Arc 2 Chapter 26
That night, Deeper in Octo Canyon, the major and some of the octo rebels had gathered up for their next mission: freeing Octavio. The major was briefing her platoon on the plans to get to Octavio and bring him back. Their sources told them that he was being confined in a large snowglobe just outside Octo Valley between the octarian and Inkling territory for pickup by the new octarian regime.
"Let's make haste! Before those traitors take our glorious leader!" shouted the major. "Long live the octo rebels!" shouted the major again.
"Long live the octo rebels!" shouted the unit.
The unit made their way inside an octozeppelin with the major following behind them. As they boarded an octoling rushed down the bay and towards the octozeppelin. She approached the major with a worried expression. "Major, (pant) our octotroopers have spotted intruders in the factory dome. They've reported four octolings that are not in our unit and have killed an octocopter before they fled the scene. We've despatched a wave of octarians to search the area," saluted the octoling.
"What! Find out who they are and interrogate them. I can only assume those turncoats sent a recon team to spy on us after the rig battle. We must hurry and free Octavio before those traitors get to him first. Ensure that they are found and dealt with," jeered the major as she back inside the octoZeppelin for taking off.
"Yes, ma'am," saluted the octoling.
The octozeppelin carrying the rebel platoon lifted off and headed toward the outskirts of Octo Valley without getting attention. The trip was half an hour-long and as the octozeppelin got in the vicinity of inkling territory it hovered down over the edge of the valley and the octarians dismounted. They scanned the area where Octavio was being held and spotted a small shack and soon the snowglobe Octavio was in. A small team broke off from the platoon led by the major and octo jumped on to Cuttlefish's property as they were in range.
"Area clear," said one of the octolings after looking around.
"Alright then, let's hurry and get him out!" commanded the major.
The team approached the giant snowglobe with the sleeping octopus inside. They tapped on the glass as to wake him up. Octavio slowly opened his eyes and jarred awake when he saw the octolings staring at him. "What is this! What's going on?!" asked the confused and shocked Octavio.
"My liege, we're here to free you," said the major.
"Wait! your not retrieval team to bring me back to stand trial in front of the traitorous hipsters!" asked Octavio suspiciously.
"No! We're the octo rebels, we were ordered to free you before those turncoats got here! You are our true leader! DJ Octavio!" said the major as she and the team bowed in front of him.
"Hmm...took you long enough, now hurry and get me out of this accursed glass prison, my tentacles are getting cramp from all this sitting!" commanded Octavio.
"Right away sir," said the major as she directed the octolings to bust the globe. "Cover yourself my liege!" shouted on the octolings.
Octavio looked up and saw what the octoling was about to do. He covered his head with his tentacles and the octoling took her octoshot and busted the top of the globe out.
Once the octoling hopped off and the top of the globe was busted. Octavio swam out and jumped in front of the octoling team. They gave another bow and awaited further orders from their leader.
"Sir! We await your commands!" saluted the major.
Octavio turned looked back toward Inkopolis and narrowed his eyes. "We'll take back our zapfish from those inkling hipsters! Let them live without power for the rest of their life as we had done! The reign of the octarians will rule again and we will soon take their precious city once they have weakened from their powerless city! Assemble the troops to swipe the great zapfish tonight! We will gather our forces and build the great octo weapons again and squish those pathetic inkstains!" commanded Octavio.
"Yes, sir!" saluted the major.
Octavio and the octo rebels were starting to leave when Octavio looked back at Cuttlefish's shack with a glare. "I will return Cuttlefish. You and those hipsters are going to pay for emprisoning me and taking all of our zapfish. Mark my words, you will rule the day, you crossed with me and the octarians!" jeered Octavio as he followed the octolings out of the valley and back to Octo Canyon.
Cassie left the Square sometime after she couldn't convince Izzy to withdrawal from playing a turf match with Flash and his team. She made her way to the Shellendorf institute to get her mind off things. She had heard that more ancient human relics were found and brought to the institute for study and display.
Inside the Shellendorf Institute, she looked around until she made her way to the human exhibit. She looked at the human fossil like she did before she met Blake. Before she thought humans weren't very intelligent due to their small heads but after meeting Blake her opinion changed. He seemed friendly and supportive after helping her and the squid sisters. She had wished that Blake wasn't the only human around.
