The journey was long. Michael and his team woke up at six in the morning, they traversed through the various areas of Octo Valley. Michael was almost sad at how all the places he had once fought the Octarians in we're falling apart due to neglect. The sponges he used to fill up with his ink were now festering with a sickly green mold, the fan-powered platforms he propelled through the wind with his ink were now rusted, tattered by excessive rain and oxygen. They even went through some of the arenas where he went face-to-face with some of the Octarian's most elite soldiers, now hollow shells of their former selves. Even Junko seemed surprised at how much the places changed during the time span of just one year.
Still, it didn't surprise her that much, these different 'levels', so to speak, were only kept in shape because of the power they had gotten through the Zapfish, without that power, they would waste away, suspended in the valley, just like any other thing would.
Area after area, they traveled. They traveled for hours, when Junko notified the group that they were probably half-way there, the sun had neared the middle of the sky.
"Junko, yer sure we're almost there, right?" Angela asked.
Uncertainty filled Junko's throat "Well, yes, we are… I think. L-Look, most of this is guesswork from what I was able to map out." She pointed to her map and ran her finger across it. "All of the areas we've been through seem to funnel towards somewhere, I think the Presidio might be located there."
Randy moved Angela aside. "So, let me get this straight… we've been going through these run-down piles of junk all day, and you don't even know if it's the right way?"
"Look, you can't expect me to know exactly where it is, I've never been there! I only know what it looks like because of what some Elite Octolings told me."
Randy took a deep breath, and looked Junko square in the eye. "…Fair enough."
The group then continued onwards.
Hours passed, the sun was nearing the horizon now. Along the way Shelly said that she was getting tired out.
"I've never had to carry my E-Liter for this long before…" She was able to say between breaths.
Michael ended up opting to carry her. It wasn't easy, for sure, but he kept up anyways, he had been in a war and was physically fit enough to carry someone as small as Shelly.
The team continued traveling, the sky glowing a bright vermillion as the sun receded to the other side of the world.
As the sun retreated, and the sky darkened, Junko announced something.
"Yeah, that has to be it."
Most of the team had their head slung down from walking all day, they lifted their head to see that the rocky trail they had somehow come across lead up, and up, and up. At the peak sat a large cubical building, its walls looking nigh-impenetrable. It sat at the edge of a cliff, with a lower area suspended over the deep abyss of Octo Valley.
"That's the Presidio." Junko confirmed to the team.
Michael moved one arm to bring Shelly back to the real world. The team looked up at their destination, the whole day's walk amounted to this.
"Alright guys, there's a large drainage pipe down off the side of the cliff, it'll be dangerous but it's our best bet of getting in there. I'm sure there will be enough of a view that one of us can ink a trail down the side. We should have plenty of time to do this. Let's get out of view and set up a camp, we'll go there in an hour and a half. Sound like a plan?"
The team confirmed their agreement with the idea. They all walked back down the path, eventually finding a small, flat area of rock that they could rest on.
This was going to be a long night.
The Presidio is here...