( You might be wondering what took me so long to post the second story when I mentioned I had already written the whole thing. Well, I needed to re write the middle of it because I became increasing annoyed by how I wrote it. It's a lot better now. By my standards anyway, which are quite low considering that it's this story. Oh, and guess the obvious song is always in play, if you can guess the song, congrats, you win a thumbs up from hopper. I still find it amazing that people actually enjoy this, I mean, are you reading the same thing I am? Anyway, I'm gonna stop rambling. This is the chapter where things start Happening weeeeee )

-chapterstart-

The inkling walks out of grizzco industries.

"Well done kid! Get your payment at the window."

He walks over, and grabs a piece of paper.

"1000 credits?!"

"It's a tough job, and you pulled your weight. Well done. Feel free to come back anytime."

The inkling breaks into a smile.

"YES! I have more then enough!"

He bolts away, heading in an unknown direction.

"That kid's goin places. Big places."

-segmentline-

"You're home..."

Karl stumbles to the couch and falls onto it.

"I'm just gonna go now..."

Karl gets up and coughs.

"No, don't, I need to talk to you."

Rece looks at him for a moment, before walking over and sitting down.

"What do you need...?"

Karl shakes his head a bit.

"I need you... To check on my sister."

Rece raises an eyebrow.

"But..."

"She lives in the outskirts, with her boyfriend and kid. She didn't come to the wedding, and while I'm sure it's just because they didn't want to bring the kid, I still want to make sure."

Rece blinks.

"I... Ok..."

"Just follow the path of burnt bushes. Fizz really doesn't like bushes for whatever reason."

Rece laughs.

"Well...ok...but if I don't come back after a day, come looking for me...ok...?"

Karl nods.

"You'll be fine. The only thing out there is Zoey."

Rece nods, and gets up to leave.

"Get some rest..."

He closes the door.

-segmentline-

Fizz stumbles into his apartment, with Sarah following.

"Ugh...I've never drank that much, ever..."

Sarah giggles and lies down on the couch.

"I'm so druuuunk... Ehehe..."

Fizz picks up her feet, and sits down.

"Who's more drunk...*hic* me, or you?"

Sarah adjusts herself so that her head is on fizz's lap.

"Whichever answer gets me fucked faster..."

"I'm too drunk for this..."

"Fiiiiine... Tomorrow then..."

"Yesss... Toooomorrow."

Fizz moves himself so that he's laying down with Sarah on top of him.

"I'm tired. Sleep time..."

Sarah sighs.

"Yeah..."

They fall asleep, unknown to them, a note on the coffee table goes unread...

-segementline-

"Is it ready?"

"I'm working as fast as I can. If you give me space, I can finish it by next week."

"That's far too slow. We need it done, now."

"I can't rush it, it could short out or worse, explode! You can't hurry me."

"That's not my problem, we need it done! Time is running out, and the window is closing, if we miss it, we'll never get this chance again!"

"I get that, but if I rush this, it won't matter! Tell you what, if I leave some stuff out, I can have it finished in three days. Good?"

"Yes, perfect. That will give us just enough time to prepare."

"How do expect to get past... Them... Anyway?"

"They won't bother. They haven't been in action for ages! We will face little resistance."

"And if we don't? We will have many problems."

"Maybe. But we have a plan..."

"Which would be...?"

"It's not important right now. What is important, is that you finish this thing!"

"I'm going. As fast. AS I CAN!"

"You aren't trying hard enough."

"Oh yeah? What happens when he finds out? He's not going to take it lightly, especially after what happened."

"He... Shut up. He's not important."

"Yeah he is. You need to address the real problems here! All this planning goes up in smoke if anyone finds out."

"Look, he won't find out. I made sure of it."

"You say that..."

"Because I did! He may have forgotten about us, but he'll eventually remember. And then what? That's why I took care of it."

"Yeah, well. We aren't going after him. We're going after-"

"I know who we're going after, thanks. That's not the point."

"The octarians are planning something... You've seen it too, right?"

"They've rebuilt the octoking. Of course they're planning something. But we shouldn't have any problems from them."

"What if-"

"No. And even if they do, agent three will deal with it."

"She hasn't been seen in years! How are we supposed to rely on her?"

"She's around. With the square being built, I'm sure she'll want to come and see it."

"I guess... And what about the sisters? What are we gonna do about them?"

"I don't know. They shouldn't be a problem."

"Everything's not a problem to you."

"Because nothing is! This is all going according to plan. If this damn thing didn't take almost four years to build, I'm sure we would've already acheved our goal."

"Yeah, I guess. Just don't get cocky."

