Returning to the house above HQ, Nathan and Diana took a moment to catch their breath. They sat by the wall close to the elevator. Diana took off her headset, making sure it was still in good condition. Nathan simply sat there, looking at the Boss Key and thinking. So many questions filled mind, and he had no idea if they would ever be answered. He sighed in disappointment.

"What's the matter?" said Diana, hearing Nathan's sigh.

"Nothing," said Nathan, "It's just...there's SO many question going through my mind. That was just the second mission...it felt like three missions in one to me."

"It's okay. This is all my fault...I shouldn't have faced those Octolings alone. If I hadn't, none of this would've happened."

"Well...we did find the camp. Even we did beat them, we would've gone there eventually."

"No, not that. I mean...me getting beaten up by that Edith girl...you getting into that fight with Edith and getting your headset damaged...It wouldn't have happened if we just fought and dealt with those two Octolings together and headed up the big giant vent...Ultra Vent I think it was called. I'm an idiot for thinking I could beat an elite like that."

"Don't say that!"

"Huh?"

"You're bolder than I am! I'd hesitate a bit before dealing with an elite. Those guys are way tougher than normal Octolings, and they're way harder to splat. That's why I asked if you were sure you'd be okay."

"I...I should of-"

"Hush! You're better than you think you are. I've seen it. You just have to have faith in yourself. You're not weak, Diana. Besides, didn't you save me from Edith just a little while ago?"

Diana was silent. She was looking down at her feet. She had prevented Edith from doing further harm to Nathan, but she didn't think she saved him. She suddenly thought back to a time, a time before she and Nathan moved to Inkopolis, about a year ago if not more.
"Something wrong?"

"N-No...just thinking again..."

"It was about the incident, wasn't it?"

"...Yeah. But...then again...you saved me during that event. After that, you were the one who influenced me to play in all those Turf Wars. I pushed beyond my limits to be like you."

"You morphed yourself into a powerful Inkling, Diana. But you didn't have to push yourself in order to do that. Don't let anything bring you down. Be like you are in Turf Wars, and work hard but not too hard. Overexertion will only make you weaker. Now c'mon, let's head down." Nathan hit the button for the elevator.

Diana looked away for a minute, thinking. She then got back up once the elevator arrived and she and Nathan rode it down to HQ. When they were arrived, they were greeted by Smith. "I am in so much trouble..." Diana thought to herself.

"Ah! Glad to see you're both okay!" Smith said before noticing Diana's worried expression, "Diana? You okay?"

"Uhhh..." she said in response, "I'm sorry I left in such a rush like that..."

"You're not in trouble, I was just really surprised. How are your injuries?"

"Better..."

"Glad to hear."

Diana looked at Nathan and then walked away towards the rest area.

"Is...she okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine," said Nathan, "She might still have that event stuck in her head now that she's been reminded about it."

"Her beat down?"

"No...something else. Something I witnessed. Something I too was a part of."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"She doesn't like to talk about it. It happened about a year ago, long before we moved to Inkopolis."

"What happened."

"I won't go into detail for now, but I'll try to explain...I just just turned 14 nearly five months before the incident, and Diana just turned 14 only about four months before it. We were at Turf War Training Camp on the second story of the main building. I don't know how, but something really bad happened. And that's when things started to heat up..."

"Why are you keeping it so vague?"

"I really don't like talking about it either." Nathan started to walk away. "Oh and by the way, Edith damaged my headset." He held the damaged device in his hand.

"Oh my! I'll get that replaced immediately!" Smith grabbed them and headed for his lab. "Oh and by the way, Cuttlefish said no more missions for today. You all could use a break, anyway." He entered the lab and closed to door behind him. Nathan changed into his normal attire in the changing area.

For the next few hours, the team simply hung out, discussing the task at hand and the overall situation. Smith fixed Nathan's headset and showed him and Diana some prototypes of new weapons, suits, and armor. He explained that he was working on a rank system that would be started once enough agents had joined.

At around sundown, Nathan headed to Rest Area 1, the room he and Diana shared. When he entered the room, Diana was lying down on her bed, lying flat on her back. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Huh? OH!" Diana immediately sat up, "Hehe...I was just bored, is all."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "Okay..."

"Why are you giving me that look?"

"I just didn't expect you to be lying down motionless on your back is all."

"...Okay, I was thinking."

"Thinking?"

"About what you said. But moving on, I still wanna know WHY they're taking Inklings! Why they're causing all this trouble! Why they're so hellbent on annihilating us! It makes no sense...what- Wait..."

"What?"

"The Great Turf War...that was a battle they lost. Then the Agent 3 guy defeated them a second time... If they had been defeated before, they must be trying to improve their tactics, ranks, and weaponry. I can only assume they're more violent because they're trying so hard to beat us."

"Hmm...this whole plot is confusing. We need to gather the pieces and complete this puzzle...and I think I may have gained a few back at the camp during my recon."

"What did you find?"

"I witnessed an Inkling boy, being dragged while kickin' and screamin' for his life. Those damn Octolings slammed him in the head with a metal rod to knock him out, threw him into a container, and then a truck shipped his away to the camp's central tower."

Diana gasped. "What?! That's...that's-"

"Horrible, I know. It's insane. I saw other trucks, all carrying containers. Some of 'em where empty but I lot of them had other Inklings in it, and they were all headed towards that tower. So whatever they're doing to them, we'll likely find it inside that structure. The tricky is getting in it, though."

"We're obviously not doing it today."

