Arrival of the Tribe

by The_L_Guy

Summary:

Following the destruction of the NILS statue, Captain Cuttlefish discovered sunlight wasn't the only thing powering the devastating weapon. At the core of NILS was a strange white crystal shard, boasting energy levels comparable to dozens of Great Zapfish. With such terrifying power in his tentacles, Craig did what any reasonable cephalopod would do: Commission Sheldon to harness the shard's energy. Unfortunately, Sheldon's meddling ended up opening Pandora's box. Now, Inkadian residents find themselves at the mercy of a great evil in the form of hypnotic wooden spirits called the Tiki Tak Tribe. The threat is evidently out of the New Squidbeak Splatoon's league, but fortunately, they aren't the only ones gunning for the tribe. Even so, one has to wonder if they'll be able to stop these spirits from taking over Inkadia... or will the entire world fall to their instrumental hypnosis?

Chapter 1: Test Run

Summary:

"Nothing can possibly go wrong! ...Right?"

Notes:

This is a prologue.

Finally, the day Craig had been waiting for arrived at long last.

Today would be the beginning of the end for the octarian menace. No longer would the dreaded DJ Octavio threaten the livelihoods of the Inkopolis residents. And more importantly, the New Squidbeak Splatoon would finally get an extended vacation.

Lately, Craig felt like he's been working his poor agents down to the ink. He didn't like thinking that way. After all, everyone who joined did so of their own free will and knew the dangers involved. Well, maybe everyone but Agent 2.

Regardless, the days of his agents risking their lives for Inkadia's peace and security would soon be history. Craig had high hopes for today's meeting.

The old inkling maneuvered his way through Inkopolis's square, which was relatively quiet. That was to be expected. It was early in the morning, so there weren't many people out and about yet. That would probably change in half an hour. Luckily, Ammo Knights wouldn't be expecting any customers until then.

Once at the front doors to Ammo Knight, Craig knocked four times in rapid succession, then paused, only to knock one last time. It was an odd way of knocking, but this way, Sheldon would know it was him.

Speaking of, a quick 'click' came from the double doors before they swung open, revealing the little horseshoe crab. "Mor-" Before Craig could get his greetings out, Sheldon abruptly grabbed him by the arm and yanked him in. "Whoa!" The elder yelped, barely catching his balance.

Sheldon shut the doors almost as quickly as he had opened them. "Captain! You're not gonna believe this one!" he stammered, locking the doors fast.

When Sheldon turned to face Craig, he noticed how red his eyes were. Had the crab waited all day, or rather- all night for him? "The energy signature- its molecular make-up- OH! Don't even get me started on its output! Everything about it is just amazing! Amaz–"

"You've got quite the spring in you today!" Craig interrupted, knowing how the boy could get when he was enthusiastic about something. "I know you're excited, but try to keep it down. Don't want the whole city to hear you, do you?"

Sheldon blinked before nodding his head. "Sorry, Captain."

"No need for apologies, youngin'. And we're not on mission; you can say my name." The inkling assured, which Sheldon responded to with a slight bow. That's when his eyes noticed something.

"What's that?" Sheldon pointed.

In Craig's hand was a small white briefcase. "Just a little something I brought for today. Nothin' major." He answered. "Now then, I got your message, and I'm here. And it seems like you've got a lot to share, so let's hear it!" Craig said, eager to hear whatever Sheldon had to say—not something that happened often.

Sheldon gestured for Craig to follow him. They went behind the counter and through the 'employees only' door. "So, remind me again, where'd you say you found this?" Sheldon inquired as he led Craig through a long hallway with doors on either side.

"Well, it's like I said the first twenty times you asked! After Agent 8 gave that statue a royal whoopin', I did some snoopin'. Y'know, to see if I could find what made it tick. Then I found that white thingamajig." Craig recounted.

Sheldon opened the door at the far end of the hall, leading into a stairwell that spiraled downward. "It's a crystal! Or, well, a shard of one, I think. Though it'd be pretty nerve-wracking if this was only a piece of something bigger..."

"Nerve-wrackin'? How?"

"Well, to put it in simpler terms, I don't think that statue used even a fraction of what this shard is pumping out. 'Cause if it were, hohohoo, man. I don't think we'd be having this discussion right now." Craig paused while descending the stairs, only to quickly snap out of it and catch up with Sheldon. "This shard has power equivalent to one hundred- no, one thousand Great Zapfish! Maybe even more! Every time I try to measure its energy, my tools fry."

"Holy Kraken," Craig muttered in response.

"That's not even the most interesting part," Sheldon admitted as they reached the bottom of the stairwell.

Soon, the two entered a large circular room with a square metal pedestal smack dab in the center. Above the pedestal hovered a see-through glass ball being propped up by four robotic arms. Two extended from the ceiling, and the other two extended from the pedestal itself.

In the center of the glass ball was none other than the white crystal shard, hovering in the center like some collectible item from a video game. It was in the shape of a crescent moon, shining brightly like a mini sun.

"It's... unique," Sheldon said, mesmerized.

"Yeah, kinda like this room," Craig commented. All around them were the usual stuff. You know, computer terminals, screens mounted on walls, gadgets on tables—the type of stuff kids nowadays watch in those sci-fi shows.

"No, nothing like this room," Sheldon responded hastily. "In the six months since you handed the shard to me, I've analyzed its insides probably a thousand times now; I've got nothing. No ore, mineral, or any other element even comes close to matching this thing. It's... It's mythical." Sheldon explained, unfortunately not in a way Craig understood.

"Meaning...?"

"Meaning it's not from our world." He clarified, adjusting his goggles before walking to a nearby terminal. "Or if it is, then we're the first to discover anything like it."

"If this shard ain't from our world, how'd the old bot get his...uh...ooze on it?"

"Beats me. But if I had to guess, he didn't know how to harness its power."

Craig tilted his head. "But you know how to, right?"

Sheldon chuckled. "As a proud member of the tech team, I'm happy to say that my brain power beats an old AI's algorithm."

There was a brief pause in the conversation. "So you do?"

"Y-yes, yes. I do."

"Good." Craig placed his briefcase on a nearby table. "Then we can do some testing." He said happily, resulting in Sheldon jolting from his terminal.

"T-testing?"

"Yes, sir! I mean, the whole reason I brought this thing to you was to see if it could be used."

Sheldon rushed over to Craig. "I-I appreciate your enthusiasm. But I've only just learned how to contain it properly! To utilize its power... I'd need more time!"

"How much more?"

"I don't know! At least a year or two."

"We don't have a year! Those octarians could be cooking up a plan right now. In fact, they probably already have and are waiting to strike!" Craig insisted.

Considering they've already stolen the Great Zapfish twice, there was no doubt in Craig's mind that Octavio would try something reckless soon. Especially considering what was going on with his army. Had it not been for the run-in with Marina and Agent 8, Craig would've never thought his troops were actually defecting from him.

The old DJ was bound to get desperate. And Octavio wasn't a pleasant sight when he got desperate...

"I understand your concerns, captain- really, I do. But come on! Even if they were a week away from striking, I'd have nothing ready. We don't even have anything to test the crystal with!"

Craig chuckled. "That's why I brought this," he said smugly before opening the briefcase.

Sheldon peered inside. "Is that a... Squee-G?"

"Sure is." Craig patted the fish-shaped machine, and it turned on with a small beep. He'd take it out of the briefcase, setting it down on the floor.

"Nabbed this little doohickey from an octarian warehouse out in the valley."

"You nabbed this?"

"Well, Agent 3 did most the heavy lifting. She didn't mind, though." Craig pointed to the Squee-G as it crawled around the floor, looking for ink to clean up. "Harmless and one hundred percent octo-tech. A perfect target."

"Well, like I said, captain. I'm nowhere near being able to harness the shard's power to—"

"You don't need to harness its power." Craig interrupted, earning a perplexed glare from Sheldon. "If the shard's as strong as you claim, then all we'd need is its raw energy. A little shock from that bad boy should fry the Squee-G."

He informed, making Sheldon rub his chin. "I mean, that's totally possible. But it's still dangerous..."

"Y'know, I heard what you did," Craig suddenly said, causing Sheldon to perk up.

"What?"

"Back at Octo Canyon. Marie told me what you did," He clarified. "You helped her and Agent 4 save my granddaughter."

"Oh, that? That was nothing."

"Not to me, it wasn't." Craig turned to fully face Sheldon. "You went deep in enemy territory to help save my Callie. I've got no way of ever bein' able to repay you for that."

"Please, you make it sound like I actually did something. All I did was drive around..."

 "Doesn't matter. You got in there and helped. But my point is, you've done dangerous before."

Sheldon shook his head. "That was different. I mean, of course I'd help the New Squidbeak Splatoon! I'd do anything for you guys. But, more importantly, I knew what dangers I was getting myself into then." Sheldon looked at the crystal shard. "But that... I've barely begun to scratch the surface of its power! Who knows what might happen if something goes wrong?!" He exclaimed, clearly worried about the underlying issues that could come with testing the crystal.

"You think wars are won through certainties, sonny? Well, they ain't! They're won through actions. And sometimes, actions come with risk."

"But this isn't war–"

"But it could be!" Craig raised his voice a bit. "That darn Octavio gets bolder and bolder with each passing month. The worst was stopped only because the Squidbeak Splatoon was there to stop it!" He shook his head. "Shell, this goes beyond just the octarians. The last crisis wasn't even them!" Craig shouted, making Sheldon jump. After realizing he was being a bit too aggressive, he calmed down.

"But, imagine this. Weaponry, machines, hostile AIs, all of it, deactivated with the click of a button! We wouldn't need to fight anymore. We'd truly be safe!" Craig wrapped an arm around Sheldon's shoulder and pointed his bamboo cane to the crystal. "That's what this power could do for us!"

"Or it could vaporize the entire planet."

"Oh, come on, you're one of the smartest lads I know! And besides, if that AI didn't destroy the planet with it, there's no way you could." Craig turned to Sheldon again. "Please, Sheldon. I'm begging ya here... I don't know what I'd do if I lost another one of my granddaughters again..." He pleaded, being met with silence.

Sheldon pondered what he should do. "Well... if I lower the energy output and make the shard emit a small shockwave, that alone should be enough to fry just the Squee-G's circuits..." Craig smiled, waiting for Sheldon to finish. The horseshoe crab let out a sigh. "Alright, alright. We'll do one test. I'm gonna put everything to its lowest setting, so if that doesn't work, we'll have to try again at a later date."

"Works for me." Craig cheered, happy he could convince Sheldon to do this for him.

The crab reluctantly walked over to the terminals and typed away, booting up the main system.

The room's lights dimmed significantly, causing Craig to move next to Sheldon. Tiny electrical sparks emitted from the shard, filling the area with static electricity. Then, the four robotic arms that propped the ball up spun. It went round and round and round, becoming so fast that they were just a blur to Craig.

"You might want to wear this." Sheldon handed him a welder's mask, which he graciously put on. They both then backed away as the shard did its stuff. The arms continued to spin around the glass ball, and everything seemed to be going well.

Then, the ball unexpectedly began vibrating. At first, it wasn't noticeable. But as the seconds ticked away, it became so violent that they could almost feel the vibrations, despite standing a reasonable distance away.

Those static whiffs of electricity turned into powerful sparks that streaked across the inside of the glass ball. The shard released these sparks in all directions, only to shake wildly, somehow vibrating worse than the ball itself.

Sheldon would flip a table over, allowing him and Craig to use it as a shield.

The next few moments would be adrenaline-inducing. Craig was waiting for something to happen, half-expecting the place to explode.

Suddenly, everything just... stopped.

Craig and Sheldon peeked from the table to see what was happening, nothing. The vibrations, sparks of electricity—It all ended abruptly.

The two remained silent as they stared at the shard.

After nothing had happened for a good while, Sheldon spoke up. "Well, that was anti-cli–" The shard emitted a white shockwave that rippled throughout the room and beyond, blowing him and Craig off their feet, despite being behind cover.

The two quickly scrambled to their feet to see the glass ball had cracked. Aside from that, nothing else happened. The computer terminals were still working, and the lights returned to their original brightness, indicating the process was done. Craig looked over to see the Squee-G had not only not been knocked around by the shockwave, but it was also still completely operational.

"Fish sticks," Craig mumbled, seeing that the EMP trick didn't work.

"Sorry, captain. I guess the shockwave wasn't strong enough..."

Craig didn't respond. He just stared at the Squee-G as it went about its business. He didn't believe the shockwave wasn't strong enough. It knocked them right off their feet, for cod's sake! The likely scenario was the shard had no EMP properties.

The revelation bummed Craig out. He thought he'd finally have one over the octarians once and for all, as well as any other would-be enemies.

Though, all wasn't bad. Even if they couldn't disable octarian weaponry, they could still apply the shard's power to something more... destructive.

After making himself content with the possible alternative, Craig turned to Sheldon. "Well, I guess that..." he trailed off, experiencing a weird tingling sensation throughout his body as his white, tentacled beard shuddered. Then his face dropped into a serious expression. Even his wide, bulging eyes seemed less goofy and more... concerned.

Sheldon noticed his sudden mood change. "Captain? What's wrong?" He asked nervously.

Craig looked around, scanning the room. "I... I don't know. But..." He stopped and looked up at the ceiling. "I feel a storm brewin'..."

Chapter 2: Arrival

Summary:

"So they're finally here, performing for you."

"Come on, Marie! Pick up the pace!" Callie called out while waving at her slow cousin.

Trudging through the dirt forest path was tedious enough. But of course, today just had to be a hot day. "How do you have so much energy..." Marie panted, feeling her legs slowly morphing into jelly.

They'd been walking for about an hour now, which wasn't long, but the distance they covered was more than Marie would've willingly trekked through. It was a miracle the two cousins were dressed in their casual attire instead of the clothes they strutted around Inkopolis in. Otherwise, Marie was certain she'd be cooked alive.

"Move any slower, and the day will have passed us by! Come on, shake a tentacle!" Callie said, a meager attempt at encouraging Marie to move faster.

"Why'd we have to go and spend the day hiking through the woods anyway? I could be doing something way better right now." Marie complained.

"Like what? Sleeping?"

"Exactly!"

Callie shook her head. "Don't be such a downer! We're almost there. See, look!" The younger cousin pointed.

Marie looked up, seeing they were now on top of a hill—which had a gorgeous view of their destination: Mount Nantai. "Why are you suddenly so infatuated with that mountain?"

"Pearl says the view from there is to die for, so I wanna see if she's telling the truth or just speaking out her blow-hole," Callie exclaimed, still pointing excitedly at the distant mountain.

"Why'd I have to come along again?"

"Come on, Marie. How often is it that we both get a day off on the same day? Besides, we need to make up for lost time!"

"I feel like we already have..." It's true, the cousins rarely have enough free time to hang out with each other. Plus, it hasn't been that long since Marie saved Callie from the tentacled grasp of the octarians. However, it was also true that after she was rescued, they had a whole month and a half to reconnect and spend time with one another.

But in Callie's eyes, that wasn't nearly enough. So ever since, whenever the two had any spare time, Callie ensured it was spent with them being together, even if it was just for a moment. Did Marie mind? No, of course not. In fact, for every second Callie wasn't in her sights, she was constantly worried.

Still, the daunting activities they often did were exhausting. The mere sight of how much ground they had left to cover made Marie want to crawl back into bed. "We really couldn't just catch a ride to the mountain?"

"Nope! A hike is perfect for bonding sessions!" Callie said with a cheeky smile. "Now, c'mon, the mountain isn't gonna come to us!" She bounced along the dirt trail, followed by Marie sighing.

Before she continued after Callie, her tentacles suddenly tingled with an odd sensation. Marie perked up and looked behind them. Inkopolis was in that direction, but no longer in view.

Callie stopped and turned to her cousin. "Marie!" She called out, getting no response or reaction from the older cousin. Callie pouted before moving next to her statue of a family member. "Earth to Marie? Heeellllooooooo." Callie waved her hand in front of Marie's face, who continued to stare blankly in the distance.

After failing to get her attention, she looked over to see what had Marie so captivated. In the distance was a thin but noticeable white line on the edge of the horizon. Callie squinted, realizing the white line was moving. "What's that?" She questioned, only for the line to approach them rapidly.

It quickly brushed over the trees and forest landscape, only to blow past the cousins hard. The oncoming wind the white line brought caused Callie's tentacles to flail around, eventually slapping her in the face.

Marie turned, watching the white shockwave brush over the land ahead of them, including Mount Nantai. Eventually, it disappeared over the horizon, leaving both cousins confused.

"What was that?" Callie asked again.

Before Marie could respond, the ground shook violently, scaring away hordes of birds in the vicinity. An earthquake? Now?? Marie thought, convinced this wasn't a coincidence. The earth rumbled and quaked, almost throwing the cousins off their balance as they hugged each other tightly.

With a thunderous boom, the top of Mount Nantai exploded into a pillar of fire, ejecting lava high into the air like some massive laser beam.

At the same time, small but visible boulders of molten rock flung from the stream of lava. When the boulders broke, something came out of them. They were hard to see, but they looked like... Tikis? Marie couldn't believe what she was seeing. Was this real?

As she attempted to process everything, the stream of hot lava calmed back down into Mount Nantai, which was now an active volcano. An outrageous amount of steam clouded the mountaintop, but even so, Marie saw some massive entity emerge from the lava within.

A massive tower with a terrifying-looking face appeared from the inside of the volcano, only to let out a booming roar that echoed throughout the land. She blinked a few times, just to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. But judging by Callie's shocked expression, what she saw was real.

When everything finally calmed, Callie and Marie were stuck watching the wooden creatures that broke from the molten boulders hover down into various parts of the forest.

One such entity landed in front of them. With it being up close and personal, Marie could confirm these creatures, or at least this one, was a tiki. It was large, bigger than her head even, and had long black arms with three pointed ends as fingers. The top of its body seemed to be adorned with some crown, while the main torso—if you could call it that—was painted red and blue. Some of the paint looked worn off.

The biggest detail Marie noticed was its black and white eyes. Something about them was... strange.

"That... kinda looks like a kalimba, doesn't it?" Callie blurted with hints of worry and caution in her tone of voice.

The moment she spoke, the Kalimba tiki took action. It waved its long black arms in a rhythmic motion and played a soft melody directed towards Marie.

The music was beautiful, but the scenario was weird. Prior to the kalimba playing music, it looked mad at the two cousins, so why would it be playing tunes for them? Matter of fact, what exactly was this thing anyway? Last Marie checked, tikis weren't living creatures.

The melody lasted for a few seconds, and when it ended, Marie was left a bit confused. Was something supposed to happen?

Just as the thought crossed her mind, it played its tune again. This time, Marie noticed how its black and white eyes were spiraling. Was it trying to hypnotize her? That's what the whole trick reminded her of.

Marie gave the tiki an unimpressed look after its second attempt, being moments away from backhanding it.

"What was that all about?" Callie asked, making Marie look toward her. In that same instance, the kalimba tiki also looked at her. Soon after, it played its tune for a third time. Unlike Marie, Callie fell unresponsive, and her pupils matched the black and white swirling eyes of the tiki.

"Callie!" Marie called out, realizing what was going on a bit too late. She reached for her cousin, but was not fast enough. The tiki would disappear into Callie's body as the music faded.

Callie's pupils would return to normal, but something about her changed. Her smile was gone, and her expression was deadpan.

"Callie?" Marie took a step back, only for Callie to snap her head in her direction. Her stare was intense, sinister even—which was unusual for the friendly and outgoing Callie.

Before Marie could speak again, Callie rushed and tackled her onto the ground with a roll. The two tumbled down the hill, ending with Marie throwing Callie away from her. "Callie, stop!" Marie pleaded, not wanting to fight her cousin.

She stood to her feet quicker than Callie. Callie's eyes were still glued to Marie, which freaked her out. It reminded her of the time she was hypnotized by Octavio's hypnoshades. What's with Callie getting hypnotized all the damn time?

Marie gritted her teeth, unsure how to deal with the situation. Unlike with the hypnoshades, there was nothing for Marie to take off her cousin. That tiki had hijacked Callie's mind in a more literal fashion!

Lacking the weapons and the heart to harm her cousin, Marie turned and ran away. She headed in the direction she believed Inkopolis to be in, thinking if anyone could help her, it was one of the agents.

As she ran, her eyes widened at the realization of something dire. If these tikis could hypnotize people, it wasn't just her cousin who was in danger. Everyone was!

Why the hypnosis didn't work on her was a mystery to solve another day. For now, she raced back to Inkopolis. She had to warn everybody before it was too late!

...Assuming it wasn't already.

Chapter 3: Jungle Hijinx

Summary:

"He's the first member of the DK Crew!"

A full five minutes of running got Marie... seemingly nowhere.

Though she ran far, it was impossible to tell where she was exactly. To make matters worse, the dirt path she was retracing back to Inkopolis eventually disappeared.

Marie stopped running, leaning against a tree to catch her breath. As she panted heavily, she noticed the forest environment was somehow different.

There was considerably more shade than before, thanks to the thicker and sudden abundance of vegetation. The trees themselves were much bigger than before, with long vines dangling from their branches.

Marie gulped before standing up straight and separating herself from the tree. "This isn't a forest..." she commented to herself, recognizing the environment as a jungle. How could that be? She and Callie passed through here no less than ten minutes ago! The land can't just change like that.

But... it did.

The ambient noises of rustling leaves and a vibrant ecosystem echoed all around her. Some noises she had never even heard before. This went beyond what Marie ever thought was possible. What in the Kraken is going on here?

A loud rustle coming from Marie's side snapped her into focus. She jumped back upon seeing something emerge—it was large and covered in blue feathers, reminding her of a bird. Actually, maybe that's exactly what it was since it walked on giant talons and had a huge beak.

Just like how its appearance unnerved Marie, it would seem her presence angered the overgrown bird, as it began squawking at her. Marie stepped back, prompting the large blue bird to charge. With a yelp, she turned on her heels and bolted through the jungle.

Her frantic attempt to escape caused her to hit a few branches. She even tripped a few times, ruining her green jacket and black pants. But her adrenaline gave her a burst of speed each time she fell or slowed down. She did not want that bird thing to catch her.

Marie ran a little too fast for her own good, as she ended up running right off a cliff—one she was certain had never been there before. She yelled on her way down, smashing into the trees below. Grunts and yelps escaped her with each branch she hit until her back finally impacted the jungle floor.

Good news was the branches slowed her lethal fall. The bad news was her landing was anything but soft. "Ow..." she murmured lazily, lying sprawled out while staring at the blue sky.

Marie was tuckered out from all the running, so much so, she felt like she could fall asleep right there. All she'd need to do was imagine herself lying on a soft mattress wrapped in warm blankets. The thought alone made her sleepy. Despite her wishes, she forced herself to get up.

She brushed all the loose sticks and leaves off her, feeling a minimal but burdening pain course throughout her backside, which caused her to move with a limp.

She headed in the direction of Inkopolis. At least, she assumed Inkopolis was in that direction. To be honest, she didn't know where she was headed. Man, at this point, she didn't even know where she was on the map! But anything that got her away from that blue bird would be enough.

Marie didn't get far before her stomach announced it was hungry. "I told Callie we should've brought snacks." She moaned in distress, only for something small to drop on her head. She winced before rubbing her head.

Marie looked down to see a banana. "What the?" she voiced her confusion, looking up to see an airship overhead. It carried a net chock-full of bananas, occasionally dropping a few as it flew off. Marie was too exhausted to question why an airship was carrying a net full of bananas or how it was even here. Instead, she kneeled to pick up the banana.

When her focus shifted back to her surroundings, she found herself enclosed in a small circle by a group of tikis. She jolted at the realization.

The tikis looked like drums wearing skirts with red feathers on the sides of their heads. But even with such a harmless appearance, their glowing whitish-yellow eyes gave them a menacing aura, frightening Marie further.

These tikis didn't look like they were out to hypnotize her. Was this it? The end of a famous idol? She felt like it was. She closed her eyes, resigning to her fate as the tikis came closer. "I'm sorry, Callie..." she whispered, hugging the banana tightly.

A loud crash suddenly emitted, startling her eyes open. One of the tikis was smashed to splinters by an enormous behemoth covered in brown fur. It looked even scarier than the bird that chased her minutes ago.

The creature banged on its chest, letting out a loud war cry. It looked like it was egging the tikis on for a fight, and it worked. The whole group practically ignored Marie, focusing on the large creature.

It grabbed the closest tiki, hurling it into another and destroying them both upon collision. Then, the creature jumped onto another tiki, crushing it with its feet while also bouncing off it into the trees, grabbing hold of some branches before dropping back down with a small thud.

The tikis quickly surrounded the behemoth when it landed. Before they could attack, it raised its bulky arms and repeatedly slapped the ground. The force from its slaps caused a mini earthquake, and Marie lost her balance.

Like her, the tikis were stunned by this maneuver. During their vulnerability, the large behemoth made quick work of the tikis, reducing them all to smashed wooden chunks.

After disposing of the tikis, the creature cheered loudly before pounding its chest again. All Marie could do was stare in bewilderment. What was she looking at right now?

Amidst her trying to process that question, the creature stopped cheering and looked at her. Marie felt her entire body tense up in overwhelming fear as it approached her. While her eyes were filled with fear, the creature's eyes had a glare of curiosity in them. It seemed confused, almost like it had never seen something like her.

Its non-hostile approach eased Marie a bit, but could she really trust this thing? It came out of nowhere and clobbered those tikis effortlessly, though she doubted it was to save her. What was it anyway? She's never seen anything like it.

The creature's brown fur reminded her of the Judds, but there was no way this thing was a cat—it looked nothing like one. Wait... the fur... could... could it be a mammal? No, that's absurd. But if not a mammal, what could it be?

Marie's thoughts took her away from the situation at hand. She only snapped back to reality when the brown creature drew a bit too close. Marie scooted back to keep a firm distance between them, quickly noticing its eyes were tracking the banana in her hand.

After a moment of hesitance, Marie handed the banana to the creature, to which its lips curled up into a smile. It took the banana from her and squeezed the fruit out of the peel into its large mouth, eating it whole.

Marie frowned. She wanted to eat that banana. But perhaps it was better than that thing trying to eat her.

