Yuri's PoV
"Guess what I got!" Yuri announced, pulling some tickets out of his pocket.
"...What are they?" Roy asked with narrowed eyes. He leaned on the metal table they usually sat at, staring at him with those red eyes.
"Tickets to Inkopolis Bay!" he revealed. "My treat!"
"Inkopolis Bay!" Alexis gasped. "I always wanted to go there!"
"But can't we just super-jump there?" Bonnie perplexed. "Or just walk?"
"Inkopolis Bay's a super elitist place," Inigo pointed out. "Didn't you use to live there?"
"Yeah, when I was young," she replied. "I hardly remember it."
"It's also where the big private school in Inkopolis is," Perry explained. "Went there 'til I was like, 9 or 10. The uniforms sucked big time."
Yuri remembered that both he and Perry were new students in the year they started to attend West Inkopolis. Yuri because he moved from East Inkopolis, Perry because he transferred in from a private school. Given his wealth, he suspected he went to Orca Academy—the aforementioned school in Inkopolis Bay—but he did not get a confirmation until now.
"So, why do we need tickets again?" Alexis asked. "Just seems like a status thing."
"Well, it is," Yuri replied. "We'll get chased out if we just waltz in there."
"Seriously?!" Octavia cried, shocked. "That place sounds like the worst!"
"I dunno," Perry said with a shrug. "It's pretty."
"It'd be nice to relax," added Inigo.
"Yeah, get away from this Vigilante stuff," Roy agreed. He glanced over at the boy with the ponytail, smirking. "Don't ya think?"
"U-Uh, sure!"
"Then it's settled." Yuri put away his tickets and threw his hands up in a victory sign. "We're going to Inkopolis Bay!"
"Right now?" Bonnie questioned, blue eyes intrigued.
"Yep! Right now!" The yellow-haired inkling did a little bounce and started running to the train station. "C'mon, let's go! Last one there's a rotten egg!"
"Hey! That's cheating!" Alexis complained. He heard her push her chair aside, followed by quick footsteps approaching him. A look over her shoulder told him that she was chasing after him, running as fast her short legs could carry her. He returned his attention to the street, running past the Deca Tower, towards the train station. As soon as he arrived, he turned around and leaned against one of the lamp posts to catch his breath, watching as his friends ran towards him.
Roy managed to outpace Alexis, therefore being the first to arrive. The short-haired girl showed up next, out of breath. The rest of the Rainbow Squids arrived shortly thereafter, also out of breath. They looked behind them, and then at their surroundings.
"...All we are rotten eggs?" Bonnie asked, frowning as she clasped her hands together.
"Nah," Yuri tried to cheer her up. "We're all fresh eggs."
"Really? Yay."
"Anyways, let's go," announced Inigo, walking to the entrance of the train station. "No use sitting around all day."
"We're gonna have a splat-tastic time at Inkopolis Bay!" the spiky-haired boy exclaimed. "Right?"
Inigo paused, looking over his shoulder and smiling. "Right."
The Rainbow Squids entered the train station, where Yuri showed the tickets to the employee, a jellyfish. They nodded and gestured for them to follow. They walked past the usual train lines before arriving at a much more polished train. It was clear of graffiti and stickers, and the train itself was accented with gold. The jellyfish waved a tentacle, and the door opened. Sitting in the conductor's seat was an older manta ray, fins waving in the air slowly, much like Marina's tentacles.
"Tickets, please," she asked, her voice monotone as she outstretched her arm. She flexed her clawed hand, expectant.
"Yep." Yuri placed the tickets in her hand, and she snatched them back up, the fins flaring out momentarily.
The conductor counted the tickets and put them in a small wooden box. "Go sit," she directed, pointing behind her.
"Harsh, isn't she?" Octavia muttered behind him. They walked over to some seats towards the middle of the train and sat down on them. The doors shut, and the train shuddered as it started to move. Yuri leaned back in his chair, sitting next to Perry, who took the window seat. He pulled up his phone and started scrolling through it while he waited.
Suddenly, he heard whistling from beside him. He glanced over at Perry first, but he was still staring out the window, back turned. He looked on the other side of him and saw another inkling with a peculiar hairstyle, sitting next to the window. Three orange tentacles were sticking straight up, like a mohawk, while the other three tentacles were smaller, located on the bottom of the head like many other hairstyles, swished to the side.
