The ride was cold and awkward. It was a cold feeling that Inkling kept staring at her. He was in the far back, Sera making sure they plopped right on the front of the train, far away where no one could hear her. Putz sat in the back with Felix, Derek alone played his Game Boy while Free monitored each stop of the train, which was automatic.
"Dude, you don't look alright."
"I'm not." Said Putz, looking out the window as if he'd expected scenery.
"Care to talk about it?"
"I just don't think I'm meant for friends..." He sighed. Then he realized what he was doing, clenched his fist and yelled. "What?! And you are?! I saw that fucking breakdown from before, Cod you're pathetic! You're also a psycho! Don't talk to me!" He jumped right off of the seat and blue ink spread in the air until he was an inkling again, sitting at the other end of the train. Iza heard his screaming and looked back, and their eyes met. And he seemed to have turned quiet but his face was utterly unreadable. Then Iza's cheeks blushed in what Putz thought was the most unnatural way, and she immediately turned to Sera.
"What the shell?" He thought. "Are they... a thing?" He was jealous for a quick second but then smiled, staring, trying to get closer. "No way, I have to scope things out..." He thought, grabbing each seat, lifting himself to get closer, and then he had the most brilliant idea.
Ink.
He slithered in his ink form until he was right behind them. He felt so deviant, but they'd be arriving soon anyway. But he didn't hear that at all. Instead it was muffling, whispering, and Iza... she wasn't blushing from a crush. She was scared. Her eyes were small, grave, the way she clenched onto the bag. The only thing he heard was the last words Sera said before they stopped at their destination:
"I know what you're looking for. You're not gonna find it."
He was certain for a heart-stopping moment she was talking to him, but she wasn't, he knew she wasn't because Iza was rummaging through her bag like a madman just before. Find what? Before he could ask, the train came to an abrupt halt and blue ink slid down on their shoes.
"Ew! What the shell?!" Screamed Iza, then Putz appeared out of nowhere.
"Ohh... hi, guys... How's it hangin'?" Her face was plastered with anger and viciousness, yet a sweet smile and change of temperament stopped all suspicion he had for her. He hugged her, but he saw Iza's face. This time he was certain. She was trying to say something. Her lips moved. The sound. H. But then she clenched her stomach and fell over, the bag toppling, contents spilling out. Sera turned and faced her but Putz couldn't read her face from the other side. But Iza smiled suddenly and didn't say a word. It was like she was a silent film.
"Squit!" Felix and Derek rushed. "I've got it."
"No, no, me." Derek said, fighting for a chance of redemption. "We owe it to you, seriously. We'll never do that again."
They apologized so much, she felt so loved, so cared for. Justice triumphed. Almost.
"Alright, we're here. Now, let's make some ground rules."
"YEEEEAH!" Putz screamed, cheering, howling at the roof of the train. "It's game plan time, baby!"
"Haha, remember. We're just scouting things out."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, but as soon as I got the map down, I'm goin' for it."
"Hear, hear! I like your spirit, Putz!"
His smug smile faded when he saw Iza. Couldn't stop looking at her now. And Sera grabbed her by the hand and ran away with her at the end of the train.
"Where are you guys going?"
"Her thing, it rolled back there, I'm gonna help her find it!" She ran and ran until they were out of sight. She wanted to look back, to scream for help, but the burning on her hand hurt so much already.
Though Putz kept looking backward, waiting for them to return. They chattered a bit, and Iza made sure to smile, to look fine, but there was something off about that smile. Then he remembered how scared she was, and things connected in ways they shouldn't have, and then━━
"Hey, bro, you okay?" Felix asked again.
"Ugh. Will you fuckin' quit! You don't need to babysit me!"
"I'm not, I just, I dunno, I--"
"Feel bad for accusing people, for almost getting Iza kicked out of the group?"
She heard him say her name from afar and looked, but Sera made sure she'd feel the pain for that, she stopped, was quiet, and held her hand. They were now inseparable.
"I don't wanna talk to you, I really don't! None of you!" He stormed out of the train behind Free, the rest following behind him.
