(Okay, let's get going with this chapter! Merry Late Christmas & Happy New Year! Anyways, I'm seeing that I've worked on a lot of different things at once, and it's been hecka fun! Anyways, enjoy!)

Chapter 9:

Eight walked back to the elevator with Pearl right behind him. They were nearly there. The 20th Floor currently stood in the way of their progress, and it continued to dawn on Eight that they're close to fighting Order.

"I must steamroll through this. We're so close." Eight thought to himself, "Eight! Come on, don't hold us up, yo!" Pearl called out to her friend. "O-Oh…I'm hurrying!" Eight said, running back into the door.

(Let me guess…r we in the elevator?)

"Haha, I'm liking the color, Eight!" Pearl said, Eight brushed the end of his hair and saw it was calming hue of blue. Eight smiled, "A lot like Father's color…Oh, I think Shiver's as well." Eight recalled, "You really care about your hair color." Acht said, smirking and folding her arms. Eight looked a little awkward, but kept under his calm demeanor. "I-I apologize…" Eight started to blush, embarrassed.

"Nothing to be sorry for, dude! Glad we can find some positivity from this sitch!" Pearl said to her friend. Eight nodded and smiled, "Eight…odds are good that we're coming up on a boss. You'll need to be smart at the care and careful on top." Marina advised, cautiously.

"Marina, you worry too much! Eight's gonna be just fine! The two of us got this!" Pearl said, doing a flip and hitting Eight's shoulder with her arm. "R-right…of course." Marina said, still sorta worrying. They were so close to the end, but so far.

"There's that unsolicited advice I'm so familiar with." Acht said to Marina, who began to giggle lightly, "I can't help it! Pearl's just too precious! She's fearless at the core and adorable on top!" Marina said, Acht just chuckled at that remark. "This side of you is less familiar." She then said to her hold friend. Eight smiled, "I mean, who wouldn't look upon Pearl after all we've been through without…er…with her?" Eight said, Marina had giggled. "Eight, that's so nice…and true, yo! I'm phenomenal!" Pearl said, feeling a little arrogant. Acht had chuckled a tad. "Yeah, you are." She said.

(Later)

Eight pulled up the screen and saw another boss floor. "All right. I'm hoping this will going wells…" Eight misspoke some of his words again. "You mean you hope it'll go well?" Pearl asked. "Y-Yes…" Eight said, clicking the option to proceed. The elevator had stopped and the door had opened.

Eight and Pearl walked out into the dark as the floor materialized itself. "Good luck out there, you two." Acht said.

Eight looked and saw the arena for the coming battle, he could see that the structure seemed to act as a small slope. "A ramp, more like?" Eight asked, while Pearl eyed the giant ball like thing at the center of the arena. "What's that ball looking thing? Watch yourself, Eight." Pearl warned her friend with caution.

"Right. Let's go." Eight said, standing on the platform and waiting. He tried to get a better look at it. "I get it now…but what are those?" Eight looked at few things on the floor. He dropped down a safe distance while the giant Jelleton ball roared and threw a Splat Bomb.

Eight was thankfully not in range and painted his way towards it. The Octoling shot at the exposed part of the body and it began to roll back. "It's a lot like the 8-Balls…" Eight said, Pearl launched a Killer Wail at it. "Are those bumpers?" She asked, before they saw that the Jelleton had stood up straight and focused on Eight. "What's it up to now?" She asked, "Run!" Eight said, shooting a clear path to get out of its way.

The Jelleton had bumped all around the walls, until it hit one of the floor objects Eight wondered about. It launched itself into the air.

Once the Jelleton landed itself on the ground, it sent out a shockwave. After it landed on the ground: Pearl called out: "The shell's broken! Go, go, go!" She said, with Eight trying to swim through the ink to get to it.

The standard Jelletons had spawned out to assist the big one until it could recover. Eight used his Reefslider to make sure to really do some damage! A few of the surrounding enemies had been taken out. However, the shell had recovered its original form and the big Jelleton returned to battle. It was pushed into another bumped and bounced into the air, sending a new shockwave.

"Gah! Is it calling for backup when it hits the bumper?" Pearl said, shooting a bomb at a few enemies.

"We can't destroy the bumpers, either…But perhaps we can use them!" Eight said, trying to bump the ball into another bumper. "Careful about the shockwave, Eight!" Marina said.

Eight smirked, rushing in when the shell was broken again! Eight couldn't jump over the shock wave high enough and he flinched. "G-Gaaargh!" Eight said, grunting in pain. "I gotchu, buddy!" Pearl said, shooting a bomb at the boss. Eight got back up and shot at the shell with all he could!

They were finished with what seemed to be the first shell. It had a much smaller shell underneath. In retaliation, the Jelleton shot out a few Killer Wail lasers all around its body. "Let's wait right here! The lasers can't hit us from right here." Pearl said, Eight nodding, but his heart pounding as he waited for the next move. The lasers had subsided and the Octoling continued the attack. He shot at the center of the shell and kept fighting on the Jelletons that came out!

