Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter One: "The Work's Cut Out"

Blinding light. Good thing he has his goggles. It seems like the sun is the only thing he can expect daily in the Splatlands, other than scavenging for materials. He notices his Smallfry running around, looking through random piles of junk and jumping around. He opens his bag to take note of what he has: his Cephalo Pods, a family photo, a bottle of water, and a mysterious letter someone dropped into his bag last week. He looks at it again.

"Tan, you seem like a capable squid kid who knows how to fight for himself. How would you like to hone those skills and fight for something else? Something bigger. Make your way to Inkopolis, and meet Captain Cuttlefish there. His photo is attached. Good luck. - 1&2"

Tan is still lost on how they know his name. Well, nickname. Inside the envelope was a photo of an inkling who looked like he could've been around since the Great Turf War, with how old he was. Tan has no idea who gave him the letter, or what the offer entailed, but he considers it. Life doesn't mean much in the Splatlands, unless you live in Splatsville. After Off the Hook began doing their shows in Inkopolis, and that inkling found the great zapfish, people began discovering that, well, Splatsville existed.

He was 12 when he ran away. Nobody came looking. Not that he expected them to. He's been scavenging the Splatlands since, making a living selling scrap parts that he doesn't use in order to save up to start a new life somewhere else. 

He checks the back of the photo to see if any names or writing were included. Instead, he found one train ticket to Inkopolis. Originally, he had been saving up to move there, but this made things very easy for him.

He removes the ticket from the photo and looks at a nearby clock, hung on a wall, slightly tilted. 11:44 AM. The train would stop by the scrapyard in 16 minutes. He looks at the ticket again, before grabbing his bag, packing up whatever other small items would be useful to bring along, and walking to the train stop. When it arrived, he deposited my ticket and got on. Nothing of note happened. He got a few odd glares, no doubt due to his rough looking condition and salmonid companion, but he paid them no mind. After around half an hour, he arrived at Inkopolis. He takes a look around. The large battle tower stands directly in front of him, with both of his sides surrounded by stores. He picks up his Smallfry, and places him in his bag.

"I don't need attention if I'm here to, I don't know, be a secret agent or something." He says to Smallfry, chuckling.

He looks around for this "Cuttlefish" guy, and eventually spots him, sticking out of a sewer grate.

"Wow, he looks sane and level-headed." He says to Smallfry again.

He begins walking over to him. He makes eye contact with Tan, and then disappears down the grate. Tan changes into squid form and follows him. He notices that the pipe they were in appeared to have only one path. Before he has time to question it, though, he is spit out of another grate, and into an area that looks all too familiar. The grate took him back to the Splatlands. He looks around, and sees that he appears to be on some sort of scaffolding. A few feet ahead lies that "Cuttlefish" guy he was looking for. Before he could get a word out, Cuttlefish began yelling.

"The Octarians are coming!"

Tan looked at him, confused. Octarians?

"Wait... did we do this already? The ol' noggin' isn't what it used to be."

He can tell.

"Look, I have no idea why I'm here, or who wrote that letter, so could I get an explanation here?"

He looks at him, waiting for an answer. He studies Tan for a bit, before talking.

"Yes, well, I'm Captain, er, Ex-Captain Cuttlefish of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. Agent 3 holds that title now. Well, the old one. I think that means you get the title of Agent 3, now. Welcome to the New Squidbeak Splatoon, 3!"

What Tan has gathered so far is that this man clearly isn't right in the head. Whether he's very forgetful, or just plain loony, almost nothing he says makes sense.

"Okay, I'm going to pretend I get that. So, I'm some sort of agent now?"

"That's right, New 3."

Tan's earlier joke to his Smallfry seems to have aged like milk.

"So, what am I doing here?"

"Well, the Octarians have taken the great zapfish again! They took it twice before in Inkopolis, so they must've struck again."

"And you want me to get it back?"

"Right again, new squid!"

Guess it's time to get to work, then.

"Welcome to the New Squidbeak Splatoon, 3!"

"You, uh, already said that, Cuttlefish."

"Oh, right."

Tan looks over to a small tent, with a bunch of items.

"What's that?" He asks.

"Well, that there is my base of operations! It has photos of all the other agents. You know, for rememberin'."

Tan looks over and sees 3 drawings hanging up. A girl with green hair and a Splattershot, A boy with yellow hair and what looks to be some sort of P-90 model weapon, maybe a custom design based on the ancient human weapon. Last, an Octoling girl. Pink ink, and no weapon. She is very familiar to him, but he can't place the feeling. Beside the photos, is a small paper.

"Chatroom login: CraigCuttlefish"

"Password: Squidbeak123"

Probably shouldn't keep that lying around.

"Alright, enough messing around. I better start moving." Tan says out loud, not expecting a response.

"Watch out for that weird ink everywhere. It looks odd!" Cuttlefish says.

He wasn't wrong, it had an odd pink and purple tint, and it was covered in that stuff on Judd and Lil' Judd.

"What is this stuff?" Tan asks.

"No idea, but I doubt touching it is a good idea." Cuttlefish says.

"Well then, I guess I'll avoid it." He responds.

Smallfry jumps out of Tan's backpack, startling Cuttlefish as he runs over to the ink.

"Oh! Looks like you've got a little buddy there!"

Little buddy. Could be a nice name, seeing as how Smallfry doesn't work well as a name.

"Yep. Agent 3.5." Tan jokes.

"Well, welcome to the New Squidbeak Splatoon to you too, little buddy!" He replies. Tan isn't sure if he's joking or not.

Tan turns back to look at Little Buddy, and notices that some of the weird ink is missing. He looks at Little Buddy again, and sees that he is eating the ink. He takes note of this as he pushes forward, with Little Buddy in tow.

Looks like I have the work set out for me.

Chapter Text

Chapter Two: "Splatting Octarians and Making Friends"

After fighting through the various zones that lied beyond the grates scattered throughout the crater, Tan needed a break. He stopped after exiting a grate, sitting down on the scaffolding that all the grates were scattered about on.

"All that Octarian-splatting made me tired. I need to find a place to stay. And fast." Tan says to himself.

He heads back to the area where Cuttlefish's tent was, entering the large grate that lead back to Inkopolis. After rising from the grate in Inkopolis, Tan begins to walk, checking his PodPhone for an apartment or any place to stay. As he scrolled through apartment listings on his phone, he walked into someone. He fell to the ground, grabbing his head. Above him stood a taller Inkling with yellow, tied-up tentacles, and an Octoling with purple, longer tentacles, with one falling in front of her face.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Tan apologizes.

"It's okay! We weren't paying attention either, so that little walking accident was probably gonna happen anyway." The inkling says. He reaches his hand out, offering some help standing up to Tan. He grabs the hand, rising to his feet. Once he is standing, he looks down at his phone in his hand, and remembers what he was doing. He then begins to explain himself.

"I just got here from... Splatsville, and I was looking for a place to stay. An apartment. I just looked down at my phone to see the listings, aaaaaand..." He trails off.

"It happens to the best of us." The Octoling says with a chuckle.

"So, you need a place to stay? We have an extra room, if you'd like it." The inkling offers.

Truth is, he really would like it.

"Are you sure? I mean, our first impressions are that I walk into random people." Tan says, laughing.

"Maybe we got off on the wrong foot. Plus, every interaction like this is a chance to make new friends. My name's Ceph. This funny-looking thing here is Luna." The inkling says, chuckling as he points to his Octoling friend.

"Hey! Don't forget, you were the one who was voted most funny-looking in 7th grade!" Luna says.

That statement makes Ceph go quiet. Luna and Tan look at each other, smiling, before they both burst into laughter.

"What kind of class votes did you two have? 'Most funny-looking'?" Tan says, still laughing.

"It's..." Ceph starts, before trailing off, clearly embarrassed.

"Alright, alright, I'll stop embarrassing you in front of the new guy here. By the way, new guy, what's your name? I probably can't keep calling you new guy, can I, new guy?" Luna asks.

Well, he never did enjoy that question.

"We'll go with Tan. That's my nickname." He says.

Ceph and Luna look at each other.

"Embarrassing name?" Ceph asks.

"No, but it's a conversation I'd rather have in the future." Tan replies.

"That's alright!" Ceph says. Luna looks up at the sky, then at her phone.

"It's getting late. Maybe we should head back. Come on, Tan, we'll show you the way." She says.

Chapter Text

Chapter Three - "City Squid"

"Who cares!? All you have to do is go to school, then come home and do nothing!" He yelled.

"You never should have married my mom!" Tan responds, screaming at Mollun, who begins to charge at him.

"Is that what you think, you little shit? Get out. Get the hell out!" He threw Tan out of the apartment entrance, causing Tan to scrape his knee.

"And take your shit, too." He says, throwing Tan's bag at him. His most important belonging. One of the last things he has left of his dad

"Now get up." He said.

"Get up."

"Yo, Tan, get up dude."

Tan looked up, and saw Ceph standing over him. He had the dream again.

"Oh, hey Ceph. Sorry, I'm up." Tan said.

"It's all good man. Come on, I wanna show you around, take you to our favorite spots in Inkopolis!" Ceph said, motioning towards Luna. She's wearing a yellow hoodie and tennis shoes. Ceph still has on his gray hoodie. Tan looked around. He was in their guest room, with his bag in the corner, and his phone on the nightstand.

"Yeah, just let me get..." Tan trailed off. He realized that he doesn't have any other outfits. Just his old white shirt, shorts, and worn out shoes.

"Oh! Do you not have any other clothes? It's kind of cold out there. Let's go get you something then." Luna said. Tan thought that it would be nice. Plus, he would love to spend some time with those two and get to know them. He hadn't really interacted with anyone else in a long time.

"Sure, I'll let you two lead the way."

They exited the apartment and began walking down the street. Tan took in the sights as they went. Inklings and Octolings were everywhere, dancing, walking, and talking. Some discussed recent battles in Turf War, ones that they had won, and ones that they had lost. Two inklings surrounded by a small crowd had a dance off on the corner of a block. Life here is very... lively, for lack of a better term. Surely better than the tumbleweeds and cacti of the Splatlands. Tan looked ahead to Ceph and Luna, who were walking ahead of him, talking to each other about their plans for the weekend. Something about a new ice cream shop. Tan hoped to ask them if he could join.

"Yeah! It's called Mollu-Scoops! It just opened like, two blocks away from the apartment!" Luna said.

"Do you guys think, maybe I could go too?" Tan asked. Ceph and Luna turned around to face him.

"Of course! In fact, how about this: Later, we'll play a round of Turf War. Whoever has the lowest score out of us three will pay for everyone's ice cream! How does that sound?" Ceph asked. Tan looked at him, then over to Luna, smiling.

"That sounds like fun. Plus, that way, I won't even have to worry about paying!" He said. Ceph and Luna both look at him, smiling as well.

"Oh, we'll see about that! You're on, mysterious stranger!" Ceph said.

"I'm totally gonna beat you guys." Luna laughed.

"Alright, alright, let's go do our shopping first, before we start making a bunch of plans." Ceph interrupted, laughing. They continue walking, and finally arrive at the plaza. The battle tower, named Inkopolis Tower, stands over the plaza. The light-green body helps add to the brightness of the city of color, providing evidence to show that nothing in Inkopolis looks bland. Tan looked around, and saw various stores, as well as a small building above the stores on the right.

"What is that?" Tan asked, pointing to the building.

"Oh, that? That's the studio of the Squid Sisters. They do their Splatcasts there, and record songs there sometimes, too!" Luna answered.

"You know the Squid Sisters, right Tan? What's your favorite song by them?" Ceph asked. Tan thought about it for a bit. It wasn't a big question, but he wanted to give an accurate answer.

"Gotta go with the classics. Two of my favorites are Calamari Inkantation and City of Color. I really do like Fresh Start too, though." Tan shrugged. Ceph nodded, while Luna smiled.

"What kind of music do you listen to, Tan? We never really asked." Luna asked.

"Well, I like a lot of stuff. C-Side, Chirpy Chips, Off the Hook, plenty of stuff in general. I used to want to be in a band too, but... you know what they say about plans." Tan responded.

"What's that?" Ceph questioned.

"They change. " Tan answered in a deadpan tone. Ceph and Luna chuckled, before turning around.

"Well, here we are, at the heart of this city, Tan. Inkopolis Plaza. Home to Turf Battlers and Squid Kids galore. Any questions? No? Good." Ceph asked, but continued before Tan could say anything.

"Come on, I'll take you to get some clothes!" Luna stated, excitedly. Tan looked at his current clothes. Definitely time for new threads. He looked back up at Luna.

"I'm just going to get a few hoodies, shirts, and shorts. Maybe some shoes and gloves." He said. She looked at a store behind her, and then back to Tan.

"Then this place is perfect for you! Come on!" She waved.

Three hours later, and Tan is an entirely different squid. He got a white v-neck tee, new shorts, a pair of gloves, and a few hoodies. Tan put on the gray hoodie as he and Luna exited the store.

"That was fun! And look at you! You look great now!" Luna smiled, still excited about her work of getting Tan new clothes. He began to laugh, as he also had fun.

"It really was. Thank you, both of you, for taking me in. I can tell that you're both great people. You're really fun to hang out with, and I'm hoping we can do it again sometime soon." Tan admitted.

"Well, is tomorrow soon enough for you?" Ceph questioned.

"Wait, really?" He asked. What else could they have planned for tomorrow?

"Yep! We're gonna go see a movie! It's about some outlaw, or cowboy. I can't remember. But I'm still excited!" Luna said.

Tan is excited to join them, but he remembers his world-saving responsibilities.

"Oh. I would love to join you two, but I remembered that I have... work tomorrow." He groans.

"Work? But tomorrow is Saturday! And the Great Zapfish is gone! The only jobs running right now are smaller ones, like Grizzco shifts!" Ceph says. Tan thought for a moment, before getting nervous. He couldn't tell anyone about the New Squidbeak Splatoon. If they've remained anonymous this long, then he definitely can't go around telling everyone that he worked for them.

"I work... out of town. I never quit my old job. I work as a... store clerk. You know, ringing people up, and stuff." Tan lied, nervously. Ceph and Luna both looked at him, giving an odd look, before Ceph groaned.

"FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE, but you're missing out dude. Are you still on for ice cream on Sunday?" Ceph interrogated. Tan thought about his schedule for a moment.

"Yeah, I'll be there. Sorry guys." Tan sighed.

"It's okay! We understand that work is more important than play! Right, Ceph?" Luna asked with a sarcastic tone, annoyed with Ceph's pushiness.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry." Ceph apologized, seemingly more nervous of Luna being upset than sorry for being pushy.

Tan may want to spend time with his new friends, but he can't forget that he has responsibilities bigger than watching a movie right now.

Chapter Text

Chapter Four - "Into The Pit"

"Well, that can't be good." I say, as an octarian with some sort of machine gun and a shield begins firing at me. I dive behind a box, but the box is quickly shredded to bits by the ink. I begin sprinting for a nearby wall, using it as solid cover until the octarian stops firing at me. When the firing stops, I ink the side of the wall, swimming up it, and getting over the wall. I jump towards the octarian, throwing a splat bomb behind the octarian. It turns to block the blast with its shield, and I fire at it, splatting it. I turn around to see Little Buddy waiting behind me.

"We're doing pretty good, Little Buddy." I say. He just looks around. I wonder if he understands me. I continue onward, crossing a bridge, and reaching another large part. Similarly to the last few parts, I ink it, which opens a nearby grate. I enter it, and end up back outside. Suddenly, I hear something.

"Kid, what is that there in the sky?" Cuttlefish asks. I look up. Some sort of giant robot is flying overhead. I've never seen such a thing before.

"It's some sort of flying robot!" I respond. Cuttlefish looks annoyed.

"Oh, it's just that old soggy octo, DJ Octavio." Cuttlefish says. I never did think he was too fond of octarians and Octolings. The robot begins to fly lower, slowly descending as a voice began to come from speakers on it.

"GRAHAHAHA! I AM THE GREAT DJ OCTAVIO, AND I-" Before he could finish, there was a loud boom, and the robot began to fall. It hit the ground with a crash, and the scaffolding we stood on began to rattle.

"Cuttlefish, this thing is going down." I say. We look at each other, and as always, he doesn't look worried.

"Ah, we'll be all right. Not too bad of a fall." He says. I look down. There is at least 80 feet between the scaffolding we are standing on, and the bottom of the crater. Not too bad of a fall. Alright. The pipes holding up the scaffolding begin to snap and fall, and the floor begins to move from under us. It then suddenly collapses, causing us to fall.

I begin to open my eyes. Cuttlefish lies nearby. The damaged robot is directly ahead of me, with the pilot, DJ Octavio, visibly worried. I begin to stand up, and he notices. He quickly tries to hide his fear, and goes on the offensive.

"YOU CAN'T STOP ME! I WILL FLATTEN YOU WHERE YOU STAND!" Octavio yells.

"What... shot you out of the air?" I ask. He just ignores the question, and begins attacking. The fists of his robot come unattached, and begin flying towards me. I fire at them in order to send them flying back towards him. They continue to be sent back towards him, until he decides to attack with a new move, sucking up all the ink between us, and firing it at me. The first time he did this, I was almost directly hit. It brushed past my left arm, and burned my skin. It had the weird, hairy ink in it, so that might be what caused the burning. I waited for him to finish that attack, and then attacked once he began firing his fists again. After continuing this cycle, he was almost beat.

"I don't know... how you-" Before he could finish, the ground began to shake. Was this an earthquake? Cracks begin to form on the ground below us both, as Cuttlefish began to stand up.

"Kid, what is going on?" He asks me. I don't have an answer for him as I look back over to Octavio. Suddenly, a hole forms beneath him, as he falls into the ground. I fall backwards in fear, as the cracks between where he just was and me begin to grow larger. Eventually, they become one large hole, opening up below Cuttlefish and I. We fall into the dark pit, unknowing of what lies ahead.

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"How old is he?" A man asks.

"He looks to be only 12. Cruel world out there." Another says.

I look up at the two men. They found me in an alleyway. I had to return to Splatsville. Just for a bit, to get something to eat, or some clothes. They continued to discuss me while I began to cry silently. I hadn't spoken to any family or friends in months, not that I had any interest in speaking to my relatives. The man was right. The world could be cruel. The weight of life's pressure had gotten to me once it became clear to me. There was nothing I could do now. I made my decision. I left home.

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I open my eyes. Similarly to my fall in the crater, I need a moment to recuperate. There appears to be some white substance below me, like snow, but not exactly. It isn't nearly as cold as real snow, but still very cold. Good thing I packed my hoodie and shoes. I look up, and see a very large rocket. I'm on a small patch of land, or some sort of island. Ahead, there are 4 figures. I recognize Cuttlefish, but not the other three. One hides their identity with a hat, looking down at the ground. The other two faced away, likely inspecting the rocket. I checked my bag, seeing Little Buddy, as well as all my items, miraculously still safe. I begin the walk over to Cuttlefish and the other three people. Eventually, I arrive, and greet Cuttlefish. The inkling with the hat looks up, revealing herself to have a few scars, and a general moody tone about her. The other two inklings turn around, and...

the Squid Sisters?

"I think I hit my head a little hard back there, Cuttlefish." I say. Callie and Marie laugh, and the Inkling sitting between them looks up at me, silently. I notice that my head doesn't actually hurt, and Cuttlefish seems to be unharmed as well.

"I'll address the elephant in the room shortly, but first, how did we survive both of those falls unharmed?" I asked. Cuttlefish looks at himself, then back to me.

"Beats me, kid." He says. As per usual, I'm left with more questions than answers.

"Now for the big question, why am I seeing the Squid Sisters? Like, right there. In front of me." I ask. The mysterious Inkling between them seems to roll her eyes. I'm sorry that my questioning has annoyed you, your majesty.

"Well, because they're Agents 1 and 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, of course!" Cuttlefish says, as Callie nods. 1 and 2, like the letter?

"You two wrote that letter?" I ask.

"Well, somebody catches on fast." Marie says. I'm noticing that Cuttlefish and Callie may be the only ones here without a sarcastic sense of humor. I look around at the environment, and realize that we should be underground. I look at the sky more closely and notice that it seems to be artificial, being screens showing an outside world, rather than a true sky.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Agent 3! I'm Ca- I mean, Agent 1! That grey-haired grandma over there is Agent 2! Welcome to the New Squidbeak Splatoon!" Callie says, clearly trying to disguise her identity, despite having her face completely uncovered.

"Thanks for the greeting, Agent 1, and yes, it's nice to meet you too Agent 2." I say, chuckling. Marie notices that, and seems to not see the humor in it.

"We want to keep our identities a secret since, well, you probably know us. I don't assume that everyone knows us anymore, though. SOME squids who we've hired seem to not know good music." Marie says, clearly referring to some other agent that I don't know.

