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flingcat16 · 4 months ago

Text

Depth (PART 1)

HI UH...... SPLATOON OC LORE???? YES?????

This took WAY TOO LONG. This was a few month project of planning, revisiting, re-writing, adjusting, proofreading, all of that author/writer nonsense when writing, yet It's DEFINITELY not perfect in the slightest. I tried to explain some background lore for my ocs without spoiling story. It's very scuffed, but I did my best.

Certain bits of dialogue will be color coded to make them easier to understand. The names in the prologue will be color coded with their respective color. There are also a few other things to note.

Italics used in a block of text are thoughts.

EXAMPLE:

"Woah, really?" ___ thought with shock, "I can think?"

Lines of italic dialogue separated completely are long distance communications.

EXAMPLE:

"Where are you?"

"I'm still at the store, idiot."

"Oh, right."

As I stated before, some radio/long distance communication conversations will be color coded depending on the characters speaking. I ran out of colors to use eventually, so I did what I could to separate voices while still following the code.

I hope you all like what I wrote

Enjoy.

WORD COUNT: 25,198 Words TOTAL (Two posts)

PART ONE

“Blythe!”

A faint but audibly distorted voice.

“Blythe! Hey!”

Can be heard through disorientation.

“No… No!”

A slight bitterness in the darkness.

“Please Blythe!”

Familiar now… The voice is clear.

“Wake up!”

It’s always been rough for those affected by Commander TarTar’s actions. Tens of thousands were sanitized and experimented on, possibly only a few thousand survived, if even that. One of said survivors being an octoling soldier by the name of Blythe Dusan, the nine thousand, nine hundred ninety ninth sanitized octoling. Blythe is a dark orange and dark magenta octoling with orange and purple eyes, and she was kidnapped by some of Commander TarTar’s sanitized after being exiled by her squad for treason. She was only partially sanitized, and was aware and kept her free will the entirety of the time she was trapped in the Deep Sea Metro, right up until TarTar was killed. Her entire left half was sanitized.

Akuji Vendetta, an octoling whose profession is within the high ranks of Grizzco Industries, found Blythe, who was twenty two at the time, on the outskirts of Splatsville after moving there, taking her in to help her readapt to society. The journey was rough for Blythe, but Akuji, her brother, and her friends helped keep Blythe afloat and thriving.

They had named themselves the “Depths” some time ago, and Blythe became their newest member with the name of Hadal.

A released prisoner quickly disappeared mysteriously upon release years prior to Blythe’s reintroduction to society, his sudden disappearance causing concern and rumors to spike up around Splatsville and Inkopolis. No one knew where he went, and some others began disappearing soon after, most notably Sanitized individuals. This alarmed the Depths, as they knew that Blythe was half sanitized, and decided to start working on protective measures. A new communication system was organized and created by Volt Splatna, the husband of Forest Vendetta, Akuji’s older brother. The group also developed better ability upgrades on their gear with the help of Blitz Splatna, Volt’s older sister.

Then came the day of training and testing, a distance into the outskirts of Splatsville; the only location open at the time.

Blythe’s eyes snapped open, her lungs heaving as she coughed, her ears ringing. She laid on her side, curled up a bit from how she landed after an inkstrike. Her body was shaking, her vision was blurred, and her limbs were weak. She couldn’t move after her lungs finally stopped heaving and coughing, the pain truly setting in. A burning, stinging pain. Sharp and deep. A rugged feeling in and around the wounds she was now painfully aware of. The dirt and ink below her and the ink splotches in the air splashed over her skin, finding its way into her wounds. The rocks under her jammed into the side that she laid on as the burning worsened from the ink in her wounds.

The sky was dark, the clouds dim and dull. Despite her weakness, she felt a hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her as her hearing slowly began to clear.

“Blythe, please!” A desperate and broken voice, raspy and distraught in tone, “They’ll be on us again any moment!”

Blythe’s eyelids dropped nearly closed with exhaustion, leaving barely any visibility. Her throat was locked up from pain and she couldn’t speak, she could only groan softly in pain, telling the person with her that she was conscious again.

“Blythe..? Thank the Great Zapfish!” Their voice had a tinge of relief, “We’re out in the open, we have to go!”

Blythe tried to respond, nothing but pained cracks in her voice and small breathless groans came out.

“Shh… Save your remaining strength, Blythe.” The person with Blythe spoke quietly, gently pressing their fingers against her neck. Her pulse was faint, “Shit, you’re weak. There’s not much time.”

As Blythe’s hearing began to clear more, she could hear that she was practically in a warzone, yet she couldn’t remember why. She felt the person with her lift her under her shoulders and legs, being lifted up to the back of their shoulders.

“I’ll get us out of here, or at least buy us enough time.”

Blythe was finally able to recognize their voice. It was Blitz, a bright orange and blue inkling with mostly black clothes. She was wearing her usual mask over her eyes, the one she always did.

Blythe was completely limp, almost unable to even maintain her breathing, alive but barely. She felt a small smooth metal bit in her back, most likely Blitz’s Nautilus Splatling.

Blitz carefully carried Blythe into a building and behind cover, trying to remain low.

The gunfire began to die down. Not a good sign considering Blythe’s condition.

“Blitz!” Static. “Can you…-” Static. “-hear me?!”

Blitz knelt down behind a cracked wall, Blythe still on her shoulders, “I hear you.” She replied quietly, but loud enough for her small mic to pick up.

“What’s happening on…-” Static. “-your end?! Are you…-” Static. “-and Blythe okay?!”

“She’s barely alive, Volt. She’s conscious and breathing, but she’s unable to move on her own.” Blitz carefully took Blythe off her shoulders, gently lying her against the wall, “She’s in really bad shape, bound to splat nearly any second now. She was hit by an inkstrike.”

“Damn it!” Volt’s voice was clear now, the connection had solidified, “I heard and saw that inkstrike at your position, and I don’t hear any gunfire anymore. Are you two in a safe position?”

“No. They don’t know we’re here from what I can tell, but I have a feeling it won’t be long before we’re found.” Blitz took her earpiece out and brought it as close to her mouth as she could so it could still pick up her nearly silent speech, “Everyone else is probably down and out by now.” She placed the earpiece back into her ear.

“Stay where you are. I have your location pinpointed. I’ll patch into Forest’s communication and update him. We’ll get there as fast as possible. Lay low.” Volt’s audio cut out, nothing but silence.

Blitz shrunk down behind the wall, taking her splatling off her back. She looked over at Blythe, “You’ve been through enough Blythe… You didn’t need to stay with us through this…”

Despite Blythe’s weakness, she looked back at Blitz. Her gaze was pained and apologetic.

Blitz moved closer to Blythe, taking her mask off her eyes, “You should have run when you had the chance…” Her pale white gaze full of sorrow and worry, “If you go down, I’m going with you.” She heard the crunch of dirt and sticks just outside the building. She quickly pulled her mask back down, knowing their enemies were getting close. She silently charged her splatling, speaking still quietly, but full of anger and resentment, “Not without taking them with us.”

“Forest! I restored contact with Blitz and Blythe. Are you two okay?”

“We’re fine. Our attackers are retreating as we speak. We’re in the clear.”

“Good, but bad news. Blythe is in really bad condition. According to Blitz, Blythe was hit by an inkstrike. She’s barely able to breathe and can’t move on her own. Blitz was able to get them to safety for now, but they can’t hold on for long.”

