Chapter 18: Lord of the Salmonids

"Hail to the lord of the Salmonids."

"Hail! Hail! Hail! Hail!" The surrounding Salmonids chanted as their lord took an offensive stance.

It was here that Akikta questioned why a fish had claws. Even if it was a mutant, it was unrealistic. Then again, his lineup of enemies has been unrealistic thus far. There was the ink monster he called brother, an overgrown pirate crab, and those absurdly strong cephalopods. Sal shouldn't be much worse than those, right?

That's what Akikta told himself to get hyped for the battle, but things took a turn for the worse when he suddenly felt his legs give out on him. He tumbled to the floor, barely catching himself. Dammit! Not now!

Akikta grumbled as Sal shook his head in a disapproving manner. "Tsk, tsk. Can't even stand on your own two feet. It pains me to see you like this, Akikta." He taunted, only to suddenly kick Akikta across the platform. The teen painfully yelped as he rolled across the little arena.

The salmonids cheered at Sal's attack, whereas Nakji kept shouting profanities that were drowned out by the crowd.

Akikta groaned as his body throbbed with pain. He wasn't in any position to fight Sal. Those agents had taken a lot out of him; Embers and sparks were all he had left in the tank.

But if that's all he had left to give, then so be it.

"Come on, Akikta. Don't make this harder than it needs to be! Just give me your DNA." Sal yelled as he approached him.

"No!" Akikta yelled back. "I won't let you kill those people!"

Sal bared his teeth, snarling in agitation. "Why do you care what happens to them? Those creatures don't care about you! They only care about themselves!"

Akikta scoffed. "You're one to talk! You used me to get what you wanted!" He shouted, standing with a slight wobble. "And you're wrong. They do care about me. In fact, one of them is my sister!"

Sal suddenly stopped in his tracks, only to burst out laughing. "Sister? Please, don't say something so ridiculous! They're nothing like us."

"Stop saying that! There is no us!" Akikta pointed. "You and I are nothing alike!"

"Wrong. We are both apex predators of the highest order. We have more in common than you realize."

"No, we don't!" Akikta dashed and punched Sal directly in the stomach, using every ounce of strength he could muster. He then looked up, seeing his punch had no effect.

"You may be an apex, but you're still just a child," Sal commented before grabbing Akikta by the throat, raising him to his level, which started choking the teen. "That's what makes you weak." Sal's grip tightened, causing his nails to dig into Akikta's neck.

Akikta tried to pry Sal's hand off with no success, the pricking sensation growing worse by the second. "Go ahead then... kill me!" he choked out, figuring death was better than allowing Sal to achieve his goal.

"Kill you? I don't want to kill you. But you're making things very difficult." He brought Akikta closer to his face. "My patience for you hasn't run out. Listen to reason and join me already!" Sal's grip loosened, allowing Akikta to speak.

Before he responded, the spiky collar around Sal's neck slipped down a little, revealing a pair of gills. There were four slits on each side of his neck, with a large scar being gauged across the set on the left side.

"I already told you... IT'S NOT HAPPENING!" Akikta yanked Sal's collar off with one hand, then dug his fingers into the scarred slits with the other. Immediately, Sal roared and tossed him away. Akikta braced for impact, slamming into the platform and rolling across the ground.

He stopped himself midway through the roll, then looked up to see Sal holding his neck, coughing violently. "Dammit, Akikta! Why are you so stubborn? Don't you see we both could live the good life? Why throw it all away for these cephalopods!?"

There was a pause in the fight as Sal recovered. Akikta took this time to think of a response.

Honestly, why didn't he join Sal? Was it because the man wouldn't save his brother? Because he was manipulated and lied to? Because he almost died multiple times? All of those would be valid reasons to deny helping Sal.

However, one thing stuck out to Akikta that made him despise Sal more than he did before. "Because you're not telling me the truth!" He replied as he got up. "You say this is just the circle of life, but really, it's genocide." He exclaimed, making Sal fall silent. "That isn't right, and you know it! You can't just kill billions!"

"How is it wrong? Those cephalopods are killing millions of us! Your people killed billions, did they not?"

"Yeah, and you see where that got us, don't you?!" Akikta pointed out. "We failed to understand that taking life... it's wrong!"

Sal's fishtail slapped the ground. "Don't give me that! When you hunted prey, was that not you taking life?"

"There's a difference! The people I knew only took life because it was necessary for our survival. You take it to satisfy your ego!" Akikta looked around, stretching his arms. "You say you want apex predators to be at the top, but the truth is, you want to be at the top because you can't stand the fact that there are people out there better than you!" Sal frowned.

Wanting Apex Predators to be at the top? Yeah, that was a load of bull. Sal's word choice and endgame made little sense if it were true. Why eradicate just the cephalopods at that point? There were far more dangerous marine life out there aside from them.

No, Sal had some personal vendetta against the inklings and octolings. Maybe he disliked the fact they mimicked the creatures he looks up to? Or maybe he was envious that their people were greater than his? At this point, who knows. Sal was too deceitful to take anything he said at face value. All Akikta knew was that taking life needlessly was not only selfish, but evil.

