This chapter has flashback of sorts, split up in parts throughout the chapter. However, it's not from Roy's perspective. Any text in first-person, italics, and in quotations is the flashback, as told by Geneva.
Warning: Contains trauma
Roy's PoV
"Ya guys know what happened one week ago today?" the red-haired inkling asked, leaning back.
"...What?" Alexis simply stared at him, raising an eyebrow. The Rainbow Squids still sat at the table they usually sat at in Inkopolis Square, located near the Crust Bucket. Ever since the revelation down in the Deepsea Metro, they tried to ignore the topic, instead focusing on their latest battles.
"Inigo took his break!" he proclaimed, sitting up and slamming his hands down on the table. "Did ya seriously forget?"
"Oh, yeah." She frowned, rubbing the side of her head. "Sorry."
"Shouldn't he be coming back soon then?" Bonnie remarked.
"Exactly," Roy confirmed. "Which is why we gotta give him a warm welcome when he shows up." He reached into his bag and pulled out some party poppers, handing them out to each of the Rainbow Squids. "When he shows up, we cheer and pull these. Got it?"
"Got it!" Yuri exclaimed. "Despite everything, he's still our friend. We can't just pretend like nothing happened!"
"Speaking of breaks..." Octavia started. Her orange eyes drifted over to the tan-skinned boy. "Where were you yesterday?"
Shoot. The one question he didn't want to answer.
"Uh... I had a migraine," he lied. In truth, it was due to the injuries he sustained from a mind-controller Oscar two nights ago. Despite taking multiple ink baths throughout the day, his chest still ached, a dull pain flaring up on touch. He'd hate to have his friends see him in such a weakened state. So, he stayed home, resting. He could barely move by the time he got home that night, sleeping on the couch. Now, he had regained most of his strength and could go on as if nothing ever happened.
Octavia raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure!" Roy insisted. "Now stop talkin' 'bout it!"
"Alright, alright," she said, raising her hands in front of her chest. "Doesn't look like I'll get an answer from you, anyways."
The Rainbow Squids begun to wait, and wait, and wait. Come the next hour, Inkopolis News began to broadcast on the giant screen on the front of the Deca Tower once more, announcing that the current stages had changed. Roy sighed, sinking into his seat. Inigo hadn't arrived yet, and now the ranked mode was Clam Blitz—a ranked mode he loathed.
Another half hour passed, and then, the red-haired boy spotted a familiar indigo ponytail in the crowd of inklings around the Deca Tower. He sat up in his seat, leaning forward. His friends followed, looking over in the same direction as he.
Soon, a familiar fair-skinned figure emerged from the crowd, being none other than Inigo Sable himself. He donned the same outfit as he did when Roy last saw him, wearing a blue sailor suit and a pair of N-pacer Ag shoes. Though, something seemed different. He seemed more relaxed. Happier, even. But Roy also noticed another emotion in his indigo eyes: worry.
"...Hi." Inigo waved at them. "I'm back."
Yuri pulled the party popper, sending confetti into the air. The rest of the inklings followed, and they proceeded to cheer, "Welcome back!" Then, Octavia, Alexis, and Bonnie all proceeded to get up from their chairs and hugged him, Inigo's eyes wide with surprise.
"Huh?!" he gasped. "You don't usually do this!"
"But it's been a week," Bonnie remarked. "We should at least hug you."
"I think the party poppers were enough," he noted. The girls let go and returned to their seats. Roy glanced over at Geneva, the only one of them to not get up. Her arms were crossed, expression unreadable. Inigo proceeded to sit down next to the red-haired inkling.
Roy patted him on the back. "Good to see ya again," he whispered.
His friend nodded. "Same to you, too."
"So, Inigo," Perry started after the indigo-haired boy sat down. "Whatcha do during the break? I know ya watched some movies, but what else?"
"Play video games," he replied. "Oh, and Ophelia managed to drag me outside yesterday. That's it."
"Makes sense," Yuri remarked. "He showed up online a lot whenever I got on my SplatStation."
Before anyone could speak further, Geneva cleared her throat, and the group turned her attention to her. "Now that Inigo's back..." she started. "I want to tell you guys a story."
"Ooh, a story!" Alexis gasped, a smile growing on her face. "About what?"
"About...you know." She waved her hand in the air, looking off to the side. "Secret stuff that needs secret places to talk about."
About the New Squidbeak Splatoon, Roy realized. "We bringing Octa Prisma?" he then blurted out.
"What's with you and Octa Prisma lately?" Octavia interjected, crossing her arms.
"Again, none of your business," he snapped.
