OctoSquids (Splatoon story)

Chapter 7 - New Target Aquired: Hybrid

They all eventually made it to a place Plum did not expect to visit today: Inkopolis's local cemetery. His surroundings gave him the bittersweet feeling of loss, even if he has not felt that actual emotion firsthand. At least, not with someone he was too close with. Everyone walked by multiple graves as Plum glanced at the names; Delmar Lake, Asher Atwater, Beck Lum. A somber feeling began to course through Plum's mind, realizing that all of these people and their families must have had complex lives just like them.

Eventually, they all stopped in front of a small grave house with a fence door. Maria opened it with a small key and, inside were a couple of items, but what caught Plum's eye the most was what looked like an Octobrush, a few toy cars, and a jar, most likely with ink. Maria turned back to the OctoSquids and smiled sadly.
"This is my brother...Murdoch...", she told them. Plum looked at the stone slab in the center in awe. It had Murdoch's full name, year of birth, and year of death. Ridley and Calder did not say a word. They were afraid of saying anything at this point, but Rainey approached Maria and gave her and Alex a supporting smile. Plum kinda expected that from her, considering they'd been close since before he met any of them.
"D-Do you mind if you give us some time..?", asked Alex. Rainey nodded.
"Of course. Take as long as you need to.", she replied as she walked back. Moray, Douglas, and the other Murdoch were the only ones allowed to stay, forcing Rainey to gesture the rest out.

Once the OctoSquids were outside, they decided to wait for the Inkling Brigade outside of the cemetery itself. Everyone stayed in awkward silence, not sure what to say about the topic. It just came too suddenly for them. Eventually, Rainey's sigh broke the silence.
"I can't believe I forgot today was his birthday...", she mumbled, almost to herself. Plum looked back at where the grave house was, feeling bad for the two of them, yet remembering the dates of birth and death.
"It was a recent loss, wasn't it?", Plum asked.
"Yep. Last year, in fact. Nobody really knew what happened. One day, some Octarian coworkers just came knocking on our door with...what was left.", Rainey decided to explain, knowing that Maria would eventually do the same later.

"I was not as close to him as Maria and Alex, but...he did save my life on more than one occasion...so I can't help but mourn as much as them.", Rainey continued.
"Looks like Alex was also pretty close to him, huh?", Ridley pointed out.
"They were brothers-in-law, so it was to be expected. They were practically best friends, too.", Rainey replied with a shrug as the conversation went silent again until Calder decided to break the silence.
"Not to sound rude or anything, but the green Murdoch stayed, right?", Calder realized, noticing that the sanitized Murdoch did indeed stay with them. "Why would they bring him? Maria already said that was not him.".
"She was also thinking that both Murdochs looked way too alike to be a coincidence. She thought that bringing him might reveal something she didn't know before.", Rainey mentioned.

Calder nodded as he looked down in pity.
"Anyway, I'm pretty sure that's all the information I can say about it. If you want to know the rest, you might as well ask Maria herself, IF she's willing to answer.", pointed out Rainey.
"I'd rather not ask anything more. I'm sure it's...a very touchy subject.", Ridley stuttered a bit as Plum stayed completely silent. He spotted the Inkling Brigade slowly walking out of the grave house as they hugged each other. Plum frowned at the sight. He was happy that they all supported each other through thick and thin, but even if he has not felt this sorrowful feeling firsthand, it must still suck to lose someone close.

Plum decided to go back to his house after a day of keeping Maria and Alex company after such a long day. Even if they brought the "green Murdoch" with them, nothing new seemed to be known from this situation. Plum felt it was expected, but he was also hoping they would probably know where this weird version of him came from, and he felt disappointed that they did not learn anything new. Either way, he was glad that both teams got to cheer up Maria and Alex after these hard times.