Epilogue: 2 years later...


"I still can't believe the octarians are sending out an octostriker of all things…" Amira sighed as she followed Nyx through the maze of rooftops and back alleys. "Let alone that they'd send one near Urchin Underpass of all places. I mean, that's just plain stupid! Do they have any idea how many city residents hang out here?"

"They probably do. Inkopolis is more active during the day." Nyx's eyes flickered behind her briefly, a look of irritation on her face. No doubt she wasn't at all pleased with her companion's chattiness.

"But Nyx-"

"It's either Alpha or Agent Alpha in the field, Sigma," Nyx interrupted, frowning. "You know what will happen if anyone catches us.

"Yeah I know I know," the octoling replied with an eye roll. "Still say you're being paranoid."

"You really want to get caught? From what Delta told me it didn't go well for the two of you when the octarians found you out the last time."

Amira shuddered at the memory, still able to recall the sickly green skin and glowing blue tentacles of the octolings that had originally captured her and her brother all those years ago. Time may have blurred the memories slightly but the fear those creatures instilled would never fade completely.

"So in all likelihood, what're the chances that Cuttlefish's Agents will be on the case with this and we won't have to step in?"

"Not sure...probably pretty high." Nyx continued to trek forward, ignoring Amira's awkward topic change.

"Eh, I hope they'll be there. That guy with the shooter weapon's cute."

"Really?" The partial squidling sighed as Amira began to fawn over that particular Agent and his looks. She really thought Fabio was cute? Well, everyone had their own particular type she figured.

Amira continued to swoon over the Agent as they hopped down onto the last rooftop between them and a large somewhat open area near the Underpass. Nyx dimly recalled that the newcomers to Inkopolis would sometimes come here to train with their weapons until they had access to Sheldon's firing range. It was a bit out of the way, and taking over it really wouldn't have done anything to give the octarians a tactical advantage, but sure enough there in the sky was one of their UFOs. Nyx frowned, only to facepalm when Amira let out a small squeal.

"Look, there he is!" She exclaimed, pointing down below them. Sure enough, there were Cuttlefish's agents making their way towards the octostriker. Curiously enough, however, there was now a fourth one among their numbers, a girl armed with another hero shot. She must've been new. As the two observed them an inkstrike fell from the sky, startling this newcomer. She let out a surprised yelp, the yellow hue slipping from her tentacles briefly to be replaced by a black one in her fright.

"No way, she's got black tentacles like you!" Amira elbowed Nyx, gesturing eagerly to the new girl. "There's more like you out there Nyx! You're not the only one of your kind!"

"How many times do I have to remind you, it's Alpha?" Nyx shook her head, a frustrated tone to her voice. "And I could care less if I'm the only one of my kind. She could have orange tentacles with pink plaid stripes for all I could care. They have the situation under control, let's head back and rendezvous with Omega."

Grumbling under her breath Nyx walked off across the rooftop and lightly leaped up to the next one, starting the long trip back to the shore where her boyfriend would be waiting with a boat. Amira watched her go for a minute before sighing.

"Well she woke up on the wrong side of the bed today," the octoling muttered before glancing back at the four inklings down below. "Welp, guess I've gotta go with lil' miss grumpyfins. But fear not! We shall be back!"

With a wink and a cheery salute in the general direction of the agents - not that any of them saw it - she broke into a run, dashing after the distant form of Nyx.


And that's it for this fanfic. I'm hoping you all enjoyed reading it. The next story in The Darkness quartet, The Darkest Hour, should be out shortly (or now, depending on when you're reading this), but until then, thanks for reading.

If you have any questions for me about this story or any of my other ones I have a curious cat account (username ShadowDragon42, the same as my twitter handle), so feel free to shoot me a question over there.