Chapter 20: The Snitch

A soft beeping sound was emitted by the dome-shaped device, and some smoke was already pouring out of it before Marina even had a chance to press the button on her remote to open it.

As it slowly opened up, with the top half lifting off of it, a wall of smoke and steam gushed out onto Marina's face, which she fanned away, as a green light then lit up the entire room. She stared at the light's source in amazement. They had successfully synthesized not one, not two, but three new stabilized crystals.

The Axcians behind her did nothing, simply staring at them as well. The project was a success; there was no doubting it now.

It took Marina a moment to say anything. "…Let's tell Shadow… we have our way home."

At this point, repairs were already well underway for all of the damage the Shriekers had caused, as pretty much the entire surviving crew worked to fix the wiring and restore the station's power.

It wasn't long before one of Marina's new crystals was passed along to the central power room where the crystal was to be installed, and qualified Octolings were assigned to the dangerous installation process. From there, all they had to do was activate it… but with some uncertainties about how the station would handle such a powerful crystal, they set the activation on a timer and cleared out of the room.

The scientists watched from just outside the power room as the crystal was activated, and a bright light filled the room- It was so bright, it flooded out through the slight door cracks and forced them to look away. Then, everyone was consumed by bright light as, finally, the jump system was activated.

Axcia

Axcia's stormy atmosphere had again fallen to its prior, more calm state after the station's absence, even as, outside of its atmosphere, a large, intense distortion effect began to take effect. The distortion built for several moments before finally, a bright flash and a bang was unleashed. In its wake, the Octarian station had reappeared, with everyone on board once again safe and sound.

Shadow entered the control room at that moment, once again able to see the star-lit void of their own home dimension outside. The Octolings inside were already celebrating the successful jump, but Shadow did not have such a reaction, instead putting her hands behind her back.

"Mission's not over yet." She announced, silencing everyone. Everyone looked at her as she stared out the window. "…I trust we all remember what comes next? Yes?"

The crew in the room didn't respond. Some of them glanced at each other, still unable to believe what they've accomplished already.

By this point, the Ray had already returned to the landing deck, where it had been sitting in anticipation of the jump back home, until the alarm sounded as the ramp finally opened back up. Marie and Pearl were both standing in the loading bay, and Callie was standing outside, eagerly awaiting them. "Marie!" She ran up.

Marie just opened her arms for her, allowing Callie to run into them and squeeze her. She hugged her back, somewhat somberly.

"Oh, you're not gonna believe what I went through!" Callie practically shouted as she broke off. "After those Octoling people asked me for help on their assignment, it turned out there were all these monsters there, and I had to esc-" She then noticed how extremely stressed out Marie looked. "…Are… you ok?"

"...I'm fine…" She lied. "…Have you seen Marina?"

"I-I think she's on her way here now."

"About time, too. Been missing her lips." Pearl said.

"...I'm sorry, Callie…" Marie decided to tell her. She looked down. "…I never should've let us into this situation…"

"M-Marie… didn't we talk about this?" Callie replied. "I-If anything, it's kinda my fault-"

"No." She shook her head. "It's mine. But I'm going to fix it. As soon as Marina gets back."

She stared at her, somewhat concerned, while Pearl squinted a bit at them.

Soon enough, Marina was the last one to approach the Ray, holding some kind of special briefcase. She rushed up the ramp. "Pearl?"

"Marina!" Pearl rushed up for their own reunion. Marie watched them, silently closing her fist.

"Are you ok?" Marina was cupping Pearls' cheek.

"I'm ok, 'Rina." She sniffed, fighting back tears. "I was with Marie, and she was, surprisingly badass."

"Yeah, and we need to talk." Marie interrupted. "All of us. Now."

They all looked at her, a bit confused.

"Did I stutter? Now. In the cockpit, where no one can interrupt."

The other two glanced at Marina, who shrugged. "…We do need to talk… urgently." She carried her briefcase inside.

As Callie and Pearl followed her down the hall toward the cockpit, Marie closed the ramp, sealing the Ray up as tightly as she could before she followed last.

Pearl and Marina were the first into the cockpit. "So, what's in the case?" Pearl asked her.

"I…" Marina held the case tightly, appearing quite ashamed. "…I promise I did this for good reason… but I made the Octarians the crystals they needed."

Her eyes widened. "You… you what!?"

"I-I told you there's an explanation." She set it down. "It was the only way I could protect all of you."

