Maize was now stuck hiding behind a stone pillar with a room full of angry octolings shooting ink at him. Things would have been so much smoother if he had been able to stay on the high ground, but all of these inventors had made tech for combat.
"Anytime now, Octoronia…" Maize growled, squeezing the trigger to charge up his charger. He peeked out from his cover and fired a yellow blast of ink quickly, but he missed and wound up getting blasted in the hand by purple ink. It stung horribly on contact. He retracted to his hiding place. At this point the disguised inkling was waiting for them to gang up and corner him.
"Hey! Over here!" Octoronia's voice rung out, having broken in from the front door shortly after hearing the fight begin. She took cover behind one of the many machines around, drawing some of the octolings' attention, much to the inkling's relief.
"Well, time to see the special ability," Maize gulped. He had to put the charger to use and activate it. He pushed the button on the side. The yellow ink around him bubbled, Maize fearing that he might have broken it. He suddenly saw six huge yellow colored tentacles explode from the ink around him that began to block the enemies' ink. It had the teenage squid terrified for half a second.
"He's got a tenta-cade! Get back!" one of the many octolings screamed out. Maize had to swallow his fear. He got up, beginning to move. The tentacles followed, keeping a tightly knit defence around him. It felt great to be well protected. He charged up his weapon and aimed, the tentacle moving aside to let him shoot. He fired the charger, hitting one of the many octolings in the face and instantly splattering them. The tentacles then returned to their usual formation to continue blocking the ink counter attack.
"Lucky. I wish I had that," Octoronia muttered to herself, getting up from her cover and shooting at two of the other octolings that had been trying to pin her down. She got one with her pink ink, splattering them. Maize had been trying to do his best to get to a better location, when the tenta-cade had come to an end, and the tentacles retracted into the ink where they came from.
"What is with my luck lately?!" Maize dove to the right, ducking under another one of those crazy grenades that the inventor octolings had created. It exploded into a big storm of ink, tearing apart another good bit of the warehouse. Maize had gotten safely by an open door which seemed to lead to another part of the warehouse. He hated to leave his octoling friend to fend for herself, but he had to find her sister. Maybe then they could escape quicker. The inkling got up and made his way into the doorway, which took him to a small corridor.
"Jeez… what could they be storing in here?" Maize asked. He really would rather not know, but he had to search the four doors. He hoped that there would not be any more octolings hiding back here. He had to be cautious and not get ambushed. Opening the first of the heavy doors, the yellow squid saw weird machines and a few trapped animals in cages.
"Why am I not surprised?" he wondered before closing the door back since he saw no young octoling in there. The second door he opened revealed an odd line of ink colors. Judging from what he could see on a chalkboard, someone was trying to make new colors to be used. He closed that door.
"How hard is it to find a five year old girl?" Maize groaned. The third door he opened appeared to be a big dark room. He flicked on the light switch. There was one medium sized cardboard box, but with something within it that he recognized.
"Hey! I haven't seen one of these in a while," the disguised inkling smiled, pulling out one of the few objects in the box. It was a baby zapfish doll that had a hat on it. The zapfish doll appeared to be stitched together with a lot of time and care. Maize recognized them easily because he had gathered a lot when Captain Cuttlefish was training him. The captain himself was the one who stitched these together.
Maize's attention however got drawn by something mechanical that was resting beside the box. He crouched down to give it a closer inspection. It seemed to be a robotic octoling. The tentacles it had for hair were done up into a long loose style that ran down the back of the machine. It was wearing a pink shirt that had various colored stripes on it.
"I've never seen a robot before," Maize admitted. Technically it was not the first time he had seen a robot, but this one was a full-fledged machine. It appeared to be holding one of the baby zapfish dolls very close to its chest. He reached toward it, trying to look at some white light that was coming from under the shirt behind the doll.
"Gah!" Maize got startled, feeling the gloved hand of the machine grab his arm. He threw himself backwards, landing onto the floor. The robotic octoling stood up and began to take steps toward him. That white light changed to a yellow, the baby zapfish doll being kept in its one hand.
"Are you in need of assistance?" a light voice chimed. The robot octoling was speaking to him. Maize could not believe what was happening before him. He tried to get over the shock of the moment, getting off the floor.
