We're finally back! Honestly I said "tomorrow" yet I didn't even get a chance to work on it the day after I said that, the time between chapters now is lessening, because with the plot as thick as the goop that brainwashed Agent 3 in Octo Expansion, I'm putting more thought into this than I have at the start.

Also I'm guilty of having just now gotten Breath of the Wild, and I'm spending all of my free time making my way through the world (on the day I was supposed to publish a new chapter, I was busy trying to get to Zora's Domain, and fighting a Lynel (that Lynel got me to master parrying and perfect dodging better than the first test of strength shrine ever did)

Anyways, we're here now! So please enjoy!

Sara sat in the barracks, unscrewing a bolt on the metal strap keeping the ink tank on, the barracks were currently off limits because of a team of engineering octarians (the barracks and the labs are connected for a reason Sara didn't understand) did something wrong in the formula and it smelled GOD awful, to the point nobody could really work in there, without passing out, they were just waiting for the smell to dissipate.

Sara could barely breathe, she must've had the endurance of a god to be able to stand it in there, she gagged as she finally got the bomb off her.

"Holy mackerel this place is awful..." she thought as she grabbed a regular Ink Tank and Octoshot, ready to burst out of the room and take multiple deep breathes of fresh air, but she resisted and stayed sneaky, it seemed to be a thing with Octarian Bases, it's always really dark, even though she knew it was in the afternoon.

She snuck around the moving searchlights and the eyes of things like Octosnipers and whatnot, she got behind a wall in something similar to an alleyway, hiding from some patrolling Octolings, she took out her phone, her searching for the barracks and the time she spent in it had left her with 5 hours before she's discovered to be gone, and that's only if Coral doesn't suddenly decide to check up on her.

She sat down to rest, the stress of the sneaking around tiring her, she took out her phone (which for some reason she still had), it had no connection, and she had no clue what the WiFi password was.

She looked at her background, a picture of her and Sam drinking out of the same sundae cup with different straws, she chuckled at the memory, Sam in the picture was blushing like mad, this was on their second date, 8 had gotten the drink because it sounded delicious, and it was, 3 had her own drink, but the server saw the two together and placed two straws in the drink, prompting the situation.

Sara stared at the photo for a while, before realizing her face was wet.

"D-damn it..." she said, wiping away the tears, "save it for when you get back to Sam..." she said to herself, the tears (mostly) stopping.

The base was too big for her to search for an area that could take her someplace like Cephalopod HQ, someplace closer to where she knew Sam was, heck she didn't even know where she was, so she needed to figure that out.

Sighing, she snuck towards the biggest building in the area, assuming that was the central area, something within her told her that this was where she needed to go, and she trusted her instincts.

She just prayed she could keep her cover going.

~meanwhile, in Octo Canyon *with the Squidbeak Splatoon*~

Kelly stood next to Ian, slumped over, in a silent groan, Ian had been given some Hero Dualies and a Hero Suit identical to hers, Orion was given a suit similar to Sara's except for guys, and he had out his old octoshot.

Callie and Marie were in their Idol outfits, Callie with a Hero Roller, and Marie with her Hero Charger, Kelly held her Hero Shot while Sam, in her Hero Outfit and Cape, walked around the area like a lion in a cage.

Ian seemed cheerful enough, and Orion was... Orion, Sheldon was working around underneath the flying truck Marie had flown in on during Kelly's fight with Octavio, as he was gonna come in later on to supply them with weapons and specials, Cap'n Cuttlefish just watched as he did his thing.

Marina and Pearl wore the things they apparently wore when they grabbed Sara from the facility, Pearl held some Splat Dualie and Marina held an Octobrush.

All in all, everything looked as though the plan would work, Marina would set the super jump pad to jump them to the base 8 was supposedly in, and they would each jump in while Cuttlefish stayed with Sheldon as they flew there in the truck.

So why did she feel so uneasy?

"Hey" Ian said to her, "you ready?" He said kindly, "o-of course I am!" She half yelled, a little harsher than she would have liked, "you shouldn't even be here dangit!" She yelled again, "this is gonna be dangerous!" She yelled, except quieting down a bit, "you shouldn't be getting involved..." she said, trailing off and looking at the ground.

"Hey..." He said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I'll be fine! You've seen how good I am in turf wars!" He said, smiling like an idiot, Kelly wanted to protest that this wasn't the same thing, but having seen his skills herself, even she had to admit, he was on par with her skills.

"Still..." she thought to herself, "I hope nothing bad happens..."

Ooh, premonition... I wonder what will happen next...

I got a question as to whether the next splatfest, Octolings vs Inklings, would come up, maybe, maybe not, you'll have to keep reading to find out!

Welp, anyways, thank you for reading, and I'll see you all next time!