Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The city of Inkopolis is silent as it always is. Buildings are charred, and the sky is a pale green, just like the skin of the “Octolings” and their tyrannical commander who have taken over. The green goo that covered the higher buildings is a reminder to the incident that happened a few months ago. Before the entire world changed, for the worst.

The commander of the Sanitized Order had a plan to make all Octolings “perfect.” After the 2nd defeat of DJ Octavio, he abandoned the Octarian Army. The Octolings that were left underground soon found the metro and refuged there. Tartar promised them the surface through tests. But it was all a lie. The ones who completed were blended into ooze, and the failed ones… It’s better not to talk about them.

Although there was a loose screw in the system. Agent Eight, an Octoling who was partially sanitized. Agent Eight had their mind wiped, but wasn’t injected with the ooze, causing them to still have free will. They fought their way through with help of Cap’n Cuttlefish and Off the Hook. They tried to defeat Tartar, but the fight didn’t go the heroes way.

Commander Tartar, the name all squids feared.

Back to the present.

“…” That’s all she could say. Agent Four isn’t really an Agent anymore. Not after the rest of the New SquidBeak Splatoon was gone. Agent Eight was gone, so was Agent Three, so was Captain so were the Squid Sisters.

Agent Four hung out with other Inklings who had no idea who she was. Not really friends, just squids that knew each other. Helping each other to survive. The Sanitized Order caught all of them and they went missing. It’s obvious that she’ll never see them again. Commander Tartar had their eyes set on her, and she didn’t want to think what would happen if she was caught by them.

So she stayed low. Four just stayed in an alleyway, burning Headspace and Jelly Fresh products are the only source of light. The shops have been long since abandoned anyway. Everyone in Inkopolis is dead. Four wants to believe there’s still ANYSQUID still in this husk of a city. But she can’t. Seeing everything crumble around her has broken her spirit, not even to mention the idols she loved.

Four sat down infront of the burning clothes and headgear. She turned on her CQ Cumber Phone. No signal. What did she expect? The only thing she could access was a crappy Flappy Fish ripoff and Splatune. Splatune, sounded a lot like Splatoon, didn’t it?

She listened to Tide Goes Out, a song Marie made herself. It was her only escape from the horrifying shell that was the real world. She wondered if Marie was still alive, still in Inkopolis. Still… Un-Sanitized?

Marie’s the only person who she would still care about if she was still out there… Somewhere…

Chapter Text

Four’s stomach grumbled. Right.

She had been listening to Squid Sisters music for who knows how long. She forgot she was in a post-squidpocalyptic city instead of the Inkopolis she used to know. Now, she needed to find some food. The Crust Bucket should’ve still been available. 

Not like it would move because of Crusty Sean. Four didn’t even laugh at their own joke they made in their head, they felt ashamed to say it out loud. He could’ve experienced the most jaw dropping, eye popping, squid splatting fate ever known to squidkind for all she knew.

Four stood up, and started walking south. Just follow the news station in the square for that food truck. She still somehow remembered what her “friends” told her before they were squidnapped. It would be a far walk. She was in the plaza next to the Booyah Base in a random alleyway. Nothing that Four wasn’t used to. 

As Four walked, the only thing that could be heard were the loud, distant footsteps and a faint hum of… Something underground. She had never been in the Deepsea Metro. The Squid Sisters probably have. Although she knew where the footsteps came from: Santized Octoling Soldiers. They apparently are the ones who failed the tests. Four thought to herself.

There were this many Octolings who failed the tests in the metro? She thought it was ridiculous, but thinking about failure wasn’t something she liked to think about. Four was one herself, and told herself that every day. She wanted to save the world from Tartar, but what if she was ignored again?

There was no one left to ignore her.

10 minutes of walking later, she finally reached the Square. There was barely anytime to react as she heard loud footsteps. It was the footsteps of the Sanitized, but louder. Their boots pounded in her ears like a stopwatch, counting down to doom o’ clock.

Four ducked into an alleyway, behind a few boxes. Boxes of what? It isn’t important. Hundreds of Octolings walking by in perfect synchronicity. Calling them Octolings was like an Ultra Stamp to the face to normal Octolings. Zombies was a better word for them. No signs of life, No free will. Just zombie slaves to Tartar. She didn’t even know what the commander looked like, but she knew the sanitized all too well.

To her horror, one of the Octolings stopped in her tracks and looked into the alleyway Four was in. Four thought she was caught, cornered, and she’d be squidnapped like everyone she knew. She didn’t have her old Hero Suit or Hero Shot or hero whatever, just some cloak made out of old rags. Really shows what this “hero” has become. 

Just as the sanitized Octoling was gonna investigate, the one behind her collided, causing them all to halt. She was irritated to say the least.

“Hey, newbie, get a move on! Our lord isn’t sending us out here to stand around and dawdle!” 

“I thought I saw something.” Four held her breath as they passed by. She was relieved; She didn’t want this moment to be the first time she fought one of.. Them.

She stayed behind the box, waiting for the footsteps to fade out before coming out from behind the object. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she stood up and walked out the alleyway. Nothing, like the soldiers were never there in the first place.

As she walked out into the open, she looked over and looked at the news station that used to belong to Off the Hook. It made Four think: She lived in the Square before the world shifted into the deep end. And yet, the Squid Sisters were her favorite band. Maybe she should listen to Off the Hook more. She hated to admit, Squid Sisters were getting pretty boring.

Four typed in “Off the Hook” into her phone as a reminder and put it back into her pocket. She’ll check on it later when she isn’t hungry as shell. But… Something was up.

Chapter Text

“Where’s the Crust Bucket..?” She said, hopefully not too loud. A threat could be around the corner at anytime. But, she was right, the Crust Bucket was supposed to be right here, right? She even remembered from the old Inkopolis Square, the non destroyed Inkopolis Square.

She heavily sighed. Four started to walk back to the her alleyway on an empty stomach. I guess I’ll have to rely on my emergency food storage until I can find another food place. She thought. She did all of this for nothing; walked for nothing, almost got spotted for nothing.

It took 15 minutes to get back. The alleyway was dark, the headgear and clothes products burnt to a crisp. Great. That was the only word she could think. Now she had to go out and get clothes. No, just in case the Jelly Fresh or Shella Fresh disappeared vanished randomly.

She reached into a crate labeled “emergency.” She grabbed a Triple Fried Galactic Schwaffle and bit into it. Four barely could enjoy food anymore, cooked or cold. The freshness in this used-to-be Agent Four seemed to have washed away.

Four soon finished the Schwaffle, but her stomach still felt empty. It seems like heating up the food really did fuel its effect it had on an Inkling, or Octoling, or whatever. Four checked her watch. 5 o’ clock. Time for the afternoon nap.

Finding food and sleeping was the only thing left to do. There was no entertainment except for listening to music, and the music was starting to get old too unfortunately, nothing that Four could do. What would she do, ask the idol groups to make new music? Four laid down on the mattress. For her, it was hard to sleep, even after all that has happened, but eventually drifted off.

…

….

…..

Four didn’t sleep long. Four heard the sound of footsteps around, almost like the footsteps of the Sanitized Octarians. It sounded like it was only one, but there was a bigger problem, the footsteps sounded like it was right near her. Her eyes widened and her face flushed of all its color. It couldn’t be true. Tell me it’s not true. Please let it be a bad dream. 

She sat up on the mattress she was on and looked to her right. Oh my cod. 

There she was. If the outfit or sickly green skin didn’t give it away, the green and blue tentacle-hair was obvious, in that same clamn hairstyle. It was a Sanitized Octoling. She seemed to be investigating her home, and didn’t realize she woke up yet. She was either sent by herself or got herself lost. Four couldn’t ask or think long before she found out she wasn’t asleep. Four would definitely get caught.

Without thinking, Four got up and tried to sneak out of the alleyway. She had no idea where she’d go for the time being. Maybe that old apartment she used to live in before Tartar’s death ray fired off. The only place she used to live in besides the New SquidBeak Splatoon base. She doubted that The Sanitized Order let it be.

The Sanitized Soldier soon turned to Four as she tried to escape. Four knew she was busted as she saw her own shadow surrounded by a dangerous red glow. The Octoling pointed her Octo-Shot at the Inkling.

“Hey! Stop moving and put your hands on your head! Now!” Her voice was loud and clear, harsher than any other Inkling or Octoling she’d ever heard of, maybe even DJ Octavio. No, too far.

Four complied, being scared for once in forever. Truly scared. She got on her knees and put her hands up. Not like she had any weapons. Fighting back wasn’t an option. Never bring nothing to a Splattershot fight. The words of her friends reverberated in her head. She had no time to reminisce; She was currently being apprehended by a Sanitized and there was nothing meaningful she could do about it. Maybe she would try to fight. Being splatted permanently would be better than whatever would’ve happened if she was brought to Tartar.

“You’ve been staying in solitude for quite a while, huh? We’ve been trying to find you, Agent Four. I might actually get a promotion now.” She laughed, unnatural, almost mocking her in a way, as if calling Four an “Agent” wasn’t already insulting enough. She was a nobody now.

This is it, you gotta be squidding me.. I just wished I could see a normal Inkling one last time.

Chapter Text

“Don’t worry, you Inkling scum. You’ll make a great tribute to the order.”

Just as the Sanitized Octoling pinned Four’s arms to her back, a.. Thing dropped next to a pile of half-burnt clothes. Is that… A Squid Beakon? It felt way too long since she’s seen one of those, although, something still felt off.

Someone apparently used the Sub Weapon and super jumped to it, it really was a Squid Beakon and not some prop. A figure appeared in the air and back flipped multiple times before landing on the ground infront of the two. Who is this and why do they think they’re important? 

The cloaked figure pulled out a Krak-On Splat Roller and swung it forwards.

The gust of wind from the swing forced Four to close her eyes. First, a splat sound, and a screech soon followed. When Four opened her eyes again, she saw a large pink puddle of ink where the Sanitized Octoling stood moments earlier and the sad, whimpering, blue and green Octopus ghost that rose in the air and soon disappeared.

“Those things still have souls?” Four said outloud. It’s been an eternity since she’s heard her voice outside her head say a full sentence, and especially near someone else. The figured turned to her, still holding the Roller weapon, and approached her.

Oh clamn! Are they planning to splat me too? 

Four involuntarily backed away, like her legs almost had a mind of its own. She didn’t really want to, what if they were friendly? It was a crazy thought, but maybe?

“Hey! Calm down! I’m not gonna hurt you, Agent Four!”

Oh my cod. Why do people keep calling her Agent Four? She soon stopped herself from going any further back. That voice was.. Familiar. Of course, it could still be a Sanitized Octoling, they also called her Agent Four, but why would they have the need to hide themselves under a dark hood.

“Who are you?”

“I guess the new world really has you confused, doesn’t it?”

The figure took the cloak off. It was none other than..

..

“..Callie!?” Four shouted, but immediately covered her mouth. It was so reckless and stupid, she just wanted a Burst Bomb to hit her in the face right then and there for that. Maybe not, because she found her first non-sanitized interaction in so long, and it was Callie!

“Don’t worry, I almost shouted too when I realized you were still alive and fresh as ever!” Callie flashed a smile. She seemed genuinely happy that she was alive. Callie was always the more upbeat Squid Sister, and it felt.. Off. She was still happy despite everything going on? 

But that word. Fresh.

“…” Four looked to the side. “Fresh.” No. “Washed Up” was the better word. She was so used to doubting herself that it was weird for other people to compliment her. She didn’t change her expression fast enough for Callie to miss it.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing..” She soon straightened herself and made eye contact with Callie again. Callie’s eyes were still sparkling and she still had that more “casual” outfit that she had on at Tentakeel Outpost. Compared to Callie, Four looked like a bum. No weapons, no good clothes, no emotions. She decided to change topics, nonetheless. “How’d you find me?”

“Oh yeah! I almost forgot!” She cleared her throat as she started to explain her own story. “Marie wanted me to go out and find anyone still alive in the Plaza, but I was so worried when we heard that they were looking for you, so me and Marie have made it our objective to find you.”

“Wow.” Four says.  A word for exclamation came out dry as always. “I’m glad to know you’re okay.”

“Right back at ‘cha!” She winked, putting the Krak-On Roller to her side. “You saved me, so I saved you! I just HAD to return the favor for you!” 

“Yeah, I almost forgot.” She was about to say something else, but soon stopped and something snapped in her mind, seeming more alert than ever. “Wait, did you say Marie is still alive?”

Chapter Text

Callie led Four towards the news station which the Squid Sisters used to be in. She soon crouched down near the entrance and opened up a trap door. Was that always there and no one noticed? Doesn’t matter. Four was sure the used to be idol would explain it to her.

“We had this underground bunker ever since DJ Octavio first stole the Great Zapfish. Gramps told us to use it in case an Octarian invasion happened, and it happened! Well, not in the way we expected..” Four seemed a bit upset hearing that last part. Seeing this, Callie rubbed the back of her head, seeming a bit concerned by her own words.

