"The enemy is upon us!"
"Alright! Is everyone ready?!"
"As ready as we'll ever be!"
"Alright! Let's do this!" Octarian forces almost immediately appeared on all sides of the building. They were greeted with not several Inklings, but one lunging towards the east side of the construct. The Octarians raised their weapons in instinct at the charging Inkling. Just as they fired, there was a loud ding sound as before their eyes the Inkling transformed into the almighty Kraken.
Octarians in front of the behemoth panicked. Some jumped to the side. Others chose to jump back the way they came. Octarians behind the monster noticed ripples in the ink behind it. They opened fire as the Kraken leapt over the edge of the building, smaller Inklings following. For the Octolings that jumped over the building, the Kraken quickly caught up and splatted them.
The massive squid hit the ground and Octarian forces scattered. The squids quickly followed the behemoth, small plopping sounds chiming when they hit the ink path the Kraken made. They swam as far as they could as quickly as possible. But of course all good things come to an end. The Kraken wore off and the Inklings quickly rose from the ink, weapons drawn and pointed in preparation. The group quickly moved forward, Lyra and the female from before helping Shiro to move.
The male from before lead the charge, making sure he spread a wide area of ink for his fellow Inklings to follow. Behind him was another male and female watching his back while the final male was in between the two groups of three, watching out for either group.
In their rush, Shiro stumbled and hit the ground, Lyra apologizing and the other Inkling cursing as they both reached down to help him back up. After the initial shock from hitting the ground subsided, Shiro's brow furrowed in confusion.
"Come on you! On your feet!" Lyra glared at the girl as she stuttered. "Um…foot?..." another glare.
"Yeah yeah hold on…" Shiro said placing his ear to the ground and sitting motionless. The two girls looked at the boy in confusion. Shiro raised his head and looked towards the group still spreading ink in front of them. He tried desperately to get up. "Something's coming!" he shouted. The group stopped and turned towards the screaming Inkling.
The Inkling in the middle prepared to run towards the fallen group, thinking they needed assistance. The leading group began to head back as well. They took one step as spikes jutted out from the ground around the lone Inkling. There was a split second of a pause as both groups lost sight of the Inkling behind the teeth-like protrusions and he lost sight of them.
There was a loud snap sound as the protrusions slammed shut, revealing a large fish like robot. It looked around at the Inklings around it, purple ink oozing from its closed maw. The Inkling girl in the first group went into hysterics, her friends having to grab her before she did something stupid.
"JEREMY NO!"
"Angela calm down!" Angela broke down into sobs as her friends attempted to raise her back to her feet. The monstrosity looked over the display and smiled, its teeth practically reflecting the image of the crying Inkling. Shiro and his small group looked on in horror as the creature roared out, removing the ink in the area. Somehow it dived into the ground again, a giant fin sticking above the surface as it swam towards the sobbing Inkling. The Inklings forced Angela to her feet and began running as fast as they could.
Agent 1 and 2 snuck into the ship as quietly as they could. They turned into their squid forms and slinked through the grate on the vents they were in. They quietly dropped into the hallway weapons drawn. They cautiously moved forward, eyes scanning for any sign of movement.
Fortunately the hallway was quiet save for the boom of inkstrikes and the screech of Killer Wails echoing outside. Finding a bit of comfort in the silence, the two moved faster. Every second wasted was another life lost. It wasn't long before they were both sprinting down the hallway, the sound of their footsteps echoing through the area.
They finally reached a steel door. Agent 1 placed her self on one side of it while Agent 2 covered the other. The two locked eyes and took a deep breath. Giving a nod to her cousin, Agent 1 pushed the door open while Agent 2 turned into the doorway, pointing her weapon towards the inside. Both slowly lowered their weapons as their mouth dropped.
"What the..." Agent 2 muttered as she and her cousin walked into the room.
"How the hell is this even a thing?!" Agent 1 screeched gesturing towards the room. "I know that this ship is big and all, but this room alone is bigger! I mean look at that Marie! It has a horizon! A freaking horizon Marie!"
"Yes Callie, I also have eyes," Marie stated walking forward studying the room they were in. It was a large circular room with an upper and lower platform going all around it. There was a decent amount of space from the walls to the edge of the platform that allowed a lot of movement if need be.
However the floor above seemed unreachable from any where on the bottom. Neither agent wanted to risk a super jump less they fall in the pit.
The Squid Sisters walked to the edge of the platform and looked over it. At the bottom of the room sat a very large batch of purple ink. Both girls shivered at the thought of slipping in. It was a long fall to contemplate your errors in life before dying. The two took steps away from the edge before looking around the room some more.
