"I'm about to drop my latest hit... right on your smug little FACE!" - DJ Octavio

I stood in darkness, snow covering all of Inkopolis. Out in the square, I could see Deca Tower, looking much taller than usual. I shivered at the thought of playing Turf War again. Ever since the failed match, ever since the glitch with the Deca Tower systems, ever since I had hurt Ace, I'd been feeling sick to my stomach.

Then Bryson showed up to make it worse.

"Was that training not enough for you?!" he screamed at me.

I stepped back, almost stumbling in the thick layer of snow. "N-No, I was just–"

"I trained you," he said. "Nem trained you. And it still wasn't enough?! You had to push yourself?!"

"I was panicking!" I screamed back, trying to rationalize everything. "Don't yell at me!"

Ace appeared next to me, bright yellow eyes staring daggers at me, glowing with anger. "You told Ezra to push you to the very end of your transformation. Such a stupid mistake. Was it worth it?"

I moved away from him, my heart pounding, my blood chilled and my stomach doing flips. "N-No, no, no! I just wanted to stop Ana!"

As I walked backwards, I bumped into Nem-Nem, who looked down at me with utter disappointment. "You didn't even think," she said. "Safaia would've. I knew you couldn't be any daughter of mine. You were always just another screw-up."

I stared up at her with wide, tearful eyes. "Nem-Nem…?"

"Why weren't you thinking?!" she screamed. "WHY DIDN'T YOU WAIT?! YOU JUST RUSHED IN THERE AND IGNORED EVERYONE ELSE!"

I couldn't face any of it, so I just ran. I ran far away, still hearing their voices in my head, telling me all how I'd messed up. As I ran past the city limits, the only noises eventually left were the sound of my shoes crunching the snow and my heavy breathing.

Looking back, I opened my eyes wider as I saw Inkopolis was gone, the buildings all crumbling down and leaving nothing but rubble and snow. I stepped back, dumbfounded at how it was all gone, but my dumbfoundedness was interrupted when I heard someone behind me.

"Did you think it would go smoothly?"

Turning around, I saw the teal glow from Bryson's housesitter, Alex, his afflicted eye brightly shining like a spotlight aimed right at me.

"This isn't real…" I mumbled.

"Of course not," said Alex. "But it could be."

"Go away!" I screamed. "I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE!"

And then came the familiar voice of Bryson behind me. "Then why did you leave the safety of your home?"

"You could've lived your entire life without learning about Ana," said Alex, his eye glowing brighter. "You could've stayed inside and you wouldn't have been injected with that serum. Sure, you might have never met Ace, Bryson, Liv, but… was it really worth it?"

His eye lit up with a sudden flash that blinded me, and after my vision returned, I saw that the world around me had vanished, leaving me in a black void. I could hear the incessant voices of everyone I'd ever known, all scolding me, all yelling at me.

"A complete failure!"

"Why are you still around?"

"You don't belong here!"

I screamed, "SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP ME!"

"Hey, Brand…"

I saw Wreckage up in the distance, her red eyes looking my way with worry. "Hey, what's up…?" she asked. "You look like you're goin' crazy."

I ran to her, and as soon as I reached her, I broke down, face in her chest, clinging tightly. She was surprised, leaning back a little while I clung to her jacket. "Wr-Wreckage, I messed up!"

"Woah, Brand. Calm down. What's goin' on?" she asked.

"This is… insane!" I responded, looking up at her. "I messed up! I messed up really bad!"

She just pushed me away from her, sneering a little in disgust. "Geez… You've gotta loosen up, kid. We've all got our regrets. I know I do…"

"H-How do I deal with it?!" I asked, trying my best to calm down and rationalize, but it was difficult with the voices in my head berating me.

She smirked. "We've gotta live with 'em sometimes. It hurts, yeah, but… if I let mine get to me, I wouldn't be here. I shouldn't be here, but I am."

"How can I live with my regrets?" I asked.

"You've gotta figure that out yourself," she said. "Gotta reason with yourself. Ever make an excuse? You could do that. Or you could accept that you're a screw-up. I know I am, but I won't let that stop me."

