Maize had followed Octoronia for a short time. They had arrived to an area that resembled an empty skate park. Octo Valley housed a lot of areas like this. The yellow squid always pondered what it was like a long time ago. He had to assume there was a lot different back then, but that was another tale he could try to ask about with Captain Cuttlefish.
"It's over here," Octoronia motioned him over. He saw a lot of grass and other debris covering something that was right beside a half pipe. He moved some aside, seeing another hatch hidden beneath it, the pipes bent and damaged.
"So before we go, is there anything I need to know or do?" Maize questioned, aware that when going to an area filled with another race, he would stick out horribly. A lot of octolings did not take kindly to the presence of inklings. The octopus fixed her goggles onto her eyes.
"Well… when we get there, we'll need to get you a disguise, I guess… and you need to leave the charger here. It's not octoling technology," Octoronia stated. Agent 3 did not mind the disguise that much, but felt disheartened from having to leave his splatterscope behind. He was attached to the weapon so much. He took it off his back along with the ink tank filled with yellow ink, and he rested them down together nearby. He could only hope the octoling had some backup weapons. If they were going to save her sister, firepower was definitely needed.
"Alright. Let's go," Maize nodded, ready. He watched her stand on top of the hatch before changing into an octopus and slipping in through the broken bars. It would take him some time to get used to seeing that. Maize changed into his squid form and followed behind her, unsure what he was going to see on the other side, being stuck between feeling excited and afraid.
It was a very long travel for them. The pipes felt endless the longer they were in there. The octopus girl seemed to not care remotely like she had done this many times before. The further they went, the more Maize began to make note of how there seemed to be breaks in the walls of the big pipe. Tree roots were seeping through and beginning to grow within, as well as the occasional grass and dirt that had begun to take root within.
"Alright it's just up ahead!" Octoronia exclaimed while changing back to her normal form, Maize changing as well. The two walked from there. Normally their alternate forms were just less tiring.
"What's up ahead?" Maize quirked, seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, which was odd since it was probably eight in the evening right now. They arrived to another hatch that was in front of them instead of above. Octoronia pushed hard, beginning to open it. Once it was open wide enough, she smiled.
"You'll see in a second!" the octoling excitedly claimed. Maize stepped outside, and he saw one individual lamp dangling in front of the hatch off a tree branch. This tree was the only one he could see. A few steps later, Maize's eyes slowly went wide in awe. They both were standing on top of a Cliffside. Octoronia let go of the hatch, which slammed shut loudly. She then approached beside him.
"Welcome to Mollusk Metropolis!" Octoronia introduced Agent 3 to the city that the octolings called home. The Cliffside gave a wonderful view over the city. He could see all types of buildings from various sizes. It looked beautiful from up here. He never had been so high up before without super jumping.
"Whoa…" Maize forced out from his mouth. Inkopolis was a great place, though he never had really ventured much outside of it. He had only been to Octo Valley at most when Captain Cuttlefish recruited him as an agent. Maize was hoping things would be fine. He was here on a mission; saving the octoling's sister was his main priority, but Maize was making a mental note to come here sometime for a personal vacation.
"Stay close to me," the octoling insisted. Maize nodded, doing so. There was a path to their left that led downwards. He and Octorina began to follow along. The night looked pretty nice. They weren't that close to Mollusk Metropolis, so it was easy to see the stars that were shining bright in the sky. There was also a lot of trees around during the walk, revealing that Mollusk Metropolis had some forests around it.
"So, Octoronia, how are we going to get me a disguise?" Maize questioned, wanting to know how they would find him a method for him to go unnoticed. She yawned, looking around. The forest appeared quite empty but had a linear path to get to the city.
"Well, we can get you clothes easily. It's the matter of hiding your tentacles, that's the bigger problem," Octoronia claimed, but then he chuckled at that.
"It's not that hard. Just find me a hat and we'll be set," Maize reassured. However the two abruptly came to a stop when she quit walking and put a hand in front of him to stop him. He wondered if something was wrong, but then he began to hear voices.
"Quick, hide!" Octoronia urgently whispered. Maize looked around, the best place available was a fallen tree that appeared to have been torn down from a heavy storm. He hopped over it and laid down on his stomach, hiding beside it, thankful for how big the fallen tree was.
