Inkopolis Plaza

It took a few hours, but eventually Kalus had returned to the city of colour.

The familiar sight of Inkopolis Plaza did little to ease his mind.

The feelings of foreboding and angst as he helplessly returned to Inkopolis, leaving Inker, Sky and most importantly Victoria behind.

Of course he wouldn't be much help if he stayed.

'Gahhh! I want to go back! I want to go back and help them! Why am I so useless all of a sudden?'

It was times like this which made Kal wish he was someone else, somebody who had some great skill or outstanding talent who could go back to Octo Valley and make a difference.

But of course he couldn't be anyone else but himself, who had just been shooed out of Octo Valley like a bad smell.

And by Victoria too.

It really didn't sit right with him, Kal thought he was a great help in the past, that he and Victoria had something going…

They understood each other and looked out for each other, so Kal really didn't get why Victoria made him leave.

Making his way down the Plaza, Kal realized how long it had been since he last returned to Inkopolis.

The sight of Inkopolis Tower among the city lights was somewhat refreshing, it reminded him of his usual life before he was dragged into this conflict between Octo Valley and Inkopolis.

Everything had been perfect, the good fun and easy income from Turf Wars with his childhood friend Inker, a hyperactive Neon and a quiet Sky.

It was fun and games, everyday felt like a vacation, there was rarely anything bad happening.

'Now that I think about it, it was kind of boring… But on the plus side I never felt bad or unwanted..'

As he began to wonder how he ended up here, Kal finally realized how dark it was outside.

He had been in Octo Valley so long he had almost forgotten that there was supposed to be a sun up during the day.

'What time is it?' Kal wondered, he didn't have a near perfect sense of time like Victoria and the other Octarians, so he had quickly lost track of time after spending a week In Octo Valley.

He instinctively reached into his pocket for his squid phone, then he recalled the battery had died weeks ago, after all Captain Vale's guerilla hideout had no place to plug in a phone.

'Well guess I'll head home then…'

Kal made sure to check the time as soon as he got home, 5:40 AM too early for any Inkling to be up.

Then he looked at his house.

It had been so long since Kal was last home.

A quiet place all too himself…

Kal sighed and lay down on his couch.

The Octarians didn't have this kind of luxury, from what Kal had seen they often had to find 'roommates' to split the bills.

The concept of 'roommates' was completely absent from Inkopolis, which was so prosperous since the Great Turf war that Inklings as young 14 years old could live by themselves on Turf War earnings.

Kal was still thinking about Octo Valley, only after thinking about their living conditions did he remember that he had been in Octo Valley for over a month without returning home to pay his bills and check in with his family.

Kal leapt to his feet and hurried to his laptop, checking his email, bank account, skitter and freshbook.

Once he was done catching up it was almost 8 in the morning.

Still too early for any Inkling to be up.

But after Octo Valley, where everyone would often be up by 7, Kal was ready for the day to start, even though he just went a night with no sleep.

Oh well, not like he hadn't pulled an all-nighter before.

But there was one other reason he wanted the day to start already…

Yes there was news about it everywhere he looked.

Today was the Squid Sisters' final splatfest…

Even if he wanted to take a quick nap and rest up for the day, Kal couldn't, not after seeing so much mention of this 'grand finale' on social media.

One last Splatfest to end it all…

If anything could get his mind off of Octo Valley this was it.

"I knew this day would come…"

"The Splatfest to end all Splatfests…"

Almost the entire city of Inkopolis were eagerly watching Callie and Marie announce the beginning of the final splatfest.

"Without further ado, let's introduce the teams... " Callie smiled and jabbed her thumbs towards herself "She's the winningest squid sister in Splatfest history: CALLIE!"

"Versus the only squid sister who isn't boring: MARIE!" Maire added.

In response Callie placed her hands on her hips, and calmly said "You know I'm going to be the bigger squid today.. That's why I'm going Team Marie!"

Marie chuckled "Glad you've seen the light, teammate. Go Team Marie!"

"HEY! But that means you have to go Team Callie!"

"Yeah right, I'd rather give DJ Octavio a sponge bath."

"That's it! Team Callie is going to bury you! You and your grey hair are going DOWN, grandma!'

Marie didn't say anything in reply, as she and Callie turned to the screen.

"What about you at home? Who's side are you on?" Callie asked

"Head over to the pledge box and don't be dumb!" Marie finished

The Final Splatfest had begun.

Kal realized it was all thanks to sheer luck that he would return just in time to see it start.

Waves of young Inklings made their way to the pledge boxes and swarmed to Inkopolis tower for their Splatfest matches.

Among them was Kal, though he did often use different gear sets he was most familiar with the Slosher, since this was the final splatfest he was going to give it his all, there was no reason not to bring his weapon of choice.

But when he made it to the pledge box he came across a bit of a dilemma.

'Who should I pick? Callie or Marie? I never really liked one over the other, should I just pick whoever is most likely to win? Actually who would be most likely to win here?'