Cassie heard a figure approach her and as she looked she saw an older female inkling wearing a school outfit with glasses. Her purple tentacles were rolled up in a bun behind her head. "So I'm guessing you're fascinated with humans too," said the inkling girl.
"Well, maybe a little, my name's Cassie by the way," said Cassie.
"Mine's Megan pleased to meet you," said Megan shaking Cassie's hand. "Yeah, I've always been fascinated with humans, though I questioned what happened to them," said Megan looking at the fossil.
"Yeah, it's a...shame their's none left," said Cassie hiding her acknowledgment of Blake.
"Well, the institute recently came across some books that are in great condition even though they are in human writing," said Megan.
"really? what kind of books?" asked Cassie with curiosity.
"I'm not so sure but one of the books has really piqued our interest. It seems to be some kind of book on human biology. By the diagrams and pictures it seems humans are that much different from inklings and octolings, well minus the ink and us not having bones." said Megan.
"You don't mind if I take a look do you?" asked Cassie.
"Sure, I don't mind," said Megan.
The two of them walked over toward another exhibit housing many other artifacts left behind by humans that once populated the earth. an old cellphone, game system, and other things. She soon saw the books Megan was talking about. Megan grabbed one of them that had the words human biology on it.
"Here you go, just remember to put it back, You won't be able to read it but by the pictures in it, it seems like a biology book for humans," said Megan before she walked away.
Callie scrolled through the book and examined the pictures. The writing was human and diagrams showed different body systems of humans. The skeletal system, Muscular system, and the organs. "Fascinating, It doesn't seem that humans aren't too different from us after all," said Cassie as she scrolled to the next page. She saw a picture of a naked male human and turned red after examining him and seeing the reproductive system. She quickly turned to the next page. "Yep, we're not much different," said Cassie with her redness going away.
She placed the book back and thought that some of that information may come in handy if Blake were to get hurt again like back on the Saltspray Rig.
Cassie started to walk away from the exhibit as something caught her eye around the corner. There was a curtained off area with movement behind it. Her curiosity got the best of her and walked over toward it. She peered around it and saw Megan with some other inklings in lab coats looking over the cryostasis pod Blake had come out of.
"Well, what's the verdict?" asked Megan to the inklings.
"We have not come to a conclusion on what it is, even after all this time. I know after the incident a month ago we concluded that it housed a human. We found unknown DNA inside it that doesn't match in other oceanic based life forms. We've been studying this thing two weeks no and haven't made much headway. This is the most advanced piece of human technology we've dug up," said one of the inklings.
"I'm sure it was human too, but where could've it gone off too. That's the real question beyond this pod thing," said Megan.
"Not to change the subject, but have you heard anything from your sister Cleo, wasn't she doing some digging on..." said the inkling but was cut off by Megan.
"Quiet! That is not supposed to be brought up! Besides, she's in intensive care right now, I going to go check on her soon. I'm thankful for the ones that rescued her, to think she was tortured by those bastards," said Megan.
"Wait! Cleo's her sister? The same Cleo that was tortured by Camper's gang?" said Cassie as she turned away behind the curtain out of sight.
"Ma'am look at this!" said one of the inklings as Cassie turned to peek around the curtain to see what was going on. The inkling was pointing at an emblem on the hatch just above the small glass window.
"It appears to be the Kamabo emblem but the writing below it is clearly human," said the inkling.
"Huh?" said Megan as she looked. "Wait, why wasn't this noticed before?" asked Megan.
"Then this would make it Namabo property, wouldn't it? The company you and your sister have been working with?" asked another inkling.
"Kamabo is not supposed to exist but yes we've being doing some work with them. We had too and besides that, they've been funding our archeological research and support the peace treaty among the inkling and Octarians. Not sure why but that information is not to leave this institute," explained Megan.
"Kamabo?" asked Cassie to herself still hiding.
"For right now the pod will stay in the Shellendorf Institute. I'll see if their's any way I can get a hold of C.Q. Cumber on this, he's been the only person I've ever got in contact with matters involving this mysterious company," said Megan.