That didn't make any sense to me. "But how–"

Wreckage stopped me there. "Look, Brand. I'm not a therapist. I'm not even real. I'm you. Yeah, I'm me, but this is your dream. I'm just your view of me."

"It seems so real…" I muttered.

"Maybe there's somethin' special about ya, because I know I won't remember any of this in real life!~" she said with a laugh, then she cut that laugh short. "By the way, you might wanna run."

"Run…?" I questioned, but she was gone. A rumbling behind me sounded and I turned around to see the most horrific thing my mind could ever decide to wake me up with. A green mushroom cloud in the distance rose up tall with unholy screams that filled me with fear. I could see the shapes of inhuman skulls in the side of the fireball that ascended, their mouths opening wide.

The intense heat of the explosion met me with enough force to knock over buildings, sending me flying straight out of my dreamlike state and back into reality. I sat up and gripped my bedsheets, panting heavily as I tried to process what had just happened.

I was back in my room, awake. The guilt stuck with me because I knew I'd messed up. I had said something to Ace that I couldn't live with and it was making me nervous. I tapped several times at my bedsheets, some kind of strange coping mechanism.

Whenever I got nervous, I'd tap something, anything, multiple times and I wasn't sure why this was a thing now. It was getting out of control and I was starting to question every decision I made.

Four days had passed since the incident with Ana and Weaver. Ace hadn't texted me since then and I was constantly checking my phone, worried and scared. I wanted so badly to tell him I was sorry but I was afraid he wouldn't even accept it.

In short, my mind was a mess.

Getting up, I walked over to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, my hair a mixture of blue and green. My eyes were also constantly changing color, displaying colors not typically seen in humans. Yesterday they were pink. The day before, they were purple. Today, they were gray. Ever since I'd been pushed towards the edge, my body had been actively changing. It was getting ready for the final step and I was frightened by it.

My voice would often gurgle like an inkling's when I was extremely nervous. It was something I couldn't entirely control unless I had a hold on my emotions and I knew I wasn't going to have any peace in my life anytime soon.

When I'd told Nem about my mistake with Ezra, she was really cross with me but she was also scared. She called Bram, pleading him to find something that could cure me. I wasn't sure how long I had left. My fear gripped my nerves like a vice, refusing to let go. I could see Ezra in almost every dark corner, watching me with glowing eyes.

As I walked down the hallway, she stood in front of me with a blank expression.

"P-Please, don't do this to me," I whispered.

"I didn't do anything," said Ezra. "I'm afraid you'll never get the lesson. You did this all to yourself. I'm you. You're me. Soon, there will only be one of us, someone with more clarity, someone with more sense. I'll get to live and your suffering will end."

I tried to punch her, my fist going right through her and making me fall flat onto my face.

Sigh…

I stood back up and grabbed breakfast before heading to the door. Grabbing my backpack off of a hook, I opened it up for Pineapple, my newly acquired smallfry friend, to climb inside. Since it was a month-long Splatfest, inklings were still running around and partying. They were having the time of their lives and I was more focused on my crisis.

Liv had told me last night that she wanted to meet at Hector's club. She had said something about a potential cure and that was enough to get me out of bed today. Upon walking into the club, I noticed that it was much more packed than usual. This was probably because of the Splatfest celebrations.

Making my way backstage was a little difficult with all the people here. I had to push my way through many of the partygoers and the flashing lights made it hard to make anything out in my vision. How anyone could see where they were going was probably not a question that would ever be answered.

After walking past the bouncer, I saw Liv sitting at a table at the very back of the backstage room itself, looking in my direction the moment I passed through the door.

"Hey, Amelia!" greeted Liv as I sat down. She seemed cheerful, but… why?

"This cure you mentioned must be some really big thing," I said to her with a forced smile. "Are you sure it'll work?"

Liv shook her head. "Well, not a hundred percent sure but I wanted to at least drag you out of bed to try it. It was the only way I could actually get you to meet with me."

She was right. I'd been avoiding her texts and refused to answer her or Bryson. I was too depressed, too scared, too stressed. "I'm sorry," I said with guilt in my voice. "I can't even deal with myself."

"You've been going through a lot," she reminded me. "Anyone would crack in your position."

