Ambush
“The train leaves in about two hours, so I should arrive in Inkopolis just in time for lunch.” Coral Ida-Houzuki sat outside the Splatsville train station, on a phone call with her adoptive mother, Marina Ida of the band Off the Hook.
“You have your ticket, right? And you’re sure you have the right train? I don’t want you ending up in the wrong city again. And you’ll text me right before you leave, right?” The older Octoling on the other end asked frantically. She was always a little overprotective, but Coral knew it was out of love.
“ Yes, mom. I have my ticket right here. I know to look at the sign before getting on. And of course I will.” Coral promised, rolling her eyes, “Look, I’ve gotta run an errand real quick. I finally found someone who’s willing to take the ‘package’ off my hands and dispose of it properly. They promised me ten Super Sea Snails in exchange for it, can you believe it?”
“Alright, just be careful. This deal sounds awfully sketchy…”
“I know, but think about it. Once I get rid of this, I’ll be free. I won’t have to worry about it anymore. I can just live my life without looking over my shoulder for him . And I won’t be putting anyone else at risk either.”
“That would be nice. Pearlie and I worry about you, Noodle. We miss you. It’s been hard without you girls around.”
“I miss you guys too…” Coral sniffled, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away, “Anyway, I gotta run. See you soon.”
“We’ll be waiting for you at the station.” Marina promised, “Love you.”
“Love you too, mom.” Coral hung up. Glancing at the clock one more time to make sure she would have enough time to meet up with the mystery person and get back before the train left, the Octoling teen got up and made her way towards the back alleys of Splatsville, a small, nondescript cardboard box in hand. Inside this box were the materials for a highly dangerous weapon: intended for the outbreak and spread of a virus, created by the cruel Octarian scientist Dr. Finn Oarfish years ago, and stolen by Coral— who had been one of his test subjects— when she finally escaped. This virus was designed for use against Inkling society on the surface, to attack and kill all who came into contact with it. Coral had stolen the materials and data in hopes that it could never be used, but now was forced into hiding as Dr. Oarfish was hellbent on getting it back at all costs, which is why Coral had to make sure it was destroyed before he could get his hands on it.
“Excuse me, miss. Are you Coral?” An Octoling woman in a dark hoodie and a mask approached her. It was not uncommon to meet shady people in the back alleys of the city, but something about this woman gave Coral a bad feeling. Something wasn’t right. But of course, she ignored this feeling. She just needed to get rid of this weapon.
“Yes, I am. Are you here to take this?” Coral held out the box.
“Yes I am.” The woman snatched the box from the younger girl’s hand.
“And my payment? You promised me ten Super Sea Snails in exchange.” Coral crossed her arms. Something definitely wasn’t right. The woman didn’t seem to have a bag or anything with her. Nothing that would hold ten snails, anyway. All she had was a bucket— potentially an improvised Slosher— of a strange green ink that obviously did not match the woman’s own red color. Octarian red.
“Oh, my partner will be here in just a moment. She has them.” The woman dismissed Coral’s suspicion. She pulled out a phone, speaking to someone on the other end,
“We have it… Yes, bring them in.” At this point Coral’s instincts were screaming at her to forget the Sea Snails and just run.
“You know what, forget the payment. I gotta go. Train’s waiting.” She started to back away.
“Don’t lie. Your train doesn’t leave for another two hours.” The woman grinned. Coral continued backing away, only to run into two other Octolings behind her.
“I must say, it was surprisingly easy to get you to come here, Test Subject 7-C0R41. Seems living in this dump of a city, so far away from home, made you let your guard down.”
“How do you—?!” Coral started to ask. How in the world did this woman know her test subject designation? Unless… “You– You’re with him! You work for Oarfish!”
“Anyone who knows what’s good for them works for him, kiddo. The doctor’s been busy since you got him fired. You and these old materials are the only things he needs now to launch his plan for revenge, however. So thank you for bringing both to us.” She signaled to the two octos behind Coral, and the two grabbed her by the arms, restraining her. She then opened the box, and removed several of the vials inside: some containing the virus itself, preserved inside a special gel that would melt away when it came in contact with air; and others containing a catalyst for the growth and replication of the virus. Combined with the bucket of strange ink, this would be a serious problem. The three ingredients to activate and unleash the virus were just those: the virus itself, the catalyst for the spreading of it, and a liquid vessel. The mixing of the three could create a disaster the scale of which Inkopolis (or in this case, Splatsville) had never seen… or at least that’s what Oarfish always bragged.
“No… You wouldn’t…” Coral struggled against her captors, but was held firmly in place. Without another word, the woman dumped the vials into the bucket. The mixture steamed as the gel evaporated and the ink became saturated with the infectious substance. All Coral could do was watch helplessly as the very thing she fought so hard to prevent came to pass.
When the bucket stopped steaming, indicating that the mixture was ready to be used, the woman picked up the bucket with a sly grin, and flung it in the direction of Coral and her captors. That must not have been part of the plan, because she felt the grip loosen on her right arm and she was able to duck out of the line of fire just in time. The soldier who had let go was splatted instantly.
“Damn it! You weren’t supposed to let go of her, you coward! Well, no matter. The Doctor’s plan is underway.” The woman turned to the second soldier, who still had a tight grip on Coral’s left arm, “You. Take 7-C0R41 down to the lab. I’m going to find our patient zero.”
As Coral was dragged away, she just barely had time to reach into the pocket of her hand-me-down hoodie and find her phone. There was a feature added by Mamarina when Coral first moved to Splatsville, only to be used in case of emergency. Pressing the HOME button repeatedly in the same pattern as S.O.S. in morse code would send out a distress signal to her mom’s laptop, alerting her that Coral was in danger and sending out the coordinates of her current location. Coral originally thought it was unnecessary, as she thought if she was careful enough, she wouldn’t get caught by those hunting her down at all. Now she just hoped it would work…
As soon as she was done activating the signal, she went back to struggling against the hold that the remaining Octoling had on her. It was more to avoid suspicion, as she knew she couldn’t get out of it.
“Oh for crying out loud, I know the boss said not to hurt her too bad, but can’t we just knock her out? All this thrashing is driving me nuts.” She heard one of her captors say. She didn’t even have time to register what was said before something hard hit her in the head, and she blacked out.
If only she had listened to her gut…