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Tonna was sitting on her office chair, while growling loudly and frowning: her right hand was writing with a pen, on a piece of paper…
"… they better give me an extra for this…" A scribble appears above her head. "The crackers I ate aren't working at all…"
She sighed, as her eyebrows went up.
"Actually, I don't think that food would be enough…" Her eyes closed, as a stream of tears was coming out from her closed yes. "I want to take a hot baaaattth… I'm missing it so much...!" Her eyes opened, a bit watery. "… when I get rid of this paper, I'll request a hot bath permission!" She frowned a bit. "I'm so full of stress, I'm going to"
Knock, knock!
"Ah!" Tonna's mouth opened a bit.
She stands up, as she walked towards the door…
"… I think I know who might be behind the door…" Her eyes squeezed a bit.
The woman reached the door, as her right hand grabbed the handle and pulled it: her eyes immediately tracked down Mirii with Hun on her right side, while Bars was behind her and Grina was behind Hun.
"… I knew it." Tonna sighed. "I hope you came here, just for a quick chat…"
Mirii's head rose.
"I'm under the impression you haven't read the message I sent to you…" The girl walked forward.
"What message?!" Tonna's head turned on each Inkling who was entering inside the door. "I haven't heard a thing at all, from my smartphone!" She pushed the door back.
"Impossible." Mirii turned behind, as her arms folded. "I clearly saw the message being sent, before putting my smartphone away…"
Bars was moving near a small, clear bowl full of candies… while smiling a bit.
"Sgrumpf…" Tonna's eyelids lowered to the middle, as her irises went to her right. "… perhaps, I lowered the ringtone volume too much…"
"Hmpf!" Mirii's eyes closed, as her eyebrows lowered a bit. "Let's not waste any time… we didn't come in here for a quick chat."
"Grooaann!" Tonna bended forward, as her tentacles went a bit zig-zag, her eyes closed, her arms stretched down, her mouth was a bit downturned and her eyebrows were up. A stream of tears came down from her closed eyes. "Don't you have any pity for this miserable woman?! I don't even know where I'm getting all this energy from…"
"It must be our presence giving you some enthusiasm!" Grina smiled, as her head and eyebrows lowered, while folding her arms. "I bet you would even forget about eating…"
"Speak for yourself, Grina!" Tonna's right forefinger pointed at the girl, as her left fist clenched, her left arm bended a bit, while her face was frowning. "I would give anything to eat a huge lunch and relax on my sofa!" Her eyes squeezed a bit. "I don't even see why I should care about"
"Jumping into conclusions, Miss Rules?" Grina's right eye closed. "I wouldn't do it, if I was in you… I mean, this ol' girl doesn't just bring in boring news… also prizes." Her eyebrows went up, as her left eye closed too.
"Ah, sure! I knew you would try convincing me in some sneaky, vile way!" Tonna snorted. "Then I'm afraid your time here is done"
"Tch, tch, tch!" Grina's head shook slowly, as her hands went behind her back. "Miss Rules… have you even seen the prize I thought giving you?"
"Lunch in a fast-food restaurant?" Tonna's head turned to her right.
"Even better than that…" Grina snickered. "… help us out and you might get the chance of melt down all your stress with a nice bath."
Tonna's eyes expanded.
"… y-your prize is… a-a hot bath?!" Her jaw dropped.
"Free of charge, too…" Grina grins. "By courtesy of the Shrine Master himself… Hunry." She nodded.
Immediately Tonna looked at Hun: he smiled, as he nodded too.
"If you help us, I'll tell the Shrine staff to prepare a hot bath for you… and I'll ask Kelly to draw a picture where you can jump right in and find yourself inside the Shrine very quickly."
Tonna's eyes began to sparkle, as her mouth stood a bit open. She was seeing herself in a pool of Inkling water with almost invisible white smoke rising from it: only her head was sticking out, with her eyes closed and a towel on her forehead, while smiling widely.
"… aaah, I'm so lucky to be surrounded by wonderful friends!" Tonna grins widely, as her hands clasped and turned her sight on Grina. "I would give anything to listen to their stories and even helping them out!"
"Oh? What happened to your hunger…?" Grina's eyelids lowered to the middle, as she smiled widely.
"Hunger? Me? Ah ah ah! What a nice joke, Grina!" Sweat covered Tonna's forehead. "I'm hungry, yes… but for knowledge!" Tonna nodded three times rapidly. "Knowing from friends is very important for me…"
Mirii's right hand covered her eyes, as she sighed loudly.
"But what about relaxing on your sofa?" Grina snickered, as she sits on the guest chair with her right leg going above her left one. "I thought you were interested into"
"What relax? I'm full of energy!" The woman's arms stretched upwards, as her fists clenched. "I could listen to endless stories without even falling asleep!"
"… Tonna, stop." Mirii's right hand went back down. "We know you are lying…"
"I-I'm not l-lying…" Sweat covered Tonna's face, as she swallowed silently. "I-I just wanted t-to express m-my gratitude f-for having s-such wonderful f-friends…" She took a quick, loud breath. "I-I didn't wanted t-to give th-the impression yo-you were annoying t-to me…"
Mirii's head shook, as she turned towards Grina.
