Finality's not what it seems.
When your end comes, rise up and run.
Don't let defeat dissolve your dreams.
Agent 8
—-
After doing some research on my phone, I'd learned that the upcoming Splatfest would be three-sided, confusing me greatly. It seemed to be a collaboration in between two different cities. To me, I was worried, because this was a Splatfest like no other.
The Squid Sisters VS Off the Hook VS Deep Cut.
Because Marina had helped me a while back, I had to say that Off the Hook was the easiest choice for me to pick. Ace, wanting to stay by my side, chose Off the Hook as well. Surprisingly, Bryson had also joined us as well, but he never did tell us why.
Liv, however...
"Don't get me wrong," said Liv as she sat across the metal table from me. We were outside Deca Tower, hanging out with each other, just the two of us. "Off the Hook is great and all, but the Squid Sisters really changed my life. With their music, they showed me there was another life I could live, and so I'm really grateful to them."
I could understand that. Liv was an octoling, after all. "It's okay," I said to her. "I just hope we won't have to face each other. I don't think I could keep up with you. You're pretty good with that blaster."
Liv smiled. "I'm hardly a fighter. Hector was the one who'd do most of the hard work during our missions. I just planned things."
"Will Hector be joining the Squid Sisters team, too?" I asked.
"Yep," Liv answered, making me worried. Hector was a brush user, and because of that, I was scared of the possibility of facing him. While ink wasn't deadly to me, melee weapons were an entirely different beast because of what they could do to someone with bones.
I sipped on my soda for a little while, looking at my phone as time passed by. The Splatfest wouldn't be here for a while, so I had a lot of time to prepare. Bryson was able to carry us in League for the rest of those six matches, getting us into Rank A, and although I was happy about that, it still meant that I needed to pull my weight.
Bryson made that very clear.
"Hey, Amelia?" Liv spoke up.
I blinked out of my thoughts once again, smiling at her. "Yeah, Liv?"
"When's your birthday?" she asked me.
"My birthday...?" I replied. I finally remembered it had been more than half a year since I started my Turf War career. "August," I replied. "Four months away."
"What do you want for your birthday?" she asked me, putting me on the spot.
What did I want...? "But... I have everything I want, already,"
Liv tilted her head a little with confusion. "Huh?"
I smiled, looking down at my phone. "Well, honestly... I don't mind if you get me anything. It's just hard to figure out what I'd want because all I'd ever wanted when I was stuck inside for four years were friends..."
Liv stared at me, seeming unsure of what to say. "That's... very sweet," she said with a smile.
I couldn't help but softly smile back. "I'd do anything for you all."
I wasn't lying when I said it. Even when I was still with my parents, all I had ever wanted were friends. Mark had been the only one there to play with me. The moment I started living with Nem-Nem, I was dependent on her, trusting her more than anything, and even then, I wanted so badly to go outside and make friends my age.
"And we're willing to do anything for you," Liv replied with a wider smile.
"Hey, you two!~"
I turned my head to my right, seeing Ace approach me. He had that same grin as usual, excited to see me. Ever since we had been going out, I was much more confident around him. We would often go see movies and get smoothies together, and sometimes he'd even stick around for dinner with me and Nem-Nem.
Nem definitely approved of him.
"Hey, Ace!" I happily greeted, standing up and running over to him.
"Yo, Amelia, guess what I got today,~" he said to me.
Hmm.
"Uhh, you got a new weapon?" I guessed.
"Nah," he replied.
Drat.
"Smoothies?" I guessed again, thinking back to our most recent date.
"Nope," he replied.
"I give up," I said.
His grin grew wider. "I got you and I backstage passes to Off the Hook's concert for Splatfest!"
"Woah! What?! Backstage?!" I shouted.
Ace nodded with a smug smirk on his face. "Oh, yeah.~ And, not only did I get us backstage tickets for Off the Hook... I also got us backstage tickets for the Squid Sisters concert for Splatfest, too!"
My jaw dropped. "Next, you're gonna tell me you got Deep Cut passes as well!"
"Nah, that one was outta price range," he replied, hugging me tightly. "But hey, can't win' em all, right?"
I nodded trying to keep my inner squeals of excitement from escaping. "I'm so stoked!"
Liv sipped from her drink, watching us with a smirk on her face. I couldn't help myself. With Splatfest coming up and Ace pulling a crazy stunt like this, it was so hard not to be ecstatic.
"Hm... Hey, Amelia. Are you trying out the newer weapons?" asked Liv.
"Yeah, definitely!" I replied. "My E-liter is so great!"
"Not that," she said. "The ones being imported from the Splatlands."
"I don't think she knows," Ace replied. "It's pretty hard to get her caught up with the news sometimes."
"H-Hey!" I shouted. "I can keep up!"
"Amelia, you missed a Splatfest announcement," he pointed out. "If you want to keep up with the fashions and the cultures, you've gotta keep an eye on the screen every morning, at least."
I blushed and looked down to avoid eye contact, embarrassed at how I hadn't been paying attention. "I... I may have just been... running outside without watching the news to go hang out with you all..."
Ace sighed and put a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, look at me," he said. I did, and he smiled. "It's fine. I'll help you keep up with the trends. What channels have you been watching?"
I quickly responded with, "Turf War Broadcast Station."
He looked at me expectantly. "And...?"
"Th-That's it..." I admitted with shame.
"That's it?! Amelia, there's more to inkling culture than just Turf War!" he said to me. "Look, I'm not mad at you, but now I know I really need to help you out. I'll send you a link to some apps that should help substitute for your TV if you're not going to watch it before going outside."
"Even I had to learn that," said Liv. "Don't feel bad about it."
Ace gave a thumbs-up to Liv, then patted me on the back. "Expect those links by tonight, alright?"
"Um, yeah..." I answered. Now that I thought about it... As I looked at Liv, I couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever told Ace she was an octoling. "Hey, Ace?" I asked. "How do you feel about... octolings?"
