Arc 3 Chapter 17
In the abandoned underground city deep in octo canyon. Marie was providing overwatch for Blake from the rooftops. On the street level, Blake was running down the street but stayed cautious of his surroundings. So far they didn't spot any more patrols on their way to Tentacle Towers where Sergeant Maxie was being held. Blake was willing to rescue her since she helped him back at the saltspray rig and that she possibly knew how to get to the octo rebel's base.
Blake spotted the large building at the end of the street when all of a sudden Marie radioed to him through his headset. "Blake, stop!" she shouted.
"What is it?" he responded.
"There are some guards outside the door. Two octolings and some kind of tracked vehicle with a face on it, maybe some kind of new octoweapon," said Marie. Blake looked and spotted the guards and the Octostamp DX.
"How am I going to get past them, I'm not even armed?" said Blake.
"Leave it to me, I'll snipe the octolings but you'll have to deal with that over-sized lunchbox and get its attention," said Marie.
"Uh, Marie, I'm weaponless, remember," said an agitated Blake.
"And whose fault is that? No worries I'll lend you some splat bombs, here catch!" shouted Marie as she threw down Blake two splat bombs filled with her green ink.
"Make them count," she continued as she got to a vantage point and prepared to shot the octolings once Blake got closer without getting spotted. Blake got into position as Marie shot the first octoling. The second one jumped in surprise. "What the! Sniper!" shouted the octoling as she splattered the ground with ink. She octo formed and hid in the ink to avoid getting shot. Meantime, Blake moved in and the big boxy tank spotted him. Octotroopers popped out of it from behind and shot at Blake.
Blake jumped up and lobbed a splat bomb between them splatting all of them. As he lands back down the Octostomp DX rolls toward the human agent. It flips once it gets near Blake. As slow as it was, Blake could easily avoid but destroying may prove difficult being it was armored. When it rolled forward on its face. Blake saw the back hatch open and jumped on top of the tank to lob a splat bomb inside and quickly jumped off. The driver panicked and attempted to get out but it was too late. The octostomp DX exploded into ink.
Marie was on top of the building hunting the octoling. She soon spotted a little octopus jumping through the purple ink and shot at her. She yelped and changed back. The octoling spotted Marie and bared her fangs at her. "Damn inkling! Die!" she yelled as she shot at Marie. Marie took cover as the octoling sprayed in her direction. She octo formed back into the ink out of sight again.
Marie peeked out of cover and lined another shot toward the puddles of purple ink. She spotted two eyes in the puddle and lined a shot. The stream of ink hit its target and the octopus was launched back out of the ink and landed on the ground in her humanoid form. She splatted once her body was motionless and saw Blake had destroyed the octostamp DX.
"Nice job agent!" shouted Marie.
Blake turned and looked at Marie with a blush and rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks for the bombs and you too!" shouted Blake.
"Hey, you two! Sheldon here! I've managed to get Blake another weapon. I've constructed a new weapon for this type of urban environment that will prove useful. I present to you the Rapid splat 3000. I'm still working on the name but I call it that for a reason," said Sheldon on the radio as his drone dropped a crate down on the street in front of the towering building.
Blake opened it and held it up. Marie jumped down and also stared at the weapon. "What is this? It's not like the weapon you issued me from before," said Blake confused by the new ink weapon.
"I've never seen a weapon like that either," said Marie.
The weapon looked like a large yellow and black paint sprayer with a paint tank on the bottom of it. (It's based on the Wagner Flexio 3000 paint sprayer, look it up)
"It's a new design I came up with. It has a high rate of fire but a limited range like the aerospray line of weapons. I thought it would be suitable for the terrain you'll be fighting in but be careful it will deplete ink quickly if you're not too careful. I've also thrown in a new tank with an ink recycler in it. Please don't get it damaged! I'm running out of parts," whined Sheldon.
"I'll do my best Sheldon," said Blake.
"Oh, and also I've given you a new special too, one that's never been released yet for the turf players. I call it Ink Decoys," said Sheldon in excitement.
"Ink Decoys? What's that?" asked Blake.
