Author's notes: This story was already in planning about halfway through part one of Secrets of the Inklings for multiple reasons. One being because I had always wanted to do an origins story for how Marlin ended up becoming Agent 3.

This will however be far shorter then Secrets of the Inklings or the upcoming sequel (which except for the few people who know about the sequel already is still mostly under wraps.) Also because my main focus is still primarily on Secrets of the Inklings updates might be far apart from each other for this one.

Also there will be major spoilers to the single player mode in this story so if you do not wish to have it spoiled well...you have been warned. (Course I have quite a few spoilers in the other one...)

With that I hope will you enjoy.

Chapter 1: The Day Before

I knew I should have listen to what my head was trying to tell me as I looked down the grassy hill I was on to where a small rickety ramp stood at the bottom of the hill. Many of those thoughts including, "you could seriously get hurt from this...maybe even kill yourself," and, "mom is so going to splat you when she finds out what you did today," but I shoved them all aside as I prepared to do what was probably my most stupidest stunt I had ever pulled off up to that point in my life.

Or at least I tried to push the thoughts away.

I turned my head to look over at my best friend Whark, who had been my friend since we were little squids. Unlike me, who was still a orange colored semi-humanoid looking being, he had already aquired his full Inkling humanoid form since he had turned 14 less than a week ago. His skin was dark brown while his eyes and tentacles were teal with almost green colored tips, "Are you sure about this dude?"

"Of course I'm sure Marin," he responded as he flashed me a fanged grin, "my older bother showed me this and now I'm showing you. Come on, I'm your best friend, what do you take me for?"

"Alright..." swallowing nervously I climbed onto the skateboard that Whark had grabbed from his older brother and stood on it with my wobbly half formed legs, "...here goes nothing..."

Whark held two thumbs up at me as the board slowly slid down the hill and picked up speed in a matter of seconds as it raced down and towards the wooden ramp.

"Turn into a squid Marin!" Whark shouted down at me through cupped hands.

Nodding at him I concentrated for a moment until I could feel the normal sensation of my body shifting into my squid form as I fell forward to flop onto the skateboard and gripped the sides with my tentacles. Seconds later the board rode up the ramp and flew up into the air.

"Let go Marin!"

I did. As the skateboard started to fall back down to the ground I kept flying forward. Twisting in the air I shifted back into my semi-humanoid form and held my orange pudgy arms out to my sides as I closed my eyes and allowed the air to whip past my face.

"Marin! Look out!"

"What?" opening my eyes again I quickly realized my ascent had ended and my descent was quickly taking me back down to the ground...or at least that was what it looked like until I saw where I would end up.

"Oh no...are you squid-" I never got to finish what I was saying since it was then that I had barreled straight into the back of a medium blue colored Inkling, causing both of us to roll several times before flopping onto the pavement.

"Oww..." I partially moaned as I slowly sat up and rubbed my head, "that hurt."

"No joke you pudgy orange klutz!"

I looked over at the person I had fallen onto and immediately wished I hadn't.

The girl glared at me with her medium blue eyes as she picked herself up from off the ground, "What on Terra were you doing idiot?!"

"I was...uh...I was just..."

She rolled her eyes at me, "great...he has trouble speaking as well as is an idiot."

"I-I'm not an idiot!" I was finally able to sputter out but it did nothing to make her think otherwise.

"Whatever squib..."

I winced, being called a "squib" was just as bad as being called an idiot but it also was used to lable Turf War players who was just starting out...like I would be once I turned 14 the next day...

"Soral!" I turned just in time to see Whark run up to me partially breathless from the run down the hill, "hey...long time no se-"

"So this is your friend Whark?!" the girl snapped, "he just about killed me!"

"I did not!" I insisted but she wasn't even looking at me now.

"Sorry Soral...I just was trying to show him what super jumping is like and well...I had to get creative with it."

"I'm sure you did," she sniffed. brushing off the bright yellow shirt she was wearing she gave me another glare, "if we meet in Turf Wars stay out of my way squib!" she then stomped off down the street.

Neither of us spoke until she was out of sight and once she was Whark let out a low whistle, "you seriously didn't do much to get on her bad side Marin did you?"

"It was your idea!"

"Yeah...but you were supposed to be ready to land."

"How was I supposed to know that? I've never super jumped before!"

"Well you'll be doing a lot more super jumping shortly so you'll need to be ready for that," looking over his shoulder he saw that the sun was going to be dipping below the horizon in the not to distant future, "should probably get going. I'm sure your mom is probably wondering where you are."

"I very much doubt that Whark," I sighed as I held out my semi-humanoid hand which mostly looked like a orange tentacle with smaller appendages sticking out of the end, "you want to hang out tomorrow before you head out for Inkopolis?"

"I'm hoping you will be coming with me dude," he replied as he shook my hand, "your birthday is tomorrow right?"

I nodded, "Yeah but what if I ha-"

"What? Transformation Pains? Aw come on Marin you're not that worried about that are you?"

"No...I suppose not..." Transformation Pains occurred sometimes when an Inkling first turns 14 which makes changing between their humanoid and squid form difficult the first few days but that admittedly wasn't what was bothering me.

"See you later Marin," he started to run down the block to his house.

"Bye Whark!" I shouted causing my voice to squeak a little. It had been doing it a lot lately and I was hoping it would stop once I turned 14. I continued to watch him until he had walked up to his porch and into his house.

Sighing slightly I turned around to head towards my own house.