"I really don't care," he said. "If they're not tryin' to hurt anyone, I'll welcome 'em."
Liv seemed to piece together what I was thinking somehow. "Oh... He knows," she said.
"About...?" I questioned, trying to make sure.
"He knows what I am," she confirmed. "Bryson does, too."
I...
"When did you tell them?" I questioned.
She took a long sip from her soda, looking the other way. When she finished it off, she set it back down onto the table, sighing as she stood up. "Look, I'm sorry. When you first got sick with the combination of the nanobots and the octarian serum, I had to come clean to Ace and Bryson shortly after."
I quickly looked at Ace, asking, "How did Bryson take it?"
Ace chuckled a little. "Oh, he pretty much almost floored her. I had to reason with him."
Looking at Liv, I asked her, "Does Nem know?"
Liv smiled. "It was pretty obvious to her. She's smarter than most inklings."
"And she didn't test you like she did with my brother?" I questioned.
"She already did," said Lv, confusing me.
I tilted my head. "What do you mean?"
"Remember our first sleepover?" Liv reminded. "While you were sleeping in, I was talking with Nem while she was making breakfast. She... pretty much questioned me on a lot of topics, including ethics. Though, when you got sick, she was pretty peeved at me."
"Did she ever forgive you?" I asked.
She shrugged. "Maybe? I like to think so. It's been a long time."
I see...
Ace took my hand. "You okay?"
Looking at him, I couldn't help but smile. "Yeah. I'm good. You wanna go anywhere today?"
"Well, I did have something in mind," he answered. "That cool, Liv? I know you and Amelia were hanging out and all, but I was hoping to help Amelia with training."
Liv smirked, seeming to know what he was talking about. "Uh-huh. Go ahead. I'll be fine. Maybe I could go bother Bryson."
After Ace and I said goodbye to her, we walked through town, eventually reaching the abandoned part of Inkopolis, where all the octolings had once lived before the war. Looking at the decaying houses, I asked Ace, "Where are we going?"
"Somewhere where we can train in peace," he said. "Hardly anyone comes here. I was also hoping to talk to you a bit."
Soon, we reached the end of a road, what Ace seemed to refer to as a cul-de-sac. There were plenty of houses around, all of them empty, of course, filling me with sadness. What had the families been like when they lived here?
In the middle of the cul-de-sac, Ace let go of my hand, stepping away a little. "Hm..."
"What's up?" I asked.
"Get your weapons ready," he said, tossing what looked like a small disc. As it landed on the ground, it expanded, latching onto the road and glowing. I could easily recognize it as his spawn point.
As he took out his phone, he tapped the screen until his Hydra materialized next to him out of thin air, the same happening with the new tank on his back, a faint blue glow outlining both items before fading away.
I listened, taking my phone out and tapping the option to materialize my dualies. Once I was finished getting ready, I looked at him with concern. "You okay?"
Ace smirked, giving me the eyes of mischief. "I remember you mentioned this Ezra to me about a month ago. If she's as friendly as you say she is, do you think she can help us out here?"
I slowly nodded. A month ago, I had felt that Ace could be trusted with the knowledge of Ezra's existence. He had always been so supportive so far, so... why not? He had been a little hesitant to believe me at first, but after some explaining, he had eventually come to accept it as fact. But now that he was asking about her, I was wary. "U-Um, I could ask. Why?"
"Now, hear me out," he said, holding up his hands. I need her to trigger the strongest case of Turf Madness possible.
Ezra quickly appeared behind him, smirking. "Really now...?"
"Ace, what are you saying?" I asked. "Why?"
"Remember how I said Bryson was able to master his Turf Madness?" Ace said to me. "I want you to really master yours, too. Luckily, I can teach you that now if Ezra's willing."
"The strongest case of Turf Madness, though?" I questioned, very concerned. "What if I can't calm down?"
"It's all good," said Ace. "I need you to trust me. I would never let you do this if I knew there was a chance you could get hurt."
"Please, please, please,~" Ezra repeated over and over. Why was she so eager with this...? I could trust Ace, but could I trust Ezra?
"Are you sure, Ace?" I questioned. "She... seems a little too happy to do so..."
Ace smiled a bit more sincerely. "Hey, c'mon. Look at me. When have I ever let you down?"
...He'd never let me down so far. I looked at Ezra, my heart skipping a beat as she looked at me with a crazed smile and wide eyes. I couldn't let that deter me, though. Ace knew what he was doing, right? I slowly nodded towards Ezra, and at first, nothing felt different, but as Ezra began making the changes, I felt that adrenaline rush slowly starting to pump through my veins.
As I panted heavily and heard the unusual thoughts of harming people running through my mind, I wanted to be scared, but...
Before I could say anything to get her to stop, my feelings of fear were slowly replaced with exhilaration, as if I had been dropped into the middle of a Turf War. This was an instinct, an instinct to hunt. I could hear all my thoughts as if they were whispering into my ears. The world around me became too real. I was real, I was alive, I was hot-blooded.
No, like... really hot-blooded. This searing feeling was coursing through my body like I was made of lava! It felt so... good! This excitement was overflowing, overwhelming, lighting me up with true passion! As I reached up for my beanie and slowly removed it, I could feel hot flames licking from the top of my head.
Ezra began to fill my head with thoughts of me taking Ace down, and while these thoughts would've normally been frightening to me, they were exciting now. I wanted to hear him scream. I wanted to see him squirm. I wanted to win!
Ace smirked. "Oh, wow... It looks like she's done more to you than I thought!"
As Ace revved up his Hydra's cylinders, I rushed him, the thought of hunting him down being too powerful for me to ignore. As he unleashed his Hydra's firepower, I ignored all the stinging from his ink, powering my way through the pelting ink.
In this moment, I realized how powerful I really was. I knew that, if I wanted to, I could take down an entire inkling army! Their ink couldn't splat me! I was unstoppable and I wanted to use that to my full advantage!
