Part 2: Rescue (chapters 6-10)
With Melanin prison in sight, rescue seems close for Kalus, Lila and the many others who have been squidnapped, but can Inker really rescue everyone by himself? Sometimes a little help is needed.
Melanin prison, Octo Valley
Two Elites had fallen in the line of duty, they had been attacked from behind while surveying the manhole to Inkopolis, Octavia was furious and immediately blamed it on Agent 3.
Meanwhile the captain of Melanin prison had informed Octavia of Kal's friendship with Agent 3, Octavia wasted no time in giving an order.
"Kill him in the slowest and most gruesome way possible, and I want it broadcasted citywide, I want Agent 3 to watch his best friend die as painfully as possible."
That was the order that Octavia gave, but the captain believed it was a waste of a useful asset, someone like him could be "re-educated" using Octavio's methods and then inserted as a sleeper agent, that way they could first use him as bait to lure Agent 3 into a trap, and if somehow the trap failed, they would still have another shot at getting back at Agent 3.
"I want none of that! I gave you orders, carry them out, and don't you dare mention Octavio again!" Octavia scolded, she might have been hiding her opinion of Octavio to the rest of the population, but she had no reason to do so with the Elites.
While Octavio was doing things for the benefit of the Octarian race, Octavia seemed to act out of blind hatred, sometimes the captain believed she could lead better.
But now was a dark hour for Octo Valley, thus the captain of the guard set aside all thoughts of revolution for now.
Still, there was a lot of opportunity here, the captain tried to think of another solution.
"How long will it take Agent 3 to reach Melanin?" she asked
"Considering how he has never ventured deep inside Octo Valley yet? I'm guessing a minimum of four days, if you're worried about security don't be, I am sending some other Elites to help guard the prison."
"With all due respect ma'am I believe I can handle this."
"Nonsense, Agent 3 has beaten us countless times before because we were so spread out, you might be an Elite as well, but you cannot beat Agent 3 with a handful of Octolings and Octotroopers, a team of Elites will arrive at Melanin today."
The Elites were the best soldiers the Octarian army could offer right now, and the captain was one of the Elites, but still sending reinforcements so early was essentially saying "You are too incompetent to do your job so I'm taking over." It made the captain angry.
"In the meantime carry out your orders!" was Octavia's last transmission.
She might not have expressed it, but secretly the captain of the guard was angry at this turn of events, she had to somehow dispose of this anger, but going against Octavia and the Elites was suicide.
"Captain, is something bothering you?" one of the guards asked
"No" the captain replied
She turned to the surveillance cameras and saw live footage of the cells, the prisoners were all asleep.
The captain decided the best way to cool down was to let out her anger on the Inklings, after all to her; all Inklings were just as cruel and evil, the only difference was that she was much stronger, here the strong controlled the weak, she might have had orders to follow but that could wait, after all Agent 3 wouldn't be here for another four days right?
Since no Octarian could possibly have any sympathy for Inklings the Captain motioned to the other guards in the room to follow her, she was planning to have an audience to watch the next Inkling to be tortured.
Both Kal and Lila heard it, the sound of the cell unlocking, they both woke up instantly and hopped out of their bunks, someone was coming, both Kal and Lila were afraid of what would follow.
There she was, the captain of the guard, with black tentacles and seaweed on her head, she was followed by countless other Octolings and Octotroopers.
"Lila, stay back." Kal whispered
Lila nodded and backed up all the way to the wall.
Kal didn't bother to look back, his eyes were focused on the advancing guards especially the captain, who looked most intimidating.
Kal was scared, sweat dripped down his forehead, but he had made a promise, he would be the next one to die, not Lila.
Kal threw a punch but to no avail, the captain was lighting fast and dodged all of Kal's blows, Kal felt a sharp pain in his stomach as the captain landed a powerful kick, Kal fell on his side, clutching his chest and closing his eyes, he was sure he would be carried off but he wasn't.
