#A50F79

Climbing up to the roof, Logan huffed and groaned with exhaustion, his breath visible in the evening's cold air. Panting, he thought to why he was even climbing a building at sundown in the middle of winter. After a moment's thought, he remembered that he had learned that a group of Octoling Raiders were positioned on the roof of the Inkopolis Grand Convention Hall, and that they were planning on killing the Squid Sisters during a Q&A board/give-away they were hosting for charity.

This was a large problem for many reasons. The first of them being that this was one of many acts of terrorism in a long line of many that the Octo-Military Junta have tried to perform against the Inklings. They wish only to justify a war against the Inklings, however they can't garner support from the rest of the population to start yet another one. So, they have resorted to having the Inklings attack first to rally support for a pointless, and costly cause.

The other reason being that they were targeting two of the most influential Inkling in the world: Callie, and Marie. These two were popular singers, and incredible philanthropists. Many say that they would have hearts of gold, had they not given them away. They are well-known the world over and their loss would be a big one.

It was with a final exhale that Logan managed to get himself onto the snow-covered roof of the building. Climbing onto the roof was no easy task, as the cold air burned his lungs, making them feel as if they were on fire. Added to this was the fatigue from three days of little sleep, due to trying to track this force down.

He leaned against the edge of the building to catch his breath and looked out across the snow-covered city. The setting sun made the snow glisten on many of the buildings, creating a sparkle akin to the soon-to-be night sky. The inoperative Inkopolis Tower gleamed majestically against the setting sun.

Many inklings could still be seen walking around in the streets, tending to their own business. Shopkeepers were waving off their last customers before closing, Teens wandered the streets with lovers and friends alike, talking, giggling, and enjoying the snow, and adults were rushing around to finish last minute errands before night fell. It was all very picturesque.

Logan frowned. They had not a care in the world, not a thought towards putting themselves in danger for others as he was. Yes, he was jealous of their carefree attitude, the time and opportunity to dedicate to another being or oneself. He hadn't that kind of time since that incident happened that so long ago. since then, he was always moving, and always on the run; he never got a break

"The Squid Sisters Q&A will start in 30 minutes! VIP Guests, please take your seats!" a chipper young voice said over the intercom, the Octoling's queue to start moving again. So, with a sigh and a hand through his deep purple tentacles, he pushed himself away from the snowy ledge and started moving again.

Following premade footprints he found in the snow, he made his way across the building's roof fairly quickly. As he ran across the empty rooftop, his shoes made an, audible "crunch-crunch" in the snow. It was a sound he always enjoyed, but recently learned to hate. It always gave away his position to enemies...

He soon noticed that there were many patches of inky slush along his path, mostly in the color of magenta. This was a common ink color for Octarians to have, which meant he wasn't that far behind the group, since the ink hasn't disappeared yet.

Soon, he saw a warm glow coming from behind a one of the many sunlights that dotted the roof. As he approached, he heard a commanding voice yell from across the roof. "Private! I need you on look-out, make sure no one sneaks up on us. And stop complaining before I Court Martial you!" Whoever it was, they did not sound happy.

Logan heard snow shuffle from the same direction, most likely the private assigned to lookout, and panicked. Thinking quickly, he leapt behind a nearby ceiling vent, hoping the guard didn't hear him, or see his foot prints. Peeking over the edge, he saw the soldier walk around the corner of one of the snow covered skylights of the conference hall with a flashlight to see where she was going. She donned the standard issue Octoling Assault Force gear, which didn't consist of much since is was sunny most of the year. The 'uniform,' if it could be considered that, was simply a pair of shorts, combat boots, and a midriff revealing top with a metal plate strapped over it.

"Stupid Commander and her stupid requirements for uniforms, and stupid snow, and making me go out into the cold," the guard mumbled, shivering like a leaf on a windy day. "Why couldn't she do it herself and let me guard the Demo next to the fire," she continued, "oh yeah, 'because I'm the leader and leaders don't do guard duty.' Blaugh!."

