Undercity, Octo Valley
"Wow look at this place! It so different from the rest of Octo Valley"
Inker and Victoria had managed to sneak into the Undercity without anyone noticing them, where Inker marveled at the city he had never seen before, well he did see some Octarian cities before, but none that was still inhabitable..
"Keep quiet, people are going to be coming home from work soon, it will be even more difficult to move around unseen!"
The two had been moving in the back alleys and keeping off the main streets, so when Inker finally had the chance to see the main streets it felt like a whole new world, he was partially amazed at what was underneath Inkopolis all this time, and partially worried about the state of all the buildings.
While it was amazing that this huge city could have been underneath Inkopolis this whole time, the buildings did not seem anything like the ones in Inkopolis, some had windows boarded up, others were miscoloured and faded, and some had cracks in their walls.
"Umm those towers won't collapse would they?" Inker asked pointing at a bunch of large skyscrapers (actually since they are underground should they be called groundscrapers?) which appeared to be in poor condition.
"Probably"
"What do you mean by "probably"?"
"It probably will collapse"
"What? Are there still Octarians inside?"
"Yep"
"That sounds dangerous, if it's in such bad shape why isn't that place evacuated?"
"Every building is like that here, evacuating one won't do anything since they'll just be killed by falling debris or other buildings regardless."
Inker blinked, he knew Octo Valley was in bad shape but he never expected it to be this bad.
Not only that but the way Victoria reacted showed that the Octarians don't seem to care about life as much as the Inklings do, or maybe it was because Octo Valley became so unsafe that they couldn't bring themselves to care anymore and accepted it as a part of life?
A few more minutes of sneaking around passed then Victoria had a change of plan.
"We aren't going to make it out of the city in time."
"What do you mean?'
"I told you, people are going to be getting off work soon right? How can we move around when the streets are clogged with octopuses trying to get home?"
"Do I really need to stay hidden that badly?"
"Of course you do."
Victoria took off Inker's headgear and put the Tentacles Helmet on him
"Why do I need to wear this all of a sudden?"
"I'm taking you to my apartment for now, hopefully if someone sees us they won't guess that you are an Inkling."
"I thought the whole idea was not to be seen."
"There is quite a lot of families living in this apartment building, no guarantee you won't be spotted."
Unlike the more modern apartment buildings where there was a front office where all payments are made and mail arrives, this building was of a much older design, it was open to everyone, there was no lobby or elevator, just stairs which led to a single room on each level.
Victoria's apartment was the first one, she hastily unlocked the door and Inker quietly ran inside.
"Okay you stay here for now, we will move again at night."
"How can you tell when it's night time down here?" Inker asked
"Good question, even I don't know, probably just Octarian instinct."
Octo Valley was underground so there was no way they could see the sky, the Octarians just seemed to go to sleep when it felt like the correct time and still manage to wake up at the correct time each morning.
Victoria turned to leave
"Where are you going now?"
"I have a roommate so I need to find her and let her know that you are staying here, otherwise who knows what would happen if she came home and saw you here."
'What kind of rumors have the Octarian army been spreading about me?' Inker wondered
"Anyways i'll be back soon, don't go anywhere!"
'I'm getting a sense of deja vu'
Another part of Octo Valley
"Halt!"
Octavia and an escort of two Elite Octolings confronted Det. Vert and his team
"What business do you have in Octo Valley"
"Finally someone who isn't speaking gibberish" one of the officers muttered
It would appear that the officers did not know that only Octolings could communicate with Inklings.
Vert stepped forward
"I am detective Vert with the Inkopolis police department, we are looking for this Inkling, and we have reason to believe he is in Octo Valley."
He showed a surveillance photo of Inker in Inkopolis chatting with Neon and Sky.
'Agent 3, so he is definitely here, perfect.'
"Can you make contact with your superiors or something and help us find him? It would be much appreciated."
"There is no one currently ranking above me, I am Acting Leader Octavia and I'm leading what's left of Octo Valley's army."
"Well that's a surprise, maybe you can help us out."
"Sure, may I have that picture so I can inform the population to be alert?"
