The Resurgence AU

I genuinely could not think of a name for this

The first face that Mr. Grizz had placed his glowing white eyes on was his business partner, Commander Tartar. It was only for a second before it ducked back under the hatch and Mr. Grizz could hear it run off. From what he saw, Tartar had been wearing its normal conductor's outfit.
When he had reemerged a few moments later however, Tartar looked like he had just finished cleaning himself up. He had even put on his commander's outfit. Mr. Grizz could only scoff with a smirk and approach the telephone. "You're a dork, y'know that?" Mr. Grizz pinched Tartar's face slightly.
    "Yeah, yeah, I know," Tartar chuckled softly before whistling behind them and waving someone over.
    Mr. Grizz couldn't stop his smile from dropping when he saw the human poke their white head out of the hatch down to the Kamabo labs. They were dressed in a mammal fur coat with some makeshift clothes underneath, no doubt made from even more mammals. Mr. Grizz had personally assumed sheep for the black wool and makeshift cotton for the pants and..hm, probably cow or buffalo hide for the terrible shoes. The human didn't seem very happy to see him either. In fact, the human turned tail, gave them both the middle finger and tried to leave.
    Tartar let out a defeated sigh with a dopey smile on its face. It gave Mr. Grizz a 'one moment' gesture. Mr. Grizz shook his head, now softly chuckling as he watched Tartar go back into the labs to retrieve the human it had found. The shouting that exploded from the labs was quickly followed by cartoony chaos in general.

    Everest clung onto Tartar and hissed loudly, trying to climb over it and get away. Everest acted like an unruly lynx or feral cat in general! Tartar held onto Everest tightly though. Nothing Everest did could make it drop her.
    "Stop slashing at me! I might be metal but those talons still hurt!! Stop acting like a cat around water! You. Are. FINE! I already told you- Mr. Grizz is no harm to you!" Tartar eventually clamped his claws around Everest and got a good grasp on her arms and legs before pushing her back up the stairs and out onto the platform.
    Once they were both up there, Tartar shoved Everest forward. Judging by how Tartar tensed up and grew worried as Everest hit her face on the ground, they hadn't meant to push her so roughly. For further proof, their gasp followed and they helped Everest back up, checking her body for any injuries.
    Not much besides a few scuffs but it was still enough for Tartar to panic and quickly place too many band aids over the injuries. Everest only sighed and gave Mr. Grizz a defeated look. Mr. Grizz didn't seem impressed with her at all. In fact, he glared down at her in a judgemental way.
Tartar quickly brushed Everest off and made sure that she didn't try to run away again. Now, Everest stood before Mr. Grizz, feeling a fearful pit form in her stomach. Bears were never supposed to ever get as big as Mr. Grizz was. Part of Everest was shocked that he even fit inside the metro! His tiny, glowing, bright white eyes stared into hers. Everest pulled her wolf head hoodie over her head with both hands. She wearily watched Mr. Grizz from under her hood now. "..Tartar, I don't think he likes me..." Everest whispered to Tartar and stepped back. She bumped into it and she was sure that Tartar could immediately feel how tense she became from it.
    "Oh relax," Tartar put a hand on her shoulder, whispering back to Everest, leaning down over her shoulder, "I promise you he won't hurt you," Tartar took a part of the mammal fur coat that Everest wore in his claws, "you should probably take off the coat though...now that I notice it's definitely made of mammal fur," Tartar said, messing with the wolf head that made up the hood. Everest didn't even hesitate throwing off the coat. The swiftness caused Tartar to take his hand back quickly. She hated that stupid coat anyway, it was so itchy!! She only kept it because she knew she wouldn't make it down the mountain without it.
    Mr. Grizz's glare seemed to settle a little. Not by much but enough for Everest to relax a little. "And you're a real human.." Mr. Grizz reached down a sharp claw and trailed it down Everest's nose and to her neck. His claw felt about 2 seconds from slicing her throat and letting her bleed out on the platform. It was causing pain, even with how light Mr. Grizz was pressing the claw.
