“Yo, at night, the Ferris wheel's all... like… sparkly and junk.” - Pearl

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I’d never been to a theme park before. When I had told Ace, Bryson, and Liv where we’d be going, I received mixed reactions. Liv was stoked, Ace seemed eager as always, but as for Bryson…

Bryson wasn’t exactly the type of person who relaxed. I supposed that all of that Annaki clan stuff was enough to always keep him on edge. I was going to do everything I could to help him get into a calmer state of mind.

Ace had also decided to help me, telling me he couldn’t let Bryson keep feeling down. I didn’t expect any less from Bryson’s best friend. As for Liv, she was willing to help me as well. Together, we’d all get his mind off of his lineage. He didn’t deserve the stress.

Walking alongside Nem-Nem and my friends, we approached the tall metal gates, a jellyfish standing in front of them. As David flashed the pass, the jellyfish stepped aside, pressing a button to open the gates.

Scalpel looked at me, asking, “You don’t really intend on riding them all , do you?”

“You’re only a kid once, Bram,” David commented.

Berry, who had been staying in the back of the group, exchanged glances with me, the shy inkling boy staying quiet. When Scalpel had brought Berry along, Ace was quick to try befriending him. He would nudge Berry’s shoulder and point to the tall rides we would see over the gates before we had even entered, and they’d both smile as they talked about them.

Meanwhile, I stayed next to Bryson and Liv. Liv was really excited. She had never been to an amusement park before, just like me. We fawned over the tallest ride there, The Death Drop. When getting on, it would take you to the highest point it could take you, and then it would drop, letting gravity pull you down towards somewhat certain death, but before you would hit the bottom, it would slow down, allowing you to safely hit the bottom without injury.

Nem-Nem smiled and said, “Alright, kids. C’mon. I’ll accompany you. We’ll leave David and Bram to do their own thing.”

“Thank you, Nem,” said David, his eyes showing genuine appreciation.

“Let’s get to the buffet,” Scalpel said to David. “I skipped breakfast this morning trying to finish up some paperwork.”

“You work too hard,” said David with concern. “Come on. Let’s go.”

As they left, I looked to Nem-Nem, asking, “Where to?”

Nem’s tentacle hair raised up a little as she smiled in remembrance. “When David, Bram, and I were little, we would go on the smaller rides first, and then we’d make our way up to the bigger ones.”

“Sounds fresh,” said Ace. “Which one do we go to first?”

“Maybe we can try Squid’s Mountain Path,” Liv suggested. “It’s pretty tame.”

“That’s a good idea, Olivia,” replied Nem. “Let’s go, everyone.”

The park ground was clean and was composed of white cement. From the main area by the gate, I could see the many rides scattered, like the large ferris wheel by the docks and the Wahoo Whirl-a-Whirl, a giant structure that you could go inside, and once they strapped you to the wall within it, the machine would spin at high speeds.

Of course, that wouldn’t be the start of our day here. If anything, it’d be one of the things at the end. As we walked to the first ride, a standard roller-coaster. I could tell that Bryson was very hesitant to let his serious nature go. He seemed to have tensed up again since his fight with Emperor. I guessed that since he had come so close to being shunned, he had decided to keep stoic. But was that really the best option for him? It wasn’t healthy, that was for sure.

On the first ride, I sat next to Bryson, giving him my best smile in confidence and he seemed confused by it. I looked straight ahead as the coaster began going up its track hill. I had to admit, I was really scared. I had never really ridden a roller-coaster before.

Wait a minute…

I looked down, seeing how high we were going, my fear of heights coming back to haunt me. I freaked. “I want off the ride!” I shouted.

Nem-Nem looked back at me from the front coaster. “Amelia, once the ride starts, it can’t stop.”

I began hyperventilating, my blood running cold as I realized I’d have to go through this entire ride. What had I been thinking? I had just wanted to go on this ride to help Bryson cheer up, but I didn’t stop to remember that I’d had a massive phobia lurking in my brain.

Bryson gave me an odd glare. “What’s wrong with you, noob?”

“I don’t wanna go through with the ride!” I answered.

Bryson sighed, then grabbed my hand. “Just hold on tight. It’s too late to go back.”

I wasn’t even thinking. I squeezed Bryson’s hand tightly, trying to remain calm. We reached the top of the hill, and I could swear my heart stopped. We went plunging down the hill and I screamed. Bryson remained silent, squeezing my hand tighter.

From there, we went through a series of bumps, twists, turns, and loops, the ride being enough to make me sick to my stomach. I felt like I was gonna hurl, but I forced it back down. With my luck, I’d probably vomit all over myself. Every jerk the coaster made was nauseating, making me fight to keep what I had eaten for breakfast down.