"This will allow you to conjure three additional ink-made figures that look just like you but made of ink. They will shoot at and distract enemies for you, but their attacks are much weaker and are more of a diversionary tactic. It will prove useful when dealing with groups of enemies though, just remember to keep on eye on your squidwatch ok," said Sheldon.
Woah, that sounds pretty handy. three ink figures shooting at enemies for you, cool, I can't wait to use it," said Blake excitedly.
"Yeah, I've never heard of anything like that either, I love to see that special in action," said Marie over the radio.
"Well, this will be a field trial for it. Like I said I hope it proves useful," said Sheldon.
"If I'm going to test this thing out then I guess I better go and rescue the octoling sergeant," said Blake. He started making his way in the building when Marie called his name on the radio.
"Blake!" shouted Marie.
"Yeah," he replied.
"Be careful, I'm not going to be able to cover you while you're inside. We don't know how many more octarians are in there and what they have planned. I'll try and do my best on seeing if I can keep an eye out for anything. This could also be a trap too so don't get cornered," said Marie.
"I've already thought that too. I'll be mindful, don't worry Marie, hopefully Sheldon's special will come in handy like he said it would," said Blake.
Blake headed inside Tentacle Towers. He entered a large lobby area and looked around for a way up. He spotted an elevator but it was out of order. Nearby was a staircase going up. He decided to go up the stairs, ready for anything he may face on his way to rescue the sergeant. An octoling rebel wearing a cape watched the human climb up and rushed away.
The sergeant-major was in charge of capturing Blake at Tentacle Towers. She had dark red tentacles and had green eyes with blue irises like other octolings that spent so much time underground. She donned a cape behind her armor with a red octoling emblem on it. "I've done called for reinforcements to surround the building and capture that human. I think I'll let our little damsel know her knight in shining armor is on her way," sneered the sergeant major.
She made it to the very top floor where Maxie was being held in a large cell with her brain-washed teammate Serena watching her. Before the sergeant-major arrived Serena walked over to the cell with Maxie curled up on the floor. "M...Maxie," said Serena meekly but still under the influence of the goggles. Maxie slowly turned over her shoulder and looked at Serena.
Maxie had tears in her eyes and sniffled as she stared at her former teammate. She turned her head back away from her and continued pouting. "Maxie," she said again but the sergeant didn't respond.
"I'm...sorry," said Serena with sadness in her voice as a tear fell and hit the floor.
"Leave me alone," said Maxie in a pout.
Serena fought the influence of the goggles and dropped her octoshot. She fought to pull her arms up and remove the goggles from her face. She continued to resist as Maxie looked back over her shoulder to see what Serena was doing. Maxie sat up stunned that Serena was fighting the influence of the goggles. The goggles started to stun her as she cried in pain. "Serena! Stop!" shouted Maxie as she ran toward the cell wall pleading for her teammate to stop or the goggles would knock her out.
"No! I don't wanna be controlled anymore!" she jeered, still getting shocked by the goggles. She eventually broke away from the goggles and threw them down. She dropped to the floor worn out from struggling. The goggles shut down and Maxie looked at Serena's motionless body with deep concern. Serena, Serena!" she shouted at her teammate.
Soon Serena's hand flinched and she slowly sat back up rubbing her face. "Serena?" asked Maxie clutching the cell bars. She mumbled and looked back at the sergeant. "Maxie..." she replied. "Serena!" shouted the sergeant with tears of joy. Serena got up and rushed over to the cell to hug her through the bars.
"Serena! I'm so glad you're back," said Maxie with tears in her eyes.
Serena and Maxie pulled away wiping the tears from their eyes. "I'm going to try and get you outta there sergeant," said Serena. She looked around for something to try and break the lock with. The octoling spotted a pry bar laying on the floor and picked it up. She placed it on above the lock and attempted to pry it loose. She put all of her strength into trying the break the lock open until her and Maxie heard approaching footsteps.
"Serena, stop! I hear someone coming!" exclaimed Maxie.
