Entry 3: Panic on the Halfpipes


"I have to say, Deej, when you sent that message out yesterday, I thought you were talking about some rando off the street," Shades spoke as the team walked the path to the lobby. "Not something that would garner... a crowd."

Indeed. There was a rather substantial amount of Inklings and Octolings gathered around whatever screens had enough room to fit them. The Inklings seemed more invested in what was going to transpire, whereas the Octolings were more curious about the crowds.

"What are ya on about?" Deej asked. "Even if we challenged some mid-tier shmuck, we'd've gotten an audience. After all, we're Team Bangaichi! A bunch of no-names!"

Shades gave the headphones wearing Octoling a slight glare. "I don't know how I feel about you taking pride in our status as 'no-names'."

"I'm just not sure when we agreed on our team name being 'Bangaichi'," Eighter added. "I mean, what even is that? What language is that even in?"

"I think it's from an old human language," Shades answered. "I used to study it back in school, but... human languages are just too damn weird. Not only are the a few thousand, but they all go by their own rules."

"Sounds stupid," Eighter muttered. While her status as the team amnesiac meant she didn't really know as much as she might have about old languages, she at least understood enough to know she generally doesn't care about them. Speaking of speaking, though... "Timey, are you alright?" she spoke up to the rather quiet leader. "You haven't said a word all morning."

Timey, as if slapped awake by a rocket propelled truck, almost tripped over himself. "Huh? What? Yeah, I'm fine. Totally fine."

The three gave their leader a stare that basically said 'if you had to say it twice, you're really not'. Well, even if they knew that, they chose not to say anything about it. "Anyway, team name aside," Shapes said, "you never did tell us who we're going up against."

Deej had a particularly bright grin on his face. It was the sort of grin that basically said 'someone here might not have a good time with this news'.

Shades was never a fan of that sort of smile.

"Get this, then," Deej began. "We're going up against none other that S+ ranked Rider."

Shades gave a look of 'what the hell did you do to get an S+ ranked guy to fight you', while Timey had a look of 'oh holy crap'.

Something was definitely wrong if Timey, of all people, was going 'oh holy crap' at the mere mention of Rider's name.

"Are you serious?" he all but yelled. "You... but... why? Why him, of all people?"

Deej looked particularly shocked. "Okay, something's going on," Eighter said. "Your moods been in the dumps all day, you've hardly said a word, you've shown signs that something is CLEARLY bothering you," she listed off each point on a finger for emphasis, "and now you're freaking out about going up against Rider. Do you have bad blood with him or something? Should we call the match off?"

Timey had a rather startled look in his eyes, but after a deep breath, calmed down somewhat. "No. I... I can go on. There's no problem. I'll be fine."

Now that was a load of bull, and they all knew it. If Timey had wanted to be even somewhat convincing, he'd have said 'I'm fine'. The phrase 'I will be fine' all but outright says that, right now, he was not fine.

Actually, scratch that. It does outright say it. It so obviously says 'I'm not alright at the moment', that it can't really be joked about.

Regardless, if he was trying to keep it to himself, all they could do is wait.


Let us take a moment to discuss the 'Lobby System', or LS, as some squids have taken to abbreviating (it's not a very good abbreviation).

The lobby itself was built roughly forty years ago, originally as just that; a lobby. A place for teams to meet up, before making the journey to wherever their match was. After roughly ten years of that, though, people decided 'bugger that', and went about making work-arounds.

What was settled upon, unbeknownst to the general public, was the recreation and advancement of old Octarian technology.

This technology, known as 'Kettles', effectively looked the laws of reality in the face and laughed. With it, one could theoretically travel from one side of the world to the other in a matter of seconds. Of course, that level of travel is only in theory. Even thirty years on since its implementation, society has only managed to get them to go as far as one side of Inkopolis to a few kilometres off out of the other side. Since most matches, be they Turf Wars, Rainmaker, Clam Blitz, Tower Control, or Splat Zone, took place within Inkopolis' limits, there wasn't much need to develop the technology any further.

Folks in the Squidbeak Splatoon are certainly glad that Octo Valley is spitting distance away, huh?


"Y'all know what time it is!" Pearl's voice shouted over the speaker. Well, it was closer to her normal 'speaking over a crowd' voice, but considering it was Pearl, it came out as quite a few octaves louder.

