The full moon sat high in the night sky, overlooking the darkened city of Inkopolis. Gusts of air travelled and swept over the streets, pushing and tackling any items or persons they came into contact with, surrounding them in a cool embrace. All but a few souls have retreated to their homes, the lights inside buildings shutting off one by one, while certain lamp posts retained their warm inner light to provide aid; Checkpoints to guide any wanderers through the darkness.

One such soul, a Jellyfish commoner, was currently clearing out groups of items and trash on the pavement with their trusty broom. They sweeped and sweeped, until all the items were neatly bunched into a singular pile and promptly shoved into a trash bag. The jellyfish wiped the sweat off their head with a gelatinous limb and nodded approvingly, satisfied with their work. The only thing left to do is to throw that bag somewhere and pack up, and then they could go back to home, sweet home!

The jellyfish jumped in surprise when they suddenly heard a thud along with banging and scraping sounds, and looked around frantically in search of it's source, their round head jerking from side to side. A few tense moments of silence later, they gave up and started packing their nearby belongings. The jellyfish barely heard quick tapping sounds that somehow got louder and louder.

When all of the jellyfish's items were put away in their trusty bag, they were about to head off until the sight of a large shadow looming over them caused the jellyfish to stop in their tracks. The jelly slowly turned around, and unwittingly freezed up at the sight of a horrific monster staring down at him with bulging, angry eyes coated in yellow sclera and dark orange irises.

The jellyfish shook under the growling beast's presence, terrified and unable to even call for help, until finally the monster roared and chomped down on the helpless jellyfish.

A piercing scream echoed throughout the night; one that signalled the end of a life and the beginning of another. The beginning of a new terror…

'10/6/12018

ALL ROTATIONS AND INK BATTLES HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED TODAY

AND WILL REMAIN SO UNTIL SECURITY MAINTENANCE IS COMPLETED

HAVE A NICE DAY'

" 'Have a nice day'," Salem finished reading, "Yeah right…"

Hands in his jeans' pockets, Salem kicked a nearby soda can, departing from the Deca Tower and sitting on one of Inkopolis Square's tables.

"Sure, just up and close matches for no reason without notice. Great idea, that will definitely not bite you back.." The inkling grumbled, groaning and burying his face in his hands. His day just had to start off on the wrong foot because of some dumb 'maintenance'. Now he couldn't even participate in his hobby and one of his main sources of income!

"Something bothering ya, squiddo?" Salem perked up at hearing the unmistakably familiar voice.

Crusty Sean was peeking at him curiously from his truck, various ingredients and condiments littered on the outside of the vehicle.

"No-well yes but-..." Salem tripped over his words, facepalming once again with a groan.

"Relax, kid. Plenty others have been feeling down lately. Come 'ere," Crusty Sean said, beckoning Salem with his claw. The inkling reluctantly complied, dragging his legs towards the truck.

"To tell ya the truth, s'been a slow day for me, too. Not many customers came here as a result of the maintenance. Heck, us vendors didn't know a thing until right before we opened shop!"

"But why? You can't tell me all stages got in a state of disrepair and required maintenance overnight."

"Not all of 'em are down… But would you wanna play in only 3 places for the entire day?" Sean asked rhetorically. Salem looked down for a moment and pondered the question, then faced Crusty Sean again, a small frown grazing his lips.

"What happened, then? This can't all be just a sick prank."

"Squiddo, if I knew, I would've told ya by now. Everyone's been giving their own two cents on this, and outta all the gossip, one rumor in particular has been very strongly passed around. It even has some evidence to support it."

Salem leaned closer to the counter, his interest piqued, and urged the prawn to continue with the uttering of a "Go on…"

"Now, I'm not sure about the details, but rumor has it that a monster sneaked around the city and caused trouble, trashing various places and splatting anyone unfortunate enough to be in it's path. Some witnesses and victims even claimed they saw the monster, saying that it resembled a bipedal, humanoid Salmonid!"

…Salem could only scrunch up his face and narrow his eyes at such a ridiculous, baseless, implausible rumor. What kind of explanation was that?

" I know it sounds sketchy," Crusty Sean assured as if expecting Salem's doubtful reaction, "And I myself find it hard to believe, but the police has already looked over some of the attacked sites, and the evidence they found gives a lotta credibility to the rumor. Ya never know if a tall tale might turn out to be entirely gibberish or hold some truth in between the lines.."

Even if what Crusty Sean said was the case, Salem couldn't help but remain baffled by this rumor. Somehow, a mysterious monster attack was the most logical explanation for the various locales of Inkopolis suddenly being damaged and in need of repairs almost overnight, when just two days ago everything seemed fine. His features relaxed once more, and the boy faced the Prawn with a look of concern.

