Chapter 24: New Powers, New Plan

"Time for plan B."

With Akikta gaining newfound power, hope was restored to the once desolate situation.

He wasted no time in testing out what his arm could do... To say the results were satisfactory would be a lie.

His arm constantly shifted back and forth between a liquid and solid state with little conscious effort, so he didn't have to worry about his attacks harmlessly passing through a threat. And yes, it could take the form of any weapon he imagined, but it wasn't as good as it sounded on paper.

Ranged weapons were a no-go, since every time he turned his arm into a gun, the projectiles came out as a stream of liquid. It was like firing a water gun, and whenever he shot, he felt himself losing strength.

So basically, he was limited to melee weapons.

Akikta was disappointed in his capabilities since he expected to do things on the same level as Subject 7. Then again, it wasn't all bad. The parasites were gone, he felt better than ever, and he finally had a viable way to fight back.

Besides, he only just got this power. Maybe it'd be like those movies where the hero grows stronger and unlocks more skills as time passes. At least, that's what he hoped.

"Now then." He faced the others. "How are we gonna do this?"

"What do you mean?" Callie questioned.

"I mean, how are we gonna save Marie and Inka?"

Marina turned to Akikta. "You're still on about that?"

"You damn skippy I am!" He extended his arms out to either side of him. "Look at me! I'm fine. Better than fine, actually! I'm no longer a hindrance to you guys. I can help fight!"

"You might be doing better, but look around," Marina pointed out.

While Akikta was back at full strength, the others were still battered and weakened from their previous fights. "Ok. Fair point. But come on! They're somewhere in this very tower right now! We have to save them."

"And how do you expect we do that? We don't have the numbers or the firepower to fight through those salmonid hordes. Three of us don't even have weapons!"

"We won't need 'em." Akikta's black arm changed into a mace. "I'll be your weapon!"

Marina squinted. "I don't mean any disrespect when I say this, Aki, but do you even know how to fight?"

The mace shifted back into an arm. "I beat Eight twice, didn't I?"

Marina shook her head. "First of all, Nakji helped you the first time. Second of all, she wasn't trying to hurt you. Trust me, if Eight wanted you dead, you would've already been."

Ouch, Akikta knew Marina was only speaking the truth, but it still stung.

"Besides..." Marina sighed. "Eosalmo is most likely guarding those two right now. We barely held our own against him, and that was when all of us fought together. Even with your new abilities, I don't think the five of us will come close to beating him."

Ricky moved forward. "Actually, the usurper has vacated the premises."

"What? Why?" Akikta said, baffled.

"I do not know. He stormed off angrily, leaving Clod to guard them."

"Who's Clod?"

"His strategic lieutenant."

"And he's the only one guarding them?"

"As far as I know."

"What happened to his children? Wouldn't he be sticking them on guard duty?"

Ricky shrugged. "I have not seen his spawn since they were sent to the Rejuvenation Center. From what you told me earlier, they probably blew it up to intercept you."

Akikta scratched his head, confused. "I wasn't conscious when the tower exploded, but I doubt they'd blow it up with them still inside it..." His eyes widened in realization. "Marina, did they die in the explosion?"

Marina perked up at her name being called. "I-I'm sorry, I don't know. I was only half-conscious, and the only person I saw for sure was Biggie." she stuttered.

Akikta decided to put the fate of the twins on the back burner for now. "Well, that's perfect then! If it's just this Clod dude guarding Inka and Marie, then the five of us can definitely take him on!"

Marina looked anxious, more so than usual. "Let's not be hasty. We don't know how strong this Clod person is. Plus, we don't even know where Inka and Marie are being held at."

"I do! I just don't know how to get there..."

Ricky looked at Marina, then back at Akikta. "I do."

Everyone snapped their head towards Ricky, only for Akikta to smile widely. "Then we got our guide!"

"Aki—"

"Come on, Marina!" He snapped, making her jump. "The Great Spirit just handed us a golden opportunity. Who knows what will become of the two if we don't act now!"

Marina stayed silent, looking away to avoid his gaze.

Akikta realized he was being too aggressive, then sighed. "L-look, I didn't mean to raise my voice at you. It's just... from the moment we got here, I've been nothing but deadweight. But now I can finally do something, and you won't let me." Marina looked up at him with a twinkle of understanding in her eyes. "My grandfather told me I would do big things in life. I doubt he ever meant this, but I wanna prove him right. So please, let me. Let me show you humans aren't usually this useless..."

The two stared at each other for what felt like hours before Marina broke eye contact. "Ok, ok. You win." She gave another tired sigh. "We'll go rescue Inka and Marie right now." Akikta nearly lept for joy at her words, barely keeping his composure. "Ricky will lead us to where they're being held, then we'll free them. If possible, we'll take down Clod too, but after that, we're regrouping with the others and hightailing it out of Atlantis!"

"What about Sal?" Nakji questioned, reminding Akikta of the deal he had made with Rick.

"Right. I did kinda agree to deal with him for Rick when he led me and Nak to safety. We can't just let him go scot-free!"

"I never said we're not gonna deal with him." Marina clarified. "He's a danger to all life as far as I'm concerned. But right now, rescuing Marie and Inka takes priority. Besides, we don't have the power to beat him, let alone fight him. After we leave Atlantis, I'll call in a few favors."

"Shouldn't we report this to Grizzco?" Callie suggested, and Marina shook her head in response.

