Splatoon: The Brothers and the Others
Demoted and Demotivated
Triumphantly, extremely, magnificently bored was the otherwise amazing Ari.
Laying atop his plush, king-size, lonely bed, Ari gazed longingly up at the ceiling of his apartment. There were several faded orange splotches stuck on the ceiling along with a torn upholstery which barely clung in place. Ari smirked at a particularly round orange marking, though the smile soon passed.
That was where Sari had thrown a Burst Bomb a while back. She and Ari were fooling around with their Turf War weapons once upon a time when the bomb hit the ceiling. At the time, they laughed it off.
"Next time that'll be our next opponent's face!" Sari had giggled.
Ari shook his head up at the painted ceiling and sighed. Stepping off of the bed, Ari made his way to his bedroom door. He barely clutched the knob before Ares opened it for him.
"Letter for ya, shrimp," Ares grunted and casually flung a paper envelope at him.
Ari caught it between his thumb and finger, barely peering in his father's direction. "Anything about mom?"
"Nothing," Ares muttered and stomped away, "And don't talk to me about that."
Ari shook his head. That was it for his conversation with his father for the day. Ares practically toppled over on the couch and stared at a blank television in the corner of the living space. Ari glanced down at his letter. A stamp of a squid in a salt shaker made Ari's eyes widen. Before reading the address, he eviscerated the paper envelope and retrieved the note and read it. Then he read it again, and again.
Dear Cous,
Hey, I know I said I was gonna be gone a week, but I ran into a bit of trouble. My dad's having trouble with a few of the new tenants. Mom's been threatening to burn the apartment complex to the ground. You should've been there.
On the plus side, I've been spreading the word of my "lord and savior". ...You, it's you. Cod, that's so weird Don't go nuts, but I've been talking about you to a few of my friends back home. They've- -missed you.
There was a suspicious scribble crossed out and covered with pen ink before "missed you", but Ari ignored that and kept reading.
I'm really sorry about not telling you sooner. There's been a few complications here and there, but I'll be back soon. I promise you that, or my name's not Sari-
Ari face flushed once he read her last name. He had gotten so used to calling her by his own that he forgot what her own last name was. The letter hardly ended spectacularly, with a "Love, Sari", and a small orange ink stain by her name. Ari blew air out of his mouth in a half-hearted whistle, then flung the letter back on top of his bed and laid down on the comforter, resting his head below the letter.
Ari removed his Jungle Hat and flung it away, draped his arm over his head, and screamed at the top of his lungs, "I'm so lonely!"
"Clam up!"
"And calm down," Octavio ordered, crossing his tentacles over one another, "Sheesh."
Sitting beside one of the tables closest to the main stage, Tai fired back a friendly smirk and a few finger guns. Her pride stride fell through when she heard a "tch" sound off behind her. Tai sulked, and Aussie nodded to Octavio to continue. Murmurs filled in the silence from other Octarians gathered in the rec room. Octavio raised his tentacle into the air from the seat of his giant DJ throne in a shushing gesture, quieting the crowd quickly. There were a few coughs and sounds of chairs screeching against the metal floor, but it soon fizzled out.
"Alright, so, straight to business," Octavio started, "Electricity."
Everyone shifted in their seats. Turning around, behind the lot of them laid Shockwhisk, the enigmatic half-Zapfish half-Great Zapfish, lying on the floor.
"We've hit a sour note on that end."
Shockwhisk croaked something that sounded like, "Meh."
Compared to earlier chapters, Shockwhisk was the polar opposite of what he used to be. Gone was the spring in his step and the jolly, dangerous electricity in the air around him. Today's Shockwhisk was barely moving, aside from the slow twirling of his curvy whiskers. Static buzzing could be heard coming off of the fish in a droning hum. Shockwhisk's pen had scorch marks across several surfaces, from the floor underneath him to the walls surrounding him.
One Octotrooper peeked in the pen to look. The same Octotrooper wound up on the opposite wall just above Octavio's crown, charred black, sliding down slowly with the most shocked expression on his face.
"Our replacement Zapfish isn't cooperating. He's been deader than a month-old pop hit, and you can see what happens when we try to approach." Octavio pointed out as the Octotrooper fell facedown on the stage. "Coaxing electricity out of him's been impossible. Y'know, except for the deadly kind."
