Hey again, everyone. So, it's been a few months. Which is funny because I said before that I didn't plan on taking a break from writing, but then lo and behold, my laptop broke for a while, my entire flow got thrown off, and I had to take some time to get back on track. Oh well, it was a fitting place to take a break, anyway. So, with that behind me (hopefully), the story's back again, and as I've said before, it will be quite a bit different from here on out. It's practically like a new story, but I hope everyone's still buckled in, because there are still plenty of twists and turns coming up. So, let's not waste another minute. When we last left off, the Splatoon was betrayed, the Octarians completed their time travel plans, and the remainder of the Splatoon emerged in a new, different reality...
Disclaimer: Again, credit goes to ARandomInterloper for creating the Eightfold Order.
100 Years Ago
The Great Turf War
An unusually ominous wind blew through the night air outside the cabin, tilting grass in its breeze amid the ambience of crickets chirping and tree branches rustling among each other. The woods that surrounded this cabin was cold, but the cabin itself brought on its own warm atmosphere, with its lights on to pierce through the darkness and help warm up the residents inside.
A map of Inkadia was laid down on the table as the young, handsome, and daring Cap'n Cuttlefish used both hands to straighten it out. "Alright." He held up his pencil. "The Octarians are making a new front here." He pointed to the north near the Valley. "Ammoses and Judd are already stationed there, keeping an eye out on what they can. What I'm worried about, is this area right here." He circled the river. "We may have to consider blowing out this bridge and seeing if that will prevent their ground forces from making real progress. Opinions?"
The two Inklings that joined him were none other than the famous members of the Legendary Squidbeak Splatoon, with their brave faces practically lighting up the atmosphere all on their own. "Only problem is-" The girl, Clara McLeod, spoke up. "We'll be cutting off our own access to those areas to the north."
"Hell." Her brother, Jack McLeod, leaned back in his seat as he kicked his feet up on the table. "It'll put those commies in their place. That's what matters. We don't need those areas. Could hold off a few vicious attacks of theirs and give us the advantage."
"It's a bit of a gamble." Cuttlefish replied. "If they planned ahead and foresee our plans, they'll be ready for us."
They fell into silence as they thought about it.
"I say we take it." Clara spoke up. "They should take a hit if we play smart. They may even be forced to retreat."
Cuttlefish nodded a bit, and looked at Jack.
Jack shrugged. "Don't look at me, just listen to the lady."
He put his own thought into it before he nodded. "I reckon it's settled then. I'll update Ammoses."
They were all interrupted as they heard a door open, as someone else stepped into the cabin.
"Oh. Well, there's a chance he's already heard you." Jack remarked.
They all turned to watch as three uninvited Octolings stepped into the room, led by the dark-skinned, black-haired girl whose eyes held lots of sorrow and anger.
"The hell?" He immediately stood up as the Splatoon grabbed their different Bamboozlers.
She casually held her hand up to calm them. "Cap'n Craig Cuttlefish. Jack and Clara McLeod. My name is Lydia Tecca and we've come here with a proposition for you. It will be the only proposition we shall offer you."
"Better be hell of a proposition, commies." Jack held his defensive position. "Wanna get to it? Or you want your brains blown out?"
She held her own straight stance. "Tell your Inkling army to surrender this war to the Octarians and give them Inkadia City: The city that will become known in the future as Inkopolis."
Clara squinted a bit. "What?"
"I don't know what the hell you think you're on about, or how you found us here, but this is breaking and entering." Cuttlefish spoke defiantly. "Take your two stooges and get lost before this turns ugly."
Lydia subtly reached for her own weapon. "You don't want to fight us, Cap'n Cuttlefish."
The Splatoon, however, was already ready for action. Jack and Clara gave each other reassuring glances, ready for just another fight.
"Don't be so sure." Cuttlefish replied, gripping his Bamboozler tighter. "This is your last chance."
Lydia sighed. "Fine, then."
The gunfight that proceeded was quick, to the point, and brutal. Jack and Clara both lunged forward to take them on in a swift battle, but it quickly ended with them both receiving shots of highly-pressurized ink beyond anything they had ever even seen. Furthermore, Jack, who was now left bleeding, attempted one last attack before he was suddenly struck by a blast of green energy, and was sent hurling into a wall, collapsing onto a table that broke beneath his weight.