The brown creature tossed the empty peel away, relishing the aftertaste of the delicious yellow fruit.

As Marie stared, she noticed it had something around its neck; it was a red tie with bold yellow initials on it. Her eyes widened, shocked that the letters were in English.

Her gramps had some interest in humans. Some of that passion spilled over into her, and she learned a few human words from the English lexicon.

"D...K?" Marie read, earning the attention of the large creature. That must've been its name. Was this thing a human? No, most definitely not. It didn't quite match the shape of one. But it was intelligent enough to wear clothing, even if that clothing was just a tie.

Finally, Marie stood up on her two legs, realizing the furry creature stood on four and still towered over her. She gulped before taking a few cautious steps towards DK. "H-hey. The name's Marie..." she said hesitantly, unsure of what to make of DK. "I-if you don't mind me asking. What are you? Why did you save me?" She questioned, staring up at DK, being slightly less afraid than she was a few seconds ago.

DK looked confused, scratching the top of his head to convey as much. He responded to her in low grunts consisting of 'ooo' and 'eee.' Then it hit her. There was a language barrier between the two. "Great..." she mumbled, now unsure of how to speak to DK.

Evidently, he knew how to survive in this jungle much better than she did. He was also stronger than the tikis. Gaining his trust could allow her to rescue Callie! But how would she gain DK's trust if he couldn't even understand her?

She rubbed the bottom of her chin; then, an idea struck her.

She hurriedly grabbed a wooden chunk from one of the destroyed tikis and began drawing in the dirt. If one thing was universal among languages, it was images.

First, Marie drew a picture of the kalimba tiki that possessed her cousin. This evoked a reaction from DK—he gritted his teeth angrily. Apparently, he had some history with these wooden monsters. That would explain why he went bananas on them.

After drawing the kalimba tiki to the best of her abilities, Marie tried drawing Callie and herself. Afterward, she drew lines connecting the kalimba tiki to her cousin, hoping this would tell DK what she had gone through. At the end, Marie wrote 'help' in the dirt in English. It was one of the few words she knew, and it fit the situation perfectly.

DK scratched his forehead again, eyeing the drawing and then the thrown-away banana peel. After some silence, he turned, presenting his back before pointing to it.

Marie tilted her head, unsure what he was asking of her. After a few moments of staring, she figured he wanted her to climb onto his back. Marie gazed at DK with uncertainty, but he gave her a thumbs up as assurance. It probably wasn't safe, but this had to mean he'd help, so she went along with it anyway.

After climbing on his back, DK leaped from the ground to the nearest tree, swinging from branch to branch, occasionally using the vines to swing as well. The crazy speeds he moved at made Marie cling to him for dear life.

She wasn't sure what she just got herself into. All she could hope for was that they'd be able to save Callie together.

Chapter 4: The DK Crew

Summary:

"This chapter is kinda overdue. But now it's time to meet the crew!"

Today has been a rather eventful day. Especially for DK.

His plans for the day had consisted of waking up, eating bananas, lounging around, eating more bananas, and then finally going back to sleep. Keyword is had.

Instead, his slumber was interrupted by a bunch of wooden tikis—who had the audacity to steal his bananas!

DK fully intended to chase the culprits to the ends of the isle if he had to. But a white-haired creature had caught his attention before he could pursue the banana-nappers.

He'd never seen anything like it before. At first, he was convinced it was a human. But its appearance and the way it spoke reminded him of those aquatic creatures that mainly resided in the Mushroom Kingdom. What were those called again? Oh, right! Bloopers! Maybe the humanoid was some type of hybrid?

Whatever it was, it seemed like it needed help—that much he knew. And if anyone knew what to do, it was good ol' Cranky!

A few minutes of swinging would land DK on the porch of a large treehouse. The blooper had difficulty detaching themselves from him, as it was trembling badly.

Before DK opened the door, he heard a loud crash come from inside, followed by the angry shouts of a familiar grumpy-sounding old man. "Dang, nabbit! Can't an old kong sleep in his own house in peace?!" It was good to hear Cranky still acting... well, cranky.

DK opened the door, seeing an old frail ape angrily swinging around a long wooden stick. The rowdy ape was hunched over and had a lengthy white beard with wrinkly lips. The only thing they wore was a small pair of glasses and a sleeveless pinkish shirt. Yep, that was Cranky Kong alright.

Next to the old ape was a smaller monkey wearing a red cap, a red tank top with yellow stars, and a gray backpack. The small champ went by many names, but everyone knew him best as Diddy Kong.

DK stepped into the circular living room and watched as Diddy raised his hands, desperately trying to calm the elder while also avoiding getting whacked by his wooden staff.

Eventually, Diddy noticed DK's presence. "Oh, thank goodness you're here, DK! I could really use some help with Cranky." Diddy said, his voice young and nervous. Soon after, he dodged another swipe of the wooden stick.

"Whoa, what's the matter with Cranky?" DK asked while walking in, seeing Cranky was a bit more grumpy than usual.

"I don't know!" Diddy jumped over another swing. "He's been like this ever since he woke up!"

Cranky suddenly stopped swinging his cane. "I'll tell ya what's wrong with me! All this dang noise! Ever since those darn tikis showed up, it's been nothing but a ruckus in this jungle! Can't even get a wink of sleep anymore." He complained before adjusting his tiny glasses. With a sigh, he plopped down in his wooden rocking chair.

Diddy turned towards DK. "Did you get the bananas back, at least?"

DK shook his head. "Sorry little buddy. They got away with the hoard. But! Look at what else I found." He moved to the side, revealing the humanoid blooper.

"What the what?" Diddy jolted, resulting in his cap sliding over his face.

"I know, right? Ain't it awesome! I found it being attacked by those tikis. Don't know what they wanted it for, though." DK explained, and the humanoid blooper gave a timid wave.

Diddy readjusted his red cap before speaking. "What is it?"

DK paused. "Well, I dunno." He turned to the humanoid, scratching his head. "Looks like a blooper." He paused again as the two stared at each other. Then he poked it, causing it to back up. "I think it's a she."

Diddy rubbed his hands together. "Not that I'm judging your choices or anything, but uh... why bring it—er, her, here?"

Cranky stood up. "Yeah, what's the matter with ya? Bringing some random woodland critter into my house like you own the place!" He shouted, whacking DK with his cane a few times.

"Wait! Gang, don'tcha see? First, those tikis show up and steal our bananas. Then, this creature shows up and they attack her! That can't be a coincidence!"

Diddy rubbed his chin. "Are you suggesting these tikis are somehow connected to this blooper lookalike?"

Cranky scoffed. "Donkey suggesting something? That's new."

"Come on, guys! These tikis want her for a reason—maybe for the same reason they want our bananas! Besides, it looks like she needs help anyway. If we help her, she might help us get our hoard back!"

Suddenly, the humanoid blooper's stomach growled loudly. All three kongs turned to her, causing her to look away in embarrassment.

Diddy walked off elsewhere.

"I hope helping that critter isn't actually a part of your plan to get the hoard back." Cranky grumbled.

"What? Why?"

"Because it's a terrible one!" Cranky boomed.

Diddy returned with a banana, handing it to the humanoid with a smile. She was hesitant to take it at first, but after another growl from her belly, she relented and took the banana, giving Diddy a small smile back in return.

"Trust me, Cranky! I got a strong gut feelin' about her! Whatever she is, I know helping her will help us."

"Bah!" Cranky waved his hand dismissively before sitting back down in his rocking chair. "If you think that thing will help you, be my guess. Use it as bait if you gotta, just get it outta my house!"

After receiving Cranky's approval, DK glared at Diddy with a smirk. "You ready to kick some wooden butt?"

Diddy smirked back. "With you? Always!"

"Haha! That's what I'm talkin' bout!" DK and Diddy did their special handshake. Afterward, Diddy climbed onto DK's back. "Let's boogie, little buddy!"

DK ran out of Cranky's house, scooping the humanoid into his large arm just as she was finishing the last bit of her banana, resulting in her dropping the peel.

DK lept from the porch into the vast jungle and latched onto a sturdy vine. From there, he swung from vine to vine, moving in the direction he last saw the airship heading in.

Chapter 5: Callie, the Roller Main

Summary:

"Move, or get run over."

Marie suspected the large brown creature, who she'll refer to as DK for the time being, had understood her plea for help when he offered to give her a ride on his back. She did not expect the trip through the jungle to be so nauseating, nor did she expect there to be more creatures like DK.

He had randomly brought her to a treehouse that had not been there before. Then again, this whole jungle wasn't here a few hours ago.

Within the treehouse was a frailer version of DK that somewhat reminded her of gramps. Next to the elder was a smaller, younger version of DK, sporting a tail.

What were these things? That's something Marie would've liked to ask, but they communicated in a bunch of 'ooos' and 'eees.' She wondered what they were saying, seeing as though they were clearly talking about her.

The smaller brown creature was nice enough to offer Marie some food when her stomach growled unceremoniously. The simple act of kindness convinced her these creatures were good, unlike the tikis that hypnotized her cousin. Oh, how she hoped Callie was okay...

Marie barely finished the fruit that was given to her before DK snatched her up like some damsel and began swinging through the jungle.

She heard DK grunt randomly, only for his grunt to be answered by another high-pitched grunt. Soon, she realized the small brown creature was riding on DK's shoulders; the two were conversing. She tuned them out since she couldn't understand them anyway. Besides, she had bigger things to worry about—like keeping the banana she was generously given from coming back up.

"Say, DK." Diddy started, scanning the jungle.

"What is it, lil' buddy?"

"Doesn't the jungle seem a little... different?"

"Yeah. It's missin' lots of precious bananas!"

"No! I mean, like, doesn't the layout seem strange to you?"

"Uhm... No. Not really."

"You really don't see anything off about it?"

"If you do, that's probably just all the stress from losing our hoard gettin' to ya! Trust me. The sooner we find that airship, the faster things will go back to normal."

"Oh? You mean that airship?" Diddy pointed elsewhere; DK stopped swinging and landed on a nearby branch.

In the distance, past a few trees, was the very airship DK had been chasing earlier. "Hey, hey! You found it. Nice one, Diddy!"

DK jumped and landed on the dirt ground with a heavy thud, causing a light rumble. He'd then charge full steam ahead towards the airship.

As the kongs grew closer, they noticed the airship was parked alongside a steep cliff overlooking another part of the jungle. There was a bundle of bananas at the center deck of the ship, and many more within crates and barrels.

Tikis were piling stray bananas into the crates and barrels. Once those got full, they transported them onto the ship. It wasn't just bananas they gathered. The tikis were also filling the empty crates and barrels with weapons of strange design. Where did they even get those? Actually, more importantly, what does a bunch of tikis want with bananas? They're tikis! They don't need to eat!

"DK, look!" Diddy pointed, causing DK to stop his approach before he got too close.

Alongside the tikis was another humanoid blooper who looked somewhat similar to Marie. They were helping the tikis load the crates and barrels onto the ship.

"I guess not all those bloops are on our side, huh?" Diddy murmured.

"Bloops?" DK looked over at Diddy with a raised brow.

"Well, yeah. They're a type of blooper, right? Might as well call them bloops." DK didn't respond and focused back on the newly spotted bloop.

After a moment of staring, his eyes widened. "Wait, Diddy!"

"What?" 

"I recognize that bloop!"

"What? How?"

"Remember when I said this bloop drew 'help' in the dirt?" DK said, referring to Marie, who was still wrapped in his arm.

"Uhm... Yeah, no. I don't think you ever mentioned that."

"I'm pretty sure I did. I wouldn't forget tellin' ya something that important!" DK turned back to the airship. "She also drew another bloop, just like her. That bloop over there looks exactly like the one she drew!"

"You positive, DK? You're not really one to remember things correctly..."

"What? Sure I am! 'Sides, I bet my bananas this is the same exact bloop. I mean, just look at them. Don't they look similar?"

Diddy looked at the second bloop, then back to Marie. "Now that you mention it, they do kinda look similar. Maybe they're related?"

"Oh! Maybe this is what she needed help with! She wants us to save her sis!"

"I don't know. That doesn't really make sense. I mean, why would her sister be helping the tikis?"

"Who knows? Maybe she's bein' forced. All I know is that they've got our bananas, and I intend to get 'em back!"

DK's excitement to bash some tikis made him unintentionally move his arm rapidly, which in turn caused Marie to shake constantly. The motion was enough to set her off, and she vomited the banana back up. DK noticed this and gently let her go, patting her back afterward. "Sorry bout that." He apologized, aware she wouldn't understand him.

Unfortunately for them, Marie throwing up made enough noise to alert the tikis and the second bloop of their presence. They immediately stopped loading the crates and barrels and angrily approached the kongs. The second bloop whipped out some sort of large paint roller, intending to use it as a weapon.

"Alright lil' buddy, it's go time!" DK rushed past Marie towards the group of tikis.

Diddy leaped off his shoulders and took out two wooden guns from his backpack. At the same time, his backpack somehow transformed into a miniature jetpack, which was a bit janky, but allowed Diddy greater mobility.

After finishing coughing up her snack, Marie looked up to see Diddy and DK engaging a group of tikis. She hadn't even realized they were in battle, but the sight instantly broke her out of her nauseous state.

She watched DK jump on the tikis' drum-like heads, smashing them to splinters. He'd occasionally punch a tiki into another one, which destroyed them both.

Loud popping noises filled the air, and Marie turned her attention to the source. She saw Diddy firing a bunch of peanuts from his dual-wield weapons—how'd they even managed to make something like that?

Her thoughts were broken when she heard a familiar voice let out a guttural war cry. The tone was unmistakable. It was Callie! Marie looked, and sure enough, there was her cousin in the same casual attire she last saw her in.

At first, she was relieved to see Callie, but then she noticed her charging at Diddy with a roller. "Callie! No!" Marie screamed, which did nothing but cause Diddy to look over at her, distracting him from Callie's advances.

Callie did not have an ink tank strapped on her back, so the roller was inkless. Regardless, that didn't stop Callie from slamming the roller into the back of Diddy's head. Even without ink, the attack proved effective, as Diddy let out a pained, high-pitched yelp and was sent tumbling across the ground.

DK had dealt with the last of the tikis, only to hear Diddy yelp in pain. His sights immediately honed in on Callie, and an angry look fell on his face. In the blink of an eye, he jumped over to her before she could follow up with another attack.

Marie watched as DK grabbed Callie by the collar of her shirt and effortlessly lifted her up in the air. He reared a fist back, and overwhelming fear overtook Marie. She had seen what one of his punches could do to those tikis, which were undoubtedly more durable than Callie. He'd kill her!

"NO!" Marie shouted, reaching a hand out to DK.

He turned to her, his anger replaced with confusion. It must've taken him a second to realize what he was about to do, as his face immediately softened into an apologetic look. Suddenly, Callie transformed into her squid form and slipped out of DK's grasp.

Once she touched the ground, she transformed back into her humanoid form and swung at him. The attack hit DK's bulky arm, and unlike Diddy, he didn't even flinch.

Instead of retaliating with a devastating punch, DK weakly backhanded Callie. The force from the slap was strong enough to send Callie crashing into a crate filled with weapons. There were chargers, rollers, splattershots, sloshers—these tikis had everything! But where did they get them? This jungle was devoid of any inkling civilization. At least, it should've been.

Regardless, Marie was a bit peeved she couldn't use any of them. Without an ink tank, any weapon she chose would be useless. Then again, she doubted ink could hurt these wooden monsters anyway.

A moment passed before a sudden noise caused the group to turn to the airship. It was leaving! The tiki pilot must've seen the battle was a lost cause and cut their losses while they still could. DK was not happy about it—if his scowl was anything to go by.

Marie returned her attention to Callie, who was already back up and quietly charging at DK from behind.

At the same time, Diddy got back up, rubbing the back of his head with a wince. He noticed Callie rushing an oblivious DK and took action by shooting a single peanut at her. The peanut not only nailed Callie in the head, but the popping noise made from the wooden gun alerted DK of her presence.

The impact from the peanut dazed Callie; before either of the kongs could take action against her, Marie used the opportunity to rush her, delivering a heavy sucker-punch straight to her face. Callie dropped to the ground, unconscious. "Sorry, Callie!" was all Marie could say

Marie thought that was the end of it; she got quite the surprise when something popped out of Callie like a ghost. It was the Kalimba Tiki—the same one that possessed her cousin earlier. So physical trauma forces them out?! Marie shouted internally, shocked at the revelation.

Meanwhile, DK looked at the tiki that came out of Callie, then at the airship. He smirked, which made Marie concerned about whatever was going to happen next.

Without warning, DK snatched the Kalimba Tiki into his arms and began pummeling the wooden freak into a pulp. Unlike the other tikis, who immediately fractured into splinters from the first punch, this tiki didn't split or crack, allowing DK to assault it with a barrage of fists for longer.

Eventually, DK stopped his beat down and punched the Kalimba Tiki one last time, sending it soaring through the air. The Kalimba Tiki collided with the airship, causing a big boom to echo through the jungle.

After taking such a heavy hit, the airship started smoking and gradually went down. From what Marie could see, it would crash near a... colosseum? Wait, since when was there a colosseum in the jungle?

She shook her head, accepting the fact that this place would just get weirder and weirder.

Suddenly, Callie murmured, stirring from her slumber. "C-Callie?!" Marie shouted, which further woke her up.

Callie yawned as her eyes opened groggily. "Marie...?" She slowly sat up, rubbing the side of her face that Marie had punched, which was evidently still sore. "What happened?"

Marie wrapped her arms around Callie, giving her a tight hug. "You're okay!"

Callie hesitated, but returned the hug after her grogginess disappeared. "Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?"

Marie pulled back from the hug before helping Callie to her feet. "You don't remember what happened?"

Callie looked down. "Well, I remember we were headed to Mount Nantai... Then it erupted. My mind's a little fuzzy after-OH MY COD!" Callie jumped at the sight of DK, backing into a barrel full of bananas and toppling it over. "What is that?!"

Marie raised her arms. "Calm down! He's not here to hurt us. He's actually helping us." She assured, to which Callie gave a skeptical look.

DK and Diddy hadn't acknowledged Callie freaking out. Instead, they had their backs facing the cousins as they watched the airship crash in the distance. After it did, Diddy hopped onto DK's shoulders, only for him to jump off the cliff and into the trees.

Marie easily guessed where they were headed. Seeing as those two were the only ones capable of fighting off the tikis, she figured it'd be best if she and Callie stuck with them. "Callie, do you trust me?"

"What? Of course I do."

"Then follow me. We're going after them."

"What?!"

"I know this is all confusing, but I promise I'll explain everything on the way. Now come on! We can't lose them!" Marie morphed into her squid form. Callie sighed before following her lead.

 They both super jumped off the cliff, heading after the kongs.

Chapter 6: Pound in the Mound

Summary:

"Things are about to get Mugly."

"You gotta be kiddin' me!" DK gripped his head in frustration and desperation, clearly unhappy with the sight before him.

He and Diddy had reached the crashed airship in no time flat, which really wasn't hard since all they had to do was follow the smell of smoke. Unfortunately, when they got there, all that awaited them was a ship with only a handful of bananas left.

"Curse these tikis!" DK slammed the ground, airing out his frustration.

Diddy seemed unbothered by DK's small tantrum, instead choosing to examine the destroyed airship more closely. "Hey... Where's that one tiki you punched into the ship?"

"What? You don't see it?"

"Unless it's mixed in with the rest of this broken wood, no."

"It must've been him then! He must've taken off with the rest of our bananas!"

"Well, what are we waitin' around for then? Let's get moving and—WOWZA!" Diddy turned and jumped in the air like a frightened cat, clinging to the nearest tree branch.

DK turned to see what scared him so badly, only to see the two bloops from earlier standing behind them. "Oh, hey! They followed us!"

"And somehow, without making any noise..." Diddy calmed after realizing what had scared him, slowly climbing back down to ground level. The green bloop couldn't help but giggle at Diddy's reaction.

"Wait a minute... why are they still following us?" DK scratched his head as if that would help him find the answer. All the while, a perplexed expression stayed glued to his face.

"You think they might need more help?" Diddy suggested, walking up to the pink bloop, who looked a little uncomfortable with his approach. He took this as a sign not to get any closer.

Meanwhile, the green bloop spoke to the pink bloop in those same gurgles from earlier, gesturing between DK and Diddy. Neither knew what she was saying, but if they had to guess, she was explaining they were the good guys.

"Oh! Maybe those tikis also took something from them and they wanna get it back!" DK exclaimed, somewhat happy the kongs weren't the only ones being assailed by those tikis.

"What would tikis even take from a bunch of bloops?"

"I don't know. All I know is they got our bananas, and I wanna get 'em back!" DK mashed his fists together.

"I do, too. But where would we even start?"

As if to answer Diddy's question, a loud gurgle caught both of the kongs' attention. The pink bloop stood next to a tree, pointing out into the distance.

"What's it doin'?" DK walked over, unable to see what she was pointing at.

"I don't know. Let me see if I can get a better look." Diddy hopped onto DK's back, only to bounce off it onto the trees above. First, there was rustling of leaves as Diddy scaled the tree, then a pause.

"Oh!" Diddy said loudly, breaking the brief moment of silence. "They're pointing to Mugly's Mound!"

DK rubbed his chin. "Mugly's Mound? Why would they be pointing there?"

Diddy dropped from the tree onto DK's back. "Well, the airship did crash near his place..."

"Wait, you don't think that tiki..." Both kongs paused, looking at each other.

The tiki that was nowhere to be found had successfully hypnotized the pink bloop, as they saw firsthand. If it was heading to Mugly's Mound, then...

"Mugly's in trouble!" DK and Diddy shouted in unison before taking off towards the colosseum.

Of course, the green and pink bloops followed close behind.

***

DK, Diddy, and the two bloops rushed in the colosseum through the main entrance, the former two fully expecting to barge into a battle zone. Instead, what they got was a bunch of bananas scattered about the arena. Somehow, that wasn't even the oddest thing.

Sitting in the stands was a crowd of tikis, as if they were expecting the four to show. Upon sight of them, the tikis became riled, thus becoming much more active than they were just a few moments ago. Strange noises escaped them as they bounced up and down on the stands. They weren't exactly cheering, per se. It was more like they were making noises no tiki should be able to make. The kongs paid them little mind, as their attention was elsewhere.

On the other side of the stadium, tucked away near the edge where the sunlight couldn't reach, a small pile of bananas sat undisturbed. Or, at least, they would've sat undisturbed were it not for the four-legged yellow creature munching on them like a midnight snack.

"Mugly!" DK shouted in frustration, more so than relief.

The mentioned yellow creature, Mugly, briefly stopped eating from the pile to glance back at him, confused. DK knew the guy was dumb, but he didn't think he was dumb enough to eat bananas that clearly didn't belong to him!

DK was about to march over there to give Mugly a piece of his mind, only for Diddy to tap him on the shoulder frantically. "DK! Look!" He pointed up at the stands, only for a familiar blue and red tiki to hover out of the crowd.

"That tiki!" DK growled.

First, the Kalimba tries to take him by surprise in his own house. Then, it has the nerve to hijack somebody else's body. And yet, after pummeling it on both those occasions, it still dared to show its face again?

"This thing just don't know when to quit, does it?" He clenched his fists, preparing to pummel the Kalimba for a third time.

Before DK could make any moves, the Kalimba acted far faster than he expected.

First, it started with that strange music, followed by its eyes swirling in a hypnotic fashion. The pink bloop, possibly still having PTSD from her own experience, looked away and shielded her eyes. Fortunately for her, she was not the target this time—Mugly was, unbeknownst to him.

He was effortlessly caught in the Kalimba's trance, stopping mid-bite due to the music. When the Kalimba floated and disappeared into Mugly's body, DK knew it was all over.

Soon after the music faded, horns sprouted on Mugly's back, followed by him spinning around and bellowing out a threatening roar. That's when DK banged on his chest, giving out his own war cry.

Unlike DK, both bloops and even Diddy seemed a little on edge, the latter going so far as to give a second opinion. "Whoa, whoa! You're not actually about to fight Mugly, are you?"

"'Course I am! Gotta beat that tiki out of him if he's gonna come back to his senses. Why?"

"Mugly isn't exactly a pushover. You know this! Besides, this is his turf."

"This may be his mound, but this is our jungle! 'Sides, I've never met anyone that's as tough as me! ...Well, maybe 'sides from that red plumber and fat croc."

"I still don't think we should—WATCH OUT!" Diddy snapped DK back to his surroundings, only for him to see Mugly charging right at him. The pink and green bloops dodged to opposite sides, whereas DK sought to jump over Mugly.

As he expected, the spikes that were covering the literal target on Mugly's back had vanished, allowing DK to slam his fists onto the lug. Mugly let out a pained roar as he slid to a halt, turning to face DK. At the same time, the tiki crowd booed at the sight of DK landing a hit on their champion.

"Wow! Nice hit." Diddy complimented.

"Didn't know you knew how to fight him."

"Believe it or not, this isn't Mugly and I's first brawl!" DK snickered, thinking back to the times he and Mugly used to get into pointless skirmishes, sometimes for no reason. Of course, they were always friendly battles—nothing like this.

So, DK was a bit taken aback when Mugly stomped on the ground and let out another bellowing roar, only for his skin to shift from yellow to orange. "Whoa... Never seen him do that before."

"Something tells me he didn't like you punching his back..." Diddy commented, expecting Mugly to charge at DK again, considering he was the one who had struck a blow.

He did the unexpected and directed his attention to the pink bloop, gunning for her instead. She let out a gurgled scream before turning on her heel to run for dear life, nearly losing her balance in the process.

The green bloop began yelling, as if trying to get Mugly's attention. But he had tunnel vision for the pink bloop. What's worse, he was suddenly faster than before, which prevented DK from catching up. But he wasn't about to let Mugly harm the pink bloop—especially not after going through all the trouble that went into saving her!

"Diddy!"

"Already on it!" Diddy hopped off of DK's back as they ran towards Mugly, using his jetpack to reach the pink bloop faster.