"Mhmm. I'll be back soon, I have some scoping to do."

"Good luck with that."

-segmentline-

Hold on, what the hell is going on? Why are there no bridge sentences? Who the hell is talking there?

( Stop interrupting! You'll have to find out. )

Fine, I won't interrupt anymore.

"Ugh..."

Fizz blinks a couple of times to adjust to the light.

"My fucking head..."

Sarah snuggles more onto fizz.

"Mmm... So warm."

Fizz rubs her tentacles a bit, causing her to relax.

He moves out from under slowly, trying not to wake her up.

He sets her down softly, and walks into the kitchen.

"Aw, fuck... This is why I don't drink..."

He rubs his head, and turns on the sink.

He splashes some water onto his face, and exhales.

"Hey..."

Sarah walks in, holding her head.

"How bad is it for you?"

"My head is pounding like crazy..."

Sarah smiles.

"My head feels like someone threw a brick at it, apologised, and then threw another brick."

Fizz laughs.

"Yep, that sounds about right."

Sarah walks over, gives fizz a kiss, and splashes some water on herself.

"That feels a little better, but I need more rest."

They both walk over to the couch again, sitting down.

"Wait, what's this?"

Sarah picks up a note that was on the coffee table.

Fizz shrugs.

"Maybe the landlord wanted something."

Sarah reads the note outloud.

"To whichever of you gets this note first. I am in need of some Assistance. Your position will come in handy in my endeavour. Come to grizzco industries in inkopolis square if interested. I'm sorry for the weird request, but getting a hold of you two is harder then it seems. -mr. Grizz."

Fizz rolls his eyes.

"Never thought I'd see that old bear again."

Sarah puts down the note and looks at fizz.

"Who is he?"

"He helped me a bit back when I killed that girl. He gave me some advice that went a long way."

"What did he say?"

"That I should hold on to the fact that there was no evidence, and depend on Karl's testimony."

Sarah nods.

"It's good advice. But why does he want to talk to you?"

Fizz shrugs.

"I dunno. I shouldn't blow this off though."

He stands up and heads for the door.

"Oh, you can get started with the packing, if you want. I'll see what grizz wants and get back as soon as I can."

Sarah gives him a kiss and pushes him out.

"See you later, love you!"

"Love you too."

Fizz closes the door, and walks off.

-segmentline-

"It's too early for this..."

Rece trudges through the outskirts.

"I'm sure she's fine... But it's not like I had anything better to do..."

He rubs his eyes and looks ahead.

"How long away is she...? I've already been walking for like an hour..."

His phone buzzes.

"Mmm...?"

He pulls his phone out and stares at it.

"Don't go any farther...?"

He frowns and looks ahead.

"The shack is right there..."

He looks at his phone again.

"Who sent me this...?"

He shakes his head and walks forward.

He opens the door to the shack and gasps.

The shack looks like it's been ransacked. Furniture broken and tossed aside, with the bedroom door sitting off its hinges.

"Oh no..."

He pulls out his phone and begins typing a message.

"I warned you."

Rece narrows his eyes and throws a punch behind him, hitting and making the unknown man stumble.

He kicks him, causing him to fall on the floor.

"Who are you...!"

The man coughs and groans.

"Oof... I came to warn you..."

He starts to get up, but Rece puts his foot on his chest.

"Tell me who you are first...!"

The man sighs.

"Well, name's John, but I'm sure you knew that."

Rece facepalms, and lets his foot up.

"Oh... sorry...I've just never seen you before..."

John gets up and nods.

"I get it. Rece, right? Fizz is very good at descriptions it seems."

Rece nods and looks around.

"What happened here...?"

John shakes a bit.

"A group of...something's... Came in here and threw everything apart before taking Zoey and Jamie away..."

Rece raises an eyebrow.

"A group of something's...? As in, not inkling or octoling...?"

John nods and pulls the couch back over.

"I saw an isopod and some sort of jellyfish, but that's it."

"What happened to you...?"

"I was knocked out. They shouted something about 'keeping it secret', so they took that lamp, and smashed it on me."

He points to a pile of broken glass.

Rece shakes his head and sits down.

"That's... Terrible..."

John puts his hand on his head.

"I..."

He does a shaky sigh, before taking a breath.

"Look, please don't worry anybody about this. This is my problem, not yours."

Rece frowns.

"But we can help... We've had this kind of thing happen before..."

John nods.

"Exactly. That's why telling them wouldn't help. I know what happened back then, Anthony almost killed himself, and Sarah almost died from a bullet wound. I refuse to let that happen to any of you."

Rece slowly nods before turning away.