"This is Off the Hook, coming to you live from Blackbelly Skatepark," Marina followed up. "We're here today to bring you the play-by-play of the ten o'clock Turf War."

"And do we have a game for you," Pearl continued, her volume noticeably down a bit. "Instead of just two randos going at it, we've got an actual, honest to Zapfish, challenger vs challengee duel going on here! Now, before the ink starts flying, let's introduce our turf warriors."

The screen flicked over to the team represented by a light pink colour. "For our challengers," Marina started, "we have the curious individuals that make up Team Bangaichi." (Shades: Curious? Eighter: They actually used that name?) "Their leader is an oddball with a heart of gold, and an aim as solid as Sardinium. Give it up for the smiling styler, Timey!" (Timey: Smiling what? And what's does an 'aim as solid as Sardinium' even mean? Shades: Probably just that you have a steady hand.)

"Next, we have his right hand man, the stylin' Deej," Pearl continued. (Deej: Heck yeah, I'm stylin'.) "He may be the quickest shot on the team, but the only thing worse than this aspiring rapster's auto-bomb throwing arm is his ability to rhyme." (Eighter: She's got you there. Deej: Harsh. True, but harsh. Timey: It's alright, you're doing your best.)

"Finally, we have the dynamic lady duo that is Eighter and Shades!" Marina added. (Eighter: Dynamic? Shades: Duo?) "These girls are shrouded in many mysteries, yet there's no mistake that they make up the backbone of this team." (Deej: Ouch. Shades: Kind of them, but untrue.)

There was quite the cheer from the crowd, showing a surprising amount of support for the relatively small-time team. "Man, do you hear them?" Deej shouted, holding his hands (which still held his Tetra Duelies) to his ears. "We are the hype!"

"Correction: We are hyped," Eighter stated bluntly, shouldering her new Roller. "Just because you're excited, doesn't mean you can neglect proper grammar."

Deej gave a pout. "Don't be a grammar cultist, Eighter."

"Says the guy who can't rhyme, or even save a single dime," Shades shot back, adjusting her aviators.

Deej sputtered for a moment, before letting out a sigh. "Can't even be mad at that one."

"And in this corner," Pearl continued, as the cheering finally died down, "we have the veteran turf fighters of Team Yellow-Green, hailing all the way from the good ol' Plaza!"

The screen flicked over to Team Yellow-Green. "For a leader, they have none other than the famed and indomitable Rider, master of the Dynamo Roller," Marina explained.

"And it seems he's brought quite the team with him, too," Pearl added. "Starting off, we have Stealth Goggles," the camera zoomed on a male Inkling wearing a combination of Camo Zip Hoodie, Pro Trail Boots, and the Stealth Goggles he shared his name with, all the while carrying a Jet Squelcher. "He's a massive fan of airsoft sports, from what I've heard. He's also the guy who made a plan so good, it almost beat Team Emperor." (Deej: Oh damn. Shades: Sounds like a good challenge.)

"Next, we have the Heavy Splatling main Bamboo Hat," Marina said. (Eighter: Cod damnit, she's got my shtick. Timey: Wait, when did you trademark the Bamboo-Hat-Splatling combo?) "She's the quiet sort, but we do know she has a fondness for wood carving." (Deej: Damn, she's got more eastern vibes than you do, Eighter. Eighter: I'LL SPLAT HER! Shades: Holy squid, I've never seen her like that. Timey: ha ha ha.)

"And lastly, we have..." there was a brief pause in Marina's speech, as she checked the roster a second time. "Oh my. That's certainly a twist."

"What's up, Reena?" Pearl leaned over, curious.

"Seems Team Yellow-Green has expanded their roster a little since they last participated," Marina continued. "Rather than their usual teammate, School Uniform, they've instead brought in none other than Headphones from old Team Blue!" (Eighter: Team Blue? Shades: A Charger, huh? That's a twist. Timey: Oh no.)

"Phew, looks like it'll be a heck of a match," Deej stated plainly.

"Okay, someone's going to have to explain this to me," Eighter spoke up. "Who is this Team Blue?"

"How to explain," Shades muttered. "You know that movie series staring Sharkvester Stallone, about that old human sport known as 'boxing'?"

