Chapter 3: Separate Ways

Octo Valley

Several minutes passed in Shadow's private quarters as she slowly packed up her things into multiple boxes, occasionally stopping and giving long stares into the wall, memories of that terrifying vision now seared into her brain. It gave her a mix of emotions, including fear, but also some excitement. If she was given an opportunity to see it again, she'd probably take it, but for now, she had her mission to deal with first. In fact, that was probably the only way to receive any answers.

She only had so much time to herself before her door was knocked on. "Hurry it up." The guard outside told her.

She sighed, hurriedly packing the rest of her things and closing the last box. She reached for the transforming mask and slipped it on, allowing it to close around her head, before she took the boxes and went outside.

The masked guards outside helped carry the boxes all the way through the long trip back to Gideon's lab, where Gideon was waiting alongside his assistants, hands behind his back. The guards set the boxes down as Gideon came up to her. "Well, well… looks like this is where you and I part ways."

Shadow didn't respond, staring at him.

He leaned toward her. "I am very… very happy that you've changed your mind. Your services will go a long way for the Octarians. I can't wait to see the other side of all this, but for now… the fight of our lives is coming up."

"...Might you consider coming with me?" She decided to ask.

"No, no, I can't." He rubbed her mask. "I have things to attend to right here. But don't you worry. I will handle Agent 8 and her friends. Keep looking for the right signs, and eeeverything will work out as we've planned."

She stood up straight. "…When you have Agent 8… don't kill her. That'll be my job."

He stared at her. "…We'll see…" He patted her shoulder. "Now go. The cosmos await." He motioned over to the large, open cylinder tube that itself looked like a mysterious, futuristic piece of technology, with lots of cords jetting out from it. Shadow's boxes were already placed inside.

She looked at him before stepping inside, and she turned to face Gideon one last time. Gideon put his hands together as he watched the doors close, and she was slammed into darkness. She waited patiently, waiting a few moments up until a bright light appeared from the ceiling, consuming her. She winced a bit as she briefly looked up at it. She closed her eyes and clenched her fists, and a second later, she had vanished.

Inkopolis

The door to Marie's apartment was just opening as Marie finally returned home for the day, yawning as she flipped the lights on, threw her keys into the bowl by the door, kicked off her shoes, got a snack, and flopped onto the couch. She was fully intent on relaxing for at least a little while, and even closed her eyes after taking one mere bite from her snack, but she didn't have long before her phone rang, playing the Squid Sisters mix of Now or Never. She sighed and answered. "Hello?"

"Agent 2!" It was Jessica. "Get over to HQ! Now!"

She sat up again, concerned. "Why?"

Later

The Shifty Station

Marie felt her stomach drop as Dylan was propped up onto a custom stretcher designed by Sheldon, completely bruised and beaten from the result of the explosion. In fact, she had to stop herself from tearing up, struggling to keep herself composed. She helped Bridgett, Marina, and Sheldon rush him along through the abandoned station. "What happened?"

"I don't know, it was one of those, uh, green crystal things the Underdogs had, they fucking exploded!" Bridgett replied in a panic.

"The Underdogs? What?"

"Yeah, there's a lot of catch up on." Jessica growled as she ran alongside them.

"Whatever, let's just get him into the HQ before he dies on us!"

Samantha arrived into the station not long after they did, running and managing to barely catch up with them. Unlike Marie, she had completely failed to compose herself and instead burst into tears when she saw her brother. "Oh my god!"

"Kid, stay back." Jessica shoved her.

"No!" She tried shoving her back, unsuccessfully. "No, I have to see him!"

Jessica stopped to again shove her harder, and she grunted as she fell onto her butt, tearfully looking over as they ran to the HQ entrance without her. She watched as Marina frantically went up to the keypad, typing in the code and unlocking the HQ.

They rushed Dylan inside and sealed the place up again. "Come on, Four…" Marie ran to grab her things. "Sheldon, get me all the medical equipment we have, now!"

"On it!" Sheldon ran to do the same.

