1.8 - Her Story
Night had fallen over the city of Inkopolis, and the neighboring neutral zone of Octovalley. While there was a fair amount of light pollution in the city, the valley was rather dark in comparison, since the only lights were the stars and the few lamp posts that illuminated the more important kettles. Which is why Drake was cursing himself for not grabbing a pair of night vision goggles on his way out. The beam of light from the flashlight that was attached to his weapon was the only source he had while looking around the valley for the person who had sent him the emote code.
"It said to meet at the shack..." He went over to the old squid's shack, which was completely dark and the generator was offline. There were no signs of either the owner of the shack, or the one who had sent out the text. "Was it actually the canyon cabin after all? No.. it must have been a prank. There's no way that she-"
"Drake-"
"Gah!" A sudden voice from behind made the human jump. He whipped around, and went wide eyed when he saw the one who sent him the text. The black and magenta tentacled inkling was standing behind him in her pink field outfit, looking at Drake with relief that he had shown up alone. "C-Callie?"
"Y-yeah. I'm b-back," she said with a nervous tone. She opened her mouth to say more, but the human quickly pulled her into an embrace. Something she didn't protest, and happily surrendered to. The two shed tears of joy at seeing each other, both believing they would never see each other again when the magenta Inkling fell into the purple river. Callie leaned into him, enjoying the feeling of being in the chest of the man she still loved as more than a close friend, his warm touch being the nice contrast to the cool and smooth feel of her Inkling kin.
"Callie. I'm so glad. I thought you were gone for good," Drake said between sniffles, not caring how weak he sounded.
"I did too. I.. All I could think of when I fell.. was how afraid I was of not being able to see you and Marie again after everything we've been through."
"I'm really happy you're back." He petted the back of her head, along the tentacle bow. An action that got him a content sigh from her. "But now... how did you survive? And where's Otome?" She fell in after you did." Callie looked up at him, and her expression went dark and her voice pained.
"Drake... there's.. something I have to tell you..."
...
Things felt like they were going in slow motion as she fell from the stage platform in the old assembly hall. Screaming, she looked up at the horrified expressions of the human she loved, and her beloved cousin that was next to him. The flying truck they once used as a makeshift stage flew towards her and she reached out a hand to grab it, but all she was able to get her hands around was the antenna, which snapped off rather easily. She could sense the water getting closer and closer with each second of the fall, until she hit the polluted river with a loud splash.
"It burns..." Her vision went completely purple, and she could feel the chemicals in the water start to react to her skin. She wanted to struggle, but knew it was pointless. Being able to swim in water was extremely rare in evolved cephalopods. "Am.. am I going to die.. here..?" The burning sensations were slowly getting worse, but from what little vision she still had, another figure was rapidly approaching her. "W-what?" her body moved on its own. She reached out to it, and the figure reached out as well. A hand soon gripped her own, and she went wide eyed when she finally made out the other figure.
"Otome..?" The Octoling turned back upward, and started pulling her towards the surface. She could see the lights from the stage, as they got closer and closer. Her mind was still trying to process how the Octoling was swimming, when the two broke the surface. Callie took in a deep breath, taking in the air that she had been deprived off.
"Hold on to me! I got you, Callie." The Octoling started swimming them to the edge of the river, the chemical burn starting to progress, which would soon start to dissolve her.
"Otome.. how? How can you swim?"
"Drake taught me. Now hold on. We're almost there, and I'm not losing you." She continued to pull Callie along, until they reached the edge of the river. Otome got a foot hold in the boggy riverbed, and pulled Callie close enough to where she could get a foot hold as well. "I'll be right behind you. Try to walk yourself out." Callie nodded, Otome pushed her far enough for her to be able to walk.
"I- I think I'm okay. Thank you so much, Otome!" Callie smiled, and stuck her hand out to help pull Octoling in.
"What are friends for?" Otome smiled back, and went to grab Callie's hand. But as soon as their finger tips touched, the Octoling was knocked away. Callie watched in horror, as she was pushed back out into the river, thanks to a large chunk of the metal fist that had been blown in with them. It was dragging her along to a waterfall.