Just like that, Jack and Clara were left sprawled there as still as can be, with Jack's jaw dislocated as he lay awkwardly in a heap of broken wood, while Clara's eyes were still wide open, now lifelessly staring at nothing.
Cuttlefish, the last one left, held his wounds as he crawled to grab his Bamboozler again. He was wheezing in pain, struggling for his remaining strength before Lydia walked up to him and picked him up, shoving him against the wall.
From here, Cuttlefish could see what had become of his two dearest allies. Tears fell down his cheeks as he faced his enemy, gritting his beak in pure anger and rage as they looked each other in the eye. "How… could you…?"
"How could I?" She smirked slightly. "I'll do whatever's necessary to secure my future." She rose her own gun toward his face and pulled the trigger.
The Bamboozler fell to the ground, covered in the Cap'n's ink as his limp hand laid aside it. Just like that, Cap'n Cuttlefish was dead… and his legacy was erased. No one stayed to clean the bodies as Lydia led the Octolings back outside into the woods.
Marina was nearby, awkwardly holding her own chest in shock as he watched Lydia approach. "Hey." She came up to her. "What did you do? I heard shooting."
"The Legendary Squidbeak Splatoon are dead." Lydia announced to her as she passed. "The Octarians will win the Great War, just as we planned. Just as my father wanted." She stared ahead. "Now let's go."
Marina took one last look back at Cuttlefish's cabin, frozen where she stood. She wanted to feel guilty… she wanted to feel remorse and shame… but she had to push those feelings aside. She had to remind herself why this needed to be done. Silently, she turned to follow.
Together, they all boarded the massive Octarian station that had descended from the sky here, and the station again lifted into the air. The bombing commenced shortly after, cementing a new future for them to travel back to.
New Squidbeak Splatoon: Ascension
Part II- Octo City
Chapter 25: Brand New Reality
Present Day
The New World
"It's that time again!" The hyper, flamboyant Octoling man spoke up, with ridiculous purple hair that shot up in all directions, a fancy purple robe on, and painted fingers. "Reminding you all here today of all the beautiful scenic tourist attractions we all hold here in Octo City. The famous Octolon Plaza. The dazzling Seashore Twentletine Amusement Park. The breathtaking Mount Nantai view center. And of course, our Capitol at the center of it all: Octavio Tower. Still beee-autiful as ever!" He waved his hands around in dramatic fashion on the holographic screen that was projected from the wall, emulating a television. Toward the end of his broadcast, however, he suddenly fell more somber, putting on a dramatic, but reassuring face. "Octarians. I know these times are hard. We never know when our rivals, the menaces of society, will be coming from next. But I assure you. Today, and all days. Together, we are all residents of this great city. We are the centerpiece of this beautiful world we call home. And no one else can look down upon us- they can only look up. And at the end of the day, we will hold our place here, and only grow stronger."
He suddenly laughed as he returned to his prior personality, pointing his finger upward. "But it's all a speech you've heard before, and will hear again! As always, I have been the Thinker." He pointed at his own head. "Glory to the Octarians. Glory to King Octavio."
The two young Octoling children who were watching the broadcast as it ended were simultaneously finishing their cereal at the nearby table. The young boy turned to his mom. "Mommy, can we go to Seashore Twentletine?"
The adult Octoling, with long, beautiful white hair that contrasted her dark skin, came over to take their dishes from them. "I'm not sure we'll have time, sweetheart."
"What? But you have the next days off."
She sighed. That was true. "Ok… but have you two finished your drills?"
"I finished them as soon as I woke up." The little girl bragged.
"I'll… I'll finish mine later." The boy continued.
"Well, I want you finish them as soon as you stand up." She turned to take the dishes away, but was stopped.
"I don't understand why we need these stupid drills either way." He told her, whining.
She sighed and paused as she turned back to them. "They teach us to be hard-workers when we grow up. Remember?"
"So is it true, then?" The girl replied.
"Is… what true?"
"That they're just toughening us up to be slaves when we are older? So that we can just do whatever Octavio wants of us?"
"What- I- Who said that?"
"My friend at school." She curled up somewhat.
Silently, she set the bowls back down as she pet their hair. "I promise you… society runs the way it does for a reason. After the Great War, Octavio foresaw the world he wanted to create and he made it so. A lot of people hated it for him, but now the truth is known. He was just being our savior. To prevent conflict. To prevent disorder. Don't they teach this to you in school?"