"Again, why? There's nothing here that would be useful for the salmonids," Salem pondered, putting his elbows on the small window.

"Payback, maybe?" Sean speculated, briefly glancing to the side.

"Grizzco has been sending out employees to their territory for months and now they decide to get back at us? Suddenly wanting to fight in our turf?"

"If ya want answers, you're gonna hafta look somewhere else, dude. I sure as heck know nothin' that ain't what others said," Crusty Sean put his claws up and shook his head sideways. It seemed like he had no more to say, unfortunately...

"Alright then…" Salem acknowledged begrudgingly, pulling out a drink ticket and handing it to the prawn. "Thanks, Sean. I'll be sure to let you know if anything comes up."

"No sweat, man!" Crusty Sean said as he finished concocting Salem's drink and handed it over to the inkboy. Salem bid goodbye to the former shopkeeper and departed for the nearby train station, cup in hand and lips curled upwards into a small smile.

When he reached the train station, however, Salem's expression fell, and the inkboy groaned for the third time that day. For as helpful as Crusty Sean's information was on providing some explanation on what happened, Salem still had a long ways to go before uncovering the real reason for the sudden closing of the Deca Tower. A long, long ways to go until the truth was revealed…

Sipping the last of his drink, Salem turned the doorknob of his room and walked inside. It was a common gray-colored room, with various items and pieces of furniture set up in the enclosed space. A muted green couch sat near the door, with an azure-colored patterned rug placed under it. The couch faced a small Plasma TV stationed on a wide wooden drawer, and next to the TV lay two doors on opposite sides, leading to two bedrooms. To it's right layed a set of windows that displayed the city outside, and to it's left was a black desk with a laptop sitting on it, connected with a cable to an AC port on the wall. Behind the couch was a small kitchen with freezer, rows of heaters, and a counter table with some seats. Finally, at the very back of the room was a door that led to the cyan-colored bathroom, containing a medium-sized toilet and a spacious bathtub.

After throwing his cup in the trash can, Salem waddled over to the desk and sat on it's accompanying chair. Nothing out of the ordinary was on it, most notably a lamp and a silver laptop computer. Curiously, there was also a folded piece of paper on it. The inkboy grabbed it and folded the paper open, proceeding to carefully read it's contents:

'IF READ BEFORE 5 PM, IT MEANS I AM NOT AT HOME.

OFF TO ANOTHER PITCH MEETING, HOPEFULLY A GOOD ONE.

LEFT YOUR FAVORITE IN THE MICROWAVE

APOLOGIES

-CONSTANTINE'

"Figured as much…" Salem muttered. After retrieving his meal, a custom sandwich with special ingredients made by his roommate, the inkboy returned to the desk and turned his laptop on. Once the internet browser was activated, Salem scrolled through and visited various websites and articles related to the events of two nights ago. It was a thorough and exhausting search that yielded little to no real results, much to the boy's disappointment. Most of the content was either recounting the damage and state of the attacked locales, speculation and 'theories' on the cause of said damage, or repeating what Crusty Sean said about the gathered evidence.

"Good grief. Not even officials have a clue.." Salem muttered again as he massaged his temples, "What is even going on..."

Precious minutes passed as Salem thought about his search, his position, and the situation in general. Simply put, this ordeal was an uncleanable mess that no matter which way he looked at it, was impossible to ignore or fix. If only he were able to simply find the true culprit, pin the blame on them and then send them off to prison; If only things were that easy, then he wouldn't have to worry about anything ever again!

It was then that an idea entered Salem's mind after his musing. Then another, and another, until the string of ideas formed into a full-fledged plan. Suddenly and swiftly, Salem grabbed a nearby notepad and pen and began writing down names.

"Fine, then!" Salem exclaimed as he finished scribbling the names of affected locales, promptly ripping out the note, "If none of those fools won't bother to investigate the culprit behind these attacks, then I'll do it myself!"

And with that declaration, Salem was off on his way.

The inkling arrived at the first of the attacked sites, the Humpback Pump Track that is so famously used in ink battles. Not only was the turfing arena littered with scratches or torn chunks and jagged parts of it's wooden floor, but the rest of the vicinity suffered considerable damage as well. Salem strolled through the damaged and vacant cycling center, stopping at certain intervals to look around and assess the damage.

