Got rejected by someone I loved for three years, at least Quartz is okay! …Wait, he isn't?!
Warning: Mild violence and abuse. Also, inklings and octolings have bones in my story. I didn't know how to creatively give them injuries so yeah :P
The floorboards were rotting away, the cheap wallpaper peeled, pests scurried from one hole in the wall and into the other, the light violently flickered and hung from the ceiling by a single thin wire. He cried into the blood-stained pillow, with more of it dripping from his leg. Quartz was covered in bruises and had broken his ribcage from how rough he was handled.
"You really thought you had finally got away?" cackled Octavia.
"They'll all kick your ass."
"Will they reverse the damages though? Will they still save you if you're a corpse laying on the floor of a room like this?"
"..."
Meanwhile, Celeste, the new agent 3 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, was with her smallfry named Rayray. They had just arrived in Beaker's Depot. "This place is full of strange properties…" she observed in amazement. She had never seen octarian technology before.
The other three agents, captain 3, 8 and 4 just made it to the Canyon. They went to Inkopolis Square and went down the manhole, which took them to Tentakeel Outpost. "Let's not waste any time." husked the captain. Thanks to agent 4, accessing the launch pads to the next areas weren't an issue, the issue was the troops who mistook them for wanting to defeat DJ Octavio.
"Hey! The hell do you think you're doing on our turf?!" shouted an octoling soldier, who then saw agent 4. "YOU! YOU KICKED MY ASS ONCE! IT'S MY TURN TO KICK YOUR ASS!" The agent smirked, the octoling's anger only fired her up. "I'll hold this fucker off." she whispered to the boys. "Meetcha at the lookout."
The two went to Suction-Cup Lookout, instantly falling into a hole made by octarians in order to stop them. "HEY!" shouted the captain in anger. "BOSS! WE GOT THEM!" shouted yet another rival octoling. "LET'S POUR THE LAVA INTO THE HOLE!" she added. "WAIT WHAT?!" gasped agent 8.
"YOU'RE REALLY GOING THIS FAR TO TORTURE THAT BOY, YOU'RE FUCKING EVIL!"
"Boy?" What boy?"
"Don't be an idiot, that poor boy who's faced endless torture from Octavia."
"Uh, Sakura, what did he say?" asked an elite octoling from the communication device (thingy dingy?) the octoling held. "Something about Octavia and that boy she keeps around?" replied the octoling, who's name is apparently "Sakura."
"Hold the lava." said the elite as she went over to the hole to investigate the situation. "What's going on?" the elite octoling asked calmly. "We don't have the great zapfish, you know."
"We're rescuing Quartz. Octavia of Beaker's Depot took him back to his abusive home." explained agent 8. "I thought I told that bitch to stop." she mumbled. "Sakura, bring them to our base." The lower soldier helped the two out of the pit and escorted them to the cabin.
"Who are you?" she asked in a somewhat intimidating manner.
"I'm-"
"Wait, I know who you are, inkling. In fact, we all do. Who's your husband?"
"W-we're not married you dumbass!"
"It'd be nice if we were."
"H-Haru!"
"Haru. Got it." said the older cephalopod. "I'm Hiroko, I run things in this area. How do you know about that octoling boy?"
"You mean Quartz?" hissed captain 3. "Ceru, she doesn't know that." whispered agent 8. "What a lovely name." responded Hiroko. "The poor thing was helpless for longer than i've been working here…People like Octavia are what's keeping our army in the past."
"Why didn't you do anything?" asked captain 3. He was pissed when she expressed concern, but seemed to have done nothing about the situation. "When I first heard of it," she explained. "I had just become an elite soldier and Octavia had already been known as a very powerful octoling for over a decade at that point. I called her a few times to convince her to stop, but I was too scared to fight, I promised myself I would one day though…And I guess that's today."
She turned around, facing the two agents. "DJ Octavio has been trying to get Inkadia and our domes to live in peace ever since that whole fuzz incident. I think helping you two with your mission will bring us one step closer, I can't sit and watch Quartz get hurt any more."