The Octotrooper landed on the floor, much to the relief of the onlooking crowd. Much to their disbelief, however, the Octotrooper faded into dust almost immediately upon hitting the floor. The crowd gasped in horror. Octavio barely raised an eyebrow. Upon the stage, a violent violet light erupted from the stage, and out popped the Octotrooper with a splash of ink. The crowd sighed in relief.
Then gasped again in horror when they heard the sound.
Beep.
The Spawn Point chugged and beeped erratically, sending electricity sparking out from the center. Striking the Octotrooper again with what appeared to be a bolt of lightning, the device rang out with a horrible screech as the Octotrooper, charred again, fell to the floor. Panic erupted among the crowd. Octarians knocked over desks and automatically pulled out weapons. Tai was grabbed by her shirt, and despite her protests, was pulled behind the cover of a dinner table while Aussie shrunk into octopus form, ducking under a small puddle of ink.
Again, Octavio just looked bored on as the Spawn Point leaped into the air, pulling screws and bolts with it. An Octoling nearby jumped over one of the tables, but her foot was caught on the edge, sending her flailing over the other side. An Octocopter hovering behind a table had his blades clipped. The Octocopter gave a salute before dropping like a stone, landing on his noggin.
Soon enough, the Spawn Point bounced around the room enough to the point where it managed to spook half the room into head trauma, leaving the rec room in a mess of piles of unconscious and painfully conscious Octarians. Beyond all facets of logic, the point landed back on the stage exactly where it had launched off of and spewed ink at the disabled crowd, much to their displeasure.
"...What the shell was that?" Tai shouted across the room.
Octavio simply tilted his crown upright on his head. "That was the second thing I was gettin' to. On account of the power outages, some of the more…'temperamental' equipment's been on the fritz."
"They ALL jump around like that when running low on energy?" One voice in the crowd questioned in a panic.
Just then, there was a tremendous tremor, distant screaming, and the sound of metal smashing and grinding against each other. This time, there was a clearly visible trail of sweat running down the side of Octavio's face as everyone turned to him in distress.
Tai scowled. "Man, I would not want to be in the hangar right now."
"Clariss must be having a panic attack…" Aussie muttered in agreement.
Conversation and conflict were sparked immediately. This time, everyone seemed to be more on edge than before. Accusing stares were directed at Octavio. Octarians whispered to one another. Someone's boot sailed through the air, decking a Twintacle Octotrooper between his two tentacles.
In the middle of it all, Tai was relaxing on her chair, thoroughly enjoying the chaos, propping her boots up on the table while she nursed a canteen. "Welp, this is gonna suck for Octavio to solve, huh Auss?"
"Octarians!" Aussie screamed, ascending to the stage.
"Oh jeez."
Octavio perked up slightly at the commander stepping onstage. "Aussie."
"It's 4U-" Aussie bit her tongue. "Yes."
"You're back from the dead?" Octavio asked with a hint of humor in his voice, "Sure you two didn't croak on that scouting mission? You ain't a vengeful spirit or anything?"
The crowd continued murmuring, though more and more stared at Aussie.
"Who's she?"
"Auss? I really DID think she died."
Aussie frowned.
"Yo, Auss! How's it been?"
"Does that mean Tai is alive too?"
"Nice to see you again, commander."
"Oh, what now, is she going to tell us about the joys of shooting targets for fifteen minutes?"
Aussie's goggles flashed red.
"I thought she and Tai were on their hoooooneymooooon."
The crowd oohed and chuckled among themselves. That annoyed Aussie, but then she caught notice of Tai winking at others in the crowd and nodding. Steam rising from beneath her tentacles, she took a deep breath and shouted.
"Get it together you IDIOTS!"
The crowd got it together quickly. A few passed snide remarks to each other. Tai especially passed snide remarks around. In spite of the crowd murmuring to themselves, Aussie just cleared her throat.
"I leave for a few months and this is how you act in the presence of Octavio? Honestly!" Aussie fumed, "This is serious, and you all are acting like newborns! As your commander, I expect more from you."
Octavio suddenly paled, though no one seemed to notice. They were preoccupied with paling at the very loud commander screaming at them.