“Oops.. I’m sorry Four. I probably shouldn’t joke about the Sanitized Takeover like that..” She became a bit worried that she accidentally made Four feel bad. Overthinking it. It made Four even more confused that Callie had barely changed even after everything. 

“Anyway, let’s go down and meet Marie. She’ll be so glad to know you’re still around!” Callie hopped onto a ladder and started to descend, seeming to hum Bomb Rush Blush as she went down. It almost put a smile on Four’s face. Almost. At least she knew she wasn’t alone in a wasteland she used to call home.

Four also descended on the ladder after Callie, and closed the trapdoor behind them. Four expected the ladder to be a lot longer, as it was only a few seconds until they hit the ground. Looking over the expansive room, there were two sides which seemed to belong to each of the idols. One side was really glittery, while the other side was more basic. It represented the two cousins perfectly.

Callie walked over to the one side and waved towards the direction of the green bed which seemed as “normal” as the side of the room. It was Marie, who immediately felt a bit embarrassed seeing someone else in the bunker. Four had never seen Marie not in her Agent or her “Undercover” outfit. Marie was wearing something that Four would wear at home. T-Shirt and Shorts. That’s it. And her hair was also loose, not in the hair bow that Four saw her hair in.

“Marie! Look who I found outside!”

“Callie.. I told you to call me when you found someone so I could get ready and look presentable-“ Marie stopped speaking as she finally recognized who was standing next to Callie. The red tint that was on her cheeks vanished. It was like a switch flipped in her brain and her memories of Tentakeel Outpost came flooding back.

“Agent Four? I knew you were still out there somewhere! I’m glad you stayed strong even without me.” She said jokingly, the half smile she had switched to a normal one, and it finally seemed genuine.

“Without US you mean! Four wouldn’t be as FIN-tastic if it weren’t for both of us!” 

The pun got an eye roll out of Marie. She never truly hated the puns that Callie would make despite her facial expressions. She soon got out of the bed and walked towards what Four assumed to be the bathroom to get into real clothes and greet her properly.

Callie soon lead Four to a couch near the corner of the room. She soon started walking towards a microwave which still seemed to be functional despite the lack of the Great Zapfish. Four already knows what happened to it. The Order got to it.

“Four, I’m gonna go warm up dinner. Marie’ll meet you out here soon enough, and then we can eat together! How’s that sound?” She asks with a smile on her face. She almost never stopped smiling, that’s what Four thinks anyway. Being around someone this happy was infectious, as Four started to feel something different. She smiled. It wasn’t big, barely noticeable actually, but it was something.

“Yeah, I would enjoy that. Thanks.”

Callie gave Four a double thumbs up before heading towards a cabinet. I guess that’s where the food is. Four suddenly reached for her phone in her pocket. She was met with that stupid Flappy Fish knockoff and Splatune. She went to the app and immediately started listening to Tide Goes Out on her earbuds.

Even with the earbuds, she had the volume too loud to the point that Callie could hear it across the room. She was gonna turn it down when..

“Enjoying my song, Agent Four?” Marie suddenly appeared over Four as she listened, her voice slight teasing, she panicked and turned the music off. “I was listening to it too, you know.”

Marie cleared her throat. She has on that more basic undercover outfit that Callie was wearing. Marie seemed to let go her teasing attitude for a second and be more genuine.

“Hey, I’m sorry if I didn’t seem genuine enough back there, but I’m truly happy you’re not sanitized or worse. I didn’t forget you during Octo Canyon, and I won’t forget you now.” Before Four could express.. Well, anything, Callie suddenly comes towards the couch with two plates of Wakame and places them infront of the two Inklings and soon going back to make her own plate.

Callie comes back with a plate of her own and sits around the table that’s infront of the couch. She immediately notices the disgust on Marie’s face. She recognized the expression more clearly than the sound of a sub weapon. Four was already digging into it. Four’s taste was desensitized. Maybe that’s how she was eating it.

“Marie, what’s wrong? I thought you loved dried seaweed?”

“This is wakame.” She put her fork down next to the plate and looked directly at Callie. “I’d rather eat my Splat Charger than eat this.”

“You have to eat it! We have something planned tomorrow and we need all the energy we can get!” She crossed her arms, a bit upset at the fact Marie wouldn’t eat. She went to an abandoned food place just to make Marie happy. Four heard the word “plan” and immediately seemed interested, but it was soon shut down as she remembered she had nothing. Just a roof over her head now.

Four and Callie soon finished their Wakame and Callie headed back to her side of the room. Four found it strange again how their beds weren’t right next to each other. The two respected each others privacy despite being inseparable.

“I’m glad you enjoyed dinner, Agent Four! Come on, get out of that raggedy cloak and get comfy! It looks like you haven’t seen anyone in a krillion years!” She chuckled at the pun, although thought it’d strike a nerve again. Four interrupted her before another breath escaped the idol.

“You’re right. And just call me Four.”

Callie nodded and headed off. Four slipped out of her cloak and shoes and hopped into Marie’s bed. She didn’t even bother to ask Marie for permission. Marie was apparently still at the table finishing off her greens. Four’s manners seemed to have slipped away from being away from anysquid.

“Goodnight, Four! See you in the morning!”

Four waves as Callie turned off the lights, putting the bunker into darkness.

…

It wouldn’t be for another hour until Marie joined Four in bed. She laid down on the opposite side. She heavily sighed.

“It look me over an hour to finish that Wakame. What a nightmare. I don’t know how you and Callie ate that stuff so quickly. Who are you, Kirby?” She makes a joking remark, although it sounded a bit more sarcastic, which might be the case considering how low her mood was in the moment.

Four seemed confused at the seemingly obscure reference. “You don’t know who Kirby is? It’s this pink goofball from this game.” She pulled out a rectangular.. Thing from under her pillow. It looked like a phone in a way, but it was far from it. “This thing is apparently tens of thousands of years old from the previous civilization. Cool, isn’t it?”

Marie still gave a half smile, but her talking about the weird game box bright her mood up even if her expression didn’t show it. She put it back under her pillow and got ready to sleep, not before Four started asking questions about what Callie said earlier.

“What did Callie meant by plans? What’s Wakame? What happened to.. The rest.”

“Uh uh uh, you asked too many questions!” Marie cheekily said, before lays down on her side, back turned to Four and falling asleep the second her head touched the pillow. Seems like she had to save her questions for when Marie woke up.

Even after Marie went to sleep, Four couldn’t. No one would find them. I mean, it’s not like there was a “Free Subjects” sign outside the entrance to the bunker. She put her earbuds in againanf pulled up Off the Hook.

She searched them up on Splatune and immediately listened to the first result: Color Pulse. Four turned it on and relaxed. It was, dare she say it, a breath of fresh air from Squid Sisters. Four memorized every lyric, beat, and melody in every song. It was time for something new.

She soon drifted off to sleep, finally letting go of her worries of the day, knowing no Sanitized Octarian would try to raid them or Four would go to bed hungry. She didn’t know a big day was planned.

Chapter Text

Four woke up only to realize Callie and Marie were already up and planning something. If this was a month ago, she wouldn’t really care, but since it was the two she was closest to, she had to check it out.

“Oh! Good morning, Four! You slept in pretty late. You sardinely would’ve missed our conversation if you slept any later!” 

“Callie, stop the puns for a second. We need to explain this to Four.” She crossed her arms and glanced towards Four. “Take a look at it. We’ve been building onto it ever since we went in the metro with Agent Three and discovered Tartar’s plans. We plan to break in and splat that telephone.”

Four finally looked over at the bulletin board that Callie was standing next to. It had a punch of pictures attached to pins which was held together some green and pink thread, representing the Squid Sister colors. It looked something straight out of a murder mystery movie, except it was the murder of the world as they knew it. It was full of information about the Order, the Sanitization process, and possible entrances, but half of it was entire about escape routes in case of an ambush. It also had photos of missing Agents Three and Eight, Off the Hook, and Cap’n Cuttlefish.

It was clear that half was probably constructed by Callie. It only boggled Four’s mind even more. Callie caught onto this, since she commonly caught up on a change of expression, especially the expression of someone she knew.

“I probably put too many escape routes on the board. Focus on this one..” Callie pointed to a escape route on the far right of the bulletin board, but Four seemed distracted by the other bunch of escape routes and info next to it. She soon changed her confused expression to avoid any further concern from the two.

“Anyway, before we go, we have to show you something, Four!” Callie looked over to Marie, who both slightly smirked.

“Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about it.” Marie soon walked away. Not too long after, she returned with.. No way. Four’s old hero suit!?

It was definitely the same. Same yellow hero hoodie, same hero headphones, same hero snow boots. Callie also pulled out a Hero Shot from behind the bulletin board. It brought back memories, especially memories of the DJ Octavio situation months ago. It made Four remember: She didn’t save Callie and the Great Zapfish just so people would remember her, but it was because she did the right thing. And she’d do it again.

“Tada!” The two Squid Sisters exclaim as they hold up the gear, both giving wide, genuine smiles. Four’s eyes would’ve lit up, but another chance to prove herself couldn’t fix all that had happened to her. 

Four soon changed out of the raggedy cloak she was wearing and soon changed into the Hero Suit. It was refreshing finally wearing something new. And she was no longer a nobody. She was finally someone: An Agent of the New SquidBeak Splatoon.. What was left of it anyway.

“I see you’re liking your old hero suit.” 

“I guess we can call you Agent Four now, huh?” Callie asked jokingly. Four smiled again, this time it was larger and more genuine. She’d got called Agent Four many times but the Sanitized Order, but hearing it from the Squid Sisters who gave her the Hero Gear made her actually happy the first time in.. She doesn’t even know how long.

“Anyway, we should probably get going. I have a place you can train yourself at. I bet you’re still fin-tastic!” Callie and Marie started heading up the ladder towards the trapdoor, and soon went out the entrance. Four stayed behind for a second, looking at the bulletin board. Specifically, Commander Tartar’s face smack dab in the middle of the board. Their old telephone face was so simple, yet so terrifying knowing what he has done. It took Four a good few minutes to realize that she needed to follow the two previous idols.

Four crawled out the trapdoor and closed it behind them and dusted off her Hero Hoodie.

“What took you so long? Mesmerized by how good I kept its condition?” Callie says, giggling a bit. Marie seemed a bit confused too at Four’s minor absence.

“I.. Yeah, sure.” Four responded, a lot more upbeat at the idea of destroying Tartar and his sanitized minions. The things that took almost everything away from her. She tried to forget the unease that had once washed over her. “Let’s go do this.”

Chapter Text

“Elite, Elite!” The words rang out in the empty halls as the figure dashed towards a room. It was a Sanitized Octoling, and anything concerning their plans to purge the life of the world is the only time they’ll show an ounce of emotion. Along with the soldier was two other Octolings who followed behind her, newer ones.

The three eventually reached the room at the end of the hallway, the one leading put the password on a keypad next to the door and the trio entered. The Sanitized Inkling - Yes you read it right, looked over. She seemed to have been busy with fixing her Splattershot which seemed to be damaged by some ink on it which was not her own. She sat at her desk, silent, cold and calculated.

“What is so urgent that you needed to interrupted me?” She said without turning around to look at the trio.

The trio salutes to her despite not being faced. It’s the thing they’re brainwashed to do. The one infront clears their throat after standing there for at least a minute, signaling the other two to drop their right hands back to their sides. The leader edges closer.

“Elite 03, we have something serious to report. We would like if you’d-“

The Inkling, Elite 03, turns her head and stops tending to  her Splattershot on the table, looking a bit irritated. It was the first time the Three Sanitized Octolings ever saw an Elite show any emotion, let alone the most stoic one they knew. Even under the modified shades compared to other Sanitized Octolings, it was obvious about the change of emotion. Elite 03 cut her off.

“You better stand down, rookie. Now.. What do you want? You better make it fast.”

The trio was shell shocked for a moment, before the newer soldiers spoke up and walked forward. “Our leader said Subject 11,092 went missing in an alley in Inkopolis Plaza.” The leader nods. “We suspect it to be Agent Four of the New SquidBeak Splatoon. We require help in order to capture them.”

Elite 03 grabs her still slightly-damaged Splattershot and stands up from her chair. She looks at the 3 other sanitized soldiers. “A lead on Agent Four, you say? I must report this to our commander. You go near the exit for the time being.”

Elite 03 shoved the leader of the trio out the way and started walking west. Some other Sanitized Octolings glance at her and the unprofessional Splattershot in her hands as she walked down the hall. The only soul she needed to see the commander.

Commander Tartar.

She entered the expansive room. There was an Octoling who was next to the entrance of the door who was working at a DJ Table, producing music. They didn’t say anything, just saluted. 03 knew they were really dedicated to making their music. She kept walking until they stopped she stopped infront of a massive blender and some sort of throne. The blender’s shadow obscured the figure of the Commander. Elite 03 saluted.