Once he got within range, Diddy pulled out his trusty peanut guns and began blasting away at Mugly. The peanuts themselves weren't hurting Mugly in the slightest, but since he was aiming for the eyes, Diddy easily caught his attention and turned away from the pink bloop.

The two charged at each other, only for Diddy to jump over Mugly at the last second. He bounced on Mugly's weak point, the same as DK, but was far too light to deal any meaningful damage.

Mugly fully turned as Diddy bounced off him, sliding in the dirt mid-charge. By the time he came to a stop, he left his backside completely vulnerable to DK once again, as he slid right to him. DK didn't waste this opportunity to jump and smash his back again, eliciting a pained roar from Mugly. Again, the crowd of tikis booed his successful attack. "I hate to do this to ya, Mug, but we gotta get that tiki out of you!"

After getting his second hit in, DK jumped back to where the green bloop was. Then, Mugly stomped the ground with a ferocity DK had never seen before. At this point, he was unsure if it was Mugly or the tiki inside Mugly that was getting angry.

Either way, his skin went from orange to red, and red horns sprouted on his back, covering his weak point.

Just when DK thought Mugly had no more moves up his sleeve, the big lug started gyrating in place. As he did so, the crowd of tikis all in unison chanted, "Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce!" The first comprehensible words DK could actually understand from them.

As if giving the audience what they wanted, Mugly started hopping in the air, quite literally bouncing off the ground. Some of his hops were far higher than DK thought he could jump, while others barely had him leave the ground.

That wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that whenever Mugly was on the ground, his spikes would be covering his weak point, preventing DK from jumping on his back. What's worse, Mugly's short and high hops were random, so DK could never time an attack.

Eventually, DK stopped thinking about how he was going to strike Mugly when he realized he had been hopping his way toward Diddy and the pink bloop. Although he wasn't running on all fours anymore, Mugly's speed didn't seem to be hindered. In fact, it looked like he was faster, as he easily caught up with them.

Without thinking, DK jumped in and landed in front of Diddy and the pink bloop right before Mugly came crashing down on top of them. He caught the big guy by his stomach, seemingly having no trouble holding him up. Despite that, a new problem presented itself: DK couldn't attack Mugly if he was holding him up!

Luckily for DK, he didn't have to worry about that for long, as someone else had that covered.

Ahead of him, he watched as the green bloop shifted into a squid-shaped form, only for her to then blast off into the air. On her way back down, she shifted back into her humanoid form, aiming to land on Mugly's back feet first. DK hadn't noticed immediately, but since Mugly was no longer bouncing, the spikes had already disappeared, leaving him vulnerable to the green bloop's dive kick.

The green bloop landed like a meteor, delivering an attack so devastating that not even the tiki crowd booed it—they just gasped in audible shock. The green bloop elegantly bounced off of Mugly's back with a flip, whereas DK fell backward from the force of the kick, dropping him.

Surprisingly, Mugly got back up from the direct hit, but he didn't stay up for long. In a rather goofy display, Mugly struck multiple dramatic poses, all to the tikis collective horror, before collapsing back to the ground, unconscious. He was down for the count!

After a brief period of silence, the kalimba tiki emerged from the knocked-out Mugly, visibly dazed and disoriented. All the tikis in the stands could do was watch. They themselves moved in a somber rhythm, as if acknowledging their defeat.

"Wow..." Diddy murmured, glancing over at the green bloop, who quickly went to the pink bloop's side, inspecting her body for wounds by the looks of it. "Didn't think they were that strong."

"I don't think that tiki did either. Which means I can do this!" DK launched himself at the disoriented Kalimba, who seemed to register what was happening at the last second, evident by them throwing up their hands and gesturing for DK not to attack. Unfortunately for them, DK was not hearing any of that noise and proceeded to beat it to a pulp for the third time today.

At the end of his pummeling, DK sent one last mean haymaker straight to the Kalimba's face, sending them soaring into the sky. They disappeared with a small twinkle.

At his victory, DK banged on his chest and hollered. "That oughtta teach ya to steal my hoard!"

Diddy came up to DK's side, staring up at the sky where the Kalimba just was. "I don't mean to burst your bubble DK, but, we still don't have the bananas..."

DK stopped mid-celebration. "Shoot..."

He realized Diddy was right. All they had was a knocked-out Mugly and some scattered bananas. Even if they gathered all of them, it wouldn't equate to even a quarter of the hoard he was missing. Those tikis must've moved his bananas elsewhere. But where?

"Those bananas could be anywhere at this point... How are we gonna get them back?" DK sat down, disheartened.

Diddy reassured him with pats on the arm. "We'll get them back how we always get them back—by looking!"

That didn't make DK feel much better, mainly because that meant his work was cut out for him.

Before he could dwell on the thought further, both bloops gurgled at them, gesturing their arms to grab both kongs' attention.

"What is it now?" DK questioned, forgetting they couldn't understand him, same as he couldn't understand them.

Both were gesturing in a random direction that led out of Mugly's Mound.

"I think they're tryna lead us somewhere?" Diddy suggested, unable to make out anything they were saying.

"Right... they still need our help with something." DK sounded disinterested in doing anything that would sidetrack him from getting his hoard back. "If we take any longer on getting those bananas back, we'll never hear the end of it from Cranky!"

"Wait a minute, DK. If these bloops need help, it's likely because of the tikis."

"Yeah? And?"

"Don't you get it? If we follow them, they'll take us to where more tikis are! And where there's more tikis..." Diddy paused, allowing DK to piece the puzzle together.

"There's our bananas! Oh, man, you're smart little buddy!"

Diddy nodded, satisfied with the praise. He'd then hop back onto DK's back. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get a move on!"

DK gestured towards the bloops, excited and eager to get this show on the road. They took his gestures as affirmation of whatever they were saying and led the way.

The group left the colosseum, leaving Mugly to sleep away his injuries.

Chapter 7: Salmonid Shore

Summary:

"Beware the rising tides."

"Callie, I'm telling you this isn't the way to Inkopolis!"

"Well, your way keeps leading us in circles!"

The Squid Sisters kept going back and forth on where they needed to go, neither agreeing with the other's sense of direction.

Their plan was to head back to Inkopolis, believing that somebody in the city would be able to tell them what the heck was going on with the sudden emergence of strange creatures and wooden tikis. They even managed to convince DK and his little companion to tag along with them, something they both agreed would be necessary—especially if creatures like that big yellow one from the arena were roaming around.

Unfortunately, convincing DK and his friend was the easiest part. Navigating to Inkopolis appeared to be a whole other endeavor on its own.

Marie knew the landscape had changed significantly ever since Mt. Nantai suddenly erupted. But even she couldn't predict just how drastic that change would be.

She had thought by picking a direction based on the sun's position, they'd be able to find notable landmarks that would lead them back to Inkopolis. However, such landmarks were either covered by the thick vegetation or just outright missing. To put it simply, Marie was quite literally leading the group in circles. Callie was no better, either.

"This would be so much easier if big guy over here would let us hitch a ride on his back like his little friend..." Callie plopped down on a nearby boulder. "My feet are killing me!"

Marie rolled her eyes. "Oh, quit whining. I don't want to push our luck with DK and his friend. We're lucky we got them to follow us. Besides, we have bigger concerns than your legs being tired."

"Like your bad directions?"

Marie shot her sharp-mouthed cousin a glare, who responded by turning away and whistling innocently.

She sighed, turning back to the mouth of the jungle. There was a chance DK could swing through the trees with everyone on his back, but honestly, Marie didn't want to go through that again. She wasn't sure if her stomach, let alone Callie's, could handle the experience. But what other choice was there?

Just as Marie started giving in to the idea, she heard it—the sound of crashing waves. It was faint, distant. But it was there.

She racked her brain for answers on how she could possibly be hearing the sea. Then it hit her. "That's it!"

"What is?" Callie perked up, noticing her cousin's suddenly cheery demeanor.

"We're near the shoreline! We can follow it back to Inkopolis."

"What!" Callie jumped from her boulder with slight panic in her eyes. "That's crazy talk! That shore is infested with salmonids, and we don't have any weapons!"

Callie's worry, although a bit exaggerated, was not unfounded. The shore Marie had been talking about was connected to Inkopolis Bay, and therefore, was often used by salmonids during their runs. It was so infested with them, people started calling it Salmonid Shore.

Still, that didn't deter Marie in the slightest. "They're just salmonids, Callie. Besides, that's why we have them following us." Marie gestured towards DK and the smaller brown creature, both of whom tilted their heads, unsure why she was pointing to them.

Although there was no safer place than by their side, Callie still seemed unconvinced. "I don't know."

Marie leaned against a tree. "Well, unless you have a better idea, we could just continue walking around in circles 'til nightfall. And that's assuming no more of those tikis jump out at us before then." Callie's face scrunched up, not wanting to admit that Marie's idea was leagues better than that option. She didn't have to say it, though. Marie could see it in her eyes. "That's what I thought. Now come on! The faster we move, the sooner we'll be safe in Inkopolis."

***

Even with the guidance of the shore's vibrant sounds, the twists and turns of the jungle proved quite challenging to maneuver through. Though eventually, they'd make it out to shore. However, to say Marie was surprised at what she saw would be the understatement of the century.

The group had walked in on nothing short of a battlefield!

Marie had expected salmonids, but she wasn't expecting crabs, too. At least, she was sure they were crabs. They were unlike the crab people she'd seen at concerts or working as vendors. They looked more like their ancient ancestors, albeit somehow more lively. That wasn't even the strangest thing about them. The strangest thing was that a majority of these crab-like creatures had pirate attire, like bandanas, eyepatches, and hats. Some even had weapons like hooks and cutlasses!

Marie was certain these crab-like entities were a part of the creatures that suddenly appeared following the eruption of Mt. Nantai, similar to the landscape and the tikis.

Whatever the case, these crabs were waging an all-out war with the salmonids! What's more, Marie couldn't tell who was winning. Both sides appeared numerous, and neither seemed to have the advantage either on land or at sea.

Pinchers and blades clashed with pans and silverware. Crabs that weren't utterly dismembered and devoured by the ravenous horde of pink fish sliced and diced the salmonids until they were basically sushi.

The dozens of ships at sea fired upon the shore, completely obliterating even the salmonid bosses in a single blow. If that didn't tell Marie the ships belonged to the crabs, then the salmonid waves jumping out of the ocean and onboard did.

Part of her wondered how she managed to hear the crashing waves, but not the ensuing chaos.

While lost in thought, a stray cannonball flew over the group, striking a tree behind them. It fell forward, causing them to jump out of the way before it landed with a muffled thump.

"Yep. I knew it. This is a bad idea!" Callie complained, wiping the sand off her shirt.

"No, wait. This might be the best-case scenario for us!" Marie crouched behind the fallen tree, spying on the carnage in the distance.

"What? How is this a best-case scenario?!" Callie knelt beside Marie, leaving her vulnerable to a quick flick to the forehead. She yelped in surprise and pain, holding the spot Marie carelessly flicked.

"Use your head for once, ink for brains! If the salmonids are busy throwing themselves at those crabs, that means they'll be too preoccupied to notice us sneaking by."

Callie suddenly stopped rubbing her forehead, the pain seemingly vanishing after Marie's explanation. "Oh, wait. You're actually right."

"Of course I'm right. Now, let's move. I don't know who's gonna win this war on the shore, and frankly, I don't want to stick around and find out."

With that, Marie, Callie, and their two chaperones made their way through the battlefield.

Marie made sure they stuck to the outskirts as best they could to reduce the likelihood of them attracting unwanted attention. For the most part, her plan worked. Hardly any crabs or salmonids noticed them. The few that did were quickly dealt with by DK and his little friend.

Despite the mass hordes of salmon and crabs being occupied with each other, that didn't make the journey any less treacherous for Callie and Marie.

It seemed the deeper they traveled along the shore, the less vegetation there was for them to hide behind. Eventually, it was just sand, crates, and any other amenities you'd find on a pirate ship. They were completely out in the open amongst shallow bodies of water—water that proved dangerous to touch for the Squid Sisters. DK and his friend only seemed to realize water hurt them after a cannonball splashed into a puddle Callie stood near. Luckily, she wasn't splatted, just mildly injured.

Speaking of cannonballs, those kept landing around the battlefield. Those crabs had worse aims than the stinger salmonid, as a lot of their shots were strays. Said strays nearly hit DK a few times.

Were it not for the group's quick wits and sharp reflexes, they would've been dead a long time ago. Guess all that agent training paid off after all. Good thing for Marie and Callie. And fortunately for DK and his friend, they were... well, whatever they were.

Still, Marie couldn't help but note the lack of tiki activity within the area. Not a single one of those wooden monsters was in sight. Did their reach only extend to the jungle? She hoped so. That would save her from a ton of trouble.

"This was a good call, Marie!" Callie exclaimed, suddenly being more optimistic and cheery about Marie's plan than she was in the beginning. "I guess you could say it'll be smooth sailing from here on out." She smirked, having put heavy emphasis on her ship pun.

Before Marie could comment on the otherwise bad pun, a loud rumble echoed in the distance, stopping the group in their tracks. The rumble itself didn't sound like something the ocean could make. It sounded... alive.

They all turned to see a ship in the distance, currently under assault by a wave of salmonids. Just when things looked like they couldn't get any worse for the ship, a large tentacle sprouted up from the waters, wrapping around the base of the vessel. Then another came, wrapping around the back of the ship.

Each tentacle took on an orangish color, with the outer parts being covered in miniature black spikes.

A bulbous head rose from the ocean, followed by another rumble, which the Squid Sisters soon realized was the roars of whatever that creature was.

Following the head were even more tentacles! Each one quickly tore the ship asunder, leaving nothing but destruction behind. The attack was as violent as it was quick. But that wasn't even the worst part.

Somehow, despite the distance between the group and the colossal ocean-dwelling creature, it spotted them. After locking eyes with its new targets, it submerged back in the water, disappearing just as suddenly as it had appeared.

Marie couldn't help but feel a sense of dread overcome her. Instead of showing how scared she was, her fists clenched in irritation. "Callie, when we're in Inkopolis, remind me to duct-tape your mouth shut." She seethed while her cousin gave a weak chuckle.

Then, DK's little companion jumped onto Callie's shoulder, startling her. Before she could respond, DK lifted her off her feet, placing her on his back with a fluid motion. She instinctively latched onto his shoulders, unsure what was going on.

Marie was just as confused as Callie, and she, too, was swept off her feet by the larger entity. However, he didn't put her on his back. Instead, he held her like some ornament.

"Oh no." Marie was quick to realize what was going on, but before she could protest, DK took off down the shore. All she could do now was hold on and pray DK didn't drop her. At least he wasn't swinging around everywhere this time...

"What's gotten into them??" Callie blurted, gripping onto DK for dear life while DK's friend held onto her.

"I don't know!" Marie looked back to where the orangish creature had first appeared. DK only started hustling after that thing appeared. Was he scared of it? One look at him told her no. But he was a little more urgent than before.

She stared at him until the sounds of something breaching the water's surface redirected her attention back to sea. The orangish creature from before was back, and this time much closer to shore. It traveled along the waters, keeping pace with DK.

"W-What's an octarian doing here?!" Callie hollered, unable to keep her emotions in check—not that Marie could blame her.

"I don't think that's an octarian..." Marie murmured, staring at the creature that seemed to be giving them a mean glare.

Although there was no denying the thing looked like an octarian, Marie knew for certain none could grow that big. Plus, if it really was an octarian, it wouldn't be able to swim in the water. That led her to believe this cephalopod, whoever they were, came from the same place as DK.

Her belief was quickly confirmed when she noticed the cephalopod was staring less at her and Callie and more at DK and his friend. That got her thinking, do these two have a history with each other? If so, it would explain why such a big octopus was ignoring the other ships out at sea and why DK was moving with a sense of urgency.

That aside, she couldn't help but wonder: if the cephalopod was an octarian lookalike from wherever DK came from, were there any inkling lookalikes as well?

Marie snapped out of her thoughts once the giant octopus sank back into the depths. She suspected the thing was still following them, but before she could voice her thoughts, DK suddenly jumped to great heights.

She watched as he left the safety of the sandy shore in favor of hopping between various broken ship pieces. This wouldn't have been a huge problem for her if it weren't for the fact that the wrecked ship pieces were casually floating in the water.

"What are you doing?!" Marie screamed, clutching onto DK harder than she already was. She was so panicked, she had forgotten he couldn't understand her.

Maybe it wasn't a big deal for DK and his friend, but with no respawn points being all the way out here, they could seriously die! Yet, somehow, DK jumping from platform to platform was the least of Marie's worries.

A loud crash originating from behind them had Marie look over DK's shoulder. Orange tentacles rose out of the ocean, destroying the platforms they were jumping from, which prevented them from backtracking. Now she really hoped DK was choosing this hectic route for a reason.

One look forward, and she could see what DK's target was: a small cave situated near the end of the visible shore. They would've come upon the same cave had they just stayed on the sandy path, but the shortcut was somewhat welcomed, considering who their pursuer was.

The last few ship pieces had crabs and salmonids using them as mini-arenas to fight each other on. DK would bounce off the crabs and salmonids rather than waste time by joining the fight. Their presence unintentionally helped the group, as it allowed DK to keep up the momentum and outpace the giant tentacles.

Eventually, DK bounced all the way to the inside of the cave, landing with a long roll. He made sure to keep Callie, Marie, and his friend safe from the brunt of the roll. By the time he stopped rolling, they were deep in the surprisingly well-lit cavern.

That didn't stop an orange tentacle from squirming all the way to them. Fortunately for them, the octopus was far too large for its own good, unable to wriggle any further. Its tentacle felt around for them, and the group quietly kept away.

When it didn't detect their presence, the creature rumbled in what had to be frustration, gently vibrating the cave walls. Soon after, the tentacle retreated, finally leaving them alone.

They sat there in silence for a good minute, only for Callie to suddenly break it. "What was that guy's problem...?"

Marie shook her head. "I don't know, and I don't think I want to know. Let's hurry up and get out of here." She stood up, only to fall right back down from the wobbling of her legs. "...As soon as my legs stop shaking."

Chapter 8: Tentacled Menaces

Summary:

"Beware of Woomys and Veemo."

"You done snoozing yet?" Callie asked impatiently, earning a huff from Marie.

"Yes, my legs have more or less stopped shaking. Thanks for asking."

"You're welcome!" Callie gave a cheery, yet somewhat smug, smile. Marie couldn't help but roll her eyes.

It had been a few minutes since their narrow escape from that huge octopus. The encounter was...eventful, to say the least. So eventful, in fact, Marie needed some time to regain her composure—though she wasn't sure if that was because of the orange octopus or because of DK practically toying with her and Callie's life by jumping so close to the water.

Either way, Callie seemed to bounce back from the situation quite easily. Marie could only guess that it was because she wholeheartedly trusted DK and his friend with her life. Funny how it was only around an hour ago that they scared the daylights out of her.

"Alright. Let's get out of this cave." Marie groaned, shaking off the sand that somehow still clung to her clothes.

Callie hopped off the boulder she had perched herself on. "Took you long enough! It was getting cold in here." She said playfully.

Marie didn't entertain her cousin with a response. Instead, she snapped her fingers, grabbing the attention of DK and his friend, both of whom quickly took their original positions behind the Squid Sisters.

The group exited the cave through the other end, which, thankfully, there was one. Marie really didn't want to deal with that orange octopus again.

The other side of the shore was...surprisingly a lot more pleasant than what they had just walked through. There were zero salmonids and crabs in sight, and the shore looked devoid of anything wooden. The difference was like night and day.

"Ah. This is much better." Callie let out a long sigh, basking in the sun's warmth. Considering there wasn't a war being waged, Marie allowed her to enjoy the moment. She had to admit, the heat was certainly better than the damp coolness of the cave.

Marie stood there, quietly enjoying the sun's rays. That was, until DK lightly tapped her on the shoulder. "Hm?" She looked over at him, only for him to point out in the distance. She had been so stuck on warming up that she completely missed the single ship out near the shore.

The ship appeared to belong to the crabs, as it was flying their banners proudly. Yet, from what she could see, none were aboard. Adding to the ship's strangeness was how it looked to be docked, with only a few crates and barrels sitting idly by.

Then suddenly, three figures came out of the ship. From a distance, Marie could see they were neither crabs nor salmonids. In fact, they looked rather familiar. The sight of them prompted Marie to nudge Callie with her elbow. "Callie, is that..." she pointed, guiding her cousin's attention.

The moment Callie laid eyes on them was the same moment Marie got her confirmation on who they were.

"Agents!" Callie waved, but at the distance they were at, the agents could neither see nor hear Callie. Undeterred, she sprinted towards them, leaving Marie with DK and his friend.

"Callie! Wait!" she called out, chasing after her cousin. The other two followed close behind.

As the group got closer, Marie could clearly see the agents in question: Three, Four, and Eight. Only the former two were official Squidbeak Splatoon agents. The latter was more of a helping hand that the cousins were eternally indebted to after learning she was the one to more or less take care of gramps when he was stuck in the Deepsea Metro.

Callie continued calling out to them, but they still didn't pay her any mind. That's when an eerie feeling crept down Marie's ink. "Something's wrong." She mumbled to herself, finally noting how odd the situation was.

Agent 3 should've been back at Cuttlefish Cabin to watch over the canyon. Agent 4 was currently on break, so she was free to be wherever. And last Marie checked, Eight was staying with Four. In other words, it was odd to see them all together in the same place—especially when they were still pretty far from the city and the canyon.

What was odder was how only Agent 3 was in her agent uniform. The other two were in casual clothing. Yet, the strangest thing was them hauling the last few crates and barrels onto the ship. The containers were filled with weapons, ink tanks, and bananas... the same items Callie had been loading onto that airship back when the tikis hijacked her mind.

"Callie, wait!" Marie warned, putting two and two together rather quickly.

Her dimwitted cousin was not so quick on the uptake. She didn't even hear her! Thankfully, by the time they reached the ship, the agents were already inside. Not only that, but they seemed to be setting sail for who knows where. All Marie knew was that they had dodged a bullet. Getting in a fight with all three agents, let alone Agent 3, wasn't exactly on her to-do list.

She bent over, using the downtime to take a breather. Her resting period was short-lived when Callie grabbed her attention with her bewildering announcement. "What are you stopping for? Come on! They're leaving us behind!"

Somehow, despite everything they had just seen, Callie still hadn't pieced anything together. "Callie—" Before she could clue her cousin in, Callie had already morphed into her swim form and launched onto the ship. "I'm gonna kill her," Marie sighed, truly believing her cousin had nothing but air for brains.

She turned to DK and his friend. "We gotta get on there." Marie pointed to the ship, knowing he couldn't understand her. Hopefully, her simple gesture was enough. DK simply nodded, telling her it was.

She turned again, about to follow Callie's lead. However, before she could morph, DK had grabbed her. Confused, he looked up at him. "DK? What are you do-INGAH!" Without warning, he used his incredible arm strength and tossed her all the way up onto the ship's deck.

Although (somewhat) helpful, she fell into a bunch of barrels full of weapons, knocking them over and creating a loud racket. She whimpered in pain.

"Way to stick the landing," Callie commented.

Apparently, the agents never heard Callie when she landed. It was only after Marie's crash landing that they finally noticed their presence. Seeing this as a good thing, Callie approached them with open arms. "Girls! You have no idea how good it is to see you all right now. You won't believe what Marie and I went through!"

Before she got any closer to them, Marie quickly jumped up and grabbed her oblivious cousin by the shoulders, yanking her back. "Callie, stop!"

A confused look donned on Callie's face. "Marie? What gives?"

"Would you use your head for five seconds?! Look at where we are!" Marie yelled, gesturing for Callie to look at their surroundings. "Doesn't this seem familiar to you? At all?"

Callie took a moment to survey the area. "Kinda. All these crates remind me of when we were on the cliff and you told me..." A look of realization slowly crept onto her face. Marie wasn't sure if it was their surroundings or the deadpan expressions on the agents that finally got Callie to understand. Either way, it was too late to backtrack, and she seemed to realize that as well. "...Oh..."

All three agents whipped out splattershots and began firing different colored ink at them. Agent 3's and 4's were green and yellow, respectively, while Agent 8's was a magenta color.

Callie and Marie leaped backward, jumping behind the barrels the latter had knocked over previously.

Stray ink shots flew over their heads as Callie started panicking a bit. "Carp! When did they get possessed?! Is it that stupid Kalimba again?"

"Who cares! We gotta get whatever's controlling them out of their bodies!"

"How?"

"You know how! It's the only thing that's been proven to work." Marie was, of course, talking about whooping their tentacles. Though, that might be harder to do to them than it was with Callie.

"Where's your big friend and his small friend? We could really use them right about now!"

"Uh..." Marie looked over, noticing they hadn't come aboard yet. They were still close to shore, so it was possible that DK and his partner were still attempting to board the ship. "They might take a bit, so for now, it's just us!"

Marie looked over at the multitude of weapons that littered the deck. "Grab something blunt. And whatever you do, don't let Agent 3 grab you." She snatched up a Splattershot Pro that hung just beyond the safety of her cover. The ink shots nearly hit her hand as a result, but she came out unscathed. Marie gave her weapon a quick inspection before nodding to herself.

"This'll do." While the Splattershot Pro was a decent weapon on its own, it was useless without any ink, as were most weapons. At least, it would've been in any other case, but not in this one. Because of its middleweight nature, it served as the perfect blunt weapon to smack someone silly with.

Marie looked over to see what weapon Callie had chosen, only to see an ink tank strapped to her back, along with an outstretched arm and a splat bomb primed and ready. "Stupid! Don't throw that. There are no spawn points out here!" Marie forced Callie's hand down before she could throw, pointing out that a direct hit would kill their agents permanently.

"Pfft. I knew that." Callie said dismissively, taking off the ink tank and picking up a nearby splat roller, which is what Marie expected her to grab originally, seeing as it was closest to her.

"Sometimes, I forget you're an agent." Marie sighed, to which Callie responded with a simple roll of her eyes. Callie being a klutz wasn't exactly uncommon. Because of her sometimes chaotic energy, she was prone to doing reckless things. However, the amount of carelessness she kept displaying was not only unusual, but also concerning. Could it have something to do with her hypnotization from a few months ago, or was it from the hypnotization from a few hours ago?