Geneva blinked. "Well, to answer your question, no. This is a story for the Rainbow Squids only." With that, she stood up, gesturing for the inklings to follow. "You coming?"
"Of course!" Alexis chirped, standing up.
"Yeah, seems like it would be fresh," Yuri agreed, standing up and stretching.
The other inklings murmured in agreement and lifted themselves off of their seats. The long-haired inkling gestured for them to follow her, and they walked away from the table, deeper into Inkopolis. A few minutes later, they arrived at the train station, where she asked for tickets to the plaza. They paid, and with their tickets, they entered the train, taking their seats on it. It soon started to move, and Roy leaned his head back, pulling up Bubblify and listening to some rap music.
As soon as it stopped, Geneva rose, once again gesturing for the group to follow her. The tan-skinned inkling removed his ear buds and stood up as well, trailing behind his friend. They walked out of the train, and then the train station. The Rainbow Squids stepped into Inkopolis Plaza, the sky grey with clouds. A light breeze blew through the area, some fliers tumbling along the ground.
"C'mon," she urged them. "We don't have all day."
The green-haired inkling led them over to a manhole, where she turned into a squid and slipped through the grate. The rest of the Rainbow Squids followed, traveling through the tunnel to a grassy area. Octo Valley, Roy assumed. Immediately, Geneva had sprinted ahead, a shooter weapon at her side. The others quickly followed her, watching as she pointed the Hero Shot at a deactivated ink rail, the bulb lighting up green with her ink. She slipped inside, a blob now following the thin trail of ink. Roy changed his ink color to match Geneva's and turned into a squid as well, swimming through the line.
The long-haired inkling waited for the rest of the Rainbow Squids to arrive at another set of platforms before running off once more. She activated another ink rail and swam through it, which the group of inklings promptly followed. At last, when they arrived at the third set of platforms, Geneva turned into a squid, super-jumping to the top of a tower. Again, her friends followed, now crowding on the top. Roy shuffled his feet, making small thuds on the metal plating.
The girl looked out towards the octopus-shaped rock in the distance, weak sunlight reflecting off of her hair. As they settled down, she began to speak.
"It was the day after we first started playing in turf wars. The Great Zapfish went missing. We all panicked. You remember that part well. But, I noticed something odd, after the announcement had ended. An old man, poking his head out of the manhole through which we came here. When our eyes met, he disappeared, just like that. I could have ignored it, but I didn't. I went to investigate, using an excuse so you squids wouldn't follow me."
"Uh... Geneva," Alexis interjected. "I was twelve the first time the Great Zapfish went missing."
"I know," she muttered. "I was just referring to the rest of us."
"Anyways, the moment I popped out of the manhole, the old man started spewing stuff about the Octarians. About how they were responsible for the disappearance of the Great Zapfish. I was skeptical, but I stayed. I stayed and listened to him. I didn't know what to say—I didn't want to be rude and leave him. But before I knew it, he gave me the code name, 'Agent 3,' and an outfit that could protect me against Octarian ink. He sent me out on a mission, and I followed along.
"I found one of the domes, and I went in. There, I saw it—an Octarian. I didn't think that they were still around, yet I was seeing one in the flesh. I made my way through the maze of the dome, and before I knew it, I saw a zapfish. A living, breathing zapfish. It was there I realized, maybe that old man wasn't spewing nonsense after all. Maybe he was telling the truth all along.
"So, I promised him I would come back after that first mission. I did the next day. From there, Cap'n Cuttlefish and I worked together to invade the Octarian domes and save the zapfish, all working towards our main goal of saving the Great Zapfish. At the time, it was fun. But I've also had my fair share of close calls. Especially with flooders. Cod, I hate flooders. I can't count the number of the times I failed a mission because of them."
"Geneva," Perry interrupted, "I have no idea what a flooder is."
The green-eyed girl blinked, and then sighed. "Yeah, should've expected that."
"So, tell us!" Yuri egged.
"I can do you better and show you," she offered.
"But isn't that dangerous?" Bonnie argued.
"Yeah, even you splatted to them!" Alexis agreed.
"Don't worry," Geneva assured them. "These ones are deactivated."
"Alright," Via started, "but if things go wrong, it's on you, Perry."
"Hey, don't shoot the messenger!" the pale-skinned inkling protested.
The long-haired girl turned into a squid and leaped into the air, green ink trailing behind her. She landed on a platform below, standing on top of a kettle with stickers plastered all over it. The Rainbow Squids followed her, landing around her. She turned into a squid and slipped inside, the others accompanying her. For a moment, Roy's surroundings were dark before his eyes were hit by a brilliant burst of light. He found himself on a spawn point and shook the ink off of him before stepping off.
