A humid night breeze rolled through Inkopolis, marking a warm summers evening in the city of color, and the moon was gleaming across the sky along with the many twinkling stars.
The renowned Team B leader Alexsey Moskovin put aside his machine gun as he stepped inside his house, ready to get some very deserved rest after another mission against rogue Octarians who'd been infesting the Deep-Sea Metro. While those things weren't even Sanitized Octolings to begin with, they were still a danger to be dealt with.
Ready to call it a night, Alexsey closed the door, and dusted off his hat. With a small yawn, the green-haired Russian Inkling strolled through the decently-swept hallways, and walked into the living room to find his wife, the ever-attractive Nona Skyang, waiting for him on the sofa.
Nona, wearing a glamorous blue evening dress, stood, and greeted her husband with a kiss. Alexsey, feeling blessed to have Nona, cusped her womanly hips, and kissed her back before they pulled back a little to lock eyes and exchange smiles.
"Welcome home, my love..." Nona said smoothly.
"I love you, my sweet Nona." Alexsey said to the woman he'd been with for so long.
Nona sat down on the sofa with an eager smile. "So, how did your mission go?" She asked.
"Just as fine as you'd expect from a Team B mission." Alexsey remarked.
"And now, we get to have some... special alone time." Nona winked, "It's just us, and nobody's butting in."
Alexsey smiled. "Perhaps we can watch a little movie." The Russian squid suggested.
Nona held up an odd dark-red VHS tape. "This one turned up in the mail today." The blue-tentacled Inkling said, "And there was a note that said; 'Watch at your own risk.' Perhaps we can watch it together, it might be a copy of a scary movie."
"Who do you think sent it?" Alexsey asked.
"I don't know, love, but there's something about this tape that makes me curious. So..." Nona fidgeted with the tape, "...Let's see what it's about."
The two Inklings popped the VHS tape into the video player connected to the TV set, and Alexsey sat down with Nona. Without a moment to waste up, they turned on the TV, and the VHS player started rolling. An image popped up on the screen, showing an eerie red squid symbol. For a moment, Alexsey thought he saw the VHS device glowing red, and so did Nona.
Both squids focused back on the screen, right as ominous music began to pour out of the speakers. The scene changed to show a room covered in red ink, with a grandfather clock getting the worst of it, and a puddle of ink bubbled before something jumped out, taking the form of a red squid...
Just then, the screen turned to static, and a shadowy figure appeared. Alexsey made out the image of a hat resting on an Inkling's head. A shriek of laughter filled the speakers, then a new image appeared, showing haunting red symbols that all took the shape of an Inkling. The VHS player let off another eerie red glow, taking Nona and her husband by surprise.
Nona held Alexsey's hand, and they jumped when they heard another sinister shriek before the screen flashed a wall of static. And just then, the TV showed a haunting red-eyed image, followed by the appearance of a message in seconds.
"Would you like to play?" The text read.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha."
The lights in the room flickered, and popped off as though a power outage was in effect. Alexsey picked up the remote as the TV made some odd noises, and the green-haired Inkling pressed the 'OFF' button... which did nothing. Another text appeared, along with the image of someone's computer;
"I'm coming. And, as they say, fun is infinite." The new message read; "You have opened the way for me. You shouldn't have popped that tape in, because I am here. This screen won't hold me, and we're going to have infinite fun..."
Alexsey stood up, studying the TV screen cautiously. Nona moved for the VHS player and pressed 'eject', but the device did not respond. Another ominous noise flooded the speakers, and the shadowy image of an Inkling wearing a hat appeared on the computer screen in the image.
Loud goopy sounds filtered their way out of the TV, and a red squid appeared on the floor below the computer as the image on it vanished. The squid approached the camera, and the screen turned to static, prompting the next appearance of that same eerie image. Alexsey and Nona stepped back, wondering what was next.
Hearts pounded intensely, and ink veins ran cold as, right before the next wall of static set in, the face of a red Inkling girl with red eyes, wearing a leather jacket, and a rain hat popped up on the screen while the speakers shook with another cackle.
The TV screen became blank, while the VHS player flashed a crimson color. Alexsey and Nona kept their eyes and ears open, neither of them heard a noise from the speakers, except for an uneasy silence...
A flash of white light filled the room, and an Inkling with red tentacles, red eyes, and a sinister leather outfit emerged from the television set with outstretched claws while flashing her fangs with a shriek. Alexsey jumped, and held Nona close to him, prepared to fight whatever this television horror was that had just come for them.
Neither Inkling knew who this was, but this entity had to be from another universe. The red Inkling crawled out of the TV, morphed into squid form, and plopped onto the ground. She transformed back into her humanoid form, with red energy crackling in her pupils, and the air in the room felt cold.
