Inkay's body suddenly lurched. His limbs tightened and his nails scratched against the ground beneath him as his chest heaved. He leaned to his side, rolling over a bit and coughing violently before unleashing a colorful array of his stomach's contents.

"Oh god," came a raspy voice. Breathing heavily and spitting more of that vile mixture from his throat, Inkay turned his head towards it. "Please at least give a warning before you do that again. Seeing you puke all of a sudden makes me feel even more nauseous."

"Glad to see you care so much, Marie," Inkay said, spitting more of the substance to the ground. When his eyes cleared he was met with the rainbow mixture he had thrown up in a large bucket. They must have expected him to have to spill his guts all over the place. He straightened himself up on his bed, stomach hurting from both the sudden expulsion of its contents and from the attack on it.

Wrapping his arm around his stomach, Inkay looked around the room. Marie was sitting cross-legged on a bed across the room to his right. Gone was her agent clothes and she instead wore a muscle shirt and Inkling shorts. A large bucket of her own sat in her lap and she had her arms wrapped around it like it was her sole lifeline. Her eyes had this dull look in them that spoke of how much discomfort she was in.

Inkay pushed himself to the back of the bed. He took a deep breath and let it out slow, his mouth filling with the unpleasant taste of stomach acid and ink that was the wrong color. "Excuse me for not being considerate of your needs," Inkay groaned.

"You are excused," Marie groaned back, her body lurching and her cheeks bulging as she leaned towards the bucket. She swallowed the bile trying to escape her throat and groaned in disgust. "I should have just let him kill me," she complained.

"Don't say things like that," Callie scolded. Inkay rolled his head to the opposite side. The second Squid Sister also had her agent gear to the side and wore a T-shirt and inkling shorts. She had a bucket, but it was to the side of the bed like Inkay's. She looked like she had thrown up earlier but had since composed herself. "Death is no joking matter."

"I know. I feel like it," Marie said, covering her mouth as another jerk wracked her body. Inkay chuckled, looking between his group and forced a smile.

"Well aren't we a sight? So what happened exactly? Anyone explain anything?"

"Yeah. That scientist Seph Mollu showed up. Turns out aside from being the head scientist of a branch, he's also a field agent. Number 241," Marie said. Inkay eyes widened a bit in surprise.

"No kidding? I thought the scientists were always too busy for field work."

"Well from what he told us, there's a branch that works in the field to help defend whatever setups can't be done in the lab. Lucky for us too. I don't think a lab jockey could have saved us from Lucius," Callie said.

"Wait, he took down Lucius?"

"Made him flee at least. He used this weapon he apparently created himself." Callie said picking up her bucket and spitting into it.

"Wow. Sounds amazing. Must be a pretty good weapon, huh?"

"It's not," Marie snapped, causing Inkay to look at her. "It somehow turns ink into a blade. It wouldn't be so bad if it was merely ink controlled into a shape. But he sharpens it somehow. The type of damage that weapon does is illegal. Using it can prevent our Respawners from properly reviving a person." Inkay's eyes widened a lot at the information. He let out an exasperated sigh and ran a hand down his tentacles. It was never just one thing, he always had to deal with a massive shit storm.

"We don't know if he's made more than one, but whether he has or not is crucial information to find out." Callie added. Marie turned her head to the side. A melancholy look graced her face as her shoulders slumped.

"I woke up earlier and questioned him about it. Well, the best I could between upchucks. He just smiled at me and told me to get some rest and we'll talk later. Just don't ask me when later is-" Marie was silenced as her body lurched and she threw up in her bucket again. She spit up some remaining bile and came up in pained pants. "God, why?"

"Why are you throwing up so much? Well…why are we throwing up at all?" Inkay asked.

"It has something to do with that rainbow colored ink Lucius was using," Callie explained. "Seph said he'd give us the complete run down when everyone was awake."

"Creating illegal weapons, who's to say he hasn't already fled the state?" Inkay said picking up his bucket and spitting a small bit of bile and spat in it again. .

"I know we hardly know each other, but have a little faith in your fellow agents," came the calm voice of 241. The original three looked towards the entrance as his smile could be seen from behind the surgical mask. "I'm sure you have plenty of questions you want to ask me, right? So let's get started."

Cerata came home with a bag of groceries. It had been awhile since she went grocery shopping due to Luca eating over at his friends' more and more often, and her and Inkay usually just grabbing some fast food from somewhere on the way home She thought she'd make something fancy sometime soon and just bought any ingredient she could use.

Hefting a load of bags that made any hardworking Inkling or Octarian sweat, Cerata made her way to the front door of her house without a problem. Well, up until the door and she had to struggle to get her keys where they needed to be. She growled to herself trying to get the item into the keyhole before the door was swung open.

Cereza opened her mouth to greet her mother but paused at the sheer amount of bags her mother carried. A raised eyebrow and a smirk crossed her face as she locked eyes with her mother. "Hi, mom," Cereza chuckled.

"Hi sweetie. I thought you would've left by now," Cerata smiled back at her daughter as she stepped in.

"Need a hand?"

"No thank you, I got 'em all. But can you lock the door behind me?" Cereza giggled and did as she was asked. "So what did you do all day? Stare at the TV?" Cerata asked as she headed to the kitchen to set down the bags.

"For a bit. Talked to Em and Mr. Apalo came over. He left you something."

"Oh? What is it? Come put these up for me," Cerata said handing a few bags to Cereza. Cereza took the bags and started placing the items in their proper place.