"Man, cut 'em some slack," Tai shouted from the crowd, much to Aussie's dismay and the crowd's amusement, followed by cheers, "I'm pretty sure they've been just falling apart without us, right guys?"
This time, the crowd's cheers faded.
"Eh, not really…" Someone muttered.
Tai's eyebrows narrowed. "Gee thanks."
"I'm serious," Aussie called out to the Octarians, crossing her arms, "What if something happened while we were gone?"
A sour note was struck. The audience began jeering. Some Octarians rolled their eyes, others simply shook their heads and pretended to ignore her. Another shoe was thrown which sailed harmlessly over Aussie's head.
"What makes you think you are that important?" Another voice called out.
Suddenly, the Octarian crowd shifted uneasily. Others glanced at one another nervously. A few whispered to one another, turning their heads to find the offender. Soon, a few Octotroopers pointed to the back, where one Octoling sat with her boots on the table. The Octoling had a sneer on her face.
Aussie's goggles flashed. "I'm the commander of a prestigious-"
Tai sneezed and accidentally knocked over a table in the audience section. Wiping her nose with the back of her arm, she bent down to heave the table back up.
"Of a...squadron in the Octarian army." Aussie finished, glaring at Tai before turning back to face the other Octoling.
"You sure about that?" The Octoling asked, eliciting another shift within the crowd.
"Yes," Aussie frowned, cocking an eyebrow underneath her goggles in suspicion.
"So, let's get this straight, you, a commander, left for over about seven months on a survey mission, and you're blaming us for not being at our 'best behavior'? Hypocrite much?"
Aussie's goggles flashed red again. The Octarians held their breath, but it was clear from the prolonged silence in the room that no one was too keen on making things any more tense than it needed to be. Tai watched, both with a hint of suspicion and amusement.
The Octoling stood up from the table and walked toward the stage. "What makes you think, if you were really a commander, that this wouldn't go unpunished or anything? What makes you better than all of us?"
Aussie scowled. "That isn't what I-"
"You're just screaming at us for what? Because we aren't 'super disciplined' like you want us to be? What, would you rather have us be mind controlled?" The Octoling probed in annoyance.
"I'd rather have us be sharp and respectful. I don't want her-" Aussie pointed at Tai, who simply waved, "To be our main source of inspiration for us when everything's going wrong!"
"Well, maybe I'd rather let Tai lead us-"
Everyone stared over at the normally abnormal Octoling. Tai flashed her eyelashes and made a mock shy movement with her hand covering her face.
"Instead of you," The anonymous Octoling suggested.
Tai snickered, and surprisingly, a few of the Octarians actually began to murmur in agreement. Aussie stood, mouth agape, while Octavio sat by, silent and observant. While Octavio idled by, giving his records an occasional spin on his throne's turntable, the Octarians watched in awe at the argument happening onstage/offstage, with the rec room becoming a box of chatter.
"You've got a lot of nerve. What's your name?" Aussie inquired with her arms firmly crossed.
"YU-R1N, or Yurin, if we're being adults here," she announced herself with a smirk and with similarly crossed arms, "Commander Aussie, isn't it? Pleased to finally meet you, I'm here to negotiate your replacement."
"Oough!" Ari grunted as he collapsed on the ground.
"Dude, you okay?"
Ari, flopping over on his back, glared up at the Inkling staring down at him and scowled. Just scowled.
"Yes," Ari answered straightforwardly, albeit still sulking.
"Can I just...tell you something?" He asked.
"What?"
"You HAVE played Turf before?"
Ari squinted his eyes. He had never been so insulted in his entire life. The audacity! The sheer ignorance of that statement was enough to curdle his insides.
Ari simply answered, "I'm rusty."
"Yeah, 240p with a Dynamo sucks," the other Inkling muttered, extending a hand to the ground, "But you'll get the hang of-"
"Yeah, yeah," Ari shook his head, already walking off.
The other Inkling watched him trudge off with shrunken shoulders. He simply turned around and made his way back to the inside of Deca Tower.
Ari slumped down in a chair at a table and sunk down low. Inkopolis Square, to put it simply, was an adjustment. Everything was new, colorful, and fresher than Inkopolis Plaza. The square felt larger, flatter, but definitely more energetic and full of life.
