Agent 38: In The Making

Chapter 48: Training

Eight realized, as she fastened her new gear and stepped onto the field, that she did not, in the slightest, want to fight Three.
     He'd just woken up from a coma a few days ago, and he already had a bloody nose and inkstained knuckles.
     Needless to say, she feared him. Eight had missed Three a ton, but now that he was here, all she could see was her reflection in his eyes. All she could think of was the insanity in his face as he strode towards her, emerald eyes glaring. All she could remember was the dagger driven into her leg, the intense pain that grinded through her like nothing she'd ever felt before.
     Worst of all, she'd vowed she would never hurt Three a long time before she was forced to. Now that he insisted on it, she didn't have much of a choice but to agree. After all, he did need training.
     Three stepped forward, fists up, yellow inkstains on his face and body. Aaron's ink.
     A chill ran down her nonexistent spine, sending tremors through her veins as she remembered those stains to be hers.
     Calm, Eight thought. He's not bad anymore. This is just a training session.
     "Go!" Marie called.
     The couple squared off, circling around the area, fists raised. Eight felt her eyes narrow, her sight sharpen. She grinned, a sudden rush of wild rage and terror making her hearts race.
     "Do your worst," Three hissed. He, too, looked like he was ready to triumph against her or die trying.
     Eight stayed still, frozen in place, throwing out the bait for him to take. She knew Three well enough to know that if he saw an opportunity, even a slight one, he'd take it. In this case, he had a clean shot to pin her and end this right now.
     But she wasn't going to let him.
     Sure enough, he grinned a crooked smile. "Fine."
     The Inkling charged for her with a roar, leaping out to tackle her. Eight slid out of his way, snickering, and jumped on top of him. Three struggled under her grip, just barely evading her jabs, until she accidentally hit him right in the kidney.
     Three let out a scream of agony and kicked her off. Eight let out a grunt, landing near a wall, as Three tried to stand up, gripping his stomach, and staggered against a wall, breathing heavy.
     "Do you want to stop?" She asked gently.
     He grimaced, glancing down. "Never."
     Again, he sprinted towards her, growling. Eight stayed still, frozen. She knew he was disoriented and desperate to win, and she could use that to her advantage. Her eyes flicked to the brick wall behind her and she suddenly had a plan.
     Three dove for her, ready to strike-
     Eight caught him by the collar of his cape and threw him into the wall.
     The Agents gasped from up above.
     She saw the look on his face, the realization, the utter disbelief as he crumbled to the ground, gasping. Three stayed on the floor for a moment, trembling on his elbows and knees, as his eyes flicked up to meet hers.
     "Do you want to yield?" Eight whispered, an intensity in her voice that wasn't supposed to be there.
     "Never." He spat.
     She winced. The Splatoon had created rules for these situations. They were only allowed to stop if one either fainted, passed out, or yielded.
     Eight let out a sigh. She gripped his collar and pinned him to the wall, moving her hand up to his neck. She saw his eyes go wide, his legs thrashing around as he desperately tried to break free.
     Soon, his face started to turn blue, his breaths raspy, his eyes now watery and inkshot. She applied a tad bit more pressure and he tensed.
     Eight saw him close his eyes, teeth clenched. "Yield!" She yelled. "I don't want to hurt you more!"
     Three's eyes slowly opened. Eight shivered as he growled at her.
     His eyes were a bit more fiery, his jaw clenched, his hands closing to fists. His eyes narrowed to whip-thin slits, his ears flattened.
     That spark, that fire in him that she fell in love with...
     It was alight once again.
     Suddenly, Three roared louder and fiercer than she'd ever heard. His leg swung up and kicked her perfectly in the jaw, earning a shriek.
     Eight was forced to let go, and tripped over her feet. She blacked out for the briefest of moments, and was back up on her feet a second later. They stared at each other for a moment, panting, Three's nose bleeding and Eight's jaw leaking ink.
     She couldn't stop remembering the fight. The insanity in his smile. The carelessness in his moves. The chaos and destruction in his glowing eyes. Cold sweat snaked down her back like a cold finger.
     Suddenly, Three sprinted forward, bending down slightly to ram her stomach. Eight dove over him with a cry-
     He caught her leg and slammed her back into the ground like a hammer. Three walked up to her, smirking, and stomped on her stomach, crushing the air out of her chest. He kept his foot there, adding more and more pressure. Eight gasped for air, wheezing, her vision blurring red, scrabbling for something, anything that would help her escape-
     Darkness ate up the corners of her vision, quickly approaching the center.
     "No," She managed. "No!"
     "Say it," Three said, wincing as he bent down to meet her eyes. "You'll pass out in the next 10 seconds if you don't."
     The moments ticked by, Eight desperately clawing at his leg. "Please-"
     The last speck of light was almost gone-
     Eight gathered the remains of her strength and tapped his leg once, twice, three times.
     Three instantly withdrew his leg.
     The light came rushing back in like the tide, a dizzying rush of nausea whirling around her head as she gulped for air. Slowly, surely, Eight's breaths deepened and her hearts slowed to normal pace. Three bent down on his knees and gently helped her sit up. She leaned on him, breathing in the scent that she'd missed for so long.