"Of course, anything to speed up the process."
Vert handed over the picture of Inker.
"What about the other two Inklings?" Octavia asked pointing at Neon and Sky.
"They are his friends, but they are back in Inkopolis and are not under suspicion."
'Could those two be Agents as well? Come to think of the the blue one is Agent 3 so these two could be Agents 1&2.'
"Well then I better get back to base and spread the news, I'll let you know if anything pops up."
"We thank you for your cooperation."
Vert stuck a hand out to Octavia, and the two shook hands, he and his officers were so busy with Octavia they did not notice a flying saucer floating behind them, carrying five Octosnipers onboard.
"And we wish you a safe trip back to Inkopolis." Octavia replied
Now five lasers targeted an Inkling each, they were pointed at the back of their heads, execution style, so that they would never see it coming.
Once they were done their handshake Octavia gave a slight nod.
This was the signal they had been waiting for.
The officers had no idea what was in store of them, but Vert noticed Octavia's nod, his instinct told him something was up, he spun around but it was too late. As soon as Octavia turned away five shots rang out, the Inklings were reduced to puddles.
"Well look at that! You actually didn't miss for once!" the saucer's pilot, who happened to be Kevin teased one of the Octosnipers.
"I told you I don't miss."
They seemed to have enjoyed this small taste of action.
Meanwhile Octavia and her Elites begun swimming back to the Nautillus base, and they now had confirmation that Agent 3 was here.
Now it was time to prepare for his arrival.
Melanin prison, Octo valley
The days passed one by one, Kal and Lila spent their days cooped up in a cell, living off nothing but seaweed.
Occasionally Kal and Lila would talk about their life in Inkopolis, and since he wasn't so sure that he could be rescued in time Kal told Lila a fictional story of Agent 3.
Of course Kal didn't know exactly what happened, so he changed it to make it sound more like an adventure story.
These were tales of an Inkling who started off simply wanting to help his people, but then ended up learning both sides of the story, eventually he had to try and make things right on both sides.
Kal assumed Inker would like to have been portrayed like that.
"All of a sudden the saucer with the boss kettle begun to spin, it swirled and twirled, it made Agent 3 dizzy, he couldn't tell that the saucer was moving at an extremely high speed. Finally it stopped, Agent 3 picked himself up, dusted of his hero suit and looked up, right in front of him was the Great Zapfish, he was about to move when a voice rang out through the darkness, STAY BACK AGENT 3! IT'S A TRAP! It was Cap'n Cuttlefish. just then the Great Zapfish was sucked away by a giant flying machine, piloting it was none other than DJ Octavio, the leader of the Octarians."
Lila was fully concentrated on the story, she envisioned a Hero Shot wielding Inkling, standing on a rooftop somewhere, the sun rising behind him, blacking out his face and making him nothing but a silhouette watching over Inkopolis.
Could someone like that exist? If so were they aware of what's going on here?
POUND POUND POUND
"Storytime's over, I want a word with you, red."
It was one of the Octolings who guarded their cell at night, why was she here in the afternoon?
Well since she asked for "red" she clearly wanted to speak to Kal, so Kal got up, walked over to the door and listened.
"You were saying alot os things about Agent 3 just now, were you telling the truth?"
She must have been listening for a while.
"Well I don't know exactly what happened, that's just a story I made up based on what I know."
Kal couldn't tell what the Octoling was thinking, she simply stared on, why was she asking Kal about Agent 3?
"Wait, don't tell we you want to listen to my story too?"
"Don't be silly. Tell me, how well do you know Agent 3?"
'Should I lie about Inker? I don't see a reason to do so. Also why is this Octoling here all of a sudden?'
"The two of us are best friends, we have known each other since we were little squids."
"So you think he will be coming to rescue you as soon as possible?"
'How should I respond, If I say yes would they just get rid of me quicker? Or maybe they'll get scared? After all Victoria said there were crazy rumors here, even one about Inker being a cyborg killer. Then again if I do draw attention to myself it could buy Lila some more time, ohh man I want to go back to Inkopolis, but I don't want that poor girl suffering from the same fate as Bogs did.'
