Mr. Grizz's dialogue is taken directly from the game.
Bonnie's PoV
"Inigo..." muttered the blue-haired inkling. She looked up at her friend. "Are you sure about this?"
"Bonnie, I trust you," he assured, moving Roy's tan hand to Bonnie's beige-skinned one. Now, both of her hands were occupied—Via's bronze hand was in the other. "You can do this."
"Inigo, what are you doing?" asked the red-haired boy. Both Roy and Octavia had been brought outside of Grizzco's. With blindfolds covering their eyes and ear muffs covering their ears, it was assured that neither of them would catch wind of the others' plan.
"You'll find out soon," the boy with the ponytail shouted loud enough for his friend to hear. Quieter, he put his hands on Bonnie's shoulders and told her, "Good luck." He lifted them off of them and started walking away. "I'll be back."
"Mm." The girl with the double bun nodded solemnly, turned around, and looked up at the logo of the shady business. She sighed and walked inside, leading Roy and Via along.
"Right on time, kid," Mr. Grizz greeted, ignoring Roy's presence. "I've got work for ya."
"Can I take this blindfold off, now?" Octavia asked. No one answered her. Bonnie feared that if she raised her voice, Roy would hear her and leave. "Hello?"
"Uh..." She glanced down at the bear statue, which only emitted a hum. "Bring us to the boat!"
An elevator opened up, and the three immediately crammed inside it.
"Bonnie!" the wavy-haired inkling whined. "What are you doing?"
"Who was that?" the inkling with hair swept to the side demanded.
"Umm, umm..." Carp, carp, caaarp! Bonnie pressed a button to force the elevator door shut, and then it began to descend. In the darkness, they stood, the beige-skinned inkling gripping her friends' hands tightly. After it stopped, a hiss sounded, and the floor opened up beneath their feet to reveal a grate. She turned into a squid, tentacles slipping out of the other hands, and went through the grate, hoping the others would catch on and follow. She popped out of the pipe and flew towards the boat, landing on the deck. Roy and Octavia landed on it shortly thereafter, still with their ear muffs and blindfolds on. Bonnie took them off of them.
The red-haired inkling gasped upon meeting her blue eyes. "Bonnie?!"
The bronze-skinned girl looked around, and when she saw Roy, she growled. "You!"
"I-" He looked around frantically, and after a few moments, his brow furrowed, and he looked not at Via, but Bonnie. His red eyes seemed to give off a furious glow. She gasped and stepped back. "You brought me on a Salmon Run?!" he roared.
"Roy, please-" the blue-haired inkling started.
"He tricked me!" he interrupted. "You tricked me!"
"Roy!"
"Oh, you definitely deserve a butt-kicking now." He started advancing towards her, pounding a fist into a hand.
"Roy, don't you dare hurt her," Via commanded, jumping in front of her friend.
"Why should I listen to you?!" he challenged.
"Because no one hurts my friends," she snarled.
"Guys?!" Bonnie cried out in fear. She backed up against the wall, her heart pounding in her chest.
It was then a lime-green squid landed behind them, who muttered, "Umm..."
Roy turned around. He gasped and stepped out the way for the others to see. The girls gasped as well. Standing in front of them was none other than Marie of the Squid Sisters.
"...Is this a bad time?" she asked.
"No, no!" Roy spluttered. "N-Nothing's wrong here!"
"But-"
"Absolutely nothing at all!"
"O...K..." The idol sighed. "I'll get ready." She started walking to the door that would lead below deck.
"Wait!" Roy caught up with her. She looked over at him, confused. "Can you show me where I change?"
"You haven't been here before?" The red-haired inkling shook his head. "Alright."
After the two inklings disappeared below deck, Octavia immediately ran over to Bonnie and looked down at her. "Are you OK?!" she asked.
"I'm fine, Via," she assured her. "Roy just scared me, that's all..."
"Why'd you even bring him out here?" she scolded. "And why did you blindfold me in the first place? I'm fine with Salmon Runs!"
"I didn't want you to know he was coming," Bonnie murmured.
"Huh?" the wavy-haired inkling muttered. Bon-Bon repeated what she said, which prompted Octavia to groan, "Nothing good will come out of this." She crossed her arms. "We're all gonna get splatted, and we'll lose our ranking, and Marie's gonna think we suck."
