Lyra and Kelp stood over their wounded friend, fingers wound tightly around each other. Shiro was on one of the many medical beds housing both Inklings and Octarians. Octarians were rushed back to the direction of Octovalley, considering all the doctors present didn't truly know if their physiology was exactly similar enough to Inklings to work on, while all injured Inklings were sent to the nearest hospital. More serious cases were being worked on right away.
"Is he going to be okay?" Lyra called out to the doctor looking over Shiro. The Inkling wrapped several things around where Shiro's leg used to be and put her hand to his neck.
"He's lost a lot of blood. I'm sure if we work quickly and manage to get him a transfusion he'll be fine," The nurse stated quickly. Without so much as another glance to the two, she and another nurse began wheeling the unconscious Inkling away. Lyra and Kelp didn't take it personally. There were a lot of people that needed tending to.
Kelp removed his hand from Lyra and pulled her closer by wrapping his arm around her. She let out a shaky breath and Kelp rubbed her arm.
"He'll be okay. He's too persistent to let this be the last time we hear from him," Kelp smiled to her. Lyra looked up and gave him a small smile and a nod.
"I know. It's just...I worry. I'm still worried. Shiro lost a leg, Inkay and Cerata are still out there. I don't know how they're faring..."
"Cerata fought too?" Lyra chuckled with a scoff.
"She came back to Inkay's apartment with a batter and bruised Inkay with some mystery person right before Callie did the announcement. They left together so I guess so," Kelp raised a his hand to his mouth in thought.
"Interesting..." Lyra looked up towards the figure in the distance retreating with her friend when something else caught her ear.
"So did you know that Inkling who passed through here earlier?"
"No way dude. It looked like he was going to face that Octavio guy. But what was with that Octoling he was with?" Lyra perked with wide eyes and turned out of Kelp's grip, much to the squid's surprise.
"Excuse me, but you said an Inkling came through here with an Octoling right?" The two Inklings looked over the girl that stepped towards them and then the guy who walked up behind her.
"Yeah. Not that long ago,"
"Did the Inkling wear a Black Inky Rider and a Skull Bandanna? And the Octoling. Did she have turquoise tentacles with no goggles?" The two Inklings gave each other an odd look. Kelp noticed that they themselves had a few bruises, but nothing too severe.
"I didn't look towards her eyes, but the Octoling did have turquoise tentacles. And the guy did have the stuff you said,"
"Why? You know em?" Kelp placed his hand on Lyra's shoulder as she turned towards him.
"Lyra?"
"That was Inkay and Cerata,"
"Wait...Cerata?"
Bright red eyes glared at a screen. On it, Octavio was squaring off against Agent 3 and a traitor Octarian. The figure watched the two standing up against the machine he himself built. The fight hadn't gotten into full swing yet, but he already had an idea how it would turn out.
To him, it was obvious the relationship these two shared. Why else would one go against everything she was raised to believe? Everything she'd ever known, thrown away for someone not even her own race. The figure scoffed. Then again. Eventually this small scoff turned into a laugh.
The figure clawed at the keyboard in front of him as if he was trying to stifle just how funny he found it. He finally calmed down and returned his gaze to the screen in front of him. The two had moved the previous Inklings outside and had returned to face Octavio, Octavio preparing his machine.
"Good job Octavio. All according to plan,"
"Check out this smash hit!" Octavio screamed as he brought his robotic fist down towards his opponent's position. Inkay and Cerata jumped in opposite directions, avoiding the mechanical limb as it came down.
Glaring up at Octavio, Inkay noticed the machine was starting to tilt towards the left. He let out a growl and did a quick super jump, propelling himself over the limb just as Octavio had it drag towards him, leaving a long trail of purple behind it. Inkay blotted a spot as he landed and shot a few test rounds at Octavio. Like he expected, the ink never reached him as a barrier appeared and blocked them. Surprising Inkay however was the shield's color.
"You like?" Octavio chuckled. "New upgraded Ink Barrier. I'm more protected than I've ever been in this thing!" Cerata took a step back.
"That's not something I like to hear..."
"Calm down. I beat him before and I can beat him again. Just look for an opening," Octavio growled at Inkay's comment.
"Enough talk! Time to die!" Octavio spun his records more and the tentacles on the back of the machine spun faster. Mechanical fists resting at his sides, Octavio's entire machine shot forward, this time aiming for Cerata.
Cerata's eyes widened at the charging behemoth. She barely jumped out of the way as one of the fists shot towards her, the ground around it exploding in purple. She rolled a bit before turning her weapon towards Octavio. She fired a few rounds at the machine and Octavio only laughed.
"You must be thick in the head. Your ink won't work!" Octavio pulled back the fists and again they rested to the side of him.
A panel on the front of the machine began glowing a bright purple before turning into an all too familiar sight. Cerata froze as the rings signaling a Killer Wail surrounded her, the start up sound already making her tentacles shake as she stood wide eyed rooted to the spot.
"Cerata! Move!" Inkay tackled Cerata out of the way just as a Killer Wail echoed throughout the room. Quickly pulling Cerata to her feet, Inkay growled.
