Chapter Seventeen:

Spiders and Jellyfish Magic Acts


Through the lens of his dark mask, Makerboy stared at the image of the Jellyfish villain as his spider senses pinged wildly. Neither he or Parker were going to stand by and let some weirdo with multiple names terrorize Inkopolis with cheep magic tricks, and the red-blue superhero Inkling was beside Makerboy as he too observed the final seconds of Enimagico's broadcast.

It was time for action, and they knew the way down to the Starfish Mainstage.

Both Inklings leaped off the roof, and swung over the bustling Inkopolis streets with a couple of squids spotting them. Makerboy and Parker ignored the flashing of cameras from below, and headed down an adjacent left avenue.

'That jellyfish is going to make for a good snack once we kick the carp outta him.' A voice in Makerboy's head said, 'Mmm, so delicious.'

'Oh, shoot, no!' Makerboy thought quickly with unease, 'We are not eating anyone!'

Just thinking about eating someone, especially a bad guy, gave the green-haired Inkling the chills. He never had those thoughts, but it was as if that voice came from the black suit. Makerboy shook those thoughts off, right as he and Parker saw a colorful beam of light shooting into the sky only a few avenues away from them.

And the location: Starfish Mainstage, the two squids weren't too far off, and neither was Enimagico.

With Parker taking the lead, Makerboy swung past a toy store, and swooped by one of the towers. Both web-slinging Inklings reached the outer walls of the mainstage, and crawled over. At the top of the wall, Makerboy and Parker spotted their enemy standing on one of the platforms.

Enimagico threw his hands in the air, and mist rose around him, swirling in various colors. The beam of light vanished, and the two Spider-Squids heard a thrumming noise, likely from the enemy's odd powers.

"Does one of us go first or do we take him together?" Makerboy asked.

"Together." Parker told his associate.

And he leaped off the wall with Makerboy behind him, they thwipped fast, and threw themselves towards Enimagico's position. It was Parker who made the first attack, and kicked the jellyfish hard enough to knock him towards the edge of the stage. Makerboy made the next move, and flicked his wrist, spinning web-made ropes around Enimagico and bringing him closer.

"Your magic tricks end before they start, pal." Parker told the sinister jellyfish.

"Spider-Squid..." Enimagico jeered, "...and Spider-Inkling? You are in time, I've been waiting for the both of you. And my 'magic tricks' were just getting started, you foolish wall-crawlers. All I needed were two web-slinging Inkling boys, and I knew my broadcast would get your attention. None of you will stop my brand of magic. EVER!"

Without a split-second warning, Enimagico turned transparent, and Makerboy's webbing fell off of him. The jellyfish began to float in the air, and he shot towards the two Inklings like a bullet, tackling Parker while Makerboy evaded the attack.

Parker tumbled off the platform, and onto the grounds of the concert with the mystical, magical jellyfish atop him. The red-blue costumed squid boy shook off the surprise, and rolled over, knocking Enimagico off. The villain stood straight, glaring angrily at Parker, who leaped up, and the red Inkling struck him in the head with a kick between the eyes.

Multi-colored layers of eerie mist engulfed the Starfish Mainstage, making it hard for Makerboy to find Enimagico or Parker. He looked around, keeping alert for incoming danger, and closed his eyes, listening to his special senses as they spoke to him.

'He's close.' Makerboy thought, 'And so is Enimagico.'

The green squid felt a massive tingling sensation in the back of his head, a warning of danger, and he ducked before someone flew over. Makerboy looked up, seeing Enimagico above, staring down at him in a very menacing form. His senses tingled again, and he began questioning; was this the real Enimagico, or a decoy of some form?

The second Enimagico raised his hand, and Makerboy felt the platform shaking under his feet in a disturbing manner. He heard cracking sounds, and the super squid took a leap, attacking his enemy head-on, and they collapsed onto the edge of the adjacent stage.

"Quite strong." Enimagico purred, "But I'm stronger."

Makerboy grunted when the jellyfish magician headbutted him, and the Inkling shot to his feet, clutching his nose as he took the time to overcome the concussion. Enimagico stood again, and held up a glowing, gloved hand in Makerboy's direction.