When they got out, Sera made a big statement. "Me and Iza volunteer, well, it was your idea, go ahead."
"Right." How could she make her voice afraid, yet not sound suspicious to Sera? "We want to scout things out. You guys stand by."
"Whoa..." Free said. "That's very brave."
Putz was busy squinting. They were not far from the city now, walking toward the hillside where Putz and Iza originally were. Memories flooded back. She was no murderer, how could he ever think that?
"But we all need to go."
"We should split up!" Said Iza, Sera smiling and taking it from there.
"No, I don't think so. Putz, you by the cliff. Derek, in the tree. The rest of you hang by the train, in case you need to escape."
"Wait, who made you the boss?" Asked Felix.
"Yeah, who did? Sure wasn't me."
"We can't stand to lose him." Iza said, standing still with her hand in Sera's. "I'm going, because I'm the most replaceable."
"That's not true." Putz said.
Completely lost. Why, Inkling Boy, why?! Why now would you say something like that? To torment her? She couldn't talk, she stammered, her tall posture now slumped, shaking, sweating, no words coherent. And for a brief moment, almost undetectable, Sera rolled her eyes.
"She's going with me because I have powers, I can protect her in case they're there. If they are, I'm going to set things aflame. I may destroy anyone harboring others in there, so we don't want to resort to that. Iza told me all about Sector Nine, when she learned stealth and how she has night vision. We need her for this. And we need you guys for lookout."
"I can be in the trees!" Derek smiled.
"That's right, you can be in the trees."
"So, that's it?! You just want me to stand at a fucking cliff while you two go have the fun and kick the bad guys' asses?!"
"It won't be fun, it's dangerous."
"Yeah, we can't afford to lose you. You're the sports star with the rainmaker. Or at least, you will have it. Me? I'm not..." She wanted to say 'anything,' but instead, "...willing to risk this. I trust Sera. And you should, too."
"Drop that. It's too heavy." Iza immediately complied, like a robot. The contents spilled out again. Her fingers tapped, one by one on her neck and she smiled.
"Alright then."
"Got it. Take this." Free tossed Sera the brella, and Iza was sad she'd probably die by the thing. But the chance of life. If she killed her, she'd have to kill all witnesses.
It was the look in her eyes when Putz knew. The subtle shake, her eyes so watery, dreary, yelling. Yet as they left and faded into the distance, he didn't know how long they would be gone. Me at the summit, Derek in the tree. All he had to do was wait.
"Well this is boring." Said Derek, hanging on the branch.
"Yeah, no squit. But it doesn't surprise me any. That they literally chose you as a monkey."
"Excuse me? That's professional monkey to you, you amateur monkey."
"Wrong, I'm the grand king of monkeys." He bragged.
"You said it, not me."
He marched up to him, Derek apologizing, bouncing from the branch like a sloth with his limbs wrapped around it. Then he remembered and stopped fighting. "Sera's a starling." He muttered.
"Yeah, so? And, damn. You're not gonna kick my ass? I'm kinda bored here."
Putz lifted his fist and Derek flinched. "See, that's why I'm not gonna." What a lie. "You don't think it's weird. That she's a starling?"
"I don't judge people like that." He glared at the lights. "Damn, it sure is pretty. They're probably having the time of their life right now."
"But I've never heard of it. Up there, in the real world--"
"Ouch..."
"We've heard of octolings. But not starlings. We've learned about humans and their history, but nothing said a damn thing about starlings."
"When did you start using your brain?"
"Excuse me?! I'm a celebrity! I had to use my brain to get there and stay like that! Don't fucking doubt me bitch, I'm more famous than you'll ever know."
"Wow, sorry. Almost forgot. Can I get a shoutou-"
"NO! Shut up with the nonsense!" He paced back and forth, massaging his temples. "You're missing the point!"
An explosion, just from the corner of their eyes set off.
"Holy squit."
Iza couldn't move. Sera gripped her tight by the shoulders, running, rushing to find a place to hide in, there was only one problem. "Fucking place. All of these things are paper. What kind of bullsquit is this?! Isn't there at least one damn real building among these parts?!"