"What the hell?! Why'd you freeze up like that?!" He scolded keeping his eyes fixated on Octavio.
"I-I-I don't know. I mean, I'm trying to think of something to do but if we can't use our weapons then how do we-"
"We got this alright? Just trust me, and follow my lead," Cerata nodded and returned to her battle position, Inkay trying his best to calm down.
"Yes, yes. Follow his lead. Right into an early grave!" Octavio activated his turntable again and this time, several panels opened up from the side of the machine. From each panel several missiles shot out. The missiles shot outward and away from Octavio before turning to home in on Inkay and Cerata.
"Try to shoot them before they hit the ground!" Inkay called out taking the lead. Cerata followed, attempting to shoot down the flying weapons before they made contact. The ones they did shoot down exploded in a turquoise flash, bathing the ground beneath in their favor. Of course with the barrage sent towards them, a few slipped past their defenses.
The missiles hit the ground and exploded with much more force than when they were shot out of the sky. The force of one knocked Cerata clear off her feet, leaving a circle of purple at its crash sight.
"Now we're getting somewhere!" Octavio screamed as his machine did a twirl, the missiles refilling by the time he turned all the way around. They fired at Cerata as her eyes widened at the barrage coming her way. Inkay didn't hesitate to jump in front of her to start taking out missiles.
"Cerata what are you doing?!" Inkay yelled as he alternated throwing bombs and shooting to deflect the missiles. "Get your head in the game!" Cerata stared at Inkay's figure as he protected her, gawking at how bravely he fought. He was right. Her head wasn't in the game. She was scared. She had accepted the lost. Octameri was an opposing force but she was still an Octarian. She fought hand to hand. Well, fist to face, and she got hurt if Inkay and Cerata worked hard enough. She didn't know how they were going to hurt Octavio as long as he was in that machine. But Inkay was giving his all and so should she.
Cerata stood up and shook her head. She pulled Inkay to the side and they both simply out ran the remaining missiles, Octavio laughing at the display. Adjusting his turntable a bit, the top of the machine opened up five panels. The three in the middle were standard guns while the two on the far sides were snipers.
"Have some of this!" Octavio called as the guns began firing.
"Big sis? Are you even paying attention?"
"Hm? Oh, sorry Molly," Kiara ran a hand over her tentacles and let out a sigh. "It's a really nice picture," Molly smiled up at her sister as she turned back to her drawing. Kiara put her hand on her sister's head and gently rubbed it, Molly smiling to herself as she added more colors to her creation.
Kiara looked down at the young Inkling sitting in her lap. She then switched her sight to the field in the distance in front of them. It was really peaceful out. The air was clear, a gentle breeze cooled the sun's warming rays just right, and it was quiet. So why couldn't Kiara shake this feeling something bad was going on.
Her surroundings did nothing to help calm her and her unease only increased as time went on. She looked down at the girl sitting in her lap and wished she could be as at ease as her, but worry was wracking her brain and she didn't know what for,"
"Kiara..." Kiara turned her attention to the doorway where a dark skinned Inkling with purple tentacles stood in the doorway. "You need to come see this," Kiara nodded as the bad feeling got worse. She nudged Molly off her lap and stood to follow her friend inside. The Inkling guided Kiara inside to a TV and Kiara's mouth dropped as she stared dumbfounded at the screen and the headline on it:
"War in Inkopolis,"
Cerata and Inkay ran through the rain of purple, firing their weapons ahead to keep them from being stuck in barrage. With a growl, Inkay slid through a small path he had made, narrowly ducking under a sniper shot. He turned squid and swam back through the path. Jumping out, he began weaving through the ink flying towards him.
"What are you doing?" Cerata called trying to both keep her eyes on Inkay and keep moving.
"We have to try and get closer!" Inkay called back charging back towards Octavio.
"Oh yeah, come closer to your doom! That's a wonderful idea!" Octavio called as Cerata turned towards the machine and followed Inkay. "My new machine is only getting stronger as you run for your lives! Get an earful of this!" Two openings appeared on the front of Octavio's machine. The opens glowed a bit, obviously charging up an attack.
Inkay continued his charge, inking the purple that was spread by the missiles earlier. His idea was to keep moving. Octavio seemed to always have problems hitting moving targets. He ran forward while firing his weapon, keeping an eye on the weapon to make sure it didn't start in front of him. It wasn't long before a familiar beeping caught his attention.
The turquoise ink he had spread had a purple light flashing at one point, a small beeping coming from it. Turning to notice where the noise and light was coming from, Inkay's eyes widened.
"The missiles drop Ink Mines?!" Inkay screamed coming to a halt and trying to back up. The mine went off, knocking Inkay off his feet and re-covering the ground in purple. Inkay groaned, a ringing in his ear drowning out the laughter of Octavio.
"Inkay look out!" Cerata pulled Inkay up with a twirl as two Killer Wails rang out. The first was aimed at Inkay's location while the other was a short distance away. Cerata and Inkay stood straight back to back, Killer Wails screaming on both sides of them. They pressed their backs tighter against each other in an attempt to avoid the deadly sound waves.