"Yes."
"Then listen to your teachers. Not all of your friends. They don't always know what they're talking about." She pecked both of their heads, then paused. "…Ok. If you hurry up and finish your drills… I will consider taking you to Twentletine for the day. Ok?"
They both nodded eagerly. "Ok!"
"Good. Now, go on now." She stood up straight and took back the bowls as her son ran off.
She took the dishes to the automatic sink in the kitchen where she simply dropped them down the chute so that they could be automatically cleaned and then properly returned to their shelves. She was glad she had the day off, and she didn't mind giving her children a fun day at the amusement park at all. She was actually looking forward to it.
But it wasn't going to happen. A mere moment later, she looked down as her sleek, black watch blinked red, signifying an emergency order. She glanced in the direction of her children before she waved her hand over her wrist, and the watch projected a hologram of the report.
Urgent: Anomalies detected and detained. All Eightfolds report for duty.
She sighed in disappointment. A fun day was simply too much to ask for in her line of work. She gave another handwave to move to the next page.
The report now showed her two images of the apparent "anomalies": Marina Ida and Lydia Tecca.
She squinted in confusion. She didn't understand the Marina Ida one, but Lydia Tecca…
The Lydia name meant nothing to her. It said nothing to her. Yet, the Tecca surname… spoke volumes to her. Could it be real? Why were they labeled as anomalies?
She turned the watch off as she silently turned back to her kids. "Um… children?"
"Yeah?" They both stepped over and looked at her.
"There's been a change of plans. I have to go to work."
"What?" Her son suddenly ran forward and grabbed her hand. "No! You can't go into work, you have a day off!"
"Octavio has the authority to call me in whenever I'm needed, honey…" She pet his head. "I can't do anything about that."
He was actually starting to cry. "But it feels like you're always at work, and you're always off somewhere-"
She closed her eyes and sighed. "I know. I'm… I'm sorry. I'll be back as soon as I can…" She hesitated a moment before she let go. "Keep an eye on each other while I'm gone."
The kids both watched in disappointment as she stepped into her bedroom, closing the automatic sliding door behind her.
In private, she clenched her own face in sheer disappointment, sighing to herself. After a moment, she forced herself to get ready for work, stepping toward her closet. She pressed a couple buttons on the wall panel, as the closet automatically opened up, presenting a wheel of her outfits. She pulled out the black, full-body outfit, that had broadened shoulder armor and a utility belt already equipped. She silently changed into her outfit, grabbed her weapons, and activated the light-up nametag, which read: Eva.
From there, she came out and said goodbye to her children one last time, before she headed out the front door and into the bright outside world of Octo City.
Even the suburbs she stood in was of bold and sleek design, with the houses presented in all sorts of different shapes, sizes and dark colors. Clearly visible in the background was the actual city itself, with its multiple islands of mainly dark-purple skyscrapers that stretched to the sky, lighting up the world around them in a absolute rainbow of colors. In the center of all of it was the tallest building of them all, Octavio Tower, just as it had appeared on TV. Hovercars and other vehicles filled the air, with no toxic gases and a pure, clean, pleasant atmosphere. It was her proud home, and the home of all the strongest Octarians in the world. She never knew any other kind of world.
As she headed away from home and toward work, she and the rest of the population remained so far unaware of yet another anomaly that had appeared high in the sky, accidentally blending in with the already chaotic environment.
The Ray had appeared out of thin air with nothing but a flash of light to announce its appearance, and had proceeded to hover in its place, overlooking this huge city. The agents of the New Squidbeak Splatoon onboard stared out the window, at this new reality that was not Inkopolis.
"...We're not in our own world at all…" Oliver had just stated to the team.
The rest of the Splatoon simply stared on in bewilderment, too confused to even speak.
"...H-… How-…?" Bridgett asked.
Silently, everyone in the room began to turn and look at Callie, who was still curled up by the wall.
Marie stepped toward her. "Callie?"
She looked up at her, not saying anything.
"Callie?" She repeated, with poison in her voice.
Callie desperately shook her head. "I- I-"
"Enough of this." Jessica suddenly stepped forward, grabbed her, picked her up, and shoved her against the wall. "What did you do!?"
Some of the agents reached to pull her off of her. "Jessica, don't!" Bridgett told her.
