Agent 3 and Agent 8 spent nearly a month repeating that day, sometimes they'd mix it up and play a little bit of ranked to get some variety, but overall they were just enjoying playing together. Eight still froze up whenever she heard a curling bomb, but it was only for a moment. Three took note of this and made sure she didn't ever use a curling bomb or curling bomb launcher.

They often found themselves stopping for dinner together after a day of battling. They constantly made so much extra cash from their battles that they never really had to worry about how much money they spent on going out to eat. However, since they didn't want to spend ALL of their earnings on food they did sometimes go back to Three's apartment and would watch movies, or they'd go to Pearl and Marina's and do the same, albeit on a much larger TV with much comfier seating.

All of this was not going unnoticed by Marie. She liked to keep tabs on her fellow agents, and she found it particularly interesting just how outgoing Three was when she was with Eight. Now sure, in the past Three hadn't been some stoic unwavering hardass, quite the opposite, but she did seem different after Kamabo. She was more shut in, she tried to put up a mask to try and be stronger or something, but Eight seemed to bring a little bit of the old Three back. Marie was very grateful to Eight for this, she could tell Eight meant a lot to Three, and vice versa.

Marie jotted down in her notebook that things seem to be looking up for Three, something she was very grateful for. She finishes writing down her notes then returned to the task at hand. She had a sample of Kamabo… 'ink' and they needed to see what could be done to counteract it. She decided to do the test in the landing area of Octo Canyon, partially because it was a private place with no prying eyes. Interestingly, after helping Three when her scar flared up, Marie had the idea to see how it would react when it touched an ice cube.

She carefully set up the ink tank that was full of Kamabo sludge, that's a better name for it. She delicately removes the top of the ink tank, oh gods the smell was horrible. It was like someone thought the smell of corpses was too nice and needed to make a worse smell. Marie snags an Ice cube from her pack, and drops it inside the tank. The goop flashes brightly for a moment before…

"Wait what. It's all gone? All of it?" Marie looks at the now empty ink tank completely bewildered, she had expected maybe for it to slowly dissipate, not just outright evaporate!

Just then, Callie jumps through the grate and spots Marie staring quizzically at an empty ink tank. Marie had told her she would be here today and she wanted to stop by and say hi. She was puzzled at why she was so confused about the empty ink tank, it looked like any other ink tank she'd ever seen.

"So uh, whatcha doin'?" Callie calls out from behind Marie to announce her presence.

"OH FUCK, CALLIE!" Marie turns to face Callie and clutches at her chest, falling slightly backwards but catching herself with the arm not presently pressed against her chest, startled by the sudden intrusion.

"Are you telling me to go fuck myself or?" Callie smiles, her joke managing to calm Marie down somewhat. She makes her way over to Marie and sits down across from her and the ink tank, curious about what the significance of it is.

"Har har, you startled me is all." Marie rolls her eyes and returns to her normal sitting position, brushing herself off to regain her composure fully.

"So what's with the empty ink tank? I thought you were running tests on that Kamabo shit." Callie says, adjusting her sitting position so she's more comfortable, her legs are crossed and her hands are on her knees.

"That's just it, I did. I dropped in one ice cube and the entire tank's worth disappeared." Marie gestures towards the empty ink tank, however she knows Callie likely wouldn't believe her if she didn't see it, produced another ink tank full of Kamabo Sludge.

"Just watch." Marie flips open the tank, Marie was prepared but Callie gagged at the smell. Marie quickly produces another ice cube, and drops it in. Once again, it flashes brightly, then all the ink is gone.

"Wha- how?" Callie questions.

"My best guess would be, in the underground facilities of Kamabo, it is very hot and humid. So the ink had to be able to survive down there like that. So as a result, cold doesn't agree with it. Ice makes it outright vaporize." Marie shrugs, it's a theory but it's a theory with evidence. She still wishes she knew more about the stuff though so she'd likely have to return to Kamabo at some point to get more samples.

"I guess that makes sense. Where'd you get the idea to try ice anyways?" Callie sways idly back and forth, she has so much energy all the time and has to expend it somehow.