When the ride had finally ended and the bars keeping us seated lifted up, I stumbled out, falling onto the ground and shivering. I clenched my teeth, forcing myself not to ralph in front of everyone. Nem-Nem walked over to me, looking down at me as I shuddered.

“Amelia? You need a break?” she asked me.

“N-No!” I replied. “Just gotta stop thinking about my stomach.”

Nem-Nem pulled me up. “I had a feeling this would happen, so I brought the medicine with me.”

Ace scratched his head as he got off the ride. “Medicine?”

Nem-Nem patted me on the back as she said, “Amelia gets motion sickness really easily. I found out when I took her with me on a boating trip with David. I gave her some medicine that my mother would give me and Amelia felt just fine after that.”

Bryson seemed skeptical. “But she’s…”

“Yes, I know she is,” said Nem. “But it seems to work on her just as well as any other species.”

With that, Bryson simply replied, “Weird…”

I felt a little embarrassed. If I was going to keep competing, I’d have to get over my motion sickness and my fear of heights. “I’ll take the medicine,” I said shamefully. I… didn’t like being human sometimes. It wasn’t that I had hated it the entire time I was in Inkopolis. It was that I had wanted to fit in. I wanted to be… their definition of normal…

…

I shook my head clear of those negative thoughts once again. I wasn’t going to get anywhere like this. I needed to be positive. I had to help Bryson get his mind off of things, and then I’d work on my own vibes.

After taking medicine, we were able to go on some of the other rides. I wasn’t able to get rid of my fear of heights, but I had at least gotten over the motion sickness for now until the medicine wore off. Each roller-coaster was scarier than the last, and I screamed through it all.

My legs would feel like jelly whenever I got off each ride. Bryson would ignore it, still serious and cold, and it worried me. What if this trip didn’t do anything to help him? I needed to take an initiative. I pulled Ace away from the group and looked at him with worry. “I need your help.”

Ace knew what I was talking about. It was obvious. “You’d be surprised at what gets him back into a good mood more than anything.”

“What?” I questioned.

Ace laughed and said, “It’s turf war. It’s always turf war. More than anything, Bryson loves doing what he does best.”

“But isn’t that what caused his bad mood?” I asked.

Ace put a hand on my shoulder, that same genuine smile on his face as always. “Of course not. It’s just his family. They’re always pushing him and it stresses him out. I usually go one on one with him and I’ll sometimes win. It’s a relief to him when he can lose and not have to worry about me telling anyone.”

“But you just told me ,” I countered.

“I trust you,” said Ace. “And obviously, so does Bryson. He’s been talking about you a lot lately.”

Bryson talked about me…? “Do you know about…?”

Ace’s smile went away for a bit. “We tell each other everything. I know what he likes, and I know what he wants. I know what he’s doing for me…”

Geez, that hit me hard… “How do you feel about it…?”

Ace looked me in the eyes, a sad smile on his face. “I, uh… I really like you… I’m not good with girls, really. Bryson likes you too, but he was willing to help me out. I tried to object, believe me, I did, but he wasn’t having it. We treat each other like brothers, and I’d do anything for the guy. Trust me, if he wasn’t so stubborn, I would’ve let him ask you out first before I could even confess my own feelings.”

Ace was really something else. No, both Ace and Bryson were something else. Their bond was like nothing else I’ve ever seen before. It was touching, and it was kinda sad. With Bryson’s own family pushing him, Ace was like the brother Bryson deserved, the kind that would care about him and support him no matter what.

Here I was, feeling so guilty about dating Ace when I knew that Bryson liked me, but since Bryson was being so stubborn and willing to let Ace have the chance, was it really my fault or his? I coudn’t tell. I kept thinking it was mine. They both liked me, and I didn’t want to hurt either of them. Why were relationships so complicated?

Ace tightened his grip on my shoulder, smiling. “Don’t worry about it, okay? There’s a chance for Turf War here.”

This puzzled me. “A Turf War? In Wahoo World?”

“Hey, Bry!” shouted Ace with a huge grin. “How about a Turf War?!”

Bryson seemed to like the sound of that, a smirk slowly spreading across his face. “Between you and me? Sure,” he replied.

Ace turned back to me. “See? He’s feelin’ better already!”

“Woah! Brand, is that you?!”

That voice sounded familiar. Turning around, I saw the face to match. It was the inkling from that concert, Wreckage , a smirk on her face. With her blazing-red tentacled mohawk and punk rocker getup, it was hard to forget her.

I ran up to her with a smile. “Wreckage! What are you doing here? Oh, and my name’s Amelia. Forgot to mention that last time.”

“I sneak in here weekly,” she said with a prideful smirk, but that smirk turned into a twitching frown the moment her red eyes glanced over at Bryson. “Ugh, you’re hanging out with him ?”

I turned around, looking at him. “What’s wrong with Bryson…?”

