Sanitized

Chapter 17; Two

I woke up on the couch back in Steven's apartment in Flounderida.
"What?" I said out of spite, I remembered what happened, but what happened after?
"Tres, you're awake!" Phoenix said with a sigh of relief.
"What happened after I passed out?"
"Elliot had to carry you on another jetski, and then Isaac had to carry you the rest of the way." Pearl said.
I sat up.
"What now? Faith is back in Inkopolis." I said.
"There's nothing we can do." Steven said, with a hint of disappointment.
"Well should Opal share with Pearl now?" Elliot said.
"Probably." Phoenix said.
"I'm okay with that." Opal said.
"Okay, we should go get dinner." Steven said, as if that whole traumatic experience didn't happen.
"Okay. Can you just bring it back here? I don't think we should be out and about." Elliot said.
"Okay." Steven said.
It was almost as if the life were sucked out of him, he talked with blandness, he obviously needed something to cheer him up.
"Hey, how about Opal goes with him, for safety." I said.
"Okay." he said.
Opal smiled at him.
They walked out the door, leaving the rest of us in the room to do nothing.
I turned on the news on the TV.
Marina and Pearl has stopped doing the news, so then there were new people.
A boy named Paxton, with a light skin tone, light teal bowl cut hair, and bright pink eyes said, "Welcome back to Inkopolis News da News."
Paxton had the meek childish persona, and his news partner, Riley, was the one who didn't care. Peyton had a yellow green mohawk, smooth brown eyes, and tan skin. He was stubborn and rude, but showed a soft spot for Paxton, his best friend.
"You shouldn't be saying it like that everytime." Peyton said, with a snarky look on his face.
"Well, we have some very important news here." Paxton said in a cheery tone.
"Yay" Peyton said sarcastically.
"Oh no! The Great Zapfish has been stolen!" Paxton said, putting his hands to his cheeks.
"Oh no..." Peyton said sarcastically.
"And! Superstars Callie, Marie, and Pearl, have all gone missing!" Paxton said, with a scared look on his face.
I knew where they all were, because they were standing next to me. But seriously?! Again?! At this point the Octar were just trying to find us when they stole the Great Zapfish.
Phoenix looked at the screen intently, what was it for, she obviously had technology underground.
I watched the rest of the news.
"We better get into the stages, Paxton." Peyton said.
"And you don't care about the people and the Great Zapfish?" Paxton asked with a sweet look.
"Sadly, business is business kid." Peyton said.
"Awww." Paxton said.
I honestly didn't care about the stages, so I turned the TV off.
"Hey." Steven said, seemingly happier.
"We're back!" Opal said. They were both holding reusable bags, the world got rid of plastic after humans, filled with delicious food.
"Okay. For Elliot, Opal, and Phoenix, we got crab dip serenade, and for Isaac, Tres, and Pearl, we got shrimp scampi, and for me, Callie, and Marie, we got fish fission." Steven said.
"Yum!" Pearl said.
"Sounds more filling than McDolphins." Phoenix said.
"Is it fresh?" Callie said.
"It's got to Stay Fresh!" Marie ended with their signature catchphrase.
"Yeah, we actually checked out a lot of the food places, it's fresh." Opal said.
Steven giggled.
"Well, can't wait to dig in!" Isaac said.
"Awesome! I've always wanted to try this." Elliot said.
I watched all of them converse about carry out food, honestly, it was kind of funny.
See? This is what I wish it was like. Being able to just hang out, without something crazy happening.
We all sat down and began to eat.
I turned on the TV again to check the news.
"Welcome back to Inkopolis News Da News!" Paxton said.
"We don't have any stages for you right now, because Turf Wars, Ranked Battles, League Battles, The Shoal, and Grizzco, is all currently closing." Peyton said.
"There haven't been enough people. And because of reported sanitized Inklings, whatever that means, you've all been encouraged to stay inside." Paxton said.
"We totally hope that you stay safe." Peyton said.
"Go Krill It!" They said in unison.
We turned off the TV.
"Wow, has it really gotten that bad in less than 24 hours?" Elliot said.
"I haven't gotten any texts from Serenity." Opal said.
"I texted her earlier, she was fine, but said that more people were being sanitized." I said, showing them my phone.
"Should we maybe send someone else up there to help them?" Callie asked.
"I think so." Isaac said.
"Sounds like a good plan, but who will go?" Pearl asked.
"I'll go" Marie said, "I'm skilled."
"Okay, is everyone else in?" Phoenix asked.
Everyone agreed.
"Well, how should we get you there?" Steven asked.
"Just splat me in the water, I'll figure it out." Marie said.
"Um, okay." Pearl said.
At this point of day it was dark out, so we brought flashlights down to the dark beach.
We all hugged Marie, and then Isaac took her out on the jetski, and she jumped into the water.
Not a minute later, she was gone.
We all had no idea what to do at this point, our allies were dispersing like the north ends of magnets.
We walked up to the room, and got settled for bed, I had just one moment that rested in my mind.