Sebastian sat in his living room with a small smile. He was reclined on the couch with a guitar resting on his being as he plucked a few strings and adjusted it until he found the note he wanted before playing. Closing his eyes, he let his fingers strum over the instrument. He opened his eyes just in time to see Senia walking by the doorway.

"Going somewhere sis?" There was silence from the hallway as Sebastian chuckled a little from his seat. "You could at least tell me where ya headed. Wouldn't want something to happen to my only sister,"

"I'm going to karaoke. I scheduled some extra hours to sing. And I would like to have some free time for when we have dinner at Luke's,"

"Neat,"

"Money has to come in from somewhere, Sebastian,"

"Don't get lost,"

"Hm. Speaking of, be sure to get directions to Luke's. Don't want to get lost on the way there,"

"Will do," Sebastian was then greeted with the sound of the door closing. He stared blankly at the empty doorway before he returned his attention to the guitar in his hands. He played a few strings before laying his head back on the arm of the couch. He continued his music as a dreamy smile crossed his features.

"Must be nice,"

Cereza sat in the living room with Wakame and Em. Wakame sat on the chair across from the two with a knowing smirk, while Em sat excitedly beside a blushing Cereza.

"Alright, the bastard's here! Give me the deets!" Cereza chuckled nervously and turned her eyes towards the floor.

"Nothing much happened! We just talked mostly…He was really sweet,"

"Well fine then! Tell me what you talked about!" Cereza's blush didn't let up as she looked over her two friends.

"Just little things. He told me about where he lived and about his family. Then, we discussed dreams, and I told him about the ones I used to have…" Wakame and Em exchanged glances before Em placed her hand on her friend's.

"Did you tell him everything?" Cereza shook her head and looked up with a smile.

"He was nice enough not to pry, so we just changed subjects," Em smiled as Wakame quietly stared out the window. Noticing the shift of mood in the room, Cereza shot up, now trying to control the ever increasing heat in her cheeks. She quickly blurted out: "And before he left he asked to kiss me!" Wakame's attention shot back to his friend with a smirk while Em let out a sharp squeal.

"Oh my god! Did you let him?!" She shrieked shaking the hybrid's hands excitedly. Cereza smiled at her friend honestly seeming more excited than her.

"Of course not! I mean, he's a nice guy, and he's kinda cute, and maybe, just maybe, he'll get one on the next date," Cereza and Em squealed together while Wakame shook his head with a smile.

"So there is a second date then?"

"God, I hope so," Cereza let herself fall back on the couch. "We haven't really talked of a second date,"

"Then you should think of something and ask him out! Take control! That whole 'boys have to make a move first' is a dead habit," Cereza chuckled, bringing her hand up to her mouth and biting down on it lightly.

"Maybe I should," A phone buzzing caught the attention of the three, all of whom turned towards the sound. Cereza reached in the pocket of her pajama pants and pulled out her phone, a grin crossing her face as she lightly bit her lip in an attempt to contain her smile.

"I bet I know who that is," Em smirked while wiggling her eyebrows at the girl.

"Yeah…Matzuo is checking in on me,"

"Ask him out to coffee or something," Wakame chimed in from his usual seat.

"Yeah! The manslut has a good idea for once," Wakame shot Em a glare before rolling his eyes and turning his attention back to Cereza. Cereza nodded before typing furiously on her phone. She sent the message and twirled the device in her hand a bit.

"So are you going to go dressed like that?" Wakame chuckled. Cereza looked down over her sleeping outfit before turning towards Em with big puppy dog eyes.

"If he says yes, will you help me pick out an outfit again?" Em gave a wide smile.

"Of course I'll help you when he says yes,"

"I swear dude, she was all over me. She was rubbing my face and chest and everything," A slightly tanned Inkling boy with green tentacles raised a curious eyebrow at Lucas while an amused smirk crossed his face.

"No matter how many times you say it, I just can't imagine that happening to you," The boy's face then stretched to its max. "But I bet the face you would make in that situation would be hilarious! Your eyes were so wide they almost fell out of your head didn't they?" The boy playfully mocked. A bit of color tinged the hybrid's cheek as his eyes narrowed at being poked at.

"Shut up, Eden. They were not," Luca mumbled, leaning back in his chair. He wore a black T-shirt with 'Get Dunked On!' written in big white letters. His friend chuckled and leaned forward on the table in front of him.

"Chill dude. I'm just teasing. So, what else happened?" Eden crossed his arms across his blue polo shirt as Luca rolled his eyes.

"Nothing much. Her brother walked in right when she was getting ready to kiss me…well, I think she was gonna kiss me,"

"Oh man. Did he kick your butt?" Luca thought back to the moment Sebastian had walked in on him and Senia and tried to pinpoint an emotion that he may have overlooked in his panic. Coming up with nothing, he shook his head.

"Nah. He seemed pretty cool with it to be honest. But then again, she's older than him though,"

"Wait wait, how much older?"

"She's sixteen," Eden grew another wide smile as he clicked his tongue a few times.