Logan ducked behind the vent again. Apparently she was in a horrible mood about guard duty. He, of course wasn't very surprised, considering that it was nearly 20 degrees out. Even in his thick jacket and wool lined boots, he could still feel the cold's touch.

He heard footsteps come over to his hiding place, causing his breath to hitch in his throat. "Awesome," the guard moaned, a slight warping sound could be heard as she leaned against the vent, "These vents are still on and blowing out hot air!" She sighed in pleasure, relieved to have found a source of heat in this forsaken weather, even if it is recycled air from the room below.

She then let off a slight yawn, smacking her lips afterwards. "Hmm, a short nap wouldn't hurt anyone, after all, who's gonna be on a rooftop at night?" she muttered sleepily. Shortly after, Logan heard quiet snoring.

Logan let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. Coming out from his hiding place and around to the front, he found that the young guard was actually asleep. He shook his head, sighing at her laziness. "You really shouldn't be asleep on the job private," he murmured mostly to himself, "but I'll let you go this one time." By this time, the moon was already above the horizon, bathing the area in an eerie, white glow. So, he really couldn't blame the guard for falling asleep, as she was probably awaken early in the morning for this operation. With a shake of his head, he took off his jacket, which he may or may not have stolen from Jelly Fresh, and threw it around her shoulders to help keep her warm. He scurried off quickly afterwards. In his haste, however, Logan didn't see the guard snuggle deeper into his warm jacket, entering a deep sleep with a smile on her face.

Logan came up to the skylight that the, now sleeping guard, came around and crouched low behind it. Peeking past the corner, he saw two Octolings in the low light of a fire made out of starter logs. One with seaweed in her hair and a pair of goggles pushed above her eyes, and the other with a bandolier of bombs running across her chest, along with having a darker skin color and lacking an eye. It seemed as if, who he assumed was, the Demo was working on some form of explosive while the other one, the 'Commander', relaxed in a camo print folding chair next to the fire.

Logan leaned back around the corner, and exhaled. He knew he needed a plan to take these two out. He got lucky with the lookout, but these two? He had to be careful, since the 'Commander' was an Octoling Elite. Someone who is the top of her class in combat and espionage and would not hesitate to drop him the first second she got.

He looked back around the corner to make sure the two didn't move from their original position. Thankfully, they were still doing what they were doing before, none the wiser to his presence. "I need a plan," he whispered to himself. He concentrated for a few moments about what he could do about these two before coming up with a simple, yet smart, idea. Step One: Use the light source to his advantage and sneak around to behind the team and take them out. Step Two: Disarm whatever bomb they have. Step Three: Haul ass off the roof. Simple.

Running on his toes, the lone Octoling moved quickly to the other side of the light circle, the familiar, and unwelcomed, sound of snow crunching beneath his feet on his way to his next hiding spot.

Ducking into his next hiding spot, Logan gave a sigh of relief, thankful that he was no longer in the open, and out of sight. This relief was soon shattered though, as he heard someone stand. Peaking around the corner, he saw it was the Commander.

"She's so Court Martialed," the commander muttered angrily, while putting another, large starter log on the fire, which had a smoke screen covering it. "Demo! Grab your weapon, that useless private let someone past her!" The Demo immediately dropped what she was doing (she literally dropped the IED she was building) and grabbed a modified .96 Gal. This modified version of the weapon had 6 chambers instead of the normal plastic drum that the weapon normally has, and strangely enough, no place for an Ink Tank to attach to. She then, surprisingly, grabbed a bottle of whiskey.

"Let's give'em what they came for!" she yelled in a drunken, scottish slur. She loaded a few over-sized ink rounds into the chambers of the modified weapon, then took a swig from the bottle. The commander herself grabbed a double barreled weapon from a bag of supplies and loaded two more of the same, but smaller shells into it. This, like the previous weapon, had no slot for an Ink Tank.