"You mean 'Reefy'?" Eighter asked for confirmation, to which Shades nodded. "Yeah. Pearl and Marina showed it to me during my first week here."

"Well, Team Blue was basically the Reefy Balboa of our time. They've been punching above their own rank for quite a while, managing to defeat Rider, the entire S4, and even Team Emperor."

Eighter gave Shades a rather flat look. "For the sake of time, I'll just pretend I know what you're talking about."

"Thanks for that," Shades snarked lightly. "Anyway, no-one's entirely sure what happened, but around a year ago, their star player just... dropped off the map. People think it's tied to an accident that happened at Grizzco around the same time, but information is sparse at best."

"Sounds rough," Deej added. During the whole exchange, Timey's expression went from 'okay, I might be able to do this', to 'OH DEAR ZAPFISH, everything is going to hell in a hand-basket'. "Yo, Timey," Deej shouted, "you doin' alright there, dude?"

Snapping back to the here and now, Timey caste a shakey glance at his teammate -his friends-, and hesitated to answer.

"Now that we've got introductions out of the way," Marina spoke once more, "let's get on to the battle! Players, please take your positions!"

"Guess it's too late to pull out now," Deej muttered. "What's our plan, Shades?"

"Nothing much to it," Shades responded. "There's only two roads forward. We split into pairs, cover as much turf as we can in one sweep, meet up at the spire. Afterwards, someone goes back to fine-tune our spawn, while the rest hold the line."

The two Octoling's nodded, whereas Timey tightened the grip he had on his Squeezer. A cold tremble ran through his body. It already wasn't a good morning for him, and now this?

"You'll be alright," Eighter said softly. Timey took a quick look at her, to notice a gentle smile. "No matter what happens, no matter what happened with Team Yellow-Green in the past, we're here with you."

"She's right, dude," Deej followed up. Ten seconds to match start. "If they've done something to ya before, we'll just pay 'em back tenfold. And if they do something to you, here and now..."

"Then there will be hell to pay," Shades finished.

Timey went wide-eyed for a moment. It was in that very moment, he realised, that the trembles weakened, just a bit.

The siren blared, and the music signified the start of the match.

Almost immediately, Deej broke off to take the narrow path to the right, while Eighter took point on the main path, inking a wide trail as Shades blobbed a few shots off to the side with the Bloblobber.

Steeling his nerves, Timey began to follow suit.


From the relatively safe recesses of the Cuttlefish Shack (unofficial name, but their an unofficial group, so there) in Octo Valley, the unusual trio sat and watched the match start. This group wasn't unusual because of the presence of both Callie and Marie, as this was their most usual hang-out place. This place wasn't unusual for DJ Octavio, as he was literally imprisoned here. What was unusual, though, was for the three of them to be sitting before the TV together.

Even more unusual, though, was the shared feeling of worry between them.

"We sure he should be doing this?" Octavio spoke up. Their enemy though he may be, the Octarian king had a certain degree of respect and, dare he say, fondness for the boy in green.

"He's nervous," Marie said, "but he's not alone. It's been a year since that day. All we can do is hope he's got this."

Callie didn't respond, yet her eyes were practically glued to the screen. "It's alright, Tee," she muttered, "you've got this."


Reconvening at the top of the tower, Team Bangaichi had managed to gain the early lead against Team Yellow-Green.

"You know, I expected them to be a bit faster than this," Deej stated.

"Don't get too excited," Eighter replied, giving the Roller a mighty flick. "We're barely a minute in, and we made quick for this spot."

Deej tried to respond, yet noticed the familiar line that was a Chargers line of sight, aimed at the back of Timey's head. "Timey, get down!" he shouted, quickly shoving their leader aside. Unfortunately, that meant taking the shot himself.

"Crap. Get to cover!" Shades shouted, as the remaining three dropped from the tower. Down a man, and with their backs to the wall, just like field ops.

"Okay, that's a turn," Eighter muttered. "Now what?"

Shades turned out the world, and while to everyone else this pause was only a second, to her it was much longer. She was the strategist for this team, after all.

