I'm back! Again! Chapter start!

I stopped my march to wherever and listened again. The sound came once more from the alley to my left. Yeah, 'cause it was always an alley.

No way I was just going to walk by. I snuck to the corner and looked around. Another Octoling was there, cornered behind a trash can. He was taller than I was, older, and had a weird Mohawk thing going on with his hair. He looked like he could hold his own, except he was outnumbered and unarmed.

Two hooded figures stood above him, and they weren't the police. They were both pointing Octo Shots at him — not replicas — and one said, "You're coming with us." It was a feminine voice.

Something about it was off, though. It was monotonous, almost robotic. Even more alarming was that I'd heard a voice exactly like it before.

That wasn't a racist Inkling, like I first thought. That was a sanitized Octoling from Deepsea.

I've dealt with these things before, and I wasn't afraid to do it again.

"Hey!" I yelled, stepping out into the open. The moonlight cast a shadow on the ground in front of me, showing them a silhouette with the moon hovering above my head. "Number 10,008 was the last one. No exceptions."

Wow, I sound so cool!

...Why am I fangirling over myself?

I predicted their next attack and swerved to the side, behind another overturned garbage can. I saw their faces, and the luminescent aqua of their skin was a dead giveaway. I wasn't dealing with free will, so they were both either pre-programmed or being commanded from somewhere.

They both took a different side of the trash can, so I jumped on top of it, barely dodging their bullets of what I hoped was ink.

From the top of the garbage can, I jumped off the other side and kicked it to one of them, putting her between it and the wall. I turned to face the other, who had run off to my side and started shooting.

By now, the ground I could run on was limited. I dove for the other, taking a few hits to my face, and tackled her to the ground. I stood up, pressing my knee on her chest, and wrenched the Octo Shot from her hand. I couldn't use it since I didn't have an ink tank, but it was better than just letting her have it.

While keeping it in my right hand, I kicked her again in the side and stood up to see her ally falling from above me. She must have super jumped after getting the trash can off.

I prepared to ram the Octo Shot into her face, but then the guy they were attacking suddenly came and tackled her out of the air. Without thinking, I followed them to where they landed and swung the Octo Shot I had at her hand, sending her own weapon tumbling out into the street.

From behind, the first one struggled to stand up and ran towards me, but then the guy stopped her charge by simply standing in front of her.

Whoa, this dude's like a wall. He's a lot stronger than he looks.

He placed his hands on her arm and gripped it, whirling her back and tossing her next to her ally.

I ran out to the street to grab the other weapon before they could get up. Now they were the ones unarmed.

One literally hissed, and both ran out into the sidewalk, put their hoods back on, and completely ignored me as they super jumped away from the city. Neither I nor buff dude said anything. Only the quiet whilstle of the breeze made a sound.

I hobbled over to the sidewalk and dropped the weapons as my arms grew weak and my knees buckled. Not from exhaustion, because that was pretty easy, but rather despair. The Sanitized were coming to the surface.

"A-are you fine?" Said the unnaturally buff guy.

"I-it's nothing," I said. I forced myself to kneel and took the weapons in my hands again. "Anyway, it should be me asking that question." Once again, I avoided eye contact.

"Just peachy. I almost got mugged in an alley." He had an accent I hadn't heard before. "Thanks for helpin' me back there. Name's Jacob."

I started examining the weapons. They both had the signatures of non-replicas: their handles were slightly thinner and the nozzle was larger. "Halfway through it turned to you helping me," I remarked flatly. "I'm Sky. Why were you back there in the first place?"

"Nothin' big." He pulled me to my feet like I weighed nothing. "Just walkin', enjoyn' the night, then out o' nowhere, those creepy girls with the blue skin jumped at me!" He held up his hands like they were claws. "I could've beat their faces in, but I didn't have no gun to shoot at 'em!"

"Been there before," I said, turning to Inkopolis Square. "C'mon, we'll talk." And by that, I meant I'd listen while he talked because it seemed like he'd spill his guts out. I had to know more about the Sanitized, and so did the NSS. I took the lead while he walked behind me. "So do you know why they attacked you?"