Taking a peek into the kitchen I tried to be as quiet as I slipped into the room and tried to make a beeline for the stairs.

Tried being the key term...

"Marlin!" a semi shrill voice cried out before the owner rammed into me and gave me a hug, "I missed you big bro!"

"Hello Kell," I rubbed the top of his head as he stared up me with his bright lime green eyes, "you know you really need to stop calling me 'Marlin' it isn't how you say my name."

"But Marlin is your name like my name is Kelp," the 11 year old insisted. His ability to talk being made difficult by a slur he had currently.

I shook my head, "Never mind Kell," I looked around the corner into the living room to see that no one was in there, "where's mom?"

"She went into her room," Kell answered as he slightly frowned, "she went in there five hours ago..."

"I see..." I looked up the stairs to where I knew her room was before looking back down at him, "you must be pretty hungry then?"

Kell rapidly shook his head as a small bit of drool fell out of the corner of his mouth, "yes big bro."

I couldn't help but smile at him as I grabbed a stool and used it to reach the upper cabinets.

After about 20 minutes I had created a meal of pasta and shrimp from a box and stuck two plates onto the table. As soon as the plate had touched the table my brother had immediately started to devour it like a pack of piranhas would devour a injured sea creature. After about three minutes of non-stop eating he finally looked up at me with a slightly worried look, "what about mom?"

"Don't worry Kell...I'll go check on her," pulling out a third plate I filled it with some of the pasta dish and with a glass of water. Placing them on a tray I started my journey up the stairs to my mother's room.

I paused briefly just as I got in front of the door and took a deep breath before knocking.

"Yes?" A voice behind it asked. It sounded partially scratchy and worn as if the owner had been crying for hours which knowing who it was I was pretty sure that was exactly what had happened.

"It's me mother," I cried through the door, "I brought you some food."

"Oh...come in then."

Turning the knob I slid into the room as I braced myself for what I was about to see.

My mother was sitting on the edge of the bed which was completely messed like she had just climbed out from under the sheets and various empty boxes littered the floor which I knew had been there for a good few weeks. On the bedside table was a small stack of dishes from the last several days which thankfully were only dirty. A few months ago it had been a hassle to get her even to eat because she had fallen into her depression again.

"Here you go mom," I gently placed the tray next to her on the bed and stood there waiting for her to eat.

"Thank you Marin," she said as she grabbed a fork and took a bite of the pasta, "it's nice...did you make it?"

"Well sort of...I mostly followed the instructions on the box..."

"Ah," the corners of her mouth curled slightly into a hint of a smile before reverting back to their standard position as she went back to putting food into her mouth in a very mechanical manner.

"Mom...do you know what day it is tomorrow?" I finally dared to ask her after several minutes of silence.

She groaned, "Oh please don't tell me one of the bills is due is it?"

I winced, "No mom...it isn't a bill."

"Well then Marin what is it? You know I don't like guessing games, besides I would think you would be too old for something that a child plays."

"I, uh...never mind..."

"Alright then Marin. You can go now," she handed the plate back to me as I grabbed the stack on the side table to take it downstairs to get washed, "and once you are done with your chores you better hurry off to bed."

"Yes mom," was all I said before walking out of the room and shutting the door behind myself.

"So how is mom Marlin?"

I choked back a sob that threatened to escape before I answered him, "She's okay Kell, you don't have to worry yourself out."

"Okay...hey big bro?"

"Hm?" I turned back to him once I had placed the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, "what is it Kell?"

"When did you get taller?"

"Taller?"

"Yeah than me."

"Kell I've always been taller than you."

"But you're even more so Marlin."

"What?" even as I said it I suddenly saw what he meant. Before I had only been about two or three inches taller than him but now I nearly was at least half a foot taller than him.

"Hm...my body must be getting ready for me to be able turn into my humanoid form..." I looked at the tentacle that was my right arm and I wasn't quite sure if the fingers had actually start defining themselves or if I was simply imagining it.

"Are you excited big bro?"

I lowered my tentacle arm and smiled at him, "Of course Kell...why wouldn't I?"

"Because you will be going to somewhere you've never been and you might get scared."

"Are you worried I might get scared going to Inkopolis?" I asked him.

The lime green Inkling nodded as fear entered into his eyes.

"Aww Kell, you don't have to worry about me I'll have my best friend Whark Kelpore with me so I won't get scared."

"You sure?"

"Totally now let's get to bed so we can have a good night's sleep, okay?"

"Okay Marlin," hopping down from his seat he followed me as I headed back up the stairs and to the door that was the farthest down the hall which was Kell's bedroom.

"I don't need help getting into bed. I can do it by myself!" He cried out before blocking my path to his room.

I looked at him, "You sure Kell? I can totally..."

"No, I'm good," he said in rapid succession as he slipped into his room and shut the door before I could even get another word out.

"Okay Kell..." I quietly whispered at the door before turning to heading into my own room. A small bit of sadness tugging at my hearts as I went and fought the urge to cry at the unfairness of my life.

No kid should have to live without their father but I had since I was two because someone with a knife had stabbed him in the back one night. It was also about around the same time my baby brother was born as well as a baby sister that died as well. My mom had said it was because she was very weak when she hatched and simply didn't make it. I never even got a chance to see her...

By the time I had opened the door exhaustion had finally caught up to me and it took all my effort to drag myself to my bed and flop onto it with a long yawn.

"Wow...I didn't think I would be this tired..." shifting into my squid form I sighed in a high pitched squeak as my eyelids steadily grew heavier and heavier until I had fallen asleep.