SEVEN OUT OF EIGHT WEEKS LEFT FOR MONICA TO CAPTURE THE AGENTS
Quick, rapid footsteps reverberated down New Octopolis City's army headquarters as Phoenix made his way down the busy hall. Genetically modified Octolings pushed others out of his way or stepped aside for him. When you were not only Number 2 but The Alpha's brother, you tended to get whatever you wanted. Phoenix pushed open a door on one side of the hall, where he knew his sister Skylar Rose was in currently.
"Sister, I have- EEEEP!!" shrieked Phoenix at the scene inside. Ink splatters covered everything, including Skylar Rose herself as she turned her head to look at him. She was wearing her oxygen mask that she needed to wear at times. The mask resembled a set of Air Gills DX, a popular headgear in Splatsville. Every time Skylar Rose took a breath while wearing this mask, her hair, eyebrows, presumably the inside of her mouth, and various light blue scars over her body glowed a tiny bit. And going by how fast her breaths were and how bright she was glowing, something had gone wrong and Phoenix had walked in at the worst moment possible. Skylar Rose took off the oxygen mask and leaned on an ink-covered table with one hand and put her other hand on her hip, an annoyed expression painting her face.
"What, uh, happened here?" ventured Phoenix as he shifted uncomfortably, unable to look his sister in the eyes (eye?) but also not wanting to look anywhere else in the ink-splattered room.
"Ink transfusion gone wrong," Skylar Rose replied casually. "The artificial's ink sac didn't want to take the magenta ink."
"Ah." Phoenix fixed his gaze on a spot on the table that didn't have much ink on it. "Was it just an ink sac or do we need to replace a whole artificial?"
"Just the sac," replied Skylar Rose, calmly wiping her armor off with her hands. "We're going to need a replacement one."
"Shall I alert Dylan to get to work engineering a new one?"
"No need," Skylar Rose said, touching her silver toothpick over her ear. The violet Octoling who had been in Dylan's squadron prior mindlessly shuffled by the doorway behind Phoenix. "He'll be notified shortly." Just then, Daisy walked by, poking her head in.
"Hey, guys, what's AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH?!?!" she screamed at the sight of the mess.
"Transfusion gone wrong," Phoenix briefly summarized. Daisy's blue eyes blankly examined the mess as she nodded. Skylar Rose sighed in frustration.
"Ugh, now I'll have to wait for Dylan to create an artificial ink sac," she moaned. "In the meantime, I have...other matters to see to. Daisy, you and Liam go take some Inklings from the prison to the arena. I don't know, maybe also take Monica with you as well or something, maybe she'll get an idea for dealing with the agents. Do whatever you want with the Inklings, as long as they don't die. Nick, go see if Dylan at least has a metal spine or something ready or if that tall purple freak continues to disappoint me." The two orange Octolings gave a brief nod and left, and Skylar Rose put her oxygen mask back on, taking a deep breath and glowing brightly before exhaling.
Sheldon looked around to make sure he was alone and rummaged through his secret snack drawer under the front counter. He quietly pulled out a small plastic box and popped the top open. The top made a very soft, almost unnoticeable noise as it came off, and the small tuna bites inside were revealed. Sheldon felt three pairs of green eyes peeking over his shoulders at the delicious treats. He quickly put the top back on and whipped around to glare at Jewel, Autumn, and Derek.
"Hey, eyes off! These are mine!" he teasingly scolded. "Go get your own!" The three Inklings took an embarrassed step back.
"Sorry, Sheldon," apologized Jewel with a chuckle, although she knew he wasn't actually mad. "We're headed out to go meet up with Agents 1 and 2. I think it's time to introduce them to the new Agent 4."
"Sounds good," Sheldon said. "Tell Agents 1 and 2 I said hello! And that they still owe me for their Roller and Charger repairs..." The Inklings headed out of Ammo Knights.
"Bye, Sheldon!" Derek called out, waving his hand. Sheldon waved goodbye to the kids. The second he was out of their sight, Sheldon crouched down and immediately began shoving the tuna snacks into his mouth.
"Hey, I was wondering," Autumn began, "is there some place we can check out some records? I've been thinking since yesterday about wanting to learn more about my past."
"Yeah, we can do that when we meet up with Agents 1 and 2," Derek said. "They'd love to help."
"They won't be helping today though," Jewel said, frowning at a text on her phone, which she then showed to her roommates. "Their flight from Calamari County to Inkopolis City has been delayed. They'll be here tomorrow morning at the earliest."
"Aw man, that sucks," Derek replied in a disappointed tone.
"I was looking forwards to meeting them too," sighed Autumn.
"We can still go check out the records at the police station," Jewel said, as the three Inklings continued walking down the street. "I'm sure Officer Carol Coral will help us look." Just then, there was a loud explosion of ink on the other side of the road. Cars skidded to a halt and Inklings and jellyfish scattered from the scene.
"What was that?" Derek exclaimed. Jewel squinted, shielding her eyes from the morning sun.
"Oh no! It's the twins!" she gasped. A limegreen Inkling girl, trailed by a small group of other limegreen Inklings, ran away from the area the explosion had happened in. A purple Inkling boy, followed by a small group of other purple Inklings, raced after the limegreen group. A couple of Ink Mines exploded, and the two groups separated. The purple group ran one way and activated several Splat Bomb Launchers at the limegreen gang, who raced past our heroes.
