AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm SO sorry for the abnormal schedule guys! I'm dealing with some other things at the time as well and it's affected my schedule dramatically. There's also a problem with the cover image I'm trying really hard to fix. I'll try to get things back on track as soon as I can!

Nathan and Diana found their new armor sets on the room's cots. Nathan took one look at the cases and took instant interest in the armor. They headed into the changing rooms and tried them on. When they exited and looked at themselves, they were impressed.

"Hm!" Diana said, "Not bad! Not bad at all!" The new armor was more of a suit, but it looked much better than the original. It had metal shoulder guards colored black with faintly glowing blue lights similar to the ones on the headset of the Hero Suit. The safety vest over it was still neon yellow, and a black jacket still underneath. The jacket had special plating inside it now though, providing unseen but great protection.

The jacket beneath the armor also had stripes on the sleeves that were the color of the Inkling's hair/ink. On the back of the safety vest, the New Squidbeak Splatoon symbol, which was also the Cuttlegear logo, was printed. The number "4" was labeled on the left arm of Nathan's jacket, and "5" was label on the left arm of Diana's jacket.

The boots of the suit had plating in them similar to the jacket. They were black had bright yellow soles. The sides of the boots had faintly glowing blue lights as well. The suit's headset and the Hero Watch were no different from the original Hero Suit's versions. The pants were black and had faintly glowing stripes colored blue.

"It's actually much more comfortable!" Diana stated, "And way more fresh!"

"I'm with ya on that!" said Nathan, "This is one good-looking suit!"

"So, the case's booklet said it has some kind of plating inside it to help protect us."

"I'm glad he made that, otherwise I'd never figure out how to put this thing on."

"Yeah, same!"

"It's pretty easy to move in this outfit despite the plating, it's as if it's not there! Pretty impressive!"

"Yeah! It's pretty incredible!"

"So...should we head to the base room and show 'em?"

"I don't see why not!" The two headed for the main room to see Smith with Callie and Marie, which was no surprise. They were searching the supercomputer for something.

"What are you doing?" Nathan asked.

"Looking for a file," said Smith.

"We're searching for a photo of blueprints that Agent 21 found," said Callie.

"Agent 21? Now many agents do we have now?"

"About 45 of 'em now, surprisingly!"

"Already?"

"Ever since the stadium was attacked, more Inklings have been joining in, trying to help out," said Smith. "Hmm...Aha! Here it is!" The blueprints appeared on the screen, showing the container's technology. "Take a look at this." Nathan and Diana examined the blueprints carefully.

"That clamp that goes around the torso has needles that sink into the ink sacs of Inklings," Smith explained, "Like a blood draw, it takes in the ink and sends it through those tubes. Something in the machines the containers are placed in absorbs the ink through a sort of device that converts it into power in seconds. I have no idea how though, the blueprints don't explain it."

"Savages," said Diana, "They're just savages!"

"I don't like the look of that container," said Nathan, "It's freaking creepy!"

"That's what I was thinking!" said Callie, "It's just...unforgivable!"

"It's the death I'm most concerned about. They may have stopped kidnapping for now, but they'll start again soon. We have to defeat them as soon as possible!"

"Oddly enough," said Smith, "We found some Inkling readings in the dome this kettle here leads to." He switched the screen to a map and pointed to the first kettle of the third and final area. There were some Inklings doing something down there. I'm not sure what, but they seem to be moving from dome to dome."

"We should probably check it out, then," said Nathan.

"I agree," said Diana.

"Are you sure?" Smith asked, "Even after the Tentatek Stadium Octomaw fight?"

"Of course! I ain't gonna give up yet!"

"Neither am I," said Nathan, "We'll find 'em, and take out any Octarians we encounter in our way."

"...Alright." said Smith, "Me and the Squid Sisters here will keep an eye on ya."

"I just hope we hear from Gramps soon..." said Marie.

"Oh right, Cuttlefish!" Nathan said, "We'll look for him and Abigail, too!"

"Thank you so much!" said Callie.

"Alright then! C'mon, Diana!" The two equipped their weapons and left. Nathan brought a Hero Roller, with a Hero Shot as a secondary weapon. Diana brought a Hero Charger, and also brought a Hero Shot as a secondary weapon. They had their subs: Splat Bombs, Burst Bombs, and Seekers at the ready. The two made their way towards the next kettle, entering without hesitation.

They arrived in the dome, which had a dark gray sky as the backdrop. The pathway was clear, with lit-up straightforward paths. The dome had Octosnipers patrolling the area along with Octolings and normal Octotroopers.

"Pretty standard," said Nathan.

"Yeah," said Diana, "But we should still be careful."

"Take out that sniper over there."

"With pleasure!" Diana took out her charger and fired, taking out the Octosniper.

"Nice shot!"

"Thanks! Now let's go!"

