Today, Khal would make sure that he spent his time relaxing. No getting in trouble, no trying out weird things, no getting injured, and especially no drama. He'd simply take a breather and do the things he likes.

He didn't entirely need a breather, but sometimes desires were too great to ignore.

So there he was, heading onto Inkopolis Square once more, this time through the public transport bus. Yet as soon as he came to a halt at one of the designated bus stops, his gaze wandered sideways and came upon a curious flyer. He stepped closer to the paper plastered on a nearby electrical tower, and as he combed over its contents, his mind began to race and his heartbeat hastened.

"A salmonid's been spotted in Inkopolis? And they're offering a.. bounty?!"

His gaze centered on the number at the bottom, and his purple eyes almost flew out of their sockets.

Worries came flooding into Khal's mind. Had Grizzco found out about Jade already? Impossible. He was sure he didn't tell anyone about Jade, and surely she did her best to hide, didn't she?

There wasn't anything mentioning her when he read the news with his parents either. If it wasn't Jade that this pamphlet was referring to, what other salmonid could it be?

He looked back on yesterday, on his reunion with his three friends, and itt was then that he was reminded of a particular detail. There was another salmonid in Inkopolis, actually: The smallfry hidden in Yzel's bag.

Khal put a hand on his chin in a contemplative pose. How did the smallfry arrive anyways? It seemed to know Jade, so perhaps it followed her all the way to Inkopolis? How did it manage to be seen?

For as much as he wanted to have these questions answered, however, Khal recognized that they would have to wait. The smallfry's safety was more important, and as far as he knew it could've wandered off anywhere. If Grizzco somehow knew of the smallfry, Khal had no doubt in his mind that they'd be able to find Jade as well, if they hadn't already done so.

But even with that information, Khal stopped and wondered.. why should he step in? He hardly knew of the smallfry, and it didn't appear too friendly to anyone who wasn't Jade. It took every opportunity it could to snarl at him, too. It was true that Jade did seem to care for the critter, yes, and helping the smallfry could allow him to regain Jade's favor…

But he doubted the infant would suddenly warm up to him just because he'd decided to give it a helping hand. At the end of the day, this was Jade's problem. Not his.

Khal felt no desire to look for the smallfry at the moment.

His mind made up, Khal stepped onto the bus that just then arrived. The ride to Inkopolis Square felt long, yet as soon as he arrived and stepped off the vehicle, Khal felt ready to make the most out of his day and simply have fun for himself.

So for the next couple of minutes, he threw himself into a brief session of battles at the Deca Tower.

"Phew… I'm beat.." Khal croaked, his voice barely above a breathy whisper, as he stepped out of the Deca Tower.

With inkbrush in hand acting as a sort of walking stick, the inkling boy shambled out of the Deca Tower. Strange colorful swirls pulled at the edges of his vision, and the color was draining from his face as he continued to drag his feet to and fro. He took a moment to lean on a nearby trash can and rest, lifting an arm to wipe the sweat off his face. Feeling his shoulders slack and his elbow rest on the metal lid, Khal found himself surprisingly comfortable in his current position.

Of course, it was accompanied by a smell that was nothing short of putrid, but he could always grin and bear it for the time being. What's a little foul odor compared to a decent resting spot, after all?

Though for some reason, this can seemed to vibrate at times without him ever so much as giving it a light tap. The sound of bumping reached his ears as well from time to time as well. Did some discarded item break inside the can?

Putting a hand over his mouth and nose to brace himself, Khal cautiously lifted the lid of the can and peered inside…

And of course the first thing he notices is what he wanted to avoid all day. A skittery smallfry rolling around a pile of bags, munching on a piece of food. The fish quickly noticed the change in lighting and looked up to meet the inkboy's stare, only for him to immediately shut the lid tight to it's face.

Khal backed away from the now clattering trash can, gasping for air and eyes wide with fear. "Oh man. Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man.."

Khal could not tell whether this was bad luck, clairvoyance, or something else entirely, but it unnerved him nonetheless. As if something was conspiring to pull him into salmonid-related matters whether he liked it or not.

"Can't I catch a break?" Khal wondered aloud, expecting some sort of answer that would obviously never come. "If anyone else would've seen this, they would flip out. Good thing no one ever gets near a trash can willingly."