"He said they were weapons of some kind. He wanted to deliver them to you personally, but you weren't here. So he left them."

"Oh. Those must be the gauntlets."

"Gauntlets? Like what Aunt Octameri used to use?" Cereza asked, her hands moving a bit slower as she stacked condiments in the cabinet.

"Yeah. Just like your aunt."

"Aren't those illegal?" Cerata froze for a bit and took a deep breath.

"Yeah. But it seems to be the only thing that could work against what's threatening us." Cereza walked up to her mother, placing a concerned hand on her shoulder.

"You guys'll be able to handle it…right?" Cerata smiled at her daughter and cupped her daughter's cheek.

"Of course. Like anything can keep your parents down." Cereza smiled but raised her hand to hold her mother's against her face. She could remember times where she was taken to visit her mother or father in the hospital. Bandaged and broken but still forcing a smile at the sight of her. She hated it, but knew it was a risk that couldn't be avoided. Cerata chuckled at the somber expression on her daughter's face. "No matter how big you get you're still just my little girl, aren't you?"

"Yep." Cereza smiled. Cerata kissed her daughter's forehead and continued putting the groceries away.

"So, Apalo didn't creep you out too much, did he?" Cerata asked to try and change the subject.

"I keep telling you that he's not that creepy. He's actually pretty nice."

"Yeah, now. Maybe he's too tired to be his old, very loud self," Cerata said with a smirk, putting the empty bags inside one another. "He used to be very easily agitated. He'd glare at you for stepping a toe out of line and yell at you for questioning anything he did."

"That sound's like an Apalo I'd be scared of," Cereza chuckled.

"Everyone was. Though he calmed down around the time we defeated Octavio. And it stopped completely around when you were born." Cereza blushed a bit with a smile as she turned her back to her mother and began placing things away on the opposite side of the room.

"Well, he told me today that he always saw me, and Luke, as his children. Because we represent the future he wants for everyone." Cerata turned towards her daughter, having placed everything else in its proper place.

"Come to think of it, he was really supportive of your father and I's relationship."

"Really?"

"Yep. Of course not everyone was, and despite what others have it seem, Inkay and I didn't just go 'Let's have a baby!' and then had you ten months later. There was a lot of…rough patches here and there."

"Really? You never told me of any bumps. What happened?" Cereza asked as she took a seat on the counter. Cerata stared out the window, watching the sun start to dip behind the roofs of the buildings as she reminisced the first year of her marriage.

"It took us about a year before we were comfortable having a child. Had to find a good place, with a good neighborhood, and a good school. Had to keep up with work too. We wanted a small wedding but everyone wanted to pitch in and make it huge since it was the first of the new world. Heh. Had to be careful going through the honeymoon phase," Cerata said with a smirk.

"Ew. Mom, skip the details." Cerata laughed and continued.

"When we were finally in a place where we figured we could raise a child, we couldn't. We were so similar that being told we were 'too different' to conceive was heartbreaking. Every doctor we went to said it had never been done, and couldn't happen. It was depressing. Inkay was really supporting about the situation and comforted me on those dark nights. Then Apalo noticed my sour moods and he became like a father figure for me to vent how heartbroken I was. I didn't want to vent it to Inkay at the time because I know he felt the same way and I didn't want that further on his conscious."

"Well what did you and Apalo talk about?"

"Just whatever was on my mind. He'd give me days off where he'll listen until I cried and comforted me until I fell asleep. I never knew my father, so he easily filled the void during that time. A few months after I started my impromptu therapy sessions, long after I had stopped even buying pregnancy tests, a week of morning sickness led me to buy one and I was happy to see I was expecting." Cerata grew a large smile as she walked over to Cereza and ran a hand over her head. "You have no idea of how ecstatic I was to be having a baby. A little girl. After trying so long and being told by everyone that it couldn't happen, I was gonna have my miracle baby." Cereza smiled up at her mother. She had never gone this in depth on the story leading up to her birth and just how happy her mother was she was born. Cerata stood before her on the verge of tears as she continued.

"Normally the guy, if he's worth the time of day, dotes on his wife and makes sure everything was okay during the pregnancy. So much that the wife gets sick of it after awhile. But you know what?"

"What?"

"I was too worried to be sick of it. We had been told so much that it shouldn't happen that when it did we were afraid it would go wrong in some way. There were so many ways it could. Miscarriage, sickness, one of the many people against our relationship. Both Inkay and I would freak out whenever you kicked in the latter months. Inkay more so than me." The two laughed at the information as Cerata continued. "And eventually, through all the worrying and the accusations, you were born. My healthy, beautiful baby girl. Inkay and I were so happy we were both in tears. Though he'll deny it if you ask him."

"Not if I give him the puppy dog pout." Cereza smirked. Cerata laughed with a finger to her mouth a gave a large smile.

"Yeah. You're right."

"But you said there were accusations. What were they?"

"Well, at first glance you look like an Octoling. So a lot of people figured that I merely had an Octoling lover and conceived you that way. But I didn't care. I had my own, blood daughter with the love of my life and he never doubted me for a second. I knew you were his, and he knew you were his, so nothing else mattered."

"How sweet. Did you guys plan on having Luke too?"

"Yeah. We figured you'd like a playmate for when we had to stay out late. Plus Inkay wanted another kid as well. Said sibling relationships are some of the strongest. It also debunked all the accusations. Luca looks more Inkling and a lot like his father."