"Yes"
"Good, that was all I needed to know."
The Octoling shut off the two way and walked off.
"What was that about?" Lila asked
"Who knows."
"Is Agent 3 real?"
'Aww crud now the truth is out, oh well I might not make it out of here anyways.'
"Yes"
"Then the stories you have been telling me, they are real too?"
"Mostly yes, I don't know exactly what happened anyways."
"So there is a hero in Inkopolis! Will he be coming to save us like he saved the Zapfish!"
Kal wasn't sure if Inker was coming or not, if he was he'd have probably came by now, then again maybe he just didn't know where he was?
"Yes, he will be here soon, there is nothing to fear here, in a few days you will be back in Inkopolis with your family."
Those words filled Lila with hope, a hero would be coming soon! A real hero!
As for Kal he was still worried, maybe even scared, Lila would be easy to comfort since she was younger and naturally more naive, but Kal had to think, if Inker really was coming why is he taking so long? And if he didn't come what hope was there left? Maybe Victoria? On second thought probably not, she seemed to be worried more about her own reputation, plus there was no reason for her to come right?
Kal remembered Neon, she had being joking around, pretending that he and Victoria were a couple, no matter how many time he denied it Neon's answer was "I still ship it!" or "You do have feelings for her!" was she just teasing or was she serious? If she was then maybe Victoria would come!
'Yeah right, what can a single Octoling do against a whole army of them?' Kal shot down his own idea
Meanwhile Lila had noticed something, she didn't say anything but she had noticed something about Kal, he seemed to be worried, he must have been just as scared as her yet he was doing his best to keep calm and assure her everything was fine. Lila had never really done much on her own, her family was always with her, now in a place where they couldn't reach her she was scared at first, Bogs and Kal were complete strangers so they looked scary at first, but now Kal's behavior reminded her of her brother Laven.
The Octoling who had just spoken to Kal reported back to the captain of the guard.
"It's true, that Inkling knows Agent 3."
"Really, so you checked all his movements? micro expressions? The tone of his voice?"
"Yes, I am positive he is not lying."
"Perfect, we needed bait for the troublesome Agent 3, and by sheer luck we have had some great bait right here this whole time!"
"What now captain?"
"Keep the red one alive and well, I'll let the Acting Leader know of this news."
"What about the other ones?"
"I'll decide later."
Victoria's apartment, Octo Valley
Victoria's apartment was in pretty good condition, at least by Octo Valley's standards, but to Inker who was used to living in his own home in Inkopolis, Victoria's place was awful.
The walls were uneven and looked like they had been hastily patched, the lights flickered every now and then and the floor creaked, at least it was a clean place to stay.
Inker was going to use the washroom but then he found out that unlike in Inkopolis, the faucet only dispensed one color of ink, the Octarians' dark magenta ink.
He would probably hurt himself if he washed his hands using that.
Inker thought maybe the shower would be different, he turned on the shower, letting it spray ink into the tub.
The shower was no different, it only sprayed dark magenta ink, unless one was a dark magenta Inkling (which nobody has ever seen before) or an Octarian, taking a shower here would be like hitting yourself with a Heavy Splatling.
This also meant that Inker could not turn off the shower, well he probably could, but who knew how much damage a shower did? After all nobody has ever used a showerhead for a weapon.
Out of options Inker decided to use some of the ink from his Ink Tank to wash up.
Meanwhile Violet had came back from work early, the first thing she heard was the shower running.
'Victoria must have gotten home early too.' she thought
Having finished in the washroom, Inker put his Ink Tank back on, grabbed his Hero Shot, and left the washroom.
Because of the noise of the shower, neither Inker nor Violet heard the other one's footsteps, so neither of them were expecting anything when Inker left the washroom and bumped into Violet.
'Ow' Inker rubbed his forehead
He then noticed the purple haired Octoling in front of him 'Oh this must be Victoria's roommate, when did she get here?'
