Maize had walked the dark streets of Inkopolis for quite a while, Cobalt alongside him. There was an awkward silence between the two. Maize was trying to enjoy the peace now that he had it, but it was most likely two in the morning. The two were beginning to arrive back to the apartment complex.
"I gotta say, you're really no ordinary squid," Cobalt broke the silence, complimenting the one who had saved him. The yellow inkling cast an odd look to him as they were entering to the stairwell to get to the correct floor.
"What do you mean?" Maize questioned, not sure whether to take that as an insult or a compliment. The blue squid rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"I mean, you were all calm in there, when you figured out everything that was going on and you got me outta trouble. I've never seen any squid like you doing any of this, and that's not counting all you did for me and my sis," Cobalt explained. He was amazed by Agent 3 going toward any situation and being able to keep a level head. Maize felt embarrassed, by the compliments but he did not need an ego rubbing.
"Heh… thanks, but I'm just a really lucky idiot who doesn't think first before acting. I know what it's like to not have anyone there to help. I'm going to try and help every squid I can," Maize insisted. Cobalt could tell that there was some baggage behind that claim, hearing his tone becoming gradually more saddened. They soon arrived to the blue squid's apartment.
"You have no idea how cheesy you sound, y'know that?" Cobalt joked. Maize smirked, not able to disagree with that comment. He opened the apartment door, the yellow inkling following him inside. The door closed behind them. Most of the lights were still out, but then one light turned on from the next room.
"Who's there…?! Cobalt!" Auburn gasped upon seeing her sibling. The light blue squid felt nothing but great excitement, watching her run up and tackle him, almost knocking him down to the floor. He chuckled, feeling her tentacle hair wrapping around him.
"I was afraid I'd never see you again…" Cobalt returned her embrace. Maize was happy to see the scene before him. All his effort had paid off, and the siblings were reunited. The yellow inkling turned around, ready to head out the door, wanting to let those two enjoy their reunion.
"Wa-wait, Maize!" he heard, looking over his shoulder to see Auburn behind him, just after letting go of her brother. She reached toward one of her ears, grabbing her left earring and removing the piercing, presenting it to him.
"What's this for?" Maize quirked while she put that into his hand. The earring was golden and in the shape of a crescent moon, with a small blue gem in the centre of it.
"It was our uncle's. He left me two earrings, and I wanted you to have this one," Auburn claimed. The yellow squid was not a big fan of jewellery, yet he felt greatly honoured to be trusted with such a valuable item as a reward for helping them out.
"Thank you auburn. Don't forget our promise, Cobalt," Maize grinned, his three sharp teeth showing. Cobalt nodded, giving a thumbs up.
"I'd let myself be splatted a hundred times before I ever thought of breaking that promise!" Cobalt declared. That was just what Maize wanted to hear. He thus left the apartment, the door slowly closing behind him. Cobalt and Auburn had a lot to discuss. Maize now just had to get home so he could get some rest.
Around three in the morning, Maize finally arrived to his own home. For a walk, it felt like it took forever. He lived in a small remote home that was only half an hour away from the main plaza. When the young squid entered through the door, he closed it behind him, immediately falling backwards in exhaustion, collapsing against the wooden frame. He was not able to see any of his living room in the darkness. Maize let his splatterscope slide off his shoulder and clatter onto the floor. He looked at the earring in his hand.
"I'll put you up somewhere safe," Maize spoke to the empty darkness, standing up. He saw this earring as a trophy for a mission complete, a piece that did not just represent a reward and payment, but as a reminder to the lives he helped that were in a rough spot. The young inkling set his phone on a nearby counter. He had already sent a text message to Captain Cuttlefish during his walk home, which read, "Mission's done." He continued off down the hall to get to his room to find somewhere to stash the earring away safely and get some well-earned sleep.
