"Is this place even habitable to anything?" This was the fifteenth time Marie heard this today. For her, it was getting old. Cuttlefish had found evidence of Salmonids in this certain area opposite of Octo Valley. Everyone wanting to give Agent 3 a break after the rematch with Octavio one week ago, the cousins went out themselves to investigate.
"We hardly even started and you're whining." Callie saw no point in this investigation whatsoever. Marie also had her doubts about any threat the Salmonids posed but knew they would regret not checking it later if they were attacked. "You act like we skipped lunch or something."
They trudged on through the area, knowing there wasn't much to see. Few Chums and Smallfrys were watching their progression, most focused on their own young. Soon they stumbled upon a few who were resting in the shade of a nearby boulder.
"Ew, they're even more disgusting in person" Marie muttered. "What kind of threat is this supposed to be?"
"Ugh, I'm not touching it." Callie chimed back.
A smaller Salmonid was awoken by their approach and went up to the two squids. Callie noticed the green ink-like trail it left behind. They stared each other down for what was like an eternity. The young Smallfry continued it's approach to Marie, and then bit her foot.
She panicked.
Callie, in turn, panicked. Not because she was afraid of the little fish, but because her cousin panicked, something she wasn't expecting.
"SPLAT IT CALLIE! SPLAT IT!"
Quickly the Squid Sister brought down her roller on the Smallfry, instantly disposing of the creature. They both stood there, staring at the spot the Salmonid was just at. Their eyes soon turned to each other as they were processing what had just happened. This didn't last long however, as they had woken and captured the attention of every one of the Salmonids in the area. They turned around to face the growing shadow of a very upset Steelhead and it's companions.
"You remember what you said back when Agent 3 fought Octavio for the first time?" Callie asked.
"You mean about the best offensive is running for your life?" Marie replied.
"Yup."
"Good idea."
With that the squids ran down the hill in a rush, keeping ahead of the mob that was storming them down the rocky terrain. Callie noticed a spot where they could hide from the impending wave of fish.
"Here!" She said as she grabbed Marie by the tentacle. Dragging her in the hiding spot.
After the mob passed, both of the stars breathed a sigh of relief.
"Heh, not so boring now, huh?" The singer got out as they caught their breath. She turned her gaze to the object her cousin was looking at. "What is THAT?"
I * I * I * I
Back at Cuddlefish's shack two old men were doing their best to pass the time.
"Ya realize that even IF these fish fry are a threat, what can they even do compared to my army?" Boomed the king of the Octarians. His days in the snow globe had become more and more uneventful. Even to the point of talking alone to himself on the slow ones.
"Hrmph" Capt'n Cuttlefish turned to his old friend. "Much if they warrant a quick nod from the government. I need to take all things into consideration when something might happen." The Salmonid problem was one thing the old man hadn't expected nor any experience with. He wanted to be sure of what he was walking into before trying to contact any authorities if a threat emerged.
"Did ya take into consideration your inksqurts taking so long. Perhaps they realized you're just looking into everything with a loose connection."
Cuttlefish sighed. "Agent 1 and 2 are the most able squids for this, they wouldn't bail out without a good reason. These fish, as you said, should be nothing compared to your army." Yet deep down Cuttlefish began to wonder what was going on. "I always have Agent 3 for backup..." He muttered.
I * I * I * I
The two agents of Squidbeak were standing in awe at the spectacle in front of them. What they thought was just a hole appeared to be an entrance to a small cave-like tunnel. The Salmonids where long gone by now, so they had little to worry about from outside.
What truly caught their attention, however, was what appeared to be ancient relics. Most of everything in the area appeared to be in impressive shape compared to what had been found from digging, if not impressive. To their left was a board if ancient writings and pictures hanging on the cave wall. Their left had a strange looking piece of machinery that had never been seen (nor used) in years. Next to it was several accessories that were meant for something slightly larger than an Inkling, one being a trenchcoat. Scattered across the floor were several papers that succumbed to old age and illegible to anything. Right in front of them stood what looked a computer terminal, beyond that a steel door blocked the entrance.