As I raised up my dualies in the carnage of ink, I fired, hitting him and taking him out. As he respawned, he chuckled. "Wow, Amelia! You're really into it!"
I just rushed him again, "Less talk, more fight!"
Ace, smirking, dropped his Hydra, swapping out weapons. Before my eyes, he spawned out a weapon I'd never seen him use before.
The Nautilus 79, a smooth, purely metallic splatling gun with black paint and gold edges. While I would've normally admired its beauty, my brain wasn't letting me. I was still focused on taking him down.
The moment he stepped off his spawn point, a barrage of ink hit me again, but I wasn't going to let mere ink keep me from hunting him down. I charged through and raised my dualies again, but as I fired at him, he took off into the air, confusing me.
Hovering there with some kind of jetpack on his back, he grinned. From the jetpack, a constant stream of ink was coming from it, keeping him up into the air as it splattered the ground with ink exhaust. "What's the matter, Amelia? Can't reach me up here? If you wanna compete in the Splatfest, you're gonna have to learn how to counter the Inkjet!"
I didn't like this. Already, he was firing off huge blaster-like shots of ink that exploded upon impact with the ground. My instincts enabled me to dodge the blasts with ease, and as he continued firing, I considered my options.
I ran underneath him, aiming my dualies up and firing at him. Without a warning, he shrank down into squid form, diving into the ink made from the Inkjet's exhaust. I tried to fire where he had landed, but it seemed he had moved out of the way quietly and quickly.
"Where are you?!" I shouted, my mind frantic. I began firing my dualies all around me, trying to hit him at least once, but as I was trying, I felt him tap my shoulder from behind. As I whirled around with an attempt to backhand, he was gone. This made me angry. He was toying with me and it caused my nerves to sizzle.
"I could take it further," said Ezra.
"Do it," I said without hesitation. "I want to win!"
My wish was granted, and I could feel the weight of something on my back, some kind of heavy machinery had attached to me after a bright glow encased me briefly. With a gurgling, inkling-like battle cry, I began launching autobombs from the odd mechanism on my back, forcing Ace out of hiding, the inkling boy jumping out from the ink and running to avoid them.
Autobombs were a special type of ink explosive, built with small mechanical legs. Upon touching the ground, they would send out a sensor to detect any nearby inkling and then walk towards them. This ensured that Ace could easily be flushed out from hiding.
Ace looked at me in surprise as he ran. "Woah, what, you're able to use specials now?! That's a literal autobomb launcher!"
This should've been a shock to me, but it felt so natural, as if I could materialize anything I wanted just by focusing on my own desires. With a smirk, I continued firing autobombs without end. Ace kept running, unable to ink the ground fast enough to swim in.
"Do you not have a limiter on?! Training session's over!" he shouted, but I ignored him, only wanting to win.
It was all I cared about. It was all I could think about.
"Fine, you wanna be that way?!" he said, looking at me with a serious expression. "Alright, then! I'm sorry about this!"
Before I could even question what he was doing, he ran up to me, running past the bombs I had been flinging. I tried to deactivate the special, tried to hold up my dualies, but he was too fast, approaching me in almost no time at all. I felt an elbow to my stomach, knocking the very breath out of me and dropping me to my knees, my special vanishing and my Turf Madness dissolving into guilt.
I fell to the pavement and just laid there with nausea. As I tried to process what had happened, Ace sighed and said, "It's no problem, Amelia. Just another thing you're going to have to learn how to control. You need a limiter."
"What's a limiter...?" I groaned.
"A device inklings are forced to use by law," he explained. "It keeps us from using our specials all the time."
A limiter? Just how many times could an inkling use their specials without it? That question didn't last long in my mind, though. It was quickly replaced with a nagging shame. Getting up slowly, I held my stomach in pain. "I'm sorry..."
Ace hugged me close, to my surprise. He didn't seem angry at all. "It's fine. Turf Madness is hard to control. We'll keep working on it. Now that you have specials, I'm gonna need to keep an eye on you."
I nestled my face against his neck, the guilt still present. "I tried to hurt you..."
"I asked you to get a case of Turf Madness, and you gave me exactly what I asked for," he countered. "Don't feel guilty about it. I told you I knew what I was doing. What you need to understand is that I'm trying to get you used to it. The longer you stay in Turf Madness, the more of a chance you have to understand how to control and master it. You need a balance of both instinct and focus."
Pulling away from him, I nodded in understanding. I wanted to get it together, especially for Splatfest. "I don't deserve you."
"I don't deserve you," he said. "You're out of my league and you're still here with me."
"Out of your league?" I questioned, bewildered by his counterstatement. "You're a Turf War expert!"
Ace tried to hold in his laugh, but he couldn't, almost doubling over. "Listen here, it's not about how good you are in Turf War. Remember what I said today. Not everything is about that. I love you because you have real inkling spirit. You have a real passion for life. You're willing to take risks regardless of what others say. You're a unique you and that's what matters to me. No matter what decisions you make, I'll support you and love you through it all."
I tried not to cry then and there, but this boy, this amazing, wonderful boy was too much for my mind to process. I had never met another person like him, and I never would. "A-Ace..."
A kiss was planted upon my lips and my choked-up feelings evaporated. I could only return it, eyes closed, lost in that moment. As briefly as the kiss was, it still felt like forever until he pulled away with a genuine smile on his face. "You've got this, alright? We're going to get you ready for Splatfest and we're going to rise to the top!"
That night, Ace decided to stay over for dinner and hang out with Nem and I for movie night. It was a horror flick, and whenever some jumpscare would happen, I'd always feel his hand squeeze tightly on mine. After the movie, we said our goodbyes and he went home.
Going into my room, I plopped down onto my bed and grabbed my pillow, hugging it close to my chest and smiling. I felt like I was on top of the world whenever Ace was around, and that feeling would always stick around for a good, long while.
