Inkblot [A Splatoon2 Fanfic]

Chapter Twenty-Two

Conway didn't care too much about causing trouble for others; as a child, he caused trouble for his nannies all the time, and get away with it. But when Conway hit his doctor over the head with a metal tray and escaped out his room, he was sure he was pushing it.

Conway was finally cleansed of Inkblot, and that meant the police could take him to be arrested. His doctor just had to mark him as officinally clean before he could be taken. Conway didn't want to end up in jail...

He wore gloves, a mask, and a jacket with the hood pulled up, to hide his Inkblot scars and hurried to a hall where he was sure he saw a grate that lead into the vents; from there he'd find a way outside, from there he'd change his look and get back to the city to find his older brother for help.

"A patient just escaped, go stop him!" His doctor was screaming.

"Damn it!" Conway bit his lip.

He fell on his knees upon finding the vent and went to his squid form to slip through the grate. On the other side, Conway sucked in a breath at a jolt of pain he felt when changing his form again. He didn't listen to his doctor when told there'd be pain if he attempted to change forms.

"Where is he?! Find him!"

Conway put a hand over his mouth and moved away from the grate and further back in the vents to avoid being seen. There were a lot of twists, turns and drops, and he could hear the sound of conversations, machines, cries from other patients and the loud roar of the fans in the vents, but Conway wasn't going to let that stop him from getting out of here. 

    "Ok, ok... I was in Quarantine... that has to be at the bottom floor... I just gotta work my way up..." He told himself.

    Conway started moving in a random direction. When he came across another grate, he carefully and quickly slipped by so nobody passing would see him, and when he had to go upwards he launched himself despite the extreme pain he felt when doing so.  After about 10 minutes of navigating the vents, Conway laid on his back to pull down his mask and breathe.

    He took off his gloves to look at his black hands and stared for a while with a blank look.

'Is this a punishment for what I did...? Is this what I get for going after what I want...?'

He made fists.

'... As far as I'm concerned... I have Tres to blame for this...'

Conway pulled his mask back up, rolled on his hands and knees, then kept moving.

————

    At first Átta was quiet. Then tears were falling down her face. Then she was screaming.

Dr. Solomon didn't console her, rather, he left her by herself to grieve. Soon enough, Maury was back and he comforted her himself. Átta cried for a good hour until she passed out. When she awoke, she sat silent and stared into space.

    "Hey..." Maury kneeled by the bedside. "I got lunch if you're hungry..."

    "..." Átta lightly shook her head.

    "I really am sorry for your loss... I can't imagine how horrible this feeling is..."

Átta balled up in her place a little.

"Neli... she was my best friend... she helped my little brother and I so much when we were young... she was... like family..."

Maury rubbed her back.

"I'm sorry, babe..."

Átta felt another tear fall and raised her right hand to rub her eyes, but instantly drew it back, sucking air in her teeth as she gripped it.

"Are you ok?" Maury asked quickly.

"Y-Yeah, yeah I just—"

The black ink on her hand bubbled.

"Wha...?"

An eye appeared on her palm.

"Átta?!"

She screamed.

————

After what felt like forever, Conway found a grate with sunlight coming out of it.

"A way out...!"

He changed to a squid and slipped through the grate, not caring about pain at this point. He was faced with a partially empty parking lot and the dim light from the rising sun falling over the area. Conway didn't see anyone around, but ducked behind a nearby car anyway.

"Ok... it shouldn't hurt too much to just change my look... I just need something simple that doesn't stand out..."

Conway took his gloves off and rolled up his sleeves to see the pale skin that wasn't tainted by the Inkblot.

"Darker skin maybe...? It'll make the scars not stand out too much..."

He focused on changing his skin tone, biting his lip when he felt a shock of pain. Halfway through changing it felt unbearable and Conway cried out, quickly slamming a hand over his mouth.

"Shiiit! Ok, ok, that really fucking hurts...!"

With his skin darker, Conway put his hands on his head; parts of his hair had black, but most of it was still green.

"Should I just make it all black...? No, I shouldn't... I'll just go with brown... I should change the style too..."

Conway liquified his hair a little to change the color and style, instantly feeling an uncomfortable burning and stickiness. He grit his teeth and chocked back his urge to scream, for a second he was almost crying too. Finally, the pain got too unbearable and he stopped, leaving his hair a more teal-turquoise color and in a messy style.

"Ok... ok... that's it, I can't do anymore..."

Conway got up to look at his reflection in the mirror at the side of the car. He definitely didn't look like his old self. He didn't like the look, but it'd have to do for now, at least until he figured something out. Conway let out a sigh and put his gloves and hood back on, starting to leave the parking and head down the road.

It was going to be a long walk.