ATTENTION: This chapter covers content from Splatoon 2's Octo Expansion.
With that out of the way... time to answer guest reviews!
Firemaster0730: I'm glad you like Inigo! For a story that is as character-driven as this one, it makes me happy to here that I'm succeeding in humanizing everyone. Well, Inigo, at least. In the earlier chapters I had the most trouble marking his personality down, while nowadays it seems to be Octavia I have the most trouble writing. Maybe this difficulty is a sign I'm doing well? Humans are complex, after all, and so should your characters! And humans change, too! That's why Inigo, for example, starts thinking about Geneva less and less as the story progresses, as he realizes he has to let go of her if he really wants to get anywhere with someone else. It's also why he's become more flirtatious and desperate, too. Anyways, to answer your question - there is not a fanfiction before this one. I try giving backstory in the form a flashbacks, and since "The Rainbow Squids" is going to be a longg one, I have plenty of time to do that. I apologize if Inigo's flashback in chapter 13 seems a little different from everything else up to that point - it's supposed to represent a different time, after all. And I'm glad you enjoyed Asher's reaction to the soap opera. I always found that moment to be a little funny.
Well, enough rambling from me, it's time to get to the story!
Perry's PoV
Octavia crossed her arms. "Shouldn't you leave too, then?" she challenged. "You said it yourself, it's 'dangerous.'"
"That's different!" the mysterious inkling protested. "The only reason I'm still down here is because I need to find someone."
"Who?" Perry asked.
"An old man. He's kind of my mentor," she explained. "I'm really hoping he's with..." She shook her head. "Never mind."
"How do you... eat?" Roy asked. He still remained inside the barrier, and he leaned against the glass wall. "All I've seen down here are weird ink puddles."
"I know how to get to the surface from here," she pointed out. "I just go up there." The green-haired girl shook her head. "I'm getting distracted. You need to leave."
"We came here for a reason," Inigo started.
"And that's to find the 'ghost' everyone's been wondering about on Squidsagram," Alexis concluded.
She blinked. "A ghost?"
Perry showed the girl a post he had saved to his phone. "Read it, it'll tell you."
She read it, and with a frown, she pushed the phone back towards the pale-skinned boy. "I think I'm the ghost everyone's talking about. Sorry to disappoint you."
"What? We gotta let everyone know!" Octavia exclaimed.
"Please don't," the girl groaned. "If people know, then they'll only be more people down here, and it's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt by one of these things."
"Oh." The wavy-haired girl had taken her phone out, and now she was putting it away. "Sorry. I got too excited."
"Well, I'm still not leavin'," Yuri proclaimed. "I wanna see what's down there." He pointed to the dark room past the decorated walls.
The girl raised an eyebrow. "If we go down there, then will you leave?"
The Rainbow Squids looked at each other before all nodding. "Yes," Roy stated. He pressed the icon with the Rapid Blaster Pro on it, and moments later, the selected weapon suddenly appeared in his hands. The barrier retreated back into the ground, and he stepped off of it.
"Oh, me next!" Via stepped onto the platform, and like with the tan-skinned boy, a barrier appeared around her as well. She selected the Octobrush, and much like with Roy, the weapon appeared in her bronze hands a few moments later.
The next person to step on was Bonnie. "Hmm... The only weapon I can choose is the Jet Squelcher," she noted. The beige-skinned took the weapon and stepped off the platform as well. When Perry tried to use it, nothing happened.
"If all of you want to fight, then I'll be right back." Turning into a green squid, the girl super-jumped back into one of the vents above them. The purple-haired inkling heard footsteps pound on metal above them, getting softer as the new inkling sped away. To fill in the silence while they waited for her return, they chattered.
"So, the 'ghost' turned out to be a girl," Roy started.
"I'm not surprised," Alexis admitted.
Via looked at her sister. "You aren't?"
