SIX OUT OF EIGHT WEEKS LEFT FOR MONICA TO CAPTURE THE AGENTS
The sun rose over Inkopolis City Regional Hospital and gently peeked into Room 345. Its rays warmed the sleeping bodies of Autumn, Jewel, and Derek. Derek was in his hospital bed, with his arm in its cast gently resting by his side. Jewel had fallen asleep in a chair, her head and tentacles hanging over the back of the chair. Autumn was curled up on a small couch, her head resting on her hands. The building shook gently, the windows rattling. Slowly, the Inklings cracked their eyes open, disoriented. An alarm went off somewhere in the lobby. The building shook some more and gave a not-so-gentle ending shake before everything became still again. Medical staff went to work as our heroes sat up in confusion.
"What's going on?" Derek asked a jellyfish nurse who passed by the doorway.
"There appears to have been a minor earthquake," explained the jellyfish, who pressed a switch on the wall that shut off the alarm. "We're not sure where though. Doesn't appear to have been severe enough to cause any battles to shut down."
"We just had the last one like, what, a week ago?" Jewel said her friends.
"I didn't think earthquakes were this common," Autumn declared.
"They're not," Derek replied. "I have a theory it's because of the Octolings' dome expansion. The closer they dig to the surface, the worse the earthquake."
"A valid theory," came Sheldon's voice as the horseshoe crab entered with a stack of to-go boxes and his laptop.
"Sheldon!" happily exclaimed the three Inklings. Autumn sniffed the sweet scent in the air.
"Did you bring donuts?" she asked excitedly.
"I did," Sheldon said, setting down the boxes and his laptop at the foot of Derek's bed, "as well as all of your other favorite delicious and very unhealthy breakfast foods from Crusty Sean's."
"I don't think your laptop is edible," Jewel teased as she took her box, pointing at the laptop. Sheldon looked at it as he handed Autumn a box.
"That...I brought for a different reason," he said. "The Squid Sisters finally got all of the files unencrypted yesterday after they dropped us off at here at the hospital." The Inklings looked at Sheldon's serious expression, and the mood changed that morning. "They didn't look through all of it themselves, but figured, since Derek's kind of out of commission as of right now, you three could look through them together. And...they wanted me there with you in case you found something...upsetting."
"Oh, so the food is here for emotional comfort-slash-bribing us to do their work," Derek said with an unamused look as Sheldon handed him his box.
"Oh, no, the food's here because hospital food sucks."
"That makes more sense." Jewel and Autumn pushed the couch over to the bed and Sheldon pulled up a chair. With his uninjured arm, Derek pulled over his bedside table, and Sheldon placed the laptop on it and opened it up. The horseshoe crab typed in his password.
"What is Downton Crabbey and why are you a fan of it?" Autumn asked, commenting on his password. Sheldon looked at her awkwardly.
"I don't have to answer that," he replied, quickly inserting the USB drive and opening up the files before any more questions could be asked about his favorite TV historical drama.
"I thought there'd be...more," Jewel said as she squinted at the screen.
"I guess Maya just got everything she thought was important," Derek said. Sheldon opened and scrolled through a few of them. Nothing of major importance seemed to be in those.
"Wait, what's this file?" Autumn asked, pointing to the screen.
"In Case I Don't Make It Back," Jewel read. Sheldon and Autumn looked at her and Derek.
"Should...should we open it?" Sheldon asked. Jewel and Derek looked at each other and nodded. Everyone took a deep breath, and Sheldon double-clicked on it.
ABOUT THREE WEEKS AGO
Maya folded the Hero Hoodie neatly and gently placed it into the suitcase.
"You're leaving?" The lavender Inkling turned to face Jewel approaching her, with her best friend and fellow agent Derek tagging along behind her.
"I see Sheldon told you," Maya replied with a sigh. "Last time I tell him something I want to keep quiet. But yeah. Not for long though, maybe a week at most."
"Why?" Jewel asked.
"I have to take this mission." Maya shut her suitcase. "It could change everything."
"Take us with you," begged Jewel. Maya shook her head.
"Where I'm going, it's not safe for someone of your experience level," she said. "Both of you are too inexperienced, and even I worry about my own safety going where I'm going."
"We'll be fine! We can handle it!" Jewel insisted. Maya looked at Derek, who had been quiet this whole time.
"Derek, think you can handle it?" she asked him. "Think you can handle a trip to Splatsville, where chaos rules and getting mugged is an almost daily occurrence?" That last part wasn't necessarily true, but it's what Inkopolis natives thought of Splatsville's inhabitants.
"No, absolutely not," Derek said with no hesitation, shaking his head. Jewel gave him a disappointed look before turning back to Maya.
"Then let me join you," she said insistently. "I know I can-" Maya put a firm hand on Jewel's shoulder.
"Jewel," said the lavender Inkling. "What I'm going to do there I may not come back from. I need you two to remain here and keep the city safe for me." Maya swallowed and crouched down, looking up at the two green-eyed Inklings training under her. "Stay here with Sheldon. He'll take care of you." Just then Sheldon entered his shop through the front door and caught Maya's narrowed glare and Jewel and Derek's upset faces and knew he was in trouble.
"Even if he can't keep his mouth shut about my undercover mission," Maya added, clearly annoyed.
"They were very persistent," Sheldon replied. Maya stood back up and took her suitcase, holding it up.
"After I'm done, I'm mailing this back to the captain," she said to Sheldon. "It's all of my agent gear."
"You really don't think you'll be coming back from this mission, do you?" Derek said with a distressed look. Maya looked at him then looked away, unable to reply.
"Don't mail it back," Jewel said. "You can give it to the captain yourself. When you come back. Right, Sheldon?" Maya and Sheldon looked at each other.
"Uh...yeah," the horseshoe crab said in an unconvincing tone. "You can give it to Cuttlefish yourself when you come back."
"And maybe we'll find a mammal," Maya teased, rolling her eyes. Jewel and Derek promptly pointed outside at Judd and Lil Judd snoozing in the sun on a bench. "One that isn't Judd and Lil Judd."
Sheldon and the three Inklings waited for the train to pull up to the station, which creaked ominously as if it was about to break down. Jewel and Derek looked at Maya, who was just simply staring off into the distance. The train pulled up and opened its doors.
"Make me a proud mentor, okay?" Maya said, playfully ruffling her trainees' hair tentacles before picking up her suitcase and stepping onto the train.
"Promise us you'll come back," Jewel said.
"We don't know what we'd do without you," added Derek. Maya looked back and took a deep breath.
"Yeah... I'll be back," she said, making them smile. "Then you can take me to that coffee shop outside the battle lobby you two are always going to after work, or something like that." Everyone said their goodbyes, and the train doors closed. Maya took a seat for the lengthy train ride, and for the first time in years she realized she was scared.
SPLATSVILLE
It was an average busy day in the hub of the Splatlands. Splatsville was filled with hungry Inklings just beginning their day. The food vendors couldn't open their shops fast enough for the impatient cephalopods.
