Iris was much more ready for that whip this time around. But that didn’t make it any easier to deal with.
She was less thrilled to discover that when she decided to switch on her Octo Saber’s beam mode to cut through the whip, Ferham responded with activating her whip’s similar mode, causing the two weapons to clash and crackle with energy as sparks flew - certainly explained Ferham’s new protective gloves. Ferham cackled as she cracked her whip, sending sparks and ink flying in Iris’ direction, “did you really think it’d be that easy? We’ve known about your new toys for weeks, and now we’ve got weapons that can match them.”
“No, I didn’t. I figured you’d have some way of making this more difficult,” Iris frowned, as she deflected an incoming strike, wincing as ink splattered onto her armour, “so we’re back to being evenly matched. That’s fine. I can defeat you like this.”
“You condescending harpy,” Ferham snarled, as she struck a few more times with the whip, trying to stay out of Iris’ melee range, “you had everything - a noble title, wealth, prestige… And yet you threw it all away, for what?”
Iris grit her teeth, deflecting the strikes and pressing an offensive, “you say that like I sacrificed anything of value! I lived in an empty mansion with a mother who saw me as a tool for prestige for the family and nothing more, a father who was submissive to her wishes… All that wealth, nobility and prestige never made me happy! I developed a split personality because of my home situation! Do you even realise how messed up that is?!” Iris could see Ferham’s eyes widen, and she continued her rant as she slashed, “I… I feel more at home in my school dormitory than I ever did with my family. I hate violence. I always have. Is it that hard for everyone to just get along and work together to fix our problems?!”
Unfortunately, that only seemed to enrage the proud general, who managed to dodge the incoming strikes, lashing out and trying to ensnare the saber with her whip. Iris had to be mindful of this, since it allowed her to get the upper hand in their first bout. “I can’t believe I respected someone who was this naive. There’s too much bad blood to leave it all by the wayside and try to make amends!”
“And yet you dated Callie.”
That actually caused Ferham to freeze in place momentarily. And it was enough for Iris to exploit the brief opening, a quick strike crashing against Ferham’s armour and damaging it, causing her to stumble back. Ferham regained her composure, taking a defensive stance against further attacks, “she was on our side, if briefly. That harlot backstabbed us once she was exposed to the squid brainwashing-”
“-that’s just more convenient lies you tell yourself, Ferham. What Callie said over the comms is a whole different story. She still cares about you,” Iris said, with a frown, lowering her sword. Perhaps… This might be how she could get her to stand down. “And I can tell you still care about her. Otherwise… Why else would you flinch at the mention of her name?”
Ferham grit her teeth, “but she’s the enemy now!”
“She’s still the same person you fell in love with.”
“I won’t abandon everything I’ve fought for just for one person! It won’t all be in vain!”
“We never had a choice of what to fight for, until now. You don’t have to keep fighting for one side because of what you think is a sunk cost,” Iris smiled softly, “it’s okay, Ferham. You can-”
“SHUT UP!” Ferham screeched, and suddenly started lashing out with her whip, forcing Iris on the defensive, “I won’t listen to your pretty little lies or to the lies promised by that damn song! You’re living in a dream world, and sooner or later, you’ll have to wake up and face reality!”
Iris gasped as the whip suddenly coiled around her saber, and with a vicious pull it was yanked out of her hands, tossed aside well out of her reach. Ferham glared at her hatefully. “You can’t protect the things you love with mere platitudes. You hate violence so much, but violence is the only way to end this.”
Iris put her hands on Yamato, feeling its pull. She didn’t want to do this, but it seems she had no other choice. “Ferham… Don’t mistake me for a pacifist. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect the things I’ve grown to care for.”
“You’re seriously going to fight me with that old blade?” Ferham laughed, readying her whip, “are you really that desperate?”
Perhaps she was. But Iris decided the only option she had would be to draw upon the blade’s power, which was begging to be unleashed. She didn’t realise how big a mistake this would be.