The area he now stood in was...in a state of disrepair. The sky seemed like it was falling—golden clouds were sometimes replaced by pitch black squares, and with every step he took, he heard something creak. A billow of black smoke hovered in the air, its source unclear. The tan-skinned boy couldn't help but feel something was amiss.
"Well, we're here," Geneva announced, stepping onto a swirling circle of green ink and turning around. "The Flooder Junkyard."
"Is that why there's smoke over there?" Via asked, pointing past her.
"Smoke?" The long-haired inkling turned around and jumped, startled. "Holy carp, you're right!"
"Let's go check it out," Inigo suggested.
Geneva glared at him from over her shoulder. "You can do that," she retorted. "I'm not leading the others there."
"C'mon, G, wouldn't hurt to check," Yuri teased.
She frowned and folded her arms tightly against her chest. A few seconds later, her grip tightened, and she let out a deep sigh.
"I didn't want you guys to know the truth about me," she started. "Because then things like this happen. You get too curious, and you end up splatting forever. And if you somehow manage to survive, you're scarred forever. Some things you just can't erase from your memory, once you see them. You have to deal with them for the rest of your life."
The air grew heavy as Geneva finished. Roy stared at her, his mouth agape. What was he supposed to say? He glanced over at Inigo, then Octavia. If anyone was going to say anything, it was them. But they, too, were at a loss for words. He returned his attention to the long-haired inkling, who now relaxed.
"I'm sorry," she apologized with a whisper. "...I'll take you there."
She turned into a squid on the swirling circle, and moments later, she flew through the air, super-jumping towards the source of the smoke. Alexis soon followed, turning into a squid herself and super-jumping. The rest of the Rainbow Squids followed, landing on a platform. The smoke had grown thicker here, obscuring his vision a little bit. Coughing, Geneva climbed up the ramp and walked behind a glass box that encased some kind of machine. Of course, the others followed.
Behind the glass box were two cylindrical machines that had rammed into each other, their fronts destroyed like they were cars in a car crash. Magenta ink leaked from the metal plating, pooling around the machines. Alexis lifted her shoe and stared at the soles of her sneakers in disgust.
"How did they crash?" the short-haired girl puzzled. She paused, coughing. "They all have set paths."
"Maybe it malfunctioned?" Perry guessed.
"Possibly," Geneva agreed, "or, someone reprogrammed them."
"And who could that be?" Roy asked, crossing his arms. "The Octarians haven't been here since you beat DJ Octavio three years ago. There's no reason why they would suddenly come back."
"I occasionally find a few Octarians here after they mostly moved to Octo Canyon," she pointed out. "We can't rule out the possibility."
The tan-skinned inkling started to speak, but he found himself drawing out the first symbol as he spotted a magenta trail of ink shoot through the sky. Something landed on the platform with a thud, and he turned around, shutting himself up.
A poufy-haired girl a little older than him had landed just in front of the ramp, wearing a black crop top with a silver chest plate that was worn like a sash. She twirled an Octo Shot in her gloved hands, giggling. A red light shined brightly on the shades she wore. The same outfit he had seen Oscar's brother wore a few days ago.
"Speak of the devilfish," Geneva muttered, scanning the area around her, "it's an ambush."
Alexis pulled out a black charger with neon green accents and red lights. "You squids hide," she instructed. "Three and I will take it from here."
Roy nodded and looked over at the others. Inigo had turned into a squid, super-jumping on top of the glass box. The rest of the Rainbow Squids followed, and they now observed Geneva and Alexis in the maze. The former had pulled out her Hero Shot, pointing it at the octoling. They charged towards each other, magenta and green ink flying between them. The latter had her back turned, pointing the charger at another octoling up ahead. The second octoling charged towards the short-haired girl, firing a shot from her Blaster. Alexis jumped over her and kicked her in the back, sending her flying towards the fallen machines. One machine creaked and fell to the ground, crushing the octoling and splatting her.
The group recoiled away from the edge of the box as another billow of smoke lifted into the air. They looked at each other, panic settling in. Roy glimpsed at the area behind him. They could super-jump back to the platform, but he had a feeling Octavia wasn't willing to leave Alexis behind.
"We have to leave," Inigo insisted, his gaze stern.
"But what about Alexis and Geneva?" Via fretted. "We can't leave them here!" Roy gave a sad smile, satisfied that his prediction proved to be correct. But they couldn't rest yet. Especially with the possibility that the Octarians could attack them.
