Disclaimer: The character of Eliza Manuel Stewart belongs to ARandomInterloper.
Chapter 14: To the Death
War had now broken out through the silent reaches of space, sending the sounds of explosions into the void to instantly dissipate and be heard by no one. The large Octarian station lingered from a bit of a distance as several smaller Octarian ships surrounded the Safe Zone station, blasting it with lasers and other weapons. Any attempts by the alien forces to fight back were thus far halted, and many of the surrounding ships were forced to flee into the depths of the galaxy as, slowly, life within the station was reduced. The landing decks had been destroyed, and even the 'mall' floor had largely been destroyed, with the star-lit illusion on the ceiling having disappeared entirely. Several dead alien species remained scattered across the different floors, burnt by the battlefield around them.
Inside the laboratory floor, which still burned on, Shadow was leading a pack of Octarians as they dealt with any surviving aliens, working their way up to the higher levels. Occasionally, the scientists that ran this facility would come out of hiding to fire at them with their own weaponry, taking out some Octolings, but each time, the Octarians retaliated, and every alien that came across them winded up dead.
Of course, even these aliens had secret weapons to unleash, and after some time had passed, the Octarians could hear some high-pitched growls from around the facility. They all paused and looked around; They recognized that sound. Readying herself, Shadow held her weapon forward and drew her blade. "Stay sharp…" She reminded her team.
The team all looked around at the smoky facility, and shrieks could be heard as new creatures suddenly leapt in from behind the smokey fog, taking some screaming Octolings with them as they promptly dived back into the fog and disappeared once again.
Sweating profusely, the surviving Octolings all scanned the surrounding area as they pointed their weapons around. Shadow activated her own scan with her helmet and began looking around, able to see as one of the creatures slowly climbed up a set of collapsed stairs toward her. It drove its paws into the platform as it pulled itself up, growling. Upon scanning the beast, she quickly recognized it; The creature, dubbed the Shrieker, was the very same that was native to the underground tunnels of Axcia, lined with its own crystalline armor as it slowly approached her. The Octarians had only been able to briefly study this thing before. Lifting its head, it shrieked at her before diving at her with no more hesitation.
Shadow grunted as she was thrown backward, no match for the weight of the ferocious creature. The Shrieker roared into her face, angrily slashing away at her armor as she desperately drew her blade and tried to stab it. She couldn't quite penetrate its skin as she wrestled with it, forcing herself to instead charge up the energy stored in her gloves. After a moment, she was finally able to fire off a green blast of energy into its chest, knocking it off. The creature writhed on the ground as she stood up, but she only had another moment before two more of the Shriekers, who had themselves already killed multiple of her Octoling pawns, leapt at her next.
She was again tackled as these two quickly proved to be too much for her, reducing her options as they started to break away more at her armor. One of them even scratched her helmet, glitching out the UI system that it gave her. Desperately, she unearthed the hidden flamethrower that was held in her arm which she rarely used, hitting the creatures with a burst of flames, similarly knocking them off. This flamethrower could only produce so much, but it was enough for her to stand up and douse them with it, burning away at the parts of their skin that wasn't protected. They writhed around, shrieking, until Shadow again drew her blade and went in for the finishing blows, killing all three of them. She panted afterward as she slowly hid her blade again, exhausted.
"Enough of this." She suddenly 'heard' an Octarian-like voice. She looked around, confused, before she suddenly felt herself pushed back by nothing. Her feet slowly slid across the floor, and she grunted in confusion, pulling out her gun and shooting all around her in her attempt to take down any unseen force that was around her. She was halted as she was suddenly lifted into the air, screaming as she began floating upward. The gun flew from her hand, briefly floating through the air before promptly falling back to the floor.
She watched on as some of the smoke around her parted. Emerging from the fog was some more of the elephant-like scientist aliens. Two of them, wielding their own laser weaponry, fired at the remaining Octolings, disintegrating them in quick, bright flashes. The one in the center of them seemed… different than the others, being generally larger than the ones previously seen and also having a head that was larger than his body. He was even more sophisticated than the rest of them, wearing a different type of clothing, almost like a white robe. He stared directly up at Shadow.
"You have made a mistake, killing my people." Shadow again heard.
She looked around, confused. It had to have been coming from these new guys, she realized, although they physically showed no signs of speaking. She writhed around in the air, gritting her teeth as she tried her best to return to the ground. "…You speak Octarian!?"
"Mental transmissions. Presented in a language you can understand. Very few of us have mastered the ability."
She panted as she tried reaching out toward him. "You're reading my mind!?"
"Yes." He replied simply.
Shadow whimpered as she felt herself slowly drift back downward, before she suddenly fell down entirely. She grunted as she struck the floor, and as she started to get back up, she felt the helmet around her buckle. "No…" She reached up and tried to hold it in place, but she couldn't do much as it was ripped from her head by the very same psychic force, before being thrown aside. She fearfully looked up at the aliens, her frightened face now fully visible to them.
