Chapter 4
Amber's mind was in a frenzy. She was constantly going over what happened last night on her little trip. Those voices, and that person that came from the grate. Who were they? Did they have some sort of connection to the Great Zapfish disappearing?
She groans in frustration, her forehead snacking against the table she was sitting at. She looks up, looking around the square. She was a small cafe to eat, but she couldn't get her mind off of what she saw last night.
Something about the whole thing was bugging her to no end. Something felt… familiar? She didn't know how to describe it, but something felt familiar in a sense to her. She was fairly certain it was the three people, but why? What did they have to do with her?
The only things she could connect to them so far was that one figure's hair tied into a bow, and the voices. But… she doesn't know anybody with hair like that! The voices were familiar, but she couldn't place who they were! She groans even louder, slamming her head into the table again.
"Woah there kid! You're gonna give yourself a concussion if you do that." Amber looks up again, only to see a white t-shirt. She looks up and sees Ika looking down at her, grinning widely.
She groans, her face falling. "I'm tired of familiar things today…"
Ika raises an eyebrow, sitting down next to her. "What are you talking about?"
Amber looks up, resting her head on her chin and looking at Ika. "Nothing important."
Ika just chuckles again, then says "Well, I have something I need to talk to you about."
Amber raises an eyebrow in curiosity. Ika stands up, ushering her to follow. "Come on, we'll talk as we walk."
Amber frowns in confusion, then pries herself from the table. She gets up and goes to Ika's side, walking with him. She looks up at the black-haired inkling, once again amazed at how freaking tall the guy was.
Ika looks down at her, then says "I would joke about you staring at me, but this is serious." Amber blushes and levels a glare on the older inkling. Ika just grins and says "So, remember that question I asked you when we met? Asking if you'd defend Inkopolis?"
Amber nods. She remembered the random question easily. It seemed odd at the time. Was he setting it up for something? Ika looks at her with a neutral expression and says "Does your answer still stand?"
Amber raises an eyebrow and nods. She wasn't going to change her answer any time soon. Ika's expression turns unreadable to her as he says "What if I gave you a chance to defend this city?"
The orange-haired inkling looks at Ika in surprise. "Wait… what?"
Ika shrugs and says "Exactly what I said. What if I gave you a chance to defend the city? Would you take it?"
Amber frowns, then looks around. Her eyes were met with the same show of friendship and prosperity. She nods, turning back to Ika. "Of course I would. But what's up with these questions?"
Ika grins widely, then says "I can answer that latter. Come on, let's go!" Ika suddenly starts running, startling his younger companion. She snaps out of her shock and begins running after Ika. "Hey, wait up!"
Amber just barely is able to keep up with the older inkling. His distinct black hair helped, along with his height. Otherwise she would've lost him long ago. She turns a corner, panting, but her eyes widen in surprise. The Battle Tower! But why are they going to the square?
She pushes the thought aside and continues following Ika through the crowd. Cod, why did he have to run off like that?! He could've pulled her along or something at the very least!
Suddenly, a wave of people seems to overtake her. She pushes through the crowd, apologizing to the random inklings around her with a blush of embarrassment on her face. She grunts, then finally manages to get out of the crowd. But then, she was met with a new problem. Ika disappeared.
Amber looks around in a slight shock and panic. Where did he go?! He was here just a second ago, she saw him! But now, he looked like he just vanished!
Then, as she was turned, an arm wraps around her waist. She yelps, then yells as she suddenly sees the ground get smaller. Was she in the air? And then she was on a… roof? What the hell?
Amber turns around in surprise, and her eyes widen even more when she sees Ika there, grinning widely at her. "W-What? Ika?! What just happened?!"
Ika grins, then says "A little trick I picked up in my line of work. Comes in handy in a lot of situations. Plus, it's pretty cool right?"
Amber looks at him in exasperation and shock, then frowns. "You could've warned me first. That was a mean trick you pulled, running away like that!"
Ika looks at her, then blushes in embarrassment. "I guess it was. Sorry about that." His grin comes back, and he says "But come on, we are very close!"
The older inkling then runs across the rooftop to the edge to their right. Amber runs over and looks down. She raises an eyebrow when she sees the alleyway that the grate she went into last night. "What are we doing here?"
Ika just says "You'll see." He smiles, then turns around to look at her. "To get where we are going, I need you to do what I do."
He spreads his arms out, his feet on the edge. "To protect the city, you sometimes need a little… faith." He suddenly begins tilting precariously. Amber's eyes widen in fear as she sees this. Despite their inky bodies, falling from this height would cause some serious damage!
As this goes through her head, Ika's balance finally loses. His body tips over the edge, making Amber's eyes wide in shock. She runs over to help, but Ika fell too fast. She looks down, then raises an eyebrow in surprise. He disappeared… again. Where did he go? She frowns, looking for the older inkling, when she looks at the grate. A splash of red ink was around it… the same color as Ika's ink.
Her eyes widen, a million thoughts going through her head. What is Ika doing in there?! Could he be one of those voices he heard? There was a male one after all.
She shakes her head, her expression turning determined. If Ika wanted her to do this, she would follow. She wasn't going to back down! She walks to the edge, positioning herself in front of the grate. She turns around, bringing her arms out. Amber takes a deep breath, then tilts back. With a strong will, she keeps herself straight, and falls.
Amber hits the grate head-on, and her body turns into ink instinctively. She flies along the tunnel, her eyes wide. She couldn't believe that actually worked!
