Perry's PoV
Alexis and Perry wandered through the narrow streets of Inkopolis, the area becoming less and less crowded as they neared Inkopolis Plaza. Some birds were picking at the litter that lined the streets, flying away once they heard the two inklings' footsteps. Though the plaza was not far from the square, it felt like an eternity to get there. Sights he hadn't seen since the beginning of the year came into view. The Inkopolis Tower rose above the rest of the buildings, a train sped by on the railway behind the tower, and the statues situated on top of Booyah Base and the studio just barely poke out of the horizon. Perry shivered from the breeze, giving the area an overall ghastly feel to it.
When they made their first steps into Inkopolis Plaza, they were met with total emptiness. Not a single soul was in sight, not even near the tower. Walking towards the center of the plaza, the purple-haired inkling saw the familiar faces of the fox and the tanuki staring down at them with their ceramic beady eyes. The giant screen that once displayed Inkopolis News still flashed with recent advertisements, but there was no one to look at them. Background music still played from the speakers behind them, but there was no one to listen to it. The doors to the tower were still open, but there was no one to enter them. The shops in Booyah Base were closed shut, but either way, there was no one to buy anything.
Alexis started walking over to a manhole near Inkopolis Tower, where a creepy old man used to peek out of every once in a while. Perry anticipated him to pop out of the hole suddenly, but even he was gone.
"You sure you wanna go there?" the pale-skinned inkling called, catching up with the younger one. "A creepy old man lives in there, and I don't want him doing… creepy things to you. Why not play an old game or something?"
"He's not there now, is he?" she teased. She opened it up. "C'mon, it'll only be for a little bit."
He crossed his arms and sighed. "Oh, alright." She jumped into it, and he followed her in, closing the manhole behind them,
When they emerged out on the other side, the inklings were met with fresh air in a vast valley, closed off by mountains with strange rock formations. Immediately to the right was a small, outdated shack decorated with various trinkets. Its most notable feature was the blue board on the front of it, which was covered in maps and photographs related to Octarians. Next to it was a broken snowglobe, as if something had burst out of it. On the opposite side of the stretch of land was a floating tablet etched with white lettering. A squid was imprinted on the very top of it.
Alexis walked over to the shack and glanced up at the corner of it. "Hey…" She put a finger on a picture depicting a familiar figure.
Perry walked over to join her. "Is that… the Squid Sisters?"
"I guess so," she replied and then chuckled. "I guess even creepy old men like their music."
"No, he probably wants to do creepy things to them, too," he argued.
"Can we look inside?" the orange-haired girl then asked.
"…Sure, but be quick."
The two inklings pushed the blue board out of the way and revealed a mass of books and zapfish dolls wearing a cap. Laid on top of the books were two sets of clothes. One was the tattered clothes he had usually seen the old man wear, complete with the cap found on top of the dolls. The other set of clothing, on the other hand, were rather fresh in the eyes of the inklings, only leading Perry to become bewildered. The clothing in question were a short beanie, a lime easy-stripe shirt, and punk blacks, an outfit the purple-haired inkling knew he's seen someone wear before. The unfortunate part is, he can't remember who.
"Hey, look at this!" Alexis picked up a picture in the shack and displayed its front to her friend. It depicted the Squid Sisters, alongside a third inkling girl with long green hair and fair skin, standing around the old man, who had a cake in front of him. All of them were wearing party hats. Scribbled in black marker was a message reading, 'Happy Birthday Gramps!'.
"Wait…" He snatched the photo and studied it closer. "Are ya saying that creepy old man is the Squid Sister's grandpa?!" He huffed. "He's just crazy, then."
"So… where is he, anyways?"
Perry scanned the area before turning back to the girl with a shrug. "I dunno. Maybe he ran off naked somewhere."
"But whose clothes are these?" She picked up the lime easy-stripe shirt and held it to her chest. "Has to be someone our age."
"And that's another mystery." He walked out of the shack and onto the pavement, towards a kettle exposed to the sunlight. "C'mon. Let's go explore this place more."
"Shouldn't we bring a weapon?" Alexis suggested.