He glanced at his sides and let out a sigh of relief when he didn't spot anyone coming to his spot. There was one or two weird looks directed at him from faraway passerby, but in this situation they were the least of Khal's concerns. It was probably a good thing that he received such stares; all the more likely for people to keep their distance.

Seeing as how the well-being of Jade's pet was technically his responsibility now, Khal tried to come up with a solution to his current predicament.

"Well, I can't exactly stay here all day, can I? And if I tried getting it out, I'd just look very suspicious. Not to mention that I'd cause a fuzz if everyone here saw the smallfry. Hmmm…"

Khal observed the metal object for a few more moments, wracking his brain for any solution to his current predicament.

"Maybe I could just.. lug the whole thing somewhere else?"

He pondered the idea for a time. The only problem would be noise, but aside from that, it seemed like the least suspicious image he could project onto others. And if someone asked, he could always lie that he was volunteering for trash pickup today.

Satisfied, he nodded to himself. He lied in wait, and upon finding a moment in which no one was looking his way, he stood up, grasped the handles of the container and began to drag it out of Inkopolis Square. The weight of the item of course slowed him down even as he pulled with all his might, and the banging from inside never stopped being a distraction to both him and any passerby curious enough to approach. His lie managed to ward them off, however, and with enough time and patience he was able to take it to a more secluded area of the city.

Khal's trek ended on the entrance to a seemingly abandoned park. A pair of tall bronze gates fastened with a similarly colored lock that stretched out into two sets of stone walls blocked any access inside, though from what Khal could gleam the trees and vegetation inside the vicinity seemed to be in good condition. He set the container down, and after taking a moment to catch his breath he peered inside once more. To his surprise, the smallfry appeared to be lying still, it's eyes closed and it's tiny chest gently rising and falling in rhythm.

"Huh.. I guess it got tired..?" Khal said, puzzled. "Not that I'm complaining."

Upon double-checking once more that no one was nearby, the boy dipped his hand inside the container and gently took hold of the sleeping salmonid in his hands. Suffice to say, it looked significantly less dangerous when it wasn't snarling or trying to bite him. Perhaps even adorable in it's own way..

Khal blinked in realization. "Did I really just call a smallfry adorable?"

Nevertheless, he quickly stuffed the fish in his backpack, taking care to not have it ruin any of the items inside and to give it a bit of breathing room. He left a slot slightly open to allow air inside the bag too.

With the deed done, however, came a new question.

"What am I gonna do with it now? I need to put it somewhere safe, sure, but for them that's dozens of miles away on another island. If I were a smallfry, where else would I hide.."

His musing came up short when a buzzing suddenly snaked into his ears. Quickly, Khal grabbed his phone and held it up to his ear, as he was soon greeted by a familiar voice.

"Hey Khal, you there?" the slightly raspy voice of Yzel asked over the phone.

"Hiya, Yzel. What's up?" Khal responded in as eager a tone as he could muster at the moment.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting you at a bad time, buuuut I kind of.. need your help with something."

Khal's face scrunched up in confusion. "Me? What for?"

"Ya see, there's this thing I'm looking for and I can't find it anywhere. It's, well, sorta urgent, too."

"Oh okay, what's it look like?"

Yzel's words were laced with caution. Khal could tell that the older inkling tried say his piece in a way that wouldn't immediately upset him. "Here's the thing. Remember that smallfry that I stumbled upon, that stuck close to Jade? The one that wouldn't let anyone else hold them?"

Dismay fell upon Khal's features as he slowly nodded. Of course it had to be about that.

"What of it..?" Khal asked slowly, masking his apprehension.

"It.. wandered off. And now it's out there, alone and probably feeding on trash not knowing that it has a—"

"Bounty, I know. This is crazy…"

"You read the flier?" Yzel's surprised tone betrayed the obviousness of the question.

"Of course I read it. It's everywhere I look!" Khal shot back in an annoyed tone.

"Okay, I just wanted to ask if you've seen him anywhere. Every bit of information helps, you know," Yzel sighed

"I.. have it with me, actually."

"You do?! Great! Where are you right now?"

"At a park, 4 blocks down from Inkopolis Square. There's no one here right now, if that's something you're worried about."

Khal could hear a sigh of relief coming from the phone. "What a relief. Thanks dude, I'll be there soon if you don't mind."

Khal frowned. "It's not like I have a choice, do I?"

Yzel quickly bid farewell and ended the call. Of course, Khal was left to ponder all that had transpired in the last couple of minutes.