"C'mon, hurry up!" one Inkling called to the jellyfish who was struggling to lift a heavy pot onto the counter. "We're wasting away out here!" Behind the impatient Inkling stood I-Wei Hue and Priscilla Pods.
"What's taking her so long?" Priscilla asked I-Wei, checking her phone.
"You know she's always late," I-Wei replied. "This isn't unusual behavior for her."
"I wish she wasn't late for once."
"That'd be asking too much of her."
"Hey, guys!" came a voice. I-Wei and Priscilla turned around to see Cassandra Iridesci, a friend of theirs, run up to them.
"Cass!" happily exclaimed I-Wei and Priscilla, waving at her.
"Sorry I'm late - as usual," Cassandra apologized. "You won't believe what I found out in the Splatlands."
"What'd you find?" Priscilla asked.
"You know that big crater outside of the city?" asked Cassandra. "Well, I found some kind of giant tea kettle thingy. I'm going to investigate it another time, but it looks like some kind of entrance to someplace." The food vendor had finally finished setting up, and Inklings began ordering what they wanted. Just then, a frustrated lavender Inkling girl walked by with a suitcase, coming from the direction of the train station. The clamoring cephalopods went quiet at the sight of her unusual ink color. The lavender girl stopped and glared at the line of silent squids.
"Yeah, I experienced a traumatic injury and now my ink color is an unusual color. Deal with it," she snapped before going on her way.
"She seems nice," Cassandra said sarcastically.
"She must be new here," Priscilla said, tilting her head to the side slightly. They watched her leave.
"Oh, hey, guys, we're next," I-Wei said as the line moved. Priscilla suddenly tugged on his coat sleeve.
"O. M. C." Priscilla jumped up and down excitedly. "I-Wei. Cute girl." I-Wei gestured for Cassandra to go ahead of him and looked in the direction Priscilla was pointing in.
"You want to go give her your number, don't you?"
"YEEEEESSSSS," Priscilla said in an excitedly shrill voice.
"You know you're just going to get shot down, right?"
"Oh, I know, but there's always the chance someone will say yes!"
"Well...go get 'em, Pods," I-Wei said with an encouraging pat to Priscilla's back. Priscilla took off at light speed. About halfway to her target, she tripped over an unfortunate pebble. I-Wei sharply inhaled as Priscilla tumbled and rolled cartoonishly and faceplanted at the feet of the surprised girl and her friends.
"Oooooohh," everyone including I-Wei and Cassandra went, wincing in pain. Priscilla hopped right up to her feet in a flash.
"Hi there!" she greeted as if nothing had happened.
"Hi," said the other girl, unsure of what was happening.
"I think you're super cute, and I was wondering if you'd like my number? Maybe call me sometime and we can hang out?"
"Oh...uh, sorry, but I'm taken already," said the girl. She took the hand of a boy next to her.
"Oh, no problem! Have a good day!" Priscilla said, not missing a beat. She ran back to I-Wei's side, unfazed by the whole thing.
"Shot down?" I-Wei asked.
"Yep, like a target balloon," replied Priscilla with a shrug, just as happy as when she first noticed the girl. "But at least now I know."
The trio returned to the apartment complex that I-Wei and Priscilla lived in with their breakfast. They entered into the lobby and were greeted by loud arguing from the front desk.
"Look, I've been on a half-broken train from Inkopolis for a whole day and the hotels are all filled, but I just need to stay in an apartment for one night - maybe two - and then I'll be gone," said the lavender Inkling girl.
"I'm sorry, ma'am," apologized the jellyfish manager. "There's no vacancies anywhere in the building. This is Splatsville - we're filled to the brim!"
"Please, I just need somewhere to stay by myself. Alone. Not with someone."
"She can stay in my apartment." The words came out of Cassandra's mouth before she realized what she was saying. Everyone looked at her. "I mean - if she wants a place to stay by herself, I was planning on staying with my friends for the night."
"You were what-" Cassandra elbowed I-Wei into silence. The lavender Inkling took a step forwards.
"You mean it?" she asked. Cassandra nodded.
"I mean as long as it's not forever-"
"It won't be, I promise," said the lavender Inkling, taking her suitcase and following Cassandra upstairs to her apartment.
"Oh, I'm Cassandra by the way," the yellow Inkling said, holding out her unbraided hair tentacle for the lavender girl to shake. "You can call me 'Cass' or 'Cassie.'" The lavender girl took her single long hair tentacle and shook Cassandra's.
"Sally," she introduced herself after a slight hesitation. As the girls left, I-Wei and Priscilla looked at each other with concern.
"Cass is way too trusting," Priscilla said in a low voice. "Did she not see how upset that girl was when everyone was staring at her?"
"I get that Cass wants to help everyone," began I-Wei, "but she seriously needs to be careful. It's bound to get her killed one day."
Night fell. Maya looked out the window solemnly.
This could very well be my last night alive, she thought. In the end, it doesn't matter what happens to me. I shouldn't even be here to begin with. Maya closed her eyes. And yet, here I am, and I have a chance to affect the future in a way that benefits Inklingkind and prevents another Great Turf War from happening. She went over and opened her suitcase.
In my last hours, Maya's thoughts continued. I must be strong. I must be - for my family, for my friends. She pulled out a small picture of herself with Jewel and Derek. For them. Maya tucked the picture securely back into the suitcase and took off her Amber Sea Slug Hi-Tops and Matcha Down Jacket.
I can't forgive the Octarian empire for what they did to my family. They must be punished for taking the lives of so many innocents. Maya put on the Hero Hoodie and zipped it up. She put on her Hero Snowboots. Mom, dad, brothers, sisters. You will be avenged. If not by me, then by Agents 3 and 5... Maya looked at herself in the mirror as she put the Hero Headphones over her ears. ...And my eventual replacement.
It feels odd knowing how this plays out already, Maya thought as she slipped her pocketknife into her pocket and removed the Hero Shot from the suitcase. She ran her hand down the side of its smooth yellow body as the ink inside of it turned her lavender color. At the same time, it's just as oddly reassuring. I'm satisfied with my life. I've gotten to experience things I never would've imagined. I've gotten to see how the past ties itself to the present through history books and how the future plays out for myself. Maya longingly looked out the window one more time. I just wish I could've seen more of it.
Derek's Inkling nurse suddenly came into the room to check on them.
"Ohhh, what are you all doing?" she asked with interest. Sheldon and the kids exclaimed with a startled jump.
"We're, uhhh-" Autumn couldn't think of a good excuse - all she knew is that nurse couldn't see Maya's file.
"WATCHING A SHOW!" Sheldon finished quickly, pressing a button on his laptop that pulled up whatever was in the DVD player.
"Marco, Wesley and Matilda cannot learn about us. The butler and the mistress's hairdresser seeing each other? It would be quite the scandal!"
"He never will, my darling Harriet. Our love will be the world's greatest secret!"
"Ohhh, Marco!"
"My love!" Sheldon's face turned an embarrassed shade of red as Jewel, Autumn, and Derek side-eyed him suspiciously as the two characters began passionately kissing. Very passionately.