"Your Earth people are an interesting set of races." The white-robed alien continued as they stared each other down. His face didn't even move, but his 'voice' could be heard as if coming directly from his snout. "And you've journeyed a long way for a power you don't understand."
"...Who are you?"
"My identity would not be grasped by your mind. You may think of me as the Axcian King. From the world you have chosen to call Axcia. Do not be afraid of me. You too have hidden your own identity from the world around you. I know the sorrow that brings. We are both lonely creatures in this massive galaxy. But you must stop your journey here. It will only bring further sorrow."
"This is a journey I didn't even want to be on…" She hissed. "Do not speak like you know me…"
"I've glimpsed your mind, I know you well. The reason you have returned here is that of anger… and greed. You are tortured. Do not torture yourself further."
Regardless, she stood up, staring down the creature before her. "…If you're from Axcia… tell me how to use Axcia's energy to its fullest potential."
The Axcian King paused before he chose his next words. "…It seems that… you and your race are already on the path to realization. It seems… to my fear… our people cannot stop you. Even if I kill you here."
"...Well…" She held her arms out. "…Why not just do it here, then? I'm not afraid."
He again paused. "…When I first glimpsed your mind, I sensed great sadness. Great anger. And, yes. Great fear. You are indeed afraid. I pity you." He backed up slightly. "We are very similar."
Shadow didn't respond, staring at him.
"...I've said before that my people could not stop you. That is because our people are no more. We were once a great race, on a great planet, that held the greatest power in the galaxy. From this planet, born from a place of great energy, we learned how to tap other worlds beyond our own. Worlds that exist in other planes of reality entirely. It is a mighty power that can break our universe down… and permanently shatter our very timeline. But our greatness dwindled from natural forces beyond even our control… Our own planet began to fail us, and our remnants had moved to this Safe Zone. Our last home. A thriving connection point for all the galaxy to share." He held his several different arms out. "You have taken our last home from us… and with that, we are nothing. I fear that you will receive no more opposition. Our rocks have now instead fallen into the hands of your… Octarians. You are now the galaxy's new leading force."
Shadow watched on as, to her surprise, the three aliens before her simply got down, bowing before her.
"A sign of respect… for your Octarians." He finished.
A hush fell over the area as Shadow stared at them. They were apparently about to hold this bow for as long as she enjoyed it. Although she tried to fight it, a smirk began to form on her face. "…Then, hear this, Axcians." She said, standing tall and proud before them. "Your 'Safe Zone' here will be abandoned. Left out here as a reminder of your failures, in this abandoned, sad, small part of the galaxy. And once my people have everything we need, Axcia and its history will be left behind. For good. The galaxy's union will be completed… and we will be gods. Just as the true God intended. In the meantime… you're coming with me."
She turned to leave, but apparently, the Axcian King had one more thing to say, halting her in her tracks. "Do not overestimate, or underestimate, the power that your Octarians now hold."
She slowly turned back to them.
"Your Octarians have started a grand plan. There is no mistaking this. You have touched the rock and seen its success. I can feel this. But make no mistake. I am familiar with this power. I possess this power. You are not gods. There is no god that brings you assistance. You must tread carefully… or befall our same fate."
Shadow suddenly drew her blade as she stepped toward him once again. "Is that what you think…?"
The Axcian King just stared at her, not resisting at all. He already knew his own fate.
His screams could be heard all the way up until the Axcian King was finally dead, and Shadow took his companions as prisoners as she moved along, picking her helmet back up and putting it on. With her two prisoners, she wandered the facility until she found the last thing she was looking for. Indeed, the same crystal-powered orb-like object was here, accompanied by the multiple spinning rings. "There's more crystal energy here. Enough to power this whole station." She spoke into her mask. "We'll take it all."
It didn't take much longer for herself and all remaining Octarians to return to their own Octarian station, along with any Axcian prisoners they could collect and all of the crystal energy they could possibly absorb. By the time the station again began to set off, the Safe Zone was left behind as nothing more than another abandoned husk in the void of space, like a giant, lonely asteroid. It was no longer lit, and there was no longer any living creatures on board. Here it was left, to float away endlessly as the Octarian ship departed forever.
Earth
Octo Mine
At this point, Bridgett had plenty of time to think over the recent revelations she had learned. In fact, it was one of the only things she could think about. The one problem was, it didn't really make all that much sense to her… It did very little to explain the green ocean, or the male Octoling she had seen and constantly dreamed about.
During her time here, the Octarians had increasingly loosened their restrictions on her; She had even been allowed to wander around, exploring the different parts of the lab. However, every time she tried to question some of the masked soldiers or the scientists around her for even scraps of new information, they usually ignored her, or gave her non-answers. It annoyed her deeply, but she was also fully aware there wasn't much she could do about it right now.
She was still fairly weak, but was at least recovering, and was using a fair amount of her free time to do some minor exercises by her bed, slowly getting herself back into even slightly acceptable shape.