"Look out!" Autumn yelled as several Splat Bombs zipped over their heads. The agent trio dove out of the way and dashed down the street, away from the chaos. The Inklings ran into a small side alley to catch their breaths.
"That was close," Jewel said. "Alright, Autumn, let's get to the police station." There was no answer. "Autumn?" She and Derek turned around. Autumn was nowhere in sight.
"Uh-oh," said Derek. They had lost Autumn.
Alecs was on his bed scrolling on his phone having a snack when Kimberly walked into their barracks.
"Have you seen my oatmeal cookies? I could've sworn I left them in here," Kimberly asked, looking through her stuff. Alecs rapidly swallowed what was in his mouth with the expression of someone who was caught doing something they shouldn't have been doing.
"Nope," he answered quickly, pulling his mask over his mouth to hide the cookie crumbs. Kimberly gave him an unamused look.
"I hope you get a stomachache," she said. Just then Monica poked her head in.
"You two, with me," ordered the red-eyed Octoling, and Kimberly and Alecs followed her out into the hall. The three Octolings joined Daisy and Liam's squadrons. This was a semi-awkward meet-up because no one in either Daisy or Liam's squadrons liked anyone in Monica's squadron, and the feeling was somewhat mutual.
"So why did The Alpha suggest I go with you two again?" Monica asked with a sigh.
"She thought it might give you an idea or something on how to deal with the agents, I don't know," Daisy replied with a shrug. "Let's just go grab a few squids and get this over with." The three squadrons made their way through the New Octopolis army headquarters to the conjoining corridor that led to the prison. There were a few non-GenMo Octolings who were imprisoned there, with their crimes attached to the cell ink-proof doors on signs for all to see - disobedience to DJ Octavio, unauthorized escaping to the surface, ration hoarding, illegal possession of ink bullets (Octavio was TERRIFIED of ink bullets ever since Maya had shot him three times a year and a half ago during Remembrance Day), stockpiling ink tanks, underground arena betting - you name it. Most of the prisoners, however, were Inklings who had strayed too far into Octarian territory or had been snatched because they were easy targets. As the group of GenMo Octolings passed by their cell, Victor and Veronica clutched each other tightly in a fearful hug. They were the two lucky ones, deemed amazingly skilled fighters and were only to be used in the arena, not for any experimentation. The other imprisoned Inklings reacted fearfully as the Octolings passed by. Their treatment in the prison was enough for even the most strong-willed Inkling to readily submit to the Octolings. Daisy stopped in front of one cell, where a pair of Inklings were sleeping together.
"That one," she said, pointing to a cyan Inkling girl. Her underlings unlocked the cell door and entered to retrieve the girl, who barely had time to wake up properly and realize what was happening.
"WAIT NO!" she shrieked as she was picked up by her arms and dragged out of the cell, her cellmate drowsily trying to figure out what was happening. The shriek alerted the other prisoners that something was happening. While Daisy was dealing with her selected prisoner, Liam and his squadron had moved further into the jail.
"Those two," he ordered to his squadron, pointing at a pair of Inkling boys, one being orange, and the other yellow. The boys were retrieved from their cell, with the yellow one fighting back and the orange one accepting his fate.
"What?? No fair, how come you get two and I get one?" Daisy whined to Liam, who gave a mischievous grin. She looked at Monica. "Okay, Moni, go pick an Inkling."
"Don't call me 'Moni,'" grumbled Monica as she begrudgingly peered into each cell. Her eyes finally landed on a green Inkling girl. "This one will do." Alecs and Kimberly entered and grabbed the Inkling by her arms. The Inkling went willingly, though seemingly very scared. Once all four of the selected Inklings were handcuffed and chained together, and the group moved down another connecting corridor to the arena, where a couple of days prior Phoenix had demonstrated his new ink variants - freeze, poison, and paralysis.
"Ready the arena," Liam ordered his squadron. "Number 4, any particular scenario today?" Daisy shrugged.
"Don't really have one in mind," she said. "Though I wouldn't mind seeing the maze one again." Liam snapped his fingers, and his squadron departed to set up the arena. Monica glanced back at the prisoners, who were huddled together and trembling in fear.
"You're not dying today," she gruffly told them. "Well, not unless something goes horribly wrong." It was hard for Monica to feel compassion for the Inklings; her mother and stepfather had both been killed by one after all. Just then, Kelly hovered by on her flying saucer.
"Oh, are we doing some tests in the arena this morning?" she asked. Monica, Daisy, and Liam nodded. "Oh cool! Mind if I stick around?" Without waiting for an answer, Kelly hovered close to the elevated floor and hopped off the flying saucer, inviting herself into the group of Octolings. The indigo Octoling turned to the Inklings, her eyes sparkling anime-style as soon as she saw them. "OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH, these four! I've been wondering how'd they do if they were pitted against each other." There was a loud rumbling, and a small maze began to rise out of the dirt floor of the arena. Monica, Kelly, Daisy, and Liam leaned on the safety railing and looked down at the arena.
"How's this one?" one of Liam's underlings called up to the four squadron leaders.
"Perfect!" Kelly called back.
"Eh, could care less," Monica replied.
"Looks great!" Liam answered.
"Could use some water and- OH, I'VE GOT IT!" Daisy put her fingers in her mouth and whistled. A few drains opened up, and ominous green water spilled forth around the edges of the arena. A low growl sounded from the drains, and out popped the ugliest fish ever.