Pip? he thought. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed the inkling that first spurred the wave of inklings trying to investigate the 'Deepsea Metro,' as Eight called it. A fair-skinned hand was pushed up against their cheek, carrying a bored expression. No one else was sitting with them, but their lips were moving...positioned in such a way that they would be whistling.
Pip must have noticed him looking at them. They stopped whistling and glanced over at Yuri with royal blue eyes, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, Yuri," they said. "And..." They leaned forward, looking past the spiky-haired inkling. "Perry." They looked around them. "All the Rainbow Squids are here."
"Yeah!" he chirped. "We're going to Inkopolis Bay!"
They chuckled. "Inkopolis Bay... I'm going there too."
"What for?"
"My photography final. I wanted to take pictures of the ocean and some of the fancy stuff there."
"When is it due?"
"Tomorrow."
"What?! You've put it off for this long?" Alexis suddenly interjected, standing up and leaning over Pip's seat.
Pip looked over at her and made a poker face. "It'll be quick," they assured her.
"Yeah," Yuri exclaimed, pumping a fist. "I'm sure you'll get it done on time."
The orange-haired inkling smiled and look towards the window again. "Thank you, Yuri," they said, loud enough for him to hear.
"You're welcome." He gave a thumbs-up.
The train eventually came to a stop some minutes later. Everyone got to their feet and filed a line towards the door. The manta ray gestured for everyone to get off, and quickly everyone did. At the gates, a mantis shrimp decorated with golden badges waved around a packet of some sort.
"Come up, come up!" he proclaimed, his voice booming. "Come get your honorary Inkopolis Bay pins! Show everyone you're the best of the best!"
A jellyfish tried walking past him, but he grabbed them with his pincer and brought them back in front of him. He tore a packet open and forced a pin on the jellyfish. They absorbed the pin, the metal now faintly shining from within them. They waddled on, not being stopped again. Everyone on the train got a pin, though on later passengers, he distributed them much more gently. He plopped one pin each in the hands of the Rainbow Squids plus Pip, and the group of inklings put them on their shirts. The mantis shrimp let them pass, and now, they were officially in Inkopolis Bay.
Yuri rushed out of the train station and cheered. "Woo! Inkopolis Bay! We're finally here!"
"I can't wait to eat a bunch of fancy food!" Alexis exclaimed, running next to him. "And maybe go out to the ocean!"
"Or battle in that special stage Inkopolis Bay has!" Perry added.
Pip shrugged, pulling out a camera. "I need to work," they remarked, hanging the camera strap around their neck. "See ya." They walked down the street, towards a rather tall building with a pointed rooftop.
"Hey," Octavia asked, looking over at the aforementioned building. "What's that? Looks kinda fresh."
"That's the battle hub here," Perry explained as they started to walk down the street. "Like Deca Tower. Except for the squids that live here."
"So there's a lobby in there?" Via remarked. She looked back at the building. As they came closer to it, Yuri could make out more details. It appeared to be made of a dark wood that had a rosy tint to it. The roof was of grey tiling, though several screens were attached to it. Advertisements for cereal brands were currently flashing on the screens. "Huh. Never thought something that short could have one."
"Ha," Yuri laughed. "It's like a mini pagoda."
"Sure does," the purple-haired inkling remarked, crossing his arms.
They passed a few restaurants, mostly adorned with gold and fishing nets, and soon arrived in an open area in front of the lobby building. The buildings fanned out, allowing for a wide, trapezoid-like area for tables to be placed. On the side they came in on—Yuri's right—there were several billboards, advertising shops. The layout of it was the same as the Galleria, though the names and exteriors were different. On the opposite side of the area were several miscellaneous buildings, including an empty building in the middle of the strip. The back of the area had stairs leading down to the beach, as well as a small area to observe the ocean, railing preventing anyone from walking off the platform.
Yuri turned his head to look at the lobby building. Two screens on the front of the building were displaying the current stages. They were the same stages as the current rotation back in Inkopolis Square, he was pretty sure. Pip stood in front of it, angling their camera at the building. Some unfamiliar inklings hung out by the benches next to the entrance, glaring at them. Pip didn't seem to notice them, however, as they lowered their camera and started walking towards the shops, ignoring the Rainbow Squids.
"Ya think they'll let us in?" Octavia asked, pointing to the shops.
"We do have these pins," Roy added, tugging at the pin on his jacket.
