A quiet chatter filled the train cart, now containing two new voices. The sextet of young rebels was currently resting and awaiting their next grueling trial. Nora was stroking Krahn's afro while they conversed about something mundane, the newcomers – Takumo and Yuta – were whispering about something while looking out the windows, Mano stood by himself in a corner, and Vai sat by herself in the opposite corner.

She was happy that Takumo and Yuta were here with them now, but she wonders about what they had to go through before they escaped. She shuddered at the thought, but her mind refused to wander from it. Vai also thought about Mano. He had been acting so erratically lately, she didn't know what to think. She didn't know whether to blame it on teenage hormones or if it was too late for that or what the hell else. She was at a loss.

"Vai, I have a new plan," Vai yelped almost inaudibly at the sound of Mano's voice breaching her trance. Mano looked taken aback by her response. "D-did I startle you?" he asked quietly, almost appearing...nervous? Flustered? Vai couldn't tell. "Sorta," Vai muttered her answer flatly. She was still mildly upset about their argument from earlier. Mano seemed to dismiss her tone, and he continued his pitch.

"I think I know how we can get out of here a bit sooner than the sea slug wants us to," Mano's voice lowered even more. Vai's eyes narrowed and shot up to meet Mano's. She knew that Mano was absolutely one to take risks, but she feared for everyone's safety as a group. They were hardly familiar with their surroundings, and one slip up could mean the curtains closing. "...What?" Vai breathed, staring bewildered at the other octoling in front of her. "Just hear me out for a minute, okay?" he pressed, inching closer to Vai's ear as he spoke.

"We need to get a Hydra Splatling out of the Rad Ride station. I can use that to break the walls of the enclosure and hold up the train. Then, sea slug can drive us the hell out of here," Mano whispered his plan to Vai, and she was silent for a moment. "...And if that doesn't work?" Mano paused after this question. It seemed like he didn't dare even tease the thought of the possibility of failure. He shook his head vigorously. "It will. Come on, we need to get the others up and moving," he concluded. "What about Takumo and Yuta?" Vai suddenly blurted. She must've mistakenly kept those two on the tip of her tongue since she thought about them so hard and for so long. "They'll sit their asses here and wait," Mano hissed, agitation dripping from the consonants. Vai glared at him briefly and then sighed. She nodded curtly at him and stood up to address Nora and Krahn.

The two of them were still chatting about some far off lighthearted nonsense as Vai approached them to get their attention. Vai cleared her throat. "H-hey guys. We're gonna go back to the Rad Ride station. Mano wants to...Practice some more. Get ready," she warned. They blinked at her and simply nodded. Vai sighed and turned to find Mano again.

He was already messing with the CQ-80 and finding the station the four of them prepared to board. "What's going on?" Takumo asked Nora softly, slinking close to her and attempting to avoid Mano's line of sight. "We're doing a test," she said simply, trying her best to smile reassuringly at the strange creature before her. "Test?" he echoed. "Yeah," Nora said. "It'll help us all get out. Together," she added, grinning ever so slightly at him in hopes of inspiring him to stay optimistic in these grim times. He smiled back at her and reciprocated the positivity.

After watching Mano for a moment, Vai turned back around and directed her attention to the newcomers. "You two need to stay here, okay?" she ordered gently, looking back and forth between the cowering Takumo and the slouching Yuta, who still hasn't said much. They both nodded understandingly, somewhat to Vai's surprise. She expected some pushback from the sharkling, but oh well. "Life is full of surprises," she thought to herself.

Mano finally pulled up the correct stage and beckoned the others to his side. Nora and Krahn might not know what's going on, but it might just be better that way. C.Q. slithered out of the conductor's cart at the sound of a test request. He swiveled his slimy head toward the screen, to Mano, and back to the screen again. "A retest?" he queried, still swiveling his little body around back and forth, almost appearing to be in disbelief. "Yes," Mano confirmed, glaring down at the little thing at his boot tip. C.Q. gave what looked to be a nod. "Alright," he said, squirming back to his usual spot at the front of the train.

Mano looked shocked by C.Q.'s lack of reaction. He thought he would put up some sort of fight, but obviously, he did not. Mano thought it wise not to question it any further; he should simply go with the flow of the water dumped into his tank.

Once the train finally stopped at their destination, Mano was particularly antsy. He launched himself out of the train and flung himself toward the equipper in the center of the starting area. Vai quickly followed suit. "Mano, wait!" she whispered frantically to him. He froze in his tracks. "Turn around," she hissed, gripping his arms and already turning him manually. "W-what the hell are you doing, Vai?" Mano asked quietly, his face flushing completely and turning to a deep shade of bright pink. "C.Q. can detonate this pouch of enemy ink whenever he likes. I need to disarm it before you do anything stupid," she shot back, still maintaining her prior volume level despsite her voice becoming much more intense. Nora and Krahn stared at them, both of their minds completely blank at the sight of Vai and Mano behaving so strangely.

Mano heard a quick ripping sound and a click, and Vai came back up from where she previously squatted, nodding the briefest of nods to him in order to cover up her odd behavior as best as she could. She then pushed him into the equipper and walked directly behind him inside, allowing the both of them to get shut into the semi soundproof enclosure.