Bridgett was starting to hyperventilate. "Oh, no… oh, no…"

Jessica rubbed her shoulder. "It's ok… he'll be ok…"

Marie and Sheldon soon returned with all of their equipment, and quickly turned the place into a makeshift hospital room, as Sheldon and Marina both helped to get him hooked up to a vitals monitor and whatever else he needed. Marie, the only one of the team besides her Gramps with some medical experience, did her best to treat her wounds.

Minutes passed. Dylan was alive, and his vitals were stable, but he was still unconscious, and they had no idea how well he was going to be able to recover from this. Bridgett, Jessica, and the others were watching the whole time as Marie did her work, stitching him up as best as she could. She eventually took her medical mask off, sighing.

Bridgett walked up. "Is he going to be ok…?"

"If by ok, you mean he'll live, yeah… I think so…" Marie looked at her, still a little upset. "Could be looking at… quite a harsh recovery, though…"

They both looked down at the patient. "…Does… this mean he won't be able to… fight again?"

"...I don't know…" She replied.

Bridgett stared at her lover, silently holding his hand.

"...Will someone go inform his sister, please?" Marie finished.

"...Alright…" She slowly let go, glancing at Jessica before she walked out. Jessica watched her leave, arms folded.

Samantha was, of course, still just outside the HQ, curled up against the wall as she sobbed.

Bridgett went up to her. "…Hey, Sam…?"

She stopped, immediately wiping her tears. "What? Is he ok?"

"He's ok…" She sighed and sat down next to her. "Longterm, though… we're not sure…"

"What does that mean…?"

"It means we're not sure if he'll recover enough to… return to duty…"

Her eyes widened as she looked down. "…Oh…"

"...I'm sorry, Sam… this… might've been… partially my fault… I wasn't… paying enough attention… and the whole thing just… happened so fast…"

"What do you mean? What happened to him?"

Bridgett looked down as well, not even sure how to describe what she just saw. "…I don't… know…"

"You can drop the spy shit, you know, he's my brother. I want to know what happened to him."

She looked at her, but remained silent. She… really didn't know what to say…

Samantha stared at her, waiting for her answer, before it sunk in that, no, they weren't going to tell her. Shaking a bit, she slowly looked back down at the floor and kept crying. Bridgett sighed, resorting to rubbing her shoulder instead, and they spent the next few moments keeping each other company.

Later

"This is… exactly what I feared… it's already happening…" Marina explained, pulling up information on the monitors above her. "The Octarians are utilizing resources that are… not of Earth."

The entire Splatoon aside from Dylan was now gathered in the HQ, which now included Callie, who was sitting a bit off to the side, curled up.

"You need to explain, Marina." Cap'n Cuttlefish told her.

"...The Octarians… call it Axcia." Marina pulled up a render of Axcia's estimated appearance. "It's a planet. They've had their eyes on it for a while… the crystals described by Agents 3 and 8 appear to give off the same, other-dimensional readings as this place. The readings are even similar to what we've previously seen in… the Deepsea Metro…"

"...My god…" Bridgett was at a loss for words.

"...That makes absolutely no sense." Jessica said sternly. "If this energy comes from space, how do the Octarians already have their hands on it? And what does this have to do with the Metro?"

"I don't know…" Marina replied. "But things are going to get worse… because those signals I mentioned?" She pulled up the space map. The Octarian signal that was previously spotted by Saturn was now farther away, outside of the Solar System. "It's getting farther away… it's heading toward Axcia. They're on their way. And once they arrive… well… who knows how powerful they'll become."

The Splatoon members all silently looked at each other, still having this sink in.

"...How come you didn't tell us about Axcia before?" Bridgett asked.

"...I didn't know how to say it to you guys…" Marina replied.

Marie's hand was locked into a fist. "…So how do we stop them?"

"It's like I said, if I can get the Ray working, we can follow them into space, and we can cut them off-" Marina tried to explain.

"I don't care about the Ray, how do we counter these crystals? How are we going to take down these assholes, here on Earth, that just took down one of my best agents that I personally recruited?"

