent 4!" Sheldon chimed in suddenly, as per usual.
"Thanks, guys. Let's do this."
The young agent stepped off of the dead spawn pad, down the first slope, and towards the first Mini Zapfish.
On the other side of The Reef…
"I-Is that the Inkling agent?"
"It has to be, Lieutenant.. He's all alone, and we were told that the train was closed…"
"I dunno. Is it just the distance, or is he even shorter in person..? Ugh, I hate these glasses.. Our old goggles had a zoom function on them…"
"Quiet. No unnecessary chatter. Let's just splat this agent and be done with it."
"Yes Ma'am!"
"You got it, Cap!"
"Y-Yes captain!"
The Four Octoling soldiers stood at their side's base, spawn pad ready for if they needed it.
"Captain… with all due respect… did we really have to go through the headache of powering up one spawn pad without powering up the other? There's four of us, and only one of him. We don't even need a spawn pad."
"Because I'd rather not take the chance of losing more friends to the inklings, Private. We can come back as many times as we have to in order to win. He only has one shot at this." Gwen explained, pointedly.
"Awwwwww, she cares about us! Ain't that sweet?" Donna giggled.
"I like this plan… minimizes risk." Bella said, gripping her octoshot tightly.
Daniel stepped forward and looked at the other side of the stage.
"He's heading towards the first Mini Zapfish! Let's take him now!" He exclaimed as he prepared to super jump.
"Wait! Hold on, we need to-"
The Octoling boy was already in the air before Gwen could even get a sentence out.
"Danny…!"
"Uhhhh.. Should we go after him?!"
"No, let him go. We have the spawn pad." The captain stated, her eyes narrowing on the first Mini Zapfish location.
"He needs to learn…"
"Four, Octoling inbound! Look out!" Marie shouted through Four's headset.
"I see 'em.."
The agent's dualies were drawn and at the ready as he watched the Octoling fly right towards him. He only got a quick glance at the boy before he landed, but that told him plenty. He was probably around his age and had a mohawk-like hairstyle. Unlike any Inkling hair he had ever seen, there were suction cups on the outside part of it.
"Die, Inkliiing!" The Octoling boy yelled as he descended on Four and swung his octobrush downward.
Not exactly a surprise attack…
Taking off running towards the spot the octoling would land, he quickly dodge rolled under and behind them just before they touched down. The Octoling's wild brush attack missed him by a mile.
"W-what?!" He exclaimed, turning around just in time to catch a volley of ink bullets to the head and chest.
With a quick yelp of pain, the Octoling boy exploded into light blue ink. Leaving Four relieved, but confused.
"Uhh… I thought you said Octolings were smart..?" he questioned as he got back to his feet and freed the first Mini Zapfish.
"Well… guess that one was a noob… Stay alert. There are still three more of them around."
A quick look at the pink Octo spirit flying from where he splatted the Octoling boy brought up a dark thought from the depths of his mind. Something he hadn't considered since becoming an agent.
"I.. uh… I didn't… Kill him, right?"
"No, it looks like their spawn pad is still active… Why?"
He turned to his left and jumped down off the ledge, covering the ground with his ink as he did, making his way towards the next closest pillar of light.
"... Well, as long as they have a spawn pad… guess it doesn't matter…" He said, trying to push those thoughts back down.
They look just like Inklings with different looking hair…
The sound of two more Octolings super jumping cut through his thoughts. A quick look up to the evening sky showed that they intended to land side by side. They were gonna try to gang up on him. Just then, a splash wall activated to his right, cutting off his only other escape from the immediate area. The only ways to go was forward or back the way he came.
It's a trap!
Without much time or many options, Four quickly surveyed his surroundings.
Gotta split 'em up…!
Using the trail of ink he left in his wake, he turned and swam back the way he came. To his right was a slope leading up to a small square area.
I'd just get cornered up there..
"Four, on the wall next to you!" Marie exclaimed through the radio.
On the wall next to the slope was something he hadn't noticed on his way in.
That's it!
By the time he was out of sight, the two Octolings had landed. Both looked alot like the pictures Marie had shown Four before he deployed. They looked almost identical, the only difference between the two of them was their hair, which was parted in opposite directions.
"Hey, where'd he go? He was here when we launched."
"I-I saw him swim this way, through his ink!"
The two Octoling girls made their way across the path, inking the ground as they did to cut off any potential escape. After checking around the corner, they made their way up a slope to their right.
"N-no ink on any of the walls. He can't be above us… where did he go…"
Above them, peeking through the guardrail from his ink, Agent 4 waited for his moment…
Thank you, wall dash track!
Leaping into the air, Four dropped a splat bomb to the ground, trapping one of the Octolings between it and the wall.
"What?! Where di-?!" One of the Octolings screamed before being silenced by the explosion.
"D-Donna?! Wh-?!"
By the time the other Octoling had looked up to where the bomb had come from, Four had already used his dodge roll to fast-fall behind them.
"Sorry 'bout this!" He said before opening fire on them.
The girl was able to fire a few shots in retaliation, but it wasn't nearly enough to splat the agent before being splatted herself.