Blobs of magenta ink started swirling about in the air, spawning flying tentacles. They wiggled around with only the propeller helmet holding them up, and they then spat out blobs of ink towards the Rainbow Squids. They jumped out of the way, Bonnie nearly falling off the edge. Perry pulled her up, and now they were face-to-face with the attacking Octarians.
"Any of you have weapons?" Yuri asked. The inklings shook their heads. "Dang it!"
"Well, what are we gonna do?" Roy jeered. "Spit at it?"
"Punching's still an option," he pointed out.
The tan-skinned inkling sighed. "If we have no other choice, then we might as well."
The Octarians flew closer to the Rainbow Squids, spewing ink blobs at them again. This time, their window of error was slim, the group just barely dodging them. Roy bumped into Inigo, and the two fell over, now staring into the bulging green eyes of the flying tentacle.
"...Roy?" Inigo whispered.
"Yeah?"
"You think this was a bad idea?"
"Definitely, but let's talk later, when there's not an Octarian right in our face."
"Yeah, yeah."
Roy raised a fist and punched the Octarian in the face, sending it flying back. It struggled to regain its footing in the sky, writhing. It disappeared into the smoke, where Roy heard something fall onto the ground a few seconds later. Another flying Octarian appeared and shot a blob of magenta ink at them. Roy and Inigo rolled out of the way and got on their feet, the ink dissipating as soon as it contacting the metal.
One Octarian soon gurgled in pain, its legs flailing as a dark mark formed on its face. In front of it was Yuri, who rubbed his knuckles.
"We punchin' things now?" Perry chirped. "Aw yeah! Let's go!"
The pale-skinned boy cracked his knuckles and readied a fist, sending it towards the Octarian in front of him. It started spinning out of control, ramming into the other injured Octarian. As soon as they collided, they started falling to the ground with a loud crash.
Roy punched another Octarian. The upper half of his fist hit the helmet this time, and he retracted his hand, wincing as pain stung his knuckles. Still, the Octarian had become stunned, bumping into the wall and falling down. He heard a bomb blow up below him, and gargled cries followed. An octopus-shaped ghost floated towards the sky a few seconds later.
"Any more?" Geneva yelled.
"No," replied Alexis. "I don't see any more octolings, at least."
"Then the worst of it is over," she proclaimed. "Just clean up whatever Octarians are left, and we can get outta here."
"Will do!"
A green beam of ink shot through the air, piercing through two Octarians that flew around Octavia and Bonnie. The short-haired girl cheered below, but her exclamations quickly faded as a bigger blob of ink swirled in the air, forming a plump Octarian with tentacles hanging at its side. It hurled a splat bomb out of its mouth, landing in the middle of the platform the Rainbow Squids stood on.
"Get off!" Inigo shouted, diving towards the ground.
The bomb blew up, specks of ink flying onto Roy's back. It seemed to burn through his clothes, pricking his skin. He muttered a curse under his breath, rubbing his back. His eyes trailed over to Geneva, who tore through an Octarian and jumped on the vehicle it left behind, leaping up to shoot at the bomb-spewing Octarian. A few bullets later, the Octarian splatted, and at last, the assault seemed to be over.
"Phew..." the long-haired girl muttered, out of breath. She coughed, and then she announced, "Let's get out of here."
"Yeah..." Alexis breathed.
Geneva turned into a squid and super-jumped towards the sky, disappearing into the light. The others soon followed, and soon, he squeezed his eyes shut as the sky contacted his skin. He blinked, adjusting himself to the brightness.
"Ah..." the long-haired girl muttered, spreading her arms open. "The fresh air is so nice."
"Yeah, I can finally breathe," Bonnie agreed, her eyes thinning as a smile spread across her face.
"Oh! Were those machines flooders?" Perry suddenly inquired, ears perking up. "I was too caught-up in the whole 'Octarians are attackin' us' thing that I forgot 'bout it."
"Yep, those were flooders," Alexis confirmed. "Scary, right?"
"Guess they were," Roy muttered. "They weren't doing anything, though."
"Of course they weren't doing anything; they were broken!" the short-haired girl snapped.
Inigo turned to look at Geneva, who had sat down on the edge of the platform they stood on. "Are you gonna continue the story?"
She nodded. "Now, where was I..."
"Oh, yeah, the flooders. Despite them, I kept pressing on. But then...Cap'n Cuttlefish was...kidnapped. I was alone. I made it my goal to save him, no matter what. The day after he was kidnapped, I got a call from two new people. Those people being Agent 1 and Agent 2. With their help, I continued saving zapfish. Eventually, we pinned down the person who kidnapped Cap'n Cuttlefish...DJ Octavio. The leader of the Octarians.