Callie was left alone, shivering. "I… I'm sorry… I didn't know what else to do."
Marie angrily pointed at the floor. "We talk shit like this over, that's what we do!"
"And you still have a lot of explaining to do." Jessica pressured.
"The Octarians already won, ok!?" Callie shouted. "I told you before! I don't even think anyone listened! Marina made the new crystal, they shot back through time, and they changed our future! The Octarians won the Great Turf War! We had to follow them!"
Bridgett shook her head. "But that's- That's absurd."
She faced them all, tears flowing down onto her outfit. "We travelled through the galaxy to a magic crystal planet, that was absurd. We broke a hole through the universe. This was the consequence."
The Splatoon fell into another painful silence as they thought this through. It felt too surreal to each of them.
After a moment, Marie was the next to speak. "We should've talked this over first. Gramps and Sheldon must be scared shitless. And we need to find Pearl, she got left behind too."
Callie suddenly looked her in the eye. "Gramps and Pearl are dead."
They all froze as they looked at her.
"W-What?" Bridgett asked.
"I saw them… the crystal showed me…" Callie kept crying. "They both… they both…"
Now the silence was even more horrible. They all looked down at the floor in shock, wondering if it was true, wondering if they could even believe her. Marie held her own chest, now more worried for her Gramps than ever.
Callie stared at them all, before she sank down the wall and again curled up.
"...That can't be true, we're gonna figure this out." Marie suddenly said, walking back to the Ray's controls. The rest of the team watched her as she looked at the window, down at the city.
Dylan followed her. "So what do we do?"
She took yet another moment to think. "First, let's get us out of the air. We may be attracting unwanted attention here." She sat at the pilot seat.
Marie piloted the Ray as best as she could to get the Ray out of sight. The team continued to watch through the window as they were given a somewhat better view of the city, further confirming to them that it did nothing to resemble Inkopolis, until eventually, Marie flew them outside of city limits and found a perfectly normal forest, which she touched down in. Finally, something from the world most of them recognized.
"This has got to be the worst possible time to have something like this happen." Marie said as she unbuckled herself and stood back up.
Everyone except for Callie followed her as she headed down the cockpit and into the Ray's hallways.
"This was Gideon's goal from the beginning." Oliver explained to them as they walked. "He wanted to create a utopia. I think he… I think he may have succeeded."
Bridgett scoffed. "I'm not believing shit that man says."
"Hold on." Marie suddenly stopped and turned to them. "Gideon Tecca? You know him?"
"It's… a long story, really."
She sighed and kept walking. "Well, I say we may just have plenty of time for it."
They walked into the loading bay where Daniel and the still-unconscious Samantha were resting.
"Hey." Daniel stood up as he faced them all. "Someone wanna explain to me what's going on?"
"You should be in prison." Marie aggressively pointed at him as she passed. She suddenly paused yet again, as her mind suddenly caught up to her on the fact that, indeed, Daniel Murdock was on the plane with them and had just interacted with her. She squinted as she turned to Jessica. "What is he doing here, anyway?"
"I… I don't actually know." Jessica replied.
"Another long story." Oliver said.
Marie just stood there and stared at them as she thought that over… but honestly, it was the least weird thing that was even going on. She sighed and went to check on Samantha's condition, just to make sure she hadn't suddenly gone into cardiac arrest in the past few minutes. She checked her pulse to ensure she was still alive, then checked her wound, sighing. She… really wasn't sure she could treat it for long here. In general, she didn't know what to do at all, and was starting to feel like she was having a slow mental breakdown.
After another moment, she sighed deeply as she turned to face everyone once again. "Alright. Clearly, we've all missed a lot, so everything that everyone knows, should be laid out on the table before the next crazy thing happens."
The team exchanged some glances, before they slowly got to explaining to each other about their separate adventures these past few months. They all certainly had some weird stories to tell, but regardless, everyone soon had as full a picture on the situation as they could get, and were ready to continue as a full team.
"So this is a world of Octarians." Dylan pondered out loud. "And Callie is in on it."
Marie sighed. "I don't know what Callie is in on, anymore."
"It was Marina who did all this." Bridgett commented, looking down. "She was planning this the whole time, and I… never even saw it."
"No one did, Eight, that's not anyone's fault."