    Tartar quickly pulled Everest away from Mr. Grizz's claw, thank the Leviathan (Don't really), "Grizzy, you're scaring her. I do give you credit though. She's got quite the tough exterior!" Tartar let its forearm fall onto Everest's head, gently hitting her. "Bonk!"
    "Ow-..." Everest covered her head and glared slightly at Tartar. She rubbed her head with a huff towards Tartar's dopey smile, "And yes, I'm a real human..." Mr. Grizz's glare grew harsh again and Everest felt her body tense once more. She quickly ducked behind Tartar, trying to hide herself from Mr. Grizz's silent glare.
Tartar brought his arms out and looked back; he even switched sides as Everest did, "Aww, she's hiding behind me! How adorable!" Tartar reached down to ruffle Everest's hair with his claws in...a strangely, almost fatherly way, "What happened to that rough and tough personality you lead with?" A deep blue tentacle with a light green end suddenly wrapped around Everest. It shook her lightly, pulling her out from behind Tartar. It was coming from Tartar's back. "Wh–! How-!?" Everest kicked her legs weakly before Tartar brought her close and hugged her. The tentacle let go of Everest and drew back into Tartar's back, leaving a spot of sanitized ink on Tartar's new, pretentious outfit, "I've always had it! It's one of the many things I've learned to hide. Messing with DNA is worth a few changes, don't you think?" Tartar flashed Everest another friendly smile.
    "I wonder what would happen if you touched either the sanitized ink or the fuzzy goop..." Tartar hummed, squinting at Everest in their metal arms. "Hmm...oh well! We'll answer that question later!" Tartar's grin turned cruel and Everest felt a pang of worry shoot outwards from her gut.
    Tartar suddenly dropped Everest, patting her on the head afterwards. "Anyways! I believe Everest here will be a better addition to Kamabo and Grizzco than even we know," Tartar turned back and stared up at Mr. Grizz with a proud smirk on its face, "After all, humans are incredibly smart and crafty. Key word: Crafty. I'll have to run a few tests though to see Everest's full capabilities..."
    Everything in the metro went silent long enough to give Everest a chance to speak up- "CQ!" Tartar suddenly shouted rather loudly, almost making Everest jump off the platform by accident. Her hands rushed to her ears. There was no response from whoever Tartar was yelling for in case you were wondering. "CQ!!" Tartar shouted again, even louder this time. Everest's press on her ears grew tighter. Mr. Grizz only folded his ears down, looking only tempted to shove his sharp claws into his ears. "CQ!!!" Still no response from CQ.
Tartar groaned and rolled his eyes. His claws went to the side of his face and-...unscrewed his face to pull out a strange device. The inside of Tartar's head dripped with sanitized ink. The ink slowly dripped out of the headspace and down Tartar's lighter colored commander's outfit before he slammed his panel shut and used a stained handkerchief to clean up the ink. Tartar's attention turned back to the strange device. Just as his hand hovered over the main button, he froze, staring into space. Everest just...sat there, a little disgusted. Her nose was upturned from that familiar, terrible smell of the ink. Everest's eyes drifted to Mr. Grizz and he met her eyes. Everest pointed at Tartar, "Is he...okay??" Mr. Grizz looked back at Tartar and only nodded silently.
    "Skkkrkkgrrk!" A sharp noise belted from Tartar's speakers. Everest's hands went back to her sensitive ears and she leaned near Mr. Grizz who looked completely used to this. "AW-WEEE- AW-WEEE- RREEGEGEGGEGE– Aw wee awee...!" Tartar stood there, completely still except for mild twitching every now and again as these strange noises poured out from their old speakers. "Are we sure he's.." "Yes, he's perfectly fine, he's just buffering a little. He's a 12,000 year old AI. Give him some grace. He has these little buffering periods very, very often. We're- I'm planning on giving him an upgrade soon. Don't tell him I said that though, he can't hear me like this and I want it to remain a surprise."