“Damn it! Where are they right now? Can you trace their signals?”

“They’re a bit farther than one klick to my east right now.”

“Your east… Wait…”

“What?”

“That’s the direction they’re retreating to!”

“You can’t be serious!”

“They aren’t retreating at all! They’re going for Hadal!”

“Fuck! We have less time than I thought! Everything is clear on my end, I’m moving now!”

“Same for us, let’s go!”

Blitz held her guard, hearing footsteps all around her and Blythe. She stayed low and out of sight, keeping Blythe within her view at all times. She could hear the soldiers talking in another room, carefully eavesdropping.

“Anyone got eyes?”

“No sir.”

“Did any of you see where they went?!”

“No sir. Last we saw of them was before the inkstrike on their position.”

“Did you check the strike point?”

“Yes sir. Only our ink was left behind, no trace of extra pools, nor any gear from possible splats.”

“They must be still here then, keep searching!”

“Yes sir!”

“It won’t be long now. How can I know how many of them there are?!” Blitz grit her teeth, keeping her splatling charged, “Let alone where they are!”

“Blitz…” Blythe hissed quietly through her teeth.

“Blythe!” Blitz turned around to face Blythe, kneeling on the ground next to her, “Hey, save your strength damn it!” She hissed quietly.

“Take my gear…”

“What..?” Blythe’s words were punctuated with small, weak gasps, “You’ll stand… a better chance… with my gear too. I’m out. I can’t… I can’t help you…”

“How… How would you even defend yourself then?!”

“Do I look like… I even can… already..?” Blythe managed to get her hand to her mouth to silence her coughing, taking her hand away to see her hand full of ink.

Blitz thought for a moment, before sighing quietly, “Fine, but no way in hell am I letting them get to you. I won’t leave without you.”

Blythe couldn't speak anymore, so she subtly nodded, closing her eyes again.

Blitz carefully took Blythe’s roller and tank, attaching them to her own equipment. She now had two ink tanks, her Nautilus splatling, Blythe’s Big Swig roller, access to both autobombs and suction bombs, and both the Triple Splashdown and the Zipcaster specials. She quickly picked Blythe up, hiding her towards the back of the room and out of the sight of the entrance to the room. She heard the soldiers once again in the other rooms, closer now, practically just outside, “I’ll keep you protected, just lay low.” She carefully placed a few pools of her ink around the room, hiding in one right by the door.

The door slammed open the instant she hid, three soldiers stepping inside, all armed with Aerosprays.

“There’s multiple pools of ink in here. They’re here sir.” One soldier said quietly.

“Cover the pools, reveal their positions.”

“Yes sir.” The two others said in unison, covering the pools with their own dark blue ink. They hadn’t noticed the small one by the door that Blitz was in.

“I can’t use a triple splashdown in this small space with Blythe here, she’ll die even with part of our ink. My only option is the Zipcaster here.” Blitz waited until the soldiers had gotten to about the center of the room. She silently stepped out of the ink, her tentacles glowing as she stepped forward. She quickly cast the Zipcaster, launching her hand out, grabbing one soldier by the back of his neck. Before any of the three could react, Blitz had already pulled the soldier back, slamming him into Blythe’s roller in her other hand, splatting him instantly.

In the splatter of Blitz’s ink, she dropped down back into her squid form and down into the puddle in an instant, disappearing.

The two others snapped around with a look of horror.

“Man down! Requesting backup-”

Before the other soldier nor the captain could react, Blitz had her arm around the other soldier, cutting off his sentence. She slammed him into the ground with Blythe’s roller by the back of his head as she let go of his neck, splatting him also.

The commander lifted his aerospray, firing it, “We have an enemy Zipcaster! Two members are down–”

Blitz charged the captain after dodging his shots, swinging the roller down towards him.

The Captain barely caught Blitz’s roller with his aerospray, wincing as her ink hit part of his face, burning his skin. He pushed back, slowly losing strength from the strength of Blitz’s Zipcaster.

“You never should have messed with us.” Blitz stretched a leg out, sweeping the captain’s legs out from under him. He immediately collapsed, getting slammed into the ground under her roller.

The captain was barely alive, struggling to speak under the roller on his chest, “You…” He wheezed, “That sanitized… creature you have… It wont get away!”

“Shut it.” Blitz pushed the roller down and over his face, splatting him. She lifted the roller again, resting it on her shoulder. She examined the rest of the room before carefully looking out into the hallway. Not a sound, no one in sight. She carefully backed into the room once again, quickly going over to the back of the room where Blythe was. She put the roller on her back over her Nautilus and her tanks, carefully picking Blythe up, “We’re in the clear, I’ll get us out of here.”

Blitz carefully left the room, looking around and down the halls. There was nothing but silence. She began moving down the hall towards the exit as fast as possible, keeping a gentle hold on Blythe. She stepped outside, complete silence on the battlefield. She carefully laid Blythe against the wall just outside the door. She was still in the Zipcaster special, kneeling down to Blythe calmly, “Thank you for helping us Blythe… Even though you’re the one they want. I’m so sorry.”

Blythe slightly opened her eyes, smiling softly. She didn’t say a word.

Blitz’s Zipcaster finally wore off, returning her to her normal look. It was then she heard it, a plunk of ink. She whipped around, taking the roller off her back and caught a Splatana blade with it. She held them back, but struggled a little because of the weakness after using the Zipcaster. The second she was about to buckle, she heard the sound of a charger firing. She flinched, but she felt the pressure disappear from her arms. Her opponent splatted, bursting into orange ink. She looked up at where the shot came from, up to another ruined building.

There sitting at the top of the building with a Z+F Charger in hand was Volt, a yellow and deep blue inkling with pale yellow and cyan eyes, two tentacles tied up, the other short four hanging down. He lifted the charger so the barrel was up, “You alright down there?” He asked Blitz through their communications, as he was too far away to risk yelling.

“Yeah I am; thanks to you.” Blitz replied, “I can’t say the same for Blythe however.” She said as she walked back over to Blythe, kneeling down and looking back up at Volt.

“I’ll come down there, just hold–“ Volt was cut off from a dark blue Zipcaster punching him square in the face. He gagged, falling off the building. He slammed down into the ground, coughing up a bit of orange ink as he hit the ground. He slid a small distance, wheezing with pain.

“Volt!” Blitz yelled. She stepped forward to run to help him, but multiple plunks of ink cut her off. She saw over a dozen soldiers appear from pools of ink on the ground, surrounding her and Blythe, cutting off her path to Volt,“Shit! I just used a special! I can’t use another one yet!” She quickly switched to her Nautilus, starting to charge it.

Behind the group of soldiers she heard a deafening slam, followed by a burst of orange ink. The group of soldiers all turned to it and stepped back, revealing the scene.

Standing there wielding an ultra stamp was Forest, a light purple and dark green octoling with red and green eyes. His short tentacles were blazing and flared up, and without hesitation he began crushing soldiers one by one, most barely able to fight back.

“No one fucks with my friends!” Over another building, Akuji jumped in as well, a deep purple and mint green octoling with teal and red eyes, two tentacles in front, two tied up in the back. With her dualies in hand, she began gunning down soldiers as well, keeping light on her feet.

Blitz took the chance. She went into squid form and quickly super-jumped over the fight. She switched back to her inkling form mid jump, landing on her feet next to her brother Volt on the other side of the battle. She knelt down to him, “Hey! You alright? Can you stand?”