"Right!" Nathan lead the way through the path. He and Diana took out any Octosnipers and Octotroopers that they encountered, looking for any signs of Inklings. As they traveled, they did notice in some large puddles of dark orange, almost golden, ink. This proved that someone else had been through here, and they were clearly not on the Octarian's side.

The two Inklings eventually found a launchpad that lead to a platform in the distance, with six Octolings, two of them being elites. Before using the launchpad, they made sure their Watches were in easy reach in the event that they got overwhelmed. Suddenly, a group of three elites appeared before Nathan and Diana.

"Dammit!" said Nathan.

"Split up! We're stronger now, we can handle 'em!" Diana assured.

"Alright. Lady's choice."

"I've got these three!"

"Okay. Oh, and take this!" Nathan gave Diana two canned specials, a Bubbler and an Inkzooka. "Good luck!"

"You too!" Diana charged into battle as Nathan launched towards the platform that would soon become a battlefield. As he descended, he activated his glider to drop a Splat Bomb down at one of the Octolings. Not noticing, the bomb exploded right in the Octoling's face, knocking him down but not killing him surprisingly.

Retracting the glider, he threw two Burst Bombs, one to the left and another to the right, both of them landing on the faces of Octolings. With them stunned, the others fired at Nathan. He quickly threw another Burst Bomb to splat one of the two stunned Octolings, and splatted the other with his roller.

"Dammit!" said one of the two elites, "He's already splatted two of 'em!"

"Well don't just stand there!" yelled the other elite, "Get him!" The two elites and two other Octolings charged at Nathan. All of them had standard Octoshots except for one, who had an Octobrush instead.

Meanwhile, Diana had just splatted one of Elites she was dealing with using Inkzooka. One of the remaining two was wielding a charger, and the other, who was male, had a Blaster-like weapon. Diana dodged the best she could, managing to get past most shots. She hid in her ink and sneaked up on the male, splatting him with her Hero Shot.

"Oh you little-!" The remaining elite yelled as she tackled Diana into the launchpad. Diana submerged herself into the pad in squid form, launching to Nathan. The elite jumped off and glided over to the platform, following Diana. Diana delivered a blow to an elite's face as she landed, giving Nathan a chance to splat her.

"Oh dammit!" yelled the Octobrush elite as the gliding elite landed.

"Don't worry!" yelled the other elite, "There's four of us and two of them! We can take 'em!"

"Then let's do so!" The Octobrush-wielding elite charged at Nathan, attacking alongside with another Octoling. "You and that guy take care of the girl!"

"On it!" The charger-wielding Octoling fired at Diana, but was unable to hit her due to her agility. "Ugh. Make sure she stays in one spot!"

"Yes, ma'am!" said the normal Octoling. He swam through his ink and surprised Diana, who fired her charger but had it knocked out of her hands by the Octoling. Taking out her secondary weapon and making sure she was always moving to avoid being hit by the Octoling sniper, she fought the normal Octoling as best she could, eventually splatting him.

Nathan was dealing with the Octobrush-wielding Elite Octoling while trying to make sure his partner's shots didn't hit him. The elite was swinging the weapon around like a madman, while Nathan had to hold his roller in front of him to block most the attacks, barely getting a chance to attack himself.

"Do you really like the swordfighting or somethin'?! You swing that thing like a blade!"

"It's the next best thing!" said the Octoling, "The Octobrush is swift and agile, it's close enough to a blade! It's fit for a samurai!"

"You say that like it's a big deal!"

"It is a big deal! It may be weak, but it's strong enough to bring you down!"

"We'll see about that!" Nathan and the Octoling continued brawling as Diana continued dealing with her opponents. She was having a little trouble, but it seemed as if it was much easier compared to her fight with Edith back the first area that left her quite beaten.

"Ha ha! You can't fight forever!" the Octoling sniper taunted, "You'll tire out sooner or later!"

"Then I will intervene!" yelled a voice that came out of nowhere. Everyone stopped to see an Inkling descend downwards. Wielding an Inkbrush Nouveau, he came down right behind the Octoling sniper. His ink color was a goldish yellow color and his eyes were brown. He wore samurai armor and shoes, along with a golden straw hat. Spinning his brush in his hand like helicopter blades, he splatted the sniper in a second.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" he said, "Fellow Inklings, I am here to help!"

"...An Inkbrush Samurai?" said Nathan, "Whatever works, I guess."

"I know who you are, I am the grandson of a friend of Cuttlefish, who told me about you two. I was travelling through this place in search of hostages, and I found him. So, I came to give you some aid!"

"Cuttlefish is alright?!" said Diana.

"Of course he is! Even if that thing had failed, he's survived much worse!"

"Well that increases my morale tremendously!" said Nathan.

"You two seem tired, allow me to make this easier for you. Is that okay?"

"Permission granted!"