The inklings examined the pod further while Megan walked away out of sight.
"Hmm...maybe I should talk with Cuttlefish about this. He did find Blake in that pod years ago. Maybe he'll no something about this," said Cassie as she walked away from the curtain and out of Shellendorf Institute.
It soon turned to night and Cassie was back in her apartment in Flounder Heights. Izzy never made it back from the match and Cassie was worried where Izzy was. She decided not to call her and just headed to bed. She was focused on Megan and this Kamabo company she was working with and why they were so fixated on the pod Blake came out of. "Could they be after Blake too?" Cassie thought to herself. She planned on heading to Cuttlefish's in the morning and see if he knew anything. The inkling girl finally drifted asleep eager for the next day to come and hoping Izzy was ok.
In Calamari County back at the Inn. Blake was lying on his bed dreaming of him and Mimi. He had a hard night's sleep thinking about his last interaction with Mimi. He was deciding whether or not to go see her before him and the squid sisters left for Inkopolis. He decided to leave well enough alone giving Mimi time for comfort not wanting to risk to make things worse. He rolled over and attempted to fall asleep but couldn't.
"I sometimes wish...that I was never found in that pod. Then maybe I would be with my family instead of this world I'm in right now. Speaking of my family, I haven't had any more visions for quite a while. (sigh)" said Blake to himself. He finally fell asleep after a while of dwelling in thought.
Much of the night Blake fought to stay asleep until the following morning came. As the sunlight beamed through the window. Blake slowly opened his eyes. They were red with dark marks around them. He was very groggy and fought to sit up. He rubbed them and looked around the room, unanxious to get up.
In the meantime, Callie and Marie were still asleep. After a moment Callie woke up and stretched, she got out of bed and wanted to go check on Blake. She stayed as quiet as she could be not to wake Marie up and left the room making her way to Blake's.
After a while, she headed down the hall to the room Blake was staying in and knocked on the door. There was no response as she knocked again and still no answer. She was starting to get worried. Callie then decided to pull out a credit card and slide it into the door lock and eventually got it to open. She very slowly opened the door. Inside she seen no sign of him and even checked the bedroom. "Where is he? I hope something didn't happen," said Callie quietly starting to get concerned.
Just then the bathroom door opened with steam billowing out. She turned and looked and saw a nude figure walk out toweling themselves off. Callie was frozen, as she stared at Blake who had just gotten out of the shower to wake himself up. Callie's golden eyes just stayed locked on Blake as she couldn't fight the urge to look away with her beet-red face and mouth open. Blake turned and looked toward Callie and after a delayed reaction, Callie jarred to her senses while Blake yelped and rushed to cover himself.
"AAHH! C...C...Callie! What are you doing in my room!" shouted Blake in utter shock.
"Oh, my cod! I'm so sorry! I knocked on your door but you didn't answer. I was worried! I wasn't perving out! I swear!" exclaimed Callie waving her arms and turning her head away. She hurried to get out of the room while Blake got into his clothes.
"Alright, Callie, You can come in now!" said Blake after a moment. Callie walked back inside the room looking down hiding her blush.
After their awkward moment, Callie had asked what was wrong with Blake. Blake started with a long sigh and told what had happened with him and Mimi. After the conversation, Callie was stewing with different emotions and what Blake had said about him being a human and not wanting to hook up with an inkling. Callie had her arms crossed in her lap looking down.
Blake got up and walked into his bedroom to finish getting ready. Callie walked in behind him after a moment. Blake turned toward her with an uneasy expression. "Callie, if you and Marie want to stay, then you guys can. I'm going to go ahead and leave to head back to Cuttlefish's. After what happened last night I can't bear to stay here anymore. It's just a grim reminder of the past experiences and me and Mimi's falling out," said Blake.
"Blake, you need to let go of the past. I hate seeing you like this. Please stay for me and Marie," pleaded Callie.
"Callie...I can't, it's just..." started Blake as he was cut off by Callie hugging him. Blake accepted the gesture and hugged her back when all of a sudden footsteps could be heard running toward the door.
Marie flew open the door and gave Callie and Blake a serious look but then her expression changed when she saw Callie and Blake pull off from their hug. "Um...I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but gramps has just called! Octavio has escaped!" exclaimed Marie.