Volt sat up, shaking his head, “Yeah yeah, I’m good.” He carefully got to his feet, picking up his charger, “I’ll get back to high ground. Help the others fight!”

“Got it!” Blitz lifted her Nautilus, charging it up and firing into the fight.

As the fight continued on, more soldiers would keep appearing, but it began to slow down after nearly a dozen splats.

Blitz caught a small glimpse through the fight, realizing Blythe was still over there.

Not just that, but much worse, the Zipcaster that had attacked Volt previously had Blythe restrained, carrying her up the building. She couldn’t fight back in her condition.

“Shit! Volt!” Blitz yelled, looking up at Volt as she tapped into their comms again, “Volt they’ve got Hadal! On your two o’ clock!”

Volt lowered his charger, seeing the Zipcaster on the building across from him where his charger couldn’t reach, “Damn it! I’ll handle it! Keep fighting!” His tentacles burst with power, and he activated his own Zipcaster. He stretched his arm across buildings, traveling over to the opposing Zipcaster.

Blitz watched him out of the corner of her eye before refocusing on the fight, “You got this Volt, kick their ass!”

Volt jumped in front of the opposing Zipcaster, cutting them off as he kept a tight hold on his charger with his finger down on the trigger, holding a charge, “And where do you think you’re going?!”

The Zipcaster stepped back, keeping hold of Blythe, “Well, it seems like someone could catch me.”

“Unhand her this instant. I will not ask again without force.” Volt held up his charger, keeping the charge stored.

“Really now..?” They took out their own weapon, a Splatana wiper, similar in model to the one that Forest uses. They still held Blythe tightly with one stretched arm, “How do you expect to fight a Splatana with a charger?”

Volt kept his hold on his charger, “Doubting me will be the death of you…”

The opposing Zipcaster tossed Blythe to the side, retracting their arm, “Your overconfidence will be the death of you.”

Blythe hit the stone of the roof, gasping in pain as she slid. She went completely limp and quietly groaned in pain, yet she was still very much alive.

Volt remained still, not moving an inch.

The other Zipcaster remained still just the same. A standoff.

After a brief moment of stillness, Volt fired his charger.

The opposing Zipcaster dodged it, stretching their arm towards Volt.

Volt dodged their arm, grabbing it with his right hand with his charger in his left hand. He allowed his opponent’s momentum to pull them towards him, jamming his foot into their stomach.

They gagged, keeping their arm stretched to keep themself unrestrained.

Volt quickly let go of their arm, holding the trigger on his charger to charge it.

The opposing Zipcaster quickly recovered and slashed upwards with their Splatana, sending a projectile of ink towards Volt.

Volt dropped down into his squid form and down into the ink from his previous shot, dodging the attack. He quickly slipped behind them, jumping up and out of the ink back into his inkling form, firing the stored charge.

The Zipcaster was hit in the back and they stumbled forward, the power of the shot breaking their Zipcaster. They snapped around with their Splatana in hand.

The instant Volt’s opponent turned around, he shot their weapon out of their hands with a lesser charge, sending it barreling off the side of the roof, “You seem like you’ve never fought an experienced charger before.”

The soldier stood there in shock, before raising their fists in an offensive stance, “That was fast, but it can’t be helped.” They smirked, giving a small head tilt in Blythe’s direction.

Or at least where she was.

Volt glanced over, and Blythe was gone, no ink or anything left behind. A distraction.

Volt snapped his attention back to the soldier, his eyes full of anger, “You…” Without a moment to spare, he stretched his arm out, grabbing the soldier.

The soldier simply let it happen, knowing Volt lost.

Volt used the momentum of pulling them to force his foot into their chest, slamming them down into the concrete in the same motion. He jammed the end of his charger to their head with a stored charge, “Where the hell did you fuckers take her?!”

The soldier barely even responded to the impact, lying there with nothing but cockiness and confidence, “You ask like I’ll tell you.”

Volt knew they wouldn’t talk no matter what, so he immediately lifted them and tossed them off the side of the building without hesitation. He sighed, standing up straight. His Zipcaster wore off as he held up his hand to his earpiece, “Blitz. I lost her.”

“What do you mean you lost her?! What happened?!”

“I managed to stop the Zipcaster who had her originally, but it was only a distraction. Someone else grabbed her again while we were all distracted...”

“Shit! The hell do we do?!”

“I’ll patch into everyone’s comms.”

Volt switched over his communication to all five of them. His voice was dark and solemn.

“Clear the area the best you all can. We have no choice but to fall back. They took Blythe behind our backs. We lost Hadal.”

“The target is in our possession, sir. Orders?”

…

“Prepare it for examination. We used a lot of power on the respawn tech, and lost a lot of men to those… The hell did they call themselves?”

“The Depths. Sir.”

“Right. Those Depths. Bring that sanitized creature to HQ. I’ll decide what to do with it after the preparations have been made.”

“Yes sir.”

Akuji, Forest, Volt, and Blitz returned to Splatsville with minimal injuries of their own, only with the guilt of losing Blythe. Blitz was especially destroyed by losing her.

The four of them sat at a small table in the home where Akuji, Blitz, and Blythe lived, debating where to go from the current situation.

“I shouldn’t have left her for even a second!” Blitz slammed her arm on the table, looking down at her legs, “She’d still be here if I didn’t leave her…”

“They all outnumbered us by nearly a dozen every second… It’s not your fault Blitz, all of us are partially at fault here.” Volt set his hand on Blitz’s shoulder.

“We won’t get anywhere if we keep thinking about what went wrong here. We were caught off guard.” Akuji leaned back in her chair, her right leg crossed over the other, her right foot against the edge of the table, “We can’t call in the agents for help here, they’re all busy with their own issues. I already tried.”

“Well, what do we do then?” Forest asked calmly, “Blitz has Blythe’s gear, and Blythe has severe injuries. There’s no way she can fight back on her own in such a state.”

Akuji sighed, “We’ll need to find as many clues as we can gather about the ‘Cleansers’ as we can. That way we can get to her as soon as possible.”

“Wait.“ Volt perked up a little, looking over at Blitz, “She had you take her gear right?”

“Hm..?” Blitz replied, confused.

“That’s why you could use the Zipcaster right?”

“Uh, yeah? Where are you going with this?”

“Okay okay, that was a bit off track. More importantly, you only took her weapons, right?”

“Yeah, her tank and roller. It gave me access to their setups, so I could use her autobombs and Zipcaster.”

“But you didn’t take her earpiece?”

“No– Oh!” Blitz perked up, “Can you track her earpiece like you did mine?!”

“I can. I just have to hope she isn’t out of range…” Volt sighed, “If she is, we might have to travel around a bit to see if we catch any signals.”

“We also have to hope they didn’t destroy that earpiece.” Akuji lowered her legs, sitting forward with her hands on her knees, “Or toss it somewhere. Any smart group would, unless they didn’t see it. I doubt that however.”

“You’re right. We’re definitely limited on time then.” Forest stood up, “We don’t have time to sit around here.”

“You’re right as well.” Akuji also stood up, “We don’t have time for this! We have no idea what the hell they’ll do to her!”

“From what I’ve heard about them…” Volt’s voice was quiet as it trailed off a moment. He was thinking of the right words.

“What have you heard..?” Forest asked, his voice was a worried whisper.

“She’s… They’ll make her practically relive the experiences in the metro. With her current state, they might even kill her.” Volt shuddered, “She’s bound to hit her limit...”

