Chapter 4: Chapter 3: Octo Canyon (III)

Koji bit his lower lip nervously as he followed along behind Liam, following his lead as they stayed out of sight, peeking ahead to make sure they hadn’t lost their target. “Liam, are you sure about this?” He whispered.

Liam leaned out from behind a car. They could both see Orion jogging towards Inkpolis Square. “Yeah, I’m sure. Whatever Ori’s up to, it’s driving me nuts, and I wanna know what it is.”

“Dude, he’ll be upset if he finds out we’ve been tailing him,” Koji said, as they moved up. Fortunately, their tail didn’t seem to be aware that he was being actively followed. Still, Koji felt kinda bad about this.

“Better to apologise afterwards than ask permission first,” Liam said. “Why is he headed for the Square…?”

As they followed, they saw Orion stop on top of a large manhole in the northwest corner of the Square. He then changed into squid form, slipping into it.

“Okay, that’s definitely suspicious,” Liam said, running over to the manhole, with Koji at his heels. “I never noticed this manhole before… Where does it even go?”

Koji gulped, “maybe we should stop here, Li-”

Liam ignored him and went into squid form, passing through the grate.

“Oh, come on…” Koji groaned. Despite his hesitation, he followed suit.

❖

In the morning after breakfast, X teleported himself and Marie straight to Squidbeak Cabin at Octo Canyon, which Marie found rather convenient. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the two agents to arrive.

Artemis arrived first, but she was accompanied by two other Inklings, and looking very sheepish. “Sorry, Marie, they overheard my call with X. For what it’s worth, they’re volunteering to help.”

“I’m Karlene Knight, this is Hinata Fujiwara,” Karlene said. “We’re all on the same Turf War team, B-rank on average. We’re not gonna let Artemis risk her life without us backing her up.”

“I… I appreciate the offer to help, but there are complications to that,” Marie frowned.

Before she could elaborate further, Orion arrived at the camp, popping out of the pipe, “sorry if I’m late… Wait, Karlene? Hinata? What’re you doing here?”

Suddenly, two more Inklings popped out of the pipe together, two boys. The first of the two blinked, and stared at Orion, “so this is where you’ve been going, Ori?”

“GAH! Liam?! Koji?!” Orion jumped in a panic.

“Sorry, Ori, Liam wanted to see what you were up to,” Koji said apologetically.

“You didn’t notice you were being followed, did you?” X sighed, crossing his arms.

“AND YOU TWO AS WELL?!” Liam snapped, pointing at Karlene and Hinata.

“Well, at least this isn’t going to be boring,” Koji said dryly.

“Oh, great, these idiots,” Karlene frowned. “That being said… More help might be a good thing. You guys are decently skilled, at least, so as long as you pull your weight, safety in numbers might work out even better.”

“Uh, I think we’re missing some context here, what’s goin-” Koji stopped when he saw Marie, and his jaw dropped. “Uh, Liam, that’s Marie of the Squid Sisters! Right over there.”

“WHAT?!” Liam’s attention immediately locked on to Marie. “Holy carp that is her.”

“Yeah, yeah, stay fresh and all that,” Marie said, doing a half-hearted pose. “This is gonna be a headache…”

“Okay, everyone shut up,” Karlene said. “Liam, Koji, listen. The Great Zapfish was stolen by the Octarians - you know, those guys from the Great Turf War a hundred years ago? We’re trying to get it back by fighting through this canyon to their headquarters.”

Liam blinked, and asked, “Ori, is this true?”

“Totally true,” Orion nodded, “sis and I have been spending the last week or so doing missions during our free time. Turns out Marie is Agent 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, and the Captain is Captain Craig Cuttlefish, who lead the original Splatoon during the Great Turf War - we learned about the guy in school, remember?”

“Oh. This is actually pretty serious,” Liam frowned.

“Yeah. Which is why, as much as I don’t like you, I’m willing to swallow my pride so we can work together and save Inkopolis,” Karlene said.

