Chapter 7: The Squid Captain
"Silent and Deadly."
"Akikta." A voice called, snapping Akikta out of his dazed trance. He stood in the middle of a tall wheat field under clear blue skies.
A gentle breeze washed over him as the sun's rays shined down on his skin, warming him up.
Akikta wasn't sure what happened or how he got here. All he remembered was sleeping next to Nakji, near some old ruins.
"Akikta." The same voice called out, this time grabbing Akikta's attention. He turned to see... his brother, Chaska. The man was blurry, barely recognizable, but that was Chaska, no doubt. "Akikta..." his voice trailed off.
Akikta approached him. "Chaska? Chaska!" he yelled, breaking into a sprint toward his brother.
How was he here? Why was he here? On second thought, none of that mattered. Akikta was just happy Chaska was here and well... or so he thought.
"A...kik...ta..." Chaska groaned, his voice distorting the closer Akikta got. The boy's pace slowed, and the blurry haze obscuring Chaska's body melted into a black mess of goopy ink. By now, Akikta came to a complete stop as Chaska morphed into Subject 7.
The cool breeze suddenly became blistering cold. The blue skies lost their color and darkened, and the wheat field shriveled up and died at an impossibly fast rate.
Now, it was only him and the monster.
"AKIKTA!" Subject 7 screamed.
Akikta's eyes shot open, tears flowing like a waterfall. He found himself holding onto Nakji, who had been shouting his name the entire time.
Memories of what transpired minutes ago flooded his mind like a great tsunami.
After processing everything that happened in both reality and his nightmarish daydream, Akikta spoke. "H-how long was I out?" he asked, his voice shaking.
"Five- maybe seven minutes!" She replied hastily. They were zooming down the road at hazardous speeds. "What's the matter with you? You stiffened up as tight as a clam when you saw... whatever the shell that thing was!" Though she yelled angrily, her tone swelled with worry.
Akikta felt terrible. He didn't mean to make Nakji that stressed out. The two had only met yesterday, and yet she showed more care and concern than some of his closest friends.
"What was that thing, anyway?" She asked. Akikta's grip around Nakji's waist tightened in response. She jolted as a result.
When he realized what his hands did involuntarily, he eased up. "S-sorry. I didn't mean to..." Nakji slowed down and looked back at him, confused.
He composed himself and turned his head away. "He's...the whole reason I'm doing this favor." He answered. "Please. I don't want to talk about him right now..."
Akikta expected a judgmental look to wash across Nakji's face. Instead, she nodded and faced the road again. Her response surprised him, but he was appreciative she didn't pry.
His gaze drifted elsewhere as they kept a cruising pace. The blue sky caught his attention first, then the long bridge. They were no longer on the beaten-down sandy road. "H-hey, why aren't we in the desert?"
"Remember when we talked during our walk to Splatsville?"
"Yeah...?"
"You mentioned needing to get to Inkadia. I assumed you were referring to Greater Inkopolis, so I took us down the shortest route."
Akitka got a bit worried, thinking he didn't properly clarify what region they needed to go to. However, after checking the radio's map, it showed they were headed the right way.
Guess Sal thought Inkadia was a better name... Akikta looked back to Nakji. "So, where are we now?"
"Hammerhead Bridge." She answered.
"Will this take us to a place called Inkopolis?"
"Oh yeah, definitely. This'll take us directly to the big city. And coincidentally, they finished construction recently. Talk about perfect timing." She added. "I've never been, but I've heard many great things about it!"
The excitement in her voice made Akikta smile. From the sounds of it, Inkopolis should be like Alterna in its golden days. He hoped so, anyway.
He stared off at the ocean. Aside from the roaring engine of the motorcycle and the crashing waves of the sea, everything was quiet.
...Too quiet...
"Nakji..." Akikta started. "You said this was a bridge, as in anyone can cross it?"
"Yeah?"
"You sure it's not private property?"
"No, I don't think it is."
"Then... where are the other cars?" His question prompted Nakji to look around. No cars were going in the opposite direction, and none were coming up behind them. The entire bridge was empty. Something was afoot. But what?
Akikta got his answer when something smashed into the ground right in front of the duo like a crashing meteor. The impact generated a miniature inky explosion that sent them both hurling backward. Their motorcycle flew to the side, off the bridge, crashing into the ocean.
Akikta managed to somehow keep his hood up as he rolled across the ground. When he came to a stop, Nakji landed on top of him.
The shockwave from whatever landed in front of them was disorienting, but Akikta recovered faster than Nakji. He gently pushed her out of the way to get a better look at what landed in their way.
The impact area was covered in a large puddle of yellow ink; a new figure was in the center of that yellow ink. It was another inkling.