Octoronia began to see two other octolings approaching. They both were boys the same age as her, and they had different colored tentacles for hair. One was pink and the other was red. One was wearing a light blue shirt that had a shine sprite, while the other wore a dark green shirt that had three golden yellow triangles depicting one large triforce. Only one of them was wearing goggles and the other was wearing a black helmet.
"Uh, ma'am, why are you out here so late?" one of the boys quirked. It was worrying, as not many came out here this late. The forest outside of Mollusk Metropolis got creepier each passing hour of the night, but no one had an idea why.
"Huh?! Oh, uh… I was a little lost, but don't worry, I'm fine now!" Octoronia nervously responded. Maize peeked from behind his hiding place to see the scene before them. The two octoling boys looked at each other, shrugging it off and continuing their walk. However, his phone began ringing with the light ringtone. Maize bit his lip, recognizing the ringtone he had set for the Squid Sisters. He took cover back behind his hiding place. He had just gained the two civilian octopuses' attention.
"Did you hear that?" one of the boys asked the other while approaching the fallen tree where they heard the noise come from.
"I'unno, but that sounded really crisp!" the other boy hummed, having been drawn by the ringtone. Maize was about to get caught. Octoronia gulped. She had to help him out, since she needed his help. She did the first thing she could think of. She grabbed a fallen tree branch that was big in size, and then she swung, hitting one of the octoling boys in the back of the head and knocking them out instantly. The boy fell, slumping to the ground.
"Wh-whoa! What are you doing, you crazy kraken!?" the other octoling boy screamed in fear before she bashed his forehead, rendering him unconscious. Maize had heard the fight for the brief moment. He emerged from his hiding spot to see the two octoling boys out cold, one against the fallen tree and the other face first on the ground.
"Wow. Nice work," Maize gave a thumbs up. Octoronia dropped the branch, feeling guilty for having done that. They seemed like such nice octopi, too. He pulled out his cellphone and turned it off, not wanting that to happen again. That was too close for comfort. He was aware how rude it was to ignore phone calls.
"Well… we found a disguise for you," she said. He looked down at the two unconscious octolings. The inkling's instincts initially were against even remotely consider stealing from others who were asleep, but they could not pass up an opportunity that was perfect for them. He groaned, beginning to trade clothes with the octoling boys behind the privacy of some brush.
"Looking good!" Octoronia told Maize, seeing him. He was now wearing a black helmet that was hiding his tentacles within it and the light blue shirt with the shine sprite on it. Maize felt more embarrassed about it, but trading clothes with the octoling that was out cold was fun in a sense.
"Oh! Right here," Octoronia reached down and removed the goggles from the other octopi, handing them to the squid boy.
"Please tell me these work like replacement glasses," Maize groaned while removing his glasses. He pocketed them, letting her slip the goggles onto his face. His vision was quite blurry until she put the goggles on them. They fixed his eye sight somewhat. Now everything in short range looked perfectly fine.
"They should, but you're gonna be lacking in some of that 20-20 vision," Octoronia apologized, but being able to see nearby surroundings was better than seeing nothing at all.
"It's fine. Let's just get going," Maize nodded. The octoling and the disguised inkling headed to Mollusk Metropolis. Being close and each step made the squid all the more excited.
They finally arrived within Mollusk Metropolis. Maize entered alongside Octoronia. The buildings here stretched around the both of them. There was nature everywhere here. Tree roots were expanding all over the sidewalks and every building, whether shop, home or apartment was covered in vines, moss and sometimes flowers. It appeared that the octolings didn't care about that, and they allowed nature to do what it wanted and just worked with it. Maize found it quite beautiful, like a city turning into a literal jungle. There were quite a lot of octolings around as well who were enjoying the night.
"So where are we heading?" Maize asked, wondering where Octoronia's sister was being held captive. She pointed to the left road of an intersection. There was not any cars as far as Maize could see so far, allowing to assume that almost every octoling here was a pedestrian to live up to its natural atmosphere.
"We need to get weapons first. I should have enough coins on my card to cover it," Octoronia stated. Maize was learning a lot from this whole experience, though he was not expecting the octolings to use coin cards as well. He did not argue with her, letting her lead the way, aware that the right equipment can make any job or mission easier. Mollusk Metropolis was something he never expected to see at all in his life, but it was great to be in a new environment, even if the circumstances were not so good. He wondered if the octolings had different ink-based weapons, too. He was eager to peruse the shop to find out. All they had to do was prepare with weapons so they could save Octoronia's sister.