Bonnie's PoV

"Isn't this so exciting?" Octavia asked her blue-haired friend. Her hands were pressed against the poster that was framing every wall of West Inkopolis High School as of late. "The talent show's tomorrow night!"

"Eh..." she muttered. "Nothing exciting usually happens in those."

"You're squiddin', right?" she perplexed. "There's a lot of interesting stuff that happens! Remember those magic tricks that jellyfish and his shrimp friend did last year? Oh! Or what about that turf war skit from freshman year? Or Victor's juggling acts?"

"Name one crustacean that doesn't juggle," Bonnie challenged, crossing her arms.

"Uh... that crab who lifted a basking shark last year?"

"OK, fair point. But Via, we go to these every year."

"We go to the musical every year."

"But those are actually entertaining. A talent show is a mixed bag." Suddenly, Bonnie felt something brush her back, and she jumped. She turned around to see a piece of paper, floating down to the ground. She snatched it and read it out loud. "'Support Iris Thaumo at the West Inkopolis Talent Show. Or else.'" She lowered it. "Huh. I never thought of Iris as someone to be in talent shows."

"I don't know..." the orange-haired girl admitted. "This is Gio's right-hand lady we're talking about. I'm not sure if we should go."

"The 'or else' sounds a little threatening..."

"It's an empty threat. What's the worst that could happen?"

"She sends a hitman after us?"

"You're overthinking this. Besides, where is she gonna find a hitman?"

Bonnie sighed. "...You're still gonna go, right?"

"Yeah, of course! Are you?"

"Yeah."

Octavia wrapped an arm around Bon-Bon, pulling her closer to her side. "Great!"

Later, just as school ended, the girl with the double bun noticed Iris climbing into an unfamiliar car that was decorated with various graffiti.

"Wait, Iris!" she called, darting over to the octoling. The indigo-haired girl paused, and her eyes drifted over to meet hers. Out of breath, she asked, "Good... luck... on the... talent... show...!"

Instead of some rude remark, the octoling smiled. "Thank you." She sat down in the car seat and buckled up. "Will you come?"

"You're welcome," she said. "And yeah, I'm coming!"

Bonnie stood in place, waiting for the car to leave, but it remained. "So?" Iris started, eyes narrowing. "Go inside."

"Wait, you want me to come with you?" she asked for clarification. The other girl nodded. "Oh..." The blue-haired inkling pulled out her phone. "Let me text my mom first." After a quick text message, she climbed into the back of the car. Brayden was the driver, tan hands on the wheel. They began conversing in another language, much to Bonnie's irritation. She sighed and leaned back in the cushions. She watched the trees fly by as they drove to their next destination, wherever that was.

"Bonnie," Brayden spoke up. "I heard the Vigilante disappeared."

"You're not wrong," she confirmed. "He did disappear a few days ago." She smiled. "We got Inigo back, though. Doesn't that count for something?"

"It be meaning I can do the battle of my color rival again," Iris commented, taking a sip from a water bottle.

"...Color rival?" The beige-skinned girl tilted her head, confused.

"Inigo is indigo, and I am indigo. We wield the rollers," she explained. "Inigo is my color rival."

"With that logic, wouldn't that mean Brayden's my color rival?" she wondered. "Even though I wield a charger and you wield a blaster?"

"Yes, you would be my color rival," the octoling boy confirmed. "Oscar's color rival is Octavia, and Yvonne's color rival is Yuri." She peered at the mirror, where the tan-skinned boy was frowning. "I do not know who Giovanni's color rival would be, though."

"The close is Alexis, but she is orange," Iris pointed out.

"Following your logic, Gio's color rival would be Geneva," Bonnie deduced. "But she's still on vacation..."

"The first thing Giovanni will do when she comes back is battle her, then," Brayden remarked. "I know it."

"I want to battle her, also," the indigo-haired girl announced. "Is personal."

In the mirror, he frowned. "Geneva..." He spoke the rest of his sentence in Octarian, a fact Bonnie was not too happy about. After he finished, Iris said something back to him, and he proceeded to say something back to her. It grew into a full-on conversation, and not a happy one, judging by their tone. They seemed to pay no attention to the inkling in the car with them, causing the blue-haired girl to sink into the cushions once more. She eyed her surroundings. A worn toolbox was up against the door, a picture taped to it. She leaned closer towards it, hoping to get the full details of the image.