Violet on the other hand was nowhere near as calm as Inker, like any Octarian who kept up with the news she heard all sorts of things about Agent 3; the blue Inkling who swept through the troops in the lairs, the one who annihilated every Octarian standing in his way, the merciless executioner with unimaginable speed and accuracy, the one who was believed to be part machine, the one Inkling that the army could not stop from stealing the Zapfish.
Of course those were just rumors, but since nobody in Octo Valley ever denied the rumors, everyone believed them. (because Victoria didn't want to look like she was easily defeated so she pretended that Inker was as terrifying as the rumors had claimed.)
Violet's strength left her body, her eyes wide with fear, she fell to the ground, she opened her mouth but could not find the strength to even scream.
Violet went "Ahh, ahh." which was nowhere near audible.
Meanwhile Inker was confused, why did this Octoling just sit down on the floor right in front of him?
There had been scary images of Agent 3 that were based on rumors, those images had been shown on Octo Valley news and they were now filling Violet's mind.
Why was this tentacled terror in her apartment? And what was he planning? Victoria might be part of the Octarian army but Violet had no affiliation with the army but would the infamous Agent 3 care?
In Violet's mind this was like a scenario in a movie about a murderer or hitman, who planned to splat one target but ended up silencing an innocent passerby who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Was this how her life ended? Splatted out of nowhere by the ruthless killer known as Agent 3?
"Are you okay?" Inker asked, with a confused expression on his face.
'Huh?' Violet was surprised, did Agent 3 just ask if she was okay? Didn't Agent 3 hate all Octarians? Maybe this is not Agent 3 but a regular blue Inkling?
Violet looked up at the Inkling from her place on the ground.
There was a picture drawn of Agent 3 that had been on Octo Valley news when DJ Octavio was defeated, it showed an Inkling with blue tentacles wearing a black and yellow suit, holding a sleek looking gun, he had his foot planted on a dying Octotrooper, while an injured Octoling desperately tried to crawl away from the barrel of the agent's weapon. Right now, the Inkling standing above her looked just like that, no doubt about it, this was Agent 3.
But still, he didn't act like the Agent 3 in that picture, Violet was still scared but was calm enough to talk after Inker's last comment
"I don't have anything to do with the army, it's not me you're after, please just let me go! I won't tell anyone you're here!" Violet's words was nothing other than a cry for mercy, she even clapped her hands together as if to beg for her life, despite all this she was still expecting Agent 3 to shoot her to keep her quiet.
Now Inker was more confused than ever 'What does she mean by that? I haven't done anything wrong, have I? Maybe I should ask her that.'
"Umm I didn't do anything to scare you did I?" Inker gave a friendly smile to show that he didn't mean to frighten anyone.
"Huh? wh-what?"
Now Violet was confused too "You are Agent 3 right?" she said in a shaky voice
"Umm yeah."
A picture of the rumored Agent 3 formed in Violet's head, then next to it was the one in front of her, giving her a friendly smile and not looking as menacing as she first thought. 'Are these two really the same guy?' she wondered.
While Inker was still confused as to why this Octoling was behaving the way she was, he could tell that she was scared.
"Hey i'm not here to hurt anyone so just relax a bit okay." Inker tried his best to look non intimidating in Violet's eyes, dropping his Hero Shot in the process.
Violet begun to calm down, seeing that Agent 3 was telling the truth.
Violet had somewhat recovered when Victoria returned.
"Violet! I was looking all over for you! You didn't tell me you'd get off work early."
"Sorry about that." Violet looked at Inker before speaking to Victoria again "umm, do you mind telling me; what the heck you were thinking?!"
"I wanted to tell you beforehand but I couldn't find you, he didn't do anything creepy did he?"
'Why would I do anything creepy?' Inker wondered
"Well no, but I was scared to death! Why is Agent 3 here in our apartment?!"
"Shh quiet please, I know you're scared but we can't have anyone hearing you, Agent 3 is just staying here while the streets are crowded, he'll be gone before you know it."
"That's not the problem here! What will people think of us when they find out that we let our worst enemy stay with us!?"
"It will be fine, we just need to keep quiet and nobody will know what happened today."
