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Unfortunately, the largest agent of destruction in all of human history... is humans.\n\nLike my stories? Consider supporting me on [url=https://www.patreon.com/Milkie]Patreon[/url]! Every little bit helps!", "description_bbcode_parsed": "New allies, old enemies.

After massive prana dragons, you'd think things couldn't get any worse. Unfortunately, the largest agent of destruction in all of human history... is humans.

Like my stories? Consider supporting me on Patreon! Every little bit helps!", "writing": "\tOne time, Quincey and Laila explored the attic in Laila’s home. It was a warm summer’s day, but the dimness of the attic made things cool. There wasn’t even a window to let light in, but it did get in through some cracks along the walls and floor. With the light of their PETs to guide them, the girls explored all the old things up there. The darkness wasn’t scary, rather it seemed to teasingly obscure the mysteries and secrets stored away. Laila happily showed Quincey around, all too pleased to share her family’s lengthy history with her. Quincey was an eager learner, too, making for a wondrous afternoon. It was one of Quincey’s fonder memories. Laila was boastful of her family, happy and proud; it was one of the few times it seemed Laila’s forward attitude was focused on something other than OC or work.\n\nThat was a nice attic. It was a nice time back before Inklings, back before Eos.\n\nQuincey curled up in a dark, unfamiliar attic, laying in a puddle of silver Inkling goop. She trembled, a cold chill gripping her body, making her fingers and toes hurt. Her body felt strange and uncomfortable. She was weak and her movements felt creaky. Darkness enveloped her save for the light beaming down from the hole she’d broken into the ceiling, and even that wasn’t very bright. Weakly she opened her eyes and rolled onto her back. She gazed up at the clouds that rolled above her, lazily drifting on the breeze. Gray as they were, murky as they appeared, no rainfall came. Only cold air wafted into the dark, lonely room. It made her jacket seem woefully inadequate.\n\nShe didn’t know how pale she looked. Her normally rosy cheeks and pinkish skin were drained of colour. Her eyes were tired and her crumpled up body was defeated. She should have felt afraid for her life knowing that somewhere out there, there was a dragon searching for her. Maybe it was more appropriate to say that it was searching for Duplex. She was so tired though that she couldn’t spare the energy to be terrified.\n\n“Duplex…?” Quincey whimpered, “Are you okay?”\n\nThere was no answer, from inside her head or otherwise. Quincey had to do some searching, trying to find the tattered remains of her Inkling. It was there, but most of it was around her, soaking into the old floorboards. Quincey swallowed whatever might she could muster to turn onto her front and push herself to crawl. Her hands stuck to the goop on the floor. Some of it soaked into her skin. It felt like a crying pup dragging itself home after being ravished by a storm. It was pitiful and weak and helpless. Quincey did her best to warm it, to embrace it, but it felt fragile.\n\n“Come on…” Quincey begged, “Duplex, please.”\n\nWhatever was left of her Inkling that remained outside her seemed to drain away into the wood, leaving it dry and cold. A sense of failure overwhelmed the pig girl, drowning her in guilt. Certainly she never could have prepared herself for such a chaotic turn, but even so she felt she was to blame. She promised to help her Inkling, and it was there practically falling apart inside her at that very moment. It was then she noticed the white of her hands and the purple of her fingertips. Her arms shook and she collapsed to the floor on her front, sprawled and limp. She blinked away the feelings of fatigue and exertion, put her hands under her again, and pushed with all her might.\n\n“Hold on…!” She grunted, tucking her knees under her after some lift. She rose, her head spinning. She wobbled and fell backward, barely catching herself on her elbows as her legs kicked out in front of her. She landed on her butt and sniffled.\n\n“I need… help,” Quincey frowned, “Duplex.”\n\nFrom the darkness came the voice of a little girl. She said, “Is that what you call it?”\n\nQuincey looked for the source of the voice. The girl stepped out from the dark, but it was clear right away that it was no normal girl. It was a construct, a prana creation just like all the others. Built of a body that seemed unstable, the scratchy black lines making a shape but failing to stay in the border of that shape at times as they danced around like a bad animation. It was a little body, as small as a child and shaped just the same. Two little legs with two little feet led to a small body with two little arms and two little hands. She had a head, and it looked like she may have even had hair… like a bowl cut or something, around her head. If she was meant to look like a post-splice human, it was difficult to tell just which. The length and shape of her tail wasn’t a constant and at times her ears appeared pointy, and at times they were round.\n\nShe had that strange aura around her, as if she moved entirely through a ripple in reality, a tear that moved where she did. She had no eyes, but she seemed to see nevertheless. She had a mouth though, a smiling, little white mouth. The shape it made was gentle, but eerie grin. In her hands she held something familiar. An orb, or something like it, that didn’t look at all three-dimensional. It looked like a burned hole in a picture or film that she was able to grip and move.\n\nThat was Epheral’s core.\n\nQuincey barely breathed.\n\n“You know who I am,” The girl, the closest representation of Epheral that Quincey was going to get, said. “And I know you, Quincey. I touched you, and you touched me.”\n\nEpheral stepped closer, clutching her core like a cherished bauble. She held it lovingly. Quincey remained quiet, not knowing what to say and not having the bravery to say anything she could think of. “You’re… human, aren’t you?” Epheral asked, “I’ve never met a human before. You’re interesting. You’re different from all the others. Is that why Osoth came here? I knew you’d go running to her. I knew you’d go back to your master the first chance you got.”\n\nEpheral’s smile turned into an angry scowl. “If I knew you were just one of her dogs, I would have killed you then. I shouldn’t have let you live. I should have torn you apart, you traitors.” She growled. She sounded hurt.\n\nQuincey sucked in her lips, rubbing them together nervously before she’d part them to speak. “Osoth is gone.”\n\nThis seemed to catch Epheral by surprise. She became somewhat tense, holding her core distrustfully. “What do you mean she’s gone?” She demanded, “She’s here. I sense her here. She’s here and I’m going to destroy her.”\n\nQuincey shook her head. “Echelon… already did.” She said, “Osoth invaded, and Echelon beat her.”\n\n“Who? Who is this Echelon?” Epheral asked, confused, “How could she be powerful enough to defeat Osoth? That’s not possible.”\n\n“It’s true,” Quincey insisted tiredly, “Her core… it’s been shattered.”\n\nEpheral turned her construct away, holding her own core away from Quincey. “You’re… lying!” Epheral cried, “You’re trying to [i]protect[/i] her! Why are you doing this to me?! Why do you love her more than you love me?!”\n\nQuincey winced. Epheral stormed forward, which shouldn’t have seemed so threatening on her little legs. The little girl moved one hand away from her core to instead reach out and grab Quincey’s face. The sudden, burning sensation that overcame the girl’s pale cheeks as soon as Epheral’s fingers took hold made her scream and clench her eyes. She pried herself from Epheral’s grip as the girl-construct squished her cheeks and smooshed her lips together. Quincey pulled away and fell to the floor, sobbing.\n\n“I saved you!” Epheral stood over Quincey, shouting down at her, “I saved you when she threw you away! You owe me your [b]lives[/b]!”\n\nQuincey rubbed her eyes. Her glasses had long been lost. She sniffled and wiped the tears away, barely sitting back up. Epheral tilted her head somewhat, returning to her embrace of her core. “Awww…” She smiled, “Without me, you’re falling apart. Your Inkling’s too weak to talk, isn’t it Quincey? You can’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again, no matter how hard you try.”\n\nShe leaned over Quincey, the blackness staring into the pig. “I could,” She said, “I could patch Dormence and Tranquil up again. I could make them all better. And you can’t. You won’t, no matter what.”\n\nQuincey’s lip quivered. “G-get… away from us…” She tried to sound tough, but it ended up sounding like a plea.\n\n“Us?” Epheral reared back in surprise, “Us? You think you’re a part of this? You think you matter? What are you going to do? Are you going to fight me? Is that it? Do you think you can do [i]anything[/i] to save them? Honestly?”\n\n“I know you.” Epheral loomed over Quincey, standing astraddle her. “You haven’t done anything your entire life. You’ve never done anything on your own. Is this what you think you’re finally going to do all by yourself? Stand up to me, and save your treacherous Inkling?”\n\n“That… [i]thing[/i], has no friends, Quincey. Not anymore.” Epheral continued, “It betrays its friends and its loyalties, it always has. I thought it was my friend too, but it betrayed me all the same. It said… I was like [i]her[/i]. It begged me not to destroy one of the most brutal tyrants who ever existed. And why? She doesn’t deserve to live, and neither do any who follow her.”\n\nEpheral turned her head, frowning in disgust. “I can smell them everywhere on this planet,” She said, “Osoth and her spineless slaves, bound with you humans… and you take them, don’t you? You let them in and let them live, just like you are now!” She thrust herself at Quincey, making the pig girl stumble back onto the floor in fright. “I could have saved every single one of them! I could have stopped [b]everything[/b]! But they threw me away! None of them deserve to go on, and if you think they do, you don’t deserve to live either!”\n\nQuincey grit her teeth, grunting with the effort it took to push herself upright with her elbows. Her body inked over, but the process was like trying to start an old gas engine. Duplex took its host’s form, but it chugged and sputtered. It took over in patches, leaving gaps and holes exposing Quincey’s clothing and flesh underneath. It barely took the girl’s face, its blue eyes peering at Epheral from below.\n\nEpheral let out a little gasp, her angry scowl turning into a mournful frown. “… [i]Why[/i]?” She asked. The one word was laden with the sadness of an absolutely devastated heart. She repeated herself. “Why? You’d save [i]her[/i], but you’d fight [i]me[/i]?”\n\nLooking like a torn-up corpse, Duplex tried to rise, tried to stand. It didn’t say anything. It just stared at Epheral, experiencing too many emotions for any one of them to register on it or Quincey’s face. Even Quincey’s lips beneath, what showed of them, were devoid of expression.\n\nEpheral breathed her sadness into a hateful snarl. “[b]Stupid[/b]. I made you. You live because of me. Don’t you realize that? You haven’t been able to push me out. I still have you. I could have killed you, but I didn’t. Don’t you know what that means?!”\n\nThe construct-girl stepped back as Duplex got to its feet. The porcine-Inkling remained silent, but she balled her hands into fists. It seemed like it struggled to even stand. Anything resembling a fighting stance was slackened and weak.\n\n“Fine,” Epheral said, “Let me show you one more time.”\n\nThe girl construct lifted her hand toward Duplex, and she twirled her finger in a slow winding motion. The Inkling froze, unable to move a muscle, seized by sudden, unimaginable pain that blanked the senses. The patchwork that was Duplex began to unravel. The silver, hazy goop that made up its membrane began to split apart like a dividing cell. All over Quincey’s body, the silver ink swirled and pulled away into colours of blue and yellow. Its shape deformed, suddenly finding it impossible to bind itself to the contours of Quincey’s body. Bit by bit it peeled away from the girl, slopping off onto piles on the floor.\n\n“Hmhm… That’s right.” Epheral slowed her winding finger, the entire process of splitting Duplex apart slowing down, dragging out. Duplex and Quincey screamed, howling in pain, their voices seeming to split apart into three distinctly separate ones. Like painstakingly having her skin peeled off, Quincey had to endure it with Duplex. It lasted seconds, seconds that dragged on for eternity, until the last thread of ink split apart and Duplex became two once more. The yellow and blue ink fell to the floor only moments before Quincey’s unconscious body.\n\nEpheral approached and set her core on the floor by Quincey’s head. She knelt down, getting onto her knees as she watched the almost lifeless forms of the pig and her Inklings.\n\n“That’s what you get.”\n\n-\n\n--\n\n-\n\n“Hey!” Harley moved to the edge of the roof and peeked over. Her foot hurt, but not as much as before. She’d gotten better at ignoring it. She looked down at Daxton’s body as he lay there in the grass, his coat pooled out under his healthy-looking legs and his tank top tight to his firm chest. Harley shook her head. Daxton was kind of pretty, but she had to focus!\n\nShe shimmied over to a tree nearby, one with branches just long enough to extend nearly to the edge of the roof. She got down low and stretched out to grab hold of one of a branch, nervously moving to crawl onto it. She overestimated the sturdiness of the wood, and the limb sagged as soon as she put her weight on it, causing her to squeak in alarm as she fell. Holding tight to the branch though, she hung in the air, feet dangling several feet off the ground. She panted for breath and tried to slow her racing heart, grunting as she swung herself and shimmied her hands, rustling the branches above and raining autumn leaves down on Daxton.\n\nShe was never a very active girl, but she surprised herself at how well she could manage in desperate times. She managed to get herself nearly in to the body of the tree, close enough that other branches were under her feet. One by one, she descended to those branches, moving slowly in her fright to daintily place one toe down below her on a surface, then ease her body down. The branches were thicker and sturdier at their base, making climbing down an easier task.\n\nPlacing her foot down onto a two-pronged branch, she slipped. She squeaked again as she fell, but only so far as to get her body wedged in between the split of the branch below. She found her shoulder blades and bosom stuffing the gap to keep her from slipping through. The sudden stop made her head spin. She blinked out the confusion and looked all around her to observe her predicament, then she began to kick her feet and struggle, bouncing the branch around as she grunted. More leaves rained down, fluttering down onto Daxton. One landed on his face and he twitched, blowing the leaf away as he stirred.\n\n“Mr. Daxton!” Harley fussed against her own breasts as they crowded her chin. “Are you alright?”\n\n“Oogh…” Daxton slowly sat up, rubbing his head. He coughed a little. “Yeah.” Looking up, he saw Harley’s legs dangling above him and a few feet away. She kicked and fussed, making Daxton chuckle painfully. “Better question is: are you?”\n\n“I’m… stuck!” Harley complained. She placed her hands on the branch and tried pushing herself up through the gap. Something snapped and she gasped, switching directly to holding on for dear life. “Ah!”\n\n“Hold on, I’ll get you down.” Daxton called up to her.\n\nHarley turned her head this way and that, trying to look around her own impediments. She noticed things moving from around the corners, more monsters emerging from hiding to move in on the pair. She saw big ones and small ones – one particularly large, with a single eye and a massive club weapon. She squeaked in alarm. “Um, Mr. Daxton!” She called, “Monsters!”\n\nDaxton stopped short of climbing up to help Harley down and turned quickly to see that he’d been surrounded. More constructs – goblins, the cyclops he’d left behind, spiders large enough to have their own health bars, and more moved in on him in bold, threatening manners. They weren’t being coy about it. With their weapons brandished they moved on him knowing full well their advantage in numbers. They came from both the front of the houses and the back, making escape all but impossible for them, lest they climb the fence. Daxton pushed his back up against the tree, rubbing his aches and sores.\n\n“Ah man…” He huffed, “What am I gonna do…”\n\nDaxton chuckled, hanging his head in silent surrender of his lot in life. “Well, no sense just sitting back,” He said, pushing off the tree and standing ready for the attack. “Come on then. Come get some.”\n\nThey came, and they got some. The gaggle of goblins bore down on Daxton like a swarm of angry bees, rushing in from in front and behind, and their numbers counting no fewer than eight. They had their clubs, some had just their claws, and all of them were small, charcoal-like, and particularly chaotic. They laughed and giggled as they dogpiled on the boy, and he did his best to spin around and keep himself from getting overwhelmed right away. Daxton grabbed the first, nearest attacker and spun them to hit a second. Turning, he kicked out his foot to shove the chest of another, before he spun to punch one in the face who tried to get him from behind. It was all he could manage before one latched on to his back to put him off balance, and the others were quick to take advantage. His arms and legs became weighted with little bodies, and try as he might he couldn’t stay standing.\n\nDaxton fell to the ground under a bold assault of swinging weapons. Getting beaten with clubs wasn’t really the bad part of it. It was no different than being pinned down and punched, just by harder fists. What hurt were the claws. Feeling those prana constructs rake across his skin… it was an entirely new sensation. First it stung, then it burned when his blood would fill the wounds, then it would just be uncomfortable. The slashes weren’t very deep, as the claws weren’t terribly long, but the short, hot flashes of pain were nearly debilitating.\n\nThe spiders served a different purpose entirely, and Harley had been too distracted to realize it until they were ready to climb up the tree. There were only two of them, but they latched on to the trunk and began their steady ascent toward her. If what Daxton had said was true, she dreaded the idea of what might happen if they reached her. She threw caution to the wind and twisted her body, fussing with animal ferocity to escape her trappings. Once the charcoal arachnids were half way up the tree, the branch snapped. Harley fell to earth in a heap, the branch roughly smacking into her as she hit the ground.\n\n“Enh!” She wheezed, reflexively cringing in pain. She didn’t even realize that her Inkling took over. It formed over her skin like a protective shell and took control quickly to see the girl to safety. Harley stood, but in her place was an Inkling that looked just like her, a pale, glowing white with beacon-yellow eyes and mouth. She rose, fists clenched, throwing her arms out to her sides in a harsh motion, arching her back into an eruption of bright light and an emission of sheer, photonic force. The glittering explosion threw the monsters away, clearing a large area around her and Daxton.\n\nLumina now surveyed the scene, but it winced as if barraged by a sudden sound. “I understand,” She said, “Then I have little choice. Thank you for your hospitality, Harley. This is where we part ways.”\n\nLumina stepped over to Daxton as the boy struggled to raise from the ground. She knelt down and put her hand on his head, making him pause. All at once, the glowing white membrane of Lumina drained from Harley's body, seemingly through the connection of her palm on Daxton’s head. Likewise, it filled over Daxton’s body starting from there and making its way out until it covered him from head to toe. Harley huffed and puffed when the transfer was complete, falling onto her rear in the grass. Daxton was confused and surprised, his body now coated by Lumina’s shining form.\n\nThe boy’s hair still covered his eyes, so his inked form bore no visible eyes to speak of, either. It didn’t seem to stop the Inkling from looking around, however. With no hat on his head, Daxton’s fit form looked like a featureless doll with a small, drawn-on, bright yellow mouth and shaggy, blobby hair. His body became feminine, with a shapelier chest. Daxton stood up and stared at his hands, turning them and flexing his fingers.\n\n“Harley is too afraid to fight, so she needs your protection.” Lumina spoke into Daxton’s mind. She had the voice of a woman, and not a young one either. “You’re a more capable combatant, so if you expect to get out of this I’ll need your help.”\n\n“My help?” Daxton spoke back. He was still in awe of what he felt. He felt lighter and stronger. With Lumina covering him, the world seemed to be so different. Lights in particular appeared to be more vibrant, and seemed to emit energy that made its way to him. Some windows in the houses still had light pouring out, but they seemed to do so in beams rather than the normal warm glow from within. Daxton saw the monsters before him as darker than normal in contrast, like they just sucked up all the light and left only darkness in their wake.\n\n“Alright, Lumina. Where do I start?” The boy grinned.\n\nThe prana creatures took violent umbrage to Lumina’s new host, and they moved to attack him immediately. “There!” Lumina shouted, diving forward with prism trails of light following her host’s movement. She met an attacking goblin’s club and caught the attack, ripping the construct asunder to part its club from its body. Before the weapon could lose its structure and shatter, the Inkling swung it into the skull of another, shattering both the weapon and the cranium. The strength of the attack was devastating, amplifying Daxton’s already impressive arm-power from an athletic degree to straight-up strongman levels of pain. The goblin shattered into tiny fragments that scattered across the grass is a dazzling display of glittering sparkles that emanated from the gloriously-bright Inkling.\n\nDaxton’s knowledge of Aikido had given him an impressive skill in counter-attacking. The style was all about a redistribution of oncoming force, putting his attacker off-guard and opening them up for an attack. Lumina made this a flashy display, a proper light show. Not only did rainbow trails of prismatic light follow her every movement, but every connection of her attacks on an opponent’s body made small, hot flashes of light. The heat and the force played in tandem to make particularly crushing attacks that left a slow burn behind. Lumina stepped and weaved, moving with attacks so their swings found no target, and grabbing arms or weapons to simply pull or push to make the little goblins stumble. Once open, they were hers to manipulate.\n\n“Hiyah!” Lumina stopped one attack and got down low, rolling the goblin over her back only to grab them by their head and toss them part-way over. She slammed it down on a spider that had been scuttling up from behind, crushing the two of them in one go. That opened the way for her to return to Harley, pulling the girl up from the ground. The little shrew was exhausted.\n\n“She gave me a surge of prana to make this possible,” Lumina explained, “She won’t be able to leave here on her own accord.”\n\nThe Inkling shouldered Harley, draping her across her host’s strong back and carrying her like a fireman might. “Let’s get out of here!” Daxton insisted, his voice mingling with the Inkling’s. He looked back to see the cyclops charging straight for him, and rather than risk Harley’s safety he turned away and ran, making his way around the house and out the other side to escape into the midway.\n\n“We must get to safety.” Lumina insisted, “These constructs will not cease their pursuit until I am beaten or captured.”\n\n“We gotta find Quincey,” Daxton returned. He had seen where she had fallen, she wasn’t too far away. Only a couple blocks’ worth of homes separated him from his girlfriend, and he wasn’t about to leave her at the mercy of Epheral and her monsters. “I’m not going back without her.”\n\n“And what of Harley?” Lumina asked.\n\n“We can handle it. We better, anyway.” Daxton answered.\n\n“My, aren’t you reckless?” Lumina chastised her host, but she shrugged even so. “Very well then, Mr. Daxton. Let us go see just how your love is faring, but I insist that we remove ourselves from the streets as soon as possible. Let us head to the mall afterward and seek safety with the other humans.”\n\n“Sounds like a plan,” Daxton agreed, “I’ll drag everyone there myself if I have to.”\n\n“To be quite honest, I think you may just be able to with my help…” Lumina seemed impressed, “Compared to Harley, you’re much more capable. Very strong. Very fine…”\n\nLumina’s little mouth twitched up in a little grin.\n\nDaxton felt momentarily unsettled.\n\n“Are you hitting on me?”\n\n“No, it was simply an observation.” Lumina insisted, “Move quickly now.”\n\nThe ground rumbled under the many feet of the monstrous pursuers that were on Lumina’s heels. The lumbering form of the cyclops, with its mighty legs, was able to cross greater distances than most. Its long strides saw it meet Lumina, and with its almost tree-sized club it swung. She was barely able to leap over it, planting one hand on the weapon to vault over, where the momentum nearly threw her arm out and took her from below. She could move a fair speed if she wanted. Daxton was no track and field star, but he had the legs and thighs for a good sprint. The Inkling pumped more power into her own running, sending her sailing along the midway in near-leaping steps.\n\nThe cyclops continued to swing, bringing its mighty weapon down to crush Lumina and her host. She was able to dodge each one just barely with Harley’s weight on her back making it awkward to move in the ways necessary. The impact of the massive club shook the pavement beneath Lumina’s feet, shattering the road and leaving ugly potholes in its wake.\n\n“Could you [i]not[/i]?!” Lumina shouted back at her attacker, darting forward just out of reach so she could whip around. She opened her hand and cocked back her elbow to thrust her open palm and fingers forward in a striking motion. A brilliant ray of light fired from the Inkling’s hand, about as wide around as Daxton’s fully outstretched palm and fingers, and it travelled through the air in a flash. The photonic energy struck the lumbering charcoal monster in its chest with a distinct “pew!” sound, the force of it causing the creature to stumble. Lumina followed the attack with another, using her other hand to fire another beam, soon alternating between the two to rapid-fire shining white beams of searing light into the creature’s thick, resilient form. They struck wildly, random but accurate, around the cyclops’ shoulders and chest, jerking it around as it tripped backward and then fell. It hit the midway like a fallen redwood, kicking up dirt and dust with the loud boom of its landing.\n\nLumina turned to run further, adjusting Harley on her shoulders and holding her securely once more.\n\n“Freaking laser beams!” Daxton gawked, “Wow!” He took a moment to admire one of his ink-covered hands. He was in awe of the capability. It’s not that firing light-beams from one’s hands was something nobody thought about – on the contrary, one might be hard-pressed to find a boy who never imagined it. The idea of actually being able to do so, however, was so outrageously ludicrous that Daxton could scarcely absorb it.\n\n“Laser emission is merely a manipulation of light energy, is it not?” Lumina reasoned, as if the entire thing was plain as day. “This is our power.”\n\nWhile Daxton was sure that laser light was a little more scientific than that, he knew better than to question the convenience of an Inklings’ total lack of regard for things like logic or physics.\n\nThe chattering of the goblin creatures brought Lumina back to reality. The house Quincey had fallen into was still a ways away, and with Harley on her back, Lumina wasn’t sure she would make it. Daxton, however, wasn’t one to let such things stop him. The Inkling carried on in her stride, likelihood of success be damned.\n\nA car’s horn honked from somewhere behind and above. Lumina stopped and turned to see a sleek, black car speed toward her from out of the sky. It pulled up alongside her and the passenger-side door opened upward.\n\n“Get in!” Marcello shouted to the Inked-over boy, not recognizing him under the guise of Lumina. It didn’t seem to matter, as the woman leaned over and held out her hand to help Lumina in regardless of her possible loyalties. The Inkling took Marcello’s hand and climbed inside, shifting awkwardly to sit Harley’s unconscious body on the seat. The door closed behind her, and Marcello took off before she could even get her seatbelt on. Prana-constructed weapons hit her car, thumping against the metal and bouncing off like hail.\n\n“Thanks for stopping,” Lumina said, “It was getting dicey out there.”\n\nMarcello shrugged her shoulder. She was looking no worse for wear, maybe a little stressed, but she didn’t seem to be injured in any way. Her clothes were fine enough, the woman wearing her black leather jacket and what seemed to be a pale violet swimsuit top, the threadlink stickers clinging to her slender body in a partitioned spread. Her bottoms were utilitarian fatigues with all sorts of pockets. Hip-straps of some kind of pale violet swimming bottom rode high, and two belts looped around her hips, each one dangling off a different side slightly. She had all kinds of things on the belts - a neurod, handcuffs, emergency medical supplies. She was decked out for full police work, no doubt.\n\n“Anything those freakshows don’t like has to be on our side,” The detective reasoned, “And I’ve worked with Inklings before. They’re not all bad.”\n\n“Oh, I know.” Lumina nodded.\n\nMarcello cocked a brow. “You do?” She asked.\n\nLumina shook her head. “Now isn’t the time,” She said, “There.” The Inkling pointed outward, through Marcello’s tinted windshield to the two-story home that Quincey had crashed into. “Quincey fell into that home over there. We need to rescue her.”\n\n“The Abram girl?” Marcello ran her gloved fingers through her shocked cyan hair. “Guess I shouldn’t be surprised that she’s mixed up in all this. Alright, let’s get her and go.”\n\nMarcello changed course to head straight for the house. The squared-off blocks of the suburb-like Residential Sector formed a closely-knit grid that, while wide open from the air, managed to create a realm of tight corners and turns closer to ground-level. If someone didn’t know the place ahead of time, it was fairly easy to get lost where all the smaller homes looked relatively similar. The towering skyscraper apartments served as the most popular landmarks, with only some small parks and playgrounds and facilities acting as secondary. It was easy to get Quincey’s landing zone mixed up with the homes huddled next to it, but Lumina had kept her eyes on it as best she could… figuratively speaking.\n\n“Can I leave her here with you?” Lumina nodded toward Harley, who sat between Marcello and her, asleep. She slumped to one side, her gentle weight pressing against Lumina. The Inkling gently coaxed her to lean the other way, resting the child’s head on Marcello’s arm instead. The amphibious detective nodded once, twisting to slip her arm around Harley and worked to pull her seatbelt around her.