"My people brought about the end on themselves. They... we were too ambitious." He looked down, accidentally reminding himself of what happened in Alterna. Akikta quickly snapped out of it. Now wasn't the time to feel bad. "It's one thing to backstab me; It's another to kill hundreds of thousands when you don't need to!" Akikta balled his hands into fists. "All life is precious... so I won't let you take it away from them!"

Sal's scales fluttered as he gritted his teeth. "Fine then. Have it your way. Perhaps your clones will accept my offer instead!" He charged, closing the gap between them faster than Akikta expected.

Sal diagonally swiped at him. Akikta barely ducked under the attack. Before he could swipe again, the teen jabbed him right in the crotch. Sal let out a muffled wince, clearly holding back a pained yell. "That was a low blow!" He said through closed teeth, recovering from the attack much quicker than Akikta thought was possible for a man.

Before he could scram, Sal pulled back his hood and grabbed him by the braids, yanking him upward. Akikta screamed as immense pain pelted his scalp. Then Sal punched him in the chest. Instantly, blood ejected from Akikta's mouth. Some of it got past the cylinder translator and through his mask's mouth hole, getting on Sal's cheek.

Afterward, Akikta was tossed yet again, except this time, he had difficulty getting back up. Damn... I thought Coral punched hard... If he didn't have any broken bones or fractures before, he was sure he did now.

Akikta looked over to see Sal licking the blood off his cheek. His tongue was long, orange, and slimy. "I always wondered what human flesh tasted like." A crooked smile formed on his face. "After I'm done with you, I'll have an answer." He said sinisterly.

"Like hell I'll let you eat me!" Akikta shouted defiantly. Unfortunately, when he tried to stand up, a tightening pain made him vomit liters of blood. So much so, the translator fell out of his mouth. Akikta heaved, feeling himself get lightheaded.

After catching his breath, he put the translator back on his mouth, noticing nothing had obstructed his face that entire time.

Akikta looked over, realizing his mask had fallen off when he was thrown. It was right next to Sal's foot.

Sal followed Akikta's gaze, his own landing on the mask. He looked back at the teen, smirking.

Akikta's face widened in fear. "D-don't!" he pleaded, reaching his hand out to the mask.

"Consider this the end of our partnership." Sal declared, gripping the mask with his talons. Then, with one hard slam, he smashed it into splinters. The wood chunks made a loud crack-like noise as the mask broke apart; Akikta's body suddenly went numb.

He became incredibly weak, as if his very spirit just shattered. "No..." he croaked, his voice barely a whisper. Akikta's eyes stuck to the broken mask. Memories of his grandfather filled his vision as his surroundings became hazy. The salmonids' chants cut off into silence. Even the red lights seemed to fade. It was like he couldn't process reality anymore.

Meanwhile, the three girls on the triangular platform witnessed everything that happened.

Marie, who had been confused by the duo's back and forth, was stunned when Akikta's mask came off. When she saw his hood get flipped off, his hair reminded her of those fuzzy octolings back at Alterna; so she assumed that's what he was until his face was exposed.

Inka had grown pale in the face, more so than she already was. Watching the fight made her queasy, especially when Akikta started vomiting blood.

For Nakji, she had been trying to wrestle out of the salmonids' grasp ever since the fight started. She hated seeing Akikta getting hurt.

Once Sal broke Akikta's mask, Nakji hurled into a fit of rage. With a shout, she finally managed to break free from the salmonids, only to kill them instantly with a single slash. They popped like balloons.

Before more salmonids could rush and grab her, she jumped off the platform towards Sal.

She swung downward once she got close enough, attempting to slash him in half vertically. Unfortunately for her, Sal blocked the attack with his arm. Nakji's blade tore right through the arm of his leather jacket, but his scales proved incredibly durable.

"Ugh, you agai-" Sal started to complain, only to be shut up quickly with a swift kick to the face. He staggered back, allowing Nakji to drop on top of the broken wood chunks.

After regaining his balance, Sal stood with a hand over his mouth. Greenish-red blood dripped from between his fingers as he grunted in pain. Nakji must've made him clamp down on his tongue when she kicked him.

She thought about what to do next while his attention was elsewhere. The urge to go for a killing blow tempted her, but after finding out her blade couldn't pierce his scales, she knew she couldn't take him on alone.

Her only concern, for now, was getting Akikta out of harm's way.

Nakji bent down, swiping up as many pieces of wood as she could before dashing away from Sal.

The salmonid looked up to see what she was doing. At first, he was confused. Then Nakji tackled Akikta off the platform, making Sal's eyes widen. "NO!" He shouted, but it was too late.

Nakji held Akikta tightly as they fell into the abyss, disappearing.

An unknown amount of time passed before Akikta came back to the land of the living. His eyes opened to a blank canvas of darkness. He wasn't where he last remembered being; The only thing he could recall was Sal tossing him. Did he fall? He must've... wait, what about Nakji and Inka?!

Akikta immediately sat up, then a sharp pain shot throughout his body, mainly through his hip and chest. When the pain subsided, a terrible soreness caused his muscles to ache and pulse. On the bright side, the pain told him he wasn't dead... not yet, anyway.