'Okay, let's assess this,' she thought. 'We're dealing with a Jet Squelcher, a Splat Charger, a Heavy Splatling, and a Gold Dynamo. Two heavy weapons, and two mid-weights. This part of the stage is designed that they've three ways to ambush us: left, right, and above.' A mental image of the map appeared in her mind. 'The Dynamo would naturally go with the above route, to get into melee range quicker. Our ride side has this raised surface, blocking the direct shots of the Charger and Squelcher, but making it a prime vantage point for the Splatling. Which leaves the other two to tackle us from our left. Therefore...' "Eighter, Timey, I have a plan."

"That was quick," Timey said, nerves still rather shaken.

"The Charger and Squelcher will most likely be coming from our left," she continued, "while the Splatling will take our right, and the Dynamo from above. Once we move, Timey, you drop a Splat Bomb to catch the Dynamo, then join me to take care of the Charger-Squelcher duo. Eighter, I'll leave the Splatling to you."

"Sounds fun," Eighter replied.

"Ready? On three." Shades held out her hand, with three fingers extended. "One. Two..." There was slight movement in their peripheral vision. "Three!"

The bomb was dropped, and the trio set about their targets.

As Rider came over the crest of the tower, he primed his Roller to strike. He was not, however, expecting to find nothing but a Splat Bomb ready to go off, and his targets already scattered.

Before he was splatted, Rider had a small smirk on his face. These kids were good.

On Eighter's side, despite being slightly weighed down by her Roller, found it relatively easy to dodge between Splatling shots. Perhaps it was a factor of having used one herself for so long.

Regardless, when she was barely a foot away, she raised the Flingza high, and... "I like your hat."

Bamboo Hat paused briefly, her eyes filled with a mixture of shock and confusion. "Um... than..."

"BUT THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!" And thus the Roller was swung.

At that time, Timey and Shades were effectively playing footies with their opponents. The major downside of using a Charger and the Jet Squelcher was the fact that they were too accurate. Minimum spray meant more room for dodging.

Shades ducked around Headphones, tossing out two blobs from her Slosher. Timey ducked and weaved his way closer to Stealth Goggles, letting off quick shots where he could.

One shot to splat, and...

Then realisation dawn on Stealth Goggles' face, and dread on Timey's.

"Wait," Stealth Goggles began, "aren't you..." the final shot was fired before he could finish his sentence.

"Looks like we made it," Shades said, as she began covering more turf. "Timey, are you..?" The moment her eyes locked with his, she knew things were about to take a turn. He was staring in her direction, perhaps, but his eyes did not see her. He looked as if he were on the edge of breaking down in fear. "Timey! Pull yourself together!" she shouted, which at least snapped him back to the present. "Seriously, what is wrong? You've been completely out of it all day."

Timey stuttered over his words. While the shout-out kept him somewhat grounded, it was painfully obvious that he had gone beyond 'bothered' and into 'distressed'.

A light tap on the shoulder alerted him to Eighter's presence behind him. "It'll be alright," she said simply. "Whatever it is, we can work through it. That's what friends do, right?"

A bit of colour returned to Timey's features, while Shades looked the slightest bit peeved. "Way to steal my thunder, Eights," she muttered. "Had a whole speech planned and everything, and you just go and swoop it up."

Eighter looked slightly shocked, as if she had just been hit by a foam dart. "Oh, um... Sorry. Did you want to do over?"

Shades gave a small sigh. "No, the moment's already passed. 'Sides, you do a pretty damn good job at it anyway."

Timey let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding.


"Now that was a clash!" Pearl shouted over the speaker. "At this point, it could still be anyone's game!" Pressing a button, the mic was cut off, and the smirk on her face quickly dropped like a hammer. "Reena, you saw it too, right? How distressed Timey is?"

"It's kind of hard not to," Marina replied. "The only time I've seen him like this was a year ago, but that was around the time I first met him in Inkopolis."

"Any idea what the problem is?"

Marina shook her head. "I wish I did, but the only ones who might know are the Squid Sisters and Cap'n Cuttlefish."

"Damn it," Pearl cursed slightly, pulling her phone out.

MC Princess: u girls watching this match?

Agent 2: We are. Can't say I'm enjoying how it's going, though.

MC Princess: should i ask how callie's doing?

Agent 2: Considering we're still trying to lay low, it's taking considerable effort to keep her from Super Jumping to Agent 3 right now.

MC Princess: damn

MC Princess: should i ask about it, or is it something he should tell us?