Even my dreams that night started sweetly. As I closed my eyes, I dreamt of fighting side by side with Ace in a Turf War match, competing for a legendary rank beyond X. I was having the time of my life and it was pure bliss. But as the timer ticked down, I saw... Bryson.
He was standing on the sidelines, watching me, a stern look on his face. Why wasn't he with me and Ace? After I waved to him to get his attention, he turned around, walking away. Something didn't feel right. Was he upset with me? Did I do something wrong? My blood felt cold as I ran after him, but the more I did, the further away he was.
"Bryson!" I shouted. "Come back! What's wrong?!"
There was no answer from him. He just kept walking, his form becoming blurrier and blurrier as he kept going. My legs felt so heavy and it felt like I could never catch up to him, and as I tired myself out and stopped running, I felt a hand on my shoulder.
Turning around, I saw Ezra, staring at me with cold, red eyes, her skin a sickly green, just like one of the undead inklings. My body was paralyzed at the very sight of her, not expecting her to look like this. "E-Ezra?"
"You know what you did," she said in monotone, her eyes fixated onto me like a predator ready to strike.
"What did I do?!" I shouted, trying to pull away, but her grip was like steel. There was no escaping. I began to panic. "Ezra, please let me go!"
"You KNOW what you did!" she said louder, drool dripping down her chin as she looked at me with a frightening expression of desperation and animalistic hunger.
We stared at each other for an uncomfortably long time, my breaths shallow, and as I was to ask again, she lunged at me, her mouth wide open, sharp teeth glinting in the sunlight before they punctured my arm.
I woke up with a jolt, breathing heavily, sweating all over. "What was that?!"
Ezra appeared at my bedside, startling me and reminding me of her sharp teeth. "What was what?"
I stared at her with wide eyes and said, "N-Nothing... Just... a bad dream."
"You had a dream...?" she muttered. "That's... not possible. I should've been able to see it. I always do."
"Well, there's a first time for everything, I guess," I said, getting out of bed and walked over to my closet.
Ezra, standing behind a shirt I pulled out from said closet, glared at me. "Are you kidding me?"
"What?" I responded, checking over the shirt.
"I'm supposed to be you," she said. "I should've been able to see the dream. Something is wrong."
"Well, maybe it's the nanobots," I replied as I get ready. I wasn't really in the mood to talk about this with her. The nightmare was frightening enough. I didn't want to really pay attention to it today, especially since I needed to get some Turf War matches in today. I needed to be focused and ready for anything. With players from Splatsville coming over to Inkopolis, that meant new weapons and variations I wasn't prepared for.
"Maybe..." Ezra quietly said, continuing to stare at me.
I smiled at her, not really wanting her to feel bad. "Look, don't worry. We'll get you your own body before the nanobots do too much damage. Just keep fighting."
With that, I put on my beanie, fitting it snugly on my head. I felt excited. As I grabbed my suit and helmet for the match, I couldn't help but imagine what today's matches would bring. Would I get to see champions from the other region? Would I make a new friend? The possibilities were running through my mind and filling me with euphoria.
Ezra smiled back, feeling my emotions. "Yeah... Just be careful out there, too. You need to keep fighting as well."
"Glad we have an understanding," I said as I ran out of my room, grabbing a leftover biscuit from last night's dinner from the fridge and leaving the house.
Munching on it, I ran through Inkopolis, quickly approaching Deca Tower with newfound excitement. While Ace and Bryson wouldn't be here until later, I wanted to try fighting on my own without the use of Turf Madness. It was rare for me to be alone, so this would help me gauge my abilities to fend for myself.
Looking through the holographic menu, I selected the recommendations for a classic Turf War. No ranked today. I just wanted to see if I could encounter new weapons from the other region was on. As I reached out to select the teleport option, my hand froze, my blood turning cold. I felt an uneasiness that couldn't be explained. Regardless, I pushed it anyway, trying to shake off the feeling. It was probably just the jitters, I reasons.
With my suit attached to me and my dualies in my hands, I warped to my first match, seeing my environment slowly fade into view. Something was off about this particular place, I noticed. In front of me was a massive shedlike building with blocks of scrap metal neatly packed against the walls. All over the place were these odd cubes of metal as well as moving trucks.
"What is this place?" I asked myself.
A teammate with pink tentacles that curled down the sides of her face looked at me. "Mincemeat Metalworks," she answered. Looking at her rounded ears, I could tell she was an octoling. Looking at me from behind her tinted shades, she smirked, sporting a pink hoodie, ripped jeans, and a few diamond rings. "You a newbie or somethin'?"
I shook my head. "No. Just never been to this place before."
"Oh, you're from Inkopolis!" she guessed.
"Yeah!" I answered. "Wait, did Deca Tower teleport me to...?"
"Splatsville, baby,~" she finished for me. "The land of chaos!"
I wasn't aware that Deca Tower could even bring me out this far. Splatsville was supposedly a few hundred miles away...
Then I noticed something off... I wasn't standing on the ground. I was floating in the air! I quickly panicked, looking down and seeing a metal device under my feet. "Wh-What?!" I shouted, losing my balance. As I started to fall, my teammate grabbed my hand, keeping me from certain death.
"Woah there, newbie!" she shouted. "Chill, chill! You're good!"
"How do we get down?!" I asked.
"They're mobile spawn points! They shoot us towards the ground!" she said. "You'll be fine!"
Uh-oh...
"Uh... I can't go squid!" I said to her. "I, uh, have a rare condition and it keeps me from using spawn points!"
She raised a brow, then shrugged. "Uhh, alright... Uhh, let's see... You could activate safety mode. There's a small button on the side for non-inklings, like anemone, jellyfish, etcetera..."
I looked over at the platform and grabbed onto it, climbing aboard and looking around carefully for the button, not wanting to fall off. "Thanks for helping me..." I said, a little embarrassed.
"Just don't make us lose," she replied. "Or I'm kickin' your tush."