It all happened so fast, Khal had no idea how to truly feel. Relief certainly wasn't it, he had a salmonid lying around that could easily do him harm if it wished to, despite his effort to conceal it. Whatever fear that lurked wasn't strong enough to upset him, either, it was just a smallfry after all. Not a boss salmonid or a berserk salmonling that could easily turn him into a puddle of ink. The most this smallfry could do would be a concussion with whatever item it could get ahold of.

He sucked in a warm breath and sat down with his legs crossed on the sidewalk. The view of the highway that stretched out before him flanked by skyscrapers on both sides, with marine passerby and vehicles littered all over kept Khal occupied while he waited. Yet, only a few minutes passed before his eyes felt heavy and began to droop further and further, until at last they closed shut and slumber took the inkling boy.

The feeling of a shifting weight on his shoulder slowly but surely shook the sleep out of him, and once he opened his eyes and looked up he was met with the friendly gaze of Yzel.

"I never took you as a 'sleeping on the job' kind of guy," Yzel remarked, hauling Khal up to his feet using his grip on the boy's shoulder.

"Hey, I get tired sometimes. It happens," Khal shrugged. "Anyways, I have the smallfry on my backpack. Here."

Khal handed over the aforementioned item to his taller friend and stood by as he looked inside. With a nod, Yzel closed the backpack and gave it back to Khal.

"It's a smallfry, alright, and it's not skittering everywhere for once. How'd ya manage that?"

"It.. fell asleep on it's own, actually," Khal admitted, looking away and gripping his arm with a sheepish frown.

"Get out. Really?" Yzel asked, staring at Khal with an expression that he could only identify as amusement. Didn't make it any less weird, however.

"I guess even salmonids like their naptimes, too.." Khal trailed off with a small chuckle. Perhaps today wouldn't be so bad,

"Well this went better than expected. Now we just gotta get it back to Jade's place—"

"Hold on, who said anything about 'we'?"

"You don't want to come?"

Khal bit his lip and glanced around uneasily. "Well I would, but.. you know. With what happened last time…"

Yzel scratched the back of his neck, "Oh right, sorry. You're.. still hung up on that, huh?"

Khal gave only a meek nod of his head in response. It had lessened, of course, but somehow the memory of the incident still stung.

The saddened stare and small frown he received from Yzel did little to ease Khal's worry. It almost felt demeaning, and Khal couldn't tell what was it that he was supposed to get from that. For all he knew, Yzel could very well be either pitying him or all but shaking his head at the display. Knowing Yzel, however, Khal figured it was likely the former.

Just as Yzel went to speak up, however, a loud blaring suddenly cut through the air, startling the two inklings. The rumble of an approaching car with a distinctly monochrome palette followed. The vehicle sped closer and closer, with the pair at a loss on what to do or even why it arrived, and before long it had screeched to a halt on the very sidewalk they were on. The driver's window lowered, and the inklings came face to face with a pair of narrowed stares from inside.

"May we help you, sirs..?" Khal started, taking a step back from the car.

"Step aside for a moment, kid. We've got a suspect to interrogate," Ordered the first cop: A somewhat short, stubby crab from the looks of it.

"Don't worry, it will be quick," Added the second cop who looked like a tall bipedal seahorse. "Hopefully…"

"W-what are you two doing here?!" Yzel cried out, his expression suddenly turning very nervous.

"Wait, 'you two'? Does Yzel know them somehow?" Khal wondered once more, as he stared between his friend and the two scions of authority.

"F-fancy seeing you here, guys! W-what's—"

"Zip it, bucket boy. I'm the one asking the questions here.. starting with your involvement with the salmonling attack!"

"Bhuh- w-what are you talking about?! I wasn't there!" Yzel sputtered, looking at the crab incredulously.

"A lie right off the bat. I'm impressed, Shantu!" The crab praised with a chuckle.

"We did see you follow that salmonling wherever it went. There's even some leftover footage from the security cameras that weren't destroyed," The seahorse explained.

"Is it so wrong for one to want to do their part in stopping a monster?" Yzel asked rhetorically, with a slight tilt of his shoulders.

"The feeling is appreciated, but—"

"That's our job, not yours," The crab answered, cutting off his taller companion. "We wouldn't want you or any other teen getting in the way."

"Either way, I didn't do anything, alright? I mean, who would be crazy enough to help a salmonid anyways?"