Unfortunately for him, Ari found that it wasn't as fun once you were friendless.
Ari watched a squad of squids exit the tower, each one chatting up a storm. As they passed by, one glanced at Ari, who simply sneered and rested his head back on the table. The other Inklings wasted no time in retreating out from Ari's judgemental vise.
Ari, with all of the enthusiasm of a stranded fish, heaved out a puff of air. With his chin on top of the table, Ari sulked for a good twenty minutes until a group of Inklings ambled up to him.
"So uh, hey," one of the girls piped up.
Ari perked up for a second.
"Are you using the other chairs?" The girl asked, pointing at the chairs around his table.
"Go ahead," Ari stated with a dejected face as he slumped back on the table.
The girl uttered a careful "thanks" before she and her friends practically ran off with the chairs. With a huff, Ari stood up out from his seat.
"You know what, I've had it with this place," Ari declared to himself, "Maybe I'll see how my rivals are doing."
A smirk dawned on Ari's face. "Yes, I can just imagine that the both of them are just brimming with anticipation to see me again for another day out. Maybe even a challenge or two."
Before Ari could move, however, a jellyfish suddenly swooped in and stole his chair from underneath him before settling with the other Inklings at another table. While they struck up a useless conversation, Ari sulked away from Inkopolis Square.
"Yo, Auss! Wait up!"
Tai scurried through the halls of the base, following after a very fast, very irritated Aussie. Said Aussie stormed through the hall stomping at high speeds. Other Octarians either moved out of her way or were bowled over. Under any other circumstances, Tai would've probably stopped and laughed, but Aussie's moody march through the headquarters was otherwise too distracting.
Tai managed to catch up to her, "Auss, come on."
Aussie said nothing and continued to march through the halls. Tai scowled, speeding up her pace until she managed to run ahead. Tai positioned herself in front of Aussie, blocking the hall with her arms and legs. Without even a moment of hesitation, Aussie shifted into an octopus and shot past her right arm.
"Dude, chill out," Tai suggested, "What's up with you?"
Aussie's head whirled over her shoulder to glare at Tai. Tai, unfazed, did the same back.
Aussie cleared her throat. "You're staying here."
"What?" Tai asked as she walked down the hall.
"I've had it, Tai. I'm going to the conference. You are not. Stay here."
Tai didn't make it far. In a flash, Aussie yanked her back by the collar of her black shirt and practically threw her down the hall. Taken completely by surprise, all Tai could do was brace for the impact, rolling over on the floor, landing with her arms propping her up on the ground. She watched, almost mystified, as Aussie marched off even faster than before.
Tai huffed, indignantly puffing out her chest. "Y'know what? I don't even WANT to screw up that meeting anymore. You hear me?"
"Great," Aussie called back from the other end of the hall, "The last thing I need is for you to screw up something else."
Pouting, Tai called back, "Yeah! I'm just going to check on Chi! Screw you!"
"Screw you too," Aussie spoke up.
"Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you!" Tai yelled back.
"No! And gross!" Aussie screeched back.
Behind Tai, several other Octarians watched the back and forth exchange. A few had taken it upon themselves to bring snacks, much to Tai's annoyance. As Tai hurried away in a huff, her angry stride knocked over quite a few pretzels and popcorn on the floor.
"Wow, did you see that?" One of the Octotroopers broke the silence.
A few of the other spectators shot questionable looks in that Octotrooper's direction.
"My pretzels…" Another Octarian remarked, staring at the floor in anguish.
"Hey, you doing alright?"
"Mmnngh."
At first, she wasn't sure how to respond. She felt sore all over and restrained. Her mouth felt like it was filled with cotton while her extremities might as well have been hit with rocks for all she cared. Still, she was alive. She was here.
And so, Chi noted, was Tai's mom.
Chi herself was bandaged, practically from head to toe. A dull pain throbbed through her body every now and again, but aside from that, she just felt sore. Mai was…well, strapped. Mai was attached to a strange, dinky machine. There was an IV drip, a heartbeat monitor, and even a few seatbelts enclosed in a metallic, egg-like shell over Mai's bed. There was also a counter for the current year, which simply puzzled Chi.
