Anonymous reviews:
Agent 4: Well, we'll see what happens. And I'll admit, I do think I can write Roy and Oscar better. I figure that's not what you mean, but I'm worried Oscar's being delegated to "love interest" too much. I worry I have the same problem with Geneva and Eight. I guess it is a consequence of the story being limited to just the Rainbow Squids' perspectives for the most part - we only see the members of Octa Prisma when they're with any member of the Rainbow Squids. So we rarely see them alone. In order to write a relationship successfully, you have to make sure each person in it is their own person - not only existing to serve as someone the main character hooks up with. They got to have personality!
On to the story. Mr. Grizz's dialogue is from the game.
Octavia's PoV
"And now a word from our sponsors," Pearl announced, a smile on her face. On the screen behind her, an orange advertisement was displayed, an image of a worker's head towel plastered on it. "Grizzco Industries is now hiring!"
"Let's work a Salmon Run shift later, Pearl!" Marina then suggested. From there, a transition played, and Off the Hook proceeded to announce the end of the broadcast, saying their catchphrase and doing their signature pose before the screen cut to an advertisement. From there, Octavia exited out of the window and placed her phone on her stomach, her head sinking into the pillows on her bed.
"Too bad no one's available..." she groaned. It had been a few days since Alexis returned to Inkopolis, and despite everything, the Rainbow Squids had returned to their normal lives, no longer needing to worry about the short-haired inkling.
But being Alexis's big sister, she'll always have to worry. She definitely did not want her running off and risk herself getting hurt...again. She figured she would be fine for now, but the fear still loomed in the back of her mind.
A thought coming to mind, Via rose from her bed and exited her room, walking down the hallway to her younger sister's. The door was closed shut, with only stickers spelling out her name indicating that it belonged to Alexis.
She knocked on the door, and she spoke, trying to hide her distress. "Hey, Alexis? It's Via."
The door opened up, revealing the short-haired girl. Though she wasn't wearing her usual bobble hat at the moment, she spotted it on a coat rack near her bed, alongside a few other hats. She didn't seem too happy to see her, though.
"What do you want?" Alexis inquired.
"I was wondering..." Via then paused for dramatic effect, leading her perplexed sister to raise an eyebrow. "...If you wanted to go on a Salmon Run!"
"I guess," she replied. "I don't really have anything else to do."
"Fresh!" the wavy-haired girl explained, pumping a fist. "Put your gear on, and let's get going."
"Says the one who's not wearing shoes," Alexis jested, smirking.
"I-I'll get to that," she acknowledged. "But be quick, OK?"
"I will, don't you worry." She winked and closed the door, signaling to Octavia that she should get ready herself. She returned to her room and put on her shoes before grabbing her keys and walking downstairs. She sat on the couch, grabbing her phone and scrolling through Squidsagram in the meantime. Soon enough, footsteps sounded on the stairs, signifying Alexis's arrival. The wavy-haired girl rose from her seat, looking over at her younger sister. They met each other's eyes and nodded.
"Ready?" Octavia asked.
"Ready," replied Alexis.
"Then we're off!" she declared.
The two exited the house, with Via locking the door, and they proceeded to walk down the streets, towards Inkopolis Square. They weren't as crowded as usual, presumably because of the cold weather, but it still proved difficult to navigate. They got to the square in no time, though, the neon sign above the entrance to Grizzco's faintly glowing orange. Despite the sky getting dark, plenty of inklings crowded around the building trying to get inside. Alexis tried skipping ahead, but Octavia grabbed the back of her shirt collar and dragged her to the end of the line, the short-haired girl pouting in response.
Thankfully, the line moved rather quickly, and after a few minutes, they were inside the building. Mr. Grizz was greeting everyone, his words soon becoming like a broken record. Slowly, but surely, the sisters made their way towards the elevators and entered one of them. Via pinched her nose as the scent of body odor hit her nostrils, though Alexis barely seemed bothered by it. Since she was an agent, however, she supposed she was used to it. The elevator door shut, and it began to descend.