Violet sighed "I sure hope you're right, I don't want the cops or army kicking down our door tomorrow."
"Like I said, everything will be fine, Inker is….. Trying his best to stay hidden."
"Inker? That's his real name?" It would appear that Inklings and Octarians were named differently because Violet thought the name "Inker" was hilarious, and would have laughed if she wasn't still somewhat scared.
Victoria realised she had yet to introduce the two
"Right I forgot, Violet this is Inker a.k.a Agent 3, Inker this is my roommate Violet."
"Nice to meet you" Inker said "Sorry about spooking you earlier, I guess nobody expects to see an Inkling around here."
"No it's probably just cause it's you." Victoria replied
"Huh what's that mean?"
"Kal never told you the rumors?"
"Well no, I do remember you telling me about rumors, but you never told me in detail."
"Well it's all pretty ridiculous I don't know who started em."
'So this guy is definitely Agent 3 huh, I remember Victoria saying she had fought with him during her time in Inkopolis' Violet watched Inker and Victoria talk, Victoria had not the slightest trace of worry in her voice nor her expressions, while Inker had that same smile on his face, he wasn't concerned either, one could even say they looked like friends.
'I thought Agent 3 was a mass murderer of Octarians, why is he now having a casual conversation with Victoria?'
Violet watched Inker laugh as Victoria told him of Octarian rumors regarding him.
'This isn't anything like the Agent 3 I have heard of.'
"Anyways back to business, you should probably stay here until night time, we Octarians follow similar schedules so there should be no one left awake past ten."
"Alright, no reason to rush on ahead I guess?"
"Right" Victoria realized, she had not told him of the death of one of the prisoners, after all if it turned out to be Kal who died Inker would definitely blame her for not telling him earlier and even if he didn't Victoria would blame herself.
Inkopolis
Laven sat in a cold cell alone, there were not many criminals in Inkopolis but now everyone would definitely see him as one.
His face was probably all over the news now, part of him wanted to maintain his innocence, but another part of him said "I deserve this for bringing Lila to that game."
He was now awaiting trial, his parents wanted him to fight it, maybe they knew he was innocent? Or maybe they couldn't bear to lose both their children? Regardless Laven had no plans of maintaining his innocence, after all what good would it do now? Lila is gone, and he was known everywhere as the Inkling who helped abduct his own sister, even if he was proven innocent nobody would ever look at him the same.
"You're free to go."
'What was that? Did I just hear someone say something?'
Laven had not realized the guard who had spoken, nor did he notice his cell was open.
"Umm kid, I said you're free to go."
Laven did not believe that, no because he still blamed himself, he wanted to stay in jail.
The guard snapped his fingers in front of Laven's face getting his attention.
"You're free to go now."
"I am?"
"Yes, at least for now."
"But why? I told you i'm the one to blame."
"We aren't exactly letting you free, but Det, Vert was following a lead on a second bunch of missing squids which led him to Octo Valley along with several other officers working your case. None of them ever reported back, so now he is missing in action, without him there is no case against you, so you are free until Vert shows up again. However we will be monitoring your movements so don't think you can leave Inkopolis."
Like that Laven walked free again, but deep down he still felt like he should be imprisoned.
Everywhere he went, it felt like people were watching and whispering about him, it felt like nobody who ever dare talk with him.
To Laven Inkopolis changed the day Lila went missing, everything changed for the worse.
On a happier side of Inkopolis, Neon and Sky were going around Booyah Base, they decided that since they didn't have much to do now they could spend some of the money they had on some new equipment.
Following Neon's advice Sky had brought an Inkbrush for his next game of turf, Neon on the other hand had been busy looking through Chargers but ended up not buying anything.
"We should head to the clothes store next, can't always depend on Spyke to find gear for us."
"Well well, you're going clothes shopping with me? I hope you're not planning anything weird, like peeking on me while I change!" Neon joked
Sky was as unamused as he could get, and he gave no answer.
"Ahh you're no fun! You're boring to play Turf with, so at least have some sort of a reaction!"
"Am I supposed to?"