"Well, I do know you guys. Anyways, I'm supposed to be here to rescue the Great Zapfish? I guess? I'm not really sure of the goal anymore, we kind of just fell through a hole in the ground." I say. Callie is completely distracted, looking around at everything around us, while the silent Inkling sits in front of me.

"Yes, that's your goal. And to get out of here. Yeah, we have no idea where we are. Agent 1 and I were with the Captain on patrol when 1 found a weird pipe, and had the GENIUS idea to jump into it. Headfirst. So we had to follow her, and here we are." Marie says. I look over to Callie. It makes sense, really.

"Alright, so this Inkling is the 'Captain' and we're lost. That's what I've gathered so far." I state.

"Yup, pretty much sums it all up." Marie says.

Nice. So, I'm lost in some underground facility, no doubt with some mysterious happenings... happening, since this place also has that hairy ink everywhere. I begin walking over to the other end of the small island, and notice a few grates after clearing out the weird ink using Little Buddy. Looks like I'm still on the shift. I enter one, and get to work clearing out octarians. This environment is unsurprisingly different. A lot more open, with many more fall-to-your-death gaps scattered throughout the area. The first few grates are quite simple. Clear out octarians, maybe complete a puzzle or two, grab the part, and exit. I repeat the process 8 more times, before reaching the final grate on the island. Once I enter, I notice that it is somewhat darker. A large platform with two walls lies ahead. I move over to a jump pad at the end of the path, and use it to launch myself over to the platform. Suddenly, I feel the ground rumble, and a sound comes from the walls. Then, Octostamps begin exiting a spot in the wall, slamming into the ground beneath me.

"Objective: Survive for one minute." A robotic voice coming from some nearby speakers informs me.

I jump to avoid the shockwaves of the jumps, which gets more and more difficult as more Octostamps begin to enter the platform area. Finally, they stop, and liquify into ink, as the robotic voice informs me that I was successful. A new path opens, leading to another part, and a grate to leave the area in. I take it, and get out. Once I exit, I move to enter a nearby pipe to travel to another island. I almost consider taking a break, but I just want to get out as soon as possible. Before I can reach the pipe, a cloud of smoke bursts in front of it. I fall backwards, and look up as three figures appear. Two smaller, and one large.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" One of the voices calls out. The smoke clears some, and before me stands an Octoling with blue hair, an Inkling with yellow hair, and a Manta Ray. I continue to look up at them, confused.

"Who are you supposed to be?" I ask. The yellow-haired Inkling seems offended by this question.

"We aren't SUPPOSED to be anyone! But I'll tell you who we ARE! Say it with sizzle, I'm Frye!" She says. I wait. She also waits. Frye and the Octoling seem confused.

"Aren't you going to, like, jump up and down in excitement?" The Octoling asks.

"Oh, who's birthday is it?" I ask, chuckling. Despite my dumb joke, I didn't understand why I should be excited. Suddenly, I hear a voice from behind me.

"Oh my- IS THAT DEEP CUT!?" Callie yells in excitement. Oh boy, they're famous. Callie runs up to Deep Cut, pushing past me, and causing me to fall to the ground. Callie begins bombarding them with questions, all while they ask their own.

"Callie? From the Squid Sisters? What are you doing here?" The Octoling asks.

"Shiver! Shiver! I love your singing! Oh, and your's too, Frye! Big Man, you're really awesome too!" Callie says, jumping up and down. Well, there's the jumping up and down they wanted. I groan and walk over to Marie and the Captain.

"We'll be stuck here for a bit. Your cousin's over there fangirling over some idol group, or something. I don't know them." I tell Marie. She looks over to Callie, and is surprised.

"Deep Cut? What are they doing here? They should be in Splatsville doing the Splatcast." She says. That would explain it. They likely only came to Splatsville after I left.

"I used to live in Splatsville. I had to leave there, though." I say.

"Aren't you like, 15? How did you 'have to leave' a city at 15?" She asks. I question whether or not I should explain my past to a celebrity. One who barely knows me, no less.

"Well, my stepdad was kind of shitty. I didn't really make the choice to leave myself. Well, I did, but it's not like staying was much of a choice, either. Before everyone moved there about a year ago, it wasn't the best place to live. Living on the streets wasn't an option, so I took my chances in the desert. It... was rough. I haven't spoken to my friends or family for about 3 years now. I figured it was for the best not to keep in touch." I try to begin another sentence, but stop. I've never really explained my story to anyone before, nor have I really thought about it much. I think about home. About Squidmas, when I was 10, getting that new pair of shoes I wanted. Running home from school to see my Mom. To see my friends. We would go to the local market, grab snacks, and go play at the park. Then, Dad got sick.

Marie notices me choking up.

"It's okay. You don't have to keep going. I understand that some have harder lives than others. It's one reason we wanted to pick you. We figured you didn't really want to live in that desert. The Captain saw you while she was patrolling. A few times actually, running your practice course you made. She said that you were more skilled than any of the Turf War players we tried to scout and recruit. You're a top-of-the-class agent, kid." She says.

"What do I do when this is over? When the Great Zapfish is saved and there aren't any active threats against Inkopolis or anything. Do I go home? If I even have a home." I ask.

"Well, you'll stay with us on patrol missions, looking out for threats, that sort of stuff." Marie explains. "And I'm sure you will have a good home."

I think about Ceph and Luna. I let them down. By now, they're likely blowing up my phone asking me where I am. Too bad it's been dead for hours. They probably think I ditched them after using them.

"I met two people. Good ones. Ceph and Luna. They took me under their roof immediately after meeting me. I miss them, but I have to finish the task here before I can see them again." I tell her.

"It's good that you have your priorities straight. They won't forget you. We'll come up with something for you to tell them. But for now, you should go check on Callie and the others. They might be clearing out soon." She says.

"Alright. Thanks Marie."

I begin walking towards Callie, still excitedly talking to Deep Cut, who are visibly annoyed.

"Can we just go? We want to go hunt for treasure here!" Shiver asks.

"But I have more questions!" Callie says.

"Callie! Let them go! We have our own work to do." I say.

"Fiiiiiiiiinee." Callie says, seemingly annoyed.

Callie walks back to Marie, and I face Deep Cut.

"Sorry about her, she's-" Before I could finish, Shiver interrupts.

"We're here for the treasure. We're taking it. If you get in our way, you'll regret it." She says. Oh boy, typical person-you-knew-turned-bad-guy twist. Shocker.

"Look, I don't care about your-" Once again being cut off, Shiver, Frye, and Big Man disappear in another cloud of smoke.

"Why do I have to deal with these guys?" I ask myself as I enter the pipe, travelling to the next frozen island.

Seems like this is only the beginning of this place.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5 - "Out On The Street"

The sun slowly begins to fall, shading the sky with a deep tinge of orange. Tan looks up, noticing the almost night sky, and decides to begin the trip back home. He knows that his mom will want him home soon. As he walks, he notices the lack of life around him. A few Inklings walk by, some sit on nearby stairs, but there aren't many. A nearby abandoned apartment sits, windows broken, and door boarded. He reaches an intersection, and turns left. He continues to walk, thinking about school, and his friends. His 7th Grade math test, and his family. His dad. He stops walking, and looks at the ground. Grass and small weeds grow out of a crack in the sidewalk. Even in the worst of places, life persists. But some can't fight anymore. Some don't make it out of the cracked sidewalk. He looks back up, and continues walking. Tan arrives at the apartment building he and his family stays in, and enters.

"Hey Tan." The undoubtedly tired receptionist greets him.

"Hi, Mr. James." Tan replies, still making his way towards the stairs.

He begins the climb up, sliding his hand along the rail as he goes. Eventually, he reaches floor 7, and approaches apartment 7c. He grabs his key from his bag, and unlocks the door, entering the apartment, and locking the door behind him.

"Hey buddy, did you have fun at Kaia's?" Tan's sister, Sheila, asks.

Their mom and stepdad, Mollun, are arguing about something in the kitchen.

"Yeah, Kaia and I played video games!" Tan responds.

The argument in the other room grows in intensity.

"I'm glad you had a good day, but maybe it could be even better? I was thinking, maybe tonight, we could watch a movie. What do you think?" Sheila asks.

Their mom goes quiet in the other room, leaving only their stepdad speaking aggressively.

"Yeah! Yeah! I'll go pick one!" Tan says, excited. He walks into the room used for storage, and approaches the disc shelf. He looks through the various disc cases, before picking out one that interested him. He turns around and begins to approach the living room. He hears that the argument in the kitchen has gotten much louder, and Sheila is no longer sitting on the couch. He sits the disc case down in the living room and slowly walks over to the kitchen. He leans into the kitchen to see Sheila and his mom getting yelled at by his Mollun. He immediately ran into the kitchen, jumping for Mollun. They both fell to the ground, with Mollun quickly grabbing him.

"Get off of him!" Sheila yells.

"He attacked me first!" Mollun loudly says with a laugh.

Tan angles his leg, and thrusts his knee between Mollun's legs. Mollun immediately falls over on his side, groaning. Tan jumps up, and begins kicking Mollun in the side.

"Go! Run!" He yells at Sheila and his mom. They do as he says and begin running to their rooms. Tan runs for his room, grabbing his bag. He knew that he would have to leave. He begins running for the door, before being grabbed by his arm.

"Not so fast, you little shit." Mollun says, as he digs his claws into Tan's arm. His shoulder begins to slightly bleed as he struggles to get Mollun to loosen his grip.

"How convenient, you've already packed your bags." Mollun says as he unlocks and opens the apartment door. He begins dragging Tan down the stairs, until he reaches the bottom, dragging him to the apartment building door. The receptionist sees Mollun dragging Tan, and begins to call the police from a nearby room. Mollun opens the door, and throws Tan out.

"Get the hell out, and don't come back." Mollun says, as Tan slowly gets up.

"And take your shit, too."

He throws Tan's bag at him, causing it to hit his face, before landing with a thud on the sidewalk. Tan stands up, and begins to walk towards the door.

"Stop it. You're not coming in." Mollun says, standing in the doorway. Tan looks up at him, burning with rage inside. His scraped knees begin to slowly seep with blue ink, and his eyes begin to burn, as tears reach the edges of his eyelids.

"If you ever come back here, I will kill your sister and mom." Mollun says blankly to Tan. Tan stops moving, shaken with fear. His head begins to feel light as his vision flashes white.

"Oh, big guy isn't so tough now, huh?" Mollun says, mockingly. Tan continues to glare at Mollun, before Mollun slams the door in his face.

-

"Alright, this guy's probably rich, he won't notice." Tan says to himself, trying to convince himself that what he is about to do is morally okay. He looks up again. A large mansion stands before him, surrounded by a very tall wall which he had already climbed over. He sees a sign beside the door.

"Hm. Boothe Residence. Sounds fancy, definitely rich." He says to himself.

He begins to make his away around the side of the mansion, checking each window on the side to see if any were unlocked. He finally reaches a window that he is able to successfully open. He climbs into the mansion, and looks around at the room he is in. He seems to be in a kitchen area. He begins to quietly sneak towards the living room, picking up any items that look expensive. He stops at the fireplace, and looks at the photos of a familiar figure displayed on the shelf above it. He then freezes.

Boothe Residence.

Police Chief Boothe.

He panics, and quickly but quietly moves back to the window he entered from as he hears a pair of voices coming down the stairs, along with two sets of footsteps.

"...well, he seems to only be hitting the higher-class homes." The first voice says.

"From what we've seen. Have you considered every possibility?" The second voice says.

Tan was currently trying to rob the chief of Splatsville Police, albeit unknowingly at first. He knew he had to leave. His palms became practically soaked with sweat as he fumbled exiting through the window, falling face first onto the ground outside.

"What was that?" one of the voices asks.

"Let's go check it out." The other voice suggests.

Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Tan begins to panic to himself. He stands up, grabbing his bag, and sprinting for the spot on the wall that he climbed over. He'd already made it halfway up the wall when one of the Inklings leaned out of the window and spotted him.

"Hey! Who the hell is that?" The Inkling yells, pointing at Tan. Tan continues to panic as he climbs up the wall, nearly falling. He makes it to the top as security guards begin running towards the wall. He notices them, and realizes that he doesn't have much time. He looked down from the wall. The fall was at least 10 feet, possibly more. But he didn't have very many choices. He braces himself, and jumps from the top of the wall.

-

Tan walks over to the abandoned apartment building he had begun to call his home. He refused to try to find official housing as he didn't want to risk framing his mom for abandonment in the eyes of the government. He walks around the side of the building, through the alley, and reaching an employees-only entrance. The sign no longer meant anything. There had been no employees for many years. He opens the door, entering the dark building, and grabbing his flashlight from his bag. He turns it on, and begins to head upstairs. He reaches the third floor, and makes his way to room 3b, opening the door, and entering. He sits his bag on a nearby table, and throws himself on the couch, wincing at his twisted ankle. Still sore. Before he could look through his bag, his flashlight began to flicker. You've got to be shitting me. The flashlight kept flickering, until it finally shut off. The batteries had died. He knew he'd have to leave Splatsville soon. He'd been on the run for six months now, breaking into rich households and taking things to pay for meals. People would surely be on the lookout for him soon. Tan reaches into his bag, and grabs a lighter. He gets up, feeling his way over to the kitchen counter, where multiple candles sit. He lights them, and places them closer to the living room table. He sits back down, and reaches into his bag, pulling out his wallet. He grabs his coin card, and uses his phone to scan the card. He looks at the screen, checking his balance.

496 coins.

A train ticket to Inkopolis is far out of reach. As it turns out, selling stolen goods to back alley stalkers doesn't net you a lot of money.  He ran his options through his head once again. Leave the city, return home, go beg for money, or keep going on this path. All of the options are shitty, just some are shittier than others. No matter what he chose, he'd be stuck in Splatsville for a while, even if he chose to leave the city, as he wouldn't make it anywhere near city limits before someone recognizes him.

"Alright, the calls report that he's in this building. Thomas, get this door open, 3 of you, on him. Everyone else, on me, we're going around the back." A voice says from outside. Tan leans over to the broken window and looks down at the sidewalk.

Eight police officers stand at the entrance to the apartment building. Four of them were moving to the side, where the employees-only entrance is. The only way out is now up. Tan quickly grabs his bag, blows out the candles, and exits the room. He runs towards the stairs, going up to floor 7, before reaching the maintenance room. He enters it, and takes the ladder up to the roof. He looks around at the nearby rooftops, picking which one to cross over to. He sees a roof with a similar height to the apartment building, and prepares himself.

You'll be fine. It's either a small jump across buildings, or being behind bars for a long, long time.

He walks back, and then begins running. When he reaches the edge of the roof, he jumps. He clears the gap, and lands on the nearby roof. He does the same thing three more times, before deciding that he's made it far enough. He locates a nearby maintenance ladder leading directly to the alleyways below. He climbs down the ladder, and begins to run away, wincing as his still sore ankle carried him through the alleys, and into the open street.

Shit, where now?

He began to run in the opposite direction of the apartment building, as the officers continued to search it. He checks his GPS app on his phone, and sees that he is nearing the outer limits of Splatsville. It was not planned, but the time is now. He kept running, as the buildings got less and less frequent around him. Eventually, he made it to the city limit sign. He looks behind him. The streets were completely empty. He checks his phone. 4:16 AM. He looks ahead. Anarchy Highway lies ahead, leading to Hammerhead Bridge, and eventually, Inkopolis. Too many people. Too long of a walk. He checks his GPS app again. North of him were the Splatlands, a desert wasteland where he was sure to be alone. He weighed his options yet again. Desert wasteland, or a city hotspot. Well, the choice should be simple, but of course, there are details.

He turns left, facing the direction of the Splatlands. He looks right, towards the Anarchy Highway. He then looks back towards the Splatlands. He had decided what he would do. He began walking towards the Splatlands.

Little did he know, this choice would end up changing his life.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6 - "This Isn't Cozy OR Safe"

Tan stands up as he exits the pipe. He looks ahead, and spots more of the weird ink, as well as multiple orange buildings, and three large silo-like buildings. After getting Little Buddy to clear out some of the ink, he moves ahead, doing what he usually did, and clearing out the grates. After clearing a few of the grates, he returns to the Squid Sisters' Camp in order to take a small break.

"Hi, Agent 3!" Callie says, energetic as always.

"Hi, Callie." Tan responds. 

The Captain looks up at him, before nodding. He nods back. He understood the greeting.

"Any discoveries?" Marie asks.

"Nothing too crazy, I got through six grates, and there's like... two more. Island looks the same as the rest for the most part. There's three big silos on it, though. No idea what they're for." Tan says.

Marie nods, and then writes it down. Tan looks over at her notebook. She seems to have used a lot of the pages already.

"What's that notebook, Marie?" Tan asks. Marie looks up at him, before closing it.

"I'm just, uh, taking note of any discoveries down here. That's all." She says. Tan could tell that she was hiding something, but paid it no mind. He walked over to some nearby crates and sat down, leaning against them.

"So, how long have you guys been operating?" He asks. Marie looks over to him.

"Well, at first, it was just... Agent 1 and I." She said, rolling her eyes.

"That's me! That's me!" Callie said, jumping up and down.

"Right. After a while though, we decided to get a new member. That member was the Captain here. That was, 8 years ago?" Marie finishes. Tan looks over to the Captain. She continues to look off at the sky, seemingly somewhere else mentally. He looks back over to Cuttlefish, who is standing near a platform resembling a helipad. Well, I've gotten a bit of a break. I better get back to it, so I can get out of here sooner. Tan begins to walk back to the pipe, which takes him to the second island. 

Guess this is it, final grate on this island. Tan looks down at the enlarged grate. He uses his Hero Shot, firing at the grate lid until it opened. He looks down into the grate. Nothing but darkness. Here we go, then. He goes into swim form, passing through the grate and entering it.

"UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL PROHIBITED BEYOND THIS POINT." The speakers blare the robotic voice.

"I'm getting a strong reading up ahead!" Callie says over the radio.

"A strong reading of what?" Tan asks.

"I... uh-" Callie stutters. Tan waits.

"I don't know." Callie sounds somewhat disappointed. This causes Tan and Marie to chuckle.

"STOP LAUGHING GUYS! I just wanted to do some agent stuff!" Callie pleads.

"Whatever you say, secret agent Callie." Marie responds, snickering.

"Oka- HEY! IT'S AGENT 1!" Callie yells.

"If you two don't mind, I'm about to investigate a mysterious area here." Tan says. Callie and Marie stop talking.

Tan walks ahead, noticing that the path is short, and leads to a super jump pad. He approaches it, and stands on it. He transforms into swim form, and is sent flying to a nearby large platform. When he lands, he looks around, but notices that it is empty.

"Well, it's empty. And... I think I'm stuck here. Maybe. Probably. Yeah, I'm stuck." Tan says over the radio.

"We cou-" Before Marie could finish, a familiar voice yells out.

"NOT SO FAST!" Frye lands on the platform. Oh no. She's back.

"You're pretty tough, I can tell!" She says to Tan. He waits for her to finish whatever she's going to say.

"How 'bout this: Call it quits, and join my crew! We can split the treasure!" Frye says. Tan stares at her for a moment.

"I don't even know why I'm here. Can you just move so I can leave?" Tan asks.

"Bah. So you wanna resolve this Splatlands-Style?" Frye asks. Tan is confused now.

"If anybody knows anything about Splatlands-Style, it's me. I've been scavenging the Splatlands since you were releasing garage demos on SplatNet." Tan says. Frye stares at him, shocked. She is caught off-guard by the response.

"Wh-whatever! Let's just fight! EELS, GET YOUR WRIGGILY ASSES OUT HERE!" Frye yells. A giant Octostomp jumps from below the platform, landing behind Frye. She jumps onto the Octostomp as several giant eels emerge from it.

"How the HELL am I supposed to fight that thing!?" Tan yells over the radio as the Octostomp begins to spin with Frye on the top corner of it.

"Well- Uh, just... survive I guess!?" Callie yells back over the radio. OH, NO SHIT!

"First dance! Eel downpour!" Frye yells. A group of eels leave the Octostomp, locating and targeting Tan. They begin to fly towards him, as he attempts to splat them. He gets most of them, but one hits him. The ink burns. Why does this burn!?

The eels he successfully hit fly back at Frye.

"No! Don't hit ME!" She yells. Her Octostomp falls onto its side.
"GWAH! You threw my balance off!"

Tan looks at the side of the Octostomp, noticing the similarity between the material on the side and walls he'd seen before that were inkable. What if I... He begins to fire ink onto the side of the Octostomp, and it sticks. Oh, hell yes. He transforms into swim form, swimming up the side of the Octostomp, and firing ink at Frye. Before he can splat her, she panics and causes the Octostomp to begin spinning again, throwing Tan off. He hits the ground with a hard thud. Fucking OUCH.

"MAKE THOSE FUCKIN' EELS SQUEEL!!! WOOOOOHOOOHOOOO!!!" The Captain yells over the radio. Somebody's hyped up.

"You ready to fEEL the pain!?" Frye yells. Oh, she's got jokes.

