Melanin prison, Octo Valley
Having missed the battle, the only thing that the reinforcements could do now was help with the clean up or search for the Inklings.
The Octocopters and Octobombers who could fly took care of this task, thus the Octotroopers, Octosnipers and Octolings spent their time piling together the equipment left behind by those who fell in battle.
This was standard procedure for the Octarian army, they needed to retrieve all the equipment they could so that they can estimate how many troops they lost.
Inside Melanin prison, where clean up crews were busy putting sets of equipment together, Lynn and Claire were summoned to their captain's office.
They greeted the Octotroopers guarding the office before heading inside to see the captain of the guard.
As soon as the door was closed, the captain of the guard spoke.
"Do any of you know why you are here?"
"No ma'am" both of them replied, however both could already guess why they were summoned here.
The captain of the guard picked up a pair of octoling goggles off her desk.
"One of your fellow guards brought me this, I assume you know the standard clean up procedure following battles?"
Both Claire and Lynn nodded
The clean up procedure included cleaning up the ink splattered everywhere, as well as recovering the equipment left behind by those who had been splatted.
There was also the task of identifying the recently deceased, Octotroopers could be identified by their hovercrafts, Octocopters and Octobombers always engraved their names inside their helmets to prevent mixing them up with others, as for the Octosnipers and Octolings, the goggles they wore recorded everything they saw and heard and it would save footage whenever it was removed for over an hour, or in this case, if the owner was splatted while wearing it.
So it was no surprise that some would be told to watch the recorded footage to determine the owner of the gear left behind.
The pair of goggles that the captain of the guard held belonged to Madison.
"Your comrade here was outside when the Inklings attacked, these goggles recorded the whole battle, however it also recorded something else."
Octoling goggles could store up to 72 hours of footage, and would automatically record whenever someone was wearing it.
"I know what the three of you did, but I don't know why, so i'm giving you one chance to explain."
Claire and Lynn looked at each other.
No wonder they couldn't find Madison after the attack, if only they knew what happened, then they could have tried to hide her goggles.
Living beings die every day, the Octarians had long accepted this and often weren't phased when someone died in any way, the only ones who would mourn would be the family of the deceased or someone who loved them deeply, everyone else would probably just say "that's too bad" and move on.
Thus Madison being splatted was only an inconvenience for these two.
With a clam expression Lynn explained their motive to the captain.
"We didn't mean any harm, we just thought that Agent 3 would get here sooner or later, so the best thing to do would be to get him to leave as soon as he could."
"Aside from that, our families already struggle to live on everyday so we figured we could also ask the red Inkling to keep Agent 3 away from them should he ever attack the Undercity directly." Claire added.
The captain of the guard looked at her two subordinates, neither of them seemed to regret what they did.
That was understandable, in a world where the city could fall apart and crush you in a moment's notice, you'd want to protect those who will remember your name once you've passed on.
And in Octo Valley, only your family or loved one would do such a thing.
"Both of you pack your bags and leave."
Lynn and Claire's expression both turned to ones of worry.
"We are being discharged?"
It was one thing being executed, but being sent away was considerably worse, jobs other than soldier were hard to come by in Octo Valley, and living to see your family starve or be buried alive when their home collapses without being able to do anything to help was just as bad as death.
Luckily the captain wasn't planning on leaving her subordinates to such a fate.
"You are not being discharged, I'm sending you away incase somebody else decides to look through your accomplice's goggles before they are wiped and redistributed to new recruits."
Not losing their jobs was a relief, but there were still other issues.
"What about our families? Also where would we go?" Claire asked
"I'm your commanding officer, I can choose to grant you paid leave. Back when power was plentiful, there was a place called Octo Canyon, a popular place for tourists, it was abandoned as power ran out, but when Agent 3 started stealing Zapfish, the reserve army was sent there to set up a few lairs there incase the army ever needed to abandon Octo Valley. You don't need to live there, just stay there for a week or so then come back, by then all evidence of your interaction with that Inkling should have been erased."
"Thank you."
"I should be thanking you three, because Agent 3 knew where the occupied cells were, he never came close to the infirmary. To bad its gone to waste, since the Acting Leader, in all her wisdom, has decided to use Lila as bait instead of letting us finish her re-education, what a waste."
'Did she just criticize the Acting Leader?' both Claire and Lynn thought after hearing that last bit.
