Agent 38: In The Making

Chapter 20: Torturous Old Friends

     Eight wrestled her way out of the Purifiers' grip, sprinting towards her little brother.
     "GABRIEL!" She shouted. He swiveled his head to glance at her and his eyes lit up. She threw her arms around her little brother, squeezing him tight. Hands wrapped around her shoulders and arms gripped her waist. "Gabriel!"
     "Let her go!" He shouted, kicking away the hands that reached for him. "Please!"
The arms finally wrestled her away and she shrieked in agony when she felt the whiplash along her legs. Eight dropped to her knees, the pain sizzling along like it was the whip was still there. She heard the whipcrack first, then felt the burning pain as it scorched along the exposed part of her stomach. This is why she would never wear crop tops again.
     "Stand up." Said Miku's voice, slightly pained. "Or I'll whip you again."
She rose to her feet, palms up, and slowly turned to her ex best friend.
     "Miku," Eight whispered. "Please. You heard the Inkantation too. You all have, or you wouldn't be here right now. You know the freedom I want. And we can have it with the Inklings! They've done nothing to us in the past few years except react to what we've done to them! Listen, I'm sorry, I know I ruined your life, but you can have a better one! I-" Her pleading cut off with another cry of pain as Miku slashed the whip across her face. The vicious Octoling grabbed her by the chin and pulled her in close.
     "You're cute when you beg," Miku said. "Overall, you're always cute. That's why we were friends. So, I'll let you live."
     She leaned in a little closer to whisper in her ear. "But not without a little revenge first."
     Her eyes went wide in horror as they dragged her along the halls, down the stairs, kicking and screaming the whole way. Eventually, they threw her into a dark room and cuffed her wrists to two chains that hung close to the floor. Eight stood up, eyeing the room. It didn't seem to have anything in it, except for a long, thin, snaky figure that swirled across the floor, the chains, and her. A pillar of bright light flashed her in the face, and she turned away (Or tried to). The sounds of Miku's footsteps filled the room as they echoed along the walls. Eight swiveled her head to glare at her, and Miku smirked, whip in hand.
She started walking in menacing circles around her, thrashing the whip menacingly, but not hitting her. "Sarai, I know the Inklings have done nothing to us. Nothing to the Octarians as a whole, really. But you forget something."
     She whirled towards Sarai. "They took everything from me!"
     Cries of agony and thundering whipcracks echoed and bounced off the walls as Miku slashed her with the whip ruthlessly. Five whips later, Eight was already desperate.
     "Please, Miku!" She tried. "I've gone through hell and back to get here, I've only been here for a day! Please, let me go!"
     Miku responded with another thrash of the whip across her legs.
     The screams of agony and thunderous whipcracks continued for over an hour, and about 30 minutes in, tears of pain flooded her eyes as Miku laughed and cackled at every new whipcrack on her body. At this point, there was a new wound at least every 2 seconds. Unbearable, searing, burning pain cut through her body like a knife, whiplashing desperation into her veins.
About an hour and a half into the whipcracks, Miku finally stopped, laughing breathlessly.
     "Oh, I never thought this would be so fulfilling!" She cried. "203 whips so far and you're still alive, what a miracle!"
     "P-Please, M-Miku," Eight whispered, voice and body shaking. "L-Let me g-go. P-Please."
     "Can't be done." She responded simply. "Remember what I told you about the Inklings taking everything from me?"
     Eight nodded shakily.
     "Well, by everything, I mean," Miku started. "You. They took you from me. My only friend. The only one who kept my boat floating all these years. Then, since they hated me so much, my rank in the army plunged even when I did good, I was exiled into the forest, and I lived there for a while, alone... hungry... wishing for my past friend."
     Eight had thought that the whips before her little speech were awful, but this... this is when the real fury started.
     Miku slashed the whip across every single cell of skin on her body, leaving her covered in burning red marks. Her throat was starting to get sore from screaming, but she couldn't help it. Screaming was the instinctive reaction to pain. Miku left no space for her to recover, not even a second. The whipcracks continued for what seemed like an eternity until she heard banging on the door. Miku thrashed the whip at her once more and went to see who it was.
     Three burst into the room, smashed his Hero Shot across Miku's face, and ran towards her. Relief washed through her as he unlocked the chains, and she let out a sob. Once he was done, she threw her arms around him, crying and trembling.
     "I-I never thought I-I'd be this h-happy to see y-you," Eight whispered, voice shaky and unsteady.
     "Shh, It's ok." He said, wrapping his strong arms around her shaking body. "I'm here now. We can get out of here."
