Inkopolis
When Lila was finally brought back she was immediately sent to a hospital for a checkup. The Boiling pit had left many scars on her, and she looked nothing like the Inkling that was taken from Inkopolis.
Meanwhile Callie and Marie were scolded for the damage they had done to the Inkopolis news helicopter they borrowed. Of course the two were still Inkopolis' most popular celebrities so they didn't get too much punishment, they simply got lectured and then moved on with their lives.
The other captured Inklings had been back for over a week now, and news of there return had already been broadcasted on Inkopolis news, however those Inklings did not go through the same things that Lila went through.
Lila survived the boiling pit and bore the evidence of Octarian cruelty, therefore Inkopolis news wanted a report on her experience in Octo Valley.
Since Callie and Marie worked for Inkopolis news and had trashed that helicopter they had to do something to make up for it, therefore the two paid Lila a visit, along with a camera crew, they asked her all about Melanin prison, how she was treated, how did it feel to be rescued etc.
Of course the New Squidbeak Splatoon had to remain secret, so Callie and Marie told Lila not to mention Agent 3 and his friends to anyone before they started filming, claiming that if the New Squidbeak Splatoon were to be exposed, there would be too much attention and people questioning their actions.
Lila of course, was just grateful to be rescued and agreed not to mention Agent 3.
In the meantime, the Inkopolis Police Department informed Lila's family about her return.
For the first time since his release from prison, Laven left his self imposed confinement, he and his family went to see Lila at the hospital.
"Lila!"
"Mom! Dad! Laven!"
With the camera still rolling Lila lept from her seat and ran into the arms of her family.
They didn't care if Lila had so many blisters and scars from the boiling pit, she was safe and it was all that mattered.
The four Inklings embraced each other and wouldn't let go.
Seeing this heartwarming scene, Callie and Marie wiped away tears, for the moment they had forgotten all about what made them so angry at each other, they were glad to have come together and to have rescued Lila.
"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have known better than to bring you to Inkopolis Tower." Laven said with an apologetic tone.
"Don't worry about that, i'm safe now."
"Who brought you back? We need to thank them."
Lila glanced at Callie and Marie for a moment.
She could tell her family who saved her right?
Probably, but maybe when they get back home.
"A few policemen saved me, I don't know where they went though."
"Was it Vert?"
"I don't know."
"Oh forget it, were just glad you're back."
With their family reunited, Lila, Laven and their parents all left together.
"Did we get all that?" Marie asked a squid holding a camera who had been recording the whole thing.
If they were making a documentary on the horrors of Octo Valley's prisons that family reunion had to go in.
"Yes."
Octo Valley, Nautilus base
Following her daily routine Victoria found herself in Nautilus base once again.
Usually she'd make conversation with whoever she saw, but right now it seemed that everyone was drawn to the few regular troops who saw combat recently.
Namely the former Melanin Prison guards, a couple of Octosnipers and that big mouthed Kevin.
"And after they all hopped off the saucer, I flew out alone and took on Agent 1, she was fast and all but I managed to beat her back, she then ran to the other Inklings for help."
"Ohhhh!"
They were telling all sorts of tall tales, Victoria didn't believe a word of it, after all she had experienced Inker's fighting potential firsthand, she'd never underestimate an Inkling again.
Plus, none of them ever mentioned splatting an Inkling so there was nothing to worry about.
It seemed like she wasn't the only one who didn't believe those stories, a few other Octarians also avoided the huge crowd listening to those far fetched stories.
A few of these ones talked amongst themselves, occasionally stealing glances at the one's letting stories, others sat by themselves.
An Octoling sat next to Victoria, she looked at her for a moment.
"Umm, is someone sitting here?"
"No, you can sit there."
Soon a second Octoling sat in front of Victoria and the other one, those two started talking amongst themselves.
Victoria didn't care what they were talking about, truth be told she would rather hear Kevin's story for once, but mostly cause she wanted to know what happened to Kal and the others once she had left them.
Of course all Kevin would talk about was his duel with Agent 1, since Callie wasn't amongst the group when Victoria was there, she assumed that Kevin was either making stuff up, or named either Kal or Neon, Agent 1.
According to him, Agent 3 and two others showed up and were ambushed after reaching the prisoner, to Victoria it seemed unlikely since she had told them where the guards would have been hiding, plus there shouldn't have been anyone there, she heard the acting leader announced that they were pulling out of that area.
