Two Octoling men were in a poorly lit room with another Inkling tied up to a chair with belts. The tied-up Inkling was unconscious; one of the two men happened to be sitting down in an office chair with his back turned to the unconscious Inkling. He was wearing a black suit jacket with black dress pants and an old-fashioned fedora residing on his head. He appeared to be double the age of the other Octoling man. The other man had a pair of fisticuffs attached to his right fist. He was wearing black jeans with a black band t-shirt. He appeared to be twenty-two. The Octoling with fisticuffs had been roughing up the unconscious body by punching the man in the chest while shouting "wake up" in various volumes. Unfortunately, this strategy failed to make the unconscious man wake up.

"He's not waking up boss, what do you want me to do, boss?" The younger of the two men asked.

"Get a bucket and fill it with ice water, and then dump it on his head." The well-dressed man replied without turning his to face the younger man.

The younger man then briefly left the room.

"You would think that Wolfgang would understand what to do in these situations, considering the number of times we do them." the old man muttered under his breath while checking his gold watch.

The younger man is Wolfgang, then returned with a bucket full of ice-cold water after five minutes. The older man was a little displeased with the amount of time it took for Wolfgang to find and fill up the bucket; however, he did not give off any signals to Wolfgang that he was disappointed. Instead, he kept his back turned and relied on sound. Wolfgang then proceeded to walk over to the Inkling in the chair and dump the bucket of water on the unconscious man. The Inkling immediately started to shake and chatter their teeth until finally, their eyes opened while they crossed their arms and curled up into a ball on the chair only to fall off said chair eventually.

"Perfect."The older man ominously whispered as he turned around in the office chair, turned himself about, and faced the newly awoken Inkling. A sinister grin grew on the Older Octoling Man. Wolfgang then walked up to the right side of the older man and put his hands behind his back. Two other people then appeared inside the room, bringing in a blanket and a cup of hot green tea. The one with a blanket wrapped it around the Inkling, and the one with tea placed it on the ground for the Inkling to drink. The Inkling managed to lessen the shivering and grasped onto the handle of the tea mug, and with an unsubtle, they took a sip. The Old Octoling's Sinister grin grew to a sinister smile as he looked at the Inkling that sat down before him. The Old Octoling waited for a few seconds for the Inkling to process what was going on. Then the old Octoling finally spoke out. "We have been awaiting your arrival, Taylor Jarvis,"

Taylor nearly collapsed after hearing his name again before Wolfgang caught the sitting Inkling and brought them back to reality.

Taylor needed a second to process all of this. He last remembered being in some inhabited wasteland before getting caught up with some Octoling with a cybernetic outfit. Now he is stuck in some dimly lit room with an aching stomach and two Octoling men. He was puzzled by all this, but then he remembered. That Cybernetic Octoling wasn't there to save him from the wasteland but rather appeared to arrest him. He then recalled passing out, but now how. He thought for a moment and realized he must be getting tortured for a confession. "I didn't do anything!" Taylor cried out. The older man gave a concerned look in the direction of Taylor before quickly going back to a face of normality. Wolfgang then helped Taylor stand up, although Taylor quickly flopped due to his stomach injuries. He grunted "Ooooh," before nearly collapsing in on himself, resulting in Wolfgang catching by sticking his arm out. Wolfgang then wrapped Taylor's hand around Wolfgang's neck, allowing him to stand up somewhat straight.

"Hmph, It appears that he is still delusional," The older Octoling said in response to the recent comment made by Taylor while beginning to pace after rising from his chair., "Either way, that makes no difference now. My name is Giancarlo Tepista, although my associates call me father. We're like a family here, and I plan on making you our latest edition to it."

Taylor didn't reply to the statement made by Giancarlo. Instead, he stayed silent.