An external instinct took over, as she lunged forward, drawing her blade and slashing in one clean strike, suddenly finding herself on the other side of Ferham.
Ferham snorted, turning around, “an impressive trick, but you still missed-”
Iris sheathed Yamato.
And then Ferham exploded in a burst of ink.
Ferham stumbled off the respawn point, disoriented and completely baffled. She was trying to process what just happened to her, and there was only one conclusion she could draw. But it was so unrealistic as to still be absolutely baffling. “WHAT THE %^&* WAS THAT?!”
The two soldiers guarding the respawn point flinched in surprise. It took a moment for one of them to gather the courage to actually inquire, “G-General Ferham?! What happened?!”
“You know that old samurai movie trope where the samurai slashes a few times and then the bad guys only fall apart when he sheathes his sword?” Ferham said, seething. “That just happened to me.”
The other soldier blinked. “Uh… Ma’am? How?”
“I DON’T KNOW!”
Artemis grinned as she watched Iris stand back up. “Iris, girl, that was SO COOL! How’d you pull that off?!”
“Practice,” Iris said simply, glancing at Artemis with a look that sent a shiver down her spine. Artemis thought she had simply been calm, but her expression was cold. “If you’ve got time to banter, then I assume the rest of the riff-raff have been cleared out?”
Artemis glanced at their teammates, who nodded - they’d already splatted the other elites. “Uh, yeah, we mopped them up just fine-”
Iris suddenly began walking out, “then we’re done here. We need to take out the other generals.”
“Wait, Iris, your saber-!” Artemis called out, but Iris just… Stormed out, leaving her Octo Saber on the ground.
“What the heck is up with her all of a sudden? She’s gotten all moody,” said Hinata.
Karlene nodded, “I don’t like it. Something wrong with her. Is it something to do with that sword…?”
Artemis decided to snatch up the Octo Saber, deactivate it, and put it on her back, feeling the armour’s magnetic backing keep the weapon from falling off, alongside Red Queen. As the three Inklings raced out of the room, it seemed like Iris suddenly was on the move without them. “Iris, slow down!”
“You’re the ones being too slow. I’ve got no patience for people who can’t get their act together quickly enough,” Iris said coldly.
“Iris, what’s gotten into you?!” Artemis snapped, “we’re your friends, why are you acting so… Abrasive?!”
“I’m the only one focused on the mission.”
As Artemis walked up beside Iris, something striking hit her as she looked into Iris’ eyes - they were blue. She looked down at Yamato, which Iris seemed to hold a bit too tightly. “Iris… The sword’s messing with your head. Give it to me, you can still use-”
“NO!” Iris snapped, her body suddenly sparking with electricity, causing Artemis to stumble back in shock. Iris was holding her head in one hand, her eye colour flickering between green and blue. “I… I’m sorry, but… I need it. We can talk about this after the mission is over, okay?”
Karlene nodded. She seemed as unsure about this as Artemis was, but she knew Iris might lash out even more if they pressed the matter. “Alright. But not a moment sooner, okay?”
Iris nodded, and kept walking, quickly regaining her posture. The way she walked was… Different.
Karlene pulled Artemis and Hinata together in a moving huddle, whispering, “Artemis, please tell me you’re not feeling anything odd from Red Queen, right?”
Now that Artemis thought about it… No. It just seemed like a fairly normal (if unique) sword. She shook her head. “If it’s trying to mess with my head, I sure as shell can’t tell.”
“Okay, good. Last thing we need is another one… Is Yamato trying to possess her? Is it haunted?” Hinata said… And grinned, “because that would be kinda dope, actually. We’re in an actual ghost story!”
“Hinata…” Karlene said sternly.
“Sorry, sorry.”
“Try not to antagonise Iris for the time being, girls,” Dr. Light advised over the comms. “That behaviour from her… Could it be that he actually…? Hmm. No point speculating for now. We might need Morrigan’s help on this one - she may have a better idea of what’s happening to Iris.”
