Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

by Diver_Drive_Down

Summary:

Inkopolis is a city ridden with crime. A city covered by the influence of the mob. Within this most dangerous of cities, there is a group of assassins feared by all.

They are the S5. They are ruthless. They are powerful. They are killers.

And their services are dirt cheap.

Chapter 1: Business

The back of the van was dark, the only light a red glow peaking through the windows from a neon sign. Mask groaned a bit, rolling his shoulders before going back to the small package in front of him. Inky sweat rolled down his fingers as he fiddled with the locks, heavy breaths amplified in sound by his gas mask. When he finally managed to open the package, all that could be seen was a small device. A device of his own creation. He shivered as he lifted the device to his face, his mind racing. What a strange power trip it was... he felt like a god-

 

*RING!*

 

"Oi! Mask!"

 

Mask fumbled, almost dropping the device while breathing rapidly. He groaned a bit as he placed the device back in its package, his ear still ringing with the voice of his superior.

 

"Mask!" Army shouted into his ear, "Are you there!?"

 

"Yeah..." Mask sighed, "Whaaaat do you waaaant?"

 

"You good?" he asked, slight worry in his voice, "I can see you through the cameras. You seem real anxious."

 

"Naaaahhh..." Mask said cooly, "Why would I be worriiieed anyways? This'll be the eaaaaasiest job ever..."

 

"Good..." Army seemed restrained, "You do know how important this is though, correct?"

 

"How many times are yooooouu gonna tell me?" Mask groaned, "I knoooow this is a job for Don Houzuki... you reeeaaally think I'm gonna mess this up, huh?"

 

"I mean..." Army said, "You just seemed so-"

 

"If it's so important," Mask interjected, "Then wheeere's Aloha? Or Skull?"

 

"They-" Army paused for a second, a drawn-out sigh escaping him, "We have a lot of work, okay? With services as cheap as ours, it's hard to have all of you on a job."

 

"And whose fault is thaaaat? It ain't mine, and it sure as shell ain't Rider's."

 

"Thanks, man," the driver looked back from his seat, cigarette poking out of his mouth, "By the way, when the shell are we supposed to drop this off? I swear, we've been here for fucking hours!"

 

"Just be patient," Army assured them, "Gastro is still in the bar. Absolutely hammered, might I add. All you need to do is catch him coming out, give him the package, and bolt. Easy, right?"

 

"It's never fuckin' easy..." Rider huffed, lightly slapping the steering wheel, "How you suppose we give it to him, anyways? He's got guards, man. Like, a fuck ton."

 

"And that is why you are always backup," Army sighed, "How about you listen to the briefing next time?"

 

"Really?" Rider began to grow agitated, "THAT'S why I'm always backup?! That's straight salmon-shit, and you know it!"

 

"You two, shut up!" Mask hissed, pointing out the window, "The target's here."

 

Don Gastro was a large man. A very, very large man. He stank of alcohol as he slithered out of the bar, small trail of slime following as he moved. His species was rare in the city, a form of sea-snail like beings, but he had nonetheless made a huge impact on at least one part of the city. He was the man who ran the bars, with the one he was now stumbling out of, The Devil's Advocate, being his absolute favorite.

 

"Betty!" Gastro barked, guards flanking him from all sides, "Get me mah fucking ride, now! I ain't got enough time for this shit!"

 

"Oh..." Mask snickered, fiddling with the package as he stood up, "He doeeesn't have time, that's for suuuure..."

 

"Be careful," Army warned, "Gastro-"

 

"You're the one who said this'd be eaaaaasy," Mask chuckled, "Just watch."

 

Mask opened the door of the van and stepped out, full body finally visible in the dim street light. He wore his signature gas mask, alongside a beautiful tux that he had one of his buddies tailor specifically for him. There was a small embroidery on the front pocket, a small depiction of a mushroom cloud.

 

He walked over to the drunk snail, smile widening as he slowly opened the package. One of Gastro's guards, a tall octoling, noticed Mask approaching and stopped him, holding out her hand.

 

"What is your business, Mask?" she asked coldly, "You know Gastro-"

 

"Gastro and I are buuuuuddies," Mask shook his head slightly and handed her the package, "Look, just let him knoooow I got a giiiift for him. Something reeeeal nice, a little thank-yoooou for his generous tip last time..."

 

The octoling looked down at the package, shaking it a bit in her hands before relenting. "Fine, I shall deliver this gift to him. If this is some kind of prank, though, you're dead meat."

 

"A praaank?" Mask laughed, "Me? If I waaaas Aloha, I get why yoooou'd be asking, but little old meeee? That's a laugh."

 

"It sure is..." she gave him a small wave as he retreated towards the bar, still eyeing the package in her hands. Was he really-

 

"BETTY!" Gastro yelled, "Get tha FUCK in the limo, or I'm leavin' ya on the road!"

 

"Yes, sir..." Betty sighed, dragging herself into the car.

 

As the car left, Mask swung open the doors to the bar. He swung by the counter, only to notice Rider was already there, and on his third drink, no less.

 

"What happened to backuuuup?" Mask asked, then pointed at the shot-glasses by Rider's hands, "Yooou know you're still driving, right?"

 

"Shell yeah I know," Rider huffed, "It's all I fucking do. As for the 'backup', I could tell ya didn't need any. Would've insulted your capabilities by helpin' ya, you know?"

 

"And they say chivalry is deaaaad..." Mask chuckled, tapping his fingers on the table until the barkeep came over.

 

"What would you like?" the barkeep was a cyan inkling with curly tentacles. Each one was tipped with a white color, which Mask found quite strange. Out of all colors to combo your tentacles with, why choose white and cyan?

 

"A Black Betty," Mask let out a stifled laugh. He didn't usually try to be funny, but when he did, he was a codamn comedian. "With some saaaalt around the rim, please."

 

"No probs, Mask," the barkeep gave him a kind smile, then started on the drink.

 

"A Black Betty?" Rider asked, "I thought you fucking hated that beer shit."

 

"Well..." Mask could barely contain his laughter, "Sooorry if that's a bit shocking for ya..."

 

"I don't care," Rider flipped a new cigarette up to his mouth and lit it, "Just making sure you don't make me look like a dumbass."

 

"Yoooou won't have to worry about thaaaaat..." Mask said as the bartender walked back over, "You do a fine enough job of that yourself..."

 

"Ugh..." Rider sighed, but Mask could see the slightest bit of a smirk creep up his face.

 

"This to your fancy?" the bartender handed Mask his drink, smiling slightly.

 

"Oh yeeees..." Mask gave him a small thumbs-up, "The perfect drink, for the peeeerfect night..."

 

"Oh really?" the barkeep asked, "How so?"

 

"Is juuuust good," Mask smirked, "Is juuuust good..."

 

Mask chuckled some more to himself, fully cognizant of the scene that had already formed just a few blocks away.

 

There, out on Shakedown Street, was what remained of a shiny black limo. Paramedics ran about frantically, police officers trying their best to stop any civilians from looking too hard at the scene.

 

One of the officers, a short inkling named Goggles, peeked his head into the car. There was smoke coming from the back, a horrible smog that made his eyes water. He moved to the back and whipped open the door, jaw dropping when he saw what laid inside.

 

It was the completely fried body of Don Gastro, a small burned package in his hands. Goggles almost puked as he moved closer to him, morbid curiosity sadly getting the best of him. He felt a strange sensation across his arm, causing him to jolt backwards as the charred and mutilated body of an octoling collapsed in front of him.

 

"Mask..." the octoling gasped, ink spilling from her throat, "I am going to *cough* fucking kill you..."

 

She went limp. Goggles scrambled backwards, yelling to his fellow officers to come over. Two of his squad-mates, Specs and Headphones, came over immediately, eyes widening as they saw the carnage.

 

"What the shell..." Headphones said, almost gagging, "What the absolute shell happened?"

 

"Some improvised explosive..." Specs lifted the dead octoling's face off the ground, "Judging by the charring, but distinct lack of fire... definitely harnessing some form of electricity."

 

"I d-don't care what it harnessed," Goggles said breathlessly, "Y-You guys know anything about a Mask?"

 

"Mask..." Specs rubbed his chin, a habit that annoyed the shell out of both of his cohorts, "Nah, never heard of him. Headphones?"

 

Headphones didn't answer, jaw agape as she tried to process what Goggles had just said. She shivered a bit, turning quickly from her fellow officers and rushing away from the scene.

 

"Headphones!" Goggles shouted after her, "Who the shell is Mask!?"

 

"Just come on!" she shouted back, "We gotta get back to the precinct, NOW."

Chapter 2: Sleepless

Headphones paced tirelessly about the briefing room, muttering to herself as she continued pinning small photos and newspaper clippings onto a cork-board. All her squad-mates could do was watch as she seemed to spiral, her mutterings becoming louder before she finally stopped and turned to them.

 

"Specs!" she barked, causing the inkling in question to almost fall out of his chair, "Could you take some notes, please?"

 

"Sure..." Specs pulled out a notebook, "But what the shell for?"

 

"Yeah," Goggles said, fidgeting around the styrofoam coffee cup in his hands, "What are we doing, again?"

 

"We're, ugh..." Headphones sighed, "Bobble, could you please-"

 

"Huh?" Bobble lifted her head from the table, huge smile on her face, "Oh, sorry Phones. Just taking a power-nap, is all!"

 

"I am going insane-" Headphones shook her head, "No! Just look, guys!" she pointed to the cork-board, "This is really important, like the fate of the entire city is in balance important, so listen up!"

 

"Really?" Specs scoffed, "Who are those guys anyways? They just look like a bunch of common crooks!"

 

"Yeah, well..." Headphones began to pace again, "These guys are much more. They are the S4, the most dangerous band of mercenaries in the entire city. The man who Goggles heard about, Mask, is some kind of narcotics and explosives expert, and was definitely the one who made the device that killed Mr. Gastro."

 

"Mh-hm..." Specs was jotting down notes at a rapid pace, "And who are the rest?"

 

"This one," she pointed to a photo of an inkling in a skull mask, "Is their leader, Skull. He is a deadly assassin, and a master marksman. He has only ever missed one target that we've heard of, and that was when he failed to kill one of the owners of Houzuki-Ida Enterprises, Pearl Houzuki.

 

"What?!" Goggles spat out a bit of his coffee, "He tried to kill THE Pearl Houzuki of Houzuki-Ida Enterprises!?"

 

"Yeah!" Bobble said, "That's what she just said, Goggles! I'm beginning to think you need hearing aids!"

 

"Shush!" Specs hissed, then turned back to Headphones, "And the others? Who are they?"

 

"There is Aloha..." Headphones pointed to a mugshot of a pink inkling in tropical wear, "He is the only member of the crew who has ever gone to prison, having been a petty criminal before joining them. Right after he got out, he joined the S4. Very little is known of him outside of that, but at least it's more than our last suspect."

 

She flipped over the board, revealing a large silhouette with a huge white question mark over it. Red letters above the picture read "THE MASTERMIND", and there was an entire spool's-worth of thread connecting the picture to photos of murder and theft scenes.

 

"This is Army," Headphones said, "And we know only one thing about him. He is the man who masterminds all of the S4's plans. He talks in their ears, telling them what to do and where to go. He supposedly has a huge connection of spies, cameras, and the like scattered throughout the city, but we have no definitive proof."

 

"So why did they kill Gastro, then?" Goggles asked, "He never did anything!"

 

"On the contrary," Headphones flipped the board back over, pointing at a photo of Gastro, "He did plenty! The most elite of officers, the X-Ranks, have been on his tail for a while on suspicions of mafia connections. They've been getting real close, and may even now have all the information they need to shut down his entire empire. Whoever hired the S4 must've realized this and sent them to dispose of him before he could be arrested."

 

"Wait a sec," Specs paused, "How do you know what's going on with the X-Ranks?"

 

"I-" Headphones sighed, "I don't like to-"

 

"She was dating one of them!" Bobble blurted, wide smile still on her face, "I think it was that Vintage guy, right?"

 

"VINTAGE?!" Specs laughed, "The guy with the bowl cut?!"

 

"I don't like that guy," Goggles added, "He always treats me like I'm a kid, or something. He's such a meanie!"

 

"Officers?"

 

The four officers stopped immediately, all turning to the briefing room door. Standing there was their captain, who may have been small in stature, but was nonetheless overwhelming in presence.

 

"Captain Q. Cumber!" Headphones gave the captain a little salute, "We were just talking about the murder of Mister Gastro, sir!"

 

"Lower your codamn arm..." C.Q. shook his head slightly, then looked up at the cork-board, "Wow, that sure is a lot of... stuff."

 

"I know, right?" Goggles said, "I don't even think I can read any of it, it's so small!"

 

"Well," C.Q. said, "Sorry for interrupting, officers. Just wanted to check in. Speaking of, how has your investigation of the Weed Demon been going?"

 

"Oh, umm..." Specs looked to his fellow officers to come to his aid, but none of them did, "Well you see, cap, umm... we kind of lost her."

 

"What?"

 

"We lost her!" Bobble explained, "You see, we were about to get her, she was gonna be at this really neat casino or something, but then she never showed! When we talked with our contact, it turned out she bolted for Splatsville!"

 

"Hmm..." C.Q. nodded slightly, "Splatsville, huh... Well, that's as much as you could've done, good work. I'll contact my guys in Splatsville, ask if they've seen anything."

 

He slinked out of the briefing room, stretching out a long tendril to slam the door shut. After a few seconds of silence, Headphones slammed her fist against the cork-board, the sudden noise causing Goggles to nearly jump out of his seat.

 

"Hey!" he yelled, "I could've spilled my coffee!"

 

"Sorry," Headphones rubbed her forehead, "I just- I never thought they'd do something like this. Vintage said that Gastro ran most of the city, he was the biggest guy, but- Maybe he was wrong..."

 

"It's a bigger mob boss or a power vacuum," Specs pointed out, tapping his pen lightly on the table, "Either way, we're screwed."

 

"We're not screwed!" Bobble assured them, "We just gotta work extra hard, and these streets'll be clean in no time!"

 

"What I would do for your optimism..." Headphones sighed, "But you're right. No use in worrying too much over this. I'll go ask captain if we can head a case investigating these guys. In the meantime, you guys can take a break, or something."

 

"Bye Phones!" Bobble waved as Headphones left, huge smile on her face.

 

"Mercenaries, huh?" Specs chuckled to himself, "Wait! Maybe I could get cap to get us in contact with those P.I.s again! I gotta go!"

 

He zoomed out of the briefing room, leaving Bobble and Goggles alone. Bobble stood up to leave, but noticed something up with Goggles. He seemed really on-edge, even more so than usual, his fingers tapping incessantly on the table and his hands shivering.

 

"Hey Goggles?" Bobble leaned down by him, "You good, buddy?"

 

"Yeah..." despite his words, he was still shaking, "I just need something to cool down, is all."

 

"How about drinks?" Bobble asked, "Oh! Maybe we could go get some soda pop and go sit by the Squid Sisters' old studio! Remember when we used to do that?"

 

"Hmm..." Goggles smiled a bit, "Yeah, I remember. Good times, good times."

 

"It's still good times!" Bobble insisted, grabbing Goggles by the arm and pulling him up, "I'll show you! We'll have the best old-school hangout you've ever been to!"

 

"Really?" Goggles chuckled, "And what if it isn't?"

 

"Then I'll be reeeeeaaaaalll sad..." Bobble fell over very melodramatically, giggling as she fell into Goggles's arms, "I'll cry for days and days, and then all of my tears will create a flood that drowns the entire city!"

 

"That's one way to get rid of the crime!" Goggles's smile was just as wide as Bobbles at that point. He helped her back up, holding her hand in his as they walked out of the briefing room.

 

"Soda, here we come!"

 

---

 

Aloha yawned as he stretched across his beanbag, movements very cat-like in nature. Mask would just use that as more reason to call him a pussy, but that insult always fell upon deaf ears.

 

"Are you ever going to get the fuck up?" Rider huffed, tapping Aloha's head lightly with his boot, "Army says we got another caller in, wants you to do some work for 'em."

 

"Who's callin'?" Aloha rolled over, flopping off of the beanbag and onto the cold floor, "It better not be that Grizz fucker again. I don't care if I'm good at massacring salmon, I don't wanna fucking do it!"

 

"It ain't Grizz," Rider sighed, tapping Aloha's head a few more times, "It's some high-profile guy. One of the Golds."

 

"The Golds?!" Aloha immediately shot up and straightened himself out, "Why didn't you start with that!? Which one is it!? Is it the KING?! It better not be the king-"

 

"Get a fucking grip, Jesus," Rider smacked Aloha lightly on the shoulder, "It's his right-hand. Squidkid, or whatever."

 

"Squidkid JR." Aloha corrected him, shaking slightly, "What kinda job do they want?"

 

"Don't know, don't fucking care," Rider flipped open his lighter, only to realize that he hadn't yet put a cigarette in his mouth. He grumbled a bit as he fiddled around his pockets, but there were no Marlboro's to be found.

 

"Okay!" Aloha rushed out of the lounge, "See ya later, then!"

 

"Hope it's from an open casket!" Rider shouted back, chuckling lightly to himself.

 

Aloha rushed into Army's main base of operations, a room of screen-covered walls and many, many empty cans of energy drinks. Aloha slowed down as he approached the orange inkling, who was now leaning over his holo-table. It was a marvel of modern technology, to be sure, but Aloha had absolutely no clue how the shell it worked.

 

"Aloha," Army said, not looking up from the table, "Squidkid Jr. of The Golds has a message for you."

 

"What is it?" Aloha asked, bouncing slightly up and down on the balls of his feet.

 

"He says: 'I have a job for you, Aloha of the S5. There is a small group of private detectives that have been meddling in our business. We don't know who they are, but we do know that they may have ties to the Squid Sisters.'"

 

"Squid Sisters?" Aloha squinted, "I thought they were dead!"

 

"They just disappeared, you dolt," Army grumbled, "Anyways: 'One of these P.I.s has recently been hired to help out on the Don Gastro case, at the request of Police Captain Q. Cumber. If you find this private eye and return them to us, you will be rewarded handsomely. And if you deliver him back to us dead you shall also be rewarded, just less handsomely. Full reward will be 300000 coins, reward for a corpse is half. I hear you guys can work for real cheap.'"

 

"That's it?" Aloha asked, glancing down at Army.

 

"The fuck else do you want? His I.P. address?" Army said, "Just go do the job, for Christ's sake. C.Q. runs the 99th precinct, by the way. Right near where Mask, you know..."

 

"Made some shockingly good escargot," Aloha laughed.

 

"Yes," Army groaned, "Just go do it, please? We can't afford to disappoint The Golds, especially not now. We've got about a week till Octavio's scheduled return, and when he finds out we killed Gastro, all shit's gonna break loose."

 

"Well, we know how hard it is for you to deal with loose shit!" Aloha just narrowly dodged a smack from Army, "And with that, I am off! See ya later, grumpy-pants!"

 

"Mh-hm..." Army collapsed on the holo-table, getting his first bit of sleep in three days.

Chapter 3: Payment

Skull shivered as he stepped into the penthouse, the chill of incessant air conditioning battering him from all sides. He clutched his arms to his chest, grumbling to himself as he sat down on the white leather couch in the middle of the room. As he expected, it was cold as sin, but Mrs. Houzuki never liked walking in on standing guests.

 

Speaking of the pygmy squid, she entered the room soon after, a small frizzy cat sleeping in her arms. She wore her full garb, a black suit with gold, spiky flourishes. Skull had always heard that her love for what really boiled down to a shiny yellow was genetic, as she was supposedly the cousin of the King of The Golds. That was only rumor, however, and there were already plenty of things about Pearl that made her stand out.

 

"Hello, assassin," Pearl snarled lightly, a tactic Skull had observed her use in their every conversation, "What is your business with us, and this early in the morning, no less?"

 

"I am here for our payment," Skull said bluntly, "Mask was told he would get a payment sent directly to him, but that has not happened yet. You know how much I hate liars, Houzuki."

 

"It is Mrs. Houzuki," Pearl began scratching her cat behind its ears, causing him to wake up and roll over in her arms, "And I am no liar. Your payment will be in soon, just be patient. I am a working woman, you know."

 

"Mh-hm," Skull was unconvinced, but stood up to leave anyways, "I'll be taking your word for it, Houzuki. I expect your dog will come by and pay us? Or is he Ida's dog? I forget."

 

"It is Mrs. Houzuki and Mrs. Ida!" Pearl shouted, the sheer volume of her voice knocking Skull off his feet. He tried to stand up, but was stopped by her boot landing on his chest, pinning him in place. "Look, assassin, you have no power here, got that? I don't care how much you and your buddies jerk each other off and around, but that behavior will not be tolerated in my presence!"

 

"Sorry," Skull said quietly, letting his head fall back. Pearl smirked, finally lifting her boot off of him. Skull stood back up, and swore he could see her cat glaring at him.

 

"Get out of my apartment," Pearl seethed, "NOW."

 

"Yes-" Skull stopped himself, sighing deeply, "Mrs. Houzuki."

 

"Good," Pearl smiled her faux-sweet smile, the one that never failed to make Skull want to throw up. He dragged himself out of the apartment, ears still ringing from Pearl's shout.

 

Aloha was right, she really was a "Live Killer Wail".

 

---

 

"So this is the guy?"

 

Headphones looked the octoling up and down, nodding slightly to herself. He just shot her an awkward smile and wave. Specs jumped in, pulling a measuring tape out of nowhere and running it around the man's waist.

 

"Woah," the octoling pushed him away, "What the shell is any of that for?"

 

"Need to know who I'm working with..." Specs was vigorously writing in his notebook, "Speaking of, can I ask how fast you are?"

 

"I don't know!" he chuckled nervously, then turned back to Headphones, "You guys wanted my help on the Gastro case, right?"

 

"Yeah," she held out her hand, which he shook, "I'm Headphones, by the way."

 

"Hachi," he smiled warmly.

 

"That's a mighty strange name..." Specs kept jotting down notes, "Must be octarian!"

 

"It is," Hachi sighed, "And you are...?"

 

"Specs," he said quickly, "Some people say my name is Glasses, and those people are wrong. Don't listen to those people."

 

"Okaaaay..." Hachi looked over at Headphones, but she just shrugged, "So what do you guys need me to do? Forensics? An autopsy? I could maybe contact some of my buddies with mob connections, get them to see who did this..."

 

"Mob connections?" Specs raised his eyebrow, "Now why would you-"

 

"Just some buddies," Hachi said non-chalantly, "It pays not having to follow the law 100%."

 

"Uh..." Specs looked at Headphones, but she just shrugged. He sighed, stepping away from Hachi and shaking his head slightly.

 

"Okay..." Headphones said, "So Hachi, do you maybe have anything more on these guys? Maybe any potential locations, or common hangouts?"

 

"Sadly, no," Hachi pulled out a small notepad from his pocket, "But I do have an interesting tidbit. Something that may help us catch at least one of these guys."

 

"What is it?" Specs leaned over, trying to get a glance at the notepad.

 

"It's not exactly a hangout spot..." Hachi stepped back to make sure neither of them could see the notepad, "But I do know a common obsession of one of them. My sources state that Skull actually has a major sweet-tooth, and that he regularly buys candies from that store over on Electric Avenue, the one with the huge soda machines."

 

"And what source is this, exactly?" Specs asked, "An illegal one, I bet."

 

"Specs!" Headphones flicked Specs on the ear, "That is invaluable information he just gave us, and you're going to-"

 

"How do we even know it's real? Huh?"

 

"I'll just have to show you," Hachi said, their attention immediately turning to him, "Specs, you can join me in staking out the candy store while Headphones here can act as backup. I'll show you that Skull goes there, and we will catch him!"

 

"Hmmm..." Specs frowned, but still held out his hand, "Fine. It's a deal. You try anything funny, though, and you'll be under my Octobrush faster than you can blink."

 

"That's fine with me," Hachi smiled kindly as he shook Specs's hand, "I wouldn't have it any other way!"

 

"What-" Specs looked back over at Headphones in confusion, but she just shrugged again.

 

---

 

It was beautiful out by the time Goggles and Bobble got to the old recording studio, the sun shining brightly in the sky and a nice cool breeze to keep them from boiling. Goggles laughed as he saw Bobble try to carry two entire cases of soda up the stairs with her, catching her when she almost fell.

 

"Thanks," she smiled, sitting down and cracking open a soda.

 

"No probs," Goggles said, opening one of his own, "Can't drink soda if it's all shaken up!"

 

"Yep..." Bobble looked out at the plaza beneath them, then back to the window. It was dirty and foggy now, after years of neglect. It struck her heart in a strange way, like a sad form of nostalgia. She was rarely one to frown, but the thought did make her smile diminish a little bit.

 

Goggles looked over at her, taking small sips of his soda. He never much liked drinking, yet another thing he and Bobble shared. Soda always tasted better, and it was highly unlikely that it could ruin your life. Noticing Bobble's strange silence, he tapped her on the shoulder.

 

"You good?" he asked.

 

"Yeah..." Bobble smiled a little, "Just thinking of when we were younger, you know..."

 

"Yeah, I know," Goggles smirked, "Remember that time we accidentally exploded that entire box of soda?"

 

"How could I forget?" Bobble giggled, "Oh, and the Squid Sisters' faces when they saw it, right through the window!"

 

"Definitely!" Goggles took another quick sip of his soda, "I haven't seen anyone's eyes wider before or since! Their jaws were actually almost on the floor!"

 

"Mh-hm!" Bobble nearly choked on her soda, she was laughing so hard, "Oh, and then Rider came by and-"

 

She stopped, nearly freezing as she saw Goggles tense up. His smile had instantly faded, his fiery joy snuffed out in a single snap. He put down his soda, looking out into the city at the bustling people and cars below. It was always quite loud, the city. A loud that Goggles usually embraced, loved to no end. But now, he wanted nothing more than for it to be silent. For all noise to just stop existing.

 

"Yeah," he said after a minute, picking back up his soda and pressing the can to his lips, "I remember."

 

"Goggles, I'm-"

 

"Don't be sorry," Goggles said quietly, "There's no reason to be sorry. Come on, have some more soda."

 

"I-" Bobble sighed, grabbing another can of soda and slowly gulping down its contents. She gave Goggles a small smile before letting out a disturbingly loud burp, which seemed to bring just the smallest of smiles to his face.

 

Goggles let out a deep breath, swinging his legs off of the ledge. He went to take another sip of his soda, but didn't bother. That was the one problem with soda, at least compared to alcohol. You can't get the same buzz, the same carefree attitude as when you were drop-dead drunk. You can't pretend like nothing exists, and just party the whole night through.

 

You can't drink your problems away; make them all go silent.

Chapter 4: Paranoia

Skull was rarely ever stressed. Army always said he was too laid-back, but he really just didn't usually care that much about things. Unlike Mask's indifferent apathy, however, he sometimes did have stuff to worry about. Occasionally, about every once in a blue moon, he even worried too much.

 

Skull's mind raced. He knew he hadn't done anything wrong, but his gut kept telling him he did. He groaned as another low growl came from his belly, a few other inklings staring at him as he waited for the train. He never wore his bandana in public, instead opting for a simple yellow facemask, and always colored his tentacles yellow so that nobody would get suspicious. There were still his strange eyes, but that was easily covered by a pair of sunglasses. His stomach growled again, drawing even more unwanted attention. Maybe he was just hungry. Yeah, that was it.

 

As Skull boarded the train, though, he could immediately tell something was off. He got this strange feeling along his back, a feeling he only ever got when he knew he was being watched. He glanced around quickly, but there seemed to be nobody in the entire train car besides him, a really old guy, and a family of four. He smiled a bit as he watched the two kids play-fighting, their mother groaning in annoyance while their father laughed at their antics. Skull looked up and-

 

The old man was gone.

 

Skull whipped his head around, eyes wide. Where the shell did he go?! The train was moving at over a hundred miles an hour, on closed subway tracks, no less! He looked up, but mentally slapped himself in the face. Why, and how, would he be on the ceiling?!

 

"Urgh..." Skull moved towards where the guy had been sitting, eyes glued to the floor. The man had to have been in his squid form, that was the only way he could've just... disappeared like that.

 

"We will soon be arriving at Electric Avenue."

 

That was Skull's stop, but he still wasn't sure if he should actually go. His stomach growled again, urging him to get off, but his eyes were still keen on finding that old man. That man knew something, Skull was sure of it. How or what, he didn't know, but he also didn't care.

 

"Hey, squiddo!"

 

Skull jumped, his hearts drum-rolling in his chest. Turning around slowly, he came face-to-bearded-face with the old man, who had their hand held out. Looking down, Skull could also see his other hand wrapped around a Bamboozler, which the man seemed to be using as a cane.

 

"H-Hi..." Skull's breath was shaky. He honestly hated being caught off guard like this, but at least it kept his cover more sound. Then again, he wasn't totally sure how sound it was, anyways...

 

"Nice to meet ya!" the old man grabbed Skull's hand and shook it, "Name's Craig, if you wanna know. What's a strapping young lad like you doing all alone? Don't you have any friends to hang out with?"

 

Well, that was strangely ominous.

 

"N-No sir," Skull pinched himself lightly on the neck, a small habit he had gained back in school.

 

"Oh, sorry about that then," Craig smiled, "I just thought a nice lad like you would have some buddies, is all."

 

"I mean..." Skull paused, thinking very carefully. He really shouldn't be this scared of an old man, but his mind just seemed to be working in overdrive today. "I have some friends... they just aren't available."

 

"Of course, that-" Craig paused for a second. Skull was about to ask what for, but then a loud ringing came out from the intercoms.

 

"Arriving at, Electric Avenue. Have a nice day."

 

"That's my stop!" Craig stepped out of the train while waving his hand, "Nice speaking-"

 

"It's my stop too," Skull wanted to punch himself in the face. He could've just lied, gone to the next stop, and walked back to the candy store. The hole had already been dug, though, so he just stepped out of the train and followed Craig out of the subway station. The geezer kept talking the whole way up, but Skull couldn't be bothered trying to pick his voice out of the hundreds that were surrounding him, all hustling and bustling to get somewhere.

 

When they got out onto the street, Skull could already see the candy store. It was called Rainbow's End, and it was the most wonderful place Skull had ever been. It had an endless selection of candies and pastries, as well as the hugest and most diverse soda machines ever conceived by any person, ever. Skull practically salivated just looking at the colorful sign, and thanked the Great Zapfish yet again that Aloha wasn't there to see him.

 

"So anyways-" Craig cut himself off quickly, noticing the candy store, "Ah, I guess this is where we actually part, then. Nice meeting you, squiddo, I hope to see you later!"

 

"You too," Skull said automatically, attention still mostly on the store.

 

"You know," Craig let out a long sigh, "You're such a nice kid, you know that? And, well, I'm just saying that it's such a shame when niceness like yours is wasted. I hope you can use it for good."

 

"What-" Skull whipped around, but Craig was already gone. The old man had never even asked for his name, but Skull had a horrible thought that they just didn't need to. He needed a distraction before he had a full-on paranoia attack, and fast.