She took this time to examine her coworkers for this shift. She quickly identified the inkling responsible for the foul stench—a fair-skinned boy with cyan hair styled in a bowl cut. She spotted a b-ball headband under his bangs, and his white tee was damp with sweat. The other inkling, a girl with golden skin and violet hair styled in a double bun, pressed her back against the wall, looking at the inkling boy with disgust. She seemed rather extravagant compared to the boy, wearing a pullover coat and a pair of Octoglasses on the top of her head. A golden lip piercing on her shone in the orange light.
As the elevator stopped, the cyan-haired boy let out a loud yawn. "Here already?" He shook his head. "Let's get this over with."
He turned into a squid and slipped through the grate that had revealed itself, with the other inklings in the room quick to follow. A few moments later, they found themselves on the deck of a boat. Via watched as it slowly drifted away from the shore of Inkopolis, out towards the sea. The lights of the city became smaller and smaller, until eventually it converged into one blob of white light. She turned around and leaned against the railing, hair waving gently in the sea breeze. Alexis and the violet-haired girl had already disappeared below deck, while the sweaty boy leaned against the cabin, his hands up behind his head. His dark green eyes focused on Octavia, and he began talking.
"So, you come here often?" From his words and the blush making its way across his face, she could only come to one conclusion that he was trying to flirt with her.
She narrowed her eyes. "When's the last time you took a shower?"
He blinked, taken aback. "Last night. I-I shower every day, I swear!"
"When you sweat that much? Maybe you should invest in deodorant or something."
His face only became more red. "I-I was just in a ranked match! A really intense one! This dogfish with the Kensa Splattershot Jr. kept chasing after me and splatting me! Especially with those bubbles of hers." He lowered his arms and leaped towards her. "We can fight together in a match after this shift, right? Maybe if she shows up again, we can fight her! And win!"
"You're asking a squid you just met to fight with you?" She laughed. "Ha, good luck with that! Besides, you don't even know if I'm worse or better than you."
The boy frowned. "What a jerk," he grumbled. He threw up his hands and proceeded to walk towards the cabin. "Just saying, it'll be your fault if we fail this shift."
"My fault?" Octavia's eyebrows furrowed, and she stood up straight, clenching a fist. "Oh, we'll see 'bout that." She walked into the cabin as well, descending below deck in order to get changed. She might as well do it sooner rather than later.
She found the changing room in no time, though Alexis nor one of her other coworkers were nowhere in sight. Figuring that her sister had finished changing into a work uniform by now, she grabbed one of the spare uniforms off the shelf and walked into the room, taking off her gear and putting on the orange-and-teal uniform instead. The stench of salmonid ink hung on it, but as always, she would have to ignore it. Yet it still bothered her, no matter how many Salmon Runs she participated in.
She walked back up to the deck to find the violet-haired girl and Alexis. The former stood on top of a chair, hands on her hips, while the latter stood a few feet away, merely listening to what has to say.
"And that's..." She trailed off as she noticed Via's arrival. "Oh! The squid that looks like you." She hopped off of her chair and walked over to her, bowing. "My name is Maeve Diamond, daughter of the one and only Sucker Princess."
"...Who?" The wavy-haired inkling tilted her head, confused.
"I said the same thing," Alexis interjected.
"Seriously? You too?" The girl with the double bun, Maeve, shook her head. "Tsk tsk. The Sucker Princess was considered one of the Big Four in terms of turf war back in the late 80s, early 90s. She, along with King Kraken, Tentacle Queen, and Bigfin Bully, was one of the freshest squids on the block! Surely your parents must've heard of her?"
"My sister and I's parents aren't from Inkopolis," she explained. "We moved here when I was in elementary school."
"Let me guess, that's your sister?" she questioned, pointing to Alexis.
"Exactly!" Via confirmed. "See? It makes sense why both of us don't know who this 'Sucker Princess' is!"
"Fine, fine. I guess it does make sense," she conceded. "Anyways, getting back to what I was saying to your sister before you showed up." Maeve climbed back on top of the chair, crossing her arms as a sneer came across her face. "The Sucker Princess was the youngest of the Big Four, but that doesn't mean she was the worst of them. No, far from it. She was actually very, very good! She's definitely earned her name."