Mai placed a hand on her own cheek, and stared directly at Chi with an expression that could only be described as "Tai but older". "So, how's Day 2 of recovery?"
Chi suddenly found herself struggling to speak. Her throat was fine, but being alone in the same room as your best friend's mom is never really easy. Especially when you were the one who blew her leg up. Chi found it even harder to speak when she found her own eyes drift from Mai down to her legs.
Mai seemed to have noticed, sighed, and pulled up her pants. Strapped to her leg, or at least the stump of one was a steel, false leg. Out from the stump of her leg, poking above and through the false leg, wriggled a baby tentacle.
Chi gagged.
Much to Chi's surprise (and terror), Mai answered with a laugh. "Like what you see?"
"BLURGH." Chi gagged.
Mai gave the younger Octoling a look. Embarrassed, Chi looked around the ward for something. Settling on her own blankets, she hid her face, then switched into an octopus, then sank below the pillow on her bed with her blanket wrapped around herself. Mai gave her a peculiar look, but before she could say anything, Chi then made her way under the cot and the mattress. The now upside-down bed shivered like gelatin on a rickety table.
Again, Chi was taken aback as Mai had another small laugh. "You remind me a lot of my daughter, y'know?"
Chi poked her head out from the blankets. "Wha?"
Mai spun her finger down and in a circle. "The bed thing. Your attitude."
Chi blushed. "Sorry."
"Huh?" Mai hummed.
"Sorry," Chi muttered again, albeit barely audibly.
Mai cocked one eyebrow up in confusion. "Huh."
"Huh!" Chi almost screamed, though she managed to cover her mouth with a blanket that time.
"Okay, maybe not your attitude. What's up with you?" Mai asked blatantly.
"I…" Chi frowned, "I don't know what you mean."
"Last time I saw you I-" Mai glanced down at her leg with a scowl, "Obvious aside, I didn't hear so many apologies."
Chi looked down at the floor in guilt. Mai sighed, much to Chi's concern. Immediately, Chi's eyes darted back to the machine, eyeing the contraption in complete curiosity. Just as immediately, Mai raised her eyebrow again, causing Chi to shrink back into place.
"Ain't exactly a king-sized, I'll say that for sure," Mai spoke up, staring up at the protruding piece of metal hovering over her head.
"What's it for?" Chi wondered aloud.
Mai took a deep breath. "You see the year? That's the current year, yeah?"
Chi paused, looked back at the side of the contraption, and nodded, albeit confused. Mai raised a fist and slammed it into the machine, startling Chi. Mai took on a confident grin and tilted her false leg over her other one while Chi watched her in silence.
"...Alright, what's taking so long?" Mai questioned, inching along her bed and peeking up at the gauge.
Chi shook her head no. Mai glared at the machine, then delivered a jab with her elbow, a punch, and an unintentional backward-headbutt to the metal. As Mai clutched her head and hissed, the machine began to stir, whir, and make other nondescript machinery sounds. Chi's eyes lit up as the counter on the machine changed from the year ██████ to the year ██████.
"That's…" Chi's eyes puffed up, then narrowed just as suddenly, "A hundred years ago?"
"A hundred and two," Mai corrected in a matter-of-fact manner.
"Is that how old the machine is?"
"Nah," Mai remarked with a wave of her hand, "Hey wait, I'm not really OLD."
Chi glanced at the counter, then to Mai, who had on a faux offended face on. Back to the counter, then back to Mai. At once, Chi was filled with a strange set of feelings that she couldn't quite place into words. So she didn't.
"BwaaHUHHHHHH?" Chi...asked.
The snort that came out of Mai's nostrils was equally confusing. Absolutely bewildered, Chi tried not to overthink the implications. She failed, and her mind ran wild with possibilities on Mai's actual age.
"But she looks like she's in her late thirties! Or early forties? A hundred-years-old? Shouldn't she be all gray? Wait, is that why her leg is healing so funny? Why does she- How did she- Maybe she-"
Her mind buzzed with activity. All of a sudden, her brainstorming session was cut short by the sound of a door slamming. Mai and Chi turned to the doorway. Tai was standing there, and by one cursory look on her face, anyone could tell that she was having one of those days. Without even a word, Tai stomped over to the beds, positioned herself, and hopped back on Chi's bed, stretching her arms out over the blankets in spite of Chi's embarrassment.