"Is that Downton Crabbey? Oh, I love that show!" the nurse said with a sigh. "Well, I'll be back in the check on Mr. Cephan later. Just press that button on the wall to call someone if you need anything." She left, and Sheldon paused the episode as fast as he could and switched the laptop back to Maya's file. He sat there, never more humiliated in his life. The kids continued side-eyeing him.
"I, uh..." Sheldon slightly stammered as he pulled himself slightly into his shell. "I didn't know it was left on that part."
"You like that?" Jewel asked.
"Sheldon, are you lonely?" Autumn asked.
"Yes," replied Sheldon with zero hesitation and never clarifying which question he was answering. He cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject. "Now where were we?"
Maya cautiously approached the manhole in the square. She looked around, making sure no one spotted her that night, and slipped in through with her squid form. The sewer pipes twisted and turned sharply. Maya was jostled around every which way for quite some time. Finally she slammed face-first into a large cover. Maya reverted back to her humanoid form.
"Sheesh, leave it to Splatsville to have the crappy sewer system," she muttered, peering through the grate. She found herself looking up at New Octopolis City from the very depths. The city floated above her, unaware of the danger that had just entered into it. Maya slipped through the grate and turned back into an Inkling in the same fluid motion, holding onto the grate. She looked down at the water below her.
Same stupid Octarian dome design. You'd think after their last city collapsed that they wouldn't have water at the bottom of these. Maya began her climb up the screens that wrapped around the dome. She has a long way to go before she reached the headquarters.
New Octopolis City was huge. Like, a whole entire city under Octo Valley, Octo Canyon, Inkopolis City, Inkopolis Bay, Anarchy Bay, and Splatsville huge. New Octopolis City was its own country at this rate. And yet, it still wasn't enough space for all of the Octolings within it. For a while, they had tried to settle down on the surface of Octo Valley and Octo Canyon, but with Agent 4 around, their attempts were catastrophically unsuccessful. So for the time being, the Octolings remained underground, sulking in the shadows.
It was an average night patrol, like usual. Alecs had been assigned to join a couple of Liam's Octolings on a small perimeter walk around the headquarters.
"Aw great," one of them said as Alecs joined their side. "We got Crooked Smile with us."
"What's he going to do, scare children with his smile?" the other one jeered.
"Yes, I get it. I don't want to be here either," Alecs said, waving both of them off. "Let's hurry up and get this over with." The three boys began their patrol. The city was lit up with neon lights tonight.
"What's the occasion for the city being all neon tonight?" one of Liam's Octolings asked.
"Anniversary of DJ Octavio's coronation - 100th one, I think?" replied Alecs.
"Man, that guy's never gonna die," said Liam's other Octoling.
"We've got a king and us guys still get treated like dirt. No, worse than dirt!" The first Octoling threw his hands up in the air in frustration. There was an ominous whoosh behind them, and the three boys turned around.
"What was that?" the second Octoling asked in alarm. The three looked around briefly. Alecs turned around.
"It's probably nothing, let's just move on." He took a few steps forwards, stopping as he realized he was only hearing his own footsteps. Alecs looked back. "Guys?" His eyes landed on two limp bodies lying motionless on the ground. Alecs rushed over to them, checking them over. Neither of them were breathing. Both of them had an instantly fatal knife wound in their backs, specifically to their ink sacs. Alecs jumped to his feet, pulling his mask down and scanning his surroundings. There was another whoosh behind him. Alecs turned around, seeing nothing. He took a breath of relief, putting his hand over his hearts. The Octoling turned to go report the mysterious deaths.
"Boo." Alecs jumped back at the sight of Agent 4 right behind him, falling on his back. Agent 4 took a threatening step towards him, pocketknife out. "Start running." Alecs didn't need to be told twice as he scrambled to his feet and fled the scene.
Maya folded her pocketknife back up and shoved it into her pocket before hurriedly running from the scene of her crime.
Now that there's no one patrolling the outside, I can get in unhindered, she thought. Maya raced inside, ripping off a vent cover and crawling in. She roamed around the headquarters' vents for a bit before she found the room she was looking for: the computer room. A massive, multi-screened computer system sat below her. Nearly three weeks later, Derek would almost entirely lose his very being to this computer. Maya didn't know that of course - she was focused on what was within that main system. She stomped on the vent cover, knocking it from the ceiling to the floor with a loud clanging, before sticking her head in, surveying the room, and then lowering herself into the room. She looked down the hallway both ways. No Octolings in sight. No one to stop her. Maya sat down in the chair and pulled out her phone and a small connection cable, plugging the cable into her phone and the computer. She looked back at the doorway one last time before going to work on the computer's secret files.
Alecs ran as fast as he could to the barracks. He looked back over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't being followed, resulting in him crashing into Monica and Kimberly.
"Yo, Alecs, what's the hurry?" Kimberly asked, trapped beneath both of her superiors.
"Ooooooh, yikes," came a voice. Everyone turned to face Ezra the blind Octoling, who was leaning back against the wall. "Clean up on Isle You." Ezra's leader and Monica's stepbrother, Eddison, approached the mess of Octolings on the floor.
"That looked like it hurt," he said. It was hard to tell if he thought it was funny or if he was genuinely concerned. Alecs begun hurriedly speaking gibberish.
"Calm down, what's wrong?" Monica asked him. Alecs caught his breath at last.
"Agent 4 is here." Shocked looks crossed everyone's faces. "She killed the two Octolings under Liam I was on patrol with. I don't know why she's here or why she spared me, but we have to lock down the whole building."
Meanwhile, Maya was scanning through and downloading several important-looking files, such as info on the Great Octoweapons, Octarmaments, and something call "Project Neo." Her eyes widened at the file on artificials and the detailed process on making them. It made her sick. She downloaded it. Maya found the file on GenMo Octolings and the Genetically Modified Octoling Project. She stood up and leaned into the computer, reading up on how this process of creating Octoling super soldiers out of the youth who had gone through the collapse of Octopolis City would happen, how many Octolings this would affect, who had already gone through it voluntarily, the future plan of forcing every other Octoling into it after the Project was proven successful, the invasion of the surface - detailed with the complete and utter destruction of Inkopolis City which would presumably have casualties in the tens if not hundreds of thousands and with any survivors being enslaved, and the following invasions of the rest of Inkadia, the Splatlands, and finally, the whole planet. And most importantly - how Agent 4 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon was the perfect scapegoat for the fall of Octopolis City, which - as she had mentioned to Eddison's father moments before the ground gave away into the water - had not been inspected properly. Maya sat down in the chair in shock as she continued reading that the whole city was planned to fall at some point; her little trip into it on that fateful Remembrance Day just happened to hurry the process up with Octolings panicking everywhere from her shooting. She put her hands on her head, processing everything. Octopolis City's fall had not been one due to ignorant negligence - it was purposeful. Thousands died, not just because of Maya's unquenchable thirst for vengeance but because of a king who wanted an excuse to better his forces through pain and suffering. Maya hung her head and closed her eyes, leaning back in the chair, a hand on her head. After a moment of silence, she opened her eyes again, and clicked the file to download it.