And she was right about one thing: It was all paper. The lights were fake, and appeared to come from a projector hidden somewhere. The sky above didn't look normal, either. Flashing, vertical lines like crosshatching would pop up, seizures and fits of reds and greens and blues. It felt like a dream. Maybe it was a dream, because what Inkling said back there kept playing in her mind.
That's not true.
What about her made it so that she wasn't replaceable? He'd been insulting her this whole time, even angry at her, and her not being a murderer didn't make up for the way she pushed the display on him. His face so sullen and--
Then he... He knows. She thought, flailing, trying to escape her grasp.
It was a blue building she finally found, the only solid structure within the façade of the city. She threw her in and Iza's head hit the walls. "Such a shame The Order got rid of you." It looked like an abandoned storage unit. Completely empty, open and blue. But too dark to see anything that wasn't lit by Sera's rays, growing stronger and brighter, her eyes burning.
"It's just so weird," She said, looking around the place (and making sure to set things aflame upon her inspection). "They talked about a place like this, but I escaped before they ever explained about what the reason was."
"Escaped, The Order got you before?" She sat upright, her head was pounding now. "Then, help us! Why won't you--"
"I was in The Order, you fucking brat!"
She wasn't close to her at all but felt betrayed anyway. "What..." Pure devastation rang in her voice. "Wh, how?"
The way she towered over her, pure energy at an incomprehensible rate, her face intimidating, she could see her eyes from that angle, angry, fiery, too. And most of all grey and devoid of any feeling.
"I escaped because I didn't wanna kill people." The ashes and ember burned and floated around her. Like the tongues of flames waved at her mood, augmenting through her anger. Her bright, purple body was now a silhouette, her clenched fists and scowl burning. "But you showed up, fucked everything up."
"You didn't wanna kill people?" Iza stood up, shaking. How stupid it was, but she'd die anyway. What would Inkling do? "How ironic."
The two stood in confrontation, neither moving. She knew if she'd move, she'd be burned to death, as she told her on the train. "You couldn't at least give me a chance? To speak?"
"Ha." She laughed. "To who? Who would care about what you would have to say?" She waited in pitiful silence, but nothing of Iza's blissful eyes were sweet any longer. There was terror and coldness where there wasn't before.
"Inkling. Putz. You know how I feel about him."
"Oh?" The fire was now towering over everything. She stood closer, closing her in, and yet Iza didn't move an inch, not a shake or tremor or tremble. "I don't, and I don't care."
"What would you care about it?" She asked. "How could but a soulless creature could care about such a thing as love?"
Love.
"I do care about love. When it's involved with me. You two should've just stayed put."
The way she grew closer, the memories of their fraudulent friendship cluttered in her mind. Though closer physically, they drifted apart. Whatever Sera was, was completely sabotaged and ruined. The Order, Jedd, or something else -- something was making her mad.
"Do you love Felix?"
Sera stopped, frozen, for a moment a glimmer rested in her eyes until pure fire, rage, flames heating and heightening to undefeatable measures. She'd never seen flames that big, as if a giant lit a match. It was even growing hotter in the room, and the smoke was everywhere. It was so hard to breathe and she hoped that Sera could at least kill herself in this mess, so no one else would have to die.
"Felix wouldn't want you to do this."
Her shoulders dropped and flames stopped. Did she get to her? Felix. Was it the thing she tried to protect, her love? But why destroy others for it? And suddenly, flames rose, rose ten times as high as they did before. How stupid -- she thought. Surely at least Derek would go and save her. Nobody could ignore it, the city toppling like paper, the façade uncovered. It was a done deal.
Her hand slapped her face but Iza didn't move. Used to the abuse, she turned the other cheek. "Go ahead and do it." Maybe this isn't what Putz meant when he told her to be more assertive. But she didn't care. Her time was running out.
"Do what, kill you? Now? I should've, before you talked about Felix like that. You dare speak his name, you wench!"
"Wench?" She laughed. "Who's the one who had two boyfriends? I've not even had my first kiss."
