Innocence of the Underdog

A pleasant smell wafted through the air, carrying with it the scent of freshly baked bread and lightly seasoned fish. Carried by a passing draft, the aroma slowly wafted across the room.
Eventually, it settled over a certain sleeping girl, the scent sinking down onto the snoring inkling and enveloping her body, waking her up instantly.

"*yawn*…What's that smell?" Katelyn mumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, "Oh! Morning, Granny!"
"Good morning dearie!" Granny replied, looking up from a partly disassembled device in front of her. "Breakfast is on the table."

Groggily, Katelyn stumbled off of her mattress and sat in front of the dining table, a basket of bread and a plate of fish placed before her. Sampling a bite of fish steak, all traces of drowsiness swiftly vacated Katelyn as a myriad of flavors assaulted her taste buds.
"Oh, man. It'd be hard to go back to regular food after eating all this!" The inkling remarked, turning to look at the elderly Octoball with a look of respect. "Seriously Granny, you really gotta teach me how you cook sometime!"
"Ah, you flatter me, dear!" Granny replied, smiling humbly. "It's not as hard as you might believe. All it takes is a certain amount of intuition, but I'm sure that growing my own produce helps tremendously! Heh heh heh!"

Nibbling on a piece of bread, Katelyn looked around the small house, noticing a certain child absent. "Say… Where did Timmy go? I don't see him anywhere."
"Oh, Timmy's gone out to play. He didn't want to wake you up, so he went out to the farm by himself." The elderly Octoball fastened a screw onto the contraption before her, turning to examine it from multiple angles. "You slept much longer than I had thought, Katelyn. I almost thought you won't wake up even before lunch is ready!"
"A farm? Oh right, Timmy mentioned something about a farm…" Katelyn swallowed the last mouthful of fish fillet on her plate, setting her utensils aside. "I'd love to see it! Where is it, anyway?"
"Just down the road, a dirt path between the two neighboring houses. You can't miss it."

Examining the device with care, Granny carefully polished it with a piece of cloth. Katelyn turned to look at the contraption, which resembled a makeshift sprinkler of some sort.
"Just that lil' spot, and… done." Granny wiped one last dollop of grease from the sprinkler, looking up at Katelyn as she shoved the device gently at her direction. "Here you go, dearie. On your way to the farm, could you do this old lady a favor and install this sprinkler for me? Just set it onto the machine next to the sign marked 'Wheat', the automated system should do the rest."
"Sure!" Accepting the device, Katelyn carried it in her left arm, getting up from the chair and making for the door. "Consider it a job done, Granny!"

The elderly octoball watched as Katelyn bolted straight out of the doorway, chuckling to herself as she did so.
"Ohoho… she's certainly energetic. I should get to lunch before those two get back…" Climbing out of the chair slowly, Granny proceeded to hobble towards a nearby basket filled with potatoes, picking out and peeling a handful with superb efficiency.

Rushing out of Granny's shack, Katelyn briefly looked around as she crossed the street. A small handful of octarians happened to be passing by, presumably on their daily rounds. To her surprise, most of them barely reacted to her presence, only acknowledging her existence with a sideways nervous glance before either scampering off or flying away quicker than usual.

"Erm… you there. Excuse me?" An octotrooper with two tentacles who happened to be pushing a trolley filled with scrap metal stopped in his tracks, turning to look at Katelyn, looking just as nervous as the other octarians that passed by. "Are you… acquainted with the old lady that lives in this house, by any chance?"
"Oh, me?" The inkling glanced around awkwardly, before replying. "If you're asking if I know Granny, yeah. She just sent me out to the farm to install something."
"Ah…" the octotrooper visibly relaxed, his tentacles drooping with relief. "Okay. I'm also on my way to the fields. If you want, you can tag along."
"Sure, why not?" Walking alongside the trolley-pushing octotrooper, Katelyn crossed the street onto the dirt part that lay beyond.