"I just wanna be okay," I whimpered, clenching my fists. "I just wanna tell Ace I'm sorry!"

"Right now you need to focus on what's important," said Liv. "Your own health. You can't focus on anything else if you can't take care of yourself, right?"

I nodded slightly. "Y-Yeah…"

She scooted her chair until she was right next to me, then gripped my arm. "Alrighty. This is gonna sting a little, okay?" she warned. I didn't even look. I was just stuck in a state of I-don't-care-anymore. The moment the needle went in, I didn't react. I didn't have any hope for it. I could still see Ezra standing in the corner of my vision.

I shook my head. "I'm done for, Liv."

She disagreed. "Even if this one doesn't work, I have plenty of others I want to try. I'm willing to work all night until I can find a way to dissolve this problem. Friends forever, right?"

Yeah. Friends forever…

"You ready for that sleepover tonight?" she asked.

"Sleepover…?" I muttered, trying to recall and failing.

"Bryson invited us to a sleepover," she reminded me. "Ace is gonna be there and I bet you two can patch things up there."

"I can't believe I forgot," I said. "I must've been deeper into depression than I thought."

"Well, I'll help you talk to Ace," she assured. "Keep your chin up. Besides, I also wanted to introduce you to someone who I think would cheer you up."

"Who?" I questioned, puzzled.

"DJ Dedf1sh is performing in ten minutes!" she exclaimed. "Here, at this very club!"

What?!

I could suddenly feel Pineapple in my backpack moving around, acting excitedly. "GWAAAHHHH!"

Unzipping it, I saw him peek outside, blank eyes looking in different directions before he receded right back inside, confounding me greatly. "You're a odd fish…" I mumbled.

"O-Oh, you brought a smallfry in here?" she questioned.

I nodded. "He's harmless, so there's no need to worry."

"Well, as long as there's no trouble," Liv responded.

As we went out to where the crowd was, I saw her, DJ Dedf1sh, on the stage with her turntable. She was an octoling with long hair and had sickly-green skin, just like the undead, but… that was typically her signature look. It made me wonder if she was really undead or if she was just playing the part. Behind her sunglasses, I could feel her gaze on me, making me uncomfortable as she started playing.

"Isn't she cool?" asked Liv.

"Uh, y-yeah," I replied. "Totally cool."

As her music played, I recognized the track. It was Number Eleven: Above, one of her more upbeat songs. As I tried to ignore the possible stare and danced a little, I noticed Liv was gone after about three minutes, making me worry a little.

"Hey there!" I heard a voice call out. She had the typical hippie haircut, but a tentacle on one side was weaved into a beautiful braid that hung down the side of her head. Her eyes were as blue as the daylight sky, catching me off guard as they glowed slightly in the dark of the room, just like all the fancy glowsticks carried by the people around us.

Getting a better look, I noticed she was wearing an S-clip in her hair, a black and pink t-shirt, and bright pink shoes with teal laces. She acted as if she'd known me our whole lives. I tried my best to remember her but I just couldn't place anything.

"Do I know you?" I asked.

"Not exactly," she responded with a soft smile. "You just looked like you were dancing alone, so I thought I'd come over and see if you wanted a friend!"

I realized she was right. Liv was just suddenly gone and because of that, it definitely did look like I was dancing by myself. I smiled back and accepted her company. It was strange. Here I was, depressed, but this girl's smile seemed to make all that go away.

"Uh, I'm Amelia," I introduced myself.

"Seraphine!" she responded with enthusiasm, almost startling me. I chuckled and shook my head before proceeding to dance with her, forgetting my worries for a while. Around thirty minutes later, she told me she'd be right back and went right up to the stage.

D-Did she know DJ Dedf1sh?

The two whispered to each other, then Dedf1sh began playing a song I couldn't recognize. As Seraphine came back to greet me, I saw Liv approaching as well. Liv smiled at me and said, "Sorry, there was some kind of commotion going on outside."

"Oh, well at least you're back!" I said, feeling a little more cheerful.

"Someone's in a better mood," she noticed with a smirk.

