Survivors of Alterna: Final Run

Chapter 20: Useless

Meanwhile, back at the Superiority Complex, Sal was wildly shaking his radio. "Come on! Stupid thing!" He whacked it a few times, trying to get the transmission to patch back through to Masu, to no avail.

With Sal back in the cloning chamber, all the other salmonids vacated the premises, leaving Inka and Marie with just him and Clod. Even Atla and Koka returned to wherever they came from, though Sal had to order them to do so. It seemed their presence was as annoying to him as it was to Inka.

"Lord, the terminal is fixed," Clod informed.

Sal almost didn't pay Clod any mind until the room slightly rumbled, making him perk up.

Marie's face paled.

During Sal's conversation over the radio with Masu, she and Inka had heard everything. They knew what the rumble meant—the Rejuvenation Center exploded.

"Callie..." Marie mumbled, sliding down to her knees with a distraught look on her face.

Inka wasn't as devastated as the idol beside her, considering Akikta had already been captured beforehand. Though that didn't stop her from feeling bad for Marie.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Clone Ikayaki so we can celebrate!" Sal cheered, tossing the radio, which Clod barely caught.

"Lord? Celebrate?"

"That's what I said."

Clod fidgeted with the radio before tapping a few of its buttons. "I don't mean to doubt the loyalty of your spawn, my lord, but... you did just sentence them to death. What makes you so sure Masu will send the human over?"

"Masu has been vying for my approval for years. Even if it meant death, she wouldn't dare pass up this golden opportunity! Not after what I just told her."

Clod tilted his head. "And you're certain she won't hop in the pod herself?"

"HA!" Sal's tail smacked the ground, causing a wet slap to reverberate through the room. "That girl's dog-like devotion outweighs her self-preservation skills. Besides, she wouldn't abandon her brother. She needs him. The two are inseparable." Sal smirked with his back turned to Clod.

The fifteen-foot king salmonid blankly stared at Sal before speaking. "My lord, what's a dog...?"

"Wh—" Sal paused before relaxing his body, letting out a tired sigh.

Before he could respond to Clod's question, a low whirring noise filled caught everyone's attention. They all looked to see a brown oval-shaped pod enter the room.

Sal's hands clasped together, a big grin stretching across his face. "Who woulda thought! Kids that take too long to mature doing what I couldn't. I guess second time's really the charm."

Inka raised a brow, confident that the Steel Twins failed at retrieving Akikta more than once.

The pod hovered over to the Cloning Chamber's central terminal, landing softly on the triangular platform.

"You gave me quite the goose chase, Akikta." Sal slow-clapped while walking to the pod. "The only other people to do that were Ikayaki and the pink one. So congratulate yourself on getting added to that special little list!" He gripped the pod's door, denting the metal heavily. "But the chase is over." With a mighty heave, he ripped the pod door clean off.

The glass had been smeared by black smoke, which no doubt came from the Rejuvenation Center, so nobody could see who was inside until the door came off. Inka, and probably everyone else, was shocked to see not Akikta, but Masu, sitting up from the pod.

Sal stood there, frozen in time with the pod's door still in his hand. It took him a few seconds to realize who he was looking at. "WHHHHHHHAAAAAT?!" His voice boomed so loud that it shook the room slightly. Sal dropped the pod door, and it fell off the platform into the abyss below.