The night went by just as slowly as it had started. The sky had begun filling with dark clouds overtime, the weather itself looking not so merciful today. Maize had fallen asleep on his bed, he did not even get under the blankets, his head lying on the pillow and his glasses resting on the nightstand. Though around nine in the morning, two certain squids stood outside his door.
"Do you really know how to pick a lock?" one voice spoke as the doorknob rattled, the sound of a frustrating sigh following briefly after.
"Unless you have any better ideas on how to get inside without breaking a window?" the other voice retorted.
"The spare key under the mat?" the first voice suggested. The two were clearly regulars who had been to Maize's home before a number of times. The door unlocked as two figures made their way inside. The inside of the yellow inkling's home looked alright. The living room had a small couch and a rocking chair. The television was right in front of it with a game console beside it. The two intruders seemed concerned though upon seeing the splatterscope left on the floor.
"Go see if he's alright," the other voice ordered, irritating the first one who reluctantly did it, heading into the back room. Maize was still slumbering away on his bed, though as he slept, he suddenly felt something on his back that was lightly shaking him. He began to stir from his slumber.
"Ugh… another hour, please," Maize muttered, reburying his face into his pillow. This seemed to only annoy the intruder. Suddenly the yellow squid got yanked out of his bed and pulled into the floor with a thud. He groaned, looking up to see who had broken into his home.
"Good morning!" he heard. Standing over him was a girl with big black tentacles that had a pink tinge that was done up into a bow. She was wearing a sleeveless bright pink shirt with a white trim and a matching beanie on her head with a star on the side of it.
"Callie? You broke into my house again?" Maize said, quite straight faced about it. She was Callie, one of the two famous Squid Sisters and the granddaughter to Captain Cuttlefish. The young squid had met the real her shortly after the great zapfish had disappeared. When the captain recruited Maize to help Agents 1 and 2, it took a while for the Squid Sisters to reveal themselves to Maize, but they got along as good friends after everything settled down.
"You had us worried! We heard you trashed one of the most relaxing clubs in town last night!" Callie stated. It didn't help that he was not responding to any texts or phone calls, though he had just slept through them all. She helped her friend up off the floor, seeing him grab his glasses and put them back on.
"It's not like I went in there to trash it! The boss was crazy," Maize retorted in his own defence. The two began to make their way to the living room. The walls of the home were very bare and lacking any photos.
"Oh good, he's alive," a sarcastic voice joked. Maize looked over to the windows of the living room to see another female squid with milk white tentacles which were done up into a bow and on the right side of her head, with the ends wrapped around the other side slightly curling up at the ends. She was wearing a green vest on top of a white shirt, and had green jeans on that matched well. She was Marie, the other squid sister. Despite the two's title, the two were cousins. Marie came off slightly more lazy, all things considered, and like always, Maize was slightly jealous of their fashion. Marie was holding his splatterscope. She had a fondness for chargers.
"Glad to see you two have no problem breaking in," Maize joked. They did not even trust him enough to let him know the location of their own home, even if they all were good friends.
"We didn't break in. We had a key," she said, tossing him the spare key. Maize caught it, looking annoyed while pocketing it. He only kept putting it back outside under the welcome mat because he did not want to run the risk of them breaking one of his windows. He only thought it was fair, considering that he broke into the studio last night because of a stubborn guard.
"So did the cap'n tell you what he's done?" Maize asked, trying to do his best to fight off the tiredness. He would have to survive off the little sleep he could get.
"Yeah! Grandpa's always working on something! He even caught the burglar at our studio this morning!" Callie excitedly said. She appeared a lot more enthusiastic about this whole special squid service deal than Marie was. Maize was just surprised that the old inkling had actually gotten the job done.
"We also already received a review for the website," the white inkling chimed in. She rested the charger against the wall before pulling out her phone to look up the review. The Squid Sisters had the newest phone that only had come out a month ago, and it was, not surprisingly, expensive. She handed her phone over, Maize taking it. The Squid Sisters got close to both of his sides, wanting to read the review, too, like they had waited until now to read it altogether.