"Maybe, but we're here now," she admitted. The blue-haired inkling started walking below deck. "I'm going to get changed. You better change, too."
"Ugh..."
Bonnie continued onwards to the changing room. She grabbed a spare Grizzco uniform and put it on. Thankfully, she was wearing contacts today, so there was no need to put her glasses away and spend the shift with bad eyesight. Once she was in uniform, she started trekking through the halls, looking for the exit to the deck.
As she was walking, she heard a grumble. Bonnie paused and looked around. Stomping out of the hallway in front of her was Roy, dressed in the Grizzco uniform, too. His red eyes drifted over to her blue ones, and he stopped, turning to look at Bon-Bon.
"What?" she asked.
"Though you still need a butt-kicking, I..." He faltered, and then started rubbing the back of his head. "I need you to show me how to get out of here."
She recalled the earlier events, of which it seemed he genuinely wanted to hurt her. "Wasn't Marie showing you the way?"
"She showed me to the changing room," he pointed out, "but she wasn't done changing by the time I finished."
"You didn't wait for her?"
"I can find my own way out!" he protested.
"But you're asking me for help."
"I-" He shook his head. "Never mind! Just... lead the way."
"Alright..."
Like she had said, Bonnie led Roy to the deck. Immediately, the scent of salt hit her nose, and, if anything else, it seemed like the sky had gotten only a little bit darker. The red-haired boy proceeded to lean back on the wall, crossing his arms. The blue-haired girl simply stared at him.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing," she lied. "Nothing."
The inkling with beige skin walked up to the railing of the boat and leaned against it, her arms hanging over it. While she waited to arrive at the next Salmon Run destination, she could think. The first thing she fought of, however, was her doubts over Inigo's plan. Despite the boy with the ponytail's reassurance, she worried she would fail to bring Roy and Octavia back together again. And if it failed... who knows what would happen to the Rainbow Squids then? Losing her friends was one of her biggest fears, no matter what happened.
We'll just have to wait and see, then, she finished silently. She wished she had some of Yuri's optimism in this trying time.
She heard more footsteps walk onto the deck, but not a single word was uttered. She looked over her shoulder to see what was happening. Roy and Via stood several feet away from each other, glaring at each other. Marie seemed to be the newest arrival, as she looked between the two inklings before stepping away.
"You squids aren't much for words, are you?" she commented, keeping a straight face. Bonnie was about to go approach her and apologize for the others' behavior, but anxiety got the best of her, and her feet stayed glued right where they were. Nonetheless, the idol ended up striding next to the girl with the double bun, occupying the space next to her. She simply let out a sigh.
"Umm..." So many things could go wrong, she worried. "Hi."
Marie looked over at her with starry eyes and smiled. "Hey."
"I... Um... How are you?"
"Pretty fresh. Are you?"
"Yeah, I'm fresh," she replied. "The shopkeepers at the Galleria never had a problem with me."
"And your friends?"
Bonnie looked back over at Roy and Octavia. "They're... I don't know."
"What do you mean?"
"They've been acting this way since last week," she started to explain. "All because they broke some sunglasses." She frowned. "I just want things to go back to the way things were before."
"Is that why the red-head looked super mad before?" Bonnie nodded. "Huh. ...What's his name again? It's like Rick or something, right?"
"Roy. His name's Roy."
"Roy! That's his name." Marie gave a toothy smile. "Thanks for reminding me."
"You're welcome." Once again, silence settled on the ship. The day turned into sunset, and there was a group of structures in the distance. The time to begin the shift was nearing. "So..." Bonnie broke the silence again. "Have an update on Callie?"
Immediately, Marie frowned. "Callie..."
The blue-haired inkling realized her mistake. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry for bringing it up! Please forgive me!" she pled.
"Don't worry, it's fine," she assured. "It's just..." She let out a heavy sigh. "We think we know where Callie is."
"You do?" She smiled. "Does that mean she'll come back soon?"
"I hope," said the idol. "We have the best looking for her, don't worry." Despite her words, her gaze seemed distant. Bonnie didn't want to press any further, though.