"...I understand if you're upset-"

"You think I'm upset? No shit. Last I checked, Agent 3 wiped out every single one of those Underdog creeps, and all of a sudden, they're back?"

"I did everything I could against the Underdogs and you know it-" Jessica argued.

"Yeah, well, you should've done more." She looked at her. "You weren't against marching into their headquarters to cut off the head of the snake, so you should've taken the time to make sure the rest of the snake was dead as well."

"I'm not God, Agent 2, I can only do so much. And last I checked, half the Splatoon disagreed with the methods I used and still hate me for it, including you, so stop being a hypocrite."

"Guys, please don't fight…" Bridgett tried to interrupt, growing steadily nervous.

"The Octarians are calling for a war, and in a war, we need to use every available method-" Marie continued.

"Are you serious? If you're blaming me for what happened to Four, his responsibility was on your hands, ever since you recruited him! I'm not going to take the fall for every single blunder our team makes!" Jessica replied.

"Well, our team certainly wouldn't be in this position today if it weren't for you, and when you're out in the field, you owe it to your teammates to have their backs-"

"If it weren't for me, the city wouldn't even be STANDING! Stop playing favorite agent, if it were me or even Bridgett in the face of that explosion, you wouldn't have this much to say!"

"That's enough!" Cuttlefish interrupted. "Everyone knew the risk to their personal safety when they signed up for this job. Four's incident was a tragedy, but this is the part where the rest of us gather up and stop further such incidents from happening." He tapped his cane against the ground. "Marina. Calmly explain what we need to do for the time being."

"Here from Earth…?" She leaned against her table. "…I don't know…"

"Well, your proposed space mission could prove to be too dangerous."

"I know it's dangerous!" She hit the table. "But what about this isn't dangerous? And it will get worse if the Octarians get what they want!"

More arguing continued back and forth. Marie and Jessica both seemed pretty adamant on this space mission being a stupid idea while still throwing insults at each other, while Bridgett, Pearl, and Cap'n Cuttlefish just stood back, occasionally trying to throw in comments to calm everyone down. Bridgett looked at Pearl after a few failed attempts. "What are we supposed to do…?"

"I don't know, I've never seen Marina, quite this… stubborn…" Pearl replied.

Callie was staring at the floor. "...I'll go to space…"

Marie briefly looked at her. "Very funny, Cal, but this is serious."

She looked up at her. "I am being serious. I think we should go."

Everyone stopped as they turned to her.

Callie looked back at everyone, feeling a bit awkward. "…I did have a chat with Marina… and I agree with her. So I'll go to Axcia with her. If it's needed."

"...That's very brave of you…" Cuttlefish nodded. "But we don't know what could be waiting for you out there."

"That's why I'm prepared…" Marina argued. "The Ray will have everything we need. It's not rocket science, guys, I've thought very hard about this. We can send a team out to cut the Octarians off en-route, the rest of you can stay here on Earth and track the rest of the Underdogs who might have these crystals." She looked at Cuttlefish. "I think it's the best play we have, sir…"

Pearl huffed. "I mean… it kind of is rocket science…"

Everyone looked at Cuttlefish, who was thinking very hard about all of this. After a couple painful moments, he nodded. "…I think Marina may be right."

Jessica sighed. "You can't be serious…"

"I am. If the Octarians want to play dirty, we'll have to play dirty as well."

Some of the Splatoon members looked at each other, a bit nervous.

"...Marina." Cuttlefish looked at her. "How close is the Ray to completion?"

"It's close, sir." She nodded and turned to Sheldon. "Sheldon? You wanna get back to work?"

"Oh, yes! Alright!" He flipped onto his feet. "Heck yeah, let's get it done!" He immediately started walking out of the HQ, in the direction of Marina's hangar. He patted Cuttlefish's arm on his way. "Thanks, Cap'n."

Marina went to follow, but stopped to look at Marie. Marie just stared back, not saying anything.

"...I'm sorry, Marie. Sooner or later, you'll understand why this has to be done." She told her.

"...Well…" She folded my arms. "If Gramps gives the ok, I have nothing else to add… just promise me we'll get the assholes that did this to my agent..."