Meanwhile, Celeste had snuck into the base at Beaker's Depot. "Geez, this is uncomfortable." she thought as she put on the neo octoling outfit she stole for a disguise. "Well, here we are." she mumbled nervously, looking at the cabin in front of her. She took a deep breath, then opened the door. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw Octavia. "The hell are you doing here? Those agents are coming to attack us."
Agent 3 pulled out her hero shot. "TO OBLITERATE YOU!"
"How'd you get here so quickly?!"
"I stuck a lil' something on your back, now SURRENDER HIM!"
"You brat, you don't realize who you're fighting!"
"I do."
The two fought with their weapons, but agent 3 really didn't know how powerful the elite octoling truly was. She found herself tied up in a chair, defeated. "Confidence like that could get you in the army…Working for Hiroko!" cackled Octavia. "HEY RAT, YOU HAVE COMPANY! COME SAY HELLO!" she shouted. "C-Celeste…" When Quartz saw who it was, he wanted to cry.
"Would you look at that, the remnants of your pathetic family are back together!" Octavia cackled. "Remnants?" Agent 3 was surprised, she thought she meant that the other agents were killed or something. "You don't know?" the elite sneered.
Flashback, 14 years ago…
Beaker's Depot, Octo Canyon…
"YOU CAN'T FUCKING DO THIS! YOU'RE JUST GOING TO ABANDON YOUR SON LIKE THAT?!" a mother screamed to her husband, holding the hands of a two year old girl. "I just can't agree with Octavio's ideals," he replied. "and I don't want our daughter to believe them when she's old enough to understand. I'm leaving."
The mother screamed as her family walked out of the door. An elite octoling, young and still somewhat new to the position stood beside her. "I loved that man for my entire life, yet he chose you." she husked. "And you threw your love down the drain?" the elite octoling growled.
"Octavia, if he disagrees with Octavio, then he wouldn't-"
"THIS ISN'T ABOUT OCTAVIO! I hope both you and your child die when you give birth."
Present day…
"Awful fucks who only thought of themselves." Octavia thought. "Wait, does that mean…?" Agent 3's eyes widened. "...We're related by blood?" Quartz finished the question. Octavia nodded. "Your mother died when you were 3 and 5, sharing the same fate with my beloved she stole."
"YOU KILLED BOTH OF THEM?" growled agent 3. Octavia evilly chuckled. "That's right. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw you fall to your knees at his dead corpse. It was such a pretty, bittersweet sight."
"You're fucking twisted…"
"It wasn't much different with your dear mother. I shot her in the hearts at least a hundred times, and her children didn't even know until now!" she laughed. "Not even she knew it was me!" Her cackles were cut off by an attack from agent 3's smallfry.
"Run." she huffed in panic. The two ran out of the cabin, they could hear Octavia screaming all kinds of bad words at the spawn inside. Agent 3 helped Quartz, his broken bones and fresh bruises put a strain on his ability to effectively run by himself.
They ran until they bumped into an…inkling. "Woah, guys?!" she exclaimed. It was agent 4. "FOUR!" cheered agent 3. "Where are the others?" Quartz asked. "They probably just passed here." answered 4, as the three were in Suction-Cup Lookout. "I was stalled by some feral soldier I apparently beat back in the day." Looking at Quartz caused the usually happy agent to form a small frown. He was already in rough shape before, but Octavia gave him many new scars and other marks despite barely having him for a few hours. She also forced him to have octarian red ink, rather than the dark purple he gave himself at the beginning.
Meanwhile, the others were with Hiroko and her troops. "Here we are." said Hiroko. "Octavia's base. Let's go." At least twenty octolings were watching them. "I don't remember the place being this heavily guarded." She kept her cool, however. "LIKE MY ARMY?!" shouted a familiar octoling from the rooftop of the base. "You must be foolish if you thought I didn't see you coming…ATTACK!" Captain 3, agent 8 and Hiroko with her small group began to fight them off as they charged. Particularly, the captain was slashing through the army, almost entirely using his bare hands alone. "WHERE THE HELL IS HE?!" yelled captain 3 at Octavia, who just snickered. "As if I know."
