A/N: Fun fact, this chapter and the last were originally one long one.
Captain Cuttlefish watched the inkling and Octoling leave the conference room. He waited until they had moved well out of earshot to let out a great sigh. They seemed to be getting along, but he wondered how well the rest of the inklings and octos would do together. The thought had been on his old mind all day because he knew would be meeting someone who would help define those policies soon.
It would not be the first time he would be talking to this particular Octoling and he did not want it to be the last. The old squid moved his cane around in his hand, thinking over the last time he had met his old friend. DJ Octavio had restarted a major conflict, one that Cuttlefish had thought had been put to bed a long time ago, and also stolen the only power sources the inklings had. Friend or not, he had needed to be locked up. It hurt him to do it then, but now he found himself hurt to see him free.
He moved his cane to his other hand. Perhaps things would be different now with different leaders in charge in the valley. He had made it clear that while prisoners would be released, the disk jockey could not be allowed back in a leadership position. Fortunately, the octoling there to make peace made it clear that his bosses had no intention of reinstating their old leader. The aging Captain leaned back in his chair. The inklings he sent to get the Octarian from the airport should just be arriving there now.
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"And how was your flight sir?" DJ Octavio, in his humanoid form for the first time since his capture, stretched his arms before adjusting his helmet.
"It's always good to fly." He stated to the octoling elite waiting for him on the tarmac. This elite had a crooked smile and as he watched her command the small squad that had arrived earlier that day he felt reassured that there was some hope for the Octo race. Inklings had arrived to receive him of course, but the elite had sent them away. The three octolings and this elite would be all the security he needed. The only thing they had taken from the inklings was an SUV to drive him the Agency HQ.
Octavio walked confidently down the tarmac to the waiting vehicle. He wasn't excited about the meeting that was about to take place, but he had reasoned that it was necessary if he was going to regain a position of power. He stepped into the back of the SUV and once he was no longer being watched he allowed a small frown to cross his features. Octarian society had no room for anyone weak or who showed weakness. Nothing showed weakness like a military defeat, let alone that he had been captured afterward. It was no surprise to him then that the council of octolings that had been appointed in his absence did not want him back in command.
Even so, his name still did carry a bit of weight with the elites. After all, they were the ones that had sent him here to coordinate the Octo side of the war effort. Maybe a victory here against the barnacles could bring him back to the top. As he considered these thoughts the car pulled onto the expressway and sped toward the agency headquarters. The former leader of all octos mused about how often he had planned to destroy that building.
'Now I am off to plan a different war there.' Something to the right of the car caught his attention and he looked out the window. In the car next to his on the overpass a pair of inklings, male and female, were staring at him. Octavio starred back for a moment before shaking his head. 'These inkling aren't worth my time.' He thought. In the next moment his car went flying.
The Squid Utility Vehicle he was riding in was suddenly hit from the left by a large garbage truck. Octavio and all of the vehicles occupants went rolling as their vehicle tumbled over to the side of the interstate, landing on its roof. The disk jockey shook his head to clear it and looked out of the window.
Next to the garbage truck three cars, including the one he had just been looking at, screeched to a halt and their occupants piled out. These inklings all took up firing positions with a variety of shooters and Octavio noticed that they all had grey tentacles. Shaken up as he was, he could easily spot the bulbs from the barnacles on them.
Springing into action the elites guarding the former supreme leader were already unbuckling themselves from the car and going for their weapons. The first two made it out only to be inked instantly. A torrent of grey ink then splashed onto the SUV, splatting even the octolings that were still getting unbuckled. Octavio was saved only by virtue of the octoling sitting next to him acting as a shield.
They stopped firing and as they began moving up to the car Octavio finished getting his belt off. He grabbed the Octoshot from the splatted elite and let off a blind spray. The attack had the intended result and the possessed inklings took cover, buying the octoling some time. He pulled the inktank from his guards back and holding it and the weapon he climbed out the broken window opposite the hostile inklings. Once out of the vehicle he considered his options.
The SUV had him more or less boxed in, and with no cover on either side, he decided he couldn't run to either side. Away from the car was out as well since the attackers had hit them at the highest point on the overpass. If he jumped off the elevated road he'd have to fall several stories. This left only one direction that he could go, into the enemy.
Never one to turn down a fight, Octavio turned to face his opponents without fear. Though much older now then he had been in the Great War, his skills were just as sharp. He inked the ground behind the car and went on the offensive. The octoling spun around the front of the SUV and fired off a trio of shots, each one hitting the inkling he was aiming at. Before they could return fire, he had dove back behind the car and into the ink trail he'd made. He reappeared at the other end of the vehicle to repeat the attack on another inkling.
'Too easy.' The Octoling thought. 'These inkling hipsters don't stand a chance against me.' No sooner had he completed that thought then the Octo shot he was holding exploded. Octavio looked up from where the shot had come from to see a grey inkling with a charger on top of the garbage truck. The inkling fired again and the DJ tumbled back from the hit. The last thing that DJ Octavio saw was the fist of a possessed inkling as it collided with his face.
A/N: What do you guys think? As of now I won't have a good internet connection, so expect updates to be like this weekend. Two or three chapters whenever I get back into service to post what I've written in the meantime. As always, thanks for reading!
