The Brothers and the Others

by ThePizzaLovingTurtle

Inkopolis and beyond is full of weirdoes. But this Inkopolis is much farther from that, where the Octarians are either lazy or battle-obsessed weirdoes, Inkopolis itself is swarmed by jellyfish mobs, and there are also two brothers living on a house on a hill and the friends they've met along the way. Follow-up to The Bate Brothers' Adventures. Going on for 7 years.

96. Commit to the Mission, Man

Splatoon: The Brothers and the Others

Commit to the Mission, Man

Ari was not happy. After crawling through several dark spaces filled with garbage, being sent alone into a cave wasn't exactly his idea of a fun time. Fortunately for him, the rocky walls of the Octo Valley caverns weren't especially unnerving or claustrophobic. On the contrary, the Valley's caverns were actually pretty nice, being wider and more open than he expected.

That said, Ari's purgamentophobia alarms were still up and running. Ari didn't particularly love the idea of trudging through more trash. He stuck his tongue out in a grimace, remembering a used napkin that had flown into his mouth when he was making his way to Octo Valley in the first place.

Luckily, all the caves had in store so far were just stalactites and stalagmites, dirt, boulders, and a squadron of alert, peasant Octarians, and the only thing they reeked of was trouble. Sticking behind an alcove in the rock wall, Ari poked his squid eyes out to peep at the passing squad.

There was an Octoling in the lead, sticking out her lips and exposing her fangs in a bored pout. She was looking side to side, whether due to obligation or boredom, Ari couldn't quite tell, though she never once noticed Ari' eyes poking out. She yawned, kicking absentmindedly at the rocks. In a way, the way she was postured reminded him of Tai when he first met her. Brazenly showing off her attitude, bored to death on the job, and looking like she had nothing better to do.

Now, she was a strong dame with a strangely attractive and newfound stigma to responsibility.

Ari huffed hot air out of his nostrils. "What a woman!"

That being said, if he wanted for Tai to do something other than call him passive-aggressive insults and give him weird looks, Ari needed to do something. Ari, staring at the squadron, knew that he had to be responsible too. Popping out from between the rocks, Ari landed behind the squad, still unnoticed as he hit the dirt. Morphing back into his confident Inkling self, he crouched down low, beginning to follow closely behind them.

Whatever conversation the Octotroopers filling out the back were having with the Octoballs rolling alongside them was doing a good job of serving as the perfect distraction. Ari grinned, his hand steadily clamping on his Samuroller's handle.

"Run!"

The squad in front of Ari tensed up, aiming and firing their weapons on instinct. For a split second, Ari jumped up and nearly turned a full one hundred and eighty degrees away, thinking he was already spotted and as good as dead.

Then, he saw her. Sprawled out on the ground ungracefully was a girl. Hair trimmed to end just above her eyebrows with a clean hairstyle that contrasted heavily with how beaten up and exhausted she looked, all worn down in her agent gear. With all of the guns pointed at her, Ari knew that in a few seconds that she'd be dead at least three times over.

So, Ari took the best possible course of action and swung. The Samuroller, thin though it was, succeeded in taking out the two Octotroopers. They slammed against the rock walls, sticking to them like darts to a target. The two Octoballs didn't react well to their conversation partners getting bashed in the sides of their heads, each of them screaming battle cries as they revved up. The Octolings in front turned around, pulling out Octoshots, and to Ari's surprise, began coating the Octoballs as they rolled before going to aim for Ari.

Ari shifted his weight to his feet, winding his arms back. The Octoballs were bowling for him, and they sped up fast. Unfortunately for them and the Octolings, Ari was already on it. As the pitch came in, Ari swung the Samuroller at a blinding speed, hitting a home run. The Octoballs' single eyes opened wide with horror as a tall, metal rod smacked into them, and they ricocheted off the roller, bouncing back at the Octolings and knocking them off their feet.

"Are you alright, agent?" Ari asked, quickly crouching down to pull the other Inkling up.

She grunted. "Yeah, my legs are still numb though…"

Ari refocused on what was ahead. Spotting the Octotroopers still stuck to the walls, he leaped over the ink on the ground and peeled them off, then threw them on the ground near the Inkling girl. She watched, completely bewildered, as he pushed them under her body like they were pillows.

In spite of this strange Inkling's actions, Basli wasted no more time in calling out to the strange, boy that just saved her. "Don't touch the ink! It paralyzes you if it touches!"

Ari eyed the ink warily. True, the weird, sludge-like substance was much different than the Turf War ink he was used to, but he was in no mood to test it. Looking down further in the cave, he noticed the Octolings he had inadvertently beaten were leering at him. The rebel Octolings were glaring at Ari, one gnashing their teeth, but both were stuck to the floor, barely supporting themselves on their elbows and knees. Mind addled with adrenaline, Ari couldn't help but share a toothy smile with the unfortunate girls.

"Intruder! Get him!" The same unfortunate girls called out.

That proud feeling he felt coursing through him aside, Ari snapped back to reality. Up ahead, there was a large, underground enclosure constructed of tall barricades constructed out of wooden planks with anti-Octavio flags decorating the top. Behind the one, open entrance in the walls were several angry Octarian rebels, all of them armed. Not bothering on getting close to try and engage with Ari, the Octotroopers fired from their gun emplacements, where unnaturally speedy orbs of ink spurted out from their cannons straight for Ari.

Ari bit his lip, taking his Samuroller. Hands clutching the Samuroller he wielded, he fought the urge to flick the roller up in the air like he would with his older, shinier Golden Dynamo Roller. The Samuroller's cover was thinner, and no matter how hard he jangled and jostled the roller back and forth, it wouldn't switch from its upright, vertical position, meaning that unless the rebels were stupid enough to line up in a straight line, it was going to be hard engaging all of them at once.

Out of a fit of desperation, Ari slashed the Samuroller down towards the ink bullets with his own battle cry, a prolonged, simple scream.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Time seemed to slow down as Ari watched his own handiwork unfold. A few of the ink bullets were slashed vertically down the center, with the remaining halves of ink splashing around Ari harmlessly. The roller's weight, however, pinned Ari to the ground midswing, leaving him wide open for a surviving ink ball to soak his shoulder.

Ari dropped the roller. His right arm immediately fell slack, and parts of his back and neck felt numb and unresponsive. He gasped, dropping to one knee, watching as the enemy rebels closed in. They looked positively bloodthirsty as they sped in; one Octoling pounded her fists together as she ran.

Whack! One fist collided with Ari's face, stars shooting across his vision. The punch was quick, dirty, and downright painful. The second one wasn't as bad, but he was sure that was just because his face was already numbed.

Again, this beatdown he was getting reminded Ari of Tai. There was a tinge of sadness he felt, knowing that he didn't even get to take her out on the town once while they were in this "not-really-boyfriend-girlfriend" phase. That unfortunate sad feeling was pretty minor in comparison to the smackdown he was enduring, though.

"You forgot somebody!" Ari heard a female voice scream.

Ari glanced up, doing his best to support his paralyzed arm with his other one, mostly ignoring the stinging he felt in his face. Two Octolings dressed in the standard Octarian army attire popped up from behind the enemy force engaging Ari, rapidly advancing on the enemies.

Ova wasted no time in launching herself up into the air in octopus form, then switching back to an Octoling to dropkick an Octotrooper off his turret. She fidgeted with the controls once on, firing at the rebels. Lee, on the other hand, had one eye shut, her left arm stretched out in front of her face as she gauged the distance, and her right arm hoisting Jerry up in the air as she got ready to throw.

"Take this! Alley Boot Baaaaash!" Jerry shouted, spiraling through the air like a football once he was lobbed.

The rebel Octoling easily dodged the giant metal boot sent hurdling her way, backflipping past Jerry as he flew. Jerry crashed into the wall next to Basli, who had given up trying to make sense of the situation and rested on the Octotroopers unconscious bodies, watching it all unfold. However, the rebel Octoling backflipped right back onto Ari as she tried to dodge. Ari grunted, tripping her up with his movable arm, shoving the rebel to his side. She squeaked in surprise, falling straight onto a puddle of her allies' ink.

Immediately, Ari could see her arms tense up and freeze in place and her tentacles stiffen once she landed in the puddle. Her teeth were clenched, and her eyes were straining to glare back at Ari. Ari, mind throttled by adrenaline and face bruised, just grinned handsomely at her, which only seemed to infuriate the Octoling as she laid unmoving on the ground. Lee and Ova stared up at Ari, neither Octoling standing sure of what to make of this strange Inkling. Ova even took aim, staring him down in case this was going to end in some sort of misunderstanding.

Ari, much to everyone else's surprise, just laughed it off, getting up to his feet slowly as he propped up his Jungle Hat to show off his bright orange tentacles. "Ha ha! The superior Ari wins again!"

---

Tai swam through the purple thread of ink swiftly. The Inkrail she was swimming through was drooping slightly. Instead of a straight line, Tai was hanging low off the rope of ink in a dangerous, sagging parabola as she traveled from one floating island to another. Despite literally dangling several thousand feet above an untimely demise, Tai felt determined.

"It's not going to hold! Jump now!"

When the voice buzzed through the goggles she wore, Tai hopped out of the ink immediately. Drops of purple trailed her jumping arc as the Inkrail deactivated; the purple line of ink disappearing as Tai leaped. She landed on the other island in her octopus form, quickly back into an Octoling and getting up to look over her shoulder.

Tai frowned. She knew it had been a while, but the Inkrails in Octo Valley had already begun to lose steam. The black orb where the rail started had ceased glowing and was now nothing but an empty black globe. Tai looked down at her legs and realized that getting back would be a little tough. Maybe she could be like Splin and Sharq and try to jump it?

"FAMILIAR LIFEFORM DETECTED."

Tai spun back around. Area 3 of Octo Valley looked hollow. To her left was a faded orange brick hovel, several stickers with Inkopolis companies plastered all over it. There was a simple tree to her right with a round top, and in front of her were a series of towers constructed of rusted metal pylons and platforms with kettles on top of them. Also in front of her was a giant flipping purple mecha with a great, glowing blue eye.

Tai glared up at the Skell as it looked down at her. "Found you."

"SCANNING…" The electronic eye emitted a thin ray of light that traveled up and down Tai's body. "CODENAME: 4U55-13. RANK: OCTARIAN COMMANDER. ALLY."

Tai immediately tapped a button on the side of the goggles she wore around her face. "Aussie? What the shell?"

Tai's ears buzzed. On the other end, she could hear Clariss's voice as she sighed. "Huh...the Skell's current analysis program and database are completely isolated from any Octarian info. It must not have gotten the info about her demotion."

"What? So then…"

"The color of your tentacles? The goggles you're wearing? You look so much like Aussie that it must really just think you are Aussie."

Tai scowled, whispering, "Don't rub it in."

