Authors note: Hi all! I hope you're not minding the daily updates, today is a slightly longer than normal chapter. I hope you enjoy! Have a good day and take care!
"How many are left?" asked Callie. She and Marie were now stuck hiding inside the quarter pipe in Blackbelly Skate Park. Rainbows of ink flew past and landed around them. Both of them looked drained. Callie's grip was on her roller tightly, her ink tank being only half full. Marie rolled her eyes, aware that the enemies weren't going to rush in blindly, but knew her cousin was too afraid to look. She peeked her head up, aiming her charger.
"Six…" Marie let go of her charger, splattering one of their attackers before she returned to her cover, seeing more ink blotches get fired.
"Five now," she smiled. Callie felt a lot calmer since her cousin was here. She hated to imagine tackling these missions all alone. She mentally pondered if this is what Maize felt like most the time. All of this fighting had started over a bunch of valuable antique moustache combs. The Special Squid Services really did receive nothing but unusual requests. The two famous squids saw a triangular ink grenade roll into the quarter pipe.
"Another one?" Callie gulped, quickly getting up and grabbing Marie's hand, pulling her away. They watched as the ink grenade exploded, leaving behind a pond of pink ink. Marie looked to her cousin while being helped up.
"Are you sure Maize has help on the way?" Marie wanted to hear the same information Callie had claimed, that their dear friend was sending help. Her cousin nodded, but at this rate they would have to handle it themselves.
"Hey, hey! Can I play?" the Squid Sisters heard the odd rhyme, followed by an inkling screaming in surprise and being splattered. They both peeked from their hiding place to see a new inkling. It looked like a girl the same age as them, with light red tentacle hair that were quite long and wrapped around her arms. She was wearing a red bandanna on her head that had white striped patterns on it, and a green shirt that looked like a turtle shell. But there was something odd about the female inkling. She had a heavy black bag dangling over her shoulder and hanging off her side.
"Get outta here! We're busy!" one of the other inklings retorted, annoyed at how a random female squid appeared, wielding an ink brush and looking a bit annoyed by the response. The other inklings ignored her. Marie charged up her squiffer Jr and aimed it, firing. She hit one of the offensive inklings in the back, splattering them instantly.
"Why you…! That was a cheap shot, you barnacle!" another one chimed, angrily insulting the Squid Sisters. He was not pleased to see his friend get splattered when their guard was lowered. Now there was only four of them left.
"Dude! That's rude!" the bandanna wearing inkling rhymed before swinging her ink brush, smacking a big streak of light red ink all over the insulting squid and splattering him easily. The last three inklings opened fire on her, but she hit a button on her ink brush, watching a bubbler shield appear around her which blocked the open fire and let it all harmlessly hit the floor.
"Why do I feel more unsafe than before?" Callie looked to Marie, whispering. Her cousin pat her back, trying to reassure her that they were going to be fine.
"Come on. She's helping us so far," the white inkling pulled herself out of the quarter pipe before helping her cousin out. The two of them began to separate, while the light red squid's bubbler was close to wearing out.
"Sorry!" Callie apologized while jumping at one of the inklings. She raised her roller overhead and swung downwards, crushing them underneath her weapon and splattering them into a puddle of pink ink. Marie had snuck up on the other inkling and quickly smashed their ink tank with her squiffer Jr before he could make one move. The inkling, after realizing that he had no ammo, dropped his weapon and began to flee the skate park. The red squid pulled back her ink brush, about to swing it at the last inkling who had been too startled to move, but then Marie got between them.
"Wait! Don't Splatter him!" she insisted, making the eerily cheery girl pause her attack. Callie approached the last hostile squid, beginning to rummage around his backpack beside his ink tank and pulling out a small box.
"Okay. You can do it now," Callie smiled. In half a second, that inkling was splattered by the ink brush. Just like that, Blackbelly Skate Park was calm once more.
"Hey, thanks for the save," Marie extended her hand in offer to shake it, but the red inkling instead pulled her into a hug. Callie and her cousin were finding that this squid made the atmosphere more awkward. The famous squids were confused, but assumed this was who Maize sent to help them. If it was true, she was unbelievably friendly.
