//-------------------------------------------------------// The Sins of Our Pasts -by TheDisplacerOfEquestrias- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue 1: The Beginning... //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue 1: The Beginning... Year: 2056 A.H.E. (After Human Extinction) Month: January. Day: 21. Time: 5 PM. A sigh was heard... "...Another day, another chance to question why I haven't paid for my actions in the Great Turf War..." A deep, masculine, voice said, sounding, surprisingly, like it was underwater, but only vaguely... The owner of the voice, a being cloaked in shadow at the time, got up from it's makeshift bed in his home, hidden in the (sort of) desolate city of Ceph. The owner of the voice then walked out of its bedroom and, after lighting the lantern in it's living room, got rid of the shadows keeping its appearance a secret... The being was obviously male, with a masculine stature and about 4 or 5 feet tall, taller than most of the two species he associates himself with, but, his eyes were mismatched, along with his hair... if you could call it hair, that is. His "hair" were tentacles, with two big ones of different shapes and sizes on both sides of his head, with smaller tentacles on his head, as well, but, every tentacle was short, with the big ones reaching his neck and only his neck, and each of them were purple and were sometimes different shades of purple. His eyes, however, were the most intriguing. With one eye having a yellow-greenish sclera with purple irises and a purple ring around it, and the other eye being a shade of purple, with a sort of black marking, looking like a mask, surrounding his eye, but it did not surround the one with the purple ring around it... He signed and lit up the other lanterns, as he then went into the next room. The sounds of something being moved and the shuffling of items was heard, before the male came back out, wearing a futuristic, robotic outfit, with a bright strip of (many shades of) purple/magenta as the eyes of the outfit's helmet. The male then went to the couch in his living room and turned on the nearby TV. The sound of a short jingle was heard, making the male smile slightly, before two females appeared on the screen, with one being black and pink and the other being white and green... ... These two females were the "Squid Sisters", Callie, the black and pink one, and Marie, the white and green one. "Hold onto your tentacles..." Callie says, before Marie adds "... It's Inkopolis News Time!" "Well, let's see what's new on the News." The male said, his voice now sounding more robotic than before, thanks to the helmet of his outfit. "However, instead of listing the usual..." Callie says, as Marie then adds "... A special announcement has come up from the Inkling and Octarian researchers of the Kelp Dome!" ...This caught the male's attention rather quickly... "Inkling Professor Dr. Veninkzuela and Octarian Professor Dr. Octogenario have come with groundbreaking news about a discovery of our two species becoming one!" Marie said, as Callie added "And, they say that the first hybrid of our two species is somewhere on the planet!" ...And now the male was worried. "And that's not all! They say that this hybrid was brought into the world 2 and a half years into the Great Turf War, the war between us Inklings and the Octarians, led by (former) General Octavio and Emperor Octurias at the time." Callie said, before Marie said "And, that this hybrid fought for the Octarians way back then!" "Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit..." He began to say, panicking... how the hell did they find the lab that he was made in!? "So, we Inklings and Octarians are going to search for this hybrid and bring it back into society!" Callie said, doing a fistpump into the air, before Marie said "And, we have narrowed down the location of the hybrid- the desolate city of Ceph-", before the male growled in anger and turned the TV off... ...so, they were going to hunt him down, were they? Well, they better watch their back... ... 'Cause Dr. Octavious Inkswell isn't going to go down without a fight! The male then chuckled and got up, before he went into the room he got his outfit from and pulled out what looked to be an orange and white Minigun, but this one had what appeared to be a tank attached to it, full of what appeared to be ink... but the ink was of different colors of purple/magenta shades. The male also got out two other weapons, one was a smaller gun, which also used ink, and the other weapon was a long, curved, steel blade, with the handle for said blade being made out of what appeared to be black leather and gold, which he put on his back, along with the smaller gun, before he kicked the door open to his house and went to the top of the building, before he yelled, his voice booming across the entire city, "YOU THINK YOU CAN CAPTURE ME, INKLINGS AND OCTARIANS!? THINK AGAIN! I WILL PAINT THE DESOLATE STREETS OF THIS CITY IN YOUR INK WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU! I WILL MAKE YOU ALL FEAR THE NAME OF DR. OCTAVIOUS INKSWELL, THE FIRST INKLING-OCTARIAN HYBRID! SO... COME AND GET SOME!", before he laughed, grinning like a madman under his helmet the entire time, as the then began to shoot purple ink out of the Minigun he was carrying, painting the area in purple ink. //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue 2: The Call... //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue 2: The Call... Meanwhile, across the universe... A certain Princess of the Night and