"Where would we find a weapon?"
"We could break into the old Ammo Knights. There's aught to be somethin' in there."
"True."
With that agreement, the two friends travelled back to Inkopolis Plaza through the entrance grate. Once they popped out into the ghost town once more, they bolted towards Ammo Knights and smashed the door open. Perry rummaged through the storage of the old shop until he found an older version of the Sloshing Machine. Picking it up, he smiled as the memory of when he first bought his main weapon flooded into his head, all those days ago.
He was 14, and Ammo Knights had just announced the arrival of a brand new main weapon in the Slosher class—the Sloshing Machine. Quickly becoming a fanatic of the bucket weapon the day the original Slosher released, he, like many other inklings, flooded into the weapon shop to buy one. Though, Perry first wanted to try out the Sloshing Machine—he didn't want to make a wasteful investment! So, when he was in the front of the line, he was brought to the Shooting Range to try his luck on the target dummies. Within the first swing, he fell in love. He watched in wonder as the vortex of ink hurled itself toward the dummy, drenching it in his purple ink. Immediately, he bought it, and he used it over and over again, and he still uses it to this very day.
Alexis, on the other hand, struggled to find a weapon. She dug through stacks upon stacks of weapons, but she never made a choice.
"What are you lookin' for?" he asked, itching to go explore the mysterious valley more.
"I can't find any dualies," she complained.
He facepalmed and gave an airy laugh. "Yeah, about that... Dualies didn't really make their big hit until this past summer. This store never stocked them."
"Seriously?!" she cried. "I could have just picked up a Splattershot and just left if I'd known!"
He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. But I didn't know you didn't know that. But, oh well. We got all the time in the world to make up for it."
Grumbling, she picked up an old version of the Splattershot and walked out of Ammo Knights, back towards the manhole that led to the valley. Perry followed her back, and they continued their adventure through the place. When they arrived at the first kettle, they stared into each other's eyes and gave determined nods before diving into it in the form of a squid.
A few moments later, they spawned into a place surrounded by buildings. The platform they were on was narrow, and at the end of it, there was a swirling circle colored lime green. The two inklings changed their ink colors to match the pad before stepping into, which launched them onto a wider platform covered in lime green ink. They swam through it and climbed up a ramp, leading them to a smaller circular pad that lit up when they stepped on it. From there, they continued onward to another launchpad at the end of the raised section of pavement.
When they arrived at the next area, Alexis asked, "Don't you think it's a little quiet?"
Perry nodded. "Too quiet…" They walked up to the walls in the middle of the new platform, the tops of it eroded off. It was decorated with stickers, but that was all. Inside the walls was another launchpad, where they promptly launched off to a sloped area, which had a red mural depicting an eel past the ground. They moved on to the next area. From the starting platform, it dropped off to a lower platform that had a ditch up ahead. The launchpad was on the larger side, though, so they continued without any further inspection. They leaped over the Firefin advertisement and arrived onto the next glowing pad to see towers decorated with identical logos up ahead. They swam through the lime ink present and moved on to the next area.
Walking along the pavement, Perry had to admit that he was disappointed. There was just nothing to see in this shadow of a strange world, as if someone had come by previously and obliterated the civilians to nothingness. They moved from one area to the next, seeing the same emptiness in each. He sighed as they arrived at the final area, where something glowing rested on top of a glass tower. They walked over to the launchpad located on one of the corners and super-jumped up to the top, where they were met with the zapfish doll found in the shack resting on top of a pedestal. A golden barrier surrounded it.
"So, this is the end?" Perry remarked. "This place was kinda lame, to be honest." The two inklings broke the barrier surrounding it, and the older inkling snatched the doll from it. He winked and struck a pose with the doll in hand, causing Alexis to snicker a little bit.
"Alright, alright, that was a good one. Let's get out of here," she said.
Perry put the doll back in place, and the barrier reformed around it. Perry and Alexis proceeded to super-jump out of the base, and soon the breeze met their faces as they climbed out of the kettle. Though the purple-eyed inkling considered going back, Alexis continued to walk down the sidewalk towards another kettle.