He heard the voice of the captain; "You, your time has come, Inkling!" Kal thought they were referring to him, after all he just attacked them so they would definitely go for him right?
But then Kal heard it, he heard Lila screaming "No! No please! Let me go please!"
It took all his strength to get back up, Kal saw the captain and a few other Octarians dragging Lila away.
Kal ran forwards intending to tackle the captain but the other guards held him back, 'Why not me? Why are they taking Lila?' Kal wondered.
Lila was kicking and screaming, but to no avail, she wasn't physically strong enough to break free, and neither was Kal, the guards held Kal back and no matter what he did he could not move.
"Toss her into the boiling pit!" the captain ordered, leaving Lila to the other guards
"You can't do that! She's only 11!" Kal yelled, of course nobody would believe him, Lila looked no different from a fully developed Inkling.
The captain had not reacted, but Kal noticed that one of the guards was now eyeing him, it was the same Octoling from before the one who asked him about Agent 3, what was that Octoling doing?
"Captain! he's not lying!" she said, having checked Kal's expressions.
"So what?" was the captain's reply, those words felt like icicles striking Kal's back, how could someone be so cold?
"All Inklings are the same, it doesn't matter how young they are."
Lila was in a panic, she struggled and squirmed but could not escape the Octarians carrying her away.
"Please let me go! I swear, I will never be an Inkling again!" was the last thing Kal heard from Lila.
The guards holding Kal let go and left the cell, leaving Kal to himself.
He had made a promise, and he couldn't keep it, he had filled Lila with hope, only to have it taken away, he had tried to save her, but was too weak to do anything, Kal slowly broke into tears upon realizing how powerless he really was.
Undercity, Octo Valley
One could not tell, but it was night time in Octo Valley, so almost all the Octarians were asleep at this point.
Inker wondered why he couldn't just cover the ground with ink and swim to the prison, but then he remembered that there was no way to get to safety from here if they were spotted, so he stuck to Victoria's plan.
After a long walk the two were on the outskirts of the Undercity, the scenery changed, and Inker was looking all around observing the city around him as if he was a tourist.
"There are only houses here, earlier it was all apartments and skyscrapers." Inker noticed
"We'll be out of the Undercity in a moment."
"Hey look at that house, it's got some sort of art on the wall." Inker said pointing at a certain house with an Octarian tentacle and an Octoling in octopus form drawn on it's wall.
"I don't believe it, they haven't washed it off?." Victoria muttered
"Hmm? What did you say?"
"It was probably drawn by some kid who wants to join the army or something."
"That sounds like you, must be a common thing in Octo Valley."
'It was me' Victoria thought 'That is my parents' house, I spray painted those crude drawings on our house before I left to live on my own, I can't believe they never bothered to clean it off.'
"That reminds me, last time I saw the Octarian army, it was huge, how many Octarians are in the army anyways?" Inker asked
"You know I can't answer that."
It was general knowledge that a soldier couldn't go around giving information to whoever they please. But Inker, who knew of almost nothing military related, could not understand why Victoria couldn't tell him, after all he was just trying to make small talk, yet he didn't ask any further since he could tell that Victoria was reluctant to help him in the first place and decided not to bother her.
A few minutes later the two were far out of the Undercity, the landscape became empty and the ground was no longer paved. As Inker and Victoria walked on a large building complex surrounded by fences and towers came into view.
"You can see Melanin prison over there to the right." Victoria said, pointing to the complex.
"Got it." 'Hang on Kal, i'm coming.'
"Alright, you know the way from here, i'm heading back now." Victoria said
"You mean you're not coming with me?"
"Get real, did you really think I would openly take up arms against my people?"
Despite her thoughts and feelings, Victoria was an Octoling through and through, she would never go against the Octarian race, Inker was kind of expecting that, so he said goodbye, gave Victoria her helmet back and moved on without her.
Inker took a deep breath as he was about to fight again for the first time since beating DJ Octavio. This time, Inker was too far into Octo Valley to be able to quit on a moment's notice, if something went wrong he may never be seen again.