The mist swirled more dangerously, and Makerboy's senses went haywire. A couple jellyfish in outfits akin to Enimagico's wardrobe made their appearance, all looking ghostly, with eyes that flashed red. The pair of Jellyfish flew towards Makerboy like phantoms, and the black-clad web-slinger leaped into the air, avoiding them at the last possible second imaginable.

"Nice tricks." Makerboy said in a condescending voice, and he dove down, kicking Enimagico in the head, hard enough to send him tumbling off the stage.

"Down he goes!" A voice cried through a microphone, "But it seems our hero forgets his associate is in danger!"

'Parker!' Makerboy thought.

He dove off the platform, and began following his senses, seeing a couple flashes of light while listening to the sounds of thwipping that weren't coming from him. Parker was on his left. No, not his left, his right. And Enimagico was avoiding his attacks.

Wait, no. Enimagico was behind that other stage nearby, waiting to attack Makerboy. No, he was above him, waiting to unleash some powerful disappearing trick. No, Enimagico was sneaking up on him. Now, the Spider-Inkling was in a state of confusion, and he didn't know where Enimagico actually was.

"Ooooh, what's the matter, squid spider?" Enimagico's voice crooned, "Can't find me or your friend?!"

'Not that.' Makerboy thought, 'You're using some cheap trick... and we can't have that.'

He ran in the direction of the thwipping, and spotted Parker leaping around the walls, spinning webs at the unmistakable outline of Enimagico.

Wait, there wasn't one Enimagico, there were more Enimagicos. Four, five, six.

What was even happening here?

Action, that was what was happening, and something needed to be done. Makerboy took the closest Enimagico, roped him up with his webs, and slammed him into a wall hard enough to make the jellyfish disappear. The other Enimagicos turned their focus to the green Inkling in black, and swirled their hands, casting beams of energy spears that streaked around the Spider-Inkling.

"Watch out, dude!" Parker called.

Makerboy ducked before the sinister jellyfish villains' attack hit him, and the dark-suited spidery superhero squid thwipped several wads of webbing into the enemy's faces. Both he and Parker attacked the Enimagicos all at once, and knocked them out, one after the other.

The two Spider-Squids took flight, web-swinging around the walls and platforms of the Starfish Mainstage, keeping their eye out for Enimagico and his next move. They spotted him on the top concert stage, holding a microphone, and surrounded by jellyfish-shaped drones, and mist that emanated from a couple machines.

"Our magic theater act is far from done!" Enimagico proclaimed, his voice resonating through the microphone across the concert grounds, "Spider-Inkling and his associate may have had luck thus far, but this was just the beginning of the magic..."

He barely went further, as Parker dove in, and tackled him with a kick to the head. Unlike the other Enimagicos, Enimagico did not fade away when he toppled over. They had the real one.

Enimagico stood up with a grunt, glaring furiously at Parker as Makerboy joined the red-blue super-squid. The villain's gloved hands gleamed with a dangerous aura of power, and his eyes seemed to flash menacingly. The microphone rolled against Parker's feet, having fallen from the jellyfish rogue's hand.

"You have little appreciation for sorcery, and my arts." Enimagico told the duo, "People usually love magic, but the both of you have the gal to spoil everything here. And yet, none of you have seen what else I have up my sleeve... starting with what is behind Door #69."

"What happened to Doors #1 - #68?" Parker asked jokingly.

The mist around the stage subsided a little, and Enimagico laughed deviously as both Makerboy and Parker spotted a fake cabinet with a kinky symbol on it's door. A second later, the door swung open, and a whip cracked just as a white-haired female Octoling made her appearance, her sights set upon the Spider-Inklings, and wearing a revealing catsuit.

"Meet my assistant; Octo-Kitty." Enimagico sneered as he stood up, "No one can ever resist her charm, and her whip is just as deadly as her special claws. And she also knows some magic of her own, made thanks to my skill."

Mist swirled around the Octoling known as Octo-Kitty, and she leaped gracefully into the air, swishing her whip aggressively. Both Inklings ducked, evading her first attacks, and Makerboy rolled out of the way, staring at the dangerously attractive Octarian as he assessed her combat skill while planning a strategy.