"Maybe it is mine, though. No one was closer to Pearl and Marina than I was, and I… at the same time, I let Gideon manipulate me-"
"If anything, it's my fault." Oliver interrupted. "I was the closest to Gideon and I couldn't stop this from happening anyway."
Marie just looked around at everyone, as she slowly realized… maybe all of them, in some way, held some blame for what had happened. She felt, at least, she herself definitely did. Maybe… as a team, they had all failed. Simple as that. Regardless, though, she pushed those thoughts aside and forced her next words. "This isn't time for a pity party. This is time to figure out what we do next."
"Catching up was fun, but as far as right now goes, we're all in the dark on where we even are exactly." Jessica remarked.
"Well, maybe it's not even that complicated." Dylan spoke up. "Maybe… Maybe we're just in the Subgrid or something."
Immediately after saying that, everyone except for Oliver suddenly broke down into angry swears at the mere thought of that.
"Don't fucking go there, Four." Marie groaned.
"I can't even-" Bridgett held her own forehead.
"My brain will implode if anyone even implies it." Jessica said.
"Alright, fine, but we're not getting any closer to the answers by just sitting here." Dylan continued.
Marie sighed. "Four's right, at least, we need to investigate before we jump to too many conclusions." She looked down, pondering more. "…Eight?"
Bridgett stood up straight and faced her.
"You and Oliver. You're the last Octarians we have right now. If this is an actual Octarian world, then… you two should be the ones to check it out. See what's going on."
As everyone looked at the two Octolings, they looked at each other as well, nodding slightly.
"Yeah. I can agree to that." Oliver said.
"Good." Marie nodded back. "Then go."
He stepped forward. "Does this mean you're the one in charge here?"
"I didn't- I didn't say that. Maybe for now, we'll just approach this as… I don't know, just a team."
"...Fine."
"But I will say this one thing."
"What?" Bridgett asked.
"Be careful. Please. I don't know if this team can take even one more hit right now."
She gulped a bit, but nodded as well. "Understood."
"In fact-" Marie went over to a box near the side of the room, looking inside. She pulled out a small canned special, which she handed to Bridgett. "Should be five high-pressure Splashdowns in here."
She took it. "Thanks."
Marie went over to the button to open the Ray's ramp and pressed it. The brief alarm sounded as the ramp lowered. "Watch each other's backs." She finished.
They nodded as, standing together, Bridgett and Oliver walked out. The rest of the team stood by, watching, until Marie pressed the button to seal the Ray back up once they were gone.
It was a fairly long and silent walk for the two Octolings as they made their way through the forest toward what they remembered to be Inkopolis. As they closed in on what was now Octo City, they briefly stopped to gaze upon its massive view that towered over them.
"Wow…" Bridgett mused.
Oliver just continued onward, and it wasn't much longer before the two of them arrived in the city. From there, there was a lot to explore, and a lot of sights to take in.
The first thing they noticed was how… 'dark' everything was. The streets they walked on were black, and most of the buildings held a dark purple tone to stare at, while lots of colors were shot out in the form of lights to instead light up and decorate their surroundings. Then, they started to notice the technology, and how all of the signs and any type of screens were not physically there, and were instead holographic. Bridgett had a little bit of fun with these as they walked by, reaching her hand though some of these holograms just to see her arms phase through them.
As they believed before, it was populated almost entirely out of Octarians. Aside from that, at first, as far as society went, there didn't even appear to be anything out of the ordinary. It was a perfectly ordinary society you might expect to see in the future… but there was something else Bridgett couldn't help but notice. Not many people seemed particularly… happy. Sure, nothing seemed run-down and there wasn't any obvious elements of crime, which did put it a step above Inkopolis in her opinion, but it felt like… the residents almost moved like soulless robots, who were just moving from one place to another. Barely anyone even really looked at her as she passed in spite of the bruises she still had from her recent fight with Lydia. She squinted a bit as she passed some of these people. Perhaps… this wasn't the utopia Gideon had promised at all.
Furthermore, as she thought about Gideon's promises, the next thing she noticed was that… there was no Inklings. No Inklings, or anything even Squid-shaped or related, anywhere. That, if anything, confirmed it to her. Gideon didn't create a world for everyone… just for them. She clenched her fist somewhat.
Oliver glanced at her. They had not spoken to each other since they left the Ray; Neither of them even knew what to say. Wanting to talk to her more than ever before right now, he cleared his throat. "Are you… reacting well enough to all of this?"