“My lord, we have suspected that the Agent Four you speak of is possibly somewhere in Inkopolis’ Plaza. We plan to ambush in the alleyway Subject 11,092 went missing in. We believe they are related.”

Tartar stays sitting there. She couldn’t see their face, but she could tell they were sitting. They appeared stiff, like they hadn’t moved from the throne. Even after the plan succeeded, they didn’t seem happy, just impressed, and seemed to have gotten more serious after destroying most of the world.

“…Plaza, you say? Who might you be going with?”

“9,733, 12,091 and 11,900.”

They nod, or maybe not.

“Leave. You better not let me down. You know what happens if you do.”

She nods, saluting one more time before walking out of the room, her cape pooling at her boots. Elite 03 didn’t really have a dress code, neither did 08 or any other Elite Sanitized. Of course, they only wore things that were necessary. She started walking south again, meeting the other three Sanitized Soldiers near a kettle, near identical to the ones seen in Octo Canyon or Octo Valley.

“We found the kettle, Elite.” 9,733 salutes. The other two have their hands on their Octo-Shots with the normal emotionless expressions under the shades and that ominous, glowing red spot over the left eye.

“Good.” 03 said, before walking by the three and looking at the kettle. It made the Elite Soldier feel some sort of Deja Vu, but she soon shook it off. She pointed towards the leader of the original trio. “Anyway, you. You’re Alpha. Which of you two wants to be Beta and Delta?”

The two point at each other. Elite 03 rolls their eyes and stands ontop of the kettle. “You figure it out yourselves. We need to leave now.” The rest of the squadron stands ontop of the kettle, ready to go into it.

“Hopefully 11,092 put that Mini-Point Sensor that the other Elites wanted to plant on Four before she got splatted. Let’s go.” The 4 go into their octopus forms (squid form for 03) and go down into the kettle.

The squad of sanitized soldiers soon pop out of another kettle and rematerialize into their humanoid forms. The kettle is located in a run-down building which hasn’t been touched by any Inkling or Octoling for a long time. They walk outside, following Elite 03 as she had a CQ Cumber Phone: Kamabo Co. Brand. She was following a dot that was on some sort of tracker. It was at some sort of Turf War area.

“Elite, where might this location be?” Alpha speaks up. Beta and Delta are currently looking around as they walk behind Alpha and Elite 03 with their Octo-Shots up, probably expecting to be ambushed at any moment.

“The location says Moray Towers. If we keep heading west, we should be there.” 

After a while, they finally come across the Moray Towers, seeing Agent Four training above. They watched as they tested her skills, shooting the Sanitized Octoling dummies, but they also saw the Squid Sisters. The four didn’t know who they were, although 03 started to feel another wave of Deja Vu.

“Elite, are you okay?” Beta asks. She readjusts her ripped gloves, looking at 03 with a bit of confusion. 

The strange feeling caused 03 to drop her Kamabo Co. CQ Cumber Phone, standing there like she was in a trance. Delta picks it up and hands it back to her, while Alpha snaps in her face to try and get her to snap out of the Deja Vu hypnosis.

“03! Hey! What’s the problem? Throw the Squid Beakon up there already.” Alpha somehow got Elite 03 to come back to reality from wherever their mind was.. Or what was left of it from sanitation.

“Yes, of course.” Elite 03 does what Alpha said and soon threw a Squid Beakon onto the middle part of the Moray Towers.

Chapter Text

Four practiced her skills on the old Moray Towers. Callie and Marie had already placed a few Sanitized Octoling dummies around the area before she got there, almost like they knew they’d find her. She was doing everything she used to: Trickshots, Squid Roll, Trying to use sub weapons even though she knew her ink tank would be empty. It made Four feel alive again. Her Hero Gear was still in perfect condition, just like Callie said earlier.

“Wow! You haven’t gotten rusty at all! It’s almost like your mood got better when you put it on!”

“I guess it reminded you about the old days, didn’t it? Back when the only concern was about who’d win the next Splatfest.. And Octavio. So much simpler..” Marie says and crosses her arms, thinking about the days when she was one half of the Squid Sisters, how she won splatfests, lost splatfests, hanging out with the agents. 

“I’ma remix your face!” She says, trying to mimic DJ Octavio’s line. It got a laugh out of Callie and a playful eye roll from Agent Four.

“Yeah, I suppose so.” Four keeps training, although she soon stops when she finds some sort of Squid Beakon. Marie also seems to notice it and turns to Callie

The Sanitized Squad, who are hiding behind a ramp currently seem to also realize that they forgot to re-collect the Squid Beakon after they placed it down. Elite 03 turns to the other three, blaming them without saying anything. They take out their Octo-Shots just in case Agent Four discovers them.

“Callie, that’s not one of yours, is it?” 

“No? The three Squid Beakons I have out are in that old alleyway and in our base. I haven’t used my third one.” She walked over to it, squinting at it. She was inspecting it, searching for any signs that the Beakon was or wasn’t her own. 

Four stopped shooting a Sanitized Octoling dummy for a moment and actually looked around her. She eyed the sub weapon, immediately feeling something was off. Like she was being watched or something. She knew she wasn’t watching Callie; She was training, but did the Inkling really place down another Squid Beakon?

Marie soon called out. “Hey, wait Agent Four, there’s something in your hair.” Callie and Marie walked over and looked at the back of Four’s head. Callie took something out that looked something like a tiny Point Sensor. Callie and Marie’s faces suddenly darkened. Were they being followed? Why else would a Point Sensor be on Agent Four.

“Clammit..” Delta said out loud before covering her stopping. “I mean-”

Four, Callie and Marie slowly look over to the sound of the noise, looking confused, shocked and scared at the same time as their eyes fall onto the squad of Sanitized Octolings, and Inkling. Elite 03 shoved Delta to the ground in a rage causing her to her Octo-Shot to clatter onto the ground. 

“You IDIOT!” Alpha and Beta jump down from the higher platform and start to shoot their Octo-Shots towards the three. Callie and Marie immediately duck behind a box while Agent Four preforms the moves she did. She uses her Hero Gear to cover the ground around her before throwing a Burst Bomb towards Alpha and Beta. Their boots soon get stuck in the golden ink, and their ink is low.

“They need to make better ink storage.”

“Inkling scum! Ugh..” 

Agent Four rolls behind the two and blasts them down, splatting them and watching how their sad octopus souls rose into the air. Four still wondered how they still had souls. Delta tries to reach for her discarded Octo-Shot, but is splatted by a charged shot that Marie shoots. Elite 03 just looks at the scene in disbelief.

“Seriously? I knew Commander should’ve paired me up with the older subjects. I knew this would happen.” Elite 03 tossed a Suction Bomb onto the box that Marie was ducked behind. It exploded into glowing green ink and Marie was knocked back, trying to keep ahold of her Splat Charger.

“Callie, Why does that Elite Sanitized Inkling look… Off?” 

Elite 03 barraged ink from their Splattershot towards Agent Four as well, except she was aiming at their boots to try and get them stuck and prevent them from refilling their ink tank. Four kept trying to fire, but they soon realized that she could barely move in the sanitized ink on the floor. Four tried to throw one more sub weapon, but Elite 03 just caught it and threw it away.

Four thought she would be cooked, but thankfully Callie was on a higher level of the Moray Towers and jumped down, her Krak-On Roller in hand and did an overhead swing. Elite 03 tried to turn around and counterattack, but Callie was too quick. She slammed the roller full force into Elite 03’s body, breaking her shades and causing her to drop her Splattershot, covering her face.

“You.. You Didn’t..”

Callie stood over the Elite Sanitized Soldier, and so do Marie and Agent Four. Marie squinted, already recognizing her.

“Wait a minute… Agent 3?”

Elite 03, or.. Agent 3 apparently looked up, on one knee since she was too weak to stand. She covered her eyes as she looked up at the three. Elite had some sort of recognition, but soon tried to back away. She didn’t want to be punished for disobeying her lord.

“No. I’m not this Agent Three you speak of.”

Before the two could ask anymore questions, Agent Three.. I mean Elite 03 super jumped away. The supposed Agent Three probably jumped back to the Deepsea Metro base. Marie seemed a bit bummed out: She thought that she would get through to her and add another Agent to the team. Callie seemed a bit sad, too, while Four didn’t seem to remember her because of the Elite’s sanitization.

“Marie, Four, we need to follow her! Which direction did she jump in?”

“West, I think. I can tell directions well.” Four says, looking in the way that Elite 03 super jumped. The 3 super jumped in the direction.

Chapter Text

Callie, Marie and Agent Four landed infront of the kettle, although it doesn’t seem like it’s been recently used. Still, there was no sign of the Elite Soldier from earlier.

“Oh.. I think we overshot it.” Callie announced, she looked at the kettle, which seems rusty. It’s obvious it hasn’t been used in a long time, either by The Order or by.. Anyone else. There was sounds of marching footsteps from wherever the kettle leads. It was definitely into the Deepsea Metro.

“Hey.. Shouldn’t we have some sort disguise if we’re going down here?”

“Why didn’t I think of that?” Callie facepalmed. She spent so much of her time brainstorming escape routes that she didn’t know what she’d do if they actually ran into any Sanitized Octarians, or actually got in. Marie didn’t seem to be too concerned about how they didn’t have anything to conceal themselves.

“If we keep ourselves out of sight we’ll be fine.” Marie spoke up, brushing her concern off, and walked onto the kettle. “I’m ready to take down Tartar, no matter what it takes. Four, I believe you can do it.”

With that, Marie goes into squid form and goes down the kettle. Callie and Four shrug, like they’re saying “here goes” with their arms. The two follow Marie down the kettle.

As they finally land and switch back to Inkling form, they see Callie looking around, interested in the place, while Marie just seems unimpressed and a few bad memories come back to her as she looked around. Agent Four looks around, a bit mesmerized, before realizing why they were here in the first place. The main station, which seemed to be empty except for three Sanitzied Octoling who didn’t seem to notice them, and vice versa. One of them was dressed differently. They were just talking to each other and didn’t have any weapons with them.

“Ah, I remember this place!” Callie exclaimed, clasping her hands together

“Callie, please be serious about this.”

“What? I’m just trying to bring up the mood.”

Four rolled her eyes to herself. She was happier with the Squid Sisters, but the Sanitized Order was still a pretty sensitive topic to Agent Four. She didn’t like jokes about it, even when it was Callie doing it. She walked up to the two soldiers as they spoke.

“Did you hear about what happened to that Elite Soldier? She almost got splatted by Callie Cuttlefish. 03 is supposed to be strong.” One of them says.

“Yeah. I have to do sanitization procedures on some of those filthy normal Octolings who were promised with the surface. Can’t they just pass the tests and blend themselves already?” The one who seemed like some sort of doctor crossed their arms and sighed. They adjusted the thick goggles on her face.

“You two, shut up! We’re not supposed to be speaking to each other.” 

Four walks up to them and barrages them with ink from her Hero Shot, quickly splatting them and making a yellow mess on the floor.

“Agent Four!” Both Callie and Marie looked pretty upset. Agent Four didn’t understand the problem. The Sanitized Octolings were right there, weren’t they? What’s their problem? She kept her weapon out and turned back to them.

“What? They were right there.” Four shrugged, before starting to walk further down the metro station before being stopped by Marie’s hand on her shoulder, looking at her in the eyes. She was being serious, but why?

“Splatting anymore Octolings could alert others. This was supposed to be a stealth mission. Didn’t you read our bulletin board before we left?”

Four opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. It was like her brain grabbed her voice before it came out. Marie was right, she was only focused on the Commander of the Sanitized Order’s face. She didn’t focus on anything else. She didn’t even know how to get out. Hopefully Marie did.

“Your silence speaks more words than you do, Four. Let’s just be more cautious, okay?” 

Four nods, before continuing. She stops when she stands oh the edge of a train rail. Four looks both ways, before jumping down on the tracks. Callie starts to intervene.

“Hey! What if a train appears-!” 

“Trains aren’t used here anymore, Callie. We should be safe to continue.”

Marie jumps down and follows Agent Four, and so does Callie, reluctantly although as she fears about a train. Agent Four looks around, a bit paranoid at the idea of being ambushed again. It happened at the Moray Towers, and it could definitely happen in the base of the Sanitized Octolings and their commander. Callie and Marie walk behind her with their weapons out just in case they get an accidental encounter.

Agent Four hops off of the tracks and back onto another station area. She looks around. Before seeing a door to her left.

“Where does that lead?” Four holds up her Hero Shot and points it at the door.

“Only one way to find out!”

Four shrugs and is about to try and open the door, but sees there is some retinal identification device on the side of it and soon backed away from it. Marie soon had an idea, soon jumping back on the train tracks and ducking out of sight.

