Chapter Two:

An Awkward Rescue Mission

Octo-Base Cephalo-Eight, Octo Valley

Friday, July 8th, 20XX.

11:44 A.M.

Red lights flashed across the walls, and sirens wailed through the drab-gray corridors of the facility. Splattershots clicked and boots stomped on the ground as uniformed troops with tentacled hair rushed into action. Throughout the halls, Octoling screams carried along with the sound of Splattershot fire, accompanied by the occasional explosion of a Splat-Bomb.

"INTRUDER DETECTED IN SECTOR B10!" An Octarian voice cried, "REPEAT, INTRUDER HAS BEEN DETECTED IN SECTOR B10! WE LOST CONTACT WITH OUR GUARD IN SECTOR B8! ALL AVAILABLE OCTARIANS TO ARMS, INTRUDER IS DETECTED AND MUST BE NEUTRALIZED!"

In Corridor C within Sector B10, chaos was unfolding as an Octarian ran for his life, screaming and pleading before he was silenced when a pellet of green ink struck him in the back.

"OCTARIAN 2015 IS DOWN!" A male Octoling in a full battle uniform yelled.

Every Octo-soldier primed their weapons, raising them in a steady position, and prepared to face the intruder. Seconds later, the black-skinned Inkling with green hair in the Agent's Uniform made his appearance, holding his weapon with a scowl as he faced down the Octolings and Octarians with disdain.

"AGENT SPOTTED!" An Octoling yelled.

"Yeah, but there's only one of him and, uh, five of us!" An Octarian remarked.

"LET'S GET HIM!" An Octoling in battle armor and a helmet cried.

BLAM-BLAM-BLAM!

Splattershot fire rang out and the shots went right for the agent, who ducked behind a wall just in time, then he emerged and returned fire. He took out two of the Octarians, then he threw a Splat-bomb, and took cover before it detonated and wiped out the remaining three soldiers in his path. TRIPLE KILL!

'These Octarian bases are getting more challenging...' Makerboy10 thought, 'Base raiding is for commandos, not one Inkling in an agent's uniform.'

He ran down the hall, gripping the handle of his Splattershot, and kept an eye out for more Octarian soldiers. A male Octoling with blue hair emerged from a right-turn adjacent corridor and Makerboy pounced, grabbing him by the neck before glaring at him fiercely.

"Where's the detention block?!" He shouted, "You have a guy in there!"

"How should I know?" The Octoling replied, "I'm just a guard."

"WHERE'S THE DAMN PRISON AREA?!" Makerboy angrily aimed the Splattershot to the Octoling's head.

"Down the hall and to the left, you can't miss it..." The Octoling told him nervously.

Makerboy grabbed the card that was in the soldier's belt, then he bonked him on the head with the butt of his weapon, knocking the Octoling unconscious. He left the incapacitated soldier behind, moving down the hall, and turned left, seeing an arrow pointing towards a door that was guarded by two blonde-haired Octoling girls.

'Got no time for women.' Makerboy thought, he pulled the trigger and splatted the Octoling duo before they could react to him. He ran to the door, which was sealed shut, then he slid the card into the nearby panel.

"ACCESS GRANTED!" A voice buzzed.

'Hang on, buddy.' Makerboy thought, 'Let's hope they didn't do anything too serious too you.'

The door opened and he entered the prison area, seeing the various barred cells and doors on every side of the room. He knew that one of them held his friend, and he didn't see that many guards. Someone must have taken care of them already. An Octoling soldier's body fell from the railing above, landing right next to Makerboy.

The green-haired Inkling ignored the likely corpse and kept going, then he heard a giggle, coming from one of the nearby cells. It sounded like... Yes, it had to be.

Makerboy turned around and was greeted by the strangest sight to ever take place in a prison cell. His friend, Jim, sat upon a bench and completely shirtless, with a shapely dark-haired Octoling in revealing Octo attire sitting on his lap with her arms around his neck, making out passionately as if they didn't even care about a thing.

"JIM!" Makerboy exclaimed.

Hearing his friend's voice, the brown-haired Inkling looked up and so did the Octoling. Jim grabbed his star shirt laying on the bench and stood up, happily waving to the surprised Makerboy.

"Hey, man. Nice of you to swing by." He said, "Looks like you ran a little late since she just showed up before you did. Y'know Marina, right?"

Makerboy gasped, recognizing the Octoling next to Jim. He'd seen her at concerts and in television broadcasts, it had been a while since he saw Marina's face, and he didn't think he'd be seeing her in Octarian armor. The disguised Marina raised her goggles and waved to Makerboy with a sweet grin.

"I infiltrated the Octarian ranks not long after Jim was captured." The pop star explained, "After you arrived, that's when I made my move, and I guess me and Jim were very happy to see each other."

"Lets save the rescue romance for when we get out of this shit hole." Makerboy told the two as he opened the cell door, he was surprised to see it was already unlocked.

"Don't worry about us, we barely got started." Jim shook Makerboy's hand.

"Yeah, well, we're gonna be battling a whole ton of Octolings on the way out." The green-haired Inkling told his friend, "So, don't start any make outs during corridor fights. Duty before beauty, okay?"

Jim nodded as Marina handed him a Splattershot, telling Makerboy that he understood. The trio prepared their weapons, then they headed for the exit and made a mad dash through the corridors as an Octarian voice sounded over the loudspeakers, announcing that a prisoner had just escaped and was approaching Sector 8B.