"You still wanna check out this place?" he called, puzzled.
"Hey, there has to be something interesting! We can't let our adventures go to waste!" she argued.
"And what do you suggest we do? Go into each one until we find something?"
"No." She walked over to another kettle and put her ear to it. "We can listen." After a few seconds, she stopped kneeling and shook her head. "This one's bad." She ran over to another one and did the same thing. "And this one…" She jumped down to the ground and walked up to a larger kettle that was situated on top of a purple pillow. "Same thing here."
Something in the light caught Perry's eye, and his gaze drifted over to a deactivated inkrail. "An inkrail?" he mused. He jumped down to join Alexis. "Maybe that'll lead somewhere."
She gasped. "You're right!" With the Splattershot in hand, she shot a few bullets of ink at it, letting it light up green and form a long trail to somewhere. They hopped in and swam until they reached the end of the inkrail, which led to an open area resembling a skatepark. On the highest hill was yet another giant kettle. Unlike the first area, Perry could faintly hear the hum of electricity here, when everything was quiet.
"Wait," the short-haired inkling murmured, walking up to the ramp leading up the hill. A few moments later, she was inking the hill and climbing up it. I trust you're not leading me to a death trap. He followed her to the top of the hill, where she was listening to the kettle. A few moments later, horror struck her features, and she concluded, "Something's down there."
"What?! You're serious?" Alexis nodded, and the pale-skinned boy put his ear down to the top of the kettle to listen as well. Though the sound was faint, he heard mechanical whirring from inside. His eyes widened upon the realization that the younger inkling was correct. "Oh my cod, you're right." Almost immediately after, he smirked and asked, "Wanna go check it out?"
"Couldn't we die down there?"
"Hey, you wanted to go here in the first place."
"Fair." Her eyes drifted over to the kettle. "If anything, we can stop it."
"Then, are you ready?"
"I am."
"Then, let's go."
The two inklings slipped into the giant kettle and founds themselves in a dimly lit area. Their ink changed into a golden color as they spawned in on a wooden dock. The sky was dotted with artificial lights, and giant truss beams towered above them. Small lights illuminated a sandy arena, and in the middle of it was a bronze cylinder covered in kelp. It was surrounded by a magenta moat, and Perry swore he saw something plop into it. Gripping their weapons, they super-jumped down to the battlefield to get a closer look. Wooden planks were everywhere, and several ramps with tribal designs edged the lighter earth. The moat seemed to be filled in a metal basin, and the cylinder was decorated with stickers. They took a few steps closer, anticipating something to happen.
"Is someone there?" Perry suddenly broke the tense silence. He stared at the object in the middle. It had to be on, but it looked like something had to activate it.
Suddenly, something leaped out of the moat and dove towards them. Startled, Alexis and Perry jumped and stepped back. The shape began to become more humanoid, and soon, it was in the shape of a boy, kneeling to the ground with one hand brushing the sandy. In his other hand was a silver remote with a red button in the middle of it. He stood up and cracked his neck, opening green eyes and giving a toothy smirk. He had magenta hair styled into a mohawk, with the longest tentacle curling just above his nose. He wore the Octoling Armor and Octoling Boots, though black fingerless gloves covered fair-skinned hands as well. Most notably, he had a notch on the top of his left ear.
With a snicker, he held the remote out in front of him and said, "I have wondered when an inkling would come here." He pressed the button. "Now it has come."
Electricity suddenly crackled off of the bronze object behind him, and the bronze object began spinning until dark lifeless eyes faced them. A faucet was in between them, and below it were mechanical legs fitted with blue tennis shoes. The eyes suddenly beamed to life, glowing yellow with horizontal pupils. It lifted up to reveal a kelp-covered body underneath. Suction cups filled the holes in it, and then it gave a mechanical roar.
"The dreaded Octonozzle!" the stranger announced.