She had gotten as far as being able to do some slow sit-ups on the ground when, again, Gideon walked in to see her. She stopped and sat up straight when she saw him.
He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I have good news~"
"Jessica and Dylan?"
"Almost." He nodded. "Remember, have some patience."
"What… do you mean, almost?"
"Well… what I should've said is that I have both good and bad news."
She sighed. Propping her hand up on the bed, she pulled herself up as she stood to face him. "…Bad news first."
"Well, the bad news is that we have some really annoying guests who are coming, and, they would like to see you."
She shrugged. "…Ok? How is that bad news?"
"It's just annoying. Time-consuming. I could be doing other things right now, you know how it is." He chuckled.
"...So what's the good news?'
He stepped forward. "The good news is… if you cooperate with this and help me get this over with… we'll have some dinner, and you'll be able to see your friend soon."
She stared at him, wondering how much that was truly good news.
"Come on." He put an arm around her and led her out of the room.
Bridgett remained silent as they walked down a few hallways, again glancing at every masked soldier that they passed.
"Now-" Gideon turned to her. "These people are coming in from the Valley. I know, boo, gross, but they're some pretty sophisticated higher-up type people, and you may not recognize all of them, but I'd still like you to be as respectful as you can and just play along with everything that they say. Do that, and you'll be perfectly fine. You got all that?"
She just shrugged, not really sure what else to respond with. "…Ok."
"Ok." He nodded, somewhat nervously, as he led her down the rest of the hallways, until they reached some kind of door. They both stopped and stood side-by-side as he straightened his labcoat. "Stand up straight… smile, and knock 'em dead."
Bridgett glanced at him, only straightening her posture somewhat as they waited.
It took a few moments, but eventually, the door slid open, revealing an elevator with multiple Octarians inside. They all seemed to be either middle-aged or more elderly, and while they were all Octolings of some kind, some of them seemed to be in their advanced Octo-forms, similarly to Octavio, who used floating chairs to move around. The others remained humanoid, and seemed to either be Elites or some other figures who were wearing fairly sophisticated Octarian clothing. Either way, they all gave Bridgett… uncomfortable vibes.
"Doctor Tecca." One of them reached his hand forward.
"Keasley." He shook his hand. "Hanson. Medinas. General Manuel Stewart. Madame Tetricus."
"Yes." Tetricus extended her tentacle to shake his hand. "It's been some time."
"Yes, it has." He briefly motioned toward Bridgett. "I believe some of you may remember Lydia."
She glanced at her. "…Of course." She politely extended her tentacle toward her as well. "Elite Tecca."
Bridgett awkwardly shook it, but her face remained frozen. Did… this confirm it? They really knew her? Or… was this staged somehow? She audibly gulped as they broke off.
"What's wrong with your lab-rat?" Hanson said. "Where's her seaweed?"
"Oh…" Gideon awkwardly laughed. "You must… forgive my daughter, she's been having some… memory issues."
"So it's true then that she went to the surface and became Agent 8?" Medinas asked. "This is really her right here?"
"I will… explain everything to you." He nodded. "But regardless, you will get your fill of the New Squidbeak Splatoon tonight, I can promise you that much."
"So what you told us is true?" General Stewart spoke up. "You've captured the Splatoon agents and are holding them here?"
"Dear Eliza, in fact, I have." He smirked. "If everyone will follow me." He walked off.
Bridgett and Tetricus again exchanged uncomfortable glances as the Octolings all began following Gideon down the hallways.
As they walked, Bridgett shakily rushed to catch up with Gideon. "What are you doing?" She whispered.
"Remember what I told you." He whispered back.
"So." Tetricus started once again. "You're still wallowing around in these tunnels and blowing up those fantastical crystals of yours, hm?"
"I haven't been wallowing, but indeed I have." He nodded. "We've been doing some extremely revolutionary science down here. Science that will change the very way we live."
"And yet you still don't have anything to show for it." Keasley replied.
He forced a smile. "I can promise you, friends, I will have plenty to show you very soon."
He shook his head a bit. "I'll believe that when I see it."
"...Please… don't fall behind." He kept walking, as they kept following him. It was a somewhat long walk as they all headed deeper into the mine, away from the lab and toward an area where Bridgett hadn't yet been.
Tetricus regardlessly followed at her own pace as she examined the surrounding area. "These hallways are absolutely filthy."
"Come on. Chop chop." He finished as he soon led them into another room.
It was a dining room, and was designed somewhat like the fancier dining rooms you might see in Octo Valley, with some decent Octarian food and juice lined up on a table. Some of the same masked soldiers stood in guarding positions around the room.
"Come on in, come on in." Gideon ushered everyone inside. Bridgett looked around. This was, of course, the Octarian's idea of a fancy meal, and after living in Inkopolis for so long, it… really wasn't much at all. It even kind of broke her hearts to see it.
Their guests were only slightly more impressed. "Is this all you have?" Keasley asked. "I hoped you would've gone all out."
