The Escape from Octo Valley (IC)

[Cephalobro]

As the battle finally dies down, the Ringed Octarians and their allies cheer for a victory against a life or death situation. However, deep down, few are worried for another encounter against the Sanitized Octarians, especially General Anemone now that he has a second enemy to worry about when planning a day to send an attack on an enemy Crimson's facility. Moreover, some are confused about why the Sanitized Octarians just stood there after losing one member of their allies who could not respawn, or at least not respawn at the base. Needless to say, this event will cause Coral to have nightmares, so he would appreciate all the support he can get, especially from Kelp.

 

[HighColorSunset]

"They just stopped...then started again," Joy muttered. "If Shizue didn't set them off...who did?"

Is there a traitor in their midst?

 

[Cephalobro]

Clam started to question if there really was a traitor among them. This situation is getting worse and worse. General Anemone decided to take action, "Everyone, get inside the base! Everyone will be scanned to show any signs of who activated that signal. No one is allowed to leave until they are scanned!" he finished, really agitated by the fact that the Sanitized Octarians were able to rise to this height.

 

[HighColorSunset]

Everyone headed in, anxiously awaiting their tests. Zero still sat there, seeming calm for once, instead of uptight and emotionless. "What happened?" she asked.

 

[Cephalobro]

General Anemone said, "They are all going to be scanned, you will too. As I don't tolerate spies or double agents." he said, then continues, "Our scan test will show the signs of the source of the signal, anyone who runs from this test will be instantly marked as guilty." he finishes.

 

[HighColorSunset]

"That's alright with me," Zero replied. "I'm down for whatever." Something a Sanitized Octoling wouldn't usually say...?

 

[HighColorSunset]

Now that they thought of it, the brown tips at the ends of her tentacles seemed a bit bigger...

 

[Cephalobro]

Inside the base, General Anemone activates a machine that not only gives the right communicators back to their respective owners but also detects a signal that shouldn't be there in the first place such as the one that attracted the Sanitized Octarians to it. Everyone has lined up to get checked. General Anemone went first for a demonstration. "Alright, listen here, you are to step through this capsule. When you step through it, the light will either flash green or red. If green, you are clear, if red, you're the traitor." after he finished his explanation, he stepped through the capsule and the light flashed green. "Now get to it!" he concluded.

Shark went first, to no surprise of anyone, the light flashed green. Then came the entirety of the Octospartans, one by one, they walked through the capsule and every time, the light flashed green as well. The Inklings went next, again every single one of them wasn't a traitor. Now came the Octamazons, while they are still going to be taken into questioning, they stepped through the capsule, for the third time in a row the light flashed green for every single one of them, this was done to track the signal that attracted the Sanitized Octarians to the base.

Now for the Tentacle Troop, both the Ringed and Crimson variety stepped through the capsule, Clam went first followed by Kelp's sister. They and the others of their group also had the light flash green. Now it was the turn for the Octolings who are not part of any elite groups. Coral stepped in first, followed by Kelp. In both cases, the light flashed green yet again. They were followed by the rest of the Ringed Octolings, who also had the light flash green. And finally, it was the turn of the Crimson Octolings to step through the capsule. They began to step through it, each time the light flashing green so far.

 

[HighColorSunset]

Even Zero's light flashed green, though she was starting to look less green. Miro wasn't it, neither was Niyo. The Inklings went next; green, green, green, green...red.

It was Daniel.

 

[Cephalobro]

One of the Octospartans pointed at Daniel and exclaimed, "Traitor!", this is when Clam decided to take a jump at Daniel, going all in.

Clam: You're not going to interfere with our escape!

 

[HighColorSunset]

Daniel groaned. "Look, want me to explain?" he sighed.

 

[Cephalobro]

One of the Octospartans blocked the door, while Coral went ahead and asked.

Coral: Yeah, tell me why you did this! *With an angry tone of his voice*

 

[Cephalobro]

It was then that Kelp had tears roll down her face. She was sad by the fact that she trusted an Inkling to not be a traitor since she and the rest of the army rescued the Inklings captured in the facilities. Coral became even angrier at Daniel.

Coral: Look at what you did to her, traitor! Kelp is a kind and lovable Octoling and now you made her cry!