Also the idea of Kevin flying a saucer in a dogfight with an Inkling helicopter was preposterous, where could Inker and his friends possibly obtain a helicopter?
"And then they all ran for their chopper expect one, yep Agent 3 didn't notice all his pals had bolted and got left behind, the Elites gunned him down in a matter of seconds."
"Ohhh!"
'Pfft yeah right, as if Inker would do such a stupid thing.'
Attracted by the "ohh"ing and "ahh"ing the two Octolings sitting near Victoria looked towards the big crowd.
"What's going on over there?" one of them asked
"Kevin is telling his stories again." Victoria replied
"What kind of stories? He seems to be attracting a lot of attention."
"I don't know, something about fighting in the Octobot King's lair, I don't believe any of it so i'm not interested."
However her statement about fighting in the Octobot King's lair had caught their attention.
The Octoling next to Victoria turned towards her.
"Well was there fighting in Octavio's lair? I just got back from Octo Canyon so I wouldn't know."
Victoria looked at this Octoling, why was she at Octo Canyon? She didn't look like she was a part of the reserve army, and that place stopped being a vacation resort ages ago…. also what was with her hair? Why did she tie her tentacles backwards in a ponytail? It kinda reminded Victoria of Inker and Kal's hairstyles.
"I don't know, I wasn't there, in fact nobody was supposed to be there so I wouldn't be so quick to believe anything that guy says."
Victoria noticed the Octoling in front of her also seemed to be paying close attention to her.
'Is she trying to figure something out? Or am I just being paranoid?'
A moment later the Octoling turned around and stared at Kevin at the Melanin guards' little circle of fans.
She was giving off that same look she gave Victoria, as if she was trying to understand something.
"Oh well, sounds like we missing something during our time in Octo Canyon, come on Lynn, lets go say hi to our Splatoon again."
With that the Octoling with the odd stare and the pony tailed Octoling both left.
'Hmm? Are they whispering something?' Victoria noticed as the two walked off and melted into the group.
"Claire! Lynn! Welcome back!" someone said
'Hmmm, guess they really were on vacation in Octo Canyon.'
Holter family household, Octo Valley
"Oh? I didn't expect to see you again so soon."
Because they had no idea how to find Victoria, Kal and Inker decided to ask her parents for help, they had travelled back to the three story house with the graffiti on the side, where Maria welcomed them inside before anyone could see them.
"Sorry for showing up unannounced but can you call Victoria?" Inker asked
"Sure but I doubt she'll answer, what's wrong anyways?"
"We messed up, the Octarian army did set up a trap, but it wasn't meant for us, long story short they know that someone's been helping us now so we need to warn Victoria."
Maria nodded and turned her attention to the phone.
'Vrrt vrrt'
If Victoria was on duty she would have had to leave her phone silent, however she was still in the mess hall having lunch.
Victoria took her phone out of her pocket, it wasn't the squid phone she had received before, that thing couldn't be used with Octarian sim cards.
One glance at the number was all she needed to decline the call.
"She's not picking up."
"Figures…. " Inker thought "Do you know anyone else who can get in touch with her?"
"I do, but is it really a good idea to get more Octarians involved?"
"Right, okay can you give us her address? I'll ask our mission control to guide us there." Kal was visibly concerned
"Yes of course, but Victoria should be at Nautilus base right now."
"Nautilus base?"
"If i'm not mistaken, that's the Octarian army's main base?" Inker guessed, having heard the name "Nautilus" before.
"You're right, it may be old, but its the largest and most secure place in Octo Valley, no way you could get in there."
"What is Victoria doing there at this time?"
"Isn't it obvious? She's still a soldier, she's on duty there."
"Inker do you think you can find a way inside that place?"
"Heck no! We barely made it out just facing the Elites, no way we could sneak into a base containing the entire Octarian army, besides Nautilus base is no Octarian lair, I can't respawn there, just like how I can't respawn here."
Maria tilted her head at the mention of "respawning" the Octarians had no idea the Inklings had already found a way to respawn long ago.
"Still, we need to warn Victoria" Kal persisted, Maria had made it obvious that she was a former Elite Octoling so Kal turned to her for help. "Do you think they could let you visit Victoria?"
"No, I'm a civilian now, nobody enters Nautilus unless they are part of the army, not even the Octo Valley News reporters can get inside."
"Wait, if she's not picking up and she's in a place like that? Could she have already been captured?"
"I don't think captured is the right word here, no she wouldn't be arrested yet, normally a significant amount of evidence would be needed to arrest a traitor, the evidence would have to be obtained by Elite Octolings through investigation or through force."
