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The car was speeding through on the road, surrounded by the familiar grass and the distant sea. Bars had a huge bump on his head, while Greta was frowning and folding her arms tightly. Mirii was tapping a text with her smartphone and Hun was staring at the speed-moving grass, resting his head on his right hand.
"… I still can't believe you were that stupid to put the Armor inside another car!" Greta sprung her arms forward. "The trunk was even open!" She gibbered. "How did your sponge made you chose a closed car?!"
"Like, it had a similar color to ours…" Bars grew a sweat drop on his head's right side. "And I thought you closed it back."
"How would that make any sense, you dimwit?!" Furiously, she hugged her own tentacles. "If you took the time to think about your stupidity, for ONE sec, then you would at least question that with us… and by the time you would turn around, you would had noticed our car!"
"Greta, we are at a disadvantage without the Armor." Mirii leaned forward, watching her friend from her left. "We have to move back to the villa… we are still in time."
"After all those 'Not enough time' cries, you NOW say that we have time to go back?! Shell no!" Greta looked back at the shorter Inkling, keeping her frown. "Besides, that Armor is just a chunk of tech anyway: the HQ threw that prototype at us, since they couldn't provide a standard one."
Mirii gasped, expanding her eyes.
"So, that's why you refused to explain the Armor's proprieties…" She gradually frowned.
"Better telling you all about it now, rather than keeping it for the eternity." Snorting, Greta's hands went behind her neck, while closing her eyes. "That Armor was supposed to be used for just this one time, because the HQ promised to send us the better equipment next week or 2…"
"But why you decided to hide the truth from us?!" Mirii frowned, showing her teeth. "We are a team, Greta! We"
"Knowing your stance against stinkin' ancients, I preferred making the Armor's looks fool you into thinking you are wearing some fancy hi-tech brilliance…" Greta kept her previous position and expression. "… not that I use cheap plastics for myself, but it was a situation I couldn't ask any better."
"And so would I." Mirii's head rose.
…
"… as much as it pains me to admit…" Her mouth waved, as her eyebrows skyrocketed on her forehead. "… I would rather wear obsolete, useless rubbish than using those regular clothes!"
"Pffff!" Greta smiled, opening her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, sure… if I told you all that, before we would get in the car, you would had already cursed us for the whole journey." She chuckled. "Even swearing the exact opposite of what you just said!"
"Hmpf!" Mirii frowned, resting on the backrest. "I wouldn't had any reasons to respond in such way… in fact, I wouldn't even mind getting back to the villa, after learning the truth."
"We have faced many dangers, before…" Hun smiled, staring at Mirii. "… as long as we are not alone, we will always manage to succeed."
Mirii smiled, blushing a bit and turning her head over the boy.
"Oh, Hunley…!" She closed her eyes. "That phrase you said… it's the kind of statement we should all say more often, than usual."
"W-well, it wasn't anything special…" Hun blushed, scratching the back of his head. "I mean, having something extra would have been nice and all… but at the same time, we can't really stress ourselves about it, if we can't do anything to retrieve such thing, right?"
Mirii nodded, smiling even more.
"Eh eh!" Bars grinned. "Like, I don't need any Armors… because I'm one!" He laughed.
"That's why you need more bonks in your head, than usual…" Greta snorted, turning her head away from him. "Would have been nice, if you would have some smarts instead of just brawn…"
"I agree with Greta, for once…" Mirii resumed her frown. "If only you two would"
Within 500 meters, you have arrived.
The voice came from Mirii's smartphone, as her hand grabbed it in less than a second.
"… I hope you are mentally prepared for the current mission." Her head rose. "Because mistakes are going to cost us, at this point."
"I was ready at the start of the journey!" Greta stretched, snorting and waking all her limbs. "Just give me the Baby Splattershot and I will splat with cuteness and style!"
"Liiike, you know my drill!" Bars rose his thumb.
"I think I'm ready…" Hun lowered his head. "I never used a weapon before… and that inexperience will make me do a lot of mistakes…"
Mirii downturned her mouth: slowly, she bounced over the boy.
"Hunley, you have plenty of experience in battle." She nodded. "As I said before, you could learn any weapon in existence, thanks to the fact you have a general idea of how battling works… don't let worries throw you down…"
Her hand landed on his left shoulder, as she blushed together with Hun.
"… can you trust me on this, Hunley?"
"I always trusted in you, Mirii." He smiled, keeping his head down and looking back at her. "Thank you for the support, as always."
Mirii smiled even more, blushing brightly.
You have arrived.
"Park the car over there." Greta pointed her forefinger at a parking lot, with just 8 white lines on a row. "No burglars would ever think to stick their noses on this boring car."
"What an inconsiderate assumption!" Mirii frowned, trying to look at Greta in the eyes. "This vehicle is the only transportation we have, for traveling without forcing our legs and returning back inside the villa, safely and sound…! After our mission, you couldn't possibly think we still have enough energy to walk all those miles..."
The car turned in the direction of the parking lot, entering in between the 6th and 7th lines and stopping its engine.
"Have you seen it already?" Greta pointed at some houses in front of the parking lot, with their windows lit. "Those houses are the ultimate defenses we have at our disposal, if this car isn't boring enough!"
