As Monica floated unconsciously in her stasis tube, her arms crossed across her chest and her body posed in an almost fetal position, she began to dream, and drifted off into the past. The bubbling green GenMo goo playfully popping near her ears became the sounds of buildings crashing, and suddenly the memories of that fateful day that changed the direction of the lives of every living Octoling flooded her brain.
NEARLY ONE AND A HALF YEARS AGO
"Good morning, my love." Monica stirred at the sound of her mother's voice. Melody stood over her in her bed, caressing her daughter's hair gently. Mother and daughter's eyes met.
"Morning, Mom," Monica yawned sleepily with a stretch. "Happy Remembrance Day." The false sunlight from Octopolis City's sky screens shone in through her bedroom window. Melody gave her daughter a soft smile.
"It's not just Remembrance Day," she said. "Happy birthday, sweetheart." Monica blinked at her sleepily.
"What's the point of having a birthday if no one celebrates it?" she moaned. Melody frowned.
"Don't be like that today," she reprimanded her daughter gently. "It's your 14th birthday. We should treat it like a special day, even if no one else does." Monica sighed and sat up in her bed.
"You're right," she said. "It might be Remembrance Day, but it's also my day." Melody smiled, and the two Octolings hugged.
"Let's make this a day to remember."
The sound of footsteps racing down the alleys of Octopolis were not unusual to this broken city as the Octoking Gang chased their prey, cornering him in an alley with a chainlink fence.
"You're trapped," said the Octoking leader, stepping forwards. "You have no choice but to hand over any valuables you have." The gang's prey turned his head, blind eyes staring at them.
"What valuables do I have?" Ezra asked with a shrug. "I own nothing."
"Your earring," replied the leader.
"I'm afraid I can't give that up," replied Ezra, reaching up and touching it. "This is the only thing I have to remember my mother by before she left me, alone in the city to fend for myself." The leader took another step forwards.
"I don't care. That earring will sell for a load of money." Ezra made tight fists, ready to defend what was his.
"Ian, wait," said the leader's second-in-command, grabbing his shoulder. "Maybe we should think about this." Ian ripped his shoulder out of the other Octoling's grasp, his Surfcurl hairstyle bouncing from the motion.
"Alecs, he's blind for cod's sake. What can he do?" Ian snapped, glaring at his younger twin.
"Oh, I can do quite a lot," growled Ezra, fully turning around now. Everyone in the Octoking Gang took a step back, expecting the blind Octoling to run at them. Ezra instead leapt in the air and backflipped over the chainlink fence, mockingly bowing before scrambling off.
"Get him!" Ian yelled. The gang clambered over the fence, but Ezra was long gone.
"Where'd he go?" Alecs hollered.
"We lost him," reported one of the gang members.
"Carp! Fishsticks!" Ian swore, stomping his foot on the ground. "That earring would've brought us in so much money!" He grit his teeth. "The next time I see that blind freak, he's gonna get it!" Alecs winced.
"He's blind," he said. "Even if he's good at getting away, he may not be able to fend for himself." Ian grabbed Alecs by his hair tentacle.
"Who the carp cares?" he screamed. "We fought and clawed our way to the top of the food chain, demolishing any rival gang who dared swim in our way. We will not be bending over for a sightless scrap of scum!" Ian's demeanor changed upon seeing his brother's fright, and he released his grip. "That blind boy will get away today though," he said, clearing his throat. "The next time we find him though, should we ever run into him again, he won't be so lucky." The twins stared at each other for a moment, before Alecs spoke.
"We should get to the town square," he said. "It would be inappropriate of us to forget about Remembrance Day after all."
"Oooohhh, Lydia, look at these shirts!" Kimberly exclaimed, pressing her face up against the window of a closed shop. Lydia, her older sister, rolled her eyes.
"Kimberly, stop embarrassing yourself-" She cut herself off short. "Oh those are nice shirts." Lydia shook her head. "Okay, but come on. We need to get to the square for the Remembrance Day ceremony." Lydia began walking off, and Kimberly longingly glanced at the shirts one last time before following her sister.
"So-" Kimberly wasn't even given a chance to finish her sentence.
"You're not meeting up with that girl," Lydia said firmly. "Whatsherface, Miley?"
"Millie."
"I don't care. She's an awful influence on you, and should not be acting like that so publicly." Lydia narrowed her eyes at her sister. "If Mom and Dad ever found out-"
"I know, I know," Kimberly sighed, looking down. "I'd 'bring shame on the whole family' - which I'm not going to do today, because Millie won't even be there. Well, she'll be there, just not in the crowd. She's in the army, you know."
"Amazing she made it that far in boot camp with her outlandish behavior," Lydia grumbled, rolling her pink eyes. "Miley's been caught doing some forbidden stuff. Surprised she hasn't gotten in trouble for it yet."
"It's Millie," Kimberly corrected. "And she has, just not to the point of severe punishment yet." The tone of concern in Kimberly's voice caught her sister's attention, and Lydia stopped suddenly and narrowed her eyes disapprovingly at her sister.
