"Pearlie, can you get the door," Marina called from the kitchen. "It's probably Marie and Sean."

"Sure," Pearl called and rose up from the chair she was sitting in. It was late afternoon on Halloween and Marina was holding a Halloween party at her place. Pearl walked to the door and opened. Outside stood Marie, dressed as a witch. "Pearl," she said with a smile on her face and reached in for a hug. "I haven't seen you for so long!"

"Yeah, wonderful to see you too," Pearl said as she struggled to breathe in Maries' tight hug. "Where's Sean," she asked as she tried to break free from Marie. "Oh, he's coming up the stairs," Marie answered and let go of Pearl. "Told me to go on ahead since he's carrying a box of drinks," she said and walked to the clothing stand and put her broom in the corner. "That's a really cool costume by the way," she said. "For once, you're not a vampire."

"Well, thank you," Pearl said. "I decided to wear something to fit the recent events," she said proudly. Her costume was quite similar to her dress she wore on the final splatfest, but it had some new details to it. She wore a big mask with huge horns attached to it. "I also have this huge sword to fit with it, but I left it at home. You should have seen it, it's huge," she said dramatically. "Yeah, almost bigger than you," Marina said and walked out of the kitchen smiling. "Oh, ha ha, very funny," Pearl answered and rolled her eyes. "Marina," Marie said happily and gave her a hug. "How are you?"

"I'm pretty good, thank you," Marina said and hugged her back. "My Halloween costume didn't work like I intended and malfunctioned."

"Oh, what happened," Marie asked as she put her bag down. Before Marina could answer Pearl interrupted. "She had these big, metal tentacles she could control using these big goggles. She could use them to move around, it was really cool," she said excitingly. "Well, it's only a test and it broke down after a couple of hours," Marina said. The sound of a phone ringing came from the kitchen. "I gotta get that, it's probably my landlord," Marina said and looked at Marie with excuse in her eyes. "Yeah, sure go ahead," Marie said and smiled. Marina smiled back and ran into the kitchen. A loud thump came from the door and Sean, dressed as a spider, walked in with a big box of drinks. "What's kraken, why do you live so high up Marina," he said and put down the box. "I thought I would be all night climin' those stairs"

"Yeah sorry, the elevator is out of order," she called from the kitchen. Sean turned to Pearl and Marie. "Yo squiddos, how ya doin'" he said and opened his arms. "Yo, Sean," Pearl said and hugged him. "About time you came, I was dying of thirst," she said and reached for a Run-Speed Tomato juice. Sean laughed and turned to the kitchen. "Yo Marina, where do you want me to put the box," he called. "Just put it in here," she called back. Sean picked up the box and walked into the kitchen. "Is anyone else here," Marie asked and walked into the hallway. "Yeah Bisk, Flow and Craymond, Iso Padre, Jelfonzo, Judd, Lil'l Judd, Murch and Sheldon," Pearl counted on her fingers. "Speaking of that, do you know where Callie and the agents ar-"

"Shush," Marie interrupted her, put her hand over Pearl's mouth and looked around. "No one is supposed to know that, remember? It's a secret."

"Sorry," Pearl said irritated as she removed Marie's hand from her mouth. "Alright, so do you know where Callie, Three, Four and Eight are?"

"Callie got delayed at the studio and the kids are probably still trick or treating," Marie answered and shrugged. "They are still kids after all."

"Still trick or treating," Pearl asked and turned to Marie. "Why can't they hurry up, I'm starving!"

"Says the one that probably would've stayed up trick or treating until 3 AM if I hadn't dragged her away," Marina said smiling as she walked out of the kitchen carrying a tray of snacks and a few drinks. "I'm an adult," Pearl said in defense. "Don't act like it," Marina answered. "Still older than you," Pearl said and crossed her arms in victory. "Don't look like it," Marina said and walked past into the living room, where everyone sat and chatted. "You two are so cute," Marie said and laughed. "They are probably on their way, can't be that much longer until they arrive."

"By the way, who was that on the phone," Pearl asked Marina. "It was Mizole from Wet Floor," Marina answered as she put down the tray. "She was asking about that colab we're gonna have."