Blitz immediately stood up with no hesitation, looking down at Volt, “Try and find her.” Her gaze was sharp and infuriated, “I will not let her suffer that again.”

Forest stepped a bit towards the door, “Let’s move. We have no idea how long we have.”

Blythe’s eyelids slowly lifted, her gaze was cloudy and her hearing was muffled. She felt her body lying on a cold hard floor, her arms and legs shaking. Barely able to move, she rolled onto her side, exhaling slowly as the pain kicked in. It was then she felt what seemed to be a small, thin collar around her neck. She didn’t bother trying to remove it, let alone touch it. Her body seemed to feel as though it was burning, but eventually her weakness faded a little, and she was able to get near a wall, leaning against it on one knee, her breathing still a little unstable.

Somewhere outside and a bit of a distance from her, she heard someone speaking.

“It’s awake sir. What are your orders?”

A short period of silence where Blythe couldn’t make out a response.

“Understood sir. Right away.”

As Blythe’s vision began to fully clear, she could see most of the area around her. She was in a cell of some kind, the walls and floor both feeling and appearing to be concrete. She looked at the floor, her body still weak, and she saw her legs as she looked at the floor, now well aware she now only had undergarments on. Her wounds were partially treated, but some of her ink still bled from a few of them. Her main color had reverted back to its darker orange from the lighter orange that she shared with the others in combat. She then heard the door to the cell she was in swing open, hearing footsteps accompany it. She didn’t see whoever it was approaching her, but she felt two people grab her by her bicep and wrist of each arm, lifting her up from her knee. She stumbled a little standing up completely, but the two aggressively ushered her out of the cell, the door closing behind them. Her vision was too blurry to see where she was going, so she just kept in line with the two holding her.

The two holding Blythe stopped, thus stopping Blythe as well. They flipped her around and threw her against a wall, still holding her arms. She felt restraints snap around her neck, biceps, wrists, waist, thighs, and ankles. Held to the wall, her head hung down weakly as her breathing became heavier from exhaustion.

“Send it up.”

Through Blythe’s distorted vision, she saw someone press a button on a console in front of her. She felt the wall slightly tilt backward and start to rise. She did nothing to respond, but a few moments it came to a stop. She heard footsteps approach her with a small clunk of metal each step.

“Be cautious Chief. They’re only partially sanitized. We don’t know what they’re capable of.” Someone spoke from a small distance away, “I’d advise not aggravating them.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Well… Seems like they all weren’t lying.”

Blythe heard them speak, but she didn’t bother to look up.

“I’ll be damned, half sanitized… I didn’t even know that was possible.” Their voice had a hint of disbelief and disgust, “These freaks just keep getting weirder and weirder…”

Blythe still did not react.

“Hey.” They snapped their fingers in front of Blythe’s face.

Blythe did not flinch nor react.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you!”

Blythe felt a wave of piercing and shocking pain throughout her entire body. Despite her exhaustion, she screamed. Her back arched the little it could in the restraints as her eyes snapped open at the sudden shock. Her whole body eventually fell limp as the voltage left her body.

“Now will you have some manners?”

Blythe held her left eye closed to hide it despite it being behind her hair. Her breathing was slow, labored, and scratchy, a small drop of dark orange ink falling from the corner of her mouth, too weak to hold it in. Her head slowly raised ever so slightly, her gaze meeting theirs.

“Good.”

Blythe could now see them remotely clearly. A dark blue inkling in a black uniform, too dark to make out any decent details in her current state. Their tentacles were tied up tightly, shockingly longer than most inkling tentacles that she has seen, longer than Blitz’s. Their eyes were deep green and their pupils were more of a sharp thin shape like a cat’s eye, their color more of a dark navy blue like their hair. Their face and hands were as pale as snow, looking as if you’d freeze if they touched you. They had what appeared to be some kind of metal mask over their mouth and over their ears, but their voice was clearly masculine through the slight muffle from the mask.

“What’s a specimen like you doing with some lowlifes, eh?” He tilted his head, “No point to it, a waste of research.”

Blythe’s face didn’t change from its deadpan, exhausted expression. Her eyes were full of anger, but strongly diluted by pain.

“You know, you’ll be here a while… Why don’t we get acquainted, yeah?” He crossed his arms, “Chief Sylvan. You are..?”

“…You… have no right to know my name.” Blythe growled quietly through her teeth, breaking eye contact.

Chief Sylvan sighed, dropping his arms, “Being difficult, huh? Wrong choice.”

Blythe knew she was about to feel that same shock again, so she braced for it. Just as she expected, she felt the same shock throughout her whole body. This time she resisted it, clenching her teeth and her hands into fists, closing her eyes. She barely made as much as a hiss from breathing in between her teeth. The pain soon faded, and she exhaled sharply, her body slowly relaxing.

Sylvan eyed Blythe curiously, “Fascinating... You’re either so chock-full of adrenaline you didn’t feel any of that pain, or… you’ve been trained in combat to resist such voltage.” He chuckled darkly, shaking his head, “I’ll admit, I’m surprised.”

“Perceptive… I’ll give you that.” Blythe replied darkly, still holding her left eye shut.

Sylvan lifted the hair over Blythe’s left eye with his right forearm, only to be met with her eye being closed, “I don’t remember you having an eye injury coming in here.” He said snarkily, moving and angling his arm so his fingers were between each of the three tentacles on Blythe’s left side. He pushed upward and forward, jamming his palm into her forehead as he lifted her tentacles at the same time, smacking the back of her head against the panel she was strapped against.

Blythe growled a little in pain in response to her head hitting the metal surface behind her, the metal clang ringing out into the quiet space. She grit her teeth angrily, keeping her left eye closed in protest.

Sylvan pulled Blythe’s eyelids apart with his other hand, getting a good look at her sanitized eye before dropping his arms, brushing his hands off.

Blythe’s head dropped a little, but she retained her gaze, showing more anger than pain now. She didn’t bother keeping her left eye closed anymore.

“One eye perfectly sanitized, the other fully retained… Such a strange case you have. Your right half intact, your left half completely sanitized.” Sylvan shrugged subtly, “Nothing like what I normally see.”

Blythe kept her teeth together, holding her gaze, not saying a word.

Sylvan pressed his right palm against the left side of Blythe’s upper waist, brushing his thumb over her Sanitization scar, “Such sharp cut edges on these scars… Strangely not smooth either.” He dug one sharp end of his finger into her skin, looking up at her without moving his head.

Blythe shuddered, Sylvan’s hands were freezing cold. This felt worse than being straight up shocked, her gaze turning to a much more disgusted and appalled expression. She had felt being treated like just some specimen in an experiment before, but not like this. This was the second time, only it’s by someone who is living. Someone clearly aware of themself. It was worse than death.

“Not to mention the clearly defined and built muscle. Further confirms my prior suspicions about you after that—“ Sylvan made eye contact with Blythe as he slid his fingers down her stomach, “—second shock.”

Blythe grit her teeth and stared back at him with her eyes full of disgust and disdain.

Sylvan moved his hand as he stepped slightly to the right, pinching the end of one of Blythe’s fingers on her left hand between his thumb and his index finger, “Bright red… Unlike most that have a darker red color… Crimson compared to maroon…”

Blythe didn’t see this man the same as a normal inkling, less than such, scum. She stared daggers into Sylvan, even though he wasn’t looking.