Seraphine looked down at her phone, texting. Who she could've been texting at this time, I had no idea. Shaking my head, I took Liv's hand. "Hey, have you met Seraphine?"

"Seraphine?" muttered Liv.

Before I could say anything else, a hole opened up in the ceiling and debris fell down upon us, blinding me and keeping me from seeing. Both the bright light and the dust worked together to keep me from figuring out what was going on.

As I coughed up the dust from the ceiling debris, I tried to say something to Liv, but I could only keep coughing. As I coughed up the last of the dust, I felt someone grab my arm.

I looked up, my vision eventually clearing. I then saw the strangest sight. He was a tall octoling, and I mean tall, much like Marina. His eyes were covered by sunglasses that glowed a bright red light. His hair looked punkish with a tight, long curl that stayed rigid no matter how he moved his head. With a Rockenberg-brand motorcycle rider suit and a pair of Sesame Salt 270s shoes, this person's style screamed fresh.

Seraphine stood by us, looking a little nervous and raising a brow. "Why not use the door?"

"Not fast enough," replied the stranger, glaring at me from behind his shades. He raised his free arm, holding what looked like a Splattershot, but it was one whose brand I couldn't recognize. Before I knew it, the crowd of people panicked, moving away from the weapon, including Liv who gave the strange octoling a death gaze.

"Let her go and get out!" she shouted. "Before we make you!"

Seraphine chuckled, looking a little nervous. "Oh, boy. I thought we were just gonna talk to her like, you know…"

"Sorry for the interruption, but I have business here," the stranger said, looking at Liv. Suddenly, his Splattershot phased out of existence, replaced with a large octobrush that he swung to deflect an incoming splat bomb back at whoever threw it, which was Hector walking onto the dancefloor. The strange octoling looked back at Hector with a displeased expression. "You need to listen to me," said the stranger.

Hector grabbed his own splat bomb, the device exploding in his right hand. In his left hand, he held was looked like a cup of coffee. "Prince Octavius of the Octarian Empire," he said, the very title sending chills down my spine as I stared wide-eyed at the tall octoling in horror. "You've busted a hole in my roof. I hope you know you'll be expected to pay for the damages."

"This doesn't concern you," said Octavius. "What I'm here for is extraordinarily important and beyond your understanding."

"S-Someone get this guy away from me!" I screamed. As if to answer my request, Pineapple jumped up from my backpack, getting in the prince's face and forcing him to let go of me. I was thankful to have brought that little smallfry with me.

Hector took a sip from the cup of coffee, his gray eyes glowing brightly into a wide array of rainbow colors that flashed rapidly. Before I knew it, I'd been suddenly picked up and set down by Hector himself on the side of the dancefloor, safe behind the crowd of people, his speed astounding me!

"H-How did you get so fast?!" I sputtered.

"Very long story," he replied before heading back into the center of the dancefloor in a flash, stepping in front of Octavius with a cocky grin on his face, arms out as if he were giving a show.

I stood up and tried to make my way through the people to get a better look, peeking through and watching the fight with the crowd.

Octavius gripped onto Pineapple with both hands, trying to get the pesky smallfry out of his face, but Pineapple was persistent. Quickly, Seraphine held out what looked to be a granola bar to the smallfry, who eyed it momentarily before jumping into her arms for the food.

As soon as the Pineapple was out of the way, Octavius sighed and looked back at Hector, tapping his shoes together twice, the footwear glowing upon the second click. "Are we really going to do this?"

"Anything for the partygoers, wouldn't you say?" Hector responded. "If you're going to come in here with such drama and flare, I'd expect you'd have a spectacle to put on for everyone, right?"

"I guess you're right," Octavius agreed, running towards Hector at extreme speeds. Hector, materializing his own octobrush, zoomed forward at well at the same pace, striking weapon against weapon! The two would zoom about, striking each other in a high-intensity display that I could barely keep up with!

"This isn't even a Turf War!" I shouted. "This is just insanity!"

As I stared at these two speedsters clashed brushes, ink flying about, I tried to rationalize the very physics of it all. How was Hector able to move me to safety so quickly without harming me? Why was he able to go this fast in the first place? It made me realize that I knew almost nothing about Hector at all.