"My man Luke going for them older ladies," Luca blushed again but couldn't break his smile.

"Shut up dude!" He leaned back and crossed his arms as his face calmed. "If you're done picking on me, how's Squidville going?" The Inkling shrugged before leaning back in his chair.

"Bored without my bestest buddy around," Luca gave his sad agreement.

"Don't you think it's a bit worse on me considering you're my only friend?"

"Apparently not with these new guys," Eden joked back. "You did get your ISquid right?" Luca nodded and pulled the device out of his pocket. "Sweet! Let's exchange numbers right now," Luca excitedly unlocked his phone and input Eden's number before giving his own.

"Alright. Now I'm gonna be texting you almost constantly," Luca said with a smile.

"I'm going to hold it to ya. Alright buddy, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later," Luca said his goodbyes and shut down his laptop. He leaned his head back over the rear of his seat and closed his eyes. It was nice hearing from his first friend. Eden had been Luca's friend since they were stage threes. You would rarely see Luca at school far from Eden. Eden was actually a pretty popular kid, but he still stuck to Luca like glue. Until his parents both got a promotion that required them to move to Squidville. Squiype, the video messaging app, being Luca's lifeline to his Inkling friend.

Pulling his thoughts from the past, he turned his attention towards the future. Moreso to Sebastian and Senia coming over for dinner. He was now feeling silly about the invitation. He could've just went back over to their place again. He wouldn't have to worry about the prying eyes of both his mom and dad. Plus, he doubted Senia would pull a stunt like in her bedroom if there was a chance to get caught by his parents.

Luca vigorously shook the thought out of his head. Why was he even thinking about that?! He barely knew the girl. Plus she was probably just teasing him anyway. Just wanted to get him all hot and bothered before laughing in his face. Yeah. That was it. Now a lot more levelheaded, Luca continued to think of the consequences him inviting his friends over may have.

His mother would no doubt ask about their parents, and that was a can of worms he didn't want to open at the dinner table. He'd have to warn his mother to stay away from that subject. Besides that and the now apparent fear of his mother busting out the baby pictures, he was pretty sure his mother wouldn't embarrass him too much. Maybe that was why he invited them. He wanted to share his motherly figure with them. She was pretty cool.

Apparently unlike the mysterious parent figures his friends owned. Would they be uncomfortable in the presence of the adult figures? He remember reading somewhere that getting abused at a young age by your parents could lead to a fear of adults. Hopefully that wasn't the case with Sebastian and Senia. But that shouldn't be the case. They both seemed to have a high respect for his parents.

He tilted his head and glanced to the clock on his nightstand. It was barely 9 o'clock in the morning. He had an entire day to do what he wanted while he waited for dinner time. He didn't want to seem clinging so he wouldn't talk to the siblings right now. Instead, maybe he'll go practice with his Splatterscope. He stood from his chair and picked up his weapon.

"Hey man, stop daydreaming and pay attention!" Inkay shook his head and waved the hand out of his face.

"Chill dude. I am too paying attention," Inkay growled at Kelp who gave him a small glare.

"I know when you're paying attention and when you're in lalaland, Inkay. Don't lie to me," Inkay simply grunted and turned away. Admittedly he was daydreaming. It was hard not to with recent events still playing on repeat in his head. But he shook it off, waiting for Kelp to continue. "Anyway, I was asking 'did you go over the files last night?'"Inkay scanned his thoughts before remembering the files Kelp was mentioning.

"I read about half of them. You?" Kelp closed his eyes and gave a cocky smile. The look alone made Inkay roll his eyes. That was the notorious, 'I did better than you' face.

"How did you ever get by as an Agent before me?" Kelp gloated.

"Just tell me what you found out, you dork," Kelp smiled and pulled out a map of Inkopolis. Inkay looked over the map and saw that there were red dots scattered throughout the city, but a bigger abundance near the area beneath Hammerhead Bridge. Kelp took his finger and drew a semicircle around the area connecting the bridge with Inkopolis.

"I went above and beyond my friend. I did some digging, found some names, addresses, and then mapped out the estimated place of disappearance. What I found was that the people that have gone missing are mostly from the part of Inkopolis bordering Hammerhead Bridge. And only recently have they started moving further and further away from it,"

Inkay studied the map as Kelp pointed out each dot getting further from the bridge as if Inkay couldn't tell on his own. Inkay took a moment to study the map before looking up to Kelp, a contemplating look on his face.

"So you're thinking that the guy is from the area near here? That doesn't necessarily help that much Kelp. I mean it's a start, but we need more than that," Kelp stood up, crossing his arms with a glum, thoughtful look.

"True. But I was thinking we could scout around the area under the bridge and around the ocean's edge," At this Inkay raised a confused eyebrow.

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Inkay just stared forward deadpan, which caused Kelp to let out an exasperated sigh. "We found the last body washed up right? Which means that the kidnapper had to have dumped it, right? Not only does this area have a lot of blindspots a body could be dumped, the current also travels slightly towards Saltspray Rig. So I'm thinking this area is his hunting grounds. And if not, his dumping grounds,," Inkay studied the map before looking up at Kelp.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to check it out," he replied standing up, Kelp smiling as if they already caught the criminal.