"So, uh, how exactly are we supposed to knock them senseless if they won't even give us an opening?" Callie questioned, ducking a little more from the constant siege of ink.

Although Marie had a more sophisticated plan for them to pull off, a higher power seemed to answer her cousin's pleas. Moments after Callie's question, the barrage of ink suddenly stopped. Both looked at each other for confirmation of what just happened before peeking their heads from behind cover.

To their surprise, the agents were fumbling with their weapons. They were confused why no more ink was coming out. One look at their ink tanks, and both cousins could see they had run out of ink. Marie expected them to dip into their ink to recharge, but none of them did. Instead, they continued shaking their weapons, trying to get them to recharge faster. It would appear the enemy, while having the intelligence to understand ink tanks are what allowed their vessels to use their weapons, lacked the knowledge to utilize them properly. Bad news for them, good news for the cousins.

"Looks like they gave us an opening!" Marie exclaimed lowly so only Callie heard, not wanting to draw the attention of the agents just yet. Soon after, she broke into a sprint, heading for her first target: Eight. She was not about to get up close and personal with Agent 3, and she didn't exactly have it in her hearts to hurt Agent 4.

Now, as far as Marie was aware, Eight was a competent fighter who even managed to give Agent 3 a hard time—according to gramps. Fortunately for her, that didn't mean the enemy's combat prowess was the same as Eight's. She had seen Callie fight while possessed, and her moves were a lot more clumsy back then. Marie expected the results to be somewhat the same with Eight, and sure enough, they were.

Eight hadn't even realized Marie was coming at her until she was already in her personal bubble. Marie swung the Splattershot Pro, which Eight managed to narrowly avoid by stepping and leaning back. What she could not dodge was Marie's follow-up, which involved swiping under her legs to trip her up. Eight tumbled to the ground, and once Marie got on top of her, it was game over.

"Sorry, Eight!" Marie apologized ahead of time before bashing Eight over the head with the Splattershot Pro. Luckily, it only took two hits to get the job done. The first hit dazed her, while the second knocked her out cold.

Marie huffed, glad Eight had been caught off guard. Had she been more prepared for the assault, the fight probably would've lasted for minutes rather than seconds.

She turned her attention to Callie, who had just gotten done taking down Agent 4 by the looks of it. These tiki possessors, whoever they were, were surely an oblivious bunch. At least the Kalimba was actually paying attention! Not that Marie was complaining. After all, it allowed for an easy fight.

That left just Agent 3 to deal with, who had been fiddling with her weapon the whole time. Unfortunately for the cousins, the time it took for them to take down Four and Eight allowed Agent 3's ink tank to refill, and when her splattershot started working again, she directed her focus onto Callie.

"Cal!" Marie called out, kicking Agent 3 in the ink tank. Despite applying all her might into that kick, the ink tank didn't shatter. Not only that, but now Agent 3 was focusing on her instead. "Uh..."

"Oh, no you don't!" Callie called out defiantly before whacking Agent 3 in the side with her roller.

Even without ink, a direct attack like that from a roller would've knocked your average inkling right off their feet. But Agent 3 was no average inkling. A fact both cousins were reminded of when the roller did jack all against her. She didn't even budge from her spot.

Agent 3 gave Callie an annoyed glare, prompting her to chuckle nervously. "My bad?" was all she could get out before Agent 3 grabbed the roller and effortlessly tossed Callie into Marie.

The wind got knocked out of them both as they crashed into the side of the ship. Callie lay across Marie like a discarded rag doll, groaning in pain. Marie tried shoving her off, only to find her arms were pinned underneath Callie. "Oh, carp." She looked up to see Agent 3 already pointing her weapon at them. The fear of death shot through her instantly, but there was nothing else she could do to prevent her from firing.

Just when Marie felt like their deaths were assured, something heavy dropped from the sky and landed on Agent 3, eliciting a pained yell from her.

It was DK! And just in the nick of time.

"DK! What took you so long?" Marie said, already knowing he couldn't understand and therefore could not answer. At this point, it was just a habit to talk to him.

She looked down to see Agent 3 knocked out cold, which must've happened instantly when DK landed on her. On the bright side, she didn't splat—something that definitely would've happened had he fallen on any other inkling. From the looks of it, he didn't even mean to fall on her. In fact, he had no idea Agent 3 was under him until the little friend on his shoulder pointed her out.

"I guess it all worked—" Suddenly, the whole ship came to a violent stop, throwing everyone off balance.

Marie could hear it slide and grind against something hard. Only when the ship came to a complete stop did she look over the side to see what the issue was. Apparently, they had made landfall on another part of the shore.

It hadn't occurred to her until now, but the agents were the only people she had seen on the whole ship. That meant the entire time they were fighting, no one was steering... What a miracle they didn't crash into a giant rock or something.

"Is everyone okay?" Marie turned back to see Callie on the ground alongside DK and his little friend. On the other side, the three bodies of the agents were piled on top of each other.

Just when everything seemed calm, something came out of the agents. Multiple somethings.

They were tikis! Three to be exact. And they looked like...maracas? Maraca tikis. That was strange...

Marie was so caught off guard by the emergence and weirdness of it all that she almost didn't realize they were running away. Well, more like flying away. Actually, the Kalimba tiki could fly too. How do they manage that? Wait, that's not important! They're getting away! She couldn't let those tikis possess anybody else.

"The maracas!" Marie called out, catching DK's gaze.

He took one glance at her, then at the fleeing hypnotizers. No further words or gestures needed to be exchanged. He just went after them, and his friend quickly followed close behind with his jetpack.

Marie almost went after them herself, but stopped when she almost stepped on Callie. "Cal! Wake up." Marie kneeled down, patting her cousin's cheek.

"Marie?" she said in a groggy tone, her eyes half-open.

"We gotta go!" Marie said with more urgency. To her dismay, Callie simply turned over as if she were in bed.

"I know we have to do the news soon... Just give me five more minutes..." She yawned. "Maybe ten..."

Jeez, how strong is Three? Marie cringed, realizing just how out of it Callie was. All Agent 3 did was throw her!

Leaving Callie and the other three unattended was the last thing she wanted to do, so it looked like she'd be staying with them until they woke up. At least when they wake, she can catch the agents up to speed and secure some weapons from the containers... Maybe a banana or two.

She only hoped DK and his friend would be okay handling those three maracas by themselves.

Chapter 9: Pinchin' Pirates

Summary:

"Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate's life for me!"

"Not that I'm doubting your choice or anything, DK, but uh, was it really a good idea to leave those bloops behind?" A concerned Diddy asked while trailing behind DK, using his jetpack to keep up with the big ape.

DK casually waved him off. "Relax, little buddy! With those tikis out of their friends, they'll be just fine. Besides, you saw how the green bloop was pointing at those tikis. Clearly, they want us to catch 'em!"

"I mean, sure...but are we even certain those other bloops are friends of the first two? And what about that one bloop with the suckers sticking out of their hair...er...tentacles?"

"Ah, come on! You're worryin' for nothin'. Tell ya what, we can check on them after we deal with these three body snatchers."

Diddy scratched underneath his cap. "Speaking of, for no legs, these guys are pretty fast, aren't they?" It had been about two minutes since the goose chase between the kongs and the maraca tikis started, and so far, they showed no signs of stopping or slowing down. "Where are they even running to?"

Before DK could give his own thoughts on the matter, the three tikis suddenly dipped downward into a small, sandy cove. By the time either Kong reached the same dip-off point, the tikis had vanished.

"Shoot!" DK said in annoyance. Their eyes were off them for two seconds, and they already lost them! How absurd was that?

His frustration didn't last long, as something else immediately caught his attention.

Down in the cove was a wrecked ship encircling a small encampment. Scattered around the encampment were chunks and piles of bananas. Dining on those bananas were three crabs, one blue, one yellow, and one red.

All three crabs were missing their left claws, each being replaced with something else. The blue crab had a cutlass, while the yellow crab had an oversized fork, which it promptly stuck into a banana before devouring it whole—skin and all. The red crab had the standard hook that you'd see on a pirate. It even had an eyepatch and a captain's hat to match, along with a black beard... Had DK not been enraged by the sight of the three eating his bananas, he probably would've commented on how weird a crab with hair was.

"Those thieves!" DK growled, about to jump down and give them the what for. That's when Diddy stopped him, pointing to the debris of the wrecked ship.

Popping out from the wreckage of the ship were the three tikis from earlier! They hovered over to the unsuspecting crabs, and by then, the kongs figured what came next.

Like the Kalimba tiki before them, the three tikis began hypnotizing the crabs with their oddly beautiful tune, only this time, the sounds of maracas literally accompanied it as the tikis violently shook themselves. The three crabs stopped munching on the bananas mid-chew, abruptly standing up to attention.

Diddy jumped onto DK's back, who'd then jump into action (literally). He smashed into the sand with a heavy pound, shaking the ground upon impact. By the time he banged on his chest and gave out his battle cry, the three tikis had already disappeared inside the crabs' bodies.

DK didn't realize it at first, but now that he was closer, he could see that the three crabs were about as big as him! Not that it deterred him or anything. It was just surprising.

The crabs responded to the kongs' intrusion by digging themselves into the sand. DK was momentarily confused before seeing the first crab—the yellow one—pop out.

It meandered over to him just like the smaller crabs from the shore, giving DK an instant idea of how to take it out. "This'll be easy!" Or so he believed.

He hopped onto the yellow crab, only to bounce right off. Although he applied his full body weight onto the big crab, it didn't break apart instantly like the smaller crabs. In fact, it was now using its claw and oversized fork to protect the top of its head, preventing DK from jumping on it again.

"Okay, maybe not..." He scratched his chin, unsure how to get past the crab's defenses.

"Try pounding the ground next to it!" Diddy suggested, reminding DK of how powerful his ground slams were.

He did as told, and like magic, his slams were powerful enough to flip the crab right over. "Good thinking, Diddy!" DK applauded before hopping onto the crab's weak spot. Not only did that seem to hurt it, but it elicited a jeering 'boo' from the crowd of tikis. Wait, crowd of tikis?

DK turned, finding atop and inside the wreckage of the ship were crowds of lesser tikis, similar to the ones back at Mugly's Mound. When did they get there? Or had they always been inside the wreckage, and it was only now that DK noticed them? Whatever the case, it seemed they would be spectating the fight, and like before, they were not fans of the kongs.

"DK!" Diddy shouted, making him snap his head forward.

The yellow crab had completely vanished! It more than likely dug back into the sand. Either way, taking its place was the blue crab.

DK repeated what he had done with the yellow crab, jumping on the blue crab's head first and then pounding the ground to flip it over. After he jumped on its underbelly, the tikis booed once again, and the crab dug its way into the sand, disappearing from view. The next crab up was the red one, and from there, DK had it locked down.

"These guys ain't so bad!" DK gloated as he jumped on the red crab's underbelly, also causing it to dig itself further into the sand. "At this rate, we might be back before the other bloops wake..." He stopped when the red crab emerged again, followed by the yellow crab, and finally, the blue crab. "Oh."

DK realized he might've spoken a tad too soon when the crabs stacked themselves on top of one another, forming a tower that was far too high for him to jump over. The tikis gave out an elated cheer in response.

"More of those bright ideas would be great, Diddy!" DK called out while running away from the mobile imposing tower of colorful crabs.

Initially, there didn't seem to be a weakness against the impenetrable defenses of the crab tower. However, after a minute of sidestepping towards the kongs, all three crabs raised their claws and makeshift appendages in unison. At first, Diddy thought it was a fluke, since it looked like they were celebrating. But then they did it again. Both times, they left their sides exposed, giving Diddy a 'bright idea.'

"Try rollin' into them when they raise their claws!"

"You really think that'll work?"

"It's worth a shot!" With little else to go off of, DK patiently waited for the crabs to raise their arms. He preemptively rolled when he felt them about to do so, and as if oblivious to DK's incoming attack, they did.

DK rolled right through their crab tower, knocking them all down like they were in some cartoon. Funnily enough, they all landed on their heads, leaving DK to stomp on their underbelly.

"Good thinkin' little Diddy!" He complimented.

Their victory was short-lived when the blue crab reemerged from the sand, ready for a second one-on-two round. DK almost believed there was going to be something different this time around, but that wasn't the case. The only thing that changed was the crabs moving slightly faster than before. Other than that, it was a rinse and repeat of events.

When DK beat the crab tower for a second time, he expected the crabs to come at him a third time. What he got was totally different.

The claw of the yellow crab popped out of the sand like a zombie rising from the grave. Next to it were the legs of the blue crab. Both struggled to crawl out of the sand—looks like that Kong-certified beating really tuckered them out. They both collapsed near each other after getting out of the sand fully. The way their bodies slumped together side by side made it appear like they were forming the front part of a ship.

The red crab popped much faster than the first two, but it didn't look any less dazed. Still, it had enough energy to climb atop its comrades and point at DK and Diddy with fury in its eyes. It let out one, crackling roar before falling over, defeated.

Like with the other three bloops, the three maraca tikis ejected out of the crabs' unconscious bodies. Only this time, they were far too dizzy and disoriented to flee. The crowd of tikis made a strange noise of sorrow at the sight of the Maraca Gang's defeat. They didn't even stick around like the crowd at Mugly's Mound. Instead, they all dispersed, disappearing into the wreckage of the ship like ghosts. It was like they were never there to begin with.

Audience or no audience, that wasn't going to save the three maracas from a beatdown.

"Go get 'em, DK!" Diddy encouraged, back flipping off of DK's shoulders as he charged and leapt at the maracas.

The three had one moment of clarity, and, as if realizing their imminent pummeling, huddled together with wide eyes like scared children. Seconds later, DK was beating the ever-living crap out of them, finishing the attack off with one mighty punch that sent them soaring away into the sky.

DK watched them shrink in the distance until they eventually disappeared behind some clouds. After which, Diddy ran up to him. "We did it!" He cheered, and both kongs high-fived in celebration, breaking out into a little jig.

Their dance was interrupted by the sudden arrival of the pink and green bloop, followed by the three other bloops. All of them wore the same outfits as before, but now they were kitted out with those strange ink tanks and weaponry.

When they got down, they looked about ready to brawl. However, one quick look around told them that the fight was already over. The green bloop looked over at DK and Diddy as if to confirm. DK promptly responded with a thumbs up and a cheeky grin.

"We didn't even need the backup!" DK commented, forgetting they couldn't understand him.

The three bloops were practically gawking at the kongs, perhaps unnerved and amazed by their appearance. That's when all the bloops got to talking amongst each other, leaving the kongs completely out of the loop.

DK glanced at Diddy, who shrugged. Neither could make a lick of sense out of their gurgles.

After a while, the three bloops nodded to whatever the first two bloops were saying. Then, they broke off into different directions, covering the ground with ink as they moved. The green bloop then turned back to the kongs, gestured to them, and went another direction with the pink bloop.

"What was all that about?" DK murmured.

Diddy hopped back onto his shoulders. "I don't know, but I'm pretty sure they want us to follow them."

"What!?" DK wasn't very pleased that they had to keep trekking behind the two bloops.

"So far, it hasn't been that bad of an idea, DK. I mean, we found two portions of the hoard by letting them lead the way! We may find the rest if we keep following them."

"Eh, I guess you're right. Don't fix what ain't broke, am I right?" Both kongs laughed in agreement. Then, DK dashed to catch up with the two bloops leaving the cove.

Chapter 10: The Ruined Rampaging Octowhirl

Summary:

"Roll with the punches."

"Marrrrrriiieeeeeee. How much further? My legs hurt." Callie complained, dragging behind the group. It didn't help that she was lugging around a roller.

Like the attentive cousin Marie was, she ignored her cousin, looking around her surroundings with complete and utter confusion.

They had transitioned from the sandy shore a while ago and moved onto another jungle. By now, they should've been near Inkopolis. "I don't understand? Inkopolis should be right around here."

"We've been walking for hours!! Don't tell me you got us lost!" Callie whined, much to Marie's annoyance.

Marie was certain she hadn't gotten them lost. And no, it wasn't a pride thing making her unable to admit she had.

She suspected something strange was going on ever since Mt. Nantai erupted and those strange tikis appeared. For one, creatures she had never seen before began sprouting up everywhere. And for two, the landscapes were changing!

Marie picked up on this when the forest near Mt. Nantai suddenly turned into a sprawling jungle. Her suspicions were reinforced when they made it to Salmonid Shore, only to find the place was drastically different from how she remembered it. Then again, it was also possible that the shore's appearance change had been because of the ongoing conflict between the salmonids and the sudden emergence of crabs.

It was only now that Marie was certain the landscapes were changing, as when they arrived at what should've been the outskirts of Inkopolis, they were met with thick vegetation.

Strange ruins were all over the place, some of which had been covered in thick vines or submerged halfway through the dirt. Their age suggested they were ancient, which was...baffling, to say the least. Somehow, that wasn't even the strangest thing about them.

What was oddest about the ruins was how some structures looked like strange humanoid faces with grinning teeth and disturbing wide eyes. Actually, they resembled DK and his little friend quite a bit. Speaking of, they seemed to recognize the ruins themselves. Perhaps these structures were constructed by their ancestors? Or maybe they were just familiar with the ruins? The more Marie thought about it, the more her head spun.

"I think I'm going to pass out." Callie huffed dramatically, once again interrupting Marie's train of thought.

"Callie, I swear to cod. One more word out of you and I'm gonna—" Before Marie could get her thoughts out, a familiar noise silenced her. She crouched down, making her way to some nearby leaves while gesturing to Callie to follow. Callie helped her part the leaves.

Ahead of them were tons of wooden tikis; some roamed about the ground, others flew high in the sky. The sight of them was no surprise. What was a surprise were the octarian drones accompanying them. One of them made a low warbling noise, which was what Marie had heard earlier.

There were octotroopers, octosnipers, octocommanders, octocopters—just a whole bunch of octos! Surprisingly, there were no octolings, but perhaps that was a good thing. Still, that didn't make the appearance of octarians any less shocking. Had she known they'd encounter their presence this far from the valley and canyon, she wouldn't have had the agents split up.

"What are octarians doing all the way over here??" Callie whispered the exact thought that was in everyone's head. Well, just her and Marie's head. DK and his friend were just watching on in confusion for the most part.

"I was wondering the same thing..." Marie murmured, basically admitting she had no clue why the octarians were here. Though, she had her suspicions.

Suspicions that Callie voiced out loud. "You think those tikis got to them?"

"Maybe..." Honestly, Marie wasn't sure. It was likely that the tikis hypnotized a portion, maybe even all of the Octarian Army, and are forcing them to aid in their mission, whatever that may be. Alternatively, it was also possible that the tikis and octarians struck some sort of deal in the short span since the tikis appeared.

Whatever the case, one thing was clear. Unlike what Marie initially thought, the emergence of the tikis was not isolated to Mt. Nantai or its adjacent regions.

It would appear they were all over Inkadia...

"We gotta get to Inkopolis, fast!" And so, without delay, Marie rushed through the decrepit ruins with Callie lagging behind.

Their presence did not go unnoticed through the ruins, but there wasn't much the enemy could do when they were being steamrolled.. The Squid Sisters set it upon themselves to splat any octarians they encountered, leaving the tikis to get pummeled by DK and his friend.

Eventually, the team wandered into an expansive area, covered in vegetation and littered with small ruined structures. Marie would've kept pushing forward had it not been for the massive object at the center.

"Whoa..." she murmured, taking a few steps back.

"Is that...?" Callie added, all the tiredness having suddenly left her body.

It had definitely seen better days and looked nigh-unrecognizable. Yet, Marie and Callie knew that great octoweapon from anywhere. It was the Octowhirl—A mighty weapon that once rampaged across Octo Valley. Were it not for Agent 3, it would've wreaked havoc in Inkopolis along with the rest of those great octoweapons.

"What's it doing all the way out here?" Callie questioned, looking to her cousin as if she had the answers.

"I don't know. But it looks like somebody's been trying to repair it." Marie answered, noting the small patches of scrap and bolts dotting the mechanical weapon. DK stared at the giant machine, rubbing his head in confusion. "Well, whatever the case, it doesn't look like it'll be activating. So we might as well—"

DK's friend made a loud, strange sound, interrupting Marie and making her jump. She looked over to see him pointing upward while looking alarmed. She followed his gaze, only to spot another tiki.

"Man, another one?!" Callie groaned, tightening her grip around her roller.

Marie would've taken aim at the tiki, but something about it was different. Like that kalimba and those maracas, the tiki looked to resemble a specific instrument—a gong. She wasn't sure what it was doing here, of all places.

"What the—" Again, Marie was interrupted, this time by the tiki ringing its gong. The sound was so loud, it sent small shockwaves through the area while simultaneously hurting the Squid Sisters' ears. Before the group could react, the Gong tiki disappeared into the Octowhirl's body.

Marie was equally as confused as Callie upon seeing it trying to take possession of an inanimate weapon. Without a zapfish to power the Octowhirl, that tiki wouldn't be able to do anything.

At least, that's what she thought.

She was promptly proven wrong when the Octowhirl's eyes flickered to life—or rather, one of its eyes. It emanated a menacing purple hue all the same. It'd then roll to one side of the arena, tearing up all the vegetation that lay in its path. Once on the opposite end, it flipped itself upright, looking around. Its sights landed on the group, and with a mechanical rev, it let out a monotonous roar, shaking the very ground.

In response, DK banged on his chest and let out a less mechanical, primal roar.

Callie shifted her stance and changed her ink color to match Marie's, ready to use her roller. "You remember how to beat this thing?" She asked, not because she herself forgot, but just to make sure Marie knew the drill.

"My memory is better than yours, or did you just conveniently forget that?"

"Heh, yeah, right."

Their brief banter ceased immediately when the Octowhirl jumped once, shaking the ground with a slight tremble.

"It's getting ready to attack!" Callie warned, throwing her roller to cover as much ground as possible.

It jumped again, much to Marie's dismay. "There's not enough time! Move!"

She released a charged shot that went outward from its path, and in that same instance, it jumped a third time, rolling across the arena towards them with terrifying speed.

Callie and Marie moved out of the way long before it even came close to reaching them. DK seemed to get the hint and followed suit, jumping out of the Octowhirl's path.

Marie noticed how the Octowhirl didn't leave a trail of ink as it rolled through the landscape. She found it odd, but ultimately decided that would just make their jobs a whole lot easier.

After reaching the other end of the arena, Callie and Marie wasted no time in covering the ground with ink. The Octowhirl prepared to attack again, but this time, the Squid Sisters were ready.

After its third jump, it rolled towards the inklings with clear intent. However, when it rolled across the ink-covered ground, it reduced in speed. Seconds later, it came to a complete stop, sinking into the ink as if it were a large body of water.

"Now!" Marie aimed at its weak point with a charged shot. ...Wait, where was its weak point??

"Uh... Marie?" Callie called out, noticing the same thing as her.

The tentacle they had grown accustomed to seeing on great octoweapons and octobosses was absent! Where a tentacle should've sprouted from its mouth, like a tongue, there was nothing.

Worried, but undeterred, Marie shot her charged projectile into the hull of the Octowhirl. Callie nervously followed her lead, splashing her roller all over the thing. Unfortunately, no matter how much ink they coated the weapon in, nothing seemed to damage it.

After a while, the Octowhirl regained its composure, spinning out of the ink and back onto the outskirts of the arena. Now things were looking bad.

"Shoot." Marie huffed.

"If this thing doesn't have a boss tentacle, how are we gonna beat it?!" Callie asked worriedly, and for once, Marie didn't have an answer, let alone a compromise.

That's when DK stepped in front of them, surprising them both.

"DK?" The Squid Sisters said in unison, but all he did was give them a thumbs-up in response.

The Octowhirl bounced once, signalling another incoming attack. Rather than sit there and do nothing, DK began spinning his arm in circles, winding up a punch.

"He's gonna punch it?!" Callie gasped, confused and shocked at the bold display.

"DK! You can't punch it! That thing is made of reinforced metal!" Marie, worried for DK's safety, forgot he couldn't understand her. The Octowhirl jumped a second time, prompting Marie to try and move DK from his spot. Even with Callie's help, he remained anchored to the ground. "You have to move!" Marie heaved, pulling on his leg.

"Why isn't his friend helping us?!" Callie called out, noting how the smaller-tailed creature didn't seem bothered at all by what DK was planning and remained on his shoulder.

The Octowhirl jumped a third time, and just like that, it was on the move. "Carp!" Marie shouted before jumping out of the way with Callie.

Just as the Octowhirl was about to roll right over DK, he sent a devastating haymaker to the octoweapon, accompanied by a triumphant grunt. Not only did the octoweapon get damaged, but it was sent spiraling backward out of control, faster than when it was rolling at them!

The Octowhirl flew into a ruined temple, destroying its sealed entrance with a loud crash and disappearing into the darkness of the imposing structure.

Callie and Marie watched with mouths agape, unable to process what they just saw.

"Did he just..." Callie muttered, dropping her roller.

Marie had suspected DK was strong. But strong enough to beat a great octoweapon with a single punch? Even if it wasn't in peak condition, that was still quite the feat. Not even Agent 3 could do something like that! And she was the strongest the New Squidbeak Splatoon had!

DK turned back to the Squid Sisters, giving them another thumbs-up and a toothy smile. It didn't even look like the punch hurt him all that much. Marie only snapped out of it when the little guy on his shoulders gestured towards the ruins.

"We gotta go and make sure that tiki is down!" She said with a newfound focus.

Callie simply looked at her cousin as if she were crazy. "Are we just not gonna question what we saw?!"

"There's no time!" Marie declared, grabbing Callie's arm and pulling her along. She barely had enough time to grab her roller before the four rushed into the now-open temple.

Chapter 11: Vs. Stu

Summary:

"Bombs Ahoy!"

The temple was dark, warm, and covered in all types of overgrowth from the outside. Marie and the others used what little light seeped in through the cracks to guide their way.

As they walked, Marie noted just how alien the decrepit structure appeared. The style of architecture belonging to the temple was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Not to mention ancient. If she had to guess, the temple was centuries, if not thousands, of years old.