Two octolings that both looked about fourteen were depicted in the picture, arms slung around each other. Not surprisingly, they both wore the octoling soldier's gear, goggles included. They both had contempt smiles on their faces, the boy on the left's bearing a grin, sending chills down Bonnie's spine. The posters in the background seemed to be anti-inkling propaganda, which did not help. Upon closer inspection, they appeared to be Brayden and Oscar.

"Umm..." Bon-Bon muttered, reaching out towards the toolbox. "What's the deal with this?"

The tan-skinned octoling glanced over his shoulder quickly before returning his attention to the road. "Oh, that?" he started. "I have a job fixing weapons at Nouveau. I bring it with me every shift. I also bring it everywhere." He chuckled. "The amount of Inkbrushes I have to fix is ridiculous."

"You fix weapons? That's so fresh!" she complimented. She realized that she had gotten distracted and slapped her cheek. "Uh, I mean, the picture on it."

"The picture? That was from when Iris and I still served in the Octarian army. ...You are aware of the Calamari Inkantation, right?"

"I don't know why it's so important to you, if that's what you mean."

"Really? I thought the others told the reason why to you."

"If they did, I don't remember them telling me."

"Then I will explain." He cleared his throat and began his story. "Two years ago, coming up on three, the dreaded Agent 3 came to DJ Octavio's lair, wishing to...stop him. As the battle grew more and more intense, the Squid Sisters hijacked Octavio's speakers, and suddenly, the Calamari Inkantation played. Hearing it, I realized that the life I lived was not for me. So, I left for Inkopolis, now free from the Octarian oppression." He paused. "The story is the same for almost all of the young octolings you see today. It was that powerful."

"Fresh." But it sounds fake...

"It turned out a little differently for me, though. You see, I used to be a spy for the army. But now, instead of spying on Inkopolis, I spied on the Octarians in an effort to keep the freed octolings informed. So, for two years, I lived a double life. I finally decided to quit after the Squid Sisters played Calamari Inkantation a second time. The dauntless Agent 4...stopped DJ Octavio again, freeing even more octolings. I figured it was too risky to stay in Octo Canyon. Besides, maybe someone else will take my role."

Bonnie simply blinked, soon nodding. "There's still one question I have... Why do Iris and Giovanni want to fight us inklings so badly?"

"I can the answer," Iris interjected. "Inklings splatted my friends; I have the grudge not again-"

"Against," Brayden corrected.

"Stop," she snapped at him. The other octoling tensed up and continued driving. "...Against inklings," she continued. "However, Giovanni thinks inklings strong. It is a challenge to him. Before Inkopolis, he never fighted one." A crunch sounded from the water bottle Iris held as she tightened her fist. "I have. I wished I do more to help, not cower. I paid the price. That is the grudge of mine."

"Oh... I can't relate," the blue-haired girl murmured.

"Figures."

The car stopped in front of an apartment building, and the three climbed out of the car and entered it. The receptionist didn't even bother to greet them, instead lazily looking at the computer screen. They stepped into the elevator, which took them up a few floors. They wandered the drab halls until they came across a door covered in stickers. Brayden unlocked it, and they stepped inside the apartment. The layout kind of reminded her of Asher's apartment, except the kitchen was more towards the back of the room instead of near the entrance.

"Please, hear my song," Iris pled. She ran to the only bedroom in the apartment and came back out with a sheet of paper, writing scribbled onto it. "You must like it."

"But what if-" Bonnie started.

"You do not have choice." She got out her phone and started to play a recording of a guitar. The octoling took a deep breath and started singing.

Bonnie leaned back in her chair, watching students do whatever they came up with for the talent show. The lights were dimmed, a spotlight focused on the person on stage. Right now, a few sea anemones were dancing to some foreign music.

"See, this isn't so bad," Octavia whispered to her friend. "Right?"

"It's entertaining," she agreed. "But I wanna see somethin' new now."