"COMMANDER. I SEE T-41 ISN'T PRESENT. CURIOUS." The Skell bellowed in its cold, emotionless voice, "SHE NORMALLY ACCOMPANIES YOU."

Tai crossed her arms. "So what?"

"THIS IS GOOD," the Skell decided, nodding, "FEWER INTERRUPTIONS."

Tai's eyes narrowed. "This thing's really starting to get on my nerves."

"Don't get mad!" Clariss cut in suddenly, "Tai, I'm not entirely sure why the Skell is acting like it is, but for whatever reason, you need to get it back. Just play it by ear! Act like Aussie acts and try to get the Skell back to HQ."

Tai scowled, looking up at the Skell. The mech's tentacles blew in the wind like fleshy banners. In spite of how goofy they looked twirling in the wind, Tai knew that there were probably a dozen weapons inside of the flesh. She figured that screwing this up meant getting vaporized then and there. Standing there, alone, in front of a two-story tall robot made Tai acutely aware of the fact that it crushed a building in Inkopolis years ago using what could only be described as "science magic". Even then, she only managed to stop it with Splin, Sharq, and Maria's help.

Tai took a deep breath. "Alright. I got this."

"Yo!" Tai called to the Skell.

Tai could hear something smack on Clariss's end, along with a very, very hopeless groan.

Tai continued anyway, "Skell unit number...uh, one! Mind tellin' me what you're doing hangin' out all the way out here?"

The blue eye on the Skell shrunk. Suddenly, the metal eye increased its brightness, and the Skell leaned in uncomfortably close. Tai was face to face with the metal, Octarian cyclops machine. Tai could hear a barely audible gasp inside of her ears as the Skell came closer.

"REPEAT?" The Skell asked.

"Like AUSSIE would! You spend so much time around her, you should know what she talks like!"

Tai grumbled under her breath, "Yeah, easy for you to say…"

"I said, what the shell are you doing out here, private? Aren't you supposed to be fighting the good fight, working and working for our lord himself, DJ Octavio?" Tai asked the giant mech.

The Skell's eye shifted. Tai steeled herself, getting ready for the death ray.

"I DO NOT SERVE UNDER OCTAVIO FOR HIS PURPOSES. MY CREATORS WERE THE OCTARIAN HQ ENGINEERS," the Skell explained, "AND TEK AND CLARISS."

"What?" Clariss peeped in the background.

"That's what I should ask you!" Tai hissed under her breath, "Why does it only like you and Tek?"

"I'll explain that later! The Skell's...not supposed to act like this. Not at all. I think it might be…sentient?"

"It's ALIVE? I thought it just ACTED like it was alive! Y'know like it came pre-packaged with responses! What the shell, Clariss?" Tai shouted, then shut her mouth.

"COMMANDER 4U55-13? ARE YOU ILL?" The Skell asked, its eye shrinking smaller and smaller as if it were emoting its suspicions.

"It's just supposed to be a simple pilot AI!" Clariss shouted back, "We don't have anything that advanced!"

There was a short silence on the other end. "...But Tek did help."

"I thought Tek didn't work on the thing! She totally blew it off!" Tai whispered frantically.

"Not directly, but after the fight she had with Tenta, she brought back a few parts from the machine Tenta made…" Clariss sighed again, "I wanted to credit her somehow, so I may have included some of them-"

"COMMANDER 4U55-13?"

"Clariss!" Tai muttered as the Skell's eye began to glow brighter.

"Sorry! That's for later!"

"Uh, perfectly fine! Just a little..." Tai cleared her throat. "Tired."

"...YOUR VOICE SOUNDS HORRIBLE, MUCH LIKE T-41's DOES. STRANGE. I WILL LEAVE YOU TO YOUR HORRIBLE T-41 VIRUS," The Skell announced as it began backing off.

Lights on the back of the Skell began to shine. Two thrusters built into the Skell's back began to sputter smoke, heat rays distorting the view of the rundown towers behind the Skell. Tai looked around quickly. Should she follow the Skell? Maybe jump on its legs.

"What's your deal with Tai, huh?" Tai blurted out.

The Skell's engines cut out. The mech's eye flashed blue again as it turned to glare at her. For a second, Tai thought she had made her last mistake. Well, getting blown up by a robot could be a cool story to tell.

"...What about her? :/" The Skell buzzed, its tone of voice making it sound like it was frowning in its own robot way.

"Why don't you…" Tai sat down on the dirt, patting the ground as if to offer a seat. "Talk to me about her? I know that Tai can be...uh…"

"Rambunctious, unfair, and uncaring! :O" The Skell shouted.

Tai frowned, resisting her urge to clown on the giant action figure. "...Yeah, tell me about how she's that."

"Taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai?" Clariss called, the worry in her voice evident by how long she drew out her name.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Tai whispered, turning back to the Skell.

The Skell looked around. Area 3 was essentially abandoned aside from the two present, but the Skell may have as well been scanning for an army marching toward them on the horizon.

The Skell leaned in, which if it leaned in any closer would've crushed Tai. "I've been scanning the Octarian base after I'd been tasked with reconnaissance of the Valley. In that time, I've been watching you, Commander Aussie," The Skell spoke in a synthetic yet simultaneously familiar voice.

"Oh yeah?" Tai spoke up. Uh-oh. "When did you get to do that? People say you've gone AWOL."

"I GOT SIDETRACKED," The Skell announced in a much more matter-of-fact tone.

"So...about that reconnaissance you said-"

"Ever since it was announced you two were sent on a mission, there's been something off about you," The Skell admitted, pressing its right tentacle under its head, "It's like, even now! You're much more haggard and exhausted looking than before! :V I RECOMMEND REST."

"Uh, sure." Tai shrugged her shoulders. "Hey, so, about returning-"

"I'm getting off-topic, am I? :O" The Skell shook its head. "Sorry! I know you probably want someone to confide in. It must be frustrating to be friends with someone who keeps making things so hard for you."

"Auss- I'm not friends with Tai," Tai said, crossing her arms and looking to the side. "I'm just acting too selfish sometimes, y'know?"

"Don't say that about yourself commander!" The Skell chided, fist-pumping its tentacles in the air. "You may be strict, uncomfortable to be around by most's standards, and sort of overworked-"

"You know, for a machine, it sure is a jerk."

Clariss sighed on the other end. "I don't know what to say."

"Man, next time just don't program in SENTIENCE."

The Skell continued. "But I can tell! You're a very good person! If I was Tai, I'd count my blessings! What other commander would keep her around in spite of her numerous unintentional and intentional failures that could have even compromised her position? It's impressive, really!"

"Yeah. That's true, huh?" Tai muttered under her breath. "Maybe Tai does make a lot of mistakes."

"I don't know WHAT you see in her! :|" The Skell shook its head again. "But even still, you two must be good friends if you decided to keep her around for this long!"

"Yeah," Tai said, letting the words circle her head for a while, "Yeah, I guess so."

The two sat there together for a while. The sun over the valley began to dip a little lower in the sky. The shadows cast by the structures in Area 3 began to slowly creep over the two, making the air feel cooler as the Valley winds whipped around them.

"CONVERSATION OVER," The Skell announced, standing up quickly. The ground quaked a bit as it got up, saying, "BACK TO RECON."

"Wait, hold on!" Tai interrupted, getting up and running to the Skell. "Uh, before you go, you wanna come back to the base with me? We sorta- Uh, we require your aid."

"WHY?" The Skell tilted its head to look down at her.

"I mean, the base was just attacked recently." Tai pointed her thumb over toward the HQ kettle in the distance.

"Hold on! What? Why didn't anyone tell me about this? D:" The Skell's eye flashed dangerously.

"Everyone's either away in Octo Canyon or captured," Tai explained, shaking her head, "It's a mess."

"What a predicament! Sorry I can't help you with it!" The Skell apologized, bowing in place.

"No problem, everyone has- What?" Tai scowled. "What do you mean?"

The Skell tapped its tentacles together tentatively. If a near-featureless robot could blush, Tai could swear that it was doing it right now.

"Can I tell you a secret?" The Skell asked.

"...What is going on right now?" Clariss questioned, eliciting a shrug from Tai.

"Um, alright," The Skell took the motion as a confirmation, "I WISH TO BE FREE."

There was rattling and an uncomfortable squeak coming from Tai's goggles that she imagined was Clariss overreacting. "Alright, buddy, what do you mean?"

"Like, there's so much to explore out there!" The Skell argued, leaning on the side of the tower, "There's a part deep within me that wants to go out and see the world. I have jet boosters in my back and lately, I even found out I can transform into a car! I'm the perfect machine to travel in! Yet not once was I used for anything other than Octo Valley!"

"Where is this coming from? We only programmed it to be able to respond to calls and fly around," Clariss spoke, clearly flabbergasted.

Tai gestured with her hands for the Skell to calm down. "Uh, alright. I can talk to Clariss about that. I think."

There was a loud sigh from the other side. "I'll see what I can do with it later."

The Skell's eye lit up. "You would do that? That's very...unlike you, Commander."

Tai stood still, suddenly remembering that she was supposed to be Aussie. The Skell, however, just made an electronic hum that was like a sigh.

"YOUR COOPERATION IS APPRECIATED. I guess I can help. :)" The Skell told her, starting up the thrusters on its back again. "If she can convince the higher-ups, then maybe I'll look for Tek for her once I'm let free."

"Um-" Clariss attempted to chime in.

"Whoa, hold on!" Tai called out.

The Skell had begun lift-off, already hovering off the ground slightly. Specs of fluorescent blue light jettisoned out along with the exhaust from the thrusters on its back. Running up to the Skell, Tai hopped onto its large foot, clinging to it as tightly as she could before she and the Skell rocketed into the sky.

---

Clariss listened intently as what sounded like the Skell rocketing off into the sky echoed through the headset on her ears. She walked around the hangar pensively, peeking at the holographic images displayed off of the computer every so often. She watched as the Skell's model on the holographic map flew off from Area 3 toward the base kettles.

Eventually, she walked back to the computer and pressed a key before asking, "Tai? I can see the model on the map. Why is the Skell just hovering over there?"

"Give me a sec!" Tai screamed back at her through the computer.

There was a loud interference coming from Tai's end. The wind blew into the audio receptors of the Octoling Goggles, causing a distracting "whooshing" noise to accompany Tai's bitter response. Glancing up at the map, Clariss watched the Skell hover around an island mass, circling back and forth in the air.

"Hm? Yeah, I'll tell her," Tai said, wind still blaring from the other end, "Hey, Clariss! The Skell says that it needs the hangar door open! It can't take the kettle!"

"I know THAT." Clariss scowled. "But I can't open the hangar doors! Octavio had it locked and I have no idea what the passwords to open them are!"

"Wait...alright, stay right there Clariss! We'll be there soon! Bye!" Tai interjected, closing the call.