“Hey, Marie, what are you doing now?” Callie seems a bit surprised, looking down at Marie on the edge of the tracks, and also curious about what she was planning.

“Come down here you two, I have an idea.”

Callie looked at Marie a bit suspicious, but was interested in what idea Marie had in mind. She jumped down onto the tracks next to Marie, and Agent Four also jumps down. Marie gets on her phone like she’s waiting for something.

“Callie, Agent Four, we’re gonna wait here until a Sanitized Soldier comes around and unlocks the door so we can follow them.”

Marie seems to be playing something. Callie also starts playing a game as they wait for a Sanitized Octoling to unlock the door, they still don’t let their guard down. Agent Four keeps looking at the door every once in a while. She has her earbuds in while listening to Fly Octo Fly ~ Ebb & Flow. Four doesn’t want to change the music even though it brings back bad memories. Off the Hook’s world tour happened right before... You know. But meh, she wanted to try out new music.

Agent Four suddenly unplugged her earbuds and put her phone away. Callie and Marie stood up as they saw a Sanitized Octoling. The three saw the Soldier lift her glasses, allowing the panel to scan their eyes. Black and Teal. They soon get off of the rails and start waking towards her. The door opened and walked in, and the three sneaking after her.

The halls were grey like the metro station. The Sanitzied Octoling Callie, Marie and Four were walking behind was almost aloof. Painfully aloof.

Callie and Marie followed behind Agent Four, when suddenly the doors that were in the hallways came down and closed, separating the Squid Sisters from Agent Four. She pointed her Hero Shot at the door. Callie and Marie were shocked. Four soon heard heavy footsteps on the other side of the door. They did get ambushed after all, and the Sanitized Octoling infront of them was just acting unaware. Seemed like it was all planned out and they were just being toyed with.

“What the shell!?” She banged on the door. Hearing the sounds of fighting behind the door, but it soon stopped as she heard who she thought was Callie and Marie dropping to the ground and the Octarians speaking to each other. At least 8 of them.

She didn’t want to desert the two, but she would definitely be outnumbered if she didn’t think of an escape. The only thing she could think of was the vent on the ceiling..

…

“Well, we got two of them. The other one is behind this door.”

“Roger that.”

The door opened, but the group of Sanitized Octolings didn’t see anyone, definitely not Agent Four. There was just an ink trail up the walls, onto the ceiling and into a vent. They looked up at it while a few were still around the unconscious bodies of the Squid Sisters.

“Seems like they escaped though that vent. I thought we couldn’t swim on ceilings?”

“We should report this to our lord. What do you think, Elite?”

“…”

The Elite Sanitized Octoling stood there, hands crossed behind their back. She doesn’t say anything, just accepting the fact that she got away. She tipped her hat and kept walking forward. Someone else will deal with her. I’m sure they will. Everyone falls to the order eventually.

Chapter Text

“Agent Four! Agent Four!”

Agent Four opened her eyes, but she seemed to be in a black abyss. She must’ve passed out.. Or knocked out. She can’t remember what happened after she escaped the trap the Sanitized Octolings set. All she remembered is that she got separated from Callie and Marie. She didn’t, no, couldn’t save them.

She looked at her own hands, but still didn’t seem to see anything. Did she get splatted by someone? What a way to go out, she thought. That was beside the point, it sounded like Callie and Marie’s voices trying to wake her up from… Wherever she is. She couldn’t see them, and couldn’t see herself. It was like it was a dream. Four wanted to cry, but couldn’t.

“Four! Don’t cry, you’ll be okay!” A voice that sounded like Callie’s rung out. It didn’t sound like it was right infront of her, or behind her, it sounded like it was all around her. In her mind. Callie wasn’t telepathic though. At least she didn’t think so.

“You’re unconscious right now, but you’ll get up soon.” Marie’s voice also echoed in her head. Is she hallucinating? And “get up soon.” After what happened, she didn’t want to get up. She failed the two idols, and felt like she would fail the world without them. It’s almost like they were reading her thoughts.

“You have to keep going, Four! Don’t give up because of this. You haven’t failed us or the world.”

“Yeah! You need to kick that Tartar guy in the bass! You know I’m serious because I don’t swear often!”

The comment from Callie made her snicker a bit. She wasn’t just fighting for them, she was fighting for the world, and everyone still alive and unsanitized on it. Even the Sanitized Octarians in the metro. Maybe they could still be saved.

“Please. I know we don’t say it a lot, but we love you Four. Fight for everyone, not just us, remember and-“

They give one last “Stay Fresh!” before their voices fade away.

…

….

…..

Four opened her eyes, a hand on her head. She groaned. They ached a lot, no, her whole body ached a bit, mainly her neck. She seemed to be in an alleyway, similar to the one she lived in only a few days ago. There were two figures standing over her, who were pretty unclear. Her eyes readjusted to the slightly-brighter environment to see.. the two members of Off the Hook?

“Yo, dude! You were out for quite a while!” She chuckles a bit. It was Pearl, and she was slightly shaking her shoulder.

“Pearl, stop shaking them…” She seems worried for the wellbeing of Agent Four, despite not really knowing who she is. That was probably Marina.

She sits up, still too weak to stand up yet. Her eyes finally lock in and look at the two. Pearl and Marina, still in their World Tour outfits. She was a bit surprised they were meeting them, she thought Off the Hook would’ve been sanitized at this point. Four didn’t know them for being fighters.

“See? I knew you she’d be alright! She just got a bit roughed up.” 

“Maybe they could’ve been a little easier on her. We should introduce her to the other two.”

“They?” Who was “they?” Four was confused, but soon Off the Hook helped her up to her feet, and handed her back… her Hero Shot? Why did they have it? If she passed out in the metro, she could’ve sworn she would’ve gotten sanitized, or at least captured or had her weapon taken away.

Agent Four takes her Hero Shot from Pearl and Marina, before someone else walks up to them, but when she realizes who they are, her eyes widen and her heart drops. It was a Sanitized Octoling with an improper attire for someone in the Sanitized Order. She or They was the one who knocked her out. Pearl and Marina looked like they understood why she felt that way, but why? She aimed her Hero Shot at them and gets ready to open fire, before Pearl and Marina get in the way.

“Hey! Calm down, Let us explain!” Marina exclaims and fears for the safety of.. them, despite what they did.

The Sanitized Octoling put their hands up and tried to calm down Four, stepping forward past Pearl and Marina.

“Hey, cool it. I know we started off on the wrong tentacle and everything, but First things first, I’m Acht. I’m a friend of Marina. You probably know me better as DedF1sh.”

They extend a hand for Four to shake, but she can’t bring herself to shake their hand. Even though she was with people she trusted, she still can’t shake off the feeling of what happened to Callie and Marie without her. She just hoped they were alive. Marina seems a bit concerned on their demeanor.

“Are you okay? You look sad as shell.” Pearl raised an eyebrow, but Four didn’t respond. Four was too sad to speak, even if her expression didn’t show it.

“You look so sad. What happened down there?” Marina frowned, shifting her concern from Acht’s safety for the state of Four’s emotional state.

The Octoling, who Four now knows as Acht retracts their hand when she doesn’t shake it.

“It’s alright. I’m sure it’s hard to be happy with everything that’s been going on. No hard feelings, Four. I had to make that chokehold look real.”

Marina turns to act, distraught by what they did.

“You put her in a chokehold!? Four, I’m so sorry, I told them to be careful…”

Four was even more confused now. A non hostile Sanitized Octoling who apparently knew her own name? “Told her to be careful?” Four put her Hero Shot back to her side and managed to compose herself and ask something.

“What’s.. Going on?”

Pearl stepped forward.

“Well, Acht here is a Sanitzied Octoling who was restored by Marina’s ‘Memverse Project’ and got most of her memories back. I swear, she’s too smart for her own good.”

Marina blushed a bit, flattered, before she cleared her throat. Four seemed even more confused. Memverse? Restored? What’s going on?

“Well, the Memverse is something that I’ve been working on. It’s a virtual world which is supposed to help Sanitized Octolings to restore their memories. It’s still a work in progress, but it worked well enough for Acht!”

“Marina planned on releasing it after their tour, but it got caught up in all this sanitized stuff. Marina to accelerate working on it. I went through it, and that’s why I’m here now. Kamabo Co. still thinks I’m still sanitized.”

Ohh.. Was the only thing that came to Four’s mind. She started to trust Acht a bit more, but she still didn’t feel fully comfortable around them yet, especially with all the other Sanitzied Octarians she’s encountered and.. The headlock thing they did. She remembered why she went into the metro. It was to save the world, but now she had to save Callie and Marie on top of it. Four nodded.

“Agent Four, I know you’re trying to save the world, but if you don’t trust us, it won’t go as well as you think. I know the metro like the back of my hand. In and out.”

Pearl perked up at Acht’s statement and turned to Four. “Yo! You’re trying to save the world? That’s a big responsibility.”

Marina and Acht nod. Marina unfortunately remembered what happened the last time they tried to play hero against Kamabo Co. but hopefully with more help, they can defeat Tartar and restore the minds of the Octarians.

Chapter Text

Agent Four sat down on a folding chair. It was almost like Off the Hook made this alleyway their own music studio. There appeared to be another person sitting down and messing around with some device. It was like a CQ Cumber Phone, but it had more buttons and it said “Nintendo” on the side of it. It was a lot like the thing Marie had, the thing that “Kirby” character was from.

“We pretty much rebuilt our studio in this alleyway! It’s not much, but it keeps us runnin’.”

“And it keeps us making music. Music’s the only thing we’ve been dedicated to after Tartar’s NILS cannon went off.”

Four’s mood dropped again once she heard that name. Tartar. Their name struck fear into their heart, no matter how emotionless they got. Marina caught onto the mood change and felt bad.

“What’s wrong? Did I say something wrong? I’m sorry, Four.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure..?”

Acht cleared their throat, and tried to change the topic.

“Anyway, Four. Like Pearl said, yes. We’re still producing music, with the help of me and.. her.” They turned to the figure sitting on the other folding chair. Pearl chuckled a bit.

“Are you gonna come over here and introduce yourself, or just keep playing on that ‘GameBoy’ thing?”

She put the GameBoy down and walked over to Four and shook her hand. Her outfit was so.. What’s the word? Fresh, yeah. She shook Four’s hand and straightened her glasses and fidgets slightly with her hands.

“Uh.. Hi. I’m Harmony. It’s nice to meet you, Agent Four.” She spoke in a pretty loose tone, and appears a bit more relaxed than most who are in a squidpocalyptic city. “I help Off the Hook produce their music and do a bit of vocals.”

Four sighed. “Nice to meet you too.”

Marina is still a bit concerned for Agent Four. Harmony goes back onto her chair and starts messing with that Ultra Hand thing, almost like she forgot her GameBoy existed in the after Four simply dismissed her. Pearl think of something to bring up the mood.

“Hey! ‘Rina, how about we show them some of our music to cheer them up?”

Marina smiles and nods. She also thinks it’d be a good idea to make Agent Four feel better. Acht hooks up a CQ Cumber Phone (not Kamabo. Co brand) and starts playing Shark Bytes on it. It was another song that Off the Hook made during the World Tour. It was good, yeah, but there was still a piece in Agent Four’s heart which was still missing. Four listened to song, but it didn’t make her feel better. She just stood there and listened to it.

Pearl looked at Four just.. Standing there before playfully punching them on the shoulder.

“What? Not impressed? You’re standing there like an idol Octopot. You should listen to one of our newer pieces!”

“Oh! You’re right. Uhm.. How about Run and Tide? Pretty sure we all worked on it.”

Run and Tide? That was a new one. Four wondered if they were still making music in at this day and age, but the various instruments and equipment made it obvious. Weren’t they also sad they lost the world? Did they just not care? Anyway, they started playing the song. It sounded like Off the Hook, but there was some chiptune in it and.. Something else. She still didn’t care about the music right now.

Acht picked up on their stone-faced expression and stopped the music, to Pearl and Marina’s confusion.

“Pearl, Marina, maybe a bit of privacy will help Four out. It’s getting pretty late anyway.” Acht said, staying seated at the DJ Table they had set up. They plugged in their headphones to the table. “I’ll be fine, the Sanitized don’t experience fatigue from not sleeping. Need to practice some beats anyway.”

“Yeah, me too. I’ve been dedicated to our new song as well. It’s really all Ive been doing or can do.” Harmony says. She currently has a synthesizer in her hands while sitting on another folding chair. She doesn’t seem tired to Agent Four either. Marina lays down on the couch, Pearl joins her soon after.

It took a few more hours for Harmony to stop using her synthesizer and also lay down on a mattress. Four checked the time. 12:00 AM. Four walked out of the alleyway with her Hero Gear. She wasn’t able to sleep, not after what happened to Callie and Marie. She heard their voices while she was unconscious, but those couldn’t actually be them. Her mind was racing with different thoughts. Should she surrender to the Order? She shouldn’t, but maybe her life would be easier that way?