"Salmonids?!" Kelly exclaimed excitedly, her eyes getting wide. "Oh I'm so glad you guys invited me to see this!" She grabbed Daisy and Liam around the necks and pulled them in for a very awkward sideways hug.
"We, uh, didn't," Liam said. Kelly ignored him.
"WOO! I'm pumped up now!" she exclaimed, clapping and rubbing her hands together. "Let's get this thing started!" Monica glanced at the Inklings and hoped that the indigo nerdy know-it-all Octoling cheering over a Salmonid-filled maze wasn't making things worse for them. Not that she suddenly cared or anything. No. It was definitely because of Kelly's excitement seeing Inklings in action and how weird that was. Definitely that.
Autumn found herself being chased (not intentionally) by the bomb-throwing gangs. She quickly entered into the closest building she could enter - MakoMart, where Turf Wars were still temporarily prohibited due to the earthquake a couple of days ago. Immediately Autumn was overcome by how much food there was.
"Why is there so much food here?" she gasped. A jellyfish employee passed her, pushing shopping carts back to their place.
"Because this is MakoMart, ma'am," it replied. "We carry every food brand here. Even ones that don't exist yet." There was an explosion of ink outside, and the limegreen group dashed in, shoving everyone out of their way. The jellyfish and the shopping carts went flying in the air. Inkling shoppers had to flee to avoid getting crushed by a cart. The jellyfish meanwhile flew into a shelf of canned vegetables, its stunned eyes spinning dizzily. Autumn ran into the cereal aisle to take shelter.
"Find it!" ordered the main limegreen Inkling girl. "We can't let Kyle and the Kraken Killers get to it first!" She raised a fist in the air. "For the Hydra Hunters!"
"FOR THE HYDRA HUNTERS!!" her followers shouted. The gang of limegreen Inklings raced towards the back of the store. Autumn took a relieved breath. She turned around and gasped in awe at all the cereal boxes.
"Ooooh, what's this?" Autumn asked herself, looking at the cereal boxes. "Cephaloops? Calamari Crunch? Crab Puffs? These look delicious!" She pulled a box off the shelf and stuck her fingers under the tab to open it, but then thought better of it. "I probably shouldn't. I don't have money with me, and I need to focus on a way to get out of here safely." As she put the box back, the purple gang rushed in.
"We can't let Kylie get to it first!" shouted the main purple Inkling boy. "The Hydra Hunters are going down! For the Kraken Killers!"
"FOR THE KRAKEN KILLERS!!" his followers shouted, and the purple gang joined the fray. Autumn frowned with concern.
"...OR just focus on getting out of here period."
Monica, Alecs, and Kimberly boredly leaned on the arena railing, watching as the Inklings were shoved into the arena. A few Chum Salmonids sniffed the maze walls curiously.
"Your goal here is simple," Daisy explained into a microphone from the announcers' platform. "We've hidden four Splattershots and three Golden Eggs in the maze. Find a Splattershot, survive the Salmonids, find a Golden Egg, and make your way to center of the arena. To the one Inkling who will not be finding a Golden Egg: you'll have one minute to make your way to the center if you still would like to pass the experiment. Otherwise, we'll be having a little extra fun with you."
"The respawners are on, by the way," added Liam into the microphone. "We don't want you dying on us." He paused. "Well...not yet at least." The Inklings gave each other worried looks before preparing for the experiment to begin. An alarm blared and the barrier keeping the Inklings and Salmonids separated was lifted. The Inklings paused just a moment, but an E-Liter shot from Daisy made them jump and realize if they didn't get moving, they'd become Octoling targets, and the four Inklings took off running.
"We need to stay together!" the cyan girl exclaimed.
"No way!" retorted the orange boy. "I'm winning this!" He ran off, vaulting over next a Salmonid and disappearing around the corner. The green girl and yellow boy also split up, and the cyan girl sighed and went away on her own reluctantly. Kelly came up to Monica and leaned on the railing, watching the Inklings navigate the maze in fascination. Monica glanced at her.
"Hey, Kelly. Why are you so fascinated with Inklings?" she asked. Kelly momentarily looked at Monica before focusing back on the Inklings below.
"There's an anime I used to watch before joining the army after Octopolis City fell and this one became New Octopolis City," she began. "Attack on Kraken, maybe you've heard of it before, maybe not. It was about giant Inkling Krakens who'd attack this walled Octoling city, and the Octolings needed to protect it or face extinction. One time, the protagonists managed to capture a regular Inkling before they could transform. It was the first time a regular Inkling had been shown in the show, and I thought they were so cool! And since then, I've wanted to learn more about Inklings and what they're like."
"Huh," Monica replied. "Explains why you were picked for the genetic modifications you and your squadron received."
"That was actually a coincidence," explained Kelly. "One that was both happy for me but not happy for my family."
"What do you mean?"
"I love myself, but my family...we don't really talk about it at home. My parents wish the modifications were given to another squadron, and my younger brother, Matthew, hates me because of what I become. Thinks I'm one of them." Kelly sighed and her eyes drifted to the Inklings below, who had all gone their separate ways and now all had a Splattershot and an ink tank to defend themselves with. The green girl already had found a Golden Egg and was now trying to find the middle of the maze.
"I get treated at home like as if I liked not only boys but also liked girls, if you know what I mean," Kelly added. On the other side of Monica and Alecs, Kimberly physically flinched and shifted nervously.