"I-" She paused, thinking it over. "…And you didn't even try to have a conversation with us about that first?"

"...I'm sorry… but the way I see it… I had no choice."

Callie blinked a bit. "W-What does that mean? Does… the Octarians have everything they need?"

They fell into a painful silence as Marina hesitated. "…Yes…"

More silence as they all stared at each other.

"...I made them three proper crystals." Marina nudged the box. "One of them is in here, since I smuggled it from them."

"...Does… but… Does that mean we… lost?" Pearl asked.

They then heard a charger cocking. They all looked over to see Marie, holding her own charger.

"...Marie?" Marina asked.

"Move out of the way, Cal." Marie urged.

As Callie backed up in fear, Marie stepped forward toward Off the Hook. "Have we lost? Probably. Cost of saving your friends over the fate of the world, huh?"

Marina turned to her. "...Marie, like I keep saying, I have a-"

"Nu-huh! My turn to talk." She subtly pointed it toward them. "Which one of you has been feeding information to the Octarians?"

"...W-…What!?"

"You heard me!" She snapped. "Was it both of you? One or the other? Either way, at least one of you has been lying to the others this entire time, and none of us are leaving this room until we figure out who."

Pearl shook her head. "Where the hell is this coming from!?"

"Down in the hall, I found out someone has been using a hidden Octarian device for encrypted communication. With the very same Octarians we've been following the pings of." She aimed more toward Pearl. "And you, Pearl, I've already caught poking around that hall before. Right before you told us about what the Octarians did to the Safe Zone. So if you have something to admit, now's the time to share."

"That dumbass empty hallway!? No, no, no, Marie, I wasn't poking around, I was fixing some stuff at Marina's request!"

"That's bullshit, Pearl!"

"Marie, this is absurd!" Marina tried to interject. "No one was contacting Octarians!"

"I saw the device, Marina. And how else do you explain how they've consistently been at least one step ahead of us this whole time? Shadow even knew how to find us at the Safe Zone, they knew where to find us in the void of space, and who, out of all of us, would know how to even build such a device?" She now aimed more toward Marina.

She stared at her, subtly shaking her head. "…Chose your next words carefully, Marie. You already know my history and why I defected from them."

"Well, in either case, one of you has been sneaking around, and it could very well have been you."

"Then why is the gun only being aimed at me right now!?" She shouted as she touched her own chest. "You haven't even put any accusation on Callie, the one other person in here who has had ties with the Octarians before!"

Callie, who had backed against the wall to remain painfully silent, awkwardly shook her head. "I-I-I-I-I-…" She stammered.

"That's different, and you know it!" Marie hissed. "Don't shift blame! You're my prime suspect, so just don't try it!"

"Well, a-actually, doesn't she have a point?" Pearl pointed out.

"Excuse me?"

She pointed at Callie. "She's been acting weird ever since we first started confronting the Octarians at Axcia and at the Safe Zone. And nobody else has known why!"

She paused as she side-eyed Callie, thinking about this. It… was true, and she couldn't really deny that.

"What do you mean, weird!?" Callie managed to speak up for herself. "Is… Is that all you really think of me, that… because I was brainwashed before, I might somehow be a part of this?"

"I-I'm sorry, Cal, you know you're one of my best friends and I would never try to hurt your feelings, but… but if one of us really has been snitching, don't you at least think we should try to weed out whoever it was?" Pearl said. "It… could even be you, Marie."

"Why would I tell you about this if it was me?" Marie responded.

"No, she's right, Marie." Marina spoke up again. "While we don't know exactly what's going on, until further notice, we need to take everyone into consideration. Except I know that you'll see it wasn't me."

"You shush, Marina." Marie aimed more directly at her. "I know it wasn't me, either."

"None of us would just outright say if it was us!" Pearl said. "We… we need to somehow prove who did it. Right? So we can be smart about this?"

"...How?" Callie asked.

"...We can check for fingerprints on the device." Marina said.

"I already checked for prints, but someone already thought of that and ensured there aren't any." Marie replied.

"Then, we… we might be able to brainwash it out." She admitted.

"E-…Excuse me?"

"Are you serious?" Pearl asked. "You can do that?"

"I think I can. I have one device down in storage, just in case we ever found a use for it." Marina continued. "If this is that important… it may be necessary."

They all stared at each other, unsure of what to say. They then turned to Marie, who didn't respond, thinking carefully about what to do.

