The Fall of Inkopolis

An Octoling for Agent 3!

Grunting and panting, I continued to carry the unconscious Octoling girl on my back. I could hear her goggles jiggle up and down as I struggled to move up what seemed like an endless hill.

Back at the Kelp Dome, I did see her trying to break through the dome's massive glass and used her to my advantage. It only makes sense that I take full responsibility and take her home. What I didn't expect was this girl to be so damn heavy! What do they feed Octarians down there? Sea bass?

Well, that doesn't matter. All I have to do is drop her off at Octo Valley, return the Zapfish to Cap'n Cuttlefish with a heavy explanation of the Kelp Dome's unfortunate events, and sleep the rest of the day away.

"N-Nggh…"

I slightly cocked my head to see the latter twitching and frowning. Stopping, I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

Great! She's awake.

"I-I'm…floating?" She asked, still unconscious.

"No," I retorted. "You're being carried, octogoon."

"…By who and...to where…?"

"By me and to your home."

"Those are very vague answers." She stretched, pushing herself off my back afterwards.

"Listen, I don't want any trouble." I snapped, turning around. "Let's just split ways peacefully so nothing else bad happens and this will just be one of those days to forget."

She continued rubbing her sore, red eyes. "N-nothing else…bad?"

I groaned and yanked her hands off her face. She gasped, obviously surprised to see that her lifesaver was me, an Inkling, natural enemy of her race.

"Yes, nothing else bad! I don't see how you can forget that you and your little comrades had completely destroyed the Kelp Dome!"

"The Kelp Dome? The Kelp Dome! My mission! Freedom!" She exclaimed, watching our surroundings in awe, only to be disappointed afterwards.

"Wait…I recognize this area…" She directed her attention towards me, glaring. "You're trying to take me back home!"

I shrugged like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, I refuse to continue this journey with you!" She pouted, folding her arms.

"You're an Octoling, an Octarian to be exact." I said. "Octarians belong underground in Octo Valley where you are free to do whatever you please down there."

She rolled her eyes. "Who told you that? A boring, old history teacher?"

"It doesn't matter who told me." I answered, grabbing her hand. "Come on, let's go."

She hardly budged.

"No!" She clamored, yanking her hand out of my grasp. "I didn't do all that training, endure all those insults, or sign up for battle duty just to be taken right back home! My escape will be successful!"

"Wait, what?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. "You were trying to escape Octo Valley?"

She nodded. "I know what I've done is crazy…but please, I'll explain everything later! Just don't take me back! I can't live a life, one with meaning down in that Octarian pit of hell any longer!"

I stared at her, our eyes both locked with each other and watery with emotion.

"Please…?" She begged with the common puppy eyes.

After a long, long pause, I finally sighed, nodding my head regretfully.

"I guess…we can work something out."

"Really?" She squealed, nuzzling my chest.

I awkwardly pushed her away, nodding.

"Y-Yeah…j-just don't do weird stuff…like…like that…"

She immediately shot out her hand right in front of me, making me flinch. "I'm Stella by the way! I was told it means 'star' in some other mysterious language! What's your name? Does it have a meaning to? Is it from another mysterious language that we will never use or may or may not use in the far future?"

I hesitated before shaking her hand.

"Inky…but there's only one person I allow to call me that. So, you can call me Nori, and no, both names have no meaning. And here," I pulled out a green ski-jacket and handed it to her. "You're gonna want this if you want to stay up here."

"What is this place?" Stella asked, gazing in awe.

"Specifically, this is Flounder Heights. All these buildings you see, they're called apartments."

"Apartments…" She repeated. "Wow, so amazing..."

I couldn't help but laugh. "They're not that amazing."

She shook her head in shock. "Not that amazing? These are absolutely astonishing! Not only do you guys interact with each other outside, but you live in buildings outside too!?"

"Oh, Stella," I chuckled, patting her back. "You have a lot to learn."

She grasped my hand tightly, jumping up and down, eyes full of curiosity and joy. "Nori, I'd be honored to learn everything about Inklings!"

"Everything?" I questioned with a chuckle.

"EVERYTHING!" She exclaimed, grabbing everyone's attention."

Flushed, I grabbed the back of her jacket, pulling her close and yanked her hood down as far as it could go.

"Haha!" I awkwardly laughed. "She's just excited about finally participating in tomorrow's turf wars! Y'know, who isn't? D-Don't mind us!"

She pushed herself away from me once again and exclaimed, "TURF WARS!? What are thooose!?"

I grabbed her arms and dragged her up the stairs that lead to my apartment, ignoring all the pairs of confused eyes that watched us.

"Stella! You have to act normal! Now Inklings already have suspicions on you!" I whispered in her ear.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Nori!" She whispered back. "I'm just so excited to meet and see all these new people!"

Opening my bag, I pulled out my keys.

"...I understand you're excited, but all that excitement can easily be washed away if we get caught, okay?"

She nodded.

I unlocked the door and welcomed her in.

"Here's my little comfort zone~"

She dashed inside and literally touched everything her grabby little Octoling fingers could grab.

"This. Is. Amazing. Nori, you have to tell me what all of this stuff is!"

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. "I know. Here's a brief description for you: furniture."

"Hey, Nori! What's this fluffy thing I'm sitting on?" She asked, rolling around on the floor."

"Carpet..."

"Carpet…" She repeated in amazement, rubbing it thoroughly. "I. Love. Carpet!"

This is the craziest Octoling I have ever met. Why do I have an Octoling in my apartment? Is this something Inked what have done? Would he approve me of my sudden-not-very-thought-out-actions? Either I have made a terrible decision of keeping an Octoling or a complete ludicrous decision of keeping an Octoling.

Author's Note: I'm sorry this chapter is much shorter than the others! School's finally back and it's already kicking my butt! Anyways, Nori and Stella have finally met! How will their relationship go: good or bad?