Living Situation || Agent 3 x Agent 8

[10]

Tara and Richie were waiting for Ashton outside of Grizzco. Richie had managed to convince his girlfriend to come join a Salmon Run with them. The only catch was that he had to do dishes for a week.

She rubbed her arms as she tapped her foot impatiently. It wasn't cold or anything, but Grizzco gave her super creepy vibes and sent chills down her spine. The faint stink of salmon didn't help much.

They noticed Ashton pop out of the manhole. He shook the extra ink off him and walked up them. "Hey guys, sorry I'm late! I was just chatting with Callie and Marie about something," he said with a laugh. He smoothed his already slicked tentacles and gestures to the entrance. "Shall we go?"

The trio went inside. There were bags of shiny golden balls everywhere that looked like fish eggs. Nets hung from the ceiling, the tips touching stacks of coolers. In the back was a wall of TV screens, presumably so the boss could watch his employees and make sure they were doing their jobs.

A sudden burst of radio static startled Tara. Richie and Ashton snickered a little as she looked around for the source. An oddly-shaped small statue that she hadn't noticed before began to speak.

"Right on time, kids. I've got work for you," it said in a gruff voice. "Ya going to join a crew?"

"Actually Mr. Grizz, we have a new employee with us," Richie said, smiling at Tara. "I was wondering if you could train her really quick?"

The radio sighed. "Sorry kid, I have better things to do right now. I'm sure you two can train this girl," he said. "Just make sure she clams up so I don't get in any legal trouble, okay?"

The two boys nodded. Tara's suspicions increased. Legal trouble? Did this Mr. Grizz guy have a criminal record or something? She hated this place even more already.

The agents went to the back of the building towards the docks. A couple boats were leaving already and one was waiting for them. The jellyfish next to it waved them over and gave them the required work uniforms. They boarded and off they went.

"I hate this uniform even more than my agent one," Ashton complained as they changed. "It's snug and causes chafing."

Tara looked at herself and sighed. The salmon stench was even more powerful. Were these even washed?

"Oh, aren't we supposed to have a fourth crew mate?" Richie questioned. He stepped out of the tiny cabin area and looked around. "Huh, I guess they sent us out without a fourth. That's strange..."

"At least our egg quota is down slightly," Ashton said, yawning. He looked down at the murky ocean and sighed. "Y'know, I almost feel bad for the Salmonids."

Tara looked at him in surprise. Ashton was the reckless type, the one who loved killing enemies. Maybe the smell was getting to him.

After about a half hour, they arrived at a small island. There were strange stone pillars sticking out of the water. The structures on the island consisted of medium-sized towers connected with grated bridges.

"Here we are at the Spawning Grounds!" Richie announced. "This is my third favorite location." The trio super jumped to the island where spawn arrows were drawn onto the ground.

Each of them had been loaned a weapon. Tara had the Heavy Splatling, Richie had the Light Tetra Dualies, and Ashton had the Rapid Blaster. Tara struggled a little bit with her weapon's weight; it was true to its name. It also didn't help that she hardly used a Splatling, let alone Dualies or Blasters.

As the basket emerged from a small silver platform engraved with the Grizzco logo, two horns blared. Salmonids started emerging from the waters. A Steelhead followed suit, along with a Stinger.

"This way!" Ashton called, swimming over to the Boss Salmonids. The Steelhead started making its bomb, but Ashton quickly destroyed it and the Steelhead. He picked up one of the three Golden Eggs it dropped and swam back to the basket.

"Alright Tara, I'll try to stay by your side the whole time," Richie said as he knocked the pots from underneath the Stinger; it dropped three more eggs. "Basically, we gotta get these to the basket and try not to die." He tossed her one and they swam back.

Tara felt overwhelmed. Sure, fighting off hordes of Octarians was one thing, but Salmonids were completely different. But she tried to keep her serious face on as she followed Richie around the island.

After what seemed like forever, the Salmonids finally went back into the ocean. Tara smiled in relief. Finally, that nightmare was over.

"Great work, guys! Ready for round two?" Ashton said excitedly, switching their weapons. Tara looked at him in shock.

The horn blared again. Two Flyfish emerged from opposite ends of the island. Richie and Ashton split up and waited for the missile buckets to open. They quickly threw a Splat Bomb in one of them, retreated into ink, and threw another. Both bosses exploded onto the ground.

Tara grabbed an egg from Ashton's pile, splatting a Snatcher that just emerged. She felt a shadow loom over her and turned around to meet face-to-face with a Cohock. Before she could run, it hit her with its frying pan and the small group of Smallfrys surrounding it quickly did her in.

The life ring attached to her back was keeping her little squid spirit alive. She discovered she could pilot it, so she tried to weave her way through the hordes of Salmonids. Where were the boys?

Suddenly, a barrage of bombs flew over her. The explosions of ink hit her life ring and she came back to life. She turned and swam away, passing by Richie who was the source of the Bomb Rush.

"This way!" Ashton's voice rang above the horns and low growls of their enemies. She swam over to him and quickly killed a swarm of Chums. They each grabbed an egg and dropped it in the basket.

The end of the second wave soon came. "You're doing great, Tara," Richie said, squeezing her gloved hand encouragingly. "We're almost done." She smiled.

The third wave was the hardest out of them all. The agents had to keep rescuing each other every ten seconds. The timer was ticking and they hadn't even got half of the quota yet.

Luckily, Ashton was able to kill a Maws near the egg basket, so he could transport them quickly. "Guys! Try to lure Maws and Scrappers near the basket!" he yelled to Tara and Richie. They both gave a thumbs up.

Unfortunately, it backfired. Two Scrappers ran over Ashton and Richie was out of ink as he was trying to throw a bomb into the Maws' echolocation circle. Now Tara was the only one alive and they only had 15 seconds left to get the last egg.

Two Steel Eels were heading towards her. She noticed a Snatcher trying to get away with an egg and she quickly snatched it back from it. She remembered that she had two specials strapped to her head and activated one, which was the Inkjet. Flying over the Steel Eels, she made her way to the basket and dropped the egg in just as the timer ran out.

"Booyah!" Richie and Ashton yelled as Tara resurrected them. They both hugged her and went back to the boat.

The ride back to Inkopolis was mostly quiet. Richie and Ashton were whispering to each other the entire time while Tara slept.

After the trio had changed, they collected their bonuses and went back home. The sun was already setting over Inkopolis.

"So, did you like your first Salmon Run?" Richie asked Tara, sitting on the couch. She shook her head. "Aww, come on. You saved our butts at the last minute. That was so fresh!"

She blushed and looked away. Admittedly, a small part of her did feel proud. She picked up her notebook. Maybe I'll do it again, but only if you go too.

"Of course! I wouldn't want my adorable squid getting ganged up on by gross Salmonids," he said, and leaned in to kiss her. But she held up a hand to stop him. Shower first, then you can kiss me.

Richie nodded, noticing that they both smelled like salmon. "What if we shower together?" he suggested.

Tara hit him with a pillow.