"The moment I saw those puddles of ink, I knew something was up with this place," the short-haired girl explained. "That girl's hair was green, so she's probably the one splatting...whatever's down here."
"Aw, but the ghost thing was super fresh," Perry groaned.
"At least we found the 'ghost,'" Yuri pointed out. "That has to count for something."
"Yeah," Octavia agreed. "I can see it. The Rainbow Squids, who found the mysterious ghost in this subway. Even if we can't get proof."
"But that girl isn't a ghost," Alexis deadpanned.
"Just let me have my moment," she muttered, disappointed.
Before they could continue any further discussion, a weapon dropped to the ground. And another. And another. And another. Finally, the mysterious inkling dropped to the ground, the pile of weapons in front of her.
"These should work," she announced. The inklings without weapons walked up to the pile, examining it. Lying on the ground was a splatling, some dualies, a roller, and a slosher, all having black-and-red accents.
"Wow," Perry marveled, picking up the slosher. "Where did ya get these?"
"I beat up some octolings and stole their weapons, nothing special," she explained.
Yuri grimaced at her words. "Gruesome, but... OK!" He picked up the splatling.
"I appreciate the effort, but..." Alexis held up her shooter. "I already got a weapon."
"You did?" the green-haired girl puzzled.
"Mhm." The short-haired girl held out her weapon, and the other girl examined it.
"Where'd ya get it?"
"Uh... Well... Uh... My friend gave it to me, but Sheldon upgraded it for me. We kinda have a deal."
"Ah... OK." She picked up the dualies and threw them over the platform. "Guess I got these for nothin' then."
Without saying anymore words, Inigo proceeded to pick up the roller, and they all followed the green-haired girl to the gate. She changed her ink color to magenta, in which the rest of the inklings proceeded to copy her actions. She pulled a blue object out of her pocket and swiped it across the card reader at the gate, opening it and propelling the group forward. They landed on a checkpoint than glowed magenta when they stepped on it, and in front of them was a launchpad of the same color.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Alexis murmured.
The long-haired girl was about to step on the swirling circle when Perry noticed a symbol etched on the back of her cape. A silver 'three'.
"Wait... A three..." he mused.
She looked over at him. "Yeah, what about it?"
"You're wearing a hero suit, your cape says 'three', and Gio likes to blab about 'the Dreaded Agent 3,' so..." He looked into her eyes, ones that had become nervous. "Are you Agent 3?" he asked with some venom, remembering Iris's story of how the inkling had killed her friends.
"Woah, Perry, what's gotten into ya?" Yuri whispered to his friend.
She remained silent for a few moments, shocked. Then, she gave a solemn nod. "Yes, I am Agent 3."
"So, Giovanni wasn't making up stories after all..." Bonnie realized. "There really is an Agent 3."
"Who is this Giovanni guy?" the fair-skinned girl asked.
"He's an octoling," Roy explained. "He leads our rival team, Octa Prisma."
"I see..." She stepped onto the launchpad. "Let's go." The Rainbow Squids followed her and stepped onto it as well, and soon, they super-jumped down towards the arena, which was illuminated by warm-colored lights. A turquoise puddle of ink with a soapy texture sat in front of them. Just like the random puddles of ink we've been seeing.
"Is this it?" Octavia questioned. "Doesn't seem very exciting."
"Wait." Agent 3 put an arm out in front of them, beckoning for them to stop. Electricity started to crackle around the puddle, and suddenly, a bright light appeared as something large emerged from it. The light faded, and several loaves of swirled bread with faces popped out of the various ovens that decorated the machine. "A boss!" she exclaimed.
"...Octo Oven?" the short-haired inkling perplexed.
"Is that its name?" the long-haired girl queried.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," she answered.
"Huh. I don't know how you know that, but I'm just gonna go with it." She pointed her Hero Shot at Octo Oven. "Stay back, and don't get splatted. You never know what to expect from these guys."
"What about you?" Inigo asked.