She didn't have time to, anyways—Lost Outpost became a more discernible figure now, meaning they had to change their ink colors any time, now. Bonnie's hair changed color to a hot pink, and she noticed Marie do the same to the tips of her grey hair. She looked over at Roy and Via again. The bronze-skinned girl noticed the new hair color her friend donned and changed her ink color to pink as well. Roy's red eyes darted around the area, and with a sigh, his hair turned pink, too.
"I think pink suits you, Ryan," the idol joked.
"I-" The tan-skinned boy began stammering until he could form the sentence, "My name's not Ryan!"
"Whatever, let's go," commanded Bonnie.
Turning into squids, the group super-jumped over to the outpost, landing inside the central building. They resided in the ink for a little bit, until they all popped out with a weapon. When the blue-eyed girl saw what was in her hands, she squealed in excitement. A Classic Squiffer!
Via, who had a Dynamo Roller, looked over at her. "Well, aren't you lucky," she deadpanned.
Bonnie expected an egg basket to pop up in the building, but one did not. "A school of salmonids is gathering down at the shoreline," Mr. Grizz informed over a radio. "Group up and bring 'em down."
"What's the deal with guy?" Roy scoffed, gripping a Splattershot Jr. "How is he so sure there's no salmonids up here?"
Marie peered out the window, down at the shore. "Hey, Ralph, you might want to take a look down here."
The boy with hair swept to the side seemed to ignore being called by the wrong name and ran up to the idol. "Where?"
While Marie pointed out the salmonids to Roy, Octavia tugged on Bon-Bon's hand. "C'mon," she whispered. "Let's go."
"But R-" the other girl started.
"Roy can deal with his own problems; we gotta stop the salmonids before they get up here," she interjected before Bonnie could finish.
"Alright..."
The two girls jumped down the opening that led to the shore and ran to the egg basket. Past the basket, however, salmonids were already infesting the place. A Steelhead lumbered ashore, and once its bulging eyes spotted the girls, it started preparing a bomb. Bonnie charged up her Classic Squiffer while running towards it and fired just before it could launch one of its ginormous bombs. From its remains floated down three golden eggs. The wavy-haired inkling ran past her and snagged one of them before running back to the baskets. More lesser salmonids trailed behind her, but Bon-Bon simply took them down by charging up and firing her Squiffer.
"Wave! Double-Bun!" called Marie. The beige-skinned girl ran off the grating and looked towards the source of the voice. The grey-haired inkling was running down the hill, Roy closely behind her. A Scrapper drove up to them. Marie rammed the canopy of the Undercover Brella into its shield, causing it to stop. The tan-skinned inkling stared at her, dumbstruck. Before he could react to the idol's instructions, a wave of pink ink crashed down on the Scrapper's backside, causing it to explode and leave behind some golden eggs.
Near the egg basket was Via, smirking at her little achievement. "You don't know anything, Blacktip," she jeered. "I can out-perform you in more ways than one."
"You-" Roy ran down the hill and shoved the wavy-haired girl aside as he started firing the Splattershot Jr. All he did was target some lesser salmonids. He stood in the same place, until suddenly, glowing green rings surrounded his feet.
"Look out!" Bonnie tackled her friend, pushing him out of the way of the Maws's lunge. They skid across the pink ink, stopping inches away from the water.
Roy got to his feet, ink sliding off the rubber overalls he wore. "Whatcha do that for?" he snapped.
"You were gonna get splatted by the Maws," Bonnie replied, "so I saved you."
"The what?" he demanded, perplexed.
"Maws... It jumps up out of the ground and tries to eat you," she explained.
"And how did you know one was gonna eat me?" Another set of green rings appeared around his feet.
"That!" The beige-skinned inkling grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the circle. He whipped around and watched as the boss salmonid leaped out of the green puddle of ink it left behind, snapping its jaws before heading back under.
"Oh." Unfortunately, they were getting cornered. More salmonids ran towards them, threatening to push them into the water. "I can handle this." He started firing his shooter again.
"Umm... Roy." The next time the Maws tried to strike, Bon-Bon pulled Roy out of the circle again and threw a bomb in its place. When it ate the bomb, the Maws exploded, leaving golden eggs behind.
He picked one up, making a disgusted face at it as he stored it on the life preserver. "What," he answered.