"Dance two! Eel Whirlpool!" A swarm of eels begin to circle the Octostomp. This attack caught Tan off guard, as he was close to the Octostomp. An eel hit him, flinging him over to the edge of the platform, and leaving him hanging on to the edge.

"Oh- Oh, SHIT!" Tan yelled. This is it, I'm gonna fall.

"Guess that's that, you wannabe Splatlandian warrior!" Frye says. She begins steering the spinning Octostomp towards Tan, causing the eels to inch closer. SHIT, SHIT SHIT

"GUYS, A LITTLE HELP WOULD BE NICE!" Tan yelled over the radio.

"You'll be-" Before Callie could finish, another eel hit Tan, sending him over the edge of the platform. I guess that really is that. He fell into the abyss below the platform, thinking about his life, and waiting for whatever would come next.

Dripping. Solid ground.

Tan looks down. He's standing on some sort of circle. It was the circle next to the launch pad. He didn't know what it did.

"Uh, how come I'm not dead? Not that I'm complaining. Trust me. I'm not." Tan asks.

"That's what I was trying to say! That fancy little pad thing makes it so that you won't actually, you know, die! If you get splatted three times, you'll get the boot, and you'll have to re-enter the grate... so, don't do that, I think." Callie explains. That's a relief.

Tan got onto the jump pad, jumping back down to the platform.

"You!? But you just- I just saw you... Huh!?" Frye stumbles over her words. She then begins the Eel Whirlpool attack again, but this time, Tan is prepared. He splats the eels, sending them flying back at Frye. After a second round of Eel Whirlpool with the same outcome, the Octostomp is knocked over. Tan repeats his earlier actions, inking and swimming up the side of the Octostomp, and firing ink at Frye. Once again, however, she is quick, and causes the Octostomp to spin again, throwing him off. I really need to talk to Callie and Marie about a helmet.

"GRAH! FINAL DANCE! EEL HAILSTORM!" Frye yells, clearly angry.

A storm of eels begin flying out of the Octostomp, too many for Tan to handle. He begins running to avoid them, but stops when he notices some of them crash into the Octostomp, causing it to almost lost balance. This gave him an idea. He timed the movements just right, and ran past the Octostomp, making sure to run against the spin. The eels followed him, causing them all to crash into the bottom corner of the Octostomp. Frye was thrown from the Octostomp as it went over the edge of the platform.

"You're... not getting... the treasure." Frye said, weakly.

"The what?" Tan asked, confused. Before he could get an answer, Frye threw some sort of modified splat bomb at his feet. Instead of diving away, however, he kicked it back over to her. The blast from it sent her flying through a nearby dome window.

"Well, that was something." Tan said over the radio.

He heard a noise from behind him, and turned around to see that a super jump pad had appeared. He walked onto it, and went into swim form. He super jumped through the fresh hole in the window, winding up outside, where he saw Frye climbing into the pipe, yelling obscenities. What a tough fighter. Definitely. Totally not sarcastic.

By now, Tan was exhausted. The sky hadn't appeared to change at all since he'd arrived. Then he remembered that the sky was just a collection of screens.

"You guys wouldn't happen to know of any five-star hotels around here, would you?" Tan asked Callie and Marie, jokingly.

"Well, I haven't seen any but I'm sure we could find one for you!" Callie responds.

Tan and Marie both remain silent. Likely because they had both muted their microphones to laugh.

"Marie! Stop laughing!" Callie says over the radio. Tan forgot that Marie was beside Callie at the camp. He begins to make the trip back to the camp in order to get some real rest. He needed it.

He just hoped he could get out of this place soon.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7 - "Big Dreams and Small Expectations"

"What are you looking at, you tiny-ass nerd?" Mitchell says to a shorter person, who was trying to grab something from her locker.

"Hey, I'm talkin' to you!" He rams his elbow into the locker, slamming it on the shorter person's fingers. She jumps back and winces from the pain.

"I'm sure you know that I'm the toughest squid in Squid School, so you wouldn't want to fuck with me. Empty your pockets. Now." Mitchell demands.

Kaia Hudson, the shorter person, was no stranger to this type of treatment. It mainly came from Mitchell, but others often chose her as a target, no doubt due to her smaller stature and lack of friends.

"Please, Mitchell, I already gave you my money. I don't have any more." Kaia pleads. Mitchell scowls before looking back at his friends.

"Hm. Looks like the new kid is a fighter. We all know how it ends for those. Get ready, weird-eyes." He says, grinning. He turns back to face Kaia.

"Last chance. 3. 2-" Before he could finish counting, someone yells out.

"Fuck off, Mitchell! Leave her alone. Go shake down someone as husky as yourself."

Mitchell turns around. Standing a few feet away is Tan Marin. Ever since 5th Grade started, he'd been getting beat down by Mitchell. He knew that standing up to him would cause yet another one, but he was ready for it.

"What was that, shrimp? Standing up for your girlfriend? I wish I knew your real name, so I could have another thing to shit on you for. It's probably something embarrassing, like Orville." Mitchell and his friends laugh at his cheesy comment. While they are distracted, Tan gestures to Kaia to tell her to leave. She complies.

"At least I didn't get stood up at the 4th Grade dance after telling everyone that Callie from the Squid Sisters was my date." Tan says, knowing that he would be beat up for bringing up Mitchell's past slip up.

"Alright, you know the drill, little shit." Mitchell says, clearly angry and approaching Tan. Tan doesn't try to run as Mitchell begins punching him, knocking him to the ground, and continuing to beat and kick him for several minutes. Mitchell finally stops after he hears the sound of someone approaching. He and his friends run away towards the library as Tan lies on the ground. The person spots Tan, and runs up to him.

"Tan? Are you okay? What happened?" The person, who Tan recognizes as Mr. Holland, asks.

"Yeah. I'm... fine. Just Mitchell being Mitchell again." Tan says, wincing as he stands up.

"I promise that we'll stop him. Some day. The Principal refuses to do anything until we can 'prove' that he's doing anything. You'd think several kids with black eyes would be enough proof. Anyways, the day is almost over. 4th period is my planning period, so I can drive you home, if you want." Mr. Holland offers. He and Tan were pretty close. Tan had him last year in Inklish Language Arts, and would have him next year in 6th Grade for Inklish class.

"I think I'll be fine, Mr. Holland. But thank you." Tan denies the offer.

"Alright, but you should still head home. I'll let the front office know that you're leaving." Mr. Holland says, as they both begin to walk to the front exit of the school.

Tan looks around. The streets of Splatsville seem to be as bleak as ever. He passes by an old apartment building with a few windows boarded up. It didn't have much business nowadays, and he recognized that it was likely on its way out. He inspects all the Inklings walking on the sidewalks on either side of the roads. A lot more than usual, likely from people getting out of school and work.

"Hey! Wait up!" A voice calls out. Tan continues walking. Surely the voice wasn't calling out to him.

"You, with the blue hair, that helped me earlier!" The voice calls out again. A girl. The girl he helped?

He stops, turning around to see the girl from earlier, that Mitchell was harassing, jogging towards him. She seems to slow down and hesitate with a look of worry on her face when she meets his gaze, likely due to his battered face, but she continues, reaching him and stopping in front of him.

"I just wanted to say thank you. For earlier. Saving me from that kid. He probably woulda killed me, had you not stepped in. I'm sorry you got... hurt." She looks guilty.

"It's fine. Not my first rodeo. And I'll be fine, just some ice on my eye and I'll be good as new tomorrow." Tan responds. Her expression changes slightly to one of relief.

"I'm glad. My name's Kaia Hudson. I just moved here two weeks ago." She says, sticking out her hand with a big smile, causing Tan to smile as well. He got a nice feeling from her, like she would be good company to keep.

"My name's Tan. Well, nickname, I guess. Tan Marin." Tan says, reaching over to her hand to shake it.

Kaia looks down at the ground, before looking back up to Tan.

"Could we... maybe, hang out sometime? I know a pretty cool spot, maybe we could check it out?" Kaia asked. Tan could tell that she was somewhat nervous. However, he was glad she asked.

"That sounds like fun. I don't exactly have many plans anyways. Are you free later tonight? Around 8PM?" Tan asks. Kaia's eyes seem to brighten up.

"Ooh! Yeah! We can do that! It'll be really fun!" She says, smiling. Tan couldn't help but smile as well.

"Oh! Do you have a phone? I could give you my number to text you the details." Kaia asks. Tan reaches into his pocket, pulling out his old flip phone.

"It's not much, but it texts and calls." He says with a small laugh. Kaia looks at him, and then down at her pocket as she pulls out the same model phone.

"Well, isn't that something." Tan says, blankly. They both look at each other for a second, before they both begin laughing out loud. They then exchange numbers, and go on their ways. Tan thinks about the encounter on the way home. About how happy she was to have plans with someone. Was he her first friend in Splatsville?

"I'm home!" Tan calls from the door as he takes off his shoes.

"Hi T- OH MY COD, WHAT HAPPENED!?" His mom asks, running over to him to inspect his face.

"It was Mitchell again. I stopped him from hurting this new girl, Kaia." He says.

"Just... go sit on the couch, I'll go get you some ice. Sheila! Come help me!" His mom says. Sheila comes in, reacting similarly to her mom when she sees Tan's face. Tan sits on the couch and turns on the TV. A broadcast from Inkopolis is playing.

"The Splatfest is going great so far, 'Rina! Squid Kids here at the Square and at the Plaza are all dancin' their troubles away and splatting each other in turf!" The Inkling on screen, Pearl, says. Her friend, Marina, sits beside her. Tan wanted to meet them one day, but he also wanted to go to Inkopolis. Both were unlikely dreams.

"I can't wait to finish this broadcast so we can go out there and preform." Marina says, clearly shy of being on TV.

"Ya can't rush perfection! And look at us. With me here, we're nothing less than perfect!" Pearl says, spinning in her chair. Marina sighs.

"Off the Hook is funny. I hope we can go see one of their shows some day." Tan says to Sheila, who is inspecting his face and bruises.

"One of my friends from school said he knows someone who is friends with them." Sheila tells Tan.

"Wait, really? That's really cool!" He responds. Sheila smiles at him, before leaning back. She seems to be thinking about something.

"You'll be fine. I know you, you're tough. Anytime you get hit, you get back up." She says, smiling at Tan.

"Thanks." Tan says, smiling back. Their mom runs back into the room with an ice pack, hurrying to put it on Tan's face. He stops her, and takes the ice pack from her hand.

"I can do it. Thanks, mom. Also, the girl I helped, Kaia? She wants to hang out later. Is that okay?" Tan asks. He was lucky that it was Friday. His mom would likely be okay with him going out, as long as his phone was charged.

"That's okay. Just don't do anything dangerous or illegal." She says with a small laugh. Tan smiled, and nodded. "Oh, and be back at 9." She added. Tan nodded again.

He turned to face the TV, continuing to watch it for a bit, until he heard stomping from outside. Oh boy. A fist bangs against the door, even harder than usually.

"Open the damn door, I'm tired!" Mollun yells from the other side of the door. Tan rolls his eyes, and Sheila groans. Their mom goes to open the door, and tries to hug Mollun, but he pushes past her.

"I'm going to bed for a bit. Make something to eat for when I wake up." He says to their mom as he goes to his bedroom.

Tan and Sheila look at each other, then back at the TV. A news report was playing.

"...cause for more celebration on top of the Splatfest, as the Great Zapfish has been returned to the Square!" The news report says, as she turns around to see the large stage above the battle entry area, where Off the Hook was performing their new song, Ebb & Flow. Tan wanted nothing more than to be there, enjoying the festivities with everyone else. To meet new people and partake in the turf war battles. To even meet Off the Hook. But he knew that would never happen. Nobody from Splatsville ever amounted to anything more than the bottom feeders of the Splatlands. The residents of the city were looked down upon by those in Inkopolis, and even at 10, Tan could see why. The city wasn't a good place. Nobody would want to live there by choice. But he was stuck here, and with no way to accomplish his dreams.

A vibration from his pocket jolted him back from his thoughts. He looks over to the digital clock by the TV. 6:42 PM. Couldn't be Kaia. He opens his phone, and looks at his texts. One text from Kaia.

"Change of plans. Can we meet up at Main Street right now?"

He looks up at the clock again. 6:43 PM. What could have changed to require meeting up almost two hours early?

"Mom? Kaia texted me and asked if we could meet up now! Is it okay if I go?" He asks.

"Sure! Stay safe and have fun!" She responds from the kitchen.

Tan grabs his bag, and looks at the text again.

"Sure. omw now."

Tan looks up at the sky. It wasn't very dark out yet. It was almost summer, so the days lasted longer than they had a few months ago. He stopped walking for a bit, looking around for Kaia as a light breeze blew past, giving a nice break from the heat of the summer air. Surprisingly, not many people were out. Only a few Inklings here and there, some talking and some just waiting. Perhaps waiting for someone, or maybe just enjoying the feeling of the breeze.

"Tan. Over here." Kaia calls quietly to Tan from a nearby alleyway. Tan was confused at first. She seemed like she was trying to remain hidden.

"Hi, K-" Before he could finish his greeting, she covers his mouth.

"Listen, there's something you need to know about me. But first, I want to show you where I stay." Tan was confused, but he'd already began to trust her, so he complied. She begins to take him to a nearby empty building, once used as a hotel, but long since shut down. She climbs in through a broken window, and helps Tan climb through behind her.

"This is where you stay? Where's your family?" Tan asks. Kaia looks down, clearly upset by the question. Tan immediately felt guilty.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I-" She cut him off again.

"No, it's okay. You deserve to know. You helped me." She begins. Tan looks at her, listening closely.

"They were soldiers for the Octarian Army. My dad was training to be a specialist with Chargers, and my mom wanted to be in the Recon Division. They both were... they didn't come back from missions. My mom went first. Didn't come back from a recon mission in the Great Turf War Craters. After two weeks, my dad demanded that they get search and rescue groups to find her. His group went straight to the craters. They never came back either. They were both declared dead a week later." Kaia says.

"I'm so sorry." Tan says, after taking a moment to try to gather the right words. He'd never met anyone with such a story. "But, why were they in the army? Aren't Inklings supposed to stay away from the Octo Valley?" He asks. Kaia looks at him.

"What do you mean? You're aware that they weren't Inklings, right? I'm not, either." She says. He'd never realized that the "different" Inklings weren't Inklings at all. He began to piece these small thoughts together, and realized. "Get ready, weird-eyes." Mitchell's an asshole, but he noticed too.

"What are you, then?" Tan asks. He looks at Kaia's face. She didn't have the line between her eyes that Inklings had. And the cups on her tentacles were on the outside.

"I'm an Octoling." She says. Tan is still confused.

"We're like you, but, you know, Octo." She says, looking blankly at Tan. He begins to understand what she meant.

"So, how do you speak perfect Inklish? I thought only Inklings spoke it." He asks.

"I studied it during my free time. I never had to do anything for the Octarian Army, because I was too young to be a soldier, or anything like that." She responds. She looks down at Tan's shoes, not wanting to meet his eyes. 

"Well, thanks for telling me. And I'm sorry about your parents. If you ever need anything, let me know." Tan says to her. She looks up at him, eyes wide.

"You don't... hate me?" She asks, tears welling up in her eyes. Tan's eyebrow raises.

"Of course not. In fact, if anything, I appreciate you telling me. You trusted me enough to tell me, and that's nice." He says, giving her a small smile. She sniffles as a tear falls, before leaning towards him and wrapping her arms around him in a hug. He hugs her back, and lets her take her time as she begins to sob quietly.

After a few minutes, she begins to stop crying, and looks up at Tan, before stepping back.

"I'm sorry about that. We came to hang out. What should we do?" She says, wiping her face on her sleeve.

"It's okay. And we can do whatever you want to. Any ideas?" Tan asks. Kaia thinks for a moment.

"I know a spot. Follow me." She says, gesturing for Tan to follow her. He does so, as they walk towards the stairs, and begin climbing the floors. Eventually, they reach the 12th floor.

"I come up here a lot to think. Maybe you'll like it too. You can come up here whenever you want." She says, reaching for the knob of a door labeled "Rooftop Access". She opens the door, and Tan follows as she climbs the final staircase, a smaller one, to reach the roof. When they get up there, Tan stops.

Two chairs sit, facing the almost-set sun, with a nearby tent sheltering an old television and game console.

"I... set up another chair. For you. I like to watch the sunset, since this building is tall enough to see the horizon. We can watch it set, if you want." She says quietly. Tan looks at her.

"That would be nice." He says, walking over to one of the chairs and sitting down. Kaia sits in the one beside him, looking at the sun.

"I'm glad we met. I was beginning to think that escaping the valley was a bad decision. Knowing that people like you are here makes it a lot easier." Kaia says, still looking at the sunset.

"I'm not all that." Tan says with a small laugh. "Just trying to watch out for people, and keep them from facing the wrath of Mitchell Bell."

Kaia looks over at him and they both laugh. They look back towards the sun, which is beginning to drop below the horizon.

"I've only ever seen the sunset a few times. Maybe 4 times before." Tan says.

"With this spot, you can see it anytime you want to. And after, you can play video games." Kaia says, pointing to the console.

"Sounds like a plan." He says, smiling at her.

They both look back to the sun as it slowly lowers beyond the horizon, causing the sky to change from various shades of orange and purple to a darker color, before finally becoming black. The sun was now gone, along with the orange and purple streaks of the dusk sky. The stars of the night took its place, with each one twinkling brightly.

"One day, I want to go out there. To space. To see all the stars." Tan says, pointing to the sky.

"I do too. I want to see what's out there, some day." Kaia says, looking up at the stars.

They both continued to inspect the sky for a while, pointing out unique stars and constellations. They'd gotten lost in the sky, and it was as if the rest of the world ceased to exist for a moment. All their issues, and problems. All the tribulations of day to day life had gone away. And in the place of negativity stood the vastness of the stars above.

After noting how dark it had gotten, Tan pulled out his phone to check the time. 9:12 PM. He looks over to Kaia.

"Oh, sorry. I was supposed to be back at 9. But if you want, we can hang out tomorrow." Tan says. Kaia looks over to him.

"That sounds good. We can meet up on Main Street again, and find something to do." She nods.

"Alright, it's been fun. I'll see you tomorrow." Tan says, grabbing his bag.

"Tan? Thank you. For all you've done." Kaia says to him. He looks up at her, before nodding.

"I'll make sure nothing happens to you. Just... try to avoid trouble when you can." He says, somewhat unsure about his own statement.

"No promises." She says with a laugh. Tan laughs too. She quickly grew on him, and he was glad they chose to hang out.

"I'll catch you later, Kaia. Have a good night." He says, smiling to her as he makes his way towards the stairwell.

"You too, Tan."

Chapter Text

Chapter 8 - "Echoes of a Past Long Gone"

Tan was in a deep sleep, exhausted from his work clearing out the grates in Alterna. He had dreams of his past, of Kaia, and of the hopes he still held on to for his future. He's only 15 after all, he still has a future ahead of him.

"Hey! Wake up, 3!"

Tan groans.

"Come onnnn, Agent 3, you've got to go find a way out of here!"

His eyes begin to slowly open. Callie stands over him, with the same big smile she always has.

"There he is! Come on, we've got work to do!" She says. Who's we? I'm the one who does the shooting.

"Rise and shine, Agent 3, time to get back to it." Marie says. She's looking out at the rocket standing ominously tall in the center of the underground dome they're in.

Tan opens his eyes, and looks around. He's lying on an old sleeping bag he found near the Squid Sisters' Camp.

"Welp. Back to it, then, I guess." He says, as he slowly stands up. He grabs his ink tank and Hero Shot, beginning the walk over to the pipes in order to travel to the third island. After a few minutes of pipe-riding, he makes it to the island.

A small frozen puddle of water stood between Tan and a larger frozen body of water surrounded by buildings. He spotted a few grates, and sighed, before getting to work, clearing the grates.

"The rocket has been cleared for launch, sir." The scientist informs the leader of Operation Resurface.

"Good. Get everyone prepared, and make sure all systems are running as intended." The leader stops. "And good job. We're finally going back up there after all this time."

The scientist smiled before turning around, returning to the control center to prepare everyone for the launch of the rocket. However, one thing the scientists did not account for with the rocket was the abundance of crystals which they had been using to power various things. Mainly, the artificial sky.

"All systems are clear. Gaianauts are in the rocket. Area has been cleared of any people. We are ready for launch." The lead scientist informs the operation leader over radio.

"Begin countdown." He responds.

The countdown begins as the engines of the rocket begin to activate, preparing for launch. As the engines begin to emit energy, the crystals around the rocket, and throughout the entirety of Alterna begin to react. This goes unnoticed by the scientists, who continue with the launch.

"Surface Landers, are you ready?" The lead scientist asks.

"Ready." Thomas, the first member of the team answers.

"Ready." Skye, the second member, answers.

"Ready." Louis, the third member, answers.

"All landers ready." The lead scientist commands.

