The group of agents had all run around through this facility. Violet had led them up from the underground prison and through quite a few rooms. Every place they passed through felt unsettling. Each room was poorly lit. The only thing illuminating them at most were candles, and most looked like fire hazards at this point, as a lot of the candle wax on each had melted.

"Where are we going?" Callie had to ask. They were unarmed, and the only two agents amongst them who had pure strength in their bodies were Marie and ECO. They were the strongest in the group, but even they could not handle a group of cultists with oil spewing weapons with just their fists.

"If I'm right about what's happening, then it's starting…" Violet answered as they ran through a hallway that housed eerie paintings lining the stone walls. Each one looked like a horrific mess of artwork that could only be described as made by an intoxicated painter on a Halloween night.

"What's starting?" Marie asked. Maize did not like the idea of fighting half blind, but his glasses were half broken, so he was left with no choice but to tolerate it. He wished he had gotten his octoling goggles from home. They would at least give both of his eyes a short distance of view.

"Fill us in, Violet," Maize added. The purple inkling led them to a wooden door that had some odd steel bolts reinforcing it. The door itself looked damaged by lack of care. He grabbed the huge handle and pulled it open, which took a lot of strength.

"The ritual for the beginning of the end of Inkopolis and Mollusk Metropolis! I know Taupe may have faked those sea scrolls… but the Abrailopsis Morisii existed back when the great disaster first struck humans. This thing might be very powerful," Violet described as they were entering into an empty upstairs area. The facility upstairs had an odd banister vision going on. ECO then noticed something odd over the railing.

"We're here…" Octoronia said upon seeing the same thing her sister saw. Maize, Callie, Marie and Fulvous all approached the banister. The shadows were going to keep them hidden quite well. The group all were looking into the room. There were rows of long benches set up with four big chandeliers dangling from the ceiling attached to chains, running to some levels off to the side. There was an altar set up with a black rug, and on top of it, the watery squid, the Abrailopsis Morisii, was standing upon it. Two tall candles were aside it with a big red curtain behind it.

"What do we do?" Fulvous asked nervously. Everyone was thinking the same thing at that moment. They had not one idea. The benches in the room were full of robed figures, and they were heavily armed. Seemingly, none of them liked putting down their weapons.

"…I see the cap'n," Maize pointed out. Captain Cuttlefish was barely visible, but they could see him tied up to a metal pole with ropes around him. Callie and Marie instantly wanted to go try and rescue their grandfather, but they had no choice but to try and wait for the best opportunity. The yellow inkling saw these huge curtains draping off the walls around.

Down below in the odd gathering, they saw Taupe. He walked down the carpet toward the watery squid with a big smirk on his face. Maize felt something touching his hand. He looked down to see Marie, whom was looking for reassurance by doing this. Maize grabbed her hand and squeezed. The Squid Sister looked at their hands and then back at him. She could tell by the look in Agent 3's eyes that he was planning something horribly unintelligent. ECO's emotional cortex had not shown that purple light in some time, each time she saw the two sent a surge of mixed feelings through her.

"We've all worked hard… and the day I promised you all has finally arrived," Taupe exclaimed as he walked. One step after another, his feet echoed through the quiet room as they tapped onto the carpet. The water creature was staying on the altar, just as unmoving as ever.

"Before we do anything… where can we begin?" the cultists' leader smirked as he stepped in front of the altar. He turned around, looking at the many inklings and octolings. Not one of them had their tentacles or their sharp teeth. Their robed hoods were pulled down, unveiling their faces and their happy expressions. Captain Cuttlefish was struggling against his restraints in irritation.

"When I was born… I had a bit of a genetic disease. Changing from my normal form to my cursed squid form would bring me immense, unbearable pain," Taupe began his speech. He did not deny how he grew up as an inkling. He was unable to participate in turf wars, and not being able to turn into a squid was losing his mobility which one needed around any turf war location.

"When I found the sunken sea scrolls in my attic that was left by my grandfather. After a few painful years, I was able to gather you all. I realized that the world was a miserable realm of lies, which cursed us all to be born in these sinful bodies!" Taupe growled, gritting his small teeth. Violet was just listening to this rambling. His grip kept tightening on the stone balcony out of rage of these false beliefs, which he had been tricked into believing.

"My family! We all were meant for better lives! And soon we will all have it! I would not have gotten anywhere near this far without each and every one of you," Taupe continued his speech, reaching into his robe and pulling out the last ruby sphere. All watched as the Abrailopsis Morisii took notice of this, its eyes widened to get a clear view of it. The four ruby spheres in its body began to separate. Now there was one in each arm and one in each leg.