"HE'S INSIDE!"
"He was, 10 minutes ago. The rat escaped with his equally disgusting sister and her fish."
"Definitely Celeste, though I don't get the sister pa-"
"But since you're here, I may as well kill you." Octavia shoved her army to the side. "You brought Hiroko with you too? I'm not surprised that she would follow a squid and a traitor. Those inklings even got to Octavio, he may as well give me the entire territory."
"Being an octarian isn't about anything you stand for…" growled Hiroko. "Three, take this and destroy her." she handed him a rainmaker, it was heavy and shaped like a fish, made from gold.
"You can do it." smiled agent 8, holding him from behind. "For Quartz."
"No matter what you do, you can't destroy me."
He charged up a shot, and blasted it right at Octavia, not only splatting her but also destroying almost the entire cabin. The inkling sighed, in relief.
The other three saw a blue glow coming from Beaker's Depot, and then heard a bunch of octolings panicking. "THAT'S CERU!" Agent 4 cheered, jumping up and down happily.
"Cerulean? You mean he's…"
"Uh, I may have gotten a bit excited…"
"That must make Haru agent 8, right?"
"Damn it Ember, you and your big mouth!"
Flashback, two chapters ago…
"Agent 3 was very strong, but I heard he goes by captain 3 now."
"You sound like you know him."
"Heh. I might…"
Present day…
The girls and Quartz decided to leave before anyone who supports Octavia saw them. They waited outside of the manhole in Inkopolis Square. The young octoling boy was crying, he was feeling very emotional. "You guys are so nice…" Celeste then smiled. "Related by blood or not, we're a family." She got a "Hell yeah!" from Ember.
In the canyon, captain 3 did it, but he could barely walk from how exhausted he was. Agent 8 picked him up bridal style, the inkling's face went a deep red (or blue if you think their blush matches the ink color). "Darn, I wish I could've done more…" sighed Hiroko. "You helped us get here and gave three the rainmaker, I think that's something." smiled 8. "True." she replied.
"I'm glad Quartz is safe." Hiroko smiled. "I have a lot to learn as an elite octarian. I hope we cross paths again, maybe i'll see Splatsville for myself." she then waved. "May we meet again, New Squidbeak Splatoon…" she went into the launchpad to her area and disappeared into the sky.
The two then got a message. It was obviously from agent 4 and read "Quartz is A-OK! the square now!"
Haru took Cerulean into the manhole, still holding him when they got back to the square. Ember smirked. "Was that a crucial part of the mission?" she snickered. "Shut up! I'm just tired!" retorted Cerulean. "You wish Marie would do this to you." Ember then gasped. "LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS YOU DOG!" she shouted. "WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!"
(Y'know, since all mammals except Mr. Grizz and the Judds are extinct)
"Calm down." sighed Haru, who then examined the damage on Quartz's body. "And you, young man, we need to treat all of that!" Quartz whined. "Nooooo!" He constantly dodged the idea when he first got to the Splatlands, as he's never been to a doctor and didn't know exactly what they do to heal people. Celeste's little buddy, Rayray, gave Quartz a dirty bandage he just found on the street. "Uh, thanks." laughed Quartz, awkwardly.
At home, Quartz wanted to fall asleep, the past several hours were extremely exhausting and stressful. As he went to lay down, Cerulean and Haru entered the room. "Hey." said Cerulean. "We need to talk." Both of them sat down next to him. "We've been thinking about this a lot." said Haru. "You never had anyone to take care of you, we want to watch out for you like Octavia should've. Quartz, how do you feel about being adopted?" The younger octoling's eyes glittered.
"As in you two being my parents?"
"Yes." chucked Haru.
"YES!"
"I think we have our answer."
The couple hugged their son tightly. Quartz got emotional once again.
To be continued...
Man, action is not my strong suit…If you're wondering: Yes, there is worse to come but not for a little while. Hiroko is also gonna have a more major role in the future. For now, expect fluff and more agent 24 moments!