"And he was a great playmate." The two chuckled again as Cerata headed out of the kitchen, Cereza jumping off the counter to follow. "So…was I everything you hoped for in a daughter?" Cerata stopped on a dime and pivoted to look at her daughter. Her eyes locked Cereza in place as the younger female waited for an answer.

"Of course. You're my sweet, beautiful, perfect little girl." Cerata pulled her daughter into a hug, which she immediately accepted. "And I love you and Luca more than anything."

"I love you too mom." Cereza said with a wide smile.

"I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost you," Cerata added, holding Cereza even tighter. The hybrid tightened her hug as well as her mother stroked her head. She was extremely happy on how the day was going.

Senia laid on her bed in a ball, clutching the recently bought plushie to her chest. Aside from the plushie in her arms the only thing in her focus was her heartbeat. It hadn't been normal since Luca's confession, and she was concerned with why. His confession wasn't that spectacular. So why was she constantly thinking about it?

She constantly tried to make a mental image of Luca's face. She had already ran her hands along it, so the structure was there, but she wanted to know more. She wanted to see if his eyebrows perked as he spoke or if his eyes darted around in his nervousness. She wanted to know how his face shifted as he spoke his confession, because she needed to know if he was lying.

Her mind's eye kept creating an image of Luca covering a laugh during that pause in his confession. Eyes cast down mockingly as he pulled the rug from under her. Did he really care? There were two answers and each one had her squeezing the plush a bit harder.

The thought of him caring made her ecstatic to the point she had to fight to keep the blush and goofy grin off her face. Aside from her brothers she hadn't heard someone mutter something like that.

On the other hand, if he didn't, telling her that was a game she didn't know if she could play. Four little words he had said had her attached to him and if he were to back out now, she didn't know what she'd do.

So she laid on her bed, mind racked with the thoughts circling around the two what-ifs and the outcomes of each. If he did care and they became official, how would she explain it to her brothers? Surely they'd get the wrong idea of their relationship. Well, the used to be right, now wrong idea on the relationship. But if she explained her feelings, maybe they'd come to terms with her not having any ulterior motives. Sebastian may be convinced if she promise to treat him to that burger and shake combo he loves so much. Her older brother on the other hand, will probably need more than a bribe to believe her. She just had to think of the right words to tell him. It would probably be better if she told him out of her own mouth instead of him happening upon them in the city.

She had began imagining all the ways things could go right. Luca meant what he said, her older brother would believe her feelings, they'd start dating, and everything would be gumdrops and ice cream. She could already imagine the playful teasing the two would exchange, and Sebastian joking about being the third wheel. She would give Luca a personal concert, learning all his favorite songs and performing them the best of her abilities. Maybe she'll be able to share her fears with him. Talk about her worries, and doubts and he'd squeeze her hand and lie to her that it'll all be okay.

With that thought she began imagining all the ways things could go wrong. Luca and her could begin dating, but the love and caring wouldn't be there. They'd drift further apart and she'd be left alone again. Sebastian might distance himself and Luca, being the kind soul that he is, may break it off to amend his relationship with her brother. He did get to meet him first and aside from their private meetings, Luca was closer to Sebastian. More likely her older brother wouldn't approve. He'd do everything in his power to split them up. Maybe even going as far as having their father move them to another city. Maybe her illness would get the best of her. Something with her medicine could go wrong and she'd…

A tear traced down her face, slowly being absorbed by the fabric of the plushie. The single tear had brought her out of her thoughts, but it only paved the way for more to follow. She hadn't cried since her time with her father. She could put up with pain and thought herself mature enough to not cry over some boy. But it had been so long since she had anything, the thought of losing it terrified her. Luca was a ray of innocence and the comparison of him to herself made her feel disgusting. There was no way she could let Luca know about her past. He'd see her as nothing as filth and she didn't know if she could take that.

She squeezed the plush a little tighter. Just this one small gesture of kindness was causing her such headache that it made her fear what any other action of care from Luca would do to her. If there was any god listening, she was praying for a happy ending.

"Please tell me you have something to keep my insides, inside of me," Marie groaned after once again releasing her stomach contents into her bucket. Seph chuckled and slowly shook his head.

"I'm sorry. At the moment the best thing for your condition is what you're currently doing."

"And what exactly is our condition?" Callie asked.

"Well, I don't think you all need such an in depth explanation, but just in case you skipped your anatomy class in grade school," Steph pulled out a large scroll and rolled it open. On it was an x-ray image of an Inkling. He gestured to the image as a whole before speaking again. "As I'm sure you know, Inklings do not have a skeletal structure. From a natural standpoint, we should be shaped more of a bag or blob more than anything. Our form is given to us via our bodies making ink pressure. It gives our bodies shape. The cells in our bodies constantly press against the ink, making the pressure. Whatever the dominate color we have chosen at the time determines what color our cells can push up against." He glanced over the room, the bored look on everyone's faces caused him to smirk a bit.

"Which is why ink of a different color causes us to splat. Our cells absorb rather than push against the ink, causing the cells to expand. If we're exposed to more ink that's not the matching color, our bodies can't expell it fast enough. Once they absorb too much, the foreign color leaks into our supply. Our supply then gets shifted the foreign color, expands our cells even more, and we explode." Inkay finished.

"We understand why that works. We don't understand why my guts are trying to escape." Marie added. Seph chuckled again, closing the scroll and placing it in his jacket.