Agent 2: Best to leave it to him. While I highly doubt he'd be angry or disappointed with us for telling, I'd rather not take the chance.

Pearl sighed, putting her phone away. "Let's just hope things don't get worse."


Rider was naturally the first to respawn -an odd concept, all things considered, but since it had been around as long as Turf Wars had been a sport, no one really questioned the fact that it was somewhat akin to freaking dying and coming back to life- and he honestly felt rather hyped at this point.

It wasn't often that someone could so easily counter a three pronged attack when down a man.

The rest of Team Yellow-Green slowly respawned in, and when Stealth Goggles finally did, he noticed something was amiss.

"Hey, Stealth, you alright there?" he called out. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I..." Stealth Goggles swallowed nervously. "I feel like I did, too. That guy, in the green track suit."

"Timey, yeah?" Bamboo Hat confirmed. "If I recall correctly, he's their leader. But, there was something familiar about him."

"Yeah, I noticed it, too," Headphones finally spoke. "It was... almost nostalgic. I'm not sure how else to explain it."

"I think..." Stealth Goggles hesitated to give the conclusion he had reached, but steeled himself to say it. "I think it was Goggles."

Shock waved over the other three. "I'd ask if you were kidding," Rider began, "but I know you, and you wouldn't do something like that." Rider's hand moved over the Pilot Goggles around his neck. "Do you think he..."

"I don't think so," Stealth Goggles replied. "I think he recognised us, but only as 'those people', and not his old friends."

"He... still doesn't remember," Headphones muttered, looking particularly saddened.

"One year," Rider said. "It's been one year since he vanished. If he still doesn't remember us... if he still believes he's that guy, then..." He locked eyes with Stealth Goggles. "We need to create an opening, try to talk to him. Can you work out a plan for that?"

"Way ahead of you, Rider," he nodded. "Although, it's more that we'll be breaking out an old plan. Tell me, how are we on our Specials?"


In most cases of Turf War, being close to the enemy spawn was generally considered a bad idea, mostly because of the fact that the enemy would quickly be upon you in a moments notice.

Regardless, for the three member of Bangaichi, they had no other turf to claim at the moment, and Deej was still cleaning up their spawn. So, here they were.

As expected, Team Yellow-Green stood before them, prepared to strike, and with their Specials all primed and ready.

What scared Timey the most however, was the look Rider and Headphones were giving him.

And so the tremble began again.

Noticing this, Eighter and Shades instinctively stood in front of their leader protectively. This may have only hinted at the problem for them, but it was enough.

Rider regarded the two, before raising a single hand.

Then, for Team Bangaichi, it all went south.

Headphones and Bamboo Hat, positioned to Rider's left and right, immediately activated their Specials: the Sting Ray. The powerful beams of ink shot forth, and while they didn't hit, they served the alternate purpose of halting sideways movement.

"Okay, not looking good," Eighter muttered, as she and Shades stood back to back.

"You're going to jinx it," Shades replied rather bitterly. From the corner of her eye, she saw two things: the first was the sub-weapon Toxic Mist, being thrown from behind Rider. The second, though, was Stealth Goggles prepping his own Special, the Tenta Missiles.

She recognised this strategy. Heck, she had been in the audience when it was first used. Only difference between then and now was the fact that they weren't Team Emperor. Instinct took over. Shades knew that there was no way she or Eighter would be able to get clear in time. So, with what strength and time she could gather, she shoved Timey out of the blast zone.

The Mist struck, and the missiles were fired.

"Rather bold strategy of you, Shades," Eighter muttered.

"Don't patronise me," Shades responded, a slight tone of bitterness masked by faux amusement. "This is because you had to say one of the many cursed lines."

"Yeah, I'll own that one." A more serious look took over Eighter's visage. "You sure there's not a chance for one of us to get out of this? It'd take us a bit too long to get back to Timey."

"There is one idea," Shades admitted, "but it'll need one of us to try and shoot down as many missiles as we can, and even then, only the one retreating would survive."

Eighter grinned, as the Tenta Missiles drew closer. "Then, just leave that to me."


The moment Timey was able to push himself upright, the missiles had already struck. He knew the reason why she did it, sure, but seeing your friends effectively sacrifice themselves to save you... it still hurt, no matter how temporary.