"Two more down…" He sighed as he shook the enemy ink off and made his way back to the Mini Zapfish.
"Excellent work Four! Nice sneak attack."
"Thanks… phew.. That got a bit dicey…"
Breaking the barrier, he freed the second Mini Zapfish.
"Two down, six to go…"
On the other side of The Reef…
Gwen watched from their base as her team tried to take down this Inkling agent over and over again. Every time Daniel would reform at the spawn pad, she would try to get him to stop and wait for Donna and Bella, but every time he would just ignore her and super jump back into the frey. He was trying to cut off the agent as they went for the next Mini Zapfish, but every time he would land, get one or two attacks off, then get outmaneuvered and splatted by the agent. Every single time he did this, it would cost them a Mini Zapfish. Donna and Bella would always go in together, but even they would have trouble keeping up. Every time they would get close to splatting him, he would find some way to outsmart them. Whether it was a well-placed bomb to split them up, or even tricking Donna into firing a shot into Bella's eyes to blind her temperarily… he always had some kind of trick up his sleeve.
He didn't seem this experienced in the scout's reports… Does he have someone advising him over his radio…? Maybe it's that Cap'n Cuttlefish Octavio mentioned…
Watching her teammates get splatted one more time, she knew there was only one Mini Zapfish remaining for the agent to take… The one she was standing next to. The spawn pad behind her flickered for a moment. With only one Mini Zapfish powering it, it would take eight times as long for her team to respawn. She was all that stood in the agent's way now.
Guess it's my turn…
"Huff… huff… huff…."
"Four… are you alright..?"
"I-I'm fine… just… needta…. Catch my breath…" The tired agent said between gasps for air.
He had managed to survive the Octoling onslaught so far, but just barely. He had taken his fair share of hits, especially from the two girls. He thanked his lucky stars that Marie was there to advise him on what to do against their pincer attacks.
"Only one Mini Zapfish left, Four. You're almost there!"
"Awesome… Nearly there…"
Taking the wall dash track up, he landed in a square area just like the one on the other side of the stage. Up the slope in front of him was the final Mini Zapfish.
"So, you're a lot tougher than you look…"
Looking up, Four finally saw her. A tall Octoling girl was looking down at him from the top of the wall. She was dressed differently from the others. While she still had the same dark red sunglasses, her top and boots lacked the chrome bars that her teammates had and her hair was brushed off to the sides and curled at the ends.
Four would have thought she was cute if not for the giant, terrifying roller in her hand.
That roller is twice my size and made of solid steel… How can she even lift that thing?!
The girl jumped down to meet him, her roller hitting the ground as well with a heavy thud.
"Thanks to you taking the Zapfish… My team won't be joining us for a while. It's just you and me.." The captain said as she readied her roller and took a few slow steps towards him.
Four took a few steps back, he could tell this one was different from the others. Much more dangerous.
"Th-That's a dynamo roller! But how?! How can she have one of those?!" Sheldon cried out.
"Whoooa! Chill, sheldon… It's just a roller…"
"Marie, you don't get it! I only ever made those to order… I never let them go to mass production! The only way she could possibly have it.. Is if the Octarians had copies of my grandpappy's blueprints!" He explained, panicking at the mere thought that his grandfather's blueprints may still be in Octarian hands.
"That's… concerning… but we'll have to deal with that later! Four, be careful… that thing looks heavy, but something tells me that won't hinder her speed much…" Marie warned.
"Impossible. The roller's dynamo engine alone should weigh almost 100 kilos. She's tall, sure, but there's no way an Octoling her size should be able to-"
"ahhhHHHHH!"
Four had seen the attack coming. He saw the wind-up and started his dodge roll to the side. Even so, he was just barely able to get out of the way. He could feel the air blast from the attack on the back of his neck as he executed the dodge roll. The attack had come out fast, faster than he could attack with his hero roller, anyway.
"I… stand corrected…. Be careful, Agent 4…!" Sheldon said, somewhat sheepishly.
"Here she comes again! Dodge, Four!" Marie cried out.
Four couldn't afford to lose focus for even an instant. He didn't even have time to think about returning fire, the next attack had come so fast. All he could do was dodge to the other side and start running. He swore that he felt the ground shake when the massive roller hit it.
"Whoa…!"
He ran in a circle around her, looking for any possible opening.
"Well… Agent 4, was it? I can see why the octotroopers would have trouble with you… You're certainly faster than any Octoling I've ever worked with!" The Octoling captain stated as she folded up her roller, brought it back until it nearly touched her heels and swung it vertically.
Four had thought that he was well out of her range, but the long, thin wave of pink ink flying towards his face told him otherwise.
"Holy carp..!"
Putting on the breaks and dodge rolling backwards suddenly enough to give himself whiplash, he was just barely able to avoid the attack. But in doing so, he had to stop dead in his tracks.
"Rahh!" The Octoling girl lunged forward, closing the distance between them almost instantly and swinging her roller down at him.
This is it! Now!
Just like he had against the boy, Four dodge rolled into the attack and behind her.