"Same. Watchin' some anemones dance gets kinda lame after a while."

The song finished, and the sea anemones struck a pose. They strutted off stage, making way for the next act—Iris Thaumo. The indigo-haired girl walked out on stage, holding an acoustic guitar in one hand. A jellyfish brought out a stool for her, and she sat down on it. She lowered the microphone and began to speak.

"Hello," she greeted. "I hope you are liking my song. I write my song myself. It was given edit by the friend of me, Brayden, and language teacher Ms. Vomer."

The crowd applauded, but quickly settled down as Iris began playing the opening chords of the song. It soon turned into a solemn melody, and she opened her mouth to sing.

"Many years ago there was a little girl. / All alone in the cold, cold world. / Her only friend was a pearl. / The beauty within an ugly oyster. / She realized there was no place for her. / She was only a pawn in the game. / She wanted to become something more. / She changed just to become better!" As her voice grew in volume, her tone had become more desperate. "But is this what she wanted? / Her life was terrible, still! / She only became unwanted! / And she paid, she paid, she paid a terrible price for it." The guitar only became more intense as she finished the chorus. However, it quickly calmed down as she moved on to the next verse.

"The girl, now a teen, wandered the halls. / She felt so lonely, so, so lonely. / Her only friendship was doomed to fall. / They changed paths at the age of fourteen. / And her new friends treated her like trash. / But she clung to them anyways. / Because she didn't want her life to crash. / Her life could not crash again!" She sung the chorus again, and after she finished, the guitar solo continued for quite some time. Its intensity continued on to the third verse. "One day, her friends died. / It was her fault, all her fault! / One day, she was summoned to face the tides. / She had lost all faith, convinced this would be the end!"

The guitar abruptly stopped, causing Via to jump next to Bonnie in her seat. "Don't worry," she whispered to her friend. "This is the best part."

Iris plucked a few strings, resuming the starting melody as she whispered her next few lines. "But then, the Dreaded returned. / Accompanied by a heavenly melody. / The girl's heart was set free, her beliefs overturned. / She realized there was more to life. / She could live a happy life in the city. / Away from the machine, reunited with her childhood friend. / Her ugly life had become pretty. / And finally, she was happy!" The more intense music returned as she sung a revised version of the chorus. "Finally, she had what she wanted. / Her life was beautiful, now! / She had become wanted! / And she lives, she lives, she lives happily ever after." She strummed her fingers against the guitar strings and finished, "And I live happily ever after." She repeated the notes, bringing the song to an end at last.

Iris let out a shaky breath, and suddenly, the crowd roared an applause. Everyone stood out of their seats, clapping wildly.

"Woo!"

"That. Was. Superfresh!"

"Oh my coddd!"

"Dang, Iris could outcompete me," someone commented from behind Bonnie. She looked over her shoulder to find Perry, clapping. "That voice is beautiful."

"Yeah, that was some top-notch music," Yuri agreed. "It's on par with that rap earlier."

The blue-haired girl smirked. "I told you Iris's song was amazing."

"I'm not gonna hear the end of this, am I?" the purple-haired inkling muttered.

"Yeah, Perry, you won't," Octavia teased. "We're gonna talk about this until we're all old and senile!" The four laughed.

"Seriously, we gotta compliment her on this," the dark-skinned boy suggested.

"I don't think we need to," Perry countered, pointing at the stage. Iris's indigo eyes became watery as she scanned the auditorium. She blinked, and tears started to stream down her cheeks as a wide smile came across her face.

"Thank you," she said. "Thank you very much!"

A/N: Here it is... the last chapter before part one of the finale. Do you guys like Iris's song? I wrote it to be reflective of Iris's backstory, so how do you interpret it? Anyone who correctly interprets it gets a cookie. On the other hand, let's talk about the finale. Part 1 of the finale, which will be from Inigo's perspective, will come out on Saturday, while part 2 of the finale, which will be from Perry's perspective, will come out next Sunday. Then, the first bonus story will come out next Monday, and after that, we'll be on hiatus! Woo, it's been quite the ride... Thank you guys for reading "The Rainbow Squids" up to this point, and Branchwing, out!