Earth

Octo Mine

Hunter 12's crushed corpse was laid down on a table as Gideon worked to carefully take his broken mask off. His armor and his gauntlets both seemed fairly damaged, but the gauntlets, in comparison, had managed to hold up surprisingly well.

His broken face was revealed, as Gideon moved to softly rub his cheek. "…I'm sorry, dear boy… I thought these gauntlets would protect you better."

Aside from some of the doctors in the room, Cole was also walking inside, and his eyes widened a bit as he saw 12's face. "Holy shit…"

Gideon looked at him. "You have something to say?"

"...No… no." He awkwardly shook his head. "He looks good, man."

He didn't respond, turning back to the dead hunter.

"Looks like you guys got done in pretty good." Cole mocked.

"What do you want?"

"I never got my reward, man."

"You'll get it when you get it." He snapped. "Now leave."

He didn't respond, silently standing there. At that moment, another masked soldier walked up to Gideon. "We lost the location of the agents, sir. They're definitely still in the blocked-off section of the lab, that's all we know."

He sighed deeply and angrily, leaning forward. With nothing left to say, the soldier awkwardly stepped away again.

After a painful moment of silence, Cole decided to speak up. "…Er… Doctor Tecca, sir?"

He didn't respond, but he glanced at him.

"...Think I can maybe get a shot at… killing them?"

"Excuse me?" He faced him.

"Sorry, Doctor, it's just that…" He awkwardly glanced back at Hunter 12's face. "I'm starting to get a good idea of what you guys do down here, and I was just thinking about how… annoying those agents are."

He couldn't help but chuckle. "Annoying, are they? You think they're annoying?"

"...With all due respect, Doctor… I was just living my life. Peacefully and quietly… until they pulled me out of it and into this shit… they literally broke a crazy man out of prison and sent him after me. Who the fuck does that? Plus… I know where their headquarters are now, because they were dumb enough to show it off… and… I could become known for being the one to take down the Underdog's very own Executioner… such a feat would earn me some social points, I'd think."

He stared at him, as a realization came over him. At that moment, just staring at his eyes, he could see who he really was. This man didn't just want a normal life… and Gideon, in turn, had an idea. He… could use him, if he was this willing to help. There was hope for his future yet. "…Interesting ambition… but you have your eyes on the wrong cause." He continued.

"Oh, trust me, doctor, I don't. I just have one request, if you want my help…"

"And what's that?"

"You know already… don't you?"

Gideon again didn't respond, but as this idea further formulated in his head, he suddenly smirked.

In the other, now cut-off section of the lab, Bridgett, Oliver, and the other agents finally found a place to relax in a more sealed off room. Oliver made sure to shut the door as they all rested inside. Samantha sighed in relief.

Now, finally, they all had a moment to talk. They all turned to each other, wondering what should even be said first.

"...What the hell are you doing down here?" Dylan asked Samantha, beating out everyone else.

"I came to rescue you." Samantha replied. "What, wasn't that obvious?"

"Did we look like we need help?"

"Uhh, kinda, a little bit."

"We were handling ourselves just fine! We were making our escape!"

"Oh, you were huddled in a room from some guy with gloves."

Now, Jessica spoke up, pointing at Daniel. "Why the hell isn't he in prison?"

"We needed him to gain access to Underdogs information to find you here." Oliver replied.

"And why was he needed for that?"

"Long story, but regardless, he's proven himself as a soldier, so we're using him."

"A soldier? He's a terrorist."

"D-Do we really have to go through this again?" Daniel decided to ask. "Do we really need to turn this into a repeat of last time?"

"I'm sorry, how else did you expect this to go?"

"I… It could've been better if you had actually… visited me…"

"Visit yo-" She squinted. "Last time I saw you, you tried to shoot me point-blank in the head."

"...I…" He looked to the side, remembering. He, admittedly, had forgotten that detail. "…Yeah… I guess I did…"

"Not to mention that he tried to cause Judgement Day…" Bridgett huffed.

"Oh, yeah, that, no, I… do still remember that."

"I've already explained his presence, and that's all you need to know." Oliver said.

Bridgett looked at him. "I'm sorry, uh… who are you, exactly?"

He looked at her, a bit hurt. "…My name is Oliver. You don't remember the green ocean?"

She paused. She still definitely recognized him from that very same memory, but… what was she even supposed to say to him? She wanted to say something to him, but all that came out was: "…It was… more a green healing tank, wasn't it?"

