Survivors of Alterna: Best for Last

Chapter 5: Mad Agent

"That went better than expected, I said. When will I learn to shut up!" Akikta cursed himself as he zigged and zagged through Splatsville with Nakji in his arms and the smallfry sitting comfortably on her stomach.

He thought escaping Metta would be a piece of cake since he was much faster than her. To his dismay, escaping a pursuer was not as simple as they make it seem in action movies.

For one, he neglected the fact that Splatsville was foreign territory; in turn, he underestimated how chaotic the city's layout was. There were too many twists and turns to navigate through. Not even Alterna, partially destroyed and covered in rubble, was half as unpredictable as the alleys and streets of Splatsville.

Secondly, Metta apparently knew the city better than Nakji, as even with the octoling's guidance, the inkling kept cutting Akikta off at intersections Nakji didn't even know about. There were quite a few times he nearly got caught.

Lastly, while his agility outmatched Metta's, he wasn't sure if the same could be said for his stamina. It'd be a matter of time before Metta matched his speed, or worse, caught up.

As that thought set in, Akikta turned a corner and saw the city's edge.

There was a road that connected to a parking lot. That road stretched out towards the sandy dunes. His eyes nearly sparkled at the sight. He sped up, only to come to a revelation.

Metta would surely catch up to him if he ran in the wide-open in a straight line. She wouldn't lose sight of him anytime soon, and at this point, he was certain Metta's stamina was greater than his.

He didn't want to fight the squid, so he racked his brain for ideas.

While he did, Nakji pointed to his left. "Motor!" she called out.

Akikta turned to see a blue and yellow pair of motorcycles in the parking lot. It surprised him to see vehicles that looked man-made. Then again, everything about Splatsville looked man-made aside from the written language.

He knew what Nakji was suggesting; while he wasn't opposed to stealing from some random stranger, given the circumstance, there was still one problem. "I don't know how to drive one of those." He regretfully informed.

Before leaving the parking lot, Nakji jumped out his hands and shoved Little Buddy back into his palms.

"What- what are you doing?" He stuttered, not sure what Nakji was doing.

He continued straight towards the road before hearing a vehicle's engine hum to life. Akikta looked over his shoulder to see Nakji had somehow gotten the blue motorcycle to start.

She drove right up next to him. "Get on!" She ordered.

Nakji scooted forward a little, and Akikta awkwardly hopped on. It was challenging to hold onto Little Buddy and her, so he stuck the smallfry into his jacket's pocket and grabbed onto Nakji before she abruptly sped off.

Akikta breathed a sigh of relief. Then, the rev of a different engine whirred. Soon after, Akikta heard the buzz of something coming up behind them.

He looked over his shoulder to see Metta on the yellow motorcycle, gradually coming up behind him and Nakji. "Looks like we're not out of the woods yet!" He warned.

Nakji already knew since she had sped up.

The dark orange sky hung above them like a massive canopy, and the sandy scenery was practically blurry as they zoomed down the partially broken and worn-down road.

Akikta looked back to see Metta lift something into her hands. It was a bow! A mechanical one at that. His eyes widened as she somehow managed to aim the bow at them while simultaneously keeping her motorcycle steady with no hands.

Where was she even keeping that?! Akikta wished his question was answered, but he feared death was on the horizon.

Metta pulled back the yellow string of the bow. Akikta never saw her insert any arrows, but when she released the string, something came out anyway. His arm raised out of reflex, and something mildly soft hit him.

Akikta lowered his arm to see three bright yellow darts had nailed him. The impact tickled, but they didn't hurt, even though they looked like they should've.

"What the?" He said in confusion. The darts glowed brightly for a second, and the next, they exploded into an inky yellow mess.

The ink splattered on Akikta's mask and clothes, but they still didn't cause him any pain. In fact, it felt like he got pelted with a puddle of water.

In contrast, Nakji suddenly let out a yelp. The explosion had also splattered her, but unlike Akikta, she seemed to suffer from it. Luckily, the splatter was minuscule.

Metta had a look of disbelief for a moment, probably because Akikta tanked a direct hit, plus the explosion that came after. But her shocked expression didn't stay on long as she quickly pulled back the yellow string again.

"She's firing again!" Akikta warned.

Nakji acknowledged his warning by swerving to the left, dodging the volley of ink arrows. Metta grunted in frustration before readying another volley.

Akikta shook himself from his surprised state. Now was not the time to be dazed. They needed to lose Metta and fast.

He looked ahead, noticing stone pillars in the distance. "There!" Akikta pointed.

"You want to go through Scorch Gorge? That's asking for a lot of maneuvering, you know!" Nakji protested.

"You got any better ideas?!" He said, reminding her of the predicament they were in.

Nakji responded with a soft grumble before shifting the motorcycle off-road. They headed towards Scorch Gorge, with Metta following close behind.

Metta tried hitting the duo numerous times with ink arrows. Each time, Akikta gave a call out and Nakji would swerve.

The shooting lasted until they entered the maze of stone pillars. That came with a positive and a negative.

On the bright side, Metta had to put away her bow and focus on driving to avoid the stone pillars. Unfortunately, Nakji and Akikta had to deal with the same issue.

Scorch Gorge, as Nakji called it, had large stone pillars in close proximity to one another. It was far more clustered here than it was in that other stone valley.

It didn't help that the road was incredibly bumpy. One wrong swerve or a miscalculated brake would result in them crashing.

Akikta looked back, and to his surprise, Metta kept up with them. He could see determination and anger in her eyes.

"You don't know when to quit, do you?" He commented to himself. Soon after, Nakji hit a rather mean bump. They bounced lightly, and he felt something hard poke his side when they dropped back down. It was the gray bat he had wedged in his utility belt.

Oh, there's an idea.

Akikta took the baseball bat and ever so gently pressed the tip against the sandy ground. A slew of tiny pebbles flew into the air, creating a large dust cloud.

He heard Metta gasping and choking as the cloud of dust hit her right in the face.

"Oh, ho! Now you're really eating dust!" Akikta taunted before Nakji made an unexpected swerve to the right.

He raised his bat off the sand and watched as Metta slammed right into the pillar Nakji had driven out the way of. "Ooh, that's gotta hurt..." He winced in pain for Metta. It was not his intention to make her faceplant into pounds of stone.

Nakji continued swerving through the pillars of Scorch Gorge until they were home-free, leaving Metta behind in the sand.