\n\nWith a bit of tugging, Marcello clicked the buckle in and tugged it securely so that Harley was strapped in and sat up straight. “Yeah,” Marcello said. She knew it was better to leave someone behind to ensure Harley’s safety, and considering the circumstances it was obviously going to be her.\n\nDaxton was all too thankful for Marcello. She’d helped out a lot when Quincey was kidnapped by Vor and she was instrumental in bringing down Eos on criminal charges. Now she was going out of her way to help save Quincey again, and she seemed oddly routine about it. Maybe it was just an adult thing, but the detective didn’t seem to be riding the high of victory over her case anymore. Daxton couldn’t say he wouldn’t still be beaming with pride if it were him. That made her a good officer, he figured. Duty before glory.\n\nMarcello caught sight of more flying harpies and beasts coming her way, and with a brief adjustment of her rear-view she spotted a number more coming from behind as well. “I’ll hover around for a bit, but you have to be fast, kid,” The detective said, swerving to pull up close to the semi-detached dwelling. She hovered around the same height as the radial light rings that orbited the home, providing a beaming light on the otherwise grungy day. The bright light illuminated the damage on the home – scratched panel exterior and cracked glass windows made for a grim sight, and there had been a clear hole smashed into the roof noticeable upon descent from the sky. It was bigger than Quincey, but she had certainly been the one to make it.\n\nWhen the door opened and Lumina moved to hop out, the mighty roar of the prana dragon bellowed in the distance. Marcello’s lips fixed into an unsettled frown. She said, “In and out, before whatever [i]that[/i] thing was finds me.”\n\n“In and out.” Lumina nodded before she jumped out of the car and fell six feet to the lawn. She landed and tumbled as Marcello drew the door closed behind her and veered off, launching into evasive maneuvers to avoid the airborne hostiles. The Inkling, now alone, rose to her feet and hurried toward the back door of the modest home.\n\nShe reached the sliding glass door that served as a back entrance and tried to open it to no success. It had been locked, and no amount of pulling was going to wrench it open. Impatient, she stepped back, thrust out her hand, and fired a light beam. It struck the glass solidly, and shattered it outright, making quite the ruckus as it fell to pieces. Lumina charged into the home without hesitation, moving as quickly and decisively as she could.\n\n“Quincey?!” She called out for her host’s lover. Of course she received no answer, though she had been quietly hoping she would have. There were a number of possibilities that could have played out, such as Quincey having recovered and left the house on her own, or something far worse. When Quincey failed to answer the calls for her, it made those grim possibilities that much more realistic. Lumina hit the stairs as quickly as possible to climb to the second floor and continue her search. The time it took to check every room ate away at her confidence that the girl was unharmed.\n\nThe final destination was the attic, which Lumina would have missed had it not been for how obvious the panel in the roof on the second floor landing was. It was a classic kind of hatch, the sort that could be pulled down to reveal a staircase up. Lumina had to pull an end table from the upstairs bedroom to stand on, knocking off the lamp and all the clutter on it without so much as a care. She was boosted just enough reach the handle that she grabbed and twisted to disengage the mechanism and cause the stairs to fall and slide out. They hit the carpeted floor of the landing, obnoxiously obscuring a majority of the walking space there.\n\nLumina’s entry into the attic illuminated the place in the warm glow that radiated from her body at all times. The dark corners of the attic offered no fear or mystery. The old wood creaked underfoot but appeared sturdy. Boxes of stored miscellaneous were stacked, piled, and set around the attic, but not so much as to be crowded. There was plenty of open space, all filled with the nippy, cold air of the outside that wafted in from the big hole in the ceiling. Of course, all these details were secondary to the far more important sight of an unconscious pig girl collapsed onto the floor; and only slightly more important than that was the prana-construct that hovered over her.\n\n“Don’t even think about it!” Lumina shouted just as Epheral turned her head. The devilish girl got a beam of brilliant light to her face for her trouble, and the connection blew the construct’s cranium clear off its shoulders, shattering its would-be skull into pieces just as her white mouth parted to question who Lumina was.\n\nThe lack of head didn’t seem to bother the construct. It rose its little humanoid self to its little feet and picked up the strange, undulating core off the floor as it did so. Slowly the girl’s head reformed, growing back from its shoulders and regaining its shape in seconds. She had no words for Lumina, only an angry growl. It took Epheral’s core and pushed it into its body, sinking the thing safely into its abdomen and embedding it there, where the burning white shape remained obvious through the charcoal scratches of its body. The girl clenched her little fists, preparing to fight. Lumina wasn’t all too sure who or what she was looking at, but the differences between it and the other monsters she had seen was not lost on her, if only by way of that strange core it seemed to protect.\n\n“Alright,” Lumina canted her head to the side to stretch out her neck, loosening herself up for a fight, “Normally I don’t hit little girls but for you I’ll make an exception.”\n\nEpheral’s tiny form shuddered, and the girl seemed to roar as she convulsed. All at once, she exploded with size and shape, changing before Lumina’s eyes in an eruptive instant. The construct’s form cracked and shattered into an impossible new existence wherein it was no fewer than six feet tall. Its tiny arms and legs had elongated into disturbing lengths that seemed disproportionate to its body, causing it to move in an eerie, marionette-like manner. Its joints had become as blades, sharpened points jutting from its knees and its elbows in sinister fashion. It retained a human shape, though it had become more aged, more developed. It remained decidedly feminine, bearing the curves thereof. It appeared as if its “hair” had grown longer, but it was difficult to tell when the entire being was as a shadow. Only shapes hinted at such things.\n\nThe new larger and more imposing construct entered a proper fighting stance. Some form of martial arts, maybe. Nothing Daxton could recognize.\n\nLumina took pause at this rather sudden development. “Oh,” She said, “This is different.”\n\nEpheral moved faster than Lumina could even [i]see[/i], let alone prepare herself against. One moment the prana beast was several feet away, the next she was right in the Inkling’s face. A backhand strike sent Lumina into the wall, knocking down boxes and clutter along the way, scattering objects around the attic. Epheral followed, and pinned Lumina to the wall by her throat. She pressed her forearm hard on Lumina’s neck, keeping her feet off the floor by a foot’s clearance or thereabouts. Inklings didn’t need to breathe, but the Inked corgi winced in pain and struggled against the broad arm keeping her in place. Simply wiggling free wasn’t going to be an option, however.\n\nWith no nervous system, Epheral’s constructs had no weak points to hit. There were no bones to break either. The only option was hitting their bodies with as much force as possible, to break them to dust. Lumina thrust her open palm against the inside of Epheral’s elbow and grabbed hold of her wrist with the other, at once twisting and pushing to force herself free. She forced Epheral’s wrist back, twisting her arm right around, and then unleashed a force of photonic energy to sever the elbow from the arm. The construct came apart, and Lumina dropped to the floor and released the useless, dangling limb. She wound up as much as she could with her back against the wall and threw a punch at center mass. Boosted forward by a small flash of light, the Inkling’s fist crashed into Epheral’s stomach and sent the construct reeling back into the center of the room.\n\nShe followed, pressing the attack. Epheral regrew her limb in a quick reaction, swiping at Lumina with newly formed claws as she did so. She ducked under the swipe and came up with an uppercut to Epheral’s chin. The prana beast stepped back, recovered, and returned with an upward lunge of her fist toward Lumina’s gut. The Inkling spun, caught the attack, and lead it up and over her, shoving her weight back into Epheral’s false form and pulling. The golem was thrown over Lumina’s back and onto the floor a short distance away.\n\nEpheral flipped around and took a feral stance low to the floor on all fours. She thrust out her clawed hand, seeming to concentrate on the Inkling before her. After only a few seconds of nothing happening, she stopped. Angry, she lunged at Lumina, who stood ready to receive her. With her claws out, Epheral pounced like a mountain lion. Lumina caught her by her wrists and attempted to step back, trying to lead the attack and pull Epheral off-balance. Instead, Epheral planted, anticipating the act. The construct simply pulled back towards itself, catching Lumina by surprise and overpowering her easily to put her footing in an unfavourable position instead. The prana construct’s knee drove into Lumina’s gut with all the force of an oncoming car, driving a cry of pain from the Inkling. Epheral threw Lumina’s arms aside and took advantage of the lapse in defense to start slashing in a fury.\n\nScratches to an Inkling’s membrane weren’t as devastating as sheer blunt force, but Epheral’s claws brought a stinging sensation that burned like acid, causing pain on some level deeper than simple kinetics. Lumina was tossed around by the strikes, and the last one came as an open palm right to her chest, launching her across the room and into the far wall. More boxes were thrown around the attic as Lumina’s body passed through them. One cardboard cube outright exploded upon impact with Lumina’s back, blanketing the dazzling Inkling in old clothes that barely cushioned her crash into the wall. The force that launched her had been generated somehow, not unlike her own light beams, only invisible to the naked eye. It caused a ripple in her inked flesh that was unsettling.\n\nLumina crumpled to the floor, but managed to keep from falling on her face. She rose, shaking her head to toss some old socks off of her ears. Epheral was upon her in an instant, just as she thrust her hand out. She caught the construct’s chest, right where its sternum would have been if it had one. Without a second thought, she poured her power through her palm, and Epheral was shot back by an absolutely dazzling display of sparkling light that exploded outward from Lumina’s body. As if to return the favour, Epheral was sent back to the other side of the attic. Epheral rose in a hurry, but rather than attack, she rushed the middle of the room and leapt out through the hole in the roof.\n\nEpheral seemed to flee. Lumina lowered her arm and she righted herself to continue the fight. Moments passed with no retaliation from her foe. A few moments more, and she was confused. She stepped over to the hole, ears perked attentively, and peered through it for any signs of the construct. There were none. No signs of their presence remained. Lumina gave it a few more moments before determining that the battle was over. With the task done, she retreated into her host for rest.\n\nDaxton was back, standing in the attic fully clothed in his long blue coat and knit cap. He shook off the willies he got from the form shift and turned his attention to the unconscious Quincey. He hurried to her to save her, carefully lifting her off the floor so that he could carry her. He managed to throw Quincey onto his back. The pig girl seemed as heavy as ever, but Daxton’s muscle fatigue was likely to blame for that. He got her into a piggy back, grunting and wheezing with the effort through his grit teeth.\n\n“Really wish you were awake…!” Daxton complained, but he hoisted Quincey up enough to start walking, and so he did. She was dead weight, her arms limp at her sides, and her chin slumped over his shoulder. She was still breathing. Gentle puffs of air escaped her nostrils and she was at peace as if she were asleep. That brought Daxton some comfort, but he would feel better once they were somewhere safe.\n\nDaxton made his way back outside, taking the front door to step down onto the sidewalk. He awkwardly shuffled through the door with Quincey on his back, having to use his feet and body to nudge the thing open. He didn’t bother to close it. Stepping outside, small droplets of rain hit his fur. The gray clouds above evidently did have some rain in them, but not terribly much. It made the trip that much more uncomfortable as he looked around for Marcello and didn’t see her anywhere. He’d give her some time to return like she promised.\n\nHe couldn’t afford to in any case. The prana monsters had a keen sense for Inklings, and two in one spot was like putting out sugar for ants. They were flocking. Daxton could see them from across the street moving through the yards to make their way over. The towering form of the roaming cyclops was just a ways down the street, still as angry as ever. Daxton could hear its footsteps stomping toward the house.\n\n“Come on, lady…” Daxton grumbled. The charcoal forms of the monsters were nearing. Gnolls and goblins and trolls were skulking across the midway, the cyclops had broken into sight past the houses and trees, and harpies were circling overhead like vultures. Daxton didn’t have to look far to see danger, and for once even he had his doubts he’d be able to escape it.\n\nMarcello answered the call, swooping in like a super hero in her dented car. She skimmed over the cyclops’ head, bumping it with the undercarriage of her vehicle as she passed it by. It swung fruitlessly at her, her car too fast for its slow, powerful attack to connect to. She pulled up as close to the front of the house as she could and opened her doors so that Daxton and Quincey could pile inside. She did not wait for them to get settled, or even buckled up. Daxton’s legs still dangled out of the vehicle as she took off again, little impish creatures smacking into her windows and bumping off as she did.\n\n“Kemberge?” Marcello shot him a confused look. She reached over, past Harley, and pulled him and Quincey as hard as she could to get them in so the door could close. Her modest little vehicle was getting crowded, especially since she didn’t have back seats. It was never meant to hold four passengers, but there they were, crammed into the cabin shoulder-to-shoulder. Daxton sat and pulled Quincey into his lap, who was heavy and awkward, asleep as she was.\n\n“Yeah, that’s me. I was the Inkling you picked up,” Daxton grunted his explanation. Marcello gave him a confused look yet again and he shook his head. “I’ll tell you all about it on the way, but let’s get back to the mall, alright?”\n\nMarcello turned her attention forward, shaking her head. “You kids are a real piece of work, you know that?”\n\n-\n\n--\n\n-\n\nThe Harbington Mall was a colourful place. The city planners made a shift some years back to go with seasonal themes to build on the “nature” aspect of the dome that many from the outside had applied to it. Each floor of the place had a different scheme. The main floor was summer; the tile walls had a vibrant green stripe that ran the entire way around, from entrance to entrance, breaking up the storefronts and shop windows. Accent pieces varied the spectrum between yellow-green for benches, and blue-green for fountains and water fixtures, which had been spread out along the walls and floor to create a pleasantly “outdoorsy” place to navigate. The addition of small flora ecosystems and artificial summer fruits amplified the charm and birthed pleasant aromas in the air. Visible from that floor was every floor above. A pink glass half-wall made a guard rail for the second story and marked it as spring, while an orange half-wall of similar make labelled the top floor as autumn. Each one had their own sights and smells, and the stores had moved around over the years to where they fit thematically. One could find snow cones and swimming shorts at the first floor, squeezed juices and flower shops on the second, and apple cider and hardware stores on the top.\n\nThe building had never been so packed before, but crisis always brought out the exceptional situations. Where normally one would find teens killing time, over half of the entire dome had been crammed in and was vying for space. Cafes and sit-down shops were filled to capacity more often than not, with butts filling seats as a way to find comfort where benches weren’t always available. The food court on the first floor had suitcases and bags full of valuables that people had brought in stacked on the floors and tables, all dutifully being secured and tagged by police to keep track of them for their respective owners. One could scarcely hear the trickle of the water fixtures over the murmurs of the crowds. Families and packs kept close together, and anyone wandering on their own stuck out as being lost and confused.\n\nThe underground took the theme of winter. The tram station was built like a crystal cavern and decorated in hues of blue and violet. The temperature wasn’t as cool as the place appeared to be, where people walked around casually in year-round apparel. The lights played off the crystal walls to create glimmering stones and aurora effects while illuminating the pure white tile of the floor and ceiling. Stores had been packed down there as well, torn between thematically appropriate winter shopping and being the first place inter-dome travelers would see once they stepped off the train. It was a place to find the essentials for the sheer sake of convenience, acting as a hub to the rest of the city.\n\nThe inked citizens who had come forth had been taken down there. Comparatively, the number was quite small and there was room to spare. Eddie had organized the effort, using every ounce of his charisma to convince people that getting down there was the safest thing to do. The people had been grossly hesitant, but he couldn’t blame them. Those who stepped forward to seek asylum underground did so at the risk of exposing themselves to friends and family. Some didn’t take it very well. He watched as sons, daughters, husbands and wives were sometimes met with scorn from the people they trusted most, simply because they had been bound with an Inkling and never told anybody. Eddie performed head counts after every new arrival, and by the time people stopped funneling in, it seemed there were only thirty-six inked citizens.\n\nEddie straightened his tie as he looked at the numbers, wondering how it compared to Locksmouth’s. When Osoth first touched down, it was no secret that a number of Harbington residents had been stranded in their sister-city by simple circumstance, but Eddie thought that the number of people who came forward as inked was rather high even so. There could have been numerous others who didn’t out themselves in fear of resentment… and that their fear wasn’t misplaced was perhaps the worst aspect of it all.\n\n“Arbitrator Kemberge,” Lieutenant Blackwell descended the escalator and was at Eddie’s side when she reached the bottom. She looked as all-business as ever, but she’d done away with her hat at some point and just let her salt and pepper hair enjoy some breathing room. “We’ve been keeping things open for the last hour, but it looks like nobody else is stepping up. I think that’s everyone we’re going to get.”\n\n“I didn’t think we’d have half this many,” Eddie commented, turning to regard Blackwell. He had to look down a ways to do so. “I thought we kept track of everyone who came back after the Locksmouth Incident. What happened?”\n\n“We did,” Blackwell said, “At least, I thought we did. Maybe the Inklings have done some moving around; and we didn’t see many of them actually go… inky. The numbers could be off. Some of them inked, to demonstrate. All gray.”\n\n“Gray, huh… so the lesser,” Eddie figured, rubbing his chin, “Just your common Inkling, according to reports. No special powers or anything.”\n\n“So these ones won’t hurt anyone.” Blackwell deduced.\n\n“Not even if they wanted to, as I’m led to believe,” Eddie said, “That’s what makes this paranoia so ridiculous.”\n\n“Well, there [i]are[/i] the ones with super powers,” Blackwell commented, “We’re going to have to keep an eye out for those. We’re trying to keep a lookout for anyone acting strange, talking to themselves like Quincey sometimes does.”\n\nEddie sighed and looked out over the bottom level turned tram platform. “I guess that’s all we can do then.” He said. The people down there, he recognized some of them. The ones he knew were people who had a good reason to be in Locksmouth over the summer. They were family people, kids and adults, people who were likely on vacation. One Eddie recognized as Velvet Furn, a scientist, who had been trapped there once everything shut down. There were many scientists there, in fact. Locksmouth had the better labs for it; any would-be science-makers that lived in Harbington saw taking the commute every day as the most beneficial to their profession.\n\n“The perimeter is set?” Eddie asked.\n\nBlackwell nodded, though seemed uncertain. “As set up as we can get it,” She reported, “Those… [i]things[/i] out there keep barreling against the barrier. I think they’ve caught on to what we’re doing.”\n\n“It’ll hold, right?” Eddie looked hopeful.\n\n“Unless they hit it [i]phenomenally[/i] hard,” Blackwell answered, “It’ll hold.”\n\nSmall mercy; Eddie sighed softly. “Good. Now if I could find my damn son…” He shook his head. After the last time Daxton disappeared, Eddie had a hard time believing that his boy would be so stupid as to get caught in the chaos going around outside. He turned his attention back to Blackwell and collected his thoughts. “Alright, let’s keep gathering up the supplies. The people here still need those cots.”\n\nBlackwell saluted. “We’re pulling them from the stores as quickly as we can, they’ll be down here within the hour. I’ll see to it then.” She turned and ascended the escalator to get back to the work at hand. Officers were still gathering donated supplies and distributing them to the people. They’d been at it for hours and it was only then looking like they might have things settled by nightfall.\n\n-\n\n--\n\n-\n\nKenny and Laila sat together at a table in one of their favoured hang-outs on the summer level, a place called “Balls in Your Court.” Oftentimes when they went there together it was to watch sports on the jumbo television screens and indulge themselves in overly sweet, decadent snacks and drinks. Surprisingly the place was still open. Wait staff, in their skimpy cheer-leader uniforms and jerseys, still tended to their sections and served anyone who sat down; and the cooks in the back must have still been hard at work. It must have been a surge of pure capitalist interest, where it was obvious that customer traffic wasn’t going to be higher than when everyone was being crammed into one place.\n\nThat being said, it was hard to keep up. Laila can Kenny sat at a simple two-seat table, where the chairs were massive cushions shaped like colourful netballs and kickballs. Kenny had asked for a strawberry milkshake at least half an hour before, and the ursine staffer they had tending to them hadn’t been seen since. It wasn’t hard to figure out why, as the place was electric with how much activity was going on. Balls in Your Court drew fair crowds, but nothing as jam-packed as what they were sitting in. There wasn’t a seat left in the house. Some of the wait staff were working double-duty.\n\nStrangely, despite all the commotion, despite the chaos happening outside the mall, the scattered wall-mounted and hanging televisions were still following the most recent Tackletoss game going on at that very moment in Midbourn. The disconnect was alien. Way out there, the people in that stadium probably had no idea what was going on in Harbington. They went about their business as normal and the players played their game like nothing was the matter. It didn’t feel right. It was like the bar, with its colourful sports-print carpet, court lighting, and colourful back glow should have been acting as normal, and that all the cowering citizens of Harbington were rudely imposing on this status quo.\n\nLaila sighed. She let her weight sink into the tall cushion she sat on, arching her posture and pushing her butt out over the edge of the seat. She squished her cheek as she rested it in her hand, trying her PET one more time with the other. She thumbed the screen and rung up Quincey, but after a number of rings there was no answer yet again. The worry she felt was starting to annoy her. She wiggled in her seat and cast her eyes out over the bar, observing the people around her. She crossed her legs as her agitation started to feel awkward in the pit of her stomach.\n\n“Alright, you stop trying,” Kenny said, pushing Laila’s PET and hand down to the table flat, “I’ll call them.” He sounded nervous. He’d been breathing a little hard for a while, Laila noticed it. He was getting freaked out because Daxton and Quincey weren’t answering their calls, probably assuming the worst had happened to them. The little lemming moved with a sort of desperation when he took out his PET and dialed. He was trying to hide it, but it was obvious.\n\n“Right, right,” Laila agreed, “Sure thing.” She didn’t even look at him, instead watching as a slender penguin waitress passed by. She reached out and goosed the girl’s rear before she could get out of arm’s reach, startling her.\n\n“Oh! Laila!” The girl turned to regard the giraffe. She was one of the waitresses who was dressed up like a cheerleader. Her little skirt very deliberately showed off the bottom quarter of her thong-clad rear, and her tiny tanktop barely covered her breasts. The shameless sex appeal was all done up in team colours that didn’t actually match any official team. She couldn’t get her blonde bangs out of her eyes because she had trays full of food in either hand. She was skilled and balanced enough not to drop them, well-practiced at walking on her wedge heels. “Sorry, I can’t, uh… Well I can’t talk right now. I have tables to do.”\n\nThe girl rushed off, and Laila groaned quietly. “Dull as dishwater.” She said, unzipping the front of her work suit to give herself some breathing room and let out some heat. She kept it open to about half way down her chest, making her breasts swell out attractively. It was as much of a lure as it was an act of comfort, and the boy sitting across from her knew it. Kenny swallowed and ignored her.\n\nIt was so sudden that the call on Kenny’s PET was answered that the boy didn’t notice it at first. Daxton’s face appeared on his screen, awkwardly compressed by Quincey’s unconscious body. “Hey,” Daxton said, getting Kenny’s attention back to the screen, “What’s up?”\n\nKenny nearly fumbled the device in his excitement. “Daxton! Jeez, man, is that Quinn with you? You guys okay?”\n\nDaxton looked a little hard done by, but he still kind of grinned. “I’m okay, but Quincey’s asleep. I can’t wake her up.”\n\nLaila rose from her seat and rounded the table to crowd in. “Sleepin’? What do ya mean ya’ll can’t wake her? Is she hurt?”\n\nDaxton shrugged his shoulder. “I don’t think she’s hurt, she seems fine. Still breathing. She’s just… [i]asleep[/i].”\n\n“Yeah well she picked a shit time to have a nap,” Kenny groused, “Where are you?”\n\n“Detective Whatshername picked us up,” Daxton explained, sitting back and showing Kenny the rest of the car. The boy had to push the camera out far past Quincey to show his packmates both Harley and Marcello. Harley had woken up, and her icy blue eyes gazed up at the screen curiously past her black bangs. Marcello didn’t take her eyes off where she was going, and didn’t acknowledge that she was on camera at all. “We got Harley, we’re headed to the mall. Where are you guys?”\n\n“At the mall!” Kenny exasperated, “Hurry it up, it’s crazy out there!”\n\n“We’re going as fast as we can,” Marcello cut in, “It’s just a little hard…!”\n\nThe entire image swayed as Marcello veered the vehicle suddenly, making everyone in the car rock and lurch. Something thumped against the outside of the vehicle, hard. “… When you’ve got to navigate a bunch of third-rate fantasy monsters flying through the sky!” She finished, gritting her teeth.\n\nDaxton returned his PET so that they were looking at his face again. “You two sit tight, we’re on our way.” He paused after that, and his ears pricked up in sudden epiphany. “Oh! Hey, actually, find a marker or something and write something on a mirror.”\n\nKenny’s brows knit. “What?”\n\n“Just find something to write on a mirror with, it doesn’t matter what,” Daxton explained, “Then when you do, tell Natalie what you wrote. She can use it to get over there.”\n\n“Really now?” Laila said in interest, “Well ain’t that somethin’?”\n\n“She’s gonna come help?” Kenny asked.\n\n“Yeah,” Daxton answered, “The quicker you do it, the better.”\n\n“Excuse me.”\n\nKenny and Laila looked up to see their waiter having returned. The bear boy looked like a darling little teddy bear, all brown fur and round little ears. His dark hair was short and spiked up on his head and his hazel eyes were small. He wore a white, blue, and yellow jersey that hung loose on his frame and had short sleeves. It had the number zero printed on it, and the name “BECKETT” on the back. It only came down to about his hips, and from there he wore tight, clingy athletic bloomers that hugged every little contour of his crotch and seemed shorter at the legs so a little curve of his bottom could show in the back. From there it was bare to his feet, where he wore high-standing wedges that, while looking like cleats, were clearly not made for physical activity or sport. He had a tray balanced on his hand that had one tall glass on it that was bubbled over by pink, tasty milkshake and had a big straw sticking out of it.\n\nThe boy set it on the table in front of Kenny, and Daxton kind of laughed. “Must be nice to be safe enough to get a milkshake, you dork.” He grinned at Kenny.\n\nKenny just scoffed.\n\n“Howdy stud,” Laila purred, hooking her finger into the front of the waiter’s bloomers and giving them a firm, insistent tug to draw him closer. He stepped in with a surprised gasp. Laila kept his attention by sitting up straighter and sticking her chest out. The reaction she got was clear from his blushing cheeks to the way he held his round serving tray in front of him to protect his modesty. “Ya’ll wouldn’t happen to have a marker or somethin’ on ya, would ya?”\n\n“A m-m-marker?” The bear excitedly stuttered, “Um, well, no. B-But I could ask for one!”\n\nLaila let her lips part into a toothy smile that promised things. “That’d be… swell,” She mused, glancing down at the tray briefly before returning to his face, “I’d be ever so grateful for ya’ll’s assistance.”\n\nThe waiter bit his lip. “Nnh… O-Okay, okay, I’ll be back!” He turned and stepped away, navigating past other tables and servers to get in behind the bar and start looking. Laila chuckled at his enthusiasm.\n\nKenny gave her a flat look. “You’re despicable.” He said, sticking out his tongue at her.\n\n“Ya don’t ever get a crop without waterin’ the field,” Laila reasoned, “And I reckon he’s plenty [i]wet[/i] now. Daxton, we’ll have Natalie over here lickety-split.”