"What do we do now?" Cerata muttered, barely enough room to move her arm. Inkay glanced around for a way out. Seeing no way out, Inkay stayed silent, focusing his energy on finding one.
"Ha I got you know!" Octavio screamed with a laugh. "Any last words before I make the Killer Wails converge and splat you all over the wall?" Cerata and Inkay glanced over their shoulders at their comrade, their tentacles blowing in the force of eminent death on both sides of them.
"Nothing brain dead algae like you'd understand," Inkay growled causing Octavio to glare.
"Know when you're beat boy! I've won! Now die!" Scratching the records on his turntable, the Killer Wails jerked towards the two who dared to oppose Octavio. They flinched as the sound waves inched closer and closer.
"Inkaaaaay," Cerata groaned. Inkay simply held her hand as a bead of sweat ran down his head. Then the Killer Wails stopped. They still rang out, which was a much longer time than the average Killer Wail, but the two stopped converging.
"What the?...Ugh...Really?! That's as far as it goes?!" Octavio fiddled with the turn table, the Killer Wails actually diverging and giving the two trapped between room to move. The Killer Wails moved completely horizontal to Octavio's machine causing Octavio to growl. "Ugh! That's such horrible design. I'll have to scold that guy later..." There was the sound of a light pinging that made Octavio look up. Inkay and Cerata were firing at the machine, trying to find some weak point on it, causing Octavio to chuckle. Messing with his turntable again, the fists on the machine shifted, pointing towards the two firing at it. Inkay and Cerata changed to a more defensive position.
"And what exactly was that?" Octavio laughed.
"Wishful thinking..." Cerata groaned.
"No matter! The Killer Wails may only diverge, but I have lot's of energy to use my other weapons!" The fists unraveled and pointed the four fingers at Inkay and Cerata. Taking steps further back, Octavio laughed as with flick of the wrist, each hand shot an Inkzooka blast towards the two.
"Listen to me Kelp, we got to get up there," Lyra called pulling Kelp by the wrist towards the tower under the Octarian mother-ship.
"I agree with you Lyra, really I do, but think about it. What do we do once we're up there?" Lyra stopped, not turning towards her boyfriend. "I mean, we had trouble dealing with the standard machines running around. What are we going to do with Octavio's...thing?"
"Well we can't just let Inkay and Cerata fight on their own. We have to do something," She said turning towards Kelp. Kelp grabbed her other hand and nodded.
"I agree, but we need a plan. We can't go up there and be a casualty," Lyra took a deep breath and nodded.
"But we have to think of something quick," There was a loud rumble, everyone's head snapping towards the sound. The mother ship was moving. It started out a barely noticeable movement that climbed to a crawl and continued to speed up. "Wait...where's it going? Kelp where's it going?!" Lyra said as she and Kelp began making steps to follow the giant hunk of metal.
"I don't know but we're following it!" Kelp called out as he and Lyra began a mad sprint through the crowd. A handful of people doing the same. Their was a sound of static that echoed throughout the city, everyone looking around curiously for the source.
Inkay jumped forward as a blast of ink flew past him. He threw a seeker and used it to keep a path as he avoided the repeated Inkzooka blasts. Several times he let out a curse as he passed mine after mine and had to adjust his direction.
Cerata was in a similar position. She jumped from turquoise puddle to turquoise puddle in octopus form to avoid the blasts fired at her. She took the moment the blasts were charging to make a safe route and study the area. Octavio was laughing as he fired at his enemies and it only served to make Cerata angry.
Inking a path that got her closer to Octavio, she jumped forward, flinging a Suction Bomb into the openings in the hand. The bomb hit the shield and disappeared without any sign it had even been thrown. Cerata growled as Octavio laughed harder. He stopped firing Inkzookas, the hands curling back into fists as he brought them back to his sides.
"Yeah, keep doing that. You're really hurting me. It's not like my shield is adapted to turquoise now and every hit you make powers it up," The fists twisted and aimed at Inkay and Cerata. "There's no way you can hurt me as long as I'm in this machine. You lasted longer than the other two so just give up already,"
"Never!"
"We're bringing you down!" Octavio let out a groan.
"This isn't even fun anymore. Just die!" The fists shot forward one at a time. Inkay fired at the one aimed at him, hoping to reflect it like the last time he faced Octavio. There was no such luck as the shield once again appeared around the mechanical limb. Inkay jumped far to his right and rolled out of the way just as the fist hit the ground with an explosion of ink. Inkay groaned as his body stung from landing in a batch of purple. He reached back to his ink tank and threw a Burst Bomb to the ground he laid on and rose to his feet.
"Ha! You didn't think I would let the same flaw that got me defeated last time stick around did you?" Cereta took small steps back as the fist approached her. Timing her jump perfectly, she managed to land on the limb far back enough that the ink didn't reach her.
She wasted no time in running up the mechanical limb towards the machine's body. Inkay glanced over at the limb and his eyes widened at the Octoling running towards Octavio.