"But Octavia is an Elite Octoling and she was the one who found out that we were getting help."
If what Maria said was true then Octavia's word would be enough to convict Victoria.
Kal recalled the way he was treated in Melanin prison, but that was because of the Octarian's anger towards Inklings in general, how would they treat a member of their own race?
"That's not how Octo Valley sees her, right now she's taking over for Octavio and putting the integrity of Octo Valley before her Elite Octoling duties, at least that's what they think."
Hearing that Kal could relax a bit knowing that they had a bit more time to get to Victoria, still he wanted to know what would happen to Octarian prisoners.
"By the way, what would Victoria's punishment be if she was captured?"
"For betraying Octarian kind and ignoring the vows she took as an Octarian soldier? Public execution."
Hearing that, Kal became more determined than ever.
"When do Octarian soldiers come back home?"
"It depends, all soldiers have different shifts, plus if there is a threat to Octo Valley, or if they are in the middle of an operation they may not come home at all."
"What about Victoria? What's her schedule?"
"I'm not sure, I do know that she comes home every night so I guess she'll be back at her apartment before midnight."
"Alright then, we will just have to wait until nightfall then…. By the way, should we bring her back here?"
Maria looked confused
"Aren't you here to take her to Inkopolis?"
Kal shook his head
"No, unfortunately Inkopolis doesn't seem ready to accept Octolings yet, the very least I want to warn Victoria and get her to leave Octo Valley and go somewhere else, before doing that I think she should first reconnect with her family."
At the mention of reconnecting, Maria showed a sad expression
"Didn't we tell you last time? No way Victoria could forgive us now and if we explain everything to her, she'll just get mad, plus it would undo our efforts to make Victoria independant."
"Are you really okay with that? Your daughter is wanted for high treason, if you don't settle things now you may never get to see each other again."
"..."
Maria seemed lost in thought, part of her wanted to reconnect, the other wanted to keep her distance in case someday tragedy strikes.
Inker looked at Kal with a curious expression.
This was the second time he had seen him suddenly get so serious, the first time was almost three months ago, when they were convincing Cap'n Cuttlefish to let Victoria return to Octo Valley.
"You know, somebody once told me that family is everything in Octo Valley."
"Who? Victoria?"
"No, three guards at Melanin prison, when they found out that Inker was my friend they wanted to make a deal with me, they'd tell me where all the held Inklings are if I made sure we never fought Octarians near certain addresses."
"Really? But that's no different from treason, they would be punished by a military tribunal."
"Yes, i'm sure they knew that, but they also explained that they had lost several family members and would do anything to keep the rest of family safe, even if it meant making a deal with me. These Octolings cared for family more than anything else."
Maria was still lost in thought, she just nodded and kept listening.
"Did you know, I offered Victoria a chance to live in Inkopolis? She turned it down of course, saying something about it being unfair to the rest of you if she got to live in such a nice place, that is true, but I've also seen her drop by only to leave right after talking to me. Now I don't know what being an Octarian soldier is like, but I have hunch that Victoria doesn't want to leave Octo Valley for some reason."
'What was with Kal's sudden change in personality?' Inker wondered 'he used to be a carefree Inkling, now sometimes he starts connecting dots and saying some interesting things.'
"I can't guarantee it, but I bet that Victoria would want to forgive you if you explain everything, show us where to find her, we'll bring her here before leaving Octo Valley, oh and let your husband know we are coming."
"You're not really giving me a choice are you? Alright sure, I guess it's about time, its now or never…. By the way, is there something going on between you and Victoria?" Maria asked
"No! I'm just, returning a favor."
"That's what Victoria said when she introduced you and Agent 3."
"Just a coincidence, there is nothing going on between us."
"Okay" Maria laughed, she didn't believe Kal in the slightest.
"I'm serious!"
Nautilus base, Octo Valley
"Welcome back, I hope you had a good time at Octo Canyon."
"Thanks it's good to be back."
Now that the evidence of them striking a deal with that red Inkling was gone, Claire and Lynn returned to their regular lives.
Claire, as her captain's adjutant had to report directly to her, while Lynn followed along because she wanted to know what had happened recently.
Claire she wasn't really reporting anything, rather she too was curious as to what happened in the time she was gone.