“The other girls should be there soon, seems they’ve figured out how to recreate the effects of those black neck-bands,” said Cap’n Cuttlefish. “We’ll have this mission wrapped up soon.”
“Got it. Just keep us appraised of what’s going on,” Karlene nodded. “Let’s keep going, and keep an eye on Iris. Let’s hope she doesn’t get any worse.”
Axl kicked over a table as he dashed behind it, the ink from his father’s dualies crashing into the other side as he took cover, drops of ink splattering over the top and onto him. He took a few deep breaths, squatting and getting ready to move at any moment, listening for Red’s footsteps. Though, with the cacophony around them, that was somewhat challenging.
“Not bad, kiddo, I definitely taught you well,” Red chuckled, his footsteps moving over towards the table, “still, you’ve kinda got an unfair advantage with that fancy new Hero Suit of yours, so I guess these old toys ain’t gonna quite cut it. But I’ve got something that just might!”
Axl’s eyes widened, and he dodged away right before the table was sliced in half. He crouched, firing away at Red, who spun what appeared to be a double-sized beam scythe in his hands, deflecting some of the incoming ink. “This is somethin’ we cooked up using old man Wily’s tech! I always wanted something like this. Oh, and you can throw it like a boomerang, too!”
Axl was forced to dodge again as Red tossed the scythe with an underarm throw, spinning across the floor. He was about to fire again, but Red dashed for him, sending him tumbling with a strong kick to the head, “gotta be quicker than that, son!”
Axl groaned, rolling back onto his feet as Red caught the scythe, “why the shell are you acting so friendly to your enemy?! We both know how you feel about me!”
That actually gave Red pause, and he scratched his head, “really? News to me, I think.”
“Stop playing dumb!” Axl snapped, as he opened fire, strafing around Red and trying to get past his scythe with unpredictable rolls.
“Oooooh, I see how it is now. Man, that’s awkward,” Red sighed as he threw a Splat Bomb Axl’s way, forcing the younger Octoling to back off, “but talkin’ about it ain’t gonna do much good when emotions are runnin’ high. I’ve got my job to do, and you’ve got yours. We’ll talk after the dust has settled.”
“Oh, so now you’re done running yer trap, Pops?” Axl smirked, as he activated the canned special he had brought to this mission, which he hoped he wouldn’t need but he was now glad he did - an Autobomb Launcher. And he had an idea on how to use it.
“Oh, you’re just gonna pull out a Special and not one of your shapeshiftin’ tricks, boy?”
Axl said nothing - best not to spoil the surprise, he began firing autobombs around his father, moving to try and force him into a corner using both the bombs and his own shots. But Red began rolling a different direction. “Nice try, but you can’t seriously expect to corner me just by-”
Axl suddenly extended his leg using the ink around him, swinging it in the direction his dad was rolling towards. Red slashed through it, but the solidified ink still had enough momentum to slam right into him, bowling him over.
Red groaned as he quickly hopped back onto his feet… Only to be surrounded by Autobombs mere moments away from exploding. “Well. Squit.” His grin formed on his face, but the look he gave Axl was one of… Admiration and pride? “Your mother would be proud, kid.”
Red was splatted mere moments later, leaving Axl confused and with mixed feelings.
But then he realised that, while Liam and Koji were still fighting the rest of Red Alert… Orion and Lumine were nowhere to be found.
Orion grit his teeth as he dived into cover around the corner, barely avoiding Lumine’s next shot.
Their sniper duel had taken them right out of the room and into the corridors. Orion had to admit that Lumine was a skilled shot, and certainly more experienced. This was going to be a tough battle - Orion had to either win or hold out long enough for his allies to come help him. Either would do just fine, but having multiple win conditions was not making his hearts beat any slower.
Orion panted desperately as he charged up a shot-
“What do you see in my worthless brother, anyway?”
That caused Orion to freeze in place. No, ignore him, he’s just trying to psyche you out, Orion thought, as he leaned around the corner, aiming his Charger.