"With this rainbow ink, it still follows that pattern. If it's not the correct color, it passes into our cells. If it is, it gets pushed back. However, with this rainbow ink, it gets absorbed, but then it ends up inside the cell still changing. Which is what is causing your sickness. The cells now have a familiar substance on the inside. Which it removes by kicking it out. But then it changes back into a foreign substance. So it slides back in. This constant exchange causes an imbalance. One moment your ink pressure is normal, but the next its either too high or too low. Your body continuously tries to right itself, but to no avail. It finally decides the best thing to do is simply flush it all from your system. Once it does that you'll probably feel a little anemic but that should right itself as well." Steph took a small breath after the lengthy explanation.

"So that's why Marie has it worse. She was exposed to more ink," Callie said. Marie groaned more at the thought of the only cure was to wait it out.

"Is there a guessimate on how long it'll last? For me?" Marie asked. Steph just shrugged.

"Our, 'guessimate' is for it to last about 48 hours. Give or take depending on how much you vomit. I'd suggest stop fighting it and let it happen when the urge arises." Marie groaned again.

"Now that that is settled, let's move on to the next topic." Inkay said, gaining the attention of all except Marie, who laid her head against the wall. "Why did you invent that ink blade thing?" Steph smile shrunk behind his mask and his eyes softened.

"Ah, yes. I was hoping to prolong that a little longer," Steph said, reaching into the back of his jacket and withdrawing the mentioned item. It was simply a handle with the bottom having a tube go out and wrap around it. "Here it is. The Ink Blade. With Sprinkler sub weapon and an all new Ink Slash Special." Steph modeled the weapon with a proud smile. The agents looked less than pleased.

"We asked 'why did you invent it?', not 'what is it?'" Steph chuckled at Inkay's response.

"Of course. Would you believe me if I said that I didn't know what I was creating?"

"Nope."

"No way." Marie was about to agree with the disagreement but instead chose to empty her guts once more into her bucket. Inkay winced at the sloshing sound bouncing around the room. Steph chuckled, and placed the weapon back into his pocket.

"Figured not. But that's how it began. Vague blueprints showed up on my desk. Curious inventor I am, I worked on it."

"How could you not know you were building something illegal? That just sounds suspicious to me." Callie said. She crossed her arms and glared at the Inkling. He chuckled nervously under her gaze and took a seat.

"I understand your suspicions. But imagine it more like putting together a puzzle. A very large, complicated puzzle. You have all the pieces but you have to get to a certain point before you see the picture. At one point I thought it would be some kind of ink powered light. The energy created by the circulation does generate a bit of a glow," He explained. "Honestly this isn't even the final product. The blueprints had it with a motor and a more flexible shape. Along with some extra doodads."

"And what would that have accomplished?" Callie asked, having pulled a small notepad out of seemingly nowhere.

"Well, instead of an ink blade, it would be more along the lines of ink bladed whip. Capable of reaching just beyond an E-liter's range. Maybe more if you could withstand pumping in some extra ink." Inkay and Callie's eyes went wide eyed. Its current range was nothing compared to that length.

"Great. Let's give it up to him and give him the 'not as illegal as it could have been' award!" Marie spat. She was obviously displeased that he couldn't further help her in her situation.

"I am not trying to defend my actions. Only explain them. It wouldn't be the first illegal item I've built. I also was requested to build a pair of ink gauntlets."

"Wait a minute, you built those?" Steph nodded.

"It was a direct request from Apalo. He told me it was so the top agents had a better chance against these terrorist attacks." Steph took a few moments to glance around the room. "Which surprised me when you showed up without them. I was expecting him to give them to you. But apparently I was mistaken." Inkay noticed the slight condescending tone in the agent's voice but chose not to acknowledge it.

"He said he was getting a set ready for me. I just never expected to meet the maker before actually getting my hands on the gauntlets."

"That's strange. I delivered them to Apalo a couple days ago. I thought he would've given them to you buy now." Inkay mulled over the information. Apalo had ample opportunity to give them the gauntlets. The question now was why hadn't he?

"We're getting a bit off topic here," Callie spoke up.

"Yeah. The blueprints. Tell us how you got your hands on them. And do you still have them?" Marie groaned out. Steph nodded again.

"Right. Of course. I had just been called to Apalo's office. He gave me my assignment to work on the gauntlets and a written excuse for them. He told me I needed to work on and have them done as soon as possible. I decided to get started. I went to my lab and as I started gathering the materials and the metals to get to work, the blueprints were lying on my work bench. Perfectly centered and seemingly untouched."

"And you just decided to work on them?" Callie asked.

"To be fair, for a while I thought it was something else that Apalo may have wanted me to build. I was halfway done when the realization came to me that there's no way he could've gotten those blueprints to my lab. He would've had to have sprinted pass me, gotten into my lab to drop it off, then snuck pass me again on my way from my office."

"So you acquired the blueprints to a mysterious contraption and just decided to build it for funnsies. I don't buy it," Marie scolded, trying to get her words out before another episode.

"Buy it or not, it's what happened. As a creator, if offered a challenge I have to take it. It's a pride thing. A burning curiosity. How do I know if I can ever do it if I don't try?"

"So you built the weapon. Once you figured out what it was, why didn't you destroy it?" Callie asked, pausing a moment to pick up her bucket and puke a bit into it. She looked up, groaning lightly before setting the bucket back down.

"Not sure. Maybe it was divine intervention? If I had destroyed it, you all might have been killed by that Inkling earlier." Inkay huffed. He had a point, but that didn't really make the item any less illegal.

