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"She must be around here!"
An Inkling man wearing a dark kimono was rushing on his feet, followed by another one wearing a dark-blue variety. They were running on a hallway, surrounded by doors on the sides.
"How can you be so sure?!" The man behind frowned. "This place is so disorienting!"
"Can't you hear her presence?!" The man on the front turned his shoulders to the right. "It's stronger than ever!"
"Yes, but that could be one of the Demon Squid's traps!" The dark-blue Inkling panted, as he sniped a look on the right corner.
The first man turned to the right, now rushing through plain walls on the sides. The second man slowed down, before accelerating back to its previous speed.
"Would you slow down?! You can't fight those Squids on your own!" He growled, clenching his fists.
"It's not about fighting!" The frontrunning man shook his head. "We are here to save Kelly! It's our chance before we lose track of her!"
His pacing went gradually slower, as he lifted his posture.
"About time you slowed down!" With a loud pant, the second man completely stopped on his feet. "Uff! W-we could have saved all this sweat, if we would"
"Sssh!" The dark-wearing man's ears rose, as he turned over the left and stopped. "… her energy is coming over there…"
"Hmm…" The other man closed his eyes. "… I'm not hearing the Demon Squid, though…"
"No time for that." The front man walked over the wall, touching it with his palm hands. "… the walls have fresh air from the other side…"
He sighed, as his head lowered.
"If you only let me talk with the two mortals, we would had found her sooner…"
"Haven't you seen them?!" The second man's arms opened wide. "They are no use for this situation! The guardian told us right!"
"So?! They are here to save everyone anyway!" The man turned his head over his friend, frowning a bit. "Just because they only have invincibility on their arsenal, that doesn't mean they aren't capable of finding anything!"
"They did distract the Demon Squid long enough, though…" The other man chuckled shortly. "That's something alright!"
"… let's go." The dark-wearing man resumed his walk, moving forward. "Before we encounter trouble."
"You didn't laughed at that?" The following man simply lowered his eyebrows, before walking after his ally. "It wasn't even mean!"
"… it goes beyond the simple jokes…" The frontwalking man's face went darker. "This whole treatment you and the others are giving to all those mortals… it's just sickening."
"What did you said?!" The Inkling bended forward, as if someone punched in his stomach. "Sickening?! Treatment?!"
"This is not the place for talking about it." The front man closed his eyes, as he slightly turned on the left. "We are"
"Are you seriously implying to disagree with my previous decision on not involving those two deformed mortals?!" The bended man frowned, as he lifted his posture.
"I don't just disagree with your stupid decision!" The leading man turned behind, as he showed his teeth. "You could have avoided this whole disaster, if you told that mortal-no, she has a name! Mirii!" He pointed his forefinger at the other man. "And she's not just a 'mortal'… she is a Squid just like us! Even the other two are Squids just like us! Why are you all treating them this poorly?!"
"More like what is happening to you, all the sudden?!" He reached the dark-wearing man, grabbing his shoulders and pushing him back and forth. "Why are you making all those unnecessary complains?!"
The Inkling took off the hands from his shoulders, as he snorted and took some steps backwards.
"You call it unnecessary, when you could have talked to Mirii about the presence of this Demon Squid and told her to not come back in here, until we got rid of him?! We would have solved this whole problem, if it wasn't for this non-justifiable behavior you and the rest of the Shrine citizens have towards the mortals!"
"You said that this wasn't the place for talking about it… and yet, you are doing the exact opposite!" The other man folded his arms. "On top of all this nonsense you are saying out loud!"
"… you don't understand… none of you understand my words!" The front man returned forward and walked in a faster pace than before. "You only care about the mortals believing in you! That's what you are truly after!"
"The sweeter waters' air is ruining your sanity! I tell you!" The behind man rushed forward. "You know well that the mortals cannot be treated in the same way as us! It's the essentials!"
The fugitive man sealed his mouth, flattening it. His fists clenched. His head pointed on the left once more, this time noticing a drawn picture on the wall.