In the past nobody spoke out against their leader Octavio, who was loved by most of the Octarians and those who did not like him kept quiet out of fear.
Octavia on the other hand, was accepted as a temporary leader so nobody saw her as Octavio's replacement, but still she had a lot of power so nobody would dare speak against her.
"I'm sure the Acting Leader has something else in mind, after all Lila should be partially controllable by now, and besides DJ Octavio will be back soon." Claire said
"I'd hope so, Octavia doesn't seem to learn from mistakes at all and sticks to her failed plans regardless of the outcome."
"Well then, I believe you will make the right calls when we are called to battle, Melanin prison is likely going to be abandoned now and we will go back to being a combat unit and I would like to remind you that everyone one of us is loyal to you first and not DJ Octavio, the Acting Leader or anyone else."
The captain smiled
"I appreciate that, it good to know there are those I can really count on, however for now it's best that both of you leave Octo Valley for a while, hopefully DJ Octavio will have returned by then."
'Yes that's right, Octavia is nothing but an Acting leader, she'll be gone as soon and DJ Octavio breaks free.'
After saluting their captain, Lynn and Claire left her to her own business.
The captain had more than just Madison's goggles, she had three other pairs, if one were to defeat their enemy, they would first need to know their enemy.
The captain saw footage of a bright green Inkling becoming a Kraken and superjumping, she saw Agent 3 splat Octotroopers and Octolings quickly with his Hero Shot, she saw Agent 1and Agent 2 join the green one to wipe out the guards outside and finally she saw Agent 3 and a Cyan Inkling fighting inside Melanin prison.
She could see that Inklings knew to cover turf in their own ink and move around to avoid being hit, Octolings with their tried and true Octoshots should be an even match, unfortunately the majority of them lacked combat experience.
'Not only that, but we are losing more and more Elite Octolings who are actually skilled and Octavia handing out the title of Elite Octoling to those who did not go through harsh training isn't helping.'
Unlike their Octosnipers, Inkling Snipers could move around and carried bombs making them vastly superior to their stationary Octosnipers.
However judging from the footage, the sniper weapon used by Agent 2 had less range than the ones used by Octosnipers.
The third weapon used was most interesting.
Agent 1 and the Cyan Inkling used it, a large weapon resembling a Paint Roller, Agent 1 used it to fling globs of Ink and run down Octarians who got too far from their teammates. The Cyan Inkling didn't seem to do much with it however they did find those injured Octotroopers who had been knocked off their hovercrafts by that Inkling.
From what she saw, the captain concluded that despite how low tech it was, the paint roller weapon was useful against single targets in close quarters and could also help cover turf relatively quickly.
'We have fought Inklings many times by now, how come nobody has ever thought to make a weapon like that?'
The Octarians had previously designed a weapon called the Octobrush with similar functions, but it covered a much narrower area and the globs of ink that it flung were considered too weak to be effective, thus the Octobrush was phased out of the army in favor of the more traditional Octoshots.
'Maybe with a few modifications to the obsolete Octobrush, we could have a new weapon for our Octolings, that could help us fight the Inklings almost as much as having a brainwashed spy.'
Thus the Octarian armory manager received a request that day, ordering him to dig out and hand over any Octobrushes they could find.
Undercity, Octo Valley
Amongst a large area covered with blue and red ink, with Octocopter helmets scattered about, an Inkling could be heard yawning loudly.
"Tired?"
"Definitely, I've been down here for days and haven't slept a wink."
Inker rubbed his eyes and shook himself awake, maybe he should have let Callie and Marie be the distraction.
'Just one more day, then its back to Inkopolis.'
As planned, Inker and Kal drew attention from the Octocopters searching for them and led them away from the other Inklings.
What worried him now was how after fighting off only five of them there were no more Octocopters in sight, the entire Octarian army was here, so they could have sent hundreds of Octocopters.
'It should be obvious that we are a distraction, they probably realised it by now.'
"There doesn't seem to be any more Octarians looking for us." Kal said
"Don't speak too soon."
Inker looked around trying to see if there were any more flying Octarians.
Nothing, the underground skies were clear.
'Maybe there are Octotroopers and Octolings coming?'
Inker peeked over the edge of the roof and saw nothing but empty streets.
The Octarain army had probably warned everyone to stay indoors as there were Inklings around.
'Skies and streets are clear, am I just being paranoid?'