Past the corrugated steel that composed the houses, the fields consist of large swathes of farmland. Lit by the gentle light from the fallen bulb, the acres of plowed land have multiple variants of plant life being grown. As Katelyn passed by a field of tomatoes, a network of pipes that lay on the side of the dirt path began to shudder as water began to flow through, the liquid eventually cascading from an unseen sprinkler in the middle of the field. The inkling watched in awe as the yellow light illuminating the dome shone through the droplets flowing through the air, rainbow colors shimmering over the fields.

"Beautiful sight, ain't it? We're proud to have set up a system like that down here." The trolley pushing octotrooper said, looking at Katelyn. "So… why's there an inkling like you hanging around these parts? There's nothing that should interest something like you down here."
"My name's Katelyn. And… well, I'm just passing through." Katelyn replied, looking at the octotrooper curiously. "But never mind that, um… whatever your name is, aren't you supposed to be… scared of me or something?"
"Morris. Just call me Morris." The Octotrooper introduced himself, "I'm not really scared of you, if that's what you're asking. Most of the young'ums down here never saw an Inkling at all, only the really old folks remember what they look like. I mean, you don't look like any octoling I've ever seen, so I just assumed you're one of 'em."

The trolley bumped over a small rock, disturbing a piece of metal on top of the pile. As the scrap clattered onto the floor, Katelyn stooped to replace it back onto the trolley, Morris acknowledging the act with a curt nod.
"I guess… that makes sense." Katelyn turned to look at Morris, a look of uncertainty in her eyes. "Is that all though?"
"Well, you managed to get Granny's approval, that's enough confirmation from me that you're one of the nice ones. She's a sharp one, that octoball. Don't let her demeanor fool ya, she used to fight on the front lines all the way back in the Great Turf War." The octotrooper chuckled to himself. "'Rumbling Colonel Boulder', they used to call her. I can't imagine how much of a pain she must've been during her glory days."

The inkling's jaw fell in shock. "Wait, seriously?!"
"I wish I was joking. But it's true!" Morris laughed. "But despite her track record, she's the only one round here that wishes to let bygones be bygones. All her fellow soldiers that live here think she's gone senile, but the rest of us want to just get on with our lives and not let something like that weigh us down."
Katelyn turned back towards the road, recalling the kind words that Granny spoke to her yesterday while they drank tea together. It was proving difficult to imagine the same individual knocking over inkling soldiers like bowling pins in the middle of a battlefield.

"Oh, wait just a moment." Katelyn stopped in her tracks as the two passed by a wheat field. In stark contrast to the adjacent farmland, there was no water being fed to this particular field, the plants already looking a bit wrinkled from the lack of water. Examining the pipe system close to it, Katelyn noticed a receptacle in the floor, a sign labelled 'Wheat' hanging next to it.
Withdrawing the sprinkler being carried in her arm, the inkling carefully slotted the device onto the hole in the ground. There were sounds of whirring and clicking, after which the sprinkler swiftly vanished into the dirt, reappearing in the middle of the field before water began flowing through the nearby pipes, a gush of water reinvigorating the wheat.

"Well, I'm definitely impressed." Katelyn took a few steps back, taking care not to get hit by any stray droplets. "We've got something similar up on the surface, some place called Kelp Dome. This setup's not as cool, but considering that all you guys have to build all this is scrap metal, that's something else…"
"Well, you know what they say, 'Necessity is the mother of invention', something along the lines of that." Morris shrugged, "We might even be able to build a superweapon out of salvage and ink if we got the time and resources."
"Uh…" Katelyn stared at the octotrooper with a deadpan expression, the latter taking up a look of embarrassment as he realized what he just said.
"Oh… um… y-you know, figuratively speaking." Morris spluttered, as the two continued along their stroll, "I mean, I'm not wrong, but who'd be dumb enough to do that, anyway?"

Somewhere above several layers of rock, a certain octarian leader sneezed loudly.

Several minutes of walking and casual banter later, the dirt path before the two individuals eventually split into two. The left path snaked towards what looks to be a makeshift junkyard piled high with all manners of metal and concrete in the far distance, while the rightward pathway curved downhill onto a large barn that seemed to have been patched up with pieces of corrugated steel in various places. In front of the barn stood a wide concrete field, in which a certain octotrooper child could be seen moving around on a pair of skates by himself, much to Katelyn's delight.