"Yeah, definitely."

"Nathan...what else did you see?"

"Well...not much else related to the Inklings being captured, but I did see Edith talking to another Octoling girl named Abby, I think. Abby seemed to be not interested in whatever they're doing. She even said that she thought Edith took your beating too far. I'm starting to wonder what side that Octoling's truly on."

"I do too..."

"And when I was against Edith, Edith sent Abby to sound the alarm, but she never did or come back."

"Where did she go?"

"I really don't know. She could have been getting something and ended up being too late. I seriously am very curious to know just what she was doing."

"Do you think she might be an our side?"

"Who knows. It's perfectly possible. But I'm seriously not sure. I guess we'll have to wait and see."

"I hope we figure this out quick. I'm getting worried about those captured Inklings and their families. None of us, or them, have any idea what's going on and what's happening to those captured people. I wanna know so I can put an end to it. This whole thing is just...I can't even think of a word that can describe it! It's...unbearable! No...it's monstrous!"

"We'll find out what's going on. Let's check Inkopolis News, Callie and Marie should have an update on it by now." Nathan took out his phone to watch the latest update. Oddly, the latest report was a few minutes later than usual. The two watched and discovered a horrific truth.

Nearly 12% of Inkopolis's population was now missing. Both Nathan and Diana knew that 12% may not be a large amount when compared to something like 50% or 75%, but Inkopolis was huge. "12%" meant that at least a thousand Inklings had gone missing, and maybe up to two thousand or even three thousand. It was disturbing and vile, both Inklings' adrenaline was boosted by the sudden horror of these facts.

"12 percent?!" Nathan said.

"That's a lot of people!" said Diana, "It's an alarming amount!"

"That tower at the camp, it looked incapable of holding that many Inklings. There must be another place were they're keeping them!"

"I'm more worried on how QUICKLY and QUIETLY they took 'em all! 12% in a mere day is insane! Unimaginable! It's just...It's just...urgh! When I get my hands on them, I'm gonna-" She took a deep breath. "This is NOT happening!"

"I'm afraid it is, Diana. We need to know, what's going on and why! NOW!"

Suddenly, Smith burst through the door. "Guys! You have to see this!" he yelled.

The three ran to the supercomputer screen, which displayed a raid in Saltspray Rig, Inkopolis's main oil rig. The employees and workers of the rig where against the wall at gunpoint, with some players of a Turf War at gunpoint as well. Multiple Inklings were hiding from them behind walls and some may have been under the rig, retreating on boats.

While most of the Octolings were pointing guns at the terrified Inklings, some were clearing the large square-shaped platform on the stage's Top Area. In the distance was the Octarian Airship headed right for the rig.

"What the-?!" said Diana.

"Oh no!" said Nathan, "This is not good!"

"They've got Inklings at gunpoint!" said Agent 1, "They'll kill 'em if we don't do anything!"

"It's gotta be a trap," Nathan said, "They're trying to capture US."

"Of course it's a trap," and Smith, "the Boss Kettle somehow leads straight to it. And with the Octarian Airship headed right for the rig, I'm guessing that there's gonna be a boss fight right there!"

"We gotta stop 'em before it's too late!" said Cuttlefish.

"I'll go," said Nathan. Everyone looked at him. "We can't risk losing more Inklings. 12% have already been captured, as I heard on Inkopolis News. We need to make a move, now. But I'm not goin' alone, no why." He looked at Diana.

"I'll go with you!" said Diana, standing by Nathan's side.

"Even after all you've been through today?" said Smith, "You sure you wanna do this?"

"As long as there's air in my lungs and my soul is in my body," said Nathan, "I will always be ready! I will not surrender until the day I die!"

"...Same," said Diana, "I will not rest until these Octarians are stopped, broken, and destroyed! They've done too much already. Until my blood runs dry and my heart stops cold, even as my blood seeps out of open wounds and I have Octarian ink all over me, I will not give up!" She rose her weapon upwards. "I am as bold as a wolf, tough as nails! Or at least I try to..."

Nathan looked at Diana, smiling at her determination to get the mission done. "We'll beat 'em. We have to. But first we need the right equipment!" Nathan rushed into the weapons and gear room, with Diana and Smith following. "Smith, is it okay if we give those new suit prototypes a spin?"

"Of course! They're over here!" Smith got out two sets of gear that he called the Hero Suit 2.0 Proto. It was much like the normal Hero Suit, but it had armor inside the suit and had visible shoulder guards. The boots were designed to help the user jump higher and run a little bit faster. The headset design did not change, and the yellow safety vest was still on the suit.

After putting it on Nathan and Diana were both pleased with the suit being unexpectedly comfortable. "Now for a weapon," Nathan said as he grabbed his Silver Hero Roller.

"But Nathan...that thing was designed to be in Turf War...not combat," said Diana.

"Not really," said Smith, "That there was created by my grandfather! I made a few of them myself, but they're all sold out now. I find it so...amazing how the original ended up in your hands! It's built for both sport and combat."

"It was recently upgraded with the new Inknado special recently about a month ago, actually."

"You got to beta test it? You're one lucky kid!"

"Well, anyway, we need to hurry! Diana, what are you bringing?"

"I'm gonna bring this Hero Aerospray," said Diana, "I'd like to thank you for making this, Smith."

"No problem," said Smith.

"Now let's roll!" said Nathan and he and Diana headed for the elevator and out of the house above for the kettle leading to Saltspray. "It's splattin' time!" The two entered and they were off.