Sylvan must have felt her blade filled gaze. He let go of Blythe’s finger, dropping his arm back to his side, looking back over to make eye contact once again, “Awh, don’t look at me like that.” He stepped back to being directly in front of her, “Not like you can do anything against me.”

“Not yet.” Blythe growled.

“Hm… That solidifies it for me. You were a soldier before being sanitized, weren’t you..?” Sylvan asked, almost mockingly.

“So what if I was? What does it change?” Blythe stared at Sylvan with a cold stare, “I’m nothing but an animal to you, what does it mean to you?”

“I’ll be the one asking the questions here.” Sylvan retorted.

Blythe scoffed, “Please.“ She rolled her eyes, “Enough of these games. Get to the point.” Her voice was raspy from her prior exhaustion, more snide in tone, “What is it you want from me? Or am I here for nothing..?”

“Impatient much?” Sylvan scoffed, moving his right hand to hover over the side of his coat.

Blythe could now see the trigger for the shocks, a small button clipped to the lower right side of Sylvan’s coat. She could properly brace each time if she watched carefully enough, but even then she’s bound to hit her limit eventually.

“Watch your tone. I’ll get to that.” Sylvan pressed the small button on his coat.

Blythe braced, just in time too. She managed to hold back yelling in pain, but her response was significantly more noticeable than the last time. She groaned in pain after the shock was over, taking in quicker deep breaths.

“Sylvan, your trigger happy tendencies are showing. Watch it.” Someone behind Sylvan at a small console snapped, “They’re already weak as is. Shock them too much and you’ll kill them.”

Dusan was a bright red and deep blue-ish purple octoling with short tentacles spiked up to their right. Their eyes were dark with heavy eye bags, their orange and red eyes dim with exhaustion.

“Yeah yeah, Dusan, I know.” Sylvan retorted, rolling his eyes.

“That’s Dr. Dusan to you, Chief Sylvan.” Dusan hissed.

“What?” Blythe though, her hearts skipping. Dusan is her last name.

The Depths walked along the outskirts of Splatsville, getting farther and farther from the city in search of Blythe’s signal.

“Volt, any signal?” Blitz asked quietly.

“I’m picking up signals, we have to be getting close to its full connection range.” Volt replied, “If it’s not damaged, I may be able to override the mute. If the Cleansers still have it, we might be able to hear what’s going on.”

“You know how to do that..?” Forest asked.

“Yeah, I can. I programmed these after all.” Volt zoomed in on the map a little on his small tablet, “The signal is steadily getting stronger, a good sign that it’s still functioning normally. However, we aren’t quite close enough for me to connect to it yet.”

“So that means we’re going in the right direction though, yeah?” Akuji asked, checking one of her dualies, “I’m more worried about Blythe than anything right now.”

“We’re going the right way, Akuji. I’m worried too.” Blitz replied.

“I got it. We’re in range, but let’s keep moving closer while I connect.” Volt looked up to check where he was walking, before looking back down, “The specific type of radio signals I programmed these to have are often hard to detect with standard equipment, if we’re lucky, they won’t know it’s still sending signals.”

“Good. How strong are the signals, Volt?” Forest asked.

“Moderate. Enough for me to get a solid connection.” Volt replied, “I’ll save the coordinates in case they destroy it, and keep it muted on our end once we can listen in.”

As Volt connected to Blythe’s earpiece, the four continued walking in the direction of the signals, the connection slowly strengthening…

“I just secured a connection, now I just have to unmute it…” Volt signaled for everyone to stop for a moment, pointing to an area of shade next to a building, “Let’s stop here for a moment. I’ll record what I can of this audio as we listen.”

The area was barren, ruined buildings surrounded the group, just like where they had fought prior, only the buildings were more dense.

Volt knelt down in the shade, and everyone gathered around him as he unmuted Blythe’s earpiece.

“Let’s hope we get some answers…” Blitz whispered.

Static…

“We found this earpiece nearby where we found the target. It has no active properties, no signals, nothing. What’s the plan for it?”

“Hold on to it. We’ll analyze it further later.”

“Good. They don’t know.” Volt mumbled.

There was a slam of metal in the background.

“Didn’t think they’d interrogate it so soon. Sylvan is an impatient one, isn’t he?”

“Always has been, always will be.”

There was a voice that sounded more like it was below the earpiece.

“Send it up.”

Mechanical clanks and whirring followed, there were footsteps leading away from the earpiece, out of the range of sound it could pick up.

“They have decent technology from what I can hear in their speech and in the background… No wonder they can keep a low profile.” Volt muttered.

“Do any of you know how long they’ve been operating..?” Blitz asked.

“From what I can remember, they’ve existed since the sanitized started appearing six years ago. The sanitized got more common as time went on, but now they’ve become pretty spread out and rare.” Forest explained.

“The Cleansers have probably been killing them all…” Akuji mumbled.

“Be cautious Chief. They’re only partially sanitized. We have no idea what They’re capable of. I’d advise not aggravating them”

“Yeah whatever. Well… Seems like they all weren’t lying.”

…

“I’ll be damned, half sanitized… I didn’t even know that was possible. These freaks just keep getting weirder and weirder…”

…

“Hey. Look at me when I’m talking to you!”

Sparks of electricity could be heard, and even worse, screams. Horrifyingly recognizable.

“Holy shit!” Forest snapped.

Blitz covered her mouth in shock, “They… They fucking electrocuted her!”

“Now will you have some manners?”

…

“Good. What’s a specimen like you doing with some lowlifes, eh? No point to it, a waste of research.”

No response from Blythe.

“You know, you’ll be here a while… Why don’t we get acquainted, yeah? Chief Sylvan. You are..?”

“…You… have no right to know my name.”

Blythe’s dark and growling tone made Blitz shudder.

“Being difficult, huh? Wrong choice.”

The shock could be heard again. They all winced hearing it, yet, nothing could be heard from Blythe on the other end.

“Fascinating... You’re either so chock-full of adrenaline you didn’t feel any of that pain, or… you’ve been trained in combat to resist such voltage. I’ll admit, I’m surprised.”

“Perceptive… I’ll give you that.”

The four sat there shocked.

“She… what?” Forest asked with disbelief.

“It’s common for members of the authorities or high powers, whether it’s military or police, to be tased as part of their training, both in inkling and octoling troops.” Volt explained, his voice trembling a little, “She… She screamed the first time, but… she completely tanked it the next.”

“I don’t remember you having an eye injury coming in here.”

A smaller metallic slam could be heard, a faint growl from Blythe as well.

“One eye perfectly sanitized, the other completely retained… Such a strange case you have. Your right half intact, your left half completely sanitized. Nothing like what I normally see.”

…

“Such sharp cut edges on these scars… Strangely not smooth either. Not to mention the clearly defined and built muscle. Further confirms my prior suspicions about you after that second shock.”

“She once talked about her past to me a little bit.” Akuji said, “Before she was partially sanitized, she used to be part of a group of soldiers. That observation isn’t far off.”

“Bright red… Unlike most that have a darker red color… Crimson compared to maroon…”

…

“Awh, don’t look at me like that. Not like you can do anything against me.”

“Not yet.”

That tone from Blythe scared all four of them all the more.

“Hm… That solidifies it for me. You were a soldier before being sanitized, weren’t you..?”

“So what if I was?”

They all heard the weakness in Blythe’s voice, the scratching in her throat.

“What does it change? I’m nothing but an animal to you, what does it mean to you?”

“I’ll be the one asking the questions here.”