"Cerata! What are you doing?!"
"Making progress!" Cerata called back as Octavio began withdrawing his fist.
"Like hell you are! Get away from me!" He shot the fist on his free arm towards the charging Octoling, who only increased her running speed to dodge it. "Stay away stay away stay away!" Octavio screamed as he activated the guns on the top of the machine. The barrage did slow Cerata down drastically, but she still made her way forward.
"Cerata don't! You can't do that!" Inkay called inking a path towards the edge of the platform.
"Yeah Cerata! Back off!" Octavio began spinning before throwing the arm Cerata ran on into the air. The Octoling was sent flying high in the air. She balled herself up until she reached the peak of her ascent. She raised her right leg over her head, and with a war cry, let gravity take effect. Octavio's eyes widened as the Octoling descended upon his location.
Inkay watched in mute horror as Cerata got closer and closer to Octavio's cockpit. Right as Octavio was practically in range, Cerata brought her leg down in a devastating axe kick. Well, it would've been devastating if the shield hadn't appeared inches over Octavio's head. Cereta's eyes widened and Octavio's narrowed as he smirked at her.
"Oh? You thought the shield only reflected ink? How...unfortunate for you," With a sudden shake, Octavio rebounded Cerata, sending her flying away from his machine, but not far enough to land safely on the platform.
"Cerata!" Completely thrown off and unprepared, Cerata twirled in the air ungracefully as Inkay sprinted towards the edge of the platform. Righting herself, Cerata reached out for Inkay as he jumped, reaching over the edge. Stretching as far as they could, the two reached for each other, fingers outstretched. When it was time for them to grab hold of each other, they missed.
Cerata found herself watching Inkay's figure disappear above the platform as gravity continued to pull on her. She felt her heart stop at the sudden realization that she was now falling to her death. She found herself staring at the edge of the platform as things seemed to go in slow motion. So this was it? She was honestly terrified to look behind her, like that would speed up her demise. Is this what Octameri felt like? A tear escaped her eye and the thought of perishing so similar to her sister. The major difference was how she knew Octavio would be celebrating her death.
She silently accepted her fate as she continued her descent. She expected the sting of the ink any second now. She didn't expect Inkay to come jumping over the edge.
"Inkay?!" Cerata screamed, her voice confused and scared at the idiotic Inkling speeding towards her. "What the hell are you doing?!" Reaching his arms towards her, Inkling shouted his response.
"Transform!" Confused but realizing their life was on the line, Cerata obeyed. Inkay caught up to Cerata and wrapped his arms around her form, holding her to his chest as he shifted position so it was like he was sitting. "I'm not letting you go like this!" Inkay growled.
"That's disgustingly sweet! But at least you get to die holding each other right? Hahahahaha!" Octavio threw his head back and laughed in triumph. Inkay himself transformed into a squid, his longer tentacles wrapped tightly around Cerata. His body slowly began to swell, growing bigger and bigger as they fell.
Right as they were about to make contact with the dangerous liquid, Inkay super jumped with as much force as his body could muster. The force rippling the pool of purple. Inkay and Cerata shot through the air, Octavio looking on with wide eyes as the two transformed at the peak and crashed onto the bottom platform with enough force that even the purple ink didn't slow them down.
Cerata groaned at the pain of her body bouncing along the ground and the different colored ink before realizing there were more important matters at hand. She raised herself up and looked towards Inkay's unmoving form.
"Inkay?" Cerata whispered moving towards the Inkling, shooting turquoise beneath her, then him and rolling him over. Inkay groaned at his movement then fought to open his eyes. "What were you thinking?! You could've died!" Cerata scolded. What he did was completely idiotic. If he hadn't jumped in time they both would've died to the ink. And to make an already bleak situation even more bleak, it looked like Inkay had used a lot of ink just to make that super jump. His eyes were at least several shades duller and his entire body seemed paler, especially with veins seeming to pop out here and there. Even his ink tank was empty. Inkay fought to raise himself up.
"Well you would've died...Ugh..And I can't have that," With a struggle, Inkay returned to his feet, wobbly and uneven, but he did. Octavio scoffed.
"Man you die hard. Seriously though, why don't you just stay down already?!" Octavio screeched pressing a button in his cockpit. Cerata stood up and readied her weapon. Inkay readied his as well and prepared for the worse. The top of the machine opened up and Octavio chuckled lowly as an Inkstrike missile slowly raised into view. Cerata and Inkay's eyes widened as compared to the standard Inkstrike missiles, this one was huge. At least three times as thick.
"Just hold still and die!" Octavio activated the Inkstrike, a loud rumbling echoing throughout the room. The Inkstrike shot straight up from Octavio's location and Inkay and Cerata watched it ascend and come to a slow stop before falling back towards Octavio. Inkay and Cerata raised a confused eyebrow at the descending weapon. The look was replaced with fear as Octavio grabbed the Inkstrike with his machine and threw it towards the two.
