It had been a week since Maize had been cleared of the murder and was able to prove his father guilty. The yellow inkling was off trying to handle his day like normal, doing missions and relaxing like he was rewarded it. At another part of Inkopolis, just a bit south of the plaza, Agent 2 was walking along in a new disguise, consisting of a green vest, and a white coat which had green polka dots on it, along with a hat with a white medical mask over her nose and mouth. It was a mix of her last disguise and her very old one. Sometimes she found it better to combine outfits to make them even fresher, but right now she could care less about her looks.
"I can't believe I paid that much…" Marie muttered. She had two small red files and one big tan colored one, all under her arm. It was slightly drizzling today, but the rain was not near hard enough to require an umbrella. The Squid Sister pulled out her wallet from her pocket, making sure she was not going to drop the files, pulling out one of her coin cards from the wallet.
"…forty grand, just for a bribe," Marie muttered. Forty thousand coins was not much, since she had spent millions on hypnotism for her own enjoyment, but for some reason this particular payment was very annoying to her. This time she had spent the morning in turf wars at the battle tower trying to unwind, but about ten of them later, she had not gotten any more relaxed before she went off to her scheduled appointment. As she passed by the plaza, she saw the café and got a small smirk.
"Maybe some sweets will help my mood," she thought, taking off the medical mask from her face and pocketing it. The plaza looked lively like usual today, except now there was a new little area set up outside a new shop.
"More amiibo stuff?" the Squid Sister tilted her head. She loved the idea behind the amiibo line of toys and how anyone could play with miniature versions of themselves with others. However Marie could not enjoy it herself, just from imagining how a few people could make mini versions of her and Callie just with simple pictures found online. She did her best to keep those thoughts in the back of her mind, just continuing into the café.
"Welcome!" Marie heard, seeing the worker behind the counter. The café had a few other inklings in it, but otherwise it was more empty than usual. She went over and took a seat by the big glass window, seeing a menu on the table. She had been here before and saw the menu each visit. She only gave it a quick glance before the jellyfish worker came over to her.
"What can I get you?" the bubbly worker requested, holding a pen and paper. Marie rested the folders on the table, planning to look over the three of them during her rest here.
"Two slices of one of your special cakes, and a small cup of coffee," Marie ordered while fixing her hat to make sure her disguise was not compromised. It probably would make this café day if one of the idols popped in for a surprise visit and drew in a bunch of customers.
"Alright, be back in a minute!" the worker went to go fill her order. Once she was gone, the white squid brushed aside her two red files and opened the tan folder, revealing rather complex medical text like a common visit to a doctor's office. At the bottom of the mess of text, there was a highlighted part that was all she really cared for.
"Marie Cuttlefish has been approved to undergo the procedure within a week's time. Once a donor out of the candidates has been selected by her and a sample is gathered, we will proceed as normal. However, if more time is required, then we can postpone for up to 30 days before we cancel."
Marie huffed before closing the file again, before she saw a random ink blotch hit the glass window. She quirked an eyebrow.
"Yellow ink… and it seems fired from a charger… great," Marie sighed. It was easy to tell what kind of weapon fired each ink usually by the trails left or the impact they made, and it was easy to tell this was a charger's doing. The white inkling got up from her chair and stepped outside, seeing a random red inkling with his back turned to her. He was wielding a tri-slosher, a cleaning tool that had been turned into a big turf covering weapon.
"Why can't you just make it easy and just hand it over?" that familiar voice rung out. Marie could see Maize standing there, his splatterscope aimed at the red squid. Agent 3 took note of Agent 2 and seemed happy to see her.
"You can make it easier by just letting me go, too!" the red squid retorted, about to toss a wave of ink from his tri-slosher. Marie decided it was time to intervene. When the red inkling pulled back, she grabbed one of his wrists, catching him off guard before she kicked his feet out from under him, slamming him onto the ground face first and knocking him unconscious instantly.
"Whoa…" Maize said in awe at what he just saw, seeing the white squid kick the bucket weapon away, though the yellow inkling quickly grabbed it and picked it up.
"It's just basic hand to hand combat," Marie responded, having learnt a few techniques from her grandfather. Now that the situation was under control, Maize put his splatterscope on his back.
"So what happened?" she requested to know what had been going on that Maize chased after the red inkling. Maize adjusted his glasses with his usual bright smile.
"Oh! He stole this tri-slosher from another squid during a turf war I was in. Not really a mission request, but y'know, it's still not right," Maize shrugged. He had done this mostly out of the thrill of the moment, but he was glad to have done it anyway. Helping out another squid felt great in every situation.
