"I should be the one asking you that," Mano snarled back, his anger from earlier starting to rise again. "Don't act like this is your territory, big boy. We're aware of where we are, and it doesn't belong to you," the shark spat back, inching closer to a now fuming Mano. "How dare you! I am the second in command to the whole of the Octavian army! I could have you killed off in seconds," Mano threatened, attempting to loom over the other creature, but the shark was much taller than Mano, unfortunately for him. On the other hand, Mano was much more broad-shouldered and well-built than the shark, and he could out-fight him, if need be.

"H-hey, stop that!" The other creature called from behind the shark, frantically waving his arms in between the two sea creatures. He giggled nervously as both pairs of glowering eyes pierced his soft gaze, and he stepped back slowly with his hands raised by his head.

"Let's stop. Let's stop fighting, okay? We can help each other, see? I think we're both lost here," he spoke softly, apparently soothing his partner. Mano calmed down a little bit at the sound of a reasonable voice. "Alright then," the shark said in a low voice, his icy gaze locking with the other creature's blue-gray one. Mano only let out a grumble of acceptance, still glaring at the two of them.

"S-so, um, we came from over there, and," "I saw," Mano interrupted the smaller creature, still eyeing them suspiciously. "Zip it and let him speak," the shark hissed, staring at Mano with blazing eyes. Mano held his gaze steadily, only narrowing his eyes further now as he held his tongue.

"W-well, we were experiments from that lab thing, but we broke out today and we don't know where we are," the tan-skinned creature murmured, sounding more shy now that the atmosphere was so tense. "Lab?" Mano echoed, familiarity distant in his tone. He nodded, smiling eagerly at Mano's recognition of the location.

"You know what it is? We were guinea pigs there for types of DNA. I was just an octoling and Yuta was an inkling," He giggled afterward, glancing at the shark boy. "Yuta?" Mano repeated again, sounding more calm now that he received a name. "Oh, oops," the other creature mumbled, his eyes observing the stray gravel on the concrete floor.

"Yes. My name is Yuta Yamato. I'm one of the lab rats along with Takumo," the shark-like creature confirmed, also appearing more relaxed now. "O-oh, I'm Takumo! Takumo Mei," the other creature said, although its species remained completely unbeknownst to Mano.

"Uhm, I'm Mano. Mano Kijanoka," Mano mumbled quietly, his gaze falling for a moment. "Oh, I've heard of you. You're a pretty big guy, huh?" Yuta replied, smirking slightly at Mano. Mano smirked back, chuckling quietly. "Mhm, you'd be right," he responded, his lighthearted little laugh brightening up the atmosphere.

"Yuta here is an inkling with half shark DNA, and I'm an octoling with half axolotl DNA!" Takumo explained excitedly, his smile spreading even further across his face. "Um, a what?" Mano queried quietly, not even comprehending what Takumo just said. "Axolotl," he repeated. "It's a cute little amphibian that lives in a really specific area somewhere. Not here. I don't remember though," he trailed off for a moment, and then the same eagerness returned to his tone after mere seconds.

"But isn't it great? I have these cute little brushy things on the sides of my face! Sure, the scientists did have to get rid of my ears for these to grow in, but," "They what?" Mano interrupted, anger consuming his tone once more. "How come I didn't know about something so abhorrent was happening? And Vai, did she know?" Mano rambled on for a minute, then quickly caught himself when the two other creatures were staring at him.

"Vai?" Takumo's tone sounded frail and distant, and his gaze avoided Mano's. "Vai Venci?" Yuta growled questioningly, his anger returning to him as well. "How do you know her?" Mano asked quickly, cold dread starting to build up in his stomach. Yuta's gaze flashed menacingly once he realized that Mano and Vai were affiliated. "Was she not the leader of that project?"

"Vai!" Mano called into the train, only putting one foot into the entrance. Takumo and Yuta were right behind him, barely out of sight, and hiding behind Mano's toned arms. For a moment there was only silence, a very tense silence that further dampened the spirits of the two creatures standing behind Mano. For a moment, there was no response, the silence stinging the ears of the three and the anticipation in the atmosphere making them even stiffer as time passed.

