OctoSquids (Splatoon story)

Chapter 13 - Final Infiltration

Everything seemed to be pretty standard, from the walls, paintings and decorations.
"Wanna check out my room?", Calder suggested to Maria as she shrugged.
"Why not?", she answered as they both walked towards the end of a hallway.
"Should I make you two something to eat?", Arabella called out to them.
"Fried pigeon, please!", Calder called back to his mother, but instantly turned to Maria. "You eat pigeon, right?", Calder asked her as she giggled.
"I don't mind.", she said with an indifferent smile. Calder smiled back as they went straight into Calder's room.

The colors inside looked a lot more vibrant than the rest of the house. Laying around were quite a few toys Calder probably kept in his youth, and Maria even spotted a video game console. But what stood out the most to her was, next to the bed, there was a small table with a white rose on a vase and a framed picture sitting next to it of a young Calder next to an Octoling man much older than him. Both of them were on the floor of the house, covered in all kinds of food, laughing.
"Is that your dad?", Maria asked as she pointed at the picture. When Calder looked, he smiled.
"Yep! A lot of people called him Beck! Best father I ever had.", Calder said.

Maria tilted her head in confusion.
"Had?", she repeated, making Calder realize what he said.
"Oh yeah! He died in a car accident a few years ago.", Calder pointed out.
"O-Oh... I'm sorry to hear that.", Maria told him as Calder smiled.
"Hey, it's okay.", Calder said as he went over to the picture and looked at it with a smile, reminiscing the times he had with him. "I used to call him my old man a lot.", he said as he began to chuckle. "He absolutely hated it!", he added as he placed down the picture again. Maria couldn't help but smile a bit. He really seemed to love his father before he was gone. As she stared at the framed image, however, she could not help thinking of her own parents, bringing her into silence.

《~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~》

Days passed, and the OctoSquids finally settled on a place where the trade deal with the Salmonids will finally take place. They were at a shoreline in the outskirts of Inkopolis, waiting for Diesel to arrive. Eventually, he did, walking out of the ocean in front of them with a few more Salmonids following him. Ridley approached Plum as he gave him what looked like a large cubic capsule. As Plum grabbed it, he walked a few steps towards Diesel and placed the box on the ground in front of them, then pressed a button and the box opened. The box's locking mechanism seemed to be airtight.

Diesel approached the capsule Plum laid in front of him and took the lid off. Inside, there were countless materials the Salmonids could use to make all sorts of things, from basic tools to raw material. Diesel placed the lid back on it, and the box automatically sealed itself back up. Diesel turned to a Cohock and signaled it to carry it, and it did.
"You have my respect, Hybrid.", Diesel told him. Plum sighed.
"Y-You can just call me Plum.", he asked as Diesel didn't seem to pay much attention, but glared at Plum either way.
"Just know... If we see another Inkling or Octoling in search of our golden eggs...I will be going after you.", Diesel warned. Plum stayed silent for a bit, but then looked at Diesel confidently.
"You won't need to worry about that anymore. Because of your hordes, Grizzco Industries was put in police investigation, and thus, shut down.", Plum explained.

Diesel nodded.
"Pray it stays that way.", he said as he and the rest of the Salmonids that came with him began to take the parts they had and walked back into the ocean. As soon as they disappeared, Plum released a sigh of relief.
"I'd call that mission successful.", Ridley said as he walked next to Plum, lightly punching him in the arm as Plum chuckled.
"It really was.", he replied as the rest of the OctoSquids regrouped and stared at the ocean for a few seconds.
"So what's next?", Rainey asked.
"Hopefully, the Kamabo Corporation. I'm already sick of them.", Calder commented.
"But first, we really should see what the Grand Finals of the Splatocalypse tournament has in store for the Inkling Brigade.", Plum pointed out.
"Y-Yeah, that too.", Calder said as everyone began to walk back, though Plum stayed staring at the ocean for a couple more seconds before running off to join his team again.