"What about the other three?" Alexis asked. "What happened to them?"
"Eh, they faded into obscurity. King Kraken married his rival and had a son with her—that's all I know. Bigfin Bully ended up going to jail when I was a baby. No clue on what he's up to these days—or if he's still even alive. Tentacle Queen, on the other hand, never married, but her younger sister did rise up into fame. Ever heard of Kim Joubin?"
"Oh, the actor!" Octavia recognized. "She's gonna be on a new TV show with Callie of the Squid Sisters, right?"
"Of course that's how you know her," she muttered. "Well, yes, you're correct."
"But...what about your mom?" Alexis then asked.
"Right, right, you weren't here when I explained her." She cleared her throat. "Anyways, she works for Splat. You know, the company that made the Splattershot, the Splat Roller, the Splat Charger, et cetera. She's quite well-respected there!"
"Wow... That's fresh!" Via marveled.
"Mhm." Maeve closed her eyes and smiled. "Which is exactly why you should know the name, the Sucker Princess. And mine, too."
"You gonna give this same spiel to the sweaty dude?" Alexis asked her.
"Oh, no need. I already gave it to him earlier." She opened her eyes as her face fell, contorting into an expression of disgust. "He was on the same team as me in a Tower Control match. Seriously, how did he get into X Rank? He acted like he's never played a ranked match in his entire life!" Maeve sat down in the chair at last, digging her face into her gloves. "And now I have to work with him in Salmon Run, of all things."
"Maybe he'll be better at Salmon Run than Tower Control?" Octavia tried to encourage her.
"With his attitude, I doubt it," she scoffed.
"You squids were saying?"
At the sound of the new voice, the wavy-haired girl turned around to see the cyan-haired boy standing in the doorway leading below the deck, now having changed into the Grizzco uniform. His blush from earlier returned upon seeing Via, but whatever he was thinking, he seemed to ignore it for now.
"O-Oh!" Maeve exclaimed, standing up from her chair and clasping her hands together. "You're here." She gave a nervous smile.
"I heard that carp," he growled. "You really don't have any faith in me, May or whatever your name is, do you?"
"It's Maeve," she corrected. "And you should get your act together if we're gonna work together."
"You barely know me," the cyan-haired boy argued. "It could turn out I'm the best squid here. I am a profreshional, after all."
"Hey, can you two calm down?" Alexis snapped, walking over to them. "Maeve's right. We can't be arguing with each other if we're going to be working together." She pounded a fist into her gloved hand. "We gotta unite to fight one common enemy—the salmonids. And they'll definitely splat us if we don't splat each other first, if we keep this stuff up."
"Wise little girl, you are," he sneered. "Totally different from your sister."
"Hey!" Via protested. "How else was I supposed to react?"
"I don't know, being nice?" He crossed his arms. "Geez, you're reminding me of Kensa Jr. girl with each passing moment."
"And I'm not 'little,' by the way," the short-haired girl added. "I turn 16 on Squidmas Eve."
"You're-?!" The cyan-haired boy cut himself short, sighing and running a hand through his hair, pushing his bangs up before falling back down as soon as they no longer touched his gloved hand. "You know, I'm just gonna roll with that."
Octavia walked over to the railing, looking out towards the sea. In the distance, she could see a tower, water lapping at its base. Near it was a space ship that had sunken into the water, rust apparent on its wings. The Ruins of Ark Polaris. Surely there would be plenty of salmonids here!
Alexis soon joined her. "I've never seen this place before," she commented.
"Grizzco added it to the list pretty recently," Via explained. "No one knew it was a spot for salmonid migration for the longest time...until now, I guess. It's pretty fun with the ride rails and all."
The short-haired girl shuddered. "Maybe I should've gone a different shift."
"And miss out on this? Nah. Besides, Alexis, it's been a while since we've hung out like this."
"I guess..."
"Oh c'mon, cheer up! Maybe we can have a contest to see who can get more golden eggs."
Her younger sister snickered. "Alright, alright. We'll have a contest."
