Mr. Grizz's dialogue is taken from the game.
Firemaster0730: It's fine! Don't worry about it. Sometimes you need a break to get caught up. And trust me - it's rare that anything is like it is in the movies and books. High school's a classic example of this - in the movies, it seems like you have all the time in the world to talk to your friends, and it relies on tropes and stereotypes a lot, when in reality, it's nothing like that. You barely have any time to make it to your classes, let alone talk to your friends! A lot of the Rainbow Squids' high school adventures tend to be based on my own high school experiences. For example, remember chapter 12, where Bonnie helps out her old chemistry teacher with the new students? The teacher was based on my biology teacher in 9th grade, while the actual experiment everyone did was one my class did back when I took chemistry. Regarding the Vigilante, I'd like to point out Octavia also knows the Vigilante's identity - she's the one that told Yuri, after all! And that's understandable calling Inigo the Impostor. Everyone's been playing Among Us these days, including me. Next, each season is 28 chapters, covering about 4 months each. But since we're just at the beginning of Season 3, we still have plenty of time to cover everything I want to cover this season. Finally, I'll start messaging you my response to your reviews from here on out, now that you have an account.
Now, let's get on with this chapter!
Bonnie's PoV
While Bonnie was scrolling through Squidsagram on her phone, she suddenly heard a knock on the door to her bedroom. She set the device down and walked over to the door to open it. Standing in the doorway was her mom, a piece of neon yellow paper in her hand.
"Bonnie," her mom started. "Could you go to MakoMart, please?"
"Sure." She took the note and read its contents. It listed ingredients for a traditional dish, one that was her father's favorite. She didn't like it much herself, but if it made her family happy, she would eat it. A problem rose in the fact that she had other plans today. Grizzco's was set to close in about three hours, and she wanted to get her superbonuses before it closed.
Yet, she couldn't ignore her mother's request. It would be quite disrespectful, and in the back of her mind, she feared what punishment would come.
"Be back before nightfall," she said. The words were innocent enough, but the threat of potential consequences still loomed over Bonnie's head.
"I will," she promised, though she worried she would not be able to live up on them.
The blue-haired girl exited the house and climbed into the silver car her family owned, where she proceeded to drive towards closer towards the center of Inkopolis. She approached the premises of MakoMart, and turned into the parking lot. Yet, she did not exit the car right away. Her eyes glanced down at the clock. It was almost 6:00 PM, when the current rotation for ink battles would shift. Yet, based on past days, she predicted that the sun would set in less than two hours. She had to make a decision, and quick.
I'm sure doing a Salmon Run wouldn't hurt, she reasoned. It'd only take like, twenty minutes anyways.
She backed out of the parking lot and started to drive to Inkopolis Square. After she arrived in the parking space, she hopped out of the car and started running towards Grizzco Industries. A few minutes later, she arrived, out-of-breath. Interestingly, dozens of inklings flocked inside. With how quickly the line was going, she would be on a boat in no time.
Mr. Grizz welcomed her and then directed her to an old elevator. She stepped inside with a few other inklings, but as it descended with a creak, she began to examine them, only to realize that she knew them. Iris and Brayden, who were holding hands, were present, alongside a fair-skinned inkling that resembled Geneva. Tess.
The green-haired girl's eyes widened. "Bon-Bon! You do Salmon Runs too?"
Iris retracted her hand from Brayden and looked over at the beige-skinned girl. "What?! You are not suppose to being here!"
She frowned, unsure what to say. "Well..."
"I guess we can show how much better we are at Salmon Runs," Brayden remarked. "We know you do a lot of them, so we decided to do a bunch of them and get all the way up to Profreshional."
"I'm a Profreshional too..." she murmured. Granted, she had just gotten back to Profreshional the other day after dropping out of it for a month following a series of bad waves. Who knows what rank the two octolings were at?
"Wow, you squids are strong!" Tess exclaimed, starry-eyed. "I'm only a Go-Getter!"
"Didn't you just come to Inkopolis a week ago?" she pointed out.
"It's almost two weeks," she corrected. "I've been playing so much Salmon Run! It's super fun!"
"Makes sense."