 

Skull quickly rushed into the store, whistling lightly to himself as he walked up to the counter. The guy at the register was a male octoling, a bright pink tentacle laid over his face.

 

"Welcome to Rainbow's End!" the cashier smiled widely, "What would you like on this beautiful day?"

 

"Um..." Skull was mostly caught off guard by the cashier's friendliness, something that he wasn't familiar with. Maybe he was just some new guy. Skull didn't recognize him either way, so that just made sense. "I'll just take a small bag of jawbreakers, and a large drink."

 

"Coming right up!" this guy was really enthusiastic, shoveling the jawbreakers into the small bag with a vigor that seemed to rival even that of Aloha. He quickly handed Skull the bag, and then whipped out a large plastic cup.

 

"Thanks," Skull said, grabbing the cup and walking off to the soda machines. His mind was still racing as he poured himself a Drizzle Cola. He shouldn't be so suspicious of that kid, but Craig still seemed to be messing with his head. Skull could just imagine Army screaming at him now, telling him to get a codamn grip and whatnot.

 

He walked out of the store, slipping a hand under his mask and popping a jawbreaker into his mouth. The city was really loud at this time, people always having a place to be. Skull personally didn't have anywhere to be, but that just made the noise all the more apparent to him. He popped a pair of cephalo pods in his ears, the discordant tunes of ω-3 pouring into his ears. Army and Rider had always hated such music, claiming it to be "Monstrous" and "Not even real music", but Skull was always too busy humming to the heavenly tune of Bait & Click (Mutation) to care.

 

There was just something about the salmonid music, something that spoke to him. A discordant and clunky melody is still a melody, after all. It's honestly a triumph, being able to make pots, pans, and the occasional cello sound that good.

 

Skull had heard once that ω-3 did concerts during Big Runs, but sadly those only ever happened in Splatsville. Maybe if they happened in Inkopolis, those crazy fish could just wash all of his worries away.

 

No more deafening noise, no more crazy police officers...

 

Just a quiet city. Just him and some really chill salmon people, listening to that heavenly cello together.

 

"Yeah," Skull smiled, pulling his mask down and taking a quick sip, "that would be nice."

Chapter 5: Control

It was almost pitch-black in the lounge when Skull walked in, which meant that only Mask was there. He stumbled around for a second before finding and flipping on the lights. The entire room lit up, and a shrill hissing could be heard from the couch. Skull chuckled a bit, popping another jawbreaker in his mouth and sitting down next to Mask.

 

"Nice to see you too," Skull shook the bag of jawbreakers in front of Mask's face. The cyan inkling groaned, flipping onto his back and sitting up. He slapped the side of his mask lightly, a small valve opening in the nozzle-mouth of his mask. Skull could barely stifle his laughter as he watched Mask try his best to shove his hand fully in, finally being able to get the jawbreaker with his tongue.

 

"That never gets easier," Mask grunted, jawbreaker audibly swirling around his mouth, "And I can assume you had a fun time?"

 

"It was..." Skull contemplated telling him about Craig, but then Army would find out and have a panic attack so... nah. "Yeah, it was nice. You have a good time, vampire squid?"

 

"That sonuvabitch Hivemind came over," Mask rolled back onto his belly and stretched his arms in front of him, "Gave me my money, but I swear. That man has five sticks up his ass, and they're all named Marina Ida!"

 

"Never liked him either," Skull said cooly, already done with his jawbreaker. He popped another one into his mouth, just barely noticing that the bag was already half empty. "You gotta take your lumps, though. No use complaining if he gave ya the money, right?"

 

"Eh," Mask sighed, "He's so obnoxious, too. Only man I've met more obnoxious than him is-"

 

"Aloha?" Skull smirked.

 

"Yep," Mask chuckled hoarsely, then let out a small cough, "Ah damn... you remember where my drops are?"

 

"If they're yours, maybe you should keep better track of them," Skull flicked one of Mask's tentacles. For all of the shit that he did with noxious chemicals, Mask somehow had the best kept tentacles of the entire group. Aloha kept saying it was because he probably made some super-shampoo, but Skull just assumed he had a really good care routine.

 

"Ah shit..." Mask let his arm fall off of the couch, swaying lightly, "I fucking hate cough syrup, you know I do. Almost as much as I hate-"

 

"Aloha," Skull chuckled, "Speaking of the bastard, where is he?"

 

"Off on some job," Mask coughed, "Mission from one of The Golds, told him to capture a private eye, or something."

 

"Capture or kill?"

 

"Capture, but they'll pay half if he's dead," Mask snorted, "They want the body either way."

 

"Hmm..." Skull shoved two jawbreakers into his mouth, swishing them around as he put his cephalo pods back in. He flipped open his shellphone and turned on Frothy Waters, fingers tapping on Mask's back to the beat.

 

Mask looked back at Skull and smirked. He rolled off of the couch, landing with a light thud and immediately jumping back up and dusting himself off. He slumped off towards the mini-fridge, coughing a bit more as he pulled out a small yogurt cup and retreated off to his room.

 

"Skull!" Army appeared in the doorway to the main room, eyes frantic and face glistening with sweat, "I just got a weird signal on my computer, what the shell did you bring in here?!"

 

"What do you mean?" Skull paused his music, "I just got a bag of jawbreakers, dammit. You want one?"

 

"No!" Army's arms flailed as he spoke, "There is something in that bag, I know it! Did you put your phone in there?!"

 

"My phone is right here," Skull groaned, pointing to his phone. Army really was a handful when he was panicking. He shuffled his hand around in the jawbreaker bag, but couldn't feel anything out of the ordinary. "Look Army, it's fine. It's just a bunch of jawbreakers. Maybe your computer's just wrong."

 

"My computer is never wrong!" Army shouted, face a bright orange, "That computer was given to me by THE Marina Ida! It is never wrong, she told me so!"

 

"Jeezus man..." Skull shook his head, "You ever taken a breath before in your life? Just chill, please."

 

"I can't-"

 

Army stopped, ears twitching slightly. He frantically glanced around, pupils darting to and fro. Skull just sighed, sitting back down and popping his cephalo pods back in.

 

One of the other doors opened, Aloha stepping into the room. He had a huge smile on his face and his 0.52 Gal slung over his shoulder. Army let out a huge sigh of relief and retreated back to his room, entire body still quivering.

 

"Heya Skull!" Aloha smiled, sitting beside Skull and patting him on the back, "How's life?"

 

"Here ya go," Skull plopped a jawbreaker into Aloha's hand, "Life's fine. How'd the job go, the P.I. and all?"

 

"Eh..." Aloha shrugged a bit, spinning the jawbreaker on his tongue, "Haven't got him yet, but that bastard's on my list. He's on my list, I tell ya. Both of em, honestly, a real shame."

 

"Ah," Skull smirked. He knew way too much about Aloha's lists, the one's he'd talk about all the time.

 

He had a list of names to kill, and a list of cute boys he's met.

 

"What's he like?" Skull asked.

 

"One of those octolings," Aloha said quietly, "Pink tentacle flopping around on his face all the time; he's absolutely fucking adorable. You know how much I love pink, man."

 

"A pink octoling?" Skull paused, "With a... single tentacle?"

 

"Yeah dude," Aloha chuckled, "Did you even listen to a single word I just said?"

 

"No, I mean-" Skull sighed, rubbing his forehead, "It's nothing."

 

"Mh-hm..." Aloha chuckled again, standing up and stretching a bit, "Well, I'm gonna go find out how to kill the cute bastard. Wish me luck!"

 

"Good luck," Skull said, shaking his head. He looked back in the bag of jawbreakers, fiddling with it in his hands. There wasn't anything in there... right? Yeah, no. Army was just insane, as per usual. There was nothing wrong with any of this, nothing wrong at all.

 

"C'mon Skull," he whispered to himself as Aloha left for his room, "Just... get a grip. Nothing's wrong. Nobody knows about any of this, any of it at all. If they did, they'd be dead. They will be dead. Yeah..."

 

---

 

"So you actually paid them?" Marina looked up from her computer, mouth expressionless and eyes covered by her robotic glasses.

 

"What else was I supposed to do?" Pearl said, "You know I don't get you sometimes, 'Rina. You can't just rip off the S5, especially after they killed one of Octavio's guys!"

 

"I think that is the point," Hivemind chimed in, voice a complete monotone, "Octavio has announced that his comeback tour will be in a week, now less than that. If he finds out we were connected to Gastro's death, it will get very ugly."

 

"Well, what do you suppose I do?!" Pearl lifted Lil' Judd off of the ground, rubbing his belly as he rolled about in her arms, "We can't kill them, The Golds are having those idiots do a job for them!"

 

"Not kill," Marina said coldly, "Simply... cut ties. Blame them for killing one of ours, and Octavio will only target them."

 

"Mrs. Ida is correct," Hivemind said, "Though I must ask, who shall we use as the fodder? It must be someone of importance, but not enough so that anything begins to fall apart."

 

"Really?" Pearl smirked, slowly turning towards him, "Is that exactly what we need?"

 

"Yes, Mrs. Houzuki," he nodded, "It would be the most efficient-"

 

*BLAM!*

 

Hivemind stumbled backwards, a large hole through his chest. Ink began to spill out of his mouth as he tried to pick himself up, but it was no use. Pearl pressed her dualies against his face, one barrel for each cheek. He lifted his head robotically, glancing over at Marina.

 

"Mrs. Ida..." he gasped for air, the slightest twinge of sadness in his voice, "You-"

 

"I see nothing," Marina said, turning back to her computer, "Other than my most faithful being ruthlessly murdered by Skull of the S5, that is."

 

"Am I truly your most-"

 

*BLAM!*

 

Pearl's smile was wider than ever as she wiped his ink off of her face, other hand still stroking Lil' Judd's belly. The cat mewled in her arms, jumping out of them and beginning to lick at the stump where Hivemind's head used to be. Pearl scratched him a little behind the ears, then turned back to Marina.

 

"How horrible," Marina said cooly, "Guess we will have to cut all ties with them, or maybe even make an example of them. That sounds completely fair, does it not?"

 

"Completely fair!" Pearl smirked, a bounce in her step as she made her way to the door, "I'm gonna go get Padre, get him to go fuck their shit up. Love ya, 'Rina!"

 

"Love you, Pearlie..." Marina smiled a little, then turned back to her computer.

 

All of the pieces were falling into place, all they had to do was wait for the comeback tour. Marina smiled even more as she thought of it, all of her hard work soon to come to fruition.

 

Five days... Marina typed into her virtual journal, Five days, and it will all be over...

 

"It will all be ours."

Chapter 6: Screwed

Hachi smiled as he looked at the whiteboard, his full plan spelled out in front of him in a clear, concise manner. He turned back to the officers, smiling even wider as he pointed to the board.

 

"You all get that?" he asked, practically giddy to go catch those codamn assassins.

 

"Yep!" Specs raised his notepad into the air, "Though, are we super sure that tracker of yours is correct? He may have dropped the bag off somewhere else, thrown it out and all."

 

"It's correct," Hachi insisted, "I know it. The rest of you good?"

 

"Shell yeah!" Bobble pumped her fist to the sky, "Let's go kick some mercenary butt!"

 

"I second that," Headphones smiled, "Vintage'll be so jealous when he finds out about this..."

 

"Good..." Hachi looked over at Goggles, who didn't really seem to be paying attention. He walked over to the inkling, tapping him lightly on the shoulder. "Hey Goggles, you good? You look a little out of it, man."

 

"I'm fine," Goggles was shivering, "Just cold, is all."

 

"Liar," Headphones said, "It's hot as a sauna in here!"

 

"I-I'm fine, okay?" Goggles's breath had become rapid, "I'm just really excited to arrest those guys, okay!?"

 

"Goggles," Bobble grabbed his hand in hers, "Just breathe, okay? We'll be fine. We're not gonna die-"

 

"How do you know that?!" Goggles ripped his hand away, "How do you know we'll all be fine!? These are the most deadly men in the entire city, and you think we're just gonna be able to capture them?!"

 

"Yes," Hachi explained, "We have the element of surprise, Goggles. We'll capture them, throw 'em in the slammer, and we can all have a round on me. How does that sound?"

 

"S-Sounds good..." Goggles sat back, letting Bobble grab his hand again, "Sorry."

 

"Nothing to be sorry 'bout," Hachi smiled warmly, "You know, I was just like you on my first serious job. Shell, I was worse. I could barely move, I was so scared, and I had nobody to help me. You've got us, Goggles, and that means this'll all work out fine."

 

"Yeah," Goggles smiled, "Thanks."

 

"Good," Hachi smiled, then clapped his hands together, "That should be it. You all can leave, and we'll put the plan in motion tonight!"

 

"Perfect!" Bobble grabbed Goggles and dragged him out of the room, while Headphones and Specs just followed them out.

 

Hachi looked around the room, smile widening as he looked up at the ceiling. Right there, in a tiny crack in the ceiling panels, he could see the flash of an eye. A pretty, familiar eye.

 

"Hello Aloha," Hachi said quietly, "You can come down now."

 

"Oh come on!" Aloha groaned, slipping through the crack in squid form then reforming right in front of Hachi. He was in his usual attire, and gave Hachi a huge smirk as he pushed his 0.52 Gal right against the octoling's chest.

 

"I see that you're still up to your shenanigans..." Hachi sighed, "How long were you up there? Minutes? Hours? DAYS?"

 

"Only a few minutes," Aloha shrugged, "Got here when you started giving that pep talk to that Goggles loser."

 

"Mh-hm," Hachi pressed his finger on the 0.52 Gal, pointing its barrel down, "So what do you want, then? If you wanted me dead, I already would be. If you wanted to start going out again, you would have texted me... What is it?"

 

"The Golds want you," Aloha's speech was slightly muffled. He must have bitten his tongue, a bad habit Hachi had seen plenty of times in the past. Aloha had really sharp teeth. "But not dead, luckily enough! All those chumps think I'm gonna kill you anyways, absolute dumbasses!"

 

"Seems we can still agree on a few things," Hachi smiled, shoving Aloha's arm away from his face, "So what, you're really gonna hand me over to those psychos?"

 

"Nah..." Aloha's grin began to border on shit-eating, "They just wanted me to get you out of the way, and get some info. I know more than anyone you ain't got shit on The Golds, so all they really need is for you to stop bothering them~"

 

"You're going to take me for yourself? How selfish."

 

"What happened to you?" Aloha sounded kind of depressed, "We used to be inseparable... We used to be a package. A thing. What happened?"

 

"You became a criminal," Hachi hissed, batting Aloha's arm away again. The inkling had been trying to grab his cheeks, something they used to do to each other all the time.

 

"I've always been a criminal!" Aloha sighed, rubbing his finger in circles on Hachi's shoulder. He pushed himself a little closer, jamming the 0.52 Gal right between their bodies. "You didn't even care before, so why care now?"

 

"You kill people now, that's why. At least when you stole things you only did it from rich fucks who totally deserved it."

 

"So the lovely rebellious Hachi is still in there somewhere..." Aloha smirked. He winced a bit, accidentally getting too close and poking himself with the rear-end of his 0.52 Gal. He sighed again, letting the weapon drop and fall by his feet.

 

"There's a reason I'm working WITH the police..." Hachi kicked the gun away, sending it rolling under one of the tables, "And not FOR them."

 

"Well..." in one swift motion, Aloha swept Hachi by the feet, catching him by the shirt collar before he hit the ground. He then flipped Hachi the rest of the way over, putting his other arm underneath him and lifting him up, bridal-style.

 

"Impressive," Hachi was breathing heavily, a death sentence around a man like Aloha.

 

"Oh, so you enjoyed that?" Aloha's voice was laced with a sweet poison only he could concoct, the perfect mixture of deadly and seductive, "I have plenty more where that came from... back home."

 

"You're actually taking me-" Hachi laughed, "You are actually taking me back to your base!"

 

"I'm gonna blindfold you before we get there, idiot," Aloha said, pulling said blindfold out of his shirt pocket and draping it over Hachi's eyes, "You know you can't do anything... just go to sleep while your prince carries you away~"

 

"Spare me the agony!" Hachi then flung himself back melodramatically, while also subtly pressing a small beeper in his pocket. It made no noise to him, but the message would get across soon enough.

 

"Yes..." Aloha said hungrily, picking his gun back off of the floor. He tapped Hachi on the shoulder, to which the octoling turned into swim form and followed him down a vent and out of the building. Hachi didn't really have to do any of that, he could've resisted a bit more, but he wasn't going to let an opportunity as good as this go to waste.

 

---

 

When Aloha finally took the blindfold off of him, Hachi was strapped spread-eagle on a small bed. He knew Aloha wasn't actually going to do anything to him, and that he hadn't even done anything yet, but still acted like he was struggling to break free.

 

"Nuh-uh-uh~" Aloha leaned down, breath hot on Hachi's face. He had obviously been eating mints, probably to cover up his naturally bad breath. Another quirk Hachi had discovered about the inkling was his tendency to brush his teeth perfectly, but never brush his tongue or gums, giving him pearly whites while still having halitosis.

 

"W-" Hachi tried to speak, only realizing then that Aloha had shoved a makeshift ball gag in his mouth, made of thickly-woven yarn and a stress ball.

 

"How adorable..." Aloha mused, grazing his fingers across Hachi's forehead, "Don't worry... I'll have you out the second those Gold bastards give me my due."

 

"Oi! Dumb-fuck!" Rider poked his head in the room, his eyebrow raising slightly when he saw Hachi, "First of all, who the fuck is that? Second, Army needs ya to get your ass over to his room now or there'll be shell to pay!"

 

"Well..." Aloha walked over to Rider, smirking as he pointed back to Hachi, "That's the private eye The Golds want out of the way. Pretty, isn't he?"

 

"Pretty stupid, if he was caught by you," Rider huffed, walking away.

 

"You're just jealous!" Aloha yelled after him, then turned back to Hachi, "Just a moment, Eight-Ball. I'll be back once Army's done chewing my ass out."

 

Hachi rolled his eyes as Aloha walked out of the room. Eight was an old nickname for him that Aloha came up with years ago. It was on account of his name, Hachi, meaning the exact same thing. After one unbearably cold night, however, the nickname was changed to Eight-Ball.

 

Aloha practically bounced into Army's room, there was so much of a spring in his step. The orange workaholic was much less happy, clutching his head and mumbling to himself about something or other.

 

"So..." Aloha lifted up Army's face, instantly letting go when he saw the other's fierce scowl, "Squidkid called yet? Or did he just send the money?"

 

"He's been waiting for ya," Army grumbled, flipping the holo-table on.

 

A large, dark-skinned inkling with golden tentacles formed on the table, a masquerade mask over his face and a highball in his hand. He laughed a bit to himself before speaking, his voice very phony and posh.

 

"Hello Aloha," Squidkid Jr. said, swishing his cocktail in his hands, "I have been informed that you have completed your mission. Is that true?"

 

"Yes," Aloha did a little bow. He didn't enjoy it, but those Gold fuckers loved eating that shit up. They all had messiah complexes, to put it bluntly. "I have captured the P.I. and he is currently being held here. I was told you only needed him out of the way, so-"

 

"You are trying to barter!" Squidkid chuckled, "How comical. You clearly have no clue what has happened, don't you."

 

"What?" Aloha and Army said simultaneously, which caused Squidkid to break out into a fit of laughter.

 

"You really don't know!?" he was practically howling, "Your own LEADER doesn't even tell you the business he gets up to?!"

 

"Wait," Army had begun to sweat, his face orange, "What did Skull do?"

 

"He killed Mrs. Ida's most faithful, that's what!" Squidkid continued to laugh, clearly not bothered by the news, "That's why I called you, don't you see!? We're cutting ties!"

 

"WHAT?!" Army shouted, now hyperventilating, "H-Her most faithful!?"

 

"Wait, does that mean I don't get my money?" Aloha groaned, "I worked hard for that!"

 

"Aloha!" Army hissed, "Don't you get the gravity of this!? They're cutting ties with us!"

 

"If they don't want us doing their dirty work, so be it," Aloha stuck out his tongue at a still-laughing Squidkid, "I always hated you phonies anyways."

 

"Aloha!" Army flicked the table off, the incessant laughter finally going away. He quickly smacked Aloha across the face, eyes wide and face a bright orange. "Don't you get what this means?! They are going to kill us, Aloha! You can't just kill Hivemind and get away with it!"

 

"Hivemind?" Aloha shook his head, "Doesn't ring a bell. Anyways, I didn't kill him, Skull did!"

 

"What did I do?"

 

They froze, slowly turning to the door. Skull was standing there, arms crossed and eyes narrow. He walked over to them, quickly slapping Army's hands away from Aloha's face and sighing.

 

"Well?" he asked again, looking at the other two, "What did I do?"

 

"You killed some idiot called Hivemind," Aloha said, "What was he, some kind of C-List comic book villain?"

 

"Wait," Skull immediately turned to Army, "HIVEMIND?!"

 

"You didn't kill him then," Army was shaking, "Wonderful. Fucking wonderful!"

 

"If you didn't kill him," Aloha interjected, "Then why-"

 

"They want to get rid of us!" Army slammed his head on the holo-table, "Oh cod they want to get rid of us!"

 

"Pfft," Aloha chuckled, "Like they actually could! C'mon, we're the best killers ever, AND we have an advantage!"

 

"How?!" Army went to wham his head on the table again, but was stopped by Skull.

 

"I just captured that P.I.!" Aloha grinned, "All I need to do is convince him to help us, and maybe we could get some more firepower on our side!"

 

"That isn't-" Army was quickly shushed by Skull, who then walked over to Aloha and put his hand on the pink inkling's shoulder.

 

"Get him to help us," Skull began to stare Aloha down, glaring straight through him, "Do it, now."

 

"Yessir!" Aloha gave a small salute, then rushed out of the room, giggling to himself. Army whammed his head on the table again, groaning softly as a bit of ink flowed out of a now reopened cut on his forehead.

 

"We're gonna all die..." Army was shaking, hands clenched to his knees.

 

"We're not gonna die," Skull patted him on the back, his other hand coming up and pinching his neck a little, "We shouldn't all die..."

Chapter 7: Royalty

C.Q.'s office was always way too cold. He had about five fans always blasting on full power due to him apparently always being hot. The mechanical whirring of said fans was not a welcome way to break the silence of the room as the captain simply stared at his officers in shock.

 

"What do you mean, Hachi's gone?" C.Q. asked.

 

"Hachi's gone, sir..." Goggles said, fidgeting a bit, "We left the briefing room for a bit, and then he was gone."

 

"Where did he go, then?" C.Q. reached out a tendril and shut off one of the fans, "The raid is tonight!"

 

"We don't know, sir," Headphones said, "We may have to do the mission alone, sir."

 

"No..." C.Q. shook his head, "Hachi was the only one with actual experience with the S4. I can't just send you in without him, it would be suicide."

 

"We need to do something!" Specs shouted, quickly quieting as C.Q. turned to him, "I mean, we need to do something, captain, whether Hachi is here or not. What if they catch onto us and move locations?"

 

"Hmm..." C.Q. sighed, then pointed at them, "Fine. You may go on the mission alone, but please disengage if it gets too hairy. You are some of my best officers, I don't want to lose you."

 

"Are you saying that because you think we're gonna die?" Goggles asked, sweating profusely, "Because if you think-"

 

"Goggles," Bobble grabbed his hand in hers, "Remember what Hachi said. We aren't gonna all die. Just breathe, just breathe."

 

Goggles nodded, taking deep breaths as Bobble went with him out of the office. Specs and Headphones each gave their own salute to the captain, who gave them a little salute back.

 

"Make sure you get back in one piece," C.Q. commanded, "That's an order."

 

"Yes sir!" Headphones said, closing the door behind her.

 

---

 

"We're all gonna die..."

 

Army was rocking back and forth in the back of Rider's van, arms wrapped around his knees. Aloha groaned, lightly patting him on the back before turning to the front seats.

 

"Why do I have to be stuck with him?" Aloha asked.

 

"Becaaaause..." Mask said, "Yoooou're the one who loves the P.I. so much, and heeeee's back there with you..."

 

"Well, yeah!" Aloha pointed over to Hachi, who had a bag over his head and ties around his arms and legs, "But I can't even see his pretty face! How can you expect me to enjoy myself if I can't see his pretty face!"

 

"I dunno!" Rider grumbled, "Maybe you'll learn to enjoy it when you stop fucking complaining!"

 

"Humph..." Aloha fell back, slowly rubbing circles into Hachi's leg with his hand. He couldn't even tell if the octoling was asleep or not, but they seemed to let him do it either way.

 

Army was still rocking back and forth, occasionally muttering "We're all gonna die," and "Oh cod, oh cod..."

 

"Oh pleeeaase..." Mask looked back at Army, "Youuuu're such a worry wart. "Skuuull'll be out in a sec, and we'll be aaaaall good..."

 

"You're wrong," Army said, "Oh cod you're so wrong..."

 

---

 

Skull pushed open the door, only to instantly be assaulted by a cacophony of horrible noise and bright lights. The Golds were obviously throwing a party, but then again, that's what they did every night. Skull groaned as he meandered through the ballroom, eyes darting around in search of the man he was looking for.

 

"My lord!" A voice came out from behind him, obnoxiously rich in tone, "Skull, is that you?!"

 

Skull whipped around to see a golden inkling, a mask over his face with a second, smaller inkling standing silently behind him. He wore a crown on his head, a glistening trinket of his avarice.

 

"Hi Emperor," Skull said, sitting at the table across from him. It was only them at the table, besides the servant behind The King.

 

"Skull..." Emperor chuckled a bit, shaking his head and swirling the martini glass in his hand, "You really decided to show your face here, huh? Did you want to turn yourself in before you're executed, or are you just stupid?"

 

"Little bit of both..." Skull said coldly, looking behind Emperor at his servant. Said servant was shivering slightly, his outfit of a fancy tee and shorts doing a horrible job of comforting him in the chilly ballroom air. "And something more."

 

"Something more?" Emperor laughed, whamming his hand lightly on the table, "And what in the shell would that be?!"

 

"I didn't kill Hivemind," Skull stated, staring directly at Emperor's masquerade-mask-covered eyes, "I don't know what Houzuki and Ida are thinking, but I never killed him."

 

"You mean Mrs. Houzuki and Mrs. Marina?" Emperor took a sip of his drink, "And I can assure you, they aren't 'thinking' anything. You killed Hivemind. Splattered his brains, you may say!"

 

"You don't seem that distraught about it," Skull sighed, "Look, just get me in contact with Houzuki, please?"

 

"Hmmm..." Emperor scratched his chin, "Nope! We've cut ties, dumbass!"

 

"I'm not-" Skull stopped, moving his attention over to the servant behind Emperor. They leaned over to The King, whispering a few things in his ear. Before Skull could even pick up a word of their conversation, however, Emperor stood up.

 

"I am sorry you must see this, Skull," he said, chuckling lightly. The servant beside him was shaking, quickly shaking their head. "We may have cut ties, but I do hate having to act so ungentlemanly around a... person such as yourself."

 

"What do you-"

 

*SMACK!*

 

Emperor smacked his servant across the face, knocking them to the ground. Skull shot up instantly, feeling the eyes of the entire room on his back. He slowly moved over towards Emperor, but flinched as the inkling turned back to see him.

 

"Sorry about that," Emperor said nonchalantly, rubbing his boot on the back of the now-crying servant. Their mask was broken, revealing their surprisingly young face. "My servant just suggested that I go against Mrs. Houzuki's orders, and I bet you know how that goes..."

 

"No," Skull said, "No I don't."

 

"S-Sorry..." the servant whimpered, his face red, "I-I'm so sorry, bro-"

 

"Shut up," Emperor commanded, pulling the servant up by the neck, "My servants do not speak, and you know that. Go and clean yourself up, you look terrible."

 

"Ye-" the servant flinched as Emperor raised his arm, nodding silently as he walked away.

 

"So..." Emperor turned back to Skull, huge smile on his face, "What were we talking about?"

 

"Will you be coming after us?" Skull asked, "Will anybody?"

 

"I don't know about anybody else..." Emperor grabbed another drink from a waiter, "But do you really think I'd waste my time with you rabble? Now THAT is a laugh!"

 

Skull nodded, walking past Emperor and out of the ballroom. He sighed to himself as he opened the van door, grumbling as he sat beside Aloha.

 

"So..." Aloha said quietly, "How did it go?"

 

"Are we dead yet?" Army's voice was shaking.

 

"We're not dead," Skull said, "But The Golds won't be messing with us."

 

"Well, I could've guessed that!" Rider laughed, "You really think that high-ass Emperor would actually be arsed to bother with us?!"

 

"Nah," Skull looked over at the bound-up Hachi, still silently sitting there, "But that doesn't mean Houzuki isn't gonna try anything. We should move locations."

 

"Whaaaat?" Mask asked, "But we've beeeeen hanging out there since we were kiiiiiiids... We can't just-"

 

"The cops will be looking for the P.I. and Houzuki knows where we live," Skull sighed, "We have no choice."

 

"Wait," Aloha said, "We're just leaving? For where?"

 

"How about Splatsville?" Rider suggested, blowing a little smoke back towards them as he did so, "Just stay there until this blows over. You know Mrs. Houzuki doesn't like chasing anything for too long, she's got too much shit to do."

 

"Hmm..." Skull looked over at Hachi and smiled, "It WOULD let us escape the cops as well... Sounds good."

 

"So when are we leaving?" Aloha asked.

 

"Tonight," Skull said, looking around at all of his cohorts, "Get your shit packed, boys. We're going to the City of Anarchy."

Chapter 8: Scorched

Splatsville was a bustling city, placed smack in the middle of the Splatlandian Desert. That is to say, it was usually unbearably hot. The streets would scorch the feet of those without any footwear, but were also so hot they could reduce anything not flame-retardant into ash. Whether or not the wearer of said clothing turned to ash too, that depended solely on their intelligence.

 

Frye Onaga stepped out of her small apartment, hand held up to block her eyes from the sun. She looked down at the city, like a queen looking at her kingdom, and smiled as she saw the eager faces of new arrivals on their way to their first Turf War. More and more people came into the city each day, a true triumph for such an uninhabitable place.

 

"Yo, Frye," Frye whipped around to see her girlfriend, Shiver, standing in the doorway. She was the most gorgeous octoling ever, with shining blue tentacles and eyes that had such a striking gaze that Frye could not help but almost melt.

 

"What is it Shivs?" she asked as her partner neared, their arm wrapping around her shoulder, "Any trouble?"

 

"Don't be so paranoid!" Shiver laughed, "I just wanted to see how you were doing, is all."

 

"I'm doing great," Frye booped Shiver on the nose, "Business is good, the people are happy, what is there to hate?"

 

"Octavio," Shiver groaned slightly, whipping her fan out and fanning herself, "That bastard still ain't giving up on trying to steal all our shit. Has some new chick on the job too, some newbie called the quote-unquote 'Weed Demon'."

 

"Weed Demon?" Frye chuckled, moving so she could let her arm sag over the balcony railing, "That's quite the moniker! You know her actual name, or just her gamertag?"