Kal took a step back from the large crowd in front of the pledge box to think.

Octo Valley was completely off his mind.

As he was deep in thought, a familiar face crept up behind him.

"Boo!"

Kal suddenly felt someone grab his shoulders from behind.

"HOOOOAHHH!" Kal shouted, spinning around to see a bright green Inkling girl bursting with laughter.

"Hahaha! What is 'hoooahhh'?! I swear you have the silliest scream of all time! haha!"

"Neon! Seriously you can't just say hi like a normal squid?"

"I could, but where's the fun in that?"

Like Kal, Neon brought the equipment she was most proficient with.

Kal saw her proudly brandishing her Custom E-Liter 3K, unscoped of course, as Neon not only had great eyesight but had developed her aim to a point where she was better off without one.

She wore a Dark Urban vest, which Kal assumed she had rerolled alot to perfectly suit her needs, as for headgear…

"Hey, you're still wearing the Hero Headset?" Kal had left his at home as he didn't want to be reminded of Octo Valley.

"Yeah! I told you I was going to stay tuned, gotta know if you guys are ever in trouble!" Neon puffed her chest out with pride, not realizing she just shamelessly admitted to eavesdropping on Inker the whole time she was gone.

"Won't other Inklings find it suspicious that you are wearing some never before seen headgear in turf?" Kal asked

"Nah, I just say it's rare gear, as long as it's fresh nobody questions it much. But anyways whatcha doing just standing around? It's the Final Splatfest you know! Splatfest battles all day and night!" Neon was bouncing with excitement, she looked ready to charge into Inkopolis tower.

"Umm, I'm actually having trouble choose Callie or Marie, who did you pick?"

"Oh me? Marie of course! I saw her using a Charger in Octo Valley so us Chargers gotta stick together!" Neon declared. "Also I'm pretty sure Marie is getting the popularity vote, not by much though."

That last sentence made Kal tilt slightly towards choosing Marie's team, Neon had won every splatfest in the past so it wasn't unlikely for whichever team Neon picked to win again.

'Right, if Neon puts her mind to something she can get it done. I doubt whichever side she picked is going to lose.' Kal thought.

"Oh by the way Sky should be back right? If you came back then Sky should be back too right? Sky lost the last splatfest so I'm going to force him to pick my team!"

"Since when was-" Kal was about to retort but thinking about how Sky made him remember how well he fit in with Octo Valley. "He's staying in Octo Valley."

"Whaaaat? That guy is really staying there? Even though he was so afraid before?"

"What can I say, ever since he learned to speak Octarian he's been really popular with the Octarians, he and Inker are always mobbed by Octolings, Octotroopers and any other Octarian."

"Aww so he's missing the Splatfest, oh right and what about Inker?"

"Still fighting alongside Victoria and Lynn."

"Then why are you here?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what about Victoria?"

"For the last time we aren't dating!"

"Not yet."

Kal sighed "Are you going to bring this up everytime I see you?"

"Until it gets boring, yes!"

"You know what I'm just going to pick a team."

"Yeah you do that! Oh by the way, what's going on in Octo Valley? I'm hearing a lot of shouting and other noises through the hero headset… ahhh that's really loud! How do I mute this thing!?"

Kal didn't want to talk about it.

"Don't ask me, I'm out of my league in Octo Valley anyways."

Neon noticed how Kal looked sad when Octo Valley was brought up.

She did hear some sort of argument between Kal and Victoria through her headset but it didn't seem like anything big to her.

So since she couldn't understand, Neon shrugged it off and headed straight for Inkopolis Tower, leaving Kal to the pledge box.

As for Kal, what Neon said brought Octo Valley back into his mind for a brief moment.

Were they in trouble? Neon mentioned lots of noise.

'Oh well, they're probably better off without me anyways.'

Octo Valley

"Dammit there's way too many!" Inker said as he sent a seeker towards a group of Octotroopers while dueling an Octoling.

"I've just lost third squad, that's half my splatoon gone now! We're pulling back!" Eliza shouted.

"Don't! Not yet, just hold for a little longer." Victoria ordered

"They'll be nothing left of us if we stay!" Kevin replied

Inker, Eliza, Victoria, Kevin and any other combat ready Octarian from the New Octopolis army was currently fighting the Octarian army, which had been reinforced by the Octarian's reserve army.

Victoria had made a fatal mistake, completely forgetting that Octavio had a reserve army in Octo Canyon in case Octo Valley ever needed to be abandoned.

Then again she was thrust into a leadership position so suddenly it was a surprise she made it this far to begin with.

"Lynn? Lynn! Come in? What's the status on the others?" Victoria shouted into her earpiece.

"I can't seem to contact them, either they've already been defeated or the Octarian army is jamming our communications." Lynn replied

"Dammit, we can't hold them off any longer, this hideout is lost, evacuate the lair."

"Y-yes ma'am!"

