Anonymous reviews (from two different people this time!)

ika tako gamer: I realized I forgot to answer a question from the last batch, so the answer to if Gio has a crush on Perry: he does. I thought it was clear in that chapter... Oh well. Unfortunately, it's unrequited, so Perry doesn't like him back. :( Anyways, I'm glad you liked last chapter. It was nice to write Emery again too! Especially with how different they are compared to the last time we've seen them. Now, for this round of new questions:

1. It's the mask from the Sneaky Beanie! Nothing more to it. (This isn't related to the question, but Deadeye's eyepatch is an actual eyepatch. A white, square one.)

2. The agent chapters are very interesting to write! Action is one of my favorite things to write, and agent chapters have plenty of action!

3. The riff will continue into Season 5, though it probably won't continue into Season 6. Maybe it will, but we'll see.

4. Angel's goal is to bring Oscar back into Octarian society. His disappearance pretty much tarnished his family name, so he believes that bringing him back will let him rise the ranks again.

I hope this answers your questions!

Agent 4: I know canonically Agent 3 doesn't get any sanitization scars from the events of Octo Expansion - it's a just fun fanon thing many people like to do, myself included. Besides, this story isn't entirely compliant with canon (Splatoon 2's hero mode and Octo Expansion happen at the exact same time in canon, while Octo Expansion starts during Hero Mode and ends after it in this story, for example, and they probably did not take as long as it did in this story), so I'm allowed to have fun with it.

On to the story:

Bonnie's PoV

"Bonnie!" her mother called. "Come down here!"

The blue-haired girl put down her phone, rubbing her eyes. What did she want so early in the morning? And on a weekend, too? Regardless, she shouldn't make her mother upset. She put on her glasses and slippers and walked down the steps, towards the source of the woman's voice.

Her mother sat on a stool in front of the counter, shoulders squared as she set her hands neatly on it. The ends of her hair were cut off—the result of her haircut last week—echoing the popular haircut many inkling girls her age donned. She simply wore a black blazer with her company's logo pinned to her chest. A cup of tea sat next to her, its aroma wafting throughout the room. The woman's eyes seemed to bore into Bonnie's soul, a multitude of expectations now weighing down on her. Noticing herself slouching, she immediately straightened her posture, clenching her fists.

"Ah, now you're here," she commented, dipping her head. "Bonnie, dear, we're going over to Beth's house today. You know, Beth, right?"

The blue-haired girl nodded. "Yeah... Of course I do." She blinked, letting her mother's words sink in. "But why are we going over there?"

"To hang out with her, of course. Your dad and James are coming, too."

She gawked at her, surprised at her explanation. "...Why do I have to come?" she dared to ask after a brief silence.

"Because I said so," she replied.

Bonnie let out a sigh. There was no way she was going to convince her mom to let her stay home with that reasoning. She searched her pockets, but then she remembered she left her phone upstairs. Frowning, she dug her hands into them, waiting for her mom to continue speaking.

"It'll be fun, Bonnie," she urged. "Beth's kid will be there."

"What about James's kids?" she then inquired.

"His wife is taking care of them," she answered. "Besides, it's been a long time since you two have last seen each other. It'll be nice to reconnect with someone you haven't seen in years."

She seems set on making me come, Bonnie observed. "OK. When are we leaving?"

"After we eat breakfast. Get yourself ready. We'll be there all day."

"OK," she simply said. Her mother excused her, and she walked back upstairs, back to her room. She plopped into her bed face-first and groaned, digging her head into her blankets. She was planning to hang out with Via today... She would have to break the bad news to her now. She reached over to her phone and started to text Octavia. As soon as she hit the send button, she got another message, this one from Yuri.

'Salmon runs open,' it read. 'Wanna do a few rounds today?'

She replied that she can't, explaining why in a text much like the one she sent to Via only a few moments ago. After she sent that text, she figured that it would be better to let the entire group know. She copied the text she sent to the wavy-haired girl and sent it into the group chat, allowing anyone in it to see. Now with that out of the way, she proceeded to change into her everyday wear.

She put on a Firefin navy sweat, seeing as her usual top was still in the laundry room somewhere, and some sweatpants. She grabbed her shoes and carried them downstairs, placing them by the front door in the living room. Her dad was in that room, lounging back in a reclining chair as he watched a news channel. She rolled her eyes as the news anchors proceeded to talk about politics. She wasn't interested in that! But her dad was, for some reason. He had to be aware of their outing to Beth's house today. She snuck away, hoping her dad wouldn't notice her as she made her way to the kitchen.

