Octavia's PoV
Octavia wandered the streets of Inkopolis. She didn't choose to go home immediately this time, instead walking past it and wishing to see what else she could find within the west side of Inkopolis. Though, for the City of Color, she felt like a lot of it looked the same sometimes—boring grey buildings, with only a few splashes of color in-between them. It couldn't hurt for people to at least be a little more creative.
She stopped across the street from a building which she found most peculiar. Compared to most of the other buildings, which were sleek and stylized, this one had an industrial look to it. From the signs on the front of it, it appeared to be a restaurant, though many of the foods listed on the menu were foreign. Though she wasn't hungry, she had to admit, she was tempted to check it out.
She looked both ways, but before she could cross the street, she spotted a sudden flash of red behind her, and she let out a cry, stumbling. She whipped around to face the alleyway, but nothing was there. Instead, she could faintly hear the sound of an inkling transforming, but with nothing else sounding, she was starting to wonder if she imagined it. Still, curiosity getting the better of her, she took out her phone and turned on its flashlight, scanning the alleyway. Unfortunately, she found nothing.
Dismissing it as paranoia, she put her phone away and crossed the street, but before she could enter the restaurant, someone grabbed the collar of her jacket and pulled her back. She turned around and slapped the assailant, though after a few moments, she realized who it was—Valerie.
"Oh!" Octavia covered her mouth. "I'm so sorry!"
The octoling with curly hair rubbed her cheek, glowing red from the impact. "It is fine." Clearing her throat, she said, "I assume you want to eat at TakoChef, too?"
"'TakoChef?'" She looked at a sign on the window. "Ohh, that's the name of this place!"
Valerie nodded and dragged her off to the side. "It is run by octolings," she explained, lowering her voice. "It is one of the few places we can eat Octarian food here."
She giggled. "Homesick already?"
"No!" she insisted, louder than Octavia was expecting. "Inkopolis is great! I do not want to go back."
"Well, you must miss some things about your old home, right?"
Valerie did not respond, her face falling. She continued staring at Via with large yellow eyes, expectant. Eventually, she sighed.
"I'll admit, I'm not very hungry," she confessed. "I was just curious, that's all."
"We could come here another time," she suggested. "Perhaps tonight?"
Octavia pulled out her phone, checking the time. "It is almost dinnertime."
"Yet, you are not hungry. Do you have any suggestions on how to pass the time?"
"We could do a few turf wars, but I was all ready to sit back and relax. So it'd just feel weird to go ahead and battle instead."
"Well, if you want to relax, then we could go to your house."
Octavia gasped. "My house?! No! I'm not letting a near-stranger into my house!"
Valerie started to twirl a tentacle around her finger. "Perhaps we really should battle, then."
"You have any better ideas?"
"...No."
She sighed. "Fine. We'll battle."
She grabbed her hand and started to drag her through the streets of Inkopolis, towards the Deca Tower. It rose high into the sky, a beacon for anyone who found themselves lost in the city. Octavia, on the other hand, was not one of those people. They promptly arrived about ten or so minutes later, and they walked inside. Octavia got her Octobrush Nouveau out from the storage room first before heading to one of the empty lobbies with Valerie.
Almost immediately afterwards, Eden walked inside, holding an Octo Shot in one of her hands. She leaned against the wall, putting a hand on her hip while her weapon dangled from her fingers.
"Eden!" Valerie marveled. "What are you doing here?"
"I saw you heading inside," she explained, "so I followed you."
Via couldn't help but smile. "This is great! I've been wanting to battle you!"
But the curly-haired girl was frowning. "You did not have to follow us in."
"Octavia is not complaining," Eden argued, shrugging. "I think only you have this issue."
"Just...warn me next time, alright?"
"I cannot promise that, but I will keep it in mind for next time."
It didn't take very long for the elevator to fill up with inklings, all eager to battle. She recognized one of them, but her name failed to come to her. The last time they've been in the same battle was a long time ago, unfortunately. The inkling girl, on the other hand, was quick to recognize her, approaching her almost immediately.
She held out a hand. "It's been forever, Via!"
She shook it. "Same. I'm sorry to say this, but...what's your name again?"
"Debbie." The girl frowned, tipping her jungle hat. "You don't remember?"
"I do, I do! I just forgot your name, that's all!"
She sighed. Now that Octavia had more time to look at her, she realized she had cut her hair to the same length as Alexis's since the last time they met. "I guess that's fair."