It looked like they had intentionally jumped off the upper chords of the bridge to land in front of them, as they were still in a landing pose. How they survived the fall and created such a heavy impact was beyond Akikta's comprehension.
The inkling stood upright, being a mere five feet in height. Akikta thought it was Metta, but this inkling, while having the same tentacle color and feminine build as Metta, was not her.
This inkling's eyes were orange, her skin a lighter shade, and she didn't have a split eyebrow. She also had a more serious and neutral expression on her face, as opposed to Metta's more laid-back but aggressive face.
Not to mention the old-timey clothes she had on. On her head was a blue worn-down cap, and a strangely shaped headset that covered her pointed ears. An orange and blue tattered poncho covered her torso, along with a black top underneath. Her black pants were also tattered and on her feet were... black flip-flops?
Akikta would've easily mistaken this inkling for a homeless person. Actually, maybe she was homeless.
A familiar face dropped next to the homeless-looking inkling. It was Metta. "Coral! You could've hurt Lil' Buddy!" she said, her tone slightly annoyed.
The homeless inkling, Coral, turned to Metta with crossed arms. She had no noticeable expression on her face, but even Akikta could sense a gaze of irritation from her.
Metta nervously chuckled. "Sorry, I mean Captain..." she corrected herself, although it was too late now.
Akikta helped Nakji up before Coral pointed at them both. Metta then nodded with a devious grin, the mechanical bow from earlier gripped tightly in her hands. "Yeah, those are the suckers who nabbed him!"
It wasn't rocket science to figure out Metta predicted they'd take the shortest route to Inkadia and intercepted them with a friend. Though, Akikta would like to know how she knew where they were going in the first place. Luck perhaps?
"How'd you get ahead of us? We left you behind eating our dust! Literally." Akikta said, earning a gritting of the teeth from Metta.
"Wouldn't you like to know? Unfortunately, I won't be entertaining you bottom feeders with answers!" Metta growled. "Two things are gonna happen today. One, I get Lil' Buddy back. And two, we make you eat pavement. A fitting punishment for you small-time bandits, if I do say so myself!"
Akikta narrowed his eyes. "Look, it's nothing personal. But you're not getting him back. Besides, are you even sure we still have him?"
"I'd say you better for your sake, but..." Metta looked down at Akikta's jacket pocket. He followed her gaze to see the smallfry peeking out, observing the commotion. Dammit. He gently pushed the smallfry further into his pocket.
Metta furrowed her brows in response. "Captain, take care of the Octarian. He's mine."
Akikta looked to Nakji to see she had already drawn her blade and charged at the squid captain. I was gonna say we should fight together, but oh well... He turned back to Metta, who pulled the string back on her bow.
When she released the string, a volley of arrows flew at him; they were direct hits. But like before, Akikta was left unphased. He looked at his arms and hands, then at his chest. He was covered in ink, but no damage was done. "Huh..." Akikta smirked.
"W-what? You didn't even flinch! How did that not splat you?!" Metta questioned.
Akikta dashed towards Metta, closing the distance between them quickly. "Sorry, Metta, but you'll need more than a little ink to take me on!" He boasted, figuring ink was all they had for weapons. When he got within arm's distance, he pulled out his bat and swung at her a few times. Metta used her bow to block the first couple of strikes before tossing it away.
She proceeded to dodge his attacks like they were nothing. "Ha! Predictable!" She gloated, which bothered Akikta. He swung faster, but even then, she still dodged his attacks easily. "Are you even trying?" She yawned.
"Shut up!" Akikta shouted and swung heavily downward. Instead of hitting his target, he hit the concrete road. Metta then delivered a swift but brutal kick to his face. The mask absorbed a good portion of the blow.
The impact from the kick made him stagger. Metta took this opportunity to jab him in the stomach. He groaned in pain and stumbled back, but didn't fall.
Damn! She hits hard! Akikta underestimated her strength. At this rate, he'd prefer to fight Coral. At least she looked weaker.
Akikta calmed himself and went to strike. And again, he missed.
"Yeah, that's it! Keep swinging like the brute you are. See if that'll do you any good!" Metta taunted.
Though she was clearly trying to agitate him more, she unintentionally gave him an idea.
Akikta swung the bat again, whiffing Metta by a nose-hair. She went to punch him a second time, but before her punch landed, he whipped out Little Buddy. "Buddy!" she shouted out of fear and shifted her weight to miss the punch, losing her balance in the process.
With a heavy swing, Akikta nailed her in the head. The headshot created a loud and brutal thunk, sending her rolling violently across the road; As she did, she left behind a trail of yellow ink.
Akikta rushed over to her, half of him thinking he may have overdone it, the other half thinking he didn't do enough.