He wasn't just worried about being tailed, he was also concerned about the wounds he got earlier.
'Not good, I need to get back to Inkopolis soon. Maybe I really should have let Callie and Marie be the distraction.'
"Are you looking for something?" Kal asked after noticing Inker glancing around.
"Just making sure no more Octarians are nearby, anyways since nobody seems to be following us, let's go back to Melanin prison."
Inker and Kal made their way towards Melanin prison once again, hopping down from the rooftops, covering the streets with ink swimming away.
Nautilus base, Octo Valley
Victoria had not expected to be called to action in the middle of the night, and judging but the tried looks on the other soldiers faces, neither were they.
Octarians in full combat gear were assembled quickly, put inside a saucer and sent off.
'Good thing I recovered my goggles while Agent 3 and co were attacking Melanin, otherwise i'd probably be questioned for showing up without it.'
Victoria and her splatoon were being deployed somewhere, she did not know where exactly.
Something else on her mind was why Octavia had called her splatoon instead of sending the ones already at Nautilus, there were at least four splatoons available at this time, even a low ranked Octarian like Victoria knew this.
'One or two splatoons guarding the base would be more than enough, so Octavia couldn't have be keeping four splatoons for security, could she?'
Victoria was getting less and less confident in the Acting Leader's abilities, after all Victoria had doubted the Acting Leader's course of action from the start.
'Agent 3 wants to work things out between our two races..'
She looked around the saucer at the other soldiers in her splatoon.
The usually energetic Octoballs who's job was to roll around everywhere were probably not used to being awake at this time, they all bunched up together forming a small pyramid and shut their eyes, maybe it's because they were all the same species of Octarian or because they were familiar with each other, but they trusted each other enough to bunch up together.
The Octolings were a familiar sight in all Octarian splatoons, since they weren't in battle they all sat around, without goggles on. Most of them were somehow looking forward to being deployed into battle, while others voiced their annoyance at failing to splat an Inkling during that huge scramble through the lairs.
Despite being talkative during breaks and while off duty, the Octosnipers were quiet. They were known for their patience, as expected of someone whose job was to stay in one position for hours, there were only four of them aboard, as each of them sat silently as if meditating.
The Octotroopers, both regular and twintacle ones, showed less enthusiasm then the Octolings, probably due to the knowledge that they are the least capable type of soldier, however a few of them still talked about proving themselves in combat.
And finally, there was the Octostriker flying the saucer, Octostrikers were getting rarer and rarer nowadays, in fact Victoria didn't know any other Octostrikers aside from him, this one in particular was a chatterbox, if he didn't have to fly the saucer, he'd probably being talking away and letting some sort of classified intel get loose in the process.
All in all they weren't as excited to fight as they were a few weeks ago, Victoria hoped they could stay this way, then they won't all run towards Inker and get splatted by him if they ever had to fight.
'Then again, if they were ordered to do so, they'd probably do it, after all none of them knew what Agent 3 was really like, so in their minds they'd be doing the right thing.'.
After a few minutes of flying, the saucer landed at the place where Octavio previously kept the great zapfish.
Giant structures that resembled Subwoofers, Microphones and other music related equipment were scattered everywhere.
In the center of a massive platform, DJ Octavio's damaged Octobot King lay on its front, unpowered, its mean lasers, mighty fists and many Octorpedos rendered useless without the Great Zapfish.
On top of it was a cage containing a purple Inkling.
'Looks like Inker didn't rescue everyone.'
An elite was waiting for them.
"Alright listen up! Agent 3 will not doubt be coming for this last Inkling we have, so stay on your guard, there is not much in this area that could give Agent 3 an advantage, so do not be afraid and overwhelm Agent 3 when he arrives."
The Elite Octoling turned to the Octobot King.
"This is DJ Octavio's personal assault vehicle, it is unpowered, but is still large enough to hide your entire splatoon, stay hidden until Agent 3 is within range, if he does not show up today, another splatoon will take your place."
With that the Elite boarded the saucer that brought Victoria and co here and flew off.
Before long Victoria and the other troops squeezed themselves somewhere in the Octobot, the smaller Octarians hid inside the Discoballs while Victoria and the other Octolings had to crawl into the cockpit and press themselves against the walls to avoid being seen.
They waited in silence for quite some time, knowing that they were supposed to surprise Agent 3.
