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... girl...
Yes, Barsy?
Like... it's been a while and... you know… how about we go out and take some fresh air?
Not now, silly! You know that we are the only ones who can help Mirii out!
Girl, I know the good intentions… but those Agents dudes and dudettes can still get past us with the force.
And we'll use our brains to drive them off! Just like we did with Tonna!
Uhm… do you think she went mad? I really hope not…
… I hope the opposite, actually.
You want her as your enemy?
No no, not my enemy… but an enemy for a certain someone.
What you mean?
Think about it, Barsy… who is the one who wants to keep on going with that matter? Certainly not you or me or even Hunry…
Mirii?
Yep! Now… because of Mirii, Tonna is really walking on bad ink… do you really think that at this point, we will still get involved into this matter as easily as before?
Oh… oooooh, like wait a sec! You say that… you protected Mirii for another reason as well?
Well… it depends how you look at it. It's not me who's going against Mirii… we are truly help her out, in a sense.
Yeah, that whole thing is kinda scaring me too… like, who wants to deal with all that stuff?
I know, I know… I certainly don't want to live my whole life, chasing down those organizations… do you remember what I said that day, not too long ago…? I still haven't changed my mind.
Yeah… but girl, what about the money? We will get nowhere without getting some of that.
Eh eh… that would be the second phase of my little plan, there.
… you have a plan?
Yep! A plan who will put the Inkinators back to its roots… the true roots!
But Mirii said that Turf Wars are used
Meh… at the end, who cares about it? It's not like they want to conquer the world or anything… with the little information we know, Project Neo could actually be used for the good of all Squids!
And you think that Mirii will let you reactivate the station just like that?
Eh eh eh… she may look tough… she may even think to know our capabilities… but she'll never expect this little surprise I'm planning for Phase 2.
You'll talk about it to me as well?
Yep! Not now… later this night. I'll show you my cards… and I'll organize them in such way, that Mirii and Hunry will join us without questioning anything.
And then… our careers will be dedicated to Turf Wars?
That's my ultimate goal... but I have other things in mind, as well! For example, I really want to plan out a brief holiday for us… you know, forgetting this whole menace for a moment and have just fun! It would be amazing, Barsy! Especially when Greta Inkolina is the one planning everything!
Oooooh, man…! Can't wait for that! Eh eh… still… there is one thing I don't understand…
Hmm?
At the end… we are still the Inkinators! Like, who cares if we are Agents, Rangers or just plain ol' Squids: the important thing is to stay in the team!
… no… that's not what I really want…
No?
Listen… I… I don't really like being an "Agent"… this whole atmosphere keeps making me a bit nervous too. I hate the air we are breathing here… and I hate even more those moments where we either follow the trails for reaching this project or when we have to deal with even more Stingrays.
Oh… you mean the real danger, huh?
… I want to live a life without thinking anything complicated. I want to share great moments with my dear friends, too. I can't get out of this with just you… Hunry and Mirii must come with us too.
"Must"?
… yes… … I'm not gonna lie… when Tonna appeared here, I really wished to throw a punch on her face.
Whoa, whoa! Like, girl! You said
I KNOW WHAT I SAID, BARS! I don't want her to be my enemy… because that could mean bad news for the team and my whole plan. Still, I'm making sure she's walking exactly in the direction I want her to go.
So… yeah, not attacking her but using her.
Yeah… still, you don't have any idea how much hatred I have for her, right now.
Because of what they did to Mirii?
That mission was totally bogus! That Soke loser… he never showed up, after that incident!
Uhm… I wonder where he's now…
Probably in a place where we are not around.
… about that mission…
Bars, it's useless talking about it. We still don't know all the exact details… but I know one thing for sure: Tonna was trying to get on Inkinators' way! That doesn't mean just Mirii… look at Hunry! Poor guy! He must be so sad and worried… …
… girl?
… don't mind me… I want to see Tonna again…
GIRL, STOP! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!
Grrrr… th-that darn witch…! If I see her again… this time she'll really receive a punch!
Then, you want to blow up your entire plan?!
… sigh… … what she did was unforgivable… … but you are right, I can't let my emotions get the best of me. I-I'm sorry for that… … sniff… m-my poor friends…
No, no, please… calm down, girl. Come on… Mirii can still get out of this… and Hunter will get all happy for that.
