[Outside the vault]
It's now been more than a week since the scientists first found Drake, and some of them stayed behind to watch over the vault's door, waiting for something to happen.
But as days passed and nothing happened, little by little, the scientists started to abandon the zone, tired of waiting for the ancient one to show up only for nothing to happen.
The only ones who remained after everyone left were the scientists on Binz's team, who still had some hope that the human would decide to come out, sooner or later.
But even they were starting to believe that spending full days and nights in that cave would be useless, some of them were even starting to miss the surface.
"Doc, it's time to accept it... The ancient one is not coming out, or at least not now" Jenny said while entering the scientist's tent.
The old inkling only rubbed his eyes and let out a sigh, to which his niece could only stare at him with a little worry.
"But... We can wait another day if-..." Jenny was stopped by Binz raising his hand before she could finish her sentence.
"No, Jenny... You're right... We've been waiting for far too long and there's still no indication that that door is ever going to open... A man must be always persistent... But he must also know when to give up" he said, his gaze lost on his desk.
Jenny only stared at him, feeling somewhat disappointed as well, thinking that everything had been for naught.
"Don't feel too bad about that, Uncle Binz... Remember that we were the first ones to discover and see an ancient one in the flesh... alive! We'll surely be envying material for lots of other people in the scientific community" the young inkling tried to cheer him up, getting closer to her relative and putting a hand on his shoulder.
In view of that, Binz turned to his niece and gave her a slight smile, noticing the girl's attempt to cheer him up a bit.
"Thank you, Jenny" he said while placing his hand on top of the one that Jenny had placed on his shoulder.
Shortly after, Binz gave the order to pack everything up and return to Inkopolis. Which disappointed some of the scientists, but the majority of them were relieved to know that they wouldn't be spending any more time inside that cave.
But as soon as the tents were dismantled, the whole place started rumbling, making everyone turn to the giant door and watch in shock as it started to open, including Binz and Jenny.
"The door... It's opening..." The old scientist could barely say as he watched the scene in awe.
And from beyond the now half-open door, a bright light was seen coming out of the entrance the scientists had made on the first door, before two figures came out of it, followed by a third figure a lot taller than them that caught everyone's attention.
[Cuttlefish's hideout]
[An hour later]
All of the agents were having a meeting at their hideout to discuss if they should go to the ancient one's cave and wait for him, well; Callie, Marie and Cuttlefish were discussing that, since the other agents were just sitting and waiting for the Squid Sisters and the Captain's proposal.
"Callie, I don't think it's a good idea go right now with all those scientists in there, our cover would be blown" said Marie.
"So, what do we do then? I know that guy gave us his word that he wouldn't pull anything on us when he comes out, and that Nary isn't in any trouble, but... Are you sure we can trust him?" Callie asked with her arms crossed.
"Why are you still so suspicious of him? Are you still mad that he bit you? Marie asked her, doing the same thing as her cousin and putting on a smirk.
"O-of course not...! It's just..." argued the black tentacled inkling, leaving her sentence unfinished while a slight blush showed up across her face.
"Are you sure?" Marie insisted with a mocking tone.
"Yes, I am! And what about you? Don't think I haven't noticed the way you look at that picture you asked him for" Callie countered, making her cousin blush as well.
"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm just... Studying his features" Marie tried to argue, but Callie wasn't having it.
"Yeah sure..." she said in a sarcastic tone, earning an annoyed look from Marie.
Seeing as the discussion had derailed, Cuttlefish could only let out a sigh.
"Alright back on topic, girls" he intervened, making the two stop their little fight and look at him with a bit of embarrassment.
"R-right... I still think we should tell them to meet us somewhere in Inkopolis" Marie proposed.
"And I think it should be us who should go meet them before he tries anything else" now proposed Callie.
But just then, the cousins' SquidPhones rang and saw that it was their producer, who they worked for as news anchors.
"What's up, Foler?" Callie was the first to answer.
"Where the shell are you two!? We need you in here immediately!" he asked, and seemed to be very freaked out as well.
"Alright, calm down. What do you need us for anyways?" Callie asked once again while Marie scuttled next to her to hear what their producer had to say.
"Remember that thing you fought like two weeks ago?" he asked, making the Squid Sisters play close attention to his words.
"Yeah...? What's up with that?" Callie returned the question.
"Well..." the producer left his sentence unfinished.
Regarding the three friends, they were finally wearing their agent uniforms, which despite looking more like a worker's attire, for the three of them they were the freshest clothes they've ever worn.
But right now, they were thinking about when they would get to meet with their friend after such a long time, and the discussion between agents one and two had dragged on for way too long.