Clariss frowned. Did Tai have some sort of plan? There weren't any other places besides the hangar in the Octarian base that they could use to enter the base.

There was a violent crash, throwing Clariss to the floor. She held the back of her head, rubbing the sore spot that landed on the floor. Dirt and metal collapsed from the ceiling as the Skell's big, bright blue eye illuminated the now dimmer hangar. Clariss glowered at the mecha as it waved at her, getting up slowly. She marched over to the Skell, hands trembling at her sides.

Tai, Octoling Goggles strapped tightly to her face, grinned as she jumped off the leg of the Skell. "How was that for an entrance?"

"Hah!" Clariss's hand shot out, going under Tai's tentacles.

Upon finding flesh, Clariss pinched. Tai learned that day that Clariss pinched HARD. Squeaking, Tai held her ear under her tentacles, caressing it with her hand. Her Octoling Goggles glowed a faint red, as though Aussie's goggles were programmed to color match emotions. Regardless of the oddities of technology currently happening both behind her and on her face, Tai practically tore the goggles off as she stormed over to Clariss and pinched her back.

"What was THAT for!" Tai roared, pinching Clariss's face back like a crab.

"Yow! You- you can't just CRASH the Skell through the base! You know how much funding goes into this place?" Clariss complained, shaking to try and get Tai off of her. "Practically ALL of it!"

"You said the door wouldn't open! What, were we just gonna let the Skell sit outside?" Tai shouted.

"Yes!"

The Skell crossed its tentacles. "I'm not a pet, Clariss. :|"

"Wooooooow!"

The two stopped their bickering, looking to the back of the hangar. Callie rushed over toward them while Mai, now asleep, rested on a few old mattresses that were snugly pushed together like a small pillow fort. Callie ran right past the others and straight to the Skell, fawning over the giant robot almost immediately.

Hugging the Skell's leg, she squealed, "Look at this! Guys, imagine how many road trips you could take this guy on!"

Tai scratched her head. "Is it bad to say I forgot she was here?"

"Considering you're the commander and all?" Clariss adjusted her glasses, shaking her head. "Can we keep the comms clear for a bit? I need to contact Ari and see how he's doing."

"Done," Ari said.

Clariss and Tai jumped. Both of them backed up and tripped over the computer and themselves Ari was standing in front of them, with the Samuroller strapped to his back and a giant, Octarian metal boot held in his arms. From inside the boot, Jerry's face popped out to smile at Tai, waving as best as he could with his head. On Ari's sides were Lee and Ova, as well as another Inkling agent that Tai didn't recognize. Several similarly beaten Octavio Octarians accompanied them, along with a few other rebel Octarians tied up with rope and wooden planks.

Ari himself didn't look too much better. His orange tentacles were all pointed in different directions and his Jungle Hat and Varsity Jacket were off-center and ripped. The Samuroller on his back was still standing tall, but the roller cover was bent slightly, the tall, vertical weapon looking more like a boomerang now than a katana.

"Where do you want these rapscallions?" Ari asked, pointing a thumb over his shoulder at the rebels.

Clariss snapped herself out of her surprise and stood up, clearing her throat. "There were a few holding cells that were meant to hold Inkling agents a little further in the base. Up ahead and to the left- You guys know where they are."

The Octarians behind Ari responded with a glorious "Hoo-rah!" The Octotroopers holding the rebel Octarians shuffled off past them all like a herd of wild animals, shaking the ground and making proud hooping and hollering. As the ground shook, Mai awoke, rising from the beds stretching her arms and yawning.

Mai got up quickly, strolling over to the group of Octolings and Inklings curiously. "What'd I miss?"

"Oh hey. A bed," Ari pointed out, closing one eyelid slowly, "I don't mind resting for a bit..."

"Uh, he's a little messed up," Basli mentioned, switching into squid form only to pop back up as an Inkling, supporting his left shoulder.

Tai nodded, doing the same with his right. Together, Basli and Tai moved Ari over to the mattresses in the back of the hangar, trudging along slowly while Ova and Lee went over to Clariss by the computer, explaining to her and Mai what had just happened.

"Did I do good?" Ari asked, head sagging a bit.

Tai patted him on the back, smiling slightly. "Yeah, man. Thanks for saving these guys."

Basli noticed Tai's look on her face. "Thanks for the help, Ari.."

"Ah. I haven't introduced you two yet!" Ari proclaimed, before landing facefirst into one of the mattresses.

Ari just sorta laid there, one arm hanging off the side and both of his knees on the floor as he rested. He didn't snore or make any loud breathing noises as he slept, slightly concerning the other two, but their worries were put to rest as his back rose and fell as he breathed in and out.

Basli turned over to Tai and shrugged. "He's a trooper, that's for sure."

"Is he?" Tai asked, eyebrow raised.

Basli shot her a smile. "The name's Basli."

"Tai Inaba," Tai answered back with a nod.

"Tai!" Basli practically shouted, startling a few of the others. "So you're the person Ari likes so much."

Tai was glad that Aussie's goggles were hiding her face. "Yeeeeeaaaaah."

"Oh, yeah!"

They turned around. Lee was waving to them, her tentacles curling up as she spoke.

"Ari was all, 'For the glory of my beloved, I will strike you down!' He's SUPER in love with you!" Lee shouted back at them.

"He never said that! He just mentioned Tai during the way back," Ova corrected her.

"You two are meant for each other!" Lee called, clenching her fists together with a teary-eyed look on her face, "Oh my Cod, it's so cute!"

"Shut uppppp." Ova gave her a light shove.

"He used that thing like a bat?" Mai asked, frowning as she inspected the Samuroller.

Lee turned back to Mai, beaming. "He smacked these two balls around, like HYAH. Oh, if he wasn't Tai's boyfriend, I swear! I'd ask him out any day of the week-"

Ova slapped the back of Lee's head with the back of her own hand. Lee yelped in surprise, rubbing the back of her head with a frown. Clariss just shook her head as she and Mai walked toward the others in the back of the hangar.

"...Balls?" Tai questioned.

"OCTOballs."

"Didn't peg him as a 'go for the low-hanging fruit' kinda guy." Tai snickered.

"Ari really liberated the camp?" Clariss stated, ignoring Tai and looking down at him as he rested. "Didn't expect him to be so capable."

Clariss then noticed Basli, standing right next to her. She hesitated, saying, "Not that Inkling agents aren't all capable."

"Yeah, I don't really know what's going on." Basli sighed, sitting cross-legged on the floor. "I just fell down a manhole and suddenly I'm in the middle of a gang war and I'm wearing a bunch of smelly old clothes."

"You're not an agent?" Tai inquired.

"No! I don't even know what agencies have to do with this! They just put this on me by force because apparently 'it's humiliating to see an agent naked without her gear on'. I don't even know what agencies have to do with anything!" Basli complained, huffing.

"Alright, I get it," Tai assured her, cupping her hands around her mouth as she screamed, "Anybody wanna escort her outta here?"

"Me!" Callie called, raising her hand.

Basli's eyes widened. "Holy SHIP. Is that-"

"Yes," Tai stated simply.

"What's Callie doing down here? What's with her get-up? Is this why the Squid Sisters aren't around anymore? What the shell's going on here anyway? What-"

Tai cupped Basli's head in her hands. Face-to-face, Tai just glared at Basli, taking off the Octoling Goggles to see eye-to-eye. "Don't question it, man."

Basli sat in stunned silence. Putting back her Octoling Goggles on, Tai turned to Clariss, and with a groan asked, "Alright. Since Chi isn't here and neither is Yurin..."

"Yeah, the real rebel base is still operating." Clariss nodded, turning back to the computer system.

The holographic screens flared back to life. The map of Octo Valley zoomed in, making its way past the floating islands and into the rock walls of the valley. The rocks became translucent, and within was a solitary blinking dot.

Clariss pointed up at that dot. "And there's where it and Chi are, apparently."

Tai folded her arms. "So what's our plan?"

Everyone in the hangar turned to look at Tai. She looked around, a confused expression plain on her face. Did she have something on her face?

"Tai, you're the leader," Mai explained, leaning on the wall, "We expect you to have a plan, considering we're rescuing your friend and all."

"Oh," Tai said simply, frowning. Everyone looked at her expectantly. "Uhh..."

"T-41? Wait, TAI?" The Skell suddenly questioned, eye glowing brightly. "Where is TAI?"

"Ship."

Tai looked up at the Skell, standing upright in the hangar. It stared back at her, the eye's light flickering somewhat. The reality seemed to dawn on the Skell. The Skell then, without warning, jumped back out of the hangar, leaving behind a cloud of dust and debris, sending a few of the people in the hangar into coughing fits. As the smoke cleared, the Skell was gone again, much to the chagrin of Clariss, currently paralyzed in disbelief.

"Well, there goes one of my ideas," Tai muttered, "We're just going to have to get in there the hard way now..."

---

Chi had to admit something. The Octarian base might've been much less unfriendly and much better supplied than most residential kettles she's had to stay in, but they never had anything quite as comfortable to sit on as this throne. This squishy tentacle of a throne was actually pretty soft. Silently, she thanked Barro for being, at the very least, a comfortable chair.

Sharing the chair with two maniacs brought the experience down a bit.

"So…" Youinn spoke up, looking over several rebels sitting behind overturned tables, weapons pointed at the entrances to the sides, "Anytime now would be good for your friends to show up."

Chi huffed. "I can't control the speed at which the others get ready. They're probably gonna come in with several UFOs and Octoweapons. We have guys whose entire jobs are just pushing out gun emplacements and power-ups to use."

"I know, I know." Youinn stifled a yawn. "It's just that...given that this might be a final battle between good and evil, I thought they'd be here by now."

Chi glanced to her left. Winst was still in her full-body cast, sitting uncomfortably close to Chi with a delirious grin on her face. Every so often she'd bark orders at the rebels sitting around, instructing them to aim their guns higher or to move the tables and chairs in a way that she said would "guarantee" tripping an enemy over.

"You do have a point though Chi. If they got decimated by our secret weapon instantly, it wouldn't really make for a good defeat," Youinn mused.

Chi arched an eyebrow. A secret weapon? Naturally, her eyes glanced down at the two Dualies that Youinn had on her. Youinn smiled, stretching her arms.

"Nah, not even close." Youinn relaxed on the seat, lounging on the tentacle as though it were a beach chair. "These are just squirt guns in comparison."

"They're all going to die for keeping you from me," Winst muttered to herself, "All of them."

"Right, right," Youinn assured her, pushing her sister over.

Winst made another screeching noise as she fell on the ground. Chi couldn't help but wince as she heard a thump. The situation was made even more uncomfortable with the hideous sounds that Winst was making from the floor, like some sort of octopus monster was foaming at the mouth.

Youinn leaned in close. "Hey, Chi?"

"What?"