…

No. I have to save the world. I can’t take the easy way out, no matter how hard it is.

She breathed in and out and began to train. She planned to go into the Deepsea Metro again to take back what had been stolen from her: The Squid Sisters, Her happiness, the world. It wasn’t just Inkopolis she was saving, it was everyone who was still alive, and the Sanitized Octolings, even though she hated to admit it. They were evil, after all. Except for Acht. Maybe.

She practiced dodging, squid rolling, squid surge, throwing her sub weapons in super specific ways and making sure to check her ink tank frequently. Four trained harder than she ever had, after all, she was going back in later today. I won’t let them take anything else away from me.

“Agent Four.”

Four heard a voice from behind her and instinctively turned around and swung her fist through the air, before retracting her arm quickly. It was Acht, and she just punched them in the face. Acht barely recoiled, but the punch broke the glasses they had on. The red spot on the left flickered and went out, and Acht tossed the shards onto the ground.

They didn’t really look mad either. Their uncovered eyes almost looked… Normal? They were normal after all. Four guessed they were a bit too loud, and threw a few Splat Bombs too many.

“Agent Four, you do realize it’s 2 AM, right? You need to rest.”

Agent Four nodded. She went back into the alleyway and laid down on the mattress Harmony was on. Although.. Something was off. Harmony was off the mattress and just stood there and was watching her try to sleep. Weird. Acht watched the scene with a blank expression.

“…”

“Don’t mind Harmony, she does that sometimes. It’s normally just Pearl and Marina she does that with.”

Four shrugs and goes to sleep with the sea anemone watching her rest. She missed not being next to Marie on a mattress like she did a few days ago, but times change, and they are about to change again once she wakes up and makes her move. The Order will fall.

Chapter Text

It took until 12 PM for Four to wake up. I guess that’s why you don’t stay up until 3 in the morning to train. It would be necessary, because today is the day that the Order will collapse. But first, Off the Hook were preforming another new song, Krill my Vibe, which was a song which Acht mostly worked on.

She sat up on the mattress, still feeling a bit tired. Four didn’t even realize she went to bed in her Hero Suit. She normally does that anyway. Pearl and Marina soon wake up and look at Acht.

“Morning, everyone!” Marina rubs her eyes, still pretty drowsy even though she got a good nights sleep. Pearl seems to be her same level of energy that she was. She notices Acht’s lack of glasses and points it out.

“Hey, Acht, where’d your glasses go?” Pearl raises an eyebrow and looked at Acht’s exposed face with confusion. Marina also looks over at her, a bit confused as well. 

Acht looks over at Agent Four before looking back at them. They didn’t want to cause anymore drama with Off the Hook and Four. After all, they’re supposed to be working together.

“I.. Tripped and broke them yesterday when you were asleep.”

Huh? Why didn’t they tell them?

Harmony looked over at the four and soon walked over. She put her glasses and that beanie back on before speaking. “Hey, I don’t mean to interrupt but, aren’t we supposed to guide Agent Four through the metro today?”

Both Pearl and Marina let out an “oh.. right.” Marina sat down on the couch and pulled out her laptop, her fingers looked like they were gliding across her keyboard before stopping and showing the laptop screen to the group. It was an entire map of the Deepsea Metro.

“Take a look! It’s an entire map of the Deepsea Metro. Acht helped me out with it.”

Four looked over it. It helped a lot, she knew almost nothing about what the Deepsea Metro, and this helped a lot. Pearl also walks over to Four and hands her some earpiece.

“Take this too! You’ll be able to hear us while we are down there. There’s also a hologram of the map if you forget.”

Agent Four nodded and let out a quick “thank you” and a half smile, like the ones Marie would do. Marina gave a genuine smile as she saw Four show some emotion. She put the earpiece on the shell of her ear before putting her ear cones back on.

“You’ll be able to hear us over the earpiece. Pretty cool, huh? We should probably get going.” 

Harmony suddenly remembers something. She looks over at the map that Marina had.

“Hold on! I think one of those kettles were in my old apartment, and I just never figured out what to do with it.”

“Shoot, really? You mean the Grey Starfish Complex? Let’s go there then.” Pearl said with a toothy grin and jumped off the couch. Marina smiles, and Harmony starts walking west towards the apartment, the other four following her.

It didn’t take long for Harmony to get to the apartment. They all walked in and saw the kettle in the corner of the room. Harmony spoke up.

“Hey, I know I’m supposed to be going back to my band after we finish Krill my Vibe, but if we’re saving the world, I should also try to help.”

“Four, remember, you have a hologram of the Deepsea Metro map on that earpiece thing, wish you luck.” Acht says before turning to Pearl and Marina.

“Oh! Yes! Four, We should probably get going now.. I have a secret entrance to the metro that the Order doesn’t know about.”

“Yeah, don’t wanna raise suspicion with a large group of five or anything..”

Agent Four pulls the Hero Shot from their belt and stands over the kettle. Their ready to go inside and show the Order why they don’t mess around with the New SquidBeak Splatoon. She was gonna end the dreadful reign of Commander Tartar. Thinking of the name didn’t creep her out as much anymore; She has this in the bag.

“Well, we’ll get going. We will keep speaking to you over your ear-thing.”

“Yeah! See ya’ on the other side.”

Four nodded, taking in a deep breath. She couldn’t slip up this time, or she’d be splatted. Or worse.

Pearl and Marina do the “Off the Hook” pose like they’d do on their news channel in Inkopolis Square. Agent Four saluted, going into squid form and going into the kettle. It’s sploppin’ time, as she used to say.

Chapter Text

Agent Four pops up in the main station again, bad memories flooded into her brain. She holds up her weapon as she listens to the music that the Order currently playing: It was strangely.. upbeat for such an dictatorial force.

A - “Oh, Is that 14 Crush? I’m surprised they’re letting that play.”

P - “I hear it over your earphone, Agent Four! Sounds trippy, that’s for sure.” Pearl chuckles. Marina and Harmony stay quiet, Marina works on computer while Harmony is just listening to the music.

Agent Four keep walking forward, jumping onto the tracks and moving to the next station. Once she’s at the next metro station, she hops off the track and back onto the floor, Four looks at two Sanitized Octolings who are next to a door, who seem to be speaking to each other. 

M - “Be careful of those two, Four. They’re armed.. Well, you are too, I suppose.”

What? Does this thing also have a camera in it as well? Four stopped and thought, picturing the earphone in their head and tried to remember what it looked like. It wasn’t like she was complaining though.

She walked closer to them, Hero Shot aimed at them.

“I heard Elite 03 is still recovering from some sort of attack a few days ago.”

“Yeah. She looks shell shocked. We need her to recover soon so she can handle any intruders.”

”Hah! Like there’d be any!”

Four opened fire with her weapon and splatted one of them. The other one could barely unholster her Octo-Shot before Agent Four slapped it out her hands and shoved her to the ground face first and broke their glasses. The Sanitized Octoling seemed actually scared.

“Wait, wait! Don’t splat me, I’ll do whatever you order!” 

H - “Huh. I didn’t know they could show that much emotion.”

Four suddenly got an idea. She looked at the pad. Retinal Identification. It reminded her of.. You know. She pointed at it.

“Unlock the door.”

The Octoling complied, crouching down and scanning her eye on the pad, which of course, opened the locked sliding door. The Octoling was gonna say “thank you,” but Four whacked her in the head and knocked her out, before dragging her towards the hallway behind the unlocked door.

M - “Wha.. Four, what are you doing?”

“You’ll see.”

…

….

After a while, Four took the clothes from the unconscious Octoling wore them on herself, carrying around the Hero Suit she wore. She shoved the Octoling into the closet before continuing on. Off the Hook was speechless, almost.

A - “Did you just.. Steal their clothes to blend in?”

P - “Pretty sick if you ask me!”

M - “That was.. kinda cruel. Even for a Sanitized Octoling. They’re still Octolings, just misguided..”

Four brushed off Marina’s comment. They destroyed the world, and she had compassion for them? Is she crazy? Maybe she was high instead of Harmony. She kept walking. She planned to hop on a metro train, if there were any left and figure out how to go lower.

While walking, the doors behind and infront of her close. It was the same trap that was used on her, Callie and Marie. She would be fooled again. She gripped the Hero Shot tighter and aimed at the door behind her. The doors slid open and the 5 Sanitized Troopers point their Octo-Shots at Agent Four, confused on the outfit.

P - “Woah, five of ‘em. Watch out!”

They fire their Octo-Shots, and Four’s instincts kick in. She dodges out the way and throws a Splat Bomb their way, only having access to one hand as she was carrying her Hero Suit. The Sanitized Octolings go in a panic and one of them tries to kick it back, but she was too late. It went off and splatted most of them, except for two, who ended up fleeing. Four considered chasing after them…

No. I have to focus on the mission.

A - “They sure know how to keep you on your feet, don’t they?

H- “Four, I’m glad you’re progressing pretty fast. Marina says we’re getting closer to Tartar’s room. This secret passageway helps.”

Four soon exits the hallway and ends up in another metro station, but this station seems like a train runs through here. She shrugs and sits on a bench as she waits for a metro train.

P - “Holy mackerel! Trains still work here? Thought that’d be too expensive fo them.”

M - “I mean, they did make a death cannon.” Pearl shrugs at Marina’s remark.

She plays some random game on her CQ Cumber Phone. She’s surprised that there is some sort of internet connection down here. Marina did say Tartar constructed a death cannon and that’s what caused the world to end. It wasn’t too far fetched for them to have wi-fi. Harmony suddenly speaks up.

H - “Hey, unrelated question, do you know what food I should get for Buddy? After we save the world and everything.” 

She mentions Buddy as in the pet clownfish in her hair. Four always noticed it, it was grey and barely responsive. Probably dying, but Four didn’t expect much from someone who she suspected to be high.

Before anyone can respond, the train horn sounds off in the distance, and it didn’t take long for the train to stop infront of her and the door opened. Four stepped inside and saw a lot of Sanitized Octolings inside. Four without another thought sat down, and hoped they were gullible enough to think she was a Sanitized Troop as well.

A - “Agent Four, they’re smarter than they seem. I hope you know that.”

Four tried to blend in, hand on the Octo-Shot she stole from that Octoling earlier just in case they showed aggression. The Sanitized Octoling next to her turns their head and looks at Four.

“Hey, What’s your deal? What’s with the clothes you’re carrying?”

Four sweats and panics internally. Good cod! What the shell do I do? I’m so cooked! She had to make up something before the Octoling next to her realized that she wasn’t one of them. Pearl and Marina’s voice frantically crackle over the earphone.

P - “Shoot! Quick, Say your mute!”

M - “Sanitized Subjects can’t speak after their mem cakes are removed!”

Mem Cake? You know what? NONE OF IT MATTERS! She just needed to act quickly. Four put a hand on her own neck, and stared at the Sanitized Soldier. She nods and lets out an “Ah..”

“Right. Mem Cake got removed recently? Head south from here. You’ll meet a doctor and she’ll help you out with the rest of the procedure.”

“We don’t see a lot of Sanitized Inklings here! We only have one, actually.” Another Octoling pipes up, pushing their shades back onto her face.

Four nods. She has to play as this “silent part-sanitized inkling” character now. She just sits down as she waits for the train to stop at the next station. Four can’t use her phone; Her phone wasn’t Kamabo Co. branded and it would get pointed out easily.

A - “Nevermind, they seemed to have gotten less bright last I remembered them.” They sigh.

It felt like it took way to long for the train to stop. The doors opened, and all of the Octolings got up and walked in a straight line. It was really unnerving. What was once an Octoling is now just.. A shell. A shell full of misinformation. Four walked out when they all depart from the train, ending up in a much.. Darker station. Acht’s 8 Regret was playing through the station.

H - “Yeah, that was the type of music I expected from the Order.” Her voice had a bit of unease behind it as she heard the unnerving tune of the song. It just didn’t sit right, not with any of the five.

M - “Acht, you’re still really talented with this music, even if it’s made for the order.”

A -“Thanks, Marina. Your exceptional computer skills haven’t changed either.”

As Four walks south, she hears Pearl getting heated. From what she heard, Pearl was getting defensive because she thought Acht was flirting with Marina. She tried to ignore it, but she suddenly stopped and looked forward. 

It was Elite 03.

She was really anxious, palms are sweaty, breath unsteady as she slowly approached. She had a Splattershot in her hand, this time it didn’t show any signs of damage. She stopped a considerable amount of distance way from Four, stating at her behind her shades like a robot.

“So they finally caught you, didn’t they?” She said. Even without seeing her eyes, it was obvious that 03’s eyes were looking over her.

“No memories. You probably don’t know who I am anymore. I guess you can go to the doctor already.” 