'No I can't think about that, right now I need to focus, i've beaten Octavio and the Octobot King, I can do this.'
Could he though? It was certain that there would be Octarians waiting for him, after all Victoria did suspect reconnaissance by fire, "if she was right then I could be walking right into a trap. Oh well it wouldn't be my first time doing so."
Inker kept moving forward, Melanin prison was closer than ever, he drew his Hero Shot as he approached, and made sure his Burst Bombs were easily accessible.
More thoughts coursed through Inker's head, he was beginning to feel worried "Why am I worried?" he wondered, he had fought the Octarians countless times before, he should be used to it by now.
'Maybe it's because for once, someone I know is in danger, and not some Zapfish.'
Inker looked around, there was nothing nearby that could be of help, he was in a flat open area, there was no cover, no powerups and no canned specials, "A wide open place like this would be great for snipers….. I'm starting to wish I brought Marie or Neon with me."
It then dawned on Inker that he never told anyone that he would be trying to rescue Kal and the other missing Inklings what would happen if he was splatted? There was no spawn point down here, and there was no way of contacting anyone from Inkopolis.
"You there! Freeze!"
Inker snapped back to reality, he was not close enough to Melanin prison yet, so whose voice was that? "Probably no one friendly since I left Victoria behind."
Inker wasted no time spinning around while reaching for a Burst Bomb, while his other hand held the Hero Shot. There was no chance for a Burst Bomb to splat anyone in a single hit, so without hesitation Inker turned and tossed the Burst Bomb at the closest creature he saw.
The bomb burst on contact, but as it was a Burst Bomb the one it hit was still standing, Inker found himself facing five, no ten, no twenty Elite Octolings, it was the reinforcements that were en route to Melanin prison.
Out numbered in an open area, and Inker had not inked any turf since Victoria had urged him not to, not only that but he had already attacked them, the burst bomb had hit the closest Elite Octoling, who now had patches of blue ink on her. Not only that but every Elite knew of how dangerous Agent 3 could be, and he had just thrown a bomb at them, there was no reason for any of them to hold back.
'This is an interesting problem.'
The Elites had Inker outmatched, they scattered and attacked him from all sides, Inker tried to bring some of them down with his Hero Shot but to no avail, the only option here was to give up and run.
This short skirmish with the Elites would only last a few seconds, for as Inker was firing his Hero Shot, he threw all the Burst Bombs he had behind him, making patches of blue ink behind him, the Elites tossed their own Splat bombs while other fired upon Inker, who transformed into a squid and jumped from patch to patch of his own ink.
Expecting him to remain and fight, the Elites made the mistake of covering the blue ink with their own to deprive Inker of any places to hide, this gave Inker some time to make a last ditch attempt to escape: by Super Jumping away from the Elites.
All Inklings can Super Jump, but the problem was that they needed time to prepare if they were to safely perform such a dangerous jump.
Swimming as far as he could from the Elites, Inker pointed up in Squid form, the Elites noticed and sent a barrage of ink his way, out of options Inker executed a Super Jump immediately, something no Inkling should ever do.
Inker shot upwards, flying ungracefully through the air, immediately he could feel the consequences of doing a Super Jump without proper equipment and preparations.
Inklings are taught how to Super Jump at young ages, thus everyone knew what would happen if one was to Super Jump without properly preparing themselves: their muscles will tear up from the sudden contracting and extending, not only that but the Inkling would also spin uncontrollably for the duration of the jump, making it impossible to land on your feet.
That was the price Inker paid for being distracted in enemy territory.
Melanin prison was getting further and further away, and with it, hope for Kal and the other abducted Inklings. Inker was going to land back in the Undercity, he had not jumped very high, but at least he jumped far enough to lose sight of the Elites.
Inker flew past the houses on the outskirts of the Undercity, he slammed into a building, before falling to the ground (Inklings have no bones so it didn't really hurt), his tentacles had been torn up from the sudden acceleration, so was his legs, luckily the high tech Hero Suit seemed to have protected the rest of him Inker could not easily walk, nor could he tell where he was, all he knew, was that he needed to get off the streets. It was too painful to walk, so Inker crawled for his Hero Shot, which had fallen nearby, he put it away, and begun crawling his way off the streets.