"So…where to now?" Marie asked her sister as they scanned the room for a way out.
"How about hell?" a voice yelled out. There was a giant explosion of ink from the center of the pit that shot high into the air. As the ink receded, Octavio's DJ station spun in the air. It stopped facing The Squid Sisters and sent a boom from the front speakers. "Sup has beens?" Octavio sneered from his control console.
"Here to stop you, never was," Marie retorted pointing her Splatterscope while Callie aimed her rapid blaster. Octavio laughed at the two.
"And exactly who are you supposed to be?"
"Agents 1 and 2! We're stopping this war at its source!" Callie's statement made Octavio laugh.
"Please. That Agent 3 may have defeated me last time, but even he couldn't stop this new machine of mine! And I doubt either of you are as good as him!"
"Please. Can't you add? One plus two equals three. And from what I can see, your machine has been downgraded since your fight with Agent 3," Octavio full out laughed at Marie, who growled and charged her charger. She fired at Octavio, going for the headshot. Before the ink could reach the cockpit, a barrier appeared and blocked it. Octavio smiled as the purple barrier slowly turned turquoise.
"Oh I can add just fine. Why don't you call and add Agent 3 into the equation? After all," Octavio's face lowered into a glare. "You still wouldn't add up to eight," Octavio activated his turn table and eight robotic tentacles exploded from the back of his machine. They all spun around rapidly before shooting out in different directions, making it look even bigger.
The two agents stared with mouths agape as the tendrils slowly slunk into place. They were thick and their entirety posed a large amount of purple ink. The two biggest ones spun around moved towards the front. They twirled around until the ends formed into two giant fists and rested in a boxing position towards the sisters.
"Oh shit…" Marie whispered as she stared towards the machine.
"Hey sis," Marie turned towards her sister who gave a small nod. "Are you prepared?" Marie visibly calmed down and turned towards Octavio. She reached behind her and pulled out a Jet Squelcher. Callie smiled as she turned towards her foe and pulled out an aerospray. Marie glared at Octavio who smirked back.
"Let's get this over with,"
Inkay flinched as a fist flew past his face, purple ink sprinkling him at the closeness of the limb. He managed to dodge and duck under a few more attacks before opting to roll backwards and hopefully out of reach.
Octameri kept up the pressure, following Inkay in his retreat. Blobs of turquoise ink flew pass her face as Cerata rushed back into the fray. The turquoise Octoling threw a kick towards her sister's back, who easily caught it and lifted the captured limb up a bit. Glare still in her eye, Cerata jumped and kicked her free leg towards her opponent's face. Again, the limb was captured and Octameri pulled both limbs over her head.
Riding the momentum of her yanked legs, Cerata bent over backwards, firing her weapon at her sister. Arms still over her head, Octameri let herself fall backwards, dodging the fire and confusing Cerata. Octameri landed gently on her back while Cerata was slammed face first into the ground.
Inkay threw several Burst Bomb at the grounded Octameri, who only smiled at the incoming bombs. With a swift twirl, she was on her feet again and threw her sister high into the air and into the bombs. Of course they didn't hurt the now airborne Octoling, but they never reached their target because of it.
Inkay rushed forward, firing his Replica the entire time. Octameri twirled on her feet, spinning around the barrage of ink. She effectively backhanded the poor Inkling. She used the speed of her spin to also kick one of his legs from under him. Inkay winced as Octameri grabbed him by his tentacles and groaned after she punched him in the face.
Using the moment Inkay was stunned from pain, Octameri lifted Inkay off the ground and threw him into Cerata just as she was about to hit the ground. Both let out a pained oomph as their bodies collided and rolled across the floor. They both quickly rolled to an upright position and separated themselves, again pointing their weapons at the smirking Octoling.
"Why is your sister so strong?" Inkay groaned trying to to stop the ringing in his head.
"She trains more than she should," Octameri laughed as she approached her sister and enemy.
"And I think it's paying off, don't you agree sister?" Cerata simply glared along with Inkay as they paused for a moment before rushing the Octoling again. Once in front of her, Cerata took one hand off of her weapon. Using her free hand, she reached in her belt and pulled out a mini Octobrush. She did a quick slash towards Octameri's abdomen. The former did a quick step back to dodge the attack.
Keeping all of his running momentum, Inkay threw a forward kick towards his opponent's stomach. Octameri simply twirled to her right out of the way. Upon stopping, she noticed her sister in the air, weapon held back as if she was preparing a punch. Which she was. She threw her fist forward while firing her weapon. Octameri simply swatted the weapon out of her face and to the side with one hand. She rotated her body and landed a devastating blow to Cerata's stomach with her knee.