"Yeah. I got maybe five more minutes before tons of smart octolings come in here and splat… I mean slather me. Have you seen a young octoling? She's five years old," Maize asked from the robot, remember the information he got from Octoronia.
"I am five years old. However, I have no recollection of anyone else here. I have been locked within here for approximately twenty-nine hours and fifty-eight minutes," the robot explained. The yellow squid stared for a brief moment before the idea suddenly struck his mind. Octoronia had told him that her sister stuck out in a crowd, and considering she was an inventor, it only led to one real conclusion.
"You're Octoronias sis? Wow…! I wish my sister had been a robot," Maize stated, trying his best to not wind up reminiscing accidentally when he saw that yellow light change to red. He had a bad feeling wash over him. The robot octoling's eyes changed to a furious appearance.
"I am not just a robot! I am E.C.O.! Say it with me; E.C.O.!" ECO angrily introduced herself. Maize felt that she could rip him apart in a second. Octoronia was not kidding when she warned about the hard to control mood.
"So-sorry! Sorry! …I'm Maize of the Special Squid Services. Your sister contacted us after your kidnapping," Maize exclaimed. He watched the red light change to green. His words appeared to make the robotic octoling very happy.
"Really? Yay! Big sis did not forget me!" ECO spun around in glee, cherishing the baby zapfish doll. For a robot, she sure was extremely emotional. Maize heard the sounds of footsteps coming. Now his fear had returned.
"I think he went in here!" one voice rung out. Maize thought he heard two sets of footsteps, and he was cornered. He didn't know if ECO was of any use when it came to splatting others, and his charger was not meant to be a closed ranged weapon. He had not even the chance to use the special ability again for a long time. One moment later, he suddenly had an idea.
"I don't see him!" one octoling girl called out, upon entering the room. ECO was standing in the same place, squeezing the zapfish plush toy. The light on her chest now had become blue.
"At least the prisoner's still here," another octoling said while stepping beside her. They both appeared irritated. All the damage that had occurred in the main warehouse, and the fight still going on in there, had done nothing but push their patience.
"You really need to quit reactivating yourself" the octoling girl claimed as she approached ECO. The robot took a step back fearfully. The box full of zapfish suddenly moved a little. Maize had taken the chance with his environment and turned into his squid form. He was hiding within the box of toys. He popped up when the two octolings were separated, sending the zapfish toys flying. His charger fully charged, he let go of the trigger, watching it fire a burst of yellow ink and splattering the male octoling instantly.
"Wha-?! You sneaky urchin!" the other octoling aimed her weapon at him. She suddenly got bashed in the back of the head. ECO had easily taken advantage of the distraction with one strong punch. They now had the upper hand on the situation.
"Good work! Can you use one of these?" Maize quirked, ECO coming over, reluctantly resting down the zapfish doll. She picked up the ink tank on the ground and tossed it over her shoulder, and then grabbed the small slather blaster.
"My reaction systems are not fine-tuned, but I will do my best," ECO nodded. If he didn't know she was a robot, he would swear he was talking to any other regular octoling. She seemed saddened to be forced to leave the zapfish doll behind as the two made their way out of the storage area back into the hall, closing the door behind them.
"Wow!" Maize gasped, seeing the amount of various colored ink everywhere. There was probably only four octolings, but among them was Octoronia who was stuck lying by the wall out cold. The other inventors that were left had been waiting for the disguised inkling to reappear after they had dealt with her. ECO's light changed to red once again.
"You go left! I'll go right!" the yellow squid ordered. The robot thankfully listened and complied. They both took their position, despite the octolings not letting up their attempts to attack them. Maize prepared his charger, aiming for the first octoling he saw, opening fire and splattering them. He thankfully was very accurate.
"I do not like this situation," ECO said as she peeked around the corner, firing her blaster and slathering another octoling, watching them fall over exploding into a small ink puddle. The robot had put her trust into Maize mostly because he had saved her and knew her sister. The last two octolings seemed to realize they were now alone, the two of them dropping their weapons and running for the nearest exit.
