?

"Well?" a large male Octarian said. "What have you come to my office to tell me?

"Sir, we have information about a sort of rebellion," a female Octoling replied.

"Oh, really?" The male stroked his chin for a moment with a tentacle. "Any idea who it may be?"

"We have reason to suspect it to be Cap'n Cuttlefish leading the New Squidbeak Splatoon."

"And what information are you basing it on?"

"The fact that we captured one of his agents, sir."

The male sat up in his chair, or, he sat up as much as an Octarian could. "Really? How interesting. How long have you had him?"

"Not but a few hours."

"Hmmm." The male sat back to think. "And his status?"

"Three, as he is calling himself, has been issued a Level-One pair of hypnoshades. The programing has been successful, and he is now under our full control."

"Good. Any reason to suspect others in on this rebellion?"

"Yes, sir. According to some sources within the army, about three years ago, when we took the Great Zapfish for a second time, there was another agent, known as Four. We have reason to suspect that she, along with Agents One and Two are also in on it. We don't know if there are any more currently, but we should know sooner or later."

"Sounds good. Now, what to do about the rebellion?" He faked thinking about this to see how good the female was at planning. He liked testing his soldiers as such every once in a while.

"Uh, what if we passed another law that states that nobody, under any circumstances, will be found any color but, oh, say, orange. Keeps them from possibly attacking us, although without any sure way to enforce it, we still may have some rebels. In which case we may scour the city for every Oceanic and issue them permanent bracelets that will force them to stay that color."

The male figure nodded his approval. "I like the sound of that plan, Shana. Keep up the good work."

Shana saluted sharply. "Yes sir, Lord Octopin"

"We shall crush this rebellion. And nothing shall stand in our way."


Chapter 7: Breakout

Josiah


The glasses search is unsuccessful. Of course, this makes sense since Aileen doesn't live at my house, but we searched anyways just in case by some strange chance she left a pair at my house some time ago.

"Well, guess I'll search my house," Aileen says, plopping herself down on the couch. "Of course, after my parents wake up, that is."

"Well, do you think you couldn't've wasted our time if you knew there wouldn't be any here?" Eight threw herself into the chair she had been sitting in prior to Aileen's meeting everybody.

"Well, I guess, but-"

"Look, I'm tired as hell, and here you are making us look for your stupid ass glasses. I really don't see why we needed you, honestly. I think we operated just fine before you and Josiah came aboard this damn journey."

"Do you think I want to work with you, either?" I glare directly at Eight, a hostile look in my eyes. "And if you know what's good for you, do not, I repeat, do NOT talk to my girlfriend like that."

Eight flips me off.

"Okay, THAT'S IT." I launch myself at Eight, tackling her out of the chair. We tossle around on the floor for a few minutes before punches are thrown, mostly on my part. All the while, Aileen screams at us to stop, to cut it out, maybe you can settle it another way. We don't care and keep going at it. Rather quickly, Pearl stumbles in and starts cheering for Eight. A moment later, in comes Four, along with Marina, Callie, and Marie. Four notices Pearl's cheering, so she gives me a bit of support.

"Eight!"

"Josiah!"

"Eight!"

"Josiah!"

"What in the hell is going on here?" Everybody, including me and Eight, turn to the source of the voice, Cap'n Cuttlefish.

"Uh, n-nothing, Cap'n." Pearl backs away from him as he turns towards her.

"'Nothing,' my ass. Explain yourselves."

"Cap'n, it was my fault," I say, getting up, wincing. "I got a bit pissed off with Eight here and attacked her. I take full responsibility."

"It was my fault, too," Eight apologizes as well. "If I hadn't provoked him, he wouldn't've attacked me in the first place."

The Cap'n stood there for a moment, disappointment on his face. "Kids these days," he mutters before talking to us. "Well, at least you two are taking responsibility for your actions. But that doesn't excuse your fighting. I'll find a way for you two to work together and get along, and I can promise you, you two will not enjoy it."

"Yes sir," we said in unison. Cuttlefish stalked off, back to bed. We remain quiet for a few moments before Aileen speaks up.

"Oh, uh, I just remembered," she starts nervously. "Uh, remember when you and Kevin were on the train platform and you saw me?"

"Yeah," I reply. "Haven't heard from him since."

"I know where he went."

"What?"


Aileen and I crouch in hiding outside a warehouse on the outskirts of the city. It's dark, being only about 2 AM.

"So, what's the plan?" I ask Aileen.