"Move!" Cerata called grabbing Inkay by the wrist and running. The Inkstrike hit their previous location, but exploded in a dome shape and sent a large radius of purple ink spiraling. The force knocked both Inkay and Cerata off their feet as the ink practically consumed them both. They let out a scream as the explosion caused them to once again crash into the ground. When it all died down, Inkay and Cerata laid face down in purple. Cerata's body shook lightly as she fought to raise her head, coughing up the foreign colored ink as she did.
"Are you kidding me?! You're still alive?! Fine, whatever! You won't be when I simply crush you," Octavio began moving his machine over the platform for the first time. Cerata forced herself onto her elbows and moved the few feet towards Inkay, her body shaking and having trouble moving. When she finally reached him, she took his hand in hers. He slowly opened his eyes, the white of them purple just like she predicted they would be.
"Cer...rata..." Inkay choked out trying to steady his eyesight. Cerata didn't respond. She simply gripped his hand a bit tighter as Inkay laid his head down in pain. Cerata fought to her feet, Inkay trying to keep his grip on her as she rose. "Cer...rata...don't..." Cerata stumbled a bit when she got to her feet and slowly stepped towards Octavio. She stood between him and Inkay and stood as straight as her body would let her. Her weapon had gotten lost in the explosion but that wasn't going to keep her from standing up to this liar.
"Still got some fight left in you huh? I'm sure you were a great warrior at some point. How unfortunate you had to turn into a traitor,"
"It's over Octavio,"
"Yes I'm aware,"
"You've lost,"
"Wait? What?"
"You've lost,"
"I've lost?"
"You just don't know it yet," Octavio let out a scoff then a laugh.
"I've lost? Maybe I spoke too soon about you. You have made no progress since you've started this fight! Not a bruise, not a bump, not the slightest idea on how to bring me down! Yet you say I lost?" With a glare and her fists to her side, Cerata nodded. Octavio lowered his eyes at the girl and scoffed again. The mechanical limb cocked back and Cerata flinched. "Whatever helps you rest in peace," Cerata closed her eyes and waited for the metal fist to come down on her.
"I think that's enough out of you Octavio," Cerata's tentacles were blown back at how close the fist came to splatting her. Octavio let out a growl at the voice as he glared around.
"Cuttlefish...where are you?! Show yourself!"
"Why don't you back up and take a good look?" With another growl Octavio backed up his machine.
"Cuttlefish...I'm so angry that Octameri didn't leave you dead in that shack, but I'm so glad that I get to finish...the...job?..." Octavio's eyes widened as he backed up far enough to see the second level of the room. At the top he could see Cuttlefish, battered and bruised with bandages covering practically his entire body. But he stood there with a hand behind his back and his signature cane in his other hand.
"Really now?" Cuttlefish said nonchalantly.
"B-b-b-b-but...how?"
"You're going to have to be more specific Octavio,"
"How did you get in here?! My army was winning! I know they were!" Cuttlefish nodded his head in agreement while looking around.
"Yeah they were. I mean I didn't participate in this here war, but I know how it was going,"
"B-but then, how are all they here?!" Octavio screamed, his eyes frantically looking over the army of Inklings surrounding Cuttlefish. There would be less fear in his eyes if they were all turquoise and not the rainbow of colors set before him. "And where is my army?!" Cuttlefish grew a grin under his mustache/beard combo and looked to the side.
"Oh, they're around," As if on cue, Octarian forces poked their heads through the crowd. Octavio paled as they began yelling at him.
"You liar!"
"You're nothing but a fake!"
"You don't deserve to rule!" Octavio slowly backed up his machine and rotated, noticing that the entirety of the the second level was filled to the brim with Inklings and Octarians. The Inklings stood quietly as the Octarians continued their uproar. It was then Octavio noticed that each and every Inkling was holding a weapon. But not standard guns oh no. Each one had either an Inkstrike, Killer Wail, or Inkzooka.
Octavio was visibly shaking. He was warned not to take on different colors at once with the new machine and here he was practically facing a rainbow.
"It's sad it had to come to this Octavio," Cuttlefish said shaking his head.
"I told you," Octavio's head snapped to Cerata, who was helping Inkay to his feet. "You've lost," Octavio looked up again at all the weapons aimed at him, a bead of sweat rolling down his face.
"Cross-fade...to black?" Octavio muttered as he stared forward.
"Sorry Octavio. There won't be a cross-fade to black this time," Inkay groaned pressing a button on his ink tank. With a yank his weapon turned into the Inkzooka. Too injured to hold the weapon on his own, Cerata held the end on her shoulder as Inkay aimed and held the trigger. "Just an explosion of color," Winking at Octavio and striking a Squid Sister pose, Cerata added
"Stay fresh!"
"Fire!" Cuttle fish yelled as every weapon present shot towards Octavio's position. Octavio's pupils dilated as he could see the shield spasm from all the different colors hitting it. It eventually shattered and Octavio let out a scream as he felt his body get consumed and splattered from all the attacks.