"Whoa," Callie murmured, breaking Marie out of her observant state.

Sunlight poured in from above the partially broken ceiling, practically casting a spotlight on the Octowhirl. Or rather, what remained of it.

"Jeez." Marie couldn't help but comment.

The group neared the ruined Octowhirl, finding it was busted more than it had already been. If Agent 3 left it in a barely salvageable state before, then DK completely wrecked it beyond repair.

"DK did this? In one punch?" Callie looked over at him, seeing he was enthralled with his own handiwork. "I'm glad he's on our side."

"As am I." Marie agreed, kneeling to inspect the broken octoweapon. "But there's no sign of that Gong tiki..." She turned, seeing there was another path leading further into the temple. "It couldn't have gotten far. Let's go!"

"You... Do know I'm Agent 1, right?"

Marie scoffed with a roll of her eyes. "I've been leading us since the jungle, and you're only now realizing that?"

"Maybe I'm just letting you have your fun. Did you ever think about that?"

Marie wouldn't entertain her cousin, instead moving deeper into the temple.

What they came across next was a wide area with a single narrow bridge connecting the two sides of the room. Below the bridge lay a gaping abyss, threatening to swallow the group whole.

"Watch your step," Marie said with slight unease in her tone.

The warning was meant for everyone, especially the heavy duo in the back. Then she remembered only Callie could understand her. Just as Marie turned to correct her mistake, she caught sight of something...odd.

Across the vast chasm sat a large golden gong, engraved with the symbol of some avian creature. Flanked on either side of the gong were two statues holding gong mallets.

The area they were in held minimal lighting, which reflected off the gong, giving it an almost holy glow while also lighting up a spherical item that lay underneath the gong.

"Is that... an egg?" Marie murmured to herself while squinting.

Despite the distance between the group and the item, she could clearly see it was an egg. Not the kind often laid by salmonids or some other type of fish. It wasn't a mollusk egg either. The egg looked more like a bird's, with a slight pinkish hue.

"Marie!" Callie yelled, pointing in the same general direction she had already been looking in.

Marie was so caught off guard by the out-of-place egg that she had completely missed the Gong tiki, who descended from the darkness above.

It stopped directly above the peaceful-looking bird egg, its intentions an enigma to the group. Then, with gestured motions of its balled hands, it somehow moved the statues on the sides and rang the gong three times, each ring being louder than the last.

The first ring startled the Squid Sisters, making them drop their weapons into the abyss below. The second ring had everyone covering their ears from the loud noise. The third and final ring sent powerful vibrations rippling through the weak foundation of the temple. The platform underneath the egg broke against the mighty vibrations, but so too did the bridge everyone was on.

Before Marie could even register what was going on, DK grabbed her and Callie, holding them close. They fell with a hard thump, leaving DK to take the brunt of the fall. Luckily, from the looks of it, he was okay. His little friend landed next to the group, using his jetpack to slow his fall.

Marie stood, helping her cousin off the dirty ground. After, they both watched as the pinkish egg, which now had cracks all over it, landed in a metallic gold bowl that Marie had overlooked. Somehow, the egg didn't crack open upon impact, but that was the least of their worries.

The Gong tiki showed itself once more. This time, it rang its own gong, simultaneously ringing out that hypnotic music Marie had grown tired of hearing. The bowl would then levitate in the air, prompting the group to back up in anticipation.

Two long, red wings broke out first, followed by two sharp talons. Then, a long neck extended from the bowl—it was a bird! ...Or, at least Marie thinks it is. She'd never seen a bird grow quite that big—especially not a newborn such as this one. It looked fully grown! Regardless of how she felt, that didn't stop the red bird from cawing out a crude, otherworldly roar.

The Squid Sisters stepped back, being weaponless and, therefore, defenseless. DK didn't shy away from the challenge, as evidenced by his chest-banging display.

The bird creature stuck its long neck into the golden bowl, and when its head popped back out, something black and spherical was in its beak.

It wasn't until the bird threw it that Marie realized what it was.

"Watch out!" She tackled Callie out of the way. Simultaneously, DK and his friend jumped to the side.

An explosion went off where the group had been standing a second ago. In response to the nearly successful attack, a crowd of tikis cheered! Wait...a crowd of tikis?

Yes, indeed. Hidden in the foreground of the landscape were a bunch of tikis spectating the fight—something they had previously done back at that colosseum. Marie wasn't sure why there had to be an audience to these fights, but that was the least of her worries at the moment.

"What the heck! That bird just hatched, and it's throwing bombs at us?!" Callie cried out.

Marie noted how the bombs used weren't of the ink variety. They were the industrial kind. The same ones used by certain companies strictly for mining purposes. "Blame the tiki, not the animal! Now move!" She helped her cousin up before the two rushed away from the bird. It, hyperfocused on their frantic movements, swooped down to attack with its talons. They ducked and dodged each time, which only seemed to frustrate the animal further.

Suddenly, Marie tripped on something large. Before she had the chance to see what it was, the bird took the opportunity to toss a bomb at her. A quiet gasp escaped her lips.

Just when it looked like the bomb would hit, DK leapt into the air and intercepted it. Somehow, it didn't explode in his hands, but it was still lit. After grabbing ahold of a nearby pillar, he jumped back in the bird's direction, dunking the bomb right on its head like a basketball. It cawed in pain as DK dropped back to the ground, eliciting a boo from the crowd of tikis.

"Nice one, DK!" Callie called out, then turned her attention towards her cousin.

"You alright?" Marie nodded.

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine. Just tripped over..." She looked to see what had made her fall. It was Callie's roller! And if that was here, then that meant her charger had to be close by. "Callie, your roller!" Marie got up, clutching it in her hands.

"Oh! Score!" She swiftly took it into her own hands, only for a stray peanut to fly in between the two. The cousins turned their attention back to the ensuing battle.

Apparently, the bird was enraged by DK's slam dunk. Marie could see why. His slam dunk attack had cracked its protective golden bowl, ruining its luscious gleam more than before. When it started dive attacking DK with the same move it used on the Squid Sisters, his little friend began shooting peanuts at it.

Like the yellow creature from earlier, the peanuts did little to actually harm the bird. But it did aggravate it further. Especially since it couldn't hit the nimble creature pelting it with nuts.

Eventually, the bird flew into a rage and began chucking bombs everywhere at a rapid pace. This prompted Marie to take cover. Callie, on the other hand, now feeling more confident with her roller, had other ideas. "Batter up!" She called out with a big smile before striking a stray bomb back towards the bird.

The bomb hit the golden bowl dead-on, cracking it further and causing the bird to caw in pain. Once again, the tikis booed the successful hit—not that it stopped Callie, DK, and the smaller creature from continuing their counterattack.

The bird stopped swooping down on them, staying high up in the air to chuck bombs at the three more accurately. Because it was so high up, the three had an easier time dodging the bombs, as they had more time to predict where they'd fall. However, the caveat to this was that the bird was now too high up to hit or throw any bombs back at it, effectively locking everyone into a stalemate.

Meanwhile, Marie snooped around the treacherous battlefield in search of her charger. She stayed hidden behind cover so the bird never drew its attention to her, but occasionally she'd have to dodge a couple of bombs and even a few stray peanuts.

"Of all times I can't find my charger." She muttered in frustration after narrowly dodging yet another bomb.

Her gaze shifted upward toward the bird. Her intent was to ensure the bird wasn't looking in her general direction before rushing to search another part of the area. Instead, that's when she saw it.

Atop one of the pillars was her charger, sticking out from the edge.

"Oh, come on!" Marie quietly groaned at the absurdity of where her charger landed. You mean to tell her Callie's roller dropped on the ground just fine, but her charger somehow landed on one of the few pillars just out of sight? She clicked her tongue in mild annoyance before super jumping to the top of the pillar, swiftly retrieving her charger.

While at the top, Marie got a good view of the bird that continued dropping bombs on everybody else. Despite its vantage point, it had yet to notice Marie. On top of that, she found herself close to the large avian. Not dangerously so, but enough to where the bird was in range of her charger. When the realization dawned on her, she took aim.

Right when the bird took out another bomb, Marie fired. Her trail of ink hit dead-on, making the bomb explode while it was still in the bird's beak. The tiki crowd couldn't help but cry out in anguish.

The unexpected attack dazed the bird, and it fell to the ground quickly. Upon impact, its heavily cracked golden bowl shattered into dozens of pieces. All the bombs it had yet to use scattered all over the place, exposing the bird's featherless body. The sight had Callie and DK covering their eyes in shock.

"Bullseye," Marie said to herself with a smirk.

Within seconds, the Gong tiki revealed itself—it now being in a dizzy state not dissimilar to the bird. The eyes of the tiki crowd dimmed immensely as their carved mouths hung agape, once again swaying softly from side to side in bitter defeat.

In contrast to the tikis' sorrowful mood, DK banged on his chest in an upbeat manner, then lunged at the Gong tiki. The tiki regained a state of composure for just a moment, only to be pelted by a barrage of punches and slaps. Each hit seemed to be more violent than the last. Marie could practically feel the shockwaves from each attack.

Now that she knew one of DK's punches was enough to put a great octoweapon out of commission, she had to ask herself just how tough some of these tikis were. Despite taking the full brunt of his attacks, the Gong tiki never splintered. Come to think of it, that Kalimba tiki never broke either. And he pummeled it twice! No way these guys were made of just wood...

By the time Marie hopped down the pillar to reunite with the others, DK punched the Gong tiki one last time with everything he had. It soared through the air, disappearing into the black abyss hanging above them.

"Nice going, DK!" Callie congratulated, giving the big guy a pat on the back.

Marie was about to give her own congratulations before she noticed the ground beneath them start to fracture. Her eyes widened in shock, and a sudden spike of fear shot through her.

What was it? Was it the bombs? The force of the impact from the bird falling? Or was it the many shockwaves produced by DK's beatdown? Whatever the cause, the foundation they stood on had been greatly weakened. That wouldn't have been all too bad, were it not for the fact that the ground beneath them was hollow, something Marie hadn't realized until now.

"Oh, no," Marie squeaked out, only for the cracks to enlarge instantly.

In seconds, the floor caved in, allowing for yet another abyss to engulf them in a cascading darkness.

Chapter 12: Welcome to the Underground

Summary:

"How was the fall?"

Not a peep escaped Marie as the four fell through the dark abyss. She was simply too frightened to even muster a scream. The same couldn't be said for Callie, who hollered her hearts out.

Marie was sure this was it. All their future adventures and plans to save Inkopolis would go down the drain right here and now. At least before her demise, she got to see pretty crystals jutting out of the nearby walls.

...Wait, walls?

Marie sobered up from the panic, seeing they were no longer falling through a pitch-black abyss. Now, they seemed to be in a wide-open cave system, with the only source of light being the various blue-colored crystals lining the walls.

Before Marie could comment on the cavern, she heard a loud thunk plop below her. Then, she landed on something big and furry with a soft 'oof', soon realizing that something was actually DK. She slid off of him into a rectangular contraption, followed by Callie doing the same. Miraculously, neither cousin dropped their weapons.

"What happened! Where are we??" Callie stammered, still startled from their sudden fall.

It should've been quite obvious to even someone as airheaded as Callie as to what happened, so Marie opted to skip her first question. "Looks like we're in some sort of cave." Marie peered outside of the contraption the three landed in. Below them was yet another black abyss, which clued her in on two key facts.

First off, they were on a rickety railway track that looked like it was going to crumble underneath its own weight at any second. Secondly, the only thing keeping them from falling to certain doom was the mine cart they landed in.

That explains why it's so cramped. Marie looked at DK's back, noticing he took up a majority of the mine cart's space. "How are we gonna get out of this?" She said, more so asking herself than Callie, since she already assumed her cousin had no bright ideas.

Regardless, that didn't stop Callie from answering. "I don't know. But instead of worrying about that, let's take a breather... This cart won't move anytime soon anyway."

Suddenly, DK's small friend landed securely on his shoulders, easing his fall with his jetpack. The slight push generated from DK's friend was enough to get the mine cart moving.

Marie didn't even say anything. She just squinted her eyes at Callie, who chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry..."

Within seconds, the mine cart went downhill, or was it downrail? Either way, it went downward and was picking up speed fast.

It was like the cousins were on a rollercoaster, only if that rollercoaster was decrepit and had no seatbelts. The only thing they could do to keep themselves anchored to the mine cart was to grab hold of DK, which he didn't seem to mind in the slightest.

As they whizzed by the glowing blue crystals, Marie noticed odd structures built into the walls of the cavern. Some looked like homes, while others looked like shops. She was sure there weren't any underground markets or towns in the world, at least none next to Inkopolis. The only thing that should be down here was the Deepsea Metro... There was no way the underground was also affected by the change of landscapes...right?

Marie didn't get ample time to ponder the thought, as the mine cart started jumping! Her question of why was quickly answered when she peered over DK's big, burly arms, seeing he was actively pulling the cart up with his immense strength to make it hop. She'd never seen such a physics-defying move done before.

He wasn't doing this for no reason, either. Apparently, Marie's earlier assessment of the railways being old and rickety was a bit too accurate. Bits and pieces of the tracks were outright missing! Normally, any normal person would freak out at the sight, but DK just hopped over the gaps like it was no big deal... Something told Marie this wasn't his first time doing something like this.

Their chaotic and overall scary experience on the railway ended less than smoothly. The last bit of the tracks was bent and curved beyond belief. Not even DK could control the mine cart anymore as the group was thrown off. Fortunately, they all landed on solid ground.

"Oh! How I missed you, solid earth!" Callie exclaimed, hugging and kissing the ground like she hadn't seen it in years.

Marie rolled her eyes. "Quit being a drama queen."

Although she deemed the excessive show of affection unnecessary, she couldn't conceal how nerve-racking the experience was. Her legs kept doing a crazy jitterbug, forcing her to use her charger as a cane. Jeez. Is this how Gramps feels? She wondered while looking at her legs.

The thought of Gramps filled her with a twinge of concern. She quickly shook the negative thoughts out of her head, choosing to believe he was okay. He had to be! He was in Inkopolis right before she and Callie left, and right now, that was the safest place on Earth...hopefully.

"Hey, look." Callie pointed, snapping Marie back to reality.

In the distance was a somewhat familiar sight—the Deepsea Metro! Or rather, one of its many stations.

Marie could see the train, flanked by what seemed to be people. If she wasn't mistaken, the Deepsea Metro should've been operating at the moment. Why were they just...stopped?

"Think something might be up?" Callie eyed Marie, same as DK and his friend.

She shrugged. "Only one way to find out." Marie quickly took the lead, approaching the makeshift encampment.

As the four walked through, the many denizens of the deep sea quickly took notice of their presence. Most were startled at first, especially when they saw DK and his friend. However, after they concluded that the group wasn't a threat, most of the denizens relaxed. Still, there were quite a few enamored with DK and his friend's appearance—but not as many as Marie would've expected. It was almost like they had gotten used to oddities such as DK.

Speaking of oddities, Marie was quick to notice how different the subway station looked in comparison to the pictures and videos Agent 8 had shared with her a short while back. It looked less built and more...natural? She wasn't sure how to properly explain it. All she could say for certain was that the appearance change was notable.

Another thing, why were the denizens and various other passengers just outside the train? The tracks looked to be in stable condition, and yet, everyone was disembarked. In fact, it looked like they had been camping out here for a few hours now, if the haphazardly constructed tents and campfires were anything to go by.

Midway through, DK and his friend were surrounded by some of the younger passengers. They were all enthralled by his giant appearance and furry texture. Marie figured nothing bad would come from the interaction, since they all seemed to be friendly with each other. Still, she didn't want DK and his friend to be surrounded by the crowd for too long.

"Ah, hello!" A new voice called out before Marie got the chance to break the circle of people surrounding her furry companions. The voice in question was clearly directed to Marie and Callie. "Strange to see newcomers at this time, but a welcome sight nonetheless."

Marie saw a bright blue appendage waving at them. It'd soon retract, revealing it had sprouted from a blue sea cucumber wearing a conductor's hat with the Kamabo Corporation logo stamped on its front.

"I regret to inform you that the Deepsea Metro is currently experiencing...external issues at the moment. Until the conditions lighten, I'm afraid we won't be leaving this station anytime soon. On behalf of Kamabo. Co, we apologize for the inconvenience."

Marie recognized the conductor due to his formal speech. She believed Eight referred to him as C.Q. Cumber, assuming she hadn't misremembered the details.

Before she or Callie could ask any further questions, the sea cucumber crawled elsewhere to tend to the many other passengers.

"Thanks... I guess?" Callie muttered with a confused look. Marie simply shrugged.

"Do not mind him. The conductor is just a bit on edge at the moment."

The Squid Sisters whipped around to see a large isopod sitting nearby. His hulking physique was masked vaguely only by his sunglasses and the sleek suit he wore.

"So, I see you've tamed a couple of those furry creatures."

Marie thought about responding to the man's question first, but something about his get-up caught her eye. That's when she realized something. "Oh, you must be Iso Padre."

Iso Padre, momentarily shocked, rubbed one of his whiskers. "Pardon. Have we met before? Apologies if we have. It's just...I'm sure I would remember a fateful encounter with the famous Squid Sisters."

Marie herself was caught off guard by Iso Padre recognizing them. She supposed it shouldn't have been all too surprising. After all, they were still in their casual clothes and didn't look much different from when they were in their idol attire.

After reeling back from the comment, Marie registered that what she said was weird without context. "N-No. We haven't. Sorry. But you've met Eight before. She's told us a lot about you."

"Eight...?" Iso Padre rolled the name in his mouth for a moment, suddenly perking up upon remembering. "Ah! You must mean the young squire. How delightful. I wasn't sure she'd continue talking about me after reaching the promised land. Good to see I was wrong." He let out a hearty chuckle, it being as deep as his voice. "I knew she was a talented fellow. But I never could've predicted she was friends with the likes of you! How marvelous." Iso Padre rubbed the bottom of his chin, suddenly going deep into thought. "I suppose if you're acquainted with the young squire, you might be able to help get us out of our precarious situation."

Before Marie could respond, Callie cut in. "How precarious is this situation, might I ask?" It was such a goofy way to ask what had happened, but it earned another hearty laugh from Iso Padre.

"I'm afraid we've treaded into some deep, murky waters." He said solemnly, his tone shifting from upbeat to somewhat pessimistic. "I'm not sure what happened. Everything was going smoothly. Then the subway just entered a whole new area—like a big cave system." Iso Padre tapped his chest. "I've been with the Deepsea Metro for a long time now. I know every track like the back of my pereopods. But this..." He gestured towards the surrounding area. "I've never seen anything like this in the metro before." Iso Padre folded his six arms together, clearly having more to say.

"There's more to it, isn't there?" Marie noted, urging him to continue. That's when Callie butted in once again.

"Yeah, hold on. You said we tamed a couple of those furry creatures. You mean there's more like DK down here?" She said, pointing to him.

"DK? So that's the big guy's name." Iso Padre rubbed his chin thoughtfully before shaking his head. "There's more furry creatures down here, yes. But they don't look like your friend there. They came with the change of terrain. Not sure what or who they are, but they're not a friendly bunch. It seems they've made the tracks their home."

Oh, I see now. Marie turned, eyeing all the denizens and passengers huddled up near their crafty, albeit primitive, structures. Iso Padre's explanation explains why the Deepsea Metro is inactive and why everyone is just holed up here. They're trapped. It also explains why most of the passengers got over their initial shock rather quickly upon seeing something as strange as DK and his friend.

"There was something else," Iso Padre commented, drawing Marie's attention back to him. "Those furry creatures were transporting these strange crystals through the caves. They weren't the same as the ones on the walls. And they were also transporting bananas for some reason... Weirdest of all were these strange wooden masks working alongside them. They looked like—"

"Tikis?" Callie and Marie said in unison, surprising Iso Padre.

"Oh. I take it you've encountered these wooden masks before?"

"More times than we care to admit." Marie sighed, figuring the tikis were involved somehow.

"So, as you can see, we're not doing so well at the moment. None of the passengers on board are fighters. I'd go out there and do something myself, but I wouldn't get very far."

Callie placed a hand on Marie's shoulder, giving Iso Padre a thumbs-up. "Don't worry about it. The Squid Sisters got you covered! We'll clear out the cavern before you can say 'Stay Fresh!'"

Iso Padre stared at the duo blankly for a second, then laughed joyously. "That brings me much relief to hear! I wish you idols luck." He clasped his appendages together. "Oh... one more thing. I feel like there's something big deep in the caverns. Every now and then, I feel these pulsating tremors vibrate through the ground. I think the conductor feels them too, as he's prohibited passengers from wandering too far."

Marie nodded. "Thanks for the warning. We'll be careful." With a small wave goodbye, the Squid Sisters left Iso Padre to retrieve DK and his friend.

By now, they weren't as crowded by the passengers as they had been when they first arrived. Convincing DK and his friend to help out wasn't hard at all, as all the Squid Sisters had to do was gesture for them to continue following.

And like so, the group ventured deep into the caves, unsure what threats lurked beyond.

Chapter 13: Mole Miners

Summary:

"The miners are masters of the underground."

"Alright, I gotta say it. This place looks weird." Callie commented, holding her roller with a firm grip.

"No kidding." Marie agreed, not sounding sarcastic for once.

The Deepsea Metro wasn't anything like what Eight described it as. There were hints and pieces of the metro around, sure. But a lot of it looked less industrial and more natural. It was as if someone had thought about constructing portions of the metro and then gave up midway through.

Not to mention, the bits of the metro they did see looked abandoned—as did the rest of the foreign structures found, which mainly consisted of huts and incomplete railroads.

Callie looked back at DK as they walked, who tilted their head at her gaze. "You ever wonder what's on their mind?"

Marie looked over her shoulder, then at Callie. "I don't know. Bananas, maybe?" She shrugged. "As long as they keep helping us, does it really matter?"

"I guess not." Callie sighed, focusing on the path ahead. "Still, it'd be nice to know what they're thinking."

...

"See! That's the third time they've looked at me, Diddy! I musta did somethin' wrong." DK said worriedly, wondering why the two bloops looked at him more frequently. "Was it 'cause I tried speakin' to those fish people?"

Diddy waved off his concerns. "Oh, come on, DK! I don't think it's just you they're looking at. They've been eyeing us this whole journey. I'm sure it's nothing serious."

"Ah, maybe you're right. I could just be overthinking things."

"Exactly!" Diddy looked around. "Them aside, I gotta say...this place looks weird."

"No kidding." DK nodded, eyeing the glowing blue crystals on the nearby walls. "Kinda reminds me of the caves back home."

"Uh, DK. I'm pretty sure these are the caves back home."

They had ventured a long way from the jungle, crossed the shores, entered the ruins, and now they fell deep into a vast cave system. All of these places looked familiar, and the cave was no exception.

It was not lost on the Kongs that their island had somehow been transported to this strange new world and merged with its own scenery, dragging its inhabitants along for the ride.

"Right, right. I keep forgettin' that." DK patted his head, as if to tell his brain to stop forgetting such important details. But how could he pay attention when his banana hoard was still at large?

"It's kinda strange," Diddy said unprompted.

"What do you mean, little buddy?"

"I mean, we've been walking for a while now and have seen plenty of those mole miner huts. But we haven't seen a single mole."

DK rubbed his chin. "Yeah, that is a bit strange." He'd shrug his shoulders. "Eh, maybe they're on lunch break."

"The mole miners? On a lunch break? C'mon, DK. You know how Max is with stuff like that."

"Yeah, true. He does work his people to the bone. But everybody's gotta rest every now and then!"

Diddy scoffed. "That's coming from the Kong who does nothing but rest! No wonder Cranky gets on your case all the time."

"Hey! Resting is not all I do. Protecting the island is a full-time job, y'know."

"And yet here we are, searching for bananas that were stolen right underneath your nose... Again."

DK chuckled nervously. "Yeah, alright. I'll admit I dropped the ball. But like you said, these bloops will help us get the hoard back. We've already gotten this far with them." He yawned. "Also, speaking of Cranky, how do ya think he's holdin' up?"

"That old ape? He's more than likely doing fine. Probably wondering what's taking you so long on getting the hoard back. I wouldn't worry about him. I'm more so worried about the change of scenery..."

DK waved him off dismissively. "Ah, don't worry about it. I'm sure once we beat these tikis and retrieve the hoard, everything will go back to normal, quick as a banana split!"

"I hope you're right about that..." Diddy sounded less optimistic than DK, but he had no real reason to doubt DK's assumption. After all, everything started when those tikis arrived. So, it made sense to assume everything will go back to normal after they've been dealt with.

The next few minutes were largely uneventful. There wasn't much excitement to be had from just walking around. The boredom almost made DK miss the times he'd randomly run into a kremling after every turn of a corner. Almost.

"Hey, look!" Diddy pointed, earning not only DK's attention, but the attention of the two bloops as well.

It didn't take long at all for them to come across a strange sight, as in the illuminated caverns were dozens of mine carts. Each and every one of them was filled to the brim with bananas and crystals.

"Score!" DK leaped to the nearest cart, wasting no time on devouring a few bananas. "All this runnin' around and kickin' tail was making me hungry!" He exclaimed amidst his impolite lip smacks. The two bloops followed his lead, using the downtime as a snack break.

Diddy, for once, wasn't interested in a banana buffet. The crystals were what caught his eye. "Huh. That's odd."

"I know, right? What would the moles want with a bunch of bananas?" DK commented, swallowing one last delicious yellow fruit.

"No, not that. This!" Diddy held up a crystal toward DK's face.

It had become clear since the shore that these tikis were enthralling the rest of the isle's inhabitants and using them to steal all their bananas. For what purpose? That was the mystery.

However, alongside weapons and glass canisters belonging to the bloops' species, they were now stealing crystals? What's more, the crystals in the mine carts didn't look like the ones sticking out from the cave walls. They were something different.

"Huh..." DK scratched his head, unsure what the ramifications of it all meant. Just what were those tikis planning?

Before the kongs could ponder on the thought any longer, a startled scream from the pink bloop jolted them to attention. They turned to see her jump back away from the cart, pointing at it frantically. Apparently, she had picked up a banana, revealing an eye!