Did he seriously hold back during Splatfests?

Even worse, there was this Octavius guy now, who was apparently a PRINCE of the Octarian Empire! Why was he here?! I needed to get out of here!

Making my way through the crowd and towards the exit, I could hear the two octolings duking it out. With Hector distracting him, I had my chance. I didn't want to stick around and be captured by someone who was so high up there in status.

As I reached the door and pushed my way out, I heard Liv behind me. "Amelia!"

Turning around, I held in my bitterness. Maybe Liv didn't know Hector was some kind of speedy mutant. I gave her a nervous smile. "Hey, uh, is there something I should know about Hector?"

Liv grabbed my hand and ran out onto the sidewalk with me. "I'll tell you on the way to safety, alright?"

"U-Uh, okay?!" I replied as I was swiftly dragged.

"So, Hector and I were a team back then, back when we were soldiers," said Liv. "Remember that?"

"Yeah?" I responded.

"Well, I may or may not have done my fair share of experimenting on him a long time ago," she explained. "At his request, I embedded ability chips into his skin. Run Speed Up chips, in fact. Whenever he drinks coffee, he becomes extremely unstable and is able to move at near-unfathomable speeds, but he can't keep up that speed boost for long."

"And why would you do this to him?!" I asked as I almost stumbled on a turn as we ran together.

"For exactly the same reason that's happening now!" Liv answered. "That guy back there is the Prince of the Octarians. Or was. Things between him and Octavio didn't work out since the Inkantation was sung by the Squid Sisters!"

"Then why is he after me if he's free of brainwashing?!" I shouted in confusion.

"That's the thing!" Liv shouted back. "I don't know!"

Okay, so, this prince guy, Octavius, was after me. Why he was after me, I didn't know. Liv seemed to think he was a major threat, so there was obvious concern running through my mind. I was also worried about someone else. "What about Hector?"

Liv shook her head. "As long as Hector can drink some tea in time, he won't destabilize. And, even if he does, he'll just respawn in the club. He has a ton of personal respawn points in there."

Liv just completely confounded me. With all I knew about Liv, it wasn't even a scratch on the surface. I didn't know what she was capable of, nor of what she'd done in the past. All I knew was that she was apparently able to turn Hector into some kind of speedy supersoldier.

We really could've used that against Ana Emberz.

As we kept running, I heard an engine behind me, and turning my head I saw a familiar limousine. It was Callie's limo. Sticking her head out the back window with a smile, she greeted the two of us as we ran. "Hey! Uh, I know this is a weird time but we could help you get away from that guy!"

"How do you know about him?" I asked. "Wait… h-have you been spying on me?!"

"Spying's such a strong word," Callie replied. "I'd call it adult supervision."

I gave Callie the most incredulous look, unable to believe a single moment of this day today. "Are you serious?!"

"Wait! Come back!"

Looking back in terror, I saw Octavius running at an unnatural speed. There must've been ability chips in his shoes as well. Suddenly, a limo ride didn't seem so weird. "On second thought–"

Liv sighed and nodded to Callie. "Open the door already!"

As Callie receded back through the window and opened up the door, Liv and I both jumped in, closing the door behind us. Callie shouted, "PEDAL TO THE FLOOR, NOW!" and I could feel the force pushing me back against the seat as the vehicle instantly sped up.

Marie, sitting on the other end, looked bored as she scrolled through her phone but when I thought about it more, she just seemed to always look bored in general. "Great job, Callie," she said. "I'm contacting Captain Three and telling her to meet up with us at the docks."

"That's if we can get away from psycho over here," muttered Callie, looking out the back. "He's gaining."

"What are we gonna do?!" I fretted. "I have enough to deal with!"

Marie made her way over to the roof window. "It's those stupid shoes," she said. "I'll handle this."

"What are you doing?! That's dangerous!" I warned.

"Kind of a daily risk," Marie reacted, opening it up and jumping up onto the roof.

"What's she doing?!" I asked Callie.

"Just sit back!~" she replied, looking out the back window. As I peered out, I could see Tenta Missiles coming from our direction and heading toward Octavius. It seemed Marie was one to carry heavy firepower.