His machine followed suit, it exploding sending a slight drizzle of rainbow ink falling in the room, the great zapfish floating where it once did. Inklings shouted for joy and celebrated the defeat of their enemy. Victory for the Octolings was a bit more bittersweet. They celebrated in silence. Cerata grabbed Inkay in a hug as they both cheered with the other Inklings.
"We did it Inkay. Sure we had help, but we did it," Inkay nodded, a wide smile on his face. Things suddenly got dim. "Inkay? Inkay are you okay?" Inkay's legs gave out under him as he began to fall backwards. The last thing he heard was Cerata calling his name.
Inkay woke with a groan. It was too bright in here. He brought his hand to his face and covered his eyes.
"Inkay? You're awake?" Struggling to get his bearings, Inkay turned towards the voice. Eyes finally adjusting, he noticed Cerata sitting in a chair next to him.
"Awake? I gotta be. Dreams don't hurt this much," Inkay felt Cerata place her hand on his and he smiled. "So we did it huh?"
"Yeah. I guess we did," Inkay stretched all his limbs, a satisfied moan escaping his lips.
"I don't know about you, but I think I can sleep for a week," Cerata chuckled as she leaned back in her chair.
"Well, you already been out twenty four hours,"
"Really?" Inkay said sitting up straight. He glanced down at the hospital robe he sat in then around the room. He hated hospitals but he guessed he kind of needed a look over. He didn't know how reliable the machine in his apartment was. He just used it in the spur of the moment to make sure he got back in the fight as quickly as possible.
The room was a large standard hospital room, a curtain separating his side from what he assumed was another resident. He leaned his back against the headboard of his bed rubbed his eyes again.
"I guess I already have a head start," Cerata smiled to herself as Inkay squirmed to a more comfortable position. "So you've been here the whole time?" Cerata gave a small nod.
"I felt like you were here in part because of me. I wanted to watch you," Inkay playfully raised an eyebrow.
"Watch me sleep? That's kinda creepy Cerata," Cerata gently pushed Inkay's shoulder with a chuckle.
"Not like that idiot!" The two laughed as Inkay slowly laid back again.
"I guess I need to thank you huh?" Inkay said staring towards the ceiling. Cerata turned a shade darker as she looked at the Inkling.
"For what?"
"Well, you saved me. I don't know if I would've lasted as long against Octavio if you didn't take some of the heat off. You're a really good fighter," Cerata placed her hands on her legs and looked towards the ground. She didn't know why Inkay's praise had this affect on her, but it did.
"Nonsense. I was in the way. You saved me more often than not and that kept you from focusing on Octavio. You would've done just fine on your own," Inkay chuckled as he turned towards Cerata. He gently took her hand in his again and she looked up to her.
"I don't know about that, but I'm really glad you were there," Cerata looked into Inkay's eyes and vice versa as the two grew silent.
"Now kiiiiiiiiiss," Inkay and Cerata snapped towards the curtain separating the room just as the corner moved back in place.
"Shiro?" Inkay questioned as Cerata leaned back in her chair, rolling her eyes with a smirk.
"We know you're awake Shiro,"
"No I'm not," Was the response from behind the curtain. Inkay and Cerata simply chuckled as Shiro let out a groan. He slid the curtain fully out of the way and let his presence be known. "Sorry guys. I ruined the mood...it's just...I'm fanboying," Shiro pushed his cheeks together making a puffer face with big sparkly eyes. "I ship you guys so hard!" Inkay simply gave Shiro a weird look while Cerata blushed and chuckled.
"What are you even doing here Shiro?" Inkay questioned. Shiro simply raised up his lack of a leg and Inkay's eyes widened. "My god Shiro. What happened?"
"Some giant cube thing splatted it while I was saving Lyra. It's no big deal. Just having to play the hero as always," Inkay chuckled at how bright Shiro was despite his missing limb.
"Where are Lyra and Kelp anyway?" Inkay questioned. Cerata looked at the clock in the room.
"They should be here soon,"
"Yeah, especially since they've been here pretty much every hour on the hour to check on us," Shiro added laying down and resting his head on his hands," As if on cue, Lyra and Kelp walked into the room, Lyra's face brightening up at the sign of Inkay sitting up in bed.
"Inkay!" She called running up and wrapping her arms around his neck. "You're awake!" Inkay chuckled and hugged her back as Kelp walked over with a smirk. Kelp ruffled Inkay's tentacles as Lyra let him go.
"Why doesn't Shiro get the smother treatment?"
"Oh he did. Twenty four hours ago cause he wasn't in a small coma," Kelp chuckled.
"Yep. I already got my fifteen minutes of fame," Shiro said with a chuckle. Lyra looked at Shiro with a small smirk.
"I think you may get a little overtime," Shiro looked at her a bit confused as the door opened again.
"Magdaline?" Shiro questioned as he sat up in his bed.
"Hey Shiro," Magdaline greeted stepping further into the room.
"What're you doing here?"
"Well I saw Lyra and Kelp on my way in so I decided to check up on you. See how you were doing,"
"Oh. Well, doing the best I can,"
"That's great," Magdaline said with a small smile. She glanced across the room and noticed Inkay and Cerata. "Oh, you must be Inkay and Cerata," She said crossing the room and shaking their hands. "Lyra was worried sick about you two. I'm Magdaline by the way," Inkay gave a nod as the Inkling retracted her hand.
