Operation Sanitized ~The 38 Saga 2nd Book~

Chapter 7: Broken Pieces

~7s POV~

We arrive back at base and headed inside to the round table we normally sit at, but before I could go in, I noticed 8, 1 and 2 fighting.

"What were you thinking? You could have been killed, or turned!" 2 shouted at 8. "Well I tried to get 3 back so we had an advantage." "We already have an advantage with the notes 9 had taken!" 1 shouted in between. "That isn't an excuse for why the team was almost killed and he was almost turned!" 2 shouted back "Well maybe try bieng the one everyone depends on to carry the team to victory!" 8 shouted after. "STOP FIGHTING! Can't you see, 8 has been through alot and what he just went through has hurt him more. Give him a break, and he's right. He's the one carrying the team to victory now with 3 and 4 gone. Not just that, it's only been a few days since 3 was kidnapped. He is still hurting from that day and can't handle being without his girlfriend, he hasn't learned how to block in that void like I have and forget about it. He knows we are going to get them back, but he has seen what 3 has been through twice now and just wants to set her free. So I'm going to say this once more, give him a break!"

1 said sorry to 8 and 2 just walked away. I caught up with her and grabbed her arm, "Remember, you aren't the one who just saw your girlfriend bieng tortured, then when you try and save her you get dragged away. Just give him a chance, all he wants is to save her and propose like he was going to on the day she was kidnapped." She pulled my hand off her arm and responded. "Well maybe if he hadn't made a stupid decision like that, I would have accepted the fact he was trying to save her, instead he was nearly turned sides and we nearly lost him. He's our leader, and he should have known what was going to happen." She continued walking off. "Everyone makes mistakes, just accept the fact he's alive and on our side. Just forgive him and try to understand that his girlfriend is weak and he wants to save her from the hell hole that place Is, and also maybe from death." "I know that's what he is trying to do, but I've been in that kind of situation before, and it didn't turn out well..." She then left and didn't talk to me.

8 was hurt inside and crying, 2 wasnt being very nice about the situation any longer, 1 was comforting 8 but also wanting to chase after her cousin, and I had just made the whole situation worse. Great, the teams starting to fall apart because of 1 slight mistake our leader made. "Hey 8, you wanna sit this meeting out? I can take over as leader for now if so." I went over to him and he nodded. His face was still in his hands, and he was still crying from earlier. "1, I need you to get 2. We aren't doing well as friends right now." "I'll go see what I can do." She left 8s side and rushed off to see 2. "You wanna stay here or go home 8?" "I'll stay here, I just want to be alone for a bit." I nodded and headed back inside. "Meeting everyone!" I called out, 5, 6, 9 and Lukas came over, and 1 said she'd be out in a moment.

~1s POV~

"Hey Mari, you doing ok?" "Hey Cal, Im..." She sighed and continued. "I just got reminded about dad and what happened that day. I guess Tobias nearly getting half the team killed and getting himself turned evil reminded me of that time." "It's ok Mari, I miss my mum at times, and I get reminded of that situation, but you don't have to be angry at other people for what happened in the past." "Thanks Cal." She smiled and hugged me as we exited the room and headed toward 7 and the others.

~7s POV~

I had gotten half way through the meeting when 1 and 2 joined us. "What do we do now? They know we are going to attack soon." Lukas asked. "We stay put and prepare for the worse." 2 stepped in. "We have seen their base, and know that they have new weapons and armour, so we train for future events that may occur." "I can make new weapons to combat the new octoling army weapons and armour, but it would take a week." 9 told us. "We can't take that risk, we need to have them now. So no thanks, do prepare an upgrade station though, so afterward we can upgrade if we want to." I told him. "Meeting dismissed, all you need to do is train for now, anything else, I will update you all."

~6s POV~

"Hey Pearlie! Can I talk to you quickly?" "Yeah, sure Rina." I went over to Pearl and gathered the courage to ask her out. "Would you be my girlfriend? I have feelings for you, and..." "No. I don't think we should date. We should stay friends." Pearl interupted me. "But Pearlie..." "I'm sorry Rina..." She walked away leaving me upset. I just got rejected. Luke walked over and comforted me. "Don't worry Rina, I'm here for you if you want to talk to me." He hugged me and I slightly blushed. "Thanks Luke. Wanna hang for a bit and talk about tech?" "Yeah, thatd be-- hang on, got an update on the Cameras." He pulled it up and we watched Cora get Sanitized.

"This can't be happening..." "What?" 1, 2, 5, 7, and 9 came over. "Well, this is the issue." Lukas told them and showed them the clip. 1, 7, and 6 screamed, while 2 and 9 stood in shock. "What did I miss?" 8 came in, and we had to act chill. "Nothing... We were just watching the Clip of Cora bieng tortured..." I quickly made a lie up. "Oh... Ok... Well I'm heading home now. Gonna cry in bed for the next few hours. See ya!" He headed out and made his way home. "No one is allowed to speak a word about what we watched just then. He cannot find out, he would be destroyed if he did." 1 told us and we all agreed. "Well that's it for today. Let's all go home." 7 said and we all said goodbye to each other.

~3s POV~

Sanitization may have caused me to become evil, but I still had a heart. Tar Tar used alot of ink on me to try keep my feelings out, but it didn't work, he didn't know about it. I watched 8 walk home, alone and upset, crying a bit. I knew he missed me, but I didn't know he missed me that much. I started to tear up as I saw him go inside and shut the door.

"3? 3? I need you back at base now, we need to discuss the plan." "I'll come back now master." I stared at 8 for a bit longer before going back to base. I wanted to go see him, but I also wanted to obey my master. Well, for now, I'm sticking with the person who saved me...

Tar Tar...