It was an average day for the former popstar Marie. Well, besides having the great Zapfish stolen and Callie going missing, it was pretty average. Currently, the former popstar was seated in the cuttlefish cabin, fiddling with a radio, trying to make the piece of tech work.
The little machine glitched and spewed sparks at her. Marie threw the radio to the ground and backed up as the glowing orange particles and electricity continued to spray around.
"Stupid machine." Marie growled as she eyed the malfunctioning tech. Soon, the orange flakes ceased, leaving the radio to smoke as Marie stormed off.
"Ugh! There's no point in trying to fix that old piece of trash. I don't know why gramps wants it repaired." Marie converted to her squid form and jumped into the pipes that led to inkopolis square.
Marie popped out of the other side with an umbrella she had seemingly pulled out from nowhere, earning a few sideways glances from inklings passing by. No one could tell it was her though, not with the new clothes she was wearing and the umbrella that shielded her face.
"I'm never going to work on that hunk of junk again." Marie ranted to herself. "I'll just tell gramps to use a better….one…" Marie's rants turned to quiet whispers.
She had forgotten that her grandfather was no longer here. She missed the old captain. He had disappeared off somewhere random a few months ago with the company of agent 3, the saviour of inkopolis city. She missed 3 too, but it was hard to miss someone when your feeling glad they're gone cause of their stink. But, most of all she missed Callie; her dearest cousin and the other half of the squid sisters.
After the final splatfest Callie had gone missing. Marie had no idea what the cause of her departure was, but she desperately hoped it wasn't because of her. Calie never really cared for trivial things such as popularity, but maybe when Marie won the final splatfest she had taken it to heart that people liked the quiet and snarky squid sister more than the energetic one.
Marie sighed, depressed. She was beginning to feel the effect of loneliness take its toll on her. Ever since Captain, 3 and Callie left, she had no one to talk, interact with or help her with the octarians. She desperately craved some type of company, and watching all the happy inklings talking with their friends and doing turf war wasn't helping with that.
Snapping herself from her thoughts, Marie reminded herself of her goal; She wasn't here to make friends or interact with people, she was here to find help. Help to beat the octarians. She would do it herself if she could, but she wasn't skilled enough to take on the newly rebuilt octarian army by herself. Clearing her mind, she set to work.
Hours passed by as Marie scanned the crowds of inklings that came and went, observing their battles on the jumbo screen in the square and just looking for anyone who looked like they had potential. Unfortunately, none had piqued her interest enough to even consider recruiting them.
Marie shook her head in disappointment and jumped back into the grate that lead to her grandfather's little shack. When popping out, she jumped back in shock. There, looking around as if waking up in a strange place, stood an octoling, but unlike any octoling Marie had ever seen. This Octoling didn't look feminine like the rest. No, instead this octoling looked muscular, burly and towered over her. He was at least twice her size as she only went up to his sides.
His tentacles were a light grey, unlike the other octolings with their red and black tentacles. But, what caught her attention most were the chains that clung to his form and the mask that hid the bottom half of his face, leaving only his eyes and the top of his nose visible while his mouth was hidden away. Marie caught the octoling staring directly into her eyes.
All of a sudden, the octoling began to kneel down, breaking his sight of her for a moment. Taking the chance, Marie quickly pulled off the head of her umbrella to reveal the gun barrel of a bamboozler.
She aimed her weapon at his head as he looked back up, now nearly the same height. He widened his eyes in surprise as she pushed the barrel closer.
"Who are you and how did you find this place?" She questioned the octoling.