"I went over to Three's place after I found out about… you know." She glances towards her cousin, silently communicating what she meant.

Callie blushed.

"Her scar acted up, I thought maybe some ice might soothe the pain, especially since it was so bad she up and passed out. But what I didn't expect was as soon as I put the ice pack on the scar, her entire body stopped convulsing and it relaxed." Marie paused while glancing between Callie and the two empty ink tanks.

"Well… I'm glad you were able to help her, she seemed pretty cagy after the incident." Callie states as she opens up her bag and rummages through it, she pulls out and offers Marie a can of cola. "Here, you've been working yourself too hard, you need a break."

Marie takes the can and cracks it open. "Thanks Callie, I appreciate it." She takes a sip, sets the can down for a moment, then packs away the now empty ink tanks. She then snags the can off the ground and resumes the consumption.

"We'll need to get this information to Three, I bet with any luck we might be able to prevent another flare up from happening ever again." Marie states between sips.

Callie nods, cracking open her own can as well.

"I agree. Speaking of agents, how's Agent 4 been doing? I've not seen her much since she thwacked those hypnoshades off me." Callie shrugs as she takes another drink, making a slight slurping noise.

"Maybe she's avoiding you because you kept putting them back on." Marie smirks at her, she knew it was part of the hypnotization that made her put them back on, but still it was a little amusing.

"... Point taken." Callie averted her gaze slightly.

"But if you MUST know, Agent 4 has been busy with ranked battles since the last time she beat you and Octavio. Says she needs to keep her skills sharp." Marie smiles and sits back slightly. "She actually is pretty damn good, mixes up her strategy based on the enemy team's approach. She once won a Tower Control match without ever setting foot on the tower, all she did was draw the enemy team away and corner them. It was really impressive I must say."

Callie nods. "Uh huh, and you totally were just watching her for agent reasons and not for any other reason right?" Callie takes a dramatic slurp from her can after posing the question.

Marie visibly blushes. "H-hey! My reasons for watching Agent 4 do literally everything are perfectly reasonable!" Marie pauses "Wait no that came out wrong."

Callie just laughs. "Oh Marie, you're too easy to get a rise out of. Weather you like 4 that way or not is your business, I just like poking fun."

Marie pouts before returning to her beverage, giving Callie the stink eye while she slurps down her drink.

As if hearing her number summoned her, Agent 4 pops through the grate into Octo Canyon, already in full Agent gear. The tentacles on her head are short, sort of like Pearl's, but ever so slightly thinner. She also stood about the same height as Marie, and had a look in her eyes that said "I will try to be your friend first, but I will kill you if you cross me."

"Oh, hey girls, didn't realize you'd both be down here today. What's up?" Agent 4 walks over to the pair sitting on the ground.

"Hi four! Marie was running experiments and I was bringing Cola for us to drink." Callie smiles and waves for Four to join them, materialising another can of Cola for her.

Four gingerly snags the Cola out of Callie's hand, pops it open, and takes a swig.

"Mmmm that hit the spot. Been doing ranked all day and I didn't have time to stop for anything before popping by." Four smiles and sits down next to the pair. "So what have you found out? From the reports, that Kamabo ink is NASTY stuff."

"Like you wouldn't believe. But I have just made a breakthrough. It absolutely HATES the cold!" Marie beams with excitement causing 4 to smile in response. "One ice cube is enough to evaporate an entire ink tank's worth"

"Seriously? That's amazing! And if everything you've told me about Kamabo is true, then for sure that intel will no doubt come in handy." Four smiles and takes another swig, Callie and Marie do the same. "Any other developments?"

"Just one, it acts a lot like how Inkling and Octoling ink should behave, but it seems almost… alive. Like if I left it outside of a container it might just start squiggling away." Marie stops for another sip "I know this because that's what happened when I was gathering the samples. Thanks to Kamabo being in shambles due to Eight effectively killing their leader, I was able to sneak in and fill up some ink tanks."

