Chapter Text
“Listen up! It’s going down… Repping the Splatlands, we are DEEP CUT!”
“Anarchy Splatcast! We’re live!”
“Ay! (Here we go!)”
“You lip-sync, we drip ink…”
“Ay, Ay, Ay! (Shiver, Frye, and Big Man!)”
The broadcast started like normal, the energy of the three members of Deep Cut was palpable. Eight enjoyed this. Not long after moving into her new apartment with Three (there was a new agent Three, but it was hard to stop thinking of her partner without their old codename), the couple had decided to take the next step together, the two of them had taken up the habit of watching the announcements from Splatsville’s idols every afternoon.
Despite how much she enjoyed Deep Cut, Eight could not help but find that her hearts ached when watching them. For her, no one would ever do the announcements better than Pearl and Marina; she assumed that Three had a similar feeling regarding the Squid Sisters.
As the pair sat down, Three extended their arm and pulled Eight closer. Sometimes, they needed no words with each other. A simple action was all it took. The octoling curled up and let herself be hugged by her partner. In a comfortable position, they continued watching the news broadcast.
“Ay! Ayayay! (Hot off the press! We are here with super-big news!)”, Eight thought Big Man’s behavior was unusual. She hadn’t talked a lot with the manta, Marie and Three were the ones that interacted with Deep Cut the most. Regardless, she knew that he was not acting like always, his expressions were sometimes exaggerated to play off his bandmates’ energy, this was different. His pupils were too dilated, and there was a slight shaking; she couldn’t help but praise Big Man, most wouldn’t be able to look past his acting. Eight was the exception, with a partner as shy and apparently emotionless as Three, reading small details in expressions and body language had become one of her fortes. What disturbed the octoling was, that behind those signs, Big Man looked sincerely afraid.
“Are you OK, big guy? You look paler than normal!”, Frye appeared to be trying to calm her bandmate with the joke.
“Yeah, what’s got those fins in a twist, Big Man?”, Shiver said in their usual sarcastic tone, but their eyes told a different story. She seemed to be trying to assess the situation, preparing on how to react.
“Ay! (I’ve just received shocking info for us to report on, shook me up a bit)”
“Oh, are we to prepare for the new Big Run? Where have the Salmonids come to visit now? We need to know where the welcome committee will meet them”, by bringing up Big Run, Shiver had caught the attention of those watching. Eight was impressed, in one swift move they had united the audience with the promise of an event that involved all of Splatsville.
“I’m so SO ready! Needed to stretch a bit, boss Ma- I mean, last Splatfest left me exhausted and needing to release some pressure”, Eight heard Three sigh heavily as Frye almost let slip Marie’s name, again. However, her lighthearted comment balanced perfectly with Big Man’s mood. The octoling was sure she was trying to soften whatever blow was about to come.
“Ayayayayay! (Nonono! Guys, this is something else. We’ve received footage from Mahi-Mahi Resort related to an incident that occurred over there a few hours ago. We’ve been asked to play it. It is important to note that what we’re about to show is a bit disturbing, so viewer discretion is advised)”.
“That serious, huh? Well, Frye, let’s stop with the jokes then”.
“Got it Shiv. Well, Big Man, roll the tape”.
“Ay… (This is your last warning, here we go…)”, once again, Eight was impressed. She had heard of the trio’s teamwork as bandits from Three. They had said that despite how… Quirky (Three had not used that kind of a word) they could be, when they worked together, Deep Cut was a powerful team. Eight thought she was getting a glimpse into it. Not only was the trio balancing each other to keep calm, but they also kept the audience’s attention without inducing panic about whatever would come next. They still weren’t like Off the Hook, though, at least to her.
Eight was about to get lost in melancholic thoughts when the camera movement brought her back. With a short left pan and a zoom-in, everyone was seeing the television that sat in front of Big Man. Nothing could have prepared the octoling for what she was about to see.
The footage wasn’t of great quality, it was very shaky and blurry. It was clear that it was a civilian that was recording it, the heavy and scared breaths that could be heard confirmed that as well. It appeared that whoever was behind the camera was trying to hide in a bush on the outskirts of Mahi-Mahi Resort, probably the jungle-like foliage that had been planted by the hotel staff. The phone camera slowly zoomed in on… Something. It looked like an octoling, but the tentacles were too long, and the skin had a sickly coloration, it was a mix of green and grey. The creature appeared to be chasing a group of inkfish tourists. It moved erratically. Despite standing on two legs, its motions were unnatural, almost rigid at some points. It was almost like seeing a possessed doll from those terrifying horror movies Four loved to watch.