"I can't believe we were chosen for the Lander team. I'm so excited!" Skye says. She dreamed of seeing the surface one day. Her dream was finally coming true.

"We definitely got lucky, but we've got this guys." Louis responds. He volunteered after the original third member, Chris, had to fill in for another very important role.

"We're making history here." Thomas says. He reaches down to his necklace, grabbing the pendant and folding it open. A photo of his daughter smiling sits inside. He smiles, thinking about her, and how proud she would be of him.

Before the rocket could be released, the entire facility begins to shake. The scientists fall over as the landers attempt to find out what is going on.

"Base-1, what's going on out there?" Skye asks over the radio. No response. She attempts to ask again. This time, she gets a response, albeit difficult to hear.

"Lander Team, be ad-sed, there i-rystal interfer-nce, some s-action." The signal kept cutting out.

"Crystal interference, some sort of reaction." Louis repeated. They had trained for this. The crystals scattered throughout Alterna were believed to possibly be reactive to the energy and fuel of the rocket. However, there were actions in place to prevent anything catastrophic from happening.

"We'll be alright, Base-1 is probably shutting down the rocket right now." Thomas said, confidently. Just then, the radio crackled to life one final time.

"Lander Team, be advised, we have lost control of the roc-" The radio crackled out again, before smoke began to rise from it. Everyone in the rocket fell silent as it continued to violently shake. After a moment, Skye began to hyperventilate.

"What do we do? Those crystals are going to explode!" Skye said, panicking. Thomas and Louis tried to calm her down, but Louis himself began to succumb to the panic. The rocket began shaking harder as the engines fought against the mechanism holding the rocket in-place. Suddenly, it stopped.

"See? Base had it under control. We're... fine." Louis says, breathing heavily.

"Now, we wait for further in-" Before Thomas could finish his sentence, a deafening explosion was heard from outside. Louis and Skye quickly covered their ears, but Thomas wasn't fast enough. His ear drums ruptured, causing blood to drip from his ears, as he held his head and winced in pain.

"Damn!" Skye yelled out.

The shaking finally stopped as the three Lander Team members looked at each other. Louis and Skye discussed leaving the rocket while Thomas looked at his pendant again. He would never hear his daughter's laugh again. He felt like his whole world had collapsed in front of him. He looked back to Skye and Louis. They had decided. They helped him out of his seat as they all began to climb down the various sections of the rocket.

"Any updates on that weird file, Marie?" Tan asks.

"The ORCA's still translating the audio. So far, seems like some sort of rocket launch. Looks like something went wrong with it, though. It seems like the same rocket as the one in the middle of this place. It's really old though, no doubt." Marie responds.

"Got it. Let me know if you see anything interesting." Tan says.

"Will do."

"Alright. Skye, can you help me with this hatch?" Louis asks. Skye walks over to his side, and begins pulling on the damaged hatch. They eventually pull hard enough to get it open. One-by-one, they begin to climb down the ladder, and end up on the bottom level of the rocket. They open the door at the bottom, and step onto the platform beside the rocket. The look out over Alterna, haunted by what they see.

The various buildings in the main dome of Alterna were damaged beyond repair, with large holes in some of the buildings, and others on fire. A few scientists lie strewn about across the multiple islands. Some try to crawl, very close to death, while some stop moving entirely. The crystals, or what remain of them, are scattered about, some chunks of them sinking into the waters around the islands.

"Holy... shit." Louis says. Thomas bolts down the stairs of the platform, with Louis and Skye following closely behind.

"Louis! I have to go find Rachael. I'll meet you back here." Thomas says, a little loud since he can't hear himself. Louis nods to him, and he begins to run to the housing bunks.

Skye and Louis begin to run over to the frozen pond, where many of the scientists lie. They begin checking on each scientists, which only confirms their fears.

Most of them were dead.

Eventually, they both reach the final scientist. The lead scientist of the project.

"The... crystals. They damaged the... ventilation... all other domes are gone... gas leaks." The scientist tries to get out, but slowly drops his head. He then stops moving.

Louis and Skye stand up. They both realize what the scientist is saying. Everyone else was dead. And soon, they would be too.

"Thomas." Skye says. Louis nods, and they both begin to run to the housing bunks. They both make it, but not soon enough. Thomas sits on the ground, holding his daughter in his hands, crying. She had already succumbed to the gas.

"God..." Skye begins. She stumbles for a second.

"My head's starting to hurt." Louis says. Skye and Louis both knew that it was happening.

"How did this all go so wrong..." Skye trails off. The crying stops. She looks over to Thomas. He is now slumped over his daughter's body.

"Shit." Louis says, before falling to the ground. Skye tries to help him, but he is unresponsive. After a few seconds, he stops breathing.

Skye begins to cry as she walks back towards the frozen pond. Her heads continues to pound as she hears a loud noise. She looks back towards the rocket, as it is the source of the sound. The engines have begun to activate again. The locks still do not disengage though, so the rocket fails to launch. This time, it stops due to the rocket running out of fuel. The energy from the engines caused another reaction from the crystals, however. Skye hears a small bang and looks down.

A small crystal shard was launched, causing it to be impaled into her abdomen. She fell over, landing on her side, and watching as the dust settled from the launch, before closing her eyes.

"It- it was just the rocket launch failing. It's... nothing important. Don't- don't worry about it." Marie tells Tan. He can tell that something happened in the video. Marie is stumbling over her words, and she sounds distressed. He was curious, but didn't try to investigate further. By now, he'd cleared the third island, and most of the fourth. He was quickly approaching the large grate he had spotted earlier, when Marie's voice came in from the radio.

"The humans. They... uh, they ended up... causing their own deaths. Trying to get back to the surface. One had a daughter." She sounded like she was about to cry. Tan stopped running, and took in what he heard.

"This... place? This facility is where the last of humanity sheltered themselves. These crystals that were here reacted to the energy of the rocket launch, and exploded. They all died." Marie explained.

Tan looks around. He spotted some of the weird ink. He notices something he hadn't before. The ink didn't just have hair. It had crystals.

"There's more. The other files we found? Those got translated too. The crystals fell into the water during the accident. Apparently, they had absorbed the personalities and... desires of the humans. And, they... merged with the creatures in the water, or something." Marie began. Tan was piecing together what she was getting to as she talked.

"That accident is the only reason we exist." Marie finishes. Tan freezes, and the radio line goes silent. Nobody says anything. Our entire civilization started here? We only exist because the humans died? How did we escape? How did we not die? How did the crystals merge with us? Tan's head raced with questions. Ones that he couldn't even dream of having answers to. He knew that he would have to know eventually, but he decided to push the questions to the back of his head as he pressed on. He reaches the large grate on the island.

"Forget the video, Marie. We need to get out of this place." Tan says. No response.

"Hello?" He says.

"Marie took her headset off. She's just... taking a breather. She'll be fine!" Callie said over the radio, likely trying to sound confident.

"Alright. Tell her not to worry about the files." Tan repeated. Callie complied, and Tan entered the grate.

The area he landed in looked familiar. Oh man, if I see another one of those Deep Cut dopes, I might explode.

He walks forward, hitting the checkpoint pad, and then using the super jump pad to jump down to the platform below. It was surrounded by blue ink. Oh, great.

Shiver lands behind him, attempting to hit a hero-style pose when landing, but failing miserably. She quickly gets back up, clearly embarrassed, but trying to play it off.

"Stop where you are. After the treasure? You have excellent taste. But you're too delica-" Tan interrupts her.

"Look, I'm not after this 'treasure', and I'm not 'in your way'. I beat up your Inkling friend, and if you aren't gonna just let me go, I'm gonna beat you up too. Got it? Cool. Call in your giant triangle or your dinosaur or whatever big thing I'm supposed to be afraid of." He says, staring at her blankly.

"I... uh- Join me, Master Mega!" She says, pointing in the air to nothing in particular as a giant megalodon jumps out of the ink behind her. She turns back, jumping onto the back of the megalodon as it begins swimming around the platform. Hm. A shark. I was close enough.

The megalodon begins jumping from the ink, slashing at Tan, and trying to hit him. He successfully dodges the slashes, quickly moving to avoid them while inking the ground to give himself area to heal and swim. Suddenly, it jumps towards him directly, causing him to fall backwards in fear.

"Oh SHIT!" He says, stumbling backwards. The megalodon doesn't get far though, landing on the edge of the platform. Tan has an idea, and reaches for a splat bomb. He tosses it into the megalodon's mouth, causing it to jerk backwards when it explodes, and throwing Shiver off. Tan ran forward, splatting her with his Hero Shot.

"Well, that was... anticlimactic." He says.

"You thought I was done!?" Shiver yells from behind him. He turns around to see her standing on her megalodon. Beside her is a spawn pad placed on the megalodon. Welp. That sucks.

The megalodon begins to spin rapidly in the ink, creating small tornadoes that pull Tan towards them. He is thrown about the platform a few times before he notices that the megalodon opens its mouth after each spin. He positions himself near the center of the platform, and waits for the next attack. After the megalodon spins, it opens its mouth. Tan throws another splat bomb, landing it perfectly in the jaw. Shiver is thrown off once again, and he splats her.

Shiver spawns once more, clearly now desperate, likely due to her being on her last respawn.

"You- you won't beat me! Master Mega, give him everything we've got!" She yells. The megalodon begins to fire beams of ink in various directions. One of them strikes Tan directly in the chest, knocking him to the ground, and splatting him instantly.

"SHIT!" He yells when he respawns. He falls down on the platform beside the spawn pad, grabbing his chest. It screams out in pain. He lifts his jacket and looks at his chest. A large blue scar is painted across his chest. So when I'm splatted, I get scars if the injury is nasty enough. Great.

He climbs to his feet, and uses the jump pad to re-enter the battle area. He looks at Shiver, angry for getting splatted.

"Not cool, dude." He says. The megalodon begins firing beams in every direction again, and he perfectly dodges each one. The megalodon gets close to the edge of the platform, preparing to jump at him again, but Tan is prepared. When the megalodon lands on the platform, he jumps back, before running towards it. He jumps, grabbing onto the saddle on the megalodon, and tackling Shiver off of the megalodon. He gets off of her, and places a splat bomb below her.

"Wait! No fair! You-" Before she could finish, the splat bomb detonates, sending her flying out of the area in a similar fashion to the last Deep Cut member he fought.

"I'm getting sick and tired of those damn Deep Cut members." He says.

"There's only one more left, so hopefully you won't have to fight many more." Callie says.

Tan exits the grate, and approaches the area with the two pipes leading to the next two islands.

"Nah, I've pushed this far. I'm gonna go take another nap." Tan says. He begins to make his way back to camp, where he lies on his sleeping bag. He doesn't bother to take off his gear before closing his eyes and quickly drifting off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Chapter 9 - "An Old Friend"

"Tan. Wake up!" Callie shakes Tan to wake him up. He doesn't take long to wake up this time. He's used to being woken up by now.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm up." Tan says groggily. He slowly rises to his feet, grabbing his bag.

"We found an exit! Come on!" She says, grabbing his arm and dragging him along as she runs. She takes him past the rocks behind the camp, where a lone pipe lies.

"Marie was running the recon drone earlier when she found this. She went in it, and then she came back and told me it led to the city!" Callie explained. Tan looked into the pipe. Similarly to the grate he saw the first time he'd followed Cuttlefish, there was no visibility within. He looked back at Callie.

"Well, I got some things to do there, anyway. Are you coming?" He asks.

"Yeah, I'll be right out!" She answers. He looks into the pipe again, before changing into swim form and entering it.

When he passes through another grate and exits the pipe, he transforms back into kid form, and looks around. It's nearly dark now, with a light rain falling as the temperature grew slightly colder. Tan looks around at the streetlights and shop signs lighting up, illuminating the ground below, along with all the Inklings and Octolings in the plaza. He took note of all his items before beginning the walk back to the apartment. On the way, he thought about what he would tell Ceph and Luna. He had to keep his role as an agent a secret to the public, but he also had to tell them the truth. He could trust them not to tell anyone else. He knew what he had to do.

He entered the apartment building, greeting the lobby receptionist as he headed over to the elevator. He was too tired to take the stairs tonight. He entered, and hit the button for the 7th floor. As the doors shut, music quietly began to play from the speakers.
C-Side?
Tan recognized the music, as he often listened to the band. He tapped his foot along to it as he waited, before he finally heard a ding, signalling that he had reached the 7th floor. The doors slid open as he stepped out of the elevator, and began walking down the hall to Ceph and Luna's apartment. Once he reached their door, he hesitated, thinking about the conversation he would have to have, before finally knocking.

"One second!" Luna's voice called from the other side. He heard her stand up and walk over to the door, sliding the lock, and opening it. When her gaze met his, her eyes widened.

"Tan? Where have you been? What happened?" She began. She was clearly worried about him, as she was rapidly asking questions about his well-being, springing a new question onto Tan before he could even begin to answer the previous one.

"I'll explain everything, but first, can I come in?" He asks. She nods, and gestures for him to enter. He does so, and sits on the couch. Ceph entered the living room, seeing Tan, and stopping what he was doing.

"Welcome back." He said. He seemed less relieved and more annoyed at Tan vanishing. Tan could understand that. He knew that the only way to end any possible annoyance at his disappearance would be to explain the reason behind it, and so he did. They all sat and talked for half an hour, with Tan explaining everything that had happened, what he was doing before they all met, and his role in the Squidbeak Splatoon. He also had them promise not to tell anyone else what he had told them. They both agreed to this, and both Ceph and Luna seemed satisfied with what they had been told. Ceph no longer seemed annoyed, and rather seemed interested in Tan's occupation.

"So you, like, do secret missions with the Squid Sisters, or something?" Ceph asks, practically just trying to confirm what Tan had told him. Tan nods, and they all sit in silence for a moment before Tan's phone vibrates. He pulls it out to see what the notification was.

"Meet us at Ammo Knights in 10 minutes. We have someone here who wants to see you." -Marie

Tan looks back up at Luna and Ceph, who seem to be waiting to ask what the notification was.

"I have to go. I don't know how long for, but it looks like some sort of meeting. I should be back within the hour, but don't wait up for me." He explains.

They both nod as he grabs his bag and heads for the door, but Ceph stops him.

"Just, stay safe, man. We'll have something ready for you to eat when you get back." He says to Tan with a small smile.

"Of course. Thanks." Tan responds, matching his smile as he exits the apartment.

After making his way back to the plaza, Tan enters Ammo Knights. The two tiny Triop attendants, Shelly and Donny, hear the doorbell ring as he enters, and come out to greet him. However, once they spot him, they look at each other.

"Shelly, hit the switch." Donny says.

"On it." Shelly responds.

Shelly hits a button behind the counter, causing metal plates to slide in front of the windows, blocking the view of the store's interior to everyone on the outside. A large painting sitting against a back wall slides to the side, revealing a hidden door.

"Woah." Tan says out loud. Admittedly, he had no intention to do so.

"That's nothin'. Go ahead and enter it, 3." Donny says, clearly proud of what is presumably his work. Tan does as he says and opens the door, revealing a staircase leading to some sort of basement-like area. He descends the staircase, noting the oddly clean look of everything, as well as the nice lighting. Once he reaches the bottom of the staircase, he turns to the right to see a group of familiar faces.

Marie, Callie, Captain 3, and...

Kaia.

"KAIA?" Tan says, nearly stumbling as he rushes over to her. She quickly stands up from her chair, catching him in a hug. Everyone else in the room, reading the situation, decide to begin to leave, but before they go, Callie halts the situation.

"WAIT! Before we go, can I hold onto Little Buddy for a bit? He's cute and I wanna carry him around for a day or two." Callie asks. Tan looks over his shoulder at her before nodding. She excitedly runs over to him, grabbing Little Buddy and running out of the room. Marie sighs as her and the Captain exit.

"I'm so glad you're okay." Tan says to Kaia as they back away from the hug. He looks at her face, before noticing something. "...and taller." He says with a small laugh. She laughs as well, before her face returns to a more solemn look. Tan isn't able to read her body language as she begins.

"When I got taken away, I was sure I'd never see you again. But here we are." She says. Tan notices how hot it is in the room, removing his hoodie. He looks back to Kaia and notices that she is wearing a hoodie that is clearly too large for her, even going past her hands, along with jeans.

"It's kind of hot in here, why are you wearing that stuff?" He asks. She sighs, before sitting down on a nearby couch.

"I guess you deserve an explanation as to where I've been, along with... other things." She begins. Tan takes a seat beside her. "You see, I lied about not being in the army before we met. They forced me into training when I was 7. From there, I was treated pretty poorly, but then again, everyone was. After I escaped the first time, I met you. At that point, I was mostly unscathed." She explains. Tan isn't quite sure what she means by that.

"After they took me back..." She continues. Tan winces at the memory of the Octarian spy breaking into their shelter late at night, taking Kaia away. "I was punished. For escaping. After the punishment, they would treat me very harshly, even going as far as to hurt my legs. They said it was 'to break what you used to escape'. I never fought back." She says.

"How did they punish you when you first returned?" Tan asks, voice shaky. He was scared to ask, as he knew that the Octarian Army had a history of brutality, even to its own members. Kaia grabs her left sleeve, slowly lifting it up. Tan's blood ran cold.

On her left hand, only 4 fingers were present. The ring finger had been cut off about halfway down, leaving only a nub in its place. Kaia then stood up, lifting her jean legs to reveal various large scars, travelling up and down both of her legs. She sat back down before continuing the story.

"Eventually, while I was on patrol on the surface, Cuttlefish and the Captain found me. After... a while, they helped me escape. I ended up in Inkopolis, and I've been here since." She finishes. The Squidbeak Splatoon had helped them both. Her more than him, of course, but both of them were pulled from hard situations to become agents. Well, presumably become agents.

"And now you're an-" Tan began.

"Agent. They gave me the number 8. What about you?" She asks.

"3. The Captain's old number, apparently." He responds. Kaia nods. They both sit there, thinking about the conversation. Tan looks around in the room they were in. It seemed safe to live in, but surely not comfortable. It was hot in the room, even at night, when it was cold outside. He looks over to Kaia. She looks very tired.

"I have an idea. I'm staying with these two people. They're- they're cool. They let me stay in their guest bedroom. It's pretty big, and- and the bed's big too, but you also have your sleeping bag. Maybe, you could, I mean, if you want to, you can-" He tries to offer.

"That sounds nice. I'll do it." Kaia says, with a small smile. Out of the corner of his eye, he could swear that the color of Kaia's face changed slightly. Was she...

"I'll go pack my things. I want to get out of here ASAP, it's hot." She says. Tan is jolted out of his thoughts, nodding his head, and grabbing his bag. He helps her pack up the few items she has, and grabs her sleeping back for her.

"I'll lead the way. It feels nice outside, so we can take our time." Tan says. And they did. As he walked, he explained how he'd arrived in Inkopolis, as well as the few landmarks he'd spotted in the area as they passed them. He was glad to have Kaia back, even if she was in a worsened condition. After walking for a while, they finally reached the apartment building. Similarly to before, Tan greeted the receptionist before entering the elevator, this time with Kaia in tow. They exited the elevator on the 7th floor, and approached the apartment. Tan knocked on the door, and Ceph came to answer it. He unlocked the door, opening it, and seeming surprised to see Kaia.

"Oh? Who's your friend?" He asks. Tan looks over at Kaia.

"I know her from a while back. She doesn't really have a place to stay. Is it okay if she stays here for a while?" Tan asks. Ceph visibly considers his question.

"She can stay with me in the guest room. You won't even know she's there." Tan continues. Ceph laughs.

"Dude, I'm just joking. Of course she can stay. And there's no mega-strict rules. Make yourself at home." He says to Kaia. She smiles as they enter the apartment, and head to the guest bedroom. Tan drops his bag in the closet, and places her sleeping bag on the floor. The rain outside continues, seeming to come down even harder.

"I'm exhausted, so I'm about to crash. Need anything?" He asks Kaia. She shakes her head as he leaves to brush his teeth. As he finishes and rinses off his toothbrush, he hears a deafening boom, and then a yell. He turns off the water, preparing to see what the source of the yell was, but all the lights shut off.

"Aw, man!" Ceph yells from the living room. He was in the middle of a movie.

Tan returns to the bedroom, phone in hand with the flashlight on, to see Kaia curled into a ball on her sleeping bag. He walks over to her and kneels down.

"What's wrong? Did the thunder scare you?" He asks, placing a hand on her shoulder. She flinches at the contact, causing him to reel back.

"Y-yeah. Loud noises aren't my thing. Or the darkness, really." She responds. Tan looks over at the bed.

"Why don't you sleep in the bed tonight? I can ask Ceph about me sleeping on the couch." He says. Kaia looks up at him.

"Are you sure?" She asks. He nods, and she climbs shakily into the bed. He begins to exit, but she calls for him.

"W-wait. I don't really... want to be alone. Could you, maybe, sleep... on the floor, or in the bed, somewhere in here?" She asks. He stops, before turning around.