“Hold on, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Marie said, rubbing her temples. “Firstly, the respawn points around here have limited power, usually around three or five respawns. This isn’t some Turf War match, if the power runs out and you go down, you’re dead. That’s partly why I haven’t gotten more agents in on this, there’s only so many respawns to go around.”

That caused everyone to freeze up. It was only several seconds later when Liam took a deep breath. “Then we can’t afford to get splatted even once.”

Karlene nodded in agreement, arms crossed. “This is life or death, we gotta act like we’ve got only one shot.”

“Wow, I’ve never seen Karlene and Liam agree on anything before, it’s so surreal,” Artemis said.

“Okay, fine, but if you’re going into battle against the Octarians, you’ll need Hero Suits for protection, and I don’t have any more spares,” Marie said, unlocking and throwing open the armoury closet to demonstrate, only to find it completely empty. “What the-”

“Did someone say spare hero suits? Looks like I’m just in time!” Spoke a male voice from above, as a hover-truck landed in the camp area. Hopping out, was a horseshoe crab with an almost military-style outfit and a set of brass binoculars as glasses. X guessed this was Sheldon.

“Wait, Sheldon?! What’re you doing here?” Liam asked.

“My grandpappy was in the original Squidbeak Splatoon, and, well, I owe the Squid Sisters some favors. But this has also been a fantastic opportunity to test out new weapons!” Sheldon said, opening up the truck. Inside was a full rack of fully-upgraded Hero Weapons, along with a fresh new set of Hero Suits, more than enough for everyone.

“Wait, you knew something like this would happen?” Marie blinked.

“Well, I figured it’d probably happen, especially when you had to lend yours and Callie’s suits to 5 and 6, so I prepared just in case. Also, you know, you never know when you need a few spares in case the old ones get damaged,” Sheldon said. “You’re lucky these were finished in time. Sorry, X, I haven’t been able to order a set in your size yet.”

“I don’t think that’s going to be much of a problem, Sheldon, thank you,” X chuckled.

“Oh, and the lab is secured, those Octarians ain’t getting in anytime soon,” Sheldon said. “I’ve secured all the data, including X’s blueprints. I wish I had more time to look them over, Dr. Light was a true visionary!”

“X is a robot from the human era, by the way,” Artemis said to the newcomers. “We found him in a lab the Octarians were excavating. He’ll be a huge help for when we storm the enemy HQ, he’s got an arm cannon and everything.”

Liam blinked. “Huh. I was wondering who he was and what his deal was.”

“That is so cool,” Koji grinned. He then shook his head, “no, focus, we’ve got more important things to think about right now!”

“This will be a dangerous mission,” X said to the newcomers. “There’s no shame in backing out if you’re too scared to fight.”

“Oh, heck no!” Hinata grinned, grabbing the Hero Splatling off the rack. “We said we’d help our friend, and we’re not backing out now!”

Liam took a deep breath. “Koji, what about you?”

“Of course, Boss, we’re not gonna abandon Ori when he’s trying to save Inkopolis,” Koji nodded. “Sure, I’m a bit scared…”

“Dad always told me courage isn’t about not feelin’ fear, it’s about knowing fear and staring it down till it blinks. I’m scared too, but that ain’t gonna stop me,” Liam said. “We’re in.”

“I’m not gonna convince you kids to just leave, am I? Alright, fine. Let’s see… You’re Agent 7, you’re 8, you’re 9, you’re 10,” Marie said, pointing to Karlene, Hinata, Liam and Koji in that particular order. “Get your Hero Suits on, and pick your weapon. We’re going to do some basic drills, and then we’re going straight into the heart of enemy territory. You are now all in the New Squidbeak Splatoon as of this moment. Our objective is to take back the Great Zapfish by the end of the day.”

As everyone got ready, X couldn’t help but look on in bewilderment and worry. They were putting more people in danger, but… They knew what they were getting into already and had agreed to this knowing that. All he could do right now, was keep an eye on them and make sure they got through this in one piece.

Karlene had grabbed the Hero Dualies. Liam went with the Hero Roller, and Koji picked the Hero Blaster.

“Also, we might have to fight Callie, just letting you two know,” Artemis said to the boys, “as far as we know she’s working with the Octarians now.”