"So Inkay? What shall we do?" Callie asked. The other three agents looked at Agent 3. Suddenly placed in the spotlight, Inkay went wide eyed. He took a moment to glance at all present before letting out a sigh.

"We have bigger things to worry about at the moment. If these things can help us bring back peace…we can discuss the legality in court with Apalo after all this blows over." Inkay said, looking mostly at Steph. The Inkling took a deep breath, a smile peeking from beneath his mask.

"I was hoping to get an 'all clear', but what can you do?" He chuckled lightly to himself but no one else was laughing. "But, while we're all in mortal peril, I'll happily make you all a set if you would like." He smiled his widest smile yet, causing the other three agents to cask nervous glaces towards each other. "The blueprints are still locked up tight in my lab."

"No thanks. And we're most likely gonna have to confiscate those blueprints," Inkay said wearily. Steph shrugged and pushed himself out of his seat.

"Well, as a show of good will, you can have this one." Steph took out the Ink Blade and handed it to Inkay. The Inkling looked up confused as another smile crossed Steph's face. "If you're in a situation where you need the gauntlets, the blade would definitely be just as useful." Inkay slowly reached for the weapon as if it would bite him if he moved to fast.

"Um…thank you?"

"Just a heads up. The way it uses ink is exhausting. Especially using the Ink Slash. Keep it for a last resort kinda thing."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Steph shook Inkay's hand and gave another large smile.

"And if you ever want those extras, just let me know. Before all this blows over of course."

Lucius walked through the halls of his base practically fuming. He held back too much for too long. Now it cost him his mission, a tentacle, and possibly more depending on his boss's mood. His face was contorted with disappointment towards himself. But it shifted to anger at the sight of a certain Octoling.

Dao smiled. He was walking in the opposite direction as Lucius and eyed the now missing tentacle on his head. Lucius already knew it was coming and was mentally preparing himself for whatever insult was coming his way.

"Is it just me, or are you not as big headed?" There it was. Dao chuckled as Lucius kept up his stride.

"And you don't seem as handy as you used to be." Dao laughed, raising his amputated limb, waving around the nub where his wrist used to be.

"Hey hey, at least mine is growing back," he said pausing his steps and looking over his shoulder. The Octoling eyed Lucius's retreating form as a wicked smile crossed his face. "Yours would too if you had just ea-" Dao hit the ground hard as Lucius's fist met his face. Dao hissed and bared his fangs at the Inkling standing over him. Lucius was rapidly changing colors and ink swirled around his hands.

"Don't…even mention that." He growled. Dao's smile returned.

"Wow. You miss the little harlot that much?" Lucius's fists tightened. Dao chuckled again and began pushing himself to his feet. "You barely even knew her. What kind of attachment could you have possibly had besides a physical one?" Lucius took a large step forward and lunged his foot into Dao's face. Dao's head was thrown back and he let out a loud cough that slowly evolved into a laugh. "Though, I guess we ended closer," Dao said as his tentacles seemed to lengthen slightly and the veins in his arms bulged. "I've never had another like her."

Lucius charged towards Dao again. He threw his fist towards the Octoling's face as Dao lunged upwards. Lucius's fist was caught in Dao's palm. An array of colors fought for dominance with a large swirl of purple. The white of Lucius's eyes flashed an array of colors as he glared at the smiling Octoling. "Oooh, looks like you're really mad now. You're doing your little involuntary seizure procedure thing." Dao laughed as the ink around Lucius's arms vibrated violently.

"Keep running your mouth and I'm gonna have to make it stop myself." Lucius growled.

"Even with one hand I can kick your ass," Lucius swung his free hand at Dao. The Octoling ducked under and kicked Lucius in his chest. The Inkling dug his feet into the ground and skidded to a halt. Dao hoped from foot to foot as if psyching himself same smile spread across his face as Lucius rushed him again.

Fists swirling with so much ink they weren't visible, Lucius threw a volley of punches at Dao. The Octoling bobbed and weaved through the onslaught before delivering a hard palm into Lucius's chest. The Inkling slammed into the wall with a pained grunted.

"I'm not afraid of you, or your little chameleon ink. Because I'm on the verge of invincible. And you're not because you're too much of an emotional pussy." Lucius threw a jab, the ink around the fist flying out like a cannon. Dao swayed to the side and the ink crashed against the wall. Dao laughed as he looked between the cratered wall and Lucius. "Now you know its dangerous to be doing that kinda shit here." Lucius only prepped his arm by replacing the shot ink. Dao smiled and turned fully towards Lucius. "This ass whooping's been a long time coming, Midas!"

"Don't. Call me. That!" Lucius roared, making a vortex of colors surround his palm and throwing it at Dao. Dao ducked under the attack. It cratered the wall even more but neither combatant paid it any mind. Rising up, Dao raised his good hand before throwing it down to his side. The veins around his wrist exploded with purple ink, instantly coating his hand in a royal shine. The ink hardened, turning his hand into a large claw.

He lunged his new weapon at Lucius, claws outstretched and reaching towards Lucius's face. The Inkling dodged the attack. Dao's claws lodged into the wall, accented with Dao laughing at the image. Lucius threw more punches as Dao dodged. With a swift strike, Dao caught Lucius across the chest. He winced as five large claw marks spread across his torso. He took a step back, looking over the damage done.