Her mother had placed a box of cereal and a carton of milk on the opposite end of the counter she sat at, alongside a bowl and a spoon. Bonnie proceeded to pour the corn flakes out of the box and into the bowl, then pouring milk into the bowl. She put the milk carton back in the refrigerator and returned to the counter, jumping up onto the stool so that she could eat. Sometimes she wished she could eat a different kind of cereal other than the same old corn flakes every day, but it was the only kind of cereal her parents bought. Even when she tried to convince them to buy something new, they persisted, continuing to buy the same old corn flakes.

Her mind then drifted over to Beth's kid. She placed a hand on her forehead, trying to visualize what her kid looked like. She remembered that they had green eyes, much like Beth, but otherwise, the facial features resembled the father more. The last time she saw them was before either of them gained the ability to switch between forms, so she had no idea what they would look like now. Though, from how her mom worded things, she had a feeling they looked quite different from the last time she saw them.

After she finished the bowl of cereal, she dumped it into the sink and walked towards the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth. She went back upstairs for anything she could take with her to Beth's house before they left. She grabbed her phone, of course, and she scanned her bookshelf, looking for something to read over there.

"Bonnie!" her mom called. "We're leaving!"

She looked towards her bookshelf. Well, she could read another time.

She ran back downstairs, to the front door where her parents stood. Her father opened the door, allowing the two inklings to walk outside first before he followed and closed the door, locking it. Bonnie crawled into the backseat, putting her seat buckle on while her mom sat in the passenger's seat. Finally, her father climbed into the car, starting it up and pulling out of the driveway. From there, the girl with the double bun sank into the cushions of the back seat, watching the scenery flash by as they drove to Beth's house on the other side of Inkopolis.

An hour and a half later, they finally arrived, parking on the side of the street, across from the townhouse Beth and her family lived in. They crawled out of the car, walking to the red door. A wreath made of sticks and leaves hung on it.

Her mother raised a hand, ringing the doorbell and then knocking on the door. "Hello? Beth?" she called. "It's us."

Footsteps scrambled closer to them, and the door opened, revealing the almond-skinned inkling woman. She had her hair tied up on the top of her head today, her ink color a royal blue. Green eyes stared into the group, expectant.

"There you are!" she exclaimed. "James was considering getting started without you."

"That's James for you," Bonnie's dad remarked. "Always impatient."

"And Bonnie, too!" Beth continued, turning her attention towards the teenager. "You can go upstairs."

She merely gave a nod, and the group proceeded to step inside the house. The stairs were located to the left of the entrance hallway, white walls surrounding her. Various picture frames were hung up on the walls, consisting of mostly paintings. A black table leaning against the right wall had a picture of Beth's family on it, alongside her kid's various high school pictures. The adults started to stare at her, indicating that this was her cue to leave. She thinned her lips and took her shoes off before walking upstairs.

Several doors decorated the second floor of the townhouse. She assumed one was the bathroom, while the other rooms were for the house's residents and guests. Obviously, the one Beth's kid lived in was decorated with several menacing stickers, a flame decal running alongside the very top of the door. She approached this door and knocked on it.

"Um, hello?" she spoke. "It's Bonnie."

The door opened, revealing...Zip.

So that's why he looked so familiar... I've hung out with him before!

"Hi," he greeted, his voice curt. Bonnie started to fiddle with her fingers, unsure what to say. In response, the inkling boy raised an eyebrow. "You gonna come in, or...?"

"Oh! Yes." She stepped inside the room, and Zip slammed the door behind them. He proceeded to walk over to his bed on the right side of the room, sitting down on it cross-legged. Bonnie took a few moments to observe the room. The walls were colored a pale pink, greatly contrasting the furniture the inkling chose to decorate his room with. The blankets of his bed were a dark blue, the bedframe white. Above the bed were several strokes of different colors of paint, largely covered by a Wet Floor poster. His desk was also white and situated in front of the window on the far side of the room. A small, black lamp was situated on top of it, and a blue spinning chair was pushed underneath the desk. Next to the lamp was a pencil holder, carrying various writing utensils, a pair of scissors, and a pride flag. The dresser also happened to be white, and it was located across from the bed. Various trinkets were scattered on top of the dresser, including a baseball enclosed in a glass case and a 3DS. Zip then cleared his throat, grabbing Bonnie's attention.

"You just gonna stand there?" he challenged.

She gasped. "Um... You don't seem too happy."

"Of course I'm not happy," he affirmed. "My mom brought her friends, and I can hear them from up here." He glanced over at Bonnie, smirking. "Maybe if we make some noise, we can drown them out."

"Make some noise?" She scratched her head. "How?"

