Tory yawned as he loitered around in the plaza. He had stayed up late to read the database and had barely realised it was after midnight before he went to sleep. Looking around, he glanced at the huge TV which was announcing at that moment the new arena, Kelp Dome, before his eyes wandered to the door leading to the squid research lab. The shops were closed since the shopkeepers were out celebrating the update, and he wanted to change his gear out for something a little more relaxed.

He came out wearing a pair of black Arrowbands and a Black Anchor Tee. He decided to head over to the café for breakfast but was cut short when he actually bothered to look. The café was surrounded by some yellow roadblocks. The glass outside was shattered, with a large hole in the remaining glass around the size of a fancy SUV. He left with his stomach grumbling.

He remembered that there weren't any other places to get food in Deep Inkopolis, and he walked hungrily towards the train elsewhere, but was stopped when a thin arm grabbed his hand.

"You hungry?" a feminine voice asked in a heavy slang accent. Tory nodded, too hungry to deny it, and she quickly handed him a Catfish Burger.

After Tory had finished, he asked, "Thank you. Uh, why did you help me, exactly?"

"Ha! You're a smart one!" She cried, grinning at him. "Yup, I wanted to borrow you for a bit. I just got a real cool unreleased weapon and I wanna try it out. I need a right-hand man, and if you're unawares, you're semi-famous around here!"

Tory sighed, resigning himself to an early grave at the hands of an energetic inkling with a Gatling gun on her back. He took out his tablet and quickly did a search to figure out how the weapon worked, then followed the excitable girl into the lobby. She garnered some attention from some of the inklings about, but as far as Tory knew it was more because of him than because of her. He swore he hadn't seen her before.

She shrieked in glee as they went through the stomach-lurching cyber travel to the Kelp Dome. The new map meant the connection was even worse than usual, and Tory almost threw up when the system got confused and shook them like octopi in a snow globe before shooting off at ten times the speed in entirely another direction. he held his aching belly and hoped he would survive.

After what seemed like an hour he realised something was wrong. The girl also seemed to notice, as she had stopped shrieking, and the travel was going a lot slower. They looked around to try and get their bearings, but nothing seemed familiar.

"Huh, this is weird," she commented, as they slowed enough to see the electronic walls. They displayed some emergency buttons, some screens displaying levels, and a few others doing nothing at all. Tory leaned over to one of the screens and tapped a few times, trying to recall how to enter the system.

"PLEASE PLACE YOUR HAND ON THE RECEPTACLE," buzzed an electronic voice, as Tory slowed to a stop. A small panel flipped over, and a hand-shaped indent showed where he was to put his hand. Pushing down on it, it beeped in recognition and moved back a little before flipping again.

"USER Tory RECOGNISED. CONTINUE." It stated, before the voice left them. Tory quickly tapped about through the data files to try and figure out what was going on. He checked a few data files, and decided to investigate his companion.

"You, come over here," he called, and she shrugged. He sighed and dragged her over, pushing her hand in another panel, and the machine buzzed as it scanned her.

"PLAYER NOT RECOGNISED. PLEASE REQUEST AUTHORIZATION TO ENTER OR CREATE PLAYER CARD." Tory pushed the button to create an account, to which the machine asked for his handprint again, and after a bit of figuring he managed to get a player card for her.

"It's just temporary, so ask for one from a higher-up as soon as you can, okay? I'm only authorized to give temporary ones." She nodded eagerly and accepted the small identification card. The system suddenly recognised her and sped off for one of the levels before Tory could even shut down the computer.

They were dropped into the new map, Kelp Dome, but it didn't really look like the pictures. Ink was all over the place, in almost every colour imaginable - even magenta, a colour Inklings couldn't produce. Tory's tentacles had turned Pink, and the girl's had done the same, but they found it was brighter so it could be seen compared to the strange purple-pink ink.

"Oh no, oh no oh no oh no. This is not what I think it is," Tory murmured, pointing Inkaliber warily at the ink. He looked around to find any other players, and quickly found his target. She was chasing a smaller Inkling boy who only managed to stay out of her reach by running full speed with his inkbrush. He spotted Tory and cried out for help.