Huddling close to the device, I slowly realized over time that it looks very much like my dad's old coffee maker, hitting me with nostalgia. The moment I found the button, I pressed it, the floating spawn point beeping and slowly making its way to the ground. "Okay, whew... This is good..." I said, drawing a few looks from my other two teammates.
The octoling in sunglasses hovered down as well, rubbing the back of her neck. "So, uh... name's Splatt."
"Splatt?" I questioned.
"Turf War name," she replied. "Left my old name behind."
I slowly nodded in understanding. "Oh, I see. I'm Amelia!"
"Cool. Let's kick butt," she responded, an Explosher materializing in her hands.
This worried me.
How to explain an Explosher... Think of a jerrycan fitting tightly around a small heater; a jet heater. Now, imagine if the jet heater was used to carry ink and heat that ink up to a very hot temperature, a temperature that could give any human a nasty burn. They were used in pretty much the same way as buckets, so Inklings could just lob the hot ink out without any problem.
If I were to ever go up against one, I'd have no doubt in my mind that I'd end up in the hospital, even with my suit, so I was very grateful and lucky that Splatt was on my team.
"What's the matter?" she asked, noticing my stare towards her weapon.
I turned my head away, my visor facing the face. "Nothing," I said.
The moment my phone beeped, I stepped off the spawn point and onto the ground. Next to me, two of my inkling teammates were shot onto the ground, where they began firing their weapons, one being a dualie user and one using a brush.
Running out further, I noticed a few raised platforms with grates acting as bridges between them. I could easily ink the floor beneath me along with any enemy inklings who were wandering below, so I took a mental note.
Spraying the ground with my dualies, I felt a little more confident, noticing how slow the enemy was with inking their side of the stage. This was good because it meant I could cover the central ground and guard my fellow teammates who were down below.
But then... I heard laughter.
Psychotic laughter.
Looking up and ahead of me, I saw an inkling with a very messy haircut. She wore a green anorak jacket, her hood down, a jean skirt with black leggings, and loafs with long socks that came up over her leggings. She stared at me with white goggles that were tinted green like her ink, and upon her face was a twisted smile that filled me with terror.
Suddenly, the fear I felt back at Deca Tower returned, my body frozen. Something was insanely wrong with this girl, and I could see it in her expression.
"I'm going to take you all on myself," she said with glee, six small speakerheads floating behind her while she held what looked to be a .52 Gal, a big, bulky weapon with a long nozzle on the end. This weapon only required two shots to an inkling to splat them.
Why was I afraid? Her ink couldn't splat me. I was immune.
But...
Looking at her face, I felt like I was dealing with someone more menacing than I'd ever encountered before. I couldn't let it bother me. Shaking my head, I sprinted after her, ready to take her out with my dualies. "You're not hurting my team!" I shouted, raising my weapons and firing in her direction.
The moment she caught sight of me, she grinned even wider. "Annihilate her, my babies,~" she said in the creepiest form of a motherly tone possible. "Make sure she knows her who the top squid is around here!"
The speakers warbled shortly before all six of them fired out green soundbeams similar to that of the much bigger Killer Wail hit me directly, knocking me off the grate looked as though it were similar to the attack of a Killer Wail, but wasn't it was illegal? As I landed on the ground below, my head hit the concrete, my helmet's cushioning protecting me. It sure didn't stop the jarring pain, though...
I felt as if I'd been hit by a bus...
The crazy inkling girl looked down at me and jumped onto the ground floor, adjusting her goggles. "Hm... A unique specimen. You should've been splatted by now, even if you were an anemone. What's under that suit?"
I quickly got up and tried to fire my dualies at her, but as I aimed, she chopped her hand at my arm with such force that I felt intense pain. The moment I tried to reach for my hurt arm, she grabbed my moving hand and yanked hard, a pained scream erupting from my mouth as I felt something pop out of place.
She smirked, grabbing me by the neck and pinning me against the wall, silencing my cries. "Oh, it's so obvious..." she whispered. "You thought no one could figure it out. You're that unsplattable girl I've heard so much about. The fact that you have bones I can easily dislocate can only mean one thing..."
I stared at her through my visor, fear running through me. I struggled to breath, but her hand kept me from inhaling the fresh air. All I could do was squirm and hope someone would save me from this madsquid.
"What's under that helmet? Are you a human? Please, tell me you are," she whispered. "Because I'm going to have so much fun opening you up after this match! Just like all the others."
Others?!
As my vision began to slowly blur and fade from the lack of oxygen, I tried to kick her in a desparate for escape. One kick after another to her stomach was delivered, but she didn't budge, laughing at my pitiful attempts to get free.
Just as I was about to resign to blacking out, out of nowhere came two sudden hot splashes of ink from behind her, making her explode into pink ink, and as I dropped to the ground, I saw Splatt standing there with a smirk. "She needs to learn how to watch her back."
I stood up, my left arm completely out of commission. "Th-Thanks..."
"Let's hurry up!" she shouted. "I'll watch your back and keep that psycho away!"
Could I really ink turf with one arm? I was in a lot of pain and couldn't really focus. Sensing my fears, Ezra came into view. "I could help, but... it'll hurt a lot for a brief moment."
"You can fix my arm?" I asked her.
She nodded. "Yeah, just... lemme take over for a bit."
Could I really trust her? She didn't look as crazed as she did when I was training with Ace. Then again, my arm was in extreme pain and I didn't want to keep going through it. "Just... fix it, please!"
Without a word, she silently took over, and I felt my right hand grab the upper part of my left arm, then pushed inward as quickly as she could, eliciting a mental scream that I wasn't able to ring out thanks to her taking over.
I felt her smile with my lips. "Because of me, you'll heal faster than you normally could when you were fully human. An actual dislocated shoulder would've taken you weeks, maybe even a few months. Be grateful."