“Well that explains why she went missing,” Liam sighed, as he practised a bit with the roller. “Great. First time I get to meet one of the Squid Sisters and the other has turned evil.”

“We don’t know that for certain, Liam,” Karlene said. “Maybe she’s being blackmailed or something?”

“Either way, we won’t know what’s going on until we confront her,” Koji said.

“We’ll split up into three teams - Agents 5, 7 & 8, Agents 6, 9 & 10, and X by himself,” Marie said. “Best to utilise your existing team synergies for now. We’ll be practising working together as a larger group first, but three teams will help us cover more ground and get our hands on all of the captive Zapfish before we go straight for the leader himself.”

Everyone nodded. “Yes, ma’am!”

❖

Cephalon HQ was at the bottom of Octo Canyon, and it was a large compound. It was dark and foggy, lit up only by the variety of lights across the platforms. The only notable landmark was the huge hatch, covered in Octarian ink.

“Oh my cod, it’s like the Octarians want to look like insane supervillains,” Liam complained.

“We’ve got company,” X said, spotting Octolings on higher platforms. He formed his buster. “Go. I’ll keep them busy. You’ve got Zapfish to rescue.”

“You make sure my bro comes back okay, Liam, or I’ll splat you myself!” Artemis said, as her team dashed for one of the kettles.

“Let’s just go,” Orion said, obviously trying not to panic as his team rushed for another kettle.

X looked at the Octarians coming out of the woodwork, all focused on him. “I don’t want to do this, but I will if I have to. You have one chance to walk away!”

None of them moved, weapons still pointed.

“Fine. Who’s first?” X asked, buster charging.

❖

Once the first wave of enemies was cleared, X began searching through the compound’s surface buildings for something he might need to do. There were a couple of Zapfish that needed liberating, but there was one surprise found in an armoury.

It was another one of the capsules, and this time a blue hologram formed inside, taking the shape of Dr. Light. “Inside this capsule are the Body Parts. Enter the capsule to receive a new set of reactive body armour that will halve most incoming damage. According to my computer’s systems, a war has not begun yet, but there will be one if the current crisis, whatever it is, is not resolved. But I know that you can bring it to a peaceful conclusion, X.”

The capsule opened, and X stepped inside. His parts were swapped out, and he could see in his reflection the white, gold and blue torso armour covering him, along with a set of wider shoulder pads.

He stepped outside the building after receiving the upgrades, and a Charger shot slammed into his torso. He pointed in the direction of the shot, and fired a charged shot. In that direction he could hear the confused cry of an Octoling, followed by a panicked yelp before she was splatted.

Still, X couldn’t help but feel guilty. Maybe he looked like some kind of implacable monster in the face of these Octarians just trying to defend their home base. At least he wasn’t killing anyone. Maybe he should change to an ink-based weapon just in case, though, to ensure his shots were less potentially lethal in case the other side ran out of available respawn points…

Still, he raised an eyebrow when he saw multiple Octarians immediately retreating upon seemingly receiving an order via their headsets. “Looks like the big cheese wants them to hang back so he can deal with us by himself… Alright, then, if that’s how he wants to play it…”

❖

Once they had access to the inner sanctum, X and the Agents moved in, covering each other as they expected an ambush.

They were not expecting a large, circular arena in a stadium, floating above a void with hundreds of cheering Octarians in the stands. On the other side of said arena, was a concert stage surrounded by purple ink, with a single figure standing with her back to the group.

Hinata grinned, “oh, sweet, it’s a concert!”

“I don’t think it’s just a concert, Agent 8,” Koji gulped. “Is… That who I think it is?”

Artemis was a little surprised when Marie used the speaker mode on the agent’s headset to speak up. “CALLIE?! Callie, is that you?!”

X recognised Callie immediately as she turned around, arms crossed, but her look was completely different from how she usually was - she had a punkish black tank-top and shorts, purple tights, gold octopus earrings and purple octopus tattoo, along with an octopus tentacle where her old headpiece used to be and a distinct pair of black sunglasses that were animated, with diamond patterns over her eyes that had an eerie look.