"The Octonozzle?" Perry mused. "…Hey, I think we learned about it in school—"
"Shut up!" He pulled out a splat bomb and threw it at them, causing the two to scatter in a panic. "Splat the inklings!" he then commanded the old weapon before super-jumping up to the top of it. He grabbed some of the seaweed on its side and pulled it up, allowing him to steady himself on top of the machine. Within a few seconds, Octonozzle spewed out a giant ball of magenta ink, sending it rolling towards them. Though they quickly got out of the way, the robot proceeded to create an even larger ball, kicking it to split it into a line of five smaller balls.
Perry tried hurling ink at the globs, but they seemed to cut right through his golden ink. He gasped in disbelief, standing dumbfounded at the balls as they barreled towards him. They knocked him down, and he groaned as pain settled in from the ink running him over. The short-haired inkling quickly ran over to him and dragged him behind one of the ramps.
"Get up!" Alexis cried, patting his shoulders. "We're both leaving here alive tonight!"
He slowly rose to his feet and peeked over the ramp to see what the Octonozzle would do next. It proceeded to kick more ink in their direction, covering the barrier with the sticky ink. He met eyes with the stranger and quickly shot down back behind the ramp.
"Come out! Give me a show!" he demanded.
"What's with this guy?" the purple-eyed boy whispered to the younger inkling. "He wants to splat us, and for no reason, too."
"I guess he lives here, so we're technically trespassing…" Alexis noted before shaking her head. "But enough of that. We need to figure out a way to take out this guy."
"Octonozzle or the guy?"
"Octonozzle. We have to attack its weak points in order to defeat it."
"Do you see any?"
"Those suction cups… They have to be there for a reason."
"So, we take them all out, and maybe something will happen."
"Yeah, that's the plan."
"K, let's go!" he leaped out from behind the ramp and started hurling ink at the front suction cup. Octonozzle proceeded to spit out another line of ink balls, but this time, Perry was prepared. He stepped out of the way and continued the assault. The machine had a tendency to spin around, making it hard to take out one particular spot in one go. Eventually, the two dealt enough damage to one to make it pop, though it did not faze Octonozzle.
Grinning, the stranger cackled, "Now the fun will begin!"
Once all the suction cups were popped, the small pipes collapsed and the head began spinning around as it was stunned. A magenta tentacle then popped out of the top of it, stretching as it emerged. The green-eyed boy was knocked off of Octonozzle, crashing into the moat below with a large splash. Perry pulled out a splat bomb and threw it onto the top of it, while Alexis inked its side and climbed up it to finish the tentacle off. When it burst, a stream of magenta ink gushed out of its head, and the two inklings super-jumped away from it.
"Is it beat? Did we win?" Perry asked.
His question was soon answered as a new tentacle popped out of the top, with no signs of damage on it whatsoever. It submerged inside Octonozzle again, causing its eyes to light up once more. It spun up to reveal its sides once more, complete with suction cups filling the holes once more. Its pupils narrowed and it roared, clearing the ink from the arena.
"And… now we run again."
The machine's first attack was to spew a ginormous magenta ball and kick it into an arch of smaller globs, covering a larger area. A few of them ran into Alexis, knocking her down. She looked over her shoulder and rolled out of the way before another ink ball could slam into her. When it passed, Perry dashed over to the bronze-skinned inkling and grabbed her arm, bringing her behind the ramp. She glared at him once he sat down, not amused.
"I can handle myself," she snapped.
"We still gotta be careful." Perry smiled. "Like you said, we're both leaving this place alive. No squid left behind!"
She was silent for a few moments before standing up and saying, "You're right. No squid left behind!" She ran past the ramp again and started shooting at the suction cups, eventually bursting a few of them. Octonozzle continued attacking more frequently, so they were constantly on their toes. Oddly enough, there was no sign of the stranger whatsoever. That wasn't important, though, as they currently had a much bigger problem on their hands.
Once all the suction cups were taken out, the machine malfunctioned and spun around dazed once more. Before they could climb up and take out the tentacle, the stranger suddenly burst out of the moat once more and started rapidly throwing splat bombs at them.
"How can he throw that many bombs?!" the bronze-skinned inkling cried out, bewildered. "You'd have to have a really big ink tank for that, and he's not even wearing one!"
"You do not know what the Bomb Rush is?" the boy perplexed as he continued throwing bombs. "Is it not a special the inklings use?"
