Inked Over Secrets: a Splatoon 2 Fanfiction

20: For Them

Stinger, suspended in the air, started to feel the pain of the water burning into his skin. Still, he ignored it, and rushed to engage Tartar.
"What makes you think this exchange will be any different from the last one?" Tartar sneered, though with fear in his eyes.
Stinger didn't answer; he didn't want water in his lungs. Instead, he swung his Brush with the force of a tsunami behind it, and this time, as it clashed against Tartar's blade, it sliced clean through it.
Tartar stared at his broken weapon at disbelief, then summoned two more, smaller blades, or daggers, to parry Stinger's next strike.
It sliced through both of the blades too.
For every blow that Stinger delivered, Tartar would create more blades to parry. And that's exactly what Stinger wanted.
After what seemed like an eternity of blocked blows, Tartar summoned two more blades, but one clattered to the ground.
"Wha-," he started, before realizing that his left arm had entirely disappeared.
Stinger smirked. "When you summon your blades, you take away a part of yourself. Too many blades, too little you."
Tartar roared in anger, yet could do nothing as a strike from Stinger sliced through him. He sunk to his knees, getting slashed by all directions.
"Just finish it," Tartar groaned through gritted teeth.
"You've caused so much pain and suffering for everyone," Stinger said, a hard look in his eyes. "This isn't even close to repayment." He kept slashing, over and over, water slashing through goo.
Arty watched the entire fight from afar. She wanted to gobble up there and help, but she didn't have the strength, and the most around the two would easily kill her. She had no idea how Stinger was managing.
However, the war was leaning toward Stinger's favor. Down below, half of Tartar's army collapsed and evaporated, as Tartar couldn't keep them standing. The other half was very disoriented, and was quickly taken out.
All that was left now was for Stinger to strike the finishing blow. And he knew it.
"I think it's time to end your suffering," he said coldly. He lifted his Brush in the air.
Witnesses could not describe how he did it. Most could not even describe what happened. But, by sheer force of will, all the water within eyesight was drawn to Stinger's Brush, creating a cyclone of destruction.
Arty knew what was going to happen a second before. "Stinger, NO!" she screamed, but of course he didn't acknowledge her.
Stinger's last thought was that he wished to see Arty one last time.
He raised his Brush, and brought it down on Tartar's deformed body with the force of ten humpback whales behind it. The impact dented the ground, and water exploded everywhere. By the time it reached the lower battlefield, however, it had already evaporated into mist from the pure force, leaving most cephalopods remaining unharmed.
Arty dropped her cane and ran, disregarding the pain in her leg. By the time she reached the top of the hill, she was feeling faint. Still she forced herself to continue, and saw the remains of the battle.
A crater the size of a bedroom was left. It contained the pieces of Stinger's shattered Brush, remnants of Tartar's gooey corpse, and Stinger's unmoving body.
A sob escaping her, Arty ran into the crater, toward Stinger and nothing else. His eyes were closed, his skin peeled and damaged from absorbing so much water. His hair color, once a beautiful, deep blue, was now a washed out, dreary blue.
Stinger, without a doubt, was dead.
A sob caught in Arty's mouth. Then another. Soon, she was wailing, heartbroken. Her closest friend and crush was dead, and she was still here. Handicapped. Useless.
By the time the others had climbed to the hill, Arty's throat was sore, and could only point, tears streaming down her face, at the body.
A moment of shocked silence and grief passed over the crowd. Then Auru stepped forward.
"Allow me," he whispered to Arty, and stepped forward.
"Stinger was stubborn, back when I knew him," he began, "and knowing him, that never changed. He knew what would happen when he took in all that water, and he accepted it. Ya have to understand that, whatever Stinger did, he did it for us, and not for himself."
Auru was about to continue when they heard a cough. Then another. Arty quickly looked back at Stinger. There's no way. He's gone.
But there was way.
Stinger opened his eyes, slowly, and tried to sit up, seemingly feeling a lot of pain. Arty crawled over to him, careful not to hurt her leg, and let him lean on her.
"So how'd I do?" Stinger croaked with a trace of his signature smirk.
Arty wanted, oh, she wanted to be mad at him for nearly stopping her heart. But she couldn't find it in her, so she pecked Stinger on the cheek, a single tear down her own, and said, "You were wonderful."

;)
Well that's another chapter done.
This book is almost over; epilogue coming next week (or earlier, if you're lucky). It definitely was cringey at many points, but it's also the most fun I've had in a while.
Thank you all for reading and supporting this story.