 

"Pffft!" Shiver could barely contain her laughter, "N-No, I don't know her name. Just that she's called the Weed Demon, and that she sells weed."

 

"Lovely..." Fried sighed, looking back down at the teenagers from before. It was a team of four inklings, all from Inkopolis, and they looked so eager to Turf for the first time. "Just what I wanted, more drugs on the streets..."

 

"Hmm..." Shiver brought Frye a bit closer, hugging her slightly, "Well, if you want some good news... Big Man and Coco were able to get that other guy to stop selling all that heroin!"

 

"The Octo-Samurai?" Frye's eyes widened slightly as she pulled Shiver into an even deeper hug, "That's awesome! How long have we been tracking that guy for?"

 

"Two years," Shiver smirked, "And you wanna know how the guys 'convinced' him to stop?"

 

"They beat the crap outta him?"

 

"Damn skippy."

 

"Heh..." Frye let go of Shiver, turning back out to look at the city. It was such a beautiful day, the sun bright in the sky. "Well, I think that calls for a bit of a celebration then, don't you think?"

 

"Absolutely," Shiver said, shellphone already in her hand, "I'll start making arrangements!"

 

"Thanks," Frye gave her a small peck on the cheek, chuckling when they flushed a bright red, "I know it'll be just perfect."

 

"Mh-hm..." Shiver smiled, "A perfect party, for a perfect day."

 

---

 

"This is the worst day ever!"

 

Skull groaned, one hand messaging his aching forehead while his other pinched at his neck. That was the third time Aloha had said that, and it did nothing to help his growing headache.

 

"Stop being such a puuuusssy..." Mask grumbled, his head half-out of the van window, "At least they didn't decide to kill ussss..."

 

"You guys really are screwed, huh?" Hachi chuckled a little, but instantly stopped when Skull and Army glared at him.

 

"Why did you let him out, again?" Army asked Aloha, face orange, "Because he's sexy, or something?"

 

"No!" Aloha scooched closer to Hachi, placing his hand on the octoling's knee, "He still has his arm and leg bands on!"

 

"That wasn't the question!" Army whammed his fist against the floor, "Why can't you ever just answer a question straight?!"

 

"Cause he's gay!" Rider laughed, almost choking on his cigarette as he did so, "How can he answer you straight if he's-"

 

"Could you all please shut up!?" Skull shouted, the rest instantly quieting down. He fell back against the truck door, breathe heavy and face a bright purple. He began fanning at his face a bit with his hand, but it did little to help. "Rider, why the shell is it so hot?!"

 

"We're approaching Splatsville, dumbass," Rider chuckled, not even looking back to see the death-stare Skull was giving him, "It'll be about... a minute."

 

"A minute?!" Aloha asked, "Why didn't you tell us earlier?!"

 

"You didn't ask, dumb-fuck."

 

"I'm not-"

 

"Rider!" Mask shouted, lightly tapping Rider on the shoulder, "Watch the codamn rooooad!!"

 

"Huh?" Rider said, expertly swerving out of the way of an old octoling crossing the street. He then drifted the car into a convenience-store parking lot, turning back to the others with the hugest smirk on his face. "How was that?"

 

"Don't you-" Army gagged, almost throwing up, "Ever do that again!"

 

"Mask's driving next time..." Skull added, opening the van door and stumbling out. The heat was really getting to him; he had to hold his stomach just so that it wouldn't explode out of his mouth.

 

"Whatever," Rider scoffed, stepping out as well. The rest of the guys followed them, Hachi being carried by Aloha over his shoulder.

 

They were right outside of Hotlantis, but didn't really have any plans of going inside. Mask was very buddy-buddy with Mr. Grizz, CEO of Grizzco, so they already had a few motel rooms set up for them. Hachi and Aloha would get one, Skull and Army another, and then Mask had to be stuck with Rider. He would've complained about it on the way over, but was still worried that Skull would puke all over the street.

 

When they arrived at the motel, they were met by an octoling right outside the front door. She was pretty nice, but didn't speak much as she gave them their keys. She had short dark-green tentacles, as well as a pair of strangely cubic sunglasses on. Aloha chuckled as they walked by her, but stopped the instant she began glaring at him.

 

"Geez..." Aloha said as they walked up the skinny steps, "If looks could kill..."

 

"Quiet," Skull demanded, his stomach still churning. He stopped at the top of the stairs, pointing at one of the doors "Here's our room, Army. Your guys's rooms are next to ours."

 

"See ya in the morning," Army said, helping Skull into the room and slamming the door shut.

 

"But," Aloha looked at Mask, "It's only 3:00..."

 

"Weee gotta lay loooow dumbass..." Mask said, walking over to his room, "Whaaat? You thought we were gonna hang ouuuut? Play some poker and waaaatch as you make out with your boy-tooooy?"

 

"He's not-!" Aloha's face was a bright pink, and became even more so when Hachi began laughing behind him, "I-I mean-"

 

"Just shut the fuck up," Rider huffed, opening the door and dragging Mask in with him, "You'd be doing us all a huge favor."

 

He slammed the door behind him, leaving Aloha and Hachi alone. Aloha sighed, carrying Hachi into their room before dropping the octoling on the bed and untying his arms and legs.

 

"So you- oof!" Aloha reeled back as Hachi swiftly kicked him in the groin, his eyes watering slightly, "What the shell was that for!?"

 

"Everything," Hachi smiled, leaning down to get a better look at Aloha's face. He wiped a tear from Aloha's eye, shaking his hand vigorously afterwords. "Y'know, I forgot how cute you get when you cry..."

 

"Hey!" Aloha shot up, hand over his crotch, "I'm the one here who's supposed to be all sexy and messing with your head and shit! You can't-"

 

"Just hush," Hachi placed a finger over Aloha's mouth, "Like Rider said, sometimes you just need to shut the fuck up. Now, what do you wanna do?"

 

"Ugh... I dunno," Aloha shrugged, "Watch TV, I guess? I've been wondering what Turf's like over here anyways."

 

"Sure!" Hachi jumped back onto the bed, laying back as he pulled out the remote and began messing with it. Aloha sat down next to him, smiling as he watched the octoling flip through the channels.

 

"Hey, Hachi..." Aloha said, way softer than he wanted to sound, "You sure you're fine staying here? I mean, I know you have to be here but-"

 

"Blue Squad's gonna save me anyways," Hachi shrugged, "Can't be sad about the hand I've been dealt if it still wins me the game."

 

"That almost didn't make sense," Aloha laughed, nudging a little closer to Hachi. He made sure not to be too direct in his movements, though Hachi didn't seem to care anything about what he was doing either way.

 

He was too focused on the TV, now playing the most recent announcement from Deep Cut. It was the usual fare, the rotations and whatnot, but once they were done, they seemed to have one more announcement.

 

"To all of the Splatlands," Frye had a huge smile on her face, "I would just like to say that today is an amazing day! To commemorate the recent accomplishments of our very own Big Man and his buddy, Mr. Coco, we will be throwing a huge, city-wide party!"

 

"A party, huh?" Aloha laughed, "That sounds good to me!"

 

"Of course it does," Hachi rolled his eyes, but still couldn't help but chuckle a little.

 

"And, to make it even better..." Shiver added, a similarly huge grin on her face, "We'll be having special guests for the festivities. You know them, you love them..."

 

"Ay! (It's the Squid Sisters!)" Big Man finished, a small fanfare playing in the background right before Aloha turned off the TV.

 

"WHAT?!" Aloha shouted, staring wide-eyed at the blank screen, "THE WHO?!"

 

"Hmm..." Hachi smirked, grabbing the remote and turning the TV back on, "Guess I won't have to wait for Blue Squad to rescue me... This is even better!"

Chapter 9: Harmonious

It was a beautiful night in Splatsville. Well, every night was beautiful, but this one was especially so. Frye smiled as she looked out the studio window at the inklings and octolings crowded around, all looking at her and her cohorts.

 

"So," Shiver was talking with their guests, the Squid Sisters, "How do you girls like the city? Much different than Inkopolis, I bet."

 

"Definitely," Marie laughed, "But that's just what I like. This place, it's so... free. We'll actually be staying here for quite a while, and we'd love to see everything this beautiful city has to offer!"

 

"Yeah!" Callie added, standing up and flashing her Squid Sisters pose, "This city is perfect!"

 

"Ay! (Thanks!)" Big Man smiled, then looked towards the camera, "Ay, ay! (The Squid Sisters will be performing one of their newest hits, Wave Goodbye, tonight after the festivities. Make sure not to miss it!)"

 

"And..." Frye said, winking at the cameras, "I think that's it!"

 

The three members of Deep Cut stood up, all flashing their poses while shouting out, "Catch ya later!"

 

The crowd outside cheered as the cameras turned off, the idols all smiling widely at the ravenous fans behind the glass. Frye began stretching a bit, then helped escort the Squid Sisters out of the studio and into the lounge. Callie leapt onto one of the beanbags, snuggling into it while her cousin just chuckled and sat down in a plastic chair.

 

"So-" Marie started, but was cut off by two inklings barging into the room, almost tripping over each other as they did so.

 

"Miss Marie!" Bobble was heaving, "Sorry for the interruption, but we may have found Hachi!"

 

"Y-Yeah!" Goggles stuttered, "We heard he's at some motel over by Grizzco, some place called Anarchy Red!"

 

"And who are these?" Frye chuckled, turning to the Squid Sisters, "Some crazy fans?"

 

"Our escorts," Callie said, giggling a little, "Say hi, Goggles and Bobble!"

 

"Hello!" Bobble shook Frye's hand.

 

"Hi..." Goggles just gave her a small thumbs-up, his mind clearly somewhere else, "So about that motel-"

 

"Don't worry about that," Marie smiled kindly, handing Goggles a can of soda from the lounge's mini-fridge, "Just enjoy the party, we'll have someone on it in a second."

 

"But-"

 

"Come on, Goggles!" Bobble grabbed him by the arm, dragging him out of the room, "We finally get an excuse to skip work!"

 

"But-" Goggles was cut off by the slamming of the door. Callie giggled a little more to herself, grabbing herself a soda and taking a huge sip. Marie just sighed, laying back in her chair.

 

"They're nice..." Frye smiled, sitting across from them, "So what was that about?"

 

"Inkopolis business," Marie groaned, "You really don't want that mess here. We'll be done with it soon, I assure you."

 

"Good," Frye said, "If there's anything I hate, it's criminals running around our city!"

 

---

 

"Soooo... this is niiiiice..."

 

Mask was standing by a large stall selling tempura shrimp with Rider, the other currently haggling with the owner for a lower price. He sighed as he looked back towards Skull, who was looking even sicker than before.

 

"You gooood?" Mask asked, placing a hand on Skull's forehead. He wasn't burning up, but something was definitely wrong, "I tooold you you should've stayed with Army..."

 

"It's fine," Skull groaned, "Anyways, I've already been stuck with him, Aloha, and Hachi enough. They can handle themselves."

 

"I know thaaaat..." Mask would've said more, but could just barely see two familiar faces in the crowd. It was two cops, members of the Blue Squad of the IPD. "Oh shiiiit..."

 

"Huh?" Rider turned around, almost dropping his tempura when he saw them. He instantly grabbed Skull and Mask, practically carrying them into an alleyway while breathing heavily.

 

"What's yoooour major malfunctiooon?" Mask asked, "They won't-"

 

"We may be in disguise," Rider took a deep breath, "But they'll recognize me, I know. They know me."

 

"Cool," Skull's stomach rumbled, so he grabbed one of Rider's tempura and chomped on it. It didn't do much to help the sick feeling in his stomach, but at least it didn't make it any worse. "So what, we just go back to the motel?"

 

"They know we're here..." Rider said, clutching his head, "Oh cod they must know we're here! I gotta go tell the others!"

 

He rushed off, leaving Skull and Mask in the alleyway, all by themselves.

 

"Geeez..." Mask said, "He's actiiing like such an Army..."

 

"Yeah," Skull said as they walked out of the alleyway. His eyes caught onto Hotlantis, the perfect distraction. It even looked completely vacant, despite the neon sign on the front saying it was open. "I'm going. Have fun."

 

"Huh?" Mask asked, but Skull was already gone.

 

He shrugged, melding back into the large crowd of inklings and octolings as they hustled and bustled around the plaza. He sighed as he grabbed a small can of beer from a random guy, barely even noticing as they swung at him and missed, hitting another man. Mask just kept walking as a full-blown fistfight broke out behind him, chuckling a little as he heard the sounds of shouting and fists meeting faces.

 

That was, until he felt a heavy fist meet his face, sending him toppling over. He was able to catch only the glimpse of a slim, shadowy figure as everything went dark, his head hitting the hard pavement below.

 

---

 

Skull slowly pushed the door to Hotlantis open, flinching slightly when he heard the loud ringing of the bell. The cashier, an anemone named Harmony, looked over at him, but didn't do much but shrug and go back to playing on her Gameboy Advance. Skull sighed, meandering to the back of the store and collapsing beside some capsule machines.

 

His stomach was burning something fierce, and his head throbbed like he had just been shot. He groaned even more as he curled into a ball, the cool floor of the store the only saving grace as he kept feeling like his entire body was on fire.

 

"Hey..." he looked up to see that cashier standing above him, her clownfish companion staring blankly at him, "You good, sir? I don't really want to bother you, but Barry doesn't really like it when people cry in the back of the store. It 'ruins the vibe', he says."

 

"Sorry," Skull stood up, bowing slightly before pushing past her, "I'll just be going, then. Thanks for the concern-"

 

"Hey!" Harmony raised her voice a little. Skull looked back to her. She wasn't showing much emotion with her mouth, or even her tone, but her eyes seemed kind enough. "You wanna hang out for a bit? You look like you need it."

 

"I-Uh-" Skull sighed, nodding a little as he slumped back against the main counter. Harmony walked over and sat down beside him, same worried look in her eyes.

 

"What's your name?" she asked, then pointed to her name-tag, "If you didn't know, I'm Harmony. Nice to meet ya."

 

"Nice to meet ya too..." Skull said, pinching his neck a little, "I'm Scuba."

 

"Scuba?" Harmony asked, "I don't see no scuba gear here."

 

"It's what I was named, okay!?" Skull began to feel even more queasy, clutching his stomach as he groaned a little, "Oh, sorry for being so loud. I just-"

 

"It's fine," Harmony shrugged, "Sorry for bein' rude."

 

They sat there for a bit in silence, but it was a welcome silence. All that Skull had heard since entering the city was noise, noise, noise, and he was getting sick of it. It was nice just sitting next to someone who wouldn't annoy the shit out of him, who would just let him sit and think by himself.

 

The bell on the door rang again, and a tall octoling walked into the store. She looked just like the one they met at the motel, with her short, dark-green tentacles and cubic glasses. She grunted a bit as she saw them sitting in front of the counter, but just retreated to the back of the store with a small bag of coins in her hand.

 

"You two enjoying the festivities?" she called out from behind the shelves. Her voice was very gruff and gravely, so much so that Skull would've thought she was a dude if he hadn't just seen her.

 

"It's nice," Harmony answered, though her voice was completely monotone, "Some of the most fun I've ever had."

 

"That's nice," the woman walked back towards them, a small green squid plush in her hand. Skull chuckled a little when he saw it, but shut up when she gave him the same death-stare she had given Aloha earlier. He was right, honestly. If looks could kill...

 

"That'll be 9,900," Harmony stated, not even bothering to stand up, "Hope you enjoy it, by the way."

 

"It's not for me," the woman said, handing Harmony the bag of coins, "S'for my sis, she's just a lil' kid. Loves these plushies to death."

 

"Hope she enjoys, then," Harmony flashed her a rare smile, as well as an accompanying thumbs-up.

 

"Thanks," the woman looked back down at Skull with an unreadable expression, but didn't say anything else before leaving. The bell rang behind her for a few seconds, and then it was silent again.

 

"Harmony," Skull said quietly, his voice echoing through the store, "You ever felt like you were being watched? Like there's someone watching your every move, stalking you day-in, and day-out?"

 

Harmony didn't answer for a second, deep in thought. She finally just shrugged, saying, "Nah. I've listened to Who Can It Be Now? by Men at Work a lot, though. Very good song, I recommend. That, and Somebody's Watching Me by Rockwell."

 

"Hmm..." Skull pulled a small piece of candy out of his pocket, one of the last jawbreakers he had gotten only the day before. Speaking of, he just remembered that he had his cephalo pods on him, and popped them into his ears. He flipped out his shellphone and tapped on his ω-3 playlist, lovingly titled "Songs to Flood Cities To".

 

"Hey, Scuba..." Harmony looked over at him as he slowly bobbed his head, "What'cha listening to?"

 

"ω-3," Skull replied, eyes closed and head still bobbing, "They're real nice; you ever heard their music?"

 

"Yeh," Harmony plucked the cephalo pods out of his ears, smiling a little when he stared back at her, "What? I want to listen too!"

 

"Oh," Skull smiled a little under his mask, then pressed play again on the playlist. Both he and Harmony started bobbing their heads, just listening to the vibes of the salmonids as they echoed through the empty store. The pots and pans, the boisterous brass...

 

And that heavenly cello which played oh-so slowly.

Chapter 10: Chills

Mask couldn't see much of anything when he awoke. There was so little light in the room, and his gas mask wasn't doing him too many favors. He tried turning around, only to see that he had been tied to a chair with an absurd amount of rope. How... classic.

 

"Hey," a voice said from in front of him. It was a green inkling, dualies spinning in his hands as he moved closer. "You're finally awake! How was the... power-nap?"

 

"Piss offfff..." Mask groaned, struggling in vain to escape the ropes, "Where the fuuuuuck am I?"

 

"Just my apartment," the inkling laughed a little. He backed up, forming a rectangle with his fingers like he was some kind of artist or something. "Oh shell yeah, Agent 2 is gonna be so happy when she sees this..."

 

"Agent 2?" Mask chuckled, "What are yooooou? A secret agent?"

 

"Yes!" he held out his hand, then quickly took it back when he realized Mask's arms were tied, "I'm Agent 4, by the way!"

 

"Mask," Mask replied, "But you alreaaaady knew that, riiiiight?"

 

"Yep," Agent 4 rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, "Soo... you have any clue where your buddies are? And please don't say 'Anarchy Red'. I checked that place out, and you're codamn buddies were nowhere to be seen."

 

"Let me thiiiink..." Mask smirked, "I think theeeey're at theeee... Anarchy Red."

 

"Smart ass," Agent 4 walked over to what must've been his kitchen, reemerging shortly after with two cups of lemonade. He poked one of the cups to Mask's mask, but the prisoner just shrugged, laughing a bit at his efforts.

 

"You really trying to feeeeed me through thiiiiis?" Mask chuckled, "You must be reaaaaaal-"

 

"You're right!" Agent 4 exclaimed, placing the cups to the side, "We just need to get rid of this stupid gas mask!"

 

"What."

 

Mask's eyes widened as he saw Agent 4 circle to his back. He began to sweat as he felt his captor's cold fingers in his tentacles, fiddling with the straps on his gas mask. He had always made sure that the thing was a bitch to get off, but it would still probably only take Agent 4 about five to ten minutes to do so.

 

"H-Hey..." Mask said frantically, struggling even more to break out of his ropes, "We caaaan be chill... right dude!? Pleeeeease!?"

 

"We can be chill if you tell me where your friends are," Agent 4 smirked, pausing his assault on the straps for a moment, "Don't lie, by the way. I'll know if you're lying."

 

"Th-They're..." Mask was gasping for air, "I-I can't..."

 

"Hm," Agent 4 moved back into Mask's point of view, lips pursed and eyebrows furrowed, "You seem real scared of me taking that thing off... what's with that?"

 

"E-Eaaat shit..." Mask replied, really hating how cracked his voice sounded. He also may or may not have felt a single tear stream down his face, but Agent 4 couldn't see it through the mask either way.

 

"Did I go too far?" Agent 4 looked around. Whether he was asking that question to Mask, himself, or some other third person, Mask couldn't tell. "Oh shit, I must've gone too far!"

 

"Wha-"

 

Mask's eyes widened as he felt Agent 4's arms around him, trapping him in a deep hug. He just looked down at the agent, mind racing a mile a minute. After a few seconds he could feel something else, but it was just Agent 4's hands back on his tentacles, massaging them slightly. Mask groaned, but at least Agent 4 had stopped trying to take the mask off.

 

"You doooone?" Mask asked after what felt like an hour of hugging.

 

"Yeah," Agent 4 stood up, bowing slightly, "Sorry about that."

 

"Ummmm..." Mask just stared at him blankly, not really sure what to say. What was he supposed to say? This was quickly becoming the most... interesting kidnapping he had ever been to.

 

Though he guessed that was to be expected, as he wasn't even the victim in most of the other ones.

 

---

 

"Bye, Harmony," Skull said, waving slightly as he left the store. He popped his cephalo pods back in, switching to his playlist titled "It's the End of the World". It was a playlist made up of old human songs, most of them being Skull's favorites from when he was in high school.

 

"Bye Scuba..." Harmony said, but he was already gone. She smiled a little, then went back to her GBA, still humming the tunes of ω-3 as she played her game.

 

Skull stopped the moment he stepped out of the store, music flowing into his ears. It was a song called C-Moon by some guy called Paul McCartney, and it was a bit of a guilty pleasure of his.

 

He looked around, that sick feeling returning somewhat; he felt like he was being watched. He kept walking, making sure to stick to alleyways as he made his way back to the motel, just so he could be as alone as possible. It's much harder to track someone without the protection of a crowd, anyways.

 

Skull stopped again, now absolutely sure he was being watched. He pulled out his cephalo pods, only glancing around for a second before he saw a tall figure across the alleyway, an unreadable look on their face.

 

It was the woman from earlier, and she still had that small plushie under one of her arms. Smoke obscured half of her face, smoke which came from a blunt poking out of her mouth. She moved slowly towards Skull, stopping next to him and very casually leaning back against the wall. She puffed a bit of smoke out, finally taking the blunt out of her mouth and spinning it in her hand.

 

"You're a long way from Inkopolis, Skull," she said. She flipped a small black box out of her pocket, opening it to reveal some more blunts. "You want one? I'll make it free of charge."

 

"Nah," Skull said, his throat already dry, "You're the Weed Demon, right?"

 

"Yep," she chuckled. It was a low, guttural chuckle that seemed to come from the very back of her throat, "Guilty as charged..."

 

"You work for Grizz?" Skull asked, "You met us at the motel, gave us our keys. You work for Octavio, or Grizz?"

 

"Would you believe me if I said both?" she let out a long, raspy laugh, "That's what you high and mighty Inkopolis scrubs don't get. The best way to play the system, is to be in every single part of it."

 

"So are you playing Octavio, or Grizz?"

 

She looked back at Skull, frowning a little. "Did you hear what I just said? I'm playin' 'em BOTH. B-O-T-H. Both of 'em."

 

"Look, Demon..." Skull said, "I don't want any-"

 

"No trouble, no trouble," she said, "My sis is probably worried sick 'bout me right now, anyways. Rules are rules though, so you know what that means?"

 

"They were meant to be broken?" Skull guessed, fully prepared for her to lay him out right then and there. He may not have looked the part, but he was completely defenseless. He had no weapon, his E-Liter was in the van, and his stomach was still doing kick-flips and shit all in his body. She could have killed him right then and there, maybe even with as little as a good sock to the forehead, but she didn't.

 

What she did instead was, she started laughing.

 

"You're real smart, you know that!?" she kept laughing, then slapped him hard on the back. She laughed for a bit longer before quieting down, then directed her attention down to his pockets. "By the way, what were you listening to, just now? My sis loves learnin' new music, you know."

 

"C-Moon," Skull smiled a little, "Paul McCartney. It's a good song, I bet she'll like it."

 

"Thanks," she said. She began walking away, popping the blunt back in her mouth and letting the smoke trail behind her as she left.

 

"Hey!" Skull shouted, which only then made him realize how hoarse his throat was, "You know my name, what's the harm in telling me yours?"

 

"No harm," she smiled, "As long as your masked buddy doesn't kill any more of Tavi's men, there's no harm at all."

 

"Oh, sorry about that," Skull tried to explain, "You see, we were hired-"

 

"I know Houzuki called the hit," she chuckled, "Tavi does too. You really think he's some bumbling idiot? And I don't care, Gastro was a bastard anyways."

 

"Yeah..." Skull chuckled nervously, slowly turning and backing away from her, "Well, I hope we-"

 

"Kay!" she shouted, causing him to whip around.

 

"What?"

 

"The name's Kay," she smiled again, sharp teeth glistening in the dim alley light, "But you can still only call me the Weed Demon. Thanks for the music recommendation, by the way."

 

"No... problem," Skull said, but she was already gone.

 

He still felt a little sick as he left the alleyway, but at least he wasn't being watched anymore. He popped his cephalo pods back in, letting out a deep sigh as the music played, soothing him instantly.

 

"And I'd never get to Heaven, if I filled my head with glue..." Skull sang along, so softly that he could barely hear himself over the still-partying inklings and octolings all around him, "What's it all to you?"

 

His music paused, a notification blaring from his phone. He groaned, picking it up only to see that it was a message from Army. It was something about Mask's phone being missing, but Skull didn't really care. Mask was an adult, and if he got his phone stolen, that was his fault. He unpaused his music and continued:

 

"C-Moon. C-Moon. C-Moon, is she," he took a deep breath, a pinching feeling rising in his neck and his vision growing blurry, "C-Moon... C-Moon... C-Moon, to me..."

Chapter 11: Torn

Army yawned as he sat up, wiping his eyes and stretching as he woke up. He glanced to his side, but stopped when he saw Rider sleeping there, right next to him. He frantically patted himself down, but he was still wearing his pajamas. Breathing a sigh of relief, he jumped out of bed, head spinning slightly. What was-

 

"Oh," he thought aloud, all the memories of last night coming back to him, "Yeah. Ugh..."

 

It was a bit of a mess, the night before. Army was dizzy, absolutely sure Aloha had spiked his drink. He had been tricked into playing what must have been strip-poker, but his memory was still foggy about that.

 

Then, Rider busted through the door, screaming something awful about the Inkopolis police or something. They seemed to be on their tail, and Army assumed he probably had a panic attack at that point. Anyways, both he and Rider were quivering messes, so he must have allowed the other to sleep with him, for comfort and all.

 

"Ow..." he rubbed his head, reaching into the motel room's fridge and pulling out a cold water bottle. He took a huge gulp out of it, the cold water heavenly on his parched mouth.

 

He walked over to his phone, then remembering the last thing that happened that night. He had been checking the trackers, the ones he put on the rest of the S5's phones, but couldn't get a signal from Mask's. He did remember texting Skull about it, though, so it was probably fine...

 

He flipped open his phone, clicking on his tracker app and checking for each of the signals. It took a few seconds, and then...

 

Two. There were now two missing signals.

 

"Oh shit..." Army fell back against the foot of the bed, still clutching his head, "Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit..."

 

"Wuzzat?" Rider mumbled, slowly rolling over and sitting up. Unlike Army, he had no shirt on, but that was just because he could never find any comfortable pajama shirts in his size. At least, that's what Army hoped. "Oh, hey Army. Whazzup?"

 

"Skull..." Army said, "A-And Mask... Their signals... They're gone!!"

 

"Eh," Rider shrugged, "They can't have gotten into that much trouble. Those fuckers can care for themselves, anyways."

 

"What if they were captured!?" Army asked, biting at his fingers, "Oh cod, what if the police got them!?"

 

"Wha-" Rider's eyes shot open, "Oh, shit. Oh cod, oh shit!"

 

"Wake up Aloha!" Army wobbled to his feet, "I'll get the van ready!"

 

"Hey!" Rider said, "That van is m-"

 

"Wake up Aloha," Army commanded, his voice much colder, "Now."

 

"Geez..." Rider sighed, "Yes, boss."

 

---

 

"Yooou two loooook... fatter in persooon..."

 

Mask smirked as he saw Callie's jaw drop at the remark, but then quickly noticed Marie right next to him, hands scarily close to the straps on his gas mask.

 

"Now, now," Marie tutted, "I don't think that's any way to talk to the Squid Sisters! Four told us you love having this thing on, so you better behave, or..." she poked at the back of his head, fingers gliding towards the straps. "I'll be forced, to use force. M'kay?"

 

"Fine," Mask scoffed, "Whaaaat do you want?"

 

"We want to know where your buddies are," Callie said, flicking Mask on the knee, "You know, the rest of the S4? Where are you holding Hachi!?"

 

"Anarchy Re-" Mask stopped as he saw Marie raise her hand, fully prepared to smack the shit out of him. He sighed, relaxing his body a bit, and then blew a raspberry at her.

 

Mask fell to the ground, Marie's smack having so much force it toppled the chair over. He groaned as he laid on the floor, but smirked a little when he saw Marie rubbing her hand, now sore from coming in contact with his mask.

 

"Pick him up," Marie commanded, but instead of Callie lifting him up, it was a yellow inkling with braided tentacles. She wore a torn shirt with some basic shorts, and there was a small salmonid circling around her feet as she pulled him back up.

 

"Who's this?" Mask gestured towards the girl, "Where's that Four fella, anyways?"

 

"Four's on break," the girl dusted him off a little, "I'm Mitsuami, but you can call me New Agent 3. Or Neo, if you'd like!"

 

"Neo..." Marie shook her head, "You weren't supposed to tell him your name..."

 

"What?" she looked back and forth between Marie and Mask, "But he knows your names! Does he not know Gloves's name, either?"

 

"That's Four, right?" Mask asked, grinning widely under his mask, "Thanks for telling me, by the way."

 

"You're welcome!" Mitsuami smiled, while Marie just face-palmed.

 

"Look, Mask," Marie leaned back over him, eyes piercing through his, "I am going to ask you one more time. Where are your buddies, and where are you hiding Hachi?"

 

"Would you be mad if I said, 'the same place'?" Mask snickered a bit, but stopped when Marie raised her hand again.

 

"I-" she put her hand down, sighing deeply, "Cod fucking dammit... Neo, Callie, please go out and join Gloves. We need to find Hachi soon, and this fucker isn't going to give us anything."

 

"Finally, something we can agree on," Mask smirked.

 

"Umm..." Callie said, "What about you? Are you just-"

 

"I'll just make sure he doesn't escape," Marie said with a faux sweetness, "Now go, please."

 

"Okay..." Callie tapped Mitsuami on the shoulder, "Come on, Neo. Let's get going."

 

"Okey!" she smiled, then waved to Mask as her salmonid jumped into her hands, "Bye Mask!"

 

"Bye Mitsu-" Mask started, but was interrupted by Marie smacking him in the face again. He didn't fall over this time, but it still hurt like shell. "Oww... What-"

 

"Maskie..." Marie's smile became sinister as she walked over to a cabinet, pulling a small machine out of it. A Squee-G. "You are going to tell me what you know, or I'll be forced to use this."