“I told you to leave,” Callie said, with an undercurrent of rage in her tone. Ignoring Marie’s pleading, she suddenly struck a pose. “Now you leave me no choice… Prepare to be rocked! HEY DJ!”

The stage rose from the ink, revealing it to be part of a larger machine, that looked like a mix between a war machine and a soundstage. As it floated up into the air, the group saw the Great Zapfish hanging from the bottom, before it was promptly sucked up into the machine itself, causing it to truly roar to life with sheer power. The machine itself, which X guessed was the Octobot King, had over a dozen speakers, two gold mechanical hands, and a cockpit that also doubled as a DJ setup, with DJ Octavio himself sitting there in octopus form, arms crossed. “Octavio in da houuuuuuuuse! GYAH HA HA! I REMIXED CALLIE'S BRAIN!”

“So that’s what this was all about,” X snarled. “You brainwashed her!”

That caused Octavio to laugh once more. “Let me tell you a little somethin’. I’m no stranger to manipulatin’ minds, see? I already use my music to help my soldiers focus, tune out unnecessary thoughts and follow orders. The method I used for Callie is a bit different, but it don’t fall far from the tree. It don’t matter as long as I take back what’s mine.”

It’s the shades, then, X thought. Those shades she’s wearing must be using a combination of hypnosis and subliminal messaging to make Callie think in a certain way…

As the music started, a twisted tense version of Callie’s aforementioned single, X only stood still as the Inklings around him immediately scattered to avoid an incoming barrage of ink bombs. Orion and Hinata tried to target Octavio himself with their long-ranged weapons, but their ink was deflected by a barrier around him, only making the Octarian leader cackle, “your puny weapons ain’t enough to get through my Octobot King’s vibin’ barrier!”

X looked down at the floor, processing everything, even as purple ink splattered his body. He could hear Marie’s aghast voice in his ear, begging him to move.

The twin fists began launching out at the agents, forcing them to evade. Artemis fired at one of the fists, letting out a whoop as she managed to send it back, causing it to slam right into the Octobot King. Liam followed her lead with the other fist as it was stuck in the ink, slamming it with his roller and sending that back as well.

“Hmph… Not bad, but I was just seein’ how smart you punks are. Now I’m really serious!” Octavio yelled, firing a fist again, but this time it spun, deflecting all incoming ink. This time, it headed right for X.

X could hear his name being called by several panicked voices, as he took a deep breath, as artificial as it was.

He raised a hand up, as it glowed green, and he stopped the incoming fist in its tracks. He grunted as the fist pushed against him, but he brought back his other arm, forming a glowing fist from his hand. “You know, I gotta thank you. Now that you’ve admitted to crossing the line, my mind is no longer clouded with doubt!”

He swung a furious punch, slamming his fist into the larger spinning mechanical one, sending it flying back towards Octavio. “I thought maybe, just maybe, we could sit down like civilised people and talk this whole mess out, but no, it turns out you’re just a maniac who brainwashes his own people!”

Following a surprised “what?!” from both Octavio and Callie, the spinning fist was enough to knock Octavio right out of his seat and into the ink. X charged, dashing right towards him and swinging his leg, unleashing a powerful kick that punted Octavio right back into his own cockpit, knocking the mech down and disorienting Callie as well. “Makes me wonder why I even give some people the benefit of the doubt! Things would be so much easier if people could just stop being JERKS!”

X’s righteous fury was quickly defused when he noticed everyone else around him were staring at him with various looks of shock and awe. “What?”

“HOLY CARP! That was SO COOL!” Artemis grinned. “You didn’t tell us you could do THAT!”

“Oh, uh…” X looked down at his hands, “I didn’t know, either.”

“Callie! It's me. Your cousin, Marie. Try to remember!” Marie pleaded to a briefly disoriented Callie.

“DJ! DROP THAT SPICY WASABI BEAT!” Callie recovered, striking another pose, her cousin’s words evidently falling on deaf ears.