"Oh, I see Granny's little kid is out again today." Morris said, nudging the trolley towards the left path, "That right there's Timmy. He's-"
"I know who he is." Katelyn interrupted, not noticing a serene smile creeping up on her face as she watched the child clumsily skate around, "He's the first octarian I ran into when I came here. Nice kid, that one."
"Ah, I see. No need for the introductions then." With a huff, Morris began pushing the trolley down the left path, briefly pausing as he noticed the inkling walking in the other direction. "Oh, I guess this is YOUR stop, huh? Well, I'll be seeing you around, girlie!"
"You too!" With one last wave at the octotrooper's direction, Katelyn turned back towards the right path, running down to greet Timmy on the field.

"HEEEEEY! Timmy! I'm here!" Katelyn cried cheerfully, waving at the tiny octotrooper child as she ran over the last hill before the concrete field. Hearing her, the child spun abruptly on the spot, his face lighting up significantly by the sight of the energetic inkling.
"KATELYN! You came!" Timmy exclaimed, trudging towards the inkling. "I wanted to bring you here, but you were asleep. Granny didn't let me wake you up, so I came here first."
"Hehe. Well, I'm here now." Katelyn giggled, patting the child in the back. "So, what would you like to play?"
"Hmm…" Timmy tapped his forehead with his solitary tentacle for a moment, screwing up his eyes in concentration. Eventually, his eyelids snapped open as an idea came to him. "Oh, I know, I know! Follow me! I got something to show you!"

With Katelyn in tow, Timmy skated to the right side of the barn, where a couple of bundles of hay were stacked up on a messy pile. The child rummaged around behind the hay bundles, withdrawing a pair of skates that were much larger than the ones Timmy were wearing. In fact, they were about the right size for the inkling to wear.

"Skates?" Katelyn asked, examining the footwear closely.
"Yep!" Timmy replied, "Those belonged to my sister. Morgan told me that she's gone on a long trip away from home though. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you borrowed them for a bit, I guess."
"Ah… I... I see." Without saying another word, Katelyn slipped off her Cherry Kicks, stuffing them in her backpack before slowly putting on the rollerblades. It was a tighter fit than she expected, but a few wriggles later, it felt like a snug fit.

"Granny's told me about Anna." Katelyn eventually spoke up, unable to keep herself quiet as she began fastening the clasps on the skates. "She's been… gone for a while. Don't you miss having her around?"

"Mmm, sometimes." Timmy replied. "We used to come out here together to play. Sometimes we talk, about many things. I don't really understand all of it, but I love talking to her."

"It must be tough, without her to hang around with." Katelyn's fingers twitched slightly, fumbling with one of the clasps, "Aren't you lonely?"

"Not really!" The octotrooper child replied happily. "I have Granny, and Morgan. There's also the other children, I play with them a lot. And now I've got you here with me right now! I've always got good people around me."

"I see." Katelyn stopped to give Timmy a small pat on the back, smiling serenely as she did so. "You're a lucky kid, you know that?"
The child beamed back, a wide grin on his face. "Mmhmm!"

With one last click, Katelyn eventually finished locking the last clasp on her skates into place and stood up quickly, only to momentarily lose balance as she skidded on the spot and nearly landed face first onto the concrete, barely holding herself up by her arms.
"WOAH!" The inkling cried out, gripping onto and climbing up a nearby wall for support, "Eh… heh heh, this is quite different from skiing…"
"Are you okay, Big Sis?" Timmy asked, hurriedly running up to her.
"Yeah, yeah. Just give me a few moments…" Slowly pushing herself off the wall, Katelyn experimentally gave her new footwear a couple of experimental stomps, before taking a few tentative steps away from her support. "O-okay, this isn't that much different from ice-skating... I can do this…"

With a huff, Katelyn kicked off the ground, propelling herself forward. Experimentally, she mimicked her leg movements as she did when ice-skating, and was relieved to discover that the philosophy was more or less identical. With an excited cry, the inkling spun round at the octotrooper child, beckoning him to join her.
"COME ON!"