After the group of cephalopods was out of the thing's range, it stopped and started searching for new “prey”, Eight could only describe the behavior as hunting. It would slowly turn its head, searching for any movement. In a terrible stroke of luck for whoever was behind the camera, they didn’t see a dry palm leaf and crushed it with their full weight. In shocking fashion, the creature violently turned its head towards the camera. While its figure still wasn’t clear, the phone did manage to catch the sickening crack of flesh tearing as the movement had been too fast for the thing’s body and skin. Eight expected the “zombie” to fall, the sound indicated that the head wouldn’t be held by the neck for much longer. However, it kept moving. It slowly began to approach the camera. The heavy breathings of the cameraperson were starting to drown any other sounds, they were only interrupted by the occasional whisper of “oh fuck, oh shit”, “what is that?”, or “please, cod, I don’t want to die”. If the experience was as horrifying for Eight, she couldn’t imagine what the cephalopod must have gone through.
For a moment, it seemed the sick creature had lost its prey. The camera still focused on it and showed that it appeared to be smelling (although Eight wasn’t sure of it) for its lost target. After a few minutes, it turned around and began to leave. A heavy exhale was heard accompanied by the words “I’m safe, it’s leaving”. The creature was lost among the dense foliage. The cameraperson crouched and began to silently walk, they were still recording. Eight began to wonder why the footage hadn’t been cut, it was clearly over.
“Hey, Three, what do you think-”
“Wait”, they interrupted dryly. “it is not over yet. I saw something move behind the trees. The thing may look like it is moving on instinct, but it can still think. It is luring whoever is behind the camera”.
Eight hadn’t gone on a mission recently, she felt she may have started to get a bit rusty. Although, few creatures could compete with Three when their full attention was on something. What worried Eight was that behind the serious expression, she could tell that her partner was nervous. When they weren’t calm, it stressed her out, what could have them, of all inklings, in such a state? Eight grabbed Three’s hand, she could see how their knuckles were starting to turn white.
Her eyes returned to the television; she could feel her hearts in her throat. The camera was shaking violently, it was clear that the one behind it was losing the adrenaline rush and the fear was starting to set in. As Three had said, the thing hadn’t abandoned its target, it was merely waiting. In the top right corner of the shot, she could see it hanging from one of the trees. It had climbed and was laying almost flat on it. Cephalopods didn’t have bones, as such, they could tie or flatten themselves on many surfaces to use them as hiding places (even without transforming into squid or octopus form). The risk of this was that their relatively soft skin would get damaged if the surface was too rough. This thing was ignoring that rule. It was unnatural how flat it was; its body should have been in much pain. That went beyond hurting its skin, it had to be crushing its organs.
Eight saw the moment it jumped for the camera. She closed her eyes. There was a loud crash and the video cut out just as the one behind the recording started to scream for help. The octoling was terrified, she could feel each of her heartbeats. She had also tensed her muscles and had just realized how tight she must have been hugging Three. Her partner hadn’t complained at all.
“And that is where the video ends.” Shiver was the first to react to having the camera back on Deep Cut. Frye had a shocked and disturbed expression. Big Man looked sick and on the verge of tears.
“Yeah, we don’t want to share too much nightmare fuel,” Frye tried to lighten the mood again, despite looking deeply disturbed.
“Ay (I’m being told to show just one more frame)”, Big Man did not look excited to do that.
The camera once again focused on the television. The image displayed was a freeze frame from when the creature had jumped. Eight felt her hearts sink, she also heard Three’s hard and surprised inhale. The creature was definitely an octoling, Eight reevaluated her previous image. The tentacles were indeed longer, they were colored a deep blue. Some also looked about to fall off from the octopus’ head. She held her stomach back from barfing as she could see under one of the tentacles into the muscles and sinew of the octoling, she prayed that the pulsating pink mass of flesh was not the thing’s brain. The body was in a terrible state as well. The skin did retain its green-grey look from before, but now that there was more detail, she could see the many wounds and scabs that covered it. The neck had clearly been damaged and some tissue had been torn. It was a mortal wound, and yet, the thing was still alive; Eight could see the bruising and some disturbing neon green liquid being released from the wound. She was also perturbed by the fact that such violent trauma had left not that big of a mark, had it regenerated somehow?
