Present Day...
"So that's what happened?" said Smith, "A fire broke out?"
"Yep, pretty much," said Diana, "It was later discovered that the inferno was caused due to someone carelessly leaving the stove on. It's believed that some wind from an open window blew paper or something into it. It caught fire and that fire quickly spread to the walls and the roof and yeah..."
"Talk about carelessness!" said Abigail.
"I was in a few situations like that myself in the past," said Cuttlefish, "Carelessness that leads to disaster was more common then one would like to think."
"After the fire though, our lives didn't really change very much," said Nathan, "We both had quite a few wounds, but they healed up eventually."
"That shoulder burn left a nasty scar though," said Diana, "Look." She rolled up her sleeve to expose her elbow, revealing a scar on her shoulder. It was a patch of off-colored skin, very pale, especially when compared to the rest of her skin.
"Wow..." said Smith, "That's kinda big..."
"Yeah, but it's not much. I can easily cover it with a short or long sleeve shirt or jacket. But, I don't care in all honesty. It's a permanent reminder, but I guess I'm okay with it." She rolled her sleeve back down.
"So, do you feel better now that you've talked about the incident?" asked Abigail.
"Yeah, actually. I didn't expect that to happen, but I guess I do feel better. But anyway, now that I've talked about that, I want to focus on the task at hand, the last Boss Key and Octavio."
"Oh right!" said Nathan, "We need to focus on that!"
"So what are we gonna do?" said Leo, "Me and my Inkbrush are itching for a fight!"
"Well first, we need to find out WHO we need to fight," said Diana, "And I'm pretty sure that it's gonna be that Commander Nero guy."
"I think Nero's gonna fight us second to last before Octavio," said Abigail, "Or he'll fight alongside him. I think Edith's gonna take the next one, just like last time. But she'll put more of a fight this time, though. One of my squadmates did some recon the other day. She said she saw Edith developing a new weapon, TWO of them actually."
"What were they?" Nathan asked.
"One of them was the the third Octoweapon, which she's helping with, and the other was something she couldn't really see. But I have a feeling we'll find out soon."
"So should we head back to base or what?" Diana asked.
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," said Cuttlefish, "I need new clothes anyway, heh heh..."
"It might be a good idea to destroy that big machine, though!" Smith said, "So they can't turn anymore Inklings into Octarians!"
"Oh yeah! That would be a good idea!" said Diana.
"How do we do it, though?!" said Leo, "This thing is damn huge!
"Uh...I wish we could use less drastic measures, but we're gonna need to blow this thing up!" said Smith.
"But we don't have any TNT! Only ink bombs!" said Nathan.
"Well...the Octarians seem to have some...emergency stashes..."
"What?"
"Over here!" Smith pointed to a box full of TNT.
"Oh my-!" said Diana.
"I'll set them off, then we'll have a minutes to get away," said Abigail, "The blast shouldn't be too big if we set it off INSIDE the machine." Abigail leaded the TNT crate inside the device, lighting the very long fuse from next to the vehicle she and the other used to get down to the dome. "Alright! Fuse is lit! Let's get the hell outta here!"
The team got into Abigail's vehicle, which the team decided to name the Splat Truck, and drove away to a special path that the truck could use to get back above ground. They heard the explosion of the TNT destroying the device in the distance. The group talked about the Octarians' plans during the ride, getting back to the topic at hand. Many of them had a slightly different look on Nathan and Diana now that they knew about the fire, and Cuttlefish embraced them for their bravery. He was glad to have them as agents.
The truck pulled up on a steel platform. A large vent above them opened up and the platform was raised upwards like an elevator. Eventually, the elevator stopped and the truck drove towards HQ on a newly constructed road that Smith had worked on for the past two years. The Splat Truck pulled up next to the house.
"Me and Smith will be up here constructing a garage-like area," said Abigail as she exited the vehicle, "We're gonna build something like an elevator to the storage room in HQ. We're gonna be turning it into a garage for the vehicles we're developing.
"Okay," said Cuttlefish as he and the rest of the group heading down to HQ. They were greeted by multiple agents, including the Squid Sisters and the Elite Five. They were all shocked by Cuttlefish's new appearance. They all looked at him. Cuttlefish left the room to loo for some new gear, with his granddaughters following him. Nathan was surprised to see that about fifty agents had now joined the Splatoon. It was practically like an army now.
