Survivors of Alterna: Final Run

Chapter 25: Calculating Launcher of Doom

There was a short struggle between Marie and Clod, as Marie would not willingly give up her DNA.

Inka had thought about escaping while Marie was distracting Clod, but decided against the idea since she didn't want to leave the idol alone.

Despite her efforts, there wasn't much she could do against someone three times her size, so ultimately, Clod got a blood sample and extracted it into an empty vial. Afterward, he shoved her back in the jar, covering the lid with the boulder once again.

"You inklings are fierce little things," Clod remarked, though whether it was praise or an insult was unknown.

Inka watched as he moved over to the now-repaired terminal and typed something on the console. Then, a small panel on the central pillar opened; Clod gently placed the blood vial inside. The panel closed soon after, and the entire room lit up with a red hue.

Marie suddenly banged on the glass jar. "Hey! Sea-weed head! This is a violation of my uniqueness. You can't just make more of me!" She declared while gritting her teeth.

"Apologies, little squid. But the lord does not appreciate failure." Clod put a fin on the central button of the terminal, which Inka guessed would start the cloning process. "And I, for one, refuse to end up like his daughters."

Before he could press the button, the whole room quaked, scaring both inklings.

Clod held onto the terminal to keep himself from being thrown off balance. "What the?!" He looked up to see a portion of the cloning chamber's upper walls demolished. Then, multiple figures dropped from the newly formed hole.

One figure was holding another, and Inka immediately recognized both of them. "Akikta! Nakji!" She yelled in relief and happiness as Nakji set Akikta down.

"Thanks for that." He patted Nakji's shoulder before eyeing the glass jar.

"Marie!" Callie shouted, almost teary-eyed.

"Callie!" Marie shouted back, a wide smile spread across her face.

Akikta grinned. "Good, we're not too late after all." He looked up at Clod, who seemed surprised to see the group. "Whoa, he's pretty big," Akikta commented, seeing how Clod towered over all of them, even more so than Sal.

Akikta's eyes drifted over to the terminal behind the large salmonid, and he read the English words that flashed over the screen. From what he could gather, DNA had been successfully copied, and the machine was now awaiting confirmation to spread it to the other pods around the cloning chamber.

Obviously, this meant Clod had taken Marie's DNA. But Akikta was confused as to how the salmonid managed to press the small buttons on the terminal, considering his fins were huge.

The group had a short stare-off with Clod, only for the king salmonid to direct his attention to Ricky. "You!" He pointed. "You're the traitor Masu and Huchen let get away. Why have you done this?"

"What other choice did I have? Our clan is dying under the usurper's rule. I know you see this to be true, so why do you continue to help him?"

"Even a clam knows going against Lord Sake is suicide. He's too powerful."

"But don't you see this human is our chance?" Ricky gestured to Akikta. "He has evaded the usurper, as well as his spawn. And now look, he's standing here before you, ready to reclaim the colorful cephalopods." Clod looked at the group with an intense glare. "Listen to reason, Clod."

"Oh, I'm listening alright." He moved back, flipping his goggles over his pupilless green eyes. The group pushed forward in response to his slow retreat. "And compared to fighting Lord Sake, I have a better chance against you."