The elevator stopped, and the floor opened underneath them with a hiss. "Go," the indigo-haired girl demanded. Everyone slipped through the grate, and a few moments later, they were sent flying towards the boat. They landed on the deck, reforming into kids.
The girl with the double bun walked over to the weapon listing and read it out loud. "Flingza Roller, .96 Gal, Dark Tetra Dualies, and..." She gasped. "A Splat Charger!"
"A Splat Charger..." Tess groaned. "It sucks!"
Bonnie flinched. "Sucks? No, it's awesome."
"You." Iris pointed at the green-haired inkling, scowling. "Deal with it." She started heading to the door that would lead below deck. "I hope you know using it."
"I..." The green-haired girl trailed off.
"I know how to use a Splat Charger," Brayden bragged, crossing his arms. "I know how to use everything."
"Even a Tenta Brella?" the blue-haired girl marveled.
"Y-Yes," he stuttered, a nervous smile coming across his face. "Even a Tenta Brella."
"Wow!" Tess exclaimed. "I wish I had your skills!"
Octavia's voice seemed to chastise her. He's probably lying, she scolded. Just trying to make himself seem better than everyone else.
Bonnie put a beige-skinned hand on her wrist. Brayden probably was lying, but it was fun to toy with the idea that he could be master at every single weapon out there. Consequently, though, the octoling seemed to enjoy the praise, his head held up high as the boat departed from Inkopolis. His tentacles whipped in the sea breeze as he looked towards the sky.
Iris soon came back on deck, wearing the Grizzco Industries uniform, and scolded everyone. "What?! Stop to stand and go to dress!"
"R-Right!" complied the green-haired inkling. Every ran below deck, towards the changing rooms. Bonnie quickly found the uniform and changed into it. She set her glasses down and put in her contacts before picking them back up and exiting the changing room. She stored her clothes away and returned to the deck of the both. Iris simply glanced towards and smirked upon her arrival.
The rest of the trip was met with relative silence, with only Brayden and Iris talking among themselves. Bonnie so desperately wanted to break the awkwardness, but she didn't know what to say. She puckered her lip and continued staring out towards the new sunset. Eventually, a series of platforms started to come into view, with some towers depicting various foods floating around the area. None of them appealed to her, but it was evident that they were great for attracting salmonids. The waves rippled in the setting sun, as if something was within the depths of the ocean.
The boat came to a stop, where everyone changed their ink to an indigo color, looking blue in some lights, and violet in others. They super-jumped to the center of the map, where they would receive their weapons. A few seconds later, Bonnie felt two things appear in her hands. When she emerged, she found herself holding some Dark Tetra Dualies.
Of course I got the dualies... she lamented in her head. She started inking the area around her, paying no attention to the tide. She looked back over at the basket, only to find that it was absent. She noticed Iris, who held a Flingza Roller, creating a path to the shore.
"Low tide!" she called. "This way!"
"Low tide?!" Tess gasped. "This is gonna be great!"
The group swam down to the shore using the path the poufy-haired octoling had created. As soon as they arrived, lesser salmonids were immediately crawling up the midmost sandbar, leaving a trail of green slime behind them as they slid towards the inklings and octolings. Two Steelheads appeared right behind them, lumbering towards them as well.
"There two bosses," Iris noted.
"I know," Brayden said. Chuckling, he spun the Splat Charger in his hands. "Luckily, I have the best weapon to use against them."
The octoling with a side cut rushed up to them and started charging his weapon. Both Steelheads stopped, and with a grunt, a bomb started to expand from their heads. Aiming it up at one of them, he fired, and both boss salmonids exploded, a total of six golden eggs floating down to the floor.
"Wow! That was so fresh!" Tess complimented. She started running back and forth from the pile of eggs to the basket, shooting any salmonids that came in her way with the .96 Gal. Bonnie helped out too, while Iris and Brayden started to defeat bosses. The laser from a Stinger appeared for a split second before the girl with the double bun her pots and pans crash down behind her, signaling its swift defeat. After the eggs from the Steelheads were gone, she started swimming over to the edge of the shore to collect the remaining golden egg—the octolings had collected the other two.
"Oh!" the girl with the ends of her hair cut off sounded. "There's a Flyfish!" She pointed to the boss salmonid that flew in from the left side of the map, opening its baskets to shoot a few green missiles into the air. "We gotta take it out as soon as possible!"