“Almost every inkling knows who he is. He’s a brand ,” said Wreckage. “The absolute face of one, and one that needs to be taken down.”

“But he’s not that bad,” I defended, looking back at Wreckage.

Nem-Nem walked up to me with Berry and Liv. “Amelia, is something wrong?” Nem asked.

Oddly enough, Wreckage seemed to immediately recognize her. “ Woah , it’s the legend!”

Nem-Nem immediately blushed. “Uh, why would you call me that? I didn’t really do anything special.”

“How can I not call you that?!” questioned Wreckage. “You went up against inklings despite being a sea anemone! You’ve got guts !”

Nem smiled, her cheeks a dark purple as she blushed more intensely. “Oh, you! You’re flattering me! That made my day!”

Wreckage walked up to Bryson with a mischievous grin. “So, brand . Tell me, are you really as good as they say you are?”

Bryson grimaced. “Of course! You think I’d be in my position if I wasn't?! You’ve got nerve, noob .”

“I’ve got more than just nerve!” claimed Wreckage. “I challenge you and your friends here! If you can splat me once , I’ll bow to you!”

“Woah, that’s pretty cocky,” said Ace, crossing his arms.

Berry looked her over and instantly said, “No. She’s got the skill to back it up.”

Bryson glared at him. “ Excuse me? How can you tell?”

“It’s her gaze,” said Berry. “I can tell. I can always tell.”

Bryson shook his head. “Fine, then. I’ll accept your challenge. All four of us against just you. If you can’t back up your words, you’d better be prepared to run, because I don’t like it when other inklings waste my time!”

“Right here, right now!” shouted Wreckage.

“Where are we gonna find spawn points?” I asked. “I’d rather you not start a fight without one.”

Nem-Nem giggled a little. “Oh, Amelia. This place is known for its public Turf Wars. There’s several spawn points littered throughout the place in case of situations like these.”

“Yeah!” confirmed Wreckage. “There’s a buffet near here with two of ‘em.”

Uh oh. That was where David and Scalpel were. “Could we pick somewhere else?” I asked.

“Why?” she asked. “It’s a wide enough area, and I don’t wanna have to walk all the walk to the other end of the amusement park.”

“Did you ever bring the suit?” Ace asked me.

I shook my head. “I never thought we’d end up in a Turf War here, so I left it at home.”

“No dice, noob ,” said Bryson. “We’re going to the dock area.”

“Well, at least it’s better than the rocket ride,” said Wreckage. “That place rotates too much for my taste.”

With Nem’s map, we were able to find our way to the dock, where there was a beach underneath, one that was much different than the last one I had played Turf War on. There were massive boulders scattered across it, making it an ideal place for battle. You could easily avoid ink by hiding behind one of them. On both sides of the beach were spawn pads, and as I stepped on one, my phone beeped.

I took it out, expecting its usual message, but…

Error Code: 849

“That’s odd,” I muttered. I looked it up on my phone to find something startling. It was an error code indicating that only a portion of my DNA was recognizable and couldn’t be registered properly. I had something the machine had recognized, but not entirely.

I immediately thought of the Booyah Bomb, how its nanobots messed with my DNA. Were they still active inside me…? I’d need to talk to Liv after this trip. I didn’t feel anything wrong with me, so maybe it wasn’t actually as bad?

I didn’t know where she had gotten from, but Wreckage was holding a weapon similar to a bow and arrow. It had three nozzles on the front, a string attached to the back end, and a very futuristic-looking sleek design to it. There was a confident grin on her face, an odd hint of tenacity in her eyes. “You ready to see the power of the unique?!”

“What is that?” I asked.

“It’s a prototype,” answered Wreckage. “This baby fires three shots of ink at once in three different ranges. So, we gonna fight or not?”

“I don’t think that’s a fair advantage,” Liv pointed out.

“There’s five of you against me ,” said Wreckage. “You afraid of a girl from Splatsville…?”

“I’m afraid of no one ,” said Bryson. “We start now .”

Nem leaned against one of the dock pillars, watching intently. “Alright, Amelia. Let’s see what you’ve got. I don’t think I’ve seen you in action since Splatfest.”

Our phones beeped, and we began, running out in different directions. Liv and I went to the right while Bryson and Ace went up ahead, more eager to deal damage to Wreckage directly. Berry went to the left, making this a very strong offensive position from all front angles. With Wreckage’s confidence, though, I was a little worried. In fact, where was she?

“Up there!” shouted Liv, pointing at a tall boulder, with Wreckage aiming her bow at us. I jumped out of the way as she fired pink ink, narrowly avoiding the hit. Liv was hit, and it… was an instant splat?!

Liv exploded into ink, with Wreckage smirking. “To make up for its inability to ink as much turf, its power is pretty strong,” said Wreckage. “Of course, this is just a prototype, so a lot can change when its final version is out.”