Some were nervous, others were excited, but they were all disciplined enough to keep their mouths shut for the hours that followed.
And just like before, Victoria was already concidering telling Inker about this trap layed out for him.
'If Inker arrives today I should probably alert everyone early so their would be some distance between us and him, if he doesn't arrive today then i'll tell him not to walk into this little trap. Where would he be? Probably back in Inkopolis by now, looks like i'll need that helmet again.'
More slow hours crept by, but Agent 3 did not show up.
That was because he had no idea Lila was brought here.
Melanin prison, Octo Valley
The captain of Melanin was already preparing to move her troops back to Nautilus when one of her Octolings came with urgent news.
"We've spotted Agent 3! he has returned!"
The guards were already prepared to leave and there was nothing important in Melanin now, so the captain was not pressed to defend it.
However protocol dictates that she contact Octavia immediately.
"There is no reason to occupy Melanin prison anymore, bring your splatoon back to Nautilus, we can monitor Agent 3 using the cameras all over Melanin and the city, in fact we are already doing so."
'Well what do you know, maybe she does learn from her mistakes.'
"Understood, we will not engage Agent 3 and leave unseen."
As Inker and Kal approached Melanin, the Octarians running the facility slipped away, heading back to the Undercity as Inker and Kal entered the now abandoned prison.
Since neither of them could read Octarian, Inker and Kal had to go through every inch of the prison to find the infirmary.
Kal, determined to find Lila showed no fear in seeing the place he was kept prisoner again, he and Inker checked room after room for a place that looked like an infirmary.
"It's too quiet, they probably have already moved her somewhere else." Inker suggested
"We can't be sure yet." Kalus didn't want Lila to be stuck here any longer, the way the Octarians treated Inklings was nothing enjoyable and he heard from Victoria, how dangerous the valley itself was.
If Lila wasn't here they would have to search for her another time, who knows what the Octarians might be doing to her.
Inker was glad to see his friend determined to help out, but he had another problem.
He had to get back to Inkopolis
"Kal, there is nothing here, we should start heading back now."
Inker said after they had gone through two more rooms.
"I'm not going back yet, we should look somewhere else."
"We can't do that, I told everyone that we'd be at the rig before the end of the day, it will take us several hours to get there so we should go now."
"Didn't you tell them to come looking for us if we didn't show? It will be fine if we don't go back, we'll just have to regroup in the city."
"I told them to do that incase we couldn't make it back, look at this."
Inker pulled open one of the tears on his hero suit, revealing a horizontal gash on the side of his chest, it was as if something tried to tear him apart, the wound was also starting to swell up, meaning it had probably been infected.
To Kal, who never really seen anything like it before, the sight of a swelling gash made him want to vomit.
"Eww, that looks really bad, when did this happen?"
"I got careless, when I first came to Melanin prison I walked into a bad situation and had to superjump without properly preparing."
"Are you crazy? You know some squids have been ripped apart doing that right? Why didn't you let Callie and Marie be the distraction if you like this?"
"I didn't expect you to try and rescue another Inkling, I thought that I'd have time to make it back to Inkopolis once everyone's made it to safety. Besides, Callie and Marie are celebrities, if any of them goes missing there would be an uproar, but if I go missing it will be fine."
Kal sighed, he wanted to rescue Lila, but he wasn't about to risk his friend's health either.
"In other words, you're saying you're worthless? Come on don't put yourself down like that. We will get back to Inkopolis, you are going to see a doctor and i'll come back to Octo Valley with Callie and Marie."
"If those two aren't busy, go ahead."
The duo left the abandoned Melanin Prison and headed for Inkopolis.
Stage 26, The Rig, Octo Valley
"Has it been a day yet? I can't tell with no sky down here."
Neon was probably looking forward to fighting their way to Inker and Kal.
The two had done their part and drew all the attention away from the main group, they had to had done well because Neon and the rest of the group encountered no resistance at all while making their way through the valley.
"Not yet, there is still time." Sky replied
Callie and Marie had left to bring all the rescued Inklings back to Inkopolis and also buy some food for the group.
"I expected you to head back to Inkopolis."
"So you could run off the moment Callie and Marie turned their backs on you? Not likely."
"You know, if I did run right now, I doubt you can catch up with me."
Hearing this, Sky leapt to his feet.
"I'm just kidding, jeez you really can't tell when i'm joking, this is why you're no fun."