"Yes of course! Remember how Kal reacted when I said he and that Octoling were a couple? His reaction was hilarious! Or that time I put pepper in your ink shake? Gotcha! Or the time I went to Booyah base with Inker and said the same thing I just did to you? Inker looked so embarrassed, it was awesome!"
"Ahh I remember the pepper ink shake, kinda ticks me off now that I think about it."
"You're so dull, you need to lighten up a bit, it's all harmless fun!"
"Harmless for you, and here I thought you only liked Ranked Battles."
"I just like having fun! Ranked battles are just the only thing I take seriously."
"Really, cause you never seem to like anything that doesn't involve some sort of violence."
"Nobody actually gets hurt in Turf Wars, like I said; harmless fun!"
"Weren't you the one who keeps trying to go to Octo Valley to fight the Octarain army?"
"Yeah but they respawn too right?"
"Who knows, unless the entire Octo Valley aera is a turf war map I doubt anyone can respawn there, so stick to stupid pranks and ranked matches for now."
"Hmm, okay I guess."
"Oh and by the way, if Inker reacted to what you said earlier, it means he likes you."
"Ha ha ha!" Neon laughed at what she thought was a joke.
Sky didn't laugh.
"Waitwaitwait?! Are you serious!?" Neon panicked
Now it was Sky's turn to point at laugh "Gotcha!"
"-_-"
"Hey speaking of which, shouldn't Inker be back by now?"
When Inker had left it was almost noon, but now the late afternoon and the day was almost over.
Since Inker was in Octo Valley he had no way of contacting his friends to let them know he was staying in Octo Valley for a while.
Neon's eyes lit up as she jumped to conclusions "Inker is trapped in Octo Valley! We have to go and rescue him!"
'Did you forget about what I just said about no respawning in Octo Valley?' Sky thought
Neon was about to run off, but Sky held her back.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to grab my E-Liter of course!"
"Inker is amazing at Turf Wars, plus he said he took on the Octarian army once before, he should be fine."
"Really? Then why isn't he back for his errand?"
"Maybe something came up, or maybe that so called detective found and arrested him, regardless he is probably fine."
"I know! How about we go to Octo Valley and check!"
"No, let's just check the precinct tomorrow, going to Octo Valley should be the last thing we do."
"Fine, but if he's not back by tomorrow, im dashing off to Octo Valley regardless of what you or anyone else says."
'She seems hell bent on fighting in Octo Valley, how does someone find amusement from something like that? Everything else aside Neon is great with her Chargers but if she really gets into a match shes gets too aggressive, what would happen to her if she ended up in a situation where Chargers are useless? Could I do anything to help?'
Of course the truth was clear to Sky
'Both Inker and Neon are better than me, I doubt i'll be much help, but I don't want to be left out again, what should I do?'
Sky would need to make a decision, whether or not he should be going to Octo Valley, of course there was still a chance that Inker would be back, then Neon would have no excuse to go to Octo Valley.
Victoria's apartment, Octo Valley
The food in Octo Valley was different to say the least, specifically it lacked flavor, or maybe it's because of the recipe? At least it was plentiful.
Inker, Victoria and Violet had their dinner together, Violet had quite alot of questions, but was still somewhat afraid of Inker so she decided to wait until he left to ask them.
Victoria was wishing that Inker would eat faster so he could get to Melanin prison in time.
Inker on the other hand was still wondering why Kal and other Inklings had been captured in the first place, he thought that maybe the incident that happened two months ago might have had something to do with it, but Victoria said that Kal's name and appearance was never mentioned.
They may have squidnapped his friend, but Inker still hoped that the Octarians and Inklings could stop fighting, in order to do that he needed to find the reason behind the Octarian Army's latest actions, unfortunately Victoria couldn't answer that either.
"Don't ask me, i'm just a low ranking Octoling, you would need to find an Elite or some other high ranking officer for an answer."
"Don't you know anyone in the army would could know?"
"There's one guy, but he's an Octostriker and ever since Octavia took control she made the Elite Octolings top brass."
Nothing could be answered now, yet Inker wanted some sort of idea for why Kal was captured.
