Inkblot [A Splatoon2 Fanfic]

Chapter Thirty-Six

Regal woke up to see country road going by under the early morning sun. He rubbed his eyes and looked at his mother, still driving with a tired look in her eyes.

   "Mama, want me to take over driving?" Regal asked.

   "I'm fine. We're almost there." Ms. Luana said.

   "Mama, you look exhausted, pull over."

  "Don't argue with me."

   Regal sighed and left her be. Cliff was still asleep in the back while Bay babbled to himself and played with his teething ring. Feeling a soreness in his head, Regal took off his headphones and rubbed his temples. His legs felt sore too and he really needed a bathroom break, but didn't want to risk pissing his mother off.

"Uugghh..." Cliff woke up with a groan. "my back hurts... I miss my bed... we out of the city already?"

    "Yes." Ms Luana said.

    "We almost at the motel? You look dead, Ms. L, why didn't you stop so Regal could drive? Scared he's gonna crash? Haha!"

Regal sucked in a breath when Ms. Luna growled. She pulled over then stopped the car, getting out and slamming the door. Regal watched as his mother went to the roadside to take a breather.

"Nice job, you broke her." Regal frowned.

   "Hey, I didn't know!" Cliff said.

   "There's a lot of shit you don't know apparently."

   "What the hell is that supposed to mean."

   Regal took off his seatbelt and turned to get Bay out his carseat. Once free, the baby squealed and reached for his big brother.

   "Hey, answer my question!" Cliff cried.

   "You're really inconsiderate." Regal stood Bay in his lap to check his diaper. "Mom is just trying to keep us safe and you're being rude."

   "Well shit's depressing right now! I'm trying to lighten the mood!"

   "Even before the epidemic, you've always been like this!"

"Always been cool is what you mean?"

   Regal rolled his eyes and laid Bay in the drivers seat and grabbed the bag with stuff to change the baby's diaper.

"You make stupid and offensive jokes without thinking about others feelings. Remember when you told Hachi you'd send him back underground? That was cruel as hell!"

   "Why? That's where he came from, all the Octofucks come from under—"

   "That's another thing, you call his species that awful name!" Regal interrupted.

  "Can you blame me, that's what they are! Tres can do so much better if you ask me, that why his girl in high school left him for—"

Cliff shut himself up when Regal exclaimed.

"I was trying to be fucking nice but you know what?! My mom didn't even want you on this trip! She was gonna leave with just me and Bay but I convinced her to take you with us so you wouldn't fucking get infected! If not for me, you'd still be in the city trapped with the Inkblot!"

Cliff stared at his friend in shock with no idea what to say. Regal finished changing Bay's diaper then returned him to his carseat. When Ms. Luana got back in the car they continued on their trip. Cliff felt smaller in his seat and stared with a blank expression as Regal's words replayed in his mind.

He remembered the attack from the Cephamalgam at the lookout tower. Then he remembered what his dad said about crying.

Cliff took a breath and stayed quiet the rest of the ride.

————

   "Átta, why are we here...?" Callie probably asked that for the fifth time, and for the fifth time the younger girl gave the same response:

   "We'll be so happy at the safe place!"

   Callie didn't know what was wrong with Átta—maybe all the medication was messing with her head.

   They were in Inkblot Art Academy, which was now empty and quiet. Átta waltzed onto the campus without a care in the world, even broke the locks on the main entrance and the main building doors just so they could get inside; she didn't seem to care about Callie scolding her. Now they were in an underground lab Callie didn't even know about. It was dark and hard to see, even with her excellent night vision. There were strange noises echoing throughout the metal walls too.

   "Átta, what is this place...?" Callie asked nervously.

   Átta gave no response, continuing to walk.

   "Átta, seriously, I'm scared! Are you sure you know where you're going?"

   The Octoling stopped walking. When Callie tried calling her name, Átta remained silent and stared ahead with a blank stare. Then without warning, her body unbound into a black blob of ink and she melted through the cracks in the ground. The sudden action made Callie scream and she fell backwards.

   "Átta?! Oh my god! Oh no!"

   The walls started to leak black ink and Callie started to cry. She was about to get up and run, when she heard a familiar voice crying out in pain...

   "Huh...?"

   Callie stared ahead at a pair of opened door and could've sworn she saw something among the black...

   "... Marie...? Marie...?!"

   "C-Callie...!"

"Marie!!"

Callie went running toward her friend, forgetting about everything else around her. As she drew near, Callie saw Marie was on the ground with her legs stuck in black ink.

"Marie, what happened to you?!" Callie cried.

"I... I..." the other girl stuttered as tears filled her eyes. "I... I can't... you have to...!"

"Hold on, Marie! I'll save you!"

Callie grabbed her friends arms and attempted to pull her free. Marie screamed, whether it was from pain or fear Callie didn't know.

"No... you can't...! Leave me...! Get out of here, Callie...!" Marie cried.

"No! I won't leave you! I'm getting you out of here and we're going to find help! I promise!"

Too focused on trying to free Marie, Callie failed to notice the shadow beginning to loom over her.

"We have... to stick... together..."

All Callie saw was a wall large mass of black ink, slowly beginning to coil around her arms and pull her in.

————

Guess who's got fuckin exams tomorrow, whoopee!

Anyway, I've posted a few new books! If they get enough love, I'll continue them when I finish my current works. Right now, I'm advertising this one:

(Wattpad's being a dick and not putting up the heccin photo -3-)

   Wild Cards is my next Persona 5 fanfic, to make up for one I discontinued in the past.
   This book features AkiraxAkechi and has similar themes to my first P5 book, Desire and Love. Please give it a read if you're interested!

   Stay tuned ~❤️