Neon grabbed her E-liter and and started walking off.
"You aren't actually running off are you?"
"Of course not! Just what do you take me for? I'm bored so im going to look around."
"Don't do that, Callie and Marie told us to wait here."
"Come on, this place is as unfamiliar as the rest of Octo Valley, surely you're curious what this place is like."
"It's just some kind of abandoned factory right?"
"Maybe, but who knows what could be lying around."
"Don't get into trouble okay."
Not even a minute had passed when Sky heard the sounds of a weapon firing, he ran towards the sound, expecting Neon to be fighting off some Octarians.
Instead she was standing there with an Inkzooka, with green ink everywhere and a smile on her face.
"Look at this, there was just an Inkzooka in a can, lying around with no owner! And it works perfectly!"
Since the Inkzooka special only lasts about nine seconds, the Inkzooka Neon had found was now absolutely useless.
Not only that, but the noise must have attracted some sort of attention.
"You idiot! Why would shoot around randomly!? What if someone heard us?"
"Hey calm down, nobody is nearby, I'll go find another special."
"There's no time for that! Get somewhere high and tell me if any Octarians are coming! Ahh wait I don't have a weapon!"
Sky panicked upon realising he was defenseless, Neon sighed and found a structure to climb.
From her position, Neon could see almost the whole rig, there was no sign of Octarians anywhere.
"There's nobody in sight for miles! You can you can stop panicking now."
Sky breathed in relief and sat down. 'Guess we are too far away from any Octarians.'
He was going to sit around and wait for Callie and Marie, but then he saw Neon hop down and run off somewhere again.
"Hey wait up!"
Now that he remembered he had no weapon it was crucial that he stay with Neon at all times.
"What the heck is this?"
Neon had found a black suitcase with a yellow handle.
"Somebody probably lost it here before Inker cleared this place out. Hey be careful with that! What if there's a bomb or something inside!"
Sky caught the suitcase that Neon had thrown away, he thought about trying to open it, but then decided to just hold on to it and chase after Neon.
This went on for quite some time.
"Were back! And we got burgers and pizza for all- hey where did they go?!"
Callie and Marie had returned but Neon and Sky were nowhere to be seen
They looked at each other and nodded, both knowing that they had to immediately look for the two Inklings.
The two celebrities swam through the abandoned factory like areas of the rig, until they finally found Sky and Neon crouched around something.
"There you are, why did you two run off?"
Sky stood up
"Sorry, I was going to bring Neon back to the spot you left us, but we found something, look at this."
Neon was looking through someone's gear and wallet.
"Hey don't take anything out of it! Give it to me."
Neon passed the wallet she was holding to Sky, who in turn, showed it to Callie and Marie.
Inside was a card which read 'Inkopolis Police' at the top.
"Detective Vert Brata, Inkopolis Police Department" Callie read "did you know him?"
Sky nodded.
"Look there's more."
Neon showed more wallets to Callie and Marie, each one containing an ID card for an Inkopolis police officer.
"Detective Vert was the one investigating the missing Inklings, last time I saw him he was suspecting Inker and had found out he was in Octo Valley." Sky told the rest
"I remember that too, I guess the Octarians weren't too friendly with Inkopolis authorities."
Marie nodded "The Inkopolis PD aren't supposed to be able to operate outside of Inkopolis, I guess Vert must have been certain about Inker or the Octarians having something to do with the squidnappings. He probably wasn't expecting the Octarian army to still be around, since there is nothing left of them aside from their gear, I doubt we would ever find out what happened to them."
Marie placed her hand on her heart, everyone else did the same.
"Rest in peace, departed Inklings, may you return someday in a new life."
"..."
"Umm, what's is going on here?"
The four Inklings looked up to see Kal standing there, Inker appeared shortly after.
He was clutching his side with one arm, it would appear that the wounds he obtained were really starting to hurt.
"Inker, look, it turns out Vert chased after you once you left for Octo Valley."
"Vert…."
"Umm who is Vert?" Kal, who had never met the detective, asked.
"I didn't really like that guy, he came off as a bit of a jerk, but I know that he was trying his best to solve the case quickly despite the lack of practice."
Inker then answered Kalus' question
"Vert was the detective in charge of finding the missing Inklings, including you, he suspected me and Lila's brother; Laven. Long story short, Laven ended up making a false confession and I went off to Octo Valley after hearing from Victoria that you were held there."