"I bet. She was always a worrywart," Inkay gave Lyra a smirk as she stuck her tongue out at him.
"It was really smart of you. Ya know, to put Octavio on screen when he declared his shield's capabilities,"
"What do you mean?" Inkay questioned.
"Right when Octavio declared how his shields were impervious to turquoise? The screens lit up and displayed that when the ship was going to land. Everyone was going to charge in turquoise flowing until we heard that. Then everyone scattered to get a variety of colors," Inkay and Cerata gave each other a weird look before turning towards Magdaline.
"Neither of us did that," Magdaline tilted her head in confusion at the two.
"Oh? Well, you two still fought extremely well. Amazing really,"
"Well, thank you," Cerata smiled at the girl who smiled back.
"How are your friends by the way?" Lyra asked. Magdaline gave a sad smile as she turned towards the girl.
"Everyone's been better...Angela seems to be suffering from PTSD. We're worried she'd fall into a deep depression...Danny blames himself for the state everyone's in...especially Jeremy...but we're trying to mend the pieces," Lyra put a hand on her shoulder, the room saddening.
"I'm sorry," Magdaline forced a smile.
"It's ok, I just wanted to see if my new friends were okay," She said glancing over to Shiro. Shiro smirked.
"Well I don't know about these squids, but I've never been better. Even gotta new battle scar," Magdaline giggled as she approached Shiro's side of the room.
"I'm surprised you have so much positiveness missing a limb,"
"Please. I have more happiness in my pinky finger than, say, Inkay has in his entire body," Shiro said sticking his tongue out at the Inkling, who did the same. Magdaline chuckled and approached Shiro.
"I think I can use some of that in my life," Magdaline gave Shiro a piece of paper and headed towards the door. "I have to go check on my other friends. I'll hear from you guys. Bye," The group said their goodbyes as Shiro glanced at the piece of paper given to him.
"Guys, guys! I got a number!" Shiro exclaimed. "A hot girl's number! With a kinda...fierce personality I may add," The group rolled their eyes at the Inkling rolling around on his bed, goofy grin on his face. "And all it took was a city wide war, and the loss of a limb. And people say love is hard" The group laughed as Kelp turned towards Inkay.
"Anyway, just hurry up and get better. The meeting is on hold until you get out,"
"Meeting? What meeting?" Cerata cleared her throat, getting his attention.
"Yeah I was going to tell you, but you woke up when your friends came over. So it got real mushy before I got the chance,"
"Well what's going on?"
Inkay ran his hand over his tentacles for seemingly the one hundredth time. He glanced around the curtain into the audience. On one side there were Inklings as far as the eye could see, colors spread randomly throughout the crowd. On the other side Octarians sat. Though still heavily outnumbered by Inklings, there were still a lot of them.
Inkay stepped back behind the curtain and let out a sigh. He was wearing standard Inkling battle armor minus his tinted lens. He took a glance towards the curtain and took a seat in a nearby chair.
"What am I even doing here?"
"Getting rewarded," Inkay glanced over and smiled, standing up and walking towards the voice's owner.
"Agent 1. Agent 2," Inkay said as the two disguised Inklings approached him.
"Inkay. It's nice to meet you," The two agents saluted Inkay, who chuckled and did the same. The three held the pose for a moment before bursting into laughter. The three moved into a group hug.
"I'm glad you guys are okay,"
"It's all thanks to you," Agent 1 said smiling. "You came in right in the nick of time,"
"Yeah, but next time, try not to cut it so close," Inkay chuckled as the group separated.
"Yeah, I'll be sure to move my feet faster,"
"What are you worried about anyway?" Agent 1 questioned.
"It's not like you have to do anything. Just go out there, get your reward and look pretty," Agent 2 added. Inkay rolled his eyes with a smirk.
"Not sure why I'm nervous either. It's not like I'm the third agent who fought and slaughtered maybe hundreds of Octarians who will be given a reward at the peace meeting between them and the Inklings," Agent 2 crossed her arms.
"You're not. You're Leviathan. Brave Inkling who teamed up with an Octoling to stop a lying ruler," Inkay shrugged.
"Listen, you're gonna be fine,"
"Let's welcome them out now!"
"Speaking of, seems like it's time for us to go out," Inkay sighed and followed the two agents to the other side of the curtain. On the stage with them was a tall Inkling with bright blue tentacles and a tan. He wore a black suit and a thin pair of glasses.
Inkay smiled as from the opposite side of the stage, Cerata approached, dressed in her Octoling gear. She gave a small wave which Inkay returned with one of his own. Inkay stood furthest from the dressed Inkling, beside Agent 2, who stood next to Agent 1. Cerata stood on the opposite side of the Inkling as he continued.