"Why not just leave it there?" Brayden suggested. "We can handle a few of them."
"Yes, but they might multiply," Bonnie countered. "We can't let that happen."
"I never taking of you to be leader," Iris scoffed. "Now it different?"
The blue-eyed inkling shrunk away. "Don't you want to win?"
"Yes."
"Then you have to know how dangerous they can be."
"Inklings do not have the agility." She crossed her arms. "I am the trained of soldiers. I can do the dodging and I live."
Bonnie heard something crash from her side, and she looked over to see that Tess had successfully taken down the Flyfish. She started dancing before a stray missile crashed down on her, splatting her. Alarmed, Iris started running over towards the site. She placed her roller down and ran over the life preserver Tess had popped up in, reviving her. Both of them grabbed golden eggs and swam back to the basket.
Meanwhile, Brayden was battling a Steel Eel. He ran around in circles, the boss tying itself into knots. The lethal wall now protected the driver, and even worse, it showed no signs of unwrapping itself. Eventually, the Steel Eel wrapped itself around the tan-skinned boy, splatting him as well.
"Carp!" the other octoling exclaimed. The boss salmonid unwrapped itself and started to charge towards Bonnie. She rolled out of the way, and with the driver exposed, Iris slammed the roller down on it, causing the salmonid to splat and the machine to fall apart. An indigo trail was all that was left to mark that it had ever been there.
Tess revived Brayden, and the three collected the eggs the Steel Head dropped.
"Woo! We met the quota!" the fair-skinned inkling cheered. "Now it's boss-smashing time!"
"Don't get cocky," the beige-skinned inkling warned. "Let's try to get a big bonus instead."
"And we do that by smashing bosses," she pointed out. "So, let's have it!"
"...You're right."
A Scrapper started to charge towards them, targeting Tess. She ran towards the center of the map in an attempt to avoid it. Brayden pointed his charger at its back and fired it, causing it to explode in a puddle of indigo ink. The green-eyed girl went back and collected the eggs before trying to tackle another boss—a Drizzler. It sat near the water, having just launched a torpedo. It flipped upside down, revealing the salmonid underneath. Both Tess and Bonnie started to attack it, quickly splatting it. In the distance, she heard the torpedo release the ink storm in contained, which would now be floating away from there.
Afterwards, more missiles started to target them. They scattered, and green puddles of ink were left in the missiles' wake. Just as they thought they could catch a break, another set of missiles was set flying towards them. Backing up, Bonnie spotted two Flyfish at opposite ends of the shore. A Stinger was now emerging from the murky ocean as well, arriving next to the Flyfish situated towards the right.
Brayden and Iris worked together to take down the left Flyfish, taking the eggs it left behind. Bonnie swam down to take the last egg, but she was interrupted when a Steel Eel climbed out of the sea, knocking her over. She started to scream and tried to scramble away, but it simply ran her over. Worse of all, it appears that she wasn't even the target. It reared left from the basket, towards the middle end of the sandbar, where Tess was located.
"Help!" she cried, jumping up and down as she advanced towards the octolings. Iris was rolling over some lesser salmonids, while Brayden chucked a bomb into one basket of the remaining Flyfish. It still managed to send out missiles before the basket was destroyed. The tan-skinned octoling then turned around and began charging his Splat Charger to a range that would reach Bonnie. He released the trigger, sending a wave of ink towards her and reviving her. Revitalized, she set her sights on the Steel Eel once more. Tess was cornered, threatened to fall into the ocean by emerging lesser salmonids. With the help of the Dark Tetra Dualies, she rolled over to the driver and shot it, causing it to fall. "Hurry!" she called out towards Tess. "Before you splat!"
A Cohock slammed the pan it held into her back, making her fly forwards. She scrambled to her feet and just barely made it over to Bonnie, where she grabbed one of the golden eggs that remained. After placing the eggs inside, the basket retreated, marking the end of the wave.
"Good," Iris said, walking over to the inklings. "However, do no slacking."
"I'm not slacking," the girl with the ends of her hair cut off protested.
"You are the only one of us who is not a Profreshional," Brayden pointed out, joining the rest of them.
"I'm still just as good," she argued. "You can watch me in the next wave!"