Lynn immediately ran to every corner of the lair, shouting that they had to leave quickly.

"Lynn what's going on?"

"Ahh Violet, we're evacuating, the Octarian army has almost reached the kettle."

Violet was not a fighter, so hearing that the Octarian army was so close sent a shiver down her back.

But she couldn't afford to waste time.

There were sick and wounded Octarians in the infirmary and lots of kids running around the lair too.

All the refugees who had no choice but to leave the Undercity once Octavia started targeting them for being related to someone in Vale's splatoon.

"I need a pair of hands! Someone help me get him on this stretcher." one Octoling shouted

"Screw this! I'm outta here!" another said.

There was no possible way this could be called an organized evacuation.

Some like Violet tried to help the ones who had trouble walking to leave the lair, others just dropped everything they had and ran.

Those who did quickly realized they had nowhere to go.

The Octarian army was not only pushing back Victoria and the others, but were also slowly enveloping what bit of resistance Victoria and the others could muster.

From the sky, Kevin was able to see it coming.

"Yo Victoria! They're trying to surround us!"

"What?!"

As the fighting continued it was clear that there was no way the New Octopolis army could win this one.

"Hmmm, I don't think my past self planned for this."

"Ummm can I go home then? This is scary."

Lila, constantly switching personalities with Vale appeared to have a conversation with herself.

"You should get back to Inkopolis." Inker said

"No I'm not leaving my troops behind." Lila insisted, though it was really Emily Vale talking.

"We should go! I don't want to meet Laven on the other side of the river yet!" Lila said.

Having some sort of internal conflict, Lila didn't run nor fight but rather she just idled there.

As for Victoria she had just called the retreat.

"Retreat? But to where?" Eliza asked

"I don't know! Let's just get out of here!" Victoria shouted

Inker had an idea, he called for Cap'n Cuttlefish through his hero suit.

"Cap'n? Cap'n!"

No reply

"Don't tell me he's sleeping in."

He tried a few more times but to no avail, he didn't know what time it was in Inkopolis, but why did the Cap'n have to be unavailable at this time?

Inker concidered going back to his shack himself and waking him up, but if he did, Victoria and the others would lose a key fighter.

Luckily there was someone nearby who was doing nothing due to her condition.

"Lila! Go back to Cuttlefish's shack and wake him up, let him know we're coming to him."

"Ahh okay! Come on Emily, Agent 3 is telling us to leave." "You better have something in mind Agent 3! Hey now we need to run, forget about the weapons." B-but this is my only memory of Laven."

It seemed like Vale's mind conditioning for Lila wasn't perfect after all.

Lila had yet another internal conflict between her and Vale's priorities, with Vale wanting to drop everything to reach Cuttlefish quicker, while Lila insisted on carrying the Blaster she found.

"Just leave it with me, I'll take good care of it!" Victoria cut in, wet with ink.

"No I don't want to!"

"I've helped you and Kal before haven't I? Don't worry I won't keep it for myself."

"Just leave it already!" Lila shouted to herself "Okay fine!"

Ditching Cuttlefish's Bamboozler and entrusting Laven's Blaster to Victoria, Lila hurried towards Cuttlefish's shack.

Victoria sent another message to anyone still listening

"Listen up, we are almost completely surrounded, don't try to escape to the Undercity nor Octo Canyon or anywhere! The only safe place now is backwards towards Inkopolis. If you can hear me head towards the manhole to Inkopolis!"

Inker followed with his own message

"Sky! We've lost the lair, get out as quick as you can!"

Of course he couldn't hear Sky reply as he didn't have a hero suit of his own.

Inker hoped Sky could evacuate in time.

"Hey Victoria! If we keep this up we'll be completely surrounded!" Eliza said

"We need to buy more time for Lynn to evacuate the lair!"

"There is no time! Come on Vic, we gotta live to fight again tomorrow!" Kevin insisted.

"I agree, I'd stay for longer but I doubt the Hero suit can handle another respawn!" Inker added

"Alright! I get it, run for it before we get completely encircled!"

Following that Victoria, Inker, Eliza, Kevin and any surviving Octarians ran in the direction of Inkopolis.

Some dropped their weapons to lighten their load, others hung on to them.

Victoria even had to leave her Octoshot behind in order to keep her promise and hold on to the Blaster Lila trusted her with.

'Well she didn't say I couldn't use it.' Victoria thought, figuring she would just have to use the Blaster from now on.

As for Lynn she tried to direct a proper evacuation but it wasn't working.

It was a mess, though many had made it out of the lair, others had yet to leave.

But the Octarian army was closing in quick, there wasn't anything she could do.

Lynn and many of the remaining Octarians in the hideout bolted.

Lynn really didn't want to leave so early, but she would have died if she stayed.

She figured that after regrouping with the others, they could try and break through to the lair again and rescue anyone they left behind.

Assuming that Octavia didn't capture and move them all, or worse had them all executed like Claire.