Marie sat quietly across the table from her cousin, casually scrolling through fanart of her and her cousin on the internet. With safesearch on mind you. She had made that mistake once and wouldn't do it again.

Callie on the other hand was biting her nails nervously. The sound of her foot anxiously tapping against the floor of the room causing Marie to press a little harder on her phone and her eyes to narrow a bit further. Eventually she gave up and calmly placed her phone face down on the table.

"Callie," Marie firmly called out, gathering Callie's attention and making her cease all of her movement. "De-stress your breasts," Callie glared at Marie while her cousin just deadpanned at her.

"How are you not stressed? Apalo's coming to inform the public. I feel like there's a law against riling them up like that or something," Callie whispered yelled, Marie still calmly looking at her.

"I agree that this, may not be the best idea. But the thing is, Agents 1 and 2 know what he's about to do, but WE don't. Play it cool, and if you have concerns, mention them afterwards," Callie just nodded nervously, Marie turning to wave at a few kids staring at them through the window like always. She picked her phone up and looked at the time before standing up. "Anyway, it's time. Let's go get this train wreck over with…" Marie muttered as Callie nodded and stood as well.

The two walked into the studio to see that Apalo was already there, talking to one of their managers. Apalo looked over to the two as they entered with half lidded red eyes, which lit up at the sight of them. He gave the manager a polite exit and walked over to the two.

"What an honor it is to meet you two," He greeted with a toothy did a small gentleman's bow, causing Callie and Marie to do a small courtesy, both giving their own signature smiles.

"We should be honored to meet you! All the things you've done to push Octarians and Inklings together are huge inspirations to us!" Callie said, doing well to hide her discomfort on the reason behind his visit.

"Well I could say something similar to you. I'm a big fan of music and the music you make are some of my favorites," Marie covered her mouth in signature smirk as she eyed the older Octling male.

"Stop it, please, you're making me blush," Apalo chuckled as he looked down on the two. They were interrupted by a young Octarian male calling out, saying that they were ready to begin.

The Inkopolis News Time jingle rang throughout the city. Not exactly the same time it usually rang out, it grabbed the attention of pretty much every citizen in the city. After the jingle died down, Callie and Marie did their usual introduction as everyone waited patiently for them to tell them the news.

"Today we have a very special guest with us!" Callie started off.

"Someone we're pretty sure you know of. Please help us welcome," Together they both called out,

"Apalo Atalunul!" Apalo slowly stepped onto the screen, standing in front of the blank projector and in between the Squid Sisters. He gave a curt nod to the camera as his expression remained serious.

"Greetings, citizens of Inkopolis," He started. "I come to you with some unfortunate news regarding the recent string of disappearances. After much investigation, it seems that the kidnapper is much more elusive than we first thought, and that the kidnappings have all been done by the same person, or organization. Their numbers unknown," The city was overrun with collective murmurs as Apalo spoke louder as if to steal the attention back.

"I assure you we are doing all we can to find the criminal. But in the mean time, I advise you all to stick to traveling in pairs, stay in well lit areas, and be sure to let a trusted friend or family member know your location at all times. We will do our best to quickly apprehend the culprit. I ask you all to remain calm, as we have the situation under control," With that, Apalo gave another nod before promptly leaving the stage, leaving Callie and Marie to look nervously between each other before looking at the camera.

Cereza was in a coffee shop with Matzuo as the announcement was made. She was sitting across from him in a pair of blue jeans and a yellow blouse, her tentacles just hanging freely off her head in their usual curly way.

"Wow. That's…concerning…" She whispered to her guest sitting across from her. Matzuo was staring at the screen with a serious expression. Cereza tilted her head in concern as she looked over the Octoling boy in khakis and a dark blue polo. Slowly, she reached over and rested her hand on his. He jumped a bit, startled by her touch before calming back down. "Matzuo? Are you okay?" She asked, worry laced in her words.

Matzuo's shoulders slumped, having felt bad in making her worry. He put his brightest smile on his face as he flipped his hand over to hold hers.

"Yeah. Just…concerned for those missing…" He said. Cereza's face heated to a warmth she was beginning to grow familiar with from his smile. She looked up at him with a smile of her own as he slowly brought his drink up to his face.

"So, you have any other plans for the day?" Cereza asked, slowly sipping on her ice coffee. Matzuo gave her a knowing smile as she returned it.

"If I don't, would you invite me to spend it with you?"

"Maybe." Cereza whispered, blushing a bit harder as Matzuo gently ran his thumb over the back of her hand.

"On the chance that you will, I don't," Cereza smiled and finished the rest of her drink. When Matzuo finished his, the two left the coffee shop, simply walking around Inkopolis, exchanging stories and ideas. Cereza was extremely interested with learning more about Matzuo's family, while Matzuo tried to subtly dig up more on Cereza's past. After a bit of walking, they ended up standing outside of Cooler Heads.