She looked over her shoulder and smirked. "I'll take it from here."
The oven beeped and opened one lid, which proceeded to launch a loaf of bread out of it, aiming for Agent 3. She rolled out of the way and threw out a curling bomb, allowing a swift escape. Meanwhile, blobs of ink fell at the Rainbow Squids' feet, causing them to step back. They looked up at the source—a few green creatures situated on top of the oven.
"Are those... Octarians?" Yuri marveled.
"Yeah, and they're definitely gonna try and splat us," Alexis confirmed.
"Yo, this seems unreal," Perry blurted. "It's like they jumped out of the history textbook."
"But aren't Octarians like, red or somethin'?" Octavia puzzled. "These are green!"
"I guess they came back from the dead," the pale-skinned boy joked.
"OK, but like Agent 3 said—we gotta stay out of the way!" Inigo urged.
The Octarians spat another round of projectiles at them, causing them to scatter even more. Suddenly, Yuri started charging up the splatling he got from Agent 3 and fired at them, causing them to explode into puddles of magenta ink.
He shrugged. "Might as well help her!"
Suddenly, the entire oven shook, and every single loaf of bread fired out of it, remaining in place. A huge blue-and-green tentacle now hung limply at its top. Just like Octonozzle, Perry realized. Except different. In the corner of his purple eyes, he could see the long-haired girl climb up the loaves until she reached the top. She quickly splatted the remaining Octarians and started aiming for the central tentacle, quickly popping it. She grabbed a can before super-jumping back to where Inigo currently stood, far away from the action.
"Easy," she breathed, tossing the can up in the air. "Who wants this?"
"What's in it?" Alexis asked.
"Ink Armor," she replied.
"Shouldn't you keep it, then?" the boy with the ponytail suggested.
"I don't need to." She tossed the can to Inigo and watched as the huge tentacle reappeared on Octo Oven. It dove into the oven, and some of the paneling fell away to reveal steel. It shot out some ink pistons, landing around the group. Some sprinklers and more Octarians appeared on it and it proceeded to roar, clearing the existing ink from the area. Agent 3 let out a sigh. "OK, now this got more complicated." Suddenly, a Baller appeared around her, and she started running away. "Deal with the sprinklers; I'll distract the boss."
"Got it," the fair-skinned boy said with a smile.
"Wow, how could she do that?" Yuri wondered. "The Baller thing."
"Yeah, I would've expected a Splashdown," Roy agreed.
"Focus," Alexis egged. "We gotta take out the sprinklers." Turquoise ink was already surrounding them, making it harder to walk around. Perry trudged in the ink, towards the nearest sprinkler. He threw some ink from the slosher up at it, breaking it instantly.
"There," he proclaimed, putting a hand on his chest. "We got one!"
"There's still more, though," Inigo pointed out. "Let's get the rest."
"Mhm." Roy fired a blast from the Rapid Blaster Pro, creating a path for the squids to swim in. Octavia, on the other hand, ran ahead with the Octobrush, which also created a path. They followed the paths, swinging around the machine and breaking the sprinklers one-by-one. They soon came across Agent 3 once more, who now paced around the arena on foot, dodging the ejected loaves of bread.
"The sprinklers are gone!" the short-haired girl announced, pumping a fist.
"Fresh." The long-haired girl gave a smile, but then her eyes drifted up to the top of the machine. "But we still have the Octobombers to deal with."
After she finished, one of the aforementioned Octobombers noticed them and hurled a splat bomb out of its mouth. Upon sight of this, she jumped into the air, a magenta circle appearing around her. She crashed to the ground with a fist, creating an explosion of ink around her and destroying the bomb. She rose to her feet and watched as Octo Oven began to shake once more before launching all loaves of bread from the oven.