"I think we're all clear," Maize sighed in relief, his ink tank near empty. The warehouse and most of its inventions were coated in various colored ink. ECO dropped her weapon and ink tank, going over to her sibling, her red light changing to blue. She was greatly concerned. Maize followed the robot and kneeled down to Octoronia.
"Hey, Octoronia, time to get up. We're done here," Maize lifted up her goggles to her forehead, shaking her some. Octoronia blinked, groaning as her eyes opened slowly.
"Oh… he-hey, Maize. Sorry… one of those jerks snuck up on me and bopped me," Octoronia apologized before she looked to the robot octoling beside her. Just that very presence brought a bright smile to her face. The mechanical octoling's light went from blue to green.
"ECO! Oh my gosh, you had me so worried!" she tackled the robot, almost knocking her to the floor. Maize was happy to see the scene before him. They were not even related remotely, yet they looked like the perfect average siblings. He never knew machines could interact like this or share such emotions, but he welcomed it. The two of them stood up holding one another's hand.
"Maize, meet my sister, ECO. The first Emotional Cortex Octoling," Octoronia introduced them to each other very late. The yellow squid figured that was where the robot's name came from. The acronym for ECO sounded quite nice. He presumed that the older sibling had created the robot and given her complex emotions years ago. It was almost like ECO was actually a living being.
"Y'know, you could have told me your sister was a robot before we came here. I could have missed her," Maize said, thankful things had worked out in the end. The inventor octopus looked embarrassed.
"What can I say? I made her, but I always forget her true form," she giggled shyly, her younger sister bowing.
"Thank you, Mister Maize. I shall register you as a dear friend," ECO declared. He really had no idea how to feel about that, but he just let her do what she wanted. He suddenly remembered something, quickly running back to the other room of the warehouse, leaving the two octoling sisters confused. It took him a moment or two for him to come back.
"Here! I know you liked it a lot," Maize stated, presenting the baby zapfish doll. ECO smiled, taking it from him and hugging it tightly to her chest. That doll had been a great comfort while being held hostage. Captain Cuttlefish had made two of those dolls every time Callie and Marie got upset when they were very young. It was how he cheered them up, so there was a plentiful supply of them.
"I asked you of a lot, Maize. And I'm sorry about that. The Special Squid Service is really great! You inklings are really nice, but you personally are crisp… I-I mean fresh," Octoronia corrected herself toward the end of her sentence. The yellow squid gave a thumbs up.
"A promise is a promise, and I don't plan to break any as long as I can help it," Maize chuckled. Then Octoronia removed the goggles from her head and handed them over to him.
"Keep those as a gift, and the weapon, too. If you ever get bored, come visit us. Mollusk Metropolis might not look it, but it's pretty lively during the day!" Octoronia insisted he take her goggles as a reward. A souvenir, even. It was nice since the ones he wore now had gotten messed up during that fight. He took the damaged goggles off his face, before putting the functional ones on. He planned on keeping the charger, too.
"Thanks. I'm not the leader of the Special Squid Services, but… if anything, if you two think you can handle it… we'd love to have you two as agents," Maize offered. Although it was a rather tacked on question, he felt he would love to have people able to help Mollusk Metropolis. The two octopuses took a moment to think on it.
"To repay you… consider it done! Just contact us whenever you need to, and we'll help," Octoronia gave a thumbs up, ECO not minding the agreement. From there, they would become unofficially Agents 4 and 5. Hopefully, they would be able to help the octolings who needed the assistance, since Maize and his fellow agents were not the convenient option when required.
"I will! …well, you take care, you two," Maize bid them farewell. With that, the three separated. ECO and Octoronia had given him quite the nice farewell, but now the yellow squid had to make his way out of Mollusk Metropolis. He found it an interesting experience and hoped to return eventually. When Maize pulled out his cellphone, he then noticed that it was now two at midnight. It was a dramatic change in time, but he knew time flied when he was busy. But one thing that concerned him was that he had so many missed text messages and phone calls that he couldn't begin to count, all from the Squid Sisters. Maize just assumed they had been worried about him. Without reading or listening to any of them, he cleared all the texts and calls, pocketing the phone. He would see them both soon, anyway. Maize continued the long trek out of Mollusk Metropolis.