Revolution (Chapters 26-30)
Already feeling out of place in Inkopolis, the recent events with the Vanguard movement and Octarian spy have made it clear that Inkopolis is not a safe place to hide. With a common enemy in mind, Victoria plans to join the disavowed Octarian captain and her forces on the off chance that they could maybe overthrow Octavia. Meanwhile Kal is stuck with a shattered Lila, still unwilling to accept that she killed her family while under mind control.
Cephalic Hospital, Inkopolis
Kal sat in a well lit and clean room, as expected of a doctor's office.
Sitting in front of him was a Dr Asio, the one Arcus told Kal to speak with.
Kal had spent the last three days pretending to be Laven and he appeared to be getting into it as well.
Instead of his usual T-shirts, Kal wore a grape hoodie, as it was similar to what Laven liked to wear.
He also carried a Blaster with him.
instead of wearing headbands or earphones, Kal wore a backwards cap.
All in all, he looked much more like Laven now.
Kal had found out quite a bit during the last few days with Lila, so today was the day he decided to speak to the doctor Arcus mentioned.
"So your name is Kalus Kogia, though recently you've been going by Laven Fields. My name is Lissa Asio, I believe the defense minister referred me to you." Dr Asio spoke with a level formality Kal was not to familiar with.
"Yeah, but you can call me Kal if you like."
'Okay Mr Kogia." The doctor said, while scribbling down some notes.
It all gave the impression of a serious and no nonsense individual, not exactly a fun Inkling to be around, but good for getting the job done.
"Now, since you've come to me, I believe you're here to talk about Lila Fields."
"Yes, there's quite a few things I've noticed over the past few days, that I think you should know."
"I'm listening."
Kal recalled the first important thing.
Over the last three days Lila would sometimes wince or cringe and hold her head.
It first happened when Kal slept on the couch instead of Laven's bed.
Then again when he was cooking breakfast.
After that it happened when Kal used his own laptop instead of Laven's, when Kal could not find the keys to the house and when Kal mentioned texting Victoria.
He didn't make sense of it at first, but after two days Kal realised that it was because he was doing something out of character for Laven.
"Everytime I do something strange, well not strange but something that Laven wouldn't do, Lila acts as if she's in pain."
"Can describe her behavior?"
"She either winces or cringes and sometimes she holds and shakes her head."
"Interesting." Dr Asio commented, scribbling down more notes
"That's all you have to say? Do you have any idea why is she doing that?"
"I have a theory, but I can't disclose certain information about the patient, Lila Fields."
"Are you serious, what's the point of me coming here then?"
"To give us more of an insight on Lila's condition."
"What's the point? I'm the one stuck dealing with her all day."
"You aren't exactly a legal guardian for her, but this may be an exception. I'll have to contact the IMPA (Inkopolis Medical Protective Association) about this case. If they make an exception I shall get in contact with you about Lila. For now please continue with your observations."
Dr Asio was one to do everything by the book.
Even though Kal felt that common sense should apply here, he wasn't about to push it any further and leave a bad impression.
What else had he learned?
Lila not only denied her family's death, but also the whole existence of the Vanguard movement and everything else that happened after her rescue.
She wouldn't just claim nothing happened, but she would actively shut those ideas out.
Everytime Lila encountered anything related to the Vanguard movement, the Octarian spy the first wave of Vanguard attacks, she would immediately shut it out.
Kal had seen her suddenly tear up mails that had the Vanguard movement as a subject, or shut down the TV whenever Inkopolis news time mentioned Vanguards or Octarian spies. She even when as far as to toss her phone across the room when an article on the Vanguard movement appeared on it.
Actually that last one gave him a fright.
"Lila is trying really hard to avoid reality, she does everything she can to shut out anything that reminds her of the Vanguard movement or the Octarian spy."
"Well seeing how she should be in the first stage of grief, that is not unusual."
"Didn't you say you couldn't tell me anything?"
"I said I couldn't disclose any information about Lila, however the stages of grief is pretty common knowledge."
