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"Machine is here!" Scarlet was directing her run towards the mentioned monstrosity.
"I will assign you the role of dismantling all her tricks!" Mirii kept dashing, passing the sofa on its right side. "Meanwhile, I will hunt that buffoon, capture her and bring her in front of your feet!"
From above the door-shaped hole, a marble slab was descending slowly.
"DRAT!" The girl accelerated, while holding the top of her stomach.
The slab already arrived at the middle, but the Inkling went down on her bottom, sliding over the shrinking opening with her right leg thrusted in its direction. Scarlet gasped, carrying her hands in front of her clear mouth. Mirii moved right under the slab, dipping inside an expanding darkness.
Tuc.
"... it doesn't matter where she will run..." She stood on her feet. "... her fate has been already decided."
Her hands felt her clothing, as her right one in particular got her smartphone out of it.
"I-I don't know how I could possibly proceed, if my smartphone was also damaged as well...!"
Suddenly, a strong light penetrated part of the darkness, as Mirii's face was barely visibly from its behind.
Her smartphone was targeted over her surroundings, noticing sheets covering oddly-shaped items, a marble slab acting as the walls and a wooden floor full of littler holes and scratches.
"Considering the previous incident, I must spend my capital over an additional, protective slot in the future..." Step sounds lifted from the ground, echoing all around the girl. "... NO!"
She sniffled loudly!
"My weapon! I ventured inside an unknown territory without my weapon!" Stomping sounds were heard. "Nnnnnngggh! What is wrong with me?! I always arrange myself accurately!"
The glow was revealing a corridor's entrance right next to a hammer and screwdriver who were attached to the wall...
"... urgh..." Her barely-visible face grimaced. "It's been a while, since I have this growing headache... and my limbs aren't in their best conditions neither."
A sigh appeared, as the step noises resumed from the floor.
"... wh-what I'm spouting, now?! I'm perfection in physique! I cannot consider such ridiculous impressions, when I'm known as the Squid who conquered the non-impossible!"
A growl materialized out of thin air.
"R-resist, Mirii... it-it's literally the only objective left to do i-in this horrific craft of tricks...!"
An unidentified tone came from the far right. The shaft was fast at targeting over its source, seeing a blanket burying something tall and thin.
"... if I approach carelessly, I might fall into a trap..." She smelled aloud. "Stingret! I'm ordering you to expose yourself without resistance!"
...
"Brace yourself, you imbecile!" She snorted, now walking in the same way she was looking at. "My last demonstration of perfection will determine the end of your abuses."
She passed a cloth, inspecting its surroundings with her personal device, before proceeding.
"Once my smartphone will locate your worthless face, you will be zapped instantaneously." Her partially-visible head rose. "You will start deteriorating into a futile pile of goo... and you will be sent over the nearest Start Pad, where my friends will cease the madness you always spread in the past."
The girl felt pain over her forehead, as she massaged it with the aid of her left thumb and forefinger.
PAF!
Mirii fell down, facing the hunted Stingray who was positioned above her stomach: the girl's back was curved, sitting on the Ink Tank residing on it.
"Ouch!" Her right eye closed for a moment.
Her smartphone was still clutched in her hand, managing to show a Splattershot-like weapon pointed at her face.
"Squid, luck tough!" She showed her smile, coupled with her teeth. "A bunch of words, to trick Stingret with, were you hoping?! Haaa ha ha ha!"
"C-curse you, insolent!" Mirii scowled intensively. "You and your incomprehensive speech!"
"Such moment, for a long time, I was waiting..." The woman snickered. "From you, more information I might not have... splat you, I will still, at the end but!
"You would improve your own dignity by just being quiet..." Mirii's eyes squeezed slightly. "... or taking the time to learn our language, instead of mutilating it."
"Mutilate your language, the one to not, I should be..." The grin disappeared from the woman's face. "... to mutilate us all, all the right, while you have..."
"If you want us to not attack you, then you must show yourselves as allies and not our enemies!" Mirii frowned, lifting her eyelids to the top. "But such statement would never be utilized, since you have an agenda to follow... the agenda of appropriating Project Neo and utilize it for your selfish, deranged goals!"
"Deranged goals, you say... ... hypocrisy, you say." The enemy brought her weapon closer to Mirii's face. "The deranged, you are... those months after all, satisfy his needs I can finally..."