\n\n“Good!” Daxton smiled, “Good. She’ll be a big help. Just make sure you’re not too mean to that guy.”\n\n“Oh I reckon I’ll be [i]very[/i] nice to him,” Laila grinned devilishly, “Soon as I can get a moment.”\n\nDaxton sighed, “Lucky guy. Well, see you guys soon. I shouldn’t be long now.”\n\nDaxton hung up and Kenny set down his PET. He pulled his newly delivered glass closer to him and wrapped his lips around the straw, slurping the tasty strawberry ice cream drink as he stared knowingly at Laila. Laila stood tall and proud, grinning like a Cheshire cat back at Kenny. She then turned and watched the waiter dig around behind the bar before clearly retrieving a black marker and holding it up in his hand. Laila nodded at the boy, and so he came hurrying back over.\n\n“Here,” he said, handing the small, black-capped marker to Laila. The girl took it, uncapped it, and then cupped the boy’s muzzle in one hand to turn his head. She wrote something on his cheek in the marker, grinning all the while. The boy barely fussed, if at all. “W-What are you doing?”\n\nLaila finished up and capped the marker again, handing it off to Kenny. “I just wrote my comm number, that’s all… Why don’t we head on over to the bathroom so you can see it in the mirror?” She leaned down close to the boy, very aware that her posture made her cleavage hang almost eye-level with the boy’s face. “I’m awful good at writin’ backwards.”\n\nThe waiter was stunned. He opened his mouth but words didn’t immediately come out. “B-But I have…!” He paused as Laila’s hand crept up under his jersey and stroked his bare abdomen. The act had his face beet red. “There’re other tables I have to get to!” He protested.\n\nLaila pressed in close and gently brushed her nose against one of his little ears. “I don’t recall carin’…” She cooed quietly.\n\nThe boy’s moment of inaction was enough. Laila slipped her hand out from under his jersey and gently took his hand instead. She led him, and he followed an eager steps. She made a beeline straight for the bathroom, and Kenny watched them go in a bit of a fluster himself. He huffed out of his nose in some kind of sigh, his lips never leaving his straw. He counted up to thirty seconds in his head before he took the marker, his sword, and his milkshake and rose to head to the bathrooms as well. An “out of order” sign had been posted on one of the doors, its presence there causing Kenny to roll his eyes and enter the neighbouring door instead. He did his best to ignore the muffled sounds of exited moans coming through the wall as he approached the mirror behind the sinks.\n\nUncapping the marker, he dropped the lid to the countertop and, while still sucking down his milkshake, he wrote on the mirror.\n\n“Get your butt in here.”\n\nFiguring that ought to be enough to get her attention, he hopped up onto the laminate countertop and waited, setting his drink down next to him as he kicked his feet. Casually, he withdrew his PET again and thumbed through his contacts until he found Natalie’s number. He called and waited for her to pick up.\n\n-\n\n--\n\n-\n\nEchelon emerged from the mirror in an unfamiliar place. She got her foot caught in one of the sinks and collapsed forward immediately, landing bottom-up and face-down on the floor in a heap. She gathered herself as Kenny laughed at her from behind, and he watched her compose herself and de-ink until Natalie stood before him. The black-furred wolf wore a woefully inadequate pair of city camo shorts that appeared to come with buckles for suspenders that she had simply removed, as well as clasps at her hips and a zipper that ran entirely from front to back. Her top half was covered in a clingy, dark red, shoulder-sleeved shirt that had “URBAN WARRIOR” written on it in splatter lettering. Her hair was done up in tight dreads again and she was clopping around in big black boots like she’d come ready to kick butt.\n\n“I can’t believe that’s what you wrote.” She said, fixing the tight bundle of corded hair that made a pony tail at the back. “Where’s everyone else? Last time I talked to any of you, Daxton and Quincey were getting some girl out of her house.”\n\n“They’re on the way, and Laila…” Kenny paused and lifted his ears, prompting Natalie to do so as well. They could hear the giraffe’s pleasured gasps and moans muffled from the wall behind Kenny’s back. “Well, that.”\n\n“Ah.” Natalie grinned.\n\nKenny pushed off the counter and stood before Natalie. He was shorter than she was by a head, but didn’t act as meek as his size might have suggested. There he was in some surprisingly cute, cropped white shirt that showed off a lot of his middle, and a familiar pair of pants that were black and red to match his shoes. The sword was the distracting part. He wore it strapped across his torso, the handle of the gladius sticking up over his left shoulder pretty clearly. He stared Natalie right in the eye, slowly wrapping his lips around the straw of his milkshake and sucking out the last of it with an obnoxious slurp.\n\n“I guess before we go on, I ought to tell you something,” Kenny said, letting his straw slip from his mouth and fling a little spittle Nat’s way, “It’s important.”\n\nNatalie didn’t want to make assumptions, but Kenny did make her a little nervous at times. She knew things about him that most people didn’t know. Still, she regarded him with a cool attitude. “What’s that?” She inquired.\n\n“You remember Polaris?” Kenny asked. Natalie nodded. Kenny went on, “Well I’m his host now.”\n\nThat caught Natalie by surprise. “What?!” She shouted, prompting Kenny to shush her.\n\n“Hey, keep your voice down!” He said, “Nobody else knows!”\n\nNatalie shut up, but she watched Kenny carefully. He seemed normal enough, and that he was willingly sharing this information meant that he wasn’t going to try and surprise her and stab her in the back… literally. So she gave him the benefit of the doubt, crossing her arms sternly as if to expect an explanation. “Dr. Belfourd dumped him on you, huh?”\n\n“Yeah.” Kenny nodded, “It’s thanks to him that I’m here, I think.” The boy rubbed his arm somewhat, uncomfortable with the idea himself. “He’s… I dunno. He says he feels bad about what he did, but that sounds lame. He says Echelon’s future for Inklings is better than Vor’s was.”\n\n“Yeah, considering Vor didn’t have one!” Natalie interjected, “So, what, he’s switching sides because it’s convenient?”\n\n“Well… yeah,” Kenny shrugged his shoulders, “I guess.”\n\n“… I don’t know how to feel about this.” Natalie closed her eyes and shook her head slowly, “I just don’t know.”\n\n“You and me both,” Kenny gave her an annoyed glare, taking her tone as an implication that he wasn’t as surprised as she was. “Anyway, he used a lot of… prana? Is that what it’s called? He got me out of my apartment and helped me get here.”\n\n“Resting then, huh? Well… I’ll see him eventually, I guess.” Natalie dropped the subject, instead switching gears to the matter at hand. “Alright, so what are we doing here?”\n\nKenny broke it down for her, telling her how the police planned to round everybody up and keep the inked people underground. He didn’t know any of the exact numbers, but he knew not everyone had arrived just then. There were still people outside of the mall who needed to be found, Daxton and Quincey included. What he did know was that the monsters outside were getting more aggressive. Once they had started pounding on the barrier that surrounded the mall, the news spread like wildfire until everyone knew it. Those things wanted to get in, but up to that point they hadn’t made any headway there.\n\nIt was an easy enough situation to understand, but going forward would require more information than Kenny could provide off the cuff.\n\n“And what about you? Shouldn’t you have brought more people?” Kenny questioned Nat as he leaned back against the counter.\n\nShe could only agree. “I should have,” She said, “But I left Jacent in charge of locking things down back home. So he, Carrie, Max, Erwin, and Sam are all busy doing that. I wanted to see how things were here before I pulled everyone out to come help.”\n\nKenny nodded, but he scowled. It sounded to him like Natalie’s priorities were simply less focused on Harbington’s safety than Locksmouth’s. Nepotism at its finest. “What about Shelly? Doesn’t she have an Inkling?”\n\n“Shelly’s, uh… well she [i]does[/i], yeah.” Natalie avoided making eye contact as she thought of a gentle way to describe Shelly’s capabilities when it came to combat or search-and-destroy missions involving weird prana crystals. More specifically, the lack thereof. “Well, I just don’t think she’d… thrive. She’s Team Reference, all the way.”\n\nKenny paused, blinking his eyes, as if the idea should have come to him sooner. “R… Right. Yeah that was a stupid suggestion…” He grumbled, blushing a bit, “Well, uh, then it’s just me and you I guess.”\n\nNatalie paced in the bathroom a bit. She walked back and forth along the stalls, idly checking to see if any were closed. “That’s right, it’s only us…” She stopped and turned to Kenny, looking down at him seriously. “Would you help me take out some of these crystals if the opportunity came up?” She asked.\n\n“People don’t know I have an Inkling,” Kenny rebutted, “I’m not sure if I want anyone finding out.”\n\nNatalie stopped to put her hands on her hips. “Kenny,” She started, trying not to scold the boy, “If it’s just me and you and people need to be helped, then nobody else is going to help us. Are you sure you can’t use your powers to protect everyone?”\n\nKenny seemed to reconsider. He breathed in and out slowly, exhaling in a sigh. He looked down at the sterile tile flooring. He muttered a simple, “… Yeah, I guess.”\n\n“Good,” Natalie smiled, resting her hand gently on the boy’s bare shoulder, “Echelon may be freaking awesome, but I don’t think she can take on Epheral’s armies all by herself. I’m going to need the help, at least until I can get everyone else over here too.”\n\nA smile spread over her lips. “Even Shelly.” She added.\n\nKenny’s ears twitched and he looked up at her in a hurry. He seemed surprised, but his expression changed into embarrassed anger as he blushed and gave her a glare. “I said yes already, whatever!” He groused, yanking his shoulder away from Natalie’s grasp. He pushed past her and marched toward the door, grumbling to himself about how much of an idiot Natalie was.\n\nNat couldn’t hold back her giggles as she followed him out.\n\nOf course, Natalie couldn’t go anywhere these days without drawing a lot of attention. She had been getting used to it in Locksmouth, but Harbington was full of unfamiliar faces. She stepped out of the bathroom with Kenny and made her way across the bar as quickly as she could, but she didn’t get far without being noticed. Eventually someone turned around and saw her and got their friend’s attention and THEY turned around and saw her, and it resumed in such a manner until nearly everyone was staring at her. Natalie fidgeted uncomfortably, smoothing wrinkles out of her shirt and playing with her hair, worried about her appearance of all things.\n\n“It’s that girl,” They would say, “Echelon.”\n\nIt seemed more people knew Echelon’s name than Natalie’s. That wasn’t a terrible thing in Natalie’s eyes; her identity was meant to be secret at one point, after all. It was simply another thing she had gotten used to, where people would look at her and call her by a name that wasn’t hers. She was getting good at making the connection that she was Echelon and Echelon was her. Inklings worked that way, it just took some adjusting to get a human to work that way as well.\n\nOf course her presence brought out the curiosity in Harbington’s citizens, and when she left the sports bar, people followed. Kenny led the way with Natalie only steps behind, and behind her she was amassing a crowd. Her tail drooped and she pulled her shirt down at the back nervously, once again more concerned about trivial things than the situation itself. She just didn’t want people staring at her rear, not that she could do anything to stop them.\n\nKenny took Natalie to the lower level access that the police had closed off from the general public. The men and women in blue recognized Natalie as readily as anyone, and it didn’t take long for someone to approach. It was Officer Blackwell again, tireless in her organization efforts to supply the Harbington citizens with what they needed. The other officers let her take the helm without much of a fuss, making no effort to intercept her assumed authority. The older woman was maybe a bit taller than Natalie, but only just. She was stocky and robust, but it was her yellow eyes that assured Natalie that this woman was taking charge.\n\n“You’re Natalie Grayswift,” Blackwell said, looking as confused as she ought to have been, “How did you get in here? This place is completely sealed off.”\n\n“I got in through a mirror,” Natalie explained, “It’s one of Echelon’s powers.”\n\n“Traveling through mirrors?” Blackwell squinted at the girl, but then just closed her eyes and shook her head, washing her hands of the logistics she couldn’t wrap her head around. “Well, past that, what are you doing here?”\n\nNatalie chanced a brief look back at the people who followed her there. “I’m here to help!” She announced, looking quickly to Blackwell again and trying to make herself as confident-looking as possible. “Where evil goes, so do I! Harbington is in danger, and I can’t sit idly by while these monsters wreck up the place!”\n\nShe had been trying to channel as much of Jacent as she could in her declaration, but the silence she was met with took the wind out of her sails pretty quickly. She relaxed her shoulders and smiled nervously. “That’s… that’s all right, right?”\n\nThe Lieutenant stared at her. “Sorry, I just… what’s one girl supposed to do?” She asked.\n\nNatalie tried not to take that as being ungrateful, shaking her head. “Well that depends, I guess! I need to know what’s going on here.”\n\nBlackwell swept her arm out to gesture to the crowds of people. “You’re looking at it,” She said, “Monsters are out there and we’re stuck in here hoping they can’t get in.”\n\nNatalie looked around, taking an estimate. “This isn’t everyone though, is it?”\n\n“We’ve got some inked people downstairs, kept underground as far away from those things as we can get them, since apparently they’re at the most risk,” Blackwell explained, “But there are still some pockets of people missing.”\n\nNatalie grinned. “Then that’s what I can help with!” She declared, “Using Echelon’s powers, I can get to those people and get them back here quickly. I’ve done it before.”\n\nBlackwell and some of the officers in earshot looked surprised. The Lieutenant decided to ask the obvious question. “Really? You can?”\n\n“I can,” Natalie crossed her arms and nodded, “The only thing I need to know is if these people contacted you. If they did, I need to contact them. There are a few steps in this trick that I need their help pulling off.”\n\nBlackwell stepped closer and lowered her voice. “Look, you probably don’t know, but these things are all over us right now,” She said, “They’re swarming the barrier outside, and that leaves me not knowing how I’m going to get people in or out of this place.”\n\n“That’s alright,” Natalie assured her, “I don’t need to use the barrier.”\n\nBlackwell stared cautiously at her. “Well… okay then,” She said, “Let me get you in touch with Officer Vaska. She’s in charge of communications in this funhouse.”\n\nThe Lieutenant tilted her head in a firm gesture for Natalie to follow. Before the teenage wolf could start off though, Kenny stepped in and stopped her. “Hey, just… give me a call if you need me,” He said, “I’m going to try to keep this whole Inkling thing on the down-low.”\n\n“Got’chya.” Natalie nodded, and then she slipped away to follow the officer.\n\nBlackwell led Natalie through the service corridors where most regular folk wouldn’t have ventured. The narrow halls were designed to get janitorial staff and others of similar ilk quickly from one place to another in the mall and avoid crowds while they were at it. They had their own service elevator, and somewhere in that collection of hallways there had to be some receiving areas for various stores to get their goods in from. Among the various closets and storage rooms, there was a security room. This room monitored all of the security feeds for each store in the mall. Every store had one, from the restaurants to the clothing outlets, ensuring that nobody got up to no good. Being the desk jockey in that position had long been considered easy, but the present circumstance had people a little on edge and prone to doing rash things.\n\nIn that room, the police had set up a station for receiving calls from the outside. A female minnow officer, presumably Vaska, had taken over for the regular security personnel and was watching the cameras. The silvery fish woman was attentively watching the monitors on a console that splayed along the wall with other equipment that Natalie didn’t recognize. She was in the middle of a call that sounded like she was giving someone instructions on where to go, using the images on the monitors as points of reference.\n\n“Vaska,” Blackwell announced herself, “Do you have a minute?”\n\nVaska simply raised a finger. “Alright, the water’s in aisle seven. Take a dolly, Deputy wants at least twenty gallons on hand to ration out… Yes, that’s fine. Over and out.”\n\nVaska ended the call and turned to face Blackwell and Natalie, her violet eyes immediately taking notice of the teenage girl. She had long blonde bangs in the front that reached down to her chest and curled in, the tips dyed pink to about a few inches up. “Lieutenant Blackwell, how can I help you?” She addressed Blackwell professionally and calmly.\n\n“This is Natalie,” Blackwell gestured to the teen at her side, “She’s come from Locksmouth to help search for and return civilians to the safety of the mall.”\n\nReturning her attention to Natalie again, the officer nodded firmly. “I recognize her from the news. It’s nice to meet you, Natalie.” She held out her hand politely, and Natalie shook it. “So I assume, then, that if you want to help you’ll want to know just where people are calling from.”\n\n“That’s the idea. I need to talk to them, too.” Natalie said.\n\nVaska turned to take her PET of the desk and use it to bring up a three-dimensional map of Harbington. A number of places were lit up by little red beacons. Natalie studied the map, having a fair understanding of just where those places may be. For all Harbington’s differences, it was still laid out similarly to Locksmouth. The only exception was the Agricultural sector, though that one was thankfully empty.\n\nThe beacons lit up a few obvious places. One was the Climate Control Center, located right smack in the middle of the dome, just like it was for every other dome city. Another blipped over Harbington High, and there were a couple scattered across the Commercial and Residential areas as well. Harbington had done a good job, it seemed, escorting people to safety. The fact that they had a smaller population than Locksmouth probably helped.\n\n“I can’t lie, Natalie,” Vaska said, “These small pockets of people may be the only ones left. There are some people unaccounted for who no one can locate, and a few others who… didn’t make it.”\n\nNatalie frowned. “I understand.”\n\n“All we know are these groups, and they’ve been trapped out there for varying amounts of time. The earliest call-in was the CCC.” Vaska gestured to the Climate Control Center, “The building went into lockdown the moment the dome’s field was penetrated. The people there have to release the emergency protocols, but there are monsters roaming the halls. They’ve holed up in their offices for now, and I’ve been keeping tabs on them, but I’d say if there were any place to start, that would be it. We have patrols making their way to the Commercial and Residential zones, so if we could perhaps leave you to focus on the CCC and the school…”\n\n“I think that’s as good a plan as any,” Blackwell said, turning her attention to Natalie, “As long as she thinks she can handle it.”\n\n“It should be easy enough,” Natalie reasoned, “Can you call the CCC again?”\n\n“Absolutely.”\n\nVaska did away with the map and instead called up her contact at the CCC. It barely rung once before someone answered – an old lemming male with dark brown fur and a blonde, bushy mustache and eyebrows.\n\n“Officer Vaska, where’s our rescue?” The man bluntly asked. Vaska didn’t even flinch.\n\n“She’s right here,” The officer said, turning the call’s focus to Natalie. The man blinked his blue little eyes at her, not understanding at first what a mere girl could do to help him. After a few more moments of study however, he seemed to come to a realization. “You’re that Inkling girl,” He said, “I know you. You helped my boy.”\n\nNatalie blinked. “I did? Wait… You must be Kenny’s dad!”\n\n“I haven’t heard from him. Is he safe?” The man asked.\n\n“He’s here, yeah,” Natalie answered, “He’s alright.”\n\nThe man sighed and rubbed his head, tangling his fingers into his bushy fur up top. “Good,” He said, “Well then… what can you do for me?”\n\n“I need you to find a mirror and write something on it… like Harbington CCC or something,” Natalie instructed, “If you do that, I can come over using Echelon’s powers and get people out. How many of you are there?”\n\n“Just the skeleton crew,” Kenny’s father said, “Seven of us, including me. The doors are locked shut, and the last one to try to get out there and unlock the main doors… I don’t know if he got there.”\n\nNatalie crossed her arms. “Okay. Well, if you do what I want you to do, I can get you guys out of there.”\n\n“Worth a try,” The man grumbled, “Alright, give us a few minutes. We’ll contact you when we’ve got things set up.”\n\nWith the plan set, it was all a matter of time from there. After a few minutes, Kenny’s father called back and confirmed that they’d written something on the bathroom mirror in the breakroom. Not everyone in the Climate Control Center was all in one place, and Natalie was informed that her contact would be a couple of workers who had been on lunch when everything started. The remaining workers had been trapped in their offices or workspaces, with Kenny’s father himself being stuck in the array room where he had been working maintenance.\n\nNatalie excused herself to take her time to set up, leaving the security room to return to the main floor of the mall. She called Kenny and asked for his help, the two of them agreeing to meet at the top floor in one of the washrooms. With fewer people upstairs, Kenny was safe to operate with her and not be discovered as an Inkling host. The police played their part in keeping people from interfering with Natalie’s work, and there were many suspicious and excited folks who tried.\n\nThey arrived at the first washroom they could find and entered inside to find it empty. The top floor was almost completely empty, having made the trip eerily quiet and distanced from the commotion on the lower floors. Kenny followed Natalie with the hood on his jacket pulled up around his head like a cowl to hide his face. Natalie wasn’t sure how effective it was at hiding Kenny’s identity, but she didn’t question it openly. She had her doubts about secret identities since hers had been foiled in a matter of days after she started working with Echelon.\n\nEntering the bathroom, the pale tan tiles of the floor were polished so shiny that they could see their reflections in them. It smelled clean, and the stalls were all open and empty. Lining the wall across from there were the sinks, four of them in all, pristine as ever. A wall-spanning mirror showed them their own faces as they peered into it. Natalie was serious, and Kenny looked stressed. Natalie blinked at his reflection and cocked a brow. “You sure you’re alright with this? I can try by myself if you’re worried or something.”\n\n“You said you talked to my dad, I want to make sure he gets back alright,” Kenny said, “I’m fine!”\n\nNatalie turned back to the mirror and closed her eyes. From within her, inky black ribbons shot out and wrapped around her body to form the skin-tight coating of Echelon. It happened in seconds, and when Echelon was fully situated she opened her solid pink eyes and turned them on Kenny. “If you could just ink, we can get started.”\n\nSomehow it still put Kenny off to see someone else turn into their Inkling form… or however one might describe that process. “Uh…” Kenny looked at his hands, wiggling his fingers, confused. “How do you do that?”\n\nPolaris’ red ink pooled in Kenny’s palms and started to spread out over his hands. “Oop, there it goes,” Kenny said, watching as that inky membrane surrounded him, making his clothes disappear under it and leave behind only a skin-tight suit and the sword strapped to his back. That was the only way he could think of to describe what an Inkling was: some kind of living, alien suit that put itself on over a human host. It was a longer process than Echelon’s transformation, but after a long enough time Polaris’ ink covered Kenny from head to toe. Interestingly enough, the shape of Kenny’s hood remained, making Polaris appear as though he were wearing a cowl, with his solid blue eyes peering out from within and his little ears making distinct bumps in the top.\n\nPolaris yawned, his eyes squeezing shut as he covered his mouth and stretched. “Uwaaah~ Mmh. Well, if it isn’t our Lord and Savior, Echelon.” The Inkling snarked, relaxing his posture as he peered up at the girl. “I was wondering when I would run into you.”\n\nPolaris spoke as himself, which assured Natalie that his bonding with Kenny wasn’t “complete,” in a manner of speaking. When Echelon was in control, she didn’t fully take over Natalie’s body. The two of them worked in tandem, and when Echelon spoke, it was with as much Natalie’s voice as it was with her own. Inklings did that, over time. Polaris had been bonded with Kenny for weeks, but Echelon easily came to the conclusion that the two of them hadn’t really interacted.\n\nBut that did present a unique opportunity that Echelon wasn’t going to let pass.\n\n“Polaris, tell me what you intend to do,” Echelon said, “Do you really intend to fight for human-kind?”\n\nPolaris threw up his hands in a shrug. “What sort of hero would I be if I didn’t?” He asked, “If what you want is for me to denounce Vor’s actions, I will do just that.”\n\nHe got in close and lowered his voice and said, “Vor was a doofus. An idiot. A clown.”\n\n“If you need more words to settle your nerves, I will point out that Haze, for all his goofiness and annoying giggles, was my friend and comrade. I can promise you that I’m not in the habit of supporting [b][i]evil despots who murder my friends[/i][/b].” Polaris crossed his arms sternly, frowning in displeasure. “Do you need anything more than that?”\n\nWhile Polaris’ tone sought to wound Echelon’s feelings, she steeled herself from such things and continued a rational train of thought. “Kenny mentioned that you were more along my line of thinking,” She said, “To support a relationship between Earth and our people.”\n\nPolaris was silent for a moment, seemingly collecting his thoughts on the matter. “If it so happens that Earth is the final destination for us, and that the humans are indeed the host species that will see us settle back into a stable, working existence, I see no reason not to support it.” The red Inkling returned, well-spoken and clear. “I’m not evil, Echelon. Cynical, perhaps, but not evil. I’m willing to work alongside your… vision, I suppose it is, for the moment; I’m just not fully convinced that we’ve finally found our Utopia. Yours wouldn’t be the first promise I’ve fallen for.”\n\n“Ahhh… I understand.” Echelon nodded her head to him, “Well then, nothing’s going to prove anything better than us getting to work right now!” She held out her hand to him, waiting expectantly. “Take my hand, we’ll take a trip through Canvas.”\n\nPolaris raised a hand to his cheek, turning away from the offered hand. “Oh Echelon, this is moving so quickly!” He gasped overdramatically, “I’m not sure I’m ready to take…”\n\n“Stop being an idiot!” Kenny yelled at him… which was really just him yelling at himself.\n\n“Grumpy! Sheesh!” Polaris bemoaned, reaching out and taking Echelon’s hand, who giggled at him.\n\nTurning toward the mirror, Echelon reached across the countertop to place a finger on the reflective surface. It rippled like pond water, just before it sucked the two of them in all at once. They whipped between dimensions, their bodies being pushed flat before they emerged on the other side. They stepped out into an endless corridor of mirrors of all shapes and sizes, all mounted on stone walls. Red carpet was rolled out under their feet and overhead chandelier lighting made the place look like a gallery. Through the mirrors, different places were revealed. From where they had just emerged, the bathroom they were just in was on display. Other mirrors showed other bathrooms, as well as bedrooms and hallways, anywhere someone may have a mirror in place. Some were even incredibly tiny, like desk mirrors or compacts.\n\nPolaris looked all around, trying not to look too awed. “Canvas,” He said, “It’s been a long time since I’ve been back here. What exactly is this hall of voyeuristic delights?”\n\n“This is where we’re going to find our way into the Harbington CCC,” Echelon informed the Inkling, “Also, welcome to Castle Blackwolf. My comrades and I built it ourselves.”\n\n“Ahh, a prana construct,” Polaris rubbed his chin, “How interesting! The decorum is a little… [i]flat[/i], but it’s quite nice.”\n\nEchelon shook her head, not missing his blatant pun. “Well, so long as you behave yourself, you’re welcome here all you like.”\n\n“And if I don’t behave myself?” Polaris teased.\n\nEchelon responded as casually as could be, smiling even. “I’ll lock you up with your old boss.”\n\n“Yuck.” Polaris frowned.\n\nEchelon turned to stare down the corridor, which stretched further than any human could have ever fathomed. The number of mirrors counted into the millions, maybe billions. The hall stretched so far that faded into darkness. Echelon extended her hand and made a silent call. From somewhere unseen in the hall, one mirror detached from the wall. It took several seconds for that mirror to speed down the corridor toward the two Inklings, breakneck in how swift it was, but it stopped on a dime once it reached Echelon’s outstretched fingers.\n\nThe mirror was the one they were looking for. In black, permanent marker the words “Harbington CCC” were written backwards across the surface. The scene on the other side was a modest little bathroom, a single-person unit with a sink, a toilet, and a blow dryer for drying off one’s hands. The plain walls and tile floor were so Spartan that it had to have been the break room’s bathroom; just boring enough to equate to a workplace. The mirror rippled at Echelon’s touch, and she was drawn into it after a few moments. She reached back just in time to grab on to Polaris and drag him with her, whether he was ready for it or not.\n\n-\n\n--\n\n-\n\n“Ah crap.”\n\n“What?” Daxton leaned around Quincey when Marcello suddenly stopped the car, “What’s going on?”\n\nHe didn’t have to get an answer, he could see that down below monsters were swarming the mall. Their formations and their types were decidedly siege-worthy. Archers lined the back while massive humanoid creatures some nine feet tall or so pried street lights out of the ground and threw them at the strong-force containment that was keeping the mall safe. At the very front, other humanoid shapes smashed a giant prana battering ram against the barrier, and others stood with spears and swords at the ready. At some points the chaos was difficult to make out. The charcoal shapes of the constructs would seemingly writhe together in one big mass, flickering in erratic manners before returning to their monstrous shapes.