With a delighted giggle, Timmy skated forward and chased after Katelyn. The next few hours passed by like a blur, the duo participating in various activities that could only be summed up as mindlessly meandering about on the concrete field. After what felt like an eternity of laughter and delightful vertigo to the highly energetic inkling, she collapsed onto the floor along with Timmy, laughing raucously as they did so.
"Hahaha-ha…heh….whew!" Katelyn wheezed, her chest heaving as she hyperventilated. "That… that was…"
"THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!" Timmy yelled, his solitary tentacle was ever so slightly drooping from exhaustion, but apart from that the tiny octotrooper was not demonstrating any sign that he was fatigued. "I still got one more trick to show you! C'mon!"
"W-what?!" The inkling heaved an exhausted laugh, unable to believe what she just heard. "Y-you're simply unbelievable…! Sorry Timmy, I'll… I'll just sit here and watch, yeah?"
"Aww…" The octotrooper child seemed slightly disappointed, but he still got up smiling regardless. "Okay! Check out what I can do with these!"

Katelyn watched as Timmy got up from next to her and skated towards the barn, stopping next to a nearby wall. The tiny octotrooper's eyes screwed up in concentration, backing up slightly before he hopped straight towards the wall, skates raised.
Instinctively, Katelyn reached out an arm as Timmy seemingly flung himself headfirst towards the wall at full speed, moments from a serious concussion. "W-watch out! What are you-"

But then, the inkling's jaw fell in disbelief as Timmy seemingly adhered himself to the wall, and skated upwards while leaving a trail of fuchsia ink behind him. Stopping as he neared the roof, he slowly slid back downward, climbing off the side of the wall as he did so.
"Isn't that cool?!" He asked cheerfully. "My sister taught me that one herself!"
"What the… how were you doing that?!" Katelyn asked, confused. "Are those normal skates you're wearing?"

Out of curiosity, Katelyn looked down on her own pair of skates, and was surprised to notice a series of small tubes extended next to the wheels. She didn't notice it before, but a trickle of lavender ink was ever so slightly leaking from the tubes, lubricating the wheels as it did so.
"Timmy…" Katelyn asked, eyeing the skates suspiciously, "Where did you and your sister find these skates?"
"Oh, those were gifts, from Morgan!" The child answered, skating back to Katelyn's side. "He knew a friend that was this REAAAALLY good engineer, and she made those for us!"
"Well, whoever she was, she's certainly impressed me." Noticing that there was no longer fatigue in her legs, Katelyn carefully got up from her sitting position, standing up again albeit with a slight wobble between her knees. "Ugh, how long have we been playing? I shouldn't be this tired!"

"…Oh!" Timmy's eyes widened as he remembered something crucial. "It's almost lunch time! We gotta hurry back to Granny!"
"Really?" A swift glance at her watch notified Katelyn that it was close to noon. "Wow, it really is true that time flies when you're having fun."
"Come on! I'll race you back home!" Before Katelyn could reply, the octotrooper child turned round, and raced towards the pathway.
"HEY! No head starts allowed!" The inkling girl laughed, chasing after Timmy despite her exhaustion.

Not even two fields later, Katelyn was panting heavily from lack of breath. In the distance, she could see Timmy hopping up and down, gesturing at her to keep up.

"Oh, man…" Katelyn mumbled to herself, "Children… really are something else… Bleh…"
"I can certainly see that." A voice crackled through Katelyn's headset, "I never understand myself where they get all that energy from."
"Totally agree on that one… wait, Marie?" The inkling fumbled slightly with the speaker, "Just how long have you been watching?"
"Ever since you left that octoball's house." Marie replied, "I heard everything too, I just didn't want to interrupt. You've certainly gotten chummy with them real quick, haven't you?"

Katelyn rubbed her head, somewhat embarrassed. "It's… a habit of mine."
"Well, being the cultural ambassador aside," There was a tone of concern in Marie's voice, which Katelyn picked up on, "Seems like someone's aware you're down there, along with the others. By the sounds of it, they're not exactly friendly either."

"Wait, what?" Alerted, Katelyn stood up straight as she looked around, "You sure about that?"