Mano let out a small huff and charged into the train, stomping into the next cart where his friends chose to temporarily reside. All three of their heads snapped around to face Mano, a look of shock painted amongst their intense expressions.

"Hey man, what's goin' on?" Krahn asked nervously, shakily meeting the other octoling's gaze. Mano's blazing eyes quickly flicked to Vai, who was sitting cross legged on the floor and staring at him, appearing tense and weary. Vai met his gaze, her form starting to tremble at the sight of one of the most powerful octolings in the entire Deepsea Metro glowering down at her in what seemed to be pure fury.

"Yamato, Mei," Mano called out, making the other three octolings flinch. Mano beckoned to them with his left hand behind other forms emerged from behind Mano, appearing to be somewhat similar to the octolings, but with some very obvious physical differences. "Vai, do you recognize these two?" Mano growled, Vai's small form beginning to tremble. "Y-yes, they're from a different sciences district I think, but I-"

"But you what, Vai? What the hell is it? What the hell did you do to them?" Mano raised his voice now, his anger clearly present in his hostile tone. "W-what are you t-talking about? I obviously d-don't work in that district Mano, I'm a s-student, and a m-minor! Students c-can't experiment l-like that," Vai sputtered quickly, her voice shaking violently as she fought for control over her mind.

Vai then suddenly hunched over, coughing up dark ink. Mano stepped back in shock, wordlessly just staring at her, just as the other four observing creatures had been. "P-perhaps she was the leader of a different district of some sort," Yuta muttered, appearing somewhat guilty as his posture weakened and he slouched slightly, seemingly discouraged.

Vai whispered something under her breath as more ink trickled down her chin, but it was inaudible. "Can't…W-wait, I...Can't...H-hey, stop," Vai suddenly cried out, clutching her head and curling up even more. "Vai!" Nora and Krahn called at the same time, rushing over to her and trying their best to comfort her while Mano and the newer members watched them.

"What the hell is your problem, Mano? You know that Vai is at the top of her classes in the student sciences district, and she was even next in line behind the goddamn Hivemind! Are you serious right now?!" Nora shouted, curling her lip at a now disheartened Mano. Mano was silent, not knowing whether to be angry or to reconcile with his friends. There was only a suffocating silence, all eyes on Mano as he remained rigid. "Well?" Nora pressed, glaring daggers at him despite her usually soft gaze. Mano didn't say a word.

"Just go on. Somewhere. Not here," Nora finally sighed, glancing back at Vai, who was slowly calming down and collecting herself once more. "And will you give Vai a break for once?" Nora added, her tone stone cold. Mano huffed quietly, turning around and stomping back outside to the main area of Central Station while Takumo and Yuta stayed behind.

"H-hey, sorry about all of that. We were confused," Takumo stammered, clearly feeling guilty about something that wasn't even his fault. "That's alright, I doubt it was you that caused this anyway. Mano doesn't really think, and he was already angry at Vai, so," Nora trailed off. Another tense silence filled the air as the new comrades eyed each other uneasily.

"So, uhh," Krahn began, staring at their new teammates like a deer caught in headlights. "Oh! I'm Takumo, Takumo Mei! Um, I'm part of an experiment at some kind of lab here in the underground! Oh yeah, and so is," "Yuta. Yuta Yamato. I'm also part of that experiment," the shark boy cut his partner off. "I was an inkling, and Takumo was an octoling," Yuta began, his gaze dragging along the other three octolings sitting before him. "I-inkling?" Nora stuttered, gawking at Yuta. Yuta only inhaled sharply before giving her a curt nod in response, apparently having caught on to the fact that the stigma around inklings hasn't been cleared here yet.

"Well, I guess we can find Mano later, or something," Krahn spoke, miserably attempting to crack a smile in spite of the intensity of the circumstances. There were a few more moments of painful silence, while Nora nodded gently in response to Krahn's suggestion.

"So, uh," Nora started, her gaze flicking to Takumo and Yuta. "Could you tell us more about the lab?" The two mutants exchanged timid glances. "Uh, sure! Sorry if I stutter, it's just kind of… You know," Takumo sighed, grinning crookedly as he tipped his head slightly. "That's okay, take your time," Nora assured, smiling gently at him. "Okay," He answered softly, and he took a deep breath.