The crab— Roney— merely leered at Yzel in turn.

It was then that Khal chose to finally step in, hoping perhaps that he might learn just a bit more as to what exactly is going on between Yzel and these two strangers. "Excuse me, but do you know each other?"

"'Know each other' is putting it lightly," the seahorse snarked with a shake of his head. "Say kid, have you ever wondered what it was like to be with a criminal?"

That made Khal freeze in place. Surely it didn't mean what he thought it meant.. did it?

"U-um… Yzel didn't do anything horrible, did he?"

"Nothing disastrous, no," The seahorse answered. "But off the top of my head, he was involved in cases of vandalism, bribery, petty theft, assault, tampering of consumer goods, property damage, dealings in—"

"Alright, alright, geez! Ya don't need to say everything!" Yzel yelled in an annoyed manner, waving his arms about.

"As you can see, Yzel Shantu has quite the portfolio of unlawful acts on his sleeve. And this is only scratching the surface..."

"Your buddy here is a petty thief who can't be bothered to do anything else beyond ruining people's days, like Rauley said. Better stay farrrr away from this guy, son," Roney continued, giving an accusatory glance toward Yzel as he spoke.

"But I don't get it.. Yzel doesn't seem like someone who'd be a thief. He's nice!"

"That's because you haven't spent enough time with him yet," Rauley deadpanned

The short inkling looked between the three individuals with a mix of confusion and dread. For as much as he tried to make sense of this new information, Khal simply could not believe what he was hearing: Yzel, a criminal? Surely there was no way for that to be true, right? Perhaps the police officers were merely exaggerating their claims, even if there was history between them and Yzel.

Yet the more he kept going back to Yzel's uneasy shifting and worrisome expression, the more it appeared to be true after all. Khal didn't know how to respond…

"Well, we spent enough time here already. Let's just get it over with and arrest him, Rauley," Roney barked, using one claw to motion his companion closer and the other to grab Yzel's shoulder before he could escape.

Yet Yzel acted quicker still, stomping his shoe on the crab's foot and wrestling free from his grasp. As Roney cried out in pain and toppled to the ground, Yzel dashed toward Khal. He managed to push Rauley away before he could do anything, and upon lifting up Khal and hauling him over his right shoulder. The two youths were already out of sight once the officers recovered.

"Gow! Did he have to step so hard?!" Roney grimaced, balancing himself on one leg while the other was held in his claws.

"Nevermind that, he ran away again! C'mon, before it's too late!" Rauley yelled, already making a dash for their car.

"Hey! Hey, slow down!"

Khal's protests alerted Yzel to the fact that yes, he was still holding a person over his shoulder, and the detail that maybe, juuuust maybe, they were probably not happy with being lugged around to and fro. So upon finding a suitable place to hide and making sure that neither of the cops had ran after him, He slowed to a stop and set Khal down.

The short inkling took cautious steps away, of course, but had somehow not fled from Yzel right then and there. The tanned inkling could only wonder why.

"Look, Khal, you can—"

"My turn first," The boy instantly asserted, sitting down near a wall on one end of the room they had found themselves in, hands clenching around the wooden floor tightly. A pleading gaze struck Yzel from one end of the room to the other.

"Yzel… is it true? Did you really do all those things the cops said?"

"I used to, ok? I'm not denying it but I want you to keep that very specific word clear in your mind so that there's no misconceptions about me."

Khal only hummed in response, his gaze distant and unfocused. There wasn't much he could say, not when he still needed to process all that he's been hearing.

"Just so you know, I don't mind if you wanna leave after this. Won't blame you if you do."

Khal only nodded absentmindedly this time. Yzel began to worry; Did he grow angry toward him?

"If you're upset, tell me, okay?"

"It's not that!" Khal exclaimed with a frantic shake of his head. "It's just.. you don't do them anymore, right?"

Yzel shook his head in response. Of course he doesn't do it anymore, why would he?

"So you're not gonna hurt me or Jade or Salem, right? Especially since I found out.."

"Got no reason to," Yzel shrugged, pursed lips framing his half-lidded eyes. " 'm not that desperate."

Khal nodded. There was much on the boy's mind, still so many questions that yearned for answers, still so much he had yet to understand. And yet, pressing Yzel for more information hardly seemed like the best idea at the moment.

Right then, he remembered Nephrys' message. Those words that seemed like a bizarre riddle, so simple and and vague and hard to grasp…

Yet perhaps such a command truly was capable of putting his apprehensions to rest.