\n\n“That.” Marcello said.\n\nHarley sat up as tall as she could and peeked over the dash. “Oh no…” She whispered, “That’s a lot of monsters.”\n\nShe looked to Daxton. Daxton knew what she was thinking, and even he had to shake his head. “I can’t fight all that, not even with Lumina,” He said, “There’s way too many.”\n\n“Quincey?” Harley placed a hand on Quincey’s leg and shook her. The pig girl just rolled her head and slumped, still asleep. “Why won’t she wake up?”\n\n“… I dunno,” Daxton grit his teeth, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend’s body to keep her secure. “What do we do, lady?”\n\n“My name’s Marcello,” The detective at the helm said, gripping her steering wheel tightly in frustration. “Damnit, this is bad. They’re not going to stop until they punch a hole in that thing. Once they do, everyone inside is sitting ducks.”\n\nShe shifted gear and backed her vehicle up. “We need to find somewhere to hunker down for now,” She said, “We can’t risk going over that mess yet.”\n\n“Wait!” Harley exclaimed just as Marcello backed her car up a few feet. The detective slammed on the brakes, jarring everyone inside. “Look!” Harley pointed down below, turning everyone’s attention to a startling development.\n\nOut from the side streets and narrow flight paths, modified trucks came pouring in from all directions. They launched from their hiding places with mounted turrets on the backs of the decidedly smaller trucks, while the full-sized transport vehicles made a beeline straight for the front of the mall. The dark colours of the vehicles and the combat fatigues of the soldiers who manned them were a dead giveaway to their identity. Marcello slammed her hand onto her steering wheel in anger and shock. “Where the hell did [i]they[/i] come from?!”\n\nIt was Eos, the anti-Inkling renegade group of terrorists who were at one point aligned with an age-old political player that had since been destroyed. Their presence there marked that something had changed after their initial defeat, and that they had the forces left over to interject in the crisis. To their credit, they performed admirably. The drivers of the trucks were reckless, but their refusal to stay in one place made them happy moving targets for the archers. The turrets mounted to the flatbeds of the pick-ups fired into the crowds, shattering constructs two or three at a time to dwindle their numbers. The transports that had made their way to the front parked themselves at the very lip of the containment field, where they opened their doors and unloaded heavily armored foot soldiers into the battlefield. Men and women donned in retrofitted combat armor marched into the chaos with massive flak cannons in tow. They wasted no time firing into the swarms of marauding constructs. The siege became a battleground in mere moments.\n\n“Eos?!” Daxton was no less surprised, “I thought we took care of those guys!”\n\n“Grr! I knew some of them had gotten way after Caduceus Manor, but I didn’t know [i]where[/i]!” Marcello practically yelled, causing Harley to press into Daxton out of fright. “Now they show up here?! Now?! [i]Seriously[/i]?!”\n\n“We gotta get down there,” Daxton tried to keep things focused, “We can’t let them just…!” He stopped short, not knowing exactly how to accuse Eos of being up to no good, but he was certain their intentions weren’t selfless.\n\nHe only needed to see one man down there to know for sure. It was hard to miss Garrison down there, but the massive grizzly bear waded into the battlefield in comparatively lighter armor than the full-suited combatants, yet he still seemed to dwarf them in size. From that far off it was difficult to tell what he was doing, aside from cutting a path straight through the middle of the prana constructs as they swarmed him with swords and spears. They parted like the sea around him, and his soldiers entered a ring formation with him immediately to fire outward and then proceed to spread out.\n\nMarcello fumbled for her PET and quickly called in. “Terry, pick up your damn phone!”\n\nAs if to answer that, Lieutenant Terry Blackwell did just that. “Marcello, report.”\n\n“Terry those Eos guys are back and they’re ripping into the monsters outside,” Marcello said, “I have a bird’s-eye view of them. I’m coming in from up high, give me the access code to pass the barrier.”\n\nBlackwell’s eyes went wide. “What?! They’re here?! That’s just great.” She cursed, “Alright, let me get you the code.”\n\nBlackwell quickly had an officer relay a series of numbers to her, and Marcello all but punched a police console on her dashboard to bring up the number pad and type them in. After a moment to authenticate the code, a prompt on the screen informed the detective that she was cleared to pass the perimeter. She floored it, as fast as her car could go. While she did, Daxton maneuvered out from under Quincey and prepared to open the passenger-side door.\n\n“Daxton! Unh…” Harley was given responsibility of Quincey, who crushed the little shrew under her vastly superior girth. Harley grunted, “Where are you going…?”\n\n“I’ve got to find out what those jerks are doing,” Daxton said as he threw open the door. In a rather familiar scene, he readied himself to leap out, one foot right on the edge to propel him and his hands placed to keep him from falling out early. He inked over again, Lumina’s bright white, glowing membrane taking over his visage and leaving him as a decidedly female Inkling.\n\n“I don’t even know what to think anymore,” Marcello groused, “You sure you’ll be alright?”\n\n“Well, [i]he[/i] sure seems to think so,” Lumina confessed, shrugging a shoulder, “I’m rather compelled to believe him, though I don’t know why. I think he’s insane.”\n\n“Oh, here’s a good spot.”\n\nLumina thrust herself out of the vehicle, making the entire thing bob in the air as her weight left it. The force with which she hurtled out of the car had her speeding through the air until she made contact with one of the massive, brutish giants that had been throwing pieces of the street at the mall. “Hyah!” She cried, her fist smashing into the monster’s tusked cheek, the attack erupting into a dazzling display of sparkles and glitter that rained down over the giant’s muscular frame. It groaned and lumbered, lurching aside and falling to a knee. Dazed by the attack it drunkenly swatted at her as if she were a fly. Lumina fired a light beam from her palm into that of the monster’s, applying pressure to keep it from grabbing her momentarily; just long enough that she could get her footing and pull herself to scramble onto the monster’s head.\n\nShe shot more beams at the monster’s hands when it tried to reach for her, swatting them away with powerful rays of light. Once she’d cleared the air of swinging hands, she stomped her foot down on the thing’s head to jerk its neck back, making it stare straight up at the sky. There, she stood, holding both of her hands down to fire highly concentrated, perpetual beams of searing light straight into the construct’s eyes. Had the thing actually needed its eyes, the attack would have been blinding. Instead, the burning rays scorched through the monster’s cranium, bursting it open from the inside and sending similar explosions of glassy prana out as it shot through its body. Lumina needed to only burrow half way through the beast before it couldn’t maintain its form. It shattered, starting at its legs and suffering on its way up.\n\nThe giant collapsed into the battle below, falling forward where Lumina leapt off and landed in the fray. She stood and brushed herself off as an Eos truck spotted her and slammed on the brakes to stop some eight feet from her. The driver, the passenger, and the gunman in the back all gawked at her and made checks to clarify that they were, in fact, seeing her standing there.\n\n“We got an elite Inkling on the field!” One of them screamed, “We got an Inkling!!”\n\nThe gunman swung the mounted turret to take aim at Lumina. The building hum of its charging was a sound Daxton thought that if he’d heard ever again, it would be too soon. Lumina darted aside before the gun could fire, so when it did the only thing the strong-force barrage found were chunks of midway asphalt. Lumina threw herself into oncoming prana spearmen, grabbing hold of one such spear as it lunged toward her. She pulled her attacker toward her, released their weapon and spun around them to smash into the one behind them, her mighty fist creating a flash of light as prismatic rainbows followed her movements. Her first attacker was shattered instantly by a follow-up shot from the Eos truck, so she waved her way into the battle, always going forward and not taking even a moment to look back.\n\n“Toh!” Lumina punctuated her twirling dance into the fray with rays of light fired from her hands, punching holes into the beasts who attempted to get the jump on her. “This is more front-line work than I’m used to, you know.”\n\nAn out of position construct archer has been running to find somewhere to go, but it crossed Lumina’s path and stopped abruptly to cock back an arrow and fire it. The arrow struck Lumina’s side, smashing into the Inkling and seeming to disintegrate upon contact. The prana arrow struck her in ways she couldn’t explain, dealing a swift blow to her very membrane and leaving her shaken. She stumbled and fell to one knee, but quickly assessed the position of her attacker and returned-fire with a several rays of light fired in rapid succession. They struck the archer center mass, one, two, three. The final shot punched a hole into its humanoid chest and threw it to the ground.\n\n“We’ve gotta get to Garrison,” Daxton told his Inkling, “That guy is [i]bad news[/i], believe me. He’s cocky as hell though, so he’ll spill the beans on whatever the heck he’s doing.”\n\n“What then?” Lumina asked.\n\n“We beat him up.” Daxton said simply, “After everything he did to Quincey, I’m not letting him anywhere near her if I can help it.”\n\n“This is reckless.” Lumina stood, holding her side. Just as a sword-wielding prana-soldier came her way, she dodged a stab to grab the thing, pull it close, and use it as a shield as an Eos soldier tried to gun her down. The shots from the APSR-20 rifle smashed into the construct she used as a shield, and after four or five blows, the thing shattered. She fled from any further shots, presumably as the rifle was ventilating heat and unable to fire again.\n\n“He can’t do anything to us,” Daxton said, “We’re stronger than he is.”\n\n“Well, we’re about to find out if you’re right.”\n\nLumina broke through the line, entering Garrison’s growing circle that the man had cut out through his enemies. Shards of solid prana crunched under Lumina’s feet as she stepped up, appearing from the charcoal mess like a beacon in a storm. It was impossible to miss her, and Garrison turned his attention on her quick. The man was as imposing as ever; a couple of inches short of being seven feet tall, every inch of that padded with girth that made him bigger than even some of the largest humans by a wide margin. His arms were perhaps the scariest part of him. The clothing he wore, his dark combat fatigues and heavy, protective vest, they covered almost everything but his arms. For being a fat man, his arms were ripped with muscle. They were tools of destruction, those arms. Something about them just screamed “rip and tear.” His rifle almost looked small in his hands.\n\nA rifle that he aimed at Lumina and fired without so much as a second to line up the shot. The invisible volley of force that left the barrel of that specially-designed weapon slammed into Lumina’s chest. It rippled her skin, spreading sharp agony through her as she was taken off her feet and thrown to the ground. It seemed that parlay wasn’t on the man’s mind. Lumina rolled away from continuing shots and scrambled to her feet. Putting everything she could into a sprint, she ducked and waved, zigged and zagged, closing the gap between them as quickly as she could.\n\n“Garrison!” She shouted at him. Her knowing his name seemed to put him off for enough time to get her close. She smacked his gun aside and leapt up to punch him once across his jaw, jerking his head aside with the impact. Then she planted her hands on his broad chest, pumping out a rush of light energy that slammed him away, throwing him to the ground. He landed like a falling tree, coughing for air.\n\nThe battle suit soldiers that flanked him took notice of this and turned their sights on the Inkling. They fired super-heated gas her way, something she had to avoid even if it meant sacrificing any strategic positioning. She ran away from the fight, pitting herself against the swarms of prana constructs around them once again. She barely had time to bat them away before stumbling back into the circle. The whole situation was strangely reminiscent of Daxton’s first attempt at fighting the man.\n\nLumina wasn’t going to allow it to end up the same way. Squeezing her yellow eyes shut, she flashed. Like a bomb, she went off and generated a blinding flash of light that, while not working on the constructs, it blinded the Eos soldiers and kept them from acting. They shook their heads in their metal helmets, unable to rub their eyes through their full glass visors. Garrison was left on the ground trying to soothe his burning retinas, only to be grabbed by Lumina and pulled off the ground in an impressive display of strength. She hoisted the couple-hundred-pound man so she could yell at him in the face, while holding him as a human shield between her and his fellows.\n\n“Why are you here?!” She demanded.\n\n“Cleaning up [i]your[/i] mess, bitch!” Garrison shouted back, immediately attempting to push her away and free himself. She held firm to his combat vest and shook him around, his disoriented state being enough to dissuade his attempts at freedom.\n\n“[i]My[/i] mess?!” Lumina shouted him down, “This is [b]not[/b] my mess!”\n\n“You brought this garbage here and it’s high time we stop you!” Garrison lowered his arm from his eyes, which had been reddened, but he glared at Lumina all the same. Even her residual glow hurt, but he didn’t shy away from his stare. He grabbed her under her arms and hefted her up off the ground as he stood, smashing his forehead into hers hard enough to make her flinch, cringe, and be thrown away.\n\n“Humans aren’t your playthings anymore, Inkling…” Garrison growled as he took hold of his weapon and trained the sights on her. “This time, no mercy. Either you die, or we do.”\n\n“Time to go!” Daxton told his Inkling, “I think I get the gist of it!”\n\nLumina turned to flee, and took a few shots in the back for her trouble. They pounded against her skin and threatened to peel it away. It was the fusion cannons that did it. One searing blast of heated gas tore across her back, slopping away her membrane in a massive chunk to expose Daxton’s clothes beneath. She all but dove into the amassed charcoal armies to escape them, grunting as she struggled through weapons bearing down on her. Bit by bit she was whittled away, until she had to retreat altogether back into her host. Daxton was freshly exposed to prana soldiers, who didn’t hesitate for a moment to start trying to cut him up.\n\nA few blades cut into his back, tearing his coat and shirt and drawing blood through his fur and skin. He as so frantic he didn’t pay it any mind… it barely even hurt. A stroke of luck saw to it that his attackers were dispatched, another mounted gun blasting them to shattered pieces in one fell swoop. Daxton fell to his hands and knees, panting for breath as his limbs shook. The fall of a giant caught his attention, and he looked up to see the prana beast fall under the concentrated fire of Eos guns. Looking around himself, it seemed that the battle was won. Some Eos soldiers lay strewn about with arrows sticking out of them, but only some. Many more were just fine, cleaning up the remaining mess.\n\n“Ow, ow,” Daxton hissed as he stood up. Eos soldiers were surrounding him.\n\n“And look who emerges from the mists!” Garrison barked from behind Daxton. The boy turned to face him as he approached with his men. One of the armored soldiers lifted their visor, revealing the Persian cat Daxton was somewhat familiar with, Yvette.\n\n“One human in the middle of a bunch of monsters?” Garrison asked, “Nah. That Inkling was you, wasn’t it? So you finally bagged yourself one of those alien freaks, huh? I ought to just kill you right now.”\n\nDaxton was breathing heavily. The cuts and burns on his back were starting to hurt. “Ought to?” He asked breathlessly.\n\n“Yeah, ought to.” Garrison grunted. “Grab him.”\n\nTwo soldiers came at him and grabbed his arms from either side. He thought better than to fight them, letting them roughly handle him and lock his arms.\n\n“You’re gonna be our bargaining chip,” Garrison said, “We’re in charge now, and you stupid Ink-lovers are gonna rot.”\n\n“Aw man, this again?” Daxton huffed, “Are you stupid or something? There aren’t even as many of you as there was before. Why would [i]anyone[/i] listen to you?”\n\n“We’re the only ones who can pull humanity out of this mess, that’s why.” Garrison said, “And you better hope they listen, or we’re going to blow your head right off your shoulders.”\n\nYvette and the other armored soldier aimed their fusion cannons at him, just to drive the point home.\n\n“We might not be able to get at that Inkling inside you, but without you they’re as good as dead.”\n\nDaxton gulped.\n\n“Hunker down out here!” Garrison shouted to his men. The trucks moved to take positions around the mall, and many of the foot soldiers did the same. Garrison nodded, and the men holding Daxton pushed him to move and follow the bear and his power-suited entourage as they made their way to the mall. They stopped at the edge of the barrier protecting it, and were met by officers who opted to stay inside it.\n\nNegotiations were anything but. Either let them in or the kid gets it. The terms were clear-cut and dry, and they had no qualms in roughing Daxton up to get their point across. The officers wanted to refuse, but after Eos battered the boy even a little bit, they folded. They allowed Garrison and his men to pass through, and they marched Daxton in along with them. When they made it in through the front doors, all eyes were on them. Garrison stopped, pointed his rifle into the air, and fired a shot straight up. The blast didn’t damage anything, but it was loud enough to startle the civilians in refuge and get everyone’s attention.\n\n“Listen up you hicks,” Garrison bellowed over the most-silent mall, “We heard you’ve got a bunch of inked people here. Give them up.”\n\nThe crowd whispered fearfully about Eos’ return. It was Marcello who pushed through the audience and approached Garrison, a hard glare fixed on him. “You’re under arrest,” She said, “All of you.”\n\n“I’m going to ignore that,” Garrison rebutted, fixing his sights and his weapon on her, “What are you gonna do about it?”\n\nLieutenant Blackwell and a handful of other officers broke through to stand between Marcello and Garrison, forming a small wall of blue uniforms and bodies. One officer stepped forward, a male orangutan with shaggy, rusty fur. “Eos, you’re a criminal organization and you’ve got no authority here,” He said, “As stand-in Deputy, I order you to stand down and lay down your weapons. You and your political patsies aren’t wanted or needed here. The inked citizens of Harbington are still just that: citizens of Harbington. Under no circumstances will we surrender them to you.”\n\n“While I respect your authority, Deputy, I’m Third-Commander of Regiment 21, Harbington Military Force. And considering that all my superiors have been dead for many years, that makes me First-Commander; a title that far outranks your own.” Garrison stepped forward, jabbing the barrel of his weapon against the Deputy’s chest. “You and your little badge don’t mean a damn thing to me.”\n\n“A s-soldier?” The Deputy shook, “W-What?”\n\n“The guy’s a tube baby,” Marcello cut in, “Plucked out of a cryostasis chamber. Genetic engineering made by House Caduceus to home-grow their own little freak show soldiers back in the day. He’s from before the Disarming. Wilde had files on him.”\n\n“Sticks and stones, Detective.” Garrison growled.\n\n“Yeah, they don’t pile shit that high anymore.” Daxton huffed.\n\nGarrison turned and shoved the butt of his rifle into Daxton’s gut to force the air out of him. The boy coughed and slumped.\n\n“Daxton!” Edward shoved people out of the way to run to his son’s side. Before he could even get within five feet, however, Garrison turned his sights on him and stopped the beaver dead in his tracks. Edward dared not take a step closer, but he glared daggers into Garrison either way. “You take your hands off my son right now!” He shouted.\n\n“Oh? You’re this brat’s father?” Garrison cocked a brow at Edward, looking him over. The curvy beaver was dressed in a pink halter top and some denim duke shorts. Garrison scoffed at him. “How the hell did [i]you[/i] raise a kid this tough? Disgusting.”\n\n“Excuse me?” Edward gasped, “Mister, you better watch your mouth!”\n\nGarrison rolled his eyes. “Listen, if you don’t do what we ask, we kill the kid.”\n\n“[i]What[/i]?!” Edward nearly screamed. That prompted Eddie to push in, hurrying to his husband’s side.\n\n“You wouldn’t dare!” Eddie shouted the man down.\n\nGarrison turned to Daxton, nudging the boy’s face with his gun. “This little brat has an Inkling in him,” He said, “And Inklings are to blame for this mess, every single one of them. We made the mistake of trusting them before, you all know what happens when you just let them in. But for some reason you all chose to ignore it. The way I see it, anyone who willingly hosts an Inkling is no less our enemy than they are. That being said, I have no problem ending their lives if it means forcing the Inkling scum out.”\n\n“That’s insane!” Edward screamed, “That’s not true! Daxton isn’t inked!”\n\n“I saw it with my own eyes!” Garrison barked back, “This little bastard has an Inkling in him!”\n\n“That can’t be true!” Edward cried, “Daxton, honey, it’s not true! Right?”\n\nDaxton took a deep breath. “Yeah, it’s true,” He said, “Her name’s Lumina. She helped me save Harley and Quincey. We were fighting off Epheral’s soldiers outside and Eos attacked us.”\n\nEveryone was surprised… everyone but Garrison, his soldiers, Marcello, and Harley, anyway. “What?” Edward croaked, “Daxton… sweetie, no. That…”\n\nGarrison cut them off. “So there it is,” He said, “And I’m not going to say it again: hand over those Inklings or this kid takes his last breath here and now.”\n\nHis demands were met with silence. No one in that building thought that any human being was capable of taking a life. Such a thing hadn’t been done in so many years that they had all forgotten how fragile a life could even be. Madmen like Garrison were extinct. Human beings had evolved past their savage ways. What they were being presented with was a decision that no one in that room had ever been forced to make. They couldn’t wrap their minds around what they were being asked to do.\n\n“[i]Don’t[/i].” Eddie begged, “You can’t.”\n\n“Yvette,” Garison turned and addressed the Persian cat in the armor, “Blast him.”\n\nYvette blinked her blue eyes. Even she was staring at Garrison like he’d gone insane. She looked around at all the Harbington citizens who had gathered around the entrance to see what was going on. She looked at the police who were powerless to act. She looked at the weapon in her hands – a cannon meant to tear apart metal and end human lives. All she had used it on were Epheral’s prana constructs – monsters that were soulless and evil. Garrison had taken command of Eos and their activities and he’d said nothing of what his plans had been. So many thoughts ran through her mind that they froze her, forcing her to inactivity.\n\n“Yvette!” Garrison shouted, startling the armored cat, “Shoot the kid!”\n\n“Garrison…” Yvette shook, “I…”\n\n“Do it, Yvette. Show these people we mean business.” Garrison put on an authoritative voice. He sounded too calm about it, like he was just making a business decision. “He’s inked, Yvette.”\n\nThe woman tightened her fingers around the cannon she held, stepping forward and turning so she could aim it center-mass at Daxton.\n\n“Eh,” Daxton shrugged, “Take your best shot.” He grinned a little at the woman, which seemed to put her off.\n\n“Garrison, is this… really necessary?” Yvette turned to the burly bear, lowering her weapon, “We have the firepower, they can’t…”\n\n“Are you going against my orders?!” Garrison grabbed the metal chassis that Yvette wore and pulled her close to him, staring her in the eye. The lady-cat shook, the metal she wore rattling. After a few moments of staring, Garrison shoved her away and took her weapon himself. “Get out of my sight,” He said, “You’re fired. I’ll do it myself.”\n\nHe aimed the cannon at Daxton and powered up a blast that would be sure to rip him apart. The super-intense heating being applied to the gasses in the weapon’s chamber made its insides glow with orange fury. It revved up, the energies within humming in an increasing pitch, counting down the last few seconds of Daxton’s life. At the very least the scorching blast would blow his chest apart. At most, it would have ripped his entire body into pieces. Garrison seemed to be charging for the latter.\n\nWhat happened next was a snap of motion, like starting a scene in a film. Eddie left his husband’s side and charged at Garrison, taking every bit of his experience with Tackle Toss and slamming into the massive grizzly with all his weight. Garrison was pushed off-balance, the shot went off, it flew, and it tore through the arm of the Eos soldier that held Daxton at his right. That arm came off, the wound cauterized in the seconds it took to detach it. The pug man screamed in sheer agony. More people joined in. Edward leapt onto Garrison’s back and wrapped his arms around his neck to choke him. The police jumped between Eos and the people. Everything became a frantic pile of bodies.\n\nDaxton trembled as the man’s arm fell to his side, suddenly limp and charred. The other Eos soldier tried to pull him away, the armadillo man so frightened by the turn that his instinct was to pull Daxton out of danger. The other soldier collapsed to the floor, screaming in pain. He was taken down by police, pinned down and restrained. The armadillo soldier was likewise tackled to the floor, dropping Daxton to the ground as well as Lieutenant Blackwell started slapping the cuffs on him.\n\nYvette was paralyzed, as was the other armored person. All the lady cat could do was try and get herself away, to flee like the startled animal she resembled. She ran, darting for some corner of the mall to hide in, to hold herself and protect herself. Laila intercepted her, taking her to the floor with all her weight. The other armored person ran to save Yvette, dropping their weapon to do so. They tried to pry Laila off, only to be stopped by Laila’s entire family.\n\nGarrison fought with the Kemberges. Eddie took the man’s large hand and bit into it as hard as his jaws could manage. Garrison howled in pain, releasing his hold on the cannon and dropping it on the ground. He reached back and grabbed Edward to tear him off. He managed to do just that, and threw Edward to the ground. The little beaver skid across the mall tile a short ways, but he refused to stay down. He got right back up and ran at Garrison again.\n\nThe grizzly man used his fists to beat and batter the Kemberges. Edward caught a hard punch in the face that took him off his feet and left him in a pitiful heap on the ground. Garrison then used both hands to slam into Eddie’s spine axe-handle style, shocking the buck with so much pain that he crumpled to the floor immediately. They were weak, unable to harm Garrison in any significant way. The bear’s only real threat was Daxton, and that boy was still grounded near the entryway. Ignoring everything else, Garrison reached for his weapon, only to find it missing. He cast a wild look back to see where it may have gone, frothing like an animal.\n\nThe weapon warmed up, and then fired.\n\nMason pulled the trigger, the sweaty hyena man not having a firm grasp on the weapon. The recoil smashed it into his own gut and took him down, but the shot was fired even so. It struck Garrison in the chest. His vest was scorched away, ripped apart by the forces, as was his shirt, his fur, and his flesh. Garrison’s chest splattered in charred viscera. The giant of a man fell in an instant, clutching his bloody chest and wheezing for air as he collapsed. He gargled his pain. That attack was what ended it, as Garrison fell to the floor in the midst of it all everyone stopped, frozen in shock. The bear lay gasping on the tile, his blood steadily soaking into his clothes and fur.\n\n“G-Gngh!” Garrison spat through his teeth. He clutched his chest, sinking his hand into wet blood and tender, exposed muscle. He pushed himself up onto his other elbow for support, shaking. It was a miracle that he wasn’t dead. The hyper-density of his pectoral muscles appeared to have saved him. He looked like an opened-up anatomical model, smelling of blood and burned meat.\n\nConsciousness left him. He collapsed onto the ground in a limp sprawl.\n\n“Oh my god!” Edward shouted. It echoed around the mall as citizens panicked. Mason dragged himself across the floor clutching his abdomen, barely getting his legs under him to stand himself up. His black shirt was frumpy and wrinkled, stained with sweat, and his purple slacks were crooked. He panted, his heart pounding a mile a minute. But he spat, “Serves you right.”\n\nIt took ages for the commotion to settle. The police burst into action to calm the hysteria in the mall and block off Garrison’s body. They cuffed the remaining Eos soldiers, who were too struck with fear to fight back. People cried, some had fainted, others were so frightened that they clawed at the officers to get out of the mall and escape what had happened. Everything had gone to madness.\n\nDaxton pushed his back up against the wall, breathing out a breath he’d been holding. He stared at Garrison, whose chest still raised and fell with his breathing, squelching his open wound with every breath. He was alive, miraculously. Super Soldiers always had more durability than the average person, but Daxton never thought he’d see what he learned in history class play out before his eyes. Garrison seemed less human than ever bleeding out on the floor like that. Doctors rushed to him. The fact that they sought to patch him up made Daxton feel surreal as he watched it happen.\n\nHe had no words. No quip, no smile. He just felt could and numb.\n\nHe could hear Lumina’s voice in his head. It kept repeating the same thing over and over again.\n\n“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "\tOne time, Quincey and Laila explored the attic in Laila’s home. It was a warm summer’s day, but the dimness of the attic made things cool. There wasn’t even a window to let light in, but it did get in through some cracks along the walls and floor. With the light of their PETs to guide them, the girls explored all the old things up there. The darkness wasn’t scary, rather it seemed to teasingly obscure the mysteries and secrets stored away. Laila happily showed Quincey around, all too pleased to share her family’s lengthy history with her. Quincey was an eager learner, too, making for a wondrous afternoon. It was one of Quincey’s fonder memories. Laila was boastful of her family, happy and proud; it was one of the few times it seemed Laila’s forward attitude was focused on something other than OC or work.