"Hehe! I'm Fallow! I am somewhat callow!" Fallow introduced herself excitedly. The two cousins watched as she put the ink brush on her back, and she rummaged around in her side bag, opening it. There was an oxygen tank in there and some other complicated piece of machinery. The red inkling put the oxygen mask onto her nose before pulling out two cords from the bag, reaching under her shirt and attaching them to something on the center of her chest.
"Are you okay?" Callie tilted her head concernedly. Clearly this inkling had some medical issues that just made them wonder more about her mental state of mind. This constant rhyming was becoming a bit annoying to Marie.
"Sorry, I don't like to make others worry! My bro called, so I hauled myself right over!" Fallow hummed. The Squid Sisters were more than happy to be saved, but were trying to just adapt to the strange behavior of hers. At least she had a cheery mindset going for her.
"Wait, wait… your brother? You're Maize's sister?" Marie quirked, having recalled a few times when Maize mentioned his older sibling. Fallow spun around, glad that her brother had not kept her hidden from his friends.
"Yup! I'm the sister, to that little mister!" Fallow agreed. She sure didn't come off as the older sibling type. The two cousins were glad to meet her, nonetheless, but they did wish the circumstances were a lot brighter than they were.
"So, uhh, how about you come with us to return these to their owner. You can rest at our place," Callie offered, not wanting to be rude to Maize's sister. It was obvious that she had run all the way here, she looked tired and overheated, and the medical equipment made Callie worry that they did more harm. Requesting help, putting stress on a sick individual made them both feel a bit horrible.
"Ohh! Can we get ice cream? I love the dream flavor special!" Fallow requested. Marie didn't like the look on her cousin's face at the mention of that special dream flavored ice cream. That look of her taste buds already lusting for it. The white squid couldn't deny that she felt similar, but sometimes she synced up too well with her cousin where they both coincidentally wanted to eat the same thing at times.
"Fine. We'll grab some on the way," Marie caved in. Two big smiles shined on both Callie and Fallow's faces. With that settled, the Squid Sisters began to make for the exit to Blackbelly Skate Park with Fallow in tow to return those valuable antique moustache combs to their rightful owner
Maize had been traveling on foot for a long way through the northern part of Mollusk Metropolis, with Octoronia and ECO alongside him. With his splatterscope still broken, he had to carry a slathershot mark two on his side with a yellow ink tank on his back. His octoling friends both carried slather blasters, since they were small and convenient to carry.
"So you're sure this is the best place to look right now?" Maize asked Agent 5. The robotic octoling nodded, her chest light turning green, indicating her joy for figuring out an idea for him.
"This is the only place in a twenty mile radius from Humboldt's home that carry the supplies needed to make these timer devices, and do not care how many are purchased," ECO exclaimed. It made sense in her head. The places Humboldt had to acquire the items to help start fires were not that hard to find, but to find them altogether without looking suspicious was another issue. A lot of the parts for the timers had a limit on how many could be purchased, yet it took multiple of each individual piece to complete. Whoever created them had to buy in huge bulk.
"Guess I can't argue with a robot," Maize chuckled. ECO smiled, seeing it as a compliment.
"She's 90% accurate with her plans, at least when there aren't unpredictable elements," Octoronia added. Maize did not even want to know what the odds were. Whoever the blobbie kidnapper was, he was probably the most unpredictable octopus in this entire city.
"Is that the place?" Maize asked, pointing ahead to a very old building that had a huge tree growing through the roof, its vines drooping all over it. In front was a generic sign that read, "Shop until you drop!"
"This place is not open for the next week…" Octoronia read the sign on the front door.
"Are you sure this place is even in business anymore?" Maize questioned. The store's outside looked like it had not been taken care of for quite some time, but then again, he presumed that was a downside to allowing nature to grow freely and choosing to live in harmony with it.
"Yeah. They just have careless workers…" ECO stated, unsure what they should do now. Agent 3 was trying to rack his brain for an idea, seeing one of the many vines dangling on the side of the building.
"Hey! Over here!" he smirked, motioning them over. He grabbed on the vine, beginning to pull himself up slowly. The vines felt slippery, but he was able to get a good enough grip. His two octoling friends slowly followed along.
"Whew…" Maize sighed in relief, once he was on the roof. The huge tree growing through the ceiling felt invigorating. It all felt like a reminder of what he was fighting for; to make sure no more fires broke out, and to keep the nature of this city alive, just like its inhabitants.