"I'm hearing some strange rumors, did we really take out Agent 3? Also what's this about Inkling aircraft in Octo Valley? I never knew the Inklings could bring an air force down here. I went around the mess hall and saw mixed reactions, some don't believe any of this, but the Octostriker telling those stories wasn't lying either."
"Well what do you think? Another propaganda message or an unbelievable truth?" the captain asked her subordinate
"Ummm, i'm not sure, I didn't look like anyone was lying"
Claire looked at Lynn, expecting her to answer as well, however the Captain spoke again before she could reply.
"Don't think about that, i'm asking you whether you believe it or not? Did we eliminate Agent 3?"
Claire and Lynn exchanged glances.
"I'd want to believe it, but it doesn't feel right, they say he was swarmed by the Elites and splatted but that sounds far too easy…. No, I don't believe it."
The captain smiled at this answer
"Good, you have just proven yourself to be more competent than Acting Leader Octavia."
Claire however winced at this statement
"Thanks, but you should avoid uttering statements like that while we are within the Nautilus base."
"Why? Are you afraid of punishment? The army follows Octavia out of fear, but it is no secret that she is a truly incompetent leader."
Slowly, the captain clenched her hand into a fist, as she recalled all of Octavia's failures being blamed on her.
Claire however knew something was up, she had never seen her commanding officer so angry before, of course she did criticize the Acting Leader back at Melanin, but now she seemed absolutely convinced that Octavia should not be in charge.
Lynn however could not tell what was happening
"Umm permission to speak freely? What's wrong? I'm confused, Can you please tell me what happened while Claire and I were away?"
As expected, Lynn, who held one of the lowest ranks possible, knew her place and would only speak after asking permission.
"Oh you already know, the stories and rumors you heard were in fact true, but it doesn't feel right, Agent 3 should not have gone down so easily, it was like he was trying to get splatted. Aside from that, our Acting Leader always gets careless the moment she gets the upper-hand, everytime something goes well she gets overconfident and messes up, then she has the gall to blame everything on me?!"
The captain realized she was shouting and calmed herself, she then continued retelling the recent events.
"After the two of you left, I had our splatoon modify the old Octobrushes that hadn't seen use in years, we replicated Agent 1's close combat weapon but when we deployed this weapon we couldn't use it effectively. If we had more time I'm sure we could learn to use these new Octo Rollers effectively, instead she ordered that we abandon the Rollers and continue fighting the way we normally do. Ridiculous, what kind of army refuses to move forward and experiment with new weapons and new methods of attack? Right now the Acting Leader is still trying to find a way through that tiny manhole that leads to the center of Inkopolis, why? No reason at all!"
The captain was interrupted by a knock at her door.
Claire opened the door to reveal another Elite Octoling standing there.
Was she a newly promoted Elite? Claire had met almost every Elite through her years of working as the captain's adjutant and she couldn't recognise this one.
"Acting Leader Octavia requests your presence."
Cap'n Cuttlefish's shack, Octo Valley
When Sky arrived here and took up the position of Mission Control it was almost noon, now a whole day and the sun had almost gone down a second time.
As the type of person to wake up early and put responsibility before fun, Sky was not used to staying up a whole day.
But right now his friends needed him, he wasn't going to be like Neon who started playing Turf Wars again as soon as she got back.
Sky slapped himself awake, he kept his eyes on the map of Octo Valley, and kept scrolling through the Undercity's cameras.
Kal and Inker were on their way to Victoria's apartment, he had to guide them there.
"Take a left here, then go straight…..
Hold on careful someone is there….
Okay they are gone keep going, straight forward…..
Alright now go left again, no wait right, go right!"
'If only I could read the street signs there.'
Because the Undercity used a language that all types of Octarians could understand, Sky, Kal and Inker could not read them as they were unfamiliar with the Octarian language.
Luckily there were other, simpler ways to navigate the Undercity, in other words Maria had taken a map of the Undercity and circled Victoria's apartment on it as well as her own household, that way all Sky needed to do was circle the same places on his own map and just tell Inker and Kal which way to go.
Sky also kept a sharp eye out for Octarians who might catch a glimpse of the Inklings and raise the alarm.
They could have travelled by rooftop like before, but for some reason there was an Octarian saucer flying around, landing in seemingly random places, with something like that around they couldn't afford to leave ink on the roofs.
The saucer in question was an Octarian transport moving a team of Elite Octolings around.
This team was tasked with spooking the one who leaked information to the Inklings.
They marched up to a randomly selected house were an Octarian soldier lived and broke down the door.