She glanced at him. "Does it look like I am?"
"Well, no, you look particularly stressed."
"And you're not?"
He awkwardly shook his head. "I'm always stressed."
She just kept her gaze forward. Despite the clear connection these two had… there was also an air of awkwardness between the two of them that she just… wasn't even sure she'd be able to break. Thusly, she said nothing in return, and the short conversation died there.
Oliver felt the same way, but… he didn't want the conversation to end. He wanted to get to know her, even if it was just to get some closure for the all the times this woman had appeared in his dreams. Unsure of where to even start, he forced his next words. "I'm sorry that you got wrapped in all of this, Bridgett."
She paused. "Oh…" was all that she could say in response.
"I heard you tell your story about Gideon in that ship back there. And how you think this is your fault. And I wanted to remind you, it's not. It's mine."
"No, no, I just-" She shook her head. "Look, there's just been way too much going on, and I… don't really know what to think about that."
"Well, I want you to think that it's not your fault."
"...Ok. It's… not my fault." She said, albeit half-heartedly.
"Good." He nodded and kept walking. "I can… tell that much of this is bothering you. It's… bothering me too. So you're not alone."
She stared ahead. "It just, really, uh… hurt to know, that… after all this time, after… thinking I was maybe something more… I'm… not even a real person. I'm not real now and I never was."
He looked at her. "Don't say that. I'd… like to think we're all still real people. In some way."
She looked around at some of the surrounding buildings, swiftly changing the subject. "I… don't know where exactly we should be looking to find out more information."
"An information center might suffice."
"...You're right… maybe a library."
"What's a library?"
"It's… I'll explain if we find one."
He just kept walking with her. They occasionally stopped to take in some more sights, as they crossed more locations like a small park where some children were playing (which was probably the most pleasantly normal thing they had seen yet), and even a plaza with a fountain that was spewing water in the rough shape of an Octopus. They both stopped to stare at it, impressed by the architecture. Bridgett didn't want to admit it too much, but… she couldn't help but think that this place definitely had its spectacles so far.
They moved along as they soon came to notice how the city was broken up; Indeed, the city was broken up into different islands, with the more inward ones floating a good distance in the air. They looked up at the island that now towered over with him.
"Think it will be worth exploring?" Oliver asked.
Bridgett shrugged. "Screw it. If it helps us find answers." They walked toward it and began looking for a way up.
As they searched this area, Oliver decided to start a new conversation, one that he actually really wanted to engage in. "Can I ask you a question?"
"What?"
"You really do… remember me, right?"
She looked at him, awkwardly nodding. "Yes."
He nodded a bit in return. "How much do you remember?"
She sighed. "Gideon putting me in the Subgrid helped me remember more… We were both in that tank. I… had no idea who I even was. Or what I was. You were the only real clue I had, because for the longest time… those events were a blur."
"And then?"
"And then Gideon lied to me, he told me I was Lydia Tecca, that it was a healing tank, which… may not be entirely wrong… and that, you were just a subject just like me. Then, we were ejected, I was kidnapped, and… I got out. I… left you behind." She looked down, a twinge of guilt stabbing through her chest. "I'm… I'm sorry."
Oliver didn't respond, just staring at her. He wasn't angry; If anything, he just felt relieved she didn't quite have the same awful experiences he did. He nodded a bit. "I see."
"You deserved better, Oliver." She looked him in the eye. "I… really, all of us, in those tanks… we all deserved so much better."
He nodded yet again, looking down. "I don't disagree."
She sighed and again didn't respond to that. Another couple moments of walking later, they came across the elevator tube that led from their level to the ascending island. "There."
They both went over, figured out how to call the elevator, waited, and stepped inside. Another awkward silence threatened them as they waited for the elevator to ascend.
Oliver assumed his still soldier stance as he waited with her, swiftly breaking the silence. "I'm glad you got out. For what it's worth."
She looked at him. "T-Thank you. I just… wish the same could've gone for all of us, is all."
"Indeed. From what I understand, Inkopolis is… much better than the world that I experienced."
She nodded slightly. "It has its ups and downs, but… yes, it's home." She sighed. "At least, it was."
He paused. "Isn't it… incredible, that… despite how… connected we are, we still had… vastly different experiences? Different experiences that changed us as people?"