"Don't be crude, Keasley, we did the best that we could." He motioned over to the table. "Help yourself to anything here. We'll have a nice dinner before we start the presentation."
Bridgett, meanwhile, walked to the edge of the room, where the room held a window into the next room over. The other room was actually lower down, in a way that this room they were currently standing in was perched over it. It was made almost entirely of rock and dirt just like the deep tunnels outside, with maybe some signs of more Octarian material thrown in there to give it some aesthetic. It was a round, boxed in room, with a couple sliding-door entrances on either side, like an arena. She looked down at it all, studying the whole room. What the hell was Gideon planning?
"Lydia?" Gideon stepped over, interrupted her thoughts. "Lydia."
She looked over. "Y-Yeah? Yeah?"
"Aren't you gonna join us?" He motioned to the table.
"...Sorry… yeah…" She slowly walked over, and Gideon put an arm around her as she led her to her seat.
They all got to feasting, and Bridgett mainly kept to herself, staring down at her food as much as possible as she ate silently. Every time she looked up, it seemed that someone at the table was staring at her. She gulped, of course doing her best to ignore it. But then she noticed something else… everyone else at the table was… whispering to each other. In a way she couldn't quite hear. She glanced at them, and as they finished their conversation, almost everyone at the table suddenly turned to look at her. In fact, they were staring at her. Silent judgement could be felt through the whole room. She again laser-focused her eyes on her food.
"This girl's something else, isn't she?" Eliza remarked.
"Oh, she's nothing but remarkable." Gideon replied. "She's very special."
"We'll see." She sipped her drink.
At that moment, Medinas, who was sitting closest to her, suddenly leaned over. "I am very sorry."
Bridgett looked at him. "…For what?"
"For what happened to you."
"...T-Thank you…" She awkwardly nodded.
"I know what it's like to… want more. To want to… run away to the surface, to find greater purpose, and never look back. But you're home again. Aren't you? No matter what we do… we can't run away from our true home."
At first, she didn't respond. But again, everyone at the table was staring at her. She nervously swallowed her food. "…Yes, of course… I'm home."
Gideon smiled. "We know you are." He patted her shoulder.
At that moment, Keasley finished his food and leaned back in his chair. "Speaking of Agent 8 and her friends… when's the presentation?"
Gideon nervously swallowed his food and held his fork out. "Coming up very shortly. As a matter of fact, I can send for you to meet right no-"
"No, no, no. Not like that. The presentation."
He awkwardly chuckled. "Oh, well, I'm not quite sure that particular presentation is ready toda-"
"He's right, Doctor Tecca." Tetricus interrupted. "You promised us entertainment."
"We want to see these Splatoon agents in action." Hanson said. "All of them."
"L-Lydia is too weak to fight right now." Gideon replied, briefly motioning his fork toward her. "I'm hoping that her reputation could… speak for itself."
The guests all looked around at each other. They were disappointed, but regardless, decided to take what they could get.
"Then show us the other two." Medinas said.
"A good fight will be more than enough to see what these agents are truly like." Keasley said. "A fight to the death, of course."
Bridgett's eyes widened, and Gideon just looked around at everyone. They all stared back, waiting.
After a moment, not seeing another choice, Gideon nodded. "…Alright. To the death, it is."
Downtown Inkopolis
The surrounding sound of crickets chirping filled the air, as Daniel and Oliver made their way to an old, small storage garage by an abandoned warehouse that was technically Underdogs property. It was somewhat hidden behind some trees that had grown around it, but regardless, all Daniel had to do was go up and unlock it. It had taken him some time to remember and locate where he had even hidden the key, but he now held it in his hand, and he reached down to take off the lock and lift up the garage door. Some of his Executioner gear was held inside, including some of his old guns.
Oliver noticed the weaponry, rubbing the handle of his own gun. "Remember, if you try anything-"
"Yeah, yeah, I get tazed. Relax." Daniel started reaching inside to search through. He wasn't here to grab the guns, anyway, he was here to grab some old Underdogs passcodes and addresses that were written down in an old journal that he was searching for. As he did search, however, he occasionally paused to stare at some of his old weapons, and some of the other equipment that was held here. Moments passed as he ended up staring at them like he was in a trance, a buzzing sound starting to overtake his ears.
"Daniel." Oliver interrupted. "What are you doing?"
He desperately shook his head. "…I'm not the Executioner anymore… I'm not the Executioner anymore." He kept looking around, soon pulling out the things he needed, including the journal and another key. He paused again before he also sneakily grabbed a gun without Oliver seeing it, hiding it as he stood up and briefly looked through the journal. "…Got them…"
Oliver took it from him and flipped through some of the pages. It did have the passcodes that they needed, but a lot of the journal also held a lot more… disturbing imagery. Unreadable writing and completely deranged doodles, plenty of them showing some depiction of murder. They looked almost like they were drawn by a child, and several of them seemed to depict Jessica, while others… well, they were too messy for him to tell what they were. He felt disturbed as he looked through, but regardless closed it up.
