Chapter 4: Night Terrors

Inkopolis Bay, 11:05 PM

The young night was vibrating with gait as the members of Hadal Zone and Coralstar were walking around the Garden of the mansion as the party came to a close. The band was yet to leave but decided to stay longer as they were free for the night and the morning after.

The party itself was amazing. Riva and Ketsuki were trading fashion tips, Lumi was helping Onyo catch up with activities at the bay and face chatting with their parents while Zeal and Kowa were recapping their tour to Squishy.

Food was all over for the party goers to relish. Lumi basically went 180 on the whole party idea when she saw the pastries, no lie.

As they decided to call it a night, the girls of Coralstar were insistent to have them stay a bit longer which led to where they were now.

"That was a lot of food," said Ketsuki with a bag of fabrics she got from Riva.

"I don't think I'll have enough room for breakfast tomorrow after that," said Squishy as he lay in Lumi's arms.

"I can't look at another Huaian punch for another week," said Lumi in such a near catatonic state.

"I don't even know how I can still walk after that," said Kowa. "Are all of your parties like this?"

"Once you let Riva host it, it's bound to happen," said Lumi. "Why are they always so good?"

"I'm more surprised at how it was a private party. Isn't she the type that would want everybody to enjoy life just as much as she does?" asked Onyo.

"She felt that you needed a break from your fans after all that travelling," Lumi answered. "She even locked the main gate locked after you arrived,"

"Why would she do that?" asked Ketsuki.

"We had a really creepy fan the last time…" Squishy said in summary.

"Sure beats finding one your hotel bathroom," Onyo said.

"…What?" in unison asked Lumi and Squishy.

"If you think your life is crazy, wait till you hear the peeps in the rock genre," said Kowa.

"We should get going," said Ketsuki. "It's getting late."

"Okay, so long as we get Zeal," asked Onyo as she looked around. "Where is he anyway?"

"Last time I checked, he was still in the house with Riva," said Lumi.

Just as Lumi had said, both Riva and Zeal were on the sofa back in the house. Zeal was showing the cuttlefish photos and selfies that they took while in the tour in different cities in the world. Some of them had the band in their hotel room. Others involved them in restaurants with the dishes they were yet to savor. The most were the ones where they were standing in front of the crowd after a concert.

"Wow that was a trip. So glad that you have so many fans that share your views on the music," said Riva in a marveling stare.

"Yeah, me too. Although for some fans, I'm just glad they like our music," said Zeal. "How have you been lately?"

"Same old but I made this chain I thought you'd like. It's got your color," she said as she nervously took a box she hid under a cushion earlier that evening and out came the accessory. It was a black pendant with a red spiral-like piece that had several small spikes on it.

"Riva, that's awesome!" said Zeal, impressed.

"Really," asked Riva, almost out of self-doubt. "I don't really make things for boys much."

"I'm being serious. Riva, you are amazi-"

Zeal stopped himself the moment he saw smile on Riva's face. The octoling's blush was redder than his tentacles.

"Amazing with your work," he finished as he looked away.

"Just as you are," Riva started. "With your music."

"So, we have a recording session next week," Zeal said as he got a message from Onyo to hurry up. "You have time?"

"As long as the turf wars won't get in the way," the cuttlefish replied, watching Zeal walk out of the room. "Can I at least hear the demo?"

"Alright, I'll e-mail it," said Zeal. "See ya, Reef Diva,"

And just like that, Riva was the only one left in the room. Left to think about what had just transpired a few seconds ago.

Only that she wasn't the only one thinking about it.

"They are so dating," said Marie, using her charger as a telescope.

"I don't believe in rumors, Two," said Nana, "There is such a thing as platonic friends,"

"Like with you and Eight?" said the inkling.

"Are you being sarcastic?" asked Nana, eyes narrowed.

"Oh no! Not at all! How could you think of such a horrendous accusation coming from me?" said Marie with all the bad acting she could muster.

"Very funny," said the deadpan octoling.

"But seriously, everybody's wondering why you haven't made it official," Marie added.

"Because we're friends!" Nana quietly screamed.

"It didn't look like that once you freaked over a phone call," Marie retorted.

"It was the first time he ever missed it!" said Nana in defense.