The elevator door closed shut, and it began to descend. She gave one last look at Debbie and nodded. "Good luck."
"Same goes to you."
Once the grate beneath their feet revealed itself, they slipped through it, traveling to the battle. It took only a few moments for them to arrive on a spawn point, the slightest hints of gold present in the sky. Octavia transformed into a kid, and she recognized the area as Ancho-V Games. She took a few moments to study her teammates. Of course, Valerie, clutching her Octo Shot, was one of them, and the other two were unfamiliar to her. One inkling had his hair tied up into a ponytail, wielding a Sploosh-o-matic. The other inkling had the ends of her hair cut off, a Heavy Splatling in her hands.
The match started, and immediately, Octavia flung herself off the starting platform, taking a right and running towards the center of the stage. She was the first to arrive, and she used this chance to place a squid beakon in the corner of the ledge before jumping down to the pit, inking everything she saw. Eden was quick to arrive, directing her attention towards Via and firing at her. The wavy-haired girl tried closing the gap, but she only ended getting caught straight in the fire, splatting. At the same time, bullets from a splatling tore into Eden, splatting her as well.
When Octavia respawned, she thanked the Heavy Splatling user silently and super-jumped to her own beakon. After replacing it, she jumped back down to the pit, landing on a pile of boxes. Hearing a propeller lift approaching from the side, she whipped her head around to face the newcomer. Debbie stood on it, and before she knew it, she saw the vial of Toxic Mist hurling towards her, engulfing her in the suffocating air. Coughing, she climbed down, but not before some enemy ink could land on her. She pressed her back against the pile, catching her breath and letting the ink disappear. Once it was gone, she pressed the bristles of her brush down on the ground and started running to the other side, green ink trailing behind her. She stopped at the propeller lift, swiping her brush to raise the platform.
An inkling boy with spiky hair jumped out from behind the wall, slamming his Dynamo Roller down on the ground and creating a large wave of pink ink. Octavia managed to dodge it, but her orange eyes widened in surprise as bullets shot at him, quickly splatting him. Valerie landed in front of her, holding her Octo Shot out at her side.
"Wow!" she gasped. "I didn't know you could jump so high!"
She chuckled. "Inklings jump high, too. This is hardly a feat."
"Aw, you're too nice."
Shooting at the propeller again, the lift rose once more, allowing the two girls to run into the other team's base. Eden stood on top of a ledge, eyes wide with disbelief as they ran towards her. However, before they could reach her, her hair began to glow, and triumph flashing in her eyes, she activated Inkjet, soaring into the air and firing her gun at them. Valerie received a bullet straight in her face, splatting her instantly, while Octavia danced around her shots, trying to stall her. However, she eventually ran out of ink, and she stepped right into enemy turf, the soles of her shoes sticky with pink ink. With one final blast, Via splatted, sending her right back to the spawn point.
When she respawned, she decided to take a different route this time, going to the left instead of the right. She traveled down the alleyway, taking the propeller lifts to the center of the stage. Upon arrival, she jumped down and placed a squid beakon behind the pile of boxes before continuing. With the Octobrush Nouveau, she spread green ink through the pit, covering up every bit of enemy ink she could see. Meanwhile, Eden had joined the fight in the pit, lobbing splat bombs up at the girl with the Heavy Splatling, who danced around the explosions. Even from here, Octavia could faintly hear the sound of her shoes clacking on the grate.
A plan popping into her head, she ran over to her and struck Eden in the back. After the first hit, she turned around and endured the second hit, green ink streaking along the side of her body. Before she could take a third hit and splat, Eden grabbed the handle of the Octobrush and pushed Octavia down to the ground. Her vision flashed as her eyes widened with surprise, an ache blooming in the side of her head. When Via rose to her feet, the octoling with the ponytail was gone.
"Is that legal?" the girl with the splatling questioned, amused.
Octavia rubbed her head. "I'm sure Judd will tell her off."
She snorted. "Seems new. I'm sure she won't be punished harshly."
The bronze-skinned girl returned her attention to the battlefield, where ink flew between the boy with the Dynamo Roller and Valerie. Just when she thought the latter would splat, the boy with the Sploosh-o-matic popped out of the ink in front of him, receiving the brunt of the hit instead of Valerie. They splatted at the same time, their gear dropping to the ground as two squid-shaped ghosts flew away from each other.