Four nodded. She thought she was really suspicious carrying around her Hero Suit in her hands. She started walking away when Elite 03 broke the silence once more.

“I’m messing with you. I know you’re not sanitized, Agent Four. You made me a joke among my troops.”

She could barely turn around before Elite 03 pulled out their Splattershot and shot at her ear, knocking the earphone out her ear. The panicked voices of Pearl and Marina come over it, but everything seems to move in slow motion for Four.

M - “Four? Four! What’s going on?”

P - “FOUR!”

Chapter Text

Four drops her Hero Gear. She probably should’ve done that already and took out her Hero Shot. Elite 03 and Agent Four started to engage in battle. Elite 03 shot at her legs to try and slow her down, but Agent Four had already seen that trick. She rolled out the way and kept shooting at Elite 03.

The two continued to shoot, dodge, repeat. It was until the two of them threw Splat Bombs at each other. Four made a move to block it, while Elite 03 tried to tank it. Short story short, the sub weapons blow up near them and knock them both back, but Elite 03 seems more hurt. The two raise their weapons to try and shoot once more, before another Sanitized Octoling walked into view and eyes Agent Four.

“Ah. You must be the new subject! Follow me!”

Before either of the two interject, the new Octoling grabs Four’s arm and drags her away to what appears to be a doctors office. The Octoling also appears to be in a doctor-ish uniform. A white coat and thick goggles instead of shades. They force Four onto the bed and examined her, before grabbing a bucket of water and dumping it on Four.

Four tried her best not to scream out in pain, but it was short lived. The cold bucket of water got rid of all of Elite 03’s ink on her and made her feel.. Better?

“Hm.. I must ask that Elite about attacking new subjects. So reckless. I will be right back, Subject 18,000.”

“Subject 18,000?” Was the order really this gullible? She didn’t know that this partial sanitized character would work so well. Maybe too well. What was the Sanitized Octoling doing? She would figure out not soon after.

The Sanitized Octoling in the doctors outfit came in with a IV bag on a rolling stand full of green, glowing fluid and stopped it next to Four’s medical bed. Four looked at it horrified. Now it was time to leave, she didn’t care if her cover got blown, she couldn’t just stand there and get sanitized.

“Calm yourself, 18,000. There’s no need to-“

Four got up from the table and shoved the Doctor out the way and ran back into the lower station. She crouched down and grabbed the earphone, hoping it would work even after getting covered in Elite 03’s ink. She frantically put her Hero Gear back on and removed the Sanitized Uniform.

“Hello, hello? Off the Hook?”

She keeps calling out to Off the Hook and as she opens another door, walking  into another expansive room. Four realizes she’s standing on long metal platform which seems to stretch to the other side of the room. Just then Harmony and Acht’s voice crackles on the earphone.

H - “Glad your back, Four.”

A - “Uhm… Four, look behind you..”

Behind me? Four looks behind her to see something horrifying. It was a glass wall with that same glowing liquid, with bodies of Octolings floating in it. Not just one or two, but many. Almost countless. Four was so stunned she couldn’t speak, or move. It made her think if she was a victim, or all of those Octolings were…

P - “Oh my cod, I.. I don’t know what to say.”

M - “This is horrible! I never knew Kamabo Co. was.. This bad..”

Four’s horror was soon cut short by the sound of the door opening to the left of her, and the doctor holding a Heavy Splatling and aiming it Four.

“I should’ve known better than to know you willingly gave yourself up. Inklings like you never change.”

That’s not true. Four had changed a lot this week. She went from a bum living by herself to potentially.. No, definitely saving the world. The doctoling started to charge up her Heavy Splatling to fire, but Four suddenly dived in and knocked the Splatling out her hands, hitting the floor of the platform and denting it, and pointed her weapon at her.

A - “Good thinking, Four.”

“…You’re smarter than you look, Inkling, I’ll give you that.”

The Sanitized Doctor dashed forward. Four only could shoot a few shots before the doctor grabbed her and tried tossing her over the railing, but thankfully she grabbed the railing before she fell. Not like the fall to the lower platform was really high though. She picked up her Splatling and charged it again. She had Four right where she wanted.

“Stay still. If you won’t be sanitized, you’ll be splatted. Permanently.”

Four let go of the railing as soon as the Heavy Splatling fires off, but lands awkwardly and hurts her leg momentarily on the lower platform. The doctor jumps down instead of using the ladder. She fired another burst of shots from the weapon, but instead of letting her instincts take over and shoot back, she placed down a Splash Wall between her and the Sanitized Octoling. She realized the decision made her ink tank empty.

Four currently focused on her broken leg. Wait.. Inklings don’t have bones. Whatever, it still hurts anyway..

While she clutches her hurting leg, The Octoling Doctor stands infront of the Splash Wall as she waits for it to deactivate.

“A Splash Wall, huh? Clever.”

Four was breathing heavily. She was panicking and it hurt to stand, let alone walk or flee from her after the sub vanished. Off the Hook’s voice comes in through her earphone. It was still damaged after the ordeal with the Elite Soldier.

P - “Four, you’re in some really deep sh*t right now..” 

M - “Remember, your ink slowly fills up on its own!”

Four soon had enough ink to make a puddle beneath her with her Hero Shot, but didn’t realize that the Splash Wall vanished. The Sanitized Octoling slapped the Hero Shot out her hands and gripped Agent Four by the collar and started walking down a flight of stairs.

“I got you just where I want you, don’t I?” She smirked, gripping the Hero Suit harder like her life depended on it. Four tried punching her face, but she barely flinched at the blows.

The doctor soon got to the bottom of the room and threw Agent Four onto the floor next to her Hero Shot, but stomped on their arm to make sure she couldn’t reach for it.

“Not so slippery without that Hero Shot. Don’t worry, you won’t need it. I have a tank just for you.” She stomped on the ground, and a cylindrical tank rose from the floor and opened with a hiss. That thing must be for sanitation. What do I do?

“You want to act like a sanitized? So be it.”

The Doctor tried punching her in, but with a burst of energy. Agent Four dodged and grabbed the Sanitized Doctor and threw her in. The pod-thing closed as soon as it felt weight in it and closed. It didn’t seem like it would open anytime soon, not under Four’s command, at least.

M - “Whew! That had me worried, I’m glad you’re okay.”

P - “That freak even had me scared! Look who’s laughing now!” Pearl chuckles just to prove her point.

 Four looks back to the stairwell, noticing that she could go lower. She checked the map hologram on the earpiece. “Lowest Floor.” She was almost done. Another step to saving what was left of the world. But she couldn’t let her guard down. Not yet.

Chapter Text

Four descends down the stairwell. She couldn’t shake off the feeling that someone was watching her, maybe 03 or another Sanitized Soldier going down the staircase with her. And then she heard footsteps directly behind her. 

“Uhm.. Do you guys hear that?” Four whips around and looks behind her. Nothing…? Is she going insane? 

H - “No, I don’t think I heard anything.”

M - “The Octarian army made me pretty paranoid. I suppose the same things happening to you.” She says with uncertainty in her voice.

P - “Except it’s like 1000 times worse!”

Agent Four grinned, or at least tried to at their response. Was she really going insane down here? It was a possibility. Four went back to descending down the staircase, and heard the footsteps again. She held her Hero Shot tighter, finger hovering over the trigger. Acht’s voice also came over her earpiece.

A - “No, Agent Four’s right. I definitely hear footsteps too. Watch your back.”

The rest of Off the Hook stay silent, trying to also listen for a footstep sound over Four’s Earpiece. Agent Four was convinced she was being followed by a Sanitized Soldier, possibly an Elite. No way a basic soldier was this stealthy. But maybe Four should be more.. Optimistic, even though Acht could hear these footsteps, she hoped were hallucinations.

Four was abound to go down another flight of stairs but she heard a sound: A Curling Bomb sliding down the stairs from above. She instinctively kicked it and sent it back sliding up the stairs. Nope, someone was definitely following her.

P - “Holy Carp! Someone’s on you! Be careful!”

H - “Can’t let your guard down for one frame, can you?”

What? Whatever, Four didn’t need to think about Harmony’s unique way of words. What she needed to focus getting the shell out the staircase and into a more open area. So what did Four do? Sprinted down the staircase frantically, trying not to trip and fall as she did so. She just needed to escape whoever or whatever was trying to splat her.

She soon stopped by a door on the bottom of the flight of stairs and threw a Burst Bomb at it and damaging it enough to where she could pry it open. It was another hallway like the one she went into not very long ago. She walked further into the hallway, still shaken up by the attempted attack. Her Hero Shot clutched tightly in her hands in case something just popped up infront of her. It was almost guaranteed, all that mattered was how fast Four could react to it.

H - “Agent Four, Marina told me that we’re pretty close to your location. We should see you soon.”

P - “Yeah! I never imagined myself crawling through Kamabo Co. vents before!”

Four sighed, looking behind her back every once and a while. She was afraid that she could turn around and an Elite Soldier would just be there, or behind every corner of the grey dilapidated halls. The one before looked a lot more maintained.

“That’s cool, but I’m trying to focus on NOT getting splatted here.” She grunted. Agent Four hears some noise above her and quickly shoots her Hero Shot at the ceiling, paranoid and wary of what could be above her.

A - “Was that you? Don’t worry, Agent Four. It’s just us.”

“Oh… Right. Sorry.”

She clears her throat and keeps walking, still paranoid. She still can’t shake off the fact that she’s being… Followed.

A - “Keep heading north. We’re doing the same thing.”

M - “Hope it’s not too far until we find an exit. I hope we do.”

P - “Hope? We will find an exit, especially with you here, you’re brighter than any other Sanitized Octarian!”

Marina giggles a bit, blushing and flustered. Four just wished they’d be quiet even if they’re trying to bring up the mood. Agent Four wanted to listen for any sounds that weren’t Off the Hook. She turned around once again, only to see an Octoling Soldier. I hate it when I’m right.. 

It was an Elite Soldier, just as she feared, holding an Octobrush. Her heart dropped as she pointed her Hero Shot at them. The Elite noticed and started going full speed ahead, pushing the Octobrush on the ground as she goes, leaving behind a trail of that disgusting green ink on the floor.

Four, obviously started running away as fast as she could aswell. Hopefully that Octobrush’ll weigh her down.. Four tries focusing on going the right way to get out the hallway and trying to aim at Elite as she ran, but every ink shot that hit her, she just kept going like it didn’t effect her. It wasn’t 03, it was an Octoling this time with a different hairstyle. And she wasn’t giving up chase anytime soon.

H - “It like she doesn’t feel your shots.”

M - “Keep running, Agent Four! You’re almost at the end of the hallway!”

Four turned another corner, soon hearing the sound of Octobrush on ground ceasing. She stopped and turned around, holding up her Hero Shot. The elite wasn’t there. What? Is she really hallucinating?

It didn’t matter to Four. She kicked down another sliding door with a keypad and stepped into a dark corridor, dark enough for an Elite to sneak up on her. She was still shaken up like a Fizzy Bomb as she aims her weapon into the darkness. It felt like the darkness was swallowing her. The Elite could be infront of her, beside her, behind her. And well, she got her answer.

She felt a sharp pain in her back and fell to her knees, as a result dropping her Hero Shot somewhere in the darkness. She turned around to see that menacing red dot in the darkness, and the glowing ink on the tip of the Octobrush. Four tries to punch the Elite, but she ends up catching her fist, like she saw into the future. The Elite kicks Four to the ground raises her Octoshot, preparing to unceremoniously end Four. Well, At least I made it this far. 

She closed her eyes. And waited.

…

…

P - “Yo Four! We’re right above you!”

What Four thought was a vent cover above the Elite 08 popped off and Harmony came down and fell ontop of the Elite, her Octobrush clattering, like it was following Four’s Hero Shot into the darkness of the expansive room.

“Whoops. I guess I did something useful in this operation.” Harmony shrugs as she looks down at the Elite. Acht, Pearl and Marina follow out the vent and land around her.

Acht picks up the 08’s Octobrush to make sure she can’t take it again. Seems like she’s the only other one who can see in the darkness of the Deepsea Metro. She was a kinda-Sanitized Octoling after all. “Four, your Hero Shots behind you if you can’t see it. So are your glasses, Harmony.”

Four and Harmony looks behind them and the two let out an “Ohh..” The two reach behind each other and pick up their stuff. The two accidentally touch each other’s hands. Four immediately retracts her arm, but Harmony doesn’t even seem to notice. Jeez.. I can’t even keep my hands to myself. I am going crazy.. She stood up and looked at the Elite on the ground. Pearl and Marina hug each other, glad they actually managed to get out the vents. Harmony just stares at the two.

Off the Hook and Agent Four soon remember why they’re here. They’re glad they reunited with each other.

“We’re glad you’re still fresh, Four, even with all the stuff that’s happened.” Pearl patted her on the back, chuckling. 

“Don’t forget about that map hologram I put in your earpiece.”