Nathan and Diana took off their armor, changing to their normal everyday outfits like most of the other agents. In their rest area, they had a well-deserved break. In one day they had met the Elite Five, discovered the Octarians' intentions, teamed up with a Octoling squad rebelling against their own kind, fought a robotic shark on wheels, encountered Octavio, meet a samurai, and revitalized Cuttlefish.
Cuttlefish promised them no more missions, for real this time, as it was now 3:00 PM and had been doing missions nearly non-stop for the entirety of the day. To believe that so much could happen in less than a day was a little unbelievable to everybody. About an hour after arriving back at HQ, Diana and Nathan went into their area. Diana flopped onto the cot mattress, sighing.
"You okay?" Nathan asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" said Diana, "It's just been a while since I've rested aside from when we returned from the mission we met the Elites and Abby."
"I know. I was TOTALLY caught off guard by the fact that all this has already happened! We've only been doing this for like...two days excluding today. It's just...wow."
"Yeah, but it feels good knowing that we're helping people."
"I agree. The fire was one thing, I didn't know HOW to feel after I saved you. But this...this feels different. I feel like I'm doing something amazing..."
"You ARE doing something amazing, Nathan. You're saving countless lives by foiling their plans! I think that's what I like about you, you put the needs of others before your own needs. When you saved me from the Great Fire, I didn't really know how to feel either. There's no one else I know who's ever done anything as heroic as that. If it was some other kid and not you, I don't think I'd be here talking to you right now."
"..." Nathan was silent as he sat down on the other cot across from Diana. "I don't really know what would happen. It would've depended on the person."
"...I don't regret taking that break. I don't regret being in that building when the fire started."
"Huh?"
"It took me 'til just now to realize it, but that fire was sort of a life lesson in a way to me. It sharpened my bravery, my courage. It molded me into the bold girl I am now. I guess I felt a little invincible once I was all better. Hehe...I felt like I had survived the end of the world. And...I have you to thank for that, Nathaniel."
Nathan was again silent. Diana had never called him by his full name before, so he was surprised. "...Y-You're welcome. I was just doing what I had to do. I felt like if you were lost, it would be my fault. And besides, you're a great girl...one that deserves to live on. You've been my friend since childhood, and know you enough to know that losing you would have a tragic cost on me. I couldn't allow you to die that day." Diana was slightly wide-eyed, with an expression of shock on her face.
"Is...something wrong? Was it something I said?" Nathan asked.
Diana suddenly ran over to Nathan, hugging him tightly, blushing heavily. She had never heard such words from anyone, and felt like she had to express her joy for hearing them. Nathan was frozen, surprised by Diana's sudden move. He was completely still, not knowing what to do or even think.
"I can't tell you how happy those words make me!" Diana said, "I've...never been told anything like that before!"
"Really?" Nathan said, surprised, "Never in your life?"
"For as long as I can remember, I haven't heard anyone say those kind of things to me!"
Nathan was yet again silent. He thought Diana was kidding, but her expression said otherwise. He sat there in silence, blushing, until Diana eventually let go.
"Hehe! You're blushing again, Nathan!"
"Uh- What?!"
"Don't worry, I'm sure I was blushing too."
"Hmm...I wonder if we can leave HQ. I want to go back to Inkopolis and find a team. I need a break from Octarian fighting anyway."
"Yeah, same here. I want to assemble a team myself." Diana and Nathan exited the rest area. They went to Cuttlefish, now in new gear, and asked if they could go back in Inkopolis. He said that everyone was allowed to leave for now, as Abigail and her squad were doing recon and there were a few agents who hadn't been in as many missions volunteering to be prepared if an emergency occurred.
Many of the agents went to Inkopolis for the rest of the day to play some Turf War to lighten the mood. The city was calmer now that the disappearances had stopped. Nathan and Diana simply did a few Turf Wars, and they and some other agents forged new teams. The teams fought in Turf Wars for the next few hours, taking breaks every once in a while, before heading back to their homes to prepare for the next day, whatever it may bring.
