Chapter 19: Sacrifice

"Sacrifices must be made to satisfy this lust for pain."

By the time Akikta came back to reality, he realized the group was no longer in the makeshift truck.

Surrounding him were silver walls lined with black wires. Grayish platforms jutted out from the walls, leading to various levels of the building he found himself in.

The atmosphere was warm and humid. That, topped with the strange copper smell in the air, made it slightly difficult for Akikta to breathe.

He noticed his eye level was higher than usual, as he got a top-down view of the back of Nakji's, Marina's, and Callie's heads. It didn't take long for Akikta to feel the slick appendages of something large gripping his skin. The sensation was akin to a sponge pressing up against him.

Instinctively, Akikta squirmed, gaining the attention of the one holding him. "You're awake!" Biggie said in surprise.

With one of his earpieces missing, Akikta heard what Biggie sounded like naturally for the first time. The low and guttural noise spooked him, considering the voice he had grown accustomed to matched that of a hefty, warm, older man.

Biggie's announcement did not go unnoticed, as the three cephalopods turned to Akikta.

"Aki!" Nakji bolted to him, practically jumping on Biggie before he could lower Akikta to her height. "Are you ok? Did he hurt you anywhere? What—" Akikta gently but firmly pressed two fingers against her lips, abruptly silencing her.

"I'm fine, Nak." He assured his frantic sister, who calmed down a little in response.

"You didn't seem fine..." Callie commented with a worried look.

Akikta sighed before being let down by Biggie. "Sorry. I'm just not used to seeing Chaska like that..." He admitted in a somber tone.

"Well, the sooner we get you healed, the sooner we can turn your big bro back!" Callie chirped happily.

Wait, she chirped?

...The hell...?

Akikta shook his head. "We have to save your cousin first. My brother can wait. I don't think Marie can, though."

"Fair point." Callie turned, and Marina resumed leading the way. Nakji and Akikta followed side by side while Biggie trailed the group from behind.

"Speaking of healing, where are we?" Akikta asked. He felt he already knew the answer, but he wanted to make sure.

"The Rejuvenation Center," Marina confirmed. "After you blanked out on us, we decided to continue moving. We left the truck behind, but I kinda regret that decision."

"What? Why? That would've made too much noise."

"I thought so too, but we haven't seen or heard any other salmonid besides Biggie since we entered."

Callie looked over her shoulder at Akikta. "Yeah, this place is like a ghost tower!"

Akikta's brows furrowed. That was odd. Rick said this place would be crawling with Sal's loyalists. Maybe he got the intel wrong? Whatever the case, he'd consider this a blessing. "Well, in any case, how much further until we get to the healing pods?"

"Good question," Marina said before turning around. "Biggie, how far until we reach that central health station?"

Biggie looked ahead, then back at Marina. "It's not much further. We just have to go down this hall." He said, being unnecessarily loud.

"Did you catch that, Eight?" Marina said, holding onto her headphones. Akikta heard the faintest voice from the other side and assumed Eight had been translating Biggie's directions this whole time.

It confused him at first since it made much more sense to just have Biggie lead. But after a moment of thought, if enemies were here, they would've easily spotted Biggie if he had led the way.

Marina followed the directions, and the group ended up in a massive dome-like room.

The room was lit well with greenish white lights. Around the room's walls were various items that clearly didn't belong, such as pans, torn pants, and even old worn-down big-shot cannons.

At the center of the room was a massive pillar that connected the ceiling to the ground, illuminated by small blue lights. Dozens upon dozens of round white pods were attached to the massive pillar. Each pod's glass door had a blue plus-shaped symbol on it.

Akikta froze, almost believing his mind was playing tricks on him. But after a long moment of staring at the pods and seeing they didn't disappear, he zoomed over to the closest one.

His arms latched onto the pod for dear life, giving it a great big hug. Akikta didn't even care that the pod was cold. "Yes! Yes! YES! Thank you, Great Spirit! Thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!"

He shouted happily, tears of pure joy streaming down his face. It felt like an unbearable weight had finally been lifted off his tired shoulders. "I'll never undercook crabmeat again!"

Marina's face contorted in shock. "Y-you cooked a crab?"

Akikta reeled himself in, remembering sentient sea creatures inhabited Earth now. "D-don't worry! It was only a claw. Besides, the guy had it comin'. He tried to turn me into a living attraction!"

He justified his actions before turning to Biggie to change the subject quickly. "So, anyway, please tell me it doesn't take long for these things to start up."