They heard Blythe scoff, “Please. Enough of these games. Get to the point. What is it you want from me? Or am I here for nothing..?”

“I’ve never heard her sound like this. This pissed…” Forest said, “It’s terrifying!”

“Impatient much?” They heard Sylvan scoff. “Watch your tone. I’ll get to that.”

They heard the shock for a third time, then Blythe’s heavy breathing, full of pain.

“If that keeps up…” Volt’s voice trailed off as he stood up, “They’ll kill her!”

“Sylvan, your trigger happy tendencies are showing. Watch it. They’re already weak as is. Shock them too much and you’ll kill them.”

It was a different voice than Sylvan this time.

“Who the fuck is that..?” Blitz hissed.

“Yeah yeah, Dusan, I know.”

“Wait… What?!” Volt said, shocked.

“Dusan?!” Akuji yelped, “That’s Blythe’s last name!”

“That’s Dr. Dusan to you, Chief Sylvan.”

Volt’s hands were shaking as he stood up in shock, holding his tablet tightly, “Dear cod… This is worse than we thought!” He kept his tablet recording the audio, but he muted the volume to prevent detection once they got close, “I’ll keep recording the audio, but I’m muting its volume so we have less risk of getting caught once we get close.”

“Right. Let’s move, now. Where do we go, Volt?” Akuji said.

Volt looked straight ahead, stepping forward, “This way. Let’s hurry, we have the Cleansers themselves on our hands.”

“His last name is… Dusan… His last name is Dusan!” Blythe’s thoughts and hearts were racing, her eyes appearing blank, “How?!”

Sylvan noticed her spaciness, waving his hand in front of her face, “Hey, don’t go spacing out now. Wastes my time.”

Blythe snapped back to reality, her eyes diverting to Dr. Dusan who was a good distance away.

“You…” Blythe growled.

“I’m in front of you, idiot.” Sylvan snapped.

“Shut it, Sylvan.” Dusan snapped at Sylvan,

“Excuse me?” Sylvan hissed.

Dusan rolled his eyes, returning his gaze to Blythe, “What about me?”

“I recognize your name…” Blythe said darkly.

“What about my name?” Dusan retorted.

Blythe grumbled, going silent for a short moment. Her voice was still dark and raspy, “Do you have any children..?” She held eye contact with Dusan, her gaze was piercing.

“What kind of fucking question is that—“

“I said shut it, Sylvan!” Dusan yelled at him.

Sylvan backed down.

“Why is that important..?” Dusan asked Blythe curiously.

“I’ll be more… inclined to answer your questions if you answer mine.” Blythe hissed quietly, “Answer. The damn. Question.”

Dusan sighed, annoyed, “You have a special case… Fine. I’ll humor you.”

“Dusan—“

“I know what I’m doing, Sylvan.” Dusan hissed.

Sylvan went quiet once again.

Dusan straightened his white coat. It had small blue-ish green stains on it, most likely sanitized ink. He pushed up his glasses before crossing his arms, “I had two, a son and a daughter.” His voice had a hint of remorse, “My son was ripped apart by salmonids five years ago. My daughter was a soldier, still MIA to this day. It’s been nearly eight years.”

Blythe’s heart rate shot up as her breathing quickened. Dusan noticed it.

Blythe looked at the ground, “What are their names?” She mumbled the question.

“What?”

Blythe looked up, her eyes full of intensity and a craving for answers, “Your son, your daughter… What are their names?!”

Dusan noticed that Blythe’s behavior had become more erratic, her tone sharp. He knew he struck something here, so he answered, not without brief hesitation, “…Homura Dusan and Blythe Dusan. Those are their names.”

Blythe froze, her gaze locked on Dusan as she made the connection. Her lips cracked into a grin, “Did you ever try to find that daughter of yours? In the entire eight years?”

Sylvan squinted his eyes suspiciously at Blythe, holding his hand over the shock trigger, “Watch your words, pest.”

“Do not touch that button, Sylvan.” Dusan snapped, “There’s no need for it.”

Sylvan put his hand in his pocket, glaring sharply at Dusan before eyeing Blythe angrily.

“What makes you think I didn’t?” Dusan asked calmly.

Blythe closed her eyes, laughing quietly to herself, which quickly shifted to maniacal laughter.

Sylvan took a step back, returning his hand to its hovering position over the shock trigger. He waited.

Dusan kept calm, keeping his gaze relaxed over his glasses, “Well?”

Blythe looked Dusan dead in the eyes once again, “Do you remember what your daughter looked like? Huh? I’m starting to think you don’t remember.”

“What are you talking about?” Dusan hissed, “Why the hell wouldn’t I remember..?”

“Look at me. Take a good long look.” Blythe smiled manically, “What do you see?! Just some specimen?! Or… perhaps something more familiar?”

Dusan stared at Blythe carefully, his eyes widening slowly with shock. He quickly turned around, one hand up to his ear.

Blythe could only faintly hear him.

“Labs, this is Dusan. The ink sample from subject number ninety nine; put your focus on the genetic tests, nothing else. Now.” Dusan dropped his arm, snapping his attention back to Blythe, his expression was both slightly angry and shocked, “You know our names. Tell us yours.” He hissed.

Blythe grinned, “I think you know it, but I’ll say it. Who knows? This could be just one hell of a coincidence.” She let her head drop, glaring at Dusan with both pain and rage, a smile still plastered onto her face, “Blythe. Blythe Dusan.”

Dusan slammed his fist down onto a desk next to him, growling with his head hanging low. He stood up straight, glanced at Blythe, fixed his coat, fixed his glasses, turned around, and walked away.

“Dusan?! Hey! Where the hell are you going?!” Sylvan yelled, “You can’t just fucking leave!”

Dusan stopped, “Sylvan. If you kill ninety nine…” He turned his head to look back at Sylvan. His voice and eyes were dark and fierce, “You’ll be nothing but a pool of ink by tomorrow.”

Just like that, Dusan disappeared behind a metal door.

Sylvan stared at the door with disbelief, before glancing over at Blythe.

Blythe giggled to herself, slightly losing it, “Ah, for years I always wondered…” She looked up at Sylvan with a smile and gaze that would make anyone afraid, “What part of my memory was I missing?”

Sylvan looked away from Blythe, bringing his hand to his own earpiece, “Chief Sylvan speaking.”

Blythe stared at him with a hint of confusion.

Sylvan’s face contorted into an intensely angry expression, “The hell do you mean there are people outside?! You guys are useless standing around! Go deal with them!”

Blythe smiled once again, “So… They made it, huh?”

Sylvan snapped his attention back to Blythe as he lowered his hand, “We’re done here.” He stormed off into another room, leaving Blythe there alone.

The panel began to lower once again, and Blythe was still smiling, “After all this time… Oh after all this time… They finally know I’m alive.”

The platform reached the ground, and two guards pulled Blythe off the wall, directing her back to her cell. She didn’t fight it, no need. She didn’t care anymore.

The two guards tossed Blythe back into her cell upon reaching it, shutting the door.

Blythe slammed into the ground, streaks of orange ink following her injuries and where she slid. She slowly sat up, staring at the cell door as her voice cracked into psychotic laughter, “They finally know… He finally knows I’m still fucking alive!”

Sylvan slammed the door open to the labs, no one else was in the room except Dusan to his right. “Dusan! What the fuck was that?!”