"100% certain. Callie's relaying the news to me as we speak. They call themselves the Under-Sea-Dogs, some first-response group that lurks down there. I dunno about you, but I'd say you'd want to get out of the area as soon as you can. You do know how to get to Smokestack from where you are, do you?"

"Yeah, I know. I'll just let Granny know I'll be leaving first , then I'll rendezvous with the others."

"Roger that. Oh, and…"

Katelyn paused in the middle of hanging up. "Hmm? What else?"

"…I haven't heard anything from Chris and Mei-Lin since yesterday. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried." A sigh exhaled through the headset speakers. "Do be careful, okay?"

"…Yeah, I know." Without saying another word, Katelyn terminated the call, and hurried up towards Timmy as he went over yet another hill.

"What's wrong, dear? Is something troubling you?"

Katelyn snapped out of a daze in the middle of playing with her food. Noticing Granny's concerned stare, she quickly put up a strained smile. "…Huh? O-oh, it's nothing…"
"What's wrong, Katelyn? Are you not hungry?" Timmy asked, eyeing the plate of spaghetti that she was playing with. "I'd have your share if you don't mind!"
"Heh. It's okay Timmy, I'm fine." Katelyn reassured, "I… I just need a few moments to myself."

Nibbling on another mouthful of spaghetti, Katelyn tried to look elsewhere. The creamy taste of the sauce accompanying the noodles wasn't enough to dissipate her worries, however. The news that there hasn't been a peep from Chris and Mei-Lin since yesterday was enough to dampen the mood.
"And on top of that, while those two are possibly in trouble, I'm just here eating lunch…" The inkling thought to herself, "I can't stay here for long, they might need me."

"Are you sure you're fine?" Granny insisted, "I may have only one eye, but even I can see that troubled expression that you're wearing right now, even when you're eating my prepared meals. Is there something you're reluctant to talk about? Possibly involving those friends of yours?"

"Oh… I…" Katelyn internally groaned. Morris was not kidding when he mentioned Granny being a sharp-eyed octoball. "…yeah, you're right. I haven't heard from them since yesterday. I'm worried that something might've happened to them."

"Well, in that case you could ask Morgan for help!" Timmy replied cheerily, "He helps a lot of people, and he's really nice to me! I'm sure he'll help you if you ask!"
"Really, huh?" Katelyn leaned over and gently patted Timmy in the head, "Maybe you could tell me about him?"
"Well, he belongs to this group that makes sure that we all live here safely. I think they're called… um… the Under-Sea-Dogs?"

Katelyn paled. "Oh… That's….a weird name…"

"Really? I think it sounds cool." Timmy replied, "Still, maybe you should-"

Abruptly, the sound of helicopter blades came from outside, growing stronger and stronger as the source grew nearer. Hearing this, Timmy suddenly perked up.
"Oh, it's Morgan! He's coming over to visit!" He said, "C'mon, let's go meet him!"
"Ah… Um… I…" Katelyn stammered, looking around. "Erm… Granny, don't suppose you know where the bathroom is?"
The elderly octoball looked at her skeptically, before a snap of realization dawned on her face. "Ah… I see. It's just round the back."

"Thanks!" Rushing out of her chair, Katelyn quickly ran into the room in the back, slamming the door shut in the process. With her mind preoccupied up till that point however, she had forgotten to take off the skates she was wearing even after she returned. One frantic skid and a crash later, Katelyn was properly aware of her surroundings, more specifically the mild swelling on her thigh.
"…ow…" Katelyn thought to herself, massaging the injury on her leg. "I should've taken those blasted things off before I ate…"
In the darkness of the bathroom, Katelyn tried to make her breathing as shallow as she could, listening closely to the outside of the door as she did so. The helicopter noise seemed to slow down and stop, before she could hear footsteps entering the living room. Pressing an ear towards the steel door, she could barely make out a conversation being passed around.

"…Timmy! How goes my favorite kiddo in the civilian district!" A gruff male voice exclaimed, "Good to see you're healthy as always, Granny!"
"Good to see you too, Morgan." Granny's voice replied.