"Otome! Look out!" Callie desperately looked around for something that might help her. She settled for a long coil that had been washed to shore, and chased the struggling girl to the edge of the water fall. "Otome, grab on!" She put out as much of the coil as she could out in the river. Otome caught it, and used it to pull away from the fist, just as it went over the edge. The Octoling tried to swim to shore, but wasn't fast enough, and she too went over the edge. Callie had to dig her feet into a rock pile to avoid getting pulled back into the water.
"Callie? Callie, you have to let go."
"I'm.. not.. gonna.." She grunted, as she tried to pull her up.
"You have to, or we both go over!"
"Not.. gonna.. happen... We're... going.. back.. together.." She continued to grip the coil. Otome just sighed, and started to climb up, sensing that she wasn't going to let go. About half way up, however, the coil suddenly snapped in half. Otome fell down the waterfall, and the lack of pull caused Callie to flip over on her backside, and her half of the coil went flying past her.
"Nononono!" Callie got up as quick as she could, and ran to the water falls edge, but saw no signs of her Octoling friend. Fearing the worst, she quickly found a path to the lake that the fall spilled into. Getting as close as she could to the water, she desperately looked around for any signs of her. "Otome?" She called out. There was no response, and she started pacing. "Otome! Please.. don't do this to me. You can't be gone.." After several minutes of this, she collapsed on her knees, and started crying loudly. The sound of falling water, and the Inkling girl's cries were all that were heard over the large lake.
...
"A-are you telling me... she.."
"I'm sorry.. I'm sorry. I looked for her as long as I could.. but... All I found was this.." The teary eyed Callie pulled out a small equipment belt, and held it up to the human that looked to be on the verge of breaking again. He slowly took it and looked it over. A holster was attached to it, with a handgun inside. Attached to it, was a spare magazine and a box of bullets occupied the pouch on the other side.
"It.. it's the handgun I gave her for her birthday, two years ago." He held the weapon up. It was an old but effective relic from the second world war.
"I'm sorry.." Callie was on the verge of breaking out in tears again. Drake just went back to rubbing her tentacles.
"It's not you're fault, Callie."
"It is! If I hadn't run off after Octavio-"
"You were just doing what you thought was right. If anything.. it's my fault."
"H-huh?"
"I should have been quicker, and not hesitated." Drake put his head in his palm. "And I should have trusted her words."
"T-that's not-"
"And I should have taught you how to swim with Otome."
"You.. were going to teach me?" She looked up at him, a little surprised. The thought that he would help her overcome a natural fear made her both happy and nervous at the same time.
"Yes. I was going to teach you and Marie a few months ago when it started getting hot, but you were still down from all the work stress. We were supposed to do it at the Calamari trip, but that never happened..." Drake paused for a few seconds. "So don't blame yourself. Besides, Octavio was the one who caused everything. And Looking back on it, I highly doubt Kirin could have anticipated all that happening, despite his words. Maybe he was right. We should have killed the old man when we had the chance."
"I.. uh.. I suppose... But needless killing is still wrong." Callie wiped her wet face. "I miss her already though..."
"I do too, Callie. I do too." They both stood in silence for some time with only the sound of crickets to cover Callie's occasional sniffle. Drake had a lot he wanted to let out to, but he decided he needed to be strong for her, and forced it to stay inside.
"S-so.. listen, Drake. I.. uh.. need a favor." She stopped sobbing and looked up at him.
"Sure. What ever you need." He forced a smile in return.
"C-can you... uh. Let me move in with you?"
"Wait, what? You mean back at the settlement?" He gave her a shocked look, wondering what brought the sudden request on. "Shouldn't you be back with Marie?"
"I...I.." She paused for a moment to avoid letting another torrent of tears flow over the bombshell she was about to drop. "I can't go back. I've been banned from Inkopolis, and all Inkling settlements." Drake stared at her in silence, not fully able to process what she just said. That the sweet girl, the big celebrity and one of the protectors of Inkopolis had been thrown out for something that wasn't even her fault.
"What.. what did you just say?"
"They called me a traitor and said I could never go back." She looked down with an ashamed expression. "The chancellor was there and everything and-" Callie stopped and froze when they heard the sound of something drop. Drake turned and quickly drew his handgun, aiming it at the interloper, only to find Marie standing there in shock.
"C-callie? You're alive?"
"M-marie?" Callie turned toward her with a horrified expression.
"Why didn't you tell me? And.. Is it true?"