Moon woke up from, what she thought was, a nightmare... The Princess of the Night and Moon got out of her bed and checked the Dreamscape of the world, seeing no nightmares... ... that is, until she saw something else. In the Dreamscape, there was a nightmare, but this one, unlike the others, was in the shape of a paint blotch, as if someone had splattered paint on a wall... ... but the paint blotch was leaking a strange, purple liquid as the Princess of the Night and Moon looked at it. The Princess of the Night and Moon shook her head from her mildly surprised state and went to go get her sister, the Princess of the Day. When she got to her sister's room, she knocked on the door and said, with a female voice, sounding like that of a young adult's, "Tia! You must come and see this!" The door opened, revealing the Princess of the Night and Moon's sister, Princess Celestia, the Princess of the Day and Sun, before Princess Celestia asked, yawning and groggy, with a more matured female voice, sounding older, "Ugh... what is it, Luna?" "Tia, come with me, quickly!" The Princess of the Night and Moon, Princess Luna, said, grabbing Celestia's hoof and dragging her sister to her room. When they got there, Luna opened the Dreamscape once more and showed her sister the weirdly shaped nightmare, catching Celestia's attention quickly. "Sis... sister, wha... what is this?" Celestia said, fully awake and in awe. "I do not know, sister... when I saw this, I knew you had to see it... but, what do we do now?" Luna asked. Celestia narrowed her gaze at the weird nightmare, before she said "Sister, open the nightmare up... I want to see the nightmares of whoever or whatever is dreaming at the moment." Luna nodded and opened the nightmare up, both Celestia and Luna expecting a typical bad dream... ... they were not expecting what they saw instead, however. They saw a battle between two, bipedal beings, both beings wearing what looked to be armor, but the armor that the two wore looked more... unnatural... than normal armor. They then noticed that one of the beings was darker than the other, with a malicious grin on the dark being's face, as the dark being held a katana, with the blade being darker than it should, as if it were made out of tungsten. The dark being laughed darkly, the malicious grin always present on it's face, it's two, mismatched eyes staring down at the lighter being, looking like the dark being, but more... natural- with no sort of dark presence on it. The lighter being was bleeding a mysterious liquid, the color of the liquid being a mix of two different shades of purple, as the dark being then spoke, with a deep, demonic voice, "Well well well... lookie here... it seems as though you're having a bit of trouble there, Octavious... what's wrong? Too tired to fight anymore!?" The light being didn't speak, as the dark being continued to speak "Such a pathetic being, you are... I can't even believe you are the most powerful being to ever exist on the planet... no... I can't even believe that you are the Legendary Octarian GENERAL!" The dark being then kicked the light being away, making Luna gasp internally... what kind of monster is this being!? "You are a weakling! A failure! A fool!" The dark being said, walking over to the light being, it's katana in hand, before it stood over the light being, ready to plunge the blade into the light being, as it then said "... a mistake.", venom in it's voice. Luna growled, surprising Celestia, before Luna entered the Nightmare and blasted a bolt of magic at the dark being, sending the dark being a couple feet away, into a wall. The dark being growled and slowly got up, before it said "WHO DARES TO HURT ME!?" Luna didn't answer verbally, instead, she blasted the dark being again, aiming towards it's head... ... The bolt of magic decapitated the dark being, making it fall down onto its knees before landing completely onto the ground with a small "thud". Luna then trotted over to the light being and said "My friend, it is alright... The nightmare is gone.", as the area changed to a bright, beautiful area, the moon shining brightly and beautifully. The light being groaned in pain, before it slowly got up, falling down a couple times, before it stood, hunched over slightly, as it held its bleeding arm. The being then looked at Luna and said, with a deep, angelic voice, it's two, mismatched eyes showing, glowing purple slightly, "... T-Thank You..." Luna smiled and said "Your welcome, my friend.", as she then placed her wing over the light being. The being gave a heart warming smile and said "M-My name i-is Dr. O-Octavious I-Inkswell." Luna gave her own heart warming smile and said "My name is Princess Luna... but... how did you end up in my Dreamscape?" The being shrugged slightly and said "I... I don't know." Luna frowned slightly and said "My friend, tell me... what happened to you?" The being whimpered slightly and said "... S-Sit down... I-I'll try to explain." The being and Luna then sat down, as Celestia watched in silence. A few hours later. "So, you say that you are a hybrid between two species- an Inkling and an Octarian..." Luna said. "Mmhmm." The light being, Octavious, said. "... who was created to stop a war and bring peace between the two races you were created by..." Luna continued. "Yep." Octavious said. "... and after hundreds of years after the events of said war, which ended in a loss to the "Octarians"..." Luna said. "Mhm." Octavious replied. "... now, you want to pay for your own crimes against the Inklings and your creators because you betrayed