"Well, since I'm technically still a soldier, it shouldn't be hard for me to get in. It's getting him out that's gonna be hard."

"Do you know how you're gonna do that?"

"Uh, well…"

I facepalm "Seriously, Aileen? We make it all the way out here and you have no plan?"

"Well, uh, yeah. But at least the others are back at the house, right?"

"I guess not dealing with Eight is nice. But really, if we're gonna break someone out of a prison, we really should have a plan to go along with it. It's kinda necessary."

"Right, right." Aileen sits there a minute, eyes closed. She's currently back in her Octarian army uniform, complete with the glasses, which are currently being hacked by Marina. While Aileen was retrieving the uniform from her room, Marina figured out how to keep them hacked for upwards to 30-ish minutes, which really helps in this kind of situation.

"Think I got something," Aileen says after a moment or two of thinking. "So, I'll get him out of the cell, right? Plan A is to simply say before I get him out that I'm gonna transfer him to another cell, under our commander's orders. Knowing the guard, he should be pretty open to the idea and shouldn't check to make sure there really is an order. If that falls through and he asks for proof, I'll knock him out and then simply go through the ventilation system."

"Okay, but what do I do, then?"

"Stay out here, I guess. I don't have a disguise for you, and there's no way they're gonna let you simply waltz into the place. So your only main option, besides finding your own way in, would be staying out here."

I sigh. "Whatever. Just try to be quick, okay?"

"Aight. See ya in a bit." She slinks off into the night.


Aileen

She walked up to the main gate. "Hey, Carl," she announced, startling the guard, who was half-asleep.

"Oh, huh, wha?" The startled Carl looked around for a moment before his eyes settled on Aileen. "Oh, Agent Marso. What brings you here so early?"

"I'm moving a prisoner to another facility. Commander's orders."

"Huh, didn't hear anything about it. But whatever, I'll leave ya to it." He opened the gate. "See ya later!"

"Bye, Carl!" Aileen walked through and hurried inside.


Kevin

The loud sound of the warehouse door slamming woke Kevin up with a start. "Ugh..what the hell?" he moaned, getting up from the bed. He looked around the cell, consisting of a desk, a bookshelf with Octarian literature, a sink, and a toilet.

He walked over to the sink and splashed a bit of water on his face. He instinctively reached for his pocket to grab his phone and check the time, but of course, his pocket was empty. They had confiscated his phone moments after locking him up.

"Hey!" he called to his guard. "What's going on out there?"

"Mind your own business!" the guard snapped back.

"Geez, I just asked a question."

"Yeah, and I gave an answer."

Kevin grunted and sat down at the desk, picking up a book.

"An Overview of Zapfish Technology. Boring." He tossed the book aside and grabbed a second. "A History on the Elder Race. Boring as well." Grabbing a third, he grunts in disapproval. "The Physics of Ink. All boring!" He slams his fist on the table. "Do you only care about technology and history? Where's the fun in your life?"

The guard simply grunted.

"That's what I expected," Kevin said, annoyed.

Soon, he heard footsteps growing near to his cell. He looked out the bars and his hearts nearly stopped.

"Uh, A-Aileen," he stuttered nervously as she stopped outside his cell.

"What did I say about calling me that?"

"Uh, s-sorry."

Aileen turned towards the guard. "I'm taking this prisoner to a different facility. Commander's orders." She flashed the guard her rank of Agent.

"Uh, yes ma'am," the guard replied, saluting. She then turned towards the cell and unlocked it. Aileen walked inside and cuffed Kevin, before turning towards the guard again.

"Didja give him a hard time?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the guard said, saluting again.

"Good. That's what I like to hear." Aileen jerked on Kevin's arm, pulling him towards the door.


Josiah

From where I sat, I had a perfectly clear view of what was going on outside. Aileen entered with no problem. After not even 10 minutes, I see her exit, Kevin in tow. She walks up to the gate and exits with no problem, bringing Kevin over to me.

"Well," I say as she arrives. "Looks like it was a success."

Aileen pulls her glasses off, sighing in relief. "That was probably the most risky and terrifying thing I've done in my life. I was so nervous that somebody was gonna catch on or the glasses were gonna reboot." She wiped a bit of sweat off her brow.

Kevin stared at us in bewilderment. "Wait, so you weren't taking me to another facility? This was a breakout?"

"Guess you could call it that," I reply.

"And I see you and Aileen are back together just fine."