"And how does that prove your point?"

"How would you have reacted if Agent 1-"

"If Agent 1 what?"

The daggers in the inkling's eyes were enough to remind Nana what had happened before. Callie's kidnap was a sensitive subject much rather avoided. If only Nana knew exactly what had happened on Marie's side of the story (she only knew Maika's narration), she would have been more thoughtful of her words.

But all she did know was that Marie did not want to hear about it. If she wanted to, she would give the word. And she hasn't done that since Hachi came in.

What she didn't know was how such a deteriorated state she was in from the ordeal. How Callie had to get her to eat again. How she had to be constantly reminded it wasn't her fault.

Had Nana known of that, she would've earned good punch in the face.

"Sorry. I got carried away," she said remorsefully.

"It's alright. Just don't do that again," said Marie. "Sorry for bugging you. I admit I started this."

Then with a single motion, she signaled for them to go back to the HQ. They were way past time after all.

"Hey, Agent 2," Nana started, "Do you think it would work out?"

"Huh?"

"Me, in a relationship with a guy. Would it work?"

"I'm not an expert but it would sure work better with someone in the SS," said Marie.

"Why there?" asked the octoling.

"Well, think about what would happen if it were some regular guy. He would start wondering where you are at night. Why you suddenly leave in the middle of a date," Marie began. "Soon enough, he would start putting the pieces together and how are you so sure he won't post on Aquagram that he's dating Agent 7 of the SS?"

Marie did have a good point though. Hiding the secret was much easier with one in the same than from elsewhere. Furthermore, they did have to restrict themselves to hanging out with each other. And for the same reasons too.

"I never thought of it that way before," said Nana.

"It's no big deal, unless your eyes are set on someone else," said Marie with a menacing grin on her face.

"Can I go home now?" Nana insisted.

"Right this way," said the inkling, gesturing towards the spawn point, letting the octoling go first.

Deepsea Metro, 12:46 AM

"This is your stop," said C.Q. Cumber as he, on Hachi's shoulder, and Hitto alighted the subway. "Hachi, it was very nice of you to come visit us tonight. You are lucky we don't sleep until later."

"Thanks for having us," said Hachi. "I honestly thought you'd be pissed that I haven't been down here in a while."

"Yeah, but he's been thinking about you guys down here," Hitto added. "So, you never forgot him either?"

"How could I? After the insane stuff at Kamabo, who could possibly forget Eight?" said C. Q. Cumber. "And what can you do about youth? They always want their freedom."

"At least that's over now," said Hachi.

"Ever since that place closed down, I couldn't agree with you more," said the cucumber. "I'll have to get back to the subway. Some people need their sleep."

"I'll come back some other time," said Hachi, handing over the blue creature to a sea angel. "Thanks for having me."

"We'll be waiting. Just don't come at such a late hour, okay?" said C.Q. as he was carried away.

"You'll find him right here next time," said Hitto with a reassuring hand on Hachi's shoulder.

"Safe travels, boys," said Cumber as the doors slid closed, ready for departure.

"Now what did I tell you?" said Hitto. "At least you won't wallow at the barricade again."

"I really owe you one, Three," said Hachi. "Is there anything I can do for yo-"

"Four pulled me into a Salmon Run next week. If anybody asks, I fell sick," Hitto interrupted.

"You're cruel," Hachi confessed.

"I'm also thorn you'll never be able to get rid of," Hitto smirked as he walked away.

"Seriously though, thank you. I feel a lot better now. If it weren't for you, I would never have found peace within myself," said Hachi, catching up with the inkling.

"Pleeease, can you not get all mushy about it? It's almost an hour past midnight and I'm NOT a morning person," Hitto insisted.

"Alright, fine. At least you helped," Hachi surrendered.

"Do you want to come down here alone next time?" asked Hitto.

"Yeah, I just needed a little push. That's all," said Hachi as they walked.

And walked... And walked…

"Uh Eight, are you sure C.Q. Cumber dropped us at the right stop?" asked Hitto.

"You saw him check it yourself. This was the stop. Be now that I think about it, we never walked for this long when we came in here," the octoling realized.

"Yeah, no shit," Hitto snarked.