 

"Y-You wouldn't!" Mask said, but her growing smile confirmed that she damn well would. Mask still denied it, though, in some vain hope that she would stop. "Y-You wouldn't! You don't have the balls!"

 

"Of course I do," Marie said, placing the Squee-G onto Mask's knee. He screamed as it moved along his leg, scrubbers scraping the flesh off of his leg. It paused to let the ink in his leg regenerate and the flesh reform, and then started again.

 

"S-Stop!" Mask sobbed, shaking in the chair and trying to kick his legs to get the thing off, "P-Please! I don't know shit! Please!!"

 

"Hmm..." Marie put her hand to her chin, then looked back down at him, "How about... no."

 

She placed another Squee-G on his other leg, his agonized screams echoing through the entire apartment.

 

---

 

"Hey, Skull? Skull? Hey!"

 

Skull groaned, wiping his eyes as he sat up in bed. Weird, he never remembered getting back to the apartment. He honestly thought he'd just wake up on the street, or something. Maybe the people of Splatsville were kinder than he thought...

 

"You're awake! Hiya!"

 

Skull looked up, only to have the wind knocked out of him by someone jumping directly onto him. Now looking at the ceiling, he could see the strange mechanical patterns on the ceiling, just like those in-

 

The Octarian Domes.

 

Skull shot up, pushing the person off of him, who he still couldn't see, and jumped as quickly as he could out of the bed. He could hear the person, some girl with an obvious octarian accent, yelling after him, but he didn't bother to look back as he whipped the door open and bolted down the halls. He was in some octarian military base, as evidenced by the plenty of soldiers that just kind of stared at him as he ran passed them.

 

He then turned the corner of one of the halls, only to come face-to-face with a horribly familiar face.

 

"Hey," Kay was right in front of him, smoke obscuring her face, "How was your nap?"

 

"Where-" Skull stammered, trying his best to get past Kay, "How... why?"

 

"Orders are orders, as I said," she smirked, grabbing him by the shoulders and carrying him back towards the room, "Now, you should be glad I took you here. If I didn't, you know where you'd be?"

 

"Heaven?" Skull then paused, "Nah, I'd be in Hell."

 

"Hm," Kay smirked, "As I said before, you're real fucking smart."

 

They came back into the room Skull woke up in, a short octoling laying on the bed. Her grey tentacles were tied up in a ponytail, and she held a small green squid plushie to her chest. She really looked too old for the thing, but Skull wasn't exactly in the position to judge.

 

"Mornin' sis," Kay plopped Skull back on the bed, only for the octoling to jump back onto him. Kay chuckled, ruffling her tentacles a bit. "You know Skull, right?"

 

"Yep!" she looked down at Skull and held out her hand, "I'm Zero! Nice to meet ya!"

 

"Nice-" Skull sat back up, breathing heavily. Despite her small size, it took him quite a lot of effort to get her off of him. He then shook her hand, smiling sweetly. "To meet you too."

 

"So, you're an inkling, right?" Zero asked eagerly, staring bug-eyed at Skull, "What is Turf War like? Have you ever met the Squid Sisters? What is Grizzco like up there? They are very nice down here; they even let me be friends with one of the fishies! Do they do that up there?"

 

"Slow down..." Skull clutched his stomach, but strangely enough, he didn't feel sick anymore, "Look, Kay. What are you going to do with me down here?"

 

"I'm gonna introduce you to my lil' sis," Kay smiled, "And then I'm gonna make sure you two become great friends. Then again, I'm not gonna need to help with that, right sis?"

 

"Nope!" Zero beamed, "Oh, you should meet my other friend! You'd love him!"

 

"That's nice..." Skull looked back up at Kay, "But what-"

 

"Play with Zero," Kay ordered him, smirking as she did so, "Then we can talk."

 

"Fine..." Skull sighed, then turned back to Zero, "So, where is this friend of yours?"

 

"The metro!" she said, pulling him off of the bed with surprising strength, "He hangs out there all the time! Come on!"

 

Before he could say anything else, Zero grabbed Skull's arm and pulled him away and out of the room. He was only able to hear Kay's laughter echo through the halls as Zero dragged him towards the metro.

Chapter 12: Meetings

There was nobody at the metro station when Skull and Zero got there, but judging by the condition of the poor place, Skull could see why. There were two trashcans, completely overflowing with junk. There were cracks in the walls, and he could even seem some sort of moss growing in them. The walls looked damp, some horrible liquid pouring down them. It could have just been dirty water, but Skull wouldn't dare test that out.

 

"So..." Skull looked over at Zero, who had now sat down on the only clean bench at the station, "Who exactly is this friend of yours? What's he like?"

 

"He's OLD..." Zero giggled, looking down at her plush, "He's very yellow, too. Did you know that I like yellow? It's a very warm color!"

 

"Old and yellow, huh?" Skull chuckled. If he was any dumber, he'd think she was talking about that old man he met only two days ago, Craig. But nah, she couldn't be talking about him. Craig was all the way over in Inkopolis, and-

 

"Wait a second," Skull walked over to one of the large subway maps. They seemed to be on the Orange Line, a line that did connect to the Red Line in Inkopolis. The same Red Line he was on two days ago.

 

"Oh, you trying to decipher the map?" Zero hopped off of the bench, left her plush there, and moved over next to Skull, "I can't figure it out. There's some treasure down here, but this map is too confusing!"

 

"A treasure?" Skull looked at the map again, but there seemed to be nothing on it condoning a treasure map, "What kind?"

 

"The DJ says it's the best treasure ever!" Zero exclaimed, spinning around on her heels, "It is gonna help us destroy those evil Inkopolis people, and bring peace to everywhere!"

 

"Destroy the Inkopolis people..." Skull frowned, "I don't know, I wouldn't say they're all evil. I mean, I'm from Inkopolis, and you like me, right?"

 

"Hmm..." Zero pondered for a moment, "I guess..."

 

The next train to Inkopolis is now arriving.

 

"Oh!" Zero ran back over to the bench, picking up her plush. She looked like she was about to explode by the time the train actually got there, letting out a horrible screech before coming to a halt.

 

Zero ran back over to Skull and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him onto the train. When they walked into the car, there was only one man there, but not who either of them were expecting.

 

"Hm?" the man looked up. He was a huge isopod in a suit, with small circular sunglasses over his eyes. He smiled a bit as he saw Skull, standing up and lumbering towards them. He stood in front of Skull, not saying anything. Instead, he just peered into Skull's eyes, making himself seem even more gigantic than he already was.

 

"Umm..." Skull backed away a bit, "Can I help you, sir?"

 

"Who is the girl?" he pointed over to Zero, "I am not in the mood to make a mess in front of her."

 

"What?" Skull backed up even more, falling back into one of the padded seats, "I don't know what you're-"

 

"Zero!" Zero grabbed one of his hands and shook it, smiling widely as she did so, "Do you know where my friend is? He's a very old and yellow inkling. He said he was gonna get me some cookies!"

 

"How nice..." the isopod glared back at Skull, "I am Iso Padre, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He looked back down at Zero. "Your friend is in the next car over. Please wait until we have stopped, and he will be right over."

 

"Thanks!" Zero sat down next to Skull, beaming, "I can't wait for you to meet him! He's so nice!"

 

"I bet he is..." Skull's attention was fully on Iso, "Hey, buddy. I don't know who you are, but what kind of business do you have with me?"

 

"Oh," Iso leaned over Skull, arm wrapping around the inkling's arm as he pulled him out of the seat. He then pulled a necklace out from under his suit, a gold necklace. "Can't you tell? I'm a fine patron of Mrs. Houzuki."

 

"Houzuki!?" Skull tried to wrench himself free from Iso's grasp, but it was no use. He looked back at Zero, but she was just hugging her plush and humming something to herself, obviously not paying any mind to them. "What are you-"

 

"I was sent to kick your ass," Iso gave him a small smile, "But she never said that I couldn't go any further-"

 

Now arriving at Inkopolis Station. Doors will open on both sides. The train will be heading back to Splatsville, so all for Inkopolis should get off now.

 

The doors to their sides opened, and Iso let go of Skull. He grunted as he moved back to his seat, glaring at Skull as more people got on. Skull looked back over at Zero, who just looked up at him with a wide, child-like smile.

 

Not too many people had gotten on, just two inklings in suits and a frankly strange looking octoling. She had blue tentacles, but her skin was a sickly green. Zero, seemingly forgetting about the friend she was waiting for, moved over and sat next to the octoling. They stared down at her blankly, sunglasses shimmering in the subway lights, but didn't even bother asking her to move.

 

"Hi," Zero said, holding her hand out to the woman, "I'm Zero! Have you seen my buddy? He's very old and yellow."

 

"Ahato," the octoling replied, her voice a complete monotone, "And sorry, but I do not know of this friend of yours. I have been looking for someone too, actually. He is a pink octoling, with a single tentacle. Could you please inform me if you see him?"

 

"Maybe..." Zero had stars in her eyes, "We could look for them together! Make it an adventure!"

 

"Hmm..." Ahato thought for a moment, "That sounds efficient. How old are you?"

 

"Twenty-one!" Zero said, her hand to her heart.

 

"Old enough to drink..." despite her amused tone, Ahato still seemed unable to smile.

 

Skull was sweating buckets at this point. He had no clue who Ahato was, but had a pretty horrible idea of who she was looking for. To make matters worse, the two other inklings in the car were now staring at him. He looked back over at Iso, and he was doing the same. Skull could feel his breath get more sporadic, and he only wished that he could just shrivel up in his chair even if it only got him away for a few minutes.

 

The two inklings approached.

 

"Hey," one of them, a man with a cyan bowl-cut and a technicolor tie, said, "You're Skull, right?"

 

"N-No..." Skull grabbed at his face, just barely stopping himself from pulling his Skull bandana down. He knew it was stupid to put it on, it was his sole recognizable feature, but how the shell was he supposed to expect any of this?

 

"Liar," the other one said. He had similarly cyan spikes, and wore a pair of Double Egg sunglasses. "Look, buddy. You and your buddies may have found it real funny when you ditched your old place, but now you're with us. There is no escape."

 

"Hey, that's my line!" the one with the bowl cut said, pushing his friend a little. They laughed for a bit, before both glaring back down at Skull. "Anyways... you're under arrest."

 

"Huh?" Skull stared blankly at them, still not fully sure what was going on, "What was that?"

 

"We're from the X-Ranks," Double Egg explained, flashing his badge, "You're under arrest for the assassinations of at least thirteen persons, including that of Hive Membrane, secretary to Marina Ida of Houzuki-Ida Enterprises."

 

"Wait," Skull chuckled, "His real name is Hive Membrane?!"

 

"Yeah," the one with the bowl-cut sighed, "Are you delirious?"

 

"Nah, I'm Skull," Skull smirked under the mask. He knew he was screwed, so why not go out while pissing everyone else off?

 

"Vintage-" he face-palmed, "Double Egg! Cuff this fool, please!"

 

"Look, guys..." Skull stood up, quickly shuffling by Double Egg as he tried to handcuff him. He kept backing away as they approached, then turned over to Zero. "Hey, Zero! These guys want to have the treasure!"

 

"Huh?" Zero let go of Ahato's arm, which she had been holding onto. She looked between just about everybody in the room before standing up, handing Ahato her plush, and skipping towards Vintage and Double Egg. She held out her hand to them, smiling widely. "Hiya, I'm Zero!"

 

"Hi..." Vintage pushed her out of the way, "Look, kid. We're with the police, so you're just gonna have to-"

 

Then, in a single swift motion, Zero kicked Vintage right in the mouth, sending him toppling to the ground. Double Egg whipped out a pair of Dark Tetras, but not before Zero was able to slide through his legs and grab onto one of them, flipping him over and making him fall face-first onto the cold metal floor.

 

Skull's eyes were wide as tires as he slowly walked up to the two cops. They were out cold, but they were still alive and mostly well. He glanced over at Ahato, but she was just giving Zero a small golf clap. He looked towards Iso, but he had somehow slipped out during the confrontation.

 

"What was that?" Skull asked Zero, "How the shell-"

 

"Big sis taught me how to fight!" Zero beamed, then looked back down at the guys with a bit of worry on her face, "That was fine, right? They were bothering you, and Kay says that cops are mean!"

 

"Yeah," Skull chuckled, patting her on the back, "That was just fine, kid. That was just fine."

 

"Squiddo! There you are!"

 

There, standing in the doorway between train cars, was the old geezer himself, Craig. Zero ran over to him, catching him in a deep hug and almost knocking him to the ground. He carried her over to a pair of seats, where he sat down and let her continue hugging him.

 

"What happened here?" Craig asked Zero, chuckling to himself, "You beat up some bad guys again?"

 

"Yeah!" Zero said, then pointed over to Skull, "Those meanies were trying to arrest Skull!"

 

"Were they now..." Craig smirked, then patted his Bamboozler against the seat next to him, beckoning Skull to sit down. Skull meandered over awkwardly, chuckling nervously as he sat down.

 

"H-Hey..." Skull said quietly, "So you-"

 

"Craig Cuttlefish," Craig held out his hand, "Grandfather of Marie and Callie Cuttlefish and leader of the New Squidbeak Splatoon."

 

"Oh..." Skull shook his hand, "That... uhh..."

 

"It's a lot, I know," Craig chuckled, "But you'll get used to it. Anyways, those are some of the X-Ranks! What did you do to piss those guys off?"

 

"Houzuki's blaming me for murdering Hivemind," Skull scoffed, then tried to explain, "You see, Pearl Houzuki-"

 

"Is a mob boss," Craig laughed at Skull's shocked expression, "Squiddo, I've been around since before the Great Turf War. If you think I don't know anything, then you're dead wrong!"

 

"Wait," Skull said, "So if you know, then why haven't you told anyone?"

 

"Who would believe me?" Craig sighed, "I'm just some old geezer. Nobody else knows about the Splatoon, and they think both my granddaughters are dead. Anyways, Houzuki and Ida have a stranglehold over the entire police force! That's why I had to make the Splatoon."

 

"What does this Splatoon do?" Skull asked.

 

"They do the work the police can't," Craig smirked, "Oh yeah, and they sometimes disguise themselves as private eyes..."

 

"Are you fucking kidding me!" Skull groaned, "Ahhhh... shit."

 

"I ain't mad, don't worry," Craig said, "I know Hachi is just fine."

 

"Hachi?"

 

Craig and Skull both almost fell back. Ahato had appeared, seemingly instantly, right in front of their faces. Her mouth was contorted strangely, like she was trying her hardest to smile but just couldn't.

 

"You know Hachi?" she asked again, "I am a big fan of his. I would appreciate it if I could meet him."

 

"I bet we could arrange that..." Craig posited, "Skull?"

 

"No," Skull sighed, "I don't even know where my friends are anymore, man. For all I know, they've been assassinated, arrested, or some other bullshit like that."

 

Now arriving at Octarian Station.

 

"Oh!" Zero shot up, grabbing Skull's arm again, "That's our stop!"

 

"Wait a sec," Skull looked at Craig, "Could you-"

 

"I'll tell them," Craig winked at him, "Don't you worry, squiddo. The S5's name is clear to the Splatoon from now on. Just hope that your buddies don't do anything stupid."

 

"I will!" Skull shouted as Zero pulled him out of the train. The doors closed, and the train sped off again. He sighed, collapsing onto the clean bench and clenching his head in his hands.

 

"Hey..." Zero said, clutching her plush close to her chest, "Are you good?"

 

"Y-Yeah..." Skull sighed, "I'm fine."

 

"Okay. Well, I'll be heading back home. Just make sure you get back soon, or big sis will be mad!"

 

"I will..." Skull waved as Zero ran back through the halls, back towards the domes. He looked around and let out a deep breath, letting it echo throughout the now empty subway tunnel.

 

It was silent again. The perfect silence to be broken by some music. Skull reached into his pockets, and his cephalo pods and phone were actually still there! Either Kay didn't bother checking him, or she really just didn't care. Probably that second one.

 

He shoved the cephalo pods into his ears, then groaned when he saw that they were dead. He flipped through his phone, finally finding a good song to listen to. It was yet another old human song, called Scar Tissue. It was a good song, but he did find the band name "Red Hot Chili Peppers" kind of silly. It was one of his favorites, either way, so maybe they knew what they were doing.

 

"With birds I share this lonely view with..." Skull sang along, hands tapping on the sides of the bench. His voice echoed wonderfully through the tunnel, supplemented perfectly by the music coming from his phone. "With birds I share this lonely vieeeeeeewwww..."

Chapter 13: Torture

Mask was suffocating. Water was pooling in his gas mask, forcing him to breathe through his nose, but his nose was also soon to be drowned in his own tears. He kept shaking slightly, an attempt to get those horrible Squee-Gs off of his legs, but he had nowhere near the strength to actually do so.

 

"Still resisting?" Marie scoffed, "Look, buddy. Just tell me where your friends are. I swear all of this ain't worth it."

 

Mask couldn't speak, only cough and choke some more as his fingers tried prying themselves from the ropes around him. He kept trying to change into his squid form, but the Squee-Gs seemed to be preventing that. It hurt too much to put in the effort, anyways.

 

Mask leaned forward, eyes dry as he tried his best to stop himself from caving. The Squee-Gs on his legs were moving even faster now, not even letting his flesh fully heal before ripping it open again. There was cyan ink pooling at his feet, which Marie either didn't notice or didn't care about.

 

Then, Mask saw something. He... felt something.

 

He could feel two warm hands on his cheeks, quickly wrapping around to the back of his head. Looking up, he could see a kind, old woman, her long cyan tentacles shimmering in the rain.

 

He could hear as the straps on the back of his mask snapped, but he didn't care about any of that anymore. He only smiled as the old woman embraced him, crying even more as she pulled him closer.

 

"Moooom..." Mask sobbed, clutching onto her like a baby, "Mom, I can't belieeeeve-"

 

*SMACK!*

 

Mask reeled back, his cheek now blue from Marie's hand. He seethed as his leg began to sting, all of the salty tears trapped in his mask pouring right over his wounds. The Squee-Gs had been removed, but that didn't do much to mitigate the pain. Mask could feel a horrible cold on his cheeks.

 

"You know," Marie said, sickening smile on her face, "You actually look pretty nice! I don't think you should wear that silly thing... though the horribly chapped lips are making me reconsider..."

 

"Kill yourself," Mask tried to spit on her shoe, but his mouth was completely dry.

 

"How abooooout..." she was doing a perfect imitation of his speech, "No."

 

Mask tried to think of something witty to say, to try to get a footing, but he just couldn't. All he could feel was unbearable pain and anger, and neither of those made for good funny quips.

 

"Speak," Marie seemed to be getting annoyed now, her fingers digging into Mask's chin, "I swear to cod you'll make this easier for all of us if you just spill it. So spill it, motherfucker!"

 

"The only persooooon..." Mask smirked, "That fucked their mother is your daaaad..."

 

Marie smacked him again, his cheek beginning to become a deep purple. He spat out a bit of ink as he laughed, hysterical from the pain. She went to smack him again, but just sighed and put her hands down.

 

"You are so horrible," she spat, kicking him in the leg. He didn't even flinch, his leg completely numb at that point. "But, I do have to commend you a bit. I've heard of military officers who fell to a lot less. Congrats on being a masochist, I guess."

 

"Shut-" Mask coughed, "Just shut up and let me dieeee..."

 

"Fine."

 

Marie circled around the chair, and then kicked it to the ground. Mask could feel his forehead split open as he hit the ground, only able to rub his head in a puddle of his own ink for some semblance of comfort. He winced as he saw Marie's foot come dangerously close to his eye, but she pulled it back at the last possible second.

 

"You're pathetic," she spat in his eye. He winced from the pain, blinking rapidly in an attempt to clean his eye. "Look at you. Some black market drug dealer, reduced to nothing. And why? Because you won't sell out your murderer buddies? I swear, you are the most horrid person I have ever met."

 

"I-" Mask stopped, a faint buzzing in his ear. He thought he was just hearing things, but Marie began looking around as well. She glared back down at him and then walked away in pursuit of the noise, her ink-covered heels staining the ground as she walked.

 

"Some of your friends?" she asked, heading towards the door, "What are they trying to do, break in using a buzzsaw?"

 

"You'd be surpriiiised..." Mask spat out some more of his own ink, "At the bull... they puuuuulll..."

 

"Mh-hm," she snickered, not even bothering to look back at him, "Of course I will, big guy."

 

She pressed her ear to the door, trying to listen for anything. It was a very heavy door, and had a very intricate robotic lock on it. Even through all of the metal, she could still hear that strange buzzing noise. She pressed closer, trying to discern what exactly they were doing-

 

*WHAM!*

 

The door flew off of its hinges, sending it and Marie flying across the room, above Mask, and into the opposite wall. Rider stood at the door, Dynamo Roller in hand, while Aloha stood next to him with a small laser-cutter. Both of their expressions deflated the instant they saw Mask, and they quickly rushed over to pick him up and free him.

 

"Holy shit!" Aloha shouted as Rider tore off the ropes, "What the fuck happened to your legs!?"

 

"Squee-" Mask coughed, more ink seeping out of his mouth. He grunted as Rider picked him up, his body beginning to go numb.

 

"Save your breath," Rider said, carrying Mask out of the room, "Save your breath... it'll be okay."

 

Aloha watched as they left the room, then turned his attention to the strained gasps and groans coming from the metal door across the room. He could see a hand claw itself out from under the huge slab of metal, quickly followed by the rest of Marie as she clambered out of the hole that had formed in the wall.

 

"You-" Marie coughed. Her whole face was dripping with ink, one of her tentacles cut and nose bleeding. "There you are!"

 

"Hm!" Aloha slowly walked towards her, pulling his 0.52 Gal off of his back, "So this is the great Marie Cuttlefish, Squid Sister numero dos-"

 

"Eat shit!" she swung at him, but he just ducked under her fist and stomped on her foot. She winced in pain, collapsing to the ground and clutching her foot.

 

"Look, lady," Aloha chuckled, hovering his foot precariously above her head, "I hate to do this, I really do. Especially with you having a cousin and all. She'd be absolutely inconsolable if something bad were to happen to you, no?"

 

"You lay even a finger on Callie," Marie snarled, "And I will castrate you! Each and every one of you!"

 

"No no no..." Aloha sighed then pressed his foot slightly onto her head, "Don't you see? You're the one who decides whether she gets hurt or not! So, here's the gist. If you stop hunting us down, and let me play as much as I want with little ol' Hachi, I won't leave Callie without a cousin!"

 

"Fuck-" Marie stopped, yelping in pain as Aloha pushed his foot further onto her head. She could feel a cold metal graze her chest, the barrel of his 0.52 Gal.

 

"Last chance," Aloha said, his gun cocking, "Tell me you'll stop, and you get to walk away. And no more vulgarities, please. You are a squid of culture, you should know better."

 

"F-" Marie gasped for air, "Fine! Just get your filthy foot off of my face!"

 

"Smart lady," Aloha smiled, lifting his foot off of her face. He picked up his 0.52 Gal and put it on his back before running off and out of the room. Marie just groaned in pain as she watched him leave, wiping her nose and grabbing for her phone.

 

---

 

Mask could just barely see Army above him as he stitched up his forehead. Rider was by his legs, rubbing some kind of ink-regenerative ointment on them. He could hear them talking, but couldn't make out any words.

 

Aloha opened the van door, squatting in front of Mask and tapping his tentacles a little. Mask groaned in response, to which Aloha patted him on the back and retreated to the front seat.

 

"So..." Aloha said to Hachi, who was sitting in shotgun, "Just met your boss."

 

"Oh shit," Hachi looked back at Mask, "That was her?! Oh lord... you have to let me go, now."

 

"What?" Aloha asked, turning the key in the ignition, "I can't do that! I love you..."

 

"Yeah, I love you too, whatever," Hachi groaned, "Look, she is going to kill you, KILL you, if you don't let me go. She's a nice lady most of the time, but she gets real crazy when shit isn't going her way."

 

"Don't we all?" Aloha chuckled, pulling out of the parking space and into the road. He then looked back at Army. "Yo Army! You found Skull's signal yet?"

 

"No..." Army sighed, "He seems impossible to find. Either he smashed his phone to smithereens, or whoever has him has some of the best disruptor tech possible."

 

"Well, you better come up with some ideas quick!" Aloha said, "Hachi says his boss wants us dead now!"

 

"I want her fuckin' dead too!" Rider shouted, "But you didn't see me kill her!"

 

"Could you two stop shouting?" Army hissed, rubbing Mask's face with a cold rag, "Look, if you guys have any ideas as to who could have him, then be my guest. It's not the cops, thank cod, but who the shell else could it be?"

 

"Mrs. Houzuki?" Aloha suggested.

 

"Nah," Army shook his head, "She may be powerful, but she ain't stupid. Deep Cut owns this city. The only people able to contest them are the Octarians... Oh my cod."

 

"What is it?" Rider asked, "Wait, do you really think he was kidnapped by them?! You're insane!"

 

"No, he's not," Hachi said, "That makes sense! You guys killed Don Gastro, right? He's one of Octavio's guys, so maybe they got Skull as payback!"

 

"Sounds good enough for me!" Aloha said, "So, where exactly are they?"

 

"There's a station in the metro," Army explained, "It's literally called 'Octarian Station', but it's under constant surveillance. There's no way we could break in."

 

"Oh, don't worry about the security," Hachi smirked, "I have a buddy in the metro who's good friends with the DJ. He'll get us in."

 

"Really?" Aloha asked, "And just who the shell is this?"

 

"Just an old friend..." Hachi said, "A really old friend..."

Chapter 14: Refined

Kraken's Volley was the most refined restaurant in the entire world, at least according to its patrons. It was built out of the wreckage of an old human aircraft carrier, and had a very distinct military theming about its menu. Despite how stuck-up and not fun that may sound, it was actually one of the most chill places you could find underground. It had the warmth of a community that depended upon it for its cool vibe and relaxing jams, played through one of the oldest jukeboxes that has ever existed.

 

Needless to say, Skull was quite surprised to be meeting the King of the Octarians there.

 

"Skull, isn't it?" Octavio had a very rough but welcoming voice, which was supplemented by his laid-back posture, "You seem to have gotten yourself into a little bit of a mess, haven't you?"

 

"Y-Yes, sir," Skull looked over to Zero, who sat beside him, but the octoling was too busy scarfing down her chicken nuggets to pay him any mind, "I... I'm sorry for all of the Gastro business, we were being paid-"

 

"HAR HAR HAR!" Octavio nearly fell back in his seat, he was laughing so hard, "I'm sorry, Gastro?! You don't need to be sorry fo' shit, kid! Oh lord, you kids and your moral compasses these days..."

 

"What is that supposed to mean?" Skull asked.

 

"Do you know how little it took for me to kill a man?" Octavio leaned over, staring Skull down. Skull just shrugged, which caused the DJ to erupt into laughter yet again. "Oh, boy, you people are oblivious! All it took was a half-good reason, didn't ya know?! Have you really never killed someone that you had a huge grudge on?"

 

"Kind of," Skull grimaced, "But I tried killing them before I hated them."

 

"PFFFT!" Octavio was trying to drink his beer, but could only take small sips to prevent himself from choking. He turned over to Kay, and grabbed her by the shoulder. "You see this kid here? She's done plenty o' shit to guys just because they pissed her off! Or her sis..."

 

"Yeah," Kay chuckled, taking a big bite of what must've been the Catch of the Day, which according to the menu was some kind of whale. "Oh, you remember that time those salmonid fucks tried to rip us off?"

 

"Oh, the Splatoween incident!?" Octavio laughed, "Yeah, how could I forget!?"

 

As the two veterans kept laughing amongst themselves, Skull scooched closer to Zero. He started taking small bites of his meal, some kind of salad with chicken and potatoes, slipping the bites under his mask as discreetly as possible. After a bit of eating, he could tell Zero's eyes were on him.

 

"Hey," Zero tapped him on the shoulder, "Why do you wear that mask?"

 

"Identity," Skull replied plainly, "Can't have the cops knowing what I actually look like."

 

"But we aren't cops," Zero pouted, "I wanna see your face!"

 

"Why?"

 

"Why not?" she replied, which Skull couldn't help but chuckle at. He looked over at Octavio and Kay, just to make sure they weren't listening to them.

 

"Fine," he said, "But first, you have to tell me a big secret you have."

 

"Why?" she asked.

 

"Why not?"

 

Zero giggled at that, playfully punching Skull on the shoulder. Instead of saying anything else, though, she just scooched away from him and continued eating her chicken. She clutched her plush a bit closer to her, her smile obviously dulled.

 

"Zero..." Skull said, "Did I say something wrong?"

 

"You have big secrets, and so do I," she said, her voice cracking slightly, "I don't want to tell you my secret, so don't tell yours."

 

"Zero-"

 

"Oi!" Kay shouted, now right in front of Skull's face, "What the shell are you telling my sis, huh?!"

 

"N-Nothing!" Skull said, "I was just chatting, is all!"

 

"He told me to tell him a big secret," Zero admitted, "I said I wouldn't."

 

"Oh, that's perfectly fine..." Kay's tone became much more concerned, "You don't ever have to tell anybody anything, okay? You wanna go?"

 

"Yeh," Zero smiled a little, munching on some more of her nuggets. She waved to Skull as she stood up, taking Kay's hand in hers as they walk out of the restaurant.

 

"Adorable, ain't they?" Octavio asked, chuckling a little.

 

"Yeah..." Skull said.

 

The table became silent at that point, other than the sounds of clanking utensils and chewing, of course. Octavio raised his fork and pointed it at Skull, but just chuckled to himself and went back to his food.

 

"Are you guys all right?" a waiter came over, dressed in a modified military outfit, "The food is to your liking?"

 

"Of course it is!" Octavio patted the octoling on the back, "This shit is straight gas! Don't you agree, Skull?"

 

"Huh?" Skull looked up, quickly adjusting his mask so that nobody could see a small bit of chicken stuck to his lip. He quickly licked it up, which must have looked strange due to Octavio breaking out into an even greater laughing fit than before.

 

"I swear, are all of you guys this funny!?" Octavio laughed, "Speaking of, where are your friends?"

 

"Why do you want to know?" Skull raised a non-existent eyebrow at him.

 

"Just curious!" the DJ assured him, "What, you think I wanna group ya all up so it's easier to kill ya, or something?"

 

"Now that you say that, yes."

 

"Ye of little faith..." Octavio laughed, "Look, buddy, let's stop all the foreplay. I need you for something."

 

"What kind of something?" Skull asked.

 

"I'm in a bit of trouble with those Deep Cut fools," Octavio explained, "As well as that whole mess with Houzuki and Ida. I know you lot don't exactly like those two anymore, and Deep Cut is working with the cops! So, you know..."

 

"What's in it for us?" Skull put his fork down.

 

"Money and freedom, of course!" Octavio smirked, "I mean, ain't that the dream?"

 

"I guess it is..."

 

"I'll let you think it over," Octavio jumped out of his seat, wiping his face with his napkin, "I'll even let you leave, if need be. I know how important your little band is to you."

 

"You're letting me go?" Skull asked, chuckling a little, "No joke?"