Kal nodded 'So I can ask for advice, but not for information regarding Lila.'
"Say, can I get your opinion on something?"
"Is it related to Lila?"
"Yes somewhat. A friend of mine once said that if someone took away your family, it's natural to seek revenge on whoever did it. I thought it was true and believed it, so why is it that Lila isn't seeking revenge?"
The friend in question was Victoria, who had also lost her family, however unlike Lila she first tried to strangle her roommate for getting them killed, then after that began a period of grief.
Kal had considered what Victoria had said, but if it were true, then why is it that Lila is rejecting reality instead of seeking revenge on the Octarian army.
"Well yes what you said is true. For example should a robber splat your family while robbing a bank, you would naturally feel compelled to find and punish the robber. However with Lila I cannot say for certain as I do not know the effects of Octarian brainwashing."
"But you have an idea?"
"A theory, yes."
"Well I do too, you see if we use the example you just gave, a robber is easy to villainize. But what about Lila's case? She probably saw the death of her family first hand, but who should she blame here? The entire Octarian army for splatting them? Or herself for creating and leading the Vanguard movement into Octo Valley? Maybe she's confused and avoids thinking about it by burying herself in a false reality."
Dr Asio scribbled frantically.
"That's it? You have nothing to say?"
"Interesting theory." Dr Asio said while continuing to write down notes.
Kal sat for a while, thinking about other important things.
"How much has Arcus told you about me?"
"Hmm? Well let's see."
Since Dr Asio had so many patients she could not possibly remember one Inkling from the rest, she searched for a file containing Kal's information.
"Ahh here we are, let's see, basic information on age, gender, skin tone and colour. A few turf war statistics, a medical record."
"That's everything? Did Arcus tell you anything else?"
"If he did and it wasn't written down, there's no way I'd remember."
Kal was somewhat hoping the doctor to ask "why?"
Guess she wasn't the chatty type.
"If you could get some more information on Octarian brainwashing, do you think you could fix Lila?"
"Fix isn't the correct word, but if I did, then I could probably find a way to help Lila accept reality and move on."
If Arcus had told her about Victoria, then Kal would have explained that he could probably learn more about Lila's brainwashing through the Octarian captain. Since he didn't however, Kal could only suggest that maybe he could get some more information.
"Well then, thanks for your time doc. That's all I had to say."
"No problem, come see me again if you learn anything new."
Kal left Asio's office and sighed loudly.
'I thought this would be over by now.'
Composing himself, Kal went towards the lobby.
Lila was still afraid of losing Kal, so she wanted to follow him everywhere he went, currently she was waiting in the lobby, waiting for her "dear brother".
She sat cheerfully, swinging her legs as she waited. Once she saw Kal, she leapt to her feet and ran towards him.
"Laven!"
The happy Lila hugged Kal, she had done this a lot of the past few days, it was weird at first, but Kal eventually started to get used to it.
He stroked Lila's head
"Alright Lila, let's head home."
Lila let go of Kal and skipped outside with her hands by her side.
Even though she was borderline insane, Lila looked like she was full of flowers and sunshine as she twirled around after stepping outside.
While seeing her happy like this was heartwarming, Kal knew that she was in quite a lot of danger.
She couldn't keep denying everything like this, otherwise she'll never move on.
Also Kal didn't want to be Laven forever.
What if he ran into some of Laven's friends? What would they think if they found some stranger pretending to be him?
"Look! There's an ice cream truck! Let's get some cones!"
Lila excited, bounced up and down pointing at an ice cream truck stopped on the side of the road.
Even though she could change between squid and kid forms, she was still an 11 year old.
"Alright, why not." Kal smiled
'I want to end this as soon as possible, but I guess keeping Lila happy ain't so bad.'
Nautilus base, Octo Valley
It had been over a week since they lost contact with the infiltration team.
There had been nine Octolings and an Elite Octoling sent in, they were accompanied by a sleeper agent.