"I have to get this back to the captain," she said to herself aloud.
"HUH?!" Maya turned around to face a dark blue Octoling with the Surfcurl style who was just passing by the computer room. The two of them stared awkwardly at each other for a moment.
"I really should've thought that to myself instead of speaking it," Maya finally said, grabbing her Hero Shot and pointing it at the unfortunate Octoling. The Octoling reached to press an alarm button on the wall, looking back at Maya. Maya looked back at her phone, which had finished downloading the file. She ripped it and the connector cable out of the computer haphazardly and shoved them into her pocket.
"What are you doing?" demanded the Octoling, his hand still hovering over the button. Maya pointed the Hero Shot at him and switched it to Kill Mode.
"You don't have to do this," Maya said, avoiding his question. "You can just walk away with your life, and I will not fire this weapon." The Octoling looked at her, then to the button on the wall, then back at her. "Come on! Why are you taking so long to come to a decision! Don't you want to live?" He looked at the button and slowly shifted his narrowed eyes back at Maya. He slammed his fist on the button, and the intruder alarm went off all over the headquarters.
BANG!
The Octoling grabbed his chest, and fell back against the wall and limply slid down it, leaving a small trail of dark blue ink behind. Maya ran as fast as she could out of the computer room and to whatever the nearest means of escape was as the alarm blared.
Just then, the alarm went off overhead.
"Someone's already found her," said Monica as everyone looked up at the flashing red light.
"We need to act fast," Eddison said.
"But she could be anywhere!" Kimberly exclaimed in panic.
"Then we'd better start moving before she finds us." Eddison grabbed Ezra's hand to lead him, and the five Octolings began running down the corridor to...well, wherever Maya was not.
"Where do you think she-" Monica cut herself off as everyone came to a sudden halt. "...is."
"What's happening?" Ezra asked. "Why did we stop-" Eddison covered his mouth with his hand. There at the end of the corridor stood Maya, orange eyes, Kill Shot, and headphones glowing in the dark, her silhouette visible as the warning lights flashed. The hearts of the Octolings pounded in their chests. Eddison reached up and touched his Golden Toothpick.
"Come here," he whispered. Maya raised the Kill Shot. The five Octolings scrambled back the way they did and slipped into another hallway right as Maya fired.
BANG!
The shot whizzed past the five as they cowered just around the corner.
"You can't hide," Maya called out. "You know it too."
"We need to run," Alecs whispered.
"Run where? This is Agent 4 we're talking about, she's going to find us eventually," Kimberly snapped quietly.
"Alecs does have a point," Ezra said in a low voice. "I can hear her approaching. If we wait here any longer, we'll be just another addition to her body count. None of us survived the Great Octopolis Tragedy just for that to happen." Monica ventured a slight peek around the corner. Maya was getting closer.
"We need to run," Monica said. "Even if she does find us again, we don't have our weapons on us, and we at least have to make an effort to warn DJ Octavio." Everyone nodded at her in agreement.
"Let's go," Eddison said, and the five Octolings raced down the hallway, disappearing just before Maya reached where they just were.
Autumn reached towards Jewel's breakfast box to sneak a piece of French toast, only to have her wrist harshly slapped away by one of Jewel's tentacles. Derek was sitting on the side of his bed. The nurse had returned and was now checking over Derek's arm with a doctor.
"I do believe you'll be discharged this evening," said the doctor after he and the nurse examined Derek's arm.
"Really? That seemed like it healed kinda fast," Derek said, looking at his cast.
"Well, once it was given the proper treatment, the rest came naturally. It shouldn't be as sensitive as it was previously with the old injury, but it still might be hard to use for a while." The doctor handed the nurse his clipboard. "And we are keeping your father as far away from this room as possible," he added in a low voice but loud enough for Sheldon and the girls to hear. Derek nodded thankfully as he got back in bed and pulled the covers over himself.
"Until this evening, get some rest," added the nurse as she and the doctor left. The moment they were gone, Sheldon opened his laptop.
"Now, where were we?"
"We need to see the king!" Monica exclaimed as she, Alecs, Kimberly, Eddison, and Ezra approached the doors to the throne room. One of the artificials held out a hand to stop them.
"No, stop!" it said. The GenMo Octolings burst past the artificials, through the doors, and into Octavio's throne room.
"DJ, we-" Monica stopped herself short with an embarrassed look. "WHAT THE-"
"DEAR COD!" Kimberly shrieked, and everyone covered their eyes and turned away. DJ Octavio was wearing a shower cap and scrubbing his back with a comically large brush, humming his song I Am Octavio to himself, when he realized he had an audience. The octopus shrieked.
"I'M INDECENT!" he yelled, diving under the ink and resurfacing with his regular helm on instead of the shower cap. "Okay, I'm decent now. What do you want?"
"Agent 4 has infiltrated the headquarters," Eddison explained. Octavio almost fell out of his tub of ink in surprise.
"WHAAAAAAT??? On the 100th anniversary of my coronation too?!"
"We don't know what her goal is but she could be on her way here right now!" Alecs said.
"Call up the other leaders and their squadrons," Octavio ordered. "This is something that we'll need everyone for!"
"My squadron is on their way," Eddison said. He glanced at Monica. "And Number 8's squadron seems to all be here already." Monica, Alecs, and Kimberly glared at him for poking fun at their dwindling squadron. Just then, six Octolings entered in behind the group, one of them being Lydia, Kimberly's older sister. Lydia and Kimberly both glared at each other before Lydia reported to Eddison.
"We're here," she said. "Sorry it took so long."
"At least you're here," Eddison said. "We could use all the help we can get."
Around the headquarters, Octolings were assembling to their squadrons or bunkering down in their barracks. The prison had extra artificials posted to prevent Maya from coming in or any Inklings who got loose in the chaos from going out. The other six squadrons soon made their way into the throne room, with Skylar Rose leading the way.
"I hear we've got an agent infestation," said the cyan Octoling as the leaders all gathered around a small round table.
"Agent 4," confirmed Octavio from his tub, adjusting his shutter shades.
"We need a plan," Kelly said.
"There's no longer any time for a plan," Dylan said next to her. "I say we rush headfirst into danger."
"That sounds like an awful idea!" Daisy exclaimed disapprovingly.
"But Agent 4 wouldn't see it coming," Dylan replied. "It's the last thing she'd expect us to do."
"Okay, when you put it that way, I can see where you're coming from. I still think it's an awful idea though."
"Well, Daisy, do you have any other ideas?" Liam asked with a shrug.
"Well, no. not exactly."
"If this stupid idea IS going to be our plan, let's at least try to perfect it more," Monica suggested.
"We don't have time for that," Kelly snapped. "If we did, do you think we'd be having this conversation??"
"So who are we sending into this hopefully-not-a-death-trap plan?" asked Eddison.
"I think we should send in ourselves and our informants," Phoenix replied.
"That's insane!" Daisy and Monica exclaimed at the same time. Skylar Rose slammed her hands down
"If you want something done right," she began, looking at everyone, "then you gotta do it yourself."