"It'll do?" Daniel asked.
He just nodded. "…It'll do… I hope. Thank you." He lowered it. "You have your old Executioner mask in there?"
"No, I don't know where that ended up…" He paused a last time before he closed up the garage once again. They both walked away into the night-set city, and mainly walked through dark streets or even alleyways, watching their backs for any potential police or KRAKEN personnel that were combing the city 24/7.
"...Can I ask you something?" Daniel decided to ask as they walked along.
"You can." He replied.
"Were you… really the one who suggested me for this job?"
He nodded. "I was."
"...Why?"
"Because I read up on your history. The Executioner, the Underdogs incident, everything major that there was to know."
"And that… made you trust me, somehow?"
"...Well… I think when it comes down to it, you'll be a useful soldier."
"A good… soldier?"
"That's right."
He stared at him before he chuckled. "I'm not gonna be your soldier…"
"And why's that?"
"Because I'm… I'm too sick for that, aren't I?"
"The way I see it, it doesn't really matter. It's like I was telling Samantha… this is a war. We need soldiers right now. As many of them as we can get."
He paused. "…I can't… I can't be one of them. Especially if it leads me to Jessica, I can't-… I can't go through with that."
At that point, Oliver stopped walking entirely as he looked at him. "…Daniel… I get it. I know what it's like, to not really… know who you are. I know what it's like to grapple with my own thoughts, to not know what's real, and what isn't. I've spent my entire life grappling with it. And I still haven't quite conquered it."
He stared at him. "…What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that it's a hindrance. Yes. But at the end of the day, we need to learn to put these thoughts aside. Because what's going on right now is much bigger than me, or you. It's not even about us. It's about the world we live in. So the question is, when the time comes, are you gonna be able to step up? Are we gonna be able to count on you?"
Daniel thought about his next answer. "…I'm not a fan of having people count on me." He kept walking. "Send me back to that cell with the demons after I've done my part all you want. But I'm not going to be anyone's soldier. Not again."
Oliver sighed as he watched him. He gave a glimpse behind him to make sure they weren't followed, before he continued after him, and the two of them snuck all the way back to HQ.
The Ray
The Splatoon agents on their cosmic mission had especially doubled-down on much more aggressive methods toward finding the Octarians, now under Marina's more direct leadership, while the ship that held them drifted aimlessly through the starry galaxy.
The sliding door to Marie's bedroom opened up as she came out from her nap time, yawning and stretching as she walked down the hall. Overall, she actually felt pretty good, and generally felt a bit more relaxed now that she had given her responsibilities to Marina. Shuffling her feet, she lazily made her way over to the storage where they stashed all of their food reserves. She carefully looked through, picking out her next meal when she heard some… screwdriver noises coming from somewhere out in the hall. Raising an eyebrow, she walked over to give it a check.
As she turned the corner, she could definitely see someone that was messing with the wall, in one of the more isolated, almost hidden corners of the Ray's hallways. She looked around before she inched closer to see who it was.
At that moment, Pearl finished up, put down her tool, and turned around, suddenly jumping as she saw her. They screamed at each other.
"F-Fuck…" Pearl breathed. "Don't scare me like that, girl."
She looked at the wall, seeing… no obvious signs of tampering. In fact, this was a strangely… empty part of the Ray. There was nothing notable at all back here. She looked her in the eye, suspiciously. "...What were you doing?"
"J-Just some tasks."
"...What tasks?"
"Well, we located another Octarian ping."
Just like that, Marie's spirits lifted. Marina was already doing a better job than her, huh? "…Ok. Where?"
The Safe Zone
The Ray jolted forward as it exited another jump, back toward the Safe Zone they had just left some time ago. Except this time, the sight they all saw through their front windows was much more bleak. They were surrounded by darkness, contrasting the colors they had seen before.
Marina's eyes widened. "What… the…?"
"What? What do you see?" Pearl asked from her seat.
Marie remained silent, just as shocked as Marina while the Ray drifted forward toward the abandoned station structure. The whole region was now icy cold, and the Safe Zone's systems had apparently given out entirely, leaving the many alien corpses inside to begin drifting outward into the cosmos.
Pearl and Callie both came up to the window to see what happened, and they all stood in shock for a moment, unable to believe it.
Callie was almost on the verge of tears. "…What happened…?"
No one responded. No one knew what to respond with.
Marina and Marie guided the Ray forward, searching through the multiple floors. Many more alien corpses floated through these areas as they drifted past.
Pearl had a lump in her throat as she scanned the area. "…I'm not reading any signs of life… anywhere…"
They kept searching through, travelling upward to locate the facility they had previously been to. Here, they were able to see the area where the confrontation with the Axcian King occurred; Among the corpses here, they could see both frozen Octolings and the Shriekers that they recognized from Axcia. They stared at them before moving on. It didn't take them much longer to locate where the crystal-powered generator was supposed to be, but now, it was missing from its spot entirely.