As they roamed around the plaza, a group of both Octarians and Inklings caught their attention. Cereza looked on curiously while Matzuo poked fun at the poor sap that was currently being swarmed. They tossed ideas back and forth before seeing the cause of the swarm.

"Mr. Apalo!" Cereza sceamed as she frantically waved her hand in the air. Even with all the people yelling to grab his attention, Apalo's attention snapped towards the hyrbid, his tired eyes brightening slightly as a small smile crept upon his face. He calmly pushed his way out of the crowd towards the hybrid girl as she ran forward, dragging Matzuo behind her.

"Cereza. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to stop growing immediately. You're making me feel so old," Cereza laughed to herself as she smiled up to the older male. "It's always nice to see you. How have you been?"

"I've been great," Cereza started, stealing a glance towards Matzuo. "How have you been?" Apalo's smile didn't waver but he took a deep sigh.

"Growing more and more exhausted by the day. But I'll continue to do my best," His eyes slowly scanned down Cereza's arm to the hand, still holding on to another. Apalo's glance looked up and locked onto Matzuo, who stiffened and froze on the spot. "And…who's this…friend of yours?" Cereza looked at Matzuo with a smile, which quickly faltered at the slightly scared look on his face.

"Matzuo?" Cereza slowly shook the hand she held, pulling Matzuo out of his daze, but he didn't take his eyes off the blood red of the older Octoling.

"H-hi Sir," Matzuo stuttered out as he reached a shaking limb forward. Apalo reached forward and grabbed Matzuo's hand in a firm handshake.

"What a pleasure to meet you, young man. I take it your intentions with young Cereza would be to my liking?" Matzuo gulped and quickly nodded his head.

"O-of course, sir,"

"Excellent. Would hate for her father to figure you had any ill intentions towards his daughter," Cereza pressed her shoulder against Matzuo, smiling brightly towards Apalo.

"I'm sure he wouldn't hurt me. He's a nice guy," Apalo smiled a fang-filled grin to the young hybrid.

"I would hope so. You do know I enjoy our chats Cereza, but I must be on my way. Things to do, people to see. You understand by now," Cereza nodded.

"Talk to you later, Mr. Apalo," Apalo nodded a farewell as he turned and begun walking off. Cereza turned towards a still rigid Matzuo, who hadn't taken his eyes off the retreating figure of Apalo. Cereza used her free hand to lightly tap Matzuo's shoulder, the young man jumping at her touch. "Matzuo? You okay?" Matzuo took a long look into Cereza's eyes and took a deep breath, visibly relaxing.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine," Cereza relaxed at Matzuo calming down and returned to her bright, cheery self.

"First time meeting Apalo huh?" She teased.

"Um…y-yeah," Cereza began walking again, causing Matzuo to follow beside her.

"Yeah, the first time anyone meets him is kinda scary. I think it's the eyes. But he's just a big teddy bear," Matzuo shrugged as Cereza smiled up at him. Before the conversation could continue, Cereza's phone rang, her unclasping her hand in order to answer it.

"Excuse me, it's my mom," She said turning away from Matzuo, who nodded in understanding. "Hi mommy. What's up?"

"Hi darling. You heard the announcement Apalo made right?"

"Yeah. I heard it,"

"Alright. Just wanted to make sure. I want you and Emily to watch out for each other ok?"

"Of course mom. We already do,"

"Okay. Well I want to see you. Luca is gonna have some friends over for dinner, so I was going to make a lot. You're welcome to some if you would like,"

"Oh, but mom," Cereza glanced over to Matzuo, who glanced back at her noticing her movement and waved. "I'm kind of spending the day with a new friend of my own,"

"Wonderful! Invite them as well," Cereza's entire face darkened immediately as words stumbled their way out of her mouth.

"What?! B-b-b-but mom! We just met and I-"

"But I want to meet them! I'm so happy my babies are extending their circles,"

"But mom…"

"Hold on I have another call. See you tonight! Bye!" Cerata quickly hung up before her daughter had a chance to further protest. Cereza stared at her phone in defeat as Matzuo approached her.

"What was that all about?" Cereza turned towards Matzuo, a dark blush covering her face. So much for taking things slow.

"Would you like to come to dinner with my family?"

Inkay and Kelp were browsing the shores of Hammerhead Bridge when they heard the announcement. They continued walking around the shores as Kelp's eyes were furrowed in confusion while Inkay's were narrowed.

"Why would he…" Kelp trailed off as Inkay shook his head.

"That was a stupid move. If anything, the public is just gonna freak out more," Inkay growled, his tentacles in bright orange to compliment his partner.

"So…what do we do know?" Inkay took a deep breath and let out a sigh before looking over to his partner.

"We stick to the plan. We continue looking for clues on-" Inkay was cut off as he was tackled to the side by Kelp, the area he was previously standing now covered in purple. "You're getting good at that," Inkay commented standing and pulling out his E-liter and pointing it towards the direction the shot came from.