"That's something you could get splatted for nowadays," Alecs commented, missing Kimberly's prior reaction.
"Back in the old Octopolis City, you just got a ration reduction and a day or two in solitary confinement if you got caught being too close with someone of the same gender. It's gotten a lot stricter since the city fell and we all had to move here," Monica added. She and Alecs had been facing away from Kimberly this whole time, and was now missing Kimberly's face turn pale and the tips of her tentacles turn a ghostly white. She grabbed her stomach and doubled over, throwing up.
"OH COD!" Kelly exclaimed.
"Hey, face away from me next time, you could've thrown up on me," Alecs scolded. "That was way too close for comfort." He added under his breath in an annoyed tone, "I guess you're the one who got the stomachache."
"Kimberly, are you okay?" Monica asked, reaching out a hand to help the green Octoling up. Kimberly withdrew from the open hand.
"I'm so sorry, I..." She wiped a tear from her eye. "I need to go." Kimberly got up and ran out of the arena. Monica, Alecs, and Kelly watched her leave, baffled on what could've caused this sudden outburst of emotion. Daisy and Liam watched Kimberly run off as the orange Inkling boy found a Golden Egg, successfully fending off two Chums and grabbing it.
"What was that all about?" Liam asked as he and Daisy each put a hand over their microphones.
"I'm not sure," Daisy replied. "But I'm going to find out." She touched her Golden Toothpick in her ponytail, and one of her Octolings looked up at her from down below. "Find out why Number 27 ran off so suddenly." The Octoling below obediently nodded and strolled out of the arena in the same direction Kimberly went.
"Autumn!" Jewel hollered. "Autumn, where are you?" No answer.
"Where could she be?" Derek asked. Suddenly, a dozen or so police cars raced down the street, sirens roaring.
"You think they're responding to the twins?" asked Derek as he and Jewel peered down the street after them.
"Only one way to find out!" Jewel said, and the two Inklings started running down the street to MakoMart.
Multiple Splat Bombs exploded in every direction Autumn ran. There was no safety from the twins' gangs. Limegreen and purple ink was splattered everywhere. Kylie leapt up on a display of boxes of crackers.
"Find that box!" she yelled. "Kyle cannot have it!" Kylie ducked as a purple Splat Bomb flew over her head and threw a limegreen one back in retaliation. Autumn peeked out from in between shelves nearby.
A box? she thought. Is that all this is about? Must be some pretty important box then. Autumn glanced at a watermelon stand. Hmm. Maybe I can hide behind there for the moment. The golden yellow Inkling crawled out from behind the shelves to hide behind the watermelon stand. Kyle and his purple band ran past the watermelons, throwing more Splat Bombs and chasing Kylie and her followers off.
"That box must be found!" declared Kyle as he jumped up on the cracker box display. "We cannot let it fall into Kylie's tentacles!" One of his followers raised a hand.
"Uhhh, what are we looking for again?" he asked. One of Kylie's followers poked her head up from behind a fruit display.
"Yeah, none of us actually know either," she piped up. Kyle and Kylie looked at each other.
"IT'S THE GREATEST THING EVER!" both twins yelled.
"It's the extremely rare-" began Kylie.
"Usually super expensive-" added Kyle.
"SPLATSVILLE IMPORT OF TUNA AND SEAWEED FLAVORED KELP COOKIES WITH ALGAE SUGAR!!!" both twins exclaimed. Both gangs' followers stared blankly at their leaders, with one of the members giving a weak cough in the awkward silence that followed. Autumn narrowed her eyes and raised an eyebrow.
"Um, hi, bystander here," she said, making her presence known to the dozen or so Inklings in front of her. "No offense but...that's it?" Kyle and Kylie side-eyed each other before looking at Autumn.
"What do you mean, 'that's it?'" pressed Kylie.
"Like, I don't know, there's other things you could be focusing on other than a box of cookies?"
"One taste of these cookies, and you'd understand how life-changing their flavor is," Kyle replied with Kylie nodding in agreement.
"And we're willing to flip this whole store upside-down to find their last box!" exclaimed the limegreen Inkling. Splat Bombs started flying again, and Autumn fled from the watermelon display.
I really wish Jewel and Derek were here, she thought. I want to go home.
The Inklings stampeded to the center of the maze, with the green Inkling girl in the lead and the orange Inkling boy on her heels. The green girl climbed up onto the raised platform and was joined shortly by the orange boy. There, they waited for the yellow boy and the cyan girl. Meanwhile, in the maze, the cyan girl had found the third and final Golden Egg, and was making her way towards the center of the maze. The yellow boy suddenly stepped in her way.
"I need that egg," he said, holding out his hand. "Give it to me."
"I can't," replied the cyan girl, clutching the egg closer to her body. "I don't want to die." The yellow boy brandished his Splattershot at her.
"Neither do I." The two Inklings began firing ink at each other. The Chum Salmonids heard the commotion and quietly slithered over to investigate. The cyan girl landed a shot on the yellow boy's face. He recoiled and wiped off his eyes, and shot her in the arm. The girl lost her grip on the Golden Egg, and it rolled in between the two Inklings. The girl reached for it before seeing the boy's scared face looking at something behind her. She turned around just in time to see a Chum swing its frying pan at her face, knocking her over. More Chums jumped into the fray, and the girl was splatted as the boy grabbed the egg and ran for his life. The respawner spat the cyan girl out back at the start, and she knew that once the yellow boy had reached the middle of the maze, she would only have a minute left before she would fail.