"Nobody move! You're all under suspicion of treason for leaking information to the sworn enemies of Octo Valley!"
The Octolings inside were startled, while the Elite Octolings started making a mess of their home.
They tore down dry wall, flipped over tables, and threw everything out of the cupboards, the poor family that lived here did nothing as they feared being branded as traitors.
Once they had ransacked every room the Elite regrouped and declared the family innocent before boarding their saucer without leaving any sort of compensation.
Even though it was almost night time and everyone was tried, the unfortunate family that just got raided set about with the task of cleaning up their home.
Back in Cuttlefish's shack, Sky watched the Elite Octolings' saucer fly off.
"Careful, that saucer is passing overhead."
In response Kal and Inker pressed themselves against a nearby building and waited for the saucer to fly by.
After that they kept moving, while Sky kept guiding them along without Cuttlefish's help.
"By the way, I haven't heard anything from Cap'n Cuttlefish for a while, is he asleep?" Inker asked.
"No, he went back to Inkopolis an hour ago, something about "covering up" and "meeting and old friend". Take a left up ahead…."
Cap'n Craig Cuttlefish, former leader of the Squidbeak Splatoon, now leader of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, he had many years behind him and has many acquaintances all over Inkopolis, some were just friends to hang out with, others helped him run the New Squidbeak Splatoon while keeping out of view from the public eye.
The reason for his return to Inkopolis was for this very reason, after all they had just rescued another Inkling, this one had obvious signs of torture on her body and had been interviewed by Inkopolis news, her story was already making headlines and drawing a ton of attention.
Attention would be bad for the New Squidbeak Splatoon, so Cuttlefish had to make sure that the New Squidbeak Splatoon's involvement would be hidden.
Right now he was sitting on a bench in a public park, a place usually bursting with activity made silent by nightfall, all you could hear were the early sounds of crickets chirping.
"Uncle Craig! How's it been?"
A black tentacled Inkling showed up and sat down next to him.
Unlike the usual Inklings one would see, this particular one did not wear what was considered "fresh" nowadays, instead he wore a regular suit and tie giving off an air of maturity around him.
A fitting outfit for him, as he was half Cuttlefish's age, and Cuttlefish was well over a hundred years old.
"Arcus, good to see you again, how are your folks?"
The "folks" in question were an Inkling boy and Inkling girl who had served alongside Cuttlefish during the war, of course they were elderly citizens now.
"Ohh they are doing just fine, in fact i'd say they are envious of what you are doing."
There was a brief moment of silence.
The two Inklings stared into the distance.
"How long has it been since the first time we came here?"
"I'd say more than fifty years."
"Back then I had just finished my first game of Turf Wars."
"And I was investigating a possible Octarian counterattack."
"Other squids said that I was "trash" in turf and that I should give up and do something else."
"And other squids thought I was crazy, they told me to relax and that the war was over."
"Haha, things were so much simpler back then, now the old war veteran who nobody believed is running some kind of secret Splatoon, protecting everyone without them even knowing."
"And the boy who couldn't win in Turf Wars has grown into a fine man who has found a loving wife and has gotten a cabinet job. Which reminds me, defense minister Arcus Hilgendorf, should you really be out here at this time with no bodyguards?"
"What are you talking about? I got the toughest, freshest, most awesome bodyguard I could ever ask for right beside me."
"Oho no need to flatter me, I can't do much at this age. Least I can do now is go back to been MC Craig."
"Really? Aren't you still running the New Squidbeak Splatoon? Mom and Dad keep going on about how they wish they could do something similar, you know, whenever I go to visit them they always mention you, I also notice them glancing at their old Bamboozlers with a hint of nostalgia in their eyes, I bet they miss their life in the first Squidbeak Splatoon."
"Ahh, Inklings have always been like that bucko, we're drawn to action like moths to a light."
Another moment of silence reigned, Cap'n Cuttlefish and Defense minister Arcus glanced about, making sure nobody was nearby.
"Well now down to business, the last time you rescued a bunch of Inklings we credited the recently deceased Detective Vert Brata and his team, we could probably do it again but things may not go so well."
"Why not, is it too hard to believe that Inkopolis police officers could do something outside of Inkopolis?"
"No that story is fine, its the Inkling, Lila, who is the problem."
Arcus groaned as he told Cap'n Cuttlefish what the problem was.