"Well someone has to make sure you stay alive," Kelp smirked as he did the same with his blaster. Once again the figure stood in the distance, clad in the same get-up as previously. Unlike last time, he had two charger-like weapons, one in each hand.

"Why are you here?" It said darkly. Compared to last time it seemed very angry and it honestly caused both Inkay and Kelp to flinch. Kelp kept his gaze forward but leaned slightly towards Inkay.

"You think we should have waited for the gauntlets…?" He whispered. Inkay swallowed audibly before whispering back a small 'yeah' before addressing their assailant.

"We're here to put a stop to you!" The figure tilted its head slightly before raising the charger in his right hand and staring at it.

"Huh…That's nice…But I can't be stopped right now," It said.

"Well don't think we're going to let you get away this time!" Kelp shouted. The figure dropped its hand back to its side, its head not moving at all.

"Silly Inkay. Don't think I'll let you live this time," In an instant, the figure raised its left hand and shot the charger towards the two. Inkay and Kelp jumped in opposite directions as the ink barreled towards them. Once the ink hit the ground, it didn't just coat it in a layer of purple, but it exploded. Kelp and Inkay looked back in horror as the plume of ink slowly fell back down to the ground.

"What kind of charger?…" Kelp trailed off as a soft whirring came from the assailant. Or more specifically, the charger now pointing at Inkay. Inkay jumped to his side just as the weapon beeped and the assailant fired, the area Inkay occupied exploding in purple. Kelp made a move, running towards the assailant before he pointed his blaster at it.

The assailant raised its right hand as soon as Kelp made a move, firing a streak of Ink towards the charging Inkling. Kelp was not expecting how fast the ink moved. Sure chargers reached their mark almost instantly, but somehow this one moved faster. The ink hit Kelp's leg so hard, the Inkling flipped from the force. His charge was stopped and he landed roughly on his back. He groaned and lifted his knee, attempting to wipe the burning substance off his leg.

The assailant pointed the weapon at Kelp again, firing another quick shot that Kelp barely dodged by rolling to the side. The assailant turned towards Inkay just as the Inkling shot a stream of ink at it. The shot was easily sidestepped as the attacker pointed and fired the explosive charger at Inkay.

Inkay jumped and rolled away from the blast radius, throwing a Splat Bomb towards the assailant as he tumbled. Inkay took the time his attacker was distract to run over to Kelp. The downed Inkling had covered his leg in orange to rid of the torturous fluid, but was still on the ground.

"Why haven't you gotten up yet?" Inkay snapped with a trace of worry.

"I've been trying! I can't…I can't feel my leg," Kelp groaned out. Inkay let out a sound somewhere between a grunt and a scoff. Of course it had some type of paralyzing ink. Of FREAKING course. The assailant, having successfully dodged the Splat Bomb and turned its attention back towards the two agents.

Inkay quickly wrapped Kelp's arm around his neck and pulled the Inkling to his feet. Kelp put his weight on his good leg as Inkay helped him move away from the assailant. The two froze as a quick blast of ink shot between their heads, both agents paused and looked over their shoulder to see their attacker casually walking towards them.

Inkay cursed under his breath as he scurried to move himself and Kelp to cover. Another shot rang past their head. Both of them kicking it into high gear. Luckily, there was a decently sized rock that the two managed to get behind as a few more shots passed them.

"How is he missing so much?" Kelp breathed out, now fully panicking as Inkay continued to curse to himself.

"The bastard's toying with us. He knows that you can barely move and his weapons out class ours," This time Kelp cursed to himself. Too scared to poke his head from around the rock, Inkay listened. Inkay listened hard. The adrenaline coursing through his system picking up everything that could possibly be helpful in keeping him alive.

He could hear the assailant taking slow, taunting steps towards them. His feet shifting the sand and causing soft crunches to blare in Inkay's ears. It was getting close. Inkay played out various outcomes in his head, all of them honestly not ending too well in his headcanon, but the sound of their attacker growing closer urged him to hurry and do something.

He waited until the attacker was a bit closer before pulling out a Suction Bomb. He nervously ran his fingers along the bomb as he glanced at Kelp, who simply nodded. Inkay threw the bomb high over the rock. Hoping that the action gave a decent enough distraction, Inkay lunged from around the rock, firing his E-liter while Kelp rolled around the opposite side firing his weapon.

Inkay's hopes were dashed as the assailant paid the flying suction bomb no mind and charged forward. It brought its foot up and kicked the barrel of the gun to the side before hurling its foot into Inkay's face. The Inkling grunted as he was knocked back and the assailant kicked his gun away from him.

"Inkay!" Kelp called as he made an attempt to assist his ally. The assailant easily hooked his foot around Inkay's neck and slammed the Inkling into the rock while pointing the barrel of the exploding charger at Kelp.

"Move and die," The masked figured warned as he pointed the barrel of the other gun at Inkay. The two agents froze as both weapons let off soft whirs, one of course being a bit faster than the other. "I gave you ample opportunity to give up. To just enjoy the rest of what little life you have. Yet you waste it looking for me instead of with the ones you cared about," The assailant pushed the barrel closer to Inkay. "Disgusting. But what else should I expect of the savage that is Agent 3?"