When he reached Metta, he saw she was bleeding. Well, he thought she was bleeding. The blood was yellow and thick like ink. Shit, I didn't mean to hit her that hard. I hope I didn't crack her skull... wait, does she even have one? As the thought crossed his mind, Metta groaned in pain, unable to pick herself back up.
"Damn, talking all that smack, and you go down in one hit? Guess you're not so tough after all, are ya?" He mocked.
Metta looked up at Little Buddy, who was still in Akikta's free hand. She reached out to the smallfry with half-closed eyes, mumbling words. Akikta tilted his head, wondering what she tried to accomplish with that.
Unexpectedly, the smallfry attempted to get out of his hands. "What- hey!" He tried to hold on, but the smallfry bit his finger when his grip tightened. "Ow!" Akikta yelped and dropped the smallfry.
Once free, it went over to Metta, hopping around to see if she was ok.
Why does it suddenly choose to be by her side now?! He furrowed his brows in agitation.
Akikta took two steps toward Little Buddy, blinking after the second step. When he opened his eyes, he jumped back, startled. Coral was now suddenly in between him and the smallfry who attended to Metta.
He blinked a few more times and turned to see Nakji on the ground holding her katana, beaten and battered, as if a stampede had come through and mowed her down.
"What?!" Akikta voiced his surprise. No way Nakji, who was considered the blade master amongst a crew of vicious pirates, went down to someone wearing flip-flops!
Aside from that, he was mad that Coral harmed Nakji. Moreso than he thought he'd be. Akikta shot a mean glare at Coral, one she couldn't see. "Now you're pissing me off!" His grip around the bat tightened, and he swung, aiming for her head. Unlike Metta, he didn't care if he severely injured Coral, especially not after what she did to Nakji.
First, a whoosh, then a bonk. The hit connected.
No... wait...
She... caught it.
Coral stopped the bat with one hand, staring daggers at Akikta.
The anger Akikta felt was quickly replaced with bewilderment. He had put all his strength into that swing. How'd she catch it without even flinching?!
Akikta shook his head and tried to pull away. No matter how hard he tugged, her grip didn't budge. It was like trying to pull out Excalibur.
He felt his hands get sweaty, and his throat suddenly became dry. The familiar beating of his own heart gradually elevated and became audible to his ears.
Akikta has gone through hell and back after awakening from cryostasis. In fact, Coral was nothing compared to the physical and mental trials he endured during his time in Alterna. So... what was he so scared about?
Before anything could click in his brain, he heard Metta moan in pain. "Go...get 'em...captain..." As if acknowledging her, Coral's eyes took on a more serious glint.
At that moment, every fiber in Akikta's body shouted at him to drop the bat and run. His instincts desperately wanted him to flee while he still could. But he was too slow.
In a blink of an eye, Coral delivered two jabs to his chest that knocked the wind out of him. Metta's punches were painful, sure. But Coral's? Her hands must've been freight trains with how hard she punched. He was afraid she had broken something.
Coral wasn't done. She elbowed him in the throat, causing him to gag hard. Then she kicked his leg, almost making him fall, but he caught himself. Unfortunately, he dropped his bat.
Akikta was flabbergasted. He didn't know what to do. His body couldn't even register the pain until a few seconds after Coral's blows connected.
His confusion only allowed her to strike again, this time with a mean kick to the stomach. He fell backward, but she caught him before he hit the ground. Before he could process why, Coral tossed him over to Nakji, and he landed on the octoling hard, causing them both to yelp.
What...just happened...? Was all Akikta could think to ask as he watched Coral calmly walk toward them. He wanted to move, to run, or to at least try to fight back. But the pain was teeth clenching; His muscles refused to cooperate. Now he understood what happened to Nakji.
Coral came to a stop right next to the injured pair. Akikta dreaded what she might do next. Luckily for him, Coral didn't do anything fast enough.
Some inflatable device appeared and wrapped around the duo, encasing them in a ball. Then, smaller dark green balls landed in a row across a portion of the bridge. Coral's eyes widened, and she ran away from Akikta and Nakji toward where Metta and Little Buddy were.
The balls abruptly exploded in a dark green-colored inky tornado. The force of the explosion sent Akikta and Nakji flying off the bridge, and they careened down into the water. As they sunk beneath the waves, his vision started to blur.
Gradually, darkness overtook his sight. While the world around Akikta turned black, a voice called out his name. Their deep and dark tone echoed all around him, getting quieter and quieter each time it called out to him.
Their voice was reminiscent of what Akikta imagined an evil spirit to sound like when he was younger. The kind that his grandfather had warned him about in the past.
Akikta's last conscious moments were spent wondering what type of evil spirit tried to speak to him.