"Back then it was Zapfish, basically stolen items that were returned, but this time it's a kid, an eleven year old, with obvious signs of torture showing up on the news. When you brought back the first group of missing Inklings people started wondering if Inkopolis should be seeing Octo Valley as a threat, now with Lila all over the news, people are saying it's time to reform the Inkopolis army. The prime minister is calling for a meeting to discuss the rising Octarian threat and whether or not we should be funding an army again, of course knowing Steenson he's probably against it, but the sight of a tortured kid is really stirring up the populace, they'll be demanding retribution against Octo Valley"
Cuttlefish shook his head
"Politics, why do I always find myself involved in these things, I don't think i could ever understand all that ruckus."
"Still kicking yourself over Octavio?"
"We all make mistakes. Well there is no mention of the New Squidbeak Splatoon is there?"
"Nope, you're still hidden."
"That's good."
"Definitely, at this point if the public finds out about the New Squidbeak Splatoon they'd rush to join. You'd have a small army in no time."
"I guess nowadays we've forgotten what it's like being outside of Inkopolis, unable to respawn."
Silence reigned for the third time before the two Inklings stood up.
"Well, it's always great to see you again uncle Craig, we better get going now."
"Good to see you too, good luck with your Defense minister gig."
"Thanks, by the way rescuing kidnappees are a much bigger deal than returning Zapfish, I can't just say some unknown force did it, if you bring back anymore I'll need a good excuse soon if we are to keep the New Squidbeak Splatoon secret."
"Don't worry, according to Agent 3, that was the last one."
Nautilus base, Octavia's office
After being summoned by Octavia, Claire, Lynn and the captain of the guard followed the Elite Octoling back to Octavia's office.
Since Octavia wanted to discuss something between her and the captain, Claire and Lynn were told to leave, along with the Elite Octoling that brought her over, however since they still had questions Claire and Lynn waited outside the office for their captain.
With no one else in the room, the two High ranking Octolings greeted each other by rank, as was the custom.
"Captain."
"Acting leader"
"Have you gotten rid of those paint rollers as ordered?"
"Not yet."
"You realize that orders are meant to be carried out immediately right?"
"Yes, but if you give me a bit more time, I'm sure I can find some way to use the Octo Roller to greater effect."
"No, we have just removed the most dangerous Inkling from the New Squidbeak Splatoon, we don't have time for research and development, we need to act."
"What are you talking about?"
"Attacking Inkopolis of course."
"Alright, why did you call me here then?"
"When we catch the one leaking information, I want your troops to led an assault, drop them in Inkopolis Plaza and hold the other side of the manhole long enough for the rest of the army to get through."
"No way." the captain couldn't have answered faster if she tried.
"I'm not asking captain."
"Out of the question! You want me and my troops to land in the heart of Inkopolis without any backup?! We would get splatted instantly!"
"I have full confidence in your abilities to lead your troops to victory."
"No way, I'm all for taking Inkopolis, but i'm not telling my troops to go and commit mass suicide!"
"Orders are orders, if you refuse i'll strip you of your rank and hand it to someone more obedient!"
"Even if you do that, no one in their right mind would be stupid enough to dive right into the heart of Inkopolis! Are you perhaps trying to get rid of me?"
"What are you saying? Without Agent 3 and their spy in Octo Valley, Inkopolis has never been in a weaker state."
"That's true but why that manhole? We know the New Squidbeak Splatoon is always watching that place. Look, if you gave me a chance I could find.."
"Give you a chance!? You failed to guard Melanin prison! You ruined our chance to splat more than just Agent 3! And you are still asking for a chance!?"
"Are you saying everything was my fault?"
"It was your fault! You were in charge of security at Melanin and you failed, You were the one who started adapting new weapons without my knowledge and you were the one showed up unannounced and had your troops block the Elites from splatting those Inklings!"
"Me? You were the one who ordered the Elites away from Melanin and made a bad prediction about Agent 3's arrival time! Plus you didn't tell me that-"
Octavia slammed her desk, silencing the captain.
"Shut up! I am Octo Valley's Acting Leader, until Octavio returns, what I say goes! Now listen You WILL scrap those paint rollers and any other silly weapon you came up with, you WILL not talk back to me again! And you WILL attack Inkopolis as soon as I give the order! I won't take any other suggestion for you, I won't change my mind on this and i'll say no more, this is your last chance! IS THAT CLEAR! CAPTAIN?!"
The captain was furious
How dare this fool blame everything on her
How dare this careless idiot send her and her unit on a suicide mission
How dare this stupid, sad, pathetic excuse of a leader, force her to play along with her immensely flawed plans.