Cerata gasped as the air immediately left her lungs then groaned as she felt her sister harshly grip her tentacles, pushing her closer to the ground. Octameri lowered Cerata's body and dodged another shot from Inkay, who was charging back into the fray. He threw a left hook towards his opponent, but timing the yank perfectly, Octameri pulled her sister back up, deflecting Inkay's attack.
Octameri then shot a hooked kick towards the side of Inkay's knee. The Inkling fell to his knee as his limb was knocked from under him. He looked up and attempted to get back to his feet but Octameri cocked the same leg back and swung it with even more force into Inkay's jaw. The attack caused him to do a complete spin and land on his face.
Without missing a beat, Octameri slammed her foot on the ground. bending her leg at a ninety degree angle, she pulled Cerata's tentacles back, then with as much force as she could muster slammed her sister's face into her knee. Cerata's head rebounded and flew backward as her nose began to bleed. Without giving her opponent the chance to even comprehend what just happened, Octameri threw a left hook into Cerata's stomach, then a powerful rising uppercut as she was bent over from the previous blow.
Cerata was knocked off her feet and onto her back from the blow as Octameri smiled the entire time. Inkay, fighting to get his head to stop throbbing, was back on a knee trying to get to his feet. He looked over his shoulder right as Cerata was at the peak of getting knocked off her feet. His eyes widened as Octameri did a short hop and shot both of her feet towards Inkay's face.
Inkay rolled and rolled from the attack, landing face down with a blurry vision. He raise his head up and tried to shake the blurriness from his eyes. He looked up as Octameri jumped back to her feet, dusting her hands off as if the battle was already over. Honestly, Inkay was surprised on how one sided this fight was turning out to be. He thought if anything it would be one sided because of the two on one statistics, but that barely seemed like a mild inconvenience to Octameri.
Speaking of the she-devil, Octameri turned her sights towards her sister, who was writhing on the ground holding her face. Octameri knelt down beside her sister and again grabbed her tentacles. She brought her sister's head towards her as Cerata hissed.
"Why do you still resist me sister? Can't you see you're on the losing side?" Cerata growled and clawed at the gauntlet oozing purple through her tentacles.
"Because I know this side is right. If you would listen to what I have to say you would know that! But instead you're following Octavio blindly like you always have like a lovesick puppy!" Octameri growled and threw Cerata's head to the ground again. She stood up and raised her foot in preparation to stomp the dazed Octoling.
Inkay decided that that was enough and turned into a squid, charging up a super jump as quickly as he could. He launched himself full speed towards Octameri, slamming his humanoid body into her and sending them careening towards the edge of the rooftop. Inkay's idea was this obviously wasn't going to end in their favor, so maybe they should risk the war below and maybe find some assistance. Sure they may find more Octarian forces, but they were already up shit creek without a paddle. With that thought in mind, he kept himself rolling with Octameri until he felt the ground disappear from under them. Now all Inkay had to do was make sure he wasn't on the bottom when they hit the ground. He was already on the receiving end of a gravity slam and would prefer not to be on it again. As the ground disappeared, the sound of Cerata calling his name in a panic rang out.
The feeling of slamming into the ground came much sooner than he anticipated. He let out a gasp as once again his body slammed into something hard with Octameri on top of him, the pain increased from the now shattered ink tank on is back. When he focused his sight, Octameri was smiling down on him, the roof they just rolled off of not too far in the distance over her shoulder. He looked over his own shoulder and his heart dropped.
"I'll tell you what MB. You got balls. Or you are the stupidest person I've ever met," Octameri chuckled. She wrapped her gauntlets around the Inkling's throat and began squeezing, ink still oozing from them. Inkay clawed at the gauntlets as Octameri laughed. "I wanted to see you explode into a rain of purple, but I guess watching your body fizzle into nothing is good too. Now open those eyes! Let me see them roll back into their sockets!"
Inkay struggled to get this woman off of him but she had him pinned in place. He would've tried rolling over, but that may have just gotten them both killed.
"Get off of him!" Octameri looked to her side to see Cerata flying towards her. The Octoling tackled the older Octarian off Inkay and over the edge. Inkay immediately looked over the side, grasping his throat and trying to locate his comrade. The two Octolings landed on a beam not too far away from the one Inkay laid on. Inkay stood and slowly backed up to the building. He looked around for a path to get down to their level without being too risky. He looked down to the beam they laid on then the literal ocean of water far in the distance. "Maybe the depot...wasn't such a good idea..."