"Vai, w-what is it now?" Mano stammered, feeling flustered and uncomfortable by how close to him she was. "I successfully disarmed C.Q.'s defense mechanism. The problem is that it's very likely that I also accidentally disarmed your ability to respawn," she mumbled. Mano's eyes shot open and he spun around to face Vai. Before he could retort, Vai interrupted him with another elaboration. "I disarmed all functions C.Q. has control over, and that would be the enemy ink pouch, and respawn," Vai repeated, her urgent tone making Mano feel the slightest twinge of anxiety. Mano sighed in defeat. He didn't say a word to Vai after her explanation of her accidental fault. They both knew that they were all in far too deep to turn back.

Mano finally equipped the Hydra Splatling, and everyone else picked the same guns they chose last time. Krahn and Nora were chatting about whether or not they should mix it up this time around. Vai wanted desperately to tell them that they shouldn't and couldn't, but she was unable to will her mouth to form the words in her head. She attempted to flash them a stare of severity that would communicate those thoughts nonverbally, but they weren't paying attention. Vai cursed in her head and gave up on the endeavor, now refocusing her attention toward Mano.

Mano was staring at Vai the entire time. She flinched once their eyes finally met, but she relaxed at the sight of determination and even optimism in Mano's fiery crimson gaze. He nodded. She nodded back.

"Nora, Krahn," he commanded strongly, revving up the Hydra and holding it closely at his side. Their faces snapped to his direction. "Move," he growled, aiming for the windows on the backside of the cubicle. The gun beeped once, then twice. Mano stored a mighty charge of ink made to destroy anything in its path. He pulled his lip back in a snarl, baring his teeth at the wall and glaring at it ferociously, almost willing it to tumble at his feet. Then, finally, he released the trigger.

Ink rained all over the cubicle, pummeling violently into the cold surface of his target, but it appeared...unharmed? Once the onslaught of ink finally faltered, Mano was panting from the release of that anticipation. Then, at the sight of the spotless wall, he felt his rage boil over. He yelled in frustration, dropping the Hydra and clutching his head in his hands tightly. His three cohorts were silent, grief for their friend tearing their throats open and clawing deep lacerations into their already fragile hearts.

"Damnit…" Mano whined. "Damnit," he muttered again. He said it again. He said it again. He kept repeating that same vulgar word. "Damnit damnit damnit damnit damnit…". He kept repeating that word until it exploded out of him as a throat wrenching shriek. "Damnit damnit damnit DAMNIT!" His voice shredded the ears of those unfortunate enough to bear witness to it. It cascaded down the walls and bounced endlessly back and forth. His molten rage burst through his mouth in another last ditch effort to escape the prison he had been trapped in. "DAMNIIIIT!" he screamed until the walls rattled and the glass shattered. The floor shook underneath him and started to crumble. Shards of glass rocketed down toward them, leaving countless slices on all of their exposed bodies.

The other three octolings were shaken out of their collective daze by the sensation of an earthquake and the physical pain of the glass shards cutting them open. They all immediately rushed back to the train, Mano trailing behind last with C.Q. Cumber in his left hand and his Hydra Splatling in his right. The quaking and crumbling subsided after not much time, thankfully, but that was the least of their worries. Now they were primed and ready to get the hell out of there, and for real this time.

Although C.Q. was in a daze much like the others, he still drove the train back to Central Station at Mano's command. Everyone else was completely silent on the ride back. They couldn't think of anything to say. Nora didn't have any worries about his wellness. Krahn didn't have any witty commentary. Vai didn't have any quiet determination to offer. They were all completely at a loss. Mano's ferocious scream sent them all into a kind of state of shock.

Once they got back, Mano immediately sat back up. Oddly enough, he still seemed to be full of energy, even after that ungodly roar. "Let's go," he quickly ushered everyone outside, including Takumo and Yuta. "They're not going to be able to travel with us. We need to keep them in our bags somewhere," Mano told everyone, gazing over the five friends lined up in front of him. They all stood there wordlessly and stared at him blankly.

"I'll carry you two. I'm the only one with an actual container for ya," Mano finally commanded again, taking off his ink tank and the now empty enemy ink pouch. "You want us to get in that?" Yuta spat, utterly disgusted and taking a defensive stance in front of Takumo. "Yes, I do," Mano shot back hotly, tapping his foot impatiently. "You two can get into octo- or um, whatever form you have, right? Stay in that form, stay low, stay quiet, and we'll all get out of here," Mano explained as quickly as he could. Yuta still looked irritated and suspicious, but there was a different look in his eyes that said he had submitted to this idea being the best that he could take for himself and his partner. "...Together. We'll get out of here together," Mano finally said again, his brows knitting and hard determination returning to his face.

Yuta sighed a heavy sigh, took Takumo's hand, and slid into the pouch in their natural forms. Mano slid his ink tank back on, and dribbled a sufficient amount of ink in the pouch to keep his two passengers hydrated and in stable comfortable conditions. After re-attaching the pouch to his ink tank, he spun around to face the ceiling, revving up another charge of ink.

Vai suddenly shook her head vigorously and ran to Mano. "W-wait Mano! W-what if-" "No, Vai. It will work," Mano cut her off. He didn't even give her the liberty of eye contact; his gaze was still pinned to his target a dozen or so feet above their heads. The gun beeped once, and then it beeped twice; the familiar foreboding sound coaxed a shiver from Vai. Then, again, Mano's finger released the trigger.

That same aggressive ink attack assaulted the shanty ceiling and absolutely destroyed it, ripping a huge hole into it and allowing a proper exit from the entrance, and finally, the entrance to the exit. Mano turned his head around to face his stunned friends. "Let's go," he said, the slightest semblance of a smile breaching his frown.