Inker recalled the place Spyke chose to hide from the cops, his current situation was similar, so he knew he needed to find an empty alleyway, some place no one would ever go, then if he could contact the Cap'n or maybe Victoria they could help him out.
That was a really big "If", Inker was too far inside Octo Valley to contact anyone, all he could do was wait and hope for some kind of miracle.
'Dammit! I really screwed up!' Inker pounded the ground in frustration, never before had he suffered such a painful defeat, well at least he was still alive.
For the time being at least….
Melanin prison, Boiling pit
Lila was still kicking and screaming as the guards brought her to the dreaded boiling pit, the water was already boiling and steam floated out.
As soon as she was thrown in Lila could feel a burning sensation, she felt it over her entire body, the same pain that drove Bogs to his demise.
Lila pressed herself to the side of the pit and cried for a way out, but all the guards ignored her was seemed to enjoy her suffering, many of them were grinning and laughing, clearly they were enjoying themselves.
The pain was excruciating, Lila had never felt anything like it, it was like drying up and crumbling apart, yet somehow everything felt familiar, why was that?
"I remember" Lila recalled past events, she recalled her time in school, the other Inklings were still mostly squids and their skin was the same color as their tentacles, but Lila was different, her skin became beige before any of the other squids, because of that the others made fun of her.
"Everybody run! Its a ghost squid!" Lila remember it as if it was yesterday, words hurt and all the other squids laughed as they ran from her, other times they simply called her names, and one time they convinced her that she was dying because of her unusually fast development.
Following that incident, Lila's parents had been called as she broke down in tears and would not stop crying no matter what the teachers and staff did, while her parents did calm her down it was something her brother Laven told her that really made her feel better: "You are not going to die anytime soon, those guys just played a mean prank on you just to see you cry."
Laven even led her back to the bullies while they were having fun amongst themselves and said "See how they are enjoying themselves? It just means that they enjoyed seeing you cry, remember this, nobody can know exactly when anyone will die, so if they say anything like that again, ignore them, but most of all do not cry or feel bothered at all, otherwise you'll just encourage them to keep on going."
Yes that was why it felt familiar, it wasn't words this time but it was just as painful, to Lila the bullies from back then were the prison guards now, they enjoyed her pain, but she was not going to let them get the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
Fighting back tears, Lila grabbed her sleeve and stuffed it in her mouth, fighting the urge to yell by biting down on the cloth, she had seen this done on T.V before and so far it was working, everything still hurt but she was not yelling.
It was like her brother was still watching over her; what else did he say that might be of use here?
Lila recalled going to a playground with her family, she tried jumping off the swings like many of the other squids but she landed on her face, what did Laven tell her then?
"Don't worry, Lila don't think about what's hurting, think of something else."
Could she do that though? There was nothing else to think about, what else did Laven say?
"Pain is like a celebrity, you remember seeing the Squid Sisters right? It drew all your attention and you wanted to run over and say hi, that's what pain is like, it's hard not to pay attention to it, but still possible."
'Still possible?' Lila wondered, she decided to give it a shot, what could she think about? Agent 3? 'No he's just a fairytale, Kal just wanted me to feel better, he was probably just as scared as I was. Wait was he? Yes we were both scared hearing Bogs screaming, I won't do that, no I won't!'
It was working, Lila still felt awful, but somehow she felt like she could relax a bit, she kept on distracting herself.
'I wonder what the room looks like? Huh what is that?'
An Octoshot was dropped into the pit, Lila picked it up, it reminded her of the Aerospray her brother lent her.
'Does it also shoot?'
Lila emptied the Octoshot on a wall, the ink dripped down as the steam prevented it from drying.
'Huh it won't work anymore, oh well, hmm what are the guards doing?'