"Talk, apologize, and reach an understanding, huh? … Maybe I could try that out now," Khal mulled in his head.

"W-well.. I'm sure you had your reasons for acting that way in the past," Khal

"Crappy reasons, to be honest. I dunno what I was thinking, looking back."

"I mean, you had to have been desperate then, right? Dad told me that some people do bad things because.. because they feel that they have no other choice."

"Yeah, well.. when your choice is between mugging a rich guy or letting your old man kick you out of their house, of course it's not gonna seem like much of a choice. Obviously, you're gonna go for the mugging."

Frowning, Khal tilted his head down in shame.

The reaction elicited a wince from Yzel, and he silently cursed himself for his carelessness. "Sorry, too harsh."

"No.. It's stupid of me to try to sympathize with something I don't understand, anyways."

For a time, they both remained like this: seated in their own spots, shifting about awkwardly, neither knowing what to say or do as nothing but silence permeated through the place. For Khal, it felt like a lot to take in at once, even if the information was not as world-shattering or terrible as, say, Jade being a salmonling.

Though the fact that a friend turned out to be a former criminal miiight be very discouraging nonetheless.

For Yzel, it was a matter of struggling to figure out what to say, and how to say it. He should've expected this to happen, nothing stays hidden forever after all. But did he have to bump into those two deadbeat idiots of cops today, of all days?

If only he could get this over with..

Yzel took a deep breath and rose from his spot, taking cautious steps toward a nearby window. He observed the outside world for several moments, waiting to see if either Roney or Rauley passed by, and once he saw nothing he turned his sights onto Khal.

"Tell you what, Khal? I'm sure you have a lot of questions about what I was up to back then."

Khal was snapped out of his daze, and met Yzel's eyes. "H-huh? Of course I do, but—"

"If you're really curious, I wouldn't mind telling you what you want to know. No point in keeping secrets after all, right? Just one thing, though..."

"What is it?"

"I think I'll need your help in getting Skipfin somewhere safe. With those cops on my back, I doubt I'll be able to go anywhere in peace."

The short inkling sprung to his feet "Sure, I could help with that. I trust you."

Yzel nodded. "That's the most I could ask for right now. Lemme just take a look at our scaly friend here.."

He took the backpack in his hands once more, yet as he opened it up and peered inside, any enthusiasm soon melted into a pit of dismay that churned in his stomach.

"Oh no."

"What's wrong?"

The tanned inkling merely tilted the backpack forward, allowing Khal to see just what exactly had upset his friend then and there.

Somehow, Skipfin had vanished.

His mouth opened, his eyes widened, and something akin to terror dawned on Khal's features as the implications of what he was seeing nestled in his mind.

"B-but I had him with me! The bag was shut!" He blurted out.

"You didn't see him clammer off, did you?" Yzel asked.

"How would he?!"

"Could've tried to open it from the inside," Yzel suggested with a shrug.

"E-either way, we're screwed! How do we look for it?!"

"I don't think we have to.."

Khal's brows furrowed upon hearing that, and he looked at Yzel oddly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Think about it. Why waste energy running around the city trying to find Skipfin, when we can make him come to us instead?" Yzel asked rhetorically, pacing from one end of the room to another.

"Ohhhh, I see! But we're gonna need bait, and I don't see any in here. Not to mention Skipfin could still be anywhere, so..."

"Not to worry, I've got an idea regarding that. Follow me."

Khal followed after Yzel as he walked outside the building, and then stumbled further along through the streets until they both came across a stack of broken or otherwise wasted items nearby; in particular, a large bottle of perfume at the top of the pile.

"Perfect," Yzel praised after eyeing the pile, reaching out to the bottle and plucking it.

"Why perfume?"

"You know how salmonids have pretty good noses, yeah? Able to smell even the faintest of scents from far away and such. So I figured 'what could draw in a salmonid better than something with a strong scent?'" Yzel explained.

"I guess it makes sense.. but what if the perfume causes Skipfin to move away from us instead of closer?" Khal asked once more, placing his hands on his hips.

"Well that's what backups are for. Like this thing here that smells awful."

Khal immediately covered his nose upon noticing the open can of food on Yzel's other hand.

"Although transportation might be a problem.."