“Too much talking!” shouted Bryson, jumping up at her. She grinned wide, doing a backflip off the boulder and firing midair at him. He opened up his umbrella, the shot taking out his protective cover. He’d have to wait until the weapon regenerated its top.

Ace jumped on top of the boulder, his Hydra already fully charged. He let forth a barrage of green ink from its powerful spinning nozzles, laughing and cheering. “Whoo! I never get tired of this!~”

Wreckage was fast and deadly , her legs carrying her far. How was she able to gain such speed? Were inklings normally this fast, or was she using ability chips to boost herself? She jumped, aiming at Ace and firing. Bryson pushed him out of the way, taking the hit and exploding into ink.

Berry had used this opportunity to be stealthy, having gone around from behind Wreckage, a Splattershot in his possession. He fired, and before it could even touch her, she had already rolled out of the way, sand scratching up her knees and making her leak ink.

She cackled, her eyes filled with what I could only interpret as Turf Madness. With her twisted grin, she rushed Berry, making him panic and fire off another round, just barely missing her as she closed in. She reached out with her hand, grabbing his face, then slammed him into the ground, the young inkling exploding upon impact in green ink as he was pounded into the sand.

“WHO’S NEXT?!” she shouted. “I’M NOT DONE YET, BRANDS!!!”

She had literally just grabbed him and had slammed him into the ground, taking damage from his explosion. She was willing to use melee attacks and take damage as consequence?! What if she went after me ?! I don’t think my bones could withstand her power!

Looking around, I had noticed that she had taken them all out except for Ace and I. We looked at each other and he flashed me a grin. “I need you to distract her!” he said. “Once Bryson respawns, we’ll have some fun!”

For some odd reason, I followed orders, the soldier in me ready to finish this with their help. I ran in her direction, and regardless of her crazed look, I pushed aside my fear, having learned much from Nem’s training. In fact, my heart was beating faster, giving me the adrenaline I needed. I didn’t know why, but I loved this and I wasn’t going to back down from it. I wanted the thrill and the glory.

“Show me whatcha got, girl!” she shouted, aiming her bow. Boy, was she in for a surprise. I could keep myself from grinning as I was hit full-force by the shot. She was startled, the look on her face giving me the satisfaction and the confidence I needed.

It was odd… I had expected that bow to nearly knock me out if it had the same power as a charger, but… I didn’t feel a thing. It was as if the pain was being blocked. I did a roll up to her, then pulled the triggers of my dualies as I closed in. She jumped to the side, aiming and firing again. I was hit in the side, only a small amount of pain registering in my brain.

I lunged at her, my dualies firing. I just couldn’t hit her, but as my speed seemed to increase, I was able to get at least one or two hits on her. She was nearly impossible to land a splatting shot on. The more her ink arrows hit me, the more intense I felt. There was this sense of honor in me, a duty I had to perform. I needed to keep her distracted until Bryson respawned.

She attempted to grab me by the face, but before she even could, I just let out a cackle as I gave her a knee to the stomach. I then grabbed her head and slammed mine into it in a brutal headbutt. This strange energy within me was too much for me to handle. I had to let it out somehow, even if it was through such barbaric tactics. I wanted to… hurt her.

Was that normal…?

Something was wrong with me, but I didn’t care. I was in the moment. This battle was everything to me. To be part of this culture, to be part of this game, it was exciting! I wanted more! I needed more! I fired again after aiming with quick reflexes. She jumped back to dodge my ink bursts, obviously not expecting to face the Unsplattable Inkling.

“Woah, woah, this isn’t fair!” she shouted as she kept trying to dodge. “I can’t splat you! What kind of gimmick is this?!”

“IT’S CALLED A SUCKER PUNCH!”

Her eyes widening in surprise, she turned just in time to see Ace twirling with Bryson’s legs in his grip. Ace spun until he had reached enough force, then let go, allowing Bryson to literally fly at Wreckage as his eyes lit up.

Wreckage was stunned and dumbfounded. “Sucker WHAT?!”

Bryson’s body changed to the green of his ink color as he held out his fist. With the speed he was going at, he could only answer her with the action itself. He closed in, punching her directly in the face, the power of a Splashdown sending her ink splattering halfway across the beach in droplets as her remains spread out.

I stared in disbelief. That was a Splashdown delivered sideways instead of from above, and at the speed of a rocket! Running up to Bryson, I asked him, “What was that?!”

Ace walked up, grinning. “It’s a move Bryson and I made up when we were really little. We called it the Sucker Punch.”

“It’s been a year since we last used that,” said Bryson. “Was mostly for show.”

I could see Nem giving me a thumbs-up from afar and it filled me with joy. Just getting approval of her was enough to make me squeal, and I did, jumping as I made noises of happiness and pride.