… it's been a while, since he left… … sigh, I hope he's ok…
…
… Hunry?! Hunry!
Hi…
Wh-what's up with that face?! … oh… you want to know about Mirii, don't you?
… not just that…
What do you mean?!
… while I was walking back… I saw that guy we encountered before… here, in the Headquarters.
…
He was talking with some Squids… and he saw me, while I was looking! He immediately closed the door… and another Agent immediately came near me, telling that I shouldn't peek on others' offices. That's when I left and walked back here.
… Hunry… would you mind if you tell us where this office is?
Pretty much the one in front of the stairs… why?
Listen up, I want you to stay here… while me and Barsy will move somewhere.
Again? Alright, sure.
Come on, Bars: we are still in time.
Mirii was walking on the sidewalk: suddenly, two females ghosts appeared into thin air. The girl gritted her teeth.
"Curses!" She turns behind, sprinting and frowning. "I'm being surrounded by ghosts! Ghosts I wish to know a way for taking them all out…"
Mirii turned to her left, bending behind a red pillar which an Inkling word was written on the center: it was saying "MAIL".
"I'm getting sick of running away like a helpless Squid… … but if I fight the ghosts, I could receive unspeakable injuries which I couldn't cure. I don't even have a long-ranged weapon to defend myself with… or even any economical ways to get one. This situation can't go on like this… it must stop. I'll make it happen for real."
Her head was sticking out from her red pillar's right side, seeing a traffic light with all three round glasses black. Her head rose.
"… there is something wrong about this city… the Squid Cousins claimed that this is a real world… then why this city feels abandoned? Am I still playing a videogame who pretends to be real?"
Mirii gently walks to the left, standing in front of the red pillar but facing the traffic lights: her arms folded.
"Not to mention… that whole scene with my shadow… her behavior was beyond odd for such character." Her eyes closed. "Sigh… so many questions… so frustrating to see all of them unanswered."
Her eyebrows rose.
"But what can I do at this point…? What I could possibly do against a gigantic monster, if I have nothing to defend myself with…?"
She turns behind, walking a bit.
"… speaking of monsters… I wonder if Squid King and his monster are still rampaging the city."
Her head rose, tilting left and right.
"… huh… come to think of it, I have been walking for a while and I didn't found any trace of this supposed monster. Not even a sight… … siiiiigghhh…"
Her head felt like moving left and right without control.
"I'm so tired… I-I'm begging for many things, yet I can't take any single one of them…"
Mirii's left leg slides backwards, as the girl went down and her right foot was pushing the floor. Her teeth gritted, her right hand fell on her right knee.
"Anf… uff… wh-what… wh-what's going on, now…? I… I suddenly feel incredibly tired… … I don't understand…"
Miiiiirrriiiiiiiiii…
Her head was jerkily tilting upwards: her eyes tracked a small light circle in the sky.
"… huh… this place is a never-ending parade of unexplainable events…"
Yooouuuuuu… coooommmeeeeeee… heeeeerrreeeeee…
"… nngghhh… … who are you…?" She frowned, as sweat covered her forehead.
The small circle was still up in the sky. Mirii let out a loud gasp, starting to breath loudly.
"Th-that light… I… I have to get rid of it, somehow… it's… i-it's…"
Suddenly, the shape disappeared. Mirii's irises shrunk, as her eyes tilted to her right: her shadow was grinning, as her right arm was stretching sideways.
"… were you calling for help?" Her right arm retreated back. "There! I saved you!"
Mirii kept staring at her shadow, gradually breathing normally: she stands up, as her head rose.
"You…" Her eyes were squeezing. "… what games are you playing?"
"No one!" Her eyes closed, as her hands went behind her back. "You were screaming for help, so I saved you."
"… you can read my mind, huh…" Her arms folded. "… can you at least confirm it?"
"… can you at least confirm it?" Her shadows' arms folded.
"Stop repeating like an idiot!" Mirii bended a bit forward, frowning.
"Stop repeating like an idiot!" Mirii's shadow bended a bit forward, frowning.
"What this act wants to prove?! That you can indeed read my mind, because you are my true shadow?!" Mirii snorted.
The shadow kept looking at her: her head lowered.