Walking up to the console, Callie tried to make sense of all the individual symbols and markings on the device. "I've never seen anything like this."
Marie looked over the computer over in confusion. "How did this thing hold power for so long. The ancient elder race died out forever ago." She turned to look for the power source of the terminal.
Callie looked over the keys and the mouse with awe "I thought the ancients were primitive based on the findings in the Piranha Pit and Corral Cove." She started fiddling with the controls "This works almost like our own computers and such."
She soon had managed to open up a loading bar. Not quite knowing what it was loading. Marie had gotten bored of trying to open the hatch and went to see what her cousin was doing.
"Well, you found a loading screen" She was clearly unimpressed with her cousin found.
"I know but what is it loading?" Callie whined.
Just then the machine to their right started to activate, catching both of them off guard. The agents reached for their weapons, Callie stood closer while Marie got some distance for her charger.
"No signal, I can't contract Gramps" Marie reported after trying the communicator.
The machine began to open up, both agents could make out a figure in the machine. Taller than an Inkling or Octoling, one foot in fact. Even in the darkness of the cave they saw how it lacked tentacles, instead it had black fuzz. They noticed two scars along each of his arms that appeared to surgical to have been an accident. Also... nevermind, you probably know where this is going.
The figure dragged himself out of the pod. His vision impaired by the long sleep and darkness of the cave, he took no note of the differentness of the squids compared to him. Instead, he lied down on the cave floor and said with a smile.
"Don't kiss me, morning breath."
From the voice they knew it was a male. He got up and looked around the room. taking in all that he could hardly see. "Welp I'm assuming this place isn't as bad as I thought. The smell is fine, but we're in a cave..." he turned to Marie "The two of you did wake me, right?"
Marie, for the first time in awhile, as was at loss of words. Nothing they had experienced had prepared them for this moment.
"Eh, nevermind, I know that. So how long has it been? Feels like I only just started that nap." He turned to the cousins " Are you just not that chatty?" His view was clearing, but still in need of work. "Hold that, let me get my crap real quick."
The squids just watched as he put on the trenchcoat and spun around in a childlike fashion.
With his eyes adjusted, he turned to look at his rescuers, freezing after taking a good look at them. Their staredown didn't last forever, as the human was the first to move in an attempt to exit the cave. Callie made the first move to block his path.
"Hey, calm down. were not here to hurt you." She tried to ease him down.
"What..." Was all he was able to get out.
Marie, however, was not so easy on him "What kind of Octarian are you?" She snapped, getting a look from her partner.
"I... am what?!" He asked dumbfounded.
The human activated a light so he could get a better look at the Squids. This gave Callie and Marie a good look at him. They noticed several scars along his lower legs and temples, just like the ones on his arms, almost surgical in position.
Giving each other that relative look relatives give, they both realized that they couldn't afford to just leave him there. The human stood there as he realized that something was up.
The next ten minutes was difficult for the Squid Sisters. Callie tried to coax him into coming with him.
"We don't want to hurt you" to "We can help with um... something!"
Marie, realizing that this wasn't going to work, beckoned Callie to just quit. She pulled out a tranquilizer blow dart (Isn't carrying junk useful at times?) to knock him out. Next order of business was dragging him back to the shack. They tried to just pull him, but he proved to be heavier than he looked. After a lot of trial and error, they found that towing him by a rope while dragging him in the ink trail of Callie's roller was a very effective way to go. Luckily, the mob of fish hadn't returned from searching from elsewhere, so the trip back was smooth. About halfway back they were in range for the radio transmissions, so Marie sent a message that they had found something and were returning.
Satisfied that Cuttlefish now knew they were returning, the two eased up on their pace, having to hike due to their package they had. Marie wasn't really concerned if he had woke up at all during the trip, but Callie had doubts of her own.
"What do we do when he wakes up?" Callie pondered. Breaking their silence form what had been an hour since they started.
"Your concerned that a member of an elder race is going to wake up while tied up being dragged through your ink and do any harm to us?" Marie jested sarcastically. "We should be fine until we report back."