Serena threw the pry bar aside and picked up the broken goggles and placed them over her face along with her octoshot. The sergeant-major walked in and looked at the sergeant. "Hmm...you're awake, good," sneered the sergeant-major. The sergeant gave her an unpleasant glare as she squeezed the bars of her cell. "Well, I have some good news and bad news," she said to Maxie.
"The good news is that human is on his way to rescue you. The bad news is that my troops are preparing to surround this building and take him," said the sergeant-major. "So don't hold your breath expecting him to save your octo butt," finished the sergeant-major.
"He's resourceful and stronger than you think! So don't think he won't put up a fight. I know he'll make it up here and rescue me and kick your octopus ass!" shouted Maxie baring her teeth at the sergeant-major.
You may be right but that's why I have you," said the sergeant-major as she grinned. The sergeant looked at with concern wondering what the octoling had up her sleeve. "If he should pose a problem for us, I can use you to get him to surrender," said the sergeant-major.
"You honestly believe I would help you, I would rather drop to my death off this building!" shouted the angered sergeant.
"That's a thought but I would rather use you to get to him, what I understand from the major is you have a lot of admiration for him, possibly...have a crush on him," said the sergeant as she smirked.
"I...don't know what you're talking about, you'll believe anything that comes out of that major's mouth," sneered Maxie.
"Private! Get over here and watch the prisoner!" she commanded Serena not knowing she was no longer under the influence of the goggles. Serena decided to play along and act as if she was still under control.
"Yes, ma'am," replied Serena as she walked over.
Serena grabbed Maxie by the arm with her octoshot pointed on her back. The sergeant-major started to walk out and Maxie turned to Serena with confusion. "Serena, what are you doing?!" exclaimed Maxie quietly.
"Don't worry sarge I have a plan," said Maxie pulling her goggles down for a moment giving her a wink.
Izzy and the octo-samurai were duking it out on top of the command octozeppelin. The towering octarian would slam his roller down toward Izzy as she dodged every attack. Izzy would spray the octo-samurai with her hero shot but he would twirl his roller to block the fire. The match seemed like a stalemate as they waited for each other to tire out from the battling.
"Give up!" shouted the octo-samurai as he loomed over the inkling girl who was clearly tuckered out from the fighting.
"Never you fat clown!" she shouted back.
The octo-samurai gave a gargled roar and held his roller up. It transformed into the octocycler again and he made a charge at the inkling Izzy who was unsure what to do. She was tired and didn't have enough energy to jump out of the way as the octo-samurai rolled her over. He left behind a trail of purple ink and no sign of the inkling anywhere. He gave a devious smile as he changed the octocycler back to its roller form.
"That'll teach that impotent squid," sneered the octo-samurai.
It seemed Izzy was finally stopped cold in her tracks. The octo-samurai was finally glad to be rid of the agent that had defeated him before but as the octo-samurai turned away as a figure appeared out of the trail of ink as they opened they're eyes. They blinked, stunned that they had survived the octocycler attack. The figure sat up covered in octarian ink as they weakly grabbed something out of their pack. It was a squee-g. A small fish like robot that scrubbed the purple ink off them.
The figure revealed itself to be Izzy once the squee-g was done cleaning her and shut down once it had cleaned all the ink off her. "I'm so glad Sheldon put that thing in my pack for such an occasion," said Izzy.
The octo-samurai stopped by the voice of the inkling he thought he had splated. He turned around and saw the inkling stand behind him. The large octarian was agape with words to unsure how the inkling survived the octocycler.
"What, you should be a puddle right now inkstain!" he shouted. "None the less, you're relentless, I'll give you that," continued the octo-samurai.
"I'm a squid beak agent. I vowed to protect my friends and all of inkopolis from any threats and I won't stop until you and the band of rebels are defeated! My friend Cassie taught me how to be brave and stand up to people like you. I'm no longer the shy squid I was when I first came to Inkopolis and I will defeat you and the octo-rebels. I promised myself that I would get the great zapfish back and see my friend Cassie again no matter what," exclaimed Izzy as she clutched her hero shot and emboldened herself not showing any fear toward the octo-samurai.