"Look, just go back, and tell Karl everything here is fine. Please."

Rece stands up, and gives John a hug before walking out.

John sighs.

"Where did they take you..."

-segmentline-

Fizz arrives at the grizzco building, and knocks on the gate.

"Who's there?"

"It's fizz."

He hears the gate slowly open.

He walks in, looking around the building.

"Hey fizz."

Fizz takes a look at the bear statue in front of him.

"Hey grizz, what's up?"

The bear statue shifts a bit, before sighing.

"I need your help with something..."

Fizz shrugs.

"It can't be that bad. You helped me, so why can't I help you?"

The bear "nods".

"You know Pearl and Marina, right? The newscasters?"

Fizz smiles.

"I'm their manager, officially anyway."

Grizz jumps up.

"Really?! Oh, this'll be easy then!"

He hands him a piece of paper.

"This is a favor that Pearl owes me. She asked for some money a while ago, and I told her when I needed help, I would call on her."

Fizz takes the paper and nods.

"But why didn't you just tell her yourself?"

"They keep blocking my calls. I doubt that's Pearl's fault, they are famous after all, but I can't get near them. Figuring out where you live was easier."

Fizz rolls his eyes.

"Alright, so you want them to..."

He reads over the paper.

"Advertise your company, as well as take weekly shifts?"

Grizz nods.

"I have an... Let's say attraction, to golden eggs. The salmonoids lay them, and to get them, you have to go out into their lands and splat them."

Fizz shrugs.

"Doesn't seem too hard."

"Yeah, until the big ones get word and start trying to kill you."

Fizz blinks.

"That's... Wait, you're hiring teenage inklings for this?!"

Grizz shifts a bit.

"I pay good money, and you only get killed if the whole team goes down. I've recruited hundreds, and I've never had anyone die."

Fizz frowns.

"Alright, I'll get this to them."

Fizz waves at the statue and turns around.

"Oh, and fizz? If you're ever in need of some extra cash, I'll be happy to send you out."

"I'll keep that in mind."

-segmentline-

"How's my husband doing~?"

Arron rolls his eyes and turns around.

"Oh, just fine, thanks. Just getting used to the new place."

Anthony looks around.

"It's almost identical to our last place though..."

Arron smirks.

"Yeah, but the living room doesn't have traces of yellow and red everywhere."

Anthony grins and nods.

"Yeah, maybe we should fix that sometime."

Arron streches and goes back to cooking.

"Save it for the honeymoon, pal."

Anthony laughs.

"I feel bad for whoever's gonna clean that room. When is our honeymoon anyway?"

"Not for a while. The resort we picked had honeymoons booked up to next month."

Anthony shrugs.

"Meh, we can hang out with everyone else win the meantime."

Arron takes the pancakes off of his pants and sets them on plates.

They sit down and begin eating.

"Mm. Maybe we should go out with fizz and Karl tonight."

"And get wasted again? The hangover I have is fine, thanks."

"No, I mean like to the concert tonight."

"Who's preforming?"

"Off the hook, turquoise October, and a new band I believe."

"New band? Fizz and Sarah love new bands. Let's do it."

Anthony smiles and adds themselves, Fizz and Sarah, and Karl and Callie to a group chat.

Anthony: Yo, anyone wanna go to that concert later? They got a new band playing!

He sets the phone down.

"I guess we'll see how that goes."

His phones starts buzzing.

"Woah, that was fast."

He reads it.

Fizz: well, I'm running an errand, and Sarah is packing up the house, but we should be free by then. Why's this happening again?

Anthony: Off the hook are celebrating their news reporter job. Don't you know this?

Callie: I'm free, but Karl seems on edge about something. All these new bands are really entertaining to listen to.

Karl: I'm waiting for someone currently, but I will be free by then. And I am not on edge, what gave you that idea?

Callie: The message you sent me that said you were on edge...?

Sarah: I'm only about half done packing, and we still have to move all the stuff, so...

Fizz: I'll be back to help you later, don't worry.

Arron: You guys don't have to go, it was just an idea.

Fizz: No, I want to go. I've seen the new band around before, and they sound good. Plus, who doesn't like turquoise october?

Callie: I've already ordered the tickets, so everyone better show up!

Fizz: I'm gonna be there anyway, remember? I'm off the hook's manager.

Karl: Yeah, but you can't be in the seating area unless you have a ticket.

Fizz: I stand backstage during their preformance, but I do have to leave after they're done, so I guess you have a point.

Anthony: so is everyone going then? Are we agreed?

Karl: sure, sounds fun. Just, no drinking, ok?

Fizz: I'm going. I was anyway, but you know.