Some kind of large inky hand suddenly wrapped around the barrel, yanking with surprising strength, and pulling the weapon out of Orion’s hands.
Orion’s hearts stopped briefly as he heard Lumine’s charger click - he was holding down the trigger. He tossed the Hero Charger to the side, the huge inky hand around his off hand retracting but not dissolving. Orion stepped back as Lumine held him at gunpoint, smirking, “for a lowly Inkling, you’re rather cute. Did you get your body changed because you wanted to draw the attention of other boys?”
The insinuation was making Orion sick to his stomach. “N-No, I just felt more comfortable-”
“Hmph, I suppose it matters not,” Lumine said dismissively, shoving Orion into a wall with his off hand, keeping his Charger trained on him. “I never considered the idea of keeping an Inkling around as a concubine, but you would do nicely. Once we win, your kind would be little more than slaves, anyway, so you’d be lucky to be owned by a superior male like myself.”
Orion wanted to throw up on the spot. To think Axl’s brother was this much of a creep! He tried to maintain eye contact, gritting his teeth as he pondered options for his way out of this, but the perverted leering was only making him more terrified. It was Butch and Shinji all over again, and this time with a weapon, with nobody around to see or help him. Still, he tried to maintain a brave face. “What… ‘Superior male’…?! What the shell is your problem?!”
“My brother and I are mimic octopuses. We can take on any form we desire, manipulate ink as we see fit…” Lumine used his enlarged hand to suddenly grab both of Orion’s wrists, holding them above his head and pinning them to the wall. Lumine lowered the charger, presumably because Orion was now seemingly helpless. “Even compared to our fellow Octolings, we’re superior. And when it comes to you indolent Inklings, well… There’s no real comparison.”
He bent down to Orion’s level, “I’ll allow you and your friends to live… If you submit to me and become my lover. Return with me to the domes as my prize.”
Orion’s eyes widened. His hearts were beating uncontrollably, and he could barely breathe. Is this what it was like to be objectified? To be treated like some prize to be won, a piece of eye candy? And the notion of being someone else’s slave for their sexual gratification…
The idea was so revolting that instinct immediately kicked in and Orion slammed his knee right into Lumine’s gut, completely knocking the wind out of him and causing him to loosen his grip on Orion’s wrists. Orion then bent down and swung his fist upwards, for the strongest Shoryuken he could muster, sending Lumine flying into the air. “Give up my freedom to become your sex slave?! Yeah, how about NO, you creep?!”
The moment Orion landed, he made a mad dash for his Hero Charger, barely ducking a wild midair shot from from Lumine, who, from the corner of his eye, looked absolutely livid. “YOU LITTLE…! Fine, then! I’ll just take you back by force! I’m sure you’ll come around once I’ve had my way with you enough times!”
No no no no no ignore him. Orion snatched the Charger off the floor, and began charging up again, but he noticed that Lumine was preparing another shot, and would probably shoot first. Orion didn’t want to take the chance of how well his suit could hold up against a fully charged shot.
So he took a gamble. Orion rolled to the side - he had been practising the move with his charger a bit since the last time he did it - and this time he more elegantly rolled over his shoulder, dodging the shot that surged past him, and landed on one knee, his sight coming down onto Lumine’s body.
Lumine’s eyes widened, “how did-”
BANG.
Orion took a deep breath as Lumine exploded into ink. He fell back onto his rump, taking a moment to calm down. He actually won.
“ORI!” Axl came racing over, kneeling at Orion’s side. Liam and Koji were close behind. “You okay? Lumine didn’t give you a hard time, did he?”
“If by that you mean ‘tried to pressure me into being his sex slave’, yeah, he did,” Orion said honestly with a groan, as Axl helped him up. “I’m okay, though. I’m still trying to get used to dealing with the attention of creeps like him.”
“I wish you didn’t have to do, dude,” Liam said, “Axl, your brother’s a jackass, just saying.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re preaching to the choir here, Boss,” snorted Koji. “Let’s just get moving. Ori, watch our backs, okay?”