Everest approached Tartar and waved her hand near its face, "Don't give him more things to register!" Mr. Grizz hissed rather roughly, not even having to step forward to be able to lightly tap Everest on the head with his claw. A thought of Mr. Grizz impaling her head shot through Everest's head.
"How long will it take for him to come back online?" Everest asked, now staring at Tartar's dead eyes. "A little while, kid. Believe me, I'm used to this," Mr. Grizz said with a bit of a bored chuckle in his voice. Everest wanted to deny being nervous but, considering this guy was the one thing allowing her to stay down here and be safe, yeah...
"Now then," Mr. Grizz placed a sharp paw on Everest's shoulder. A shudder ran through Everest's body which made her body instantly tense up as she looked back at Mr. Grizz quickly. "You're going to tell me the exact mountain you and your cult stayed on. I'm wiping them out before they can harm the last mammals left over..." He bellowed; his white eyes seemed to glow brighter. "Uhm- I don't think Tartar would appreciate that..." Everest responded. When she tried to back away, Mr. Grizz pressed his talon into Everest's shoulder more, causing a sharp stab of pain to go through her, "Ah!" Everest shook and looked back up at Mr. Grizz, "Not as keen to run now, huh? Tartar can handle it for a bit, but if you're that worried, I suppose I can spare some of them..." Mr. Grizz made sure to stay sounding cold.
"Uhm.." Everest looked off to the side and mentally questioned why she cared so much about the people on that mountain, she hated every single one of them! "Okay, fine, it was Mount Everest; Fern, my mother, believed I would become the new chieftain, hence naming me Everest. Regardless, it's not too high up, just when you start seeing snow leopards..." The press on Everest's shoulder lightened up and she stumbled away quickly from Mr. Grizz and into Tartar as he finally came back online.
Tartar looked around and then at Everest and Mr. Grizz with a confused look on their face. It only lasted a small second before they remembered and pressed the button on the device. It buzzed as a holographic screen appeared in front of him. There was a small, deep blue snake thingy on some train controls. It looked too pudgy to be a snake actually. Honestly, Everest didn't really know what she was looking at.
"Hey Tartar," The creature pulled a lever above him, causing a loud horn to sound, "I've got another octoling coming your way, you know how it is. Another loser looking to see the surface, blah blah. Already preparing tests and-."
Tartar cut him off with a wave motion, "Let it go, I need tests for something else. Or, more importantly...someone else!" That tentacle came back and grabbed Everest by the ankle suddenly, pulling her into view of the creature. Upside down of course. Everest twisted in the tentacle's grasp, trying to go back to being upright. Everest could already feel the blood rushing to her head- and she hated it!!
"Tartar-!" Everest's claws dug into the tentacle a little and Everest barely saw a wince cross Tartar's face.
Despite the blue creature's strange lack of facial features, Everest could clearly see the confusion and shock appear on their face even while being upside down. "Is that–?"
Tartar cut the creature off again, now beaming excitedly, "Yes! Yes it is! Her name's Everest, CQ! Regardless, I need a few tests for her. Nothing ink related, humans don't have ink. I'm not having her collect Thangs..." Everest wondered if CQ(?) could see how done she was with Tartar holding her using its tentacle.
Actually...she had an idea now.
Everest flexed her claws and stabbed them into the tentacle as deep as they would go. Tartar let out a loud scream and the tentacle abruptly dropped Everest. The tentacle shot into Tartar's back and disappeared afterwards. A singular tear made of sanitized ink went down his cheek as he shot Everest a death glare. A smile then cracked onto Tartar's pained expression, "Fast reaction time and problem solving, g-got it...ow..."
"Well- that's pretty much impossible," CQ suddenly said, "My- The tests are made for octolings! Not...not extinct creatures.." CQ gestured to Tartar and then Everest. He had a dissatisfied and mildly defeated look on his face
"Simple, she can use her golfclub to attack. Just set her up against...uh..." Tartar stared at the ground, "Oh," In that moment, Tartar realized that all the 'enemies' for the tests were solely susceptible to ink.