Callie and Four share a look. Marie knew that look. It was the look her and Callie gave each other whenever Three went off and did something reckless. Four hadn't gone with her, and neither had Callie, which could only mean one thing...

"You went into Kamabo, ALONE?!" Callie growls, Marie had never seen her cousin growl before and it startled her a little.

"Well, uh, yeah? I needed to run these tests!" Marie defends, her heart starts to race as she realizes how bad Callie is taking this news.

"You have two perfectly capable agents sitting right here next to you, and you didn't think to contact EITHER of us?!" Four spat. Now Marie was concerned, Four had NEVER raised her voice at her before. Four had always been kind and gentle, this was a side of Four that terrified her.

"Uh…" Marie was struggling to justify her actions now. Her mind raced to try and think of a reason, any reason, why she hadn't called on either of them for help. "I was in a hurry?"

"Marie, Kamabo is dangerous. Gramps told us what happened didn't he? Agent 3 nearly got herself killed!" Callie's words were starting to waver, her eyes were welling with tears. Her entire body is starting to shake as her composure weakens, she's breaking down in front of Marie's eyes.

"Callie, I-I-" Marie chokes out, her mind playing images in her head of how she felt when Callie got taken by Octavio and how devastated she was. How could she possibly risk doing the same to Callie?

"WHAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOU?!" Callie yelled, tears streaming down her face now. "What if you got too far from a respawn pad and got cornered?! What if it did to you the same thing it did to Three?! What if…" Callie choked back a sob. "What if we lost you forever?"

Marie couldn't think. Callie, her best friend and cousin, was breaking down right in front of her… and it was her fault. Marie can't bring herself to even attempt to defend her actions, she did wrong and Callie is proving it. Marie just grabs Callie and pulls her into a tight hug, keeping her there as she speaks her words to her.

"I'm sorry Callie. I should've at least let you know I was going in on my own. I just didn't want you to worry." Marie now has tears welling in her own eyes. "I promise it won't happen again."

Callie squeezes Marie tighter. Crying into her cousin's shoulder. She couldn't bear the thought of losing Marie, it made every single one of her hearts ache. Marie was more than a cousin to her, she was more like her sister than anyone else she's ever known.

"You better not!" Callie sniffles, regaining some composure as she holds tightly to Marie. Callie doesn't ever want to let go. "Or I'm sending Agent 3 after you!"

That comment makes both the Squid Sisters giggle, and slowly they come apart, their faces stained by dried tears. Four awkwardly sips on her drink. Marie wipes Callie's face, looking her cousin in the eyes.

"I love you Callie, and I'm sorry I ran off like that. Please don't be mad with me." Marie smiles, hoping for forgiveness from her cousin.

Callie chokes back another sob. "I love you too Marie, I just… I remember what happened to me with Octavio, and I got scared. I should never have put you through that."

Callie rubs her eyes, sniffling. She felt so bad about what happened and the thought of the same thing, or worse, happening to Marie tore her apart.

Four's can runs empty at exactly the wrong time and she accidentally makes a loud slurping noise. Callie and Marie instantly remember that they're not alone, and scoot slightly away from each other, booth looking flustered.

"S-sorry Four, we kinda forgot you were there, caught up in the moment." Callie rubs the back of her neck and giggles awkwardly. Marie, on the other hand, just averts her gaze and blushes.

"No, no! It's okay! Honestly that felt like it had been building since… well since the last time I beat you Callie. No offense." Four smiled like a gremlin causing Callie and Marie to both roll their eyes and nod in agreement in the same motion.

"We needed to get that out. There's probably a lot more we need to talk about too, but, I'm just glad you're okay Marie. You're my cousin and I care about you. We may as well BE actual sisters." Callie smiles, the warmness returning to her face.

"Yeah, honestly I still feel awful for a lot of the things I've said either to or about you. Especially when we were doing the news." Marie looks to the ground, she's not proud of a lot of words that have come out of her mouth.

Callie waved her hand to dismiss that thought. She knew Marie was just playing for the cameras, they cared about each other too much for either of them to actually mean any hurtful things.