"It got banned a while back, bud," Perry explained bluntly. "Usin' any of the old special weapons while battling would get you banned, too. But luckily…" The pale-skinned inkling activated his special and starting chucking splat bombs at him. "…No one's watchin' but us."
He growled and leaped towards the inkling, knocking him down to the ground. "Alexis! Go blow up the tentacle!" he called as the stranger gripped his hoodie and pulled it towards him. Perry was forced to look at his ferocious green eyes and feel his hot breath on his face.
"I have been waiting for a long to cross paths with an inkling," he hissed. "For years I have listened to lectures upon lectures on how dangerous they are; how they beat the Octarians in the Great Turf War that they won, and we lost. And now that my soul has been freed, I can finally get my chance. I have seen how dangerous the inklings are, and now I can experience it for myself." He gripped Perry's shirt tighter. "You have not given the Octonozzle that I have improved a real fight. Do you think I can let you defeat it so easily, when the fun has to start?"
"Where did you get the notion that inklings are dangerous? We just want to have fun!" Perry argued. "Sendin' a giant weapon that was used a hundred years ago after us isn't fun! We just wanted to check out what was down here, and now we're in a life-or-death situation!"
"That is where you are wrong!" he roared. In the background, the boy heard the geyser of ink squirt out the top of Octonozzle once more, followed by Alexis's cheers as she super-jumped away. "Two years have passed since the dreaded Agent 3 decimated the Octarian army. Two years have passed since the dreaded Agent 3 defeated DJ Octavio, leader of the Octarians." He gave an unsettling grin. "Two years have passed since the Calamari Inkantation set us free! We are free to do what we wish, without DJ Octavio commanding us what to do!"
"'Agent 3'? What are you even talkin' about? And what does Calamari Inkantation have to do with all of this?"
The octoling choked up on his words, his expression changing to one of disbelief. Perry heard the Octonozzle shoot some more ink balls in the background, and he knew he had to act fast. While the boy's guard was down, the inkling with the spiky bangs raised a leg up and kicked his crotch, pushing him off of him. The stranger let out a cry of pain as he curled up into a ball. As the machine regenerated its suction cups once more and let out a mechanical roar to clear the ink on the field, Perry rushed past the whimpering figure and started attacking the suction cups once more.
Alexis looked between the two boys before asking the inkling, "What did you do?"
"Oh, don't worry, he'll be fine." The purple-eyed boy stuck out his tongue and winked. "That trick doesn't see species."
She sighed. "Let's just finish this guy."
Looking over at Octonozzle, it proceeded to send five more ink balls at them. They jumped over them and started attacking once more. This phase was a little trickier, as the attacks were almost continuous with the machine's snappy head. Every now and then, Perry looked over at the stranger, who still lied on the ground helpless. He certainly didn't want to splat him, but he couldn't just ignore him, either. When the final suction cup fell, and the Octonozzle broke down again, revealing the tentacle once more.
With one last determined nod, the two inklings climbed up to the top and destroyed the tentacle once and for all. They super-jumped away once magenta ink started gushing out again, and they watched as sparks flew off it as it tried regenerating the tentacle once more. Its golden eyes rolled around as it stretched up towards the sky and started to swell. Its eyes bulged as yellow rays emitted from its metallic joints, and then it exploded in a mass of golden ink. Orange orbs spilled across the ink-covered battlefield, while the stranger was nowhere to be seen.
"Booyah!" Alexis cheered. "We did it! We stopped the Octonozzle!"
"Booyah! Now let's get out of here."
Turning into squids, the two shot out of the dark world and reemerged to face a brilliant sunset. Smiling, they returned to the ink rail they arrived from and swam into it, soon arriving at the area containing the exit to this valley. They walked up the sidewalk and back towards the manhole that led them here in the first place. They travelled back to Inkopolis Plaza through it, and back they were in the ghost town. They returned the weapons to the old Ammo Knights and repaired the hole they made.
"Can we take a train back?" the bronze-skinned inkling asked. "I'm tired of walking."
"Yeah." He smiled. "We deserve it."