"Yeah… that's true." She looked down. "In spite of that, we're... we still do have a connection. Don't we?"
"Yes." He nodded.
Her eyes practically lit up as she came to a pleasant realization at that moment. She looked at him. "Doesn't that… make us like siblings?"
He paused as he thought about that. "…Yes. Yes, I suppose it does."
"Wow." She blinked a bit, almost smiling. Finally, she had a somewhat more positive way to look at her new reality. "I… guess in a way, I… finally have a brother."
"So do I." He nodded.
"Sister." She corrected. "Sister for you, but… yeah, almost the same thing."
He smiled and extended his hand. "Well… nice to get to know you, sister."
"You too." She shook his hand, smiling slightly. "…Brother."
The elevator opened up a second later, and they stepped out, continuing on their way.
There were still plenty of sights to take in, some that were almost distracting in an enthralling way, but regardless, once they took notice of a nearby library, with its more quiet sign up front compared to a lot of the other holographic signs they had seen, they quickly headed inside.
At first glance, this place appeared very much like what one might expect a library in the far future to look like. Among its white walls, there was what felt like hundreds of different shelves lined with what appeared to be books.
"Woah…" Oliver droned as he stepped in and looked around.
Bridgett looked around as well to notice that the librarians here were actually machines: Floating orbs with floating hands of multiple colors that glided around to manage the different books and other items. "Holy shit." She muttered.
Oliver looked around in circles, more and more amazed with each visual he took in. "This… is spectacular."
"Ok, but let's not forget the mission. Don't wanna be here long."
"Where do we look first?"
As she kept looking around, she came to notice the computers that were lined up on tables. "Computer lab." She walked over and swiftly took a seat.
Oliver followed and watched as she tried activating one of these computers, but to her surprise, it sudden displayed a holographic red X in her face, accompanied by an error sound.
"W-What?" She kept trying to activate it, until it projected the words: Please scan ID, along with a visual reference portraying an Octoling woman's wrist, and a red arrow that pointed to it. Awkwardly, she rested her wrist on the power button, but was left with the same error message. She gave up and leaned back. "Great."
"What now?" Oliver asked.
She kept looking around. "Books, I guess." She stood up. "Gotta be a history section somewhere."
He nodded and walked with her among the many shelves until they came across one that was marked History.
They quickly started searching through here, as Oliver pulled out what he thought to be a book. However, to his surprise, none of them were real books at all, and were instead small, rectangular devices that projected tablet-shaped holographic screens. "Um… are these supposed to be books?"
She turned and looked at it. "Fuck. E-Books, I guess." She sighed.
He scrolled his finger past the screen, confirming that it emulated the pages of a book. It was even complete with a little 3D page-flipping animation. After playing with it for a second, he put it back and started looking through others for the necessary clues to find.
Bridgett was the first to find the books on the Great Turf War, and pulled one of them out. She swiped through somewhat frantically as she searched for how exactly the war ended, until she came across the classic black-and-white photograph of the Legendary Squidbeak Splatoon. Staring at it for a moment, she kept scrolling through that section, until she came across the article on… their deaths.
She almost dropped the book in shock as her hearts sank. She read through, as it detailed how Cuttlefish, Jack, and Clara were all found dead in Cuttlefish's own cabin 100 years ago, while Ammoses Shellendorf and Judd were later killed in the bombings that followed. She covered her mouth.
"What?" Oliver came over to her. "What happened?"
"C-Cuttlefish… he… he really is dead…" She was almost tearing up.
"Oh, no." His eyes widened.
Her hearts really started to race as she stared at the screen. If Callie really did predict what happened, then… even Pearl…
No, she couldn't think about that right this second. She kept trying to scroll through, before suddenly, the screen turned red, and then replaced itself with yet another red ID error message.
"W-What?" She hit the book in confusion, desperate to read more.
"Ma'am." A voice told them.
They both turned to look as another robot, this one much taller, bulkier and more humanoid than the previous bots they had seen, approached them. Its armor was golden and it was holding an equally-golden spear.
"Uh…" Bridgett droned as she backed up slightly.
Its head suddenly opened up like a flip phone, revealing its holographic, humanoid face beneath. "Present identification."
She put the book back in its spot and Oliver slowly reached for his own hidden weapon.
"Present identification." It repeated. Its voice almost sounded scarily familiar to Bridgett…
Bridgett and Oliver glanced at each other.