The octo-samurai was at a loss of words and greatly admired her bravery. He started to chuckle and stared back at the inkling girl. "So the inkstain had finally grown a backbone. I admire your confidence and resilience inkling but we know who will be the victor here. The octarians will reign the surface world and there's nothing you can do to stop us! This battle was already won before it started. Do you really believe you can stop our whole fleet by yourself. You have failed you insolate squid and their's nothing you can do about it! Surrender is futile and you should accept your defeat while you can inkstain!" sneered the octarian.
Izzy bared her teeth at him ready to battle it out with large Octarian. He held up his roller again ready to transform it into the octocycler yet again, intending to finish off the inkling girl once and for all when all of a sudden. Shadows appeared above the hatch where the octozeppelins were to start their assault on inkopolis.
The octo-samurai and Izzy looked up and saw that it was more octozeppleins above them but these octozeppelins were commanded by the neo-octarian army. The octozeppleins fired at the rebel zeppelins intending for them not to get out of the dome below them. Onboard one of the neo-octarian zeppelins was an octoling elite (not the lieutenant) giving orders to attack the rebel zeppelins and not allow them to escape for the attack on the inklings.
"Don't let a single octozeppelin escape!" shouted the elite as the zeppelins moved in and attacked the rebels below.
The octo-samurai was frozen by the sight of the opposing octozeppelins. Izzy took this opportunity to jump up and kick the octarian in the face once he turned back to the inkling girl. He was knocked back and dropped his roller down. Dazed and confused, the octarian sat up and looked at the inkling agent who was standing on his roller. He looked at her with horror as she gave a smirk at the scarred octarian. She picked up the large roller and swung it down on the octo-samurai's head breaking it in half. The spawner built-inside the roller was busted and would not allow the octarian to respawn and come back like before.
The octo-samurai was finally defeated and laid unconscience on the roof of the command octozeppelin. "You...finally beat me...inkstain," he mumbled before blacking out. Izzy stared at the motionless hulking octarian. She looked back up at the octozeppleins which were shooting down at the rebel zeppelins. A big shot on ink came down and Izzy scrambled to move as the ink covered the surface of where she and the octo-samurai were battling. The octarian was finished off by the big ink shot and she had rushed over toward the hatch of zeppelin before she was hit by another shot. She hopped down the hatch and landed inside a bay. Inside were more octolings scrambling to get to their battle stations. She hid behind some crates, fortunately, she wasn't spotted as the octolings were too busy.
She took the opportunity to lob splat bombs on the unsuspecting octolings splatting many of them with the rest shocked in fear of what had just happened. She hopped on the crate and shot the rest before they could return fire. She squid formed and made her way toward the door on the opposite side of the bay, only for more octolings to burst out of the door and shoot at the squid. She transformed back and shot at the octolings dodging their fire and finishing them off as she closed in on the door. She huddled up against the wall, ready to breach the room on the other side. She rushed in and aimed her weapon down a long corridor. The fire from the other octozeppelins caused the zeppelin to shake as she had trouble standing up. She eventually toppled over and the command octozeppelin leaned forward, slowly descending downward.
Izzy yelped and slid toward the door on the end of the corridor. "AAAHHH!" she screamed heading toward the door. She landed on the door, busting it open. She flew inside running right into the scar-faced elite that she met months ago back when she was saved by the sergeant at Camper's hideout. The elite yelped from the inkling landing on her. Izzy and the elite were both dazed and slowly got up off the floor. The elite turned toward the inkling girl and recognized her.
She stared at the inkling and bared her teeth remembering when she interfered with the fight between her and the sergeant. "You! You're the squid that was with that sergeant back at that twirp's base. The interfering squid! I wouldn't have to be dealing with pain in my tentacle if it weren't for you! Well, that sergeant isn't here to rescue you now!" she sneered.
Izzy sat up and remembered the elite that attacked her and Maxie from months ago after she saved her from Camper's gang. She saw that her hero shot was laying on the floor between her and the octoling elite. She looked at it and so did the major. Izzy made a rush to the weapon but it was kicked away by the major who attempted to swing her knife at Izzy. Izzy jumped back from the attack as the major clutched the knife ready to attack the inkling girl again. Izzy was now cornered and left defenseless against the malicious elite who remembered her from warning the sergeant about the major's sneaky move from months ago. The elite would soon return the favor and stab Izzy like she would to the sergeant.