 

[HighColorSunset]

"If you want the short answer, I abhor you. All of you. You took everything from me. My family, my home, my dignity. It's all gone, because of you people. You ruined my life, and the lives of countless others on the surface. I just figured it would be better if you were dead."

"Blaming every Octarian for what a mind-controlled fleet did!" Rebekah cried. "Maybe you're not as smart as I thought you were."

"And because of that, you took my best friend from me!" Joy asked. "Where is your forgiveness? Many of these people didn't want to be here, fighting us, doing such terrible things. Haven't you ever been in that situation before?"

"The Calamari Inkantation was heard by many Octarians, including myself," Niyo added. "It made us realize what life underground really had in store. When I heard that, I listened to it for a long time, just sort of standing there, and I sort of rethought my position...now, fighting just feels wrong, and I wish we didn't have to fight each other anymore."

 

[HighColorSunset]

(An evil Inkling and a good enemy Octo? Ooooh, plot twist...)

 

[Cephalobro]

Shark stomps forward, absolutely angry, he picks up Daniel with one hand by his shirt and forms a fist on his other hand. "Now, you will be harshly punished by me, we don't tolerate traitors at all here, least of all me!", he then punches Daniel in the face. "We of the Octospartans don't give mercy." After that, all of the Octospartans took turns beating Daniel up. One said, "This is what you get for betraying us!", General Anemone said "You really shouldn't have angered the Octospartans, when I said that they don't give mercy, I really meant it.", during this ordeal, Coral just simply left Daniel behind to be punished by the Octospartans.

Coral: I'm all for helping the defenseless ones, but not when they are traitors.

 

[Cephalobro]

Coral then took Kelp's hand to comfort her, all the while putting his arm around her, she then lays her head on his shoulder.

Coral: Kelp, we are going to reach the surface, don't you worry. I am here for you. Now I want to do this mostly for you, we will reach the surface together.

Kelp: *Sniffs* Thank you Coral, you are the best boyfriend a girl can have, you never left me when I needed you the most.

Coral: No Kelp, thank you for giving me emotional support whenever I needed it.

 

[HighColorSunset]

"I expect he'll be splat in not too long now," Zero said nonchalantly.

"You don't care!?" Rachel replied. "I'm sorry, it's just...Dan was a really good friend of mine, and I still care about him...that's it. I'm stopping this." She sighed and stomped over. "Stop it this instant! Let me look at him."

Rachel picked up Daniel and took him into the room with the other Inklings. His top jaw ridge was chipped (equivalent of a chipped or knocked-out tooth I guess?), and his lip was bleeding; he also had a broken leg, and his arm and chest were bruised. "Get up," Rahcel said, and he did so.

"What do you want from me?" he rasped; they must have gotten his throat too.

"I'll fix you up if you'll let me," Rebekah said. "I got a degree in combat medics; you can trust me."

"Why would I let an Octoling fix me!?"

"Because I'm what we have," Rebekah replied in a sober voice. "We'll both get to the surface together, okay?"

Daniel looked down, as if in regret.

Rebekah began to work; she placed a cast in the chip in his jaw until they could get to a good doctor, and wrapped up his arm, leg, chest, and neck. "Good as- well, good as it can be for now," she said. "I'm sorry my people destroyed your home. We didn't know any better until that day when Octavio was defeated. Try to rest and let it heal; we'll clean up the mess."

"Okay," Daniel replied weakly. "I'll be fine, though I wouldn't be surprised if those angry Octarians tried to finish the job."

"I'll tell them," Rebekah replied, then came into the room with the Octospartans. "He's alright now, but he still has trust issues. He wants us to pitch in and buy him a new home once we get to the surface."

 

[HighColorSunset]

(From now on Daniel will pretty much mostly be sleeping or resting, so he won't be used as much.)

 

[Cephalobro]

Shark, being the pseudo-leader of the Octospartans, says "Alright guys, don't go overkill, the kid has had enough. I'm sure he has learned the lesson.", the Octospartans agreed to not continue with this further. Shark then says to Rebekah, "We will pitch in and help cover costs for a new home in Inkopolis, but for the time being, we need to get out of this life and death situation, because you know, we can't pitch in if we're dead."