He squinted a bit. "…Is that what you-"

"Can we talk about that later?" Dylan cut them off. "No one said we're safe in here."

He sighed. "We're secure for now."

"Sorry, I'm just… a bit confused, is all." Bridgett said.

"Yeah, we kinda all are." Jessica replied. "And something tells me Agent 4 doesn't understand what's going on, trying to interrupt an important conversation."

Dylan scoffed, forcing a sarcastic smile. "Just don't wanna see my girlfriend talking to yet another potential love interest right now."

"Is that- are you serious?" Bridgett replied.

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Dude. Not what I meant."

"Hold on, did… something else happen between you two?" Samantha asked the couple.

"Nothing." Dylan said.

"Yeah, we're totally fine." Bridgett awkwardly put her hands on her hips.

Daniel closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, trying to fight off the voices in his head. "It's just a conversation, it's just a conversation…"

"And he clearly shouldn't be here!" Jessica again pointed at him.

As the back-and-forth argument continued, including another passive-aggressive remark from Dylan about his relationship, Oliver cut everyone off. "Everyone, quiet!"

They all looked at him.

"We need to discuss what we're gonna do next. Dylan was right to an extent, we can't just stay here forever. So if we're gonna talk, it needs to be about our next move."

"Alright, so… we work on escape next?" Samantha asked.

"No, we're cut off for the time being."

Bridgett sighed. "…Our work's not finished down here, either way."

"Yeah, she's right." Jessica said.

"What do you mean?" Samantha asked.

"Project Legion…" Dylan shook his head. "We still need to find out what it is."

"And we need to stop the Octarians from starting a new war." Oliver added. "Right now, thankfully, our team has been built up to six… but that doesn't change the fact that we are the last line of defense before bad things happen."

They all fell silent as they thought about that.

He took a breath. "…Project Legion, you said?"

"Yeah." Dylan replied. "Something about powering up an army."

"Good, that's a good lead… Is it something we can access?"

"I've tried, no luck."

He nodded. "…I might have a way." He held up the Octarian badge he had stolen during the previous gunfight. "It's high-level. As long as we play it careful and use it minimally."

Bridgett looked at Dylan. "…Can we access Project Legion with that?"

"I…" Dylan thought about it. "…Maybe. Can't say for sure."

"Ok then." Oliver hid it again. "I'd say, for now, unless there are any objections, that's our new priority. Hopefully we can do something to destroy it."

Samantha stood up. "What are we… supposed to do after that, though? I mean... what will we do if there are more surprises? What if… this is just some never-ending battle and Project Legion is just a small part of it?"

"...I don't know… but we've come this far. So we'll continue on, for as long as we can keep fighting. Is everyone with me?"

They all looked at each other, still feeling somewhat unsure. Jessica looked at Daniel, who in turn looked down at the floor.

"...I'm with you." Bridgett nodded.

Dylan shook his head, taking another moment to respond. Part of him just wanted to refocus on getting back to the surface so that he could get everyone to safety, but… that no longer seemed possible right now. "…Yeah, what the hell…"

Jessica sighed. "…Not like we have a choice."

"Ok." Oliver nodded. "Agent 4? Where do we find it?"

He pulled out his gun as he went to the door. "I'll lead the way."

Jessica glanced at Daniel, and Bridgett glanced at Oliver. Samantha stuck close to Oliver as, together, they all got behind Dylan. Dylan took a breath before, finally, he opened the door.

The Ray

The argument had continued on for several minutes now despite Marina's suggestion, with no one able to come to the same page on how to even confront this.

Pearl was pacing back and forth. "That is absolutely bat-shit insane. I cannot believe you'd even suggest it."

Marina held her arms out somewhat. "Well, I'm sorry, but I really don't know how else to confront this. If anything, it would at least confirm to Marie that there is no double-agent and that this was a misunderstanding."

Marie scoffed. "Of course you'd want to relieve suspicion. If you really have a brainwashing tool on board, how do we know you wouldn't just try to use it on all of us?"

She turned to her. "Again, watch your god damn tone. Couldn't I have brainwashed you all from the beginning, then? This isn't just my team. Remember? Captain Cuttlefish himself had a hand in picking who would go with me, and then, don't forget, the team was assigned under your responsibility."

She shook her head. "If I had a choice, this mission wouldn't have happened."