With that, I felt myself regain control of my body, moving my arms around and seeing how it felt. It felt much better now, just a little sore, but... what if that psycho came after me again? Splatt was guarding me, though...
So I began turfing. I wanted to avoid fighting for now because of my arm, so instead of taking on the roll of a frontline slayer, I took the role of a midliner, making sure the turf was our color. On occasion, the psychotic squid would try to attack me, but Splatt would always counter her. The aim with Splatt's explosher was unreal and it frightened me. I'd never want to face her in a fight.
Thinking back to what that inkling had said... I was filled with both great fear and excitement. She said there were other humans! But she'd also opened them up... It didn't matter, though. There was still some hope! If there were other humans besides me, I needed to find them! I needed to know I wasn't truly alone!
With Mark having turned into Henry, I... I was left with the burden of being human. With the serum inside me, I was slowly losing my humanity. I wanted to know there was still something left of us! There just had to be, right?!
She'd confirmed it, right?!
As the final minute came down, I heard someone running behind me. Turning around, I saw Splatt as she backed up against a wall, the psychotic inkling from earlier closing in with her six speakers as the devices warbled with anticipation.
"Don't do it," said Ezra, appearing in front of me. "I'm not finished healing your arm."
"She needs help!" I shouted, running through Ezra and towards the inkling. "She saved me!"
"She has a spawn point!" Ezra tried to remind me.
Oddly enough... I didn't seem to care. My mind was becoming more and more focused on saving my fellow octolii– I mean, my teammates.
...Teammates, right? I wasn't an octoling.
I shook the thoughts out of my head for that moment, then bashed my shoulder into the back of the psychotic inkling, pushing her into Splatt, who eagerly kneed the inkling in the face before kicking her back to me. As I stepped back and she fell down, I proceeded to aim my dualies down at her and pull the triggers, splatting her.
"That was really stupid," said Ezra from behind me.
I ignored her, running up to Splat with an excited smile. I knew she couldn't see my face, but she seemed to return the expression with a smile of her own. "Always get 'em from behind if you can't get 'em from the front. Don't be afraid to play dirty, alright?"
I nodded eagerly. "Thanks for the advice!"
Splatt looked down at her phone as it beeped. "Aw, man," she said, still smiling regardless. "We lost."
"I'm sorry," I said. "I should've done better."
She raised a brow at me, the octoling looking rather amused. "You'll do better when you need to."
?
"What does that mean?" I questioned.
"Don't worry about it," she said, reminding me of what Wreckage had said back when I had asked about her crazy weapon.
"Uh, alright," I said. "Um... I just realized something. If I'm in Splattsville, how do I get back home to Inkopolis?"
"By doing what every other cephalopod freak does," Splatt replied. "By entering a Turf War. The Battle Lobby should bring you back to Inkopolis if you select an area from there."
Interesting... Inklings had interesting ways of getting around these days. "Does anyone ever take the trains?"
"Only the jellyfish and the other fishies of the land,~" she replied. "Sometimes scavengers will take trains, though. Those weirdos are well-respected because they help make the junk they collect into our famous weaponry!"
"That's amazing!" I shouted, almost squealing. The thought of making my own weapon out of scrap metal excited me for some odd reason. I'd never thought of doing it before!
"Yeah, you've gotta be a cut above the rest if you wanna scavenge," said Splatt.
I grinned. "Yeah, I–"
"Hold it right there, cephaloids!~"
I turned around, eyes widening as I saw the psychotic inkling. My fear forced me to step behind Splatt, looking over her shoulder. "This inkling's got something against me," I said, not really wanting to mention the human bit.
"Oh, don't worry..." said the psycho. Lifting up her goggles, she revealed bright pink eyes that locked onto me. "I just want to be friends. That's all!~"
"Ain't buyin' it," said Splatt. "Don't try anything. You know we can't fight outside of an official match."
"I know very well about your silly little rules, octoslob," replied the psycho. "I wouldn't dare try to hurt this... specimen."
"You really gonna call my friend that?" questioned Splatt.
Hold up. "She called you an octoslob!" I mentioned. "She knows you're–"
"Don't matter," said Splatt. "As if I'm gonna listen to what she says. Run along and go back to the junkyard. I know who you are."
"Who is she?" I asked.
The inkling grinned widely, her arms down, slightly spread out from her as she curtseyed. "Oh, I'm well-known for my antics. I am Ana Emberz, one of the co-founders to the Emberz brand."
Emberz? Wasn't that brand solely exclusive to the Splatlands?
"You're a co-founder?" I questioned. "Why are you trying to harass me? Don't you have anything better to do?"
Ana chuckled, her hand to her mouth."When I'm not signing paperwork, I'm doing research and, you, dear girl, are beneficial to me."
Splatt turned her head to look at me. "Don't worry. I may not look it, but I'm smarter than I look. I'm not letting her get too close to you."
What did she mean by that...?
"You don't even know her," said Ana.
"Of course I do!" said Splatt, smirking. "She's my sister."
"That's a load of lobster claws and you know it!" Ana replied. She no longer looked so amused. "She has bones!"
Splatt smiled and replied, "She's... an anemone hybrid. Of course she has bones. Are you discriminating? You know hybrids are fragile."
"My Killer Wail 5.1 couldn't splat her!" Ana protested.
"See that suit?" said Splatt. "Top-of-the-line and totally in fashion. Gives her a defensive boost against specials. Are you really gonna tell me you've never heard of, uh, the Crab Shell Armor set?"
Ana seemed to back down from this, putting her goggles back on. "You know what? You're wasting my time. I'll see you later, girlie. I mean it."
That sent shivers down my spine. She knew what I was and I knew she didn't believe Splatt's lies. As she left, Splatt turned to me with a smug look on her face. "I've butted heads with her a couple of times. She's got a weird habit of turning everything into her twisted new science project."
I stared at Splatt with plenty of questions in my mind, the foremost being, "You know about my... condition?"