You are reading story Inky Future at novel35.com

“Not bad, little robot! But I ain’t gonna let you pull that off again!” Octavio said, the Octobot King rising into the air. “I’m done playing around. I’m fine with just bombarding you with bombs and ink until you’re all done and dusted - you ain’t getting through my shield, and you can’t outlast me!”

“He’s right, with the Great Zapfish’s power that mech will keep running long after we’re all tired out,” Karlene said, as everyone evaded a barrage of what looked like octopus tentacle balls, followed by a barrage of Suction Bombs. “We need a plan!”

“He may have a strong power source, but I’m betting that the shield generator’s output can only take so much before it breaks!” X said, his buster charging up. He fired a shot directly at Octavio, and while the shot didn’t get through, it did manage to break the shield. “Just as I thought!”

“Agent 6, on me! We’re doin’ the Charge-&-Roll before that barrier regenerates!” Liam said, rushing over to Orion.

“R-Right, sure!” Orion gulped, holding up his Charger, as Liam suddenly changed into squid form, holding onto the end of the barrel. He aimed for the cockpit, and fired.

As Liam soared through the air both on the launched ink and via the resulting momentum, X couldn’t help but admire how novel such a technique was.

“SURPRISE, BUTTMUNCHER!” Liam snapped, slamming his roller right in Octavio’s face. His brief moment of triumph was rather swiftly undermined when Octavio boosted the Octobot King backwards, sending Liam tumbling down onto his rear. “HEY! No fair!”

“I’ll be there soon, just hold out as long as you can!” Marie said.

“You punks are really ticking me off!” Octavio said, as his barrier regenerated. “I’m gonna make fried squid rings outta you!”

“I think we really made him mad,” Koji said dryly as Octavio and Callie started bombarding the arena with various explosives, forcing the team to scatter.

Suddenly, the Octobot King fired off two more spinning punches, with the fists themselves being supercharged with electricity. X was forced to dodge, “even I can’t block those!”

“Don’t have to!” Karlene said, dashing for the fists and leaping onto one of the magnetic chains, “Agent 5, move! X, take down that shield again!”

As X charged up and fired off another shot, Artemis dashed for the other chain, jumping onto it and dashing up the length, keeping her footing. Karlene did much the same, both throwing bombs into the cockpit and following up with bombarding Octavio with ink. It was only when Callie pulled out a roller and started swinging that the pair were forced to leap away, but that was enough to cause the Octobot King to stop in its tracks while Octavio tried to recover.

X knew they were winning, but this was getting way too chaotic. Right now he was more focused on making sure nobody was getting hit with too much ink, which made it hard for him to actually do damage against the Octobot King, which seemed to be pretty well-armoured by itself.

Flying in on top of Sheldon’s truck (which had been reconfigured into a mobile stage) was Marie in her Squid Sisters outfit - almost immediately, it was if her own music partially overrode Callie’s. She was holding a unique model of Charger. She aimed, and fired.

A precise splatter of green ink sent Callie’s shades flying, and splattering Callie’s face with ink. She seemed immediately disoriented and stunned, clutching her head with a pained groan.

“YES! A direct hit with my special low-tide ink!” Marie said with no shortage of pride. “While she’s stunned, make Octavio pay!”

“GRAH! Those hypnoshades aren’t easy to make, you know!” Octavio snapped, flailing furiously. “I’m gonna dubstomp you into oblivion!”

X decided to take things into his own hands properly, dashing around the side of the Octobot King and leaping up, climbing up onto the stage where Callie was. “Callie, I need you to focus and remember. You’re not some puppet of Octavio.”

Callie looked into his eyes, distracted from singing and dancing by his presence, too disoriented to even try to attack him. “Who… Who are you?”

“A friend,” X smiled. “Your cousin is here. She’s so worried about you. You remember Marie, right? She’s singing right now.”

“That voice… It’s so… Familiar… Where have I heard it before…?” Callie groaned.

“HEY! GEDDOFF!” Octavio snapped, preparing to double down on his tunes, only for Koji and Hinata to clog up the mech’s speakers with ink, mostly stopping his music. “What the… HEY! YOU LITTLE PUNKS!”