Lyra and Shiro along with the new Inkling girl found cover as the other group fled the charging machine. They truly wanted to help, but with Shiro's missing leg and their complete lack of knowledge of their opponent, they'd more than likely be a nuisance than anything. And their was no doubt in any of their minds that if the thing turned its sights on them, they wouldn't be able to out run it.
"Ugh! I have no idea what to do!" The aggravated female Inkling whisper shouted. "I was not expecting giant robot...things! I've really bitten off more than I can chew this time..." The girl put her head in her hands and let out a shaky breath. Shiro and Lyra looked at each other with saddened eyes before Shiro put a hand on the girl's shoulder. She flinched at his touch and looked up at him.
"What's your name?" The girl wiped her eyes and looked at Shiro.
"Magdaline...but my friends call me Maddie..." Shiro nodded and looked to Lyra.
"I'm Shiro. And this is Lyra. Thanks for helping us. I promise, we're going to make it out," Magdaline scoffed and looked towards the ground.
"I told Jeremy the same thing..." Shiro grew a sad expression along with Lyra.
"Was that the one who?..." Magdaline nodded and the group grew quiet.
"We should probably get moving..." Lyra called as the two nodded. The girls helped Shiro up as they began exiting their hiding place.
"We have to see where my friends are. We have to see if we can help them somehow," Magdaline suggested. Shiro looked at Lyra and vice versa.
"They did help us when we needed it," Shiro told the girl.
"Did you think I was going to say no or something?" Magdaline smiled as the group moved as quickly as possible. It wasn't long before they found their targets, still trying to fend of the robotic fish.
"Well what do we do now?" Lyra questioned as they hid out of sight of the monstrosity. Shiro stared quietly and let out a deep breath.
"You both go find some way to help. I'll stay behind,"
"Shiro are you crazy?! You won't be able to defend yourself in that state!" Lyra scolded, causing Shiro to chuckle.
"Sure I will. Just leave me some ammo. A little water. Some chips if you have any," Magdaline looked at the Inkling boy with a somewhat concerned somewhat amused face.
"Did you just?" Shiro just chuckled.
"Look, I'm not going to be of any help to you guys at this point, and they need help. So go help them. I'll be fine," Lyra wined and bounced in place.
"Why do all the boys in my life have to act so damn heroic?!" She growled as she jumped from their hiding place and ran towards the machine, transferring her anger towards the selfless acts all of her friends seemed to be doing towards something more useful. Magdaline looked at the charging Inkling and then Shiro.
"Stay out of trouble,"
"No promises," Magdaline ran afer Lyra as Shiro stayed behind cover. As soon a the girls left he cupped his head in his hands. He was feeling nauseous and he was having trouble seeing clearly. But they didn't need to know that. He just had to hold out for a little longer. Just a little bit.
Who the hell even ordered this to be built this way?! It's like some asshat meant for an odd battle to go on here! Inkay inwardly cursed at the steel beams jutting out over the sea in seemingly random ways from the building. He returned his sights to Cerata, who was currently wrestling with her sister. Her sister had the advantage and had long since knocked Cerata's weapon onto another beam. Inkay had to act fast and smart. He only had one Seeker left so he had to put it to good use.
Inkay took a deep breath and got a running start before jumping off the beam he stood on, barely landing on the one the Octolings shared. As soon as he could, he threw a Seeker towards the quarreling Octolings. They both noticed the small beeping sounds the mobile bomb made and turned their attention towards it. Octameri growled and headbutted Cerata before attempting to jump over the bomb.
Only slightly dazed from the blow, Cerata bent her arm over her body and slammed her fist into the Seeker. Though the bomb would've normally just rolled right over Cerata, being the same color and all, the impact of her fist caused it to explode early. The premature eruption caught Octameri by surprise, changing the direction of her ascent and blinding her for a moment.
She let out a hiss as her back hit one steel beam and she fell into a face plant onto another. She growled and looked up to her opponents who had regrouped two levels above her. She stood up and held her hands over her head. With a war cry filled with more annoyance than anything, she threw her limbs to her side, the gauntlets opening up in several places and causing ink to spiral around her fists. She cocked one fist back and threw a punch that sent a large blob of ink spiraling towards the beam Inkay and Cerata stood on.
The two didn't think much of the attack at first seeing as Octameri aimed a bit too low, but that mindset changed quickly. The force of the ink's impact with the steel beams not only caused it to shake, but bent the beam in a bit. Cerata and Inkay shared a fearful glance as Octameri unleashed a volley of punches, some aimed toward the two, others towards the beam they stood on.