     "I think it's funny how we always end up fighting," She whispered. "Even if its just for training."
     He chuckled, warm air on her neck. "Well, at least we know it's not a battle to the death."
     Eight giggled a little. He helped her up and they both turned to face the Agents. Callie and Cuttlefish were walking down to them, while Marie and Aaron were struggling, Aaron's arm slung over Marie's shoulder.
     Four rubbed his eye, grinning at Three. "You did a great job, dude! I wasn't expecting that."
     "Thanks..." Three muttered.
     "Well, now we know your level. Better than ever." Marie joked. "I didn't think you'd be able to beat Agent 8 again. So either Eight's off her game, or you've gotten better by some miracle."
     "Yeah, he got better," Eight said reassuringly, nudging Three's arm.
     He smiled. "Thanks."
     "So, Three," Marie started. "Let's head back to the Cabin and we can catch you up on all the activity you missed."
     A few minutes later, the group was seated on plush cushions outside the Cabin, Callie passing out drinks to the Agents as Marie settled onto a pillow and Cuttlefish cracked his knuckles.
     "I'm not one for preambles," Marie started, Callie taking a seat next to her. "So I'll get to the point."
     "There wasn't any sort of Octarian activity, whether sanitized or not, for about two weeks after the incident." She said. "Then we slowly started seeing slight activity from the Sanitized Empire. Then more... and more. Eight and Four were the two that were mostly going out for patrols, since Callie and I were busy."
     "I saw a couple of sanitized Octolings, but nothing too big..." Aaron muttered, as if playing back the times he'd spotted them. "They usually came in pairs of two, and it looked mostly like they were scouting the area." He paused for a second, hesitating.
     Callie noticed this and her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What is it?"
     "Nothing, it's just..." Aaron blew out a breath. "I've seen a few in the Square too, late at night."
     Every single pair of eyes in the room flew to him.
     "And ya didn't think ta tell us about this?" Cuttlefish hissed, eyes wide.
     "I didn't wanna worry anyone!" Aaron objected. "You were all so worried about Three that I figured I shouldn't add to the pile!"
     "You could've at least told me!" Marie yelled. "If they're in the Square, we need to tell the public about it!"
     "Can't you guys see?" He asked incredulously. "I was just trying to make sure no one else was worried! Three being gone and us not knowing if he would wake up was enough stress, so I didn't want to make it worse! Eight tried to-" He cut himself off and shook his head. "My point is, I was just trying to help."
     "Pfft, well you sure did a great job." Callie scolded.
     "Hey!" Three shouted. "I get you guys are panicking but we have to calm down and make a plan. We have no time to waste."
     "Agent 3's right," Cuttlefish said. "If we don't act soon, we may have to reveal ourselves to the public and expose this threat."
     Marie huffed. "Fine. Let's see if we can still do this quietly. If not... then we have no choice."
     "How 'bout we all go home and take a break?" Callie said, trying to ease the tension in the room. "Tomorrow, we can try to come up with a plan. Alright?"
     Everyone in the room agreed. As the team dispersed, she felt Three's eyes on her. Eight sensed a prickly feeling at the back of her neck, a warning perhaps.
     "So..." He said as they walked, swimming out of the manhole. "What was Aaron about to say before he cut himself off?"
     A cold chill ran down her back. She hadn't told him about it yet since she didn't want him to worry. "Honestly, I'm not sure." Eight lied. "I wasn't doing too much while you were gone, so I wouldn't know what he was gonna say."
     "Hm." Three muttered, a hint of suspicion in his tone.
     A few minutes later, when they'd arrived at the house, Three turned to her and whispered, "You know you can tell me anything, right? If there's something you're trying to hide from me, just tell me."
     Eight hesitated for a long moment, feeling his breath on her chest, his strong hands interlaced with hers. She loved him, but she feared him, too. What would he say to this? Would he be mad?
     Eventually, Eight shook her head. "It's nothing... I just haven't been sleeping well." She whispered back, eyes on the floor.
     "I was wondering why you looked so tired," He mused, pulling her into a hug.
     She buried her face in his chest, trying not to cry as a rush of emotion flooded her body. Eight wanted to stay here in this moment for as long as humanly possible, but she also kind of wanted to throw him off the balcony.
     The rest of the day went by without much to do. Three and Eight talked about possible plans to destroy the Empire for a little bit (His plans included rushing in and attacking while the Empire was still off their guard, which she knew would fail), and then he popped a bag of popcorn, sat down on the couch with her, pulled a blanket over, and started binge-watching movies.
     Eight cuddled up next to him, stealing a corner of the blanket. She only got about an hour into the first movie before her eyelids started to droop, heavier and heavier, until she fell asleep.
     Not long after, she woke up again, and she kept drifting in and out of the haze until the moon started to shine and the starts twinkled overhead.
     Not even like this, could she sleep. If it went on like this for much longer, she'd be as bad as she was in the Metro. But if the group was to take down the sanitized Empire at some point, Eight needed to be at the top of her game. If she wasn't, well...
     All good things would come to an end.

I'm scaring myself with what I have planned. By the 50th chapter, I'll have this entire story crashing down on its knees... and no one can STOP ME.
I'm ✨oMiNoUs✨ huh
Word count: 2100