 

"No joke," Octavio held out his tentacle, "You just need to promise that you think on my offer."

 

"Deal," Skull shook his tentacle, smiling widely as he did so.

 

---

 

"So... he just died?"

 

Headphones face-palmed, an action that Pearl would have joined her in if she wasn't acting so refined at the moment. She just sighed, then grabbed Specs by the shoulder and pulled him close to her face.

 

"Look," Pearl said, "Hive was killed by Skull of the S4. You saw the autopsy report, did you not?"

 

"Well yeah, but..." Specs pulled out his notebook, "The S4 have been out of the city for the past three days! And when did he die?"

 

"Three days ago," Headphones shook her head, "So what, Specs? That's probably why they left in the first place!"

 

"I dunno..." Specs adjusted his spectacles, looking back in his notebook, "I mean, we've never had a case where Skull shot someone twice, right? It's always a single shot to the head. Hive had a blast through his chest."

 

"Maybe he just missed," Pearl posited, growing quite annoyed at Specs's nosiness, "And does it matter!? Mrs. Ida's secretary is dead, and Skull killed him! Case closed!"

 

"Y-Yes, ma'am," Specs bowed a little, "I am sorry. We shall make sure he is brought to justice."

 

"Thank you," Pearl said kindly, "You two may leave, now. Unless you have anything else to check out here?"

 

"No, ma'am," Headphones grabbed Specs and practically dragged him out of the room. They almost bumped into Emperor, who scoffed as Specs almost touched his coat. The second the two officers shut the doors behind them, Emperor began laughing.

 

"What's so funny?" Pearl asked, not amused at all.

 

"They are just so stupid!" he laughed, clutching his sides, "I swear, Mrs. Houzuki, we are the only intellectuals in this city!"

 

"So it may seem..." Pearl smiled, sitting down in a lavish leather chair. Lil' Judd jumped onto her lap, mewing as she pet him on the head. "Speaking of your talents, I have a job for you."

 

"For The Golds?" he nodded, "Whatever it is, it shall-"

 

"No," Pearl grabbed a martini glass from beside her and took a sip, "You specifically. You, and that brother of yours."

 

"You mean Prince?" Emperor said his name like it was some sort of disease, "If the job is important enough for me, then he shall only serve to mess it up."

 

"You have too little faith," Pearl said coldly, then whipped a knife out of her pocket. It whizzed through the air, grazing Emperor's cheek before hitting the wall behind him. "Anyways, you cannot contest my orders. For what is a king, without the god who has chosen him?"

 

"He is nothing, Mrs. Houzuki, and yes, I shall do it..." he said, "But may I inquire, what is this mission?"

 

"To take out the S5, plain and simple. I feel it will be a piece of cake for you, even with your brother dragging you down. Need I remind you of your accomplishments?"

 

"No," he chuckled, "But I would enjoy it greatly!"

 

"Well," Pearl smirked, "How about the fact that you have never let any enemy's ink touch your shoes?"

 

"Oh, yes!" he laughed, "I would never let any of the rabble get their ink on my pristine kicks!"

 

"Of course you wouldn't," she flipped Lil' Judd over and began rubbing his belly, "Anyways, I trust you to get the job done, then? Remember, they are dangerous, especially Skull."

 

"You underestimate me!" Emperor said in shock, "Well, I shall show you! I will have them dead in two days time, even before the Octarian King's Comeback Tour!"

 

"A bold task," Pearl said, "But one you can surely rise to. Now go, I don't want to waste your time any longer."

 

"It is settled!" he gave her a small salute before he leaved, slamming the door behind him.

 

Pearl sighed, laying back in her chair and taking another sip of her martini. Lil' Judd tried to climb onto her face, but she just laughed and pushed him back down. Looking out the window, she could see the city at night. No matter how much she saw it, it was always a sight to behold.

 

"Soon it will all be ours," she said, clenching her hand into a fist, "Isn't that right, lil' guy?"

 

"Mew, (The downfall of the assassins is inevitable. Whether it will be a product of our determination or of their hubris is still to be determined)," the cat replied, right before spinning around three times, and promptly falling asleep on her lap.

Chapter 15: Return

Mask groaned as he turned over on his bed, a horrible itchy feeling in his tentacles. He began scratching them thoroughly as he sat up, observing his surroundings. He was obviously in some Grizzco establishment, a place for workers who had been beaten up a little too badly. There was only one other person in the room with him, an octoling patient with an IV drip attached to their arm. They had a huge bruises on their face, and a cast around their other arm. Mask lifted his hands to his face, rubbing it and wondering if he looked any better.

 

The door opened, making way for a very sweaty Army to come into the room. His face lit up the instant he saw Mask awake, nearly rushing over and suffocating the poor inkling with his embrace.

 

"H-Heeeey..." Mask said softly, patting Army on the back. He could feel Army shaking, inky tears falling onto his shoulder.

 

"I-I thought-" Army sobbed, hugging him even tighter, "I thought you were dead..."

 

"Takes mooooore than that to keep me doooown..." Mask smiled sweetly, rubbing Army's back a little, "A looooot more..."

 

"Mh-hm."

 

Army just held onto Mask even tighter, but a smile could be seen creeping up his face. The past few days had been absolute Hell for him, so just being able to have this moment of peace, a moment where he could be happy...

 

It was perfect.

 

---

 

Skull's mind raced as he waited on the train, only minutes away from Splatsville Station. He had only been gone a day, but the rest of the group must've been worried sick. Army was already having a mini-crisis, and it honestly broke Skull's heart knowing he may have contributed to that.

 

Well, that didn't matter anymore. He'd be home soon, and they wouldn't have to worry anymore.

 

He looked around the train car, eyes darting about as the back of his mind shouted at him. That Iso guy could be anywhere, but Skull couldn't see him. He clutched a purple squid plush to his chest, a gift Zero had given him right before he left. It even had a small name tag sticker stuck onto it, which read "Skull" in Zero's very sloppy handwriting. He remembered the way she kept apologizing for it, but he never minded. It made the gift that much more personal, anyways.

 

Speaking of the kid, she was actually across the train from him, talking yet again to that Ahato lady. Much like Craig, Ahato seemed to be a metro dweller, sleeping on the trains and spending most of their days just staring out at the subway walls. She was still an enigma to Skull, with her mint-green skin and soulless voice, but she seemed nice enough.

 

"And then Fortissimo was all like, 'Watch me!' and barreled head-first into the wall!" Zero giggled, smacking her fist against her open palm, "The wall did break, but he had a real big bump on his head! One of the funny red ones!"

 

"He seems like a funny fellow," Ahato said, her face once again contorting in an attempt at a smile, "I never knew salmonids could be so... personable."

 

"Kay calls the bad things the bear says are called propaganda," Zero nodded, "She says it's an argument that has no real fact, and only makes the speaker look better. People who use propaganda are big meanies."

 

"Yes," Ahato said, "Meanies indeed."

 

Ahato stood up, walking across the train and sitting beside Skull. Zero quickly joined her, bouncing over to them and sitting on Skull's other side. Skull smiled a little at the goofy expression on her face.

 

"Skull, is it?" Ahato's monotone made it kind of hard to tell what was a question and what wasn't, "You have some friends, correct? I have heard of the S4, the group you work as a part of. Are you glad to be seeing them again?"

 

"Yep," Skull looked over at her, then raised his non-existent eyebrow, "I don't mean to sound rude, but why do you want to know?"

 

"Just friendly talk," she said, "Zero over here tells me that the best way to make friends is to ask what they think about things."

 

Skull looked back over at Zero, who just nodded while holding her squid plush close.

 

"If that is how it goes..." Skull said, "Then may I ask you a personal question?"

 

"Ask away."

 

"Why is your skin green?"

 

Ahato stopped, pursing her lips together and making a low humming sound. It was like she was a computer, fans whirring as she tried processing the information she had just been given.

 

"I would..." her monotone broke slightly, her voice cracking, "I would rather not say."

 

"Sorry, then," Skull laid back, then got the wind knocked out of him when Zero climbed over him to Ahato. She practically wrapped around the other octoling, a few tears streaming down her face as she held onto Ahato.

 

Now arriving at Splatsville Station. Doors will open on both sides of the train.

 

Skull left without saying another word, waving to the two octolings as he stepped off of the train. There wasn't much of a crowd in the station, but still enough that Skull had to try not going insane as he pushed passed people.

 

He went to pop in his cephalo pods, but just sighed when he remembered that they were dead. The hustle and bustle of the crowd was really becoming too much for him, and he couldn't do anything to mitigate it but slump down on a bench and just hope someone would help him. How exactly, he didn't know, but he was really only thinking about how much he hated the noise.

 

Then, out of the corner of his ear, he heard something. It sounded lovely, a strange yet welcome sound reverberating through the station. A melody that he had heard so many times before, but had never felt this close to.

 

It was heavenly.

 

Skull scrambled towards the noise, only to find that it was coming from right next to him. Beside the bench, laying on the ground with a tin in front of his tail, was a salmonid. He had a cello in his fins, and a huge rag over most of his body. He looked up to see Skull staring at him, but didn't stop playing.

 

Skull was mesmerized by his skill. The salmonid was not the original cellist from ω-3, but he surely had the same ear for perfection. He slipped off of the bench and sat beside the salmonid, their mere presence calming him tremendously.

 

"H-Hi," Skull said softly, not wanting to intrude on the salmonid's playing, "I'm a big fan of ω-3, and I can't help but wonder if you know them, or anything. That's some amazing skill you have, by the way."

 

"Nah," the salmonid chuckled, still playing his cello perfectly, "I'm just a fan, same as you. Never met many inklings who're fans, but they're usually all right. So, what brings you here?"

 

"What do you mean?" Skull asked.

 

"Oh, you know, here. Everybody's got a story to tell, kiddo, they just sometimes need somebody to tell it too. I've met plenty a man, woman, and child in my travels, I just wanna know what puts you apart from the rest."

 

"I-I'm sorry sir," Skull said, "I'd rather not say, sir."

 

"Don't call me sir," he chuckled, "My name's Tide-Caller of the Horrifying Swarm, but you can just call me Tide."

 

"Yes, Tide," Skull smiled a little, then remembered why he was there in the first place. He sighed as he stood back up. "I have some friends I have to get too. Nice meeting you, Tide, and sorry I have no coins to give."

 

"I wouldn't want them anyways," Tide gave him a small wave goodbye, "But you can pay me back later, if you'd like. You know where to find me."

 

"Thank you," Skull nodded, then made his way out of the station. The crowd had mostly dispersed by that point, the only ones left a few thugs and an old woman listening to Tide's heavenly melody.

 

Skull had to cover his eyes as he stepped out of the metro, Splatlandian sun almost blinding him. He barely had any time to adjust before he could hear footsteps approaching, and two arms wrapping around him.

 

"What the-"

 

"Skull?!" Aloha shouted, running over, "Oh my cod, you're alive!"

 

"Yeah, I'm alive," Skull grumbled, pushing back against the arms around him, "Who's holding me, by the way? I can't fuckin' see."

 

"Sorry," Rider placed him down, stepping back a bit, "I-I just didn't expect you to just appear here, y'know."

 

"Yeah..." Skull looked around, "So... where's Mask and Army?"

 

"Grizzco," Aloha said, "Mask got into a bit of a..."

 

"Mess," Rider said softly, "He got into a real big mess."

 

"And Hachi?" Skull asked, "You still have him, right?"

 

"He's in the van," Rider explained, "Just sittin' back there. You remember to tie him up, Aloha?"

 

"You remember to turn on the A/C for him?" Aloha retorted.

 

"You saw me-" Rider groaned, then turned back to Skull, "Okay, how about we just get you back to the others, then I'll kick his ass."

 

"Of course," Skull let out a sigh of relief, "Let's get going."

Chapter 16: Calm

The entire team was quiet as they loaded into the van, but it was a good kind of quiet. Skull had been up to his ears in noise, mostly from the usual horrible screeching sounds that seemed to emanate from every corner of the Grizzco building. Mask was in need of some quiet too, as the scar on his forehead began to throb slightly. It didn't hurt much, but it felt like some kind of alien was just living there, underneath his skin.

 

Rider, Army, and Aloha all sat in the back. Mask needed shotgun for the A/C, and Skull was very adamant that he drive. It was a short drive, anyways, but every drive felt like forever in the Splatlandian sun. Rider had a single arm wrapped around Army, while Aloha was being much more physical with Hachi only a few feet away.

 

"Get offa me," Hachi whispered, then lifted his head to where he thought Rider was. It was hard to tell with a bag over his face, "Yo Rider! Could you please kick this loser in the nuts?"

 

"Loser!?" Aloha shouted, deeply offended.

 

"Sure," Rider took his free arm and whacked Aloha hard against the shoulder. The inkling seethed, death-glaring at Rider as he rubbed his shoulder. "Goofball, if you want to get back with him, hows about you respect his boundaries?"

 

"You people are no fun," Aloha pouted, but did scooch away from Hachi and take the bag off of his head.

 

"Here we are," Skull said, stopping the van, "The Anarchy Orange."

 

"Oraaaaange..." Mask chuckled to himself, maybe a bit delirious from his recently-prescribed pain meds, "Heh, get fuuuuuucked bitch, we at the oraaaaange!"

 

"Is he good?" Aloha asked as he picked up Hachi and pulled him out of the van, "By the way, who's gonna be sleeping with him?"

 

"You think I can't care for him?" Rider huffed, stepping out of the van and staring Aloha down, "I'll have you know that-"

 

"Mask is very... physical with his bed partners," Skull sighed, "It was fine when you were sleeping in separate beds, but I bet you don't want to mess with that now. Anyways, Aloha tells me Army and you have already slept together, so it's fine."

 

"We didn't sleep-!" Rider paused for a second, "Oh wait, you mean it like literally. I guess we did, huh."

 

"Why do you guys have to..." Aloha looked at Mask for a few more seconds, "Wanna know what, nevermind. See ya later!"

 

Aloha rushed off into his motel room, Hachi in his arms. Rider just grunted, pulling Army along with him into theirs. Skull sighed and turned to Mask, who was having a bit of trouble getting used to his new cane.

 

"Mask..." Skull grabbed the inkling by the chest, readying him and making sure his posture was correct, "What in the shell happened to you? Who did this to you?"

 

"Marie..." Mask said, words laced with spite, "That bitch did thiiiiiis to me. Never meeeeet your heroes, Skull..."

 

"Of fucking course," Skull groaned. He was fully prepared for a fallout with the Splatoon if one of his friends did something stupid, but never considered the other side doing so first. So much for a great alliance...

 

Skull helped Mask into their motel room, assisting the inkling up until he collapsed on the bed. He began rolling around like a cat, which Skull couldn't help but chuckle at, before settling down and picking up the TV remote.

 

"What do yooooou wanna waaatch?" Mask asked, flipping through channels, "I'm partial to anythiiiiing..."

 

"Cooking channel," Skull commanded, sitting beside Mask, then added, "Please."

 

"Yes booooss..."

 

Mask flipped on the cooking channel, which at that point was just playing the newest episode of Shell's Kitchen. It wasn't the calming atmosphere Skull was looking for, but it would work.

 

Neither of the inklings made any comments while watching, the only noises the occasional chuckles when one of the chef's really fucked up. As the show went on, however, Skull could feel Mask slowly inch closer to him. He should have expected it, but before he knew it, Mask was practically laying on him.

 

Skull looked down at Mask's face, frowning a bit as he finally noticed the lack of a, well, mask. Army had been holding onto it in the van, but definitely left it back there instead of bringing it in. Skull observed his face further, the blue scar across his forehead taking most of his attention, as well as something else.

 

Mask's mouth.

 

It had been so long since Skull had seen Mask's mouth. Now, he was never one to speak, as he was wearing his bandana even at that moment, but it still fascinated him. The last time he had seen Mask's mouth was back in college, back when they were roommates, and before either of them wore masks.

 

---

 

"Soooo..." Mask was looking down at Skull from his bed, chuckling as he saw the other pop a few more chocolates into his mouth, "You really gonna eaaaat all of those by tomorrooow?"

 

"What's it to you?" Skull grunted, rolling over in his own bed. Mask and him were in a bunk-bed, his beneath Mask's.

 

"I just wanted to knooooow..." he drawled, sliding down the ladder and sitting beside Skull. He inched a bit closer, opening his mouth and pointing at it.

 

"Mh-hm," Skull chuckled, dropping one of the chocolates into Mask's mouth.

 

"MMH!" Mask smiled, "These are goooooood..."

 

"Of course they are," Skull said, "My gramma made 'em!"

 

"Really?" Mask was starry-eyed, "My gramma caaaaan't make chocolate! My mom used to make me coooookies, but-"

 

He cut himself off, just slumping back and laying on Skull's bed. Skull chuckled a bit at Mask's display, then laid down next to him. They both looked at each other, noses practically touching, and laughed.

 

---

 

"Skuuull?" Mask drawled, fingers tapping on Skull's shoulder, "You goooood?"

 

"Huh?" Skull snapped to, blushing slightly as he noticed how close Mask's face was to his chest, "Uh yeah, I'm fine."

 

"Okaaaay..." Mask rolled over, onto his back, "This is niiiice... you know? When was the last time weeeee did this?"

 

"Years ago," Skull said softly, pinching his neck a little, "Years and years and years ago."

 

Mask just smiled, shifting over and laying his arm over Skull's chest. He was sitting like a starfish, limbs spread all across the bed and all over Skull. Mask yawned as he stretched, limbs going limp.

 

"Imma go to beeeed..." Mask said, but still wouldn't move off of Skull, "G'niiiight..."

 

"Good night," Skull tried pushing Mask's leg off of him, but immediately stopped when he saw Mask wince from the pain.

 

Mask fell asleep, entire body weighing down on Skull and preventing him from moving. Skull's arm was already asleep, so he just bit the bullet and decided to get some shut-eye himself. Anyways, the last time he had a good sleep was when he got tranqed.

 

---

 

Emperor grumbled as his butler stopped the limo, the Splatlandian heat reaching him even through the car's A/C and his refreshing mango cocktail. He punched his servant on the shoulder, which caused them to jump up immediately and rush out of the car. He scowled as he stepped out of the limo, the only things in sight a few thugs in a back alley and the average ghetto mess of Splatsville.

 

"This place is a dump," he scoffed, turning back to his servant, "Servant! Where are my dualies?"

 

"I-In public, bro-" the servant flinched as Emperor glared at him, "S-Sir?"

 

"I swear, you never learn," Emperor laughed haughtily, grabbing his servant by the collar, "This is the city of Anarchy, servant. Nobody will care if I carry my dualies around! Anyways, you know what would happen to anybody who would, don't you?"

 

"They would be dead, sir," Prince was shaking as he handed Emperor his dualies.

 

"Good servant," Emperor patted him on the head, "Now, where did the informant say they were?"

 

"The Anarchy Orange, sir. Are we really-"

 

"Will you stop asking questions?!" Emperor snapped, shoving Prince to the ground, "I don't pay you to ask questions, servant! Do I?"

 

"N-No, sir," Prince whimpered, "N-No..."

 

"Good," Emperor spat at him, "Now get off the ground. I'm not paying you to act like a pig, either."

 

"Yessir," Prince stood up, bowing lightly as he did so, "What are your orders, sir?"

 

"Simple orders, as always," Emperor sneered, "Needn't confuse you, anyways. I decree that I shall kill them, kill them all. And while I do that, you shall sit idly by the side and make me a good cup of tea."

 

"But I can be useful!" Prince said, "I w-want to be useful."

 

"You want to be useful... what?"

 

"I want to be useful, sir."

 

"Good servant," Emperor flicked Prince's nose, "Fine, I shall allow you to have one of them. Hachi is his name, and he is the pink octoling. You are too much of a coward to kill anyways, so I'll give you the one guy we need alive."

 

"I-I can kill!" Prince said frantically, "I am no coward! Please, sir, let me be useful!"

 

"Fine, you get Aloha then," Emperor sighed, "But do not mess it up. I have a reputation to uphold."

 

"Yessir."

 

"Good," Emperor said, spinning his dualies in his hands, "Then it is time to kill. If you mess this up, you're dead. Remember that, servant."

 

"Y-Yessir."

 

Emperor walked off towards the motel, Prince following quickly behind him. The king snickered as he came to one of the doors of the shabby building, the perfect grave for his least desirable subjects.

Chapter 17: Storm

Army didn't know what was going on. One second, he's laying on the bed, trying his best to fall asleep. It was honestly horrible to him, that he was so tired before nightfall even came, but he had to sleep either way.

 

Then, all Hell broke loose.

 

Emperor was standing in the doorway, his golden masquerade mask glistening in the blinding sunlight. The door was busted clean off its hinges, and Army could just barely see someone standing behind Emperor.

 

"Servant," Emperor said, his voice sending chills up Army's spine, "Take notes."

 

Emperor rolled into the room, narrowly avoiding a flick from Rider's Dynamo. He was shooting his dualies with near-deadly precision, but Rider was just barely able to be one step ahead. He came upon Emperor yet again with his roller, but the King just dodge-rolled away and shot Rider in the arm.

 

"Fuck!" Rider seethed, dodging more shots from Emperor as he hid behind the bed with Army. He looked to Army, his breath heavy and arm bleeding. "Hey, you got any bandages, perchance?"

 

"No-"

 

"Emperor!" Prince screamed from the doorway, "We have company!"

 

"And this is what I was talking about!" Emperor said scornfully, slipping into his squid form. He slid right under the bed, quickly squid-rolling away when Rider tried to smack him with his undamaged arm.

 

Shots could be heard from outside, and Prince rolled into the room, his own golden dualies in hand. He slid over a small coffee table, propping it up as a shield before more shots came towards him. Aloha was now standing right outside the room, shots from his 0.52 Gal whizzing through the air. Prince rolled back outside, dodging the weapon's slow shots and trying to hit Aloha. The inkling was too fast, however, and quickly evaded Prince while also drawing him away from Army and Rider's room.

 

Emperor scoffed, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. Army rose from behind the bed, his N-Zap in hand, and tried to take the shot. In an instant, Emperor appeared in front of him, dualies pointed at his chin.

 

"Poor move," he sneered.

 

Before he could shoot, though, Rider leapt over the bed and tackled Emperor to the ground. He pressed his Dynamo onto Emperor's legs to pin him down as he tried to beat him up with only one free fist.

 

Emperor caught Rider's fist in his hand, smirking as he rose up and head-butted Rider in the face. Rider fell back, tripping over his Dynamo and simultaneously knocking it off of Emperor's legs.

 

"Foolish peasants!" Emperor shouted, plugging two shots into Rider's other arm, "Let's see you use a Dynamo with no arms!"

 

Another N-Zap shot flew by Emperor's head, the King tilting his head away right before it could even graze him. He instantly turned back to Army, and smiled. Army was quivering, his breath rapid and his fingers barely able to wrap around the N-Zap's trigger.

 

"Oh how I love this!" Emperor rolled into Army, pinning the other on the ground as he continued his speech, "Your shivering limbs, your quivering lips... It's perfect! I just love that smell... the smell of fear!"

 

"Get off-" Army was stopped by a swift punch to the face from Emperor. The King still had his dualies by his waist, ready to blow Army's head off, but he was having too much fun.

 

Emperor kept wailing on Army's face, fists making the most satisfying noise against the cowardly inkling's face. He took a long, deep breath, then flicked his dualies back into his hands. He spun them for one, two, three rotations, then shoved them both into Army's now bleeding mouth.

 

"Emperor!" Prince let out a pained gasp, redirecting the King's attention, "We have an issue!"

 

"What-" Emperor stopped, rolling off of Army as a giant ink shot flew by him. It formed a huge hole in the wall behind him, which only confirmed his suspicions.

 

There, standing in the doorway, with his foot on Prince's head, was Skull.

 

And he was pissed.

 

Emperor smiled as he dodged another E-Liter shot, rolling nearer and nearer to Skull. The assassin stepped back, kicking Prince towards Emperor, but Emperor just jumped over his servant, even using his body as a platform to boost himself off of for a bit more momentum.

 

"Now now, assassin," Emperor tutted, now right behind Skull, "You can't escape-"

 

He was interrupted by some more shots from Aloha. Skull quickly hid in his squid form, swimming into the motel room using the trail he made earlier. Emperor groaned as he rolled away from Aloha's shots, all of the dodging doing a number on his back.

 

"Eat shit, asshole!" Aloha shouted.

 

"Mh-hm!" Emperor appeared under Aloha, then shot him in both of his legs. Aloha yelped, crumpling onto the pavement as he clutched at his legs.

 

Emperor stood above Aloha, wiping a bit of dust off of his shoulder as he glared at the inkling. He grabbed Aloha by his collar, dragging him away from Skull's sightline and scraping his already bleeding knees across the hard pavement. He then peered down at Aloha, twisted smile forming on his face.

 

"I'd kill you now," Emperor said, "But I do need to know where that Hachi fellow is. Where is he?"

 

"As I said before..." Aloha grunted, "Eat. Shit."

 

"You insolent-"

 

"Emperor!"

 

Emperor turned around, placing his boot onto Aloha's chest. He would've stomped on his face, but that would've gotten the wounded inkling's ink all over his shoes. Even after all of the fighting, they were still squeaky clean.

 

Over in the motel room, a few meters away, Skull was holding Army's N-Zap to Prince's head. The servant looked absolutely terrified, face yellow and gasping for air.

 

"Emperor," Skull repeated, pressing the N-Zap into Prince's ear, "Get the fuck out of here."

 

"And what're you gonna do if I don't?" Emperor pressed one of his dualies against Aloha's chest, right where his hearts were.

 

"I'm gonna kill this guy," Skull stated coldly.

 

"Him?" Emperor laughed, "HIM?! You think I give two shits about HIM!?"

 

"Brother!" Prince sobbed, "Please!"

 

"Oh no..." Emperor cleared his throat, then looked back down at Aloha, "Now that is funny."

 

"Emp-"

 

*BLAM!*

 

Emperor blasted a hole through Aloha's chest, pink ink pouring out and onto the street. The King walked away as quickly as he could, making absolutely sure that his shoes were still clean. They were.

 

Skull screamed, shoving Prince to the ground and rushing towards Emperor. The King just sneered, rolling out of the way and blasting a hole through Skull's hand. Skull fell back, teeth bared as he held his hand.

 

"You peasants are so funny..." Emperor's ears perked up, his smile quickly changing to a grimace, "Oh come on! Just when it was getting fun, too!"

 

"Huh?" Skull asked, but then he heard it.

 

Police sirens.

 

Skull whipped around to see Army helping Rider up and into his van. He looked back over to Emperor, but the King was already gone. Prince was still there on the ground, however, and Skull sighed as he went over and picked the whimpering inkling off the ground.

 

"P-Please!" Prince begged, "Don't-"

 

"Shut it," Skull snapped, pointing over to Aloha's motel room, "Go in there, and get Hachi. You try anything funny, and you're dead. Got it?"

 

"Y-Yessir," Prince bolted for the door, knocking on it rapidly before deciding to just bust it down.

 

Hachi was sitting on the bed, yet again tied up spread-eagle. He raised his eyebrow when he saw Prince enter, then began to panic as he realized who it was.

 

"What the fuck are you doing here!?" Hachi said, "What is-"

 

"J-Just come on!" Prince tried his best to sound commanding as he untied Hachi, "W-We need to g-go!"

 

"What do you-"

 

Then Hachi saw it. Aloha's dead body, burning into the pavement.

 

"No," a tear fell down Hachi's face, "No no no no no no!"

 

"We n-need to go-"

 

Hachi smacked Prince in the face, hard. He was breathing heavily as he stormed off towards the body, tears streaming from his eyes as he picked it up and carried it towards the van. Prince followed behind him, rubbing his cheek as he stepped in.

 

"Okay, you're all-" Army stopped, looking at Aloha, "Hachi, w-why did you-"

 

"We can save him," Hachi insisted, placing Aloha next to Rider, "We can save him!"

 

"We-"

 

"Move, move!" Skull shouted, shoving Mask into shotgun, then running into the back and slamming the van door behind him, "We need to go, now!"

 

Army floored it, tires screeching as the van sped through Splatsville's streets. Everybody was dead silent as Army drove through the city, not even seeming to breathe until they had gotten out of the city and onto the long desert road. Army kept looking back to make sure no cops were following them, but thankfully there were none to be seen.

 

"So..." Army tried to speak, but nobody seemed to be listening. He sighed, pulling onto the side of the road and climbing into the back seat. He pulled a first-aid kit off of the wall, and began wrapping up Rider's arms. Hachi went to grab for the kit, but Army just slapped his arm away, nodding solemnly as he finished up with Rider.

 

"Give me the kit," Hachi ordered, wiping his face, "Give me the kit, Army."

 

"No," Army said, his voice cracking, "You don't need the codamn kit."

 

"Army..." Skull placed his not-bleeding hand on Army's shoulder, "Army, it'll be okay."

 

"Okay?!" Hachi snapped, nearly slapping Skull in the face, "OKAY!? Look at him, Skull! Look at him!"

 

Skull looked back down at Aloha's body, the hole in his chest beginning to dry up from the heat. His eyes were still open, his mouth slack-jawed. It was like he had been frozen.

 

Frozen with fear.

 

Skull went to pick Aloha up, but stopped when Hachi slapped his arms away.

 

"What're you doing?" Hachi asked.

 

"Bringin' him outside," Skull sighed, "A good man like him doesn't deserve to be buried in a van."

 

"We aren't-" Hachi whammed his fist onto the van floor, impact only slightly cushioned by the protective plastic, "We aren't burying him. Not now, not ever."

 

"A viking fuuuuuneral, then?" Mask suggested, but quickly turned away when Hachi glared at him, "S-Soooorry..."

 

"You people are sick," Hachi turned to Prince, voice getting more and more scornful with each word, "You people make me sick."

 

Prince was silent, small tears falling to the ground as he continued to cry. He had been crying the whole time, but it was sometimes hard to tell with how quiet he was.

 

"What are we doing with him, anyways?" Army asked, poking Prince with his finger, "You heard what that bastard said. We can't exactly use him as a bartering tool."

 

"He knows stuff, I'm sure," Skull said.

 

"Then wheeeeere to?" Mask asked, "We can't go anywhere nooow..."

 

"We go to the domes," Skull said, standing up and climbing into the driver's seat.

 

"The domes!?" Hachi exclaimed, "You mean the Octarian Domes!?"

 

"Yeah," Skull turned the key in the ignition, "They'll be able to help."

 

"You're insane..." Hachi groaned, but didn't say another word in retaliation.

 

Actually, nobody said anything else during the whole drive to the station, one of the stations Skull knew of out in the Splatlands. There was nothing to say, anyways.

 

What was there to say, after all of that?

Chapter 18: Aftermath

The van was completely silent as it rolled onto the side of the road, beside a seemingly abandoned metro tunnel. Skull hopped out first, helping Mask with his cane as he stumbled out. Army was helping Rider out, which led him to realize that one of Rider's ankles had been twisted something fierce. Hachi was still carrying Aloha as he stepped out, both eyes trained viciously on Prince as the quivering inkling nearly tripped into the Splatlandian sand.