Akikta held himself with an exhausted groan before eyeing his surroundings. The place had minimal lighting, barely illuminating much of anything. However, he could see mountains of trash everywhere. In fact, he was on top of one. Surprisingly, there was no foul smell.

How far did he fall? The dim lights of the Superiority Complex were nowhere in sight, and these trash piles were sky high. The garbage must've luckily softened his landing. Otherwise, he'd be a stain on the floor right now.

Akikta grabbed his head, trying to remember how he lost his balance and fell. Everything after being tossed was a blur. How did he lose focus during such an important battle in the first place?

He gently rubbed the bridge of his nose with two fingers, only for the sensation to make him jump. Hesitantly, Akikta felt his face a little longer, then abrupt memories came back to him. Now he remembered why he lost focus—Sal destroyed the last thing left of his grandfather.

Akikta felt like breaking into tears. He was angry, livid even. But he was also sad. And the worse part? He had no one to blame but himself. If he had listened to that octoling, trusted Nakji's skepticism, or at the very least, used a modicum of common sense, he wouldn't be down in the dumps... literally. Guess Nakji can say she told him so.

Wait, Nakji and Inka are still up there! At least, that's what Akikta thought until he heard a soft, pained moan in the distance. He looked down from atop his trash pile and saw a small silhouette nestled amongst the garbage. Akikta's eyes squinted. The silhouette was... Nakji!

"Nakji!" He scrambled to his feet, ignoring the aches and pains he felt. After carefully sliding down his trash pile, he limped over to Nakji, only to fall right next to her.

He sat up and took her into his arms. Her skin was cold. "Nakji? Nakji, wake up." He gently shook her, which didn't seem to do anything. "Please, Nakji..." He pleaded. She remained unresponsive. Tears welled up in his eyes, only for him to let out a weak whimper.

Suddenly, Nakji's eyes opened, as if she heard his cry. "Aki...?" she mumbled. It was exactly like back at the Deepsea Metro, except this time was worse. Way worse.

With a pained gasp, he pulled Nakji in close, hugging her tightly with every bit of strength he had left. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He stammered, tears streaming down his face. "I-I should've listened to you. I should've-"

"It's ok! It's ok..." she assured, patting his back while returning the tight hug. Akikta sat there for a minute, bawling his eyes into Nakji's shoulder.

For a second, he thought he lost her... He couldn't stop crying.

After he calmed down, she spoke. "Why didn't you tell me...?"

Her question left him confused. "What?" He pulled back, breaking the hug.

"You said you weren't dying..."

Oh. Akikta had forgotten Sal revealed what was going on with him.

"I... I didn't know I was at the time." Akikta avoided eye contact with Nakji. "The symptoms got worse when we were on the ship. I knew it was bad then, but I didn't think it was that bad..." He felt Nakji's eyes drilling holes into him, but that didn't stop him from continuing. "I didn't mean to lie to you, Nakji. I just didn't want you to worry..."

A soft hand landed on his cheek, only for his head to forcefully turn and face Nakji—the two locked eyes. "Please, Aki. No more secrets..." She didn't sound mad like he expected. Just concerned, like a true sibling.

"No more secrets." He repeated, a smile spreading across his face. Nakji returned the smile before pulling her hand away from his face.

It was nice to know that even if he didn't have his blood-related family, he still had Nakji and Inka.

...

Wait a minute. "W-where's Inka?" Nakji's smile disappeared. She didn't respond verbally. Instead, she gazed upward. That told him all he needed to know.

"We have to go back for-" He stood up quickly. A bit too quickly. Akikta grabbed his sides, huffing and grunting in pain.

"Aki, I want to go back too...but look at us," Nakji commented while searching for her katana amongst the pile of trash.

As much as he wanted to disagree with her, she was right. They were in no shape to fight Sal, let alone the whole clan of salmonids. They'd be handing themselves over, and by proxy, the entire world on a silver platter if they went back now.

Akikta looked up, wondering how long they'd been out for. It probably wouldn't be long until Sal sent those propeller hat salmonids or snatchers to look for them. "We have to get out of here." He said, Nakji agreeing with a nod before finding her katana.

"We'll hide out and come up with a plan to save Inka... Marie, too." He began limping away from the trash piles, only for Nakji to sheathe her blade and help him walk.

"What about you?" She asked, referring to the parasites.

Akikta wasn't sure if Sal was being truthful when he said he'd be dead by tomorrow evening. Knowing Sal's deceitful nature, he wasn't even sure if parasites were what was really killing him. What he did know was that something was causing him internal pain and making him weaker by the day. He didn't want to take any chances.

"Sal said he could cure me... Atlantis has to have something that can help." He huffed, out of breath due to the pain. "After that's dealt with, we can save Inka, Marie, my brother..." He groaned, leaning onto Nakji for support.

Part of that plan was banking on the probability that Sal wasn't lying. Atlantis was enormous, so there had to be something that could save Akikta.

"And then?" Nakji questioned, figuring Akikta had more to say.

"Then... I'm gonna kill the lord of the salmonids."