"Oh yeah, that," Pearl said to herself. "Wet Floor alongside Chirpy Chips, Bob Dub, Bottom Feeders, Diss-Pair, Hightide Era, Ink Theory and SashiMori are going to Wahoo World and after that they're gonna go to Mizole's place and hang out," Marina continued. "Why weren't we invited," Pearl asked and looked hurt. "Because we turned down the offer because we already planned to go to this party," Marina said. "Remember, when we talked about it? It took forever to convince you to turn down the offer."

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Pearl said and took a sip of her juice. "I think I saw Three, Four and Eight down the street," Sean said and walked out of the kitchen. "I recognize those squiddos from a mile away."

"Why are they called by numbers anyway," Murch, dressed as a zombie, asked and looked up from his phone. "It's really hard to keep track of their orders, I almost trashed one of those chum's orders because of it. Don't they have names?"

"Yes, they have. They're called that because they are age-" Pearl started but was interrupted by Marie. "They are called that because they are part of a friend group. They call each other by numbers and prefer to be called by those names," she said and glared angrily at Pearl. "Then where are the rest," Sean asked. "I never see them hang out with other squiddos, besides you three and Callie. Where are One, Two, Five, Six and Seven? And are there more than Eight?" Marie hesitated for a moment. "There are more than those three," she answered. "One, Two, Five and Six are there you just never see them. And there is no Seven, she is called Eight because she was the first Octoling to join and- other reasons."

"LIES," Craymond squeaked. "SHE HAS THE EYES OF A LIAR!"

"There there Craymond, don't be rude," Flow said and petted him. Flow was dressed as vampire and Craymond had a tiny mustache and a tophat. "It is pretty strange," she continued dreamily. "The little darlings are always together they never hang out with other Squids or Octolings. Which is weird since they are really sweet, especially the Octoling."

"Speaking of her, how is she going," Sheldon, who was dressed as a crazy scientist, asked. "How is she adapting with the life in Inkopolis?"

Before anyone could answer the doorbell rang. "I think you can ask her yourself," Marina said and walked out of the living room to answer the door. A few seconds later they walked in and greeted everyone. Three was dressed as a Grim Reaper and held a big scythe, Four was dressed as a devil and Eight was dressed as a scarecrow. "Hello darlings," Flow said and hugged Three. "How has your night been?"

"Pretty awesome," Four said and hugged Pearl. "We got a lot of treats, but sadly we didn't trick anyone since Three is a party-pooper."

"I would rather get treats than a splatbomb thrown at me," Three said and laughed. Eight walked to the couch and sat down, staring awkwardly at the others. "Heya chum," Murch said to her. "How's life been here in Inkopolis since you arrived?"

"I- I-" Eight started but then looked down at her feet and covered her eyes. "Sorry, I do not know how..." Three patted her on the shoulder. "It's okay," she said gently. "Want me to tell them?"

Eight nodded, still looking at her feet. "Sorry about that," Three said and looked up. "She's still really shy, especially in large groups. And she's also still trying to learn Inkling."

"How can she understand us if she doesn't know Inkling," Murch asked. Before Three could answer Marina said. "We Octolings learned how to decode Inkling when we were enslaved as soldiers in the Octarian army," she said. "But it takes some time for us to learn how to speak it."

"Thou shalt try to study ye olde texts of Inklinge, cousin," Jelfonzo, who had painted a skeleton on him so he looked like a skeleton, said to Eight. "Itst work pleasantly for thee."

Eight looked at him, clearly not understanding a word of what he said. "I don't think doing your way would work well for Eight," Marie said to Jelfonzo. "Yeah," Three continued. "And to answer your question, she's been doing alright. She's been using her free time to learn how to speak Inkling. She's also been taking jobs at Grizzco, since she's saving up for a place of her own. In the meantime, she's staying at my place."

"Yeah, she's also been using her free time to dominate in Turf War, like seriously, she's only been here for a few months and she's already one of the top 15 on the leaderboard," Four said and sat down next to Eight. "She's even better than you Three," she continued. "Hey, I'm still better than she is at Clam Blitz," Three responded and sat down on the other side of Eight. "And what about you? You aren't top 20 anymore, are you? Where were you again, 26?"