Doing her best to focus on curiosity instead of pain Lila dropped the Octoshot and walked to the center of the boiling pit for a better view of the many guards looking into the pit, in doing so, she forgot about biting down on her sleeve as she didn't feel as bad as before.
All of them stood was shocked expressions on their faces.
To the Octarian guards who had no idea of what Lila was thinking, so all they saw was a small little girl shrug off the pain that drove even the largest Inklings to their demise, not only that but she never yelled out in pain.
Then the Octoshot was dropped and instead of shooting herself like all the other Inklings that had been boiled before, she emptied it on a wall and threw it away.
Now she bravely stood in the middle of the pit, where most of the steam was, it was the most painful place to be, yet she looked up and even stopped biting down on her sleeve, to the Octarians watching they thought that the Inkling wasn't hurting at all anymore.
By now the guards begun whispering amongst each other, none of them had ever seen such a thing.
"Unbelievable!" the captain exclaimed
The water in the pit was almost gone now, Lila had survived ten minutes in the boiling pit, an Octoling came over with a bucket to pour more water into the pit, but the captain motioned her to stop.
"Don't bother adding water, bring a stretcher here and prep the infirmary."
Those words made every guard in the room look at the captain with a confused expression, yet they were given orders, so they had to carry them out, Two Octolings and four Octotroopers left immediately, by the time they returned with a stretcher the water in the pit had completely evaporated.
Two Octolings rappelled down into the pit and brought Lila out.
To Lila room temperature felt cold, not only that but her body was covered in blisters which felt painful but she held her breath and fought back tears.
She had not screamed once.
Lila was laid down on a hovering stretcher, both she and the guards around were confused at what was going on.
The captain walked towards Lila and looked down at her, Lila recognised her as the scary lady from before, what was she planning to do with her?
"In Octo Valley there is an unspoken truth, the strong will live on, the weak will perish, and the fate of the broken are in the hands of who or what broke them."
The captain put patted Lila on the shoulder
"You are strong, so you get to live."
The motioned at the guards to take Lila away.
"Take good care of that inkling!" the captain yelled at the troopers taking Lila away.
'Huh, that's something I never thought i'd say.'
Inkopolis
Inker did not return from Octo Valley, and neither Cap'n Cuttlefish nor the Squid Sisters knew where he could be, however together they concluded that he must have gone to Octo Valley.
"Once we are done filming today's show we'll go look for him." Callie told Neon and Sky
Marie gave a nod of approval
Neon however wanted to come along "let me come with you two! You won't need to worry about me, I can fight pretty well."
"No"
"Come on why not? You remember how well I fought last time we went to Octo Valley."
"That's not the problem."
"Then what is?"
"You're way too excited, Octo Valley is not like Turf Wars, if you get splatted there, it will likely be permanent."
"Why can't I be excited?"
"Because, you'll end up distracted by your own emotions."
"But Callie is always excited."
Callie giggled a bit.
"She has a point there Marie." Callie said with a smile "But still, I understand where you're getting at." Callie then turned to Neon "the Octarian army always outnumbers us so we can't guarantee your safety if you come along."
"I don't need that, I just need my custom E-Liter 3K!"
"Neon, just let it go." Sky said
"But, it's Octo Valley! Plus Kal and Inker are stuck there! How can I sit back and do nothing?!"
"Just leave it to the professionals Neon, we can't do much in this situation."
"Sigh, alright then, I guess i'll go home for now." Neon finally gave up and left
"Sky?" Marie asked
"Yes."
"Keep an eye on her, I have a feeling she'll be going to Octo Valley regardless."
Sky nodded and went off in pursuit of Neon, while Callie and Marie returned the the studio.
Despite his efforts, Sky could not find Neon anywhere in Inkopolis plaza.
'Perhaps she went back home? If she really is planning on sneaking off into Octo Valley she'll probably need time to prepare.' Sky knew this yet he decided to search Inkopolis plaza instead, because he was still hoping that Neon would listen to reason and not run into Octo Valley.