"Claw marks.." Salem muttered as he knelt down and let his fingers slide over the scratched and torn piece of machinery he was next to. It was broken and mangled beyond repair, the panels and pistons bent or ripped apart in ways that no normal cephalopod could ever do, not to mention they also bore the mentioned marks all over it's frame. "Did an animal enter here? No. There's nothing of interest for them…"

And yet, the various scratches and tears littered throughout the rest of the vicinity indicated otherwise. Salem's mind continued going in circles as he looked around the cycling track, until he was suddenly met face-to-face with… Someone.

Another was here.

They were covered from head to toe in clothing that was definitely not suitable for the current summer; an outfit that tried it's hardest to cover every inch of skin on the wearer's body. Salem was intrigued by the presence of this newcomer and called out to them, however the newcomer immediately darted out of the building without a word.

This action raised a lot of suspicion on Salem's part, and the boy felt compelled to follow this strange figure. Still, he couldn't entirely abandon his findings or his makeshift investigation, so he decided to take a chunk of torn and scratched wood along with photos of of the damaged building. As quickly and quietly as he came, Salem left the abandoned turf and cycling locale, bringing the evidence with him to places unknown.

Salem stood by and faced the doors of a moderately sized supermarket, the Mantahlek shopping center. It was a light purple-colored building with a brown cobblestone roof, and while the outside of it looked to be in a decent condition, the yellow tape blocking it's entrance and a peek through the store's blue-tinted windows implied a troubling situation inside the supermarket's halls, underneath it's pristine outer shell.

After a series of side glances and head turns to ensure no passerby would spot him, Salem quietly slipped in-between the crossing yellow tapes and entered the building. The sheer sight of the dilapidated halls stimulated a mix of shock and intrigue in the inkboy, who was unable to do much but stand and stare in awe with his mouth slightly agape.

"What the… how did this happen? Was it.. no…"

"What else have ya found, Roney?" A new voice cut through the silence, causing Salem to quietly yelp and scramble to hide in the nearest corner. He peeked through it and saw two figures wearing very particular uniforms..

"Police officers…"

Indeed, the pair of law enforcers were currently standing near a mountain of rubble and damaged items and apparently discussing something. The details didn't matter- Salem couldn't afford being caught by either of them, not when there was still so much to decipher. He straightened up from his crouching position and intended to move farther away from the officers, yet as soon as he took his first steps, Salem found he couldn't move his right foot. A downwards glance confirmed that a puddle of differently colored ink keeping it in place was the cause. He pulled his foot as hard as he could, but it simply would not budge. A grunt escaped his lips as he pulled again, one that was just loud enough for the officers to hear. Thinking quickly, he shot the small puddle with his Forge Splattershot Pro, covering it with enough of his own blue ink for Salem to free his foot and immediately hop behind a shelf, all just in time before the officers arrived to where Salem previously stood.

"That was close…" Salem thought as he breathed a sigh of relief, his gaze shifting towards the stained sole of his Orca hi-top. "That ink, though.. differently colored ink usually doesn't sting a lot, unless it's from a different race. Come to think of it, it felt very familiar, too. Almost like.."

Salem's eyes widened, and his eyes sweeped the halls until he spotted a nearby puddle of ink. A dark green, murky looking puddle that, when he made contact with it, caused the same burning sensation in his hand that he felt so many times before During his exploits at Grizzco. There was no mistaking it..

"So a Salmonid could have been the one responsible.. But nothing that I've seen points to it being humanoid. None of the Salmonids have claws or fins sharp enough to cut through wood and plastic, and if they did they definitely aren't in the shape of a hand. Or a paw. They can't even change forms or walk on legs! Unless…"

Salem shook his head, stopping himself from any further musing. The acquired evidence and a recurring rumor wasn't enough to confirm or deny anything, and he still had various other places and items to analyze. His investigation wasn't over, after all. Using a small vial he took from his room's desktop, Salem took a sample of the salmonid ink, then stored the glass container back in his pocket. The inkling then stood up and sneaked to another part of the supermarket.

Salem continued to skulk around the dilapidated halls and corridors of Mantahlek, grabbing and storing any items of interest while avoiding the police officers that continued to assess the damage. Once he felt he gathered enough evidence, the inkboy slipped away from the clueless officers one last time, and left the crime scene through the front door.

"That's another one down," Salem noted as he slipped through the yellow tape and began to briskly walk away from the supermarket, "Now I have to-..."

After so carefully and meticulously hiding from the two police officers while inside the building, it was just Salem's luck that as soon as he left and turned around, another officer would be standing right in front of him, , eyeing him with suspicion no less.

