Chapter 18

Cuttlefish Cabin…Otis's POV

We took Cass back to the cabin, still tied up of course. Sarah gave Cass's goggles to Sheldon. Marie then reached into the cabin and pulled out a box. Inside were different kinds of Octoling uniforms.

"For years now, the Splatoon has been appropriating Octoling soldier uniforms and putting them on practice dummies so we know how to identify the enemy." Marie explained. "There are some here from the Great Turf War even. You may want a more recent one though.

"These…don't leave much to the imagination, do they?" I asked, holding one up and noticing it revealed quite a bit.

"Octolings tend to show off a little more skin than we do; Even the guys." Marie explained. "Not sure why."

I looked over to Sarah who was blushing a little bit while looking at the uniforms.

"You Inklings are just a bunch of prudes." Cass commented. "Now are you gonna try them on, or what?"

"I guess I'll go first." I volunteered. "Now, which one's the men's uniform?"

"Men's uniform?" Cass seemed confused. "The shell are you talking about? Fatigues are fatigues. Now quit stalling so we can get this over with."

I just grabbed one and changed in the cabin. The uniform had only one sleeve and showed off my midriff. Octolings are weird.

"Does it look right?" I asked after coming out of the cabin.

"Hmmm…" Cass's eyes moved down, and then back up. "Yeah, that's just about right."

I didn't feel comfortable at all with her around. Then Sarah walked into the cabin. After about a minute, she came back out wearing a sleeveless crop top and short shorts.

"Wow, at first I was weirded out, but this fits like a glove." She admired.

I had to cover my eyes, this was too weird. Cass saw me and started snickering.

"Now you just need the armor pieces." Marie pointed out.

"Do these actually protect you?" I asked. "Octolings seem to splat easily anyway."

"It provides some protection." Cass clarified. "But it mostly identifies which sector you serve."

"Like how?" Sarah wondered.

"Well, the Octo Valley uniform has a simple breastplate with a belt and Octoleet Goggles and Octo Canyon wears the Neo set, now with shades."

"Yours looks like an in-between of the two." I pointed out. "That sniper guy's did too."

"That's because we're from Octo Gorge." Cass explained. "I was transferred recently to help whip the troops into shape. Sharp was sent because I needed backup."

"You seem oddly comfortable telling us this." I noticed.

"I'm just telling you that to fool them, you can't look like Octo Canyon soldiers they won't recognize." She clarified. "You'll need to look like new transfers."

We nodded as we grabbed the Octo Valley armor. We turned out hair red and put on the Octoleet Goggles.

"Well, now that you look the part, would you mind untying me?" Cass was getting impatient.

"I just had Sheldon wire your goggles so we can talk to each other." Marie explained. "Now he just needs to grab some Octoshot replicas and you'll be off.

"I'll be right back!" Sheldon ran off.

"How'd I not notice him?" Cass said to herself.

After a few minutes, Sheldon returned with Octoshot replicas.

"Now that we have everything, can you UNTIE ME NOW?!" Cass's patience finally wore out.

"Alright, I'll untie you." I got right in her face as I started untying her. "But try anything, and I mean anything, and you'll be sorry. I haven't forgiven you for what you did to Sarah."

"And I'm not sorry." Her eyes narrowed. "Now let's just get this over with."

5 minutes later…Sarah's POV

Cass led us down one of the kettles off the path we'd usually take. As we got through, we took quick notice that the area we landed in was less floating platforms and more long hallways and corridors. As we started walking, we noticed lots of Octarians of all varieties roaming the halls. It was kind of weird being this close without them shooting at us.

"Sooo…where are we going?" I asked.

"Near the research area." Cass said. "They say Octavio's been working on a new project outside of his concert. Might be your Inkling friend."

"Captain Cassandra?" A voice called out.

We all turned to see a confused Octoling.

"We received news that you've been captured…yet here you are." The Octoling said.

"Wasn't my first time in the getting caught." Cass boasted. "I tricked 'em into letting me out of their sight and I escaped. I'll give you the details in my report."

"Right…and…who are these two?" She was still confused. "They look a little…off."

"New transfers from Octo Valley who need the tour." Cass lied further. "As to their looks, I think it's a new style in the valley. You know how valley kids can be."

"Yeah…" The Octoling agreed. "Well, just make sure you file that report. Sorry for bothering you."

We continued on for a few minutes before Cass stopped us.

"Alright, labs are down the hall, but they won't let us in without a good reason." Cass told us.

"So how do we get in?" I asked.

"Hold this." She pulled on one of her heir tentacles.

"Ooookay…" I grabbed the end.

Cass pulled out a knife. How long did she have that?

She lifted the knife up and cut the tentacle off.

"What now?" I asked, still holding the tentacle.

"We wait a little bit." Cass said.

