Chapter 12: Squish, Squash, Smash… The Mighty Octostomp!
A/N: It is me! Your favorite Panda! This is a short one, yessir. But this is also getting posted like 7 hours earlier than normal, and you might be getting THREE chapters today, so stay with me. **WARNING** This section has a depiction of what could be considered graphic violence to some. This is not fully necessary for the plot, so if you are easily offended or are squeamish, skip to the next chapter.
Izzy had braced himself for whatever horror of a war machine he had to face, and was half-disappointed when said machine was a giant cube. Assuming this was the octostomp, he couldn't fathom where it got its' name from. The two tiny legs keeping the thing upright didn't look like they were up for any major stomping, and he doubted they could propel the metal base of the cube anywhere. Hamil was circling it, wielding a neon rifle weapon similar to the one Izzy had first seen him with. He was covering the non-purple parts in a lime-green ink, which was enraging the monster as it spat purple globs of ink at him.
The beast roared, and somehow it flew straight in the air before propelling itself downwards toward Hamil. He paled, and attempted to use his squid form to escape before his leg caught in a patch of purple ink.
"Oh god, we need to help him! Who knows how long that will splat him for!" Callie exclaimed, pulling out a neon super-soaker type weapon.
Izzy ignored her and sped towards Hamil location, his veins lighting up as he prepared himself for his stupidly dangerous plan. Skidding to a halt, he threw his arms straight up and got down on one knee. Catching the machine in mid air, it hovered precariously above Hamil and Izzy alike. Even with ASL, he arms were already tiring, the massive force and weight behind the Octostomp slowly bearing down on him.
"Go!" Izzy shouted at the now free Hamil. He hesitated for a moment before dashing off to the side.
"Hold him for a little longer!" Hamil called out, before turning into a squid and working his way up the side of the cube. Izzy's arms were almost literally on fire, growing progressively hotter as he channeled his energy into his them. Just before he gave out, he heard a large popping noise, and the octo stop roared loudly, spitting ink on Izzy's body. Heaving with all his might, he threw it back and watched it skid across the ground before slowly getting back up.
Enraged, it let out an even louder roar, instantly removing the ink around them. Its' face popped out for a moment, before sinking back in and popping out some of the plates on its' sides that Hamil had used to scale it previously. Beneath the now open side of the Octostomp was a cube of pure purple ink, deadly to any inkling who touched it. Realizing he was mostly immune to ink, he had another stupid idea.
"Hamil! Do you have any bomb-type weapons?" Izzy shouted over to him
"Yeah, I got like three splat bombs on me, why?" He shouted back, avoiding the octo stomp as it attempted to crush him once more.
"Pass them to me, I have an idea!" Izzy said, running towards the the machine, it being dangerously close to leaping back up. Intercepting the splat bombs as they flew through the air, Izzy gave a defiant yell before diving into the ink cube of the monstrosity.
The overload on his senses nearly knocked him out then and there, the sweet-bitterness of the ink taste entering his mouth and his skin slightly burned to what he assumed was "lethal" ink. Fumbling with the explosives, he groped them until he heard a soft click. Closing his eyes, he was flung out a moment later when all three bombs exploded from inside the Octostomp, covering the entire area in lime-green ink, and depositing Izzy dangerously close to the edge.
Hacking up purple ink, Izzy got up, his limbs complaining from every movement. His arm lit up it pain, and he looked over to see a piece of metal shrapnel embedded in it. Izzy didn't know why he was so tired, sure he had taken in some ink, but he felt dead tired. He slowed with every movement, his breathing becoming labored. He fell to his knees, drifting out of conscious as he barely registered someone calling out his name.
"Izzy." A soft voice called out. "It is time to get up." Izzy squinted, rolling his body to the other side.
"Just a few more minutes…" he called out, sleep taking its' hold once more.
"Izzy. Get up. Get up…. GET UP!" Izzy awoke in a field, his hands on the unmoving body of a person. He squinted, but didn't recognize whomever it was.
"Hey…" he said drearily. "Are you okay?" He rolled the person over, before registering the large pool of blood he was in. Lifting his hands up, they were covered in the green liquid, as the rest flowed around him. Despite the horrendous situation he was in, Izzy couldn't scream if he wanted to. He felt… nothing. The corpse had started to move, its' wounds still streaming fresh blood down its' arms and legs.
"Don't let this be your fate… Your powers… Use them wisely…" it gurgled out, the soulless eyes locking gaze with Izzy. "This is not where you die… you have much too much to live for. Go now, they need you back."
The corpse's arms wrapped around Izzy's neck, suffocating him slowly. He still felt nothing, and when darkness came to envelope him once more, he felt nothing.