"Siiigghh… why it's so hard to talk with myself…? … why that question, if I even know its answer?"
"Hmpf. You are the one who decided to hold idiotic speeches, just as this one." Mirii shakes her head, while closing her eyes.
"You ARE the idiot here."
Mirii's eyes opened, as veins popped out from her forehead. Mirii's shadow was frowning, still keeping her red eyes.
"… yes, you heard that one right." Her head rose. "Also, heard this one at the first shot: I HATE YOU!"
Mirii's shadow sprinted, throwing a punch at Mirii: her arm passed the girl, which irises were shrunk. The shadow kept staying in such position for three seconds, before retreating backwards.
"I hate you…" Her head lowered. "… I hate you…"
"The reason?" Mirii rose her head.
"… you forgot the reason… … I know you did…" Her head was still lowered.
"… your answer is invalid." Mirii's eyes squeezed. "If this is your newest attempt to stop my progress, I"
"I knew it… you forgot the reason…" Her head went back on neutral position. "… after all, what I was expecting from the shadow of a former person…?"
"I'm no shadow." Mirii lowered her head, frowning. "Enough with your insults: leave the original alone."
The girl starts walking past her shadow.
"… how…"
Mirii stopped, as her ears rose. Her head was still looking forward.
"… how can you appreciate… that goal of yours?" Her shadow's eyebrows were up.
"Perfection…? Is that what you mean…?" Mirii kept her previous position.
"… you know that one is useless… no matter how hard you try to hide that fact." Her shadow sniffed loudly. "I know all about you, Mirii… you… you would love to care the next Squid, don't you?"
Her shadow bended forward.
"WHY ACTING SO COLD, THEN?!" She grits her teeth.
"… I was right before… there is no way you are my shadow." Mirii turns behind, folding her arms. "I have the desire to save the city, restoring its perfect state."
"Even if that means to destroy it first?!" Her shadow's fists were clenching.
Mirii opened her mouth wide.
"… o-of course not!" Mirii bends forward, frowning a bit. "I would never destroy others' lives! That would be an act of imperfection!"
"And you really need that to understand what's right or wrong…?" Her shadow starts walking.
"That's common sense! Perfection lives in common sense!" Mirii took two steps backwards.
"… but you are not always perfect… you know that…" Her shadow's eyes were a bit watery. "… please… stop following perfection… it doesn't just hurt you… your friends will also be involved!"
Her shadow stopped, as her hands were clasped. Mirii folds her arms, as her head rose.
"… if you truly know me… tell me, which candy is my absolute favorite?" Her eyes squeezed.
… her shadow's mouth was wide open: sweat covered her forehead.
"… ehm… f-favorite candy…? You have one…?" She swallows silently.
Mirii turns behind, beginning to walk.
"Wait! Waaaiiiitttt!" Her right arm stretched forward, as sweat jumped out of her forehead. "Give me one sec, will ya?! It's been… long! Yes, very long since I last saw you"
"It also happened rather recently." Mirii's head rose. "Now be quiet and leave me alone."
The girl kept walking, as her eyes closed. Her eyes reopened, seeing her shadow in front of her with her hands behind her back.
"… if I say the truth now, will you listen to me…?" Her head tilted a bit to her left.
"I have no time for more lies… be gone." Her eyes reclosed.
"I can help you defeat Squid King! I know what to do!" Her arms opened wide, while walking backwards.
"The only thing you can do is to disappear from my sight… because my ears are not"
RROOOOOOAAAARRRRR!
Mirii jumped, while opening her eyes and turning her head to her left: a gigantic cat was jumping from each building's top, moving the right-front paw at smaller Squids in the distance.
"… finally, the moment I was waiting for." Mirii sprinted. "A chance to stop Squid King, once and for all!"
"But you have nothing on your arsenal!" Mirii's shadow was now sitting on her head, with her eyebrows up. "Listen to me, please…"
"SHUT UP!" Her hands were passing her shadow. "This is an important matter, you babbling buffoon! That cat must go down, which will also stop the Squid King and make this videogame world cease to exist!"
"… sigh… wh-why are you not giving me a second chance…? I-I'm begging you… … you know what? Turf it: you need to get more jellyfishes for the Squids." Her shadow frowned.