With a sigh at her ally, she shouted over at Logan's hiding place. "We know you're over there, now come on out and we may not kill you!" He was done in, and he knew this. The Demo put up the viewfinder on her .96 Gal and squinted down the sight while the Commander turned the safety off on her weapon. "You'd better hurry before we go over there ourselves and give you a rife ass-kickin'!" So, it was with a defeated sigh, he stepped into the light where the two could see him.

"Oh, so it's the traitor that's sneaking up on us," the Commander said, "not surprised. Ever since you started helping these pea-brained brats, it was a gimme that I'd run into you eventually." She smirked. Finally, she had found the defect defect.

Meanwhile, Logan was panicking. He had no clue what to say or do. He was outgunned and outnumbered by these two. The only way he was coming out of this situation was in a body bag. Not being a fan of this, he stalled his inevitable fate. "Oh, fancy meeting you up here, Magnus, when'd you get here," he asked the now identified commander, the brighter fire and closer distance allowing him to see her face.

"Oh quit acting stupid," she groaned, shaking her head, "you know very well why we're up here, or else you wouldn't be here."

"Hmm, nope, no clue," he replied, acting clueless about the situation. This caused Magnus's eye to twitch in annoyance. He got a good chuckle out of annoying the general.

"You'd better close your trap if you know what's good for you," she threatened, lifting her weapon at Logan and making him flinch, "the price on your head is high enough at this point to give me an early retirement if I were to bring it back, even in tiny pieces" She smirked evilly as she sighted the weapon, getting ready to kill this nuisance. Logan's pupils turned into pinpricks. He realized that he needed to be anywhere except for here, and looked around in a panic for an escape route. However, fate would be kind this day, and greed would be his savior.

"Aye mate!" the Demo yelled at her teammate, "you'd better be sharing that bounty with me!" Her superior just chuckled.

"Oh you," she laughed, "of course I won't. I'm a higher rank than you and I have no reason to pay my subordinates, especially if they're drunk on the job." This only ticked the Demo off, causing her to face the leader.

"Oi! You have no clue what fire you're stroking lass!" She yelled, holstering her .96 Gal higher. This didn't intimidate the Elite whatsoever, and infact, caused her to enter a fit of laughter

"Oh please!" she said, exasperated, "a drunkard like yourself can barely stand, let alone actually fight! Just go back to arming the explosive and downing your cheap whiskey." She was angering the Demo, and she knew it. The drunkard herself had a particularly bright flame in her eye, and that flame was the flame of rage. She flicked her eye over to the bottle in her hand and over to the back of her superior's head, grinning.

"Bet that put you in your place, huh," Magnus taunted to the demolitions expert. She looked away from her and back at Logan, who was standing there with a cheeky smile on his face. The Demo flipped her hold on the bottle to grip it by the neck, and prepped to swing it.

"Why are you smiling, you frea-" she spat, only to be cut off by a bottle to the back of the head. As she stumbled forward clutching her head where the bottle hit, The Demo was already preparing her next hit. When the general spun to face her attack she received a lovely gift in the form of a fist, downing her instantly.

"If you were hunting trouble lass, ya found it!" The demolitions expert exclaimed, taking a gulp out of a notingly unbroken bottle. Magnus used this distraction to her advantage and kicked the Demo in the knees, bringing causing her to howl in pain and fall to the ground. Her bottle fell to the snow, landing upright. With a growl, Magnus launched herself at her enemy, pinning her to ground. However, this prevented her from seeing a specific male octoling running away in a less-than-manly way.

Looking out from the cover he hid behind, Logan saw the two brawling. Throwing punches at each other and tussling on the ground. Scanning the roof further, he found the reason he came to the roof, the bomb. Then, without a second thought, he ran over to the device. He gave the device a once over before attempting to disarm it.

'Let's see, red wire, green switch… ooh a passcode,' he thought as he worked on the device, flipping various switch and mashing buttons like it were a game. However, in his "concentration" he failed to realize the fight going on behind him had stopped, and Magnus won. With shaky footing, she limped over to the oblivious octoling as he concentrated on the device. Stepping behind him, she kicked him, and hard, sending him sprawling across the roof.