"Kimberly! Are you-"
"No, no," Kimberly said quickly with a noticeably panicked tone. "How did you even jump to that conclusion?"
"The way you're defending her-"
"She's my best friend, of course I'd defend her!" Kimberly snapped. She was on the verge of tears now - not because her sister was slandering her best friend, but because her sister had figured her out and was scared of the consequences of her love. Lydia's harsh expression softened, and she looked down.
"Let's just forget this conversation ever happened," she said at last. "Remembrance Day is for remembering what we lost, not for fighting family members." The two sisters continued onwards, neither speaking to the other.
Back at Monica's residence, her family was busy getting ready for the Remembrance Day ceremony. Melody carefully adjusted the black bandana on Monica's head.
"Aaaand open those eyes," she said. Monica opened her eyes and looked in the mirror, gasping and smiling at the bandana.
"I love it!" she cried.
"I know it's not much, and everything's closed for today, but I thought you should have something for your birthday," Melody said. "Especially for a milestone like this one."
"Imagine having a birthday on the day we remember when the Inklings forced us underground," snarkily rang Eddison's voice as he came down the stairs. "Couldn't be me."
"Eddy," Carter, Monica's stepfather, began, rustling his newspaper. "Be nice to your sister. It's her birthday." Eddison rolled his eyes and groaned.
"It's fine, Dad," Monica said, eyeing her stepbrother with a smug smile. "He's just mad because we all forgot his birthday because it wasn't on a national holiday but a generic boring day instead." Eddison narrowed his eyes at her. Monica's mother and stepfather had been married for about a year. Monica's father and Eddison's mother had fallen serving the Octarian Empire - or what was left of it - from attacks from the terrorist group known as the New Squidbeak Splatoon. The dead parents were a topic that wasn't touched on very often since it happened, the living parents each had jobs as local security officers, and the kids were still adjusting to life with each other - which wasn't easy as they had already shown a competitive rivalry with each other in weapon practice. Monica and Eddison were a year apart in age, but their resemblance to each other was striking, and they were constantly confused as twins. Alone, both of them were a threat, but together, they were nearly unstoppable with their Splatanas.
"Okay, are we ready to go?" Carter asked. Everyone nodded, and the four Octolings headed out to the square, where hundreds of other Octolings were starting to gather for the Remembrance Day ceremony.
Unbeknownst to the lowly citizens swarming the square below, an intruder had entered the Science And Tech lab in the Octarian army's headquarters in Octopolis City. They slipped through security unnoticed, waiting as unassuming Octoling guards passed by. From all of the times they'd snuck in unnoticed, the intruder knew this place by heart. They headed straight for the most guarded room on the floor: the weapons lab. There was nowhere to hide from the four guards, and the intruder was spotted immediately.
"Halt-!" That guard never finished his sentence, and fell lifeless on the ground next to his comrades. The intruder plucked his security clearance card off of his body and scanned it at the lab door. The heads of the scientists swiveled to face them in panic. Three of them grabbed Octo Shots and began firing. The intruder dodged every shot, and like the guards, the scientists also fell to the ground, never to rise again. The fourth scientist pressed himself against the back wall, holding onto his briefcase as if his life depended on its contents. The intruder rushed towards him. The scientist braced for his life to come to an end. SHING! A pocketknife was stabbed into the wall next to his face, inches away severing a tentacle. Coldly staring at him with no emotion whatsoever was Maya the lavender-colored Inkling.
"The briefcase," she said. The scientist willingly handled it over without a word of protest. Maya took it and placed it on a table, opening it up. Inside were three shooter weapons: one was black with a yellow muzzle; one was yellow with a black muzzle; one was yellow with a blue muzzle. Maya turned to the scientist.
"What are these?" she demanded. The scientist gulped and then spoke.
"Prototypes for a new kind of Octo Shot," he explained, "ones that have no need for the piercing ink ammo add-on." Maya's eyes widened in horror. "Piercing ink" wasn't actually a kind of ink; it was moreso a sharp piece of plastic or metal shaped like a bullet that was attached to the opening of a shooter or charger type weapon, where it absorbed the ink of the weapon. The trigger would be pulled and the ammo would be fired for a devastating shot. Obviously, these were illegal in Turf Wars. They were already difficult to make in the years after the Great Turf War to begin with, so they weren't even common, and most Inklings had never even heard of them.
"So these have no need for the piercing ink ammo?" Maya asked.
"That's correct. There's a small switch that swaps modes from 'splat' to 'kill.'"
"And if these were to be mass-produced..." There was no need to finish that sentence. The Octarian army could easily rise up and overtake the surface with these vastly superior weapons. Inklings would either be enslaved or driven to extinction. Maya turned to the scientist, who was still cowering back against the wall next to the pocketknife.
"When were these tracked to be completed?" she asked him.
"Roughly two years from now."