"As you wish ma'am….."
'A head on attack on Inkopolis plaza, what is she thinking? No way would I let so many good Octarians die like that.'
The captain left Octavia's office, Claire and Lynn, who were waiting by the door followed her as they walked further and further away from Octavia's door.
"Umm ma'am, I'm guessing we aren't rushing blindly into Inkopolis." Claire asked
"Of course not."
The captain had to come up with something quick, before Octavia orders them to their demise.
"Back at Melanin, you said the troops are loyal to no one else but me. Right now, are the former Melanin prison guards are still loyal to me and no one else?"
"Yes."
"Good, then tell everyone to meet up back in Melanin prison tonight once they are off duty."
"Understood, i'll get too it."
As Claire went off, the captain turned to Lynn.
Lynn was a low ranking Octoling, in fact the captain hadn't really spoken to her until that incident with the red Inkling.
She was a good soldier, always following orders and trusting her superiors.
A good soldier wasn't what Octo Valley needed.
"Lynn."
"Uhh, yes ma'am?" Lynn didn't expect the captain to know the name of a low ranked Octarian like her.
"You were taught to follow orders and to trust in the word of your superiors. However today I want you to reconsider that. What do you think of Acting Leader Octavia?"
"She is a strong leader who is loyal to the cause."
"That's what they tell you to say, what do you really think?"
"To be honest I don't know what to think, why does that matter?"
"It's important that you learn to have your own views to make choices for yourself in the near future."
"I'm a trooper third class, what I think doesn't matter, shouldn't I be doing what I'm told to do?"
"Following orders or not is a choice you make, you'll understand later at Melanin."
Now that they were a good distance away, from Octavia's office, the captain couldn't hold in her rage any further.
If Octavia couldn't lead any better then someone else would need to take command.
The captain turned to look at Octavia's office far down the hallway.
"My last chance? Hah! you fool, that was yours."
She then made a motion telling Lynn to follow her, the two left Nautilus shortly after.
Victoria's apartment, Octo Valley
Was it night time now? Inker couldn't tell, all he knew is that they had been in Octo Valley for too long now.
Victoria mentioned the Octarians having a good sense of time, Inker could tell cause it seemed like every single Octarian was asleep by now.
Under the cover of the darkness Inker and Kal creeped up to Victoria's apartment, luckily it was on the first floor.
Inker knocked on the door, then he and Kal looked around to make sure no other Octarian had seen them.
The Octarians were used to getting up and going to sleep earlier than the Inklings, so there was a long wait, after a minute had passed Inker knocked again only a bit louder this time...
This time he could hear footsteps, someone was approaching the door.
"Hel-"
Violet answered the door, still in her pyjamas she then immediately shut the upon seeing Inker.
"Violet? Is Victoria there?" Inker said quietly, hoping not to wake up any other Octarians.
"Umm n-no, shes uhh still at Nautilus." Violet stammered
"But i'm right here? Who is it?" came Victoria's voice.
"N-no one important, just a salesman!"
"Don't be silly, what kind of salesman comes this late at night?"
Victoria opened that door, Inker could see Violet standing far away, she was probably still scared.
"What are you doing here?" Victoria whispered, she peeked over Inker and saw Kal standing there too. "Kal as well? Come in quickly!"
Inker and Kal quickly entered Victoria's apartment and Victoria shut the door.
"You promised me there would be no more Inklings coming here! Why are there two now?" Violet said, her voice quivering a bit.
"I didn't tell them to come here, just go to bed."
Kal in the meantime, looked around Victoria's apartment.
It was the first time Kalus had been inside any Octarian's home, Victoria mentioned having to live with someone else to pay off the rent, so Kal expected it to a somewhat larger place.
Also what was with the yellowish white walls with patches of unpainted dry wall? The place probably hadn't been repainted in years.
There was also a lack of space, the living room, kitchen and dining room were basically one room.
"Why are you two here? Were you unable to rescue the last Inkling?" Victoria asked
"We already rescued her, Agent 1 and 2 should have taken her back to Inkopolis by now." Inker replied
"Then why are the two of you here? Wait where did that Neon girl go? Don't tell me you had casualties."
"We almost did." Kal muttered
"Neon's fine, she is back in Inkopolis too, she probably couldn't wait any longer and wanted to play Turf Wars again."
'Someone like her plays Turf Wars, not surprising in the least.' Victoria still had no idea the Inklings could respawn.