"Booyah!" She turned around to face Maeve and the cyan-haired boy, who had their backs turned away from each other. "What do you squids think? A contest to see who can get more golden eggs?"
The latter looked over at her. "That's too much work. We just gotta meet the quota and survive."
The former scowled. "Ignore him. I'm definitely up to it." She pounded a fist into her hand, smirking. "I'm going to win for sure."
"Well, sweaty boy, everyone else is participating in it," Octavia concluded, "so why don't you, too?"
"I have a name," he pointed out. "Besides, this contest is stupid. No use getting competitive over work." He crossed his arms. "We're gonna fail for sure if you go through with this."
"Hey, you never said your name," she defended.
"Neither did you!"
"Well, in case you want to know it, it's Octavia."
"And mine's Hayden."
"OK, Hayden, I guess you don't want to make this shift more lively."
"Hey hey hey!" Alexis interjected, pushing them apart again. "No fighting, OK?"
"Sorry," Via apologized, rubbing the back of her head.
Hayden scoffed. "Fine."
Moments later, the boat finally came to a stop, the Ruins of Ark Polaris towering above them. The group changed their ink color to orange and super-jumped to the very top of the tower, landing in a puddle of ink surrounding a silver base with a salmon logo on top of it. When Octavia emerged from the ink puddle, she found herself holding a weapon she rarely used—an Explosher. She grunted as she lifted it up, her grasp firm on the handle. How could some people even manage to use this regularly...? Not even Perry liked the Explosher, and it was from his favorite class of weapons!
A foghorn sounded, and Octavia ran up to the ledge of the tower, looking down at its base. Chums and cohocks climbed out of the water, their slate scales glistening. Dipping her head, she jumped down to the next level, standing on the grated platform. Swinging the Explosher, she lobbed globs of orange ink towards the salmonids, soon directing their attention towards her. In the corner of her eye, she watched a Drizzler leap into the sky, a tail sticking out from the metal canopy. It landed a few feet from her, and immediately, she swung her attention towards it, preparing her weapon once more. It shot a torpedo past her, and now that it was exposed, she had a chance to splat it, once and for all.
But here, the Explosher's weight was a deficit. By the time the Drizzler covered itself up, barely any ink covered it, much to Octavia's dismay. It shot out another torpedo, and immediately, she went on the offensive, slinging the slosher as much as she could. In the corner of her eye, the lesser salmonids were fast approaching, threatening to overtake her if she didn't deal with them sooner or later.
"Hey, squids?" she called, lifting her head. "A little help down here?"
"Coming!" Maeve's voice exclaimed. She jumped down to join Octavia, poised as she focused on the Drizzler. It leaped into the air, traveling to a new location. "You deal with the chums. I'll get the boss."
"Got it." With that, Maeve inked a trail for herself and swam off, leaving Via alone once more. She submerged into the orange ink puddle, readying more shots from her Explosher. When she emerged, she immediately swung it, her arms aching as a powerful glob rose from the weapon. It crashed down on the swarm, splatting them and leaving power eggs behind. As they flew towards her, she heard a shing from behind her. Whipping around, the Drizzler had been defeated, leaving behind three golden eggs. Maeve took one of them and swam up the walls, towards the egg basket. Remembering their competition, Via opted to run towards the eggs, grabbing one and following Maeve. However, by the time she had arrived at the egg basket, she was already gone. Presumably, she would take the lead in their little competition.
Suddenly, green markers appeared around her feet. Flyfish! Octavia rolled out of the way as missiles crashed down where she once stood, spreading the dark green ink—or whatever it was—everywhere. After she regained her footing, she scanned the skies, searching for her attacker. She soon found it behind her, inching towards the egg basket. Running up next to the ride rail, she tossed a bomb into one of the Flyfish's baskets. A few moments later, the basket exploded, surprise flashing in the pilot's eyes as the container crashed to the ground. Repositioning itself, it fired a few more missiles into the air, arcing towards Octavia. She dove into the ink and swam away to dodge them. When they had subsided, she tossed another bomb into the other basket, splatting the Flyfish once and for all. Immediately, she went after the golden eggs it left behind. Water lapped at the shore, and carefully, she picked one up, attaching itself to her ink tank.