"Which would be 100 years to the date of the Great Turf War ending. You were planning something big, weren't you?" The scientist gulped again. Maya pulled her pocketknife out of the wall and pointed it at him. "WEREN'T YOU?!"
"I- I'm just doing what I'm told to make!" the scientist sobbed, falling on his knees. Maya stared down at him, no emotion whatsoever. "Please don't kill me, Agent 4." Maya continued staring down at him as he cried into his hands. She sighed.
"The alarm." The scientist looked up.
"...What?"
"Sound the alarm," ordered Maya. She closed the briefcase with the prototype weapons and turned to leave with it.
"You're...you're not going to kill me?" ventured the scientist. Maya stopped and side-eyed him.
"You're going to die anyways," she said. "At least now you'll have time to get whatever affairs you have in order." The Inkling left, and the Octoling scientist made a fist and slammed a red button on a panel. An alarm blared, alerting the entire building. Maya in the meantime sped towards a window and crashed through it. Carefully, she aimed for various building roofs and safely made it to the ground, where she slipped into an alley that led to the square, which was teeming with Octolings, to enact the next part of her plan.
A few thousand Octolings were now gathered in the square in front of the stage that had been built, completely unaware of what had just happened. Monica's family, the Octoking Gang, and Kimberly and Lydia were in the audience, albeit in different locations. Alecs and the Octoking Gang stayed near the back of the gathered crowd, but still within earshot of the stage. Kimberly and Lydia were up front by the barricade, with Kimberly looking anxiously for Millie, hoping nothing had happened to her dear friend just before the ceremony. Monica's family was near the middle of the crowd, with Monica wishing her birthday was on any other day but this one. Two female Octolings dramatically stepped out onto the stage with microphones in their hands.
"Welcome, welcome," said one of the hostesses, "to the 98th annual Remembrance Day ceremony!"
"On this day," began the other hostess, "we remember how we were gravely wronged by our mortal enemies, the Inklings!" Two long banners unrolled on either side of the stage, with crudely-drawn but savage-looking Inklings with magenta Octoling ink dripping from their clawed hands and sharp teeth, their slit pupils glaring into the crowd with a predatory stare. Even though the government did this every year and had been since the first anniversary, there were still gasps and shrieks from members of the audience, mainly the younger Octolings.
Somewhere up on a cafe building's roof, Maya looked down at the Inkling banners and the stage, shaking her head and rolling her eyes, somewhat amused.
"Yes, yes," said the first Octoling hostess. "Inklings are terrifying!"
"And they're still out there - waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike and finish us off!" the second hostess roared into her microphone. More gasps from the audience.
"Yes, the surface is a dangerous place, full of many dangers." The first hostess brushed a hand over her Fade hairstyle to regain her overdramatized composure. "But we have our ways of fighting back!"
"Please put your tentacles together for the Octoling branch of the Octarian army!!" the second hostess announced, twirling a tentacle of her Tentatwists hairstyle around her finger. Out marched the highly trained Octoling soldiers, dressed in full armor - which, knowing how Octolings in full armor looks, was just a metal crop top with a leather belt around the waist and a pair of black leather boots. Kimberly craned her neck to search for Millie, and happily waved when she saw her close friend's Surfcurl hairstyle. Millie waved back with an excited grin, but with a glance over Kimberly's shoulder she quickly went back to marching along with the other soldiers. Kimberly watched her march on with a longing heart, but quickly realized what Millie had reacted to: Lydia glaring disapprovingly at her sister. Kimberly sheepishly looked down at the ground, her face turning red in embarrassment. Lydia leaned in close to her sister's ear.
"We'll discuss this later," she whispered threateningly. "With Mom and Dad."
Monica in the meantime pushed her way to the barricade to see the soldiers. It was the destiny of every Octoling child to be a part of the Octarian army in some way, since actual Octarians themselves were hard to find nowadays. Monica had never even seen one of the oddly sentient tentacles with legs in person before. Agent 4 of the terrorist group known as the New Squidbeak Splatoon had notoriously hunted down and exterminated hundreds if not thousands of Octarians in the other underground domes. It was only a matter of time, Monica knew, before Agent 4 came for the Octolings and their city. The thought of the city getting attacked made the young Octoling shudder.
"Look at how amazing our army is!" declared one of the hostesses. The soldiers stopped marching and stood still, awaiting orders.
"And now, our supreme ruler for the past 98 years: our King of Spicy Wasabi Beats - DJ Octavio!" the other hostess announced. Fog machines spewed smoke onto the stage for a dramatic entrance as the first few notes of I Am Octavio started playing. Out stepped a very tall male Octoling, who looked very young for his age. He raised his arms, and the audience cheered. They kinda had to - refusal to do so could result in punishment.
It was here that Maya leaned forwards, grabbing the briefcase and putting a hand on the lock. She squinted down at Octavio, listening as he began his speech, and began prepping for the next part of her plan.