The creature the eye belonged to hopped out of the mine cart—it was a mole! The whole group jumped back in surprise, only for moles to start jumping out of every cart.

"They were hiding! Clever little fellas..." DK noted how they would've passed by the enemy had he not stopped for a quick snack. Their operations would've more than likely continued had they gone on.

DK punched the first mole that popped out, sending them careening into another cart. Diddy hopped onto his shoulders, peanut guns in hand. "Guess break time's over." He said with a slight smirk.

After recovering from the initial shock, both bloops got into a fighting position. The group was more than ready to brawl with the mole miners.

***

"And take this!" Callie yelled, smashing her roller on the side of the furry creature's face. She hit it so hard, its hard hat flew right off. She breathed in deeply, taking in ragged breaths.

It wasn't until Marie put a hand on her shoulder that Callie calmed down. "Those things really got you worked up, huh?"

She'd never seen Callie so frantic before. The fear she'd shown earlier had long since transitioned into anger. Or was it irritation? Perhaps both. Either way, it was clear that these creatures had gotten on her cousin's bad side.

"Looks like that was the last one," Marie added, turning back to DK and his friend, who overlooked a pile of the knocked-out creatures. "Now we know what's been disrupting the Deepsea Metro's operations." She poked one of the creatures.

When they were unconscious, the furry animals looked kind of cute. However, in battle, they were far from it. They were like a militia of overworked and underpaid construction workers! Thank the seas for Callie and the other two. Without them, Marie would've been in quite the pickle. The only thing her charger was good for was distraction. Like DK, the furry creatures were immune to ink—but not to blunt force trauma.

"We should probably head deeper into the caves. There's probably more of..." A low rumble interrupted Marie's train of thought.

At first, she thought it might've been her imagination. But then the rumble increased in intensity, turning into a full-blown earthquake. The ground jostled hard enough to toss Callie into her cousin, sending them both tumbling. DK managed to stay on his feet. In fact, it looked like the earthquake wasn't affecting him at all.

The earthquake subsided almost as quickly as it appeared, leaving Callie to speak up. "What was that?" She questioned while moving off of Marie.

"Something big," Marie guessed as Callie helped her up off the floor. "That must be what Mr. Padre was talking about earlier."

Just as she came to that conclusion, another earthquake shook the ground, this time at a much less intense frequency. Accompanying the earthquake was a low rumbling noise that vibrated the mine carts around them.

Callie waited for the rumbling to die down before commenting. "Sounds like it's coming from deeper in the caves." She pointed to a nearby tunnel entrance. Funnily enough, all the rail tracks the mine carts were connected to led to the same tunnel.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's move!"

Marie barked with the utmost confidence, spearheading the group's expedition.

***

The tunnel didn't turn out to be as vacant as Marie initially assumed. It was crawling with more of those hostile furry creatures and wooden tikis. What's more, there were octarians abound! The further in the tunnel they got, the more frequent the octarians became. There were still no octoling soldiers, but the abundance of octarian drones all but confirmed Marie's suspicions that the Octarian Army was involved with the tikis in some capacity. Whether their alliance was forced or forged remained to be seen.

Eventually, they saw a bright light near the end of the tunnel. The powerful tremors and deep rumbles intensified the closer they got, indicating to the group they were heading in the right direction.

They stepped into the light, being momentarily blinded.

"Whoa..." Callie murmured, as she was the first to see what lay on the other side. When Marie's vision cleared, she did the same thing.

Before them was a wide open cavern with a multitude of rail tracks that spiraled all over the place. Each track led to one of the many tunnels on the cavern walls, including the one they came from. The furry creatures, tikis, and octarians were riding mine carts to and from various locations on the rail tracks.

The ceiling was covered in dozens of massive blue crystals that lit up the cavern like a sun. Below them all was a black abyss—the only parts of the cavern the crystals' light either couldn't or refused to reach.

At the center of it all was the culprit behind the tremors and earthquakes—an absolutely massive machine, roughly the same size as that orange octopus from the shore, and no doubt made from octarian tech. It even resembled the octopus, except, instead of possessing spikes on its robotic tentacles, the tips were fitted with gigantic drills that bore into the Earth.

"What are those tikis doing?" Marie thought out loud, unable to wrap her head around the reasoning behind a need for such a colossal machine. If they were mining the crystals, she'd understand. Yet, a whole treasure trove of crystals hung above the machine and remained untouched. From the looks of it, the machine wasn't mining anything. Rather, it was creating new tunnels in every direction. The reasoning for such an operation continued to elude Marie.

"Hang on. Is that..." Marie squinted, noticing the head of the mechanical octopus was made of glass. In it, a familiar figure handled the controls, operating the whole vessel. "No way!"

"What? What is it?" Callie questioned eagerly, looking in the same place as Marie. Of course, she couldn't see whoever had her cousin so surprised.

"It's Marina!" Marie answered, the shock of the revelation having yet to wear off.

"What?! No way."

That's what I said! Marie blinked.

She couldn't blame Callie for having the exact same reaction. There was no way either of the Squid Sisters could have predicted Marina would be here, this far underground. Notably, Pearl was absent, though that was the least of their worries.

"Think she's hypnotized?" Callie suggested.

"Oh, I don't think. I know."

Marie hadn't known Marina for all that long, but in the short time she did know her, she deduced she was a sweet and kind person. Not the kind of individual who would engage with a bunch of aggressive tikis willingly. Besides, Marie doubted she was at all interested in geology.

"Come on, we gotta get closer." Marie waved.

The group would then make their way closer to the head of the octarian machine, using the various mining platforms to make their ascent. The few groups of enemies they came across were easily dealt with in quick succession.

The group stopped ascending when they reached eye level with the octarian machine, hiding behind a few mine carts. Their plan was to sneak onto one of the machine's tentacles and make their way to Marina undetected. Shouldn't be too hard, seeing as though the machine itself was occupied with drilling several tunnels.

Unfortunately, lady luck was not on their side this time around. For some unknowable reason, one of the carts tipped over when DK brushed past it, knocking all its contents on the ground with a loud, echoing clatter. Marie winced while Callie grimaced as the octarian machine's head slowly turned towards them.

"So much for that plan." Callie whipped out her roller, as if she could do anything meaningful against the machine that looked like a repurposed great octoweapon.

When Marina's gaze landed on the Squid Sisters, Marie fully expected the machine to attack. Instead, her locking eyes with the idol group seemed to unexpectedly snap her out of whatever trance she was caught in. "C-Callie? Marie?" She murmured just loud enough for the group to hear.

Marie didn't respond at first. She was too caught off guard to formulate a reply. Luckily, Callie had it covered. "Marina? Is that you? You're not possessed right now or anything, are you?"

"Possessed? Why would I be..." Marina noticed the controls in her hands and quickly took her grip away. The machine's tentacle drills whirred to a halt shortly after. "What's going on...?" she asked dumbfoundedly, staring at her hands in utter confusion.

"We were hoping you'd tell us that," Marie said, taking a small step forward. "We found you like this."

Callie jumped in front of Marie, once again taking the talking stick. "Do you remember how you got here?"

Marina shook her head thoughtfully. "N-No. I was...prepping for the news with Pearlie, like we do every day. Then I think an earthquake happened? It knocked out the power. When the lights came back on, I heard her scream. But when I turned to her..." Her face scrunched up in a mixture of pain and confusion.

"What? What happened? What did you see?" Callie asked eagerly. Maybe a bit too eagerly.

"That's the thing. I don't remember what happened after that. I turned to her, but I think I must've blacked out immediately after... Next thing I know, I'm talking to you guys in this mech."

That wasn't too uplifting to hear. If anything, it meant Inkopolis wasn't as safe as Marie had hoped. From what little information Marina divulged, the situation in the city didn't bode too well for Pearl, let alone Gramps. Oh, great. Now she was starting to worry about Gramps again.

Focus, Marie! She shook her head, forcing herself to stay on task. No use in worrying about Pearl and Gramps if they couldn't do anything about it right now.

"Watch out!" Callie shouted, directing everyone's attention to the cockpit of the mech. Marina spun to her side, coming face to face with one of those instrumental tikis in the shape of a banjo.

Before she could react, the tiki began playing itself, emitting that hypnotic theme the Squid Sisters had grown all too familiar with. Were it not for the fact that one of their peers was being hypnotized right in front of them, Marie might've had some appreciation for the banjo-acoustics.

After everything was said and done, the Banjo tiki disappeared inside Marina. She closed her eyes before slowly gripping the controls once more. In one instance, they heard the tentacle drills whir to life in the distance. In the next, Marina opened her eyes, her pupils having returned to normal. But the Squid Sisters knew better. After all, nobody as kind as Marina would be glaring at them with such hostility.

"Callie..." Marie muttered, watching as one of the tentacles slowly dragged itself out from the tunnel it was drilling. She knew what was coming, and there was only one way to avoid it. "Cart! Now!" she shouted, pointing to the nearest one.

Marie expected DK and his friend to occupy one cart while she and Callie took control of another. Instead, they all piled into a single mine cart, making it much more cramped than it needed to be. Soon after, DK forced the cart to move across the rails. They narrowly dodged the large mechanical tentacle, which completely decimated the platform they had been on seconds prior.

"Now what?!" Callie called out frantically, clearly anticipating another attack.

"I don't know!" Marie looked up hesitantly, seeing Marina glare at them with furrowed brows. She ran through her options, which admittedly weren't many.

The only way to free Marina was to beat that banjo out of her. There was no doubt in her mind that they could do it. The problem was reaching Marina, who just so happened to be encased behind reinforced glass. Their ink weapons wouldn't do jack against the machine's exterior. Maybe Marie could get DK to punch through the glass? But if he punches too hard, that might make the whole machine drop into the abyss below—and who knew what was waiting down there?

Thinking about their next course of action was giving Marie a splitting headache.

"She's not...attacking?" Callie noted, making Marie hit the pause button on her thoughts.

Indeed, the octarian machine was not making any additional moves against the group, which was odd considering it had tried to crush them a few moments ago. The tiki was still in Marina's body, so why had it stopped attacking so suddenly?

It took a minute, but eventually, a realization crossed Marie's mind. "The tracks."

"What?" Callie looked at her like she was speaking another language.

Marie pointed. "The tracks. The tiki doesn't want to destroy the tracks."

"Why?"

Marie shrugged. "It probably doesn't want to disrupt its transport system."

"So, that means we're safe, right?" As if to answer Callie's question, the mine cart jumped in the air, bouncing atop another cart whilst simultaneously destroying it. The group's cart landed back on the tracks with a heavy clank that made the Squid Sisters grunt.

"Mostly..." Marie murmured.

The octarian machine wouldn't attack the group so long as they were on the rail tracks. However, that didn't mean the other assortment of enemies wouldn't try to ram into them with their own mine carts. Luckily, DK was an expert at maneuvering the cart.

Still, the enemy's numbers showed no signs of depleting, no matter how many mine carts DK destroyed. They had to deal with the Banjo tiki, and fast. But how?

Marie looked around in search of any ideas. When her gaze shifted downward to the tracks below, she saw numerous carts going back and forth between the different platforms. Some were chock-full of bananas. Others were filled with those strange crystals. Quite a few were full of both. And then there were a special few filled to the brim with bombs—the same kind that bird from the ruins used.

"Bingo." Marie stood up in the cart, much to Callie's surprise.

"What are you doing?!"

"This." She jumped.

Her timing was perfect, and she landed right on top of an octarian drone, taking it out with her charger before it could react.

Just when she thought that was that, something small but heavy landed on her shoulders, scaring the ink right out of her. Marie quickly calmed down upon seeing it was just DK's little friend. She assumed he jumped down to provide backup. While a bit of a rash decision, he wouldn't be hearing any complaints from her.

Now that they had a cart full of bombs at their disposal, they could break the glass to reach Marina.

Driving the cart back to the upper levels wasn't as treacherous as Marie thought it'd be. Fortunately for her, all of the enemies were focused on DK and Callie's cart, allowing Marie and company to stroll right up to the back of the machine's head.

"Get ready." She grabbed a bomb and readied her throwing arm, preparing for when the cart circled around to the front.

The second the cockpit glass came into view, Marie and DK's little friend pelted the machine with bomb after bomb. As she expected, the glass withstood the strength of several bombs, at first leaving no cracks. Regardless, neither of them let up on their throws. Eventually, the integrity of the glass started failing, giving way to small fractures that gradually spread wider with each bomb that exploded along its surface.

One good throw from Marie was all it took for the glass to finally shatter. To follow up, DK's little friend flew his way into the mech, using the momentum to deliver a mean kick right to Marina's noggin.

Marie wasted no time super jumping up to the cockpit, landing a few feet behind the little DK. Marina was sprawled out across the floor, clearly unconscious and in quite a bit of pain. Honestly, she'd rather him kick her than someone like DK. They had no bones to break, but Marie was sure one punch from him would break something of theirs anyway.

"Well, that was stressful." Marie sighed, walking beside little DK.

Like clockwork, the Banjo tiki hovered out of Marina's body, all dizzy and dazed. It was open to attack, but Marie doubted her strength to do any meaningful damage to the tiki's wooden carapace. Judging by how little DK hadn't charged in yet, she figured he felt the same to some extent.

They watched the tiki hover there, disoriented. She hadn't considered it before, but what if it recovers? Will it take possession of Marina again? Will it try to possess little DK? Or will it flee?

Just as the thoughts crossed her mind, a heavy thump echoed from behind, followed by a heavy vibration. She turned to see that DK had joined them, with Callie quickly slinking off his back.

"That was some nice thinking, Marie!" Her cousin praised. DK, on the other hand, wasted no time on such compliments. He immediately honed in on the Banjo tiki, banging his chest triumphantly before leaping right at it.

The beatdown was a routine at this point. So routine, in fact, that the consequences hadn't fully crossed Marie's mind until he was inches from the tiki. "Wait!" She reached her hand out, but it was too late.

Once his first hit connected, the others came in rapid succession. DK beat the Banjo to a pulp, as he'd done with all the others. Each powerful strike sent a miniature shockwave cascading through the air, which the group barely felt due to their proximity. These shockwaves were accompanied by strong tremors that, unbeknownst to them, vibrated throughout the whole mech.

With a short wind-up of his arm, DK punched the tiki straight into the abyss below, banging his chest and letting out a war cry to solidify his victorious beatdown. Then, the whole mech creaked loudly and tilted to the side.

"Oh, carp."

It was as Marie expected. With the mech no longer active due to Marina being off the controls, its tentacle drills weren't securely lodged into the earth anymore. DK's hectic beating of the tiki only helped dislodge the tentacles further. Now nothing was stopping the mech from falling, which is exactly what came next.

It was slow, at first, giving the group enough time to retrieve Marina and huddle together, with DK wrapping his big, burly arms around everyone protectively. Once the last few tentacles slid out of their respective tunnels, the mech began careening down into the depths. The sounds of destruction echoed all around the group as the machine took the many rail tracks and mining platforms down with it.

There were no respawn points down in the caves, as far as Marie was aware. The moment she realized that, she became fearful for her and her cousin's lives. With nothing else to do, she squeezed her eyes shut and hugged Callie tightly—all while they descended deeper and deeper into the caverns below.

Chapter 14: Mole Patrol

Summary:

"Whatever toils the miners face, the train keeps up at a breakneck pace!"

"Oh..." Marie groaned, opening her eyes in a daze. Her vision fluttered and faded, being blurred as all heck. Even then, she could see the ruined interior of the cockpit.

"Marie?" Callie's voice echoed, heavily muffled by the ringing noise in Marie's ears, yet still audible. She saw the bulbous head of her cousin pop into view seconds later, followed by her hands gently shaking her by the shoulders. "Marie? You alright?" Her voice came out again, this time much clearer. The ringing noise gradually faded, replaced with a throbbing headache. On the bright side, her blurred vision cleared.

Marie stared at Callie's concerned face for a long moment before her gaze shifted to the cockpit's ceiling. "Did we die?" She was certain they hadn't due to the pain, but she had to ask just to make sure.

Callie smiled. "Nope!" For once, her bubbly personality and cheery tone was a welcomed tonal shift.

Marie sighed before sitting up with a pained groan. Callie helped her raise her head. "Is everyone okay...?" She felt like she'd already asked this once before, but nonetheless, someone had to ask.

"Y-Yeah. We're fine." Callie murmured, looking over at DK. "You and DK were the only ones who took the brunt of the fall."

How did that happen? Marie wondered, remembering she was wrapped safely in DK's big arms. Even if they both took the worst of the fall, how is it that he comes out of it fine and dandy, and she comes out of it feeling like death? That's so unfair...

Well, at least everyone else is okay. Marie sighed, watching DK and his friend examine the still unconscious Marina. Like Callie, it seems as though she didn't sustain any damage from the fall. At least not any strong enough to jolt her awake.

"How far did we even fall...?" Marie peeked out of the cockpit, their surroundings being lit by the abundance of blue crystals. She couldn't even see the light from the shining crystals of the previous area. All that lay above was an endless sea of blackness.

"Uh, pretty far," Callie guessed, following Marie's gaze upward. That's when she shook her head. "By the way, there's a problem."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Marie remarked, causing Callie to click her tongue.

"Aside from the fall! The tiki..."

Marie's expression hardened into something a bit more serious. "Is it back?" She clutched her charger, ready for a fight.

Callie shook her head. "No. It's not close. But DK's pummeling didn't finish the job. We saw it retreat further into the tunnels after the fall." She pointed outward to the dark mouth of yet another tunnel system.

"Jeez. These tikis are tough." Marie groaned, a bit annoyed. She figured there was no freeing up the Deepsea Metro until they took care of the Banjo tiki, who undoubtedly had its hypnotic influence all over the hostile inhabitants. Now that she was thinking about it, all the tougher tikis were usually instruments other than a drum. Could they have been the generals of this wooden invasion force?

Whatever the case, Marie knew time was being wasted. Every second not spent giving chase was a second the Banjo got further away. If they lost it in these winding caverns now, they'd be unlikely to ever find it again.

"Go after it. We can't let it escape."

Callie flinched. "W-What about you? We can't just leave you here!"

"Ah, I've been through worse." Marie casually waved off her cousin's concerns. "Besides, doesn't look like anything else is down here with us. You take DK and his friend and pursue the tiki. I'll keep Marina safe here."

Callie's brows lowered slightly. She looked to Marina, then back to Marie. "You sure you gonna be okay?"

Marie smiled, patting her charger. "I'm an agent of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. Of course I'm gonna be okay."

Her reassurance made Callie smile. "Okay." She stood up, whipping out her roller. "We'll be right back as soon as we give that Banjo the what for!"

"I'm counting on it." Marie gave a thumbs-up.

Callie turned to DK and his little friend, whistling to grab their attention. She gestured her head towards where they had seen the tiki flee. DK took one glance at the tunnel entrance before giving Callie a thumbs-up, making a low grunting sound that one hundred percent sounded like him saying "Okay."

The noise caught Marie off guard, but Callie seemed to roll with it. She confidently took point, leading the two beyond the wreckage of the octarian mech and into the depths of the unknown.

***

"Again, not trying to doubt your decision or anything, DK, but are you sure leaving the other bloops behind was fine?" Diddy questioned, frequently glancing behind them. Marie and Marina had long since been out of sight as the three navigated their way through a sparsely populated tunnel.

"Of course I am!" DK said, swatting away another one of those tentacle things while the pink bloop in front whacked a mole upside the head with her comically large paintbrush. "C'mon, we've seen the green bloop in action. They can hold their own just fine."

"Well, sure, but..." Diddy still obviously had some reservations, to which DK quickly brushed away.

"The pink bloop wouldn't have left the green bloop without reason! 'Sides, we got a tiki to catch. Better to corner it now than risk it taking control of another one of their people, right?"

"Yeah. I guess you're right." Diddy conceded, seeing the logic to DK's point. "Still, how far did this guy go? We just saw him run through here a few minutes ago!"

"I'll tell you what, you were right about what you said earlier, little buddy. These tikis might not be all that strong, but they sure are fast!"

"Yeah, and they can take quite the beating, too." Diddy recounted seeing how the Banjo tiki was able to withstand direct punches from DK, while the tremors alone were enough to make that giant machine buckle and collapse. It wasn't just the Banjo tiki either.

The Kalimba, those Maracas, the Gong—all of them were able to handle the first wave of DK's barrage. Diddy could only recall one other person being able to match that feat...

Diddy was quickly snapped out of his thoughts by the abrupt gurgle and gargles of the pink bloop. Though her words were still unintelligible, she was clearly trying to direct the kongs' attention to what was up ahead. "Looks like we're coming up on the tunnel exit. Get ready for a fight!"

DK laughed. "C'mon, Diddy. You should know me by now. I'm always ready for a fight!" He said confidently, jumping after the pink bloop and into the fray.

The trio arrived at another expansive section of the caverns. It seemed less populated compared to every other area thus far and was primarily filled with mole miners. From the looks of it, they were transporting bananas and those small crystals to one ginormous train.

"Is that the Mole Train??" Diddy questioned, somewhat slack-jawed at the sight of it.

DK had seen the train a handful of times during his patrols around the isle, but he'd never seen it up close before now. Even so, he could tell it looked beefier and much bigger than before. "Max must've given it some upgrades..." He rubbed his chin, eyeing the many carts of the train.

Some portions of the train looked like the subway train carts from earlier, while others were long, stripped sections of mining carts chock-full of crystals and bananas. At the very front of the train was the drill DK had grown accustomed to hearing dig throughout the underground of his island. And at the controls was none other than mole miner Max.

He stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the other moles, as he was much larger in size compared to his brethren. Not to mention he wore a bright orange-colored construction vest that established his role as head honcho of the other miners.

DK and Diddy expected to see him barking out commands at the other moles. That was not the case. In fact, Max seemed to be doing his own thing at the controls of the train, while his miners worked like autonomous drones. They hadn't noticed them yet, so both kongs took their time to survey the surrounding area.

"Where'd that Banjo go?" Diddy asked, standing upright on DK's shoulder to get a better visual.

"It's gotta be in here somewhere," DK murmured, swiveling his head left and right.

That's when the pink bloop made a small but urgent gurgle, pointing up to a nearby watchtower of sorts. There the Banjo was in all its wooden glory, glaring daggers at them. DK returned the glare with his own mean mug.

After their short stare down, the Banjo tiki pulled a small string. A horn blared throughout the cave, and in response, the mole miners dropped what they were doing and hastily piled onto the train. Some went as far as hopping inside the already full mining carts—whatever got them on board quickest.

Max was engrossed with whatever he was doing at the controls. He was so absorbed in his work, he hadn't even reacted to the horn. It was quite possible he didn't hear it to begin with. Regardless, once all the other moles boarded the train, the Banjo tiki hovered to Max, playing itself to emit that hypnotic music.

Max stopped in his tracks, his claws dropping the clipboard he'd been reviewing. After the music subsided, Max looked over his broad shoulders, somehow spotting the trio in the distance despite his hard hat obscuring his eyes. He scowled before turning back around to man the controls.

The train blew its horn, followed by the metallic screech of the rail tracks being engaged by wheels. "It's moving!" Diddy called out. DK wasted no time jumping down to the lower levels. The pink bloop followed suit, though it lagged behind.

As they moved across the cave, the train gradually slid across the tracks, picking up momentum rather quickly. One look ahead and the kongs could see that the tracks led into a nearby tunnel system. The tracks within the tunnel were suspended above yet another deep abyss, so if they didn't get on the train now, they wouldn't be getting on at all. That posed a problem when the train was slowly beginning to outpace them.

"We're losing it!" Diddy cried.

"Oh, no we're not!" DK declared, grabbing the pink bloop before picking up speed.

When he got close enough, he tossed her onto the train. She landed safely on a mining cart full of bananas. He'd do the same with Diddy; the pink bloop dropped her paintbrush weapon to catch him.

"Hurry, DK!"

DK put some more pep in his step, barely managing to keep up with the accelerating train. The train would inevitably enter the tunnel, leaving a gap for DK to cross. He put all his strength into his legs before leaping across. His body slammed into the back of the mining cart, narrowly making the jump.

He grabbed hold of the train, hanging on for dear life. Diddy and the pink bloop grabbed him by the arms, both putting their backs into helping him up. With unified grunts and groans, they yanked DK onto the train, collapsing on the mining carts.

"Thanks for the save!" He said with a cheeky grin.

"Jeez, DK. You really need to lay off on the bananas..." Diddy panted, taking a moment to catch his breath. The pink bloop did the same, though her heavy breathing was accompanied by a slight warble.

"You kiddin'? I'm already on a diet. I've never been more fit!" DK flexed, then patted Diddy on the back. "Now, c'mon. We still got some tail to kick." He marched over to the next part of the train, which was a subway car. Diddy and the pink bloop scrambled onto their feet, following his lead.

DK punched open the cart door, revealing the cart to be filled with a bunch of moles, as expected. The loud bang alerted them, making every mole turn to the source. Upon seeing who it was, they all froze on the spot. The trio had barged in on them having a lunch break with none other than the Kongs' bananas. One mole was mid-chew, while another had an unpeeled banana right in between its teeth. They stayed stuck in their poses, staring as if they had made a fundamental mistake.

They did.

DK pounded his fist into the palm of his hand, cracking his knuckles. A menacing smirk formed on his usually friendly face; his lips parted slightly, allowing the overhead lights of the subway cart to reflect off his shiny, white teeth, resulting in a threatening gleam. "It's on."

***

The trio made quick work of their adversaries. Admittedly, the first few sections of the train were the hardest to overcome. But once they fell into their own groove, the rest became a breeze.

DK spearheaded the assault, rolling, smashing, and throwing the moles. The pink bloop provided backup, slamming her large paintbrush upside the enemies' heads whenever they were honed in on DK. Diddy gave the two support from the back, firing his peanut guns to distract the enemy and create openings for the heavy hitters.

Their tactic lasted up until they got to the last section of the train—the conductor's cart. By then, there was only one enemy they had to worry about. What's more, the last section of the train wasn't a subway cart, but a bunch of mining carts connected together. All of them were filled to the brim with bananas.

And at the end of the train was none other than mole miner Max, still manning the controls.