The pipe brings her to the valley again, her body reforming into its humanoid form as it exits. She looks around, finally able to see this place in the light. There were in fact massive walls in the distance, just like she thought. She also saw numerous rock formation, looking oddly like tentacles. She saw a waterfall, along with a cove of trees surrounding a pond at the bottom. But the strangest thing were the many floating platforms throughout the valley air, floating silently, but never straying from their position.
"Looks nice, huh?" Amber looks to her side and sees Ika standing there. Amber raises an eyebrow when she sees something different about him. He was now wearing a yellow and white construction suit-esque vest, with a black long sleeved shirt beneath it. He also had a half fask mask, pulled down for now, letting her see his smile. Other than that, he had the same clothes on as before.
She frowns, then says "Where did that vest come from, and the mask?"
Ika looks at her, then says "The pipe. It is registered to me and puts this on me automatically when I exit. When I enter, it is removed and my old clothes are put on. Neat, huh?" Amber just nods, not knowing what to say to that.
Ika suddenly jumps, startling Amber. He then says "That reminds me! I need to get your suit." He runs over to a small cabin, the only building here. Amber's eyes widen as she realizes it to be the cabin from before. Was Ika really involved with this whole thing?
Ika disappears inside, only to reemerge a second later. In his hand was a similar vest to the one he was wearing. He grins, then says "Here's your armor. You'll need it."
Amber's eyes widen in surprise. "A-Armor?! I thought this was just a vest! What the hell do I need armor for?!"
Ika seems to falter, then he says "That's something I can explain later."
Amber growls, then says "No! Tell me now! I am tired of being left in the dark! Why are we here? What is this place? Why do we need armor?!"
Ika frowns, looking at Amber. He saw nothing but a strong, stubborn will in her eyes. He sighs, then says "Fine, I guess I need to explain now." He walks back to the cabin, ushering Amber to follow. She follows him silently, and the two sit on a bench outside the small building.
The older inkling looks down at the suit in his hand and says "First things first. This place is called Octo Valley, the current home of the Octarians."
Amber's eyes widen in shock and surprise. "The Octarians?! The ones who lost the Great Turf War?"
Ika nods solemnly. "Yes, those Octarians. You see, they didn't exactly lose their grudge of losing the war. They are constantly trying to mess with Inkopolis in a plan to take it over."
The younger inkling frowns at this. "But… wouldn't we know about this then? The only thing I've ever heard that could be from them is… the Great Zapfish going missing."
Ika nods. "To answer your question, yes, we believe the octarians stole the Great Zapfish. For the first, you don't know because the agents protect it from getting to the public. I am quite good at keeping things quiet after all."
Amber looks at him with a raised eyebrow. "Wait… keeping things quiet? What does that have to do with… the… agents."
Slowly, her eyes began to widen. "Hold on, are you telling me… you are an agent?"
Ika smiles, then stands up and bows, just like when she met him. "Agent 4 at your service."
Amber's eyes somehow widened even more, with sparkles in them. "W-Woah! You are really an agent?!" Ika nods. "So then who are the others, if you are Agent 4?"
Ika smiles as he sits back down. "You'd be able to tell who 1 and 2 are just by seeing them. But, to save yourself the embarrassment of possibly not figuring it out, I'll just tell you. 1 is Callie, and 2 is Marie."
If possible, Amber's eyes widened even more. Ika was half convinced they would pop out of her head. "Wait, the SQUID SISTERS are AGENTS?!"
Ika nods, expecting this reaction. Amber grins widely at this information. If she was thinking this right, then she'd finally meet the Squid SIsters! Although, she did wonder who the third agent was. Deciding to speak her mind, she says "But wait, who is Agent 3?"
Suddenly, Ika's face seems to grow solemn. "That… is not something I wish to answer. But, I know you need to know, especially if you are going to be the new Agent 3." Amber raises an eyebrow, but stays silent. She could tell this was serious.
Ika stares at the vest in his hands and says "Marie used to have a boyfriend, before she became famous. They loved each other so much, they were practically inseparable. When Callie came with the choice of joining the Agency, Marie joined without a second thought. Her boyfriend followed, and they became Agent 2 and Agent 3."
His grip on the vest tightens, and it was obvious he was diving into bad memories. "I joined shortly after, and I was the last agent, until now. We did so well, protecting the city. But then… something went wrong. Marie was our second in command due to her more serious personality and her smart mind. She was giving orders on a mission, when Agent 3 got caught trapped. Marie told him where to go, and he was led into a trap. He was killed, and Marie was forced to watch as her lover died in front of her eyes. She's never stopped blaming herself and she is afraid to take the lead again."
Amber's face had lost all of its excitement at this information. She never knew that her idol had such a harsh past. What else was there that she didn't know? And more importantly, could she help?
Ika chuckles, then says "Now you know. Do you still feel comfortable with becoming Agent 3?"
Amber frowns, thinking the same thing. She would be, in essence, replacing Marie's lover. She was barely known by Ika, and she's never even met Callie and Marie. Amber's expression turns uncomfortable, and she says "I… don't know. I want to help, but I feel like I'm intruding on your work. You barely know me, and I don't know the Squid Sisters…"
Ika stares at her, then nods. "How about this then. Why don't we ask Callie and Marie their opinion? If they say yes, then you can join, alright?"
Amber looks at him, then nods. "That's fine. But… where are we gonna find them so we can ask?"
Ika just grins and points to the grate. "I think we already found them."
Amber raises an eyebrow, then looks over to the grate. Her eyes widen in surprise when she sees two figures walking towards them. The first had long, black tentacles tied into a bow, along with shades and a beanie. The second had her short hair tied into a bow, along with a green and white cap and a surgical mask. They were both wearing the armor Ika had on, which meant one thing. They were Callie and Marie.