"After we win, you think you can become my number two?" Youinn asked, twiddling with her fingers.

"She's mine! I recruited her, urine!" Winst hissed from the floor.

Youinn ignored her. "I'm thinking that I can replace my sister as the leader of the Amphio Alliance. I feel like this place needs a bit of fresh air, some new points-of-view. It's only been her for quite some time. And you seem like you could use some new friends."

Chi went silent, only glaring at Youinn when she looked at her. Youinn just smiled and continued. "We could all use a bit of fresh blood, Chi. We may be just a ragtag group of rebels, but we're all still family. Right guys?"

A few of the Octotroopers and Octoballs behind the barricade nodded back at her, a few of them grunting. Chi noticed that a lot of the Octolings barely paid attention to her or Youinn, most going about their business fortifying the knockoff recreation room. In fact, the way they looked away was more like they were trying to ignore them altogether.

"They're just busy!" Youinn shrugged. "What do you think? We can be like Winst and Barro, except neither of us sit on each other or yell at each other for their mistakes!"

"What a terrible idea! What kind of relationship would that be?" Winst questioned from the floor, "Next thing you know, we won't steal away Octavio's troops for reinforcements! It's like you want us to be less efficient!"

At this point, Chi had tuned out the sisters' bickering. Her mind wandered to the goggles she wore around her neck now. There was no way she'd be able to contact the HQ now with so many armed people sitting around and next to her. Of course, therein laid the probable fact that HQ wouldn't pick up at all.

"Chi?"

Chi's eyes widened. She spun around, wondering who called her name. Youinn had gotten off the chair, struggling to pick up her sister, who was again straining to throttle Youinn's throat by any means necessary. None of the other rebels had dared look back at them. Chi glanced down at her goggles. Slowly but surely, she lifted her goggles up to her ear.

"Yes?" Chi whispered, "This is Chi. HQ?"

"Chi!" Tai's voice rang from the goggles.

Chi tensed up. She looked to the sides again. Somehow, the sister fight had escalated into a very one-sided fistfight, though Youinn was doing a decent job defending herself against her sister's hard cast arms and legs.

"Heeey! We're being attacked!"

The fight stopped, both of them getting up off the ground, diving into the crowd to arm themselves. For Winst, getting up was easy, especially thanks to the fact that she was hanging onto Youinn's back.

"Move, people! This is what we've prepared for!" Youinn called out to the other rebels.

Most of the Octarians squatting behind barricades finally turned back to acknowledge them with a nod. A stampede emerged from the other side of the barricade, practically out of thin air as several more Octolings and Octotroopers filed in through small gaps between the opening and the desks. Octocopters hovered in from the ceiling carrying Burst Bombs, no doubt filled with the paralyzing potion Youinn concocted.

Chi narrowed her eyes, looking up at the ceiling. "How long were they up there?"

One of the Octocopters shot her a tired look, his propellers spinning slowly as he descended. Something told Chi that they weren't allowed to say. Youinn smirked, putting her hands on her Dualies. "Watch, sister. I'm going to drop Octavio's lazy excuse for an army the second they move in."

Winst sneered at her. "We'll see, sister."

Chi frowned. The voice inside her goggles buzzed back in her ears. "Where are you?"

"Tai, I'm kinda sitting next to the two most powerful individuals in the entire army, I don't have time to chat," Chi muttered into her goggles, "And neither do you. Don't you have to escort Callie or something?"

"Yeah. Did you know I had to go to Octo Canyon? Crazy, huh?"

"Everyone knew that, Tai." Chi sighed.

"Well, anyway, I ditched her. She's at base with my mom and the others. Clariss will look after her."

---

Callie sat by as Clariss tapped away on the keyboard of the computer, looking intensely at the screen. Clariss had adopted a small headset with a microphone in front of her face, watching a map of Octo Valley intensely.

Callie rose from the ground slowly and quietly, a large smile on her face. "What's up?"

"I can't exactly talk right now, Agent 1, I need to focus," Clariss explained, pressing a key on the keyboard.

Callie 'oohed' as the holographic map of Octo Valley zoomed in on a few blinking dots in the mountains. "Wow, with just one key? So if I pressed this-"

---

Chi winced as she heard sirens go off in the background. Clariss and Callie could be heard shouting and screaming before the sound cut off. Tai's voice soon cleared the silence.

Tai couldn't help it and laughed. "I kinda wish I was there right now."

Chi blinked. "Wait, if you're not there, then...are you slacking off again?"

"What? Oh, no. I'm actually in the rebel base trying to save you right now." Tai explained.

"Oh, my bad," Chi stated apologetically, "Wait, Tai, WHAT?"

Chi sat there in silence for a moment. As the rebel troops gathered 'round and nearly all of them took cover behind an overturned desk or chair, as Chi looked to the side, she was met with the hostile gaze of Youinn and Winst, feeling as though they were boring holes into her face.

Chi gulped. "...Um, how close are you?"

Tai hummed, looking up. "I dunno. Hey Ari? How close do you think we are?"

"DIE, INKLING SYMPATHIZER!" A Twintacle Octotrooper screamed as it fired off several ink shots into the air.

Tai rolled down the hall to avoid the shots, stopping into a crouch behind a corner. She looked past the corner, watching Ari dash straight at the Octotrooper with a severely bent Samuroller held in his right arm. From behind the cover of a giant metal shield, the Octotrooper kept firing off salvo after salvo of paralyzing goo toward the approaching Ari. Ari showed no signs of stopping, doing his best to deflect as much of the ink as he could.

The Octotrooper cowered behind the shield as he ran in front of him, banking that the Inkling barreling toward him would bounce off the metal plate that shielded his face. Tai would've loved to imagine his surprise once a long pole covered in orange ink smashed his face in, practically avoiding the shield altogether as the broken, curved roller reached around his defenses. The Octotrooper hit the side of the wall with a splat that covered it in orange, sticking to it while orange ink rolled down the wall.

Ari scratched his head. "Uh, I dunno. All these hallways look the same to me."

"Yeah, me too," Tai said, looking behind her. "Lee, we've got a fresh one! Put Jerry on it!"

Behind Tai, Ova and Lee were crouched behind her further back down another hall, with Lee holding Jerry in her arms. A trail of destruction preceded them; there were a bunch of unconscious Octolings, a handful of grounded Octocopters ditched in crater marks, and several Octotroopers, Twintacle and regular, with their gun emplacements dismantled and their faces covered in the brighter Octavio fuchsia ink.

"Catch!" Lee called, taking Jerry and hurling through the air.

Ari raised his hands in the air. Catching the Octoboot, he set him back down on the Octotrooper's gun emplacement. Jerry grinned, glancing at the controls.

"You mind wiping that?" Jerry asked.

Ari frowned. Taking the edge of his Varsity Jacket, he rubbed the lever on the gun emplacement gently. Jerry nodded his thanks, then immediately took the lever in his mouth. The platform he sat on buzzed back to life, slowly chugging forward through the halls.

"We gotta clear the floors!" Tai ordered.

Lee and Ova ran up from behind her, unholstering Octoshots from their belts. Together, they began shooting forward, splashing over the paralysis ink with their own. Ari and Tai walked slowly behind them, both of them aiming behind them just in case.

"Haha! I bet you didn't expect an aerial assault!"

Everyone aimed up at the ceiling. Several Octocopters sped down from the top, holding Burst Bombs between their stick-like legs. Before they could finish their ambush, they were suddenly blasted out of the sky.

"Nice try!" Basli shouted, shooting globs of ink into the air.

Basli's Blaster shots made the Octotroopers light up like fireworks. Some exploded with bright-orange sprinkles falling to the ground, most of them hitting the floor hard.

"We waited up there for days!" One of the Octocopters wailed before smashing into the floor, the noise he made when slamming into it echoing through the halls.

Basli jumped over the wrecks of the various Octotroopers and sped over to Tai. Tai gave her a silent nod, and the six of them continued through the halls of the base with Jerry in the lead.

Tai had to admit, this was way more fun than it had any right being. Half the time, most of the defenses they ran into were amateur Octarians in dirty clothes with a distinct lack of weapon knowledge that ran right at them. Since getting into the base, she had lost count of how many times they would run into a handful of troops, weave between their shots, and destroy them within minutes before moving on to the next one.

This teamwork especially helped considering that everybody listened to Tai as she told them what to do.

With Jerry in the lead, the troop followed him through the halls, occasionally spraying the path in front of him. Whatever type of ink was used by Yurin's troops, Jerry's gun was full of it. Granted, the paralysis didn't seem to favor any allies, so they all figured that it would be better if they just walked in their own ink while any other rebels were stuck trying to follow them.

Lee hopped over the long trail of ink into another puddle. "Hey Tai?"

"Yeah?"

"What are we going to do once we beat up the leaders?" Lee asked.

Tai hummed, pressing a finger to her chin. "I mean, we could always just throw them in jail. There's still a bunch of empty cells that we used to keep agents in."

Basli arched an eyebrow. "You guys seem pretty set on a 'no killing' policy."

"Don't get me wrong, I'd love to bash these guys' heads in," Tai explained, squirting the ground before taking another step, "But without Octavio or any other form of leadership, I don't think murdering a bunch of idiots for trying to start something is something we need in our consciences."

Ova's eyes lit up as she followed closely behind Lee. "I can see how you managed to fool the Skell so well."

Tai looked to the side. "Well, I'm just saying."

"You're doing a splendid job leading them Tai," Ari complimented her, "It should be no surprise."

"Sh!" Tai suddenly stopped in place, clamping a hand around Ari's face.

"Wuh ah sah?" Ari mumbled.

"...HONESTLY! It's like we're leading a bunch of recruits." Yurin's voice could be heard from around the next corner.

Tai put a finger to her lips, gesturing at Jerry. Jerry nodded, leaning over to chomp on the switch of his stolen vehicle. The Octotrooper platform stopped shooting ink, settling in place quietly. Everyone with a weapon spread ink quietly, shooting the ground with careful taps of the trigger. Ari scrubbed the floor like a mop using his Samuroller, edging closer to the corner with Basli following in his footsteps.

---

"Ma'am, it's like nothing I've ever seen! Inklings and Octarians, working together! They've already exhausted over half of our forces!" A Twintacle Octotrooper exclaimed, shaking wildly.

"Inklings and Octolings working together? Those ANIMALS!" One of the other rebels yelled, giving in to despair, "What fresh new Shell are we living in now?"

"You stupid sons of..." Youinn pressed her fingers to her temples. "Alright, just go and guard the entrances! Stack more chairs there."

The Twintacle's tentacles dismissed himself with a salute before the rebel Octarians all trotted off to the barricades, quickly taking as many chairs and tables with them as they could carry.

"This is all going to blow up in your face, Youinn," Winst whispered in her ear, "You aren't fit to lead."