'Victoria huh, I should thank her if I ever see her again.'
The six Inklings stood by for a moment, not knowing what to do with the pile of gear that the deceased officers had left behind, then Inker came up with an idea.
"We needed to cover up the New Squidbeak Splatoon's involvement right? I guess we could give Det Vert and his officers the credit for rescuing the missing Inklings, where are the other Inklings anyway?"
"Gramps is keeping them company until we can think of a cover story."
"Well see if you can get them to play along, if everything goes well then nobody would come looking for us."
"Wait, so I won't get to talk about any of this?" Neon asked
"Of course not, were you planning on telling everyone that you fought against the Octarian army?"
"Yes…."
"Neon, this isn't a game okay, some things need to stay hidden, I'll explain why some other time, because right now I need to get to a doctor."
"A doctor?"
"Yes, I superjumped without proper preparations before I met up with you guys, remember how you said I looked like I swam through a woodchipper."
"Ohhhhhh, why didn't you say so earlier?! I would have gladly been the distraction in your place!"
"I think you would have wanted to be the distraction regardless of whether or not Inker was injured." Sky cut in. "Anyways, superjumping in an instant is dangerous, let's go back to Inkopolis for now."
Kal agreed
"Yes and once you are all rested up, I'm going back for Lila."
"I'm not coming back." Sky said
Neon had no objections "That's fine! I'll be glad to help you!"
"Umm, we have to go film a few more shots after being away for so long, I doubt we will have time to help out."
"Easy now, we still have no idea where they moved her, in the meantime, just go home and chill, I'll probably need a few days to heal anyways. Once i've recovered, I'll go look for the last Inkling."
"Alright, hey by the way you are probably hungry by now right? We got pizza and burgers."
Callie brought the food that she and Marie had bought in Inkopolis.
At the mention of food, Inker's stomach growled, despite his wounds hurting alot he still found the strength to leap to his feet and get food from Callie.
"Yes, please I'd have any of them, I didn't get to eat fresh food for days after I got stuck in Octo Valley."
"Just out of curiosity, what did you eat while you were in Octo Valley."
"I'll tell you later, please give me something."
Kal jumped in as well
"I haven't had anything but stale seaweed while I was imprisoned, I want to eat something warm, give me something."
Upon seeing this scene, Neon burst out laughing
"What!?"
"Nothing, just the sight of you two mobbing Callie for food is not something you see everyday."
"Okay okay, here you go, hey Agent 3, next time you plan on doing something like this, come to us for help k, and also pack a lunch at least."
"Victoria just showed up suddenly and told me that she could lead me to Kal and the others, I didn't have time to prepare."
"Speaking of Victoria, she lead us through the Undercity too, where is she anyways?"
"Probably back with the rest of the Octarian Army, she keeps talking about how risky it is for her to help us, and stuff like that, I doubt we will see her around anytime soon."
Kal sighed
"That's too bad."
"Oh? And can you elaborate on why?"
"Neon, I know what you're getting at, for the last time, we are not a couple, I haven't even seen her in months."
"That's normal for long distance relationships!"
It was basically a repeat of their conversation the last time they returned from Octo Valley.
Inker's side was hurting even more by now, so it was time to head back.
"Well it's nice to see everything back to normal, but we are still in Octo Valley, plus it is probably getting late by now, so lets head back to Inkopolis."
Inkopolis Plaza, The next day
After a good night's rest, Kal once again experienced the joy of living in Inkopolis.
'Man, i've missed this place'
Safe buildings, fresh food, fresher people.
Kal couldn't help but spread his arms, as if he was trying to embrace the everyday scene of Inkopolis.
It was all familiar, but after being held in a prison for weeks, it felt so new and refreshing. The people commuting to their jobs or to Inkopolis Tower, the T.V screens playing a variety of shows and advertisements…
"What the heck are you doing?"
…...the sight of his friends Neon and Sky, instead of Octotroopers and Octolings.
"Nothing, it just feels so good to be back!"
For a moment, Kalus forgot about all the trouble he had in Octo Valley.
"So, didn't you say you wanted to go back to Octo Valley?"
"Neon, we just got back, sure I want to go and rescue Lila but we should probably wait for Inker or maybe Callie and Marie."
"No need, I did pretty well on my own without anyone backing me up."