"Ooh. That looks like it hurts. I can guarantee that won't heal properly. Now if only you had-" Lucius let out another scream as he charged Dao. The Octoling dodged the incoming attack and punched Lucius with his nub. As he brought it up for a backhand, the veins in the arm exploded like the other. Without his hand to properly form it, the ink dripped into a long blade instead. Lucius's twirled from the force of Dao's attack, a long cut mark now gracing his face. The Inkling growled as a rainbow streamed down his cheek. "Come on! Lucius! FIGHT ME!"

Another roar. And another. The two were practically bouncing off the walls as they exchanged blows. With every blow he took and landed, Dao only laughed harder. With every wave of Dao's maniac of a laugh entering his ears, Lucius grew more livid. Both beaten and bruised, they rushed back in. Dao pumped more ink into his claw to make it bigger as Lucius made a vortex of ink surround his right arm. They cocked back their limbs and prepared to throw the killing blow.

"Enough!" The two stopped on a dime, the ink surrounding Lucius's arm falling to the ground and Dao's arms turning back to normal. They both looked to see the red eyes of their boss glaring down at them. The two stood up straight, Dao choosing to stare at the wall with a smirk while Lucius found the ground more interesting. The figure took slow steps forward until he stood directly over the two. He stared at each one silently for a moment before looking over the damage done to the hallway. "I know you are both aware of the worst case scenario of fighting here," he growled. Both boys were silent. The corner of his mouth poked upwards into a snarl as he spoke again. "Whatever caused this out lash, I don't care for. Just be sure it doesn't happen again."

"Yes sir. of course, sir," Lucius said quickly. Dao scoffed and gave a weak agreement.

"Yeah. Sure. No problem." The figure was silent again as he looked over the boys.

"You. Leave," he said tilting his head towards Dao. "I'll deal with you later." Dao grew a wide smile and gave a victorious smirk towards Lucius.

"No problem," Dao said turning around and walking away. Lucius cursed at himself again for taking the bait. He should've known better. Dao was goading him and he fell for it. As always.

"What is the report of your mission?" Lucius flinched. He opened his mouth once but no sound came out. It wasn't until the figure roared out a 'well?!' that he was able to speak.

"Things didn't go as smoothly during my mission as I had hoped." He could feel eyes narrowing down on him.

"What happened?" The figure's voice had grown much darker. Lucius swallowed and tried to keep his mind from imagining the worse.

"I lost the upper hand. The agents had nearly killed me so I…had to reveal my abilities…"Lucius could almost feel the burning rage coming off of the figure. He spoke again quickly to try and soothe it before continuing. "If there was another way I wouldn't have done it! But, they backed me into a corner so I…"

"Did you kill them?"

"N-…no…." The figure let out a low growl. "BUT! I-I lied like the mask was important! So…that might…"

"Did you at least mark one of the Squid Sisters for death?" The figure groaned.

"I tried…But I was interrupted. Another Inkling showed up. He had some kind of special ink sword thing. My powers didn't work on defending myself from it." The figure was silent at the information. Lucius assumed the worse as he heard slight shuffling over him. He was afraid to look but he swallowed his fear and glanced upwards. "Sir?" The figure was closing a box, extending it towards Lucius.

"Here you go. As per our agreement." The figure said. Lucius chanced a small smile. He didn't seem that angry and hadn't cursed him to hell. Lucius took the box and the figure turned to walk away. "You had no knowledge of the Ink Blade, and in light of recent information, a course of action could either shorten or lengthen our plans. But all great plans involve a little risk. That's why, for your next mission, the next time you run into Agent 3, you will kill him. The Squid Sisters are no longer a target. The other agents are optional. Understand?" Lucius hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"Yes sir. I'll do it."

"Good boy. If they choose to inspect the mask, that's on them." Lucius let loose a breath he hadn't known he was holding in. He opened the box and all those positive feelings disappeared.

"Hey…" The figured stopped. "This isn't all that we agreed too…"

"Yes. You partially completed your mission. You get a partial reward."

"No, that's not the agreement we made! Every mission I go on gets me the same amount of supplies! That was the deal! I need this, you can't just give me a fraction of my dues!"

"I can. And I just did. Maybe going without will force you to focus on your next mission. Cause less error on your part." Lucius went wide eyed as the figure waited for him to say something. Lucius's body shook as he closed the box. He was overwhelmed by this burning rage and at the same time consumed by this chilling fear.

"What, you want me to choose?!" He suddenly roared. The figure peered over his shoulder. "To force me into another god damn corner like last time?! This isn't punishment, you're just making it more likely for me to fail! And that's what you want, isn't it?! Why can't you just make it easy for me?!" The figure was silent. The hall grew quiet as the only sound was the slight shaking of the box in Lucius's hands.

"Easy? The path you've chosen is the easiest. It's a path with no twists or turns. No alternate routes or ways to get lost," the figured said as he turned slowly, red eyes glowing in the darkness as Lucius fought to remain rooted in place. "It is a path without choices. For you see, Midas. A man chooses. Unlike a slave, who never strays from the path that his master paves. He follows every order and does everything they say." The figure had been taking small steps towards Lucius. With every one, bravado could be seen draining from the Inkling's face. The figure now stood directly above Lucius, glaring down at him with narrowed eyes. "Now would you kindly, obey?" Lucius stared up into burning red eyes until he couldn't take it any more. He looked down and clenched his own eyes shut. His fingers dug into the box as his arms continued to shake. They slowed to a stop and Lucius let out a sound that was a mixture of a disappointed sigh and a whimper.