Ace laughed. “Woah, Amelia, chill!~ You’re getting a little excited!~”

I couldn’t help myself. I hugged him tight, the inkling laughing as he wrapped his arms around me to return the hug. “That was so cool!” I exclaimed. I’d never seen such an unconventional move before. To just see something so wickedly awesome was making me want to squeal out in giddiness.

As Wreckage came out of her spawn point, she screamed, her anger obvious. “What in the world, Brand?!” she shouted.

I frowned, feeling a bit less confident about my new friendship with her. “I’m sorry,” I whimpered. “I just got really excited.”

She grabbed me by the shirt, but as she raised her fist, Nem-Nem was already there, grabbing it and twisting Wreckage’s arm behind her back.

“Don’t you dare hurt my daughter,” warned Nem. “I will make your life miserable.”

Wreckage yelped in pain. “Holy cod! Let go! Let go! She’s cool! She’s cool!”

Nem let her go, then put a hand on my shoulder. I was a little embarrassed to see her coming to my rescue, but I was also really proud to be her daughter at the same time. A weird mix of emotions I didn’t think was possible. The way she handled things was just so amazing.

“You’re lucky I didn’t turn you in to law enforcement,” said Nem. “That bow isn’t allowed here in Inkopolis. Prototypes are illegal until they’re approved by the government.”

“Aw, c-c’mon, legend!” objected Wreckage. “It was all in good fun, right?”

Nem gave her an unapproving look, the poor inkling sulking. “I may be a legend, but even I still follow the law.”

Wreckage, put her hands in her pockets, looking down at her shoes. She seemed very disappointed. “S-Sorry…”

Nem and I exchanged glances. She could tell that I still had sympathy for this inkling, and so she asked, “Would you like to join us for a few rides?”

Wreckage looked back up. “Wh-What?! Spending the day with the Nem Nemone?!”

“Just be on your best behavior,” said Nem. “Those are my only conditions.”

Wreckage glanced at me with an uncertain expression. She seemed to have felt betrayed when she had found out that I was a friend of Bryson’s. I could only guess that since she was against most brands, she saw Bryson as a threat, considering he was a well-known face of the Annaki company.

Looking at Bryson, I could see that he had a look of satisfaction. The smile on his face indicated that he was feeling better, but was that even a permanent solution? Ace said he had done one-on-one Turf War with Bryson, but it was obvious from Bryson’s most recent breakdown that it wasn’t a true cure for his struggle to hold up such a heavy family name.

After agreeing to Nem’s terms, Wreckage tagged along with us, joining us for many of the amusement park’s rides. She was very daring, taking her phone out during the rides themselves. It kinda scared me. I could’ve never done that, for fear that I would have dropped my own. She’d take pictures of our faces as we went through the scariest moments.

Unfortunately, my pictures depicted me with a screaming face. My eyes were often wide open, the fear obvious in them. I asked her to delete it, but she refused, saying that she’d never show anyone and that they were precious memories she wanted to remember.

It was odd behavior. Earlier she had challenged Bryson and had been angry at me, but now she was more relaxed, calmer. I wasn’t sure if this was typical inkling behavior or not, seeing as how most inklings seemed to act like humans from my perspective.

Wreckage was particularly interested in Nem-Nem most of the time, asking her for tips on techniques. I could tell by the look on Nem’s face that she certainly wasn’t expecting a fan to show up today of all days. She answered many questions as politely as she could, staying calm.

Meanwhile, I was with Ace, Bryson, Liv, and Berry, playing Turf War. The way these inklings were just allowed to have Turf Wars wherever was just so commonplace that spawn points were present throughout much of the city, and even in places that didn’t have them, you could bring portable spawn points.

I felt a bit of shame, knowing that I grew up a human. We had destroyed ourselves, leaving behind only small remnants of our culture and knowledge. However, I was also proud, knowing that I was able to keep up with these inklings with Nem’s guidance. It did make me wonder, though… Why was I getting better?

It seemed that recently I had been feeling more pumped up, adrenaline driving me more than quick thinking. It didn’t feel natural to me, but it also felt amazing. I was almost addicted to it. No matter how many hits I received, I could feel the pain being numbed by these strange overwhelming rushes I received in battle.

I… didn’t want it to end. I wanted to fight forever. Whenever a battle ended, I was always saddened, no matter whether I won or lost. When that rush was gone, I felt empty inside, like there was a piece of me missing. These feelings were so confusing, and worst of all: I couldn’t tell if it was puberty or not, because I had no idea what puberty was like for my own kind.

I only remembered that Dad had once said it would be very confusing to me.

Meanwhile, as I wondered about that, I noticed Bryson’s mood improving. Ace went one on one with him multiple times, and because of that, Bryson felt like he could relax, knowing he could lose without Ace telling anyone.