"Marie, I.. I I didn't want to worry you. I'm sorry, I.. I.. We can't be together anymore and I didn't want to worry you-" Callie couldn't finish before Marie embraced her cousin.
"Callie.. how could you think that for even a second? I'm your cousin, and I love you. Do you know how hurt I was thinking I had lost you for good?"
"I... I.." Callie was struggling to get her words out, as tears of regret beaded down her cheek.
"I don't care who says you aren't allowed here anymore. You being alive is more than I could ever ask for after what happened!"
"Marie... Marie... whhhaaa.." Unable to hold back her emotions, she buried her face in her cousin's chest. Marie hugged her tightly, her own tears dripping on top of Callie's pink cap. Drake wanted to turn back and leave the two alone, but he had to see this through, and simply leaned against the shack to give the two time to themselves. It seemed like hours before the duo regained control over their emotions, and Drake looked up to see that they were both standing in front of him again.
"Drake.. I have a favor to ask of you as well. Please... look after my cousin."
"Marie.. I've told you before that you don't have to ask that of me. But, there is a problem. I can't take her back to the E.C.S."
"W-what? Why not? I'll be good, and -"
"It's not that. I would do that for you in a heartbeat if I could, but.." he sighed heavily. "But I've been exiled from my home as well."
"What?!" The two said in unison.
"Yeah.. They think I'm a traitor for aiding a known criminal and not being there to assist the Edef team with the trans-border train incident. I was actually planning on asking you two if I could stay at your place for a while." Both cousins looked at each other.
"We would love to have you.. and I trust you, Drake, but with her banned in Inkopolis and you banned from Eden-"
"Neither of us can house each other," Drake sighed. "Well, I can pull some favors and have Brandon get you in-"
"No!" Callie said strongly and clung to his shoulder.
"But it will be safe and they all know you-"
"No.. I don't want to be alone.. please!" Callie begged. Drake looked up at Marie, who shrugged.
"I'd rather her be with someone I trust as well," she said. "We need to come up with a plan." They all sat down on a nearby log. "And I know this isn't the best time but, while we think, can you tell me everything that happened while I was away at Calamari County?"
...
Several days ago...
"Just one more day." Callie sighed as she walked away from the train station and back towards the square. "Just one more day and I can put all this behind me and be with my family and best friends." Callie, who was in her Squidbeak disguise, mulled around the square a bit, wondering how to kill the time. "Maybe I should check up on Gramps." The magenta squid soon found herself hopping through the pipe grate, and in Octovalley some time later.
"Graaaammps! You awake?" Callie shouted at the empty shack. D.J. Octavio, who had been temporarily moved back to the valley after a break-in threat at the prison, just gave her an annoyed look over the noise she was making. Callie ignored him, and peaked inside. There were no signs of the old squid. "Gramps? Where did you get off too?" She made his way over to where the bed was, and noticed that both his squid phone and the telegram he had sent were both sitting on the counter. After reading the note about being on a research trip, she picked up his phone and sighed after seeing all the missed call notifications. "So that's why you weren't picking up. Just as forgetful as ever, silly old man." She giggled to herself, but a loud explosion was heard from the front of the shack.
"W-what the heck?" Having a very bad feeling, Callie grabbed her roller and ran back outside. The first thing she noticed was the sphere prison had a large gaping whole at the top. "Ah, crud! He's getting away again!" She whipped around, and saw him making a break for one of the kettles with several Octolings that were wearing a different uniform than when she had last done battle with them. "Oh, no you don't! You get your big purple butt back here!" She slammed the roller down and charged forward. The group turned around, just in time to see her ram the roller into the hips of one of the Octolings, knocking her out instantly as ink paralysis set in.
"Don't just stand there, morons!" Octavio yelled. One of his escorts raised an Octoshot to shoot her, but Callie swung the roller around, blocking the shots and spraying the Octoling boy with ink, causing him to lose the use of his limbs, and he fell backwards. She was about to charge at the third escort, but was suddenly grabbed by one of Octavio's tentacles. It lifted her up, and another grabbed and squeezed her arm, forcing her to drop the roller she was about to hit him with.
"Let go of me and get back in your cell, yah jerk!" Callie yelped. "Nobody likes you anymore!"
