Black Hybrids ~The 38 Saga's 4th Book~

Chapter 9: The New Divide In The Squidbeak Splatoon

Initiative roll? An 18... Looks like I'm writing and publishing another chapter now, so enjoy! Also, we have side plot left right and centre that I will be adding, so be aware of that!

-Callie's POV- (Well well well, the return of plot point Callie. I believe the last time she really had some halfway decent plot was the first book, so she kind of deserves plot! (She's only ever really mentioned, but never really has anything big to be a part of like the first book, so we are giving her that chance again!))

"What the--" It was the day after Eight had been sent on the mission to retrieve his siblings, and we hadn't had any contact with him since he left. He said he would contact us as soon as he had found Tori and Tobi, yet it never happened, and the only message we had received was...

Echo India Golf Hotel Tango: --Signal Lost--

It had just come through, a message that no one wanted to see. 

Eight was missing...

And of course, it had to happen a few days after we had received some insight into who our enemy was. 

Yet, this wasn't the only downside. Mari's leg was getting worse, she was going to go out of commission if we couldn't stop the sanitization spreading; Pearl had been missing after her argument with Mari, which caused Mari to question her position as the leader--was telling her to join her boyfriend what she really wanted? Or was it only what was on her mind at the time? She had only just recently transferred leadership over to me (She did it yesterday after 8s assignment explanation); Sonia had been starting to experience some sort of issues, recurring headaches and flashes of memories from the time she was corrupted. Something was happening, yet none of us could tell what was causing it. The rest of the NSS was away, committed to their own lives which we had told them to go about for now, yet, I feel as if it was the wrong thing to do. 

As the acting leader of the Squidbeak Splatoon, was I really doing the right thing? 

Between Mari taking in and training the twins, the disappearance of members, issues that could compromise our main goal of defeating the new evil... 

Was I really the right one to act as leader?

Sighing, I stand up from the radio desk and move to the centre of the room, brushing the seat that gramps used to sit in, now belonging to Agent 2, Marie. "Am I doing the right thing, Gramps?" Even though it had been so many years since he had passed in the very battle that I took control over, I still looked back and asked him for advice, thinking I'd get an answer even though I knew I never would. I actually still have one of his hats on my desk in my room. 

"Do you think... The SS is falling apart? After all this time, is this the mission that splits us all apart?" 

"I don't know Cal, maybe it is. After all, all these issues have to impact us somehow. We may have survived just over 15 years, but everyone cracks at some point, right? It's just natural. At some point the facades and acts will break, and so will we. Everyone has a breaking point, and maybe we've reached that as a team, but we'll never know 'till it happens. It's a waiting game--when will it happen, and who will be the cause? 14 years we've had a break for, but this could be the point where it gets tiring; this could be the point where the agents argue about what to do next and the time we go our separate ways." I turn around to see Mari leant up against a wall, her pale green leg and upper right arm contrasting the rest of her as it continued to slowly make its way up her body. "It could also be a mission that strengthens us afterwards though. We could split apart, but we are a team, after all, we'll all come back together no matter what. We are linked by our pasts, our partners, our families, our interests and who we are as people." A smile breaks on my face, a slight laugh coming out after she stops. "You continue to amaze me, Mari, no one could be a better leader than you, even if you have stepped down this time around." "I feel like I made a good choice passing leadership onto you this time around. You did well last time you were the acting leader, so you'll do a good job this time as well."