Chapter Text
It was a hot day in Splatsville, and Team Barreleye decided to take a break from their usual routine of practicing early every Monday morning.
“It’s nine am and eighty degrees out,” Ringer grumbled, using his drink to gesture at the sky. “It’s so hot.”
“Come sit in the shade then,” Hunting Jacket said, shrugging. To anyone but his close friends, he might have appeared unusual with a change of clothes and his mask pulled down. Today, he was wearing a black T-shirt and khaki shorts held up with a black belt. He still had his work boots on, though.
“We should ask Shellmet if we can use her pool,” said Polpo, stirring the ice in her cup with her straw. “Sitting in some cool water would be great.”
“That’s a great idea, sis!” Barreleye said, grinning at her. He’d forgone his chest protector today, just wearing the shirt he always wore beneath it. He’d rolled the sleeves up to help with the heat. “I’ll give her a call.”
“You should just text her,” Hunting Jacket said. “No reason to call her.”
“True,” Barreleye said, pulling out his phone.
Polpo sighed as she looked up at the sky, squinting against the bright light. “If you want, we could—” she broke off and turned her head the other way. “What’s that sound?” She asked.
“What sound?” Ringer asked.
But then they all could hear it. A deep rumbling made everyone in the park go quiet. Polpo got to her feet and started looking around. “I’m not seeing—” was all she got out before the ground began to shake violently. Barreleye tried to grab onto something and managed to find a hand, although he couldn’t tell whose hand it was. The shaking seemed to worsen, screams nearly inaudible over the rumbling and booming. Barreleye tightened his grip on the hand as objects began raining down from the sky.
It seemed to have lasted forever, but finally, the shaking stopped, and everything went silent. Barreleye had never heard a quiet like that before. Then, people began screaming. He opened his eyes and looked to his right. The hand in his belonged to Ringer, who looked up at him, his eyes wide with shock. Dirt and other debris were all over him, and Barreleye could feel more on himself.
A cry came from nearby, filled with pain and fear.
“Polpo,” they said together. They released each other’s sweaty hands and shakily got to their feet. For a moment, they stared around. Nothing looked the same. Playground equipment lay twisted and broken, trees were on their sides, and dirt was everywhere. The familiar skyline was different, with multiple buildings missing and others broken. As they watched, a skyscraper in the distance crumbled and fell.
Smoke was filling the air, and people were still screaming. The sound of Polpo crying out startled the boys, and they climbed over the mounds of dirt and broken playground equipment.
“Oh,” Ringer said, going white.
Polpo was sitting on the ground, one hand digging into the dirt in pain. Her other hand wasn’t even there, in fact, her entire arm up to what had been near her elbow was gone. Hunting Jacket, also covered in debris, was kneeling beside her. He tore off his belt, grabbed the bleeding stump that had once been Polpo’s left arm, and began tying the belt around it.
“Polpo!” Barreleye stumbled over to her, closely followed by Ringer, who was still trying not to throw up. “What happened?”
“Help me tighten this,” Hunting Jacket said through gritted teeth. Barreleye hurried over and pulled on one end of the belt as Hunter completed the tourniquet.
“My arm,” Polpo said, tears rolling down her face, leaving lines in the dust and dirt on her cheeks. “It hurts, it hurts!”
“I know,” Hunting Jacket said, sitting back and looking at her now tourniqueted arm. “Are you guys hurt? Barreleye? Ringer?”
“We’re okay,” Barreleye said, wrapping an arm around his trembling sister. “Where’s your arm? We might be able to reattach it if we get it back.”
Hunting Jacket pointed to a tangled mess of dirt and playground equipment. “It’s somewhere there, but it’s probably too dangerous to try and find it.”
“But a hospital—”
“Barreleye,” Ringer said. “Do you think that a hospital would be available in time to help with that? I can’t even hear sirens. I don’t think we can do anything.”
Polpo whimpered and leaned against Barreleye, who tightened his grip on her.
“What was that, an earthquake?” Ringer asked, still looking like he’d be sick.
“It’s gotta have been,” Hunting Jacket said, moving Polpo to lean against Barreleye with all of her weight so he could grab her hand and check her pulse.
“Thank cod your mom is a nurse,” Polpo said weakly.
“Your pulse is a little erratic, but you seem to be okay, the tourniquet stopped most of the bleeding, and you have no other injuries, so I think you’re alright for now.”
“Shouldn’t we cover the wound and put pressure on it?” Barreleye asked.
“I think we should just cover it to stop things from getting in it.”
Barreleye pulled off his shirt and handed it to Hunting Jacket, who carefully tied it around Polpo’s injury, confirming that the tourniquet was still in place and blocking the circulation.
“What do we do now?” Ringer asked, his voice still shaking. “Should we go try and find our families or…?”
Barreleye reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Even though it had a shattered screen, it still worked. He dialed a number and held the phone to his ear before lowering it and trying again.
“It’s not working. I can’t get a call through.”
“The phone lines are probably down, Barreleye,” Polpo said. “Who did you try to call, Mom?”
“Yeah, and Mitsuami,” Barreleye said.
In the distance, the sound of screeching metal accompanied that of another building collapsing.
Ringer stood up and looked around. “It’s not safe here,” he said. “We need to leave.”
“Where?” Hunting Jacket asked.
The four were quiet for a few seconds before Polpo asked a question. “Barreleye, how far does Mitsuami live from here?”
“Huh? I don’t know the exact distance but it's at least a sixty-minute train ride to get to the city, then she has to take another train to get to the plaza, and that’s about a twenty-minute train ride. She has to walk from her place to the first station too.”
Polpo thought for a moment. “If the earthquake epicenter was here in the city, which I’m gonna assume due to how bad that was, she might’ve been far enough away to be alright.”
“Impromptu sleepover?” Ringer asked. “Think she’d let us stay with her?”
“Yes,” Barreleye said. “If she’s alive. She could’ve been in the city.” He stared out at nothing, a frown on his face. “But that’s a good idea. It’d be safer at her place.”
“Then let’s go. I don’t want to be here any longer,” Polpo said.