"Ha! You're just as unprepared!" CQ teased Tartar, a little harshly. Tartar shot a quick glare that was just as harsh at CQ.
They sighed. Slowly, Tartar looked around the screen at Mr. Grizz, "No, I don't do 'tests'. And I doubt the salmonids are going to let a bear anywhere near them. I'm kind of a grizzly bear, y'know, the main predator for Salmon? They also hate me. Maybe you can talk to Octavio-? ...no, no, also impossible, you guys are on seriously bad terms. Obviously."
Everest suddenly huffed and crossed her arms, "Or maybe I can just fight these 'octarians'!? I'm not susceptible to ink!"
"Aw, and what do you think you'll do to them?" Tartar said, almost in a mocking tone. This was clearly its revenge for Everest hurting it so badly earlier.
"HEAD TRAUMA!" Everest threw a fist into the air, having forgotten that she didn't have her golf club. She paused for a moment before running over and picking her golf club up from right where she had left it earlier, "J-Just like I did to you earlier with my golf club!" She scrambled to say as if trying to pretend like she didn't just have to retrieve her golf club.
"Oh. Well, I suppose that would work. Hm, alrighty then. CQ, please start preparing the tests, over and out!" Before CQ could argue, Tartar pressed the button again and tucked away the remote into one of his outfit's pockets this time instead of that horrific compartment he just- casually had behind his face.
Finally, everything was calming down a little.
Everest just sighed, rubbing her temples. "Is that everything? Are we done here...?"
Everest asked before a card was practically shoved into her hands by an excited Tartar. The card had the strange, blue creature on it.
"Almost, Everest. I nearly forgot! You'll be needing these things to get around the Deep Sea Metro," Everest held onto the card from Tartar and stared at its details best she could.
"And this is...?" Everest looked at Tartar before a secondary object was handed to her, the hand held device that they had used earlier to contact CQ.
"Your CQ-80 and a CQ Card," Tartar then added with a scoff and a sideways glance, "They're so bad..." Everest stared at the objects silently as Tartar continued, "Guard them with your lizzife, because if you lose them, you'll be [ERROR]," Its head cocked to the side and the look on its face was completely dead and robotic, harshly contrasting with the dumb smile that Tartar had just before.
Everest couldn't stop herself from looking worried. That sounded...ominous...very, very ominous.
Tartar must've noticed her worry because he suddenly broke into loud giggles, "I'm kidding! That's the prerecorded message for the octolings... You'll be perfectly safe!" Tartar gave Everest a rough pat on the head. 'Why does he keep doing that?' "Now you just need to wait for CQ to arrive and hop onto Outie 5000!" Tartar tilted his head to the side, folding his hands together and smiling.
"...?"
"...?" Tartar looked a little concerned by Everest's own concerned look, "Well- I didn't name it! Don't look at me! That's the name it came with! Swear it on my un-life!" Tartar pressed their hands to their chest before dropping them to their side.
Mr. Grizz let out a chuff, reminding Everest that he was in fact standing right next to her. He only rolled his eyes before scooping Tartar up into his paw and bringing it into the entrance to the Kamabo Co. Labs in the floor to talk to it. "I'll assume you two are done and I'm already a little fed up. Tartar, we need to be-" Mr. Grizz cut himself off, noting that Everest was watching and listening. He shot her a cold look as he slammed the lid shut.
The train slowly pulled up besides Everest, allowing her to hop on. "Uck...I have no idea why Tartar thinks this is a good idea..." CQ murmured as he came through and got Everest situated, "In fact, going to be brutally honest, I'll be shocked if you manage to not drown on the first test. Anyways, here are 1,000 CQ Points, you need them to do tests," He didn't even get Everest a chance to ask him what he was or what he even meant because with that, CQ left to get the other people on the train situated. And Everest? Everest felt sick to her stomach at the thought of what CQ had so coldly said.
Glancing around, there were a few other sea creatures on the train who, for the most part, didn't care that Everest was human. It was...calming.