"What special do you have?" she asked.
"Ink Jet, why?"
"Use it!"
"Can't you use yours?"
"Mine's Bomb Launcher! It barely does anything to a school as big as this one!"
"Ugh, fine." He took a silver package from his hat and tore it upon, and immediately he was equipped with a jet pack and a large gun. Pink ink propelled him upward, and he began firing shots down at the salmonids. With each shot, at least one lesser salmonid splatted, typically a Chum or a Smallfry. By the time his Ink Jet began to beep, a path was cleared for Bonnie to slip through. She swam past the remaining enemies, popped a golden egg into the basket, and came back to Roy, emerging from the ink with a charge she had stored. Her shot pierced through the Cohock that was about to slam its frying pan into the tan-skinned inkling.
"Booyah!" she cheered.
Before Roy could make his way back to the egg basket, another Scrapper popped out of the ocean and ran him over, splatting him. The boss salmonid drove towards the egg basket, where Bonnie stopped it. She rapidly fired weak shots at its shield until it broke down, stopping the Scrapper in its tracks. She swept around it and fired a few charged shots at its back, splatting it. She deposited those eggs into the basket and turned her attention to Roy.
A little squid ghost bobbed around in an empty life preserver, crawling its way towards the inkling with the double bun. "Ouch..." moaned Roy. The girl tapped the trigger of the Classic Squiffer, giving the life preserver a shot of ink and reviving Roy. Once he reformed, he threw the golden egg he held into the egg basket, as if he were shooting hoops.
The round was over yet, though. A Stinger had emerged from the water, and now it was firing a pressurized beam of green ink towards the other side of the shoreline.
The boy with hair swept to the side shuddered. "Why do they gotta use cooking utensils?" he whined.
"Is that a problem?" she questioned.
"It makes me hungry."
Bonnie couldn't help but snicker. "Oh, Roy..."
They took down the Stinger, and when they returned to the egg basket next, they encountered Octavia and Marie.
"We've been responsible for most of the eggs," Via bragged.
"You don't have proof," the red-eyed inkling hissed.
"I mean, Ray's not wrong," Marie noted.
"My name is Roy," he corrected, scowling.
"Roy's not wrong," the idol repeated.
"I'm quite confident I'm right," the bronze-skinned girl argued.
It was then green markers appeared around Octavia's feet, and she gasped.
"There's a Flyfish somewhere," Bonnie informed.
"That's... kind of obvious," said Marie. "But yeah, we gotta find it."
"Why're you askin' me?" Roy shrugged. "You squids forced me to go to a place I know nothin' about."
Octavia's orange eyes narrowed into a glare. "We weren't." She started swimming away from them, towards the side Roy and Bonnie were just on. The latter followed her, not wishing to leave her alone. When she caught up with the wavy-haired inkling, she saw a smile form on her face. "I knew you'd come back." She patted the beige-skinned inkling on the top of her head. "You see that?"
In the distance was a Flyfish, its launchers open. "Yeah," replied Bonnie.
"We gotta take it down!" She started running across the grates again. "Let's go!"
Both of the girls pulled out bombs. However, when they arrived, so did Marie and Roy.
"Take out a bomb, Rex!" instructed the idol.
"For the last time, my name. Is. Roy." He complied anyways, pulling out a splat bomb.
"Now, wait for it, wait for it...!" The Flyfish's launchers opened and proceeded to fire some missiles. "Now!"
The four of them chucked their bombs at the launchers. All of them landed, and the Flyfish went down with a particularly explosive splat. Three golden eggs appeared, and the girls went and grabbed them, leaving Roy without an egg. He pouted, but followed them back to the egg basket. They continued defeating salmonids and grabbing golden eggs, stuffing the basket with them. Surprisingly, there were little-to-no casualties from the inklings' side.
Finally, the salmonids started to retreat, with Mr. Grizz saying, "Come to papa, little eggs... Now bring me more!"
Immediately, they all super-jumped back into the building, hiding in the pink ink. When they next reemerged, Bonnie held a Splattershot Jr. By Mr. Grizz's words, they were once again down at the shoreline. The second wave went by similarly to the first wave, though there were a few more splats. Roy struggled using the Classic Squiffer, and despite Bonnie's advice, he did poorly. They managed to meet the quota in the nick of time, and when the wave ended, everyone let out a booyah.