Biggie shook his head. "No, not at all. Let me find the master console, and we'll be able to patch you right up. You'll be good as new! Now, where is it..." Biggie began searching the room for the master console; Callie and Marina helped.

Akikta stood there with a big grin stuck on his face. He couldn't wait to rid himself of those pesky parasites. Maybe then he'd be able to show those Steel Twins and their father what for!

As the minutes passed, Akikta's smile gradually curled downward. He was as patient as a dying man can be, so it wasn't them taking too long to find the master console that made his smile disappear. It was the logical side of his brain kicking in, making him think of a few... concerns.

Why was the Rejuvenation Center so empty? For a place that could heal any injury and disease, surely there'd be plenty of salmonids to keep it safe. Sal was smart enough to be a manipulator and deceiver, so Akikta couldn't see him being stupid enough to leave such an important facility unguarded.

Even if there hadn't been any guards initially, Sal could track him somehow. Akikta was sure of it. So he would've known he was coming here and sent in guards after him, right?

And another thing—the humidity was kinda thick, not to mention the temperature was warm. So why was the pod he hugged cold?

Sweat trickled down Akikta's forehead as he started thinking the place being empty wasn't a blessing in disguise, but a trap.

His gut feeling was right.

Right as Akikta turned toward the others to voice his concerns, a thundering boom shook the whole room.

A piece of the ceiling collapsed, causing rubble and debris to fall. Nakji yanked Akikta behind her, away from where the debris would land. The sudden pull made him stagger as he nearly lost his balance.

After recovering, he looked up and saw a large hole in the roof. A circular platform, similar to the one Sal had crashed into Biggie with, entered through the hole.

Akikta thought Sal had returned, but when the platform descended, he noticed it was a different color and a bit smaller than Sal's.

The platform touched down with a tiny rumble, revealing not Sal, but two other familiar faces.

"The twins," Akikta muttered. Should've known they'd show up again.

Between the Steel Twins was an oval-shaped pod lying down in the center of the platform. It contrasted differently from the healing pods, being slightly longer and having a brownish tint. Akikta wondered what the two were going to do with that.

"The time for games is over, human!" Masu seethed, her face beet red from anger. By this point, Masu's malice wasn't unusual. But the sheer amount radiating off her in this particular moment spooked Akikta. "You will come with us! NOW!" she yelled, making everyone but Nakji flinch.

The group huddled together. "She's really mad..." Marina murmured the obvious.

Akikta took a step forward. "And what if I refuse, huh? What are you gonna do about it?" He said confidently, having faith that they'd be able to beat the twins now that it was just the two of them.

His bravery, evidently, irritated Masu, as a small vein bulged on her forehead. She tightened the grip on her chainsaw blade and walked towards the group alongside her brother, who still had on that large red gauntlet.

"Looks like they're done with the duels," Akikta commented.

Nakji and Callie stepped up, and their respective tentacle colors changed to a bright yellow.

"If it's a fight they want," Callie started.

"Then it's a fight they'll get," Nakji finished.

"Careful, girls! There's no spawn points out here, so if we get splatted, that's it." Marina warned, probably seeing that same reckless nature Pearl had in both of them.

Callie and Nakji nodded, only for Nakji to dash at Masu. Their blades clashed with a mighty clang that vibrated through the air. As their blades locked together, Hucho came to Nakji's side, pulling his gauntlet back for a mighty punch.

When he swung, his attack was intercepted by Callie, who used her roller to block the fist. She grunted, being pushed back slightly. Then she raised her roller and brought it down onto Hucho with a heavy whap. Hucho staggered but was quick to recover, charging in again.

While Callie's paint roller wasn't particularly heavy to Akikta, she had been lugging it around as if it weighed a ton. So he was surprised to see Callie not only outmaneuvering Hucho, but also being quick enough to counterattack with the roller. She may have been an idol, but Akikta could see she was Agent 1 for a reason.

As the battle raged on between the four combatants, Marina turned to Biggie and Akikta. "Biggie, look for the master console! Aki, hide while you can."

"What are you gonna do?" Akikta questioned, watching her take out some type of dark green weapon.

"Join the fight." Her tentacled hair changed to match the same color as Callie and Nakji's; then she rushed in to help the two.

Marina's weapon looked like an umbrella but acted like a shotgun. Each time she shot, pellets of ink would shoot out in a cone-like radius.

Her main target was Masu, who was more heavily armored than Hucho, therefore being slower. Masu retaliated sometimes by swinging her blade at Marina, but she could never land a solid hit. If the attack wasn't dodged, then it either grazed Marina's body or was parried by Nakji. Even when Masu threw out a few ink slashes, Marina opened her umbrella to block them.