Inkay froze as he looked down the barrel, still oozing a bit of purple from its previous shot. For some reason that line struck a cord in the Inkling. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what he could do. Things hadn't look this bad for a long time. He grit his teeth and looked up at his attacker, the fear in his soul not showing on his face.

The masked figure perked up slightly, as if alerted by something. It turned to its right to be greeted with a metal fist to its face. Ink shot from the gauntlets, giving them more force as they sent the attacker hurling away, flying over Kelp and landing in the sand in the distance.

"Cerata! Man am I glad to see you!" Kelp called propping himself back on the rock with a huge smile on his face. Cerata gave both males an angry look, causing them both to once again fear for their lives.

"Just what the hell were you two thinking? Apalo said he would give us the gauntlets to actually hurt the guy, and you two run ahead before getting yours! You're lucky Agents 1 and 2 called me when they did! What exactly did you hope to accomplish?!" She scolded, causing both males to shrink under her.

"Um…recon?" Inkay more asked than stated giving a weak smile to his wife, who only narrowed her eyes more.

"Men are so stupid," She groaned stepping forward.

"So do you have any gauntlets for us?" Kelp asked as she continued to walk by.

"No I don't. Yours aren't ready yet. I had to go get Octameri's from Apalo. They aren't in the best shape, but," Cerata punched her hand, a challenging smirk thrown at the masked figure as he stood to his feet. "They work well enough," The figure groaned as he turned his attention towards Cerata.

"Be careful! The charger in his left hand has a blast radius and the other shoots really fast!" Inkay explained. Cerata simply stared at her opponent as he raised his weapons towards her. Cerata charged forward as the masked figure fired both weapons. Inkay quickly grabbed Kelp and pulled him behind the rock as Cerata turned into her octopus form, dodging the quick shot before launching herself into the air with a super jump.

The masked figure looked towards Cerata and pointed both weapons at her again. The whirring returned as Cerata reverted to her Octoling form and began her descent. As soon as he prepped to pulled the trigger, a blast of orange shot towards the masked figure. The shot knocked him off balance and caused him to stumble. Looking forward again, he noticed Inkay pointing his E-liter forward, the weapon beginning to charge another attack.

Distracted just long enough, by the time the masked figure looked back towards Cerata, she had slammed her foot into his face. Using the stun of the first hit, Cerata quickly twisted her body and gave a quick right hook to the figure's face.

Momentarily dazed, the figure couldn't stop the second swing to its face. Or the third. Or even the fourth. Somewhere between the fourth and the fifth, the masked figure swung one of his chargers at Cerata. The Octoling easily ducked under the attack and sent a strong uppercut into the figure's chin.

The figure was knocked off the ground but easily landed on its feet and pointed its weapons at Cerata once again. Cerata didn't falter, charging in again as she cocked her arm back. Right before the figure fired, another blast of orange ink knocked off the masked figure's balance. The figure glanced towards where the shot came from, already knowing that Inkay was the one who fired it.

The figure didn't get a chance to get Inkay in its sight as Cerata threw a hard flying punch square into the figures nose. The figure let out a pained groan as Cerata continued attacking. She threw a right hook into the figure's jaw, a jab to its chest, uppercut into its stomach, then a left hook to its jaw again. She slid her leg forward as small compartments on the gauntlets clicked open, spewing a stream of purple ink backwards.

Her fists became a blur as the ink propulsion sped up her punches. She threw strong uppercut after uppercut into the figure's stomach. Eventually she was able to lift the figure off the ground and balance it over her head with the ferocity of her punches, much similar to her sister before her. She juggled it for a bit before sending a strong straight punch into its stomach, then twirling around and giving a strong roundhouse kick to its face.

The figure twirled in the air with a scream before balancing itself, immediately pointing its weapons towards Cerata.

"You little, annoying, Chun-Lee wannabe-" Cerata quickly turned to her octopus form again and super jumped towards the figure. The figure fired the weapons, but once again a stream of orange ink knocked the blast off course. The masked figured immediately turned towards Inkay's location. "STOP! IT!"

Cerata immediately slammed her fist into the figure's stomach again, a pain wheeze escaping its throat as you could practically see the outline of Cerata's fist in its back. Cerata's tentacles began burning with energy, showing that her special was ready. Twirling both her and the figure around, Cerata held one hand back and pushed the figure towards the ground with the other. The boots she wore sped up their descents while the gauntlet she held back began spewing a very large amount of purple ink.

"No no no nonononononono!" the figure shrieked as Cerata smirked. Inkay made sure that he and Kelp were fully behind the rock right as Cerata slammed her fist into the assailant and thus the assailant into the ground. A large wave of purple ink exploded from the gauntlets and covered a wide area in the color. Inkay and Kelp waited a moment before peaking over the rock.

