Agent 38: In The Making

Chapter 2: The Savage One

Agent 3 woke up with his hands firmly tied together, the rope looped around a metal pole in the wall, so he was suspended a foot or two over the ground. His eyes darted around, and he spotted the freed Octoling. His mind flashed back to a memory of Cap'n Cuttlefish telling him how the Calamari Inkantation freed thousands of Octolings' minds when he was fighting Octavio and the Squid Sisters played their song.
     The female Octoling was on a metal board that somehow stood up as straight as a pole. Her wrists were cuffed to said metal board, and her head hung limply. There were also two neon yellow hospital bands on her arm and leg. He guessed she was still unconscious, given the beating that she took from him (For some odd reason, he felt bad about that) and the blow to the head from the Splatling, but couldn't tell since her tentacles were covering her face.
     He looked around. From what Three could guess, he was in a lab, or a hospital of some sort. Broken hospital beds were scattered along the floor, with bags full of teal green liquid laying on or near them. All he could smell was hand sanitizer, and if cold had a smell, he was almost positive that this is what it would smell like. Everything was almost pitch black, so he had to strain his eyes to see the little details of everything. All of a sudden, a pillar of bright light shone on the floor, spreading out and blinding him temporarily, so he slammed his eyes shut.
     Once he opened them, he realized that there was one of those weird looking Octolings holding him gently by the chin. His tentacles were mostly shaved off, except for one that curled in front of his face. Instead of the Octoling Shades, he had no eyewear. One thing that sent shivers through his body, though, was that this Octoling's eyes were a pitch black all the way through, except for his pupils, which were a teal green. Three glared at him, narrowing his eyes.
     The Octoling smirked. "You should be a perfect test subject. Strong, healthy..." He then turned his head to the Octoling, who was still out cold. "She should be, too. Hm. Then again, we've never sanitized an Inkling, so you might turn out a bit different. I say, you are a savage one, aren't you? You were jerking around like a fish out of water."
     Sanitized? Oh. That must be why they look so weird. They've done... something to themselves. He thought. I wonder if it makes them stronger, or what benefits it gives.
     Three tried to add as much fury as possible to his glare, hopefully intimidating him. "Get this rope off me and I'll show you just how 'savage' I am." The 'Sanitized' Octoling frowned at him. Agent 3 examined him, eyeing his coat.
     The tag read: "Dr. Ryu Tin, Head Scientist of Sanitization Process."
     Sanitization process? What did that mean? The Dr suddenly turned his back to him, his coat wooshing, and started click-clacking away on a computer that seemed to appear out of nowhere. He looked up, and silently started swinging his legs, gaining momentum, and swung the rope off the pole, landing with a near-silent thump. Agent 3 twisted his hands inward, and the rope slipped off and thumped on the floor. He stared around the room for a minute, trying to find an escape route. There was a vent near the floor that he could probably squeeze through, but Ryu might notice him. He picked up the rope and quietly crept towards the doctor.
     With a swift move of his hands, he knocked Ryu to the floor, tied his hands behind his back, and crouched down with a smug smirk, meeting his eyes.
     "Told you." Three looked around for something to tie his mouth with, but before he could, the Doctor suddenly screamed.
     "GUARDS!" Ryu yelled, crazed panic and fear in his pitch black eyes. "TURN ON THE FLOODING SYSTEM!"
     With a loud screech, two hidden vents suddenly opened, and started producing water. It quickly started flooding the ground beneath them, and he rushed over to the Octoling. Her head still hung and her eyes were still closed, but small beads of sweat dripped off her face, mixing into the water. He shoved his hands in his pockets and searched through them until he found what he wanted: A paperclip. Three bent it so it was straight, then jammed it into the lock on one of the cuffs.
     "Right... left... up... and down." He fiddled with one of the locks until it clicked open, but her other hand was still locked in the other cuff. He looked down. The water was already to his knees. A wave of panic suddenly rushed through him, but he remembered that as long as the water wasn't higher than his neck, he'd be fine. (I said I'd take creative freedom, didn't I?)
     As he tried to unlock the other cuff, the Octoling shook her head, looked up, and started struggling, trying to get her other hand out of the cuff. Her free arm swung around like a whip, and she smacked him with it a few times.
     "Hey!" He yelled, batting her arm away. "It's me! Relax!" She whipped her head around to look at him, and a look of relief washed through her face.
     "Oh my cod." She whispered. "Sorry- I thought you were one of the green Octarians." He shook his head, and she paused for a second. "Why are you saving me?"
     He unlocked the other cuff and grabbed her hand, wading over to the vent.
     "Because," He said. "You saved my life. I owe you. What's your name?"
     "Commander Sarai. I mean, just Sarai." She answered, her voice soft yet fierce and demanding. "Yours?"
     "Alexander. Call me Alex."
     Three looked up at the vent just as loud alarms started to blare around them, and flashing red lights started pulsing around the room. He pointed to the chair and Sarai climbed up on it, punched the grate open, and slipped in. He followed her, accidentally hitting his head on the top of the vent.
     He couldn't exactly say why he'd taken the girl with him, but he had an odd feeling that something important would happen, and it would have something to do with her. And frankly, he'd rather be on the side with the good Octoling than the bad ones.
     They awkwardly crawled through the vent, side by side, until Sarai pointed out another vent that had ground beneath it. She opened it up, jumped down, and beckoned for him to follow.
     Three hit the floor with a grunt, and they both sat down, staring at each other. Eventually, he looked around and realized that they were completely lost.
     Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. His ink ran cold. Those were the sounds of fooststeps.
    "Hide," Sarai whispered, panic in her voice. They both slid into a cramped dark corner where, hopefully, nobody would see them. Alex realized that Sarai was pressed against him, her heartbeats hammering through her body into his. The footsteps came so close that he thought they might have been two inches away. Suddenly, a cold, firm hand gripped around his leg and pulled him out into the light.
    "Give me the Octoling or I will take her by force." Said the sanitized Octarian. She wore the Octoling Shades, fingerless gloves, a crop top that had shiny metal plates woven onto it, a skirt, and black high heels. His brain immediately thought of something and his mouth decided to blurt it out without checking for any confirmation.
     "Never." He spat, standing up.
     "Then you leave me no choice." Said the Octarian. She kicked him hard in the stomach, and he hit the wall, gasping for air. He saw as Sarai ran over to the Octarian and put her hands up, a desperate look on her face.
     "Take me!" She said, turning to look at Three. "Don't hurt him."
     "Sarai," He said. "Don't-"
     "Alex, I'll be fine." She said, cutting him off.
     "No, you won't." Said the Octarian. Suddenly, she grabbed Sarai by the neck, raised her up, and slammed her through the floor. A gaping hole was left and he heard glass cracking, clattering, screams, and footsteps as Sarai fell through the ground and the Octarian walked away. He sat there, crouched over the hole, in utter and complete shock. Sudden anger and rage washed over him.
     I'm getting her back, He thought. No matter what.

Word count: 1481
Thank you for taking the time to read this! Chapter 3 on it's way! (Btw, writer's block might be getting to me, so be patient because the next chapters might not come out so quick.)