“That’s right, Callie! Remember!” Callie switched songs as she turned on a music player, holding her hand to her ear, “that heavenly melody!”

Callie struggled to lean out with her hand by her ear, as X helped her keep her balance. “The… The one and only…” Her eyes shot wide open with a brand new clarity to them, “I… I remember! YEAH!”

With a super-jump and a flash of ink, her outfit had changed, to the one X better recognised, as she landed on the mobile stage, joining her cousin as they began to sing. X recognised this song - Marie had shown it to him the night before, the , a remix of a folk song from the pair’s home county.

“The Squid Sisters are BACK! WOO!” Hinata cheered.

Suddenly, the sound just… Stopped.

And Octavio started to laugh maniacally.

“Oh, that’s not a good sign,” Orion winced.

“You ain’t using my stage to play your tunes this time, Squid Sisters!” Octavio taunted, as the Octobot King began to reconfigure, the top stage shifting to add more speakers, forcing X off as the mech began to float over to the edge. “And I’m not just repeating my old tricks! X, do you think you’re the only piece of human technology my soldiers excavated?”

X’s eyes widened as he realised the implications of that. “No… You’re not saying-”

It was a giant humanoid robot, very mechanical in design, resembling almost a caricature of an old man with an odd moustache. It utterly towered over the group, the arms almost able to reach across the entire arena.

“AWESOME! We get to fight a giant robot!” Hinata grinned.

“We are totally screwed,” Koji said. “Like… Three Flyfish at once in a Salmon Run shift screwed!”

“We’ve come way too far to be stopped by this stupid thing!” Artemis said. “Our ink can drain robot energy, we’ll just cover this robot in ink and shut it down!”

“It’s powered by the Great Zapfish, Sis, that’s not gonna work,” Orion said.

“That’s right! And I’m gonna have so much fun smashing you little squirts into mush!” Octavio gloated, as the giant robot brought up its arms, and began smashing them down, trying to smash the Inklings and X, forcing them to scatter once again.

X did a quick analysis of the overall structure of the giant robot. Almost immediately he realised that, for all of its size and stature, it was an old robot, and one that undergone repairs sometime in the distant past, likely long before X himself was even created.

A particular part of the robot stood out to him - the glowing green gem on its chest. X charged up his buster, and fired off a shot, causing the gem to crack. “It doesn’t matter if it has the Great Zapfish powering it, it’s an obsolete design. If my analysis is correct, it’s not water-resistant enough to prevent ink from seeping in and damaging internal components. Everyone who can’t hit the gem, splatter as much of the robot as you can. If you can hit the gem, focus on destroying it!”

That seemed to give Artemis ideas. She dodged one of the arms coming down, spraying it with ink, causing sparks to fly. “Ah-hah! I knew it! I kne-YIKES!”

It turned out that brute force wasn’t the only option available, as the robot’s hands also included flamethrowers on the palms. Artemis darted away in a panic as to not immediately get roasted.

Orion and Hinata, on the other hand, were focusing on the gem. With each charged shot X hit it with, the more ink was able to get inside.

“Agent 5, I think you’ll want this!” Sheldon called out from the truck, as he guided a drone down to Artemis, dropping its payload. “I got a specially modified Rainmaker for situations like this!”

Artemis caught it. X noticed it was a large, golden fish-shaped cannon of some kind. Artemis grinned, aiming for the gem while charging up, “oh, Sheldon, you shouldn’t have!”

She fired it off, the projectile slamming into the gem and erupting into a powerful burst of ink. That was enough to finally shatter the gem, blowing a huge hole in the torso.

“Now I can really do some damage,” Koji said, as he moved in with the Hero Blaster, firing off bursts into the open hole, which was already damaging the internals.

“A Rainmaker?! Grr… I’m not holding back anymore!” Octavio said, as he began attacking with the Octobot King on top of the giant robot again, firing bombs and launching fists in quick succession.

However, at this point the larger arms were slowing down significantly, filled with ink, and as ink spilled into the torso hole,

“Take it down, Agents! You can do it!” Callie called out eagerly.