"Ohhh. The officials'll have fun with him," Marie grinned, her sharp teeth showing. The yellow squid could see a few other inklings coming out of the battle tower. The Squid Sister swiftly hid behind one of the pillars of the café entrance, not wanting a crowd's attention on her right now.
"Thank you!" a young voice chimed from a little squid boy. Maize handed the tri-slosher back to its rightful owner, receiving quite the bright hug in return.
"Anytime. You just need to keep better eyes out. I'll let you and your friends handle it from here," Maize told them, letting the young group of three inklings that barely looked older than fourteen take over, having already called the cops to here in case he had failed to catch the red squid. Marie had returned to her table and taken her seat back. After only a few seconds, she saw Maize enter the café.
"Never a dull moment," the white inkling commented, seeing her dear friend nod.
"I'll say. The calm comes after the storm, right?" he chuckled, quoting Captain Cuttlefish to the exact letter. They saw a waiter come over, carrying a tray that had the Squid Sister's cake slices on it and her cup of coffee in the other hand. She rested them on the table.
"Ohh! Marshmallow stuffed chocolate cake," Maize gawked, seeing her pay for the food. The white haired inkling, aware that he probably wanted some, rested the plate on the middle of the table with one slice facing each of them.
"You can have one," Marie said. She wanted to eat them both for herself, but she did not want to be rude to her friend. She was able to just buy another slice if she really wanted it. She watched him begin inhaling the entire slice and scarfing it down. It was kind of shocking how much he loved this type of cake. By the time Marie had gotten two bites of her own slice, he was halfway done.
"And I thought Callie ate fast…" she couldn't help but comment. She was beginning to notice the rain outside starting to pick up in strength. It looked like a real downpour was soon going to break out. Agent 3 suddenly realized how impolite he was being.
"Oh, sorry… I haven't eaten since this morning… or at all, yesterday," Maize apologized. He had been missing a lot of his normal eating schedules for various reasons. At these times, Marie was glad she and Callie had high metabolisms. They never really had to worry about their weight that much.
"What're those?" the yellow squid asked, noticing the files resting on the desk. Marie tried to act casual about them, though he could tell it was something she did not want him to know at all. It made him worry since Callie had requested him to make sure her cousin was alright and to keep an eye on her if he could.
"Just results from a check-up…" Marie blankly answered.
"Are you alright?" Maize did not hesitate to ask. She swore his bright mood lately had been starting to rub off on everyone around the yellow squid. It was harder than ever lately to break that cheery mood.
"Just an ear infection. It's nothing to worry about," she reassured. The yellow squid thought it was probably time to inquire further. He did not want to leave the task up to Callie if he could help it, aware of how worried she was that Marie was acting weird and thinking it was all her fault.
"You've been acting so… weird lately, Marie. It's like you're depressed," Maize claimed, trying a direct approach in this conversation. If she did not ever answer, then he simply would go handle more missions today. If she wanted his help, then she would ask for it. After all Maize, hated to stick his nose into a family problem unless he had no choice.
"I'm not depressed, Maize. I'm just distracted" Marie retorted in her own defense as the two were now both finished with their slices of the cake. The yellow squid sighed, aware that this was not going to be easy. He watched her pick up her coffee cup and drink the last of it. He stood up, bumping into the table and knocking the folders off.
"Oh jeez! Sorry," the yellow inkling frantically apologized, grabbing the folders for her and offering them to her. She was glad he did not immediately open them to try and read as much as he could. She smiled, taking them, and then she looked at her phone, seeing the time.
"I have to go handle something. You take care, Maize," Marie stated, telling her friend goodbye before leaving the café. After she left, the yellow squid had a grin, reaching back down beside the table. One of the papers from one of the folders had randomly fallen out. He was glad she did not take notice, and once again his luck had paid off. He was stunned at what he then saw.
"No way!" Maize gulped. The piece of paper showed medical information, but beside it was a picture of an all too familiar inkling in the photo. The squid had light pink tentacles and was wearing a pair of headphones around his neck. The pink squid's name was labelled Amaranth. The yellow inkling recognized the squid, the very one he met a while back who once worked for Cornell. He had promised that person everything would be fine once Cornell was gone. It was a shock, but he was more concerned why Marie was carrying a file with their information in it. He decided it was time to stick his nose in the matter now, mostly out of concern and wanting his friend's wellbeing to be alright.