Four nods, and pulls up the map hologram. They’re surprisingly close to the bottom floor. Agent Four grabs her Hero Shot and points it at Elite 08. She’s about to fire, but Marina says something.

“Wait.. That Elite looks familiar.” She helps the Elite up to her feet before gasping. Pearl seems to recognize the Elite too. Four, Harmony and Acht are a bit confused because of Pearl’s and Marina’s reaction.

“Wait! Hold it, You’re right! Is that..”

“Eight?”

Chapter Text

“How do you know my number?” The Elite responded, backing away from the group. She doesn’t seem very threatening to Four now that she doesn’t have a weapon anymore. Pearl and Marina frowned. They felt awful seeing the result of what happened to her. But why do they care? She tried to kill me!

Marina put her hands up, trying to calm her down. “Eight! Please let us explain!” Harmony, Acht and Four now looked even more confused than they were before. 

“Yeah dude, your not Tartar’s slave! Snap outta it!”

“You’re Eight! Our Agent Eight!”

Agent Eight? They had 3 other agents? The SquidBeak Splatoon members don’t tell me splat.. Four looked at the Elite she now knows as Agent Eight of the New SquidBeak Splatoon. She never met her before, and this is definitely why.

“Agent Eight” Just stood there, a bit calmed down and less threatened. “I’m not this Agent Eight you speak of. I’m Elite Subject 10,008.”

Acht stepped forward, sighing. The Elite member reminded her of what they had to go through. The confusion, the re-identification, forgetting everything. It made them feel bad too.

“Look, Tartar has you brainwashed. Pearl and Marina helped me out of the sanitization. I know you just met us, but we’re more trustworthy than them. Trust us. Please.”

The Elite stood there for another solid minute. She had no memory of the five standing infront of her. Was she really gonna side with her enemies and betray her lord?

…

…

“Fine. I’ll trust you.”

Off the Hook rejoiced as she tells the group. Pearl and Marina hug Elite/Agent Eight, while Acht and Harmony stand by.

“We’re so glad you’re okay, Eight!”

“Yeah! No more obeying that metal freak!”

Acht smiles a bit, to Four’s surprise. They’d normally seem stone faced and emotionless all the time. “Yep. Glad to have you back on the team.”

Four stood there like an idiot with her Hero Shot still trained on Agent Eight with a critical gaze on her. No way she’d switch up that fast. She’s plotting something, I know it. Four spoke up in a harsh tone, maybe a bit harsher than she intended.

“Can you at least explain who this is before we just.. Trust her?”

Pearl and Marina nod. “Sorry ‘bout that. Four, this is Agent Eight!” Pearl says, patting Agent Eight on the back.

“She was the Octoling who Cap’n Cuttlefish found here. We helped her through the metro. And then…” Marina trailed off, but it sounded like something about the fight with Tartar a few months ago when the world changed for the worse. The reason why she planned out this sneak-in mission anyway.

“I’m sorry everyone. This is all my fault..”

Pearl frowned. She hated those five words that Marina would say. She’s been saying it a lot more recently after everything. Acht also sighed..

“Don’t say that! None of this is your fault, ‘Rina.”

“Don’t beat yourself up. Commander Tartar is usually two steps ahead of everything.”

Pearl puts a hand on Marina’s shoulder, trying to calm her down. “Yeah. We’re not losing again to that thing again!”

“Oh Pearlie..”

Pearl and Marina hug each other while the other three watched. Four felt envious of the two. She hated herself, the fact she was so forgettable. She lost her favorite people, idols, the world, why didn’t she get any hugs? I need a hug more than Marina does. Four didn’t say anything, she just sighed and continued down the corridor. 

Agent Eight was still a bit confused on who all of them were but followed after Four.

Acht notices Four and Eight walking away starts following her. “Right, can’t forget why we’re here in the first place.”

Pearl, Marina, and Harmony also follow after the three. Four is gonna destroy Tartar and bring back the world she knew, not this sanitized shellscape. 

Four kicks down another door to find another stairwell. It was dank, and definitely undermaintained, kind of like the rest of the Deepsea Metro from this point. Probably because no one really bothered to come down here but the group. It kinda reminded Four of herself. 

Blank, dark, and nothing to it.

She started going down the staircase, the other 5 following in suit. She still didn’t fully trust this Agent Eight, and wouldn't hesitate to whip around and barrage her with her Hero Shot if she stepped one foot out of line. Four pulled up the map hologram. Bottom Floor of Deepsea Metro. Just a few more steps and it’d be finally over.

Chapter Text

“We’re here.” Acht says bluntly, although Four could feel a bit of nervousness from them. Four thought Acht was also emotionless like all the other Sanitized Octarians.. Or whatever they went by. Her, Off the Hook, and “Eight” all stood before a hallway, of course. Couldn’t get enough of those.

The 6 continue down the hallway, and Pearl tried to start up a conversation to bring up the mood.

“Yo, Marina, you ever wondered where all these Sanitized Octarians would go after we defeat that metal hothead?”

Marina put a hand behind her head and thought for a second. There were so many Octarians in the metro that it’d be hard to map out and find all of them. The map Marina put into Four’s headpiece only gave her a route to the bottom floor, and she knew this.

She replied with the best answer she could. “I believe they would stay in the metro. I don’t even think they’d realize if Tartar went missing.”

Acht nodded to her reply. They knew it better than anyone else in the group. Even Agent Eight. “Yeah. It’s not like we could go to the rest of the metro and say ‘We destroyed Tartar, please come with us.’ Saying that to them is like telling anyone else we killed their dad.”

“Well.. We could still try..”

Marina’s statement hung in the air for a moment. A part of four still felt like the Sanitized Octolings were threats, even though she was still realizing they were actually victims of Tartar. She didn’t trust Acht when she first met them, and she still didn’t fully trust the Sanitized Octoling she now knew as Agent Eight of the New SquidBeak Splatoon.

“Do you still think my band is okay? You know.. Chirpy Chips? It’s been a month since I last checked up on them.”

Pearl shrugged. “You told me that Orion found a pretty good hiding spot. I’m surprised I’ve never met them face to face before.”

Harmony nodded and stared unblinking at Pearl as she spoke. It was strange to anyone else, but it didn’t matter to them. “Yep. That and Clash stocked up on a bunch of food. I hope they didn’t forget about me… I still care about them a lot.”

Four sighed a bit. She really didn’t want a conversation right about now. She was about to have the fight of her life against Commander Tartar.. She didn’t know what he sounded like or if he was actually gonna get up and fight or not. “I don’t think they could forget you even if they tried, Harmony.”

It wasn’t long until Off the Hook, Four and Eight reached the end of the hall. The door seemed to require a keycard to open it. But there was a bigger problem!

Elite 10,003 was standing by the door. 

Good grief…

The Elite Soldier immediately aimed their Splattershot at the group and barked in a loud voice, stepping closer. “You’re not supposed to be here! DJ, 10,008, what are you doing on their side?”

Acht cleared her throat and Agent Eight just stayed silent. Pearl, Marina and Harmony stepped back a bit. “I figured you’d know I wasn’t sanitized a while ago. I guess I did hide it from everyone.”

Four sighed. She didn’t want another fight, but at least it would be easy if Agent Eight didn’t turn on her. She trusted Off the Hook enough to fight if things got outta tentacle, so she pointed her Hero Shot right at Elite 10,003.

The Elite turned to Agent Eight. “10,008! What are you doing? Back me up here!”

Agent Four looked at Agent Eight, ready to whip around and aim at her just in case she did turn on the group, but she didn’t. Eight sighed, looked directly at Three and pointed her Octo-Shot at her. Four was still wary, but it seemed like Eight could be trusted now.

10,003 was pretty shocked and lost for words. She knew if she tried to attack Agent Four, Eight, and the rest of Off the Hook, it would end horribly. The outcome would’ve been worse than just being humiliated though her failed attempts to splat Four, it would result in her being splatted herself.

Three reluctantly put the Splattershot to her side, a sign of backing down. Outnumbered, 5-1. 6 if the scrawny one wanted to fight.

“You’re not ‘Off the Hook’ yet.” Marina said, giggling a bit.

“Nice pun, ‘Rina. She’s right, Three, you’re coming with us!”

Three grimaced. She threw her shades to the ground, blinded by rage. A Sanitzied Octarian would never do it normally. “Really? You ruined my reputation enough, you unsanitized scum. What else do you request from me?”

Four crossed her arms. She was the reason, or at least one of the reasons why Callie and Marie were gone. She didn’t want to keep thinking about them, but she couldn’t help herself. “You’re gonna help us put an end to Tartar or I’ll splat you where you stand.”

“I can’t believe you’re making me do this.”

Three moves aside and let’s Agent Eight use their keycard to open up the door. The group 7 step in lead by Agent Four. This was it.

They stepped towards the throne, the shadow over the throne makes it even more ominous. Four remembers the photo of Tartar the Squid Sisters had. It felt like so long, but it was more like a couple of days ago. Time sure flies. 

“Back so soon, Off the Hook?”

Chapter Text

The group turn in the direction of the mechanical voice and the throne. Their voice was the only way they could tell Tartar was there. The eyes of Off the Hook flash with fear and Deja Vu from their previous encounter.

“You. You’re gonna pay for everything you did!”

Marina has to hold Pearl back from attacking Tartar right then and there. Tartar was still in the darker part of the room, keeping his appearance concealed. They don’t say anything, they just sit there. Marina just stared at where the Commander’s face would be, shell shocked that she’s in the same room as them.

“Tartar.. Just why? Why are you doing this?” Marina clutched her computer, her voice shaky. She was curious and scared at the same time.

Tartar let out a sigh, suddenly standing up from his throne to the shock of Agent 3, 4 and 8.

So he can stand.. Four thought to herself.

“You really want to know why?” They said, stepping closer to the group. 

“I was created by a brilliant scientist 12 thousand years ago. I’ve been studying you for a long time, and I was disgusted. Your debacles over fashion and waging war over the simplist of things. This sanitization will solve it. Everyone being the same, under my command, will kill those needs.”

The group just stands there and listens to their words. Pearl steps forward, still pissed at their explanation “You can’t do all that sanitization bullcarp just because we’re having fun! Our fashion and Turf War is cool!”

Marina also speaks out towards Tartar. She wasn’t afraid anymore, they could take Tartar down if they tried their hardest. “Yeah! So what if we had a few wars and disagreements? Inklings and Octolings came together in the end!”

“We won’t let you reduce us to zombies. To machines.” Acht adds.

Four looks at Off the Hook. She originally couldn’t imagine speaking to the Commander of the Sanitized Order like that. But she could now. I mean, we’re standing across from them.. Even Three and Eight took a glance over at Off the Hook, taking in what they said about Tartar. It made them start to second guess themselves and what they were serving.

Tartar was silent for a moment. They didn’t expect anyone else in Inkopolis, or the world to have slipped from the Order’s hands. “Hmm. You’re still as delusional as I remembered months ago. I’ve sanitized two of your SquidBeak Splatoon members, I can do it more of you. And after that, our Order will make a cleansed expansion on the rest of the world, starting with Splatsville.”

“I’m not gonna let you take anything else away from me.” Four said, holding up her Hero Shot. This might be the last time she does it, whether she fails or succeeds. Agent Three and Agent Eight also hold up their Octo-Shot and Splattershot, getting ready to fight their lord, or at least what they thought he was.

“Very well than. Let’s dance. That’s what your kind likes to do, correct?”

Commander Tartar retreats into the darkness, and seconds later, an ominous green glow comes from the very back of the room. It’s a giant blender full of that same goo that Kamabo Co. uses to Sanitize Octarians. Tartar themself also looked a lot more humanoid.. The 7 know it way too well.

“The primordial ooze I carefully extracted from those Octarians will give me the strength I need for you to submit.”

Everyone in the room gets nervous about what Tartar is doing. “Uhh… Rina’? Mind telling us what the heck that telephone is doin’?”

Marina’s hands fly over the keyboard of her laptop, trying to get info on the Commander and the Blender. She shows the rest of the groups after making some simple slideshow on beating them. “Ah! Here we go.. Well, the only place that Tartar is vulnerable is his head, but it seems like he’s using the blended Octarians in the blender to protect his head with. The only way to stop him getting more ooze is to exhaust the supply.”

Harmony looks over to the blender, her eyes kinda wide and turned back to Marina. “Don’t mean to be negative or anything, but I don’t think Three, Four or Eight will have enough energy to fight for that long..”

Three and Four roll their eyes like they could fight that long, although Eight humbles herself and nods.

“However,” Marina continues. “There’s a momentary on/off switch on the back of it. You’ll have to distract Tartar while one of you turns it off, than you can go all out and weaken him.”

Pearl jumps up. “Glad to have you on our side, Marina! You’re a genius. Three, Four, Eight, you got this! I’ll be charging Princess up, Go beat his bass!” 

