Chapter 10

Flounder Heights…Mei's POV

"Alright, I'm ready." I told Otis. "Are you sure Terry will stay here?"

"I hid the remote somewhere inside, so he can't go too far." Otis said. "Also, I think he's waaay too busy with my Squidstation."

I looked over to see Terry with his eyes glued to the TV as he played Squidlancer 5.

"I'll be back later, Terry!" Otis called out.

"Uh-huh…" Terry replied, barely acknowledging him.

"He'll be at that all day." Otis shrugged. "Now let's go see Beth."

Later…Octo Canyon…

Alright, now to talk with Beth.

Hopefully she isn't too stressed out…

Just need to find her…there.

Oh Cod...she's interrogating another Octoling...

"I'll ask you again…" Beth said. "Where…is…Cass?!"

She aimed her Hero Shot at the Octoling.

"Please…I don't know…" The Octoling replied.

"I can do this all day, you know." Beth remarked. "How many times can Octarians handle their spawns though?"

"Beth, please stop!" I shouted.

"Codenames, 8!" She shouted. "And what do you mean stop? I'm trying to find Arnold."

"And he clearly doesn't know anything!" Otis told her. "You're just tormenting him for no reason! Arnold wouldn't want that!"

"Otis, why are you here?" Beth sighed.

"M…Eight asked me." I told her. "She wanted me to help her calm you down."

"Calm me down?!" She glared at me. "We need to find 3.5! Cass needs to pay!"

"Mei, I know you want to beat Cass's face in." I told her. "Heck, if anything, I want to beat her face in even more than you do, but you're spending all your time on patrol, you're hardly getting any sleep, you're getting more angry and distant, and I'm starting to get a little scared…"

"Mei…" Beth sighed. "I know you're worried about me, but I need to find him. He's…"

"Your best friend?" I guessed.

Beth fell silent.

"Three…" Otis stepped forward. "I know we don't get along, shell, we've gotten into fistfights more times than I can count, and we probably would've killed each other a while ago had other people not stopped us, but I've known Arnold just as long as you. I might've not been as close, but I know he wouldn't want to see you acting like this. Like her…"

"Otis…" Beth avoided eye-contact.

"We'll find him." Otis said. "Just…calm down and breathe. You aren't the only person whose been under a lot of stress these past few days. I thought my little sister might've died. Mei thought Guyver might've died. Marie thought Callie might've died. But they're alive. From what I've heard, they're taking a saucer back."

"Arnold will be fine." I told her. "Cassandra is a lot of things, but from what I've experienced, murderous isn't one of them."

Beth wasn't sure what to do.

"Beth…" I walked up to her. "Let's head home."

"…Okay…" Beth agreed and lowered her Hero Shot.

"…What…just…happened?" The Octoling was confused.

"It helps you out, doesn't it?" Otis asked.

The Octoling decided to stay quiet.

"…So what now?" Beth asked.

"…Wanna see if Damien'll score?" Otis asked.

"Sure…" Beth agreed. "With who?"

Later…

Whaaaaaat?! When did this happen?! How did this happen?!

Zoey and Damien playing chess on the couch because Zoey has the hots for Damien now?!

…Well…at least she isn't obsessed with Guyver…

For now though, it was me, Beth, Otis, and Sam watching from a distance in anticipation.

"Uh…Knight takes rook?" Zoey moved the piece.

Damien then moved a piece.

"Checkmate." He said.

"I never learned how to play chess…" Zoey told him. "That's why I suu-hu-huuuuuk!"

"I-it's f-fine!" Damien told her. "N-no s-shame in l-losing…"

"It's fine, I guess…" Zoey sighed.

Is this really Zoey? She's showing a surprising amount of restraint…

Zoey then got up, walked over, and sat next to him.

"So…how about a reward for the winner?" Zoey asked.

Oh, never mind…

"I-uh…w…w-what d-d-did you have in m-mind?" Damien asked nervously as Zoey got closer.

