Typically, Akari would stay up late at night working on inventions and homework, usually until three or four in the morning, with this, he never got much sleep for school the next morning, even now as an agent he always seemed tired but away from home, he kept a sketchbook for if he got any ideas. His sketchbook had blueprints filled on almost every single page.

"Agent four? Agent four?" A voice called out to him"Akari! Wake up!"The voice then shouted in his ears as he swung up surprised

"I'm sorry, I'm up!" He cried seeing Marie over him and jumped back petrified

"Well it looks like he's still afraid of you, but Akari, you feeling alright, this is the third time you've fallen asleep"

"M-me? Oh I'm fine, just a little tired " He yawned starting to doze off

"Akari, Stay awake!" It snapped him awake as he shook his head

"If you can't handle this it's fine, It's only training and not an actual mission you don't have to do it now"

"N-no, I should do this, If I can't do some training, then I can't call myself an agent"

"If you say so, Okay follow me" Callie led him slightly concerned, he looked like he could collapse at any moment, but still, so accustomed to it.

"So what do I need to do?"He asked seeing a large obstacle course in front of him.

"Okay at the end of this course is a fake zapfish, all you have to do is get through the obstacles and enemies and collect the zapfish, any Questions?"

"No..." He yawned starting to doze off again getting slapped by Callie

"Seriously, if you're not up to it, you can rest"

"N-no no, I'm fine really..." He yawned stretching

"Alright then, On three, two, one, and Go!"Akari dashed forwards with the first obstacle being a cardboard cut-out of an octoling wearing a certain armor that had a metal chest plate with a thin protective jumpsuit under it

Akari aimed his wrist shot forward at it shooting it and leaving a hole where its chest would be as he kept going when it began to rain ink. A small spark was seen from his eyes as his gaze fixated at a sprinkler machine when he lowered goggles from his forehead taking a good look at it. Next, he dashed towards it and tinkering on it

" What is he doing?" Marie asked looking confused as she saw him pull out a journal and flipping through the pages.

"He's working his magic"

"That's kind of offensive you know"

"Keita, I didn't mean it like sorcery Magic, I meant his skill with machines, past Marina's and Sheldon's skill level"

"Yeah, you're right it's weird" With her chair being one with wheels she kicked against the wall sending her to the desktop as she began typing at a rapid pace to find anything she could about him, sure he seemed like a good kid, but she wasn't one to be easily persuaded, she didn't want to lose any more loved ones, especially after Callie and Spark went missing.

"What are you doing, Marie?"

"This kid...Something doesn't feel right, his engineering skills are too advanced, especially for his age and grade"

"Jeez, the kid's already afraid of you, you don't need to give him another reason to be scared"

"Think about it, There's no way that at his age, that he would not only be educated to invent but to also know enough about mechanics to alter and distort machinery" By now Akari was done with the sprinkler spraying out his ink and amplifying the pressure and power leaving a hole through the cardboard figures

"If you're that paranoid, why not just get Sheldon and Marina's advice?"

"That's a pretty good idea," Marie said then beginning to text Marina and Sheldon, "Marina, Sheldon, we have a recruit, but there's something strange about him, I need your help"

Marina came over quickly with Akari rushing through the course, he seemed to be pushing through fatigue for he had eventually collapsed falling asleep, he wasn't hurt, just tired, normally he would have been fine with four to five hours of sleep, but Marie haunted his nightmares preventing him from sleeping. Ironically, Marie was the one to carry him back to their monitoring system which Marina had put together for them, Marie only brought in Akari because she was afraid of Callie being caught in a Trap

"This is the recruit? Am I looking at the right child?"

"He's not a normal kid, his engineering abilities surpass even your own, and he acts way too kind, He's trying to lure us into a trap"

"Are you paranoid?"

"I am not paranoid! I'm just being the sensible one"

"You are a very cranky grandma," Keita said in a joking matter receiving a glare that could scare away a two-hundred-pound wrestler.

"If you want I could just check his DNA for anything strange"

She did as she said and had several suction cups on various parts of his body as well as one on each side of his cheeks

"All tests are saying he's normal, he has a slight health condition, but that might be the cause for him falling asleep easily"

"So he's a normal Inkling?"