"...I promise." Marina rubbed her shoulder a bit, before walking out of the HQ with Sheldon.

Silence had befallen Gideon's lab after Shadow had been whisked away by the machine, with multiple scientists and masked Octolings inside, still setting everything back to the way it was before Shadow had touched the crystal in the first place. Other Octolings were walking around, doing their usual work.

One particular Octoling was going through quite the moral crisis as he walking through Gideon's lab. At this point, he had seen pretty concerning stuff, between the crystals, their power, and Shadow's supposed vision. And with all of it, came a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wore the same mask as everyone else, but where his allegiance laid, that was now a different question.

There were still many parts of the lab he had no way to access; he knew little codes to get around, and every time he tried at the keypads to get into certain restricted areas, he had failed. But at least to him, the main sections of the labs were still fair game. He was looking around to make sure no one was really paying attention to him, before occasionally and silently sliding some notes and other objects he could find off the tables, sneaking them into his belt pouch.

Still making sure he wasn't watched, he would then make his way all the way back to his locker slot in the wall, which was labeled by his only code name: G2PL19. He quickly opened it, and stashed everything he had carried over inside, hiding them. There was already one other smuggled paper note that he had stolen some time ago, which he pulled out to take one more look at: Bridgett's picture and information, from all the way back when the Underdogs had leaked the Splatoon's information in the first place. These notes were one of the only things that kept him going; that kept him sane.

He nodded a bit as he stared at it. "…I'll try to come find you now. I'm going to find you… I promise." He again hid it before he closed his locker and walked away.

Days Later

The days had passed slowly and were filled with tension for the NSS. Marina was busier than ever, between working on the Ray alongside Sheldon with some oversight from Cap'n Cuttlefish and Marie, and also writing down her final plans, which included the general flight path to get to Axcia. Consequently, it was resulting in her getting even less sleep than she was before, but that didn't stop her; this was the most important mission of her life. She just knew it.

She was inside the Ray, equipped with a blowtorch as she worked on finishing touches for the interior. Pearl made her way inside, her jaw dropping as she saw the full, near-complete results. On top of that sleek, black, futuristic Octarian feel Marina had managed to give the place, it was lined with cushion seats and monitors similarly to what she had in her lab and the HQ. "Wow… girl, check this place out!"

"I know…" Marina smiled as she dropped her blowtorch and raised her welding mask. "This… might just be my finest work yet."

She continued looking around in circles, with the biggest grin on her face. "…We're gonna go to space in this thing."

Marina turned to her, a little surprised. "We?"

"Well, did you expect to be the first person to leave Earth, travel to Axci-whatever, on our biggest Splatoon mission yet, that will go down in the history books to be studied by young Pearl-wannabes the world over, and not expect me to go with you?"

She smiled. "Well, we're obviously not going to be the first, hence why this mission is even a thing, but… it could be dangerous."

"So? You seem like you have everything figured out." She sat down in one of the seats. "Oh man, this seat is the best! You do make the best chairs. And the best body pillow. Hehe. You do it all, 'Rina. You're just the coolest. And you thought I wouldn't go with you… plus, this'll help us bring the punch to whoever that guy was that blew up the cutest Agent 4. Ya know? Count me the fuck in."

She paused for a second. "...I don't know what to say…"

"...Well… you know I'd follow you anywhere. I'd follow you to the very end of the universe if I had to."

She smiled a bit, but didn't respond, continuing on her work.

"...Oh, but who else is going with us? Is it just us?"

"We're still deciding. But it sounds like Callie is in, too."

"Sweeet. Love Callie. Definitely would be my pick to come along on our last ride to our painful death on the other-dimension-planet-place. Wait… I worded that wrong. Oh, shit, is Bridgett coming too!? Maybe we should bring her for the ride. Get some family time in!"

She sighed. "Eight and Three are likely to stay behind… they're the best ones we have to chase down any more of those crystals. Besides… Eight has her boyfriend to look after…"

"Right, right…" She leaned back. "…Oh, man, poor Marie… I can't imagine what it would be like to, you know, recruit a 16-year-old and then send him to his near-death…"

She paused a moment before she grabbed her blowtorch again. "…Well… it gave her the motivation she needed. So if you ask me… that was the universe sending a message." She lowered her mask and got back to work.