"Ha! That's rich. You've got a big debt to pay off, and you'll be liking me plenty when this is done." Octavio grinned, and lowered her enough so that the third escort could wack her in the head with a reverse engineered blaster, knocking her out instantly. Octavio and what was left of the escorts hopped into one of the Ceph kettles to head back to the industrial section of Octocanyon.
...
The next day, the figures of a pink squid in yellow gear, a red tentacled Octoling in the old Guardian Corps uniform,and an armor wearing human were slowly making their way through Ceph. Their steady but cautious movements hinted that they were searching for something. Any doubt of this by those that were observing them, was soon removed when the Octoling spoke.
"Could she really have come through here? We haven't seen a single sign of Callie since she didn't show up at the station for our trip."
"Yeah, but you two saw that busted up cell with no Octavio in it. You know she would never let him get away again," Neptune said with a tired yawn.
"And she's not back in the city. That much we know," Drake added
"Y-yeah.. I'm just worried about her. She's been gone for a day.." Otome looked down and slowed her pace.
"I am too, Otome. Something is not right about this."
"Geez, you make me sound like I'm just going through the motions." The current Agent 3 said with another yawn. "And I've been at this all day. Ceph is the only place I haven't ruled out."
"We know. You did good, Neptune." Drake patted her head, and Neptune sighed with a hint of comfort.
"It's not the same if it isn't big brother.. but that's not bad once in a while."
"You know Levin is still with Shara, and those two have been together for almost two years," Otome commented.
"Man, that's not what I mean." Neptune rolled her eyes and grinned a little. "Not that you two have much room to talk about relationships, Ms. I haven't done anything more than kiss with my pretend I'm not in a relationship forbidden ship boyfriend." Neptune grinned wider as Otome froze.
"How- How did you know?"
"Pa-lease. You can't fool the love detective."
"Love detective? Seriously Neptune?" Otome quickly facepalmed while Neptune continued to giggle. "This from the girl who couldn't even get her feelings across to-"
"Wait, stop!" Drake raised his hand to quiet the bickering pair. He then raised his weapon. "We're not alone."
"W-what?" Otome and Neptune quickly raised their weapons as well, but froze when a trio of sniper sights were on them. Several Octosnipers that were hidden in the ruined buildings revealed themselves and an number of Octolings came out of the nearby bushes and rubble piles. The three all backed up to one another, as the Octolings all encircled them.
"Alright, drop your weapons. The rightful king wants to have a word with you," the lead elite said, and pointed a reverse engineered blaster at Drake. The others quickly followed her lead.
"Best do what she says," Otome grumbled while scanning the area. She and Drake both lowered their weapons to the ground.
"Ha! Not a chance. No way am I going to be that sucker's 'guest' again," Neptune said, while aiming the Type-h at the Octolings that were near her.
"Neptune, you're going to get your self killed!" Otome hissed back.
"D'aw, you worried about me? Well it's better dead than red-"
"Quiet!" Drake said to shut them both up. He then leaned closer and whispered. "Hey. If I tank their shots for you, think you can squid jump away from here?"
"It's risky with out a beacon or proper coordinates... but I like the way you think," Neptune nodded in response.
"Even if we get away, they'll just capture you! We can't do that!" Otome protested.
"Yes you can, because-"
"Hey! What are you whispering about? Nevermind, hands up! Now!" The elite ordered, and waved her blaster at them. "Let me see those hands!"
"Then you'll see this!" Drake raised his arms in a defensive stance, then charged the elite down. She was too surprised to get out of the way in time, and he shoved her back, causing her to knock over several of her underlings. "Do it! Now!" He yelled, as the other Octolings all raised their octoshots, and started painting him with ink. Rapidly losing his strength from the ink's effect, he knocked another on to the ground who had pointed her weapon at Neptune.
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Neptune who had already changed forms, quickly squid jumped away.
"Otome, go!" Drake ordered, who was now on his knees.
"No!" Drake looked up, and saw that Otome was standing in front of him with her arms spread out. "We give up, so stop hurting him!"
"W-what? I told you to-"
"Enough!" The elite snapped as she got back on her feet. "We could have done this the easy way, but you just had to be a tough guy." One of her underlings bashed Otome on the head with the butt end of an octoshot, knocking her out. The elite then shoved drake to the ground, and stomped on his head with her boot. "Right. Take these idiots to the interrogation room. We'll deal with the squid later."
