Shadow in the Glass: a Splatoon 2 Fanfiction

Chapter 13

"Crap. Move." Lyze ordered as the inhabitants of the Plaza slowly turned, as if in a trance, toward the trio. Mona and Jake followed Lyze's lead and immediately started running to the train station right behind the Plaza. The small group pursuing them grew larger and larger with every passing second, until it was a full mob. Some pursuers even prepared their weapons. Jake seemed personally offended by this. "Aren't weapons in the Square and Plaza illegal?" he yelled indignantly at the pursuers. They didn't falter. Instead, they gained speed, infuriated that a criminal would accuse them of lawbreaking. The angry crowd started to gain on the group, and it looked like all hope was lost.

But they stopped dead when a hero arrived.

"Run while you can," Three said over her back, preparing her Hero Splattershot. "I'll try to settle this peacefully, but who knows what they're prepared to do."

Lyze looked at her respectfully, and a moment of understanding passed between them. Then he nodded, hissing at the others to follow. But Mona wouldn't budge, and Jake wouldn't leave her.

"I'm not leaving Three behind!" Mona whispered furiously, tears starting to grow beneath her eyes.

Jake smiled a bit. "You think she can't stop an angry mob? You think Agent Three, the hero who saved Inkopolis and defeated Octavio single-handedly, can't stop an angry mob?" Jake said, looking in awe at her.

It may have been the pressure of trying to calm an armed, irrational mob, but Mona thought she could see Three blush.

"Really? I thought she said that you helped her." 

"How about I tell you what happened, after we get on the train?" Jake asked, pulling her hand.

"That's an okay idea." Mona said, wiping her face with her sleeve, embarrassed that she had almost melted down again. She ran with Jake to the station, both behind Lyze by a significant amount. No sooner did they reach the station did the doors begin to close. Mona and Jake morphed into their cephalopod forms, and barely managed to squeeze in.

They morphed back, winded from the long run and the freakishly close call. "I thought we wouldn't make it!" Mona said.

"Yeah," Jake said, groaning and clutching his side. "I'm a bit cramped up. Probably one too many visits to Crusty Sean's." Mona started laughing, despite the situation.

Lyze walked over to the two. "Where have you two been? Making out again?"
"No," Mona retorted, blushing furiously, "we just barely made it inside. We jumped in the train, right as the doors closed. And don't make this a thing, Lyze."

"Fine. Good thing you made it in time. There's only so much one person, even Three, can do. We're going into the Metro. Be ready for anything."

"Understood, Cheshire." Jake said, standing and helping Mona. Lyze nodded, and walked away.

A few moments passed.

"So... what did happen? How do you even know Three?" Mona broke the silence.

"My sis and I were recruited by Captain Cuttlefish, along with Three, but Three was there after us. We got some of Small Zapfish, but Three did most of it, even taking out the Great Octoweapons by herself. Once we got to the final Boss Kettle, Three said she'd go alone, and that she would call for backup if needed.

"Turns out, she didn't. After Cal... ahem, Agents 1 and 2 played the Calamari Inkantation, Three defeated Octavio with ease. We just helped get some minor power back to Inkopolis."
"Wow. It sounds like you know her pretty well." Mona said, looking starstruck.

"Not really. I only saw her and called her everytime we opened a Boss Kettle. After that, she disappeared, and I didn't see her until this whole fiasco. At first, I didn't recognize her due to the fact that I wasn't looking at her, and since she changed."

"Wow," Mona said again, "She's been through a lot. I'm surprised she's still sane. I mean, doing that all alone? Surrounded by enemies? Anyone else would be extremely paranoid after that."

Jake nodded his agreement. "She's strong. She'll make it through this in one piece. You can count on it."

"She may make it in one piece," Mona said, looking him straight in the eye, "but will we?"

Jake didn't have an answer for that.

"Now arriving at: the Deepsea Metro. Have a good day." A monotonous female voice said. Lyze walked over to the couple. "Get ready. Expect anything. If something happens, and I don't make it, take the train to Girl Power Station. It's deactivated, and no one would dare go there after the stories Eight told."
"Don't say that you won't make it. We know you will!" Mona said. 

"But just in case."

"Understood, Cheshire." Jake gave a salute. The doors opened, and the trio was greeted by a train stop full of Kensa agents. Both groups were frozen for a few valuable seconds before Lyze jerked into action.

"Go!" Lyze's order came, right before he squeezed out the closing doors and the train started moving.

Mona could only watch as Lyze activated his Booyah Bomb, praying that he would make it out alive.

Unfortunately, even the Bomb's armor could not stand up to a dozen soldiers with the newest gear. Within seconds, Lyze's only protection broke, and he managed to release the Bomb moments before dropping from the air, unconscious and injured.

Mona was horrified, yet transfixed. She couldn't look away as her friend fell to the ground, moments before a wall of purple obscured everything from view.

Mona fell to her knees as the gravity of the situation finally overtook her. Three was gone, Lyze was quite possibly dead, and so it was her and Jake against the world.

And a company with nothing to lose.

The train stopped moving abruptly, and the lights shut off. All was deathly silent before the sound of feet on metal echoing from the train's top stole all rational thought from Mona's mind.

"It's Kensa," Mona whispered, terrified.

"We have to meet them up there," Jake whispered, brushing hands with her.

Mona looked at him. "Are you crazy?" She hissed.

Jake nodded seriously. "Most likely. But we'll be more trapped here, in a narrow passage, and they'll probably think to cover both exits. We have no choice."

Mona closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and when she opened her eyes, she expected Buia to be there, as a result of the heavy stress and despair she was feeling.

And then she remembered. She remembered that the Inktoling next to her was the one who had helped her beat her demon.

And she couldn't think of anyone else she would want to spend her life with, even if her life ended in seven seconds.

Jake popped open the train's roof emergency exit and clambered up, grabbing Mona on the way. It was a beautiful day outside.

Too bad they couldn't enjoy it.

As soon as the duo fully surfaced, the Kensa soldiers unloaded on them. Miraculously, Mona and Jake managed to stay alive for more than a few seconds. But a few more than a few was all they could take before succumbing to the barrage.

As Mona's vision blurred, she thought she could see a helicopter approaching them. And... was that Three?

It is. It is Three.

A platform lowered from the bottom of the copter, and with the barest amount of energy left in her, Mona grabbed Jake's dormant form and hauled them both on to the platform, which quickly retracted back into the copter. The Kensa agents opened fire, but to no avail, as the copter sped away from the train.

We're alive, was Mona's last thought before she fell unconscious, We're alive.