"Like you would know what a good leader looks right?" Youinn muttered, not taking her eyes off the entrances.

"For once, I agree with Winst."

This time Youinn turned around. Chi had been coated from head to toe in paralysis ink, making her arms awkwardly stick to her lap as she sat stiffly on the tentacle throne. Chi's face seemed mostly dry, which was nice since it meant she could make all the worst expressions her facial muscles could muster.

"You guys aren't really good at this." Chi shook her head. Or, well, tried to. "What was your plan, anyway?"

Youinn scowled, turning back to Chi. "Yeah, idiot. You saw how little leadership the Octarian HQ had. You saw how little they cared about doing anything with their army. So what if they kill a couple of our troops? Any minute now, they're going to burst through those tables, and then I'm gonna-"

Youinn didn't get to finish her sentence. Mostly on account of the Octotrooper gun that sailed through the barricade and knocked her behind the head. She fell flat on the ground, directly at Chi's feet. Chi and Winst, both equally surprised, did the best with their lack of movable limbs and stared at the left entrance to the rebel rec room. A large hole had formed in the barricade where the Octotrooper gun had been hurled.

"Defend our fair ladies!" An Octoling barked to the others.

"'Fair ladies?'" Chi glared at Winst in the most judging look she could muster.

"I wanted to make sure people made me feel like a princess," Winst explained, giving Chi a sour face back.

Guns were cocked from every conceivable angle. Octocopters angled them from the ceiling, Octotroopers made sure that they were high enough, and Octolings dipped between the overturned tables and chairs in the octopus forms, leaning behind cover.

"Batter up!"

The rebels figured out soon enough that cover isn't useful if it gets knocked over by one big boot. There was a loud bang noise, and out through the hole came Jerry the Octoboot, flying into the desks. His unconventional metal chassis proved just enough to knock over a handful of cover positions, scattering chairs, tables, and rebels. Before they could regain their bearings and kick Jerry back where he came from, out came an Inkling and two Octolings.

"This is what you get for ruining one of my few non-training days off!" Basli shouted, leaping in, Blaster-blazing.

Large splotches of ink were made as Basli burst through the entrance, taking out quite a few Octocopters and Octotroopers clustered together. Her aim was sharp, detonating swathes in the middle of several Octotroopers The rebel Octolings moved to intercept, switching back to Octoling form with Dualies and Octoshots ready. They fired at the Inkling, Basli just barely dodging their shots. A few grazed her, causing Basli to stumble as she made her way over to one of the tables.

"Lee! Ova!" She called out to the hole.

The duo responded by diving through the hole. Ova switched to Octoling form first, clutching Lee's squishy octopus form in her hands. She pitched her teammate over to one of the nearest Octolings. Lee immediately switched back to Octoling form, meeting the rebels foot-first.

"Wow, that was actually kinda fun!" Lee chirped, before getting shot by one of the other Octolings. "Oh."

Lee fell to the floor, bracing her impact with her arms. Ova ran over, shooting at the rebel Octolings as she did. Picking up Lee by her legs, she dragged her behind another table, picking up Jerry along the way. They all crouched behind cover. Ova could hear a rhythmic beat of ink pound against the table as the rebels fired at them.

"Sha!"

The firing stopped suddenly. Ova, peeking over the side of the table, watched as Ari stormed in, Tai following shortly after. Ari's speed with the Samuroller was a sight to behold. Any Octoling that fired or tried to close the gap either had their shots deflected or their face battered with the long roller. Each hit Ari landed seemed to bend the Samuroller; the crookedness was fixed when he slapped a projectile away and returned immediately once he swung it into an Octoling.

"To your left!" Tai shouted.

Ari weaved forward, his Yellow Seahorse sneakers being splattered slightly. Thinking they had found an opening, two Octolings rushed him, holding Burst Bombs in their hands.

As if the flurry of furious melee attacks weren't enough, Tai's Octo Dualies made doubly-sure nobody would get close. Between swings of the Samuroller, Tai's hand-cannons blasted away any other Octoling and Octocopter that tried to get through. Ari's strength and speed had him swing three times while Tai would follow up with a huge burst of ink, practically painting the other side of the room in fuchsia once she fired. Anyone who approached this tornado of defense was either sucked in and smacked or spit out and splattered.

"Stop right there!"

Ari struck a pose, holding the Samuroller behind his back while Tai more or less did the same, pointing the Octo Dualies at the stage behind them. Yurin was standing, one leg bent and sitting on the throne with the other one on the stage, holding a single remote with a large red button. Chi stared at the others, a worried look on her face.

"Chi!" Tai called out.

"Tai! Wait, TAI?" Chi asked, eyes wide.

Tai nodded. "Yes, it's me! We've come to get you out of here! And to beat up rebels!"

"She's planning something! Also, I can't move, so please aim carefully." Chi added the last part somewhat quietly.

"Yurin, we've got you outgunned and outnumbered! If you surrender, I promise that I won't beat your face in!" Tai called to her.

"Youinn," Youinn stated, glaring at her. "My name is Youinn!"

"So is that a no?" Tai asked.

Youinn's eyes darted from side to side. "Five people. That's ALL it took to infiltrate our stronghold. Just five people."

"And Jerry," Ari pointed out.

Jerry poked his face out from behind cover to smile. Youinn grumbled. "Even if it was our plan to lead the most capable fighters from the Octarian HQ here, only six people?"

"Your plans are done. Like I said, give up or get pounded." Tai smashed her knuckles together.

"Confident, but you've already lost," Youinn said, pressing the button.

Tai immediately pointed both Dualies at Youinn and squeezed the triggers. Youinn was faster, retrieving a Dualie of her own behind her back. Both fired, and Youinn tagged Tai in her left arm.

"Ugh!" Tai gasped, dropping to her knees. This ink BURNED. Whatever was in that Dualie wasn't messing around.

Luckily, Tai wasn't the only one suffering. Youinn was unceremoniously launched from the throne, smacking into the wall behind her. Two bright fuchsia circles marked the wall, behind the throne, barely grazing the tentacle or splashing Chi. Youinn slowly fell off from the wall, hitting the floor with a loud "clang".

"Now we're even," Tai muttered, holding her arm.

Chi grunted, feeling tingles in her fingers up to her arms. Slowly, she rose up from the giant tentacle, hobbling toward Tai slowly. Tai, quick to assist, jumped up on the stage and supported Chi with her free arm.

"Are you sure you're Tai?" Chi asked, looking her over.

Tai huffed. "It's the goggles, I swear."

Chi gave her a small smile. "I think you look good in them."

Tai rolled her eyes. "Alright, well, looks like we're done here. Let's just go and-"

Click.

Everybody turned around. Over on the floor, Winst had managed to crawl over to the remote, her arms free of her casts. Winst had a devilish smirk on her face as she reached the remote, hand hovering over the button.

"I guess I can't have you after all," Winst croaked, slamming the button, "Die, Chi."

The base began to rumble. Desks and chairs began rattling. The rebel Octarians stirred, but the minute they regained consciousness, they all went wide-eyed. While our heroes prepared for an attack, the rebels began to scramble out in a panic, knocking over chairs and desks as they ran. Tai and Ari shared a glance before the lighting in the room fizzled out.

In the darkness, something began to glow. The tentacle on top of the stage began to glow a sinister yellow. Everyone gawked at it in awe. Before anything else could happen though, Tai immediately pointed an Octo Dualie at the tentacle and fired away at it. Tai peppered the tentacle with shot after shot until the yellow glow was completely suppressed with ink and her reserves were empty.

Everyone present stared at Tai, who simply said, "Something was obviously going to happen, what would you do?"

Ari blinked. "Run, probably."

The glow from the tentacle just got brighter. Quickly, Tai and the others filed out of the room, running past the rebels as the base's shaking got worse. Chi looked over her shoulder as she and Tai escaped. Though the tentacle was the brightest thing in the room, Winst's piercing glare was still just as visible as ever up until the point the rounded a corner.

---

The first thing Tai noticed upon making it outside was that it was a little dark. The sun had gotten lower in the sky since the mission had started. The second and arguably more important thing was that the kettle they exited the base from was now surrounded. Rebels, Octotroopers, Octolings, and Octocopters, several covered in ink, were sitting on Octo Valley rocks, looking at the enemy base from the outside.

"Tai!"

Tai glanced in front of her as the others made it through the kettle one-by-one. Clariss was running up to her, arms full with tech and her lab coat flapping in the wind. She was followed by an escort; dozens of Octotroopers and Octocopters followed closely behind, all of them glaring at the rebels.

"What did you do in there?" She asked, face pale.

"Did we win?" Ari asked, poking his squid head out of the kettle.

"Yeah, we won!" Lee shouted, pumping her fist in the air as she and Ova jumped out, "Tai shot their leaders before they could do anything!"

Basli frowned, staring where the rebels were staring. "Are you sure about that?"

Everybody turned to look across the valley. Now, the rebel base was situated underground, within the rock walls of the valley. Most of the time, it wasn't obviously visible without x-ray vision. However, now anyone with a plain set of eyes could see it.

The rocky, octopus-shaped formation that sat atop the valley shuddered as a giant mass of metal broke through the valley walls, scattering boulders and causing the waterfalls spilling off into the valley to break and split apart. A giant head, for lack of a better term to call the metal monstrosity of rectangle hallways formed into a mesh that smashed through the valley, turned and leered at them. One giant horizontal slit for an eye stared at Tai and Chi, and through the opening they could see Winst and Youinn, glaring down at them from the rebel's rec room.

Both of them were grinning. Defying reality, the base began to speak.

"BLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH."

Chi blinked. "Ohhhhhh. That tentacle wasn't a throne, that was actually...Barro…?"

She suddenly puffed up, looking much angrier. "We were sitting on Barro the entire time! He was just stuck in the floor!"

"That explains why their defenses sucked," Tai rationalized, scratching her head, "I guess they spent it all on making a cool, giant..mech base?"

A few of the rebels, as if embarrassed, looked away from the awe-inspiring structure. Some hid their heads in their tentacles or their hands. The rebel base turned its head, unearthing itself from the valley. Octarians and Inklings held on to the sturdiest rock they could as tremors rocked the valley. The base took a step forward with a large metal leg that tore itself from the valley, taking one step closer to the floating islands in the middle of the valley.

"They're heading for our base!" Ova pointed out.

Some of the Octavio Octarians began to head back quickly, but nearly everyone else was panicking. Tai hopped off of the kettle and ran up to Clariss, asking, "Do we have any way to stop it?"

"What do you mean? Tai, we don't have anything!" Clariss yelled, nearly dropping all the tech she had brought along, "We had no idea that would come to life! Not even the sensors and programs we had to detect the Skell knew about this until just now! That's why I rushed over here! We need to evacuate!"

"...So, this is it then?" Tai muttered, looking at the base as what was presumably its next leg began to poke out from the valley walls, "Did we lose?"

