OctoSquids (Splatoon story)

Chapter 16 - "I once mattered..."

A deafening silence was all that Moray could recognize as she slowly woke up. The back of her head still felt bruised as she began to have trouble looking at her surroundings. It was too dark to make out anything. After a few seconds of looking around, she stood up from the cold, rigid floor she was laying on. Moray could still not make out much of what surrounded her, apart from metal walls and a small desk lit up with candles as her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. She approached the desk and looked at the papers laying on the surface of it. It was scribbled with so many words and drawings she couldn't understand. "At least it's not Arroyo... He's not smart enough to write this...", Moray muttered to herself, slightly in relief.

Moray tried to get her bearings a bit more, but the sound of a creaking door opening broke her focus. Once she heard the door close, she looked over to where she heard it, only to find Leven looking back at her, holding a small, lit candle. Moray immediately froze as she walked back slowly. "You're awake.", Leven noticed. On her other hand, she was holding a large capsule of what seemed to be a green, oozing liquid as Leven walked towards the desk, powering through her limp. She placed the candle and the capsule on top of the desk. "I was hoping you'd wake up soon. I wanted to show you what I've been working on.", Leven said as she looked down at her papers, then at Moray. "I don't...have anyone else..", Leven added as she looked away.

"Now I would've preferred Arroyo here...", Moray muttered. "Arroyo?", Leven asked, unfamiliar with the name. "Where am I!?", Moray asked in a hurry. "You are in the headquarters of the Kamabo Corporation...or what's left of it, anyway.", Leven answered as she looked down at her papers. "I thought the OctoSquids defeated you.", Moray pointed out. "They only took away my main source of power.", Leven replied simply, as Moray scoffed. "Why does the second hybrid I meet have to be-", Moray was about to say, but was immediately shut up as Leven slammed her fist on the desk, releasing a loud thud. "Don't call me that!!", Leven yelled furiously.

Leven slowly calmed down her anger. "If I had my weapon, I would've left nothing of you behind..", Moray threatened grimly. Leven looked at Moray, then took out something from a drawer in the desk. "You mean this?", she asked her, now holding Moray's Sploosh-o-matic 7, making Moray's hearts begin to beat faster. "Wh-Why am I here, anyway?", Moray asked. Leven sighed. "Since the release of the EMP in the Kamabo Corporation, everything lost all function. However... You have something essential that I lack. Something that can...really improve my chances of getting what I want.", Leven explained as Moray began to grow nervous. "What do you need so much that I have..?", Moray asked again, walking back from Leven as she pulled out gloves from her lab coat and put them on. Right after, she proceeded to open the capsule and took out the viscous, thick liquid from the capsule. "Usefulness...", Leven answered as she approached Moray.

Moray immediately began to panic the closer Leven got to her. After she got close enough, Moray took this chance to push Leven out of the way and made a run for the door. She quickly tried to open it, but it did not budge. She tried changing forms to try and slip through, but the gaps were too small. She needed to find an alternate way out, so she quickly turned around to try and find where else she could go, but was stopped after Leven used Moray's own Ultra Stamp, swinging it sideways to launch her to the other side of the room. Moray crashed to the wall and plummeted to the floor in pain. After a few seconds, Leven pulled her head up from her hair. "I...I'd rather die...than help you...", Moray told Leven weakly, but Leven only stared at her in silence as she still held the ooze in her hand. "I feel you, Moray..." Leven replied. "But I cannot allow that. Not while I'm so close.".

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Two days later, Plum began to roam Inkopolis Square in search of Maria. According to Rainey, the entirety of the Inkling Brigade had lost their morale after Moray mysteriously disappeared. After hearing this, Plum set himself to try and help them back on their feet. As he walked by the Square, he noticed Maria sitting next to where the lobby of Deca Tower was, next to Judd and Lil' Judd, who were both fast asleep. Maria was holding her head, as if she had a severe headache or dizziness. He approached her and kneeled down in front of her to look at her face, noticing bags under her eyes.