"Three, now is not the time to act like a smartass," said Hachi. "We could be lost."

"Why don't you check your device for the map?" asked Hitto.

"I never thought we'd be this deep in the Metro, so I had Agent 6 erase it from the card," Hachi explained.

"Yeah, we're not doing this," said Hitto as soon as he put a finger to his headphones.

"What are you doing?" asked Hachi.

"Calling Agent 6. She might still have the map at Headquarters so she can just send it to your CQ device," Hitto deciphered. "But the signal is getting slow,"

"Oh, good thinking," said Hachi. "I'll just use my point sensor to give them our location."

Squidbeak HQ, 12:58 AM

Callie was just from Octo Valley, making sure her grandfather was asleep in his shack with nothing to worry about. She was a little distraught. She actually planned on calling him to make sure he was okay but leaving the night quiet was for the best for a person his age.

But no matter how much she tried to forget, the day they realized he was ending his journey was haunting for her. She remembered it all…

3 Months Ago

The two cousins were heading to Octo Valley to pay him a visit they brought him a batch of homemade snacks to feast on and a new tracksuit. The SS had recently finished connecting their HQ to all the major cities and Inkogen had been recruited as Agent 9 after her work at the Bay.

"Ooh gramps is gonna love these crab cakes!" said Callie as she skipped to the shack with the box in her hands.

"Careful Cal," said Marie with a similar box in her grip. "I'm pretty sure he wouldn't like his crab cakes covered in dirt and gravel."

"I'm not dropping them, Marie," Callie pouted. "Maybe you should watch where you're going with the way you roll your eyes. You might end up hitting a wall on your way back home."

"I wouldn't worry so much about it. I only do it around you after all," Marie said with a cocky smile.

"Shut up," Callie spat as she knocked on the door. "Gramps? It's me. I'm here with Marie."

The girls stood there silently, waiting for a signal of permission so they could get in. But for some reason, the silence was too long for comfort.

"Maybe he's asleep?" asked Callie.

"No way he's still asleep at this hour," Marie pointed out, making it her turn to knock. "Gramps, are you okay? We brought you some crab cakes. We made them ourselves."

"…Thank you girls," said Cuttlefish almost five seconds later. "You can just leave them at the door."

"But we came here to see you," said Marie.

"We have so much to talk about," Callie added.

"Sorry, not now. I'm waiting for a call from Admiral Remora. It's really important."

"Then I'm sure we can keep you company while you wait," said Marie.

And with that, the Squid Sisters swung the door open.

To see the captain kneeling beside his bed, his cane out of reach and taking him a lot of strain to stand up. It even made Marie drop her box of edibles.

"Gramps!" Callie nearly screamed as she grabbed the nearest chair with Marie handing him his cane and onto the seat.

"What happened? Did you fall down? Are you hurt?" asked Marie, heart beating in such a dangerous speed.

"I…I didn't want you to find out so soon," he managed to say.

So soon…

"Callie?"

She snapped back to reality. She found herself in the monitor room. In front of the concerned faces of Maika, Marina and Arii.

"Hey, what's wrong?" asked Callie.

"Callie…You came in standing like that for the last ten minutes," said Marina.

"Is something wrong?" asked Arii.

"Uh nothing serious, just thought I forgot my keys. That can get really scary in the middle of the night," the inkling lied.

"Maybe you need some sleep. It's way past midnight," said Maika.

"Why aren't any of you asleep?" asked Callie.

"We're still waiting for the rest so we can close already," said Arii as she checked the monitors. "Everybody except for Hitto and Hachi has reported back."

"Where are they?" asked Maika. "Hitto told me he was leaving alone."

"From the looks of it, He did not necessarily mean going home," said Marina. "And Pearl came in telling me she sent Hachi here but we never heard from him."

"They're not in danger, are they?" asked Callie.

"I don't know but I've been trying to find their location for some ti- wait, I'm getting a call from Hitto," said Arii.

"Where from?" asked Maika.

"Deepsea Metro?" said Arii in perplexing manner.

"Maybe Hachi's there too?" Marina noted. "But what would they be doing down there?"

"Hitto, What are you doing there in the middle of the night?" answered Arii.

