Chapter Thirteen: Flashback

The Blue Octo hid in the darkness. The alleyway provided optimum cover; he was surprised he hadn't thought about it before this plan.

A shout rang out, bouncing across the brick walls, shattering the dull noise of cars driving by. The Blue Octo took a deep breath, and put on his wig. He straightened his dress, which was wrinkly from being kept in the bottom of his closet for so long. Though he'd though about it many times, he could never part with it, and now he was extremely glad that he hadn't. He held up a tentacle, and, closing his eyes, pressed the button on his watch. There was a flash of light, and like that, he was human.

Of course, it was just a projection, a mirage to act as cover, but it seemed to work well. He'd never tested it in the field before, and he was incredibly nervous. He tried to breathe calmly, not quite being successful, but at least he wasn't hyperventilating. Calm down, he told himself, it'll work out just as you planned.

A second shout echoed through the alleyway. It was time to begin. The Blue Octo smoothed his hair, fluffed his dress, squeaked in a high pitched voice to get in tune, and stepped out of the alleyway. Shaking, he tried to maintain his composure, walking as ladylike as he could manage.

A figure leaped out of the shadows, landing directly in The Blue Octo's path. A red cloak was drawn in front of his face to conceal his identity.

"I'm sowwy, ma'am," the crook said in a deep voice. "I'm afwaid I'll have to take your puwse."

The Blue Octo sighed in frustration, dropping his hands and looking to the sky. He glared at the figure standing in front of him. "Really? Really? Apologizing before you even commit the crime? You have to be the worst criminal I've ever seen, Red." Here Octo crossed his arms, to further emphasize his frustration.

The crook lowered his arm, face open to see, and frowned at Octo. "I'm twying," he said, "weally."

"I know you are," said Octo. "And you were doing a fantastic job, up until you started talking. I know you have a deep voice and all, but that 'I'm sowwy, ma'am' just doesn't cut it. How about you just don't talk at all? Just stand there looking real intimidating."

Red shrugged, and shrank back into the shadows. He jumped back out, and made a growling sound. He made motions to indicate that there would be no funny business if the purse was handed over.

"I like it," said Octo. "Do exactly that next time. And we'll be doing it for real, with fire and everything, so be careful."

"I will," said Red. "Just as wong as I'm gettin' paid."

"Oh, don't worry," said Octo, "if this goes well, you'll have your money. Now once more, from the top! With feeling! It's going to be the real deal this time, so be ready."

Red hid and popped out of the shadows once more, and struck a match. He threw it, and it landed in a puddle, but not before catching Octo's wig on fire.

Octo smiled. Now it was his turn for the theatrics. He took a deep breath, and let out an extremely girly... squeak.

"You wanna twy that again?" asked Red.

"Shut up," mumbled Octo. "You've never had to be a woman before." He took another deep breath, and this time let out a blood-curdling scream: "AAAAAAGH! HELP MEEE!!!" Now they just had to stand there and wait for a minute. So far, it was all going according to plan.

"Oh," said Octo, "and sorry about this next part. I forgot to mention it, and it's really my fault."

"Whaddya mea–" Red was immediately pummeled by a blue-green fist while he simultaneously caught on fire. He collapsed on the spot.

"Sorry about turning your power against you," said a powerful and heroic voice, "but it's in the script."

And there he was: The Super. The one, the only. Octo had never met him in person before, only seen pictures, heard stories. But Octo was a supervillain, and it was high time he stepped up his game. Octo stood there for a second, just taking it in... wow. He had nothing but respect for the hero standing in front of him. It would be such an honor to kill him.

The Super posed for a moment, doing the thing that all heroes do. Then he turned to Octo to offer help; Octo was still in disguise as a damsel in distress. The Super looked directly into his eyes, smiling with all the warmth of a true hero.

But then, his face started to contort, turning to disgust, and then fury, watered down with a bit of disappointment. "Now," he said, "tell us why you're here."

What? thought Octo. This made no sense. Why would he say such a thing? He blinked, and all of a sudden Octo was lying on the ground. He felt extremely warm, and there was sand in his mouth. He rolled over, looking to the sky, and saw The Super looking down at him. There were also two girls, one in her late teens, with very short brown hair, the other maybe ten with long blond hair. The two girls looked worried; The Super was just annoyed.

"Glad you're finally up," The Super said drily, standing up and walking away. The two girls fussed over Octo as he tried to sit up. His head hurt like it had been smashed with a hammer.

"Where...?" he started, but his voice croaked. His throat was like sandpaper. The older girl reached into her knapsack and brought out a bottle of water, handed it to Octo.

"In the desert," answered The Super. He kicked a rock off the cliff. "Where you escaped from prison. What happened, exactly? Where are the others, and why aren't you with them?"

Octo stopped drinking for a moment, trying to catch his breath.

"Aha," he croaked finally. "Now we get to the interesting part. Time," he paused a moment to breathe, "time for the game to begin."



Hello peoples of the planet Earth! I have made another post!
(Random) Heads up: I have Friday off of school. I'll most likely have something up sometime that day for you guys.

I'm excited to be writing again! Sorry I've been sick. I'm the worst person to get sick, too: whenever I get sick, I have trouble doing more than the bare minimum to stay alive, so it's really hard for me to write. It doesn't matter what I get, I just feel really awful and can't do much.

The good news is that I'm back on my feet and writing again!! I've got lots of plans for the blog this month, and not all of them have to do with this story... ;)

By the way, how do you like how it's unfolding? Feel free to comment below, or if it won't let you because sometimes Google just loves people like that, you can email me at polarfarina@gmail.com and it'll be awesome!

Thanks for bearing with me,

                 ~PolarFarina