Parliament building, Inkopolis

Today was the day of what was rumored to be the last Splatfestival ever.

As such pretty much all of Inkopolis was busy celebrating, even some of the Inkopolis government was taking it easy today.

But it didn't last long, because of one call that Defense Minister Arcus made to the prime minister.

"That situation I told you about, the one in Octo Valley, it's escalating quicker than expected, also it's coming straight for us." Arcus said

"What are you talking about, are the Octarians suddenly marching on us again?" Prime Minister Steenson asked.

"Well not exactly, it appears that the Octarian army has managed to push the rebelling Octarians back and overrun their main base of operations. At the same time they've blocked off any route out of Octo Valley, so that means the retreating rebels have only one place to go, to Inkopolis."

"Hold on, are you suggesting we should shelter the rebelling Octarians?"

"Even if we don't they'll try and if they get here the Octarian army will follow them shortly after."

"I'm not having a war on the streets, why don't you just have the IPD block off both sides of the manhole to Octo Valley?"

"If we deny them entry they might get desperate and force their way through and if they don't the Inklingphobic Octarian army will probably splat everyone, including our boys in blue."

Of course Arcus didn't mention how Cuttlefish had been able to seal the manhole before, the reasoning was quite obvious.

He was trying to help his role model, the Cap'n of the New Squidbeak Splatoon.

"Also keep in mind that half of the manhole counts as Octarian territory, considering the Octarian army's hostile nature towards us, if we send any IPD officers to the other side or try to tamper with the manhole, they could label it as a violation of their borders and use it as an excuse to start another war."

"Alright fine, gather everyone, situation room, ten minutes." Steenson said

'What a headache'

Another crisis involving Octo Valley had made its way to his door, why couldn't it wait for other prime ministers?

Guerilla hideout, Octo Valley

Sky heard Inker's message, he tried to get out, but the evacuation was far too chaotic.

There was so much pushing and shoving as the refugees and unarmed volunteers tried to escape back out of the tiny kettle all at once.

Sky was shoved around by everyone, and what was worse were the rolling Octoballs who left ink behind them as they rolled out.

It helped the Octarians, but not Sky who didn't have the same colour of Ink.

Walking out of the lair felt like he was trudging through a muddy swamp, his feet sank into the ground with every step.

He originally planned on leaving everything he brought behind to lighten his load, but now that he was getting nowhere fast, Sky went back for his Roller.

"Sorry! Excuse me! Coming through!" Sky said as he tried to make a path with his own cyan coloured ink.

Though this was also a problem as the wide roller could easily splat some poor Octarian who got in the way.

The Roller didn't help at all.

Sky had to walk through magenta coloured ink, struggling to lift his feet every step he took.

But just as he was getting close to the exit.

"Ahh! They're here! Run!" Someone shouted

The Octarian army had reached the lair.

The remaining Octarians went into a panic, some surrendered right away while others scrambled to hide in the lair.

Every creature for themselves.

Sky, stuck in a pool of magenta, didn't have the time to worry about friendly fire, he rolled his Roller in front of him to clear the magenta ink, then he ran deeper into the lair.

Behind him, he could hear the Octarian army arrive, nabbing the surrendered Octarians.

"There could be more hiding! Fan out and search!" he heard someone say.

Sky didn't stop to look back, if the Octarian army was willing to execute their own kind for treason, there was no telling what they'd do to a poor little Inkling like him. He ran as quickly as he could to find a hiding spot.

The room that was previously reserved for him, Kal and Inker was the first place he thought of, it was pretty far back into the lair and pretty insignificant as well, so it hopefully wouldn't draw much attention.

He could be safe, for a little while longer.

Cap'n Cuttlefish's shack, Octo Valley

"Is this really everyone we have left?" Victoria asked Lynn and Eliza.

"Seems so, the splatoons caught in the Undercity couldn't make it out." Eliza said

"U-umm, I'm sorry but the evacuation was a mess and I think many were left behind." Lynn added

"Really?" Victoria was disappointed in herself, "Well it's all up to Cuttlefish and Arcus now."

"Are we really just going to hide in Inkopolis? I mean I don't look Inkling in the least." Eliza said.

"The manhole is a bottleneck, if they let us in through the other side we might actually stand a chance."

"So all we can do is sit in Inkopolis and wait for them to come to us?"

"Unfortunately yes, but we must be allowed in first."

The New Octopolis army she created was reduced to a sorry state.

At its peak it had enough volunteers to populate half the Undercity, but they never had the resources to properly equip everyone.

Now after barely a month of fighting it was only hanging on by a slim thread, one that the Inkopolis government could cut at their will.

After making sure that Arcus knew everything he had to know, Inker began to check on everyone.

Lynn was unhurt, Eliza was tired but doing her best to hide it while in his presence, Victoria was making sure the younger Octolings didn't run off.

Victoria was well, sadden by how things turned out, but she was still fine.

Lila was safe as well, having returned to Inkopolis with Cuttlefish earlier.