"You're not the first human," said Splatt. "They're still waking up from their pods. Splatsville gets at least one of them every couple of months and... well, I can't protect them all, sadly. Ana likes to find them first. You're lucky you're with me."
"How did you find out?" I questioned.
"I'm literally an octoling," she replied. "Brains are pretty much my strongsuit. Also, you need to cut your hair. You've got a few strands hanging out from underneath."
!
I took off my glove and felt around, feeling a small sliver of hair sticking out from the side. "I-It has been a while..."
Splatt put a hand on my shoulder and smiled with what I could only receive as sincerity. "C'mon, newbie. We'll get you back to Inkopolis."
"W-Wait," I halted. There was a nagging curiosity in me. "Can't I... check out some of Splatsville, first?"
Splatt raised a brow. "You sure you wanna do that...? Ana's not gonna stop until she gets her hands on you."
"Listen to her," said Ezra from behind me.
I really should've, but Splatsville was a place of culture, where inklings and octolings lived together. After having done some research in the past month, I'd heard of octolings being widely accepted there. It was a mixing pot, a city of diversity and chaos, where anyone could be anything without judgment. As an added plus, there was the bothering fact there could be humans here.
"I... want to see," I said with hope. "You said there's other humans, right? Why doesn't Inkopolis know about this?"
I wanted to see how accepting they were. If Splatsville was getting humans every couple of months, there surely had to be at least one hanging around, right?
"Yeah," said Splatt. "The governments between Splatsville and Inkopolis are very different because Splatsville doesn't have a government. Info within Splatsville is very rarely shared with Inkopolis. If you wanna get fresh with us, you've gotta live here and leave the life of organization behind."
"What about internet?" I asked. "How does that not spread?"
"We have our own internet," said Splatt. "If you want access to it, you've gotta live here. Plus, we're still relatively new, so... it's kinda easy to see why info on humans hasn't exactly spread to Inkopolis."
"And there's only a few?" I questioned. "Like, there's no neighborhood full of them?"
Splatt shrugged. "Humans are extraordinarily rare. Most are snagged by Ana and her gang of inklings and she likes to spread propaganda through the grapevine. Some of the octolings have tried to make a sanctuary, but inklings can still be a bit paranoid."
That scared me a little. Why were octolings the only ones who sympathized with humans? Then again, many inklings I'd encountered in combat were extremely tenacious. Octolings were typically more calculating, much like Hector back during the previous Splatfest when he used his brush to take down three inklings at once.
Splatt nodded, then looked at me with what I interpreted as pity. "There are no real rules in Splatsville other than to not fight outside of Turf Wars. We can trust them not to hurt the humans within the city, but... once a human steps outside the city limits, they're fair game. I've seen what inklings will do and it's never pretty. Again, I'm asking you. Do you really want to search the city for humans? Nobody would blame you if you went back to Inkopolis."
"Splatsville isn't as safe as Inkopolis," said Ezra. "Listen to reason. I am literally you and you are having doubts!"
No, Ezra was having doubts, not me. I needed to find at least one human. Just one. "Please?" I asked Splatt. "I'd do anything to at least find out there's one more alive right now."
"You're being stupid!" shouted Ezra. "LISTEN TO ME!"
Splatt nodded and held out her hand. I took it and she led me out of Mincemeat Metalworks, and as we went to the city, my eyes widened at the size of it. It had this odd feel to it, a feeling much like the wild west. It was a city with no real rules, where the people governed and the businesses thrived.
The tall buildings were what astounded me the most because of their decorations hanging outside their windows, many being either graffiti or stickers. Loud music would occasionally be heard from an open window while the residents inside partied. Only one thought could come to my mind: Nem would probably hate this place.
Splatt was quick to lead me up the metal stairs outside one of the buildings, leading me up to the sixth floor where we'd find numbered doors. This was an apartment complex, I'd realized. As we approached Apartment 493, Splatt looked at me.
"You sure you wanna do this?"
I looked back at her, confused. "Of course! I really want to know everything about what happened to the others!"
"This guy might not be your cup of tea," she said to me. "He's got a lot of anger issues and he's already been on his own bit of adventure. Left him kinda... hateful?"
"I understand," I said, not realizing what I'd be in for as she knocked on the door. I could hear a groan coming from inside.
"Look, I'll get you the scrap when I'm good and ready!" said a male from behind. His voice was a little deep with an odd, charismatic smoothness to it. As he opened the door, I was surprised to see the brown eyes of a black-haired human teenager looking at Splatt and I. His hair was almost the same length as mine, going down to his shoulders.
He had a very raggedy getup, his clothes worn and dirty, pants ripped, socks with holes in them, and a metal flask hanging from a string wrapped around his neck. As he looked at me, he gave a bit of a scowl, making me feel a little uncomfortable.
I took off my helmet, looking at him with hope. It'd been so long since I'd seen another human. I had so many questions. How many of us were left? What was his story? Did he know any other humans?
He and I exchanged stares and, after a few seconds, he proceeded to close the door, eliciting a groan from Splatt as she knocked on the door yet again. "Weaver, open the door, NOW."
"Back off!" shouted the human named Weaver. "Leave me alone!"
Splatt shook her head, then proceeded to kick door the door with brute force to reveal Weaver on the couch, staring in anger. "What the hell?! I just fixed that!"
"I'll pay for the damages," Splatt replied, tugging me into the living room. "I've got the cash for it, unlike your poor bum."
"I never needed your help," he said, his eyes glaring. "Why is she here? I'm not taking in a roommate! I've already got the stubborn jellyfish!"
"Y-You're a real human!" I stammered out. "I thought I was the only one left!"
"Don't care. You're not welcome in my home," Weaver replied. "I want you both out."
"B-but I have questions!" I protested.
Splatt put a finger to her lips, making a shushing noise towards me. Then she turned to face Weaver and said, "I kept your sorry butt safe, bud. The least you could do is let her ask you a few questions."