One that had led forty or so Inklings into a big ambush, an ambush that saw less than ten Octarian casualties and the eradication of the entire Inkling group.
While it was a shame to lose the infiltration team, Acting Leader Octavia was nonetheless pleased with the result.
Not only had they fooled hundreds of Inklings on the surface into thinking that they could take on Octo Valley head first, but they also obtained lots of Inkling equipment.
They could always give that equipment to other Octolings and have them slip into Inkopolis when the second wave of the foolish Vanguard movement came.
Aside from that, there were also Octolings testing the unknown Inkling weapons.
In a firing range at Nautilus base, Octolings held weapons of all shapes and sizes.
One spammed weak Splat Charger shots, before realizing she could charge the weapon up.
Another swung around an Inkbrush, before declaring it to be as useless and obsolete like the old Octobrushes.
"Woooohooo! hahhahhah!"
A third squealed with joy, firing a heavy splatling, she seemed to like the idea of a heavy shooter weapon.
A fourth fired Laven's Blaster, shooting powerful balls of ink which exploded on impact, the Octoling liked the weapon, and a few others demanded that they be allowed to try it.
As this went on, more Octolings practiced using Rollers.
Octavia had seen how effective a Roller was when used properly, she somewhat regretted ordering that captain to scrap all the rollers she made.
Of course the captain in question was now a traitor, and wasn't even a captain anymore.
"Have you found the location of Vale and the other traitors?" Octavia asked an Elite Octoling.
"My division is working day and night, though we have found several camps over the past week they have all appear to be abandoned, perhaps the traitors planned on moving from camp to camp?"
If that was the case, then they could possibly catch former captain Vale if they waited for her there.
"Leave a splatoon near every camp you find, tell them to stay on alert in case the traitors show up."
"Yes ma'am."
Octavia turned to a tactical map of Octo Valley, watching the blips representing Octarian units spreading out to each discovered camp.
"Little traitor Vale, where are you trying to hide? To think that you were once hailed as a hero of Octo Valley. You have fallen so far."
Meanwhile in a random part of Octo Valley, Lynn and a bunch of other Octarians were busy setting up a new camp.
Lynn hammered nails into a tower.
Beside her, another Octoling, who had been unloading materials from what appeared to be the Octarian equivalent of a truck, groaned.
"I don't get it, if we want to overthrow Octavia, why are we wasting time setting up plywood camps and broken kettles all over Octo Valley?"
"I'm sure the captain has her reasons." Lynn replied.
There was a third voice
"Oh no!"
Lynn and the other Octoling turned to see an Octotrooper fall and get stuck under a large piece of plywood.
"Oww, hey Lynn, Eliza, can you get this thing off me?" the Octotrooper called out, pinned beneath the plywood.
"Yeah we could." the Octoling said.
"You could but you won't, is that what you are saying? What happened to cameradere?"
Lynn and the other Octoling laughed and continued to talk amongst themselves, pretending to ignore the Octotrooper.
"Come on, I don't have arms of my own, i'll share my rations with you if you help me."
"Well in that case.." both Lynn and the other Octoling helped the Octotrooper back up.
Once he was back on his feet, Lynn and the other Octoling balanced the plywood back into the trooper's single tentacle.
"Don't drop it again." Lynn warned
"Yeah I got it."
"Remember your promise! share your rations with both of us!" the other Octoling joked.
"Oh screw you!" the Octotrooper yelled back.
They had a good laugh after that.
Maybe they would bother him a bit more at meal time, maybe not.
It's not like an Octotrooper needed as much food as an Octoling.
The captain observed as another camp was hastily thrown together.
Lynn, having finished her part, reported back to the captain.
"Alright captain it's almost done, but may I ask why we are setting up all these extra camps if we are just going to abandon them right after?"
Over the last week, their splatoon had raided Melanin prison's armory for supplies, then they had done nothing but set up camps all over the Valley, it was tiring work.
They already had a main camp set up, one that wasn't hastily thrown together in a few hours and made of cheap plywood and old tents.