"MORGAN!" There was the sound of tiny footsteps running, and a slight bump as Timmy ran into something. "I've got something to tell you!"
"Really, huh? Let's hear it, kiddo!"
"Okay! Listen, listen! I made a new friend!"
"Oh, is that so? Who's the lucky winner?"
"She's this nice lady named Katelyn! She went skating with me today, and we had so much fun!"
"You make quite a lot of friends, don't you Timmy?" Morgan's voice laughed, "No one can resist such an adorable face like yours! Haha!"

Despite the fact that she could possibly in a grave predicament and was trying to not as much movement to the likely hostile octarian just outside, Katelyn couldn't help but flash a content smile.
"Heehee… Yeah, we did…" She thought to herself.

"It's good for you to drop by, Morgan." Granny's voice interjected, "But surely you must've come by for a reason…?"
"Ah, yes! I can't believe that slipped my mind, this is important." There was a slight scuffle of footsteps as Timmy ran back to the dining table. "Granny, have you by perchance seen an inkling here recently?"
"Oh? An inkling, you say? Why do you ask?"
There was a slight pause, as Morgan hesitated. "It's… for the sake of everyone's safety. I've been informed a squadron of inklings have entered Sector 0. We can't risk a single one slipping off our radar."
"And that has nothing to do with that master plan you and your group have going, I presume? Why do you still pursue something so trivial?"

There was the sound of flesh impacting steel. "Dammit, Granny! It's not just a trivial matter, it's for all our sakes! Aren't you tired of being treated as pay-dirt? If we capture an inkling, then surely we would be more than just simply those useless dregs with only one limb to speak of-"
"Morgan! That's enough!" Katelyn was surprised to hear Granny sounding so stern, in contrast to her usual gentle tone. "We are just as much a part of Octavio's army as his beloved octolings, and I won't hear another word about it!"
"…you still don't understand, do you?" The disappointment was thick in Morgan's voice. "Very well, I won't intrude any longer. I'll be taking my leave then."

Katelyn could hear footsteps slowly walk away from her position, but they stopped seemingly a short distance away from the door.
"Cooked a bit too much again, Granny?" She could hear Morgan say, "You seem to have an extra plate of spaghetti on the table."
"…yes." Granny replied flatly, "I was thinking about her again. Before I knew it, I've..."
"…I can sympathize. It's hard for me to forget too. I still wonder sometimes, if things had gone differently…"
"Granny? What's he talking about?" Timmy's voice asked.
"You'll understand when you're older, kiddo." Morgan replied. "I have to go now. If you'll excuse me…"

With that being said, the footsteps continued out of the front door and faded away, before the sound of helicopter propellers buzzed through the air, and that too drifted into silence. Making sure that the coast is clear, Katelyn opened the door, and sat back down onto the dining table. An awkward silence hung in the air for a couple of moments as Granny watched the spot where the Under-Sea-Dogs member was earlier.
"…What was that all about?" Katelyn eventually spoke up.
"Poor Morgan… short-sighted as ever." Granny muttered. "I'm sorry you had to hear that, dear."
"What's wrong with him, Granny?" Timmy asked, confused. "He was really loud today."
"He's just feeling lost, Timmy. I'm sure he'll get over it in the near future." Turning back at Katelyn, Granny gave her a solemn look. "Now, Katelyn. Perhaps it would be a good idea if you leave the civilian district as soon as possible. I don't think I need to tell you that you must hurry to the aid of your friends if they are indeed in a grave predicament."

"I know what you mean. I'll finish off lunch as soon as… Oh, right!" Katelyn bent down to take off the skates that she was still wearing. "I need to return these-"
"Wait, there is no need to return them." Granny interrupted. "I'd like you to hold on to those skates, Katelyn."
The inkling paused in the middle of fiddling with the cuffs. "Huh? But don't these belong to-"
"All the more reason I wish you to take them far away from here, dear." The elderly octoball absentmindedly turned back towards the front door. "It would be for the best to not leave any of Anna's belongings here where they will eventually gather dust. If anything, I'm certain Anna would not mind if you put them to good use."

"I guess when you put it that way…" Katelyn said, going back to the half-finished spaghetti.

"So…. This is it then?"

