Agent 3 hadn't had a decent sleep since before Kamabo.

Any time she tried to lay down, her memory flashed with scenes of what she went through. Every waking moment spent just trying to survive. The patrols that were merciless. Every single time she tried to sleep, her dreams were filled with nightmares of how she could have failed even worse than she felt she already had.

Three spent many hours quietly sobbing on her bed, wishing everything would just go away so she could sleep. Her eyes had bags under them and she hasn't changed out of her PJ's since she returned home. Three struggled to eat, not trusting herself with any of her pots or pans. She outright threw her blender out her window in a fit of rage, however that was unrelated to her hunger.

Every time she looked in the mirror, she was reminded of how she had failed. How she nearly caused the destruction of the world, and worst of all, her friends. She had a nasty blue-green scar right across her face and around her right eye. It was disgusting. It had changed her right eye to a similar blue-green and she could swear it still had a faint glow to it. Her scar was most visible across her face, but a small part of it was also on her right tentacle, the part that wasn't protected by her Hero Headset. But worst of all, the scar still hurt. It would flare up at random, feeling like a hot iron was being slammed into her face.

She would be fine and then suddenly she'd be screaming in agony as the scar flared up, it hurt like hell and Three could do nothing else but cry and scream any time it flared. She'd claw at her eye in desperate attempts to make it stop, but it only made the pain worse. Any time it flared up, she would opt to just curl into a ball, scream, and let her tears flow down her face. The pain was unbearable and she could do nothing else but wait it out any time an attack came on.

Any time she thought she was about to finally get a decent sleep, the searing pain would return. But every time it did, she was almost grateful. She deserved this, she FAILED. Or so she would tell herself. Say nothing of almost splatting Captain Cuttlefish and Agent 8, she had failed to protect herself. She let herself get infected with that disgusting sanitization ink. Every moment Three spent awake, she reminded herself that she had to be BETTER.

She couldn't let herself fail again.

She had too much to lose.

Over the next 14 days following the events of Kamabo, Three would repeat this process day in and day out. She was able to get 3 hours of sleep a night if she was lucky, and those 3 hours were often marred with horrible nightmares, visions of everything she went through while just trying to survive. Sometimes, she even had nightmares of failing to reach the blender in time, or of being completely sanitized and never able to be free again. Nightmares that scarred her almost as bad as the mark across her face.

Right now however, Three had a rare dry spell, her face didn't hurt and her mind was relatively clear, but the one thing she felt at this moment, was loneliness. Sure she wished her scar would stop acting up, or that her nightmares would leave her alone. But what Three desperately wanted more than anything, in this very moment, was a hug from one of her friends.

As if being summoned by her grief, Three's phone lit up and a loud "DING" can be heard, signifying she's received a message. Three quickly grabs at her phone that she had left sitting on her bedside table and sees who messaged her.

"Marie!" Three says quietly, whilst silently celebrating. She quickly wipes her face of any stray tears, takes a few deep breaths, then unlocks her phone ands navigates to her messages.

Three can't help but smile as she's reminded of the old days when she sees the profile photo she set for Marie, it was of her and Callie drawing a mustache on her while she was asleep. Oh, that was a good time, until she woke up and got her charger that is. Eh it was still a good time because afterwards they were all laughing about it. Three shrugged off her nostalgia for the time being, and actually opened the message Marie had sent her.

Marie: "Yo 3, it's been a hot minute. Gramps said you needed some rest after your last mission so we let you be for a few days, but we miss you! Come on down to Octo Canyon when you get the chance, we'll be here all day!"

Agent 3: "Hey that sounds like it'd do me some good! I've been missing you guys too. Lemme just have a quick shower then I'll head over, I smell like yesterday's lunch"

Marie: "When don't you Agent 3?"

Three rolled her eyes, got up from her bed, and made her way to her bathroom.

She let out a deep sigh, entered the room, and flicked on the light. Once again, just like every time she entered her bathroom, staring back at her from her mirror was the one thing she hated. Herself.

She use to love her scars. They'd tell stories of an Inkling who was dangerous, not afraid to take risks. She had scars from her earlier battles that had all but faded, and scars from more recent battles that were fresh and calloused. But one scar, the aqua coloured marking across her face, was different. It said nothing other than "Failure", and she hated being reminded of her shortcomings.

She stood looking at herself in the mirror for a few minutes, examining every inch of her own body. She had scars all down her arms from her missions, as well as on her legs. No doubt she'd see scars across her chest and back as well were those parts of her not hidden by her shirt. And finally, there was a small birthmark just under her chin, it was barely noticeable, but if you knew it was there it was nigh impossible to miss. It didn't have much shape, but if you squinted a little bit, it sort of looked like an Inkling in squid form.