"Well, can you sing?" He got up from his bed and walked over to his dresser, picking up a wireless speaker. He pulled out his phone and pressed a few buttons, causing a blue light to shine in the middle of the speaker. "We'll do karaoke."

"Kind of..." She recalled the advice given to her back during the singing and dancing contest. She just had to speak louder...but she didn't want to disturb her parents. She squeezed her eyes shut, imagining her parents walking into this room and scolding them. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" she questioned, eyes still shut.

"Well, they'll be too busy," he replied. "We can sing to our hearts' content." Bonnie opened her eyes and looked over at the almond-skinned boy. He tapped another button on his phone, and the intro to Undertow began to play. He looked over at her. "You first."

"Oh! Ahem." Once the song arrived at the vocal part, she began to sing, though it was more like mumbling sounds that went with the melody of the song. She didn't listen to this song normally, only ever hearing it during a turf war. After some time had passed, Zip interjected with the other singer's rapping, though the lyrics were actually accurate this time.

After the song broke out into an instrumental break, he let out a sigh and shook his head. "You gotta sing louder than that."

"But I don't know the lyrics," she defended.

"At least improvise loudly," he suggested. "A singer that doesn't know the words is better than a singer who's quiet."

"But what if it's intentional?" she argued. "What if it's a nice, soft song?"

"Well, I don't listen to soft songs," he pointed out. "So, loud is better."

"Can we do a different song?" she then asked. "Like an Off the Hook song?"

Zip sighed. "Fine, fine." The music stopped, and he began scrolling through his phone, looking for the next song.

"...Do you like Off the Hook?" Bonnie inquired, her voice a little shaky.

"Yeah," he replied. "I like them better than the Squid Sisters."

"What? What's wrong with the Squid Sisters?"

"They're too poppy for me. Off the Hook has more of a variety in music."

"I see..."

Zip pressed a button, and Shark Bytes began to play. He turned to Bonnie, putting his hands on his hips. After a few moments, she began to sing Marina's parts, vocalizing with the instrumentals provided by this karaoke version. She was much more confident this time, for as she knew the lyrics. Zip smiled, doing a light clap before breaking out into Pearl's verses. Together, the two sang as the music blasted through the room, loud enough that they could no longer hear any other noises downstairs. Eventually, the song came to end, and the two did a high five.

"We did it!" she exclaimed. "We got through a song!"

"Heck yeah we did!" Zip chorused, pumping a fist.

"What next? Nasty Majesty?"

"Happens to be the song before this one," he commented. He pressed a button, and for a few moments, it was silent. The sudden beat caught her off-guard, and she began to sing once she recovered, while Zip occansionally interjected, much like Pearl and Marina did when they performed the song. They danced around the room, as if they were on stage. For a few moments, she felt like she was unstoppable.

Eventually, the song came to an end, and Bonnie plopped into the spinning chair, twirling around in it. "Woo..." she breathed. "That was fun!"

"Yeah," Zip agreed, landing on his bed. "That was...even better than the last song."

"Yeah, yeah." Bonnie took a few deep breaths as she sat on the chair, her heart pounding in her chest. She supposed her mom was right, for once. She did have fun with Beth's kid! She looked over at the alarm clock sitting on the dresser. Barely any time had passed, much to her disappointment. She could continue singing, but those two songs took a lot out of her.

"You taking a break?" he asked. She nodded, and he nodded back in response. He started looking through his phone again, playing Endolphin Surge through the speaker, with this version having the vocals.

"You know, Zip..." Bonnie started. "I noticed you don't like your mom anymore." She chuckled. "You used to follow her everywhere. To the point where you cried when you two were separated." Zip looked away at her comments, blushing from embarrassment. "What happened?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "I got older," he replied, "and I found out more about myself. Then I got new friends. ...Mom didn't take that too well" The blue-haired girl leaned forward in her seat, curious. "Patch and Tackle. She doesn't like them at all. She keeps calling them a bad influence."

"They don't seem bad," she remarked. "I don't think Yuri would be friends with them if they were."

"Exactly!" he agreed, looking towards Bonnie. "The 'baddest' thing we've done was play baseball on school property. And there's much worse things you could do! I wouldn't get rid of them, no matter what people do."

"Because they're your friends."

"Yeah." He smiled. "You feel the same way about the Rainbow Squids, don't you? Friends you would die for?"

"Yes," she said without hestiation. "I can't imagine life without them."

"I've tried telling my mom that, but...she won't listen." He rose from his bed and stepped over to his desk, picking up the pride flag from the pencil holder. "And this is the best I've been able to get with my mom's permission." He started to twirl it around in his fingers, blue, pink, and white colors becoming a blur as it spun around. "She won't even let me get a haircut, among other things."

