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~Agent 1~
'Mornin' Callie,' grumbles Three, popping up from the grate that leads to and from the square.
'Three!' Callie almost shrieks with excitement, 'it's so nice to see you again!'
She tackles Three into a hug almost instantly after the other inkling takes a step towards her, squeeing with joy. Fighting to stay upright as Callie shakes her back and forth, Three makes a noise of acknowlegement, then tries to escape Callie's hold. Callie ignores Three's efforts and pulls her even deeper into a hug, burying her head into Three's shoulder and sniffling slightly, 'when I heard that you and Gramps disappeared, I thought you guys might not come back!'
Stiff as a board and unused to the physical contact, Three just nods. Callie's tears of pink ink are starting to get all over her shoulder, but she doesn't have the energy to escape. Eventually, Callie looks up and registers Three's scar, still rough and ugly. Her tentacles and skin are dry and tinted green where the sanitized ink touched her, and one of her eyes is a slightly different colour from before, showing just how far the goop got. Callie gasps abruptly when she notices, and says, 'is that where... y'know?' Three is starting to feel even more uncomfortable, so wanting to get the interaction over with, she nods, trying not to think about how embarrasing the whole thing is- like, yes, that is the scar from when I was too weak to beat the enemy. That is the scar from when I was stupid and got brainwashed. That is the scar from when I tried to kill another agent. Callie seems unpeturbed when she says, 'I guess that makes us brainwashing buddies!'
'What the fuck.' thinks Three.
'When did you get brainwashed?' says Three instead.
Callie seems slightly suprised for a second and then she says, 'oh, yeah, I didn't tell you. The octarians got me for a bit while you were in the metro.'
'What the fuck.' thinks Three for a second time.
'Brainwashing buddies... eh?' she says instead.
~Agent 2~
'Callie is saying that you're 'brainwashing buddies' or something, Three. What did you do this time?' Marie says when Three walks into the shack.
'Didn't Captain tell you?' Responds Three, 'I got gooped by that stupid phone.'
Marie is quiet as she pours water from the kettle she's holding into a mug, but eventually she says, 'would you like some tea?' Three flops onto the old, creaking sofa, and says 'yeah, sure,' as she turns on the small TV, 'want anything on?'
A few seconds later Marie brings over two mugs of steaming tea and says, 'the news'll do,' sitting down herself as Three scrolls on the TV guide to find Inkopolis News. 'I hear that we're getting a new agent soon,' says Marie, 'know anything?
Marie already knows what Three knows about Eight, she's sure, but Three replies anyway, saying, 'Her name's Eight. She's an octoling.'
'Is she any good?' Marie says, trying to avoid looking at Three's very conspicuous scarring. 'Very good,' Three responds stiffly, 'Eight is very good.'
Pearl and Marina finally appear on screen, Three having found the news. They introduce themselves excitedly to the viewers, and cut off the awkward conversation between Marie and Three. Eventually, though, they finish, and the programme cuts to something else. Marie returns to interrogating Three, saying, 'was it painful?'
'Was what painful?' Asks Three. She already knows.
'The goo.'
'Not as painful as knowing how weak I am, Marie,' says Three, 'can we go back to watching the news now?'
'You do realise that you're the strongest person here, right?' Marie says instead. Three glares at her as she responds, 'stronger than me or Callie.'
'Eight still beat me,' says Three before tacking on, 'not that I want to know what would have happened if I had won.'
'That wasn't you, though,' says Marie, 'I didn't expect to have to go over this again after Callie, but that wasn't you.'
Three just hums slightly in response, staring at the TV.
~Agent 4~
Agent Three is about to go out on patrol- her first since returning from the metro- when she hears a voice. 'Yoo-hoo,' calls the mysterious voice, 'Agent Three!'
Three pulls out her Hero Shot and turns round to point it at the figure, standing on a ledge above Three. Then, she looks closer and sees short, bobbed tentacles, a neon jacket, and a fancy headset. 'Are you Agent Four?' She shouts, still holding her Hero Shot up to point at the figure. 'Yep!' Says Four, before hopping down to walk up to Three, who puts away her weapon, 'I've heard so much about you!'
'Yeah...' says Three, eager to get out on patrol after so long. Four, though, has no such plans and immediately points up at Three's bad eye. 'Sick battle scar!' She says as Three pulls a face, 'where'd you get it?!'