"But it did, because you ultimately allowed it. And as we've all seen, it's turned out to be extremely important."

"As we've all seen, we've given the Octarians exactly what they want!"

She got closer to her. "If you have something to say to me, Marie… just say it."

"Ohh, I could have a lot to say to you… there is a reason we've kept secret files on you and Agent 8 over the years, after all."

The room fell into silence. Pearl and Callie both stared, unable to believe she really just said that.

"Remember the Subgrid?" Marie continued. "Because that really didn't help your case. Come to think of it, what were you really doing with it, Marina? Huh? There was a whole lot of secrecy that surrounded it, and all of us in this room were plugged in at one point, right?"

Marina hesitated. "…I explained the Subgrid to you."

"Not enough. It's more like we let you off scot-free because we thought, no matter what, somehow, you're a friend. You did kind of shower us with gifts that day, probably to get yourself off the hook, now that I think about it."

She blinked. "…Really… is that really what you think of me? I thought we were friends, Marie."

"I thought we were too, but there's only so many back-stabs a friendship can take."

Marina sighed and turned away.

"Being a bit of a stuck-up bitch, aren't you?" Pearl folded her arms.

Callie, slowly tearing up, reached up to grab her own hair, starting to feel the dizzy feeling again. "Guys, please stop fighting…"

"If whoever did it would just come clean, we'd be able to move along." Marie continued.

Marina turned back to her. "I've given my suggestion, and no one listened."

"...Fine… Fine, Marina. You want us to take your suggestion? You wanna cross that bridge with the brainwashing? If we do, we're using it on you first."

She didn't respond.

Pearl stepped forward to give her a threatening shove. "Fuck off, if anything, we should be using it on you first, with how you're acting."

She angrily shoved her back. "This isn't a game, Pearl, we're gonna use it on the top suspect first. If she wants to try it, I can go grab it right no-"

"I said STOP IT!" Callie suddenly shouted, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Everyone paused as they looked at her.

"...Open that box, Marina." She pointed at Marina's briefcase.

"...Why?" Marina asked.

"Just do it!"

They all looked at each other, as Marina slowly went to unlock it and open it up. Marie again aimed her charger at her just in case, as they were all met with the bright green light that came from the crystal within.

Callie stepped closer toward it. "Don't you see it? I'm not the only one who sees it, right?" She shook her head. "…It's too late… we've already lost."

Marie shook her head. "…It's not too late, Callie, I'm just trying to-"

"STOP IT!" She shouted once again. She stood there, shaking as everyone stared at her. "…Do you have any idea how… hard this has been? Watching us… go down this way? And not being able to do anything about it?"

"...What are you talking about, Cal?" Pearl asked.

She blankly stared ahead. "…Every day, I've felt dizzy… I've felt dizzy, and… I don't know why… but I think I knew somewhere, deep down… that… we're not supposed to win." She shook her head. "We weren't supposed to win, and it was always going to happen this way, because we're just- we're stuck in this- this box, this small box, and we can't go anywhere else because the box is so small and we're trapped! We're all trapped, we can't go anywhere, because we're just puppets in some grand plan! We're puppets! All of us! Can you seriously not tell? Have you seriously not been paying attention!? Every time I'm getting dizzy, I'm gripping my chair, fighting my own sanity, do you not see me!? None of you even looked at me!"

No one knew how to respond. Marie stared at her, extremely concerned.

Callie kept crying. "…Our choices aren't our own… they were never our own…" She suddenly pointed at Marina. "You. When you put me in the Subgrid that first time, do you know what happened? Do you know what I saw? Now I can't stop dreaming about it. These… nightmares that I've already been getting for years, ever since what Octavio did to me…"

"...Callie, what the fu-" Pearl tried to say.

"STOP! JUST STOP!" She sobbed. "STOP TALKING!"

Marie was now shaking herself, extremely unnerved. "…Callie…?"

She paused and shook her head. "…I put that communicator in the wall… because I had to. Ok? Because she told me to. And I tried to fight it… I tried to fight it… but every time I try…" She sobbed some more. "I just get so dizzy… It's been Octo Canyon all over again… I think… In some way… they never lost their hold on me…"

Marie's hearts sank once again. Now she understood. Pearl and Marina looked at each other, eyes wide.

"...Now look at it." Callie motioned back down to the crystal. "Look at it. Look how bright it is." She looked back at the others. "…We all did this."