"...The energy's gone." Marie told them. "The station's completely powered down."
"...The Octarians did this…" Marina immediately concluded, prompting everyone to look at her.
"There are no more signals, they must be long gone by now." Pearl replied.
Marie and Marina glanced at each other, unsure of what else to say.
After they did their search and ran their scans, largely finding nothing, they again left the Safe Zone. The Ray now remained painfully silent as they drifted back out toward the rest of the cosmos, still unable to believe it.
Callie and Pearl sat together at the edge of the room, as Callie stared down at the floor. "…Oh, man… all of them… gone… just like that…"
Pearl patted her shoulder. "…Do you… think it was painless for all those little guys?"
Marina didn't respond, glancing over at Marie, who was now staring out the front window toward all of the stars that surrounded them.
Her arms were folded tightly as she stared outward. Before, she indeed had some regrets about leaving Earth, and about leaving Dylan and the rest of the Splatoon on their own. During those three months, she had a lot of thoughts about how much of a mistake they were possibly making, and if she had made a bad call in even allowing this mission to happen. But at this point, she now understood the mission better. In fact, it almost made her sick to her stomach in anger at how far the Octarians had gone this time. How far they were clearly going to take things. With the sheer desperation that both parties now had… She realized they had to cut them off before things were taken further.
Marina came up, briefly glancing out at the very same stars as she looked at her. "…You ok?"
"Yeah." She unfurled her arms and instead leaned one of them on the wall.
She sighed, but didn't say anything as she took a seat.
They fell into silence as Marie kept staring out the window. She hesitated a few moments before she spoke again. "…You know, during all of that time when the Octarians seemed inactive? And we had gone off duty? I was… I was naive enough to think we may have seen the last of them for a while. Or at least, I was naive enough to think they weren't going to be a threat. Then, the Underdogs incident happens and I think: 'Ok. That was scary, but it was one group of off-shoots and Jessica stopped them, so they're gone now. Right? Octavio is still in his snowglobe, we have things under control…'" She trailed off and sighed.
Marina looked down and sighed, unsure of what to say.
After a moment, Marie shook her head. "…You were completely right, Marina. About everything. These people, they will… they will never stop… it doesn't even matter where Octavio is or where the Zapfish is at, and you… knew it better than anyone. We didn't even take the right safeguards, I was entrusted the title of leader for this mission and I almost called it off, because I just couldn't grasp… what we were up against. These people… kidnapped and brainwashed my cousin, they almost killed Agent 4, and now…"
"None of that is your fault… none of this is any of our faults."
She turned to face her, some fury visible in her eyes. "Well… this mission is on you now. Right? So you better promise me that now… once and for all… we're going to take them down."
"...Marie…"
"I wanna hear you say it. We're gonna take them down. Right?"
Marina hesitated. She awkwardly moved her hands together, rubbing her own arm.
"...Marina." Marie pressured. "I wanna hear you say it."
She stared at her. "…We're gonna take them down. Whatever it takes."
Marie nodded, and together, they looked back out the window. Marina kept rubbing her arm as they did, carefully pondering her next moves.
Earth
Octo Mine
Bridgett was playing with her own fingers as she sat still, waiting for whatever Gideon was going to do next. It was an anxiety-filled wait, and of course, just as before, every time she looked up at the other guests, they seemed to be staring at her, whispering secrets to each other. She brought her gaze right back down, trying her hardest to focus on her own business.
After a while, Gideon walked back into the room, clapping his hands. "Alright, guys. Everyone excited for the presentation?"
"Well, it's what we've been waiting for." Tetricus replied.
"Alright, then. If everyone will have a seat by the window."
Collectively, everyone grabbed their drinks and went over to locate their seats, all of them staring out through the window and down over the arena room below. Bridgett was the last one besides Gideon to take a seat, watching anxiously as she silently prepared herself for the worst.
A few moments passed as Gideon motioned toward the arena. "My friends, allow me to first introduce my most special servant: Hunter 12."
They all watched on as one of the sliding doors inside the arena opened, just before the masked Octoling, the same one they had fought at the Square, came in. He still wore the same gauntlets that glowed with powerful green energy.
Some of the guests clapped, but others weren't as impressed. "This is the best you could do?" Medinas asked.
"Instead of judging the book by its cover, give it a wait and let the spectacle take you over." Gideon winked. "And now, If I may, without further ado, introduce the agent of the hour. If you remember, she was the one and only to masterfully infiltrate Octo Valley all those years ago, and was the one who single-handedly took down Hugh Ward and his Underdogs. But tonight, as the conclusion of her career, she's all ours. I give you: Jessica Murdock, the feared Agent 3."
Bridgett's hearts sunk as she watched the other entrance open, as Jessica walked in next, wearing her usual Hero armor, although without the cape. She looked extremely dirty and fairly bruised from her time in this mine, but regardless, the guests all clapped as she came into view.