Inkay and Cerata separated, running towards opposite ends of the beam. Octameri set her sights towards Inkay, sending a storm of ink flying towards him as he traveled across the beams. At one point he jumped from the one he was on and landed on the one Octameri occupied, almost over shooting it. This didn't deter Octameri's barrage in the slightest.
Inkay had to quickly adjust his posture to dodge the ink aimed towards his head. He got to his feet and rushed towards Octameri. The Octoling's fists were a blur as she continued her onslaught. Inkay did his best to sidestep or duck under any attack he was fortunate enough to track. He reverted to squid form occasionally to slip under or jump over attacks to switch up his approach a bit.
Surprising himself, he got into a pretty close range to this battle beast. Not wanting to slow down less he get hit, he charged in with a flying kick. Octameri easily dodged it and prepared to turn around to continue her storm of ink. Upon turning around however, she was greeted with a hard uppercut to the chin.
She quickly recovered and growled at her sister, attempting to slam both her fists on the younger Octoling's head. Cerata rolled under her sister just as her fists connected with the ground and got into a battle position, Inkay raising his fists the same way on the opposite side of their enemy. Octameri growled as she got into a battle position contrasting theirs. Her arms and legs were spread to opposite sides to prepare herself for when either one of them made a move, where as their bodies were curved in.
Cerata and Inkay both were breathing at a bit of an increased paced, while Octameri's breathing was quickened by fury alone. Aside from the upper cut Cerata had just landed that was the only blow to the battle hardened Octoling. Using her hand closest to Cerata, Octameri wiped her lip and glanced towards her sister.
"Don't expect that to happen again,"
Agent 2 bounced along the purple colored ground and let out a groan, her cousin crashing near her location not too soon afterwards.
"Callie..." Agent 2 groaned out as she tried to force herself to her feet. The first agent didn't respond. Instead she laid there in the purple ink unmoving.
"Looks like one down!" Octavio boasted, Agent 2 sending him a snarl. "Don't worry, I'll knock you out too then splat you both at the same time! You won't feel a thing I promise," Agent 2 closed her eyes, snarl still on her face. This couldn't be it. Not like this. Not to Octavio. She slammed her fist on the ground and forced her leg under her body.
"Oh? Still got some fight in you I see. So the strength of you agents is by highest number huh?" Agent 2 growled as she fought to get back on her feet. She gripped her weapon in her hand and slowly ascended. Octavio watched in amusement as she slowly stood up. She finally stood to her full height, wobbling only slightly before glaring at Octavio. "Well? Got anything to say?"
Marie didn't know if she and her cousin were going to make it out of this room in one piece, but she'll be damned if she didn't complete her part of the mission. She adjusted her hat and her mask and gripped both weapons in her hands.
Lyra and her group fired ink towards the Octomaw from all directions, the thing barely slowing down in any way. It of course attempted to eat them but the Inklings did well enough to stay away from its chomping path.
"How are we suppose to stop this thing?!" Lyra called still firing her weapon. The Octomaw would roar every once in awhile, once again removing the ink in the area, causing the Inklings to have to re-spread it. After one roar, the Octomaw raised its head and looked around. It dived into the ground and began swimming away from the group.
"Wait...where's it going?" Danny muttered as the group got together. Lyra paled as she and Magdaline ran forward.
"It's headed towards Shiro!" Lyra shouted. "Shiro! Move! Get from over there!" She cried out as the monster out swam them. From behind his hiding spot, Shiro smiled to himself. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He didn't expect to go out like this. Food for some giant robot thing. He didn't bother moving. He was having trouble even processing his surroundings.
So Shiro simply waited. The ground vibrating harder and harder as the machine grew closer. Shiro simply hoped his friends would stay safe. The monster roared out as it opened its maw and prepared to crash down on Shiro.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Lyra called as the monster leaped forward. The monster paused and stared forward before its mouth exploded with turquoise, its jaw dangling loosely for a moment as it stood surprised. It snapped its maw back in place while the Inklings stared on in confusion. The Octomaw roared out again in anger. Unfortunately, this left its mouth open for several Splat Bombs to enter.
The bombs went off one by one, by the time the last one exploded, the Octomaw's head exploded with it. The rest of its body hit the ground in a lifeless heap as the Inklings stared on in shock. Lyra rushed over to Shiro and wrapped her arms around him.
"Shiro! You're ok! Did you do that?" Shiro opened his eyes and gave Lyra a chuckle.