"Nah, they just jumped me. Dunno why, but I got this feeling they'll be back."

In response, I handed him one of the Octo Shots without turning around. "Keep this. If that's the case, you can use it against them. Just make sure to change the ink color.

He took the gun and test fired it to his right. "Now what was all that you said 'bout Number 10,008?"

Thinking quickly, I changed the subject. "Maybe we shouldn't go to Inkopolis Square with these things," meaning the weapons. I mentally rerouted to my apartment building. "Have somehwhere to go?"

"Pfft, nah," he said, as if living somewhere was a joke to him. "I just came here a few days back without nothin'."

Oh man, I am going to regret this big time-

"Wanna stay with me, then?"

Why did I say that Sky you damned-

"Uh- Oh, no, no, I don't wanna do that to ya. I don't have a job or anythin'."

Okay then. Sky. You have an opportunity here.

"You can shoot a gun, right?" I could tell because of how the Sanitized came after him. They'd only pick subjects if they were good at combat.

Even without looking, I could tell his face lit up. "Can I shoot? Aw, yeah! I can-"

"There's a huge sport here, not sure if you've heard of it, but it pays really well, especially if you're good." Somehow, I could feel inner me burning holes into me with her eyes. "Well, we're here," I said. I opened the door to my apartment building with my room key — which was actually a card — and invited him in by holding the door open.

"Now, you're sure about this?" He looked uncomfortable. I would be, too.

"Absolutely," I said. Inner me was bashing her head against the wall.

How anticlimactic. I let him into my apartment and he just got on the couch and dozed off.

At least he doesn't snore.

Since I wasn't tired at all, I went back outside. For a moment, I considered going right to Cap'n Cuttlefish to tell him about the Sanitized that I found, but decided against it for now. He was probably busy with the flash drive anyway, and maybe other NSS members were there.

I stood right outside my door for ages, completely lost on what to do. I stared around at the not-so-intricately designed wallpaper and sat against the wall. All I could do was think about what I had just done. I just let some random homeless dude live with me.

...Okay, maybe homeless was exaggerating a bit. He did mention how he recently moved here. Jacob was most likely looking for a place anyway.

Guess I'll wait and see how this plays out.

I sat in silence for a short while.

Once I decided to take another walk, the elevator down the hall dinged, for lack of a better term, and its doors slid open.

Lo and behold, Annie walked out, wearing the exact same thing and holding the exact same cup. I stood up, searching for something to say.

"Hey," said Annie. "Found anything on the flash drive yet?"

I shook my head. "No." Then I smiled as a thought came to me. "Also I'm not gonna ask how you got in 'cause bearing witness is a hassle, y'know?"

A laugh escaped her mouth, a rich, high sound. I'd never heard it before that point. "I'll hopefully have something by tomorrow," I said, content with the light atmosphere.

She glanced at the clock. "By tomorrow, do you mean during the day, or actually tomorrow? It just passed midnight." I checked the clock hanging nearby on the wall, and yep, it was just past midnight.

"...I'll just... tell you when I find something." I shuffled back to the wall. "Did you follow me here?" I asked, realizing that I'd never told her where I live, and following me was definitely possible, with that really long walk I made. She could've seen me with Cap'n Cuttlefish.

"Kinda?" She said. "I was heading to Inkopolis Square when I saw you walking here. Who was that guy with you? Your boyfriend?" She teased, grinning devilishly at me

"N-no!" I said. "No, I-I mean. Just a neighbor." I didn't tell even remotely attracted to him.

Not that I knew what that was like.

Nevertheless, the notion made my cheeks burn.

"Riiiiiiight..." she winked. "Just jokin'. You up for more battles? Looks like 'NightFall' fits more now that we're both night dwellers."

"Y-yeah, sure," I stammered, still recovering from the shock. "Go on ahead. I'll meet you there." I turned to face my door.

"Make sure to bring your boy-"

"Annie." I commanded. "Don't. Please."

And with that, I went in and shut the door behind me, making sure not to slam it to both not wake up Jacob and to tell Annie I wasn't mad.