Three took in a deep breath, turned away from the mirror, and towards her shower. She slowly slipped off her shirt, kicking it to the side so it wouldn't be in the way when she got out, and then slowly slid off her shorts as well before stepping into the shower and turning on the water. She took a moment to just enjoy being under the deluge of water, allowing it to mist over her body. She could practically feel her muscles relax as the water slowly got hotter until it was the perfect temperature. Finally, she sighed and got to the act of making herself not smell anymore.

Contrary to what Marie would have you believe, Agent 3 did, in fact, own soap. It was nearly 6 months old and had only been used once but that's beside the point, Agent 3 does own soap. And Three decided now was as good a time as any to use it again. She puts some on her hands and gets to work making her body smell like flowers or whatever the scent of the soap she bought ages ago smelled like. She doesn't take too much care as she does however, she doesn't want to seem like she put TOO much effort into herself. Not that she ever did.

She spent a long time in the shower, but only about an eighth of it was actually washing herself. The rest was spent trying racking her brain, trying to figure out how she could have done better. How she could have saved them without risking their lives. Or without nearly killing them herself.

Maybe if she had aimed lower on the blender the Phone wouldn't have hit her (Which Captain Cuttlefish had explained was the reason for the whole existence of Kamabo).

Or maybe if she had kept closer to the Captain she wouldn't have lost him at all. Maybe she could've helped him and Eight escape without whatever lead up to them being trapped in a blender. Maybe she could've gotten to know her instead of getting brainwashed and trying to kill her.

Agent 3 didn't know what she could've done for sure, but she knows that what she had done lead to failure. She'd gotten her mind taken over, and before that she'd allowed herself to be separated from the Cap'n. She wasn't sure which injustice she was more upset at herself with, primarily because her being brainwashed had lead to his, and Eight's, lives being in mortal jeopardy. Which by extension, apparently, meant the entire world was on the line. Talk about high stakes.

Deciding to give up on trying to go back in time and fix everything, She steps out of the shower. Grabbing a towel three goes about the process of drying herself off. She starts with her tentacles on the top of her head, making sure to be gentle on the damaged area on her right side as well as around her suction cups. She then dries off her torso, back, and arms. Being much less careful than she was with her tentacles, opting for a more 'get dry quick scheme'. Finally she dries off her legs and her feet, so she won't track water onto the carpet in her bedroom. She hangs the towel back on the rack so it can dry, and returns to her bedroom to get dressed.

She hadn't touched her Hero outfit since the incident, but she figured if she was going to Octo Canyon, she may as well be ready for anything. She carefully slides on some underwear before grabbing her shorts and putting them on. She then slides on a pair of ankle socks, making sure they don't get bunched up. She then slips her arms through her undershirt of choice, a simple tank top. Finally she puts on her jacket and zips it up, then puts the safety vest on overtop. Once her jacket and vest are securely in place, she grabs her cape and attaches it to the collar of her jacket so it's secure.

She reaches for her hero headset before realizing it hasn't been repaired yet. The goop that had taken over her mind had done a number on them and she'd need a replacement set, or maybe these ones could be fixed. Three decides to bring them along, worst case they end up in the trash. On her way out she stops by her door to slide on her hero shoes, tightening them down so they're snug. Once she's satisfied that they won't come flying off if she takes a step slightly too fast, she grabs her keys and heads out her door.

Locking up her apartment behind her, Agent 3 makes her way towards the roof of the building, pushing her way through the door at the top of the stairwell. There's a one foot tall ledge around the entire roof, making it less likely for Inklings or Octolings to fall off by accident. The roof itself is mostly solid concrete, not very nice to walk on for long periods of time, but it's held up for all the years Three has lived there. But there was a reason she came up here, and upon spotting the launchpad she walks over to it, quickly puts "Inkopolis Square" into the keypad, and hits enter.

The launchpad stops for a second, then changes to her natural ink colour of Orange and flashes twice, indicating it's ready for launch. Three takes in a deep breath, slips into squid form, then swims into the middle of the launchpad. Within a few short seconds, she's sent rocketing through the air at blistering speeds.

Agent 3 was glad the superjumps were quick, she didn't need more time lost in her own thoughts. But for the few moments she spends flying through the air, she's able to breathe the fresh air and enjoy the cool late afternoon air. She allows herself this one moment of bliss, refusing to let her mind wander anywhere but the feeling of freedom she has as the wind rushes past.