Hours later, Otome was the first one to wake up with an audible groan. The first thing she noticed was that she was tied to a chair with the special cord that prevents form changing. They appeared to be in what looked like a hospital room. To her left, Drake was also tied to a chair. She went wide eyed when she saw the footprint shaped bruise on his head. "Drake! Drake, wake up." She struggled to try and free herself from the binding.
"Don't even try it," a voice to her right said. Standing next to a window that lead to another room that was completely dark, the Octoling elite stood in front of them with her arms crossed. She could hear Drake groan as he started to wake up.
"Ughh.. My head."
"Drake.. thank goodness," she sighed, then turned to glare at the elite. "You! What did you do to him!"
"Not as much as I would have if he hadn't ordered you kept alive. Speaking of which, he wants to talk to you, now that you're both awake." The elite hit a button and a monitor screen in front of them flicked on.
"Gyahaha. Well well. Look who it is. Payback's a pain in the tentacle, ain't it?" The Octobot king grinned with a smug look. "But hey, since you're here, I'm thinking yah can return your debt by doing me a solid." The massive octo signaled the elite, who undid their restraints.
"And what makes you think we aren't going to just take her weapon and leave?" Drake said, glaring at the elite while rubbing his bruise.
"Keheh. Yah didn't think I wouldn't have some insurance, did you?" He flicked a switch, and the lights in the next room came on.
"W-what? Callie!" Otome shrieked, and they both ran to the window. Inside, was indeed their friend. But she was laying on the bed, almost motionless, a moan escaping her. She had on her agent outfit, but had on a pair of the new Octoling goggles over her eyes. "What did you do to her!"
"Oh, just a little something that you should appreciate. Raise, Callie!" Octavio commanded, and the goggles flashed red. Callie's face went expressionless, and she rose off the bed. Next to her, a weapons case rose out of the ground. "Get yah a weapon." Callie then took a reverse engineered roller, then strapped an ink tank to her back. Another Octoling wheeled in what looked like a dummy in the shape of an Inkling. "Now splat that inksquirt."
"Yes, sir." She mercilessly swung the roller, covering the target with ink. She swung again, and it broke in two. The door opened, and Callie walked out of the room to where the two were watching the demonstration.
"Bastard! How dare you use the controller on her!" Otome spat. She was fully aware how it felt to be under his influence, and the thought disgusted her.
"Gyaha. Now that I got ya's attention, Yer gonna help me steal back the great zapfish. And if yah don't obey my commands, I'll remix her brain permanently. I gotta stronger version that will really mess her up." He hit a button, and the goggles turned from red, back into their normal hue. Callie collapsed on her knees, panting heavily. "I'll see yah soon. And don't be forgetting now." The monitor switched off, and the two helped Callie back on her feet.
"Callie, talk to me. Are you okay?" Drake asked.
"Uwuhh.. that was awful. I never want to go through that again," she answered, holding her head.
"It's okay. We're here," Otome said in a comforting tone, and hugged the black and magenta tentacled squid sister.
"T-thank you... I'm so sorry I dragged you into my screw up," she whimpered.
"Yeah, yeah. Enough with the pity party. And from now on, you will go by your new code names of Magenta, Guardian and Enigma. We got a job to do now, so get moving!" The elite motioned them to follow her. Otome let go of Callie, and Drake had to hold her back from punching her. After having their weapons returned to them, the elite lead them to an airship that was docked outside the building, where two other squads of Octolings had gathered. The elite went to the front of the group, and turned to address them.
"Alright, you pack of bottom feeders! Today is our lucky day. Our supreme leader and true emperor, has decided its time to take back what's rightfully ours for good! Those Inkling loving cowards from the army will regret the day they threw in with the weakling Octurus. Lord Octavio has ordered the recovery of the great zapfish, and our squad will be the diversion. We will attack a place called muscle forge fitness, and buy time for 2nd squadron to steal the zapfish. Now let's take back what is ours!" She yelled, and the rest of the squad cheered. They boarded the airship, and soon were on their way to Inkopolis.
"There has to be a way to stop this." Otome muttered, as the airship neared its location some time later. The journey had been rather quiet, and even though it was night, the city completely had its guard down. Nothing tried to intercept them once they were in Inkling airspace.