"BITCH!!!" Her voice was coated with rage, it would scare even Putz if he had been there to hear it. Now the flames were back, but they were purple. No doubt a signature of hers, proof of her guilt. "Fucking dumb bitch!" The rage was so bad her voice was almost incoherent; through gnashed teeth she began to bleed and red drops dribbled down her chin. She paced and paced as the flames grew hotter, bigger, purpler. The jingle now sounded like shattered glass after every step. It got louder, too.
The sky began to shudder. On and off red and blue, sometimes green. The more angry she got, the more flames touched the sky and some burned holes into it, and then blue circuits were exposed.
"What the sh-"
Sera slapped her, then she grew hot, hotter. She cowered in the corner, this time she broke her poker face. It was it, it was over. She made her mad and the sky was burning.
"It took you so long to know the sky, under the GROUND, away from the surface, was all a fake?" She laughed a bit, giving Iza a break from the insufferable heat, until she got up again, making her a lot hotter. "Do you not read? I'm sure you used to read, yes? The moon comes out at night! The sun at day!" She laughed again, her evil chuckle frightening her more than the flames behind her.
"I... just. Stop! Go ahead and do it I just, don't wanna suffer anymore. Please."
"Fine." A solemn silence followed, she got up, and all Iza could see was Jedd's body flailing, burning, disappearing. And how nobody would ever know. "Kill me like you killed Jedd, but promise me, before I go, that I'm the last one."
"I can't promise that." She said. "Not even at the end of your life, Iza Thirty-Three."
"Don't say my name like that. Nobody's to know my number." The only lower one was Free, and that was still bad. It made her feel worthless.
"You are only talking because I've let you. You're in no position to be making commands, I'm essentially talking to a ghost. Anyway, I can't promise that because Inkling will die, too."
She was burning, the world around her so yellow and spacey. Things got dizzy but she stood up anyway. She remembered how she almost died, and maybe she got an immunity to the heat. Yet she was slumped over, hurt, nauseous. She gagged, bile coming out. Squit, I'm about to pass out. Why doesn't she just incinerate me, why is she torturing me? "Why..." Her voice was raspy and weak. "Why him?" The flames caused heat waves and the smoke made her head hurt. If she wouldn't kill her she'd die anyway.
"I saw the way he looked. He was suspicious of me. Of you. Of us. He will die. Because I'm not going back to The Order."
She was now leaning against the wall, sweating. She saw what she was doing now. Killing her slowly, so she would suffer immensely for almost killing her. She couldn't see anymore, barely a flicker, a flame, a blur in the dark. She wasn't thorough enough, like Sera was with Jedd, because Iza wasn't capable of murder. There were limits to things she could do, even to bad people. "What does that have to d-" she slumped over. So sick, so sick, she thought.
"If he tries to defeat them, where they are -- which isn't here -- they will know me. I escaped. And they'd grab me again, and they'd make me kill innocent people. Tons more than you three. It isn't a thing I'd like to make a habit. And Iza--" Her hand reached out to her, even though she was already fading away. "It's your fault. You should've respected me more, stayed silent, feared me. But it's too late now, isn't it?" She put her hand down to lift up Iza's chin, but she couldn't see much of anything.
"You seem good at that." She said, her lungs giving out, squeezing the last words out of her. "If you help him," She was trembling now, and her lungs were giving way. She puffed up her chest and remembered how to sing, and spoke like that: with her diaphragm, breath control. "We can defeat them, no need to worry about it."
Her coughing was obnoxious now, and even Sera began to wonder if she should just put her out of her misery. Too easy.
As the flames painted her pale skin, her eyes were cloudy and face now had scratches and blotches of dirt. It was a miracle she was still able to speak, and with her head drooping she spoke in a raspy voice, "Why are you so against us?"
"He can't defeat them, though." She laughed. "He's pathetic, whiny and--"
Iza got up, she couldn't see but grabbed onto Sera, thrashing with her weakness, the ringing in her ears got louder and she slipped out of her touch.
"Aw, don't like how I talk about him? Sad. You're dying, Iza. He won't be here to see this. Who are you trying to impress? Who are you trying to fool? Yourself?"