"Looks like our cyan participant has only a minute to get to the center," Liam announced from the announcers' platform.
"Better hurry," Daisy added in a singsong voice. The cyan Inkling raced through the maze as fast as she could, but ended up getting lost. She rounded the corner into a dead end, and as she turned around to go a different way, a Chum smacked her in the face with its frying pan. Several more Chums joined in and splatted her again.
"Hey, where's Kimberly?" Monica asked as she and Alecs watched the Inklings below. "Shouldn't she be back by now?" Alecs looked around.
"Yeah, it shouldn't have taken that long to clean up," he said.
"We should go and find her." The two Octolings left. It was pretty obvious the cyan Inkling was failing the experiment and there was no point in watching the rest of it. Monica and Alecs ventured outside, looking around. There was no sign of Kimberly.
"Where did she go?" Monica asked aloud. Alecs looked up at a skyscraper, his hair glowing as he pulled his Splatana Stamper off of his back.
"I'll look for her," said the Octoling, his voice with a metallic ring to it. He activated his Zipcaster special and zipped to the skyscraper. Alecs looked down at the city below while Monica waited for him back on the ground. Monica sighed and crossed her arms, tapping her foot impatiently. She waited for about eight seconds, her foot tapping becoming more and more rapid until Alecs flung himself back down on the ground.
"I found her," he said, equipping the Splatana Stamper on his back.
"About time," Monica said.
"She's on one of the floating platforms in the east side of the city."
Kimberly sat glumly on the ledge of the floating platform with her legs hanging off into the void as it drifted above New Octopolis City. She thought about everything, wondering if there'd ever be a day she could feel like she could truly be herself. She heard the sound of two Octolings superjumping to her location, but did not react.
"There you are," Monica said. "We looked all over for you."
"'WE??' I'm the one who used Zipcaster on a building, you stayed on the ground," corrected Alecs. Monica disregarded him as she sat down on Kimberly's right side and Alecs sat down on Kimberly's left. Immediately both could tell something was wrong upon seeing Kimberly's tear-stained face, and their demeanors changed.
"What's wrong?" asked Monica. Kimberly wiped her eyes.
"I-it's stupid, really," she said with a sniff. "It was about the conversation earlier with Kelly."
"The one about the anime?" Alecs asked. Kimberly nodded quietly. "I don't follow, I thought you liked Attack on Kraken."
"Yeah, I mean it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I can't think of anyone in the army who doesn't like it," Monica added.
"That's- that's not it," Kimberly said quickly. "It was...the other topic that came up during that conversation." Monica and Alecs looked at each other, trying to remember what was said after the anime.
"You're, uh...going to need to help us out a little bit here," Monica said with a slightly embarrassed tone. Kimberly took a deep, nervous breath.
"It was about...the old city," she began. "The conversation reminded me of someone I knew before the city fell." She swallowed, recalling the painful memory. "Her name was Millie, and...she meant a lot to me." Monica and Alecs said nothing, but listened intently. "She was in the army. We met under a tree in the old city, and we had planned on going to meet up there during that Remembrance Day, but obviously it never happened. It was with her that I realized... I was just like her." Kimberly paused before finally opening up. "I like boys...and girls." Monica and Alecs looked at her, their listening faces unchanging. Kimberly sat there confused.
"...You're not going to shove me off the platform for admitting that?" she asked cautiously.
"No, why would we do that?" Monica asked.
"I might," said Alecs.
"ALECS!"
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I swear!" Alecs whimpered, holding his hands up. "Even if Kimberly and I don't always get along, I'd never do that." He pulled his mask down and looked at Kimberly. "She's like a sister to me. And always will be."
"R-really?" Kimberly sniffed.
"We love you, Kimberly," Monica said, putting her arm around her. "Nothing's going to change that. Ever." Kimberly let out a wail.
"YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!" she sobbed, hugging both of them. The girls smiled.
"If I could physically smile right now, I would be," Alecs commented. Kimberly wiped her eyes.
"What do we do about the others?" she asked. "Surely they'll find out eventually."
"And we'll be there with you when they do," Monica replied with a determined expression.
"We're not going to let anything happen to you," vowed Alecs. Kimberly gave a sniff.
"I love you guys," she said. "Platonically, of course." She blinked. "What do we do now?"
"We head back and plan out how to capture the New Squidbeak Splatoon," replied Monica. "At the end of the day, we still have a job to do." The three Octolings got up, and headed back for the headquarters, arms around each other's shoulders. And Daisy's Octoling underling watched the trio walk off, having witnessed everything. They activated their Zipcaster and zipped off with the info they had gathered.
The police cars skidded to an almost comedic halt in front of MakoMart, leaving tire treadmarks everywhere. Dozens of officers burst out of the cars, immediately sectioning off the entrance to the building. Jewel and Derek showed up to the scene shortly after, doubled over and panting heavily.
"Couldn't we have called Sheldon to drive us over?" Derek asked breathlessly.
"No, that would've taken too long," panted Jewel. "Besides, we were almost here."
"We were seven blocks away!" The two Inklings dragged their exhausted bodies over to the police tape blocking the entrance into MakoMart. Officer Carol Coral was standing there, with someone reporting to her over her radio.
