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“Hey DJ!”
DJ Octavio had been having a somewhat pleasant night, well as pleasant as dozing off in a snowglobe can be. He was looking forward to a relaxing night of doing exactly what he did most of the time, spying on the enemy. However, it seemed like this night of all nights he was going to be interrupted by the least annoying agent, Agent 1.
She seemed to at least attempt to be sneaky, crouching down and scanning the perimeter to make sure her cousin wasn’t around. Which made sense, after the third time she had “accidently” put the hypnoshades on again, Marie had made it very clear what she would do if Callie got within twenty feet of the king. However, those threats didn't really stick as Callie had put the shades on a total of four times and was somehow still standing. No matter how pissed Marie looked when agent four had brought the two back.
“So DJ I’ve got an idea I think you’ll love!” Callie said, practically squealing after getting within a normal volume range, at least “normal” for the young inkling.
“If it’s anything like your last idea I don't think adding glitter to the Octobot King is going to ‘distract’ agent 4 into fighting worse, I think we lost faster last time because of it” Octavio says bitterly reminiscing on how terribly the last time he faced Agent 4 went, and Agent 4 was running on less than three hours of sleep that time for cods sake!
“Oh no” Callie said while waving a dismissive hand, “I’m not talking about going back to Octo Canyon, I’m talking about going to this!” Callie said as she held up what looked like a poster she’d ripped off some wall. Even with Octavio's limited eyesight he could read the words ‘Low Water Party’ written in some angular font with garish colors. Was this meant to look “fresh”? It just came off looking more cheap than anything. Could no one afford a graphic designer these days?
“It’s all anyone’s talking about, like, a billion people are going to show up.” Callie said, waving the paper in the air. Octavio highly doubted that, but inklings would go to a party even if it was 60 feet underwater, somehow.
“Cmon DJ we should totally go! You haven't done anything fun in forever. Besides, it's in the deepsea metro, y’know the place your army keeps getting lost too? You can party it up, then we can go scout out the place! You can count it as a business trip or something.”
He cringed at how callously Callie brought up what transpired in the Deepsea Metro, but it was curious that Callie even thought of that. He would have never thought her to think that far ahead, but she always did like to put on a faux-positivity-mixed-with-stupidity act.
Eight must have told her when they officially joined the Splatoon, at least somewhat. Thankfully his former infantry also told him what had happened, in hushed octarian while the others were distracted. He would have thought they were double crossing the splatoon, but no, Octavio surmised that the Octoling just felt like they owed him the explanation. Which he appreciated, even if the treason was not.
While he would never admit it, The DJ did care somewhat for Callie, she had been the one to help restore hope to the domes and give his people a little light in the dark. And the fact that she kept coming back to help every time he broke out made the cuttlefish grow on him, like some kinda mold. Maybe this was exactly the excuse he needed to break out, it was getting ridiculous. Ever since Cuttlefish had gotten back he seemed more relaxed, he had even left the snow globe open once when he had refilled Octavio's wasabi sticks, the old geezer.
It was perfect, he could go down to check on his people and if that also included partying it up with Callie so be it. And maybe one more thing…
“Alright, I’ll go. On one condition”
Callie's face split into a big toothy grin as she squealed “Yes! Alright DJ, spit it out!”
“I’m going back to Octocanyon, alone”
—
Gramps was going to kill her.
Well, probably not. It was more likely to be Marie or Agent 4 if she was being honest.
So she had let the New Squid Beak splatoon’s biggest enemy out so that they could go party it up at some underground rave, what else was new for the screw up. But this time she wasn't pretending to be mind controlled or whatever, she and him were just hanging out. Perfectly normal buds just hanging out. Totally not suspicious in the slightest.
Who was she kidding? She was so screwed after all this.
They had arrived a couple hours late to the party, as Callie had spent a long time trying to get ready. She had to freshen up her old outfit and also grab some supplies to bring down including weapons and communication dohickeys. They were just…fashionably late in her eyes, didn't want to get there before the crowds did, and trust her, crowds were there.
She noticed a lot of inklings which was to be expected, they all looked to be having a good time partying it up before the tide came back in. Thankfully she had put on the hypno-shades, powered off this time, so it seemed like no one was recognising her. There were also a couple of octolings running about which was nice to see. A couple even recognised her from a far but those who did saw her with their former king and decided not to approach. For the better, Callie really didn’t want to see how the DJ would react to his former army coming and chatting her up. While he had to have known about the deserters, he probably didn't want to hear them mention how much life was better on the surface or how she had inspired them to leave like Eight.
It was nice to hang in the crowd, be one in an endless ocean as the music washed over her. Callie had bought some light sticks for the pair to thump along to the beat of whoever was playing on the multiple stages that had been set up. While the DJ grumbled that he “didn't need some kiddie light sticks” she saw him grooving to some of the music.