Orion nodded. Having his teammates with him at a time like this, well… Nothing else made him feel more at ease.
Ethan stormed into the lab - with Ayane handling Botos and his goons outside, it was up to him to disable Gate’s machine.
“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that it’d be you, Agent 3,” said Gate, still watching from the observation room. “But once I’ve made my adjustments, you and your friends will be just as helpless as before!”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed, and he rushed for the seemingly inactive device, “well, I guess I’ll just have to shut this thing down before you can-” however, he stopped moments away as the machine surged with electricity. He covered his eyes, wincing, but he couldn’t help but notice the core of it - was that a sword?
Gate laughed, “I wouldn’t touch it if I were you! Lest you potentially get trapped in swim form PERMANENTLY! Are you willing to make that sacrifice? Of course, you might just end up getting splatted outright before you make any real difference!”
Ethan grit his teeth, “Gate, you coward…”
Gate only laughed harder. However, his mirth was quickly disrupted by something small and black jumping up onto the console in front of him, and doing something to it that Ethan couldn’t see, before leaping away. Gate snarled as he prepared to undo what the creature just did, only for the microphone to move of its own volition and smack him in the face. “GAH! You furry little…!”
Ethan noticed the machine had powered down. Now was his chance.
He grabbed the black handle of the sword, his fingers taking note of the oddly natural texture - the whole sword looked and felt like solidified lava. Even the edges, despite being sharp as steel and just as shiny, looked like what refined lava would be, somehow, and the red jewel on the pommel was smooth in a natural way, and handguard looked like a set of four talons. He noticed there wasn’t a locking mechanism, so he pulled as hard as he could.
The sword came loose, sliding out of its-
-and then the machine suddenly roared to life again, causing Ethan to scream in pain as he send flying across the room from being struck by the electricity, thanking his lucky stars that his Hero Suit seemed to absorb nearly all of it. He crashed into the wall, groaning.
And then, moments later, he felt a pain in his gut.
He looked down. The sword had gone right through his abdomen. “Oh squit.”
Zero had to admit, Scarface was a surprisingly capable adversary, despite not being a robot. Sure, the weapon and the augmented armour set helped, but he had clearly been practising with that beam lance almost religiously, and he had a warrior’s instincts. Zero was the one mainly fighting him, while X, Callie and Marie mostly handled his subordinates.
“Heh, gotta say, you’re pretty good,” Zero remarked as his saber and the lance clashed.
“Likewise. I’ve been eager to clash with Wily’s final creation, ever since you surfaced,” Scarface chuckled.
“X, Zero, one of you needs to go help Agent 3! He’s managed to disable Gate’s machine, but he’s badly hurt!” Cap’n Cuttlefish said, “he should’ve respawned by now, but… The effects of the machine must be interferin’ with the connection to the respawn point!”
“Zero, I’ll go help Agent 3! Just hold the line!” X nodded, as he dashed away. Both of them had cans of healing spray on hand, but X could teleport Ethan out if needed.
That caused Scarface to back off. It seemed that surprised him. “What? What’s going on? What’s happened to Ethan?”
“Agent 3’s badly hurt thanks to Gate’s machine, and he’s not able to respawn,” Callie said. “X should be able to heal him, but…”
That gave Scarface some pause. “I’ll let X go. Letting Ethan die at all, let alone like this… It’s not right.”
There was one detail that Zero didn’t overlook. “So you two are on first name basis, then?”
Scarface snorted, “we’re rivals, of course we are. We respect each other as proud warriors. I’ve lost track of the number of times we’ve fought over the last two years. Still…” He raised his beam lance, “that doesn’t mean a ceasefire is in effect, Zero.”
“Yeah, should’ve figured as much. That’s fine, we’re not backing down, either,” Marie smirked.
Zero grinned, as he and Scarface clashed once more, “fine by me! Show me what you’ve really got!”