Zoey then sat on his lap, facing him with a grin on her face. Damien's face looked like a tomato!

"Something nice." Zoey replied. "You want it?"

"…Y-yes…" Damien nodded his head.

Aaaaaand…Yes! She kissed him!

Okay, she pulled away…what's your response, Damien?

…

And he kisses her!

…

…Aaaaand now they're making out…

I signaled to the others that it was time to leave.

Probably best to let the new couple be.

Well, Sam will stay since she lives here.

I have a lot to tell Guyver when he comes back!

Hm? What's that in the distance?

I took some binoculars out of my bag.

Ivan?!

And he has binoculars too.

He then noticed me.

He nodded and gave me a thumbs-up before turning to leave.

"Hey Otis?" I got his attention. "Have you guys spoken to Ivan since the Tournament?"

"We haven't even seen him since the Tournament." He told me. "Why?"

…

…What a creeper…

…

I then got a text.

"They're back!" I shouted. "They're a little worse for the wear, but they're back!"

"Yes!" Otis got excited.

30 Minutes Later…

We were told to all meet up at a warehouse by the docks. We weren't sure why here…until we opened the door.

Inside were a bunch of injured and exhausted Inklings and Octolings. In the crowd, we could see Marie and Marina helping tend to these cephalopods.

I then noticed-

"Guyver!" I ran over and gave him a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay! You…seem thinner…"

"Heh…well, constant fighting and barely eating any of the rancid food there will do that to you." He replied.

I noticed Otis give Sarah a big hug as well.

"I'm glad you're fine…" Otis said.

"H-hey, you can't keep me down." Sarah tried acting confident.

"I'm fine too." Callie teased Otis.

"I was just about to get to you." Otis assured Callie. "Geez, you guys look worse for the wear…"

"Eh, I needed to lose weight anyway." Callie shrugged. "Had a liiiittle too many Crabby Cakes back at the shack."

That managed to get a chuckle from all of us.

"You okay, Sarah?" I noticed she…as well as everyone else was very much bothered by something.

"The mission went horribly." Guyver explained. "Octavio wasn't even there."

"Well, you managed to free these people." I looked on the bright side.

"Not all of them…" Sarah sighed. "A few of them died…"

She then pointed to a green-haired squid with a bandaged hand.

"He…let someone die…" She said with utter hostility.

"…Greg?" Otis recognized him.

"You know him?" I was surprised.

"He's one of the assholes I know." Otis told me. "I've seen him take some of his guys around just to stop random Octolings and ask them questions. I didn't know they were Octolings at first, but now I do."

"Why?" I wondered.

"Apparently an Octoling killed his best friends years ago." Otis explained. "He just doesn't trust any of them."

"Hey guys, how long are we going to be here?" Some squid asked.

"Just until we can get a story clear, Erin." Callie told him. "One that doesn't involve talk of agents."

"Why not?" Greg, who overheard, asked. "Probably do a lot of good if people knew about the Octarian Menace still being around, causing trouble."

"It could cause another war, Greg!" Marie shouted.

"Maybe losing twice would teach them a lesson…" I could hear that jerk grumble.

"So what are you going to do, anyway?" I asked Erin. "After you and the others return to society?"

"Oh, first I'm going to reconnect with friends and family; let them know I'm not dead." Erin explained. "Then I'm suing the carp out of Grizzco. They're the reason I'm in this situation."

"Don't worry; you'll all be out soon." Marina told everyone. "We're just going to help get some stories straight, and then we'll call the authorities."

Of course, Greg, and to a lesser extent his Salmon Run team, would complain. However, they were overruled by the Inklings who just wanted to go home and the Octolings who wanted some peace and quiet. Marina wanted to talk to Otis about something real quick and then sent him back towards me and the other agents.

Otis, Sarah, Guyver, Beth, and I were allowed to leave and relax. Best the Splatoon isn't here when the authorities arrive. The other agents and Marina can get Pearl and pass themselves off as news coverage. The other cephalopods would be alright.

For now though, we needed rest.