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall. You’ve got this!” Marie concurred.

“SPLAT YOU, SQUID SISTERS!” Octavio cursed, as the robot finally began to fall, arms now useless, causing the head to become level with the platform. The head attempted to suck in the agents, but all it got instead was a massive load of ink clogging up its internals, causing it to break down rapidly.

Octavio, evidently realising that his supposed trump card was done for, detached the Octobot King from it and began to fly upwards.

“Agent 5, Agent 6, X, follow him and finish the job!” Marie ordered.

Ink rails were deployed high above, along with a launch pad on the platform, courtesy of Sheldon. Artemis and Orion launched themselves up to the rails. X stood on the launch pad, and to his amazement, realised that his foot parts could use it to launch himself up as well. With a combination of the launch pad and his dash boosters, he launched himself high into the air, landing on the inner rail right ahead of the siblings.

X already had a game plan in mind. As far as he was concerned, this fight was already as good as finished. He could hear the excited roars of encouragement from his allies below. He could see the Octobot King charging up spinning punches, but it had been damaged enough that it couldn’t supercharge them anymore. “You two, take the outer rail!”

“Roger that!” Artemis said, as she leaped onto the outer rail, right ahead of her brother.

The Octobot King launched a spinning punch, but X intercepted it with a glowing punch, sending it back, followed by a charged shot that shattered Octavio’s barrier. Artemis and Orion were quick to follow up with the Rainmaker and the Charger, slamming into Octavio, sending him and the mech completely for a loop.

“No, no, NO! I WILL NOT BE BEATEN BY A BUNCH OF SQUIRTS AND A MILLENNIA-OLD RELIC!” Octavio boomed in fury as he launched twin spinning punches at the two squid siblings.

The trio nodded to each other, and they moved quickly. Artemis jumped over one of the fists, while X covered Orion by counter-punching the incoming fist, sending it back. Another barrage of shots followed, slamming into Octavio, sending him and the Octobot King tumbling down to the platform.

As the trio converged on one rail, X and Orion grabbed onto the Rainmaker, and all three of them leaped off, bringing it down on the Octarian overlord in a roar of triumph…

❖

“Breaking news! The Great Zapfish is back! And Callie of the Squid Sisters has been found! Geez, everyone was getting worried for a while there!”

“I know, Pearl! I’m so happy! Things got really scary with both of them missing!”

“Looks like things are finally back to normal in Inkopolis,” X remarked, seeing the news on TV at Cuttlefish Cabin as he relaxed on the couch. It was only a day after that final, fateful battle, and X couldn’t be happier.

“I don’t envy the kids having to go back to school right after saving Inkopolis, though,” Marie remarked, back in her kimono. “I wasn’t keen on so many of them risking their lives, but I can’t deny the results.”

“All of them stepped up when it counted,” X said. “I’m not sure we could’ve done it without all of them.”

He recalled the celebrations that had erupted immediately after their victory, having joined in on the cheering and laughing with a bunch of weary kids who had just helped save Inkopolis.

“I still can’t believe you recruited so many just to save little ‘ol me, Marie,” Callie teased, wearing a more casual outfit with a pink beanie. “I’m pretty touched, honestly. We’ll have a whole army at this rate.”

“Wasn’t my idea, 5 & 6 weren’t exactly the best about handling operational security,” Marie replied dryly. “It worked out for the best, I suppose, but I can’t say I wasn’t uneasy about the risk.”

“Well, maybe we should talk to Gramps about setting something up that’ll make it way less likely that a respawn point runs outta power on ‘em,” Callie said. “Still no word from him?”

“Not yet. Maybe we’ll look into it if he still takes too long to return, but I’m sure he’s fine if 3 and 4 are with him,” Marie said, shaking her head.

“Well, as much as I’d like to shoot the breeze with the two of you, I really want to just walk around Inkopolis,” X said, getting up from the couch.

The cousins blinked. Callie raised a hand, “uh, question! Aren’t you worried about the fact that you’re gonna be walking around in broad daylight as a robot?”