Cerata was brushing her hands together with a victorious smirk on her face. It's been awhile since she had been that brutal. She looked towards her husband and threw him a look that screamed her superiority in combat. Inkay smiled but rolled his eyes while Kelp, not knowing the look, simply began singing Cerata's praise.

"That was awesome! Where did you learn how to do that? God I'm glad you showed up when you did-" The figure then jumped out of the lake of purple, landing on the outskirts of it before falling on its knees.

It went into a coughing fit, desperately clawing at the mask to get it off and get some fresh air in its system. It clawed the top of the purple stained mask before pulling it off and flinging it to the side. The coughing fit continued as Cerata approached. When she got close, the figure flipped around and she froze. Without the mask holding it in place, gravity pulled the back part of the outfit down, revealing a set of bright yellow tentacles.

"So you're an Inkling…" Cerata stated. The Inkling narrowed his bright green eyes as he pushed himself up to his knees, Cerata raising her fists in case he made a move.

"Yeah? And you're a pain," The Inkling painfully groaned out. "All I had to do…was plant a stupid bomb….and be on my way," The Inkling fought to get to his feet, taking deep breaths as he tried to regain himself. "Then…the fucking mass murderer…and his entourage show up. Followed suite by his bed whore, Sakura her fucking self," The Inkling was now standing straight up, gesturing to all present. His tone was angry but his face was tired. "Pain in my fucking asshole,"

"Don't make me punch you through the fucking head," Cerata growled as she narrowed her eyes.

"As tempting as that sounds, I don't need a nap right now. The old man is already gonna have my ass on a platter for messing up something so simple. But when I'm back at 100%, don't expect the fight to go this well for you. But for now…" The Inkling pulled out two Splat Bombs, both swirling the same energy as the one from before. All others present went wide-eyed at the explosive as Cerata's form faltered.

"Inkay? Is that-?"

"Get out of there now!" Both of Cerata's allies yelled out.

"White out the inked heavens!" The figure yelled out, slamming the bottom of the two bombs together forming a sort of diamond shape as the two bombs began vibrating violently. "Survive this, and next time I won't go so easy on you!" The figure yelled out. He threw the bomb high into the air, his opponents following its movements. Inkay snapped his eyes on to Cerata as another rush of fear ran through him.

"Cerata move!" He screamed, snapping the Octoling out of her fearful daze. She turned tail and ran as the figure burst into hysterics. The bomb, still in midair, exploded in a flash of white. Smaller bombs rocketed towards the ground, all exploding with great force and bathing the area in white.

Luca had subconsciously cleaned the entirety of his room after returning home. He didn't want to seem like a slob to his friends, and it made every minor flaw stick out that much more. If there was time for games, he didn't want Senia to trip from the stuff on the floor.

Sudden need to clean satiated, Luca walked into the kitchen to see if his mom was close to finished with dinner. He was greeted with an empty room. You could practically see the question mark appear over Luca's head as it tilted and and he looked around. Did his mother forget they were having company over? That wasn't like her. She loved when her kids invited friends over. Hopefully nothing went wrong in her outing. Luca was aware that there were still a lot of people who didn't particular like his parents for joining the species.

But his mother could take care of herself. Luca was sure of it. In fact that was probably her putting her keys in the door. Oh. Luca snapped out of his thoughts and headed towards the doorway, fully expecting to see his mother rushing in to get dinner ready and going on about how she forgot. What he got instead was another familiar voice.

"Mom! Dad! I made it!"

"Cereza?"

"Luke!" Before Luca could question what was going on, he was pulled into a big, sisterly hug.

"Cereza! Ack! You're smothering me again!" Luca groaned. Cereza chuckled and released her brother as he gave her a sideways glare. "What are you doing here?" Cereza put on a pout as she feigned pain.

"Are you saying I need an excuse to visit my parents and only brother?"

"Well…no but, you usually don't come in this late," Luca answered with a tilt of his head.

"Yeah, well mom invited me and my new friend over for dinner tonight. Speaking of," Cereza turned towards the male behind her, gesturing for him to come forward. Matzuo walked forward and offered his hand to the younger boy.

"Hi there, Luca. Your sister has told me a lot about you," Matzuo smiled and Luca shook his hand with a tilt of his head.

"Nice to meet you too," Luca said as he released Matzuo's hand and turned towards his sister. "Well, I have some new friends coming over too, so please don't embarrass me tonight, sis," Cereza chuckled and put on her biggest grin yet.

"Oh really? I can't wait to meet them!" Cereza said ignoring the second part of the comment.

"Sis, I'm serious,"

"Serious? I thought your name was Luca,"Luca groaned as Cereza laughed and pulled her brother into another hug. Matzuo couldn't help but smile at the interaction. It was interesting to say the least to watch Luca struggle to get out of Cereza's grasp while she smiled brightly. He could see a small smile being willed away by Luca.

The door let out another soft knock, catching the group off guard. Cereza let go of Luca as he approached the door. He looked at Cereza once more giving another silent plea as he stood in front of it.

"Who is it?" He asked, hand on the knob excited to see his two friends.