"Umm maybe, but uhh."
"Huh? What?"
"Didn't you forget all about Sky last time you tried to do something in Octo Valley with Inker Callie, or Marie's help?"
'Did her face just twitch?'
"Ahh, well that was a mistake, it won't happen again, so don't worry about it!"
Sky chimed in "Seriously, we just got back yesterday and you already want to go back? you have Turf wars here so you won't be bored, plus this time, nobody else can help you; Callie and Marie are doing their show and Inker is stuck at home."
So in the meantime the group could do nothing about the one Inkling left in Octo Valley.
"Don't go running off to Octo Valley."
"Huh? What's with this commanding tone? Are you mad at me for nearly getting you splatted? You're mad at me aren't you."
"No, why would you think that, look don't go and try to do everything on your own okay."
"You should tell Inker that, not me."
After returning the other day, Inker had left to see a doctor, earlier this morning he had told his friends that he had a pretty serious wound that had to be disinfected and stitched up. Because of that, Inker has to avoid physical activities to not break the stitches and also take antibiotics as the wound was showing signs of infection.
"He was going on about things going back to normal yesterday, but I don't think things will be back to normal anytime soon."
"Because you're going to be fighting in Octo Valley more often now?"
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't deny it either."
Kal turned away from Neon and Sky, who were bickering as usual.
'Things getting back to normal huh, everything looks normal enough to me.'
After all this was Inkopolis, full of fun and fresh Inklings.
Kal looked at the various Inklings just hanging around.
Newbies with Splattershot jrs and basic clothing
Pros with varying gear sets
Chargers, Aloha Shirts, Rollers, .52 Gals, Camo Zip hoodies and 18K Aviators, Black Polo and 8-ball headband, Tentacles Helmet and Varsity Jacket.
'Wait a second!'
"What is she doing here!?" Kal exclaimed, drawing the attention of Neon and Sky
Kal took off in the direction of the one wearing a familiar looking outfit.
"You're looking quite fresh, wanna join us for a round of turf?" a random Inkling asked as she and her group passed by.
'Huh? Wasn't Turf wars that gladiatorial battle between Inklings?'
"Umm no thanks I'm actually looking for someone."
"Suit yourself."
The creature with the helmet and jacket kept walking for a while, eventually taking note of a shadow on the ground, one casted by a person who was probably following her.
'Someone I know?'
She turned a few corners at random, sure enough that person was still behind her.
"If you noticed me, you should at least say something instead of following me around."
Victoria turned around, as she expected, it was an Inkling she knew; Kalus.
"Sorry, I just wasn't sure if it was you."
"Oh well, good thing you found me, I have no sense of direction here in Inkopolis."
"Definitely, I wanted to thank you ever since I got back. I heard you led Inker and everyone else to rescue me and the other Inklings captured."
"No problem, just returning a favor."
Neon and Sky caught up.
"Hey what's going on?"
It took on a second for them to recognised Victoria as well.
"Ohhh I see what's going on."
"Neon no."
Victoria took note of the two, but continued speaking to Kal.
"By the way, where's Inker?"
"At his home, he got hurt pretty bad while escaping from some Elite Octolings, he had to get quite a lot of stitches yesterday and has to avoid exercise for a while."
"Oh, well that's unfourtunate."
Victoria showing up in Inkopolis was not something Kal would have expected, so he assumed that it had something to do with Lila.
"You're here because of the one Inkling we couldn't find right?I want to go save her, but I'm not going to Octo Valley again without Inker or Agent 1 and 2."
"That's fine, after all I came to tell you not to rescue her, you'd be walking into a trap."
"?!"
Author Note
Well the summer break is over, and it's time for me to start my first year of university, I heard the first year is always the hardest. I know that I haven't been sticking to my, "one chapter in under two weeks" goal, but at this point I think it can't be helped, I'll try my best to update this once or more times per month, after all there is still a lot of story left, the many characters who were only mentioned a few times have roles to play too.
Original Characters from Rescue (Chapter 6-10):
Inklings:
Kalus (often referred to as Kal): Red Inkling, captured by Octarians and recently freed by his friends. Kal is thoughtful and kind but a bit naive and inexperienced when it comes to Octo Valley, believing that everyone can be saved and everyone can be happy.