"Wait," I said, a small realization in my mind. "I thought Marie used chargers?"

"What do you mean?" questioned Liv.

"I remember Marie's weapon from our last encounter," I said. "It looked like she was using an E-liter. Those don't have Tenta Missiles…"

"Oh, she's off her limiters," Callie commented. "Don't worry, she's responsible. …Kinda."

Geez… these sisters were insane and hardcore, willing to break the rules to get things done just like Captain Three when she was fighting Nem-Nem.

"Can't I wallow in my depression for a single day without something insane happening?" I asked myself.

Callie giggled. "That's no way to live life! Think of the shopping you're missing out on! The fashion, your friends, the sights and sounds!"

"If you were spying on me, you'd know what was going on," I said with a death glare.

Callie's smile was gone, just like that. "Hey, just because you're facing something bad doesn't mean you can't try and make the most of things," she said in a delicate tone. "Life isn't something to miss out on, even when things look bleak."

As I was just about to respond, I heard a huge thud on the roof of the limo. I could hear the footsteps of both Marie and Octavius as they fought. From how it sounded, Octavius wasn't someone to mess with. The footsteps went across the limo and while I couldn't see the fight, I was sure he was pushing her back.

After the footsteps finally went quiet… the limo jumped as a loud boom knocked the rear tires off! "He's using bombs?!" I shouted.

The limo came to a screeching halt and the door next to me opened, a hand reaching in and grabbing my arm before pulling me out. Octavius looked down at me, a syringe in his free hand, eyes full of an emotion I couldn't understand. Was that anger? Or was it desperation?

"What are you doing?!" I screamed at him. "Let me go!"

Callie grabbed my other arm with one hand and aimed a splattershot at him with her other. "Don't you dare!"

Octavius looked at her. "This is important. You don't understand what's at stake here!"

"Let her go right now!" Callie demanded. "Ugh… Where's Captain Three when you need her?!"

It seemed Marie was nowhere in sight. Had Octavius splatted her?! With just Callie and Liv here, all hope seemed lost. I was scared out of my wits.

Octavius ignored her and quickly lifted the syringe up to my arm, getting ready to stick in the needle when a saving grace came out of nowhere in the form of a flying guitar, its main body slamming across the prince's face and forcing him to let go of me.

"YOU!" screamed the very familiar voice of Wreckage. "YOU'VE GOT NERVE SHOWING UP ON MY TURF!"

Her turf…? Wait! Looking around, I noticed the docks and the warehouse. Oh, boy… Wreckage's whole gang always hung out here, and that included Guava!

Wreckage made a loud war scream that made my ears nearly bleed, getting the attention of her friends inside. Out came Riff, Bang, and Guava, all looking annoyed, but when they saw the strange debacle, they were more at attention than anything now.

"Who's this punk, babe?" asked Riff.

"An unsettled score," Wreckage answered. "Rush this freak!"

Octavius looked as though he were confused at first, but when the group approached him, his puzzled expression was replaced with one of determination. "Oh, I remember now. You destroyed over one hundred years of research."

Riff went in with a bucket materializing in his hands, tossing a huge slosh of ink that was quickly jumped over by the prince, who landed directly onto Riff's face and splatted him without any trouble. Wreckage's eyes went from fury to primal rage.

"Screw it," said Wreckage. "This freak is MINE now. It's MY KILL!"

Bang and Guava exchanged glances before Guava asked, "Should we go get Riff from his spawn point?"

Wreckage didn't answer, jumping into a dirty puddle and dissolving, confusing us all, but then I remembered what she'd said to me back when she'd first brought me to the warehouse.

"GUESS WHO ILLEGALLY MODIFIED THEIR GUITAR TO BE A PORTABLE SPAWN POINT!"

I looked over at the guitar and saw the bottom of its main body open up, revealing a mini spawn point built deep inside it. As she jumped out and grabbed her guitar, she now had the element of surprise yet again as she just proved she had a mobile spawn point in her own instrument. With a sudden swing of that guitar, she sent him flying back at least twenty feet down the street before making a mad dash at him with savagery in her very scream.