them to join the Octarians... correct?" Luna finished. "Exactly!" Octavious responded. The two were silent for a moment, before Luna said "Well, certainly isn't the most weird thing I've ever heard... yet it's oddly the most believable." This made Octavious look at Luna in curiosity and ask "What kind of stuff do you go through?" "Oh, the usual... Timberwolves, Manticores, annoying nobles, an annoying nephew that has too big of an ego to deal with, a God of Chaos, shapeshifters that feed off of love and other emotions, a dark Tyrant every once and while, a unicorn that had a bit of a God complex, and finally, a Centaur that's an idiot most of the time." Luna said, casually... ... however, this just made Octavious's jaw drop. Octavious then shook "his" head from "his" utterly shocked state and said "Well... there's something I also neglected to tell you." "Hmm? And what would that be?" Luna asked. "... I'm only half of the being that was having a nightmare just then." Octavious said, scratching the back of "his" head, sheepishly. "... what?" Luna said, deadpanning... "Yeah... I'm only the good portion of this being. The other portion is the one you decapitated... although, he wasn't really hurting me all that much. I'm still the strongest portion, mainly because I'm not insane." "He" said. "... is there anything else I should know that you kept as a secret from me?" Luna asked. "Well, the Real Dr. Octavious Inkswell, since I'm just half of his being, has two souls in his body, but neither are his. They belong to those that were merged to create him." Octavious said. "... The more you tell me this, the more I think that the real Octavious needs my help..." Luna said, sighing. "I was hoping you would help him, actually... in fact, you two seem rather alike." Octavious said, making Luna's head shoot up... "How so?" She asked. "While you were talking, I could see various images flashing in your eyes... one about a black-furred demon that wanted to put the land into an eternal night... another about you berating yourself over letting the demon take control of you... and another about you wanting to overcome the demon and control it." Octavious began to explain. Luna listened in silence as Octavious continued "You wish to make up for your mistakes while the demon took control of you... and even though your friends and family say that you aren't to blame, you still think you are to blame for letting your anger and rage take control." Luna's eyes slowly began to widen in realization, as Octavious continued to explain "The Real Octavious, against his better judgement, betrayed his creators and joined the Octarians, but even with him on their side, the Octarians lost, and a hundred or so years after the loss, he left the Octarians... only to then realize what he had done half a year later." "Because of this, he berates himself for his own actions and wants to pay for his own crimes, back during the Great Turf War between the Inklings and the Octarians... but he cannot do it alone." Octavious finished, as Luna was now letting out tears. She was about to begin sobbing when she felt something embrace her... ... when she looked up, her sister, Celestia, was next to her and embracing Luna with her wing. She sniffled and said "T-Thank you, Tia." Celestia smiled warmly at Luna and said "Your welcome, Luna." Octavious then smiled softly and asked "Now... will you help the Real Dr. Octavious Inkswell... and will you let him help you?" Luna stayed silent for a moment, before she looked up, tears still in her eyes, but now, she had a fire in her eyes, determined to help him, as she then asked, more serious than she had ever been, "How can I meet him in the Real world, Octavious?" Octavious smiled happily and said "You must build a portal and use my ink to bring him to your world. My ink can carry over to the Real world, outside of the Real Octavious's mind and the "Dreamscape", so no need to worry about that." Octavious then got out a test tube and filled it with the purple ink that was leaking from him earlier, before he handed it over to Luna and said "Make sure not to lose it, Luna." Luna nodded and picked it up with her magic, before saying "Understood." Octavious then sat up and saluted Luna, who got up and saluted back. Luna and Celestia then began to exit the Dreamscape and the Real Octavious's mind, only for Octavious to say "Oh, and Luna..." Luna looked back towards Octavious, before he said, with a serious, yet sincere, look on his face, "Good luck." Luna nodded and smiled, before she and Celestia exited the Dreamscape and the mind of the Real Octavious, leaving Octavious alone... ... however, the dark being from before that Luna had decapitated slowly stood back up and reattached his head, before the dark being groaned and asked "Argh... Damn that hurt like hell... Octavious, are you sure that this is a good idea?" Octavious nodded and said "Of course it is, Inkswell... besides, Dr. Octavious Inkswell needs as much help as Princess Luna does." The dark being, Inkswell, hesitantly nodded in agreement, before he said "So... what now?" Octavious smiled and said "Isn't it obvious?" Inkswell then smiled in response, as Octavious snapped his fingers and made a poker table appear, with the two souls that Octavious spoke of appearing with it. "This'll be fun." Inkswell said, as he and Octavious soon sat down at the poker table. //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue 3: The Hunt... //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue 3: The Hunt... 5 hours after Marie and Callie did the