That was a nice attic. It was a nice time back before Inklings, back before Eos.

Quincey curled up in a dark, unfamiliar attic, laying in a puddle of silver Inkling goop. She trembled, a cold chill gripping her body, making her fingers and toes hurt. Her body felt strange and uncomfortable. She was weak and her movements felt creaky. Darkness enveloped her save for the light beaming down from the hole she’d broken into the ceiling, and even that wasn’t very bright. Weakly she opened her eyes and rolled onto her back. She gazed up at the clouds that rolled above her, lazily drifting on the breeze. Gray as they were, murky as they appeared, no rainfall came. Only cold air wafted into the dark, lonely room. It made her jacket seem woefully inadequate.

She didn’t know how pale she looked. Her normally rosy cheeks and pinkish skin were drained of colour. Her eyes were tired and her crumpled up body was defeated. She should have felt afraid for her life knowing that somewhere out there, there was a dragon searching for her. Maybe it was more appropriate to say that it was searching for Duplex. She was so tired though that she couldn’t spare the energy to be terrified.

“Duplex…?” Quincey whimpered, “Are you okay?”

There was no answer, from inside her head or otherwise. Quincey had to do some searching, trying to find the tattered remains of her Inkling. It was there, but most of it was around her, soaking into the old floorboards. Quincey swallowed whatever might she could muster to turn onto her front and push herself to crawl. Her hands stuck to the goop on the floor. Some of it soaked into her skin. It felt like a crying pup dragging itself home after being ravished by a storm. It was pitiful and weak and helpless. Quincey did her best to warm it, to embrace it, but it felt fragile.

“Come on…” Quincey begged, “Duplex, please.”

Whatever was left of her Inkling that remained outside her seemed to drain away into the wood, leaving it dry and cold. A sense of failure overwhelmed the pig girl, drowning her in guilt. Certainly she never could have prepared herself for such a chaotic turn, but even so she felt she was to blame. She promised to help her Inkling, and it was there practically falling apart inside her at that very moment. It was then she noticed the white of her hands and the purple of her fingertips. Her arms shook and she collapsed to the floor on her front, sprawled and limp. She blinked away the feelings of fatigue and exertion, put her hands under her again, and pushed with all her might.

“Hold on…!” She grunted, tucking her knees under her after some lift. She rose, her head spinning. She wobbled and fell backward, barely catching herself on her elbows as her legs kicked out in front of her. She landed on her butt and sniffled.

“I need… help,” Quincey frowned, “Duplex.”

From the darkness came the voice of a little girl. She said, “Is that what you call it?”

Quincey looked for the source of the voice. The girl stepped out from the dark, but it was clear right away that it was no normal girl. It was a construct, a prana creation just like all the others. Built of a body that seemed unstable, the scratchy black lines making a shape but failing to stay in the border of that shape at times as they danced around like a bad animation. It was a little body, as small as a child and shaped just the same. Two little legs with two little feet led to a small body with two little arms and two little hands. She had a head, and it looked like she may have even had hair… like a bowl cut or something, around her head. If she was meant to look like a post-splice human, it was difficult to tell just which. The length and shape of her tail wasn’t a constant and at times her ears appeared pointy, and at times they were round.

She had that strange aura around her, as if she moved entirely through a ripple in reality, a tear that moved where she did. She had no eyes, but she seemed to see nevertheless. She had a mouth though, a smiling, little white mouth. The shape it made was gentle, but eerie grin. In her hands she held something familiar. An orb, or something like it, that didn’t look at all three-dimensional. It looked like a burned hole in a picture or film that she was able to grip and move.

That was Epheral’s core.

Quincey barely breathed.

“You know who I am,” The girl, the closest representation of Epheral that Quincey was going to get, said. “And I know you, Quincey. I touched you, and you touched me.”

Epheral stepped closer, clutching her core like a cherished bauble. She held it lovingly. Quincey remained quiet, not knowing what to say and not having the bravery to say anything she could think of. “You’re… human, aren’t you?” Epheral asked, “I’ve never met a human before. You’re interesting. You’re different from all the others. Is that why Osoth came here? I knew you’d go running to her. I knew you’d go back to your master the first chance you got.”

Epheral’s smile turned into an angry scowl. “If I knew you were just one of her dogs, I would have killed you then. I shouldn’t have let you live. I should have torn you apart, you traitors.” She growled. She sounded hurt.

Quincey sucked in her lips, rubbing them together nervously before she’d part them to speak. “Osoth is gone.”

This seemed to catch Epheral by surprise. She became somewhat tense, holding her core distrustfully. “What do you mean she’s gone?” She demanded, “She’s here. I sense her here. She’s here and I’m going to destroy her.”

Quincey shook her head. “Echelon… already did.” She said, “Osoth invaded, and Echelon beat her.”

“Who? Who is this Echelon?” Epheral asked, confused, “How could she be powerful enough to defeat Osoth? That’s not possible.”

“It’s true,” Quincey insisted tiredly, “Her core… it’s been shattered.”

Epheral turned her construct away, holding her own core away from Quincey. “You’re… lying!” Epheral cried, “You’re trying to protect her! Why are you doing this to me?! Why do you love her more than you love me?!”

Quincey winced. Epheral stormed forward, which shouldn’t have seemed so threatening on her little legs. The little girl moved one hand away from her core to instead reach out and grab Quincey’s face. The sudden, burning sensation that overcame the girl’s pale cheeks as soon as Epheral’s fingers took hold made her scream and clench her eyes. She pried herself from Epheral’s grip as the girl-construct squished her cheeks and smooshed her lips together. Quincey pulled away and fell to the floor, sobbing.

“I saved you!” Epheral stood over Quincey, shouting down at her, “I saved you when she threw you away! You owe me your lives!”

Quincey rubbed her eyes. Her glasses had long been lost. She sniffled and wiped the tears away, barely sitting back up. Epheral tilted her head somewhat, returning to her embrace of her core. “Awww…” She smiled, “Without me, you’re falling apart. Your Inkling’s too weak to talk, isn’t it Quincey? You can’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again, no matter how hard you try.”

She leaned over Quincey, the blackness staring into the pig. “I could,” She said, “I could patch Dormence and Tranquil up again. I could make them all better. And you can’t. You won’t, no matter what.”

Quincey’s lip quivered. “G-get… away from us…” She tried to sound tough, but it ended up sounding like a plea.

“Us?” Epheral reared back in surprise, “Us? You think you’re a part of this? You think you matter? What are you going to do? Are you going to fight me? Is that it? Do you think you can do anything to save them? Honestly?”

“I know you.” Epheral loomed over Quincey, standing astraddle her. “You haven’t done anything your entire life. You’ve never done anything on your own. Is this what you think you’re finally going to do all by yourself? Stand up to me, and save your treacherous Inkling?”

“That… thing, has no friends, Quincey. Not anymore.” Epheral continued, “It betrays its friends and its loyalties, it always has. I thought it was my friend too, but it betrayed me all the same. It said… I was like her. It begged me not to destroy one of the most brutal tyrants who ever existed. And why? She doesn’t deserve to live, and neither do any who follow her.”

Epheral turned her head, frowning in disgust. “I can smell them everywhere on this planet,” She said, “Osoth and her spineless slaves, bound with you humans… and you take them, don’t you? You let them in and let them live, just like you are now!” She thrust herself at Quincey, making the pig girl stumble back onto the floor in fright. “I could have saved every single one of them! I could have stopped everything! But they threw me away! None of them deserve to go on, and if you think they do, you don’t deserve to live either!”

Quincey grit her teeth, grunting with the effort it took to push herself upright with her elbows. Her body inked over, but the process was like trying to start an old gas engine. Duplex took its host’s form, but it chugged and sputtered. It took over in patches, leaving gaps and holes exposing Quincey’s clothing and flesh underneath. It barely took the girl’s face, its blue eyes peering at Epheral from below.

Epheral let out a little gasp, her angry scowl turning into a mournful frown. “… Why?” She asked. The one word was laden with the sadness of an absolutely devastated heart. She repeated herself. “Why? You’d save her, but you’d fight me?”

Looking like a torn-up corpse, Duplex tried to rise, tried to stand. It didn’t say anything. It just stared at Epheral, experiencing too many emotions for any one of them to register on it or Quincey’s face. Even Quincey’s lips beneath, what showed of them, were devoid of expression.

Epheral breathed her sadness into a hateful snarl. “Stupid. I made you. You live because of me. Don’t you realize that? You haven’t been able to push me out. I still have you. I could have killed you, but I didn’t. Don’t you know what that means?!”

The construct-girl stepped back as Duplex got to its feet. The porcine-Inkling remained silent, but she balled her hands into fists. It seemed like it struggled to even stand. Anything resembling a fighting stance was slackened and weak.

“Fine,” Epheral said, “Let me show you one more time.”

The girl construct lifted her hand toward Duplex, and she twirled her finger in a slow winding motion. The Inkling froze, unable to move a muscle, seized by sudden, unimaginable pain that blanked the senses. The patchwork that was Duplex began to unravel. The silver, hazy goop that made up its membrane began to split apart like a dividing cell. All over Quincey’s body, the silver ink swirled and pulled away into colours of blue and yellow. Its shape deformed, suddenly finding it impossible to bind itself to the contours of Quincey’s body. Bit by bit it peeled away from the girl, slopping off onto piles on the floor.

“Hmhm… That’s right.” Epheral slowed her winding finger, the entire process of splitting Duplex apart slowing down, dragging out. Duplex and Quincey screamed, howling in pain, their voices seeming to split apart into three distinctly separate ones. Like painstakingly having her skin peeled off, Quincey had to endure it with Duplex. It lasted seconds, seconds that dragged on for eternity, until the last thread of ink split apart and Duplex became two once more. The yellow and blue ink fell to the floor only moments before Quincey’s unconscious body.

Epheral approached and set her core on the floor by Quincey’s head. She knelt down, getting onto her knees as she watched the almost lifeless forms of the pig and her Inklings.

“That’s what you get.”

-

--

-

“Hey!” Harley moved to the edge of the roof and peeked over. Her foot hurt, but not as much as before. She’d gotten better at ignoring it. She looked down at Daxton’s body as he lay there in the grass, his coat pooled out under his healthy-looking legs and his tank top tight to his firm chest. Harley shook her head. Daxton was kind of pretty, but she had to focus!

She shimmied over to a tree nearby, one with branches just long enough to extend nearly to the edge of the roof. She got down low and stretched out to grab hold of one of a branch, nervously moving to crawl onto it. She overestimated the sturdiness of the wood, and the limb sagged as soon as she put her weight on it, causing her to squeak in alarm as she fell. Holding tight to the branch though, she hung in the air, feet dangling several feet off the ground. She panted for breath and tried to slow her racing heart, grunting as she swung herself and shimmied her hands, rustling the branches above and raining autumn leaves down on Daxton.

She was never a very active girl, but she surprised herself at how well she could manage in desperate times. She managed to get herself nearly in to the body of the tree, close enough that other branches were under her feet. One by one, she descended to those branches, moving slowly in her fright to daintily place one toe down below her on a surface, then ease her body down. The branches were thicker and sturdier at their base, making climbing down an easier task.

Placing her foot down onto a two-pronged branch, she slipped. She squeaked again as she fell, but only so far as to get her body wedged in between the split of the branch below. She found her shoulder blades and bosom stuffing the gap to keep her from slipping through. The sudden stop made her head spin. She blinked out the confusion and looked all around her to observe her predicament, then she began to kick her feet and struggle, bouncing the branch around as she grunted. More leaves rained down, fluttering down onto Daxton. One landed on his face and he twitched, blowing the leaf away as he stirred.

“Mr. Daxton!” Harley fussed against her own breasts as they crowded her chin. “Are you alright?”

“Oogh…” Daxton slowly sat up, rubbing his head. He coughed a little. “Yeah.” Looking up, he saw Harley’s legs dangling above him and a few feet away. She kicked and fussed, making Daxton chuckle painfully. “Better question is: are you?”

“I’m… stuck!” Harley complained. She placed her hands on the branch and tried pushing herself up through the gap. Something snapped and she gasped, switching directly to holding on for dear life. “Ah!”

“Hold on, I’ll get you down.” Daxton called up to her.

Harley turned her head this way and that, trying to look around her own impediments. She noticed things moving from around the corners, more monsters emerging from hiding to move in on the pair. She saw big ones and small ones – one particularly large, with a single eye and a massive club weapon. She squeaked in alarm. “Um, Mr. Daxton!” She called, “Monsters!”

Daxton stopped short of climbing up to help Harley down and turned quickly to see that he’d been surrounded. More constructs – goblins, the cyclops he’d left behind, spiders large enough to have their own health bars, and more moved in on him in bold, threatening manners. They weren’t being coy about it. With their weapons brandished they moved on him knowing full well their advantage in numbers. They came from both the front of the houses and the back, making escape all but impossible for them, lest they climb the fence. Daxton pushed his back up against the tree, rubbing his aches and sores.

“Ah man…” He huffed, “What am I gonna do…”

Daxton chuckled, hanging his head in silent surrender of his lot in life. “Well, no sense just sitting back,” He said, pushing off the tree and standing ready for the attack. “Come on then. Come get some.”

They came, and they got some. The gaggle of goblins bore down on Daxton like a swarm of angry bees, rushing in from in front and behind, and their numbers counting no fewer than eight. They had their clubs, some had just their claws, and all of them were small, charcoal-like, and particularly chaotic. They laughed and giggled as they dogpiled on the boy, and he did his best to spin around and keep himself from getting overwhelmed right away. Daxton grabbed the first, nearest attacker and spun them to hit a second. Turning, he kicked out his foot to shove the chest of another, before he spun to punch one in the face who tried to get him from behind. It was all he could manage before one latched on to his back to put him off balance, and the others were quick to take advantage. His arms and legs became weighted with little bodies, and try as he might he couldn’t stay standing.

Daxton fell to the ground under a bold assault of swinging weapons. Getting beaten with clubs wasn’t really the bad part of it. It was no different than being pinned down and punched, just by harder fists. What hurt were the claws. Feeling those prana constructs rake across his skin… it was an entirely new sensation. First it stung, then it burned when his blood would fill the wounds, then it would just be uncomfortable. The slashes weren’t very deep, as the claws weren’t terribly long, but the short, hot flashes of pain were nearly debilitating.

The spiders served a different purpose entirely, and Harley had been too distracted to realize it until they were ready to climb up the tree. There were only two of them, but they latched on to the trunk and began their steady ascent toward her. If what Daxton had said was true, she dreaded the idea of what might happen if they reached her. She threw caution to the wind and twisted her body, fussing with animal ferocity to escape her trappings. Once the charcoal arachnids were half way up the tree, the branch snapped. Harley fell to earth in a heap, the branch roughly smacking into her as she hit the ground.

“Enh!” She wheezed, reflexively cringing in pain. She didn’t even realize that her Inkling took over. It formed over her skin like a protective shell and took control quickly to see the girl to safety. Harley stood, but in her place was an Inkling that looked just like her, a pale, glowing white with beacon-yellow eyes and mouth. She rose, fists clenched, throwing her arms out to her sides in a harsh motion, arching her back into an eruption of bright light and an emission of sheer, photonic force. The glittering explosion threw the monsters away, clearing a large area around her and Daxton.

Lumina now surveyed the scene, but it winced as if barraged by a sudden sound. “I understand,” She said, “Then I have little choice. Thank you for your hospitality, Harley. This is where we part ways.”

Lumina stepped over to Daxton as the boy struggled to raise from the ground. She knelt down and put her hand on his head, making him pause. All at once, the glowing white membrane of Lumina drained from Harley's body, seemingly through the connection of her palm on Daxton’s head. Likewise, it filled over Daxton’s body starting from there and making its way out until it covered him from head to toe. Harley huffed and puffed when the transfer was complete, falling onto her rear in the grass. Daxton was confused and surprised, his body now coated by Lumina’s shining form.

The boy’s hair still covered his eyes, so his inked form bore no visible eyes to speak of, either. It didn’t seem to stop the Inkling from looking around, however. With no hat on his head, Daxton’s fit form looked like a featureless doll with a small, drawn-on, bright yellow mouth and shaggy, blobby hair. His body became feminine, with a shapelier chest. Daxton stood up and stared at his hands, turning them and flexing his fingers.

“Harley is too afraid to fight, so she needs your protection.” Lumina spoke into Daxton’s mind. She had the voice of a woman, and not a young one either. “You’re a more capable combatant, so if you expect to get out of this I’ll need your help.”

“My help?” Daxton spoke back. He was still in awe of what he felt. He felt lighter and stronger. With Lumina covering him, the world seemed to be so different. Lights in particular appeared to be more vibrant, and seemed to emit energy that made its way to him. Some windows in the houses still had light pouring out, but they seemed to do so in beams rather than the normal warm glow from within. Daxton saw the monsters before him as darker than normal in contrast, like they just sucked up all the light and left only darkness in their wake.

“Alright, Lumina. Where do I start?” The boy grinned.

The prana creatures took violent umbrage to Lumina’s new host, and they moved to attack him immediately. “There!” Lumina shouted, diving forward with prism trails of light following her host’s movement. She met an attacking goblin’s club and caught the attack, ripping the construct asunder to part its club from its body. Before the weapon could lose its structure and shatter, the Inkling swung it into the skull of another, shattering both the weapon and the cranium. The strength of the attack was devastating, amplifying Daxton’s already impressive arm-power from an athletic degree to straight-up strongman levels of pain. The goblin shattered into tiny fragments that scattered across the grass is a dazzling display of glittering sparkles that emanated from the gloriously-bright Inkling.

Daxton’s knowledge of Aikido had given him an impressive skill in counter-attacking. The style was all about a redistribution of oncoming force, putting his attacker off-guard and opening them up for an attack. Lumina made this a flashy display, a proper light show. Not only did rainbow trails of prismatic light follow her every movement, but every connection of her attacks on an opponent’s body made small, hot flashes of light. The heat and the force played in tandem to make particularly crushing attacks that left a slow burn behind. Lumina stepped and weaved, moving with attacks so their swings found no target, and grabbing arms or weapons to simply pull or push to make the little goblins stumble. Once open, they were hers to manipulate.

“Hiyah!” Lumina stopped one attack and got down low, rolling the goblin over her back only to grab them by their head and toss them part-way over. She slammed it down on a spider that had been scuttling up from behind, crushing the two of them in one go. That opened the way for her to return to Harley, pulling the girl up from the ground. The little shrew was exhausted.

“She gave me a surge of prana to make this possible,” Lumina explained, “She won’t be able to leave here on her own accord.”

The Inkling shouldered Harley, draping her across her host’s strong back and carrying her like a fireman might. “Let’s get out of here!” Daxton insisted, his voice mingling with the Inkling’s. He looked back to see the cyclops charging straight for him, and rather than risk Harley’s safety he turned away and ran, making his way around the house and out the other side to escape into the midway.

“We must get to safety.” Lumina insisted, “These constructs will not cease their pursuit until I am beaten or captured.”

“We gotta find Quincey,” Daxton returned. He had seen where she had fallen, she wasn’t too far away. Only a couple blocks’ worth of homes separated him from his girlfriend, and he wasn’t about to leave her at the mercy of Epheral and her monsters. “I’m not going back without her.”

“And what of Harley?” Lumina asked.

“We can handle it. We better, anyway.” Daxton answered.

“My, aren’t you reckless?” Lumina chastised her host, but she shrugged even so. “Very well then, Mr. Daxton. Let us go see just how your love is faring, but I insist that we remove ourselves from the streets as soon as possible. Let us head to the mall afterward and seek safety with the other humans.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Daxton agreed, “I’ll drag everyone there myself if I have to.”

“To be quite honest, I think you may just be able to with my help…” Lumina seemed impressed, “Compared to Harley, you’re much more capable. Very strong. Very fine…”

Lumina’s little mouth twitched up in a little grin.

Daxton felt momentarily unsettled.

“Are you hitting on me?”

“No, it was simply an observation.” Lumina insisted, “Move quickly now.”

The ground rumbled under the many feet of the monstrous pursuers that were on Lumina’s heels. The lumbering form of the cyclops, with its mighty legs, was able to cross greater distances than most. Its long strides saw it meet Lumina, and with its almost tree-sized club it swung. She was barely able to leap over it, planting one hand on the weapon to vault over, where the momentum nearly threw her arm out and took her from below. She could move a fair speed if she wanted. Daxton was no track and field star, but he had the legs and thighs for a good sprint. The Inkling pumped more power into her own running, sending her sailing along the midway in near-leaping steps.

The cyclops continued to swing, bringing its mighty weapon down to crush Lumina and her host. She was able to dodge each one just barely with Harley’s weight on her back making it awkward to move in the ways necessary. The impact of the massive club shook the pavement beneath Lumina’s feet, shattering the road and leaving ugly potholes in its wake.

“Could you not?!” Lumina shouted back at her attacker, darting forward just out of reach so she could whip around. She opened her hand and cocked back her elbow to thrust her open palm and fingers forward in a striking motion. A brilliant ray of light fired from the Inkling’s hand, about as wide around as Daxton’s fully outstretched palm and fingers, and it travelled through the air in a flash. The photonic energy struck the lumbering charcoal monster in its chest with a distinct “pew!” sound, the force of it causing the creature to stumble. Lumina followed the attack with another, using her other hand to fire another beam, soon alternating between the two to rapid-fire shining white beams of searing light into the creature’s thick, resilient form. They struck wildly, random but accurate, around the cyclops’ shoulders and chest, jerking it around as it tripped backward and then fell. It hit the midway like a fallen redwood, kicking up dirt and dust with the loud boom of its landing.

Lumina turned to run further, adjusting Harley on her shoulders and holding her securely once more.

“Freaking laser beams!” Daxton gawked, “Wow!” He took a moment to admire one of his ink-covered hands. He was in awe of the capability. It’s not that firing light-beams from one’s hands was something nobody thought about – on the contrary, one might be hard-pressed to find a boy who never imagined it. The idea of actually being able to do so, however, was so outrageously ludicrous that Daxton could scarcely absorb it.

“Laser emission is merely a manipulation of light energy, is it not?” Lumina reasoned, as if the entire thing was plain as day. “This is our power.”

While Daxton was sure that laser light was a little more scientific than that, he knew better than to question the convenience of an Inklings’ total lack of regard for things like logic or physics.

The chattering of the goblin creatures brought Lumina back to reality. The house Quincey had fallen into was still a ways away, and with Harley on her back, Lumina wasn’t sure she would make it. Daxton, however, wasn’t one to let such things stop him. The Inkling carried on in her stride, likelihood of success be damned.

A car’s horn honked from somewhere behind and above. Lumina stopped and turned to see a sleek, black car speed toward her from out of the sky. It pulled up alongside her and the passenger-side door opened upward.

“Get in!” Marcello shouted to the Inked-over boy, not recognizing him under the guise of Lumina. It didn’t seem to matter, as the woman leaned over and held out her hand to help Lumina in regardless of her possible loyalties. The Inkling took Marcello’s hand and climbed inside, shifting awkwardly to sit Harley’s unconscious body on the seat. The door closed behind her, and Marcello took off before she could even get her seatbelt on. Prana-constructed weapons hit her car, thumping against the metal and bouncing off like hail.

“Thanks for stopping,” Lumina said, “It was getting dicey out there.”

Marcello shrugged her shoulder. She was looking no worse for wear, maybe a little stressed, but she didn’t seem to be injured in any way. Her clothes were fine enough, the woman wearing her black leather jacket and what seemed to be a pale violet swimsuit top, the threadlink stickers clinging to her slender body in a partitioned spread. Her bottoms were utilitarian fatigues with all sorts of pockets. Hip-straps of some kind of pale violet swimming bottom rode high, and two belts looped around her hips, each one dangling off a different side slightly. She had all kinds of things on the belts - a neurod, handcuffs, emergency medical supplies. She was decked out for full police work, no doubt.

“Anything those freakshows don’t like has to be on our side,” The detective reasoned, “And I’ve worked with Inklings before. They’re not all bad.”

“Oh, I know.” Lumina nodded.

Marcello cocked a brow. “You do?” She asked.

Lumina shook her head. “Now isn’t the time,” She said, “There.” The Inkling pointed outward, through Marcello’s tinted windshield to the two-story home that Quincey had crashed into. “Quincey fell into that home over there. We need to rescue her.”