'If she is going regardless of what anyone says what's the point of me following her?'
'Huh, that Inkling looks familiar.' Sky had seen a light purple colored Inkling in the crowd, walking with his face down, as if he was trying to hide his face from sight.
"Laven?" Sky asked
"Oh, hi Sky." Laven did his best to smile again
"I didn't expect to see you again so soon, you proved your innocence?" Sky asked
Laven's forced smile faded upon hearing that, Sky noticed and decided to avoid the subject.
"Umm, hey have you seen Neon anywhere?"
"No, don't tell me she's gone missing too."
"Oh no she's fine" Sky wanted to explain what was really going on, but Inker always insisted on keep the New Squidbeak Splatoon a secret, so Sky didn't explain any further, instead he decided to lie.
"She's probably off investigating on her own, she's done that before and nobody saw her for quite some time." That wasn't totally a lie, since Neon had done something similar before, and going to Octo Valley could technically be called an investigation.
"What about Inker? Is he also doing his own thing?"
"Yeah, Neon probably wants to join in so she's probably off looking for him." Sky couldn't say that Inker was in Octo Valley.
Now Laven was curious, if all of his friends are doing something, why was Sky still here?
"Forgive me for asking, but is there something going on between Neon and Inker?"
Sky gave Laven a confused expression "Where did that come from?"
"Sorry, I know I must sound like some weirdo for asking, but I was curious and it just came out."
Sky shrugged "Well it's fine, also no, I don't think there is anything going on between those two."
"Well then, why are you here all by yourself?"
'Why is he interrogating me like this all of a sudden?' Sky wondered, after all Laven was acting pretty strange.
Being polite, Sky decided to keep answering Laven's questions
"Well I"
At least, Sky tried to answer, but as soon as he opened his mouth he realized he couldn't really tell Laven why he was staying behind without revealing that Neon was going to Octo Valley.
"I don't think I would be much help" There that was a decent lie, since it was somewhat truthful so it could be believed. 'I can't tell him i'm worried about the dangers of Octo Valley' Yes Sky was sort of scared to go, he did not have much contact with Victoria before so all he knew about Octarians were based on Inkling rumors, and those rumors all said the Octarians were pure evil.
"So you would rather stay here all alone, instead of at least trying to help your friends?" Laven kept on asking
'You're one to talk, I have never seen you with your own friends, and all you do is cry about your sister.' Sky thought, getting somewhat annoyed at Laven's questioning.
"Well I think it's better this way."
"No it's not!"
Laven's sudden outburst gave Sky a shock
"What are you talking about?" It was Sky's turn to ask questions
"How can you just sit by idly when one of your friends are missing and all your other friends are doing their best to find him?"
"Well I said I won't be much help."
"That doesn't matter, if you care about your friends you should go with them, after all what would happen if they ran into trouble? Wouldn't you want to be there for them if something happened?""
Laven was really pouring his emotions into these words, because deep down, he wanted to go off and find Lila, he wanted to find Lila, but he also felt that he himself was partially responsible and that he should stay.
Not only that but the cops still had their eye on him, so he couldn't really do anything, still that did not mean Sky had to sit by as well.
"But even if i'm there I won't be doing much."
"Then I guess they aren't really your friends are they?."
That sentence caught Sky's attention
"What did you say?"
"Am I wrong? If it was Lila or one of my friends out searching for some dangerous squidnapper and I had free time on my hands i'd help, but now you claim you can't do anything but you are really just scared aren't you?"
'How did he know?!' Sky wondered
"Listen, do you really want to be alone sitting on your hands until your friends come back?"
"You know what….."
It was like a light had gone off inside Sky.
"... you are absolutely right! Thanks!"
Sky took off at full speed, he had to go home and get his own gear, after all he was going to be helping Neon, and based on what he knew about the Octarians, he wouldn't be much help unarmed.
Laven watched as Sky ran off, for the first time since Lila disappearance he felt normal again, Sky wasn't as young as Lila was, yet still, the way he was conflicted and how Laven had the chance to help out, it reminded him of the past, when Lila wasn't squidnapped.