They walked to the Plaza Station, where a bored crustacean was surprised to see people in front of him. Perry paid for their tickets and boarded the train, where they took a seat and relaxed. The pale-skinned boy, who had changed his ink color back to purple, pulled out his phone for the first time in a few hours to be met with several messages asking where they've been. He replied that they were on their way back now, adding he had a lot of stories to tell them when they get back. Roy initially expressed disbelief upon hearing this, but Perry assured him he'll like it.
When the train arrived at Inkopolis Square, the two inklings burst out of their seats and started running back towards the Deca Tower. Finally! I'm back! He missed seeing the sights that had become a new home for him, from the Galleria to Inkopolis Studio to the Crust Bucket. Of course, inklings spotted the square, happily chatting away about the freshest trends or simply banter.
Back near the Crust Bucket were the Rainbow Squids. "Guys! We're back!" he shouted, waving his arms around as he ran up to them.
"Perry!" they cheered. He fist-bumped with them and took his seat.
"Alexis!" Octavia greeted, pulling her sister into a hug. "I was so worried!"
"Via, y'know I can handle myself," she whined.
"For once, I gotta agree," the purple-haired boy remarked. "With what we got into, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her quick thinking."
"Why? What happened?" Bonnie asked. Perry and Alexis recounted their adventure, causing some surprised reactions from the rest of the group.
"You fought one of the Great Octoweapons and didn't get splatted?!" Inigo exclaimed. "That's amazing!"
"And there was an octoling there, too?" the girl with the double bun marveled.
"Now I wish I went with you…" Roy grumbled.
"Me too—Wait, what's that?!" the wavy-haired inkling started, pointing to Perry's waist once her tone became frantic.
"What's what?" Perry asked. He looked down at himself and saw the faintest traces of green slithering around him. He shrieked and transformed between a squid and kid rapidly, trying to get it off of him.
"Hold still!" Yuri demanded, getting up from his chair and grabbing something on his back. He pulled it off, and the pale-skinned boy turned around to see what his friend had retrieved. In his hands was the mantle of an octopus, tentacles dangling in the air. It then transformed back into the octoling from the valley, who displayed a poker face.
"You!" Alexis yelled, pointing to him. She put a finger on his nose, smushing it, and demanded, "Why are you here?"
"I followed you," he replied. "I am not letting you get away with the ruins of my show."
"Woah, can't we be friends?" Yuri asked him. "For starters… what's your name?"
"Giovanni Briareus," the octoling replied.
The dark-skinned inkling gave an awkward smile. "It's a start."
"I am not here to be your friend," Giovanni snapped.
At that moment, the intro for Off the Hook played, causing everyone to turned to the TV. "Y'all know what time it is!" Pearl announced.
"It's Off the Hook, coming at you live from Inkopolis Square!" Marina finished.
"Marina Ida…?" the green-haired boy muttered.
"Yeah, that's Marina Ida, part of Off the Hook, Gio—mind if I call ya that?" Perry explained.
"Hmm…" He turned into an octopus to escape Yuri's grasp and transformed back as he started to walk to the studio. "I will be back."
As Off the Hook gave news on the current stages, Octavia said, "Geez, what's his problem?"
"I guess octolings are grumpy," the pale-skinned inkling joked.
All of the Rainbow Squids laughed along, and once the news was over, everyone was back in their seats, chatting about the newest trends. And though today was certainly a most interesting day, there was one thing everyone could agree on. This would not be the last they see of Giovanni Briareus.
A/N: Here it is! I really hope you guys like this chapter, because I've been waiting to write this one for months! Now, I have an announcement. The Rainbow Squids will be going on hiatus! Yep, that's right. From now until the beginning of next year, there will be no new chapters posted. This is mainly because I really need to take a break from writing these chapters weekly x.x. On the other hand, it allows me to focus on my other stories that I would like to finish soon. Likewise, this chapter marks the end of "Season 1" of The Rainbow Squids, and the next chapter will be the start of "Season 2". There will be a hiatus after each season, so that's something to keep in mind. Thank you for supporting this story, and the Rainbow Squids and I will see you in 2020! Branchwing, out!