"I can barely feel my anything. I didn't do squat,"
"Then...who?..."
"You didn't think I'll let you just die like that did you?" Shiro and Lyra looked up as a figure jumped from the nearby building. "After all, you still owe me for that game,"
"Kelp!" Lyra screamed running to embrace the Inkling. Kelp returned the embrace and moved over towards Shiro.
"Hey there buddy. Aren't you tardy to the party?" Shiro groaned out. Kelp chuckled.
"Better late than never right?" Shiro nodded.
"Too true bro," The other Inklings joined the group and Kelp nodded towards them.
"There's a large Squad of Octarians coming this way. Prepare yourselves," The Inklings nodded and assisted in moving Shiro to a better guarded area.
Well, Octameri was right. It hadn't happened again. Cerata and Inkay were practically covered in purple ink and were breathing heavily as Octameri had returned to her calm smirking persona. Cerata had an ink blast hit her square in the leg and thus she found it hard to move. Inkay suffered a similar hit to his left shoulder, causing his arm to scream out in pain every time he tried to move it.
Octameri looked at Inkay before turning and charging towards Cerata, who raised her fists in preparation. Knowing that Cerata was injured, Inkay charged after Octameri.
"Don't you touch her!" Inkay called out. He jumped up, aiming both of his feet towards the back of Octameri's head. The Octoling quickly turned around and raised her arms in defense. Inkay kicked her arms, placing as much weight as he could on her makeshift shield before jumping over her head to dodge the fist she threw towards him.
Noticing Octameri distracted, Cerata threw a punch, hitting her sister behind the knee. Center of balance thrown off, Inkay grabbed one of Octameri's tentacles on his descent and pulled her back, throwing her over the side of the beam. Not to be out done, Octameri simply grabbed the beam as she fell and and used her momentum to swing to another beam on a lower level. She looked up with a growl.
"Trying to throw me in the ocean? I guess that would be the only way you could hope to beat me!" She yelled at Inkay. He and Cerata looked down upon Octameri with a wary glance. There was the level of beams Octameri stood on, then one more level before the ocean. Inkay and Cerata seemed more worried about gravity while Octameri wanted to simply win the battle.
"Why do you even keep fighting? You're beaten! Just accept it!" Octameri yelled.
"No! Just listen Meri! You're on the wrong side! Just let me explain!"
"Enough!" Octameri called out, her scream coming out with a background of a little jingle. Octameri raised a confused eyebrow at the unknown sound. Inkay and Cerata raised an eyebrow as well as the familiar tune rang out now of all times.
"I'm prepping the Killer Wail!" Lyra called out just before the jingle rang out. All throughout the city the jingle played. Octarians across the city wondered what while Inklings wondered why. Every screen in the city turned on, Inkopolis News Time displayed on the screen. The fighting didn't come to a complete stop, but things calmed down noticeably.
Kelp's group were hiding behind a barricade as Octarian forces closed in on their position. They barely paid attention to the now shining screens as they moved in on their foes. That however changed when a familiar voice came from the screen.
"You've lost! Any last words before I crush you flatter than a music note?" Octavio's machine sat on screen, fists raised high over its head as Octavio looked down triumphantly. A voice resonated from under the camera.
"Just a few questions. Why are you such a dud? The Great Zapfish belongs to us and you know it!"
"No it doesn't! It belongs to the Octarians! You Inklings stole it!"
"It used to belong to the Octarians, until you lost it in a bet for land! You lost the duel against Cuttlefish and with it the rights to the Zapfish!" Octavio was quiet for a moment then scoffed.
"So what if I did? I'll right my wrongs when I slaughter your kind! In case you didn't know, my army is destroying your entire city!"
"I'm surprised that anyone would even follow you after a blunder like that," The voice scolded, causing Octavio to laugh.
"You think I would want to rule idiots like that? No, after my subjects figured out my mistake, I was quickly overthrown. It was a sad tune I'll give you that. But it was short lived. I devised some sick beats that wiped their minds of the mistake and made them loyal to me once again!" There was sudden silence across the city.
"So that's how you did it? How do you live with yourself?! Messing with people's minds just to further yourself?! That's disgusting!"
"Heck. I bet if I cranked up the bass I can take over the minds of all you pathetic Inklings too! But I truly don't want to see your stupid faces any longer!" Octavio raised a fist and brought it down towards the camera, a shriek echoing out as the screen cut out.