"Anyways, we came here because it turns out that Octavia wasn't setting a trap for us, she was setting a trap for you."
Victoria tilted her head "Huh? How does that work?"
"Apparently, when I was rescuing Kal, I got to Melanin much sooner than expected, so she put Lila in that specific place, and only told the soldiers at Nautilus base to see if I would show up, If did it would mean that somebody in Nautilus told me. Bottom line is, they know someone's been leaking information, you need to leave Octo Valley as soon as possible."
"You didn't give them my name did you?"
"Of course not."
"Then i'll be fine."
"No you won't!" Kal suddenly cut in
"Sorry, that was a bit loud, anyways, you won't be safe forever, there is an Octarian saucer flying about breaking into homes and accusing people, it won't be long until they reach you."
"Oh that, they are probably just checking homes at random, besides as long as you aren't here, there is nothing in my apartment that could be used as evidence, I have already thrown out the bowl and spoon Inker used the last time he was here, and have wiped the whole clean of any finger and footprints, though i'll probably have to do that again tomorrow." Victoria said while looking at Inker and Kal's footwear, which were obviously not from Octo Valley.
"It would still be best if you left Octo Valley though."
"And where else could I go? Inkopolis? I'd cause another panic, besides I don't want to leave Octo Valley yet."
"Why not."
"Everything and everyone i've known is here besides you guys of course, also it would be unfair if I got to live in Inkopolis while everyone else lived here."
Victoria still didn't want to leave Octo Valley
"Umm, if you don't want to leave, maybe just spend the night somewhere else?"
"What good would that do?"
"I'm just saying maybe leave for a while and come back after the Octarian army stops searching for you."
"No, that would only make me seem more suspicious."
"Well you were the one Octoling who had been to Inkopolis before, they'd suspect you either way."
"That's true." Victoria couldn't deny that she was the most suspect Octoling, after all she was brought back to Octo Valley by Agent 3 and the entire New Squidbeak Splatoon, it would only be a matter of time before they came looking for her.
"Maybe I could visit Octo Canyon? Actually no, the reserve army is stationed near there, aside from Inkopolis i'm not sure where else I could go, the Deepsea Metro is too dangerous and blocked off…"
At least Victoria was giving it some serious thought
"What if you were just visiting your family for a while?"
"No." Victoria instantly refused
"Why not, that way you can stay in Octo Valley and when the army comes looking for you you'd be somewhere else."
"Not going to work."
"Okay look, no matter what happens are you sure you don't want to give your folks a chance?"
"You don't know, how many Octarians have said that to me before."
"I can imagine, do you know that while I was at Melanin, a few guards were willing to put everything aside to protect what was left of their families."
Victoria cut Kal off
"Let me guess you are about to say "family is everything in Octo Valley" yeah I know I've heard it so many times in the past."
"Why won't you give yours a chance then?"
"You think I haven't?! Ever since I could talk, every Octoling I meet says "ohh your so lucky! Your mother survived giving birth to you." and then going on about how they wish they could have seen their mother's face, or about all the good times they had while their family was still whole. I wanted to know what that felt like, but ever since I was a child they never once cared about me. Everytime I needed help with anything they'd tell me to learn how to do it by myself, everytime I did anything to impress them they'd only be disappointed. Lucky to know both parents? Pfft, I couldn't stand either one of them."
Kal could see why she'd hate them so much.
Also was there something strange mixed in there?
"Wait, what did they mean by "your mother survived giving birth"?"
"Oh that? Octarian biology, the female usually dies or something, yadda yadda I don't know, go ask someone who understands Octarian biology like Violet. Bottom line is that no matter how hard I try to connect with them, my mother and father and a bunch of cold hearted….."
As Victoria was complaining, Inker noticed Violet peeking around the corner.
Seems like she couldn't sleep with all the racket, or maybe it was because he was still here.
"Victoria." Kal stopped Victoria's rant
"What?"
"Just go see them now."
"What's the point? I've told you they don't care about me at all."
"You should give them one last chance, they didn't seem all that bad when we talked to them, besides, you're a wanted Octarian now, if things go wrong you may never get to see them again."
"Good."
Kal sighed
"I didn't want to be the one to tell you this, but the way your parents treat you is just an act."
"Huh?" Victoria was surprised, she had never even considered that before.
"Listen I can't begin to understand why they'd do that, so go see them now before leaving Octo Valley, they could explain better than I ever could."
"Fine I guess i'll pay them one last visit... hopefully you are right."