The tag-teaming enraged Masu further; She wildly flailed her chainsaw blade, preventing Nakji from getting close for a time.

Biggie, instead of doing what Marina said, tugged at Akikta's shoulder. "Akikta, you must hide while they're distracted!" He urged, seeing the human hadn't moved from his spot ever since Marina left.

"How can I? There's no hiding places in here!" Akikta responded, making a fair point. The area was quite open; there were little to no hiding spots, with the only suitable places being inside a pod. "Come on! We can fight! We can—"

Akikta was interrupted by a shrill yelp. He turned to see Callie drop her roller and then get hoisted into the air, leaving her feet dangling. Hucho held her by the throat with his arm that wasn't covered by the red gauntlet.

He'd then toss her in the air. When she came careening back down, Hucho reared his fist back, then punched her moments before she reached the ground. Callie hurled through the room, slamming into Nakji and Marina.

After seeing that, Akikta began running over, hearing Biggie call out his name in a worried tone.

Marina recovered faster than the other two. Masu, disliking that, puffed out her cheeks. Akikta knew what was coming, but Marina didn't, seeing as she was still disoriented.

"MARINA!" He called out, catching her attention. Seconds after, Masu spewed out her reddish-orange beam of ink. Akikta extended his left arm and shoved Marina out of the beam's trajectory. He closed his eyes and fell back hard, narrowly missing the beam.

When he opened his eyes, Marina was safe and sound on the ground. Her headphones had fallen and snapped from the force of his push, but he didn't care about that.

"Marina!" He rushed over, kneeling to her level. "Are you alright?!"

Akikta was deathly afraid of anything bad happening to her. While he cared for all the people helping him, he knew deep down that if something were to happen to Marina, Pearl would grant him a fate worse than death.

Marina softly shook her head, gradually opening her eyes. "I-I'm fi—" She stopped mid-sentence, and her eyes widened to extreme proportions. Her dilated pupils glanced at Akikta's side, then to his face.

The fearful expression she suddenly took on scared him. "W-what? What is it, Marina?"

Akikta stuttered, hoping for an answer. But Marina didn't respond. She just stared out behind him. Eventually, he followed her gaze, tracing it over to the ground.

Lying on the warm floor was an arm.

His arm.

Akikta furrowed his brows in confusion. The arm looked exactly like his left, but it couldn't be. He literally just used it to push Marina out of harm's way! It was right—

"..." He looked down to his side where Marina was eyeing earlier, expecting to see his left arm fully intact. Instead, he saw a bleeding stump. Everything past the elbow was gone...

His arm was gone.

It took Akikta a few seconds to realize he hadn't dodged the beam attack at all. The searing pain registered faster than his mortified facial expression.

The scream he let out was as deafening as Subject 7's shrieks. His eyes were as wide as Marina's, filled with tears as he held the bleeding stub of his arm. The shock of it all was enough to make his head dizzy and his mouth water. Soon after his screech, he fainted, flopping to the floor like a dead fish.

"AKI!" Nakji hollered, and in that moment where she was distracted, Masu whacked her in the head with the blunt end of her weapon. The amount of force the twin applied, coupled with Nakji's already fatigued body, knocked the octoling out instantly.

"Nakji!" Callie shouted. After fully recovering and grabbing her roller, she raised it to strike Masu. With her attention off Hucho, he easily clobbered Callie right in the jaw, sending her rolling across the ground with her helmet shattering mid-tumble.

Meanwhile, Marina was quick to act, scrambling to keep Akikta from bleeding out. She ripped off the bandage used on her severed tentacle, which had healed by now, and wrapped it around the end of Akikta's stub as tight as she could. When she finished, Hucho and Masu were already on top of her.

She shot up to her feet, fumbling with her weapon and only managing to shoot once. The ink that sprayed out was blocked and absorbed by Hucho's gauntlet. Before Marina could get off another shot, Masu grabbed her umbrella by the tip and yanked it out of her hands before delivering a nasty kick to her jaw.

Like Callie, Marina rolled across the ground violently, twitching from the pain. While she wasn't knocked unconscious like the other two, she didn't get back up right away.

Biggie had witnessed all four of them go down within the span of two minutes. It was just him and the twins, and they didn't seem to pay him any mind. Not until he rushed past them. Why'd he do such a thing? Because. He needed Akikta to survive. It was all over if the twins got a hold of him.

He may not have been a fighter, but he was a protector.