More salmonids started to emerge, their bulging eyes setting their sights on her. As they swung their weapons at her, Via threw out a bomb in panic, knowing it would do more damage to them than using her Explosher to attack them. She ran towards the nearest ride rail, scrambling to get away from them before she could splat. A Scrapper rammed into her back, and she tripped, the Explosher breaking her fall. Having no other choice, she turned into a squid and swam away, climbing up into the ride rail. Letting out a sigh of relief, she emerged from the ride rail, jumping down to the top of the tower and throwing the egg she had retrieved into the basket.
Alexis arrived moments later, holding a Jet Squelcher in her hands as she placed a golden egg of her own inside the egg basket.
"That's the third one so far," she remarked, not taking notice of Octavia's presence. The short-haired girl muttered something under her breath that Via could not hear before setting off again, swimming right back to where she had come from. Smirking, she followed her sister, hoping to gain an edge in the competition. Her hopes quickly fell as she noticed that only one egg remained. A Snatcher probed at it, laughing as it put the golden egg under its arm. Alexis emerged from the ink briefly to splat it, and once again, the egg fell to the ground.
At the same time, Octavia swam ahead of her, grabbing the golden egg once the Snatcher was splatted. She transformed back into a kid just in time to see her sister's dismayed expression, her mouth gaping open.
"Hey!" she complained, eyebrows furrowing. "You can't just steal the egg like that!"
"But I can," she argued. "Anything to win this contest!"
Alexis groaned. "I'll get ahead of you," she declared. Before Via could respond, she swam off, soon disappearing from sight.
Resuming her focus towards her mission, she inked the walls and climbed up them, quickly reaching the top. She winced as drops of green ink rained down on her, hissing as they hit her uniform. Once she put her egg into the egg basket, she began her search for the intruding Drizzler. One flew up into the air, landing a few feet from the egg basket. It planted itself there, aiming a torpedo. Once it shot it out, the salmonid became exposed, wiggling around. Orange ink dripped off of it. Ignoring the torpedo, she swung her Explosher at it, and quickly, it exploded, spreading orange everywhere and leaving behind three golden eggs. And at last, she could take them all. As quickly as she could, she placed the eggs into the basket, and not a single one of her teammates tried to take them.
Hayden jumped down from the ride rail up above, tossing the golden egg he carried like a basketball. The egg swirled around the top of the egg basket before settling inside. He pumped a fist before swimming back in the direction he came from, presumably to get more golden eggs. Like she did with Alexis, she followed him, hoping to snag another golden egg and pull ahead in the competition. They arrived at the shore, where only one golden egg remained. Hayden darted towards it and picked up the golden egg, much to Via's dismay. Instead of running back up to the egg basket, he merely stood there, fixing his gaze on Octavia, orange eyes narrowed.
"I know you're there," he called.
Via reformed into a kid, eyes wide. "Wow," she commented. "You're observant."
"You were swimming rather loudly," he pointed out. "Still insistent on that contest of yours?"
"Yes," she affirmed. "You're the only one not participating in it."
"There's a Steelhead behind you."
"What?"
"Seriously." Hayden pointed past her, and Octavia let out a scream as she met face-to-face with the boss salmonid, its breath hot against her. It grunted as a bomb began to expand on the top of its head, and once it reached its full size, it launched it, landing in between her and Hayden. The two inklings scattered as it blew up, green ink covering where they once stood. Using his Splattershot, the boy with the bowl cut aimed at the Steelhead as it prepared another bomb, and quickly, it splatted, leaving behind three golden eggs.
"Well, thank you," she said, taking one of them. "If you didn't catch it sooner, I would've splatted for sure!"
"Maybe if you weren't so fixated on those eggs, I wouldn't have had to," he snapped.
"Rude," she scoffed. She jumped onto the nearby ride rail and rode up it, Hayden close behind. They landed on the top of the tower, green streaking the ground. Some smallfries were chasing after Maeve, a panicked look on her face. She threw out a splat bomb at her feet, and quickly, it exploded, disposing of her attackers. Moments later, she was gone, disappearing to deal with whatever salmonids lurked below.