"I'll get it!" Perry announced, inking the side of the bread and starting to climb it. Suddenly, a bomb fell from above, bumping him on the head. "Ow..." He rubbed it, but moments later, he realized it was about to blow up. In a panic, he jumped down to the loaf below and watched as the bomb blew up into a puddle of turquoise ink. It was then a stream of magenta ink shot through the air from somewhere, piercing the Octobomber. As it splatted, it let out a garbled cry, and the pale-skinned boy turned to face the source of the charged shot.
Flying towards the ground were the weapon testers that had previously accompanied Alexis back when Sheldon's new Hero Roller was missing. The black-haired lady held a classic Hero Roller, while the grey-haired lady held a Hero Charger.
"We're here!" the roller wielder announced.
"Just in time, it seems," the charger wielder added.
Alexis ran over to them. "You followed us here?"
"Well, we saw you going down here," the grey-haired inkling started. As Perry listened in on the conversation, he fell off the bread loaf as it retreated back into the oven.
"So some time passed, and we thought you and your friends were in trouble," continued the black-haired inkling.
"So yeah, we did follow you down here," she concluded. "Sorry."
"It looks like you got everything under control, though." The other lady gave a big smile. "Which is superfresh! How did you manage it?"
"They had me," Agent 3 answered, walking over to them.
"Three!" the charger-wielder gasped. "I thought you were with Gramps!"
"He called you?" she perplexed.
"It's more like I found him in a weird chat room," she explained. "He said you two were doing fine."
"How long ago was this?"
"About two months ago, why?"
She blinked. "If that was two months ago, then..."
"Then what?"
"It's nothing," Agent 3 muttered. "I was just thinking."
"Um... OK."
"Talk to us if something's up, OK?" the black-haired inkling offered. "We're there for you. Promise."
The long-haired girl smiled and let out a chuckle. "Thanks, you two." Her eyes returned to the boss. "But now's not the time to be messin' around."
Perry heard something rattle behind him, and he looked over his shoulder to find the oven lid about to bust open, revealing the loaf. He rolled out of the way, his hoodie becoming covered with sticky turquoise ink. He muttered a curse and rose to his feet, wiping the enemy ink off of him. He swung his slosher, creating a path for him to escape in, and swam away.
After he emerged from the end of the trail, he found Yuri, firing up at the Octarians with the splatling. One smaller Octarian started to fly down towards him, shooting out a blob of turquoise ink, but it was immediately obliterated by the rapid-fire bullets from the splatling. Some magenta ink left from the explosion splattered onto the paneling.
"I got another one!" the dark-skinned boy exclaimed, his eyes sparkling with pride.
"We still have the others to deal with, though," sounded Inigo from behind them.
"But do we have to take them out?" Perry challenged. "I mean, what's the worst they can do? Get us dirty?"
"They can splat us," he deadpanned.
"Oh, uh, yeah." He scratched the back of his head. "They can."
"Let's keep moving," Inigo commanded. He raised the roller for a vertical flick, creating another path for the three to swim in. Turning into squids, they swam around the boss, avoiding the loaves of bread it sent at them. Eventually, they met up with Roy, Octavia, and Bonnie, who were dancing around ink pistons plaguing the arena. The boy with the ponytail emerged from the ink and swung his weapon vertically once more, creating another path. He gestured for them to follow him, and they heded his command with no further complaints. At last, they met up with Alexis, Agent 3, the roller wielder, and the charger wielder, who were right in the middle of a conversation. Inigo was the first to emerge, but upon sight of the two newcomers, he submerged back into the ink.
"Uh... Inigo?" Roy questioned. "Are you OK?"
"Not them..." he groaned. "I don't want to see them."
Curious, Perry took a few steps closer to the group, listening in on the conversation once more. "Geez," the black-haired inkling complained. She jumped back at the Octo Oven's next attempt to splat her. "This guy just won't quit!"
"We have to wait, or things will go a rye," the grey-haired inkling reminded her. "This weird version of Octo Oven can't bake bread forever."