Dusan calmly turned around to face Sylvan. His eyes had a hint of pain and minor panic, “You look troubled, Sylvan. What’s on your mind—“

“Enough of your bullshit!” Sylvan snapped, “You dared to silence me during an interrogation?!”

Leo remained calm, but his voice shook faintly, “You weren’t getting answers, yet I did. What’s the problem?”

Sylvan stepped towards Dusan, aggressively grabbing him by the collar of his shirt under his lab coat, “What the hell is going on with you?! What kind of shit have you been hiding from me?!”

Dusan sighed, “I don’t know what you’re talking about—“

“Oh you know what I’m talking about! Explain yourself!” Sylvan snapped.

Dusan stared at Sylvan with annoyance, “What? The fact I had children? Is that what you’re so concerned about?”

“It’s the fact that one of your children is that creature!” Sylvan hissed, pulling Dusan closer to his face as he squinted his eyes angrily, “You’ve disappointed us all!”

“Have I disappointed you all, or just you?” Dusan retorted.

Sylvan looked down and growled angrily. He forcefully threw Dusan to the floor, “You fucking disgrace!”

“Ugh!” Dusan caught himself on his elbows, looking up at Sylvan angrily.

Sylvan was standing over Dusan with a look of disdain and contempt, “I never thought I’d be working with someone as horrifically stupid as you, Leo!” He yelled.

Leo got to his feet, brushing himself off, “What the fuck is wrong with you, Damien?!”

Damien scoffed, “You prick. How fucking dare you?!”

“How dare I?! You just insulted my family!” Leo yelled, “Have you ever remembered it, thought about my real reason for joining this group?!”

Damien recoiled, raising his arm to his chest, “The fuck are you saying..?”

“I never joined this group to torture people! I joined this group with the hope of helping these people! The hope of possibly finding my daughter in this mess! Look what just happened!” Leo yelled, his face full of unfiltered rage, “You’ve done nothing but torture and kill these people! You’ve done nothing but torture me!” He spat, “Did you think I’d forget?!”

“You let me shock that bitch.” Damien sneered, “If you cared so much, why’d you let me?”

Leo clenched his fists, looking at the ground with disgust in himself, “Because I didn’t want to believe it was her…” He looked up, his eyes reflecting his pain filled rage. “It hurts to know such a thing happened to my own daughter! But of course an unlovable cunt like you wouldn’t understand, Damien!”

Damien slightly stepped back, appalled by what Leo just said, “You better watch your fucking mouth, Leo.” He growled, stepping towards Leo again, “You know how much power I have over you!”

“And you know how much power I have over all the research, something you know nothing about using.” Leo retorted, “I won’t let you cause more harm to these people! I won’t let you hurt my daughter anymore!”

Damien stared at Leo with hatred. “I’d like to see you try.” He immediately punched Leo directly in the face without hesitation.

Leo couldn’t react fast enough, taking the hit head on, “Augh! Fuck!” The force cracked one of his lenses, and he staggered back, shaking his head.

Damien quickly turned to the door.

Leo quickly recovered, snagging Damien by the back of his shirt, pulling him back as he wrapped his elbow around his neck, holding him in a chokehold.

Damien attempted to pull away, before bashing the back of his head into Leo’s face.

Leo lost his grip, stumbling back again. Bright crimson ink with deep blue accents began to bleed from his nose, his orange and red eyes full of burning rage.

Damien attempted moving to the door again.

Leo immediately caught Damien a second time, tackling him to the ground with his stomach down. He grabbed him by his tied up tentacles, slamming his face into the floor.

Damien’s nose also began to bleed, his deep blue ink splattering up near his eyes as his mask dented, forcing his ink upwards. He jammed his elbow back into Leo’s chest.

Leo gagged, his grip on Damien loosening.

Damien slipped out from under Leo, getting to one knee and kicking him back as he reached for his N-Zap on his hip.

Leo slid and quickly recovered, pushing forward with one foot, punching Damien across the face with the momentum before he could grab his N-Zap, “I will not let you walk away from this!”

Damien staggered and caught himself on his right elbow, sitting up as he also got up to one knee, “Watch me!” He pushed forward and tackled Leo to the floor by his shoulders in return.

Leo gagged as his back slammed into the floor. He quickly jammed his foot into Damien’s stomach, kicking him to the side and off of him, getting back to his feet.

Damien rolled once before stopping himself, getting back up to his feet himself.

The two stared daggers into each other, Leo’s ink dripping onto the floor, Damien’s pooling in his mask, slowly dripping from under his chin. Their hands and chests had small stains of each other’s and their own inks.

“I knew that this day would come.” Leo said, slightly slouched over, “I never trusted you. Not a single time since coming here. Especially after what you’ve done to me.”

“Yet I had trusted you.” Damien laughed, “How ironic…”

Leo eyed Damien with rage, “I won’t let this continue. I’ll stop you right here, right now!” He bolted forward with his fist raised.

Damien caught Leo’s fist, countering by jamming his knee into Leo’s stomach.

Leo gagged and recoiled, falling to one knee.

Damien kicked Leo in the jaw the instant he was on his knees.

The angle knocked Leo up and backwards into a desk. He gasped in pain as the wind was knocked out of him, managing to catch himself on the desk with his arms.

Damien ran for the door, getting his keycard out, opening the door.

Leo stumbled up and forward to follow Damien, quickly wiping his nose off on his hand as he ran, “You can’t get away!”

Damien got through the door and it closed behind him. He slammed his keycard against the door, overriding the room into a lockdown.

Leo slammed into the door as it shut, quickly grabbing his own keycard, holding it against the keypad.

“Lockdown override denied.”

Damien stood outside the door, panting, placing his keycard back into his pocket.

Leo slammed his forearm against the door, “Damien! You bastard! Don’t you dare fucking run from me!”

Damien stepped away from the door, turning around. He wiped his nose off on his forearm.

“Damien! You damn coward! I’ll kill you!” Leo screamed from the closed door, “Get your ass back here!”

Damien walked toward the cells as he heard Leo yelling after him, Leo’s voice slowly getting quieter. He directed a few guards to follow him, “I’ll show you what happens when you fuck with Sylvan, Leo.”

“DAMIEN!” Leo yelled.

Blythe sat in the corner of her cell, her arms around her lower legs with her head on her knees, “I’ll be fine… Everything is okay… Everything is totally going to be fine… After all this time I have something to hold on to…” She was shaking, her entire body aching with pain. Her mind was racing so fast that she couldn't even cry, stuck in a perpetual cycle of mental pain, “–I-I don’t remember him… Why don’t I remember him?! Why don’t I remember my family? Why those memories of everything?!”

The cell door opened.

Blythe jolted, quickly lifting her head to look up at the door as she sprawled out a bit in a panic, “Who—“

“Grab her.”

Before Blythe could react, she was dragged up to her feet and held by her arms. Unlike last time, she had the strength to resist, desperately trying to pull away, “The fuck?! Hey— AGH!” She was thrown back into the wall and shocked at the same time, her entire body recoiling in agony. She fell to the floor, writhing in pain, gasping.

Damien stood over her, his dark green eyes piercing her. His pupils were thin and small, “You absolutely disgusting freak. Who knew your appearance would make Leo turn on us.”

The shock eventually stopped, but Blythe remained on the ground, gasping for air from the pain, “You…” She wheezed, “Who are you talking about?!”

The two guards lifted Blythe once again, cuffing her hands behind her back.