A few of these long jelly looking things anxiously watched and even whispered to each other about Everest. A few of them were taller than her by a few inches.
There was a large rolly looking bug who only shrugged and said, "Well, the world is full of surprises. Humans being around still is just one of those many shocks."
The long, gray snake things with wide mouths...made Everest nervous. She tried to avoid them as much as possible, especially when the comment, "You're a cutie! Oh! I could just literally eat you up!" came up..multiple times.
These wide eyed fish with hook shaped heads just stared at Everest's white colors from time to time but, for the most part, they were focused on their own things like newspapers, bleck.
And the blobfish (named Fredrick by my irl friend)? He literally couldn't care less.
Everest still felt like she stuck out like a sore thumb...I mean- she did but-...you know.
"Know..exactly how...child feels..." A ghostly voice spoke, almost right behind Everest and something cold touched her shoulder in a patting motion.
Everest jumped back, looking up at the roof of the train now. She nearly hit whatever it was with her golf club.
The thing above her though...it just looked like a jellyfish like the others she had seen on the train so far. Its eyes shined with tears as the lights along its body glowed softly. "Hiii...." It pulled its tendril back when it saw Everest holding her golf club. She was sniffling, "The train is...scary..." The jellyfish quivered suddenly. "Veryy very louuud..." She brought in her tendrils to where ears would probably be and whimpered softly.
Everest only tilted her head and placed her club to her side. "You're very soft looking..." Everest mumbled and poked the jellyfish, they squealed, "I'm not scared of the train," Everest scoffed and glared at the blobfish to her left (who glared right back at her) and then some flashlight fish and gulper eels to her right, "I'm scared of its passengers..." Everest balled her fists a little.
"hhmmmh...I'm Jelly..." Jelly reached out a shaky tendril.
"Mmh," Everest glared at the tendril. She'd given handshakes before. She grabbed it and gave it a gentle shake. Jelly squealed and yanked her tendril away as Everest said, "I'm Everest. Named after the largest mountain in the world."
Jelly drew her tendril back into her body, shuddering out, "Waaarm...so, so, so waaaaarm...!" Jelly sniffled and closed their eyes for a moment.
"Is...that a bad thing?" Jelly poked Everest's head and started to feel her face. "...Yes? No? Ugh!" Everest pulled away and waved her hands about to get the rest of Jelly's tendrils away from her, "Why does no one in this metro understand personal space!?" Everest stomped her foot with a huff.
Jelly whimpered and shuddered again, the tendril leaving, "sorrryyyy...warmth is...it's raaare down heeerree..."
Everest just rolled her eyes, "Too bad! Don't touch me!" Everest shouted at Jelly who frowned more and continued to apologize. "You don't know what a handshake even is and you think it's okay to just touch someone!?" The other train passengers watched worriedly before averting their eyes once Everest met their eyes. "...Whatever, what stop are you getting off at?"
"Mmnmnmnmhhmmnm..." Is all that came out of Jelly's mouth; she had been terrified by Everest's shouting.
"Mmnmnmnmhhmmnm?" Everest struggled to copy the noise.
"Caaan't...remmbrrr..." Jelly responded. "waaannt..to sleeeeep...nevver eber..wake up..." Jelly whispered, slowly closing her eyes, placing her tendrils over her eyes for good measure.
"Oh, well, I'm getting off at..." Everest shakily used the strange device, pulling up a large map of the Metro. There had to be about a million twisting pathways, all colored various colors. It was genuinely overwhelming to look at.
"Uhhh..." Everest looked over the map with all its colors. '...TARTAR NEVER EXPLAINED HOW TO USE THIS STUPID DEVICE!!' Everest tightened her grip on the machine, half tempted to smash it into the ground. She forced a smile on her face instead and looked back at Jelly, "Liiine...EEEEEE???" Everest quickly realized she had fallen asleep.
"Oh..." Everest stared at the jellyfish before shaking her head and just sighing and selecting a random station. "I'll figure it out soon...I guess..."

'For now though, it's time for me to fight...'