Sarah: If fizz goes, I go.

Callie: I bought the tickets, so...

Arron: then it's settled. Meet us outside fizz's new building before the concert.

They set down their phones.

"Alright, plan made. What do we do until then?"

Arron shrugs.

"TV?"

"Yeah, sure."

-segmentline-

"How's it coming?"

"Pretty good. It'll be done on time if that's what your worried about."

"That's not what I'm worried about. You saw what happened to that shack in the outskirts, right?"

"Yeah. That could be a problem."

"Why leave the man though? That's what bothers me."

"No idea... But if we have to do something, we will. This will go off without a hitch.

"Yeah, yeah. I wouldn't worry about it too much... But if it was the octarians, we definitely have something to watch out for."

"Augh!"

"What? What happened?"

"Fucking fuse blew... I need a new one."

"I can't go out tonight, there's a concert!"

"Well, then this isn't getting finished. Just stay out of sight. As long as they aren't at the concert, you'll be fine."

"They will be, and you know that! This is getting ridiculous. All this over a breakup and a murder..."

"He deserves it. And that will never change..."

"So you keep saying, but this could bring more then we expected out. We must be careful."

"I should be the one worried, not you. This is my revenge..."

"I'm not letting you do this, not by yourself."

"Yeah..."

"Look, I'll just get the fuse. It'll be fine."

"Good. Good..."

-segmentline-

Fizz puts his phone away and walks up to the new studio door.

He knocks on it, and hears someone yelp from the other side.

The door slowly opens and Marina peeks out.

"Oh, fizz! Come in!"

She opens the door all the way, and she pulls Fizz in.

"What's up? Me and pearl were just getting ready for the concert."

"The concert that's in 6 hours?"

"We like to practice a lot beforehand."

Pearl walks in, and upon seeing Fizz, grins and walks over.

"My main manager man fizzie! How's it going?"

Fizz cringes at the name, and hands her the paper.

"Grizz wanted me to give this to you, to return a favor you owed him."

Pearl looks at the paper and shrugs.

"Well, we were already gonna advertise his company anyway, but the weekly shifts thing is interesting..."

Marina sits up and messes with her chair.

"Why would we need to take weekly shifts...?"

"No clue, I'm just delivering this because he couldn't contact you."

Pearl groans.

"I told the secretary to let his calls through! Ugh, she's getting her pay docked for this..."

Fizz laughs.

"Well, I need to help Sarah pack up everything, so I'll see you two tonight."

Marina gives fizz a hug.

"You know, we can help you, if you want."

Fizz looks at pearl in suprise.

"...Really?"

"Yeah, really. It's not much trouble."

Fizz pets one of Marina's tentacles on instinct, and Marina purrs.

"Oh! Sorry, when someone hugs me for this long I guess I just assume it's Sarah."

Marina lets go and sighs.

"I don't mind... That feels really nice."

Pearl smiles.

"Well, that's good to know. Thanks fizz!"

"No problem. Now, do you have a way I could transport my stuff?"

"Me and pearl could super jump to each other, and then back to you."

Pearl nods.

"Good idea. I'll head to the new building, you go back with him, and tell Sarah to come to me."

Fizz nods, and starts leading Marina out.

"Hey fizz?"

"Hmm?"

"Why do you like octolings so much? Most of the inklings I've met are super negative torwards them..."

"Simple. I don't like inklings."

Marina frowns.

"But, wait..."

"I know. But I just... Never liked inklings. I blame my parents, and school."

"But why do you like octolings then?"

"Because they don't fuck around. They don't care what anyone else thinks, they only care what they think."

Marina sighs.

"It's that mentality that made the military take over..."

Fizz frowns.

"Maybe. But here? They just seem like no nonsense."

"Is part of it because we're like sex machines?"

"Maybe a little. It's entertaining to see how far you'll go to be honest."

Marina smiles.

"Yeah..."

"Are you ever gonna confess to pearl?"

Marina's eyes fly open and she stammers for a moment.

"H-how did you know?!"

"I see the way you look at her. Plus, the flirting at the reception seemed a bit real."

Marina moves her tentacles away from her face.

"I don't know... Does she even like girls? I just don't want to make everything weird..."

"You'll never know unless you try. Also, how are you not going insane?"

"Being lesbian is so rare in octoling culture it changes the way our body works."

"Woah, so you're more like an inkling?"

"Yeah... But being around pearl still messes with me..."

Fizz smirks.

"How about I see if I can get some hint on whether she likes you or not?"

Marina sighs.

"Please. I would love that."

Fizz nods and opens the door to his building.

"Well, let's get this done."