"I can take a wild guess at where he's gonna go with this…" Maize muttered, seeing the grey inkling begin to gain an all too familiar look on his face. It was the same look the yellow squid saw when being beaten into unconsciousness.

"And now it's time… for my ascension!" Taupe opened his mouth as wide as he could before putting the ruby sphere into it. They watched him gulp in some attempt to swallow the gem whole. He broke out into a choked coughing fit. All of the worshipers on the benches looked confused, casting glances around each other. The choking had taken the almighty tension out of the speech, and now they were questioning the sanity of their leader. After a few more awkward seconds and a violent coughing fit, Taupe regained his composure.

"Ahem… as I was saying… it is time… for my ascension! With this in my body, you have no choice but to obey me," Taupe stated, turning to the Abrailopsis Morisii. The watery squid had a furious appearance, as the grey inkling turned his back on it, appearing to have lost his mind.

"I feel like I'm having a bad dream," Callie murmured in fear, making her tentacles wrap around her body for some comfort. Fulvous however was more interested in searching for weapons. She grabbed Violet.

"H-hey, what're you doing?" Violet asked quietly and irritably as Fulvous took him away. They needed fire power and he would hopefully know where the armory to this facility was.

"Me and you both," Marie watched. Taupe was beginning to break into a maniacal laugh. The entire room was focused on him until one voice cut into his laugh.

"Hey! Lackey the lunatic!" Maize roared. All eyes were on him. He was at the back of the room near the door. He had slid down one of the curtains when no one was paying attention, and he made himself loudly present to put a stop to this ceremonial madness.

"Maize!" ECO facepalmed. This was the one person she had a crush on. Octoronia, Marie and Callie had the same looks at the moment, wondering what that yellow squid was doing.

"Wha… what!? Who do you think you are, disrupting this sacred moment!" Taupe stomped furiously. The other octolings and inklings in the room were beginning to prepare their weapons. Agent 3 however had that same big grin on his bruised face. He pointed to himself.

"I'm Maize Dagenhart! If ya remembered, I promised I wouldn't let you get any farther than this… and I'm still not!" Maize reminded, glad to repeat himself with a big grin. Taupe was about to pop a gasket at this very minute. He raised his hand up, ready to give the order for all of the cultists to fire their oil filled weapons at Maize.

"Squiddo! You got a spirit like mine! But ya really need to think things through a bit better," Captain Cuttlefish spoke from nearby, he had given up on trying to escape the rope binding him.

"Sorry cap'n, but I couldn't resist! I felt so much excitement… instead of fear," Maize crossed his arms. However his eyes went wide at what he saw behind Taupe. The Abrailopsis Morisii was beginning to stretch its watery body, and none of the cultists in the room seemed to take notice. The others agents were busy trying to find a safer way down to where the yellow inkling was.

"Taupe! Behind you! Run!" Maize screamed. No one turned around. Captain Cuttlefish gulped, wishing he was not restrained right now.

"Hah! I'm not falling for your simple tricks! Now die!" Taupe tried to throw his hand down. However, something wrapped around his wrist and restrained his movements.

"Wha?!" the grey inkling got grabbed by his ankles and his throat. They looked like small tentacles made entirely out of water. He grabbed the one around his throat. His eyes were wide in horror. All of the other cultists turned around, trying to watch what was happening. Maize quickly went over and removed the rope from Captain Cuttlefish to help free him.

"Stop! Let go of me! I spent decades on this! You cannot betray me!" Taupe gasped as the watery creature was beginning to wrap around his body. This monster was stretching and changing in size. It was desperate for that last ruby sphere, and it had no care if it had to consume the grey inkling to get it.

"Taupe!" Maize called out, watching the other cultists change their weapons' aim to focus on their leader, but they were too afraid to shoot, as the watery creature was so close around him that it was impossible to hit without hurting Taupe himself.

"No! Someone help!" Taupe screamed, crying almost as his body was being captured. The watery creature had the grey inkling's body trapped, except for his head. He was desperately trying to break out, but he was unable to get free. The cultists were still too afraid to shoot.

"Are you serious?! No one's going to try and help him?!" Maize growled once he finished freeing Captain Cuttlefish. He immediately ran between the benches, darting right toward the cultist leader, but at this very second, Taupe's entire body was consumed as the watery creature was beginning to change in size and shape.

"Hey! Stay with me! I promise things'll be alright!" Maize told Taupe. He got no response, though the grey inkling was moving, as if he was being manipulated by the Abrailopsis Morisii. Agent 3 got bashed in the side by a clear tentacle. He got sent flying into the other robed figures, crashing into them and knocking a good few over.