"Probably not," Inigo dismissed. "Us wearing them pretty much means we're not from the bay."
"We can still try," Yuri encouraged, patting the boy with the ponytail's shoulder.
Roy huffed and started walking towards the shops. "A little pin won't stop me." He walked into the weapons shop, and a minute or two later, a red squid was flung out of the shop, skidding against the concrete before he came to a stop. The squid reformed as the tan-skinned inkling, dirt covering his body. He was moaning something incoherent.
Inigo walked over to him and helped him to his feet. "Guess the shops aren't an option," he declared.
"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Octavia grumbled.
"Well, there's gotta be somethin' else we can do," Yuri tried to cheer everyone up, walking to the middle of the area. Underneath his feet were white arrows, painted to be like a spawn point. It was similar to the markings found in both Inkopolis Square and Inkopolis Plaza. "Like..." He scanned the area before turning back to the group. "People watching?"
"OK, that's just becoming Giovanni," Alexis sighed, shaking her head. "We're not like him."
"Better than just standing around," Roy spoke up, rubbing his head.
"It's not a bad idea..." Inigo muttered.
"What?! You're actually agreeing with him?!" the short-haired inkling cried out in disbelief.
"Anyone else object?" the indigo-haired boy asked the group. No one else spoke up. "Then we're people-watching, I guess."
"C'mon, can't we go down to the beach or somethin'?" she protested.
"I'd kill for a tan," Perry commented. "Gotta get the right crispiness."
"That made no sense," Bonnie said, shaking her head.
"Admit it, Bon-Bon. I'd look superfresh with a tan," he continued on, pulling up the sleeves of his hoodie to expose his arms. "C'mon, sun. Kiss my skin."
"I can't imagine it," she remarked.
"You usually burn..." Yuri pointed out in a quiet voice. Louder, he said, "Yeah, I'm sure you'll look great." He gave a nervous grin.
"Thanks, Yuri." Perry was now flexing. "Pearl'll love me after my tan."
Roy sighed. "OK, back to people-watching..." He scanned the area with his red eyes, and then he gasped. "Uh, squids?"
"What?" Yuri puzzled, yellow eyes full of curiosity.
"Look over there." He turned towards the ocean and pointed at a table near the viewing point. Yuri walked up to him and Inigo and looked in his direction.
Sitting at a table were Brayden and Iris.
"Woah!" the dark-skinned inkling gasped. "That's-"
"Shh!" Roy covered Yuri's mouth, causing him to go silent. "We don't want them to hear us!" he scolded in a hushed voice.
"If we're really doing this, then we'll need to hide," Alexis deducted, putting a hand on her chin. She then pointed to a bush outside of the shoe shop. "There!"
Everyone turned into squids and crawled over to the bush, where they crowded together. Yuri leaned towards the two octolings, wishing to hear them better. At first, they looked over at where the Rainbow Squids were standing before. A few moments later, they shrugged and resumed talking. The yellow-haired inkling let out a sigh of relief and continued to listen to them.
Unfortunately, he couldn't understand a word they were saying.
"They're speaking in Octarian," Roy grumbled. "Of course..."
"Yeah, they're Octarians," Alexis deadpanned. "What else would they be speaking?"
"Inkling?" Yuri interjected. "They can speak it."
"They're not speaking it to each other," she shot it down.
"Guess we should actually watch 'em, then," Perry remarked.
The group of inklings sighed and returned their attention to Brayden and Iris. They were eating some kind of noodle dish while they talked, slurping it up. The indigo-haired octoling held up some noodles with her chopsticks, a mischievous smile on her face. Brayden shook his head and lowered her hand, causing the girl to frown. She then said something in Octarian, likely a complaint. Brayden said something in response, and the girl started to blush.
"Dang, even Iris can get a boyfriend," Octavia muttered. She looked over at Inigo. "Guys will take just about anyone, don't they?"
The indigo-haired inkling blinked. "Huh? Why are you lookin' at me?" The other members of the Rainbow Squids remained silent, causing him to sigh. "Ah... I think I get it now."
"How do you know they're dating?" Yuri asked the wavy-haired inkling.
"It's Bonnie's theory," she replied. "She saw them together in Salmon Run one time."
"Yeah, they were holding hands," the blue-haired inkling elaborated. "And they stopped holding hands once I walked in."
"A pretty flimsy theory," Roy growled.
"I wouldn't rule it out, though," Inigo remarked. "Just wait and see..."