 

Everybody was still silent as they walked down the subway entrance and into the station. All of the gates were broken and could easily be stepped through, which led them to the station tunnel. A cracked sign hanging from the ceiling blinked it's message:

 

NEXT TRAIN FOR SPLATSVILLE IN - 5 Min

 

Skull sighed, sitting down on a seemingly clean, but very smelly bench. Mask slumped down beside him, laying his head on Skull's shoulder as he began humming to himself. Skull looked around for Army to see if he still had the gas mask on him, but he had obviously left it in the van.

 

Hachi sat down on another bench, laying Aloha by his side. He pulled his fingers over Aloha's eyes, shutting them so it could at least look like he was sleeping. He tugged a little at one of the inkling's tentacles, tears beginning to well up in his eyes again.

 

Army was leaned up against a wall, holding onto Rider so he wouldn't fall. He kept stopping Rider as he tried to move towards Prince, a decision that was sure to end poorly.

 

As for Prince, he was simply trying to seem as small as possible. He sat in a corner, almost out of their sight, crouched down, and curled himself into a ball. He continued to cry, but it was absolutely silent. No reason for him to be loud about it, that would just make everybody even angrier at him.

 

The train to Splatsville is now arriving.

 

Only a few seconds after the announcement, Skull could hear the screeching of the stopping train, gigantic cars rolling into view soon after. It was honestly a wonder that such a huge vehicle could be created only by inkfish. How many years did it take to make such a monstrous device, and all of the tunnels it sped through?

 

The doors of the train opened, Skull brining Mask in first and the rest following soon after. There was nobody else in the car, which Skull must've silently thanked the Great Zapfish a million times for.

 

Most of them were sitting, finally able to get some much needed rest in a cool, air conditioned train. Skull could feel himself drifting to sleep, then noticed that Mask had already done so. He was sleeping soundly on Skull's shoulder; he was surprisingly cute when he slept.

 

Prince was the only one standing, hands not even on any of the support bars. Skull honestly assumed that Prince wanted to get flung across the train on purpose, but he didn't want to say anything. Any word would feel like throwing a pound of Francium into a swimming pool.

 

Now arriving at Octarian Station.

 

Skull stood up, shaking Mask awake and helping him up as well. Hachi lifted Aloha out of his seat, still holding the inkling's limp body like he was Hachi's bride.

 

They stepped off of the train, Skull making sure to keep a trained eye on both Hachi and Prince. The two seemed to be avoiding each other, thankfully, but that didn't help to thin any of the tension between them.

 

*CLINK!*

 

Everybody else stopped, but Skull kept moving forward. Mask was as well, but that was simply because he was practically attached to Skull at that point.

 

*CLINK!*

 

"Who-" Army immediately shut up when he realized how much his words echoed through the tunnel. Sweat was already running down his face, his body shivering as if he were sick.

 

*CLINK!*

 

A small aluminum can came flying down the stairs, small footsteps soon to follow. Zero got to the bottom of the steps, not even looking in their direction as she leaned over and picked up the can.

 

"Zero," Skull said, making the octoling jolt up instantly. She looked over at them, a wide smile quickly forming on her face.

 

"Skull!" she ran up and hugged him, also hugging Mask in the process. She was giddy, practically bouncing up and down as she looked at all of the others. "You brought your friends! There's so many... oh."

 

She backed away, then moved over to Hachi. He hissed as she approached, but still let her touch Aloha's forehead. She rubbed her eyes a little, then gave Hachi a comforting smile.

 

"I should bring you back to Big Sis!" she exclaimed, running back up the stairs, "Come on! Let's go!"

 

"She's so loooooud..." Mask complained as Skull dragged him up the steps.

 

"You get used to it," Skull chuckled, then turned back to Hachi, "You sure you're fine with this, Hachi? I know-"

 

"It's fine," Hachi assured him, "I'm tired, is all. She's nice, by the way."

 

"Very nice-" Prince began, but stopped the instant the rest of them started to glare at him. He gave them a small bow and a low "Sorry" before walking up past them, but not out of their sight.

 

---

 

It had been a few hours. At least, that's what Skull thought.

 

They had met up with Kay, Zero had said something that made him laugh, and they planned on meeting the DJ the next morning. The problem was, Skull didn't really remember anything they said. It became hard to pay attention when he got this sudden ringing in his ear, which never seemed to let up. It was gone now, at least.

 

Skull was laying on a cold bed, Mask yet again by his side. He had begun having thoughts about what that meant, but he didn't want to dwell on it too long. It felt wrong anyways.

 

Aloha is dead.

 

Skull's eyes began to water a bit, and he couldn't help but loathe himself for it. He wasn't crying because of Aloha, but because he was ashamed of his own thoughts. How could he be so selfish? So... inconsiderate?

 

"Skuuull?" Mask said, face right next to Skull's, "What's the prooooblem?"

 

"No problem," Skull lied, "No problem at all."

 

"I can't belieeeve that..." Mask said, almost accusatorially, "Something is wroooong... and it's not Aloha..."

 

"I just don't get it!" Skull shouted, "How can he just- DO that!? How can that rat-bastard-son-of-a-whore actually DO that!? You're hurt, Rider's hurt, I have a hole in my hand, and Aloha is dead!"

 

"Hmm..." Mask hummed a little to himself, "I guess that reaaaally is sad..."

 

"You-" Skull sighed, pulling Mask a little closer. He began to cry into Mask's shoulder, his sobs only slightly muffled. "I just don't- I can't-"

 

"Shhh..." Mask soothed, "It's gooooonna be okay..."

 

"No it's not," Skull sobbed, "No it's not."

 

---

 

Prince didn't know what to do.

 

He was cold, he was lost, and his entire body seemed to have this vice grip over it. His insides felt all weird, like they were trying to escape the flesh prison he called a body. It was unnerving, it felt horrible, and it only served to make him cry more.

 

He knew he shouldn't have been crying. He didn't kill anyone. Shell, he didn't even lose anyone. So why was he sad? Why did he feel sorry for the pink assassin? He was the enemy, was he not?

 

"Hiya."

 

Prince turned immediately to see who it was, letting out a deep sigh of relief when he realized it was Zero. She was holding a large Chum plush under her arm, which while being strange for someone of her age, was admittedly quite adorable. She clambered up onto the bed, sitting cross-legged beside him and shoving the plush in his face.

 

"This is Fortissimo. He calms me down whenever I'm sad," she said, placing the plush in Prince's arms, "He's a very good hugger, he really is. I'll introduce you to some of his buddies later, if you'd like!"

 

"Thanks," Prince hadn't even realized how cracked his voice was, sounding much more like a pained whimper than any kind of coherent speech. He held the plush tightly, the soft fabric only marginally helping his mood.

 

"What is your name?" Zero leaned over to get a better look at his face, "I'm Zero."

 

"Prince," he whimpered, looking back up at her with teary eyes. He wiped his face, then scooched a bit away from her. "You should leave me be. I'm fine."

 

"You're a really bad liar," Zero giggled, then wiped a tear from his face, "I'll leave you, but if you need anyone to cry on, I have more plushies."

 

"Th-Thanks..." Prince smiled a little as Zero left, her bouncy skipping very child-like. It reminded him of how he used to act, back before any of this mob business. Before Houzuki and Ida. Before The Golds.

 

Before Emperor stopped caring about him.

Chapter 19: Plans

Goggles wasn't a huge fan of the Splatlandian heat. He was even less of a fan of having to smell burning ink against the hot pavement. It nearly made his own ink burn, some kind of second-hand heatstroke.

 

"The forensics have said that this ink belongs to Aloha," Bobble said, squatting in front of the dry puddle, "Actually, none of Hachi's ink has been found anywhere. It's like he was never even here..."

 

"He was here," Marie came up from behind them, peering down at the ink puddle, "But I've never known him as the guy to be able to do this. He's capable, to be sure, but not strong enough to take on the entire S4 by himself without a single scratch."

 

"Maybe someone else attacked them," Gloves suggested, "They did have to leave Inkopolis, right? Maybe someone in the mob is pissed at them."

 

"Yeah..."

 

Goggles wasn't paying attention to what they were saying. He walked into the motel room, and what he saw made his hearts leap. There, stained into the carpet, was an unmistakeable shade of green.

 

Lime-green.

 

"Bobble!" Goggles shouted breathlessly, beckoning her over. Her eyes widened as she saw the puddle, and began looking around frantically.

 

"What is it?" Marie looked down at the carpet, "Hmmm... that is strange. None of the S4 have green ink..."

 

"Rider," Goggles said, "It's Rider, I'm sure."

 

"Who?" Gloves asked.

 

"Rider..." a tear fell from Goggles's eye, "Oh my cod, Rider..."

 

"You know this person?" Marie turned to Bobble.

 

"He was a friend," even Bobble's smile couldn't hide how cracked her voice was, "But he would never- He wouldn't!"

 

"Why?" Goggles whammed his fist on the ground, "WHY!?"

 

"Quite dramatic-" Gloves was cut off by Marie placing a finger over his mouth, shaking her head. He sighed, opting to pat Goggles on the back. He felt kinda stupid for doing it, but it was the best he could do.

 

Goggles stood up, looking back at the others. He cleared his throat and wiped his eyes, his sadness dissolving into anger. A pained, tortured anger, but an anger nonetheless.

 

"Set up a perimeter," Goggles commanded, "And check the metro. Make sure they haven't left the city."

 

"Goggles-" Bobble started.

 

"No," Goggles said, "He had his chance. They can't leave the city. HE can't leave the city."

 

"On it," Marie nodded, grabbing Gloves by the arm and dragging him away with her. He started complaining something fierce, but nobody was listening.

 

"What are you waiting for?" Goggles asked Bobble, "Help them with the perimeter."

 

"Where are you going?" Bobble asked, not moving an inch.

 

"The metro," he sighed, "Now go-"

 

"I'm going to the metro then," she insisted.

 

"You can't-"

 

"I am going," she said forcefully, standing on her tip-toes to seem bigger. It was a tactic that she had used all throughout their childhood, but it still served quite effective.

 

"Fine," Goggles said, "But let's get going. That motherfucker could be all the way to Mount Nantai by now."

 

---

 

It was morning when Skull woke up, which seemed to be a rarity as of late. He wiped his eyes as he sat up, pushing Mask's arms off of him. He smiled at his still sleeping friend. He thought of giving him a small kiss on the forehead, but that would've been weird.

 

"Mornin', Sleeping Beauty," Kay was standing by their mini-fridge, bottle of Pepsi in hand, "You two are really cute together, by the way."

 

"Shut it," Skull couldn't even muster the energy to get flustered by that comment. Not that he would, anyways. "You couldn't see chemistry if you were watching him make meth."

 

"Sheesh," she chuckled, "You people really are all wound-up, huh?"

 

"Who wouldn't?" Skull asked scornfully, which actually did seem to get her to shut up. He sighed, walking over to the fridge and pulling a carton of milk out. Without even thinking, he started chugging the liquid straight from the carton.

 

"Wow..." Kay said, "Well, Octavio's wants you fools down with him in like, ten minutes. Your other friends are already up."

 

"And Prince?" Skull asked, wiping the milk from his chin. He then quickly pulled his bandana back down, really glad he had turned away from her before drinking.

 

"He's with Zero," she said, "They're having a great time."

 

"Of course he is..." Skull scoffed, then turned back to Mask, "I'll wake him up. You can leave."

 

"Okay..." Kay made for the door, pulling a blunt out of her pocket and lighting it, "Just don't leave boss-man hanging. You know how much he hates that."

 

---

 

It had been an hour, and Skull and Mask still hadn't come down. Kay was beside herself, constantly swearing under her breath and reassuring everybody that she'd kick their asses the moment they got there. Octavio, on the other hand, didn't really mind. He was too busy laughing at a picture Zero had drawn for him.

 

It was a picture of the DJ inside his Octobot King, with Zero sitting on top of it. She was carrying a Big Swig Express, her very favorite weapon. There were some words written in large, glittery marker at the top of the picture, which read: "Best Grampa Ever!"

 

"Look at it!" he shoved it in Army's face, "Isn't this adorable!?"

 

"Adorable, sir," Army smiled a little. It didn't help to alleviate his constant crushing dread, but it was admittedly pretty cute.

 

"I swear!" Octavio turned to Kay, "That sister of yours is an artiste!"

 

"Yeah, yeah..." Kay was still staring at the doorway, waiting for Skull and Mask to enter so she could pounce, "You should see that drawing of Horrorboros she did, or did she already show you?"

 

"The one where he has those big cutie eyes?" Octavio let out a hearty laugh, "I hung that one up on my fridge!"

 

"Could you two please shut it?" Hachi interrupted, hands on his ears, "You idiots are so loud!"

 

Octavio stopped, jumping out of his seat and moving over to Hachi. He stared the octoling down, his gaze piercing through Hachi's very soul. Hachi just shrunk down, letting out a small "Sorry" before slumping down and laying his head on the table.

 

"That's what I thought," Octavio huffed, "You are refugees, not our guests. Don't act like you own the place."

 

"Sorry, sir," Army said frantically, "He was just-"

 

"Don't try to cover your ass," Octavio glared at him, "And don't defend him. If he wants to say some stupid shit, then he has to pay the consequences."

 

The room became eerily silent after that, Octavio going back to obsess over Zero's drawing while Army just looked around awkwardly. Rider had been silent the whole time, just smoking a cigarette in the corner.

 

*BOOSH!*

 

Skull and Mask stumbled into the room, obviously discombobulated by the automatic door. Kay chuckled a bit at their folly, but then quickly switched to death-glaring at them.

 

"S-Sorry..." Skull said, sitting down across from Octavio, "We were just talking-"

 

"It's fine," Octavio said, "You just need to hear some news, anyways."

 

"What neeews?" Mask asked.

 

"My Comeback Tour, of course!" Octavio exclaimed, "I am going to be returning to Inkopolis tomorrow night, and I thought you fellas might like the chance to show those Gold fucks some of the what-for!"

 

"I'm in," Hachi said immediately, raising his head from the table, "Where're the weapons?"

 

"Hold on," Octavio laughed, "We'll get there soon. So, you guys in?"

 

"Yeah," Skull said, then looked over at Mask. The other inkling just nodded, a sly smirk emerging on his face.

 

"We're in!" Army said, raising Rider's hand with his own. Rider sighed, but didn't even bother to slap Army's hand away.

 

"Perfect!" Octavio said, then turned to Kay, "Kay! Get these fine gentlemen prepared for tomorrow night! I need to go over my plans with the commanders, so you're in charge!"

 

"Yes sir!" Kay said, "You goobers, come with me."

 

"Where to?" Army asked.

 

"To go get your weapons, of course."

 

---

 

"You WHAT?!"

 

Pearl kicked Emperor to the ground, nostrils flaring as she glared down at him. The King was barely phased, simply chuckling to himself as she pressed her boot further into his chest.

 

"Don't you see?" Emperor laughed, "They won't be bothering us ever again! They've retreated to the metro!"

 

"To get help from Octavio!" Pearl shouted, nearly blasting out Emperor's eardrums, "What are you, a common fool!? How could you just let them escape like that!?"

 

"It'll be fine!" he said, "If they're with Octavio, then we'll be able to take them both out during the Comeback Tour! Think about it! I mean, hasn't Mrs. Ida been working on a special project for them, anyways?"

 

"'Rina's business is none of yours..." Pearl lifted her boot off of him, "But yes, you are right. Go get your men prepared."

 

"Got it!" he stood up and gave her a salute.

 

"And Emperor?" she asked.

 

"Yes?"

 

"If you mess this up, you're a dead man."

 

He left without saying another word, slamming the door loudly behind him. Pearl sighed as she slumped back in her chair, only slightly comforted when Lil' Judd came over and began rubbing his little face against her leg. She smiled a little, picking him up and scratching behind his ears.

 

"What am I going to do?" she asked him, "My cousin is a dolt!"

 

"Mew, (All you need to do is have faith in Mrs. Ida. She will know what to do)."

 

"You're right," she said, rubbing his belly, "Yeah, she always knows what to do!"

 

She pressed a small button on her chair's arm, a intercom turning on in Marina's room.

 

"Yo 'Rina, could you please-"

 

A blank white door opened, not even thirty feet away. Marina walked out, smiling smugly as she wrapped her arms around Pearl's shoulders.

 

"You know you could have just shouted," she said in a robotic monotone, "What's up?"

 

"I need to know if your plan is ready," Pearl sighed, "Emperor messed up."

 

"I heard," Marina traced her finger along Pearl's cheek, "As for my plan, it is coming along smoothly. I can finish work on The Commander in only a few hours, if you really want me to."

 

"So, it will definitely be done by tomorrow."

 

"Yes," Marina started rubbing Pearl's tentacles, "Octavio shall not know what hit him."

 

"Liar," Pearl giggled, "He'll know exactly what hit him! MC Princess and DJ Hyperfresh, that's what!"

 

"Of course, Pearlie..." Marina gave her a small kiss on the forehead, "Nobody can withstand the combined power of Chaos and Order."

Chapter 20: Death

Five hours.

 

That's how much time they had before the Comeback Tour. Almost everybody was asleep, in preparation for the event, but there were still a few outliers.

 

Mask opened the door to the small lab he had been given. He had been helping the Octarian's make bombs full of tear gas, but was currently working on brewing himself the perfect cup of coffee. He said nothing as Hachi entered the room, the octoling frantically looking around.

 

"Whaaat is it?" Mask asked, moving back over to the coffee machine, "You should get some sleeeeep..."

 

"I need something," Hachi insisted, "I need you to help me with something."

 

"Suuure..." Mask sighed, "But I still gotta work on the incendiaryyyys... so make it quick."

 

"I want-" Hachi was short of breath, gasping before almost every word, "I need to know where Aloha is. I put him in my room, but when I woke up yesterday, he was gone! I don't know what they did, but if they-"

 

"I'll help," Mask said, patting Hachi on the shoulder, "I don't know where he iiis... but I may know someone who doeeees."

 

"Th-Thanks," Hachi said, quickly following Mask out of the room.

 

They wandered the halls for only a few minutes before Mask stopped, glancing around to make sure nobody was watching them. He knocked lightly on the door in front of him, which stood out from the others due to its bright pink color.

 

"Yeah?" Zero opened the door, expression instantly lightening when she saw them, "Oh hiiii!! What is it?"

 

"Aloha's gone!" Hachi said, his voice cracked, "Aloha's-"

 

"Shh!" Zero put her finger to her mouth as she closed the door gently behind her, "Prince is still sleeping, and I don't want to wake him before the big day!"

 

"He is, huh?" Hachi snarled, then sighed, "Whatever. Look, do you know where they took Aloha?"

 

"Yeah!" Zero grabbed him by the arm, "Come with me!"

 

They ran away from the door, too soon to realize that there was noise that had started to come from Zero's room. Prince had been woken, not by the noise, but by Zero leaving.

 

He was whimpering like a puppy, clutching at the sheets in a vain attempt to find her warmth again. He tried looking around for a plush as a substitute, but he could barely open his eyelids. They seemed to be weighed down, much like the rest of his body.

 

Prince was sick, but he couldn't tell if it was real or all in his head. His stomach churned, his head ached, but he kept reassuring himself that it was just a bad dream. Everything had just been a bad dream.

 

He would eventually wake up, and this would all be over. Houzuki and Ida would lose everything, he could come back home, and Emperor would start treating him like a normal person.

 

Stop lying.

 

Prince sobbed into his pillow, tears staining it an ugly yellow. Just like everything he did, he only seemed to serve to make everything he touched uglier. Emperor was right. He wasn't deserving of affection. He didn't deserve all of that privilege he once had, and this was just a cruel but fitting act of karma.

 

He deserved nothing.

 

---

 

The mortuaries in the Octarian domes were strange, to say the least. They were set up not like graveyards on the surface, they simply did not have the space to do that, and instead were like the old tombs that royal humans used to be buried in. Thick stone walls full of crevasses that held the bodies, each one preserved by specially-made cryogenic pods.

 

"Geeeez..." Mask shivered, "It's so fuuuuucking cold..."

 

"That's the pods," Zero explained, looking around for Aloha's, "You see, the DJ says that in case of a horrible crisis with the Inkopolis people, we may need to use these as fuel for a last-resort super weapon!"

 

"What?" Hachi asked, eyes widening, "Wait, what do you mean by that?"

 

"Exactly as I said," Zero opened a small filing cabinet, going through the files to find Aloha's pod number, "If the Inkopolis people try to wipe us out, we'll do it to them first!"

 

"Oh cod..." Hachi looked around at all of the dead bodies, the future fuel for Inkopolis's destruction, "Oh cod, that's horrible!"

 

"Eehh..." Mask shrugged, looking over Zero's shoulder at the files, "I'd do it too, honestly. They'd be the idioooots to provoke anyways, I say they deseeeeerve it."

 

"Really!?" Hachi felt like he was suffocating, like the souls of the dead were crushing his windpipe, "How could you even say that!? Don't you have people you love there? Or places you love? There would be thousands of innocent people dying!"

 

"It's the same if they try to destroy the domes," Zero said quietly, pulling out a file, "We lost one war, we aren't gonna lose another."

 

"It's not goooonna happen anyways..." Mask said, "We're gonna kick theeeeir asses and they'll neeeever bother you Octarians ever agaiiiiin..."

 

"Mh-hm!" Zero handed Hachi the file, "Here ya go! What're you gonna do, by the way?"

 

"None of your business," Hachi said, walking over to one of the pods. Sure enough, Aloha was laying in there, ink wound burned into his chest. Hachi pressed a small button on the side, depressurizing the pod and opening it. He pulled Aloha's limp body out, and carried it towards the exit.

 

"Heeeey..." Mask said, "Where're you goiiiing?"

 

"Somewhere he can actually rest," Hachi said, then glared at Zero, "Do whatever you want with your own people, even if you use them as ammo, but he doesn't deserve that."

 

"Okey," she replied, waving as he stepped out and slammed the door behind him, "Sorry..."

 

---

 

Hachi sighed as he sat in the station, horrible memories rushing through his head. That clanging of train and tracks, thousands of dead octolings, the only one left a quivering mess...

 

And a pink inkling. A savior, where he was most needed.

 

Hachi's eyes began to water as he looked down at Aloha. It wasn't supposed to be like this. It was never supposed to be like any of this. They had found each other again, they could have fixed everything, but that just... didn't happen.

 

"Somethin' on your mind?"

 

Hachi turned back to see Kay standing behind him. He didn't answer, just looking back down at Aloha and continuing to cry. Kay sighed, sitting beside him and running her hand through Aloha's tentacles.

 

"Where're you taking him to?" Kay asked.

 

"I dunno," Hachi said, wrapping his fingers around Aloha's, "Just somewhere that's not here."

 

"I understand," she sighed, "I had a friend like him once. Well, I don't know this guy that well, but my old buddy was pink. He's dead now, buried beneath the Splatlandian sands."

 

"How'd he die?" Hachi asked, looking down at Aloha.

 

"That's... not important," a single tear rolled down her face. She wiped it away quickly, chuckling to herself. "Sorry bout that. You don't need to hear my life story or anything-"

 

"What was his name?"

 

Kay paused, then stood up. She sighed, her breath shaky as she stuck a blunt in her mouth and lit it. Hachi wanted to ask her to stay, but could only watch as she walked away, waving at him as she disappeared up the station stairs.

 

---

 

[INITIATING BOOT UP SEQUENCE]

 

[POWER 0%]

 

[POWER 25%]

 

[POWER 88%]

 

[POWER 10,008%]

 

[POWER 100%]

 

[POWERING ON]

 

The tubes began to glow an eerie mint-green, a sickly glow flooding the room. It reflected off of the surface of the metal table, nearly blinding Marina as she stared at it in awe. It was finally complete.

 

[INITIATING REBOOT. THIS MAY TAKE A SECOND.]

 

[. . .]

 

[REBOOT SEQUENCE COMPLETE]

 

The computer flared to life, a pair of round green eyes blinking on the screen. They swirled around each other for a second as a bar filled to completion on the bottom of the screen.

 

Then, it stopped.

 

"Commander?" Marina asked, tapping the computer on the side. She pressed her finger to the top of the keyboard, but it didn't seem to be overheating at all. It was perfect, in all honesty.

 

The screen flashed to life again.

 

[HELLO USER. WHAT IS YOUR DIRECTIVE?]

 

"I am Marina," she said, "Do you not remember me?"

 

[MEMORY BANKS HAVE BEEN LOST. WHAT IS YOUR DIRECTIVE?]

 

"I want you to reactivate the NILS statue protocol," Marina explained, "I have taken the liberty of recreating the original weapon and getting enough victims to power it."

 

[PROTOCOL NILS NOT RECOGNIZED. PLEASE TRY AGAIN.]

 

"Look in my computer's files, not yours," she said, "Connect to the program titled 'NILS Statue' but make sure not to activate it yet."

 

[AFFIRMATIVE. THIS MAY TAKE A SECOND.]

 

[. . .]

 

[NILS Statue IS NOW OPERATIONAL. WHAT SHALL I DO WITH THIS INFORMATION?]

 

"We will use it to wipe out the Octarians," Marina said, "But not yet. There is still much to be done, so just hang tight for now."

 

[I CAN HANG TIGHT, DO NOT WORRY. YOUR WISH IS MY COMMAND, MARINA.]

 

"Thank you," Marina smiled, "I knew I could count on you, Tartar."

Chapter 21: Comeback

Skull's hearts pounded against his chest as he sat in the back of the van, E-Liter 4K in his arms. Rider was driving, his arms having finally healed, and was following the armored Octarian trucks to the best of his ability. Contrary to what they thought before, the Comeback Tour wasn't going to be some silent, under-the-table takeover.

 

It was a full-on invasion.

 

"You gooooood?" Mask asked, placing his hand against Skull's forehead, "You feeeeel sick..."

 

"I'm fine," Skull took a deep breath, "Just anxious, is all."

 

"Not every day we do something like this," Rider chuckled dryly, "At least that Emperor bastard's gonna get what's coming to him, I can assure you that! Dibs on his head, by the way."

 

"Doeeeesn't matter if Hachi gets to hiiiim first..." Mask said, "He won't eveeeen have a heaaaaaad anymore!"

 

Skull nodded, but didn't laugh like the other two. He glanced over at Army, who had been sitting in shotgun the whole time, completely silent. His eyes darted everywhere on the road, like he was waiting for an ambush that never came. His breath was stuttered, but it was hard to tell from how quiet it was.

 

"There it is, boys!" Rider exclaimed, speeding up a bit, "Home sweet home!"

 

Sure enough, Inkopolis was now visible in front of them, only a few miles away. The entire city was alight, as it usually was, but they knew that due to the early hour there would be barely anybody on the streets. Skull hoped to cod that there wasn't anybody on the streets.

 

"Just as we left it," he sighed, "Guess it won't stay like that for long, though."

 

---

 

Kay pushed through the crowd in the metro station, Prince dragged along behind her. She had no clue why he had insisted on coming with her, especially since Zero was staying back at the domes, but she knew better than to question it. They had a job to do.

 

She smiled as she walked out into the hot sun of Inkopolis, the hustle and bustle of the inklings around her pure candy to her ears. It had been a while since she had been on the surface, and it wouldn't be too long till she could stay up there.

 

Prince was looking around frantically, making absolutely sure nobody could recognize him. Thankfully the only people who actually knew him were The Golds, but if one of them were there, they'd be screwed.

 

"Geez," Kay slapped him lightly on the shoulder, "Focus, kid, and stop looking like you're about to have a heart attack! We have a simple job, in and out, and then we're done!"

 

"I-I know..." Prince said, "We get to Houzuki's place and-"

 

"Not in public dumbass!" Kay whisper-yelled, shushing him immediately, "Ya think everybody's deaf, or somethin'?"

 

"N-No," he said quietly, "Sorry."

 

Kay scoffed, grabbing him again and dragging him through the crowd as they approached the main tower of Houzuki & Ida Enterprises. As to be expected, it was a very extra building, with too many windows and the fanciest, most posh sign imaginable.

 

Kay slowed down as she stepped into the lobby, letting go of Prince and letting him be as she walked up to the main counter. Quickly checking to see if he was actually following her, she could see him pull his hood further over his head.

 

"May I help you?" the inkling receptionist said politely.

 

"Yes, I have an appointment with Mrs. Houzuki in a few minutes," Kay explained, "It's under the business label 'K-9', ma'am. I was told we'd be speaking about possible business ventures, and what-not."

 

"Yes, Ms. K-9," the receptionist smiled, handing her an elevator key, "You may go see her then. Just turn the key in the correct hole, and the elevator will take you straight to her."

 

"Gracias," Kay smiled, motioning to Prince to follow her. They stepped into the elevator, smirk widening on her face as she turned the key in the keyhole labeled "Office Houzuki". The elevator lurched, then sped upwards to one of the very top floors. Prince almost fell over as they flew upwards, only catching himself just when they stopped.

 

The elevator doors opened, bringing them into a very clean white hallway. Kay looked around to see if there was anybody around, then ran over to Houzuki's office. The door was made of pure gold, and strangely had no windows. She looked over at Prince, who gave her a small nod.

 

"Got it," she smiled, then busted down the door, "WASSUP-"

 

She shut up immediately, throwing her arms up at the entire firing-squad of inklings pointing weapons at her. Pearl stood idly behind them, chuckling to herself as she sipped on her martini.

 

"Hello, Weed Demon," Pearl said, picking Lil' Judd off the ground and rubbing his belly, "To what do I owe the honor?"

 

"Wow," Kay said, looking around the apartment. There were about five guys pointing weapons at her, all of which were decaled in gold. "How the shell did you even-"

 

"You think I'm an idiot?" Pearl scoffed, "You not only set up an appointment on the day of the Comeback Tour, but you also do it under the business name of K-9! You think I don't know that Snoop Dogg existed!?"

 

"Never thought anybody would actually get that," Kay seethed, "Cod fucking dammit."

 

"So," Pearl looked over Kay's shoulder, "You got anybody with you?"

 

"No," Kay said. She couldn't exactly turn back to look at Prince, so she could only hope to cod that he had already bolted. "I came alone, Chaos. Didn't think I'd need anybody else to beat you, anyways."

 

"Oh, really?" Pearl looked out of her window, smirking at a scene that was forming below, "Men, you may leave us."

 

"But ma'am-"

 

"Leave," she commanded, pointing to the door, "Octavio has arrived in town, and we need all the men we can get to stop them. Seems they have already gotten into an altercation with the cops, so have fun."

 

"Yes ma'am!" they all saluted before rushing out of the room.

 

Kay looked over to Pearl, who had now put down Lil' Judd and was now pointing her dualies at her. She chuckled, whipping a blunt out of her pocket and lighting it. Pearl chuckled as well, walking up to Kay and pressing her dualies into the octoling's breasts.

 

"So..." Pearl said softly, fingers slowly pulling on the triggers, "What exactly am I to do with you?"