"25," Four responded and looked away red-faced. "Yeah, Eight is amazing in Turf War," Three said. "She also spends her free time practicing. She takes it really seriously. She's always taking care of her weapons. She cleans them after every battle."

At the sound of that Sheldon looked up. "You like weapons," he asked excitedly. Eight looked at him and stuttered. "I- I-" she looked at Three and then back to Sheldon. "Yes, I do like to work with wea- weapons," she said after a moment of hesitation. "And you're not in a real job, you're only doing part jobs at Grizzco, right?"

"Yes, I am only at Grizzco," she replied. "Say, you wouldn't be interested in a job at Ammo Knights would you," Sheldon asked. Before Eight could respond Pearl said. "Alright, alright, it's great that you're gonna get a real job Eight, but you guys should discuss this after the party, I'm starving!"

Pearl looked at Eight and examined her. "Yo Eight, we gotta get you some new clothes gurl."

Eight looked at her, confused. "I know those clothes are really cool and really flexible and all," Pearl continued. "But you've been wearing that Octarian Army suit and that Golden toothpick ever since you came to the surface. You know what I say? Me, you, shopping tomorrow in Arowana Mall, my treat."

Eight beamed and nodded excitedly. "I'm also coming," Marina said. "I would like to have an opinion on what you buy for her."

"Yeah, sure," Pearl said. "Does anyone know where Lil'l Judd is," Marina asked and looked around. "I could have sworn he was on top of Judd a moment ago."

"I think the little guy went into the kitchen," Bisk, who was dressed as a robot, said. "Oh, for cods sake," Marina said and walked out of the living room. "He's probably playing with the knifes again," she called behind her. "He'll end up hurting himself or worse, someone else."

Everyone reached for the snacks on the table and started chatting. "Does anyone know where Spyke and Annie are," Pearl asked. "Spyke said he couldn't come," Murch said. "He told me to deliver the message that he's really sorry that he couldn't come. Told me he was busy working on something."

"He's been working on something for a really long time now," Sean said. "Yeah, he's always working on his laptop in that café," Marina said as she walked in holding Lil'l Judd in her arms, who was wearing a hockey mask. "I know, it's pretty weird," Three said. "I used to order gear from him all the time but now he doesn't want to talk to me."

"Yeah, pretty weird," Pearl said. "But where is Annie?"

Marie looked up with a grin on her face. "There's one person that could tell you that, don't you Sheldon," she said and looked teasingly at Sheldon. "You and Annie have been spending a lot of time together recently."

"It is only related to work," Sheldon said and fumbled with his drink. "Nothing more. She told me she had too much work. Told me to tell you guys she was sorry."

A few minutes passed. Nothing of interest happened. Sean and Bisk talked about footwear, Sheldon talked to Eight about the job he had in mind for her, Marina played with Lil'l Judd, Four was having a conversation with Marie, Murch and Three about what Spyke was up to (and the relationship between Sheldon and Annie popped up from time to time) and Flow was trying to read Islo Padre's and Jelfonzo's aura. All of a sudden Pearl jumped out of her chair. "Alright, where the heck is Callie," she asked. "I'm starving and we can't start without her. Or can we?"

"Maybe we can do something to pass the time," Flow suggested. "Yeah, great idea," Four said and stood up. "Let's play a game!"

"Nah, I ain't in da mood for a game," Pearl said. "Maybe we can tell scary stories," Marina suggested. "It is Halloween after all."

"True," Pearl said. "Who's gonna tell," she asked and looked around. "Maybe Marie can tell us some scary stories," Marina said. "She probably knows tons of them," she continued and looked at Marie. Marie examined her drink and didn't say a word for a few moments. "Yeah, sure I can tell you some scary stories," she said at last and looked up. "Yay," Four shouted and turned in her seat so she was facing Marie. "It better be a really good story, if Callie doesn't hurry up, I'll lose my mind and eat Sean," Pearl said and put down her drink. Everyone turned to Marie and went silent. "Have any of you heard the story of Dr. Octostein," Marie said and looked around. When no one responded she continued. "This is a story gramps used to tell me and Callie when we were younger. Now, where to begin?"