"Don't worry too much about it, there was only ever one or two that actually stung, and even then not for very long. It was part of the show, hyped up the Splatfests a lot." Callie shared a smile with Marie.

"Anyways. Uh, is there anything you need me for? Stray zapfish gone missing? Octarian activity in strange places?" Four breaks the silence. She wasn't dressed in her hero uniform for decoration, though Marie certainly didn't mind her appearance in it.

"Honestly? Nothing. Kamabo might be a cause for concern, but until we know more, any missions related to it are strictly intelligence gathering. Don't get me wrong, you're a fine agent, but you're a fighter. You wouldn't be my first choice for a stealth mission." Marie smiles at Four. "However if Kamabo becomes hostile for any reason, you'd be the first person I'd call."

Four smiles, feeling appreciated.

"I know my limitations, I could probably do intelligence gathering if you absolutely needed me to, but I'd be nowhere near as good as you are, Miss Factopedia." Four winks at Marie making her blush. "Alright then, if that's it I'm gonna head home then. Might stop at AmmoKnights before I get too far, see if any new weapons are available and say hi to Sheldon… if he'll let me get a word in."

Four heads for the grate, Callie and Marie waving as she leaves. Four transforms into her squid form and jumps through the grate, heading back to Inkopolis Square. Callie turns to Marie, whose face is still slightly green with a blush.

"OH HOHO! YOU DO LIKE HER!" Callie calls out. "I KNEW IT!"

This prompts Marie to blush harder and turn away from her cousin.

"N-no! It's not like that! I-I just admire her skills is all!" Marie is terrible at hiding her feelings, they're painted on her face like ink in a turf war.

"Marie. I've known you for a very long time, I can tell you're crushing hardcore." Callie smirks, this time it was her turn to tease her cousin.

"Shut up! I am not!" Marie blushes harder, completely counteracting her statement.

Callie is not convinced, but decided she'd teased her cousin enough for the day.

"Oh fine. Sooner or later you're gonna have to be honest with yourself. Anyways, I should head home. It's been a long day and I just want to put my PJs on and stagnate for the rest of the day." Callie gets up to leave, but before heading through the grate, she turns to Marie. "If you ever have to go back down there, please let me come with you. I don't want to lose you."

And with that, Callie disappeared into the grate, leaving Marie alone. Marie, wiping her face of stray tears, returns to the task at hand. She has one more ink tank's worth of Kamabo ink, and she wants to know how it reacts when out in the open rather than in the confides of an ink tank.

"Here goes nothing." She pops open the top of the final ink tank, and pours a little bit onto the ground, before quickly sealing up the tank again. She first just observes it, seeing what it does while just sitting on the ground. It pulses with a faint glow, almost like a heartbeat. Before long, it starts to shift around, spreading slightly along the ground. Marie pulls out another ice cube from her pack, and tosses it in the middle of the small puddle she made.

The substance reacts far less violently than it did inside of a sealed ink tank. Within a 3 inch radius of the ice cube, the substance evaporated instantly, however the rest of it remained. Marie had figured it would react differently but she was still surprised at how much still evaporated. She then pulled out her charger and fired across the remaining puddle, and it was gone. She gently poked around the ink she shot to see if the substance had tried to absorb into her ink. Much to her relief, it had not.

"Okay, Three wasn't kidding when she said this stuff was nasty." Marie comments to no one. She turns to the mostly full ink tank with the Kamabo sludge inside of it, pops out one last ice cube, and drops it in.

"There. That's enough experimentation. I think if I pass this intel on to Sheldon he could make a weapon we can use in case Kamabo tries anything again." Marie takes out her notepad and scribbles down her findings. Before she heads back to Inkopolis however, she walks over to where Octavio and her grandfather, Cap'n Cuttlefish, were situated.

"Hey gramps. Hey grumps." Marie says to The Cap'n and the captive DJ respectively.

"Oh Marie! So good to see you. How've you been?" Cap'n beams, happy to see his granddaughter. Octavio, on the other hand, just grumbles.