"We were just visiting some old folks. Bad news is we're not where we wanted to be," Hitto explained. "We were hoping if Six still has the Metro map."

"Yeah. I send it to you if we have it," said Marina, taking the communicator. "But you'll have to stay where you are for a while."

"Dammit…ugh… alright. How long do we have to wait?" asked Hitto, not noticing Hachi staring at the distance. "Ten minutes? Fifteen?"

"It really depends on how fast I can get the-"

"THREE, DUCK!"I

In seconds, Hitto found himself face down on the ground with Hachi's hand on his back. Hachi was frantically looking around and Marina couldn't stop talking on the headphones.

"Eight, what happened?" asked the inkling as he tried to keep his calm.

"I saw something move up ahead. Next thing I knew, a burst bomb was heading right for us,"

"Who would try to attack us?" asked Hitto as they stood up and looked down.

And dear cod, they wished they didn't.

At their feet, just inches away was a puddle of sickly bluish-green glowing ink.

"It's…it's him…" Hachi stuttered.

"Eight, calm down. We have to think first," Hitto tried to tell him.

"Think?" Hachi asked, bewildered. "I know that slime when I see it. He's back. I know he is…"

"Hitto, what the hell is going on?" asked Marina in the headphones.

"Tartar's back!" Hachi shouted into his own earpiece.

"We don't know that for sure!" said Hitto to both Hachi and Marina. "If anything, it could be a-"

Suddenly, a blob of ink came their way but this time, it missed them. As if it were to gain some attention.

Behind the crate was an octoling with a blaster in hand.

She however, wasn't normal…

She was sanitized.

"Not again…" the agent managed to say.

"I don't know if what Hachi said was true, but they definitely need back up," said Marina. "Maika, you and Callie would have to go help them."

"I'll get my roller," said Callie as she sped out.

"On it!" said Maika as she left too.

"Hachi, I need you to try and take a picture of whoever assaulted you. Maybe we can find something on it," she said to the octoling.

"I doubt it will be easy but okay," said Hachi as they tried to fend themselves against the aggressive marauder.

What had caught the agents' eyes was that this specific octoling was diffent. She had red highlights instead of green, her finger tips ended in black coloring and atop her head was a gray and white hat.

"Eight, do you recognize her from anywhere?" asked Hitto as they hid behind a crate.

"Yea…yeah but I've only seen her on posters all over the Metro," Hachi panted.

"What does she do?" asked Hitto as they ran yet again from the ruthless blaster.

"I used to think she was just a DJ but that was a long time ago," said Hachi now in the offense as he shot a dart of ink that grazed her leg.

"Did they give her a number?" asked Hitto as they jumped over a track through inkrail.

"I don't know. Most people just call her Dedf1sh," said Hachi.

"A fitting name…" said Hitto as they saw the freak just across from them. "How does she keep catching up with us?"

"I might have an idea…" said Hachi, looking down at Hitto's shoes.

His glow in the dark shoes.

"Just great…" Hitto sighed.

Dedf1sh slowly approached them with the daggers of the emotionless stare found on the others like her. The two agents tried all they could to get out of range but the wall behind them begged to disagree.

Their only choice being offense, Hitto flashed a Hero Shot directly at her blaster, making it fly out of her hands. Thinking it was the best time now. Hachi snapped a picture of the girl, in order to her with the flashes.

Unfortunately, he forgot she was wearing shades.

And Dedfish took this time to take out two devices from her pocket and throw them at their feet. Before the boys was now a force field trapping them at one side of the room.

As if to mock them, she took out her employee CQ and took a picture of them then pointed to a corner on their side.

She also threw some toxic mist at them.

Had they realized it sooner, they would've tried all they could to destroy the force field. But the as had already taken effect. The two were on their knees, almost slipping into unconsciousness. This was a strong type of mist she threw. All the two agents could do was hope. Hope that help would come their way early enough.

Because something told them her plans weren't to kill…

End Chapter

Wow, that was a long chapter. At least Hadal Zone has finally made a debut here. I don't really have much to say except that I want to thank you all for reading and if you want, tell me what you think of the story in the reviews. However, I might be updating chapters more slowly from now on. I'm not really sure but you are to expect this to continue. See you next time!