This would probably be the best thing Laven could do now as he was suspected of squidnapping, so he could not show his face to his friends, because he was afraid of what they might think of him, yet Sky, Neon and Inker were still partially strangers, so they were the last Inklings he could really talk to. Plus they believed he was innocent so that made him feel better.
Laven wandered Inkopolis alone, avoiding places where he knew his friends liked to hang out, the citizens of Inkopolis might be kind and friendly, but to Laven, everyone who looked at him saw a criminal, so he distanced himself from everyone he knew…
Cap'n Cuttlefish's manhole, Inkopolis
'Neon sure is taking her time…' Sky thought
It had been nearly an hour since Sky arrived at Inkopolis tower, he stood nearby with his roller across his back, waiting for Neon to arrive.
Finally Neon arrived, having made sure nobody was following her so that no one would stop her from sneaking into Octo Valley.
Any experienced Turf War player would be able to tell she was equipped for sniping as she had a Squash headband and Plum Casuals, which provided damage up, and an Anchor Sweat which had Cold Blooded as its main ability. Neon had also made sure to have six Damage Ups and three swim speed ups as her sub abilities.
Neon was glancing around, trying to not act suspicious, she slowly made her way to the manhole.
Sky made his way over to the manhole.
"Neon, what are you doing?"
Neon jumped, she was sure Sky hadn't been following her (and he wasn't he was waiting for her at the manhole).
"Oh hi Sky, I'm just umm, going to Inkopolis Tower for a late round of Turf Wars! Wanna come?" Neon said with a smile on her face, a dishonest one at that, she was as perky as ever.
"Really? Cause you were walking in the wrong direction."
"My bad, you look ready for a game of Turf though, come on let's go play Turf!"
Even after being caught in the act Neon was trying to make up some excuse, of course Sky didn't buy it.
"You can drop the act I know you are going to Octo Valley."
"What, no i'm not, i'm going to Inkopolis tower."
Sky didn't respond he just gave Neon a look that said: quit lying! I know what you're up too.
"Alright fine you caught me, yes I was planning on going to Octo Valley." Neon gave in
"Good, because I am too."
Neon's eyes widened in surprise
"Wait what!?"
"You heard me, i'm going to Octo Valley, why do you think i'm carrying this Roller around?"
Neon was shocked, she never thought that Sky would also take matters into his own hands
"Are you sure you want to go to Octo Valley? Cause you know you might get hurt right?"
"Well you are going so why shouldn't I?"
"Good point."
"Plus what kind of squid would I be if I just let everyone I know run off to such a place without helping them out?"
Neon' face lit up, finally nobody is here to stop her from testing her skills against an elite army.
"Alright! Let's go join Inker!"
Neon immediately hopped into the manhole, leaving Sky to eat her dust.
"Hey wait up!"
Sky ran after Neon, the two bolted past Cuttlefish who tried his best to stop them.
"Hey wait, you kids can't go in there, it's dangerous! You can't respawn and I ain't got extra Hero Suits for y'all!"
Neon and Sky ignored the Cap'n and kept on moving.
"Sky? Cuttlefish just said that you can't respawn in here, are you really okay with this?" Neon asked, still doubting that Sky would be willing to accompany her all the way.
"I made my choice and i'm not going back on it."
Neon smiled, and the two of them hopped into the first Kettle.
A/N: so far I have been using italics and quotation marks to show the thoughts of a character, but after reading a few other stories I realized I should probably have been using apostrophes instead of italics and quotation marks, you will notice that change in this chapter, and when I have the time i'll go back to the older chapters and correct this mistake.
If you notice anything else i'm doing wrong don't be afraid to point it out, whether its a review or a pm I appreciate all the help I get so don't be shy.
On a side note, I have been trying to decide on a good description for this story since the current description was kinda rushed since I had no idea how to describe this story, I'll probably update the description soon so don't be confused when I do.