Perry's PoV

"C'mon, Roy," grumbled Perry. "Ya can't just shoot hoops all day."

The red-haired inkling continued throwing rubber balls into a basking shark dummy. "Yeah, I can, actually."

"But there's other things you can be doin'," he noted.

"Like what?"

"We can do a turf war together! Or listen to me make my next song!"

Roy threw a ball behind his back, causing it to bounce across the basketball court's floor, and then he looked at the purple-haired inkling. "Perry, name one person who likes your music."

"Jeleff likes it."

"He's a jellyfish, they like just about everything."

"Well, Yuri likes it, too!"

"Ehh... anyone else?"

"Norman."

"Who?"

"Nautilus, about your height."

"Alright, so more than one person likes your music."

"And your point is...?"

"I don't have one."

"Well, turf war is still an option!" Perry pulled his phone out and walked up to Roy, pulling up Squidsagram. He began scrolling through his feed and stopped at a picture of the other Rainbow Squids following a turf war. "Look how much fun everyone's having!"

The boy with hair swept to the side huffed. "Why aren't you with them?"

"That's the same thing I could be asking you!"

"But that's different." He crossed his arms and turned away from the other boy. "You know what happened by now."

"I dunno why you're making such a big deal out of this," Perry remarked. "But-" He heard the sound of doors opening somewhere, so the two boys turned towards the sound. Standing in the doorway was Giovanni, alongside another inkling taller than Roy, with light brown skin and sky blue hair tied up into a ponytail. Interestingly, he was also rather muscular.

"Move out of way, squids," the green-haired octoling announced, holding an orange ball under his arm. "Me and Griffin are going to play basketball."

"Yeah!" Griffin agreed, pounding his basketball into his giant hand.

"What do you mean?!" someone else yelled. At another door stood Lori and another inkling girl with pink, wavy hair and an eyepatch. "We were gonna play basketball now, too," complained the wavy-haired girl.

"Deadeye, calm down," Lori soothed, squeezing her hand. She cleared her throat and asked Gio and Griffin, "Can we play with you?"

"I hoped to only pl-" the octoling started.

"Yeah," the tall inkling answered her question.

The girl Lori was with, who appeared to be named Deadeye, relaxed and nodded. "Alright, but to let you know beforehand..." She smirked, letting go of the teal-haired inkling's hand and dribbling a basketball. "I'm really good."

"You are?" Giovanni raised an eyebrow. "We will see."

Roy growled and started heading out of the gym. "Wait, Roy!" Perry yelled, reaching his hand out for him. The red-haired inkling still left, and a frown fell upon the purple-haired boy's face. He made a sound of dissatisfaction and turned to the other people in the room.

"Leave," the green-haired boy demanded of Perry, crossing his arms.

"He can stay," Lori argued.

"No, Gio's right," the pale-skinned inkling told the girl. "If I played, the teams would be uneven, y'know?"

"You can watch...?" she puzzled.

"Nah," he declined. "I was gonna leave, anyways."

"Alright," she concluded.

"Now, time for some music!" exclaimed Griffin. He pulled a boombox out of nowhere and pressed the play button, beginning the song Muck Warfare by Off the Hook. He set it on the ground and began shooting hoops. Perry simply sighed and exited the court.

The gym he and Roy were at, Mother of Health, was the main rival of Musselforge Fitness. Though the latter's main appeal was its many rock-climbing walls, the main of appeal Mother of Health was its variety of facilities available. Outside of the exercise bike room stood Bonnie, who was tugging at Oscar's indented ear. A book rested in the inkling's arm.

"Ow, ow, stop," the octoling with the afro complained.

"Are you sure this isn't a siphon?" Bon-Bon asked.

"Yes! You are the read the book of ancient octopus!" he replied. "Not octolings!"

"So..." Perry approached the two. "What's going on?"

"Hey, Perry," the blue-haired girl greeted. "I'm trying to figure out how octolings are different from inklings."

The purple-haired boy scratched his head. "...Why?" he puzzled.

She shrugged. "I'm just curious." She showed him the book she was reading, titled, 'The Ancient Octopus'. "I was reading this book. It has a lot of fresh stuff in it!"

"Like what?"

"Well, apparently, they're super smart, despite only having eight arms, and they're also venomous!"

"OK..."

"She to start pull my ear with no warning," Oscar pointed out. "Though, only after I telled her I no venomous."

"Hey, at least I didn't tell you to take off your clothes," Bonnie remarked.

"I can," he said, a smile dancing across his face.

"Please don't," she begged. "You'd be arrested if you did."

"Yeah, no one wants to see that in public," Perry added, trying to hold back laughter.

"The house of your?" the octoling offered.

"No!" The inkling with the double bun groaned and started heading towards the exit of the building.

After she left, Oscar mumbled, "Too bad..."

Perry crossed his arms, chuckling. "Please tell me you were jokin', Oscar," he hoped, turning to look at the bronze-skinned boy.

"I was," he confirmed with a frown. "To hope she get it."