As it continued on, I noticed that Wreckage still had a bit of a sour attitude towards Bryson. Whenever she was near him, she’d give a scowl of disapproval. She didn’t say anything while knowing Nem-Nem was nearby. She obviously didn’t want to risk missing out on hanging with her.

Liv and I, though, we would sometimes break off from the group and go on a few of the tamer rides, talking about the smaller events going on in our lives.

“So, he’s pretty strong?” asked Liv, referring to Henry.

With that fight on my way out of the octarian base, I had been very surprised at how well he could handle that roller. “He could wield it with just one arm,” I answered. “Knocked Bryson aside like he was nothing.”

Liv twiddled her fingers as we moved ahead in the line for the ride. “Wielding a roller so efficiently with just one arm is incredibly impressive, even for an octoling soldier.”

“He scares me,” I admitted. “He could easily end me if he wanted to.”

“With his mission, he most likely won’t,” Liv remarked.

“His mission?” I asked.

Liv rubbed the back of her neck as she took her phone out of her pocket. “Well, it’s no secret to Hector and I that you’ve already been spotted by the octarian forces. You’re of great interest to them.”

“How do you know that?” I questioned.

As she scrolled through her phone, she replied, “My old ID still runs in their system. To them, I’m considered missing in action.”

Marina had been able to get into the octarian network as well with no problem, so did that mean their security was just really sloppy? It didn’t really matter to me at this point and time, so I stopped questioning it. “What are they saying about me?” I asked.

“All I know is that you’re supposed to be captured,” said Liv. “I knew nothing about the whole ‘reviving humans’ thing until you told me about it. Even as a soldier I didn’t have a lot of access to the network.”

Speaking of network… “What do you know about Inkopolis’ Respawn Network?” I asked.

“It’s responsible for storing the DNA of nearly every single creature walking on this planet,” replied Liv. “Why’s that?”

“I had a message on my phone before we started the turf war with Wreckage,” I explained. “The error code was eight four nine.”

Liv began tapping on her phone, staring at the screen as she scrolled down a few pages on the search engine. “Uhhhhhhhh, it means an incomplete scan of recognized DNA.”

Wait, what? “So, it recognized me?” I questioned. Liv nodded and I asked, “Why?”

“It only partially recognized you,” she corrected. She took my hand in hers and examined it all over. “Have you been feeling different lately? If that spawn point was correct, then it means the Booyah Bomb nanomachines aren’t quite done with you yet.”

Uhh… “I’ve been feeling a lot of adrenaline recently,” I said. Liv bit her lower lip and that worried me. It usually meant she was holding something back. “What is it?” I asked. “What are they doing to me?”

“Just doing what they’re programmed to do,” she said. “They’re trying to heal you, but I think they’re beginning to see your entire human DNA as damage. That’s not guaranteed, so don’t quote me on that.”

My body felt a little cold. “Does that mean they’re going to replace ALL my DNA?”

Liv shook her head. “No, no, no. Don’t worry. I’m going to take you back to my place tomorrow and we’ll shut down the nanobots before they do more to you. It usually takes them a while to fix even a part of the DNA. Can’t imagine how long it’d take to replace an entire sequence. You’d likely not survive such a process.”

That sounded really scary. “Is this adrenaline like Turf Madness?” I asked, worried for my mental state as well..

She giggled, a snort at the end of it before she answered, “No, no! You’d definitely know if it was Turf Madness. I’m sorry for laughing. It’s just… Turf Madness is nearly impossible to control unless there’s an outside factor to interrupt it. And let’s not forget to mention that your train of thought would be completely gone. You wouldn’t even know what you were doing.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, that’s good…”

Liv patted me on the shoulder, giving me a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, we won’t let you down.”

I smiled back, feeling thankful that I had such caring friends. “I’ve got your back too, Liv.”

Her smile relaxed into a neutral expression as if she’d never been told that before. I had to admit, it made the silence very awkward. She uttered a strange chuckle, then said, “O-Oh, hey, we’re next in line.”

I turned my head to look at the ride. It was… a pod with two seats inside. Wait a minute… “What ride are we going on again?” I asked.

“You don’t remember?” asked Liv. “It’s the Death Drop. I’ve always wanted to try it out!”

Aw, man… I had forgotten that I had promised to go on the ride with her, back when I had forgotten I was deathly afraid of heights. “Y-Yeah,” I replied. “Sounds really neat.”

Before us was a pair of leather seats attached to a metal wall, and that metal wall was attached to a large, vertical rail. My heart nearly stopped when I was told it was our turn by one of the jellyfish. Sitting down and feeling the bars drop over me, I clenched them tightly.