"WHAT!" shouted Callie and Blake.
"We gotta get back to Inkopolis right away! Get all your stuff together! We're leaving!" shouted Marie before she headed back to her room.
Blake and Callie looked at each other. "Well, maybe we should talk again another time," said Callie.
"Yeah, let's focus on getting back, I don't wanna keep Cuttlefish waiting," said Blake as Callie nodded and rushed back to Marie to get her things.
Blake grabbed his backpack and walked out of his room in his disquise toward the Inn lobby. Thoughts were racing through his head about Mimi and Octavio's escape. The three of them met up and headed to the tram station just outside of the village. It was a long quiet trip back to Inkopolis as Blake stayed to himself with Callie and Marie focused on getting back to their grandfather to figure out how to stop Octavio.
The same morning Cassie woke up earlier than usual dwelling on the fact Izzy never made it back. She decided to leave her a message and make her way to Cuttlefish's. She made it to the plaza when she got a phone call. She was hoping it was Izzy but it showed up as Cuttlefish. Cassie was curious why Cuttlefish was already calling her.
"Hello, hey Captain, I was just headed your way, I..." said Cassie as she answered her phone. But her expression changed as Cuttlefish explained to her that Octavio had escaped.
"What! How! I'll be right there captain!" exclaimed Cassie as she hung up and squid formed down the drain grate.
She raced to Cuttlefish's as fast as she could down the tunnel and made it to the other storm drain on the other side. There, she headed towards the shack but no answer. A figure caught her eye where Octavio's snowglobe was. It was Cuttlefish examining the broken globe as he pushed the pieces of glass out of the way with his cane. "Cuttlefish?" said Cassie running behind him.
"Lass? glad your here. I've done called my grandsquids, they'll get here as quick as they can," said Cuttlefish as he turned around facing Cassie.
"Cuttlefish, how did he get out? I thought he couldn't bust out of that snowglobe," said Cassie.
"He could've gotten out on his own. Look! They're boot prints around the snowglobe leading from the canyon. He had to have help from those octolings and rushed out of here before they got caught," said Cuttlefish pointing at the tracks with his cane.
Cassie kneeled down studying the boot prints. "This has to be the work of the octo rebels, they're the only ones I would think of that would wanna free Octavio," said Cassie.
"This is unsettling news, Lass. We gotta find them before anything happens." said a concerned Cuttlefish.
"Not to change matters Cuttlefish but when I was at the Shellendorf Institute yesterday evening. This inkling met up with me. Her name was Megan, she seemed nice but I overheard some commotion behind this covered up area in the human exhibit before I was going to leave. It was her and a bunch of inklings in lab coats. They were studying Blake's pod and one of them pointed out to an emblem on the hatch. They said it looked like the Kamabo logo. Do you know if Blake knows anything about this?" asked Cassie.
"Kamabo? I've heard that name somewhere but I'm not too sure lass," said a puzzled Cuttlefish. "Maybe we can ask Bucko when he gets here," said Cuttlefish.
"When will they be here?" asked Cassie hastily.
"They should be here soon, I'm willing to bet that..." said Cuttlefish as he was cut off by a noise emitting from the ledge of the cliff toward Octo Valley.
The noise got louder and a large floating object appeared in front of them over the ledge. It was DJ Octavio in his hovering DJ booth. The Octobot king.
"OCTAVIO!" shouted both Cassie and Cuttlefish as they froze in fear from Octavio's presence.
"That's DJ Octavio to you hipsters! and I've come here to take back what rightfully belongs to the octarians and get my revenge!" roared Octavio. "Meet the new and improved Octobot King Mk2. Let's see you get yourself out of this one Agent 3!" shouted Octavio as he launched one his fists down toward the two of them.
Cassie grabbed Cuttlefish and the two dove out of the way. The fist hit the ground and recoiled back to the Octobot King Mk2. "Hmpf...pesky inkstains! Get them my army!" commanded Octavio as the octo rebels jumped out of nowhere and attempted to surround Cassie and Cuttlefish.