"Hello my loyal subjects!" Octavio exclaimed to the crowd, who cheered for him once again. By now Monica's family had pushed through the crowd to rejoin her, and the four of them now stood at the front of the audience. It was a rare treat to be a civilian and get to see the king. Octavio now cleared his throat and began his Remembrance Day speech. "It's been 98 long years since our defeat at the tentacles of the Inklings in the Great Turf War. It was a war we were winning, had our Great Octoweapons and Octoarmaments not been sabotaged at some point during that decisive final battle. We were then forced to live underground in our domes while those ten-limbed freaks occupied the surface, and prevented us from any and all attempts by denying us any kind of electricity from the Great Zapfish. Since that awful day we now know as Remembrance Day, we've managed to survive by creating our own electric power source from lesser Zapfish, but there will come a day where that power will be exhausted." Octavio shook his head solemnly; internally though, he knew that the Octolings were hanging on every last word he spoke, and it pleased him greatly.
"However, I believe we will soon be strong enough to rebel against the Inklings' tyranny and greed! Yes, with our advanced technology, even an army of Octolings will soon be able to stand up and show that just because we have two fewer limbs does not mean we can't put up a fight!" Octavio threw his hands up again, and the crowd roared with cheering. As the cheering died down, he lowered his arms. "I know we Octolings are typically a matriarchal society, and I became your ruler at an unfortunate time during a years-long war that we ultimately lost, but I thank you for continuing to serve me, your king." The audience began applauding. Octavio began bowing repeatedly to his subjects as an armed guard approached Melody and Carter, whispering in their ears. Monica watched as alarmed looks drained the color from their faces. Carter and the guard left without a word. Melody bend down to Monica's ear.
"There's been an incident at work," she said solemnly. "I'm sorry, sweetie, your dad and I have to go on the job today."
"It's okay, Mom. I understand."
"I'll be back as soon as I can," promised Melody as she gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead, and Monica watched as her parents hurriedly disappeared into the Octarian army's headquarters.
"Must've been important," Eddison said from behind Monica. "Dad didn't even say goodbye."
"They'll be back soon," Monica told him. "I'm sure it's nothing too big." She looked down and added under her breath with a worried tone, "hopefully."
"It's the same speech every year," groaned Ian. "And frankly I think it was delivered better last year." Alecs shrugged.
"It was alright," he said, teal eyes scanning the crowd below them from the Octoking Gang's current perch of a restaurant's low roof. Ian suddenly jolted up and looked down.
"Hey, look who it is!" he said gleefully. Alecs followed the direction of his gaze. Down below, he spotted Ezra, leaning against a column of another building close by.
"Oi, Boss, should we get him?" asked a fellow member. Alecs looked at Ian, concerned because earlier his twin had said Ezra would get away today but not the next time he was seen. Well, he was seen again the same day - would they go for their target's earring again or leave him be? Ian contemplated for a moment.
"Nah, it's still Remembrance Day," he said at last, leaning back on the roof. "The little sightless cephalopod can go another day with that shiny earring." Alecs couldn't help but let out a small sigh of relief. Ian looked at him.
"What's up, little bro?" he asked. Alecs rolled his eyes.
"Oh come on, I'm only younger than you by a minute."
"I know, I know," Ian said with a chuckle.
"It's just that-" Alecs would never finish that sentence and tell his brother he didn't like how Ian always sought the path in life that brought him the most stuff, no matter the cost. An ominous metal creaking came from the other side of the city. It was so loud that the sound could be heard several blocks away in the square. Every Octoling went dead silent immediately, turning to face the sound, barely daring to breathe. The dome went completely silent for eight eerie seconds. Another creak, this time sounding more threatening. Alecs and Ian stood up, squinting into the distance and shielding their eyes from the fake sun. They located the source of the noise - a currently unoccupied building that doubled as a support column for the almost 100-year-old dome's roof. Concerned murmurs flooded the crowd briefly, along with the occasional "Shhh, shhh!" from select concerned Octolings. There was a loud cracking sound, and the top few floors crumbled down to the streets below (which were empty because everyone was at the ceremony at the other end of the dome). The crowd erupted in panicked shouts and screams.
"Everyone, please calm down," one of the hostesses ordered. "Everything is under control!"
"This is a, uh, routine construction demolition," said the second hostess. "...That we totally forgot to mention. Yeah, let's - let's go with that."
Multiple armed guards, including Carter, ran towards the scene. In the distance ahead of them, more of the building crumbled.
"Be careful everyone," warned the head guard of the group as they halted close to the area. "We don't know how unstable this area is."
"Oh, but I do." Maya ominously stepped out from around the corner, hands on her hips and holding the briefcase with her long tentacle. The guards held up their Octo Shots. The lavender Inkling just smirked. "Hmph. I spent months slipping into your precious city, poking and prodding it for weak points. I found a few, thanks to your government's unwillingness to reenforce these weak points, despite obviously knowing about them. This building's been vacant for, what, six months?" Maya gestured back at the building.
"How dare you insult our great ruler by questioning his ways, especially on Remembrance Day!" scolded one of the guards.