Before the twins reached Akikta, Biggie threw himself over the human like a blanket. Masu clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Traitorous exile!" She slashed his back with her chainsaw blade twice. The pain was immense, but he did not get off of Akikta. Biggie's resilience only angered Masu more. "Hucho!" She called, ordering him without actually saying what to do.

Then, Biggie felt something grab his tailfin with a powerful squeeze. He turned to see Hucho had him in his gauntlet's grip. Without giving the Big Shot a chance to retaliate, Hucho used all the energy the gauntlet had absorbed since the start of the fight and hurled Biggie away from Akikta.

With a roar, Biggie crashed into the platform the Steel Twins arrived in, fracturing it.

"Watch it, Hucho! You almost hit the pod!" Masu growled, turning her attention back to Akikta. "Finally..." she muttered under her breath, leaning to pick him up.

"A...Aki..." Marina whimpered, still in too much pain to do anything other than watch.

Biggie was in the same boat as her.

He watched as Masu and Hucho carried an unconscious Akikta back to the oval-shaped pod. Once they got him inside with some slight difficulty, they sealed him in.

Masu shuddered, releasing a single tear. "Finally. Father will be so happy!" She cheered, taking out a radio and tapping on a few buttons. "Father? Father, are you there? We got him!"

Static noises filled the area briefly before a coherent voice came from the other side. "Masu? Did you really get him this time?" A familiar and hated voice questioned. It was none other than the usurper.

"Yes! He's in the pod, as instructed."

"Excellent." Suddenly, the whole building rumbled.

Distant explosions echoed in the background. "W-what was that?!" Masu gasped.

"If you heard what I think you heard, then that was the sound of the power room detonating."

"D-detonating?!" she unintentionally yelled in shock.

"Yes. I told you in the plan, didn't I?"

"No! You only said you'd handle the squidbeaks after we retrieved the human!"

"Oh, I must've forgotten to say how." There was a slight pause on Sal's end. "Well, this is how."

Masu took a minute to process what he was saying. "Father! A tower can't function without its power room! Its detonation will cause a chain reaction!"

The building rumbled again as another distant explosion went off. "That's the plan."

Masu's face paled in realization. Sal was probably taking these drastic measures because he thought the whole splatoon was guarding Akikta like last time.

There was no use breaking the news to him. He couldn't undo the chain reaction.

Still, Masu felt as though he should know one key detail. "Our transportation vessel is broken—we can't leave on foot with the tower exploding!" The room shook harder, and the explosions sounded a bit closer.

After telling Sal she and Hucho were basically stranded, Masu expected him to miraculously come down and save them.

Instead of doing that or even showing the slightest bit of concern, Sal took the attention away from the twins' safety. "The pod has flight capabilities. Its course is pre-planned, so it'll fly straight to me."

Masu looked down at the pod Akikta was in. It looked cramped, even with just him in it. "B-but there's no more room in the pod. How will we escape?" There was silence from the other side as pieces of the ceiling began falling. "Father?"

"Listen, Masu, my girl. This wasn't supposed to be how it went down, but it looks like you'll have to sacrifice yourself."

Masu's heart skipped a beat. "F-father, you're not leaving us to die, are you?"

"Of course not. But as it turns out, there is no plan B to get you out of there." Masu was taken aback by her father's words. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "To sacrifice yourself for the greater good... There's no bigger honor than that, Masu. You'll have redeemed yourself ten times over!" Masu dropped the radio, falling onto her knees.

Masu sacrificing herself for her father wasn't something she'd hesitate doing. Sal was right, after all. There was no bigger honor. The thing that hit her hardest was the fact that he hadn't even tried to come up with an alternative or a plan to save them. He just threw in the towel instantly, as if they were expendable.

Sal continued. "I thank you for everything you've done. Without you, my dreams would've never been accomplished. Truly, daughter, I am pr—" The radio cut off after another explosion shook the building. That last blast most likely destroyed the communication arrays within the tower.

Masu was too weak to do anything but grip the side of Akikta's pod. "No..." she whimpered, sitting there on her knees in utter defeat with tears running down her slick face. Her pitiful display was depressing enough to make even Biggie feel sorry for her.

Hucho looked to the pod and then back to Masu, staring at each for an awfully long time. After yet another distant explosion, he did the unthinkable.

He removed his gauntlet before opening the sealed pod. Then he removed Akikta, setting him down next to the pod before scooping his sister up and placing her in his spot alongside her weapon.

"H-hucho?" Masu muttered, still able to process the things happening around her despite her distraught emotions.

"You must live." He said sincerely, gently gripping the tip of her stinger mask and pulling it off to reveal her whole face. "For us both." He pulled his own mask off, showing his face for the first time to all who could see, which was just Biggie.