Sounding angsty, he groaned. "Are you aware I'm not exactly fond of my own kind?"
"I'm aware you owe me," Splatt replied. "Remember Octo Canyon? I bet you do..."
The tension in the room was high, and as he glared, he replied, "I thought the adventure was over. I thought I was free from them, yet you're bringing one in here and putting another chapter into my life."
"She just wants to ask questions, and then she's going back home to Inkopolis," Splatt replied, looking at me. "Right?"
I nodded in response, hoping he'd give in and allow it.
He groaned again, then said, "Fine, but once I answer all your questions, you're outta here and you're not allowed back in my apartment."
"Are there more?!" I immediately spouted, grateful and excited.
He looked at me, blinking with surprise and confusion. "What, humans? Yeah, like... a few dozen from where I came from. They're still frozen. I don't care about them, though. Just a bunch of rich people who like to spit on the lower classes. Screw 'em... They didn't care about anyone else. Hogged up most of the cryopods and left innocent people to die in the oceans and the heat."
"What country?" I asked.
"I came from America. The pods are European," he answered. "My dad and I forced our way into the facility during the last days. He's gone and now I've gotta live on without him."
"What do you mean he's gone?" I questioned.
"Dead," he answered coldly. "He was a good man. Did everything for Mom and I... You done asking questions?"
I shook my head. "Why do you live here when Ana is around?"
After taking a sip from a soda can, he chuckled. "You met that prick, huh? She and I have reached a mutual understanding. I direct humans to go to her warehouse and she leaves me alone. Plus, I get paid."
...What?!
I couldn't believe what I'd just heard. I clenched my fists, baring my teeth to express my anger. "You let her hurt other humans...?"
Splatt stepped back, leaning up against a wall. "I'm just gonna stand here..."
Weaver looked at Splatt, then at me. He looked to be in thought for a moment before replying, "Yeah... I did. You wouldn't understand. You probably grew up wealthy like the others, so you don't know what we went through. We were all desperate for survival and what did the governments do...? They took in the rich and the powerful. The temperatures were rising and we were going to die if we didn't do anything. Some places like Japan were safe due to the tech they had, but... America and Europe were hellish pits."
Why was I not surprised anymore? First Ophelia, now this? "It doesn't matter!" I screamed. "What the... the... What the hell?! You sold out the human race for cash?!"
"Oh, look, the little girl is angry,~" he said with a smug smirk. "You act like you're a defender of justice. What, are you Supergirl? You think you can tell me off for trying to pay rent in a city where I'm likely gonna get killed? I know who the people were in those damned pods! They would've sold my ass to people like Ana if they had the chance!"
"You're just as bad as them, then!" I screamed even louder.
"Calm down," Ezra said from behind me. "Your emotions are spouting off like a broken pipe."
"You really wanna cause a scene here...?" he asked me, standing up from the couch. He walked over to me and lifted the flask up. "See this? This is all I've got left of my mom. She died from the heat because some asshole bought out our reserved spots with obscene amounts of money. It's kinda funny when you think about it, because what good was that money gonna do when the entire human race was going to die? Literally the only thing the governments cared about up until the very end."
He gripped my shoulder tightly, looking me right in the eyes. I tried to protest, but he asked, "Do you really think it matters what you do about it? More humans are eventually gonna come outta those pods and still sell each other out if it's for the sake of survival. I mean, they bought the cryopods in the first place, right? What good was it to put that to waste, to have it all be for nothing?"
I tore away from him, stepping back and stumbling a little as I tripped on the fallen door. Managing to keep myself up, I looked at Splatt with distress. I didn't want this person to get away with what he'd done. I'd already let Ophelia get away with trying to essentially kill me. Why this guy? He was still selling out people for cash and he didn't have any remorse.
"Kid, let's go," said Splatt, prompting me to look at her with confusion. The audacity that she'd just want me to leave after I'd heard all this... I was so angry!
"No!" I snapped back at her. "He needs to be held accountable!"
"By who?" she asked. "There are no rules here. No law enforcement except the will of the people. I doubt anyone would care. I know you're mad. Trust me, I've seen what he's done. He's not worth going after and you'd just regret stooping to his level."
I needed to do something... I wanted to hurt him, but... as I finally made a decision, I felt all control being taken away from me, my mouth moving on its own as I said, "Yeah, sure, let's go... But I don't like it."
Ezra, why...?
This wasn't fair. None of this was fair. Everyone was working against me and I didn't want to be ignored! Why couldn't I do anything?! I screamed at Ezra mentally in my mind, letting her see every malicious thought I could think of, of scenarios I could not put into words. Scenarios too messy. Scenarios too graphic. Scenarios too violent.
"But I have one more question," I heard myself say. "Where can I find these cryopods?"
"Northern Splatlands, out in the barren region," he answered. "You'll know you're close when you see the upside-down Eiffel Tower. Two clicks southwest of that structure. There will be a hatch hidden under some dry shrubs."
"Thank you," I said against my will, wanting to fight Ezra, but I knew I couldn't. She was doing this to keep me from causing a scene.
As Splatt and I were far enough away from the apartment, control of my body was returned to me. Ezra appeared in front of me, looking very tired and serious. I gave her a glare, but received nothing back. She simply faded away into my consciousness to rest.
Because of the recent fight, I didn't feel like going into another Turf War just to get back home. Because of this, Splatt offered to let me stay at her place until tomorrow. After a long talk with Nem and receiving the go-ahead, I accepted. Splatt lived in a pretty decent home. It was an apartment on the other side of the city, and once she'd given me a blanket and directed me to the couch, I laid there that night, staring ahead at the wall, my mind going over what Weaver had said to me.
The music coming from outside wasn't what was keeping me awake. What kept me awake that night was the thought of the human race turning on itself. I thought we could be better than this. I thought it'd be a good day, knowing I'd meet another human.
Sadly, that wasn't true. I could only think of one thing that night:
It wasn't fair.