"Sky? Sky! Are you there! Has anyone seen my friend Sky!?"

Inker could not find Sky anywhere.

He should have had enough time to escape, Lynn was told to start evacuating way before they were overrun.

"Lynn, did you see Sky evacuate the hideout?" Inker asked

"U-ummm, I'm sorry Agent 3, I'm not sure."

"Not sure?"

"I'm really sorry! It was so difficult, the Octarian army was so close that everyone was in a panic, there was a huge struggle and well, It wasn't really an evacuation at all, rather everyone just happened to run in the same direction."

"What? So that means Sky was left behind?"

"I couldn't get everyone out, There were alot of us left behind, maybe now that we've regrouped we could try and go back?" Lynn suggested, but Inker already left.

"Hey where are you going!" Victoria grabbed Inker as he tried to rush off.

"I gotta find Sky."

"Stop trying to do things on your own!, you'll never make it past the Octarian army."

"I have to try."

"Didn't you say you were out of respawns? Wait for me to get everyone formed up!"

"Yes don't do dumb things. You're Agent 3, aren't you supposed to know better? What kind of idiot thinks they can take on the whole Octarian army by themselves?" Eliza scolded Inker.

"I.. fine, but please hurry."

Inker understood why Victoria forced Kal back to Inkopolis now, now he wished that Sky had gone with him.

He didn't want to lose a friend to Octo Valley.

Inker glanced around, anxious to get back to the lair.

"Sky?"

For a moment Inker swore he saw a dash of cyan among the Octarians.

He hurried over but saw no sign of Sky.

'What a kid.' Eliza thought, seeing Inker chase after nothing.

"Are you seeing things now? As much as I would like you to taste the feeling of loss just as I have when I lost Eileen, you should stop embarrassing yourself." Eliza commented.

"Yeah you're right, all I can do is wait." Inker sighed

Parliament building, Inkopolis

"No you're not listening to me, we simply don't have the time to convert the IPD into an army." Arcus said in response to another minister's suggestion

"Well we also can't just let Octarians come into Inkopolis as they please, as the minister of foreign affairs I say letting the rebelling Octarians in is a bad idea, unless you want us to get on the Octarian government's bad side."

"The Octarian government is a military one, plus you've seen it's expansionist agenda, you think they won't aim for us just cause we block off a few rebels?" Arcus argued

"Harting has a point, though the problem now would be the location of the manhole, Inkopolis Plaza which is currently hosting the final splatfest." the Inkopolis culture minister said.

"We could just escort the rebelling Octarians away as soon as they arrive." another minister suggested

"That would give the Octarian army a reason to storm into the plaza."

"Why not just give a part of the plaza to the Octarians for them to set up camp?"

"Have you seen the crowds for the final splatfest? No way we can part them without starting a riot."

Considering everything Arcus told him, Steenson was leaning towards the idea that had just been suggested.

"The manhole is technically the border between Inkopolis and Octo Valley right? Why don't we just move that border back a bit, only temporarily though."

This way the rebelling Octarians would have somewhere to retreat that would put them at an advantage, then they could whittle down the Octarian Army while providing a buffer zone between Inkopolis and the Octarian army.

"You're saying we give part of Inkopolis Plaza to the Octarian army."

"No, why not give it to the New Octopolis rebels?"

"Hold on, you want to start an Octarian settlement inside Inkopolis' most popular spot?"

Arcus wanted the discussion to keep somewhere in that direction.

"How about we make an agreement that Inkopolis is remaining neutral to the conflict but are setting up a perimeter around Inkopolis Plaza just in case? Allow the rebels in without ceeding territory and at the same time gaining an extra layer of defense against the Octarian army."

"How are we supposed to do that with the Final Splatfest going on?"

"We'll just have to move it somewhere else."

"No." Prime Minister Steenson put his foot down "Though I'm inclined to agree with Hilgendorf's idea, we can't just stop or move the Final Splatfest. So we will wait until the Final Splatfest ends before letting anyone through."

"What? So we are just going to pretend nothing's happening?" Arcus asked

"Listen, the whole Vanguard crisis in the past already hurt our reputation, if we interrupt the Final Splatfest our approval rating will drop and we will lose the upcoming election. Arcus you seem strangely concerned with this Octarian civil war, if it drags out and we lose the election a new minister might end up making unfavorable changes to deal with the situation. Would you want that?"

"Of course not… I see, so we just have to wait out the Splatfest? Fine, I'll get the IPD to be ready as soon as it ends."

Guerilla Hideout, Octo Valley

Sky hid under a bed in squid form.

He could hear voices from the Octarian army soldiers as they searched the lair for anyone else who couldn't evacuate.

Some were still hiding, others were caught and captured.

Everytime he heard a noise Sky would stiffen, he was no soldier nor a decent fighter.

In fact out of everyone he knew, he was probably the worst at Turf Wars.

He didn't stand a chance here.