"Can't you do it behind her back?" Bonnie suggested.

"She would notice," he shot down. "And then she'll get mad..." He shook his head, placing the flag back. "You wouldn't understand. You have nothing to worry about."

"Well, I'm your friend, aren't I?" she said, now more determined as she stood up from the chair. "Even if we haven't talked in four or five years, even if I don't understand your problems, I'm still your friend." She nodded, placing her hands on his shoulders. "I'll help you however I can, Zip. Starting with the haircut. I promise."

He stared at her with green eyes. "I..." After the initial shock, he dipped his head. "Thank you."

"We have to ask now," she declared. "I don't know when the next chance will be."

"Now?" he repeated.

"Now."

He gulped. "A-Alright." He turned off the music and started walking towards the door, opening it. "You first."

"Thanks," she muttered, walking out. She gestured for Zip to follow, and he did, closing the door behind him. They walked down the hallway, to the stairs. They stepped down to the entrance hallway, traveling down it, past the kitchen and to the living room, where Bonnie's parents, Beth, and James were all gathered, drinks in their hands as they watched TV. Upon their arrival, the adults' attention turned towards them.

"Bonnie?" her dad perplexed, sitting up. "You need something?"

"You're with Beth's kid, too," her mom mused. "...Is there something the two of you want?"

"Yes," she replied, turning to the almond-skinned woman. "Beth."

Beth lifted her head, raising an eyebrow. "Yes?"

She exchanged glances with Zip, the words caught in her throat. She was so determined to help Zip...but now, in front of the person she needed to actually ask, she couldn't speak. She just had to hope the inkling boy would start speaking so she wouldn't have to. Thankfully, he did.

"I want a haircut," he simply stated, staring into his mother's eyes.

Beth merely sighed, shaking her head. "We've been over this. You're not getting a haircut."

Zip didn't seem surprised. He looked at Bonnie, beckoning her to speak.

"Please?" she managed to squeak out. "Z-Zip... He's not happy. And...you're his mom. Aren't you supposed to make him happy?"

"He still lives under my roof," she argued, narrowing her eyes. "My house, my rules."

"Mom, please," Zip pleaded, taking a step. "My birthday's next week. I'll be 18 then. An adult!"

"A no's a no," she affirmed, crossing her arms.

"Uh..." Bonnie glanced over at her parents. "You're not going to step in?"

"Why would we?" her mom puzzled. "We're not his parents." Her dad nodded in agreement.

The blue-haired girl clenched her fists, cursing under her breath. Why couldn't she have her friends' skills in persuasion? Why couldn't she have a silver tongue instead? Maybe if Octavia was here, she could back the two of them up! Instead, it was just her and Zip, pitifully making an argument for the boy to get a haircut.

She promised Zip she would help him, but...it looks like today wasn't the day.

"Let's go," he told her. "You did what you could."

She frowned, eyelids heavy. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. How badly she wished to lash out, to demand Beth to let him get a haircut. But that would be rude of her. Zip grabbed her hand and tugged on it, trying to drag her away. She turned into a squid and crawled up his arm, resting on his shoulder. They turned around and walked back up the steps, towards Zip's room. They entered it again, sitting down on the bed. He set Bonnie down on the floor, and she transformed back, looking up at him.

"That was a bust," he commented, crossing his arms. "You see now?"

"Yeah," she said. She focused her blue eyes on him. "But I don't want to give up now."

"Still," he started, eyes wide, "after all of that?"

"Yes." She stood up, rubbing her pants clean of dirt. "I made a promise, didn't I? I'm not breaking it, no matter what."

He stared at her, still wide-eyed. "You're...very persistent on this."

"Because that's what friends are for," she finished, smiling.

Slowly, he dipped his head, smiling. "Thank you, Bonnie," he said after a long silence. "I mean it."

"You're welcome," she muttered, smiling.

He got up from his bed, walking up to the speaker. "Now, enough of that. Let's start singing again."

"Alright!"

He pulled out his phone and pressed another button, causing the karaoke version of Endolphin Surge to start playing. Together, they happily sang their troubles away, music filling the room as they got absorbed into the song, acting as if nothing in the world was bothering them at all.

A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter. We got to learn more about Zip here! I don't usually write chapters focusing more on the side characters, so it was a nice breath of a fresh air to finally write this. I've been planning Bonnie and Zip's hangout for a while - since shortly after Zip's first appearance in Season 3 was written, if I had to guess when exactly. And don't worry - even though they failed this time, Zip will get a haircut eventually. When? Soon, hopefully before Season 4 ends. Well, that's all I have to say. Branchwing, out!