After a few short seconds, Three lands in Inkopolis. She took a quick look around for the entrance to Octo Canyon, and sure enough she spotted it right next to AmmoKnights. It was disguised as a sewer grate, so no one who didn't know what it was would ever think to swim through it. And anyone who DID swim through it, for example, Three in a few short moments, was shrugged off as some adventure seeking fool. Which, to be fair, she kinda was.

Three walks over to the grate, takes a glance to the sides just to make sure no one is watching her too intently, and finally jumps in. When she emerges on the other side, she's greeted by some familiar faces which, for the first time in 14 days, brings a warm smile to Agent 3's face.

Callie is the first to notice, as she would, she's wearing her agent uniform but without the safety vest and without the shades either. That's strange, Callie was ALWAYS trying to find a fresh new pair of shades. She once spent an entire day just looking at one sunglasses stand!

"THREEEEEEEEEEEE!" Callie squeals whilst running towards Three "IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIIINNN!"

"Ack!" Three yelps as callie knocks her to the ground in the single most aggressive hug Three has ever experienced. And that's saying something, because tackling was basically the ONLY way Callie would hug someone.

"Hey three! Good to see you!" Marie calls, waving whilst not assaulting her like Callie had, opting to instead more casually walk over to where Three is. Marie has on her Kimono, with her umbrella tucked neatly under her arm, the look on her face is one of relief, and a little bit of amusement.

Then Agent 3 spots… her.

The Octoling that had somehow beaten her in single combat, then went on to save the entire world from a psychotic telephone, all whilst wearing HEELS? Colour 3 impressed, she could hardly walk in the damn things.

"Callie, you know I love you, but I need to breathe!" Three squawks, clearly distressed from being knocked to the ground.

"OOPS! Sorry three! I'm just so excited to see you again!" Callie blushes and climbs off of Three, offering her arm to help Three stand back up.

"Geez callie you say that like it's been years!" Three chuckles, as she takes Callie's arm and hoists herself up, not realizing the truth in her own statement.

Without hesitation, Marie simply states. "It has"

What

"Y-years? H-how long…"

"Well, a little under 2 years to be exact" Marie states matter-of-factly.

What Marie hadn't expected, was Three's expression to change from playful banter to horrified remorse. Three's eyes went wide as her brain re-played every moment she could remember. Every single sanitized octarian, every single time that she thought she'd found a safe place to rest, only to be found again and have to keep running.

"Oh my gods, oh I am so sorry." Three's breaths are shallow and shaky, her hearts unstable and her eyes showing the first signs of tearing up.

"Hey," Callie called "Why are you sorry? You kept Gramps safe, and you even helped recruit an Octoling! You did good Three."

"T-two years." Three falls to her knees, her fists pressed against her forehead as she struggles to maintain her composure. "The days just all merged together down there, I don- I can't remember how many days I spent just trying to find him. How many days I spent just trying to survive… I-I'm so sorry, I failed."

Having clearly had enough, Marie kneels down next to Three, and rests her hand on her shoulder. "You did not fail, your quick thinking in the heat of battle lead to another freed Octoling. Agent 8 over there was the Octoling you were battling before you and gramps got seperated, you thought to use our song, and that freed her. She then went on to save all of us thanks to that. You are a HERO Agent 3."

"But I'm not. I nearly let them get killed, not splatted, killed. And then as if to mock my inability to be better, I get sanitized and nearly kill them myself!" Tears start to stream down her face, her entire form shaking as she succumbs to her emotions.

"I-I hate myself. I failed. And this disgusting scar across my face is the FUCKING PROOF!" More tears roll down Agent 3's face, Neither Callie, nor Marie, know how to respond, having never seen Three even remotely this emotional before.

Agent 8, however, calmly walks over, kneels down to be next to Agent 3, places her own hand on Three's shoulder, and looks her dead in the eyes and says:
"You saved me, and it was a privilege to do the same for you. Don't you dare call yourself a failure, when you're the only reason I'm even standing here right now and not back in his army."

Agent 3 is able to regain some of her composure, sniffling and feeling her hearts flutter slightly. This time, though, her emotions are swinging towards the positive. Once again, just like the first time she had seen the Octoling smiling at her, Three finds herself blushing, the Octoling kneeling so close to her, she can see her face perfectly, her eyes like the stars, mysterious, and beautiful.

"Y-your eyes are be-" But Agent 3 is cut off by the return of the searing pain across her scar.

Agent 3 quickly clutches at her face and lets out a blood curdling scream, the pain just as real as it was when she was being controlled. She screamed louder, begging someone, anyone, to make the pain stop.

No one could.