"If you want me too." He says. She seems to be nervous, not just because of the thunder, but he can't explain why. Maybe, it was due to the dark. She moved herself closer to the edge, as if to make room for him, or signal for him to get into bed, so he did. She stopped shaking as much, as he laid down, facing away from her.

"Goodnight." She said to him.

"Goodnight, Kaia." He responded.

Chapter Text

Chapter 10 - "Cephalopodic Society And Its Reliance On Money"

"So, who's paying?" Luna asks, as she takes the last bite of her burger. She looks around at the other members of the table. Tan, Ceph, and Kaia meet her gaze.

They had gone to Inkopolis Café to pick up breakfast before a long day of touring the city, properly showing Kaia and Tan around. However, no plans had been made for payment. It always annoyed Tan when plans weren't made.

"Well, I'm broke." Tan responds, gesturing towards Ceph and Luna. They look over to Kaia.

"I just escaped the Octarian Army. Again. I'm a little low on funds as well." She says, pulling out an empty wallet. Everyone finally looks at Ceph.

"Man, I've been covering everyone's costs recently, haven't I?" He says, pulling out his wallet, and grabbing a card. He puts a number into his phone, and looks at the screen.

"Oh." He says, quietly. Everyone looks at him, as the waiter approaches the table. "YOU DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY EITHER?" Luna quietly asks. Ceph quickly nods.

"Oh, we are soooooo banned from this place." Kaia says, groaning.

"Ow!" Luna says, falling on her face as the jellyfish waiter pushes her out of the door. Tan, Ceph, and Kaia stand in front of her, with Tan moving to help her up while Ceph and Kaia discuss something.

"You good?" Tan asks. Luna looks up at him, with a small cut on her forehead. A small amount of ink begins to come from it.

"Yeah. Sucks that we got kicked out. What do we do now?" She asks. Tan looks around.

"I'm not sure. We definitely need funds, though." He responds.

"And I have JUST the plan to get some!" Ceph says, approaching the two with an exaggerated walk.

"You always got a plan, Ceph." Luna responds. 

"This one'll work. I promise." Ceph ensures, putting his hands up in defense. Luna groans.

"Alright, what is it?" She asks. Ceph's small smile turns into a large grin as he slowly turns around, pointing to an orange building.

Grizzco.

"We're all low levels there, aren't we? We'll get paid, like, nothing." Luna says.

"Well, I'm not-" Tan and Kaia say at the same time. They both look at each other, before Tan gestures for Kaia to finish.

"I used to work there before that spy found me. That's how I always had money. I worked there for a bit after I was found again, too." She explains.

"I used to work there when I was scavenging the Splatlands, and before I left town, too." Tan says. Ceph and Luna exchange looks.

"So, it'll be harder for us?" Ceph asks. Tan hesitates, and Kaia slowly nods.

"That sucks." Luna says. After agreeing on the plans, they all make their way over to the Grizzco building, getting ready for a shift. After entering, Ceph, Luna, and Kaia put on orange slopsuits, while Tan puts on an orange gloopsuit. Ceph looks over to Tan.

"Whaaaaat? You have a special outfit too?" He asks. Tan nods. "Man." Ceph says, before turning back to his locker. Tan makes his way over to the sign-in book to sign everyone in for their shift. Once everyone is ready, they make their way to the back exit, where a helicopter waits outside. They enter it, and begin flying to the Salmonid swim zone.

"Now entering: Marooner's Bay." A robotic voice comes in over the radio, informing everyone of the job site via their headsets. Kaia rolls her eyes.

"I hate this site. Every time I've been on it, something's gone wrong." She says. Everyone looks out of the side of the helicopter, spotting the site. They were quickly closing in.

"Alright everyone, the time is now. Let's get that dough." Ceph says, as he changes into swim form and super jumps down to the site.

"Cod, he's so corny." Luna says, rolling her eyes as well, before following Ceph.

"Good luck out there." Tan says to Kaia, before changing into swim form, and jumping.

He lands near Ceph and Luna, who are already arguing.

"Ceph, you CANNOT use a roller. You're clueless." Luna argues. She seems to be right. Ceph was holding the Big Swig Roller upside-down. Luna herself was holding a Rapid Blaster Pro, while Tan had a Splattershot Pro. Kaia lands beside Tan, standing up, and equipping her Sploosh-O-Matic.

"Do they always bicker like this?" She asks Tan. He shakes his head, not looking away from them.

"No, but even now, I'm pretty sure it's not a serious argument. Like, friendly bickering." He says. Kaia nods.

"Got it. Well, let's get ready, then." She says. They get Ceph and Luna to stop arguing, and everyone prepares for the first wave. Mr. Grizz informs them over their radios that they needed to reach the quota of golden eggs in each wave. If the quota was not met in time, their shift would be over. Suddenly, Chums and Smallfries began to rush towards the group. Tan, Luna, and Kaia began firing at them while Ceph swung his roller at them. Despite his lackluster usage of the weapon, he was making himself useful. Several boss salmonids began to make their way on shore, and the group let them get closer, before splatting them, thanks to Kaia's advice. They collected the eggs, depositing them in the basket. After repeating this process, they reached the end of the wave.

"20 out of... 16. Not... bad." Ceph said between huffs of air. He was already tired of lugging around the oversized paint roller, jumping around and swinging the weapon every time he had to splat salmonids.

"You did pretty good for an Inkling holding his weapon the wrong way. Which, was... not amazing." Luna said. Ceph squinted at her.

"Alright guys, don't start with your little flirting session again, wave 2 is about to start." Kaia said. Both Luna and Ceph quickly looked over to her, eyes wide and cheeks tinted with their ink colors.

"We..." Luna began.

"WE'RE NOT FLIRTING!" Ceph yelled at Kaia, causing both her and Tan to begin laughing. Luna remained silent.

Wave 2 began, and similarly to the last round, it went mostly without a hitch. Everyone remained safe, and the quota was met. Aside from a few admittedly dumb comments from Ceph, the shift seemed to be smooth sailing from that point on. Wave 3 began, however, and a thick fog quickly rolled in. Immediately afterward, glowflies descended upon Ceph.

"What the hell is this?" He asked. Tan went pale.

"Rush." He said quietly. Ceph looked over at him.

"What?"

"RUSH!" He loudly repeated, as a hoard of Chums, Smallfries, and Cohocks began rushing from the sea.

"OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT!" Ceph yelled, nearly dropping his Splattershot Pro as he began to sprint away, inking a wall as he swam up it.

"Who has a roller!?" Tan asks. Luna raises her hand.

"Get on that platform beside the basket, put it on the ground, and get Ceph behind you." He instructs. She did so, as Tan and Kaia focused on gathering golden eggs. After a few minutes of repeating the process, the time was almost up, but the quota hadn't been met. They had two more eggs left. Kaia got one from a boss she had splatted and deposited it, but it was impossible to reach the final one. Tan changes into swim form, and dodges the hoard of salmonids, reaching the egg and returning to the basket as the clock winded down. He throws the egg, landing it in the basket as the clock reached zero. The wave ends, and the salmonids retreat.

"HOLY... HOW?" Ceph asks, still shaking. Mr. Grizz informed them over the radio that their shift was over, and to return to base. They changed into swim form, super jumping to the helicopter, and returning to Inkopolis.

"Welp." Luna says. Everyone sat outside the restaurant they'd been kicked out of earlier.

"Welp." Kaia repeats. Ceph sighs, sliding closer to the ground. He was tired from carrying around the roller and running for his life.

"At least we got some money." Tan says. Ceph smiles, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his card. He punches the number into his phone again, checking his balance.

"100 coins. Nice." He says. His smile is quickly erased when the waiter from earlier grabs Ceph's card. He jumps up.

"Hey! You can't just-" Before he can finish, the jellyfish swipes the card into a reader, and it beeps. He hands Ceph his card back before leaving. He refreshes the balance screen, and groans.

"Down to 75 coins." Ceph says as he stands up. He brushes himself off, wincing as his hand passes over a spot on his arm that had been cut during the shift. "Glad I wasn't wearing my jacket out there." He says.

"Can't let the glorious Ceph McMurray have his style ruined by some fish." Luna says with a chuckle. Ceph glances over to her.

"At least I care about how I look. You just walk around with some random old clothes." He responds. She looks down at her outfit, before looking back up at him.

"I don't waste half my morning trying to look my very best for SquidKid monthly, unlike you." She says. They quickly begin to make cheap comebacks at each other as Tan and Kaia slip away to go find something to do.

"Well, we've both got 100 coins. I was thinking about seeing a movie before... all this 'agent' stuff happened. Maybe we could go see one?" Tan suggests. Kaia smiles.

"That sounds fun. I was wanting to go see that one about the Inklings on a road trip." She says, before pulling her coin card out. Tan puts his hand on her wrist to stop her, but notices that she tenses up. Believing it to be because she was uncomfortable, he quickly releases, barely noticing the tint of yellow on her cheeks. He does notice, though, and stops walking. He wonders if he should ask about it, but Kaia begins speaking.

"It's okay! I can pay for my own. I did get paid on that shift too, you know." She says. Tan looks at her card in her hand, before looking back at his.

"Yeah, but I did too. You deserve a bit of a break. Put your card away, I can cover the costs. Come on, it'll be fun." He says with a smile. Kaia hesitates, before finally putting her card away.

"Fiiiiine. Come on, let's go see that movie." She says. They both make their way to the movie theater as the sky slowly begins to darken, turning a shade of orange. They sit down in the theater as the advertisements before the movie play.

"I really wish I had stopped at a store before we came here. The snacks and stuff are WAY too expensive." Tan whispers. Kaia quietly laughs at the comment.

"Well, next time we go see a movie together, we can gear up beforehand." She responds. He isn't sure why, but the comment makes him feel odd. He notices that his head feels a bit heavy.

"That sounds good." He gets out. He can't say much else. He grabs some popcorn, putting it in his mouth before passing the bucket to Kaia. He leans back into his chair as the movie begins.

Once they get out of the theater, the day had already turned to night. Tan checks his phone, expecting several texts from Ceph and Luna. At no surprise to him, that's exactly what his notifications consisted of.

"Dude, where did you and Kaia run off to? You better not be making out." - Ceph

He felt that same feeling that he felt earlier.

"Ceph and I picked up some food for dinner 2nite. We got some for u gays 2." - Luna

Tan raises his eyebrow at the text, before reading the next one.

"*guys" - Luna

He laughs at the typo, showing Kaia. She laughs at it too as they make their way back to the apartment. Once they arrive at the building, they follow the routine of taking the elevator, that of which Tan had gotten used to. They make their way to the apartment, knocking on the door, and entering when Luna answers the door.

"So, how was the makeout sesh?" Ceph asked with a shit-eating grin. Tan and Kaia both stop dead in their tracks.

"Ceph! Why would you even say that?" Luna asks, tilting her head. Tan had gone silent, despite it being a joke that was not true.

"Woah man, you look sick. Wait... you guys didn't actually-" Ceph was cut off.

"No. Nothing happened. We saw a movie. That's it." Kaia said, calmly. Ceph slowly nods, as if to say "Riiiiight", before Tan and Kaia continue the walk to their room. Tan lies on the bed while Kaia goes through her bag.

"What kinda stuff do you have in there?" He asks. Kaia looks up at him before reaching into the bag, pulling out an old photo album. She sits down on the bed beside him, and opens it to the first page. A photo sits in the single slot on that page, showing two adult Octolings, and three younger Octolings. Kaia and her family. Before Tan could say anything, she flips the album shut again.

"I'll go through it some day. We both can." She says, voice tainted with sadness, before placing the album back in her bag. She walks back over to the bed, sitting on it as Tan turns the TV on. A news report is playing.

"...while the mysterious individual's intentions remain unknown, police have confirmed that he is under their custody. We do not have a name for this strange Octoling, but we do have a face." The reporter states, as a photo appears on-screen. A familiar face. Tan's blood runs cold as he looks over to Kaia, who is also frozen in place. Her eyes remain wide and unblinking, staring at the TV screen as it displays the photo.

A photo of the Octarian Army spy that captured Kaia years prior.

Chapter Text

Chapter 11 - "Tragedy On A Dark Night"

Thunder boomed outside the old apartment building as Tan and Kaia sheltered down in the room they'd been using as a bedroom. The generator they had been using to run smaller appliances had run out of gas, and conditions outside were surely too rough to go scavenging for materials in. Tan looks outside the broken window while Kaia searches for matches to light some candles.

"Hopefully this doesn't last long. We need to go get gas soon." Kaia says, searching through cabinets for matches. Thunder continues to boom loudly.

"You're right. We don't really have a way to cook anything, either." Tan responds. He walks over to the fridge, quickly opening the door to check their food supplies before shutting it again. Leaving it open for too long would get rid of the little cold air left in it.

"We're running low on food, actually. We'll have to make another run soon." He says. Kaia turns around, facing him. She frowns.

"How much longer can we last up here? It worked at first, with you using your allowance to buy food for us. Now, we just don't have any money." She says. Tan reaches into his pocket, pulling out his phone and card. He puts the card number into his phone, checking the balance.

Only 12 coins left. Won't even cover one meal for both of us.

"I don't know, Kaia. Hopefully an opportunity comes up soon." He says, sighing. They both hear a bang, and freeze. This wasn't the sound of thunder, this was... different. Tan felt his hands begin to shake as he begins to sneak over to the door. He checks the lock on it. Locked. He quietly moves back to Kaia, informing her that the door was locked.

"What if it's the police? We're squatters here." She says, clearly scared. He thinks for a moment, unsure of his reply.

"Then at least we'll be out of here." He responds. He knows that it isn't a good reply, but he chooses to be honest with her. She looks at the ground. Suddenly, they hear another bang, louder. Whatever it was got closer. Then, they hear footsteps, and finally, talking. Tan doesn't understand the speech, but he freezes in place when he looks up at Kaia. Her eyes are wide, and she is visibly shaken.

"That's- that's Octarian speech, that's one of the spies." She quickly spits out, grabbing Tan's arm as he tries to question her meaning. She drags him to a closet in a nearby bedroom, locking him in it, as he tells her to let him out.

"Kaia! You can't fight that guy! Just hide! Let me out!" He quietly repeats. Kaia ignores him as she positions herself out of sight of the main entry, preparing to attack the Octarian intruder.

"Entering target room." The Octarian says outside the room. The room went silent, other than the heavy taps of rain on the roof of the building. Lightning flashes, and Kaia waits for what happens next. Thunder booms, as the door flies open. The Octarian had timed his breach with the thunder to cover the sound. He enters the room, quickly sweeping it for any signs of life, Octoshot in-hand. He notices the lit candles, and the fact that someone had clearly been in the room recently. His sunglasses appeared to be modified to add a HUD. His black vest held various pieces of gear, as well as a blade.

"Targets nearby." He says, approaching the bedroom where Tan and Kaia were hiding. As he gets closer to the doorway, Kaia prepares to attack. He crosses the threshold of the doorway, and she jumps, lunging at his neck, and throwing off his balance. Just as that happens, Tan breaks open the closet door, falling forward and crashing into the Octarian. This nearly causes him to fall, but his large stature keeps him on his feet. The two 12-year-olds aren't able to properly overpower him, even when they work together. Tan jumps onto his back, trying to make him fall backwards, while Kaia swings for his abdomen. The Octarian swings his leg out, sweeping Kaia off of her feet, and quickly reaching over his back, grabbing Tan and throwing him over his shoulder. Tan crashes into a table, breaking it in half. He couldn't get up.

"Stay down, kid." The Octarian says. Tan slowly looks up at him, still unable to get up.

"Do not stand." The Octarian rephrases, in rough Inklish. Tan glares at him, straining as he attempts to stand. The Octarian reaches into his bag, grabbing two syringes. He uses one on Kaia, and the other on Tan. Kaia goes under first, as the Octarian picks her up, and begins walking towards the exit. Tan fights the serum as he finally rises to his feet.

"Come... here, you... you..." He slowly says, stumbling after the Octarian. As he attempts to make his way over to the Octarian, he trips, falling onto the ground.

"Subject is secure. Returning to the valley." The Octarian says, as he shuts the door behind him. Tan can no longer feel his body, as his eyelids grow heavier and heavier. With a final groan, he falls into a deep sleep.

When he awakens, the storm has already ended. He quickly rises to his feet, panicking.

"Kaia!? KAIA?" He yells, rushing through every room of the apartment building, trying to find any sign of her. After finding nothing, he returns to his room, packing his things. He was going to find her himself. He sprints out of the empty apartment building, running down the street. From the little bit of Octarian that Kaia taught him, he understood simple things. Luckily for him, "the valley" was one of those things. He continues making his way out of Splatsville and onto a nearby highway. He checks his GPS app once he reaches the highway. The valley was definitely out of reach by foot. He looks up at the cars passing by. Suddenly, he has an idea. He sticks his thumb out, waiting by the lane of cars heading towards Mount Nantai. Eventually, one of the cars pulls over, with the driver coming to a stop by Tan, and rolling the window down.

"Where you headed?" He asks. Tan hesitates.

"Mount Nantai. I'm visiting a friend." He says. The driver looks at him for a moment. 

"Alright, hop in. I'm headed that way." The driver says.

Tan thanks the driver as he exits the car. He gets a good look at his surroundings. He was at the base of Mount Nantai. Tan been dropped off at a visitor's center, and the Octo Valley was surprisingly close. He uses his GPS to check the direction in which he had to travel to reach the valley. Unsurprisingly, the way he had to go was blocked by fences. He laughed to himself as he hopped the fence, believing it to be the only thing keeping him from the valley. He begins to run through the forest that lies ahead, weaving between trees as he moves forward. However, he comes to a screeching halt, looking at his feet as he barely stops himself from a likely lethal fall. The forest suddenly ended on a cliff, and he had nearly fallen over the edge. Tan inspects the edge, noticing that it was at a proper enough angle for him to slide down it if needed. And it was needed. He grabs the edge, slowly lowering himself, before he turns himself around. His foot slips, however, and he begins to tumble down the incline. He is able to regain slight control of his fall, keeping himself from getting injured. He slides to the bottom of the hill, coming to a stop with nothing more than dirty clothes and some scrapes. Before he has a chance to fully investigate his surroundings, he hears sounds from ahead, and knows that they're from the Octarians. He moves to some trees ahead, which line a road. The source of the sound appears, being a transport convoy. Two trucks pass by, with a familiar voice coming from one of them, speaking in Octarian, however.

"LET ME GO! I'LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU! I'LL RIP YOU TO SHREDS!" Kaia yelled from the back of the second truck. Tan didn't understand her entire sentence, but he knew that she was in trouble. He begins to follow the trucks, making sure to stick to the trees. He remained within earshot of the trucks the entire time, catching some of the conversations that were going on within them.

"Subject C17A is the main aspect of Project Stimpod. Train her as if she was a normal soldier, but keep her safe." A scientist in one of the trucks instructed. "Main aspect of Project..." is all Tan could understand. He continues to try to piece together the info he was getting as he kept a steady pace, following the trucks. Eventually, the trucks reach a gate, which opens, letting the trucks enter a base in the valley. It appeared to be a smaller base, perhaps only being used for research, rather than other military related activities. This was a relief to Tan, who found hope in the possibility of sneaking into the base to rescue Kaia. However, as he approaches, he quickly realizes that he wouldn't be able to simply walk into the base. Tan inspects the gate again, noticing that no guards were placed by it. He gets an idea, and waits for another truck to arrive. In a rare stroke of luck for him, the next truck to arrive was one with a covered back, marked with something in Octarian. He quickly hops into the back, hoping that nobody spotted him. Luckily for him, nobody did, as the truck enters the base. He hears it pass by the main area, hearing Octarian speech as it passes a crowd of Octolings. Eventually, it reaches the back of the building, where the driver exits, and approaches the building. Tan exits the truck as well, sneaking into the building behind the driver. Once he enters the building, however, he goes a different way as to not get caught by the driver. As he looks for a sign to give directions, he makes a realization that he can't keep himself from groaning at.

All the signs would be in Octarian, making most of them unreadable by him. He pushes forward, however, translating what he can. In yet another lucky moment for him, the sign labelled "Cells" was one he could read. The sign points left, leading to a long hallway with a door at the end. He quietly sprints to the door, opening it, and slowly closing it behind him as to not make any noise. Once he turned around, he saw six cells, with five of them empty. At the very end, on the right, however, was the cell that held Kaia.

"LET ME OUT OF THIS FUCKING PLACE! I'LL RIP THESE BARS OFF THE WALL AND IMPALE YOU ON THEM!" Kaia continues to yell, her earlier stint of agressiveness still going on. It quickly ends, as Tan moves in front of the cell, causing her to quickly go quiet, before her eyes widen. Before Tan can say anything, she begins quickly whispering to him in Inklish.