"Tai!" Chi screeched in surprise.
Just as surprisingly, Tai didn't say anything back. Instead of talking, she shrunk down into octopus form, squirming under the sheets. Chi moved over to the side as Tai essentially stole half the space in the bed, turning back and laying her head back on the same pillow Chi was.
"So...um…" Chi started.
"Why's this bed so nice?" Tai asked through a yawn while Chi shuffled to make room.
"You'd rather sleep with your girlfriend than your mother? Right in front of me? What happened and where oh where did my little, baby girl go?" Mai called from the other side of the room, looking around almost blindly.
"She got old!" Tai shouted back.
Chi's face was nothing short of uncomfortable. She wasn't quite sure who she was more weirded out by. Of course, when Tai rested her head on a pillow next to her, Chi figured she had an idea.
Briefly clearing her throat, Chi asked, "Why'd you come over here anyway?"
Tai closed one eye and looked at Chi with a dead fish's stare. "Isn't it obvious?"
Chi made a small smile.
"Aussie hurt my feelings."
Chi made a face. "Wha?"
"Ugh! What a snob," Tai groaned as she lounged back on the bed, "Just because we were lost for months doesn't mean anything."
"Tai…"
"Like, dude, c'mon," Tai huffed, turning back to Chi.
Chi looked hurt. Well, both physically and by the look on her face. Tai's eyebrow lowered while Mai laid back down on her bed in the background, apparently too tired to continue listening.
"What?"
Chi pouted. "I thought you were gone, Tai. Do you know how many people kept thinking you were dead?"
"Uh…" Tai droned.
"Everyone kept saying you were KIA, that you were hurt by something or someone…" Chi frowned and crossed her arms. "I even went to go and give my condolences to your mom!"
Chi made a point of this by pointing back at Mai. Mai snored back at them in response, but Chi's face showed no sign of amusement or exasperation. Mostly puffy eyes and fatigue plagued her face.
"I…" Tai tried to speak up.
"I missed you," Chi spoke up, "And Aussie. Jerry, even he…"
Tai perked up. "What happened? What happened to Jerry?"
Something dark crept into Tai's thoughts. She looked at Chi, and for a moment, she felt panic for a variety of reasons. Chi looked like she was about to burst into tears.
"Hey, Chi! Are you feeling less cruddy?" Spoke Jerry, wheeled into the room in a giant boot.
Jerry the Octoboot stomped in through the door.
...He doesn't have a rotor now, does he? What would you call him? Octo-tentacle thing with a metal cap? That's a terrible name.
"Octoboot," Chi repeated, mystified.
"...What the shell are you wearing?" Tai muttered, then stopped and turned back to Chi. "You can hear him too?"
"Huh?" Chi replied as if her brain was just removed, eyes glued to the bizarre new vehicle.
"Yeah, they ran out of propellers. Luckily, Clariss over at the hangar had some spare time-" Jerry groaned, "Oh, hey Tai."
Chi snapped out of her hypnosis and redirected her focus on Tai. "Both of us went to talk with your mom and we got…"
Tai paled. "Oh."
Chi frowned. "We were all worried."
Tai glanced at Chi, inspecting her bandages. Then she looked at Jerry, as he sat in the awkward, giant metal boot. Finally, Tai looked back at her mom, resting under the ever-mysterious machine.
All Tai could muster before she made her way out of the room, was a simple, clean:
"My bad?"
Tai walked down the hall, feeling bad. Real bad. At that point, leaving the room didn't make her feel much better. She felt worse.
"Maybe Auss is done with the conference," Tai thought with a smile.
Reinvigorated, Tai managed to get herself grinning like a little purple devil. Skipping down the hall past several Octarians, who gave her the ever classic stare as she sped on past, she managed to get to the conference room. She stopped and gazed in outrage as she looked at the giant, wooden slats constructed around the door, hammered in with nails.
"Conference In Progress" was painted on the door in black paint as well as "No Tais Allowed" underneath in fine paint print.
Tai suddenly remembered why she was upset, already pulling off the wood nailed on the door. "Or I can just go in and check on her! Like a good FRIEND!"