Once again, Yzel broke into a sprint toward nowhere in particular, which Khal had to follow along lest he find himself lost in the city once more with hardly a clue as to what to do. Khal pouted; this particular song and dance with no direction was starting to grate on him. How long until this could be over?

The two inklings had come across a nearby police car, a strangely unattended one at that. One of its windows remained open, and the driver was nowhere to be seen…

"This could work, actually.." Khal heard Yzel mutter to himself, and watched as he took fast yet cautious steps toward the vacant vehicle.

"What are you doing?!" Khal whisper-shouted in a panic, rushing over to his friend's side and weakly holding his leg back, stopping him in place.

"Unless you can order a cab, this is the easiest way we'll be able to get around and follow Skipfin!"

"But—!"

"I won't let you get caught, ok? Just.. hide below one of the seats or something," Yzel assured as he looked down at the short boy with a mix of pleading and frustration. Khal instantly took the message to heart, and released the tanned inkling's leg. Yzel passed the two items onto Khal's hands before carefully clambering onto the driver's seat of the police car, and with his help Khal also managed to get in.

Upon settling in his seat, Khal found it surprisingly stiff

Yet just as Yzel prepared to hit the gas, a loud ring suddenly came from the car's radio. The inklings shared a glance at each other, then at the walkie talkie placed on the dashboard. Khal felt sweat trickle down his face: what could they do? what would happen if they didn't answer it?

Quickly, Yzel cleared his throat before answering the call. "This is officer.. Zeyl reporting in, what's your situation, over?" Yzel answered in his best impression of an upstanding citizen (which wasn't a very good one, in Khal's opinion).

He stood in silence as Yzel conversed with whoever was on the other end, somehow managing to keep up his act and not bring a confused cop toward their location. The exaggerated faces he made while he spoke in his earnest, haughty tone and persistent shaking of his head served as slight entertainment for Khal all the while, and when the call did end he noticed Yzel having a satisfied smirk on his face.

"What are you smiling about?" Khal asked.

"They just told us where Skipfin is," Yzel answered with a chuckle. "Hold the bag out, this made our job a whole lot easier!"

And so he slammed his foot down on the pedal, and the car immediately sped off to parts unknown, a trail of detestable stench being left behind wherever it went.

Displeasure didn't begin to describe Roney's mood at the moment. Even with Rauley's reassurance that the scraggly inkling and his aid couldn't have gone far, the furrowed brow and thin frown that lined his features had not lightened up in the least, and the soft grumbling that escaped his lips never seemed to end.

"Lighten up, will you? It's not the end of the world.." Rauley drawled, webbed hands lightly gripping the steering wheel of their car.

"He made fools of us and escaped again! How are you not tired of this nonsense?!" Roney raged, throwing his hands up.

"Oh, I am. But I'd rather put my mind to other things than complain."

The crab scoffed. "It's as if some.. force of the universe is stopping us from catching the guy, like he's a psychic! Whether it's a vat of slime falling onto us or some salmon monster keeping us busy or—"

"Or some random kid?"

"Or some random kid! It's infuriating.." Roney continued his ranting with an exhausted sigh.

Though he and Rauley continued to ride around in their car in search of their escaped troublemaker, they came to a stop once a shrill screech suddenly reached their ears.

"What's that?" Roney slurred hurriedly, glancing to and fro.

"An animal, perhaps?" Rauley speculated, peeking his head out of the window to look outside.

"Never heard one sound like that in the city. Let's investigate just to be cautious."

They stepped out, anticipation swirling in their hearts. It was not uncommon for the pair to find stray critters while out on patrol, but something about this latest find seemed off..

Together they trudged into a damp area, and just below one of the many bunched up bags of trash, they saw it: there lay a diminutive smallfry, stuffing it's face full of dirtied food.

Realization quickly set in for the pair of officers after a shared glance and silent observing of the fledgling beast.

"I can't believe it.." The seahorse awed. Rauley had heard the rumors of course, whispers of a salmonid on the loose and a bounty for whoever would deliver it to Grizzco's clutches first. For as pleasantly surprised as he felt knowing that he now could both put those rumors to rest and get something out of it at the same time, the apprehension that enveloped Rauley in that moment was too great to stave off. They did find the rogue salmonid— one that could very easily slip away and drive all of inkopolis into a panic if they weren't careful.