The elite lunged at Izzy in the intent to kill the inkling agent. Instead of stabbing Izzy she stabbed the control panel and got jolted as she yelped. Izzy squid formed behind the elite as the major turned her head around. "Interfering Inkstain!" jeered the elite as she pulled out the knife off the panel. Izzy flinched back and stared at the elite. "Not so brave now, are you squid. Don't worry, I make this quick but painful. You're going to wish you didn't interfere with that fight between and that turncoat sergeant," said the elite coldly.
Izzy quickly spotted the remain rebel octozeppelin take a hit and careen toward the command octozeppelin they were onboard. Izzy's eyes widened and fear filled her face. The elite grinned and was ready to end the inkling's life with her back against the windshield of the gondola. Izzy pointed toward the window and the elite slowly turned around. Her expression turned to the same as Izzy's and dropped the knife. "Oh, fuc..." started the elite but cut off by Izzy shouting: "RUN!" as they both bolted out of the cockpit of the gondola.
When the octozeppelin struck the ship the two of them were propelled toward the rear bay of the gondola. Both airships collided and slowly descended to the bottom of the dome. The back hatch flew open as Izzy grabbed one end of the edge while the major grabbed the other side of the doorway. Both were screaming and holding on for dear life. The elite managed to pull herself up and call for octoseeker to pick her out of the falling command octozeppelin ASAP.
She turned back to the inkling agent who was still holding on. "Enjoy the ride squid! I gotta ride outta here, I don't expect you to survive this!" sneered the major.
After a moment an octoseeker hovered over the bay door as the major octo formed and hopped on to the craft. Izzy struggled to pull herself up and once she did she stood up and turned toward the octoseeker with the elite giving her a gesture as she taunted the doomed inkling girl. Izzy backed up and squid jumped to the octoseeker as it's hatch was still open. She grabbed ahold of the hatch door but the major quickly tried to stop her. "Oh no you don't squid!" she sneered.
Izzy lost her grip with one hand but still hung on with the other. "Sorry, no hitchhikers!" shouted the major as she stomped on Izzy's hand. She yelped and was losing her grip. Izzy looked down and then back up at the malicious octoling. The major bared her teeth as she twisted her boot over Izzy's hand. "This is where you get off!" shouted the elite as Izzy finally lost her grip.
"Have a nice trip!" shouted the elite as she waved and gave the inkling an evil grin. She watched Izzy fall toward the descending octozeppelin as she screamed. Was this the end of the inkling agent? The elite commanded the octoseeker to get out of the area and back to the rebel base. The Neo-Octarian army finished off the rest of the rebels as the remaining octozeppelins were shot down and the rebel's plans thwarted. It appeared that war was evaded...for now.
It had been nearly an hour and Melvin had decided to leave the crashed Octoseeker when he gained enough strength to do so. Bruised up from the crash with ink coming out of his mouth. The octoling stumbled until he garnered enough strength and will to shake off his wounds. He was in the canyon, unsure where the direction of Octo Valley was and had no way to communicate with the octarian base. He trekked along the top of the canyon until he spotted something in the near distance. He sees a collection of floating platforms along with an octopus-shaped rock formation. He assumed that he may have reached the border in Octo Valley. He rushed over until he got closer and realized it was the same place his team had gone through before getting inside Octo Canyon.
"Wait, this is where that mysterious shack is, maybe there's someone here and I can get some help," said Melvin. He octo jumped to the platforms and ran under the archway. He spotted the ornate shack but no one was around. He discovered that someone had been there by the look of things and spotted a radio on a table.
"What luck, a radio!" exclaimed Melvin with joy.
We went over and changed the channel to see if he could pick up radio traffic on the octarian network. "Hello, this is specialist Melvin of Recon Team 8, come in," responded Melvin. After a moment he didn't get a callback. "This is specialist Melvin of Recon Team 8, respond over!" he shouted again. Again nothing.