Liv, seeming to sense my fear, gripped my hand. Just like that, I was a little calmer, but when we started rising off from the ground, my fears returned just as quickly as they had vanished. I braced myself the whole way up, the ride ascending at a slow rate.

The higher we went, the more I began to freak out. I was gripping Liv’s hand tightly while my blood ran cold and my heart skipped a beat. “I want off the ride, please!” I pleaded.

“Amelia, calm down,” said Liv. “It’s safe, I promise.”

“It’s such a long way down,” I breathlessly whimpered. “I don’t wanna keep going.”

“Just close your eyes, okay?” she instructed.

So I did. I shut my eyes tight and felt the seat rising further up into the air anyway. The motion was enough to keep my heart racing, but she was right. It felt a little better not to see anything. But then… I felt it stop.

Just as I was about to open them, I heard her say, “Don’t do it. Don’t you dare look. Do you trust me?”

I shook my head, my body stricken with fear. I wanted to scream, but I stayed silent. It was strange how fear worked its magic. She tightened the grip on my hand and I took deep breaths. I wasn’t going to look. I wasn’t going to look.

And then… the sensation of falling hit me, making me scream in terror. As the falling sensation stopped, I felt relief, thinking we had finished, but then I felt the ride start rising up again. “What’s going on?!” I asked. “I thought we were done!”

“Shh. It’s fine, Amelia. Just keep them closed,” said Liv. “It goes through a cycle of motions.”

“Why did I get on this thing?!” I asked myself.

“I’ve never seen anyone freak out as badly as you,” said Liv with concern. “Are all humans like this?”

“Isn’t it common sense to have fear?!” I responded.

“Yes,” said Liv. “But… inklings and octolings are always taking risks.  It’s just life. It’s what makes it exciting. I thought that was why you wanted to play Turf War?”

She was right, but… “This is different,” I replied. As we stopped rising, I freaked. “Oh cod! I can’t! I can’t!”

Liv strengthened her grip on my hand yet again. “It’s not, really. It’s the same chemical rush. It’s just worse here. Your brain thinks you’ll face certain death. I don’t blame you for that. But don’t you realize that… in Turf War, any inkling or octoling could easily hurt you, kill you even?”

She was right again. Inklings and octolings had insane strength. To be able to pick up massive rollers and fling them around with ease was a sign of their sheer strength. If any of them wanted… they could break me in two .

I wasn’t afraid of Turf War… But why was I afraid of this, though?

As if knowing what I was thinking, Liv said, “I think this might just be a common phobia for humans. Inklings and octolings hardly ever have a fear of heights. Those that do can still manage it with practice. The danger here, to your brain, is obvious, but what you need to tell yourself is that you face danger every day.”

“How?” I asked. “How can I if my brain won’t listen?”

“Do you trust me, Amelia?” she asked me. “Do you really trust me as your friend?”

I did. I trusted her, and I nodded.

“Open your eyes.”

With only split-second hesitation, I forced my eyes open, seeing the entire park below me. My body went stiff from shock as I began thinking about falling to my death. Liv squeezed my hand again, and I looked at her. She was much calmer than me, that was for sure.

“What’s so different about this?” she asked. “In Turf War, you know you’re risking death by roller or some other brutal weapon. This is no different. You need to scare the fear out of yourself. You need to embrace it or you’ll never reach the same heights we did.”

I didn’t know what to say. She was completely right. Every time I played Turf War, I was facing the risk that I’d be unlucky enough to fight against a roller and make a bad move. I didn’t want this fear to overtake me, or I’d be weakened by it my entire life.

“Instead of focusing on falling, why not note how pretty it looks?” suggested Liv. “Look, you can even see the ocean from up here.”

I looked ahead in front of us... and I had to say, it was beautiful. The waters glittered like gold as the setting sun’s light reflected off the light blue surface. The waves lazily made their way towards the shore, making their crashing noises that could even be heard from up here. It was powerful and majestic, and as I looked down at the rest of the park, I noticed that the lights were being turned on to counter the oncoming night’s natural darkness.

Everything was so pretty and I had let my instinctive fears keep me from seeing it.

I awkwardly looked at Liv with an embarrassed smile. I never thought there was more to this than just the fear itself. Looking down, I could see Wahoo World’s brilliant lights turning on as day slowly faded into night. The one with the most lights out of all the rides was the massive ferris wheel on the other side of the park.

It was dazzling, making me forget all about my fears.

“How do you feel?” asked Liv.

With genuine satisfaction, I replied, “Much better. Thanks, Liv.”

“No problem, because the real fun’s about to start,” she said.

Wait… “What?” I muttered.

Then I felt the drop. The ground was rushing up at me, and it was faster than the previous drop. I don’t think any amount of mental prepping could’ve been sufficient enough for this. I screamed, scared for my life. I was so afraid that I had forgotten to close my eyes, so I saw my fast descent towards the bottom.