"Time's ticking," Hayden warned, placing an egg into the basket. "Make sure you survive."
"Oh, I will, don't you worry," Octavia promised. Not saying another word, the boy with the bowl cut swam off, leaving Via to her lonesome once more. Though she started to search the area for any more boss salmonids, her attention snapped to cries of help down towards the shore.
She ran closer to the source, and looking down, two life preservers jumped about, squid-shaped ghosts bobbing up and down in them. The lesser salmonids around them dispersed, climbing up the tower.
"Get on the ride rail," Via demanded of them. "I'll revive you when you get up here."
The inklings complied, crawling towards the ride rail, ink skidding from the bottom of their life preservers as they rode it. As soon as they jumped into the sky, falling towards the egg basket, she swung her Explosher at them, reviving both Alexis and Maeve.
"Thanks," the former said.
"I wasted a Splashdown," the latter lamented. "How careless of me."
"A cohock splatted her mid-jump," Alexis supplemented. "I was already splatted, so I couldn't really do anything."
"Ouch," Octavia remarked. "I hate it when that happens."
Maeve tapped on their shoulders, directing their attention towards two Steel Eels climbing the tower. "There's the bugger," she whispered. "Looks like it brought a friend."
One Steel Eel roared as it reached the top of the tower, wrapping itself around the egg basket. The other boss salmonid went the other way, and slowly, they started to close in on the group of inklings, shielding their pilots with walls of green ink.
Alexis readied her Jet Squelcher, eyes narrowing. "We just have to deal with them one at a time," she declared.
"That's the spirit!" Octavia exclaimed. "And then we can get the golden eggs!"
"I'm sure to get more," Maeve boasted, spinning the Luna Blaster in her hand.
"Don't get too cocky," Alexis warned. "We could still splat."
She rolled her eyes. "I know, but we have to stay optimistic. Well, enough banter. Let's focus."
The Steel Eels continued to snake around them, the hisses of the machines growing louder and louder. For a few moments, one of the pilots was exposed, and everyone fired at it. Almost instantly, it splatted, the parts of the Steel Eel crashing down. Now that they had space, the girls backed up, however there was still no escape. Neon green rings began to glow around them, and they leaped out of the way, avoiding a Maws. Unfortunately for Octavia, she had jumped directly into the green wall of ink, splatting her upon contact. She screamed as she was torn apart, her voice cutting off as her uniform and weapon fell to the floor. A few seconds later, she popped up to the surface, weakly crawling towards Alexis and Maeve. She watched as the same Maws leaped out of the ink once more, swallowing Maeve and splatting her. Alexis's eyes went wide, hands trembling on her Jet Squelcher. She turned her attention to the remaining Steel Eel's pilot, firing her weapon. Yet, the ink wall deflected most of her shots, and the space around her grew smaller and smaller. The Steel Eel's knocked her back, causing her to fall to her butt before proceeding to run her over. Once Alexis had been dealt with, the machine uncurled, but it still lingered around the basket, expecting Hayden's arrival.
Via stared at the scene in shock. Were they really going to lose? But then an ink bullet came in contact with her body, reviving her. She stretched, her back aching from the rough splatting. Swinging her Explosher, she revived Maeve and Alexis, and then she stared up at the sky, watching as Hayden hovered in the air with an Ink Jet, shooting at the Steel Eel with his gun. The pilot splatted, collapsing into several pieces. A smile flashed on his face, but his triumph was short-lived as missiles collided with his body, his gear crashing to the ground as he splatted.
Mr. Grizz's voice brought Octavia out of her thoughts. "Come to papa, little eggs... Now bring me more!"
"Guess you lost this round," Alexis remarked, leaning against the egg basket.
"While you were staring at Hayden, we collected the eggs the Steel Eels left behind," Maeve added.
"Had to splat a Snatcher or two, but we got them," she finished.