"Copy that," said the tall muscular Inkling woman. She caught sight of the kids out of the corner of her eye and turned to them. "What are you two doing here?"
"We lost our friend," Derek explained, "back when the fight first broke out down the street."
"Also I may or may not know the two gang leaders in there but I'd prefer to not elaborate," added Jewel. Carol looked at Jewel through her Double Egg Shades.
"That wasn't suspicious at all," she said. Jewel held her breath nervously. "Buuuut if you've got your reasons, and those reasons are absolutely legal, I won't pry." Jewel let out her relieved breath.
"Officer Coral, we have eyes on our targets!" called a nearby male officer. "Do we go in?"
"Negative, officer," Carol replied. "There's still civilians in there. We need to get them out before something happens to them." Derek squinted up at one of the CCTV video screens near the entrance. There, caught on one of the cameras, cornered in the snack aisle, was a golden yellow female Inkling.
"Jewel! It's Autumn!" he exclaimed, pointing to the screen.
"It is!" Jewel gasped. Carol turned to the two kids.
"Your friend is in there?" she asked, and Jewel and Derek nodded. "We gotta work fast then. The Hydra Hunters and Kraken Killers are not to be trifled with!"
Autumn studied the names of all the cookies on the snack aisle she could find, unaware of the camera on the ceiling recording her. She suddenly gasped.
I found it! she thought. The cookies! Autumn snatched the only box and slipped out of the aisle as stealthily as she could- oops, bumped into a display of reusable bottles which clattered loudly on the floor. The fighting between the gangs stopped, and all eyes fixed on Autumn. Kyle and Kylie's eyes locked onto the box of cookies.
"Get that Inkling!" they both yelled. Both gangs charged at her, and Autumn yelped and ran, clutching the cookies against her chest tightly. Customers who were still trapped in the store quickly got out of the way. One of Autumn's flip-flops flipped and flopped off of her foot, and she tripped. The cookie box launched into the air. Kylie caught it.
"I got it!" she cheered, only to be immediately tackled by Kyle.
"It's mine!" he yelled right before a flip-flop smacked into his face and bounced off of Kylie's before finally landing on the floor. The twins glared back at Autumn, who was frozen in the throwing position and had a look of not expecting her shoe to actually succeed in hitting her targets.
"Stay out of this!" Kylie hissed.
"No," Autumn replied firmly. "I'm not going to stay out of this."
"How come?" Kyle asked.
"You're tearing up this whole store for a box of cookies. I don't care how good they are - they're not worth putting innocent lives at risk. Nothing is worth putting innocent lives at risk." Autumn walked up to the two and grabbed the cookies from the twins' hands, and also put on her shoe. "If neither of you can respect even that, then I don't think you should have these." Just then the police burst in.
"EVERYONE WITH THEIR HANDS UP NOW!" one male officer yelled.
"I WAS GOING TO PAY FOR THESE, I SWEAR!" Autumn shrieked, holding her hands up, still holding the box in one hand. Several officers rushed through the store and grabbed both gang's members. Carol Coral herself stepped in.
"Check their shoulders for the tattoo," she ordered. "It'll help us nab all the guilty parties and no one we shouldn't be taking into custody." An officer pulled down the collar of an annoyed Kyle, revealing a menacing purple kraken tattoo with glaring pupil-less eyes located on his left shoulder. Kylie on the other hand brushed off her officer's hand and willingly pulled down her left sleeve, revealing a large three-headed limegreen hydra located on the back of her shoulder, with each of its heads pointing to one of her three hearts. Autumn studied the two different tattoos. The other members were checked as well, with some resisting and others willingly showing their shoulders. An officer approached Autumn, clearing her throat.
"May I?" she asked. "I need to check your shoulder."
"Oh, of course," Autumn replied, pulling down her left sleeve. No tattoo. As expected.
"Thank you," said the officer. "You're free to go." Autumn turned to head to the front of the store. Jewel and Derek ran up to her.
"Autumn!" Jewel exclaimed. Autumn gasped.
"Jewel! Derek!" she exclaimed. The three of them hugged.
"We were so worried!" Jewel said. Derek pointed at the box of cookies.
"What are these?" he asked.
"The twins were fighting over these-" Autumn was interrupted.
"Those are mine!" Kyle yelled as he and Kylie were escorted by.
"I believe you mean they're mine," retorted Kylie. The two Inklings continued arguing as they were led outside.
"I figured they shouldn't have them if they were going to put others in danger," explained Autumn. She added almost shyly as she held the box, "I'd like to buy them."
"Of course!" Jewel said. Derek gave a brief nod in agreement.
"I think I've got enough money for them," he said. "I can pay for them." The three turned around to the checkout lanes - which were either covered in ink, severely damaged, or both. "That could be a problem."
"Uhm, I can help with checkout," said the jellyfish employee who had been blasted into the shelves earlier.
Meanwhile in New Octopolis, the cyan Inkling was shoved into a dark room. She began panicking.
"Where am I?!" she shrieked. The Inkling turned at the sound of footsteps behind her. Phoenix calmly approached her from the shadows.
"There's no need to be afraid," he said in a soothing voice. "Nothing's going to happen to you. I promise."
"Y-you do?" whimpered the girl. Phoenix nodded, unable to look her in the eyes.