"Hey, you're enjoying this," Marie noted, throwing the Dynamo Roller over her shoulders.
"I-" Roy rubbed his mouth and then stated, "I'm not!" He started running back to the building. "You never heard me say 'Booyah'!"
They super-jumped back inside, and when Bonnie emerged, holding an Undercover Brella, the sky started to get darker than ever before, turning day into night. This time, the egg basket popped up inside the building instead of outside like the last two waves.
"Oh..." Octavia groaned, putting the Classic Squiffer she now held to the ground. "With deadweight like Roy, we're gonna be splatted."
"Deadweight?!" the red-eyed inkling cried out.
"Deadweight or not, we need to focus," Bon-Bon reminded them.
It was then Mr. Grizz informed them, "Here comes a Griller..."
"Wh-"
"Shh!" Bonnie shushed Roy, allowing the bear statue to speak further.
"Aim for its exposed tail," continued the voice. "That'll let your coworkers know where to shoot, too."
"Exposed...?" Roy trailed off when a big boss salmonid appeared, accompanied by rattling and some smallfries. A red beam was pointed at his chest. "HOLY CARP!" he exclaimed. He backed up against the wall and swung a powerful swing of the Dynamo Roller, but the pink ink simply bounced off of the Griller's armor.
"Aim for the smallfries!" Marie advised. "We'll take care of the Griller!"
The salmon pink tail of the Griller hung out of its back, vulnerable to enemy ink. Bonnie and Marie began charging towards it, shooting their weapons at the tail. Past the boss salmonid, Roy had the Dynamo Roller on the ground, splatting any smallfry that came in contact with it. With the combined power of the Undercover Brella and the Splattershot Jr., the Griller was able to bust open, and multiple tails began spinning around the pan.
"Help us!" the beige-skinned girl requested. "Hit the tails!"
The tan-skinned inkling raised the roller and slammed it down, sending another wave of pink ink at the Griller. On contact, it exploded, leaving five golden eggs for the picking. In the aftermath of the explosion, Via swooped in and took the golden eggs for herself.
"Hey, Via?" Bonnie asked. "Why didn't you help?"
"Look, he's so confident that he can do it by himself," she explained. "I mean, look at him!"
Roy had approached the next Griller, even though it was not targeting him, but rather, Octavia. He was waving his arms around, trying to get its attention.
"Hey, Griller!" he called. "Your mother was a blobfish!" The boss salmonid simply ran him over, flooding him with green ink and splatting him, but it was hard to tell if it was in response to the insult or not.
"See," the wavy-haired girl concluded.
"Now might not be the time for arguing," Marie interjected. "Look!"
Octavia looked down at her chest, then back up at the Griller. She let out a cry and ran up to the back exit, where Roy once was. She then proceeded to jump back down and swim towards the other side of the outpost. The Griller had to stop in order to turn around, which allowed Bonnie and Marie to get behind it. The grey-haired inkling tossed a bomb towards Roy, reviving him. She gestured for him to come over, so he did. He leaped up into the air, preparing a powerful vertical swing. After a couple seconds, pink ink slammed down on the Griller's tail, busting it open again. The group finished it off, allowing more golden eggs to float down to the floor.
The wavy-haired girl emerged from the ink and looked over at Roy. "Why did you help me...?"
"Marie told me to," he replied. "But that doesn't mean I'll help you every time."
"Looks like you got two Grillers out there," Mr. Grizz suddenly said. "Take them out before they barbecue your entire work crew."
Bonnie looked down to see a red laser pointing at her chest. So did Marie.
"Rob, Wave," the idol started, "looks like you two have to work together, or else we're all gonna be fried calamari."
"Oh, no..." Via groaned.
"We trust you!" the beige-skinned inkling assured as she and the pale-skinned inkling climbed up to the same spot Roy and Octavia had occupied before to avoid the Griller. Except this time, the threat of being splatted was doubled.
"I'm splatting them!" the wavy-haired girl declared.
"No, I am!" the boy with hair swept to the side argued. He shoved Via out of the way and started preparing a vertical swing to hit one of the Grillers' tails with.
