⭐Chapter 19: Goggles VS Lobelia
(Warning: Stabs and hard punches, as well as bad scrapes)
Goggles stared up at the giant blue indigo orca, who made he rest up to the rooftop using a hole she'd made. He followed her, and saw that she was snickering to herself while looking around for a stable rooftop to jump on. Goggles knew he had to do something, and the knife alone wouldn't do it. He could maybe try and throw it at her fist or the crystal and flee, but that was risky. He was about to rush forward, but was halted by something.
"You can check your statistics, you know," a female voice told him.
So that was that weird voice Gloves had been talking about. He hadn't been paying attention before, but now he knew. He equipped his Nexus Laser Goggles and looked up at Lobelia. The stats showed that she had a somewhat high defense but a WAY higher attack stat. She was also somewhat slow, though she could still get places.
Off to the side, the lenses noted that one of her biggest weaknesses was herself. She was heavy, so if she fell from a high height, she'd be done for. Goggles figured that he could dart around her while she tried to punch him, and she'd wind up punching herself as a result. The only issue now was how to approach her. Vintage had mentioned using stealth before, so maybe he could try and shoot the crystal out of her hands?
He wouldn't be able to ink his way over there though, because that would make noise. Slowly, he got onto the roof, and carefully crept over. He watched for her tail, which was swishing back and forth rather quickly. A whack from that could mean game over. He got closer and closer, and he'd soon neared the crystal.
Now all he had to do was get it out of her humongous fist. But how? She was probably death-gripping that crystal...
Maybe I can throw the knife at her leg? Will that do anything? Or perhaps her fist...
Slowly, Goggles pulled out Flavo's knife and prepared to throw it. As he did however, Lobelia noticed the blade's glint from the sun setting, and quickly turned around. Goggles halted as the two made eye contact.
She saw him.
"Uh...meow?" Goggles smiled.
"IT'S YOU, YOU LITTLE PUNK!!" Lobelia roared.
Without warning, she slammed her fist down towards where Goggles was. Goggles just barely got out of the way, and immediately started turfing on the roof. Lobelia ran after him, though her running was actually slower than Goggles swimming in squid form. Goggles started turfing up for his special as he did this, putting the knife back away for later. He had a feeling he'd need it.
Lobelia kept launching punch after punch on him, not ready to give up. She tried to bite him with her teeth, but she couldn't get close enough. Goggles was too agile, and he kept swimming in circles around her. Goggles was popping in and out of his ink, covering Lobelia in ink as he circled around her. He was hoping he could use that to climb up her and get her to punch herself.
Lobelia growled at the tiny inkling, angry that he seemed to be having fun in this fight. She certainly wasn't having fun herself, and found it more and more annoying as her punches missed. She moved out of the ring of ink, but Goggles just followed her anyway. She was losing her patience, and if this kept going, she'd be ready to kill this loser in a second flat. Goggles eventually backed up from her and popped out of his ink, smiling. He'd inked her whole waist area.
"Having fun yet?" he asked cheerfully.
"YOU DARE MOCK ME?!" Lobelia yelled, rage at a near maximum.
Goggles once again dodged her punches as he ran around towards her tail. He was hoping to find a weak spot, and if anything, it would be at the rear. Lobelia watched him, and was initially about to stop him, but came up with a plan and didn't. Goggles prepared to bite down on the tail or tail fins, whichever one was more sensitive, and leapt into the air. However, Lobelia moved her tail at the last second, and Goggles face planted onto the roof.
He suddenly felt something large grab him and pick him up. Struggling to turn around, he realized it was Lobelia, and that she could knock him out from here if he didn't figure out what to do. Goggles figured squid form wouldn't work, because she'd just squeeze him tighter. He then remembered Flavo's knife, and did his best to pull it out from his pocket. He prepared to stab the insides of her hand with it.
"Finally, I got you, you little brat! No more running away from me! Accept your fate and DIE ALREADY!" she laughed, her voice raspy and deep.
She pulled back her fist gripping the crystal to punch Goggles, and Goggles decided that now was the time to stab. He jabbed her hand with the knife, and she immediately released him, roaring in pain. He threw the knife at her other hand holding the crystal, and she dropped that too, shaking her hand in pain. The knife fell onto the ground as she shook, thankfully not over the side of the building. Goggles swam through his ink to pick it up, looking at Lobelia as he did so. He was about to take advantage of this situation and attack, but Lobelia's loud voice kept him from going any closer.
"UUUGH! YOU'RE JUST AS ANNOYING AS I THOUGHT! GUESS I'LL HAVE TO USE THIS AFTER ALL!" she screamed.
Suddenly, Lobelia's dark spots began to light up. Her white eyes went dark, and her indigo pupils lit up. Goggles checked her statistics, and they were rising pretty quickly. Goggles thought he could probably get a hit in while she was charging up, so he flung a burst bomb at her. However, she merely grabbed it out of the air and tossed it aside, where it exploded onto the ground.
"Nu-uh. I'm not having any more INK ruin my day!" she growled.
As she finished with her powering up, she launched at Goggles with heightened speed. So this was what everyone else was talking about when they said the creatures light up. Goggles hoped he'd find his magic hero power soon, because Lobelia kept swinging at him over and over. He was dodging to the best of his ability, but he couldn't keep going forever. He had to do something.