Slowly, Valerie lowered her weapon. "...I lived." She smiled. "I lived!" She pumped a fist. "Uh... Booyeah!"
"It's booyah," Octavia corrected, joining her.
She huffed, crossing her arms. "It is close enough."
She smiled. "You guys don't have victory cries down there?"
"We do," she defended, "it's just not 'booyah.'"
"Enough chatting!" the girl with the Heavy Splatling called. "We gotta get back to fighting!"
"Right, right!" Octavia swam over to the propeller lift and swung her brush at it, sending it up to meet the upper platform. Once again, she and Valerie tried to push into the other team's territory. While the octoling went on ahead, Via placed a squid beakon in the corner before joining her. Now, if they happened to both splat, they could just super-jump back there and resume the action.
From on top of a wall, a cascade of pink ink started to rain down on them, and they lifted their heads to find that the boy with the Dynamo Roller had returned. They scattered, going in opposite directions. Valerie's foot stepped inside an ink mine, and the floor beneath her glowed moments before pink ink shot up into the air, splatting her. Without back-up, Via slipped out of the action, retreating to the bottommost pit. The girl with the Heavy Splatling was gone, and standing on a pile of boxes near where she stood was Debbie.
Looking over her shoulder, the short-haired girl activated Tenta Missiles, orange eyes snapping towards Octavia before firing. In just a few moments, pink missiles started to rain down on her, and while she managed to dodge them, she did not escape unscathed. In a last-ditch effort, she activated her own special weapon, the launchers locking onto Debbie as she swam towards the propeller lift leading to Via's team's base. Pressing the trigger, green Tenta Missiles launched into the sky, arcing before crashing down on Debbie, splatting her and sending the propeller lift as high as it possibly could. Octavia cheered quietly before diving into the ink and lurking around the arena.
Some seconds later, she was forced out of the ink as giant blobs of pink ink sped by her, splattering on the ground around her. She emerged from the ink and put the bristles of her brush to the ground, dodging the shots. She took a few moments to look up at her attacker, and she was surprised to find not Eden, but an inkling with a side cut, his weapon of choice unclear. Nonetheless, his Inkjet eventually expired, and when he landed, he started charging towards Via, wielding a Custom Blaster. Octavia jumped out of the way of his shots and struck him with the Octobrush Nouveau, splatting him in just a few hits. Adrenaline pumping through her veins, she continued onward into the other team's base, a wide smile on her face.
"One more minute!" Eden announced as she sped out of the other team's spawn point. "It is now or never!"
The boy with the Custom Blaster, who had respawned as well, laughed. "No way we're losing!"
Together, they jumped Octavia, using their combined might to splat her. When she respawned, she did not leave the base immediately, thinking about where to super-jump. She could jump to a beakon, but she didn't know if either of them were still active. Thankfully, she did have the technology to check. Pulling out her phone, she took a few moments to study the map. According to it, both of her squid beakons had been broken. She shook her head, disappointed. She'll just have to replace them. She swam right towards the direction of the pit, placing a beakon on the ledge before jumping down and joining the action once more.
Valerie and Eden were engaged in combat, circling around each other. The boy with the Dynamo Roller sat on the ledge on his team's side of the stage, watching the duel with interest. Octavia crept towards them, readying her brush. Should she intervene? At the same time, though, she found herself captivated with Eden's movements, her hair fluid in the wind as she danced around Valerie's shots, red eyes filled with confidence. Via stopped, her mouth falling open slightly.
She shook her head. Now was not the time to get distracted. They had a battle to win, and Octavia was determined to win it.
Valerie bumped into a wall, and using this moment of vulnerability, Eden aimed her Octo Shot at her and fired, splatting the curly-haired girl almost immediately. At last, the duel had ended. Immediately, Octavia charged towards her, only to directly intercept a wave sent by a Dynamo Roller, splatting her again. Upon respawning, she found out that the boy with spiky hair activated Sting Ray, aiming it towards the spawn point. However, the beam was blocked by the barrier surrounding it. Via had to cover her ears from the constant ringing, gritting her teeth. It quickly subsided, though, allowing her to super-jump to the last beakon she had placed and jump back into the pit.
Eden sat on a box, her legs crossed. "Back so soon?" The boy with the Sploosh-o-matic charged towards her, and in response, she shot pink ink at him, splatting him without taking a single look at him. She jumped off the box, placing a hand on her hip. "Did you want to duel too?"