Sky's heart pounded as he watched more Octarians pass by.

A few had already checked this room but luckily they didn't think to check under the bunk beds.

Sky tried not to think about what would happen if he were caught.

Keyword 'tried' because Sky ended up imagining various terrible things done to him by the Octarian army.

Curled up in squid form, Sky lay silent for the longest time, too scared to move even his eyes, even blinking made him nervous as he feared he would open his eyes to see an Octotrooper staring him in the face.

Soon there was a voice over his hero headset.

"Sky? I hope you can hear me, were on our way but there are still too many Octarian Army troops surrounding the lair, even if we get to you we won't be able to make it out, you're on you're own for now."

Not the news he was hoping to hear.

"Hey this should be everyone right?" Sky overheard someone say. "We haven't found anyone for the past hour."

"Maybe, but the Elites want us to keep looking, apparently the New Octopolis army is trying to retake the lair, there might still be someone left here."

"Or something important."

"Either way we're stuck playing hide and seek."

"Well better than getting splatted that's for sure."

Sky assumed this meant the Octarians had yet to leave.

It was only a matter of time before they found him.

Sky wondered if there was anyone else left in the lair with him.

'If I stay here they'll find me eventually, as Inker said I guess I have to find my own way out.'

Taking care not to make noise, Sky crawled out of hiding, he nervously changed back out of squid form and glanced around.

Nobody there?

Trembling, he walked out of the room and quickly scanned his surroundings.

He did notice some Octarians standing around, but luckily they were facing the other way.

Sky made his way through the lair towards the exit.

There were significantly less Octarians here now, as they were drawn back out to fight Inker and the rest of the New Octopolis army trying to rescue Sky and the others left behind.

Slowly but surely Sky made his way towards the lair exit.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Sky flinched, he was sure he had just been caught.

"Me I'm uhh, guarding the exit." Sky heard a second voice.

Sky breathed a sigh of relief as he realized it was just two Octotroopers talking by the exit.

'No wait this was bad.'

If there was someone watching the exit, Sky couldn't leave.

"Guarding the exit, you mean sitting on your butt while we do all the work."

"Say what you want, this role is like, super important you know."

"Then I'll take over and you go search this empty lair."

"No."

Everything the troopers said was within earshot.

Sky listened to them banter on for a while but then a third voice popped up.

"Hey you two, how long have you been standing there?"

"O-oh umm, I just got here."

"He's lying, he hasn't moved ever since we started searching."

"No umm, I'm not the one lyi-"

"Good job."

"Good job!?"

"Tell me did you see anyone take an Inkling out of the lair?"

The mention of Inkling made Sky freeze.

The voices drowned out as Sky panicked, his mind racing to try and find some sort of comfort, may it be a delusion or somewhere to hide.

Then Sky realized he hadn't brought his Roller along.

Maybe that's why they were mentioning an Inkling, maybe they found the Roller with fresh cyan ink left on it.

Sky gulped, he probably shouldn't have come out of hiding.

Realizing that they were now aware of his presence, Sky froze up.

He could hear the Octarians telling each other to split up and search for an Inkling.

Since Sky was already so close they found him in no time.

Sky found himself facing an Octotrooper.

"..."

"..Please don't." Sky begged

The trooper smiled "Hey guys I've found him!"

And just like that Sky was caught.

As more Octotroopers and Octolings surrounded him, Sky could no longer move.

He stared up at the Octarians.

Frozen with fear, Sky didn't even hear what the Octarians were saying.

They must have been ordering him to stand up, because he was kicked when he didn't move.

Sky fell down on his side like a ragdoll, his body too weak with fear to follow his mind.

All Sky could see was the Octarian army, the shiny barrels of their weapons aimed at him.

Sky had gotten so comfortable in the past weeks that he forgot about how scary Octo Valley was.

If given another chance, he would never have come here.

He looked into the eyes of the Octarians standing over him.

Then suddenly, one of the Octarians noticed something else.

Sky didn't hear anything, but there was a flash of cyan and all the Octarians in front of him vanished.

'What was that?' Sky was still lying on the ground, but the fear was gone and replaced with shock.

What had just happened?

"Ahh I've found you! Thank Kraken you're okay! No literally thank the Kraken!"

Coming out of Kraken form and hugging him was a cheerful cyan Inkling girl.

Though she sounded really familiar.

"Ne-Ne Neon?" Sky said, still trembling.

"I arrived just in time didn't I? Come on let's go now!"

"Why… W-When did you get here?"

"I heard everything over the Hero Headset, you didn't think I would actually forget about you all.. did you? Ahh hold on, more Octarians are coming, those guys are really persistent to chase me all the way here." Neon said, facing the lair exit.

As Neon stood in front of Sky protectively and charged her E-Liter, Sky had many more questions.

"I thought you weren't coming back until after the Final Splatfest! And why are you my colour?"

"I gave the Inkopolis Tower staff some money to use the Colourizer outside of Turf Wars, how else?" Neon said, simultaneously blasting an Octotrooper "Woomy!"