"I'll be damned… it's really her." Eliza said.
Jessica stared down Hunter 12, running strategies on the coming fight through her head, before she glanced up at the window above her, seeing the Octarians clapping at her. Then, she felt her own hearts sink as she then noticed Bridgett, who stared right back at her. They made eye contact, but said nothing about it.
"Now, let's not hold this off any longer, you've all waited long enough." Gideon said. "By the power invested in me, for the future of all the Octarians… let the fighting… begin."
Hunter 12 clenched his fist inside the gauntlet, causing it to glow brighter. "I won't go easy on you this time."
"Hit me with whatever, asshole." Jessica replied. "You wanna play dirty with those, I'll be sure to do the same."
He rushed forward, swinging the first strike at her.
As their deadly hand-to-hand fight continued in the arena below them, Bridgett couldn't sit still in her seat. She suddenly stood up and rushed over to her supposed father, partially blocking the guests' views. She grabbed his arm. "Gideon… Gideon, stop this."
"I can't." He whispered.
She started tearing up, tightly gripping his labcoat. "Gideon, if I'm really your daughter, please don't do this."
"I can't stop this." He muttered. "I'm sorry, but this needs to be done."
"Get this stupid girl out of the way." Hanson commanded, annoyed.
Bridgett stepped out of the way, but still pressed herself up against the glass as she watched the brutal fight below them. Jessica and Hunter 12 were using their most aggressive moves on each other, and every time it looked like 12 might land a blow on her, her hearts sank again. Luckily for her, this was an angry Agent 3 who was fighting for her very life, and although the combatants seemed on equal grounds with each other, Jessica expertly dodged all of his attacks, and gave aggressive counter-attacks accordingly.
"Yeah… yeah. Like that." Bridgett whispered to herself as she cheered her on, trying to control her breathing as she did.
Hanson and Medinas both noticed Bridgett's silent cheering, glancing at each other. "What is wrong with her…?" They wondered aloud to themselves.
Bridgett watched intently as the fight continued for a while, and multiple times, it looked like they might take each other out. But it was Jessica who got the last blow, managing to grab Hunter 12 in such a way that she could pull hard on his arm. The hunter screamed before Jessica shoved him head-first into the wall, multiple times.
"Ooh…" The guests muttered as they watched Jessica violently slam him into the wall, cracking his helmet.
She panted as she finally let him go, and he fell down, unconscious.
Some of the Octarians stood up and applauded her victory, while Bridgett just sighed in relief.
"Well…" Gideon held up a remote. "That's that, then."
They all watched as the arena opened up once again, and multiple masked Octolings came in, once again pulling Jessica into their custody.
"Jess?" Bridgett hit the glass as she saw this. "Jess!?"
"Well, someone is having attachment problems…" Medinas chuckled.
Bridgett glanced at them, before she turned back to the arena, watching Jessica and the unconscious Hunter 12 get dragged away.
A little while passed as the Octarians all got around to eating dessert. Bridgett, however, just sat in the corner of the room while everyone else enjoyed themselves.
"I've gotta say, Gideon, that was an amazing fight." Keasley held up his juice.
"I told you this would be worth it." Gideon replied as he sipped his own.
"It's not the full presentation, though." Tetricus responded. "We were all promised Agents 3, 8, and 4."
Gideon sighed. "We ran into… complications, with keeping Agent 4… contained."
"I'd actually argue it hardly matters." Keasley rebutted. "Agent 3 is more than enough to keep me satisfied. She's the most infamous and skilled Splatoon agent of the bunch, there's no denying that." He turned toward Gideon. "I'm willing to make a good trade to take her into my own custody."
They all fell into silence. Bridgett nervously stared at the group.
"...None of these Agents are for sale." Gideon responded.
"Like hell they're not." Tetricus responded. "I'm willing to supply you with new lab equipment and even a fair amount of Zapfish energy in exchange for Agent 3."
"I'm willing to trade a good deal of some of the best soldiers in the Valley." Hanson replied. "Including my own children."
"You promised us something good here, Doctor Tecca." Keasley said with a threatening tone. "Don't make this night go to waste."
Gideon stared at all of them. Bridgett was staring even more intently, extremely nervous of what was about to happen.
Gideon backed up a bit. "So you all want… the Agents of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. To fulfill your own delusional fantasies… is that right?"
"They're not delusional." Keasley continued. "If you're smart, you'll trade all three of them. That includes your daughter, who you didn't do a very good job at taking care of, anyway. All of them will make satisfactory soldiers if they can be hypnotized. It will be better this way, and you will be compensated more than fairly. Don't you trust us?"
"Trust?" He suddenly chuckled, reaching into a table at the end of the room. "Hehe… trust is a big word, I have to admit. Trust…" He shook his head. "Alright. If you guys want a deal… I'll make a deal. Are you ready? Here it is. Here's my deal." He suddenly pulled out a charger-like weapon. It emitted a powerful sound as it was turned on.
