Notice: All characters unless stated otherwise are 18+, on top of that, there won't be any horny shit written in this book.

     "Tanya Van Norton? It's got a nice ring to it." Kat states while getting up to check the hallway they had just came from. She peeks through the peephole and pauses for a moment before moving away from the door. "As I expected, they're right on our tails. This safe room should be able to hide us from them for a while, but we'll eventually need to move." Kat wiped away the tears that remained in her eyes and sat down in one of the chairs Tanya had dragged out, leaving her weapon at the foot of one of the beds.

     "Cmon Inkling, I'll explain everything," Kat says as Tanya takes a seat in the chair across from her, with her weapon still on its sling and dangling from her shoulders. Kat sighs and began to speak, "Those mutants that killed my squadmates are what we call The Sterilized. They come in all shapes and sizes, but the only thing you really need to know is that most weapons don't work on them. You'd either want something that explodes, such as a blaster, or a charger. Everything else isn't as effective." Kat pauses for a moment to catch her breath, "The issue with those weapons, is that they're complex and the parts are expensive to replace. You'd probably want to stick to your fancy splattershot, but don't expect every Sterilized to pop and explode like everyone else."

     Tanya knits her brows in confusion for a moment, then recalls back to when she had first entered and discovered those bodies, "So you're telling me that the bodies don't dissolve?" Tanya states in confusion, only to earn a sigh of disappointment from Kat. "No, they do dissolve, it just takes a much longer time."

     Tanya pauses for a moment but decides to accept it and try's not to think about it. "Is there anything else?" Kat stops and scratches her head before replying, "Come to think of it, I never mentioned New Octavia to you." Kat begins to shuffle into a more comfortable position for another short lecture, "New Octavia is home to about everyone who isn't Sterilized down here, and everyone happens to be Octarian, so you better watch out."

     "What? Already attached to your enemy?" Tanya teases with a sly grin across her face. Kat gives her a slight look of disapproval, "Don't push it that far Inkling, I'm only in your debt because you spared my life. That doesn't mean I have any respect for you." Kat spat out, with venom laced in every word.

     "Harsh, but you've got a point." Tanya stands up and begins to stretch, "So, how long do you think we're gonna be stuck in here?" Kat moves over to one of the beds and begins to lay down in it, "A few hours. I don't care what you do, just don't wake me up until you're sure they're gone." Katilyn supports the pillow with her arm and rests her head on the pillow before facing towards the wall.

     Tanya skeptically asks, "You sure this door will hold them back?" Katilyn gives off a loud sigh of disappointment and tells the inkling, "It's been through worse. Besides, the door is ink proof and it prevents them from tracking us. Now shut up and sleep." Tanya opens her mouth to send the octoling a rude remark, but stops herself and moves over to one of the other beds. She lays her heroshot down on the side of the frame and goes to lay down.

     Laying in bed, Tanya thinks to herself about a lot of things. How did she get into this situation? How will she get out of here? Is her family okay? Tanya came back to reality when she heard Kat's soft sobbing from across the room. She felt bad for the Octoling girl and started to question if she should go comfort her. Deciding it was for the better, she began to walk over to the Octoling. She pulls a chair beside her bed and sits down in it.

     Tanya goes to speak, "Do you wanna talk about it?" Kat shuffles a bit on the mattress and mutters something under her breath and turns to face the wall. Not being able to hear what she said, Tanya moves in a little closer, "I told you to go fuck off, just leave me alone." Kat spits out, with anger evident in her voice. Tanya sits back in the chair and starts to think about what she should do. She hunches forward and starts to speak.

     "I know how it feels to lose someone close to you. You push people away thinking that you can solve your own problems. I was like that at one point. When I was young my mother owned a bakery. It was a special place for her, she got to bake all these delicious sweets and meet all kinds of people. I remember how she always woke us up with a bright smile on her face and how excited she was to get to work. Everyone loved what she baked, especially the cakes she made. My father always took care of me and my brother, as my mother was always busy at the bakery, but that never meant she cared any less for us. We were happy, and everything was looking fine. That was... until my fifteenth birthday. She was coming home the night before the big day after a long shift at work. It was storming that night and her umbrella didn't have a handle. Some lightning struck her umbrella and fried her. She died right then and there. I remember how heartbroken we all were, and how depressing my birthday was. We all sat around the table with a birthday cake in the middle and red, puffy eyes."

     Tanya pauses for a moment to catch her breath, then goes to speak, "After she died, however, the bakery went to my uncle. He remodeled the place to become a bar, with the bakery as an addition. You couldn't have imagined how pissed my father was, and he's not someone who gets pissed. My uncle agreed to send some money over to my father so that we could stay afloat. But after he turned the place into a bar, it wasn't as popular. We had barely enough cash to pay bills and get food on the table, so I had to get a job at Makomart. It took a lot of time and didn't pay a lot, but it was enough until I met Marie. I did her hero work and not after too long, my brother and I were old enough to move out. My father insisted that we did, anyways. I moved into my own apartment and started to do hero work full time... until I fell down here anyways." Tanya shuffles in her seat to get a more comfortable spot.

     Looking over at the octoling, she begins to speak, "Well now you know, I'm not sure if you care too much. I'm just your enemy you have to work with." Tanya begins to walk back over to her bed but gets stopped by Kat tugging on her sleeve with her ink-stained hand. Tanya understands and sits back down in her chair, listening to the teary-eyed octoling.

     Kat breathes in and out, calming herself down before starting to speak, "I... I never got to meet my parents. When I was a baby, I was taken into an orphanage. It was a nice place, owned and managed by a married couple who couldn't have kids of their own. But when I turned 4, I was taken in by my current family."

     Kat stops to take a breath. "They took me in as if I was already their daughter. I had everything I could ask for, loving parents, a big house, food on the table, and a protective older sister. I found the best family I could ask for." Kat shuffles a bit and looks away nervously, "I'm... sorry it's not as much as yours, but I'm not really in the mood to talk."

     Tanya smiles and nods a bit, "Don't worry about it, just get some rest." Tanya stands up and walks over to her bed. She lays down in it and faces the roof, thinking back on what just transpired. Happy with herself that she was able to help someone, she closes her eyes and falls asleep. Before she could get any sleep, however, she could hear shuffling next to the door. She tried not to think too much about it, But suddenly...

    A loud bang, comparable to a cannon firing, shook the room. A black object flew past Tanya's vision, crashing into the concrete wall before settling on the floor in a bent mass. Tanya glanced over at the object and realized it was the door that had protected its inhabitants from being killed. She glanced over at Kat who's eyes were wide with panic. With one swift motion, Tanya grabs her heroshot and flips the bed over. Kat notices and does the same, only having a little difficulty flipping the bed. Both cephalopods take aim at the smothering doorframe, still cooling off after the explosive wake-up call.

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there was gonna be more, but i got lazy lol

-1573 words