Octavius got up and materialized an octobrush in his hands, spinning it before parrying the swing from her guitar. "Ghh… A mobile spawn point within your own weapon? That's impressive. I wish I'd thought of that."

Wreckage swung multiple times, and each time, her weapon was parried. Occasionally, he would splat her, but her guitar would immediately pop open and spit her out in the same position she was before, the fight continuing as if it never stopped. Soon it had gotten to the point where she was just a near-formless figure of ink from the constant splatting. Octavius wasn't giving her the chance to fully reform.

The next time he splatted her, he quickly kicked her midair guitar far away, the squid reforming with it in her hands. It was then that Octavius came to a realization. "Not only is that guitar your greatest strength, but your greatest weakness as well!"

After fully reforming, Wreckage grinned. "What are you talkin' about? There's nothing weak about this!"

"Oh, but there is," said Octavius. "Imagine if you were to respawn in some place completely inhospitable. A place where you'd be splatted the moment you came back to life. If I were to just throw that guitar into the sea, you'd be forced to relive death over and over again."

Wreckage grinned with audacity in her eyes as she said to him, "Yeah, so what? I'll still come back and eventually get back out. That pain is nothing compared to what you did."

There were so many questions going on in my head. This whole thing was going faster and faster and I felt like I was coming upon a whole new chapter of events that wasn't supposed to be unveiled yet. For now, I could do nothing to answer them.

Suddenly, I felt someone grab my arm.

Looking up, I was surprised. "Marie? Did you respawn?!"

"Not now," said Marie, running with me, leading me away from the fight. The last thing I saw of Wreckage and Octavius were their melee weapons clashing. As we ran for several minutes, I could hear the fight getting louder and louder, turning into an explosive ruckus and making me imagine the scenario. Wreckage looked like she was a powerhouse with that portable spawn point. I doubt she'd be eligible for any Turf War, no matter how underground it was.

That guitar was a weapon for war and it was obvious that she'd been waiting a long time to wage it with that Octavius guy…

But not only that, I'd noticed something concerning just before I was pulled out of sight. There was smoke coming from the guitar, making me worry about it possibly overheating. It obviously wasn't meant to keep respawning her constantly. It would've only been a matter of time before she'd have to back down and let him go.

Was Wreckage smart enough to do that?

"You've been quiet," said Marie. "No questions? No witty remarks about how we've been spying on you?"

"I'm not really focused on that," I replied, sighting a large eruption of fire off in the distance. "This guy is scaring me."

"Well, we're not letting him get to you," said Marie, turning down an alleyway. "This way."

I could hear his footsteps already and I forced myself to hold my breath as he ran past us, the seemingly-unstoppable force unable to see us in the dark of the alley. I let out a quiet sigh of relief and collapsed onto the ground.

Marie shook her head. "Not sure what he wants, but the last time Callie and encountered him, it didn't end well."

"Can't I just have a normal day?" I asked no one in particular.

Marie looked down at me with an expression I couldn't decipher. She never smiled, which always made me question her intentions. What was she thinking behind those bored-looking eyes? Then she suddenly giggled, a smile finally appearing on her face.

"You'll get by," she said, reaching her hand out to help me back up. "C'mon. We need to get out of here."

"You're not going anywhere," said Octavius as the end of the alley, his glasses flashing a brief red as they locked onto me. "You don't understand what I'm–"

Marie stepped out in front of me, and instead of her usual main weapon class, she materialized a splatana, but this was no ordinary variant. It looked like a combination between a wheeled stamp and a chainsaw. That was when I realized what I was looking at.

"The Splatana Stamper," I said almost breathlessly.

"For a human, you sure do know your weapons," Marie commented as she revved up the chainsaw-like blade. Her hands moved up, holding the Stamper with its lethal side pointed downward, taking on a strange battle stance I'd never seen before.

"I've only seen this form in one place and one place only," said Octavius.

"Calamari County," Marie responded with a straight, calm face. "An old, but still effective style."

Octavius materialized his brush, twirling it in his hands. "It won't matter when facing me!"

Marie quickly dashed forward, swinging her Stamper upwards and forcing him out into the open street, giving the both of them more room to work with. Marie ran in and swung her Stamper diagonally.