Kelp peaked over the shelter the squad hid behind at the Octarian forces that were marching towards them. They all were facing the screen, some muttering to others and some to themselves. A few Octolings stood at the head of the group, some fell to their knees as some fumed at the now off screens. Kelp took a deep breath and jumped over their barricade.
"Kelp! Kelp what're you doing?!" Lyra screamed. Kelp cautiously approached the Octarian group.
He eyed the Octoling closest to him with a fierce look in his eye. This Octoling was visibly shaking as she stared at the darkened screen. She heard Kelp's footstep approach the group and her head snapped to him.
Kelp and the Octoling shared a glare, the Octoling baring her fangs in anger. Kelp didn't deter, but instead slowly extended his hand to her. The Octoling looked at the extended limb and growled. As hostile as she seemed, she gripped the Inkling's hand and shook it.
Octameri stood frozen in spot. Her mouth agape and flopping even though nothing came out. She simply stood where she was frozen. Cerata and Inkay stop and listened. The sounds of war had stopped. The two turned towards each other and gave a big smile. Cerata's plan worked. No one was fighting any more. Cerata wrapped her arms around Inkay in a celebratory hug.
Remembering their job wasn't quite over yet, the two looked down towards Octameri, who was still staring blankly into space. Inkay and Cerata shared a wary looked before Cerata spoke up.
"Octameri?" Her sister flinched and turned towards the higher Octoling. Inkay narrowed his eyes in hostility. He didn't trust that she'd have a change of heart so suddenly. Or maybe he was just salty on having his ass handed to him on a silver platter twice. Once with backup. And the torture to boot.
Cerata on the other hand had a hopeful expression on her face. Maybe this was just what she needed to snap her sister back to her senses. Octameri kept staring, mouth still moving but not really forming words. Eventually they did.
"Sister...I..." There was suddenly a rumbling. A loud rumbling. The three stumbled at the sudden shaking then looked out over the ocean. Dozens of Inkstrikes landed in the water. One by one Killer Wails went off. Weapons started during the speech attempting to activate without causing any more harm. Inkstrikes sent towards the ocean and Killer Wails tilted vertically to avoid damage. The city being filled with turquoise and purple once more.
Unfortunately, a few Killer Wails weren't raised that high. Inkay and Cerata had the fortune to be able to simply step further from the building to avoid a purple sound wave. Octameri however wasn't so fortunate. The entire beam she stood on was encased in turquoise. The two Octolings' eyes widened at the sight. Still in a bit of shock at the truth about Octavio and the sudden predicament she was in, Octameri stumbled, she fell onto her back and quickly rolled over. She fell from the beam right as the damaging part of the sound wave echoed.
She slammed face first into the last remaining beam, it making an audible creaking sound. The beam began slanting, dipping Octameri further and further towards the drop. She clawed at the steel beam to attempt to get any form of grip to prevent gravity's pull.
This luxury however wasn't granted to her until the last possible second. She grabbed the edge of the beam, causing it to dip even farther. She dangled with one arm over the increasingly unstable beam.
"Sister!" Cerata called out preparing to jump down to her sister's aid. Inkay grabbed Cerata just as she was about to be airborne and kept her in place.
"No! If you jump on the beam it'll collapse!" Octameri looked panicked. She looked around desperately then up to her sister. Cerata was reaching out for her, like she could somehow grab her from that distance. Octameri visibly calmed, a smirk crossing her face. She truly had the best sister. She on the other hand was the worse. She watched as Inkay brought Cerata down into a crouch, holding her in place. Octameri slowly reached up, taking her goggles off and casting them aside. She looked up to her sister with bright green eyes the same shade as Cerata's.
"Sister..." She said softly as Cerata froze. "I'm sorry...Use what I taught ya on him," There was another creak as the beam once again shifted. Octameri's grip faltered and and she began falling to the sea below.
"OCTAMERI!" Cerata screamed reaching out for her plummeting sister. Inkay grabbed her head and pulled her into his chest. Cerata gripped onto Inkay as he shielded her from the sight of her sister landing in the water. He simply held her as her grip tightened. "I thought...she'd have a chance to repent..." She said with a shaky voice. Still not sure how comforting is done, Inkay rubbed her head.
"I think her apology was enough," He didn't really think that. One too many blows to the head, but he had to attempt to make Cerata feel better. Cerata nodded into his shirt before standing up.
"We need to finish Octavio," She said, a new fire in her eyes. Inkay nodded as he rose to his feet as well.
"We're going to have to restock at my place. My tank is kinda broken,"
"Yeah...I lost my weapon..."
"It's ok. I have plenty," The two moved towards the building and headed back to Inkay's apartment.