They proceeded to super-jump back to the center of the map, where they would get their next set of weapons. Bonnie emerged with a Splat Charger, causing her to smile. Meanwhile, Tess had the Flingza Roller, Iris had the .96 Gal, and Brayden had the Dark Tetra Dualies. The water rose to normal levels, and Mr. Grizz whispered in her ear, informing her to keep collecting golden eggs.
Out towards the docks, a Stinger appeared in the midst of several chums. Everyone immediately started going towards it, quickly knocking it down. They collected the golden eggs and returned to the basket, dealing with any lesser salmonids that tried to attack them. Bonnie next dealt with a Steelhead on the other side of the map, coming up the ramp that led to the main area. She aimed her charger at the bomb and fired, causing it to blow up and leave eggs behind. She inked the wall and started collecting them, one at a time.
Thankfully, the second wave proceeded much like the first wave, though the group was more spread-out. Towards the middle of the wave, two Drizzlers had appeared, sending out torpedoes consecutively. The result was chaos, with her teammates splatting, only leaving Bonnie herself standing. In a panic, she activated her special, Inkjet. She lifted up into the air and started shooting wildly. She managed to revive one teammate with her shot, and after that, she focused her aim on the Drizzlers. She took out one of them before flying back to the spot where she started the special weapon up.
Everyone else was revived, causing her anxiety to fade away. Iris and Brayden took care of the remaining Drizzler, and the wave proceeded rather smoothly. Right at the end of the wave, a Maws leapt up into the air and bit into Tess, splatting her. The Maws swam away, and she reformed as a life preserver. No one bothered to revive her, considering that it was the end of the second wave. They super-jumped to the middle once more, where the younger inkling revived. She took a little more than the rest of them to emerge with a new weapon.
Bonnie broke out in a cold sweat when she saw the weapon she now held in her hands. A Flingza Roller. She couldn't use any roller for the life of her. Octavia, Inigo, and her father had all tried to teach her how to use one, but she never got the hang out of it. She always retreated in the sight of danger. That was why she liked the charger—she could stay out of the action while still helping her team.
The sky grew dark, and the tide rose, only making her worry even more. Small lights shined in the distance as a red laser suddenly fell upon her.
"Here comes a Griller..." Mr. Grizz sighed, his voice crackling over the radio. "Aim for its exposed tail. That'll let your coworkers know where to shoot, too." The aforementioned boss salmonid arrived on shore, accompanied by a lot of smallfries.
"Get to higher ground!" Brayden demanded.
Everyone climbed up to the platform next to the basket. Bonnie slammed her roller down on the ground as protection from any smallfries that may try to splat her. The blue-eyed octoling held out the .96 Gal he held, smiling.
"Now, we have to get it before it reaches Bonnie." He turned around to face the rest of the group. "Right?"
"Right," Iris agreed. She glanced over at Tess. "You, too."
The fair-skinned inkling nearly dropped the Splat Charger she held. "Wha?! Why me? I'll be useless out there!"
"Throw bombs," the poufy-haired girl deadpanned. "Splat the smallfries."
She nodded, and the three departed from the peak. Now, only Bonnie stood next to the basket, nervous as she watched them trail behind the Griller. Tess tried aiming at the boss salmonid's tail, and with one shot, the grill burst open, revealing several more tails. The beige-skinned inkling lifted her roller in the air for a long-distance vertical swing, and a few seconds later, a wave of ink was sent flying towards it. It splatted, leaving five golden eggs behind. They proceeded to collect them, and then, another Griller appeared, targeting Iris this time.
She climbed to where Bonnie was once sitting and pointed to the boss salmonid. The blue-eyed girl nodded, when suddenly she felt something nip at her ankles. She looked down to see smallfries attacking her. She swung down her roller, destroying the tiny creatures, and then swung vertically at the Griller's tail. Brayden attacked it as well, and it soon burst open. Together, the group shot it down, allowing them to collect golden eggs once more.
Another griller appeared, shortly followed by another. One targeted Iris, while the other targeted Brayden. Both of them went to opposite high points of the map.
"Carp! We can't take two of them!" Tess panicked, gripping the sides of her head. "Especially not with this Splat Charger!"
"Calm down," she told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Keep your calm and aim."