"Ugh... What's taking them so long? I'm getting bored..." Nayls commented, laid down on the floor to emphasize his current mood.
"We just have to be a little more patient, we're almost there you guys" said Levin, who had been pacing back and forth for quite some time now.
"I don't know about you... But I'm gonna call her" said Shara, taking her phone out and dialing Nary's number.
After a few seconds, Nary seemed to have picked up, which made Shara smile in reaction.
"Hey Nary, I-... Okay calm down... You what!?" Shara exclaimed that last part while her two friends approached her.
"What happened!? Is she ok!?" Levin asked, only receiving an awkward silence from Shara in response.
"Shara?" now asked Nayls, a little concerned about his sister.
"They're... Here..." She murmured, leaving the two boys very confused.
"What?" Nayls asked again, but instead of getting a reply from Shara, they saw how she ran for the kettle that connected with Inkopolis.
And before they could say anything, the Squid Sisters and the captain returned with them, the duo seemed to be in a hurry while the old man kept his usual calm and friendly manner.
"Guys, quick! We've just been told that your friend and that other guy came back to Inkopolis!" Callie exclaimed, now with her roller on hand.
"What!? Really!?" asked Levin.
"Yes, we now know what we'll so get ready as soon as you can... Also, where's Shara?" Marie asked as she carried her charger.
"She left just a few seconds ago... Maybe that's why she left so suddenly" Nayls explained while pointing at the kettle behind them.
"We have to catch up with her before they see her in uniform!" ordered Callie, followed by Levin and Nayls leaving through the same kettle.
"Aren't you coming, gramps?" Callie asked, seeing as the captain hadn't moved from his spot.
"Don't worry about me" Cuttlefish said calmly.
"Are you sure? Don't you want to see him with your own eyes?" now asked Marie.
"Yeah, I'm in no hurry, and besides... Something tells me that we'll meet sooner than you think" replied the old inkling.
"Alright then, see you later, gramps" Marie bid him farewell while she and her cousin took on their squid forms and jumped into the kettle.
"Have fun!" Cuttlefish said while waving his hand at them.
The old man then turned around and stared far into the sea.
"So... Humans are back, huh...? Heh..." he said to himself, letting out a little chuckle.
[Inkopolis' entrance]
[Twenty minutes later]
At the outskirts of Inkopolis, a big group was seen approaching the city, led by Drake, Nary and Otome and followed by the scientists who wouldn't take their eyes off the human, who had put his mask on while the scientists wrote down his every move in their notebooks. Not to mention that they were also mumbling and whispering among them about everything Drake did, sometimes making wild theories that were starting to annoy the human.
"The ancient one seems to be indifferent to our presence and even refuses to answer some of our questions" said one of them.
"It seems that it wants to return to Inkopolis for an unknown reason. Is it going to declare war on us, and that's why it's wearing such an intimidating mask? Could it have sided with the octarians, and that's why there's one of them following it? If so, its race must have been very aggressive, doing such things after we gave it such a warm welcome" another scientist affirmed, Making Drake almost glare at them.
"Warm welcome? I was chased by a whole army of your people, led by two maniacs who just wouldn't leave me alone!" Drake thought, while Nary and Otome noticed how uncomfortable he was with all those scientists following him and murmuring stuff behind his back like he wouldn't understand them.
"Don't listen to them, Drake. They don't know a thing about you" Nary whispered to him in an attempt to comfort the human.
"I know... That's why I'm going back to your city" Drake replied to her.
"By the way... Thanks for keeping me from being attacked" Otome also whispered to him, remembering how Drake put himself in front of her to prevent the guards that were along with the scientists from attacking her.
"I couldn't have done anything without ink" she continued, remembering that they didn't bring any weapons as well.
"Don't mention it, I couldn't let a battle start right at my home's door, and much less if it was against a friend" Drake said with a smile hidden beneath his mask.
"Ha, yeah... I suppose you're right..." Otome whispered back, lowering her head and smiling while blushing slightly, though it was mostly hidden beneath her goggles.
Nary just gave the two a serious look, before looking away somewhat annoyed.
As they kept walking, the squid girl's phone rang, which the human and the octoling also noticed.
"Hello?" Nary said after picking up, and was happy to recognize the voice of one of her friends.
"Hi Shara! You've chosen just the right time to call... I have A LOT to tell you!" the inkling exclaimed, catching the attention of the group behind them.
"The good thing is we just left that vault... Yeah we're out of the vault hehe, and I also got a surprise for you" she continued while Drake and Otome kept staring at her.
"Well... We're almost there so could you tell everyone else...? Thanks Shara, looks like I'll have to hang up, we're right about to enter the city... See you!" Nary finished before hanging up and turning to look at the lieutenant and ex-commander, who were staring at her.