"If we told Grizzco about this, they'd send all they had to clear this whole place out. That'd put Ricky, his brother, and their friends in danger. Our only target is Eosalmo and his loyalists." She made a valid point. One neither Akikta nor Nakji could argue with. "Besides, I want to explore every inch of this human relic before it becomes known to the whole world!"

Marina's added comment caused Akikta to sigh. Of course, she'd have an ulterior motive. Well, it wasn't like he could blame her. Atlantis was probably the closest thing inklings and octolings would ever get to a living human artifact—aside from himself, of course.

Suddenly, Ricky bowed to Marina. "Thank you for your consideration, octarian."

Marina turned to Ricky, giving him a small wave. "Please, call me Marina!" She said with a smile, which Ricky responded to with a nod. "Alright, well, let's get ready. We don't have much time to waste. Who knows when Eosalmo will come back."

At her command, everyone darted around, gathering whatever supplies they could. Everyone but Akikta. The only things he needed were Nakji and his mask, and one of those was already on his face.

He stood around, waiting for everyone else. As he did, he had a lot of time to think about...well, everything.

What happened to Chaska? That's what he was really concerned about. With his gamble being a success, the two were now successfully merged. But he hadn't felt any different from before. Aside from having an inky arm, he felt completely normal.

There was that small timeframe where he apparently attacked the others. But from the sounds of it, it was brief and unlikely to happen again. Perhaps it was just a small side-effect of being newly merged. Paul mentioned things like that tend to happen sometimes.

Still, what happened to Chaska's mind? With both of them merged, Akikta assumed their thoughts would be connected, and he'd finally be able to at least speak with Chaska. But from the looks of it, he still had one mind.

"Chaska was acting like a mindless monster..." Akikta noted, believing his brother's consciousness was probably already gone. That would mean he had taken over what was left of him after the merge. The thought saddened Akikta deeply, but at least he could take comfort in knowing his brother was now a part of him, literally.

Another mystery plagued Akikta's mind, though.

He was traveling through his brother's memories against his will, but who did that one memory belong to? The one with all those soldiers and destruction... That couldn't have belonged to Chaska. Alterna was the only place on Earth they've ever been to until recently. Plus, there was his use of that plasma rifle. His brother was good with a gun, but not that good.

Not to mention the photo... Why was it there in the memory?

Considering it was in Father Axe's secret workshop, it had to be his. Speaking of, Akikta vaguely remembered a soldier calling him 'Axe.' He was ninety-nine percent sure he misheard the soldier...

But what if he didn't?

No, he had to. The memory obviously belonged to a soldier, and Akikta's father wasn't anywhere close to being soldier material. His dad could analyze data and conduct successful experiments better and faster than anyone else. But he was a complete pacifist, disowning violence entirely. Now that he thought about it, he wondered why they had a gun range in the first place.

Even if his father was a fighter, Axe was born and raised in Alterna, like Akikta and Chaska. There was no way he could've participated in a war, so it didn't make sense that the man in the memory was his father.

Akikta would've been fine assuming that the memory he saw belonged to someone he didn't know, but they had that damn photo, and that meant they were connected to his family somehow. Akikta had no uncles, so that wasn't a possibility. The only other suspect he thought of was his mother, but he hardly knew anything about her. Besides, he'd know if the memory was a woman's, and it most definitely was not.

But then who? The only other person in his family with the name Axe was...

No. It couldn't be him. Right? Yeah, no, of course not. Father Axe was a sweet old man who disliked violence as much as his son. Hell, it was he who tried everything to keep Akikta and his brother from ever holding a weapon. Of course, it never worked, but the effort alone told Akikta how much disdain Father Axe had for warfare.

But... his age did fit the timeframe. Father Axe was alive during the last war that hammered in the final nail to Earth's coffin. And he was the only one in their family who had been up on the surface once before. But Father Axe would've told them of that dark history, right? Yeah, of course he would. Father Axe wasn't one to keep secrets from his family.

Akikta eventually concluded that he had misheard whatever was said in the memory. He was still convinced the soldier in the memory was connected to his family. He just wasn't sure how.

"Aki, are you ready?" Nakji said, snapping Akikta back to reality. Apparently, he had been thinking for so long that now everyone was waiting on him.

"S-sorry. I'm ready." He confirmed.

Marina then turned to Ricky. "Lead the way."

Ricky nodded to her order before opening the door and looking left and right. After determining the coast was clear, he waved a fin, gesturing for everyone to follow.

A line formed as everyone exited, with Ricky in the lead. Marina followed behind the salmonid, and Callie followed behind her. Nakji tailed the inkling, and Akikta was the last in line.

He took one step out the door before—"Akikta." A voice boomed behind him clear as day. His neck nearly snapped with how fast he turned, and to his surprise, no one was there. Now that everyone left, the room was empty. Akikta continued looking, expecting to see someone eventually.

Nakji noticed he had stopped at the door and tugged on his right arm. "Aki, what's wrong?"

"Huh?" He gasped in confusion. "You're telling me you didn't hear that?"

"Hear what?" Nakji's confusion confirmed that she hadn't heard a thing, which confused him even more. The voice practically shouted his name, so he thought everyone would've heard, but upon seeing everyone aside from Nakji moving forward unbothered, he figured it was just him.

"What did you hear?" Nakji inquired, a hint of concern in her tone.

Akikta looked at her one last time before turning back to face the still-empty splicing chamber. "I..." He shook his head, chuckling at himself. "I thought I heard Chaska."