Cassie held her Hero shot and was ready for a showdown with the octolings. "Captain! Get out of here! I'll hold them off!" shouted Cassie.
Cuttlefish nodded and squid formed back toward the shack while Cassie was staring down at the rebel octolings. "Alright, little hipster! It's time for you to turn into a puddle of ink!" shouted Octavio.
"Sir! What about the old geezer!?" asked the major who was riding with Octavio.
"I'll deal with him after the Agent is splatted!" replied Octavio.
Meanwhile, Blake and the squid sisters hopped off the tram as soon as they got back to the plaza. The three of them rushed to the studio to grab their gear and weapons fearing Octavio may come back. Callie filled Blake's Ink tank up before they ran out of the studio. Afterward, they headed to the storm drain and rushed down the tunnel, though Callie and Marie were in their squid form leaving Blake behind.
"Wait, were leaving Blake!" exclaimed Callie.
"Their's no time, I'm sure he'll catch up, Cal," said Marie as they continued on with Blake running to keep up.
As soon as the two got there they changed back and saw Octavio and the octo rebels on the other side of the landmass they were on. "Oh no! Octavio's back! Cassie! They're about to!" shouted Callie panicking.
"No their not!" shouted Marie as she rushed toward them aiming her hero charger at the octolings.
Cassie was frozen and unsure of what to do. She was surrounded and knew if she started shooting she was a goner until one of the octolings burst into green ink. "Huh!" shouted some of the octolings they looked and saw Marie firing at them. Cassie took this moment to splat two more octolings and squid formed to jump away. Callie headed toward Cuttlefish spotting him taking cover by his shack. "Gramps! Are you ok!" shouted Callie as she rushed by his side.
"Callie! I'm glad you two made it! Where's Bucko?" asked Cuttlefish. Just ten Blake pushed the grate off the drain and hopped out. Callie and Cuttlefish spotted him and signaled toward him. "Blake!" shouted Callie as Blake over towards them.
"Bucko! I finally glad you made it, we gotta stop Octavio and those octolings before they get away!" exclaimed a frantic Cuttlefish.
Marie was still shooting octolings while Callie jumped beside her and shot a couple as well.
"Blasted Ink stains!" shouted Octavio as he launched a fist toward Cassie and Marie. They both dove out of the way and evaded the giant fist.
"They need our help!" shouted Callie as she rushed toward the two.
"Callie wait! It's too dangerous!" shouted Blake as he tailed her with Cuttlefish following behind.
Another wave of octo rebels jumped in with the major pointing at Blake and the inklings. "Deal with them!" she shouted.
The four of them with Cuttlefish standing back charged at the octo rebels and shot at them with their weapons. Blake and Marie picked off as many Octolings as they could and Cassie jumped up in the air lobbing a splat bomb at some of them. Meanwhile, Callie swung her roller down on them when she got close enough. The skirmish went on for minutes before Octavio spotted Cuttlefish off to the side taking cover behind a tree. "There's that old hipster, it's time to finish business," jeered Octavio as he hovered over toward Cuttlefish with the major.
Octavio pulled behind Cuttlefish with a malicious gaze. "Cuttlefish!" shouted the giant octopus. Cuttlefish turned around and saw the towering Octopus on his floating DJ bot. "It's time for you to come with me!" jeered Octavio.
"Bring it on you old has been!" shouted a fearless Cuttlefish waving his cane.
Callie turned and saw Octavio facing her grandfather as well as the rest of them. "Gramps!" shouted Callie as she rushed over towards him.
"Oh no, Captain!" shouted Blake running toward Cuttlefish.
Just as Octavio launched his fist to grab Cuttlefish. Callie jumped in front of him and got caught by the fist. "AAAHHH!" shouted Callie as she was grabbed.
"CALLIE!" shouted Blake, Marie, and Cassie at the same time.
"Hmpf...I guess I'll have to settle with one of your grandkids instead, Cuttlefish!" roared Octavio as Callie was struggling to get out of the fist.
"Forget it squid! You're not squirming out of this one! Not to mention this is the one has a real knack for the fossil," said the major to Octavio.
"Oh really," said Octavio as he glared at Blake. Blake was clutching his bamboozler wanting to shot at the giant Octopus.