What made it worse, though, was the simple fact that now he was alone in Team Yellow-Green's territory.

'It's alright, Timey. Just take a deep breath,' he told himself. 'Right now, it's just a matter of routine. Just get out of this area, fall back to Deej, and you'll be fine.'

Naturally, at this point, he had assumed squid form, and began swimming his way to the side path. If he was fast enough, then he might just be able to make a break for it before they noticed him, and -where did Rider go?

A heavy line of ink suddenly shot across his vision, cutting off his escape route. Oh, there did Rider go.

"Trying to run again?" he asked plainly. "How long do you plan to keep this up?"

Timey weighed his options: He could make a break to the main path, and -it was already cut off by the rest of Rider's team. He could try shooting his way through Rider. No, that would work either. Rider's quick, even with the Dynamo, and the Squeezer did it's best at a greater range.

He hated having to use plan C: talk his way out, on Rider.

"How long?" Timey parroted, not realising how shakey his voice was. "I'll keep going until you finally give up on this! I keep telling you, I'm not..."

"I don't believe that!" Rider shouted. "One year ago, you came back to us without your memories, and then you just left! Have you even been trying to remember who you are!"

"I know who I am!" Timey shouted back.

"Do you really? If you really knew who you were, then why did you run, Goggles?!"

There it was. That name. That blasted name that had come to haunt him. The trembling returned once more, with greater force. "I... I told you... I'm..."

"Stop fooling yourself!" Rider grabbed him by the collar of his jacket. The Squeezer fell to the ground with a resounding clack. "Do you know how much it hurt your team to not only have you not remember them, but to then just up and vanish?"

"I keep telling you, you've got the wrong person!"

"How long?" the voice of Headphones added. "How long does this have to go on? Goggles, we just... we just want you back, even if you don't remember us."

There it was. The part he dreaded most out of this situation. His desire to help someone so clearly in need, overlapped by the fact that what was being asked of him was impossible.

Every negative emotion Timey had ever felt in his life, be it dread, guilt, sorrow, fear, ect, came rushing in.

"I think I've heard enough of this shit." In that moment, a rather familiar looking poll was dropped between him and Rider. A not often used Splash Wall was erected between them. Taking this opportunity, Timey immediately Super Jumped away.

"Wait!" Rider shouted, though just a little too late for him to do anything substantial about it. Gritting his teeth, the Dynamo user glared in the direction the Wall came from.

Standing upon one of the ledges was Shades, splotted with enemy ink, yet still in all her glory. "How the hell did you even survive that?"

"Amazing what teamwork can do," Shades replied, the tone of her voice indicating a massive amount of anger. "Can't say I'm a fan of strategies that involve someone taking a blow like that, but neither of us like seeing our leader looking that bad."

"This doesn't concern you," Rider spat. "We're trying to get our friend back."

"By breaking someone emotionally? You're quite the moron, aren't you?" The grip Shades had on her Bloblobber tightened immensely. "I won't let you anywhere near him. That's a promise."


To say that Deej wasn't too happy about the current situation was an understatement. On one hand, he was simply going through the routine of any other Turf War, making sure things were the same as they'd ever been.

On the other hand, though, Timey was very depressed about things right now. He was a second away from just ditching the backline duty to make sure he was alright.

This feeling only grew stronger when he noticed Eighter respawn.

"Damn, they got you?" Deej muttered. He tried -lord knows he tried- to give the line a cheerful inflection.

"I at least managed to keep Shades from being splatted," Eighter responded cooly. "Regardless, we need to hurry, or..." she paused when she noticed the Super Jump symbol appear around her. At this point, it could only mean one thing.

It was not a good thing.

Seconds later, the squid form that was Timey crashed directly into Eighter's chest -which she was, thankfully, prepared for. What she was not prepared for, however, was the fact that he didn't shift back. Or the quivering.

Especially not the quivering.

"Timey?" Eighter muttered, as the Inkling wrapped his arm (tentacles?) around her. "Timey, it's alright. It's me."

If he heard her, Timey didn't respond. He was in the middle of muttering something rather incomprehensible to her, though she could barely make out his own name in the rambling.

"Jesus Carp," Deej muttered, "what the heck did they do to him?"