The younger girl blushed, and then nodded. She looked towards the Griller heading towards the basket, pointing the charger towards the tail. She fired, and it burst open. Iris rolled towards it, and the three of them banded together to take it down. The octoling proceeded to ignore the golden eggs and immediately swam over towards Brayden. He was backing up towards the ledge as the boss salmonid approached him. Some smallfries ran towards him, and it was then he pulled out Sting Ray. However, he was only able to activate for a split second, as the smallfries pushed him into the water directly afterwards.
"No!" Iris yelled. The Griller shifted its attention to Tess, causing the girl with the ends of her hair cut off to flee.
"Get the eggs!" Bonnie demanded. "We still have to meet the quota!"
"But-"
"You can revive him later! Just get the eggs while Tess distracts the Griller!"
"You not telling me what to do!" she snarled. She threw a bomb in Bonnie's face, causing her to stumble backwards. The bomb fell to the ground, exploding only to cover a few spots of ink. The beige-skinned girl grumbled and began collecting the eggs left behind by the last Griller. Just after she put the last egg in, meeting the quota, another laser fell on her. Another Griller had arrived.
Tess had returned after circling around the grates, almost out of breath. She activated her special—Splat Bomb Launcher—and began throwing bombs towards the boss salmonid. Though they were destroyed on contact with the green ink flowing from the grill, bombs thrown closer towards her feet successfully eliminated the smallfries.
Bonnie climbed up the platform next to the basket and swung her roller at the Griller targeting Tess. With one hit, it burst open, allowing both inklings to attack it. The grill soon crashed to the ground, leaving behind five golden eggs. The blue-eyed girl smiled, but it fell when she heard rattling behind her. She let out a small shriek and activated the second Inkjet. She hovered above the griller, staying still below her. She thought about flying backwards, but was interrupted when Brayden yelled:
"Stay right there!"
"We will be the handle of the Griller!" Iris declared.
The poufy-haired octoling ran up to back end of the Griller and leaped up into the air to perform a Splashdown. As expected, it bust open, allowing Bonnie to shoot it with her Inkjet. It splatted just before her special expired, landing in an area surrounded by golden eggs. However, she didn't have a chance to put any of them in, as they disappeared as the basket retracted into its resting place. The sky got brighter, and the remaining smallfries fled.
"...Booyah!" Tess exclaimed.
"Booyah!" Bonnie followed.
The group super-jumped back to the boat, where Mr. Grizz relayed the stats to them. The beige-skinned inkling set the Flingza Roller down as her ink changed back to her normal blue color. She thought about staying for another round...when she remembered she still had a chore to do.
"I can't stay," she murmured, disappointed. "I don't want my mom to be mad at me."
"Aw..." the green-eyed girl pouted. "We can play next time!"
She chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, next time."
Iris grumbled, "Inconvenient..."
The boat started heading back towards Inkopolis. She quickly changed and arrived back on deck, patting the piece of paper that was in the pocket of her sweatpants. To her alarm, the sunset remained when they returned, even if the sun appeared higher in the sky than back at the Spawning Grounds. Without saying goodbye, she super-jumped off the boat, right back in Inkopolis Square. She ran to the parking lot and hopped into her car, where she drove to the nearest MakoMart.
She entered and exited the grocery store in record time, carrying two bags with the ingredients her mom needed for dinner. From there, she drove back to her home, where she started pounding on the front door.
Her father answered the door, surprised. "Why so anxious?" he questioned.
"Sorry I'm late..." she muttered, handing the bags to him.
He raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? I just got home. Though, I'll be honest, I thought you would be home, too." The girl with the double bun frowned. "Come in," he told her. "Your mother was almost going to make dinner without you."
She simply nodded and walked inside, taking a seat on the couch. Her father gave the older woman the groceries, and she smiled. She took the ingredients out and began to make the traditional dish. To Bonnie's surprise, they didn't seem mad. In fact, they were relatively jubilant.
They're not mad, she thought. She looked down at her feet and smiled. They're not mad.
A/N: A relatively simple chapter today; it's not very deep. Just some Salmon Run fun while Iris and Brayden try to hide their relationship from Bonnie. The next chapter will be an interesting one. Branchwing, out!