Chapter 11: A Minor Setback

"Just a bump in the road. Nothing more."

Dammit! Kuda cursed, slowly dragging herself across the long-winded halls.

She wasn't sure how to report that the Octostalker had been destroyed. Shoot, and Marinus had finally figured out how to make its blueprints work!

General Marinus is going to be mad... She bit the tip of her thumb, hard enough to cause pain but not hard enough to draw blood.

Octavio and his armada of bumbling idiots were starting to make ground. Why? Their only real problem was Elite Lieutenant Sepia, and even then, she never caused this much of a problem. So why...

Those agents! It must've been them. Initially, she considered their victory over the Octostalker a stroke of luck. With poor skills like theirs, what else could it be? Then again, their coordination was somewhat admirable. Not to mention a problem. If they could take out a great octoweapon, what else could those four do?

Kuda stopped biting her thumb and quickened her pace. She'd just have to bite the ink and report her failure to Marinus. Hopefully, he was in a good mood.

She rounded the corner, entering a large dome-like room. Scattered around were various contraptions of differing shapes and sizes. The room reeked of copper and paint, which no doubt came from the row of deactivated drones.

Due to their lack of natural firepower, they had to even out the playing field in other ways. Mass construction of great octoweapons wasn't quite possible due to their mass and the energy constraints that came with using them. That's where the drones came in. They were light, easy to command, and took on the appearance of an octoling. Not to mention, they were completely invulnerable to ink-based weaponry.

With the splatoon's own weapon specialist out of the picture, the only one who'd pose a problem was her. If she ever found out their numbers were mostly machine, they would no doubt lose the advantage. Hence, why they made them look real with a white paint job. The whiteness of their skin creeped Kuda out, but she guessed it was necessary. Still, if that octoling was as smart as Marinus claimed, then she should've figured out their ruse.

Kuda peered down the end of the row, seeing the person she was looking for with a brush in tentacle, the end of which was slathered with white paint. She approached and spoke out their name. "General Marinus."

Marinus stopped painting the last drone, glancing at her with seafoam-colored eyes. His salmon-pink infinity-shaped pupils stared at her for a long, uncomfortable moment.

"Reef." He said, his tone low, but just as gravelly as Octavio's. "What have you to report?" He resumed painting.

"It's about the Octostalker, sir..." Kuda mumbled, clearing her throat and mustering the courage to spit it out. "It's been destroyed."

Marinus stopped painting again, only this time he didn't look at Kuda. "Come again?"

"I-It was destroyed in combat...and the zapfish was taken...sir..."

Marinus remained in his frozen position for what seemed like hours. Suddenly, he stood upright, completely towering over the drones and Kuda—which wasn't surprising, considering he was eight feet tall.

He maneuvered around the drone, his black boots clacking with each step. He stopped right in front of Kuda, giving her a clear view of his bulky frame.

Marinus wore a black jumpsuit with red outlines, which did little to hide his broad torso. She stared right at his face, watching as the four long tentacles he had as 'braids' writhed around in agitation. Like his skin, each tentacle was a plum-brown color with teal tips.

She would never say it to his face, but Marinus reminded her of the Octo Samurai. Only if the Octo Samurai was less round and more muscular.

He parted his big teal lips, about to speak whatever was on his mind. Before any words left his mouth, a flickering noise went off behind her, followed by static. Marinus looked up, his attention immediately being snatched by whatever caused the noise.

Kuda turned, seeing a humongous TV mounted to the wall. Although it was on, the screen remained shrouded in static. There was only one reason it ever came on. Don't tell me...

Sure enough, the static gradually cleared away, revealing an inkling dressed in a fine black suit. Kuda could recognize that formal attire from anywhere. Even if black glasses concealed his eyes, there was no hiding who that was: Urus Hydro.

"MARINUS!" He yelled.

Of course. She should've known Urus would contact them eventually. And from the sounds of it, he was not happy. Frankly, if it were up to her, she would've told him to put a sock in it. But unfortunately, he was Marinus's superior, and by proxy, hers. As such, she'd refrain from scowling... for now.

"Sir Hydro." Marinus greeted, walking past Kuda while outstretching the two tentacles he used as hands. "It is a pleasure to hear from you again."

"Cut the carp," Urus ordered. "What is going on over there?"

Marinus tilted his head. "Whatever do you mean?"

Urus's brows furrowed. "We had an agreement. I supply you with gear and firepower, and in exchange, I receive energy."

"Right. I haven't forgotten our arrangement."