"Tan!? What the hell are you doing here!? They'll skin you alive! This is a research facility, they'll-" Her rapid whispering is cut off by the door loudly opening, causing Tan to fall to the ground in shock. He looks at the door, seeing a large Octarian. The Octarian. He still donned his modified sunglasses and black vest.

"You." He says to Tan. Tan fully understood the one-worded threat. For a moment, he stops staring at the Octarian, as his eyes dart around the room, desperately searching for a way out. His eyes stop for a moment on a certain rectangular object in a corner of the ceiling. Shit, CCTV. It hadn't mattered how sneaky Tan managed to be, they'd known he was there since the second he stepped foot in the building, maybe even sooner. Without thinking further, Tan quickly jumped to his feet, and ran at the Octarian. This time, he was able to get a decent hit on the towering Octarian, knocking off his sunglasses, but similarly to last time, he was quickly overpowered. Also similarly to last time, the Octarian begins to reach into his bag for a serum to stop Tan from fighting. However, Tan anticipates this, and reaches for the Octarian's blade. 

"Eat shit and die!" Tan yells, slashing at the Octarian's face as he jumps to his feet. For the first time, Tan manages to bring the Octarian to his knees, as he lands a large slash on the Octarian's right eye. Tan drops the blade and begins sprinting, retracing his steps as he makes his way to the back exit of the building, where the truck is. Once he gets to it, he enters it. The driver left the keys in the ignition, which meant that Tan's idea would be possible. He turns the key, causing the engine to roar to life. He puts the truck into reverse, backing it up a few feet. He shifts the truck back into "drive", and waits for the Octarian to run outside. When he does, the black ink covering the right side of his face catches Tan off guard, but he does as he planned, slamming on the gas. The truck hits the Octarian, splatting him. Tan quickly gets out of the truck, sprinting back to Kaia's cell.

"He's splatted, I'm gonna get you out of here. Somehow." He quickly assures Kaia. Her shoulders fall a bit, likely more trusting in his words, as he was capable of taking down an Octarian soldier almost twice his size. Before he could even begin to form another idea, though, the door swings open again.

"I'll kill you." The Octarian was back. They have respawn pads!? He sprints at Tan, holding nothing back this time. His black ink continued to leak from his slash. Tan couldn't get out of the way as the Octarian slams him into the wall behind him, causing Tan to fall to the ground. The Octarian holds him down as he reaches into his bag, grabbing one of the syringes that he had gotten all too used to, and jamming it into Tan's arm. He injects it, almost immediately causing Tan to feel drowsy.

"Shit, not again." Tan said, rising to his feet, but stumbling around. Another Octarian enters the room, wearing some sort of armored gear.

"Do not kill him. He is known. Return him." He states.

"But, Sir-" The Octarian that Tan had been fighting was cut off.

"Return the kid to Splatsville or you will be punished for betrayal." The apparently higher-ranking Octarian restates. Tan was oblivious to the conversation, as he was fighting against the serum to stay awake, and his Octarian-speaking skills were subpar. He finally falls to the ground, as the lower-ranking Octarian sighs. He bends over, picking Tan up, and slinging him over his back. Tan finally blacked out from the serum.

When he woke up, he was outside the apartment building he and Kaia had sheltered in. He slowly rises to his feet, looking around, before inspecting himself for injuries. Nothing worse than a few cuts, bruises, and a small amount of blue ink at the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away as he begins to travel the sidewalks of the block, searching for a new area to shelter in. He no longer felt safe in that building. He no longer felt safe anywhere.

Kaia had been taken, and he couldn't get her back.

Chapter Text

Chapter 11 - "Back In The Valley"

Kaia sinks into the corner of the cell, sliding her back against the wall until she sat on the ground. Tan had just lost in a fight against the Octarian, who Kaia knew as Officer Colbert. Murphy Colbert. He'd gained somewhat of a hatred towards Kaia, even though she was 10 the first time she escaped. After this chain of events, he surely hated her even more now.

"Guards on-duty in Sector 2b, please transport Subject C17A from her cell to the holding cell in Officer Colbert's room." A monotone voice came in over the PA system. Oh, fucking great. Four guards enter the room with the cells, wielding Octoshots. They approach Kaia's cell, preparing to unlock it and transport her.

"Wow, it takes four armed guards to transport a 12-year-old? I'm honored. Pussies." Kaia says, spitting at the guards.

"Refrain from your behavior, or we will be forced to use other methods of subduing you." The guard unlocking the cell informed Kaia. She scowled at him, before standing up, hesitantly complying. Once she approaches the door, they instruct her to place her arms up to a slot in the door, where they cuff her arms. They then unlock the door, and move her to a position in the middle of the guards. She remained in-between the four guards as they transport her to Officer Colbert's room, and the holding cell within. Kaia sits down on the bench in the cell, waiting for Officer Colbert to return. Once he did, she stood up, walking over to the cell bars, and grabbing them.

"What can I do you for this time, Murphy?" She asks with a grin. She was in for a surprise this time, though.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?" He screams, quickly moving over to the cell and grabbing her by the collar before she could move back.

"You may think that things will just go back to Kaia 'Thinks she's better than everyone' Hudson running the show, but that's not what's gonna happen. Just because I'm not the one in charge over the Octarian Army doesn't mean I'm not in charge of you." Colbert says to Kaia, with a death stare. She takes a step backwards, not saying anything. She felt genuine fear again.

"There you are. Of course, I can't just yell at you to make sure you don't leave. That didn't work the first time." Colbert begins. "Why don't you take a seat? You seem tired."

Kaia looks at the bench. It seems to have retracted into the wall. She looks back at Colbert, remaining silent.

"Oh? The bench is gone. Here, come take a seat in the chair out here." He says, as he unlocks the cell door. What is he planning...

The door swings open, and Colbert moves to allow Kaia to exit. She does, and goes to sit in the chair, deciding that it would be safer to go along with what he says. When she sits, metal pieces immediately come out from the bottom of the armrests on the admittedly large chair, trapping Kaia. She notices that the strap holding her left hand in place is tighter than the right one.

"You see, Kaia. They say that when you join the army, you give a piece of yourself to protect what is yours. I'm sure they meant it metaphorically, but unfortunately for you, the statement is true in the literal sense." Colbert explains. Kaia isn't sure that she understands, but what he was saying gave her a very bad feeling. Colbert silently walks over to a corner of his room, before wheeling over a small table, like the ones that hold tools for dentists while they look for cavities. However, this table held tools as well as Kaia's hand, when it was placed under her left hand. It clicked in her head.

"What the fuck are you doing!?" She asks, trying her best to yank her hand from the strap. It won't budge, however. She then tries to change into swim form, but it also fails.

"I will answer your question, but first: that serum we gave you makes it impossible to change forms for up to 24 hours after administering it. As for the question, like I said, you'll be giving a piece of yourself to protect what's yours." Colbert explains, as he grabs a large knife, and tucks all of Kaia's fingers under her hand. She doesn't try to fight this, as she knows that sticking her fingers back out will only leave her with fewer fingers in the end. She continues to try to break out of the strap as Colbert lifts the knife.

"Let this be a lesson. If you fight what cannot be changed, you will lose more than just the battle." He says. Kaia's hearts continue to race, beads of sweat running down her face and head feeling light as Colbert swings the knife down. At first, she only hears the impact against the board, but then, the pain sets in. She screams as yellow ink begins to pour out of the hole left by her now missing finger. Colbert places the knife, now dripping with yellow ink, on the table, and wheels it away as Kaia continues yelling. He walks back over to her with a metal tool, holding a square piece of metal that is so hot it was glowing orange. He then pushes it against the wound, cauterizing it. Kaia begins screaming again, before beginning to cry.

"Not so tough now, are we?" Colbert asks. He presses a button, releasing the straps, and quickly grabs Kaia. He walks back over to the cell, throwing her in, and shutting the door behind her. She doesn't try to resist, as the only thing she can think about is the pain. She holds her left hand, crying in pain, as Colbert begins to exit the room.

"Oh yeah, and a scientist will be coming by shortly. She wants to talk to you about your... condition." He says, before exiting. Kaia didn't acknowledge Colbert as she continued to sob in pain. As the minutes passed, the pain didn't begin to subside. Kaia lies on the ground in the cell, still tightly gripping her left hand. While the wound no longer leaked ink, the smell of burnt skin was not lost on her. She finally gains the strength to pull herself up, standing up with her hand on a cell bar. As she inspects her now missing finger, the sound of keys entering a lock is heard from the door Colbert exited. The door swings open, and a woman in a white lab coat enters.

"Subject C17A." She says, seemingly as a greeting. Kaia continues to look at her, not responding to the name. "C17A." The scientist repeats. Kaia refuses to respond to the name. The scientist groans.

"Kaia." The scientist says, sitting her clipboard down on a table beside the cell. Kaia glares at her, before responding.

"What." She says, looking at the scientist. The scientist meets her glare, pausing for a moment, before speaking.

"You are Subject C17A, the main aspect of Project Stimpod. Due to a condition that has only ever been observed in you, you have heightened senses and strengths. We hope to extract those abilities and create a new line of soldiers for the army." The scientist explains. The information about her condition was not new to Kaia. She'd known since a very young age that something about her wasn't normal. By the age of 8, she would beat fully trained soldiers triple her size in hand-to-hand combat. That's why she was enrolled and trained in the army at such a young age. She was an asset.

"This is why we need you here. We will train you alongside the other soldiers, and observe your performance. Should it remain at the quota we've set, we will pull you out of training, and begin work on manipulation and duplication of your condition for Project Stimpod." The scientist finishes. Why were they telling Kaia this? Wouldn't this make her want to preform poorly, in order to not become a lab rat?

The scientist looked at Kaia, likely waiting for a response from her. Kaia didn't give one. The scientist wrote a few things on her clipboard paper, before continuing.

"Should the experiment be a success, you will be the leader of the squadron of modified soldiers. If it fails, you will remain in the ranks of regular soldiers. Either way, you will be with the army." She says, putting her clipboard on Colbert's table. She approaches the cell, getting close to Kaia. Her mask of faux professionalism is taken off.

"Listen, you little shit. I'm one of the lead scientists on this project. If you make my work hell, I'll make your life hell. That finger isn't the only way they're going to hurt you. And I don't mean emotionally, either. Do what you're told, and you might be shown some mercy." She says. After finishing, she glares at Kaia, before leaning away from the cell. She silently exits the room, not saying another word.

Kaia sits on the bench, which has slid back out of the wall by now. The pain from her finger being cut off is still there, but it isn't as strong as it was earlier. As the pain slowly seeps away, it is replaced by the feeling of tiredness. Kaia hadn't slept in a long time, and with all that had happened recently, even more of her energy was gone. She lies on her side, slowly closing her eyes. She is still on edge, making it hard to sleep, but she eventually manages to drift off, as she thinks about Splatsville.

After two weeks, Kaia has already been fully integrated into the training sessions of other future soldiers. She was the youngest of all the sessions, being only twelve years old, while the other Octolings were mostly 13 and above. Due to her previous escape, she was also treated the worst. She was often hit, yelled at, and forced to do more tasks. She'd hated every second of it. Colbert had often come to check in on the group, and Kaia specifically, and today was no different.

"Fall into formation!" The Training Officer yelled. Everyone fell into rows, with 10 Octolings per row. Colbert entered the training area, as the Training Officer went to attention.

"At ease." Colbert ordered. The TO complied, as he moved aside to let Colbert take center stage.

"As you all may have noticed by now, your youngest peer has been treated the hardest out of all of you. This peer is Kaia Hudson. She may be younger, but she's also stronger. Smarter. More advanced in every way. However, despite all the tests we've run on Ms. Hudson, there's one that we haven't done yet. Kaia, center room, now." Colbert orders. Kaia complies, moving to the center of the room. Colbert nods, before continuing.

"Everyone else, circle around center." He orders again. All of the other Octolings comply as well, moving to form a circle around Kaia.

"Offensive Target Takedown Bravo. Enact." Colbert says. The Octolings immediately adopt a fighting stance, before charging at Kaia. She lifts her hands, and begins to fight them off. The first Octoling to reach her is bigger, clearly older, likely 15-16. He tries to swing his leg in a wide kick, but Kaia jumps out of the way, before nailing a punch in his side. He immediately folds over, grabbing his side. The other Octolings go down in a similar way, before the last one faces Kaia.

"Do not hesitate. Execute the target." Colbert instructs. Kaia freezes. Execute? She lets her guard down, looking towards her Officer. He glares at her.

"What are you waiting for, C17A? Execute the target." He repeats. Kaia looks back at the final Octoling. He matches her stature, but doesn't try to fight her. He's scared.

"He's not a threat anymore. I'm standing down." Kaia tells Colbert. He walks over to her.

"Are you disobeying a direct order, Hudson?" He asks, getting very close to her face. She doesn't back away, instead choosing to remain face-to-face with Colbert. Kaia doesn't respond to his question, however. Colbert shoves her to the ground as the other Octoling runs away.

"You know, I was hoping it wouldn't come down to this, especially after what happened with your finger. But I guess we still have a little resistence in us, don't we." He says, grabbing Kaia's wrist. He continues ranting to her about discipline and behavior as he drags her to a door labelled "Misbehavior Suite". He scans his ID, causing the door to slide open, as he enters, dragging Kaia with him. He grabs a syringe that Kaia had become very familiar with from a nearby shelf, before injecting her with it, and placing her on a operating table in the center of the room. He places straps on her arms and legs, and waits for her to go under.

When she comes to, she's back in the original cell she was in when Tan fought Colbert. A few seconds after opening her eyes, she notices a searing pain in her legs. She lifts the ankles of her pants to see several large cuts in her legs. As she inspect them, yellow ink runs down her legs, pooling onto the floor below. She hears the door to the cell room open, as Colbert speaks.

"Rise and shine, C17A. Consider this your default form of punishment now. No more yelling. No more threats. Since you used your legs to escape, we will harm the tool you tried to use to defy us. I will do you a favor. Take your time to rest. Guards will retrieve you later for testing in the Labratory Wing." He says, turning to exit. Kaia remained quiet. In only two weeks, she had lost almost all of the energy she once had, using it to resist. She couldn't resist much anymore. She decided that compliance was the best way for survival.

By now, two years had passed since Kaia had been recaptured. She was 14 now, and the tests and training she was put through had only become harder. Despite rumors of possible enemy prescence in the area, most of the soldiers on-base had remained in training, and were not deployed. However, today, that would be different. Kaia was resting on her bed, as she had recently been given a new bunk to stay in.

"Hudson, please report to the Staffing Area." A voice came in over the PA. Kaia gets out of bed, sighing. She looks down at her clothes. Black shorts and a Black tank-top. Her injuries from past refusal to listen served as a lesson to those around her. It also helped keep lower-ranking Octolings from arguing when she took the lead. Considering her high rank, they didn't have much of a choice regardless. She begins to make her way her way to the Staffing Area, where she expects to be informed of who would be in the group she would train this week. Once she arrives, however, she sees several rows of Octoling soldiers, fully armed and geared.

"There you are, Kaia." Colbert says, gesturing towards the soldiers. "Take your pick. Three soldiers. You're going to be the lead of a recon squad checking the craters for anything that needs... eradication." He explains. Kaia nods, before looking at the soldiers. She walks through the rows, inspecting her options. Finally, she takes her pick. A tall, red-haired Octoling named Tee, a shorter, but stronger-looking soldier named Blast, and finally, a soldier with a large scar over his left eye, named Bunch. The four of them fell into a group in front of Colbert, as they listened to him.

"We will transport you out to the first crater. From there, you will inspect each one, searching for Inkling stragglers, and getting rid of them." He instructs. They nod, as the large blast doors at the far end of the room open. Outside is a transport truck.

"Good luck, you four." Colbert says, gesturing towards the truck. The four soldiers enter it, and begin the ride to the craters.

12 hours after arriving at the first crater, they finally reach the last one. The edge of it falls into The Cape, connecting to the large body of water between Inkopolis and Splatsville. Around the crater was a large forest.

"Blast, on me. We're checking the forest. Tee, Bunch, circle the crater, report anything you find." Kaia instructs. They nod, as Kaia and Blast split off, heading into the forest. They search the area for a while, not locating anything of note. However, a sound causes them to stop.

"We're not alone. Keep your wits about you." Kaia quitely tells Blast. He nods, as they slowly move forward. Suddenly, a Charger shot fires from somewhere, striking Blast. He falls to the ground, with a noticeably-sized hole in his chest.

"Shit!" Kaia says, grabbing Blast by his vest, and beginning to drag him through the trees as they get shot at. Eventually, they reach proper cover, and Kaia begins to try to adress his injury. However, she is interrupted by two inklings.

"Stand up. Hands on your hand." The first inkling says. A girl.

"She probably doesn't know what you said, there, 3." The second inkling says. An older man.

"I understood you." Kaia says in perfect Inklish. The two inklings didn't know that she understood the language. This catches them off guard.

"Oh. Well, turn around to face us." The girl says. Kaia complies. She turns around to see an Inkling girl wearing a black and yellow safety vest, with a jacket beneath it. Beside her is a very old Inkling with a Captain's hat.

"Nice firepower. I could take you out and push the old guy over." Kaia says to the Inkling girl. The girl scowls at her.

"And I could turn your head into a donut with a single shot. Hands on your head, now." She repeats her earlier order. Kaia does as she is told. Unbeknownst to them, Blast had reached into his holster, grabbing his sidearm. He takes aim at the girl, and fires, but she quickly moves out of the way. She then aims at Blast, firing, and finishing the job. He splats.

"Shit!" Kaia swears in Octarian. The girl looks back at her, and she begins to sprint.

"Hey! Get back here!" The girl yells. They both follow Kaia, chasing her as she attempts to escape the forest. She takes a wrong turn, however, and gets lost. With the two Inklings still on her trail, she keeps moving. However, while running, she trips over something. After quickly rising back to her feet, she inspects the thing she tripped over. A manhole. She lifts it, seeing nothing but darkness below. Kaia looks around, seeing that there is no end in sight to the forest. She notices the Inklings rapidly approaching, and makes her decision. She jumps into the manhole, falling into the darkness. However, before she could properly land, she hits her head, knocking herself out.

When she awakens, she finds herself to be in an underground facility. She tries to think, but cannot remember how she got there. She remembers a few basic things, such as her name and appearance, but not much beyond that. She stands up, and looks ahead, seeing a train pass by. She appeared to be in some sort of underground subway. Also lying ahead was the older Inkling from before, still wearing his Captain's hat.

Wherever she was, she had to get out.

Chapter Text

Chapter 13 - "Revenge"

"Look, Kaia. You've got to keep a level head. I'd love to have that guy dead too, but-" Tan is cut off by Kaia.

"Look at me. Look at my hand. My legs, Tan. I'll have these scars forever. I was under his control." Kaia begins, voice shaky. They were sitting in the bedroom. The day after the broadcast showing Murphy Colbert's face aired, Kaia was still struggling with her emotions. While Tan didn't know everything that happened to Kaia in the valley, he knew that it was nothing good. He didn't know how to properly navigate the conversation due to that.

"He has to die for what he's done. One way or another, today, or tomorrow... or whenever. He has to die." She says, shaking. Tan places his hand on her shoulder.

"I think that too, but you can't sink to his level. There are better ways of going about this. He's under police custody, they'll charge him with every damn crime possible." He says. She slowly begins to calm down. He gives her a moment before continuing.

"Worst case scenario, he doesn't get the death sentence. If that's the case, then it'll be life behind bars instead." Tan says. Kaia looks at him, before looking back at her left hand. She moves the nub that remains of her ring finger, before her shoulders droop lower.

"I was almost normal. But I had that stupid condition. Now I'm here." She says. She turns her arm around, looking at the back of her hand. A few smaller scars line the back of her hand. Tan notices them too, and she sees him looking.

"Explosion. Glass shards cut me up. It was on my left, so it was mainly my arm and leg that got messed up. Not that you'd notice any small scars on my legs." She says, with a small, dry laugh. Tan frowns at the joke. Suddenly, the bedroom door swings open.

"Hey guys! I was wondering if you wanted to go do something? We were thinking about going to play some Turf or something." Luna asks. She was already wearing the outfit she usually wore to go play Turf. Tan was too, and he assumed Ceph was as well.

"It's up to Kaia, I don't really mind doing anything. What do you feel like?" Tan asks Kaia. She looks at him, before sighing.

"It would be nice to get out." She says, standing up. Luna noticed Kaia's sadness, but doesn't say anything. "Just give me a second to change." She says. Tan nods as he walks into the living room, where Ceph sits on the couch, Turf outfit already on. Tan is wearing his beanie, t-shirt, fingerless gloves, and shorts.

"Do you ever wear anything but that? I know you didn't have clothes before, but damn, man." Ceph says with a small laugh. Tan glares at him.

"It's a comfortable outfit. I don't try to look like a model everywhere I go. Can't say that about everyone in the room." He responds. Ceph stops laughing, as Luna begins to laugh instead.