Inker (also known as Agent 3): Blue Inkling, injured in Octo Valley after attempting to rescue Kal and the other Inklings alone, luckily for him, Victoria helped Neon, Sky, Callie and Marie through Octo Valley and he was able to rescue the Inklings despite his injuries. Inker wants to somehow stop the fighting between the two races, but with the Octarian army's hostility towards Inklings, it is a difficult goal to achieve.
Neon: Green Inkling, enjoying combat more than anything, Neon went off to Octo Valley to find Inker and Kal, she fought well against large armies of Octarians and can adapt quickly to new enemies. Neon is an act first type of person, preferring to enjoy the moment, this causes her to make mistakes, especially when distracted by the "fun" of combat.
Sky: Cyan Inkling, despite knowing that he is not good at combat, Sky wished not to be left out and followed Neon to Octo Valley, where he found himself unable to take the life of another living creature, he has then decided not to return to fight in Octo Valley. Sky thinks first and acts later, making him the opposite of the wild child Neon. Because he does not act on instinct, he was shellshocked during his first real battle in Octo Valley.
Lila: light purple Inkling, thrown into the boiling pit under the captain of the guard's orders, she survived and was taken away from brainwashing and thus was not in the cells when Inker and Sky freed the captured Inklings. Acting Leader Octavia, plans to use her as bait, supposedly for luring out Agent 3. Lila is much younger than the other Inklings, having developed significantly faster than usual, this makes her extremely naive, but innocent.
Vert: (deceased) a detective for the Inkopolis PD, due to Inkopolis being almost crime free, Vert lacks experience in handling tougher cases (a trait likely shared with the rest of the Inkopolis PD). he suspected Inker and Laven, so he followed Inker to Octo Valley, where he and his team were splatted by Octosnipers. His ID(which shows that his last name is Brata) and gear was found by Neon when she explored the Rig, following Inker's plan, he has likely been credited for freeing the captured Inklings at the cost of his life in order to hide the New Squidbeak Splatoon's involvement.
Octarians:
Victoria: Maroon Octoling, one of many Octolings who from the ranks of the Octarian army. Feeling indebted to Kalus and Inker, she helped the Inklings navigate the large and unfamiliar Undercity, although she refused to openly go against the Octarian army and left the Inklings to do all the fighting. Victoria is pretty smart when it comes to battle, being able to tell when the Octarians would lose, this is likely because of her previous dedication to being a perfect Octarian soldier.
Violet: purple Octoling, an Octarian civilian working as an emergency responder in Octo Valley' Undercity. As a civilian, Violet knows only what the Octarian media has told her, and thus believes Inklings to be bad creatures. While having nothing against Inklings, Violet discourages Victoria's actions out of fear.
Octavia: Elite Octoling, the one replacing DJ Octavio during his absence, while she has managed to become Octo Valley' Acting Leader, she often underestimates the Inklings. Many of her subordinates have noted her errors, however she still seems to want to try luring Agent 3 into an ambush regardless of previous failures.
The Captain of the Guard: Elite Octoling, addressed only by her rank so far, the captain has a strong hatred for Inklings like most of the Octarians, however she is more open to using new ways to defeat the Inklings. She also seems to care about her subordinates, offering to hide Claire and Lynn's deal with Kal by granting them a paid leave.
Claire: Maroon Octoling, one of many Octolings who from the ranks of the Octarian army. Claire was the Captain of the Guard's camp adjutant and capable of reading ones expressions to tell lies from truth. In order to protect her family she made a deal with Kalus to have him keep Agent 3 away from a certain address. As an average Octarian, she only knows what the Octarian media has told her, and thus believes Agent 3 to be an utterly evil existence.
Lynn: Maroon Octoling one of many Octolings who from the ranks of the Octarian army. Along with Claire and Madison, Lynn made a deal with Kalus to keep Agent 3 away from her family. As the average Octarian, Lynn believes the rumors of Agent 3 being an utterly evil existence.
Madison (deceased): Maroon Octoling, one of many Octolings who from the ranks of the Octarian army. She made a deal along with Lynn and Claire in order to keep Agent 3 away from what is left of her family. Like Claire and Lynn, she also believes the Octarian rumors surrounding Inklings and Agent 3. She was splatted as cannon fodder, along with many other Octarians when Inker, Neon, Sky and the Squid Sisters attacked Melanin Prison.
Kevin: Octostriker, pilots a saucer ferrying Octarian troops around Octo Valley.