"The missions leading up to his lair were some of the toughest yet. But I got through them. Eventually, I reached his lair, where both the Great Zapfish and Cap'n Cuttlefish were being held. This was the final battle, and I was going to save them both, no matter what. That battle...was the hardest thing I've ever done."
Geneva went silent, shaking as she gripped herself. Roy took a few steps back, confused. That's new...
"...Geneva?" Octavia reached out a hand for her, stepping towards her. "Are you OK?"
The long-haired girl shook her head slightly, digging her fingers into her arms. "I can't... I can't..."
The wavy-haired inkling kneeled down and placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump and roll out of the way. Via retracted her hand, surprised. However, Geneva fell, screaming, landing on the platform below. The Rainbow Squids crowded around the edge of the platform upon hearing her cries, eyes wide.
"Geneva!" Inigo called. "Are you OK?"
"I just asked that," Via remarked, pursing her lips.
The fair-skinned inkling got up and started running, sliding down the ramps. Alarmed, Roy jumped down to the platform below and started running after her, calling her name. Quickly, they were reaching the end of the platform. If she kept running, Geneva would be falling to her doom. Gritting his teeth, the tan-skinned boy leaped forward, grabbing his friend and tackling her to the ground.
"Get off of me!" she protested. "I have to keep fighting!"
"What are you talking about? There's nothing to fight!" he perplexed through his panic. "You're gonna fall off if you keep going!"
"DJ Octavio! I have to, I have to keep fighting!" Geneva argued, face contorted with panic.
He heard someone jump down next to him, and looking over his shoulder, he saw Alexis, walking up to the two of them.
"Get off of her," she told him.
Roy let go, and Geneva remained where she was, beads of sweat rolling down her face. Alexis grabbed her hand, squeezing it. The long-haired inkling looked over at the younger girl, blinking.
"Breathe," she instructed. "That's what the internet said, anyways."
"Breathe..." The girl closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath and exhaling.
"You're not in danger," Alexis continued. "DJ Octavio's nowhere near here. He can't hurt you."
"He's...not here." She opened her eyes, the one eye exposed reflecting the sunlight. She sat up, feeling herself. "He's not here." She eyed her surroundings as the rest of the Rainbow Squids approached her. "But my friends are." She smiled. "I'm not fighting anyone. I'm just here with my friends."
"You OK now, Geneva?" Bonnie asked, clasping her hands together.
"I...don't know." The long-haired girl rubbed her arms, looking away from the group. "I'm sorry you had to see that."
"It's fine," Perry assured her, crossing his arms. "I guess being a hero comes with its downsides."
"Yeah," Roy muttered in agreement.
"But we're here," Yuri affirmed. "And if it happens again, we'll be here to help you."
"I..." Geneva's mouth fell open, lost in thought. However, with a smile, she approached the group, pulling everyone into a hug. "Thank you."
They remained on the ground for a long time, encircling the long-haired inkling as she rested her head, her breaths steady. When they let go, they started heading home, their purpose in Octo Valley finished. Geneva had told the story she wanted to tell, and she would tell no more. That was the resolution they came up with.
Early next morning, Roy woke up in the darkness, coughing. With a sharp headache, he put his pillow over his head, hoping to distract himself from it.
"D-Dangit," he croaked, grabbing his phone off his nightstand. He strained his eyes to see what new texts had been sent to the Rainbow Squids' group chat.
All texts complaining about headaches.
Roy lowered his head, groaning. Everyone had gotten sick from the smoke in the Flooder Junkyard, he presumed.
"Thanks a lot, Perry..."
A/N: Oh no! The Rainbow Squids are sick! ...Next chapter is a Splatfest chapter (Fork vs. Spoon), which is almost a month after the current events of the story. So, that's my justification for the time skip next chapter. Anyways, how did you guys like this chapter? Originally, it was just going to be the flashback, but I realized it was going to be too short if that was the case. So, I added in the bit with the flooders. Hopefully it made the chapter more exciting. Additionally: I've been doing this on AO3, but I'm going to start adding warnings to the beginning of certain chapters when they're needed, like this one. Hopefully, this should help people who want to avoid certain topics avoid them. I've also specified which chapters and where in the chapter contain sensitive content in the beginning note, so that should help, too. I'm glad to be posting again, and I'm excited for you guys to see how the second half of "The Rainbow Squids" will unfold, starting with Season 4. Man, Season 4. I really have been doing this for a while. Well, I'll see you next week. Branchwing, out!