"So the plan is to take ourselves and our informants into the fray, yes?" asked Phoenix. "Because I really don't want anything bad to happen or some kind of miscommunication to occur because of this haphazardly put-together plan-"
"PHOENIX!!" everyone yelled.
"Right, right, not the time."
"I'd like to ask Kimberly to join Alecs and me," Monica said. "Not because I think she'd be an important asset, but because I don't trust your underlings to not kill her while Alecs and I are gone. I know how some of you view us three." Kimberly nodded in silent agreement, as much as she dreaded facing Millie's killer.
"If my little sister is going, then so will I," Lydia volunteered. She and Kimberly turned to each other, and the two green Octolings glared at each other once again.
"Everyone else, you can go back to your barracks and take shelter after we dismiss," Skylar Rose ordered.
"Okay, so it's all eight leaders, all eight informants, and two underlings," said Ezra, with a slight tone of sarcasm. "I can see no way that this goes wrong."
"You can't see at all," retorted Alecs.
"I know, that's my point. This plan isn't going to end well." Ezra crossed his arms, narrowing his sightless eyes. "Honestly, I think we should just let Agent 4 come and put us all out of our misery. I've seen enough of this life and I'm blind."
"EZRA???" Kelly exclaimed in shock.
"Really, bro?!" Liam asked in disgust.
"Not cool, man!" Daisy reprimanded him.
"Hey, where's Number 15?" Dylan asked, looking around. Monica watched as Kelly's face and tentacles turned bright red as she spotted Morgan flirting with a couple of Octolings.
"Either of you cuties want to hang later?" Morgan asked. The Octolings, a boy and a girl, promptly walked away, rolling their eyes in disgust.
"MORGAN!" Kelly shrieked.
"Oh yeah, mission briefing," Morgan said with an "oh no" look on her face and ran back to Kelly's side. Monica slammed her head on the table three times, resting it on the table after the third one.
"We're doomed."
Maya crept through the dark hall, Kill Shot ready at a moment's notice. She heard the sounds of metal Neo Octoling Boots approaching and ducked behind a stack of supply crates, peeking out as a small group of five Octolings came near her location.
"I wanted to see some action," complained one of them.
"It's not fair that Ezra gets to join the hunt but not us. I mean, what good is he? He can't see," whined another Octoling. Maya readied the Kill Shot.
"I bet we could find Agent 4 on our own faster than Number 7 could," boasted a third. Maya pointed and aimed. These Octolings were in her way.
BANG!
One Octoling in the back of the group fell. The other four turned around and screamed, running as fast as they could away from Maya as she approached them slowly. The Inkling callously stepped over the body in the hall. She reached the end, looking down the path Eddison's Octolings had fled down, and choosing to go the other way.
Eddison's squadron minus one suddenly burst back into Octavio's throne room with panicked looks on their faces.
"What happened?" Eddison demanded. "I didn't call you back in here."
"We ran into Agent 4, and she attacked us," explained one of the Octolings.
"She shot Hank," wailed a second Octoling.
"Which way was she going?" Monica demanded.
"She was about halfway between here and our barracks. I can't imagine she's gotten too far." Monica and Eddison looked at each other, and then back at Skylar Rose, who sighed.
"I mean it's not like we had a brilliant plan anyways," said the cyan Octoling. "Your two squadrons are kind of the tracking experts. Go find her, we'll join you later." Monica and Eddison nodded, grabbing their Splatana Wipers and racing out of the throne room with Alecs, Kimberly, Ezra, and Lydia behind them.
Jewel suddenly turned and looked out the window in confusion. The sky was shifting from blue to orange, and the sun was beginning to set.
"Whoa, how long have we been reading this file?" she asked.
"We've been here for nine hours," replied Sheldon. Derek looked down at his box of food.
"Have we seriously been eating our breakfast this whole time?" he asked, questioning the passage of time.
"And you still haven't finished it," Autumn said as she leaned over and snatched a piece of a cinnamon roll.
"Hey!" Derek exclaimed in annoyance because he couldn't stop her due to his cast.
"Can we get back to this please?" Sheldon asked, slightly annoyed because they hadn't finished reading the file yet. "I'd like to finish this before Derek gets discharged in a couple of hours."
Maya found herself in the electrical room, a room about a dozen floors up from the headquarters' ground level. She stepped onto a grated walkway far above the floor. There was a massive glass tube full of Salmonid power eggs. Electricity crackled from it threateningly. Maya reached out to touch it curiously.
"Stop!" Monica reached a hand out as she ran up the stairs, panting. Eddison and the others joined her side, and the six Octolings got their weapons ready. Maya immediately pulled out her pocketknife and pointed it at the tube of eggs as the Octolings came closer. They all froze, eyes on the knife. Maya smirked.
"Ohhh, so you know what this is?" she asked. "And what would happen if, say, I stabbed it?"
"You don't want to do that," Lydia said.
"You're right, I don't want to do that," Maya replied as calmly as possible, lowering the knife slightly. "I assume any contact with this tube's contents would result in a catastrophic explosion that would potentially kill us and a multitude of others." She raised the knife again, and the Octolings braced themselves.
"Look, just back away from the tube," Alecs said as Eddison touched Ezra's shoulder quietly. Ezra got down on one knee and hoisted his E-Liter Scope on his shoulder. Why a blind Octoling uses a scope, we'll never know. Maya shifted her weight, causing the walkway to creak slightly. That was all the indication of her location that Ezra needed. He aimed at her head. Maya's Hero Headphones detected the laser pointed at its wearer and released a loud and repeated beeping alarm. They flashed red and Maya spotted the Octoling right before he fired. Maya turned into a squid and super-jumped just as Ezra fired his shot. Maya twisted in midair as she shifted back into her Inkling form, angling the Kill Shot at the tube of power eggs.
"NO!" Eddison shrieked, reaching out his hand as everyone ducked for cover. Maya pulled the trigger.
A massive fiery explosion ripped through the side of the 12th floor of the army headquarters, as well as severely damaging a few floors above and below. Several city blocks went dark from the sudden power outage. Civilians for miles could see the flames' light illuminate the LED starry sky. There were screams of terror as some of them recalled the fall of Octopolis City a year and a half ago and believed they were going through that once again.
Flames roared around Monica as she stood up and coughed. The grated walkway had been blown in two parts, with Maya on one end and the Octolings on the other.
"I didn't want to have to do that," Maya called to the Octolings as they recovered from the blast. "I was left no choice."
"No choice?" Monica snapped. "You had a choice! A choice to fire or not fire!"
"Number 7 there didn't give me much of a choice when he ordered that sniper to shoot me." Maya's eyes fell on Eddison, who was starting to stand up. He glared at her. "Now if you excuse me, I have places to be. This burning room isn't one of them." Maya turned to walk away.
"Then answer me one question before you go," Monica called to her over the flames. "What happened to Sasha?" Maya froze in her tracks. She turned around to fully face Monica and Eddison.