Victoria began to wonder too "If I were to guess, it's reconnaissance by fire."
"Reakonna what?"
"Reconnaissance by fire, didn't you learn about it in training?"
To Victoria, Inker was a highly skilled enemy soldier, so she assumed he must have gone through some sort of Inkling military training and classes after all, the soldiers of Octo Valley had all gone through at least basic training.
This was not the case with Inker, or any Inkling, in fact most if not all of them learned to fight better and better from playing Turf Wars, so naturally Inker's response was: "What training?"
Victoria's opinion of him lowered a bit "Didn't you go through some sort of training program to become Agent 3?"
"Umm not really, I just happened to run into Cap'n Cuttlefish right after the Zapfish thefts and he made me an Agent on the spot."
"Really, then how do you explain your skill for combat? Don't tell me you are just a natural born fighter."
"Well I played Turf Wars a lot, I guess that had something to do with it?"
"Turf Wars?"
"It's a sport, or kind of a game too, two teams compete to cover most of the map in their own Ink; either by shooting the ground, or splatting the other team's players, it's alot of fun, and there's rewards for winning too!."
The problem with Inker's description was that he didn't mention how the maps were designed to prevent anyone from permanently dying, so to Victoria and Violet, Turf Wars was some sort of gladiatorial death match.
'The Inklings splat each other for fun and games? I guess there is some benefit to that, it ensures that only the strongest survive to breed the next generation, Octo Valley itself is similar in a sense, since the strong survive and the weak die to all sorts of dangers, though its not as savage as straight up splatting your fellow sea creatures.' was Victoria's thought.
Violet on the other hand only got a bit more scared of Inker seeing how he talked so casually about splatting other Inklings while showing no remorse.
'He's a psychopath?!' Violet thought
Still they were getting off topic, since Inker didn't know what reconnaissance by fire was, Victoria decided to explain it to him:
"Well anyways, reconnaissance by fire is a military tactic were we purposely try to provoke enemy forces into retaliating in order to see what their reaction is, Octavia keeps saying something about bring the Inklings here, so I'm guessing she wants to find out what kind of response she can get from nabbing Inklings."
"Wait but doesn't that mean Octavia would need to publicly announce that the Octarians squidnapped Kal and the others"
"Like I said it's just my guess, I don't know exactly what her plans are."
Victoria got up and glanced out the window, there were less and less Octarians on the streets now, soon it would be time to move again, hopefully they can get there in time.
Well they still had to wait a bit, so it was time to talk about other things.
"So Violet, how was your day?"
"Somewhat easier than most days, today was falling debris from a twenty story hotel, fortunately only two Octarians died this time." Violet always tried to remain cheerful despite living in Octo Valley, plus Agent 3 was in the room so she didn't want to do anything that might irritate him, so she said this with a smile.
"That's great!"
Victoria understood how uncommon it was for less than five Octarians to die in an accident but Inker did not, as fatal accidents were extremely rare in Inkopolis. Seeing how the one called Violet looked so happy when talking about two Octarians dying Inker thought that maybe she wasn't good at her job?
"That's awful!" Inker blurted out "How is it fourtunate when two living sea creatures died?"
Victoria could somewhat understand what Inker was talking about, as she knew by now that there was a big difference between Octo Valley standards and Inkopolis standards so she didn't say anything.
Violet on the other hand was so used to seeing unfortunate Octarians die from accidents that she believed that having zero casualties was impossible, so she could not understand what Inker meant.
Not only that but why did Inker even care about two random Octarians dying? He was Agent 3 after all, he probably killed way more during his Zapfish thefts.
"Two died how is that not fortunate?"
It's a shame that Violet didn't say only two, because now Inker believed that Violet wanted two to die.
'Sadistic, just looking at her gives me the chills now.'
"Well umm, good job I guess" Inker wanted out of this conversation as soon as possible "Victoria, shouldn't we get going?"
"Not yet, there will still be some slower Octarians hanging around outside."
"Can't we just avoid them?"
"Nope, I'm not taking that risk, if were spotted i'd have to shoot you."