"Well you see Lynn, we can't hope to beat Octavia head on, at least not when she still has support of almost the entire army. These camps are here to provide a distraction."
"Distraction?"
"Yes, with they way they are spread out all over the Valley, Octavia will likely assume that they are meant to be waypoints or something. If everything goes according to plan, she'll spread the army thin to watch each fake camp."
It was a trick to get Octavia to waste soldiers on guarding useless plywood.
"But won't they just disassemble the camps?"
"If they did, they would lose a chance at catching us since we would notice its absence from further away. Though it will be a problem if they really do take down the camps."
It was a risk they had to take.
"Anyways, this is the last fake camp we need. Lynn you should sneak back to Inkopolis and bring the other Octoling here, please don't get caught."
"I won't ma'am, but can I ask why you want this specific Octoling to join us?"
The captain stood in silence, staring off into the distance.
She appeared to be reminiscing about something.
"That Octoling is named Holter, so she's probably the daughter of Maria Holter…"
"The Elite who retired early and burned her own home?"
"You shouldn't believe everything the Octo Valley News Bulletin tells you. Maria Holter taught me quite a lot while I was a recruit during the Salmonid war, also unlike the other Elites, she wasn't as strict or cold to the recruits, well not always at least. Anyways we need all the help we can get, and that Victoria could turn out to be pretty useful."
"Understood, I will prepare and depart for Inkopolis." Lynn saluted the captain before leaving.
The captain stood for a while longer.
'Victoria and her connections with Inkopolis could prove to be useful. Not that I'd say that.'
She thought about Agent 3, the Octarian army's worst enemy, who turned out to be young and naive.
He might help out if Victoria was among their ranks.
Not just that, but maybe they could wring some much needed supplies from the New Squidbeak Splatoon.
'The enemy of my enemy is my friend, pfft.' She laughed at the idea. 'Sure i'll be your friend, as long as I still have a use for you.'
Agent 3 might help them for now, but in the end they are still enemies.
'I won't lose track of my enemies Agent 3, no matter how many there are…. That being said, perhaps I should at least make myself seem trustworthy and not like an enemy...'
'Maybe I should go with Lynn, i'm sure the camp will be fine.'
Deciding that it would be better if she went herself, the captain decided to go with Lynn to Cap'n Cuttlefish's shack.
They had to move cautiously lest they attract the attention of the Octarian army.
'I hope they don't shoot at me again.' Was the only thing on Lynn's mind.
Inkopolis
It seemed that Laven used to take Lila around Inkopolis pretty often, so today Kal did the same.
Lila skipped and hopped around Inkopolis, followed by Kal, who wore a warm smile on his face.
Kal had told the others to try not to talk to him for the moment, since Lila seemed to be in pain every time she saw Kal do something Laven wouldn't.
Of course that didn't stop them from noticing him as he passed by.
"Kal is looking less and less like himself." Sky said, taking note of Kal's change in clothing choice.
"Yeah, it's so strange seeing him act like Laven." Neon added
Inker nodded in agreement "He's doing all this so that Lila can escape reality, I feel bad for both of them."
They watched Kal take Lila to an arcade machine, all while Lila called Kal "Laven" repeatedly.
This couldn't go on for too long, they all knew this, especially Kal.
Kal knew he could never replace Laven, it was impossible for him to perfectly replicate someone else.
Kal felt that it was only a matter of time before Lila realized that he wasn't Laven. What would happen to her after that?
Kal envisioned it going two ways: Lila committing suicide out of grief, or being locked away kicking and screaming.
He shuddered at those thoughts.
"Laven? What's the matter?" Lila asked, pressing herself onto Kal and looking into his eyes.
"Oh nothing, I was just thinking about someone else."
"Oh who?"
"A friend of mine, who is moving out of Inkopolis soon." It was the only other thing Kal could think of.
'When was Lynn coming back? When was Victoria leaving?'
"Oh? Who is it? Deep? Aurip?"
Kal didn't know any of the names Lila mentioned.