"Don't worry." He patted the octoling on the back. "I got it." He walked backwards into the exercise bike room, throwing finger guns towards him. Oscar simply watched in confusion. Regardless, he decided to get some exercise while he was here at the gym. He took off his pearlescent hoodie, revealing a white tee underneath, put it in one of the shelves, and hopped on one of the bikes. He plugged in his earbuds into his phone and listened to an Off the Hook playlist while he cycled.

About ten minutes later, he noticed someone get on the bike next to him. When Perry looked over, he found Iris, fair hands on the handles, her indigo eyes focused on the panel.

"Hey, Iris," he greeted, taking one earbud out of his ear.

She glared over at him. "What."

"Woah, I just wanted to say hi," marveled the inkling. "No need to be harsh."

"I should be the nice," she argued, "no be the nice."

"Can't ya at least try?"

"Hmph." The octoling with poufy hair returned her attention to the panel and snorted. "Giovanni only want to fight inklings, to show he better. Simple arrogance."

"You're kinda the same." And I don't get why that's relevant, he wanted to add.

"No. I have the reason to being mad."

"Well, don't leave me hangin'! Spit it out!"

She sighed. "I think no one listens now." She turned to look at Perry. "Lean." He did as she asked. Iris leaned towards him and started whispering. "Two years ago, before the Calamari Inkantation, I serve the Octarian army."

"I know Gio said Calamari Inkantation 'set you free' or whatever, but I still don't get why it's important."

"It to free the souls of octolings from the oppression," she explained. Though he still didn't get what Iris meant, Perry asked for her to continue with her story. "I station at one base. It design to look like an old mine."

"Oh! Like Bluefin Depot!" The popular ink battling spot was flooded by the same tsunami that ruined many other popular stages. After the water had receded, it had been destroyed beyond the point of repair, and thus, it was demolished. No one knew what was going to happen to the land Bluefin Depot once stood on. Multiple theories on the matter flew around, like a mall being built on the land, yet nothing remained confirmed.

"Exactly," she noted. "After I free, I live near it until it destroy."

"You didn't take part in any ink battles back then?"

She shook her head. "I stilled mad."

"So, what happened next?"

"One day, an inkling appear. We hear she had destroy many Octarian troops. We know her by one name: The Dreaded."

"The Dreaded..."

"I hear from one friend of mine—one spy—that the successor of the Dreaded destroys now. Call her: The Dauntless."

"Aight, aight, back to the story."

"To continue. The Dreaded tear through comrades—friends—like they are nothing. I watch each one splat. Forever." She stopped pedaling and slumped onto the panel. "I make a error. I hide. I fear. I think I no can defeat her."

"Ouch..."

She muttered something in Octarian, presumably a curse. "Only elite survive. They yell to me after. They send me to DJ Octavio. There, the Dreaded appear again to fight him. I learn her real name—Agent 3."

"Hold up, Iris. You're saying the squid Gio blabbed about when Alexis and I fought him isn't someone he made up?"

She nodded. "He appears to obsess on Agent 3. I no do get why." She sighed. "Anyways, soon, the Calamari Inkantation play, and then I escape. But, I still being mad at the dreaded Agent 3 because she splat my friends... and that I do nothing to stop her." She growled. "I will get my revenge. I swear on the dead, so everything is finally perfect again."

"Man..." Perry frowned. "This Agent 3 gal sounds terrible."

"She is."

"Well..." The purple-haired inkling began slowing down, eventually coming to a stop. "I think that's enough for today." He hopped off the exercise bike. "See ya, Iris." The octoling simply nodded her head in acknowledgement as he departed. Perry grabbed his pearlescent hoodie off the shelves. He threw the necklace it came with around his neck, while he tied the actual cloth around his waist. He exited Mother of Health, and as he headed to his car, he spotted a group of people tending to some flowers outside the facility. There, he spotted none other than Yvonne.

"Hey, Yvonne!" he called, running up to her.

The dark-skinned octoling looked up and turned around to face him. "Hi!" she cheerfully greeted him. "I am planting the flowers!"

"Please, leave," someone else requested him. He turned over to find the source of the voice, who turned out to be a grumpy-looking grouper wearing a lot of jewelry. "You're disrupting the harmony."

"No can talk to my friend, Mrs. Liath?" Yvonne challenged.

"And I wasn't 'disrupting the harmony,'" Perry argued. "I just wanted to stop for a quick chat."

"Well, you're certainly not harmonious," she remarked, eyeing the pale-skinned inkling. "Two earrings on one side, but only one on the other? Several rings? That hat? You look like you're part of a gang!"

"I wish," he teased. Mrs. Liath made a sound of disgust at it. "So, anyways." He turned back to Yvonne. "Why did ya join this flower-planting club?"

"I used to be growing wasabi," she explained, "so I think I should to be growing something else instead." The dark-skinned girl looked over at him and gave a toothy grin.

"Interesting..." He smiled. "I'd best be goin'." His purple eyes drifted over to the grouper. "I don't wanna 'disrupt the harmony' again."

"Good," Mrs. Liath said. "Now go."

"Goodbye, Perry!" Yvonne called. "To see tomorrow!"

"Bye." With that, he ran to his car and started driving back home, bringing an end to his long visit at Mother of Health.

A/N: Alright, so this chapter... has a lot of talking in it. But hey, we got some valuable information off of it. See you next week, and Branchwing, out!