"Yes….I'll obey," he whispered as he watched the ink along the floor slowly wash away.

Luca and Sebastian were watching the goriest of horror movies. A masked murderer had just beheaded a teen and the hybrid nearly toppled the couch with his shudder alone.

"You were right, bud. You suck with horror movies," Sebastian chuckled.

"Shut up. How are you so okay with it?" Sebastian was quiet for a moment with his signature smile on his face.

"Well, at the end of the day, it's just fake pictures on a screen."

"Yeah, but…still…" Sebastian chuckled and returned his attention to the screen. Luca did the same with a groan. The movie went on, with Sebastian stealing glances at Luca when he knew a murder was about to happen. The way Luca muscled through the scenes was both admirable and hilarious. His body would lurch and he'd bring his hands up as if he was about to cover his eyes, but stopped so it looked like he was gonna throw up into his palms instead. He was almost caught laughing multiple times but managed to revert his gaze back at the screen before Luca caught him.

Once the movie was done, the sun was beginning to set. Luca stood up and stretched his muscles. He groaned and looked towards Sebastian, who gave a large smile as he stood up too.

"Next time, I'm picking the movie," Luca said jabbing his chest with his thumb. Sebastian chuckled and shrugged.

"That's fine by me. Just try not to pick anything too boring." Lucius made a face as Sebastian smirked.

"Whatever man," Luca said giving his friend a fist bump. Sebastian walked Luca to the door as the two bantered back and forth. Luca went to open the door but paused. He stole a glance towards the stairs and looked over to Sebastian with worried eyes. "Are you sure Senia is okay?" Sebastian rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless.

"Dude, I'm telling you she's fine. When I took her her food, she told me she wasn't feeling well. She's gonna sleep it off and she'll feel better tomorrow. If anything happens I'll be sure to fill you in. But for right now, she's sleeping." Luca nodded, taking a glance towards the stairs. "And we're still gonna have a bro day tomorrow, right?" Sebastian gave a toothy smile that was contagious as it soon found its way on Luca's face as well.

"Yeah bro, of course." The two shook hands and said their goodbyes. Sebastian watched Luca until he was out of the yard before he closed the door. He leaned against the door and took a deep breath. He was a bit worried about Senia, but he couldn't let Luca know something was wrong with her. She had never been sick before. Besides the illness she's had since birth of course. He decided that if she needed his help, she would come to him. They were closer now, right?

He went back to the living room and put on another movie. He was prepared to just spend the next few hours engrossed in some fictional world. A few hours after Luca left, he found his eyelids getting heavy. He stood up, stretching his muscles to get out some kinks and began heading upstairs. He was halfway up the stairs when he froze. There was a slight clinging sound. Like the jingle of keys. His eyes traveled to the door as the knob began shaking as well. The front door opened and a wide smile crossed Sebastian's face.

"Well well. I figured you would've been in bed by now, Seb."

"What? You trying to sneak in without me knowing?"

"Gotta get my ninja license somehow." Sebastian chuckled as he took slow steps down the steps towards the Inkling closing the door. The steps soon evolved into a sprint as the Inkling simply held open his arms. Sebastian practically knocked him over with a hug.

"Where have you been, bro?" Sebastian asked, nuzzling his head into the older Inkling's chest. The Inkling simply smiled and rubbed Sebastian's head.

"Work, buddy. You know that."

"Well how long will you be here?" Sebastian listened to the beating of his brother's heart, and the large inhale he took.

"Not even all night, buddy…I got more things to do…" Sebastian was silent as his brother simply stroked his head. "But hey, I come bringing gifts." He said, reaching into his jacket. "Where's your sister?"

"She's upstairs sleeping."

"Tell you what. How about I stay until you fall asleep? And we can go open your present." Sebastian smirked, finally releasing his brother and looking up at him.

"Well in that case I guess I just won't be sleeping tonight." His brother smirked at him and ruffled his tentacles.

"A lazy sack like you stay up all night? I'll pay to see something like that." Sebastian laughed as the two went to the living room. Sebastian popped in another movie and sat on the couch.

"So what did you get me?" Finally pulling his hand from his jacket, Sebastian's brother brought out a small rectangular object. He handed it to Sebastian who looked over it with confusion. It was some kind of leather square with a flap. He flipped it open and his eyes widened. It was a badge. A small metallic sheen reflected back at him. On it was the symbol of the Inkopolis PD. A squid and an octopus stood back to back with their tentacles intertwined in the middle.

"Of course it's not the real thing, but, one day." Sebastian barely registered the hand on his shoulder.

"But…dad…"

"Isn't gonna rule us forever. And…I'm sure things won't change that much." Sebastian simply stared at the faux badge, slowly running his fingers over the metal. "You told me that when you grow up, you wanted to help people. To make the world better than it was for everyone. Who better to do that than a cop?" Sebastian remained silent and his brother let out a sigh. "I bought this to remind you, never to let go of your dreams. To hold on, and fight, to do whatever it takes to live, and make them a reality. Understand?"

"Well what about you?" Sebastian asked. His brother tilted his head, adjusting the hood he wore over it.

"What about me?"

"What about your dreams?…" He looked up to his brother, eyes shaking slightly and his brother smiled.

"My dream is to see you and Senia grow up big, strong, and happy." He emphasized the sentence by pulling Sebastian's head closer and kissing his forehead. "And you can bet your ass I'm fighting for that." Sebastian grew a wide smile, gripping the badge in his hand tighter.