He wasn't Laven after all.
"No, I don't think you've met her anyways."
"Her!? Did you find a girlfriend!?"
"No!"
Lila tilted her head "hmm? But mom always said that it wasn't natural for an eighteen year old like you to not know any girls."
'Eighteen year old? Wait a sec Laven was older than me?!'
Kal was sixteen….
Even after three days, Kal kept learning more and more about Laven through conversations like this.
"I do know some girls, but none of them are my girlfriend."
Lila still looked confused
"If its a girl who is your friend, doesn't that make her a girlfriend?"
Lila's curious and confused expression would be considered cute, if she wasn't crazy.
"It's more complicated then that okay. Yes the friend i'm referring to is a girl, but not a girlfriend, a girlfriend is like, something more."
"But what's more than friends? Family?"
'Family?'
Kal started imagining a family with Victoria in it.
He shook himself back to reality 'Now i'm just digging myself into a hole.'
"Let's just call it more than friends, but less than family. Hey look, it's the Squid Sisters."
Desperate to get himself out of that topic, Kal pointed at the Inkopolis News studio, where Callie and Marie were usually visible through the window.
"Oh! It really is them again!" Lila skipped over and pressed herself against the window, waving happily.
Noticing Lila, Callie and Marie waved back.
Lila hopped with joy upon seeing the two idols wave back.
From their spot inside the studio, Callie and Marie smiled as they saw the little girl hop with joy.
"How cute" Callie muttered
Marie nodded
There smiles were replaced with a look of confusion for a moment, when they recognised Kal showing up to bring Lila away.
Kal waved at the two, and they both went back to their usual smiling and waving.
Though they were somewhat confused with what they just saw, so both of them planned on asking Inker about it later.
Cap'n Cuttlefish's shack, Octo Valley
Lynn and the captain were almost at Cap'n Cuttlefish's shack.
Remembering what happened the last two times, Lynn stopped the captain a good distance away from the shack.
"Captain, you should wait here for a moment. I was almost shot the last two times, so allow me to go first."
"Okay then, go ahead."
The captain drew her Octoshot in case Lynn got into trouble.
Under the captain's watchful gaze, Lynn cautiously approached the shack.
Cuttlefish recognised Lynn this time, probably since she was the only Octoling he had seen with a ponytail.
This time, much to Lynn's relief, nobody shot at her with a charger type weapon.
"Cap'n Cuttlefish, I'm here to pick up Holter, this time my commanding officer as arrived too. Captain!"
With that, she waved at the captain, letting her know that it was okay to approach.
The captain walked up to the shack.
'So this is the hero of the Great Turf War and the leader of the New Squidbeak Splatoon.'
The captain crossed her arms, still holding her Octoshot in one hand and observed the old veteran.
As expected, the Cap'n was old and appeared weak.
Of course the first thing the Octarian captain noticed was Cuttlefish's walking cane.
She could see what appeared to be a trigger under Cuttlefish's finger and therefore knew it was a weapon, probably a disguised one for self defense.
If it was anyone else, they probably wouldn't have guessed the walking stick was actually a Bamboozler.
'A concealed weapon, not bad.'
Cuttlefish in the meantime, had texted Inker, letting him know that Lynn was back and that she brought company.
Then Cuttlefish eyed the Octarian captain.
There was a sense of rivalry between the two.
Both captains stared holes into each other.
"So, you are a Captain." Cuttlefish said
"Yes, though we are of the same rank, one of us has got more time ahead of them."
Cuttlefish laughed "Why yes I do, after all the average life expectancy in Inkopolis is around 150 years. What about Octo Valley?"
The answer was 25 years, but the captain wouldn't say it.
"We're working on improving it, at least I am."
"Well then, I wouldn't want to distract you from your work."
"Neither would I, I'll be gone as soon as I've had a chance to speak with Holter and Agent 3. Then you can go back to napping, or snacking, or whatever it is you do."
Cuttlefish chucked, "I've never had time for that, I've been here guarding Inkopolis for the past hundred years."