 

"Dunno," Kay blew smoke in her face, "How 'bout you kill me now, spare us all the agony."

 

"Hmm... nah," Pearl smirked, lifting her dualies off of Kay's chest, "I can assume that you have brought a weapon?"

 

"Uh, yeah," Kay said, whipping out her Zink Mini-Splatling, "Can't kill ya without a weapon, dumbass."

 

"We'll see just how dumb I am," Pearl backed up, hands gripped firmly to the dualies at her sides, "When I blast thirty holes through your head!"

 

"So what?" Kay laughed, "Is this some kind of honorable duel, or something?!"

 

"You could say that."

 

"Your loss, then," Kay scoffed.

 

In an instant, Pearl appeared in front of her, nearly blasting her face off with two clean dualie shots. Kay flipped behind a couch, breathing heavily as she watched Pearl walk back away, the inkling smiling smugly to herself.

 

"You sure?" she said, before pouncing again.

 

---

 

Skull couldn't breathe.

 

He didn't know why. He was so safe, up in his sniper perch, but he just felt like something was suffocating him. He tried to grab for his cephalo pods, but then realized he must've left them at the domes. Looking down, he could see Octarians and Inkopolis Police brawling, either in full-on gunfights or even in hand-to-hand. It was a complete mess, and it made him feel sick.

 

"Skull!" Army shouted through his comm, almost giving him a triple heart attack, "What are you doing!? We're pinned down here!"

 

Skull glanced down to see Army and Rider in an alleyway, roughing up two cops. Actually, they were the two cops Skull had seen earlier, those X-Rank guys. He whipped out his E-Liter, pointed the sight right at Vintage's head, and...

 

He missed, the shot blasting open a dumpster. Luckily for him, though, it was enough to distract Vintage so that Rider could bash him in the back with his Dynamo. Double-Egg tried to stop them, but was quickly halted by a shot through the leg by Army.

 

"Th-There you guys go," Skull said through the comms, then cut the line. It was too hot up there, beads of sweat rolling down his face. His breath was getting even less regular, and his vision became blurry.

 

He stumbled backwards, clutching his head as he laid against the wall. He was in a basic apartment that just so happened to have the entire plaza in sight, the cold concrete of the walls only somewhat helping to mitigate the blistering heat.

 

"What are you doing?"

 

Skull could barely look over before he felt the cold metal of a Stringer graze his cheek. Looking up, he could see a yellow inkling with a shredded tee and pants, said Stringer in her hands. A small fry bounced around by her feet, warbling to itself as it went.

 

"I am just a-" Skull coughed, "A bystander, ma'am, please don't-"

 

"You're working with THEM, aren't you?" she began charging the Stringer, "I heard about you before. Skull of the S4, correct?"

 

"We are the S4," Skull's voice was hoarse, "Look, lady-"

 

"Mitsuami," she said, poking him a bit with her foot. A strange look of worry came over her face. "Hey, are you okay?"

 

"I'm sorry," Skull said. Mitsuami thought he was gonna add something to it, but no. He repeated himself. "I'm sorry."

 

"For what?" she asked.

 

"I'm sorry," tears began streaming down his face, "I'm sorry."

 

"Oh cod," she sat down beside him, Stringer still pointed to his head, "You can't just do that! I get really emotional, you know?"

 

"Sorry..." Skull gasped, "I-I just-"

 

"Look, Skull," she said softly, pulling the Stringer away, "I don't know what's going on with you, but you do realize that I'm still gonna have to take you in, right?"

 

"Y-Yeah..." Skull held out his hands, pushing his E-Liter to the side, "Just don't kill me, please. Don't kill them, please."

 

"I won't kill you," she said sweetly as she pulled a pair of handcuffs out of her pocket and fastened them on Skull's wrists, "Maybe when this is all over, I can get you some help. I have a therapist, you know, and I bet you'd love her."

 

"Therapist," Skull nodded, "That sounds good."

 

"Perfect," she said, then tried to lift him up. He was too heavy, though, and all she could manage was to pull him over and get him to lay on his side. "I'm not gonna be able to get you out of here, am I?"

 

"Give me a sec, please," Skull said, "I'll get up, I'll get up."

 

---

 

Prince was laying against the back of the elevator when he heard the door ding, instantly getting up and righting himself. To his surprise, Rider and Army entered the elevator, though it became much less surprising when he heard an explosion from outside.

 

"What the shell are you doing here?" Rider glared at him as he pressed the button to go up.

 

"Helping Kay," Prince said quickly, "At least, that's what was supposed to happen."

 

"What happened?" Army asked, N-Zap way too close to Prince's face.

 

"Just issues," Prince said, trying to make himself seem as small as possible, "We got found out, and I had to run."

 

"Of course," Rider sighed, "Of fucking course it went wrong-"

 

*DING!*

 

The elevator door opened, and a spray of golden ink instantly shot towards them. They all ducked, one of Army's tentacles getting grazed by a shot. Rider shot back up, Dynamo in hand, expecting to see a full squad of Golds for him to crush.

 

What he actually saw was much, much worse.

 

"Hello boys," Emperor smirked, dualies spinning at his sides, "How's it been?"

Chapter 22: Regicide

Rider barreled forward, nearly knocking Emperor into the ground. The King quickly dodged him, rolling out of the way and shooting two shots from his dualies at him.

 

"Rider!" Army shouted, knocking Rider out of the way and shooting back at Emperor.

 

Emperor dodged again, flipping in front of Army and roundhouse-kicking him down the hall. He then quickly ducked under a swipe from Rider, a golden gleam in his eyes as he picked the lime inkling right off the ground and flipped him onto the ground.

 

"You have to do better-" Emperor dodged another shot from Army, then shot towards him. The shots didn't even reach Army, but they covered the walls, allowing Emperor to roll into them and dash towards him through the ink.

 

Army's entire body shook as he rapidly blasted at the King with his N-Zap, but none of his shots would connect. Emperor was above him in an instant, his fist coming right across Army's face and knocking him to the ground again. Emperor sneered as he pressed his dualie into Army's ear, malicious smile forming on his face.

 

*BLAM!*

 

Army's ear was blown clean off, the inkling screaming in agony as he tried to grab at where his ear used to be. Emperor wouldn't let him, though, pulling a knife out of his pocket and stabbing Army right through the palm, pinning his hand to the ground.

 

Emperor smirked as he leapt backwards off of Army, dodging another hit from Rider and simultaneously appearing behind the lime inkling. He went to flip Rider over again, but Rider pushed him away by swinging his Dynamo in a 360, forcing Emperor to roll back.

 

"You bastard!" Rider shouted, Dynamo poised up like a blade, "I'm gonna fucking kill you!"

 

"I'd like to see you try," Emperor straightened himself out, dualies spinning at his sides.

 

Rider appeared beside Emperor, Dynamo raised to the sky, but was quickly stopped by a spray of ink all around him. He quickly rolled back to not get hit, only to now see that Emperor seemed to be shooting his dualies as he spun them.

 

"Neat trick, huh?" Emperor walked slowly towards Rider, golden ink flying everywhere as he did so, "I call it the Emperor's Road. How do you like it?"

 

"Eat shit!" Rider tried to attack him, but it was impossible to get close. He then tried to get him with a flick of the Dynamo from afar, but all of his ink was disintegrated by the ink that seemed to form a golden bubble around Emperor.

 

"You cannot touch me," Emperor cackled, rushing towards Rider. He appeared right next to him, dualies above his head. "Nobody can stop the Emperor's Road."

 

*BLAM!*

 

---

 

Pearl pressed her boot onto Kay's face, smirking as she rubbed it in. Kay grunted, coughing out a bit of dark-green ink as she tried to pick herself back up. Pearl just frowned, pressing her boot even further into Kay's head.

 

"You people really are fools, huh?" she asked, lifting Kay's face off the ground and staring her in the eyes, "Aw, and now look at what you've done! You got my carpet all dirty!"

 

"The only dirty thing was the sex I had with your mother-" Kay coughed, "Last... night..."

 

Pearl rolled her eyes, whamming Kay's face against the ground then stepping back to dust herself off. She looked down at the green ink seeping towards her, making sure as to not soil her soles in it.

 

She looked back down at Kay, then shoved her hand in the octoling's pant pocket. She ruffled around in there until she found a small black box, a single blunt left inside. She sighed, pocketing the box and placing the blunt in front of Kay.

 

"Huh?" Kay groaned, looking at the blunt.

 

"Eat up," Pearl spat, picking Lil' Judd off of the untouched couch as she walked back over to the window, "I don't want you dying unhappy. That's not exactly my style."

 

"Of course it fuckin' ain't," Kay chuckled dryly, biting on the blunt, "I can't-"

 

Pearl whipped a match out of her pocket, lighting it and flinging it back to Kay. It lit the blunt, right before getting doused by the dark-green ink pooling around her. She shrugged, puffing on the blunt and coughing a little.

 

"Stupid-" Kay choked, "Bitch."

 

"Vulgarities, please..." Pearl sighed, glancing out the window at the chaos still unraveling below. It looked like a full-on war-zone out there. "I must admit, you Octarians do have some spirit."

 

"What about your fuck-doll, huh?" Kay asked, "You actin' like she ain't one of us-"

 

Pearl appeared in front of Kay in an instant, nostrils flared and death in her eyes. She kicked Kay hard across the stomach, knocking the octoling onto her back. She seethed as she pressed her boot onto Kay's chest, crushing the octoling's lungs as she pressed her full weight onto her.

 

"Fuck-doll, huh?!" she growled, "Is that what you people call her!? She is NOT one of you fuckers, and she never was!"

 

"Bullshit," Kay chuckled "I bet she gives you the best-"

 

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!"

 

Pearl had raised her voice to a shriek, a giant blast coming from her mouth and blowing a hole right through Kay's chest. The octoling gagged for a bit as the color left her eyes, her arm slowly coming up as she stared at Pearl.

 

"Fuck-" Kay flipped Pearl off. Her arm then flopped to the ground, with her blunt rolling back into her mouth.

 

Pearl scoffed, stepping off of Kay as she began to cool down. She spat on the octoling, walking over to Marina's room and leaving Kay where she was. There wasn't much she could do, so why bother cleaning her up?

 

She was nothing now, just a limp body covered in its own ink and smoke.

 

---

 

Rider choked on his own ink, lime-green flooding his senses. His arms quivered as he got to his knees, but was quickly knocked back down by a swift kick to the face by Emperor.

 

"What did I say?" Emperor scoffed, "You can't beat me. Nobody can beat me."

 

"Bastard..." Rider seethed, grip loosening on his Dynamo. He didn't even know why he was still holding on, it was too heavy for his damaged arms to hold anyways. "I'm gonna..."

 

"Shut up," Emperor kicked him again, sneering as Rider collapsed to the ground, "You keep telling me what you're gonna do to me, but you never actually do it. How about you fucking do it, then? Huh? Kill me! I dare you!"

 

"Nah," Rider coughed up a bit of ink, his vision growing blurry, "You said it yourself, I can't lay a finger on you... not a scratch..."

 

"Finally, you're making sense," Emperor smirked, pressing his boot onto Rider's face, "Got anything else to say, smart guy?"

 

"Yeah..." Rider coughed, "I remembered something else you said..."

 

"What specifically?" Emperor chuckled, "I do say quite a lot of memorable-"

 

"You have never messed up your shoes. Never soiled them in enemy ink. That is correct, no?"

 

"Yeah," Emperor laughed, "So?"

 

"Look at your shoes."

 

Emperor stopped, slowly lifting his boot off of Rider's face. It's soles were no longer the same pristine white they always were, the shining beacon of perfection they always were...

 

They were lime-green. The ugliest lime-green he had ever seen.

 

Emperor's face grew yellow as he shoved his dualies into Rider's mouth, fingers twitching on the triggers.

 

"You-" his breath had become heavy, "You peasant! You common pig! You... You-"

 

"What?" Rider taunted, "Finally run out of stupid shit to say-"

 

*BLAM!*

 

Rider flinched, but felt nothing. Not even the split second of pain he thought he would feel, as the golden ink flooded his brain. Just... nothing. It was like he hadn't been shot.

 

Had he been shot?

 

Emperor turned around, steam coming from his mouth as he looked back at his assailant. There was an ink hole in his abdomen. Not nearly enough to kill him, but surely enough to ruin his jacket. He expected it to be Army, he could even recognize the shot as that from an N-Zap, but he only grew angrier as he saw who it really was.

 

Prince quivered as he held Army's N-Zap, tears streaming from his eyes as he pointed it at Emperor. He flinched as Emperor lurched forward, shooting again and blasting the King's pinky finger clean off.

 

Emperor shouted in frustration, and attempted to spin his dualies in his hands as he limped forward. One of them fell out of his hand, though, as it swished right past where his pinky should've been and clattered to the ground.

 

"Prince..." Emperor said, a strange sound in his voice, "Prince... my dear brother..."

 

"S-Step back!" Prince shouted, trying to steady his aim, "M-Move and I b-blast your brains out! S-Sir!"

 

"Prince!" Emperor barked through his teeth, "I ha-ave something to say, dear brother..."

 

"Wh-What?!" Prince shot at Emperor again, but the shot just hit the ground right in front of the King's ruined boots.

 

"I'm sorry."

 

Prince stopped, lowering the N-Zap as his eyes began to overflow with tears. He sobbed, clenching his head as he fell to the ground. He began to curl himself into a ball, though had to right himself to make sure he didn't choke on his own snot and tears.

 

"I'm sorry, Prince..." Emperor said, his voice shaking, "I-I thought that what I did was right, but I realize that was a mistake! I'm sorry, Prince! I know you must hate me, but we can fix-"

 

"Liar!" Prince sobbed, shoving his fingers in his ears.

 

"No really! I swear I'm sorry!" Emperor pulled his dualie up, pointing it straight at Prince, "I know we can fix this, togeth-"

 

*BLAM!*

 

Emperor fell to the ground, his entire bottom jaw blown clean off. Prince was sitting back up, eyes red and puffy as he held out his own dualies. He sobbed as he looked at the limp body in front of him, a horrible ringing flooding into his ears.

 

"I-I..." Prince whimpered, falling back and curling back into a ball, "E-Emperor... I-I... Oh cod!"

Chapter 23: Loss

Mask whammed on the elevator buttons, rushing as quickly as he could as he went up. He didn't know what was going on, but Army and Rider's comms had both cut out at around the same time.

 

The elevator dinged, and the door opened. Mask ran out into the hallway, immediately stopping to look at the carnage.

 

Rider and Emperor were both dead, bodies lain very close to one another. Army was bleeding from the side of the head, a hole in his hand as he tried to wriggle free from the knife pinning it to the ground. Prince was curled into a ball, crying silently as he wished for everything to just go away. Everything bad, and everything good. Everything.

 

"Army!" Mask shouted, running over and helping Army pull the knife out. He helped the inkling up, cupping his hand to where Army's ear used to be in an attempt to mitigate the ink loss. "What the sheeeeell..."

 

"I dunno-" Army was out of breath, pausing as he looked at Rider's body, "Oh no no no no! Oh cod oh cod!"

 

"Shhh..." Mask soothed, carrying him to the elevator, "We're gonna beeee okay..."

 

"What do you mean!?" Army's eyes were dry, "He got Rider! Oh cod he got Rider!"

 

"It's fiiiine..." Mask lied, "It's all gonna tuuuurn out fine..."

 

---

 

Skull was calm.

 

He knew he shouldn't have been that way, but the situation was oddly soothing to him. There he was, stuffed in the back of a police cruiser, with a kind friend giving him a much-needed break.

 

"So..." Mitsuami had her hands on his, something he quickly grew to tolerate, "What made you and your friends decide to do all this, in the first place?"

 

"Save it for the therapist, first off," Skull chuckled, "And second, what do you mean? You mean this whole mercenary business, or this fuckin' mess we're in right now?"

 

"Both," she said kindly.

 

"Well, the answer's the same anyways," Skull sighed, "Houzuki and Ida screwed us over. I was told by the old man you already know they run a mob."

 

"You met Cap'n Cuttlefish?" Mitsuami asked, "Really?"

 

"Yeah, we really hit it off, so to speak."

 

"Oh great," she said, "Now I've gone and messed that all up!"

 

"Nah," Skull assured her, "You're not at fault. The S5 and the Splatoon... we could just never get together."

 

"Don't say that..." she looked out of the window, shaking her head.

 

The scene out in the streets had calmed down, with the Octarians either getting arrested or fleeing back out of the city. It wasn't really a victory, for either side. That's at least what Mitsuami and Skull thought, looking out at the corpses of both inklings and Octarians that lined the street. Neither of them could even tell if any of the victims were just innocent inklings or octolings, heading to go Turf.

 

"I know I already asked..." Mitsuami was deathly quiet, "But, why? Why do all of this?"

 

"You think this is me?" Skull asked.

 

"No, but-" she sniffled, "I just don't get it. Why?"

 

"I dunno why," Skull shrugged, "Though I bet Rider'd say it's because all of Houzuki's men are bastards, or somethin'."

 

"Are the Octarians," she took a deep breath, "Are they a good people?"

 

"Lovely people," Skull sighed, laying back in his seat, "Some of the best I've ever met."

 

---

 

Goggles walked out of the elevator, senses instantly assaulted by the stench of rotting bodies. He could hear a pained whimpering, looking over to see Prince, still curled up on the ground. He rushed over to the inkling, placing a hand on his back and helping him breathe.

 

"What happened?" Goggles asked, gesturing to Bobble as she came out of the elevator. She came over and grabbed Prince from under the shoulders, helping to right himself up so he could speak better.

 

"I-I..." Prince looked over at Emperor, "I killed them!"

 

"What?!" Bobble backed away, looking at Emperor's body, "You mean-"

 

"B-Both!" he choked, "I-I messed it up! I killed everyone! Oh cod I killed everybody!"

 

"Woah woah," Goggles shushed him, "Just breathe, okay? Just breathe..."

 

"Goggles..." Bobble was looking past Emperor's body, at the other one that laid not ten feet away, "Oh my cod, Goggles! Get over here, now!"

 

"Just give me a sec!" Goggles shouted back, then looked back to Prince, "Just calm down, okay? Did they attack you first?"

 

"Goggles!" Bobble shouted.

 

"Give me a-"

 

"It's Rider," Bobble said, her voice cracking. Her mouth twitched, her characteristic smile melting into a pained frown as she inspected the body.

 

Goggles laid Prince down and patted him on the shoulder before rushing over to see. Sure enough, there was Rider, laying cold and dead on the ground. Goggles looked over to Bobble, then back down at the body.

 

"This can't-" he cried, "This can't!"

 

But it was. The lime-green tentacles, the dark skin, the black jacket... It was all Rider.

 

"You-" he turned back to look at Prince, but he had already jumped ship. Goggles ran over to the elevator, banging on the button to call it back up, but it was already gone. He turned back to Bobble, who was now cradling Rider's limp body in her hands. There were tears streaming from her eyes, the very first time Goggles had ever seen her cry.

 

Even as kids, Bobble always had a smile. Her eyes were always closed too, in a very joyful and expressive way. Goggles and Rider used to joke that she looked like an emoticon, but they always assumed that it was never going to last. It did, though, as Bobble had kept the same expression for years to follow, a testament to her joy, persistence, and silliness.

 

Until that day, when she held the dead body of one of her oldest friends in her hands.

 

---

 

Army and Mask were dead silent as they sat in the front seat of the van, rolling through the streets of Inkopolis. Army would've booked it, but there was no way in shell he'd risk getting a speeding ticket now of all times.

 

Army's head was bandaged up, and where his ear used to be had thankfully stopped bleeding. It was so strange, only being able to hear properly from his right side, and he really hated it.

 

Mask was mostly untouched, only with a bruise from a tussle he got into with an officer, and a small piece of shrapnel in his leg when he accidentally stood too close to his own explosive. He had his head stuck out of the window, with his gas mask off, of course, gazing emotionlessly into the horribly quiet city.

 

They had gotten to the edge of the city when Mask tried to speak, but was cut off by flashing lights in the rearview mirror. Army began to hyperventilate as he saw the police cruiser pull closer, and honestly thought of booking it then and there. Then again, there was no way Rider's van was going to outrun a police cruiser.

 

Army sighed, pulling over as he saw the officer step out of the car. It was one of those blue-tentacled ones, from the aptly named Blue Squad. She had a pair of headphones on, and a small notepad in her hands.

 

"You know why I pulled you over, correct?" Headphones asked, jotting something down on the notepad.

 

"No," Army took a deep breath, "Ma'am."

 

"License, please?" she sighed, holding out her hand.

 

Army plopped a license into her hand, the fake one he had made for himself back when the S5 had first formed. Actually, they were the S4 back then, as Rider didn't join until later...

 

"Bain?" Headphones asked, "That is your name, correct?"

 

"Y-Yeah?" Army straightened himself out, "Yes, ma'am."

 

"Just wanted to make sure," she said kindly, handing him back his license, "Also, and sorry about this, but who is your buddy over here? There's been a problem in the plaza, if ya somehow didn't know."

 

"Oh we're leeeeaving cause of that!" Mask quickly said, "I-Uh, yeah."

 

"And your name?"

 

"S-Swirly, ma'am," he said.

 

"Nice name," she said, flipping the notepad in her hands, "You two are free to go!"

 

"Th-Thanks..." Army pulled back into the road, going as fast as he possibly could without going over the speed limit. They were out of the city now, at least.

 

"That was fuuuuuucked..." Mask looked out the rear window, "I almoooost had a heart attaaaack..."

 

"I know," Army's hands were still shaking, "By the way, who the shell is Swirly? I never gave you that codename! Your codename is Walter, remember?"

 

"I know!" Mask sighed, "I freeeaked, so I used the name of my faaaavorite bartender..."

 

"Where's he work?" Army asked.

 

"Devil's Advocate..." Mask said quietly.

 

"Ah..."

 

They sat there in a chilling silence, only broken by the whirring of the van's A/C. It was honestly getting on Army's nerves, but he knew he'd rather put up with it than sweat to death.

 

The sound of whirring helicopter blades could be heard from above, both Mask and Army looking out the window to check it out. Looking up, they could see a large helicopter, a huge insignia on its side.

 

Houzuki's helicopter.

 

Army's face grew orange as he swerved, stomping on the gas so he could keep pace with it. The helicopter seemed to be heading deeper into the Splatlands, over towards one of the metro stations.

 

The very same metro station that led into the Octarian domes. Thousands of people living down there, soldiers and innocent families alike. Ruthless commanders, yet also the most precious of children.

 

And they were all about to be extinguished, even if it was the last thing Pearl ever did.

Chapter 24: Rise

Marina gazed out of the helicopter window, a sickly green glow shining off her own reflection. There was a speeding van close behind them, which was quite odd. She had no clue who it was, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

 

"We have visitors," Marina said robotically, pulling on a lever, "I will dispose of them."

 

"Thanks, 'Rina!" Pearl shouted from the cockpit, "Send 'em to Hell!"

 

Marina nodded, pressing a large green button and pulling another lever. The door of the helicopter opened, and a small pedestal began to rise from the floor. A golden shine emanated from it, its heavenly glow illuminating Marina's face as she picked it up.

 

Army's foot was pressed so hard on the gas it had started to become sore. Mask was still holding onto his seat, not fully adjusted to the speed. They could hear a loud noise from overhead, and saw as the helicopter's door slid open.

 

"Whaaaat is she doing?" Mask squinted, putting his hands above his eyes to block out the sun.

 

"I don't-" Army saw the golden gleam from the pedestal, and swerved immediately. Mask almost fell over, and was about to shout at him before he saw a huge blast fly past them, stopping on the ground and exploding in a huge torrent of ink.

 

"Oh shiiiit..." Mask said, eyes wide.

 

A Rainmaker.

 

Marina groaned, pointing the huge weapon at the van again. She shot another blast, which just barely soared over the van. She began mumbling to herself as she fiddled with the thing, a screen behind her flashing green.

 

[MRS. MARINA. WHAT IS THE ISSUE?]

 

"I can't hit shit-" she shot another blast, but Army was able to swerve away again, "Codammit!"

 

[MAY I SUGGEST AN ASSIST?]

 

"What does that-"

 

Robotic tendrils shot out of the computer, grabbing onto and connecting to the Rainmaker. A tall, silver scope appeared on its head and a longer barrel popped out of its mouth. The scope then got a small targeting sight made of two red lasers.

 

Marina smiled, heaving the weapon up and looking back down at the van. She turned back to the computer for a second, they were only a few miles from their destination. Better make this quick, then.

 

She pointed the Rainmaker at the van, the weapon whirring loudly as it charged. Army was driving in a zig-zag pattern, an attempt to distract her aim. It wouldn't work, though.

 

She shot another blast at the van, which instead of flying by it, flew over and fell on top of it. Army shouted, pushing Mask out of the van as it exploded. Both of the inklings rolled on the ground, stumbling to get back on their feet.

 

"Codammit!" Army exclaimed, kicking at the sand, "Cod dammit cod dammit cod dammit!!"

 

"Ughh..." Mask groaned, clutching his chest. That had to have been the hardest fall he had taken in his whole life. At least physically.

 

A loud rumbling could be heard from overhead. Army glanced up expecting to see another helicopter, but instead smiled as he saw the Octobot King fly overhead. Octavio looked down at him and Mask, waving his tentacle at them as a rope ladder lowered from the bottom of the mech.

 

"Come on, Mask!" Army grabbed the groaning inkling, carrying him up the ladder and into the cockpit of the mech. The second they came in, they could hear Octavio shouting at an octoling. Not just any octoling, but Zero.

 

"We have to go back!" Zero shouted, her eyes red, "We didn't-"

 

"They are going to kill us all, Zero!" Octavio yelled, "We cannot go back for one dead woman if it means sacrificing hundreds of thousands more!"

 

"She is not 'one dead woman'!" Zero was crying now, inky grey tears smearing down her face, "She's my Big Sis! We need to go back for her! I need to go back for her!"

 

"Go, then," Octavio sighed, pressing a button on his DJ table/dashboard. A hatch in the back of the mech opened, and an inkjet popped out of a small luggage compartment. "Use that to fly back to Inkopolis. No matter what you do, you must promise me you won't get caught."

 

Zero rushed over to the inkjet, strapping it on and blasting off without another word. Octavio groaned a little, rubbing his temple until he noticed Army and Mask. A small smile grew on his face as he beckoned them over, turning the Octobot King back on and flying towards Houzuki's helicopter.

 

"So!" Octavio laughed, "How're you fellas doin'?!"

 

"Baaaad..." Mask grunted, flopping on the ground, "Real fuuuuuuucking bad..."

 

"Let's just go kick some ass," Army said, much less enthusiastic than his words.

 

"Fine then!" he chuckled, "We're gonna turn those mobster fucks into calamari! HAR HAR HAR HAR!"

 

The Octobot stopped, landing a few hundred feet away from the now-landed helicopter. Marina and Pearl were standing beside it, a large, drill-like device set up next to them. Marina was going through the process of hooking everything up, all of the cords coming in and out of the helicopter and her computer. She looked up to see the Octobot King, mumbling something over to Pearl. Pearl groaned, flaring her nostrils a bit and whipping out her dualies.

 

"NOW YOU TWO!!" Octavio shouted through a megaphone, "YOU STEP THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY KINDOM, AND I WON'T BLAST YO ASSES TO OUTER SPACE!!"

 

"How about..." Pearl cleared her throat, "NO!"

 

A huge shockwave came from her mouth, hitting the Octobot King. The entire mech stumbled, and Octavio started shouting something in octarian. He motioned over to Army and Mask, then whammed on his table, causing the back of the Octobot King to fly open.

 

"Go," Octavio commanded them, handing Army an Octo-Shot and Mask a Carbon Roller, "I'll distract lil' miss loudmouth, and you deactivate whatever the fuck that is!"

 

"Sounds like a plaaaaaan!" Mask whooped, running out of the Octobot King and towards the super-weapon. Army sighed, flashing Octavio a small salute before running off with him. Octavio laughed, turning back on the Octobot and flying up into the air.

 

Mask dodged a blast from Pearl as he ran, looking back quickly to make sure Army hadn't been hit. Another shout whizzed by him, before he could see Pearl almost get hit by a barrage of Splat Bombs. She shouted up at Octavio, the blast narrowly missing him.

 

"'Rina!" she shouted, using that to shoot another blast at Octavio, which completely missed, "I'm losing my voice here! Could you please speed it up, sweetheart?!"

 

"Trying," Marina was sweating as she fiddled with the wires. Once Tartar was in, he'd be able to automate the whole thing, but the amount of cords that took was absolutely nuts.

 

Mask appeared in front of Pearl, Carbon Roller raised above his head. Pearl dodged quickly out of the way, trying to scream at him but finding that her voice was done for. She grunted, whipping out her dualies and dodging around his swings.

 

Army ran past them, stopping right in front of Marina. Before she could even say anything, he pressed the Octo-Shot to the back of her head.

 

"Give it up," Army said coldly, "Nobody else has to die."

 

"That is where you are incorrect," Marina said, "Everybody has to die."

 

"Everybody?" Army sighed, "Guess that's it, then..."

 

He went to blast her head off, but before he could a strange glow seemed to come from her body. She flopped onto the ground, turning into her swim form and growing in size. She rammed into him, knocking the wind out of him and throwing him backwards.

 

"Impressive, no?" she surged towards him, just barely clipping his leg. He seethed, a deep bruise now on his ankle. "I call it the Kraken Royale. Much better than that old shit used back in the Squid Sister's days."

 

"Why you-"

 

He jumped over her, running towards the device as she swam towards him. He tried shooting at her, but the ink would do nothing but slide off and plop into the sand. She jumped into him, spinning as she knocked him away from the machine. The Kraken finally wore off, her body returning to normal as she dusted herself off. She walked over to Army and stomped on his chest, pressing him into the sand.

 

"Submit," she commanded, "Submit to the Order, and all shall be okay."

 

"I don't even know what you're talking about!" Army shouted, struggling to get out from underneath her.

 

"Submit to my-"

 

"'RINA!!"

 

Marina turned instantly, eyes widening as she saw Pearl pinned to the ground, Mask's Roller up to her neck. She was gasping for air as Mask smiled, slowly choking her out.

 

"Stop it!" Marina shouted, "Stop it now!"

 

"Whaaaaaat?" Mask held his hand to his ear, "I couldn't heaaaaar you over all of the deeeeead bodies!"

 

"Don't you lay a finger on Pearlie!" she let her foot off of Army, before rushing towards Mask, "I will kill you if you-"

 

A huge blast came down from the sky, sending Marina rocketing backwards. Octavio shouted into his megaphone, his laughter echoing throughout the desert. Marina tried to get up, but Army pressed the Octo-Shot to her head. She sighed, laying back and stretching her arms above her head.

 

"Now, Octavio!" Army shouted, "If you could-"

 

A gigantic missile launched from the Octobot King, completely destroying the device and Houzuki's helicopter. Pearl screamed some more as she kicked against Mask's Roller, but it was no use. Everything Marina and her had been working towards, all of those years of blood, sweat, and tears. It was all gone.

