"Hold on to your tentacles..."
"It's Inkopolis News time!"
"Before we announce the stages, some special news!"
"Ooh! What is it? What is it?"
"The results for the Global Inkfire are in!"
"Woo-hoo!"
"The winner for the Rainmaker battle was..."
"Echo Clan!"
"The winner for Splat Zones was..."
"Star Squad!"
"Now, for the tiebreaker! Drum roll please..."
"And the winner for Tower Control waaaassss..."
"Echo Clan!"
Isla was awake, and the winners for the Global Inkfire were in! The team that she had hoped would win won!
She was okay now, and she could go back to her house, as could everyone else. But still, they needed to rest, even if they were all feeling fine.
She looked to the inklings next to her. All except Amelia were staring at her, some looking disgusted, some shocked, some sad.
She knew that it was her fault that they were all trapped here. Even the smallest mistakes can make a big impact, especially if it affects an entire group of people.
But even with all the staring, she was taken aback by one expression.
The leader of the Octo Killers.
He looked angry, disgusted, you name it.
But, despite all of this...
He looked sad, too.
Sad for me, sad for everybody.
It looked like that single expression...
Was an apology.
Of course, Isla knew that she should be the one apologizing. She was the one who was an octoling in the first place. This was her fault, not his.
Suddenly, Isla heard him mutter something.
"I-I'm sorry, uh, what was that?"
"I said, I'm sorry. You goofball."
Isla couldn't help but smile. Of course he had called her a goofball in a joking way, but at the same time she knew that it was true.
"I'm much more sorry than, uh, you are!"
The leader stifled a smile.
"I never got your name back there."
"Isla."
"Name's Ezra."
"Oh, uh, nice to meet you, Ezra!"
Ezra's smile got bigger.
"I like your name. Isla. It sounds a lot like mine."
"N-Now that you think, uh, about it, you're right!"
Isla couldn't help but smile back.