"To a giant mech base…" Ari's eye twitched. "What kind of terrible plot twist of fate is this?"

For the next few minutes, no one, not even the rebel forces made a move. Solemnly and silently, all they could do was sit and wait. There was nothing but the sound of the wind as everyone watched in horror as the rebel base closed in.

"Cod. What a mess."

Tai sighed. "You said it."

"First day as commander and a giant mech comes swooping in, ruins everything."

"Okay, you don't need to rub it in," Tai complained, looking over her shoulder, "It's bad enough my arm feels like it was shoved in an oven."

Aussie sneered at her. "Nah Tai, I'm enjoying this waaaaaaaay too much."

Tai's eyes went so wide she thought the goggles might fall off her face. The Skell, the mightiest weapon the Octarians had, had landed behind all of them without any of them noticing. More importantly, Aussie was standing right in front of the Skell with the dopiest smile she had ever seen her with.

The reactions were mixed. The rebels were freaking out, most of them backing away from the giant killer robot, while a few of the Octavio Octarians began to cheer and welcome Aussie back. Tai, on the other hand, contrary to everyone else, remained silent and just stared at Aussie.

"...Auss?" Tai asked, her voice resonating with genuine curiosity.

"Yo," replied the strange, red-tentacled Octoling with tired red eyes in front of her.

Aussie looked...not Aussie-like at all. Well, she didn't have her Goggles, but even without them, her entire everything just looked like a funhouse mirror version of Aussie. Aussie was standing sort of slanted, with her back arched over. Her once jet-black tentacles were partially restored to a natural dark-red, and her once piercing crimson eyes were half-closed in a lukewarm, deceptively calm mien. The frown on her face wasn't critical, judging, or even strict. It was just...a tired frown.

"Aussie. 4U55-13." Tai repeated the words, trying to get a feel for the way they rolled off her tongue.

"Yeah, Tai?" Aussie asked, crossing her arms. "What's good?"

"...Who the shell is this?" Tai turned to the others.

Ari blinked, looking from Tai, to Aussie, then back to Tai. "Tai? Tai. Tai?."

Tai laughed nervously. The others weren't. The other Octarians did the same as Ari, looking between Tai and Aussie as though they were reflections of each other. A few confused Octarians walked over to Tai, scratching their heads, saying, "Commander?" and "4U55-13?" as though the real Aussie was a stranger.

"I HAVE LOCATED T-41, COMMANDER," The Skell bellowed in its monotone voice, before doing what everyone else was doing, seemingly scanning the two of them, "I think? :|"

Tai removed her- I mean, Aussie's goggles, exposing her violet eyes to the air once again. "I thought you had to go to Octo Canyon."

"I do, but I mean…" Aussie stretched her arms, sighing longingly, "It's a bit of a hassle. They don't really need me up there right now, and I'm technically still fired. It's a drag, man, and all I wanted to do was get caught up with the backlog of games I had stashed away."

"A drag?"

"Man?"

"Games?"

Aussie looked down at her fingers. "Oh yeah. I missed a bunch, apparently they came out with a new Super Splash Bros. recently. I finished a game of Sea Monster Tale, real underrated game. You might like it Tai, it's a story about a bunch of little kids who abuse their responsibilities as dictators."

"Hey!"

"I'm kidding," Aussie chided her, walking over to her and leaning on the side of the kettle, "The Skell told me everything. You're looking pretty good in my goggles, by the way."

"Yeah, you can have them back," Tai told her, "Not that it matters much who gets to be commander anyway once the base is destroyed."

"Huh? Oh, right, that giant Koijima rip-off." Aussie glanced over at the base as it chugged along. "People really like putting giant metal mechs in places they don't belong."

The Skell stepped forward. "I WILL TAKE THE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS TO ENSURE IT DOES NOT COMPROMISE THE BASE."

"Hold up, I'll come with you in a sec," Aussie chimed in, turning to Tai with a bizarre, soft smile on her face, "Even though you basically caused a giant enemy Octoweapon to start, I'm not gonna lie, you guys did a pretty good job without me."

"Yeah?" Tai arched an eyebrow.

"We're still gonna have to talk once we get back," Aussie told Tai.

Tai just heaved out a sigh and shook her head. With that, Aussie jumped up on the Skell's leg, clinging to it tightly. The Skell's thrusters on its back flared up, and the giant robot rocketed away to fight the amalgamation of metal hallways currently on a rampage. Everyone went silent again, listening to the hum of the thrusters before it became too distant to hear. The sound of the Skell was drowned out by the footsteps of the rebel HQ, from its footsteps to the tremors of Octo Valley, to the loud "BLUUUUUUUH"s it made from time to time.

From a distance, the Skell looked like an angry purple wasp hovering around the "head" of the rebel HQ. Whether Youinn and Winst noticed it and couldn't attack or whether they didn't see it at all, the Skell closed in on the head, taking aim. From within one of the Skell's legs popped out a long Inkzooka, and with a single tap, the Skell blasted a hole in the head of the rebel base. A tiny dot hopped off of the Skell's other leg into the hole it made while the Skell flew above the HQ, the behemoth of a base now frozen in place.

---

Aussie hit the floor of the base and immediately had to switch into Octopus form to dodge a shot. Youinn, though covered in ink and worse for wear, was out for blood. Her eyes were sharp and trained on Aussie as she fired shot after shot from her Dualies, with Winst clinging to the tentacle onstage.

Dodging the ink wasn't a problem. With all of the scattered furniture around and year after year of instruction and training drilled into her head, dipping between Youinn's shots was easy. Even so, the tingling Aussie felt on her skin whenever a shot grazed her made her keenly aware. One hit, and she was gone.

The wild thrashing of the base made things particularly unique. Although Aussie could dodge and weave between the shots easily, Winst's control over the base often caused the giant machine to shift and shake, throwing tables and chairs into the air. Getting solid footing to retaliate was hard, Aussie found, as she stumbled over the floor, dodging both Youinn's Dualies and the furniture that was flying around the room.

"We worked SO HARD, for MONTHS ON END! I will not let the second you troglodytes get back in charge to be the last of us!" Youinn screeched, firing faster and faster.

Aussie frowned, kicking over a table. "I'm not exactly enjoying this either!"

The shots bounced off the table, but as the base shifted, Aussie had to deal with her cover sliding right back at her. Aussie grunted, kicking the table to the side, rolling beneath a chair once Youinn noticed her again. Aussie squeezed herself behind the chair in octopus form, obscuring herself.

Aussie ran over the options in her mind. She had to get the leaders back with her and she also had to find a way to blow up this machine, hopefully accomplishing the latter without killing herself in the process. Aiming was going to be difficult; Youinn's missed shots and Winst's terrible driving was a disorienting combination. Aussie poked her head out slightly, then retreated back behind the chair. The furniture might make for solid cover, but with it flying around the room constantly…

Aussie then frowned. "Or I could just do the 'Tai' option."

Aussie gripped the chair with her tentacles. Switching back to Octoling form, she spun around quickly, still holding the chair, then launched it at the stage. Youinn fired, blasting the chair out of the way.

"Guh!"

But she missed Aussie's boot as it sailed across the room, smacking her in the face. Youinn dropped to the floor like a crumpled sack of flour. Winst's eyes went wide. If she was trying to do something, she wasn't doing a good job, as she just stared at Aussie, frozen to the tentacle.

"Alright, uh, you're under arrest," Aussie said, crossing her arms, "You wanna come quietly or-"

"DIE!" Winst screeched, taking out an Octoshot from seemingly nowhere.

Winst fumbled with the weapon. Aussie noticed the bandages still strewn about her hand. She felt a little bad. Making sure to be careful, Aussie slugged Winst in the face as soft as she could, smashing her into the wall.

With that all said and done, Aussie hefted both of the knocked out Octolings up. She then inspected the tentacle onstage. There were ink splotches still on the tentacle, presumably from when Tai and her team went in. As it wriggled, glowing yellow with the base still moving toward the floating islands, Aussie wondered how she was going to shut it down.

Then she looked up at the ceiling. Aussie just sighed. "Skell?"

---

Almost as soon as the dot had entered, the crowd gasped in awe as the Skell picked out a giant Splatterscope from what seemed to be its back. The Skell fired into the hole in the rebel base's head, causing the base to jitter and shake even more rapidly than before. Not long after, the dot hopped back out from the hole the Skell made, and she and the Skell began flying back to the crowd watching. Seconds passed, when the greatest quake of all rocked the valley, tripping up practically everyone watching. A bright violet light shot out from all of the openings of the rebel HQ.

"...Bluh?"

The rebel HQ then promptly exploded. There was a blinding flash of both light and ink, metal and rock breaking and launching off from where the base was hidden. The Skell rolled and dashed in-between the debris pieces that fire off from the explosion while several Octarians panicked and began hopping behind whatever was high enough to keep them from getting smacked. A few rebels even pulled out folding chairs in a feeble attempt to gain cover where there was none.

In spite of the chaos, Tai just kept standing as still as ever on the kettle on the rocks, watching the Skell hover back. Holding on to the side of the leg with one hand, she proudly showcased her catch of the day with her other. Gripping them both by the napes of their clothes, Aussie held two very beaten Octolings. Youinn and Winst dangled unconsciously, both of their faces exceptionally puffier than when Tai last saw them.

As they hovered in for a landing, however, Aussie immediately threw them on the rocks by the nearest rebels, startling them and inspiring a lot of pride from the Octavio troops. "So, I think this is a good time to get together and talk."

---

"Hey, Jerry, right?"

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say...uh...nice propellers."

Jerry the Octocopter spun his new propellers on his head, smiling. "Hey, thanks man!"

"So uh...you're buddies with the commander, right? Both of them?"

Chi turned in her seat to glare at the Octotrooper sitting nearby. "Shh!"

The Octarian HQ's rec room was stuffed, to say the least. Tables had been filled, and the only place that wasn't dominated by Octarians was Shockwhisk's pen in the back of the room. The sight of so many people seemed to stir the strange Zapfish, causing it to buzz and spark as it waddled around and sniffed at the different Octarians.

The bright lights of the HQ were all directed at the front, where Tai and Aussie stood, with Tai standing off to the side slightly. Aussie had adorned herself with a flashy new set of shades, not unlike the ones Callie wore. They were jet black with red accents, covering her face, which would've made her look official if it wasn't for the fact that her tentacle hair was still long and trailing behind her and her clothes were fancier than just a black t-shirt, sweatpants, and some old shoes.

Everyone, including Tai, couldn't help but stare at Aussie. There were whispers from the crowd, most unsure if this was some sort of gimmick they were trying to pull.

Aussie cleared her throat. "'Kay, so I should say something."