As we were about to reach the bottom, the ride slowed down, making me feel immense relief. When we touched the bottom, the bars holding me against my seat raised up and I fell onto my hands and knees, feeling weak and shaky.

“Amelia? Are you okay?” asked Liv, poking my shoulder, and in my response, I… puked. There went my breakfast… and my dignity. Liv helped me up, putting my arm around her shoulders as I struggled to stay standing. “Geez, Amelia… your case is worse than I thought,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

“N-No,” I said, holding back another upchuck delivery. “I learned the lesson. This is just my body doing things.”

She sighed and just smiled. “Let’s get back with the others, alright? Will you be okay?”

“Y-Yeah,” I answered. “Thanks for the talk up there. I don’t think I would’ve appreciated it as much if you didn’t.”

I was very grateful to her. Her ability to calm me down was very helpful. With that, I felt like I could tackle many problems with ease. After she helped me get back with the others, I greeted Nem-Nem and she took us to one final ride: the ferris wheel.

Each and every seat on that ferris wheel had pretty and colorful lights embedded in them, always turning on each night to bathe the park in its towering colors as it slowly spun around.

As the ride stopped to let someone on, Ace hopped into the seat and held his hand out to me. His genuine smile captivated me, my heart skipping a beat. Smiling, I took his hand and he pulled me up into the passenger car.

I have to admit, I was very excited. Out of everything in this theme park, I wanted to be with Ace on the ferris wheel. I know it seemed a little goofy or dumb, but after watching so many romance movies, it kinda just stuck in my mind…

“You gonna be okay?” he asked.

I looked at him, curious.“Yeah, why?”

“Your fear of heights?” he reminded me.

I rolled my eyes with a smile. “Yeah, yeah,” I assured. “I… took a bit of time to appreciate things. It helped a bit with my fears.”

Ace seemed most impressed, as a big grin was now on his face. “Look at you, goin’ places.”

As for Bryson… He seemed pretty happy for now. Playing against Ace must’ve done him some good, but I wasn’t sure for how long. Being able to play against Ace must have been a huge relief for Bryson, as he was able to lose without fear of anyone knowing. At least… against Ace. Any other Turf War, Bryson would have to face those pressures again. I felt bad for him. If his family was truly as strict as he had said, I don’t think I’d be able to negotiate on his behalf, if he’d even let me.

“Yooooo, Inkopolis to Amelia!” said Ace, waving his hand in front of my face. I really needed to stop getting lost in thought. One of these days I could get hurt from not paying attention.

“What’s up?” I asked, looking at him.

He pointed outwards, and I looked in front of us, seeing the light of the theme park and Inkopolis, all shining brightly and beautifully. My breath was literally taken away from me as I was dazzled by such colors. Were humanity’s cities like this?

As I stared ahead, Ace hung his arm around my shoulders, making me jump a little in surprise. I looked at his smiling face and simply calmed down then and there. “This is nice…” I said.

“Gotta appreciate these moments,” he said. “We won’t always be here, so we’ve gotta live in the moment or else it’ll all pass us by and we’ll be on our deathbeds wondering how we could have missed so much.”

He spoke true words that I could agree with. I yawned and rested my head against his shoulder while he held me close. I noticed that… he wasn’t as cold in body temperature as he had used to be. His body heat was almost like mine, and that gave me comfort for some reason. I was afraid of never fitting into this world, but… with Ace here, I felt like I belonged. I felt like I was happy and I was safe.

Everything was perfect.

Until the end…

After getting off the ferris wheel, Nem had taken us over to the buffet to fetch David and Doctor Scalpel, and as we made our way into the area, we found them in a heated discussion.

“It’s my life!” shouted Scalpel. “I choose what to do with it!”

“Bram! This is a pointless obsession! Your work has been fruitless for years!” David shouted back. “Please, just give up and pay attention to what’s left!”

“No, not this year!” said Scalpel. “I’ve had success!”

David stared at him in what seemed to be disbelief. “Bram, you’ve gone mad. It’s impossible. You know she’s not coming back no matter what you do! She’s gone !””

Who wasn’t coming back…?

Scalpel’s expression looked as if he’d just been slapped in the face, his eyes showing that small glint of rage. “She’s not gone,” he quietly said. “None of them are.”

Scalpel noticed us after that, his expression going calm once more as he said, “I’m sorry, how long were you… standing there?”

Nem quickly replied, “We just got here. You boys ready to leave?”

Scalpel straightened his posture and agreed.With the tension between these two brothers, I felt like I was being dragged into it. I know I wasn’t involved in any of it, but just hearing such hints at something bad happening made me feel as though I knew too much.

As we left Wahoo World and went back home, I couldn’t help but wonder who Scalpel had lost, and what exactly was going on with him.