"Oh? You want to know about what happened to 'Pinkie?' The one who was interested in joining your little squadron?" Monica gave a nod. "I killed her." Maya made sure to annunciate every word of that sentence to make it hit harder. Absolute shock painted itself over the Octolings' faces.
"You WHAT?" Eddison exclaimed.
"I killed her," Maya repeated. "She's been dead for a year."
"You're lying!" Monica screamed.
"I killed her just after I took her from you. Here's my proof." Maya pulled out a small brown bag and threw it over the flaming gap between them. Monica caught it, glanced up at Maya, and opened the bag. She clapped her hands over her mouth to prevent herself from screaming in horror. Eddison reached in and pulled out its contents for the others to see. Everyone had equally horrified reactions to the four translucent severed tentacles - one long and three braided together. Eddison turned to Maya.
"YOU MONSTER!!!" he roared, throwing the tentacles aside. He ran to jump the gap to get to Maya, but Monica and Lydia grabbed him, holding him back.
"Eddison, no!" Monica yelled.
"This is what she wants you to do!" Lydia exclaimed.
"I don't care!" Eddison screamed as the girls held him back. "I need my revenge!"
"And you won't be getting it," Maya said. "Not in this life at least."
"If I can't avenge my birth mother by wiping out the family that took her life, then I can at least avenge my stepmother by taking out you!" Monica gave him an indignant look upon hearing that he wanted to avenge her mother.
"Excuse me?" she asked. "She was my mother before she was yours, I deserve to be the one to avenge her!" Eddison turned back to her.
"Okay? And how are you going to do that when you're so weak?" he asked.
"You think I'm weak?" Monica snapped, drawing her Splatana Wiper. "I'll prove I'm not, right here, right now!" Eddison drew his Splatana Wiper Deco in response. Both stepsiblings stared each other down.
"Um, hey, I don't know if you remember," began Alecs, "but we're currently still inside a BURNING ROOM!! We need to get out of here!" Monica ignored him, and lunged at Eddison, who dodged nimbly. Alecs, Kimberly, Ezra, and Lydia backed away from the fight. Maya meanwhile saw a chance to escape and super-jumped out of the large hole in the building.
"Agent 4! She's getting away!" Kimberly called out to the two fighting Octolings, but they couldn't hear her over the flames and the sounds of their unrelenting Splatanas.
"It's no use, we have to leave!" Lydia exclaimed, grabbing Ezra by his arm. "We've got 30 seconds to get out before the sprinkler system kicks in!" The four raced down the stairs to the exit. They were almost at the bottom of the stairs when they heard a sudden yell came from above. Everyone looked up and watched in horror as Monica fell from the walkway, landing on a part of the floor near the exit door that the flames had not consumed yet.
"MONICA!!" Alecs and Kimberly cried as they rushed to her side. Monica lay there, coughing in the smoke, trying to recover from getting the wind knocked out of her. Her two underlings lifted her up, with Alecs grabbing her Splatana Wiper, and carried her to the door in their arms. Eddison leapt down from the walkway, landing on his feet, and followed them through the door. Lydia and Ezra followed, shutting the door behind them as the flames grew.
"WATER SPRINKLER SYSTEM INITIATING. EVACUATE AREA NOW." Shortly after the automated PA system clicked off, water rained down on the electrical room, and the flames began to die down.
Maya looked up at the flames as they dimmed. The air was smoky, and she smelled like she had been grilled. Maya turned to leave the city and was preparing to super-jump when-
"There she is!" Kelly's voice came. Maya looked back at the large group of Octolings running at her. She was already tired from her escape from the flames and her visit to the headquarters overall, and super-jumped away. She didn't have time for a full-on assault. Maya glanced back as she flew over the headquarters building, planning to return to Splatsville another way. Only one Octoling followed her - a cyan one. Maya landed, jumping back as Skylar Rose landed almost directly where she was just standing. The two stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. It was just the two of them. Two very threatening forces, about to engage in the battle of the century. Then, Maya spoke.
"Are you here to take revenge over Sasha's death too?" she asked.
"I couldn't care less about that insignificant pipsqueak," Skylar Rose replied. "She was an annoyance anyways, distracting everyone from their duties." She took a step towards Maya. "I'm just here to ensure you die."
"Well, we'll see about that," Maya replied with a sarcastic shrug. "I've got a very busy schedule, and I just don't think I can squeeze dying into it." She grinned and Skylar Rose growled frustratedly through her teeth. The two lunged for each other, lavender and cyan ink flying in all directions. Maya fired the Kill Shot directly into Skylar Rose's stomach. The Octoling recoiled in pain, doubling over as she glared at Maya, who watched her curiously. Skylar Rose stood straight up with a grin, the wound in her belly self-healing. Maya's eyes widened. She fired several more shots, the bangs echoing around the darkened city blocks. Skylar Rose took agonized steps towards Maya, each wound healing seconds after it was created.
"I was the first genetically modified Octoling," she boasted as she came closer. "You didn't think the scientists who made me accounted for the Kill Shots after you took them?"
"I don't know what you are," began Maya, raising the Hero Shot in a futile attempt in intimidation, "but I will put an end to you. And I will expose the GenMo Octoling Project for what it really is - a control scheme. A plan to control every Octoling living here." Skylar Rose stopped, raising both eyebrows. Maya meanwhile furled hers in further shock. "You knew that already though, didn't you?"
"You did hear me say that I was the first Octoling to get genetically modified, right? Or are your headphones covering your ears to the point where you can't hear anything I say?" Skylar Rose shot the Kill Shot out of Maya's hand before tossing aside her own Octo Shot.
"You sick monster," said Maya as she held her hurt wrist, her ink beginning to boil with her rage.
"I killed the scientists who made me so that the exact process could never be repeated exactly." Skylar Rose was now standing over Maya, her hair glowing and her voice ringing metallically. "Would you like to see how I did it?" She raised a fist and slammed it down towards Maya, who rolled out of the way at the last moment. Skylar Rose left a small hole in the ground from the impact of her fist, which in itself was like a mini Splashdown. Maya knew she had to act fast. She dodged a second mini Splashdown punch from Skylar Rose. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a water hose, most likely used for fire emergencies. Water was already streaming out of it as if someone had just used it and hadn't turned it off fully. Maya leapt for the hose, burning herself on a few stray water droplets as she grabbed it. Skylar Rose yelled and ran towards her as Maya fully turned on the hose. The hose sprayed full blast at Skylar Rose. The Octoling screamed as water shot at her face and ran into her mouth. Maya was struggling to gain control of it. Skylar Rose's scream turned into a weak garble as more water went down her throat. Maya finally turned the water off, panting from fighting to control the wild hose. She watched as Skylar Rose grabbed her aching but self-healing throat, vomiting up as much water as she could as her insides self-healed. The weakened Octoling looked up at Maya with resentment in her eye as Maya approached.
"If you're...going to...finish...me..." she said through pained breaths, "then get on...with it..." Maya crouched down, staring into her one good eye. In one swift movement, she grabbed Skylar Rose by the throat as soon as it finished healing. She forced the Octoling to look at her.
