Chapter 1: Remember

"Agent 4, get over here. Now."

Chloe jumped at the sound of Marie's voice projecting from her hero headphones folded in her back pocket. Somehow, she could hear her communicator over the loud noises of the Turf War raging on around her. She ducked behind a wall and dropped her Hero Slosher Replica to speak with Marie.

"Uhh, not the best time, Marie. I'm in the middle of Musselforge Fitness!"

sigh* Can you disconnect? This is urgent."

"But I'm one game away from reaching level 50-"

"Agent 4!"

"Alright, fine! But you owe me 100 coins."

"Whatever. Just get to Tentakeel Outpost as soon as-"

Suddenly, green ink was flung over the wall Chloe was hiding behind.

"Gotta go!" she yelled into her communicator before making a mad dash for the exit, forming a bright pink path over the enemy ink with her Slosher. However, the squid chasing her was sneaky, and cut in front of Chloe. He sprung out of his ink and pushed Chloe to the floor using his Dynamo Roller. She landed hard on her back and dropped her Hero Slosher Replica.

"I got you now, punk!" the male Inkling exclaimed, raising his weapon above his head.

"I'm gonna get so banned for this…" Chloe thought, taking a deep breath. She sprung backwards, grabbed her Slosher and, with all her might, clocked the Inkling in the head with her weapon.

"GAH!" he yelled before falling to the floor unconscious. Chloe started running, but stopped before turning around to face the inkling. He had his tentacles hanging over his right eye and tied up at the back. He wore a Jellyvader Cap, a Hula Punk Shirt and a pair of Blue Trail Boots on his light skin.

"I can't shake the feeling that I know this guy…" Chloe thought, but quickly disregarded the thought as she needed to get out of the arena before Judd found her. She made her way to one of the ramps leading to the centre of the arena and ran her fingers along the walls until a panel popped open. Chloe darted inside the uncovered room and slammed it back into place.

"Phew… I made it to the fire exit."

Chloe walked down the spiraling flights of stairs as she thought of the inkling from before. "Who was that guy? I mean, sure, he was just a random inkling fighting in a Turf War, but he seems… familiar to me."

The sound of the whistle blowing signalling the end of the match was heard from the hidden fire exit. As Chloe continued to trot down the stairs, she pulled out her phone and checked the SplatNet 2 app. She navigated to the statistics of the battle that just concluded and scrolled through the players. She found the Inkling. Ryan. From the image, she found that he also had bright green eyes.

The same green eyes she knew for 12 years, before…

Chloe dropped her phone down the stairs, shattering the screen. Her eyes began tearing up, her hands made her way to her mouth.

"...it can't be…is it really you, friend?"

The sound of Agent 4 exiting the sewer pipe caught Marie's attention. However, Agent 4's expression shocked her.

"Oh my cod! Agent 4, what's wrong?" Marie asked, worried. Not once has she seen Agent 4 cry, not even when she was in the scariest situations.

"*sniff* My name… my name is Chloe, not Agent 4… *sniff* ...and there's nothing wrong..."

Agent 4 was trying to stop crying, wiping her tears on the sleeve of her Dark Urban Vest. She had forgotten to change into her Hero Armor, and was still wearing her Piranha Moccasins and Squid Clip-Ons on her short yellow tentacles. The tanned skin around her eyes was turning red, but she was shielding her eyes as to hide them from Marie.

"Well, this must be serious if you're crying so much."

"Really, there's… *sniff* ...there's nothing wrong… I'm perfectly fine..."

"Come, sit down," Marie patted a spot beside her on the bench in her shack. Chloe compiled and sat down with her Slosher beside her, still crying and shielding her eyes. Marie gently took Chloe's hand and lowered it from her face to reveal her shining, pink eyes. The tears made them appear to glisten in the sunlight. Chloe turned to face Marie.

"Now… Chloe, will you tell me what's wrong?"

"Well, I-I was heading to the exit of the arena, when a boy from the enemy team t-tried to splat me, and I panicked and w-whacked him on the head with my S-Slosher… and knocked him out… a-and I later found out that it was my best f-friend Ryan, w-who *sniff* who went missing for 3 years… and finally came back… I c-checked with my brother and *sniff* it's really him… R-Ryan's my best friend… and I greet him after all this time by potentially injuring him, and… a-and… I-I just feel so ba-aa-aaaad…"

Chloe was now freely crying and letting her tears run, resting on Marie's lap to cover her face and muffle her sobs. Marie could do nothing but stroke her tentacles any try to comfort her.

"Don't cry, Chloe. It was an accident, there's nothing to feel bad about."

"There's everything to feel bad about! I just hurt my missing friend and on purpose, too! I… i just wish I could forget… forget that it happened… forget all this, and go back to the good old days, just me and Ryan…"

Chloe had significantly calmed down, now lying on the bench with her head on Marie's lap, staring out into the vastness of Octo Canyon..

"...well, If you want to take your mind off this, I still need your help."

Chloe rose from her resting position to fully stand up.

"Sure, what's so important that you had to drag me out of Turf Wars?"

Marie's expression turned serious.

"Agent 3… he's missing."