"Well, I'm still the freshest battler out here!" Ceph says, jumping up from the couch. Luna looks at him with a smirk.

"Not as fresh as that guy who splatted you with the Splatana the other day." She says. The comment visibly annoys him. They begin to go back and forth as Tan enters the kitchen.

"Where's my leftover Sub-Up Juice?" Tan says to himself as he searches the fridge. "Damn it, Ceph." He says, as he remembers that Ceph was drinking something last night when Tan and Kaia got home. Tan returns to the living room to see Luna and Ceph discussing the match they would have in a bit, with Kaia waiting by the door. She wore a red hoodie with what looked like track pants, as well as white and orange tennis shoes. Tan walks over to her, as she exits the apartment. He follows her, with Ceph and Luna following closely behind them. They begin to make their way to the Inkopolis Tower to find a match. On their way, they discuss plans for the weekend, such as going to the ice cream shop that Tan never got the chance to go to, as well as possibly seeing a movie. Tan and Kaia liked the plans, but reminded Ceph and Luna that they could be called into work for the Squidbeak Splatoon at any time. Finally, they arrived at the lobby, going to their lockers to grab their gear before entering a match.

"I'm probably gonna use the Splattershot for a few rounds, just to see how it operates." Kaia says. Tan looks over at her holding the weapon as he reviews his options. He steps back from his locker, holding an NZAP '89.

"Ol' reliable here has helped me out plenty." He says, grinning. Kaia laughs as she shuts the door to her locker, and the two walk over to the lobby console. Tan sets up the team options, placing them all on one team, and waiting for Ceph and Luna before beginning matchmaking. Once they leave the locker room, he begins it, and they talk as they wait for a match. Finally, they get into one, and prepare for the round.

Blue vs. Red.

The two teams would be slinging their ink across Mahi-Mahi Resort.

"I hate this place." Kaia said, as the teams' Squid Spawns flew into place. When the pre-round counter reached 0, they all super jumped from the spawns, immediately inking all the turf they could as they moved to the center of the map. Tan moves forward rapidly, trying to reach the Blue team before they could clash with the rest of the Red team in the center of the map. He gets to them quickly, splatting two of them, but getting splatted by another member of the team. By the time he was splatted, his team had pushed past the center, giving them the advantage at the start.

"Keep pushing forward!" Kaia yells. Ceph and Luna split off from her, rushing forward. Tan super jumps to Luna, landing by her and immediately firing ink as he runs forward. By now, they had trapped the enemies in their base. Tan, Ceph, and Luna continued to keep them in a corner, but Kaia stops. She looks over at the enemy team, fighting against her own, and focuses on one member. An Octoling. He was wearing sunglasses and a vest.

"It's him." She says to nobody in particular. However, Tan hears her.

"No, Kaia, it's just a coincidence, Ka-" Before he can finish, she has already taken off, dropping her weapon and sprinting towards the team. The other members of the enemy team attempt to splat her, but she is able to dodge their fire by transforming into swim form. She transforms back into kid form, jumping at the Octoling and tackling him. Since his back was against the edge of the map, they both go flying into the water below. Even after respawning, Kaia has gone silent over the radio, not super jumping to her team. The enemy team uses this moment to push back against the Red team, slowly gaining a footing, and eventually, turning that small footing into an advantage. They continue to push, until eventually, they win the round. Back in the lobby, Tan cancels the matchmaking.

"What was that?" Ceph asks. Luna nods at his question, also wondering the answer.

"Look, guys. Can we just... do this another day? I shouldn't have agreed, this was a bad time." Tan says. Ceph raises his eyebrow, but before he can say anything, Luna answers.

"Yeah, that's okay. Ceph, come on. We'll go get some lunch." She says. Without a word, Ceph follows her, and only Tan and Kaia remain in the locker room.

"He... I thought..." She tries to begin, but can't get the words out.

"It's okay. I get it. It wasn't him, though." Tan says. She looks up at him.

"Did I mess up? I'm sorry." She says, voice cracking. She's about to cry.

"No, it's okay. He respawned, anyway. If it really was him, you had every right to do that. It's nothing to blame yourself over." Tan says. This doesn't do much to convince Kaia, who Tan isn't fully sure is even listening anymore.

"Look. I know that you want to find him. I do too. But revenge is a fool's game. It's something we can't do." Tan says. Kaia looks up at him.

"What do I have to lose?" She asks. The question scares him. It confirms to him that Kaia feels as if she has nothing to live for, and is okay with throwing her life away if it means getting back at an old enemy.

"You aren't in the valley anymore, Kaia. You have a home now, and people. You're free." Tan says. She quickly looks at him, with a look of both sadness and rage. She stands up, locking eyes with him.

"FREE!? WHAT ABOUT THIS MAKES YOU THINK I'M FREE!? LOOK AT ME!" She yells at him, pointing at her left hand, before lifting the legs of her pants to show the scars on her legs. Finally, she stands, waiting for Tan to respond.

"I-" He tries to start a sentence, but chokes on his words. His guilt finally caught up to him. Ever since that night, it crept in the back of his head, but it finally returned when he truly understood the condition Kaia was in.

"I'll never be free." Kaia says, quietly. She turns around, making her way to the exit.

"Kaia, wait." Tan manages to say, albeit quietly. She ignores him, leaving the battle lobby. Tan returns to the locker room, slowly sinking down onto the couch. He wasn't one for allowing himself to display his emotions in public, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to make it home in time. He brings his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and placing his head in his knees. Then, he opens the floodgates.

Everything that had happened to Kaia, everything she was experiencing now, was a direct cause of him failing to save her. That was his line of thought, at least. Her sadness and anger towards her former captors seemed to be misplaced, instead being directed at him. Tan's thoughts were interrupted when his phone vibrated. He grabs it from his pocket, and turns the screen on.

"I just saw Kaia quickly leave the tower. She looked like she was crying. Is everything ok?" - Luna

Tan sighed, turning his phone off and putting it in his pocket. He begins to make his way to the lobby exit. He had to find Kaia.

Heavy clouds that the group previously didn't notice finally released their contents, covering Inkopolis in a downpour of rain. Kaia feels the sting of untreated water on her skin as she quickly traverses the sidewalk. She had a goal. A mission. She found shelter for a moment, bringing out her phone. She opens her GPS map, checking her route once again. She was very close to the police station.

She puts her phone away, continuing to make her way to the station. After a few more minutes of walking, she arrives, entering the building.

"Hello, little girl, how can I-" Kaia ignores the receptionist, walking past the front desk and down the hallway marked with a sign that reads "Holding Cells". A sign that felt all too familiar to her, albeit not in the same place as before. Old wounds, new places.

"Hey! You can't go back there!" The receptionist jumps up, but not giving chase to Kaia. She continues, reaching the door which is also labelled "Holding Cells". She enters, closing the door behind her.

"I'm telling you, I'm not-" The familiar voice stumbles as the owner of it notices who entered the room. "Kaia?" Colbert asks. He was just as she remembered him. Tall. Muscular. Intimidating. But this time, he was the one in the cell. And she was the one with the knife.

"I need to tell you something, sir." Kaia says, gesturing for Colbert to come closer to the cell bars. He complied, grinning. He was under the impression that Kaia was still loyal to him.

When he finally pressed his face against the bars, she quickly reaches into her pocket, pulling out a knife. However, before she can execute her plan, the door to the room swings open, and Tan dives into her.

"Kaia! Drop the fucking knife!" He says. She doesn't, instead resisting him. He notices a sort of glazy look in her eyes, as if she isn't fully in the situation. However, she does continue to fight him off. At first, he successfully holds her down, but she nails a hit in his stomach, causing him to lose his grip for a moment. Kaia regains freedom of her right arm, the one holding the knife, and in her panicked and "not fully there" state, swings.

Tan falls backwards, clutching his face, as Kaia stands up. She looks at her right hand, still gripping the knife. Cyan ink lined the edge of the knife. Her hand begins to shake, and her head feels light as she finally becomes aware of the situation again, as well as what she had just done. She looks back at Colbert, who wears a shit-eating-grin, the one he'd always had when Kaia broke, and began to comply in her younger years. As Tan writhes on the floor, she panics, and bolts out of the room, running from the station as fast as she could.

One month later, and Tan was in the hospital. Other than time spent recovering, or talking to Ceph and Luna, who came nearly every other hour to check on him, his time was spent thinking about the interaction. He felt no anger towards Kaia. He knew that it wasn't her who did that, but rather, a manifestation of her negative emotions, mixed with uncontrollable anger. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but his injury likely kept her from doing much worse to Colbert.

Had that happened, she surely would've been in trouble.

Luckily for Tan, Luna informed him that Kaia had returned to the apartment. While she didn't give a reason as to why she wasn't visiting Tan in the hospital, everyone knew that it was due to shame. She let her emotions control her, and it nearly got someone very important to her killed.

"How's it going, scarface?" Ceph asks. He and Luna enter the room where Tan is being cared for. He lies in the hospital bed, watching TV.

"Same as usual. I'm just bored." He answers. He lifts his hand, running it lightly over his left eye. The cut no longer hurt.

"Looks pretty badass, not gonna lie." Luna says, giving him a small smile. Tan returns the smile.

"Here, check it out." Ceph says, reaching into his bag. He pulls out a small handheld mirror. Of course he keeps a mirror with him. Tan grabs it, and looks at his reflection.

"Holy shit." Tan says. A large, white scar with a pale tint of blue crosses over his eye. It travels through his eyebrow, over his eye, and down to about two inches in height. It isn't the largest facial scar he's ever seen, but it's still very easily noticeable.

"I know, ri-" Ceph is cut off by a knock at the door. Luna opens it, and a doctor enters.

"If we could have a moment, I need to inform him of something." The doctor says, gesturing towards Tan. Ceph and Luna nod, leaving the room.

"What's up?" Tan asks. He's somewhat nervous, despite the fact that the cut has already scarred over.

"The good news is that this isn't about you. Rather, a family member." Tan's throat quickly goes dry as he hears the words. Bad news about a family member? He'd rather hear bad news regarding himself.

"Y-yeah?" He asks. He feels his palms begin to grow moist.

"Your mother, Rose Marin, was taken here three days ago for a serious health condition. A few hours ago, we got some test results back. Your mother has the Ink Fever." The doctor says. Tan begins to panic. The same disease his dad had.

"Is it bad?" He quickly asks. The doctor gives a sad look, as if he didn't want to say the next part.

"It's... degenerative. It causes a fever so high that the body's ink begins to melt. Body functions start to shut down around a month or two after it begins. Death occurs at around three." He explains. Tan felt as if his entire world had just come to a sudden stop. In one sentence, he had learned that his mom was in the same building as him. In the same sentence, he learned she would be dead within the next 3 months.

"Please. Let me see her. Where is she?" He asks, removing his blanket and getting out of the bed. The doctor tries to stop him, but he refuses.

"I can take you to her. Just, please. Take it easy." The doctor asks. Tan nods, and they both make their way to his mom. After a silent, yet nausea-inducing walk to her room, the doctor stops in front of her door.

"She may not be in the best condition as is. I'm sorry." He says.

"Thanks for telling me about her." Tan says. The doctor nods, and moves from the door to let Tan in. He enters, looking at his mom lying on the bed. Her eyes were closed, but she didn't appear to be asleep. Her skin and ink color already appeared to be more pale than Tan remembered.

"Hey, Dr. Ryan. You can just leave the pills by the table, I'll-" She stops her sentence as she opens her eyes, seeing her grief-stricken son standing before her.

"T-Tan?" She asks, tears welling up in her eyes as well. Both of them are silent, overjoyed to see each other again, but distraught over the reason why.

"I'm guessing the doctor told you about... this." She says, tears sliding down her face as the IV drips slowly drip a liquid that matches the non-pale color of her ink into her arm. Tan nods, unable to get any words out.

"I missed you." She says. Tan walks over to her, hugging her as they both begin to cry. After a few minutes of their embrace, Tan steps back, as his mom begins to talk.

"Mollun left. Don't know where he went, but Sheila and I were finally safe after he left. He told us what he did to you. That we 'couldn't do nothin' about it' or something. So we believed him. We kept living, just hoping you were okay. I can't believe I did that." She says, continuing to cry. Tan assumed before that his mom and sister were saddened by him being kicked out.

"It's okay. I'm fine, I'm here." Tan says. He's barely able to keep back his tears now.

"I assume you know that I don't have long. Are you safe now? Do you have a home?" She asks. He nods, and she gives a small smile.

"That's good. I'm glad." She says. Tan hangs his head down, unable to look at her. "Hey. Look at me, buddy." She says. Tan winces.

"Hey, look at me buddy." Tan looks up. His dad lies on the hospital bed. Six weeks ago, his dad was taken to the hospital, where they diagnoses him with Ink Fever. Today was the day of his 6th grade graduation party, but Tan didn't care. This was more important.

"It'll be fine. You know I love you." He said, placing his hand on Tan's head. Tan looked up at him, crying.

"But I don't want you to go." He said. His dad looked at him, frowning.

"Well, I'm glad we could spend these years together then. You still have Mom and Sheila, though, right? You can spend time with them, too." He tells Tan, giving him a smile. Tan sniffles.

"But, Mom doesn't make enough money at her job. Who's gonna pay for the house?" He asks. His dad looks concerned. 

"I'm not sure yet. Mom was discussing an apartment she found in Splatsville. Since we already live right outside the city, it wouldn't be too bad." His dad says.

"Please don't go."

"Please?" His mom asks. Tan looks up at her. "There he is." She says with a smile. Tan smiles back at her, despite having tears in his eyes.

"Why don't you go home? Go eat some dinner. It's late." She asks. He looks to his left, where a large window allows him sight of the night sky outside.

"I probably should. I have someone I need to check on." He says, head dropping again. His mom holds his chin, lifting it up.

"Your smile is one of the most amazing things I've seen. Please, don't let this make it leave you forever. There's still things to smile about." She says. Tan thinks for a moment, before nodding.

"I got to see you again after all this time." He says, smiling.

"That's right. And now, you can come visit me anytime you want to." She responds, smiling as well. They sit with each other for a moment, before Tan stands up.

"I'm gonna go check on a friend now, and make her dinner. I love you, mom." He says.

"I love you too, buddy." She responds.

Chapter Text

Chapter 14 - "Flowers And Fuzzy Ooze"

By the time he made it home, the sun had already set. Tan didn't get the chance to go to the apartment building roof to watch it sink below the horizon like he'd loved to do. While he wasn't in a hurry to get to the apartment, he did have something to take care of, so he made sure not to stop anywhere else. He practiced the ritual he had grown used to, entering the elevator, and pressing the button to take him to the 7th floor.

Once the elevator doors opened again, he began to make his way down to the end of the hallway, where the apartment sat. Under any other circumstances, he would be overjoyed to be home. Finally freed from the constraints of a hospital bed, being checked on three times a day by a nurse or doctor, and doing nothing but watching TV and looking out of a window. But the situation had changed. Now, he began to realize the facts. One of the two remaining pillars of his family would be gone soon. And would have to watch it happen.

Tan knocked on the door, and waited for Luna's undoubtedly cheery answer. After a bit of a delay, she answered the door as she always does, even more excited than usual to finally have Tan home.

"Hey!" She said, before pausing. Her smile faded a bit, which Tan noticed. "Um, Kaia's in the bedroom. She's... nervous, I guess." Luna said. Tan nodded. He understood. He just hoped to be able to tell her that he wasn't angry at her. Tan entered the apartment, and made his way to the room, giving Ceph a small wave on the way. He reached the bedroom door, which was cracked open. He looked inside to see Kaia sitting on the bed with her head in her arms. Tan slowly pushed the door open, entering the room.

"How goes it?" Tan asked. He'd hoped to lighten the mood before the conversation. However, Kaia didn't give any smile or laugh.

"You know the answer to that." She responded. Tan sighed, sitting on the end of the bed, beside her.

"Look. I'm not upset at you. I get that you... snapped. Please, don't tell me you've been lying around like this for the entire time that I was gone." He said. She looked over at him, wincing when she made eye contact with him. She hadn't seen the scar yet.

"Fuck. I'm so sorry." Kaia said. She returned to holding her head in her arms, but Tan grabbed her arm. He almost went to quickly pull his hand away, forgetting that she flinched last time he did that, but this time, she didn't react.

"I told you, it's okay. You didn't mean to hurt me. Plus, this scar is pretty badass." Tan said, smiling at Kaia. She finally looked up, where a small smile was plastered on her face.

"You look like the Inkling from that one movie where he jumps out of the helicopter." She said with a small laugh. Tan laughed at the comment as well.

"Considering all my income is from Grizzco, I guess I jump out of helicopters a lot too." He said. They both went quiet for a moment as Kaia looked at the scar more closely. After a few minutes, Tan began to realize that she'd been looking at the same spot on his face for a while.

"Kaia? Kaia, you good?" He asked. She rapidly blinked, before looking away. Although he couldn't tell for sure, he could've sworn her face had a tint of dark pink to it.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine. Just thinking." She responded. Thinking about what? Before he could finish that thought, Kaia spoke quickly.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go do something tomorrow?" She said, almost tripping over her words. Tan noticed her right hand shaking some.

"L-Like, just us." She added onto the sentence. Did she mean what Tan thought she meant?

"So, you mean-" He began.

"A date." Kaia finished. He looked over at her, noticing that she was looking down at the ground. Her hand was more visibly shaking at this point. Without a second thought, he placed his on hers.

"That sounds nice." He said. She slowly stopped shaking, looking over at him. He gave her a smile, showing to her that she didn't have to be nervous. She sighed, before smiling as well.

Despite today being catastrophic for Tan, at least there was a silver lining.

Tan opened his eyes to the sound of birds. He slept well. No nightmares or anything of note. The room was even the perfect temperature. Slightly cold, not freezing. The early morning sunlight beamed in through the cracks of the blinds, illuminating the bedroom. Tan heard no other sounds or voices, so Ceph and Luna must've still been asleep. He looked over at the nightstand, looking at the clock.

7:32 AM.

Usually, Ceph and Luna would be up around 8. Tan laid flat on his back, looking at the ceiling. He had a big day planned for today. Something that, knowing what he knew now, he could finally admit to himself he had been waiting a long time for. He heard the sound of bedsheets moving as the weight on the bed shifted. Suddenly, he felt the weight of Kaia's head leaning against his arm. He felt a sting of fear, nervous that he would mess something up later, or say the wrong thing. However, knowing that it would be Kaia with him helped ease his nerves. He heard her make a noise, as she began to move. She was likely about to wake up.

Tan sat up, moving out of bed and over to the closet. As much as he would like to stay in the bed, he knew that he had to get ready for today. While the dress code likely wouldn't involve suits or tuxedos, he still wanted to look nicer than usual. He looked through his shirts in the closet, coming to a stop at a red flannel hoodie. A mix between a casual look and a more fancy one. He grabbed it, sitting it on the edge of the bed. He also grabbed a white long-sleeve shirt to put on under it. Tan then grabbed a pair of jeans, and began changing. After he got the jeans on, he took off his T-shirt to put the new shirt on. As he did, he heard Kaia speak.

"I j-just woke up." She said. Tan quickly covered himself with the shirt he was about to put on, embarrassed. He noticed that his head felt heavy again.

"Shit. Sorry, I didn't think you'd be up yet." He responded. Kaia looked like she was struggling to get any words out.

"You're..." She began. Tan waited for her to finish, but it took her a moment.

"You're SHREDDED. What the hell?" She said.

"Oh my cod." He responded, rolling his eyes.

"No, no, no! Wait, I'm serious! How much do you work out, dude?" She said, climbing out of bed.

"Well, now, with me being an agent, I kind of have to stay in shape. Before that, I guess I just wanted to set a goal for myself." He explained. He finished putting the shirt and hoodie on as Kaia went to look at her clothes.

"I'll give you some privacy. I'm gonna go make some breakfast." Tan said. Kaia nodded as he left the bedroom, shutting the door behind him. He entered the kitchen, looking at the pan already on the stove. He walked over to the fridge, and looked inside. The only things in it were two to-go boxes, some orange juice, and a pineapple. A pineapple? Why?

"Oh, wait. I don't even know how to cook anything." Tan said to himself. He closed the fridge, and walked into the living room. Luna was sitting on the couch, quietly flipping through TV channels.

"Ceph's still out cold. He's been grinding catalog levels recently. Wants to make sure he has as many clothes as possible, apparently." Luna quietly said. Tan nodded.

"Sorry to bail on you again, but we-" Tan was cut off.

"I know! I heard! I'm so excited for you two." Luna tried to say quietly. She reminded Tan of Callie, sometimes. "I wasn't, like, trying to listen, though. I was gonna make breakfast. I got a pan out and then realized we haven't bought any groceries in like a month." She said.

"Oh, yeah, I saw the pan. Maybe I should take Ceph's leftovers, since he took my Sub-Up." Tan responds. Luna chuckles, and the conversation ends when the bedroom door opens. Kaia walked into the living room, wearing a new hoodie, jeans, and a new pair of tennis shoes. She made sure to match Tan's casual outfit style. He felt the feeling in his head yet again.