Makerboy heard a buzz and saw the communicator on his wrist was flashing. He tapped the button and said, "I got him, we're on our way out. Prepare to meet us outside."

"Is Jim unharmed?" Captain Cuttlefish's silky old voice asked.

"He was, but he did get carried away with an undercover agent. I didn't think he'd prioritize his crush on Marina Ida over getting out alive and un-splatted."

PYEW-PYEW-PYEW! Makerboy, Jim, and Marina ducked behind a wall in a hard cover as enemy fire exploded wildly. Octolings shouted, trying to hit their targets, and kept shooting. Makerboy rolled his eyes, these guys may as well have graduated with a D ranking at the bottom of their class in the Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy.

Enemy ink whizzed around them, just narrowly missing the trio, and Makerboy threw himself out from behind the wall. He opened fire, knocking an Octarian into oblivion, and Marina fired a charged shot from a Splat-Charger, obliterating an Octoling soldier, who let out an Octarian version of the Wilhelm Scream as her body exploded.

Jim emerged from behind cover, firing several shots of ink from his weapon, and took out a couple soldiers. Makerboy and Marina took out the others, then the trio ran to the next corridor where they found a nearby elevator.

Marina pressed the UP button and the doors rolled open, the trio knocked out the Octarians inside, then they stepped into the lift and tapped UP again. The doors closed and the elevator moved upward. Makerboy inspected his Splattershot to see if he had plenty of ink left, then he looked around to check on Jim...

...right as he was kissing Marina.

"Guys, wait until we're out of here." Makerboy reminded them.

"Actually, she kissed me..." Jim excused, "...for luck."

'Whatever.' Makerboy rolled his eyes with annoyance.

PING! The elevator opened and the group stepped out, finding themselves in an unguarded corridor, but they could tell this was the way to the exit. Makerboy took a right, with Marina and Jim following suit. Just then, right as they were approaching the lift that would take them to the base's tower, a couple Octo-Balls rolled in their direction.

POW-POW! Marina and Jim shot the incoming Octarians, then an Octosniper popped out from behind the wall with its sights set on the trio. Makerboy blasted it, reducing the enemy sniper to a pile of purple ink.

They entered the lift and it automatically ascended. Jim, Makerboy and Marina took a moment to breathe, and inspected their weaponry. The lift soon stopped and the doors opened, allowing them to step onto the tower of the base, ready to make their getaway... only to run into a battalion of Octoling soldiers wearing Hypnoshades.

Flying Octarians backed them up, and the enemy trained their weapons on the trio. Things were about to get hairy.

"I AIN'T GOIN' DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT, YOU TENTACLE-HEADED BASTARDS!" Makerboy10 shouted, "YOU'LL NEVER DEFEAT THE INKLINGS, NOT AS LONG AS WE HAVE THE DETERMINATION, AND YOU GUYS ROYALLY SUCK IF YOU'RE GONNA PERSIST IN FIGHTING A WAR THAT ENDED A LONG TIME AGO!"

A pair of female Octolings in revealing armor looked at each other, then they laughed, and then, a few more Octarians were laughing with them. About half of the enemy force laughed at Makerboy taunting him, while making rude gestures, one male soldier gave the green-haired Inkling the middle finger.

Makerboy glanced at Jim and Marina, who nodded to one another. At this point, back-up would soon be arriving. And, right on cue, the sound of whirring helicopter engines cut through the vicinity and the enemy looked up.

Octolings trained their weapons and a helicopter flew over, then it descended by the edge of the tower and the doors rolled open, revealing Captain Cuttlefish, Pearl and Agents 1 & 2 aka Callie and Marie with the Princess Cannon. Makerboy whooped, Marina nodded to Pearl, and Jim grinned with delight.

However, this wasn't the time to be super excited. They had to get out of there. Agent 1 and Agent 2 opened fire on several Octarian troops, knocking them out, then Marina, Jim, and Makerboy ran towards the helicopter while shooting a pair of Octolings in their way. They reached the chopper and climbed aboard, just as the enemy opened fire.

"Get us a li'l more space!" Pearl ordered the pilot.

The helicopter hovered a little higher, just enough to avoid being knocked out by the enemy. Pearl coughed, then she stepped behind her trademark Killer Wail, ready for some action. She whipped out her microphone and cried, "VOCAL CORDS READY!"

'Here we go.' Makerboy thought.

Eager to watch the show, Makerboy slapped on some sunglasses, and Marina kissed Jim on the cheek, while everyone sat back to prepare for what was coming. Pearl too a deep breath, closed her eyes, and aimed the weapon down towards the shocked Octarians. And then, she opened her mouth and yelled into the cannon as loudly as she could;

"BOOOOOYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Octolings exploded in puddles, Octarians were vaporized, and Hyper-Bombs exploded across the roof of the base. The Princess Cannon's firepower was so strong, a large chunk of Octo-Base Cephalo-Eight went up in ink. The weapon powered down and Pearl punched the air, declaring total victory.

"Don't get cooked..." She cried, "...stay off the hook."

'Nice work, Pearl.' Makerboy thought.

He sat back in the helicopter while Jim and Marina engaged in a little... rescue romance, kissing sweetly and embracing happily, while Agents 1 & 2 high-fived. Captain Cuttlefish tapped his cane with a smile, and the chopper flew off, heading back to base.

Mission complete!