"I can! Grizzco's gonna make us rich!" The crab grinned from ear to ear. After that embarrassing display in front of the younger inkling, This find was exactly what Roney wanted— Needed— for his entire mood to shift, and he could not feel happier. With this whelp in Grizzco's hands, maybe he'd finally gain all the wealth he wanted and get out of this stupid police department!

Unfortunately for him, the smallfry noticed the arrival of the two men rather quickly, both by their looming silhouettes and the strong stench radiating off them, and quickly swam away before either of them could make a move.

"This is why you never get anything, you idiot! Stop shouting!" Rauley scolded, giving his short partner a bonk to the head.

"And you stop standing around!" Roney shot back, already putting his legs to work in an effort to not lose the rapidly fleeing smallfry.

A slippery little thing it was, for it managed to evade the pair's attempts to grab it despite their larger sizes. Sometimes, the smallfry even mustered the energy and courage to jump high enough to reach Roney's face and slap him with the full brunt of its tail, using the opportunity to create more distance between it and the officers. Rauley took the opportunity to send out a call with the walkie-talkie strapped to his waist, warning whatever officer who answered about their current situation and requesting backup, yet even this had no immediate effect. The chase went on for quite some time, and the pair of cops were starting to show signs of fatigue, but somehow the smallfry continued to skitter away undisturbed.

As he stopped to catch his breath, Roney looked ahead at the departing salmonid with perplexion in his eyes. "How.. is that thing.. still going?!" He asked in between breaths

"Awfully resilient.. for it's size.." Rauley added, also stopping to grant his lungs rest. "Hey.. do you smell that?"

"Ugh, it's gross! Where is it coming from?"

"I think it's from that parking lot over there," the seahorse mused, pointing toward a small roofed building off to their right. It was just their luck, then, that their quarry was headed toward that very same spot. "Wait, why is the salmonid going there?"

"Obviously it has something to do with the smell. And if we close the doors once the whelp is inside, it won't be able to escape!"

"Don't be so sure.." Rauley cautioned before the pair entered the building.

It did not take long for them to come across the smallfry once more, yet just as they crept up behind the sniffling smallfry and lay poised to snatch it once and for all, it swam off in a hurry and turned another huffed in frustration; just where was this whelp headed?

It was only upon reaching the other end of the parking lot that Roney and Rauley realized the full extent of what was happening. The relief on their faces once they saw the smallfry eagerly jump into the open window of a police car vanished once they peered inside and realized just who the driver was.

Rauley had a look of bewilderment on his face, while Roney remained slackjawed as Yzel flashed a smirk and waved at them younger inkling beside him held the salmonid in his hands with an uneasy expression, right as the window closed and the stolen car sped off to parts unknown.

"What.. but he…"

"You've won again, huh? Sneaky little dastard…"

The growl built up in Roney's throat soon erupted into a rage-filled scream, "THIS ISN'T OVER!"

"That was close.." Khal muttered with a sigh of relief.

"Not really. It went about as well I could've hoped," Yzel drawled as he relaxed on his seat and continued to drive.

"I thought those cops were gonna be hard to beat, but with you I'm guessing that it's nothing too big."

Yzel nodded. "Goes to show how dumb they really are."

"Maybe…" Khal trailed continued to look outside the window sullenly, his hands still clutching the smallfry firmly. It's tossing and turning in his hold did little to ease the boy's worries, however.

"Lemme guess, something is still bothering you?" Yzel questioned upon sparing a glance at Khal.

"It's not about you, if that's what you think. Just.. what do we do now? If the cops know that Skipfin is still out there then they'll start searching for him and Jade. I don't want them to come after her, or me for being a part of this.."

"If they don't see anything, they won't. We just gotta give the fish back to her and.. lie low for a while, I guess. Don't know what else works."

Khal nodded solemnly, "Her, huh?"

"It's fine if you don't feel like reaching out to her for now. But you'll have to fess up to her sooner or later, ya hear? Avoiding something like that with a friend.. it's just no good for anyone..." Yzel counseled, as his expression ever so slightly turned sour. Was he reflecting on something? Khal could not tell for sure from where he sat.

"I'll keep it in mind. Thanks Yzel," Khal nodded absent-mindedly, returning his gaze to the city outside the window. Part of him knew this to be true and yet.. the thought of simply facing Jade once more to say even one word to her felt like..

Well, he had to try at least.

They remained silent for the rest of the ride. Eventually, Yzel stopped the car at a discreet location, and with their escort in hand, the two inklings began their walk toward Salem's apartment.