The flames would tell everyone she was trapped under her spell, the purple, the smoke, she scoffed: "Felix doesn't love you, or else he wouldn't get over it so fast." If she burned right there, they would at least know who did it.
And the flames broke into the "sky" and came down ember rain. She huffed in the air and stood up, then tried to tackle her, but ran straight into the wall and fell down, her eyes closed, breathing labored.
"Is that all you've got?" She smirked. This should be easy.
"Don't kill, don't--" She wanted to say Inkling Boy. She wanted to plead and beg, but her life, Pheobe taking care of her, she saw everything in her mind's eye. She wasn't there anymore but at home.
It was that night Pheobe told her they were going away. Their old room, so small yet comforting. The TV had on the Octopants cartoon she loved so much. It was an innocent time, where her little hands grabbed her sister's shoulders and she was carried out in a large truck. At the time Pheobe had a boyfriend, before The Order got them, too. His name was Jeremy. A sweet octo fella who always wore hats and sandals, and was of large stature. But sweet unlike the vibes his disposition would give off. And she heard the truck, she heard the footsteps, the sounds of the screeching halt when they went to get sandwiches from the drive-thru (when they had those things) the sounds of kids playing, whistling, bags ruffling from the store, life, life and death were so connected, they were the same thing, they--
Blue ink pierced through her hand. A gaping hole where it had been. The flames immediately died down, and her hand bled goo and shook. She looked down at Iza, who had been unconscious. So she looked up again, and there, there was...
"Darling!! I--"
The last bullets went through her forehead, where a large hole formed there, too. Brain bits scattered on the walls, the floor and blood was gushing. Purple, raining blood. Like the humans, but different. There was no more luster or light. She was pale, and the only flames remaining, still towering sky-high were on the large paper, the projector dying out slowly and sky glitching and shifting. He looked at the floor, he saw Iza there, and...
"Are those tears?" Derek asked.
He said nothing. It wasn't a time to entertain the thought. He went up and grabbed her, lifting her on her shoulders and brought her out. The two were coughing. "We need to get her back. To Free and Felix. I don't know if they have a first-aid kit. We need to get her fresh air. Try not to breathe in the smoke."
"Alright, Roger that. Let's go."
Putz didn't know where the strength came from. Ah, nevermind. Thank you, Free! Free and your delicious, sugary pancakes, for giving Putz the energy to run, lift her up, to hope... hope the air would fill her lungs and she would breathe again. It was at the top of the hill he ran out of breath, then Derek grabbed him.
"No, get her first. I'll be fine. It's just hard to carry two. Believe me, I know. I play rainmaker."
"Right, man." He grabbed her up, got her on the ground. Felix and Free came running.
"We saw flames! Flames up there, are you guys alright?!"
"NO!" Said Putz, using a trembling arm to lift himself over the hill. Damn, maybe they had a point. Could he really defeat The Order like this?
"IZA?!!" Free asked, running to her, gently slapping her cheek. "IZA?!!!"
"Carbon monoxide inhalation. All that smoke. Holy squit, where's Sera?!"
"Squit!" Derek ran to go ruffle through the bags, to find the first-aid kid. He almost dropped it and Putz snatched it from him.
"Fucking clutz!" He screamed, running to her body, first thing he did was listen to her heart. "Still a pulse."
"Thank fucking COD." Free said, crying into her hands. "All we've accused her of, we, we, I didn't mean to--"
"Hey," Said Felix. "We didn't mean anything, we were all--" He started crying, too. "Where's Sera?"
"FUCK SERA!!!" Derek yelled.
"What the fuck did you just say?!" Felix asked.
"She's evil, she was gonna kill Iza!"
"Um, and me?" Remarked Putz.
"Right, him, too!"
"What?!"
Screaming, hysterics, crying. Putz was surprised he could focus under such stress. He was under a lot less (and non-life-threatening) situations in the rainmaker matches, but seemed to lose his temper and focus a lot faster. Why was it different, he thought? Why am I different with you?
Free was practically screaming in neurotic guilt. Putz told her be quiet, it wasn't time to feel these things. Her life depending on their care. He grappled with the things, but there was nothing of use. "Squit!!" She screamed, hardly coherent over her tears. "Her lips are turning blue!"