Eighter took a deep breath. She was not exactly cut out for this sort of thing, but damn if she won't at least try to comfort him. Plan A, then: simply rub his back, and let him know it's okay.

Right. Not a massive improvement, but she did notice the mumbling slow down a little.

"Right, something's definitely gone wrong," Pearl shouted over the speaker. "Sorry, folks, but we're gonna have ta cut this match short."

'Thank you, Pearl, you magnificent midget,' Eighter thought. Slowly, she managed to stand back up, keeping her arms around Timey.

A short moment later, and Shades finally regrouped with them. "Is he okay?"

"Nope," Deej responded. "What happened over there? Were they trying to make him have a breakdown? Because if so, then they damn well succeeded."

"Wish there was a clear answer," Shades replied, wiping some ink off her cheek. "Unfortunately, the only thing I know is that they believe Timey's someone else. I don't know if something happened between the two, but it's certainly left some scars." Glancing behind herself, she noticed Team Yellow-Green making their way towards them. "We should get out of here. If we stay any longer, we might end up hurting someone else."

"Hold on!" Rider shouted. "We just need a..."

Nobody saw the movement. One second, Rider was running up towards Team Bangaichi, and the next, Deej was directly in front of him, one of his Dualies pointed directly at his face. "Don't," he said plainly. "If you follow us. If you try anything to him. Then I can't be held responsible for what I'll do to you."

While to most, this was a surprising shift in tone, Eighter looked at the scene with curiosity. She knew instantly that this wasn't Deej the street artist, the loveable scamp of the team, but Deej the Octarian soldier talking.

Thankfully, Rider knew better than to try and threaten a train soldier, even if he didn't realise it.


Arriving back at, and subsequently leaving, the lobby was thankfully without hassle. The crowds that had gathered to watch the match had already broken off to new things. Whether it was because they got bored without the match, or in order to give space, no one could say for certain.

"Where should we go?" Eighter asked, keeping the squid that was her friend close. A curious thing about Inkling/Octoling form shifting was the fact that, despite all laws of reality saying otherwise, a persons squid/octopus form as noticeably lighter than their bipedal form.

"Timey has an apartment in Flounder Heights," Shades responded, tapping away at her phone. "We're going to go straight there, and let things calm down. You've got Off the Hook on speed dial, right, Eighter?" Eighter nodded. "Give them a call, and let them know. I'm going to shoot certain people a message to meet us there as well."

"Is now really the time to be cryptic?" Deej asked. "Then again, I get the feeling I'm the only one out of the loop."

"Sorry about that," Shades apologised. "At this point, though, if I told you right now, we'd be here a while."

"Yeah, I think I get that," Deej admitted. "Well, best lead the way, Shades."


Flounder Heights was located only three train stops away from Inkopolis Square. Two years ago, it was one of many hotspots for Turf Wars and Ranked Battles to take place. After a few dozen of the usual residents moved out, the place was benched, so to speak.

Thankfully, for the Inklings and Octolings, that meant more real estate to live in, and not much noise complaining.

Timey's apartment was the third door on floor three, much to the surprise of neither Eighter or Shades. Considering the state the apartment's main resident was in, the question stood on how they would get in.

Shades reached under the doormat, retrieving a key. "Really? He keeps the spare down there?" Deej asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, Deej," Shades responded, moving a loose piece of wood from the lower area of the door to reveal a locked hatch. The key slid in, and the hatch opened to a small drawer with another key in it. That key, in turn was used to unlock the door. "It's double security."

"Clever," Eighter muttered.

To best describe the state of Timey's apartment, it would be 'unassuming'. If you were to look at this place, with its modest TV, simple couch, two bookshelves with various books, CDs, DVDs, framed pictures, and what have you, or its relatively simple, well kept kitchen, the only thing you'd think is 'someone lives here'.

What was interesting to note, however, was that some pictures that mounted the walls were signed by various musicians. Mostly the Squid Sisters, though.

"Eighter, you mind putting him down on the couch?" Shades spoke, moving towards the fridge. "I'll see what I can put together to eat. Deej, you mind getting some music going?"

"From the shelf, right? What should we get on?"

"Probably something Squid Sisters," Eighter responded, gently placing the squid in her arms down. "I think he's particularly fond of 'Fresh Start'."