“The Abram girl?” Marcello ran her gloved fingers through her shocked cyan hair. “Guess I shouldn’t be surprised that she’s mixed up in all this. Alright, let’s get her and go.”

Marcello changed course to head straight for the house. The squared-off blocks of the suburb-like Residential Sector formed a closely-knit grid that, while wide open from the air, managed to create a realm of tight corners and turns closer to ground-level. If someone didn’t know the place ahead of time, it was fairly easy to get lost where all the smaller homes looked relatively similar. The towering skyscraper apartments served as the most popular landmarks, with only some small parks and playgrounds and facilities acting as secondary. It was easy to get Quincey’s landing zone mixed up with the homes huddled next to it, but Lumina had kept her eyes on it as best she could… figuratively speaking.

“Can I leave her here with you?” Lumina nodded toward Harley, who sat between Marcello and her, asleep. She slumped to one side, her gentle weight pressing against Lumina. The Inkling gently coaxed her to lean the other way, resting the child’s head on Marcello’s arm instead. The amphibious detective nodded once, twisting to slip her arm around Harley and worked to pull her seatbelt around her.

With a bit of tugging, Marcello clicked the buckle in and tugged it securely so that Harley was strapped in and sat up straight. “Yeah,” Marcello said. She knew it was better to leave someone behind to ensure Harley’s safety, and considering the circumstances it was obviously going to be her.

Daxton was all too thankful for Marcello. She’d helped out a lot when Quincey was kidnapped by Vor and she was instrumental in bringing down Eos on criminal charges. Now she was going out of her way to help save Quincey again, and she seemed oddly routine about it. Maybe it was just an adult thing, but the detective didn’t seem to be riding the high of victory over her case anymore. Daxton couldn’t say he wouldn’t still be beaming with pride if it were him. That made her a good officer, he figured. Duty before glory.

Marcello caught sight of more flying harpies and beasts coming her way, and with a brief adjustment of her rear-view she spotted a number more coming from behind as well. “I’ll hover around for a bit, but you have to be fast, kid,” The detective said, swerving to pull up close to the semi-detached dwelling. She hovered around the same height as the radial light rings that orbited the home, providing a beaming light on the otherwise grungy day. The bright light illuminated the damage on the home – scratched panel exterior and cracked glass windows made for a grim sight, and there had been a clear hole smashed into the roof noticeable upon descent from the sky. It was bigger than Quincey, but she had certainly been the one to make it.

When the door opened and Lumina moved to hop out, the mighty roar of the prana dragon bellowed in the distance. Marcello’s lips fixed into an unsettled frown. She said, “In and out, before whatever that thing was finds me.”

“In and out.” Lumina nodded before she jumped out of the car and fell six feet to the lawn. She landed and tumbled as Marcello drew the door closed behind her and veered off, launching into evasive maneuvers to avoid the airborne hostiles. The Inkling, now alone, rose to her feet and hurried toward the back door of the modest home.

She reached the sliding glass door that served as a back entrance and tried to open it to no success. It had been locked, and no amount of pulling was going to wrench it open. Impatient, she stepped back, thrust out her hand, and fired a light beam. It struck the glass solidly, and shattered it outright, making quite the ruckus as it fell to pieces. Lumina charged into the home without hesitation, moving as quickly and decisively as she could.

“Quincey?!” She called out for her host’s lover. Of course she received no answer, though she had been quietly hoping she would have. There were a number of possibilities that could have played out, such as Quincey having recovered and left the house on her own, or something far worse. When Quincey failed to answer the calls for her, it made those grim possibilities that much more realistic. Lumina hit the stairs as quickly as possible to climb to the second floor and continue her search. The time it took to check every room ate away at her confidence that the girl was unharmed.

The final destination was the attic, which Lumina would have missed had it not been for how obvious the panel in the roof on the second floor landing was.  It was a classic kind of hatch, the sort that could be pulled down to reveal a staircase up. Lumina had to pull an end table from the upstairs bedroom to stand on, knocking off the lamp and all the clutter on it without so much as a care. She was boosted just enough reach the handle that she grabbed and twisted to disengage the mechanism and cause the stairs to fall and slide out. They hit the carpeted floor of the landing, obnoxiously obscuring a majority of the walking space there.

Lumina’s entry into the attic illuminated the place in the warm glow that radiated from her body at all times. The dark corners of the attic offered no fear or mystery. The old wood creaked underfoot but appeared sturdy. Boxes of stored miscellaneous were stacked, piled, and set around the attic, but not so much as to be crowded. There was plenty of open space, all filled with the nippy, cold air of the outside that wafted in from the big hole in the ceiling. Of course, all these details were secondary to the far more important sight of an unconscious pig girl collapsed onto the floor; and only slightly more important than that was the prana-construct that hovered over her.

“Don’t even think about it!” Lumina shouted just as Epheral turned her head. The devilish girl got a beam of brilliant light to her face for her trouble, and the connection blew the construct’s cranium clear off its shoulders, shattering its would-be skull into pieces just as her white mouth parted to question who Lumina was.

The lack of head didn’t seem to bother the construct. It rose its little humanoid self to its little feet and picked up the strange, undulating core off the floor as it did so. Slowly the girl’s head reformed, growing back from its shoulders and regaining its shape in seconds. She had no words for Lumina, only an angry growl. It took Epheral’s core and pushed it into its body, sinking the thing safely into its abdomen and embedding it there, where the burning white shape remained obvious through the charcoal scratches of its body. The girl clenched her little fists, preparing to fight. Lumina wasn’t all too sure who or what she was looking at, but the differences between it and the other monsters she had seen was not lost on her, if only by way of that strange core it seemed to protect.

“Alright,” Lumina canted her head to the side to stretch out her neck, loosening herself up for a fight, “Normally I don’t hit little girls but for you I’ll make an exception.”

Epheral’s tiny form shuddered, and the girl seemed to roar as she convulsed. All at once, she exploded with size and shape, changing before Lumina’s eyes in an eruptive instant. The construct’s form cracked and shattered into an impossible new existence wherein it was no fewer than six feet tall. Its tiny arms and legs had elongated into disturbing lengths that seemed disproportionate to its body, causing it to move in an eerie, marionette-like manner. Its joints had become as blades, sharpened points jutting from its knees and its elbows in sinister fashion. It retained a human shape, though it had become more aged, more developed. It remained decidedly feminine, bearing the curves thereof. It appeared as if its “hair” had grown longer, but it was difficult to tell when the entire being was as a shadow. Only shapes hinted at such things.

The new larger and more imposing construct entered a proper fighting stance. Some form of martial arts, maybe. Nothing Daxton could recognize.

Lumina took pause at this rather sudden development. “Oh,” She said, “This is different.”

Epheral moved faster than Lumina could even see, let alone prepare herself against. One moment the prana beast was several feet away, the next she was right in the Inkling’s face. A backhand strike sent Lumina into the wall, knocking down boxes and clutter along the way, scattering objects around the attic. Epheral followed, and pinned Lumina to the wall by her throat. She pressed her forearm hard on Lumina’s neck, keeping her feet off the floor by a foot’s clearance or thereabouts. Inklings didn’t need to breathe, but the Inked corgi winced in pain and struggled against the broad arm keeping her in place. Simply wiggling free wasn’t going to be an option, however.

With no nervous system, Epheral’s constructs had no weak points to hit. There were no bones to break either. The only option was hitting their bodies with as much force as possible, to break them to dust. Lumina thrust her open palm against the inside of Epheral’s elbow and grabbed hold of her wrist with the other, at once twisting and pushing to force herself free. She forced Epheral’s wrist back, twisting her arm right around, and then unleashed a force of photonic energy to sever the elbow from the arm. The construct came apart, and Lumina dropped to the floor and released the useless, dangling limb. She wound up as much as she could with her back against the wall and threw a punch at center mass. Boosted forward by a small flash of light, the Inkling’s fist crashed into Epheral’s stomach and sent the construct reeling back into the center of the room.

She followed, pressing the attack. Epheral regrew her limb in a quick reaction, swiping at Lumina with newly formed claws as she did so. She ducked under the swipe and came up with an uppercut to Epheral’s chin. The prana beast stepped back, recovered, and returned with an upward lunge of her fist toward Lumina’s gut. The Inkling spun, caught the attack, and lead it up and over her, shoving her weight back into Epheral’s false form and pulling. The golem was thrown over Lumina’s back and onto the floor a short distance away.

Epheral flipped around and took a feral stance low to the floor on all fours. She thrust out her clawed hand, seeming to concentrate on the Inkling before her. After only a few seconds of nothing happening, she stopped. Angry, she lunged at Lumina, who stood ready to receive her. With her claws out, Epheral pounced like a mountain lion. Lumina caught her by her wrists and attempted to step back, trying to lead the attack and pull Epheral off-balance. Instead, Epheral planted, anticipating the act. The construct simply pulled back towards itself, catching Lumina by surprise and overpowering her easily to put her footing in an unfavourable position instead. The prana construct’s knee drove into Lumina’s gut with all the force of an oncoming car, driving a cry of pain from the Inkling. Epheral threw Lumina’s arms aside and took advantage of the lapse in defense to start slashing in a fury.

Scratches to an Inkling’s membrane weren’t as devastating as sheer blunt force, but Epheral’s claws brought a stinging sensation that burned like acid, causing pain on some level deeper than simple kinetics. Lumina was tossed around by the strikes, and the last one came as an open palm right to her chest, launching her across the room and into the far wall. More boxes were thrown around the attic as Lumina’s body passed through them. One cardboard cube outright exploded upon impact with Lumina’s back, blanketing the dazzling Inkling in old clothes that barely cushioned her crash into the wall. The force that launched her had been generated somehow, not unlike her own light beams, only invisible to the naked eye. It caused a ripple in her inked flesh that was unsettling.

Lumina crumpled to the floor, but managed to keep from falling on her face. She rose, shaking her head to toss some old socks off of her ears. Epheral was upon her in an instant, just as she thrust her hand out. She caught the construct’s chest, right where its sternum would have been if it had one. Without a second thought, she poured her power through her palm, and Epheral was shot back by an absolutely dazzling display of sparkling light that exploded outward from Lumina’s body. As if to return the favour, Epheral was sent back to the other side of the attic. Epheral rose in a hurry, but rather than attack, she rushed the middle of the room and leapt out through the hole in the roof.

Epheral seemed to flee. Lumina lowered her arm and she righted herself to continue the fight. Moments passed with no retaliation from her foe. A few moments more, and she was confused. She stepped over to the hole, ears perked attentively, and peered through it for any signs of the construct. There were none. No signs of their presence remained. Lumina gave it a few more moments before determining that the battle was over. With the task done, she retreated into her host for rest.

Daxton was back, standing in the attic fully clothed in his long blue coat and knit cap. He shook off the willies he got from the form shift and turned his attention to the unconscious Quincey. He hurried to her to save her, carefully lifting her off the floor so that he could carry her. He managed to throw Quincey onto his back. The pig girl seemed as heavy as ever, but Daxton’s muscle fatigue was likely to blame for that. He got her into a piggy back, grunting and wheezing with the effort through his grit teeth.

“Really wish you were awake…!” Daxton complained, but he hoisted Quincey up enough to start walking, and so he did. She was dead weight, her arms limp at her sides, and her chin slumped over his shoulder. She was still breathing. Gentle puffs of air escaped her nostrils and she was at peace as if she were asleep. That brought Daxton some comfort, but he would feel better once they were somewhere safe.

Daxton made his way back outside, taking the front door to step down onto the sidewalk. He awkwardly shuffled through the door with Quincey on his back, having to use his feet and body to nudge the thing open. He didn’t bother to close it. Stepping outside, small droplets of rain hit his fur. The gray clouds above evidently did have some rain in them, but not terribly much. It made the trip that much more uncomfortable as he looked around for Marcello and didn’t see her anywhere. He’d give her some time to return like she promised.

He couldn’t afford to in any case. The prana monsters had a keen sense for Inklings, and two in one spot was like putting out sugar for ants. They were flocking. Daxton could see them from across the street moving through the yards to make their way over. The towering form of the roaming cyclops was just a ways down the street, still as angry as ever. Daxton could hear its footsteps stomping toward the house.

“Come on, lady…” Daxton grumbled. The charcoal forms of the monsters were nearing. Gnolls and goblins and trolls were skulking across the midway, the cyclops had broken into sight past the houses and trees, and harpies were circling overhead like vultures. Daxton didn’t have to look far to see danger, and for once even he had his doubts he’d be able to escape it.

Marcello answered the call, swooping in like a super hero in her dented car. She skimmed over the cyclops’ head, bumping it with the undercarriage of her vehicle as she passed it by. It swung fruitlessly at her, her car too fast for its slow, powerful attack to connect to. She pulled up as close to the front of the house as she could and opened her doors so that Daxton and Quincey could pile inside. She did not wait for them to get settled, or even buckled up. Daxton’s legs still dangled out of the vehicle as she took off again, little impish creatures smacking into her windows and bumping off as she did.

“Kemberge?” Marcello shot him a confused look. She reached over, past Harley, and pulled him and Quincey as hard as she could to get them in so the door could close. Her modest little vehicle was getting crowded, especially since she didn’t have back seats. It was never meant to hold four passengers, but there they were, crammed into the cabin shoulder-to-shoulder. Daxton sat and pulled Quincey into his lap, who was heavy and awkward, asleep as she was.

“Yeah, that’s me. I was the Inkling you picked up,” Daxton grunted his explanation. Marcello gave him a confused look yet again and he shook his head. “I’ll tell you all about it on the way, but let’s get back to the mall, alright?”

Marcello turned her attention forward, shaking her head. “You kids are a real piece of work, you know that?”

-

--

-

The Harbington Mall was a colourful place. The city planners made a shift some years back to go with seasonal themes to build on the “nature” aspect of the dome that many from the outside had applied to it. Each floor of the place had a different scheme. The main floor was summer; the tile walls had a vibrant green stripe that ran the entire way around, from entrance to entrance, breaking up the storefronts and shop windows. Accent pieces varied the spectrum between yellow-green for benches, and blue-green for fountains and water fixtures, which had been spread out along the walls and floor to create a pleasantly “outdoorsy” place to navigate. The addition of small flora ecosystems and artificial summer fruits amplified the charm and birthed pleasant aromas in the air. Visible from that floor was every floor above. A pink glass half-wall made a guard rail for the second story and marked it as spring, while an orange half-wall of similar make labelled the top floor as autumn. Each one had their own sights and smells, and the stores had moved around over the years to where they fit thematically. One could find snow cones and swimming shorts at the first floor, squeezed juices and flower shops on the second, and apple cider and hardware stores on the top.

The building had never been so packed before, but crisis always brought out the exceptional situations. Where normally one would find teens killing time, over half of the entire dome had been crammed in and was vying for space. Cafes and sit-down shops were filled to capacity more often than not, with butts filling seats as a way to find comfort where benches weren’t always available. The food court on the first floor had suitcases and bags full of valuables that people had brought in stacked on the floors and tables, all dutifully being secured and tagged by police to keep track of them for their respective owners. One could scarcely hear the trickle of the water fixtures over the murmurs of the crowds. Families and packs kept close together, and anyone wandering on their own stuck out as being lost and confused.

The underground took the theme of winter. The tram station was built like a crystal cavern and decorated in hues of blue and violet. The temperature wasn’t as cool as the place appeared to be, where people walked around casually in year-round apparel. The lights played off the crystal walls to create glimmering stones and aurora effects while illuminating the pure white tile of the floor and ceiling. Stores had been packed down there as well, torn between thematically appropriate winter shopping and being the first place inter-dome travelers would see once they stepped off the train. It was a place to find the essentials for the sheer sake of convenience, acting as a hub to the rest of the city.

The inked citizens who had come forth had been taken down there. Comparatively, the number was quite small and there was room to spare. Eddie had organized the effort, using every ounce of his charisma to convince people that getting down there was the safest thing to do. The people had been grossly hesitant, but he couldn’t blame them. Those who stepped forward to seek asylum underground did so at the risk of exposing themselves to friends and family. Some didn’t take it very well. He watched as sons, daughters, husbands and wives were sometimes met with scorn from the people they trusted most, simply because they had been bound with an Inkling and never told anybody. Eddie performed head counts after every new arrival, and by the time people stopped funneling in, it seemed there were only thirty-six inked citizens.

Eddie straightened his tie as he looked at the numbers, wondering how it compared to Locksmouth’s. When Osoth first touched down, it was no secret that a number of Harbington residents had been stranded in their sister-city by simple circumstance, but Eddie thought that the number of people who came forward as inked was rather high even so. There could have been numerous others who didn’t out themselves in fear of resentment… and that their fear wasn’t misplaced was perhaps the worst aspect of it all.

“Arbitrator Kemberge,” Lieutenant Blackwell descended the escalator and was at Eddie’s side when she reached the bottom. She looked as all-business as ever, but she’d done away with her hat at some point and just let her salt and pepper hair enjoy some breathing room. “We’ve been keeping things open for the last hour, but it looks like nobody else is stepping up. I think that’s everyone we’re going to get.”

“I didn’t think we’d have half this many,” Eddie commented, turning to regard Blackwell. He had to look down a ways to do so. “I thought we kept track of everyone who came back after the Locksmouth Incident. What happened?”

“We did,” Blackwell said, “At least, I thought we did. Maybe the Inklings have done some moving around; and we didn’t see many of them actually go… inky. The numbers could be off. Some of them inked, to demonstrate. All gray.”

“Gray, huh… so the lesser,” Eddie figured, rubbing his chin, “Just your common Inkling, according to reports. No special powers or anything.”

“So these ones won’t hurt anyone.” Blackwell deduced.

“Not even if they wanted to, as I’m led to believe,” Eddie said, “That’s what makes this paranoia so ridiculous.”

“Well, there are the ones with super powers,” Blackwell commented, “We’re going to have to keep an eye out for those. We’re trying to keep a lookout for anyone acting strange, talking to themselves like Quincey sometimes does.”

Eddie sighed and looked out over the bottom level turned tram platform. “I guess that’s all we can do then.” He said. The people down there, he recognized some of them. The ones he knew were people who had a good reason to be in Locksmouth over the summer. They were family people, kids and adults, people who were likely on vacation. One Eddie recognized as Velvet Furn, a scientist, who had been trapped there once everything shut down. There were many scientists there, in fact. Locksmouth had the better labs for it; any would-be science-makers that lived in Harbington saw taking the commute every day as the most beneficial to their profession.

“The perimeter is set?” Eddie asked.

Blackwell nodded, though seemed uncertain. “As set up as we can get it,” She reported, “Those… things out there keep barreling against the barrier. I think they’ve caught on to what we’re doing.”

“It’ll hold, right?” Eddie looked hopeful.

“Unless they hit it phenomenally hard,” Blackwell answered, “It’ll hold.”

Small mercy; Eddie sighed softly. “Good. Now if I could find my damn son…” He shook his head. After the last time Daxton disappeared, Eddie had a hard time believing that his boy would be so stupid as to get caught in the chaos going around outside. He turned his attention back to Blackwell and collected his thoughts. “Alright, let’s keep gathering up the supplies. The people here still need those cots.”

Blackwell saluted. “We’re pulling them from the stores as quickly as we can, they’ll be down here within the hour. I’ll see to it then.” She turned and ascended the escalator to get back to the work at hand. Officers were still gathering donated supplies and distributing them to the people. They’d been at it for hours and it was only then looking like they might have things settled by nightfall.

-

--

-

Kenny and Laila sat together at a table in one of their favoured hang-outs on the summer level, a place called “Balls in Your Court.” Oftentimes when they went there together it was to watch sports on the jumbo television screens and indulge themselves in overly sweet, decadent snacks and drinks. Surprisingly the place was still open. Wait staff, in their skimpy cheer-leader uniforms and jerseys, still tended to their sections and served anyone who sat down; and the cooks in the back must have still been hard at work. It must have been a surge of pure capitalist interest, where it was obvious that customer traffic wasn’t going to be higher than when everyone was being crammed into one place.

That being said, it was hard to keep up. Laila can Kenny sat at a simple two-seat table, where the chairs were massive cushions shaped like colourful netballs and kickballs. Kenny had asked for a strawberry milkshake at least half an hour before, and the ursine staffer they had tending to them hadn’t been seen since. It wasn’t hard to figure out why, as the place was electric with how much activity was going on. Balls in Your Court drew fair crowds, but nothing as jam-packed as what they were sitting in. There wasn’t a seat left in the house. Some of the wait staff were working double-duty.

Strangely, despite all the commotion, despite the chaos happening outside the mall, the scattered wall-mounted and hanging televisions were still following the most recent Tackletoss game going on at that very moment in Midbourn. The disconnect was alien. Way out there, the people in that stadium probably had no idea what was going on in Harbington. They went about their business as normal and the players played their game like nothing was the matter. It didn’t feel right. It was like the bar, with its colourful sports-print carpet, court lighting, and colourful back glow should have been acting as normal, and that all the cowering citizens of Harbington were rudely imposing on this status quo.

Laila sighed. She let her weight sink into the tall cushion she sat on, arching her posture and pushing her butt out over the edge of the seat. She squished her cheek as she rested it in her hand, trying her PET one more time with the other. She thumbed the screen and rung up Quincey, but after a number of rings there was no answer yet again. The worry she felt was starting to annoy her. She wiggled in her seat and cast her eyes out over the bar, observing the people around her. She crossed her legs as her agitation started to feel awkward in the pit of her stomach.

“Alright, you stop trying,” Kenny said, pushing Laila’s PET and hand down to the table flat, “I’ll call them.” He sounded nervous. He’d been breathing a little hard for a while, Laila noticed it. He was getting freaked out because Daxton and Quincey weren’t answering their calls, probably assuming the worst had happened to them. The little lemming moved with a sort of desperation when he took out his PET and dialed. He was trying to hide it, but it was obvious.

“Right, right,” Laila agreed, “Sure thing.” She didn’t even look at him, instead watching as a slender penguin waitress passed by. She reached out and goosed the girl’s rear before she could get out of arm’s reach, startling her.

“Oh! Laila!” The girl turned to regard the giraffe. She was one of the waitresses who was dressed up like a cheerleader. Her little skirt very deliberately showed off the bottom quarter of her thong-clad rear, and her tiny tanktop barely covered her breasts. The shameless sex appeal was all done up in team colours that didn’t actually match any official team. She couldn’t get her blonde bangs out of her eyes because she had trays full of food in either hand. She was skilled and balanced enough not to drop them, well-practiced at walking on her wedge heels. “Sorry, I can’t, uh… Well I can’t talk right now. I have tables to do.”

The girl rushed off, and Laila groaned quietly. “Dull as dishwater.” She said, unzipping the front of her work suit to give herself some breathing room and let out some heat. She kept it open to about half way down her chest, making her breasts swell out attractively. It was as much of a lure as it was an act of comfort, and the boy sitting across from her knew it. Kenny swallowed and ignored her.

It was so sudden that the call on Kenny’s PET was answered that the boy didn’t notice it at first. Daxton’s face appeared on his screen, awkwardly compressed by Quincey’s unconscious body. “Hey,” Daxton said, getting Kenny’s attention back to the screen, “What’s up?”

Kenny nearly fumbled the device in his excitement. “Daxton! Jeez, man, is that Quinn with you? You guys okay?”

Daxton looked a little hard done by, but he still kind of grinned. “I’m okay, but Quincey’s asleep. I can’t wake her up.”

Laila rose from her seat and rounded the table to crowd in. “Sleepin’? What do ya mean ya’ll can’t wake her? Is she hurt?”

Daxton shrugged his shoulder. “I don’t think she’s hurt, she seems fine. Still breathing. She’s just… asleep.”

“Yeah well she picked a shit time to have a nap,” Kenny groused, “Where are you?”

“Detective Whatshername picked us up,” Daxton explained, sitting back and showing Kenny the rest of the car. The boy had to push the camera out far past Quincey to show his packmates both Harley and Marcello. Harley had woken up, and her icy blue eyes gazed up at the screen curiously past her black bangs. Marcello didn’t take her eyes off where she was going, and didn’t acknowledge that she was on camera at all. “We got Harley, we’re headed to the mall. Where are you guys?”

“At the mall!” Kenny exasperated, “Hurry it up, it’s crazy out there!”

“We’re going as fast as we can,” Marcello cut in, “It’s just a little hard…!”

The entire image swayed as Marcello veered the vehicle suddenly, making everyone in the car rock and lurch. Something thumped against the outside of the vehicle, hard. “… When you’ve got to navigate a bunch of third-rate fantasy monsters flying through the sky!” She finished, gritting her teeth.

Daxton returned his PET so that they were looking at his face again. “You two sit tight, we’re on our way.” He paused after that, and his ears pricked up in sudden epiphany. “Oh! Hey, actually, find a marker or something and write something on a mirror.”

Kenny’s brows knit. “What?”

“Just find something to write on a mirror with, it doesn’t matter what,” Daxton explained, “Then when you do, tell Natalie what you wrote. She can use it to get over there.”

“Really now?” Laila said in interest, “Well ain’t that somethin’?”

“She’s gonna come help?” Kenny asked.

“Yeah,” Daxton answered, “The quicker you do it, the better.”

“Excuse me.”

Kenny and Laila looked up to see their waiter having returned. The bear boy looked like a darling little teddy bear, all brown fur and round little ears. His dark hair was short and spiked up on his head and his hazel eyes were small. He wore a white, blue, and yellow jersey that hung loose on his frame and had short sleeves. It had the number zero printed on it, and the name “BECKETT” on the back. It only came down to about his hips, and from there he wore tight, clingy athletic bloomers that hugged every little contour of his crotch and seemed shorter at the legs so a little curve of his bottom could show in the back. From there it was bare to his feet, where he wore high-standing wedges that, while looking like cleats, were clearly not made for physical activity or sport. He had a tray balanced on his hand that had one tall glass on it that was bubbled over by pink, tasty milkshake and had a big straw sticking out of it.

The boy set it on the table in front of Kenny, and Daxton kind of laughed. “Must be nice to be safe enough to get a milkshake, you dork.” He grinned at Kenny.

Kenny just scoffed.

“Howdy stud,” Laila purred, hooking her finger into the front of the waiter’s bloomers and giving them a firm, insistent tug to draw him closer. He stepped in with a surprised gasp. Laila kept his attention by sitting up straighter and sticking her chest out. The reaction she got was clear from his blushing cheeks to the way he held his round serving tray in front of him to protect his modesty. “Ya’ll wouldn’t happen to have a marker or somethin’ on ya, would ya?”

“A m-m-marker?” The bear excitedly stuttered, “Um, well, no. B-But I could ask for one!”

Laila let her lips part into a toothy smile that promised things. “That’d be… swell,” She mused, glancing down at the tray briefly before returning to his face, “I’d be ever so grateful for ya’ll’s assistance.”

