The team arrived at New Albacore Hotel.
"Woah..." Sandbar's eyes lit up at the glamourous hotel lobby. Soft red carpet, gleaming chandeliers, and a plethora of rooms to choose from.
"Isn't it cool?" Trident stepped forward. "The remodel was a success I see. Now all we need to do is locate Ms. Fishbourne's room and check into rooms that are nearby." His eyes shifted onto the reception desk. "Wait here while I go check." He then made his way towards the front desk.
Meanwhile, Sandbar was still in awe at the high quality of the hotel. "Man...I ain't never seen such high end stuff before."
"Heh-well we usually battle on the roof where the pool is. Nobody eva' really comes inside, unless they visitin'." Tortuga replied, "And hey now, that reminds me. Trident was sayin' somethin' about lettin' ya stay with him for the next few days. What's goin' on?"
"Oh well..." he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm...kinda in a rough spot right now...with money. No one's really buyin' the stuff I've been sellin' online..."
"Oh...sorry to hear that. So is that why he offered you to stay at his place?"
Sandbar nodded. "Yup. But it seems like we'll be here for now."
She was about to say something else but Trident interrupted them with a set of keys. "This way, everyone. We will be taking rooms next to Ms. Laura's. Everyone follow me." He entered the elevator with everyone.
All the while, Ravine had been busy sneaking crab cakes from off the room service cart. By the time she entered the elevator her cheeks were puffed out, stuffed full of the meat. "Hehe...they'll never suspect a thing...huh?"
Much to her surprise, none of her friends said a word.
And all she could muster was a profound look a shock. "...Wow."
Once they arrived on their desired floor, Trident took the lead and pointed to one of the doors. "Laura is in room 604. Sandbar and I will be taking room 603. You girls will be taking room 602. Any questions?"
Tortuga snatched the room key from his hand. "Ey. I'll be doin' what I like thank ya very much. C'mon Ravy. Let's have ourselves a girls' night."
"But ya'll are literally just doin' what Tri said-" Sandbar tried to point out but was cut off by a Tortuga balling her fist in his face.
"Say it again, homie?"
Sandbar leaned back. Whether it was fear or annoyance, he didn't attempt to challenge her. "Naw man. Ya'll good." He replied as he shook his head rapidly.
"Thought so." She walked of towards the room.
Ravine passed them and stuck out her tongue. "Oooh, get fried~"
"That's quite enough," Trident pushed the blue girl towards the room.
"Aw but I dun wanna go, dad!" Ravine teased him with her hands on his shoulders.
"Nope, not falling for it." Trident had to almost fling the girl into the room before shutting the door.
As he walked back, Sandbar had a smirk from ear to pointed ear. His eyes poked playful daggers into his friend's. "Ya'll really close huh?"
"Shut it or you'll be on the street when we leave here." He responded under his breath. The boys made their way into the room.
The hours went on as normal. The occasion al inkling would order themselves something from the room service food cart. Other than that, nothing major. It seemed as if whoever Laura said was after her hadn't shown up.
The boys each had their own beds and were lying in them. Sandbar had begun to stare up at the ceiling. Unable to fully rest himself.
Next to him, Trident was fast asleep. However, it was only a matter of time before he himself became restless due his friend not being able to sleep. An innate sense.
"Psst, hey."
The yellow boy's attention was stolen. "H...huh?"
With a sigh, Trident sat up in his bed, and turned on the lamp next to him. "What's wrong, man? If it's about your living conditions, I told you we'll sort it out."
"Naw it's..." It took a moment for Sandbar to respond. "I...dunno. I just got some kinda bad feelin' somethin' might happen here."
"Ah, you worry too much, my friend," he gave a chuckle and lied back down. "If something does occur, I'll bet my left ink sac that everything will be easy to handle. So a crazy fan wants to come see her. It'll be no issue, I assure you."
Sandbar nodded. "Fair enough, man. I'mma...try and sleep. This place got some really nice beds."
"Yeahhh...and the...food is divine..." he said through a yawn while he headed into slumber once more.
With his feelings sated for the moment, Sandbar lied back and tried to get some sleep as well.
It would be another hour into the dead of the morning, about 2AM, when the yellow boy got out of his bed and stretched. He then went into the massive hotel bathroom. "...Darn tootin'...this place is what I dream of." His finger attempted to click on the light switch. But much to his surprise, the lights did not activate.
"H...huh?" Through his half-asleep state, he didn't realize it at first. So he tried again, and again. By the third try, he brushed it off. "Naaahh...must be sleepwalkin'..." The next step he took was a painful one, resulting in him tripping and falling flat on his face against the tile floor with a loud SMACK.
"OW..." Sandbar pushed away from the floor, stretching his face until he snapped upwards. The front half of his head flat as a pancake until a POP returned him to normal. "What the...?" After such a fall, he was wide awake, all he could see was pitch black darkness. "Naw...naw naw...NAW." In a state of panic, he wiggled his arms around him to locate the carpet that led back into the hotel bedroom. Once he did, he crawled along the floor until he heard his cyan friend's snoring.
"Dude. Dude! DUDE! Trident wake up man!"
The shouts caused Trident to twist and contort his blankets until he was wrapped in them. "Wh-what the shrimp?! Mom leave dad alone!"
That last bit caught him off guard. "Uh..." he was about to say something, but focused on the main issue. "My man, wake up. We got ourselves a hyuuuge problem here!" Sandbar shook his friend to get him out of the bed.
While shaken, Trident could only form garbled speech. "Wh-whaaat's goooiiing...oooon...?"
"The lights are out man! I think somethin's happenin'!"
"Gah...first unhand me you bumbling fool." He freed himself from Sandbar's grip, and tried to toggle the lamp on, but nothing happened. "Hm...odd." Trident then put on his glasses and grabbed his Squidphone, turning on the flashlight mode. All they could see was a few feet ahead.
"I told ya man! There's somethin' wrong! I could see it in my darn head I'm tellin' ya!"
"It seems to me that the power to the entire building has been cut off. We'll need to go around and make sure the elevators weren't used when this happened." Trident got out of bed, and shot a concerned look at his friend. "You may have been correct, but now is not the time to lose your head. We need to focus."
"Yeah...you're right. Sorry man."
The boys walked out of the room.
"Just as I suspected," Trident lamented while he held his phone out to light the way, "the entire hall is pitch black out here. And I assume all other floors are as well." He looked left, then right, "Since everyone is aslepe there is little cause for concern on a grand scale. But I suggest we stand guard outside Laura's door. How's that sound, Sandman?"
The yellow inkling was shaking in his slippers. A fearful frown adorned his face with his teeth chattering. "Y-y-yeah...right."
"...Listen, it's alright if you're still afraid of the-"
"DARK? PFF! I ain't afraid of no...dark. *gulp*" How much he shook in place was evidence of the opposite. "I-I'm just fine..."
Trident sighed. "Alright, well I'm not going anywhere so just stick by me."
Out of nowhere, a third voice rang out to them. Having a similar western accent to Sandbar's. "Well now. I thought I heard myself the voice of the Sandman in them there halls, but it be real."
"Um...what? Sandbar do you know who that is?" Trident asked.
He sighed, "...Unfortunately...yeah."