"Well, fossil! If you and those hipsters wanna see your damsel in distress back! Then you're not to interfere with our operations and don't you dare try and stop us or I'll squeeze the ink right out of her! We're taking back what rightly belongs to us! The zapfish! Let's see you inkstains live without power and the precious turf wars that you use to celebrate the great turf war that we lost!" jeered Octavio as him and the major floated over toward the valley.
"Octavio! Bring back, Callie! She has nothing to do with this!" yelled Blake enraged.
"Blake...Marie...help!" yelped Callie who was being squeezed.
"CALLIE! NOOOO!" yelled Marie with tears forming.
Octavio, the major, and the remaining octolings jumped out of sight and made their way back to Octo canyon by the Octozeppelin waiting for their return.
Blake threw his bamboozler and punched the ground. "Dammit Octavio!" jeered an angry Blake.
Marie was sitting on the ground crying while Cassie was clutching her hero shot.
"Bucko! We'll get her back! But we gotta think of a plan!" exclaimed Cuttlefish running by his side.
"(sigh) So...what do we do? You heard Octavio. If we try and stop them... I don't want Callie getting killed," said Blake.
"Me neither Bucko, but we can't be rash about this!" exclaimed Cuttlefish.
Marie soon walked over wiping her tears. "Marie, don't worry we'll get her back," said Cuttlefish putting his hand on her shoulder.
Cassie then walked over with her anger resolving. "Lass, you said something about Kamabo?" asked Cuttlefish.
"Yeah, I did but what does that have to do with what had just happened?" asked Cassie unsure of why he was asked that.
"Let's all just head over to the shack and access the situation. We need to clear our heads and think of a plan. There's no sense in just chasing after Octavio and them octo rebels," said Cuttlefish sternly as he tapped his cane.
The four of them headed over inside Cuttlefish's shack, trying to recover from the emotional scars of losing Callie to Octavio and the rebels. Marie was sitting on the couch still consoling over her cousin. Cassie was leaned up against the wall near the door and Blake was standing near Cuttlefish with his arms crossed feeling remorse for not saving the inkling that loved him.
"Alright, here's the plan squidos and Bucko. Marie..." said Cuttlefish as Marie turned toward him with an indifferent look. "I'm appointing you commander of the squidbeak squad. You've been a trusted agent and shown nothing but courage and leadership out in the field. That's why I'm appointing you for this position," said Cuttlefish.
"But gramps, what about you?" asked Marie.
"I'm getting to that. Which brings me to the topic from before. This Kamabo," said Cuttlefish as he turned toward Cassie. "You said that the pod Blake was in had this Kamabo logo on it?" asked Cuttlefish.
"Yeah, that's what that inkling at the institute said and that she was working with them," said Cassie.
Cuttlefish then turned toward Blake. "Bucko, Do you know anything about this Kamabo, the name sounds familiar," asked Cuttlefish.
"Kamabo... Kamabo, wait...I think I do," said Blake reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the old ID he had on him from when he showed to Cuttlefish and Octavio when they first met him.
"Yeah, Captain. Look it's on the back of this card, but...this doesn't make any sense. Why would that pod have this logo on and how the heck is a company from over 2000 years ago still around?" asked Blake who was shocked and confused.
"I'm not sure lad, but me and the agent lass are going to do some investigating. If they're interested in that pod, then they're interested in you. I don't want a repeat of what happened between you and those misfits and rebels from before. We need to find out more about this," said Cuttlefish.
"Captain, the inkling from the museum said her sister was the one we rescued from Camper's hideout, If she recovers maybe she'd be willing to tell us something," said Cassie.
"I hope so, We'll see if she'd be willing to talk," said Cuttlefish. "But, before we all leave, there is one more crucial thing that needs to be done," said Cuttlefish as the three of them looked at him with seriousness.
"We need to recruit more agents. This operation is going to be too much for all of us, especially since Marie will be commanding the squad and the agent lass and me are going to be snooping for information about Kamabo," said Cuttlefish.
"Gramps, we don't have time or the resources to recruit anyone into the squidbeak. You might have nominated me as commander but I can hold my own. I'll go after Octavio and save Callie," insisted Marie.