The waiter bit his lip. “Nnh… O-Okay, okay, I’ll be back!” He turned and stepped away, navigating past other tables and servers to get in behind the bar and start looking. Laila chuckled at his enthusiasm.

Kenny gave her a flat look. “You’re despicable.” He said, sticking out his tongue at her.

“Ya don’t ever get a crop without waterin’ the field,” Laila reasoned, “And I reckon he’s plenty wet now. Daxton, we’ll have Natalie over here lickety-split.”

“Good!” Daxton smiled, “Good. She’ll be a big help. Just make sure you’re not too mean to that guy.”

“Oh I reckon I’ll be very nice to him,” Laila grinned devilishly, “Soon as I can get a moment.”

Daxton sighed, “Lucky guy. Well, see you guys soon. I shouldn’t be long now.”

Daxton hung up and Kenny set down his PET. He pulled his newly delivered glass closer to him and wrapped his lips around the straw, slurping the tasty strawberry ice cream drink as he stared knowingly at Laila. Laila stood tall and proud, grinning like a Cheshire cat back at Kenny. She then turned and watched the waiter dig around behind the bar before clearly retrieving a black marker and holding it up in his hand. Laila nodded at the boy, and so he came hurrying back over.

“Here,” he said, handing the small, black-capped marker to Laila. The girl took it, uncapped it, and then cupped the boy’s muzzle in one hand to turn his head. She wrote something on his cheek in the marker, grinning all the while. The boy barely fussed, if at all. “W-What are you doing?”

Laila finished up and capped the marker again, handing it off to Kenny. “I just wrote my comm number, that’s all… Why don’t we head on over to the bathroom so you can see it in the mirror?” She leaned down close to the boy, very aware that her posture made her cleavage hang almost eye-level with the boy’s face. “I’m awful good at writin’ backwards.”

The waiter was stunned. He opened his mouth but words didn’t immediately come out. “B-But I have…!” He paused as Laila’s hand crept up under his jersey and stroked his bare abdomen. The act had his face beet red. “There’re other tables I have to get to!” He protested.

Laila pressed in close and gently brushed her nose against one of his little ears. “I don’t recall carin’…” She cooed quietly.

The boy’s moment of inaction was enough. Laila slipped her hand out from under his jersey and gently took his hand instead. She led him, and he followed an eager steps. She made a beeline straight for the bathroom, and Kenny watched them go in a bit of a fluster himself. He huffed out of his nose in some kind of sigh, his lips never leaving his straw. He counted up to thirty seconds in his head before he took the marker, his sword, and his milkshake and rose to head to the bathrooms as well. An “out of order” sign had been posted on one of the doors, its presence there causing Kenny to roll his eyes and enter the neighbouring door instead. He did his best to ignore the muffled sounds of exited moans coming through the wall as he approached the mirror behind the sinks.

Uncapping the marker, he dropped the lid to the countertop and, while still sucking down his milkshake, he wrote on the mirror.

“Get your butt in here.”

Figuring that ought to be enough to get her attention, he hopped up onto the laminate countertop and waited, setting his drink down next to him as he kicked his feet. Casually, he withdrew his PET again and thumbed through his contacts until he found Natalie’s number. He called and waited for her to pick up.

-

--

-

Echelon emerged from the mirror in an unfamiliar place. She got her foot caught in one of the sinks and collapsed forward immediately, landing bottom-up and face-down on the floor in a heap. She gathered herself as Kenny laughed at her from behind, and he watched her compose herself and de-ink until Natalie stood before him. The black-furred wolf wore a woefully inadequate pair of city camo shorts that appeared to come with buckles for suspenders that she had simply removed, as well as clasps at her hips and a zipper that ran entirely from front to back. Her top half was covered in a clingy, dark red, shoulder-sleeved shirt that had “URBAN WARRIOR” written on it in splatter lettering. Her hair was done up in tight dreads again and she was clopping around in big black boots like she’d come ready to kick butt.

“I can’t believe that’s what you wrote.” She said, fixing the tight bundle of corded hair that made a pony tail at the back. “Where’s everyone else? Last time I talked to any of you, Daxton and Quincey were getting some girl out of her house.”

“They’re on the way, and Laila…” Kenny paused and lifted his ears, prompting Natalie to do so as well. They could hear the giraffe’s pleasured gasps and moans muffled from the wall behind Kenny’s back. “Well, that.”

“Ah.” Natalie grinned.

Kenny pushed off the counter and stood before Natalie. He was shorter than she was by a head, but didn’t act as meek as his size might have suggested. There he was in some surprisingly cute, cropped white shirt that showed off a lot of his middle, and a familiar pair of pants that were black and red to match his shoes. The sword was the distracting part. He wore it strapped across his torso, the handle of the gladius sticking up over his left shoulder pretty clearly. He stared Natalie right in the eye, slowly wrapping his lips around the straw of his milkshake and sucking out the last of it with an obnoxious slurp.

“I guess before we go on, I ought to tell you something,” Kenny said, letting his straw slip from his mouth and fling a little spittle Nat’s way, “It’s important.”

Natalie didn’t want to make assumptions, but Kenny did make her a little nervous at times. She knew things about him that most people didn’t know. Still, she regarded him with a cool attitude. “What’s that?” She inquired.

“You remember Polaris?” Kenny asked. Natalie nodded. Kenny went on, “Well I’m his host now.”

That caught Natalie by surprise. “What?!” She shouted, prompting Kenny to shush her.

“Hey, keep your voice down!” He said, “Nobody else knows!”

Natalie shut up, but she watched Kenny carefully. He seemed normal enough, and that he was willingly sharing this information meant that he wasn’t going to try and surprise her and stab her in the back… literally. So she gave him the benefit of the doubt, crossing her arms sternly as if to expect an explanation. “Dr. Belfourd dumped him on you, huh?”

“Yeah.” Kenny nodded, “It’s thanks to him that I’m here, I think.” The boy rubbed his arm somewhat, uncomfortable with the idea himself. “He’s… I dunno. He says he feels bad about what he did, but that sounds lame. He says Echelon’s future for Inklings is better than Vor’s was.”

“Yeah, considering Vor didn’t have one!” Natalie interjected, “So, what, he’s switching sides because it’s convenient?”

“Well… yeah,” Kenny shrugged his shoulders, “I guess.”

“… I don’t know how to feel about this.” Natalie closed her eyes and shook her head slowly, “I just don’t know.”

“You and me both,” Kenny gave her an annoyed glare, taking her tone as an implication that he wasn’t as surprised as she was. “Anyway, he used a lot of… prana? Is that what it’s called? He got me out of my apartment and helped me get here.”

“Resting then, huh? Well… I’ll see him eventually, I guess.” Natalie dropped the subject, instead switching gears to the matter at hand. “Alright, so what are we doing here?”

Kenny broke it down for her, telling her how the police planned to round everybody up and keep the inked people underground. He didn’t know any of the exact numbers, but he knew not everyone had arrived just then. There were still people outside of the mall who needed to be found, Daxton and Quincey included. What he did know was that the monsters outside were getting more aggressive. Once they had started pounding on the barrier that surrounded the mall, the news spread like wildfire until everyone knew it. Those things wanted to get in, but up to that point they hadn’t made any headway there.

It was an easy enough situation to understand, but going forward would require more information than Kenny could provide off the cuff.

“And what about you? Shouldn’t you have brought more people?” Kenny questioned Nat as he leaned back against the counter.

She could only agree. “I should have,” She said, “But I left Jacent in charge of locking things down back home. So he, Carrie, Max, Erwin, and Sam are all busy doing that. I wanted to see how things were here before I pulled everyone out to come help.”

Kenny nodded, but he scowled. It sounded to him like Natalie’s priorities were simply less focused on Harbington’s safety than Locksmouth’s. Nepotism at its finest. “What about Shelly? Doesn’t she have an Inkling?”

“Shelly’s, uh… well she does, yeah.” Natalie avoided making eye contact as she thought of a gentle way to describe Shelly’s capabilities when it came to combat or search-and-destroy missions involving weird prana crystals. More specifically, the lack thereof. “Well, I just don’t think she’d… thrive. She’s Team Reference, all the way.”

Kenny paused, blinking his eyes, as if the idea should have come to him sooner. “R… Right. Yeah that was a stupid suggestion…” He grumbled, blushing a bit, “Well, uh, then it’s just me and you I guess.”

Natalie paced in the bathroom a bit. She walked back and forth along the stalls, idly checking to see if any were closed. “That’s right, it’s only us…” She stopped and turned to Kenny, looking down at him seriously. “Would you help me take out some of these crystals if the opportunity came up?” She asked.

“People don’t know I have an Inkling,” Kenny rebutted, “I’m not sure if I want anyone finding out.”

Natalie stopped to put her hands on her hips. “Kenny,” She started, trying not to scold the boy, “If it’s just me and you and people need to be helped, then nobody else is going to help us. Are you sure you can’t use your powers to protect everyone?”

Kenny seemed to reconsider. He breathed in and out slowly, exhaling in a sigh. He looked down at the sterile tile flooring. He muttered a simple, “… Yeah, I guess.”

“Good,” Natalie smiled, resting her hand gently on the boy’s bare shoulder, “Echelon may be freaking awesome, but I don’t think she can take on Epheral’s armies all by herself. I’m going to need the help, at least until I can get everyone else over here too.”

A smile spread over her lips. “Even Shelly.” She added.

Kenny’s ears twitched and he looked up at her in a hurry. He seemed surprised, but his expression changed into embarrassed anger as he blushed and gave her a glare. “I said yes already, whatever!” He groused, yanking his shoulder away from Natalie’s grasp. He pushed past her and marched toward the door, grumbling to himself about how much of an idiot Natalie was.

Nat couldn’t hold back her giggles as she followed him out.

Of course, Natalie couldn’t go anywhere these days without drawing a lot of attention. She had been getting used to it in Locksmouth, but Harbington was full of unfamiliar faces. She stepped out of the bathroom with Kenny and made her way across the bar as quickly as she could, but she didn’t get far without being noticed. Eventually someone turned around and saw her and got their friend’s attention and THEY turned around and saw her, and it resumed in such a manner until nearly everyone was staring at her. Natalie fidgeted uncomfortably, smoothing wrinkles out of her shirt and playing with her hair, worried about her appearance of all things.

“It’s that girl,” They would say, “Echelon.”

It seemed more people knew Echelon’s name than Natalie’s. That wasn’t a terrible thing in Natalie’s eyes; her identity was meant to be secret at one point, after all. It was simply another thing she had gotten used to, where people would look at her and call her by a name that wasn’t hers. She was getting good at making the connection that she was Echelon and Echelon was her. Inklings worked that way, it just took some adjusting to get a human to work that way as well.

Of course her presence brought out the curiosity in Harbington’s citizens, and when she left the sports bar, people followed. Kenny led the way with Natalie only steps behind, and behind her she was amassing a crowd. Her tail drooped and she pulled her shirt down at the back nervously, once again more concerned about trivial things than the situation itself. She just didn’t want people staring at her rear, not that she could do anything to stop them.

Kenny took Natalie to the lower level access that the police had closed off from the general public. The men and women in blue recognized Natalie as readily as anyone, and it didn’t take long for someone to approach. It was Officer Blackwell again, tireless in her organization efforts to supply the Harbington citizens with what they needed. The other officers let her take the helm without much of a fuss, making no effort to intercept her assumed authority. The older woman was maybe a bit taller than Natalie, but only just. She was stocky and robust, but it was her yellow eyes that assured Natalie that this woman was taking charge.

“You’re Natalie Grayswift,” Blackwell said, looking as confused as she ought to have been, “How did you get in here? This place is completely sealed off.”

“I got in through a mirror,” Natalie explained, “It’s one of Echelon’s powers.”

“Traveling through mirrors?” Blackwell squinted at the girl, but then just closed her eyes and shook her head, washing her hands of the logistics she couldn’t wrap her head around. “Well, past that, what are you doing here?”

Natalie chanced a brief look back at the people who followed her there. “I’m here to help!” She announced, looking quickly to Blackwell again and trying to make herself as confident-looking as possible. “Where evil goes, so do I! Harbington is in danger, and I can’t sit idly by while these monsters wreck up the place!”

She had been trying to channel as much of Jacent as she could in her declaration, but the silence she was met with took the wind out of her sails pretty quickly. She relaxed her shoulders and smiled nervously. “That’s… that’s all right, right?”

The Lieutenant stared at her. “Sorry, I just… what’s one girl supposed to do?” She asked.

Natalie tried not to take that as being ungrateful, shaking her head. “Well that depends, I guess! I need to know what’s going on here.”

Blackwell swept her arm out to gesture to the crowds of people. “You’re looking at it,” She said, “Monsters are out there and we’re stuck in here hoping they can’t get in.”

Natalie looked around, taking an estimate. “This isn’t everyone though, is it?”

“We’ve got some inked people downstairs, kept underground as far away from those things as we can get them, since apparently they’re at the most risk,” Blackwell explained, “But there are still some pockets of people missing.”

Natalie grinned. “Then that’s what I can help with!” She declared, “Using Echelon’s powers, I can get to those people and get them back here quickly. I’ve done it before.”

Blackwell and some of the officers in earshot looked surprised. The Lieutenant decided to ask the obvious question. “Really? You can?”

“I can,” Natalie crossed her arms and nodded, “The only thing I need to know is if these people contacted you. If they did, I need to contact them. There are a few steps in this trick that I need their help pulling off.”

Blackwell stepped closer and lowered her voice. “Look, you probably don’t know, but these things are all over us right now,” She said, “They’re swarming the barrier outside, and that leaves me not knowing how I’m going to get people in or out of this place.”

“That’s alright,” Natalie assured her, “I don’t need to use the barrier.”

Blackwell stared cautiously at her. “Well… okay then,” She said, “Let me get you in touch with Officer Vaska. She’s in charge of communications in this funhouse.”

The Lieutenant tilted her head in a firm gesture for Natalie to follow. Before the teenage wolf could start off though, Kenny stepped in and stopped her. “Hey, just… give me a call if you need me,” He said, “I’m going to try to keep this whole Inkling thing on the down-low.”

“Got’chya.” Natalie nodded, and then she slipped away to follow the officer.

Blackwell led Natalie through the service corridors where most regular folk wouldn’t have ventured. The narrow halls were designed to get janitorial staff and others of similar ilk quickly from one place to another in the mall and avoid crowds while they were at it. They had their own service elevator, and somewhere in that collection of hallways there had to be some receiving areas for various stores to get their goods in from. Among the various closets and storage rooms, there was a security room. This room monitored all of the security feeds for each store in the mall. Every store had one, from the restaurants to the clothing outlets, ensuring that nobody got up to no good. Being the desk jockey in that position had long been considered easy, but the present circumstance had people a little on edge and prone to doing rash things.

In that room, the police had set up a station for receiving calls from the outside. A female minnow officer, presumably Vaska, had taken over for the regular security personnel and was watching the cameras. The silvery fish woman was attentively watching the monitors on a console that splayed along the wall with other equipment that Natalie didn’t recognize. She was in the middle of a call that sounded like she was giving someone instructions on where to go, using the images on the monitors as points of reference.

“Vaska,” Blackwell announced herself, “Do you have a minute?”

Vaska simply raised a finger. “Alright, the water’s in aisle seven. Take a dolly, Deputy wants at least twenty gallons on hand to ration out… Yes, that’s fine. Over and out.”

Vaska ended the call and turned to face Blackwell and Natalie, her violet eyes immediately taking notice of the teenage girl. She had long blonde bangs in the front that reached down to her chest and curled in, the tips dyed pink to about a few inches up. “Lieutenant Blackwell, how can I help you?” She addressed Blackwell professionally and calmly.

“This is Natalie,” Blackwell gestured to the teen at her side, “She’s come from Locksmouth to help search for and return civilians to the safety of the mall.”

Returning her attention to Natalie again, the officer nodded firmly. “I recognize her from the news. It’s nice to meet you, Natalie.” She held out her hand politely, and Natalie shook it. “So I assume, then, that if you want to help you’ll want to know just where people are calling from.”

“That’s the idea. I need to talk to them, too.” Natalie said.

Vaska turned to take her PET of the desk and use it to bring up a three-dimensional map of Harbington. A number of places were lit up by little red beacons. Natalie studied the map, having a fair understanding of just where those places may be. For all Harbington’s differences, it was still laid out similarly to Locksmouth. The only exception was the Agricultural sector, though that one was thankfully empty.

The beacons lit up a few obvious places. One was the Climate Control Center, located right smack in the middle of the dome, just like it was for every other dome city. Another blipped over Harbington High, and there were a couple scattered across the Commercial and Residential areas as well. Harbington had done a good job, it seemed, escorting people to safety. The fact that they had a smaller population than Locksmouth probably helped.

“I can’t lie, Natalie,” Vaska said, “These small pockets of people may be the only ones left. There are some people unaccounted for who no one can locate, and a few others who… didn’t make it.”

Natalie frowned. “I understand.”

“All we know are these groups, and they’ve been trapped out there for varying amounts of time. The earliest call-in was the CCC.” Vaska gestured to the Climate Control Center, “The building went into lockdown the moment the dome’s field was penetrated. The people there have to release the emergency protocols, but there are monsters roaming the halls. They’ve holed up in their offices for now, and I’ve been keeping tabs on them, but I’d say if there were any place to start, that would be it. We have patrols making their way to the Commercial and Residential zones, so if we could perhaps leave you to focus on the CCC and the school…”

“I think that’s as good a plan as any,” Blackwell said, turning her attention to Natalie, “As long as she thinks she can handle it.”

“It should be easy enough,” Natalie reasoned, “Can you call the CCC again?”

“Absolutely.”

Vaska did away with the map and instead called up her contact at the CCC. It barely rung once before someone answered – an old lemming male with dark brown fur and a blonde, bushy mustache and eyebrows.

“Officer Vaska, where’s our rescue?” The man bluntly asked. Vaska didn’t even flinch.

“She’s right here,” The officer said, turning the call’s focus to Natalie. The man blinked his blue little eyes at her, not understanding at first what a mere girl could do to help him. After a few more moments of study however, he seemed to come to a realization. “You’re that Inkling girl,” He said, “I know you. You helped my boy.”

Natalie blinked. “I did? Wait… You must be Kenny’s dad!”

“I haven’t heard from him. Is he safe?” The man asked.

“He’s here, yeah,” Natalie answered, “He’s alright.”

The man sighed and rubbed his head, tangling his fingers into his bushy fur up top. “Good,” He said, “Well then… what can you do for me?”

“I need you to find a mirror and write something on it… like Harbington CCC or something,” Natalie instructed, “If you do that, I can come over using Echelon’s powers and get people out. How many of you are there?”

“Just the skeleton crew,” Kenny’s father said, “Seven of us, including me. The doors are locked shut, and the last one to try to get out there and unlock the main doors… I don’t know if he got there.”

Natalie crossed her arms. “Okay. Well, if you do what I want you to do, I can get you guys out of there.”

“Worth a try,” The man grumbled, “Alright, give us a few minutes. We’ll contact you when we’ve got things set up.”

With the plan set, it was all a matter of time from there. After a few minutes, Kenny’s father called back and confirmed that they’d written something on the bathroom mirror in the breakroom. Not everyone in the Climate Control Center was all in one place, and Natalie was informed that her contact would be a couple of workers who had been on lunch when everything started. The remaining workers had been trapped in their offices or workspaces, with Kenny’s father himself being stuck in the array room where he had been working maintenance.

Natalie excused herself to take her time to set up, leaving the security room to return to the main floor of the mall. She called Kenny and asked for his help, the two of them agreeing to meet at the top floor in one of the washrooms. With fewer people upstairs, Kenny was safe to operate with her and not be discovered as an Inkling host. The police played their part in keeping people from interfering with Natalie’s work, and there were many suspicious and excited folks who tried.

They arrived at the first washroom they could find and entered inside to find it empty. The top floor was almost completely empty, having made the trip eerily quiet and distanced from the commotion on the lower floors. Kenny followed Natalie with the hood on his jacket pulled up around his head like a cowl to hide his face. Natalie wasn’t sure how effective it was at hiding Kenny’s identity, but she didn’t question it openly. She had her doubts about secret identities since hers had been foiled in a matter of days after she started working with Echelon.

Entering the bathroom, the pale tan tiles of the floor were polished so shiny that they could see their reflections in them. It smelled clean, and the stalls were all open and empty. Lining the wall across from there were the sinks, four of them in all, pristine as ever. A wall-spanning mirror showed them their own faces as they peered into it. Natalie was serious, and Kenny looked stressed. Natalie blinked at his reflection and cocked a brow. “You sure you’re alright with this? I can try by myself if you’re worried or something.”

“You said you talked to my dad, I want to make sure he gets back alright,” Kenny said, “I’m fine!”

Natalie turned back to the mirror and closed her eyes. From within her, inky black ribbons shot out and wrapped around her body to form the skin-tight coating of Echelon. It happened in seconds, and when Echelon was fully situated she opened her solid pink eyes and turned them on Kenny. “If you could just ink, we can get started.”

Somehow it still put Kenny off to see someone else turn into their Inkling form… or however one might describe that process. “Uh…” Kenny looked at his hands, wiggling his fingers, confused. “How do you do that?”

Polaris’ red ink pooled in Kenny’s palms and started to spread out over his hands. “Oop, there it goes,” Kenny said, watching as that inky membrane surrounded him, making his clothes disappear under it and leave behind only a skin-tight suit and the sword strapped to his back. That was the only way he could think of to describe what an Inkling was: some kind of living, alien suit that put itself on over a human host. It was a longer process than Echelon’s transformation, but after a long enough time Polaris’ ink covered Kenny from head to toe. Interestingly enough, the shape of Kenny’s hood remained, making Polaris appear as though he were wearing a cowl, with his solid blue eyes peering out from within and his little ears making distinct bumps in the top.

Polaris yawned, his eyes squeezing shut as he covered his mouth and stretched. “Uwaaah~ Mmh. Well, if it isn’t our Lord and Savior, Echelon.” The Inkling snarked, relaxing his posture as he peered up at the girl. “I was wondering when I would run into you.”

Polaris spoke as himself, which assured Natalie that his bonding with Kenny wasn’t “complete,” in a manner of speaking. When Echelon was in control, she didn’t fully take over Natalie’s body. The two of them worked in tandem, and when Echelon spoke, it was with as much Natalie’s voice as it was with her own. Inklings did that, over time. Polaris had been bonded with Kenny for weeks, but Echelon easily came to the conclusion that the two of them hadn’t really interacted.

But that did present a unique opportunity that Echelon wasn’t going to let pass.

“Polaris, tell me what you intend to do,” Echelon said, “Do you really intend to fight for human-kind?”

Polaris threw up his hands in a shrug. “What sort of hero would I be if I didn’t?” He asked, “If what you want is for me to denounce Vor’s actions, I will do just that.”

He got in close and lowered his voice and said, “Vor was a doofus. An idiot. A clown.”

“If you need more words to settle your nerves, I will point out that Haze, for all his goofiness and annoying giggles, was my friend and comrade. I can promise you that I’m not in the habit of supporting evil despots who murder my friends.” Polaris crossed his arms sternly, frowning in displeasure. “Do you need anything more than that?”

While Polaris’ tone sought to wound Echelon’s feelings, she steeled herself from such things and continued a rational train of thought. “Kenny mentioned that you were more along my line of thinking,” She said, “To support a relationship between Earth and our people.”

Polaris was silent for a moment, seemingly collecting his thoughts on the matter. “If it so happens that Earth is the final destination for us, and that the humans are indeed the host species that will see us settle back into a stable, working existence, I see no reason not to support it.” The red Inkling returned, well-spoken and clear. “I’m not evil, Echelon. Cynical, perhaps, but not evil. I’m willing to work alongside your… vision, I suppose it is, for the moment; I’m just not fully convinced that we’ve finally found our Utopia. Yours wouldn’t be the first promise I’ve fallen for.”

“Ahhh… I understand.” Echelon nodded her head to him, “Well then, nothing’s going to prove anything better than us getting to work right now!” She held out her hand to him, waiting expectantly. “Take my hand, we’ll take a trip through Canvas.”

Polaris raised a hand to his cheek, turning away from the offered hand. “Oh Echelon, this is moving so quickly!” He gasped overdramatically, “I’m not sure I’m ready to take…”

“Stop being an idiot!” Kenny yelled at him… which was really just him yelling at himself.

“Grumpy! Sheesh!” Polaris bemoaned, reaching out and taking Echelon’s hand, who giggled at him.

Turning toward the mirror, Echelon reached across the countertop to place a finger on the reflective surface. It rippled like pond water, just before it sucked the two of them in all at once. They whipped between dimensions, their bodies being pushed flat before they emerged on the other side. They stepped out into an endless corridor of mirrors of all shapes and sizes, all mounted on stone walls. Red carpet was rolled out under their feet and overhead chandelier lighting made the place look like a gallery. Through the mirrors, different places were revealed. From where they had just emerged, the bathroom they were just in was on display. Other mirrors showed other bathrooms, as well as bedrooms and hallways, anywhere someone may have a mirror in place. Some were even incredibly tiny, like desk mirrors or compacts.

Polaris looked all around, trying not to look too awed. “Canvas,” He said, “It’s been a long time since I’ve been back here. What exactly is this hall of voyeuristic delights?”

“This is where we’re going to find our way into the Harbington CCC,” Echelon informed the Inkling, “Also, welcome to Castle Blackwolf. My comrades and I built it ourselves.”

“Ahh, a prana construct,” Polaris rubbed his chin, “How interesting! The decorum is a little… flat, but it’s quite nice.”

Echelon shook her head, not missing his blatant pun. “Well, so long as you behave yourself, you’re welcome here all you like.”

“And if I don’t behave myself?” Polaris teased.

Echelon responded as casually as could be, smiling even. “I’ll lock you up with your old boss.”

“Yuck.” Polaris frowned.

Echelon turned to stare down the corridor, which stretched further than any human could have ever fathomed. The number of mirrors counted into the millions, maybe billions. The hall stretched so far that faded into darkness. Echelon extended her hand and made a silent call. From somewhere unseen in the hall, one mirror detached from the wall. It took several seconds for that mirror to speed down the corridor toward the two Inklings, breakneck in how swift it was, but it stopped on a dime once it reached Echelon’s outstretched fingers.

The mirror was the one they were looking for. In black, permanent marker the words “Harbington CCC” were written backwards across the surface. The scene on the other side was a modest little bathroom, a single-person unit with a sink, a toilet, and a blow dryer for drying off one’s hands. The plain walls and tile floor were so Spartan that it had to have been the break room’s bathroom; just boring enough to equate to a workplace. The mirror rippled at Echelon’s touch, and she was drawn into it after a few moments. She reached back just in time to grab on to Polaris and drag him with her, whether he was ready for it or not.

-

--

-

“Ah crap.”

“What?” Daxton leaned around Quincey when Marcello suddenly stopped the car, “What’s going on?”