Just then, Yuri noticed someone wearing crazy arrows walk by the bush. He looked up to see Pip, holding their camera and approaching Brayden and Iris.
"Hi," they greeted. "Could I take a picture of you two?"
Iris scowled. "What for?"
"Photography class," they replied. "Just for my final."
"Will this be published somewhere?" Brayden questioned.
"No, only my teacher's seeing this," Pip responded. "Do you have a problem with this?"
"Hm." The blue-haired octoling smiled and threw an arm around Iris. "You go right ahead." The octoling girl scooted closer to the other octoling and smiled.
"Could you pick up your chopsticks?" they asked. "Like, act like you're going to eat the noodles." The two grabbed some noodles with their chopsticks, the pasta dangling from the sticks, into the broth. They opened their mouths, leaning forward. "Perfect!" Pip aimed their camera, and a snap sounded from the device. They took a few more pictures before lowering. "Alright! Thank you!" The orange-haired inkling walked away, leaving Brayden and Iris alone again.
The latter squeezed the former's hand and scooted away from him. "Finally," she breathed. "They are the gone."
"Yes..." Brayden's voice trailed off when he noticed the bush the Rainbow Squids were hiding in. Noticing that his tentacle was sticking out, Yuri shifted it so that it was now under his body. "...Iris?"
"What?" she asked.
"I think we have some inkling spies," he revealed.
Iris's features quickly turned into one of anger. "What?!" she gasped. She launched out of her chair and ran over to the bush. "Who is there?" she demanded, leaning down.
"Uh..." Perry started.
"Totally just a bush!" Yuri continued.
She reached a fair-skinned hand into the push and grabbed Yuri by his tentacle. It slipped out from underneath his body, and he was now dangling from Iris's hand. Surprised, he transformed back into a kid, with Iris now holding his wrist.
"Yuri!" she gasped. She threw him aside and pushed the bush open. "Many other squids!"
"Uh... Blub blub?" Bonnie squeaked.
She grabbed her and threw the blue squid out next to Yuri, causing her to reform as well. She proceeded to throw each of the Rainbow Squids out until they were all lying the concrete, dazed. Iris turned around to look at them, her features contorted with fury.
"You ruin everything!" she scolded them. "You was not suppose to know!"
"...You and Brayden are dating," Inigo deduced, standing up. "What's the problem with that?"
"You could hurt me! Or him!" she defended, placing her hands over her chest. "You will know we will come protect each other."
"That sounds like somethin' you guys at Octa Prisma would do," Perry countered, pushing himself up as well. "Maybe not all of you, but most of you."
Iris growled. "You no do understand!" she whined. "Stupid inklings! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Me and Brayden suppose to have perfect day, but you ruin it!"
The blue-haired octoling had risen from his seat, tugging at his girlfriend's hand. "Come on," he urged her. "We are just about finished with our bowls, anyways."
The poufy-haired girl relaxed a little bit, curling her fingers around his hand. "I wish things go different." They started walking away, with Iris raising her hand and flipping them off. Yuri winced at the gesture, simply staring at it until the two octolings were mere specks in the distance.
"Geez, why is she so rude?" Octavia perplexed, frowning. "Especially this time."
"I guess we went a little too far," Bonnie mumbled, looking down at the floor. "She's nice when she wants to be, but...that isn't often."
"Well, we just gotta move on from it, even if that failed." Yuri bounded to his feet, pumping his feet. He turned towards the ocean. "C'mon!" He started walking towards the viewing point, pressing against the railing. He turned around, smiling. "This view's perfect!"
Perry smirked. "Always eager to go, huh?" he remarked. "Wait for me!" He started running towards his friend.
"Yeah, I'm coming too!" Roy exclaimed, running after Perry.
One by one, the Rainbow Squids ran up to the balcony, eventually lining up so that they were facing the ocean in order by their color. Yuri happened to be directly in front of some viewing binoculars, standing a little taller than the railing. He looked on both sides of him and smiled. Perry was the leftmost inkling in the line, but he was leaning over the railing, like he was going to fall over and land in the sand. He winked towards Yuri before returning his attention to the sky. The sun had begun to set, tinting the sky orange.
The yellow-haired inkling smiled, the air thick with the scent of salt. Despite everything, at least he was with his friends. And now they could relax for a bit, staring out into the beautiful ocean.
Meanwhile...