Giving a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure she bought everything she had with her, Katelyn prepared to leave Granny's abode, placing a hand over the frame of the front door as she met her gaze with the two octarians before her.
"Time certainly flies, doesn't it?" Granny replied. "Of course, this old lady sees time pass by a lot faster than usual, anyway."
"Yeah, you're right. Still…" Katelyn stooped down to meet Timmy at eye level, giving off a smile. "It's only been one day, but we still had a lot of fun, haven't we?"
"It was! I hope you come back soon to play again, Big Sis!" Timmy cheerfully replied, hopping on the spot.

Katelyn's smile dropped by a slight fraction, as the unpleasant thought of never being able to return here abruptly occurred to her. "…I hope so too, Timmy."

Without another word, Katelyn waved goodbye to the two octarians that played host to her, and walked down the spiral path. Their persistent goodbyes lingered in the air for a while, before distance finally silenced them.

"Well… I better not stick around any longer… I need to hurry." Katelyn thought to herself. But even as she did so, her daze drifted absentmindedly from the fallen light bulb in the far distance down to the skates she still wore.

"…didn't Octavio say that this place would soon be buried in rubble?" This distressing thought shot through her mind like an arrow. "I can't allow Timmy and everyone here to die like that! We're getting this stupid cross, and then we'll rescue everyone!" With a huff, she broke into a frantic skate, surprising any civilians along the way that passed her by.

Not even halfway down the spiral, Katelyn was gasping for breath yet again, leaning at a nearby fence for support. Various octarians were giving her a wide berth, some bewildered at the sight of the inkling, while others were too cautious to approach.
"ARGH! Blast my stamina!" Katelyn grumbled, "C'mon legs, you can still work!"

"I knew you would show yourself, sooner or later… inkling." A familiar voice interjected, spitting out the last word like it was poison.

"!" Alarmed, Katelyn looked up at the source of the voice. Perched atop one of the corrugated roofs, there was what appears to be an octocopter staring straight back. In stark contrast to the other octocopters she had seen however, this one appears to have crudely painted his own body black, and he was attached by the head to a disproportionately large bird-like vehicle at least 5 times his size with four massive helicopter blades at the very top and two robotic claws with six cruelly serrated talons on each one protruding at the base, the talons flashing menacingly at the shocked inkling.

"Who- who are you?" Katelyn asked, her fingers slowly creeping towards the Inkbrush strapped to her back.
"I am Morgan. Member of the Under-Sea-Dogs, and guardian of the civilian district!" The strange-looking octocopter replied solemnly, "And I believe you are trespassing."
Katelyn did a double take as she recognized both the voice and the name associated with it. "I…I want no trouble with you, mister. I am only here on an errand-"

"LIAR!" Morgan interrupted. "I know of your companions here in Sector 0. No doubt you and your kind seek to sabotage our way of living! I will give you five seconds to comply…"
"W-wait!" Katelyn frantically looked around, only seeing the octarians around her quickly retreating into their homes, and realizing that things were about to get messy. "Surely we can work something out?"

"I am not giving you a choice." Morgan spat back. "You leave me with no other course of action!"

The talons on Morgan's vehicle snapped open, revealing a twin set of Splatling nozzles dripping with fuchsia ink. Katelyn immediately paled at the sight, and darted off down the path in a panic.
"HEY! GET BACK HERE!" The octotrooper barked, flailing as he did so. "Dammit, you stupid machine! Take off faster!" A few seconds later, the helicopter blades whirred quickly, and Morgan took off in pursuit of the escaping inkling, winding up his weapons as he did so.

Katelyn's breathing was irregular. Not only was she once again skating down the spiral path as quickly as her legs would allow, she was now directly under aerial assault by a deadly salvo of ink that trailed closely behind her. Terrified by the sounds of gunfire, the octarians in her way were scrambling out of her way with expressions of shock and panic that closely mirrored her own.
In desperation, Katelyn spun around and flung a few globules of lavender ink straight back at her pursuer with her Inkbrush. They flew far from their intended target however, and as she noticed a stray projectile land barely an inch away from a shivering straggler, she decided to focus on running away again, not in the mood to be responsible for potential collateral damage.