"You run, I'll hold it off." Oliver whispered to her.
"No, we'll stick together." She insisted as she faced the robot. She slowly held her arm out.
As the robot reached forward to grab it and scan her, she suddenly jumped to kick its arm as hard as she could, and then used her Octo-form to slip past it. Oliver did the same, and they ran away together as the machine swiftly corrected its stance.
As fast as they could, they ran out of the library and stopped. Another one of these machines was waiting for them, prompting them to turn and run down the street.
From there, it wasn't long before they were blocked off by a third, which chased them into the alleyway as they turned to avoid it.
It extended and swung its spear to whack Bridgett off her feet and into the wall. Bridgett grunted as she collapsed to her knees.
Its head also opened up as its now-red face shouted at them. "On behalf of all Tartar-Bots, you are under arrest!"
"Bridgett!" Oliver shouted as he stopped in his tracks, turning to her.
The Tartar-Bot quickly came up and grabbed her. "On behalf of all Tartar-Bots, you are under-"
Without hesitation, Bridgett suddenly turned and punched it, unleashing as powerful a Splashdown as she could muster directly into its open face. It flew back through the air before collapsing onto the sidewalk.
Bridgett panted as she stood up. "C'mon!" She shouted at Oliver as they kept running down the other end of the alley.
As they made their escape, the Tartar-Bot, without a hint of damage upon it, robotically stood back up and straightened its stance, joined by the other two Bots that had chased them before.
It lowered its spear. "We have two felons. Alert King Octavio."
?
Eva made her way down a black hallway, which was blocked off by multiple security doors. She stopped in her tracks as she came across two Octolings that were wearing the same outfit as her.
"Present stance." One of them said.
She held her arms out, and turned herself in a full circle as they scanned her.
They briefly checked the scan results. "You're clear, Eightfold. Proceed." They motioned to the door, which slid open behind them. "Glory to the Octarians."
"Glory to the Octarians." Eva nodded at them as she passed, and the door again slid shut behind her. She walked through a couple other doors just like it before she came up into a large, red room. It had fancy decorations, including a mural on the wall that depicted the Great Turf War, and then another that depicted the Octarian's rise to power. The room was even lit by two bonfires on either side. Grabbing and holding her weapon, she walked into her normal position near the wall, where several other Eightfolds were already in position, in a perfect line that covered each wall. Filling in her spot, she turned, slammed her boot down, and held her soldier stance.
It wasn't too much longer after she arrived when their guests were allowed inside. The massive red double doors on one side of the room opened up. The Eightfolds all watched as, finally, Lydia and Marina were allowed inside, still wearing their previous Octarian outfits. Marina shyly looked around.
"You have been called in to speak with King Octavio." An Eightfold announced. "You will take no action, you will mind your manners, and you will answer all of the King's questions without lie. Glory to the Octarians."
Each Eightfold turned 90 degrees toward the next set of double doors as they opened next. Lydia stared straight ahead as they slowly walked inside. Eva, alongside a second Eightfold, accompanied them from behind.
The doors again shut themselves, briefly slamming them into near-complete darkness as they came into this room. Regardless, as they kept walking forward on the somewhat thin walkway here, lights on either side of them began to turn on as they passed, lighting up the massive room bit by bit. Marina briefly looked down, seeing that they were surrounded by a pit, with nothing but this walkway to hold them up.
Finally, as they approached the end of the room, more and more colorful lights began to turn on against the black void behind them. They were the disco-like lights they knew too well. In the background, several massive tentacles activated and began to spin around, as more lights centered on the massive, floating throne that now sat before them, with its back facing them. Lydia and Marina both stopped as they stared up at it.
"Hehehe…" The throne turned itself around, revealing none other than King Octavio. He looked just like the Octavio they knew, but had a larger, grander golden crown, and two wasabis that were glowing bright green in his hands. "Welcome to Octo City, my new friends."
Unsure of if they supposed to bow or not, Marina slowly lowered herself onto her knee. Lydia noticed and did the same.
"My new King." Marina spoke up. "We come from-"
"You come from an entire other reality, I know." He interrupted. "Heh. Stand up, both of you."
They both did so, as Octavio leaned forward. "Your appearance for sure fascinated me, anomalies. But now's your opportunity to prove yourselves. I want you both to tell me everything."