"For what?" Otis asked.

Suddenly the severed tentacle started wiggling and turning red. Cass grabbed it from my hands.

*Plop*

*Plop*

Two eyes appeared on the tentacle. My and Otis's eyes widened

*Plop*

Then a mouth appeared. Our jaws dropped.

*Ploplop*

Then tiny, actually kind of adorable legs with tiny, adorable boots on them.

"Ma-ma?" The tentacle spoke.

Otis's jaw dropped.

"W-w-w-w-whaaaaat?!" I tried to keep my voice down. "What just happened?!"

"I just gave us a ticket inside the lab." Cass didn't explain. "Now follow me and look a little guilty."

We walked over to the door to the facility where two Octoling guards, one male, one female, were waiting.

"Captain Cassandra," The male one spoke. "What brings you here…umm…"

"Training accident with these rookies here." Cass lied. "They knocked one of my tentacles off and this happened. I just need to take him to the tubes and then kick the carp out of these two.

Luckily we had goggles on, or else they'd see us narrow our eyes at Cass.

"Of course you do." The guard bought that story and turned to the female. "Open the door."

The female Octoling typed in a code on a keypad and the door opened.

"Congratulations." She spoke.

"Shove it." Cass replied.

We both walked in, the door closing behind us.

"…Sooo, is that like, your kid or something?" I finally asked.

"I guess you can think of it that way." Cass blankly said. "It's just an Octotrooper. They're simple-minded drones meant to follow orders."

"Ma-ma." The tiny Octotrooper spoke.

"I'm just going to put him in a growth tube, and then we'll be on our way." She explained.

"Growth tube?" Otis asked.

"Not relevant to your mission." Cass replied.

We eventually entered a weird room filled with tons of green tubes. Most of them were had tentacles of various sizes in inside. We couldn't ask any questions since there were a lot of Octarians in the room. Then, Cass placed Tinytrooper on a circle on the floor. It opened up and Tinytrooper dropped in, then floated up in one of the tubes.

"Bye-bye." Cass waved Tinytrooper goodbye in a surprisingly pleasant manner.

Tinytrooper smiled and waved the top of his head.

We walked out of the room and we turned to Cass

"Where to now?" Otis asked.

"Honestly, I'm not sure." Cass admitted. "I didn't actually think we'd get this far."

"You mean you have no idea where the squid's being held?!" Otis asked.

"I never said I did!" Cass shot back. "Wait…I have an idea."

She walked over to one of the science-y looking Octolings wearing a lab coat.

"Hey, nerd." She called out. The Octoling turned in response.

"Y-yes?" The Octoling doctor responded.

"I heard we've got an Inkling somewhere and I've got some new recruits who'd really like to know what one looks like before we send 'em out to fight the agents." Cass said. "Y'know where they might be?"

"I've heard of you, you know." She responded. "Since when do you care about new recruits?"

"Oh, don't be like that." Cass waved her hand. "They're just itchin' to get their hands on some Inkling scum before their first fight. I can respect that."

"You?" She questioned. "Respect?"

Cass got closer, the doctor seemed a little nervous.

"Oh, come onnn…" Casss whined. "I can be a kind person."

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow, unconvinced.

"Yess." There was a noticeable change in the tone of Cass's voice. "I can be a very kind and caring person."

"S-so what?" The doctor was getting more nervous. "I should tell you because you asked?"

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble…" Cass put her hands on the doctor's shoulders. "I'd be veeery grateful if you diiid..."

Oh Cod…Was Cass…flirting with her?!

"W-well, I mean…" The Doctor was shaking a bit. "I-I'm not supposed to say…"

Oh Cod…And it's working!

"I-I guess it wouldn't be too much trouble…" The Doctor gave in. "Th-the Inkling's in Sector C, Area 9, room 203."

"Aaaaww, thanks Doctor…" Cass winked and gave her a light punch on the shoulder. "I'll see ya later!"

"R-right…" The doctor was trying to hide her blushing. "I-I'll let them know you're coming."

"Thank yoooou!" Cass had a smile on her face and put her hands in a heart shape like a completely different person.

"Come on." Cass urged us to follow. We followed her into an elevator.

"Why do I get the feeling you've done that before?" Otis commented.

"Because I have." Cass confidently stated. "Plenty of times."

"Marie did say you were a manipulator..." I said.

"Hey, if you've got it, use it." Cass defended herself. "Now let's get you in there so you can get your Inkling friend so you can get out my life, and I can get positively plastered to help me forget this ever happened."

"You old enough to drink?" Otis raised an eyebrow.

"I'm 23." Cass responded. "Wait, how old are you two?"

"I'm 16." Otis answered.

"14." I answered.

"Of course you are…" Cass grumbled. "Let's just get this over with."