The last two details she caught almost made Eight have a panic attack: its clothes and eyes. It couldn’t be… It was wearing octarian combat gear; she could immediately identify the leather boots and gloves, as well as the metal breastplate. Everything looked terrible, parts were rusted or torn. It was in such a miserable state, but Eight could still recognize it. Finally, its eyes. The sclera was black, the iris had the same sickly green coloration as the liquid oozing out from the wounds. She could only see the left one. The source of Eight’s terror came from what covered the right. The creature had clearly been wearing a pair of shades, they had probably received the same treatment as its uniform and that was why they had snapped, leaving only one side. They could pass as normal sunglasses with a red rim except for the fact that, centered on where the eye should be, there was a piercing red light emanating. How could Eight forget such a sight? That could only be a sanitized octoling. There was no way for it to exist, and yet she was seeing one with her own two eyes. It had been nearly five years since she had escaped that cursed and torturous place. Five years since Pearl, Marina, Mr. Cuttlefish (the habit of calling him Captain had been hard to break, but she couldn’t help adding the “Mr.” when referring to him), Three, and she had defeated the demented Commander Tartar. She thought she was free, she thought that only in a few nightmares would she have to relive those horrors. It appeared that had been too wishful of her.
She looked at Three, their expression was probably similar to hers. They had gotten pale; they had released Eight and their hands were fidgeting. They were probably not even registering what their body was doing, the left hand started to clutch one of their tentacles, and the right one reached for the scar on their face. Those two were a burden Three had had to live with, they were a reminder of how they had lost themselves after being brainwashed. The Squid Sisters, Eight, and even Four had told them that it wasn’t their fault, that there was no way to predict that that would happen. Despite it, Eight knew Three still blamed themselves. Three’s eyes suddenly recovered some of their light and they looked at Eight worriedly.
“I was about to ask for anything that would tell me I’m wrong, I was silently praying for it. Your expression tells me everything. It is what I think, no?” Their tone indicated that deep inside they still wished to be incorrect about their assumption.
“Nothing would make me happier…” she said despondently, “but you are absolutely right. Old ghosts coming to haunt us, no matter how much we tried to leave them behind”.
“At least your poetic vein hasn’t run dry,” Three tried to give a reassuring smile, but their eyes betrayed them.
As silence began to envelop them, the pair realized that the broadcast was still continuing.
“-access is then prohibited. Please, keep your safety in mind, and don’t try to break in just to have fifteen seconds of fame. Believe me, your life is not worth that,” Frye appeared to be pleading to the audience.
“Indeed, Mahi-Mahi Resort has now been closed off for the public while this is being investigated. Those in the hotel are already being relocated to avoid any more danger. Until further notice, the stage shall be removed from the rotation. Do not worry, it should be back soon,” Shiver gave more details and appeared to be appealing to the rationale of the audience.
“Ay! (Please take care! Avoid the area and contact anyone you might know was there. Stay together and be safe! We shall also provide a helpline for you to report any sightings of other creatures like the one in the video.)” Big Man finished by giving material solutions, the three of them did have great teamwork when push came to shove.
“And that’s it for now… From Splatsville that’s a wrap.”
“Catch ya later!” The three stood up and did their usual pose. It would have probably been relaxing if it wasn’t for their worried expressions. Even then, they were trying so hard to not break and incite panic in their audience. They act tough, but they are deeply caring, Three thought.
The broadcast ended with the Deep Cut logo appearing and their jingle began to play. It went longer as the helpline that Big Man mentioned flashed on the screen, there were some warnings against prank callers but Eight didn’t bother reading them. She could barely concentrate on not panicking. Too many things were going on inside her head: she was terrified, she was worried for those at Mahi-Mahi, she wanted to know if she could talk to the one behind the camera (reports from an eye-witness were better without any filters), she wanted to hug and calm Three down, she wanted Three to do the same to her, she didn’t know if she should contact Pearl and Marina or the Squid Sisters. All her thoughts started to slowly condense into the one question she didn’t want to ask, “Do we have to go back?”. The mere thought of it made her shiver. It hadn’t taken her all that effort just to willingly go back into that hell. However, was there anyone else who could? Three was the obvious choice, but she was not sacrificing them. Four also came to mind, but they were busy, and she didn’t feel like traumatizing one of her closest friends. Neo Three (as she had grown to refer to the new agent Three) and Smallfry were quite the powerful duo, but she was not exposing someone that young to such an experience.