The way back was filled with noise. Not war sounds, but a lot of chatter from both species. By the time Inkay and Cerata made it to Inkay's apartment, the Octarian ships were picking up the Octomachines. A few of the ships and docked near the ocean. The only ship that hadn't moved was the ship Octavio resided in.
When the two got to the tower the ship floated over, there was a large crowd consisting of both Octarians and Inklings. Both groups wanted to go and get rid of Octavio, but after dealing with the other Octarian machinery, Inklings didn't want to deal with Octavio's. The Octarians knew their weapons would have no effect on him, so he could easily just squish them with his. So slowly a crowd formed, angry but scared. Though they all had a common enemy now, they all still stuck with their own kind.
Inkay and Cerata however were of course the exception in both cases. They split the crowd with their presence. Cerata more so at her unusual color for an Octoling. They all watched as the two moved forward with a hardened glare. They approached the tower and made a stream to swim up, super jumping once they reached the top to get into the ship.
Once inside, the two began a full out sprint down the hall they came in. The two had their weapons ready, expecting Octavio to already be in full battle mode by the time they arrived.
"I hope Callie and Marie are okay," Cerata muttered through gasps. Inkay lowered his head and increased his speed.
"I'm sure they're fine. But that doesn't mean we should drag our feet. Let's increase the pace," Cerata nodded as they both began firing ink forward, swimming as quickly as they could. They didn't bother to stop at the door. Inkay kicked it open and he and Cerata charged in. Octavio raised an eyebrow at the intrusion but smiled.
"Agent 3," Octavio purred.
"Let them go Octavio!" Inkay screamed pointing his weapon towards the Octarian overlord. He had The Squid Sisters in the hands of his machine. Callie hung dangling by her ankle while Marie was hanging from her wrists. Both were unconscious and covered in purple.
"Who? These drama queens? Please. We were just discussing our new...living arrangements," He said shaking them a little.
"What are you talking about Octavio?" Cerata asked, weapon also pointing towards her foe.
"Oh. And the traitor too. Well, I was thinking that these too little squiddies could take up a new job as slaves to the great Octarian race!I'm sure these singing throats could be good for something. Maybe traitors like you will serve a similar fate," Octavio smiled at Cerata as she growled.
"You'll never know,"
"You sure? Cause I think I won!" He yelled holding the cousins up. "Don't think you'll do much better than these two did!"
"Why don't you put them down and come find out?" Inkay said practically snarling at the smirking person.
"Fine," Octavio cocked The Squid Sisters back one by one and threw them towards Inkay and Cerata. Callie slammed into Cerata and Marie into Inkay. The entire group rolled along the ground and came to a stand still near the door. Marie slowly opened her eyes with a groan.
"Ink...ay?" Marie gave her signature smile with heavy eyes. She gently ran her hand down his cheek. "I knew you wouldn't miss this of all things," Inkay smirked in return as Marie once again lost consciousness. Inkay and Cerata took the injured Inklings out the door and sat them on either side of it. They made a pool of turquoise ink under them to help them heal and looked at each other before nodding.
They entered the room with Octavio tapping his tentacles impatiently. He scowled as the two closed the door.
"You two ready? Or are you gonna go be all sentimental some more?" Inkay and Cerata raised their weapons towards Octavio. "Well all right!" Octavio activated his turntable and the tentacles on his machine twirled again, the fists knocking into each other as he laughed. "Time to drop the sea bass,"
Surprise! Did you miss me? I know I said I was gonna be with some friends, but father made me cancel because he's a paranoid over protective parent. But it's cool. I've already began plotting some passive aggressive teenage headaches for him. But onto what you guys care about: The story!
So the war is pretty much over. The only thing left is Octavio, who doesn't yet know he's been abandoned. Kelp saved what's left of Shiro's life as the poor guy continues to slowly bleed out. Inkay and Cerata got knocked around a lot by Octameri, who ended up falling into the ocean after she learned the truth. How unfortunate. I bet Inkay would've preferred her as a teammate. so
At one point in the story Octameri called Inkay MB. In case it wasn't obvious, she was calling him "My Bitch" like she did last chapter. And the Squid Sisters fought Octavio's new and improved machine and lost drastically. Will Inkay and Cerata fare much better? You'll have to wait til next time to find out. I think this story has about...two...maybe three chapters left in it. When on the home stretch guys! Here it comes!
Like always I hope you enjoyed the chapter and a special thank you to those who review. Really gets me in the writing spirits. Merry Christmas, Happy New Years, Etc, Etc. Until next time.
Astalabyebye,
Bang