     "Y-yes, please." She mumbled. He gently picked her up bridal-style and carried her out of the torture room, away from the whip. Eight saw as Marie staggered out of her own room, an Inkling's arm slung across her shoulders.
     "Are we good to go?" She asked. Eight shook her head.
     "M-my brother i-is in that r-room," She said, lifting a shaky hand to point at the last room that still echoed with screams. "W-we need to g-get him."
     Three gently set her down and ran to the next room. He kicked the door and it splintered to pieces under his force, and she saw as he sprinted inside. She heard the noise of dodge-rolling, which was odd, because he didn't have Dualies, and the torturers didn't have ink-based weapons. He came back out a minute later with her little brother.
     "Gabriel!" Eight yelled, staggering to her feet. She leaned against the wall for support until he spotted her and threw his arms around her shoulders. When Gabriel pulled away, he noticed she had thin red marks all over.
     "What happened to you?" He questioned.
     "I-I'll tell y-you later. We h-have to g-go."
     Eight limped against the wall towards Three, and he gently picked her up again. They all ran up the stairs, around a few bends, and burst into the massive room she'd been delivered to only 2 hours earlier. It was filled with Purifiers, all with vengeful eyes. And, in the middle of them, Miku, blue eyes glaring at them all. Eight patted Three's chest and he put her down. She limped towards her torturous old friend, wincing, and stopped just a few feet from her face. Miku looked almost surprised that she'd dared come close, after all she did to her. Eight took one step closer, and pulled her into a hug. She heard Miku gasp in surprise.
     "I'm sorry." Eight whispered. "I wish I could take it all back."
     She heard a small sob from Miku, and then a splat as she collapsed to orange ink in her arms. Eight whirled towards Marie, who was trying to wrestle her Charger away from the Inkling she'd rescued. He stared at her with a defiant face. Eight dropped to her knees, scrabbling around in the ink as though Miku would be hiding in it. She looked up through tears as her spirit floated away.
     "I know I'll never make up for this, but," Whispered Miku's soft, ghostly voice. "I'm so sorry, Sarai."
     Eight watched as her little spirit drifted into nothingness, and the rest of the Purifiers all started attacking. They charged towards them with ferocious speed, weapons all at the ready. Three lunged for her and wrapped an arm around her waist, dodge-rolling out of the way of a Purifier with a shooter weapon.
     "How did you-" Eight cut herself off when she saw his eyes. They were glowing the same vicious teal green they had glowed when the goo was one his face. Her eyes went wide in horror as he held on to her, still fighting. She glanced back at the others. They were fighting off several Purifiers at once, Gabriel brawling against two, Marie taking on at least five, and the Inkling squaring off against one.
     "Four, do you read me? Over." Three yelled.
     "Yes, we read you. Over." Said both Callie and Aaron's voice. "What's going on?"
     "We need help," Eight said, wrestling away from Three's grip so she could fight. "The Purifiers caught us. We're fighting them off but we can't keep this up for long."
     A Purifier slashed a whip at her face. Eight rolled out of the way, grabbed her leg, and pulled it into the air. The Octoling fell backwards and yelped with shock. She ripped the mask off and the Purifier scrambled up, sprinting away. Eight limped towards Marie, who was struggling to fight the three enemies off, and dropped to a low squat, sliding her leg under them all. They toppled over one another like dominos, and Marie had the time she needed the splat them all. She gave Eight a quick high five and turned to help Three.
     I'm never washing that hand again, She thought with a smile.
     Suddenly, sounds of laughing echoed up from above. Everyone looked up (Except for Agent 3 and the multiplying Purifiers he was fighting) and saw as Agent 4 descended on a lowering rope, a wide smiled stamped on his face.
     "Get your butts up here, jerks!" Aaron giggled. "Let's get the shell outta here!"
     Three more ropes flew down beside him as Callie, Marina, and Pearl slid down them, each with smiles written across their faces. They scrambled back up the ropes as Agent 3, Agent 8, Marie, the Inkling, and Gabriel clambered up behind them, leaving the Purifiers behind. Her hands slipped on the rope and Three caught her with a grunt.
     Eight realized that this was the same helicopter with the hanging platform that she'd gotten out of the Metro with. She felt Three angle around so he could lay down once he got onto it. He got to the top and left her clinging to the rope, then grabbed her hands and hauled her up with him. However, he lost his balance a second before she was fully standing and fell backwards. Eight tripped onto him.
     She caught herself before she smashed into his face, and realized something both exhilarating and horrifying.
     Their lips brushed together, a mess of blush and a tangle of legs as she sat there, on top of him, frozen.

SHE DONE DID IT.
SHE FINALLY KISSED HIM.
YAY.
Word count: 1871