"I can explain-"

"Save it, kid. Put your hands in the air", The anthropomorphic sea horse officer ordered as he approached Salem. The policeman checked the inkling for any items he might have, and ended up pulling out nearly all the items he found in Mantahlek and Humpback, including the vial of green ink. "Taking rubble that doesn't belong to you, eh?"

"They are evidence! I was trying to-"

"Play hero?" The policeman accused, "Sorry, kid. Leave it to the professionals to deal with this. Thanks for gathering evidence, though!"

The officer departed with the gathered items, leaving a visibly annoyed Salem behind. Once the boy saw the sea horse leave in his police car, from deep within his shirt he took out another small vial containing the putrid green ink and smirked to himself. "Always helps to have a backup…"

The inkling boy stored the vial in his breast pocket and began to walk away from Mantahlek, until a peculiar sight stopped him in his tracks. It was the mysterious person from before, gazing at the ransacked store from the sidewalk. They remained like this for a few more seconds until they clenched their fists and turned away from Mantahlek. One, two, three wobbly steps were taken, when the masked person suddenly slipped and fell over. It was then that Salem intervened just in time, dashing to the person's side and catching them just before they impacted the ground. The masked figure straightened up, and with some help from Salem, managed to stand on their own two feet again.

The stranger faced Salem, their motocross nose guard concealing any expression of the face underneath. Salem still held their gloved hand gently and asked them, "You okay, man? Didn't watch where you were going for a second."

The stranger slowly nodded with their head, letting go of the boy's hand and stepping away once more. Their slow, stumbling trudge caught Salem's attention, who returned to the stranger's side in response. The masked figure, however, merely pushed him aside with a surprising amount of strength, and continued dragging their blue Moto Boots along the sidewalk.

"Okay, then…" The boy felt something was definitely off about this person. From their rigid and tiptoe-like march to the excessive and concealing clothing, to their mannerisms, suspicious was a worthy label for them. No real person walked in that manner, not unless they felt extreme pain or sickness, and the fact that they never uttered a sound was certainly odd. He also doubted anyone in their right mind would wear things like a navy eminence jacket-trenchcoat, a baggy fur-lined hat or black gloves during summer. All three of them at once, along with boots, a visor and a mouthplate was pretty much unheard of. Salem couldn't come up with a sensible reason as to why anyone would dress in a way that concealed the entirety of their skin and face, or not strike up a conversation. None at all, unless…

"They were trying to hide.. And they'd only be doing so if…" Salem trailed off, finishing the sentence in his mind. Orange eyes widened and promptly narrowed at the sight of the departing masked person, gears already turning inside the fair-skinned inkboy's head. Then, once enough distance had been formed between him and the stranger, Salem began to follow them, blending in with the passersby so as to not look suspicious and be spotted easily. It seems he's found another lead, and he'll be damned if he lets this one escape from his grasp.

Wherever the masked figure went, Salem closely trailed behind. The inkling was indirectly led in a tour across the rest of the attacked locales,as if the stranger knew them like the back of their hand. As if they'd been there before..

The Reef, Kelp Dome, Mako Mart, Moray Towers, even lesser known locales like Barracuda Butchery or Dugong Swimmer's Pool, along with many others, were left as horribly damaged, dilapidated messes. Structures and objects were strewn about and broken, with the putrid green ink leaking everywhere in and outside the vicinities of the various locations. They were a repulsive sight, and by the time he reached his fifth location he had no desire to take a closer look at them. He was busy with a more pressing matter, anyways.

The masked stranger continued to stumble around, occasionally stopping to rebalance themselves, readjust their clothing or recover from a sudden fall on several instances. Salem's 'tour' ended when the stranger stopped next to a white building, grabbing onto a trash can for support. Legs quivered as the stranger struggled to remain standing, muffled gurgling and groans emanating from them as a small pressure built up in their throat. In a swift motion, the stranger pulled off and threw away the metal lid while also lifting down their mouthguard, before leaning into the can and vomiting a small cascade of ink.

Surprised, Salem leaned back instinctively, watching the stranger's continued puking of the green ink- the same murky green ink from before- and rushed to their side. The stranger wiped their mouth, staining the sleeve of their coat in the green ink, and readjusted their mouthplate again to conceal their mouth. Their muffled gasps for air slowed considerably when they felt a hand on their back. With a slight turn of their head, they met Salem's puzzled gaze.

"Are you alright? maybe you need to see a doctor," Salem asked with fake worry in his voice.

The stranger hummed, quickly nodding their head and hurriedly walking away into the alley. The inkling's suspicion only continued to grow as he jogged after the stranger. The masked person continued their hasty retreat, constantly glancing back to see if Salem was following them. Sure enough, the inkling boy was closing in on her, determined to keep them in his sights.