"And doing a poor job at it. I'm an Elite Octoling, I know how Octavia snuck us into Inkopolis in the first place. Didn't you ever notice you've had a bit too many crabby cakes?"
Cuttlefish only realized now, that the squidnappings happened every time he "found" more crabby cakes.
The years had not been kind to his instincts.
Not that he would admit it to the captain.
Meanwhile Lynn, watching from the sidelines, grew increasingly nervous at the tense atmosphere created by her captain and Cap'n Cuttlefish.
The two were staring each other down, they both smiled yet there was no happiness between them.
Lynn couldn't find any words in this tense atmosphere.
Much to her relief, Inker came through the manhole, wearing his hero suit.
"Ahh Agent 3! Perfect timing, it looks like these two will fight any second now!"
"What are you talking about?" the captain's voice felt cold "I'm just having a friendly talk with a fellow captain."
"Yes, it's not everyday you get to speak with an officer from another army." Cuttlefish added, with an equally cold voice.
Inker noticed the atmosphere, as tense as a rope being stretched.
It would probably be a good idea to separate those two.
"Hey! Victoria's on her way, let's make sure all of us are still alive when she gets here." Inker said to the two captains.
"Of course bucko"
"As if there was any doubt."
Despite their assurances, Cuttlefish and the captain both looked ready to pounce on each other.
A captain from the Octarian army and a captain from the now disbanded Inkopolis army, the would definitely be some sort of hostility between the two.
"Hey captain"
Cuttlefish turned to Inker
"No not you Cap'n, her. Yeah you captain." Inker was having trouble addressing the two. He scratched his head "it's kinda hard talking to you when you are also called captain."
The captain, without averting her gaze from Cap'n Cuttlefish, said "Hmph very well then, since there is no other way around it, you can call me Captain Vale for now."
"Alright, Captain Vale, do you know anything about brainwashing and mind control?" it was an important topic at the moment, it could help Kal with the Lila problem and maybe stop the staredown between the Cuttlefish and Vale.
"Yes, I know all about it, I am an Elite Octoling after all."
"Could you do it to an Inkling?"
"Of course! If you are so interested, I could show you first hand." The captain said with an evil grin.
"No! I just wanted to learn more about it."
At this time, Victoria had arrived, she carried her bag with her, and wore Octoling armor under her Varsity jacket. She had no Octoshot, so Kal's Splattershot would have to do.
Behind her was Kal, still dressed like Laven.
Kal probably wanted to see Victoria off, though for some reason Neon and Sky had followed as well.
Inker continued
"The spy you mentioned, was one the prisoners at Melanin, she had been brainwashed and I was wondering if you could do anything about it."
"I've got enough on my hands already, I don't have time to undo brainwashing, it's quite a lengthy process."
"Well then, could you at least tell me more about it? Why is it that a young girl obeys everything when a certain word is mustered?"
The captain looked over at Agent 3, finally breaking the staredown between her and Cuttlefish.
She seemed surprised
"Young girl? Is it that purple girl I tossed into the boiling pit?"
"Yep that's her: Lila Fields."
"So it was her huh, you mentioned obeying certain words? Then that means Octavia took her from me to implant a much quicker, simpler and easily exploitable form of mind control. Hmph, what a waste, I had something much better planned."
She didn't feel any bit of remorse or sympathy for Lila, all she saw was a wasted opportunity.
Kal, standing on the sidelines grew furious at the captain's lack of concern for Lila.
"Why you!"
Kal threw a punch at Captain Vale, but he had completely forgotten about her hand to hand fighting skill at Melanin prison.
Vale caught Kal's punch, then she pulled him closer while driving her knee into his chest. As Kal coughed in pain, she twisted his arm, spun around and had him pinned from behind.
"If you're going to attack someone, you shouldn't yell until after the first strike." Vale was terrifyingly calm as she was confident in her combat abilities.
To her side, Captain Vale noticed that Neon had raised her E-Liter at her.