The room settled down. One table, Chi, Lee, Ova, and Basli sat while Jerry hovered overhead, each of them looked at her expectantly. Well, four of them did, Basli was still taking in the sights and processing everything happening. On the other side of the room, Clariss was paying half-attention, looking over a set of documents, while Callie sat across from her, ears tuned toward the stage.

"Rebels, you're with us now. Welcome to the team."

The uproar was something Aussie expected. Octarians from her side began to protest almost immediately while the rebels sat in stunned silence.

Tai shouted, "Auss, what is wrong with you? ...It's the goggles!"

"Hm?" Aussie turned to Tai.

Tai removed her goggles and stole Aussie's shades off her face. Before Aussie could try to complain, Tai strapped her goggles back on her face.

"Ha! Now that the goggles are on, that means that their mind-altering effects will reset!" Tai snapped her fingers.

Aussie, on the other hand, didn't look like she was buying it. "What?"

"Just wait."

The audience was completely bewildered at this point. However, soon enough they started to see what Tai was getting at. Aussie's tentacles had blackened, going from red to dark-red with splotches of black from where the goggles had been put on.

"Holy ship, Tai wasn't kidding?" Chi gawked at the two on stage.

Aussie sighed, shaking her head. "Oh, that's my bad."

Aussie took her goggles off her head, held it in one hand, and smacked the goggles with the back of her other hand. Black droplets dripped out from the goggles, falling on the ground, leaving small stains on the floor.

"...Aussie, why did you put tar in your goggles?" Tai asked.

"It's not tar. It's my Elite hair dye," Aussie explained, looking over the goggles to make sure there wasn't more, "My tentacles don't magically turn black, Tai."

"So wait…" Lee frowned, crossing her arms. "That means that this entire time Tai wasn't being brainwashed into being a more responsible person?"

Ova frowned and turned in her seat. "Guys, she just looked different and acted as leader for like, a day."

"Still, you have to admit it is extraordinarily impressive how she's changed in such a short time," Ari commented.

Chi hummed. "Maybe she just really wanted to show Aussie she could do her job well."

"Give me THAT," Tai barked, stealing Aussie's goggles back, "There's no way this thing doesn't have any weird hypnotizing stuff still stuck in it…"

"Anyway, moving on…" Aussie cleared her throat. "We've gathered here to discuss the elephant in the room."

"Did you and Tai switch bodies?"

"No- Guys, it's me. It's your commander. Well, ex-commander, I guess." Aussie scratched the back of her head. "Man, that sucks. But this isn't about me. This is about the rebels. The guys sitting next to you?"

"Ohhh yeaaah."

"Huh, that's true."

…

"...Are you guys like...taking this seriously at all?" Aussie asked, her face retaining some of her older, more familiar expressions.

"Tai and her troop kinda just...wrecked shop," An Octotrooper mentioned, "Like from what I heard from Clariss, that was way too fast."

Everyone turned to Clariss. Noticing that all the attention was on her, she quickly set the documents to the side and cleared her throat.

"Uh…"

Octolings sitting at the other tables leaned in, their goggles' eyes flashing curiously.

"I don't know what to tell you guys!" Clariss blurted out, somewhat flustered, "Statistically, the rebel base takeover was way faster than it had any right to be. Sure, we had two Inkling agents on our side-"

"Not an agent!" Basli called out.

"But ultimately, our strike team of six did much better than anticipated," Clariss explained, "That, and with Aussie and the Skell, well...that was it. That rebel base was pretty well-constructed, but it was still made out of mostly scrap."

"Oh." Aussie blinked, turning to the crowd. "Uh...jeez."

"Well commander, since you're back, I guess it's up to you now!" Jerry stated with a bright smile on his face.

"Teeeechnically I'm not the commander anymore," Aussie stated, looking over at Tai.

Tai scowled. "I only did this because you decided to slack off."

The words hung in the air for a while. Practically everyone who was acquainted with Tai in the room gave her a sideways glance.

"That said, I do have an idea of what to do with these rebels…" Aussie hummed, closing her eyes.

The rebels gathered in the room sank in their seats. A few looked toward the exits.

Aussie turned back to the crowd. "Alright, listen up, 'Amphio Alliance'. The reason any of you are still here is solely due to Commander Tai's tactics. I'm honestly surprised so many of you survived, wow. Because you all SUCKED."

There were a few shocked gasps from the crowd, but any surprise died down pretty quickly as Aussie continued speaking.

"Like, six people including Tai? That's all it takes for you guys to fall? You guys weren't going to touch Octavio let alone take this base." Aussie chastised them.

One of the rebels had the courage to ask, "To be fair, didn't Octavio get beaten by one agent girl a few years ago?"

Aussie paused. "Man, has it been that long? Well, yeah, you're actually right. Where does that put you guys then?"

The rebels' sense of fear dissipated. Now all they felt was an extremely oppressive sense of inadequacy.

"No matter how beefed up Tai got while I was away or how strong the Inklings who supported us were…"

A lot of heads spun back to Ari, who flashed a smile that began to dazzle quite a few onlookers in the room. At least, Ari hoped that's what those quizzical looks on those faces were for.

"Losing to a six-man team is the type of stuff that only happens in stories where the team is either overpowered or the guys they're fighting just flat-out suck," Aussie explained, "And I know the people who live and work here, and it's definitely not the former."

"...Yep, that's our Aussie." Someone in the crowd said, prompting several head nods and agreeing "mm"s.

"...But I will say that they did a fine job today with me absent," Aussie admitted.

A hand in the crowd was raised. Aussie pointed to that hand, prompting a rebel Octoling to stand up and nod her head politely.

"So...does that mean we're Octavio drones now?" The Octoling asked.

"Oh, yeah, Octavio." Aussie snapped her fingers. "I know this is a little weird to ask, but how much do you guys hate Octavio?"

Several rebels answered.

"I mean, I've never met him…"

"Not a fan, but…"

"I just heard he was an idiot leader."

"Well...yeah. You're kinda right," Aussie said, eliciting more shocked reactions from the crowd, "Which brings me to my next point of action before we're all done for the day."

The audience was more confused than ever. Done for the day? Point of action? For once, Tai was invested in Aussie's speech, watching her from the side of the stage curiously.

"That total DUMBASS fired me!" Aussie shouted all of a sudden, causing everybody to stir, "I'm pissed off! I've worked as commander for years now, and then he and a bunch of other higher-ups decide to punish ME because I wanted to stay down there and do my job as an Octoling!"

Tai blinked. "Uh, Aussie…"

"Well, screw him!" Aussie snapped, turning to the audience, "I never even wanted to go to Octo Canyon in the first place! Rebels, you guys have got a choice. Either you can join your leaders in the cells, or you guys can join us, and we're going to give Octavio a piece of our minds."

The silence this time was staggering. Several different people from several different sides just gawked at Aussie like she had gone insane. For a few seconds, anyway, before the crowd burst into thunderous and raucous cheering. Rebels and Octavio Octarians alike began to rally in front of the stage, hopping off their seats and praising Aussie like she was the next Octavio herself.

The only people who weren't immediately convinced, ironically, were Tai and her friends. "Auss? You feeling okay?"

Aussie reached up, squeezed her tentacles, and drained some of the black out from them, retaining her dark-red coloration. "Not exactly Tai, I'm still kinda angry at you if I'm being honest."

"Oh," Tai blinked, scratching the back of her head.

Tai then copied Aussie, also squeezing her tentacles violently. Unfortunately, her tentacles still retained some of the dark coloration, much to her dismay and Aussie's amusement. Ari, Chi, and all of the others walked up to the stage as the energy in the room started to increase dramatically. Rebels began to socialize with a few of the awestruck Octarians behind them.

Clariss backed Tai up, saying, "Aussie, are you sure about this? Like you said before, you aren't a commander anymore, so this sort of declaration could be considered a rebellion in itself."

"Ah, right. Commander T-41?" Aussie spun around.

"Cod, you're never going to let me live this down," Tai muttered.

"Since you screwed me over on that one mission, I feel like you owe me a solid," Aussie proclaimed boldly, going as far as to lean on Tai, "You up to letting me borrow a couple of your troops?"

Tai frowned. Looking directly at Aussie, all she could see was a reflection of herself. The tentacles, the snarky smile, the disrespect. Logically speaking, she shouldn't let Aussie do what she wants.

But at the same time, that would be acting like Aussie.

Tai sighed, shaking her head. "Welp, looks like my hands are tied. It looks like my Octarians are yours, for now, CO-COMMANDER." She emphasized the last bit loudly.

"'Co-commander'," Aussie laughed, "Sure."

Tai and Aussie shared a small smile between each other for a short while. Even if it was a few seconds, the two Octolings felt like they were lucky to have each other around.

"You're still keeping those goggles," Aussie ordered, putting her shades back on.

Tai glanced down at Aussie's Octoling Goggles, now left on the stage. Aussie herself hopped off the stage, waving to the others as she left. Tai reached down, picked up the goggles, and examined them closely, from the black dye stains on the inside to the green seaweed attached to the back.

She threw them to the side quickly, sighing. "Well, this day kinda sucked."

Ari laughed. "I hate to admit it, but I'm completely lost."

Basli, standing by his side, rubbed the back of her head. "Honestly? I just came here completely by accident and I feel like I saw something I shouldn't see. I think I'm just gonna...go. ...But I promise that I won't tell anybody about this!"

Ova shook her head, placing a hand on Basli's shoulder. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure at this point there's enough Inklings who know about us that it'd be crazier NOT for people to know that Octarians exist."

"Thanks, you two," Tai acknowledged the Inklings with a nod.

Basli gave a polite nod and then began to leave through one of the exits, pushing past the other Octarians. Lee, Ova, and Jerry looked toward Tai, then gave a short salute(Jerry waved with his tentacle) before following the other Octarians as Aussie departed the room, leading practically the entire base with her.

Callie made a strange "squee" noise that was neither Inkling nor Octarian. "That was so cool! I should get kidnapped more often if things like this happen?"

Chi frowned, looking at the pop star. "Why'd you have to escort her in the first place, Tai?"

"Beats me. Octavio does some weird stuff," Tai shook her head.

"Byeeeeee!" Callie called, already half-way out the room, following the last batch of Octarians out.

Clariss shook her head. "I really hope that this doesn't get us all court-martialed or something. By the way, Tai, I need to show you something."

"Uh, sure. Could I talk with these two for a sec?" Tai asked, looking at both Chi and Ari.

Clariss frowned, just nodding her head as she went back to the table she left her documents. Tai cleared her throat, looking at the puzzled Octoling and Inkling in front of her.

"Chi," Tai rubbed the back of her head, "Listen, about what I said today…"

"Yes?" Chi asked.

Tai took a deep breath. This still felt weird to say for her. "I'm sorry that I acted pretty...selfish earlier. I was a little...out of it for a while."

Chi blushed. "W-What? You're apologizing?"