"And why would I do that," Maya ominously asked her in a low voice, "when I've already won?"
"Won...?" Skylar Rose echoed with a cough. "Won...how? I'm not dead yet."
"I won because I made you afraid of me. You fear me."
"Fear? Can't say I know that word."
"But you feel it. It's all in your eyes, your breathing, your voice, your heartbeats. You fear me, because I scare you." She leaned in closer to her captive's face. "So let me scare you even more. Roughly three weeks from now, you're going to activate your little secret project - Project Neo - and in your attempt to change how history happened, you're going to cause it. You will try to prevent the fall of Octopolis City, but it will happen anyways."
"How...do you know...about Project Neo?" Skylar Rose asked weakly. Maya released her grip on the Octoling and stood up.
"I guess you're going to have to wait and see." The Inkling turned around and walked away, picking up her Kill Shot and switching it back to Splat Mode as she went. Skylar Rose watched her go helplessly, with the full knowledge that Maya was right - she did fear the Inkling.
The seven other squadron leaders were all outside of the headquarters, along with a few other GenMo Octolings. Kimberly and Alecs gently laid Monica on the ground. Monica sat up, looking utterly humiliated and like she wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Eddison stood by, looking at his younger sister.
"Hey, Monica," he called to her. Monica weakly looked up at him. "I won." Eddison turned to go talk to Dylan and Phoenix, and Monica wordlessly lowered her head again. Kimberly and Alecs bent down to comfort her, but there wasn't much they could do otherwise.
"I failed you, Mom..." Monica sobbed.
"I envy your relationship with your mom." The three looked up to see Ezra standing near them. He wasn't looking at them, but it was clear he was talking to them and them alone. "My mother left me when I was a kid. We shared a pair of earrings, and that's all I have to recall her by. Never knew what she looked like. Couldn't even tell you if she survived the city falling or not." The blind Octoling turned to the trio. "You're all lucky you can see. Though, I wouldn't exactly say I'm unlucky for being blind either."
"Your number is 13, Ezra," said Alecs. "It's considered unlucky." Ezra gave an amused snort.
"So it is. Funny how I ended up being the informant for the lucky Number 7." Footsteps approached, and Lydia joined them.
"And speaking of Eddison," she said, gesturing back to the indigo Octoling as he returned with a young purple Octoling wearing a Takoroka Visor.
"Everyone, this is Number 42," Eddison said as he introduced the timid Octoling. "He'll be replacing the member of my squadron that Agent 4 killed tonight."
"Hello, I'm Spencer, and-" began the purple Octoling. "-Wait, did you say I'm replacing someone who died?" Spencer gave Eddison a scared look.
"Yep! AND you'll be joining us in our hunt for Agent 4," Eddison said in an encouraging tone. "Isn't that great? Your first mission will probably be your biggest one ever!"
"B-but I don't want to hurt anyone!" Spencer protested. Eddison laughed and gave him a hard pat on the back.
"Listen to him, isn't he great?" asked the indigo Octoling while Spencer looked like he was questioning all of his life choices. Just then, DJ Octavio was wheeled out in his ink tub for everyone to see.
"We have been attacked by that terrorist Agent 4 once again," he began to the growing crowd of Octolings, both GenMo and regular, "on the 100th anniversary of my coronation too. We will end this fight, by sending the Elite Octobeak's 7th squadron to take her out. They will leave in the morning, and travel to Splatsville to find her. And when they find her..." Octavio paused for dramatic effect. "...Oh-ho-ho! When they find her...THEY WILL KILL HER!" The crowd roared in approval. "Come join me, 7th squadron." Eddison and his seven underlings came over to Octavio's side. Monica met Eddison's eyes. Her stepbrother was clearly reveling in the fact that he was better than her. Monica sighed, hanging her head and leaving. Alecs and Kimberly began to follow, but Monica held up a hand to stop them.
"No," she said quietly, "I just want to be alone." The two watched as their leader left for her room to cry the night away.
Maya folded the Hero Hoodie neatly and gently placed it into the suitcase. The morning sun peeked over the skyscrapers of Splatsville. She made sure everything was in there before looking out the window. The sky looked extra clear. Maya took out her phone, and very quickly typed out everything that had happened since she left Inkopolis, as well as mentioning the fall of Octopolis City - her point of view at least. She wanted to tell them about Project Neo, but knew she couldn't. Maya saved the note as a file called In Case I Don't Make It Back, and saved the file where the retrieved Octarian files were located.
Jewel, Derek, and my replacement will need to know what happened. She pulled an extra phone out of the suitcase before closing it. Maya left the apartment building, stopping to look up at the sky. The sunlight felt extra warm. Maya took a deep breath and made her way to the local post office. She took her suitcase and set it on the counter in front a the jellyfish employee there.
"Do you have a box large enough to ship this in?" she asked. The jellyfish nodded and took the suitcase, laying it in a large box and sealing it shut.
"Where to, ma'am?"
"This address," Maya replied, handing him a small piece of paper with Captain Cuttlefish's Inkopolis address on it. After the suitcase and its important contents were safely left in the hands of the post office, which promised it would be shipped tomorrow morning, Maya left and entered the square of Splatsville again. A breeze blew her hair. The breeze felt extra cool.
"Oh, hey!" came a voice. Maya turned and saw Cassandra running up towards her. "Sally, right? How was your night?"
"It...uhh...was good," Maya replied.
"Would you like to join me and my friends for breakfast?" Cassandra gestured to I-Wei and Priscilla, who waved unsurely from a line at a food vendor. Maya thought about it for a moment, then shrugged.
"Yeah, I'll join you three."
The four Inklings entered I-Wei and Priscilla's apartment, which was a bit bigger than the apartment Jewel and Derek would soon move into. They ate and talked, and Maya found the trio's company comforting. The food tasted extra delicious.
"I can't remember the last time I laughed like this," said the lavender Inkling. "I'd hate to eat and run, but I have to head out now. Thanks for having me."
"Aww, are you going already?" Priscilla asked. Maya nodded, quietly slipping her actual phone from her pants pocket to in between the couch cushions and checking to see if her backup phone was in her jacket pocket.
"Yeah, I'm afraid so," she said, standing up. "It was great spending time with you all."
"I guess we'll see you around then," I-Wei said. Maya hesitated.
"Yeah...I guess you'll be seeing me around," she said, and she walked out, wiping a tear from her eye.
Night fell. Maya sat on a bench, counting down the minutes until her life ended. The known scared her as much as the unknown.
If there's a way to change the future, then I will fight for it, she thought. But I'm not supposed to even be here. Maya got up and walked over to a soda vending machine, and pulled out her back-up phone. Let's do this. She called Cuttlefish, told him she had gotten what she came for, looked up to see the Octolings' reflection in the vending machine's glass, and suddenly found herself taunting Eddison and running. Her hearts pounded. She felt her tentacle get sliced off Ezra's E-Liter shot, and she pulled out her pocketknife to fight back. Ezra smacked her with his E-Liter Scope, and Maya and Eddison got into a fight. The pocketknife got loose, and Eddison grabbed it and raised it up, angled down at Maya's chest. And suddenly the night felt extra cold and the darkness was extra dark.