"Squelp?" Maize repeated the site name where the review had been posted, not caring much about it. He scrolled onto the text below, the three beginning to view what it said.
"I was in a lot of trouble with my brother missing. I had told the police, but they did nothing beyond add him to the missing squids list. I did my best to search, but when I left a message requesting help about it on the special squid services website, they responded within the hour and an agent was at our home. I never felt so safe before, and so reassured. Later that very night, when the agent came back, he had found and saved my brother. From what he told me, the agent had done so much for us. We will always be thankful to the special squid service and how professional they were."
Maize was in awe. It turned out to be Auburn who had written it.
"Wait… what, only four stars for a rating?" Maize suddenly noticed and groaned. He had done so much for them, and yet the review only rated the website four out of five star. It was a great rating but still it kind of felt like a punch to the stomach, wondering if there was something he would have done to get a perfect review score.
"It sounds like you impressed some squids last night. Agent 3," Marie added. Maize was beginning to feel embarrassed. He had only done his job, and the only thing he regret about that night that he had to cause a scene at the club. That and his coin card being in ruin, as well as his savings.
"I knew we should have slept at the studio last night!" Callie stated. Her cousin gave an annoyed expression.
"You wanted to get out as soon as we could. After all, you were afraid the burglar would come and burgle you," Marie reminded, embarrassing the black inkling with those words. Maize snickered a little, but one look out the window, and he noticed that it had suddenly began raining heavily.
"So what do you two want to do?" Maize asked, knowing they had a lot more time on their hands than they let on. When they wanted a day off, sometimes they would pre-record the Inkopolis news. It was really handy, but they always knew what the new turf war locations would be on the rotation before anyone else would.
"I want to do a mission!" Callie immediately stated with a smile. Somehow that was the very answer Agents 2 and 3 expected. Maize grabbed his cellphone off the counter, beginning to pull up the web browser before he went to the Special Squid Services website.
"Well… since I picked out the last request for help, I'll let you pick," Maize stated, handing the phone to Marie. He hoped the next mission would not require a lot of money, but either way, the Squid Sisters were rolling in coin cards that were all at their limit of storage.
"This one looks interesting," Agent 2 claimed, presenting the phone to the others. The one request she pulled up out of the bunch displayed on the screen.
"I have been having issues sleeping over the last two nights. I hear something creepy outside my window. Whenever I investigate into it, the thing making the noise is gone. My neighbours also hear it. My job is on the line, as my lack of sleep is hurting my performance. My address is 3911 Windfish Street."
A hunt to find the location of a creepy noise, Maize thought to himself. That sounded simple enough.
"I'm up for it," Maize agreed while pocketing his phone, assuming that Marie was putting her vote for that mission, too. Callie didn't like the thought of hunting something scary, but she knew she was already outvoted on the matter.
"Let's just hope it's a megaphone stuck in a drain pipe…" Callie muttered. That was oddly specific. Maize presumed she had experienced that when she was much younger. The yellow inkling went over to his closet and opened it up, pulling out two umbrellas. He gave the Squid Sisters one of his vibrant parasols and kept the other for himself. He grabbed his splatterscope and threw it over his shoulder.
"Do you really need that?" Marie questioned if there was a point of bringing a charger for just a simple mission like this. Maize picked up an ink canister filled with bright yellow ink, putting it on his back as well.
"For safety precautions. After last night, I'm not going anywhere without it," Maize stood firm. He had no plans on getting caught in a bad situation again. He learnt yesterday that anything anywhere can go insanely off the rails. The Squid Sisters didn't fight him on it.
The three stepped outside onto the front porch. There was a nice deck after the front door surrounded by a bug proof screen. Callie opened the umbrella they had and held it up, planning on sharing with her cousin. Maize had the smaller one for himself. The three of them left the porch and began to head out into the rainy morning to start the new mission.