Marie wasn't far away, just inside the Splatoon HQ with her feet up on the table and her head in her hand, as she stared up at the monitors that contained all of the Splatoon's agent information they had on Agent 4, which included his picture and the information she had personally assembled for her Agent 4 Factopedia. She blankly stared up in silence as she read over some of it.

"...Marie?" Callie walked up as she entered the HQ.

Marie sniffed and quickly reached for her mouse to click off to the home screen. She sat up. "Hey…"

She looked up at the monitors before she looked back at her, taking a seat. "Um… I'm… sure he'll be fine. He's back home, he's with Samantha."

Marie was straightening the desk a bit, sighing. "Did you need something?"

"To talk…"

"I'm fine, thanks for asking." She opened a granola bar.

"...I meant talk about me… about us, I mean. I'm, uh… I'm gonna be going with Marina."

Marie looked at her. "…You're still on that?"

She looked down, playing her sleeves a bit. "I've given it quite a bit of thought… I want to go. Not just to see the stars and stuff, that'll be a cool bonus, but, uh… yeah. I feel like I owe this one to Marina. And besides, she does, kinda… know how to scare someone into a mission." She chuckled a bit.

She sighed. "We don't owe Marina anything, Callie… In case you've forgotten, she still has things that she's been answering for. And I'd rather my cousin's corpse not end up floating in space somewhere because of her."

"Well, hey, it's like Gramps said the other day, we all knew the personal risk to our safety when we signed up for this stuff. My corpse potentially floating around in space is in the job description."

Marie just rolled her eyes to that.

She sighed. "It's a bit more than that, anyway… she said something to me about, how… I had spent time with the Octarians before… and that… did make me realize… that… I still never fully owned up to that."

Marie looked down. "…You were brainwashed… it's not your fault…"

She shrugged. "Still had to be rescued."

Marie didn't respond.

"...So, yeah, uh… I'm gonna go… and I wanted to know if you were willing to come along as well. We could, you know, use a good team leader out there. And also some of your piloting experience, probably."

"I don't know how to pilot a spacecraft and I'm really not your leader. I'll continue to leave that title to Gramps." She ate her snack.

"But you could, potentially, keep us out of a pickle."

She groaned, talking with her mouth full. "This entire situation is already a pickle." She chewed and swallowed. "Besides, if the two of us go out there, who's going to look after Dylan?"

"Um… his own girlfriend."

She sighed.

"Four'll be fiiiine." She rubbed her arm. "He was picked out by the best and he was trained by the best. His cute butt is safer then the rest of ours are going to be, anyway."

Marie didn't respond, just staring at her before she looked down again.

"...I already made up my mind, can't pull me out of it. But, uh…" She picked up Marie's charger that was leaning on the table, admired it, then handed it to her. "You can think it over."

Marie took the charger, watching her as she walked away again. She sighed, feeling the weapon a bit as she turned and again pulled up Agent 4's files onto the monitor. She did care about Dylan more than she did for most people, but Callie… was straight-up family. She couldn't possibly care for anyone more than she cared for Callie. She found comfort in her, she listened to her, she did her best for her. And as she thought about that, the realization hit her, followed by a new surge of motivation. Still staring up at Dylan's information for a few good minutes, she turned her gaze back to her charger, which she grabbed again, standing up.

A Couple Days Later

These next couple days has proceeded even more urgently. Marina and Sheldon wrapped up their work on the Ray, Marina assembled her plan, and the ones who had been recruited to the space mission were given time to pack and mentally prepare.

The night that they were scheduled to depart soon came along, and Marina was in her lab grabbing her remaining things, occasionally pausing to think before she sighed and continued onward.

The lab was otherwise silent up until the door slid open as Bridgett walked in, hands in her pockets. They remained silent still as Marina stopped and they looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

Bridgett looked around and felt some things, before breaking that silence. "...Hey…"

"...Hi, Eight…" She responded, rubbing her own arm a bit.