"It is with great honor, that I introduce to you, Agents 1 and 2, the Inklings responsible for revealing Octavio's motives," The crowd erupted into applause. "And Leviathan Squiliam, along with Cerata Entero, who fought and revealed said man's weaknesses," The crowd erupted again. Agent 1 and Agent 2 stepped up to the Inkling, Agent 1 speaking first.
"I'd hate to be that person, but we have something we need to be doing,"
"Agent stuff so don't ask,"
"Terribly sorry Mr. President," The President simply nodded, stepping forward and pinning a small medallion on both Agents. They immediately turned to the audience and gave a short bow before exiting the stage.
"So you two will be staying the entire time won't you?" Inkay and Cerata gave a nod and the Inkling laughed. "Wonderful! Now please step up and receive your medals. Inkay and Cerata stepped forward. Inkay extended his hand towards Cerata and she scoffed. She threw her arms around him in a quick hug. Some of the crowd grew quiet, while others clapped.
Inkay and Cerata stood in front of the President and claimed their medals. Inkay glanced down at his medal after it was pinned on. It was a squid and octopus fused downed the middle, representing the new union. Once their medal was given, Inkay and Cerata returned to their position.
"Now, I have talked enough and now the new ruler of the Octarian race will inform you of the future. Please help me welcome, Apalo Atalunul!" The crowd applauded as the Octarian side of the stage began moving. Inkay watched as another Octoling came from behind the curtains.
Inkay's eyes widened at the sight. Other Inklings in the crowd did as well. The figure was tall with a little bit of muscle. But the shocking thing was that this was a male Octoling. Inkay, along with all other Inklings, thought Octolings only came in female, but this, Apalo guy was proof against that. He had two of his tentacles tied into one bang that curved around his left eye and the other two tied back in a ponytail. Apalo stepped from behind the curtain with his eyes closed, but when he opened them, the entire area got a sudden chill.
His eyes were such a bright red they seemed to out glow the lights in the room. The president stepped back off stage while Apalo took his place, looking out over the crowd. Even though Apalo wasn't looking directly at him, Inkay still felt his glare pierce his being. He stood with his hands behind his back and stood silently for a moment.
"My fellow Octarians. My new Inklings friends. Recently, we've all faced a great crisis. We faced it as enemies, but we've come out of it as allies. We, as the Octarians, have made grave errors, and it has caused both damage to Inkling property, and lives. We will make amends for our mistakes. We will assist in rebuilding the damage our machines have caused, in hopes of a brighter future," The Inklings cheered as Apalo waited patiently for them to calm down.
"And news for my Octarian brethren. I have discussed other things with the Inkling president. Once we have righted our wrongs, he has decided to help us. After a trial period, Inklings and Octarians will live not only in peace, but have the option to live within the same city. And immediately after we fix the damages caused, dear Mr. President will allow us to borrow a few zapfish and assist us in building up our communities, even going as far as helping us create new power sources," The Octarians cheered.
"I'm glad that I could be here, speaking at the meeting that will once again have Inklings and Octarians working together as friends!" The crowd went up in cheers. "We will begin rebuilding tomorrow. But tonight, we will eat, drink, and be merry," Doors on both sides of the room opened and both Inklings and Octarians exited with rows upon rows of food, the room instantly becoming filled with a pleasant aroma.
"I will be the first to give a toast to Inkay and Cerata," He continued as an Octarian walked up and gave him a glass. "The Inkling and Octoling who worked together, the first positive interaction between our species in so many years. I encourage you all to follow in their footsteps. Make some new friends of a different species tonight. And a thank you! To Cerata, and Inkay," Apalo glanced over to Cerata, then slowly over to Inkay.
"Thank you Cerata and Inkay!" The crowd repeated. Inkay, didn't hear them though. He was frozen by those red eyes looking at him in such a...predator like way. Inkay swallowed and glanced over to the crowd. Apalo stepped out of the way towards a table and Cerata stepped towards Inkay. They smiled at each other as both Octarians and Inklings came up to have a word with them.
One more chapter down! Hope you enjoyed it. I didn't really care for this chapter that much. I realized that I kinda wrote myself into a corner with Octavio's machine. It was kinda hard to make it an interesting fight when it was really impossible. But I hope that everything came out in a way you all enjoyed.
I also hope it all flowed well. These are things I worry about.
So Shiro may get himself a gf in Maddie. Even with a missing leg. Shows you just gotta stay positive.
And we finally got a look at the red eyed figure. A male Octoling. He seems sorry for how the Octarians did the Inklings and is doing his best to make amends with the Inklings. What a nice guy.
So that's the story. Hope you enjoyed. Tell your friends! It was nice knowing you!
But wait! There's more! I see about 2 more chapters in this story. What will they contain? You'll just have to wait and see. ;)
Also,
Aura Spirit: I thank you greatly. I'm sorry my references elude you so.
And I see that some of you ship Octameri and Inkay. And you can do what you want. This the internet. I gots no power over you. But shipping someone with the person who literally put holes in his hands along with some other forms of torture:
y'all mofos need Jesus.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, thank you for reading and a special thank you to those who reviewed. Until next time
Astalabyebye,
Bang