"… she is in here! Her energy is coming strong from the other side of the wall!" The man went on the drawn wall and touched the right side with his hands. "… and there isn't even any fresh air beyond!"
"What kind of indication I'm looking at?!" The behind Inkling clapped his hands, moving them up and down. "What does that even mean?!"
"It means you need to pay more attention!" The man walked around the drawn wall's right side. "Follow me already!"
"Alright, alright!" The other Inkling snorted, as he sprinted after his friend. "Just, what made you this mad all the sudden?!"
As he stepped on the room's floor, the first-coming man stopped: his eyes were looking at Kelly, as her back was resting on the ground, surrounded by chunks of rocks and lockers facing their little doors down. The young girl's eyes were closed, as she was breathing silently…
"Kelly!" He started a short sprint. "Oh thank turfness we have found you!"
He knees down, as he grabbed her back and lifted her with his hands.
"Answer to me, Kelly! Please!" He shook the girl a bit, as he gritted his teeth.
The second man was leaning his back on the nearby wall, sporting a sad expression on his face.
"Hmmm… …" Kelly's eyes blinked twice, before slowly opening her eyelids fully. "… who are you…?"
"We are from the Shrine… and we are going to bring you back home!" The man nodded, as he smiled. "You did well aiding that mortal… but you need to rest for a brief while."
His eyes fell on Kelly's right arm, which had some bruises and one open wound…
"Wh… who did this to you…?" His eyebrows lowered. "That Demon Squid?!"
"… I woke up when I sensed Master Hun being in trouble…" Her eyelids lowered to the middle. "… when I reached him… I found the Demon Squid… … I tried to battle him with my brush… … I-I only remember…"
Her mind was seeing herself falling on her knees, watching a shadow observing her… the memories showed a purple palm hand with pointy fingers aiming at her face.
She shivered, as she hugged the man more.
"That's ok…" His free hand went on the top of her head, caressing her. "The nightmare is over. You are going back home…"
His eyes closed, as he took a deep breath.
"… no… n-no, I can't leave now! Master Hun needs me!"
His eyes opened wide, watching his hands holding nothing.
"What the?!" The leaning man bounced off the wall, looking just as surprised. "What's she doing?!"
"Kelly!" The dark-wearing man turned around him. "Come back here!"
KELLY!
"Clic!" Greta grinned, as she pointed her smartphone over the red triangle on the floor. "And with this photo, we officially conquered the first room!"
The girl turned behind, walking towards the room entrance and passing Bars. During her walk, she brought her smartphone away…
"Like, this place went double wrecked ever since we fought that stream o' Squids…!" The boy went after her, as he turned his shoulders rapidly and looked at the broken chairs on the floor. "Good thing we kicked them off for sure!"
"'Kicked' is a strong word, big boy!" The girl aimed her head at Bars. "We just pushed them-AAAAAHH!"
"Wh-whoa!" Bars jumped, as he expanded his eyes. "What's wrong?!"
His face was showing a paler, flashing skin. Greta's hands went on her mouth, as she let her Splattershot fall down on the floor.
"Yo-your face… it-it's…" She shivered, as her mind began spinning slightly. "… it's getting pretty odd!"
"Odd…?" His head tilted to his right side. "Explain it more, girl…"
"You are flashing! Even constantly on its own!" She bended forward, as she thrusted her arms in the same direction.
"Oh… so, like what's happening to your face right now…" He shrugged.
…
"MY FACE TOO?!" Her tentacles were each touching a cheek, as her irises shrunk. "This is bad… super-bad news indeed!" She walked in place. "And I was thinking more about making photos than this problem! I'm a darn moron, am I?! Say it! Say it out loud!"
"Girl, like… relax!" Bars walked closer to Greta, as he puts his hands on one of her shoulders each. "We are gonna fix ourselves up and finish the job before those Squids get away with all this mess! I mean…" He chuckled. "Who could possibly stop us at this point?"
There they are!
Let's go splat them! Splat them for good!
Slowly, the two Inklings turned over the source of the voices…
"… you and your big mouth…" Greta swallowed silently.