He flipped to be on his back to try to stand again, only to have a heavy boot to be stomped on to his chest, knocking the wind out of him. Looking up at the owner of the boot, he saw that a black-eye was forming on her face, and there was blood going down her chin from her nose, which was most likely broken. "What happened to you, princess?" he smirked. She then kicked him in the face.

"Had to teach that greedy bitch a lesson in superiority," she said, spitting a tooth out. "Now, it's time to make moolah." She pulled her weapon out it's holster and aimed it at his face. "Any last words, maggot?"

Flicking his eyes quickly, he tried to think of someway out of this situation, but none presented itself. He knew he had to attack her, or die trying. So, with determination in his eyes, he yelled.

"REMEMBER THE SQUITAMO!"

"What?" Magnus said surprise, only to be tripped to the ground by Logan. He quickly pounced on her, pinning her to the ground, preventing from moving. He pulled his hand back and landed a heavy punch directly onto her already blackened eye, causing her to scream. She kicked him in the stomach in retaliation.

He stumbled off of her from the the kick, holding his stomach. As he was recovering, Magnus stood back up. Her eye was now bleeding profusely, most likely ruptured from that last hit, but that wasn't going to stop her. She threw herself at Logan, pinning him to the ground and wrapping her hands around his neck.

She grinned at him like a mad woman as he struggled against her. "You've been interfering with everyone's lives for way too long! You went AWOL, then started helping these stupid Squids." She tightened her grip around his neck. "You imprisoned Octavio, and stripped our future away from us!"

Logan was starting to run out of breathe. If he didn't do something NOW he was not gonna be around to do anything! So, he did the only thing he could. He reached up and jabbed her in the base of the throat, causing her to immediately start coughing and loosen her grip around his neck. He took the opening and immediately rolled, forcing himself to be on top once more.

He pinned her arms to the ground and glared at her. "OCTAVIO CONTROLLED US ALL!" he screamed, "If it wasn't for me, you would still be a slave!"

"He promised us a future! And you tore it away!" Magnus yelled back with tears in her eyes.

"NO HE DIDN'T! He wanted only power and revenge! He couldn't have cared less about us!"

Magnus looked at him with pure malice. "I refuse to listen to a traitor!" she spat at him. She tried to push him off, but couldn't.

Logan looked at her sympathetically. "Sometimes, you just have to Magnus. Octavio lied to you, to all of us. You just have to accept that."

Magnus stared. "No," was all she said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a switch, the detonator to the IED. "I WILL DIE FOR US OCTAVIO! I WILL KILL THE TRAITOR!"

Logan's eyes bulged, and he looked down into Magnus's hand, just to see her thumb slam on to the trigger. He looked back up into her eye, and saw her crying.

"NO! Not ano-!" was all he managed to say before the bomb exploded. It pushed him off of Magnus, and towards the skylights. As he flew away from her, he watched as she was engulfed in the firey inferno.

He crashed through the skylight, causing all of the people below to scream in panic. He impacted the conference table that the guest appearances were at, causing it (and most of his cartilagic ribs) to break instantly. He hit the floor, knocking the wind out of him followed by a horrible crunching sound.

Wincing in pain, he opened his eyes in an attempt to not fall asleep, but all he could see was a pair of blurry, amber orbs piercing into his soul. He then heard a stabbing screech and watched as the bottom of a shoe came down onto his face...

WOW! WHAT'S THIS!? Two uploads in a single week, much less one day away from each other?

Now now now, before you get excited, no, this doesn't mean I'm going to be working on fanfiction more. This was simply a post for a story idea I had a long time ago back when I was 15. It's been sitting in my drive for a long time and I decided I wanted to post it. The idea was to have this be a prologue chapter to a gritty war story, however I decided against it in the end. Instead, I want to do a much less original story. All I know right now is that it will involve the plot of the first (or second) game, have an octoling as the lead, and involve him helping the protagonists. Something like Inkling of Sympathy, but not as good and less original.

Or you know, I could just do something like One of the Worst since it was an idea that I liked so much. Who knows? That's all I wanted to say for now.

Chao!