One had managed to attack him and he grunted in pain! He dodged rolled and shot, "Eight, you should heal—" Pearl tried to talk and Eight had ran in ahead.

"No time zone, Pearl! We're closer to the ending!" Eight said, misspeaking a few of his words. He managed to break the shell again and the Jelleton had shot the lasers once again. There was one last shield to be dealt with. "It's all itty-bitty now! But…Eight!"

Eight was close, before the Jelleton managed to heal its shell and continue its rampage, moving faster than before.

It tried to charge at them again! "Pearl, move!" Eight said, rushing through the ink and not stopping to jump when he took damage in the black ink.

"Eight, what are you doing? You're getting hurt!" Pearl was worried about how stubborn Eight was acting. "We're close! We have to make it to the top!" Eight said, "Don't rush, Eight. We WILL make it! Don't hurt yourself to get there!" Marina said. Eight huff and tried to brush the black ink off of him.

He then swam through his ink and jumped over the black ink. He recovered his ink and tried to shoot at the small enemy.

It called forth more Jelletons and Eight used the Reefslider to take them out. It rose its defenses with more lasers, but Eight took advantage of the Whirling Accelerando and they bounced around, clearing out the rest of the small fry.

Eight continued to fire at it to make it roll toward another bumper, and the ball flew into the air. "Okay, the shell's broken! Let's let him have it, Eight!" Pearl said, "Agreed!" Eight said, firing at the Jelleton and continued to fight it.

The Jelleton had completely blown up in an explosion of pale blue ink. Yellow lights shot into the air and made a crystalized wall around the arena. "Spectacular work, Eight and Pearl!" Marina said.

Eight had taken a breath and felt relieved that it was over. Just like the Asynchronous Rondo, the lights had all dispersed into the middle of the arena and turned into another locker key.

Eight had walked up and grabbed it. He realized what he did and felt shame.

(Later)

Eight had sat down, taking a few deep breaths. "I-I'm…sorry for…rushed—r-rushing in like that…" Eight apologized. Marina had walked to her friend and sat right next to him. Acht and Pearl following suit. "We're gonna be okay, Eight. We haven't lost yet." Marina said, still typing on her computer. "Yeah, what point is there in getting to Snorder if our top dog ain't in top shape, yo?" Pearl had asked.

Eight had apologized once again: "I'm sorry." He said. "Stop apologizing, it's gonna be aight. Still, that boss though. That Order creep isn't pulling any punches." Pearl said.

"It made these to stop anyone from ruining its plan. I remember it said it wants to create a "colorless world of order."" Marina explained. Eight still couldn't wrap his head around that idea. How could the philosophy of order be colorless? "A world of mindless puppets, huh? Sounds exactly like where I was before I came here." Acht said, leaning up against the elevator wall. Eight looked to his friend, upset for them."I've been wondering about that for a while. Acht…you weren't in the Deepsea Metro, were you?" Marina asked.

Pearl's eyes widened, "Hold up—the Deepsea Metro?! That's where we pulled Eight out from!" Pearl said. Eight looked confused, "You…couldn't tell?" Eight asked, "It was clearer from her hair and skin…Acht was Sanitized." Eight explained. "Yeah. That's the place. Someone or something took my will away. I was forced to DJ for it." Acht said, lifting her hand up. "I don't remember much about my time there. Except…I heard this voice…" Eight had wondered about that. "Acht…did you hear the Inkantation, too?" Eight wondered in his mind.

"Point is, it's better left in the past." Acht explained. "I can't believe you went through something so awful!" Marina said. "Blame that automaton Tartar." Eight said, feeling an anger rise up within him.

"Tartar caused all of thistle…er…this." Eight said, looking to his side. Marina nodded, "Which is why I developed the Memverse in the first place. To restore the minds of "Sanitized" Octarians like you." She explained, smiling happily. "Since we're having this conversation, it must've worked!" She cheered up.

Acht folded her arms and smirked, "Huh. So that was you, was it? I'm racking up quite the debt here." She said to Marina. Pearl started spinning in the air. "All this is even more reason to take back the Memverse from Order. Those other Octolings need help too!" Pearl affirmed. Eight nodded his head, "Agreeable. We're close, but let's find more ways to prepare." Eight had said, getting back to work. He decided they should recharge once again at the Vending Machine-Corner. He still needs time to prepare. After all, there are only ten floors left.

(Okay, I'm back! I've been gone a while, while my drafts for chapters collect dust. Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter, and I can't wait for the chapters to come(ie I can't wait to write Eight's bonds with other characters) as we are nearly done with the first part of this series. Stay strong and awesome!)

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 KJV:

4. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5. doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

6. rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7. beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.