"Dang it..." Via sighed. Well, she couldn't dwell on it, especially not in the middle of a shift. She super-jumped into the air, landing in the puddle of ink to obtain a new weapon. When she emerged, she found herself holding a Splattershot. Now, this round would go much more smoothly!
"Gross," Hayden commented as he lifted the Explosher. "Who even uses this?"
"My friend uses it," Maeve rebutted. For this wave, she was using a Jet Squelcher. "She loves heavy weapons."
He smirked, glancing over at Octavia. "I think I can use this better than you."
"You sure?" she challenged.
"Definitely." A foghorn sounded, and he swam off, jumping down to the base of the tower.
The second wave proceeded similarly to the first, though unlike the first wave, there were no particularly life-threatening situations. In that case, it went more smoothly. But in regards to egg-collecting, Octavia followed the same strategy she used in the first wave—when she saw someone appear with an egg, she would follow them in hopes of getting more golden eggs herself. She fell into the water trying to get a golden egg that dropped from a Stinger at one point, but Hayden quickly revived her, shaking his head in disappointment before running off. Other than that instance, though, she didn't splat a single time.
I'm getting better at this, she thought as she shot at a Scrapper, stunning it. When its vehicle broke down, she swung behind it and shot at its back, the boss salmonid quickly exploding into orange ink and golden eggs. She grabbed one of them and swam up the ramp, tossing a golden egg into the basket. Upon returning to the pile of golden eggs, she found only one egg left, instead of two. Peeking over the wall, she spotted Maeve toss an egg into the basket before running off again. Grumbling, she took the remaining egg and brought it to the egg basket. Afterwards, Mr. Grizz's voice sounded again, marking an end to the second wave. If she counted correctly, she managed to grab a total of seven eggs this wave. It wasn't the best, but it was better than the last round.
The skies began to darken as Octavia leaped up into the air, landing in the puddle of orange ink next to the egg basket. The weapon she soon found herself holding was a Luna Blaster.
Roy would like this, she mused. The waters rose, cutting off access to the base of the tower. The gushers squeaked as they rose out of the ground, their green bulbs glowing in the darkness. A gold light shined from beneath the manhole, their contents unknown.
"I can feel it..." Mr. Grizz mumbled. Louder, he announced, "The Gold One approaches! Find it and ink it until it drops its golden eggs!"
"This is the worst wave for our contest," Maeve groaned. "Who knows where that Goldie could be hiding?"
"Nah, this wave is great," Alexis debated. "We have to get the eggs anyways, and since they're all coming from one salmonid, it makes things a lot easier!"
"Can you squids stop?" Hayden snapped. "There's no time to waste."
Octavia opted to shoot at the gusher right in front of the basket, though no Goldie came out of it. Instead, a green geyser rose high into the air, chums and cohocks spouting out of it. Via aimed her Luna Blaster at them, firing at their attackers. While she occupied herself with them, Maeve and Alexis went in opposite directions, continuing their search for the Goldie, while Hayden stayed behind to help Via. Even among the smells of the sea and salmonids, she could still detect his body odor. She cringed away from him, stepping closer towards Alexis. Her foot nearly slipped off the ledge, threatening to send her to the water if she wasn't careful.
"Over here!" Maeve called. Looking towards her left, Octavia could see a golden glow from on top of a geyser. The Goldie lifted its head back, letting out a shrill cry, the skin underneath its chin vibrating. Hayden ran towards the source of the glow, jumping down to join Maeve. The boss salmonid hopped off of the geyser, waddling past the group. When it arrived in Via's vicinity, she opted to shoot at it instead of the lesser salmonids—she only became aware of their presence again when one swung its frying pan at her, her side aching as she stumbled. Soon enough, the Goldie disappeared, and the three girls started to collect eggs while Hayden dealt with the lesser salmonids.
Once the chaos had subsided, Via started to run towards the other side of the stage. Since the Goldie disappeared into that specific gusher, then perhaps it would show itself again when she shot at it. She was quickly proven right as the geyser rose as high as it could, spouting green ink everywhere as the boss salmonid rested on the top of it. However, it seemed smaller than it was when it first showed itself. She called her teammates over, and they quickly joined her in shooting down the Goldie. In the midst of it, the blast from Alexis's Explosher activated another gusher, chums and cohocks quickly surrounding them. Together, they took them down, but while they were distracted, the Goldie disappeared, and Snatchers climbed out of the water, aiming to take the golden eggs back into the sea. Quickly, they shot them down, and the inklings took the golden eggs for themselves.