And they were, his hand was shaking violently, feeling over her lips. CPR, CPR, CPR... what did he learn in squiddle school?
"I've got it..." Derek got up, pumping her heart, not even sure if it stopped.
"She needs oxygen, you fucking moron!" Putz screamed, running to the train.
"Where are you going?!" Free shrieked.
"I'll be back!"
In the train, he decimated everything. Papers flew everywhere, maps torn off the wall in hopes to find a hidden chamber. Nothing but his regrets flashed in his mind. Voting Iza out, blaming her for everything, everything that wasn't her fault. And fuck Derek, he thought, for asking if those were tears, as if men weren't to cry. Though the city was fake and he felt stupid, mislead, all he cared about in that moment was the revival.
"SQUIT! Stupid fucking inferior species bullsquit!" He kicked things, they flew, luggage. They had a first-aid kit but not the one thing they needed: oxygen. And he was running out of time. If he did, her death would be partly his fault, but in his heart it would be all his fault. He got into the last part of the cabin, he looked through the cabinets, he searched and nothing. NOTHING.
"FUUUUCK!!!!" He cried and stomped, thrashing things, windows broke, screaming and bumping and fists bleeding. Until he hit glass and it nearly severed an artery. "Jesus, I gotta be more careful."
And inside the glass was an oxygen tank.
USE FOR EMERGENCIES ONLY. AND SCOTT, STOP HUFFING IT TO GET HIGH. IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT.
He wasn't sure who Scott was but didn't care. He grabbed it and ran so fast, faster than a full run speed gear would grant him, and came back to what was almost certain to be a tragedy. Everyone was hovered around her, except Felix who wasn't there anymore. Good, he thought. Who needed him?
"I'm here. MOVE." Putz tried to figure out how to use the damn thing, barely remembering. There was that one time his little brother nearly drowned in a lake accident, but it wasn't long before the authorities showed up. Besides, he was eight and too young to know how to operate it anyway.
"I've got it." Free's gentle hand, moist with tears and snot grabbed it, put a tube over the end. She picked up the mask but Putz grabbed it free, placing it on Iza's face.
"BREATHE." He screamed. "WAKE THE FUCK UP. WAKE THE FUCK UP. WAKE THE FUCK UP!"
Her face was now pale, turning grey. Never had he cried so much in his life, looking away, yet looking at Iza, then away again. Like a compulsive pattern he couldn't choose a side in. "If any of you tell her I was crying, I swear to COD!"
"IF she wakes up," Derek said, standing over her.
"How long exactly did she breathe in the smoke?" Free asked, everyone looking at the city as the smoke sat higher in the distance with the 'sky' sparking.
"Not too long, maybe ten minutes?!"
"Jesus, I hope it wasn't all CO when she was stuck in there. Was it a small room?"
That oxygen thing wasn't that loud, not hissing enough. Even Putz's uncle's CPAP machine was louder. "Give me that, FUCK." He turned it to its highest level, and slowly, but surely grey turned whiter, then white to red, then...
Turquoise eyes shined in the flame's reflection, but they couldn't focus.
"Give her space, give her room!"
"No! Keep breathing the oxygen!"
The voices made no sense. All she could hear was ringing in her ears. There was no more heat, she remembered heat. And--
A violent thrashing, her arms flailed and she screamed and looked for Sera, yelling, begging. "STAY AWAY FROM INKLING BOY! DON'T HURT HIM! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU! I'LL--"
Free gently put the mask back on her face. She huffed in and slowly went to sleep. Putz screamed but Free stopped him, grabbing his hand.
"Feel that."
"Her titty?"
"No! Her pulse."
Right. He felt the pulse normalize. Far less agonizing than it was before.
"Breathe, Iza, breathe." He said in between tears. And this time Derek regretted questioning him. Putz kept repeating the mantra, repeating for several minutes, he'd lost track of time. He found peace in her breathing, and breathed with her. "Breathe, Iza. Breathe."
"I will." She said, looking upon him with open eyes before closing them again. And yes, she did see the tears.