"There isn't. Not as long as he has Callie as a trump card," Drake shook his head. "I hate it too, but we have to grin and bear it until we get an opening."
"Right... but.. he didn't say we had to.. you know. Try hard."
"As I've said many times, I like the way you think, Otome." The two exited the airship along with Callie, and infiltrated the fitness center. They didn't have trouble breaching through the skylight in the roof. The group of 8 Octolings and 1 Inkling jumped down, while Drake used his grappling hook to descend into the building. The group hit the ground on a ramp that lead to a S.P.A.W.N. and fanned out, raising their weapons to the surprised Inklings. Since it was off hours, the gym was being used as a turf war arena, and they had landed right in the middle of one.
"W-what's going on? W-why is the Octarian army here?" A nervous boy on the yellow team asked. His eyes looked like they were about to pop out.
"Stay back, Marik." A female from the cyan team put her hand in front of him, then stepped forward. "You reds know you're not supposed to be here, right? You should know better than to violate the treaty that gave you reds a better deal than you deserve." She gave the elite the dirtiest look she could imagine. The elite in turn, just grinned and raised her hand up.
"Well, then. What's say we up the stakes, Inkling scum?"
"Pointless. The S.P.A.W.N. system will protect them while turf wars are active. It's not like this is new information." Otome shook her head at what she thought was the leader's bravado getting the better of her.
"Don't you worry. Our inside girl should be taking care of that.. right about.. now." The grin on the elites face grew wider, as both pads simultaneously sparked. The Inklings all turned to their respective S.P.A.W.N. points to see them both burst into flames. An alarm sounded, and the sprinkler system kicked in, showering the pads with safe freshwater, putting the fires out. Unfortunately, the damage already had been done and an automated voice came through the turf player's automaps that the turf war was canceled due to malfunction, and to vacate the area.
"T-the base pads!" Marik slowly backed away, as the cyan female turned to him with dread filled eyes.
"Marik! Run!"
"Too late." The elite swung her hand down, and the other Octolings all moved in at once. The cyan Inkling threw herself in front of Marik, taking several octoshot hits to the back. With the last of her strength, she pushed him backwards before falling on her stomach as ink paralysis took hold. She laid there with labored breathing.
"J-Juno!" The Inkling boy backed away with his weapon raised. His knees were shaking, and he looked torn between running and helping Juno. His eyes widened when one of the Octolings that was wielding a modified blaster, hit one of his teammates in the legs. Loosing all control, he fell forward into the trench that separated the base pad from the center section. His agonized wails echoed through the narrow passage, as he could be seen holding his injured legs. The Octoling then turned on him, ready to send an explosive ink ball his way.
"A-ah! No!" He raised his arms to cover his face, only to see a yellow stream fly past him and hit her in the neck. The Octoling fell into the trench, landing next to the injured boy, and was barely able to breath between her pained coughs.
"Get back dude! We'll cover you!" A charger user perched himself on the raised platform next to a catwalk that connected the yellow base with the center.
"Yeah! Eat this, you sea cows!" A splatling gunner hopped up on the small box that was on the very center of the contested zone. He unloaded a charge at the nearest Octoling. His pellets hit her armor and bounced off at first, but the continued burst soon broke through, and knocked her flat on her back. The remaining Inklings and Octolings all took cover and went prone, all taking potshots at each other.
"Enigma! Guardian! What the hell are you doing! Deal with that sniper and gunner!" The elite yelled in frustration.
"Hey, you never said we had to engage-" Drake started.
"NOW! BEFORE I HAVE LORD-"
"Alright, alright." Drake raised his rifle, taking his sweet time aiming for the boy's shoulder. Squeezing the trigger, he put a short burst into the Inkling. The sniper stumbled backwards, looking shocked and confused at the sudden and unexpected pain the unfamiliar weapon caused him. He fired another shot at the other shoulder, and he fell back and off the platform. "That should keep him unable to use his weapon for a while... even with their fast healing." He looked over to see Otome do the same thing to the splatling gunner's legs with a well placed burst bomb, causing them to give out from under him.
"All units, advance!" The elite yelled, and joined the remaining soldiers to push back against the Inklings they now outnumbered again. Marik was watching in horror as his teammates and former opponents were splatted, one by one. He ducked down, as two Octolings ran past his hiding spot to chase down a retreating sploosh user. But that was not his concern, and he rose back up to run towards the fallen cyan girl.
