Agent 38: In The Making

Chapter 12: Pain and Regret

Agent 3 had been given a male RockWing that Emerald called Pheonix. This might've been because Pheonix's body was dotted with orange crystals, but he didn't bother to ask. He'd told Emerald that he had to leave and find Cuttlefish and Sarai, and that he'd come back someday, if he was welcome. Emerald told him that he'd always be welcome, and that they were in the third level of the seven levels if he wanted to visit. She'd sent him along with a pouch full of what she called "Protein crystals", because apparently their diet consisted of the crystals that kept them alive and away from the sanitization effects. She'd also given him an orange crystal that apparently had the soul of his bird in it, and Pheonix would form if he was near any type of rock and pulled it out.
     He was on the first level again, running along the glowing pathway where he fell through the roof only a day earlier. At some point, he got tired, and stopped to take a break and eat some of the crystals. They were a surprisingly good flavor, the pink crystals of bubblegum, and the blue ones of blueberry. They weren't very chewy, almost like rock candy, so he had to lick them to eat them. After a few minutes of licking, he put them back in the small pouch and kept walking.
     Beep.
     Three paused and listened, straining his ears. Beep beep. Beep beep. Beep beep. The noise kept getting louder and louder, and he felt a vibration in his pocket.
     He pulled out the CQ-80 device and read the words on the small screen. It read:
DISTRESS SIGNAL INCOMING.
     Distress signal!? That couldn't be good, especially if it was from the other CQ-80!
Agent 3 ran along the glowing path until he saw what looked to be a damaged part of the roof. As he was running, he tucked the device in his pocket and lunged for the damaged area with a flying kick, and sure enough, he hurtled right through it.
     Three put his arms up in an "X" shape, blocking most of the flying shards of glass. Still, they ripped at his legs and sliced at his face. For the millisecond that he was still conscious, he saw Sarai and Cuttlefish in a giant blender, banging on the glass furiously as the blades lowered down to their heads.
     There was a brief moment of curiosity in his mind, and then he smashed into the blender. The last thing he heard was Cuttlefish's voice saying, "Holy mackerel-we made it?!" And then everything went dark, and the roaring in his ears drowned everything out.

*Brief Cap'n Cuttlefish POV*
     The old squid waited beside Agent 3, chills running down his spine (I'm part of the crowd that believes that Cuttlefish, Marie and Callie are cuttlelings, and cuttlefish have bones, so I'm declaring that they have bones). The Inkling's hand twitched, and he heard a near-slient groan. Cuttlefish turned towards Agent 3 just as the Telephone began to speak.
     "Y... you... YOU!" It yelled. "YOU MEASLY SCRAP OF SEAFOOD! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" Suddenly, a crowd of Sanitized Octarians burst into the Central Station, and tentacles sprouted from several of the Elite Octarians' backs. One of them snatched Agent 3 with her tentacles, and another held some sort of teal green goop dripping from her tentacle. Agent 3 was fully awake now, struggling and grunting, trying to escape it's grip and biting at the tentacle. The Octoling with the goo then lathered it onto Agent 3's face, and agonized screaming suddenly filled the room, echoing off the walls. It sounded like a million people yelling at once, like a massacre was happening. It sounded like the battlefield when the Inklings charged towards the Octolings, letting out vicious battle cries.
     "Whaaaa?!" Cuttlefish yelled. "Telephone! What are you doing to Agent 3?!"
     The Octolings dropped him and retired back into the shadows as the Inkling cried out in pain. After a moment, the screams slowed to resisting grunts, which then halted to silence as Agent 3 stood up, eyes glowing teal green, and grabbed Cuttlefish by the neck.
     "Number 10,008," Agent 3 said in the telephone's voice. "Why are you associating with these superflous nobodies?"
     "GYAAAAAAAAAAH!"
*Ending of Cap'n Cuttlefish POV*

     It was rather unpleasant, waking up to tentacles firmly wrapped around you.
     Agent 3 bit down as hard as he could on the tentacle, the same way he did to Emerald's. He bit a whole chunk off, but heard no reaction, only the tentacles squeezed tighter, crushing the air out of his chest.
     Every time he'd been in trouble, there was always some trick that he used, some plan or SOMETHING to get him out of the situation.
     But nobody ever trained him for sanitized Octolings.
     Another tentacle wandered into his peripheral vision, and he swiveled his head to see another Octoling with teal green goo in her tentacle. Three glanced at Cuttlefish, panicked, but the old man looked as horrified as he felt. Suddenly, a burning, sizzling feeling encircled the right side of his face, where the goo had been placed. It was bearable at first, but escalated to a searing, invisible fire that scorched past his ear and around his eye.
     He started screaming in agony as tears of pain sprang from his eyes. It was unbearable, it felt like a whole wildfire on a small part of his face. The tentacle dropped him onto the floor, where he immediately went limp from the pain. As his cries of agony echoed and bounced off the walls, he felt a cold presence suddenly swarm into his body as the pain came to a stop and his cries turned to sore groans.
     Aha, said a distorted voice in his mind. There you are.
     His eyes widened in horror. Or at least, they would've if he could control himself.
     Now this, THIS is what true terror felt like. There was an odd, calm presence in his body, in his mind, and it was controlling him entirely. Every muscle, every vein, nothing belonged to him anymore. It all belonged to the monster of a person that made his body it's home. Three tried to scream, tried to shout for help, but his lips stayed zipped together as he clutched Cuttlefish by the neck.
     "Number 10,008," He heard his voice voice say, distorted and somewhat robotic. "Why are you associating with these superfluous nobodies?"
     Then, he crept back into the dark, Cuttlefish held tightly in his palm.

*Time skip to a few minutes before Sanitized Agt. 3 battle*
     Agent 3 stood silently atop a tall tower, gazing down at the distant elevator as he argued with Tartar in his mind.
     You belong to ME now, The telephone hissed. You will accomplish great things for the Sanitized Empire. I have made you strong, I have made you better, and you're still arguing?
     YES, I'm still arguing! He yelled in his mind. Can't you see how wrong taking control of someone is!?
     I don't think it wrong if I have a good reason behind it. Tartar grumbled. Besides, no one loved you anyway. Nor cared about you. Not the damned Octoling, not even that annoying old squid. No one on this Earth cares about you. Not even your own family.
     That last sentence cut in too deep. He thought for a moment. Perhaps, Three countered. But I take it the same is true for you as well.
     He heard himself let out a furious yell.
     You will pay for that, Inkling! The telephoned snarled. Because I'm going to make you destroy the one thing you care about.
     I'm going to make you fight that blasted Octoling, and then this will all be over!
     His hearts sank deeper than his stomach, but he didn't know why. He'd barely met the girl, yet he still felt a connection to her. It made no sense.
     Still, he was determined to fight Tartar for as long as he could, anything that would spare the 10,008th life. He turned to an upside down, dangling Cuttlefish. Agent 3 had been forced to tie him up, and tie that rope on an odd floating UFO that he'd seen somewhere before.
     "Agent 3!" The old squid pleaded, eyes panicked. "It's me! It's Cap'n Cuttlefish! You have to fight the telephone or he'll make you kill Agent 8!"
     Agent 3 simply stared at him as he heard the elevator whirring upwards, towards his and Sarai's battle.

I'm already frustrated with myself for leaving a this on a cliffhanger, but this is how it must be until the 13th chapter comes. Hope you enjoyed!
Word count: 1456