"No! You're not doing this alone! That's why I'm reinstating or should I say you're reinstating Blake back into the Squidbeak squad," said Cuttlefish as he tapped his cane.
"What!" shouted both Blake and Marie. "Captain! I'm not sure if I'm tasked to do this. I mean look what happened before, what Octavio did to me. I'm not sure..." said Blake as he cut off by Cuttlefish tapping his cane.
"Bucko! I know you're more than qualified for this. Your perhaps the wittiest and strongest agent I've ever had. Look at everything you've done before. Back during the great turf war. You saved Mimi and Me. You faced unbeatable odds and got me and the squidbeak out of that jam in the village. You stopped Octavio's right hand and stood up to that jaded octopus back on the floating valley. You survived that plummet in the pod. Lad, I wouldn't be doing this If I knew you weren't more than capable," said Cuttlefish.
Blake looked at Cuttlefish and gave him a salute. "Yes, Captain...I would be more than happy to rejoin the squidbeak," said Blake.
"Thank you lad, I knew you accept this offer and save my grandsquid," said Cuttlefish.
"Gramps, one question. How is Blake going to catch Octavio? He's not an inkling. He can't squid form or jump or shoot ink. He may be a human with little effect over the ink, but with him going to Octo Canyon. How will he travel through all those floating platforms and stuff, not to mention shoot down those tea kettles?" asked Cassie.
"That brings me to my next point, We'll have no choice but to reveal him to Sheldon and your friend," said Cuttlefish turning toward Cassie.
"Sheldon?" asked a dumbfounded Cassie.
"Yes, we need to get the lad some gear and find a way for Sheldon to build some gadgets to complete these feats if Bucko is going to go down to Octo canyon," said Cuttlefish. "If that little horseshoe crab is like his grandfather, then I know he can do it," said Cuttlefish.
"Wait, you said friend?" said Cassie still puzzled.
"The lass you've been hanging with, the one that came to Inkopolis to play in them turf war games," said Cuttlefish.
"Wait...Izzy! But she's just now started competing! Now you want her to join the Squidbeak Squad!" exclaimed a shocked Cassie that Cuttlefish would even recruit her.
"That's right, she was with you when you rescued that lass from them, misfits. She sounds like a brave one and she already knows that you're an agent. I'm sure she'd be glad to join since you've helped her out and she seems to look up to you lass," said Cuttlefish.
"But, she can't handle being an agent! I mean..." said Cassie as she was cut off by Cuttlefish placing his hand out.
"Lass, we'll train her and get her situated. Don't chu worry and I think it's time for her to meet Blake. It's just a matter of time until she finds him out," said Cuttlefish as Cassie was distressed with the situation.
"Alright, then it's settled. Cassie, I want you to recruit Izzy and bring her up to speed of what's going on and we'll train the lass when we can. Blake, I want you to report back here in the morning for your initiation and to get with Marie to go and see Sheldon about some gear and hopefully build something to help you get through Octo Canyon. Marie, like I was telling Bucko about getting with Sheldon and also you will not be going out into the field," directed Cuttlefish.
"What! But why?" asked a shocked Marie.
"I want you to hang back at the shack at Mt. Nantai and direct the squidbeak agents on what to do. Stay in contact with them through the squidcoms they'll be given. I don't want to lose you grandsquid. You're perhaps the most clear-headed person here to be tasked with getting Blake and Cass's friend trough the canyon," said Cuttlefish.
Marie gave a sigh and nodded at Cuttlefish.
Cuttlefish then turned toward the group and tapped his cane. "So, we all know what to do," said Cuttlefish as the rest of them nodded in understanding.
For the rest of the day. Cassie headed back to her apartment to see if she could get a hold of Izzy. Blake and Marie headed back to the plaza to go over the plans for the following day. Cuttlefish stayed at the shack and prayed that things would go over well for the squidbeak squad and the safety of Callie. It's unsure as of now if Izzy and Flash's team beat the pink team at the turf war match and Sergeant Maxie and her team were still trapped in Octo Canyon.
Only time will tell if Blake is ready for the task at hand and that he would defeat Octavio and get Callie back. Let's see how this will play out in the next Arc.
End of Arc. See you next time.