With her list of options getting shorter and shorter, she could only reach one conclusion. There was no one on the surface with as much experience on the Deepsea Metro as she. The octoling had experienced many of its challenges and she knew how it operated. She knew what to take and what to avoid. Without Tartar, the place should not be as dangerous. However, there was no way to tell how much five years would have affected the things in that testing facility.
“I know what I must do,” it surprised the pair of inkfish to hear each other say the exact same phrase.
“Go ahead,” Eight said softly, “as long as it doesn’t involve a plan of going to the Metro by yourself”.
“I could say the same to you. I know those eyes.”
“You can’t go!”
“You can’t either! I’m not putting you in danger!”
“And your great solution is to put yourself in danger?” Eight rarely used sarcasm, it was more Pearl and Marie’s tool. She couldn’t help herself this time.
“What? I’ve been doing it since I’m fourteen.”
“I’ve done it since I was younger. Trained by the octarian military, remember?”
“And need I remind you who beat said military?”
Three rarely looked smug. It was adorable to see how they tried to show off for her. She loved the squid to death. That was why she couldn’t bring herself to letting them go.
“Very well, we will discuss it later. You will probably have to talk about it with the New New Squidbeak Splatoon, I would like to be there. You have to admit no one can beat me when it comes to knowledge of that place,” she wanted to avoid even mentioning the place again.
“How much I would give for you not to be… I will contact everyone; we’ll probably meet tomorrow. Might as well get in touch with your moms, they are also versed on the topic.”
Eight could feel the heat reach her cheeks and her ears. She always blushed when people called Pearl and Marina her moms. Octarians were not that used to parental figures, being born from a tentacle led to that. However, Off the Hook had given her a home and a family shortly after she had been brought into the light. She couldn’t help but agree with those who referred to them as such, but it still made her a little ashamed.
“Have I ever told you red suits you?”
“Meanie. I’ll hug you during the meeting tomorrow, we’ll see who gets redder”.
The pair began to laugh. They needed it after such an experience. The sounds of happiness resounded through the apartment. They had barely moved here. They had wanted to take the next step in their relationship. The place wasn’t big, but it wasn’t shabby either. It was home. Eight loved it, she loved being here with Three. All of that was at risk now. She felt the space get bigger and bigger, almost engulfing her. She was nervous. She didn’t want to go back down, she had climbed out twice, would she have to do so a third time?
Her thoughts were interrupted when Three’s cellphone began to ring.
“Oh, looks like Marie beat me to the punch”.
Three answered without even looking at their phone. “Hel-,” they were interrupted by a cacophony of screams. They had to push the cellphone away to make sure the ones on the other side didn’t bow their ear out. Eight could hear the combined force of Deep Cut trying to ask their own questions all at the same time. She could only hear bits and pieces.
“Hey, boss Marie’s boss, what the fuck was that?!”
“Wasn’t all of this weirdness stopped by the kid when they went after Grizz?!”
“Ay?! Ay! (Are we all going to be ok?! Our turf can’t be unsafe if we are to loot it!)”
More shouting was done by the energetic and intense voice, the cold and calculating one, and the kind and worried one. After a few minutes of intensity from the trio (and no answer from the inkling), Three said:
“Are you done?”
“ARE WE DONE?!”
“Look, I don’t know what the situation is. I may have an inkling of an idea, but I’ll present it to everyone tomorrow. We’re meeting in the camp at Alterna. See you there”.
“Yes, boss Marie’s boss!” Eight heard the chorus answer Three. After that, they hung up. The octoling couldn’t help but giggle as she saw her partner sigh exhaustedly.
“Well, it looks like tomorrow will be a busy day, right Captain?”
“It seems like it will agent Eight, ready to get back in the game?”
“Not really, but there’s not much option.”
“Yeah… Me neither. Let’s go to bed, that may clear our heads.”
“Might as well, I don’t trust the ideas my brain may come up with right now. Could you… Cuddle me as we sleep? I don’t want to feel alone, tonight of all nights especially.”
“Of course, you don’t have to be anymore. I’m here for you,” Three said kissing Eight’s forehead.
As the pair laid down, Eight wrapped in Three’s arms, moonlight began to seep into their room. Eight hoped that at least tonight she’d have sweet dreams, after the day’s revelations, she needed them. Afraid at first, but comforted by the steady breathing of her partner, Eight began to close her eyes. Soon after, she was deep in slumber.