'Fighting an evil alien from outer space,' scowls Three, far too used to the question after only a week back on the surface. 'Really?' Says Four excitedly, 'that's crazy! I've only ever fought octarians. Oh, and Callie.' Three is in absolute shock. Four... believes her? About the aliens? How does she get out of this one? She tries to backpedal, saying, 'actually, I got it from a telephone,' which only seems to encourage Four. 'They have telephones in outer space? Sentient ones?? Oh my god! That's crazy!'
'Oh fuck' thinks Three immedietely, panicking slightly as Four practically vibrates with excitement. She blurts out, 'therewerentanyaliensjustthetelephone,' in a panic, but Four just confusedly asks her to repeat herself. 'There weren't... any aliens,' Three forces out, 'just the phone. I think it was human tech, but I'm not sure.' Four goes quiet for a second, then says, 'human tech?' Her voice gets louder as she says, 'oh my god! You're gone up against human tech and won?'
'Not me,' says Three, but Four is already muttering to herself about ancient humans. Three decides that she's had enough and super jumps away to finally start patrol, almost 15 minutes late.
~Agent 8~
Three and Eight end up at Arowana Mall together, after being sent on a bonding trip by Callie. Apparently, the two need to better their teamwork. Considering how close Three came to murdering Eight, Three can see why, but she still hates being forced to do things. Eight, meanwhile, has been fully on board with the idea since Callie brought it up, excited to learn about inkling culture. Currently, Eight is eating an ice cream they brought from a shop a few minutes ago. Actually eating it. Biting into the thing like it's an apple. 'Uh, Eight,' says Three, 'I'm not sure you should bite it like that,' as Eight continues her munching.
'Why not?' Asks Eight before she scowls and says, 'and why does my head hurt?'
'You ate the ice cream too fast, Eight. Try licking it next time,' says Three.
'But,' replies Eight, 'why would they make a food that hurts?'
'Tastes nice, though, doesn't it?' replies Three while Eight stares at her ice cream as if she can dissuade it from hurting just through intense eye contact.
'I guess...' says Eight as she licks the ice cream properly, 'should we sit down for a bit?'
The two sit down on a bench beside a big fountain while Eight eats. Eventually, Eight asks, 'Three, why don't you like ice cream?'
The answer is suprisingly long and complicated, but Three settles for the simple, 'reminds me of Kamabo.'
'How?' Asks Eight, 'the pain? Or something else?'
'I guess... the feeling of there being something in my head? A sensation that shouldn't be there. You know?'
'The feeling was odd, yes,' says Eight, but then she reaches for the side of Three's face that is, although less crispy now, still very much green, and says, 'does it remind you of this?'
Three is caught somewhere between her trauma and her blossoming love for Eight as she chokes out a yes. Eight seems oblivious as she looks back down at her ice cream and says, 'I see.'
~Neo Agent 3~
'Hey, Captain,' shouts Neo Three as she jogs over, 'is that a battle scar?' Marie instantly gives Three a look that screams, 'don't you dare try this again,' and says, 'the Captain says that-' Three cuts her off by raising a hand and says to Neo, 'I got it fighting an evil alien in outer space,' causing Marie to instantly roll her eyes and Callie to quickly suppress an giggle.
'Aliens?' Ask Neo Three disbelievingly, 'but they aren't real.'
'I thought so too, Neo, but that thing was massive and had these huge bug eyes,' says Three as Callie starts shaking with suppressed laughter and even Marie seems to chuckle slightly, 'it was bright green with a big, scaly body!'
'Really?' Asks Neo, and Three knows that she really has her now. Captive audience and all that, y'know?
'Yeah, and it hit me square across the face,' she says dramatically, pointing at her bad eye for effect, 'but I got straight back up and kept shooting at it!
Neo gasps and Three continues, 'eventually, it got its claws stuck in the ground and I ran up its arm!'
'And then?' Says Neo excitedly, but Three is already there, saying, 'I shot it square in the eye, the one it got me in! Then it keeled over and died, just like that!'
'Just like that?!'
'Yeah!'
Callie and Marie haven't the heart to break the news to Neo that Three has been lying the whole time, and the young octoling trots off excitedly before Three can stop the madness and explain the joke. Maybe if they make it out of Alterna, Four will explain? Three doubts it though.
'At least you're being more social now?' Marie says to Three, 'even if you are using your newfound skills to ruin things,' but she only gets flipped off in response.