"Been doing pretty good, found a major weakness in that Kamabo 'ink' so I'm gonna pass the intel on to Sheldon to see if he can fashion a weapon designed around it." Marie smiles, taking a seat beside the Cap'n "what about you? What are you up to?"

The old captain sighs. "I've been keeping my eyes on Octavio mostly. He seems to be pretty content with his place now. I think realizing his troops were defecting caused him to re-evaluate his life choices."

"I did what I thought was right for my people." The old DJ mumbles. "It was never personal."

Marie and the Cap'n glare at Octavio. Absolutely not satisfied with his answer at all. Not that he could really say anything that they would be satisfied with at this point.

"So what was that nonsense with Callie then?" Marie spits as she scowls at Octavio.

The DJ winces, he knew there was no justifying that. There was no line that he could say to make it like he was just trying to help. In that moment, he admitted to himself, he was the bad guy.

"It was… a mistake. I was blinded by revenge." Octavio sighs, looking down at the ground through his snowglobe. "I don't expect you to forgive me. Just know that I realise now I was wrong."

Cap'n and Marie share a look, silently saying that while they believe he does regret his actions, he still cannot be trusted. He's committed atrocities that have forever stained his reputation among them.

"Maybe so, but your actions are still inexcusable." The old Cap'n says, putting his hand on Octavio's snowglobe. "I want nothing more than for our two races to see peace, and without you in the way, we finally have the best shot in over a hundred years of achieving it."

Octavio sighs loudly. Averting his gaze from the pair.

"You are right Cap'n. You have always been right." Octavio sighs, it took him over 100 years to realize what he should've known all along.

Cap'n chuckles to himself.

"Oh if only you'd have said that before the war. We could've built the world together Octavio." The old Inkling sighs, remembering days long since passed. "But one thing I can commend, is your dedication to your people. You've made mistakes, who hasn't. But, you were always trying to help your kind."

Craig knows that Octavio is feeling genuine remorse for his actions, and while he can't bring himself to forgive him for what he's done, he can at least offer him the simple kindness of not ignoring the good intentions. Ignoring the good would only drive Octavio further from the light and Craig wanted to avoid that.

The old Octopus in the snowglobe can't help but smile. For the first time in over a hundred years, he could finally feel at peace with himself. His people were suffering, they were lost and stuck underground. He had tried everything he knew for his people, but he knew that he wasn't the man for the job anymore.

"Thank you Cuttlefish, it means a great deal to me to hear you say those words." The old DJ nods to Craig, then pauses for a moment before turning his attention towards Marie. "Marie, if you haven't already, I suggest you smash those Hypnoshades. Smash them until there's nothing left. I designed them so that if she sees them, she's going to subconsciously want to put them back on."

"Why are you telling me this?" Marie questions, bringing her hand to rub her chin. Octavio didn't seem like the type to give up information like this willingly, and yet here he was, telling them something that no doubt would've given him a tremendous advantage should he desire to betray them.

"Because… I finally accept what must happen for my people. I've led them for so long but look where it got them. Still trapped underground. I am not the king my people need, nor am I the one they deserve." Octavio sighs, he's given up trying to take over inkling kind and force them underground. The Octolings leaving his ranks and being accepted with open arms in Inkopolis have lead him to realize that peace is an option. But he knows he's not the one to lead them to it.

Marie nods, making a mental note to actually figure out where those damn shades got put, before standing to leave. She goes over and gives Cap'n a hug before turning to face Octavio one last time. She has some parting words for him that she needs to say before she feels she can leave.

"I appreciate everything you've said to me." She quips, but before Octavio can respond, she adds the rest of her thought. "But if you even consider hurting my family ever again, even as a passing thought, I will personally tear you limb from limb."

Marie then turns dramatically, putting the surgical mask over her face so the populous won't notice her, and returns through the grate to Inkopolis, leaving Octavio and Cuttlefish alone.

"She's uh, intense." Octavio states, his pupils seemingly a lot smaller than before Marie's comment. If you looked closely you'd also be able to see that he was visibly shaking.

The Cap'n nods, takes a sip from his tea, then turns to face Octavio, staring him directly in the eyes.

"And she's not joking either."