Marie was silently tearing up, shaking terribly. "…Callie… how… long…?"

She stared back at her, not responding.

She started crying. She felt like she was about to lose her own mind, she couldn't believe it. She could no longer even form full sentences. "…Who… did this…?"

Again, silence.

"...Callie…?" She sniffed. "…Who…? Why…?"

She shook her head. "…Oh, no…" She breathed.

"Callie?" Pearl inched forward. "C'mon, talk to us…"

She backed up. "No, stay back."

"Hey, hey, hey. I'm not gonna hurt you, we all just-" She leaned forward to grab her shoulder, but before she could, Callie ran over to Marina's box.

She reached in and pulled out the crystal, holding it forward defensively. "I said STAY BACK!"

Marina gasped. "Callie, don't touch that!"

No one dared even point their weapon at her, but Pearl knew she had to step up. She reached over to grab it from her. "Cal, put it down!"

"No!" Callie wrestled her for it, but as Callie managed to tighten her grip on the crystal, a weird feeling came over her. Almost as if it was reacting to her, Callie felt a painful zap of electricity up her body, and her eyes widened as the world around her suddenly fell dead silent.

The crystal lit up brilliantly, destroying Pearl instantly. It then kept unleashing bursts of energy that destroyed everything around her. The Ray, Marie, Marina, everything was disintegrated, and all of their ashes fell into the world behind them. It was the future world, that would come about soon enough. She watched on as the world she saw formed Inkopolis, in chaos, as the large Octarian station descended upon it, ready to unleash its new terrifying power.

New visions, as if they were memories that already existed within her, flashed before her, clear as day, to show what would happen next. Her eyes remained wide as she watched it all: Her own grandfather's cane fell to the ground, covered in the Cap'n ink as his limp hand laid aside it. The Splatoon had been defeated, and among its casualties, Pearl was crawling through the grass, dying, bleeding profusely as she whimpered slightly, weakly trying to call out for literally anyone that could hear her. Then, finally, it all led directly to the Octarians' new world. It was a grand Octarian city that stood in Inkopolis' place, with more buildings and technologies than she could ever imagine. Standing within it, to her surprise, was Bridgett, with her hair black and her eyes filled with fury. It was the eyes of a Bridgett who had… lost everything… who had nothing left. They felt nothing like the eyes of the Bridgett she knew…

As quickly as the visions arrived, she was transported back to reality, gasping as Pearl managed to wrestle the crystal away from her. Pearl herself hadn't seen anything- in fact, everyone except for Callie remained unaware that she had seen anything. It was just her, panting heavily, as everyone stood on guard in case she tried anything.

Marina held her hand forward. "Callie… please… it's over."

But she said nothing in response. She no longer had control. Screaming, she rushed to tackle Pearl.

As they both fell to the ground, Pearl tried to keep the crystal from her, not wanting to hurt her at all. "Callie! Stop!"

Callie thrashed against her, scratching her as she desperately reached for the crystal.

Pearl held her back with one arm. "OW, CALLIE, STOP!"

But Pearl, in her desperation to not hurt her, ended up succumbing as Callie grabbed the crystal, and she reached it over her own head, about to stab her with it.

She was suddenly tackled off of her as Marie stepped in this time, and they both rolled to the ground. The crystal fell to the ground as Marie got on top of her, trying to pin her down. "Callie!"

"AHHHHHH!" Callie thrashed against her until Marie pinned her arms. She then tried kicking her.

"Callie!" Marie was fighting back more tears as she held her down. "Please!"

"Marie!" Marina warned, and Marie looked to see that Callie's hand was still trying to reach for the crystal.

Callie's angry stare almost seemed in-Inkling as she slowly managed to grab the crystal with her fingers, before suddenly, Marie punched her. It was a hard punch, too, directly across the face. Callie fell limp, unconscious.

"Oh my g-" Pearl stood up. "Did you just…?"

Marie stared at her unconscious cousin, her fist now dangling in the air. She said nothing, did nothing… she couldn't believe any of it. It was like she was in a dream, a bad one that she would awaken from at any second… but as she slowly felt Callie's shoulder, she knew it wasn't true. It was real. She immediately broke down crying.

"…O-Oh my god…" She felt Callie's cheek. She actually hit her… "…I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

Pearl and Marina silently stood together, quite shocked themselves as they watched Marie cry over her cousin. Her crying steadily turned into more of a sob as her tears fell down onto Callie's face.