“Maybe a little,” X admitted. “I don’t know if Inkopolis society is ready for me, but I think it’d be best that I don’t hide who I am. Pretending that I’m something I’m not really isn’t in my nature, I think. Besides, I promised the kids I’d hang out with them after school, kinda hard to do that if I’m trying to hide.”

He focused on Callie, and walked over to her, “are you sure you’re going to be alright? I can’t imagine being brainwashed like that was good for your psyche.”

“Eh, I think I’m fine, it was mostly just the shades, and now that they’re off I’m good!” Callie laughed, and then immediately groaned, “but why did those shades have to get crushed during the fight, though?! They were so fresh, they looked great on me!”

“Oh no, what a shame,” Marie said with a snicker. “But seriously, we can get custom-made animated shades, dummy. So many companies would be falling over themselves for a Squid Sisters endorsement.”

“Oooooh, matching shades for a concert! That’d be SO RAD!” Callie said with a wide grin. “You need to come along for our next concert, X! We haven’t done one in a while.”

“I think I’ve had enough of lively concerts for a bit. I just want to relax,” X said with a chuckle, and glanced at Octavio, trapped in a snowglobe. The Octarian overlord returned a hateful glare. “Oh, right… Is he gonna stay in there this time? He did break out once already.”

“Not unless Callie gets brainwashed again,” Marie said dryly. “Sheldon’s setting up security systems around here, no Octarians are gonna be able to free him anytime soon. Getting him into a proper prison is much harder, for a bunch of reasons.”

“Hopefully that’ll be enough, I suppose,” X said, walking over to the snowglobe, continuing to make eye contact. “I just wish we didn’t have to do this.”

“Save me your pity, machine,” Octavio said with a snort, arms crossed. “You understand nothing.”

“Well, I won’t stop trying to understand until either you die of old age or you finally come around to trying to settle things peacefully, I’ll tell you that much,” X said, as he walked away. What a terrible shame. “I understand what your people are going through, but that doesn’t excuse your methods. It’s been over a hundred years, stop acting like the war is still going on.”

Octavio just glared at him contemptuously.

X took a deep breath, shaking his head. “Alright, I’m going now.”

“We’ll meet up with you later at our apartment. We need to get you your own place,” Marie remarked.

“Alright, seeya, X! And… Thank you. Again,” Callie said, with a wide grin.

X nodded back, and teleported out.

❖

Octavio watched as X disappear before his very eyes. It was such a shame the Inklings got to him first. He would’ve been an incredible ally. Oh well, all in due time, he supposed.

“He’s cute, isn’t he, Marie?” Callie asked her cousin with a sly grin, causing Marie to visibly blush. “You do need a boyfriend…”

“Oh my cod can we not talk about this right now,” Marie groaned. “I mean, he’s a super nice guy, but I’ve known him for like a day. Ask me again in several months. I’m out, got some errands to run.”

Marie swiftly disappeared into the drain pipe leading to Inkopolis.

“I was hoping that plan would work this time, but the direct approach clearly ain’t working. Ugh, my skills as a strategist got rusty. Oh well, that’s what Plan B is for… Isn’t that right, Callie?” Octavio remarked. “Spicy beats hidden in the reeds.”

Callie looked at him in brief confusion, but then she froze, as her eyes glazed over briefly, and changed, taking on more of a red tint, exactly as he expected. She giggled, “that’s right, Master Octavio. They clearly don’t suspect a thing.”

The hypnoshades were nice for immediate results, but Octavio had the foresight to apply more subtle brainwashing measures. Even when she was seemingly cured of her brainwashing, Callie still a perfectly pliable sleeper agent. Octavio had a special mixtape that, in combination with the shades, engineered deeper mental conditioning.

“Keep the spare shades and the mixtape safe and hidden, and initiate Plan B when the time is right,” Octavio ordered.

“Yes, Master,” Callie said, saluting. “Your will be done.”

Octavio chuckled. Inkopolis would still be his in due time. There was more than one way to win a war, after all…

You can find story with these keywords: Inky Future, Read Inky Future, Inky Future novel, Inky Future book, Inky Future story, Inky Future full, Inky Future Latest Chapter