"Stop!" She knocked Roy down, causing the swing to be not as powerful as intended. Both Grillers still stood.
Bonnie opened up the canopy of the Undercover Brella and began shooting at the smallfries targeting them. Marie helped in her own way by throwing a bomb at the ground, splatting a large number of smallfries. Yet, they kept coming as long as the Grillers stood.
Octavia fired a fully-charged shot from her Classic Squiffer, busting one Griller open. Bonnie and Marie took it down while the other two inklings focused on the second Griller.
"Stop it," the bronze-skinned girl snapped. She elbowed Roy's stomach causing him to fall over thanks to the weight of the Dynamo Roller. He turned into a squid and swam away to avoid getting crushed by the roller, leaving him empty-handed. Without an inkling wielding it, the wheel of the Dynamo Roller began to run dry. Instead, Roy began depositing golden eggs.
"Uh, guys?" Bonnie tried to get their attention. "Please, get rid of that Griller!"
"I'm trying, but Roy keeps distracting me!" Via argued.
"Distracting you?" The red-eyed boy picked up the Dynamo Roller again. "You're the one who pushed me!"
"Quit it!" the blue-eyed girl pled. "Work together so we won't get splatted!"
It was then a group of smallfries started pushing Marie, causing her to trip and fall into the water behind them. Bon-Bon looked behind her and watched with an upset look on her face. This distraction allowed the remaining Griller to run her over and splat her. She let out a groan as she bobbed back up in a life preserver.
While Bonnie and Marie began calling for help, more Grillers began closing in on the remaining inklings. Roy and Octavia looked at each other, before looking back at the boss salmonids.
"T-They..." Via started. "They were right!" she confessed, falling onto her knees.
"Huh?" Roy looked over at the other girl.
"We should have taken that Griller down, together!" A tear fell from one of her orange eyes. "And now, we're paying the price!"
"Octavia, I..." The tan-skinned inkling kneeled down and pulled the bronze-skinned one into a hug. "I'm sorry!" he sobbed.
"I know, I'm sorry too!" she croaked.
"I'm sorry for breaking the sunglasses; I'm sorry for ignoring you-"
"No, I'm the one responsible! I broke the sunglasses; I ignored you!" Octavia interrupted.
"No, Via! I tried to hurt you," he protested. "I tried to hurt you and Bon-Bon, and I almost went through with it!" He sniffed and released himself from the hug. "I'm a bad friend!"
"Roy, Roy! I forgive you!" she tried to assure him, putting her hands on his shoulders.
"No... Who would forgive that?"
"You didn't mean it!"
"But I did mean it at one point."
"Roy, let's focus on now."
"We're gonna get splatted..." He smiled and wiped a tear from his eye. "And I don't care! I just want to leave!"
"Yeah, we can't do anything."
"So, let's get splatted..."
"...Together."
Roy and Octavia stood up with their backs against each other, facing the Grillers. Immediately, they ran them over, splatting them and ending the shift. When the two inklings reemerged as life preservers, all of them super-jumped back to the boat, where they were revived. Mr. Grizz began talking about the results of the Salmon Run shift, but no one listened to him. Instead, they all immediately went under the deck and to the changing rooms, where they put their normal attire back on. Then, they emerged back out on deck to find the boat heading back to Inkopolis.
"Hey, Marie," Bonnie asked once they had all regrouped.
"Yeah?" she answered.
"Can I take a selfie with you?"
"Sure."
The girl with the double bun pulled out a blue cellphone and posed with Marie. After she took the picture, she immediately sent it to all of the Rainbow Squids. On a separate group chat that excluded Roy and Octavia, she began detailing the events of the Salmon Run. Once the boat arrived, they all super-jumped back into Grizzco's, and Roy proceeded to bolt out of the building, into the square. Realizing why, Bonnie began texting a final message to the other Rainbow Squids.
'We still have a problem,' she concluded the text with.
A/N: Ha! Did you think this arc was going to end this chapter? Well, that's not the case. I decided to throw a little more drama into there... Anyways, it's March now! And you know what that means... The Rainbow Squids's first anniversary! Thank you all for reading this over the past year; I really appreciate it. On March 30th, you guys get another chapter, a day after the usual Sunday upload. I promise. Stay tuned, and Branchwing, out!