Chapter Three:

Outta Jail

The pair of cyan-blue Inklings sat upon the drab wooden bench in the grey-walled room, surrounded by a few other Inklings and Octolings of various colors as they wandered or minded their own business.

Moonlight shone through the barred windows, illuminating the dimly-lit prison. A blue Inkling in a police uniform stood outside the door, Splattershot held firmly in his hand.

Music played over a radio on the wall, mostly classic pop music with the occasional Off The Hook song or one of the Squid Sisters' old numbers, mostly to set the mood in a usually depressing environment.

Not much news from the outside world had come through, other than the occasional weather report or the reminder of the Splatfest finals being cancelled due to what had happened. A few Octolings in prison uniform glanced over at the Sniper and the Commando, often shooting the members of Killer Ink a fierce look.

Everyone knew what had happened out there, it had been all over the news; Leader, Vin Valentine, knocking Meggy off of that platform and causing her to break her neck.

Stuff like that did not give Killer Ink a lot of confidence with the fact they were in jail. But what really made their case a little more complicated was when Vin started partying after they were put in here, trying to get the other prisoners to party with them, until the guards made her shut up.

Vin stood in a corner, eyes closed and arms crossed, the Thug spoke with another prisoner wearing sunglasses, the two seemed to be forming a bond over their love of shades. It was very surprising, two jail-squids with an affinity for sunglasses.

Just then, the door opened and a female Inkling cop in a dress stepped in.

"Team Killer Ink." She called.

"That's us." Vin looked at her crew, "C'mon, fellas. Looks like we're gettin' the carp out."

In an instant, Killer Ink was following the cop and a pair of guards out of the prison block while a pair of Inklings waved to them in a friendly manner, Vin noted that some of the prisoners were big fans of them and flashed a wink to a couple Inklings wearing Killer Ink T-shirts locked up in the cells.

"So, since what happened in the arena was likely an accident, you guys have just been pardoned." A guard said, "You're free to leave."

"Holy carp!" The Sniper exclaimed, "Boss, we're free squids."

"Yep. And we're the Splatfest champions!" Vin pumped her fist, "Once we get back to our hideout, we're getting the good stuff because, tonight, WE PARTY! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Alright-y, out you go, squiddos." A female guard said as she opened the door, "Hope you enjoy that fresh night air and have fun. By the way, don't mind asking, but can I have your autographs. My name's Jel and I'm a huge fan..."

"Don't mind if we do." Vin said with a manic grin, happy to find that one of the cops in the prison was a fan.

A cop handed her a pencil and a notepad, which the white jacket-wearing wrote a note on, then he handed the notepad to the rest of his team, letting them write notes as well. Then the group gave the paper to Jel, who tipped her sunglasses and winked.

"Okie-dokie, you have a good night." Jel said.

"See ya, guys." Another cop said with a kind smile.

Waving goodbye one last time, the four squids exited the facility and out into the streets of Inkopolis with all of the flashing neon lights and vibrant music blaring from far away. The moon shone over the city, gleaming in sync with the neon and the stars. One of the guards, a uniformed agent, came forward to give the group their Splat-weapons back, then the Inklings walked away with glee.

Once they were out of earshot of any nearby cops or agents, Mask Boy, Gahsk, looked at Vin, "Did we win the Splatfest? I don't think we're getting that trophy."

"Who cares, Gahsk?" Vin said with a grin, "A victory's a victory and we're free, we've been pardoned, that means we may as well have beaten those trash-bag apes and I bet that beanie-wearing freak is rotting in Hell for all eternity." She grinned evilly, "Oh, I can imagine the misery that The Devil is putting her through."

"Isn't that a little morbid?" Gahsk quipped warily.

"C'mon, lighten up. Nobody else truly cared about her anyway."

The Killer Inks didn't say another word, all they cared about was their freedom and having a good time. Various Inklings waved excitedly to them as the cyan-blue squids walked through the streets, making their way to their place of residence in Eastside Inkopolis, their apartment they treated as their home base.

Once they'd made themselves at home, Vin wasted no time in getting out the Octo-champagne, then she had the others get the radio and set up the party streamers and the disco ball. Once everything was in place, Rays gave Vin the microphone.

"Alright, team!" The pin-wearing Inkling said, "Tonight's looking like a really good night for us, we worked hard getting through every match of that tournament and kicking down the puny players all the way to the final round with those measly humans. They thought they had it, but we kicked their butts!"

"Yeah!" Rays and Gahsk cheered.

"Hear-hear!" Mosque agreed.

"Oh, that beanie-headed ape got it handed to her, they don't make those humans like us. But we got 'em, that stupid beanie-wearing motherfucker is history AND WE'RE THE CHAMPS! Who's ready to party?"

"YEEHEE!" Mosque squealed.

"Yeah... Guess we won after all." Rays said, "Unless..."

"Enough yapping!" Gahsk said, grabbing a remote, "Let's get this party started!"

"THEN LET'S PARTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" Vin yelled.

The disco light on the ceiling flashed to life and Off The Hook's top song 'Fly Octo Fly' started blaring over the radio, over the sound-speakers. With music and disco lights filling the room, the Killer Inks got to dancing and drinking.

However, it was Vin who drank most of the champagne while the rest of her team danced. Once she'd had her fill, she hit the dance floor and got into the groove.

And yet, little did the partying squids know that a duo of translucent figures were watching them through the window from a distance, casting shadows on the walls in the moonlight unnoticed before they made their presence known...