Wielding the wood like a bat, Tai prepared to swing. Before she had the chance, the doors swung open first, shattering wood.
"Ow!" Tai exclaimed, hopping back, "Splinter!"
Tai shook her hand back and forth wildly, trying to shake off the wood bullet piercing her hand. Thinking quick, she bent her head down and took the splinter in her teeth. Tai was an animal, growling and pulling back to remove the splinter, paying no attention to the congregation of Octarian leaders staring her down.
"Mmngh," Tai grunted, finally removing the unsightly debris, "Whew...uhhhhhhhhhh…" Tai trailed off when she saw Octavio.
"You sure you ain't got brain damage, girlie?" Octavio asked as he spun his records.
"No. I mean, hey! Screw you!" Tai returned, huffing.
The crowd of Octarian officials started to mutter among themselves, looking more concerned at Tai's shenanigans than usual. Tai arched one eyebrow up, then another one as Aussie came walking out of the crowd.
"Was the wood necessary?" Tai asked, crossing her arms, "Was it REALLY necessary?"
Aussie didn't say anything. Her head was low, her arms hidden behind her back, and her stride slow. In spite of her anger, Tai soon noticed how odd Aussie looked. Tai attempted to stoop down and spy her face, but Aussie's tentacles hung over her head like a mourning veil.
"Auss?" Tai asked.
Aussie looked back up at her. Her red eyes were even redder since the last time Tai had seen them face to face. Tai could hardly believe her eyes. Not only that, Aussie was trembling. Before Tai could say anything, another person came out from the crowd.
"Ah, Tai. Just the girl we've been looking for!" Yurin called, tilting up her Octogoggles.
"What's happening?" Tai asked, although it sounded more like a greeting than a legitimate question.
Yurin smiled. "Aussie? You do the honors."
Aussie looked up at Tai again. She swallowed, reluctantly bringing her arms out, and presented Octogoggles to Tai. Two strands of seaweed dangled from the back of the goggles out regally. Tai was astonished, first looking at Aussie, then Yurin, then at the equally surprised and disturbed Octarians behind them. Octavio, once again, sat in silence.
Finally, Aussie cleared her throat and spoke. "Tai, as former commander of our squadron, I am renouncing my title and hereby promoting you to the newest commanding officer of..." Aussie managed to say, her voice fading at the end.
"The new, improved, OctoSquad," Yurin finished with a proud look on her face.
Tai dropped her makeshift weapon on the ground, and the clattering echo Octarians heard afterward felt like it lasted an eternity.
"...You're kidding?"
But if matters couldn't be made any worse at the moment, like some sort of sick, putrid, sleep-deprived god was toying with her:
"Nope, she's serious!" Callie chimed in up from behind her.
Tai wanted to say something. Tai looked at Aussie, who looked defeated beyond a shadow of a doubt. She looked at Yurin, who winked at Tai. For the first time, Tai felt like she was the one getting pranked.
"...Hey, you okay there? Hellooooooo?" Callie asked, tipping down the shades on her face slightly to look at her.
"What," Tai started. She started. She tried to say something. Anything.
But she couldn't. She really couldn't.
The world was really, truly, going insane. And she wasn't even trying that hard to make it that way.
AN: I'm not dead. Not yet, anyway. But I have been on hiatus for a long time. I'm sorry for anyone who's still reading this.
...Not necessarily because of the hiatus, just sorry in general.
Admittedly, I'm headed off to college very soon. I might not be able to get to write like this for a long time. I did have the summer to write, but admittedly, I wasted it when I could've used it to write, and I'm sorry both to my viewers and myself for screwing up on that. Come to think of it, I slacked off all summer hoping to relax. Now I'm more stressed than ever.
C'est la vie, I suppose.
Moving on to reviews. Thanks Dread and RealCoolDude for reviewing.
Sounds like that's more of a "you" thing Dread, I've gotten plenty of kind reviewers in the past.
Don't woooooooorry about it RCD, it's fiiiiiiiiine, tooooooootallllly noooooothing out-of-the-ordinaaaaary out here.
Thanks for reading, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, good night ladies and gentlemen of fanfiction. I may or may not be back.