Agent 3's PoV
A green-haired inkling jumped back, watching as a turquoise ghost flew away from the octoling she had just splatted. Her gear fell into the green puddle left behind, disappearing after a few seconds. The inkling lowered her Hero Shot, her breath heavy. She removed her left hand from the weapon, now resting by her side as she walked away from the scene.
That's the last of them, she thought. The chase would end for now. But, her search continued. She still hasn't found Cap'n Cuttlefish. She didn't know how long it had been since Alexis visited her. Initially, she thought it had only been a few weeks, when in reality, it had been two months between the Rainbow Squids' visit and Alexis's solo visit. For all she knew, today could have been the one-year anniversary of her departure from Inkopolis. Her entire junior year was already stripped from her thanks to becoming stranded; she didn't want to lose senior year, too.
Agent 3 pressed a finger to her headset. Nothing. She shouldn't be surprised. No one had contacted her in months. The blue device jangling in her pocket, she continued walking through the vent. For miles, the track seemed to stretch. And unlike below, there were no lights to comfort her. Only her rather limited vision and whatever light poured in from the vent openings.
Suddenly, a siren sounded from her pocket. She took out the device to see the light blinking rapidly. She opened it to see an icon in Central Station, flashing wildly.
Someone needs help!
She started running, a marker denotating her position. She was actually really close to it, coincidentally. For sure, she could get there in time, and see what was going on. Provided it wasn't a trap, of course.
"HELP!"
Her thoughts grew to a standstill. She knew that voice.
"GRAMPS!" she called. Heart pounding, she began running faster and faster. She saw something flash red up ahead, a different siren roaring in her ears. Mechanical whirring grew louder and louder, the cries for help growing louder, too. Not only did she hear Cap'n Cuttlefish's voice, she heard a different voice, too. This voice was softer and had a heavy accent, as if they were not used to screaming in Inkling. Putting her weapon and device away, she super-jumped to the top of the ceiling. They're here. They're right here.
Gripping the ceiling, she saw what was going on through the glass. An antique telephone sat on top of a rather modern blender by comparison, the colorful lights on it glowing. An old inkling with a thick, cream beard was pounding on the glass, the blade spinning above him. Next to him was a curly-haired octoling with pink hair, pressing on the case with light brown hands. There they were. Cap'n Cuttlefish, and the octoling she had fought, all those months ago.
All this registered within a second in Agent 3's head. She had no time to think about it. She had to react, now.
"GRAMPS! I'M HERE!"
She dropped from the ceiling, kicking the through the glass. It shattered around her, some of the shards nicking her fair skin. Her foot contacted the telephone, kicking it and the lid of the blender off. She finished it off with a punch, wires popping out of the machine. With its removal, the blender knocked over, shattering on contact. Cap'n Cuttlefish stopped himself with his cane, while the octoling had fallen to the ground, pushing herself up.
Agent 3 heard words come out of her mentor's mouth, but she couldn't make out what he said, as her head hit the pavement, knocking her unconscious almost immediately.
Later, her senses began to return. Cap'n was calling her name. But at the same time, when she opened her eyes, she saw something turquoise crawl out of a pile of scrap metal. It seeped from the cracks, falling on the floor. And it was getting closer and closer.
"What...?" she muttered, lifting her head. The thing stopped momentarily, about a yard in front of her.
And then, it lunged.
The force pushed her, knocking her over on her back. The goop burned as it rested on her head, her senses growing duller as it wrapped around her. She didn't have the strength to scream. The last thing she heard was Cap'n's voice, shouting something at her. She couldn't make out what.
And soon, she was plunged into darkness once more.
A/N: You see why I didn't put an Octo Expansion warning at the beginning of this chapter? I wanted the end to be a surprise. Anyways, if you guessed that the big thing happening in the next few chapters is related to Octo Expansion, you are correct! Congrats! The next three chapters go together, and better yet, the first two of three will release back-to-back! Saturday, the next chapter, "Fly Octo Fly," will be released, followed by "Into the Light" next Sunday. I'm hyped for these next few chapters to come out. I've been wanting to write them ever since I started this story, and now, we're finally there! These two chapters will be the last ones for 2020. 2021 is going to kick off with a VERY IMPORTANT CHAPTER. The fabled chapter 79 mentioned in the spoiler warning of the Halloween special, you don't want to miss it! That's all for me. Branchwing, out!