"Juno! Juno, are you okay?"
"Uhhg.. Marik.. I told you to run, stupid," the cyan girl groaned.
"N-no.. You always have to call me a coward, but I'm not running again." He reached towards her.
"Dammit, go already!"
"I-need to get you to a -ah!" He froze when another figure stepped in front of him. But then started to feel relieved when he saw the Inkling tentacles and clothing. "O-oh, your not Octarian." He sighed with relief. "Please, help me get her to the hospital before they come back." The girl stood there with out saying anything. "P-please, help me-" He froze when the girl raised the roller and pointed it at his chest. "W-what are you doing?"
"I'm.. sorry..." Callie winced and pushed the roller into his chest. She only used minimal force, but it was enough to knock him down and splat him enough to cause ink paralysis.
"You.. you traitor.." Juno said with a pained growl.
"I'm so sorry..." Callie whimpered. Several tears flowed from her face. The fact that she hurt an innocent and a child at that, made her heart wrench. She didn't have time to say anything else, as the elite soon came back with the others.
"That's all of them. Give me a casualty report," the elite barked.
"Ma'am, all eight Inklings have been incapacitated and two of our own were downed. No deaths on either side," an Octoling male reported.
"What do you mean no deaths? Who told you to take prisoners!" She glared at the male, then turned to the two Inklings that Callie was standing next to. "Whatever, just kill them all. And we'll start with these two." The elite pointed her blaster at Juno and Marik.
"W-wait. You can't!" Callie's eyes widened from behind the goggles.
"What was that, Magenta?" The elite glared at Callie.
"I said you can't!" She stepped between the Inklings and the elite. "I won't let you!"
"Get out of my way. Did you forget I can have him fry your mind at anytime?" She held up her communicator.
"I don't care. You. Can't. Hurt. Them!" Callie said with a decisive tone that surprised everyone, including the human and Octoling that had been close with her for the past 2 years.
"She's right you know. You really shouldn't," Otome said, who grabbed the leaders hand, while trying to conceal her boiling anger.
"You got something to say? I'm this close to having him activate the device and both of you executed."
"I think what she means to say, is that they are worth more to you alive," Drake stepped in to try and defuse the situation. "You all want to start a war, right? Well, that might be a bit easier if the Inklings have witnesses that say they saw the army attack." The elite stared at him for a good few seconds.
"I guess you fossils are smarter than your puny heads make you look. Fine," she turned to the others. "Alright, fan out and use your squee-g to de-splat them just enough to keep them alive. Then break their weapons and tanks."
"Yes, ma'am!" The others responded, and spread out. The elite took several steps forward, before pausing.
"Guardian, Enigma, you two help unload the decoy mini zapfish. Magenta... just.. stand there and pretend to look pretty, I guess." The elite shook her head before moving to another area. Drake and Otome both gave Callie a quick pat on the shoulder to try to reassure her, before carrying out the Elite's orders. Callie slumped down, while watching Juno and Marik get treated. She wanted to cry, but over the last few hours, she had shed enough tears, and could only let out a sad sigh. She decided on the next best thing.
"It's the only thing I'm good at, after all." Callie wiped her face, and started to sing. She sang low and slow, to avoid drawing attention to herself as the others worked. While it didn't make her feel better about the situation, it did calm her a little. Eventually, she noticed an Octoling standing behind her. She paused and looked back, hoping it was Otome. The face of an unfamiliar Octoling with bright red tentacles that looked about Otome's age when they first met, was standing behind her with an expression of pity. Callie turned away, and went back to her singing.
After some time, she noticed another voice was singing with her. The other Octoling had joined in her singing, following along as best she could. Her voice was beautiful, yet familiar, and contained no trace of malice. Callie looked back again, and the girl had her eyes closed. Wondering how the girl was able to keep up so well, Callie continued to sing with the girl, until the group had bought the main force enough time, and Octavio ordered them to pull out, once he had claimed his prize.
...
A\N. And change of plans. Last chapter went longer than I thought, so I had to break it into two. Also this splatfest is giving me ideas for another horror one shot, thanks to them shoehorning more human holidays as canon, so there's that to deal with. but we'll see how time goes.