"Damn it!" jeered Melvin as he pounded the table.
He gave a sigh and left the table throwing down the headset. Soon a voice appeared on the radio. "Hello, Hello, who is this specialist Melvin?" said the voice.
Melvin perked and turn back to the radio. "Yes, this is specialist Melvin of Recon Team 8," said Melvin.
"Recon Team 8? Who are you and what are you doing on this channel?" asked the voice sternly.
"I crashed a couple of miles from here and was calling to see if I can get rescued. I need to get a hold of the octarian base in Octo Valley," explained Melvin.
"Octarian base? explain yourself," ordered the voice.
Melvin had raised an eyebrow and felt a little insulted by the voice. "Look I'm an octoling soldier that was assigned to spy on the octo rebels in Octo Canyon. Me and my team were compromised and caught. I managed to escape but I ran into a bit of trouble on my way back to Octo Valley. I'm needing some assistance and a way to get back to my base," explained Melvin with slight irritation.
"You're an octoling! Wait...you said you were sent in octo canyon to spy on the rebels. That's odd, umm...just a moment, let me inform my "superior" about this," said the voice as it got of the radio. Melvin patiently waited for the voice to get back with him. He turned back to the ornate shack and saw a kimono lying on the floor. He walked over and picked it up, studying the clothes. This looks like something a female would wear, I wonder if she's still around. Perverted thoughts were running through the octoling's mind but he shook his head and focused back on the situation. He hadn't noticed he was being watched by a figure from the other side of the small meadow the shack had rested on.
He put down the kimono and went back to the radio, patiently waiting to hear from the voice again. After a moment the radio came back on and the voice appeared again. "Hello, umm...octoling?" asked the voice.
"It's specialist Melvin and yes what is it?" he asked with irritation.
"Yes, I've informed my superior about your dilemma. For now, she's told me to tell you to sit tight and that she'll try to make it back as soon as she can. By the way my name is Sheldon, Sheldon Shellendorf and i'm pleased to make your acquaintance," said the horseshoe crab.
"Umm, likewise I guess... So who are you?" asked the octoling.
"I'm a tinkerer, I construct ink-based weaponry for the inklings for their turf matches in Inkopolis. I've also researched on human technology and culture like my father and my grandfather before me," said Sheldon.
"You build weapons, I was an engineer before I was tasked with the recon team. We constructed Octoweapons and armor during and after Octavio's reign. I remembered we have researchers that study and dig up human artifacts and even fossils," said Melvin.
"Really, I've always wondered about octoweapons and how they worked but you said something about human artifacts and fossils?" said Melvin with fascination.
"Yeah, I've come across old human technology but not so much fossils. I've never been so much fascinated with the extinct race. Though I guess it would be cool to see how they were like," said Melvin.
Sheldon decided to keep Blake's existence to himself. "Yeah, it would cool to learn how humans were like, we have a fossil in our institute here in Inkopolis," said Sheldon hiding his acknowledgment that indeed there was a human still alive.
As the two were chatting on the radio. An octopus had slithered up on top of the octopus rock formation and changed back kneeling down, watching Melvin. It was Obi who was ready to pounce on melvin for the trouble he put him through. Obi took the opportunity to octo jump down and lunge at the unsuspecting octoling. The defected octoling growled as he grabbed Melvin who didn't have time to react. He dropped the headset and was struggling with the enraged octoling.
"Melvin, Melvin! What's going on!?" shouted Sheldon hearing the struggle between the two octolings.
"You're going to pay for being a thorn in my tentacle, you useless octopus!" roared Obi trying to strangle Melvin. He punched Obi in the face and Melvin kicked him off. The octoling got up and looked over at his adversary. Obi rubbed his chin from the kick and spit out ink. He glared back at Melvin who slowly stood up rubbing his neck as he caught his breath. Obi charged back at melvin with the intent to murder his former teammate. The two of them held back one another and it was a test of strength in who would do the other in.
"Give it up turncoat! It's time for the octarians to take back what rightfully belongs to us and for those damn inkstains and pay for banishing us underground! You and those traitors will answer for turning on us and siding with the squids! You're worse than those inklings! How could you possibly side up with those that destroyed our way of life!?" asked Obi in rage.