Lynn knew she had to defend her CO, so she had her Octoshot aimed at Neon, although she trembled slightly.
"Easy now you two, Captain Vale, let him go please." Inker said
Silently, the captain let Kal go.
Kal stood up, his back facing Captain Vale, then without a word he turned quickly, driving his arm towards the Captain's face.
Despite staying quiet this time, Captain Vale didn't even flinch, she brought an arm up at lightning speed, blocking Kal's attack.
"Better." she commented.
"Kal? What's gotten into you?" Inker asked
Ignoring Inker, Kal spoke to Captain Vale
"Lila watched her family get splatted in front of her, you have no idea how much pain and grief she's going through."
"Oh really? I lost my whole family when I could barely talk. Then I was raised by the family of my best friend, who died during the war against the Salmonids and then her family died in an accident. But sure, if you think Lila's gone through worse, keep talking."
Kal forgot that Octarians die in Octo Valley each day, that it was such a damaged place that accidents were common and nobody grieved for the unlucky ones aside from their families.
He still didn't like this Elite Octoling though, treating Lila's brainwashing as nothing but a missed opportunity.
Silently he backed away, returning to Neon and Victoria's side.
Since Kal wasn't going to continue, Inker did.
"Sorry about that, but I think my friend Kal there had every right to be mad, you were planning on brainwashing Lila? Why would you do such a thing?"
"It only seems wrong to you because you've spent so long in that padded city of Inkopolis spoiling yourself. All's fair in love and war, don't get so bent out of shape. Besides Octarians lose their family members each day because you Inklings won't let have a single zapfish."
"Yeah I heard that before, but did you really have to get Lila involved?"
"It's not like I chose to squidnap her specifically, I just made use of what was given to me. Besides its Octavia who completed Lila's brainwashing, don't put all the blame on me."
"I won't. Lila's been denying reality, pretending that her family is still alive. In fact she started pretending that Kal is her brother Laven. What do you know about that?"
"That sounds normal."
"Normal? What's normal about that?"
"I'm sorry, when did we agree that I should be answering all your questions? I just came for Holter."
Since Vale wouldn't talk, Inker had to take a more aggressive approach.
"I didn't want to play it like this, but you owe me. You wouldn't be here if I hadn't shown up back then."
"Oh really? If I recall correctly, it's Lynn who promised to repay you, not me. So why don't you ask her instead?"
Suddenly being dragged into the conversation, Lynn had a nervous look on her face.
She quickly glanced at Captain Vale and Inker, before looking down.
Both Inker and Captain Vale watched her twittle her thumbs.
"Umm sorry, but I don't know anything about brainwashing." Lynn said with an apologetic tone.
"Well, there you have it." The captain concluded.
"You know we already have Octavia and the army to deal with, is it really a good idea to make more enemies?"
Victoria suddenly cut in.
The captain glanced at Victoria in surprise.
'Right I came because I wanted to make myself seem trustworthy. Dangit I let my emotions run loose again….' She looked at Agent 3 and Cap'n Cuttlefish 'Why do I get so riled up in presence of Inklings?'
The captain had returned to her senses.
"I wasn't trying to make more enemies, I just didn't feel like answering the question."
"Just say that next time." Inker said
"Alright then. Anyways Victoria Holter, will you be joining us or not?"
Victoria wanted to, but she was having a bit of regret at the last moment.
She didn't feel like she belonged in Inkopolis, but she had friends here, unlike in Octo Valley where it was recommended not to make friends.
Victoria looked at the Inklings present.
There was Neon, who was always super playful and cheerful. Even though she nearly splatted Victoria once and was always sort of weird, Victoria didn't dislike her.
There was Inker, who Victoria first assumed was a cold hearted killer of Octarians, but turned out to be a nice guy who didn't like having to splat her people in the first place.
Sky was here too, but he hadn't done or said anything yet, he always had a low sense of presence, Victoria never talked to him much, would he be considered a friend?
And then there was Kal.