It wasn't even ink-filled. Without warning, he turned and fired it at Keasley, and a green blast of energy shot out at him. Briefly raising his hand in surrender, Keasley could do nothing else as his entire body was quickly reduced to ash, collapsing into a pile on the floor. Everyone else in the room just stared, shocked.
The charger made a whirring sound as it slowly powered back down, and Gideon set it aside. "…There's my deal." He stepped forward. "All of you have forgotten… I'm the one who has pulled off today's miracles. None of you… me." He tapped his own chest. "It was all me. Because while the bunch of you ignored my research and stuck to your delusions that the Zapfish were the greatest power in the universe, that they would prove to be some savior, I set my sights toward the stars… and toward what hid in the ground." He clenched his fist. "…I have become a god. And in the new world I create, I will not be making such measly trades. No. There will be no need. Now leave. Every one of you. Now."
The guests all stared at each other, disappointed. Not seeing any other choice, especially with all of the guards in the room, they all slowly started to grab their things, heading out.
"I'll say this much for you, Doctor Tecca. You put on a good show." Eliza told him as she walked out.
Tetricus followed her, glaring at him. "Do not think that this is over… Doctor Tecca." She headed out next, followed by the others.
Gideon said nothing more to any of them, simply seeing them off. After they were left alone, he sighed in relief.
"What the hell, Gideon?" Bridgett hissed as she followed him back down toward the labs. "You were seriously going to give Jessica's life up, just like that? After everything you were telling me? What is wrong with you? You can't claim to be my father and then pull shit like this. My friends mean too much to me."
"I did it to fend them off." Gideon argued as they headed into the lab. "This isn't how I wanted things to go, I've been trying to gain your companionship."
"Companionship? Really? You don't fucking know what companionship means."
"I saved her life, alright? Or at least, I saved her from the fate of being brainwashed as an Octarian slave, just like your other Callie friend was."
"Then let them go."
"I can't do that right now, Lydia."
"Oh, right, I almost forgot. Do you even know where Dylan is!? You were saying you couldn't contain him?"
"Lydia. Lydia." He interrupted as they stopped, putting his arms on her shoulders. "I keep telling you… I have a plan. A grand plan. The stars will align. The galaxy will unite. And when this plan is complete… everyone will be happy. I promise you. Everyone will be happy." He gripped her arms, somewhat tightly. "I'm not a bad man. I'm not a bad scientist. I do things with a purpose. Please… please believe me. I want the best for you. If you want the best for your friends, then so do I."
She stared at him, tearing up. "…I wish I could believe that…"
He sighed and shook his head. "…I understand if you still don't believe me… today didn't go as I wanted. But anytime you're ready, I can make it up to you. I can show you. That was what the Subgrid was for, I can show you everything. Everything! I can make you believe me. I can make you understand."
She glanced over at where the Subgrid was. Indeed, it was still there. She turned back to him. "…Last time I went in, I almost died…"
"If you cooperate with the Subgrid… nothing will go wrong. We still have time to do things the way I originally wanted to. I'm making progress with you. Slowly. I can tell." He nodded. "Just let me do what I'm supposed to do, the way I know how to do it, so that the stars can align again."
Tears were slipping down her cheeks. She wanted to believe him… more than anything… but she didn't. She couldn't. She remained silent as they stared at each other.
Disappointed by her lack of an answer, he slowly let her go. She immediately took the opportunity to walk back to her bed, where she sat down, slumping a bit.
He put his hands on his sides as he stared at her. "…Please… what's wrong with giving me one more chance? I promise… I won't mess it up again."
She again didn't respond.
He sighed. "…If not me, then… what about your mother?"
"...What… about her?" She looked up at him.
"Your mother. From the photograph. You have yet to meet… but you can see her. Really see her. If you just cooperate with me."
She kept nervously staring at him, trying to keep herself from breaking down into further tears. "…But… I have no memories of her…"
"The memories are in there somewhere…" He stepped toward her. "You still have some memories… right?"
"I have… vague memories… like… I know that before, once, I was a soldier. A-And, I remember vague details about the Valley… like… things you might learn as a child… but… that's it." She shrugged. "It's all… so blank…"
"It's not just blank. That's the thing. The Subgrid can bring the rest of them out." Gideon kneeled down in front of her. "We truly are a family, Lydia… you just need to see it. Then you'll understand. You'll understand everything."
She fought the urge to cave in, shaking her head as she looked down again.
"Please… give me one more chance. One more. If not, then… I'll let you and friends go. And we can forget this ever happened."
At that moment, a strange warmth began to fall over her. She had tried fighting the urge, but… his voice felt like… he wasn't lying. It felt sincere. Sure, there was a chance he was still lying. She knew that much. But… he already had a hold on her… so what else was she supposed to do? What could she possibly do? And… if this was a chance for her to find genuine answers…
Silence befell them both as she thought it over, slowly looking up to meet his eyeline. She shakily wiped her tears, forcing herself to answer. She nodded. "…Ok."