"Not much of a talker; well, that is fine as well," Giancarlo replied in a slightly aggressive monotone while checking his nails to see if they were dirty before continuing to pace around. "In case it wasn't obvious, we operate as an organized crime here in Inkopolis, going under the octo mafia. We've been working for nearly twenty years now, and we've done it all... Murders, Prostitution, Crime, Science, Drugs, Restaurants. Yes, we may be labeled as criminals, but that's alright with us; after all, it is the truth. However, we consider ourselves a family more than a crime syndicate as that is what I; no, what we believe is most important. The sense of relationships one can grow even in the most heinous of outings. Why we are more close than more corporations."

"So why do you want me in particular?" Taylor questioned in a debriefing tone, "From what I can tell, you only know my name and nothing else. So why would you want someone who can't even remember who they are?"

"Our motto is to help those who are stuck in hard times, even if that means making them criminals." Giancarlo gave a sweet smile and an innocent look to Taylor after answering the question that Taylor had, "And I firmly believe some dude lying in a gutter outside our headquarters with their wallet out is one who needs a second chance at life." Then, Giancarlo walked over to his desk and tossed Taylor his wallet, which Wolfgang caught with his left hand due to his right hand supporting Taylor. Wolfgang then handed the wallet to Taylor's right hand, and Taylor promptly put it in his front pants pocket. "I don't assume you have anywhere to go if you decline my offer now, do you?"

"He is right; I do not have anywhere else to go. Hell, I don't even recall being in a gutter in the first place. I can hardly recall who I even am; all I can remember was a run-down city and black water." Taylor said this all in his inner monologue before finally speaking out to Giancarlo in a semi-defeated, semi-optimistic tone, "So it appeared that I don't have anywhere to go. I'll take you up on your offer, even if it is suspect." Taylor broke free from Wolfgang's help, stood on his own, and then stuck out his hand for a handshake.

Giancarlo smiled and reached out for the handshake. The two made eye contact as they shook hands, "Well, isn't that the right attitude to have, young man." Giancarlo said while shaking the hand of the newest member of his "family," "Wolfgang will give you a tour of the place in a few minutes, so it would be appreciated if you could go wait outside the room." Taylor did just that, although the room's dimness didn't exactly help the situation, nor did he know the room's layout. "To your left!" Giancarlo shouted while Wolfgang and himself walked over to the middle area of the room. Taylor then found the exit thanks to the instructions by Giancarlo.

Giancarlo was getting ready to leave the room before Wolfgang approached him.

"Yes, Wolfgang?" Giancarlo asked in a neutral tone with his back turned to Wolfgang

"Uh yeah, Boss, are you sure Taylor was just some bum on the street, or do you know something I don't?" Wolfgang asked with a teaspoon of concern in his voice while scratching the back of his neck.

"Are you okay, Wolfgang? You sure you're feeling okay?" Giancarlo responded by dodging the question while turning around to make eye contact with Wolfgang.

"Boss!? I'm fine but are you okay? You seem like you're hiding something." Wolfgang added on with a nagging tone that had a pinch of panicking in it.

Giancarlo gave Wolfgang a very stern look, resulting in an expression of concern growing on Wolfgang's face. Giancarlo's aggressive look was then wiped away to a smile and then a laugh, "Wolfgang, I'm just pulling your leg. Did you see your...Never mind, either way, this was just some bum that Meringue found on the street, so there is nothing to be worried about. Anyways shouldn't you show our recruit around?"

"You're right , boss, good talk." Wolfgang's concern was gone just like that, and he then proceeded to exit the room.

And through unusual circumstances, Taylor found himself working organized crime through some fluke. First, however, what was with his memories from earlier, why Giancarlo wanted with him, and what was with the society that Taylor witnessed. All of that is to be answered as the story unfolds.

To be continued.

"Wait, what? Why are their inklings here?" A male Inkling asked, laughing, "I thought that this was the Octo Mafia," A female Inkling gave the male Inkling a disgusting look. Then, she sighed and looked at the Inkling. "Look in the mirror, bud, cause it looks to me that your some weak ass inkling that's ready to get their ass kicked." She was ready to drop the gloves before a buff octoling intervened "Woah, It's your first day, and you're already picking fights? And with her, are you asking for your ass to get beat?"