'Maybe we should eat her...' He thought, 'No, that's dumb. I don't want to eat that girl, not when she's so hot, and I don't want to upset Agent 8.'

CRACK! The whip swung over Makerboy's head, and Octo-Kitty was within an inch of him. She stared at the dark-clad web-slinger with a smirk, and held up her hand in a sinister gesture, allowing Makerboy to see her claws just before she made a slashing gesture.

"Did you use those on your ex-boyfriend when he was on top of things with you?" Makerboy asked in a sarcastic manner, "I know Octolings with less sharp claws, and do you ever trim your fingernails?"

Octo-Kitty smirked, and slashed at Makerboy again. The Inkling was prepared, and right when the enemy Octoling was about to claw him, the rising hero grabbed her wrist, and flipped the Octarian over. Octo-Kitty shrieked in surprise, and dropped her whip as she did so. At that second, Enimagico lunged at Makerboy with furious eyes.

Webs streaked around the Jellyfish, holding him by the arms, and Parker began maneuvering around the stage, taking out drones and smoke machines while delivering a couple blows to Enimagico in the face to disorientate him.

Makerboy joined the action, and took the jellyfish as he struggled to break free. Both Spider-Squid and Spider-Inkling flicked their wrists like mad, binding up the villain and surrounding him in layers of webbing that left their nemesis in a defenseless manner. At that second, Octo-Kitty morphed into her species' trademark octopus form and swam towards the duo.

She leaped up, morphed into her humanoid form, and pounced on Parker with a hiss. She flashed her claws, and traced her fingers across his torso, making the squid boy wince a little. Enimagico laughed, and his assistant licked her lips in a hungry, vicious manner.

"Hey!"

Makerboy intervened as fast as possible, and grabbed Octo-Kitty by the shoulders before pulling her off Parker. Just as the red Inkling was getting back up, Makerboy switched into aggressiveness mode, and shoved the Octoling girl flat on her back on the stage floor, hard enough to make her gasp and groan.

The green Inkling thrust out his wrists, spitting out huge enough wads of web around Octo-Kitty's hands and ankles to bind her to the stage, rendering her helpless. Octo-Kitty struggled against the webbing, and gasped with each attempt to free herself.

"Kitty kitty needs a time out." Makerboy quipped with a smirk, then he turned to Enimagico, "And as for you, my friend..." The green Inkling started to laugh a little, "Oh, you're in so much trouble, I could eat your tasty blue head..."

"Dude! What are you doing?!" Parker exclaimed.

Makerboy laughed, "Whoa! Hold on! Why would I eat a Jellyfish? I was kidding, I was kidding! What I mean to say is... someone's going to jail today."

"You may have beaten me, but this is not the end!" Enimagico declared, "We are far from finished. One day, I will return, and take the world by storm. All of Inkopolis will know my brand of sorcery, and everyone will be charmed by what I can do. You can never end the magic, as long as there are those who believe in it!"

"I'll take him." Parker told Makerboy, then he looked at the helpless Octo-Kitty, "What about her?"

Makerboy looked down at the shapely catsuit-clad Octoling, and began thinking for a while. He nodded to Parker, who picked up Enimagico, and departed the Starfish Mainstage with the jellyfish in the Spider-Squid's custody. Octo-Kitty stared up at the black-clad Spider-Inkling, giving him a strange, but sultry smirk despite her current predicament.

"Nice costume, squid boy." The Octarian said in a half-suggestive voice, "You like dressing up in black?"

"Don't try anything, Octo-girl." Makerboy said half-threateningly as he picked her up, "Your boss is going to prison. And as for you, I think we have an idea on where you're going..." He made sure the shapely rogue Octoling wasn't about to pull a surprise attack.

Even with her legs and hands webbed up, the attractive Octo managed to maintain her composure, and make an attempt to pierce Makerboy's tough demeanor. Octo-Kitty let off an odd sounding cat purr, then she whispered in a somewhat sultry voice, "How often do you web the wrists of a woman, Inkling spider boy?"