"Alright, grab my hand," he offered his hand. Both Octoronia and ECO grabbed his arm at the same time. He almost went tumbling off the roof. He grit his teeth and dug his feet onto the sides, pulling hard. He was barely able to keep it together until they grabbed onto the roof and pulled themselves up, once he helped them get high enough.
"Thank you!" Octoronia bowed to him, seeing him holding his left shoulder in agony while sitting on the ceiling, wondering what was wrong.
"O-ow… I-I think you dislocated my arm!" Maize exclaimed. He couldn't move his left arm well at all. The robotic octoling and her sisters' combined weight had really done a number on him. ECO got behind him, grabbing his forearm and putting a hand on his back.
"I have medical information in my databanks. I warn you to cover your ears," ECO claimed. The yellow inkling looked at her confusedly.
"Wa-wait what do ya mean?" he wondered, "I can't cover my…"
"The warning was not for you," ECO pulled hard, Octoronia covered her ears and turned away from the two. Maize let out a howl of pain that echoed loudly throughout the area with a loud snap and another surge of pain. The moment of excruciating pain aside, his arm was fixed. He felt the mechanical octoling pat his helmet covered head.
"Please quit screaming. I've had to do that a lot to Octoronia," the robot claimed while they were approaching the hole in the ceiling. Maize felt nothing but pain at the moment, but he just hoped his arm would not get dislocated again.
"She's right. It happens a lot if you don't watch what you invent," Octoronia giggled.
"Please! I want to move on from the pain," Maize begged, not wanting to talk about it anymore. He jumped across the hole in the ceiling, latching onto the tree and then sliding down slowly. Agent 4 looked to the mechanical octoling before she proceeded to do the same.
"Wow it's a lot easier to break and enter into shops than I thought it was," Octoronia spoke, clearly not caring much when it came to speaking her mind. ECO fell through the hole in the ceiling, having missed the jump. She fell into the ground, leaving an imprint in the floor.
"Ow…" ECO cried, the light on her chest being blue. Octoronia face palmed before going to help her sister. Maize knew it was time to investigate for clues. He began to browse through the aisles, looking at the piece of paper that Humboldt had given them which were the key parts for the fire ignition timer. Agents 4 and 5 eventually joined along with him
"Uh… Maize, the candles are all gone" Octoronia's head poked up from the next aisle which confused him. He looked down, seeing an almost empty shelf for something called Octojelly. There was only one jar remaining. He picked up the jar, observing the substance that seemed like regular mushy fruit for food that someone would give to a very young squishie, or in Mollusk Metropolis's case, a blobbie.
"I'll hold onto this for Callie… maybe Bondi will like it," Maize thought, pocketing the jar of food. ECO looked up on one of the higher shelves.
"All match boxes have been taken too," ECO added onto the list of entirely missing items, presenting a small cardboard box that was supposed to be full of the tiny match booklets. Wherever they looked, the more they noticed empty sections of shelves.
"How many fire timers could someone make out of these?" Maize asked. Octoronia bit her thumb, trying to rush the math along in her head. ECO was tilting her head left and right, having no clue.
"It seems like they're not just making the ones on the list. Since it seems like they're making new types to be stronger, I guess maybe half of it with a lot of work would make at least fifty in a week," Octoronia spoke her answer, if her math was correct. Even if it was wrong, that sounded horrifying. Maize wondered what they could do. This was getting out of hand, and they could presume that Humboldt would be forced to do all the dirty work just at the threat of his son being in danger. It was safe to assume that the jars of fruit sauce taken was for Humboldt's kidnapped blobbie Octon to consume.
"Well, great. The whole place is ransacked, and this store's been closed for the week! Who knows when the lunatic broke in and took all this stuff!?" Maize kicked over a shelf, frustrated with himself. He felt like everything was stacking against him lately on the missions. He suddenly felt ECO hug him from behind, her chest light glowing pink.
"Please remain calm. Your heartbeat no longer needs to race. We still have yet to look at the security footage, right?" ECO reminded them of the possibility that the security cameras, which were very well hidden from plain sight, had caught something.
"Heh… you're right. Thanks," Maize adjusted his goggles, wishing he could wear his glasses instead, but he was thankful for her calming him down. They looked over at the back room, hoping to get in there easily. They had to find a way to wherever the security footage was recorded and look over the entire week of footage. Agents 3, 4 and 5 began to make their way into the back room to try and find where the security system monitored everything in the store.