The popcorn finished popping in the microwave, and Priscilla dumped it into a large bowl. She carried it over to the coffee table as the movie of the night started on TV.
"Oh boy, I can't wait to see Fresh Fish III: Revenge of the Fish again," Priscilla said. "It's my favorite Fresh Fish movie, although I hear a lot of people like Fresh Fish II: The Fish Returns more."
"Uh-huh," said I-Wei as he drew on his tablet at the kitchen table.
"I-Wei, what's your favorite Fresh Fish movie?" asked Cassandra.
"Uh-huh."
"I-Wei, are you even listening to us?" Priscilla asked.
"Uh-huh." Priscilla promptly threw a handful of popcorn at the distracted limegreen Inkling. I-Wei looked up, confused. "What?"
"You're not even listening!" Priscilla exclaimed in dismay. Cassandra rolled her two-colored eyes and shook her head, finding the whole situation humorous. Priscilla jumped back onto the couch, sitting down. She exclaimed in surprise.
"Priscilla, keep it down!" snapped I-Wei with an annoyed expression. Priscilla got up and stuck her hand down in between the couch cushions, pulling out a phone.
"Wait, whose phone is this?" she asked.
"It must be Sally's!" Cassandra exclaimed, taking it. "I'll go see if I can find her real quick." She headed for the door.
"Cassie, it's so late at night," I-Wei said, putting away his drawing tablet and stylus. "Surely Sally can live a night without her phone."
"Sally can come and get it in the morning," added Priscilla. Cassandra shook her head.
"I have to find her, I just have this feeling that I should." The yellow Inkling left through the apartment door, and I-Wei and Priscilla looked at each other with concern.
Cassandra headed in the direction towards Grizzco Industries. She went to turn the corner, but stopped and covered her mouth with a hand. Eight Octolings stood over the body of the Inkling she knew as "Sally."
"Eddison, we have a visitor," said a blind orange Octoling, and the indigo Octoling he was talking to looked back, his red eyes staring Cassandra down.
"A witness!" he groaned. Cassandra took a step back as the other Octolings turned to face her. She knew she was extremely outnumbered. Cassandra whipped around and ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She could hear the Octolings behind her, but she didn't dare to look back. And that whole night, Cassandra ran, with Maya's phone and all of its valuable information in her grasp.
Sheldon closed the laptop as everyone finished reading. The file had covered everything from Octopolis City to the start of the final day of Maya's life. Jewel leaned back against the couch, taking it all in.
"Kelly was right," she said, unsure what to think. "Maya did cause a massacre."
"Kelly?" Derek looked at her. "When did you meet Kelly?"
"We met her trying to get you out of New Octopolis City," Jewel explained. "She and Morgan distracted the others long enough for us to get you out of there."
"I think she likes you," Autumn added.
"She does?" Derek asked with a bit of hope.
"Yeah," answered Jewel, "but it's kind of silly. An Octoling in love with an Inkling? How would that work out?"
"Haha, yeah silly..." Derek trailed off and looked away in embarrassment and also happiness. The girl he loved did love him back! Just then, the nurse came in.
"We're ready to discharge you now, Mr. Cephan," she said. "Let's look at that arm one last time." The nurse went over to Derek's bed, took off his cast, and checked his arm, and while she did that, Jewel leaned in towards Sheldon.
"Did you know about what Maya did?" she whispered.
"I knew about Octopolis City but not in that much detail," Sheldon replied in a low voice. "She didn't want you and Derek to know how deep her hatred for Octolings ran." Jewel looked away, suddenly thinking about her own view on Octolings. "I'm so sorry, I should've told you sooner."
"No, I understand why she didn't want you to tell us," Jewel told Sheldon. "If I did something like that, I can't imagine I'd want the two Inklings I was training to know that too." Jewel and Sheldon looked at Autumn, who seemed deep in thought.
"What's going through your mind?" Sheldon asked. Autumn shifted her eyes to them.
"That name...Sasha," she said. "There was a Sasha in the files I looked into at the police station. It can't be the same Sasha, right? The one I read up on was eaten by a Megalodontia when it attacked a small town just outside of Inkopolis."
"Even if it was the same Sasha," began Jewel, "there's no way to tell since Maya confirmed she killed her in the file when asked about it during the fire with the Octolings."
"It's also not likely that your Sasha would've survived the attack," added Sheldon. "Have you ever seen a Megalodontia, or even a Salmonid for that matter?" Autumn shook her head. "Well, a Megalodontia is a type of King Salmonid. They're massive, and can supposedly eat a whole boat." Autumn looked at Sheldon blankly. "You do know what a boat is, right?"
"Uhhh, sure I do," Autumn replied unconvincingly. The nurse walked over to the trio.
"You're all good to go," she said as Derek got out of bed. "He does need to take it easy on that arm for a couple of days, maybe wear the sling so he doesn't use it, and obviously it won't be as strong as his other arm due to how long it's been damaged, but it should at least be more usable in the long run." The nurse left, and everyone got up and followed her out. The four caught the eye of Dr. Cephan, Derek's father, and there was an awkward stare down. The nurse noticed and quickly went over to Dr. Cephan.
"Sir, you're, uh...wanted on Floor 8," she said. Dr. Cephan turned to head to the eighth floor, glancing back at his son and his friends as he went. The nurse hurriedly waved off Sheldon and the kids, and they hurriedly left without being told a second time.
"I'm sure he won't become a problem later," Sheldon said as they all piled into his Ammo Knights truck.
"If he respects the restraining orders, he won't," Derek said half-heartedly. "Knowing him, though, that's not going to happen."
The apartment door opened, and an exhausted Derek, Jewel, and Autumn entered.
"What a day," Jewel moaned.
"It was a day for you, it was like three days for me," Derek groaned. "I almost became a computer," he said with sudden realization.
"I desire sleep," Autumn said in the most low energy tone you can imagine.
"I'm going to sleep for a whole week," Jewel said.
"I'm sleeping for a whole month," Derek said.
"I feel funny," Autumn commented.
"I think we're all just sleep-deprived. A good night's rest in our beds will fix that," Jewel said with a yawn.
"Yes, I think it will," Derek agreed.
"Good night, you guys," Autumn said, promptly falling on the couch awkwardly and going straight to sleep with a loud snore. Jewel and Derek looked at their golden yellow friend with concern.
"Wow, she went out FAST," Jewel said in somewhat disbelief. She went into her room, and Derek went into his. Derek took out his ponytail holder and laid it on his nightstand next to Sushi the plush shark keychain. As he laid down, Derek glanced at Sushi.
"Thank you for being there with me in the end," he whispered to the small shark before the exhaustion took over.
With our heroes reunited, a whole host of new problems and adventures awaited them. Would the Octolings take advantage of their newfound knowledge retrieved from Derek's mind? Would the agents ever encounter Eddison? Would they even take revenge on him for killing Maya? What was Autumn's true identity? And most importantly, what was Project Neo?