"You bribed them?! No wait it, takes half a day to get here, you're going to miss out on the last Splatfest?!"

Neon paused for a second.

"Geez I don't know who started that silly rumor, but I want to smack them. Splatfest is a big part of our culture, just cause the Squid Sisters are leaving doesn't mean it will just end."

"B-but, you left so early to participate... It meant so much to you…"

"It does, but well…" Neon shot another Octotrooper, then an Octoling, before either of them could even get close enough to shoot "Heh... Someone once told me that life's greatest challenge was choosing between two things that mean everything to you, so here I am! Haha!"

"Two things that mean everything? What does that mean." Sky asked

"Ahh that… uhh…."

For some reason Neon looked away, her usual happy go lucky self seemed to fade away for a brief moment.

"T-that's cause…"

Sky wasn't completely sure, but it seemed like Neon's face getting red.

Was she having a fever?

Then suddenly Neon laughed like a madwoman.

"Mwahahahaha! What is this? Normally I couldn't say such things, is it because I'm currently fighting so I feel like I can do anything?! That's it! I'm in peak condition! Right now I can do anything!"

Firing at one more Octoling, Neon turned to Sky.

"Listen up Sky! Remember how I have a crush on someone?! Well that someone.."

She pointed directly at Sky

"... is you!"

"Wha?" Sky muttered, but Neon wasn't finished, she had much more on her mind.

"I don't know how it happened, or when it started, but whenever I'm with you I feel peace of mind, it's different from the good rowdy fun with Inker and Kal. Even though we always trade quips and you always shoo me away, you'd still put up with me every time I showed up again. Even though you call me troublesome, you still came looking for me when I vanished without saying anything. Yes even if I mess up, you're still there for me, so naturally I... began to like you."

Sky watched as Neon said these things, completely breaking her character as the simple goofball he thought he knew.

The way she spoke, the hint of nervousness mixed with the calmness in her voice..

This wasn't some big prank of hers.

"Before I thought you were boring at times, or a bit hardheaded, but now I know that all these characteristics mask a kind person who will look out for me, who I can open up to, who I can trust."

Without leaving Sky's side, Neon looked around for anymore Octarians, then she turned back to face Sky…

"I didn't have the courage to say this before but... I think Octo Valley is a bit too much for you, it makes me uneasy knowing you're here without me..."

And she smiled

"So please, will you return to Inkopolis with me?"

Sky had never seen Neon make such a face.

It was not the mischievous smile she had when she put ghost pepper in his ink shake.

It was a bright, pure and sincere smile.

The childlike Neon who loves to play pranks and tease her friends, was being honest and pouring her heart out.

The only thing Sky could complain about was the timing, who confesses in a warzone?

Yes he could complain about Neon again, but not this time.

"...I" Sky began.

"Oh look out!" Neon said quickly picking off another Octoling

This reminded Sky that they were still not out of the woods yet.

"Please just don't say anything yet." Neon said "I left a Squid Beakon behind as I ran here, so soon as we make it out of the lair, hold me and we'll jump back to safety."

Sky nodded

There would be time to talk after they've escaped Octo Valley.

But Neon had another reason.

As she superjumped through the air, Sky holding her tightly as they flew past the Octarian army, towards Inker and the New Octopolis army, Neon thought: 'Yes, don't say anything just yet. Let me indulge just a little bit before I hear your reply… Because I'm sure that with how much trouble I cause you, you could never feel the same way.'

Inkopolis Plaza

After their escape, Neon told Inker and the others that Sky was safe and that she was going back to Inkopolis.

Hopefully she could get a few Splatfest matches in before the day ended.

In the meantime Arcus Hilgendorf told Victoria that they were allowed to enter Inkopolis, but only after the final splatfest ended.

So for now, Inker, Victoria and the New Octopolis army had to wait by the manhole.

Sky had returned to Inkopolis with Neon, but before he could say anything Neon ran off.

"Wait!" Sky shouted but Neon didn't stop.

He couldn't run as fast as she could, so Sky, as rational as ever, didn't bother trying.

There was still some daylight left, a Splatfest normally ran for just one day, so Sky decided he may as well pick a team at the pledge box.

"Hey Sky!"

"Hmm?"

Kal showed up, sweaty from Turf Wars but happy.

He seemed to have forgotten about Octo Valley.

"Oh Kal, How's it going?"

"Good good, I didn't expect to see you back so soon."

"Haha, I almost didn't make it back if not for Neon."

"Huh?"

"Speaking of which… did you see her anywhere? She ran off before I could err…. Thank her."

"Uhh, I saw her bolt into the tower, no hold on, what do you mean by 'If not for her'?"

"You didn't know? She left the Splatfest to come find me once she heard about the evacuation."

"Evacuation?"

"Right guess you're out of the loop, things aren't going well for Victoria but that's too much for me to handle."