"…running… moving fast… sounds of gunfire… are you even listening…" What sounded like Marie crackled through her headphones. Not being able to catch even half of what the pop star said, Katelyn yelled back in desperation.
"MARIE! I'm being attacked!" She spluttered, "HELP ME OUT HERE!"
"Agh, there's no need to shout! I can hear you just fine!" Marie complained, "But that can wait! Have you completely forgotten about those skates of yours?!"
"The skates?!" Katelyn briefly looked down, almost tripping on a loose pebble. "What good would they even-"
"THEY CAN STICK TO WALLS! I mean, I dunno if that might even work with you, but it's not like you got time to worry about that right now! THINK FAST!"

"Wait! What do you mean they-" The inkling paused as she remembered Timmy's particular stunt. "Ulp. Here goes…"
Spotting a conveniently slanted roof ahead of her, Katelyn concentrated as hard as she could, attempting to imagine ink flooding out of her footwear. To her surprise, she noticed that she began leaving a trail of lavender behind her. With a frantic hop, she jumped onto the roof, sweating nervously as she jumped from that onto a nearby wall, then onto another roof, skipping entire cycles of the spiral as she did so.

Seeing this, Morgan abruptly paused midflight, his salvo of ink dying down.
"Wait, those skates…" He said to himself. "Didn't those belong to…"

Several seconds passed before the Under-Sea-Dog member realized the significance.

"…I see. That's who you played with, Timmy?" He muttered to himself. "Hmph. Consider yourself lucky, inkling. I am not that heartless."
With a disappointed grumble, Morgan turned back, and flew into the far distance.

The fallen lightbulb at the very center of the civilian district, while diminished and giving off much less light than before, still generates enough heat to deter the local octarians from getting too close. Regardless of such however, there was a simple chain fence that circled the light source, benches lining parallel to the fence where octarians gathered to relax. As it is the afternoon however, most of the civilians are away from that spot in the middle of their errands, aside from two particular octotroopers that were slacking off on the benches, attempting to get a peaceful undisturbed snooze.

At least, until a screaming and flailing figure careened from a nearby roof, slamming hard onto the dirt and leaving a furrow behind her.

"Ooooog…" Katelyn groaned as the slacking octotroopers ran off screaming, "I'm never doing that again."

Picking herself up from the ground, Katelyn surveyed her surroundings, averting her eyes slightly from the glow of the light bulb. It was then she noticed the absence of her pursuer.
"Hmm, where'd Morgan go?" She asked no one in particular, looking around the skies, "I don't see or hear him anymore."
"You were moving pretty quickly there. Those skates really are something else." Marie's voice suggested. "Maybe he lost you?"
"Mmm… I don't think so…" Katelyn looked down at her skates, still trailing ink. "I get the feeling he let me go somehow…"
"Well, whatever the reason, best not to dwell on it for now." Marie urged, "I can see the way down from here. C'mon, you've gotta be behind schedule." Without saying another word, she terminated the call.

Katelyn nodded, noticing the obvious trapdoor just a few feet from the fallen lightbulb, a trail of cables leading from it onto the bulb itself. With a grunt of effort, she pulled open the hatch, climbing into the hole.
"Mei-Lin, Cobalt, Chris, hang in there. I'm on my way!" She thought to herself, before disappearing down into the depths below.

AN: Oh man, how long has it been?! Three months since the last entry, maybe closer to four than three by my estimate!

As some of you might've guessed, there's a reason why I've disappeared for a while like that. I won't go into too much detail, but a particularly personal matter happened, and I pretty much lost all my ability to write for a while. It's only now, when I've came back home to spend time with my family, that I've recovered sufficiently to start writing again. There are other reasons, some of which involve general decline in interest concerning Splatoon and whatnot, but given that it still occupies my mind, I'd imagine it pales in comparison to the personal matters.
But enough about my excuses. While I doubt there's anyone left even remotely interested in this story (3.5 months is longer than many an audience's attention span), I will still try to put out chapters as much as I can attempt to. After taking such a long break, I can't guarantee I can put out another chapter soon-ish, but only time will tell.

As always, I'd eagerly ask for reviews. I'm certain that this long of a hiatus means I've accumulated rust...