"And then once it's toast, we can go up there and pop that tentacle!" Alexis exclaimed, her finger on the trigger of her shooter.
"Right," Agent 3 said. "And speaking of waiting..." The machine began to shake. "Watch out!" Everyone jumped out of the way of the ejected loaves, allowing them to climb up it.
The charger wielder shot at the remaining Octarian, splatting it. "Go," she told the long-haired inkling. "Before it's bready for more."
She nodded and climbed up the loaves of bread, reaching the top. She initiated another Splashdown and burst the blue-and-green tentacle open, causing turquoise ink to gush out of the hole it was once it. She grabbed another can that was on the top of it and super-jumped back down to the ground. She gave the can to Alexis and held out her arm, beckoning everyone behind her. The huge tentacle popped out of the hole once more before diving back into the machine, reactivating it. The loaves ejected themselves to receive armor before going back into the oven. Perry bit his tongue, trying to suppress his laughter. Some more Octarians spawned on the top of it again, just before the Octo Oven roared to remove all ink from the arena. Oddly enough, the ink pistons seemed to be absent.
"Octosnipers!" the black-haired inkling gasped. "They'll end you in three seconds splat!"
One of the aforementioned Octosnipers noticed the group and turned its beam down to them, firing a few seconds later. It hit Agent 3's arm, causing her to grip it in pain.
"You're lucky it hit me," she grunted through her teeth, glancing over at the Rainbow Squids. "Now, run!"
A contraption came out of the side of the boss, and jets of turquoise ink started to shoot out of it. "There comes the glazing machine," the grey-haired lady mused.
The fair-skinned girl threw a curling bomb onto the ground, inking a trail. "Hurry!"
Everyone dove into the trail, swimming away from the glazing machine. As the oven spun around, it created a turquoise path in its wake. After the last curling bomb exploded, Agent 3 emerged to throw out another curling bomb, in which they all swam through once more. After covering about half the map in enemy ink, the Octo Oven put the glazing machine away and returned to attempting to headbutt the inklings with bread.
"I got this!" Alexis cheered. She broke the can she held open, and a Sting Ray appeared in her hands. She aimed it up at the Octosnipers and started to fire, piercing through the splash walls protecting them. One of them was splatted, pleasing the bronze-skinned girl. "Booyah!" she cheered. The special weapon disappeared after its duration had expired, leaving her to just hold the orange shooter again. Right as it ended, however, ink pistons landed beside her, spraying her with turquoise ink as they spun around.
"This boss is somethin', huh?" Agent 3 commented, crossing her arms.
"Even the bread is armored, that has to count for somethin'," Perry added. No matter how ridiculous it looked, he still found it hilarious.
"No, that's just ridiculous," the grey-haired inkling groaned. "I still can't believe armored bread exists..."
"Bread aside, I have an idea," the long-haired girl announced. The oven started ejected loaves at her, but she simply dodged them with grace. I see why she's called 'the Dreaded' by Iris now, Perry realized. She's terrifying. Bonnie decided to help her out a little bit by destroying the sprinklers present on the sides of the machine. After a few attempts, the oven shook and ejected all loaves from the oven.
"Alright! Time to put this plan in motion!" Agent 3 pulled out a Sting Ray, which she fired at the remaining Octosnipers. "Agent 1! Agent 2! Do ya think we can do a special attack?"
Agent 1? Agent 2? The purple-eyed inkling blinked. Does that mean... Alexis is an agent, too? He shook his head, dismissing the idea. No, that's ridiculous. Why would little Alexis be associated with the squid who killed Iris's friends?
"A special attack?" the grey-haired inkling gasped.
"Aw yeah, a special attack!" the black-haired inkling cheered. "It's been forever since we've done one of those!"
"K." After putting the Sting Ray, away, she started inking the sides of the bread to climb it. Once the three of them had reached the top, Agent 3 proclaimed, "Let's go!"