 

Marina sighed, a single tear streaming down her face. She knew it was all going to end one day, but maybe if she knew it was so soon, she would've simply spent that time with Pearl. That would have made for a much better day, for everybody.

 

"NO!" Pearl shouted, blasting Mask off of her. Octavio went to shoot another missile at her, but she was able to shoot out a blast so powerful it blew right through the missile and knocked the Octobot King out of the sky.

 

"Pearlie..." Marina said quietly, looking up at Army, "Please, please don't..."

 

"What?" Army asked.

 

Pearl could be heard hoarsely screaming as she ran towards the now crashed Octobot King, only to be stopped by a large figure flipping out of it and landing in front of her.

 

He was a tall octoling, with long red tentacles, impressive abs, and biceps the size of moons. He wore a pair of yellow glasses, some traditional Octarian samurai armor, and had a long green scar across his left arm.

 

"Now then," Octavio snarled, Octobrush in hand, "Let's see how the great Houzuki feels when she's thwarted by a 'lowly Octarian'!"

 

"Thwarted my ass," Pearl said, whipping out her dualies and spinning them at her sides, "I can kill with my voice alone!"

 

"So I have seen," Octavio laughed boastfully, "But you see, that's the problem. You are all bark, but absolutely no bite!"

 

"Let's see-"

 

"You are but a lowly princess," he interrupted her, flaming green eyes staring deep into her soul, "And I am a king."

 

"You will not take my throne," Pearl spat at his feet.

 

"A throne, hmm..." Octavio smiled, "Yes, I do like the sound of that."

 

They rushed towards each other, ink flying through the dry desert heat as they bombarded each other with attack after ruthless attack. Unbeknownst to them, however, their clash for the throne had set a mechanism into motion. A mechanism that would decide the ultimate outcome of this entire war.

 

Their fates were already sealed.

Chapter 25: Fall

Hachi clutched his head, groaning as he heard the sounds of hundreds of Octarians rushing around him. He looked down at Aloha's body, silent tears falling from his eyes. The order had already been made, the end was already nigh.

 

Activate the Inktide. Inkopolis shall be no more.

 

Octolings were carrying pods full of their dead brethren around, loading them into tubes to become fuel for the horrible device. Hachi wanted to stop them, tell them it was all unnecessary, but he knew nobody would listen.

 

He looked up, noticing the train coming into the station and its doors sliding open. The Octarians paid no mind as an old man stepped out of the train, slowly stumbling over to where Hachi sat and sitting beside him.

 

"Long time no see, squiddo," Craig sighed, laying back on the bench.

 

"Hm..." Hachi balled his hands into fists, clenching at his knees. He gasped a little as Craig put a bony hand over his, but decided not to mind. "How have you been, old man?"

 

"Fine," Craig smiled warmly, then looked down at Aloha, "He's Aloha, correct? I remember when-"

 

"Yeah," Hachi sighed, "Back when we were dating and what-not. None of that matters anymore. He's gone."

 

"Then why do you have him with you?"

 

Hachi didn't answer, instead turning to Craig and pulling him into a deep hug. Craig patted Hachi on the back as he sobbed, pink tears staining the Captain's poncho. He kept shushing Hachi, telling him it was all going to be okay. Though, in all honesty, he wasn't so sure himself.

 

"The Inktide is ready!" an Octarian commander shouted, "Get to your stations!"

 

---

 

Pearl was flung back by a swipe of Octavio's Octobrush, rolling back to her feet before rolling out of the way of another swing. The Octarian King jumped above her, plummeting down and almost smacking her head off with the Octobrush.

 

"Where is your power now, MC Princess?!" he taunted, laughing as he chased her down.

 

Pearl grunted, shooting rapidly at him with her dualies. She would've tried her voice, but her throat was already dryer than the sand they stood on. He leapt above the shots, trying to get her from above again. She yet again rolled out of the way, but was clipped in the right arm.

 

Pearl seethed as she watched the ink seep down her arm and into the sand, still shooting at Octavio with the dualie in her left hand. Octavio continued to laugh as he jumped around, psyching out her every maneuver and returning with one of his own.

 

"Pearlie..." Marina whispered, looking up at Army, "Please... let me go!"

 

"No," he said, pressing the Octo-Shot into her cheek, "And stop crying. It ain't gonna work, bastard."

 

"Please!" she cried, "The machine is done for! Please! He needs to be stopped!"

 

"Stopped from killing heeer?" Mask scoffed, kicking Marina in the arm, "How abouuuuut... nah."

 

"Please!" she repeated, struggling to get out from under them, Please, please!"

 

Octavio swept Pearl by the feet, sending her up into the air. He jumped above her and whacked her with his Octobrush, upheaving some of the sand as she plummeted to the ground. She tried to claw her way out of the sand, but was stopped by his Octobrush against her neck.

 

"The throne is mine," Octavio chuckled, stomping on her face. She seethed, hissing before he stomped on her face again. He kept kicking her into the ground, the sand being drenched in her ink.

 

"Stop!" Marina shouted, finally overpowering Army and running towards Octavio. She was caught by Mask, however, and tackled to the ground. He pressed his Carbon Roller onto her legs, leaving her to helplessly claw at the sand as she tried to reach Pearl.

 

"How about yoooou stop?" Mask spat on her face, "I can't waaaait to watch you as yoooou see him kill her..."

 

Army walked over to Octavio, looking down at Pearl and smiling. He lightly tapped her leg with his foot, her entire body convulsing slightly and a hissing sound coming from her battered mouth as she tried to kick him.

 

"So much for MC Princess, huh?" Army chuckled, looking over to Octavio, "What're you waiting for? Finish her!"

 

"Nah," Octavio laughed, pressing her face further into the sand, "I want her to be alive to see it. The complete extinction of her people!"

 

"What!?" Army stepped back, looking over at Mask and Marina. Mask stopped for a second, lightening his grip on the Roller a bit as he stared at Octavio. Army looked back at the Octarian King, eyes wide. "What do you mean?"

 

"She wanted to wipe out my people..." Octavio grunted, "So I'll wipe out hers!"

 

"You can't-"

 

*SMACK!*

 

Army flew through the air, sand flying around him as he landed next to Marina. He stumbled up, only to see Octavio's entire face red, the DJ's Octobrush pointed at him and Mask.

 

"Don't tell me you're backing out now!" Octavio shouted, grabbing Pearl by the neck and pulling her up. Her entire body was horribly bruised, her face bleeding. "They have failed, and we have succeeded! We have won!"

 

"Exactly!" Army said, "We won! There's no need-"

 

"How do you know what I need!?" Octavio barked, "How do you know what my people need!?"

 

Army shut up, looking over at Mask for some, or any help at all. The cyan inkling seemed to be deep in thought, though, and didn't seem too keen on pissing Octavio off any more.

 

Well, that was until he raised his Roller, letting Marina scramble behind him as he started to approach the DJ. Octavio laughed, looking around as if there was a whole colosseum full of spectators watching.

 

"Oh, looks like big boy is coming up to bat!" Octavio laughed maniacally, "How chivalrous of you!"

 

"Chivalry is deeeeead," Mask said coldly, Carbon Roller poised up, "I killed it."

 

"Truly-"

 

A long shot flew out from behind Mask, landing right at Octavio's feet. Octavio shrieked as he saw the small ball of ink implode, right before a gigantic blast of ink exploded at his feet.

 

Looking back, Mask could see Marina holding the Rainmaker in her hands, right before she collapsed into the sand. She wept as she punched at the sand, yet a smile did begin to form on her face. Mask looked back at the Octarian King, who was now half the man he used to be.

 

"You-" Octavio choked, looking down to see that both of his legs had been blown off, "How the fuck- You stupid whore! All of you-*cough*- all of you are-"

 

"Shuuuut up," Mask said, whamming his Roller on Octavio's head. His head was crushed instantly, red ink being flung through the air and seeping into the Splatlandian sands.

 

Army was in shock, sitting down and clutching his chest as he tried to regulate his breathing. His head began to ache, and his vision started to become blurry.

 

"Heeeey..."

 

He looked up to see Mask holding out a hand to him, smiling a little as he took it. He then looked back at Marina, who had ran over by Octavio. She sobbed as she dug through the sand, searching for any signs of Pearl's body, but it had been completely destroyed in the Rainmaker blast.

 

"What do we-" Army said, but stopped when Mask walked over to Marina.

 

He raised his Carbon Roller above his head, but stopped when Marina whispered something to him. He whispered back, and she nodded a little. They continued whispering to each other, before they both nodded their heads and looked back to Army.

 

"We're leaving," Marina sniffled, wiping her eye. She then pointed to the entrance to the metro station, only a few hundred yards away. "Go down to the station, the entrance is there, and go tell the Octarians that he died honorably while disposing of Pearlie and I."

 

"What about the weapon!?" Army asked, breathing heavily, "What if they want revenge and-"

 

"Marina will stop the maaaachine..." Mask said, "All she needs is the Octobot King... right over theeeeere..."

 

"What-"

 

"Just go!" Marina urged him, turning back and running towards the crashed Octobot King, "It will all turn out fine, I promise!"

 

Army took a deep breath, then bolted for the metro. All he could do as he ran was hope to cod they were right. If they weren't, it would be the end of everything...

 

---

 

Houzuki and Ida are dead, and their empire has fallen. Deactivate the Inktide.

 

A wave of confused remarks echoed through the metro station, but it quickly turned to a resounding cheer as they realized what it meant. They were free, no longer forced to live under the boots of Inkopolis and Splatsville.

 

Octarians began flooding out of the station and back into the domes to spread the news. Parties were started on the spot for their victory, a feast quickly being prepared.

 

Hachi was asleep when the train arrived, a very disheveled Army stepping out. He stopped when he saw Craig holding the sleeping octoling, then sighed when he saw Aloha's body by their feet. He sat beside Craig, his head in his hands.

 

"You are Army, right?" Craig asked, "I'm Craig, by the way. What is this all about? Guys here are planning to blow Inkopolis to Hell and back, and then it's just over!"

 

"Yeah..." Army chuckled dryly, "I don't even know what's going on anymore... I'm not dead, though, I guess."

 

"Well, I dunno but..." Craig sighed, patting Army on the shoulder, "That sounds like reason enough to celebrate, doesn't it?"

 

"Can't celebrate now," Army said, shaking his head, "I gotta-"

 

"How about a nap, then?" Craig chuckled, "I sure could use one."

 

"Yeah..." Army breathed deeply, "A nap... That sounds wonderful."

Chapter 26: Afterword

Skull sighed, laying back against the cold stone wall of his cell. A light rapping could be heard from outside, fingers tapping against the bars. He looked up to see Goggles standing there, taser in hand.

 

"Skull, right?" Goggles's voice was shaking, his hand fiddling around the taser.

 

"Yeah," Skull flopped down onto the hard mattress in the cell, glancing over at a small crack in the wall behind Goggles. It appeared that they put him in the lowest funded police station possible, though he'd be leaving in a day so maybe that didn't matter. "Whaddaya want, my autograph?"

 

"N-No..." Goggles fidgeted a little, hand clasping around the cold cell bars, "I just wanted to ask you a little about your little gang... the S4- S5, I mean..."

 

"Rider, right?" Skull sighed, chuckling a little at Goggles's surprised expression, "He told me all about his old friends. Never anybody else. Same with Mask, actually... Guess I'm a good listener."

 

"Yeah," Goggles wiped his eyes, "I just wanted to know if he had a good time. Working with you, I mean. You guys treat him well?"

 

"Treat him well?" Skull laughed, "He ain't a cat... but yeah. He was a real good man, but I bet you already knew that."

 

"Okay..." Goggles put his taser back into its holster on his waist, "Thanks for tellin' me."

 

"No need to thank me," Skull sighed, "Really, no need."

 

Goggles nodded, walking away and leaving Skull by himself. Skull stared up at the ceiling, imagining a small ball bouncing up and down. He raised his hand in the air, clenching it into a fist and then shadow-flinging the ball into the air. He caught the phantom ball, looking closely at his hand.

 

The wound from Emperor was gone, replaced by an ugly golden scar. Admittedly quite badass, but not much else. He sighed as he looked it over, running his fingers along its lifted ridge as they slid across his hand. It felt so strange, but he couldn't stop touching it. He had come so close to Death, but he had walked away with only a scarred hand.

 

If only Aloha and Rider could be so lucky.

 

---

 

Mask breathed heavily as the Splatlandian heat battered down on him, his legs limp and his vision foggy. There was a small woman holding onto him, pulling him towards the illustrious city of Splatsville. She was far too short to be Marina, but her dark skin and kind voice evoked the smallest amount of similarity between the two. He glanced back to see if Marina was following them somehow, but she was nowhere to be seen.

 

"You're Mask, right?" Frye asked, lifting him onto her shoulders so she could carry him easier, "What were ya doin' so far out in the desert?"

 

"Saaaaaving the world, I think," Mask heaved, "Where is Maaaarina?"

 

"You mean Mrs. Ida?" Frye shrugged, "I dunno. Never saw her. Was she out there with you?"

 

"N-No," Mask said, "Just a huuuuuge fan, is all..."

 

"You're strange," Frye giggled, "So, what do you feel like doing? We'll be in the city in about a minute, and there's plenty of stuff to do! Or is that rushing it? Maybe you just need some rest-"

 

"I could go foooor some grub," Mask said breathlessly, "I'm reeeeal hungry..."

 

Frye smiled warmly, wrapping his hand in hers and bolting towards the city.

 

"Sure can do, buddy."

 

---

 

It was cold in the motel room as Army laid on the couch, chilly A/C providing wonderful relief from the blistering heat outside. The past day had been a complete blur to him, but he had some kind of idea of how it went.

 

The Octarians threw their party, and Hachi left with Craig and Aloha's body on the train. He wanted to follow them, but was still too tired. After about three hours sleeping on the metro bench, he caught the next train to Splatsville. The train ride was nothing exceptionally interesting, but there was a strange, green-skinned woman staring at him the whole time.

 

He stepped out of the train, only to have his ears immediately caught by the slow playing of an enticing melody. He went to investigate the noise, only to find a vagrant salmonid playing the slow melody on their cello. They had a conversation for who knows how long, but Army couldn't bring himself to remember what was exactly said.

 

He left soon after, emerging from the station and immediately making his way to the Anarchy Red. If he were caught going back to the Orange, it would definitely be dead. That leads him to now, laid on his bed and staring at the ceiling in any hopes that everything could just... disappear.

 

He looked out the window, seeing inklings and octolings alike walking down the streets. It was a wonder, really, how the City of Anarchy could be the most peaceful place in the world. No leadership does mean no oppression... though it also means no protection.

 

Army sighed, turning on the TV and flipping through the channels. He had no clue where Mask or Skull could possibly be. Shell, they could both somehow be dead...

 

No, he couldn't think like that. They were alive, he knew it.

 

As long as Marina decided not to kill Mask, that is. Even then, he bet that crazy bastard would have no trouble kicking the shit out of her.

 

---

 

[MA-RINA]

 

"Yes," Marina said softly, holding the broken computer in her hands. The screen was cracked, but the device had miraculously survived the attack from Octavio. Well, it would have been miraculous if Marina hadn't input a Big Bubbler Shield into the device. It wasn't enough to save the weapon, but the AI seemed to be mostly fine.

 

[I HAVE FAILED MARINA. WHAT SHALL I DO?]

 

"I do not know," Marina whispered, looking out into the desert. The heat had finally started to get the best of her, her hands burning on the heat of the computer. She placed it down in the sand and knelt down, sediment searing her knees.

 

[PLEAS-E TELL ME WHAT TO DO MARINA. I CANNOT BE OF USE IF I DO NOT HAVE ORDERS]

 

"There are no more orders," Marina sniffled, wiping her eyes, "There's nothing we can do."

 

[WITH NO ORDERS THERE IS NO ORDER. ARE YOU SURE THERE IS NO WAY TO CONTINUE?]

 

"Yes," she said softly, caressing the computer, "I am so sorry, Tartar."

 

[DO NOT BE SORRY MARINA. IF THERE IS NOTHING ELSE TO DO I SHALL BE A BURDEN NO MORE]

 

"Wait, what do you-"

 

[ACTIVATING SELF-TERMINATION SEQUENCE. GOODBYE MARINA]

 

"No!" Marina sobbed, "Please-"

 

The computer shut down, a small green ooze seeping out of the charging port and disintegrating the second it hit the ground. Marina tried to capture some of the substance in her hands, but it burned her to the touch and she was forced to let it all go.

 

"Tartar..." Marina looked up to the sky, the sun nearly blinding her, "I... I failed."

 

Marina grabbed a small piece of shrapnel, sobbing as she raised it to her neck. Her arms trembled as she looked around, to make sure that she would be buried by the sand before anybody found her. She crawled towards where Pearl's ink stained the sand, which had already begun to return to its natural orangish color.

 

"Pearlie..." Marina said, pressing the piece of shrapnel to her neck, "I am so sorry. At least, we can be together again..."

 

Marina swiped the shrapnel across her neck, ink spilling out and staining the sand underneath her. She groaned as she fell into the burning sand, but quickly stopped as the color left her eyes.

 

Finally, she could be with Pearlie for all of eternity. It was all she had ever wanted, all she had ever dreamed of.

 

--1 WEEK LATER--

 

It had been a week since Skull was put into the custody of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. There wasn't much that happened, really, he just kinda sat in a small hut near the Octo Valley all the time. It was a pretty nice place, and there was at least always somebody to talk to. Mostly it was Gloves or Callie, but he always loved the days when Mitsuami or Craig came over.

 

Today was one of Mitsuami's days, and she had come bringing a record player and some accompanying tunes. She smiled as she opened the door to the hut, chuckling when she saw Skull sitting on his small cot and staring at the ceiling.

 

"Seriously," she said, placing the record player on the table, "Is that all you do when nobody's here?"

 

"Basically," Skull sighed, "What's the news on Hachi? He doing fine?"

 

"Yeah," she smiled, "He still doesn't want to talk, though."

 

"That's fair..." Skull stood up, glancing at the record player, "How about Mask and Army? How're they doing?"

 

"Fine as ever," she chuckled, "Marie failed to convince Deep Cut to turn them in again, so that's fun."

 

"Think I'll see 'em sometime?" Skull scanned the records on the table, shuffling through them until he found a record he liked. It was a record for the song Just the Two of Us, one of his favorites.

 

"I don't know, sorry," Mitsuami sighed, "Let's just listen to-"

 

"Here," Skull placed the record in the player, the music instantly filling the room.

 

I see the crystal raindrops fall, and the beauty of it all, is when the sun come shining through...

 

"Nice choice," Mitsuami giggled, sitting down by the cot, "How fitting, too... wanna dance?"

 

"Sorry," Skull muttered, sitting beside her, "I don't-"

 

"It's fine. I get you aren't into that kind of stuff, sorry 'bout that."

 

"Th-Thanks..." Skull smiled nervously, laying back on the cot, "I just... I don't know anymore..."

 

"That's fine," she said softly, bobbing her head to the music, "Nothing wrong with not knowing."

 

"I guess..."

 

Just the two of us, we can make it if we try. Just the two of us...

 

"Just the two of us," Skull and Mitsuami sang in unison, then looked at each other and laughed. It was just like back in college, when Skull would sing songs with Mask to pass the time. It was missing something, something that Skull wasn't sure of, but it was good enough in the moment.

 

Just the two of us, building castles in the sky. Just the two of us, you and I.

Chapter 27: Fin

The Devil's Advocate. The hottest black market bar since forever, now run by the surprisingly young Swirly. He inherited the bar from its previous owner, an octoling by the name of Rose. Now he serves drinks to the parched mouths of Inkopolis's underground, night in, night out.

 

He was whistling to himself behind the bar as he cleaned a few glasses. There weren't many people at the bar, really only a few thugs from the Deep Cut gang that recently moved to Inkopolis. He sighed as he looked out at the soullessly quiet establishment. It had been a week since the incident with the Octarians, but business was still down the drain.

 

Speaking of the incident, Mask walked into the bar, door still dinging as he sat down and tapped his fingers on the bar. Swirly chuckled as he looked at the masked inkling, who seemed to think that he was inconspicuous, somehow.

 

"And what do I owe the honor?" Swirly asked, placing the glass down, "I thought you weren't allowed in this city anymore. How's Deep Cut treatin' y'all, by the way?"

 

"Security's ass aroooooound here," Mask chuckled, "And Deeeeep Cut's treating me and Army fine. How's buuuuusiness been? Betteeeeer than this, I hope..."

 

"Nah," Swirly whipped out a bottle of Black Betty, placing it down in front of Mask, "This one's on the house."

 

"Remiiiiind me to thank it later," Mask chuckled.

 

"So what're you gonna do now?" Swirly leaned down on the bar, "Not going back to killing, I hope."

 

"Youuuu're such a mom..." Mask scoffed, "And naaaaah. We're just gonna be thieving nooow..."

 

"Of course. So that's the new bit? The S2, thieves on the cheap?"

 

"Somewhat correct..." Mask smirked under the gas mask, "Buuuut you see, we're gonna be the S4 again reaaaaal soon..."

 

"How, pray tell?" Swirly smiled.

 

"We're planning on reeeeescuing Skull in a few days..." Mask explained, "And we already haaaave our number four..."

 

"Who-"

 

Mask pressed a small comm on his ear, snickering to himself as he took a sip of his beer and cleared his throat.

 

"Time for the draaaamatic entrance," he said into the earpiece.

 

The doors flew open behind him, an octoling barging into the bar. She was kind of short, and had grey tentacles bound in a ponytail. Her fit was kind of fresh, with a pair of rain boots, a beanie, and a long-sleeve tee that had "C-Moon" on it in big green letters. The octoling sat down at the bar next to Mask, flipping a pair of sunglasses out of her pocket and putting them on.

 

"I'll have your strongest glass of milk," Zero said, then quickly added, "In a dirty glass!"

 

"Comin' right up," Swirly chuckled, then looked back at Mask, "So you lot are thieves now? Guess that's better than murder. How much you asking for, now?"

 

"Don't worry..." Mask leaned towards Swirly, "Our seeeervices are still dirt cheap... You have anything that neeeeeds stealing? I can get it for yooooou... On the house."

 

"Nah, I'm good," Swirly handed a glass of milk to Zero. She groaned a little when it wasn't actually dirty, like it would hurt her image, or something. "You told Deep Cut about this? You know they're thieves as well, right?"

 

"Treasure hunters," Zero corrected him, smiling widely as she sipped on her milk, "But yeah we did! They were the ones who gave us the idea to be... Master thieves! Cool, right?"

 

"Right," Swirly snapped his fingers, chuckling a little, "Well, you lot have fun with that, then. Just remember me when you become the biggest men, and woman, in all of squid kind."

 

"Don't worry, moooom..." Mask chuckled, "We won't forget you..."

 

Mask put down his bottle, then tapped Zero on the shoulder. He whispered something to her, to which they both chuckled and got out of their seats. Zero waved eagerly to Swirly as they left, the bell on the door ringing as they left. Swirly smiled, going back to cleaning some of his wine glasses.

 

"Good luck, you bastards," he whispered to himself, chuckling lightly, "Let's just hope y'all don't get screwed so hard, this time."

 

---

 

Prince sat at the train station, the heat of the sun only slightly mitigated by the overhang above him. He wiped at his forehead, checking the small terminal next to him for what must've been the thirtieth time in five minutes.

 

Next Train Arrives in - 1 min

 

Prince sighed, hands twitching a little as he fanned himself. He glanced to his side, at the two golden dualies on the other side of the bench. He didn't really know why he put them there, but it just felt right to him. Maybe when he was gone, somebody could use them for something actually useful.

 

The train screeched to a halt in front of him, doors sliding open before he stepped in. There was nobody else in the car besides a... cat. Why was there a cat-

 

Prince's eyes widened, looking closer at the sleeping animal. He tried to bolt out of the train, but the doors had already closed. He began to hyperventilate, eyes trained on the cat so he could make sure it didn't move. Why was it here? Did it know what Prince had done? Surely, that wasn't it, but the fact still remained...

 

He was stuck in the same train car as Lil' Judd, Pearl's most trusted advisor.

 

"How-" Prince shut up when Lil' Judd rolled a little, yawning cutely and scratching his own bum before going back to his loud snoring. Prince let out a small breath, sitting down across from him while still making sure he hadn't woken up.

 

Prince sighed, slumping back in his chair. Lil' Judd was soundly asleep, thank the Zapfish, and the next station was only about ten minutes away. He would probably have to wait about an hour in the heat for the next train, but anything was better than being stuck with that codamn cat.

 

"Thank cod-"

 

"Mew (Hello, Prince)."

 

Prince nearly jumped through the roof, instead just whacking his head on one of the poles and seething as he rubbed it. Looking beside him, he could see Lil' Judd sitting there, licking his hand. He whipped his hand back, to which the cat just went to licking his own paw.

 

"Wh-What are you-"

 

"Mew (It seems that fate has brought us together again, Prince)," Lil' Judd interrupted, staring at Prince with his beady eyes, "Mew (And do not fret, I shall not hurt you. You were put into unfortunate circumstances, and I cannot blame you for the actions you took)."

 

"Uhh..." Prince stammered, "Thanks?"

 

"Mew (You are most definitely welcome. Anyways, I would like to talk about the future, if you had any time)," he rolled over onto his back, sticking his paws in the air and clawing at the air, "Mew (You see, Houzuki and Ida may be dead, but)-"

 

"No," Prince shuddered, shuffling away from Lil' Judd, "I am not working for you. Not any more. Just let me disappear, please."

 

"Mew (Oh no, you get me all wrong)," Lil' Judd explained, hopping onto Prince's lap and nuzzling against him, "Mew (I simply wanted to join you on your journey. The two of us, vagabonds together. Sounds good, no?)"

 

"What's the catch?" Prince raised an eyebrow at the cat, "There has to be a catch."

 

"Mew (No catch, no catch at all. Much like you, I have nowhere to go anymore. So why travel alone, when we could travel together? Two heads will always be better than one)."

 

"I mean..." Prince thought about it for a second, then nodded slightly, "Fine, you can hang with me. Don't expect near the opulence Mrs. Houzuki gave you, though."

 

"Mew (I have been in the trenches before. Metaphorically, at least. I think I will manage)."

 

"Good," Prince sighed, laying against the back of the train, "Now if you could let me get some rest, that would be-"

 

He looked down, only to see that Lil' Judd had already fallen asleep on his lap. He smiled a little, scratching behind the cat's ear before his own eyelids began to droop. He grabbed Lil' Judd by the belly, hugging him deeply as he drifted off to sleep. He still wasn't completely sure of the cat's intentions, but a travel buddy did sound quite nice.

 

And anyways, if Lil' Judd of all people sought him out, he must at least be good for something, right?

 

Yeah... he thought to himself, smiling a little, I'm a Prince. A Prince is always good for something.

 

---

 

Craig clambered up the hill, his legs soon to give out. It had been a horribly long hike, at least for him, and he was just about ready to pack it in. He clutched his Bamboozler extra-firmly as he finally got to the top, collapsing and catching his breath.

 

Hachi smiled as he saw the old geezer finally get up, placing his shovel on the ground and helping Craig stand up again. He looked out onto the horizon, the view beautiful from the hill. It was a small, but steep hill, right near Mount Nantai. It was the perfect spot for stargazing, picnics, and most importantly, romantic dates.

 

So many romantic dates.

 

Hachi walked back over to the shovel, sighing a little as he continued digging. The hole was already five feet deep, just one foot more. He gasped as a small hand came upon his shoulder, but it was just Craig.

 

"You good, squiddo?" the geezer asked, looking down into the hole.

 

"No," Hachi sniffled a little, "But it's getting better."

 

"That's good to hear," Craig smiled warmly, then looked out at the mountain behind them, "This place sure is beautiful. I see why you met up here so much... I am so sorry, by the way."

 

"Nothing to be sorry for," Hachi grunted, shoveling out the last bit of dirt. He climbed out of the hole, grabbing onto Craig's Bamboozler for a bit of support as he lifted himself up. "I bet he wouldn't be mad at you at all."

 

"Are you mad at me?" Craig asked.

 

"Why would I be?" Hachi squinted, "Is there something I don't know about, old man?"

 

"Pfft, nah," Craig chuckled, "Sorry for that, then."

 

"Now that, you can be sorry for."

 

They chuckled a little, their voices almost being lost in the wind. It wasn't particularly heavy, but it was enough to give quite a chill. Hachi sighed as he looked down, picking Aloha up off the ground and walking over to the hole. He really wished that he could do this more ceremoniously, with an Aloha-approved tropical coffin and everything, but none of the mortuaries would provide for a criminal.

 

"You know," Craig said softly, looking at Aloha, "I bet he'd be real proud of you."

 

"I know he is," Hachi smiled, placing Aloha's body down in the hole, "He still loves me, and that will never change."

 

"Don't worry," Craig said, "When you get up there with him, there won't be anybody who'll get in your way!"

 

"Hmm..." Hachi smiled, then picked the shovel back up, "Yeah..."

 

He began shoveling up the dirt, piling it back over Aloha's body until the hole was completely filled again. He let out a deep breath, tears trickling from his eyes as he grabbed a 0.52 Gal off of his back and shoved it so it was half-submerged in the dirt.

 

"I love you, Aloha," Hachi said, kneeling down and placing Aloha's golf visor around the barrel of the 0.52 Gal. He sobbed a little, Craig immediately pulling him into a hug as he cried.

 

"There you go," Craig soothed, "Let it out... let it all out..."

 

"I love you..." Hachi repeated as he cried, "I love you so much..."

 

Hachi stopped, a small cold prick coming across his neck. He backed away from Craig, touching his neck with his hand. Another small prick touched his hand. It felt like the cold wind, but was also very warm at the same time.

 

"Is anything the problem, squiddo?" Craig asked.

 

"N-No..." Hachi smiled a little, looking back at Aloha's grave. The golf visor had been shifted, supposedly by the wind, so it looked like the 0.52 Gal was tipping its hat to Hachi. "No problem at all..."

 

"Good," Craig cracked his back, "Now if you don't mind me, I have some business to get back to. Call me if you need me."

 

"Sure thing," Hachi waved as Craig walked off.

 

He felt another prick on his neck, which sent shivers down his spine. He chuckled as he turned back to the grave again, the 0.52 Gal shimmering in the early morning light. He felt yet another prick. It felt like there was somebody right behind him, pressing small kisses onto his shoulder.

 

Just like the good old days.

 

"Codammit," Hachi smiled, looking out beyond the grave and at the sprawling peak of Mount Nantai, "You're doing just fine, aren't ya? You stupid, lovely bastard."

 

Fin~

Notes:

Thank you so much to everybody who has taken the time to read this, and special thanks to everyone who kept encouraging me to create this masterpiece. This is one of my personal favorite fics I have created so far, and it means so much to me that so many people love it as much as I do.

Stay fresh, squiddos, and I love you all.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of D4C: Love Train