Marina blushes and smiles, saying something like “she’s so cool” under her breath. Tartar is still in the blender, probably preparing for the upcoming battle. Acht steps forward to the three.

“Be smart about how you sneak to the blender. If the Commander catches you, it’s probably lights out.”

The three nod. Four thought to herself.. I never thought I’d fight alongside Sanitized Subjects. I guess there’s a first for everything.

Harmony pulls out a large duffle bag from nowhere. Apparently no one noticed she had it. She swung it forward, and some instruments fly out: Pearl’s microphone, Marina’s Keytar, Acht’s DJ Table, and her own synthesizer, and they all catch their instruments before they hit the ground. “How about we give the agents some encouragement with a live performance?”

Off the Hook nods, getting ready to play a song they’ve been developing: Ink and Dream ~ Ebb and Flow. (ft. DedF1sh and Harmony.) It was a remix of Fly Octo Fly with DedF1sh and Harmony’s instruments in there.

Tartar finally came out of the blender, his entire head covered in the goo. “I’ll enjoy recruiting you to the Order after this.”

Chapter Text

“You three, distract Tartar and I’ll try to get to the blender.” Agent Three says, and the other two Agents nod. Agent Four and Eight with their Hero Shot and Octo-Shot start shoot ink shot after ink shot at Commander Tartar who was slowly approaching, aiming for the goo on their head. It didn’t seem like they were taking that much damage from it, though.

“Does this guy ever die?” Four yells, still spraying ink at Tartar. When she and Agent Eight tried ducking back in, Tartar swatted them like flies.

“Four, Eight! Be careful out there!” Marina worryingly calls out.

What Tartar didn’t know was that Three was already behind the blender and flipped the switch, weakening Tartar. Eight, Four and Three started going all out with their weapons to spray at the goo on Tartar. He eventually fell to their knees and some weird invisible force pulled them back into the blender, like they were on a cable. But it didn’t seem like Tartar was attached to the blender.

“You’re putting up quite the fight. It won’t matter in the end, unfortunately for you.”

The Commander said in a condescending voice. They stepped forward again out of the blender, the sanitizing goo covering their head again, although they snapped their fingers and a few Sanitized Octarians popped up. Twintale Octotroopers, Octocopters, and one Octosniper, all sanitized of course.

Acht spoke up when they saw them. “Great.. Octarians. Take them out first, then focus on Commander.”

Three, Four and Eight made quick work of the Octarians, but when they aimed at the Octosniper, the blender gave the Sanitized Octarian equivalent to ink armor.

The confusion gave enough time for Tartar to grab Four and toss her into the air, where the Octosniper shot a fully charged shot and struck her midair, causing her to be disarmed and hurt.

“Four!”

Off the Hook and Agent Three yelled out. Four held her head in pain. Even though she knew it was risky, Pearl and Agent Three dashed over to where Four was, leaving Marina to cover for Pearl’s singing and Agent Eight to fight Tartar and the Octosniper alone.

“Come on Four, back on your feet!” Three says, helping Four rise back up.

Four still held her head in pain. Everyone’s right. Four is an Agent of the New SquidBeak Splatoon, not just some nobody who’d let herself and friends and the whole world sanitized. She was gonna save Off the Hook, Three, Eight, The World… And maybe her favorite Idol Duo if they still were alive.

“Yo, dude, this is a good opportunity to sneak to the blender, go!” Pearl pats Four on the back.

Four sprints towards the blender, picking her Hero Shot. Three threw a Splat Bomb towards the Octosniper right as its Ink Armor ran out, and the Octosniper exploded into green glowing ink. Four got behind the blender and clicked the on/off switch again, although the blender shot out a machine near Tartar which set up some sort of inkproof barrier before it turned off.

“How cheap.” Harmony comments. The three agents momentarily put down their weapons, but their guards are still up.

“You need to cease. You know I will remain victorious.” They turn to Four. “Defeating me won’t bring your idols back.”

Four hears that sentence and stops, letting her guard down for a bit. The mention of Callie and Marie brought back bad memories. The only thing she could think of was the day that they were taken by the Order. Taken by this metal faced tyrant. “Stay Fresh” echoed in her head. The only thing in her head in that moment.

As soon as the force field went away, Tartar tried to punch Four, but Four moved out the way and instead punched them back. Three and Eight continued pelting them with ink bullets until they fell to one knee. The three stand back.

“Ugh.. No one has ever tried to foil my plans more than you lot. Even back then, and even now.” They sounded tired, but Three, Eight and especially Four knew not to let their guard down around them again. Off the Hook stopped playing the song momentarily. Pearl stepped forward and motioned the Agents to stand behind her. They stood back up and started walking towards the group.

“Good job, Three, Four and Eight, I’ll handle this.” She pointed at Tartar and grinned.

“Yo, telephone, robot, whatever you are!” She called out to them. Pearl suddenly pulled out her Princess Cannon, which really looked like a Killer Wail siren. Four never seen it before, but it definitely matched Pearl’s personality, that’s for sure.

Tartar took another step closer, but Pearl breathed in and prepared to let out what Marina called her “full power battle cry.”

“BOO-YAAAAAHHHHHH!”

She screamed into the Killer Wail siren, a huge beam of ink flew towards Tartar, and hit them head on. Instead of being destroyed immediately, they were still standing, and continued to march towards the group, even though his blue Kamabo Co. suit was drenched in ink, and a cable that was connected to the blender. Off the Hook started worrying, to put it lightly.

“Tartar is just taking it!?” Marina exclaimed. Agent Eight noticed something and pointed to the cable that attached the Commander to the blender.

“Wait, that’s it! That cable! It’s attached to the blender..” Harmony said.

Perfect. Four knew what she had to do. She threw a suction bomb right next to the cable so it didn’t get blown away by the Princess Cannon’s ink beam. It blew up, and so did the cord. Tartar panicked.

“No! No, no, NO! This isn’t supposed to happen! This world is meant to be pulverized!”

They try to withstand the ray of ink, but is soon overpowered by the ray and flies back towards the blender, crashing against it and causing it to explode in a blinding flash, along with the tyrant, causing everyone to shield their eyes.

“PROFESSOR, I AM SORRY. OUR REUNION HAS COME. KRRRSSHHHHH..”

…

After the light of the explosion was gone, the body of Tartar was mangled against the blender, drenched in pink ink and green, glowing ink. A cassette tape was sticking out of their damaged chest.

The War Against The Sanitized Order Was Over.

Harmony crouched down and picked it up. Pearl got tackle-hugged by Marina, and Agent Three and Eight just watched. 

Four looked down at herself, her Hero Shot, her hands. She couldn’t believe she contributed to the downfall of the Commander of the Sanitized Order. She finally proved herself. Did something right. She saved the world, and for once, she didn’t care about being recognized.

Acht patted Four on the back. “Good job, Four. You were great, I mean it. Even if I don’t look like it.

Four nodded and smiled for once in a while. “Thanks. The song you played was also amazing. You all did good.

Harmony walked over to the group, holding the cassette tape that was dripping with sanitized ink. “Hey, this was in Tartar’s chest. Do you think we should play it back at in the alleyway?”

Three and Eight walk up to it. Even sanitized, Eight was still a bit shy now. Three spoke up instead. “No idea. It’s up to Pearl and Marina-“

“Sure! It can’t be anything too bad, right, Rina’?” She interrupts Three and turned to Marina who thinks about it for a second, before nodding.

“Right, Pearlie.” She replies.

Acht sighs. “Harmony, I’m glad you’re here.”

“I honestly wish I had a partner too…” Harmony says enviously.

Four rolls her eyes, trying to ignore Pearl and Marina’s obvious flirting. She walks towards an exit door which seemed to have been to the left of Tartar’s blender. “I know you two are together and all, but shouldn’t we leave? It kinda stinks in here.”

Off the Hook chuckles, and soon follow Four to the exit door. 

After many flights of stairs, they finally reach the surface and see the beautiful sunrise. It made Three and Eight tear up upon the sight of it. It’s been so long since the two had seen light that wasn’t artificial. They sat there, looking over the still charred city. It might be destroyed, but it’s still Inkopolis, and they can rest easy knowing no Sanitized Soldiers would roam the city again. At least not under Tartar’s control.

Chapter Text

It’s been a two weeks since we’ve beat Tartar. I can confirm that Four looks a lot happier than she used to. I released Project Memverse (name not finalized) when we got back to Inkopolis. Acht got Eight and Three to go through it, and they finally got their memories back! I can’t explain in words how happy I am to have them back! Although, we’re still working on reverting the sanitized appearance. For some reason, the Memverse has some bug that I don’t seem to be able to fix.

Update on the city, most of the buildings are still kinda charred, but everyone helped to salvage and rebuild our news station. We don’t have to make our music in an alleyway anymore, that’s for sure.

Over the two weeks, I’ve been able to get a lot of Sanitized Octolings through the Memverse and bring them to the city. Inkopolis definitely looks different than it did 5 months ago. Pearl used her parents money to help rebuild most of the city. She even opened up a place where all the used-to-be Sanitized Octolings (and inklings of course) could stay.

Four has pointed out the issue that rouge Sanitized Octarians still under Tartar’s beliefs could be roaming the city and posing as freed ones. Four has been carrying around her Splattershot around. Yes, Splattershot. I’m guessing she doesn’t want to wear out her Hero Shot. Also, Harmony went back to her band later today. We were a bit sad to see her leave, but we understood that she couldn’t stay with us forever. She was a big help. We all were.

Speaking of Harmony, before she left, she played that really old cassette tape we found in Tartar. It was a human.. I think. It was a young scientist who called himself “Professor Walsh.” I’ll try typing out what he said. Hopefully I can remember all of it.

“Hello, future, hopefully intelligent species! My name is Prof. Walsh, and this is my cat, Judd. I’m currently in the process of making a little robot that will.. Hopefully tell you about our.. Well, everything. Culture, Fashion, Mistakes, you name it! I’m.. Currently underground. We just got done with our 5th world war. I’m recording this to tell you.. Please don’t end up like us. I’d say an inspirational quote.. But I really can’t think right now. I just want to finish this telephone.. Make sure Judd is safe.. And I don’t know about myself. This is Walsh, signing off for the last time.”

Well, that’s really all I have to say today. Four and Pearl have been begging me to go to this new food place downtown.

Don’t get Cooked, Stay Off the Hook!

…

Four got up in her bed. It was great to wake up in a non-alleyway, even though she has been for two weeks. She got dressed, grabbed her Splattershot and got ready to go. Four received a text on her phone from Pearl telling Four to meet up at the News Station. 

She exited the door of the apartment. Off the Hook’s news station was still noticeable in the city. Inkopolis isn’t really what it used to be. Inklings used to be most of the population, but now she felt like the odd one out among the Sanitized Octolings as she walked. But.. she was glad she had people who cared about her. Even if they didn’t say it.

“Yo, Four! I see you’re ready to rock!”

“We should get going. We have a scheduled Inkopolis news broadcast soon.”

Four nods. And started walking with the Idol duo. She notices the absence of Three, Acht and Eight. Weird..

“Hey, Pearl, Marina? Why aren’t the others with you two?

“Oh.. Eight’s shy and Three doesn’t like going out all that much. The sun’s still kinda hard on their eyes.”

Sun on their eyes? Is that why they were crying when we brought them outside? Four tried not to think too much about it. She was trying to have fun after all. She didn’t do much after Tartar’s defeat besides helping salvage Off the Hook’s news station and recording studio.

…

After getting back from the cafe thing, Four walked out with a coffee, Marina with some sort of shrimp biscuit, and Pearl with probably the most expensive latte on the menu. She definitely embraced being rich, if a pool full of mayonnaise didn’t prove it enough.

Although when she looked forward again at two approaching, she stopped. She dropped her coffee and she teared up. Holy Carp.

Pearl and Marina also stopped. “Uhm.. Four? Why did you just-“ Marina also stopped talking when she saw the two Four was stunned to see.

The two were Callie and Marie. Seemed different, but it was them.

Four ran over and hugged the two, but the Sanitized Inklings pushed her off. She was shocked to say the least. She stumbled on her words, but managed to get them out.

“C-Callie! Marie! I-It’s me, Agent Four!

“Agent.. Four? Callie, Marie? We.. Don’t have names.” ‘Callie’ said.

“Affirmative. 15,001 and 15,002 are our numbers.” Stated ‘Marie.’

No… They were still sanitized. They didn’t go through the Memverse yet. That means… That means I could never get them back..

Before she could get another word in, the duo were already gone. She dropped to her knees, and sobbed. She couldn’t believe it. She was fought for the world to save it and get the two back. Pearl and Marina stood by, trying to console Four, but the tears kept coming, and they won’t stop. It felt like the world kept building her up, and then shattering her. Over and over again. 

No matter how sturdy you’re built up, a wrecking ball will always break you down.

The End.