They spent the next twenty minutes talking, mostly to Victoria, as Violet thought that Inker was a psychopath, and Inker thought Violet was some sort of sadist, so the two avoided conversation with each other.
Finally Victoria decided the streets were clear, she and Inker said goodbye to Violet and the two set off for Melanin prison once again.
A/N: whenever one of my stories is planned to be more than ten chapters long I like to make a list of OCs every five chapters. in each list, only the characters that appeared in the last five chapters will be listed.
Characters from Squidnapped (chapters 1-5):
Inklings:
Kalus: (also known as Kal) Red Inkling boy and Inker's best freind, like your average Inkling, Kalus enjoys turf wars and takes a more casual approach to it. Kal was captured by the Octarians and currently resides in Melanin prison.
Inker: (also known as Agent 3) Blue Inkling boy and Kalus' best friend, he previously defeated the Octarian army and captured DJ Octavio, thus he is a skilled and experienced combattant. Believing that Inklings and Octarians should not be natural born enemies, Inker wishes to make peace between the two races someday, a task made hard by the Octarian army's blind hatred of the Inklings.
Neon: Green Inkling girl and a friend of Inker, Kalus, and Sky, known for being full of energy and being competitive in turf wars. Ever since the encounter with the Mighty Octostomp and learning of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, Neon has become eager to test her skills against the Octarian army, regardless of the danger it might pose.
Sky: Cyan Inkling boy and friend of Inker, Kalus and Neon, the youngest and least experienced fighter of the group. He tends to trust Inker most out of the group and is self conscious about his lack of experience and fighting ability, this leads to him staying away from dangerous situations.
Laven: Light purple Inkling boy, his sister Lila was taken by the Octarians. Because he cared so deeply about his sister's well being, Laven ended up blaming himself for the squidnappings, going so far as to make a false confession to the Inkopolis police.
Lila: Light purple Inkling girl, Laven's sister who was squidnapped by the Octarians. Since birth, Lila was said to be "gifted" as she learned and grew faster than other Inklings, because of this, her family believed she could play turf wars three years earlier than others, unfortunately her first match resulted in her capture by the Octarians.
Vert: Adult Inkling and a Detective for the Inkopolis PD. Vert was assigned the case of the missing squids, unfortunately due to a lack of serious criminal offenses in Inkopolis, neither him or any other cops in Inkopolis know how to properly deal with the situation. Vert believed that the Octarians wouldn't dare start another Great Turf War, so he and several other officers entered Octo Valley to search for Inker. He met his demise when Octavia ordered Octosnipers to eliminate him and all the other officers.
Bogs: Orange Inkling boy, he was one of the first three Inklings to be squidnapped along with Kal and Lila, he tried to provoke the guards into fighting him, believing that he could fight his way out of prison but failed. Since he was bigger and stronger than Kal and Lila, Bogs was the first to be thrown into the boiling pit, where he perished.
Octarians:
Victoria: Octoling, despite learning that Inklings aren't as bad as they seemed, Victoria still kept her job as a soldier, however she feels indebted to Kal and Inker for getting her out of Inkopolis safely. Believing that a second Great Turf War would not bring the Octarians any good, Victoria does not agree with Octavia's decision to provoke Inklings into attacking Octo Valley.
Octavia: Elite Octoling, the new Octarian leader following DJ Octavio's defeat. Octavia balmes the Inklings of all of Octo Valley's problems and thus wishes to punish the entire race and bring the Octarians back to the surface by force.
Violet: Purple Octoling, Unlike Victoria, who must remain maroon coloured by Octarian army standards, Violet is not involved with the Octarian army. As an Octo Valley citizen, Violet has heard of the Octarian rumors surrounding Agent 3, and thus was terrified of him.
The Captain of the guard: Elite Octoling, a high ranking Octoling in charge of Melanin prison, like Octavia and the majority of Octarians, she believes that Inklings are heartless creatures and seems to enjoy their suffering claiming it to be "justice".
Kevin: Octostriker, a minor character and part of Victoria's splatoon, he loves to chat with his squadmates and will sometimes give away information that is supposed to remain classified.