Everything was fading in and out, fast and far, dark and blurry. There was no sense of direction, no sense of smell, no vision. However, there was a resounding ringing in the Inkling's ears.
It sounded foreign, warped and strange; a sound he could recognize – comforting – yet he did not comprehend it. He tried to move, but he couldn't feel it.
Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in his stomach. The pain sent a shockwave through his body, until he recognized the sensation of something hard and cold underneath him. It also occurred to him why he couldn't see: his eyes were closed, except, before, he hadn't felt that they were. He opened them with delay, surprised to find the light level had hardly changed.
His blurry eyes adjusted to the two figures hunkered down in front of him. The hum he had been hearing became reprehensible as he distinguished one of their mouths moving; they were speaking. As both his eyes and ears began creating a more vivid picture, he could eventually hear individual noises, then words, until he could fully listen to the conversation, motionless on the concrete ground.
"...it's whether or not we can take him down again." Aloha's eyes locked onto the figure to the right; he was an Inkling, sporting a top-knot hairstyle. What shocked him was the fact that he was dressed in hero gear, the same kind the S4 were given for their mission. He seemed like the more serious of the two as his companion responded to him.
"I'm... not worried." He immediately recognized this person as an Octoling; he had a single tentacle running the length of his head, curling slightly at the front. He also wore entirely black leather clothing, a large, yellow band adorning his ankle. He looked... familiar...
Both of their ink colors were pink, and Aloha could feel his was still purple.
"Really? Of all people, I'd expect you to be the most concerned."
"Mm... Tin can. Crush him."
"Yeah, a tin can, but a tin can with the intelligence of a supercomputer. Are you a super computer?"
"Maybe."
The corners of the Inkling's mouth tugged upwards into a slight smile; at this point, Aloha could tell they were close. Finally, he struggled to sit up, resting his weight on his elbows as he gently pushed himself forward. He grunted and shuddered as another sharp pain shot through his stomach. He came to a stop, looking down. His torso was wrapped in white cloth, stained blue in the center from blood. His eyes widened as he remembered. 'Army.'
The noise he made attracted the attention of the other two, and he watched as both their heads swiveled to look at him, the smile immediately gone from the Inkling's face. His eyes practically pierced through him.
"You're awake."
Aloha quickly, painfully shuffled backwards as the Inkling stood. However, he paused and stared at the Octoling as he followed. He had known he recognized him from somewhere, and, finally, it clicked.
"Hachi?"
Both stopped approaching. The Inkling passively turned to look at his partner, quirking an eyebrow. The Octoling's eyes squinted in confusion.
"...Hachi?" He echoed.
"Yeah, Hachi..!" The Inkling took up a defensive position as the purple one rose enthusiastically, although a bit labored due to his injury. "It's me, Aloha! Don't you remember? Team Blue introduced us! You're good friends with Goggles, right?" He paused, his smile vanishing as the other's expression failed to change. "...Are you not Hachi?"
"No." The Inkling's voice was stern as he answered for him. "Neither of us have met you before."
"Sorry", the Octoling added. Now knowing neither of these cephalopods were his pre-established friends, he became cautious once more, his mind set on teammates. He glanced inconspicuously at the heroshot and charger that lay on the ground next to either of them; a horrible thought entered his mind.