He didn’t have to get an answer, he could see that down below monsters were swarming the mall. Their formations and their types were decidedly siege-worthy. Archers lined the back while massive humanoid creatures some nine feet tall or so pried street lights out of the ground and threw them at the strong-force containment that was keeping the mall safe. At the very front, other humanoid shapes smashed a giant prana battering ram against the barrier, and others stood with spears and swords at the ready. At some points the chaos was difficult to make out. The charcoal shapes of the constructs would seemingly writhe together in one big mass, flickering in erratic manners before returning to their monstrous shapes.

“That.” Marcello said.

Harley sat up as tall as she could and peeked over the dash. “Oh no…” She whispered, “That’s a lot of monsters.”

She looked to Daxton. Daxton knew what she was thinking, and even he had to shake his head. “I can’t fight all that, not even with Lumina,” He said, “There’s way too many.”

“Quincey?” Harley placed a hand on Quincey’s leg and shook her. The pig girl just rolled her head and slumped, still asleep. “Why won’t she wake up?”

“… I dunno,” Daxton grit his teeth, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend’s body to keep her secure. “What do we do, lady?”

“My name’s Marcello,” The detective at the helm said, gripping her steering wheel tightly in frustration. “Damnit, this is bad. They’re not going to stop until they punch a hole in that thing. Once they do, everyone inside is sitting ducks.”

She shifted gear and backed her vehicle up. “We need to find somewhere to hunker down for now,” She said, “We can’t risk going over that mess yet.”

“Wait!” Harley exclaimed just as Marcello backed her car up a few feet. The detective slammed on the brakes, jarring everyone inside. “Look!” Harley pointed down below, turning everyone’s attention to a startling development.

Out from the side streets and narrow flight paths, modified trucks came pouring in from all directions. They launched from their hiding places with mounted turrets on the backs of the decidedly smaller trucks, while the full-sized transport vehicles made a beeline straight for the front of the mall. The dark colours of the vehicles and the combat fatigues of the soldiers who manned them were a dead giveaway to their identity. Marcello slammed her hand onto her steering wheel in anger and shock. “Where the hell did they come from?!”

It was Eos, the anti-Inkling renegade group of terrorists who were at one point aligned with an age-old political player that had since been destroyed. Their presence there marked that something had changed after their initial defeat, and that they had the forces left over to interject in the crisis. To their credit, they performed admirably. The drivers of the trucks were reckless, but their refusal to stay in one place made them happy moving targets for the archers. The turrets mounted to the flatbeds of the pick-ups fired into the crowds, shattering constructs two or three at a time to dwindle their numbers. The transports that had made their way to the front parked themselves at the very lip of the containment field, where they opened their doors and unloaded heavily armored foot soldiers into the battlefield. Men and women donned in retrofitted combat armor marched into the chaos with massive flak cannons in tow. They wasted no time firing into the swarms of marauding constructs. The siege became a battleground in mere moments.

“Eos?!” Daxton was no less surprised, “I thought we took care of those guys!”

“Grr! I knew some of them had gotten way after Caduceus Manor, but I didn’t know where!” Marcello practically yelled, causing Harley to press into Daxton out of fright. “Now they show up here?! Now?! Seriously?!”

“We gotta get down there,” Daxton tried to keep things focused, “We can’t let them just…!” He stopped short, not knowing exactly how to accuse Eos of being up to no good, but he was certain their intentions weren’t selfless.

He only needed to see one man down there to know for sure. It was hard to miss Garrison down there, but the massive grizzly bear waded into the battlefield in comparatively lighter armor than the full-suited combatants, yet he still seemed to dwarf them in size. From that far off it was difficult to tell what he was doing, aside from cutting a path straight through the middle of the prana constructs as they swarmed him with swords and spears. They parted like the sea around him, and his soldiers entered a ring formation with him immediately to fire outward and then proceed to spread out.

Marcello fumbled for her PET and quickly called in. “Terry, pick up your damn phone!”

As if to answer that, Lieutenant Terry Blackwell did just that. “Marcello, report.”

“Terry those Eos guys are back and they’re ripping into the monsters outside,” Marcello said, “I have a bird’s-eye view of them. I’m coming in from up high, give me the access code to pass the barrier.”

Blackwell’s eyes went wide. “What?! They’re here?! That’s just great.” She cursed, “Alright, let me get you the code.”

Blackwell quickly had an officer relay a series of numbers to her, and Marcello all but punched a police console on her dashboard to bring up the number pad and type them in. After a moment to authenticate the code, a prompt on the screen informed the detective that she was cleared to pass the perimeter. She floored it, as fast as her car could go. While she did, Daxton maneuvered out from under Quincey and prepared to open the passenger-side door.

“Daxton! Unh…” Harley was given responsibility of Quincey, who crushed the little shrew under her vastly superior girth. Harley grunted, “Where are you going…?”

“I’ve got to find out what those jerks are doing,” Daxton said as he threw open the door. In a rather familiar scene, he readied himself to leap out, one foot right on the edge to propel him and his hands placed to keep him from falling out early. He inked over again, Lumina’s bright white, glowing membrane taking over his visage and leaving him as a decidedly female Inkling.

“I don’t even know what to think anymore,” Marcello groused, “You sure you’ll be alright?”

“Well, he sure seems to think so,” Lumina confessed, shrugging a shoulder, “I’m rather compelled to believe him, though I don’t know why. I think he’s insane.”

“Oh, here’s a good spot.”

Lumina thrust herself out of the vehicle, making the entire thing bob in the air as her weight left it. The force with which she hurtled out of the car had her speeding through the air until she made contact with one of the massive, brutish giants that had been throwing pieces of the street at the mall. “Hyah!” She cried, her fist smashing into the monster’s tusked cheek, the attack erupting into a dazzling display of sparkles and glitter that rained down over the giant’s muscular frame. It groaned and lumbered, lurching aside and falling to a knee. Dazed by the attack it drunkenly swatted at her as if she were a fly. Lumina fired a light beam from her palm into that of the monster’s, applying pressure to keep it from grabbing her momentarily; just long enough that she could get her footing and pull herself to scramble onto the monster’s head.

She shot more beams at the monster’s hands when it tried to reach for her, swatting them away with powerful rays of light. Once she’d cleared the air of swinging hands, she stomped her foot down on the thing’s head to jerk its neck back, making it stare straight up at the sky. There, she stood, holding both of her hands down to fire highly concentrated, perpetual beams of searing light straight into the construct’s eyes. Had the thing actually needed its eyes, the attack would have been blinding. Instead, the burning rays scorched through the monster’s cranium, bursting it open from the inside and sending similar explosions of glassy prana out as it shot through its body. Lumina needed to only burrow half way through the beast before it couldn’t maintain its form. It shattered, starting at its legs and suffering on its way up.

The giant collapsed into the battle below, falling forward where Lumina leapt off and landed in the fray. She stood and brushed herself off as an Eos truck spotted her and slammed on the brakes to stop some eight feet from her. The driver, the passenger, and the gunman in the back all gawked at her and made checks to clarify that they were, in fact, seeing her standing there.

“We got an elite Inkling on the field!” One of them screamed, “We got an Inkling!!”

The gunman swung the mounted turret to take aim at Lumina. The building hum of its charging was a sound Daxton thought that if he’d heard ever again, it would be too soon. Lumina darted aside before the gun could fire, so when it did the only thing the strong-force barrage found were chunks of midway asphalt. Lumina threw herself into oncoming prana spearmen, grabbing hold of one such spear as it lunged toward her. She pulled her attacker toward her, released their weapon and spun around them to smash into the one behind them, her mighty fist creating a flash of light as prismatic rainbows followed her movements. Her first attacker was shattered instantly by a follow-up shot from the Eos truck, so she waved her way into the battle, always going forward and not taking even a moment to look back.

“Toh!” Lumina punctuated her twirling dance into the fray with rays of light fired from her hands, punching holes into the beasts who attempted to get the jump on her. “This is more front-line work than I’m used to, you know.”

An out of position construct archer has been running to find somewhere to go, but it crossed Lumina’s path and stopped abruptly to cock back an arrow and fire it. The arrow struck Lumina’s side, smashing into the Inkling and seeming to disintegrate upon contact. The prana arrow struck her in ways she couldn’t explain, dealing a swift blow to her very membrane and leaving her shaken. She stumbled and fell to one knee, but quickly assessed the position of her attacker and returned-fire with a several rays of light fired in rapid succession. They struck the archer center mass, one, two, three. The final shot punched a hole into its humanoid chest and threw it to the ground.

“We’ve gotta get to Garrison,” Daxton told his Inkling, “That guy is bad news, believe me. He’s cocky as hell though, so he’ll spill the beans on whatever the heck he’s doing.”

“What then?” Lumina asked.

“We beat him up.” Daxton said simply, “After everything he did to Quincey, I’m not letting him anywhere near her if I can help it.”

“This is reckless.” Lumina stood, holding her side. Just as a sword-wielding prana-soldier came her way, she dodged a stab to grab the thing, pull it close, and use it as a shield as an Eos soldier tried to gun her down. The shots from the APSR-20 rifle smashed into the construct she used as a shield, and after four or five blows, the thing shattered. She fled from any further shots, presumably as the rifle was ventilating heat and unable to fire again.

“He can’t do anything to us,” Daxton said, “We’re stronger than he is.”

“Well, we’re about to find out if you’re right.”

Lumina broke through the line, entering Garrison’s growing circle that the man had cut out through his enemies. Shards of solid prana crunched under Lumina’s feet as she stepped up, appearing from the charcoal mess like a beacon in a storm. It was impossible to miss her, and Garrison turned his attention on her quick. The man was as imposing as ever; a couple of inches short of being seven feet tall, every inch of that padded with girth that made him bigger than even some of the largest humans by a wide margin. His arms were perhaps the scariest part of him. The clothing he wore, his dark combat fatigues and heavy, protective vest, they covered almost everything but his arms. For being a fat man, his arms were ripped with muscle. They were tools of destruction, those arms. Something about them just screamed “rip and tear.” His rifle almost looked small in his hands.

A rifle that he aimed at Lumina and fired without so much as a second to line up the shot. The invisible volley of force that left the barrel of that specially-designed weapon slammed into Lumina’s chest. It rippled her skin, spreading sharp agony through her as she was taken off her feet and thrown to the ground. It seemed that parlay wasn’t on the man’s mind. Lumina rolled away from continuing shots and scrambled to her feet. Putting everything she could into a sprint, she ducked and waved, zigged and zagged, closing the gap between them as quickly as she could.

“Garrison!” She shouted at him. Her knowing his name seemed to put him off for enough time to get her close. She smacked his gun aside and leapt up to punch him once across his jaw, jerking his head aside with the impact. Then she planted her hands on his broad chest, pumping out a rush of light energy that slammed him away, throwing him to the ground. He landed like a falling tree, coughing for air.

The battle suit soldiers that flanked him took notice of this and turned their sights on the Inkling. They fired super-heated gas her way, something she had to avoid even if it meant sacrificing any strategic positioning. She ran away from the fight, pitting herself against the swarms of prana constructs around them once again. She barely had time to bat them away before stumbling back into the circle. The whole situation was strangely reminiscent of Daxton’s first attempt at fighting the man.

Lumina wasn’t going to allow it to end up the same way. Squeezing her yellow eyes shut, she flashed. Like a bomb, she went off and generated a blinding flash of light that, while not working on the constructs, it blinded the Eos soldiers and kept them from acting. They shook their heads in their metal helmets, unable to rub their eyes through their full glass visors. Garrison was left on the ground trying to soothe his burning retinas, only to be grabbed by Lumina and pulled off the ground in an impressive display of strength. She hoisted the couple-hundred-pound man so she could yell at him in the face, while holding him as a human shield between her and his fellows.

“Why are you here?!” She demanded.

“Cleaning up your mess, bitch!” Garrison shouted back, immediately attempting to push her away and free himself. She held firm to his combat vest and shook him around, his disoriented state being enough to dissuade his attempts at freedom.

“My mess?!” Lumina shouted him down, “This is not my mess!”

“You brought this garbage here and it’s high time we stop you!” Garrison lowered his arm from his eyes, which had been reddened, but he glared at Lumina all the same. Even her residual glow hurt, but he didn’t shy away from his stare. He grabbed her under her arms and hefted her up off the ground as he stood, smashing his forehead into hers hard enough to make her flinch, cringe, and be thrown away.

“Humans aren’t your playthings anymore, Inkling…” Garrison growled as he took hold of his weapon and trained the sights on her. “This time, no mercy. Either you die, or we do.”

“Time to go!” Daxton told his Inkling, “I think I get the gist of it!”

Lumina turned to flee, and took a few shots in the back for her trouble. They pounded against her skin and threatened to peel it away. It was the fusion cannons that did it. One searing blast of heated gas tore across her back, slopping away her membrane in a massive chunk to expose Daxton’s clothes beneath. She all but dove into the amassed charcoal armies to escape them, grunting as she struggled through weapons bearing down on her. Bit by bit she was whittled away, until she had to retreat altogether back into her host. Daxton was freshly exposed to prana soldiers, who didn’t hesitate for a moment to start trying to cut him up.

A few blades cut into his back, tearing his coat and shirt and drawing blood through his fur and skin. He as so frantic he didn’t pay it any mind… it barely even hurt. A stroke of luck saw to it that his attackers were dispatched, another mounted gun blasting them to shattered pieces in one fell swoop. Daxton fell to his hands and knees, panting for breath as his limbs shook. The fall of a giant caught his attention, and he looked up to see the prana beast fall under the concentrated fire of Eos guns. Looking around himself, it seemed that the battle was won. Some Eos soldiers lay strewn about with arrows sticking out of them, but only some. Many more were just fine, cleaning up the remaining mess.

“Ow, ow,” Daxton hissed as he stood up. Eos soldiers were surrounding him.

“And look who emerges from the mists!” Garrison barked from behind Daxton. The boy turned to face him as he approached with his men. One of the armored soldiers lifted their visor, revealing the Persian cat Daxton was somewhat familiar with, Yvette.

“One human in the middle of a bunch of monsters?” Garrison asked, “Nah. That Inkling was you, wasn’t it? So you finally bagged yourself one of those alien freaks, huh? I ought to just kill you right now.”

Daxton was breathing heavily. The cuts and burns on his back were starting to hurt. “Ought to?” He asked breathlessly.

“Yeah, ought to.” Garrison grunted. “Grab him.”

Two soldiers came at him and grabbed his arms from either side. He thought better than to fight them, letting them roughly handle him and lock his arms.

“You’re gonna be our bargaining chip,” Garrison said, “We’re in charge now, and you stupid Ink-lovers are gonna rot.”

“Aw man, this again?” Daxton huffed, “Are you stupid or something? There aren’t even as many of you as there was before. Why would anyone listen to you?”

“We’re the only ones who can pull humanity out of this mess, that’s why.” Garrison said, “And you better hope they listen, or we’re going to blow your head right off your shoulders.”

Yvette and the other armored soldier aimed their fusion cannons at him, just to drive the point home.

“We might not be able to get at that Inkling inside you, but without you they’re as good as dead.”

Daxton gulped.

“Hunker down out here!” Garrison shouted to his men. The trucks moved to take positions around the mall, and many of the foot soldiers did the same. Garrison nodded, and the men holding Daxton pushed him to move and follow the bear and his power-suited entourage as they made their way to the mall. They stopped at the edge of the barrier protecting it, and were met by officers who opted to stay inside it.

Negotiations were anything but. Either let them in or the kid gets it. The terms were clear-cut and dry, and they had no qualms in roughing Daxton up to get their point across. The officers wanted to refuse, but after Eos battered the boy even a little bit, they folded. They allowed Garrison and his men to pass through, and they marched Daxton in along with them. When they made it in through the front doors, all eyes were on them. Garrison stopped, pointed his rifle into the air, and fired a shot straight up. The blast didn’t damage anything, but it was loud enough to startle the civilians in refuge and get everyone’s attention.

“Listen up you hicks,” Garrison bellowed over the most-silent mall, “We heard you’ve got a bunch of inked people here. Give them up.”

The crowd whispered fearfully about Eos’ return. It was Marcello who pushed through the audience and approached Garrison, a hard glare fixed on him. “You’re under arrest,” She said, “All of you.”

“I’m going to ignore that,” Garrison rebutted, fixing his sights and his weapon on her, “What are you gonna do about it?”

Lieutenant Blackwell and a handful of other officers broke through to stand between Marcello and Garrison, forming a small wall of blue uniforms and bodies. One officer stepped forward, a male orangutan with shaggy, rusty fur. “Eos, you’re a criminal organization and you’ve got no authority here,” He said, “As stand-in Deputy, I order you to stand down and lay down your weapons. You and your political patsies aren’t wanted or needed here. The inked citizens of Harbington are still just that: citizens of Harbington. Under no circumstances will we surrender them to you.”

“While I respect your authority, Deputy, I’m Third-Commander of Regiment 21, Harbington Military Force. And considering that all my superiors have been dead for many years, that makes me First-Commander; a title that far outranks your own.” Garrison stepped forward, jabbing the barrel of his weapon against the Deputy’s chest. “You and your little badge don’t mean a damn thing to me.”

“A s-soldier?” The Deputy shook, “W-What?”

“The guy’s a tube baby,” Marcello cut in, “Plucked out of a cryostasis chamber. Genetic engineering made by House Caduceus to home-grow their own little freak show soldiers back in the day. He’s from before the Disarming. Wilde had files on him.”

“Sticks and stones, Detective.” Garrison growled.

“Yeah, they don’t pile shit that high anymore.” Daxton huffed.

Garrison turned and shoved the butt of his rifle into Daxton’s gut to force the air out of him. The boy coughed and slumped.

“Daxton!” Edward shoved people out of the way to run to his son’s side. Before he could even get within five feet, however, Garrison turned his sights on him and stopped the beaver dead in his tracks. Edward dared not take a step closer, but he glared daggers into Garrison either way. “You take your hands off my son right now!” He shouted.

“Oh? You’re this brat’s father?” Garrison cocked a brow at Edward, looking him over. The curvy beaver was dressed in a pink halter top and some denim duke shorts. Garrison scoffed at him. “How the hell did you raise a kid this tough? Disgusting.”

“Excuse me?” Edward gasped, “Mister, you better watch your mouth!”

Garrison rolled his eyes. “Listen, if you don’t do what we ask, we kill the kid.”

“What?!” Edward nearly screamed. That prompted Eddie to push in, hurrying to his husband’s side.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Eddie shouted the man down.

Garrison turned to Daxton, nudging the boy’s face with his gun. “This little brat has an Inkling in him,” He said, “And Inklings are to blame for this mess, every single one of them. We made the mistake of trusting them before, you all know what happens when you just let them in. But for some reason you all chose to ignore it. The way I see it, anyone who willingly hosts an Inkling is no less our enemy than they are. That being said, I have no problem ending their lives if it means forcing the Inkling scum out.”

“That’s insane!” Edward screamed, “That’s not true! Daxton isn’t inked!”

“I saw it with my own eyes!” Garrison barked back, “This little bastard has an Inkling in him!”

“That can’t be true!” Edward cried, “Daxton, honey, it’s not true! Right?”

Daxton took a deep breath. “Yeah, it’s true,” He said, “Her name’s Lumina. She helped me save Harley and Quincey. We were fighting off Epheral’s soldiers outside and Eos attacked us.”

Everyone was surprised… everyone but Garrison, his soldiers, Marcello, and Harley, anyway. “What?” Edward croaked, “Daxton… sweetie, no. That…”

Garrison cut them off. “So there it is,” He said, “And I’m not going to say it again: hand over those Inklings or this kid takes his last breath here and now.”

His demands were met with silence. No one in that building thought that any human being was capable of taking a life. Such a thing hadn’t been done in so many years that they had all forgotten how fragile a life could even be. Madmen like Garrison were extinct. Human beings had evolved past their savage ways. What they were being presented with was a decision that no one in that room had ever been forced to make. They couldn’t wrap their minds around what they were being asked to do.

“Don’t.” Eddie begged, “You can’t.”

“Yvette,” Garison turned and addressed the Persian cat in the armor, “Blast him.”

Yvette blinked her blue eyes. Even she was staring at Garrison like he’d gone insane. She looked around at all the Harbington citizens who had gathered around the entrance to see what was going on. She looked at the police who were powerless to act. She looked at the weapon in her hands – a cannon meant to tear apart metal and end human lives. All she had used it on were Epheral’s prana constructs – monsters that were soulless and evil. Garrison had taken command of Eos and their activities and he’d said nothing of what his plans had been. So many thoughts ran through her mind that they froze her, forcing her to inactivity.

“Yvette!” Garrison shouted, startling the armored cat, “Shoot the kid!”

“Garrison…” Yvette shook, “I…”

“Do it, Yvette. Show these people we mean business.” Garrison put on an authoritative voice. He sounded too calm about it, like he was just making a business decision. “He’s inked, Yvette.”

The woman tightened her fingers around the cannon she held, stepping forward and turning so she could aim it center-mass at Daxton.

“Eh,” Daxton shrugged, “Take your best shot.” He grinned a little at the woman, which seemed to put her off.

“Garrison, is this… really necessary?” Yvette turned to the burly bear, lowering her weapon, “We have the firepower, they can’t…”

“Are you going against my orders?!” Garrison grabbed the metal chassis that Yvette wore and pulled her close to him, staring her in the eye. The lady-cat shook, the metal she wore rattling. After a few moments of staring, Garrison shoved her away and took her weapon himself. “Get out of my sight,” He said, “You’re fired. I’ll do it myself.”

He aimed the cannon at Daxton and powered up a blast that would be sure to rip him apart. The super-intense heating being applied to the gasses in the weapon’s chamber made its insides glow with orange fury. It revved up, the energies within humming in an increasing pitch, counting down the last few seconds of Daxton’s life. At the very least the scorching blast would blow his chest apart. At most, it would have ripped his entire body into pieces. Garrison seemed to be charging for the latter.

What happened next was a snap of motion, like starting a scene in a film. Eddie left his husband’s side and charged at Garrison, taking every bit of his experience with Tackle Toss and slamming into the massive grizzly with all his weight. Garrison was pushed off-balance, the shot went off, it flew, and it tore through the arm of the Eos soldier that held Daxton at his right. That arm came off, the wound cauterized in the seconds it took to detach it. The pug man screamed in sheer agony. More people joined in. Edward leapt onto Garrison’s back and wrapped his arms around his neck to choke him. The police jumped between Eos and the people. Everything became a frantic pile of bodies.

Daxton trembled as the man’s arm fell to his side, suddenly limp and charred. The other Eos soldier tried to pull him away, the armadillo man so frightened by the turn that his instinct was to pull Daxton out of danger. The other soldier collapsed to the floor, screaming in pain. He was taken down by police, pinned down and restrained. The armadillo soldier was likewise tackled to the floor, dropping Daxton to the ground as well as Lieutenant Blackwell started slapping the cuffs on him.

Yvette was paralyzed, as was the other armored person. All the lady cat could do was try and get herself away, to flee like the startled animal she resembled. She ran, darting for some corner of the mall to hide in, to hold herself and protect herself. Laila intercepted her, taking her to the floor with all her weight. The other armored person ran to save Yvette, dropping their weapon to do so. They tried to pry Laila off, only to be stopped by Laila’s entire family.

Garrison fought with the Kemberges. Eddie took the man’s large hand and bit into it as hard as his jaws could manage. Garrison howled in pain, releasing his hold on the cannon and dropping it on the ground. He reached back and grabbed Edward to tear him off. He managed to do just that, and threw Edward to the ground. The little beaver skid across the mall tile a short ways, but he refused to stay down. He got right back up and ran at Garrison again.

The grizzly man used his fists to beat and batter the Kemberges. Edward caught a hard punch in the face that took him off his feet and left him in a pitiful heap on the ground. Garrison then used both hands to slam into Eddie’s spine axe-handle style, shocking the buck with so much pain that he crumpled to the floor immediately. They were weak, unable to harm Garrison in any significant way. The bear’s only real threat was Daxton, and that boy was still grounded near the entryway. Ignoring everything else, Garrison reached for his weapon, only to find it missing. He cast a wild look back to see where it may have gone, frothing like an animal.

The weapon warmed up, and then fired.

Mason pulled the trigger, the sweaty hyena man not having a firm grasp on the weapon. The recoil smashed it into his own gut and took him down, but the shot was fired even so. It struck Garrison in the chest. His vest was scorched away, ripped apart by the forces, as was his shirt, his fur, and his flesh. Garrison’s chest splattered in charred viscera. The giant of a man fell in an instant, clutching his bloody chest and wheezing for air as he collapsed. He gargled his pain. That attack was what ended it, as Garrison fell to the floor in the midst of it all everyone stopped, frozen in shock. The bear lay gasping on the tile, his blood steadily soaking into his clothes and fur.

“G-Gngh!” Garrison spat through his teeth. He clutched his chest, sinking his hand into wet blood and tender, exposed muscle. He pushed himself up onto his other elbow for support, shaking. It was a miracle that he wasn’t dead. The hyper-density of his pectoral muscles appeared to have saved him. He looked like an opened-up anatomical model, smelling of blood and burned meat.

Consciousness left him. He collapsed onto the ground in a limp sprawl.

“Oh my god!” Edward shouted. It echoed around the mall as citizens panicked. Mason dragged himself across the floor clutching his abdomen, barely getting his legs under him to stand himself up. His black shirt was frumpy and wrinkled, stained with sweat, and his purple slacks were crooked. He panted, his heart pounding a mile a minute. But he spat, “Serves you right.”

It took ages for the commotion to settle. The police burst into action to calm the hysteria in the mall and block off Garrison’s body. They cuffed the remaining Eos soldiers, who were too struck with fear to fight back. People cried, some had fainted, others were so frightened that they clawed at the officers to get out of the mall and escape what had happened. Everything had gone to madness.

Daxton pushed his back up against the wall, breathing out a breath he’d been holding. He stared at Garrison, whose chest still raised and fell with his breathing, squelching his open wound with every breath. He was alive, miraculously. Super Soldiers always had more durability than the average person, but Daxton never thought he’d see what he learned in history class play out before his eyes. Garrison seemed less human than ever bleeding out on the floor like that. Doctors rushed to him. The fact that they sought to patch him up made Daxton feel surreal as he watched it happen.

He had no words. No quip, no smile. He just felt could and numb.

He could hear Lumina’s voice in his head. It kept repeating the same thing over and over again.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”", "pools_count": 1, "title": "Issue 23: Infusion", "deleted": "f", "public": "t", "mimetype": "application/msword", "pagecount": "1", "rating_id": "2", "rating_name": "Adult", "ratings": [ { "content_tag_id": "5", "name": "Strong Violence", "description": "Strong violence, blood, serious injury or death", "rating_id": "2" } ], "submission_type_id": "12", "type_name": "Writing - Document", "guest_block": "f", "friends_only": "f", "comments_count": "2", "views": "154" }