Urus let out a dry chuckle, it lacking any kind of genuine amusement. "That so? Then please, enlighten me on why you're behind on quota!"

"Behind...?" Marinus muttered to himself, glancing at the ground.

Kuda understood his confusion, as she shared it. Them losing a single zapfish shouldn't have been enough to make them fall behind on quota that fast.

Either way, Marinus and Kuda both knew they had to answer honestly. Judging by the tone in Urus's voice, he already knew what the issue was and just wanted to hear it from them.

Marinus stayed quiet for a moment before looking back up at the screen. "If you're referring to the zapfish being stolen, my elite commander has already informed me."

"Oh? So what you're telling me is she failed to mention a second one being stolen?" Urus practically growled.

Kuda's eyes widened in surprise, followed by Marinus glancing in her direction. "S-Suction-Cup Lookout only had one zapfish! We moved the others!" She said in defense of herself.

"I'm not talking about Suction-Cup Lookout." The screen switched from Urus's face, now showing recorded footage from the eyes of an octoling drone. Kuda recognized the area as Beaker's Depot.

At first, everything seemed normal. The robotic drones were moving gear out of the facility, all under the supervision of one of their high-ranking commanders.

That all changed when a loud bang resonated through the room. Every drone turned to see the cause of the sudden noise, it being a familiar figure that landed on top of another robotic drone. Soon enough, Kuda connected the dots, making her mind explode.

As the recording continued to play out, it became crystal clear that the ones responsible were those four agents from before. Pacifica was absent, but that didn't seem to slow down the four cephalopods at all. What Kuda couldn't wrap her head around was the timing of it all.

She had just watched them take on a great octoweapon, and only recently made it to HQ. There was no way that, during her travel from Suction-Cup Lookout to HQ, they attacked another one of their facilities. Surely, they weren't that bold...

Then again, it was hard to deny the evidence on screen.

"Those agents? Again?!" Kuda barked, only for Marinus to suddenly raise a tentacle over her mouth. Judging by his quick reaction, he tried to silence her, but it was too late.

The recorded feed suddenly stopped, abruptly switching back to Urus's face. "I'm sorry, did she just say... agents?"

Marinus grumbled before taking his tentacle off of Kuda's mouth. She got the foreboding sense she said something she shouldn't have, but didn't dare speak up. "That's right."

For the first time since they'd been working together, Kuda watched as a look of dread overtook Urus's facial expressions. He attempted to mask his fear by dawning an angry look, but his fearful tone betrayed him. "What do you mean 'that's right.'?"

"Reports came in regarding some strange ongoings during skirmishes between my forces and Octavio's. The intel seemed... vague, at best. But, after some recent developments, I've discovered that the New Squidbeak Splatoon is in the canyon and aiding Octavio."

Urus didn't even try to hide his scared look anymore. "The New Squidbeak Splatoon? In Octo Canyon?"

Marinus nodded. "And it seems their numbers have increased. Those two octolings that hit Suction-Cup Lookout a few days ago with Lieutenant Sepia? I didn't recognize them because they weren't part of Octavio's forces. They were agents."

"They were with the splatoon?" Urus muttered, no longer paying any mind to Marinus. He glanced over to the side, looking elsewhere off-screen. Whatever he looked at caused his lips to quiver with fear. Quickly, he turned back to Marinus with an angry look. "And when were you going to tell me this?!"

Marinus raised his tentacles. "It was not my intent to hide this information from you. I only recently found out myself."

Urus stared down at Marinus, not saying anything for a few seconds. He'd then lean in closer, his ugly face encompassing the whole screen. "Deal with those agents, Marinus. Or I will deal with you!" The screen cut off.

Kuda turned to Marinus, stammering a response. "I-Infinite apologies, General Marinus! I did not mean to speak out of turn. I was just—" Marinus turned to face Kuda, instantly shutting her up.

Marinus did not display a look of anger or disappointment. In fact, he gave her a neutral look. That in itself frightened her greatly.

"You let those agents slip away. Even after I told you the importance of their destruction." He approached her, and with each step he took, Kuda couldn't help but move back. "You will go back out there and finish off those agents. I don't care what you use or how many drones you take with you. But you will end them in your next encounter."

Eventually, Kuda ran out of room to back up, now pressing her back against the wall. Marinus loomed over her, the light being blocked out and covering his whole front in darkness. The only thing she could see was the ominous glow of his eyes.

"You failed me this time." He bent over, leaning in so their faces were inches apart. "Don't fail me again."