{ Splatoon } My Colorful Life

The Ravenous Octomaw

{Ellie's POV}

"Here we are," I said while pulling Max out of the kettle. "The last Zapfish is here."

Max wiped a bit of sweat off of his forehead and replied, "The tension is high... Or maybe the room is just really hot." He looked at me with a smug grin. "Or maybe it's just you."

I replied, "This is no time for jokes! We have to stay focused!" Max sighed. "You never let me have any fun."

We hopped down to the center of the arena. There was nothing at first, really -- it was just a platform surrounded by Octarian Ink.

"ZAPFISH AHOY!" Max shouted while pointing. I covered his mouth and replied, "Pipe down, would you?! If you make too much noise, you'll --"

We were cut off by loud rumbling alongside the sound of grinding metal. The Zapfish was normally sucked into the Octoweapon, but when we looked back we saw the Zapfish get swallowed whole by a large Mechanical Shark. "That's the Octoweapon!" I shouted.

I tried to run, but Max was standing completely still. "DON'T. MOVE." What in the world was he talking about? He continued to stand still and slowly lifted his roller. "MAX, MOVE!" I shouted.

The Octoweapon popped out from beneath Max, its jaw fully unhinged and its teeth surrounding him like a bear trap. Max swiftly flung his roller and shattered the Octoweapon's teeth. "That's ENOUGH!" I shouted. I grabbed his wrist and pulled him away.

The Octoweapon reappeared from beneath the ink-coated ground. There was a large gap in its teeth, revealing a hole at the back of its mouth. "That's where the Zapfish is," Max stated. "If we can find a way to damage the tentacle inside, we can get it."

His eyes lit up and his mouth curved into a subtle smirk. "And there's only one way to do that..." He recklessly sprinted towards the Octoweapon and hurled a Splat Bomb into its mouth.

The bomb detonated, causing the Octoweapon's jaw to completely unhinge while it let out a mechanical cry of pain. The tentacle slowly emerged from its open maw. "There's an opening! FIRE AT WILL!" Max shouted. I replied, "No need to be so overdramatic, y'know!"

I shot the tentacle with a well-placed charger shot, causing it to painfully sink back into the hole. The Octoweapon sprung out out the ground once again, replacing its teeth with silver ones. Max jumped towards it, preparing to strike it with his roller. Despite his efforts, he merely bounced right off and only broke three of them.

I ran over to help him up. "You have to be more careful," I said. "It gets stronger every time." Max scowled as he got back on his feet. "You're playing it too safe. Besides, that gap is big enough to get a bomb into!" Before he could lob another bomb into the Octoweapon's mouth, I ran towards the Octoweapon with one of my own bombs.

"Hopefully that was the last time," I said as I shot the writhing tentacle once again. "I'm getting real sick of this." I turned towards Max and began to scold him. "As for you, you're acting too carelessly! What if something happened to you?"

Max replied, "It's highly unlikely that something like that would happen. This fight has been as easy as-"

BOOM!

"AAAAAUUUUUGH!"

I looked back to see Max, who had been hit by a missile, and was sent flying to the edge of the platform. I looked behind me and saw the Octoweapon, which was barely damaged -- and heading straight for Max.

I panicked, knowing that if I didn't do anything, Max could be killed. I ran over to the edge of the platform and picked him up.

The Octoweapon was drawing closer, and from that moment I knew that there was nothing we could do. It eventually decided to show itself, proving that the last face we ever saw would be theirs. And I thought that it would be...

...Until I saw a small gap in its teeth -- big enough to get a bomb into.

Without thinking, I grabbed a bomb and threw it as hard as I could.

A deafening explosion echoed throughout the arena. When the smoke cleared up, all that was left of the Octoweapon was its broken jaw, which hung wide open. The Zapfish was quietly hovering above it. I grabbed it, still cradling the unconscious Max in my arms.

We were done here.

{Isabelle's POV}

Nathan nervously glanced over at the kettle off in the distance. "They've been in there for a long time," He said. "Do you think that something happened to them? Are they going to be ok?"

I tried to reassure Nathan, who had a tendency to panic rather frequently. "They'll be fine. Try not to worry too much, okay--"

We were cut off when we heard footsteps coming from the direction of the boss kettle. Ellie had come out of it, a Zapfish patiently floating next to her and carrying a limp and unconscious Max in her arms. Both of them were covered in Octarian ink. "OH MY COD!" Nathan cried. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF INKOPOLIS HAPPENED TO YOU?!"

Ellie fell to her knees, visibly exhausted. "We got the Zapfish. That's all you need to know." Cap'n Cuttlefish and Orlaith slowly walked over to the exhausted girl, their faces showing looks of extreme concern. "Let me take a look at him," Cap'n insisted. Ellie carefully set Max down on the ground.

"He'll be alright. His wounds aren't too severe." Ellie breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Thank goodness..."

"However," Cap'n continued, "His condition leaves him in no position to fight in the final battle. He'll have to stay here and recover." Ellie's face fell. After a while, it was replaced with a look of determination.

"If that's the case, I'll stay by him until he recovers." She said. I replied, "Are you sure about this?" I put my hand on her shoulder. "Inkopolis needs us."

Ellie slapped my hand away. "Max needs me more. Go on without us."

At first her choice confused me, but then everything started to come together.

The reason she would rather stay than fight... Is because she cares so much about Max. Instead of going out and risking her life, she wants to stay here to make sure that the life of the person she cares about is alright.

Before Nathan and I left, everyone gave us their wishes of good luck.
"Good luck out there, kiddos." The Cap'n said with a tip of his cap.
"Be careful, alright? The fight ahead is really dangerous, and I just don't want you guys to get hurt..." Orlaith said.
"I agree with Orlaith," Ellie said. "Stay safe."
Nathan replied, "Thanks. Means a lot, guys." I nodded in agreement.

"So... Where is the final kettle?" I asked. Cap'n Cuttlefish pointed over at a launchpad. I remembered it almost immediately -- it was the same launchpad we used to infiltrate Nami's airship.

I glanced up at the sky, and I knew exactly what he was saying. Hanging the skies of Octo Valley... Was a UFO. I remembered hearing about it on the news one day... I never thought that it would be an Octarian spacecraft.

I nodded. "I understand." Nathan's eyes met with mine, and we shared a look saying that we were ready to go. We grabbed each other's hands, and hopped into the launchpad, sending us flying towards the UFO -- and the final battle.

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(Sings to the heavens) I FINALLY GOT ANOTHER CHAPTER DONE
I am so sorry for the lack of uploads on this book! I'm the worst person >_<
I actually had to unpublish and edit this chapter because I made a really stupid mistake. Lol
Anyways, see you in the next chapter!
-Toast