"And yet you're not questioning why he sent you out here to your deaths," Maya pointed out. "The ground here is clearly unstable, and below this floating chunk of concrete beneath our feet is practically a lake of water. If this breaks in any way-" She grabbed her throat with one hand and made choking noises while stretching her other hand up to the sky screens to mimic drowning. "I'd even bet your respawners don't work." Carter narrowed his eyes at her.
"You're- you're lying!" he yelled. "DJ Octavio is a great leader! He would never send us to our deaths!" Maya gave him an unamused look. She looked back as the building began creaking again.
"Your funeral," she said with a shrug before turning into a squid and super-jumping away. A crack began to form in the ground. The building gave one last creak before the last few stories that were still standing came down, shaking the city. The crack in the ground grew bigger, and the guards scrambled for their lives. The crack's formation was faster than they could run. Carter could hear the ground breaking off and splashing into the water below and the terrified screams of his comrades, but he kept running. The ground beneath him began crumbling. A screen from above crashed in front of the Octoling, cutting off his path, and suddenly Carter found himself sharing the same watery fate of the other guards.
The crowd for the most part had calmed down after the shaking had stopped. Kimberly looked around, frightened. In the chaos of the crumbling building, she and Lydia had been separated from each other.
"Kimberly!" a voice called to her. Kimberly turned around to see Millie running towards her. She rushed to her friend with a huge smile. The two girls hugged tightly.
"I'm so glad I can get to see you!" Kimberly exclaimed.
"Me too!" Millie replied, grinning ear to ear. The two grasped each other's hands tightly, as if they hadn't seen each other in years. Kimberly's expression changed.
"What's going on?" she asked. Millie shook her head.
"I have no idea," she replied grimly. Millie looked around and lowered her voice. "There was an Agent 4 sighting earlier." Kimberly gasped.
"She's here?"
"She broke into the Science And Tech lab this morning. She took something important but the higher ups aren't saying what she took."
"Why haven't the hostesses said anything yet?"
"Would you want to cause that big of a commotion?"
"There's several thousand of us and one of her," Kimberly explained. "If we all work together, we can-" Just then, one of the hostesses spoke into her microphone.
"We've received a report of suspicious activity in the northeast quadrant. Squadron 6 has been ordered to check it out." A group of armed soldiers quickly gathered and ran towards the area, which was about halfway between the square and where the other building had fallen.
"Squadron 7 has been ordered to stand at their post and be at the ready to fight whatever may be here," the other hostess said. Millie squeezed Kimberly's hands tightly before pulling away with a scared look.
"I... I have to go," she said, running to her group and giving one last look at Kimberly, who reached out after her longingly.
Maya, in the meanwhile, perched herself on another rooftop and opened up the briefcase to examine the prototype weapons again. She picked up the yellow one with the black muzzle and looked it over. It was a finely made weapon; whoever had created these shooters took great pride and care in their work.
"If it's one thing those Octojerks are good at, it's making deadly weapons," Maya said to herself, aiming the weapon out into the distance. She checked what mode the weapon was in and fired a single shot. BANG! An enormously loud sound erupted from it, the force of which almost knocked Maya over. One of the sky screens fizzled with static upon being hit by the ink bullet and then completely died. Maya looked at the weapon with amazement and horror. Unfortunately by firing that one shot, Maya had given away her position but she had been aware of that possibility. Squadron 6 showed up on the scene, Octo Shots pointed up at her.
"Surrender or face our fire!" ordered the squadron leader. Maya looked at the weapon in her hands, then back at the other two in the briefcase.
"No," she told the Octoling, "I don't think I will." The lavender Inkling disappeared from the squadron's view, but quickly returned with a prototype weapon in each hand and the third one in her long tentacle.
"Open fire!" ordered the leader. The squadron began firing at Maya, who jumped off of the roof to face them directly. She held up the prototypes, and that was the last anyone heard from Squadron 6.
Monica was sitting on a bench with Eddison when another loud creaking echoed throughout the dome, followed by the ominous crumbling of yet another building, followed by the further cracking of the floating platform the city was built on.
"How long until the buildings directly around us fall and we all drown?" Eddison asked glumly, looking down. Monica looked at him.
"Don't say that!" she snapped. "Mom and Dad will be back soon, and this will all be worked out soon." Eddison glared at her.
"You expect me to believe that when you sound like you don't even believe that!" he retorted. Monica winced.
"Look," she began, "I don't know what's going on, and I'm trying to stay positive. We need some kind of sign that everything's going to be OK." Everything was obviously not okay, as DJ Octavio rushed back out on the stage. He grabbed the microphones out of both of the hostesses' hands. Why he needed two microphones, no one will ever know.