About an hour in, Octavio walked off muttering something about getting a drink or something and Callie followed behind not wanting the old timer to get lost. Besides, the crowds were getting to her anyways, maybe a little fresh air (or as fresh as the damp metro could be) would help her out.
—
Agent 3 had not been expecting today to go like this. They were just going to stop by the Captains house before heading back to Inkopolis to work on their music, but now? Once they got to the shack the Captain called his HQ, he took the younger inkling inside and asked the Agent if they wanted to come with him to a rap battle. Apparently he was participating with a couple of the people he had met in the Deep Sea Metro. To top it all off, he was asking the agent to come down there again with him to participate, the Captain saw the agent's DJ skills as “fresh”. Which was still weird to hear coming out of the elders mouth. But agent 3 had no reason to say no, so it looked like Sango and MC Craig were going down to the Deepsea Metro
It was nice to see the other two again, on better terms this time they hoped. However, it looked like this wasn't some simple fight between what had become friends but a deadly serious case of honor to Sango’s opponent. Well, two could play at that game as Sango refused to lose to Marina, even if she was spitting some crazy beats the inkling could barely keep up with.
So here they were, after participating in the longest Dj battle of their life against Marina who was not going down without a fight. In the end the agent wasn’t sure who won as they were kinda blacking out after the 6 hour mark but once the dust settled the captain gave them a pat on the back and slipped his captain's cap onto their head before telling them to get themselves a drink before they dried out.
Out in the halls they managed to find themselves a water fountain but before they could quench their thirst on the weirdly blue liquid that was coming out they heard two gasps ring out behind them. They turned around to be met directly with DJ Octavio and Callie wearing the hypno-shades again, at least she had been as by the looks of it she had pushed them up in shock.
The agent groaned realizing now, after this exhausting DJ match they’d have to beat the ever loving snot out of Octavio again. They thought this was supposed to be 4’s job now. But before they could even pull out their emergency splat bombs (of course they had emergency splat bombs they weren't going into the Metro again like some chump) Callie ran up to the agent.
“W-w-wait agent 3! Um, it’s not what it looks like.”
The agent raised an eyebrow at her before she continued.
“Okay maybe it is what it looks like but I can explain!” Callie whined. Before she could however, DJ Octavio finally addressed the Agent.
“I kidnapped Callie again dweeb, needed someone to accompany me on my uh, mission into the Deepsea Metro. Decided to stop here first”
Agent 3 raised an eyebrow and it seemed like even Callie was surprised by what he said, which set off alarms in the agent's head. But Callie didn't look hypnotised and Octavio had not technically done anything wrong, except maybe escape but The Captain had been trying to let the DJ loose for Cod knows how long, no matter how many times he tried to blame it on forgetting too. So it wasn't like he was really in trouble, the agent was actually surprised he had stayed that long in the first place.
Agent 3 sighed and promised not to rat them out. Callie thanked them way too many times before they managed to convince her to stop.
Now that it seemed like tensions had cooled down Callie started asking about why Agent 3 was even here at all, with them explaining the whole situation with the Captain and Of the Hook. Callie winced at the mention of her grandfather.
“He’s um, not here right?”
The agent shrugged before mentioning he’s somewhere around here, probably also recovering after his rap battle with Pearl that started sometime after they and Marina finished. Pearl had said something about buying the Captain a drink afterwards but the agent had walked off at that point. Callie looked less than pleased with that answer before turning back to the octoling.
“Hey DJ I think we need to bounc-”
But before she could finish the sentence Agent 3 and Callie realized at the same time that there was a suspicious lack of DJ Octavio where he had been previously standing.
“Uh, DJ?”
—
Well that had to be the most awkward moment of Octavio's life. He was sure that agent of theirs was about to splat him, and he hadn't even done anything this time! Ugh, he was getting too old for all this.
While Callie and Three were distracted Octavio took his leave, sneaking away like he knew best. He just hoped Callie would be able to find him in this sea of people, he sure as hell was having a tough time navigating. Why did that infuriating splatoon always have to interfere with his plans? He guessed it was finally time to work on the second half of his plan, get a quick scan of what was happening in the Metro before heading back to his troops to report his findings.
So he made his way through the crowds, passing by all matter of inkfish or other creatures recovering on the outskirts of the party. Eventually, he made it to an edge that seemed to quite down, with many a hallway that seemed to lead deeper into the facility. Before continuing he paused, if he continued on he might get lost in Kanami Ko or, worse, Callie might run after him and get herself lost. This really was a job for two and he would prefer to have another person there to watch his back.
He sighed as he leaned back against a wall, it just seemed like he’d have to wait for Callie to come find him. He was about to send over a message to Callie on the walkie talkie before he heard a loud voice ring across the hall.
“TAVI’!”
All of a sudden Octavio noticed what looked like a very wasted Cuttlefish approaching him, red in the face and stumbling around like an idiot.