"One!" yelled the roller wielder, lifting her Hero Roller in the air.
"Two!" yelled the charger wielder, preparing a charged shot.
"Three!" yelled the shooter wielder, charging towards the tentacle.
The black-haired lady slammed her roller on the metal top, sending a wave of magenta ink at the tentacle. The grey-haired lady fired her Hero Charger, piercing the tentacle with a powerful shot. The long-haired girl kicked the tentacle and fired her Hero Shot, finally causing it to explode. The three of them super-jumped off of the machine, and the Octo Oven started to glow magenta. It tried to eject bread to attack, but all of it came out burnt. It attempted to retreat back inside the oven, but to no avail. Electricity crackled around it, and finally, it burst in an explosion of magenta ink, covering the arena with it.
"Booyah!" the Rainbow Squids cheered.
"We did it!" exclaimed Yuri.
"And now, it's definitely toast," Perry snickered. "Maybe we can use the leftovers as-"
"Don't even think 'bout it," Via scolded, pointing a finger at him.
"Aight, aight, I'll keep quiet."
Everyone super-jumped back to where the checkpoint was, where they promptly exited. Roy, Octavia, and Bonnie were pushed towards the raised platforms, where the weapons they had gotten from the device disappeared. Once the three were free, everyone changed their ink colors back to normal and started heading back where they came from.
"We saw what's down there, and so we're keeping our promise," Roy stated. "We're leaving now."
"Can I escort you back to the surface?" Agent 3 offered. "I know this place better than you squids do."
Inigo gave a nod. "Y-Yeah," he stuttered.
The green-haired girl proceeded to take the lead and walked straight ahead. The tunnel began to narrow once more, and the posters and other decorations gradually began to disappear. Soon, natural light lit the tunnel, and then, they stepped onto the streets of Inkopolis, the sun beating down on them. Never before had Perry been so glad to be here, in the square, again.
"Inkopolis..." Agent 3 sighed. "It's been too long since I've seen the sun."
"Yeah, you're getting pale," the grey-haired inkling noted.
"We should have a beach party some time!" the black-haired inkling offered.
"Not until I find Gramps," she rejected. "I don't know how long that'll be, but I'm not leaving him alone." She frowned. "I already felt so bad the first time he went missing."
"Really? I couldn't tell," the charger wielder marveled. "You just seemed so determined to get Gramps back that... I didn't consider how you were feeling."
"Yeah," the roller wielder agreed, dropping the peppy demeanor she had earlier. "It takes a lot to keep a straight face in a situation like that." She smiled. "But beach party after you find Gramps?"
Agent 3 laughed. "Beach party after I find Gramps."
"A beach party?" Yuri muttered. He smiled and asked, "Could we join in?"
"Ehh... I don't think so," the grey-haired lady replied. "It's kinda an 'us' thing. Sorry."
"Aw," he moaned in disappointed. The dark-skinned boy then smiled and said, "Well, good luck finding this 'Gramps' guy!"
"Yeah, good luck," Alexis added.
"Thanks." The green-haired inkling looked up at the sky, the sun reflecting off of her tentacles. "It feels nice to hear that." She turned around and started heading back into the subway. "I should be going, now," she concluded. "I have a duty to do, whenever I like it or not."
Agent 3 gave one final nod to the group and headed back into the dark subway, alone.
A/N: Woo! What did you think? Agent 3's appearance? The Squid Sisters' appearance? I've been excited to write this chapter for a while, since it's not every day I get to write about her. Now, the Season 2 finale is over, and we're back on hiatus! Well, we still have the bonus story tomorrow, then we'll be back on hiatus. Can you guess who it'll be about? Anyways, I don't know how many of you will read the bonus story, so I'll just say it now - Season 3 will debut in September, alongside the third bonus story. I'm also sorry that this is a little late, the answer up at the beginning took quite some time to write. I'll see you soon, and Branchwing, out!