"Nice house." The sinister Inkling said ominously, "Especially with the red carpeting. By the time I'm done with you, there will be a lot more red. We're going to be having a lot of fun here, and I am your biggest nightmare yet."
"Just what are you?" Alexsey demanded, "You kind of look like Meggy."
"In your remaining moments, you can call me 'Zelus'..." Zelus hissed, "Forget those jokes, you don't need Meggy when you have the fearsome Zelus to play with. And this is where we start ripping you souls to shreds." She lagged her finger tauntingly, "Someone shouldn't have plugged that tape iiiiiin."
Zelus shrieked, and launched herself at Nona and Alexsey as she flashed her sharp fangs menacingly. She brought up her claws, and the Inkling couple ducked under their incoming attacker. Zelus dove behind the couch, and emerged with a snarl, her red eyes flashing.
She leaped over the sofa, and charged at the couple like a rabid beast. Nona stepped in front of her husband, and threw hands with Zelus. The red Inkling grabbed the slender Japanese Inkling ninja's arm, and made an attempt to bite her, but Nona threw her of, and Zelus crashed into the wall under a portrait.
Almost unharmed by this, Zelus slowly rose to her feet, and she wiped her mouth with a cold smirk, then she floated up with an aura surrounding her, and made a beeline for Alexsey with outstretched claws while attempting to grab him.
The Russian Inkling ducked his head, and grabbed his revolver before Zelus swooped around again. Alexsey fired off a shot at the attacking evil Inkling entity, which did little to deter her, and she pounced on the Team B leader. Nona ran up to help her husband, only for Zelus to swipe at the blue Inkling, knocking the beautiful Team B fighter on her side.
Nona grunted, and sat up, watching as Zelus leaned closer to Alexsey's neck with her fangs exposed, clearly preparing to bite his throat. The green-haired Russian squid grunted and fought back. He jerked his head up, and head-butted Zelus, distracting her enough for Alexsey to push the red Inkling off of himself.
He stood once more, and retrieved his gun, then the Inkling squeezed the trigger and shot at Zelus. The monstrous squid moved fast, and dove for Nona, who punched Zelus in the jaw. The red Inkling collapsed to the ground, and Alexsey shot at Zelus again.
This time, the bullets punctured her shoulder and torso enough to draw red ink. However, Zelus wasn't even finished, and when she got back up, she acted as if the wounds were nothing. With a rabid snarl, she lunged at Nona, and swiped at her, determined to hurt the cyan-blue fighter immensely.
'Dear Lord, we need to stop her...' Alexsey thought, and he remembered that he had more than just his guns.
Nona karate chopped Zelus across the neck, an attack that hardly phased her, and the latter grabbed her opponent before pinning her against the nearby couch. Nona felt Zelus' hand close around her throat, and she punched her in the face, trying to break the rogue squid entity's grip on her while fighting to remain alive and awake.
Zelus smiled viciously, and leaned closer with open fangs. Nona's heart pounded. She knew what that red-tentacled monster was about to do. The cyan-blue Japanese Inkling reached up, putting her hand over Zelus' mouth, and she pushed back as best she could.
It was a rough struggle, and she could feel her fangs brush the palm of her hand by the second. Nona fought as hard as she could, pushing back against Zelus, even with the latter almost crushing the former's windpipe...
Red ink dripped onto Nona's dress, and she saw a blade protruding from Zelus' torso. She felt the entity's grip on her neck loosen, and Nona sat up, seeing that Alexsey had gotten his sword, and he'd just impaled the red monstrosity from behind and through the heart. He retracted his sword, and Zelus collapsed to the ground.
The TV clicked off, and the VHS player made a noise as the tape popped out. Zelus groaned, and the red in her eyes faded, then she slumped over and never moved again.
Alexsey picked up the VHS tape that had made Zelus' appearance possible, and he slashed it with his sword, right as the corpse of the defeated Inkling menace faded from view like she'd been nothing more than a bad dream.
"Did she hurt you too badly?" Alexsey asked Nona.
Nona rubbed her throat. "I'm okay, thanks to you, my husband." She said sweetly.
He put aside his weapons, and approached Nona, making sure she was fully unharmed. Alexsey brushed off the ink droplets staining her dress, and locked eyes with his attractive, and well-capable wife. They lay on the sofa together, with Alexey folding his hands around Nona's hips while she cupped his face, and they leaned in for a deep kiss with relief in their hearts.
Thank Judd that nightmare was over, and they didn't have to worry about anyone akin to Zelus for a long time to come, in a world where love was infinite...
The End