“Eyyyy it looks like you finally managed to “escape” that dome of yours huh!” Cuttlefish let out somewhere between a laugh and a hiccup before continuing “I thought you’d never get the hint. Didn’t expect the first thing you would do was go to some rave- ”
“Cuttlefish! Have you been drinking, down here?!”
“It’s celebratory! It’s been a while since I got to rap for a crowd y’know. This old squid still got it!” he said pointing to himself and winking, the change in body weight causing him to stumble back a few steps to catch himself.
Octavio could feel his face heating up, definitely from anger. Cuttlefish was the last person he wanted to see right now, how did that cephalopod always manage to find him at the worst times!
“You’re unbelievable…”
“Aww…”
“That’s not a compliment!”
However, it seemed like lady luck still hated his guts after cuttlefish seemed to notice something behind him and started waving as two very familiar inklings found them.
“Oh Callie! I wondered if you were going to show up! Did you see Agent 3, they did gre-”
Agent 3’s face went red as they now dipped their newly christened hat in embarrassment before Callie said in bewilderment “Gramps… The doctor said you’re not supposed to be drinking anymore, your hearts can't take it…”
“Eh, I’m fine squido don’t worry about it”
Before Callie could respond, Cuttlefish started ranting about anything he could spill his guts about. From how great agent 3 did to old tales of him and Octavio before the war to stories of Callie from when she had just started singing. Somehow Cuttlefish had managed to embarrass all three of them in only a couple of minutes, he didn't even know that was possible.
But, before it could get any worse he drew back from the group.
“Look Cuttlefish I have places to be down here, so reminisce with someone who cares”
This caused Callie to perk up who unconvincingly said “Oh yea, I too need to go in that direction too, for a totally different reason!”
Cuttlefish blinked, before his face morphed into a big goofy grin and slurred out “well I wouldn’t want to keep you two, good luck on whatever both of you are doin’ down there!”
Octavio could barely believe he bought that, even when Cuttlefish was plastered like he was. Well, he wouldn't look a gift seahorse in the mouth. However, as he started to walk off as a totally not suspicious Callie followed him, Cuttlefish grabbed one of Octavio's limbs, stopping him in his tracks.
“I know you’re escaping and all. But! If you ever want to meet up for a friendly rematch, you can always come visit, even though we both know I’ll still beat the carp out of you. I promise I won't even put you in a snow globe this time.” he finished with a wink that he assumed was supposed to be charming but just came across as cute in his inebriated state. Stupid, he meant came across as stupid.
Octavio sighed before quietly saying “No, I can’t Cuttlefish, you know I can’t.”
With that Octavio turned away before he could see Craig's expression and ran off through the halls of Kamibo Ko like a coward.
—-
He and Callie made a pretty good team. Even though they had to pack a lot lighter then he would have liked, Callie carrying a Carbon roller instead of her usual dynamo and Octavio only bringing a mini splatling to cover for her, they seemed to be in their element.
He was also able to get a lot of info on the state of his people. It seemed like whatever remained of Kamabo corp had either been dissolved by whoever had been working under that dreaded phone or had just fallen immediately after it had died. They had yet to see any of his former soldiers but that was probably a good thing, he was too trigger happy down here and didn’t want to end up shooting at em, even if they were brainwashed.
Though he couldn't avoid the inevitable, especially when Callie kept giving him worried looks whenever she assumed he wasn’t paying attention. Eventually she got the confidence to directly confront him about the whole ordeal, as they got onto the last train before they headed out of the metro.
“Sooo… You and Gramps used to make music?” she asked,great, no escape then.
“It was a long time ago kid”
“It'd be nice to hear you two collab again, y’know?”
“It won't happen”
“Aw come on-”
“Drop it”
The two went silent before Octavio sighed.
“I’m sorry, let’s just get out of here, alright? I think I got everything I needed to report back to base”
“Sounds good old man”
They travelled back in complete silence until they were back outside in the sun, he’d almost forgotten how much he missed it.
“Well, looks like it’s time to up hold my end of the bargain” Callie started “you should probably head back to Octocanyon, maybe even check on the valley too. You should come up and visit though, I mean, Marie might chase you off but I’d been nice to see you around, you know?”
“Thank you Callie, this was… fresh?”
Callie blankly stared at Octavio before bursting out laughing.
“Yeah, yeah, just never say that word again, you're gonna make me die of laughter!” Callie said while wiping tears away.
Octavio puffed himself up “what I’m trying to say was, this was fun. Really, one of these days I’ll have to see you perform, promise?”
“I’ll get you front row seats, promise”
The two exchanged pleasantries before Octavio headed off back into Octarian Territory. He started a check list off in his head of what he was going to do next. First he needed to get back to his people and check in. Second, he needed to get some sort of vessel to scout out around the surface to find openings into the metro, probably another version of the octobot king . Third… Well, then hopefully he’d find his missing people.
Yes, this was his plan, scout around the metro and find his people
After that, then he could relax. Until then, he had some serious work to do.
Cod, these inklings were gonna be the death of him.