"You've allowed those rebels and Octavio to cloud your judgment. Octavio didn't give a damn about us! We were nothing but pawns! Expendable! he's the reason why we lost so many octarians! I don't understand why you and those octopi would still do his bidding! How I see it you're the turncoat!" shouted back Melvin.
Obi had gotten angrier and gritted his teeth eager to finish off the octoling for turning on his own kind. He let go of Melvin and jumped up. he kicked Melvin down on to the ground. The blow knocked the wind out of the octoling as he laid on the ground. Obi stared at the octoling and then spotted a large rock nearby. He walked over and picked it up. He carried it over toward Melvin who was slightly dazed and catching his breath.
"You have one chance to redeem yourself octopus. Join us and reclaim your honor. Help us defeat the inklings and those traitors at Octo Valley and I'll spare your life," ordered Obi.
Melvin glared back at him and spit out blood. "I'd rather die, you piece of crap! screw you and those rebels!" jeered Melvin.
Obi's eye twitched and rage consumed his face. He held the large rock over his head with the intent to smash the octoling with it. "Then die you traitor!" shouted Obi as Melvin held is arm over his face bracing for the rock to smash and kill him.
A shot could be heard out and Melvin opened his eyes and turned back to the octoling that was about to kill Kim. His eyes were rolled back with a large splatter of teal colored ink covered his chest. He splattered into ink and rock came down on the puddle where he was standing over Melvin.
"Huh..." replied a stunned Melvin unsure what had happened. He turned around, looking behind him and saw the top of an umbrella where the teal colored ink had came out a barrel in the center. A figure tipped the umbrella back over and revealed it to be another octoling with black and teal tentacles. It was Marina from Off the Hook, who had to save Melvin's life from the defected octoling.
An hour earlier, Marina was in her lab dwelling on the tensions between the inklings and octarians. She had laid her head on her work table staring at the wall. She gave a deep sigh and soon got up. She had decided to leave for Mt. Nantai to clear her thoughts. The octoling grabbed some supplies and placed them in a duffle bag. She stared at a picture of her and Pearl when they started their first gig. She thought about the good times they had and placed the picture in the duffle bag. She slung it over her shoulder and walked out of her lab.
Marina snuck down the hallway and peeked around the corner to see if Pearl was still watching TV. She saw she the little inkling was asleep on the couch after eating a whole jar of mayonnaise. Marina saw the perfect opportunity to leave the mansion and head to Mt. nantai without getting stopped by her partner. "Sorry, Pearl... I don't want anything to happen to you because of me. I hope you can forgive me for leaving," said Marina sadly. She turned back to the door and left out without Pearl noticing as she continued to snore on the couch.
It was a long walk to the square where she saw it was littered with anti-octarian propaganda that had been put up by the Inkopolis Defense Force. The square was empty and the octoling spotted their studio by the street. She looked inside remembering the news broadcasts they gave and what wether or not Mayo or Ketchup was better.
She sighed and turned to the storm grate on the end of the square. She lifted the lid and threw her duffle bag in, before looking back at the square. She had a distressed look on her face as if it pained her to leave her new home and her friend Pearl. She jumped down and went inside the tube holding her sadness in.
Once she got to the other side, Marina threw her duffle bag up and jumped out of the storm drain. Once the octoling looked around she spotted the ornate shack with a table and radio on top of it. "This wasn't here when me and Pearl first met," she said to herself. She stared at the shack and then back to the radio on the table. "Somebody must be staying here but what's this radio doing here?" she asked herself.
She decided to place her duffle bag down and lay her laptop on the table. She kneeled down and opened her laptop to see if she had gotten any more messages from her contact. After a few minutes on her laptop, she heard something from the other side of the octopus-shaped archway. Soon she heard someone talking and running toward her direction. She panicked and placed the laptop back in the duffle bag and decided to grab her splatbrella out of the bag just in case it could be trouble. She octo formed out of sight behind some bushes on the other side of the area she was in. She watched to see who was coming and saw an octoling which completely shocked her.