However, the quota had yet to be fulfilled. And they only needed one more egg to reach it.
"Everyone, spread out," Alexis declared.
Via nodded and swam to her right, dropping down next to a gusher. When she shot at it, only a small amount of ink shot out of it, and as she expected, chums began to climb out of it, swinging at her with their weapons. With a gasp, she climbed back up to the egg basket, where Alexis watched as lesser salmonids climbed out of a taller gusher, lunging towards her. As fast as she could, she swung her Explosher at them, but ultimately, it was useless as they overwhelmed her and splatted her.
"Found it," Hayden called moments later. The Goldie had returned to the first gusher it popped out of, smaller than ever. Instead of using his Jet Squelcher, he activated Ink Jet, rising into the air and shooting at the Goldie. Just as it approached the egg basket, a bullet collided with it, finally splatting it. A wave of golden energy dispersed upon its defeat, blinding Octavia for a few moments. When she recovered, she ogled at the three golden eggs it had left behind.
Finally! Ignoring Alexis's cries for helps, she tossed the eggs into the basket, claiming them for her own. Afterwards, she lifted her arms into the air, face filled with glee. "Booyah!" It was then a cohock slammed its frying head into her head, splatting her.
But, it didn't matter. A fanfare sounded as the sky grew lighter, now colored purple instead of pitch black. They had successfully completed their shift, and perhaps Octavia even won the contest! Once she revived, she would have count up her total and compare it to the others' totals. A splat bomb landed between the two sisters, and it exploded, reviving them both.
Immediately, Via began to brag. "See, Hayden? We didn't fail this shift."
"Because of me," he argued. "You were dead weight the entire time."
"Not true!" she protested. "I barely splatted! And I'm a perfectly capable squid, you know."
"That's what you think."
"Whatever," Maeve interrupted. "Let's just get back to the boat. Mr. Grizz would be mad if we waited around any longer."
"Right," Alexis agreed.
"Alright," Hayden sighed.
Everyone turned into a squid, and they super-jumped through the air, flying back towards the boat. When they landed, Hayden immediately ran below deck, and moments later, they began to sail back towards Inkopolis. In the meantime, the girls compared their scores.
"19 eggs!" Alexis declared. "That was pretty fun!"
"Knew it would cheer you up," Via started, "but I did better. Who can beat 21 eggs?"
"Actually, I got 21 eggs too," Maeve revealed. "So we tied."
"Shoot... We did," she realized, rubbing the back of her head. "I wonder how many Hayden got."
"I bet he wasn't counting," the short-haired girl mused. "He didn't seem to into it, anyways."
Maeve shook her head, and Via rose an eyebrow. "He surprised me, actually," she admitted. "He was pretty good this shift. If only he would put the same effort into ranked matches..."
"Whatcha gonna do when we get back?" Octavia then changed the subject. "You gonna stay, or you gonna leave?"
"Leave," she replied. "I can't spend too much time here. I have exams coming up."
Alexis blinked. "You're in college?"
"Yeah, first year," Maeve confirmed. "I go to Inkblot Art Academy. It's one of the freshest places you could go to right now."
"I've been thinking about going there," Via admitted. "A lot of fashion designers went to that school, you know."
"Well, if you do go there, I'd be happy to battle you," she said. "That contest was fun. I'm glad you roped me into it."
"Yeah!" Alexis agreed. "Thanks, Via."
"No problem, Alexis."
Octavia smiled. No matter how much she had changed, Alexis would always be her younger sister. Nothing would ever change that.
A/N: Sorry for the late chapter, a lot of stuff happened yesterday. Hope you guys like it. Maeve and Hayden were very fun to write! Maeve will definitely appear again in the future, but I'm not sure about Hayden. We'll just have to see. Branchwing, out.