Splatoon Manga: NightRoad

Chapter 77: Rebuild

⭐️Chapter 77: Rebuild

Everyone was brought into the square. They were all very shocked to see the Ebon 8 there (except the squidbeak's allies). Prince quickly exclaimed they needed to head over as soon as possible, but only once everything was ready. Everyone understood, and spread out through the square, grabbing tools and materials needed for helping. Ebony explained the house in further detail, and some people even got people from other areas to come join in and help.

When everyone was done and had regathered, Ebony went over the plan. Together, they would all work on the mansion, and they would make a promise not to hurt any of the shadowlings living in Black Forest. When everybody was done, they would have their memories erased of Black Forest's location so that nobody would remember where it was (so nobody could come and do more harm). Everyone agreed to these terms, so Ebony took out a scroll. It was a scroll with a teleportation spell (since Ebony himself couldn't teleport), and Ebony began to read it.

A strange symbol appeared underneath everybody, and it began to glow. Everyone assumed this was the teleportation circle, so they all made sure to condense into a tighter group so they could all fit. Ebony quickly continued so that the people wouldn't get annoyed from being smushed. He was careful not to butcher the words in the spell though, he didn't want to teleport a thousand or more people into some random location. The light grew brighter and brighter until eventually...it worked. The light flooded the area, and nobody could see.

When the light cleared, everyone found themselves in Black Forest. There were many "oooh"s and "aaah"s, and the entire group was IMMEDIATELY surrounded by shadowling citizens. Ebony used a second spell he had on him to enhance his voice. He hushed all shadowlings and some of the inkiopolis citizens. When they were quiet, he announced the plan.

"Alright everyone, here's what we're going to do! We'll split up into groups, each group will take a part of the mansion! When we're finished, we'll do one last runthrough of the mansion to make sure it's good and working, and then you all are free to go!"

Everyone cheered, and the project began. The squidbeak worked with the shadow six, and the group of Inkopolis's citizens sorted themselves out with the help of the shadowlings. The squidbeak avoided the rooms that they fought in, just because it would be easier to focus that way. Ebony said he had to go someplace with Noir and couldn't do anything at the moment, but he said he'd be back. The squidbeak nodded in understanding.

The room they chose was...surprisingly the throne room. They had expected a storage room or something of the sort, but the other rooms filled up super quickly before they could get one. There was spare wood found in the basement and some other rooms that matched the wood the building was made out of. This was to be used in the rebuilding. They were provided with a toolbox, courtesy of the other groups. They each split up the work, as usual.

At first, people were a little bored and disinterested. They were neutral on the idea of fixing, and the "conversations" consisted mostly of "hand me (tool)" or "this needs fixing over here". The squidbeak felt strange, mostly because they thought it would be fun. Without Ebony there, the whole room just gave off a "meh" vibe. They could hear the other people in their rooms chatting away. They all just felt like the odd ones out.

Luckily, Ebony had arrived about a half hour later or so to join the group. The group asked where Noir was after seeing Ebony wasn't walking around which him anymore. Ebony replied that he wished to reflect on what he had don't rather than help, and the squidbeak nodded, even though some of them didn't really believe that was the case. At least with Ebony there now, the group could start up a chatter. Prince and Ebony immediately began talking about how weird these events had been.

Everyone had to admit, it had been a wild ride. It wasn't even a mission sent by the squidbeak, they had just done it because they were heroes. They too were talking about how awkward it was and how they had thought about alternate decisions that could have changed how everything went down. Once again, apologies were spread throughout the room, and Emperor apologized to Prince for not believing in him and Prince apologized for acting the way he did (in case he had overdone it, which he hadn't).  Everyone felt a lot better now that this madness was behind them. With this new focus, they were able to finish the room in no time.

When they were done, they decided to split up and help the other people working on the mansion. Some of the groups had already finished, and the squidbeak and shadow seven felt great about the inkopolis citizens and the shadowlings working together. It should have been like this the first time. They didn't know why they had listened to Noir...but...they also didn't understand where he had come up with the plan from. There had to be a reason, no? I mean, sure, it could have been Noir being an idiot and not wanting to take the other route simply to prove he was right, but...shadowlings weren't usually immediately hostile to any species they met.

As they worked, they kept thinking about it while also doing their best to stay focused. They would ask Noir questions later, but as of now, they were almost done with the mansion. The pipes weren't leaking, the floorboards and ceilings were fixed, and the lights worked too. Everyone was glad in the end of their finished work. They did one last runthrough of the mansion.

Everyone split up, and corrections were made as they found them. Overall? The mansion had been fixed, and the people working on the outside had completely restabilized it so that it could last a whole lot longer. Everyone smiled, proud of their work. When they were all ready, Ebony teleported all of them back to inkopolis square, with the inkopolis citizens saying goodbye to the shadowlings in Black Forest. The squidbeak smiled too, as they were teleported back along with the shadow six (who took a separate portal to prevent their memories from being erased).

They smiled, ready for Ebony to erase their memories of the place.

And the circle once again brightened underneath them and the place was filled with light.....