"Chemically, yes, but his intellect is probably from studying, and Marie, if you don't want him to rebel, stop treating him like an enemy," She said as the lights cut out and Akari was suddenly taken with the lights coming back on

"Akari!?" Callie said shocked with him now gone.

"Is this the one we were told to get?" One asked

"I believe so, but they all look the same, I don't think He'll notice if we're wrong"

"Alright, let's take it" They then began carrying him away as he began to wake up a while later in a strange distant place, it was cold and dark with only distant horns and trains being heard in the surrounding area

"Marina!" Pearl's shout can echo throughout the underground, she ran inside of their base almost out of breath"Agent Eight...She's gone the lights cut out and then she disappeared!"

"It happened here too"

"You mean Spark's finally gone!?" She seemed quite excited after hearing that, Spark and Pearl did not get along at all

"No, he's still in a coma, it was the newest recruit, Akari"

"Oh, the one you're paranoid about"

"Yes, that one..." Marie looked embarrassed but looked to Keita

"I'm on it" He closed his eyes with his amulet beginning to glow, then as his eyes opened and widened you could tell he was fearful as he took off the amulet and tried again with the same results

"What's happening?"

"Quick, what color are my eyes?" He asked then looking at his arm

"They're silver, same as usual, you feeling alright?"

"I can't sense their aura, even without the seal"

"So why did your eye color matter?"Pearl asked looking annoyed

" Listen, you all get normal colds when someone in my family gets one, our eye color dims and turns black, this means our magic is disabled until they're feeling better,"

"H-hello? is anyone there?" He asked out, standing up but then losing balance and falling down again

"Are you alright?" a female voice asked coming towards him, with the dim lights it was difficult to see

"Where am I? and what happened?"He asked

" I'm not entirely sure what happened, but this is the metro, a part I'm not familiar with but its the metro"

"Metro? Who are you anyway?"

"I...Don't actually have a name yet, so I've just been called Agent Eight, or just Eight for short"

"Akari Sunne, Wait are you part of the SquidBeak Splatoon?"

"Yes, and you're Agent Four, right?"

"You know about me?"

"Well I mean yeah, You're the newest recruit, that and Marie's paranoid about you"

"She is? I mean...I'm kind of scared of her..."

"Yeah, Callie told me that being within a foot of her you would get scared and back away"

"Well...She did try to kill me when I wanted to join"

"So how do we get out of here?"

"I'm not sure, We're stuck here"

"We are? what are you talking about we just have to find an exit" He said walking forward but bumping into the wall "What's going on?"He asked pressing his fingertips on the air

" It's Titanium Glass, invisible to the eye, but stronger than steel"

Akari lowered his goggles, they were actually his invention that allowed him to see mechanical objects on a different level, with the goggles the wall was made visible to his eyes"It's made from a camouflaging metal and two inches thick

"Wait you can see it?"

"Only with the goggles, yes, I could probably upgrade my wrist shot to break a hole through a weak point," He said reaching for his wrist to find that it had been missing

"I-It's gone!?" He desperately tried looking around his body to find it

"Its no use, they took our weapons, I guess they left your goggles since it's not considered a weapon, either that or they thought that they were ordinary goggles"

"They? wait who took us?"

"I'm not sure, I was in the studio with Pearl and Marina, but Marina was called by Marie and ran over there, next thing I knew, the lights cut off and I blacked out waking up here." She explained

"I was in the middle of training, then I passed out and woke up here"

"Why do you think we were taken here?"

"Not sure...maybe it's because you're really strong, I might have been brought here on accident because they were going after one of the other agents?"

An Octoling came into Eight's view, Akari lifted his goggles to look at him, an odd skin tone with almost toxic looking tentacles, he seemed to be close to being like Eight

"Welcome!" He said then looking at the two"Excuse me, who are these two?"The man asked a figure next to him

"You asked for Marina and Sheldon, Isn't this them?"

"It isn't them, these are two children, how could you mistake them?"

"What do you mean, these are the photos you gave me"He showed two photographs, one with Sheldon at his shop and Akari in the background. The other showed Marina and Pearl on the news with Eight watching them through the window.

Akari thought something was up, as he lowered the goggles and twisting a dial to find it wasn't a full Octoling, it was a cyborg!