"Fresh Start, got it." Deej drew the CD from the shelf, and began moving to the CD player not far away. "I thought this one only came out a few months ago. How'd he get it signed already?"

"Funny story to that one," Shades replied. "Man, he has a lot of ice cream in here. Can't half tell what side of that Splat Fest he was on."

There was a rapid knock on the door. "That's probably Pearl and Marina," Eighter said. "I thought I heard their helicopter on the way up."

As Eighter went for the door, Deej took a look at Shades, who was dropping scoop upon scoop (upon scoop upon scoop upon scoop...) of the ice cream into a bowl. "Are we just going to gloss over the fact that Off the Hook just came our way by 'copter?"

"You think that's bad, wait to you learn who Timey's girlfriend is," Shades responded, grabbing a spoon from the drawer.

"Still got hedged bets on that one," he muttered, as Shades placed the bowl next to Timey. "By the way, aren't you gonna take those glasses off? I mean, we're indoors."

Shades placed a hand on the glasses, and Deej noticed a slight hesitation. "Sorry, but I'd rather not," she responded. "It's... hard to explain. Without these one, I worry that I'll... go back to who I was."

"'Once was'? What do you mean?"

"I..." There was a clear message in that hesitation, which told him to leave it be.

Thankfully, Deej was no stranger to social cues. "Alright, I'll drop it. But," he tapped the edge of her glasses lightly, "once we have all this sorted, you talk to someone about it, got that?"

Shades let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks. And sorry, I guess. It's just that it's easy to wear a mask, than risk saying something that'd make you and Eighter hate me."

"The two of us specifically?" Deej muttered quietly. If anything, this at least told him that she knew about the whole Octoling migration thing. It also told him that, despite any pre-established prejudice, she was actively trying to be on their side. Nice to know, but the mood was becoming far more sombre as time went on. Quickly, Deej, change the subject! "Speaking of Eighter, she's been at that door for a while now." Nice save.

"Yeah, wonder what's taking her?"

Hurried footsteps echoed from the door. A figure turned the corner of the door-frame, and every fibre of Deej's being made him dodge as the person moved with the speed of a bullet train to Timey, wrapping the squid in a tight, yet not suffocating, hug.

This Inkling, as it so happened, was also distinctly familiar.

"Geez, I get you're worried, Callie," an additional voice spoke, "but you could at least slow down a little."

At that moment, Deej realised just who these two newcomers were, and thereby, who Shades had just called. "You're... absolutely kidding me," he said plainly, giving Shades a flat glare. "So, not only does Eighter have Off the Hook on speed dial, but you, Shades, are able to get in contact with the FREAKING SQUID SISTERS?!"

Shades gave him a look of both understanding and bewilderment. "I mean, I get your reaction, but I'd've thought you'd react more to the fact that Callie's currently glomping Timey into oblivion."

Glancing back at the couch, Deej noticed just how... relaxed Timey had become, the moment Callie grabbed him. It answered one question for Deej, yet only served to raise several more.

What followed next, though, was Pearl and Marina entering the room, pushing a petrified Eighter forward. "You know, Reena, out of everything I expected today, shocked Eighter wasn't on the list." Pearl spoke.

Deej found himself the first free chair that was furthest from people. "I'm just... gonna sit down an' wait for answers. My brain's not gonna work for a while."

"He's processing shock rather well," Marie said, taking a seat next to Callie. "Three, are you holding up alright?" she asked over her partner's shoulder.

"Better now," Timey responded. There was a slight woop of 'progress' from someone in the room, but no one could be sure whether it was Shades or Deej. "Sorry I worried everyone. It's just... hard to keep it in at times."

"Well, ya downed the ice cream easily enough," Deej stated. "Still, gave us a right scare, ya did. What the heck happened?"

Timey and Callie shared a brief look. "You want to tell them, or should one of us do it?" she asked.

"I..." Timey swallowed hesitantly. "I'll do it. There's... details that I should tell from my perspective."

"You see, it all happened a year ago, while I was working a shift at Grizzco."


A/N:

At this point, may as well call this the Timey/Agent 3 Show (Also, I wasn't trying to hide that fact). Don't worry, the others will get their turn, our favourite hero just gets first dibs.

Also, MOAR CLIFFHANGERS!

I don't know why I feel the need to point them out.

Onward, ho!