Hucho didn't look that much different from Masu, as expected from a pair of twins. The only noticeable difference was that he had black freckles instead of white.

"What are you doing?" Masu's face grew more concerned as Hucho simply smiled. Before she could sit up, he put his mask on her chest and sealed the pod. "Hucho? Hucho, open the door," she said calmly.

Hucho stepped to the pod's side, now barely visible to Masu. Attached to the side of the pod was a small panel that Biggie hadn't noticed until now. "You must live." He repeated before typing on the console.

"H-huchen, this isn't funny anymore. Open the damn door!" Masu banged against the glass. Despite being smaller than Akikta, the pod still had little wiggle room for her to utilize. No amount of momentum she could build up would ever be enough to force the door open.

She must've realized this, as mid-way through banging, she started sobbing hysterically and begging her brother. "Huchen! Huchen, please open the door! Please!"

Hucho ignored her cries and kept typing on the panel. After finishing, he took a step back, dragging Akikta's body with him. The boosters on the back of the pod ignited, lifting it into the air.

"HUCHEN!" Masu screamed, it being slightly muffled by another nearby explosion that shook the building. The pod flew through the hole in the ceiling.

Biggie regained enough strength to sit up, staring over at Hucho, who did something he considered exemplary. Perhaps he had the humanoid salmonid all wrong. He wasn't like the usurper at all.

Biggie wished he could admire Hucho more, but the tower was still exploding.

He hobbled onto his tailfin, surveying the area for a way to save his comrades. Then he spotted it—a big shot cannon. It was old and rusty like all the others, but still in operable condition, so it looked.

He wobbled over to retrieve the cannon, only for another explosion to shake him off balance. This explosion happened inside the room, and the place immediately caught fire.

Amongst the heat, Biggie kept moving, pushing the heavy cannon toward a specific area in the room so that it was angled to where anything launched would shoot right through the hole in the ceiling.

After he got it into position, another explosion rocked the room. Time was running out.

Biggie moved as fast as his legless self could, carrying everyone and piling them next to the cannon. Hucho didn't even attempt to stop him. He just watched with a neutral expression.

After gathering everyone, he loaded them into the cannon, launching them individually. He knew the cephalopods would be able to handle whatever impact awaited them. His only concern was Akikta, whom he hesitated to load into the cannon. Biggie wasn't sure how durable humans were when it came to tough impacts, so he could only hope that Akikta would live from being launched.

Marina was still somewhat conscious and the last one to enter the cannon. She realized what was happening and gripped onto Biggie before he could set her down. "B-biggie..." She looked up at him. "You can't... How will you...?" She didn't want to say it, seeing that the cannon was too large for Biggie to fit in. But after he smiled, it was clear he had no intentions of escaping with them.

Before Marina could protest further, he overpowered her grip and set her down into the cannon, launching her through the air with the rest of them. Soon after, another explosion caved in a big chunk of the ceiling, and the falling debris smashed into the cannon, preventing anyone else from using it.

Biggie and Hucho were left in an awkward staring contest as the rising flames surrounded them. The building quaked heavily, clearly about to cave in on itself at any moment. Neither of the salmonids showed any fear.

"This is why we exiled are trying to stop the usurper. He cares not for the clan." Biggie stated. Hucho said nothing and continued staring blankly at him. "But... You knew that already, didn't you?" Hucho looked down, silently answering his question. "Why'd you help him...?"

At first, Hucho didn't respond. Not until after another explosion. "For sister, of course." There was no noticeable emotion in his tone other than contempt. He raised Masu's stinger mask, gazing at it intently. "For her, I'd do anything."

Hucho's words reminded Biggie of when Akikta said the same thing about his brother. If those two had something in common, then it meant Hucho wasn't that bad after all. Biggie was ashamed and disappointed that it took him so long to figure that out.

There was a pause in the conversation as the flames grew hotter and bigger. Biggie felt their imminent doom nearing, so he asked one final question. "If things were different, I think you and I would've made great brothers. Don't you agree?" He wondered, seeing that Hucho was also a protector like himself.

Hucho continued staring at Masu's mask. "Mm..." He hummed, closing his eyes. "I guess we'll never know..."

With that, the whole tower shook one last time before a massive explosion engulfed it like a volcano, wiping Hucho and Biggie off the face of the earth.

The entire tower collapsed, taking down the surrounding sectors with it.

The only one who got to witness the explosion was Marina, who shed a single tear as her body continued free-falling through the air with the rest of the group.