Chapter 34

"You…" I couldn't believe it…him again...

"Took ya long enough to come back to me." Octavio grumbled. "Ah, I see you've brought Craig and Shellendork along too, and the Squid Sisters, and…no idea who the last squid is."

"What's going on?" Some random Inkling came in from the upper area. "Oh no! The ducky club found me! I know this looks bad, but I tell ya, I'm innocent!"

I have no idea who that squid is or why I should care. I returned my attention to Octavio.

"Whatever you're up to is over, Octavio!" The Cap'n stated, aiming his Bamboozler cane.

"Up to?" Octavio seemed confused. "I ain't up to nothin'. Just hangin' around and droppin' some beats."

"Bullshark." Marie rolled her eyes. "You have some plan to take over Inkopolis, don't you?"

"Nah!" The DJ shook his head. "In fact, I plan on retirin' soon."

"Retiring?" Callie tilted her head.

"Wait…" Ben tried interrupting. "Who is this g-"

"Where's Tim?!" I demanded to know.

"Tim?" Octavio put a tentacle where his chin would be. "Guess it's appropriate he should be here, Amphia. Wouldn't you agree? Bring him here. I'll wait, and then we'll explain everything."

Later…

What is going on…?

Octavio's here…

He interacted with my son…Who's apparently off doing something with his friends…

The 'Squid Sisters' were trying to move Octavio, but he was using his suction cups to stick to the floor.

"You two…seem to know each other pretty well…" Cuttlefish noticed. "Mind givin' us the details?"

"I do mind." I told him. "So, no."

"…Maybe try talkin' to him so we can at least get him outta here?" Cuttlefish suggested.

"I don't want to talk to him." I stated. "I just want to get my son and take him home!"

"I might move if I talk to Amphia!" Octavio shouted. "Without any eavesdroppers…"

"…Amphia?" Cuttlefish looked at me. "I might recommend it if ya don't want yer boy seein' him."

"Ugh…fine…" Let's get this over with.

I sat next to him as the others went to the other room to give us some privacy, only having the door opened slightly to keep an eye on us. Well, except for that one squid who was already here in the upper level, but I think they forgot about him.

"He's a nice boy." Octavio said. "A bit of a ditz, but he knows his manners. Got a lotta potential as a beatsmith too."

"I don't want him to be a DJ." I told him.

"Why not?" He was confused.

"You think I want him to be like you?!" I glared at him.

"He wanted to be a DJ in the first place." Octavio shrugged. "He and his friend just happened to find me in their captivity and I became his teacher."

"I hope you haven't been corrupting him…" I told him. "I don't want him to be a part of your brainwashing schemes! Yeah, I know about that! What were you thinking?!"

"That's been happening." Octavio told me. "You were just made blissfully unaware."

"Seriously, what would his father think about this?!" I asked.

"He knew." Octavio replied.

"What?" I looked at him.

"He knew." He repeated himself. "He wasn't a fan of it, but he let it happen. A necessary evil, as he'd put it. He just wanted to keep you in a state of being blissfully unaware to a lot of the bad stuff happening. Must've liked ya better that way. Frankly, I think I did too."

That's…that can't be…there's no way he'd just allow that…

"I'm just going to take Octim home when he gets here and he'll never see you again!" I stated.

"…Yeah, somethin' I wanted to ask…" Octavio looked at me.

"…What?" I was hesitant to hear it.

"His name is Octim." Octavio started. "He said he was named after his daddy…that's true, right?"

"Right…" I replied.

"But Octim was just a name that Jr. would use to not draw attention to himself during his military training…" He continued. "Right?"

"…R-right…" I nodded my head.

He then got closer. I got nervous.

"So…" He looked me dead in the eye. "Does that mean the boy's name is actually-"

"Yes…" I stopped him there. "It is…"

"…And you wanted to keep him in a shack in the sticks." Octavio crossed his arms in a disappointed manner. "How long did ya think this would work?

"Just go back to whatever holding cell they had you in." I sighed as I stood up. "My son is not seeing you again."

Meanwhile…

"That movie was awesome!" I stated.

"But you missed a chunk of it when you were getting a refill, Tim." Guyver pointed out. "What were you even doing?"

"S-sorry…" I apologized. "I got my drink, but these girls kept trying to talk to me. They kept asking me questions like what's with my goggles. I told them I couldn't show them my eyes, and they said I was 'mysterious' and wanted to talk more."

"You must be great at 'luring' them in, then." Sarah chuckled as she nudged my shoulder.

"Wait, is that what this thing is for?!" I was shocked to find out. "Oh dear…"

"Where'd you even get that?" Sarah asked.

"Ivan gave it to me." I told her. "I…guess it's thoughtful?"

"You've seen Ivan?" Guyver was surprised. "Where?"

"He's been hanging around the Plaza." I told them. "He says the Rubber Duck Club is after him and he needs to prove his innocence, but he just lounges around all day doing nothing from what I've seen."

"Woah," Sarah looked at her phone. "I just turned my phone on and I have several texts."

"From who?" Sylvia asked.

"From…ugh…the Splatoon…" There was no point hiding it from us. "They found him, Guyver!"

Guyver looked at her phone.

"Ah…" He nodded his head.

Wait, him? Him who?

"Sorry Tim, they want us to come with over." Guyver told us.

"Wait…" Sarah read another text. "They actually want us to bring you with along for some reason…"

Wait…

"Where…are we going?" I asked, hesitantly.

"Inkopolis Plaza." Sara replied.

Oh no…

Sylvia and I looked at each other.

"I'll come too!" Sylvia decided. "I mean, I can't let you soldiers have all hog all of action. Leave some for me!"

"I guess…" Sarah shrugged. "Now come on, guys."