"Everyone, we have a situation," said the king. "We need everyone here to make a calm and orderly move to the transport trains. You will be taken to a very spacious dome located in Octo Valley, and you will stay there until- GRAAAGH!" Three ink bullets ripped through DJ Octavio - one through his left arm, one through his abdomen, and one through his chest. Monica and Eddison stood up in shock. Octavio fell backwards as the crowd erupted into horrified screams. The two hostesses dragged him backstage hurriedly as Maya super-jumped onto the stage and faced the crowd, still wielding all three prototype weapons. The Inkling looked back at the crude Remembrance Day banners depicting Inklings. She frowned, and shot them both down. The banners helplessly fluttered down behind Maya as she turned back to face the magenta ocean of Octolings in front of her. Thousands of eyes were locked onto Maya in fear.
"Octolings," spoke the lavender Inkling. "I am known as Agent 4, of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. Yes, that Agent 4. The same one who brought down the Octotroopers and the Octosnipers, and even the Octoballs and Tentakooks. Not even the Octocommanders and Octoballers lasted long against me." Maya smirked. "The only reason most of you are still alive right now is because I see your kind as a potential equal. However, there is the issue of your blind trust in your leader, and the Octolings I encountered had to be...eliminated because of that blind trust."
"Dad..." Eddison quietly said. Monica glanced at him with a distraught expression.
"I believe that you have the free will to chose your own path in life," Maya continued. "You can escape to the surface and live amongst the Inklings you hate so dearly, follow your dying leader to another dome that will inevitably collapse, or stay here and die. The choice is yours; I'm merely the messenger."
"You will die, scummy squid!" Millie yelled as she rushed the stage. Maya looked down at the female Octoling scrambling to climb up on the stage in front of her.
"Did you not just see what happened to your king?" she asked with a confused expression. Maya shrugged. "No matter. If you're choosing to throw your life away like this, then so be it." Maya held up the weapon in her tentacle and pointed it at Millie, who froze in horror. Kimberly covered her mouth, muffling her own scream as Maya fired and Millie fell backwards onto the ground motionless. She tried to rush to Millie's side, only to be grabbed by Lydia and held back. Lydia gave her a stern look, but it was a look that also said it wanted to keep her from getting shot herself. Maya meanwhile watched as the Octolings closest to Millie stared at the lifeless body in curiosity and terror.
"You have your own government to thank for these three weapons," she said callously. "And now I see there is no hope to pull the wool from your eyes. For the sake of my own kind's future, you must ALL be eliminated!" Terrified Octolings began scattering every which way as Maya reached into her pocket and pulled out...a squid-shaped cellphone. The Inkling walked over and plugged it into the speakers and selected a song on it.
"You're going to fight us with music?" an Octoling's voice called out from in the crowd. It was Kimberly. "There's thousands of us and one of you!"
"We will see about that," Maya growled, playing the chosen song - the Squid Sisters' Calamari Inkantation. Kimberly grabbed a nearby soldier's Octo Shot out of his hands and rushed forwards to attack her, but the anger on her face melted into an uncertain expression, and she lowered and eventually dropped the Octo Shot. Kimberly had completely lost the will to fight - to avenge Millie.
"W-what...?" gasped the Octoling, grabbing her hearts. Maya smirked.
"That is the Calamari Inkantation," she announced, watching as more Octolings began reacting to the music. Maya's hair began to glow, and a dangerous metallic ring echoed in her voice. "And it's causing you all to lose your will to fight. It's how I win this impossible scenario."
Alecs felt a heavy weight in his chest. He and Ian looked at each other with concern.
"We need to get to those trains," Ian said to him. Alecs nodded in understanding. This was about to become a life or death situation.
"Let's go!" he called to the Octoking Gang, following Ian through the crowd to the train station. There was a loud trill behind them. The gang turned around to see a Killer Wail 5.1 rip through the scattering crowd in three different directions.
"GO, GO, GO!" Ian ordered, pointing at the trains as several hundred Octolings stampeded towards them. It was a mad rush to the trains; no one wanted to be in Octopolis. Somewhere along the way, a young mother holding her son tripped. Ian rushed to her side, pushing her and her son out of the way of the panicked crowd before he went down and disappeared in the rush.
"Ian!" Alecs shouted over the screams of the crowd. There was no sign of his twin brother. He called Ian's name again: "Ian!" Alecs tried to push his way back through the frantic Octolings towards where he had seen his brother last. There he saw Ian on the ground, motionless. Alecs forced his way to his brother's side. He rolled Ian over and checked his wrist for a pulse. There was none.
"No..." Alecs gasped softly.
"Alecs! We need to get on that train!" Two of the Octoking members grabbed him by his arms and dragged him back towards the waiting train. Alecs reached for Ian one last time, and then, just after he was forcibly boarded, the train car's doors closed. Off the train went to the new dome, and Alecs watched his old life get left behind in the chaos.
"He saved us," quietly said the young mother as she clutched her son in her arms, and a tear silently rolled down Alecs's face.
The ground cracked and crumbled, and more of the city fell into the water below. Monica and Eddison raced to the trains. The two were jostled around in the crowd and eventually separated.