She looked down, avoiding eye contact with her. "…So… I guess this is it… you're… actually leaving…"

"...Temporarily." She kept grabbing her things.

She shook her head slightly. "...I know that look… something has been bothering you." She finally said. "You're… not going to be back for a long time… aren't you?"

She sighed. "…I guess I've been a bit too obvious about that… this… isn't going to be easy…"

Bridgett was fighting back tears. "…And… you never thought to talk to me, about… this…? I mean, whatever else may have been bothering you, you were so tight-lipped about… it's already felt like… we're drifting… and I'm scared this is just going to make everything worse…"

She stopped and went over to rub her shoulder. "Oh, Eight… something has been bothering me, because… this is the most serious predicament we've ever faced. I've had a feeling this day might come… and… I've feared for it… and now it's here."

"...I understand…" She looked down. "...At… least tell me you'll come back safely…"

"I will, Eight. You know I will."

"No, I need more than that. I need… some kind of… pinky promise."

She paused. "…A what?"

"A pinky promise. It's an Inkling tradition where they put their pinkies together and make an unbreakable vow."

"...Eight…" She pulled her even closer, putting her hands on both her shoulders. "I'll. Be. Fine. I knew what I was doing when I designed the Ray. I've taken everything we need into consideration. We're packing enough food and water to last us a year if we need."

She thought about it. "...Then let me come with you."

Marina sighed. "...Cuttlefish gave his orders, Eight. We still need team members here on Earth, you know that. The Underdogs are out there and Cuttlefish wants you and Jessica together because you make a great duo. Ok? You two work best together. You've already helped beat the Underdogs once. And besides… Dylan will want you nearby…"

Bridgett looked down.

She sighed. "…I need to go do this mission, Eight. This needs to be done. Or else we'll be in a battle we can't win. But right now, we can win. Here on Earth, you and Jessica can do your part together. Ok? You give each other strength and I can see that."

"...I don't-" She suddenly started choking up. "I don't know if I can go on like this… without knowing for sure that you're coming home…"

She gave her a reassuring smile. "Eight… We both know you're stronger than that."

She paused a moment before she suddenly started crying harder. Marina pulled her into a hug, holding her tightly for a moment. She cried onto her shoulder.

That Night

Among the many stars in the sky, the moon came to settle over a large, grassy plain separated from Inkopolis, where the Ray was currently parked. Marina and Pearl were inside, unloading what they've packed and working on final preparations. The field was otherwise calm and silent, with only the breeze moving through nearby trees and distant crickets to add to the atmosphere.

The Splatoon's white van slowly drove up and parked, its headlights lighting up the field in front of it as Callie and Marie got out and slowly walked up, holding their own bags. Marie stopped to look over the Ray. They were leaving Earth as a 4-person team, after careful consideration and the final permission granted by the Cap'n. Marie shook her head slightly. "…I can't believe we're about to do this…"

"Oh, come on." Callie nudged her arm, smiling a bit. "We're about to be among the first Inklings in space… we're about to make history."

Cap'n Cuttlefish was the next one out of the van, gripping his cane as he wobbled over. "I'm almost a bit jealous."

The cousins looked at him before they both moved to give him one last hug.

"...Take care out there… both of you…" Cuttlefish told the both of them. "And Marie…"

"Yeah…?" Marie looked at him.

"Marina may be your guide out there… but you're the mission leader. These Agents are your responsibility."

She reluctantly nodded, before looking down slightly.

"Hey…" He rubbed her shoulder. "I'm so very, very, very proud of you, young lady."

She couldn't help but smile at that, again making eye contact with him. "Thanks, Gramps… I'll miss you…"

"I'll be in your hearts." He chuckled. "I love you."

"We love you, Gramps." Callie smiled a bit.

"We're about ready to set off!" Marina shouted from the loading bay.

Marie was tearing up a bit as she and Callie made their way over the Ray, carrying their bags. She mouthed one last 'take care' at her Grandpa as they headed up the ramp.