"You look nice." He said. Kaia smiled.

"So, where are we going?" She asked.

Luna finally reached the edge of the canyon. She had to do a bit of maneuvering, as, unsurprisingly, the area was not open to the public. She looked down into the depths of the canyon, where she saw various decrepit and destroyed structures. Behind her, near a shack, was a grave.

She walked over to the grave, marked by a slab of broken cement. Scratched into the slab were the words, "My loyalty doesn't lie with an army I was forced to join, it lies with what matters."

"Hey, Cruise. It's been a minute." Luna said. "I did what you said. I guess my name is Luna now. I met some new people, too. Really nice ones. We have a home now." She spoke. Luna paused, taking a shaky breath.

"I miss you, brother. I'll never forget what you did for me." She said, placing her hand on the ground in front of the slab. She slowly stood up, wiping her face with her sleeve. Luna looked back down at the canyon. Nothing down there now except for debris and bad memories. Mostly bad.

"Well, that food was nice." Kaia said to Tan. They had decided to eat at a diner a few blocks away from Inkopolis Plaza, after doing various other things. They didn't want anything fancy, and they didn't want to go too far away from home.

"The food was good. Having it with you is what was nice." Tan responded, smiling at her. She smiled back, as they looked at the sky. It was turning a darker shade of orange. A sight they hadn't shared in years. They both looked back at each other.

"I assume we're thinking the same thing." Tan said. Kaia nodded. They began to walk back to the apartment, talking about other plans they would have for later in the week. Once they reached the lobby of the apartment building, they took the stairs, making their way up to the top floor. At the end of the hallway on floor 12 stood a door.

"The maintenance exit. Nice." Kaia said. She went first, going over to the door. Luckily for them, it was left unlocked. They both entered it, going up to the roof. The building gave them a clear view of the soon-to-be sunset. They sat on the edge of the roof, legs hanging over the edge. Below, Inklings and Octolings spoke to each other, played games, or just walked by.

"I missed this. Watching the sunset with you." Kaia said. She looked over to Tan, before adding. "I missed watching it in general. When we weren't being kept underground, we were running missions in the dead of night."

"Good thing you're here now." He responded. 

They indulged in their classic ritual of watching the sunset, enjoying both the view and the company of one another. After the sky finally reached the peak of its darkness, they stood up, returning to the 7th floor of the apartment building to head to bed.

"Well, that went surprisingly well, considering our last interaction before last night." Kaia said. Tan sat on the opposite side of the bed from her, but turned to face her.

"I told you, it wasn't your fault. Plus, even Ceph said the scar is pretty badass. I think he's right." He said with a smile. Kaia smiled back, and they got ready for bed. From the hallway, Luna stopped by their door. She smiled. She was glad they were happy. She was happy too.

"Tan, you gotta get up!" Kaia shook him as he quickly shot up. It took him a moment to realize that he was in his bed, and not Alterna.

"Damn it, Ca-" He stopped himself "I mean, Kaia." He finished, chuckling to himself.

"You gotta get up, now! Check your phone! Get your hero gear on, now!" She said to him as she bolted out of the bedroom. Huh? Why do I need my hero gear?

He pulled out his phone. One message from Marie.

"Emergency. Get to Alterna. ASAP. Unknown threat, but it could be catastrophic. Bring Kaia, and come armed." 

Shit.

He grabbed his Hero Gear, putting it on, and grabbing his Hero Shot from his closet. He burst through the bedroom door, startling Ceph and Luna, who were sitting in the living room.

"Where the hell are-" Ceph began, but Tan was already out of the door before he could finish.

By the time Tan and Kaia reached the camp at Alterna, Callie and Marie were there.

"We need to get to the top of that rocket! The... thing is up there, somewhere." Marie said. Tan and Kaia both nodded, before quickly making their way to the center island, where the rocket and launch center stood. After reaching the bottom of the rocket platform, they climbed the ladder of it up one level, to where the rocket entrance stood. They entered it, and looked around. Many old, decrepit objects and systems sat around, collecting dust. The strange, fuzzy, purple ink was also all over the walls. In the center of the room were 3 Zipcaster modules. Tan and Kaia each took one, and Tan took the extra, placing it in his bag. They both looked up.

"Well, we can't touch that weird ink. Guess we're going up." Tan said. Kaia nodded, and they both used one of the Zipcaster modules. They then began zipping up, avoiding the ink and any hairy Octarians scattered throughout the rocket. Eventually, they reached the top, where a large, spiraling platform surrounded a cement pillar. At the top of the pillar was the Great Zapfish, along with a platform leading to the exit.

"Shit, man." Kaia said. They finally found the Great Zapfish, but it wasn't their priority right now.

They continued to make their way up the spiraling platform, reaching the second platform, and using the exit. They were now on the rocket entry platform. Further ahead, Callie and Marie stood, looking down at the ground. Captain 3 crouched on the ground in front of them. Tan and Kaia ran over to them, seeing Cuttlefish, albeit white and dried up, in swim form.

"What happened?" Tan asked, shocked.

"We found him here, like this. We couldn't find him earlier, since he entered Alterna first and tried to go ahead of us." Marie explained. Captain 3 held him. She shed a single tear, which fell onto him.

Suddenly, he began to regain his color, as his eyes popped open. He began to float, rising out of Captain 3's hands.

"Phew! Somebody got the drop on me. Anybody else feelin' a bit parched?" Cuttlefish asked, clearly unaware, or maybe unconcerned of his state.

"Also feelin' a bit lighter. And waaay flatter." He said, inspecting his hands- or, his tentacles.

"Thank goodness you're alright... uh... ish." Callie said. Before anyone else could express their happiness, however, a large shadow fell over the group. Tan and Kaia both quickly grabbed their weapons, turning around and holding a defensive positition. Captain 3 stood, turning around with an annoyed look. Callie and Marie both slowly turned around, with Callie seeming to lack any fear.

Before them stood a giant creature. According to the ORCA logs they found. He was a bear.

"Welcome. You may know me. I am Mr. Grizz." The bear said.

Kaia and Tan both looked at each other. The same Mr. Grizz from Grizzco? The one they had inadvertantly been helping by working shifts there for money?

"What do you want!?" Kaia asked. Tan remained quiet. The platform and the rocket itself began to heavily shake, as the engines began to activate. Mr. Grizz looked up, before looking back down at them.

"As per my memo, I will be coating the planet in Fuzzy Ooze in an effort to restore balance." He said, slowly backing up to the rocket, and grabbing onto it.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tan asked. Both he and Kaia had their weapons at the ready. Admittedly, Tan would've already fired at Mr. Grizz, but he was too intimidated. For the first time in a while working as an agent, he was scared.

"It means the end of your employment." Mr. Grizz said as the rocket continued to ascend.

"...And the end of the world as you know it, to be clear." He finished. Tan and Kaia watched the rocket rise, feeling hopeless.

"Fuck!" Kaia yelled out. Tan turned back around to face everyone else.

"What now?" He asked.

"Hold up a sec!" A voice yelled out. Tan recognized it. Not her, again.

Shiver, Frye, and Big Man stood nearby. How they got up here was beyond his comprehension, but he didn't care. Now was the worst possible time to fight. He raised his weapon to fire at them, but Shiver threw her hands up.

"WOAH! We're here to help!" She said. Tan groaned.

"Can you skip the whole monologue thing, then? We're kind of on the clock, here." He said. Shiver's shoulders dropped, as she seemed disappointed.

"Oh. Okay. Come on, let's go." She said, gesturing to Frye. She hit a pose, before waving her hands.

"Swirl it up, eels!" She said. Her eels from earlier began to fly past her, falling into a line and spinning, while simutainiously turning into ink and forming some sort of tornado.

"Your turn Master Mega!" Shiver said. Her Megalodon arrived, moving to place itself behind Tan and Kaia. Big Man approached them.

"Ay!" He said, reaching out to Tan and Kaia. In his... fins were two headsets, similar to the ones Captain 3 wore, albeit with a sort of forcefield around them. It suddenly hit Tan.

Oh shit, we're going to outer space.

Tan and Kaia put them on, and got on Master Mega. The Megalodon immediately took off, flying towards the tornado before riding it up, following the path of the rocket.

"Stay fresh up there, you two!" Cuttlefish said over the radio.

Tan and Kaia both changed into swim form, adding the swim speed of the tornado with the momentum of Master Mega together to launch themselves towards the rocket. Tan closed his eyes as they both were launched, until the resistence of the wind went away. He opened his eyes, and saw the stars. Ahead of them was the rocket, with Mr. Grizz at the far end of it. They both began to prepare to land, with Kaia ahead of him. She changed into Kid form, and successfully landed on the rocket.

Tan, however, didn't keep as much momentum, and began to fall too soon. He changed into Kid form, and reached out for Kaia.

"Oohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, SHIT!" He yelled. At the last second, his right hand made contact with Kaia's, and she grabbed it. She pulled him onto the rocket, as he tapped the sides of his boots twice, activating the grav-sim mode. This allowed him to traverse the rocket with gravity similar to the Earth's. He and Kaia looked ahead. In front of them stood large chunks of the furry ooze, as well as various Octarians, and of course, Mr. Grizz.

Once again, Tan had his work cut out for him.

Chapter Text

Chapter 15 - "Benevolent End"

"Well, well, such dedication to your work." Mr. Grizz said with a booming voice. He was much larger now than he was when the rocket took off.

"Oh, shit." Kaia said. Tan looked over at her.

"It's okay, we got this." He said. She nodded, as they pushed forward. Little Buddy hopped out of Tan's bag.

"Good thing he tagged along. We'll need some of this ooze cleared out." Kaia said. Tan grabbed Little Buddy, and threw him at one of the fuzzballs on the ooze. Little Buddy ate it, causing the ooze to clear out. The rocket rattled as Mr. Grizz rose to his feet, preparing to attack. He slashed his claws, sending out large lines of purple ink. Tan and Kaia dodged them, and kept pushing forward. They took down the Octarians in the section they were in, before pushing forward. They repeated the previous process, clearing out the ooze in the way. When they reached the next section, they noticed that the only way forward was a small platform. They both narrowly made the jump across, and pushed forward. The next section was the last one.

"Kaia, duck!" Tan yelled. Kaia dropped to the ground as a heavy shot of ink passed by, being fired from an Octarian. Tan took down the Octarian, and they both pushed forward. They cleared the final barrier of ooze, and pushed up, getting close to Mr. Grizz. Suddenly, various Octarians exited the surrounding ooze. A large fuzzball was on the chest of Mr. Grizz.

"Shit, we're surrounded." Kaia said. Tan raised his weapon.

"Not for long." He said.

They both began firing, switching between swim form and Kid form, moving behind the shields of the Octarians to stop them. They also made sure to dodge Mr. Grizz as he continued to swipe his claws at them. One of the swipes caused Tan to get hit with the ink, nearly tearing his left arm open.

"FUCK!" He yelled, as he fell to the ground. After splatting the last Octarian, Kaia ran over to him.

"Don't focus on me, finish this!" Tan said, handing her Little Buddy. He pointed to the fuzzball on his chest, and she realized.

It was the same as the ones from the fuzzy ooze.

She threw Little Buddy into the fuzzball, and he began to eat it. When he finished, it popped, spraying yellow ink across the chest of Mr. Grizz. He immediately roared in pain, slamming his arms into the rocket, heavily denting it and flinging Tan and Kaia off of it. Cyan ink continued to heavily leak from Tan's arm as they both flew. Suddenly, they both noticed familiar music playing. Not from the Squid Sisters, or Deep Cut, but-

"Octavio?" Tan asked. Kaia remained silent. Tan was in too much pain to question it.

"GYAH HA HA! TIME FOR THE BIG FINISH!" Octavio yelled. He aimed his Octobot towards Tan, Kaia, and Little buddy, catching them. They latched onto the top of it, with Tan's left arm remaining at his side.

"YOU'RE not dropping this beat on OUR turf!" He added. Was Octavio... helping?

Tan looked over at Kaia, who continued to stare at nothing in particular.

"One of you up there, get in the hatch and pilot this thing!" Octavio yelled to Tan and Kaia. Kaia shook her head, before hesitantly complying. She got into the hatch, and began to control the bot, avoiding floating fuzzballs as she targeted the ones on Mr. Grizz. She destroyed one, and then two. She began to approach the final one, but the Octobot took a heavy hit from one of Mr. Grizz's slashes.

"I lost control! We're dead weight right now!" Kaia said.

"The kid's right!" Octavio yelled. Tan looked at the final fuzzball, and then had an idea.

The second zipcaster.

He looked back at Kaia, and thought about the apartment. About his Mom. He wouldn't make it back from this, but if he didn't do it, nobody would make it. Everyone on Earth would pay for his inability to make a move.

"Fuck." He said. Kaia looked at him.

"What?" She asked. He grabbed the zipcaster module from his bag, and equipped it.

"Tan..? What are you doing?" Kaia asked. He looked back at her.

"I love you." He said.

He turned back, facing Mr. Grizz. Tan aimed his right arm, and fired the zip, sending himself soaring at Mr. Grizz. He reached down to his waist, grabbing his blade from the holster. He held it with his other arm, aiming it at the fuzzball.

Kaia watched as he made impact with the fuzzball. It popped, erupting in yellow ink, and causing Mr. Grizz to fall over.

"Backup laser is online! We have to fire now!" Octavio yelled.

"NO! No, he's still out there!" Kaia yelled back.

"We don't have a choice!" He responded.

Octavio aligned the Octobot with Mr. Grizz's face, readying the laser. Mr. Grizz, noticing the laser, began to sling some of the fuzzy ooze at the Octobot in a desperate last attempt to stop it. However, the laser fired, causing Mr. Grizz to stop his attack. It continued to fire for several seconds, before he finally fell over. Purple ink began to spew from him.

Mr. Grizz was splatted, and the rocket he was on began to fall apart, as it reapproached the gravitational pull of the Earth.

Kaia entered the apartment building. She left her Hero Gear at the safe house.

"Hi, Ms. Hudson!" The building receptionist greeted her.

"Hi." She responded, not putting much effort into acknowledging the greeting. She entered the elevator, pressing the 7th floor button. This was the first time she had done this by herself. The ride up to the 7th floor felt lonesome. She felt alone as well. The most important person in her life was gone. That couldn't be fixed or replaced.

She reached the 7th floor, managing to keep her tears at bay. The pain in her chest was becoming hard to fight. She slowly approached the apartment door, where she could hear Ceph and Luna laughing from the other side. She began to feel even worse, knowing that she would have to deliver news that would cut that laughter short. She knocked on the door slowly, and heard a voice from the other side.

"Coming!" Luna called. She slid the lock, and opened the door. Her eyes lit up when she saw Kaia, but her look turned to one of confusion quickly.

"Hi Kaia! Where's Tan?" She asked. Someone else saying his name was enough for her previously successful attempts at holding back tears to fail immediately.

"Woah, woah. It's okay, here, come sit down." Luna said, taking Kaia's hand and leading her to the living room couch. She sat down, and Ceph looked at her.

"Where's-" Luna cut him off with a glare, causing him to become confused.

"He didn't make it back." Kaia choked out. Ceph and Luna both went silent.

"He was hurt bad, and he had a zipcaster, and I didn't. He used it to finish the job up there. He just saved the world, basically." She finished, looking down.

"Oh." Luna said. Kaia stood up, quickly going over to her bedroom.

"Kaia, wait!" Ceph called out. She ignored him, shutting the door behind her and locking it. She turned around, looking at the bed. On the left side of it was Tan's blue beanie, shirt, and gloves. She walked around to the left side of the bed, seeing his shoes on the ground. She bent over to pick them up, and saw something under the night stand. She put the shoes in the closet, and reached down to grab the object. It was a journal. She flipped it open to the first page.

"Picked up this journal from a passerby. It's pretty hard out here, but it could be worse." Below the writing was a drawing of Little Buddy.

On the next page, Tan had written, "I just got this weird letter dropped off in my bag while I was asleep. The envelope is completely blank. I'll read it soon."

The page after read, "It's been a while since I've updated this. I hope to one day find my family out there. My Mom and sister. They aren't the only ones I want to find, but I can't hold out my hope for everyone, I'm afraid. Anyway, I need to get back to this agent stuff. Last thing I need is for my last recorded words to be me complaining."

The last sentence stung Kaia. Tan knew that his line of work wasn't exactly the safest. But she knew that he also had unfinished business.

The next page read, "Today was AMAZING. Against all odds, Kaia came back! I really missed her. She's in rough condition, but I know her. She's a fighter." 

Kaia continued skimming the pages, skipping some and reading the first few sentences. Finally, she reached one that she had to fully read. It was labeled to be written two weeks ago.

"I've been in this hospital for a while now. It's given me time to think. I've mainly thought about Kaia. I failed her before. Couldn't save her. That isn't happening again. I may not have made a promise directly to her, but this is still a promise. Even if it costs me my life, I won't let anything happen to her again. She isn't getting taken away."

Kaia closed the journal, and placed it on the nightstand. Before he even knew about Mr. Grizz, Tan was already set in stone about his sacrifice. He may not have known when or where it would happen, but he was set on it.

The sky outside continued to turn darker and darker shades. Kaia grabbed the beanie off of the bed, placing it on her head as she exited the bedroom. Ceph and Luna were nowhere to be found. She exited the apartment, and climbed the stairs, making her way to the roof. She sat on the edge, as she had done the night before, looking up at the sky above. She watched as the sun dipped below the horizon, and the sky darkened. Finally, the backdrop of the stars became black. She got lost in the stars, inspecting them, as she realized that her stupid dream she told Tan about when they were younger came true. They had finally gone to space. She laughed through the tears she was holding back, knowing that the irony would have made him laugh as well. She continued to inspect the sky, before her eyes stopped on one star. It shined brighter than all the others. In a crowd of shimmering lights, it stood out. It made her think of him. She sighed, before standing up.

"Looks like we have some unfinished business to attend to, Tan."

Chapter Text

"The Epilogue"

Due to her busy schedule, Kaia didn't have much time to work on Tan's unfinished business. However, she made sure to do so whenever she got a chance. She had already finished a chip tune cover of Splattack that Tan had left behind on his laptop, as well as a few other small things. However, there was one thing she had yet to do.

"Yes, I'm here to visit Mrs. Marin. I'm a... friend." Kaia said. The receptionist nodded, asking Kaia for her information. Once she was signed in, she was brought to Mrs. Marin's room by a nurse. Kaia entered the room, and shut the door behind her.

"Kaia? Oh, it's so nice to see you!" Mrs. Marin said. When Kaia kept a frown even after making eye contact with her, she became worried.

"What's wrong honey? Come here." She said, patting the side of her bed.

"Ma'am, your son, he..." Kaia tried to say the words, but felt immense guilt after looking at Mrs. Marin. Her son gave his life to save Kaia's. She felt responsible for his death, in a way.

"What's wrong with Tan?" She asked.

"He and I are agents. In a group. We had to go on a very important mission, and he essentially saved the world, but at the cost of his life." Kaia explained. Mrs. Marin went pale.

"So, he-" She began, but her voice immediately went silent.

"I'm so sorry." Kaia said, hanging her head. Mrs. Marin placed her hand on Kaia's, causing her to look up.

"He gave his life for everyone else's. He knew what he was doing." She said. Despite coming to terms with this, she was still clearly distraught.

"He really did." Kaia responded.

She stayed with Mrs. Marin, spending time with her. She continued to do so every other day, visiting her to spend time with her, talk with her, tell old stories and make new memories.

Despite her condition, Mrs. Marin managed to remain alive. Supposedly, a new treatment that hadn't been widely tested worked for her, extending her time. This was great news for Kaia.

After another visit, Kaia returned home, going to her bedroom. She had spent a lot more time there, recently. She didn't pay much mind to her phone, or those around her. She didn't feel much motivation to do much outside of tying up Tan's loose ends. Kaia grabbed his journal, and flipped to the most recent page, where she had kept track of what she was doing. She wrote another entry, and read over it.

"I kept Tan's mother company. I've been doing so recently. Luckily, a new treatment was tested, and it seems to be working for her."

She closed the journal, and placed it in her satchel. She made her way to the apartment building roof, where a small memorial for Tan was crafted. Kaia kneeled in front of it, and looked at the photo of him.

"Well, it looks like we're just about done here, Tan." She said.

"Please. Please, I'm begging you. Let me go, please!" The Octoling soldier begged. The masked figure stood over him, Splatana in hand. He remained silent.

"I'll do anything. Just don't kill me!" He continued to beg. The masked figure took a step back, and pointed to the nearby forest. The Octoling soldier thanked him, before running away.

The masked figure had finally escaped the facility where they held him.

He pulled his mask down, and lifted his goggles, making the scar over his left eye visible.

"Now that I'm free, I need to get home."