"Eddison, wait up!" Monica cried as her stepbrother ran on without her. He did not wait for her and keeping running with the crowd. There were repeated bangs as Maya indiscriminately aimed and fired both the three prototype weapons and another Killer Wail 5.1 at the fleeing Octolings. Monica jumped to the side in shock as the Octoling next to her was shot. A building nearby fell, sending more cracks through the unstable ground. Monica fell to her hands and knees, coughing and crawling in the dust towards the trains. She could hear the snowboots of Agent 4 approaching, the metal clicking of each footstep echoing on the ground. In fact, that was the only thing Monica could hear, she realized as she felt a pit in her stomach. The Octoling was alone. Everyone else was either loading on a train that had returned or being shipped out on one. The dust settled, and Monica stood up and turned around. Buildings and homes were falling. The ground was breaking away and falling. The sky screens around the dome were shattering and falling into the watery abyss below. The whole world was falling. And in the midst of it all - Maya. Slowly the Inkling approached her prey. Monica took a few steps back, tripping and falling backwards over small bits of rubble.
This is it, Monica thought. I really am dying on my birthday of all days.
"You're alone," Maya said, stopping and staring into Monica's very soul. "Your king is gone, and every able-bodied Octoling in the dome is preparing to leave. There's no one coming back for you."
"That's not true!" Magenta ink shots fired at Maya, causing the Inkling to jump back and look up as the intruding armored Octoling super-jumped and landed in front of her daughter.
"Mom?" Monica gasped. Melody looked back at Monica with a reassuring look, then turned to Maya with a glare.
"You," growled Maya.
"Agent 4," Melody said nonchalantly.
"I haven't forgotten what you did to my tentacle during our last encounter." Maya dropped the weapon she held in her long hair tentacle and raised up said tentacle, showing off an X-shaped scar across the suction cup.
"You should thank me. I think you look a lot better with it."
"No matter," Maya said, picking up the deadly weapon with her tentacle again. "Soon you - and your daughter - will be dead." The Inkling aimed all three weapons at the pair. Melody raised up her Octo Shot.
"Monica, I'm so sorry," she said, firing three shots and successfully shooting all three weapons out of Maya's grip, leaving Maya baffled as she gripped her wrists and tentacle in pain.
"...Mom?" Monica asked, confused.
"There's so much I wanted to tell you," Melody continued. "I don't think I'll ever get the chance to now though." She turned to Monica. "Your dad and I - we were planning on escaping to the surface with you and your brother, for a better chance. A better life."
"What?" Monica's beak dropped. "I- I don't understand! Why are you telling me this?"
"There's love in your heart, Monica." A tear ran down Melody's cheek. "Don't you ever lose that love." Maya looked up with a fierce look in her eyes. She screamed as she charged Melody. The Inkling and the Octoling were locked in hand-to-hand combat. Maya struck her fist out at Melody, only to have her wrist caught in the Octoling's Tentatwist-styled tentacles. Melody twisted the wrist, and Maya screamed, pulling it away. Monica watched on in horror, unable to move.
"PLEASE STOP!" she screamed at the Inkling, who was unmoved by the plea. Melody threw a punch at Maya, who caught her wrist with her scarred tentacle. Maya threw another punch at Melody, who caught it this time with her other hand. The two struggled with each other for a moment when Maya reached into her back pocket with her free hand. Within mere seconds, the pocketknife was pulled out of the pocket and stabbed into Melody's chest.
"MOM!!" Monica screamed, reaching out as if to somehow undo it. She fell to her hands and knees, crying. Maya, catching her breath, turned her head towards Monica, staring her dead in the eye with a grin. Monica stared back helplessly at her. Maya turned back to Melody, who was obviously not going to survive the wound. She put her snowboot on the dying Octoling's abdomen and pushed her into the water below, holding tight to her knife, which she put back into her pocket.
"Now you're all alone." Maya picked up the prototype weapons and aimed them at Monica. The ground began the shake, distracting the Inkling, and Monica took this as her chance to run. Maya watched her leave for the trains as she quickly put the prototypes back in the briefcase and super-jumped out of the collapsing city. The entirety of Octopolis City fell into the water, screens and all, taking any who were unable to escape along with it.
TWO DAYS LATER
The shelter of what was supposed to be the temporary-but-now-more-permanent dome was filled to the brim with Octolings, a majority of them having lost at least one family member. Ezra was there, although no one - not even himself - knew how the blind Octoling managed to get to a train in time. Alecs was also there. The Octoking Gang had broken up after the death of their leader. A new city also meant the start of a new life, so there was no point in trying to steal anything from anyone; besides, most of the Octolings there had lost everything already. Kimberly and Lydia both survived, although neither were really on speaking terms.
"At least Mom and Dad will never know what a disappointment you are," Lydia had said in passing to her mourning sister. Kimberly's heart was broken; if it would ever fully mend, no one knew. Eddison was there too, although he had kinda shut down upon learning Carter was not accounted for among the survivors. And Monica. Our dear sweet birthday girl Monica. She had witnessed her mother's death and had so many questions that would never be answered now.