"An Octoling, but...what is he doing here?" she asked in confusion.
He ran toward the shack and spotted the radio. He grabbed the microphone and began calling out his name and was trying to get a hold of his base. After a while another voice called back on the radio it was revealed to be Sheldon asking what the octoling was doing on his channel. After some explaining and talking another octoling jumped off the rock formation and pounced on the octoling using the radio. A tussle ensued and soon the octolings were locked in battle. The octoling named Melvin was soon laying on the ground. The other octoling grabbed a large rock he spotted and was intending to end Melvin's life.
"Oh no, he's going to kill him! I gotta do something!" shouted Marina to herself.
The octoling was now standing over the other holding the rock up asking him to align with him and the rebels but the octoling on the ground refused. The octoling was angered by this and was about to crush the other octoling when Marina aimed her Splatbrella at the octoling and splatted him before he could kill the other octoling. The octoling Melvin turned and looked at Marina with shock and relief. "You saved me," replied the octoling.
Marina closed her splatbrella and slowly walked over to the octoling. "I couldn't let him kill you, I...hated that I had to splat a fellow octoling," said Marina with grief.
"He was an octo rebel, you did the right thing. What's your name by the way. Mine's Melvin," said the octoling still grateful that Marina saved him.
"My name's...Marina," she said meekly.
"Marina, that's a nice name. I'm truly grateful that you saved my life. He...used to be my teammate until he turned on us and sided with the octo rebels. It's unfortunate he chose that fate," said Melvin before turning to look at the puddle where the octoling was slain.
"I hate what I had to do. He might have turned bad but still," said Marina with sadness.
"It was either me or him. He had a lot to answer for," said Melvin.
"You mentioned something about a recon team you were on. What were you doing?" asked Marina.
"Me and my team were assigned on a mission to spy on the rebels back in the canyon. We got ambushed and broke away. My friend Selena is still missing and so is the sarge. Obi ran into me and Selena only for us to discover he had defected to the rebels and caught us in a trap. I managed to escape but Selena...I don't know had happened to her. I gotta go back there and find her once I get a hold of the octarian base back in the valley," explained Melvin.
"That's horrible. I'm sorry about your friend and I hope you find her soon. The rebels have to be stopped before they attack Inkopolis. Once they do we'll be at war with one another again and I don't wanna see that happen. I don't want anything to happen to my inkling friends especially Pearl, my best friend," said Marina.
"Me neither but what are you doing out here anyway? Is this where you stay?" asked Melvin.
"No, I came here to get away from Inkopolis to clear my thoughts. This is where me and my friend Pearl first met. I just felt it was comforting to come back here. I don't remember that shack being there before though," said Marina.
"Me and my team were here before we went into the canyon. I didn't know what this place was so I came here to see if I could find a way to get help," said Melvin.
"Hello! Hello! Melvin! Come in!" shouted Sheldon on the radio startling both Melvin and Marina.
Melvin rushed over to the radio. "Yeah, I'm here! I got into a bit of a snag but I'm ok!" explained Melvin.
"You had me worried, I didn't know what had happened. I'm glad to hear you're ok," said Sheldon in relief.
"Well, thank marina for saving me," said Melvin.
"Marina?" replied a baffled Sheldon.
"H...Hey Sheldon, yeah it's me," said Marina meekly.
"Marina! What are you doing there!?" asked Sheldon in utter surprise.
"I can explain...I left Inkopolis after hearing that the inklings were about to go to war with the octarians. I didn't wanna get Pearl in trouble if they discovered she was embedding an octoling," said Marina.
"I guess that's understandable, but how would Pearl feel about you leaving unannounced like that. You've been friends for over a year," said Sheldon.
"I know but I don't want anything to happen to pearl because of me. I was just looking out for her is all. I don't want the inklings to go to war with the octarians!" said Marina in distress.
I'll inform Mar...agent 2 on the situation, just sit tight for now," said Sheldon.
"Thanks, Sheldon," said Marina.
The radio cut off and the octolings looked at each other wondering what to do next.