Greta opened the door car, next to her, flinging out of it and still staring at the houses. Mirii and Hun got out from their respective door cars.
"If a citizen would ever glimpse a thief, attempting to rob this car… they will alert the police!" Turning behind, Greta followed Mirii's steps around the back of the car. "No matter if the car belongs to complete strangers… and that's something you can really count me on: I know this place and its citizen's behaviors for as long as I was a little Squid! I could trust those classic facts, with my eyes closed!"
"Hmpf!" Mirii stood closer to the boy. "You have all the requirements of the typical, foolish close-minded person… but luckily, we are not too far from our destination: if we finish our task in time, then we will surely find the car still parked in here."
"How about we get our weapons?" Bars opened the car trunk, while grinning. "Otherwise, the thieves are going to splat us instead!"
"Don't forget the Stingrays!" Greta stuck her tongue out. "Without your Mighty Roller, we do not see Mighty Bars!"
Bars laughed, while blushing a bit.
"Bars, retrieve the Start Pad and turn it on." Slowly, Mirii reached the car trunk, with her eyes glued on the round, large device. "I chose the color Dark-Green, so we can see each other easily."
"But then, the Stingrays would see us as easily too!" Greta opened her arms, almost snickering.
"I would rather see my enemies clearly, than splatting down my allies by accident…" Hun grew a sweat drop on his head.
The tallest Inkling brought the pad on the road, as he flicked a button on its sides: the pad filled with Dark-Green ink, which was almost reaching the edge. Greta laughed as she dived inside, in Squid form. She emerged back, while holding her Baby Splattershot and an Ink Tank behind her back.
"Oooh, I missed you so much…!" She petted her own weapon, as her mouth formed a 3 and walked away from the device.
"Banzai, man!" Bars dived inside the pad, turning into a Squid in midair.
Dark-green ink flew out of the pad, hitting Mirii and Hun's clothes. The girl clenched her fists, staring carefully at the Start Pad…
The boy emerged in his humanoid form, carrying his Mighty Roller on his shoulder and holding a larger Ink Tank behind.
"Noooowww I'm ready fresh!" He chuckled, walking away.
"… I will go first, Hunley." Closing her eyes, she moved over the pad. "That's to check if this brute hasn't sabotaged anything on this Start Pad…"
Her shoes touched the edge, stopping on it. She took a deep breath… and jumped in, while in Squid form. Hun walked closer, keeping his breath instead.
Mirii bounced off the pad, turning back to herself in midair and landing on her feet with a slide. Her hands were holding her Charger weapon and her back was holding a standard-looking Ink Tank. Hun smiled, as he turned into a Squid and rushed over, without even thought for a second: he entered in a splash!
As soon as he entered, he immediately sprung out, with a Splattershot Jr. grasped in his tentacles. His Ink Tank bounced away from the pad, as it hit the road with a crash and let its entire ink move out.
"Pffff!" Greta held her stomach, as she laughed loudly.
"Wh-what's happening?!" Hun squeezed his eyes, as he kept snorting and stretching upwards. "I… uuunnngghhh… I can't get back to…"
"HUNLEY, STOP!" Mirii lowered on her right knee, preparing her hands wide open. "DON'T FORCE YOURSELF!"
Greta and Bars stared back at each other, opening their mouths.
"Ow, ow…" Hun's top eyes "smiled", while opening. "… it-it can't be…"
Mirii was breathing loudly, keeping her eyes as normally as possible.
"Wh-where are you hurt…?" Her hand went near his eyes, caressing his face's right side.
"No, I'm not hurt… but I can't turn back like before." He shook his head. "I-I don't know why, though…"
Mirii's face was getting paler, as she started to sweat. The other two Inklings walked closer, both with their mouths downturned.
"Hunry… oh, Hunry…" Greta's head shook multiple times, holding her tears. "Wh-why you had to pick up that weapon…?"
"… we can't continue like this." Mirii rose her head, managing to make Greta look back at her. "Hunley needs medical attention… w-we are still in time!"
"Urgh…!" Greta shivered, trying to lower its intensity. "If we go back, we cannot attempt to"
"Do you even show complains about this?!" Mirii frowned a lot, almost jumping at her friend. "How could you leave Hunley in despair, in favor of tackling an insignificant Stingray base?!"
"Mirii… I'm sure I can return back to normal… just not now." Hun shook his head slightly. "And I say that because this is the same situation, as it happened in my 14th birthday: once I learned how to turn into a Squid, I couldn't get back to normal for a while!"
"Hunley, this situation might be different…" Mirii put her weapon down on the ground, as she laid her hands below Hun, picking him up and carried him near her chest. "The device must have malfunctioned, right after I jumped back out. We cannot believe that this problem is the same one as you had in the past… there might be key differences, we would never determine with the tools at our disposal."
"Your All-you-can-wish smartphone is already out of options?" Greta moved her right hand on her forehead, before moving her hand away.
"Far from it." Mirii kept her intense frown at the girl. "But I will explain more, once we are inside the"
Plop!
The girl's sight immediately moved over a goo stain sitting next to the Start Pad.