"Thanks bro." Sebastian held his fist out and his brother bumped his against it. The two suddenly jumped as a woman screamed. Sebastian found himself behind a protective arm as his brother held a defensive hand in front of him. The TV faded from a stabbed Inkling to the movie's title card as the two siblings shared an embarrassed glance.

"How about we watch something funny?" Sebastian said with a smirk.

Senia was staring at her ceiling still deep in thought. Honestly she had given herself several headaches trying to decide what to do. On top of that, the worried sound in Sebastian's voice made her feel even worse. He knew she wasn't one to get sick, so her lie affected him more than she had predicted. She hadn't lied to him for any reason in so long that now it left a bad taste in her mouth.

In the morning she'll say she slept well and stop worrying so much over her and Luca's relationship. Better to dive in head first and hope to be caught, right? She sat up in her bed and tried to shake her head clear of any negative thoughts. She had effectively drowned out everything outside her mind and was now taking a deep breath to take it all in again. She reached over to her night stand and pressed a button on her clock.

[The time is now, 12:35 A.M.] Senia winced. She had spent much too long thinking about this. Then her ear twitched. There was a voice down stairs. One she hadn't heard in awhile. It was low, as if he was whispering. Senia stood and made her way downstairs, the voice becoming crystal clear to her as soon as she stepped outside of her room.

"Follow me and you might make it alive. Even though not many of us survive. Give me a hug, tell me it's alright. Whatever you do, just stay out of sight. Powerful eyes, watch all the time. Don't ever step in the light that they shine. I'll give you something for your appetite. I know at the end we'll bathe in sunshine."

"That's an odd choice for a lullaby." Senia said, causing her elder brother to look towards her. Sebastian was asleep with his head on his brother's shoulder, the movie's credits rolling on screen.

"It was a request. I thought you were asleep."

"And you didn't even come check on me. How shameful," Senia said with a smirk.

"Well you look fine to me," he replied with a mirrored smile.

"Well you look like shit," Senia laughed. Her brother responded by signing 'Ouch. Rude' in sign language. Senia walked up to her brother and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug.

"I missed you," she whispered in his ear.

"I missed you too, sis," he whispered back as he rubbed her back. Senia withdrew and ran her hand down her brother's face, cupping his cheek.

"What happened?" Her brother sighed and placed his hand over hers.

"Standard work stuff. You know the drill." Senia narrowed her eyes and her brother chuckled. "It's all good, okay? I'm fine." Senia let out a disapproving sigh but her brother continued. "I got you a gift. Here." He reached into his jacket again and pulled out a medium sized box. He handed it to Senia and she ran her hand over it.

"What is this?"

"It's a little tablet. Voice controlled and already program with a recording and music editing app."

"W-what?"

"Yeah. I figured with your skills, you would want to make your own songs instead of singing others." Senia ran her hand over the box as a small smile graced her face.

"You're too thoughtful brother," Senia whispered.

"I want you and Sebastian to be happy. I think that involves pushing you to your best potential." Happy…Senia glanced over, seeing Sebastian still asleep with a large smile plastered on his face. This could be the best time to bring up Luke. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Maybe this would go well. Maybe this would be the first step towards being happy.

"Brother…"

"Yes?"

"So I've….met this boy…" The smile on the older Inkling's face faltered.

"Senia-"

"And, I really like him! And…I think he likes me. But I'm not sure…" Senia waited for her brother's reaction, gripping her gift in her hands and holding her head down. He took a deep breath and ran his hand over his face.

"And this kid makes you happy, huh? Is that what you're saying?" Senia recalled her date with Luca and the butterflies she felt ever since. She slowly nodded her head. "And you actually like him? You aren't doing this to-"

"No. I'm not trying to do that."

"Well…All I can say is…go get him sis." Senia grew a large smile and her brother smiled back. "If he truly makes you happy and this is what you want, who am I to keep you from him?" Senia hugged her brother again and had to keep from squealing. Getting his blessing was much easier than she thought.

"Thank you, brother! I thought you wouldn't approve." The two glanced to see if Sebastian was still asleep before chuckling.

"Well as long as you're happy it's my job as a guardian to support you. Just be sure you tell the guy that if he hurts you no one on this planet can protect him from me." Senia giggled.

"I'll be sure to spread the message. So how long will you be staying this time?"

"Not even the whole night. I'll be leaving soon." Senia's smile shrunk a bit as she sat down on the opposite side of Sebastian, setting her gift on the table. She kissed her brother on his cheek and cuddled into his side.

"Well good night. I love you." Her eldest brother smiled and wrapped an arm around Sebastian and the other around her.

"I love you too, sis."

And another chapter bites the dust. It was a relatively calm chapter with I believe more explanation than anything. Cereza continues to have positive vibes surround her and Senia is doing some deep thinking. Lucius and Dao had an all out fight for...some reason.

If all goes to plan next chapter won't have a lot of action but a bit of drama more than anything. I hope you all are looking forward to that.

Unfortunately, next chapter may be a bit of a longer wait. I'm going to try to balance out my workload and juggle several stories. I'm gonna continue Buu to You and bring that out of hiatus hell, as well as start a new Kid Icarus story. Keep an eye peeled for those if you're interesting.

This of course won't be the end of evo. Just trying to spread out the contents for a breath of fresh air, ya know?

Anyway, thank you for reading and a special thanks to all those who review. Until next time,

Astalabyebye,

Bang