Chapter 28
Cuttlefish Cabin…
"Cuttlefish Cabin, this is Agent 3." The radio played. "Please come in, cuttlefish Cabin."
Marie quickly grabbed the communicator.
"This is Agent 2, what's the sitch?" She asked.
"Situation's changed, Agent 2." Three said. "The Octarians are fighting each other?"
"What?" Callie chimed in, confused. "Why?"
"Not sure, but it looks like those Gorge reinforcements are fighting Julia's hypnotized troops." Agent 3 informed the others. "We're trying to figure out what's going on. You should probably get the others up. It could get loud…er…"
"Right." Marie nodded her head. "Alright, we will. Agent 2, out."
She hung up and walked over to wake up the others, starting with using her foot to nudge Otis, who woke with a groan. Callie and Marie woke all of the agents up, and then Marie went for Toxic Mist, who still had their masks on even in their sleep. She was just about to wake up One when he got up on his own and woke the others up. Whether he woke up on his own or he'd already been awake, Marie was left to wonder. As soon as everyone was up and at 'em, the two agents stood in front of them next to the cabin.
"Alright Agents, we've got another situation." Marie told them. "So, it seems the Octarians are fighting each other. We're guessing it could be that Octo Gorge found out what Julia's been up to. Time to do our thing."
Everyone nodded and got ready to move out, rushing towards the domes, leaving the recovering Sarah behind with Guyver by her side.
Elsewhere, Octo Canyon…
Valerie peered around the corner at the nearby soldiers. They didn't have shades on, in fact, they weren't wearing the Neo set, but the one from Octo Gorge.
"I'm going to walk forward, guys." She told them. "Anything happens to me, you two run."
Tim was about to object when Octavio covered his mouth and nodded. Valerie then slowly approached the soldiers as Octavio held onto Tim as they hid around the corner.
"H-hello?" Valerie called out to the soldiers. "What's going on?"
"Stay inside, civilian." One of the soldiers told her. "We're hunting down a traitor to our empire."
"Julia?" She guessed.
The soldiers looked at each other.
"That is…correct…" Another soldier confirmed. "How do you-"
"Because she tried to kill a prince?" She interrupted. "Because she's trying to grab power for herself?"
"How…do you know that…?" One of the soldiers asked, confused.
"Who are you loyal to?" She asked.
"We are soldiers loyal to Octo Gorge." The soldier replied. "However, our ultimate loyalty is always to the monarchy and its people."
"…Come out!" She told the others, who obliged.
"My liege!" One soldier called out before they all knelt in front of Octavio.
"At ease." Octavio said, rolling his eyes slightly. "A'ight troops, so ya found Julia out?"
"Yes sir." One soldier answered. "We've discovered her treachery and are now in hot pursuit."
"Good." He nodded. "Now, follow me. We've gotta get to the Octobot King."
"It's heavily guarded, sir." One soldier warned. "Julia probably knows that's a target."
"Of course she does…" Octavio figured. "Alright, radio in to focus your efforts on getting the Octobot King. I play ma beats there, and we can take control of the shaded troops."
"What about Julia?" I asked.
"Julia's time's up." Octavio told him. "She blew it the moment she tried to kill ya. Her only options are stay and hope she somehow wins, or escape. Either way, she's not gonna be around here much longer…so, ya got the hangars so she can't do the latter option?"
"Of course, sir." One soldier nodded. "The last thing we want is for her to escape."
"But she's still got my ride in her hands." Octavio pointed out. "Meaning if you don't want a chance of her escaping, we need to secure it, and fast."
"Yes, sir!" One of the soldiers saluted, then started radioing in the news and orders.
A few minutes later, the Soldier returned to the others.
"Alright, sir." The soldier walked to Octavio. "We will lead you to the Octobot King."
"A'ight!" Octavio got pumped.
"Sir?" One soldier got his attention. "What should we do if the Splatoon interferes?"
Everyone looked at him, wondering what he'd say.
"…Let 'em through." Octavio said, surprising everyone. "We'll need as much Cephalo-power as possible. As much as I hate to admit it, those punks got skills…skills we can use to our advantage in the current situation…"
They were all stunned to hear him say that.
"Are…you sure, sir?" One soldier asked to make sure.
"You doubting me?" The King asked the soldier. "I'm telling ya, I'm sure! We hate Julia and so do they. We both want her to go down. Join forces for now, splat 'em later."
"Gramps!" Tim shouted, glaring at him.
"…Aaagh, fine…just…leave em' alone." Octavio caved like a huge softie. "Hopefully good things'll come from this…"
"I…hope you know what you're doing, sir…" The soldier replied, about to radio that message in.
"Yeah, me too…" Octavio replied, not happy with the decision, but sticking to it. "Alright, radio it in, then let's go!"
"Yes, sir!" The soldier nodded before radioing in the message.
"A'ight, if that's everything, let's get a move on already!" Octavio said, tired of the stalling.
The soldiers nodded and led the way, Octavio, Tim, and Valerie following.
Cuttlefish Cabin…
Three cephalopods stayed behind at the cabin, an injured squid, her comforting roommate, and a pop star on her laptop.
"Aaaaagh, this sucks!" Sarah whined. "Tim's down there and we're stuck here…"
"Well, you're injured and I'm looking after you." Guyver reminded her. "I know it sucks, but there's nothing we can do."
"We can still do something, right?" Sarah asked, managing to sit up. "I mean, it wouldn't be the first time I got back into the field after getting injured by Cass."
"True, but from what I was told, context was a little different." Marina on her laptop replied. "Also, you did agree to stay behind until you healed."
"Yeah…" Sarah nodded her head. "But there has to be something…"
"Well, if we need to call in the cavalry, nothing beats a ride in Sheldon's sweet hover truck!" Marina told her. "He may run his mouth, but he can run some good tech when he needs to."
"I run my mouth?" Said hover truck owner asked, seemingly out of nowhere.
"S-Sheldon?!" Marina gasped. "When did you get here?"
"I got here a few minutes ago to perform maintenance on the Enhancifier…" Sheldon told her. "I was eating a bagel, so I didn't say hi, but you didn't notice me?"
"I-I'm going to just…check the situation in the Canyon…" Marina said, trying to change the subject. "Now, where's Julia…Ha! Found her! Wait…is…is she heading to the Octobot King?"