"Enough with those foolish questions…" Her head rose. "We are here to listen your plan, as you briefly told us…"
"Ah, yes!" Tonna's right forefinger pointed the ceiling, as her eyes grew a bit. "I heard that Grina didn't meet up with any of you this morning…"
"Yes, I remember…" Hun's right hand scratches the top of his head. "… but why?"
Grina smiled widely.
"Because I"
Suddenly, music starts playing: Tonna groaned loudly, as she sprinted towards her desk and rotated her eyes.
"Darn it! Who's calling me?!" Tonna's right hand picked her smartphone, raising it a bit while her eyes were seeing the screen. "… huh?!" Her eyes expanded, as her right thumb landed on the green circle and puts her smartphone on her ear's right side. "Hello?"
The woman walked around the desk, as Grina and Bars stared back at each other. Mirii's head rose, as her eyes squeezed a bit.
"… WHAT?!" Tonna's irises shrunk, as her left hand landed on her desk, while bending forward. "I'll check immediately!" Her phone lowered, as her right thumb pushed the red circle on its screen.
The woman sits on her office chair, as her fingers began tapping on the laptop's keyboard.
"Tonna, I demand an explanation!" Mirii frowned, as she walked forward. "What is happening"
"DARN IT!" Tonna's hands slammed on her desk. "DARN IT!"
Immediately, Mirii rushed around the desk, followed by Hun and Grina respectively. Bars sits on the guest chair, watching the group of Inklings getting around the laptop…
"… AM I SEEING THIS?!" Mirii lifted her posture, as her eyes grew and her mouth opened wide.
The laptop screen was showing an image of the Turf War Station covered in greenish material… except the top, which had a flying ship above it. A satellite antenna was sticking from below the ship, pointed at the Turf War Station's top.
"No…" Grina's eyes expanded. "… they did it…"
Tonna turned her head towards each Inkling.
"Inkinators! You have a mission at hand!" The woman frowned. "You must go inside the Turf War Station and"
"Whoooa there!" Grina's hands went back and forth, as her forehead was covered in sweat. "We are Squids, not flying creatures! How can we reach such high place, in the first place?!"
"Last time we used a Stingray to reach their ship…" Mirii's head rose. "If only we knew…"
"You will use the plane, obviously!" Tonna nodded. "I'll prepare one just for"
"A small plane against a huge, badbass ship?!" Grina's arms opened wide. "Yeah, give me a seadragon to ride, instead!"
"I can't think of a better idea than that!" Tonna frowned. "I'm already frustrated at the fact I couldn't help you out earlier…"
"Nah, it was just a little idea I had in mind!" Grina shrugged. "I wasn't too sure you would accept it… but anyways!" She turned towards Mirii. "Got any ideas, Miss Gadget-o-matic?"
A vein popped out from Mirii's forehead.
"… such news took me off-guard, to be honest…" Her head rose. "Although, I wasn't minding the plane idea, as suggested from Tonna."
"How can we even survive the ship's attacks?!" Grina frowned. "Th-they will take no effort at shooting us down!"
"Girl, like… we could get a bigger plane!" Bars chuckles.
"Heh, heh!" Grina snorted, as her eyelids lowered to the middle and her head tilted left and right. "Great idea, genius… I would so see the HQ giving such plane just for the four of us!"
"… what if I send more Agents for the mission?" Tonna smiled a bit, as her eyelids lowered to the middle.
"Huh?!" Grina's mouth opened wide, returning towards the woman. "You can really do that?!"
Tonna nodded.
"Think about it… the Stingrays are attacking the core base of work for Project Neo!" Her eyes closed. "I wouldn't even need to explain the mission in such details… I would have tons of Agents who are willing to jump right into the plane and stop the Stingrays!"
"But if you do that, we would not have the chance of invading their ship… the Agents will surely notice our intentions of getting in there." Mirii's arms folded. "I'm sure those Stingrays must have some documents or recordings about Project Neo…"
"That's an unnecessary risk, we shouldn't take!" Grina's head shook. "Even more than knowing more, we should just stop them from freeing the Station, so Project Neo's experiments would still be put on a hold!"
"Without evidence in our arsenal, we would never stop them completely!" Mirii bended forward, while frowning. "I wouldn't hesitate taking those with me, if I would have the chance!"
"Even if that means to expose our backs like ink?!" Grina bended forward, while frowning. "Give me the big guns first and then I'll"
"Enough!" Tonna stands up. "I'll follow my idea of calling more Agents to help you with your mission…" She nodded. "That way I'll give you a stronger plane to fight the ship back and get inside the Station!"
"Nnnggh!" Mirii's eyebrows went up. "I-I preferred the four of us only…"
"I-I would need a huge ship to really feel sure about this!" Sweat jumped out from Grina's head. "They could"
"I can't discuss with you any longer!" Tonna frowned. "The HQ is expecting me to send you on your mission without any further delays!" Her head lowered, while still staring at Grina. "Do you wish to fly with a small plane?"
"No!" Grina's eyebrows went up, as her mouth downturned.
"Then, listen to me and get to the changing room!" Tonna sighed as her eyes closed. "Same for you three…"
Mirii nodded.
"Understood." She turned behind, as she began walking forward.
Hun immediately turned behind, following the girl.
"… grumf…" Mirii's irises turned to her left. "I must think of a way to access that flying ship…"