"It's not exactly what I was planning to do, but..." She lifted her brush, pointing the bristles at the octoling. "Come at me."
"Gladly." Eden readied her Octo Shot, and just as she fired, Octavia jumped out of the way, using the brush to block any shots she couldn't dodge. The pink ink on it quickly disappeared, and when she saw an opening, she charged towards her, green ink trailing behind her. She swiped at Eden, who merely pushed her away. She hissed at the enemy ink on her arm, shaking it off of her before firing once again. Some ink splattered onto her arm, and she let out a startled cry of pain before diving into the ink, circling around the octoling. Red eyes followed the ripples she left behind, and upon gaining enough speed, Octavia emerged once again and struck her side. Eden stumbled backwards and fired again, sweeping ink across the arena. Via continued to chase after her, but she eventually tripped on a ledge, tumbling down to the ground.
She wasn't finished yet, though. Quickly, she rose to her feet, and once again, she dashed towards Eden, swinging her Octobrush Nouveau. The octoling continued backing up, firing her Octo Shot at her. Via ducked, the ink hitting her longest tentacle. She winced as enemy ink tore through it, and she heard something plop on the ground behind her. Eden stopped firing, bewilderment crossing her features. Octavia turned around to see part of her hair lying on the ground, the white side facing the ceiling. In a panic, she felt the end of her tentacle, only to find a blunt end just below her shoulder.
"...I did not think inkling hair was that fragile," Eden admitted.
She huffed. "Normally it isn't!" She raised her hands, defeated. "Just splat me. It'll go back to its normal length if you do."
"...No." Her eyebrows furrowed. "I want to end this fight fairly."
"And I don't want my hair to be this short!"
"There are ways to increase your hair length, are there not?"
"Yeah, but that costs money. Splatting me is free!"
Before they could decide on an answer, enemy ink hit Octavia's back, splatting her a few seconds later. When she respawned, she immediately felt her hair to check its length. Once again, it fell to her waist. Beaming, she jumped off the spawn point and started to swim back to the pit, only for a whistle to blow, the match suddenly ending. Emerging from the ink, she walked over to Eden, who was slumped against the wall next to a green squid beakon.
"That interruption was rude," she grumbled.
"Well, perhaps someone heard my calls," Via remarked. "Clearly you need a crash course in fashion!"
Eden paused, eventually saying. "...How would you do that?"
"I can pull out some magazines, we could go shopping, I could give you a haircut, et cetera... That'd make you much more fresh!"
"I doubt you would be a good hair stylist."
"Well, it can't be too hard to give you a haircut. Inklings and octolings are pretty similar, after all."
Eden crossed her arms. "The last time we went shopping, you wanted to look at every single thing. I, on the other hand, want to get things done quickly."
"Well..." She looked behind her and noticed Valerie wandering around absently. "Hey! Valerie!" The fair-skinned girl looked over at them. "Come here!"
She ran up to them. "What?"
"Are you interested in shopping?" Octavia tugged at the yellow shirt she wore. "We could get you out of that newbie gear."
Valerie frowned. "I like this shirt."
"But surely there's something better out there. There's plenty of yellow shirts you could wear."
"No."
She sighed. "You octolings are quite persistent."
At the sound of cheering, Octavia looked down at the pit. Li'l Judd had revealed a pink flag, causing Judd to fall on his back. Via cursed under her breath, while Valerie merely stared at the two cats with a frown.
"We lost," she reiterated.
"Yeah, Captain Obvious," Via deadpanned.
The curly-haired octoling glanced back at her. "Let us leave."
"Now? But we just got started!"
"We could enter a different lobby," Valerie suggested. "I want to fight a new set of people."
"I will not be joining you," Eden announced, rising to her feet. "I have other things to do."
Octavia dipped her head. "Well, see ya, Eden. May we battle again!"
With their goodbyes exchanged, Octavia and Valerie super-jumped out of Ancho-V Games, onwards to their next destination.
A/N: Short chapter today, I know. Maybe the next one will be longer? Anyways, more development for the new group of octolings is always good. And Debbie finally makes a reappearance - if you don't remember her, she was one of the inklings that first appeared all the way back in Chapter 2. And since then, the last time she appeared was Chapter 37. Yes, I went back and checked. I've been meaning to bring back some of the older background characters this season, and hopefully, we'll see more soon. Well, that's it for me. Branchwing, out!