"Needs...?" The girl's head tilted to her right, while still staring at the woman. "Who are you mentioning?"
"KNOW HIM, YOU MUST!" The Stingling was scowling, hitting Mirii's forehead with the weapon's muzzle. "ENCOUNTERED HIM, YOU DID!"
"I have met many enemies in the past..." Mirii growled. "Reveal his name at once!"
"ROY! C-Captain Roy!" Her eyes started to get watery. "T-to appreciate recently, I-I learned... th-the dirty man...!"
"Roy..." The girl's mouth retained its openess.
"Pirate! Pirate, you call!" She sobbed, pushing her muzzle harder.
Mirii's eyes expanded, as her mind was projecting Captain Roy who was laughing loudly, while holding a bottle in his hand.
"Splatted him, in the sea, you did! M-missing, he is!" Tears fell from Stingret's eyes. "Loved, Roy is! From us all, he is! Him away, you took! The other three Inklings, you and! UNDERSTAND, YOU DO?!"
Mirii's mouth sealed... as her eyebrows went down.
"... you are the one who doesn't understand."
"WHAT?!" Stingret growled, almost tempted to pull the trigger.
"If you meddle in our society, you will gain nothing but enemies." She sealed her mouth for two seconds. "That man kidnapped me that night... he was also holding a"
"THAT, I KNOW!" The woman was frowning so much, her eyebrows were almost crushing her eyes! "YOUR FAULT, IT IS ALL!" She pronounced alien words.
Mirii observed her opponent's mouth shaping and compressing, as more tears descended.
PAF!
Her swift hand hit the weapon, as it flew off the Stingray's hand. Mirii put away her smartphone, while her foe was shouting loudly. The girl's hands grabbed one of her shoulders each and drived her target on the floor: as she impacted the ground, Stingret began sending kicks in the air, while Mirii hauled herself out of the Stingray's attack range. The woman yelped, as she was pressing her back on her own Goo Tank.
The girl reared herself up, as she recovered her technological prodigy and tended it over the calming adversary. She dared a run, popping a kick right onto Stingret's right knee.
"OOW!" The Stingray crushed her eyes, as her hands clutched on the hurt knee and twisted over right side.
"Now..." Mirii spun her smartphone all over the floor, until its beam angled on the punted firearm. "Yes!" She smiled.
The girl jumped in its direction, landing so close to it, she almost kicked her wanted treasure! Her free hand dived, claiming its new belonging: immediately after, the lone hand pointed the splatting machine over the fallen rival.
"Your days of terror and tricks are over!" Mirii shouted, feeling a great energy pulse inside her chest. "Stand on your feet and admit your imperfection!" Her head rose.
"Nooo..." Stingret ended with a whisper, preferring to stare at the floor instead. "... to happen, n-not supposed, this was..."
"Also, release the hostage!" Mirii scowled, holding down her aim on the woman as if she was a prey. "If I determine that you wounded her, even if the damage is just an insignificant scratch... I will make sure you will share the same pain you have inflicted to her!"
"... me splat..." The woman's face was still glued to the floor.
"Tell me her location!" Mirii's holding hand shook the hardware. "Obey my orders, you criminal!"
"... Squid, help cannot..." The Stingray shook her head, refusing to glance back at the girl. "Roy, you splatted..."
"I don't recall splatting that obese villain!" The girl showed her teeth, keeping a little amount of patience residing in her mind. "It was the monster who lives"
"MONSTER, YOU ARE!" Now Stingret aimed her eyes at the girl, exposing tears near her cheeks. "LIKE A BUG, AGAIN AND AGAIN, CRUSH YOU, I WOULD! FAILURE OF A STINGRAY AND YOU!"
Veins appeared on the girl's forehead and even on her hands! She was gritting her teeth, ignoring the pain she was causing on herself.
"You... you don't have a heart inside your soul..." She took a quick breath. "I have never encountered someone this... th-this..." Her mouth had something inside.
Pù!
Saliva hit Stingret's face: the Stingray got herself up, rubbing off the substance from her face. Mirii opened fire, as ink hit the various parts of the Stingray's body.
SPLAT!