"Max!" DK called out, bashing his fists together. His shout got Max's attention, who turned around to see the trio in combat-ready stances.

No words were exchanged. Max just unbuckled himself from his seat and hopped into the nearest mine cart full of bananas. He disappeared instantly, which nobody was expecting, given his size.

Just when Diddy was about to make a comment, all of the mine carts began to rumble—even the one they were on. It was like something was moving between each cart. The kongs figured it was Max, but neither DK nor Diddy could fathom how he was moving through them, since it didn't look like the carts were seamlessly interconnected.

For the time being, they ignored the mole's apparent ability to break the laws of physics.

Suddenly, Max appeared directly in front of them, making Diddy and the pink bloop yelp in surprise. He swung his heavy pickaxe at them horizontally, intending to hit hard.

Diddy was farthest in the back, so the attack never reached him. However, he would yank the pink bloop backward to help her dodge the pickaxe. DK took the counterattack approach, jumping over the attack to avoid it. When he came back down, he landed on Max's head with his full weight, bouncing off the mole safely.

Unfortunately for DK, it seemed like Max's hard hat took the brunt of the damage. Still, that attack hurt him enough, as he quickly sank back into the bananas, disappearing once more.

"So you wanna play a match of whack-a-mole, huh, Max? Sure, I'm game!"

Max reappeared, this time on the opposite end of the train. He threw his large pickaxe at the group, attempting to strike from afar.

DK jumped over the pickaxe and tried to jump on his head again, but Max ducked back into the pile of bananas before any harm could come to him. The pink bloop, no longer being startled, smacked the incoming pickaxe away with her paintbrush. Her display of strength impressed Diddy as much as it protected him.

This game of whack-a-mole went on for a few minutes, mainly because Max appeared in random spots, forcing the group to spread out if they wanted to hit him in time. Nobody was sure where he was getting all his pickaxes from, but they made a great deterrent for Diddy and the pink bloop. Though it didn't save him from DK's burly arms.

Within due time, all those hits to the head got to Max, and on one last jump, he became too disoriented to duck back into the bananas. DK used the opportunity to drag the large mole out of his bananas, proceeding to beat him to a pulp.

With one final attack, DK sent Max flying into the controls of the train, destroying them while also inadvertently forcing the train to stop.

The wheels screeched as it slammed into the rails, giving off sparks. The Mole Train rapidly lost momentum, coming to a complete stop after a full minute. Once everything had settled, the Banjo tiki emerged from Max's body, wholly vulnerable.

DK already knew what time it was.

With a roll and a jump, he lunged for the Banjo, pelting it with a barrage of mighty blows that violently snapped it out of its dazed state. The whole time, Diddy and the pink bloop were cheering for him. One last haymaker sent the Banjo tiki soaring through the wide open tunnel, allowing the darkness to gulp it right up.

Upon his victory, DK banged on his chest and let out a triumphant holler. "And that's why you don't mess with Kong, baby!"

Diddy did a little flip, ecstatic about yet another win. "Bet that tiki didn't know what hit 'em!" He said with a fist pump.

Diddy's celebration was cut short when he realized something pretty important—the controls to the train were broken. "Hey, DK..."

DK, still at an all-time high, unpeeled a nearby banana. "Yeah, little buddy?"

"How're we supposed to get back without the train?"

DK paused, inches away from devouring the banana. He spun around to the controls, seeing an unconscious Max sprawled all over them. His weight, paired with the force of DK's punch, had completely broken the levers and buttons.

DK turned back to Diddy and the pink bloop, the latter of whom was now starting to look nervous when she realized neither of the Kongs was as happy as they should've been.

DK peered over the side of the train. Now that he wasn't busy smashing through dozens of moles, he could see the train was much longer than he initially thought. Even if the train wasn't all that long, they had been traveling through the tunnel for quite a while. They were probably miles away from the other two bloops. Without the train, the trip back would be at least an hour, if not a few...

DK dropped his well-earned banana, sighing heavily. "Ah, coconuts."

Chapter 15: A Pearl in Trouble

Summary:

"Next stop, Pearl."

The trip back was not only largely uneventful, but also extremely tedious. Never mind the fact that Callie collapsed mid-journey, leaving DK to carry her the rest of the way. On the bright side, Marie and Marina were fine. In fact, both seemed to be recovering nicely from their respective injuries, with the latter having woken up.

After reuniting with the other two, the group made their way back to the central station of the Deepsea Metro, where all the others remained holed up. The trek back wasn't nearly as treacherous as it had been the first time around. Though that probably had something to do with the lack of activity in the area.

Ever since the Banjo tiki was defeated, the caverns had been relatively silent. The mining operations and moving of carts stopped altogether, leaving nothing but vacant tunnel systems. Those furry creatures wearing the hard hats were still around, but now they were a lot more docile than before—skittish even. Whenever the group came up on a few, they scurried into the earth and fled. There was also a notable lack of octarian drones, almost as if they had vanished when the 'boss' of the mines was cleared.

Naturally, when the group got to the encampment, the Squid Sisters updated C.Q. Cumber on the situation. Despite having no proof, he easily believed them. His reasoning was that he could 'sense' that the tremors through the ground had become significantly less frequent. Or, as Iso Padre put it, "The Earth has settled."

With their mission done and the Deepsea Metro saved, the Squid Sisters used their downtime to catch a much-needed break. During which, Marie shared some information with Callie that she had learned when it was just her and Marina.

"So, wait. Let me get this straight..." Callie pressed her hands together. "You're telling me that there's a possibility Inkopolis is overrun by those...by those wooden monsters?" Marina nodded. "Are you sure?"

Marie sighed. "C'mon, Cal. That would explain why and how Marina ended up down here. Besides, you don't think she's lying, do you?"

Callie waved her hands defensively. "No! No! I'm not suggesting that at all. I'm just saying, are you sure it's not possible Marina, I don't know, dreamed it up?"

"Callie—"

Marina raised a hand, stopping Marie before she even started. "I get it. Really, I do. I don't want to believe Inkopolis might be unsafe either, but..." She shifted in her seat, trying to find the right words. "When I woke up next to Marie, we got to talking. The longer we talked, the more I slowly started remembering these...flashes. It's kinda hard to explain. But I had these brief moments of clarity. Kinda like when I saw you guys."

"And in these brief moments of clarity, you saw tikis terrorizing the city?" Callie questioned.

"More or less..."

Marie raised her arms, as if she had come to a mind-blowing revelation. "Marina, I don't think you were having brief moments of clarity. I think you were snapping out of the tikis' control."

"Control?" Marina said with raised eyebrows.

Marie facepalmed herself. "Right, I forgot to mention that. These tikis—they can hypnotize creatures by playing some music and control their actions. Kinda like what the Banjo did with you."

"Some of the tikis, anyway." Callie corrected. "I don't think I've ever seen any of the smaller ones do that. Just the ones shaped like an instrument that isn't a drum." She paused. "Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't think I've ever seen anyone else snap out of their control like you did. We usually have to beat it out of them."

Marie rubbed her chin. "That's true. Then again, the Banjo tiki wasn't fully controlling her until after we made our presence known."

"You think maybe the tikis' hypnosis is less powerful if they're not directly controlling the person from within?"

"It's possible. But that still doesn't explain why I remained unaffected..." Marie whispered that last part to herself. There wasn't any correlation between Marie being immune to hypnotization and Marina being able to fight it, so she figured it was best not to draw up more questions than they already had.

"Wait, can we back up for a minute?" Marina pleaded, clearly getting lost in the sauce. "These tikis, the ones who hypnotize people. You say they play music as they're hypnotizing you?" The Squid Sisters nodded, making Marina's face contort in thought. "I heard some music playing after the lights came back on. I think that was what made Pearlie scream..."

Callie frowned. "So what you're saying is one of those instrumental tikis took Pearl? Was it the Banjo, maybe?"

Marina shook her head. "The music sounded the same, but the instrument was different. I don't think it came from the Banjo."

Marie leaned in. "Do you remember what the instrument was?"

"Like, was it a Kalimba? Maracas? A Gong?" Callie added. Marina simply shook her head no. "Well, good news is it isn't one of the tikis we've already beaten."

"Bad news is it's a new tiki we've yet to face, which is arguably worse." Marie huffed. "Just how many of these tikis are there?"

"Dunno. But what I do know is that we gotta get to Inkopolis! Pearl's life is on the line!"

Marie shook her head. "I don't think that's true. If the tikis wanted any of us dead, all the people we've come across thus far would already be goners. You included."

Callie's ears lowered in slight realization. "I-I guess that is true..."

Marina chimed in. "So, the tikis aren't splatting people, thankfully. But if annihilation isn't their goal, what is?"

Marie shrugged. "We've been trying to figure that out ourselves ever since this whole mess started. All we know is that it involves bananas, which those two are somehow linked to," she gestured to DK and his friend, who stood idly by, chatting amongst themselves in their odd grunts.

"Not to mention those strange crystals. They clearly don't come from the caverns, but they were important enough for the tikis to gather and move." Callie added.

Marina's brows furrowed. "So these tikis are intelligent enough to be discreet. That means they aren't mindless. Just what are they trying to accomplish??"

Marie stood up. "For all we know, the conquest of Inkadia. Or maybe the world... We don't really know how expansive this threat is. But, in any case, I do agree with Callie. Just because Pearl's life isn't in any real danger, that doesn't mean the tikis won't harm her or anyone else they've captured. We gotta get to Inkopolis if we want to get to the bottom of this."

"Pardon." A new voice cut in, making everyone turn. It was C.Q. Cumber. "Sorry for eavesdropping, but I couldn't help but overhear you saying you were going to Inkopolis. Is that true?"

"Yes. We've been trying to get there for a while now. I have a feeling we'll find answers there. We might even be able to fix whatever is going on, or at least stop it from getting worse." Marie answered in a polite and thoroughly professional tone, matching C.Q. Cumber's dutiful voice.

"In that case, hop on board. I will give you a ride to Inkopolis."

Marie froze. "I-I know that's basically your job, but really? You sure you don't have other stops to make? I mean, it seems your passengers have been delayed long enough."

"Please. It's the least I can do for the people who got us out of our little rut. With the Deepsea Metro restored, I'd be more than happy to get you to where you need to go. Besides, you all seem to have a better handle on the situation than we denizens of the deep. If you can get things back to normal, that'll be even better for business."

"In that case, we won't say no to an express trip."

Callie bounced enthusiastically beside Marie, wrapping her arm around her cousin's shoulder. "Inkopolis, here we come!"

Chapter 16: Inkopolis in Peril

Summary:

"City in trouble? Squidbeak on the double!"

"Oh."

"My."

"Cod."

Callie, Marie, and Marina said (in that order), completely stunned. Not in awe or surprise, but fear.

C.Q. Cumber gave them that ride as promised. But when they exited the subway, an ongoing battle greeted them.

Inklings, octolings, and other inhabitants took up arms against the enemy. The enemy in question was none other than their own people, aided by the tikis.

Ink projectiles of every kind flew back and forth across the streets, coating the cement ground in a colorful display. Splat bombs contributed to covering every inch of the city. None of the buildings was spared from the carnage. The few shops that weren't barricaded were either destroyed or in the process of being destroyed.

By all means, Inkopolis had been transformed into one massive turf war zone, with the only thing missing being the Judds. It didn't help that, by the looks of things, the enemy greatly outnumbered the resistance it faced. The only good thing about the situation was that the Great Zapfish was left unharmed, neither aiding the enemy nor its home team.

Just when Marie thought about commenting on the battle, a horn blared from above.

The group turned their sights upward, seeing dozens of airships in the sky. Most of these airships had nets full of bananas, much like the one back in the jungle. DK gritted his teeth and growled in response.

"Watch out!" Marina pointed up to an airship. It made a careless turn, scraping against a skyscraper, which resulted in large chunks of debris plummeting towards the group.

DK acted quickly, grabbing everyone and rolling them out of harm's way. The heavy chunks of the building crushed the entrance to the subway, preventing the group from backtracking if they wanted.

"Whoo. Thanks, DK." Callie patted his shoulder, grateful for the save.

Soon after, the group took shelter behind a nearby bus, using it to conceal their presence from the ongoing battle.

"Were things this bad when you left?" Marie questioned, addressing Marina.

"N-No. Last I remember, there were a lot more people fighting back! I don't remember them ever fighting each other."

"That's not good." Marie pressed her lips together, cringing at the implication. It seems like these tikis were slowly but surely winning the battle of attrition. What few resisted their hypnosis were actively being culled. Without interference, the city would be lost.

"Guys, look." Callie directed everyone's attention to a ship hovering just above the city streets.

The airship flew over unsuspecting combatants on their side, then its bottom opened, releasing large square cages that remained tethered to the ship via a chain. They seemed to be made of some transparent material, which Marie could only assume was glass; if it was, the glass was exceptionally tough, as it cracked the ground upon impact rather than shattering. What's more interesting is that the bottom of the cages was initially open, only sealing when they successfully captured an inkfish.

After their capture, the cages reeled themselves back into the airship, taking the inkfish with them. Then, the airship moved to a higher altitude. The tikis and hypnotized people continued on to the next group.

"They're squidnapping people!" Callie pointed out the obvious.

"I guess that's one way to thin out our numbers..." Marina chuckled nervously.

"This is bad... What do we do?" Callie looked to Marie for answers.

The older cousin delivered. "Maybe Gramps will know what to do. He's the expert on warfare."

"How are we gonna find him through all this?"

"We left him with Sheldon before we left the city, remember? He's a pretty smart dude, so he likely hunkered down in his shop with Gramps."

"Hunkered down in Ammo Knights? But that's basically on the other side of the city!"

"I know, and we're wasting time sitting here. So let's move!" Marie didn't give her cousin a chance to whine about doing some more walking.

She took point and moved across the ruined city like a shadow. The group followed as best they could, with Marina being the one to tail Marie easily. They used the wreckage of buildings and cars to mask their presence. The Squid Sisters most definitely wanted to help their people, but they knew carelessly joining the fray would just put a target on their backs, especially with the airships up above occasionally swooping down to abduct people.

As they slinked through the warring streets of Inkopolis, Marie noticed how the enemy were purposefully abducting only inkfish. All the other creatures (jellyfish, crabs, sea urchins, etc.) remained untouched, which left their ground troops to pacify them.

She could only guess as to why they were stealing just inkfish. Could it be connected to the tikis collecting all those bananas? In any case, she only hoped those poor inklings and octolings weren't harmed.

"We're here," Marie said in a low tone, eyeing the front entrance of Ammo Knights.

"It's not barricaded..." Marina noted, becoming more worried by the second.

"It's not destroyed either," Callie said optimistically. "Shelly and Gramps must be okay!"

"Let's hope so." Marie swallowed hard, pushing the doors open.

The inside of Ammo Knights looked much worse than the outside. It looked as though a tornado had strolled through and torn the place up. There was broken glass everywhere, as well as dented and destroyed material.

"What happened here?" Marina wondered, clutching her chest.

"Tikis," Marie answered blankly, pretty sure that's who the culprit was. "Looks like they ransacked his weapons." She commented, noting how all the display cases were broken. Not a single weapon was left in Sheldon's shop.

The Squid Sisters gave each other a concerned look, but neither said anything. Understandably, nobody wanted to voice their thoughts on what might've become of Sheldon and Craig.

Cautiously, the group made their way to the back of Ammo Knights, only finding more destruction the further in they went.

They found the 'employees only' door already open, leading them into the more private areas of Ammo Knights. Marie had only been back here once, and she recalled the place being in much better condition. It seemed the tikis left no stone unturned.

The group soon came across a spiraling staircase leading downward. For security reasons, all Ammo Knight shops had bunkers installed underneath the actual store. Gramps had mentioned these bunkers occasionally served as shelters during large-scale emergencies, like Big Runs.

When they reached the bottom, they found a set of double doors still closed. The outside looked much worse for wear, as if something had tried forcing its way in. Despite that, it stood. Immovable.

"Sheldon and Gramps might be behind here," said Marie, trying to push the doors open. It wouldn't budge an inch. "Oh, come on!"

"Maybe it's a pull door?" Callie suggested.

"If it were a pull door, there'd be handles for me to pull on!" Marie pushed her full weight against the doors, barely making a difference. However, she felt something heavy on the other side.

"It's barricaded," Callie said in a joyous tone. If it were barricaded, that meant somebody, most likely Sheldon, was still inside.

"Sheldon! Open up! It's Marie!" She banged on the doors and stepped back, waiting for a response. After a few seconds of silence, she called out again. "Sheldon?" Still, there was nothing.

"He might be tinkering with a weapon again. You know how focused he gets when he's in his work." Callie guessed. "Maybe if all three of us push against the doors, we can dislodge the barricade."

"I got a better idea." Marie turned to DK, gesturing to him and the double doors. She made a smashing motion with her hands, and after a second of staring, he nodded affirmatively. "You might want to step back," Marie warned, gently pulling Marina away as she and Callie gave DK a lot of space.

DK approached the door, sizing it up. Then, he flexed his arm, reeling it back while clenching a tight fist. One punch was all it took to bring the doors down with an ear-shattering clatter. The barricade on the other side practically exploded outward, scattering the items used across the room.

The sole occupant of the room held up a blaster, aiming it at DK with shaky hands. That sole occupant was none other than Sheldon. "S-Stay back!" He cried out.

Marie popped out beside DK. "Sheldon! You're okay."

Hearing her voice made him ease up slightly. "M-Marie? Is that really you?"

"Of course it is! I'm not hypnotized, if that's what you're wondering."

Sheldon stared at her long and hard for what felt like forever. Finally, he stood down completely, breathing a sigh of relief. "Man, you scared me there! I heard you earlier when you banged on the door, but I thought a Tiki Tak member had gotten to you."

"Tiki Tak?" Marie tilted her head.

"Y-Yes! They're the wooden tikis outside the city. They are still in the city, aren't they?"

"There's plenty of them!" Callie answered as she and Marina stepped out from behind DK, revealing their presence. The latter spoke next.

"How'd you figure out what they're called? They don't exactly speak."

"Oh! But they do!" Sheldon dropped the blaster, rushing to the other side of the room where a terminal was. "Have you guys encountered any tikis shaped like an instrument that isn't a drum?" He asked, typing away on the terminal's console at a thousand miles per hour.

"Uh, yeah. Quite a few, actually."

"Then I'm certain you've heard them play their music at least once." Sheldon pressed a key on the console, initiating an audio playback. In it, the hypnotic music of the tikis played, accompanied by familiar banjo acoustics. There was another instrumental tiki playing alongside the Banjo that Marie had never heard before. It sounded like...a flute?

He paused the music, turning back to the group. "I've studied these tikis ever since the arrival of the tribe. The tikis communicate through the sound waves they produce! It's quite fascinating. I've learned so much about—"

Marie, sensing Sheldon was about to go on a tangent, raised a hand, stopping him. "I'll admit, all of that sounds useful. But before we get into it, where's Gramps?"

Sheldon's excited demeanor flickered in slight surprise, then quickly drooped into a sorrowful expression. "They took him."

"What?!" Callie blurted, nearly knocking Marie down as she brushed by her shoulder to step in front. "What do you mean??"

"The tikis...when they attacked, we were down here. We heard the commotion above and went to investigate. When he saw what was going on, he jumped right into action! I tried to warn him that fighting an unknown threat wasn't the best idea, but he didn't care. That's when some tiki swooped down and hypnotized him."

Marie interrupted him. "This tiki, did it look like a banjo?"

Sheldon shook his head. "N-No. It looked more like a ball, honestly. It had these flutes sticking out of its head, though."

He looked down shamefully. "After that happened, I rushed back here and barricaded myself in. They tried to get in a few times, but gave up after the fourth attempt."

Callie looked down with a saddened expression. All Marie could do for comfort was place a hand on her shoulder. "Gramps is strong, Cal. I'm sure he's okay."

Neither of them was about to blame Sheldon for running away. They knew how headstrong their grandfather was, and they knew how ill-equipped for combat Sheldon was, despite his previous enthusiasm for wanting to join the military. Honestly, he did the most sensible thing and stuck to his strengths, which he proved by figuring out that the tikis communicate via music. Marie would've never pieced that together.

Since the Squid Sisters weren't going to blame Sheldon for Craig's squidnapping, he decided to do it himself. "This is all my fault."

Marie vehemently denied that notion with a shake of her head. "Don't start. We know the type of squid Gramps is. You wouldn't have been able to stop him."

"I don't mean that," Sheldon admitted, prompting raised brows of confusion from all three idols. "Had I just listened to my brain, I could've prevented all of this! Those tikis are only here because of me..."

Marina chuckled nervously, looking to the Squid Sisters, then back at Sheldon. "S-Sheldon, how could any of this be your fault?"

He stared at the three for a long moment before turning to the terminal, typing away on its keyboard once more. "Marina, you remember your tussle with that rogue AI and its city-destroying statue, right?"

Marina flinched, caught off guard by the sudden inquiry. It took her a moment to respond. "O-Of course. Why?"

"After you guys defeated it, the captain scavenged the wreckage. He wanted to find the source of the statue's power to...use in defense against the Octarian Army."

"Sounds like him," Marie murmured.

Marina looked between the group hesitantly before squeaking out a response. "But the statue was solar powered. He knew that already."

Sheldon paused, as if processing newly learned information. He let his fingers hover over the keyboard for a moment before resuming to type as though nothing had happened. "Well, regardless, he found something: the cause of all our problems." He pressed one last key, then gestured to the center of the room.

The panels on the floor opened, allowing a large pedestal to rise to the top. On top of the pedestal was a big crystal, unlike the ones they had seen in the mines. It pulsated with a white glow, being somewhat transparent. Each time it pulsed, Marie and all the others could feel the immense energy radiating off of it. The pedestal didn't seem to be employing any of the anti-gravity tech the octarians were known for, yet the crystal hovered slightly above the podium all the same.

The second the white crystal shard came into view, DK and his little friend went—excuse the pun—bananas. They'd then engage in conversation with each other. From the sounds of it, they were having a very lively talk.

Their sudden elated mood spooked Marina, who was closest to them. "What's going on with them??"

Callie and Marie shook their heads, equally as confused as her. The latter spoke. "I don't know. I've never seen them like this. Not even when they beat a tiki."

Sheldon raised a hand. "Since we're on the topic, I've been meaning to ask...who and what are they?"

"Oh, right. We didn't introduce them. My bad." Marie pointed to DK. "The big guy there is DK. At least, that's what's on his tie, so I've been calling him that. We don't have a name for the small guy on his shoulder, so I guess we can just call him little DK or something. As for what they are...well, we haven't figured that out yet." She turned back around, facing Sheldon. "They're the reason we even got this far."

She glanced back at the two, watching them chatter away with enthusiasm. Marie, like everyone else, could only assume they were talking about the crystal. She found herself wishing they could understand them.

Better to stay focused for now. "So, going back to this crystal...what is it?"

Sheldon meandered over to the shard, glaring up at it with contempt. "It's a problem. A big problem that the captain wanted to utilize. I told him it'd take time to understand how it functioned, let alone harness even a fraction of its power. But he wanted to expedite things. I knew it was dangerous...and I still let him talk me into doing a test run. Then the tikis arrived..." Sheldon huffed. "If I had just gone with my instincts and put my foot down, none of this would've happened. Now Inkopolis is in peril, and the captain's been snatched up! Along with a dozen other people. This is all my fault..."

Callie placed a hand on Sheldon's shoulder. "Nobody's blaming you for this, Shelly. Especially not Gramps."

"Yeah." Marie chimed. "There's no way you could've possibly predicted this would happen. Besides, Gramps would've found a way to utilize the crystal with or without your help. It was just a matter of time."

The Squid Sisters' reassurance made Sheldon feel better, if only slightly. "I suppose you're right. Still, I can't help but feel I am partly to blame for this."

"Then you can help us fix things!" Callie said, brimming with optimism. It was admirable how fast she could bounce back from otherwise perilous situations. "Starting by telling us what the crystal is exactly..." she murmured as she took her hand back.

Sheldon shook his head with a sigh. "I wish I could, but I honestly have no idea. I've studied this thing for months, and it's still beyond my understanding."

"Bummer." Callie clicked her beak, looking over at DK and his friend, who were still chatting away. Occasionally, they'd point at the crystal, nodding to each other vibrantly. "They seem to know what the crystal is."

Marina hummed. "Too bad they don't speak any known languages. Things would be so much easier if they did."

"I know, right?" Callie sighed. "I wish we all could understand what they're saying..."

Sheldon nodded in agreement. "I could construct some translation devices. But given I don't understand their physiology, it'd take...a while..." He trailed off, prompting the three idols to look at him. It was unlike Sheldon to just stop talking like that.

"Shelly? What's wrong?"

Sheldon didn't respond. He just stared at the crystal, prompting the three to look at it.

Before, the crystal shard had been hovering quietly above its podium, pulsating dimly. Now, it was rising into the air, its glow brightening intensely with each passing second. It got so bright it felt like someone had turned the sun on in the room. Even DK and his friend ceased their conversation to pay attention.

"W-What's going on?" Marie stepped back, pulling Callie along with her.

"I-I don't know!" Sheldon rushed to his terminal, staring at the screens. "The crystal's energy...its readings are the exact same as..." His eyes widened. "Everyone, get to cover!"

He didn't have to say it twice.

Callie and Marie used one of the tables that had previously been a part of Sheldon's barricade, while Sheldon went to the far corners of the room, using a chair to block himself. DK, instead of looking for cover, sheltered Marina and his friend with his body.

Meanwhile, the white crystal began to spin, quickly picking up speed. It spun so fast that it gave off sparks of electricity that made the electronic equipment go haywire. The lights were also affected, flickering repeatedly.

This paranormal-like activity seemed to go on forever until the crystal let out a shockwave. It felt just like the one that passed over Marie back in the forest near Mt. Nantai, only much more powerful. For a second, the room lost power, with the only source of light being the now dim crystal.

The lights turned back on, and the crystal returned to its dormant state. Hesitantly, everyone peered out of their hiding spots. Luckily, DK remained unharmed from the ordeal. Still, the others were left confused and startled by the crystal's sudden activity.

"What the heck just happened?" someone questioned, but it wasn't anyone Marie recognized.