Blythe weakly tried to pull away, “Sylvan!” She hissed, “I thought you said you were done?!” She gasped for air, coughing.

“Things change.” Damien grabbed Blythe by her neck with his fingers around the collar and against her skin.

The guards let go of Blythe and stepped back.

Damien slammed Blythe into the wall, “You’re such a disgusting pest.” He snapped.

Blythe gagged, trying to lean and push away from Damien, but she got weaker as his grip on her neck restricted her breathing, her legs too weak from the shock to attempt kicking him.

Damien took some glasses out from his back pocket, “How about you feel what it's like to truly lose your free will…”

Blythe squirmed, her breathing picking up despite Damien’s hand around her throat. Her eyes were full of fear, her voice shrill and panicked, choked out, “No, no! You can’t! Please!” She couldn’t hold back her fear, her memories of the Deep Sea Metro shocking her ability to think. She couldn’t go through that again, never, “I can’t..! I won’t go through that again!“

Damien laughed maniacally, “You have no choice!” He pushed the glasses against her face and over her eyes, pulling the strap around the back of her head. He held them against her face with her head against the wall.

Blythe slammed her eyes shut as she yelled in pain, the signals burning into her eyes and mind. She tried to turn away, but Damien’s grip on her prevented her from resisting. She kept trying, but her voice gave out as her legs buckled, falling weakly down to her knees.

Damien let go of her, stepping back. His expression was still bent into a maniacal pride.

Blythe’s head hung low, but she eventually raised it a few moments later, slowly getting to her feet. She looked directly at Damien, her voice dull and dark, “…Orders, sir?”

One of the two guards unlocked Blythe’s handcuffs, taking them off her wrists.

Damien’s gaze became sinister, “Your friends… Gear up, find them, and kill them.”

Blythe shook her hands out, walking towards the exit of her cell, “…Yes sir.”

The sky had darkened from just how long and far the group had traveled, stars beginning to twinkle in the sky. The moon peeked up over the horizon, ready to watch what unfolds.

Volt stared at the screen on his small tablet in his hands, “The signals are coming from a short distance in front of us, yet it’s nowhere to be seen… There has to be some way in.”

“This place is barren… how do we know where to get in?!” Akuji asked.

“You won’t.”

The group of them sharply turned around, and standing there was a good six guards, all wielding Aerosprays.

They all drew their weapons, and without hesitation Akuji bolted forwards, already having one opponent down within seconds before any of them could react. Each of them clashed with one soldier, matched up with similar weapons, holding their guard.

After a good few minutes of struggle and combat, nothing but orange ink was left behind.

“That… was shockingly fast…” Forest muttered.

“Don’t let your guard down.” Akuji said, raising her dualies, “There may be more of them.”

“Well, well, well… If it isn’t the Depths themselves…”

“Who the—“ Blitz turned around first, and her eyes widened with shock.

It was Chief Damien Sylvan himself, “I’ll admit, I’m impressed…” He sneered, “I knew they all would be useless against you, so I decided to come up here myself.”

Forest’s jaw fell open, “He’s the one we were hearing…”

“Ah… You were listening in?” Damien shrugged, rolling his eyes, “Such impressive technology the lot of you have. Low radar signals… Undetectable by standard equipment…”

Volt packed away his tablet, stepping to the front of the group, “Nice of you to acknowledge it, but don’t think that will stop us from kicking your ass.”

Damien chuckled darkly, “Oh, I won’t be fighting you…”

Blitz perked up from movement to their left, “Volt! Move!”

Volt turned around to face Blitz, glancing in the direction Blitz turned from. He wasn’t fast enough, and he was slammed in the face with a roller. He shot sideways, slamming into the ground, skidding across the dirt.

“Volt!” Forest yelled.

Someone stood between the group and Volt, a standard issue octoling roller in their hands.

“Who—“ Akuji stopped herself, “Wait… No! that’s—“

“Blythe.” Blitz finished Akuji’s sentence.

Their opponent turned around to the group. In fact standing before them was Blythe, bright red glasses over her eyes, her ink dark blue.

Volt, slowly got to one knee, “Fuck, that hurt.” He shook his head, “Who…” He trailed off, looking up at his aggressor, “Blythe?!”

“Volt! Get the hell out of there! Get some distance!” Forest yelled.

Volt scrambled to his feet, “What the hell is going on?! Why is she—“

“Those glasses! Mind control!” Akuji snapped, “We have to knock those off her face! Now!”

Blythe stepped towards the three of them, holding the roller at the ready.

“No, she’s…” Blitz stammered.

Forest stepped forward, “Melee on melee.” He drew his Splatana wiper, “There will be less of a risk. Let me handle this.” He took another step forward.

The instant Forest stepped forward, Blythe charged him head on, swinging her roller towards him on his left.

Forest caught Blythe’s roller with his Splatana, pushing the roller up as he snuck under it. He kicked Blythe in the stomach, pushing her back.

Blythe stumbled backwards, regaining her footing before immediately going on the attack again, only to be caught by Forest again.

“Blitz, go help Volt! I’ll keep Sylvan busy!” Akuji looked over at Sylvan, who held his smug expression.

“Dualies are such a pathetic choice.” Damien took out his own weapon, an ink brush.

Akuji charged Damien head on without hesitation.

Blitz bolted around to Volt, “Do you still know how to prepare low tide ink?!”

Volt nodded, “I do, but—“ He grabbed his charger, “It will take a while to charge it…”

“Forest is holding Blythe back. Akuji is keeping Sylvan busy.” Blitz charged her Nautilus, “I can keep you covered.

Volt knelt down, resting his charger on his leg. He opened up a small panel on its side and went through the menus, going through a few settings on it before closing the menus. He held the trigger on his charger, “It’s going to take a while to charge one shot, and we’ll most likely only have the one. We have to make this count.”

Leo had heard Blythe’s screams. He slid down the surface of the door with his arms still on it, gritting his teeth. His voice was full of anger and pain, “No… No! I can’t let Damien do this!” Tears welled in his eyes, “I can’t let Blythe suffer anymore! Not after all of this!” He stood up, walking back into the lab, glancing over at one of the computer screens. The screen displayed the vitals of all of the subjects currently imprisoned. All of them were in bad condition with the exception of Blythe and one other.

“Damn it! Damien already almost killed them all!” Leo looked back at the door, his heartbeats skyrocketing. He wiped his eyes off onto his sleeve, “At this rate, he’ll kill Blythe too…” His body began to rush with adrenaline. He clenched his fists as his tentacles spiked up, glowing, “I won’t let Damien kill her!”

Leo cast his special. A Zipcaster. He stood a distance away from the door, transferring the power of the Zipcaster to his feet and his right hand. He pressed his foot into the ground, holding his arm behind him with his hand in a fist. He yelled as she shot forward, the floor cracking under his feet. His fist slammed into the metal door, creating a shockwave as the metal bent and ripped open from the sheer power. Everything past the door was sent flying, and Leo’s Zipcaster immediately dissipated after the impact. He went flying through the door, slamming into the ground. He coughed, getting to his hands and knees, looking around.

Damien was already long gone.

Leo scrambled to his feet, bolting to the area of cells. The door to Blythe’s cell was wide open when he arrived. He frantically looked inside, but his hearts fell into his stomach.

Blythe was nowhere to be found.

“No… Damn it!” Leo snapped, “It was Damien who got to her already!”

#splatoon #splatoonoclore #splatoonwriting #I have no idea what im doing sorry.

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