"That's a story I'll explain, along with a helluva lot more, on the way back to my house."

We throw open the door, entering the home. "Now, it's too late to do introductions now," I say to Kevin, motioning to the sleeping figures on the floor. "Or is it too early? Ah, whatever. Either way, make yourself comfortable, I'm gonna return Aileen to her bed." As if on cue, Aileen yawns.

"I concur," she says between yawns.

The two of us exit the home, returning to her backyard. I glance up at the window, through which I fell through only a few hours before.

"Well, guess I'll be seeing you in a while," I say. "Just...don't get up too early, mmkay?" She nods in agreement. We share a brief kiss before she climbs up on my shoulders.

"Brace yourself," she says before jumping, grasping the window sill and pulling herself through. She looks down at me and waves goodbye before shutting it. I sigh and return to my house. As soon as I enter the room, I collapse on a sleeping bag conveniently placed right where I fall.


I awake to a violent kick in the gut.

"URGH!" I moan, doubling over.

"Glad to see you're awake," Eight says.

"Why, Eight? Why did you need me up so bad?"

"I'm hungry."

I get up and stare her straight in the face. "Really? You kicked me in the gut so I could get you food? That's it?"

"Yup."

I grunt and head into the kitchen, grabbing a piece of rye bread that tastes like cardboard. "Alright, here ya go."

She takes the bread and looks at it with a look of contempt. "That all you got?"

"No, but it's my house, so I will control what's eaten. And if you hadn't woken me up like that, maybe I'd give you something else."

Eight grunts her disapprovement.

"Your fault," I reply. I start the coffee maker and sit down at the table. The first thing I notice is the dent in it. "Damn, I'd better fix that," I say to myself.

Slowly, the others begin trickling in, some sitting at the table with me and others on the couch. Eight's in the chair like always. Soon, a knock is heard at the door.

I open it, and in walks Aileen, wearing fresh new clothing and a pair of glasses. "Good morning," she says, a smile on her face.

"Hey, Aileen," I reply. "You hungry? I was just about to cook some breakfast." Eight perks her head up at this. "For mostly everybody," I say, and she glares at me.

"Allow me to cook," Callie says, walking in. "You guys want some pancakes, or would ya like waffles instead?"

"Easy choice," says a freshly awoken Pearl. "Pancakes, duh. They're much better than waffles. I mean, you can make a whole stack of waffles in the time it takes to find a waffle iron."

I walk over to the pantry. "Uh, I've got one right here. Got a stack of pancakes yet?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Besides, waffles are better," says Marina from the table. Pancakes disintegrate between your teeth, leaving you unsatisfied after every bite."

"Okay, that's a little much-"

"I agree with Pearl, that's a bit excessive, Marina." I grab the iron. "Although, I do agree that waffles are better."

The two bicker with each other for a moment or two.

"That's it!" Pearl shouts, throwing her hands in the air. "We're settling this Splatfest style after we get this coup taken care of."

"Sounds good to me," Marina agrees.

Callie gets to work with the waffles.

"Good morning, young'uns," Cuttlefish greets us, walking into the kitchen. "Mmm, do I smell waffles?"

"Yep, sure do, Gramps!" Callie replies.

"Smells amazing." He sits down at the table after grabbing himself some coffee.

"What's the plan for today?" Marie calls from the couch.

"Well, I was thinking that we'll launch an attack." The room gapes at him. "Nothing too big, just see what the enemy's made out of."

"You sure that's a good idea?"

"Well, after we recruit the rest of J's friends, that is. Kevin's probably not enough to keep us going."

"Huh? Somebody said my name?" Kevin gets up off the floor, awoken by the group's mentioning him.

"Yeah, we're discussing our plans for the day," I reply.

"What are they?"

"We're launching a small attack."


Author's Note:

Kevin's out and Aileen's free. The plan is to get some more people recruited, and hopefully that will go just fine for them. And Eight and Josiah's relationship is rockier than ever.

Another week, another chapter done. Here's this one for ya guys, trying to take a bit of a different approach from here on out. That little intro was me mimicking a TV show, where it has the mini-intro and then the title before launching into the main story. And yeah, you can expect more switches between the person the chapter follows from here on out. Maybe not a whole lot of them, but certainly a few here and there.

Thanks for your continuous support, I wouldn't be as confident without it. And don't forget, reviews certainly help. Don't be afraid to ask questions, I'll address any within this "Author's Note" section.

See ya next Sunday!