"Um…it's us Luke…" Luca smiled as he opened the door. There was a split second before they came fully into view where Luca could of sworn they seemed worried about something. By the time Luca opened the door, Sebastian had regrew his smile and Senia had once again covered her eyes with her tentacles.

"Are you guys aright?" Luke asked, glancing over Sebastian's seemingly forced smile and how Senia seemed to tilt her head further towards the ground than usual.

"Yeah, we're fine. Just uh, got lost a few times on the way over," Sebastian said nervously rubbing his head.

"Sebastian is horrible with directions," Senia added. Sebastian chuckled before turning back towards Luca.

"So, Luke. You gonna invite us in?" Sebastian asked. Luke stuttered before nodding, stepping out of the way and gesturing the two in, opening the door further so they could come through. Sebastian gave a nod of appreciation as he walked in, Senia walking slightly behind while holding on to his sleeve for guidance.

"Sebastian, Senia, this is my sister and her boyfriend," Luca said gesturing to the siblings as he said their names, Senia removing her tentacles from her eyes but keeping them pointed towards the ground.

"He's not my boyfriend…" Cereza called out, getting looks from everyone, minus Senia, in the room. Luca grew a smirk as Cereza's face colored. To rush off the embarrassment showing on her face, Cereza stepped forward and eagerly shook Sebastian's hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Sebastian,"

"Charmed. Nice to make your acquaintance," Sebastian replied with a smile. Cereza stepped over to Senia, who raised her hand to let Cereza shake it as well.

"Nice to meet you. And I love your dress!" Senia smiled and picked up the edge of her dress and curtsied a bit.

"Thank you very much," She said as Cereza let go of her hand. Senia propped her hands in front of her as she kept the smile on her face. "I've never seen it before in my life," You could practically see the question marks materialize over Cereza's head as she glanced up towards Sebastian and Luca for an explanation.

Luca had already introduced his palm to his face. He had explained to his mother subjects that may have been touchy or kind of awkward, but he didn't have time to do that with Cereza. He was pretty sure complimenting a blind person on their looks was up there with complimenting a fish on its flying skills. Sebastian on the other hand chuckled and raised his hand to his mouth as if Senia would see his lips moving as he mouthed the words 'she's blind' to Cereza.

Cereza immediately clasped her hands over her mouth in shock. She had teased Luca about not embarrassing him, but she didn't want to actually say something to do so. Thinking it would be better to just step aside, Cereza apologized and pushed Matzuo forward to do his introduction.

Sebastian stared up at Matzuo as the Octoling stared down on the younger Inkling. There was a moment of silence before Matzuo slowly raised his hand in an offer to shake.

"Matzuo. Pleasure to make your acquaintance," He said lowly.

"Likewise," Sebastian responded just as lowly. The two didn't break eye contact until their hands were safely back at their sides.

"And you as well, Senia," Matzuo added, breaking his gaze from Sebastian to look at the girl still holding on to her brother's shirt sleeve. Senia simply responded with a small 'hmph' and a one sided smile that lasted a fraction of a second. The room fell into this tense silence that both Luca and Cereza could feel, yet neither quite knew why or how to break it. After a few moments, Senia was the one to finally break it.

"Luke darling, when you invited us over, I sort of expected to be greeted with the lovely smell of a home-cooked meal. Is everything okay?" Luca snapped out of his trance and groaned.

"I don't know. I was sure mom would be back by now,"

"We can come back some other day if you would like," Sebastian suggested. Luca quickly shook his head declined the offer.

"No no! I'm sure she'll be here if you don't mind waiting. You'll just have to…wait a little longer…"

"I for one wouldn't mind. I'm sure we can do something to kill the time," Senia said clasping her fingers together and smiling brightly. Sebastian stole a quick glance towards Cereza and Matzuo before turning back to Luca.

"Luke, you have any games Senia and I can kick your butt at?"

Long wait equals a pretty long chapter. That's how it works right? But anyway the story so far has only had a bit of conflict here and there, but according to my scheduling, that's gonna change from this point. I really wanted to establish a bit of character for everyone before everything goes down. Drama, mystery, answers, and more will start popping up all over starting next chapter. So look forward to that.

Also, I would like to inform you that the mass majority of the ideas I have for my stories come from music, and a lot of the times (and I mean a lot, especially in these Splatoon fics) I input lyrics from those songs in here. Now, I already have how I want the story to end planned out, but after a brainstorming session with my music, I had a thought of an alternate path I could take but still have the story travel the way I want it to. So, in the near future, I'm going to take a vote on which path the story will take. I'm not going to tell you your options yet. That would be spoilers. Just be prepared for some stuff you guys will get to vote on.

I'm so giddy to share how I want the story to go but I also don't want to spoil anything. Ugh. Writer probs.

Final note, for the pervy squid adults out there who wanted the lemon, by the time this goes up, the lemon will be uploaded elsewhere. I named it 'Love Taps' so yeah. You can go read that if you want, ya nasties.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will stick around for the next. Until next time,

Astalabyebye,

Bang