"Open fire!" one of the cultists finally spoke up. They all began shooting at the growing water creature. The oil was hitting the watery body. Its angry eyes focused on them all as it kept growing. The oil would leave a black mark in its body for a moment, but it would inevitably vanish, almost like it had a fast cleaning method.

"You… all of you… shall perish…" the Abrailopsis Morisii spoke through Taupe who was still stuck inside his body. It had taken control of him as soon as it finished growing in size. The creature was huge enough to rival a kraken. It pulled back one of its huge tentacles, swinging in a swiping motion and striking the right side of the room, slapping each one of the robed cultists against the wall. The rest remaining were beginning to run.

"Maize! We're here to help! ...oh gosh!" Callie's voice rung out. They had just opened the doors to this ceremonial room and were expecting to find their friend unconscious. Needless to say, this situation had escalated a lot worse than they expected, as the robed group was fleeing past them. Maize groaned, standing up from the few cultists he had accidentally knocked out. His body was hurting right now. However, one of the knocked out cultists had a splatterscope. He smiled, grabbing it, as well as the oil filled ink tank. He hated to use the substance instead of his ink, but he had to tolerate it.

"Grab whatever weapons you can!" Maize told the other agents as the Abrailopsis Morisii was now a watery tentacled titan, threatening to attack them all in a rampage, and Taupe was its convoy to the start of its terror. The yellow squid squeezed the trigger, aiming as his weapon charged up. Once fully charged, he let go, watching a strong burst of oil shoot out. It hit the water monster in the shoulder, actually stunning it for a brief moment before it roared in fury.

"Wh-what are we aiming for?!" ECO asked. She had acquired a slather blaster while Octoronia had taken a Tentatek splattershot. The yellow squid thought that over for a second. His adventures against DJ Octavio's army had taught him one thing; to always look for weak spot to hit against giant monsters.

"Those red orbs," Maize recommended, presuming those to be the weak point of the Abrailopsis Morisii. However they could see it begin stomping toward them on all fours. It was quite a scary sight for the group of agents. However, they heard a loud rattling noise. One look upward, and they could see two of the chandeliers falling from high up.

"What is this?" it spoke through Taupe's voice before they both fell, crashing onto the Abrailopsis Morisii and bringing it into the ground. A lot of its huge watery body got thrown off it. It was now pinned underneath the chandeliers, and the ruby crystal in its left arm shattered into tiny shards, forcing it to shrink slightly in size. The group looked to the left. They saw one of the cultists near the levers that held the chains up.

"Hello! This is Fallow!" Fallow happily rung out while taking the hood off her head. A surprise for all, that she had been in disguise for most of the time so she could help out when needed. However she had no idea this would happen.

"Fallow!" Maize rushed over, hugging her happily, practically picking his sister up off the ground. He was relieved to see her alright. Marie groaned, seeing the water monster throw off the chandeliers in rage as it stood up. They all noticed it shoot out its small tentacles from its back into the ceiling at once.

"Oh… I'm more scared than a little pup! Don't worry, I brought backup! They are somewhere around here," Fallow explained in her usual rhyme. Maize quirked an eyebrow, wondering who she could have brought as backup.

"We need to get out!" ECO exclaimed, seeing the tentacles rip out the ceiling, causing parts of it to fall off. The ceiling began crumbling down toward them. One piece of the rubble bounced off the metal octoling's head with a loud clang.

"Ow…"

"She's right! Let's go and come up with a plan quick," Marie agreed as she sidestepped another two blocks of the stone. Marie picked up Captain Cuttlefish, carrying him as all the agents began to all head out of the room while it began caving in on itself. They could only hope that every one of those cultists who were stuck in there would be alright.

"Follow me, and we'll see the special team," Fallow requested them to follow her down the left path. The big doors to the former ritual room weren't going to keep the beast trapped for long, but she planned to get them properly equipped. She had brought quite a few friends to help, and they were all supposed to be in the armory.

"Please do. The more the merrier," Octoronia agreed. Maize was just glad he did not have to use the cellphone bomb he had in his pocket. The group of agents followed Fallow off in a hurry to get to the point to group up with this special team she had, but the yellow squid for some reason had a bad feeling. Taking out only one of the ruby spheres in Abrailopsis Morisii was not going to keep it slowed down for long. He had no idea how he was going to rescue Taupe at all, since that fool had consumed one of those rubies out of some idiotic idea. A great battle was about to break out, and they all were very aware of that, but Maize promised to make sure to see through to the end, and he was fully determined to make sure of this. They all just hoped that the creature was not able to break free, of the room it was pinned within.