Kal nodded, encouraging Victoria to go.
"Go ahead, Inkopolis isn't going anywhere, just stay safe."
Victoria smiled
"Don't worry, I can take care of myself."
They would see each other again… hopefully.
"Alright captain, for the sake of the Octarian race, we will bring down Octavia together."
"Hey don't forget about me!"
Suddenly rushing to Victoria's side was Neon.
She had her E-Liter rested across her shoulders, her eyes shining with anticipation.
"I knew it…." someone muttered, it was Sky, finally doing something noticeable.
He expected Neon to do something unnecessary, which is why he followed her to Octo Valley in the first place.
He went up to Neon and pulled her away.
"Come on now, stop bothering Victoria and that captain."
"Ow ow ow, That hurts! Stop it Sky, I just wanted to tag along!"
The captain raised an eyebrow at the strange scene before her.
Inker and Kal chuckled, so did Cap'n Cuttlefish.
"Who are they?" Captain Vale asked
"Oh, two of my friends, the girl is Neon and the guy is Sky." Inker replied
"Those aren't nicknames are they?"
Inker shook her head
"No they aren't."
'Inker, Neon and Sky, strange names, I'm guessing the red guy must have an equally odd name.' Vale concluded.
'I do need all the help I can get, maybe Agent 3 might come along if another Inkling came with me.'
"Hey Neon, you wanted to join my splatoon?" Vale called out to Neon, who was still being dragged by Sky.
Neon elbowed Sky.
Sky went "oof" weakening his hold on Neon, allowing her to slip free.
"Yeah definitely."
"You know that we will always be outnumbered and will need to rely on hit and runs." Victoria added.
"Oh that's perfect! It will be so much more fun! Beside I always superjump from squid beakon to squid beakon, during turf wars!" Neon exclaimed, bouncing with excitement.
"Huh?" Captain Vale was confused by Neon's response.
"Oh right, she's like that, she loves fighting." Inker said "Neon, keep in mind that if you get splatted in Octo Valley, you can't come back."
"I won't get splatted, you worry too much. I've been down here several times already."
"If she wants to come along, that's fine." the captain declared
Neon was hopping with joy
"Alright! You won't regret it! Seriously, you could send me in alone if you want."
Inker sighed 'That's exactly what i'm worried about. This captain Vale isn't exactly fond of Inklings, she might just send Neon on a suicide mission right off the bat. Guess I have no other choice.'
"If she's going with you, then I am too." Inker said "I want to make sure you don't put my friend into any danger."
"I can't guarantee that, but if you want to come, then suit yourself."
"In that case, I'll be here as mission control if you ever need me." Sky chimed in, not one to be left out.
As for Kal.
"Well then, stay safe everyone."
'Dammit, I wanted to go, even before this I wanted to go with Victoria, but now i'm stuck with Lila.'
Kal reluctantly watched Inker, VIctoria and Neon leave with Lynn and the captain.
"Hey why the long face Kal?" Sky asked
"Nothing, just kinda worried."
"Don't worry, its Inker and Neon we are talking about here. Besides, if you ever want to talk with them, just use Cuttlefish's mission control room, I could show you how it works."
"Thanks, but I don't know if i'll have the time. I need to head back now, Lila gets incredibly worried whenever she can't see me."
"So that's why you didn't go with them."
"You could tell?"
"Its pretty obvious, besides I wanted to go too, but if I did i'd just cause problems for everyone."
"You too huh.."
Kal glanced at his squid phone.
"I really need to go, Lila is texting me like crazy, see ya!"
Kal had to hurry back to the Fields' house, leaving everyone else behind.
A/N: Last plot arc was mainly in Inkopolis, now its time to focus on Octo Valley! I didn't think much of the Octarian Captain's character at first, she didn't even get a name until chapter 10, but surprisingly I started to enjoy writing about her in my story so its time she took a bigger role.
Thank you to everyone who have been following the story up to now, I know its been quite a long story so far, but don't worry, this won't be a never ending story.