As he inked around, he got his special. He didn't think he should use it now though, he didn't know what it was. He wasn't bothered to do research like Hachi and Nana, and now he was wondering if he should've. Lobelia swung her tail around the roof, trying to knock Goggles off the side of the building, but Goggles hid in his ink as the tail passed over him. Seeing as she missed, Lobelia then charged a ball of light in her mouth, and fired at the puddle of ink Goggles was in.
Goggles quickly leapt out to dodge, but got struck down with it anyway. It hurt a lot, but Goggles still found himself breathing, so he stood up and dodged Lobelia's next laser shots at him. However, he wasn't looking where he was going, and felt Lobelia's tail trip him up. It had been enhanced with the strange light power she was using, and Goggles felt his shins burning. Lobelia slowly gathered light in her fists, and reeled back at Goggles, who wasn't able to get up in time.
Lobelia landed a solid punch to his gut, and Goggles found himself flying through the air. He skidded against the ground, and felt the stinging of the metal against his clothes and skin as he slid across the roof. Lobelia was laughing now, and Goggles tried to get up. Everything hurt so much, and he'd underestimated his foe. He wanted to stop here, she wasn't playing around...
Suddenly, he heard something through his headset.
"Goggles. You cannot fail now," a voice said.
It was a male voice, but it didn't sound familiar to him. Goggles looked around for the source as he saw Lobelia approaching him. He still tried to get up, but his arms and legs hurt. At this point, he felt like Lobelia had to go easy on him to make the fight worthwhile. How pathetic was that. He'd told everybody he could handle it, and now here he was, shaking like a coward.
"Goggles, please..." the voice begged.
I...I don't...I'm trying!
"Don't lose..." the voice said.
Can you help me out a little?
Lobelia sneered as she hovered over Goggles. The sun had set now, and it was out of sight. The orange sky still remained, but Goggles didn't care anymore. He felt Lobelia pick him up once more, and this time he was prepared to be punched. No talking about pickled plums would get him out of this situation.
Lobelia reeled back her fist and punched him hard against the head. She then flung him down against the ground as hard as she could, and then took the crystal from him. Lobelia left him at that, confident that she'd killed him. Surprisingly, the headphones had remained intact enough to let that male voice say a few more things.
"Stay strong..."
"Stay happy..."
"Stay op..."
Then Goggles heard the voice fade out as he lost consciousness.
...
I guess I should've let Rider handle her.
She's so strong...she's so big...
And I'm just...small. I can't do anything, can I?
Even if I bit her, even if I stabbed her...
She can take it.
I can't take her attacks.
This isn't fair...
...
But...
I've taken harder hits before, haven't I?
"Indeed you have."
What...? Who are you?
"You've lost against Skull before, but did you give up?"
N...No? But Skull is different! He is an inkling like me, and Lobelia is an orca! One with light powers at that! How am I supposed to-
"We will help you. We've seen how strong you are, how happy you remain even if something bad happens."
"We're not about to let you lose a fight like this."
Do you...know me?
"Indeed we do, for we are the past generations that have led to your existence. We have watched your every move, and we are willing to lend you our strength to defeat this foe."
Are you sure?!
"Yes."
But-
"But what?"
But what's the point if...
If...
...
No.
No, No.
This isn't who I am.
They're right, I've always been strong in battles, and I'm not about to let this stop me!
Gloves took down Hessomight despite his huge size and scary teeth, and I'm not going to let Lobelia's size hold me back any longer!
I have to...I have to do what that voice told me to do!
He told me to stay...
Stay...
"Stay optimistic."
THAT'S IT!
I...
AM...
OPTIMISM!!
Goggles shot awake, just in time to see Lobelia about to jump to another rooftop to escape. He felt a strange new aura within him, and stood up without a problem. There was no pain in his body anymore, even though his wounds remained. He had no time to lose, so he immediately used his special.
Special Weapon: THUNDERSQUID JET!
Goggles felt his speed and energy increase as he shot towards Lobelia. As he ran, he left a trail of ink, and his fists became cloaked with ink as well. However, this was no ordinary ink. Lobelia heard Goggles' footsteps, and yelped in shock as he leapt onto her back and slammed down with both fists. The ink electrocuted her, and she roared loud into the sunset sky as she dropped the crystal and fell onto the rooftop of the building she was on.
Goggles quickly swiped the crystal before his special ran out, then reeled back and punched Lobelia with his enhanced strength. The roof the two were on was only a foot shorter than the midnight tower, and Lobelia went FLYING off of it. A minute later, Goggles could hear a loud CRACK as she hit the streets below, and he assumed she broke her spine or something. He stared out into the city at his accomplishment for a second before realizing he could potentially have killed her. He gulped as he looked down at the Mechanical Crystal in his hand.
What was he going to tell the others? He couldn't bring himself to lie. Maybe he'd figure out something as he walked back. Goggles superjumped to Midnight Tower's roof, and stood there, waiting to see if the voices would come back.
"Nice job. Had a little assistance there, eh?" the male voice said.
Yeah. You helped too, y'know.
"Ah, thanks. Head back to the hotel and meet up with the others, and I'll keep an eye on Rider."
"Sure thing!" Goggles blurted out loud, though nobody really heard him.
And so, Goggles began the walk down the Midnight Tower's stairs, and took the elevator down the rest of it.
Hopefully Rider was doing okay.