"I do." The orange Octoling shuffled over to a switch on the wall. He flipped it, and a light came on. The Inkling blinked, squinting initially but then staring into it, almost entranced.
"The light..." she whispered, taking a step towards it.
"Yes. It's a light. I hear Inklings enjoy the light."
"It's almost...calming," mumbled the Inkling.
"Calming, you say?" Phoenix turned from orange to magenta.
"Yes...like I'm back at...home." The Inkling gave a slight chuckle and reached out for the light to touch it. Phoenix gave a hand signal and nodded curtly. And in the shadows, a magenta-colored Skylar Rose raised an Octo Shot up, complete with the sharp plastic tip of piercing ink ammo sticking out of the muzzle. She put her finger on the trigger and-
SLAM! Kelly jumped as the prison's main doors behind her opened and shut loudly. Monica's little squadron passed by her in the corridor. Kelly trotted up after them.
"Hey, you missed all the action afterwards," she said.
"Cyan get splatted again?" Alecs asked.
"It went on and on!" Kelly replied as the four Octolings walked down the aisle of cells. "Poor thing couldn't stopped getting splatted by the Salmonids."
"What happened after that?" Kimberly asked. Kelly thought for a moment.
"Well..."
"The minute is up, and we have our results!" Daisy announced. The cyan Inkling hung her head in defeat, covered in green Salmonid ink. The other three Inklings watched as Liam and Daisy's squadrons led her out of the arena before retrieving them. Kelly watched as the three successful prisoners were led back to the prison while the cyan girl was taken another direction - the science lab, where Dylan and Phoenix's studies were located.
"No, please!" begged the unfortunate Inkling as she was dragged off kicking and screaming. "I have to get back to my brother! We need to get back home to our mom!"
"Awww, how touching," Daisy said as she and Liam put their hands over their hearts. "I don't care."
"Take her to Phoenix, he'll know what to do," Liam added. The arena was mostly reset to its original state, with the maze walls being lowered into the floor and the water starting to drain. Daisy's underling who had been set out after Kimberly returned, entering through the arena.
"Number 4, I have news on Number 27!" they announced, avoiding the puddles of green goo as they made their way to their leader. Just then, a flashing red fishing bobber appeared in the arena and started chasing after them. A Maws Salmonid jumped out and promptly snapped up the Octoling as a snack.
"Oh shoot!" Liam yelled in terror as Daisy calmly touched her Golden Toothpick with one hand and stuck her fingers into her mouth and whistled with her other hand. The Maws reluctantly opened its mouth back up, and the clearly visibly shaken Octoling crawled out and sprinted off for their life before something else decided they looked delicious. The almost lunch Octoling superjumped to Liam and Daisy's platform, and the Maws retreated back to the draining water.
"I'm so glad you got the modifications that can do that," Liam whispered to Daisy, who beamed at the praise.
"DJ Octavio knew what he was doing when he assigned Salmonid communication to me," replied the orange Octoling. Daisy's underling approached and whispered in her ear. A shocked look appeared on Daisy's face.
"No way," she said, stifling a laugh.
"What?" Liam asked, and Daisy whispered into his ear. Liam gasped and then tried to hide his giggling. "That's why Kimberly walked out?"
"Yeah!" Daisy replied. "Who knew?" Kelly, who had been leaning on the arena railing this whole time, raised an eyebrow at the two chuckling Octolings and left.
"So they know," Monica said, rubbing her chin, deep in thought.
"They know..." Kimberly moaned.
"And we're going to be there if anything happens," promised Alecs, putting a hand on her shoulder in reassurance. Kelly also put her hand on Kimberly's shoulder.
"And I'll support you too," she said. "Believe me, if I weren't supportive, I wouldn't be running to my informant's side every time she did something insane," the indigo Octoling added with a slightly annoyed look. Kimberly understood what Kelly meant: everyone knew of Kelly's right-hand Octoling, who had caused a food fight a couple of days ago.
"Kelly, I'm glad you're here actually," Monica began, changing the subject. "I have a plan on how to capture the agents, and I'm going to need your squadron's help."
"Whatever it is," Kelly replied with a smirk, "count me in."
BEEP! The box of cookies was rung up at the cash register. Autumn squirmed impatiently as the cashier put the box in a small plastic bag. Derek handed the cashier the money and the cashier handed Derek the bag, who handed it to Autumn.
"Thank you for shopping at MakoMart, and have a nice day," said the jellyfish cashier as the Inklings walked off and waved.
"The Hydra Hunters and the Kraken Killers really went all out for a box of cookies from Splatsville, eh?" Carol Coral chuckled as the kids passed by her. "Quite a way's back to the shop. Need a ride back there?"
"Yeah, we could probably use one," Jewel said. Carol pulled out her phone and dialed a number into it. She was quiet for a moment as she waited Sheldon to pick up.
"SHELDON!" she roared into the phone. Jewel, Derek, and Autumn jumped in fright. "COME PICK UP YOUR KIDS FROM MAKOMART NOW!!" Carol hung up before Sheldon could reply and leaned towards the kids with a mischievous grin. "Okay, when he arrives, look really sad. Like you got caught doing something bad." After a few minutes, Sheldon's delivery truck pulled up, screeching to a halt. Sheldon quickly got out with a mix of emotions on his face. Autumn, Jewel, and Derek had to most exaggerated sad frowns on their faces.
"What did you do?" he asked before turning to Carol. "What did they do?"