"What?" she asked with a little confusion.
Now inside the city, it didn't take long for commotion to spread amongst the people upon seeing the same thing that showed up in there two weeks ago, now wearing a skull mask, and being followed by an inkling, an octoling and a great number of scientists behind it, making everyone present confused and curious, to the point where some of them started to go along with the group.
And soon enough, a whole crowd was following the trio, although some of them limited themselves to giving the human different types of looks, some were of amazement, others were of fear, curiosity, and even disdain.
But as they kept going, another group of inklings and other critters was seen in front of them, being led by the Squid Sisters along Nary's friends.
As soon as the inkling saw them she ran towards them, followed by the three doing the same thing, Thus ending up meeting again with a group hug.
"Are you okay? Did something happen to you?" Shara asked while checking if her friend was hurt.
"Do you feel sick? How many fingers am I holding?" now asked Levin, raising three fingers.
"What day is today? What's the color of my underwear?" Nayls asked one last question, naive and foolish as usual.
"Yeah I'm alright, I'm not hurt, I'm not sick, I see three fingers, it's Tuesday, and how am I supposed to know that, Nayls!?" Nary exclaimed that last part while looking at the recently mentioned inkling.
"Well, everyone had their questions so I wanted to join in as well" replied Nayls while shrugging.
"So, he kept his promise huh..." said Callie with her roller on her shoulder while looking at Drake.
"Why don't we go take a closer look at him?" Marie said with her charger in hand.
And without saying anything else, the two cousins started to approach the human, which he noticed before starting to approach them as well, while everyone saw as the three former rivals that had been all over the news for days were meeting once again.
The three gets getting closer to each other, being followed by everyone's eyes until they stopped almost at the same time, standing right in front of each other.
And the two cousins, who everyone thought were already tall, now looked small before the human's intimidating height, barely reaching above his chest, but compensating for it with their big weapons. The three kept staring at each other while a dreadful silence filled the entire place, everyone was waiting for one of them to say or do something.
And they spent around two minutes like that, two minutes that seemed eternal for everyone, but just then, Drake made the first move.
He slowly took his hands to his head and removed his mask, making the famous duo look curiously at the human's face.
Although they sort of already knew what he looked like from the first time they met as well as the picture, they could now take a better look at him, as well as everyone else.
With one last move, Drake fully removed his mask and revealed his dark brown hair, filling everyone with intrigue, especially the Squid Sisters, who wouldn't take their eyes off the ex-commander.
Everyone was impressed to see how similar yet different his features were to those of an inkling or an octoling.
His face wasn't as round as them; his eyes were smaller, his chin was more pronounced, and a stubble ran across his jawline.
Taking the cousins by surprise, Drake went in for a handshake, making them step back at such an unexpected action.
"I'm sorry for what happened..." was the only thing he said with his hand still outstretched towards Callie and Marie.
Everyone was left petrified, but specially the scientists, who couldn't believe that the ancient one had just spoken their language perfectly, not to mention that they also noticed that he was trying to make peace with the Squid Sisters.
Not knowing how to react, the duo just stared at him, thinking if it would be a good idea to shake his hand, until Marie finally decided to return the gesture.
"Well... I suppose we can accept your apology..." said Marie while giving him a smile.
In view of this, everyone in the crowd started cheering as they approached the group.
Drake thought about pulling away for a moment to watch for the crowd that was slowly getting closer to him, but when he tried to do so, he felt Marie squeeze his hand tighter, preventing him from pulling away and making him turn to her.
"For now..." Marie whispered just loud enough for the human to hear her, while seeing how she had a serious look on her face, as well as Callie having a malicious smile on her face to emphasize her cousin's words.
Drake only gave them a playful yet defiant smile in response.
After everything had calmed down a little, Drake was called by the Squid Sisters for an interview at Inkopolis plaza.
Although it didn't seem like a good idea to him, he decided to accept out of courtesy, and also to earn their trust.
Reason why him, along with Otome and the now reunited SquidFire team, were taken to the idols' cabin to avoid being overwhelmed by the crowd, at least until they were ready to go on stage.
On the other hand, while Nary waited for the stage to finish being set up, she used that time to catch up with her friends after a long time, telling them everything that's happened, as well as adding a few other things that she had forgot to tell them.
"So you're saying that guy is your friend now?" Levin asked, a bit surprised.
"Hehe, yup... You could say that" Nary said while scratching the back of her head.
"And the octoling?" asked Nayls, seeing how she was talking to Drake not too far from where they were.
"Well... I guess she's also my friend, or I dunno... Acquaintance?" Nary replied while shrugging, not being sure of what her relationship with her was.