"DON'T YOU EVER DARE TO APPEAR IN FRONT OF MY PRESENCE, EVER AGAIN!" Mirii looked at her splatted foe, flying off the ceiling. "YOU HEARTLESS BEEEAASST!" She swung her arm, while mantaining her weapon in her right hand's grasp.
Mirii breathed loudly, as her eyes appeared watery...
"Scarlet... I-I avenged years of abuse..." She twisted around herself, together with her smartphone's beam. "I hope you managed to deactivate that illusive machinery..."
The light stamped on the hallway's entrance, once more. Her feet marched, as she felt nausea.
"If I engage in another fight, I might risk a faint..." Her eyelids lowered to the middle. "... tell me that she's situated somewhere in that corridor... t-tell me I-I don't have to battle again..." She brought her tears back inside.
Eventually, the girl arrived in front of the opening, entering inside right after. The walls on the sides were just a few inches away from Mirii, while the ceiling was as tall as the one standing in the previous room. The glow was drawing past the corridor, expressing a round floor with one closed on the front and another one to the right side.
"Both doors are closed... uff... I don't have the energy of looking for a key..." She sighed loudly.
Mirii reached the middle of the little room, pointing her smartphone to her left as well: there was nothing but a shelf, detaining a bunch of closed bottles who had each its own shape and color. The beam targeted the front door, as her feet advanced in its way.
"It even looks dusty... ugh!" Her head shook, as she brought her weapon in between her legs and grasped the door's handle. "Come to think of it, I don't even have the energy for a shower..."
As the girl pushed down the handle, the door greeted her with a loud creaking sound... the firearm was quickly retrieved and the glow immediately pointed over a figure, who was hanging on a wall and above the floor.
"Wh-what is that... ..." She smiled. "Could it be...?!" She increased the speed of her steps, forgetting about her fatigue for a short while.
As the beam approached, the darkness surrounding the Inkling shape faded more and more... until, her eyes couldn't lie: the Inkling woman had her wrists attached to the wall, each under a metallic semi-ring. Her upper body was merely covered by a piece of grey cloth, while the middle was wearing a strapped dress, full of stains and colored in black.
A scent of rubbish was originating from said clothes.
"Success!" Mirii's eyes closed, as she glued her own feet right in front of the captive Inkling.
"AH!" The woman's head rose, properly looking at Mirii. "... I know you...!" Her mouth stood open.
"Yes, we met inside the hospital." The girl nodded.
The woman smiled widely.
"FINALLY! A FAMILIAR, FRIENDLY FACE!" Her arms tried to move out from the wall. "THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH!" She sniffed loudly. "I WAS AFRAID THAT MY PRAYS WERE USELESS!"
A flow of energy scrolled through Mirii's veins, as her smile spanned over her cheeks.
"Me and my friends defeated the Stingrays..." Her device exposed each semi-ring. "... there are no traces of them in this vessel, anymore."
"Nice to hear!" The friendly Inkling flattened her mouth. "That means she is also not around here..."
"... who are you referring to?" Mirii's head rose.
"That Stingray who couldn't stand my laughs..." The woman frowned. "... she captured me and brought me in her room."
"Did she tortured you?!" The girl copied the same facial expression.
"Sh-she tied me up... she brought a whip with her too..." The nurse lowered her head.
Mirii gasped, as her eyes grew.
"E-everytime she talked... I-I couldn't keep my laughs!" The kidnapped Inkling shook her head, while still down. "An-and everytime I laughed, she would whip me on the back..."
The girl's face turned paler...
"Sh-she continued her odd talkings... an-and I still laughed! She whipped me so many times, I-I lost the count... an-and even when I was feeling nothing but pain, I-I would still laugh at her phrases!" She sobbed.
Mirii grasped her weapon tightly...
"Suddenly, I-I began begging her to spare my life... but she outright refused!" As the woman rose her head back, she demonstrated her scowly face, coupled with some slight hints of tears on below her eyes. "Instead, sh-she claimed to set me free, only under the condition of not laughing at one of her phrases... bu-but I couldn't stop laughing! It-it is something that goes out of my own control...!"
"You have done nothing wrong." Mirii folded her arms. "For what that Stingray has done, she should be the one who must be tortured for hours..."
The woman reshaped a smile on her mouth.
"... but enough talking." Mirii smiled. "Be patient, now... I will bring you out of this wasteland as soon as possible."