Orange trudged out of the lobby, behind crowds of inklings excited by the day's events and looking forward to seeing Agent 3 again. Orange, however, was not excited. I just want to go back to my room and lie on my bed. Orange felt he had let Agent 3 and Team Chargers down. Now, there's no way that could be true, as the last match had only been one failure in a day of successes, but a single failure has a way of pushing multiple successes out of one's mind. On top of that, Agent 3 wasn't even in the match, so there was no way he felt let down, but nevertheless, Orange thought he did.
"Orange, Orange!" cried Blue, shaking Orange's shoulder. "Guess what! I just got first on my team! Over 1,000 points!"
"Wonderful." Orange muttered. "Could you leave me alone? I'm just going to go back to my room."
"But you'll miss Agent 3!"
"He wouldn't want to see me, anyways."
Orange continued pushing his way through the crowd, leaving a protesting Blue behind in a bunch of their school friends, all eagerly and noisily explaining their greatest victories of the day. Orange felt out of energy, his previous emotion sucked out of him by his poor performance. And so, as Orange sat down on his bed, unlaced his shoes, and shut his window blinds, he again missed important events.
IIIII
Back in the plaza, Blue and the rest of the crowd fell silent as Callie and Marie walked out onto the stage that had been set up for the winners and prizes to be announced. Blue thought they looked somewhat upset. They normally were so calm, but now something was… different. Marie's hat was somewhat askew, and Marie's gloves looked like they had been pulled on hastily. I wonder what happened. Blue thought. I hope nothing's the matter with the festival. The approached the microphone near the middle of the stage.
"Umm, may I please have your attention?" Callie asked.
"Yeah, there might be a problem." Marie added.
"You see, when we went to get Agent 3…"
"He was missing!"
"We can't find him!"
"All we could find is this note."
Callie unfolded a small, white paper she had been holding and read it aloud. "'Attention citizens of Inktopolis, we are the Octarians. You thought you were rid of us, but you weren't. Now we've returned, and you don't have your hero to stop us. Ha ha ha! We will rule the world like we should have after the Great Turf Wars of long ago! Signed, the Octoking.'"
The crowd was immediately thrown into murmurs, gradually getting louder and louder until people just started yelling out questions.
"Who is this 'Octoking'?"
"Where's Cap'n Cuttlefish?"
"Does this mean we get free food now?"
"Settle down, settle down," Marie said into the mic. "We don't know who this Octoking figure is. We suspect it might be the leader of the Octarian forces last time they tried to attack us and were stopped by Agent 3. Cap'n Cuttlefish is fine, just slightly distraught. And, no, the food is not free." The last sentence drew the most groans.
Now Callie spoke. "Cap'n Cuttlefish is the expert in dealing with the Octarian threat. Last time he was able to get an early start in fighting them, but this time they beat us. We'll have to work extra hard to prevent this from becoming a catastrophe. As soon as he feels up to addressing everyone, Cap'n Cuttlefish will explain what we need to do. Everyone can help. Thank you."
Callie and Marie walked off the stage, leaving everyone with nothing to do but wait for Cap'n Cuttlefish's appearance. Yet as the clocks ticked on, the sun set, and the moon rose high in the sky, nothing was seen of Callie, Marie, or Cap'n Cuttlefish. Eventually, the only inklings remaining in the plaza were Orange and Pink, sitting on opposite corners of the stage. Orange had left his room when he noticed the commotion going on in the plaza, and had caught enough of Callie and Marie's report to understand what was happening as well as anyone else. Lights from signs danced around on the ground, but the night was completely silent. Orange was too lost in thought to mind Pink's presence. Eventually, even Pink wandered home, leaving only Orange in the warm, summer night. Though he was aware he was alone, it didn't matter to him. I wonder where Agent 3 could been? And how are the Octarians planning to take over the world?
Orange was shocked back to the present by a strange sound. He glanced around, scared, but didn't see anything. Jumping off of the stage, Orange felt his heart beating incredibly fast. He spotted a dark shadow approaching him, and… it started laughing. As it came into the light, Orange could see that it was Cap'n Cuttlefish, laughing like he had just seen the funniest thing ever. Orange was both relieved and a bit embarrassed about being scared by such a kind old man. "Hello," Orange said, "I'm Orange. I heard what happened. Are you here to make your big address? Everyone's gone except for me, so you might want to wait."
"No, Boy, I purposefully waited until only one inkling is still here," Cap'n Cuttlefish replied. "That means you're the one who cares the most. I'm looking for someone for me to train and help save Agent 3. You're still here, therefore Agent 3 must mean a lot to you."
"Oh, yes sir. Agent 3 is my hero."
"Well, I fear you'll need to become his hero now. I would like you to work with me and save Agent 3, and all of our futures."
Orange just stood where he was, mouth slightly ajar in shock, surprised at being given the opportunity to have so much responsibility. His mom still washed all the dishes, afraid Orange would drop one, and now Cap'n Cuttlefish would entrust him with the future of all the inklings! Orange's brain seemed to freeze, unable to process what was going on. He tried speaking, but he words were jumbled and only came out in stutters. "M-m-me, sir? You-you really want to entrust ALL of Inktopolis to me?"
"Why, of course, boy! Agent 3 was no older than you when he stopped the Octarians. And sink me if I'm wrong, but I think you might have what it takes! I watched some of your matches towards the end of the day, and you did fantastically with that charger."
"Even the one I did horribly?"
"Boy, you aren't going to win every one. I liked how focused you were on getting that one girl. I think you could devote that passion to finding Agent 3 and be the best agent ever!"
"That one girl… do you mean Pink? Man, she annoys me so much. There was this one time when-"
"Spare me the details. We don't have the time. Pink, though, is that what you said her name was?"
"Yeah. She always seems to end up competing against me. I can't stand it when she wins."
"Hmm…" Cap'n Cuttlefish had a contemplative look on his face. Then he muttered to himself, "Yes, I think we can use that."
"Excuse me?" Orange asked.
"Oh, nothing, boy. Only an old man's thoughts. Nothing that concerns you. Now, I want you to meet me bright and early tomorrow morning over by that metal grate. It leads to Octo Valley. There're some kettles there that can take you to different locations the Octarians were at last time. I don't know if they'll reuse their old bases, but even if they don't, you might be able to find some clues about their plans."
"Kettles?" Orange had never heard of these "kettles" before, and definitely hadn't used one.
"They're a kind of transportation. You go in them, and they take you to a set destination."
"Ah." Orange was still confused and slightly concerned, but he didn't want to seem like he wasn't paying attention to Cap'n Cuttlefish.
"Ok, boy. See you here tomorrow morning. 6:00 sharp."
Orange gave a small nod and an appreciative smile in response to Cap'n Cuttlefish's parting words. Suddenly, he was very grateful for the extra sleep he got between sleeping in and resting after the end of the turf wars matches. He didn't suppose he would get much sleep that night.