"Right, Let's just enjoy the Splatfest, I bet Neon's already off winning a match and getting called a cheater. haha"

"Haha..." Sky realized he wasn't ready to go play Turf yet.

"Uhh, you go ahead, I got other things to do first."

"Hmm? Oh yeah we've been in Octo Valley for so long we forgot about our bills, well hurry back, you're going to miss out on the Super Sea Snails."

Sky waved goodbye to Kal, then his mind immediately went to Neon.

Apparently she hadn't played a single Splatfest battle today, as she left for Octo Valley as soon as she heard about evacuating the hideout.

'She would give up the final Splatfest to come looking for me…'

Sky knew how much Neon loved the splatfest, if she was willing to give it up to come looking for him, then there was no way he could possibly doubt Neon's confession. The only thing left was how to answer.

Now that he was back in Inkopolis, Sky had time to think.

Should he reject Neon or not?

Sky sat on a bench on the sidewalk, as eager Turf War players went in and out of Inkopolis Tower, participating in matches for their teams.

Sky wasn't about to join them, not now at least.

Everything Neon said ran through his mind.

He had a hard time believing it, but it made sense.

When Neon stormed off after trying to splat Victoria and later when she disappeared out of shame it was always Sky who would also go after her.

No wonder she thought that he was somebody trustworthy and kind.

But for Sky, what did Neon mean to him?

Could he say the same about Neon?

'No, Neon is far too unpredictable to be called trustworthy and I doubt someone who splats others for fun could be called kind.'

'What is Neon then?' Sky wondered.

The first thing that came to his mind was still 'troublesome girl'.

Someone who was simple like a child and never thought twice about anything.

'No that's not it.'

Neon wasn't like that

'Neon only seems like that at first glance.' Sky though 'Although she does act like a buffoon she's not simple in the least.'

Sky remembered how Neon was able to find Victoria hiding in Inkopolis when nobody else could.

How Neon was able to fight off the Octarian army pretty much entirely on her own.

How Neon was clever enough to know when an Elite Octoling was spying on them.

'Neon is well… unpredictable and not in a bad way. She acts like a fool, but she's definitely not one.'

There were times when Neon made some bad choices, like leaving Sky to fend for himself in Octo Valley or trying to end Victoria so she could play Turf Wars again, but she never made the same mistakes.

Bit by bit, Neon improved herself.

She didn't leave Inker nor Kal behind when they were rescuing Lila.

She stayed up when she felt that someone was watching them.

And after their first trip to Octo Valley, Neon wouldn't charge in screaming until Inker confirmed it was okay to do so.

'Neon isn't as troublesome as she was before.' Sky concluded

Then he thought about what he would say to her once he met her again.

What reasons did he have to accept Neon?

'Knowing her, she probably feels embarrassed after saying all that and ran off to play Turf and watch the sunset. Still a troublesome girl, why couldn't she just wait for me?'

'Then again, you get used to it after a while. Neon is well, full of surprises, you think you know her then she goes off and does something incredible…..

...Like protecting you from a bunch of Octarians while confessing at the same time...'

Sky recalled the usual Neon, being loud, cheerful and teasing Kal and Victoria.

Well I can say that Neon isn't boring in the least, yes that's it there is much more to Neon than meets the eye.'

Then there was the side of Neon which seemed to be capable of anything if she put her mind to it.

'Now that I think about it, I do seem to spend more time with her than the others.'

Finally there was the Neon, who seemed unaffected by the world, yet deep down she had her own problems.

'If I can't say she's trustworthy I can definitely say that she's interesting… yeah that will work…' Sky concluded.

He found a good reason to not turn her down, now all that was left is to find her.

'I doubt I'll be lucky enough to run into her by joining some turf games.. Luckily I know somewhere she likes to hang out when the sun sets.'

'What a troublesome girl, running off because she can't handle her own words. Well guess I'll go find her….'

Then Sky stopped.

Why did he worry so much about how to respond to Neon's feelings?

Why did he not focus on the negative aspects of Neon?

Sky had just realized that he didn't even consider turning her down..

That means….

"Heh" Sky chuckled

If he didn't know better he would laugh like Neon did in the lair.

Instead Sky looked up and thought.

'Oh cod help me, I've somehow fallen for a troublesome girl.'

Sky smiled.

He knew what would happen next.

He would probably find Neon sitting on that hill which overlooks the sea.

She would probably try to cover her ears.

Then there would probably be some tears from both of them, tears of joy definitely.

With that Sky went off to find Neon.

That whole situation with Octo Valley took an unexpected twist for Sky, but he should start getting used to it.

Neon was, after all, the most unpredictable yet interesting girl he had ever met.

A/N: I did say in my profile that I suck at romance, since I never read anything of the genre nor have a relationship of my own, so sorry if this chapter got cheesy, I had been trying to hint towards this for a while now, so there was no way it was going to not end like that.

By the way, does anyone still remember who told Neon about choosing between two important things?