"Well, she seems to get along really well with your friend, don't you think?" Shara commented, leaned against a wall and pointing at the two with her thumb.
"Yeah... Really well..." said Nary while turning to look them with a slightly sad expression.
"Hey... You okay?" asked Levin, a little concerned about his friend's sudden change of mood.
"Eh...? Oh, y-yeah, I'm alright, haha...! So, as I was saying, you have no idea how good those videogames looked!" Nary said nervously, trying to change the topic.
"So you're saying... Your people have an energy crisis?" Drake asked Otome, who had just told him about that favor he owed her.
"Yes, and we already know that you ancient ones had different types of energy sources" Otome replied.
"We did, so what do you need help with?" asked the human.
"Well... I wanted to ask you for help solving our energy crisis using your kind's knowledge" the lieutenant replied, seeing how Drake took on a thinking posture.
"And what are your energy sources?" he asked her.
"We depend on zapfish to power the entire city, but the problem is that we don't have enough to keep it powered at all times" Otome said, leaving the human slightly confused.
"Wait, zapfish?" Drake asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, they're yellow and orange fish with whiskers that can produce a lot of electricity" replied Otome.
"Electric fish? Are they some kind of eel?" Drake thought to himself while holding his chin.
"So... Will you help us?" now asked Otome, begging for the human to say yes.
"Hmm... I'll do it, but first, I need to patch things up with the inklings, then I can go to your city and see what I could do" Drake said, making the octopus girl smile from ear to ear.
"Thank you so, so much! You have no idea how-...!" Otome exclaimed while opening her arms to hug the human before stopping herself upon realizing what she was about to do.
"S-sorry, I... Wasn't thinking straight..." she said while blushing a little and looking away with her arms behind her back.
"Eh, don't worry about it..." Drake replied while scratching the back of his head, feeling a bit of second-hand embarrassment.
There was now an awkward silence between the two, who weren't even making eye contact with each other, until Otome herself decided to break the silence.
"You know... I-..." Otome tried to say before being abruptly interrupted by Nary, who had scuttled next to Drake without them realizing.
"Hey guys~ what are you talking about?" she asked, making Otome get slightly angry at the inkling.
"Nothing you should worry about... Just some energy problems in Otome's city" said Drake answering the inkling's question, who was still thinking on a way to catch his attention.
"Oh, Drake... Would you like me to give you a tour around Inkopolis once you're done with this?" Nary proposed with a cheeky smile.
"Well it looks like a pretty big city, how long is that gonna take?" Drake joked, making the squid girl giggle.
"Not the whole city you dummy! just the places I like and visit the most" explained Nary while smiling.
"Haha, alright... After all, I had to get to know your city sooner or later" said Drake while patting the inkling's head, making her let out a cute gurgle sound.
Otome on the other hand, seeing how close the inkling and the human were was starting to bother her for some reason, and the fact that Nary suddenly caught Drake's attention bothered her even more.
But just then, the cabin's door was opened, making everyone turn to look who opened it and seeing that it was Callie and Marie.
"Alright guys, everything's ready... And we need you to be ready as well, because there's A LOT of viewers waiting for us" said Callie, pointing her thumb at the door.
Drake didn't say anything and only let out a sigh, before looking at the idols and nodding.
A great crowd had gathered in front of a huge stage, with three seats and a circular table in the middle of it, which were for Drake and the Squid Sisters.
After a ten-minute wait, the beloved idols stepped onto the stage, being received with cheers from the audience.
"Hello Inkopolis! Did you miss us!?" Callie exclaimed happily, waving both hands at the audience.
"How's everyone been?" said Marie, also waving at the audience, though without as much enthusiasm as her cousin.
"As you may already know, we're not here for a concert, unfortunately" Callie said, feigning sadness.
"Instead, we're here for an interview with someone that likely once belonged to those that walked on earth before we did!" said Marie.
"But we won't know that, until he tells us!" Callie finished, receiving another round of cheers from the audience in response.
And once they stopped, Callie turned to the side of the stage before nodding. Shortly after, everyone watched in silence as the human stepped onto the stage, making him slightly uncomfortable.
Drake kept walking towards the Squid Sisters while everyone watched his every move, and the moment he got where they were, Callie took out a microphone out of nowhere and instantly brought it close to the human's mouth, making him recoil in surprise.
"Before we begin, would you like to say some words to your... Audience?" Callie asked, turning to the massive number of inklings and other sea critters gathered in front of them, including SquidFire, the scientists, and Otome, who was standing far from the others.
Drake took a moment to see everyone present before a single phrase came to his mind.
"Let's start over" he finally said.