Callie, Marie, Marina, and Sheldon all turned to the source of the unfamiliar voice. It had come from none other than DK's friend.

There was a long pause as everyone processed what it was they had just witnessed.

Callie was the first to finish processing, shooting up to her feet and pointing at DK's friend with a shocked expression. "Y-You just talked!"

DK's friend, momentarily puzzled, gained a shocked expression of his own, pointing back at her. "You just talked!"

DK scratched his head, confused. "Wait, we can understand them now?" His voice was a slightly higher pitch than Marie was expecting, but there was no doubt about it—they could understand the two furry creatures now. The crystal obviously had something to do with it, but how?

In the midst of all the confusion, Sheldon clapped his hands together, drawing everyone's attention. "I guess this makes what comes next a whole lot easier."

***

The gang gathered around a large circular table and spent the next hour giving out formal introductions, while also divulging important information. What Marie learned was quite insightful.

For starters, calling the big guy DK based on his tie was the right call, as it was short for Donkey Kong. Calling his friend 'Little DK' would've also been fine since his name was Diddy Kong. Despite sharing the last name, the two looked extremely different; nobody was sure if they were actually family or just really close friends. Nobody wanted to ask such a personal question so soon, either.

What they were sure of was that their species was something called a Kong. From how they described it, they were a creature similar to one of those long-dead land animals. What was it again? Ah, right. An ape. Sheldon and Gramps were convinced those creatures were related to humans in some way. Could the same be true for DK and Diddy?

Regardless, they apparently were only involved in this tiki situation because the bananas they've seen being hauled around from place to place belonged to the Kongs. Marie found it hard to believe DK and Diddy could eat all those bananas by themselves, but she wouldn't question it.

"Okay, let me run through this one last time," Sheldon started, trying to get his facts straight. "So, what you're saying is, this shard is actually just a piece of some greater artifact called..." He flipped through his notes—thank cod someone was writing all of this down. "...The Crystal Coconut?"

DK nodded. "Yep! We'd know its aura from anywhere!"

Diddy jumped. "Yeah! Made all my hairs stand on end."

Sheldon scribbled something down. "Right. I suspected this thing was part of something greater. Anyway, this Crystal Coconut... It was hidden by your grandfather, Cranky Kong, whom only Marie has seen?"

"Also correct, little dude."

"Ooh! Ooh!" Callie jumped up from her seat excitedly. "Your gramps should totally meet our gramps! I think they'd get along!"

"I don't know, Callie..." Marie looked to the side, recalling her brief encounter with the ape. "He didn't seem all that friendly last I saw him."

Diddy chuckled. "Yeah. There's a reason we all call him Cranky."

Callie sat down with a pout, crossing her arms. "If there's one thing I know, it's that old people almost always get along with each other!"

"Keyword being almost." Marie pointed out with a snicker, much to her cousin's annoyance.

"Back to the main topic," Sheldon chimed. "The Crystal Coconut can see into the future, heal wounds, and grant wishes, right?"

"Right!" DK and Diddy confirmed.

"If it's that powerful, I guess I can see why tampering with even a shard of it pulled a piece of your world into our own."

Callie raised her hand like a little kid in a classroom.

"Yes, Callie?"

"If this Crystal Coconut thing is from their world, how'd it end up in ours as a bunch of shards?"

Everyone looked to DK, who scratched his head in thought. "Well, shortly before we migrated from Kongo Bongo island, Cranky said he'd hide the Crystal Coconut in a place nobody, not even us, would be able to find it. I guess he meant here?"

"But how?" Marina questioned. "That would require technology not even the octarians possess."

Sheldon raised a finger. "If this Crystal Coconut has the power to see into the future and grant wishes, it's not too far-fetched to believe it can travel between worlds and universes." He paused. "Though I'm not sure why it's not intact. Maybe that was also Cranky's doing?"

"Wait, wait, wait." Callie interrupted with a wave of her hands. "If just one piece of the Crystal Coconut can put us in this situation, isn't it like, really bad that there's more out there?"

"Yeah. Shouldn't we be collecting them?" Marie added.

Surprisingly, Sheldon disagreed. "It took me months to just accidentally use. Even if someone like the octarians got their hands on a shard, I doubt they'd be able to use it. Besides, from what Marina said earlier, not even that AI seemed capable of utilizing its power." He tapped the table. "So, for now, we should focus on this Tiki Tak Tribe situation."

Callie leaned back in her seat. "Well, you used the crystal to summon them here. Why not use it to banish them?"

"Actually, according to everyone's accounts, it seems like the only thing the crystal did was merge Donkey Kong Island with the lands of Inkadia. The tikis are a completely independent variable that would've happened regardless of what I did." Sheldon gestured to the crystal shard, which was still dim and clearly drained of power. "Besides, the shard looks completely drained of energy at the moment. Even if I did want to use it to fix our tiki problem, there's a chance we'd just make a bigger mess."

Marie sighed. "In other words, we'll have to fix this the ol' fashioned way. Guess we got our work cut out for us."

Callie patted her back. "C'mon, we've foiled evil plots against Inkadia twice now! I'm sure this'll be no different. We just gotta go over what we know about this wooden tiki tribe!" She blinked, looking over at Sheldon. "What do we know?"

"Well, we know the tikis can hypnotize people."

"Unless you're Marie," Callie noted.

"Or DK," Diddy added.

"Right... How were you guys able to resist their hypnosis?"

Marie shrugged. "It's not like I was resistant to it. It's more like I was outright immune to its effects."

"Yeah! It was totally the same for me." DK looked over at Marina. "She was more resistant to it."

Marina nodded in agreement. "It's true. I snapped out of it here and there, but I wasn't able to completely break out of their spell without their help."

Sheldon crossed his arms, pondering for a moment. "So, the smarter you are, the more resistant you are to its effects?"

Diddy and Callie couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"DK? Being smart? Yeah, when bananas grant wishes, maybe."

"Marie isn't exactly top of her class either, y'know!"

Both of their laughs were promptly interrupted by DK and Marie smacking the back of their heads simultaneously.

"Oh, c'mon, DK, I was just playin'!"

"Yeah, go easy on the slap hand, Marie!"

Sheldon stifled back a chuckle before referring to his notes. "Alright, so intelligence isn't a key factor in being immune. But lack thereof can't be it either. So, what exactly makes you two special?"

The Squid Sisters and Kongs pondered on the question, racking their brains for answers.

Then, Diddy gasped. "Oh! DK! You think your immunity has anything to do with you being a star child?"

Callie, Marie, and Marina eyed Diddy. "Star child? What's that?" The former questioned.

DK posed, flexing for the crowd. "Only the most extraordinary people known to Kong-kind." He gloated with a big grin.

Diddy patted DK's arm, urging him to sit back down. "What he means is that they're people who possess a whole lot of power. At least, that's what Cranky said. I hear he's one of seven!"

Sheldon took note, writing the information down on his notepad. After, he'd turn to Callie and Marie. "What about Marie? Does she have something equivalent to the power of a star child?"

Callie looked at Marie, then back to Sheldon. "Well, I don't know about having extraordinary power, but she does have low-tide ink. Maybe that's why she wasn't affected?"

"I see..." Sheldon scribbled in his notes again. "So DK is a star child, and Marie has low-tide ink. We're not sure if their respective traits are the reason they weren't possessed, but regardless, the fact remains that they are immune to the Tiki Tak Tribe's hypnotic effects."

He put his pencil down, looking up at the rest of the group. "Speaking of, only their generals—the, uh, instrumental tikis not shaped like drums—can do that. Four of which you've already taken care of."

Marie leaned in, suddenly interested in the current topic. "Do we know how many there are?"

"Unfortunately, no. However, I do know that they operate as a hivemind, like the jellyfish."

"Wait, they're a hivemind?"

Sheldon nodded. "From what I've observed, the drone tikis—the ones shaped like drums—act purely on instinct. However, their actions aren't exactly mindless. They're clearly being guided by the commands of the generals, same as everyone under their influence."

Callie clasped her hands together, resulting in a resounding clap. "So, all we gotta do is destroy these tiki generals, and everything will return to normal?"

Sheldon almost nodded, but then his eyes widened in sudden realization. Afterward, his whole demeanor changed from his usual nerdy self to shy and anxious, sort of like Marina.

Marie picked up on the mood change instantly. "Sheldon, is there something you're not telling us?"

He jolted upright upon being addressed, which only made him look more suspicious. Marie could see the gears turning in his head as he desperately tried to come up with an excuse.

Eventually, he let out a sigh. "Well...I'd like to say it'd be that easy. But I don't think the generals are the head of the tribe." Sheldon pushed himself away from the table and walked over to the nearby terminal. The others watched as he clicked and clacked on the console, bringing up yet another audio file.

"While I was analyzing the sound waves produced by the generals, my sensors picked up something else. When I isolated the frequency, this is what I got." He played the audio, which was basically a lower-pitched version of the Kalimba's hypnosis.

Sheldon let it play all the way through before pausing it, turning back to the group to see their reactions. Callie was the first to speak. "So...what's so special about it? Sounds like another general to me."

"See, I thought that too," Sheldon gestured to the screen, "but this music...it isn't directed to the drones. It's directed to the generals! Whatever this thing is, it's giving them commands to follow."

DK smashed his fists together. "So, this thing's the king, so to speak?"

"Less a king and more a core, but sure."

Marina looked at the screen. "Can you play that again?" Sheldon complied with her request, playing the audio once more. "You guys notice the pitch? It's slower and much deeper than the others."

"Meaning...?" Callie raised her hands, gesturing for Marina to continue.

"Whatever tiki is playing that music, it has to be big."

"Big, you say?" Marie murmured, her eyes drifting to the table. There was only one tiki they had seen that would fit the bill.

"Wait, Marie, you don't think it's that tiki back at the volcano?"

"Volcano?" Sheldon overheard Callie's whisper, drawing everyone's attention to the Squid Sisters.

Marie nodded. "When the tikis first appeared, we were at Mount Nantai. The mountain erupted into an active volcano. Then this massive tiki emerged out of it! It was like a tower—bigger than the Great Zapfish even!"

"Heh, well, I guess we know what to do next." Diddy whipped out his peanut guns, only for Marina to raise a hand to stop him.

"Wait, guys. Don't you think we should focus on the situation at hand?"

"I thought that's what we were doin'?" DK scratched his head.

"Yeah, what could be more important than stopping those tikis?" Diddy chimed.

"Saving everyone else," Marina countered. "From the sounds of it, that massive tiki is rooted to Mount Nantai. It won't be going anywhere. But we don't know what the tikis plan to do with those they've captured. By the time we beat the head of their tribe, Pearlie could be—" She paused, slowly slinking into her chair. "I mean, uh, everyone could be...y'know..."

Marie raised a hand. "It's alright, Marina. We get it. You're worried about Pearl." She turned to the rest of the group. "Honestly, I agree with her. I'm worried about Gramps myself. Besides, they've captured dozens of citizens. No point in stopping the tiki boss if there's no one left to save."

"But how're we supposed to save those other bloops if we don't know where they're headed?" Diddy questioned.

"Bloops?" Marie tilted her head, confused by the term.

"Oh, right, sorry. That's what we've been callin' you guys." Diddy chuckled nervously.

"We're inkfish..."

Sheldon raised his hand. "Horseshoe crab, here."

Callie giggled, slightly leaning into Marie. "I don't know, Marie. I kinda like it."

The older cousin sighed before steering the conversation back to the main topic. "Diddy's right, though. We gotta know where they're headed if we're going to do any kind of saving."

Sheldon tapped his chin. "Well, whenever one of those airships reaches full capacity, I've seen them head northeast of Inkopolis."

"Northeast?" Marina practically jumped out of her seat. "Pearlie's estate is northeast of here."

Marie gripped her charger. "Well, I doubt their destination is actually Pearl's place, but it wouldn't hurt to check."

Callie grabbed her roller. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Everyone got up out of their seats and headed for the door. They were stopped in their tracks by Sheldon, who blocked their way with his body. "Whoa, whoa. Don't tell me you guys are going in that? You need gear!"

Callie huffed, slinging her roller over her shoulder. "Yeah, we know that, Shelly. But where are we gonna get any? I don't know if you've noticed, but your place has been ransacked! Those tikis took all your gear."

Sheldon smirked, tilting his head just low enough that the room's lights reflected off his glasses, obscuring his eyes in their gleam. "Not all of it."

Chapter 17: House of Pearls

Summary:

"Stronger than glass. Prettier than diamonds."

Callie whistled. "This is the freshest gear I've ever had! Who woulda thought Shelly had all this stashed away in his bunker?"

Marie chuckled. "Yeah, who would've thought?"

To say the crew was fully decked out would be an understatement. Gone were their casual uniforms, which had been dragged through the mud and dirtied beyond recognition throughout their travels. Now, they were wearing armored attire befitting of agents of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. They were also given better versions of their weapons of choice. Marina was not excluded from this upgrade, as Sheldon deigned to bestow her a specialized version of a splatbrella. They were quite literally armed to the beak.

The only downside was that, despite their upgrade in equipment, they wouldn't be able to keep in contact with Sheldon. Apparently, the Tiki Tak Tribe had dealt a good bit of damage to Inkadia's infrastructure, which included radio towers necessary for long-range communication. Whether this was a calculated move on their part or just plain bad luck for the inkadians was unknown.

At least they still had the Kongs.

"We're here," Marina announced, stopping the group in their tracks. To avoid possible detection, they all hid on the outskirts of a forest, hiding behind trees and in bushes. Diddy went the extra mile and hid atop some tree branches, giving him a decent view of the place.

They had been marching through the wilderness for quite some time, choosing to camouflage themselves within nature. Doing so made the journey to Pearl's estate unnecessarily long, but it was better than risking getting caught by those under the tikis' influence, or worse, the tikis themselves.

In the distance was Pearl's manor.

"Jeez...this place is bigger than I imagined," Callie murmured whilst squinting her eyes.

"No kidding." Marie agreed, using her scoped charger to get a better look. They hadn't even stepped onto Pearl's property yet, and she already felt minuscule in comparison. What could someone so small possibly need this much space for?? Marie clicked her tongue, a bit envious of Pearl's living situation. Wait, now's not the time to think about that! Pearl could be in trouble! ...Still, she found herself wanting something similar, if only less spacious. Guess it pays to be born to a wealthy family.

Diddy pointed. "That place is crawlin' with tikis!"

He was right. Everywhere Marie looked, there was a tiki around every corner. Not to mention octarians. There were also inklings and jellyfish still dressed in formal attire, possibly the housekeepers of Pearl's estate.

"Guess we found out where they're bringing the squidnapped populace." Callie guessed.

Marina simply shook her head. "I don't think they're bringing them here."

"Huh? How come?"

"Think about it, Cal." Marie angled her scoped-charger up, scanning the rooftop. "Pearl's place is big, but it's not big enough to hold a whole city worth of people...probably."

"It's not," Marina confirmed, somewhat lost in thought. "Still, they must be using her land for a reason. Why else would a bunch of tikis be stationed here?"

"Looks like they're using it as a makeshift checkpoint," Marie noted. "There's an airship parked on the roof. It's being loaded with bananas and...more of those crystals we saw underground."

"Sounds to me like they're makin' a pit stop." DK pounded his fists together. "Let's go ahead and make that a permanent stop!"

DK didn't get so much as a foot away from the group before being yanked on the arm by Marie. "Whoa, slow your roll. The enemy has eyes everywhere at every perimeter. How do you expect us to sneak past all of them?"

DK raised a brow. "Who said anything about sneaking?"

***

With one devastating punch, DK brought the front doors of Pearl's manor crashing down.

"They definitely heard us." Marie winced.

"Marie, they've already seen us!" Callie pointed out.

She was right. Ever since they came to the decision to rush in, DK made a beeline for the front doors. With him spearheading the assault, nothing could stop their advance, least of all the tikis.

They all could've easily skipped the front doors and jumped straight to the roof, but Marina wanted to make sure Pearl wasn't anywhere in the manor. The only way to do that would be to check every room.

"So, I guess this is the part where we split up?" Marina said, shifting her ink color to a bright yellow. The Squid Sisters nodded, also changing their ink colors to match hers.

"Callie, you go with DK. Diddy, you're with me and Marina." Marie ordered, earning a playful salute from Diddy.

"You got it, boss." He shot a peanut at an approaching tentacle octarian drone, dazing them long enough for Callie to deliver a killing blow. He'd then hop off DK's shoulder, dropping down beside Marina.

"We'll meet up on the roof. Let's be quick, though. We don't want that airship to take off without us."

"You got it!" DK gave a thumbs-up before letting Callie take Diddy's place on his shoulders. Marie always forgot just how big DK was.

Upon being reminded of his strength and size, Marie reiterated one last time. "Remember, destroy the tikis, splat the octarians, incapacitate the inklings. I don't know if there's a spawn point anywhere in this manor, and I'd rather not bet on it."

Callie waved her off. "Don't worry, Marie! With me at DK's side, I'll make sure he doesn't go overboard."

"Yeah, I somehow doubt that."

"Pfft. You always doubt me." Callie patted DK's shoulder. "Onward, my chariot! Victory awaits!" DK banged on his chest before rushing down the wide wall, disappearing around the corner.

Marie turned to Diddy and Marina. "Shall we take this upstairs?"

As the trio walked through the manor, searching the various rooms, they found it brimming with tikis and octarians. Strangely enough, the inkling housekeepers were far and few in between—almost like they were being moved. There was also no sign of Pearl, much to Marina's dissatisfaction.

Another odd thing they noted was how the place was overrun with plentiful green vegetation. It only became apparent the deeper into the manor they got, though it explained the outdoorsy smell.

The vegetation itself wasn't thick like in the jungle, but it sprawled across the walls and ceilings like coursing roots. Marie could imagine seeing such a thing if the place were abandoned and neglected for years. But Marina confirmed the building hadn't been like this yesterday.

Something was afoot. But what?

Suddenly, the entire manor shook with an intense quake, knocking the three off their feet.

"Whoa!" Diddy yelped, landing on top of Marie, who made a small 'oof' noise in response.

Even after the three fell, the violent tremor continued vibrating throughout the walls. It was like an earthquake, yet somehow, it felt far more unnatural.

Eventually, the tremor passed, leaving the three dazed and confused.

"What was that?" Marina questioned, looking to Marie. She shrugged, looking to Diddy, who shook his head.

Although none of them had the answer, the three would get one—just not in the form of words.

After helping each other off the floor, the tremor reappeared, though with less intensity than before. This time, the source came from a discernible location, that being underneath them, a few feet ahead. Before anyone could ask questions, the floor slowly fractured, spawning cracks that grew in size with every violent shake.

The trio stepped back to where the cracks didn't reach and watched as the ground caved in underneath itself. Soon after, DK jumped out of the newly formed hole with Callie on his shoulders.

"D-DK??" Diddy said in surprise. "What are you—"

"Run!" DK and Callie interrupted, rushing past the three.

Marie turned back to the hole, a little on edge. She'd never seen DK run from anything before. What could have him tucking tail now?

At first, there was nothing in the hole. Just a blank, empty darkness. Before she knew it, something big snaked out of the open hole, towering over the three like some gargantuan worm.

The creature was unlike anything Marie had seen before...which seemed to be a common trend. Still, as far as these creatures went, whatever this was proved to be the oddest of them all.

Its feet and tail, assuming that's what those were, resembled leaf-like fins. Following the plant theme, its purple eyes looked like blossoming flowers with petals acting as the eyelids, while its body seemed to be made of turnips (possibly radishes). These turnips were connected to each other by a vine, acting as an interlocking chain and giving the worm-like plant creature a lengthy torso.

Marie and Diddy took a step back, on guard. Marina didn't get the memo, as she remained standing close by. It looked like she was mesmerized by the thing.

"Marina," Marie called out, "I think we should go."

Marina glanced at Marie, not showing the same signs of wariness as her and Diddy. "Oh, come on. This thing doesn't look all that bad!" She looked back up at the creature. "It's kinda cute."

The plant-like worm shook its crested yellow head, which was covered with leaves. It opened its crooked and sharp mouth, eliciting a loud and terrifying screech that sounded somewhat feminine. In the next instance, its entire torso lit up with electricity, brightening the dimly lit hall with a yellow glow.

"Nevermind!" Marina pivoted on her feet, covering the ground with ink as she and Marie made a run for it. Diddy followed close behind, using his jetpack to give him boosts when needed.

It snapped its mouth at the fleeing trio, trying to bite anyone who lagged behind. The creature didn't have sharp teeth or mandibles of any kind, but its jagged mouth had many pointed edges that could certainly act as teeth. Every time it went for a bite, Marie caught the occasional glimpse of its long, purple tongue.

Fortunately for them, the plant-like creature didn't appear to be used to long-winded chases. It tired out quickly, allowing the group to create some much-needed distance. Still, that didn't mean the thing didn't continue chasing them. It made up for its slowness with an unrelenting persistence.

Eventually, the trio caught up with DK and Callie. "You guys better have a good explanation for ditching us like that!" Marie yelled, gaining Callie's attention.

"Hey, don't be mad at us! We told you to run." She looked over her shoulder, seeing the pursuing creature in the distance. "I see you guys met Mangoruby."

"Mango what?" Marina squeaked.

"That's her name! Mangoruby." Diddy answered, vaulting over a fallen chandelier. "I get she's not a people person, but I don't remember her being this hostile! Or this energetic..."

"Oh, yeah!" DK clamored, punching a tiki who was foolishly blocking their path. "When we were exploring the first floor, we found this little basement area. Mangoruby was sleepin' down there!"

"Oh, lemme guess. You woke her up, didn't you?" Diddy said with frustration.

"What? No! Well, okay, maybe a little. But that's not why she's goin' crazy!"

Callie nodded. "Yeah! We found that flute tiki Shelly was talking about—the one that took Gramps! It hypnotized Mangoruby."

"That...actually explains a lot." Marie looked over her shoulder, seeing Mangoruby clumsily fluttering through the halls as it chased them. If she had to guess, Mangoruby was better suited for ambushes than high-energy pursuits. Obviously, the tiki wouldn't know that and was just using its body as a means to an end, rather sloppily, at that.

Every time the group turned a sharp corner, Mangoruby would slam into the wall, tearing it up before shaking it off and continuing her pursuit.

"Pearl is not gonna like the state she finds her manor in when this is all over."

"Oh, speaking of Pearlie, did you two find her?"

Callie shook her head at Marina's question. "Sorry, 'Rina. We were hoping you guys had luck."

"Oh..."

"H-Hey!" Diddy nearly bumped into Marina, who had unconsciously slowed down.

"O-Oh! Sorry!"

Diddy shook it off. "Y-You're fine. Not to sound insensitive or anything, but I think this Pearl gal is the least of our worries right now!"

"Diddy's right." Marie huffed, starting to lose her breath. "We can't keep running forever! How are we even gonna beat this thing?"

DK snickered. "Oh, don't you worry. I got a plan for ol' Ruby."

Marie wanted to ask what his glorious plan was, but held her tongue. She'd need to save her breath, lest she wanted Mangoruby to treat her as a main course.

DK led the group to a modest-sized balcony—modest, meaning wider than Marie's bedroom. Once outside, she turned on her heels. Mangoruby was still charging at them, fully intent on ramming into the group, or more accurately, running them over.

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Marina questioned.

"Are we going to dodge at the last second?" Callie guessed.

"I got something even better," DK answered, taking a familiar stance. "I'm gonna put Ruby back to sleep." He didn't say how, not that he needed to. Once he began spinning his arm in a circle, the Squid Sisters had a pretty good idea of his method of choice.

Marie looked between DK and Mangoruby, not at all confident in his decision. "I know the last time I doubted you, this tactic worked. But last time, the enemy wasn't covered in electricity!"

"Trust me, guys. This'll work like a charm!"

Marie was not at all put at ease by DK's words. She turned to Diddy. "Shouldn't you be convincing him this is a terrible idea?" Diddy shrugged.

"DK's never let me down before! At least...not by that much."

Yep. That didn't assure Marie either.

Mangoruby was rapidly closing in, and it didn't seem like DK was having second thoughts about his decision. What's more, everyone else seemed to be fully trusting his decision.

Please work! Marie chanted to herself, holding onto her charger like a lifeline as she huddled behind DK beside Marina and Diddy.

When she got within distance, Mangoruby jumped at them with her maw opened wide. The second her body was exposed to the sunlight, the electricity dissipated instantly. A big grin appeared on DK's face before he unleashed the nastiest uppercut Marie had ever seen, straight to Mangoruby's face.

With a horrid shriek, Mangoruby flew upward. DK punched her so hard she went all the way up onto the roof. They heard her crash violently, shaking the manor with a small rumble.

"O-Oh..." Marina breathed. "I-I guess Mangoruby can only maintain her electric state in the dark..."

Callie tilted her head. "What's the science behind that??"

Marina opened her mouth, moments away from explaining. Luckily, Diddy interrupted. "No time for that! We gotta get up there." He jumped onto the side of the manor before scaling the wall. DK did the same, leaving Callie to dangle on his back.

Marie and Marina nodded at each other before simultaneously shifting into their swim forms and super jumping onto the manor's roof. Everyone else arrived seconds after them.

Mangoruby was completely knocked out, having landed on a now-broken crate of mushed bananas.

"Dang, DK! You really knocked her lights out." Diddy commented, lightly kicking Mangoruby. She remained unresponsive.

DK chuckled. "Sorry, Ruby. I held back as much as I could!"

"Somehow, I believe that." Marie shook her head, smiling to herself. "Remind me to stop doubting you."

"Hey, guys." Marina interrupted. "Where's the..."

A deep-sounding horn blared, it being extremely nearby. The noise hurt everyone's ears, but did a number on the girls specifically.

"The airship!" Marie barely heard Diddy call out.

The airship they had originally planned to board was already taking off. If she had to guess, the tiki possessing Mangoruby had already scurried on board.

For a ship of its size, it certainly moved fast. By the time the group rushed to the edge of the manor, it had already created a vast distance between itself and them.

Marie, undeterred, pointed at the ship like a commanding officer. "Team, let's move! Quickly, before we lose sight of it!"

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Splatoon Country