" Are you a cyborg?"He asked pressing his fingertips on the metal cage and looking at him with stars in his eyes

"How could you see it? What are you?"

"I'm Akari Sunne, why?"

"Your goggles, did you make them?"

"Y-yes?"

"Hmm...You seem to have an advanced ability, you'll do well, I need your help"

"If you needed help, you could have just asked me"

"I can't, my form will scare your public, I need you to fix a machine"

"I'll do what I can, where is it?"

"Follow me, I'll take you to it"

"One thing first, let Agent Eight free"

"I'll let her go once you fix the machine"

Akari looked back at Eight, he didn't want to be the reason for anyone to be hurt"Alright, I'll do it" the cage door was opened as Akari exited following the cyborg and exiting into a new room

It seemed to be a large machine connected with multiple tinted pods that prevented him from seeing inside them

"What happened?"

"These pods, they contain the Octolings that were experimented on with a substance called Sanitation Ink, however, this machine is the only way to cure them"

"I'm no expert when it comes to biological science, but I'll do what I can, "He said lowering his goggles allowing him to see the circuitry, " It seems like some of the cords was severed, "He said pulling a notebook and several fresh wires from his bag. Flipping to a page showing a model with a similar work of circuits" So this is supposed to inject a cure into the octolings?"

"Yes, the machine works, it just needs to be repaired"

"I understand," He said. Within seconds, it had been fixed with the machine giving off a slight hum while there was a steady glow from a few transparent places."It's finished!"

"I'm grateful for what you have done, can you activate it?"

"Of course" Flipping a switch the system began to work with a purple fluid going into the pods"Yes, it worked! What about you, don't you need to be cured?

"Sadly, These Octolings aren't being cured, there was nothing wrong with them, but now they will join our army," Akari had heard enough with him trying to run and being grabbed

"L-let me go!"

"I'm afraid it's not that easy" Quickly a serum was injected into his arm as he collapsed holding his head low with a cry of pain

"I know the pain is unbearable, but once it's finished, you'll no longer feel anything"

"It's been a while, I wonder if Akari is alright..." She said then seeing the Octoling from earlier with the young inventor following like he was in a trance, He looked like the octoling with a large toxic imprint around his eye that seemed to be spreading slowly

"Akari! Are you okay, what happened?"

"It is not a problem, I am okay it was merely an accident," He said forced showing he was in pain. As she was taken outside of the container, she was able to see his face, part of the left side of his face showed a green patch of poison around his eye with his eye being black while his iris was green like the patch, his other eye was normal, white with a light blue iris.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, I am unhurt" his left eye gave a blank stare while his right one looked scared as the patch started spreading across his face slowly. Quickly after, He readied a syringe dashing towards her to inject the virus into her. Somehow, he hesitated giving Eight enough time to move out of the way, he was fighting, doing all he could manage.

"P-please Eight something's wrong with me! You n-need to run I don't know how much longer I can restrain it..." He groaned falling to the floor holding his head with cries for help until he just suddenly collapsed.

"Drat...Seems like Sanitization ink doesn't have as promising effects on Inklings..." The Octoling said leaving Eight alone with Akari

"Akari! are you okay!?" She asked placing her hand over his forehead"He's burning up, if I don't hurry then the ink might take over, I have to hurry back to Marina, she might be able to help"

Carrying the infected boy in her arms all she could do is run and hope that she wasn't too late, the poison was spreading as the patch began expanding once again."I have to hurry, I don't know how long he can last until it takes over" She said just barely be able to make it down to Octo Canyon before nearly collapsing due to fatigue

"Eight! Is that you!? You're okay!" Pearl said loudly until seeing Akari"Wait, this is Agent four? He looks weird"

"How so, let me see him" Marina went to him seeing the toxic spread ever so slightly"Sanitization, what happened to you!?"She gasped taking him inside of their base to find Marie, Callie, and Keita.

"Akari! " Callie began as she looked to Keita"Can you check if he's okay?"

"Right" He nodded going over to the boy and placing his hands over his head and chest as some kind of mystical energy was emitted. From there Keita was able to see them in the metro and Akari sliding down his goggles to see the container suddenly made of metal. There was a sanitized cyborg Octoling with him fixing a machine, being injected, then attacking Eight and passing out.