With every swing Marie made, the prince would parry quickly and smoothly, going for a swing of his own, but she would continue to dodge and return swings of her own, her Stamper revving up faster and faster with each hit. I could see the smoke coming from the weapon, the squid sister smirking.

"You're good," said Marie. "I didn't think you could keep up!"

Octavius didn't answer, professionalism keeping him quiet and calm as he avoided another swing. In response, the prince jumped to the side, swapping his brush for a new weapon, a pair of interesting-looking dualies I couldn't seem to recognize, but once he fired them, I was shocked to find that they had some insane range!

Marie was forced to swing her Stamper to make a trail of ink before swiftly swimming across the path she'd made, just narrowly avoiding his fire. She'd jump out at the end of the trail to make another pathway before vanishing into the ink again. With the range these dualies had, it was only a matter of time before she'd be hit.

"Marie, be careful!" I shouted.

Each trail Marie made was in a seemingly random direction, making me wonder if she was biding her time or not. Those dualies were impressive and I didn't want to mess with them. All I could do was stand on the sidelines, my fears of being splatted taking hold.

Before I knew it, Marie had created a pathway leading directly to Octavius, and as she dashed forward in squid form, something was wrong. There was no way she was going to survive a confrontation like this! She'd have to be a supersquid or something!

And… I was right.

Her squid form had suddenly evolved, growing into something monstrous. A twisted form of a squid that I could only recognize from old books. This was no ordinary transformation, no average special.

This was the krakening, and Marie had turned into what was known as a Kraken.

Perhaps I should start explaining what the krakening was. It was a phenomenon only seen when squids were under extreme stress. Similar to Turf Madness, but on a completely different level. When in a fight-or-flight situation, a squid can become a monstrous version of itself, losing all control of itself and destroying everything around them.

Turfers, of course, saw this as a potential special, and so with modern science, a drug was created to activate a squid's natural ability to change into this terrifying beast. This would later cause psychological problems, which led to it being banned only two years later, which is why I'd never seen it until this very moment, having only ever read about it in books.

Here was Marie, in Kraken form, about to one-shot Octavius, making my heart leap, but as she jumped at him in that giant squid form, he rolled out of the way and tossed up a splat bomb. This did nothing to stop the fearsome Kraken from bashing through it and still going after him.

Octavius seemed to have no counter against this, the octoling trying to study Marie, his face stoic. How long could Marie stay in this form? If I was correct, the drug that would typically activate the Krackening only lasted for a brief moment. But, then again, this was a rich squid with access to pretty much anything she could ever want.

Who knew if she had something to prolong the Krakening?

Regardless, Octavius smirked, pulling something out of his jacket. It looked almost like a soup can to me, but as Marie charged him again, he dropped it. Smoke poured out of it and clouded the entire area, obscuring everyone's vision.

I was grabbed, unable to even scream out as he put his hand over my face and ran, going into a nearby apartment building and running up many flights of stairs before stopping just above the rooftop. I struggled, but he held me tightly.

"Look," he said. "I'm really sorry, but this is to help you. I'm not here to hurt you."

I was confused. He claimed he was trying to help me, but I'd yet to see any indication of it. Then I felt a prick against my arm lasting for only a few seconds. Looking, I saw a needle in my arm, my eyes widening. What had this guy done?!

"Don't worry," he said. "I'll explain later, but this is not the time or the place."

As soon as he dropped me and I shouted, "Why are you doing this?!" he was seemingly gone, leaving me there atop the roof. Today was, in all essence, the wildest day I'd ever gone through. Was this rollercoaster going to get out of control or would there be a brief moment of peace?

I then heard the small cry of Pineapple as he came up from the floor below, jumping into my backpack. Looking back at him, I raised a brow. "S-Seriously?"

Today… was a long day. And little did I know… it would feel longer.

"Amelia…?" muttered Ezra from behind me. Turning around, I went pale, seeing her eyes and tentacles looking gray. Her skin was pale white and she actually coughed, sending a shiver down my spine. "I don't feel so g-good…"

Notes:

This chapter wouldn't have been possible without the loan of Octavius and Seraphine from a fan who calls themself Chaos_Theory.