"You will not believe what they did," Carol said with a serious look and a frown. A small smile cracked on her face. "The golden yellow one stopped two whole gangs by herself." Sheldon was flabbergasted as the Inklings grinned.
"Y-you what? She what?" he asked, looking from Autumn to Carol.
"All for a box of cookies," Jewel added.
"WHAT??" Autumn proudly showed the shellshocked Sheldon the box. "Oh, yeah, those are good cookies. I can see why there was a huge fight over them."
"You've had them before?" Autumn asked in awe of her employer.
"Once. They were really good." Sheldon opened the passenger side door of the truck. "C'mon, we'll eat them on the way back." Everyone waved at Carol, who waved back with a grin. As the kids climbed into the totally secure vehicle safety standard passenger seats, Autumn stuck her fingers under the box's tab and opened it. A sugary but spicy aroma filled the truck, and everyone reached in and pulled out what looked like a ginger snap dusted with green sugar. Sheldon popped one in his mouth as he drove, and Jewel and Derek each took a bite of theirs.
"Mmm, wow," Jewel said through a mouthful of cookie. "I understand why the twins waged war over this." Autumn was about to take a bite when it happened:
The room was dark. It was cold. Autumn shuddered. ...Wait, was this Autumn? It didn't feel like her. It felt like a whole different body. Her stomach growled weakly, almost in a begging manner. Autumn clutched it feebly, now feeling the severe hunger pains. The door to the small room opened, and a silhouette appeared. The silhouette spoke, but Autumn could barely hear the voice, and the voice belonged to no one she recognized.
"Pathetic. Here," it said. "Something to hold you over until... ...got it off of another... ...all the rage in Splatsville right now." A box of the cookies was tossed at her, and Autumn reached out and opened the box, putting a cookie into her mouth. Hold her over until what? Got it off of another what or who?
"...Autumn?" Jewel's voice brought Autumn back into reality, and the sensation faded. Autumn blinked, and realized she was staring at her cookie, which had slight teeth marks in it from where she was about to bite into it.
"Hm?" she said.
"Are you okay?" Derek asked. "You were just kinda staring at the cookie for a minute there." Both he and Jewel had concerned looks, and even Sheldon was looking in the rearview mirror at her worriedly.
"Oh, yeah," Autumn lied. "I was just...taking in the moment. Really studying this texture and the aroma, y'know?" She gave a nervous chuckle. Everyone still had the concerned expressions. "I'm fine. I promise." Autumn was not fine. She had been shaken deep down to her core by...whatever had just invaded her brain. Autumn ate her cookie with unease. She needed answers on herself fast.
Kylie paced in her cell.
"Your pacing is making me dizzy," Kyle complained from across the aisle in his cell.
"Ugh! Shut it," Kylie snapped. "It's your fault we're both stuck in here."
"MY fault? Well EXCUUUSE ME, PRINCESS, but if you hadn't been in our way, we wouldn't be in jail because of you."
"Actually, we're in jail because...because... I'm just choosing to blame you, okay? End of discussion."
"You know who you should be blaming? That guy who just up and left during the night a couple of years back-"
"DON'T you dare ever mention that traitor again!" Kylie snapped. "I'll never forgive him for deserting us and fleeing town with that short little blue-haired girl he grew up with. No clue where he went, but we're going to track him down one day, and make both of them pay!"
"He was your best fighter too. Such a shame," said Kyle, shaking his head mockingly. Kylie glared at him from across the aisle.
"Just you wait until the Hydra Hunters get out of this dump. The Kraken Killers won't know what hit them!"
"Um, yeah, actually we will," Kyle said. "You just announced your plans to us." Kylie gave him an unamused look.
Dylan was walking down the corridors of the army headquarters when he passed Skylar Rose and Phoenix, who were tailed by an artificial.
"Alpha, Nick," greeted the tall purple Octoling. "Here's the artificial ink sac for the other artificial." He handed a small bag over to Phoenix, who peered inside it briefly at the mechanical organ.
"Thank you," Phoenix said with a brief nod and a neutral expression.
"We're glad this one's ink sac transfusion went better," Skylar Rose said, gesturing to the artificial behind her and Phoenix. "Perfectly magenta. Intelligence could use a little work, but in that case we'll just give it a new brain." Dylan studied the artificial, with its stiff hair and metal goggles. It eerily grinned at him with a set of teeth with three points like an Inkling's.
"It turned out good in my book," Dylan said. "This is the new one from today, right?"
"Yep," replied Phoenix. "We finished it about half an hour ago."
"Soon, we'll have a whole army of not only genetically modified Octolings but artificial ones as well!" boasted Skylar Rose proudly.
"Heh, that's great," Dylan awkwardly responded. War wasn't exactly his thing, but if he was called to fight for his king, he'd do it without question. "I've got a few more artificial spines to work on with my squadron, so if you'll excuse me."
"Of course," Skylar Rose said with a slightly smug smile, sensing Dylan's discomfort as he left. "Come with me, Nick. Artificial, proceed after us." The three continued their trek down the corridor, and a cyan tear leaked out from under the artificial's goggles.
What was happening to Autumn? Was this a memory? Was she starting to recall her past? Who that was in her vision? Let us hope she finds out some answers when Agents 1 and 2 arrive. And as for the artificials? Well, let's just say, in a society where the military has been heavily destroyed, sometimes you need a little help from your enemies to build an army.