"There's love in your heart, Monica." Where? Monica wondered grimly. I don't feel it. I don't feel anything. Nothing but hatred for the Inklings.
DJ Octavio had survived - barely. He now stayed in a tub of magenta ink and was permanently in his octopus form - changing forms could mean the death of him. A green scar now marred his left arm. His popularity had tanked extremely with the collapse of the city, and he knew he needed a way to regain his subjects' trust and favor. It was two days after what was now being called the Great Octopolis Tragedy when he summoned every Octoling youth from ages 14-17 into what was the be the New Octopolis City downtown square for the unveiling of his new plan.
"We have witnessed an attack by the terrorist Agent 4. She took many of our loved ones, and on Remembrance Day no less. Clearly, she has an advantage because of her two extra limbs and her ability to change her ink color, the latter being something we cannot do. However, I am unveiling our newest - and eventually our best - military branch: the Genetically Modified Octoling Project, or GenMo for short. These special individuals will be made stronger in hand-to-hand combat, as if they had the same number of limbs as our enemy, the Inklings, and will gain the ability to become whatever color the user desires, as well as many other abilities. We need volunteers - eight of them." Octavio looked at the crowd, waiting for a volunteer. Silence, then suddenly-
"I volunteer to become the first GenMo Octoling!" Monica knew none of these volunteers now, but she'd soon learn that this is Skylar Rose.
"I volunteer!" This was Phoenix.
"I volunteer!" This was Liam.
"I volunteer!" This was Daisy.
"I volunteer!" This was Dylan.
"I volunteer!" This was Kelly.
"I volunteer!" Monica was shocked to see Eddison raise his hand and volunteer. She thought about it for a brief moment before raising her own hand.
"I volunteer!" she exclaimed. The eight Octolings were escorted to stand by Octavio himself.
"Please welcome our brave volunteers as our first GenMo Project Octolings!" The crowd cheered for the brave eight Octolings, the pioneers of the future. Their future.
I won't let you down, Mom, Monica silently vowed. I'll make those Inklings pay!
She couldn't breathe. Monica's eyes flew open as she came to, back from her dream of the past, bubbles erupting from her mouth as she grabbed her throat. The oxygen mask had slipped off somehow, and now she was drowning in her tube. Monica slammed her fists on the glass, hoping to catch someone's attention. Alecs and Kimberly ran to the tube and looked in.
"Oh no!" Kimberly screamed.
"Not good!" Alecs rushed to the control panel. "How do you turn this thing off?" Kimberly joined him and began panic-pressing buttons.
"Maybe it's this one? No...this one? Nope again..."
"NOT. HELPING." Alecs glared at her, pulling his mask down. Monica pressed her body against the glass door, hoping to somehow force it open but to no avail.
"What's going on?" asked Kelly, who had been attracted by the commotion.
"Monica's mask came off and she's drowning!" Kimberly wailed. Kelly shoved her and Alecs aside.
"Stupid control panel, only being able to be accessed by a squadron leader..." muttered the indigo Octoling under her breath, taking her Golden Toothpick and inserting it into a slot designated for it. She punched the correct combo of buttons. "There!" The GenMo goo's level began lowering and the tube's glass door opened, dumping Monica onto the ground in a massive puddle. She began coughing up the glowing green liquid.
"Cod, that stuff tastes horrible," she sputtered in between coughs. Alecs and Kimberly rushed to her side with a group hug, while Kelly hung back a bit.
"Careful you don't swallow too much of that," warned Kelly. "If it can alter our DNA just by having prolonged contact on our skin, just imagine what it can do to our insides."
"What, am I going to turn into some kind of partially cannibalistic beast or something?" teased Monica. Kelly gave her a serious look. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I promise."
"You're lucky I was passing by," Kelly said as Monica stood up, handing her a towel. "You could've died, or at least ended up like Skylar Rose. We can't lose another squadron leader." Monica wiped off her arms with the towel.
"Wish we knew what happened to Eddison and his squadron," she said somewhat grimly. "I'd like to know if we're still in danger of getting attacked by Agent 4 or not."
"A whole squadron - just gone into thin air. Poof!" Alecs added.
"You don't think the Inklings found them, do you?" asked Kimberly. She added under her breath, "if they did, I hope they got Lydia."
"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough," said Kelly. "In the meanwhile, you've got some agents to capture."
"Aren't you supposed to be studying Inkling behavior or whatever?" Monica snapped, narrowing her eyes. Kelly rolled her eyes and shook her head with a "pfft" as she walked out.
"You're not wrong," she said over her shoulder.
"Kelly, wait!" Kelly stopped and looked back at Monica.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you...for helping Alecs and Kimberly save me," Monica said kind of sheepishly. Kelly smiled.
"Maybe one day, you can repay me the favor...like making sure that doesn't happen to me."
Monica was spared from an early demise this day. Was it an honest accident? Or was something more sinister in play? It didn't matter now, as she had plans to make, and a certain duo - now trio - of Inklings to catch before her eight week period was up.