Inkopolis News Report... ... that was all the Inklings and Octarians needed to begin searching for the Hybrid of their two species. With Cap'n Cuttlefish, Agent 3 (known as Kalma), and Marie and Callie (the Squid Sisters) leading the Inklings and Emperor Octurias, Emperor Octurias's daughter and the current General of the Octarians, General Octavia, Commander Kelly (Female Octoling), and Captain Octo (Male Octoling) leading the Octarians, the hunt for the hybrid would be a rather interesting one, as Cap'n Cuttlefish, Captain Octo, Agent 3, and Commander Kelly led the air patrols while Marie and Callie, Emperor Octurias, and General Octavia led the ground patrols. "Any sign of the hybrid yet, Agent 3?" Marie asked through her communicator. "None yet. You?" Agent 3, Kalma, asked, his voice sporting an accent that was vaguely similar to that of a human Russian accent. "Not a single sign. Tell me, Callie, or gramps if you spot the hybrid." She replied, gaining a "Yes, ma'am." from Kalma. The two groups searched all over the city, before Octo said, through the communicators, "PURPLE INK, DEAD AHEAD!", making them all stop and squint (or get their squidoculars out) towards the direction of the purple ink, and, sure enough, there was a large area of the desolate city that was covered in purple ink... but it was both Octarian Purple Ink and Inkling Purple Ink... so no matter what, it was going to harm them. "Well... we at least know that it's been here." Commander Kelly said, her voice sporting something similar to a Human Swedish accent, as she spoke through the communicators. "True enough... Captain Octo, Commander Kelly, Agent 3, Captain Cuttlefish, can you see how much of the city is covered?" Emperor Octurias asked. "Emperor Octurias, a COLOSSAL part of the city has been covered in the purple ink... I still don't see the hy-" Agent 3 said, before stopping himself and looked through his squidoculars, in shock. "Agent 3? What happened?" Callie asked. "I SEE THE HYBRID!" He shouted. "Location?" General Octavia asked. "Look for the Burst Bombs and Suction Bombs in the sky!" He said, as the group soon saw a bunch of Burst Bombs and Suction Bombs being thrown in the distance, heading towards the air patrols... "SHOOT 'EM DOWN, BOYOS!" Cap'n Cuttlefish yelled, as the Inklings and Octarians with them began shooting down the bombs with Chargers and their Blasters/Shooters. "The Hybrid is coming towards you guys!" Agent 3 said, as he kept his eye on the hybrid. "Everyone, get your weapons ready!" Marie said, as the Inklings and Octarians on the ground got their weapons out, which consisted of Octoshots, Heroshots, Rollers, Chargers, Shooters, Blasters, Sloshers, Splatlings of different types, and more. Suddenly, there was a blight flash in the sky, blinding everyone... ... but when they regained their vision, the hybrid was gone. "Wha... w-where did it go!?" Agent 3 yelled. "Search the rooftops!" Marie said. "We did! No sign of the hybrid!" Octo said. "Keep searching! It's got to be around here somewhere!" Emperor Octurias said. The air and ground patrols searched the area (with some of the ground patrol collecting samples of the purple ink for later), but, after 7 hours, they couldn't find the hybrid. "Well... what now? The hybrid's gone." Agent 3 said, now on the ground with Octo, Cuttlefish, and Kelly. Emperor Octurias, Marie and Callie, Agent 3, General Octavia, Cap'n Cuttlefish, Captain Octo, and Commander Kelly were all sitting down near the center of the city, which was now covered in Octarian Ink and Inkling Ink (which thankfully was specifically made to harm the hybrid if necessary and wouldn't harm Inklings or Octarians), before Octo said, his arms crossed and his eyes closed, "Hmmm... The hybrid must have some type of object on it's body that allows it to teleport... or create a sort of hologram of sorts that can act as a decoy, while the hybrid itself can escape from the action." "I think it's more teleportation than holographic decoys, Captain Octo." Cuttlefish said. "I agree with gramps. It has to be some sort of teleportation device... but, if it is, then the hybrid must be VERY smart to create something like that." Marie said, with Agent 3, General Octavia, and Commander Kelly nodding in agreement. "I suggest that we set up a base in the city, with watch towers on every corner of the city and near the center of the city and Inkling and Octarian soldiers patrolling the ground and air of the city every hour on the hour, along with barricades blocking off every exit of the city, with those barricades having soldiers guarding them... if we do that, the hybrid will be trapped and we can capture it with ease." Emperor Octurias suggested, before gaining nods from Octoq, Callie, and Cap'n Cuttlefish, before Agent 3, Marie, General Octavia, and Commander Kelly nod in agreement, as well. "Good. Now, Agent 3 and Commander Kelly will be in charge of the ground and air patrols on the northeastern part of the city. Captain Octo and Cap'n Cuttlefish will be in charge of the ground and air patrols on the southeastern part of the city. General Octavia and Callie will be in charge of the ground and air patrols on the southwestern part of the city. And me and Marie will be in charge of the ground and air patrols on the Northwestern part of the city... any questions?" Emperor Octurias explained. No one spoke up, making Emperor Octurias take that as a no. "Good." Emperor Octurias said, getting up, as the others did, as well, before going to their portions of the city to explain what the plan was to the patrols.