"What did you see?" Marie asked giving him a cord that he held with one hand while his other hovered over Akari's forehead showing them his memories on a screen.

"...Callie, can you pull out the sanitization files," Marie said kicking the wall to send her across the room in her swivel chair, grabbing other miscellaneous folders that held data on Sheldon and Marina, Octavio, And Tartar.

There was a reason when Cap'n Cuttlefish retired Marie took over in leading the agents, she wasn't easy to believe what others say, she was mostly calm making her able to think under pressure, and she could get people in order.

"Just what I thought" She began reading through everything piecing together the puzzle"These sanitized Octolings were Tartar's last attempt to try and eradicate us"She began to explain" My theory was that the machine to do it was damaged, so they needed someone to fix it, Marina and Sheldon. Somehow, they made a mistake grabbing Akari and Eight, which Akari fixed it thinking he was just being a good person. Except now he's being sanitized, which he's able to resist it in a way, it might be because he's an Inkling or because of a health condition" She took a pause "Marina, can you try to make an antidote?"

"I'll try, but it'll take a while, a week at most"

"I understand, is there any way you can temporarily stop the spreading?"

"The Octoling antidote should prevent it from spreading, but it won't fully heal him, just enough that he should be normal for the most part.

" I got the files you asked for, "Callie said pulling up a document full of notes on their large computer.

" So Sanitization or corruption will weaken the mind preventing from a single thought when activated, while it deeply affects Octolings, Inklings won't be as affected for When an Octoling gets sanitized they can be remotely controlled while Inklings can only be controlled for short periods before their brain shorts out."

It wasn't long until Marina brought the antidote, injecting it into Akari the poison on his face seemed to dim and slightly diminish, soon after Akari began to wake up with a splitting headache

"Ngh..." He groaned sitting up"W-wait, Eight are you okay? I'm sorry I attacked you I don't know what happened!"

"It's fine, you were just barely able to resist it before you were able to hurt me"

"Still, I should have never fixed the machine"

"Relax, you were tricked, it happens to the best of us" Marie went to find a mirror showing the toxic color of the patch on his face" Although this might be a problem"

"What is this thing?"

"Sanitization ink, After fixing the machine you were injected with it causing you to lose control, We don't have a cure for Inklings yet since we figured there was no need to"Akari was generally confused

" It's a special ink that corrupts the mind allowing for someone to control you remotely, except it isn't as effective on Inklings same with the antidote we had, we've prevented it from spreading and for you to be controlled, but that might be hard to explain to your folks"

"I can't lie to them..."

"Why not just knock him out and say you found him unconscious while on patrol"Callie offered in a joking manner.

" Well, there's an idea," She said going behind Akari and swiping across the back of his neck causing him to fall and being caught by her

"I was joking!"

"He said it himself, he can't lie and he can't tell the truth without mentioning us"

"I guess you have a point..."Callie said then looking up at him" But what about when he wakes up?"

"I'll just say he might say some weird things due to its effect"

It wasn't long until Marie knocked on the door of Akari's home holding the child in her arms as Akari's mother opened the door seeing her son poisoned and unconscious.

"Akari, I can't thank you enough for returning him home, He's never home late without telling us"

"I see, I'm glad I was able to help, but you should keep some things in mind, He was poisoned with something called Sanitization ink, hence the poison on his face, we've temporarily disabled it but it's just until we can make an antidote. The reason he was poisoned, I'm not sure." She took a pause"But we found him unconscious in the old metro and we theorize that he was mistakenly kidnapped, but we're working to keep it under control"

"I understand"

"One more thing, Until we can give an antidote try to keep him away from large crowds in case it does activate, His mind might be a little scrambled so if he says something uncharacteristically, it might be the poison" Marie explained handing over the boy and giving a card"I want you to call this number if anything happens to the mark"

"Right, Thank you, I'm happy that your team has been protecting the city, it was one of your members that saved my Little Akari, since then he's wanted to help people more than usual, He's such a kind boy, I want to help in any way I can"She smiled looking at his boy sudden change of clothes" His clothes? Where are they?"

"They were severely ripped and soaking wet so we gave him some spare clothes, Anyways goodnight, and protect him all you can, he might be able to help others like he dreams one day"