Jessica and Bridgett had also exited the van and were standing on the grass nearby, watching as Pearl rushed over to give Bridgett a big, squeezing hug. She hugged her back.

"Mmm! You take good care of Inkopolis while we're gone, yeah?" Pearl told her, practically crushing her.

"We will…" She replied, unbothered by the intense hug.

She grinned and let go. "Love ya, Eight!"

"Love you." She smiled a bit.

As Pearl then ran to the Ray, climbing up the ramp, Marina came over for her own final goodbye. "Guess this is it…"

"Yeah… this is it…"

She looked her in the eye, noticing the familiar sadness that was written on her face. "…We'll be ok, Eight."

"...I know."

She gave her a more calm hug, holding her close. This time, Bridgett was the one that was squeezing her a bit. Jessica just watched, with no one around who particularly wanted to hug her.

"…I love you." Marina said.

"I love you…" Bridgett responded.

She held the hug for another moment, holding it for as long as possible before she heard Callie's voice, also from the loading bay. "Marina! Let's go, let's go!"

"...Coming!" She sighed before slowly breaking the hug. She headed toward the ship, walking inside.

Cuttlefish stood back a fair distance while Bridgett and Jessica walked up to get a better view into the loading bay as Marina entered. Marina turned around, giving them a last look before the ramp closed up, blocking their view. Bridgett sighed, and then backed up with Jessica as a few moments later, they could hear the ship's engines start up.

Inside the Ray, up in the large cockpit that was lined with multiple pilot seats, Marina and Marie sat at the front-most seats, while Callie and Pearl sat at the farther ones, which were accommodated with personal computer sets and multiple monitors each. They all double-checked that they were buckled in; Marie looked at Marina, who gave a nod at her before looking out the window. "Preparing for lift-off…" She said as she operated the controls, with Marie was her assistant pilot.

Lights erupted from the ship's engines, blowing the grass around it as the Ray slowly lifted into the air. Bridgett craned her neck upward to watch, as the ship began ascending higher and higher toward the sky, before turning upward so that its nose faced the stars.

The four agents inside all gripped their seats nervously as Marina prepared to press the next button. "In 3…"

Pearl took a shaky deep breath.

"2…"

Marie clenched her fist.

"1…"

Callie bit her lip.

Marina pressed the button and thrusted forward. The ship's engine lights got brighter before the ship blasted off, beelining straight to the Earth's atmosphere. A bang could be heard as they broke the sound barrier, with the Ray interior lightly shaking. Everyone inside was gripping their chairs tightly, Marie starting to hyperventilate as if she was on the most intense rollercoaster ride of her life. Indeed, it was the most intense and exciting ride of all of their lives; Pearl and Callie were both hyperventilating in a similar way, but managed to contain themselves as they got used to the feeling. A smile started to cross on Callie's face, before she laughed. "Ha… ha! HA HA!" She yelled ecstatically, and Pearl cheered as if she was on a rollercoaster.

The feeling lasted until a weightless feeling began to overcome them. The ship had artificial gravity to keep them grounded to the Ray's floor, but it was still a bizarre, wordless feeling that overcame them, as their bodies reacted to the change. And with that, it was just them, staring out into the void out the window with the same stars that lined it. The Ray drifted outward as its engines continued pushing it forward, the big blue Earth now behind it.

"...We… did it…?" Callie asked.

Pearl was a bit wide-eyed, with her mouth open as well. "...We did it."

Marie started to tear up a bit, some of her hesitancy washing away as she realized just how special this moment really was. She looked at all the different stars. "…We did it…"

Marina looked back at the three of them, before looking forward; It was indeed a special moment, but she also couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness washing over her. The feeling that they were leaving home for possibly quite a while. The rest of them felt something similar, but Marina gave off her own lonely sigh as she gave the Ray another push forward.

In the aftermath, Bridgett, Jessica, and Cuttlefish were left alone in the field, having watched until the Ray was out of sight. Bridgett silently stared up at the stars, still looking for any traces of the ship as her own lonely feeling washed over her. She sighed deeply, staring deep into the cosmos that surrounded her.