"Hey wait up!" Salem called out as he caught up with the stranger, putting a hand on their shoulder once again. "I'm just wondering if-"

No sooner have the words escaped his lips than the stranger suddenly gripped his wrist and slammed the boy into the nearby wall with enough force to create a small dent and knock the wind out of Salem.

Salem struggled against the powerful grip, weakly gripping the arm choking him and using all of his strength to pry it off. It wasn't much to begin with..

The boy froze when he heard the stranger emit a muffled growl, and his eyes widened when he saw them raise their arm as if about to… Slash them?

The masked person suddenly perked up and their gaze shifted between her raised arm and the inkling they held, eventually softening their grip and letting their arm drop down. Salem quickly took this moment of hesitation to grip the stranger's hand, utilizing all their strength to push them off him with a kick. The figure reeled back, doubling over and clutching their chest as Salem slid down the wall and plopped onto. the pavement.

From the corner of his eye, Salem noticed one of the stranger's black gloves crumpled on the ground, leading him to move his gaze to the figure facing him and subsequently gape at the revelation he witnessed. "You… your.."

The stranger's hand. Grey, scaly, webbed, clawed, and dripping green ink down onto the pavement. Salem's widened eyes could only continue to stare at the monstrous limb and register all of its features. The scratches, the unnaturally bent and smashed equipment, the green ink dripping everywhere, it all suddenly clicked into place. The stranger noticed their naked hand as well, holding it out before them and gasping in shock. Their head jerked back and forth between the downed boy and their fish-like hand as they backed away from Salem. The stranger paid no mind to the boy's word and fled to the street outside, clutching their scaled hand close to their chest.

"Why, you-!" Not a second passed when Salem hopped up onto his feet and ran after the stranger, quickly grabbing the black glove and readjusting his cap in the process.

The inkling boy chased after the apparently humanoid Salmonid, moving his legs as fast as he could and pushing passerby out of the way in order to reach them faster. Their efforts were no match for the salmonid's however, who moved with greater speed and gracefully evaded and weaved their way through the passing cephalopods, eventually crossing a street and banking right.

"GET BACK HERE, SALMONID!" Salem shouted as he took the same directions as the masked intruder and caught up with her. The boy hopped and turned into his squid form midair, headbutting the stranger and pushing them into tripping. They both hit the ground and Salem shifted back into his humanoid form while on top of the stranger, holding them down with one arm and raising a fist as if to strike. However, the salmonid striked first by spinning their body and swinging a claw at Salem. Their claws scratched his cheek, causing him to reel back and yell in pain and allowing the stranger to kick him off them and get up, resuming their sprint.

Salem sluggishly got up, passing a hand over his slashed cheek before running after the salmonid intruder once again. The two cephalopods continued the chase on other streets, with Salem trailing even farther behind than before thanks to the damage he received. He followed the stranger to another alleyway and saw them lean on the wall for support, apparently catching their breath. The boy skulked behind them with a Splattershot Pro in hand, and once he was at a good enough distance away from the being he fired. From the corner of their eye, the stranger had noticed the incoming glob of ink. They couldn't evade in time however, and only managed to meekly shield their face with their hands.

The masked stranger hissed in pain and doubled over. With a smirk of satisfaction, Salem strode over to the downed intruder and pointed his weapon at them again.

"Not so tough now, eh? You've got a lot of nerve to come here on your own. Trash the place, cause some mayhem- What do you want?"

The being sluggishly reared their head up to meet Salem's accusing stare, and without warning threw a strong uppercut that connected with his jaw and launched him back. Salem clutched his jaw and weakly writhed on the ground, left completely defenseless against the advancing stranger. The masked creature slammed their booted foot into Salem's chest, eliciting a pained yell from the squirming inkling. With half-lidded eyes, Salem saw the Salmonid step back from him and subsequently break into a run, off to somewhere else. "No… I can't let you…" He futilely reached out with a shaky hand towards the stranger, but the unbearable pain forced his body and hand to go slack against the dirt ground. He was so close to catching them and yet… he failed… he found the true culprit and let them run free...

Author's Notes

Another month, another chapter. It seems as if this will be my new schedule from now on, but don't count on it. Well, if you found the pace at which I uploaded to be pretty slow, then I have bad news, 'cause it is going to get much slower after this..

Apologies if this chapter was sloppy. If there's anything I could improve, I'd like to know. Still, I hope you enjoyed this. Until next time.