Now I've got her!
He rolled back upright and on one knee, steadied his aim, and opened fire. He was ready to end this fight. With his dualies accuracy, he could splat her fast…
…But not fast enough.
"Tch.. Not a chance!"
In the blink of an eye, before even the second dualie shot could land, the captain turned and thrusted her dynamo roller into the agent's chest. The force of the attack would have thrown him halfway across the stage if it wasn't for the wall behind him.
"AAAAAAGH!" Four screamed in agony as his armor shattered and he was pinned against the wall by the massive roller.
"Four, no!"
"Agent 4..!"
The dual impact of the roller on his chest and the wall at his back was more painful than anything he had ever felt before. It felt as though his insides were being simultaneously crushed in a hydraulic press and set on fire. If it wasn't for his hero armor, the attack would have killed him instantly, without a doubt.
But now that the armor had taken the impact, there was nothing left protecting him. He could feel the Octarian ink on the roller eating away at him, draining away his very life.
No… no, this can't be it..! I can't die…!
He tried to struggle against it, but his arms were pinned down as well. He couldn't move, he could hardly even breathe.
Tilting his head up, he looked up at the Octoling's face. Her expression was almost unreadable. He looked into her eyes… only to see his own terrified face reflected back at him in her sunglasses. He could feel darkness closing in around him.
I'm… going to die…
"Four! FOUR! Listen to me, you can't give up!"
Marie's voice cut through the darkness surrounding him.
I can't go down now… no, Inkopolis is counting on me…! As long as my dualies are in my hands, I won't stop fighting!
He wasn't splatted yet. The Octoling hadn't made any further moves to assure that. She just had him pinned to the wall as her ink slowly ate away at him. He still had his weapons in his hands, even if he could barely move his arms. If he could just move his wrist enough…
"L-..Let… M-me… GO!" Four choked out in defiance as he fired wildly with his dualies, praying to any god who would listen that at least one shot would be a hit.
"Wh-wha…?!" The captain exclaimed, as if she just snapped back to reality.
One lucky shot was all it took. One shot hit the captain in the stomach, and suddenly some of the pressure on him was lifted.
That was all he needed.
"Urk..!" The captain coughed as she stumbled back slightly.
As quickly as he possibly could in his damaged state, he dropped under the roller and dodge rolled twice towards the slope leading to the Mini Zapfish.
I can't beat her! I've gotta get out of here!
Cutting his losses, he scrambled up the slope and towards the Zapfish's prison
"He's going after the last Zapfish!"
"W-Wait, where's Gwen?!"
"Get back here, you coward!"
Looking back, he could see that the other Octolings had finally respawned. Now he really needed to get out of there. With one splat bomb, the Zapfish was free. Without it's electricity powering it, The Reef went dark. He didn't have much time to observe, however, as ink started flying towards him.
Retreating into his squid form, he super jumped away as fast as he was able.
Somewhere in Inkopolis…
Four didn't really have a set destination in mind when he super jumped away, he just wanted to get away from The Reef as fast as he could.
Unfortunately that meant he ended up crash landing in a random alley he didn't recognize.
"Ahhh… ow…" Four groaned.
He just wanted to stay down at this point. His armor had yet to regenerate, and he still felt like he was on death's door.
"Four…? Are you still there…?" Marie said softly over the radio, clearly still worried.
"I.. I'm fine… Just… Need a minute…."
A minute later, his armor had regenerated and he shakily got back to his feet.
"Uh… How do I…. get back to Inkopolis square from here….?" He questioned, still feeling the burn of the Octarian ink.
He could have sworn that he heard a sigh of relief before she responded.
"I'll guide you back… just put your hood up… And take it slow, ok?"
Back at The Reef…
The Reef was pitch black and silent. In the darkness, the four Octolings present were still in shock of what had just happened.
None more than the captain.
While her team fumbled around in the darkness, Gwen stood there, frozen and staring at nothing. The ink from the agent's attack had fallen off of her and the damage long since healed.
And yet, she couldn't move. She was still processing what had just happened.
I….. I had him beaten…
It was true, she had far outclassed him in that fight. He had been faster than her, granted, but speed didn't mean much if he wasn't able to attack her. More than that, his technique was sloppy and unrefined. Like he had only learned how to fight recently.
She had him by the throat. Applying even a little more force while he was pinned would have been enough to finish the job.
Then why couldn't she?
It was his eyes… When he looked me in the eye, I hesitated… I couldn't go through with it…
The image of his pained, aquamarine eyes was burned into her mind and it frustrated her to no end.
Why… Why did I hesitate…?! If I had just splatted him, this would all be over!
The frustration bubbling inside of her was beginning to give her a headache. Her mind was all over the place.
It was that song… It had to be…? No way I actually felt sympathy for an Inkling… Right…?
Sweet Jesus, this one was long. And a bit late too, which I apologize for. I knew this one was gonna take awhile, but man, I didn't think it would take over a month. Hope it's worth the wait.
Huge thank you to everyone who left a review since I posted last. Y'all are what keeps me goin'.
'Til we meet again
~Ghost