"DUDE HELP SHE'S GONNA KILL ME!" he screamed, and Tory recognised him as the same inkling he had fought with when he battled Alder. Sighing, he jumped off his spawn and quickly dispatched him, sending him back to the safety of his base. Turning, Tory looked at the Octoling who was hissing at him in a foreign tongue. He listened closely and was able to pick out her speech.

"I am Soldier 49 of the new Octoling Regiment," she hissed, pointing her gun at him. "Prepare to die, Inkling scum!"

Tory thought quickly. As long as he was careful, he could probably pretend to be an ally. Most inklings couldn't speak Octoling, after all. In his best attempt at an accent, he replied, "What is the meaning of this hostility, Soldier 49?" She recoiled visibly, apparently falling for his bluff, and explained herself quickly.

"I'm here with orders to test the new ink-resistant gear, sir! I'm sorry I didn't recognise you! Your disguise is perfect!" She began to back away, a bit frightened. Obviously mistakes were not dealt with lightly in the Octarian Armies.

"Hmm. Let's say" Tory pulled Inkaliber and set it to Inkbrush mode, "we test this armour of yours, shall we?" He pointed Inkaliber at her, and she squeaked in submission before realising she was not being attacked.

"I will give you... ten seconds to get back to the entrance to this place. If you manage it you will go without punishment." Tory said in his most intimidating speech. "GO." She screeched and ran, dropping her weapon and forcing herself to run as fast as she could. Tory chased after her, following her every move, but never touching her. The entrance location was far more important than splatting her. She leaped down a grate in a far corner, and Tory struck his weapon into it for effect.

Turning back to his new friend, he sighed, "At least now we know where they were coming from. You have anything we could block this up with temporarily?"

"You think a discount shirt would do?" she replied, Sorting out as they spoke. "It'll stop them from twisting it open until someone gets here to fix this." Tory nodded in approval and helped her finish the job. They decided after a few minutes to leave and report the situation to the manager.

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"Are you sure I didn't wipe them out, Marissa?" Charron asked, his hero shot at the ready. Marissa nodded enthusiastically, before dragging him into the Kelp Dome again. They searched around, but an officer found them first.

"What are you two doing?" He asked, adjusting his glasses. His uniform was quite bland, but he had tried to personalize it so he didn't feel so moldy.

"We heard that some Octolings showed up here," Marissa explained, taking over. "I thought we could help, but it seems like they aren't here."

"A kind boy drove out most of them. A little earlier though an inkling with a strange weapon came through and rescued an inkling from a straggler. We're looking for him. He said he was with this girl who had a strong city accent and a large Gatling gun type weapon. Have you seen them?" The two shook their heads and walked away until they were out of earshot.

"You didn't tell me anything about Tory helping you and Cap'n Cuttlefish," Charron said, disgruntled.

"I didn't ask for his help," Marissa replied, confused. "I never told him anything. He only knows about Octo Valley because back then Cap'n needed help caring for the Zapfish, and his granddaughters didn't have time."

"Huh," Charron commented. They sat next to each other on the train to the suburbs. Marissa looked out the window and sighed.

"Tory doesn't understand people anyway," She grumbled. She continued to mumble incomprehensible insults until her stop came.

"See you, Marissa."

"See you, Charron."

"Oh yeah," he said, glancing around at the train to see if anyone was listening. "Tell me, are you in love with Tory?" Marissa practically choked.

"W-What?! That idiot?! No! I'm Not!" She protested, punching Charron in the face and running off without even thanking the driver. Charron rubbed his bruising cheek and laughed.

"So she does like him. Well, I guess I can't let her go unanswered. I'll sort it out somehow." He went home thinking of all the ways he could 'accidentally' push them towards a relationship.

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A/N; My goodness, I keep breaking my self-promises... But this time for realsies. There will be no more Octolings/Octarians or shippings.

AUGH WHY MUST MY BRAIN AUTOMATICALLY SHIP PEOPLE?!

Anyways folks, enjoy this chapter. I'll try to have a few more actual battles and stuff. Some hardcore strats! Some updates! The Good Stuff instead of the fun-to-write romance filler junk! And it would really help if my computers stopped reloading the page!

Anyway, beyond this, thank you so much everyone for the reviews. I'm glad people are enjoying this story so far. I'd love to hear what you have to say as far as what you want for this story, and don't hesitate to say something if it ought be said! Be a Hero! Do stuff! Get recognised for how awesome you really are!