"You were injured because you went to tell my mom that...well, I was dead. I was angry over something really dumb, and-"

"No, no! That's- That's totally fine!" Chi's face began to glow.

"No, it really isn't, are you still injured? I just-" Tai looked over Chi.

Chi shook her head. "You saved me earlier, you don't need to apologize."

Tai was getting a little annoyed. Apologizing wasn't easy, and the fact that Chi was avoiding her face was just making it harder. Their exchange of apologies and denials to said apologies only stopped with both of them heard a hearty laugh.

Ari sighed. "Don't I feel like the third wheel in this relationship?"

"Ah!" Chi bowed her head in shame. "Ari, uh, hey Tai! Ari's here!"

"Hey Ari," Tai said with a wave.

"Hey."

Chi grinned, heading offstage. "Welp, I'm gonna see if Aussie needs any help wrangling those newbies."

Tai smiled, waving her off. "Uh, sure."

Chi was about halfway to the door when she heard:

"Thanks for being my friend, Chi."

Her tentacles curled up slightly. Chi turned around. Tai was smiling at her. Chi was still mad at her for sure, a friend doesn't just ignore the fact that their friend's sitting in a hospital bed. Still...

"Mm-hm..." Chi stumbled out, a strange feeling of embarrassment following her.

Ari turned back to Tai. "So. We're here now. All alone. Mostly."

Both of them glanced back to the rec room. Shockwhisk was hopping up and down in its pen, excited by the activity. Clariss was sitting on a chair, watching the two of them patiently while scanning through the documents.

"Right. You wanted to talk about us, I'm guessing?" Tai had a hand on her hips.

"Indeed."

"We've never really gone on a date, we've never really talked outside of this and those other times when Splin and Sharq were with us…" Tai walked about the stage.

"That's true, too."

"And it's been months since we've last seen each other." Tai finished.

"Precisely correct."

Ari and Tai looked at each other. Ari had gotten a little taller, making his gaze down at Tai make her feel like she was talking to a pole. Ari noticed that Tai's face had a sort of "rigidness" he hadn't seen before, with a serious, scrutinizing gaze.

"Wanna go out sometime later?" Tai asked, "I've gotta talk with Clariss now, but if you wait outside, I can walk you out, then we can talk about when we'll go."

Ari closed his eyes and nodded respectfully. "Certainly."

"Awesome," Tai nodded, patting him on the back, "I'll just be a minute."

Ari nodded, smiling as he strolled out of the room. He had one hand over his shoulder, holding onto the Samuroller that he had been given. At this point, it looked less like a roller and more like a zigzagged, orange piece of modern art. Ari had a sort of swagger on him as he strolled out of the rec room, his posture confident and upright even as he left. The second he stepped out-

"LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Tai and Clariss heard him scream.

Tai's smile was almost as long as Ari's howling. "Oh my Cod."

"So, uh, congratulations commander!" Clariss clasped her hands together.

"Clari, it's just Tai," Tai explained.

Clariss adjusted her glasses. "Sorry, Tai. Um, but this is kinda important...could you follow me?"

"Sure?"

Clariss hopped off her chair, picking up the documents. She shuffled out of the room quickly. Curious, Tai jumped off the stage and followed her with the pace of a light jog.

As the two walked through the halls, they noticed several Octarians pass them by. There were rebels discarding their old clothes and already being outfitted with the same gear other Octarians used on command. Passing by the hangar, they saw the Skell standing tall inside, its lights dimmed.

"Think of it like a 'sleep mode'," Clariss added, noticing Tai's glance into the hangar.

Tai just gave her a nod, not really minding the giant robot. She still felt a little miffed over the fact it blew up her room, but at this point, she figured she could let bygones be bygones. Soon enough, Clariss and Tai arrived. A tall, steel door sat in front of them.

"Hey, isn't this-"

Clariss nodded. "Tek's room, yeah."

"Are we gonna use this for training again?" Tai asked, "I can set up the giant conveyor belts and death traps!"

"I've actually been...using the room, sorry," Clariss told her, walking up to the door.

The door automatically shifted into its threshold. Tai looked into the room. Just like she remembered it, Tek's room was a giant, empty black box with several white pillars for platforms. However, there was something that instantly got her attention. The pillars were now connected by short metal bridges, each going on until they reached the final pillar in the back.

Except now, there was another door. The final pillar in the back of the room had a cylindrical building with a single door in it in the very back, sitting there like it was always there.

Clariss just began walking, seemingly unfazed by the new developments. Tai blinked, walking through the door slowly. As it closed behind her, Tai couldn't help but marvel at the new additions. It was still an empty room, for all intents and purposes, but now it at least had a few neat quality of life improvements.

After a few minutes of walking across bridges, the two made it to the other side. Clariss stepped in the other door without a word, with Tai following after. Suspicious though she were, Tai was sure that Clariss wouldn't pull anything funny. She was just a cute little innocent scientist, after all.

Then the door shut, and Tai felt the ground under her shift. Tai blinked. The only other decipherable thing in the room besides herself and Clariss were the metal railings, the door, and the single panel beside the door with just three labeled buttons. Up, and down. There also happened to be an emergency button, but Tai figured that came standard.

Clariss pressed the "down arrow" and gripped one of the railings attached to the wall. Tai just grinned at her. The grin melted off her face as she slammed into the ceiling, feeling both herself and the elevator travel down at a ludicrous speed. Just like that, the ride was over at the sound of a "ding", and Tai fell back to the floor.

"Sorry, didn't mention the acceleration on this thing…" Clariss apologized, peeling Tai off of the floor.

"How long have we had this thing?" Tai asked, failing to hide the excitement in our voice.

"This isn't what we came here for, Tai," Clariss told her with a deadpan expression.

The doors to the elevator opened. Tai blinked. There was a long hall, with tall ceilings that stretched ahead. Once Tai and Clariss exited the elevator, Tai's eyes widened.

"What the…"

There were alcoves to their lefts and rights. On one side, there was a collection of blueprints taped to the wall. On the other side, several metallic items from small to large were arranged in tubes and containers. One of the tubes contained a small model: a tiny version of the Skell, but upon closer inspection, Tai realized it was made out of soda cans. At the end of the hall was a large desk with two long monitors on the wall adjacent to it, all of the screens shut off.

"Clariss?" Tai asked, looking all around in a circle at this strange treasure trove. "Am I being inducted into some secret-secret society?"

"What? Oh, no, this was just a thing that me and Tek made. She wanted me to have a place to store her ideas and suggestions for the HQ here." Clariss was already close to the desk, holding a small box.

Tai perked up, running over. "Did she really need what is basically just our hangar space for her own ideas?"

Clariss shrugged. "She said that giant elaborate places like this were commonplace in her universe."

Tai frowned. "Universe?"

"Anyway, here!" Clariss spoke up, handing the box over to Tai, "This is what I wanted to show you."

"Nice box?" Tai said.

Clariss rolled her eyes, pressing a button on the back of the box. The lid flipped off the top, revealing what looked like a glass pyramid.

"...Nice triangle?"

Clariss shook her head. "Look closely."

Tai narrowed her eyes. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, especially since it looked just like a see-through pyramid. Then, suddenly, she swore she read something.

Tai Inaba

Out of what she could only consider pure instinct, Tai touched the pyramid with her finger. Clariss watched, closely and carefully, as Tai seemed to be put in a trance, staring directly at the pyramid. The two just stood there, not a sound echoing throughout the hall.

All of a sudden, Tai just sighed, looking back at Clariss. "Alright."

"...Alright...what?" Clariss narrowed her eyes. "Is that it?"

"Yeah, that was kinda freaky," Tai said, stretching her arms.

"Oh," Clariss stated simply, shutting the box.

Tai arched an eyebrow. "What was supposed to happen?"

"I...Well, I don't know. I just found this in the lab one day on the floor, and for whatever reason, your name kept popping up among other things." Clariss sighed, shaking her head. "I thought it maybe belonged to you or something."

"Nope, sorry!" Tai shrugged her shoulders. "It is super creepy that it has my name, but I still have no idea what it is. Mind if I take the elevator?"

"You're the boss," Clariss said, to which Tai seemed to take offense at, "Oh. Um, sorry. Sure thing Tai."

"Thanks Clariss!" Tai called, running back down the large hall into the elevator.

As the doors shifted shut, Clariss took one look at the box. With a shrug, she just placed it back on the table.

Tai reached over, ready to press one of the buttons on the elevator. "I wonder where the shell the name 'Gravestone Gulch' comes from."

---

"Great. It's dark now. Took your sweet time, huh Tai?"

"Give me a break, mom, it was important commander business!" Tai shot back.

Ari nodded. "Have some faith, oh fair Mai."

Mai just smirked. The look on Mai's face said it all; Mai was not convinced in the slightest. Octo Valley had finally quieted down with the coming of night, with only Tai, Ari, and Mai remaining. The valley winds and the lack of any sun made the area cold and almost eerie with the number of deserted structures there were.

"Are you going to be safe going home by yourself?" Ari asked Mai.

She rolled her eyes. "I may be old, but I can still defend myself perfectly fine."

"See you later, mom," Tai told her, giving her a small "half-hug" around Mai's waist.

Mai replied with a full hug, practically smothering Tai. "Oh, how you've gotten so big and responsible and less obnoxious!"

Tai grumbled. "Get off me you old bat."

"Two out of three ain't bad," Mai said as she retreated.

With that said and done, Mai left the two lovebirds alone as she departed.

Ari smirked, his tentacles blowing in the wind. "My dear Tai, now that we are officially 'boyfriend/girlfriend', what say you to joining me, perhaps sometime next week, as we-"

"We're going to have a date."

"Wha?"

Ari turned back to Tai, reeling in surprise. She was pouting. "No heroics, no commander bullsquid, just us, 'frolicking in that sunshine and grass' or whatever you Inklings do. Think you can handle that, oh Ari?"

Ari blinked, taking some time to process Tai's request. "Oh! Yeah, I can handle that."

Tai gave him a light shove, smiling. "Alright. Get outta here man."

"Wha?"

Tai frowned. "I gotta get ready! Tomorrow's gonna be a big day. Tomorrow's good, right?"

"...Yeah. Yes! Of course! Tomorrow is perfect!" Ari nearly shouted again, waving her off.

Tai waved back, then started on her way back to the base. Ari stopped, watching as Tai disappeared into the darkness. With a lighthearted feeling in his chest, Ari turned around to leave the valley.

"Wait."

Ari stared down at the manhole in front of him. A gust of wind blew over Ari and past the Cap'n's shack, carrying several shredded pieces of photos with it.

"I forgot about the codFORSAKEN GARBAGE!"

---

AN: Uh, yeah. This arc is over, fun right? ...Long, right?

Thanks for reading, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle. DOOM Eternal and Animal Crossing New Horizons came out today. I don't really have anything else to say, that's just kinda cool.