"… how?" Mirii turned to her left, while sprinting. "I can't gather something inconsistent as"
"You need to get a flute and play it: jellyfishes will start following you." Mirii's shadow folded her arms.
"CURSES!" Mirii turns behind, after seeing three ghostly Inklings walking by: she sprinted back, turning once again on her left. "… a flute?! And YOU expect me to believe I can get a"
"In order to get the flute, you have to… … wait, let me check the instructions first." Her shadow disappeared.
"The instructions?! Wh-what are you talking about?!" Her irises went up. "… hey! HEY! You wanted to talk so much and now"
BUMF!
Mirii fell on her back, sliding a bit on the sidewalk: her eyes immediately saw a tall ghostly Inkling staring at her. Mirii frowns down.
"… I hate this game… I HATE IT!" Mirii jumped upwards, throwing a kick towards the ghostly figure.
It exploded into bursts of light-blue pixels: a "one-hundred" number came out of it.
"… wh-what that number is supposed to mean?!" Mirii's eyes were a bit wide. "… hmpf, it doesn't matter: I had the solution all this time, under my nose."
The girl turns behind, seeing the previous three ghostly Inklings.
"… it will be so satisfying, eliminate such products of manipulation!" She sprinted, while gritting her teeth.
Mirii threw a right punch, a right kick and a spinning right kick. All three ghostly Inklings exploded, one releasing 100, the middle one releasing 200 and the right one releasing 400.
"… hmpf, that was perfection at work." Mirii rose her head. "… but eliminating those pathetic voids can't be considered my top priority… for now, I must verify the existence of this flute."
Her head turned to her left, seeing a collection of buildings right on the cat's right side.
"… a city has shops… maybe there is a shop who can sell such item." Mirii smiled a bit. "Mirii, you are truly perfection incarnated."
She sprints forward, turning to her left: suddenly, gradually her sight went black.
"WHAT THE?!"
Her sight was now seeing herself around the buildings: her eyes were almost popped out, as her irises shrunk.
"Wh-what happened?!" Mirii turns left and right, opening her mouth. "Why I'm all the sudden in the exact area I wanted to reach?!"
RROOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRR!
Mirii jumped, tilting her head up: the cat passed above her, landing on the top of a building.
"… I hope that this will not happen again… especially if that means to get right in front of that cat." Mirii swallows silently.
Her head lowered, seeing a wide group of ghostly Inklings. She growled faintly.
"More idiots walking in my way…" She sprinted. "I declare no interruptions for my progress!"
Mirii jumped, kicking a ghostly Inkling with her right foot. She yelled, throwing many punches and kicks at each enemy: numbers kept popping out from them.
"Anf… anf… I'm exhausted…" She was bending forward, breathing loudly, with her eyelids on the middle. "… I'm tired of fighting them… …"
Tink!
Mirii's head tilted upwards, seeing Inkling letters.
"… level up…? What does that mean…?"
A ghostly Inkling's right hand touched Mirii's right tentacle: the girl jumped, turning over the ghostly Inkling.
"… what's this…? I don't feel anywhere in pain as before… come to think of it… I feel like I could run miles and miles or sending those Inklings flying. ... there is no time for any explanations." Mirii frowned. "I don't require any rests … for now, I'll make sure to see the road completely clean from those ghosts!"
The girl resumed her punches and kicks towards the now smaller group of ghostly Inklings. She threw three punches at three different ghostly Inklings in less than a second! She kept gliding in the air, kicking 4 ghostly Inklings in a row!
"W-wow, what's happening to me?!" Mirii's mouth was open, as her eyes grew a bit. "I'm fighting so perfectly… it must be the intuition I'm accumulating by fighting all those monsters." She smiles a bit. "This is… perfection. I'm getting more and more perfect…" Her smile grew. "… and I'm still not satisfied about it."
Mirii turned behind, throwing a spinning kick to 4 ghostly Inklings.
"Yes, YES!" Her irises shrunk, her smile reached her cheeks. "More power… I want MORE POWER!"
Mirii throws a right punch, which was making her sliding forward: a line of 12 ghostly Inklings exploded. Her head rose, seeing numbers flying upwards: she bursts into a laugh, as her eyebrows were down, her mouth was showing her teeth and her arms were opened.
"There isn't any room for doubts: I'm truly perfect!"